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272 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,