The National Register. — London, England, 1818-12-20 00:00:00

DEC. 20 rim pacii4, COVENT (AAIWEN. A •new Cothely, celled " A Watd fur the Lalrs," wrtd pintlottedion. Thursday night at this theatre. '['he vie& attiribUted , to the pen of. the ingenious Mr. Kefig i ?';` already ten several dramas which arc established in the favour of the public. We sub join list of , the dramatis : persona:, and a sketch uf the plat y. ,1, 9 , • • ' ' Old Ifiterkwysamrt • ... •••• • .. Mr. W. Platen. • yosing ilowers4mat • ... Mr. Abbott. . Wintaland Mr. Niaerently Thitringfon • ' ' .s. - Mr. C. Kemble. •• larval) ... ••• Mr. outig. • Aidareant. •••.. ••• . • ••• ••• Mr. Connor. Silvertonguc Mr. Liston. Currents, .s.. Mr. Jones. •Sofitt • . •.. 4r. Emery. Gray Air. Chapman. Miss Adamant ... Miss Branton. • Clara Winterland ... Mrs. Fetich. • . Ms. Singleton Mrs. Yates. Th e abielfjotercst of the piece turns upon the distress of Toung Willer/earl. who, havin incurred tl:c displeasure of an uncle on vilasin his fortunes depended. is disinherited, and hides from his crediurra in a fisherman's rottage. llis sister, who sharer his mis tortuaes, is attached to Young Thrri•rqtun, his sworn friend, to whorn he has formerly made great taterifices, and who ha. bem to the West unfits th t'ke posse:Sion, as 'he beiitves, of a rich inhe ritance. On his return, the Wi•tteriontis depend on his fulfilling their .beres, , both .of marrying Clara. and relieving het bro. thet. his c I In - 1. ,- 6 , er, b.ammes mysterious an t i eq . nvoca l ; and the most alf:ctin:; of the situations arise front Wirit.,-/rnd's ri. ! , ! ,, tme nt is comfort, the disappointed passion of and the severe rept oarli of her ictlinv. which she iheurs front the high spirit Emil won -Idyl prt,:e of lict mother. Cirenmnaneta render Dorei,te tiPt the bearer of an ofrr of marriage to Clam from i,inng cusrt who ft ti suffered overtures to be matte in Clara's irusperity, and which his fattier hells hint more than ever band to follow up; All explanation ...filly-. hetween DrrPiagtot and Cla.u, when he de. Glares him.elf disappointed also of his inheritance. seal urges the suit of nue iforecrscolltr, in order to nave WinCrl.:vd fioot despair and ruin. hcra.r.ra:ourt's hr tat has, however, in spite of his I i...tter reason, been ensnared by Misr Adamant, a gay woman of fashion. of a generous clistaisition, hut flighty manners. which revolt him. The ditfictilties of these patties are nattily removed by a seasonable discove ry--Ali. ibistingq, the unr'e of Ilrittrerbor , i, had left the property to an unknown st rangst. who hail saved his fife from n robbers on the coast of Cornwell. on hi. itlentitYing himself; if not, it passes to a Mr. Miner taa:•at a more distant relation Siteertoir•que.Ly a cowardly MU tion to avett the KU:1110 44 indignation of Dorrl ' aglon. calls on him to explain his condoct, and unfolds pt rticulars which prove Dirt iagten himself to be the fugitive intstoito, in the last hour aliow:11 him to set up his title, lie arrives. however, at Old B 'we rcvarl's, the trustee, just in time, aal the pos,eisioa of the property enables him to do just'ee to firiaterlarni, and to confirm his engagements with Clara. Young Ilaxerstomrl i. thua releassd of his obligation--both he alit his Calor become recmciled to Mist Age:mast, who remains the tui•tre-s of his heart. .11,. Lgrtiot is a natural *went in the p et, end some amusing situations arise out of his having abandoned Ms wife., from a ha.ty nerd erroneous conviction of her infidelity ; and being afterwards employed by Old Bay,•riaoart to promote a niatcii with her for tie old gentleman, she being then unknown to him under the mimeo* Si/rectos. This leads to a satisfactory ex planation. by which they are also reeoncilial. The impertinent gal lantries of a Mr. Ca reek, which have a great tendency to create the j radon, fancies of rerag litne:TrAtut 1. form also a considerable share of the earlier acts of the oontedy. The chief Emits of this drama are the complexity of the plot, and an over-abundance in the characters, who are too.nuincrous and diversified in their objects and designs, to excite a separate and independent interest. 'oo great rut interval is allowed to elapse between each appearance of tho leading persons of the drama, so that we are perpetually forgetting the sphere of action aisigiwJ to them. In this respect some ad.antage might probably he obtained from a few superfluous ; the wife of Larion, the benevolent cynic, is of this description ; the fact of his king married at all spoils the consiatyncy of the portrait. In character, Mr. Kenuy,bour been much more sueeessful ; that of lkw cracourt, the elk?, a mild, warm hearted gentleman of the old school, is very chaste, simple, and efreetive, and well adapted to the talents of the actor (W. Far ren) to whom it was assigned. Those of Silurriongue, who is always talking to his own disadvantage, and of the dancing master Curvelte, who is perpetually intrtpling where he is most unwelcome, are perhaps in-tho extreme of comic drawing, but are always en tertaiuig and well preserved. We find much to be pinaserl with in the misanthrope I.artai, who is ever aunaying and tormenting those about him, yet seems not to lose his real character, when he sus pends it for the sake of a good action. The dialogue is ratticarely . good, and is perhaps the strong-hold of the ploy ; it discovers a richly stored mind, and is so of happy allusions and well-turned points, as to than a petpetual exercise to the understantlin ; this is its general character, rather than abuula:nt sallies of what is called wit, though these are by no means thinly scattered throughout the piece. The acting was nal family good ; the mosteconspicuous peAtaps were K . Farren, to whom the play itself is very materially in &fitted, au&Macready in the jealous and irritable young officer. Youn , supported his character with gre at ...eX n. ect ; and Brunton,' of whom we regretted to -Ate solttle, Was quiie herself; and therefore perfectly irreccssfill. Mrs. Faueit mingled a little too much of She. iiivrystioe in her Miss Winterland ; the sentimental pito ofstnnedy should on no account be over-toed.— • Liston was excellent ; and Jones and Emery supported fie rank they maintain in our school of c omic act i on . -The reception of the piece, when C. Kcmhle app. tired .. to announce it for repetition, Iry nut one of utimixeO <lewulg,.6~lt tic nninber of applauding spectators greatly predorunia4, a nis was still more evident et the close - •! .. lof the ektpi*, ritich was excellently deli v e red by W. - staveety appeared to be ditelCil - • aiLICUt voice oat. • _NATTONAT, 17.GTS:1:111. t • - - The following reply of Miss Kelly, with its ends). sures, make vat a taise-in her f,vuur, which it will be 'somewhat difficult flit. Mr. S. Kemble to answer : " isenrletta Strvm, t)cr. ic, IstA. " Sin—Shocked as I an: to be compelled to obtrudit myself on public attention, and totally incompetent as I know myself to' be to engaze in any thing like cow: troversy with Mr. S. Kemble, I consider myself to bei imperiously called upon to notice his letter, which ap peared in your last, in which I am very unceremo niously accused of having uttered. a deliberate falsehood I shall not so far thrget mySelf as to retort the OCCllNel ti(m upon Mr. S. Kereble ; I will rather, in charity, believe that he mutt htwe forgotten the eirnoustanted my short correspondence with him, when hr ven:ISM to impute to me the utterance of an untruth, also believe that M. S. Kemble was ignorant of die nature of my former engagement at Drury Lane The atre. when the subjoined letters passed between us, or he would have known that the salary I received was fully adequate to my utmost wishes; but that salary. was by no means the must essential consideration with me. In my fitrmer en...,•:agement I had expressly stipu• fated for an absence of six weeks to fulfil an engage mett in Ireland ; and the Sub-Committee were fully apprized of my existing enga g ement at the English Opera House, which precluded the possibility of my accepting one which required, as u prelitainary condi tion, that my services should be confined to Dairy Lane Theatre during the whotc of the season. The offer, therefbre, was no offer et ail : it was an • unworthy artifice to arm the Sub-( otutuittee with a dcfetrive answer, in ease any inquiry should be wade , by those who condescend to consider my humble talents as of some consequence to a theatre. Besides this, it will be observed that Mr. S. Ketuble's letter to me is dated August 5. about one month only Leflire the usual period of opening the Theatre l The Sub-Committee (from whom I had received, during thy whole past season, the most unprovoked insults, with a detail of which it is unnecessary to trouble the Public) were perfectly conscious that I h eceived my regular dis charge at the end of the season, together with all others not under articles: and they must have been well aware, that I had not suffered more than half the sum mer to elapse, without making such arrangements fbr country engagements, as might occupy a portion of my future time, and which 1 was compelled to firm by the natural conclusion that they had no intention to retain my services. The following offer, through Mr. Stephen Kemble, therefore, coupled with restrictions which they knew it to be impossible for me to comply with, was a mere mockery, and as such I considered it. • (Copy No I.), • Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Aug. S. NiADAlit—l have it in command from the Gentle men of the Sub-Committee of Drury Lane Theatre t offi:r you, for the next season, the terms you had lust season ; only I am desired to observe, that they re- quire your talents to be confined to this concern only, during the whole of the season. Tha privilege of writing orders, I am desired to inform yon, is discon tinued.— I am, Madam, your obedient servant, , S. KEMBLE.' (Copy No. IL) S►n—Pressure of business and some illness have prevented my earlier reply to your later. Front what I now hear of the state of Drury Lane Theatre, I pre stone it will nut be requisite to trouble either you or myself with an answer, which would necessarily be at considerable length. It will be sufficient to say a' present, that the total neglect or the Sob-Committee has driven me to form engagements elsewhere, inde pendent of prior ones which they ore fully aware of, and which would render it impossible fbr mo to have accepted the terms of your proposals.—l have the ho nour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, F. M. KELLY.' " It must alsci be noticed, that at the time I received this offer, such as it was, an injunction from the Court of Chancery had restrained the Bub-Committee, as I understood, from entering into any engagements what ever; and it will be seen, by my answer to Mr. Kent ble, that I declined going into particulars on tlmt ac count ' for the present;' but when the injunctioa was removed, there was not the slightest inclination mani fested by him to renew the negoeiation. " The l'oble have now my case bellre them ; they will best decide, whether I Am not justified in asserting that the Sub-Committee 4 have not chosen to retain my sorviecs,' which they might have retained, bad they thought proper, as in the former seus3n, fhr such pe riols as their own contemptuous neglect had left at my disposal ; and also how far Mr. S. licaible is justified in the charge of Edsehood which he hats not scrupled to bring agains! ine. I cannot conclude without observ iag that Mr. S. Keni:de, in his anxiety to prove me guilty of an untruth in one respect, has totally over bsd.ed tits again grievance of which I have to complain. The hier of my being deprived es, eugagoi nnt a t Covent Garden rheatre, by the perverted operatinat of sin injurious compact, remains' wric, , ntrad ieted ; wind!. ever ritety! buldir.S, hopes and wishes on tl* AO/0M .Aubboriv evil drains it) adi its fiacteohat • , 405 'fiat tats viettire a ernefronwpirarr—.44.64,4lkt-wejamot interforrace of.tlu: Syli-ctatfiittMx,l nut tiePriP:k ,cd fruit.; of my professional laboamta--and t h at lam com pelled to draw nprm anal hardly-earned saviu. , s ftr the nutamit!f•present aubsistenre. Nit • tLu honour to IT, Sir, yuttriiik , • t 11 4 WC • A .11 0,0,4 A Comspentlent expresses lunch displesoo tiOst Mr. Kean's re-appcuring on the stsigo to anktioPtice flaelieve; tititm of the new tragedy of Midi,: inintediately after the pathetic scene which closes the piece: and in %villa the audience 'would naturally soppy*: Afr. Kean to be us moth affect e 1 as thentsel He sos, siery. aensi • bly, that Mr. Kean does iajury..to biinscle by breaking the illusion so soon ; it is be4raving Ws art, and show ing how little alliance it has with nature It almost justifies Johnson's s'arcasin, that ‘• Punch has no feel- A specimen of' a new form intended to be giv(et !c: Bank-notes has been shown at sonic of the puLlic orl'es. The paper is of the same size us at prescnt, but the written and engraved parts are all contained iti a small oval in the centre : at each corner is a sort of stamp, of curious and singular-spear:lnce, which, it is hoped, cannot be imitated. . _ . - A severe cpigra.o upon Burke is attributed to tlke pan of the lute Lord Ellenborough. It was enclosed :n a cover, and presented to Burke, as he was about w open one of the principal charges against Mr. Hastings in the Iligh Court of Purliatuent. Oft love we woudcr'd that on frith groatut to pismous reptile hit r yet tven rc,:nd; Reveaktl the smret .rant!, oC N:::tirc's wink— She saved .wr venom to creittr.• a Iit:AXE T:is bitter effusion, on his perusing it, was observed to have a momentary eff-rt on the nerves and counte nance of the illustrious manager Vith an air of blended indignat but and contempt, he tore it in pieces, and scattered the fragments about the hall. Tic stanza, • however, was impressed on his incomry, end subSe quently repeated by him to some friends with au trir'of jocularity. The Marchioness of Misting-3 has signified to the Chairman of the Court of Directors, her intention of returning to Bengal, and that she has selected theli• ship, The Waterloo, to take the voyage in. Her La. dyship and family visited that ship in the East India docks. The Doke of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh, im mediately on their arrival, will proceed to Brighton.-- Thu Duke's bagguge, containing hie magnificent sm.. vices of plate, ith various other valuable articles of furniture, arrived off Billingsgate on Wednesday-, from Antwerp. The Duke of Northumberland, upon inspectitT the Architect's and Surveyor's estimate of the expellee:l . V the repairs of Northumberland-hooae, found, to his surprise, their estimate amounted to the stun of 80,0001. His Grace, in consequence, declined having them done, and signitical his in'ention of pul!ing down the whole of the house and rebuilding ir. Their estimate of the repairs necessary to be done to Sion-house, they allev iated at 20,0001., which his Grace has asserted to. The Earl of Bridgewater, on hearing of the .melan. choly situation of the ingenit us young artist Cleunel, and his infant family, immediately determined to hare the picture upon which the artist had been employed, in its unfinished state. His Lmlls'iip was to have given 1,5001. f►r it, when completed. It contains nearly 440 portraits of the Royal person'sges, their 'mime, tend other distinguished characters, who were present at the - grand civic dinner in Guildhall Front this picture another, upon a very huge scale, was to 'have been painted by the same artist fitr the Corpotation.of Lott. don, to be placed up in Guildintll.. Lord ('ochrane's steam vessel, whiclk.vene to. have • followed hint to Valparaiw), but I which did nut answer the purpose, has been again taken out of duck, but her new construction does not vet allow' her to proceed sufficient rapidity ; th'e engine/las etnnterpuntly been taken out of her, and the vessel now lays oil the Red Houso, at Deptibrd. _ _ _ A letter has been inserted this vial in the daily pa pers, written by a mau uamed 1, Ford, Avid , fluted from Norfolk, in Virginia, describing the great inecess he had met with since his entigrat . to America.. At the bottom of the letter it is stated, that the Weiter is a poor bricklayer, frotn Sussex, with u children. He ti,J4 hint away to .lo.wrica his hys park r i, together with anotha man, his wife, and.st.ven Imo, in order to relieve the pari,h of thc:hurtlen : ! Two single working men went with theni; one them, an idle one, came back aptin. - I to , ik stmt.: time to snip the&'all off, whielt cost the p ar i s h upww „a s of xotfl. The remains of Lord Ellenliorongl: are. to he:removed on Tuesday morning next from late residence in St. James's rgnare, for interment in the Charter-house ; they arc to be deposited by the the reMitins of Mr. Sutton, its founder, who was itittared iu the of Queen t.lizabeth. _ _ • A tuonunumt W tile ruetum of thu late Sir der Thinnsun, rt thp Court of ;.Nelnnboer, was placed up laft week, in tltc o!' tti!• Ititbey 'Church at iLith. Ou the top o: it arc the 'eel: •ItralS c:. 7 jelSitec, arid volumes vita*: btills lot 'ably cAvettb:it.. tv i l.r.; A:Jai •.• Z!.k. ')I1JOIA •I`