436 Notes «/" the Month on j^Ocx. 



not see the slightest hope held forth of these good and new plays. Where 

 has gone the genius of the drama ? where the encouragement once held 

 out to it by the great ? or does it wait only for another Harris the elder, 

 or a revival of Rich ? what know we ? But we are told, " The future 

 lesseeship of Covent-garden theatre is still undecided, owing to the 

 continued indisposition of Mr. Pepys, who is retained as leader of the 

 respondent's case. Should the House of Lords think proper to reverse 

 the decision pronounced by Lord Lyndhurst, the affairs of the theatre 

 will be thrown into great perplexity, and wholly preclude the possibi- 

 lity of its being opened for several weeks. The engagements for the 

 ensuing season have been all made with ]\Iessrs. Kemble, Willett, and 

 Forbes, and to these, of course, ]\Ir. Harris will not be bound, should he 

 succeed to the managerial throne. Some say if that should so tuin out, 

 Mr. C. Kemble means to take his company either to the Italian Opera 

 pr to the Haymarket theatre — but this is all surmise. The fact is, ]Mr. 

 Kemble does not anticipate the possibility of failure in maintaining his 

 claim to the theatre." 



The marriage act brought in by George the Third, to extinguish the 

 possibility of mesalliances in his fimily, has certainly not been among 

 the most prosperous instances of legislation. One of its fruits is now 

 flourishing before the public in Chancery. 



" Sir Augustus D'Este, the son of the late Countess D'Ameland by 

 the Duke of Sussex, has, it appears, filed a bill, to perpetuate the testi- 

 mony of his father's marriage, and has also taken counsel's opinion upon 

 its legalifi/ — tvhicli is in his favour !" 



If the lawyer says so, we only wonder at the oddity of the opinion, 

 for nothing can be more express than the statute of 1772, and few 

 things could have been more perfectly understood during the last half 

 century, than its operation. It lias been conceived, indeed, that the 

 illegality of the marriage in England may not bar the rights of the 

 issue of such marriage in Hanover. But unless law be a vapour the 

 question in England is settled. 



We rejoice that we have not had an opportunity of personally wit- 

 nessing the wisdom of our " Sovereign Lord the ]\Iob, in the districts of 

 Zips and Zemplin." The history of the proceedings of his "majesty" 

 may be of some use to the experience of those who will be taught by 

 nothing else, and who may learn at last to believe, that the rabble 

 wisdom is not altogether to be relied on in all public emergencies. On 

 the approach of the cholera, the Austrian government had issued di- 

 rections for its treatment, and among these remedies chlorate of lime 

 seems to have been a good deal relied on. In some instances this failed, 

 and probably in some, the peasantry swallowed the chlorate, and thus 

 poisoned themselves. But the rumour instantly spread that the govern- 

 ment had been the grand practitioner in the poisoning, and the sovereign 

 peo])le acted without delay, on the suggestion. 



" This story, with the sudden aaid violent breaking out of the cholera 

 at Kluknau, led the peasants to a notion of the poisoning of the wells, 

 which spread like lightning. In the sequel, upon the attack of the 

 estate of Count Czaki, a servant of the chief bailiff was on the point of 

 being murdered, when, to save his life, he offered to disclose something 

 important ; he said that he received from his master two pounds of 



