We are sorry to reject the lines on the expected arrival of an illustrious Lady, dated Deptford; for many cogent reasons they are at present inadmissible. The novel of Dudley, &c. &c. shall be reviewed, if possible, in our next Number. We rather think that we shall put off the review of Dr. Poliodori's well-written tale of Ernestus Birchtold, to our next yearly Supplement, where it well merits a place; together with The Vampyre, by the same author. The Song to the air of Banks and Braes, in our next. 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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ILLUSTRIOUS AND DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS. Number One Hundred and Twenty-seven. BEAUTIES OF THE COURT OF CHARLES II. MRS. MARGARET HUGHES. Ir the ladies particularly belonging to the court of Charles II. were possessed of unexampled levity, wanting in dignity and feminine amiability, it may easily be imagined that those of the second and third classes were yet more gross and unrefined, and that virtue amongst the actresses of that period would be sought for in vain. The original of the engraving which embellishes our present Number, was an actress belonging to the King's Theatre, where she was one of the earliest female performers; for during the reign of Charles I. the female characters were undertaken by men. After the opening of Drury-Lane, Mrs. Hughes was the first female Desdemona, in Othello, and was eminent in her performance of that gentle and interesting character. In this, it is supposed, she first drew the attention of, and at length totally captivated that patron of the arts and brave warrior, Prince Rupert. She found the art of subduing the fierceness of his character; and from a satiric humourist rendered him a sighing serious lover. He was the first discoverer of the art of mezzotinto, and was continually at his laboratory: but before the brightness of her eyes, and her expressive features, so well calculated for her profession, he surrendered himself a willing captive, and bade adieu to crucibles, alembies, furnaces, and all the other append. ages of the forge. Farewell, too, a long farewell to all mathematical instruments, and practical chemistry: essences and perfumes of the most ravishing odour now succeeded. Miss Hughes felt her power, and resolved to convert the hero into her most humble slave. She haughtily refused his offers of pecuniary settlements, and resolving to sell her favours at a dearer rate than the terms he proposed, she caused the infatuated Prince to act a part totally foreign and unnatural to his real character. His most intimate friends scarcely knew him for the same man, so much had this capricious lady changed his manners, and made him act a part that rendered him truly ridiculous. Charles II. was highly delighted at this event; and being at Tunbridge, where his Queen had retained the company of players, and Mrs. Hughes among them, his Majesty would give entertainments on this extraordinary occasion at the Wells. No one, however, was bold enough at that time to make any action of Prince Rupert a subject of satire; though the intrigues of several other persons, not excepting the King himself, were not so easily passed over. Prince Rupert was certainly not qualified to cut a shining figure in so gay and licentious a court as that of Charles II.: he was only at home at his laboratory, or at the head of a fleet. Mrs. Hughes was afore attracted by his wealth, and her vanity, keenly against Prince Rupert, who was an more sensibly flattered by holding such firm sway over the heart and mind of a warlike Prince, than her sentiments being actuated by any affection for his person The house lately occupied by the Margrave of Brandenburgh, near Hammersmith, then the magnificent seat of Sir Nicolas Crispe, was purchased by the doting Prince for his expensive mistress, and which cost in building twenty-five thousand pounds. This she deigned to accept and by the Prince" she had a daughter, named Ruperta, married to Brigadier-General Howe, whom she survived many years, and died at Somerset-House in the year 1740. Mrs. Hughes was not a first-rate actress; but her features were beautiful, her countenance expressive of tender feeling, and her voice silvery-toned. It is said of her that she was always tenacious of personating virtuous characters, and refused to per'form such as were vicious. Whether or not her conduct was the same off the stage, or whether it was only sarcastic envy that dictated the following lines after her exaltation, cannot now be determined: unmarried man, for this amour, we know not; when his own conduct in the same way, as a King and a husband, rendered him much more liable to blame and satire. Though Prince Rupert was an awkward lover, he was a man of the most refined taste; and though his sword had not been fortunate in defending his uncle, yet with his well known bravery he inherited a great portion of that uncle's talents, and was passionately fond of all those sciences that soften and adorn the private hours of the hero; and without making amusement and elegant pleasure the sole pursuits of his life, he always knew how to mingle them in the most agreeable manner. Had the court of his uncle, Charles I. been peaceable, how congenial a mind would that monarch have found in a beloved and accomplished nephew! How delightfully would the patronage of the King have been gratified when in his first artist he would have beheld the son of his sister! But in the reign of Charles II. the superior talents of such a Prince were lost: courtiers were then sunk in voluptuousness, and Prince Rupert was regarded by them as little more than a savage mechanic: yet if he wanted the transient varnish of a giddy and depraved court, he was adorned with a thorough knowledge of all those arts that give polish to the most elevated station, and which render a court the attraction of future ages. It is to be presumed that Mrs. Hughes continued on the stage even after she was elevated to be the mistress of the Prince; since in the Dramatis Persona to the comedy of Tom Essence, licenced in 1670, we find her still a performer, and in the Duke's company. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSIC. THE OPERA. On the seventh of April, 1744, Dr. Croza, the manager of the Opera, after having a good personal benefit, ran away, leaving the performers and innumerable tradespeople his creditors. A tea merchant in Covent-Garden offered a reward of £80 to any one that would secure his person. This event put a stop, for some time, to the performance of operas; but in 1754, |