The reception of this play, when first performed, and the high station it still holds in the public opinion, should make criticism cautious of attack--but as works of genuine art alone are held worthy of investigation, and as all examinations tend to produce a degree of censure, as well as of praise, "Speed the Plough" is not exempt from the general lot of every favourite production. An auditor will be much better pleased with this play, than a reader; for though it is well written, and interspersed with many poetical passages, an attentive peruser will find inconsistencies in the arrangement of the plot and incidents, which an audience, absorbed in expectation of final events, and hurried away by the charm of scenic interest, cannot easily detect. The most prominent of these blemishes are:--Miss Blandford falls in love with a plough-boy at first-sight, which she certainly would not have done, but that some preternatural agent whispered to her, he was a young man of birth. But whether this magical information came from the palpitation of her heart, or the quickness of her eye, she has not said.--A reader will, however, gladly impute the cause of her sudden passion to magic, rather than to the want of female refinement. The daughter has not less decorum in love, than the father in murder.--That a character, grave and stern, as Sir Philip Blandford is described, should entrust any man, especially such a man as Bob Handy, with a secret, on which, not only his reputation, but his life depended, can upon no principle of reason be accounted for; unless the author took into consideration, what has sometimes been observed,--that a murderer, in contrivance to conceal his guilt, foolishly fixes on the very means, which bring him to conviction. PERSONS REPRESENTED. SIR PHILIP BLANDFORD _Mr. Pope._ MORRINGTON _Mr. Murray._ SIR ABEL HANDY _Mr. Munden._ BOB HANDY _Mr. Fawcett._ HENRY _Mr. H. Johnston._ FARMER ASHFIELD _Mr. Knight._ EVERGREEN _Mr. Davenport._ GERALD _Mr. Waddy._ POSTILLION _Mr. Abbot._ YOUNG HANDY'S SERVANT _Mr. Klanert._ PETER _Mr. Atkins._ MISS BLANDFORD _Mrs. H. Johnston._ LADY HANDY _Mrs. Dibdin._ SUSAN ASHFIELD _Miss Murray._ DAME ASHFIELD _Mrs. Davenport._ SPEED THE PLOUGH. ACT THE FIRST. SCENE I. _In the fore ground a Farm House.--A view of a Castle at a distance._ FARMER ASHFIELD _discovered at a table, with his jug and pipe._ _Enter_ DAME ASHFIELD, _in a riding dress, and a basket under her arm._ _Ash._ Well, Dame, welcome whoam. What news does thee bring vrom market? _Dame._ What news, husband? What I always told you; that Farmer Grundy's wheat brought five shillings a quarter more than ours did. _Ash._ All the better vor he. _Dame._ Ah! the sun seems to shine on purpose for him.