THE PLAY-GOER. MR. J. S. KNOWLES. THE applause with which our old friend, Sheridan Knowles, was received, in the Glasgow Theatre, on Thursday evening, was as hearty and unanimous as it was well-earned and deserved. His good fortune seems to have renewed his youth, and we rejoiced to see the glow of health as evident, and his firm and manly bearing as conspicuous as, when a dozen years' ago, he made his first bow to a Glasgow audience. As an actor we feared Mr. Knowles might "o'erstep the modesty of nature," and we were therefore agreeably surprised to find him, subdued yet not tame, energetic yet not furious, effective yet not boisterous-and, consequently, the important character he assumed, was represented powerfully, because it was naturally performed. Indeed, Mr. Knowles seemed not to act but to feel, and we shrewdly suspect that in Master Walter he has originated a character through which to breathe his own sentiments and feelings, and by his acting of it to convey them in the most powerful and distinct manner, to bis pleased and admiring audience. In the reception our citizens gave him, they not only honoured the anthor-actor, but sufficiently proved that when real worth and merit come amongst them, they are neither niggardly of their patronage, nor of their applause. Mr. Knowles was well supported throughout. The Julia of -Miss Jarman was very respectable, perhaps there was occasionally a little want of confidence, which may have arisen from playing before the author. Miss Phillips and Mr. Lloyd performed their 'parts admirably in fact, we never saw the former to greater advantage. At the close of the Hunchback, Mr. Knowles was Joudly called for, and was received with many a hearty cheer. LETTERS FROM THE COAST; OR THE BAM FAMILY AT SEA BATHING-QUARTERS. No. II. MRS. BAM TO MISS BAM. Rothesay, 25th June. DEAR SUSAN,-I got your letter by post, and I now write you by the steam boat to teach you a little economy. It was, certainly, thoughtless of you to be incurring the expense of postage, when you knew Papa had engaged with the boat people to take our luggage and parcels gratis, and all that you had to do was, just to put a bit of brown paper about your letter and tie it over with a thread. Though our money is, perhaps, as plenty as that of some of our neighbours I could name, yet we need not, for all that, be throwing it away at the cocks-besides, my dear, the plan I have mentioned is quite genteel and done every day by the first families here. I would not have wrote you so soon, but I wish you down on Saturday at furthest, as I want your advice about Lucretia. Lucretia, you must know, my dear, has made an impression, and, as the gentleman, though pretty well in years and rot much indebted to his looks, is able to make a bandsome settlement, I expect you will either persuade her to have him, or hear what he has to say yourself. Papa and I thought every thing was in a fair way, but yesterday morning she came in to breakfast hanging her head like a water-lily, and began whining about feelings and all that sort of nonsense. Now, unless it be that foolish affection for Bob I don't know what can be the matter with the girl. It's excessively foolish to lose a good match for a fidgety creature like him who can do nothing but play the fiddle and dance quadrilles, and, you know, though younger than you, yet Looky has no time to spare, so make up your mind, my dear, as to your own conduct, before you come down. Our neighbour Miss has played her card very well, and the old knave who lately came here, bump'd from with the large fortune, him, you know, whóm so many ladies have been setting their caps at. It would seem, the free and easy elegance of her morning dress had attracted the old gentleman's notice, and the sly one observed that the fish was playing about the hook, but she, poor innocent, never appeared to be aware of the circumstance till the question was popped, and then when he said snip, she said snap, and a good snap it has been, for I understand she will, at least, have about five hundred a year at his death. So you see, Miss Bam, what early rising comes to, and what young ladies lose who lie snoring in bed, for I assure you it has been a morning affair altogether. For ourselves we have been pretty well in health, but we have been completely confined to the house with rain-except in the evenings when it chance to be fair-not a lady was to be seen save old Mrs. Guddle who went wandering about like a restless duck, from house to house to complain of the state of her bones and gather the sympathy of her friends as a cure for her rheumatism. But the weather is now getting better, and our friend Dr. Guzzle says, the glass is getting up, but you will say, perhaps, it is always up with him so it used, my dear, but Pa tells me he has been living very sober since he came to Rothesay.— Wishing you a pleasant sail down, I remain, dear Susan, your affectionate Ma, DORCUS BAM. LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. THE Second Volume of The Family Topographer, containing Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hants, and the Isle of Wight, Somerset, and Wilts, is in the press. An Essay on the Ministry of Local or Lay Preachers, by William Robinson, will soon appear. A Fac-Simile of the celebrated Hymn, "From Greenland's Icy Mountains," by the late Bishop Heber, is nearly ready for publication. The Devotional Letters and Sacramental Meditations of Dr. Philip Doddridge, is in the press, and will shortly appear. A Weekly Miscellany, to be conducted by Mr. Pinnock, is aunounced. The Weekly Cabinet of Antiquarian Literature will soon appear. Fifteen Months' Pilgrimage through untrodden tracts of Khuzistan and Persia, in a journey from India through Turkish Arabia, Persia, Armenia, Russia, Old Poland, &c., by J. H. Stocqueler, Esq. is preparing for publication, A History of the Non-conformist Churches and Ministers in Yorkshire, by the Rev. Thomas Scales, is about to be published. 'DEATH OF DR. D. DAY. It is with much pain we have to announce the sudden demise of Dr. DIDIMUS DAY, who, last night, expired at his mansion in Miller Street, at the goodly age of 112. To a most kindly and gentlemanlike deportment, he united the most versatile powers of mind. He was at once a dramatic and lyric poet, a biographer, a satirist, a wit, and a man of vertu. He was a profound scholar, and a modern linguist of the very first order, having given proofs to the world of an acquaintanceship, not only with the tongues, but with the literature of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Persia, Arabia and India. To these high literary qualifications which have spread his fame, far and wide, and brought celebrity to his native city, he added so many amiable social qualities, that it has been resolved to give him a public funeral, and this morning, the following programme of the procession was agreed on, which is to take place on Monday: Six Mutes, three and three. Both clouds and sunshine linger'd o'er his name, Editor of "The Day" as Chief Mourner. The Council of Ten, followed by the Contributors. Baillie Pirnie on Horseback, followed by Auntie Pyet in a Sable Coach. The Original Publisher of "The Day," followed by the leading Members of the Trunkmakers' Society. Rejected Contributors in plain clothes, while the Procession closes with Mr. John Graham, Printer, bearing a banner on which is inscribed |