The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-10-15 00:00:00

THEATRES.

COVENT-GARDEN.
After having been performed for two months anti upwards
with no inconsiderable lIIICCUNS at the Lyceum, l)rr
chefs was brought out lag evening at Covent-gard
That there may be " too much of a goed thing," is an
admitted axiom ; and we own the renewal of tits pine
appeared to us somewhat to " border on the verge" of a
violation of ibis well-recognised rule. 'lowest?, it may he
said that ibis theatre was anxious to entertain the winter
tiers of the metropolis with a piece of which its summer
residents hail manifested an unbounded approbation. 'rile
experiment has been decidedly successful. A fulltr how.
titan that of last night we have rarely witnessed, and sel-
dom noticed greater exertion on the part of the manage.
went to produce a piece with such full and effective sup.
port. Mr. Merman was the hero of the piece, who
cannot truly be considered a very efficient substitute
for ltraliatn, who played the part through the principal
part of the last season ; but then Miss Paton played Be,
and she, in the taste, style, and execution of brawls sing.:
ing, is without a rival on the English, or perhaps upon
any stage. There is a fulness in her voice, a suing% of
sound, and a sedulously cultivated acquaintance with ths
science anti the melody of music, which always render it a
pleasure and an ingruction to hear her. The plot of the
piece at Covent-gaolen is essentially the same as that pro.
ducted at the English Opera-house. Ft r the benefit at
those who either may have forgotten or not have seen it,
we are induced to repeat the following brief outline of the
story :
The Huntsman reaper, having sold himself to the Demos of the
Forest, %andel, endeavours to obtain a three years respite fine, hs
doom by stthietog another huntsman, and ilia favoii-•d
rival in the siff:Ttion. of Agnes, into a similar compact with the ler.
ride fiend, a..d for this purpose haring, by the am/Moaner of tae
wicked spirit, deprived hint of his skill In archery, upon which, be
the extimand of the Sohemian Prince Mom. the hand of Agnes
is to depend, Wilhelm is prevailed upon to seontipany him to tile
wolfs glen, to assist him in the magical process of making scent
bullets, ail' of which are to implicitly follow the will
of the marksman, and the st.venth that of the wayward tit1110:.:--
. SII will achieve,
The seventh deceive."
It in in contrived by Caspar, that this seventh bullet shall be mot
by Wilhelm, who keeps clear of at v compact, and is not made
aware of its evil property. ro shoot for the bridal prize. This o.
fest perdu expecte that the Demon, in the genuine spirit of his ye.
Cession. wig turn it aside to the accomplishment of some dire irk.
chit which will ensure the disgrace and destruction of Willitr,
whereas the teiributive devil, to prove the truth of the observe:tun,
we suppose, that there is in 'visit of goodness rven in things evil,
causes the swift, white pigeon, which is the allotted mark, to ey
across the bosom of the villain Caspar, who thus falls a sacrifice
to his own diabuliam ;--the terrific %Andel instantly seizing his
sinking frame in person, and bearing him off in fiery triumph .a
the regions below. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the es.
taetroplic is coinyleted by the union of the lovers.
Very slight arid unimportant alterations were introduced,
and these principally oceu: red in the musical department of
the Opera. That line aria, (Militate, nor hoe lire littering
hoar. was eimittml, as was also an introduced air of Mr.
Wade, which was sung at the Lyieum. The finale, at the
close of the first act, was also quite altered from the origi-
nal music, but that which was substituted was not wanting
in sufficient taste and brilliancy of composition to render it
highly attractive. The most effective sc: ne, however, and
the one in which Covent-garden site at immeacurahle dis-
tance all its minor conipt titors, was that which is termed
the incantation scene. The fluttering of pinions, the mut-
ing of shadows, and the as•ocintion of owls, ravens, and sil
birds and animals calculated to inspire terror, constituted,
perhaps, the most perfectly repulsive display of diabolism
ever exhibited on the stage. It met and merited the loudest
applause. The overture, and thehun Pollen's song at the dose,
which arc both masterly manifestations of inventive genius,
were warmly applauded arid encored. The subordinate cha-
racters were very creditably sustained. We regretted that
some of them were not more prominent, particularly that
of Mr. Keeley, who appeared but for five minutes, during
which five minutes he kept the audience in perfect good
humour with hint and with themselves. Tile cap-trims
size of this theatre, and its resources in the way of smite
embellishment, gave renewed and augmented effect to the
opera, beyond what we have witnessed at the various
theatres at which it had been previously ',roam-ed. It was
given out for repetition am'd the most unqualiiitel and un-
bounded expressions of approbation.

A DELPH I THEATRE.
This Theatre commencid its winter campaign last night,
with a very splendid Melo-drama, called iraftwoßefi, tle
Unhallowed Sepulchre. It is quite of the German school ;
the plot is as follows :—/Cellwar is endowed by en evil
spirit. with eternal !ife and endless riches. on the condi-
tion that he employ Loth his gifts to bad rurposes; but
being, by accident, seduced into the ti 1161011 of one
good act, his life is consequently changed into one of
torture, from which he ran only get relieved by pm-11rings
reversion of his perpetuity. Chance Lads him to Vulumii,
a man ruined by his pursuits as a gamester, and reduced to
the utmost verge of distress ; in him he finds a ready can-
didate for the posiession of riches on any tenni ; and the
consent of Match, the fiend, is the only thing requisite to
camplete the bargain ; this is effected by means of an in-
vocation, similar to that in Der Freisehetz, and fully equal
to it in horror and absurdity. Valinourli, then titters
on his carnv, but his first set is to fall in love with
a young lady, Eleina, already betrothed to Albert, lint he
contrives to en„ age his affections by means of the enchant-
ments of Afalde. He finds that cannot potatoes her on
other terms than marriage, from the forms of which he is
restricted by his engagements with the fiend. He is, bow-
er r, determined to brave his power, and the cereineT is
!woe:riling when the enchanter appears and dinit,uhl
the whole. Ile is then seized by the Inquisition and car
denthed for sorcery, but he is here saved by the intrepssi-
tion of ilqlrk, by whom (after having undergone cartons
other risks) he is at last setziil and conveyed to hell as hie
victim, and Eleind iv married to Albert. It will be sea
:hat this piece takes its origin from the same police. as Oct
Freiychtih; and from the success which has attended the
represnitation of that opera, we fear that the vent will le
inundated for some time with German horrors in ail ',bolsi.
The scenery of the piece is magnificent and costly. and the
music is very tine, partinslarly the Invocation. We hate
no doubt from the preveence of the presmt trace of the
town. that this drama will be very attractive, and rspe d-
eece a long run, which it inu:t do to repay the point tie
or the expense he has been at in getting it up; but the
pt rformance must he curtailed, and we should auggest that
much of the singing might he left out with advantage.
particularly the serenade, which was very ridiculous. It
was not over till a quarter to twelve, too late by nearly two
hours. The company is a very respectable but we
:link that Mr. Power should inflice a little more energy

...
wo his portraiture of the villein rat:mold/.
The house was crowded in el parts long before tbr,
rising. of the eurtain—which is certainly a very goL-
tugury towards a sucemsful season.

Miss Kelly makes her first appearance at the Hayman::
flicatre on Saturday.
Mr. Macready, during the past wes-k, has perform!
some of his principal characters at tie Liverpool Theatn•
Sinclair will resume his sltitation at Covent-gari.7
'Theatre in a day of two. Ilia theatrical tour in Scothr;
has been eminently successful, both as to fame and 111
solid accompaniment. II: is to male his fit '.t appears''`
for the seasm, we understand. in a new opera.
At the Mansion-house, Ilull, ou Tuesday, Rot!irt
jun. E-41. banker, was admitted a freeman of tl.st
t.:orporation, upon the payment of you guineas.
Juin. Coca r.—Among other objectimis to this Ces:t
which have been put-dialled is the resolutions of the
Miehaeltnas Head Court, it is stated, " that there ate 1,0
less than s-vett w:11 paid clerks to conduct the husineas of
a Court which tries annually alknzt thirty-thr:e cantes.----
taost;tltl'
rat C I.IIE NC li.—The re .Ifetrt. rt. (published at Nor-
: castle) says—On the evening of TuoiThav setyk, some
turhati:e was creati.xl near the ti catty: the
zartiage attemptinA to take pr, e-il• nee of others in scratt
town company fiw the ntuvaal festival. The party. how-
ever, who occupied the first station, was Pot &spot,
p!see to the newly-.d6.vt.41 Chief Mai;iatrate, acti
a little altercation, and craekiog of whips, the matter ult
settled witlitiut accident by Mr. Cromlington's coach tak,llA
its proper plac:Oast in the line. We do not knot- wheth,r
this assumption of conssmuence is attribtualde to the &Ivo'.
Tr his master, but in either case it W.IS mit with b:com;va
spirit and ms!itaree.