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presentation, on the evening appointed. It was, therefore, found expedient to give notice of the postponement of the performance, which was thus delivered by the town crier: "O yes! O yes! O yes! this is to let you know, that the play-acters havna got their screens up yet frae Aberdeen, and so canna begin thae night; but on Monday night, God willing, there will be Devil to Pay in the West Indies.""

HAPPY ANACHRONISM.

The

A SON of Thespis, in acting the part of Barbaròssa, got thunders of applause from the sailors who crowded the house (for the incident happened in a seaport town) by thus improving a speech in the tyrant's part.

"Did not I,

By that brave knight, Sir Sydney Smith's, assistance,
And in conjunction with

The gallant Nelson,

Drive Buonaparte and his fierce marauders
From Egypt's shores.”

GARRICK AND FOOTE.

"THE Lying Valet" being one night annexed as an afterpiece, to the comedy of "The Devil upon Two Sticks," Garrick, coming into the Green Room, with exultation called out to Foote,

"Well, Sam! I see, after all, you are glad to take up with one of my farces."-"Why, yes, David!" rejoined the wit, "What could I do better? I must have some ventilator for this excessively hot weather."

MODEST MERIT.

1

A PLAYER applied to the manager of a respectable company, for an engagement for himself and his wife, stating, that his lady was capable of playing all the first line of business; but as for himself, he was "the worst actor in the world." They were engaged, and the lady answered the character which he had given of her. The husband having the part of a mere walking gentleman sent him for his first appearance, he asked the manager indignantly, how could he put him into so paltry a part. "Sir," answered the other, "here is your own letter, stating that you were the worst actor in the world."" True," replied the other," but then I had not seen you."

PERFORMANCES AT THE ARCTIC THEATRE.

THE following dramatic jeu d'esprit is from "The North Pole Gazette," a paper published in the Polar Regions.

"The Drama.-A new pantomine was last night brought out at the Arctic Theatre, entitled "The North West Passage; or Harlequin Esquimaux." Our limits will not admit of our entering into the plot of this piece at present. Of course there is a lack of scenery and machinery; but, in some instances, the local situation of the Theatre gives it an advantage over every other. Where, but in the Arctic Theatre, could a palace be exhibited supported by real icicles, forty feet high, bright as crystal, and thicker than the pillars of Covent Garden portico? Many of the tricks are very ingenious, and at the same time quite original. [We particularly admired that touch of the magic wand, which converted the Paphian Queen into a lump of "unsunned snow."]

THE ACTORS.

A SHABBY fellow chanc'd one day to meet
The British Roscius in 'the street,

(Garrick of whom our nation justly brags) The fellow hugg'd him with a kind embrace"Good, Sir, I do not recollect your face," Quoth Garrick.-"No!" replied the man of

rags:

"The boards of Drury, you and I have trod
Full many a time together, I am sure.”—
"When?" with an oath, cry'd Garrick,-" for
by G-

I never saw that face of yours before!
What characters, I pray,

Did you and I together play?"

"Lord," quoth the fellow," think not that I mock

When you play'd Hamlet, Sir, I play'd the cock."

GEORGE FREDERICK COOKE AND MATHEWS.

THE abilities of Cooke placed him at the head of his profession; nor were his talents confined to that alone. Though his reading had been desultory, he had read much and had thought more. In his better moments, he was a pleasant companion, full of wit, whim, and anecdote, benevolent, and of great suavity of manners. And yet this same man, in his drunken hours, became noisy, savage, and disgusting; a misery to himself, and a terror to those about him. Of this, the following anecdote affords abundant confirmation.

Cooke, while at Dublin, in the year 1795, one night invited home Mathews, with whom he had

been pleased, and they sat down to drink. One jug of whiskey punch was quickly emptied, and while drinking the second, George Frederick, in his turn, thus commends young Mathews.

"You are young, and want some one to advise you take my word for it, there is nothing like industry and sobriety-Mrs. Burns! another jug of whiskey punch, Mrs. Burns—you make it so good. Mrs. Burns, another jug."

66 Yes, Mr. Cooke."

"In our profession, my young friend, dissipation is too apt to be the bane of youth-villainous company-low company' leads them from studying their business, and acquiring that knowledge, which alone can make them respectable."

Thus he proceeded, drinking and uttering advice (not the less valuable because in opposition to his own practice), and assuring Mathews of his protection, instruction, and all his influence to forward his views. While the whiskey punch. jug after jug vanished, and with it all semblance of the virtues so eloquently praised, though maddened by the fumes of the liquor, the chain of his ideas continued still unbroken, and he began a dissertation on the histrionic art, pro

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