The National Register. — London, England, 1812-10-04 00:00:00

POI TR 1. ON THE 111.111111 AGE OF MERRY AND MISS WISE. ( From the Satirist thc present iVontlt.) To be merry' Fled wise i, au axiom true. That %silt carry y a clieerlay a!I ,‘ 0111 ibr914;!..); {Soft 'l6llO t LISN; Mallet 111 • Mean.. 1i1 • Ii•,•111C. To be at nitre incry and Thus lliis, wh 1 wi., Pi.. a 19.3 g twenty year:, Is no longcr Wise, iinw ,he apipe.:rs, Anal Nlefry', bill w i nie, . 1 hst StHet! Le got 11-I.l.ife, h S tafict. _. DR.I.II.ITIC REGISTER. CO‘ ENT-GMWEN. The Managers of this theatre seem , actively engaged in preparations to maintain a successful competition with their revived and dangerous oval, Dinry I ate. Like pludent commanders, they recruit their force beim e they enter into action, and spend in exercising and olgrnizing it, the time • that remains before their opponent appears in the field. Ilenee, instead o! producing new pieces, they have trea sured them as a corps of reset% e, to be called out only • when the splendid internal attractions of Diiny Lane, shall require the most -vowel ful counteracting exertions to save the shrine of the Covent Gat den Muses from desertion. The single novelty of the house, assisted by the teprescn tation of esteemed dramas, will cat ry Drury Lane most triumphantly and profitably through the first and second season of its opening. Covent Garden has posses•ted, but bas now worn out, those advantages, and must therefoie create others to counterbalance the popularity of its rival. Deprived of the two brightest ornaments of the modern atstge, it labours under discouraging circumstances, and notwithstanding its al" ts at procuring valuable substitutes for retired genius, has hitherto rather cucreased the numbers of its company than added to its value. This system of recruiting from the country theatres, to form a body equal to - the performance of every kind of dra• matic entertainment, commenced a little before the close of the last season. Miss Jou ASON courageously ascended the Stage as Isabela, at a time when the heart still dwelt with regret on the retirement of Mrs. Si DIYONi ; when the ma gic harmony of her voice still lingered in the ear, when the elegance and propriety of her action, and the eloquence of her eye still lived in the fondinsi of justly admiring recol lection, and, a model of histrionic excellence was left im printed on the in: rid, whicli could not be imitated with any hope of ,entire suctess, or reliuquished without a ceatainty of total failure. Under such cumst..nces, it was no small pledge et merit, to meet with a valcon e. Miss JoIINSON SCCU'cd one by het cola ect conception of the putt, the ease and elegance of het manners, and her keling delivery; and though her sorrow was occasionally whining, and her countenance boasted little .o( tragic dignity, vet she might be deemed a ptomising pet lot mer, and seems to have vanished for no other mason than to make room fur Miss MA tt ft to Ir, who at the re-opening of the theatre, without any claim to decidedly superior talents, alstimed the lead in tragedy. To keep this lady in countenance, the • insignificance of Mr. A Boor was drawn from the llaymar &et, where it lay butted in Mr. DIMOSD'S pieces, to Co vent .Garden, and promoted to parts occupied by Mr. C. KEMBLE, in the plays of ShakeSpeare ! Mr. ABBOT has thereiore no.cause of complaint against Managers to south or excuse his disappointment. lie cannot urge that he has been Irept in the back gtound, if his success does not cor respond with his expectations; for had he postesied as much OCT, 4. ability as ambition, a field was opened before hi m in w hi ch he might have displayed the one, and gratified the other. His ill judged promotion, however, has produced a contrary effect, and made - his deficiencies more conspicuous. Th e owl thatscreccheft, sheltered under the. wing of night , dis gust us only with his voice ; but when exposed to the hvo:RI ;;laic of (13v, the ludicrous gravity of his looks, and the of its figure, appear and raise our laughter.— Like it, :‘lr. uHOT bucrecds brit in obscurity; nay, i n even excels the owl, for h e p1,,.. w . es i i y, tea d of dkorstiug.• Ilis want of consequence, so characteristic Of our fashion,ibk men, appears to advantage a. , a s:“iic Oil their in.ignificance, and then becomes an excellence. But in higher characters he ieems as much in his place as a cuv apprentice would do, thrown by a sudden revolution of t h e wheel of fortune from belrind his counter into the House of Peers. , - - - - The next arquisilion to the company was Mrs. STIRLING, engnged probably to alleviate, not to supercede the labours of Miss Boit- ON. For although she personates the same ,•characters correctly, and sings with toste and•sweetfoess, vet she does not possess the brilliancy of voice, the graceful ease of manners. and the sportiveness of action, by which that young lady is distinguished. and which indeed have long in duced us to think that Conedy would prove a more genial soil for the flourishing growth and expansion of her excellence, than the operatic line to which s he is nearly confined. The engagement of Mrs. STIRLING, therefore, although it has added a respectable performer, and in private life, we un dcr:tand a most praiseworthy character to the company, has brought it no increase of professional talents. To attain this important end, however, the Managers carried their inquiries beyond the precincts of the land, and Mr. ELRINGTON was called from the Dublin Stage, where we are told lie held a distinguished station, to become one of the pillars of Covent Garden. This. gentleman made his first appearance at that theatre, and we believe, in London, on Tuesday last, in the character of Info. to Mr. YOUNG'S Othello. In this arduous part, consecrated by the talents of its former representatives, Mr. ELRINGTON had to con tend with the recollection of absent abilities (which must naturally, - though perhaps unconsciously, prejudice the public mind against a new performer), and with all the ern ' barrassment attending a first appearance in a house to the size of which he was too little accustomed to he able to tneasurc the strength of his voice, and the rapidity of his gesture:, so as to produce a proper erect. To both these causes may in a great degree. be atti ibuted his total failure, although he is not exempt flow defects, which alone might have indisposed the audience against him. His figure is good, his countenance rather prepossessing, his action nei -1 ther redundant nor ungtaceful, and his voice naturally clear ; but his conception is faulty, and hence most of his gestures, except those which he has borrowed from his great predecv.sor CooKE, are unimpressive, and the management of lit, tunes is most injudicious. The deep cunning of the villain, and the skill with which he speaks daggers to the jealous heat t of Othello, whilst his expressions seem to spring from honest artlessness and sincerity, are equally lost in Alt. 1.4 . 1. et NGTON'S performance. With the exception of the partial closure of his i ight eye, which occasionally be trays his intent to deceive and hypocrisy, he runs through his part as through a common 'place conversation, I 1 without the proper emphasis to produce the intended effect. ..lii idea may be formed of the correctness of his judg molt, by his making the well known passage- 4, Who steals my purse, steals trash;' arc.—his most prominent speech. The chief defect in the managem ent of hie •I THE NATIONAL REGISTER. 1):!0