whom fortune had made a king, but whon nature had intended" to carry burthens." Mental imbecility may be traced through all his words and actions: in his suspicions, and banishment of Bolingbroke-in his superstitions pratings about the "divine right" of kings-in his momentary fluctuations between intemperate hope and abject despair.How were we surprised then to find, in the Richard 11. of Mr. Kean, a vigorous and elevated mind, struggling indeed sgainst necessity, but struggling like a king; yielding to resistless force, but yielding like a philosopher; greater bevond comparison in his dungeon than Bolingbroke on his throne! The modern stage has exhibited nothing of temperate dignity equal to the speech in which Richard compares his return to that of the sun; or the one in which he apostrophises his name-" Arm, arm, my name! &c."--nothing of majestical anger equal to his rebuke of Northuni erland on "the deposing of a king.”thing of deep and exquisite pathos, upproaching to the look and action accompanying the words, " My eyes are full of tears," when he tries to read the charges against him. It has been the fashion of late to discover some mysterious connection between dignity and five feet ren inches in height. We hope to bear no more of this, after Mr. Kean's performance of this character "Mind! mind alone -no The living fountains in itself contains Of beauteous and sublime--" We have said that Mr. Kean's Richand . is totally different from Shakspeare's. It will be asked,do we admit that an actor can, in any case, deserve praise for thus departing from his author? We answer, as a general principle, certainly not, especially when that author is Shakspeare. We regard the present as one of those beautiful faults which nothing but transcendant genins can sanction, and fortunately, nothing but transcendant genius can commit. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.--The Masque of Comus has been revived at this theatre with a splendor of decoration usthought of when its characters were pecorded by lords and ladies. The Comas is precisely such a work as might have been expected from the genius of Milton, at an age when the external forms of nature were bursting upon him in all the beauty of rewness, and when abstract virtue was glowing before his almost super-dan mind, in the unearthly brighfaces with which an imagi [June 1, nation like his would invest ber. Accordingly staid and sober critics and that the language of this poem is much too luxuriant in its beauties for common ears; that its morality is much too en thusiastically pure for common use. Perhaps they are afraid the one should give young gentlemen a distaste to the talk of daily life, and the other induce young la dies to wander about in woods of a night, depending on their chastity for protretion. If a wish of ours could have confined to the closet this beautiful dawning of Milton's glorious day, it should never have revisited the theatre: the faccy is unable to realize the delicious freshness of its scenery amidst the glare of stage lamps, and the glitter of cutglass chandeliers; the rich and deep, and endless harenony of its language, is worse than lost in the mouths of singing actors, and simpering actresses: and, above all, we could have wished to preserve the almost sacred name of its author from the censures, or, what is still worse, the applauses of galleries and dress-boxes. Setting aside these feelings, in which perhaps few will partici pate, the piece is got up with considerable taste and splendor. The scene in which the lady is confined in the chair by the spells of Comus, is beautiful. Mr. Conway, however he might look, talked like anybody rather than the son of Bacchus and Circe; he gave the pleasurepersuading words of the gay enchanter with as grave a face, and as deliberate an air, as if he had been dealing out “wise saws." We are sadly afraid this actor will belye the good opinion we were once inclined to form of him. We thought his faults, and he is a great many, were those of habit, and that we could discover some natural good qubties hid underneath them; but his fauts grow upon him, and his good qualities become more hid in proportion. out meaning to find fault with any, we cannot help confessing, that of all tue scores of performers employed in thes piece, the only one we could conses t to trust with the words of Milton ad te music of Arue, is Miss Stephens: SUR sung the beautiful inclody of “ Oa every hill, &c." with the greatest possible e fect; that is to say, with the greatest possible simplicity. The notes appear to drop from Ler lips, with a reluctant and maclancholy sweetness truly delightful: the refined, barbarism of moneta Science can produce uothing like it → Braham, with the perfection of lus skill astonishes us; Catalan, with the wou With 1815.] Message of the Prince Regent, &c. ders of her voice, enchants us; syrenlike, she throws us into a delicious extacy, till we know not where or what we are. We hear these singers, but cannot be said to listen to them: but to Miss Stephens we listen with a quiet and heartfelt delight, "a sober certainty of waking bliss," as different from, and as superior to, the noisy admiration the former excite, as the smile of inward content is to the laugh of riotous mirth. In the dance with which the piece concludes, the boisterous agility of Mr. Somebody with a French name, with his leapings, and twirlings, and cuttings, was applauded to the very echo; while the exquisitelydelicate and fairy-like movements of Lupino were passed over in silence. This is the most pleasing dancer we have ever seen; there is expression in every 461 look and motion-her very fingers speak. Other dancers make us stretch our eyes till they ache with gazing; but she makes us almost close them with pleasure. Lupino is just what one could fancy as the Ariel of Shakspeare-- all the feathery lightness and unearthly graces of that delightful being; and over the whole, a dash of home-like human feeling, without which mere human beings could not sympathise with her. This the mighty master of the human heart knew when he made her stop short in the midst of her quaint fancies, with "Do you love me, master? no."-Prosp. "Dearly, my delicate Ariel." We hope next month to be able to give the delightful performances of Miss O'Neill the attention they so richly de serve. DIGEST OF POLITICAL EVENTS. GREAT BRITAIN. OUR preparations for war, in concert with our continental allies, still continue with unabated vigour, and to this great point the most important proceedings of both Houses of Parliament during the past month have referred. An addition of 25,000 seamen, including 5,000 marines, has been voted for the service of the present year; and on the 18th of May, on the motion of Lord Castlereagh, leave was given to bring in a bill to empower the Prince Regent to call out the whole or any part of the militia. To enable the government to meet the increased expenditure which a state of war must occasion, a bill was brought into the House of Commons to authorise the continuance of the property tax for another year, that is to April 5, 1816, which was read a third time and passed on the 5th of May. On the 22d of May, the following message from the Prince Regent was deli vered to both Houses: "The Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, thinks it right to inform the House, that, in consequence of the events which have recently taken place in France, in direct contravention of the treaty concluded at Paris in the last year, his royal highness has judged it necessary to enter into engagements with his allies, for the purpose of forming such a concert as may prevent the revival of a system which experience has proved incompatible with the peace and independence of Europe. His royal highness has given orders that copies of the treaties into which he has NEW MONTHLY MAG,No. 17. entered with his allies should be laid before the House immediately for its informationand confidently relies on the support of the House, to enable him to take such steps against the common enemy as may be deemed proper at this important crisis." On the same day, Lord Castlereagh laid before the House of Commons copies of the ratified treaties, signed at Vienna on the 25th March, with the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia. The ratification of the treaty with Austria, owing to its being given in a more formal manner than by the other powers, has not yet been received. Of these documents, which are counterparts of one another, with the exception of the names, we gave a copy in our last. To this treaty belong the following appendages : Separate and additional Article. As circumstances might prevent his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from keeping constantly in the field the number of troops specified in the second article, it is agreed, that his Britannic Majesty shall have the option, either of furnishing his contingent in men, or of paying at the rate of 301, sterling per annum for each cavalry soldier, and 201. per annum for each infantry soldier, that may be wanting to complete the number stipulated in the second article. The present additional and separate article shall have the same force and effect as if it were inserted word for word in the treaty of this day. It shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at the same time. In faith whereof, the respective plenipo VOL. IIL 3P 462 Treaty with Austria, Russia and Prussia. tentiaries have signed it, and have affixed thereto the impression of their arms. Done at Vienna the 25th of March, 1815. [Here follow the signatures.] Declaration. The undersigned, on the exchange of the ratification of the treaty of the 25th of March last, on the part of his court, is hereby commanded to declare, that the 8th article of the said treaty, wherein his most Christian Majesty is invited to accede, under certain stipulations, is to be understood as binding the contracting parties, upon principles of mutual security, to a common effort against the power of Napoleon Buonaparte, in pursuance of the third article of the said treaty ; but it is not to be understood as binding his Britannic Majesty to prosecute the war with a view of imposing upon France any particular government. However solicitous the Prince Regent must be to see his most Christian Majesty restored to the throne, and however anxious he is to contribute, in conjunction with his allies, to so auspicious an event, he nevertheless deems himself called upon to make this declaration, on the exchange of the ratifications, as well in consideration of what is due to his most Christian Majesty's interest in France, as in conformity to the principles upon which the British government has invariably regulated CASTLEREAGH. its conduct. Foreign-Office, May 18, 1815. Additional Convention (concluded at Vienna, April 30, 1815) to the Treaty between his Britannic Majesty and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, signed March 25, 1815. His Majesty the King of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, having agreed by common consent to regulate, by means of a particular convention, which shall be added in the form of an additional article to the treaty concluded at Vienna the 25th March, the arrangements which have been judged necessary to give to the stipulations of the said treaty all the effect requisite for the attainment of the great and noble end which their said Majesties have proposed to pursue, have named, in order to discuss, settle, and sign the conditions of the present convention, his Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Hon. Richard le Poer Trench, Earl of Clancary, &c. &c., and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, Andrew, Count de Rasoumoffsky, &c. &c., and Charles Robert, Count de Nesselrode, &c. &c.; who, after having exchanged their full powers, found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the follawing ARTICLE His Britannic Majesty en This convention has of course been signed by Austria and Prussia also. [June 1, gages to furnish a subsidy of five millions sterling for the service of the year ending on the 1st of April, 1816, to be divided in equal proportions amongst the three powers, namely, between his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and his Majesty the King of Prussia. The subsidy above stipulated of five millions sterling, shall be paid in London by monthly instalments, and in equal proportions, to the ministers of the respective powers, duly authorised to receive the same. The first payment thereof to become due on the 1st day of May next, and to be made immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications of this In case present additional convention. peace should take place, or be signed bethe expiration of the said year, the subsidy tween the allied powers and France, before calculated upon the scale of five millions sterling, shall be paid up to the end of the month in which the definitive treaty shall have been signed; and his Britannic Majesty promises, in addition, to pay to Russia four months, and to Austria and to Prussia two months, over and above the stipulated subsidy, to cover the expenses of the return of their troops within their own frontiers.⚫ have the same force and effect as if it were The present additional convention shall inserted word for word in the treaty of the 25th of March. It shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible. In faith of which, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed it, and have affixed thereunto the seals of their arms. Done at Vienna this 30th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1815. (L. S.) CLANCARTY. (L. S.) LE COMTE DE RASOUMOFFSKY, (L. S.) LE COMTE DE NESSELRODE. ministers some time since, that the overIt was publicly avowed by the British tures received in the beginning of April from Buonaparte, had been transmitted municated to the sovereigns and plenito Vienna for the purpose of being compotentiaries assembled in that city. The following official letter on this subject, from Lord Clancarty, affords so complete an insight into the views and sentiments of the great powers relative to the contest for which all Europe is preparing, that we cannot refuse it a place in our pages: The Earl of Clancarty to Viscount Castlereagh, Vienna, May 6, 1815. My Lord-Adverting to your Lordship's dispatch, and to its several enclosures. conveying a proposal made by the existing government in France, and your Lordship's answer thereto, I have the honour to ac quaint you, for the information of his Ma 1815.] Sentiments of the Allies respecting France. jesty's government, that at a conference held on the ad inst., his highness Prince Meternich acquainted us, that a M. de Strassant, who had been stopped on his way thither at Lintz, from not having been furnished with proper passports, had addressed a letter to his Imperial Majesty, and therewith forwarded some unopened letters which the Emperor had directed him to unseal in the presence of the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers. These proved to be a letter from Buonaparte, addressed to his Majesty, professing a desire to continue at peace, to observe the stipulations of the treaty of Paris, &c., and a letter from M. de Caulaincourt to Prince Metternich, containing similar professions. After reading these papers, it was considered whether any, and what answer should be made thereto, when the general opinion appeared to be, that none should be returned, and no notice whatever taken of the proposal. Upon this, as indeed upon all other occasions subsequent to the resumption of authority by Buonaparte, wherein the present state of the continental powers, with regard to France, has come under discussion, but one opinion has appeared to direct the councils of the several sovereigns. They adhere, and from the commencement have never ceased to adhere, to their declaration of the 13th of March, with respect to the actual ruler of France. They are in a state of hostility with him and his adherents, not from choice, but from necessity, because past experience has shewn, that no faith has been kept by him, and that no reliance can be placed on the pro essions of one who has hitherto no longer regarded the most solemn compacts, than as it may have suited his own convenience to observe them-whose word, the only assurance he can afford for his peaceable disposition, is not less in direct opposition to the tenor of his former life, than it is to the military position in which he is actually placed. They feel that they should neither perform their duty to themselves nor to the people committed by Providence to their charge, if they were now to listen to those professions of a desire for peace which have been made, and suffer themselves thus to be lulled into the supposition, that they might now relieve their people from the burden of supporting immense military masses, by diminishing their forces to a peace establishment, convinced as the several sovereigns are, from past experience, that no sooner should they have been disarmed, than advantage would be taken of their want of preparation, to renew those scenes of aggression and bloodshed, from which they had hoped that the peace so gloriously won at Paris would long have secured them. They are at war, then, for the purpose of obtaining some security for their own independence, and for the reconquest of that 463 peace and permanent tranquillity, for which the world has so long pauted. They are not even at war for the greater or less p oportion of security which France can afford them of future tranquillity, but because France, under its present chief, is unable to afford them any security whatever. In this war they do not desire to interfere with any legitimate right of the French people; they have no design to oppose the claim of that nation to choose their own form of government, or intention to trench, in any respect, upon their independence as a great and free people; but they do think they have a right, and that of the highest nature, to contend against the re-establishment of an individual, as the head of the French government, whose past conduct has invariably demonstrated, that, in such a situation, he will not suffer other nations to be at peacewhose restless ambition, whose thirst for foreign conquest, and whose disregard for the rights and independence of other states, must expose the whole of Europe to renewed scenes of plunder and devastation. However general the feelings of the sove reigns may be in favour of the restoration of the King, they no otherwise seek to influence the proceedings of the French in the choice of this or of any other dynasty,or form of government, than may be essential to the safety and permanent tranquillity of the rest of Europe: such reasonable security being afforded by France in this respect, as other states have a legitimate right to claim in their own defence, their object will be satisfied; and they shall joyfully return to that state of peace which will then, and then only, be open to them, and lay down those arms which they have only taken up for the purpose of acquiring that ranquillity so eagerly desired by them on the part of their respective empires. Such, my Lord, are the general sentiments of the sovereigns and of their ministers here assembled ; and it should seem that the glorious forbearance observed by them, when masters of the French capital in the early part of the last year, ought to prove to the French, that this is not a war against their freedom and independence, or excited by any spirit of ambition or desire of conquest, but one arising out of necessity, urged on the principle of self-preservation, and founded on that legitimate and incontrovertible right of obtaining reasonable security for their own tranquillity and independence to which, if France has on her part a claim, other nations have an equal title to claim at the hands of France. I this day laid before the plenipotentiaries of the three allied powers in conference, the note proposed to be delivered upon the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty of the 25th March. After the opinions which I have detailed as those with which the allied sovereigns are impressed, with respect to the 464 Preparations of France for War: Among the entertainments which the present stage-manager in France detcrmined to get up for the amusement of the good people of Paris, was a new constitution, which was to be submitted to the deputies of all the electoral colieges of the empire assembled in the Champ de Mars, or, according to the new jargon, the Champ de Mai. The plan of this constitution is published, and certainly the indirect homage paid in it to that of our own country, by the sworn enemy of Britain, is not among the least curious of its features. In this respect, however, it is little more than a copy of that framed by the unfortunate Louis XVIII., except that in regard to the liberty of the press, Buonaparte abolishes the censorship previous to publication, and throws the subsequent responsibility upon authors and printers. As it is yet doubtful whether this constitution may not be consigned to the same grave which, during the last 25 years, has swallowed so many other French political abortions before it can be carried into effect-and as it is indeed equally doubtful, whether any serious intention of acting upon it was ever entertained by him with whom it originated, we think it unnecessary to enter for the present, into the detail of its provisions. The preparations for resisting the storm impending over this devoted country are continued with an activity which proves that the usurper is fully aware of the extent of is danger. The utmost exertions have been made to strengthen and provision the triple line of fortresses which defends the frontiers. All those of the first line have been declared in a [June 1; state of siege, and the inhabitants have received the unwelcome notice to supply themselves with provisions for six months. Not content with these precautions, Buonaparte has ordered works other commanding situations to be thrown up on Montmartre and the round Paris, with all possible expedition. Four hundred picces of cannon, as we are told, are to be planted upon them, to prevent the second entrance of foreign troops into that capital. Preparations are also making for inundating the neighbouring country, in case of einergency; and the ships of war have been stripped of their guns and crews to assist in repelling the threatened invasion. Notwithstanding the plausible ac counts given in the French papers of federations and associations, and volunteer companies, and patriotic gifts, and the eagerness of people of all classes to promote the views of the existing go vernment, we think we can perceive sufficient demonstrations that matters do not wear such an auspicious aspect as Napoleon would wish the world to be lieve. The department of the North is officially accused of apathy; it is admitted that disturbances have taken place at Bourdeaux, Dijon, and other places, and an ordinance of the lieutenant of police at Nantes, directed against the noblesse, informs us that all is not quiet in the western departments, where the Duke of Bourbon is still waiting for a favourable opportunity of rehoisting the standard of Louis XVIII. A report of Fouche, the minister of police, dated the 7th of May, further states, that a secret correspondence, connected with f reign agency, is organized in the country for the purpose of exciting civil war, and enumerates various acts of disaffection and disturbance which it has produced. On this report was founded a decree, proscribing all Frenchmen abroad attached to the Bourbons who should not return home within a month. If we may credit the stateinents of the German papers, the military force which France will be able to bring into the field has been greatly over-rated, as they assure us, that out of the vast numbers of prisoners of war in Russia, only $6,000 have yet reached their native country. It is added, that in consequence of recent events all the others have been detained, and that 8,000 who were in Ger many on their return home, have been marched back again. The departure of Napoleon, to assume the command of the forces in the |