The National Register. — London, England, 1812-09-20 00:00:00

SEPT no POETRY. ON IIEAttINO THAT nun ge TIIANs-ATLANTIC BRETIIRIIN," IN A RE- ri.NT NAVAL FAIGAGLMENT LEP(' IIILIA DECKS, AND " RUN ALLOW " TO SAVE THEIR LIVES Sons politicians, w;se and shrewd, T(Il us, we're of the brotherhood Of each AMEn IC.► N sire •gym ; BLit it in►teed our kin they te, From ii h,w ditrri•ut when at sea, Since, fighting, they find courage to run! .CRETUS STATUE OF MR. SHERIDA?i. TIIE NATIONAL REGISTER. DRURY-LANE ADDRESSES. TO THE EDITOR. Sin—Having met with the fnilowing sensible observations on sect which has excited so 1110(.11 public interest and expectation ; ;)eriodical Work of considere'ble titelit, called The Cosmopolite, I they will be welcome to your readers, and prevent disappointmet teaching them what kind of excellence is likely to be crowned with cess io the present competition. I sincerely wish, however, that the author i f these remarks, and myself, may have formed an error opinion of the judgmeut of the Coininittt e, and that the superi , .r the sentiments a=cct poetry, awnd not its theatrical fitness, w a y the sole ground on which arty Address will be preferrtd : I remain, Sir, Your's, SPECTA " The Committee who are to choose, from among these competition addresses, one which will suit their purpose, must have formed some: previous notions in regard to the manner in which the Theatre will bet managed. They must have decided, in their own muds, whether to make a hold stand in belmlf of the genu i ne diama, by presenting thee public with reAldug hut chat is classical amid elegant ; or whether to. pamper wiaitever absurd taste may rise up. by playing only such. pieces as are profitable and attractive. 'they must, too, consider that; the lime and attention which they have bestowed on the concern. them eistrumeutality in rresing again the oe-eolished structure and present.' tug it as a tribute or temple to the Muses—entitles them rifle- r to P 1 portion, or to none, of the merit which the public are ever disi.oset to award to those who provide for them gratifying entertainmeet. " Of these preconceived notions the pre7er - ed address must say no - thieg ; or, if any th.tig be said, it must be in perfect tinisoe with tin • views and opinions of the Coma:ince, whaeyer oey are. This sub.. st ottiates what was said before, that it will not be the bfaety 4:r bin of the sentiments and nllusiwei, which will pike the decision of the judges. but their applicability to. anti concordance %.ith, the ideas which the Committe : have formed, in regard to the mar.age ment .1 their new establislittent. How errout ous, therefore, is it to regard this competition as a tiial of poetic kill ; or to imagine tn. t its result will 'blow any considerable light nit tl,e stute of poetic coae. position at time present period. If (iitlinl had eelarged the bee...- get of addresses by a spark of Lis classic satire and caustic we if Campbell had sent some of his strains lull of the true tire feeling of poetry,—if Crabhe had contributed his portieri of pathei and [neural descriptitee—or if both Southey and Scott had comet-rot d to curb and chasten the wild exuberances of their genius fur the casiou—all their preduations wet tild very probably h e •t laid lei.te r , and the effusioes of soma minor pee accepted. 'nu. would have oeeir t , •o bold and severe in applying the critical scourge; Wiele that woall have been too sanguine in its anticipations, and too %Val 111 in its ex tions at returning sense and reviving nature. One wauld, perhaps, have too tri.ly told the detemerated state of popular taste ; tied the other would probably have taken too high a filet)• to be able to stn p to pay a passing t ouiclimeht to the exerti ns or the C. minittee. The talents it these great poets would ha‘e been ine,letat•d, :les • tlica aoxiety for the chgeity amid reptereion of the ge• eine dr,,.ea p bl) betrayed them lee. some sublime and (cousevently apinopriate)s let() some noble (and of caurse out or ) Poetic excellence would have been overlooked in the search atter seine. neat, pretty, will-turned conichineut; and timely cmtti, ism, II feared,. would have been passed by, in an endeavour io find on - meta , ..,.eclous• and ingenious apology for complyieg with the taste . t do • Unless the opium.) , at the several menthe:, to the Drum y ka. , u;a inittee, in regard to dramatic entertaina.enrs preseet and as they ought to he conducted, had been pubiicl . knei. hand, it was absurd and idle to expect any public ited of potai. n:•••it : for atortuitaus, rather than a mound, aptituee of thouelit nud sum will now bear away the palm ; and s. roc blett, Veotlier, wh i! . ay chalice to have stumbled on the same strain of thhaing his,emeges,, will beat down all upposidoie even that of genius tied ;xcel.teice." Screnty•nine poetical Addresses have been tron,initted to Drury-. )ne Theatre. The new Opera, composed by Sir John Stephen.tor, and whie!! is forthcoming at the Lyceum, was written by Mr. ('ode, an 11.0.'1 Gen,!tt man—and, according to report, it possesses no ordwriry share ut merit. The celebrated Mr. Arthur Young, and the no lest c-let.vated Walcot, better known by the name of Peter Pcndar, have bath, to; line tutee past, been afflicted with total bbninsess. The Building Comipittee of the city of Lon , lon have 'narked out to ground for the new square, il.tenderl to be built in ; and tilits extensive work is ordered to &e carried into immediate execution. 557 a sub- 1, in a I trus t .nt, .nine bot - meoult rite o prove(' I I'OR . some: rill bet her to lig the. her to. y suelt. er that: them resent.' • r t.• Pt• • si..inCt say no - call 9 is sub.. r ti- the iat.age. is if to UC Lu. t C C 0,3. LI WI. -!• u-cht d TO ME EDITOR. SIR—It has been mentioned in the literary circles, that the statue of Mr. SHERIDAN was one of those which the Pro prietors, intend to Mace a7nong the decorations of the New Dror, -:ane Theatre. The following distich, if not adopted, as an inscription, might, however, elicit, from a better pen, a Int A-e appro late one. SHERIDAN. Duni hqueris, pim:lllm Con% iva, Tlteatra, Senatus; --Sancivit que: tuns ip!.a Thalia Saies. I remain, &c. September 13, 181'2. DRAMATIC REGISTER. COVENT-GARDEN. On Thursday the Butletta of " Midas" was revived with rceat s i lendour. The first and last scenes were wonderfully 'grand, the machinery admirab!e, and the whole prAnctive of the happiest effect. Mr. Si NC r. A R appeared to great ad vantage in " the yellow-hairOGod ; and EMERY was more than himself in Pan. LIST ut , looked the character of/lidos very Well, and in some parts, particUlarly in the scene where he decides between Pau and Apollo, found an opportunity of displaying much humour, and of giving his part a colour ing which was irresistibly laughable. The song, however, which he sings just before be takes the judgment seat was, in our opinion (though the audience seemed pleased with it), .exactly that thing which it ought not to he. Occasionail . N . he gave it an air of burlesque, but as a whole it was miserably feeble considered as a burlesque, and if it were to be seriously . rega/ded as a vocal pet formance, it is difficult to find an ex pression f)f contempt which would not be well bestowed on it. To us it appeared that Mr. LIsToN was really anxious to gain the reputation of a good singer, and only threw in nn air of burlesque when the coolness of the audience put his ravit) out of countenance, The other characters were well sustained, and the Barletta altogether went off with the greatest possible eclat. HAYMARKET. " Speed the Plough" was on Friday performed for the purpose of bringing fo, ward a Miss Ga4N r in the cha racter of Susan Ashfield. The appearance of this young lady is more in her favour than her performance. She has a good person, but we could discern in her no promise of future excellence. She met with a favourable reception, and in characters of this description may be found useful, though she has little chance of becoming eminent. The other parts of the cast, with the exception of MuNDEI4, in Sir Abel Handy, were very indifferent indeed. Mr. BET TERT ON'S Bob Handy, Mr. BENNETT'S Farmer Ashfield, Mr. SA LT ER's Henn?,, and, we may add, (though not without reluctance, as talent, though perverted, is still entitled to respect) Mr. GRANT'S Sir Philip, might have done very well for a country barn, or even for the Theatre Royal Highgate, but they were wholly unworthy of the London boards. • mii®