POETRY.

IMPROMPTU,

ON HEARING OF THE TREATY CONCLUDED BETWEEN THE FRENCH
AND BRITISH FORCES IN PORTUGAL.

"Si Natura negat, facit IN DIGNATIO versum.”—JUVENAL,
AND is it so? Has Well'sley fought for this?
For this has Well'sley conquer'd? Is it so,

That Britain's sons have pour'd their gen'rous blood
In Freedom's glorious cause, and crush'd the foe,-
The Gallic tyrant's vile, rapacious slaves,—

Crush'd them, alas! in vain!-crush'd them, alas!
To make them more than conquerors? To convey
Safe to the shores the predatory baud,

Rich with the spoils of England's friends? Forbid,
Forbid it Heav'n! Forbid it honour, shame,
And ev'ry patriot flame that glows divine
Within the breast of Britons! Can it be?
So low is Britain fallen? Oh! forbear
The mean ungrateful thought! Tell not abroad
To Britain's foe the tale of Britain's shame,-
Lest they should triumph in her foul disgrace,
And scoffing cry,-" Where now is Britain's glory?"
16th Sept. 1808.
A BRITON,

QUATORZAIN.

WRITTEN IN RICHMOND PARK.

O'ER these lone woodlands I delight to roam,
When night bespangles the pellucid sky,
And the pale moon strikes my romantic eye
With her mild beam, beguiling me from home!
For then my thoughts, ungovernably free,
Assume a nobler energy and height,
Pause on the time when Marianne, with me,
Here sought a refuge for the sweet delight!

Yet not, alas! for bliss thus soft 1 steal,
Now thro' the alleys of the silent grove,

For Mem'ry bids me sadly to reveal,

The tedious story of my injur'd love!
And as I wander through each sacred shade,
I trace the semblance of the beauteous maid.
Grafton-street, June, 1808.

J. G.

CANZONET.

SWEET is the sound, in lowly dell,
Of the bard's romantic shell;
But to me more sweet's the call
Of yonder dazzling waterfall!

Dear to me are Lesbia's eyes-
Truly dear are Friendship's sighs-
But to these are dearer far

The twinkling of yon argent star!
Mild the queen of night appears
Wand'ring thro' the southern spheres ;
But not half so mild's her beam
As yonder wood's meand'ring stream!
Far more bright are Phœbus' rays
Than the sparkling diamond's blaze;
But the glist'ning eyes of Sarah,
Brighter are than Sol, and fairer !!!

Teach me then, O Muse! to prize
Nought but those bewitching eyes;
Make my Sarah's gentle calls
Sweeter than the waterfall's.

Make my lover's glittering eyes
Surpass the star in yonder skies!
Then will all her smiles appear
Than Diana's far more clear!

Heavenly Muse! thou art to me

A source of endless ecstasy!

Yea! thou hast a Beauty wrought,

Whose charms outstrip the force of thought!

Grafton-street, Sept. 1808.

SONG.

SLOW, pleasant, and tranquil, my time pass'd away,

'Till Delia I saw and approv'd;

No swain was so cheerful, so blithsome, and gay,

But how chang'd since the moment I lov'd!

Now in secret I sigh, and bemoan my lost heart,

J. G.

But if she rejects my fond plaint with disdain,

And coldly regards my soft prayer,

Of her cruelty then I will never complain,
But end my sad days in despair.

WRITTEN IN RICHMOND PARK.
TO MY LYRE.

HENRY.

YES! once again I'll clasp my vagrant lyrė,
That long hath lain neglected and forlorn,
And as I taste the mellow draught of morn,
Will strike its chords and join the woodland choir :
Here 'neath these reverend oaks will I retire

From those who treat me with indecent scorn;
For though perhaps to poverty I'm born,
My bosom glows with independent fire!
Hail! little friend! my sweetest pleasure, hail!
For she is gone who succour'd thee with care;
O'er every action of my life prevail,

And smooth the rugged brow of dark despair!
Or, should the clouds of disappointment low'r,
Bid me look calmly on the threatening show'r!
Grafton-street, June, 1808.

A BURLESQUE SONNET.

A SONNET?-how ridiculously vain
Is the request in these degenerate times!
When scarce a poet can produce two rhymes
Without tormenting for an hour his brain !
Or filling his dull eyes with deadliest pain,

By searching Walker* for the various chimes!
One could as soon arrest the sun that climbs
The heavens, as mould a Sonnet in a pleasing strain!
Well, how sublime! Why, Lofft! upon my soul
`I am unequall'd in this wond'rous lay!

What wou'd that snivelling Sonnetteer + now say,
Cou'd he get loose from death's terrific goal?
Why, he would naturally yield to me,
Without the least reserve, the victory,

Grafton-street, Sept. 1808.

* Walker's Rhyming Dictionary. + Petrarch.

J. G.

J. G.

THE LONDON THEATRES.

DRURY-LANE

Opened for the season on Saturday the 17th of September, with the Honeymoon and Rosina.

20. Hamlet. Ophelia, by a young Lady (her 1st appearance ou any stage). Irishman in London.

22.

Love in a Village. Young Meadows, Mr. Gibbon; Hodge, Mr. SCRIVEN (from Edinburgh, his 1st appearance in London). Citizen. Oid Philpot, Mr. Penley.

[Mr. J. Smith announced for Young Meadows; but, for what cause we know not, he did not perform.]

24. Country Girl-Ella Rosenberg.

The Company is the same as last season; and the interior has undergone no alteration,excepting that some additions have been made to the private boxes, before too numerous. The new Ophelia is a Mrs. Corri, wife of the musician. She has been well instructed, and has a good voice, but præterea nihil. Mr. Scriven, the Hodge, has been long a favourite comedian in the North, and his merits, though not extraordinary, fully entitle him to a respectable cast of characters in London. He was very well received.

COVENT GARDEN

Opened on the 12th of September, with Macbeth and Raising the Wind. Lady Macbeth by Mrs. Siddons.

14.

Woodman-Portrait of Cervantes.

16. Isabella-Escapes.

19. Pizarro-Portrait of Cervantes.

This Company also remains as it stood last year; with the loss of Miss Smith, who winters it in Dublin. The dreadful Fire, of which we insert the most authentic account we can procure, put a stop to the representations for one week. On Monday the 26th the proprietors opened the Opera House, with Douglas and Rosina ; those pieces requiring but few dresses, and but two or three scenes.

AUGUST. 23.

HAYMARKET.

African Blind Boy.

24. [Mr. and Mrs. LISTON's Night.] Pannel. Don Gusman, Mr. Noble; Don Carlos, Mr. Thompson; Don Pedro, Mr Carles; Don Ferdinand, Mr. Palmer. jun. Lazarillo, Mr. Farley; Octavio, Mr. Treby; Muskato, Mr. Liston. Marcella, Mrs. St Leger; Aurora, Mrs Ma thews; Beatrice, Mrs. Gibbs-Who Wins? Matthew Mole, Mr. Grove; Widow Bellair, Mrs. Taylor.-Critic.

25. Africans-Seeing is Believing-Plot and Counterplot. 27. Ib. Mrs. Wiggins-Tom Thumb.

29. [Mr. YOUNG's Night.] Pizarro. (Pizarro, (for that night, only) Mr. Chapman; Alonzo, Mr. Abbot, (from Bath, his 1st ap

pearance in London). Elvira, Miss Marriott, (from Bath, her 1st appearance on this stage).-Critic.

30. Africans Music Mad-Blind Boy.

31.

Ib-YES OR No? (Never acted.) The Overture and Music by Mr C. Smith. The Characters by Messrs. Grove, Liston, Farley, Palmer, jun. Noble, Mathews, Treby; Mrs. Davenport, Mrs. Liston.

SEPT.

1. Blue Devils-Yes or No?

2. Ib-Ghost-Ib.

3. [Mr. FAWCETT's Night.] Zorinski-Critic-Plot and Coun

9. [Mrs. GIBBS' Night.] Honeymoon. Duke, Mr. Young.-Plot and Counterplot-Valentine and Orson.

10.

12.

13.

14.

Africans-Music Mad-Yes or No?

Dramatist-Yes or No?-Plot and Counterplot.
Africans-Critic-Tom Thumb.
Hamlet-Cheats of Scapin.

15. Africans-Plot and Counterplot-Yes or No?

The Theatre closed on the 15th, with the usual compliment to the audience from Mr. Fawcett. The farce of YES OR No? is a pleasant trifle, and having the advantage of some pretty music, and excellent acting, no doubt sufficiently answered the purpose both of manager and author.

DESTRUCTION OF COVENT GARDEN THEATRE
BY FIRE.

ON Tuesday morning (Sept. 20), at 4 o'clock, took place one of the most tremendous conflagrations which this Metropolis has witnessed for many years, and which ended in the total destruction of Covent Garden Theatre, certainly one of the most complete and splendid in Europe, together with a great number of the adjoining houses; but the circumstance which consummated the calamity is the melancholy destruction of human life which ensued, in a most fatal and shocking manner. The play and entertainment announced for representation on the previous evening were Pizarro, and the Portrait of Cervantes, which were performed with the greatest éclat, and produced a remarkably full house.-During the performance, nothing transpired which could indicate, in the least degree, the possibility of the melancholy catastrophe which in a very few hours afterwards took place. The representation was over by eleven o'clock, and about twelve Mr. Brandon, after going round the house, saw every thing apparently safe, and retired to rest. The watchman also went his usual rounds at two o'clock in the morning, when there was no appearance to excite suspicion. At four Mr. Brandon was called up by the watchman, when the whole house