Dramatic Censor. der kind; but in those songs, which are distinguished by eloquence of thought and that ardour of feeling that is kindled by a nice sense of right and wrongwhich turn upon the great subjects of a nation's welfare, and are addressed to the ears of patriot citizens, a person of much enthusiasm and a somewhat martial imagination, would easily outstrip in his expectations, the utmost powers of Mr. Phillips' voice. Nevertheless, it is a delight to hear him; and there is one. excellence, in which we have never known his equal-that is, distinctness of utterance. As an actor, Mr. Phillips holds a respectable rank; and his Seraskier, Belino and Orlando, are pleasing exhibitions of histrionic talents. In regard to the permanent members of the Thespian corps, little new is to be said. Mrs. Barnes has, on some occasions, displayed fine talents before very thin houses; Miss Johnson has, we think, improved, both in singing and acting, and is gaining upon the good opinion of the audience; and Mrs. Baldwin, who is certainly able in her cast of characters, has added to her praise by singing a song in the Midnight Hour, so finely as to be most cordially encored. We have not yet had opportunity to witness the performance of "Touchstone, or The World as it goes;" but generally the male performers have had but little occasion to exercise their best talents during the recent abdication of Tragedy and Comedy in favour of Opera, and we should be glad if some plan could be fallen upon to leave those legitimate sovereigns in possession of the stage, and at the same time permit the "sweet singers" to remain. BRITISH THEATRICALS, The following account of the scene which was exhibited on the occasion of Mr. Kemble's retiring from the stage, which we have taken from a London Magazine, is calculated to impress us with great respect, both for the actor and for the audience. For the actor that in that elevated path which he ever trod, he should have so wonderfully excelled; for the audience that they had not only the discernment to discriminate that excellence, but the sense to appreciate it. The performer whose utterance and action can give full force to the conceptions of Shakspeare, must share largely in the best boons of nature and education, and will always command the regard and the veneration of the lovers of genins. The only way to produce actors of the character and eminence of Kemble, is, whilst we bow before his worth, to look down with scorn upon the coxcombs who Von. -No. 11, 27 129 have the impudence to ape his manner, with- COVENT GARDEN THEATRE. The only circumstance worthy of remark between our last report and the closing of this house for the season has been the retirement of Mr. Kemble from the stage. This the performance of Coriolanus for his own event took place on the 23d of June, after benefit. proach surpassed every thing of the kind on The interest excited by its apsimilar occasions. The whole of the boxes and places which could be secured had been taken a fortnight before; and in their anxiety to witness the last appearance of this great actor, numbers began to collect round the entrance of the pit so early as twelve doors was in consequence tremendous, o'clock. The rush on the opening of the though not productive of any serious acci dent, and the house was instantly filled. Never did Kemble perform the arduous part of Coriolanus with more energy and grandeur, and his unabated professional powers served only to add to the public regret for the immediate loss of his exertions. The audience eagerly seized every passage in the play that justly valued favourite, and marked them could be applied to the situation of their with enthusiastic applause. Between the acts an address to Mr. Kemble, printed on a folio sheet, was circulated through the house. A copy of it printed in gold letters upon white satin, encompassed by a border of fanciful ornaments embroidered in gold, and accompanied by a superb crown of laurel, sented at the conclusion. At the fall of the was handed to the front of the pit to be precurtain, placards were exhibited in different parts of the pit and galleries, inscribed with this further manifestation of the public wish, "No farewell for ever from Kemble." Owing to a misconception that these were designed address, murmurs immediately arose. to prevent Mr. Kemble from delivering any this circumstance only afforded an additional But proof of public esteem. The idea that a prevention or disrespect was intended, occasioned some tumult, although it soon appeared that the audience had but one wish and opinion. A short but anxious interval ensued. The curtain was again drawn up; a grand street of Rome, which forms a principal scene in the tragedy, was displayed; and Kemble, in the Roman costume, in which he had performed Coriolanus, came forward. One of those lofty public edifices which adorned the capital of the ancient world rose behind him. The impression produced by this unison, on such an occasion, was deeply felt. It appeared as if Kemble, the Roman spirit, the Roman grandeur, and Rome itself, were about to disappear from the stage, and leave a chasm which could no more be filled. The ties of sympathy which had for more than thirty years bound him to all that was great and noble in the drama, and knit him as it were into the heart of the public, were about to be at once, and it was to be feared, for ever, dissolved. Those who had seen his outset in their youth, felt in his retiring the interests of the past, the present, and the narrow future, crowded into the single moment. Several long and continued thunders of applause rendered it impossible for him to be heard for some time. At length in a faltering voice, and often interrupted by his feelings, he addressed the audience : "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have appeared before you for the last time." (Here he was interrupted by loud cries of " No, No," from all parts of the house.) He then resumed, "I come now to close my long professional career." (He was again obliged to stop by loud cries of "No, No-No retiring-No farewell for ever.") This tumult of applause and the reiterated proofs of public esteem affected him to tears, and rendered him still less capable of collecting firmness. When he proceeded his tone was broken and his countenance agitated.-' Ladies and Gentlemen, I do not wish to trespass on your time-I feared I should not have sufficient fortitude for this occasion-and it was my wish to have withdrawn in silence from you" (loud cries and applauses :)" but I suffered myself to be persuaded, that if only from old custom, a few words would be expected from me at parting." (Renewed applauses.) "The invariable kindness with which you have ever treated me, from the first night of my coming forward as a candidate for public favour down to this painful moment, will be eternally remembered with gratitude. Such talents as I have been master of have always cheerfully been exerted in your service; whether as an actor in the character allotted to me, or as a manager, it has ever been my ambition to add to the splendour and propriety of the drama, and more especially to exert myself to give effect to the plays of our divine Shakspeare. (Loud applause.) On every occasion, permit me to say, all my efforts, all my studies, all my labours have been made delightful to me by the constant applause and approbation with which you have been pleased to reward them. (Applauses.) Ladies and Gentlemen! I must take my leave of you, and I now most respectfully bid you a long and unwilling farewell." At these words he bowed with much agitation, and amidst a repetition of enthusiastic applauses and cries of regret from all parts of the house, hastely withdrew from the stage. The copy of the address on white satin and the crown of laurel were then delivered to the celebrated French tragedian Mr. Talma, in the orchestra, with a request that he would fling them upon the stage. This was done, and Mr. Fawcett, the stage manager, was summoned to present them to Mr. Kemble. As an additional mark of honour to the valued favourite, the audience forbade any after. piece: and the performance of the night was closed in compliance with their wishes. Here follows a correct copy of the address printed on the satin scroll, which is from the energetic pen of Mr. WILLIAM CAREY: ΤΟ JOHN PHILIP KEMBLE, ESQ. OF THE THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT GARDEN. Sir,-After having so long received from the display of your eminent abilities, the greatest degree of gratification and instruc tion, which the highest class of histrionic representation could bestow, we think upon the near approach of your intended farewell to the stage with sentiments of deep concern, and if possible, an increase of respect. In justice to the interest of the drama and to our own feelings we would fain postpone the moment of a separation so painful. Fitted by the endowments of nature and by classical acquirements, by high association, and the honourable ambition of excellence, you have for upwards of thirty years dignified the profession of an actor by your private conduct and public exertions in the British capital. We beheld, in your personification the spirit of history and poetry united. In embodying the characters of Shakspeare and our other dramatic writers, you were not contented to revive an outward show of their greatness alone :-the splendour of an antique costume-the helmet and armourthe crown and sceptre-all that pertains to the insignia of command are easily assumed. When you appeared the habit and the man were as soul and body. The age and country in which we live were forgotten. Time rolled back a long succession of centuries. The grave gave up its illustrious dead. Cities and nations, long passed away, re-appeared; and the elder brothers of renown, the heroes and statesmen, the sages and monarchs of other years, girt in the brightness of their shadowy glory, lived and loved, and fought, and bled before us. We beheld in you, not only their varying looks and gestures, their proud march and grandeur of demeanour ; but the elevated tone of their mind, and the flame of their passions. We mean not here to enumerate the various characters in which you have shone as the light of your era: but we may be allowed to say that you excelled in that which was most excellent; that wherever the grandeur of an exalted mind was united with majesty of person; whereyer the noblest organ was required for the noblest expression; wherever nature, holding up the mould of character, called for an impression from the most precious of metals, there she looked to KEMBLE as her gold; there you shone with pre-eminent lustre. In the austere dignity of Cato, the stern patriotism of Brutus, the fiery bearing of Coriolanus, and the mad intoxication of Alexander, you transported your audience in imagination alternately to Greece, Rome, or Babylon. Seconded by the well painted illusion of local scenery, you seemed every where in your native city: every where contemporary with the august edifices of the ancient world. In you some of those great characters lived, and we cannot conceal our apprehensions, that when you withdraw, we shall lose sight of them for a long time, and as life is short, perhaps for ever. In expressing this sentiment we feel a warm respect for every actor of genius. A mind like yours would be wounded by any compliment that was not founded in the most liberal sense of general desert. It is an additional merit in you to have obtained distinction in an age of refinement, and from a public qualified to appreciate your powers. A small light shines in darkness; but you have flourished amidst a circle of generous competitors for fame, whose various abilities we admire; and in whose well earned applause we proudly join. They behold in the honours which your country pays to you, the permanence of that celebrity which they have already so de your servedly acquired, and a sure pledge of the future honours which await the close of their professional career. We, therefore, earnestly entreat that you will not at once deprive the public of their gratification, and the stage of your support. We entreat you not to take your final leave on the night named for last performance. All we ask is, that you will consent to perform a few nights each season, so long as your health will permit. We adjure you to grant this request, by your own fame-an object which is not more dear to you than it is to us, and we confidently rely upon your respect for public opinion that you will not cover us with the regret of a refusal. We have spared the annexation of signatures as inadequate and unnecessary, even if our numbers and restricted limits permitted that form. The pealing applause of the audience, each night of your performance, and the united voice which accompanies this, are the best attestation of the public sentiment. Monday, June 231, 1817. ART. 11. MONTHLY SUMMARY OF POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE. EUROPE. GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. THE HE British government continue to maintain neutrality, in regard to the contest between Spain and her SouthAmerican provinces; although it is stated that supplies of officers and troops, in considerable numbers, well furnished with arms and other warlike stores are fitting out in England, and that toward the latter end of September more than 3000 muskets, with equipments for infantry and cavalry in proportion, were inspected by the agents of the Spanish patriots, and shipped to South America. Accounts continue to represent the demand for English manufactures increasing, particularly in the East-Indies, and South America, and so much so, that the price of wool has advanced 25 per cent. It is estimated that the importation of flour from the United States into Great Britain within a year, has amounted to near $15,000,000. The City of Liverpool alone is said to have imported about 500,000 barrels at an average price computed at $13 to $14 per barrel. From the annual accounts, up to May, 1817, it appears that the receipts of the East-India Company, for the year immediately preceding, amounted to £9,928, 932; the payments, to £9,824,116, leaving a surplus of £104,816. The debts of the company are stated at £13,395,651, and its property is valued at £24,289,002, which leaves a balance in favour of the company of £10,894,851. Mr. Ellis of Barming, the largest hopgrower in England, commenced picking the 8th of September, and employed two thousand seven hundred persons to gather in his crop. Subscriptions have been taken in England for cutting a canal to connect the eastern and western seas. The London Waterloo committee have placed at the disposal of Marshal Blucher 200,000 rix dollars for the benefit of the Prussian sufferers, besides £10,000 for those who lost their natural protectors by the battle. The king of Prussia has acknowledged the receipt of these donations in a grateful manner. The English papers contain an account of a whale found in the Solway Frith, which had been driven on the sand. It was cut to pieces and carried ashore. Another whale had got aground between Staxigo and Wick, near the Bothaven, measuring 66 feet five inches in length. The carcass was claimed by Sir Benj. Dunbar, as lord of the manor, and by the Provost of Wick, on the part of the erown. Owing to the dispute the animal remained undisturbed until a heavy gale of wind tore his carcass to pieces, part of which was driven to sea. On the 1st of Oct. the entire military force in Ireland consisted of seven regiments of cavalry, and twenty-five regi ments of infantry, exclusive of artillery, The board of commissioners of excise in Ireland, have given notice to the collectors of customs, that in future they are determined to prosecute to the utmost rigour of the law, all attempts to defraud the revenue, notwithstanding the respectability of the shipper or consignee. FRANCE. The liberal party is said to have succeeded at the late elections, in France; and in the department Seine, which comprehends Paris within its limits, seven out of the eight members chosen for the Chamber of Deputies are said to have been of that party. The number of deputies elected this year amounts to sixtythree. M. A public subscription has been opened in Paris for the support of the liberty of the press, and to defray the expenses of such writers as may be prosecuted for the freedom of their discussions. Lafitte, governor of the Bank of France, and the Duke of Broglie, member of the chamber of peers, are to receive and apply the monies. The French appear to be growing very restless under the superintendence of the allied powers, and several persons concerned in a very extensive plot, with the insignia of L'Epingle Noire, i. e. the black pin, who were prosecuted under the pretext that their object was to expe! Louis, appeared, upon trial, to have had in view simply the expulsion of the allied troops. It was stated, by the king's attorney, that the numbers of these discontents, were 80,000; the lawyers of the accused supported their cause with great boldness, and the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. It is expected that this year's budget in France will be heavier than the last, and it is attributed to the payments which are to be made on account of the claims of the allied powers. It is understood that the Admiral of France, the Duke of Angouleme, has been employed in inspecting the coasts and ports of Brittany, and the western departments. The cabinet of Louis is composed of the following members: the Duke de Richelieu, Gouvion St. Cyr, Pasquier, Caze, Laine, Mole, and Corvetto, all of whom, except Richelieu, held high stations under Bonaparte. A meeting of the two chambers has been summoned, and a number of new peers and deputies will take their seats. The chamber of peers will consist of two hundred and eleven, of which sixty four will be dukes, (and among them are Prince Talleyrand and all the dukesmarshals of Bonaparte,) forty-nine marquises, eighty-six counts, six viscounts, and six barons. Upon examination into the amount of the imports and exports of the varas ports of France, for 1816, it has been found that commerce has increased, porticularly in the cities of Dunkirk, Cherbourg, Havre, Brest, L'Orient, Rochefort, and Toulon. The imports are valued at forty-two millions one hundred and fiftyone thousand, five hundred and eleven francs, and tho exports at twenty millions, one hundred and four thousand, nine hundred and sixty-two francs, leaving a balance in favour of the imports of twenty-two millions, forty-six thousand, five hundred and eighty-five francs. From the table of deaths and births, prepared by the twelve municipalities of Paris, it appears that in 1816, there were nineteen thousand eight hundred and one deaths, and twenty-two thousand three hundred and sixty-six births. SPAIN. I Letters from Spain state that the troops destined for South-America, and sent down to Cadiz and other ports of 10 Andalusia, have been recalled into Estremadura, government not having the means to subsist and pay them in the districts in which they were first ordered to assemble. By a treaty ratified between the king of Spain and the allied powers the reversion of the duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, now possessed by the ExEmpress, Maria Louisa, is secured to the infant Don Charles Louis, son of the queen of Etruria, sister to the king of Spain, who is in the mean time to receive the states of Lucca, with certain stipulations, till the reversion vests. Spain is making an effort to restore its naval and military strength, and large orders for naval and artillery stores have been sent to England. The coast of Spain and Portugal is said to be greatly infested by insurgent privateers, who have made many important captures. ITALY. The Spanish and Neapolitan governments, as well as Sweden and Sardinia, have solicited of the Porte the liberty of navigating the Black Sea. It is said that the Turkish government demands a very high compensation for the privilege. It is settled that the marriage of the hereditary grand duke of Tuscany, with the princess Maria-Ann, daughter of a Monthly Summary. the king of Saxony, is to take place in the latter part of October. Letters from Naples, of Aug. 12th, state that "Prince Henry of Prussia, visited yesterday the American Admiral's ship Washington, of 74 guns, where he was eived and entertained with great ceremay by Commodore Chauncey." The D t day the prince gave an entertainment to the American commander on shore. r. NETHERLANDS. The conferences recently held at the Hague, for the conclusion of a treaty of commerce and navigation, between the kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States of America, have been postponed until the American ministers have received ulterior instructions from their government. this, Mr. Gallatin has returned to Paris. In consequence of The prices of corn in Holland and Flanders, have advanced considerably, notwithstanding the favourable harvest; and government has interfered to prevent monopolies and speculations. It is stated that of thirteen thousand five hundred and forty-four births in North Holland, during the year 1816, one thousand three hundred and sixtyeight were illegitimate. A plan for a new palace for the king of the Netherlands, at Brussels, has been accepted, and the work is to commence immediately. The expense is estimated at three to four millions of florins. GERMANY. The Austrian Archduchess Leopoldine, who embarked at Leghorn on board the Portuguese squadron, for the Brazils, to join her intended husband, the prince royal of Portugal, put into Cagliari, in consequence of a storm, and the fleet was obliged to send to Genoa and Leghorn for a new supply of provisions. The emperor and empress of Austria had arrived, September 6th, at Zalantha and Hennanstadt, in Transylvania, on a tour through their dominions. province is a fine country, somewhat That similar to the north of Italy. Its climate, soil, vines, waters, and rich mines, render it one of the most interesting portions of the Austrian monarchy. The emperor has recently granted a patent of nobility to an eminent merchant of Vienna. During the last summer twenty-five vessels descended the Danube, having on board seven thousand Wirtemburg emigrants. The following, on the authority of the Frensh Calendar, are the states which 133 compose the Germanic confederation :--Hesse-Philippstral; Branch of HesseBaden, Hesse-Electorate, Branch of Rothenbourg; Hesse-Darmstadt; Branch of Hesse-Homburg; Luxembourg; Holstein; Holstein Oldenbourg; MecklenSaxe-Weimar; Brunswick; bourg-Schwerin; Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Saxe-Gotha ; Nassau ; Saxe-Cobourg-Salfeld; Saxe-Meinungen; Saxe-Hilburghausen ; Anhault-Desau; Anhault-Bernburg; Anhault-Coethan; Schwartzbourg-SonderHohenzollern-Hechingen; Lichtenstein; Schwartzbourg-Rudolstadt ; Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; Waldeck; Reus-Greitz ; Reus-Schleiz; Lippe hausen ; Schaumbourg; and Lippe-Detmold. Under Bonaparte the Confederation of the Rhine included, besides the above varia, Wirtembourg, Saxony, WestStates, the Principality of Ratisbon, Baphalia, Berg and Cleves, Neufchatel, Wurzbourg, Salm-Rysbourg, IsenbourgBristen, Aremburg and Lingen. It is represented that a complete union Lutheran and the Reformed Churches. has been effected in Bavaria between the In Munich and Bamberg the pastors of the two sects preach alternately to the same flocks. been prohibited, by an order of the Court The young men of Lombardy have of Vienna, from resorting to any foreign permission from the government. No country for their education, except by similar prohibition exists in the Austrian States. stands on the field of battle something side of ALEXANDER. His Serene Highness, the reigning Duke of Anhalt-Dessau, Leopold Frederick August last, in the 77th year of his age, Francis, died at Dessau, on the 19th of and the 61st of his reign. He was born ceeded his father, Leopold Maximilian, on the 10th of August, 1740, and suctherefore, reckoning the years of his on the 10th of December, 1756; he was, reign, the senior Sovereign of Europe. PRUSSIA. Much political discontent is said to be growing up in Berlin and other parts of Prussia, and societies are forming for the purpose of procuring a constitution founded on principles of liberty. |