About the shaft of some unspotted column! 1 will not wink, for fear the vision pass, And leave me sorrowing!

These are well interlined, but with all the labour of Mr. Planche, the comedy is but bald in its dialogue.

It falls to us now to speak of the style in which the old play has been produced, and we are really happy in being able to speak in terms of unlimited commendation. The performers appear to have been struck with a laudable desire to show themselves worthy in a worthy cause; and there is not one whose popularity is not increased by the revival. Mr. Young exerted himself strenuously in Old Foster, and his severe digging style suited well the hard merchant and father. Miss Lacy, as the wife, shewed talents of a better order than we have hitherto detected in her. We fear, however, that her excellence as a shrew will mar her domestic fortunes. She looks a bitter soul truly! Mr. C. Kemble was all spirit and manliness as Stephen Foster, the best character in the play; he gave the old English as though it was dear to his heart. Mr. Cooper was content to play the part of Robert, an unassuming part, but given in a manner that reflects the highest character for good sense upon the performer. Bartley had little to do in Speedwell; but he made us wish he had been blessed with more. Keeley is always Keeley, -and luckily Innocent Lambskin is a part of him. Blanchard's clown is inestimable-but when does Blanchard fail us in a genuine play?

Miss Chester, the handsome Miss Chester! was the Widow of Cornhill, and her looks recommended the character to our especial favour.

In this part there is little to exercise this spirited actress's boundless gaiety or natural pathos, in both of which she is at present unrivalled ;-but there are pleasant speeches and liberal actions which she gives with the utmost ease and spirit.

The scenery is Covent-Garden scenery, and we need say no more. The dresses have evidently been got up at great labour and cost, and are correct we suppose. Mr. Sheriff Whittaker and Mr. Alderman Garratt should go some early evening, and look at the gone-by gowns and

civic breeches of the shrievalty of old, and endeavour to reform the liveries of their fellows. The procession on a Lord Mayor's Day, of some centuries back, is admirably managed, and much shames the gingerbread coach and paltry chariots of our degenerate corporation. The houses are thronged, as Cheapside might be on the ninth ultimo,-and the procession walks along to Guildhall with the banners of all the companies, and the companies themselves. We missed the Girdlers, one of the most ancient of the set; Gog and Magog were not above appearing in the procession, which, of late they are accustomed only inactively to look down upon. The last scene in Guildhall, with the king, &c. is "more like than the original," and nothing was wanting but the victuals to have made us date the day as the ninth of November. This procession, our readers are aware, is an interloper in Rowley's comedy.

years,

In conclusion, we cannot but add, that we rejoice at the prospect of wholesome revivals from the old dramatists, and Mr. Planche has shown himself to be a man worthy to be trusted as a Miner.

DRURY-LANE. Der Freischütz.

We are beginning to get very sick of this very good music,-or rather of the fuss that is made about it by those who, under the pretence of doing honour to the genius of Weber, and of fostering the musical taste of the country, are paying only the most rigid attention to the galleries, and to the silver that is caught from the lovers of melo-dramatic effect. Every little and every large theatre in England, is now casting the magic balls, and hell is raging from one extremity of the country to the other. The piece at Drury-lane, with very great pretensions, is no better than that at Covent-garden, and not half so good as the piece at the English Opera House, which had the merit of being the first production in every sense of the word. We are told in the Lessee's own peculiar prose, that this version of the German mystery is something

very superior to any thing of the kind at other houses: or rather we are to infer as much from the cunning and pleasant bills of His Acting Majesty! The Pit is apologized to for the unavoidable curtailment of its magnitude, in order to meet the demands of the enlarged orchestra;-this is something like a manager asking permission of the Gentlemen in the Two Shilling Gallery to address the Gentlemen in the One!-And further it is announced, as a matter of moment, that "The band will be led by MR. MOUNTAIN, who has kindly offered his valuable services on this occasion."-Poor old Mountain must stare to find his application for an engagement thus trumpeted to the world, as a condescension'; to be sure it is no trifle when the Mountain does come to Mahomet. The music is stated also as being "the original music, introduced and adapted to the English stage, by Mr. H. R. Bishop," as though, original as it is, Weber's music must be filtered through_Mr. Bishop before it can be fit for a London ear. The opera too, which is mysterious and dull enough at the best, is given into the hands of a new translator, who has made confusion worse confounded. The only thing in which the present opera surpasses any of its brothers, is in the noise, light, and fog, of its hell, and in the consumption of its gunpowder.

Mr. T. Cooke plays Braham's part much as Braham plays it, but he does not sing it as Braham sings it. Mr. Horn, as Caspar, although he acts with great spirit, is not to be mentioned in the same century with Mr. Bennett, the old original Caspar, who goes about his work like an inspired workman. The music in the incantation scene is rather aided than injured in effect, by the words spoken by Caspar; at this theatre the whole scene is one mass of music.-Mr. Knight as Killian was deadly lively.

A new singer, a Miss Graddon, took the part of Linda: but,-we would rather not speak of her just yet.

The scenery is magnificent.

We perceive that the songs are printed, as though they were the songs for such an opera, but the poor rogue that lays out his tenpence in the purchase of a copy, will find that he has secured to himself tenpenny-worth of miserable doggrel, which he would blush to read at the inn of a country village on a wet Sunday. The dialogue appears throughout to be very empty and bombastic.

Mr. Macready,-who, we were given to understand, had taken the Seven Compasses at Buxton,--has again appeared on this stage as Macbeth and Leontes. He certainly is full of vicious peculiarities, but there is a spirit, an earnestness,-an originality, in his conception and execution of the higher characters in Tragedies, which place him far above all actors, except Kean. One of the Sunday papers is continually talking of a sensible letter which this gentle man has written in it ;-he is really so good an actor, that we only wish he would but perform, and never write sensible letters, to divide our attention.

The Children in the Wood.

Rayner has been trying a fall with Elliston, in the part of Walter in this Robin Redbreast Tragedy-and is found undermost. We are not surprised at this. The part of Walter, which is a jumble of merriment and pathos, is suited exactly to the talents of Elliston. Rayner is too slow and determined for so unsettled a part. We are surprised that an actor of Rayner's judgment and experience should have been so rash in his conduct; he would not find Elliston very ready to try Giles or Robert Tyke with him.

A brace of Tragedies are promised at the two Theatres. The newspapers speak highly of them, as being highly spoken of. We have not yet seen Mrs. Slowman, a new tragic actress, and said to be a lady of great talent.

THERE has not occurred a month since the publication of our Magazine, during which less has occurred to interest our readers than the last. An event is, however, now on the eve of taking place, if we may credit the foreign journals, from which it is not at all improbable that results of a very important nature indeed may arise we allude to the projected evacuation of Spain by the French troops. It is announced, and apparently on good authority, that the great body of these troops are going to take up a position on the line of the Ebro, and that only 22,000 men are to be left behind to garrison five large places, of which Cadiz and Barcelona are to be the principal. Various councils were held daily for some time previous to this determination, at the Escurial. The subject of their discussions was the demands made by the cabinet of the Thuilleries as an tecedent to their final determination; these demands are now understood to have been the recognition by the Spanish government of the capitulations of the constitutional generals and the publication of a complete amnesty. M. Lea, the Spanish minister, is said to have asked the envoys of Russia and Prussia if they had received from their respective governments instructions to make a similar requisition; to which answers in the negative were given. The troops had accordingly actually commenced evacuating the fortresses, which were to be given up according to the terms of the treaty, and the blindest and most unbounded joy was evinced by the fanatic faction, at the head of whom are the Ministers of War and Justice, at the idea of their fondly cherished unrestrained excesses. Some moderate men, however, aided by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, of Finance, and of the Marine, who saw the real situation of affairs, interposed, and, as is said, with some probability of success. Viscount Digeon, the French commander, also unfolded to them his view of the state of the kingdom, and in some degree succeeded in restoring these fanatics to reason. The ministers of Ferdinand at length DEC. 1824.

Nov. 94, 1824. consented to listen to proposals for acknowledging the loans of the Cortes, for having a full amnesty, designating by name the exceptions; and for fulfilling the capitulations which had been formally entered into. These proposals they presented to Ferdihand, who had written a letter to the new King of France, the contents of which it is supposed would be decisive. Ferdinand's wishes, which may, however, be counteracted by his fears, would no doubt lead him to the rejection of these proposals, but his determination will depend entirely on the good will and pleasure of the holy allies. By the orders which had been issued various detachments of the French troops were already in motion, and the staff of the army were expected to have totally evacuated Madrid on the 20th of November. The Spanish ministers were busily employed in the organization of a new royal guard, the old one having been dissolved, "because there were too many officers and privates tainted with revolutionary principles." The new one, which is to be exclusively "faithful," will consist of three regiments of foot, each of 2000 men; two regiments of light horse, 500 men; two of mounted grenadiers, 800 men; and one of lancers, 300 men. In the mean time the safety of Madrid and of Ferdinand is to be committed to two Swiss regiments. The expense to France, during her short contest with the Constitutionalists, and her subsequent occupation of the Peninsula, has been enormous; it is estimated in one of the Parisian journals at 800 millions of francs, with what accuracy we cannot pretend to say; but when the military and civil cost are both calculated, in all probability the estimate is not much exaggerated. The purchase-money of Morillo, Abisbal, and Ballasteros, must in itself form a considerable item. If any account of the secret service-money of this campaign and its consequences, should be preserved, we much fear that the document will somewhat dim with posterity the glories of the Trocadero. The result of all this expenditure is so well de

2 U

scribed in the following extract from a private letter from Paris, copied into one of the daily journals, that we give it as we find it, rendering as it does any comment of ours quite unnecessary:-"Ferdinand the Seventh, delivered by the Duke of Angoulême, left Cadiz and returned to Madrid to resume the reins of government. He was then free to give his people the institutions they could receive only from him. He sent them proscriptions, proscribers, and executioners. The judicial murder of the unfortunate Riego was the signal for commencing a series of horrors which have since continually increased. The French, who entered the Peninsula to combat the Constitutionalists, are now every where obliged to undertake their defence, and, for the first time, we see the vanquished with no such generous protectors as their conquerors. There is not a single French officer who has not blushed to hear a conquest described as a brilliant deed of arms, which was entirely gained by corruption; and who has not mourned over the unhappy fate which the French invasion has brought on Spain? Fanatics and intriguers have taken possession of the government. They have stirred up the people against the French, representing them as enemies of God and the king, and as the friends of the Constitutionalists. They have caused the loans of the Cortes to be annulled, and terrible disorder has ensued in the finances-a disorder which is now only equalled by the poverty of the royal treasury. During the scenes of carnage, which are renewed every day in every part of Spain, the French government has not only been obliged to support its own army, but also to provide for the subsistence of the large towns. Civil war now rages from one end of Spain to the other; several provinces are afflicted with famine; others are threatened by it; communication is interrupted; the treasury is empty, the nation debased, and public credit destroyed." Such is part of a picture drawn by one who seems to have taken a full and faithful view of the whole subject. It is a terrible and melancholy proof of the impolicy of foreign interference in the domestic affairs of another country. This in

terference was undertaken in the words of Louis XVIII. at the opening of the session in 1823, "To set Ferdinand free; to give his people institutions they could receive from no other source but him." What decrees and institutions he has issued we shall see presently. But has France gained her object? Is Ferdinand one jot more free now than when her army crossed the Pyrenees? Has his safety even been insured except by foreign bayonets? and now that these troops are about to evacuate the country, is not the struggle likely again to re-commence with all the energy of a direfully exasperated vengeance? The truth is, we suspect, the invaders have at length found out that they made war on the wrong party, and that a country governed by a king, even under the restraint of a constitutional charter, is better than when misgoverned by one amid the nominal freedom of unrestrained fanaticism. The advice so boldly and so wisely given by Talleyrand on the project of this interference will now perhaps begin to be recollected. The treasury of Madrid is notoriously insolvent-the capitalists of Europe are unwilling to negotiate any loan which has not for its basis the recognition of those of the Cortes, and Ferdinand continues deaf to that stipulation; he is however so far impoverished as to have endeavoured some time since, according to the report, to raise some money on the security of the Crown jewels; but as it was understood that their possession was to vest in a committee resident in Madrid, the negotiation was abruptly terminated. As a proof of the subjection in which the Spanish King is held by his priestridden superiors, there is a curious anecdote related in a letter from Madrid. It seems the Archbishops of Tarragona and Crous and the Bishop of Tortosa, the celebrated monk Saez, had given such offence, on some late occasion, that orders were given for their arrest. Saez received the officers very coolly, and told them they could not and should not take him, and therefore that they had better at once retire. They remonstrated, hoping that he would not oblige them to resort to force. "Oh my friends," replied Saez, "no force on either side is necessary; I see you are un

der a mistake. Are you not aware that I am the Pope's subject, and your warrant is not backed by him. I am his domestic chaplain. The King of Spain has no control over me; if he meddles with me, he subjects himself to a severe reprimand, and who knows what may follow? Will he run the risk of excommunication? Tell those who sent you what I say, and they will see it right to consider the matter and write for further instructions." Saez was suffered to remain unmolested. It would however be quite superfluous to multiply anecdotes tending to prove what no one ever disputed, namely, that though Ferdinand is nominally King of Spain, the priests in fact are Viceroys over, him. In proof, if indeed proof were now necessary, of the sanguinary spirit with which these men are animated, we give a few articles from a decree issued by Ferdinand from the Escurial on the 21st of October. It commences by declaring that "his Majesty not being able to regard with indifference the notorious and shameful abuse which the revolutionists make of his natural clemency, in contempt of his dignity and to the scandal of Europe, finds himself compelled to do violence to the benevolence of his heart, and by the advice of his supreme council of war, he wills and orders (amongst other things) as follows. 1. "All those who, since October the 1st, 1823, have declared or proved themselves, by any acts whatever, to be enemies of the legitimate rights of the throne, or partizans of the selfcalled Constitution of Cadiz, shall be considered guilty of high treason, and, as such, subject to the punish ment of death!" 2. "All those who shall write pamphlets or journals, with the same object in view, shall be comprehended in the preceding article, and subject to the same penal ty." 9." The Freemasons, Communeros, and Sectarians, being necessarily regarded as enemies to the throne are subject to the punishment of death and confiscation of all their goods to the profit of the Royal treasury, as guilty of high treason against DIVINE!! and human laws, excepting those who are comprehended in the amnesty of August the 1st in the present year!" 6. "Intoxication shall not be permitted as an excuse, where it

shall be proved that the delinquent is subject to that vice!!"-We offer these as specimens of the moderation which adversity teaches such men as Ferdinand. How long he will be able thus to abuse prosperity, depends most probably upon the presence of the French. Even the fanatics of his Cabinet, all athirst for vengeance as they are, must see this, and therefore it is not improbable that their fears may induce them to purchase the continuance of their protectors by acceding to the very reasonable, and indeed merely honest, terms required of them. It appears that the Baron de Erolles, one of the leaders of the faction, has gone mad-we should like to see a list of those who are supposed to be in full possession of their senses.

Accounts have been received lately from Portugal which prove the state of that country to be scarcely preferable to that of Spain. Our readers are aware that Don Miguel, the King's son, was obliged to depart rather suddenly for France with a retinue of bears and bulls and badgers, in consequence of his showing an inclination to turn himself to ra ther more serious pursuits in Portugal than his intellect was ever intended for. The factious, headed by the Queen and the Patriarch, seem however still determined to use his name (perhaps his best requisite) for the disturbance of the state, and accordingly fresh conspiracies are enacting every day. According to good dramatic authority, at all events, these are genuine plots, as there is both a priest and a woman' in them. The first conspiracy, which was to have commenced its operations on the 26th of September, was prematurely discovered by one of the instruments employed, and government was put in full possession, not only of its designs but its means, which proved so powerful that the executive, from a sense of its weakness, was for a time afraid to act rigorously. The necessity for some decisive act however became, on further investigation, so apparent that, as a first step, the Queen was arrested. Her place of confinement is at Quelez, a town four miles from Lisbon, and no per son, male or female, is allowed to en ter the place without the strictest