The National Register. — London, England, 1812-12-27 00:00:00

DEC '27. h•clt, the cri• .c of a loroimr, Paper tells its, "d ar. Mr. BETTY h ,!etl ihrottg,l hno , 61- 4 ht ulty ;" ing whic 6 , th la•t extretuisies of hissing seemed close upon his f,r t6tu.e." and in wh ch " like the young elephant ',f thejast Christi:las a %umnitne, untameable, shapelts , , and heavy, a, t i 6t • ,ometter v. ts, its savageue,s was a pact of its charms, — e , itit;ht plodu ed 6.otoe'new dourderie aid the multi tu;:e , rho came t exclaim at this profanation of a stip erected far ra.ional beings, condescended to look on, and be amused by the .ude writhings of..a creature new to civiliza- ti u:' W e should not hive noticed the remarks of this writer, and ,how'd have quietly safe' ed him to be in his abuse as in his style as ‘• heavy, as the young ele.•hant of the last Chris , inas pantomime,'' had his pen ever e otted a siogle ra' of caution' whilst describing the per in.,yces of .Ir. BET TY. That he should entertain and exo.ess atr tinfivourable opinion of that Gentleman's acting, wood call for no reproof, as every man has an undoub.ed tight to t' ink anti speak for himself. But that he shou!d h::ve persecuted him with markt d and consiant hostility — that sht:utd have intioduced his name, for no other pur 'bat of abuso, in his account of pieces in which Mr. BE I . TV never played, and should have suspended the e) - ecutiou of. other Vic - tit' sto send fotth an unprovoked l! arrow to the bosom of his unoffending ad t ersary, savottis too much of private eninit% , and t. , 0 ti t e of üblif7 justice, not to excite surmises which we bust aie unfounded We wish, therefore. to put that writer upon his guard that fo, the honour of criticism, be may regain the rei'uration of fairness and impartiality, which it ought to be the p He of ail critics to `ti joy e know, at the same time, that OW attempt is not Aithout danger, au , i that it may divert his nest disz barge of metaphois lom the head of Mr. BEI to our own; but though he should endeavour to, crush us under r. bai! of 'helot ir !a i flowers, we trust we have tufficient .strength to shake off the glittering Mao, and life enough to resit its narcotic pki‘‘er. WIN Ds° , . 25. Our Tlwatre onenetl S ittird . .v with rolllN'S excellent cornedy o' t' l'he ney illoon," kind '' The .I.iar." The Nlanagea in the Duke and t tamp, perfot me I with great jtinainent, ?pith, and efrect, awl elicite.i traits of e...niais that hid fair to rank him iiisiong taw f i rs• act:As of the day. .‘fr. , . and Miss Si DN EY played Jutrana and l'olante, • diNialaN 1 C OllSiiii.ru tt-ltPits in the', d of tir.,se teas Miss Enssnx us and Mrs. LA outtoox in Zamora and The Ho teix. wett appliuded The plas w;ts aecuratel!, p-rharane-1. • The Li a r" not so w•. 11 done. Wilding and Papii on e yet- iaiperiect, d soauetiinos a.iy thins_ nut 'ritat they ought to have been, _ . . - NEWSPAPER CP ill ti2FERISTICS : Uii VEArt Tie imes a•e un•eitivri a.. 1 ~. i.t;) The Dlti, Ih e tee d na m c1 , ,111.1 tllld (114indy ; Oi ,v,ws 141.0 r t Cit Ao, F "(t)t'iner's •j:y 111j1 06' knell. The '• / . 0 .5% je. a II•wt, The Ilerphl. Dittity, iht .au wold.l ( ~a•10. 0:1 1.e4 tr a 4uinea Paot steur. thy N 1 l';:c 11 , 41 g •h.ows tert3 likt• ,li 11 c.ul chalk, A , if obb tt. scaice c t ott,,widcdly dark. But e •eit P .01! oe I 9u) I, rrash uight~ cheer op our Npilit b, t, , tl , 5 ..; .ILirn for Ali el[l,44.illit. w ni i t sto. , .Itr A ste, (V' ll'. 11,111 lit t• ; sh s' IWI I ILI I; II Vfrriul>t we CiPuuos uL Ihe /Jay are vxevil . d nit sun. k. F. W. TIT! , NATIONAL REGISTER. G EORGI 11,1 RN i L.LL. I TO Tlll. EDITOR OF TUE NATIONAL REGISTER. Slit--I have always regarded the outrageously strict moralists, who look on all public entertainments indiscr minately as sinful, as not entitled to any serious answer, their tenets being of too ab , uid a nature to waste a thought upon them :—But there a , e men of a thkrent and mole tempe rate disposition, who (10 not `object to the Theatres them s&ves, or aver that all diiimatie exhibitions must be of a mischievous tendency, but only wish tt at such should be culled as are, if net. instructi-yerat least innocent, and who would only banish from the stage, every work likely either to inflame the passiotl or to - lead the sentiments of youth into a wrong bias. W ith these last I most cordially agree, that every point likely to vitiate the hearts or degene rate the morals should be expelled from scenes, which aught in fact to be the school of virtue. But in their zeal I some times think that they run beyond their bearings, and are apt to stionatize as improper those pieces which, by their placing vice in a strong and odious light, by pourttaying its ruinous consequences, are likely to leave a lasting and salutary im pression on the mind of the juvenile spectator. What has led me to the tore2,oing retna , k is, hearing a friend of mine, a :.ensible !nail, declaim against the play of George Barnwell. and saying that it was a Tragedy unfit 'fir the ears of young, inexperi:;mced females; inasmuch . as it showed in glowing colours the power which the fair sex can at their will exert over the passions and the actions of their admirers. But at the same time does not this play likewise pourtray, in still more lively colours, the ruin which a woman not only brings upon her lover, but herself, by making an . unwarrantAle use of the powers which the fascination of her chat ms gives her? And weak, and httlo to be depended upon must be the prin cip'es of a girl who, if properly educated, could listen one to ment to such a tiend-like ambition. But were this alle gation true, were this Tragedy likely to be pernicious to the young and inexperienced female, there are sufficient other nights in the year for them to I . equent the Theatres, without their attending on the few evenings that this play is perform "d.But let us nut give up a work so likely to conduce to the honesty and morality of holiday-making merchant's or trade•wen's clerks or apprentices; a play that by its example has been kno , sn, as the following anecdote will skew, to recaL the wanderer from the paths of vice, lust and fraud, to a more just sense of virtue and of probity. " In the year 1752,durmg thc Chnstm is t.& •ays,Dr.HAttROWBV, Physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, was sent for by a young leman, in (; r. at St. [tele . 's, w i ts, was an Apprentice to a very capital merchant. He toui'd tnis patient very ill ot a slow tt,ter, that no medicine had been able to allay, and he was told by the sick nurse t:iat she was sure the young man was suffering from sonic hidden c - ruse of gri which la) heavy on his mind, as at times he would s .e.h in a moist piteous manner.—Having heard this, the doctor sent., every one out of the room, ifnd represente.l to the Invalid that if his . disorder was brought on t•y any agitation of mind, no physic ian could • ttect a cure w.iti , out first knowing the cause ot the malady, and be seeching him to disburthen it to him as toil friend The you li owned that he had a serious weight on his spirits, which he never would dik ulge, as, ware it kniwo, it w:suid occasion his ruin. The philan tnropic physician promised secrecy, And was so urgent with his pati.nt, mai he at length said, that he was the second sea of a gew leman i , f consi&rabl.: fortune in Hertfordsh:ie, that he had made. an imptoper acquaintance with the kept mistress of the captain ofan loth .man ' !hum abroad ; that i.e was within a year ot being out of his t•me, anti had been entrusted with cash, drafts, and notes, which he. ii?,l ie tree with to tile amount Lifool. that during the then Cht h o l I da):s 11ZIN hi); been at Drury lane Theatre,he had seen Mr. R oss the part of Ge rge Barnwell, that the sioularny of his own uation, with that ot the Hero of the Play, had 'so turcibly struck ,u.r. as to mos b. east with pangs ot the keenest remorse, and that sit! wi 11-6 t. ti e avow the iintaiuy he saw han.;ing over hum. • Dr. Ait It -g ask hitn where his Father then was, and learn.ng ..la iil II ' ...AVCCIed 111 tiWil to visit his son, bode the Oast h.: would break the busnme.s to our% man .4c or 6,..0d ►/' im• tido. tau- RV. RD Able t ►,y 110) it ct. v iict and ng to re. tied. !e ac ratca :1404