him even to madness; and his pathetick ap peal to their feelings,

O gods! I gave you all, &c.

evinced his power to move the sympathetick sensations of the heart. He strikingly embodied the feelings of the soul in his exclamation to Edgar

Didst thou give all to thy daughters?

and again in this-

Off, off, you lendings. Come, unbutton here.

But Mr. Fennell's powers were not all displayed in the scenes we have mentioned; he very judiciously reserved some nice touches, to give embellishment to his scene with Gloucester and Edgar, which undoubtedly required the greatest exertion of talent. To counterfeit

Matter and impertinency mixt--

Reason in madness,

Mr.

is not within the power of every actor. Fennel was every inch a maniack and a king.

Next to Lear, Edgar by Mr. Caulfield merits notice, and it gives us great pleasure to repeat the universal sentiment of approbation which he so deservedly received.

Mr. Usher happily portrayed the rough honesty of Kent. He paid uncommon attention to the bye-play when disguised as Caius.

Through the inattention of some of the performers, or the unaccountable caprice of the managers, there is in most of our theatrical en

tertainments some draw-back on the satisfaction of the audience. The last scene of the fourth act was rendered ridiculous by Mr. Downie's not having the letter to Edmund in his pocket.

We know not which is most laughable, the absurd, preposterous conduct of the managers in excluding both Mrs. Powell and Mrs. Stanley from the play, and giving the character of Cordelia to a lady who is so totally inadequate to its representation; or the ridiculous vanity which prompted her to accept it. We com. mend the lady however for omitting the following speech, which she probably knew she could make nothing of

O for an arm

Like the fierce thunderer's, when the earth-born

sons

Stormed heaven, to fight this injured father's batties!

That I could shift my sex, and dye me deep
In his opposers' blood! but as I may
With women's weapons, piety and prayers,
I'll aid his cause.---You never erring gods,
Fight on his side, and thunder on his toes
Such tempests as his poor aged head sustained.
Your image suffers when a monarch bleeds.
"Tis your own cause, for that your succours bring,
Revenge yourselves, and right an injured king.

Such right noble dukes as the princely Burgundy, and my Lord of Cornwall,

Created only to make bows and cringe,

To carry in a dish, or shift a trencher,

are entitled to the most sarcastick sneers of in

effable contempt.' The scene in which Cornwall and his servant kill each other we hope will long remain without a parallel

The last of murders, as it was the worst.

The catastrophe of this tragedy, as perform. ed on the modern stage, is totally different from the Lear of Shakespeare, though we never could discover any plausible reason for its alteration. If the design of tragedy be "to im-. prove our virtuous sensibility" by exciting pity for suffering virtue, and indignation at vice and depravity, the acting edition of Lear is deficient, and nearly all the fifth act is superfluous. Except the combat between Edgar and Edmund it is uninteresting to the feelings, and excites no sympathy. Dr. Blair says, "The catastrophe of a tragedy ought to be the reign of pure sentiment and passion. In proportion as it approaches, every thing should warm and glow. No long discourses; no cold reasonings; no parade of genius, in the midst of those solemn and awful events, that close some of the great revolutions of human fortune. There, if any where, the poet must be simple, serious, pathet ick, and speak no language but that of nature." Such was Shakepeare's tragedy of Lear; and the following speech of Lear over the dead body of Cordelia outweighs all that has been accomplished by the alterations of Messrs. Tate, Gar rick and Kemble.

Howl, howl, howl, howl,-O you are men of stones. Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so

That heaven's vault should crack ;-O she is gone

forever;

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth-Lend me a looking-glass,
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why then she lives-

And my poor fool is hanged. No, no, no life.
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life,
And thou no breath at all? O thou wilt come no
more,

Never, never, never, never, never!

Pray you, undo this button. Thank you, sir.
Do you see this? Look on her, look on her lips,
Look there, look there.-

[Dies.]

Nothing could excite more sympathy than such an exclamation of a father over a darling child, on whose lips he is still intent, and dying gradually away while searching there for life. The Rev. Dr. Warton observes, that the swelling and heaving of the heart is feelingly described by that most expressive request, Pray you, undo this button.

March 13.-King John and Highland Reel, for the benefit of Mr. Fennell. King John, Mr. Fennell; Faulconbridge, Caulfield; Constance, Mrs. Powell.

March 16.-King Lear and Sixty-third Letter. March 18. The Natural Son and The Padlock. Mr. C. Powell made his second appearance in Ruefull, which he sustained with credit to himself and satisfaction to a brilliant audience. In the last act Mr. P's performance was remarkably chaste and pathetick.

Mr. Dykes in Sir Jeffrey was above medioc rity.

Major O'Flaherty by Mr. Bernard fell short of reasonable expectation. We see no reason why an officer should be "stiff and starch," or why an Irish major should wear a queue reaching below his middle. We think, on the contrary, an officer's appearance should be characterised by ease and elegance.

Dumps by Mr. Dickenson created considerable mirth. Blushenly was far more dumpish. Lady Paragon by Mrs. Stanley-a paragon indeed."

Mrs. Shaw's Mrs. Phebe was good-we had almost said, superiour to any of her former efforts in comedy.

March 20. The Foundling and Wags of Windsor. Faddle and Caleb Quotem by Mr. C. Powell, to whose benefit the profits of the house were appropriated.

March 23.-The Voice of Nature and La Peyrouse. The profits of this evening were appropriated to the benevolent purpose of founding a Hospital for the reception of Lunaticks.

THEATRICAL CHIT-CHAT.

We are willing to allow (say the editors of the New-York Weekly Miscellany,) that the city assemblies were in some degree the cause why the performances of Mr. Bernard were not more generally attended. But we think his abilities