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in tlie half of the Friar’s cell (or what we sup
pose was intended to represent it,) on one side,
and the half of a parlour on the other! The
scene at the tomb was worse. Romeo, who up
to that moment had gone through his part with a
strange intermixture of rant and drawl, here broke
out into the most unnatural and ungraceful ex
travagancies. The pathos of the tragedy was in
jured to an extent that put it out of the power even
of Miss Dean to afi'ect the audience. Mr. Dick
enson has some good points undoubtedly, but he
cannot play Ro.neo.
We know’ no actress w’ho equals Miss Dean
in those arts of persuasion which are the forte of
woman. She never overdoes them, but infuses
just the proper degree of sw’eetness. Thus in the
play of “Ingomar,” her manner towards the sav
age did complete justice to the poetical, but some
what improbable conception of the poet. She
seemed to verify that exquisite compliment of
Congreve to a lady of the last century—“To know’
her was an education.” How prettily too, in her
anxiety as Juliet to get the message of Romeo as
soon as possible, does she coax and wheedle the
nurse ! There was no playing to the audience ;
the wdiole heart seemed bent upon its object. We
mu?t uot forget to notice her utterance, in the gar
den scene, ol the beautilul passage commencing
“Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face.”
We have heard that passage spoken, not without
effect, with an air ot bashluluess, and a certain
lackadaisical sweetness throughout; but Miss Dean
breathed it forth in a spirit of perfect frankness
and unreserve, w ith the air of a maiden, who in
the innocence of her loving aud virgin heart, did
not apprehend the imputation of forwardness.
This, we think, was Snakspeare’s own conception
of the character, and Miss Dean has perceived it
with the intuition of genius.
Before concluding our article, we will take the
opportunity to say a lew w’ords of Mr. Oxley,
who, in the enthusiastic admiration which follows
M ss Dean wherever she goes, has not received
the notice which he deserves. There is a degree
of cleverness in this gentleman’s acting which
never fails to give satisfaction, even in those char
acters not suitable to the impassioned style, which
is his principal excellence. In Jlercutio, his gen
eral air and appearance wanted that lightness and
buoyancy which goes to make up our ideal of
Romeo's mercurial friend. But he delivered the
brilliant witticisms of that character w r ith great
point and effect. Every word told. As lluon
in the play of “Love,” and as St. Pierre in the
“Wife of Mantua,” Mr. Oxley displayed a degree
of ability which we have never seen in any actor
of the same grade aud position. There was a
sincerity in his passion which always succeeded in
touching the hearts of the audience. As Ingomar,
which we understand he performed for the first
time last week, he acquitted himself in an exceed
ingly creditable manner. He had to perfection
the free, rude bearing of the savage, but what is
the best evidence of his talent, he contrived to
brow into it a certain degree of refinement,
which helped materially, with the assistance of
Miss Dean’s arts of fascination, to soften the im
probabilities of the play. This he effected by
SOUTHERN LITERARY GAZETTE.
making the most he could of the few gentle
I expressions which (in the beginning of the
drama,) the author puts into his mouth—expres
sions which an actor of inferior ability would
certainly have slurred over. He thus showed a
material to be worked upon, by which the rapidity
ot the humanizing process he undergoes was iti
some measure accounted for.
We might say much more on the sublect of Mr.
Oxley’s merits, but we have already trespassed
long enough upon the patience of our readers.
® of Gc^ip.
The Waverly House.
Many inquiries are made of us concerning
boarding houses in this city, and we invariably re
ply that we know of none superior to the estab
lishment named above. It is equally gratifying to
us, and just to the amiable and estimable hostess
ol the Waverly, to say that in all our varied ex
perience ot boarding house life, we have never
realized a greater degree of comfort and satisfac
tion than that we have enjoyed at the hands of
Mrs. Gleason. Her assiduous attentions to her
guests in time of health are grateful to memory,
but it is in sickness that she manifests the spirit of j
kindness which demands a warmer degree of ac- I
knowledgement and praise.
We rejoice to know’ that a large degree of pros
perity crowns her efforts. Her already extensive
house is undergoing improvements which will
make it the largest and most elegant establish
ment of the kind, not in th s city only, but, so far
as we know, in all the South. Asa service to
friends abroad who may desire to find a temporary
home in Charleston, and as a no less merited tri
bute to its hostess, we most eoidiaily recommend
the Waverly House.
Barnum’s Hotel in Baltimore.
We have had during the past summer frequent
occasions to linger in the monumental city, and it
is perhaps needless to say, that we iuvariably ‘put
up’ at Barnum’s. Our experience of the excellent
fare, and more especially the courteous and assid
uous attentions of its host and officers has been so
uniform and so grateful that we led compelled to
make this acknowledgement of it. We know
that not a few of our citizens passed some weeks
there, and we think all of them will cordially
unite with us in this expression of thanks and ap
proval, for the general, as well as the particular,
courtesies of the geutlemen who administer the
affairs of the house.
The Bay Route.
The supetior comfort of the Bay Route to Bal
timore over that of the mail is generally acknow
ledged by all who have tried it. In going North,
the time to Baltimore via the Chesapeake is only
forty hours, and the passengers can reach New-
York several hours in advance of the mail. In
coining South there is no night travelling in rail
way cars ; one night being passed on board the j
comfortable steamers of the Bay, and the other at
Wilmington, N. C. We would take occasion,
by the way, to suggest to the proprietors of the j
North Carolina Hotel, at the latter place, to im
prove the quaiiiy of their supper and breakfast. .
Travellers would feel better satisfied with their
experience, and pay their bills more cheerfully.
The Schoolfellow.
The November and December numbers of this
popular little work will appear together in a very
few days. The issue of the November number
in its proper season was hindered by the late con
tinuance of the yellow fever in this city.
American Snobs.
We wonder whether it be the intention of
Thackeray to pursue in this country his studies in
relation to the Natural History of Snobs. We do
not know where he could find a more inexhausti
ble field in which to conduct his explorations.
Specimens of the genus totally unknown upon
the other side of the water, abound throughout the
region. The Snob Mercantile, the Snob Politi
cal, the Respectable Snob, and the Literary Snob
of America, possess each of them features of a
new and very interesting character. They are
quite as mean and contemptible however ; perhaps
more so, as they are marked by an irritability of
disposition, which makes it dangerous to enter
into a close examination of their habits. But for
the fear of bringing down upon our heads the re
sentment of the whole species, and the presence
of the great “Snobologist” himself, we should
ourselves attempt a classification.
Ancient American Poets.
We hope that in mercy to the public, and to his
own pockets, no American publisher will listen to
the suggestion in last week’s editorial gossip, on
the subject of Ancient American Poets. To un
earth the bones of Joel Parlow, Trumbull, &c.,
from the graves in which they have lain so long
and quietly, would be a crime equivalent to body
stealing. Our hair stands on end at the thought
of it! And how absurd to say that these “vete
ran scribblers” w’ere the first amongst us to enter
into the realms of song! They never touched its
threshold. It was not in Joel Barlow, but in Dana
and Halleek, that broke the beautiful dawn ol
American Poetry.
Faith, and Form.
In that great, wild and not very orthodox poem
Festus, occurs the following line, embodying, we
think, a doctrine at once attractive and danger
ous :
“True faith nor biddeth nor abideth form.”
In this world religion and form must always
coexist, the latter sustaining the former, and the
former purifying the latter. They are severally
body and spirit, and the destruction of the one
would be the departure of the other. In Heaven
only shall we dispense with forms, and in Heaven
only shall we be enabled to worship, in the strict
est sense of the expression, “in spirit and in
truth.”
Argument and Persuasion.
In our editorial we have alluded to those
arts of persuasion which are “peculiarly the
forte of woman.” Persuasion indeed is not the
i
forte of man. In his hands, it always degenerates
into argument, which engenders a spirit of oppo
sition, touching with a power like that of mag
netism, the organ of combativeness. The ladies
understand this, and press their appeals wiih a
[December , 11,