MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE. ADVICE AND INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG MEN ABOUT TO PROCEED TO INDIA. Letter from a Gentleman who has resided long in the East Indies, to a young Friend preparing to settle in that Country. MY DEAR SIR,-I had the pleasure of receiving your letters of the 6th and 17th ult., and am afraid you may think I have too long deferred replying to them. I have constantly had you in my mind, however, though unremittingly occupied with business of an important and troublesome nature, which has prevented me from answering you sooner; but I trust my advice, upon which you pay me the compliment to set a value, will yet reach you in very good time before you sail, as the departure of the ship is generally protracted beyond expectation. the best game to play at, as it affords most occupation and amusement to the mind, and admits of no gambling. After this I went to my cabin, read again, then dressed for dinner, and came upon deck a quarter of an hour before it, and again took a turn with the passengers. Af. ter dinner, I passed the evening chiefly in conversation, and in various games, but sometimes went down to my If you adopt the same division of your time, you will have little cause to complain of ennui. books for an hour before supper. Upon a slight acquaintance, the defects of men are not offensive to each other, indeed, are scarcely perceptible; but the intimacy produced by a long voyage, renders all these defects prominent and conspicuous. Familiarity, therefore, which is at all times improper, is most especially to be avoided on board ship, where it necessarily leads to quarrels. An open and cheerful, but polite and rather respectful manner, to every one, is the best that can be adopted. This generally purchases a return of politeness and respect to ourselves; where it does not do so, avoid intercourse with that person, as unworthy of your company. I proceed, without farther preface, to the main purpose of my letter, and shall divide what I have to say under the following heads, viz. 1. What you should take with you;-2. How you should act on the passage;— I need not recommend to you not to gamble; every 3. How you should act at any place of call during the other advice would be unavailing, were there any risk of passage;-4. How you should act on your first arrival | your committing that folly. at Madras ; and 5. General advice with regard to your conduct and views in the civil service. Should there be any ladies on board, show that you are anxious to please and amuse them, but avoid being par1. Young men going out to India, usually apply to the ticular in your attentions to any of them, as I am sure dealers in ready-made clothes-commonly called slop- you could never be guilty of the extravagance of burdenmerchants-about the India-house. These people, in ordering yourself with a wife, (probably of very unsuitable to get off a greater quantity of their own. wares, overload the young men with useless trash. You should take only such things as will be afterwards useful in India, as well as on the voyage, The constant dress in India in the morning, and even at dinner, where there are no ladies, is a round white jacket, white waistcoat, and white breeches, or pantaloons. In buying light clothing, therefore, for the tropical climates, you should take no coloured things of this sort, which are vulgar. Let all your light dresses be white, and, if it can be obtained, made of a light cotton cloth, of Madras manufacture, called Izeree. If that cannot be had, or if very expensive in this country, take some of our cotton cloths of home manufacture, nearly resembling it. By using this precaution, you will be saved the expense of a complete new equipment on your arrival in India. All you want is the proper supply of coats, waistcoats, &c., for the colder climates, made by your own tailor at the west end of the town, and the requisite quantity of shirts, cravats, handkerchiefs, stockings, light jackets, waistcoats, &c., as formerly described. All these last should be made of cotton, as it absorbs perspiration, which linen does not; and you should have a good boatcloak, and a good gold watch, made by one of the best makers, and of the plainest construction, in order that any ordinary watch-maker may be able to clean, or repair it. 2. Without seeming, or professing, to give a scrupulous attention to such matters, you should take strict care of your health during the voyage, and be attentive to divide your time properly, and to vary your occupation, so as to avoid ennui. I never was subject to ennui on board ship any more than in other places. I rose early, and, about half an hour before breakfast, came out on the quarter-deck, and took a turn up and down with the rest of the passengers. After breakfast, I sat half an hour, or an hour, so long as conversation continued animated and agreeable; then retired to my cabin, and read for a couple of hours; then came up, and in all weathers took one hour of constitutional exercise, walking up and down on deck, which is very essential to the preservation of health. I took very little luncheon, if any, as it overloads the stomach; but you being a growing youth, may require something more than I did. I joined in the cheerful conversation of the rest of the passengers after their luncheon, and then played a game or two at chess, which is birth,) when yourself embarked in the wide ocean of life, and as yet unprovided for. I have now to mention the means of preserving your health. The regular habits which I have described above, as being well calculated to avert ennui, are also well calculated for the preservation of health. Your diet should be simple: At breakfast, avoid eating butter, which generates bile; you should also avoid eating the inside dough of certain abominable hot rolls, which are usually served up. The dough is exceedingly indigestible. Tea and eggs, the outside crust of the rolls, and, if necessary, a little cold meat, should form your breakfast. At dinner, eat of one dish of plain roast or boiled meat. Avoid salted meats when fresh are to be had, and prefer roasted to boiled; eat of some farinaceous vegetables, and of some pudding or tart; drink white wine, as the red wines, particularly Port, are apt to produce obstruction and bile; and above all, avoid malt liquor, and using variety of wines on the same day. Take no tea, and very little supper. When you use medicine, prefer pills, coutaining three grains of rhubarb and one of calomel in each, unless the doctor is absolutely against it. This preparation is undoubtedly better for bile than any other. Exercise has been already mentioned: it is of leading importance. I recommend to you to take with you some bottles of syrup of vinegar, and of various fruits. I always took a spoonful or two of these in half a glass of water, before dinner, and thought they not only promoted appetite and digestion, but kept me free from a tendency to scorbutic disorders and dysentery, which appeared to exist in others who did not use the same precaution. 3. The outward-bound fleet in which you will sail, very often does not stop or call anywhere, but makes the whole voyage without interruption. If this should be the course pursued by the ship in which you are embarked, a more particular attention to health will be necessary, because the length of the voyage, and the necessity of using salted meats which it induces, occasion a general depression of spirits on board the ship, and a tendency to different disorders, especially in the colder latitudes. If, on the other hand, the fleet should call anywhere, pray be attentive to avoid expense, as the charges made in such places are usually exorbitant. Have patience until you reach India, where you will enjoy all dignitaries will take the trouble to go with you, and introduce you everywhere. Some younger man, of suitable rank, in the civil or military service, must be fixed upon for this purpose. As there is a certain esprit de corps subsisting between the two services, it would perhaps be more desirable that you should have a conductor of the civil service. When you are once fairly fixed in the house of a Mentor, you must send all your letters of introduction, enclosed in polite cards, to their respective destinations; and you may add to each card, that you will do yourself the honour of calling upon the person to whom it is addressed. When you make these visits, the Mentor will accompany you, and save you the embarrassment of continually repeating your own name. In India, every body knows every body, so you will find your Mentor acquainted with all the persons to whom your letters are addressed. My particular advice to you is, never to breakfast at home, and never to dine at home, when invited out. the luxuries of life. Also, be particularly careful and observant during your transit in boats to and from the shore-incur no unnecessary risks. You will see fools going ashore, or on board, in a gale of wind, to show their courage, when another time would do as well. Despise this. Some of the places of landing and embarkation are very dangerous, particularly that of St Helena. Never be in a hurry; be collected; and (to use a cant phrase) have a good, quick, observant eye in your head. This may preserve your life. In an open boat, which is always a dangerous conveyance, be watchful, without seeming to be so. But do not interfere or make any observations, unless it be absolutely necessary to do so. In the road of the Island of Ascension, I was myself obliged to assume the direction of a boat, my companions being all tipsy. 4. On your arrival in Madras Roads, you will see the Fort St George, with all its buildings, lying upon a low, flat, sandy beach, on which breaks a heavy surf. Distant mountains are on the horizon, and the intermediate country, which is level, is covered with groves of cocoa-nut It is the universal practice in India, for the young men trees. A native, sitting on his hams on two logs of wood to present themselves to breakfast at the tables of those lashed together, with a conical osier cap on his head, will to whom they have been introduced; and this voluntary come off from the shore to the ship, and will carry letters visit, far from being considered an intrusion, is taken as back in the crown of his cap. Next, a masuler boat, of a great mark of respect, and desire to cultivate their aca peculiar construction, very high in the sides, and fitted quaintance. You are to make your own fortune and to stand the shock of the surf, will come off, laden with friends for yourself in India, therefore must take into a number of debashes, or head servants, and general agents. your consideration that people only love and befriend These men, like all the more opulent natives of Hindos- those whom they know, and whose good qualities they tan, are dressed in white cotton robes, or petticoats, with have had opportunities of appreciating. For this reason, turbans on their heads, and rings in their ears, and they your first study here, as everywhere else, must be to decome on board to offer their services to the Europeans serve well; and your second, to make yourself generally newly arrived, in procuring them boats for landing them-known, and to render yourself agreeable to every respectselves and their baggage, and the other requisite accommodations on a first arrival. I paint these things, that your young mind, being previously prepared, may not be too much occupied with the novelty of the scene; for you must look sharp about you, as these fellows are great rogues. They are extremely polite, and even insinuating. In concert with the most respectable young men on board, with whom you will have become most intimate during the voyage, you will indulge your eagerness to go ashore, by ordering a debash to procure a boat immediately, if it be daylight; but by no means attempt this during the night, should it be late | before your ship makes the roads. Take care that the boat be not overloaded. The natives who row it, utter a sort of plaintive song, to assist them in palling together with their oars. This song they swell into quick and loud exclamations, when they get into the surf, merely for the purpose of encouraging each other to greater exertion, which then becomes necessary; but there is no cause for alarm. Your debash will have hired palanquins ready to receive you, and your companions, upon the shore; but you must really keep a sharp look-out on your baggage, otherwise some rogues, most probably in the employ of your own debash, may slip away with one of your trunks. | You will then proceed to a tavern, and there I recommend to you to do nothing but secure your baggage, and obtain the necessary refreshments. You will previously have selected the most particular letter of recommendation you have for a person of suitable condition, and you will now send it by a careful man to its destination, enclosed in a polite note, dated at the tavern. That person will, no doubt, immediately come and call on you, and will carry you off with him to his house; a measure which you must agree to; and there you will take up your quarters, and in every matter of detail be guided by his advice. Your father will procure you letters of introduction to the heads of the government, who receive their appointments at home. Strong letters of recommendation to the governor, to the commander-in-chief, to the members of council, and to the heads of the different boards, (revenue, trade, &c. &c.) are of substantial use; but none of these able person. Your Mentor should be on the look-out, immediately, to secure you a pleasant set of rooms in the writers' apartments in the Fort Square; but you should continue to live with him until pretty generally acquainted, and no longer in need of a chaperon. When that is the case, your Mentor will desire his bead-servant to look out for a respectable head-servant for you, and you may then establish yourself in your own apartments in the Fort Square. The Mentor will advise you in the purchase of a palanquin, in the purchase of a good and gentle horse, and of the furniture requisite for your rooms. Your establishment of servants should be,a head-servant, an assistant under him, eight palanquin bearers, a horsekeeper, and a female to sweep the house. You cannot have less, and no more is necessary. With regard to the preservation of your health in India, the diet, regimen, and attention to exercise, already noted in this letter, are perfectly applicable to that climate. I advise you to have pantaloons made with feet to them, so that, in getting out of bed, you will be dressed in a moment, by pulling them on. Rise a little before five o'clock in the morning; mount your horse, and take a ride with some of your friends; but avoid very violent exercise, and sitting up very late at night, so long as you are a growing youth. When you come in from your ride, dress yourself and go out to breakfast, as before recommended. From the place where you breakfast, you will go into the Fort St George, to attend the public office to which you may be attached. There you will remain till the cool time of the evening. In the forenoon, however, you will have luncheon-here called tiffen; but be moderate at this repast. In the evening, take another ride, or a drive in the carriage of some of your friends; then go home, dress for dinner, and go out whenever invited with some friend. Give no dinners yourself, it is not expected of a young man just entering the service. About once a-week you should take the tepid bath— that is to say, a bath cooler than the human blood, and warmer than the temperate point of the thermometer. Use it heated to about 92 of Fahrenheit. For this purpose, no expensive or troublesome preparation is necessary; buy a little bath thermometer, and a large hogshead, and have a stool fixed in the bottom of it. Your servants will heat the water in large earthenware pots which they have. Avoid excess in fruits, particularly on your first arrival; but do not neglect to use them in moderation, as they are highly beneficial. Be particularly cautious in eating pine apples, which are there very common-they are apt to produce dysentery. The orange, shaddoch (pummelose), melon, plaintain, mangoe, and grape, are the best fruits. Have some on your table every day when you come in to dress for dinner. Eat some then, but take none after dinner, as fruit spoils the digestion of that meal. Above all, avoid burdening your stomach with the miscellaneous trash called dessert after dinner; it is both childish and prejudicial. 5. To a young man well educated, as you have been, it would be idle to repeat the well-known maxims for the conduct of life; but I may just observe, that at Madras, as in every other place, there is one set of the young men who are fond of drinking and guzzling, dissipation, clamorous merriment, idleness, &c. There is another set prodigiously fastidious, who are constantly complaining of the climate of India, and enlarging upon the superior luxuries and pleasures of Britain, very few, if any, of which they perhaps ever enjoyed. Avoid these absurdities, and recollect that those men are most generally beloved, and most successful in life, who are cheerful and serene, and rather disposed to approve, and be pleased, than to find fault and be unhappy. Prefer the society of men older than yourself; and follow Bacon's recommendation, who advises to ask many questions, as we thereby not only improve ourselves, but please others, by giving them an opportunity of showing their knowledge. If ever you come to be really a superior man, be cautious of exciting cary, by displaying your attainments and accomplishments. These honours are by so much the more revered, as they are modestly worn, There is another thing I have to mention, in the words of a vulgar adage, “never throw pearls before swine"-that is to say, never talk to people respecting things of which they are ignorant, or of matters more abstract than they have capacity to understand. Nothing depreciates a character so much as acting in this manner. Having already said so much to you personally with respect to what ought to be your views and objects in the service, I need not run into repetitions, and delay the departure of my letter by enlarging upon that subject. I beg to trouble you with two letters for my brother, one open for your perusal, regarding yourself, and the other closed. I conceive the introduction to my brother alone to be equivalent to an introduction to all the respectable inhabitants of Madras, as he can easily make you acquainted with them. Even if my acquaintance with that place, therefore, were not worn out of date, it would be unnecessary to burden you with more letters. Wishing you a safe passage, health, wealth, and prosperity in India, and an early return with honour and fortune to your native country, I remain, my dear sir, your sincere friend. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PLEASURE ISLANDS, NOT plainer and more substantial species of food. They assured us, that there was about ten leagues off another island, where they had mines of hams, sausages, and well-seasoned ragouts, which they dug as people dig the gold mines of Peru. They said there were also rivulets of onion sauces, that the walls of the houses were of piecrust, and that in bad weather it rained wine of a strong body, while on fine days the morning dew resembled Greek or other white wine. To enable us to reach this island, we caused to be placed on the quay we were about to leave, twelve men of a prodigious size, who were fast asleep, and they blew so strongly in snoring, that they filled our sails with a favourable wind. As soon as we arrived on the other island, we found on the shore merchants who wished to sell us appetites, which are often wanted amidst so many ragouts. There were people, too, who sold sleep; the price was so much an hour; but they had sleeps at allprices, according to the dreams one chose to have. The finest dreams were very dear. I demanded one of the most agreeable for my money, and, as I was fatigued, I Before falling asleep, however, I heard a went to rest. terrific noise. On enquiring its cause, they told me it was the earth opening. I thought myself lost; but they re-assured me, by informing me that it opened thus every night, at a certain hour, to vomit forth boiling rivulets of frothed chocolate, and iced liqueurs of all kinds. I rose in haste to taste them, and found them delicious. Afterwards I went to bed again, that I might not lose the money I had given for my dream. In my sleep, I believed that I saw that every one was of crystal; that men nourished themselves with perfumes; that their usual motion was running, and their usual mode of speech singing; that they had wings to cut the air, and fins to enable them to pass through the sea. I was hardly awake, when a seller of appetites came to ask if I wanted any hunger, and if I wished him to sell me relays of stomachs, to enable me to eat during the whole day. I accepted the proposal. For my money, he gave me twelve little taffety pouches, which I immediately put on, and which were to serve me for twelve stomachs. No sooner had I put on the pouches, than I was ready to die of hunger. I passed my day in making twelve delicious repasts; as soon as one was finished, I began another. In the evening, feeling fatigued, with having spent the day at table like a horse at his rack, I resolved to take nothing next day but fine scents. They gave me orange-flower for breakfast; and for dinner, tuberoses and Spanish heather, with jonquils for a dessert; at supper, I had frankincense. Having heard that there was in this country a very singular city, I desired to be taken thither. They put me into a little wooden chair, very light, and garnished with large feathers;-they fastened to this chair, with silk cords, four great birds, as large as ostriches, with wings proportioned to their bodies. These birds flew off, and, with the reins, I guided them towards the east, as I had been instructed. I saw high mountains at my feet; and we flew so fast, that I almost lost my breath in cutting the air. In about an hour, we arrived at the celebrated city. It is all of marble, and three times larger than Paris. The whole city is but one house. There are twenty-four great courts, every one of which is as large as the largest square in the world; and in the middle of these twenty-four courts there is a twenty-fifth, which is All the apart FAR out in the Pacific ocean, we came to an island of sugar, with mountains of stewed fruit, rocks of sugarcandy and barleysugar, and rivers of syrup which inter-six times larger than any of the others. sected the country. The inhabitants, who appeared very sweet-toothed, licked the dust off the roads, and sucked their fingers after having dipped them in any of the adjoining rivers. There were also forests of licorice, and large trees whence fell abundance of sweet cakes, which the breezes were constantly puffing into the mouths of travellers. We soon got tired of this island. So many sweets cloyed es, and we told the inhabitants that we longed for some ments of this house are equal, for there is no inequality of condition among the inhabitants of this city. There are neither domestics nor lower sort of people; every one serves himself; nobody is waited on; there are only wishes, which are nimble little hobgoblins, who give every one what is desired in a moment. On arriving, I received one of these spirits, who attached himself to me, and let me want for nothing. I began, ere long, to be fatigued with the new desires which this facility of gra the enlarging of the upper gallery. Suffice it to say, that the alterations, all of which were made not from choice, but from necessity, are executed with plain good taste, and that the general appearance of the theatre, though not very showy or rich, is neat and comfortable. As to the reduction of the prices, we are inclined to think the system will work well. The upper boxes are now a good deal frequented; and the pit and gallery are commonly full. tifying them excited in me; and I learned by experience, the colours of the roof,-the removal of the lower, and that it was better to dispense with superfluous things, than to be unable to remain in the tranquil enjoyment of any pleasure. The inhabitants of this city were polite, gentle, and obliging. I observed that they never spoke amongst themselves; they read in each other's eyes all that they thought, just as one reads a book; and when they wished to hide their thoughts, they had only to shut their eyes. They carried me to a hall, where there was a concert of perfumes; for they unite perfumes, as we do sounds. A certain assemblage of perfumes, some powerful, others sweet, form a harmony which pleases the sense of smelling, as our concerts charm the ear, by sounds sometimes loud, and sometimes soft. In this country the women govern the men: they decide lawsuits, they teach the sciences, and go to the wars. The men paint themselves; they remain at the toilette from morning till night; they spin, they sew, they work embroidery, and they dread being beaten by their wives when they have not obeyed them. They say, that formerly matters were conducted in a different manner, but the men, served by the wishes, became so idle and ignorant, that the women were ashamed to allow themselves to be governed by them. They assembled to repair the evils of the republic; they established schools, to which the most talented persons of their sex resorted; they disarmed their husbands, who asked no better than never to come to blows; they released them from deciding on lawsuits, watched over the public order, established laws, and caused them to be observed, and saved the country, of which the supineness and levity of the men would certainly have occasioned the total ruin. Afflicted by this spectacle, and fatigued with so many fêtes and amusements, I concluded that the pleasures of the senses, however varied, cannot give happiness. I left these regions, in appearance so delicious, and returning home, found in a temperate life, in moderate labour, in pure morals, and in the practice of virtue, that happiness and health which I failed to obtain when all appetites and wishes were at my own control. THE EDINBURGH DRAMA. "LET sleeping dogs lie," is a good old proverb, but it seems not to be considered as applicable to our case. After a short nap of a few months, we are once more recalled to the world at the very commencement of the winter season, and are expected to watch as of yore over all the interests of that rather queer-looking building which stands at the north-east end of the North Bridge. It is hard that we cannot be allowed to remain quiet when we are quiet; but that we should be stirred up with the long pole of editorial anxiety and public curiosity, and forced, in spite of ourselves, to snap, and snarl, and growl, and show our teeth, instead of snoring down into the vale of years unenvied and unhated. But such is the invariable fate of genius;-mankind are unwilling that it should not be exerted for their sakes, and the moment that it is so, every puny whipster affects to sneer, and to curl up his contemptible epitome of a tail, in token of anger at the majestic animal who moves on unregardingly. Often have we wished that we knew nothing of dramatic matters whatever, for we are aware that we have made ourselves enemies for life by a few short sentences; and at the best, we are respected, but not liked-feared, but not loved. It is our destiny, however; and as the poor player struts his hour upon the stage, so must we strut out the time allotted to us for theatrical criticism, and then go down into the grave, and lie side by side perhaps with a candle-snuffer or a call-boy. Well, here we are in the interior of the house again. It is needless to say that it is well fitted up, and "all that sort of thing." We have been sickened to death with newspaper paragraphs about the levelling of the pit, and the deepening of the stage,—the facings of the boxes, and In reference, however, to what has been changed and what has not been changed, whilst we approve generally, there are four things which we do not approve. 1st. The gas lamps in front of the boxes are the same as formerly, and are not in good taste. If gas is an infinitely superior light to that of a candle, why introduce it under the shape and symbol of the latter? The jet of gas in the lamps alluded to is made to issue as if from a tallow, or perhaps a wax candle, and in each lamp there is only one candle. This looks poor; there is plenty of light, but the whole of it seems to come from a dozen or eighteen candles, which is inconsistent and awkward. 2d. The new drop-scene is full of faults. The piece of sculpture introduced in the centre would of itself spoil it, being totally out of keeping with the rest of the painting; but besides, the New High School is terribly crowded, and the Castle Hill and Rock are not very like what they are in reality. It is a showy painting, but does not possess those higher merits which will bear examination. 3d. The new scenery, so far as has yet appeared, is of a limited and rather inferior description. We only recollect four new scenes, and two of these are but coarsely executed. The same scene occurs far too often during the night, and is occasionally brought on to represent what it does not represent at all. Does this not look a little like that parsimony to which the manager pleaded not guilty" in his introductory address? Cave, Gulielmus! 4th. With one or two trifling excep tions, we remark no difference in what are called "the properties." Chairs, and tables, and sofas, and dishes, of a very shabby description, are still brought upon the stage. We saw, the other evening, an old greasy red cloth covering a table, on which was placed one of the most worn-out inkstands we ever beheld. Now, if we see that greasy red cloth again we shall growl most lustily. Does not this too look like parsimony? yet Gulielmus says he is not parsimonious, and Gulielmus is an honourable man. With the new actors and actresses we are, on the whole, pretty well satisfied. Taking them en masse, the alterations are for the better, but there has been no one addition of a very striking and triumphant character. Miss Turpin is the acquisition of greatest consequence, and the people from the Caledonian of least. We are convinced that, in engaging them, Mr Murray sacrificed his own judgment to the vulgar clamour raised by a few nincompoops, who know nothing about acting, and have very obscure notions of what refined and elegant music ought to be. We have no desire whatever to persecute the poor people from the Caledonian, and it is with reluc tance that we speak severely of them; but this we must say, that unless they very greatly improve, they will cast an air of vulgarity over every opera performed this season, and will do any thing rather than elevate the musical taste of the Edinburgh public. Horncastle, who will have occasion frequently to sing with Miss Turpin, has not a voice that suits hers in the least. His natural tones are far too strong and husky, and his falsetto is, for the most part, flinty and harsh. Besides, he possesses little or no delicacy of modulation; and he sings with so little feeling or expression, that though he rather engrosses the ear, he never once touches the heart. His acting and singing in the part of Captain Macheath, on the night en which Miss Turpin made her debut, were about as pour as could well be imagined. Reynoldson has a voice of very limited compass, but it may be turned to account in^ some parts. Edmunds has a rich mellow voice, but his style is so thoroughly Caledonian, that it is difficult to listen to him with any pleasure. Miss Horncastle is beyond the pale of criticism altogether. Passing from these "peculiar people," we find Waldron is to play the first tragedy and comedy. He is very respectable, but will by no means produce the same effect in the male parts that Miss Jarman does in the female. He is a quiet judicious actor, with a face and figure that are by no means commanding, and a slight deficiency of enthusiasm and ardour.-Green, the comedian, is excellent in half-and-half comedy, but not in the highest kind. He has all the enthusiasm that Waldron wants, and is in constant danger, not of doing too little, but of doing too much. His notions of elegance are not chaste enough. He cannot stand still,- -one of the great tests of an actor of genteel comedy. Nevertheless, he is an agreeable fellow, and though there is a je ne scai quoi about him, which prevents him from being exactly the gentleman, he always puts life and bustle into the scene, and one is glad to see him come upon the stage. He has been said to be an Irishman in some of the newspapers, but we believe this is a mistake.-Mrs Pettingall is a clever, and rather a pretty little woman in the chambermaid line. She sings a good song too, either grave or gay. As far as we can yet judge, Brindal, who has come in Montague Stanley's place, is a better actor in comedy than ever Stanley was. We have not time at present to speak of any of the old familiar faces; and there are none of the other novelties worth mentioning, except perhaps Miss Adelaide O'Bryan, who is a very third or fourth-rate dancer, after the fashion of the opera girls, and who appeared for a night or two in what was called a petite ballet, but it was the most complete mockery of a ballet ever witnessed. She is now more wisely made to recreate the audience with a pas seul. On Tuesday evening, a new farce was produced, called "Perfection, or the Lady of Munster." One or two of the scenes are rather too lengthy, but on the whole it is a lively and amusing afterpiece. Miss Jarman played the heroine with her usual animation and spirit—a spirit which never flags. She was well supported by Murray, Stanley, Green, and Mrs Pettingall. Murray introduced the admirable ballad of "The Old Country Gentleman," to hear which alone it is worth while going to the theatre any evening. Diverse are the remarks we have yet to make, and numerous the sage apothegms we have to deliver, but Troy Town was not built in a day ;—" bide a wee." Old Cerberus. THE LONDON DRAMA. Regent's Park, London, Monday, November 22, 1830. DRURY LANE'S new melo-drama of the "Conscript" is certainly one of the worst of a very bad species; and that the hissing was not quite powerful enough to limit its performance to a single representation, was a lenity by To means laudable. Cooper had a tolerable part, which he made the most of; but the other principal performer, the Dog, forgot himself sadly, and ran in all directions but the right one. If it were likely to produce any good efect, we could be most eloquently wrathful at this prostitution of the Theatre of Garrick, and Siddons, and Kemble, to the exhibition of quadrupeds; and that not merely in their proper place-if they ought even to have a place there at all-but in the first and principal piece of the evening, with a farce and opera played afterwards, and terminating, perhaps nearly two hours after midnight. Feeling assured, however, that it would be a mere waste of much valuable and virtuous indignation to be at all angry on such a subject, we must even take whatever the managers provide for us, and be thankful; seeing that they consider themselves to be infallible, and experience has long since taught us that they are incor rigible. This drama is said to be the handiwork of Mr W. Barrymore; but as he has not yet publicly owned it, we presume he will now consider it wisest to remain silent. Shakspeare's" Henry the Fourth," in which Dowton's Falstaff was most excellent, has been revived here, once with Macready as Hotspur, and once with Wallack. Both represented the fiery soldier with very considerable ability, though extremely unlike each other; and the whole play was marred by the etiquette, or whatever else it was, which precluded those two gentlemen from playing, Macready, Hotspur, and Wallack, the Prince of Wales, as they were originally advertised. In consequence of this punctilio, Frederick Vining was most injudiciously made the young Plantagenet, whom, as might have been expected, he rendered very unlike the royal Harry of our immortal bard; whereas, his brother James, who would have both looked the character well, and played it respectably, ought most unquestionably to have been cast for it, and Frederick kept out of Shakspeare and blank verse, equally for his own sake and that of his auditors. A Miss Huddart, erst of the Surrey, the Coburg, and more recently of the provinces, is this evening to essay Belvidera; but, unlike some critics whom we could name, we must see her before we report upon her merits. Covent Garden's long-promised comedy of the " Chancery Suit, or, Wanted, a Title," is to be produced on Thursday next; and this evening, to the disgrace of the management, is to be brought out Ball's—we beg his pardon, Fitzball's-most stupid dramatic adaptation of Cooper's "Pilot." Whilst our two great patent establishments are so exceedingly actively engaged in the crusade against the minors, it is certainly any thing but fair thus to adopt a piece positively written for one of those said minors, and actually played at all of them. The drama would, indeed, seem to be in its "lowest depth," when a dog proves the chief attraction in the first piece at Drury Lane, and Covent Garden borrows a worn-out absurdity from its inferior rivals ;—the simple elucidation of such disgraceful conduct being, that T. P. Cooke, having an engagement, must be made use of; and the last scene of the defunct" Blue Anchor" will do admirably for the "lee shore" scene with the "Ariel” in the "Pilot" Such is a specimen of dramatic Machiavelism. Miss Taylor has passed the ordeal of her first appearance, in Rosalind, most triumphantly. She is, indeed, a very clever girl, and though not critically beautiful, yet "the mind, the music, breathing from her face," infinitely more than compensates for the absence of beauty. As Quin said of, we believe, Mrs Abington, "she has the true spirit in her." SOMERSET. ORIGINAL POETRY. A REMEMBERED HOUR. It was not an hour of sadness, We sat on a mountain side, As the golden evening fell; We were only three, but we form'd a worldWe had loved so long and so well. We were three, and yet we were one; For our hearts were like jewels set, All of the same high purity, In one bright coronet.. The scene that before us lay Was simple, wild, and calm; And we felt its beauty steal Upon our minds like balm. |