CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 515 
play-going public we fear that gorgeous scenery and incantation 
machinery, with a large corps of supernumerary imps and angels, 
aided by noisy music and lascivious dancing, will carry off the palm 
of applause from classical heroes and heroines. 
Mr. Jones complains, and, we think, with some justice, of the 
disappointment he has experienced in not having his play perform- 
ed; but he may console himself by thinking that he is not the only 
“gem of purest ray serene,” that is swept over by the ocean of pub- 
lic prejudice, and pressed down by the incubus of private interest. 
Besides, it should be remembered that in the present day lions are 
so much in request that even a lady, to be interesting, must be as- 
sociated with that word. 
The scene of the Cathedral Bell is laid at the city of Saragossa : 
the time is during the struggle between the Spaniards and Moors. 
The principal characters are Sebastian, the governor of Saragossa, a 
noble patriot ; Claudio his son, a fiery and generous youth; Fran- 
cesco, the Moorish commander, who is a renegade ; Ricardos, one of 
Sebastian’s officers ; and Herodia and Octavia, wife and daughter 
to the governor. ‘The story of the piece is, that while Francesco is 
besieging the city, Claudio makes a sally and is taken prisoner. 
The Moor sends a message to Sebastian, saying that, unless he sur- 
renders the town, his son shall die a lingering death ; but the chi- 
valrous Spaniard, faithful to his trust, refuses the conditions. He- 
rodia pleads with all the eloquence of a mother’s agony for her son, 
but in vain. She then resolves to go to the camp and supplicate 
Francesco. He promises that if she will deliver up the gates Clau- 
dio shall be liberated. In the meantime Ricardos, a rejected suitor 
of Octavia, turns traitor, and engages to admit the enemy within 
the walls. As night approaches, Sebastian heads a body of his ve- 
terans to make a last effort for his son. But whilst he is gone the 
Moors gain access to the town. He returns to find the gates closed 
against him. He rallies all his energies, forces the barrier, and the 
crescent is overthrown. He engages hand to hand with the rene- 
gade, whom he slays, but is himself mortally wounded. The sub- 
ordinate characters all die off in proper order. There is occasion- 
ally a mysterious tolling of the Cathedral Bell, which gives a 
maniac girl, who has been deserted by Francesco, an opportunity of 
chaunting a monotonous distich. On the whole, the plot is well 
managed, the characters are duly sustained, the diction is chaste and 
neryous, and the arrangement of the incidents displays a powerful 
dramatic conception. We conclude our notice of the Cathedral Bell 
with the following extract, and with wishing Mr. Jones every suc- 
cess in his literary pursuits. 
In the last scene of the first act, there is a spirited dialogue be- 
tween Francesco and Claudio, which is concluded by the following 
soliloquy by the former :— 
“ Breath, breath, proud spirit ! breath,—nor choke me quite ! 
Down, swelling passion! down and leave, for shame, 
