The National Register. — London, England, 1808-02-14 00:00:00

FEB. 11. ravan fur Mecca, though why they should go to Meeca in their way to Circassia, is left to the audience to find out. They meet, as usual, with the plundering Arabs, by whom they are robbed and separated. and Lti la and Ahmed soon meet the same fate :—at the moment the robbers have seized upon ilinoran steps in and ransoms her, with a jewel worth may sequins, although he had been robbed and stripped but a few minutes before. finis is next seen amongst rocks, sphynxes and blasted trees, where he talks much. and sings more about dying, Ste. Ile is at Lost traced by his faithful ;llama:or; and after some time, a meeting takes place between the two fathers, who rail at each other through a long dialogue. when just as they are drawing their scimetars, the Prince of ; ;gy pt steps in and r,eonciler them. nitrvrent parties are sent in pursuit of the wanderers, who go through several scenes of ,aide-and-reek, in the Desart, when a party of soldiers arrives, headed by an officer, who seemed quite out of breath, whilst he informed them that he was seta to bring them to Papa. Quick as thought, nr as a telegraphic dispatch, they return to Cairo, which is brilliantly ilintuinated on the occasion, and, as the old story goes, " all ends happily.". such is the outline of the Opera, on which a great expellee has been incurred in scenery ; yet, however brilliant this was, it was nevertheless disgusting to those at all acquainted with Egyptian or Desart Landscape. In one scene, a e have the volcanic mountains and larch trees, of the North-west American Coast ; in another, are masses of rocks, cold enough to repre sent the icebergs of Greenland. The music, in general, seemed much admired, though some Olt-boas friends, by their early and obstinate encores, gave dis gust to the audience in general. A song, which Abnoran was forced to sing, having a drawn seintetar hung over him, seemed to afford much amusement, though Bannister shay observed, that he had never sung before to that instrument. When fame is so long, and perhapsso well established as Mr. Braham's, both for execution and composition, it might seem presumptuous to find fault ; yet, as there is something so in congruous in general between the cadence of the songs as read, and the pauses and starts of his Liner flourishes, it might be a well if the authors would set their songs to his music, instead of his manufacturing music for their songs. In his very first air, fancy runs over the ear in a single crotchet, whilst the next word, of 0/It syllable. has nearly as many attendant notes as the Vince of k had guards. :1' be Opera Was given out for the next evening, amidst the mired clamour of applause and hisses. COU I.; NT G.l RDEN. evening presented us with a new Comedy, in which Hires was so much said about nurrlty and originality, that ! , paireil. in a very early stage of the performance, of tintlitig rititer the one, or the other. Dit d.W 41 . 11 rErtioy.r. alushdale, Mr. Fawcett, Sir Arthur St. ..11byn NIr. Pope. Algernon tit. .11hyn, ( his son), Captain :tludern, Mr. Lewis. So/nee, Mr. Emery. Danvers, Mr. Brunton. Levis, Grulfry, Mr. Simmons. Selina, (Sir Arthur's niece and ward) Miss Sniit!i. Cicely, Dtborah, (housekeeper to Lord Blashdalc, Mrs. Davenport. A dull Prologue, most solemnly delivered by Mr. Brunton, promised us a real, genuine British article, and not as in general " neat as imported ;" closing with a deprecation of early cen sure, and a request to hear it out with patience. limiest Joha listened to this request with his usual good humour, but his pa tience was nearly exhausted by the long interval between the Prologue and the opening ; another circumstance, most certainly an indecorous one, tended, in some degree, to excite disapproba tion. The Proscenium, or Drop Scene, like the invisible pett:- coats, being rather too short, displayed the legs, not only of the Performers, but also of a table and chairs; and a wag in the Pit, from the very social manner, in which they were assembled, en quired if that was the first Act of " Begone Dull Carr r We shall now attempt, slightly, to delineate the Plot of Deroee Duff Care : or, HUle Wifl It End —A ‘Vetch Baronet, Sir dlr thur St. Albyn, appears to be greatly embarrassed by debts, ari sing from digiipation, from which he had expected to be relieved by iulteriting the wealth of a deceased brother ; but this havioi THE NATIONAL REGISTER. been bequeathed to dartrigoll• his 01117 . 11,4rh0 Man, of having prejudiced him, unfairly- ' To guard, however, against the probabt prudence, he comes down to St. Albyn smtde, or even force, his niece Selina, ir commit!, to marry his Friend Mr. Dan lilashdale, hut a needy dissipated viiiaii by a bond to bring about the marriage, partner in his copper-mines, on conditio ing up a bond of 16,0001. Algernon being at Bath, a letter arrives from him to Sir Ar eins., in which he acknowledges having been Married to Seiko. some months back ; and Sir Arthur having notified to Solace, the uperintendant of his Works, that he meant to admit Danvers as a partner, Solace feels himself SO mach hurt, by the previous in solence of Danvers, and by his subsequent attempt to injure him in Sir Arthur's opinion, that he eutkavours, by persuasion, to prevent the partnership taking place ; and is at length unwil lingly obliged to produce a deed given him by the late Sir . Ae- Mar, who, apprehensive of his son's extravagance and impro per connections, involving him in difficulties, hadtaken this mea sure of precaution, allowing Solace a share of the profits, and nominating him a' a future partner, as a reward for his honest and industrious superintendence. Selina is now obliged to leave the Castle, and take shelter is the friendly Cottage of Suture; but previous to this, eicefy, an orphan, protected, educated, and beloved by Solace, arrive from a Boarding School near Bath. much in love, but with whom dnes not appear, moil her agitation at being informed of .V,eretion's marriage induce. us to suspect that be had seduced her. Cicely in despair. resolves to leave the cottage of her protector, and on her way to London, is obliged, at the close of lay, to ask shelter from au old servant of Lorel Must:dales, who, not having room in her own little habitation, puts her into an uninhabited house of his Lordship's in which he tool resided, as a plain country squire, pi evious to inheriting his title. His Lordship sick of fashion, high life, and place huntevo, arrives unexpectedly, and much eqniviove ensues, which affords two or three instances of good stage effect. Dancers, foiled in his schemes with St. Ally!, now waits upon his mule, and proposes some uehandsome measures towards his . fritnd; but the honest Peer. disdaining to comply, harmers threatens to deprive him of his estate and title, by bringing forward t h e lawful heir, Capl. iltodern, w ho had been supposed to be.the illegitimate son of the late Lord. ilitinfprn has ing slipped into the apartment during this conversatiov, conceals himself, until, at a fit npportnnity, he possesses himself ()I' the certificate of his mother's marriage ;'and the supposed Peer, convinced of his claim, instantly and most joyously resists his title to him, accompanied by a number of letters addressed to " Lord IltnAdole," consisting of a challenge, a Call of the Howe, applications for patronage, ekc. The dis:tppointei flan •rr.. retires; and Algernon, who ar rives from Bath, having on that day cow tit' a : te, preseitts his nricle%s estwes to his father, and a reconciliation takes place. Cice ., /, who had set of in the morning to contiuue her journey, is now broue4t hack, in consequence of an offered reward, and Selina confesses that her marriage with A !,4'ef 1:011 was a hoes, in order to avoid the union with Da , serrx, A hen Cicely i► intro duced and united to her lover. Selina then bestows her hand ou the true f.or•d Riasheab., and the piece concludes with a hope that the audience will enable the author to say, " Beguile dull Care." such is the outline of a piece, which certainly had a very fair trial, and w Melt evidently escaped sonic: hisses in the two first acts, from the respect of the audience for the performers. who must certainly, in general, did every thing possible fur ks. success. An Epilogue, containing some good points, was 'well spoken by Miss Smith ; but as it also contained many apologies fur kni t:llion, we must not he too severe on the antl:or, fur want of art. Onality.—ln some panS, the piece bears resemblance to Anne, or the ;Vetch heiress. Herbert, the father, is personified by Sir .lelhar, and the love of Sidace, for the orphan, is evidently the' counterpart of /Vrikinson and :Irma Manse'. It may appear invidious to trace imitation much farther, but we must neverthe less confess, that all the hustle and incident, of which there id a sufficiency in the two last nets, has often appeared before; but it it indeed futile now to. expect originality in this respect, as every possible incident that can be produced by screens, sofas, trapdoors, and chimney corners, has been already brought into play. There are some parts which brought down we'll-delereei plaudits, particularly in the scene where Emery in Solace, • to he of 41' V7 • '_l 101' r •11 ‘;t:A- t 4 li i PI, , ! I.i 1 A II . , %, .... i . il l - - • : filitk ' ~., * , 1 7 4 , 4,,.: a ' i. ' . ..°‘ : 1 SIMI he 'septets the yolik ,4 4 1 v i y, in hip brother's ',teeth:- .1 ~:„.. ~ 1 " Ile consequences of his Ins- " - • 1 Cottle, in order to pet- • 7 • I - . >ver whose fortune he had , moors. the nephew of 1 ord • '. l in. Ile now hinds himself f . ` . 's... r., , n ' y , and admit Danvers an a . 1 , i' . on of Lurd Blushiale `iv- , ;,-. . ' ~~ ; • r i AL , hi ~~ ,~ II . ' • ) , . • .1. \ , E . ; ; f s \; t- J 1 r : •,, ; I • ' ) i I I. ! I 1 1 1 • i I I V i t 3