The National Register. — London, England, 1813-12-19 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REG !STEM . down—tn recruit himself for the great occasion that had brought him so crowded an auditory, think he called it !) namely, the delivery of his sermon ! The casket containing this most preciOus gem, was handed into the pulpit, other wise rostrum, by an elderly little wan, who followed him to to the pulpit-door, and who, it was told me, was actually kis o wn Father. He now opened the aforesaid casket, or bible, at the site of his text, gracefully depnsi:ed his white handkerchiell undetneath, and appeared to feel the singing time •to be almost as long and tedious as the young dramatic Oaten; doss the music between the acts of a play. Singing being done, the curtain rose, or, the text was named, due time being allowed for el deity ladies to wcithr how he would fred the subject : during which suspense he looked round with a simpering smile, that very oddly represented the cheerful christian. At length, the ice of the sermon was broken ; and the ' , reacher plunged into his subject at once, with a few tropes, but whiCh he meant for eloquence. He now danced me through all the seasons, the smiling spring. the laughing ?Almoner, the sober autumn, the frowning wit tei.; and Ate') wade me positively tot n round, to • see yonder hoary headed christian I' I saw stone such, on my honesty. It was only the gentleman's rhetoric ; it was an animated apos trophe ! I waited patiently, however, hoping that he would improve both himself and his subject. It was in vain. Tie iwag continually aiming to be poetical without an original idea, and rhetorical by confounding all the rules of that nit ; and the sermon was concluded before the text was touched upon ! He sat down, notwithstanding, amidst the adtplatory breathings of eseryletnale; for, as he descended from the pulpit, each evinced her anxiety to catch a look or a smile frhin the heat man. More cartiages were of him, than would have conveyed all the curates of the (-history to a feast ; and, at last, the weatied preacher s won Ws way to the veary-room, where lie threw himself into the ti:st chair. Ladies pressed round him even here; and, as I passed by, 1 overheat d him commending the warmth of his coat, sshich a lady• (I think he said) bad "lined for him with the wadding of her pelisse," to protect him ft mu the rigour of his native skies ! And sack too frequently are found, according to an observer, the young ministers of our day. Evangelicistn, alretely has it been remarked, is no ordinary profession. Rises Owe up some hopeful champion of the au,e ? ! d is! i ti,;tlsited as the popular minister of the liii:es, the glory of the old and wonder of the young, he is followed, day Piler day, and night after night, by crowds of Loth sexes ; admired by mankind, and beloved by woman kind, while astonishment gapes at him, affection stoats on him. He is in the broad-way to public preferment, and in the sale-paib for private gratification. (To be ealltimittl.) Riffles, in his Life of Spencer, has the following very pertinent shoe : do s en this subject. "1t %%44 %lit!' sincere pity," says he, that Spencer saw any yountf I%linister descend from the h o ly of his station, b. atteLtiOil, as sots as service was concluded, to Toe oar:faces tj Fiwoili.s, who, had they really received the benefit they proie,•cd, would have' she yru it in a very different way. Those mho arc 4enustomed to attend the L'ethieS tit L4M4101:," SlibiOillM Iht Ht.v. T. it " after the germon% of Popular Preachers, will enter s:410 the tee as of this oli-elvdtinil. It trOfehr le well V . some. h may comma, trout:tido take the hint it affords." Excellently aniatketl Sanndels, the old and fah hful servant of the Prances, ales, who came with her to this country, and has beer hyr cons , aut a!tetidant, died a few days ago. Iler fitlera! k ylace on Thul bday at Greenwich, and in testimony of tie tegard of her Royal Higttess, her own servant's and horses. 'Weft solely tmployed in conducting the ceremony. - DRAMATIC _REGISTER. COVENT GARDEN. In this age of revolutions, which have inverted the ranks and conditions of men, and placed the lowest born on the most exalted thrones, the stage itself has not been spared. There ismovation also performed its work, and mimicking the vicissitude of the Con tiuent, farces have dislodged the lawful monarchs of the sceoe, mid proudly filled the place which Comedies and Tragedies were wont to hold. Hinnble attendants, where they now iiitrude as principals, they were originally intended to amuse ifs 'after we hod 'been in structed. Bat modern comedies having changed their nature, and ceased to be a vehicle fur instruction, it is not astonishing that this *ovation should have crept in almost unobserved, and, indeed, the only ditlio ence which now exists between our races and comedies is the number of the acts of which they are respectively composefl. Wednesday night pr. diced at this Theatre an instance of this new •draniatic usurpation, in the production, as a first piece, pf " For Englund, Ho !" A musical eiltertainment, digisificd with the name of a " Melodramatic Opera." Notwithstandirg tte importance thus attempted to be conferred on this trifle, the Author haS taken care that it should not extend beyond its title, and for that purpose has revived a plot of escapes grown hackneyed by the sectessive appearance of the Water Car rier. 7eksli, the Fortress, the Wanderer, the Siege ef .St, Quentin, and other*, and has not relieved it by any particular ingenuity ;n the platy err excellence in the dialogae. The name of this piece, as well as the time at which it was produced, created an expectation that, like Orange Boren at the other house, it was a political sketch, abiding to time circumstances of the moment. It, however, keeps entirely clear of politics, and instead of showing. us France sinkire before the confederacy headed by England, displays both cd.rintriss in a strte of amity, and the French people, especially, in the snort attractive colours. The scene is in Normandy, and the plot is founded on the love mid escape% of Enrico Altieri (SINCL/1110, who thinks he has killed his rival Holstein (11ninticron) in a duel, and is prosecuted by his family. S ;ved and harboured by the humanity and haspitality of a French soldier, Guillaume (PARLEY), anti his u ife, Lisette (Mrs. H. Jon is min). anti cl o sely pursued by the mi. litany mid police, lie is at last able to reach Dieppe, yr here he en vaues with a British seaman, Tom Tough (I.lmEnT ), to take him to England. His pursuers, however, trace him there, and he mice more effects his escape through the ingenuity of Guillaume, Lisette, and Tom Tough, and is broneht to the house of his mistress, 31 Ags Arundel, an English Lady, who resides near Dieppe, where he is ultimately discovered and taken by the soldiery, who arc, however, on the point of being overpowered by the British sailors under Tosa Tough, when it is discovered that the Commander of the soh:tiers is no other than !holstein, urging under a false name, mid with forged orders. Enrico Allieri is, of course, voluntarily liberated and n. signs his fetters to Holstein. Them is a kind of underplot. consist ing of the courtship of Sir Francis Fuddle (JuNEs), a British log, who thinks it elegant and fashionable to leave out the letaer It in conversation, and to move as though his limbs were dislocated, with Mi.; Arundel's maideii aunt (Mrs. Das - Ex Pon t ) through Tons Tesitges mistake, who gives her a letter intenied for her niece. The inte , view between these two ridiculous parsoutges, though possess ing little novelly, is not barren of comic effect. tch is the table of this piece, which is enlivened with agreeable music and a lively representation of the vintage i.m Fralice. :d -eems 'ed with the dances with which that light•hearted people vele , Itrat.! that festive season. to these, Mr. LE CUERCQ a"4 Mis‘ Gints made their first appearance at this theatre, and dis-slayed mirei agility, skill, and grace. The general character or the dialogue is mAiocrity. occasionally relieved, however, by hum , :urous ewes siols. The sentiments ate good ; but it appears about as reasomi ble to bear a French. peasant descaut on time unequalled happiness and :ITellorn of England, as it would be to find a British tar ex a tollisg the superior courage and ability of time Gallic navy. Why the author gave such names as Enrico Altieri and finlstein to French characters, we are also at a loss to conoeive, especially as at the re . rio.l at which the action of his piece is placed, neither Italy nor any part of ( iermany were yet .WlOllllOl in the French empire. ' Upon the whole, though devoid of originality, this ...rifle is moot tutpleasino, and as an afterpiece will probably continue to attract the approbation with which it was received at its first represen tation. DRURY-LA vr. .Contrary to our expectation Oran; t BAres tt 11 continues to be rammed ; this we think mutt be' attributed to the loyalty of sued folks of this nietropo! E t which is hank in invest ;, DEC. lg.