the sorcerer overcomes this yonth, and orders him to be chained and exposed in a wild forest, to the mercy of the climate, the pangs of hunger, and the rage of savage animals. The evil deities who assist Nor, present him with a magnet, enclosed in an inchanted coffer, and tell him, that if he keeps it safe, he may depend on possessing the person of Fylla; this promise deceives him by the very performance of it, for the princess herself is in the chest, in a state of supernatural insensibility; but the sorcerer, not being suffered to see the magnet, is Jeft ignorant of its real worth and character, and seeks in vain for the prize he unknowingly has in his power. Odin, and his celestial associates, indignant at the tyranny and temporary success of the magician, deliver the captive, Harald, from the dangers of the forest, give him the form, and endue him with the powers usually attributed to the motley hero Harlequin, to the end that he may annoy, and finally discomfit, the plots of Nor, and his wizard companions. Harlequin, by his skill and agility, overcomes the obstacles which lay in his way to the magic chest, and releases the princess from it, who takes the form of Columbine, while Nor, and his attendant Corbo, are metamorphosed to the Pantaloon and Clown, as a punishment inflicted on them by their infernal masters, for losing the lady ; and it is only by recovering her, and vanquishing Harlequin, they are to regain their proper shapes. After a routine of comic adventures, pursued through various parts of Russia, Siberia, and Crim Tartary, the lovers are once more placed at the mercy of their oppressor, and re-conducted to his abode, when the vengeance of Odin overtakes the necromantic crew, encloses them in the coffer of the magnet-the hero and heroine are released, and their hands united in a splendid temple, sacred to their great protector."

The scenes are of the most charming description. Among those particularly entitled to commendation, are a Scandinavian Forest, Moonlight, and Storm of Snow, by WHITMORE; Senate House of Petersburgh, with the Statue of Peter the Great, by PHILLIPS; a Russian Garden, by HOLLOGAN; the City of Moscow, by PHILLIPS; and the Palace of the Celestials, by WHITMORE. The dresses are sumptuous and effective, and the music does great credit to those very ingenious composers Messrs. Ware and Davy. The pantomimic action is sustained by Messrs. Byrne, Dubois, Menage, L. Bologna, and Miss Searle.

JAN. 11.-The Romantic Lover; or, Lost and found.-This comedy fell a victim to party violence. Some of the characters and incidents were, no doubt, objectionable, and with the plot much fault might be found; but so determined an hostility we scarcely remember. It commenced early in the second act, and continued, almost unceasingly, throughout the performance. No discrimination was employed; it seemed to have been settled that the comedy should not succeed, and every scene, good or bad, had to encounter the same clamour and malignity. In the midst of so much noise, a fair judgment of its merits could not be formed. The first act, which we did hear, was certainly excellent. In the subsequent acts, the author appeared to have launched into some extravagances more allied to farce than comedy; but what is a modern comedy but a five-act farce? We hope Mr. Allingham will not lose all the benefit of his labours. Some of the materials will certainly bear transplanting, and, in another soil, we have no doubt, they will thrive luxuriantly, and reward the cultivator's $2

care,

PROVINCIAL DRAMA.

Theatre Royal GLASGOW.-Various causes have contributed to render the love of theatricals, in this city, on the decline. The citizens, after expending upwards of fourteen thousand pounds in building a theatre, find now, by sad experience, that it is totally unfit for the purposes intended. To point out defects minutely, would be waste of time; every article within the walls betrays the most gross and stupid professional ignorance of its projector. The house is truly "disproportioned in every part;" the architect has mistaken his calculations, “even to a full disgrace." In addition to other inconveniences, at this season, it is so dreadfully cold, that few can sit out the play. As a remedy, stoves have been erected in the pit; but they are by no means effectual: while this part of the the atre may vie, in heat, with the torrid zone, others remain cold as the atmosphere of Nova Zembla. The committee of managers have at last, however, I hear, employed some men of sound direction," to examine the whole of the premises. According to their estimate, five thousand pounds will be necessary for making the proper alterations!!

The following

Neither does our company possess any charm of attraction. is a list of the new names which have appeared since my last: Messrs. M. Gibbon, Wrighten, Knox, Mason, and Watson; Mesdames Mason, Jones, and M. Gibbon; Misses Walton and Jones. The first on the list, Mr. M. Gibbon, invariably

thunders ev'ry couplet o'er,

"And almost cracks our ears with rant and roar."

Mr. Wrighten is only a debutant, and promises fair as a sentimentalist: he attempted Richard III. but completely failed. Mr. Knox professes singing, has a tolerable voice, and a good ear, but seems entirely ignorant of the scientific principles of music. Both Miss Walton and Mrs. Mason assume the parts of fine ladies, but are very inadequate representatives. Mrs. Jones has the most merit, in her line, of any of our females: she performs such characters as Mrs. Brulgruddery, Mrs. Malaprop, and Miss Lucretia M'Tab, with great respectability. The remainder are merely tag, rag, and bobtail. I cannot describe them better than in the following parody on Shakspere.

Our deputy,

"Of unimproved mettle hot and full,

"Hath in the skirts of England, here and there,

"Shark'd up a list of landless strollers,

"For food and diet to some enterprise,
"That hath a stomach in't.".

For the decline of our theatricals, another reason may with propriety be adduced. In the whole course of the season we have not been so much as gratified with the revival of even a single old play or farce! Two new plays were indeed got up, the Delinquent and School for Friends, the former of which was dismissed from the bar, on the first night of representation; the latter has met with more friendly reception. Are these wonderful exertions calculated to gratify the dramatic amateurs, and secure the esteem of the public? Certainly not. But

a

Mr. Jackson seems to think, public approbation of small importance! His stock pieces, the Stranger, Soldier's Daughter, Mountaineers, and George Barnwell, &c. &c, take their nightly dull rounds, (in despite of remonstrance) with all the languid monotony of a repeating decimal. Public taste too has been so completely satiated by frequent Roscian exhibitions, that now, nothing but the marvellous will be listened to. "Young Men," says Bacon, "should be learners, while men grown up, are actors." What opinion would he have formed on seeing a child presumptuous enough to undertake a character, wherein man never acquitted himself with perfection!

"But why repine we that these puny elves
"Shoot into giants? we may thank ourselves:
"Fools that we are, like Isr'els fools of yore,
"The calf ourselves have fashion'd we adore;
"But let true Reason once resume her reign,
"This god shall dwindle to a calf again."

This theatre closed last night for the season. The campaign has been uncom monly unsuccessful. Indeed, for the reasons above stated, it could not be expected otherwise. On one night thirty pounds is among the largest sums taken→→ The receipts were often five, seven, nine, twelve, and fifteen pounds only. We have thirty two performers, independent of supernumeraries, and the theatre is rented at eight hundred pounds per annum. From these circumstances, however poignantly we may feel for his loss, we cannot but easily infer "who suffers." The company is gone to Edinburgh, where I wish them success; they return about the beginning of May. Then I hope to be able to transmit you a more favourable account of our theatrical concerns. I am &c.

Glasgow, 17 January 1806, A LOOKER-ON. Theatre MARKET HARBOROUGH, Leicestershire. -Our theatre (by far the best we ever had,) closed on Friday the 3d instant. The season was not at all profitable to the company, on account of its staying too long; Mr, Simms, as manager, seems to want activity; as a performer, he seldom knows a word of his part. In the early part of the season we had a Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, who, we ¦ are informed, are no inore alive to the stage. "We'll not speak ill of the dead." A Mr. Andrews is a good actor in low comedy, and would be much better, did he not give us pride for bride, Rollar, &c. We conjecture he was born in Wales, and has since lived in London. A Mr. Blandford, whom we have seen in Liverpool, in a few parts merits our greatest praise. Mrs. Blandford is a tolerable singer. Mr. Errington, though performing the principal characters, affords little promise that he will ever make an actor. His Duke, in the Honey Moon, was a poor performance. Miss Ward possesses the best figure in the company, but is an indifferent actress. Mrs. Dobbs and Mrs. Errington, late Miss Hamiltons, are much too good for such a company as this; though we think Mrs. Errington does not pay so much attention to her profession as heretofore. We were sorry

to miss a Mr. Hargrave, after a few nights; he was our best actor in tragedy, but be, alas! was not without glaring faults. Mr. Dobbs was our chief favourite; his Gossamer, and many parts of that kind, would do him credit in some of our first country theatres. As a singer, his voice is much better than we in general hfar out of London, and is much like Incledon's, but wants cultivation. We

would advise him not to attempt the heavy characters in tragedy. His Marquis, in "Fontainville Forest," was a burlesque; instead of saying, according to the author, "You to your sport again" he wisely introduced " you to the fire, and take care you don't burn your fingers;" tho' the house was very thin, this was a most unpardonable liberty. We frequently heard such things from the other performers, but were astonished and sorry to find Mr. Dobbs guilty of a similar error. I do not mention these things in malice, but in the hope that a man who may, one day, with care, be at the head of his profession, may not wantonly sport with his good name.

Jan. 6, 1806.

A CONSTANT READER.

Theatre BARNSTAPLE.-Under the management of Mr. Lee, this theatre has been tolerably successful. The company is respectable, and the entertainments have been carefully got up. Among the performers, in addition to the manager, are Messrs. Woods, Bromley, Brown, Crisp, Carleton, Frimbley, Cross, Willis, Lloyd, Whitfeld, Mrs. Frimbly, Mrs. Windsor, Miss Cooper, Mrs. Bromley, &c. A dramatic effusion, under the title of Naval Glory, or Nelson and Victory! was produced by the manager, on the arrival of the news of the glorious battle of Trafalgar, in which he delivered an eulogium on the hero of the Nile, that was received with the loudest applause, and does credit to Mr. Lee's poetical abilities.

MR. EDITOR,

THE AMERICAN STAGE.

Having for many years considered your entertaining and classic miscellany a fund of luminous criticism and elegant literature, I have seldom failed, both in England and America, to make it the occasional and favourite companion of my leisure. Among the prominent merits of the work, I have always ranked the correctness and candour of your Thespian department; but as the circle of your theatrical intelligence has been generally confined to the metropolitan, or provincial stages of England alone, I have endeavoured to contribute my mite to the support of your valuable establishment, by sending you a succinct, and, as I believe, impartial account of the most distinguished votaries of the American "sock and buskin."

The principal cities in which theatres have been erected, are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston. To these may be added some towns of inferior consideration, Providence, Salem, Portsmouth, Portland, Hartford, and the Virginia circuit, consisting of Richmond, Norfolk, and some other ininor places.

The American stage has been lately deprived of one of its most eminent supporters and ornaments. Melpomene and Thalia have mingled tears over the tomb of Hodgkinson! He was the votary of both the Muses, and equally beloved by the sister deities of the smiles and tears. As an universal actor, his versatility of talent was even more extraordinary than the astonishing powers of the late Mr. John Palmer. I have seen him with great delight in Macbeth and Ruttekin, Jaffier and Shelty, Rover and John Dory, Osmond, Vapid, Sir William Dorillon, Lord William, Seraskier, Captain Erlach, and Gradus. But, alas! all this constellation of excellence is now eclipsed; and that sun is set, which

illumined so many hemispheres! In the course of the last suinmer he performed at Providence and Newport; and in passing through the city of New York, for Washington, (where he had a temporary engagement, at a lucrative salary, for a few nights) he took the epidemic fever, and died suddenly, in the 36th year of his age, leaving two orphan female children, with little other legacy, than the kind care of that Providence, "who caters for the sparrow." The managers of Boston, New York, and Charleston, have generously determined to give them a free benefit, at each of their theatres. Mrs. Hodgkinson (late Miss Brett, of the Bath theatre, in England) died two years before him, as did soon afterwards her mother and sister, both of whom were on the stage. The family is thus extinct, except the two orphans.

Next in rank and talent is Mr. Cooper, lately of the theatre Drury Lane, and whose first appearance, you may recollect, was some twelve years since, at Covent Garden, in the character of Hamlet. He was then but an actor in the bud, notwithstanding the repeated cultivation of Holcroft. But he has since proved a thrifty germ in our soil, and if not withered by the intensity of public favour, will fulfil the hopes of those friends, who have watched his progress leaf and root. His walk is limited to tragedy, and to a few characters in comedy, Lear, &c. &c. But, in some of these, he is certainly very eminent. In Philadelphia his best character was considered to be Hamlet, but in New York and Boston the unanimous critical opinion was in favour of his Othello. He appears to be about thirty-five years of age, and is now, without any doubt, the first tragedian on the American stage. His readings, however, are not always correct; his attitudes are sometimes unnatural, and his peculiar method of expanding the palm, was never learned in the school of the Graces. He sometimes also fails in orthoëpy, but his inaccuracy here is very singular. It is perfectly sui generis; "a thing of his own," as Trudge says. In his pronunciation he often deviates from customary speech, but his emendations seldom assimilate to the fashionable or learned tongue of Bond Street, St. James's, or the University. These comments, however, are not intended to treat with levity a gentleman of unquestionable genius and rank in his profession; but we respect him too highly to flatter his foibles. He undoubtedly pursues the vestiges of Mr. Kemble, but he pursues them haud passibus æ quis. In this country, however, (as we have never seen his unexampled original) he has assumed, with great success, the classic stole and imperial truncheon of his master. At one period, about a year since, such was the fever of the public opinion, that his recent recess from Drury Lane was attributed to the intrigues and superior interest of Elliston! The insinuation was ridiculed by every man of information; but in vain, for at that moment Cooper had arrived at the achmé of his glory, and was inaccessible by salutary censure. He seemed like an eagle on his cliff, too elevated to be conscious of attack; and had an army of critics discharged all “ their paper bullets of the brain," he would never have moulted a feather of his dignity. He was right to improve the moment, but his admirers have since that time become rational, and he is now, what he ought always to have been considered, an excellent performer. He is engaged this winter at Boston, and, it is said, has no salary for his services, but, in lieu of salary, is allowed five clear benefits for his performances during the season, which continues about eight months,