perhaps well for his future fame and excellence that circumstances removed him from the stage of New-York at a time so inauspicious to his improvement as an actor.

The exertions of the manager had been so far successful that the engine he guided was kept in motion, and to the public eye appeared gay and prosperous. But all within was discord and discontent: even those plays which attracted the public, and gave bread to some and the means of destructive indulgence to others, were stigmatized by the actors as Dutch stuff, and by other epithets equally characteristic. But why dwell on evils of this disgusting kind? Can they be removed?

When a theatre is supported by a power, whether in a government or an association, which will not look for profit from it, but rather, if any deficiency of money from the receipts occurs, is ready to make it good, as in France-when it is so cherished and supervised, and is directed by a man who has taste and knowledge, and whose faculties may be devoted to the true purposes of the institution-then such a theatre will be truly a school of morality, of patriotism, and every virtue; the glory of the fine arts, and the delight of the wise and the good: such a theatre would be what the theatre of Weimar was when Göthe was its manager, or that of Berlin under the direction of Iffland-the one directed by the first poet of the age, the other by the first actor of Germany, and both supported

by government. But while actors squabble for parts and intrigue for benefits, and managers are looking to the means of raising money, the theatre must be what it now is.

Benefit nights allowed to performers have ever been one source of mischief, one cause of degradation. This has been amended, but must be abolished before the theatre can be what, by its constituent parts and powers, it ought to be, or even what it has been.

It was the practice in the early days of the American drama for the performers of the company to throw for the nights of their respective benefits. As the benefits usually commenced in the spring and continued into summer, the earliest nights, or those of spring, were the prizes of the dice-box. We have seen that at one time the performer literally went from door to door to beg patronage. Other means, perhaps as degrading, and more injurious to the individual, have since been resorted to.. The nights being determined, every thought of the performer is turned to promote his own particular interest; not more than the thoughts of men in other pursuits, but in a way more productive of jealousy and discord, from the nature of the institution, which is only fitted to be guided by one head and for one purpose. Plays are got up merely to make showbills, the public are deceived, and the pieces that are performed are sacrificed. Dryden, in a couplet, which I cannot recollect or

turn to, says that the actors murdered plays, and called it reviving them. Such is the fate of all revivals for benefit nights.

This abuse has been, by the energy of managers subsequent to the time of which we write, in some degree remedied; but it should be abolished altogether. The actor ought to be liberally rewarded, according to his talents and his exertion of them, by a fixed income, and not left to look for an uncertain receipt from a benefit, which, like a prize in the lottery, is to pay his creditors, while he lives at an expense far beyond his income. We do not say that this is or has been generally the case; that it has been in some instances we know, and the temptation ought to be removed.

While a tier of boxes is appropriated as a gallery to display the allurements of vice-while the actor looks for his reward from the popularity he can establish with the million, and the manager must please the vulgar or shut his theatre-the stage is not a school of morality: it is a mockery to call it so. By its nature, and the powers which it possesses, it is fitted to be one of the most effective.

CHAPTER XXV.

1800-Theatre at Mount Vernon Garden-Mr. Corré-Effects of the Departure of Mr. Cooper-Theatre opens Oct. 20th, 1800Names of Performers-Mrs. Powell-Mr. Fennell-Fraternal Discord, or Bruder's Zwist-Mr. Harper-Mrs. Jefferson's first appearance-Mr. White-Mr. Winstanley-Joanna of Montfaucon -Abälino-Zschokke-De Montfort-Joanna Baillie.

On the 9th of July, 1800, a summer theatre was opened in New-York at a place called by the proprietor Mount Vernon Gardens, and which is now the north-west corner of Leonard Street and Broadway. This spot, as is mentioned in our fourth chapter, was in good old times far out of town, and here stood the White Conduit House, which, with its gardens, were the summer resort of our citizens for many years; as Brennon's (afterwards Tyler's, and again Hogg's, and now the S. W. corner of Spring and Hudson Streets) was in after-times.

We will insert the first bill issued by the manager of this theatre:

MOUNT VERNON GARDEN. THEATRE. JOSEPH CORRE presents his respects to the public: ever anxious to merit their patronage and contribute to their amusement, he has at a considerable expense engaged several of the principal performers belonging to the theatre, and proposes to exhibit theatrical entertainments on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, which he flatters himself will give additional satisfaction to those who have on former occasions honoured him with their company.

On Wednesday evening, July 9th, 1800, will be presented a much admired farce, in two acts, called Miss in Her Teens, or the Medley of Lovers. Capt. Flash, Mr. Jefferson; Capt. Loveit, Mr. Hallam, jun.; Puff, Mr. Hogg; Jasper, Mr. Fox: Fribble, Mr. Martin; Tag (with a song), Mrs. Seymour; Miss Biddy Bellair (with a song), Miss Brett. Tickets of admittance 4s. Performance to begin at 9 o'clock precisely.

We have said

Here we have a new manager. that we do not think the man who assumed the direction of "that powerful and complicated engine, the theatre of a great metropolis" (meaning the New-York theatre in 1798), "was fitted for the arduous task." Let us examine the qualifications which his previous situations in life's drama had, as far as we can judge by the retrospect, bestowed on Mr. Joseph Corré.

Mr. Corré will be long remembered by the elder citizens of New-York as an honest, industrious, and prosperous man. He was a Frenchman, and

is first remembered as a cook in the service of Major Carew, of the 17th light dragoons, the servant of his Britannic majesty. The first time the writer saw Corré, he stood with knife in hand, and in the full costume of his trade, looking as important as the mysteries of his craft entitle every cook to look, "with fair round belly, with good capon lined," covered with a fair white apron, and his powdered locks compressed by an equally white cap. His rotundity of face and rotundity of person-for he was not related to Hogarth's Cook at the gates of Calais - with this professional costume, made his figure, though by

VOL. II.

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