Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-08-23
coMMUNicATED.j
CRITICAL NOTICES.

CRl IL AL NJ SES.
/: The Ruffian Assaults Tragedy in Ave acts.
By Thomas Hart Benton; OF the U. S. Army,
1928.
John Howard Payne is, we believe, the only
one of our countrvmen who has hitherto excel
ed in dramatic writing. M. Noah has dabbled
little in this kind Of composition, bu, his sue
cess was not so great as to embolden him to
second attempt Lieut.. Benton has aimed Gas
they say of the aolors) at the highes, walks Of
trar. DIV, and we must confess, has displayed
cot siderable spiri, and originality in the per-
formance The Rufian Assault, in our OPT
MON, Is far superior either TO Payne's Bru'us,
or Noah's Plains Of Chippewa. AS OIL notices
mus, b. short, we cannot enter into detail
The scene is laid in the Western County,
the hero Of the piece is bold, blood thirsty
desperado and the plo, Consists in the mac hi
nations Of this man to entraP, and 10 destroy
his mortal enemies the Two Brothers, whose
amiable, but resolute and hoble, characters, are
depicted with a great deal of natural telling
The finest scene in the play is Act V, scene III,
md we regret thai our limits do not permit Us
TO transcribe il entire. The anger aud fury OF
the assailan,, aud the combat itself, are pour
traytd with mas ers pencil, and the exclama>
lion Of the hero, in the words Of Richsrd, after
he fires his two pistols, and rushes OH his an
tagonist with drawn dagger
'sTake that-and that
And 60 to hell, and say sent thee there"
causes a thrill OF horror a, the vividness Of the
dreadful picture.
We advise Lieut.. Benton, by all means, to
make some arrangements with Mr.. tiiIfert, OF
the Bowery Theatre, N Y, 20 bring this play
upon the stage. 1t is best to strike while the
irons hot, spd the piece would no doubt take
well at this particular time. The hero Of the
tragedy is said to be remarkable resemblance
10 certain real Hero; and the fact that Rui-
fian Assault, very similar 10 the one described,
did actually take place in this country few
years ago, will insure it good run. We have
no doubt Of its entire success, with proper
caste Of parts.
ii. Hotch Potcb; or Mulsum in Multo-on men
and things in general. "Varium ct mutabile
semper," viz. By John Randolph, Of Roam.
oke.-With variety of lengthy and inter
es,ing notes, by VIM. B. Giles, Gov.
Many writers, now a-days, make title page
merely for commencement; aud in the course
Of their works appear to forge, on wha, subject
they began. Not so, however, with our author
and his worthy annotator. The title page sets
forth exactly no more, nor no less thar is con-
tanned in the book 1t is in itself an index to
the contents.
The work is Hotch Potch, because the in
gradients of which it is made are mixed, and
as the word itself sufficiently e1plains-"for
this word hoichpot is, in English, a pudding
for in pudding is not commonly put one thing
alone, but one thing with other things Ioge-
Their" The quotation, too, from the Mantuan
Bard as motto is very appropriate.
1t would be impossible TO analise work of
this nature 1t de6es all the acids and crucibes
that can be found in critical laboratory A
super human arm was required to make order
out of chaos, and we despair of reducing Ran