racted retirement within her own mind, which, however brief,
is essential to the perfection of the noblest work of the
imagination--genuine tragedy. Amidst her highest successes on the stage,
she must remember that the world regards her as one to whom a still higher
part is fallen. She must not be content with the fame of the most
extraordinary work which has ever been produced by a female at her age,
(for as such we scruple not to describe her Francis the First,)--with
having sprung at once to the foremost rank, not only of living actors but
of modern dramatists;--she must consider that she has given us a pledge
and earnest for a long and brightening course of distinction, in the
devotion of all but unrivalled talents in two distinct, though congenial,
capacities, to the revival of the waning glories of the English theatre."

[1] This disadvantage is greater on the stage, since the audience neither
see nor hear more of Bourbon, and only four acts of the piece are
performed. In the closet it will not be so obvious, as Bourbon
returns in the fifth act.

[2] This is an entire variation from history.

* * * * *

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

OLD ENGLISH MUSIC.

It was in the course of the sixteenth century that the psalmody of England,
and the other Protestant countries, was brought to the state in which it
now remains, and in which it is desirable that it should continue to
remain. For this psalmody we are indebted to the Reformers of Germany,
especially Luther, who was himself an enthusiastic lover of music, and is
believed to have composed some of the finest tunes, particularly the
Hundredth Psalm, and the hymn on the Last Judgment, which Braham sings
with such tremendous power at our great performances of sacred music. Our
psalm-tunes, consisting of prolonged and simple sounds, are admirably
adapted for being sung by great congregations; and as the effect of this
kind of music is much increased by its venerable antiquity, it would be
very unfortunate should it yield to the influence of innovation: for this
reason, it is much to be desired that organists and directors of choirs
should confine themselves to the established old tunes, instead of
displacing them by modern compositions.

Towards the end of the sixteenth, and beginning of the seventeenth,
century, shone that constellation of English musicians, whose inimitable
madrigals are still, and long will be,