The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-11-25 00:00:00

111::ATRE.

COVENT-GA R 011,
M;6l Montt, the little child of seven vas of
age, who played Last seas "t the first-rate Curter. dia.
ader s, at the Dulalin. Liverpool, liitspisighant, ar '
other provincial Theatres, with so much appLuse:,
made her Mal here on Saturday night, in the cha-
rade/ of Min Psyss, in llre C.assiryGirl. The aa-
pealeanet of the house did tint evince even a mode-
rate degree of expedation, There WAS no pressure
for plates ; the boles not being half full until a late
hour. The first ad went off very tamely. and some
allusions in the early scenes, to the age aad,person
of Miss Peggr, were not calculated to predispose the
audience in favour of the little adventurer. Upon her
entre, however, at the opening of the second Ad. she
was greeted with loud and reiterated appLin.e. But
this disposition of the audience was not of twig zoo-
(instance. Strong real ks f disapprobation soon he.
gan to appear, tins' they encreased with the progress
of the play. During almost the whole of the third
act, the house was in an uproar. A small minority,
in support of the child. clapping arid exclaiming
" Turn him out," " Tutu ;" w!niti airs -1
off, qf," Manager, Monager,'! sa Kentish., Kin.
hk," were vociferated by the great majority. firs
tumultuous noise had become so ITreat in the Fourth
Ad, in the scene where Miss l'• g? si c d ,wen with
Moody to write the letter, t..” vo -s no thi sta..ze
were entirely dro ....tied in the uproar, Miss Mins,
who had appeared entirely occupied with the busi-
ness of the scene, and whose energy had not been,
in the least, damped by the marked disappionathrn
of the HOLIV, of which she had hitherto AppParrd
totally unconscious, now came forward, and pre-
sented herself at the front of the stage, with an -vi-
dent intention to address the audience. Her step
was firm, her mabuer pettedly free from embrr-
rassment, and her look full of confidence. Ass on
as the uproar had subsided, she said
•• Geetteinen And Ladies, 3%1 Nov, do.o• se•t!to.4 otititt
the company sent here to tins toe, 1 wi:l be I VUti 1,1
tun, them u..t."
A little child, boldly braving such a form dab; •
array, was a most interesting speaacle ; bur the cur
fident tone in which this address was spoken, nr, ;
increased the ridicule Arad opposition. The his.-s
became more general, and the cry of—" Kembir,"
" Amble," more loud.

Mr. KMIEC at length appeared; and, as soon as
the tumult had subsided, spoke as follows
Gellti ilo 011—The success of Miss Muehe, at •e,ee.l pro.
tincial theativs, ciacouraged her mends to hope that .he hod
merit enut•gh to subm't her pretensions to that trlsmill, in
which your' lodgment was to decide—(iw knot...) I.,dnos and
Gentlemen--It d, not the wish of the prnprnr us elks theatre
to pieta upon you any species of entertainment that does nut
meet your pedal apprAition."-.4 Louder )
Mr Kaslat.a resunting—
o The drama% laws, the drama's patrons cite "
.4 We hope, howeter, that, e. the play has proceeded so
far, you will allow Misr Mudiu to hood, the character."
" flu! No-!" was vociferate I from various parts
of the house. After a long pause, Mr. hi casts
concluded.—
•• Potisps, whe❑ you are informed that, after this alight,
Miss Mime will be wit.,draan front the stage, you will pectiic
her to euiielude
This concluding passage apperred to have ap-
peased the audience, and Miss Mut,' c came for-
ward, but only to experience a more deter-
mined opposition. She wired, and Mr. Isquotav
presenting himself, informed the House, that Miss
SLAIL 6 would, with their permission, finish the
charadler. Miss SEARLE accordingly appeared,
but in succeeding to the part, she succeeded to the
same treatment. The audience were so completely
out of humour, they wished to hear no more of
the piece ; and, alter a few hurried scenes upon the
stage, and an incessant clamour on the part of the
audience, the curtain dropped, and closed Miss
Muose's pritspeds on a London Theatre. After
this result, we have no hesitation to assert, that
many years must pass away before a similar attempt
is made upon the London stage. Had Miss Moots
failed from the want of as much merit as is compati-
ble withher.years,anotherinfont,more happily endow-
ed, might hope foe success; but this is not the case.
Miss Montt is a wondetful child ; het conception cf
the character was just ; she had all the requisite
playfulness, and entered completely into the spirit
of the scene, We did not conceive it possible that
a child of her years could effect• so much, and we
think it very improbable; that a child of even more
years, could appfoach her excellence. What
then was the cause of her failure ? A cause
founded in the very constitution of human nature,
which must for ever operate against Miss Meuie,
and every other infant under similar circumstances.
Without delusion, there is no interest; and if delu-
sion be effeded, the human mind is shocked at the,
unnatural exhibititor of Aluthty, an old man, and
Beletee, a fine ycning man, making love to a lint
child, and that child affeding the passions and th
coquetry of a grown girl. It is a disgusting ex
hibition ; and if our feelings revolt from it in Mid
Peggy, how much more must they be hurt, ss.t
we to see her in the Wit.v, Cliserly, and tithe
characters of mature age? Independent of ever
other consideration, we- rejoioe, for the sake
morality, that the -attempt of SatuiJay night di
not succeed; and that nb similar attempt ev
can succeed befisre a London audience. •
the same time, if the Ailing Manager of C
vent-Garden Thcatre thought tit, as several of
Papers have asserted, to exto:, in pi ivate, Miss
uie'spetformance, and to outrage our •eelingto
public, with such an exhibition, he ought to haw
brought her forward with every pus advents
Mrs. AT Kiss or Miss Tvriell ought to have beent
Aliikei of the :tight, and this little child aught
to have been contrasted with the iue 63ure of
Hamorori, with a plume of three upright o•tri
feathers in her head, the whole constituting a fi
seven feet high.' Although the house seas thin,
boasted a considerable portion of fashica.
Duke of KANT. the A seacous family, awl sev,
other persons of distinEtion, were, present.
re:

On Thurslay, about twelve o'clock, Mr. M. i
Mr. B. of Eton College. in consequence of a dispe
met in the playing field, ne.ir the College, to fig
attended by a number of their brother Collegis
They disalayed much science io the pugilistic
and continued the combat till two o'clock. w,
they were obliged to leave off, to go to their stud
Although they had fought two hours, they 4.'
to return to it after school hours, but were very I
perly prevented by their masters.