In darkest colours-touches most uncivil- Satire a weakness in it's ftrength displays, On your difcernment he has built his truftYour fentence will be as your taste is-just. As EPILOGUE. WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR. SPOKEN BY MRS. BULKLEY. S through the town, the play-bill of to-day, 'Midft news and muffins, politics and tea! Was ferv'd at breakfast, a loud buz began, And thus the chatter of the morning ranOld Gripus, noddling o'er the accustom'd dofe Of faffafras, with fpectacles on nose, Reads-At the theatre-What's that to me? Stay! ftay! The Lawyer!-What, a comedy! Shame on the fhameless licence of the age; Expofe grave characters upon the stage, That fools may laugh at better men and wifer! How could that blockhead, Fielding, write the Mifer? The spendthrift heir, upon his fopha yawning, Cries (half awake)-Hey, what's the play this morning? The Lawyer! Plague! muft even our diverfions Teem with writs, bonds, poft-obits, and reverfions! If laws, indeed, were made with due refpect meant To ferve old griping fathers with ejectment; Such wholefome ftatutes I could ne'er refift, Though now I break all laws-but Hoyle's on whift. Let me have places,Rice-cries Mifs-to-night: Yet, what's the play? The Lawyer-Oh, the fright Had't been The Officer-for they despise And form'd a difh that fuited to their tafte: Hail, facred Science! whofe true-painted woe Bids the pure ftreams of genuine feeling flow; Whofe hallow'd impofition (heavenly art!) Softens, expands, improves, the human heart; To turn deftruction from Britannia's fhores: W. F SHAKESPEARE AND VOLTAIRE. CLAA BY MR. HOLCROFT. LAD in the wealthy robes his genius wrought, In happy dreams was gentle Shakespeare laid; His pleas'd foul wandering through the realms of thought, While all his elves and fairies round him play'd: Voltaire approach'd, ftraight fled the frolic band, (For Envy's breath such sprites may not endure) He pilfer'd many a gem, with trembling hand, Then ftabb'd the bard to make the theft fecure! Ungrateful man! tho' vain thy black defign, Th'attempt, and not the deed, thy hand defil'd; Preferv'd by his own charms, and spells divine, Safely the gentle Shakespeare flept, and smil'd! EPIGRA M. BY THE SAME. T PUBLIC AMUSEMENT S. HAYMARKET. HE commencement of the benefits at this Theatre has produced a fhoal of morceaux dramatiques in the prefent month: nor has the rage for novelty been at all unattended to, in the mean while, by our difcerning little manager, who has introduced, during the fame space of time, two new-manufactured after-pieces, on the houfe account. Of each of these productions we shall give fome account; as much, to the full, as we think them entitled to. Indeed, to say the truth, we are fick, quite fick,' of the modern drama; which all men of fenfe too plainly perceive, has been rapidly on the decline fince the demife of Garrick. On the 12th of Auguft, in compliment to the Prince of Wales, who then compleated his twenty-first year, Mr. Colman produced a new mufical After-piece, in two acts, written by Mr. O'Keefe, and called The THE fable of this little piece, which turns on a fingle incident, is extremely fimple. Prince of Arragon having conceived a violent affection for Seraphina, the daughter of Don. Leopold, in order perfectly to fatisfy himself of the difinterestedness of her regards, affumes the character of his friend Frederick. Under this difguife he waits on the young lady, and informs her, that he is commiffioned by the Prince of Arragon, who having feen her picture is become enamoured of her perfon, to find out the lovely original, and negotiate a treaty of marriage. As this intelligence apparently excites but little emotion in the fair Seraphina, he takes occafion to mention that the prince intends vifiting her father in the evening. Accordingly, in a subse quent fcene, he appears mafked; and, on an interview with Seraphina, affects great aftonishment at difcovering her to be the lady whose picture he had fo greatly admired. After which, expreffing great indignation at the pretended per acknowledging the deception he had practifed, the whole concludes with their marriage. It is eafy to fee that Mr. O'Keefe has had his eye on that delightful dramatic poem, the Elfrida of Mr. Mafon, in the conftruction of this plot. Don Leopold is reprefented as a whimsical old gentleman, ftrongly attached to his rural feat; and Florina as a pert, forward country girl, as paffionately panting for the fuppofed pleasures of a court. The comic fituations of thefe two characters take off much of the gravity diftinguishable in the other parts of this performance, which is lefs farcical than any of Mr. O'Keefe's former pieces. Don Leopold, in particular, has a number of fmart flices at the old ftanding-difh, a court: and the house was particularly thrown into an univerfal roar of laughter, on the old gentleman's obferving, that he would not go to court, to wait upon the Prince-becaufe be fees bad company enough already! Confidering the whole as a mere temporary article, it perhaps ought not to experience the feverity of criticifm. The audience were certainly of this opinion, and it was received with applaufe. The mufic was very refpectable; and the following are fome of the beft airs. AIR.DON LEOPOLD. The court is a fountain of honour and fame, I am the man can tell you how, With your every step a bow, Firft make a mighty brag on; AIR.FLORINA. Your wife men all declare Of the things fo ftrange and rarėj fidious conduct of Frederick, he makes a formal 'Tis the myftical charms of the Je ne fcai quois tender of his heart to the young lady. Seraphina, however, though the acknowledges her gratitude to the prince for the partiality with which the is honoured, modeftly declines the offer of his hand, and confeffes her fecret attachment to Frederick, The lovely town-bred dame, Each smart fwears he ne'er fuch a beauty faw!. Say what the lovers prize, whom she begs the prince will permit her to give No; the mystical charms of the Je ne fcai quois that heart which can never acknowledge any other poffeffor. Enraptured at this declaration; the prince inftantly throws off the mask; and; VOL. III, Behold the village maid, By nature's hand array'da T With her ftockings green, and her hat of ftraw. Mr. Cook, lately a capital pewterer in London, Is love in dimple fleck, Or the roses of her cheek? and who had been fecretly promifed the knight's intereft, on condition of making him a prefent No; the mystical charms of the Je ne fcai quoi. of a thousand pounds, now arrives, for the pur AIR. SERAPHINA. Ah! fond lover, foothe thy anguish; pofe of paying his addreffes to Mifs Goodall; and, being mistaken by Lady Henpeckt for a French cook engaged a few days before, another equivoque enfues; till Sir Harry appears, and informs her ladyfhip, that the gentleman is not a cook, but a Mr. Cook, his very good friend, who is come to marry their niece. Mr. Cook being foon fatisfied that this indignity was not intended, agrees to fatisfy the officer who has the execution against Sir Harry. At this juncture, General Heartfree, who is joint-guardian with Sir Harry to his niece Mifs Goodall, arrives from Gibraltar, with a houshold entirely formed of foldiers who had ferved with him during the fiege, and is taken by Mr. Cook for the officer who has the demand on Sir Harry, which he accordingly offers to pay. Sir Harry, however, enters, and clears up the mistake; when the general defiring to fee the officer, who turns out to be his nephew, the match is concluded on, Lady Henpeckt is recommended by the general to be more prudent in her expences, Sir Harry's debts are agreed to be paid, and the piece concludes with obferving, That it is the pride of a foldier Mr. Bannifter, Jun. firft to ferve his king and country, and next his A NEW after-piece, in two acts, was Jerved ap by Mr. Wilfon*, at his benefit, among other articles which ftrongly partook of the baut-got fo much relished by modern tafie, on the 13th inftant, written by Mr. Dent, and named THE RECEIPT TAX. DRAMATIS PERSONE. Sir Harry Henpeckt Mr. Wilfon. General Heartfree Mr. Cook Mr. Parfons. Mr. Edwin. Mr. Bliffet. THE fable of this piece, which certainly might as well be called any thing elfe as the Receipt Tax, is as follows. Sir Harry Henpeckt, the uncle and guardian of Mifs Goodall, being brought to the brink of ruin by the extravagance of his lady, and in danger of having an execution in his house for a confiderable fum, fends his man Clump, a poor, fimple fellow, with a note to the officer from his ward, acquainting him that her uncle, Sir Harry, had informed her of his fuit, and that if he would take the trouble of calling, he should receive every fatisfaction in her power. Clump being told, in general terms, to carry the letter to the officer up the ftreet, immediately takes it to Colonel Foible, whom he fuppofes to be the officer meant by Sir Harry and his niece. The colonel, who is a young man of confiderable vanity, readily enough fuppofes the note to be intended for him, and immediately waits on Sir Harry. An equivoque accordingly enfues between thefe two gentlemen; Sir Harry fuppofing the colon to be the officer who has the execution against him, and the colonel apprehending that the fuit pointed at by Sir Harry relates to his niece. Under this miftake, Colonel Foible obtains the fuil fanction of Sir Harry to wait on the young lady, and try what he can do. friend. BELINDA, a young widow, who is in love with a barrifter named Hammond, has a fuit in one of the courts at Westminster, on which great part of her fortune depends. Hammond, though enamoured of the widow, from motives of extraordinary integrity, becomes the advocate for her opponent in the caufe, who he is perfuaded is juftly entitled to the eftat in question. By the addrefs and uncommon talents of Counfelior Hammond, a verdict is procured, which ftrips the object of his regards of much the greater part of her immenfe fortune. Having thus afferted the purity of his profeffion, he ex *Mr. Wilfon fpoke the Prologue to the Receipt Tax in the character of a Cook, See the Poetry in the prefent Number. plains to Belinda the injustice of the fuit, and concludes with offering her his hand. This piece is the production of Mr. Williamfon, who performed the character of Charles Powys, and is faid to be only part of a much larger plan: thus threatening us with a comedy in five acts, on a defign which by no means appears to furnish more than fufficient interest for two. written by Mr. Charles Stuart, printer of the Morning Poft, called GRETNA GREEN. DRAMATIS PERSONE. Rory, fmith, farrier, and Mr. Wilfon. Mr. Bannister. Mr. Swords. Mrs. Webb. Mifs Morris. M'Nab, as Capt. Tipperary Mr. Egan. Signora Sestini. CAPT. GORGET being on his return from Gibraltar, writes to Maria, whofe affections he had fecured in oppofition to the wish of her mother, Lady Pedigree, and requests her to meet him at Gretna Green, as the only means of ef fecting their union. With this requifition the complies; and arrives at the appointed place fome time before the captain, where the remains in difguife. While fhe is thus waiting for her lover, M'Nab, under the feigned name of Captain Tipperary, comes to this fpot of connubial freedom, with a Mifs Plumb, whom he has decoy MR. Jewell prefented, at his benefit, on the 23d inftant, what the bills call a Dramatic Proverb-an unmeaning term, which, with other fashions, we have lately imported from the French. It was entitled, SEEING IS BELIEVING, and is written by Mr. Jodderell, author of Widow and No Widow. The piece confifts of two fcenes only; and the author appears to have intended ferving up the two ftanding dishes of modern farce, bumbug and equivoque, in fuch an overtrained and abfurd point of view, as fully to expofe them to the contempt of the audience. In this he has wonderfully fucceeded. Every thing is moft laughably ridiculous; and though it is fo diftant from nature, and fo broad in it's abfurdity, the whole is pleasant, and the audience enjoy it as much, and for the fame reafon, as they do a pantomime. An old gentle-ed, by the affiftance of her Italian governels, man, who is conftantly fancying himself ill, and who is the dupe of quacks, is perfuaded by his fervants and daughter that he has loft his fight The room is darkened to give effect to the ftratagem. An oculift is fent for; and, in this ftate, the old gentleman figns a promise of giving his daughter in marriage to Captain Nightfhade. The darkness of the fcene, the impofition on Credule, and the circumftances that impofition produce, compofe all together fuch a whimfical medley of incidents, that their effect on the muscles is irrefiftible, and criticifm is drowned in laughter. Perhaps, however, this whimfical piece of drollery could not have fuftained itself on the ftage, if it had not been remarkably affifted by the very excellent performance of the actors, every one of whom kept up the laugh with uncommon spirit; fcarce giving us leifure to reflect how oddly we were amufed, and obliging us to be merry rather than wife, and fo illuf trating one proverb under the fanction of another. On Wednesday the 27th inftant, Mifs Bannifter made her firft appearance on the stage, at her father's benefit, in the character of Amelia in the English Merchant. Mifs Bannister difplayed many natural requifites for this undertaking; but wanted, as might be expected, the last polish and refinement of art. Her deportment appeared rather embarraffed, and conftrained; but her figure is pleafing, her countenance expreffive, her voice mufical, and her elocution juft, varied, clear, and articulate. On the whole, fhe appears a refpectable branch of her theatrical family, and feems likely, with proper attention, to become a valuable addition to the theatre. On the 28th inftant, Mr. Colman prefented the public with a mufical after-piece in two acts, from her parents in the city. A little difference, however, taking place between Mifs and her captain, he determines to address a widow lady just arrived, who proves to be Lady Pedigree, come in fearch of her daughter; and accordingly makes her an immediate tender of his hand, affuring her he is a man of family, and promifing to prevent Maria's marriage. On this the old lady partly confents; but Captain Gorget arriving, and the parties meeting, Tipperary proves to be a Scotch fervant of Gorget's, who had robbed and left him while in London. The old lady, happy at this narrow escape, consents to the union of the lovers; and, at the interceffion of Maria, the impoftor is fuffered to escape unpu nished. This fubject has before been touched with more elegance, by the present Laureat, in a little piece, exhibited fome years fince at Drury Lane, un der the title of the Trip to Scotland. It was, how ever, well received, and feveral of the fongs were encored, particularly that which defcribes the fiege of Gibraltar, fet by Dr. Arnold, and fung by Mr. Bannister. The rest of the mufic is old. The following are the most favourite airs; which are in the true ftile of Mr. O'Keefe, whofe manner is to the full as clofely imitated in the dialogue and conftruction of this dramatic bagatelle, AIR. MISS PLUMB. In nature's hue, With red and white, and Olympian dew, Eliott's lightnings and thunders, Like Jove's bolts, did wonders! With fhot red hot Don Moreno was torn. open, it may not be improper to express our idea of the drama fomewhat more fully than it can well be collected from our occafional ftrictures, And here we could willingly indulge to a very confiderable length, if the nature of our plan would admit of a more enlarged difcuffion, The stage is faid to be the mirror of the times; and, taken in a general view, it perhaps really reprefents the true prevailing features of the people. But there is, we are of opinion, a property in which the drama very importantly differs from a mirror: the fpectators often receive their features from the ftage. Confidered in this Fight, (and we fhall not hastily be induced to give up our opinion that it is a true one) the Manager of a Theatre is a more important character than is perhaps generally fuppofed. If a frivolity prevails in our public amufements, this will, we appre On the hills the fpectators with grief rend the fky! hend, be likely to induce a frivolity of manners Their fhips are all on file: Hark, what shrieks! fome expire! Up they blow! Up they blow! And thoufands now go To the bottom, low, low, low! in the people who are thus entertained. And that thefe amufements are not to be excufed, under the pretence that the age is too depraved to accept of thofe of any other defcription, is fufficiently evident, from the universal applause which conftantly attends the very few noble Whilft wreck'd hundreds, defpairing, for fafety and virtuous fentiments met with in modern loud cry; For fafety out cry; For fafety out cry, And they find it in Curtis's humanity. AIR. SIGNORA. FROM GIORDANI. From branch to branch the feather'd pair Fly chirping fweet the pleafing ftrain; The cares of love their only care, And pallion foothes their heart-felt pain. Hark! liften to the nightingale, Whofe mellow notes falute the fpring! AIR. RORY. Lovely bottle, warms my throttle, Makes me niddle noddle queerly! She is my doctor, and my nurse, When by the middle I feize my wife, Lovely bottle, &c. As the fummer theatre will clofe in the courfe of the enfuing month, and the winter theatres performances. The truth feems to be, however hu miliating it may appear-degrading it certainly is not that the public in this refpect exactly refemble children: conftantly place before them, in your own conduct and precepts, (both, or either) an infignificancy or bafeness of conduct, and they will too generally adopt them; on the other hand, affiduously recommend integrity, virtue, and honour, and the odds are very confiderable that they will well repay your attention. We confefs, we greatly efteem COMEDY, but it must be good comedy; that is, contain novelty, (if it be called new) character, moral, natural fituations, and genuine wit, humour, and fentiment. Perhaps, however, when TRAGEDY preponderates, the ftage is in it's moft defirable fituation, if judged by those who wish to fee it what it ought to be the school of virtue and honour. If, as we have fome faint reafon to hope, the celebrity of Mrs. Siddons, and the introduction of her brother, Mr. Kemble, on the London ftage, of whom report fpeaks loudly, fhould induce Mrs. Crawford and Mifs Younge feriously to enter the lifts; and, above all, if Mrs. Yates fhould be prevailed on to exhibit true dignity, native elegance, and claffical propriety, for the information and advantage of rifing genius, as well as for the amufement of a grateful public, who never beheld her but with admiration and applaufe; we may expect to fee the tarnished luftre of the stage by degrees wear off, and the public tafte again too much refined, for an au dience to fit patient fpectators of fuch illiterate pieces of buffoonery as would abfolutely do no great honour to the exhibitions at Bartholomew Fair, even in it's prefent degraded ftate, It might feem invidious to point out particular names; but, furely, there are no inconfiderable number of dramatic writers, as they are called, who feem abfolutely unacquainted with the common rules of English grammar, Such grofs indignities to |