Our Monthly Crypt.

JACK SHEPPARD.

We do not hold with those who, comparing Jack Sheppard with other novels of the present day justify it on the ground, that it is less, or not more injurious than those which treat of titled gamesters, swindlers, and the like, even were this, if true, a sufficient justification to the author for throwing away his talents on such a work. The example of crime and its results in the fictitious histories of men of rank and station in society is, however, less influential for evil than the example of the like in men of the lower orders. The classes of crime peculiar to the former, require opportunity and facilities not within the reach of the great mass. A poor man reading such works would be affected much in But take the the same way as he would be by the account of some rare and mischievous monster of the deep, in whose destruction he would rejoice. case of a humane housebreaker or tender hearted thief, show him to be the son of titled parents, but ignorant of his birth, and that but for the indiscretion of some person reputed honest he might have been a hero and not a felon-make it appear that vice is not so vicious, that character and reputation are rather the results of accident than of the operation of any general rule,—and what is required or can be looked for in such a work for the assistance of a spirit, youthful, bold, and ingenious, struggling with poverty, and hovering on the verge of crime, in throwing off the inconvenient restraint of an early instilled prejudice in favour of honesty, and rushing into the commission of crime as to an act in some sense meritorious. And who will say that the story of Jack Sheppard is not such as we have here represented, and who will venture to set bounds to the evil it will stir up, who so clever as to point out the good it will do?

By way of conclusion to the Monthly Crypt, we may remark, that we have just received the fourth edition of Sir Edward L. Bulwer's "Sea Captain," In this preface, the -to which a preface, in defence of the play, is attached. author has erected a gibbet for his own execution. It seems, after all, that we are to be charitable to the writer, because, having matriculated as a novelist, he has much to learn in the mechanism of the dramatic art; and, besides, may not unfrequently mistake the effects of a novel for the effects of a drama. But if this apology should hold good, why should Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer retain the stage to the exclusion of better qualified writers? His next plea is "uncertain health and broken spirits." After this, the poetling enters into an analysis of his own character; and in particular boasts of its moral denouement.

The character of Norman is not designed for one of intellect, of thought, of reasoning-but of affection, sentiment and passion. To judge of the sacrifice he makes, and of the moral included in that sacrifice, we must not judge as lawyers or casuists; we must go back to the ethics of the classical drama!!! the propriety of setting before the public the nobleness of sacrificing something to others. In the tragic or Greek drama, as in Iphigenia, it is life, that is thus offered up. In this country, and in this day, a moral more wanted is the sacrifice, not of life, but of what most men live for-money and ambition!" To a Bulwer, money is more than life. This is only natural. But it appears that this mere stage generosity is "in direct opposition to all vulgar theatrical usages." The poor wight mistakes the charge that lies against his dramas. It is not that they are deficient in stage-effects, but that they consist of nothing else, Substance there is none-form is all. How blinded is this man by vanity!

718

GREEN ROOM.

COVENT GARDEN.

MR. SHERIDAN KNOWLES' Lore, is rewarding that liberal outlay of the manager of which the author has spoken in highly eulogistic terms, in the modest and unpretending preface to his play. We doubt, nevertheless, whether the acting is quite worthy of its merits. Mr. Anderson, although a "proper man" enough, is hardly competent to the embodiment of the character of Huon; nor is Miss Tree quite equal to the physical exertion required for the very arduous part which she has to represent: they both, however, play with an earnestness and sincerity which would compensate for defects far greater than are to be found in the performance of either. Madame Vestris, in Catherine, is very spirited, and Diddear, as Count Ulrick, spoke his part in a manner deserving of the highest praise. The other parts are of a subdued quality, and it is enough to say of them that they were not overacted.

The Beggar's Opera, with the dramatis persone attired in the costume of the period of its original production, is eminently successful and well worth seeing, if only for the contrast afforded by the pointed and pungent satire of Gay's Rogues and Thieves, to the fashionable Newgate Calendar dramas of the present day. But it has higher claims than this: the Macheath is one of the best we have ever seen. Mr. Harrison only requires persevering study to make him, if he is not at present, the best tenor on the English stage. And the Polly of Miss Rainforth, Madame Vestris's Lucy, Mrs. C. Jones's Mrs. Peachum, and Mr. Farren's Peachum, are fully equal to any which have preceded them.

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

THE chief attraction at this Theatre during the past month, has been Sir E. L. Bulwer's play of the Sea Captain or, the Birthright. Respecting the literary demerits of this production we have given our opinion at some length and unreservedly in another part of our Magazine. Of the performers we are happy to be able to speak in terms of unqualified commendation. Mr. Macready's Norman, the hero of the drama, is an admirable performance, equally sustained throughout. The author has-as is the custom of modern dramatists-taken his measure for the part exactly as his tailor would have done for a new coat, and it must be confessed he has succeeded in fitting him to a nicety. We hold it to be a great and radical defect in the author's conception of the character of Lady Arundel to make Norman-her eldest born, and the child of suffering, -the object of her hatred. To have made the part true to nature, he should have been beloved and endeared to her the more because of the mental anguish which clouded his birth. Nevertheless, such as it is Mrs. Warner has fully sustained her reputation by its representation; her acting in the scene of which we have spoken, was exceedingly powerful, and tended in no slight degree to the ulti

mate success of the play. The other parts are well performed, and the piece is got up most spiritedly, and must, we doubt not, have fully answered all the expectations of the manager.

"His last Legs" continue to run with unimpeded success. Mr. Power's light-hearted Irishman, with his amusing fund of animal spirits, and fertility of resource, never fails to send his audience home in high good humour.

W.

THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE,

With a brief Address to our Readers on concluding our Second Volume.

ONE of the latest remarkable sayings, for which Mr. Canning was distinguished, seems, indeed, to have been of a prophetic character, "the next war will be a war of opinion!" A war of opinion, and yet a war of force! He did not mean that men would content themselves with bandying notions, but that they would fight for them. A war of opinion! and as such, not merely an international war, but civil. The people of a state differ much more between themselves than one state with another. A war of opinion, therefore, would partake more of civil broil than foreign battle.

A war of opinion is consequent upon the spread of opinion and almost its inevitable result. Opinion is in itself a species of warfare; nay, it is self-antagonistic; there is no opinion that does not antagonise another. An opinion is the judgement that a man forms of certain temporal conditions or things, of men, or of manners, and is liable to error from a deficiency in the kind or amount of the relative knowledge. It is sometimes confounded with Principle-a fatal mistake. A Principle is the criterion of judgment, not its conclusion-a beginning, not a result—a cause, not an effect. Men frequently differ in Opinion who agree on Principle. It may safely be said that the strictest Conservative is as much a practical lover of liberty as the veriest progressionist; but the twain differ in opinion as to the means for securing the common object. Mr. Southey, for instance, still breathes the same preference for Freedom, both public and private, as when a youth: but he now sees that unmitigated democracy is not the best and pleasantest way for accomplishing the desired end. The fact is that men cannot disagree on Principle, for every principle is a law of the human constitution, and is common to every man, even as the law of gravitation is present in every atom of matter.

In like manner, however opposite the opinions expressed by different men, the same Principle, as above shewn, animates each opinionist, and is, in reality, asserted in each opinion. The question arises on the best mode or form of carrying it out, and the influence of the Opinion will vary in intensity precisely in proportion as the Principle has become conscious in the individual. An Opinion derives all its force and energy from the Principle that vitalises it, and is an evidence of its activity.

We were the first to notice the operation of Idealisms in the movements of the Chartist bodies. Down to the very day of the publication of our June number, the daily and weekly press treated the subject with ridicule; but from that time forward they regarded it as a serious matter. Even then the proofs were in our hands in the poem of Ernest, that the great principle of Political Regeneration was the recognised spring of the whole business. We were also aware of the class and extent of the Opinions in which the Principle was seeking expression, and of the great number of their adherents. The existence of Chartism was, therefore, a social phenomenon which it behoved the judicious to interpret.

What has lately occurred at Newport only tends to confirm our previous positions. The Welsh Chartism arises not from distress, but from a perception of a possibility of a better distribution of the wealth produced by the working classes; in order to their procuring such a share of it as shall give to them some of the elegancies of life, and sufficient leisure to enjoy them. This is the sole end and aim of all the rising, which will become revolution, unless the wise man be provided, who by satisfactory measures shall avert the growing tempest.

In such a state of the public mind, literature suffers; and, in its purer forms, receives indeed no attention. Periodical literature suffers by reason of it in a peculiar manner. To keep up the circulation of a Magazine under such circumstances, the proprietors of such have in general sought to counteract the tendency of the market, by substituting an appeal to the most vulgar tastes for those refined exercises which had ceased to be heard in the tumult of political contention.

The ruin of literature was impending when we proposed in this Magazine to direct public attention to its noblest aims. For the manner in which the press has seconded our arduous efforts, we cannot be enough grateful. Conscious that a mighty cause was at stake, they have come to our aid almost to a man. Such conduct is alike honourable to us and to them. Thus corroborated, we turn to the world of readers and book-buyers for that support which we endeavour to deserve. The cause now rests in the hands of the lovers of literature-the degree of patronage that we shall receive will gauge their number, and decide the amount of our relative success. Both in Germany and in France, we find that we are making a public-but it is to our own country that we look with patriotic pride for that response which should cheer the labours of the sage, and stimulate the exertions of the student. Experience has now been had of our spirit and purposes for a twelvemonth. We should not be permitted to begin the new year without many fresh reasons for the hope that is in us, and for the desire to restore the respectability and enhance the value of periodical literature, which we cherish as the single motive of our earnest endeavours.

Trusting that these considerations will be laid seriously to heart by the intelligent public, we close the year and this volume with a cheerful farewell!