during the lifetime of Paul, and under his successor. He afterward went, with his wife, on a tour of pleasure to Italy, an account of which journey was published at Berlin in 1805. He then finally settled at Manheim, where he conducted a periodical miscellany, which, though more than liberal as to religion, was devoted to the politics of the holy alliance. By this he drew upon himself the execration of the friends of freedom throughout Germany, and his own sacrifice was the result.

On the 11th of March, 1819, a young man of the name of Sandt, of whose previous character nothing amiss has transpired, and who was destined for the ecclesiastical profession, called upon Kotzebue at Manheim, under some pretext, and stabbed him to the heart. Sandt did not attempt to escape: he stabbed himself, though not mortally; was arrested, disarmed, confined, cured, tried, condemned, and beheaded.

Such was the end of Kotzebue. Some talent he undoubtedly did possess ; but it was not uniformly exerted in strengthening those moral restraints which are the safeguards of society and the foundation of human happiness; his pen was in early life devoted to wild and pernicious views of morals and manners, and afterwards to the defence of a system which can only be supported upon the debasement of the human race. Servility was one principal ingredient of Kotzebue's moral temperament: he was ready to lick the dust before a Paul or Alexander. He received his reward

in the patronage of tyrants, and from the dagger of an enthusiast.

Of his dramatic works, not already mentioned, we will notice the following:-Hyperborean Ass, Female Jacobin Club, Blind Love, Der Wildfang (a term hardly translatable), The Reconciliation, and False Shame-comedies; The Count of Burgundy, and Joanna of Montfaucon ; Octavia, a tragedy, founded on the history of Anthony and Cleopatra, and Bayard; Hugo Grotius and Gustavus Vasa tragedies. The Negro Slaves is another of his productions - a piece of exaggerated, nauseous, overstrained, sentimentality. Self-immolation is another monstrosity. His best plays are The Death of Rolla (Pizarro), False Shame, Lovers' Vows, and The Force of Calumny.

Kotzebue revelled in revolting subjects. Adelaide of Wulfingen, already mentioned, is founded on an incestuous marriage, and the heroine, like Medea, slaughters her children. "Such plots," says Taylor, whom we have already cited, "may be borne in the closet, but good taste has ceased to patronize the exhibition of Edipus, or of The Mysterious Mother. Prejudice may have led to excessive remorse; but not therefore would a civilized audience conspire to abolish it."

Kotzebue, according to Taylor, whom we have just cited, was "the greatest dramatic genius that Europe has produced since Shakspeare." Leaving that point to be settled by others, we will conclude this notice of Kotzebue by extracting from

the same writer a sketch of his La Perouse, the catastrophe of which is worthy of the author of Brother Maurice.

"A play on the subject of the misfortunes of La Perouse, who is here supposed to have been shipwrecked in the South Seas. Malvina, a female savage, has saved him from the waves, and has conveyed him to an unoccupied island, where he lives with her, and has a son. In secret, he vents his sorrow for those whom he left behind in Europe: he observes a sail; he makes signals; the vessel approaches. A female and a boy are landed from a boat: they are the wife and son of La Perouse. The two women gradually discover each other's relation to La Perouse their equal claims, their jealousy, their warm affection for him, and their children, supply interesting moments. The brother of Madame La Perouse now intervenes. He descants on the revolution of France and the insecurity of happiness in Europe; he proposes to the party to establish themselves in the South Seas, and to despatch him with the vessel for other companions. The plan is determined, and the two women consent to live in sisterly union with La Perouse."

Kotzebue's great talent was facility of invention; his incidents are admirable; his delineation of character is often fine; but many of his characters partake of the age in which he lived, and of his own false philosophy and false estimate of the foundation on which society ought to rest.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Boston Theatre, autumn of 1798- Names of Performers there engaged Mrs. S. Powell - Mr. Villiers-New-York TheatreSterne's Maria, or the Vintage-The Natural DaughterGreat Success of The Stranger-Lovers' Vows-Count Benyowski-Schiller's Don Carlos-Biography of Schiller.

In the mean time, Boston being free from pestilence, Mr. Hodgkinson had the good fortune to find profitable employment for himself, his family, and the company he had engaged. It appears that he gave dissatisfaction as a manager, by raising the price of admission to the pit from 50 to 75 cents. As an apology. he stated that, in 1797, he had lost 5000 dollars by his theatrical business in Boston. On the 13th of November he advertises the pit admission at 50 cents again.

The company consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Hodgkinson; Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock; Mr. and Mrs. S. Powell; Mrs. Brett; Miss Brett; Mr. and Mrs. Harper; Mr. Williamson (the singer); Mr. Chalmers; Mr. Turnbull; Mr. Simpson (Irish Simpson); Mr. Munto; Mr. Helmbold; Mr. Kedy; Mr. Price; Mr. Homer; Mr. Villiers; Mr. Kenny; Mr. Lathy; Miss Solomon; Miss S. Solomon ; Miss Harding; and Mrs. King.

Of the most important personages in this list we have already spoken, except Mrs. S. Powell. This lady's early history is unknown to us. She came to this country as Miss Harrison in the first company that played in the Federal Street theatre, Boston. She was an elegant woman, and a good actress. She was exemplary in her social duties, and, if now living, enjoys competency and all the fruits of prudence and virtue. She filled respectably the highest lines of tragedy and comedy, and will long live in the memories of the public of Boston, as well as in the affections of those who knew her private worth.

Mr. Villiers was the low comedian of the company, and an actor of force and merit. He of course could only expect to play such characters as the manager thought unworthy of his attention; as must have been the case in respect to every portion of the drama where Hodgkinson was the director, and in the greater part of every branch he had no competitor in this country at that time. Moreton was dead. Cooper, far his superior in tragedy, was yet negligent, and his great excellence confined to a few characters. Fennell's walk was very confined, and his pursuits irregular.

On the 14th of January, 1799, the manager of the New-York theatre brought out an opera written by himself, founded on the story of Maria, and called Sterne's Maria, or The Vintage. The music was composed by Victor Pellesier, and the piece