The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-06-05 00:00:00

COVENT-GARDEN.

After the fifth representation of Charles the Second, or
the Merry Monarch, in which Mr. Kemble and Mr. Jones
sustained, with their usual excellence, the parts of the gay
and vacillating Charles and his witty favourite, a new
melo-drama was produced, entitled The Castellan's Oath.
Like all melo-dramas, its foundation is very weak, and its
'success is mainly dependent onthe beautiful scenery and
occasional catching incidents, to which it owes its being,
and which preserve its existence ; but The Castellani Oath
has "inexplicable dumb show and noise" than the gene.
rality of pieces of a similar description ; and it excites a much
greater interest than we anticipated from any production
ushered before the public, with so much attention to the
an often repeated melo-dramatie titles of " Jailer," Confi-
dant," " Betrothed," and " Deposed." The plot is
briefly this :
IVincesisos (Mr. Chapman) has usurped the throne of Poland,
and imprisoned his nephew, the deposed Prince Albert (Mrs.
Vining) in the castle of Zodiski (Mr. T. P. Cooke), the Castellan
of Lemberg. Albert escapes, and the King visits the Castellan,
in order to ascertain that the Prince is in safe keeping. The Cas-
tellan is believed to have betrayed his trust, and ordered to execu-
tion • at the moment, Albert returns, and preserves his life. A
plot has been formed to give the young Prince liberty and his king-
dom, and the usurper extorts from the Castellan an " oath" to
stab hit prisoner If any attempt were made to rescue him. This
oath gives the piece Its title. Adolph& (Mrs. Faucit), the wife of
the Castellan, enters the dungeon to enable Albert to escape, and
she is followed by her husband, who hears the alarm of " Rescue !"
and rushes to stab the Prince and fulfil his oath. Adolph& inter-
and wrests the dagger from his hand. The insurgents
Ceseaks, into the dungeon, declare that the tyrant is their pri-
soner, and proclaim Albert, Poland's King.' The play then,
of course, terminates. . .

It was received throughout with marked approbation,
and given out for repetition, on Tuesday next, with consi-
derable applause. The character were all well sustained,
particularly those by Mr. T. P. Cooke, Mr. Blanchard,
liirs. Faucit, and Mrs. Vining, and the scenery was very
beautiful. The farce of Fortune's Frolic followed, and
the perfect acting of Mr Rayner, in the part of Rohin
Anwhhead, atoned for the nonsense which; even in a farce,
would be otherwise unbearable. The house was well filled,
notwithstanding the superior attraction of " their Majesties
of the Sandwich Island," and " God save the King," at
the rival theatre.

Monsieur Alexandre is delighting the good people of
Glasgow with the display of his wonderful powers of ven-
triloquism.
LACONIC ADICU.—A gentleman who by mere chance
strolled into a coffee-house where he met with a Captain of
his acquaintance, on the point of sailing to New York, and
from whom he received an invitation to accompany him,
which he accepted, taking care, however, to inform his wife
of it, which he did in these terms—" Dear wife, I am
going to America, your's truly." her answer was not at
all inferior either in laconism or tenderness—" lkar hus-
band, a pleasant voyage, your's, &c."
The Sale of the Second Poition of the late Sir Mark
Sykes's magnificent Library was concluded on Thursday ;
it will be succeeded by a third part immediately after the
holidays. This Library is unquestionably the finest which
hat been sold since the late Duke of Itoxburgh's • it
abounds in literary treasures, and possesses a. matchless
collection of books printed in the fifteenth century, an
extraordinary collection of the productions of our earlier
bards, and is particularly rich in rare specimens of the
Aldine prem. 'f he two parts which have already been
sold have produced more than fourteen thousand pounds,
and we understand the ensuing part will prove equally
choice and curious.

One of the boats intended for Captain Franklin's land
expedition was last week launeLed from the communica-
tion bridge, Chatham, in the presence of Lieut.-Colonel
Pesky, the projector, and Dr. Richardson, the enterprising
companion of Franklin. The boat was christened by the
eldest daughter of Lieut.-Col. Pasley, " The Nutshell "
which form it resembles. The frame work is made of ash,
fastened without nails, over which is an entire case of double
canvass, inelosing a lining of dissolved India rubber. Her
weight before entering ,the water was t43lbs. She is
capable of carrying four persons, and 3501 b. weight of
ballast. Lieut.-Col. Pesky and three officers of the Royal
Engineers sailed across the Medway, and afterwards to the
Dock-yard, where she was taken to pieces, and carried
upon the shoulders of two men to the Artillery Barracks.—
Kent Herald.