something of its bygone power. We trust to be shortly able to announce that some terms have been entered into, that we may see Mrs. Warner once more upon the boards at SAD LER'S WELLS. MADAME PLEYEL'S FIRST RECITAL, encored. In this the reading of the delicious motivo was beyond all praise, while the surprising force and grandeur with which the subject was given in octaves, with a brilliant accompaniment of arpeggios, called forth vollies of applause and commanded the encore. In all the above compositions, which depend for their effect almost entirely on the manner in which they are rendered, we were equally surprised and charmed by the facility which, in the midst of passages of treThe musical event of the past month has been mendous mechanical difficulty, could preserve the inthe arrival of this distinguished pianist. The finite nuances of light and shade, the varied colouring management of the Dublin Philharmonic So- of rapid and capricious phases of expression, and the ciety contrived to secure her services for their assistance from the una corda pedal, which Madame softest gradations of the pianissimo without any concert on the 15th, and thither across the sea Pleyel rarely uses. The manner in which she enBroadwood and Erard sent pianos for her touch forces a melody with the thumb alone, preserving the to make famous. But Monday-the long-to- canto distinct and unbroken, while both hands are be-remembered 18th of May-was the day fixed busily employed in traits de bravoure, is ai o well for her first Recital in London, of which Willis's worthy of remark. But where Madame Pleyel most Rooms were the scene. All verbal description pleased us was where most she could employ passion must fall short of conveying any impression of and sentiment. Her reading of the song of the the wonderful powers of this great artist, combroken-hearted Marguerite was incomparable; it was bining as she does the different excellences of absolutely making the piano weep bitter tears, while the various schools. Lest our praise should forth, and the broken interrupted delivery of the the exquisite tone with which the melody was wailed seem exaggerated, let us quote the acknowledg-spinning wheel accompaniment were instinct with a ments of Liszt himself, who pronounces her not poetry far beyond all the wonders of executive meonly "la plus grande," but "le plus grandchanism. In the Tarantella it were superfluous to pianiste" in the world, in a burst of honest and speak of the effect produced by Madame Pleyel. She enthusiastic appreciation, for which, towards a has so made it her own that few pianists would be rival of the gentler sex, we honour him im- rash enough to attempt it after her. measurably. The following was the programme of the "First Recital," presenting, as our readers will perceive, an infinite variety of style in the masterly compositions selected :— VOCAL CONCERTS. The second of this interesting series of concerts took place on Tuesday evening, the 12th, at the Hanover-square Rooms. The glee, "Blest pair of Sirens," was exquisitely sung by L'Inquietude, Morceau de Concert... Dreyschock. Miss Birch, Miss Rollo Dickson, Miss Maria B. A contemporary has expressed all we would say, so very eloquently, that we are tempted to borrow his words. "Madame Pleyel accommodates herself perfectly to the master she is interpreting, giving to his ideas their original meaning, while impressing on them the cachet of her own charming manner, which lends itself gracefully to so many opposite schools. Thus, in the Andante of Hummel, there was all the quiet dignity of the composer rendered captivating in spite of its original staidness, by the melodious ornament of the pianist. The fantasia of Döhler, a true pezzo di bravura, showed the executive powers and mechanical perfection of Madame Pleyel to be astonishingly great. The Grande Fantasie of Thalberg served for the same purpose. In both these pieces the style in which the fair pianist delivered the melodies was full of poesy and sentiment, and called forth repeated murmurs of approbation from the audience. The Inquietude of Dreyschock, a caprice of immense difficulty, displayed other qualities in the pianist-e g., the quick reiteration of the same note, and the rapid execution of arpeggios with the left hand-in which latter particular Madame Pleyel excels every pianist we have listened to. The Quatuor of Prudent, a morceau in the Thalberg style, was loudly | Hawes, Mr. Hobbs, and Mr. H. Phillips. The "Frost Scene" (Purcell) was most effectively sung by Miss Rollo Dickson and Mr. H. Phillips: the latter, in the "Cold Genius," made his hearers thrill by the deep and magnificent tones in which he gave "From beds of everlasting Snow." Miss Rollo Dickson was a most charming Cupid; every word was distinctly heard, as her clear and silvery voice ran through the difficult passages of this splendid composition. Miss Birch's recitative and air, "Sweet Bird," was indeed a treat to all lovers of music; and Miss Maria Hawes, in "Water parted from the Sea," was beyond all praise. We hear these concerts have been so successful, that arrangements will be made at the close of the present series to give others during the next season. MISS BINFIELD WILLIAMS'S SOIREES. The first of a series of these soirées musicales, given by one of our best native pianistes, Miss Binfield Williams, took place on the 24th April, at Blagrove's Concert Rooms, Mortimer-street, and was attended by a crowded and fashionable audience. The vocal portion was sustained by the Misses Williams, who sung one of their well-known duets with their usual taste; Miss Cubitt, who distinguished herself in an elegant song by Verdi-Miss Emily Badger, whom we must congratulate upon her marked improvement in voice and style-and Miss Sara Flower, who perfectly electrified her audience by the display of the astonishing depth and power of her noble organ in Benedict's ballad, "By the Sad Sea Waves." The gentlemen were Messrs. Sporle, Crouch, and Machin, who acquitted themselves with their usual ability and good taste. Guilio Regondi on the guitar, F. Chatterton and Jarret on the harp and horn, were also excellent, and the beneficiare herself was much applauded in a duet with Mr. Ribas on the flute, and evinced her capability for interpreting classical music, in Beethoven's lovely trio, op. 70, for piano, violin, and violoncello, with Messrs. Thirlwall and W. L. Phillips, and also in an andante and rondo by Mendelssohn. The concert was altogether a most agreeable one, and passed off exceedingly well. At the second soiree (the 18th May), Miss Ellen Lyon rendered Mr. Allman's canzonet, "What dost thou whisper, murmuring shell?" (the poetry of which, by Camilla Toulmin, we extracted some time ago) very beautifully, and it was most enthusiastically applauded. By the way, we are glad to observe that this young composer's works are beginning to extend among our concert singers. It is a sure sign that their merits are at length being appreciated. On this occasion, young Robert Blagrove played a solo on the concertina. He lacks power, but that will come apace; otherwise his performance was all that could be desired. Mr. Pratten executed a solo on the flute very neatly, as did Mr. J. Thomas on the harp. We hope that the concluding soirée of the series, fixed for the 29th May, and which we shall take occasion to notice in our next, will be as successful as we are assured it deserves to be. PEACE SOCIETI E S. It is with emotions of heartfelt pleasure, and not without a thrill of gratitude to the Most High, that we find the exertions of the nobleminded band, to whom we have before alluded, are being crowned with success. And we should hold ourselves culpable if we did not give the publicity our columns may afford to the following address, which has been signed by no fewer than sixteen hundred women of Exeter, of all classes and denominations. "To the women of the City of Philadelphia, and of the United States generally, the friendly address of the undersigned women, inhabitants of the City of Exeter, in England. "BELOVED FRIENDS AND SISTERS,-The suggestion of friendly international addresses, in order to deprecate war and create a pacific spirit, having been extensively approved and its adoption pressed upon all classes, we trust it will not be deemed unseemly in women to seek, by the same means, to influence their American sisters in the cause of religion and peace. "It may not be within our province to judge of How shall united in the bonds of Christian love. "Above all, let us unite in prayers to the Great "Your Friends and Sisters." There is no lever so mighty to move the moral world as that of Public Opinion; and every Englishwoman does a good deed, if she emancipate her judgment so far from evil habit as to withhold her admiration from deeds of false glory, or if she direct one youthful mind in the path of true heroism. While on this subject, we are tempted to intrude an extract from a poem contained in a volume recently puband which was suggested by the horrors to which the 62nd regiment were exposed at Ferozeshah. the merits of the question now at issue between our "You and we have a common ancestry, and are bound together by innumerable ties of consanguinity and mutual interest; surely, then, we ought to be * "Let Scorners borrow Fancy's aid, "Yet 'tis enough: ye see a band- *Poems by Camilla Toulmin. (Orr and Co.) "Foot-sore with weary, weary march, Athirst! No water nigh; No food; and night-yet Heaven's arch "And think the inner life that dwells Its love, or hope, or fear that swells "Yet faint, exhausted, on they lead, To meet the iron shower,' Nor quailed till half their numbers dead "Not till their captains fell like reeds, Than rush on CERTAIN Death! "God! what a scene for Angels' eyes A field of battle is ! God! what a scene for star-lit skies "Rivers of blood the arid sand Suck'd in like crimson rain; Fashions. "Dissevered limbs, and trampled clay, In strange and ghastly heaps, Others to deeper depths had come- "From parched throats the wail is heard 66 Or 'Oh, dear comrade, hear a word- "Fling back the Scorn! Survivors few, Seen by the sunlight of the True, "Oh, what a poor and fading wreath The Martyr's Life, or Martyr's Death FASHIONS FOR JUNE. The coldness and uncertainty of the weather has, as yet, retarded the departure of our beau monde for their chateaux, or the watering-places; a few, but very few, have quitted us; and, as we have had several new arrivals, Paris is as brilliant as ever. Some slight modifications have taken place in the shapes of chapeaux and capotes; both are of moderate size, and the latter close, but not unbecomingly so, have the bavolet of rather an increased size; the bavolet is also employed for silk chapeaux, but not for the others. The shapes of chapeaux are in general round, short at the ears, and generally becoming. They differ very much from the Pamelas of last season; nevertheless, Italian and rice straw have the brims rather raised, but that form is adopted to show the beauty of the straw. Paille d'Italie, which in the beginning of the season was not much seen, is now extremely fashionable, though its exorbitant price prevents it from being so much employed as other materials. Their brims are more open than those of other chapeaux, and they are usually trimmed with feathers; the most elegant have a heron plume, or a long white ostrich one, with ribbons to correspond. Fancy feathers and flowers seem in equal request for fancy straw chapeaux; they are always lined with taffeta, either pink, cherry colour, or cabbage green. Paille de riz and crape, both admit of a great variety of trimmings; but if feathers are employed, they are always of a very light kind. The most novel of the rice straw chapeaux have the brim divided by a row of broad lace, and crowned by a sprig of chesnut blossoms. Half-wreaths of marabouts, with gerbes of fruit blossoms or foliage at each end, are also fashionable; and a very great variety of fancy feathers and flowers are likewise employed. Some of the prettiest of the capotes are composed of tulle bouillonné, the bouillons divided by a pretty kind of trimming, composed of Italian straw; a bouquet of field flowers is attached on the left side, and a knot of tulle of the lightest possible form decorates the right. Pink or white crape capotes are trimmed with wreaths of scalicuses and of Bengal roses; those of bleue de chine are ornamented with tufts of red roses, with rich golden brown foliage; and several of white crape, with sprigs of splendid roses saumons, with purple foliage. Crape chapeaux, with application de velours, are usually decorated with spotted or shaded marabouts and ribbons corresponding with the chapeau. Some other novelties that are likely I think to succeed, are chapeaux of fancy straw, a round shape, and the brim descending a little over the forehead; they are ornamented with dessins formed of black chenille; a broad black lace traverses the brim, and partly covers the crown, giving an air of originality and distinction to the chapeau. Some others that are much admired are composed of festooned bands of citron crape; they are decorated with epis of rice and wild flowers. A novelty just introduced by a very celebrated marchande de modes-but with what success I cannot pretend to say, its vogue being by no means certain-is a material for capotes, composed of white or écrue horse-hair; these capotes are lined with rose-coloured gauze, and trimmed with tufts of roses; this material is extremely light. It is sometimes embroidered with silk of the same colour, or with straw. A new kind of fancy straw has just appeared, called paille Louis XV.; it is of a very pretty and really novel kind, generally lined with white, and trimmed with white ribbon and a single large flower. A new . wreath, that is a good deal employed for trimming straw chapeaux, is composed of camphor foliage; it is arranged in such a manner as entirely to trim the chapeau without any mixture of ribbon. Every day brings us new forms, or at least new modifications of pardessus; I may cite among the latest creations the surtout Mazarin; it is a mantle somewhat in the Italian style, composed of rich taffeta, and trimmed according to the colour of the silk, with very broad rich black or white lace. The mante Theresa, also somewhat of the Italian style, but comparatively small, is likewise composed of taffeta, and trimmed with lace; it is made of light coloured taffeta, and white lace only is employed for the garniture. The écharpe mante, always made in the same material as the robe, is trimmed with volants of the same, cut in round dents; the visite princesse, which may be composed of either taffeta or moire, is closed in front by brandebourgs, and encircled with an embroidery in passementerie: it has short sleeves open on the arm, and laced with slight silk ends, from which tassels fall upon the robe. The mantelet espagnol, composed of black lace, and lined with black silk, is rounded, and descends only to the bottom of the waist; it is terminated by very broad lace. The visite Olga, composed of either taffeta or moire, is made very open on the bosom, and terminated by long scarf ends; the trimming is generally an effilé to correspond. The mantelet jeune femme, always composed of shot silks of light colours, is bordered with a ruche of the same material, and has a small scarf which ties on the breast. A good many mantelets are closed down the fronts by buttons; these are now either very small and valuable, as gold, opal, &c., &c.; or else of marcassite, and very large. The principal novelty for visits of ceremony, is the Andalouse, or mantelet visite, composed of white moire, and trimmed with deep volants of creye lisse, also white, and edged with an effilé of the lightest kind; each flounce is surmounted with a rich border of the new passementerie points de Venise, applique on the silk; the scarf ends are very narrow, and the front of the mantelet cut so that the arms are quite disengaged from the silk, but partially covered by the garnitures. The Reine Berthe is a visite composed of silk, shot in two dark colours; it is trimmed with two rows of very broad black lace, surmounted by a trimming of the material of the cloak; it is a fulness arranged in a novel manner. The petit manteau des eaux is one of the prettiest creations of the season; it is composed of muslin, lined with rose, lilac, or light green silk, trimmed with lace; there are two falls, and by the form of the mantelet the second row of lace makes a second pelerine, which has a very graceful effect. I have recently seen, among the novelties in preparation for the country, a pardessus called manteau Vénitien; it is composed either of white cashmere, lined and trimmed with broad silk fringe, or else in ponçeau cashmere, encircled with black lace, | headed by a black galon; it is intended for the evening promenade. The fichu Maintenon is for the warmer part of the day; it is a rounded point composed of taffeta, and trimmed with either black or white lace so very deep that it renders the fichu almost as large as a mantelet, while it does not conceal the shape; the long ends of the fichu cross upon the bosom. Shawls and scarfs divide the vogue to a certain degree with mantelets; those of black lace are much in request. Barege of new patterns are beginning to be a good deal seen; there is a great variety of China crape ones, both white and coloured, plain and embroidered; they will be fashionable, but only to a certain degree. A new material, the grenadine de laine, has just appeared for morning dress; it is principally intended for the country or the watering places, and is destined to replace Nankin and foulard. Silks are still predominant for robes in negligé; several are composed of quadrilled foulard, and foulard écrue; they are embroidered with braiding. Silks, striped in very narrow white stripes upon dark grounds, are also fashionable. Mousselines de soie and bareges divide the vogue with silks in half-dress, for which it is also expected that printed tarlatanes will be very fashionable; they will be made in the_robe form, trimmed with festooned volants, and the sleeves in general demi long. Jaconot muslin, printed in patterns that date from the days of Louis XV., are expected to be very much in vogue for the Spas, and the country; the make will be in the same style as the material of these dresses, and in strict accordance with the name already given to them, déshabillés Pompadour; the form is a peignoir, a white ground flowered in a large showy pattern in vivid colours; the peignoir, encircled with lace, opens on a petticoat of the same material, trimmed with a very deep flounce. The peignoir is drawn round the throat by a lace bouillon, through which a ribbon corresponding with one of the colours of the muslin, is passed. Wide sleeves, descending to the elbow only, and terminated by a deep volant, which falls over the arm nearly to the wrist. The material of these deshabilles is too showy to be very generally adopted, but the form I think is likely to be adopted with printed muslins of a quieter kind, worn over a petticoat of the same, or a white one. Morning robes continue to be made with the corsages quite high, and the majority close; several open at the bottom, forming a jacket; but, as I believe I have before observed, very deep jackets are seldom seen. Tight sleeves are in a decided majority. Skirts are not made quite so long before, but they form almost a demi train behind, and their enormous width has increased instead of diminishing, as it was supposed would be the case. The redingote form is still predominant, both in morning and half dress. Those of taffeta are in very great favour for the promenade; v are embroidered en tablier, or else orname... passementerie, or with the material of the dress: I have sent |