of his appearance, and, indeed, his own
merits, laid claim to a very particular discussion of his performances:
but as we read over the play for that purpose, Mr. M'Kenzie's _Old
Norval_ forced itself so imperiously upon our remembrance, that we could
not drop the subject without doing justice to that gentleman's
performance and our own feelings. It was a specimen of acting and
speaking we little expected to meet with: masterly, chaste, and
exquisitely affecting; no less gratifying to the critical ear than to
the feeling heart. We particularly admired his attestation to heaven of
his innocence:

As I hope
For mercy before the judgment seat of heaven
The tender lamb that never nipt the grass
Is not more innocent than I of murder.

And his pathetic supplication for mercy:

Oh, gentle lady! by your lord's dear life,
Which these weak hands, I swear, did ne'er assail,
And by your children's welfare spare my age!
Let not the iron tear my aged joints,
And my gray hairs bring to the grave with pain.

The first of these he poured forth with an expression of simple
sincerity, and the second with a gentle earnestness, so humble, so
passionately moving, that none but the most hardened hearts could resist
it. Even the gallery felt its force and made the house resound with its
rude applause--'twas well; and we may say with Pierre,

We could have hugged the greasy rogues; they pleased us.

As in the two former passages Mr. M'Kenzie presented a specimen of
exquisitely pathetic expression, so he evinced his skill and powers of
speaking in that speech which may be called the pride of the
play--perhaps of all Scottish poetry too, in which he relates the
finding of the child:

One stormy night, as I remember well,
The wind and rain beat hard upon our roof;
Red came the river down, and loud and oft
The angry spirit of the water shriek'd, &c.

Lord Randolph is a character of which we doubt whether Cooke himself
could make any thing. Mr. Warren did all that is usually done for him.

Partial as we are to Mr. Wood's acting generally, we did not perceive in
his performance of Glenalvon any thing to please us very much, or
augment his reputation.

In Lady Randolph, Mrs. Barrett would deserve much commendation, if she
could get rid of a few faults in her speaking. Her feelings and personal
appearance are finely adapted to the character.

* * * * *