The National Register. — London, England, 1811-03-10 00:00:00

*SA DRAMATIC 'REGISTER. LYCEUM. In my last it will be remembered I expressed an intention of taking up the new' comedy of " Ourselves." I. was induced to make this promise because the play is something above the pro ductions of most wiiters of the present day ; and as it is very seldom that I see a new comedy that I can conscientiously pro rounce to be gold, when one Appears that at all, approaches that description, I cannot find in my heart to part with it imine dtately. • The plot has already been given in the daily newspapers; but givt!ri so, that it loses all its effect, and appears flat and uninte resting. As, k really seems to' me a very difficult task to avoid this, I am afraid if I were to attempt giving it, I should but add (me to the number of abortive efforts which have already been inade. With this feeling I shall content myself with giving my *pinion of its general merits. The fable of "Pur.leires" is ingriiious, and if it boasts nothing singularly striking, it has one great claim on our approbation in coataininz nothing offensively extravagant. Its progress Is pleas ing, and some interest and much curiosity are excited There kno attempt to fix the attention by conjuring isp those horrors which are so much in request in this laughing age. Nothing is introduced but what is perfectly consonant to the principles of genteel c3niedy. A delineation of real life is all the author has attempted, and exposure of lashivaabl e follies appears to have been her grand object. Having stated this, it may naturally enough be asked, how the has succeeded in the execution of her design. Tu this I am happy to be i able to reply, she has succeeded, generally speaking, better than most writers of the present day; and in some in stances she is not merely entitled to applause, but to admiration. The incidents which occur in the course of the piece, are not only pleasing in thent;elves, but they have great pretensions to •riginality; and it is no small praise to say of a niGderil nt'lL 9 co• Weedy that it, boasts nove'ty. The dialogue is uncommonly good. It never swells into the turgid bombast of R EY tsoLos, when he wishes toile serious, nor does it ever sink into his maudlin inanity an.l flimsy imperti nence whet: he strives to be comic. The :,raver parts ate free from cant, and the lighter scenes are never lengthened out with • a string of worn out jests, or unmeaning puns. The attempts at humour are for the most part fair, and they are seldom fol lowed up too far so as to give the audience 44 too intich rfa good • The characters are well drawn, and the lovers in particelat have been so far attended to, that they are really persons of some importance. None of the Dramatis Pers , lna• are entirely new to the stage, but the manner in which they are disposed of prevents this detect being sensibly felt, and though some ificon sistenies of conduct migilt Le \veil noticed, which detract in some ni:•asurc from the value of the whole, yet where there is .c) much to praise, I thin:: something may well be forgiven. If ill? critic will never praise till it i* impossible for him to find any thing to censure, I fear he might lonj be silent, and finally fall the victim of leis own spleen, as " Whnever thinks a faultless piece to we, Thinhs what nor i 3, ma was, nor e'er will be." I cannot take my leave of Miss CuAMßl:lis on' tile present ace. , sion without noticing the appeals to feeling with which we are treated in tiie Frolunge and Epilonge on account of the piece !ring thc• production 07 a Lady, and of the Au thor of " The Sch,ol fur Friends." That piece is written by aj,ady ig corta!tdy much to the credit of the s(-x, and 04: :t was written by the Author of " The, Scitholfbr Frir:rds," was certainly holding out A promise of something tolerable, yet &filter of these considerations ought to have been so uergd , and ne . ithcr of them would have had the effect of dis- THE NATIONAL REGTSTM. arming my resentment had the play been bad. The honest critic spares neither 'sex nor age. It is the play, and not the author on which he is to pass sentence, and if other consider ations were to be allowed to influence his decision, he would shortly be called upon to praise the moat contemptible farrago of trash that could be 'produced, as it might be said to be the pro- . duction of a child. Miss CuAMnsxs• _ ought to hold it beneath her thus to come forward as a candidate for compassion. Shy ought not to strive to gain indulgence, but to deserve applause. If indeed she were in distress, I should be glad to hear a baneat was to be given to her, and would•readily contribute my mitt towards her relief, and I might give it the more freely, because the object of charity was a lady, and the author of" The - Sclsooi for Friends." These considerations, however, would lonse their weight if brought forward to excuse a bad p:ay. They ought not to be entertained for a moment, and if Miss C. should produce another comedy, I hope like" Ourselves," it will deserve praise from its own merits, and not gain support merely because she lit a lady, and author of " The School for Friends." MR. COOKE, THE ACTOR. The follcrwiir copy of a letter from Mr. Cooke was received by his friend, Mr. incledon, on Wednesday morning : " Boston, New England, N. America, Jan. 14,1811. "DEAR Sia—This is the first letter I have writer to EU. rope, from which my departure was only the result of a few hours deliberation. On the hth of October hest, I sailed from Liverpool, and arrived at New York's on the 16th of Novem ber. The latter part of the voyage was very tempestuous, and many vessels were lost. I was received by Mr. Pricet, one of the Managers, in a very friendly and hospitable manner, and at whose house I remained while I continued in, that city. On Wednesday, the. 21st of November, I made my first appearance before an American audience, and was re ceived by a splendid and crowded assemblage in a most flat tering manner. I acted seventeen nights to some of the greatest houses ever known in the New World. My own night exceeded four hundred guineas. On the 29th of December, in company of Mr. Price, I set out, in one of the best passage-boats I ever saw, for Newport, Rhode Islandt, which we reached, after a most pleasant trip, in twenty-two hours, and after a short stay, left in a commodious carriage for this town. We slept on Sun day at Taunton, and arrived here on Monday. :fly first ap pearance on Thursday following, in the new play of Richard, which was repeated the next night. This was also my first play in New YUrk, where they,had it three times, and so will the good people here. The house filled as at New York, and my reception equally flattering. New York is the handsomest and largest house. NVe return to that city on Saturday the 29th, and ab• Jut the 10th of March, journey on to Philadelphia, from the: cc to Baltimore, where my engagement ends ; but I shall return to New York, to embark for Liverpool. My time was passed at the last mentioned city in a most agreeable manner, as almost every day, rat of business, we had parties. at Mr. P's, or at tl:e houses of some ofthe principal inhabitant We are going on the same way here ; with this exception, we are lodged at the Exchange Coffee-house, one of the largest and most extraordie nary buildings I ever saw, and of consequence I miss and rem gret the kind, polite. attention of Mrs. P. at whose house. 1 imagined myself in my own, and feel highly gratified at the near prospect of returning to it. Mr. Barnard is one of the Managers here, hut, I believe, retires from it at the conclusion of the season. Theatricals are conducted at both Theatres ill-4 • New York Theatre holds about 2;000 dollars, it is . situated in the higher part of the City, called the Park, where the Courts of Ju,tiee are held. • t Stephen Pnce, Esq. is an eminent Solicitor of 71;:w York, and is, or w.tay in partnership•with Mr. Washington Morton. — He is a joint Lessee with Mr. Cooper, the Actor, in holding the property of the Theatre, and superintends its managenae,lit Ut the abs( , nce of Mr. Cooper. t Mr. Cooke alludes here to the-elegant passage boats which convey passengers from and to New York, by running up the Sound between Connecticut and Long Island ; the price of the pas.age is ten dollars for each person, tor which sum you are provided with a bed and board of the most satisfactory kind. — These boats are built in imitation of thc gailiots and cocbe d'eaus of France, but are infinitely more handsome. The distance frogs New York. to the town of Providence in Rhode Island, is about ‘2,()0 miles, and at the latter place they tAtkelhe stage. AT - which is abut 1G miles 'lista:zee. .4 ~.ial. 0