The National Register. — London, England, 1812-09-27 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. cl PT. C 7. p i rY~iY~ DRAM ATIt REGISIER. 1.1*( UM. Ti po , tihie, that before SHAKSPEA RE and JONSON 44 hall x S,„ (UM tat Cait, " there we' e cri , ics cotemporary them,*OO, like tho-f of the p , esent day, were in the hit. 1 1 Aleo4in!: the absence of dramatic geeitis . at that a n I in pi rntini.: out the mel.aicholv failing oft to Le 4al OlCd, w. , en the writings !4a A g,p rAitE an d J oNsoN pith the ‘‘orts o f eel tail immxtrri ba , ds, irUt. all I ,l4 , (eck(i than, but 'those name; no t reached the ~;;-ctectitli century. Suppmieg this it may not appear tet I v • m! ,,,,srbie, that at some future yeriod, Will II Kti (rt.so are for ptten not till (ten) the dccli 1 :;1%, • of d...iinatic genius, may cause a I eft , t cure to be made ices to the vr4ers of our tio,e, similar to that now made t :".it Al< SP FA itr- .10 NsO'S - 9 ke. and similar to that which f.trppcse,..ta ;heir dav, was made to vows of greater anti quity• e dr;;matie writers may he censured as punt, will ss set ;IA" s, unv of thy t•) tread the earl) rendered Nu t ions Its' that splendid constellation of talent which shed lustre . 0,1 the close of th:- reign of Geor2e the Third, wilco the v;enuine wit, irresivible humour, genius for poetry, and knows: dge if n tile of aDi ODIN, a ItLy L DS, a PococK. ai.d an AnNoin, shone forth to enlighten all postetit with ahi ze rcrilpoitiy brizhl, that the lapse of a s ses could 'tot dim, and wh , ch Tune aVemp . ing to ell could only find Lim-e'frompetent to ioifiy: A tv w Opera limn the pen of a Mr. CODE was on Tues da, pe,founctl for the hest time, which, to us, appeared a pr,ducrion so emineutiv contemptible, that had the H EY ams, DIDDINS, i.)een b , it a reasonable time in their rakes, we s. ould have expected. to hear much critical be vv,:itiog about depa ted genius, and about the sun of English Opera him nit set never to rise again, for this apera,'by Mr. ('ODE, is as much infer ior to the gene,al run of their pieces, as thev are below the writings of Mr- SHLRIDA S -111 putting his name tt, such a peiformance, we think the au flint has displayed more intrepidity than w.sdom, lie may perhaps Lave thought that his name would give respectability to his p•ay. We kn iw not how this may he, but this we know, that his play is not likely to give respectability to his name. It owes its saivltion to the patriotism, not to Ihe taste of the pubirc, as it is solely held together by a string of tine scnti ments expressive of attarhtnent to Independence," " Li berty," and " Dear native land " These are thrown toge ther without anything of ingenuity to entitle them to adini ration, or anything of novettv, or of extraordinary felicity of expression to t ecommend Clem to the publi;. However we do approve of the sentiments themselves, it moves our indignation when they are used for such a purpose. 'They become degraded when employed merely as clap traps, and are no longer entitled to respect, while the mean and, pitiful . practice of resorting to these in the absence of wit calls forth all.the contempt and reprobation due to a tt ick, for as nothing short of a shuttling trick, can we regard such a subtet f:: be. A sketch of the business, miserable as it is, may not be un acceptable to some of our reLders, though others may think their time mispent in perusing it. The Spaniards under ilionzo are fighting against the Sara cens, by whom their King Pdagio is supposed to be held in captivity. lje,however, it appears, has been stabbed by Doh lg"rani an unworthy favourite, who, in. common with most theatrical assassins,. cannot. commit a murder outright at' once, but having .wounded limbs leaves the com pletion of the business to Ramiro, who, as is usual in such Cases, save the He of the Intended. victim, makes him spear 601 ■ that he will not let :t be known that he lives without his (Ramirds) consent, and causes him to assume the character of the Hermit l'f the I .ake. The lv.'ing his,detuOtter t') have been murdered, but she,' thongh such we-' intended to be her fate, is not only spared by i)on Garman, but brought up by him as his own. She feels for him all the affection of a datuliter for a father, but falling in love with /Mara, with all her fi!ialliety, she runs away from hint in the secood act, disgui4Cd as n boy, and seeks the proriot camp, with a letter iron: herself to .-Hon7o, aod is sent back in the third hy her lover, who ha , not discovered her, with : a letter 10 lietse!l She to urn, with a; mach alacrity as she Went, without haying displayed her akctian in any way but weeriag the Greed irecia. The traitorous desigos of GI/7mill: lam begin to develope themselves, anl are oppose 1 by the //conit at' the Late (the King) avliont Ramira has drawn from his recess. lie throws oil his disguise, ay his presence, to confute the fa! , eltoods of Gorman and the St racer envoy, who had forged a tale of his being a piisoner, A battle ensues, in which the King is victori o us. The treason of G than is now made puhlie, who rent nttturrrlitj, ill of a : sudden becomes a virtuous good sort of a person, reiatrds his I past conduct with horror, and auxious to make all the atone : inert in his power, dechres Cl .ra to be the King's daughter. This story, though (,unsup? cried as it k) it might have been conside , ed but as the sequel to his limner villainy, is at once believed. The statement of a man of Gurman's character, it should seem, is not to he doubted, and the parties immedi . tarty go through the customary ! oh's! starts, and braces : Garman acknowledges himself to be unfit to live, ! and expects to he doomed to death. His Ma j esty, bids him live I and repent. To this no Wection is made by Dun Garman, and the piece ca ncludes with the union of ..1ioa.:o and Clara. i 11'C we not disposed to libel the manager's un derstanding so far as to sus pose that he could mistake this opera for a p:oduetion merit. The conduct of the r.::.ce admirably accords with its plan, and it is difficult to ::ay which is more absurd. The charac ters ale wretchedly cominon- place, and drawn without either strength or humour. A young wife who is dissatisfied with an old husband, in old husbzind who cnmolains of a noisy wife, an old bachelor, and a maid past he rime, arc the principal noecificv, and'aie given to make us gh. Here, Mr. ('one, no doubt, thought he was pla . ing a'aatre card, and that it was imposs.ble for any - audience to refine to be entertained with what had been So often laughed at before, and his anxiety to please is i'ery happily evinced in his taking care to give the public . what he knew they hkeds Unfortuna'av, however, he did not provoke a.I that laughter which he expected. This was rather Soto icing, we are sure we have often seen the very same tOtgs kso r e what better told to be sure) cause a great deal of mirth. The serious busittess boasts considerable dralery, and - shows a great knowledge of life. The King, visited in his solitude by Aloe-:o, gives such good reasons for remaining in retire ment, that .4t0n70 is satisfied and about to leave him, when his Nlajesty cries, " Ilold !" and expresses himself willing to ieture. to the busy world, were it not for a solemn oath which he has taken. These 'is something very natural in his con• duct here, as he seems just about to hrelk his oath, when Ramira enters to relieve him from the obligation. One beautiful speech in the scene above-met tioned we ought not to forget. The King says, • " when Freedom . is seen upon earth, some tyrant al-ays rises to chain her to 'his car." We are much edified by this statement. Till' we heiird it, we did not know that t rants kept liberty so near them. We rather apprehended that they were generally swamis to banish 11. • 1