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meet with powerful opponents or few followers. The delicacy of the remark of this "lovely young Lavinia" was not duly appreciated by the fair auditory; and I plainly heard a hissing sound pervade the hall, and thought I could occasionally distinguish the mention of the number seventeen. In fact; it was the general opinion that the modest maid was neither more nor less than a country hoyden under age.

Assured however, at last, of a general suffrage in favour of my object, after having the opinions of those who chose to express them; with an address to my fair auditors, somewhat like "Claudite jam rivos, puellæ," I dismissed the assembly. By a previous vote it had been settled to defer acting upon our resolves only till the next dawn. My vision was fortunately protracted till the ensuing morning, so that I had an opportunity of witnessing the management of some of my fair friends, whose impatience for the exercise of their rights was too great to be long resisted. At sunrise, the streets were crowded with females dressed in their best attire, passing and repassing, with the most anxious and inquisitive faces. The carriages of opulent maidens, advanced in life, were so numerous as to make some of the narrower avenues almost impassable. At an early hour, I understood a wealthy bachelor received a simultaneous attack from one lady of about 40, and another of 25, both in carriages. His house was elegantly furnished, and he was considered as one of the best speculations for a female in the whole country. They both started for the plate at the same instant; but oh miserabile dictu! sed talia fando, quid vetat ? before their arrival, by adverse circumstances, my batchelor had distanced them, and in company, and with the speed of a bailiff had reached the goal before them. My readers will please to conjecture the reflections of the respective ladies as they hied to their homes. In this state of somnolency I witnessed a number of such rival races, as furiously commenced, as ludicrously terminated, and was congratulating myself on the eventual completion of my plan, when I descried, limping from a corner of one of the semicircular benches a solitary female who had continued with me in the hall after all the company but herself had forsaken it. She was approaching "with lingering steps and slow" the desk in which I was drowsing. Her dress was that of a slattern ragged and

almost squalid. Her form was was diminutive like my own, her face "the image and superscription" of a baked and shrivelled green apple, and her whole exteriour and demeanour prepossessingly repulsive. With the electrick velocity with which charity impels the hand to the pocket, i instantly and instinctively was extending it with a guinea to the object whose feelings I would have saved by anticipating even the mention of her wants, when in humble gui e, and voice that whistled in the sound," she informed me that, in pursuance of my plan, she was about to reward me, the distinguished proposer of it, with an offer of her heart and hand; that her age was about thirty, that she was unincumbered as to relations, and of decent property; that every lady in the hall had been unpardonably blind to my exalted m 1s; and above all, that as it was the 14th of February, and as each had seen no other except ourselves on that morning, I was certainly her Valentine. The comparison of a thunderbolt to the instantaneous effect which this address occasioned me would give as imperfect an idea of my sensations, as the pace of a snail would of the fleetness of a deer. Suffice it to say, the violent perturbation into which my feelings were hurried completely awaked me, and from an elevation to which the immortal projection of such a scheme should have entitled its authour, I was left with no other solace than the realities of chagrin, mortification and disap pointment.

Connecticut River, Feb. 1808.

A.

The Frenchman and Butcher.
A half-starv'd Frenchman, once, 'tis said,
Pass'd near a Butcher's door;
Where British beef-good white and red,
Hung round in plenteous store.

The Frenchman gaz'd with longing eyes
Then loud," bon, bon," he cried;
The Butcher turn'd with quick surprise,
Then spoke with wounded pride-

"Get out, you great outlandish cheat,
Nor talk such stuff as that;
You say "bone, bone!—I say meat, meat,
And meat extremely fat."

The price of The Port Fon is Six Dollars per annum, to be paid in advance.

Printed and Published, for the Editor, by SMITH & MAXWELL,
NO. 28, NORTH SECOND-STREET.

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Various, that the mind of desultory man, studious of change and pleased with novelty, may be indulged-Cowp.

Vol. V.

Philadelphia, Saturday, February 27, 1808.

TRAVELS.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.

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THE next day brought with it all the wonders we expected. A variety of figures, moving along the streets, attracted our attention, but none more forcibly than the fruit-women, with high caps of stiff muslin, with long waists, short petticoats, and mounted upon asses. In our neighbour. hood was one of the most frequented walks, which upon going to we found thronged with original figures, who crowded along, whilst we, like the scholar and the devil upon two sticks, made our observations at full liberty

No. 9.

without any danger of being attended to, or understood. In a few days, we became acquainted with the city; but it was necessary before we could indulge our curiosity without restraint, that we should appear at the commune to be examined, as to our object in coming to France, and our intentions for the future; it was here, that after a very scrutinizing examination of our persons, they gave us passports in which we saw ourselves very particularly described; me, they represented as tall and thin with some grey hairs, a pointed nose and a forked chin; I will not tell you how they described others of our company, as the description was not such as you would know them by; but I ought, in justice to the man of the quill before whom we appeared, to inform you, that perceiving your sister's embarrassment, as her turn approached, he was so considerate as to wave the ceremony of examining her features, and described her, in general terms.

When France, under the name of Gaul, was a Roman province, Bourdeaux was a considerable town, ap many of the towers, which flanarli

R

the walls, and, in some places, part of the wall itself, are still to be traced. Some remains of an amphitheatre are also to be seen, and I am told that there are other vestiges of those distant times: in succeeding ages, but many centuries after, it devolved as part of Aquitane to Henry II, of England in right of his wife Eleanor; and it was here that for fourteen years, the gallant Black Prince held his court. It was to Bourdeaux that he transferred his royal prisoner after the battle of Poitiers, and thence that he began his last expedition into Spain. His palace no longer exists, but the spot on which it stood was pointed out to me, and I confess to you that I approached the altar of the ancient church of St. Seurin with somewhat more of devout respect, when I was told, that it was from that very altar that the Black Prince receed the oriflamb previously to the brilliant campaign in which his courage, great as it was, appeared even in that military age, his smallest merit. After nearly three hundred years of possession the English were driven out of Bourdeaux, and there now remains no mark of their domination but two large and venerable churches, (built in that style of stupendous architecture, which is connected with nothing else, in those ignorant ages,) and a street called St. James's.

In the history of the civil wars with France, I had read a grea: deal concerning Bourdeaux, and now exami- | ned every spot, connected with those times, with attention: the rmee, where the friends of the popular party used to meet, the Chateau Trompette, where the celebrated Madame de Maintenon was born, and the Gate Dijaux, which the Dukes de la Rochefoucault and Bouillon defended with such desperate valour against the royal army. Immediately out of this gate is the square where the guilJotine was erected, and where so much of the best blood of Bourdeaux spilled, during the revolution, by 4 of infernal wretches in the shape

of men. It was now crowded with peaceful sellers of fruit, and vege tables, some of whom were pretty, and in whose countenances there was nothing connected with either war or cruelty. The time of war, and a war so unequally carried on by sea, was an unfortunate period for a stranger to visit this celebrated place; still, however, amidst melancholy accounts of losses and of bankruptcies, and a visible stagnation of business, there remained great and numerous appearances of opulence throughout the city, whilst a number of hackney coaches in the streets bespoke a continued intercourse from one part of it to another. There were other circumstances, connected also, I fear, with mercantile opulence, of which, all matron as you are, I do not like to attempt a description, and which were not only evident but glaring: I will only say, upon the head of what it may not be proper to enter into a particular description, that prepared as I was to meet with those modes of dress, or rather undress, which I had been shocked with an imitation of in Charleston, the reality was far beyond expectation, and I had to regret for the sake of modesty and of good morals, that the framers of the Constitution of France, had not added a censor to the other Roman names, with which they have chosen to decorate their magistracy. Black eyes, a good-natured cheerful countenance, and a certain obstrusive prodigality of nature, such as you used to admire in the beautiful poultry maiden of Kensington, were everywhere to be seen; but let me add, that we everywhere experienced the charms of that real politeness, which made us feel that we were strangers, only inasmuch as that we were treated with more attention. I could write to you a great deal more of the revolution, and of its cruel effects at the time upon this devoted spot; but the subject would not be a pleasing one, the inhabitants themselves avoid it, and it is better that we should. (To be continued.)

CRITICISM.

For The Port Folio.

On the Italian Theatre.

Dramatick excellence is still in its infancy among the Italians, the opera always excepted, for which this nation has constantly manifested an extraordinary partiality. About the middle of the last century, the best authours combined their efforts, to carry this species of the drama to the highest perfection; while comedy, or the dialogue was left in the hands of the strolling players, and authours of no note.

The character of the people, and the genius of their language, seem to have excluded, among the Italians, the possibility of arriving at the higher eminences of tragedy. Some popular pieces, of this description, are indeed mentioned; as, those of GianBattista La Porta, Gravina, and Count Panzuti; but a person, whose taste has been refined by the study of the great models in this art, will scarcely allow them a place among the inferiour productions of mediocrity. The works of Count Alfieri, however, deserve to be mentioned with respect: original ideas, and truly tragick characters are to be found in them; and attention to the rules of composition, and great knowledge of stage effect:. but, they are liable to objection, as defective in point of action; and, whatever

may

their own language, of regular comedy, and he aquired no small degree of reputation in this line: but none attempted to rival his honours, and it was not till the beginning of the eighteenth century that La Porta composed eighteen comedies, all imitations of Plautus; and which, notwithstanding their defects, are entitled to a greater degree of merit than his tragedies. His example. was followed by Nicholas Amenta, Frederici, and several others, who, agreeably with the prevailing prejudices of their times, took care to season their pieces with a ludicrous character, and a smattering of some provincial dialect or other.

At last, Domemio Liveri, and Goldoni, bravely ventured to oppose the current of popular prejudice; and from them a new epocha in the history of the Italian theatre dates its rise. The first of them, Liveri, banished buffoonery from the stage, together with the use of provincial dialects, and gave us a just picture of the polite world, and of good manners. His rivals continued to amuse the vulgar with their farces; and, though their admirers were not among the most enlightened class of the people, they were the most nu

merous.

This taste for farces still prevails in Italy, and the theatres devoted to Harlequin and Columbine are to be met with in all the larger and smaller

Lelio and Rosaura amuse the publick, by their witticisms, and burlesque scenery.

towns. be their beauties, they are not relished by the authour's countrymen. The only hope still remaining to the Tragick Muse, in Italy, seems to consist in the partiality, which daily gains ground, for the French language and literature. The elegant productions of Voltaire began to aquire a degree of popularity; and a society of virtuosi have exhibited upon the stage of Bologna, the tragedies of Zaire and Mahomet.

Comedy has obtained more encouragement and success; and burlesque comedy, more than all. The celebrated Machiavelli was the first who gave the Italians a specimen, in

Besides Liveri, Italy can boast of only two good dramatick writers, Frederici and Goldoni. The comedies of the latter are well known on all the theatres of Europe; and we justly admire that fertility of invention which has enriched the Italian stage with more than two hundred comedies. During his residence at Paris, he composed some others; but with the exception of the Whimsical and Benevolent Man, which has deservedly obtained universal ap plause, all these inferiour to his earli

er productions. Goldoni flourished from 1740 to 1760.

Frederici, who filled the twofold station of writer and performer, was not so fertile as Goldoni; but his writings are more elaborate: the Duca di Borgogna is considered as the chief production of his pen.

At the present moment, showy farces enjoy the supreme popularity in Italy. Even the most wretched of the German productions have been translated; such as the Count of Waltron, a sort of military exhibition, which has been forgotten in Germany. At Venice, the whole history of Charles XII, and of Peter I, have been exhibited on the stage; even the siege, and battle of Nerva, and Pultova, have been set off with theatrical decorations. The countesses of Lowenhaupt and Koenigsmark make considerable figures; and the barbarian, Charles XII, talks like a chevalier of the court of Francis I.

In the summer of 1797, a piece, entitled, "Gli Inglesi nella Florida," was given at Naples, with much applause. It was recommended by all the pomp of decoration; fortifications, subterraneous scenery, the whole of the process and operations of mining, sea-fights, &c. &c.

The writings of Goldoni are almost forgotten; but, to make amends for this, the translators lay all foreign countries under contribution, though often without exercising much justice in their choice. Among the pieces that have lately held the rank of favourites, are Webster, some bad translations from Destouches, the Deserter out of Filial Affection, the Oracle from Gellert, the Court of Vallenstein, and the Countryfied Gentleman. As no playbills are issued, the audience is unable to tell to what country belongs the blame of its bad entertainment.

A German settled at Naples for translating the best German works for the Italian theatre. Unfortunately, he began with the Virgin of the Sun, of Kotzebue. The translation was already finished, and the actors

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Every circumstance contributes to justify the remark with which we set out, that, in the Italian theatre, taste is yet in its infancy. The best judges agree in the fact, imputing it to the reigning passion for the Opera, which so exclusively prevails among the upper classes. At Florence, Venice, and Naples, people of rank only visit the playhouse two or three times in a year, while the Opera is attended with eagerness.

In the year 1798, there were four distinct companies of performers at Naples: each company had an Opera of its own, which acted every other day upon the same theatre, so that three days in the week were set apart for the Opera, and three for the representation of plays. The first of these companies, which might be considered as the best in Italy, was known by the appellation of Gli Florentini; the second performed on the theatre Del Fondo di Separazione; the third on that of Ponte Nuovo; and the fourth gave an exhibition of farces, in a cave near the Lago di Castello, and on the Teatro Nuovo. Each of these four companies had its good actor. One of them was a lover, a second a servant maid, another an old man, but all together they did not form a complete set. In the same year, there were no less than five companies of opera performers, and four of actors of plays at Venice, who performed daily during the Carnival. Two companies of the latter description adhered to the old system of five masks, that is, in each of their representations there was an old man a doctor, a harlequin, and a pickle herring. The two others only brought forward splendid exhibitions, such as that of Charles 12. The genius of Goldoni was visible nowhere.

During the Carnival of 1797 and 1798, different companies associated

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