The National Register. — London, England, 1808-09-26 00:00:00

690 .6..yoftter ..,~ . o A a kind audieiice, an at last successful. She spoke all her si eretws with fed .ng and judgment. and in her mad scenes the plain iveness of her tones, and the sweetness with which she t.er wiif! Jittie , 4*d the unaffected simplicity of her acting, were trat , den A ntfttb i Her voice is very pleasing though not v r :old her taste seems correct. Her gestures were now and then renderclstiff and aw kward, evidently by the fear foil aux tet of her criwt. But we have no doubt that the grati fying r. ception oil!. stir has met, single voice hav ing beet, raied apir , t her, frill enable her, when she next ap pears, to trt.onlth eitirels over apprehension, and display her powers to the greatest advauta,;es. !Allston during the two first acts wa.i less spirited thin usual, ai.J betzeil every .tp i i -- ttmity o: qtoilnig toe harsvon tbt the metre by shorseniog " Mat " is" into one syllable,and lengthening monosyllahles into two. In the conclu•lin.: acts his tire rekindled itself, and in the last scene he att4c..ed the 1i ag wi , .h so much impenosity am fury that hr hurled poor Mr. Powell headlong down from his throne upon the vett• that led toil. Mrs. Powell is grown thinner, but looked beter Wan we ever sass her. Mr. Putnam robed the part of ',aerie:, above its usual insignificance. This actor pos sesses talents which he might improve with ap...vication and study so as to fill higher characters in the Drama titan be at present noes. On Titursday, Mr. Striven, frori the Thentre Royal rdin burgh, made atsa his or the hoards of Drury Lane, in 'he part of /lodge, in the Opera of Love en a ril!Age. Unlike the lady whom we have already mentioned, and persuaded that " Audacm Fortuna jawat," he determined to carry the night by impudence With • brazen countenance he met the first glance of the puhli , •,, astonished them by the ease and consciousness of success which he displayed and actually imposed upon their judgment. Though far inferior to our best comic performers at this mometv , he is also endowed with talents which are capa ble of great improvement. Being probably accustomed to play in a smaller house, he evidently fancied that the size of Drury Lane required loader vociferation and an increased vehemence of action. But here his judgment partly forsook him : for thaa; : h :•aueds weakened by extension might be lost in the mag nitude of the hnuse, he, being the permanent focus of vision, could not experience the same fate, and the smallest motion of his features would be as clearly descried as their useless con tortions. Mi Seriven's countenance is not bad, but, like Mun den's, it is become so moveable, through his indulging iu constant grimace, or caricature, that, like a barometer in an April morn, it continually varlets, expressing all the passions in a rapid suc cession. His vice, which now and then imitates Eniery s rustic simplicity of tone, generally bursts with a vulgar degree of lcudness at the beginning ofa sentence, like Grimaldi's in the few words which he introduces in pantoinime ,, ,and then sinks away in au ahrnpt and unpleasant manner. Thus in his songs the two first words of every line were always bawled out, and formed a striking but tiresome contrast with the conclusion of it. Mr. Striven ought to listen to Hamlet's instructions to the players, and he would then saw the air less furiously with his arms, scratch his head less frequently, and dance, skip about the shore and make faces more moderately. Such as he is, he was w ell received, and as he possesses some humour, great ease, and much spirit . . and his faults proceed from overacting his part, instead of being unable to come up to it, he has only to prune off a few luxuriances to meet with our, as he has done with the public, approbation. Miss Lyon sang delightfully. The improvements of this young, handsome, and pleasing actress, in taste, extent of voice, and execution, become every day more striking. Mr. Dow ton WO inimitable in his scene with her in the garden; and in that with Johnstone in which his embarrassment, mixed with anger, at his aPighbour's intrusion, melts at last into returning good humour, gave us more satisfaction than any piece of comic acting th.l we tad witnessed for a long tune. Mrs. Sparks did not di , gr:,::• Mrs. I ), is old character, and Mrs. Bland and Mrs. Mathews pr , teed ta:it the soul of harmony. was not confined to the former lady, but could also inspire their tongue. Last ni.:•ht Mrs. Jordan made her first appearance this season, as usual, in The Country Girl. Her shape has somewhat im proved, for she has lost bath in size and weigut ; and on this account, as Laiies are generally fond of acting in opposition to the opinion of others, though she continues to wear the breeches, sbe has chosen them wider than formerly. Her spirit is not damped by years; Nature, and even You:Turin. Nature, still finds a faithful representative in het; and her ease and airy lig.litaess still impose onoursight, aad make us forget the woman n:' vin The Country Girl. The Opera House, in the Haymarket, is to be opened, ibis evening, .ind the first petformance4 of 'the Covent Garden Co patty there, are to be the Tra,,edy of Dangles, and the ne m „f Rosin. Thus the public will not be long deprived of tne benefit which they have beeu accustomed to receive from toe exercise t,f the high talents Covent Gardeu slicatre possessed in every department of the Drama. POPULAR Pk ERS. No. VII. Lnguage plain, And plain in manner: decent, solemn, chaste, Aud natural in Aesture ; sw.ch impressed lliim de, as cow cions of hit awful charge, anxious that Cie flock he feeds May feel it ton ; affecticnate in look, And temier in address, us well becc,ines A messenger of grace to guilty nicu.—CorepEit. RF:V. WILLiANI PARSONS, nr LE.1 3 0.', rOsiKSHIRE. OF those practices implicitly adopted in compliance with the opinion of the mu,:.tude, there is none more consricu• ously predominaat than what is called " going out town." Duriii,.; certain week, if not months, this metro polis seems deserted by its leading 11:nabstants. Talk of the fanaticism of the vulgar, it is nothia t ; m hen compared with the frenzy of fashion ! This extends even to the p.d pit.—" The Rev. John Moore and Sidney Smith, wlicre arc they 1" 66 In the country, 1 believe, Sir." " The Et v. Mr. llaslewood, does he preach here to-day ?" ; he is, at present, out of town." What of the Rev. Itos land Hill, and of , and of -- why, these also disdain now to sojourn in the smoke and stir of London. Thus great men absent themselves as they pl eas e, w hil e inferior mortals are compelled to submit to the terrible privation. Evangelical teachers, it must however be confessed, ma nage this matter infinitely better than the established clergy. While the latter act as if they admitted, that " all Shepherds are alike " To wandering Sheep, resolv'd to follow n,ine;" and while these, accordingly, leave the discharge of their pastoral duties to anybody or nobody ; the fornr;r, on the contrary, evince something like suitable respect for the feelings of their flocks. If Mr. Hill is in Gloucestershire., or in Dublin, Mr. Jay is in Blackfriars Road : wliJc. Mr. Jones occupies its pulpit., Spa-Fields Chapel is not a'nut dolled ; nor can Tottenham-Court reasonably !timed the absence of Mr. Hyatt, when it is Mr. Parsons who ofiiciates in his stead. So essential is the distinction between sup plying and substitution. Tottenham-Court-Road Chapel, and the Tabernacle of Moorfields,—what recollections do these sanctuaries excite, what reflections do they provoke ! No longer wanderers in the wilderness of this world, religious Itinerants are berime regular Theologians ; they have arrived in the ',remised laud, flowing, comparstively . at least, with mirz. and ho ney I George Whitfield declaimed in fields, John Wesley discoursed in barns, and both appealed to the outcas, of civilised society ; but their successors lean on comfortable cushions, and address themseh es to ambitious audiences, in commodious, sometimes elegant, conventieles, All seems metamorphosed. Nothing is wanting , to complete the change, but decent deaneries, proud preendaries, and magnificent mitres I These observations are natural, and, when impartia l ly considered, they will be found perfectly excusable. It has long been customary to complain of religious establibh ments, as incompatible with the primitive simplicity of Christianity, without remarking the natural course o f hu man institutions. Nothing among men is long stationary it is either retrograde, or progressive. Just as reasonably ,might we require the present followers of Whitfield and Wesley to demolish their numerous chapels, and assemb l e - 'L 4 jiinMha.ass . • ~. L REGISTER.- 11,.. SEPTEMBER 26. . TIT.