The National Register. — London, England, 1808-04-11 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. 23$ riment. Indeed, a play-bill is a composition of true sublimity, according to the best definitions of the !3ablime : for it says a great deal to the ear, and leaves a great deal for the imagination. To the ear it speaks in the promissory passages, where we find the words grand, comic, splendid, &c. &c. all of which have a great efect upon the vulgar. And as to the imagination, that facult, of the mind is called into ample exercise by the historical por tion of the play-bill, where the public are desired to believe that a piece has been received with unanimous applause, when it has in fact been totally condemned. Certainly the Proprie tors deserve great credit for the wonderful powers of inventioi , w hich they display on these occasions; contriving glories which they have never earned, creating a fict it bass reputation, and spin ning, like the spider, fram their own frame, a cov.a !ng of comfort and security. The play-bills announcing Bonlfario and Ilthkelina,have pos sessed these merits in a peculiar degree. And there are other mi nutiae in the arrangement of these hilts, which also merit very high approbation. For whereas ignorant people would have placed the names of the actors and characters first, the Proprie tors have here given the first rank- to those of the machinists and decorators, well knowing that the machinists and decorators are the persons who really make the piece. or can we refuse our 'tribute of admiration to the title, which sets the Melodrama in so many ditlerent lights, that every person's attention is sure to be roused. lie whose enthusiasm is not excited by the silver-sweet names of lionifacio and Hridgclina, n ill perhaps be struck with reverence by the appearance of a knightl:, hermit : The Windmill of the Turret attracts the notice of the volatile, and the melancholy are moved by the hope of beholding a Spec tre in a Gallery To be serious, for really this profanation of the stage is be come almost too lamentable for a joke, was there ever ass Ad vertisement issued at Bartholomew Fair more completely dero ganny from the dignity of an elegant art, than the play-bills that we have just now cited Pantomimes are the legitimate amusemeut of children: long custom has sanctioned their exhi bition, and they are constantly brought out at the holidays. But such a thing as this is not warranted by custom; it is not presented before a youthful audience; it is not reconcileable to the plain principles of common sense : it is an absurd burlesque on an entertainment w hick is not absurd. The story and situations of the Piece are such as excite no risibility in the audience; and the whole of the joke is made to comist in the utter Wly and vulgarity of the dialogue. But the true burlesque is pro duced not by weakening„ but by exorbitantly overdoing reality ; and the bombastic, ma the familiar FI N le, is the proper vehicle of such humour. If there was to be a burlesque upon Melo- dramas at all, it ought to have been mean in the ~ ituationi, and loft) in the langua:_le, rather than lofty in the situations, Gnd in the laintuage mean. The exaltation of a trifle anav .... • amuse, but the degradation of tpletulour ran only 4i‘gtna. The humour or Fielding's Covent-garden Tragedy, % hicil is by far the be•it of all the burlesques, consists in ytil:4ar incident with . swelling dialogue ; and we are entertained by obser% ing how toe cononotte,t occurrences may to magnified. In this Melo drama people in perilous circumstances and rich attire are' made to talk like chimney-sweepers ; and we are displeased to ob serve how grandeur may he humbled. It has been observed upon Guiliver's Travels, that the greatness of the little Lilli putians is admired, but that the littleness of the great Brob dignagians is totally foreign to all the priociples of taste. . If the Proprietors arc to continue this system of nonsense, of %That use is the Theatre as a national concern? Taste and judg ment are put totally aside : the imitation of Nature is aban doned for a bastard ballet : the stores of the treasury are wasted in shows to bribe the town's endurance of inanity; and Dr. John son's pot try is but too near to truth w hen, in declaring the pos sible vicissitudes ail London theatre, his prologue exclaims : " Perhaps, (for who can gucas the effects of chance ?) " Here Hunt traay box, or Mahomet may . dance!" . The Oratorios, which have been carried on under the guid ance of Mr.. Ashley, are now concluded. As usual, the per formances have been the pieces of liandcl, occasionally varied with selections, &c. The Oratorio seems to be a species of amusement but little stilted for the English people. They do tint relish music by role, as foreigners do: they have no not ion of ad ini rinKthe composition of a master for the science which it displays, nor the executive power of a singer for the• mere difficulties that it overcomes: they require something that shall operate upon . their feeling•, sad pans; the ear to the region of the heart. Handel lo Indeed APRIL H. a mastes. whose power of exciting sensations of deep path ° , of still sublimity, of mighty enthusiasm, has placed him on the' highest roll of fame : but the mere excitation of these sensation s ainconnected by story or interest, is not sufficient to occupy the attention of a large body of people for four successiv e h 0 ,1 1 ., Besides, it will be observed, that the feelings ev e n o f the feo-• who delight in these entertainments become more and more oh. tune as the evening advances; and pieces of musk, which would he hailed with rapture in the first act, pass of without au tn. core in the third. It cannot therefore, be matter of surprise, that the Oratorios in general are but thinly attended. that which appears to have been most attractive is the Mo. sinh: a work remarkable for a thousand beauties, and particularly pleasing to the multitude, from the grandeur of its chorussv:, which are generally the most popular parts of an Oratorio. The singers have been Mrs. Dickons and Mrs. Bland, Miss Bolton Madame Oussek : Mr. Brabant, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Doyle N 4 r. Goss, and Mr. Grey. Mts. Dickons and Mr. Braham are, uei. Cher of them, in our opinion, sufficiently natural and simple: they oftener astonish than charm us in the performance of Pan ders works. Mrs. Bland mid Mi, - s Bolton, who certainly hate not so much science, seem to U 5 to possess much more of thepe nuine spirit in which such music should be sung. Nothing ca;; be a more per'ect example than the manner in which Bland sings '' Be shall feed his flock like a shepherd." ‘la, dame Dussek has a lazy indolent style, which, thoualt without science, is certainly without grace or elfect. llr. Lel - grand voice is beard in sacred musk with remarkable vantage : he is a singer of excellent judgment. Of the rest is e have nothing particular to observe. BOX IN G. It having been given out that the matches between Toner Belcher and Dorkarty, and Dutch Sam and Croplev, wei r to take place on Tuesday at Moulsey Hurst, the regAdat patronizers of boNing assembled there before twelve &dna, with a string of Nobility and (;entry; and after having been kept waiting nearly two Ivssirs, during which time there was s heavy fall of rain, intelligence was brought to the ring that the Magistrates had interfered, and the pugilists durst not engage in combat. This disappointment was not very well reli , hed ; and after each had kept his station in the ring for about half as hour, it was stated aloud; three of the Marlborough-strout Officers had informed the pugilists, that if they fought they would be indicted, and that Dutch Sam and Belcher bad um sequently declined fighting their antagonists, unless the scat of combat was removed to Berkshire. The Gentlemen present openly expressed their determination to protect the parties against any prosecution that might be in stituted against them ; but Dutch Sam could not be preiaikd upon to face Cropley, and Young Belcher was prevented hs• friends from meeting Dockarty. The Gentlemen, however, tkai met there to see a boxing match, and nothing less would do. match for a purse was made between Jemmy from Town and a Gipsey, but it was, perhaps, as complete a burlesque on tig!it• ing as ever was witnessed. Neither of them had the lea , t pre ten‘ions to skill. Jemmy, however, bore the palm of victor. Another match was fought bets% een a Kingston shoemaker and a London coal-heaver, in which the Londoner was vic torious. COL OF CHANCLRY. Saturday the Lunacy of Lord Aghrim was vain disenswl before the Chancellor. His Lordship, after taking a s it`l% . ot the case, said There are now before the Court tno parta-, one (Lady A ligrim applying to be appointed the ('innii!tec of her husband, the other the Earl and Countess of Athlone) pe titioning to have the Master's Report sent hack for revision, .and that the Earl should be appointed Committee. Lw ill not, said the Chancellor, to save myself trouble, send hack the Master Report ; and to chew that I do not mean to shrink from iny May, I am ready to receive affidavits of medical men, as to the strh• of Lord Aghrim's mind from the time he left Scotland. I receive se.i of I cannot come to a final decision• la ilavits, Until u the mean time Lady - Aghrim must retain the possession of I " , Lorttsliip; but 1 wish it to be understood, that if any ohAticie should he thrown by her in the nay of the Earl and Counicsof Athione to procure necessary information, that Lady ;_ he re shall not have time care of her husband one day longer. I `null he ready, on the first day after the recess, to receive the 4lk• davits." • 11E11E011 • r