"this mode, however reluctantly, he at last consented "to adopt, and it was partially crowned with suc"cess, some friends being found who generously "contributed to the undertaking * the work "was in preparation, and intended for publication, "in the spring of 1811, when after a sudden and "short illness, death stopt the fertile pen of their "author."

Vol. 1.

1. Sibyl, or the Elder Brutus-see D. L. Dec. 3 1818.

2. Walloons-see C. G. April 20 1782.

3.

Confession-a serious play, partly in prose, but chiefly in blank verse-it is supposed to take place in the reign of Richard the 1st, who is abroad, having left his mother Queen Regent-the Earl of Leicester had been banished by Henry the 2d, and had left his daughter, Adela, under the care of Sir Walter Scroop-Sir Walter had likewise received from the Countess of Leicester an infant whom he had reason to believe her illegitimate child-the boy when grown up distinguished himself by his valour, and was knighted by Richard the 1st, as Sir Reginald De Tours- he and Adela form a mutual attachment, and are on the point of being married -this Sir Walter opposes to the utmost of his power, as conceiving them both children of the same mother-their union is brought about by the written confession of Queen Eleanor, who acknowledges that Sir Reginald is her own son-this is far from a

bad play, but it wants incident sadly-there are 2 or three comic scenes which do the author no credit. 4. Passive Husband-see a Word for Nature D. L. Dec. 5 1798.

5. Torrendal-Cumberland says the plot of this T. is entirely fiction-Torrendal, on going to the war in Poland, had left his wife under the care of the Duke of Courland-the Duke, by raising a report of his death and by other artifices, had induced Countess Torrendal to cohabit with him as his mistress-she, being anxious to know whether Torrendal were really dead or not, applies to Baron Vanhoven, who pretends to have skill in magic and to be able to raise the dead-an interview and explanation takes place between Torrendal and the Countess-Torrendal attempts to stab the Duke, but is prevented by his guards and sentenced to death-the Countess, having in vain pleaded for her husband's life, follows the Duke off the stage, and kills him this last circumstance puts one strongly in mind of Evadne's killing of the King in the Maid's Tragedy-many parts of Torrendal are very well written-from the preparation that is made, the reader expects that Torrendal will appear to his wife as the Ghost of himself-and such perhaps was the author's original intention—but as the play now stands, they meet in a common way-consequently there is a vast deal too much said about Vanhoven's magic, which contributes but little towards the catastrophe—this is the main fault of the piece-Torrendal was offered to Harris, but not accepted. (Cooke's Memoirs.)

6. Lover's Resolutions-see D. L. March 2 1802.

Vol. 2.

7. Alcanor - see Arab. C. G. March 8 1785. 8. Eccentric Lover-see C. G. April 30 1798. 9. Tiberius in Capreæ-this play begins a short time before the death of Tiberius-Macro had been sent in quest of Simon of Samaria-he returns to Caprea without him as he supposes-but Simon was in the galley with Macro under another form-Tiberius is discovered-he is very ill, but very desirous to live-Simon by his spells restores Tiberius to temporary health-Quintilius and Popilia are betrothed-Tiberius had fallen in love with Popilia— he offers to make her empress-she gently declines the offer, and urges Tiberius to leave Capreæ—Tiberius seems determined to resume the command of his legions-Macro tells Caligula that he had poisoned Tiberius-Tiberius perceives that he is poisoned-Macro is brought in, and condemned to death—Tiberius gives Popilia to Quintilius, and dies-this play is written in prose--a mariner, called Dorus, is a comic character of importance-in the 4th act, Simon transforms him into the Emperour's cupbearer the title of this play excites curiosity, as one naturally wonders what could induce an author to select a subject evidently so ill calculated for the Drama-dullness and want of incident were in a manner unavoidable-but it might reasonably have been expected, that Cumberland would have endeavoured to make up for these deficiencies by placing the character of Tiberius in a striking light-in this however he has failed-he disgusts one likewise by

representing Simon of Samaria as working real miracles-some parts of the play are well written--for the history see the 6th book of the Annals of Tacitus --and Suetonius' Life of Tiberius.

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10. Last of the Family-see D. L. May 8 1797. 11. Don Pedro see Hay. July 23 1796.

12. False Demetrius-Guthrie says " upon the "death of John Basilowitz, the Russian succession "was filled up by a set of weak cruel princes-in “ 1597, Boris, according to Voltaire, whose informa“ tion I prefer, assassinated Demetri or Demetrius, "the lawful heir, and usurped the throne-a young "monk took the name of Demetrius, pretending to "be that prince, who had escaped from his mur"derers-and with the assistance of the Poles and "a considerable party (which every tyrant has against him) he drove out the usurper, and seized the “ crown himself-the imposture was discovered as "soon as he came to the sovereignty, because the "people were not pleased with him, and he was "murdered "In Cumberland's play, Catherine, who had been the nurse of the true Demetrius, is dying-her daughter, Petrilla, calls in a Deacon, whose name is Otreneif, to hear her mother's confession-it does not appear what had passed between them-but Otreneif, on his return to the stage, says that the dying woman had recognized him as the true Demetrius-Boris dies-the dowager Czarina acknowledges Demetrius for her son-the Cossacks side with him-and he is crowned as Czar-suiski, the general of the armies, asserts the claim of Irene, the daughter of Boris, to the throne - Irene conjures Suiski to desist from his attempt-in the 1st scene

of the 5th act, the dowager Czarina recommends a marriage between Demetrius and Irene- the remainder of the play is lost-Michael, the companion of Demetrius, before he was a Deacon-and Peter, the husband of Catherine, are comic characters of importance, so that the play is neither a Tragedy, nor a Comedy-the Czar of Muscovy by Mrs. Pix, acted at L. I. F. in 1701, is founded on the same history as Cumberland's piece, but there is no great resemblance between the two plays-Mrs. Pix' T. concludes with the death of Demetrius-it consists rather of love scenes than of political incidents-it is impossible to say how Cumberland meant to have concluded his False Demetrius--his daughter in her advertisement tells us, that her father at the time of his death was employed in completing the now unfinished Drama of Demetrius-she seems to have been ignorant that the 5th act did once exist-the play had been rehearsed and was in a state of active preparation, when Sheridan coming to the rehearsal one day pronounced, that there was something in the 5th act that must damn the piece-Cumberland withdrew it to make an alteration, but that not being done as soon as Sheridan wished, the scenes, which had been painted for the False Demetrius, were made use of for the Hero of the North-at which Cumberland was indignant-(Dimond)-that he should lay the play aside in disgust is natural enough, but it seems strange that he should have destroyed, or mislaid, the latter part of the 5th act.

It appears from the B. D. that Cumberland, in his proposals for the subscription, had announced most of these plays for publication-if he had lived to