Olla. Oh, nothing derogatory. Respectful as a duckat your question. My friends in town would won-legged drummer to a commander-in-chief. der to see the Honourable Miss Lucretia MacTab, sister to the late Lord Lofty, cooped up in a farmhouse.

FROM 1780

lavender water, much admired in our corps. Permit He had a patient lying at death's door,
me to send a pint bottle by way of present.
Luc. Dear sir, I shall rob you.

Olla. Quite the contrary; for I'll set it down to Sir
Charles as a quart. [Aside.] Madam, your slave.
You have prescribed for our patient like an able
physician. Not a step.

Luc. Nay, I insist

Olla. Then I must follow in the rear-the physician always before the apothecary.

upon Olla. Do you? Thank you, good ma'am; I owe [Exeunt. you one.

Luc. Apothecary! Sir, in this business I look you as a general officer.

The humorous poetry of Colman has been as popular as his plays. Of his 'Broad Grins,' the eighth edition (London, 1839) is now before us. Some of the pieces are tinged with indelicacy, but others display his lively sparkling powers of wit and observation in a very agreeable light. We subjoin two of these pleasant levities.

The Newcastle Apothecary.

A man in many a country town, we know,
Professes openly with death to wrestle;
Entering the field against the grimly foe,
Armed with a mortar and a pestle.
Yet some affirm, no enemies they are;
But meet just like prize-fighters in a fair,
Who first shake hands before they box,
Then give each other plaguy knocks,
With all the love and kindness of a brother:
So (many a suffering patient saith)
Though the apothecary fights with Death,
Still they're sworn friends to one another.
A member of this Esculapian line,
Lived at Newcastle-upon-Tyne:
No man could better gild a pill,

Or make a bill;

Or mix a draught, or bleed, or blister;
Or draw a tooth out of your head;
Or chatter scandal by your bed;
Or give a clyster.

Of occupations these were quantum suff.:
Yet still he thought the list not long enough;
And therefore midwifery he chose to pin to't.
This balanced things; for if he hurled
A few score mortals from the world,

He made amends by bringing others into't.

His fame full six miles round the country ran;
In short, in reputation he was solus:

All the old women called him 'a fine man!'
His name was Bolus.

Benjamin Bolus, though in trade

(Which oftentimes will genius fetter), Read works of fancy, it is said,

And cultivated the belles lettres.

And why should this be thought so odd?
Can't men have taste who cure a phthisic?
Of poetry, though patron god,

Apollo patronises physic.

Bolus loved verse, and took so much delight in't,
That his prescriptions he resolved to write in't.

No opportunity he e'er let pass

Of writing the directions on his labels
In dapper couplets, like Gay's Fables,
Or rather like the lines in Hudibras.
Apothecary's verse! and where's the treason?
"Tis simply honest dealing; not a crime ;
When patients swallow physic without reason,
It is but fair to give a little rhyme.

Some three miles from the town, it might be four;
To whom, one evening, Bolus sent an article
In pharmacy that's called cathartical.
And on the label of the stuff

He wrote this verse,

Which one would think was clear enough,
And terse:-

"We jolted him about.'

Zounds! shake a patient, man!-a shake won't do.' 'No, sir, and so we gave him two.' 'Two shakes! od's curse!

'Twould make the patient worse.'

'It did so, sir, and so a third we tried.'
'Well, and what then?' Then, sir, my master died.'

Lodgings for Single Gentlemen.

Who has e'er been in London, that overgrown place,
Has seen Lodgings to Let' stare him full in the face;
Some are good, and let dearly; while some, 'tis well

known,

Are so dear, and so bad, they are best let alone.
Will Waddle, whose temper was studious and lonely,
Hired lodgings that took single gentlemen only;
But Will was so fat, he appeared like a ton,
Or like two single gentlemen rolled into one.
He entered his rooms, and to bed he retreated,
But all the night long he felt fevered and heated;
And though heavy to weigh, as a score of fat sheep,
He was not by any means heavy to sleep.

Next night 'twas the same; and the next, and the

modern plays. There is merit in the writing, but much more in that dramatic science which disposes character, scenes, and dialogue with minute attention to theatric exhibition.' Holcroft wrote a great number of dramatic pieces-more than thirty between the years 1778 and 1806; three other novels (Anna St Ives, Hugh Trevor, and Bryan Perdue); besides a Tour in Germany and France, and numerous translations from the German, and French, and Italian. During the period of the French Revolution he was a zealous reformer, and on hearing that his name was included in the same bill of indictment with Tooke and Hardy, he surrendered himself in open court, but no proof of guilt was ever adduced against him. His busy and remarkable life was terminated on the 23d of March 1809.

JOHN TOBIN.

JOHN TOBIN was a sad example, as Mrs Inchbald has remarked, of the fallacious hopes by which half mankind are allured to vexatious enterprise. He passed many years in the anxious labour of writing plays, which were rejected by the managers; and no sooner had they accepted The Honey-Moon, than he died, and never enjoyed the recompense of seeing it performed.' Tobin was born at Salisbury in the year 1770, and educated for the law. In 1785 he was articled to an eminent solicitor of Lincoln's Inn, and afterwards entered into business himself.

Jul. The blue one, sir!

Duke. No, love-the white. Thus modestly attired,
A half-blown rose stuck in thy braided hair,
With no more diamonds than those eyes are made of,
No deeper rubies than compose thy lips,
Nor pearls more precious than inhabit them;
With the pure red and white, which that same hand
Which blends the rainbow mingles in thy cheeks;
This well-proportioned form (think not I flatter)
In graceful motion to harmonious sounds,
And thy free tresses dancing in the wind;
Thou'lt fix as much observance, as chaste dames
Can meet, without a blush.

JOHN O'KEEFE-FREDERICK REYNOLDS-THOMAS

MORTON.

JOHN O'KEEFE, a prolific farce writer, was born in Dublin in 1746. While studying the art of drawing to fit him for an artist, he imbibed a passion for the stage, and commenced the career of an He produced generally actor in his native city. some dramatic piece every year for his benefit, and one of these, entitled Tony Lumpkin, was played with success at the Haymarket theatre, London, in

1778.

Such, however, was his devotion to the drama, that before the age of twenty-four he had written several plays. His attachment to literary composition did not withdraw him from his legal engagements; but his time was incessantly occupied, and symptoms of consumption began to appear. A change of climate was recommended, and Tobin went first to Cornwall, and thence to Bristol, where he embarked for the He continued supplying the theatres with West Indies. The vessel arriving at Cork, was new pieces, and up to the year 1809, had written, in Most of these detained there for some days; but on the 7th of all, about fifty plays and farces. December 1804, it sailed from that port, on which and some of them enjoyed great success. The Agreewere denominated comic operas or musical farces, day—without any apparent change in his disorder able Surprise, Wild Oats, Modern Antiques, Fontain to indicate the approach of death-the invalid ex-bleau, The Highland Reel, Love in a Camp, The Poor pired. Before quitting London, Tobin had left the Honey-Moon' with his brother, the manager having given a promise that it should be performed. Its success was instant and decisive, and it is still a favourite acting play. Two other pieces by the same author (The Curfew, and The School for Authors) were subsequently brought forward, but they are of inferior merit. The Honey-Moon' is a romantic drama, partly in blank verse, and written somewhat in the style of Beaumont and Fletcher. The scene is laid in Spain, and the plot taken from Catherine and Petruchio, though the reform of the haughty lady is accomplished less roughly. The Duke of Aranza conducts his bride to a cottage in the country, pretending that he is a peasant, and that he has obtained her hand by deception. The proud Juliana, after a struggle, submits, and the duke having accomplished his purpose of rebuking the domineering spirit of her sex,' asserts his true rank, and places Juliana in his palace

This truth to manifest-A gentle wife
Is still the sterling comfort of man's life;
To fools a torment, but a lasting boon

To those who-wisely keep their honey-moon.
The following passage, where the duke gives his
directions to Juliana respecting her attire, is pointed
out by Mrs Inchbald as peculiarly worthy of admi-
ration, from the truths which it contains. The fair
critic, like the hero of the play, was not ambitious of
dress:-

Soldier, and Sprigs of Laurel, are still favourites, especially the first, in which the character of Lingo, the schoolmaster, is a laughable piece of broad humour. O'Keefe's writings, it is said, were merely intended to make people laugh, and they have fully answered that intent. The lively dramatist was in his latter years afflicted with blindness, and in 1800 he obtained a benefit at Covent Garden theatre, on which occasion he was led forward by Mr Lewis, the actor, and delivered a poetical address. He died at Southampton on the 4th of February 1833, having reached the advanced age of 86.

FREDERICK REYNOLDS (1765-1841) was one of the most voluminous of dramatists, author of sevenhundred dramatic pieces. He served Covent Garden teen popular comedies, and, altogether, of about a for forty years in the capacity of what he called thinker'—that is, performer of every kind of literary labour required in the establishment. Among his best productions are, The Dramatist, Laugh when you Can, The Delinquent, The Will, Folly as it Flies, Life, Management, Notoriety, How to Grow Rich, The Rage, Speculation, The Blind Bargain, Fortune's Fol, &c. &c. Of these, the Dramatist' is the best. The hero Vapid, the dramatic author, who goes to Bath to pick up characters,' is a laughable caricature, in which it is said the author drew a likeness of himself; for, like Vapid, he had 'the ardor scribendi upon him so strong, that he would rather you'd ask him to write an epilogue or a scene than offer him your whole estate the theatre was his world, in

which were included all his hopes and wishes.' Out of the theatre, however, as in it, Reynolds was much esteemed.

Another veteran comic writer for the stage is THOMAS MORTON, whose Speed the Plough, Way to Get Married, Cure for the Heartache, and The School of Reform, may be considered standard comedies on the stage. Besides these, Mr Morton produced Zorinski, Secrets Worth Knowing, and various other plays, most of which were performed with great applause. The acting of Lewis, Munden, and Emery, was greatly in favour of Mr Morton's productions on their first appearance; but they contain the elements of theatrical success. The characters are strongly contrasted, and the scenes and situations well arranged for effect, with occasionally a mixture of pathos and tragic or romantic incident. In the closet, these works fail to arrest attention; for their merits are more artistic than literary, and the improbability of many of the incidents appears glaring when submitted to sober inspection.

Various new pieces have since been produced in the London theatres by Messrs Poole, Theodore Hook, Planche, Jerrold, Buckstone, &c. The novels of Sir Walter Scott and Mr Dickens have been dramatised with considerable success; but most of these recent productions require the aids of good acting, music, and scenery, to render them tolerable. There is no want of novelties; but the wit, the sprightly dialogue, and genuine life of the true English comedy, may be said to be extinct.

NOVELISTS.

and, fed upon such garbage as we have described, it was scarcely less injurious; for it dwarfed the intellectual faculties, and unfitted its votaries equally for the study or relish of sound literature, and for the proper performance and enjoyment of the actual duties of the world. The enthusiastic novel reader got bewildered and entangled among love-plots and high-flown adventures, in which success was often awarded to profligacy, and, among scenes of pretended existence, exhibited in the masquerade attire of a distempered fancy. Instead, therefore, of

Truth severe by fairy Fiction dressed,

we had Falsehood decked out in frippery and nonsense, and courting applause from its very extravagance.

The first successful inroad on this accumulating mass of absurdity was made by Charlotte Smith, whose works may be said to hold a middle station between the true and the sentimental in fictitious composition. Shortly afterwards succeeded the political tales of Holcroft and Godwin, the latter animated by the fire of genius, and possessing great intellectual power and energy. The romantic fables of Mrs Radcliffe were also, as literary productions, a vast improvement on the old novels; and in their moral effects they were less mischievous, for the extraordinary machinery employed by the authoress was so far removed from the common course of human affairs and experience, that no one could think of drawing it into a precedent in ordinary circumstances. At no distant interval Miss Edgeworth came forward with her moral lessons and satirical portraits, daily advancing in her powers as in her desire to increase the virtues, prudence, and subIn prose fiction, the last forty years have been rich stantial happiness of life; Mrs Opie told her pathetic and prolific. It was natural that the genius and the and graceful domestic tales; and Miss Austen exsuccess of the great masters of the modern English hibited her exquisite delineations of every-day Engnovel should have led to imitation. Mediocrity is lish society and character. To crown all, Sir Walter seldom deterred from attempting to rival excellence, Scott commenced, in 1814, his brilliant gallery of especially in any department that is popular, and portraits of all classes, living and historical, which may be profitable; and there is, besides, in romance, completely exterminated the monstrosities of the as in the drama, a wide and legitimate field for Minerva press, and inconceivably extended the circle native talent and exertion. The highly-wrought of novel readers. Fictitious composition was now tenderness and pathos of Richardson, and the models again in the ascendant, and never, in its palmiest of real life, wit, and humour in Fielding, Smollett, days of chivalrous romance or modern fashion, did it and Sterne, produced a few excellent imitations. command more devoted admiration, or shine with The fictions of Mackenzie, Dr Moore, Miss Burney, greater lustre. The public taste underwent a rapid and Cumberland, are all greatly superior to the ordi- and important change; and as curiosity was stimunary run of novels, and stand at the head of the lated and supplied in such unexampled profusion second class. These writers, however, exercised but from this master-source, the most exorbitant delittle influence on the national taste: they supported vourers of novels soon learned to look with aversion the dignity and respectability of the novel, but did and disgust on the painted and unreal mockeries not extend its dominion; and accordingly we find which had formerly deluded them. It appears to be that there was a long dull period in which this de-a law of our nature, that recreation and amusement lightful species of composition had sunk into general are as necessary to the mind as exercise is to the contempt. There was no lack of novels, but they body, and in this light Sir Walter Scott must be were of a very inferior and even debased description. viewed as one of the greatest benefactors of his In place of natural incident, character, and dialogue, species. He has supplied a copious and almost exwe had affected and ridiculous sentimentalism-plots haustless source of amusement, as innocent as it is utterly absurd or pernicious-and stories of love and delightful. He revived the glories of past ages; honour so maudlin in conception and drivelling in illustrated the landscape and the history of his execution, that it is surprising they could ever have native country; painted the triumphs of patriotism been tolerated even by the most defective moral and virtue, and the meanness and misery of vice; sense or taste. The circulating libraries in town and awakened our best and kindliest feelings in favour country swarmed with these worthless productions of suffering and erring humanity-of the low-born (known from their place of publication by the mis- and the persecuted, the peasant, the beggar, and the nomer of the Minerva Press' novels); but their Jew; he has furnished an intellectual banquet, as perusal was in a great measure confined to young rich as it is various and picturesque, from his curipeople of both sexes of imperfect education, or to ous learning, extensive observation, forgotten manhalf-idle inquisitive persons, whose avidity for ex- ners, and decaying superstitions-the whole embelcitement was not restrained by delicacy or judgment. lished with the lights of a vivid imagination, and a In many cases, even in the humblest walks of life, correct and gracefully regulated taste. In the numthis love of novel-reading amounted to a passion as ber and variety of his conceptions and characters, strong and uncontrollable as that of dram-drinking; | Scott is entitled to take his seat beside the greatest