TILE TIIEATRE S.

Tar.ne is a prevailing notion that to write a tragedy is a very formi- dable task, and to get it upon the stage a scarcely less difficult matter. while the chances of success are perilous. This is quite a mistake ; if so many attempts have failed, it is only because the authors have not gone the right way to work. The course is simple and obvious. Make acharacter endowed with all the virtues under heaven, taking care that his superhuman qualities shall be developed, successively, in effective situations ; and let the other persons be mere puppets, acting as foils to the paragon of perfection. It' your hero be a great name in history, 60 much the better; it' not, hook him on to some historical event, which will do as well ; moreover, this will admit of an nil libitum amount of excellencies being bestowed on Min. Seal the MS. with a flattering note to "the eminent Tragedian," and success is certain : he will, of course, approve, and the manager, of course, accept the play ; the pub- lic, equally of course, will applaud the performance ; and the press— all but a few envious, malignant crities----still store of course reecho its praises : you arc then installed as one of the great dramatists of the day, and compared to &TAU:WERE, BEN JONSON, or BEAUMONT and ki.t.roiER. Thenceforth you may practice the recipe as often as you please. It is by sour.: thought necessary to be on terms with the Magnus Apollo; but an introduction from one of " the clique" will do as well, provi.led ),,a obey the behests of the oracle.

This is no badinage, but plain matter of fact : the new " tragedy," Glee, se, N., hi, h era, ixought omit at the Haymarket last Saturday, is evi- dence of the natlii c.fwitdt we say. The writer is .Mr. Sergeant t: ; but :t1r. cm,,.lti assured the audience. at ;Ile c; ml oe the per- formance, that he was um aware of the paternity till a day or two before; having covrc.nonded with the author tinder the :1—.•Imed name of Mr.

ComdN.,(1S. 1101'e is proof positive that the w-sy ihe sta,:e is open to ill wika--!iesioali the eminent Tragedian. It he tb:c. _mire AtAcurAWi illiptt have reeognized the "fine Loman hand": but several ,of the andieoce attributed the authorship to Sir FowAnn En, not- rerewt to this effect had been emit radicted which of Ile iva dram'.. Isis fe....1 most complimented, we leave the reader to e,....:aiafy of the success of a drama written on the pre- ,ar.-ed by the custom, peculiar to those new plays in -which \l r. 2,.1 I,V pyrfbrms, of the audicace bringing wreaths on the first night to Mg on the stage when the hero comets forward after alt: curtain Mils. Peaple would not be at the trouble of brileting latt:;:hes of green in their handkerchief's. if they were not certain of having an upper: nelly of pa., ing this ve;retalde hmaa.re to their favour- ite: indeed, hat ti, • the efi'i:ot of time flu e, the i-arden-sittif might be deposited 0.: th,.. sm.:re beiiirelland.

Bet cned7l: DS tho faree come we now to the play. Glowor. Or the !Trig ,i1u-1-neil,/,. 0 hemerogencoa.: mixture of lave and slang-h!;r, brettmyrly jet:teary mid state treaelm •ry. ; and in keeping with this incon2.,riwy, the plot and dialoLme exhibit melodramatic situations in eas 114 siaa v.'c m high-flown rhetarie and sickly scatimen- The fl hist:a:WA in:idents that precede the massacre of Glencoe are sketched with meagre literalm.,s ; this sanguinary and revolting ats1 way torming a background to a fiction as puerile and absurd as ever taxed the credence of wholesale novel-reader, the butchery firmiag the catastrophe of the love-tale. The way in which these discordant materials are connected together, is this. Halbert and llonry Mae donald, two sons of a deceased chief, are in love with the same girl, Helen Campbell, an orphan imroti•gee of their mother : the young lady prefers Henry, the younger and gayer of the two—as is but natural ; indeed she never dreamt that the stern, moody-, and stately Halbert had any idea of love—how :thould she, seeing he never condescended to woo her ? This pattern-card of all high quali- ties, however, from being shut up so long in his ruined tower with his mother, tools a limey to her companion; who, like a good-natured girl, tried to make the time pass as pleasantly as she could, and divert the gloom that this superstitious malecontent east over their fireside. In the plenitude of his self-importance, it never entered into his head that it was possible a girl who had been in his comp:my could think of any one else ; and he seems to have thought that he had nothing to do but throw the handkerchief, like the Grand Turk, to intimate his high will and pleasure. The return and joyous recw.i.m of his brother Henry, by his mother and Ilelen, pique the jealous self-love of the lord of the castle ; and he suddenly announces to his mother his intention of marrying time girl out of hand. Lady nie,lo,):04, seeing " how the cat jumped," ventures to ask if he is sure Helm; loves hint: Oh, he is quite positive : how could it lie otherwise ? But have you popped the ques- tion? says she. Hear his answer to this pertinent inquiry. "By words?

No; for I never doubted it : as soon

Should I have ask'd you if a mother's love Wtiteli'd o'er Illy natures frailties. If' sweet hopes

Dawning at once on each—if gent To be the yirlder of each little joy

Whieh chance provia, !—if her looks umni3ed

In tearful thankfulness for each small boom

Which, nothing to the ghee, seent'd excess To her—if poverty endured. for years

Together in this valley—do nut breathe Of mutual love, 1 have no stronger proofs

To warrant my assurance."

lie never doubted it. forsooth ! but chose to interpret the gratitude and patience of all Mph into a confession of love—the coxcomb! To think atm Ilighland chief babbling of " sweet hopes," " gentle strifes," and "little joys," in the namby-pamby strain of a puling parlour- petted puppy, W ;MI he is asked to give a reason fur fancying a girl in love with Loran---'torah! Of' course he wont be convinced, and insists upon asking the kuly herself ; and thus 11,! vapours to her, when she reminds him that " not a word of courtship passed between us "--

" Words are fur lighter loves, that spread their films

Of gla,-v threads, whielt while the air's serene I tang- gi-acefolly, and sparkle in the sum

(If Fortune. or reflect the !tinter beams Which moonlight fancy sheds: but OLIN, yes, urns! Was woven nith the toughest yarn of lif, For it was blended with the noblest things We lived for: with the majesties of old.

The salute train of mighty griefs o'crereli'd Bc Time's deep blladOWS ; WWI the fate of kings— A glorious dynasty—for ever crusted ; With the great sentiments which made them strong In the affections of mankind; with grief For ruck-enthrM,d Scotland; with poor fortune

Shared cheerfully ; whim high resolves ; thoughts

Of death ; and with the hopes that cammt die."

By crowding memories of delicious hours Sooth'd by its murmur, we have own'd and blese'd The pre:yore of Eternity and Home!

HELEN.

What shall 1 do? HALBERT.

Hear me while I invoke The spirit of one moment to attest,

In the great eye of love-approving them:,

We are each other's. When IL fragile bark Conveyed our little household to partake

The blessing that yet lingers o'er the shrine OF desebee Ionn, the faint breath Of ceeniug wafted us through clustered piles Of gently-moulded columns, which the sea— Softening from tenderest green to foam more white Than snow• wreaths on a marble ridge—illumed As 't would dissolve and win them; till a cave, The glorious work of angel architects Sent on commission to the sacred isle,

From which, as from a funtain, God's own light Stream'( o'er dark Europe, in its fretted span Embraced us. Pedestals of glistening black Rose, as if waiting for the airy tread Of sonic enraptured seraph, who might pause To see blue ocean through the sculptured ribs Of the tall archway's curve, delight to lend Ills vastness to the lovely. We were charmed, Not awe-struck, for The Beautifitl was there Triumphant in its palace. As we gazed

Rapt and enamoured, our small vessel struck

The cavern'', side, end by a shock which seemed The last that we should suffer, you were thrown l'pon my neck. You clasped me then, and shared

One thought of love and heaven."

"What shall I do?" indeed'.—bad we been by, our answer would have been, "Give hint a box o' the ear." So—because, -when a boat is capsizing, a terrified girl clings to a man for help, he must needs think she is in love with hint 1 The flummery that Claude Melnotte talks to the "Lady of Lyons" about "alabaster lamps" and "air heavy with perfumed light " is in keeping with the trickster's character ; but for a rude Highland laird to prate like a Cockney 'prentiee beside him- self with the first sight of mountains and lakes bigger than Primrose Bill and the Reservoir, is most preposterous. That sensible people should swallow such stuff is surprising; it shows the power of the ate • tor's elocution.

But we must " cut the dialect and come to the 'osses." The silly girl gives way, and allows Halbert to thrust a ring on her finger, as a sign of possession, tacitly consenting to be miserable for liter they are to be married at daybreak next morning, in the chapel. This prince of lady-killers, however, whose eye is fascination, being satis- fied with having his Iray so far, and not relishing the bargain, bethielts him of a grand coup de thilitre, by which he may make his brother, whom he has injured and insulted, the obliged parte, : accordingly he reserves his intention of giving up the girl till the cereniony begins. Meanwhile, Henry, glad of the opportunity of humbling his insolent elder brother, placed Glenlyon's troops in the glen, as he supposed only to surround the recusant clansmen, and thus compel their submission ; and just as he is overcome by Halbert's magnanimity, the cries of the murdered victims are heard without the unconseions instrument of the treachery, overwhelmed with horror and despair, rushes from the chapel to share the fate of the Macdonalds, while his brother Halbert meets death by a special messenger in the shape of a stray hulk through the window.

Such arc the materials of the "tragedy," that, by dint of the energetic and really fine acting of MAcnEAnv, aided by an effective situation or two, and materially assisted by the prestige of the actor's and author's reputation, and the humbugeous proceedings before alluded to, has been crammed down the throats of the public every night this week. Allow- ing largely Ibr the gullibility of audiences, the piece cannot draw to any peat extent, for it wants progressive and permanent interest. The ex- citement of one or two separate scenes, especially that where :\ Lienv.Aov taxes Glenlyon with treacherous intentions, at the feast on the eve of the massacre, is strong : the first interview between the brothers, too, is ' effective ; but the idea of a young fellow offering his purse to his elder brother, a proud chief of the elan Macdonald, and of two brothers fighting a duel on their first teectieg after a long absence, is monstrous : equally improbable is it that I lathert should choose for his marriage the precise time when actual appearances confirmed his second -sight forebodings of some terrible • calamity impending. But what ore ail these things to the claptrap effect of MAtmEA tie rejecting with len y scorn the proffered gold—of his knocking the sword out of his I retle is hand. as it were a child's toy, and then giving him his life—and of the elit:1,1s,The (lectu- ring on the heels of his last net of generosity ? Consistency- of c'etracs ter, natural feeling, probability of circumstance, passion, propriety— every thing is sacrificed to stage-efket; and that to be produced by the agency of ..‘IncnnAov. There is not a single character of import- ance beside his ; indeed they are all subservient to him ; and we feel neither sympathy nor admiration towards any other. The old chief Mac Ion, admirably personated by WEnsma, is merely an ob- ject of pity : Mrs. WARNER, as Lady Macdonald, has only to supply the continent of eloquent expression—that is, when she is allowed to turn her face towards the audience : Miss 11.FArcer, as Helot, has such

an unnatural part to play, that we cannot find it in our hearts to accuse

her of affectation and over-acting ; and How a, who plays (Inry, is obliged to act the shallow swaggerer, as a foil n) Halbert, so ostenta-

tiously that he is not responsible, but to he pitied fbr the disagreeable

impression he is compelled to make. Camp/ill Gienkon, played by PEIELPS, must of course be a ; but why his lieutenant Lindsay, should be made a parasite, except to give occasion for Halbert to show his contempt and scorn, we do not see : in short, the Sergeant's Halbert domineers over all. Miss P. Howrox, who plays a spirited boy, :flasher, one of Mac Ian's sons—a slight part, but very cleverly acted—is the pet of the piece : but then, Alaster is Halbert's proti-g6.

The style of the writing will have been sufficiently evident from the quotations already given--its unfitness for dramatic dialogue, its uniform diffuse and effeminate character, and the vague glimmerings of meaning

caught through the spangled tissue of verbiage that veils the half formed ideas : but, as the vices of the mock 'sentimental school are con- tagious, we must give a further sample or two of' the nonsense thatt. hidden under this affected .phraseology- .. Have you not heard of Moina?

Although she his not since that day been seen Within our vale, her awful figure glared On the remotest inflowc of men

N't ho now are reckon'd old. Her age alone Would make the obscurest thread of human life Drawn out, though many births and deaths of hope, A thing to tremble at."

This is a passage likely to be printed in Italics as a specimen of exqui- site poetry ; to our common apprehensions it reads like pretty-sounding exaggeration. What "the remotest infiency of men" may be, is a matter beyond even the midwife's ken ; and how the age of an old woman should make any thread of human life " a thing to tremble at" if drawn out, we are at a loss to perceive. Here is another burst of sublimity which passes our comprehension—

"O1 blessed star

01 morning, do you wait upon that cone

Whose whiteness mocks our marble, to renew

The calm cerulean distance can impart To thoughts of earth's brief struggles ? Linger yet I

It sinks ; 'tis gone ; its peace is in my soul."

We had marked other strains similarly unintelligible, but space fails; and we suspect time reader is sick of the subject, es we are. The dia- logue is studded with such phrases as "scornful groves," " rich hours," "dim ,years," "austere rocks refined with air," " hearted joy," "sweet fellowship of memories," " wastes populous with agonies." To stab another, is to "strike him to bloody senselessness." Halbert in his despair exclaims "I am runt ; " and henry talks of "raining pardon and life" on his brother. The flowers of rhetoric are so thickly scat- tered that we know not where to stop ; but we must only cull one more of the choicest : Halbert, speaking of his impression that Helen loved him, says- " "f wns as clear As it were written in the book of God By a celestial penman."

We do not deny that there are some 'beautiful thoughts, well ex- pressed—strange if there were not ; but very few are free from hyper- bolical extravagance.