Varieties of a Theatre. cried I, "of the vanity of the world:-I have travelled over "the continent of Europe, and I come to this deduction, "that man is every where the same--and if there are a great "majority of barbers, I feel convinced that there are but "few NAPOLEONS." VARIETIES OF A THEATRE. SIR, To the Editor of the Dublin Inquisitor. HAPPENING to go to the Theatre half an hour too early the other evening, I fell into a reflection on the variety of performances that are presented nightly to the spectators that assemble there. It was in vain I endeavored to reconcile their inconsistencies, in the reflection that all was designed for public amusement, and should not be scanned too closely --still the idea of absurdities and improbabilities stole on me, and at length I declared open war against the stage and the actors. You will not consider me captious when I tell you that I am a sober and respectable person, who would feel more real gratification in looking at my old friend Fullam's Sir Peter, than in witnessing the most "splendid scenery" revolving with the rapidity of magic, until the eye of the gazer had lost its relish for beauty in the confusion of the images offered to it. I am not one of those who find pleasure in the tumbles of Pantaloon, the grimaces of Kazrac, or the absurd bombast of Giovanni-I like a comfortable seat in a front row, I hate a noise in the gallery, and I am only anxious for a rational play. I remember being present in a country town at the play of a company of strolling actors who had solicited the family with whom I was on a visit to patronize them; you would scarcely guess the selection which was made upon that occasion; the evening commenced with an address, half rhyme, half prose, spoken by the manager himself; to which followed "The Moor of Venice," interspersed between the acts with music, dancing, and recitation; to this succeeded Collins's "Ode on the Passions," delivered by a child of four years of age, and a Scotch reel by the celebrated Signor Abezzezzor; we were next presented with the inter Varieties of a Theatre. lude of the "Wild Woman of Banna Water," the speaking parts by Mr. Cooke and Mrs. Earle; and the night concluded with the laughable pantomine called "Harlequin, and the Magic Lantern." Of this character are the amusements of a public theatre, which, although of a higher description in one department are certainly not much superior in another; they all partake of this diversity, and before one can well understand the subject of the scene before them, it is withdrawn to make room for something as gaudy, and, perhaps, as unmeaning. I have drawn up a catalogue of the names of the various classes of pieces, and it may amuse some of your readers to look at it. First, there is Tragedy and Comedy, the legitimate heads of all the rest, from which every other representation is drawn, and that furnishes an inexhaustible fund for imitation; Opera is next -this species is so frequently diversified, and assumes such a variety of features, that I must own I am often at a loss whether it properly belongs to Tragedy or to Comedy; it is sometimes gay, sometimes tragic,t sometimes ludicrous, and sometimes simple; to this follows what is called a Musical Play-to this a Drama-next a Farce in the old way, such as Murphy's Citizen, and a Farce in the new way, such as X.Y.Z. for they are both distinct; next a MeloDrama, and a Serious Pantomine-a Ballet, and a Grand Spectacle-then there's an operatic Melo-Drama, and a comic Extravaganza-an Interlude and a Burletta-then there's a serio-comico-farcical-laughable Burlesque,—all of which are widely different-in short I believe I could run on a couple of pages with my enumeration, but fear the detail would become tedious. Now, Mr. Editor, what conclusions must we draw from all this? You and I are, I dare say, sedate, thinking men, and when we begin to reflect on such revolutions of taste as take place in the public mind, it is not improbable but we might condemn the avidity with which such a string of hues and colours is sought for and cherished; a play-going friend of mine frequently brings his young wife to the pit-I've seen them both wiping their eyes, and heard them sobbing loudly when Douglas was dying in the arms of Lady Randolph-a few moments afterwards she was not far removed from hystericks with violent laughing at Kitty's minuet in "High life below stairs." What do you say to • Instance the Daenna. + Instance the late Opera of the "Minstrel,”— Instance-Midas, &c. Instance-Love in a Village. Instance the Iron Chest. Instance the Stranger, Wanderer, &c. Norwegian claim to the Discovery of America. this?-was not this an instance of that exquisite sensibility that, like the chameleon, takes its shade from that which is around it? What a soul must he have who can weep with the unfortunate, grin with the ridiculous, and laugh with the merry, within one short half hour! Your's, &c. A SUBSCRIBER. NORWEGIAN CLAIM TO THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. THE claim of the Norwegians to the discovery of America cannot derogate from the honor which is so justly given to the adventurous spirit of Columbus. Their discovery produced no important consequences, and even a rumor of it cannot be imagined to have reached him in his southern voyages. But without any great stretch of credulity, we may believe their assertion. Their bold and daring mind braved the dangers of a hitherto-unknown navigation-we find them in the dark ages possessed of an extensive province of France, England, Sicily, Iceland; and undeniable proofs are still extant of their colonization of the inhospitable shores of Greenland. A rash or unfortunate adventurer may easily be supposed, when driven from his course by storms, to have reached the coast of America, and we present the following account, extracted from Crantz's history of Greenland, as perhaps interesting to the curious reader. "They (the Norwegians) not only sailed in their own vessels from Iceland and Norway to Greenland, but the first discovery and navigation of North America is ascribed to them. This piece of history is too singular and too little known to be passed over in silence. It is related at length by Mallet, and Pontoppidan, from Arngrim Jonas, and corroborated by the testimony of Adam Bremensis, who wrote in the middle of the eleventh century, consequently about the time of this discovery. Herjolf, an Icelander, was in the habit of making a trading voyage every year, along with his son Biörn, into different countries. During their annual expedition in 1001, they were separated from each other by a storm. Biörn on his arrival in Norway, hearing that his father had sailed for Greenland, which was then little known, followed him Norwegian claim to the Discovery of America. thither; but a storm arising drove him to the South-west, where he discovered a flat woody country; and on leaving this coast, came in sight of an island. He made no stay in these places, but as soon as the storm had abated, steered his course without delay to Greenland. When this adventure became known, Leif, the son of Eric the Red, emulous of the fame which his father had acquired by the discovery and colonizing of new lands, fitted out a ship with thirty-five men, and set sail in company with Biörn. The first land which they discovered was stony and barren. They gave it the name of Helle-land, or Flat-land. They next came to a low coast, covered with white sand, and enlivened by a few trees. This they called Mark-land, or Level-land. Two days afterwards they came in sight of another coast, with an island to the north. Sailing with the tide up a river, whose banks were covered with bushes, bearing sweet berries, they arrived at a lake which appeared to be its source. The air was mild, the soil fruitful, and the water was stocked with a variety of fishes, particularly large salmon. They spent the winter there, and found that on the shortest day the sun rose at eight, a circumstance which fixes the place of their visit to the forty-ninth degree, or the latitude of Newfoundland, or the river St. Lawrence in Canada. Having built some huts for a temporary residence, they missed a German sailor, named Tyrker, whom they found after a long search, in the woods dancing about with every expression of unusual glee. On enquiring into the cause of his mirth, he answered he had eaten grapes, such as wine was made from in his own country. When Leif saw and tasted these grapes himself, he called his new country Vin-land or Wineland.* The adventurers returned in the spring to Greenland. Leif's brother, Thorwald, eager to follow up these discoveries, and sailing thither with Leif's crew the same year, he examined the country to the westward, and in the following summer pursued his researches eastward. The coast which was thickly covered with wood, and lined with numerous islands, exhibited no vestiges of man or beast. The third summer they explored the islands; but as their vessel unfortunately bulged against a headland, they were obliged to spend the greater part of the season in repairing her. The old keel being useless, they erected it as a monument, • It is known that well-flavoured wild grapes are found in the woods of Canada, but they do not yield any good wine. Norwegian claim to the Discovery of America. on the top of the cape to which they gave the name of Kialarnes. Having refitted the ship, they again reconnoitred the east side of the country when they fell in with three small boats, covered with skins, with three men in each. They seized them all, except one man who escaped, and killed them in mere wantonness. Shortly after they were attacked by a multitude of the same savages in their boats, but they were so well screened from the showers of arrows by the board which guarded the ship's sides, and defended themselves with such vigour, that after an hour's skirmish, they compelled· their assailants to seek safety in flight. They bestowed upon these Indians, the contemptuous appellation of Skrælings or dwarfs: Arngrim following the authority of Mauritius, calls them Pigmei bicubitales, and tells us that these poor wretches were likewise found upon the Western coast of Greenland, but so feeble and despicable that there was nothing to fear from them, were they ever so numerous. Thorwald, alone of all the crew, paid the forfeit of his barbarity with his life, having received a wound from an arrow in the skirmish, of which he soon after died. He ordered a cross to be erected at the head and foot of his grave; and hence the scene of this event derived the name of Krossa Ness. His people spent the winter in Wineland and returned the ensuing spring. Thorstein, the third son of Eric the Red, set out for Wineland the same year, accompanied by his wife Gudrid, his children and domestics, twenty-five persons in all, chiefly with a view to bring away the body of his brother. He was driven by a storm to West-Greenland, on a part of the coast remote from the Norwegian settlements, and encamping there, was carried off by an epidemical sickness, together with some of his followers. His wife carrried his corpse home the next year. From this period the project of establishing a colony in Wineland was more seriously meditated. Thorfin, an Iceland chief, by the marriage of Gudrid inherited Thorstein's right to Wineland, and transported thither a colony of sixty men and five women, taking with him various kinds of cattle and instruments to till the ground. The Skrælings presently resorted to the new settlement, offering their fells in sale. They appeared desirous of some weapons in exchange, but Thorfin had laid a strict injunction on his people not to part with them. One of the savages, however, con |