A Portrait of Mr. T. Dibdin will appear in our next Number.

The letter to H. K. W. has been unavoidably delayed; but it will be sent in the course of a few posts. The lady mentioned in H. K. W.'s last favour, is certainly a very fit object for his purpose, and would doubtless feel the compliment as she ought.

In our next shall be inserted the "Irregular Sonnet."

An article relative to the "various degrees of the sun's heat," by J. B. is

under consideration.

We have been reluctantly forced to omit Mr. GEORGE BLOOMFIELD'S "Lines to a young Woman," this month, for want of room for a poem of that length. It shall certainly appear in our next.

The Stanzas about which G. L—g—n (Liverpool) enquires have not been inserted, in consequence of cur discovering that they were not original.

The account of the "Poor Staffordshire Poet" will certainly be acceptable from so able a writer as our correspondent Civis.

We consider ourselves obliged to OBSERVATOR (Fakenham) for his communication; but it is not our intention to extend the New System of Heraldry" beyond one or two more numbers; and we are unwilling to give a second set of examples from the same work. The Lines to Miss the number for May last, Vol. XIII. p. 346.

were inserted in

At the suggestion of an intelligent friend, we beg to correct a mistake committed in our account of the fatal accident in Cambridgeshire [Page 266.] The village in which it happened, instead of Barnwell, near Cambridge,' was Burwell near Newmarket, distant several miles from the university. From the accurate information of the same respectable gentleman, we learn that it was Dennis the critic, and not Dr. Johnson, who made the remark respecting a punster, quoted at the end of the review of Mr. Colman's Broad Grins. [P. 255.]

CORRIGENDUM.

P. 325, 1. 5, For ignorance and craft,' read, inexperience and imposition.'

Literary Notice.

Mr. Sharpe, of Piccadilly, is about to commence a Publication, in parts, of the English Classics,' on a very superb scale in point of embellishment: yet, at an expence so inoderate, that nothing but the rational expectation of the most extensive encouragement would seem to justify Essays, biographical and critical, by Dr. Drake, will be given, as illustrative of the different classics comprised in the plan.

Author of "Literary Hours, &"

MRS. LITCHFIELD was born on the 4th of March, 1777. Her father, John Sylvester-Hay, the only child of a clergyman who held the living of Malden, in Essex, was surgeon of the Nassau East-Indiaman, and afterwards head surgeon of the royal hospital at Calcutta, in Bengal, where, during his attendance on the sick, he caught a fever, of which he died, at the age of thirty-seven; his daughter being at the time of his decease little more than eight years old.

Our heroine, at an early age, discovered a partiality for the drama, which, as she advanced in life, manifested itself so very decidedly, that it was in vain for her friends to oppose her inclination. The first performance which made any particular impression on her feelings, was Mrs. Siddons' Isabella.

Mrs. L. first met the view of an audience, at the age of fif teen, on the boards of the Richmond stage, in the summer of the year 1792. The character selected for the trial of her abilities, was that of Julia, in the Surrender of Calais, and a more successful first appearance was scarcely ever witnessed. Mrs. Jordan, from her private box, was a spectator of the performance, and Mrs. L. declares that the presence of so justly celebrated an actress, alarmed her much more than the collective appearance of the audience assembled to decide upon her merits. The approbation with which this, her first essay, was honoured, encouraged her to proceed, and she performed three or four other characters on the same stage in the course of the

season.

In the beginning of the year 1793, Mrs. Esten procured the management of the theatre royal Edinburgh, in opposition to Mr. Stephen Kemble; and her mother, Mrs. Bennet, assisted in forming the company. By this lady our heroine was offered an engagement, and such was her ardour in the theatrical pursuit, that at this early age she was content to visit the cold regions of the North, in search of the fame to which she aspired. In Scotland she remained not quite a year; she was in great favour at Glasgow and Dumfries,

particularly the latter place, where she had given so much satisfaction, that after her return to London, she received a letter from Burns, the celebrated Scottish poet, requesting, in the name of the inhabitants of Dumfries, that she would pay them a second visit. But this solicitation was not complied with.

Her next engagement was at Liverpool, with Mr. Aickin, who promised to afford her every proper encouragement, and her salary was fixed as high as any other performer's in the company; but Mr. Aickin did not fulfil his engagement. On the contrary, his conduct to the young actress was in every respect unmanly and unjust During the whole season she performed only two parts of any consequence, Sophia, in the Road to Ruin, and Edward, in Every One has his Fault, and for these opportunities she was solely indebted to the kindness of Mr. Mattocks, the treasurer of the theatre, who had a just sense of the oppression and insult she had experienced. Disgusted at length with this treatment, she left her tyrant before the end of the season, and returned to London.

Her marriage with Mr. Litchfield took place some months afterwards, in consequence of which all thoughts of the stage were abandoned; but the flame was subdued, not extinguished. Mrs. Davenport, who, with her husband, was in the Liverpool company at the same time with our heroine, and who treated her with great tenderness and attention, requested her to perform for her benefit on the 27th of May, 1796, when Mrs. L. made her first appearance at Covent Garden, in the character of Edward, in the play before named, and was received in a very flattering manner. This success renewed her desire to cultivate the favour of a London audience; and in the spring of 1797, unwilling longer to oppose her wishes, Mr. Litchfield made application to Mr. Harris, who immediately engaged her for three years, to commence the following season.With the permission, however, of that gentleman, she repeated the character of Edward, for the benefit of Mr. Munden, at his particular desire; and made her third appearance, the same season, for the benefit of Mrs. Davenport, when she performed Julia in the comedy of the Rivals. For the sake of practice, and the better to prepare herself for Covent Garden, she accepted an offer from Mr. Haymes, the then manager at Richmond, where she played during the summer a variety of principal characters, with great success, and many persons of distinction, who were in the habit of visiting the Richmond theatre, confidently predicted her present reputation.

Mrs. Litchfield made her regular debût, as an actress, in Covent Garden, in Marianne, in the Dramatist, a part to which she was

appointed by the manager. Had she been indulged with the liberty of choice, her talents would very probably have earlier excited the public attention. In noticing her appearance, we pronounced an opinion, which some considered as too flattering; but the event has more than justified our commendation. [See Vol IV. p. 226.]. During the three first seasons, our heroine had no opportunity of rising in the profession. In the summer of 1800, she was engaged by Mr. Macready at Birmingham, where she was highly successfni in some of the most difficult characters in tragedy. The ensuing season at Covent Garden will be distinguished in theatrical annals, 'for having introduced the surprising talents of Mr. Cooke, to the acquaintance of a London audience. This season also Mrs. Litchfield suddenly emerged from obscurity, at a moment when there seemed so little probability of her advancing in the theatre, that her husband, whose connexions render him altogether independent of the emoluments arising from Mrs. L's engagement, had resolved on withdrawing her from the Covent Garden company. But accident is often the friend of genius, when all other assistance has been in vain. We believe her manner of playing Emilia was the occasion of her being thought of for the character of Lady Macbeth. A more extraordinary occurrence never happened in stage history, than the sudden announcement of an actress for one of the most arduous and important characters in Shakspere, whose name was scarcely known to the most constant attendants at the theatre. The attempt was bold and hazardous, but her success in the character was complete, and she was immediately elevated to the highest honours of the profes sion. Her engagement expired with the season, but Mr. Harris made a proposal for renewing it, which was accepted, for three years, at a considerable advance of salary.

In the early part of the season, and before this fortunate display of her abilities, Mrs. Litchfield had concluded an engagement with Mr. Colman for the Haymarket theatre, in the hope of meeting with better opportunities of recommending herself to the public notice, than had then fallen to her lot at Covent Garden. They were now no longer needed, and, as the entertainments of the Summer theatre, required very little aid from a tragic actress, she appeared only a few nights on that stage, in Julia, in the Surrender of Calais, and at the end of the season resigned her situation; the theatre not affording, for the reason above mentioned, those terms which a performer of her rank was entitled to demand.

When Mr. Lewis's play of Alfonso was last season put into rehearsal, Mrs. L. received the part of Ottilia, a character composed of

so many dangerous ingredients, that the success of the tragedy depended, in a considerable degree, on the art and skill of the represen tative. Mrs. L. much increased her reputation by the performance of that character, and the author, in the preface to the second edition, has, in very handsome terms, acknowledged the benefit the play derived from her exertions*. In the summer she again visited Birmingham, where her merits are warmly acknowledged. She remained there a month, and then accepted an offer from Mr. Watson, to perform six nights at Cheltenham, at the conclusion of which she renewed her engagement for four nights. The characters she performed at this watering-place were chiefly of the comic cast. At one of her benefits, she appeared, by way of trial, in the Widow Brady, and with the happiest effect. The farce of the Irish Widow has lately been revived at Covent Garden, in order to introduce Mrs. L. in the principal character, when her performance received the loudest applause from the audience.

Such is the account of Mrs. Litchfield's professional experience. In private life her manners are cheerful and unaffected. She has had four children, of whom the eldest and the last only survive. Mr. Litchfield, though engaged in other pursuits, feels a warm interest in the amusements of the stage. This congeniality is attended with advantages which those for whom home has any charms, will know how to estimate. Diyos na maten Biore xagis, says a Greek writer, and we believe there are few families which enjoy the blessing of domestic happiness with less interruption and alloy.

MR. EDITOR,

DERMODY THE POET.

As your Mirror has often reflected the genius of the late unfortunate Mr. Dermody, I may conclude that, from respect to his memory, you will be inclined to further any plan to prevent its being injured by misrepresentation. I take the liberty to intreat you will have the kindness to inform the public, who estimated his talents at so high a rate, that, having been favoured with his confidence for the space of fourteen years, half the period of his existence, and having in my possession the only authentic documents that can be obtained, relative to that ingenious poet, in his earlier days, I intend speedily to publish, by subscription, in two volumes, his life and po sthumous works.

See vel. XIII. of this work, p. 410.