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But oh! denied the sad delusive wind,

They hop'd would yield their Lycid to their breast,

His youthful honours to the waves consign'd,

And early blew them to the realms of rest.

Oh! had what ancient bards have sung been true;
Had Genius still the pow'r to soothe the storm,
Harmless had been each blast that round thee blew,
And safe and sacred, 'midst its rage, thy form.

What though no marble urn thy relics bear,
To teach correctly where our griefs to pour,
Thy tomb of waters still shall have the tear,
Soft as it floats along the winding shore.

Still shall Remembrance chaunt thy glowing song,
And, smiling, dwell on each harmonious line;
Shall round thy lyre, neglected and unstrung,
'Mid flow'rs of fame, a fun'ral wreath entwine.

Since, then, that tuneful hand no more doth glow,
And Fate has stopp'd the sounds that breath'd divine,
May those who lov'd thee, Lycid, living, know
To bear the sorrows of a loss like thine.

Ah! while they linger yet another hour

On life's extended, rude, tempestuous strand, Waiting th' expected gale to waft them o'er, And clasp their wanderer in a happier land ;

Oh! may Religion lull the sigh to rest,

Teach them to prize the devious ways of God;

To know that every act of his is best,

To clasp, to kiss with tears, and bless his rod.
Dec. 12, 1795.

J. C***

STANZAS.

BY MISS HOLFORD,

'Tis noon, and the cool-breathing zephyr is fled,
And the dew-drop no longer besprinkles the thorn;
I fly from the sun-beam that scorches my head,
And sigh when I think on the beauties of morn.

3 F-VOL. XVI.

For oh! vanish'd morn, as I feel thee depart,

I know that life's loveliest season is o'er;

Like thy shades each soft vision is quitting my heart,
And I know that these visions shall glad it no more!

Yet why should I mourn? On my opening mind
Thought early intruded her lessons severe ;
E'en in childhood I ponder'd the precepts unkind,
And mingled the revels of youth with a tear!

Sport on then, ye triflers-enjoy the gay beam,
Nor remember the shadows of ev'ning must fall,
When its splendours shall perish, like yesterday's dream,
And silence and night shall envelope ye all.

For me, as the pageant glides by, I can smile,
Since few are the pleasures Time pilfers from me,
And Hope of its terrors my breast shall beguile,
As I welcome the sentence that bids me be free!
Chester.

MEMORANDA DRAMATICA, &c.

DRURY-LANE,

OCT. 29.-The Wife of two Husbands was announced for this evening, but deferred, for the reason assigned in the following words, at the bottom of the bills: "The public are most respectfully informed, that the attendance of many of the performers upon military duty, in the volunteer corps, having rendered it impossible to produce the new musical drama, entitled The Wife of two Husbands, this evening; the piece is therefore unavoidably deferred till Tuesday next.”— We insert this as a curiosity in theatrical annals.

Nov. 1.-The Wife of two Husbands.-A translation, or rather adaptation, to the English stage, of a piece very much applauded in Paris, called La Femme de deux Maris, by Mr. Cobb, a gentleman to whom the modern theatre has been considerably indebted, and whose knowledge of dramatic effect, and musical taste, have rendered him very successful in operatic compositions. The principal interest of this musical drama arises from the perplexity into which a female is thrown by the sudden appearance of a worthless husband, long supposed dead, soon after her second marriage with a man of rank and merit. We totally forget the names of these characters. With the first and legal husband she had eloped against her father's consent, which almost breaks the old man's heart: he falls into decay, and becomes blind. In this state he is afterwards discovered

by the daughter, who, though despairing of his forgiveness, watches over him in secret, administers to his necessities, and does every thing in her power to promote his comfort. The eclaircissement between them is attended by many affecting circumstances, much in the style of the German drama, from which the French writer, if he may not immediately have borrowed his plot, has certainly derived most of his materials. The intruding spouse, who had propagated the report of his own death from pecuniary motives, is challenged as a deserter, and owes his life to the interference of the second husband. This act of generosity, so far from impressing him with a sense of gratitude, instigates him to further outrages. In the attempt to murder his benefactor, he falls a victim, by a pantomimical trick not very probable, but certainly very effective, to his own treacherous device. With the death of this man (Fritz we believe is his ugly name) the piece concludes. The daughter is reconciled to her father, and the second husband is glad to find himself at liberty to retain his wife. The comic characters consist of an English sailor and an Irishman. How the author contrived to associate them with such company we could not discover, nor do we suppose it is necessary to enquire. There is plenty of loyalty between them, and, at the present moment, we must admit that as a sufficient substitute for wit and humour.

Though it is impossible to apply any serious criticism to a piece so inconsistent in plot, and improbable in incident, it must be allowed, upon a comparison with similar efforts, to have very fair pretensions to the public favour. The interest is, in some of the scenes, natural and powerful, the dialogue is creditable to the author's talents, and we do not believe that any other writer would have converted the original subject to a better, if so good a purpose.

The music is delightful: the overture is full of science and taste, and the chorusses are remarkably bold and grand, It is the composition and selection of Mazzinghi. The performers could not have exerted themselves more zealously, or with better effect, particularly H. Johnston, Wroughton, Johnstone, Bannister, junr. Caulfield, Mrs. Powell, Miss De Camp, Mrs. Bland, and Mrs. Mountain. A pleasing pastoral divertisement is introduced in the first act, in which the elegant taste of Byrne is very discernible, and the exertions of his infant prodigy rent the house with applause.

12.-Scapin in Masquerade.-A sort of sequel to Otway's farce of the Cheats of Scapin; and, like Otway, the author had written his piece in three acts; but the audience, after listening with some impatience to two, relieved the actors from the trouble of concluding the last.

19.-Hearts of Oak.-Mr. Allingham has not been so successful in the present attempt, as in his Marriage Promise of last year; but the comedy possesses, upon the whole, a great share of merit, and does not detract from his ability as a dramatic writer. Mr. Allingham has ventured, in one or two instances, beyond the line of safety, and, in the laudable endeavour to present originality of cha racter, has given the picture rather too high a colouring. O'Bradley and Ten per Cent. do a little "o'erstep the modesty of nature;" but we have a much higher opinion of a writer who, though he may fail in the accomplishment of his object, aims at bold novelties, than of the timid dramatist, who merely follows his predecessors, and repeats "the same dull nauseous tale," which, having the sanction of prescription, can of course excite no disapprobation. The character

of Ardent is very happily executed; a man of harsh manners, with a heart full of benevolence and pity. There are several interesting situations in the course of the play, which made a powerful appeal to the sensibility of the audience. Towards the conclusion, some disapprobation arose, but it soon subsided, and the comedy was repeated several nights.

It was perhaps injudicious, at this period, to give such a title to a play that had neither characters nor incidents which bore allusion to the navy. Another animated philippic against the Corsican upstart was spoken by way of epilogue, Mr. Graham has been named as the author. The lines are energetic and poetical.

DEC. 5.-The Caravan-to which, on the succeeding night, on account of the eclat with which the principal performer was received, was added the second title of the Driver and his Dog, was brought out on this evening, and honoured with the most unbounded applause.

"The business arises out of the attempts of Don Gomez, Governor of Barcelona, to prosecute the Marquis of Calatrava, a Spanish nobleman of great bravery and worth. The Marquis would have perished, had it not been for the benevolence of Blabbo, the person appointed to drive the Caravan in which he was conveyed to prison. But the principal personage is the driver's dog, Carlo, who attracts a great deal of notice from the beginning of the piece, and at last performs an exploit that will render him famous in the annals of the drama The Marchioness of Calatrava, with her infant son Julio, has fallen into the power of Don Gomez. Refusing to yield to his passion, a soldier seizes the boy, and plunges him from a precipice into a river below. A large piece of real water, with two liquid cascades tumbling into it, is actually exhibited upon the stage. Into this Carlo leaps intrepidly from the rock, lays hold of the boy, and swims with him on shore. The unjust Governor is deposed, and the parties are made perfectly happy."

The texture of the piece is but slight, but the ingenuity of Mr. Reynolds has rendered it sufficiently interesting and diverting, and the mechanist and the scenepainter have ample opportunities of contributing their attractive aid to it. The effect of the last scene is quite nouvelle, and it is impossible to describe the sensation excited in the audience by the exploit of Carlo. No actor was ever saluted with louder acclamations than this canine hero from Newfoundland.,

The music is among the best of Mr. Reeve's various compositions. We have seldom been more delighted than we were with the tender air sung by Mrs. H. Johnston, and the song by Miss De Camp, with the castanet accompaniment.

This piece has already been prodigiously attractive, and must long continue to draw crowded houses.

The enthusiasm with which Carlo is nightly received, suggested to us the article inserted in the miscellaneous department of this number, in honour of his sagacious species; to which we refer our readers.

COVENT GARDEN.

Nov. 19.---Merchant of Venice.---Mr. Kemble performed the Merchant, (for the first time) to Mr. Cooke's Shylock.

20.--(By command of their Majesties.)---Measure for Measure---was' revived, after a lapse of twenty years, at this theatre; several of the principal cha

racters by the performers who so lately sustained them at Drury Lane. The chief novelty in the performance was Mr. Cooke's Angelo, to which, as usual, he gave a bold and original colouring. The Duke, we perceived in the bills, is, for the first time, called the Duke of Austria. The reason for this change we do not know. Mr. Kemble may have given him the denomination upon good grounds---but we are no advocates for unnecessary innovations upon Shakspere. It is quite sufficient for the purposes of the drama, that the Duke is understood to exercise the sovereign power in Vienna.. It would, indeed, be an endless task to correct Shakspere's historical and chronological deviations, many of them made intentionally, and the attempt, if practicable, we think would be arrogant and unwarranted.

25.---Henry V. and Arthur and Emmeline were performed for the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd's, to a house not very crowded. Mr. C. Kemble spoke an Address to the Volunteers, in the uniform of the Westminster Cavalry, of which corps he is himself a member. The lines were as admirably delivered as they are elegantly and forcibly written. They come from the pen of Mr. Boscawen, the translator of Horace.

DEC. 1.---John Bull.---Mr. Rock having gone to his engagement in Scotland, the character of Dennis Brulgruddery was undertaken by Mr. Waddy, and performed with so much humour and address, as to leave no expectation or wish of the audience ungratified. He was greatly applauded throughout every scene of the character.

6.---Love laughs at Locksmiths was performed for the first time at this theatre, but, upon the whole, in a style so very inferior to the Haymarket representation, that it would perhaps be for the interest of the proprietors of both theatres to discontinue it.

12.---Macbeth.---Macduff, for the first time, by Mr. Cooke, and Hecate by Mr. Incledon. The other performers have so frequently appeared in the same characters, that we should exceed the limits of these hasty Memoranda, were we to dwell upon the representation. Incledon, in the singing part of Hecate, is finer than any other person within our recollection. Mr. Cooke is not well qualified for Macduff, but he was yet very successful in some of the prominent passages. The omission of the ghost at the banquet, excited a tumult in the galleries, which totally spoiled the effect of the scene. In our fifth volume,* we offered several remarks upon this subject. Mr. Kemble adopted the present method on the opening of the new Drury Lane theatre, probably, in consequence of the well-known lines in Lloyd's Actor; but we could never approve of the omission. That Shakspeare meant the ghost actually to appear, there is no question; and this authority should be deemed decisive, unless the introduction of it were productive of effects so ludicrous as materially to injure the drama. This is not the case---the gravity of a few individuals may sometimes be a little disturbed by the ascent of the ghost, but we have remarked that the impression upon the audience, in general, has constantly been weakened by his absence, and we are perfectly assured that the Ghost of Banquo, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, has been one occasion of the great popularity of this tragedy. The argument goes for nothing (which we have heard advanced) that if the ghost appears, the guests must see it, as well as Macbeth. The Queen, in the closet scene of

* Vide pages 112, 170, 301.

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