232 
That doth unfiring my nerves. O ! confcience, 
confcience, | 
When thou did’ft cry; I then did ftop thy 
mouth, 
And thruft upon thee dire ambition. 
©! I did think that kings indecd were gods, 
But I was fore ceceived; foras E pafs’d 
And travers’d in proud triumph the Baife-Court, 
There I faw death, clad in moft hideous colour; 
A fight 1£ was that did appal my foul, 
Yea curdied thick this mats of blood within me. 
Fail fifty breathlefs bodies ftruck my fight, 
And fome with gaping mouths, did feem to 
“mock me ; 
Whilft others {miling in cold death itfeif, 
Scofingly bad me look on that which foon 
Would wrench from off my brow this facred 
crown, 
And make me too, a fubjeét like themfelves. 
And to whom? to Death, thou Kingof Kings, 
That haft fer thy domain the world immenfe : 
Churchyards and charnel-houfes are thy haunts, 
And hofpitals thy f{umptuous palaces ; 
And when thou would’f be merry, thou dof 
choofe 
‘Fhe gaudy chamber of a dying king. 
©! then thou dofl ope wide thy boney Jaws, 
And with ruce iaughter, and fantaftic tricks, 
Thou clap’ thy rattling fingers to thy fides : 
4ad, when this felenin mockery 1s ended, 
With icy hand thou tak’ft him by the feet, 
And upward fo, til thou doft reach the heart, 
And wrap him in the cloke of lafting night — 
The critics have faftened on the fol- 
= Gigs 
lowing paffage : 
6€ 

— Time, like a jaiting viol 
c¢ Now wears a dreary afpect.” 
‘This undoubtedly is a mixed metaphor, 
but there are many fimilar flips in the 
original Shakfpeare, and this his warm- 
eit admirers never have difavowed. 
Tt ron be allowed to have been an un-: 
fortunate circumfance that Mr. Whirt- 
field, wholly unable to recite, was oblig- 
ed to réad the prologue. The epilegue 
was delivered, with much point and hu-- 
mour, by Mrs. Jordan. Mrs. Powell, 
in the charaéter of Edmunda, deferved. 
great commendation, as fhe appeared to 
be in earneff, afpecies of praife to which 
others did not feem ambitious to afpire. 
. Gn an occafion like the prefent, an actor 
ought not to exhibit any opinion of his 
own; he fhould perfonify his character, 
and deport himfelf with his accuftomed 
fpirit and energy. On the fubject of the 
‘authenticy of this play, we decline to 
enter in this place, asa report wili foon, 
be made tothe public from a committee 
nov fitting exprefsly for this purpofe. 
Wednetday, Aprilr3th. ~The Suuc- 
LERs, a mufiical piece, 
View of the Drama +. Vortigerm 
written by a 
member of the corporation of London’ 
[Aprit 
(Mr. Birch, of Cornhill) forthe benefit 
of Mr. Bannifter, jun. The airs fung 
by Mifs Leake, Mr. Dignum, and Ma- 
fter Walfh, were much admired. The 
fable contains fome fevere but juft ani- 
madverfions on the wretches, who, to 
the difgrace of humanity and civilization, 
plunder thofe whom the mercilefs ele- 
ments have fpared. ‘Fhe charaéters. of 
Shingle and Sample are but too cften re- 
alized tcwards the weftern extremities 
of the ifland. 
In the courfe of this evening, the houfe 
wiineffed the exertions of Mr. Bannifter, 
jun. as Sur Fretful Plagiary, in the Critic, 
for the firt time. This was an ardu- 
ous undertaking, as nature had wonder- 
fully adapted the face cf Parfons to the 
character; but Mr. Bannifter, who unites 
great knowledge of his art, with an un- 
common folicitude to pleafe, fucceeded 
to his utmoft withes. 
Thurfday, Aprilzr. Mifs Lee, the 
fair author of the interefting novel called 
the Recefs, and feveral other popular 
works of a fimilar kind, in the courfe of 
this evening prefented a new tragedy te 
the public. It is called ALmMeypa, 
QuEEN OF GRENADA. The plot is 
laid in Spain, at a time when the greater 
part of that country was in the poffeflion 
of the Moors, and eaftern manners and 
fentiments were of courfe prevalent. 
Mrs. Siddons, who perfonified the he-_ 
roine of the piece, {upported the charac- 
ter allotted to her with a dignified pro- 
priety. It was of a mixed and therefore 
dificult nature, for fhe had to pourtray 
the various tranfitions of pride, fufpi- 
cion, and feliflinefs, that by turns took 
poffeffion of the bofom of Almeyda. 
The charaéter of Alonzo was a mere 
outline, not fufficiently filled up for flage 
effect ; ic was rather a fketch for the clo- 
fet, and might have there fucceeded bet- 
ter. Mr. Kemble exerted himfelf in 
order to give it every degree of effeét it 
was capable of attaining, and, fo far as 
depended on himfelf, he was fuccefsful. 
Like all the recent plays, this was by 
far too long, being encumbered, and, in- 
deed, enfeebled, by the tedioufnefs of the 
dialogue. 
Mifs Lee is faid to have taken Ho- 
race’s advice, as to the length of time 
fhe has kept this tragedy in her pof- 
feffion. The epilogue, which is faid 
to be from the pen of her fifter, was 
recited by Mr. King, with confiderable 
effeft, and the tragedy announced for 
future reprefentation amidit gencral ap- 
plaufe. 
CoveENTe 
