J827.] 



Monthly Theatrical Report. 



317 



fore the audience night after night. Why 

 does the ingenuity of the ingenious mana- 

 ger," himself a man of taste, and a poet, 

 puffer the talents of the most dexterous 

 comedian of his school to be thus humi- 

 liated ? Why not produce some spirited 

 sketch of English character, some gentle- 

 tnau-Hke performance, in which an edu- 

 cated audience can take some kind of in- 

 terest. No man could do it more easily 

 than the manager. 



The "Serjeant's Wife" is the popular 

 afterpiece. It is taken from a newspaper 

 anecdote of ages ago, since published 

 among the hideousness of Irish Ro- 

 mance ; and finally turned into French 

 location and character by the theatre. 

 The plot is merely the introduction of a 

 French soldier's wife with an old fellow- 

 traveller into a ruined chateau, where an 

 attempt is made by the inhabitants to cut 

 the old man's throat. Miss Kelly, the 

 best melo-dramatist since the brilliant 

 days of Miss Decamp, plays terror, 

 anxiety, poisoning, and the sight of mur- 



der in perfection ; but the whole concep- 

 tion of the crime is too real for the stage. 

 The regular steps of the throat-cutting 

 scene, shock the audience, and every one 

 is glad to discover that no blood is actual- 

 ly running under the curtains. The piece 

 has an interest, but it is a forbidden, re- 

 pulsive wnlheatrical interest ; and though 

 we hate "licencers" we should almost 

 hare wished that the same policy which 

 prohibited the display of ThurtelPs ca- 

 tastrophe, for the benefit of the suburbs, 

 had relieved us of the Irish-French assas- 

 sination in the Strand. We were sorry 

 to see Miss Kelly looking so more than 

 melo-dramatically thin ; she ought to for- 

 swear murder till Michaelmas, and go to 

 the country for the benefit of the legi- 

 timate drama to come. The character of 

 this house for music is cleverly sustained 

 by " The Freebooters," an opera of Paer. 

 Mere music, with but the usual tyrant, 

 lover and lady of the Italian Opera, but 

 on the whole various, gaeeful, and, though 

 long, not very exhausting. 



WORKS IN THE PRESS, AND NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



PREPARING FOR THE PRESS. 



Lady'Morgan's new work, the O'Briens and 

 the O'Flaherlys, is on the eve of publication. 



A complete Collection of the Parliament- 

 ary Speeches (corrected) of the Right Hon. 

 George Canning, with an Authentic Memoir, 

 which have been some time in the press, will 

 very shortly be published, illustrated by a 

 correct and finely executed portrait. 



A Portrait of Lady Gruntley is being en- 

 graved by Meyer, from a painting by Sir W. 

 I3eechey, which will form the Thirty-fourth 

 of a Series of Portraits of the Female Nobility, 

 in the course of publication in La Belle As- 

 semblee. 



The Literary Annuals for 1828 are all in a 

 state of great forwardness. The Forget Me 

 Not, The Amulet, and The Literary Souve- 

 nir, announce fresh attractions, and additional 

 interest to their former numbers. There will 

 be two or three new ones this season. 



A Defence of the Missions in the South 

 Sea andSandwich Islands, against the charges 

 and misrepresentations of the Quarterly 

 Review, in a letter ad dressed to the Editor of 

 that Journal! 



Rev. Dr. Pye Smith has in the Press a 

 New Edition, very much enlarged, of his 

 Discourse on the Sacrifice, Priesthood, and 

 Atonement of Christ. 



The Horticultural Society of London will 

 commence a Periodical Work on the 1st of 

 October, to he called the " Pomological 

 Magazine." 



Mr. Ventonillae has in the press a Trans- 

 lation into French of Bishop Wutson's Apo- 

 logy for the Bible. 



Mr. Thomas Easton Abbott, of Bridling- 

 tpn, has a Poem in hand, entitled, the " Sol- 

 dier's Friend," Sacred to the Memory of the 

 late Duke of York. 



The Memoirs and Correspondence of the 

 late Admiral Lord Collingwood, are very 

 nearly ready for publication. 



A Second Edition of " The Coronation 

 Oath" considered, with reference to the Prin- 

 ciples of the Revolution of 1688. By Charles 

 Thomas Lane, Esq., of the Inner Temple. 



Mr. Alex. Irving, of Guildford, is about 

 to publish a Latin Grammar, with Exercises 

 in construing and composition. 



Dr. Hibbert is in considerable forwardness 

 with the System of Geology, which he has 

 many years been preparing for publication. 



Mrs. West, Author of a Tale of the Times, 

 <fcc., has in the press a New Novel, entitled 

 " Ringrove," or " Old Fashioned Notions/ 

 in 2 vols. 



Dr. Scully has nearly ready for publication, 

 Observations on the Climate of Torquay and 

 the Southern part of Devonshire generally, 

 comprising an Estimate of its Value as a 

 Remedial Agent in Pulmonary Disorders, 

 &c. 



Transactions of the Literary Society of 

 Madras, 4to v with plates. 



Mr. Thomas Maule, Author of Bibliotheca 

 Heraldica, is preparing. 



LIST OF NEW WORKS. 

 AGRICULTURE. 



The British Farmer's Quarterly Magazine, 

 devoted entirely to Rural affairs. No. 4. 4s. 



