not be an insuperable objection with the author of " Thelyphthora.'

8. Aërostation, or the Templar's Stratagem, a farce, acted at Covent Garden on the 29th of October, 1784. A light piece de circonstance of very slender pretensions, intended to ridicule the rage for balloons which prevailed at that time. The printed copies have a humorous kind of dedica cation to Lord Grantly, as Chief Justice in Eyre.

9. The Fair American, a comic opera, produced at Drury-lane on the 18th of May, 1782. This piece is a palpable and not a very well arranged plagiary from Hull's alteration of Sir Samuel Tuke's old play of Adventures of Five Hours, originally acted at Lincoln's-Inn Fields, as far back as 1663. Tuke had previously borrowed from the Spanish of Calderon, at the suggestion of King Charles II. Pilon's opera, instead of benefitting the author, was ultimately productive of great inconveniences and misfortunes. The piece met with little success, and the composer, whose music had not been much admired, sued Pilon for a specific and considerable sum, forcing him to seek concealment by flight.

10. Barataria, or Sancho turned Governor, a farce, originally produced for Quick's benefit at Covent Garden, on the 29th of March, 1785. It succeeded well, became a stock piece, was frequently performed during many seasons, and was revived for Liston at the Haymarket in 1818, when he spoke the epilogue riding on an ass. The origin of the farce will be found in Durfey's three plays on the subject of Don Quixote, but the materials are principally taken from the second part. It cannot be said that Pilon has improved on Durfey.

11. He would be a Soldier, a comedy in five acts, produced at Covent Garden on the 18th of November, 1786. This was the last, as well as the best, the most ambitious, and the most successful of all Pilon's dramatic efforts. It was repeated twenty-three times during the first season, and continued on the stage for many subsequent years. Edwin acquired great credit in the part of Caleb. When Pilon

first offered this comedy to Colman, he rejected it, being offended with the author for having taken an opera to Drury-lane. Colman shortly after retired from the management of Covent Garden, and Harris succeeded him. Pilon one day accidentally met Mr. Lewis while he was still suffering under the dejection of having his play refused. Lewis inquired whether he had any production that he could favour Covent Garden with? Pilon mentioned that he had a comedy ready, and Lewis desired him to send it immediately and anonymously to Mr. Harris, observing that he was to dine with that gentleman on the succeeding Sunday. On Monday, to his equal surprise and joy, the comedy was accepted, and brought out in the course of three weeks. The profits, although considerable, were not adequate to his wants, for there were some deductions for money advanced long before, and his old prosecutor having recommenced his lawsuit, the unfortunate dramatist was compelled once more to hide himself, and retired to France. In August, 1820, He would be a Soldier was revived at the Haymarket, under the title of Exchange no Robbery, metamorphosed, and curtailed into three acts by Theodore Hook, who has served Pilon's play as gipsies do stolen children - disfigured it to make it pass for his own. Of this he makes some slight acknowledgment in a preface. Sam Swipes and Captain Littleworth are precisely the same characters as Caleb and Captain Crevelt; Swipes, sen., is Wilkins; Lamotte is Johnson turned into a Frenchman; Captain Littleworth proves to be the son of Sir Christopher. Hook has superadded a poor underplot about a diamond ring. Unquestionably He would be a Soldier is a better piece than Exchange no Robbery.

Pilon at his death left in Mr. Harris's hands an unfinished comedy called The Ward in Chancery, which the manager purchased from his widow, and a report prevailed that it was placed in the hands of O'Keeffe to finish, and subsequently produced with considerable success under the title of

The Toy, or Hampton Court Frolics. O'Keeffe in his memoirs positively denies the fact; he says: "The assertion that The Toy was originally planned and written by Pilon is totally void of foundation. I know nothing of Pilon's play. The Toy was mine entirely, and every word my own writing. I never plumed myself with strange feathers. I may here add, that of all my dramatic pieces, upwards of sixty in number, The Toy is that which pleases me the least." In summing up the pretensions of Pilon as a dramatic writer, it may be said that he was tolerably strong amongst the light-weights, but his powers were too limited to obtain for him admission into the chosen phalanx of immortals.

JOHN JOSHUA PROBY, first EARL OF CARYSFORT, was born on the 12th of August, 1751, and died in advanced age, in April 1828. He wrote some political pamphlets, and filled the offices of ambassador to Berlin and St. Petersburgh in 1800 and 1801. In 1810 he published four original_tragedies in two volumes, octavo-Caius Gracchus, The Fall of Carthage, Monimia, and Polyxena. They were not intended for the stage, and were never acted. We have been unable to meet with them except in a catalogue, and consequently cannot express any opinion as to their literary merits. Lord Carysfort was one of the early political reformers on a sweeping scale. His published "Letters to the Huntingdonshire Committee," undertake to show the legality as well as the necessity of extending the right of election to the whole body of the people, and of abridging the duration of Parliaments. In his "Thoughts on the Constitution," he recommends many of the changes which have since been adopted.

THE REV. MAtthew West, Vicar of the Union of Clare, printed two tragedies in 1769 and 1799-Ethelinda, and Pizarro, neither of which were ever acted. In 1803 he published a third, called Female Heroism, founded on the revolutionary events which occurred in France, in the summer and autumn of 1793. This play was acted at the Crow-street Theatre, in Dublin, on the 19th of May, 1804. It had been preceded by another on the same subject, by Eyre, under the title of the "Maid of Normandy." West's has the most merit of the two. VOL. XLVI.-NO. CCLXXII.

He informs us, in a preface, that he began his play in December, 1793, and had made considerable progress, when he dicovered that he had been anticipated by an English writer, Mr. Eyre, whose production was soon after represented in the Dublin Theatre. He, upon this, discontinued his own, but on a perusal of Eyre's, he found it not only defective in form, consisting only of four acts, but weak in other respects, and, consequently, determined to complete another. Не accuses Eyre, and justly, of having taken unwarrantable liberties with the character of Charlotte Cordé, in ascribing her assassination of Marat to the influence of private resentment, it having undoubtedly originated in public, if mistaken zeal. West has succeeded well in the delineation of the leading characters of the time, and the language in which he has embodied his ideas is bold and energetic, and occasionally soars into respectable poetry. Copies, with a frontispiece, representing the execution of the heroine, may be picked up in a pilgrimage through the book-stalls of the Irish metropolis.

LEONARD MACNALLY was born in Dublin, the son of a merchant, and intended from his earliest youth for the profession of the law. He was well connected, being related to many of the principal Roman Catholic families of Ireland; to the family of Nithsdale, in Scotland, and the Howards, in England. He was more indebted to nature than art, and may strictly be said to have been a self-educated man, never having been at a public school or seminary, and deriving little benefit from private tuition. He entered a student of the Middle Temple, in 1774, and was called to the Irish Bar, in 1776, where he argued several questions with reputation; but finding that the expense of living as a barrister in Ireland exceeded his finances, he returned to London, and qualified himself for practice in the English courts. In 1782, he wrote a very sensible pamphlet called the "The Claims of Ireland," and in the following year, distinguished himself by sundry speeches at the Shakspeare Tavern, in favour of the memorable Coalition. He was for some years editor of The Public Ledger and wrote in several other newspapers. Having married, he returned to Dublin, where he after

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wards continued to reside, and became one of the leading barristers. At an early age he had the misfortune to receive a hurt in his right knee, which broke the bone, and lamed him for life; and, not many years after, he was shot through the left hand, and suffered the amputation of his thumb. These were the good old fighting days, when no learned counsel ever thought of going to the courts without his briefs in one bag and his case of pistols in another, as he could scarcely tell which would be required first.

Macnally was unfortunate or illdirected in his early theatrical attempts; his opening essay was a satirical masque, called The Apotheosis of Punch, with a Monody on the death of the late Master Punch, acted at the Patagonian Theatre, Exeter Change, in 1779, and printed in the same year. This was an attempt, and not a very successful or creditable one, to ridicule Sheridan's Monody on the death of Garrick. His next production was a comic opera, called The Ruling Passion, acted in Dublin, without much success. Then

followed Retaliation, a farce, brought out at Covent Garden, on the 7th of May, 1782. This piece has considerable merit, and was well received. The character of Præcipe, the attorney, acted by Edwin, is highly drawn, and the dialogue throughout is well seasoned with humour. In 1783, Macnally produced a second farce, under the title of The Coalition. The audience expected, from the name, a political squib; but finding that it was not so, in their disappointment, pronounced a verdict of condemnation. Soon after this, appeared Tristram Shandy, a sentimental Shandean Bagatelle (so denominated in the bills), in two acts. This was only repeated six times, but was revived in 1794, and curtailed into one act. It is little more than a cento, from Sterne's composition, and very indifferently executed. When acted in Dublin, it was unanimously condemned on the first night.

On the 17th of April, 1784, Macnally's most popular and successful drama, Robin Hood, or Sherwood Forest, appeared at Covent Garden. It was originally in three acts, and derived great assistance from Shield's excellent music. The subject is taken from the old legendary ballads, but with these materials the author has

interwoven an episode founded on Goldsmith's tale of "Edwin and Angelina." He affects the ancient phraseology, which gives an air of constraint to the dialogue, by no means agreeable. Robin Hood himself retains little of the bold undaunted spirit so liberally bestowed on him by the poets by whom he has been celebrated, and dwindles down to a mere sententious pedant, with a couple of bass songs. Little John is better supported, but the piece chiefly depends on the humours of Ruttekin, a tinker, written expressly for the comic powers of Edwin. The piece was often repeated, and was revived at Drury-lane as late at 1813.

Encouraged by the success of his comic opera, Macnally soared into a legitimate play. In April, 1785, he produced Fashionable Levities, a comedy in five acts, which was well received. Some portions of the plot and incidents are taken from The Dumb Knight, an old drama printed in Dodsley's collection, and written by Lewis Machin, as far back as the reign of James I. In 1792, Lewis revived Macnally's comedy for his benefit, and reduced it to three acts. Munden restored it to the boards once more, at Drury lane, in 1820. In 1786, Macnally returned to his favourite line of farce-writing. April Fool, or the Follies of a Night, was tolerably well received, although not sufficiently attractive to be printed. The story had been used by Middleton, in his Mad World, my Masters; afterwards by Johnson, in his Country Lasses; again by Bullock, in The Slip; and in 1778, by Kenrick, in The Spendthrift.

On the 16th October, 1786, Macnally's opera of Richard Cœur de Lion was produced at Covent Garden, and ten days later General Burgoyne's on the same subject, came out at Drurylane. The latter was eminently successful, and completely killed the former. John Kemble enacted Richard (a singing part), and Mrs. Jordan, Matilda. Macnally was singularly unfortunate in this instance; his opera would have been considered good if the General's had not been so much better. Both these pieces are avowedly taken from a very successful drama by M. Sedaine, acted for the first time at Paris, on the 21st of October, 1784, and until the Revolution, frequently repeated with unabated ap

plause. The story is taken from the first volume of "The Literary History of the Troubadours," by the Abbé Millot. The celebrated air, "O, Richard, O mon Roi!" will long be remembered, from the effect it produced at Versailles, when performed before the royal family, previous to the captivity of Louis XVI. Macnally's opera is forgotten, but General Burgoyne's still continues to be acted occasionally. To the printed copies, the General affixed the following prefatory note : "In adapting these scenes to the English stage, no adventitious matter has been introduced; some liberty, however, has been taken in effecting the principal incident of the piece the discovery of Richard's confinement being now given to Matilda in place of Blondel, as well to increase the interest of the situation as to avoid the less affecting interposition of the heroine in the latter part of the drama. The elegant author of this romance will pardon a freedom which has been taken with no other view than that of giving the best assistance of our stage to his admired composition." In addition to other points of superiority, General Burgoyne's opera had the advantages of better acting, singing, and music.

In 1788, a piece was printed, and then attributed to Macnally, entitled Critic upon Critic-a dramatic medley, as performed at the Theatre with universal applause. This is said in the titlepage to be the second edition. From the plays alluded to, or directly mentioned, it is almost certain that this jeu d'esprit was written in 1780. Nearly all the characters are real persons under fictitious names. Attic and Tickler are clearly Sheridan and his brother-in-law, Tickell. Of the authors introduced, Mrs. Bulley and Miss Plausible are evidently Mrs. Cowley, the authoress of The Belles' Stratagem, and Miss Hannah More. As a satire, it is not without merit. In 1792, Critic upon Critic was reprinted, as performed at Covent Garden. This is also called the second edition. It contains the following cast: Attic, Quick; Tickle, Macready; Falstaff, Ryder, &c. Notwithstanding all this, it appears quite clear that it was never acted, or even intended for representation. It cannot be traced in any existing bills or records of the theatres; and in 1792 all the personal

jokes must have become musty and out of date. What humour could there be in making Attic say to Ryder, as Falstaff, what was applicable to Henderson alone? It seems not unlikely that some bookseller might affix a new titlepage, and a cast of the play to the old copies of 1788, in order to help off their sale.

Richard Cœur de Lion was the last dramatic piece which Macnally produced on the London boards; but in November, 1796, he wrote an opera called The Cottage Festival, acted in Dublin during Madame Mara's engagement at the Crow-street theatre. We have no record to refer to by which to ascertain whether it was a failure or a success.

Macnally is almost forgotten as a theatrical writer, but is still remembered by a few surviving elders of Dublin, as a facetious companion and an able lawyer. O'Keeffe says of him, in his "Recollections:"_"I knew Counsellor Leonard Macnally when he was a boy. His mother was one of the finest persons of a woman I ever saw— tall, full, and majestic. Leonard himself was much under size, but had a handsome, expressive countenance, and a fine, sparkling, dark eye. He was a sprightly lad, and such was his passion for private plays, that he was indulged in having a little theatre fitted up in his mother's house, which all the boys of his time frequented-I was one of them. When editor of The Ledger, a London newspaper, he was very indulgent to my pieces as they appeared. His own opera of Robin Hood had great success. His uncle, Arthur Murphy (not the poet), coming to London, Macnally brought him to Covent Garden theatre to see it, when, to the surprise of the author, and the vexation of both, the opera was that night performed as an afterpiece, having been, without his knowledge, cut down into two acts; such are the mortifications of even a popular dramatic writer. Tired with literary fagging, Macnally went back to Dublin, and pursued his profession as a barrister. I was told that he excelled all his contemporaries in keen, sarcastic wit a most effective legal weapon in defence of a client."

The Counsellor died in Harcourtstreet, Dublin, in February, 1820, aged about seventy-four. He was interred in the churchyard at Donnybrook, the old burial-place of his family.

ISAAC JACKMAN, born in Dublin, was the son of a clerk in the office of the Lord Mayor of that city, where he learned and practised for some years the profession of an attorney. He then came over to England, and endeavoured to improve his fortune by a marriage with a lady possessed of a comfortable annuity for life. She, however, died soon after, and at her demise the annuity dropped. Jackman then commenced dramatic writer. On the quarrel between the Rev. Bate Dudley and the proprietor of The Morning Post, he assumed the direction of that important journal, in which situation he remained for some time. He then returned to Dublin, and became editor of an Irish paper. In April, 1777, his first farce, entitled All the World's a Stage, was produced at Drury-lane, and met with permanent success. Parsons was the original performer of the stage-struck Diggery, which in our own days we have seen represented by Liston with inimitable humour. The part itself is a merc outline, to be filled up by the ingenuity of the actor. In the same year, 1777, Jackman brought out a comic opera called The Milesian, a piece of slender merit, soon forgotten. His third attempt was Almirina, a mock tragedy, performed at the Royalty Theatre. This piece was acted by one person (Mr. John Palmer), with the aid of wooden or pasteboard figures, on the plan of Whitehead's Fatal Constancy. The idea had been put in practice before by Foote, in his Tragedy a-laMode, or Diversions of a Morning. Jackman also wrote three other dramatic pieces The Divorce, a musical farce; Hero and Leander, a burletta; and The Man of Parts, a farce. The latter, which is the worst of his productions was acted at the Crow-street Theatre in Dublin. Prefixed to Hero and Leander is a long dedication respecting the dispute between John Palmer and the winter managers.

JAMES WHITELEY, a native of Ireland, and many years manager and proprietor of the theatres comprising the midland circuit of England, deserves honourable mention in this register, less that he was the author of a single farce called The Intriguing Footman, than as an honest, kindhearted man, whose conduct through life reflected credit on his calling. He ever proved himself a warm advocate

and strenuous supporter of the interests and dignity of his company. He died and was buried at Wolverhampton, leaving the rents of his theatres, amounting to £300 per annum, to his daughter, who married a Mr. Gosly, a dancing-master at Stamford. He also bequeathed all his veteran performers to his successors, with a weekly salary entailed on them for life. He felt and acted on the principle that service is inheritance. The Intriguing Footman was originally acted at Sheffield. From this piece, MR. WILLIAM MACREADY (father of the celebrated tragedian), also an Irishman, born in Dublin, took the Irishman in London, produced at Drury-lane in 1792. There has seldom been a more successful farce. It still keeps the stage, and produces roars of laughter when Murtoch Delany is adequately represented. Jack Johnstone was the first, and Tyrone Power the last actor of high repute with whom the character is specially identified. Macready, in 1795, produced a comedy called The Bank Note, borrowed almost entirely, but without improvement, from an old play by Taverner, entitled The Artful Husband.

The Village Lawyer has often been attributed to Macready, but without foundation. L'Avocat Patelin, of which it is almost a literal translation, is one of the oldest dramas in the French language. The real authorship of The Village Lawyer has never conclusively transpired, which is the more extraordinary, as its unexpected success might have tempted disclosure. It has been claimed for Mr. CHARLES LYONS, an Irishman, and the conductor of an academy in the vicinity of Dublin, where he was still living in 1834. Oulton, in his history of the London Theatres," continued from Victor, gives the following account of this little piece, which has been acted as often as any in the whole range of the English drama, and is still on the full-pay list :—" The Village Lawyer, offered at the Haymarket, lay some time in the manager's hands before he ventured it, as he entertained but a very indifferent opinion of its merits. It was first tried for Edwin's benefit (August 28th, 1787), when the unlooked for success, which must chiefly be attributed to the excellent acting of Mr. Bannister, jun., rendered it soon a stock piece. The manager was ignorant of the author, who, as re

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