very unequal in their merit. His best and most esteemed pieces are, the Cid, Horace, Polyeucte, and Cinna.

Racine, as a tragic poet, is much superior to Corneille. He wanted the copiousness and grandeur of Corneille's imagination; but is free from his bombast, and excels him greatly in tenderness. Few poets, indeed, are more tender and moving than Racine. His Phædra, his Andromaque, his Athalie, and his Mithridate, are excellent dramatic performances, and do no small honour to the French stage. His language and versification are uncommonly beautiful. Of all the French authors, he appears to me to have most excelled in poetical style; to have managed their rhyme with the greatest advantage and facility, and to have given it the most complete harmony. Voltaire has, again and again, 'pronounced Racine's Athalie to be the "Chef d'Oeuvre" of the French stage. It is altogether a sacred drama, and owes much of its elevation to the majesty of religion; but it is less tender and interesting than Andromaque. Racine has formed two of his plays upon plans of Euripides. In the Phædra he is extremely successful, but not so, in my opinion, in the Iphigenie; where he has degraded the ancient characters, by unseasonable gallantry. Achilles is a French lover; and Eriphile, a modern lady*.

*The characters of Corneille and Racine are happily contrasted with each other, in the following beautiful lines of a French poet, which will gratify several readers :

CORNEILLE,

Illum nobilibus majestas evehit alis

Vertice tangentem nubes: stant ordine longo
Magnanimi circum heroës, fulgentibus omnes
Induti trabeis; Polyeuctus, Cinna, Seleucus,
Et Cidus, et rugis signatus Horatius ora.

RACINE.

Hunc circumvolitat penna alludente Cupido,
Vincla triumphatis insternens florea scenis;
Colligit hæc mollis genius, levibusque catenis
Heröas stringit dociles, Pyrrhosque, Titosque,
Pelidasque, ac Hippolytos, qui sponte sequuntur
Servitium, facilesque ferunt in vincula palmas.
Ingentes nimirum animos Cornelius ingens,
Et quales habet ipse, suis heröibus afflat
Sublimes sensus; vox olli mascula, magnum os,

Nec mortale sonans. Rapido fluit impetu vena,

Vena Sophocleis non inficianda fluentis.

Racinius Gallis haud visos ante theatris

Mollior ingenio teneros induxit amores.

Magnanimos quamvis sensus sub pectore verset
Agrippina, licet Romano robore Burrhus

Voltaire, in several of his tragedies, is inferior to none of his predecessors. In one great article, he has outdone them all, in the delicate and interesting situations which he has contrived to introduce. In these lies his chief strength. He is not, indeed, exempt from the defects of the other French tragedians, of wanting force, and of being sometimes too long and declamatory in his speeches; but his characters are drawn with spirit, his events are striking, and in his sentiments there is much elevation. His Zayre, Alzire, Meropé, and Orphan of China, are four capital tragedies, and deserve the highest praise. What one might perhaps not expect, Voltaire is, in the strain of his sentiments, the most religious, and the most moral, of all tragic poets.

Though the musical dramas of Metastasio fulfil not the character of just and regular tragedies, they approach however so near to it, and possess so much merit, that it would be unjust to pass them over without notice. For the elegance of style, the charms of lyric poetry, and the beauties of sentiment, they are eminent. They abound in well contrived and interesting situations. The dialogue, by its closeness and rapidity, carries a considerable resemblance to that of the ancient Greek tragedies; and is both more animated and more natural, than the long declamation of the French theatre. But the shortness of the several dramas, and the intermixture of so much lyric poetry as belongs to this sort of composition, often occasions the course of the incidents to be hurried on too quickly, and prevents that consistent display of characters, and that full preparation of events, which are necessary to give a proper verisimilitude to tragedy."

Polleat, et magni generosa superbia Pori

Non semel eniteat, tamen esse ad mollia natum
Credideris vatem; vox olli mellea, lenis
Spiritus est; non ille animis vim concitus infert,
At cæcos animorum aditus rimatur, et imis
Mentibus occultos, syren penetrabilis, ictus
Insinuans, palpando ferit, læditque placendo.
Vena fluit facili non intermissa nitore,
Nec rapidos semper volvit cum murmure fluctus;
Agmine sed leni fluitat. Seu gramina lambit
Rivulus, et cæco per prata virentia lapsu,
Aufugiens, tacita fluit indeprensus arena;
Flore micant ripa illimes; huc vulgus amantum
Convolat, et lacrymis auget rivalibus undas:
Singultus undæ referunt, gemitusque sonoros
Ingeminant, molli gemitus imitante susurro.

Templum Tragœdiæ, per FR, MARSY,
è Societate Jesu.

ORIGINAL POETRY.

SONNET TO APRIL.

EMBLEM of life! see changeful April sail
In varying vest along the shadowy skies,
Now, bidding Summer's softest zephyrs rise,
Anon, recalling Winter's stormy gale,
And pouring from the cloud her sudden hail;

Then, smiling thro' the tear that dims her eyes,
While Iris with her braid the welkin dyes,
Promise of sunshine, not so prone to fail.
So, to us sojourners in Life's low vale,

The smiles of Fortune flatter to deceive,
While still the Fates the web of Mis'ry weave.

So, Hope exultant spreads her äery sail,
And from the present gloom, the soul conveys
To distant Summers, and far happier days.

Nottingham, April 13, 1804.

H. K. WHITE.

SONNET.

WRITTEN BY WILLIAM HAYLEY, ESQ. MARCH, 1804.
TO PRINCE HOARE, ESQ.

In return for his interesting Correspondence with Foreign

Academies.

THANKS to the Friend of universal Art,

Who shews me how a just and gen'rous mind,

By boundless sympathy, and zeal refin'd,

May thro' the veins of emulation dart
Supplies of vital fire, fresh hopes impart,

And in such ties the social nations bind,
That Commerce, with a smile divinely kind,
May bid new wonders into Being start.
Thou lib'ral Patriot! lasting praise be thine,
Who, for the glory of thy native land,
Hast led her to achieve thy bright design,
To teach the heart of Genius to expand,
And cherish talents, wheresoe'er they shine-
Science and Honour guide and bless thy hand!

ON THE DEATH OF

JAMES HARE, Esq. M. P.

HARK! 'twas the knell of death! what spirit flied?
And burst the shackles man is doom'd to bear?
Can it be true, and 'midst the senseless dead,
Must sorrowing thousands count the loss of Hare?

Shall not his genius life's short date prolong?
(Pure as the æther of its kindred sky)
Shall wit enchant no longer from his tongue?
Or beam in vivid flashes from his eye?

Oh no! that mind for every purpose fit,
Has met, alas! the universal doom!
Unrivall'd fancy, judgment, sense, and wit,
Were his, and only left him at the tomb.

Rest, spirit! rest; for gentle was thy course,
Thy rays, like temper'd suns, no venom knew,
For still benevolence allay'd the force

Of the keen darts thy matchless satire threw.

Yet not alone thy genius I deplore,

Nor o'er thy various talents drop the tear,
But weep to think I shall behold no more,
A lost companion, and a friend sincere.

ON THE EYES.

Tell not me of size or hue,
Jetty black, or azure blue,
Hazle, sober grey, or brown;
If they're clouded by a frown,
And without expression fraught,
Or signs of reason and of thought,
They'll never please.

But, though sparkling with delight,
Or, with sorrow dark as night;
Tho' their lustre dimm'd by woe,

Or by bashfulness cast low;
If oft gemm'd by Pity's tear,
Let their owner never fear;

Staines.

They'll surely please."

A FEMALE BOOKWORM.

MEMORANDA DRAMATICA.

DRURY LANE.

APRIL 7.---The Sailor's Daughter; the production of Mr. Cumberland, a gentleman who has given several excellent dramas to the stage, and many that deserve a very different epithet. Of the present attempt we cannot speak in favourable terms. It has the same fault with many of his late comedies. It exhibits the story of a modern novel, in feeble sentimental dialogue, without the support of dramatic situation, or any originality of comic character. We were once or twice charmed with a thought newly imagined, and a sentence elegantly turned; but the impression thus made was soon effaced by the general meagreness of the plot and dialogue, the loose construction of the scenes, and the total absence of spirit, humour, and novelty, from all the characters. There was some opposition on giving it out for a second performance, and after five or six unattractive representations, it was altogether laid aside,

16.---The Hypocrite, written originally by Cibber, under the title of The Nonjuror, to expose the cant of the Puritans in the time of Cromwell, and altered by Bickerstaffe, with a view to guard the world against another set of religious canters of a more modern date, was revived for the benefit of Mrs. Jordan, who undertook the character of Charlotte. This part, like many others which this lady has lately assumed, is not within the compass of her talents, and the selection of it was therefore very injudicious. The other characters afforded nothing worthy of particular notice, except Miss Pope's Old Lady Lambert, and the Cantwell of Dowton, which was indeed an excellent piece of acting. A new farce called The Middle Dish; or, the Irishman in Turkey, succeeded; but it was a dish so little to the taste of the audience, that it was speedily removed from the table, never more to be served up.

23.---Mr. Bannister performed Charles, in the School for Scandal, for his benefit. We remember him in it some years ago, at the Haymarket, for Miss Farren's benefit; he plays it with spirit and effect, if not with all the ease and elegance which the character certainly requires. After the comedy, Mr. Colman's Review was acted for the first time at this theatre. Bannister was highly whimsical in Caleb Quotem; the other novelties were Collins and Mrs. Jordan, in John Lump and Grace Gaylove. Loony Mactwolter again appeared in his true native humour, in the person of the unrivalled and inimitable John

stone.

COVENT-GARDEN.

MARCH 24.---Mr. LEWIS presented this evening, for his benefit, a new broad comedy (a fresh distinction in dramatic christening) called The Will for the Deed. It comes from the rapid and never-tiring pen of Mr. T. Dibdin, and to those who can enjoy a hearty laugh, without too rigidly examining into the souree of it, this hasty, but ingenious and whimsical Olio, will afford a most delectable treat. The country manager, whose conversation is made up from the titles of plays, and the pseudo-herald-painter, who deals in mottos, like Mrs. Malaprop's hard words, "so ingeniously misapplied without being mispronounced," are very humourous sketches, and the other characters are distinguished by