pursuits, dexterous in argument, and decorous in his animadversions. In his political conflicts he has of late prudently avoided every thing that looks like personal hostility; and in his arguments relative to III. "And shall not HIS mem❜ry to Britain be dear, IV. "Who when terror and doubt through the universe reign'd, V. Unheeding, unthankful, we bask in the blaze, While the beams of the sun in full majesty shine; When he sinks into twilight, with fondness we gaze, And mark the mild lustre that gilds his decline. VI. "So, PITT, when the course of thy greatness is o'er, Now justly we prize thee, when lost we deplore, VII. "O take then, for dangers by wisdom repell'd, O take for a throne by thy counsels upheld, "And oh, if again the rude whirlwind should rise, Shall turn to the Pilot that weather'd the Storm!" the the slave-trade, while he loudly condemns that inhuman traffic, he has always appeared half afraid lest his wit should inflict the same stings on his op ponents, that they so unrelentingly bestow on the backs of their unhappy negroes. Mr. Canning has been married for some years to a daughter of the late General Scott, by whom he obtained a considerable fortune. Of the other two, one is Marchioness of Titchfield; the other died in 1798, Viscountess Downe. His mother, now Mrs. Reddish, is still alive, as are also two sisters. The sudden rise of this gentleman has produced a host of enemies; and during the fervour of political animosities it has been asserted that these ladies are in the receipt of pensions from the state. But will this be considered as a reproach either to them or him, when it is recollected that the widows and daughters of nearly one-third of our ancient nobility would deem themselves very fortunate to be in precisely the same predicament? A periodical writer too, gifted by nature with considerable talents, which have neither been improved nor polished by education, has presumed to attack him on grounds still less tenable; for Mr. Canning appears to have been as well born as many of his rivals, and perhaps better educated. Besides, it is equally illiberal and ridiculous in a free country, and an enlightened age, to upbraid a man bred at one of our first public schools,withthe heirs of patrician families,afterwards conferring honour on one of our most distinguished universities, universities, and eclipsing most if not all the younger branches of our nobility in the same chamber of parliament, with either the epithet or character of an" Upstart." THE YOUNG ROSCIUS. THE history of the stage, like that of society itself, may be traced to a rude period, and an humble origin. In ancient Greece we find mankind passing through all the intermediate degrees of civilization, from dens and huts, to palaces and regular cities; while the successors of Thespis, who originally exhibited in a cart, found themselves, some ages after, in possession of a noble theatre at Athens, built of the most costly materials, and constructed with all the exquisite taste of which an elegant and enlightened age was capable.* The scenic art is admirably calculated to present an imitation of the realities, or at least the proba bilities of private life; and the stage itself is therefore allowed to be the world in miniature. By its admirers it has always been considered capable of the most exalted objects, and is not unfrequently denominated, even at this day, a school of virtue. It would be difficult, however, to point out, at least in The Romans seem to have been slow in their improvements, as Pompey the Great appears to have been the first who built a theatre of stone. 1805-1806. Kk the the annals of Europe, any advantageous change ef fected by it, in respect to the duties which men either owe to each other, or to the state; and it must be frankly owned, that the theatres of modern days have contributed more to the taste than to the morals of the age. This, however, perhaps is more the fault of the audience than the actors, and springs rather from the perversion of, than the institution itself. Certain it is, that the declamation of the theatre affords the means of working up the passions of the multitude, and conveying the most noble and the most heroic sentiments. It is capable of inspiring patriotism, of inculcating bravery, of effacing even the fear of death. On grand and critical occasions, it might accordingly become a powerful engine for the salvation of a country, by electrifying every generous bosom with an ardent love of freedom, and a noble contempt of danger. It is not a little surprising, however, that in general the professors of this interesting art have been treated with a degree of indifference bordering on contempt. Notwithstanding the French are allowed to have excelled in it, yet their actors received but little respect during their lives, and were denied the rites of sepulture after their deaths. With us, indeed, their remains were not insulted; but until of late their lives were embittered by poverty, and their liberty menaced by the laws.* Our satyrist, Churchill, depicts them in his time, sometimes, "Of the beadle's lash afraid," and We are to seck for the solution of this enigma, not in the baseness of the profession, but in the poverty and inferiority of the professors. From the time of Elizabeth until nearly our own days, we can scarcely name three opulent, or perhaps respectable performers; but a new class of men at length arose, and a Betterton, a Booth, and a Garrick, seemed destined to rescue the name of a Player from obloquy and reproach. In the present times we have been astonished with a phenomenon; for we have beheld a boy at the age of twelve, issuing like Minerva from the head of Jupiter, at once prepared and armed for the combat. This is assuredly unexampled in the annals of the stage; for notwithstanding the zeal and enthusiasm of our greatest performers,* they had all attained the period of manhood before they presumed to make their bow to an audience in the capital. and at other times,` "Crouching for wretched means of life, To Madam May'ress, or his worship's wife." The prejudices against actors in England, may be traced up to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the indecency of the secular plays was so great, that the clergy were prevented from frequenting them, by the sixteenth canon of the fourth general council of Lateran, A. D. 1215. Du Pin Eccles. Hist. * Mr. Garrick, we believe, was about twenty-four, and Mr. Powell nearly of the same age, when they became public candidates for fame. Of the latter it may be truly and literally said, that he "felt the ruling passion strong in death." We have been told by a surviving friend, that when on his death-bed, after Mrs. P. had left the room, and while Miss Hannah Moore sat near him, his cheek Kk 2 |