The swelling Hosanna And the goblin's grim den;" When he's far away, Once more at thy bidding, Will be cheered with the "boat-song" Of Roderick's men ; And placid Loch Katrine Shall echo the flow Of" Roderick Vich Alpine Glasgow, Sept. 1820. T. A. Now follows Helen Dhu-But here we must break off, as we know our readers will have much more delight in reading the following account, which has this moment come to hand, of Barry Cornwall's new tragedy, Mirandola, just performed with infinite applause at Covent Garden,-with a quotation or two, extracted from the Literary Gazette. MIRANDOLA. "THE story of Mirandola is exceedingly simple: the incidents are Coir nan uriskin; or the Goblin's Cave on Benvenue. VOL. VIII. very few, and those on which the catastrophe hinges are even commonplace; yet such is the skill with which the whole is wrought, so fine is the taste of the texture, and so many are the gems of poesy with which the web is studded, that every thing but admiration is forgotten as it is unfolded to the view. It has no pomp of style, no majesty-but the majesty of nature; it has no ornaments, no laboured graces-but the brief sweet breathings of a poetic mind; it has no affecting wonder, no road to the heart-but the deep pathos of truth, under circumstancess of human affliction, and the pourings out of souls wounded by disappointment, stung by treachery, blighted by ingratitude, infuriated by jealousy, and maddened by despair. And this is genuine inspiration: these are the real glories of verse, which would force us to overlook as nothing a hundred-fold greater blemishes than any that can be detected in Mirandola. But to the proof. "Mirandola is a chaster Parisina. The Duke, under the supposition of his son Guido's death, and unknowing of their original loves, weds Isidora, the sworn bride of Guido. The letters between the parties have been intercepted and suppressed by Isabella, the Duke's sister, (whose ambition seeks the throne for her son,) and her agent Gheraldi, a monk, whom she has seduced by the promise of a Cardinal's hat. Guido returns to Mirandola-is informed of his hopes-and yet, as far as a broken heart can be reconciled, is reconciled to his father and to Isidora. But the plotters of evil take care to fill the breast of Mirandola with jealousy, against which his nobler sentiments strive to shield him in vain. The sight on his hand of a ringpledge of his love, obtained from his Duchess and conveyed to Guido as a token of her friendship, fills him with the bitterest suspicions; to allay which Guido resolves to abandon Mirandola for ever. He declares he will not see Isidora again, and after a fine scene, his father bids him farewell. Unhappily, however, Isidora, through their mutual friend Casti, implores an interview, to procure the restoration of the ring; to which Guido assents. Meanwhile Casti discovers the treachery of Isabella and Gheraldi, from the dropping of some papers by the latter in his cell, and rushes forth to expose the traitors to the Duke. 1 66 Mirandola. He is too late. In the interim Mirandola has been guided to the final interview of the lovers in the garden; and thus convinced of his falsehood, dooms his son to instant death. He is led out to execution; Casti comes, and shows the villany of Isabella; the crisis arrives, and the agonized parent, imploring in mercy that his cruel orders may be prevented, hears the sound of the musquetry which seals the fate of his only child, and his own desolation. Nature struggles through a few throes, and he expires. "The first scene, in which the Duke and his young wife appear, exquisitely opens out his impetuous and suspicious, though generous character; and the boundless joy of its close prepares us for the coming of sorrow and Guido. Mirandola thus speaks: riage, is one of the most effective in performance, and finely exemplifies the figure of suspense. "Gher. I said your father did desire a bride then From out his realm. Navarro's daughter Two nieces Guido. Aye, I see't. My father saw The lady Julia: yes, I see how 'twas; It was so, was it not? Gher. He saw her there. Guido. Ay, ay: she was a pretty girl when last I was at home: and so he married her? Gher. He saw then both, Sir, with a favouring eye. The lady Isidora then in tears Guido. True; they might not become When joy is in her eye 'tis like the light her. Sad Isidora! Did thine eyes indeed But Guido (thine) is come at last to kiss Gher. May I proceed, my lord? Where were we? Gher. I was telling that your father Guido. You-you said he married Julia. Guido. Whom then? it cannot be. Guido. Monk! speak out: Curse on my trembling. One word a single word. Now :-Tho' Carry damnation (as I think it does) Now. Stun me with sorrow, lest I feel too much, father's bride? Guido. Thou hast done't. Look up, my lord! So-there: you're very Nay, for your father's sake. Guido. Ha! ha! ha! ha! to you. Oh! well: I see you know me now. Not GUIDO enters. Guido. Listen to me, then. When you were young You are young still, and fair-the more's But in the time I speak of, you were just fair As tho' you had look'd in Paradise, and caught Its early beauty: then, your smile was soft, As Innocence before it learns to love. Isid. Oh! no. I loved- Isid. Indeed, indeed! Guido. Well! There was one who loved you too. He said That every hope he had rested on you. He worshipped you, as Idols are adored Guido. (after a pause.) Madam, I come In countries near the sun. He gave his heart So absolutely up, that had he thought Then, that you would desert him, he'd have slain Himself before you. You were his home, his heaven, His wealth, his light, his mind, and life substantial. But then he went away to the fierce wars, (His honour was pledged for it,) and he left You, with an oath upon your soul, behind. 'Twas said he died Isid. One said he saw you fall. Guido. 'Twas said he died, and that she grieved awhile In virgin widowhood for him. At last, A Duke-a reigning Duke, with wintry hair, And subtle spirit, and-without a heart, Came wooing to her, and so-you do not heed me And so she dried her tears, and (tho' the youth Wrote that he lived,) she laugh'd, and left the son, To marry with the father. "Admirable as this is, we think the opening of the third act, with the meeting of the father and son, still more surpassing. The Duke has sent for Guido, and is seen pacing up and down his room. "CURIO enters. Curio. Lord Guido Is now without, my lord! Duke. Bid him come in. [CURIO exit. There is a strange confusion in my mind: Perhaps my son, like a fair morning light, May dispel all. He is here :-how pale he looks! Ah! my dear Guido ! GUIDO enters. Guido. I am come, my lord. Mole-like, your way beneath your neighbour's house, Duke. I-I rejoice to see you. I am And shook down all his happiness, confess proud To know my son has won so good a name. Your honours will shame mine. well, so be it. Well, Duke. As you please,-for once. Her of our love; you start ?-our love I said; Come, let us sit. What cause have you And you-you kept it from her. Speak! These insolent taunts from you, my son, my slave, My "Tis not for you to mark it. "Tis my CURIO enters. If then another word-I said, begone. [CURIO exit. But no, no, no; no more of this; no more. Guido. Then you deny--? Duke. Ah! Guido, this will bring Bitter repentance, in some after day; Till then be silent-still. Guido. Oh! I will be As silent as the grave you've dug for me.' LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. New Royal Society. A new Royal Society, for the encouragement of indigent merit, and the promotion of general literature, under the patronage of the King, is about to be formed, consisting of honorary and subscribing members and associates. The class of honorary members is intended to comprise the most eminent literary characters, an annual subscription of two guineas to constitute a subscribing member, and the class of associates to consist of twenty men of learning and character, ten under the patronage of the King, and ten under the patronage of the Society. His Majesty is to assign the annual sum of one hundred guineas, payable out of the privy purse, to ten of the associates, and an annual premium of one hundred guineas for the best dissertation on some interesting subject, to be chosen by a council of the society. Ten associates will be placed under the patronage of the society, as soon as the subscriptions shall be sufficient for this purpose. An annual subscriber of ten guineas continued for five years, or a life subscription of one hundred guineas, will entitle such subscribers to nominate an associate under the society's patronage, according to the date of their subscription. The associates under the patronage of the King to be elected by competent judges, and those named by subscribers must be approved of by the same judges. From the months of February to July it is proposed that a weekly meeting of the society shall be held, and a monthly meeting during the remainder of the year. His Majesty, it is said, has entrusted the formation of the institution to the Bishop of St David's; and from the number of those who have hastened to subscribe, the funds are already very considerable. Lit. Gaz. Wernerian Society.-Dec. 16.-Mr Adie exhibited, and read the description of, an instrument for ascertaining the specific gravity of bodies, without the use of weights or calculations. This instrument is equally accurate with the hydrostatic balance; but the operation of taking the specific gravity by it is much simpler, is done in a much shorter time, and the instrument itself is greatly cheaper. Experiments were made with it before the Society, to the satisfaction of all present. At the same meeting, Mr John Deuchar explained the nature of an apparatus, suggested some time ago by Colonel Yule, for firing ordnance without the use of a light or the usual prime. Mr Deuchar also gave an account of a number of experi ments performed with the above apparatus, several of which he shewed to the Society; in one of these the flame passed through three pieces of the wire-gauze used in Sir Humphry Davy's safety lamp; and in another was shewn the singular result of the flame passing through some gunpowder without setting it off-Edin. Phil. Jour. We are authorized to announce, that John Lindsay Crawfurd, Esq. has arrived from New South Wales about five months ago, having been furnished with an absolute liberation from his Excellency MajorGeneral Macquarrie, Governor of that Colony. He is heir male of line to the late George Earl of Crawfurd and Lindsay, and will immediately proceed on his claim of service to that Peerage, and the estates annexed thereto. It is to be noticed, that Mr Crawfurd, since his arrival, has prepared for the press, and speedily will be published, in one elegant octavo volume, his life, from 1809 to 1820; with a portrait, executed by one of the first artists; exhibiting a full detail of his claim to the Crawfurd Peerage, and the formidable opposition he experienced from his opponent, with its consequences. To which will be prefixed, an introduction, giving a genealogical and historical account of that noble family, from the reign of Malcolm Canmore, King of Scotland, down to himself. To the whole will be subjoined, a brief account of New South Wales, with its agricultural pursuits, laws, and customs.-Price 10s. 6d. He resides at present in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, the ancient abode of his ancestors.— Edin. Courant, Nov. 30, 1820. On the Cause of Regular Figures formed by Hoar-Frost on Windows. This curious phenomenon was ascribed by M. Mairan to the pre-existence in the glass of certain regular figures and lines generated during its formation, and he supposes that the particles of hoar-frost deposit themselves according to these figures. M. Carena, in a memoir Sur le Givre figurée, published in the Mémoires de Turin for 1813 and 1814, p. 56-79, has overturned this hypothesis, and shews that the following are among the principal causes of the phenomenon. 1. The natural force of crystallization. 2. The necessity of the hoar frost, extending itself along a plane surface, which restrains the quaquaversus tendency of crystallization. 3. The numerous and varied resistances presented by the surface of the glass. 4. The imperfect and irregular conducting power of the glass, which is |
