Poor Gentleman-Blue Devils-and Lock and Key -Fawcett acted Ollapod - Megrim-and Ralph-Loder had married Miss Mills, the daughter of Fawcett's wife-this was the reason of Fawcett's coming to Bath. 8. Cato Sowerby: Portius Abbott: Juba = Stanley. 9. Miss Kelly's bt. Pilgrim. Pedro = Stanley : Alphonso Chatterley Roderigo Roderigo Bengough: Juletta Miss Kelly: Alinda Miss Jameson. = = = 14. Ash's bt. Richard 3d = Sowerby: Richmond Ash-he was a very disagreeable actor. 19. For bt. of Miss Summers. Castle of Montval -written by Dr. Whalley of Bath and acted at D. L. upwards of 30 nights-for 30 read 8. = = 23. Chatterley's bt. Brothers. Capt. Ironsides = Bengough: Belfield Jun. Stanley: Sir Benjamin Dove Chatterley: Sophia Miss Jameson: Lady Dove Mrs. Chatterley-with (by permission of Elliston of the Surrey theatre) Tag in Tribulation. Little Pickle Miss Kelly: Tag = Chatterley. = June. Miss Duncan acted 6 nights-her parts were - Hypolita, Mrs. Sullen &c. Stanley was Archer. July 25. Bannister acted Col. Feignwell. Bath Herald-" William Wyatt Dimond, Esq. "died on Jan. 2 1812, aged 62-In every part he 66 played, he always appeared in earnest, and was "always perfect-his action was elegantly spirited "and appropriate-his voice was harmonious and 66 finely modulated-with all these qualifications, in "their very zenith, he retired from the stage, and "devoted his mind to the duties of a Manager-per haps no situation in life is more difficult, than that "of the director of a theatre-he has a variety of persons to contend with and controul-and few of "them but have a higher opinion of their own abi"lities, than the public awards them--yet Mr. Di"mond, by the gentleness of his manners, and un"assuming demeanour, had the power of reconciling "their minds and making the business of the theatre 66 go smoothly on-they obeyed him more through "the regard they had for him as a friend, than the "awe he might have created as a Manager-the uni"versal regret testified by the whole city, at his "almost sudden demise, best speaks his worth, and "the esteem with which his memory will be ever "regarded." Dimond's eldest son William, the author of many successful pieces, was brought up to the law, but, on his father's decease, he devoted his time to the management of the theatre-a situation for which he was peculiarly well qualified. BIOGRAPHIA DRAMATICA. An edition of the B. D., by Baker, was printed in 1782- another edition, by Jones, was printed in 1812-Gifford, in his notes on Ben Jonson, vol. 8 pp. 211-212, says of Jones-" the person so judiciously selected by the booksellers to prepare the "new edition of the B. D., has not here the usual apology for his stupidity-that he found it so in "the former edition"-in vol. 1 p. 106 he observes 86 "to suppose that Jones should notice an error, "though as wide as a church door, would be to equal " him in folly”—Gifford is much too severe on Jones -old Lowndes the bookseller told me, that Longman bought at Reed's sale, his copy of the B. D. with his notes and additions-and that he put them into the hands of Stephen Jones, who knew but little of the matter-S. J. himself says, that he received assistance from Kemble. Some of the more gross mistakes in the B. D. have been pointed out in their, proper places-there are however others which must not be passed over without notice. Sapho and Phao was written by Lilly-it is said to have been printed in 1584-Phao is a ferryman-he carries Venus in his boat to Syracuse-she makes him very handsome-this is taken from the 18th chapter of the 12th book of Elian-Sapho falls in love with Phao-he falls in love with her-but they do not come to an intimacy - Venus falls in love with Phao-by her desire Cupid strikes Sapho with a dart which causes her to disdain Phao-Cupid, by the desire of Sapho, strikes Phao with a dart which causes him to loathe Venus-Phao determines to leave Syracuse-some parts of this play are well written, but on the whole it is dull and uninteresting -Langbaine refers us for the story to Ovid's Epistles -the Editors of the B. D. go one step farther-they say-"the plot is taken from one of Ovid's Epistles" -it so happens, however, that Ovid and Lilly have represented the story of Sappho very differently— Lilly lays his scene at Syracuse-Sappho seems to write her Epistle from Lesbos-she represents herself and Phaon as having been on terms of the greatest intimacy-she is distressed because Phaon is gone to Sicily and threatens to throw herself from the Promontory of Leucas into the sea-she mentions her poetry--of which Lilly says little or nothing. Strange Discovery 1640-in this T. C. Gough has attempted to dramatize the Æthiopica of Heliodorus -he has not made a judicious selection from the numerous incidents of that most entertaining Romance -the Episode of Cnemon occupies a large portion of this play, yet after that part of his story, which happened at Athens, is over, he is not mentioned-the adventures of Theagines and Chariclea, after they leave Delphi, are compressed into a small space—on the whole this play is not a bad one-the account of it in the B. D. is so extraordinary that it deserves particular notice--both the Editors say-" the scene, "in the beginning and end of this play, lies in Ethiopia; in the other parts of it, in England and "Greece”—the scene in the 1st act lies in Egypt and Athens-in the last scene of the play, the King of Ethiopia welcomes his Queen to his Camp-she replies "Where you are, Sir, there is my object fixt, In fact the scene seems never to lie in Æthiopiathis mistake is easily accounted for-the writer of this article had read the Prologue but not the play-the mistake relative to England is so gross, that it is inconceivable what could induce any man in his sober senses to make such an assertion. Levellers Levell'd, or the Independents' Conspiracie to root out Monarchie-an Interlude by Mercurius Pragmaticus 1647-this piece has not the most remote connexion with the stage, except that it is divided into 5 short acts--the characters are— Regicide and Patricide, two Independent Ministers. Pragmaticus ends each of the acts as a Chorus-as a literary production this little piece is contemptible -as a political squib it is personal, scurrilous, and loyal to the last degree-to it the author has prefixed an address" To his Soveraigne Lord Charles (who, maugre the fury of the Levellers, is yet) by the 66 |