THE DRAMA. We have turned from the Drama of late, as from a dreary subject, stale, flat, and unprofitable. Two events, however, have occurred within the past month to throw a grace upon the declining season; and the manager at either house has resolved, just as he was shutting his doors, to die with dignity. We allude to the appearance of Schroeder-Devrient at Drury-lane, and to the production of Mr. Browning's tragedy of "Strafford" at Coventgarden. The public have been rather apathetic, we fear, upon both points, and have missed enjoyments of a very high kind. Schroeder's English version of the character of Fidelio ought to have taken the “willing souls" of all classes of play-goers, and lapped them in the elysium of pit, gallery, and box. It should have been heard by everybody, and then the critics would have been spared the hopeless task of endeavouring to make its excellence comprehended. It embodied the soul of that magnificent music, and spoke to the innermost depths of the heart, in a continued succession of the finest human emotions. Nor should we, turning to the other house, bestow less than the highest praise upon the admirable delineation of Strafford's character by Mr. Macready. It perfectly filled up, with as much delicacy as force, the bold, varied, and original design of the author. The powers of Mr. Browning were fully recognised in the "New Monthly" soon after the first evidence of them ("Paracelsus ") appeared. "Strafford" bears out the impression then made, and bids us look to its author, as to one who may become a liberal, we may add, an illustrious contributor, to our treasures of dramatic poetry. Its chief defect as a drama is probably that which the poet himself has suggested,-it is rather a representation "of action in character, than character in action." Pym is a splendid portrait; he is a man worthy to be the friend of "lion-Elliott, that grand Englishman." To be appreciated as a stage-performance, and achieve the triumph as an acting drama, which, as a dramatic picture of the mighty spirits of England working out their solemn purposes, it has already won, it must be played only to audiences of more than average intelligence. It is a work as much above the thinking public of the theatre, as the new drama which immediately succeeded it, is, or ought to be, beneath. "Walter Tyrrell," however, has some pretty poetical spangles glittering upon its suit of fustian, which here and there makes its look quite fine; and has at least served one good purpose, by introducing Mr. Elton to the audience at Covent-garden. He infused into some of the scenes a noble spirit, and has since played Iachimo and Jaffier in a style at once energetic, discriminative, and intellectual. We shall be glad to see more of this gentleman at the Haymarket, whither also Mr. Macready goes. THE NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. WILLIAM THE FOURTH. SINCE the publication of our last Number it has pleased God to remove from this transitory life His Most Gracious MAJESTY, KING WILLIAM THE FOURTH; and we can safely and conscientiously say never was monarch more sincerely or more universally regretted. His loss is felt by the nation like that of a parent rather than of a sovereign -a sentiment easily accounted for by the unbounded kindness of heart, benevolence of intention, and goodness of feeling which characterized every action of his life. The sufferings of our beloved KING towards the close of existence were deep and severe; but, as far as human means could avail, they were soothed and softened by the devoted attentions of his incomparable Consort. To do justice to those attentions is beyond the power of our language, and we therefore borrow the words of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, used in addressing the Metropolis Churches' Fund Society. His Grace said That he could not accept their thanks to him, as their vice-patron, without adverting to the great affliction that had befallen them, in the loss of their benevolent and illustrious patron. He would not speak of his virtues as a man or a Sovereign, but merely as a patron of their society. When first he applied to him for the sanction of his name to their society, he at once, with that frankness for which he was so remarkable, expressed his readiness to advance the interests of the society in any way that lay in his power. By his death the society had received a shock of the most severe nature, from which, however, he sincerely hoped it would recover under the protection of her present Majesty. From the assiduous care with which her amiable mother had watched over her, he had every reason to expect that her reign would be as illustrious as that of any other woman who had ever sat on the throne of these realms. It was not many days since he had attended on his late Sovereign during the last few days of his life, and truly it was an edifying sight to witness the patience with which he endured sufferings the most oppressive, his thankfulness to the Almighty for any alleviations under his most painful disorder, his sense of every attention paid to him, the absence of all expressions of impatience, his attention to the discharge of every public duty to the utmost of his power, his attention to every paper that was brought to him, the serious state of his mind, and his attention to his religions duties preparatory to his departure for that happy world where he hoped that he had then been called to. Three different times (said his Grace) was I summoned to his presence the day before his dissolution. He received the Sacrament first; on my second summons I read the Church service to him; and the third time I appeared, the oppression under which he laboured prevented him from joining outwardly in service, though he appeared sensible of the consolation which I read to him out of our religious service. For three weeks prior to the dissolution the Queen had sat by his bed-side, performing for him every office which a sick man July-VOL. L. NO. CXCIX. X could require; and depriving herself of all manner of rest and refection, she underwent labours which I thought no ordinary woman could endure: no language could do justice to her meekness and to the calmness of her mind, which she sought to keep up before the King, while sorrow was preying on her heart. Such constancy of affection, I think, was one of the most interesting spectacles that could be presented to a mind desirous of being gratified with the sight of human excellence. There is not in the country a heart that will not respond with blessings upon such excellence. Of our lost MONARCH and of his KINGLY character we would, in a similar manner, rather put upon record in these pages the opinions of public men of all parties, than trust to our own efforts to describe its merits and its virtues. On the occasion of the first message sent by QUEEN VICTORIA to Parliament Viscount MELBOURNE said, he might be permitted to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of the late Sovereign-a tribute, the justice of which he was sure their Lordships, one and all, could not but feel. (Hear, hear.) They must all deplore the fatal event which had deprived him of a most gracious master, and the country of a most excellent sovereign. (Hear, hear.) In his communications with his late Majesty he was impressed with the feeling that he was the best of men, and that he possessed as kind and as excellent a heart as ever was possessed by human being. (Hear, hear.) Their late Monarch was, as their Lordships well knew, educated in the favourite, the naval service of this country. He believed that his Majesty had served with distinction, and he had heard from those who possessed knowledge and information on the subject that he was an able and efficient officer. (Hear, hear.) He had always been most anxious for the prosperity of the service; and when he retired from the active duties of the profession, and became particularly connected with the civil duties which were connected with it, he took no undistinguished part in looking to, and providing for, its interest and its prosperity. (Hear, hear.) When his Majesty came to the throne, the knowledge which he had acquired of the whole colonial system of this country-the knowledge which he had acquired of its foreign relations -the knowledge which he had acquired of all those multifarious details which were connected with the official business of a great empire-proved how well he was able to act in a great civil capacity. (Hear, hear.) He performed all his duties, manifold as they were, in an exemplary manner; and he (Lord MELBOURNE) would appeal to any person who had a just knowledge of public business, to say, whether his late Majesty had not always shown an extensive acquaintance with the nature of that business, and powers perfectly adequate to the performance of it, however difficult its principles and details might be. (Hear, hear.) Amongst all his other fine qualities-qualities most important in the high situation which his late Majesty heldhe must not omit to notice the unremitting industry, the untiring assiduity, and the anxious desire which his late Majesty always manifested, not merely in his attention to the consideration of every subject that was brought before him, but in the desire which he always expressed to give satisfaction to all whose claims came under his observation. (Hear, hear.) On another point he would say one word. Perhaps, in saying it, he might be accused of speaking in too homely a manner. But still he would in that homely manner express his belief that his late Majesty was as fair, and as just, and as conscientious a man as ever existed. (Hear, hear.) In those qualities, he was certain that no man ever excelled his late Majesty. (Hear, hear.) The deceased Monarch had always been most willing to hear every argument that might be stated, even though that argument were opposed to his own previous feeling; and if he felt that it was good he yielded to it." (Hear, hear.) This was a fine and a sterling quality in any man, but it was most peculiarly good, and sterling, and valuable in a Monarch. (Hear, hear.) His Majesty's reign had not been a protracted one-indeed, it was not expected that it could. Succeeding to the throne at an advanced period of his life, it was not to be supposed that his Majesty's reign would be a very long one. He was, however, cut off by a disease which the powers of art could not arrest, at an earlier period than might in the ordinary course of nature have been anticipated. But although his late Majesty's reign had not been long, it had nevertheless been marked by important events and by important measures, on which there was naturally a great difference of opinion; but in respect to |