The National Register. — London, England, 1808-03-06 00:00:00

,; MARCH 6. Captain Walden was sworn into the command of the ship In dus, consigned to Madras and Bengal. The Court adjourned at si v o clock. Friday a Court of Directors was held, when Captain Thomas Price, of the ship Alexander, took leave of the Court, previous to departing fur Nlaileira and Bombay.-- -The Court adjourned at six o'clock till Wednesday next. Letters received at the East India House yesterday morning, from St. Helena, dated :Id January, state, that the extra, ships Clot - ) , Northampton. Ann, Sarah, Christiana, Diana, Sir Wil atti Pulteney, and Union, outward-bound, arrived at Table the 7th of December last, under convoy of his Majesty's ship Monntout h. The Adventurer Whaler, Captain Parker, arrived at St. He lena the 27th December.—NO ludiamen at St. Helena. THE THEATRES. THE Orisß At this emporium of fashion, and of frivolity, the present 'neck. has produced a new comic opera, whose title (under pre text' circumstances), has given rise to some arch allusions; we are, however, unwillingly obliged to postpone it, until the next vieck, through want of room. DIM RI LINE. For another long week " poor Old Drury" has prelented us with nothing but " Kais, or Love in a Desert ;" until at last, as poor Kais stood the chance of being left alone in the Desert, the Managers thought it expedient to try their " Chances," by the representation of the comedy of that name, under the altera tions of the present day. There is no comedy which has under gone so many alterations perhaps as thi: one : Buckingham, Beaumont and Fletcher, Garrick. and latterly a modern literary pumice * have all, in their day, endeavoured to tit it to the taste of the times, 'hut ne are sorry to observe that it still contain, the prurient pens, and quaint indelicacies, which disgraced the stage at the time it was orig inally written. To be so often altered for representation. shews that this comedy possesses some magic charm, some perfection that must at all times give it a zest ; and so indeed it does, for it actually has a plot, with rapid hwtir. and striking situation, without either a srarmiog pan or a china closet. The performance was throughout respeetahle,and Mrs..iordan, was received with loud applause; she ought, however, to recollect that althoug,b Convtantia is a hoyden, khe is vet a simple one, and not quite so kotwing as the Constantin of Tuesday night. The comedy `vas followed by a new musical afterpiece, " In or out of Tune ;" of this, the idea is originally taken from the novel of " Old Nick," in which the whole family of a London merchant (then retired in the country), are completely music mad, even to the degree of having the house bells hung in tune, stud the servants speaking in reeititative. The idea, therefore, is not original, but as it has never beeu dramatised before, we had reason to expect some entertainment from the pen of Mr. Lawler, the reputed author ; if, however, we are to credit a report which was loudly bawled out in the 'louse, that it has been overhauled by pirates, and is now imposed upon the public under neutral colours, we cannot but express our disapprobation of such proceedings, and feel fully warran ed in saying that the most reprehensible parts of the piece must be those foisted in for the purpose of disguise. Some allusion to this circumstance has already been made, in a lately published novel, and we know that a gentleman in the pit, prettiest& to the rising of the curtain, detailed to those around him, all the characters and incidents as they afterwards occurred!! ! Much pains were taken to en sure its success by a numerous collection of friends; hut this kind of applause is easily discovered, as it is in general loudest, where there is most in casino for censure. The performers did their best, but some of the characters seemed introduced merely for the purpose of singing their songs, talking broad Se.itch, and manufacturing a few Irish hulls. There was one song of Julmstoues, abounding w Mt indecent allusions, and which, Oh, shame where thy blush ?" was encored even from the boxes—perhaps, the rouble entendres in the comedy, had smoothed the way for their infringements on decency, which arc but too frequent. As the pi..ce was taken from " Old Nick," it had .:early been sp l it back to the same gentleman, hut though it escaped this lot. it has convinced us of the error in the old proverb, which says that diets; cannot be !ley bites uf a Cherry. .••••••, • ......•••••••• 4 *"..4 4 ".•••• • 4,4 •:•• • . THE NATIONAL REGISTERI 15.7 =II corENT GARDEN, As usual in the sombre season of Lent, has recommenced her Sacred Oratorios with the first part of Tim Car.AT ton, and a miscellaneous selectiou; but the pressure of more urgent matter precludes our entering this week into musical criticism. During this week we have seen no other novelty, but have been highly pleased with the repetition of the new farce, in which the per formers are now moreat home, and do it every justice—lt may appear invidious to particularise, but we cannot help noticing Liston in Caper, who not only acts, but also dresses the charac ter extremely well ; his affectation of grief, at opening the will, is highly characteristic, and the testy terror with which he listens to the " warbled complaints" of Miss Softly, it is impossible to excel!. Fawcett, also, with a happy discrimina tion, gives a full display of his comic powers in extempore, without any caricature; this enables us to smile at the Poet, without destroying the interest which ought still to be felt, fur the lover of the gay 'Vida o Belloir. THE DILA ATIC DETECTOR. No. 111. What pert low dialogue has Farquhar writ : Bow *Van wants grace, who never wanted wit: The stage, how loosely does Astreleat tread, Who fairly puts all characters to bed ! The Managers of Theatres are an order of men, who, from certain causes totally iudepentlant of their own desert, such as the extension of newspaper criticism, &c. have been for some time attracting more and more of the public attention. But by people in general, the word Manager is not fully understood. It has two meanings; and denotes, in its first sense, the Manager properly so called, who is employed by the Proprietors, at a certain salary, as a sort of steward, and who sometimes acts as Mr. Lewis lately did at Covent Garden, sometimes merely set tles the stage business, as Mr. Younger did some years ago at Drury Lane. In its second, and more enlarged sense, it signifies a Proprietor of the Theatre; and the faults of this second class are perpetually imputed to the former, who have as little power of pres euting or curing them as tl se least considerable actor in the theatre. There are certainly faults, and thole of a most flagrant de scription, which are committed in our theatres, and which de mand the public reprobation ; btu we- regret that the public re probation is not. directed to thi• real offenders: we arc sorry to see Acting Managers perpetually stigmatized for what Pro prietors have done. 'We shill always endeavour to distinguish carefully between the province of the Proprietor, and the pro vince of the mere Manager : and we will now take a survey of the principal faults committed by the Proprietors. Those faults are of three descriptions, inasmuch as they are committed towards three different classes of persons, the authors, the ac tors, and the public. And th vise+ many of the faults rom;nit ted towards the authors and tl e actors, affect also the remaining body of the public; yet as they most particularly operate upois those two sets of people, it is, perhaps, the easiest and clearest way to discuss separately the inj vstice done to each : and first of the public in the widest sense of that word. The Proprietors of the lanit'im Theatres exhibit plays by patent from the Crown : and the Crown grants this patent far the benefit of the public. But is exercised in the spirit with which it is granted? Are the Proprietor of tles:e patents, merely, as they ought to he, receive vs of an income. due to them for public services ? No : they at t, too frequently, retrsons, who, for the purposes of private e.holinent, cactliice all the great objects which they are deputed to promote, and disgrace the reputation of their country and 'lsi'r art, by the very power which is given them for extending and exalting it. rhentres are but courts of a petty description. Both alike air ilt first established fur the sake of the multitude: both bavt• the i r ministers, and both have their intrigue t. In each all •e tt.e plunder of the public is the support of the public serval IS: in each are carried on all the important and useful sciences of in gratitude and falshood, oppression and rapacity. Bel t, in short, were contrived for the just advantage of the many ; both end in the corrupt emolument of a few. set no one cols dude, that courts and theatres are national evils, for that would be to argue against good from its abuse; but let all who have any influence upon the minds of Englishmen, exert their it titiost dilierence in scouring from time to time Lae Weis st hich in the country's ornaments. When we now take up our torUShp V r anburf„h. t Mrs. Helm II