Star.
London, England, 1830-07-27 00:00:00

SIGNS OF RAIN.

An Excuse for not accepting thon of a Friend to make a
Country Excursion.—By the late Dr. Jzintzit.
[From Murray's " Family Library," Lives of the Physicians.]
The hollow winds begin to blow,
The clouds look black, the grass is low,
The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep.
And spiders from their cobwebs creep.
Last night the sun went pale to bed,
The moon in halos hid her head.
The boding shepherd heaves a sigh,
For see a rainbow spans the sky.
The walls are damp, the ditches smell;
Closed is the pink-eye-I pimpernel.
Hark! how the chairs and tables crack ;
Old Betty's joints are on the rack.
Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry ;
The distant hills are looking nigh.
How restless are the snorting swine !
The busy flies disturb the kine.
Low o'er the grass the swallow wings;
The cricket, too, bow loud it sings !
Puss on the hearth, with velvet paws,
Sits smoothing o'er her whisker d jaws.
Through the clear stream the fishes rise,
And nimbly catch tit' incautious flies;
The sheep were seen, at early light,
Cropping the meads with eager bite.
Though June, the air is cold and chill;
The mellow blackbird's voice is still.
The glow-worms, numerous and bright,
'Hunted the dewy dell last night ;
At dusk the squalid toad was seen,
Hopping, crawling, o'er the green.
The frog has lost his yellow vest,
And in a dingy suit I. dresid.
The leech, disturb'd, is newly risen
Quite to the summit of his prison.
The whirling winds the dust obeys,
And in the rapid eddy plays.
My dog. so altered in his taste,
Quits mutton-bones, on grass to feast ;
And see yon rooks, how odd their flight !
Thcy imitate the gliding bite;
Or seem precipitate to fall,
As if they felt the piercing ball.
'Twill surely rain :—1 see, with sorrow,
Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.

TALMA, THE CELEBRATED FRENCH TRAGEDIAN.

The following notice, written entirely by Talma himself, was
sent by him on the 11th of February, 1818, to M. de Levelinge,
who was writing his Life in the " Biography of Living Persons,"
published by Nuchaud. The original autograph is now in the col.
lixtion of M. de Saint Vincent:

" Francois Joseph Tabus was born in Paris of parents in
easy circumstances, who neglected nothing for his education ;
passed a portion of his early life in England. He did not
return to Paris until he was fifteen, at which period, visiting
the Theatre Francois, he was inspired with a taste for decla.
mation. lie had received from Nature a melancholy imagi.
nation, an extreme nervous sensibility, in themselves painful advan.
tags, but which were one day fated to give him that facility of lofty
feeling and, expression so necessary for the profession he afterwards
adopted. This excitation of nerves was such, that at the age of ten
years (and he always remembered it with a son of pleasure,) being
at school, the boys played a tragedy (Tamerlane,) in which he had
to relate the last moments of a friend condemned to death by his
father. He was so deeply affected that the tears flowed in abundance
during the recital, and he wept for an hour after the spectacle had
terminated, and it was with the greatest difficulty he was pacified. His
profession was henceforward decided. When his studies had finished
be returned to his tither in London. Some young Frenchmen invited
him to join them in some French plays, which they were getting
up for their own amusement. The novels of these perform.
antes attracted very crowded audiences. Alt very young,
Telma made so much impression on the and tory, that Lord
Harcourt and sonic other Peers applied to his father to make
an engagement for him for the English stage. His father, who
was very fond of theatrical representations, was soon prevailed
lupon to comply with their soluitations. His son spoke Fnglish
so well that there was nothing to fear oa that score ; but par.
titular circumstances Induced him to return to Paris, where his
love for the drama led him to form acquaintance with some cf
the most celebrated actors of the day, who marked his rising talent,
land encouraged him. He appeared at the Royal School of Ihdama.
Lion. and, after having been heard there, instantly obtained an ordre
de debut for the French theatre. He made his appearance a year
afterwards,, on the 27th November, 1787, in the character of &Me,
in Mahosset, and with success. From this moment he cultivated
with avidity the society of 'literary men, painters, sculpton, &c,
and, doubly educated himself, that of an artist;—he studied monu-
ments and manuscripts, and made a revolution in that which he
had found almost in a state of barbarism. The Revolution
came, and he saw this important page of history with his
own eyes; he beheld a living tragedy, and it was to him a sub.
jest of deep meditation and lasting instruction. In this whirl.
wind of the passions he turned all he saw to profit, and all that
could be adapted to his characters, he imitated and availed himself
of in the art he cultivated. At length a violent nervous complaint
attacked hint, but even that was made a matter of study. In the
continual state of agitation in which lie existed befit his characters
too deeply ; it required a moderation, rather than an excitement of
his powers of sensibility and profound feeling. He could not per.
form a touching character without shedding tears in earnest. This
weakness, which seemed doomed to sink him to the tomb, was but
the emblem of the full force of all his theatrical faculties. This
was the remark of a celebrated physician, and no ore better knew
its truth than the actor himself.