The National Register. — London, England, 1818-01-19 00:00:00

T JAN. 19 THE DRAMA. KIAG•3 THEATRE. This elegant house opened for the season nn Satur• atty week, with Pact's Opera of Griidda, to which KU. ceded a new ballet called Mims el Fahie. Several changes have taken place in the corps de ballet, but not of a nature to demand particular notice. The new tue thod of lighting the house by gas has greatly added to its beauty. Every part is illuminated with such bril liancy as to vie with the brightest sunshine. A beauti ful cut-glass lustre, in the form of a bell, is suspended front the ceiling, which pr. duces an effulgence est:cc:ling every thing► yet witnessed By the removal of the chan delier front the boxes, the elegant form of the interior is more distinctly seen, whilst, unless wa look upward, we arc unconscious from whence the additional lustre proceeds. COVENT-GARDEN. A one act piece called Three miles from Paris was produced here on Thursday. The plot turns on the delivering of a letter, by the servant of un English Colonel, who is in love with a niece of a poor widow, who keeps an Inn three miles from the French capital. The servant to effect this purpose, assumes successively the dress du French Courier, an English Grenadier, a Tourist, and a Sailor. This part was very respectfully played by Denning, a provincial acwr of some ►elebrity, who is engaged m the rooe► of Mathews. Money saved, in the case of such actors as Matthews, is not always money got. Denning would have been to him a valuable second, but to stand in his place, is a bald and even hazardous attempt.—The reception of the farce was not the most favourable. SURREY THEATRE. There are not many things in which we could wish to become imitators of our neighbours, the French ; neither their laws their religion, nor their politics are much to our taste ; but in some things con nected with literature, the arts, and those public am•ase ments which, if not abused, refine Society, they are our superiors. We will not say they have more brilliant scholars than we have, or that their artists in any de gree excel us, but we mean that there is a general feel ing is a French public, that the illustrious scholar, or the skilful artist is a sort of public man,—an object of national patronage and pre tection. Their public amuse ments, too, derive a consequence from the countenance of,the government, which lots a material influence with the public. That which the Academy meets gravely to deliberate upon, cannot but obtain a consequence in the eyes of the people, and whether it be the Theatre Francais, or humble Vaudeville, the applauding voice of the public, and the critical pen of the Journalist, pre serves them from obscurity The penchant of our neigh bours fix the care-killing occupations of life, may be assigned as the cause of the high estimation in which every species of scenic representation is held; but there is another, and, if the minor theatres of this city would .wish tuprosper, they must take a lesson from the French, not partially, as tLey now do, but learn to the very let. ter. Every theatre in Paris has its peculiar feature— its peculiar description olperformanees ; regulated in deed, by law, but not contrary to the taste of the peo ple. The perfo:mances at the Opera are strictly ope ratio ; the Theatre Francais presents what its name im ports—the ligitimate productions of the French Drama; the Cirque Olvmpique confines itself to feats of agility; and the Vaudeville gives its " little pieces interspersed tvith little songs." They never, us in this country, violate each others territory, and every man, therefore knows where to gratify his peculiar taste. Something Me an attention to his plan is, at length, beginning to make its appearance among our iniuur theatres. Lin- happily, those which we c►ll /?(y/al, are slow to set the example. Tragedy, Comedy, Farce, and Opera, tale their turn ; horstmanship, slack rope, and tight rope, veal fire, and real water, all are impressed into their service ; so that a man, unused to the stage, would sometimes be at a lox; to know whether h►+ had found his way to Covent Garden, or Astley's Amphitheatre. Among the first to break down the system, we are hap py to observe Mr. T. Dibdin, who, in his performances at the Surrey Theatre, is endeavouring to confine him . self to that class of performances which, cramped as a minor theatre it by law, is best calculate) to please. At this tle:atre, we find a strict attention paid to the pantomimic and burh.mue species of performance ; we are not disgusted by Macbeth in dumb-shew, nor hamlet without the soliloquies; we know, when we visit this house what entertainment we are to expect, and if the viands be not of the most costly sort, we are pleated to find them so well cooked. Added to a correct testa, the manage: appears to possess all those business-like habits which eminently tit a man for the regulation of a dramatic establislunent : indeed a talent fix theatrical management appear to be the characteristic of all the Dibdin We can now state that Mr. Sergeant Best has been appainted Chief Justice of Chester, and has resigned the appointment of Attorney-General of the Prince as Duke of Cornwall, in consequence of the Lord Chancellor having deco.rel that the two situations were incompati ble. Our readers cannot forget that Mr. Justice Gar row held the place along with that of Attorney.GeUc• ill to the King. THE NATIONAL 111:G1ST/tn. UNITIRD STATES SHIP FRANICLINI.The arrival of this vessel ham excited much attention and curiosity in our shipwrights and seamen, some of whom embraced the opportunity, while she lay at ;pithead, of inspecting her ctmstruction and equipment. Nothing, we have been credibly assured, can exceed the manner in which the Franklin is fitted out, both below and above the gun-whale. Her rigging is neat, and adroitly Managed by one of the finest crews that ever navigated a ship. Her hull is a perfect model of ship-building, and the interior combines every possible accommodation and coat fort, with the most excellent arrangements fir the deposit of stores; in which respect she is stated to be decidedly superior to any one of our ships of war. Her means of annoyance arc on a similar scale of perfection. Oa all her decks she carries 3'2-pounders ; u wise pre caution, by which the possibility only of a single mis take in the quantum of powder and shot is avoided.— The guns, however, of the dith:rent decks, although of the saute calibre, vary in length, and the uppermost tier, or those on the quarter deck and threcastle, are car ronades, the whole being evidently planned fbr power fill and decisive close combat. Around the masts are hung sharpened axes, ready for cutting away in cases of emergency. At sea, the Americans constantly habi tuate their crews to sailing round u barrel, and tiring at it with heavy shot, ur to practising with musketry at a bottle suspended from one of the yard arms. The men fire by turns, and to him who strikes either the barrel or the bottle, a double allowance of grog is awarded.—The crews are likewise employed, at every opportunity, in exercising the great guns; and in con sequence of all these preparatory measures, they natu rally go into action, not ouly devoid of fear, but with that ardour which is the almost certain presage of victory. _ _ acoo SIENT.A letter from Boulogne states, tha on Tuesday se'nnight, between the hours of 10 and 11 in the tbrenoon, notwithstanding the vigilance of the French police, who, it was understood, were directed to be on the alert, to prevent the circumstance being carried into effect, a gallant young officer of Dragoon Guards, can toned in the vicinity of Calais, eloped with a lovely and accomplished young lady, niece to a worthy Baronet well known in the west of England, both in the disguise of domestics, to some friends who acompa nied them. - On the following morning they were seen prosecuting their journey to the north of England, and probably ere this the indisoluble knot is tied. ITALIAN BANDlTTL—Lieutenant Colonel Herries and Captain Gordon, R. N. were attacked on their way to Naples, between Terracina and Foluii, by a banditti, on the evening of the 12th December. The first act of the villains was to fire upon toe postilion without previous warning. He fell mortally wounded. They then proceeded to rifle the travellers, and took from them their watches, money, &c. The banditti were divided into two parties, one of which was immediately active in the attack and robbery, while the other re mained in reserve at a short distance ; and their number was so considerable, that Lieutenant Colonel Herries and his companion must be considered as owing their lives to their being unprepared to offer any reaustance. They suffered little personal violence, and were allowed when the plunder was finished, to proceed on their journey ; their servant taking the place of the postilion, who was conveyed to Fottdi in the carriage. Lieute nant Colonel Herries was on his way to join the Bri tish head quarters in the Mediterraneau as Deputy Quarter Master General. FORUEHY.-At the Old Bailey yesterday, William Kelly, only 15 years of age, was indicted capitally, for forging and uttering a 51. note, knowing it to be tbrg ed with intend to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. The prisoner was brought up to plead on Friday, and he persisted in pleading Guilty, although told it could not in the remotest de gree avail him. He was accordingly put by and brought up this morning to amend his plea. Still, however, he persisted iu his former plea, by observing, " how can I plead not guilty when I know myself to be guilty." He was then put to the bar, and charged, with another buy, aged 17, named Thomas Spencer, with having forged and uttered a 51. note, knowing it to have been forged. The short circumstances of the case were these : On the evening of the '26th November, the prisoner Kelly, dressed as a plasterer, went to the shop of Mr. 13ruidley, a pork-butcher of St. Martin's-lane, and say ing he came from his master, Mr. Crete, a plaisterer in Long-acre, asked for change of a 51. note ; he obtained the change in four one pound notes, and the remainder in silver. Both prisoners were shortly afterwards ap prehended, and upon the person of Spencer were found four one pound notes, two of which Mr. 13raidley idea ' tilted to be those he gave Kelly iu change, and upon Kelly were found 18s. in silver. The 51. note was proved to have been forged, and Mr. Croce proved that he never authorized the prisoner to get him change of the 51. note. Mr. Justice Abbot summed up, and the Jury found both the prisoners Guilty—Death. The Earl of Dalhousie is appointed Governor and Commander in Chief of Canada, in the room of Sir John Sherbroke, who retires. Sir James Kcmpt, it is said, is to Netted Lord Dalhousie at lialifsz. EAST FLORIDA . —One of the latest American ps. pent contain a description of East Florida. The whole number of Blacks inhabiting this portion of the Spanish territory is estimated at only 3,000, and the number of Whites at St. Augustine, the seat of Government. amounts only to 1,000, so that the extent ofthe popuht. don is evidently small ; but it remain!: to show what the :intrinsic worth of this territory is. Bordered on every side by the Atlantic, or intecbected by navigable waters in connexion with those of the United States, its timber, in the fist place, exneding in quality any that grows northerly, consists in forests of live oat, cedar, cypress, and pine, all of inexhaustible cxt‘nt.---. Next may be mentioned the fertile lands which derive from the climate such qualities as are no were else to he finind. Amongst these arc, a large tract near Aligns• tine and St. John's, called Twelve Mile Swamp, con- Mining 14,000 acres ; with another, extending to Mos quito, of GO miles long ; and a third, between Bowleg and Pampa, more than GO miles in length, and suppesed to contain some hundred thousand of acres. All above Alatchawa, fin: several days' ride, is excellent live oak and hickory land ; and the interior of the country, full of pleasant orange groves, stocked with wild cattle, and fertile and healthy, is still unexplored by the Whites. TtlE STRATHFIELDSAY EtiTATE.--WC apprehend that the Duke of Wellington has still to look for an es tate. It is reported, upon respectable authority, that the negotiation for the purchase of this property of Lord Rivers is broken oft: All the chief points of in had been settled some weeks since; but at question arose in the making of some valuations, whether certain cottages were or were not to be included. By this the completion of the bargain was prevented. There was an actual difference between the parties as to terms.--. The purchase-money was to have been about 180,0001. but Lord Rivers has only occasion for two-third s o f i t ; and that stun has now been tendered to him on mood gage, so that he is not disposed to sell. Such was the rumour on Thursday. Mn. ELLISTON, the comedian, appeared at Bow. street on Friday, to answer a charge of assault made against him by Mr. Moncreef, the author of Don Giovanni in London, &c. The maltreated bard said, he had for the last three years supp7ied all the pieces performed at the Olympic Theatre at a stipulated sum for each piece, and it was on the refusal of Mr. Ellis. ton, as manager, to pay for a new piece forthcoming, and likewise his stopping some of the plaintiff's orders, that the dispute and assault originated. The poet ex pressed his indignation at the conduct of the manager in " high sounding phrase and lofty sentence," inveigh ing with Shakspeare, against " man's ingratitude," and " benefits forgot !" The manager, not being able to parry the argurnentum ad hominem, of the poet, had resorted to the argumentum baculinwm, in which, from the stature of his adv.rsary, he was more successful, paying the astonished bard in notes qt fist. The de. fendant, not being able to gainsay the charge, was obliged to give bail f ur hi s appearance at the sessions. _ _ In the Court of King's EWnch on Friday, Mr.. Mist, late proprietor of the 13azaar in Fleet -street, obtained 4,8001. damages of the Eagle Assurance Company as a compensation for his loss by the burning of that building. His demand of 30001. had been resisted ors the ground that the plaintiff had no interest, and next that he wilfully caused the premises to be distroyed by fire. Mr. Justice Bayley, in charging the jury distinctly acquitted Mr. Mist of any improper conduct in the af. fair. The new process of the winter parish employment, by two pair of Messrs. Hill and Bun.dy's patent ma chines, procuring work fbr from eighty to ninety peo ple, has begun at her Royal Highness the Princess Eli zabeth's cottage. In this useful and benevolent trial her Majesty joins their Royal Highnesses the Prin cesses Augusta and Elizabeth. The process of pre. paring a ton of stem of flat is divided into twenty-one different parts. The plan is to confine, if pos.sible, the machinery to parishes, and is so arranged as not to in. terfere with any branch of trade, but to prepare mate. rials fir manufactures. Mr. Contts has engaged a gentleman of professional eminence, and of extensive practice, to resign his general patients, and confine his skill to him alone.— The consideration fir this sacrifice is stated to be an annuity of SOOOl. for life. The veteran banker seems already to have benefitted by this liberal arrangement, and actually looks as if he had taken a new lease of his existence. The gentleman lived in Greek -street, Soho, where he practised very extensively as a surgeon and accoucher. He is succeeded by Mr. Fisher, who was many years his assistant. Mr. Dillon, the author of the new tragedy of u Pe. tribution," has published a very modest preface to it, in which he mentions a fact relative to the Mana gers of Covent Garden, which is so honourable to them and so useful to the interest of dramatic literature, that we think it right to circulate it : he says, that tl:e manu script was sent to them willuml i 'frothy:64m or personal interest, yet it received their immediate notice, and that the utmost exertions were instantly made to give the most striking effect to his uopatronized rein. The German Gazette has revived the report, that a kingdom of Armenia will be created, with the cob. Rat of liwsia, Turkq, and Persia. MO