Belfast, and some other Irish theatres. The loss of Mrs. Bellamy (formerly Miss Grist) will be severely felt, being a charming actress in both tragedy and comedy. Mr. Bengough is a most useful performer; there is scarcely a tragedy, comedy, or farce, in which he does not appear, but does but play second-rate tragedy, and though he has many faults, he is much liked. Mr. Penson is a low comedian, not to be equalled by any performer out of London; his comic humour seems easy, and, though still known as Mr. Penson, he is still the character he assumes, and has as little rest as Mr. Bengough; the town has been apprehensive of losing him, but I believe he remains in the company at present. Mr. Ward's gout has, these two seasons, disappointed this gentleman of giving his friends so good a treat, on his benefit night, as he could have wished; but they put up with it; he treats them every time he appears.

Mr. Gordon has always been a great favourite, he has been thrust into genteel comedy, which he performs pretty well, but his forte is in country boys, characters like "Spatterdash," &c. He joins Mr. Bellamy. Mr. Richardson is musical, and in many characters, both tragedy and comedy, may be seen with pleasure; but lately we have seldom seen him to advantage; he is not so much to be blamed for this as the manager-He too, I understand, is engaged elsewhere. Mr. Mills was engaged at our theatre as dancer and harlequin, but Mr. Ward has found him a very ready substitute, when he (as is frequently the case) is taken ill as soon as his name appears in the bills of the day. He has performed Young Sadboy," "George Howard," " Sir Andrew Aguecheek," "Slender," and several other characters with tolerable credit; and next to his unrivalled performance of "Tike," in " the School of Reform," stands his "Colin M'Leod," in "the Fashionable Lover, or true-born Scotchman ;" it is the best performance of a Scotch character I ever witnessed; it is true he is frequently very inanimate, and this is, perhaps, his greatest fault; he is successful in clowns and countrymen, and is a useful performer. I understand he is engaged, for one night, at Birmingham, and several other places, to perform "Tike" and "Solomon Lob." I am sorry this gentleman's dancing should be laid aside. Mr. Chambers sings a very good song, but as a performer he is but moderate. Mr. Davies has something very disagreeable in his manner, voice, and every thing about him, yet has lately been thrust into the character of Lord Lumbercourt, Lord Duberly, &c. Mr. S. Davies has not any thing to recommend him but a good figure. Mr. Benwell is an industrious performer, and seldom displeases; he performs low characters, and is a tolerable singer, and has exhibited his son, a boy about eleven years of age, in Tom Thumb, and several other boy's characters: he played Petruchio for his father's benefit in a very able manner. Mr. Bland, Mr. J. Bland, and Signior Cipriani, are excellent dancers; and, with Miss Bland, have, for two seasons, largely contributed to the entertainment of the public: they perform the parts of servants, &c. when unemployed in dance or pantomime. Cipriani is an excellent clown, and Mr. Bland a good harlequin.

Mrs. Ward is an excellent performer in Mrs. Siddons' line, and Mrs. Bellamy in Mrs. Jordan's, except that she is not musical; at least, she never sings on the stage, though, I understand, she sings tolerably well. Her figure on the stage is beautiful, and her loss to the company will be almost irreparable; as, according

to the present rules of the management, no performer of equal merit could be procured for double the largest salary given. Miss Ward is an agreeable performer in comedy, but, like her sire, is very seldom to be seen. She has played Letitia Hardy, the Widow Cheerly, Amelia Wildenhaim, &c. and has been much praised in Cinderella. Mrs. Bland is a performer in the old woman's line, and generally succeeds so far as to get laughed at. Her performance is tolerably good. Mrs. Hatton is an actress of great ability and versatility, and a tolerable singer; and, however some of your correspondents may have ridiculed our "Townsman," his remarks and admonitions to this lady have not been lost; they were given gently, and taken "in good part." She is extremely nice in dressing her characters, and but for her being so very lusty, would always look them well. She is of great value to the company. Miss Jackson, I understand, vainly supposes herself a better singer than the above lady, but it is but vanity! She is seldom seen, as an actress, but with dislike, and her songs are tiresome, yet she is thrust into genteel and sentimental comedy, and even tragedy. Of Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Chambers little need be said; the former appears but seldom, and the seldomer the latter appears will be quite as satisfactory to the town as her playing, (especially if she must play Cora, and other characters of this description). Mrs. Huddart and Mrs. Swendall seldom perform. Mrs. Penson and Mrs. Bengough do but perform servants and other trifling characters, and are (the former especially) tolerable.

Next season we may expect Mr. Young, (mentioned in my former paper) to take the management with Mr. Ward; and it is sincerely wished he may have more authority respecting the business of the theatre than Mr. Bellamy had, otherwise we shall be little bettered by his coming.

Our theatre is very much too small, and a new one, much larger, is spoken of being erected, but is not yet begun. If we had a larger theatre, certainly the benefits would induce performers of the first professional merit to our town, that is ever ready to encourage ability in performers, and common liberality, on the part of the managers, who, it is positively asserted, lay by near £.1500 a year, out of the poor receipts of the house!

I have (Mr. Editor) been very full in my account of our theatricals, but hope you will excuse it. As our critics "Townsmen," "Arguses," and "Observers," are all lulled to rest, the readers of your magazine, and lovers of theatricals in this part of the country, must be in want of information, and, by inserting the above in your magazine, you will oblige,

Manchester, 21st August, 1805.

Yours, respectfully,

A CONSTANT READER.

Theatre BIRMINGHAM.-Miss MUDIE, the little girl who has been so much encouraged in Ireland, played a few nights here, but she was by many pronounced a counterfeit. Cooke, who is assuredly no counterfeit, has returned from Manchester, and is playing among other things, Lord Hastings, Mr. Oakley, and Petruchio. Mrs. Glover is engaged for the remainder of the

season.

Theatre-Royal GLASGOW.-In consequence of a prior engagement at Belfast, Mrs. Siddons could only perform three nights. The characters she assumed were Jane Shore, Belvidera, and (for her own benefit) Lady Macbeth. I need scarcely add she filled the house; it was uniformly crowded to the cieling. But on the night of her benefit, such was the anxiety to gain admission, that many forced their way, or were rather carried by the crowd, into the pit and boxes, in spite of the door-keepers. From this circumstance the receipts fell short of what the house contained. The money taken was £.207: 17; but had all those paid who were in the theatre, it must have amounted at least to £240. Her Lady Macbeth was so classically correct, that hypercriticism itself could find nothing to cavil at; there was not " a loop to hang a doubt on."

Immediately after this lady's departure, the benefits of the regular performers commenced, and, in general, with indifferent success. The following is an accurate statement of the various plays, sums, and order in which they took place. With the exception of Mr. Rock, each shared his small modicum with the ma£.

nager.

These gentlemen had a weak night, and, being immediately after Mrs. Siddons, we could scarcely expect them to succeed.

Mr. Rock (She stoops to conquer, Miss Hardcastle by Miss
Duncan, the only night of her performing)

205

Mr. Dwyer (West Indian, the last night of the company's
performance)

22

Our theatre closed on July 26, the company leaving this town to perform in Edinburgh during the race-week. They will return here, however, in a short time, reinforced by Mr. Henry Johnston, and after him by that histrionic wonder, the Young Roscius. The campaign, upon the whole, has been very unpro ductive for the manager. It being the first season of the new theatre, the pulse of public expectation beat high---We expected first-rate performers, and exertions on the part of Mr. Jackson corresponding to the extent of the undertaking but unfortunately the company has been only very inferior, and alas!

"These old fellows

"Their blood is cak'd, 'tis cold, it seldom flows,
"And nature, as it grows again toward earth,

<< Is fashion'd for the journey, dull and heavy.”

The inconvenient construction of the house, too, has operated much against the interest of the manager. The internal arrangement, in the opinion of many, is most egregiously blundered by the architect. The performers cannot pitch their voice so as to be heard distinctly in the galleries, in consequence of echo. On the other hand, the audience in the galleries can scarcely see the stage, even when seated in the second rows from the front; and a place where one can nei❤ ther hear nor see is but ill adapted for amusement. But I hope the committee of management will lose no time in rectifying errors so obvious, and prejudicial to the interests of both Mr. Jackson and the subscribers. In making necessary al

S-VOL. XX.

terations, they may rely on being liberally supported. Glasgow is the second commercial city in the British empire, and its manufacturers and merchants have ever shewn themselves able and ready to execute any measure that has a tendency to promote the conveniency of their fellow citizens, or the prosperity of their country. I am &c.

MERCUTIO.

Glasgow, 16th August, 1805. Theatre Royal NORWICH.---Our company usually musters here in the assize week; during their stay this time, we have had several new pieces performed. The Honey Moon is very well got up. Bowles, in the Duke, and Mrs. Aickin, in Juliana, played in very capital style. We have also had Colman's new comedy, Who wants a Guinea? Fitzgerald's Sir Larry, and Noble's Solomon Gundy, were two of the best supported characters in the play, which, by the bye, I think not the best of Colman's productions. Since the company left us, a Mr. and Mrs. Tayleure, Mr. Mann, and Mr. Vernon, have joined us. From the short time of their stay, it is impossible to say much as to their respective merits. As I can add nothing more at all interesting respecting our company, I shall fill up the rest of my paper with a few brief remarks on a letter which appeared in the Mirror for April, signed Veritas, who, at the request of several "judicious persons," was induced to scrutinise my remarks. If Mr. Veritas knew the meaning of the signature he adopted, I think he would be rather more cautious in his observations, as he seems sometimes rather to "miss the mark" of truth. To go no farther than his first paragraph: Bowles, he asserts, does not possess great merit as an actor; and, to prove this assertion, affirms that " Shakspeare's soulinspiring language issues from his lips without effect." It is rather singular, therefore, that, out of three characters, which he says Bowles plays the best, two of them should be Shakspeare's. But it is still more singular, that out of the three characters which he confesses Bowles performs well, one of them he never played at all, at least in Norwich, and another of them never but once. So far for the correctness of Veritas! He ventures to draw a most sagacious inference in the next sentence, viz. that "want of animation and heaviness of figure," do not in general" suit light and airy parts." I don't know how Veritas, or any of his "judicious friends," could so accurately estimate Faulkner's abilities from a performance of three nights only, nor do I know in what characters he was to render himself so eminently useful; certainly in none of those he played at Norwich. Veritas admits Bennet to be " a useful actor," yet tells us that he cannot sing, and that," when he attempts other business, it is forced and unnatural," in plain English, that he can neither act nor sing; yet he says Bennet " generally understands what he is about." So far for the consistency of Veritas! Whence the elegant expression of "a wiry strut" was derived, or what is meant by it, I really am quite at a loss to imagine. Veritas and Co. cannot conceive how Noble and Jackson come to be compared. I believe there is nothing so very unusual in comparing two actors who perform precisely the same cast of characters, nor can I think it presumption, in any one who understands what good acting is, to find fault with Noble's buffoonery.

With regard to what I said about Hindes, if Veritas will or can disprove any one of the observations which I made on his management, let him: till he can do this, let him not say that the manager has been undeservedly censured.

Veritas seemed to expect that I should immediately reply to his letter. From such an antagonist I certainly had not much to dread, let him not therefore attribute my silence to fear, but to the true cause, which was my unwillingness to occupy a page in the Mirror solely in replying to what in fact needed no answer. August 12th, 1805. W. C.

DOMESTIC EVENTS.

A machine has been constructed by an ingenious farmer at Newtown Cunningham (Ireland), which, with the assistance of a horse and two men, will in seven hours thrash upwards of 150 stooks of barley or beetle; 50 stooks of flax in a day. The expence of the apparatus does not amount to more than six guineas. Sir John Anstruther, has signified his intention of resigning the chief justiceship of India; and Sir Wm. Russell, senior puisne judge, is expected to succeed him.

The following curious paragraph is taken from an American paper:-" At a court of Oyer and Terminer, held at the city hall of the city of New York, on the 15th of June last, a Frenchman, named Louis Hardi Le Blanc, was tried and found guilty of forging notes of the bank of the United States. A Philadelphia paper affirms-" that the prisoner professed himself to be a near relation (first cousin we believe) to his Imperial Majesty Napoleon, Emperor of the French; and that he had remonstrated in a letter to one of the magistrates against the jurisdiction of the court; threatening, at the same time, to appeal for redress to the affection and magnanimity of his illustrious relation !"-True American.

INDUSTRY.-On Monday, the 8th July, two lads of Limerick, Cornelius Dogherty and Edmond Dalton, apprentices to ladies' shoemakers, commenced to work the entire week for a wager, no part to be done by candle light, the work to be inspected by their respective employers, and none to be accepted but fair, saleable work; when, after the week's contest, ending Saturday evening, Dogherty proved victorious, having made forty-four pair, and Dalton fortythree. Dogherty's wages, at 20d. a pair, would amount to £.3 13s. 4d.

The patrons of boxing matches, without whose encouragement these violations of the peace would seldom occur, have much more mischief to answer for than appears at first sight. It is not in the waste of their own fortunes-it is not in the wounds, or even in the deaths of the fellows they maintain, that the calamity ends. The great evil of them is the attraction of (thousands of the middle and lower classes from their occupations, who lose, together with their money and their time, their respect for all lawful industry, and their disposition to useful employment. The match appointed for Saturday, July 20, drew many hundreds from London, during Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. At this time their minds were occupied upon an infringement of the laws, and their admiration excited by the mere prevalence of brutal force. What a very short step