The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-04-05 00:00:00

of langliter was tears), au 1, burn tliit petits& until
the curtain rrn, scarcely a Pentriire tittered ity the
actors could be heard. A constant, Is al it very
melodious imitation uf t's.joegginty of the i.iglotin-
gale—cries of " ftff, ,?9'!"—nll prrgoil ul Ivrea-
lion* between Ilse (imp ising parties, rendi red per-
fectly nugatory the exertions of the ;whirs' Ittiilzs.
When the curtain fell, Mr. 1). Fisucu came for-
and announced, not the withdrawal of the

piece, as was fondly expected by those who had en-
tered the theatre, pre-determined to dawn I but
the intention of perforrnung it, on Wittig se'utught•
A store of disqpprolnition followed, %skull in-
creased ten-fold, when the curittitt drew up tor the
_ _

afterpirce of Th; Sleepiorg Draught. Mr. II a nits
was obliged to retire from the stage, :tiniilst a vol-
ley of orange-peels, end bliss Cootie and Mrs.
IfuestEs were treated, we are sorry to say, with n
little ceremony. Mr. Ilaat.sv endeavoured to 101.
dress the audience, but, favourite as he lie was
assailed on this occasion, with iirovge-pt els in abuts-
datice. The ery for " 'Wagger !" at length
brought out Mr. C A RR, but his titteintit to pro-
cure a hearing was inelfectiil. Mr. Kau, who
had been repeatedly called fur, at length advanced
to the post of danger. With much difficulty lie
obtained a pawe of attention—
Gentlemen," said be, " in nlsedience to your call, i wait
to {wow whet your pleasure is."
. .

The outcry sigaio bunt forth with stunning vio-
Iroise, in the midst of which, a. permit, ise the pit
handed to Mr, Ras: o toper, containing the words
oitlidrow the piece." Nlr. RAE raid, the Ala-•
nager woe oilseed, and he lead no authority to act
for him, He then retired. The cry of " Mana-
ger." was now re-doubitd, and, in a abort time,
Mr. HARLEY entered, lieetriog a placard, on
which was inscribed, " Mr. UENBL.E is absent
from the house through illness." This did not
pacify the audience, who insisted on the appear-
ance of the Manager. An often-opt was mode to
ploceed with the force, but the inument Fl A R.•
LEY appeared, the otange-peel butteries opened on
hies will great sivacolv. He declared that Mr.
a;
K 1 was not hellos house, and, on a card
handed to him from the pit, he retired.' Mr. CA RR
again essayed to obtain a hearing, and succeed. tt in
some degree. He said— . -
•' Gentlemen, I would scorn to receive you wills a false-
hood. Upon my tumour Mr. Kemble is not in the house--
he is confined by otherwise hr would appear se your
rtitionautl. Get...denten, a card has been toweled to me by
Mr. Harley, its which it is stated that the play bas nut had
an impartial heating. Wince the °Mottos for rod against the
pay is so mai, balanced, it of out Possible to Arcade at
wire nu its merits. If, on a second representation, it is not
deemed atolls/ of support, it shad be withdrawn."
Great confusion followed this address, which
Wile nut a little augmented by the appearance nf
Mr. GALE JONES, who stood up, in one of the
dress-boxes, with the apparent iiitention of amusing
the audience bye display of eloquence. Cries of
" Retire ! sit down ! we want *use e>f yoxr keg-
winded hardingnrs ! go to your friend Hand !" being
found ineffectual to drive him from his post, hr was
greeted with a shower of (rauge-peels ond pieces of
apple, which co;npelled 14tri to shift his guineas with
uitcommon agility. Two boys, b..aring an enormous
placard. inscribed with she words " Be pleased to
hear the piece once more I" were obliged to fly pre-
cipitately from the missiles that were directed sit
theta. After this. the farce proceeded no dumb,
thew, wlµl the content dripped a little before twelve
o'clock. So rods the history of the proceedings of
Saturday bight.
know iug that the piece was about to be repre-
sented, we have hitherto abstained front giving any
opinion on its merit,. We wished it to receive its
life or death horn the unassisted, unbiassed voice of
the public. Some of our contemporaries have
adopted a contrary coat.—and, the play having
been published, they, in strictures, had • sighs,
if they pleased, to criticise it. But, we think,
in delie icy and in candour, they ought to have
obstemseti front exercising that right. One pally,
by extravagant-encomiums on the play, raised ex-
pectations, which, even if it lead been patiently
heard, would nut, we are convinced, have hero
realised ; whilst rootber, withmotives that can
neither be mistaken nor palliated, described it as
▪ work, wholly destitute of talent. Indeed, the
latter 'tatty seemed more desirous to heap abuse on
the author, than maim.* to support, by fair reason.
hese, and just elucidation, the unfavourable opt-
moss, which they expressed of Les production.—
Those who read Mr. MICIIL'a tragedy, wills a de-
terimesatosit to form an opinion for themselves, will
meet old) massy passages of leigh poetical excel-
lence. Mr. Iluctres descriptions of the suhlime
tool beautiful in nature, are admirably penned.
Truth mid leeling breathe in every hue of them.
As u descriptive poet, ha has considerable mere,—
but, as u dramatic poet, very little. Ills lively
Nod Gower's' mass—his rich and luxuriant imagery—
would, to a poem, afford a eery great degree of
:pleasure. Best, on the stage we look for action—
We expect to have our passosins excited—mere de-
oeription, however beautiful, will never do this—
asd lie who cannot do it, can never be • dramatic
poet. As the tragedy is its the hands of, we believe
almost eyrry retiring mats, we forbear from
tog tier plot, We must, however, remark, that ;t
es iisvolved in great obscurity. With respect to
the principal diameters, the *naive of action is not,
in all of them, suffecoeutly strong, to authorise the
effects which opiwor to flow from it. This nom k
applies e particularly to the character of Al-
ban it). !Iv, it seem+, hos been condemned to die
for the murder of his wife, of which deed he is
wholly • ocelot. The evidence against him is so
decisive, that he would have met the same fate were
he treed before any tribunal in the world. All
Naples,, with the exception of one coati, believe
held guilty—and that one gaoler—the per.
son who, above ull others, would be most isiclin-
eel to doubt his asseverations of innocence. Salan-
sermte says, "it is seldom that the steeled
gaoler is the friend of man." But Albania's keeper,
is one of the tender-hearted kind, slid suffers leissi
lA eicaise- What use does he make of leis freedom
Plots he employ agents to doscuver the mystery of
his wife's murder I L)oes be seek to prove his in-
110Critca ? .Nu such tieing. linowiesg that lie is ill-
notseeet of one crime, he cherishes nut that tes.
UOCIIKV, as his beet solace, but hasteem to plunge
into guilt. He leagues with a body of outlaw., and
meditates the destruction of Naples, and of its
whole populatioie—because that population bee
Imbed, tides', wider oil the cercunistatecra, no one
could elcubt? that lee was fa "Isamu. The cause