THE THEATRES.

3IACREADY'S Ski/ock disappointed us. 'raking our cue from the elo- quent eulogy of the first night's representation at the Haymarket, which we quoted, we went prepared to see a severely correct as well as chaste and forcible performance ; but to its truth we demur. This is a new personation, and there are some fine traits in it ; but we think it is at variance with the spirit of the author, as well as with the letter of the text, in two essential particulars,—namely, the malignant and sordid nature, and the abject bearing of Shylock. Mr. MACREADY has endeavoured to give personal dignity to the Jew, and to soften dowu the ugly features of the character, by assunting an erect port and a frank and cordial manner, that are quite inconsistent with the persecution and insults to which the whole tribe are subject : he makes us wonder that a man of his appearance should belong to a despised race, much more that he should be accustomed to such indignities as Shylock re- minds Antonio of putting on him- " You cell MC misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And spit Ion my Jewish gaberdine.

You, that did void your rheum upon my beard,

And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur

Over yon threshold."

Nor is the discrepancy limited to the aspect : the settled hate and deadly vindictiveness of Shylock towards Antonio, that should be expressed in caustic bitterness of speech and "jealous leer malign," are only manifested in soliloquy, or passionate outbreaks where these feelings find utterance in words. Take, for instance, the first interview with Antonio, which is introduced by this aside speech of' Shylock- " I hate him, for he is a Christian ;

But more, for that, in low simplicity, He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in 'Venice. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. He hates our sacred nation; and he rails, Even here where merchants most do congregate, On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, Which he calls interest. Cursed he my tribe If I forgive him!"

Here we have the key to the character and motives of Shylock, as well as to the spirit of' this particular scene: yet MACREADY saluted Antonio with such well-dissembled courtesy that the audience were not let into the secret of his hypocrisy ; and so profound was his simula- tion of generosity throughout, that any one who had not heard the opening soliloquy, would have been as unsuspicious as Antonio of any sinister purpose. The actor's art is shown in making his audience sensible of the inward workings of passion that he has to conceal from those on the stage whom it is his business to deceive ; and in this .point we think MACREADY failed : we were unable to detect the "lurking, vindictive purpose" of Shylock, either in look, tone, or manner ; though the very phraseology of the dialogue implies a sarcastic vim-

lence, which the Jew could hardly have repressed in a .moment of triumph. MACREADY'S laugh at " the merry bond" was hearty, as at a good joke ; it wanted the hysteric chuckle of malice exulting at the success of a villanous scheme. Shylock need not have been so "super-subtle" either, to deceive Antonio; who, without being " an arrant ass," might have reasonably expected a tone of causticity in the Jew, even while making a generous seeming offer, attributing to pique and a desire to rival him in liberality the strange apparent kindness. MACREADY'S performance in the second act was excellent : his grave and thoughtful reserve, tempered with kindness to his daughter, but assuming a tone of severity mixed with contempt towards the " tin- thrifty knave " Launcelot, expressed the character of a man in whose estimation thrift and wariness were the two cardinal virtues, and to whose abased condition the sound of gayety was a mockery. In the third act he \vas still finer : his rage and distraction at the flight of Jessica and the loss of his gold and jewels, added fresh venom to his threats; and when Tubal brought the news of Antonio's ruin, the fiend- like soul burst forth in an eestacy of malevolent delight—he slaked his thirst for revenge by anticipation. The beautiful expostulation, "Math not a Jew eyes," was delivered with a passionate earnestness that was touching, notwithstanding the fierce spirit of vengeance that breathed through it.

The great scene in the fourth act was altogether inefficient ; owing to a want of fixedness of purpose, and that concentration of the vindictive spirit which alone can sustain the interest of the main passion in the person of Shylock. In this, tie in the first scene, the absence of per- sonal malice towards Antonio was sensibly felt : it seemed as if a hard creditor were doggedly insisting upon an abstract legal right, and no more. The animus of hatred, we conceive, should have been ex- pressed by a wolfish eagerness, manifested by a settled gaze on his victim, keen as his knife and deadly as his determination ; only di- verted for a moment by preparation for the act, or by impatience at interruption and delay. Throughout this scene, MACREADY was too tame and deliberate : he leaned on the rail of the court, playing with his knife, as though waiting for some ordinary business to be done, and pondering on it : one almost expected he would have relented, and, instead of his slice of flesh, taken the money ; and when he stepped forward, knife in hand, to enforce sentence, the unlikelihood of the thing struck one—not the terrible nature of the deed. It requires the utmost intensity of mute expression in the look and action of Shylock to main- tain the tragic interest of this scene : he engages all our attention ; we scrutinize his every gesture and movement ; for he is a moral wonder. It is the deed of Shylock, not the suffering of Antonio, that excites most strongly the feeling of the audience : terror predominates over pity at this time. The display of the knife and scales is a ticklish cir- cumstance : either the effect must be frightful, or it becomes ludicrous. MACREADY rightly followed the text in whetting the knife upon the sole of his shoe; but he also departed from it, wrongly we think, in drawing it across the floor: the fearful sweeps with which KEAN used to draw his formidable carver across the ground, excused the stage-trick in him, but we felt for the edge of MACREADY'S table-knife under such an operation. So with the scales : KEAN hardly allowed time to utter the words " Are there balance here?" before their clink jarred on the ear, and they glittered in his hand ; MACREADY had to dive down into a deep pocket for, and then to adjust them. MACREADY was dejected too soon after his discomfiture. The vexation of Shylock first breaks forth, and he is going out in a fit of angry disappointment, when Portia stops him with the sentence of confiscation ; it is only then that his fierce spirit gives way under the loss of all his money, and be says "content" to the forfeiture of half his wealth, with reversion of the other to his daughter : he submits perforce, but though baffled he is still stubborn. It was not intended that we should pity Shylock, though we sympa- thize with the persecuted Jews, and our charity as well as indignation is aroused at the persecution of the race : SlIAASPERE makes us feel for them us men and brothers, while we loathe and detest the viciousness engendered on both sides by the spirit of oppression.

In romovitas the burden of years from the Jew, Mecnaenv not only deparls fro: i the text, which speaks of " old Shylock," but. by straight- ening his back, takes away the stoop that assisted to convey an idea of a base and crooked mind; the force of the association is still further lessened; the effects of a long life of persecution on the one hand and extortion on the other, are not visible in the Jew's personal appearance. 'Abe lateness of this opportunity of revenge, implied by great age,

makes the tenacity of Shyloek more natural : he clutches at the occa- sion with the eagerness of a long-deferred and almost desperate hope. We have been minute in our scrutiny of this personation, because Mr. MACREADY is an artist who studies the diameters he performs,

With retarence not merely to stage-effect, but to their author's meaning; and has been known to take into consideration ohjection.s, nay even to adopt a suggestion : in such cases criticism is not thrown away. Of the

other cliaractegs little needs be said. Miss FAUCIT became the gravity

of the learned, doctor better than the gayety of Portia ; her sprightly sallies at the expense of her suitors were forced, and her modest sweet-

ness was not *holly free from the reproach of affectation. BUCKSTONE. EIS Lau/1Mo/, was quaintly droll, without the taint of buffoonery : his dialogue with the Fiend was in the true spirit of the character.

Pneaes walked through the part of Antonio undertaker-fashion ; and WelisTISR, as Gratiano, was more loud than lively. We ought not to pass by the two scenes of Venice without praise ; but they made the others look shabby by comparison. The Council of Ten, too, cut a respectable figure. .We were too late to see Bucissroens's *boots at the Haymarket, in his version of a French piece, called Brother Tom, or Dear Relations ;

but the echo of the merriment gave proof of the fun that we had lost : meanwhile, Brother Toni will have plenty of friends dropping in to welcome his return to life and property, and enjoy the disappointment of his cormorant tribe of "dear relations."