The National Register. — London, England, 1818-09-21 00:00:00

■ SEDT. ttl' • .._ .._~ REGT sTr.n. steadily by one set of principles, in order to avoid the hazard of seeing London converted into a vast academy A general meeting of proprietors wan held on Thurs- of crone, and :deluge of offences and frauds committed day, conformably to the provisions of the charter, fur which no law and nu exertions would be sufficient to the, purpose of declaring the half-yearly dividend, and control. the transacting of stklehustess aft might be depend- Mr. Young observed, that he was anxious to press inte. The resolution for dividing 5 per cent. on the upon the attention o f t h e Di rectors , i n w h ose h onour and humanity l ie pl ace d t h e f u ll est con fid ence, t h e pro- October Company's stock, thr the half-year ending the 10th of • prietv, with a vi ew to t h e di m i nut i on of' thrgery, of next, was unanimously agreed to, an d noti ce . withilmwing from circul a ti on th e oneau d t h e two poun d given that the warrants would be distribut e d on th e ft.'th of the same month. notes. On the motion of adjournment, Mc. R. Jackson rose, in order to' put one or two questions to the Chair, which appeared to him very materially to affect both the character . and the interests of thi-ir body. They related to that alarming increase in the number of cases of forgery, which had so powerfully and naturally en gaged the consideration of the public The sensation, indeed, which it hattexcited, had some time since led to,the amintment of a commission, containing names of high .authority; awl the object of svhich iVas to ,de vise the means Of more effectually preventing this of '. fence.' Althougli its; proceedings had ht some degree incurred the reproaah of tardiness, he trusteed that the • persons of r. Mini 'it waeeompoied had not been deficient either in vigilance or activity, 'and that the deity which had taken place was attributedMlely to the difficulties their t isk. He doubted not that they were deeply npressed with 'thee consciousness, that the lit:: of a. -fellow-creature hung en every hour el their delibera tions. It could not be cencealed that those who were clefrauded by offences of this description, were chiefly persons in the humbler classes of society, persons , whose want of education and of ability to prosecute rendered Venn the easy subject -of depredation. No man who fuokiel at theepubiie newspapers could avoid seeing how important it was that the conduct of the Rank sould be fairly understood, as it respected the mode of con (tactil; their pro;:ecutious for the forgery of their notes. It was well known that a practice had been recently adopted of extending a comparative remission of.punish meat in particular cases, .by indicting for felony within' the beech:. of clergy, end subjecting the offender to 14 years' trausporation. This was a chanp•e of .principle, and it was desirable that the public should be satisfied as to the manner in which that dienge operated, and the nature of the discretion from which it origi nated. His ol;ect, thceethre, in now addressing him self to their notice. was to call for ex;):anation on two prints the first of which. wits, whether the dtteimina tion relative to prosecuting capitally was left in the breast ofone individual, or exercised upon the joint de hberation of the whole body of Directors. The-respon sibility attending such a trust was one of trembling anxiety, for it bad been declared even from the bench, on a late °easier', that capital punishment did not ap pear telave diminished the number of offeuces The other point to which he wished to draw their attention wasone on which it was also.neoess.cry that no misunder standing should prevail. He .was awareednit the agency of those who wore employed in the work of . discover • ing and tracing these offences was indisoonsible. The inthrmation he desired was, whether the distribution and apportionmen cf• the rewards bestowed on them I was intrusted to the direction of an individual, or ad.- ministered by he deliberate judgment of the Board. The :Cowries, G. Dorrien, Esq. observed, that it hod bezi publicly stated in another placeethat the dis rrction with itgard to lioth the points urged by the learned gentl man, was .exereised upon the fullest de liberation by :.committeeddirectors specially appointed for that purpu e. Mr. R. Jet/ son dcdantd-linaself perfectly.. satiehoil with this communication. His t'iniv object was trepre vent the public mind from being misled ; -for there were those, who„ being unfriendly to their whole system and institution, were disposed to avail themselves of this particular subject, in order to raise a general preiuidice a,oainst them; There existed out of doors a belief that el le in c re as ed circulation of Bank-notes had been pro ductive of a great increase of the crime of forging end ,counterfeiting money. He had no knowledge whether this was or was not the ease; -hut the only way of taking a comet view of the question was by examining the tetalogee of prosecutions lino colnino.counteefeit money, who/. a snetalie currency we; th e circulating medium. Its he might offer a word of advice, lie should recommend; it strongly to the Directors to act in eon rut with • . • Home -Department, in every use of this nature to obtain .a : previous knowledge of its opinion, and ties relieve themselves of too weighty a responsi bility If he had the honour of a seat among them, lie shout! constantly orge the necessity of demanding the interf, eine of the .1-lame.Pepartment, -so• that every prosec tion might.have the double sanction of the - Bank. and t e Government, and Jniirbt not appear, as now too i any were 'inclined to think :t, the vindiettio act of a.partial and•iiiteroo •lelaely. • Whatever.chan.e ghoul take place in their palsy, it• was incumbent on them: to be firmaind mirolaxeel iii their adherence to an m system. The science of police was perlieps. yet Its infanek stml :night one (ley be ceasidereA to he of as. much dignity amp importance as any other I ran h legislative study. '' that time ezeud steive„.they were trader the uecereity of abiding B.elll l IC OF ENGL44D. The Governor remarked, that this was a subject for the consideration of the Legislature, and must depend on the renewal or expiration of the Restriction Act : at the same 'time he might say, that if any objection existed against the resumption of cash-payments, it was • not among the Bank Directors that such objection originated or was entertained. The questiun of adjoarnment was then put and carried. THE DR.1311. DRUB Y LANE. , Thissislorastew is fruitful in novelty at least. The comedy of A Carehr the leart-Ache was performed on Tuesday night, when tiemperfiirmers made their first appearance on the boards; :11r. Watkin.son• in the part of' Old Rapid, and Mr. Weston in that of Frank Oat. lands. The Het gentleman is not unknown to the public, having snored in a stfoonlinate sphere at the Haymarket theatre ; he claims therefore but a brief no tice, and that principally on account of the new rank he has taken. • His best praise is that. of looking and dressing the character of Old - Rapid very well: he strutted and fidgettedthrough some of the sez.nes with tolerable success; his consternation at the discovery of l'cang Rapid in the set of mending his coat, was hu morous and natant The character, however, in general, was feeble and wanted point ; and of the fa therly ufil:ution which we have seen so strongly excited in his predecessor, Munden, in the affair of the duel with Young Stanley. he could give no idea. Mr. Wes ton played the sturdy peasant, Frank Oatland, with some skill and discrimination. and we tkink we discern a degree rf promise in him with respect to the future ; he is very inferior, however, to his predecessors ; a id to the notions of excellence generally formed by a London audience. He alsoperiermed Markel: Delaney, in the Irishman ~ n London, and was snore successful than in the comedy. Ile gays the songs with tolerable- voice and humour, and caught some portion of the dry caustic humour we expect to find in this character. His brogue isateither very perfect, nor uniformly well preserved. Bath the play and the farce were cast in a manner far below mediocrity. The tragedy of Othello was performed on Thursday night at this theatre : the part of Whelk by a " gentle man, being is first appearance .on any stage.' This gentleman has certainly soared,, to.) high in venturing at once on such a character, where, independently of the cominon difficulties of realizing the notions every reader must form of this victim of passion, and masterly creation of poetical genius, he has to contend with the recollection, still fresh Our minds, of the greatest Othello, prolaibly, that the.stage has ever produced. His performance was principally deficient in dignity and u general want of power to sustain the higher impulses of' passion ;. he seemed, therefi:re, .tf , sink under the j etiort,.and perhaps too for want of that experience which should- collide him to husband his resources to the best advantage, became gradually more feeble after tote close of the third act, and instead of rising, us a judicious actor must do, . o n the approach of. the Catas trophe, rendered the whole of' the sth act compaia lively tame and unimpressive. His delivery, allowing for some trifling. ileficts of enunciation, is of a superior order ; in general very slow and distinct, in excellent Loping with the sense of the passage, and his thoughts evidently accompanying his v.tterante—a cardinal quality and the basis of all good. acting. His by-play is tomsuallytutsl, and the business of the scene seldom escapes hint. His gestures and action were those of a pctiimner trained to the:stage, anti occasioctslly were of that superior kind whieb:seem to obey the heart rather than the head. The put of Desdemona was performed by Mrs. 11;:xt, from the Bath theatre, who made, we lieiicve, her first appearance on this occasion before a London audience. This lady is a very pleasing actress, and will prove, -d we mistake not, . something more than un acquisition, an ornament to the stage. :ler Desdemona is a very natural, unaPeted piece of aeung, and us lit* a representation of the tender, inn;Y7ent being who saw " Oth , iiit's visage in his mind,' as %y e have ever witnessed.. Her face, with extremely rep,olar features, is not remarkable for expression, but the tones of her voice are . peculiarly soft and pleasing. The scene where the Ilsatitiful nature .):* Eheiro's suspiciaa. is first revealed to her, was peculiarly happy ; the tran"e into u Lich its firek.efreet is to throw her, anti *.her recovery Irma that to sue most acute anguish, j couldscaseely been beater pressed. . The whole -of - she. butt *tam was very little- inferior to it loth in enneeptioe and execution. ‘. Mrs. Glover, whom we arc glad to. see iu ber place again, sustained the part of' :with the best eN.ativii of her powers, with complete . success. The play was received with very great applause; and when Barnard amar: to ' , amount , : the pertimmances fn. Saturday evening, there was a very general call tio the repetition of Oilallu. , - TIM NATION. COVENT GARDEN. Mr. W. Farren, the actor who has made so success ful n debut in Sir Peter Teazle, appeared on Friday night as Lord Ogleby in the Clandectine Marriage. This is one of the most difficult characters in our drama ; the qualities of which it is composed are so extremely sub tile and confined, and the whole portrait is made up of touches so delicate, that the performer is in cm:stunt danger of distortion on one hand, and of tateensele and insipidity on the other. With all the feciblt.eces of age, and more. than the vanity of youth, he ftes to practice an entailing politeeess and urbanity ; and is compelled, in the end, to sacrifice his vanity to his.ge nerosity. 'With all his follies and all his infirmities, he must constantly excite respect, and occasionally esteem, in the breast of the spectator. Mr. Farren has suc ceeded in by far the greater part, and his Lord Ogleby deserves on the whole the praise of Is masterly per formance. He was most fortunate in expressing the rising impulses of vanity caused by the passiors believed to be excited in bis favourite Miss Fanny, and in the last scene where he is called upon for so noble an efflux of generosity. His attempts to conceal the reluctance he felt at the painful civilities of the old citizen vrcro ludicrous and natural : the scene where he proposed to Old Sterling to marry his daughter liNey, was given in the best style ; and his burst of surprise when the citizen affeeta.to believe that the object offels effectione was his sister lieidelberg,was quite irresistible. Many other passages might be quoted equally worthy of praise. The only deduction that occurs to us is, that Mr. Farren might have drawn Lord Oglebq something mote tsf thegentleman and less of the bullion ; we were nut fairly entitled to ere much laughing at his Lordship's ex pense as he afforded us :.with all ite defeetseltowever gully scanned, it is a performance of no common order, and cattiest fail to increase his reputation. He received the most flattering applause in nearly every scene, fronts a very .ottmerous audience, and is to repeat the character hes/narrow evening. P.Ni3IOISI - 3 OPERA !MINE. The entertainments at this theatre have, throughout the week, beet' honoured by the unquali:led approba tion of full audiences. Mr. Arnold's Inclo theuratie opera of the Wizard has been revived, with a con shire-able degree of success, stud with an evident ime provement in the cast. Miss Carew !serf ems ten part of Grace Arinstrung.wall a chaste simplicity. The surges allotted to her were also given with an sepal gerel taste. Amateurs and Actors still retains its u . :vitction, and will no doeht keep its ground toed the theatre ehLil. Midas* has also been repeated with los:reused effect. FARMWEIt. DrNNER.—On S . anclay week the rattle performers of the English )pera House gave a farewell dinner to Mr. Bartley, on his taking icave of the corn. pany, preparatory to his intended departure far America_ Mr. Arnold took the Choir —Messrs. Horlay and Yea! a, jun. were the Stewards. The scene, by all accoanes, .was highly interesting, and was marked by good humour without my convivial. excess. Mr. Arnold took the opportunity of testifying, in the n,anie of the company and. bimaalf, the regret which they. all felt in patting • with age:adman who, in hie public and private cha. racter, und in his capacity of Manager, had conducted hiayslf in. such a manner as to deserve their respect and esteem. This speech, Which we understand was well conceived, and delivered with affecting energy, eseiied the warm acclamations of tne comp-any, and anode such au impression on Mr.. Bartley himself, as for some minutes to prevent him frian.giving any an. swe:. At length he subdued his feelings, and expressed. his acknox:edgments with interesting fervour. • This amicable festival must be deemed highly honourable to those who promoted it, as well as to Mr. Bartley, who, from all that we have heard of his character and eon• duct, appears to be fully entitled to such a testimony of brotherly respect and attachment We heartily wish him and his wife a prosperous voyage, .and we doubt not that their united _talents will insure them a, liberal patronaLte in the scene of their firtare destination. The karvest in the East Highlands of Perthshire is one of Or most abundant e%er remembered in that district.. 'fire alternations of wet and dry weather have ,Loren sneli as to bring both the grain and fodder to the fullest perfection. In this particular season.the moult. grins k , re given the fiumer an w.lvantage which has been dallied to the inhabitants of the southern plains: wLere, although the quality of the grain is gond,etlte prevaienee of drimeht ixsaid to have rendered the grain, anl es;iocially the fodder, rather scanty. Wool „has this season dandled its fikrmer highest price : , .this i bss b ean , in this nuarter, ascribed to a sodden an d sive demand- for articles of woollen nsionifactitre from Russia aral.tise East Indies ; althou g h it is,. no. doubt, partly awing to tire meat mortality among theAcep front the.scverity of the preceding winter. If theriitat any f•tindation ft:Aim:rumour that it ar i ses f rom a Fret demand for such articles in the East Indira, it furnlshts a notable crnnment on the argum‘nts that were used iu favour of the mon9poly.