the late getting up of Oscar and Malvina, he was cast for the pedlar, and the Town naturally expected that he would sing the song, "Oh I am a jolly gay pedlar," to the old Scotch tune, as Munden, Townsend, and Simmons, sang it before him. Mr. Moss, however, knew better than the Town how it ought to be sung, and had set it to the Dead March in Saul. This innovation was justified by his partizans, but being pretty generally condemned by the common sense of the rest of the house, the part was finished by another performer. Mr. Moss has since executed indentures of apprenticeship to Bishop, who hopes, when he has passed his second puberty, to make him sing like a man. I doubt his success. Moss's style is evidently the infantine. His "See-saw Margery daw" brought money to Sadler's Wells; and his "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man," has not been equalled since the days of Mrs. Bunch. The sixth of these vocal luminaries is Mr. O'Carrol, from Dublin. He made his débût on the 17th of March last, as Lionel, in the opera of Lionel and Clarissa. His previous fame as the first ballad-singer of the time, added to the circumstance of his having pitched upon Saint Patrick's day for his first appearance, drew a brilliant audience, chiefly from the sister kingdom. From my locomotive qualities, I could of course plant myself close to the stage: none of the accomplishments of this highly gifted singer were, therefore, lost upon me. He runs the half notes with astonishing delicacy and precision, but in those bolder flights which are meant to produce a simultaneous effect in all parts of the house, he rather fails. At least, such was the report of three gentlemen, who sat in the front boxes, and who said it was with extreme difficulty they heard him at all. The galleries were not full. I do not wonder at this: delicacy is to their senses a plant of noxious flavour: Incledon's " Old Towler" is the song for their money. Mr. O'Carrol's "Oh talk not to me of the wealth she possesses," was impressive and impassioned. He introduced several airs, which were loudly encored. I thought the subject of them was too uniformly the wrongs of Ireland. But the singer was Irish, and the day was Saint Patrick's. All the young ladies were in raptures. I thought two crane-necked damsels in one of the stage-boxes would have ate him up. Considering the appetite of the ladies, and the size of the gentleman, the meal would not have been a very extraordinary one. This gentleman has since played Artaxerxes, but not with equal success. His forte is in single ballads: trios, quartetts, and chorus, rather overwhelm him. Mr. O'Carrol has sung also at the oratorio, but not with decisive effect. His very eminence as a singer of love-songs has here operated to his detriment. The seventh and last singer, of whom I have to speak, is Mr. M'Naughton, from Edinburgh. I hardly know whether to congratulate, or to condole with the Covent Garden proprietors, upon the engagement of this extraordinary performer. His salary must, I should think, absorb all the profits of the speculation. I have heard it rated at three thousand pounds per annum. Mrs. Billington is the only singer whose annual stipend ever before reached that sum. Mr. M'Naughton's original salary, as a singer, could not, I imagine, have amounted to more than half of it. As a singer, indeed, the amateurs rated him rather below Mr. Flight, and rather above Mr. O'Carrol. 66 He drew great houses for several seasons, by his vocal talents in the Gentle Shepherd, the Highland Reel, Cymon, the Lord of the Manor, and other Operas of the Sylvan or romantic cast. His "Ye banks and braes of bonnie Doon," " Saw ye my father," and " Auld Robin Gray," were only second to Miss Stephens's. By degrees, however, the audiences fell off, and several gaping apertures were discernible on the pit benches. He now talked of taking his farewell benefit, when the fortunate idea struck him (as it did Irish Johnston of yore) that something better than singing might be done upon the stage. To guard, however, against the chances of failure, he resolved to make his débût in dialogue anonymously. He chose the part of Norval for that purpose, and the decided talents exhibited by him at once stamped him as an actor of first-rate merit. His Macbeth, Sir Archy M'Sarcasm, Richard Cœur de Lion, Scrub, Marplot, and Sir Lucius O'Trigger, are almost equally excellent. In short, nothing equal to him has appeared since "the immortal Mr. Garrick deceased." From his great success in Comedy and Tragedy, he has almost given up Opera. It is remarked of him, however, (such is the force of habit,) that he gene-. rally commences every scene by humming half a stave of some old Scotch tune. He is not inattentive to profits on his benefit-night. Upon that occasion, he and Brandon may be seen in one of the pigeon-holes counting the house. It is curious that his name never appears in the bills. Every part he acts is averred to be "by a gentleman," sometimes "by the gentleman who opened in the Gentle Shepherd;" and sometimes "by the gentleman who first appeared in the Lord of the Manor." This is sufficiently absurd. If he requires a fictitious name, why does he not assume one? as Blewit calls himself Barrymore and Cleaver Claremont. As it is, every body knows him to be what nobody chooses to call him. In justice to Mr. M'Naughton I must admit, that he walks steadily upon an eminence that would turn most heads giddy. He now and then still sings a song between the acts. His "Scots wha hae" is by many preferred to Braham's, but his own favourite air is, "I hae saxpence under my thumb." 66 Let me, in conclusion, relate a ridiculous incident that occurred lately on the getting up of Henry the Eighth. Mrs. Oglevie played Queen Catherine. It is customary in her sick arm-chair scene to lull her to sleep with a solemn ditty. By some mistake the prompter had called both Flight and O'Carrol, to officiate in this capacity. The scene drew on the cue was given when on walked both these singers from opposite stage-doors. Each struck up Angels ever bright and fair," to his own separate tune; and as neither seemed disposed to give way, both sang their songs fairly through to a conclusion. This phenomenon effectually roused Queen Catherine, and excited an audible titter throughout the house. Flight's song was, I think, the best; and certain oratorio-frequenting people have censured O'Carrol for intending to burlesque the subject. For my part, I am convinced that he entertained no such idea. ON THE TROUBADOURS. THE Troubadours, or poets of Provence, claim the proud distinction of softening by their strains, dedicated to religion, love, and chivalry, the general asperity of manners; of originating and promoting the desire of learning; of proclaiming and recommending the blessings of social intercourse; and of contributing, in no slight degree, to the perfection of the French language. The Lingua Romana, the vulgar tongue of the country, however barbarous in its origin and grotesque in its combination, (for it was formed of the Celtic, the Greek*, the Latin, and the Tudesque, or German,) gradually acquired, by their taste and feeling, a polish, grace, and harmony, that raised it to notice and celebrity. It was called Provençal from the name of Provincia, given by the Romans to Gallia Narbonensist, and was spoken, with a considerable variety of idioms, in Provence, Languedoc, Auvergne, Dauphiné, Gascony, and Guyenne. To the poets of that part of France divided from the North by the Loire, the appellation of Troubadours has been long given, while to their rivals of Flanders, Picardy, Normandy, the Isle of France, and the neighbouring provinces, has been assigned that of Trouvères. The two words are synonymous, and designate the true characteristic of poetry, the faculty of invention. In the infancy of their institution, the Troubadours travelled from town to town and from castle to castle. They attended the carousals and public entrances of princes. They were present at processions, jubilees, and fairs, and contended for a pre-eminence which was adjudged to the worthiest. They collected anecdotes, and noted curious characters and events. Their memory was constantly exercised upon subjects of public or private interest. They coupled them with rhyme, and thus produced the sirventes and fabliaux, many of which are at this moment both instructive and amusing. That they were of great utility in an age of rudeness, ignorance, and oppression, when the superior classes pressed upon the inferior with barbarous violence and cruelty, when feudality had outlived whatever was valuable in its system, and servitude, with all its bitter inheritances of fines, penalties, stripes, and imprisonment, had brutalized mankind, is undeniable. The strains of the Troubadours, generally accompanied with music, refined the sulky and morose humour of the times, and imparted a feeling and tone of gaiety and cheerfulness, that led to friendly and generous associations. * Marseilles was founded by a colony of Phocians from Asia Minor, nearly six hundred years before Christ, and became justly celebrated for its commerce, laws, literature, and the purity of its morals. The Phocians soon succeeded in extending their influence and power into the interior of the country. They built Agde, Nice, and Antibes, and introduced a knowledge of the Greek language, of agriculture, and the useful arts. From the Gauls and Romans who frequented Marseilles, they acquired the Celtic and Latin, and were called Trilingues, "quod et Græcè loquerentur et Latinè et Gallicè (Don Bouquet, Recueil). Cicero speaks of Marseilles in the highest terms of commendation" Ut omnia ejus instituta laudari faciliùs possint quàm imitari." (Orat. pro Flacc.) Greek was spoken in Marseilles during the first and second ages of Christianity, and was used in the service of the Church in several towns of Gallia Narbonensis, up to the fourth century. Originally called by the Romans Nostra Provincia. The principal seats of education and learning were, Narbonne, Arles, Vienne, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Autun, Marseilles, Nismes, and Lyons. Tacitus says in his Annals, that it supplied Rome with illustrious characters before the reign of Claudius. "Insignes viros è Gallia Narbonensi transivisse." The stupid selfishness of barbarism was charmed and roused from the heavy lethargy in which it had so long and so wretchedly slumbered. New feelings, new affections, and new wants, were inspired, which evinced the value of social relations, and demonstrated the benefits of mental improvement. The gates of the palace, the cathedral, and the cloister, were thrown open to them; and the trumpet of chivalry and the lays of the poet were soon united in celebrating the triumphs of gallantry, religion, and honour. They were received with distinction in the courts of sovereigns and the castles of the great lords, and some ́raised themselves from obscurity to an equality with the most eminent for rank and fortune*. The singular adventures of some of the poets themselves gave a peculiar éclat, an extraordinary fashion to their verses. They had either realized, or were ready to achieve, what their muse extolled. Sometimes the heroes of their own strains, they wrote as they had loved, fought, and suffered. Their productions acquired additional force and energy from the affection and sympathy infused into an audience by those who recited their own exploits, their delights and sorrows. They excited more attention and interest, because they told, not only that which they had personally witnessed, but in the failure or success of which they had a considerable share. It was not forgotten that the poet was a pars magna of the heroic tale he recounted; and his joy or grief was the more easily communicated to, and the more deeply felt by his auditors. They were united with the most illustrious and valiant knights throughout Europe, and they formed and maintained a brotherhood which flourished for a long time in France, England, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Among their fellows, they counted the Emperor Frederic I., the lion-hearted Richard, Alphonso King of Arragon, Roger King of Naples, Berenger Count of Provence, a duke of Brabant, a dauphin of Auvergne, and Thibaut Count of Champagne, with a long list of lords and barons eminent for their virtues and talents. Most of these were at once knights and Troubadours; and several specimens of the compositions of Frederic, Berenger, Richard, and Thibaut, are still preserved. Those of the English hero come more closely in unison with our feelings. He had been, for several years during the life of his father, Count of Poitou, and had acquired, in consequence of his frequent visits to the court of Berenger, the great resort of the Troubadours, a peculiar taste for the poetry of Provence. He has left two sirventes, or satirical pieces, and part of an ode. In one of the sirventes, given by Pasquier in his "Recherches de la France," and addressed to the Dauphin of Auvergne and his cousin Count Gui, with whom he was at variance, he pledges himself to make war manfully and loyally against them, even should they conduct themselves with perfidy: "Mas una rem + vos outroi, Si vos me faussastes la loi ; The base treatment of Richard by Leopold Duke of Austria, on his return from the Holy Land, is an historical fact; and in an ode supposed to have been written during his imprisonment, he laments the * Nostradamus, Fauchet, Pasquier, Caseneuve, Millot, Massieu, Ravaillere, Roquefort, Raynouard, Ginguené, &c. † chose. length and severity of his confinement, as well as the seeming neglect of his French and English subjects. The second strophe of the ode is quoted by M. Fabre d'Olivet, in his "Poésies Occitaniques." "Or sachan ben mos homs é mos Barons, The productions of Thibaut Count of Champagne and King of Navarre, who died about the middle of the thirteenth century, were the subject of general admiration in France and Italy. Dante has immortalized his muse. Love is the endless burden of his strains, which are occasionally distinguished for tenderness of sentiment and delicacy of expression. He was not destitute of erudition, for he abounds in passages drawn from sacred, profane, and natural history; but he sacrificed too freely to the licentiousness of the age in which he lived. He is considered by some critics to have been the first who succeeded in the common use of masculine and feminine rhymes. Some of his verses are as intelligible as those of modern times. The following, written in 1226, remind us of the manner of Voiture, and might be attributed to that witty and ingenious poet : "Chacun pleure sa terre et son pays, The Provençal was peculiarly adapted to subjects of tenderness and gallantry, to the beauties of simple nature and the charms of social life. It possessed considerable advantages over its rivals, the Spanish and Italian. Its vocabulary was enriched with a copious collection of words from the Celtic, the Greek, and the Latin, which enabled the poet to give to the same idea an agreeable variety of expression, and to augment or decrease the meaning of the same term, in the use both of the substantive and adjective. Of this conformity to the genius of the Latin language, a pleasing instance is given in a madrigal quoted by M. Fabre d'Olivet: "Las rosas muscadetas Ni les flous del bouysou, Que les teng en prisou." "Les roses musquées ni les fleurs qui parent les buissons, n'ont ni la tendre couleur de ton sein, ni la douce odeur qu'il exhale. Heureuse la main qui pourra pretendre à la faveur de détacher la petite épingle qui le tient en prison." The verbs were very numerous, and six or seven often expressed the * In the language as it is now spoken, "Maintenant qu'ils apprennent mes sujets et mes Barons, Anglais, Normans, Poitevins, et Gascons, qu'il n'y a rien que je possède que je n'eusse donné plutôt que de laisser le moindre de mes compagnons en prison. Certes, je ne veux pas leur faire reproche, mais voilà deux hivers que je suis prisonnier." |