The National Register. — London, England, 1818-11-16 00:00:00

NOV 16 THE DRAMA. DRURY LANE THEATRE. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet was on Monday night performed at this theatre. The character of for the first time, by Mrs. West. Mrs. West's powers, and the beauty of her person and face, fit her in a pe culiar manner for this eltaraLier ; her performance was highly interesting throughout, but she was more espe cially applauded in the g arden scene, in the scene with her nurse, in that in .wich she takes the sleeping po tion, and in the subsequent one in which she awakes, Ind diswvers herself in the arms of her lover. Mr. H. Kemble's Romeo improves on repetition. The house was re s pectably filled. _ _ _ Last Friday evening was revived the comedy of Love mokrN a Man, or the Fop's Fortune. This piece though reputed to be written by Colley Cibber, is the produmion of a much older author, and merely altered by him. Of the plot we shall say little, as probably most of our readers are acquainted with it, and even that of a new play is in general better omitted ; for what goad purpose does it answer ? Those who have witnessed the perfc►rmance will cer tainly not read the plot, and fr those who have not, and intend doing so, it surely spoils the interest of the enter tainment. Then to what class of readers can it be inte resting?—to those who never intend to visit the theatre? And will those of the latter description take the trouble, or have the cur►osity to peruse a theatrical account We think these will not so far honour us, anlttuntefitre shall, for the advantage of the two fist elapse: readers, omit the fable. . . . The piece in question k an entertainin:, medy, rather approaching to farce, and r same inconsistencies. 8.,. iPstenc. most most pew . ) the troubl .e w:11 to our col! ~ x li .1. audience tiaroug:-. ~L wad :eel ~ ) - t ake a nap. by any dull or heavy scenes. Nlunien was in excellent humour awl irresistal:ly lAuglialiie. Mr H. Kemble played the part of Cart): with consitlerable sniric. tha fop, Clodio, was particularly we'd supported by Air. Penley. In his scene with Dun ()marl, the duellist, he was eminently successful, and throughout the whole of his perfhnnance acquitted himself extremely well. Mr. Watkinson and Mr. Williams were respectable in Dun Antonio and Don ('haring. The female parts were also very well sustained. Mrs. West rendered that of An gelina peculiarly attractive by her graceful and inte resting deportment : indeed, the more we see of this young lady's acting, the more we are confirmed in our opinion of her excellence. The parts of Louisa and Eluira were ably supported by Mrs. Orger. %lite must not target to bestow deserved praise on this piece us being perfectly free from the licentiousness of the old dramatic school, at least as it is now acted. It pat with considerable applause from a respectable audi ence. In the afterpiece of Bartnecide, Mr. Cowel took Mr. Harley's part, who is still confined by indisposition, and supported it in a very able manner. •-•••••■• COVENT-GARDEN. Rowe's tragedy of Jane Shore was performed at this Theatre on Monday night. The announcement of Miss O'Neil for the heroine of the piece, Mips Somerville fur the character of Alicia, and Mr. Booth's re-appearance in that of Gloucester, formed altogether attraction suf ficient to fill the house to an overflow before the curtain rose. Miss O'Neil as Jane Shore, has, on former oc casions, fully established her claim to excellence ; but stimulated by the circumstance of playing in concert with Miss Somerville, she put forth all her unrivalled powers, and was eminently successful. On no occasion have we seen her mote so. In her interview with Gloucester, in which she declares her readiness to de. vote her life, if necessary, to the service of King Ed. ward's children, and blesses Hastings for his declara tion of similar sentiments, she was forcible and ener getic, and culled down the most rapturous applause; whilst her appeal to the feeling,s, in her interview with the husband, was irresistible, and produced a visible eficet on the audience. Miss Somerville, in Alicia, was most favourably received, and deservedly so. She gave a judicious and spirited picture of the revengeful, jea lous, designing female In her quarrel with Hastings she displayed powers am) common description ; whilst her remorse and self condemnation when she finds that she has involved her lover in the ruin which she only intended for her innocent unsuspecting friend, was equally well depicted; and the bitterness with which she even denied a draught of water to the unfhrtunate victim of her revenge—the distraction of her own mind —and the remorse of conscience felt by her for the mi series she had occasioned to herself and others, were forcibly expressed, and rapturously applauded by the audience. Her performance was, on the whole, highly creditable to her powers. Mr. Booth, as Gloucester, was greeted on his entree with the war►ness welcome. The cheering of his friends, failed, however, to inspire Waregret we are obliged to declare our opinion, REGTSTP,R. judging from the specimen he afforded us on Monday night, that he has not improved during his provincial tour. His performance, with the exception of his in terview with Jane .Shoe c, was as tame and spiritless as we ever witnessed ; scarce one sentence in ten which he uttered reached the audience at a distance from the stage beyond the third or finirth row of the Pit. The gods in the gallery, disappointed and displeased at this dumb shew exhibition, became vociferous, calling on him to speak louder.—This produced from others cries equally loud for silence ; and the uproar at length be came so great during the scene in the third act, between Gloucester and Hastings, that nea:ly the whole of the scene passed over without a single word being heard.— Mr Young played Hastings with his usual ability.— His quarrel with Alicia was excellent. Maeready played Shore, and made as much of it as the character would admit of. The Ballet of Paul and Virginia followed, and went off extremely well. • The Comedy of The Soldier's Daughter was performed on Wednesday, at this Theatre; when Mr. %V. Farren appeared in a new character, that of Governor Heade. His representation of this character was spirited and forcible. The wann, honest, irritable, and open hearted old soldier tbund a faithful and able represen tative in him. He was loudly applauded throughout, especially in the scene with the if Cheerly, in which she recounts to hint the exploits of the Governor. His exulting tone, while joining with her in the ex pression of—" Thus said the Governor,"—and—" Thus (41 th e Governor,"—applying them to himself, was —fient, and drew down the loudest approbation.— ')'Neill played the If glom Cheerly. This charac- AT no means the best suited to her peculiar ta is, Met:a, beneath her powers ; she cannot • it. The pieure which she gave of the •v, t'atui;ll not possessing the sprightliness 'ch we have seen thrown into it by its wdan, was highly interesting.— .. ~,ectably filled. • ~11;ced on Friday night at this a very indifferent reception, or in e.aisidered, we believe, as dismis sed from . Perhaps the title of this piece, six Plinsiciaas 111; Patient carried ofl. half con tributed to its ill success; we are certain that the plot and the dial.gue worked out the other half of the ca tastrophe : the idea of introducing six physicians or per sons in the disguise of physicians, was a happy idea; and thaNnployment of thyin when introduced, was equal to it in felicity : the plot, in fact, is incumhered by these personages; and the whole business might have been effected much better by limiting the number to two.— The object is to carry off the ward of an old gentleman, who, being in love with her, and anxious to keep her to himself, adopts the ingenious expedient of persuading her she is ill, to prevent all access to her; the lover, disguised as one of these physicians, frustrates all the precautions of her guardian. Liston bad a character assigned him, but it neither possessed any merit as character, or for the scope it Ain-ilea to the display of his abilities. The attempts at wit or humour were chiefly limited to allusions to the medical profession, and were of a truly despicable quality. The fate of the farce became evident soon after the commencement of 'Akite the second act; and the latter part of it was rendered quite inaudible. As no attempt was made to announce the piece for repetition, we conclude that the managers acquiesce in the decision of the audience; it would be difficult to offer any plea in arrest of judgment. A meeting of new Renters of Drury-lane Theatre was held on Thursday, in the Saloon, to receive the report of the Committee, appointed by a General Meeting of their body, on the 15th of June, 1816. The report having been read, the meeting proceeded to elect Sir Thomas Turton and Mr. Fallowfield trus tees, in the room of Messrs. Houlston and Graham, resigned. Mr. G. Robins dwelt upon the depressed state of the Theatre, the nightly receipts of which, he said, did not at present cover the expenees. The dramatic veteran " Gentleman Smith," who is now in the 90th year of his age, is still living at his favourite residence, near Bury, in Suffolk, and enjoys tolerable health and good spirits, but has not visited the theatre for some time past. During Miss O'Neill's last professional trip to Bury, he expressed a wish to be per sonally introduced to her, which he was by Mr. Bel lamy, the manager, and the interview was highly pleasing to both parties. Mr. Booth, of Covent Garden Theatre, conceiving that the Manager does not duly appreciate his talents, has offered to cancel his engagement, on being allowed to retain one third of his salary. Hurley, of Drury Lane Theatre, who was suddenly seized with a fit, on Saturday sc'nnight, is now much recovered: We are sorry to learn from the Jamaica papers, that some attempts were made, in the month of September last, to set fire to the town of Port Royal. Wednesday a Court of Directors was held at the East India Houie, when Captain C. S. Timing was sworn into the cemmand of the ship Bridgewater, 'unsigned to Chins direck VIE NATION. ARCTIC EXPEDITION. Advices were received in town on Thursday, of the return of Captain Ross, in the Isabella, with his corn. panion, the Alexander sloop, Lieutenant Parry, to Shetland, after a fruitless attempt to penetrate through Behring's Straits past the American continent. It is said that Capt. Ross almost reached the latitude of 78 deg. and traversed the whole of I)avis's Straits, and found inhahitants, but could not discover the smallest opening sufficient to admit the entrance ofa ship. Sci ence has, however, derived some advantage, as he has been enabled to trace the line of cant with greater se- - curacy, and to alter the positions which had been as- - signed to it in all the charts. The subjoined are given as the results: " The Isabella and the Alexander discovery ships, are safely arrived in Brassa Sound, Lerwick, all well ; . neither ship having lost a man, nor having n man in the sick hst. Captain Ross has completely succeeded in exploring• every part of Baffin's Bay, and, with the exception of errors in the latitudes and longitudes, of verifying the statements of that old and able navigator whose name it bears, and of ascertaining that no peso sage exists between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Davis's Straits and Baffin's Bay, the whole being fbund to be surrounded by high land, extending to the north as far as lat. 77. 55. and long. 76. W. ; and in the 74th degree of latitude, stretching westward as far as 84. W. longitude. They traced the same the whole way down to the Cape Walsingham of Davis, which they ascertained to lie in lat 66. and long. 60. ; from hence they stood for Resolution Island, and then stood homeward. They have made many curious 0b..• servations and discoveries, of which, perhaps, will not be considered as the least interesting, that of a nation being found to inhabit the Arctic regions, between the latitudes of 76. and 78.., who thought that the world to the South was all ice ; that generation had succeeded generation of a people who had never tasted the fruits of the earth, had no ides of a Supreme Being, who never had an enemy, and.• whose Chiefs had. hitherto supposed themselves monarchs of the universe. There now remains only to be discovered the termination, if it has one, of Middleton's Repulse Bay, and, a few de• grees to the northward of it, to determine whether Greenland be an island or joins America ; and this might with the greatest ease be done from the northern.. most station of the Hudson's Bay Company in any one season." The hope of discovery in the northern seas is not • wholly laid aside; though that which has been already ascertained rather depreciates the importance of what remains. We consider an expedition which proves that there is no north-west passage to the vast Pacific, to have succeeded in its object as completely as if the result had been the reverse ; except, indeed, it was to be expected that the mariners would make a parent if they did not find one. The task of the officers and seamen sent on the discovery, would indeed have been more arduous, if they Lad fund an opening, which they must have traced ; but their duty was simply to ascertain the fact, and that we suppose they have done. The voyage to the Pole will, it is said, be tried again next year ; and the adhesion of Greenland to • Amerisa, or its separation from that.continent, 4111111 m tained by examination. Paris and Brussels papers have arrived: The King on Sunday gave a private audience to the. Spanish Ambassador, the Due de Fernan Nunez, who delivered a letter from his Sovereign. These journals conjecture that the Due de Richelieu will return to Paris on the • 15th or 16th instant. Some accounts from Aix-les. • Chapelle mention that the Emperor of Russia intended : to set out from thence for Brussels on Monday last, where splendid fetes are preparing ; other statements defer his Imperial Majesty's departure till. Monday . next. The latter advice. also announce, that the Em.. peror of Austria will leave Aix-la-Chapelle on the 18th instant, for his own capital.—The King of Prussia • returned to Aix la-Chapelle on Sunday last.—A pa.. ragraph in the Brussels papers, dated from Chapelle, asserts that the Congress of Ministers has entertained the consideration of the fate of Napoleon.— On Monday the Duc d'Angouleme arrived at Aix-la. Chapelle. The motive of his Royal Highness's visit• was to return the compliment of a similar nature paid by their Imperial and Royal Majesties to the King of - France on the late occasion. Mr. Baring reached Aix.. la-Chapelle the night before the Due d'Angouleme ar rived there; and on Monday a conference was held at the house of Prince liardenberg, on the subject of a.T proposition made by France for an extension of the term originally agreed upon for the discharge of her pecuniary obligations. It was reported at the date of the last letters, that France required a much longer - time than had been already intimated ; a request, in which it was supposed that Prussia would not acquiesce. without reluctance. The Duke of Gloucester was at Lausanne on the 28th of October, on his return from Italy. On the 29th, the public authorities in the town gave a dinner .- to his Serene flightless.