Covent Garden commences its season on Monday, with the Mid-
summer Night's Dream and the Critic; to be followed on the succeeding nights by the Rivals and London Assurance, with Beauty and the Beast for afterpiece. No novelties are as yet announced ; though a play of Sazamste KNOWLES'S is understood to be in the theatre, and also comedies by LEIGH HUNT and PEAKE. To have opened with a new play or revival, we think, would have given an impulse to the public curiosity, which the absence of any fresh interest tends to repress. The company is nearly the same as last season ; but the absence of E rays TREE is a denotement that comedy is to be predominant at Co- vent Garden, as tragedy will most likely be at Drury Lane. The changes are scarcely gains on the whole : the loss of KEELEY is irre- parable; ORBERRY is a poor substitute for him, though the best : Mrs. GLOVER is superior to Mrs. C. JONES in popularity and personal effectiveness for high comedy, and is in every respect an important acquisition : Mr. WALTER LACY may be accepted instead of Mr. AN- DERSON for heroes of comedy, though we could desire a better representative of the Captain Absolutes and Young Courtlies : whether any of the new performers will supply the chief desideratum, a real _gallant, remains to be seen. Mr. G. HORIMASTLE, and Mr. and Mrs. W. H. BLAND, (the lady was formerly Miss FAUCIT,) all from the Liver- pool Theatre, may prove of some mark ; and there is Mr. CLEMENT 'WHITE, an untried performer. Mr. G. VANDENHOFF we have heard mentioned again : he has had time to improve his powers; he was always a gentleman, though tame and pluckless. Mr. out:mem.; who it seems was a regular stager in the provinces, is talked of as being likely to come out as an actor of Irishmen on these boards ; and Miss ADELALDE KEMBLE is said to be engaged as prima donna. While giv- ing currency to these gossiping rumours, it is only echoing report to allude to the whispers that are afloat respecting the intention of the Honourable Mrs. NORTON to adopt the stage as a profession, and make her debut at Covent Garden : the talent of her family, dramatic by descent, is favourable to the supposition—coupled with other and more powerful causes ; and we have heard that the lady has qualifications for success of a higher kind than personal beauty. Now that acting is raised to so high a rank in public estimation as an intellectual pro- fesaion there can be nothing derogatory in such a step, whatever the pride of station may deem to the contrary.
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