The National Register. — London, England, 1809-12-31 00:00:00

PgC. Si. publisher, so lately market! fly civic distinetious l aud even distinguished by the 'sunshine of Royalty, by honour§ from the. hand of ow.: Gracious sovereign, cau. ev en whilst those honoui - s are as y et but pew, step 'forward like a Herald . to proOatin a Tyrant's usurpation t Duet . he hope to add °net, " N Arm-Ewes" honsodrable Legion, to pollute the' pure stream of English Chivalry with the mere tricious and oloodstaaied trappings . of NAMLEON'S faiour No! fijAid it heaven, iliac any Englishman could be su base, •so forge:ful of his own, and of his Coilutry's Honour From whatever motive, this exhibition has taken place, it is not the less dese:ving, undorall'the circumstances, of Public execration. fa a work whose sale is confessedly areat and which hitherto has deservedly held the highest rank amoNst our Periodical publications, it is a thing' se tiously •to 'be lain:lite.' that King' Louie"—" Kiwg jo;ePh"—" Empress Josephine"—" King - ,Tatiehim," fee. shill thus`bc held up to the familiar gaze ani!'adiniration of the various classes of society, many 'of Whi•TyCa re unable to distingiiish between the mid . radiance of legitimate roy alty atid.the glare of snecessful viliainy ; it is to be lament ed that * they slitiuld thus be lamiLarized with the Usurped honours of one man whose insatiate ambition has filled ;the werld with 'wide aud orphans, and of another, to fix whom Entirely on a Throne, instead of his original attor ney's desk,. the cold blooded Tyrant is now marching his lnurderons legioils to complete t4e subjugation of a devoted country. •• • • Had it even been given without a comment, criticism might perhaps have been allowed • to• deep; but we cannot he silent, when it is actually blazoned forth as a representa boa of •"'one of the most extraordinary events of modern times." Extraordinary, indeed, it is, and the only modern event which can equal it is, that it should have been pro duCed forthe 4dmiration of a loyal and a free people, by a Ci-aetia4 friend of liberty. Nothing, indeed, can be more fulsome, than the adulation which marks the accompany ing' fetter prows ; we bre to ld of " six personages, whose times will always continue to be famous in the history of Europe ;" we hear that, theigenius BUONAPARTE has given" this Coroisation,•" a degree of solidity . and conse quence, which renders it in an histbrieal and political sense, the greatest event of tlieui.evelititil times," and that " these events will live iii Cie page of history, and never ceav to pOsse.ss . eonsiderablo i.nterest with , mankind I" . • That there are thire in this country, with whom this is the "'greatest" of events, we can no longer doubt, and that with them it may possess considerable interest: is. &so grotty evident ; we siucerely, hope, however, that the number is but small, and that it does not extend much be- yoad the publisher of the Monthly Magaxiite I I :" ;•. . . • THE eirRICA LS. COVEIVe s 'ciARDWg. If there is any trtith'in that welk-knOwn ado b e* of paiim: mOrtal that th e Drama " ()light to hold the. Mirror -arta Nature"—it iievi4ent that it must be applicable to every species of dramatietomposition., atkd of tfbeatrie presentation ; nor can we sulipose that there is any extra ordinary licence, any clause in ale Oct, which shall exempt even Pantomime from the operation of this* la*. • As the Pindaric is in Poetry, so Winy Paniont - inte be con sidered•with'respect to the Scenic Art the One goes beyond the common rules, though stillosubjett ti)" rhyme and ,iiie.i suce # so with the-other—ted by Fancy; it passes the limits of Nature, retraceithe stein of ~Antiquity; holds fellimi ship with the Deities of Heathen mythology, or with the neer . ° mantic wand of Gotpic superstilidn, embodies all the sprites and flys of the early romance ; in short, it seeks assistance from the Genii of Film and Folly, and is not ashamed to he ;leen arm in arm 'Yet, for all ibis, there ought to be a ;tchs'aiit iieitiore iraprobahilities with out air ea, can oil etcito disgust ill witurcr THE NATIONAL REGISTER. Bs7 minds; and even ilte pl•ttui atiagivattuus 01 are soon tired of an eternal round ut prancing and Tering without incident, of transforinAtinns without apparent ire- tenuity, and of the gew-gaws and meretricious glittci of phittip figurantes, though testoirned•With' ruses, aim titin'd with all the signs bl the zodiac. ' • ' ''Tis with some diffidence we have entered on these ani. ! madversions, as the entertamehts Of the liolkday Week, are iii general Considered as beinic either` aboveabove or below Criticism t• yet this' is, perhaps, 'liking for granted, that which . yet remains' to be proved; nor can we' see any reason why even the amtiseMents'Of the chearful grouper in the scholastic recess, should not be subservient to theii • . • mental improvement. . ' Tki - Pantomime we may, indeed, allow a more eiten.?vo field; there are children of g larger grtiwth4ho eel the lash of the Satirist. *hen sentimental truisms would pass unnoticed; 'tisthe duty of the Stage, " to spew vice her own im;i4e," 'although we - cannot, perhapi; refiittn the wicked, we may still render the frivolous ashhuted tof their folly, and *even prompt to at: e:xercise of the' minor virtues, by a whimsical display of tire Absurdities or thou. oppdstte, In short, PANTqIIIIII is tpe CAIIICATURIC of Dranilitie Poetry; the figures ut both, either in whole or in part, nay he' drawn beyond the ilattral proportion, yet • a likelass must still lie preserved, otherivise the effect is destroyed' We are sorry to say 'that the application of thiip•siase • rules, has been - very little attended to, 'in the liiii/cqvie Pedlar of this season, so pompously announced' as the pr_o• duction'of intense • Study and great 'preparation I- 01 the one, indeed, we see but little evitience in 'the jumfilini, ut not combining, a fesi whimsiCal mcidentii—and as to the other, it surely could notite traced in machipery, which mew; off at half, cock, or in the blunders of the wadi/risk which would' have disgraced a 'rehcarsul. It would be un= just, however, to apply indiseriMinate 'censure; for much of the scenery is elegantly picturesque, and the'performers did their hest, though their antic evolution's Were marred by the necessity which they were often under of regulat ing their motions by the discordant motions <the scene shifters, for Whose egregious errors there can possibly be no mow. the transformations might have had a good elect, had their heel& any story to connect them in the but'lhe Onl mark of intellect we could perceive in the ei)::struction o f the 'piece, was the ignorant vanity mid stupid ignorance of the Clown, who having broken all the strings of t.is imagined himself playing, whilst going through the motions, 'because Harlequin was playing behind him, a trait out inapplicable in the ordinary inter. course of life. Of the earlier evening entertainments, the less is said the better; the IVheel of Fortune Was perfortnend on Wednes day night. having been brought forward for the first time this season on the sec ond night of the re con ciliation; but to compare the Penrud d ork of the former to that of Christmas week.—Oh Hyperion to a Satyr 1" Ought those things to be sot • • . . LYCEUM THEATRE. Is GENIUS asleep, or absent, that we can have no hope of seeing his companion movacry even in a Pantomime ? • Or, to what must we attribute the resurrection of Cinderella with her glass Slipper? This; indoed, like the Fairy Tale from whence -it is taken, is an exhibition which aims at moral,.nor does it fail of succeeding, and even of exciting a lively • inwrest, independent of its brilliant machinery. 'Tie however inorepoOperty, a Spectacle than a Pantomime, having no Harlequin/6- punish the blunders of the Clown; a part of these performances, which the Junior part of the audience are nut inclined to dispense with. Of the perfor mers, it May be said that they did their best, but of Mr. Robert, that he did more - as his acting in the Prince was carriet - iteyend easicature,. unless that in his last trip to .Paris, he may have taken a lesson from the Kings, Queens, rEillC4l) and Priocelses, " our brother. and sisters, nieces