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donations: an actress, whom talents and good fortune have equally confpired to place in the car of Melpomene, diftinguished herself by the gift of three pieces, viz. two fhillings and one fixpence !-Soon after, at the rehearsal of a new tragedy, a queftion arofe upon the tiara or head-drefs beft adapted to the heroine of the piece-when the late Mr. Palmer drily, and perhaps undefignedly, obferved, that nothing would in his. opinion be fo truly characteristic, as a femi-coronet or half-crown!-A rifible titillation became contagious, and the pleasantry was never forgiven. The following lines refulted from the circumstance:

TO MELPomene.

Rhet'ric's full fcope, Expreffion's mimic aid,
Are thine, great miftrefs of the scenic art!
While confcious Nature, of her pow'r afraid,
In pity to mankind, denied-a heart!

GIDEON JUVENAL, JUNIOR.

SONNET,

ON THE REPRESENTATION OF BELVIDERA, BY MRS.

SIDDONS.

[From the True Briton.]

SHADE of that bard whofe bold yet tender muse
Poor Belvidera's "glorious faith" defign'd,.

What Fancy form'd we now embodied find-

Lo! Siddons equals thy fublimeft views.

Hence thou thine erring judgment muft accufe,
That gave to Jaffier fo unfirm a mind
As fuch exalted paffion could not bind,

And bade him all its fad, fond claims refuse.

Hadft thou foreseen a Siddons for the part,

Thou wouldst have made him fcorn Ambition's ftrife; Careless of wealth, defpifing factious art,

He would not meanly have deferted life,

Rich in his Belvidera's glowing heart,

But brav'd his fate with fuch a matchless wife.

I

T.

ECONOMY.

ECONOMY.

[From the Morning Herald.]

The nightly allowance of young Benfon, who plays the Child in Pizarro, having been reduced from a crown to half a crown, the following Epigram on the occafion was handed about the Green-room:

WHEN fell Pizarro Cora's infant feiz'd,

Great Rolla, mindful of his high renown,
Refcu'd the babe, its hapless mother eas'd,
But kept the young Peruvian from a crown!

TO MR. KEMBLE,

ON SEEING HIM IN THE CHARACTER OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH (PART II.).

[From the British Prefs.]

WHEN Bolingbroke (weaken'd by fickness and age)
Lectur'd Hal, he spoke feebly, no doubt;

But when Shakspeare brought forward this scene on the stage,
He meant that the King fhould Speak out.

His precepts fo wife, and his maxims fo clear,

Do

In paufes and whispers you fmother:

you think 't is not right that the Audience should hear
All that paffes 'twixt you and your brother?

We know that you ftick very clofe to coftume,
But here close to character too;

For because you are fick i' th' Ferus'lem room,
You put on the face of a Jew.

At your mantle fo fine, and your chin so befmear'd,
We laugh, when we ought to look grave;

Either give ev'ry one of your actors a beard,
Or elfe (please your Majefty) fhave.

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SKETCH OF MR. KEMBLE AS AN ACTOR.

BY JOHN TAYLOR, ESQ.

* * * * * * * *

To clofe in order due, our long career,

See Kemble march majestic and fevere;
Fraught with uncommon pow'rs of form and face,
He comes the pomp of tragedy to grace.
Fertile in genius, and matur'd by art,
Not foft to fteal, but ftern to seize, the heart,
In mould of figure, and in frame of mind,
To him th' heroic fphere must be affign'd.
Auguft or daring, he adorns the ftage:
The gloomy fubtlety, the favage rage,
The fcornful menace, and the cynic ire,
The hardy valour, and the patriot fire-
These fhew the vigour of a master's hand,
And o'er the fancy give him firm command;
As Richard, Timon, and Macbeth proclaim,
Or ftern Coriolanus' nobler aim.

Nor fierce alone, for well his pow'rs can fhew
Calm declamation and attemper'd woe;-
The virtuous Duke who fway awhile declines,
Yet checks the Deputy's abhorr'd defigns,
And, in the fov'reign or the faintly guife,
Benevolently juft, and meekly wife;
The Dane, bewailing now a father's fate,
Now deeply pond'ring man's mysterious state;
Tender and dignified, alike are feen-
The philofophic mind and princely mien.
When merely tender, he appears too cold;
Or rather fashion'd in too rough a mould:
Nor fitted love in fofter form to wear,

But ftung with pride, or mad'ning with defpair;
As when the loft Octavian's* murmurs flow
In full luxuriance of romantic woe.
Yet where Orlando cheers defponding age,
Or the sweet wiles of Rofalind engage,
We own, that manly graces finely blend
The tender lover and the foothing friend.

The Mountaineers.

Though

Though Nature was fo prodigally kind
In the bold lineaments of form and mind,
As if to check a fond excefs of pride,
The pow'rs of voice fhe fcantily fupplied:
Oft, when the hurricanes of paffion rife,
For correfpondent tones he vainly tries;
To aid the ftorm, no tow'ring note combines,
And the fpent breath th' unequal task declines.
Yet, fpite of nature, he compels us ftill
To own the potent triumph of his skill,
While, with dread paufes, deepen'd accents roll,
Whofe awful energy arrefts the foul.

At times, perchance, the fpirit of the fcene,
Th' impaffion'd accent, and impreffive mien,
May lofe their wonted force, while, too refin'd,
He ftrives by niceties to ftrike the mind;
For action too precife, inclin'd to pore,
And labour for a point unknown before;
Untimely playing thus the critic's part,

To gain the head, when he fhould fmite the heart.
Yet ftill muft candour, on reflection, own
Some ufeful comment has been fhrewdly fhewn;
Nor here let puny malice vent its gall, T
And texts with skill reftor'd, new readings* call;
Kemble for actors nobly led the way,
And prompted them to think as well as play.
With cultur'd fenfe, and with experience fage,
Patient he cons the time-disfigur'd page,
Hence oft we fee him with fuccefs explore,
And clear the drofs from rich poetic ore,
Trace, through the maze of diction, paffion's clew,
And open latent character to view.

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When genuiue wit, with fatire's active force,
And faithful love purfues its gen'rous course,
Here, in his Valentine, might Congreve view.
Th' embodied portrait, vig'rous, warm, and true.
Nor let us, with unhallow'd touch, prefume
To pluck one fprig of laurel from the tomb;
Yet, with due rev'rence for the mighty dead,
'Tis juft the fame of living worth to spread :
And could the nobleft vet'rans now appear,
Kemble might keep his ftate, devoid of fear;
Still, while obfervant of his proper line,
With native luftre as a rival fhine.

IMPROMPTU

ON SEEING MR. STEPHEN KEMBLE IN FALSTAFF [From the Morning Chronicle.]

WITH mind as enlarg'd as his ftature,

WIT

And heart quite replete with good nature,
Yet fatire enough to affright;

Friend Stephen, a princely good fellow,
Who rocks like a first rate when mellow,
Presents oft a whimsical fight."

In arm-chair when gaily reclining,
Quaffing, laughing-his wit fprightly fhining,
He makes our fides shake all the night.
Their rammers laid down when he's walking,
Paviours blefs him as homeward he's ftalking;
Great Stephen's the paviour's delight.

New Inn.

W. D.

ON THE POPULARITY OF THE GREAT MR.

S. KEMBLE

IN THE CHARACTER OF SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.

A.

[From the Oracle.]

4. THE Newcastle Wight

Draws thousands each night

To fee Sir John-without fluffing :-

B. Without ftuffing he may

Draw crowds to the play;

But, hark ye, Jack-not without puffing!

Quiz.

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