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Drummer," by Mr. Addifon. The performances of Mr. Quick and Mrs. Pitt deferve to be spoken of in the highest terms; but the havock made by the very injudicious alterations and curtailment of fo excellent a play cannot be fufficiently cenfured.

26. "The Widow Bewitched," a Comedy by Mottley, which had been acted without fuccefs at Goodman's- Fields about fortyfive years fince, was revived at Drury-lane, for the benefit of Mr. Baddeley.

28. "The Irish Widow" was performed at Drury-lane for the benefit of Mrs. Jordan, who reprefented the Widow fuccefsfully. The house upon this occafion was crowded in a very extraordinary manner, and Mrs. Jordan, befides the advantages arifing from the theatre, was complimen ed with an additional fum of money prefented to her by the Club at Brookes's.

MAY 5. Mrs. Pope, who had remained unengaged at either theatre during this feafon, performed Zenobia in the play of that name, at Covent-garden, for the benefit of her husband, Mr. Pope, who himfelf performed Rhadamiftus. She was received by the au. dience with that applaufe which always attends defert; and fpoke the following Epilogue, written by Peter Pindar:

BLEST be the glorious bard of antient days! I mean old Thefpis, who invented plays; Who drove through Greece, exhibiting his art, As higglers cry their turnips-from a cart. The drama's genius all my foul reveres,

"Die to please a husband !" fays each modifh dame;

"Heav'ns! what a Gothic thought, what fin, "what fhame!"

So then, this Gothic thought no plaudit draws,
You deem it e'en a fin to yield applause:
Admit a fin, fuch gen'rous contribution,
I'm POPE, and promise you AN ABSOLUTION.

2. A fifter of Mrs. Martyr made her first theatrical effay at Covent-garden in the character of Mifs Aubrey, in The Fashionable Lover. Of her performance we shall only observe, that it betrayed every mark of want of experience, and therefore it will be more candid to wait until time fhall have matured her judgment before any decided opinion is given of her merits.

Before the play the following occafional Addrefs, written by Horatio Edgar Robson, Efq. was fpoken by Mr. Holman :

IN these bold times, when lit'rature's the

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I love the queen of fmiles and queen of Reform'd, inftructed, and amaz'd mankind :

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In thefe bold times,-then boldness must difplay

Superior force, and banish fear away.-
But then, alas! you, critics, will condemn,
For female boldness seldom pleafes men.
Yet one waits there-but fortitude is loft !
Her aching heart by many a fear is toft;
Trembling, with doubt, this dang'rous ground
to tread,

"With all her imperfections on her head :" Afraid, left you thou'd think her scheme

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That breath'd sweet Nature's fragrance round

to you

'Twas BRUNTON came, and faw, and conquer'd too.

Yet proud again, an advocate I came,
And Phenix Warren found a Powel's fame;
A third, unfkill'd, will venture forth to-
night;

In this dramatic fphere will take her flight,
To buoy up emulation and her cause,
Let candour dictate,-jaflice give applause.

11. Small-Talk; or, The Westminster Boy, a Farce, by Capt. Topham, was attempted to be acted at Covent-Garden, for the benefit of Mrs. Wells. By the most unexampled negligence of the Matters of Wettminster School, a number of the Gentlemen educated at that feminary were fuffered to be at the Theatre this evening, and, by every species of disturbance, put a stop to the performance of the piece. Of what we were not suffered to hear, it is impoffible to give any account; we must therefore poftpone this fubject until the Farce has had a fair and candid hearing. Before the piece, the following Prologue, written by Mr. Colman, jun. was spoken by Mr. Holman :

FEW Critics here, our vulgar tongue who speak,

Have read one Euclid-for he wrote in Greek :

Few too, I ween, great cenfors of our nation! Have troubled e'en their heads with the tranflation.

Learn then, ye editors! that Euclid said, Wishing to cram fome truth into your head, Hoping-vain hopes, alas! beyond a doubt— Where fomething's in, that something may

come out;

He faid-he'd fwear it too, upon his foulThat many little parts compofe the whole. Our authors now, unletter'd as you rate 'em, All fcribble on this old, establish'd DATUM; Swear that fmall fcribblers, and with no

fmall reason,

Combin'd, produce one great dramatic feafon. Our's of to-night-great thanks you'll furely

vote all !

Adds his small fum, to fwell the fcribbling total;

Skill'd, like the reft, his fertile thoughts in chalking,

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With TON,like TURTLE, rifing in his breaft: No more the fmoaky 'Change he tramps till dark,

But trots, with pleasing pain, along the Park; Where each rough step, when once he gets a ftraddle,

Parts him, involuntary, from the faddle, 'Till hearty bumps his readiness explain To come in contact with it once again : Whilft his content bursts forth at ev'ry blow, Exprefs'd emphatick in---ho, ho, ho, ho! Thus, priz'd, like cannon, rides this great rebounder,

Mark'd out a monstrous ninety thousand pounder !

Some bow, fome nod, fome cut him, all befide him,

Some few--for weighty reasons---pace behind him ;

And, as they cheek by jowl, jog on together, He cries, "Tis charming riding, whew! fine warm-weather!

When if Sir John, high caped, comes dashing by,

With equipage and doxey ever nigh,
Darting fharp pebbles in the good man's eye,
His fteed, with fympathy for the difaster,
Kicks at the infult offer'd to his master;
Then of true balance never lofing fight,
His neck new-loaded, thro' his rider's fright,
Rears up on end---and fets the matter right.
The morning thus well over, evening comes,
Plays, operas, concerts, balls, mafques, routs
and drums,

Where, fpite of proverb, birds of different feather,

Owls, peacocks, rooks and pigeons flock together!

Bears, boars, and monkeys too, all grace each

feaft,

Our cita bat---difown'd by bird and beast. Partial to Ton, with pain he sees and fighs, What havock fashion makes with memories; In filence grieves, and cannot help repining, To mark men's faculties fo foon declining; Weeps for my Lord, groans deeply for his Grace,

Who call'd this morning---borrow'd too -fad cafe I

Tow'rd fupper time, has quite forgot his face!

Such as-fmall wit, fmall plot-and laft Fraught with thefe fcenes, our bard his pencil

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13. Timon of Athens, altered by Mr. Hull, was acted at Covent-Garden for that gentleman's benefit. In this play a new character of a mistress of Timon's was introduced, and performed by a young lady, faid to be a fifter of Mrs. Kemble, formerly Mifs Satchell. Her figure, manner, and deportment, were calculated to imprefs a favourable opinion of her future performance. She was natural and affecting, and, allowing for the defects arifing from timidity, promites to be an acquifition to the theatre. We cannot fay the fame of Mr. Hull's alteration, which ought to be configned to oblivion.

Tho' when they thro' the atmosphere have roll'd,

All they can tell us is, 'twas very coldSince you grown folks are pleas'd with fuch light toys,

No wonder they infect us HACKNEY boys:
We mount ourselves to-night-But we'll
produce

An old balloon, of more important use :
No oil-fkin ours, inflated like a ton,
Sailing from HACKNEY M RSH to ISLING-

TON,

Which the THAMES Croffing, and the astonisli'd town,

Lands two ftarv'd paffengers at HORSLEY

DOWN

Whilft thefe but aim t'o'ertop each church and steeple,

15. Hamlet and Comus were performed at Drury-Lane, for the benefit of Mrs. Siddons. This great actress acquitted herfelf with her ufual fuccefs, and to the fatisfaction of a moft numerous audience, in the parts of And shake their fand-bags down t blind the Ophelia and the Lady.

20. I'll Tell You What was performed at Covent-Garden, for the benefit of Mrs. Inchbald, the authorefs, and, to the furprize of the frequenters of the theatre, to a thin houfe. Confidering the excellence of this comedy, and its deferved fuccefs last season at the Hay-Market, we think Mrs. Inchbald has every reason to wonder at the fickleness of the Public.

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people,

We'll fhew you one that dares a nobler flight, And warms your paffions, whilft it charms your fight;

One, that in spite of elements will rife,
Float thro' new worlds, and pierce the dif-
tant skies;

One, that can face all winds-fo tight, fo
clever,
Equall'd by none-

loon for ever!

-SHAKESPEAR's bal

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EPILOGUE.

The curtain rifing, an elderly Lady, in the extreme of every modern fashion, is dif covered at her toilet.

THE ARABIAN NIGHTS-(for ladies of high breeding

Ne'er plague their heads with any other reading)

Tell us, that when this mortal life is o'er,
We in chang'd forms ftill the world's
haunts explore,

Congenial forms to what we had before.—
Tho' this to you and us is sheer vexation,
Th' ARABIANS call it only tranfmigratien.
Hang their fool's doctrine!-better down-
right die

Than fhift about without variety.-
Thus late CYMBELINE's imperious
Queen,

Too full of envy, of intrigue, and spleenSome time deceas'd-am doom'd to prance about

An old fine lady, littering every rout; Where with coquettish airs, and looks moft civil,

Juft as I did at court-I play the devil; Haughty, yet mean, all characters backbiting,

By the world flighted, and the world too flighting.

With all the art of colouring, paste, perfume,
I ftrive to renovate departed bloom;
But neither Cyprian Wah, Olympian Dew,
Nor the fam d SHARP'S Cofmetics much can
do-

Unwearied pains my faithful frizer takes To make my curls hang like MEDUSA'S fnakes;

The broad veil lappet with much care 1 fix,
True to the latest mode of Eighty-fix;
Full cropp'd before, just like a pouting pigeon,
Dove-tail'd behind, and bufiling like a wigeon ;
From neck to heel oblerving HOGARTH'S
line,

All in and out-a perfect ferpentine.

Proportion'd cork and wire to each fide's giv'n, To preferve beauty s fickle balance even. Then to eight routs I go-O! routs are places

Where one fees every thing-but natural faces;

Where young and old, and birk of ev'ry feather

Chat-rail-play-fret-stick-stew—and -yawn together.

'Tis life-'tis ton-'tis quite the thing—and fo I am this wayward round still forc'd to go! Change me, ye gods! to any other shape, Rather than let me thus live Fashion's ape! My regal crimes muft furely have been great, That ye have doom'd me to so hard a fate!

Ye happier fair, o'er whofe more profpe

rous heads

Kind Nature each indulgent bleffing sheds, Whofe gentler bofoms never felt the strife Of the vain mother, or the guilty wife, Who never trod delufive Folly's round!

What can I do?——long past the years of With what a change must your sweet lives be

youth!

My toilet hardly credited for truth,

At which I ftudy Fashion's mad disguises, Till as poor Nature finks-the rag-doll rises.

crown'd!

On earth almost ador'd as near divine, Tranfmigrating-you'll all as angels shine,

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Brun, April 14. HE following inftance of fecundity is Trecorded in the Vienna Gazette, where it is mentioned, that a woman of Jannowitz, in the lordship of Freydecker, in Upper Silefia, was on the 2d of this month delivered of four children alive, then of a dead one, and that the fixth could not be brought into the world, but died, together

with the mother.

Rome, April 21. Thurfday evening the Duke and Duchefs of Cumberland, his Royal Highness being conducted by Prince Aldobrandini, and his confort by the Marchionefs Barbara Meffimi, visited his Eminence the Cardinal Buon-Compagni,and were entertained with a fuperb collation; after which they were introduced to an apartment

where his Holiness the Pope gave them a private audience. received the Duke and Duchefs with great The Sovereign Pontiff diftinction, and they remained a good while in his company.

Paris, May 15. Blanchard performed his 17th aerial excurfion the 18th ult. from Douay. He went 96 miles in the fame number of minutes, and defcended at L' Etoile, a village in Picardy. Over St. Amand, in Artois, he dropped the following letter:

To the Editors of the Paris Journal. In the Air, April 18, 1786. "I am reckoned an original, and am proud of the title. With an unfteady hand, on the border of my undulating car, and foaring eighteen thousand feet above the fur

face

face of the terrestrial globe, an immenfity
of space at my feet, and a wide extent of
airy regions before me, I addrefs, Gentle-
men, this letter to you.
I intend to drop
it over the firft town I fee when I am de.
fcending, and will fend you a more parti-

TH

cular account, when I am firmly fixed on
the earth, and at leisure to make the necef-
fary calculations."

"I have the honour, &c.
"BLANCHARD."

IRE LAN D.

Dublin Cafle, May 8, 1786. HIS day his Grace the Lord Lieutenant went in ftate to the Houfe of Peers, with the ufual folemnity, and the Commons being fent for, gave the royal affent to forty-three public, and three private bills.

His Grace was then pleased to make the following fpeech:

My Lords, and Gentlemen,

I have feen with great fatisfaction, the conftant attention and uncommon difpatch with which you have gone through the public business. I am thereby enabled now to relieve you from further attendance in Parliament. The harmony of your deliberations has given no less efficacy than dignity to your proceedings; and I am confident that you will carry with you the fame difpolition for promoting the public welfare to your refidence in the country, where your prefence will encourage the industry of the people, and where your example and your influence will be happily exerted in eftablishing general good order and obedience to the laws.

Gentlemen of the House of Commons,

I am to thank you, in his Majefty's name, for the liberal fuppiies which you have gi ven for the public fervice, and for the honourable fupport of his Majefty's government. They shall be faithfully applied to the parpoles for which they were granted. —My reliance upon your decided support to the execution of the laws for the just collection of the public revenue, affords me

the best founded hope that the produce of the duties will not fall fhort of their efti mated amount.

My Lords, and Gentlemen,

The determined fpirit with which you have marked your abhorrence of all lawless diforder and tuinult, hath, I doubt not, already made an ufeful impreffion; and the falutary laws enacted in this feffion, and particularly the introduction of a fyftem of police, are honourable proofs of your wifdom, your moderation, and your prudence.

His Majefty beholds, with the highest fatisfaction, the zeal and loyalty of his people of Ireland; and I have his Majefty's exprefs commands to affure you of the most cordial returns of his royal favour and paternal affection.

I have the deepest sense of every obligation to confirm my attachment to this kingdom; and it will be the constant obj & of my adminiftration, and the warmest impulfe of my heart, to forward the fuccefs of her interefts, and to promote the profperity of the empire.

After which the Lord Chancellor, by his Grace's command, faid,

My Lords, and Gentlemen,

It is his Grace the Lord Lieutenant's pleasure, that this Parliament be prorogued to Tuesday the 18th Day of July next, to be then here holden; and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Tuesday the 18th Day of July next.

COUNTRY

Hereford, April 20.

NEW S.

of a tower in his hand, not unlike what this

ABOUT nine days ago, a (mall part of the magnificent edifice was.

ftone-work of the infide roof, under the West Tower of the Cathedral Church in this city fell, and continued frequently fo to do till last Monday afternoon, between fix and feven o'clock, at which time all that beautiful and magnificent ftructure feil down, and with it part of the body of the church.

The tower, which is now a heap of rubbith, was deemed by most of the antiquarians to have been as beautiful and magnificent a piece of building as any in the kingdom. The height of it was 125 feet, and was erected in the 12th century by Giles de Bruce, then Bishop of Hereford. He is reprefented, in the north-fide of the choir, holding the model

Gloucefter, April 24. The inhabitants of Painfwick propofe making an experiment this year, which will no lefs advance their character than their intereft. At a veltry held on Eafter-Monday it was remarked, that the poor's rates had been rifing year after year, and yet the wretchedneis of the poor was in no degree diminished; it was therefore determined to make trial of a measure which had often been hinted at, but from its unpopular tendency had not found fupport. In that fmall town there are no less than thirteen public-houtes. The gentlemen of the parish came to the refolution of petitioning the Juftices to license no more than five.

The

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