anxious to bring about the match. The rivalry of the two sisters belongs to the authors of "The Clandestine Marriage ;" and an ill-educated aunt might favour the pretensions of one rather than the other more naturally than a mother. As to the plot, the story of "False Concord" is nothing more than this. Miss Sudley is in love with Raymond, a young barrister, and he with her; but their union is obstructed by the amorous propensities of Lord Lavender, who is also anxious to repair and add to his fortune by marriage into a low, though rich family. Raymond arrives from London (the scene being laid in Essex), and runs off with Miss Sudley; and Lord Lavender learning what has occurred, declares that l'affaire est fini, and starts for town. Old Sudley is, therefore, fain to put up with Raymond for a son-in-law, to the great vexation of the ambitious Mrs. S. To increase the business, an intriguing attorney is introduced, and a cub of a boy, younger brother to Miss Sudley, who strongly resembles Squire Richard in "The Journey to London." Of the various scenes in "False Concord," the only one at all resembling any part of "The Clandestine Marriage," is that in which Lord Lavender converses with Jasper his valet; and how inferior in every respect it is to the opening of Act II. of Garrick and Colman's comedy, will be seen by the subjoined extract. I need not apologise for the length of the quotation, as the point is not only well worth determining, but this is the only opportunity that has ever occurred of putting it finally to rest. "Enter Jasper and Servants. Jasper. Come, quick, quick, my lads-my lord is coming. William, set the great chair and the foot-stool and beat up the cushion.-Very well. George! see the toilet wants nothing. Are the eye-brows there? And the rouge?-Very well. Thomas, you called upon the stay-maker for the new pair of hips that my lord ordered :-very well, You should have told him about my lord's calves; the last he made were very illshaped-my lord has cursed them a thousand times [goes to the toilet]. Now for the Eau de Luce.-Here is my lord." if Jasp. My lord." "Enter Lord Lavender. "Lord Lav. I am in good spirits to-day. Let me be well dressed. You can do it you will." Jasp. Your lordship vouchsafes to honour your poor servant too much-though I must say, with your lordship's indulgence, that I challenge the first valet in the kingdom for perfecting a nobleman in his appearance. But why am I so vain ? 'Tis all your lordship's air. 'Tis all your lordship's shape.-There's dignity-there's a tread." "Lord Lav. Nature has been kind to me. Give me my chair." [Sits down, puts his foot on a stool. Jasp. Nature kind, my lord?-She has been lavish to your lordship.-There's nobility in your lordship's very foot." "Lord Lav. You have observation.-Oh Jasper ! " Jasp. My lord! What's the matter?" [Starts. "Lord Lav. You have shaved me ill.-Here's a hair upon my chin." Jasp. An hair, my lord! Heaven forbid." "Lord Lav. Give me the magnifier. [Jasper gives the glass.] Look-why, it is as big as a bull-rush." Jasp. A bull-rush indeed, my lord. Sirrah, how came you to escape the keenness of my razor upon so smooth and delicate a surface?" "Lord Lav. A pretty fancy-ha! ha! ha!" Jasp. Come off, you impertinent rogue. There, my lord, I have nipped him off a day within the skin." Lord Lav. The fellow has wit.-Jasper." "Jasp. My lord!" "Lord Lav. Has Laudumy sent home my wedding teeth?" "Jasp. No, my lord." "Lord Lav. No!-that's monstrous !-they have been bespoke ever since the match has been in agitation. Brush up my last new ones. That fellow has met with such encouragement from people of fashion, that he uses us as he pleases. He knows the tenderness of our mouths; we may scold, but we cannot bite." The great pains Garrick took with the adaptation of Wycherly's "Country Wife," are evidenced by the copy sent to the Examiner on the 22nd October, 1766 the principal part of the alterations is in the writing of the copyist of the theatre; but after they had been made, blanks were left for some of the most important additions, and they were subsequently inserted by Garrick himself, who went over the whole, introducing such farther improvements as struck him to be necessary. It is a monument of his patient industry and extreme accuracy. He did not bestow anything like equal labour upon his "Cymon," which was sent for licence in a comparatively crude state. The same remark will apply to the little interlude called "Linco's Travels," which was written for Tom King's benefit. Linco is a prominent comic character in "Cymon." With regard to the masque, "the Order of the Garter," it may be fit just to remark that the character of Sir Dingle, the Fool, was an after-thought by Garrick, and it was not sent for licence with the masque itself. From this date to the end of his career, Garrick seems to have been more indifferent to the manner in which his productions reached the Examiner of Plays. The copy of his alteration or adaptation of "Albumazar" has a few hasty corrections by him, and the last trace of his hand-writing (excepting his signature) among the MSS. is to be found in the note which accompanied his "Christmas Tale," on the 13th Dec. 1773: the body of it was written by the prompter, and as he did not know what species of representation to call it, he left a blank which Garrick filled up with the words "musical entertainment." At this date his writing was very shaky, and indicative of his sufferings from the gout in his hands. I may here observe that the ill-natured critique upon the "Christmas Tale" in the "Biographia Dramatica," was written by Garrick's friend George Steevens, who contributed most of the witty spite towards the moderns in that work, when Isaac Reed reprinted it. I state this fact because I have recently gone over and compared the original MSS. of Steevens: Reed sometimes objected to insert what Steevens gave him, as in the instance of Jephson's “Braganza," brought out in 1775. Steevens wrote as follows regarding it, and I quote from his own hand-writing-"When the present tragedy was read to the celebrated Mrs. Montague, who has defended Shakspeare with so much ability and address, she is reported to have said, that she trembled for her favourite bard, lest the splendour of his dramatic works should be eclipsed by the superior blaze of Mr. Jephson's production. Credat Judæus Apella! Yet thus by confident and continual puffing, in a variety of modes till then unthought of, together with the excellent performance of Mrs. Yates, Braganza' was received with tempestuous applause, and brought no inconsiderable profit to its author. Such turbulence of praise at length subsiding, it was reduced to the rank it now holds in the public estimation: indeed no man was ever more injured than Mr. Jephson by the absurd admiration of his friends: they decorated him with honorary garlands which the first breath of contradiction blasted."" After 1773, Garrick, by the death of Lacy, became sole manager, but he still, with one exception, subscribed the letters requesting licences for pieces, " D. Garrick for himself and Mr. Lacy." This was the form he adopted when he sent to the Examiner a piece called "Valentine's Day," by W. Heard, which is remarkable for its own silliness, and for being the very last dramatic production for which Garrick ever sought the Lord Chamberlain's permission. This fact is deserving note in the Life of Garrick, but it could only be ascertained from an inspection of the Larpent MSS. Sheridan, as is well known, succeeded Garrick on his retirement from Drury-Lane Theatre, but his father sometimes acted for him, and the first play sent for licence with his name attached to the letter "R. B. Sheridan for self and partners,”—was Captain Ayscough's "Semiramis." I must not omit to notice that Sheridan with his own hand made divers erasures and alterations in the Examiner's MS. of this ill-concocted tragedy. Everybody knows Sheridan's Monody on the death of Garrick in 1779. In the printed editions it concludes with the following couplet : "To you it is bequeath'd-assert the trust, The Duke of Devonshire is in possession of the original copy, which with some few other MSS. is bound up in his Grace's marvellously perfect collection of printed English dramatic productions. There I find the following lines appended to the couplet above quoted : "Whether the song heroic woes rehearse, With epic grandeur and the pomp of verse, Attempt no praise but favouring beauty's smile." These lines were judiciously omitted in the recitation as weakening the effect of the composition, and a pen was drawn through them; but recollecting that they are the production of such a man as Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and that they relate to such a man as David Garrick, they are worth preserving. J. P. C. TO A CHILD IN PRAYER. FOLD thy little hands in prayer, Thine eyes are passion-free; And pleasant thoughts like garlands bind thee Then pray, Child, pray! Now thy young heart like a bird But winter cometh, and decay Then pray, Child, pray! Thy Spirit is a House of Glee, And Gladness harpeth at the door, While ever with a merry shout Now thy Mother's Hymn abideth The taper's darken'd light. But that sweet Hymn shall pass away, W. M'CULLOCH'S COMMERCIAL DICTIONARY. THE above work, of which we propose to give a brief notice, appears to us most deserving of public attention. It is not too much to say of it, that within its pages will be found a variety and amount of useful information, not to be met with in any work of the same description. The term Dictionary conveys a very inadequate description of the contents of the work, which, on all the most important subjects connected with commerce and commercial navigation, furnishes a collection of Essays replete with useful practical knowledge, and enlarged scientific views. As instances we call the attention of our readers to the articles on Colonies and the Corn Laws. Mr. M'Culloch divides the article Colonies into five heads. 1. Establishment of Colonies. 2. Influence of the Monopoly of the Colony Trade. 3. Magnitude, Population, Trade, &c. of British Colonies. 4. Regulations under which Colony Trade is conducted-Disposal of Land in the Colonies. 5. Foreign Colonies. The difference in the principles upon which the Greek and Roman Colonies were founded, is well pointed out by the author; and as the passages in which this is done present fair specimens of the style, we do not hesitate to transcribe them. "COLONIES.-Colony Trade.-Colonies are establishments founded in foreign countries by individuals, who either voluntarily emigrate from, or are forcibly sent abroad by, their mother country. The Colony Trade is the trade carried on between colonies and their parent states. I. Establishment of Colonies. II. Influence of the Monopoly of the Colony Trade. III. Magnitude, Population, Trade, &c. of British Colonies. IV. Regulations under which Colony Trade is conducted-Disposal of V. Foreign Colonies. "I.—ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIES. "(1.) GREEK COLONIES.-Various motives have, in different countries and ages, led to the formation of Colonies. The Greek Colonies of antiquity seem to have been chiefly founded by citizens, whom the violence and fury of contending factions forced to leave their native land; but they were sometimes formed for the purpose of relieving the mother-country of a redundant population, and sometimes, also, for the purpose of extending the sphere of commercial transactions, or of providing for their security. The relations between the mother country and the colony depended, in a great measure, on the motives which led to the establishment of the latter. When a colony was founded by fugitives forcibly expelled from their ancient homes, or when it was founded, as was frequently the case, by bodies of voluntary emigrants, who received no assistance from, and were in no respect controlled by the parent state, it was, from Seneca has given, in a few words, a very clear and accurate statement of the different motives that induced the ancients to found colonies :-"Nec omnibus eadem causa relinquendi quærendique patriam fuit. Alios excidia urbium suarum, hostilibus armis elapsos, in aliena, spoliatos suis, expulerunt. Alios domestica seditio submovit: Alios nimia superfluentis populi frequentia, ad exonerandas vires, emisit: Alios pestilentia, aut frequens terrarum hiatus, aut aliqua intoleranda infelicis soli ejecerunt: Quosdam fertilis oræ, et in majus laudatæ, fama corrupit: Alios alia causa excivit domibus suis." -Consol, ad Helviam. c. vi. : the first, independent and even in those rarer cases, in which the emigration was conducted under the superintendence of the parent city, and when the Colony was protected by her power and influence, the dependance was, mostly, far from being absolute and complete. The great bulk of the Greek Colonies were really independent states; and though they commonly regarded the land of their forefathers with filial respect, though they yielded to its citizens the place of distinction at public games and religious solemnities, and were expected to assist them in time of war, they did so as allies only, ou fair and equal terms, and never as subjects. Owing to the freedom of their institutions, and their superiority in the arts of civilized life, to the native inhabitants of the countries among whom they were generally placed, these Colonies rose, in a comparatively short period, to a high pitch of opulence and refinement; and many among them, as Miletus and Ephesus in Asia-Minor, Syracuse and Agrigentum in Sicily, and Tarentum and Locri in Italy, not only equalled, but greatly surpassed their mother cities in wealth and power. (2.) ROMAN COLONIES.-The Roman Colonies were, for the most part, founded by and under the authority of Government, being intended to serve both as outlets for poor and discontented citizens, and as military stations or garrisons, to secure the subjection of the conquered provinces over which they were scattered. The most intimate political union was always maintained between them and the mother city. Their internal government was modelled on that of Rome; and while their superior officers were mostly sent from the capital, they were made to contribute their full quota of troops and taxes, to assist in carrying on the contests in which the Republic was almost constantly engaged." pp. 308-9. The author justly observes that the Colonies of most modern nations have, in respect to the connexion with the Mother Country, rather followed the Grecian, than the Roman model. It has unquestionably been the practice of all European nations to view the Colonies as establishments that contracted an obligation of perpetual servitude to the Mother Country, by the mere fact of the first adventurers having been its subjects. By the Colonies this obligation has been readily acknowledged, while the protection of the Mother Country was required against attacks from other nations; but with. the growing capacity of the Colonies to defend themselves, a disposition to shake off the yoke has constantly arisen. On the other hand, however, the anxiety of the Mother Country to enforce the obligation has borne a direct proportion to the increasing wealth and population of the Colonies. This observation is particularly applicable to the American Colonies of Great Britain. One great member has already been dissevered from the Parent State, (gloriously, it may be said, for the greatest of Republics has arisen from the separation,) and unless every principle belonging to the Old Colonial System of Government be abandoned, a similar result must ere long take place with the remainder of her North American possessions. The superior wisdom of the principles on which the Colonization of the ancient Greeks proceeded is sufficiently manifest, inasmuch as the feeling of the Colonies towards the Parent State being from the first unmixed with bitterness or jealousy, the foundation was laid of a lasting alliance, in the important circumstances of community of language, moral associations, and habits. How different has been the case among the Colonies of European nations! from discontented or rebellious subjects, they have become political and commercial rivals, and have generally preferred, when independent, connexion with nations strangers to them in blood. June.-VOL. XXXIV. NO. CXXXVIII. 2 Q |