wrens 
: Li See 
[Nov. Ll, 
THEATRICAL REVIEW AND MUSIC. 
UR space does not permit us, this 
month, to enter into theatrical details, 
or even to fulfil our promise of analyzing 
the merits of the new tragic actor, Mr. 
Warde, who is expected to occupy the sta- 
tion vacated by Mr. Young at Covent Gar- 
den. We shall only say, therefore, that 
with his Brutus, in “ Julius Cesar,’ we 
were, upon the whole, so well satisfied, as 
to think that, in this instance at least, the 
Shakspearian drama had sustained no loss 
in the exchange. Mr. Warde appeared to 
us to have hit the true temperament of the 
character, and to have sustained, at once, 
the mild benignity and the dignified firm- 
ness of the stoic hero and patriot the au- 
thor has so finely conceived. The equa- 
nimity which belongs to the greater por- 
tion of the part was so strictly preserved, 
that, during the earlier scenes, we had little 
opportunity of appreciating any thing but 
the judgment of the performer ; but of the 
first test of more energetic powers (the 
speech “ No—not an oath’), Mr. W. 
availed himself in a manner that did him 
much credit. We mayeyen say, that we 
do not remember ever to have heard the 
fine sentiments of that speech more cor- 
‘rectly or impressively delivered ; and the 
_effect which it produced evidently gave a 
confidence to the performer, the conse- 
quences of which were advantageously felt 
through the remainder of the performance. 
Mr. W. has since appeared in the widely 
different character of Rob_Roy, and report 
speaks favourably of him in this also: but 
circumstances have hitherto prevented us 
from seeing and judging for ourselves. 
A Mr. Fitzharris will haye made here 
his first appearance on the stage, in the 
character of Othello, before our publication 
day ; but not before this article has gone 
to press; and a Mr. Serle (or Searl), of whom 
still higher expectations are formed, is to 
appear in the first line of tragedy when the 
season is somewhat more advanced. Both 
these gentlemen are engaged for three 
years. The tragic corps of Covent Garden 
‘bids fair, therefore, for being strong in male 
performers; but what are they to do for 
actresses ? 
At Drury Lane, nothing has been pre- 
sented that invited serious criticism, but 
the temporary experiment of substituting 
Mr. Booth in the vacated place of Mr. 
Kean; and, as that has been abandoned, 
criticism would now be out of place. We 
shall obserye, however, that nothing can be 
more unjust than the hypercriticism which 
impeaches Booth as an imitator of Kean. 
“Nature, indeed, seems so far to have 
imitaled herself, as to have’ cast them 
‘in the same diminutiye mould, and to have 
given to both some pertion of the same 
croaking huskiness of voice ; and both have, 
in some degree, the same fault, of trusting 
too much to their own rude energies, anc. 
paying too little respect to the refinement 
and meliorations of study and intellectual 
culture. But Booth’s style and concep- 
tions are nevertheless his own; and are 
sometimes brilliant and powerful, though 
too frequently obscured by coarseness and 
vulgarity. Drury Lane should not, how- 
ever, have parted with him, till it had got 
something better. : 
At the Haymarket, a Mr. James Vining 
has made a successful debut, and has played 
with applause, the characters of Octavian, 
in Colman’s crazy compound of broad-grin 
bombastic extravagance, and incredible ro- 
mance, “ The Mountaineers ;’’ and of Totla, 
in Sheridan’s adopted, and not less extrava- 
gantly bombastic melo-drama “ Pizarro.” 
The line of parts selected by (or for) Mr. 
J. V., does not speak highly for his taste ; 
but he has manifested, at least, some talent. 
In Octavian, we did not, upon the whole, 
think him inferior to any of his predeces- 
sors, except the first—for whom the charac- 
ter, indeed, was exclusively fitted ; and in 
Rolla, if he can reform his declamation and 
his declamatory action, he may probably, in 
time, entitle himself to the same compara- 
tive estimate. Much of the pantomime of 
the part was good ; and some of the brief 
passages of emotion were delivered in a 
way that would lead one to expect that the 
elements of an actor are in him. 
——— 
NEW MUSIC. 
“ Ves; I'll gang to the Ewebughts.” An 
Answer to the popular Ballad of Marion. 
By Mrs. Miles. 1s. Goulding, D’ Almaine, 
and Co.—We had the pleasure, in our num- 
ber for August, of noticing most favourably 
a ballad by this lady (The Bonnie wee 
Wife): the composition before us, though 
of a more serious character, bears a very 
strong resemblance to its predecessor, al- 
most indeed approaching to mannerism, 
yet so beautiful is this peculiarity, that we 
should really regret its absence: we rather 
give the preference to the former song ; 
that airy playfulness in which Mrs. Miles so 
eminently excels is inconsistent with the 
feeling of the poetry. The composer has 
not attempted to imitate any of the pecu- 
liarities which characterized the genuine 
Scotch music, in which we consider she 
has proved her judgment—first, because it is 
a style which was so hackneyed about the 
end of the Jast~century in the Vauxhall 
songs, &c.;° and, secondly, as its quaint- 
nesses would not amalgamate with her own 
pleasing natural melodies, which we hope 
never to see disfigured by such imitations. 
If we have any fault to find with this air, 
it is from the profusion of accented appog- 
giaturas, which sometimes weary the ear. 
“© May Day.” A Pastoral Song. By 
J. A, Tattet, Cramer, Addison, and Beale, 
—A 
