The National Register. — London, England, 1808-11-13 00:00:00

~.4 i. 4. 0 Trt l l / * . mount Egmont, second iu command' in ticel r panist army, was ormerly the rival of De ("parry, the Fa rrah Governor of SI. Quintin, and married the lady .whom both addressed. DuriaiT the troubles of war, his wife and sou have been betrayed by a faithless servant, Bertrout, into Dc Conecy's hands. The Sga- - aish army Inv siege to the fort, and Egmont, forgetftil iilG fits duty as general la chief, during the absence of the Dare tlfSarty; repairs secretly at night, as a deserter, to St. Quintin, provided with a letter from ..Idmiral de Coligny, which empowers hini to claim the liberty of his wife and son, wheresoever be shall tend them. lie-is, as might he etperted, although disguised as a tricssenger from Egmant, discovered to he the real Count, and detained prisoner. Here we have a new string of escapes, vaults, and iron cages, etaitinels asleep, and ilsteeers who. thougai standing at the elbow of a man on duty, whilst he deli vers the watch-word, having probably the faculty of los hie at is ill their visibility,stillretainthatofhearing. But to do just ice to Mr. Took, we must acknowledge that his invention cannot he ac cased with having prodneed these repetitions of the tricks lie has so often exposed to our sight in /'ekeli, the Poctrems, &c. for they are all to be found in the French piece. Fven the ma chinery which convess the prisoners into the vaults, is exactly the same as that employed on the Parisian Theatre. /' he im probabilities now begin to show themselves. It is well known, that Count Egmont and his son have effected their escape Frain tiw fort, tlenugh their knowledge of the watch-wurd, and it inay be supposed they will try to profit by it, yet it is not changed. In every ;arrison it is altered every two hours, but here it remains continually the same. Owing to this neglect, a party of tile earn') are admitted into the castle, comtnaaded by Sir Leinster liiidace, and when De Courca orders them to shoot a young lady, called Rose de Valmont, who had assisted the Count iii.his escape, and had been unfortunately detained with she .CotitlieS S , he is instantly disarmed. The fort is attacked, and the most ludicrous battle we ever witnessed took 'dace. The party . who had gained admittance, were too wise to open the gate to their friends without, but remained running to and fen after one or. two Frenchmen, who leaped down the battlements with astonishing agility. At last, Count Eg.. moat's son wiauched a atantiard from a Frenchman, wham lie killed, and though he was but a boy, about ten years old, and unarmed, defenced,it against two soldiers till his father came to bit relief, .amid victocyrro.wned the Sounish. arms. This melodrama eautains several songs, one of winch was taken from The English Pied g the address to liberty was that of Bruce to his army, as written by Burnes, which, when re duced into English, had Inst most of its rhymes; the tune was of the same Caledonian origin. .The most remarkable characters in this piece, were, an 'lrishman without wit, a Sparish com mander who runs after his. wife when he ought to fight the ties of his coutury, a sanguinary Frenchman, at the same time uosuspectiog and improvident, a Spanish servant who betrays all his masters, a persecuted wife, a female jailor, who sacrifices her OWil lire to free net prisoners. The dialogue is feebly writ• ten, the clap-traps numerous, and yet before the curtain fell shower of hisses and offs prevented Elli,ton from beitia heard when he aonotwced Thu Siege of St. Quititin for a second repre sentation. The exertions of the actors, especially of Elliston and Mrs. If. Siddoas were so powerful, that they saved this piece from the condemnation it deserved. The - duet, taken front. The • English Fleet, and sung by Masters Durouset and nuke!, was rapturously encored, and deservedly so. The scenery was truly splendid, mid with some curtailinents this melodrama would make a good entertainment, which it is au insult to the public taste to bring forward as a first piece. KING'S THEITREt. We next turned our attention towards the King's Theatre, where we perceived Mr. Reynolds staying the signal of de. fiance. On the ,thig which he held in his hand, we saw " The Exile," written in large golden characters, and a short time after, we found ourselves transported, without any motion of our own, into the barren fields of Siberia, and surrounded with snow-crowned.anountains. In this wild part of the globe, we perceived that filial piety and affection banished from the crowded haunts of society had sought a refuge. We began to wonder how Mr. Reynolds had dared to venture so far io search of such anticrated virtues, but soon discovered that he bad only fofrowed• the steps of a French lady, Madame Cottin, whose imagination (we call to witness her novel entitled Elizabeth), had troddon that path before. As gallant knights we could not but approve or his conduct, and as dramatic critics, we do not find much to censure id his piece. P r AL.IIEC 7 Wf Nnj~ ; ,~~ =;.~_ - UStIY Plarag-bYWVLITO Trigbial, C. •• TAFARIP -.. ani mer... tom Man, Count Ulric, the former -conqueror of Sweden, has pined inn. fly years an exile in Siberia. His wife sidona, and his d au ,i," ;Vex . ina, shared his hue, . The latter hav;ng heard he t .. exclaim in his that should. the Empress ba mik.der iccrk i,, t ed with his sufferings, she - would relieve.thera and grunt him hertv, resolves to set sof on foot to seek her sovereiga's throne at Petersburg's, and stipplicate her merry. Her mother oppos e ; her design, but on toe approach of hostile messenters Irons the (iovernor of Tobolski, who come to tontine Ulric snore chisel she allows her daughter to proceed on her journey, attended by an old servant of her father's. An Indian, Doran (or rather Riimonoti, .Ilexiaa's lover and the Governor. of Tobolski's ne phew. who has assumed that disguise to watch over her saletv, and is therefore unknown to all) protects her on the was agaiast the snares of his rival Velzien. After a series of int • eresting adventure..., she reaches Moscow on the eve of the Empress's coronation. Early the next morning, a procession of the Noble., the Patriarch, the Czar° witz, the Empress, and Natives_ of the different Provinces composing the Russian Ens p ire,nmongst whirls were a band of Pole.:, long before the conquest and partitionist Poland had taken place, mareh towards , the Palace. We are nett admitted into the cathedral, where the cross and all the pompous insignia the (ireek religion are displayed before the altar,__. The Empress. who, through anticipation too, perhaps. %leari the order of SI. C'Atherinr, long before it had been viewed by one of her successors. is no sooner crowned, ikon te.i inn's voice is heard begging her father's pardon. The Patriarch, brotherto her father's foe, advises the Empress to reject her suit, whet, Doran, who had happily the day before saved the Czaroteitt'i life, without appearing to elains his prolfered reward, nuts comes boldly fisrward to support, her cause, and through his means she at last obtains the Imaged-for pardon. Wild with joy, she returns to Siberia, without 'waiting for the written deed of pardon, and falls once more into Wrizirn's hands, wlii leads her to Tobolski. The governor of this city, in order to prevent at aim future period, her marriage wish his nonhe n , otters to grant her•father liberty, provided she should soar tv Welzien. Duran then makes his appearance, and she consents to marry him, on condition that lie will fly from her fur ever. The marriage is celebrated, she" seeks her father, and at the moment when her filial affection almost gives way to despair at the thought of having wedded another than Mon,:najr, or G. vernor brings them the royal pardon, and Romanqf having re-" snmed his dress, claims his now joyful bride. Coral (Aria is restored to his former rank and affluence, and his enemy Prince Lowenstcrn disgraced. • This melodrama is loaded, not adornesi, with an underplot, which rather diminishes than increa• it9laterest. It consias of the lore ei .ant Caletor for Catherine, the Governor's daughter; the feats of Fawcett, as Servltz, for merly one of his servants, but now a gentleman, to , further his suit ; the rapti city of Liston, as tile " peeping traveller" woad despised lover in a cabinet, in which Fawcett had found Isis .wary into the house, and Mrs. Dickons' excellent acting and singing its the part of Catharine. The taste of the age most be sunk very low, if w e are to judge ont by the applause which two of the vilest anti most nonsensical songs which we have ever heard, received. It is true, they proceeded from Fawcett's comic lips, which is the only claim, mid a slender one it is, they possessed lathe indul gence of the public. The comicality of Liston's features was nearly done away by his whiskers, which gave a totally new expression to hi, cow:- ten:lnce ; but his acting was as good as usual. He danced very well, and was excellent in his duet with Munden. Mrs. H. Johnston played the part of A lexina with judgment and fee!ing, but so much spirit, that it now and then burst iuto a more than human scream, and led her to embrace almost c%ery performer who trod the boards with her.. Thus Pope, naturally enough as her father ; Young., even whilst fie as yet appeared as an Indian ; Mr. Murray, as a benevolent inhabitant of Mosco %yowl Mr. Chapman, as her old companion on herjourney,successively and frequently received her embraces. Mr. Young made his first appearance at the. King's Theatre in the character of Duran. Ile did not disappoint the ex pet-at tiano which his performance at the Haymarket had excited. He was as great as his part, which did trot open a very wide field to his abilities, would allow. • His holduebs, when be ad dretced the Empress was tempered with respect, his vindication of Wriek's innocence was delivered w itka manly and impassionate e4oquence, capable of enforciqg conviction in every heart. iiii tiderness was not affected, 'but natural, .though dignified, wi . 111, \ 3. i ~~