Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-02-09

N
Thou guide and friend ofmy departed years,
Thou mother Of my youth, why gsh thye .
In blessing oftby son'
Farewell. oh, never more
Shall thy dim eyes behold thy. waywardc child
Nay, mother, do not thus with accents wild
Thy bitter fate deploe.
Father, 10 thee I bow.
Asking thy blessing with this warm embrace;
Glide not the unmaniy tean upon my face,
Tie palcncss on my brow.
Alas how shall I part
From thee, my father, and not wet my check
With tears that tell oflove, and drops that speak
The sadness Of my hearth
But ye, that wonder 80
With upras'd eyes 10 zee your brother weep,
Soon shall those little lids, seal'd up In sleep,
Forgeta brothers woes.
And thou, whom next love
To thee |" dear kindred blood" tina, fills my veins,
Farereil to thee-augments all other pains
That l in parting prove.
But see! the white sails swell!
All biest companions ofmy early youth,
Dear objects ofmy fondest love and truth,
Sweet home, and friends, farewell! CONWAY.
For a sketch Of the early life Of WILLIAM
CONWAY, we are obliged to depend upon facts
gathered l. Of him, from gentlemen Of his profess
ion, and which we believe to be correct. They
| inform us that he was born in London. and was
educated for the Law, having regularly gradua.
ted at Oxford, and received a diploma at
the Middle Temple Bar; but not relishing thS
dull pursuits Of legal lore. and being an enthu-
siastic admirer Of Shakespeare, and The higher
poets, he conceived the intention Of joining the
corp D~ramatique, and made his first appear.
ance at the Haymarket Theatre. London. with
decided success. But some unpleasantries hav.
ing occurred he left the stage for some time,
ard consented to perform the onsrous duties
of promoter to that Theatre. He was now
ever induced to appear again, and made such
an impression on a London audience, that he
was invited by Elliston TO an engagement at
Drury- Lane, at which Theatre he appeared,
it is believed about the year JsI9. Ills do
| but, at the uufivalled house Of the Metrop.
oils, was marked by distinguished success, but
10 consequence Of some dsa greement between
himself and Eliiston, he deemed ii proper to
| withdraw from his engagement, and returned
| again to Haymarket, but for some two or
three years, did not appear on the boards as an
actor. His difficulties with Elliston. led to q
protra cited lawsuit, in which Mr.. Conway lost
The principal part of his property, beside The
| whole Of his valuable wardrobe, and proper.
ties. At last, disgustod with the fate that at
tended him in England, he turned his attention
10 America, and arrive here, in the latter
part Of the year 1923. His success whilst
| with US has already been recapulated, and his
melancholy exit "from this worlds stage, TO
worlds unknown has already been told.
Peace to his ashes. and whilst the ocean hsaves
its wave above him, may he quietly rest on
mis- coral bed. whilst his spirit dwells in the
regions Of the happy.
Mr.. Conway, at the time Of his death, was
about forty years of age; his person was well
formed and commanding; he was about six
feet and an inch high, we'll proportional, mus
cular and exceedingly masculine. He pos
sessed great muscular powsr-and a mastery
command Of his countenance, which Seemed
TO have been expressly formed TO express the
passions of the soul, and TO delimeate the writ.
ings Of Shakespeare. As an actor. his manner.
was perfectly original-he performed like him
self alone, and followed no other model, than
that which was formed by his wi ~juditious
conception of his author. His voice was full
round, and capacious, capable Of great modu.
lation, and he held over il the most perfect
command. He read Shakespeare, as the bard
would have himself read it;--was chsste, un-
affected, and unacquainted with stage-trick Of
clsp-trap mummery. He read his author to q
letter. and never ventlred to alter the text,
though IN doIng so, us ni,ght sometimes have
given greater effect to his readings. If he
did not possess the wild flashes Of genius
which have ,mmortalizsd Kean, he surpassed
him as a reader, and had he resorted 20 the
tricks which Kesn sometimes ado2ted, he
might have, by the less judicious, been ranked
his superior.
But Conway played from nature and reason,
-Kean played in accordance TO the same die.
tates, but he united art, to give effect to hi
delineations. Conway did much towards the
reformation Of the American Stage, willis
Kean rather corrupted than improved Il.
But it was not only as an actor, that Mr.
Conway was distinguished. As a gentleman
and q scholar, he maintained a pre-eminen
rank-was charitable, humane, correct ID hu
habis-a friend and q benefactor "A patron Il
the INDECENT Of the profession, and a man wht
ever strove to assist, and reward modest mort
"IIs years were young, but his experience old,
His bead onmellowed but his Judgment ripe;
And in a word, (for far behind his worth
Come all the praises that I now bstow,)
He was complete in feature, and In mind
With all good grace, to grace a gentleman"
The sorrows which preyed upon the mind o
Mr.. Conway, we're Of a domestic nature. AM
can be readily guessed by those who read hi
Farewell.
But how they originated we know not, AM
since il would not become M to hint at them
we leave them to slumber beneath the wave
with the form Of him who fell a martyr TO tn
acutensss Of a too refined ssnsibilty. Rumor
has spitated them often, and the revival o
them, in all probability. tended to diminish .h'
days of the sufferer, who in . moment OF dee
peration and frenzy, sought TO relieve himss'
nom them beneath the oceans briny wave.