THE MOWERS. [Original.] THE Mowers went into the ripened field And it fell, it fell, as man must yield, And I saw as they went, the little bird fly For the mowers destroyed her precious young, And thus do the lovely of earth go sad When their beautiful ones are taken, And never again are their hearts made glad, THE following epigram is rather severe, but it is too good to be lost. Willis is a pretty poet, certainly, but he does not show much depth of thought, or much knowledge of human nature. We are inclined to think that Willis is a little of the yellow complexion, and pretends to forget, not poetry, but poets' names. This undoubtedly is one cause why the epigram has been written : it might else, perhaps, have remained unwritten: EPIGRAM. Unwritten honours to thy name belong, And worse than all, Philosophy divine TALMA, THE TRAGEDIAN. TALMA,the celebrated tragedian, was born at Paris in the year 1770, and is said to have given the first indication of his histrionic talent when only eight years old, in an old tragedy entitled Tamerlane, which was performed by boys. His fondness for theatrical amusements introduced him to Sir John Gallini, who at that time superintended an amateur French company, which performed at the Hanover Square rooms under his auspices he appeared in several comedies. Kemble and Mrs. Siddons were at this period in the zenith of their reputation, and the former had just succeeded in reforming the absurdities of theatrical costume, which had hitherto disgraced the drama. The performance of these two eminent professors decided Talma's vocation, as well as formed his taste; he obtained, through the interest of Molé the actor, an engagement at the Theatre Francais, and made his debut in the part of Seide, in Voltaire's tragedy of Mahomet; but it created no particular sensation in the minds of the audience, which had yet to discover that a new light had risen upon their drama. After performing a variety of insignificant characters, accident lifted him at once to the summit of his profession. Chenier's tragedy of Charles IX. was put in rehearsal, when Saintfal, the principal actor, returned his part with a sneering recommendation to the author,to 'give it to young Talma.' Chenier took him at his word; Talma accepted the part with delight, and feeling that his future. fame and fortune depended on that night's success, not only devoted all his energies to the study of it, but directed his attention in so especial a manner to give it effect, by strict fidelity of costume, that the audience, equally surprised and delighted, continued to him, throughout the representation, the tumultuous approbation with which they greeted his first appearance. Thus the tragedy was completely successful, and the fame of the actor established. 18 TALMA. follow. His greatest triumph, however, was yet to of Shakspeare, but not daring to contend so Ducius had translated the Othello far against French prejudices as to exhibit the murder of Desdemona on the stage, he had furnished a new catastrophe of a more fortunate description. bold enough to prefer the original terminaTalma alone was tion, and after considerable hesitation, resolved, with the consent of the author, to risk the attempt. This success astonished even himself, and most honorably rewarded his intrepidity. From this moment he became the paramount tragedian, and though occasionally annoyed by criticism, the personality of some of which brought him on one occasion into personal contact with their author, he continued at the summit of his profession till his death. He acquired a handsome fortune, and was not only generally esteemed by men of rank and talents for his powers of fascination in private society, but was also a favorite of the emperor Napoleon. The death of Talma took place at Paris in 1826. As soon as it became known, public respect was shown to his memory by the |