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Untitled Article
paper by some " cunning interpreter . " At other times they are of a more homely character , and seem to have been traced with an etching" point on copper , and then carefully " bit in" with aquafortis . We shall return to this masterly compilation next month .
1 . The Stepmother . A Tragedy . By Jacob Jones , Esq . 1837 . 2 . Marcus Manlius . A Tragedy . By David Elwin Colombine , Esq . Bentley , 1837 . If Mr Jones be not the most talented dramatist of the day , he is at least the most persevering by far . It has not been owing to neglect that we have so long delayed to notice his
writings ; but because we could not speak so well of them as his perseverance seemed to claim at our hands . The tragedies of Longinus , and of Spartacus , we must still decline to criticise . Mr Jones ought to be aware that indifferent productions published in maturer years , are not to be excused because they were written " when the author was very young . " Whatever talent they may display , it is only of a kind to astonish and excite the
immature admiration of those of the same age—m years , or in mind . The Stepmother may also be a juvenile production ; it is , however , very effective and dramatic , creating ^ an exci tement , that carries us , whether we like it . or no , to the end of the play . It would act very well , with a few alterations . But why , with such talents as Mr Jones has manifested , does he not write
something now?—why continue to exhume and furbish up the productions of his youth ? He is unjust to his own ability . The tragedy of Marcus Manlius is well constructed , and as the author ' s sole ambition in writing it seems to aim at the stage , it is probable that he will have a fair chance of the trial . We think , however , that the part of Manlius requires
the aid of Mr Macready , in order to be successful . The ornate external appearance of this play has excited the merriment of some of the press ; but we are disposed to consider it as by no means inappropriate to the royal patronage wherewith it is favoured . So faras the question of u poetry" is concerned , many will be satisfied , though others may be searching . If anything , however , short of high genius , could make us overlook all deficiencies , it would be the scurrilous and defamatory
personality heaped up , as from the rank and decomposed refuse of a marketable mind , and flung upon the author by a newly " got up " Tory weekly journal , which shall remain—as it ever deserves to be—nameless . The Siamese who conduct it—each in his heart , despising the other , and united onl y by an abortive bond—have both 9 from time to time , put forth certain volumes of verse ,
Untitled Article
Critical Notices . 253
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 1, 1837, page 253, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1830/page/63/
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