The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-03-07 00:00:00

THE.ITRICAL MTELLIGENCE. A new Comedy was on Saturday night brourrla ferward at this 'l'heatre, eelcd 70/at Pull, ot, ..Art Frririirkm ,, n't Fire Stir ; from the able and ready pea • e . Ir. 0 L ; the Characters of which are as follows : . if Fit:- roloari 'Mr Sir Simon Pm hdalr Mr. Watickis,l, Francis Rorritleve Mr. Johnston, Peregrine hnchdale Mr. Cooke, fileetfileren Mr. Lew s, itbney Dews Pral g ruddery Me. lolid , totie, Den Mr. F.otery. /Art/ (',,reline braymere Mrs H..folintlows )lent Thornburg Mn. Gibbs, Mrs. bralsruddery Mm. 114‘cuport. And the following is a sketch of the Fable : Peregrine Roch,lak, whei. a bly, ha 1 taken a mm antic fancy to go to sea, and for that purpose had qu tted hitsl3tlwr's boob:, at a short distance front the Cornwall etas!, without a petty in hi; poeket. in 1114 , WaV flir-writ Penzance, hearing of the goterritis tharie s r of T ...rotor'', a tredtomati of the place, lie had mimwtai to lon - lot/eh a false story of the nature of his cir cumstances, a:id font) hi nt t.. n gu ineas, aria a l i d. ter of recinnmentiat !on teen 1i rat li.dia Captain. (hi his return to hu enntltr•y, after a lapse of thirty seers, haying amassed a lag r fortune in India, he is sereoked in t he neiglibouthoed of Penzance, and on learning his sitortiitii from ilfr. limileaddery, landlord of a de-rdate puh'iediotire mar the coast, _is about f 6 fly in search of hi• benefactor, wilco he is we ed by the tries of a female in .t :—he rescues from insnlt a beauti ful girl, who having been •sediteed by a young man of for tone, and received the prerioos day intelligence of his ap pr-mching marriage with emotive, his equal in rank, was nil her way to supplicate, at 116 h a nds ' ° the means of carrying her to London, where she should yreic her rot n support, and for. ever avoid him and the resentment of her father. Peregi i puts het under the care 1.1 . rrat g raddrry , and undertakes ti be her mediator with her peducer. Ile then Nome,: hie way iu !..arch of Old Thoralnir.a. He finds him reduced by the treach ery of a friend to a state of bankruptcy, and di-trailed at the came this aim affliction at the sndtlert and secret flight of his daughter, whom Peregrine then finds to be the fair fugitive he had been protecting. Ile d.xoyers hiimelf, and tenders to Tharsakur y a case containing ten thousand poututr, which he said he hadaraioustv saved front the v reek, for the payment of•hic debt a ...-Taitu - dc. Thumb re ry .first . N.-lases it, but is . fatally indorsed to accept it, nit fleregriii.'s um:woe:lly en gaging to restore to him Ins daughter as a condition of hi, 40 ctomg. Pc/Tering then conducts hint to het, and goes imme diately in search of her seducer, who proves to be his own ne phew, the son of his biothcr Sir Simon Rochdale, and an inha bitant of the family mansion. Tisurplasfy h4viug learnt frinn his daughter the story of her connection with young Roclidalc, fkillovis her thither with the resolution of insisting upon repu tation from Sir Anost'llochdali, justice of the peace, fur the iniur; he had sixt4m.d. Ile stab:shit case, without men tioniu; Sir Simon all.nivr. the justice oelits complaint, trod Promise: - . - To see liiitirighted,Thtit ofil'i-'4litlehe name of his own son as thilalethinci,a; deitroisecahtthing the matter. Tharuburo spurns' at the proposal; on S;r &atom's c eitniting to hesitate, platsoltintaell sturdily iii the chair of mite: which the Bennie( hail yacatial, resoi - eti not to budge from it tdl he had received that justice he had beau promised. At this june • tote rese g risic apverit, with ivirg Rxbdale, with whom he )tad had an unsuccessful conference, and after remonstrating ith Ninon to as lin!: let the ?Ares; •of hotted 77tsimhury and hi:, daughter he the marriage of the latter with Ids ssin, declares himself to he tit:settler brother of Sir Simon, altid r ; 6 .at'ut to all the property of which he then stands piestessril. Intelligeitee is a l so brolight of the pri-xtvatem of the rest of l'e.cgrote's protierry (which is very considerable) from the wreck lie now,'coders the unfortunate Nom Trout bury the equal of her lover ; and the Hon. Throw< Shoijirtm4,, a reduced Buck o: the new school, having euntrired to get eurbirnly married to LoieCireobee lirmfinorr, the destincil of Yoaae Rochdale. by throwing her into a fit of elalonsv on seertuin of his illicit amour, Y . oang Rochdale is limited without further hesit sties to his betivt.d Mary, and Prregrote dispose: of his wealth for the general comfort and happiness. Puhlic expectation of the merits of this Comedy was raised very high, not less front the known excel lence of Mr. Cotmari's former prod..t-tions, than a special report from the (,recd-r,om in its favour.—Public expectation has not been disap pointed. The plot of John Ball, as it will be seen, is in its leading circumstances not new, nor is it unneces sarily. intricate. It is a plain and simple story, na turally and impressively told. l'naided by romantic Mystery, or by the imposing effect of studied situa tion, it preserves a constant hold on our feelings, keeps the attention anxiously suspended. The in cidents are ordered with regularity, and never Mul tiply into unmeaning bustle. Indeed Mr. Co Lsi AN has, in this produaion, dis dained every artifice with which the modern dra matists veils his weakness, and deludes his auditory ; and seems to have resolved to try once more the native force of genius, assisted only by her old companion, good sense ; in such hands the expe timent could not but succeed. He has even de nied himself his accustomed assistance from novelty of charader, by painting a combination of whimsi cal, thou:ill improbable habits; a licence which, perhaps, in the present state of exhaustion in the sources of originality, may be falrly allowed.— reither a Pang/ass nor an °Napa contribute to the exhibition of Saturday night. The charaulers of '7ohn BO are those of truth and nature ; portraits from the lite, sketched probably before, but never coloured with more richness and spirit. .742hri Bull Is refleeted in honest job Thornbary, a genuine. Bri ton, combining every noble feature of that venera ble charat. c ter ; his rugged cheek is alternately moist ! led with the tear of affliction tOr the disgrace of his daughter, and glowing with intrepid indignatiOn for her wrongs. yob is proud of hit integrity, chari table, scrupulous in his duties to society, and as speedily exaaing its duty towards him.. The pic ture is complete and exemplary. 'Pertgine Rochdale 4s more amiable in manners, though not substanti ally more estimable ; he is benevolence polished by the suaviier in acing. The Hon. Thomas ShrOltion is an unprincipled disciple of the new school of breed ing, tending to increase our contempt for the vices and follies of fashion, and Dennis Brulgrudisq, while we arc exulting in 7obn Bull, keeps us, by Otis honesty, his wit, and his blunders, in good lai tnour with his brother Paddy.. The dialogue in the comic scenes is pregnant in point and humorous allusion; in the.serious ones, • often elegant, and abounding in sentiments which exercise the best affeaions of the human heart ; t iese, perhaps, are seldom new, nor is- there . much e ideavour to place them irl a new light ; but they are generally well applied, and are fur the , most part such as cannot be too often repeated. The hor tors of sedu6tion, the glossy vices of rank and fa . &lion, and the indolence and insolent indifel - ence in some of our Ministers of public justice, can scarcely enough be exposed and depre.cated. Yet should some qualification of oar panegyric i belookcd for, we should say, that the generous professions of Peregrine Rochdale sometimes savour of cant, and have a tendency - to pail ; ani perhape the ittertipts at ludicrous simile, in the 'comic dialogue, are too ire pent, and now and then forced. The Play, upon the whole, is highly honourable id Mt. CoLmAN; as a Poet; as an Englishman, and as Man. He has encrea.sed our amusi..metit---lie has endeavotacd to make us patriots, ss ithout any • Nome appeal to our national vanity; and if any enrr,,pted hearts attended the scenes of Bull, they were not of a penetrable stuff," it they did not quit the 'I heatre ameliorated. To use one of his own similes, Mr. Cut. :a at 4 *has provided us a dish equally sanative and palatable, of which every uns-iriated taste must partake with pleasure and with profit. I'he anther received every help, that the zeal and talents of the performers could contribute. - lAw cm was never more his friend than in 041 Tkorn bury ; his first scene, and that where he deposes Sir Simon Rvlnlale from the chair of justice, v.-..!re incom parably played, and called forth the - applause they merited. JOHNSTONE, COOKE, LEWIS, EMMY, Mr. H. JoaNsTot., Mrs. 11. JOi-INSTON. Mrs. 6111115, and Mrs. DAV EN POILT, did ample justice to their charaElers. Mr. COLIt4 AN has on this occasion given up his colloquial apilogue, and substituted a lyric one, of which every verst it an epigram ; and JOHNSTONE sung it, in the characler of Bragrad'ery, with his .ac custnited humour : it was lomily . encored. The Prologue WAS not of striking mewit, and was not im proved in the delivery. Mr. I.t.wis announced the Comedy for this even ing, amid :t a tumult of approbation ; and we hear tily congratulate both the author and the public on its success. LEGISLATIVE BODY.-PRESIDENCY OF DELATRE •• -- • • • • •• • •••• - •-••*•••••-. • --- • • ,• 4 4 -4 • - ' ""- "• ' "" " weetie= arc composed of the whoie of the French youth, the sons of citizens; without exception. In obeying the voice of his cot entry, he does not the lees cease to belong to his coOntry ; does not cease to have the flee use of civil rights, within the limits com patible with the natary-state. Thus, when he is on the French territory, his rights are regulated by the common law ; ibut, in time of war, when the army is on foreign territory, there is necessarily an exception. 'The plan of the law might have contented itself with the article under the title of general disposi tions, which imports, Ithat every aEI of the civil state of Frenchmen, klone ia foreign cotmtrie., shall be sanctioned, when drawn up according to the forms used in such countries. But, upon this part of the subjeCt, it has been justly thought, France was momentarily wherever a French army made its appearance. During the last war the most sacred contra is of marriage were sported with. Heirs, whose origin was unknown to families, daily came to disturb their repose. Parents are always doubtful as to the existence of their children. Doubtless the war itself was the cause of iitese abuses, but there 'were many which were attributable to the want of foresight in the Legislature. • • ' There shall therefore he aret;ister of the Civil State attached to every corps of the troop, and the Staff-major of every army, for the officers without companies, and for those who axe employed. The acts shall be inscribed in registers, and sent to the officer of the domicile of the paters, to be inscribed on the registers there. On the return of the armies, the registers of the Civil State of the soldiers shall be deposited among the archives of war. sococaa, FEE. 8. A French Commissary, preceded by a Courier, and repairing with renal LW* eagerness to the coast of Tuscany, has just passed through our city. We have a French demi-brigade, which has just come from Modena, and is, they say, to pursue its route. French troops are expeEted in different ma ritime places, situated on the different maritime places of the Mediterranean. We only give these reports, not pledging ourselves for their authen ticity. ZERNE, FSa. 18. Letters of several officers of the Third Auxiliary Demi-brigade, have confirmed the news • that the first battalion of that corps, which repaired to Ajaccio, conformably to the orders of the Adjutant Commandant Blaumont, Chief of the Staff, Major of the 23d Military Division, is destined to be em barked for the East Indies. The Chief of Brigade has protested against this embarkation, upon the ground of the dispositions of the Convention of the tiOth Nov. 1798, by which it was stipulated that the Swiss Regiments shall not be bound to cross the sea. This claim. has been communicated to the Government. CORONER'S INQUEST. N ' 1 t • t V. SITTINGS OF TES. 28. nnunEALI, Counsellor of State, presented the second title of the Civil Code, relative to the acts of the Civil State. The project cf the kw contained six distinct parts, and referred to tilt three grand epochal, constituting the state cf man, and forming the source of all civil rights—namely, birth, mar riage, and death. It stated that the Constituent Assembly had adopted regulations respelling Marriages, and Deaths, and that the Constittent Assembly organised the principle of them by the law of the 20th Assembly in 1792, still in force. He added, that the plan of his. law contained all that was necessary with regard to the form of the ads, with such moditiations only as over: the result of experience. It stated that the law of 179'2 required but one publication of bans, eight days before the celebra tion of marriage ; but as it was impcstant to pre vent clandestine marriage, it was necessary there should be two celebrations, at the distance of eight days each ; and, as the former notices had been found deficient, the civil officer was charged to affix them at the door of the town-hall. The prcjed. of the law also recognized the ibrms established in other States, sued in some degree extended the rev lation of the ordinance of 1931 on this subjeEt. it proceeds w observe, that /he armies of the Republic BARBARITY AND CRUELTY. Friday night an inquest was held before Mr. Gill, at the - Fox, in Wardour-street, on the body of Dorant Lovell, otherwise George Mango, who was found dead on Sunday morning last, at the corner of Noel's-street and Wardour-street. It ap peared in evidence that the deceased, who was a man of colour, had procured his litrelihood, for many years, in the streets of London, as an itinerant tinker. He went into the Crown in Oxford -street, on Saturday morning, where he was served with a bacon of tea and a buttered roll. He returned in the evening to the same house, and had a pint of beer; about eleven o'clock the same evening, he was discovered by the watchman in Wardour-street, sitting under a door-way, where Andrew Pollock, a. watchman, finding him, insisted on his leaving that place, and forcibly dragged him to the oppo site side of the street, which is in St. Anne's parish, where he left him. The watchmen belonging• to St. Anne's, .finding the wretched being lying in a door-way on their beat, forced hint back to the side in the street in St. James's parish, where he remain ed till Pollock returning to cry the hour, asked him "'what he did there a second time, after he had dri ven him away ;" when the deceased exclaimed, " 0 Cod, lam dying I" " then (replied the watchman) you shall not die here ; you must do that somewhere else." The deceased answered, "I am not able to stir—l am a dying man!" " I care nut" said the watchman, and then either dragged or carried him a second time to the oppoiate side of the street. At seven o'clock he was fOfind dead' on the St. James's skle. On the view of the body on Friday appeared a contusion on the left hand, and a bruise upon the elbow ; when it was thought proper to have Mr. Brooks, the surgeon, to . open the body, in. order to ascertain. if there were any internal bruises that might have occasioned the death. The kurgeores report was, that there was no bruise wiratOwer in ternally, hut that he discovered an inflammation on the stomach and intestines, but not of.that mag. nitude as to cause death. . The . Jury returned the following verdia. It is not proved in 'evidence that the deceasoci, • Dorant Lovell. otherwise George Mango, did ace tually die otherwise than a natural death, but it is very clearly proved, that Andrew Pollock, the watchman on duty in Wardour-street, on Sundaf . night bit, has been highly negligent of his duty, ht. . omitting to take that care of the deceased whichhe I was bound trido,and by such omission, the said Juls Cleii4 of n, deeease4loft life.' f k a ~-~~-. t : 'Ol \ •• • • l't**. l 4 l .'," - • 111. t "lah._. r .I GLEE CLUB. On Saturday the Club met, for the sixth time this season, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand. The stock Glee was followed by a new one, written and composed by the President. The subjeiß of the words is on the customs of the Club, by way of dialogue between the President, Con- • "cluaor, and Librarian ; it was most correctly sung by the President and Messrs. Sale and Page, and • had a fine effea. The dialogue. is very ingeniously contrived, and the music does great credit to the Pre sident as an amateur. Mr. Sale was the conductor, and seleaed the Glees for the evening's entertain ment. Most of them have not been sung at the Club for several years past. The following were the most noticed :' Stevens's " Crabbed age," by Gore, Elliot, Page, and Leete. " Flora now call eth forth," by Stafford Smith; sung by Gore, Page, Sale, and Masters Smith, Price, and Cutler; the latter has greatly improved as a vocal performer. The foilowing new Glees were produced for the approbation of the Club. One for three voices, by Mr, .1. B. S;.le, sung by .Messrs., Evans, Vaughan, and J. B. Sale. It is a very delightful piece of composition, and was universally applauded and encored: The most interesting was a Glee for eight voiccs, composed by Mr. Spofiorth. It was re ceived with general applause, as it justly deserved. We must not pass unnoticed a charming * little Glee, produced by Mr. Evans, whose health the company drank, and thanks for the Glee. Lord Gardner, thelion. John and Wm. Spencer, and several other persons of distinition were present. On Saturday, the Committee appointed to try the merits rf the- Nottingham Eletion Petition were compelled to adjourn, on account of the illness of Mr. %V nt,tr, of Upper Harley-street, one of its members. It was the opinion of the petitiouevs, that as the House of Commons did not. sit, the Committee could not meet till after a report had been made to the House. The Chairman, ISAAC HAWICINS I3RowNL, Esq. however waited upon the Speaker to inform him of the circumstance, when leave was given for the Committee to proceed on Monday, should Mr. WALSH recover. It has never been usual for any committee to meet atter the ab sence of one of its members, till a report has been made to the House, but a precedent of the Speaker's permission to dispense with that rule, when the in convenience has occurred on a Saturday, has been adopted and. recognized. It is extraordinary, this is the first adjournment which has taken place in the Nottingham Committee during a tedious and painful attendance of sixteen days.—There is an im mense macs of evidence detailing circumstances which will afford some entertainment to the public, when they can with propriety be laid before it. The speeches of the counsel have been uncommonly bril liant. An idea having been suggested in different Public Prints; that the uncommon degree of sickness which has lately prevailed, is the consequence of a specific infe&ion irnportc!d from the continent, and a con siderable alarm having been thereby excited, we thought it our duty to obtain such information on the subjea as would enable us on the one hand to remove or diminish the anxiety produced, or on the other to excite such a degree of caution, and dire& to such measures as might prove salutary. We are happy therefore to state, on resoe&able medical au thority, that instead of being considered as a ma lignant disease propagating itself by conta&, it par takes more of the nature of a former complaint, which was denominated the In, ! uenza, though in many instances there has been a higher degree of fever, and the catarrhal symptoms have been mare distressing and severe than on that occasion. The Honourable PHI i.l f Pesty, of Grosvenor square, the Inheritor of the estates of the late Lady For.rtsroar, his mother, who was supposed to have died intestate, as he was examining last week some family papers, found a will purporting to have been made by her Ladyship. Struck .with the sudden and unexpeCted discovery, he exclaimed, " 0 God, what have I found ?' it is my mother's will, and her will shall be obeyed!''—Among the bequests, it con tained bequests to her servants at the time of her death.. lie accordingly called his' domestics, and instituted an immediate enquiry, with a yiewao pay them if living, or their nearest relatives if dead, the full a mount of their several legacies with in terest ; which will amount to several thousand pounds. Among the legatees, a poor woman, who had been only a few days is her Litlyship's service, has been paid 51. and 51. interest. A few individuals well acquainted with the tran sadion, have opened a subscription for the benefit of the unfortunate .PinGroa (the Servant of a dis tiller), so dreadfully mangled in his attempt to se cure the villains who robbed the. Chiswick errand cart, at the imminent havard of his life, and the actual loss of his right hand. There is one man in custody in Newgate for pre varication liefore one of the Committees now sitting, and a Messenger . has been sent express to Scotland , to take another. persan into custody who has tieglea ea or relined to attend aiter having bettl stimmutted. FOREIGN ArrELLicnrcE. FROM THE FRENCH PAPERS. • PARIS, MATICH 2. Letrrrr. from Rome, of the 17th February, say, Fits Holiness, by virtue of the right granted to him hy the great powers of Europe, of nominating . tiv!Grand Master of the Order of Malta, has eldled the Neapolitan Knight M. le 13Ai Tde 'FfioNtAsi. A Messenger has set out from Rome for Sicily, with the Brief of elation, conferring on him that dignity. —Monittur. • The convoy of General LECLERC, arrived at Villers Cotterets at eleven o'clock. • The remains of the General have been deposited in the church of that place, where they will remain under a guard, till they are but ied on his estate at Montgobert. Citizen D'A FrR v, the new Landamman of Swit zerland, left Paris on the 26th of February. The town of Passau was nut evactiatathe I‘2th last, as it was determined it should be.. Im perial garrison was on the point of quitting it, when a countermand arrived, importing that the Austrians should provisionally remain there. The troops of Bavaria, charged to take possession, re main at St. Nicholas, half a mile from Passau. Letters from Rouen, of the 27th of February, state that LtsoUncots and PICOT, formerly Chiefs of Chouans, accompanied by many individuals, have quitteii England for France, where they were concealed more than a month. The police, inforraed of their return, has endeavoured to penetrate the motives of it, and soon discovered they were meditating new plots against the public safety. They have been arrested, and their examinations have proved the criminal designs they entertained . . against us. According to letters from Tripoli, the commer cial relations of that regency with Europe have hi therto been very inconsiderable, though its ports have not been blocked up.. The grand caravan of Morrocco for Mecca arrived at Tripoli the latter end of December. The camp to be formed between Brussels and Louvain, at the period of the visit of the I'IRST CONSUL to the united departments of Belgium, will be placed in the plain of Cortemberg, situated two miles from that town. It was in that plain the Austrian army encamped in the famous retreats of 1792 and 1791. There will * be raised on the neigh t a fort, constructed of earth, planted with artillery, which the army will besiege according to the regu lar rules, during the execution of the grand mantr vres. The nun,ber of the troops which will com pose the camp, appear to be difinitiyely fixed at 15000 men. As soon as the season will admit of it, they will march for their destination. M. L A 1 - 1.11:PE has left valuable manuscripts, which, in a new Edition of the works of that grand critic, under the dirthion of M. Dr: FONT A N ES, will be published without delay. PARIS, MARCIL I. Yesterday morning at six o'clock, the Fi asr CON SUL let out from the Thuillerics, to visit the whole extent of the works of the Canal of Ourcq. At ten o'clock, Madame BONAPAVE also repaired thither. They write from Brest, the 24th February, that General DECALN has arrived there. That Gene ral, appointed to the place of Captain-General of our establishment in India, the same day reviewed the troops destined to repair there. lie has been received in *he road, with the honours due to his rank. The expedition to India, will soon be in a condi tion to set sail. The frigate Urania, and the corvettes La Dili gone and Le Curieux, set sail the fifth.—We be lieve they arc destined for America.