DECEMBER 14, 1861.] F: TUN. PAN AT THE PLAY. Puritan's Daughfer, MR. BA.rTE's new opera, is a very great triumph, and deservedly so, for it is not only very charmingly S scored,-that, I believe, is a phrase which will at once set me up as a musical critic,-but has the advantage of being wedded k to a sensibly and frequently Poetically written libretto. Oh! shade of BUNN, with your "dan- cing fountains" and "lofty mountains," your hollow hearts that wear a mask," and "your smiling roses on a tomb," only fancy a libretto so excellent in every respect that its author is ._ positively called for with the com- n_ ^ -K poser on the first night! This is as it should be, and I trust that composers will in future avail themselves of the talents of recognized literary men when they want a good foundation for their musical superstructure, and not trail their charming melodies over a trellis-work bf trash. If not indelicate, PAN begs to assure all inquiring musical friends that he is a poet, though it has never yet been discovered by the public, and that his terms, though enormous, are perfectly commensurate with the merits of the article produced. The Editor objects to any further remarks on the subject; but PAN too well knows the reason. When will there be a perfect understanding amongst 'scribblers ? a feeling of pro- fessional freemasonry, devoid of all petty jealousies, and-but stay, I am keeping the Puritan's Daugkter waiting, and as the season is somewhat inclement, and she is attired in a low dress of light material, very charming, but decidedly, out of place, I will save my slashing remarks for a personal interview. The morning papers have told, in most instances, very lucidly, the plot of the opera, and so, as I am a bad hand at doing the like, I will content myself and my readers by stating that it is a very good one, sufficiently intricate to keep alive the interest, but not complex enough to confuse. Miss LOUISA PYNE is simply delightful in all she does and sings in the piece. Were I to write a dozen columns I could say no more, and those who go to hear her will say no less. Mn. SANTLEY appears in a new r6le- PAN intends no pun-that of a lover. He is becoming a good actor; as a singer he has few equals. MR. HARRISON plays Rochester in a rollicking, effective, and withal gentlemanly manner, and sings a quaint drinking song with immense applause. The overture, which was encored on the first night, and accompaniments throughout are sufficient to make any one with an ear (and PAN has two very long ones) keep on the move during the three hours the opera lasts. PAN has been to see the Rival Othellos at the Strand, and came away with sides exceedingly sore. If ever an author had cause to thank the actors, the author of this farce has. MESSRS. ROGERS and CLARKE play two loose fishes, who adopt the names of BROOKE and FECHTER, and keep up a running fire of tomfoolery to the utter destruction of gravity and elaborate shirt-fronts. The affair is too slight to call for criticism; it serves its purpose, which is simply to make the most easily tickled audience in London roar without intermission for half- an-hour. Colleen Bawn everywhere, at ASTLEY'S on horseback, at the Mary- lebone, at Drury Lane in comic rhymes capitally delivered by a hastily collected company, who succeed in acting together capitally -all over the country at our "principal theatres royal," and last, though not least, MEssRS. BENEDICT, OXENFORD, and BOUCICAULT, -a triple alliance,--are going to do a grand opera for Covent Garden, in which Miss LOUISA PYNE is to be the unfortunate Ziley, and MR. HARRISON the mirthful Miles. PATENT AND COPTRIGHT.-It is no more than could be expected of BARON BRAMWELL, that he should give it as his opinion that "men have no property in anything they invent or write." His lordship has never invented anything exce pt legal opinions which are o o INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862. (i3Y ONE V.110 KNOWS All, AIll It.) (ION lON i. nit exatwily tht 1ph'ce S 1 t lor ou lt-dool;r x(, ''eisI'i Ne ll 1 "mudt lies t-ick in all the st ro' ts. We have, tl:revore, nwth ple. I- sure in statinll, ir f (Ihe aml l use- Sidbsa,.e, manent and in 'stru tion o' our Si readers, that, yesrdl was a o j reniarklably fiple td ily, in spile SI of lth rain, whieh hoaiiun to i1ll St s1 slightly at, thur o'clock in the o morning, fvnd cold inted to poliur u in torrenlts till nt tuI tttor-pat clove at, night, anld t1at, th Works at South Klensingt o have tconsesue iontly e o itdo grent progress. Nothing further hIrs GON E TO TH E been dnton wait respect to lth two dtones, one of wlhic is CAT TLE S HOE mean toeo several sizes lir.Ce, tt 1than BRinN eItSIt'S, at Si. Pe toers nrg, ile ll the o tllr is in- tended to vio ill in gnileInue with CARACALLA'S celebrated baths at Brighton. C.A it\IN l tl, Ki A.B., is doubtless a very clever man in his \ay ; but, wie ques- tion his precise fitness fbr'this kind of dome-estic n arcil eei nre'. I low- ever, we shall probably see in time, and are resolved Inot to itm ilany hastyjndgmenet,as theproofofthopudding isian thruntting,wlhicl min-ilu us to speak of the refreshments. These are in everybody' inonti i l la great many reports have reached us which we should be sorry indeed to believe. Still it would be a neglect of duty ift e we ere not to likei our readers fully informed. The olijcetion to baked potato cai at, t the entrances of all the courts is, that they will be an intolerable inulisoiieo on crowded days and this, we own, strikes s as rensonableh. At, the same time we do not se why potatoes should be excluded,i ndl pickled eels be allowed to wriggle into favour. Loin (iHtAonv.L:e's personal feeling with regard to oystersis only too well known; ibt, we take leave to remind his lordship that these bivalves are not, in season all the year through, which is a fact tlhat iapenrs to have escaped the observation of the commissioners. We haieo no oljet, to serve in dwelling on such matters, except that of improving tIh public mind. Having opened the oyster question, we c:antoll rtlitrain from expressing a belief that the international character Iiof thd lExhi- bition will not be compromised, should a prltelreieo Ito given to natives. The weight of court influence, it seems hut n tioral to sus- pect, will attach to Pimlico in the matter of pork pies. ()n tlis lead, peuca verbal. We abstain from personait.ies, but it would bI, folly to pretend that the whispered name of WnATLIiN has not reached u s. Applications for space, from all couitrics of te l habiltble gllo, are made in every language except that of moderation. Fraenc demands forty-seven times as many square feot ts lhe CommiissHioers are prepared to stand, and says that if she cannot have them all square, she has no objection to take a few of them oblong. 1her products, consisting chiefly of plaster of Paris and French rolls, with illustrations of their relationship, are expected to make rather a sen- sation among the bakers of the metropolis. The claims of other countries are put upon a similar square footing. CAPTAIN FOWKE, B.A., is as yet undecided whetlhr to have tho front of the building painted lavender picked out with circular spots of rod and black, or to leave it alone. We oflcr no opinion as to 'vhich will look best. The latter style has the advantage of simplicity, and would also be the cheapest; but if CAPTAIN PFO\WK M.D., does not know his own business, we cannot undertake to teach it him. JI is certainly a source of surprise to us how Mi. IEItNSON's big clock can have the face to occupy a considerable portion of theo middle com- partment over the chief entrance; but this, again, is a question of time, and there are wheels within wheels. As we said before, CAPTAIN FOWKE, Q.C., is a man of unquestionable ability, buit though lie may know very well what is anl exhibition building, it does not of necessity follow that he should know what is o'clock. If any fresh intelligence should reach us before this number goes to press, we will keep it carefully for our next. any one but the inventor, or written anything that would be worth stealing. A NEW SCHEME BY THE CHlANCELLORn o TIIE EXCiEQUER.- We NIGHT AS NINEPENCE.-It is very hard to sty why ltlat precise amn understand that Mx. GLADSTONE has it in contemplation to propose a has always been assumed as the most acciratlo form of thli' lriti.is new way of raising money in his next Budget. He meditates levying currency, unless the saying was industriously circulated by tli a ground rent from all wearers of inordinate crinoline. opponents of decimal coinage.