360 Horcc Polonicee. , [Apkil, 



Trav. What, is this young man's name Francis Vincent Girkins? 



Vin. Yes, Sir. 



Loup. I gave the casket first to this young man, but the innkeeper, brother to his 

 father, gave such proofs that the money belonged to him that the casket was returned. 



Trav. What, Sir ! The man to vv^hom I brought the money is not an innkeeper, he 

 is a young pliilosopher. 



Loup. A philosopher ! I do not know one in this district. 



Trav. He was returning from Ispahan, capital of Persia, when he came to Poland. 



Vin. Well, Sir, I have just returned from that place. 



Trav. From Ispahan? 



Vin. Yes, it was at Ispahan I left Mr. Brinsky, a very learned man with whom I 

 travelled. 



Trav. Mr. Brinsky ! Why this is the man, Mr. Notary, to whom you must give tlie 

 500,000 florins !— Read. 



Loup. " I charge Mr. Ambrosia" — 



Trav. That is my name. 



Loup, {continuing to read) "Whose honesty is well k-no\vnto me, to deposit with the 



notary of the village of D , or the next village, 500,000 florins ; to be delivered to 



Francis Vincent Girkins, aged thirty years, who travelled with me through Asia, 

 Africa, &c. &c. (Signed) " Brinsky." 



AU. Good heavens ! 



Loup. But, Sir, why did you not tell me that before ? 



Trav. Why? why, because it is not in the display of liis benevolence thata maji such 

 as Mr. Brinsky seeks his reward ; when he enriched this young man he did not wish his 

 name to be known. By this trait, Mr. Notary, you may know a true philosopher ! 



Vin. But, Sir, this worthy man had lost all when I parted with him. 



Trav- I know that, but when he arrived at Trieste his brother, a rich merchant, died, 

 and left him three million florins. Mr. Innkeeper, you must return the money. 



Loup. This very moment he is at my house with my clerk, who is drawing out his 

 marriage settlement. 



This alters the appearance of affairs marvellously. Mr. John and hisaffianced 

 bride now return from the notary, who persuades John to give him back the 

 casket, and which John, seeing the officers of justice present, who had remained 

 since they had been called for by the naturalist, does rather more unhesitatingly 

 than would occur anywhere else than on the stage. Loupandin at once hands 

 It to its true owner, Vincent, to the great consternation of John : proof, 

 however, is strong against him, and he is obliged to resign it. But while he had 

 possession of the property, Mrs. Kriwdine had been so anxious to secure it to 

 herself, that she had made the notary bind down the parties to the marriage 

 settlement in a penalty of 50,000 florins, to be paid by whichever party should 

 refuse to fulfil their promise. This penalty John now claims or her hand : and 

 they leave the stage quarrelling about it. Vincent makes the bearer of his good 

 fortune a handsome present, and the play concludes as in duty bound with his 

 marriage with Annette. 



It would be ridiculous to class this piece with the great productions of the 

 drama, but still there is a good deal of life and freshness about it. The Polish 

 style is considered very pure, and it is highly popular. The author has shown 

 much more talent in the scenes of a farcical kind, than in those which more 

 properly belong to genuine comedy. John, the innkeeper, is a well managed 

 character, as are some of the subordinate parts ; while Annette, the heroine, is 

 scarcely sketched, and the hero, Vincent, very often touches on the ridiculous. 

 Such, however, is the fate of almost all writers of early, or, what is the same 

 thing, uncultivated comedy. K would not be hard to bring proofs of this 

 critical assertion from quarters less remote and more classical than Poland. 



Coventry, March 131,1826. R.M. 



