The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1821-12-24 00:00:00

At•
DRURY I.ANB.
. the neir eklimvaganze Opera, entitled Gismo/ma
is Ireland, ien• preseeted An Saturday night. The
espectsoiona ot the town were at the highest, from
►amours *hie,' have been circulating for seine
weeks parr, which reported the prepanitious to be of
profuse eltpen•r. and effect altogether overwhelm.
ing. The house was crowded to overflow before
the rising or the curtain. The design of the piece was
not clearly understood, nor in what degrees of ion port-
once it h&c reference to the story of Don Giovanni.
and the sillies of the King's visit to Ireland ; cud
the title was an far unfortunate in its relatio►hs that
among some of the audience a suspicion seemed to
have prevailed that the character of the Similar
herb was to be besought into same sort of connexion
with the person of his Britannic Majesty. We men.
tion this by way of accounting for one or two
cir-
hhmatances which. taking place immediately on the
rising of the curtain, betokened some misapprehen-
sion of the author's purpose Emelt a part or the
audience, and created a 'portion of that hostility
which threatened to defeat all the pains and ex-
pense of bringing the piece forward. When the
curtain drew up, Mrs. Himont. and Mr. Baost Let
pronounced a colloquial prologue, winch contained
the catalogue raisontri of th►e causes which had led
to the production of the piece. mid the particulars
of the entettainnients to he comprised in it. Much
stem was laid in Mrs. RUSSELL'S portion of the dia-
logue, on the attractions of /low Giovanni's life and
character. and their importance in the amusements of
the town. From hence a sort of necessity was inferred
foie transferring him to !relent], and putting hint
through a new series of rakish exploit►. The pa.
geants and festivities incidental to the KING'S visit
were added es other rewrote; ,fur fraternizing DoA
Giovanni with the Irish at this particular juncture:
It happened, ntifnet nearly, that some allusions were
masle to the death of Constantin, the Does wifei
and the excessive joy hoi,felt on the occasion. These
laid. being brought, as was before observed, into
neighbouring locality with the KING'S Majesty, in
the repugnance si.niiiist which is to he added that or
some unhappy elorts of jesting with subjects of gr.
nerally grievous interest, umbrage was taken with
the author's avowal•. Some opposition was mani-
fested, and a great deal of jealous obsen•aiou
was awakened and exercised upon all the sub-
sequent business. Mr. Cooper next came
forward to deliver an address in rhyme. which
he did with good grieve and emphasis, amid
for a while revered the good humour of the house
by the breathings of loyally and Irish gallantry
with which the lines teemed from beginning to
ending. The following is a copy
Critics! withhold your awful frowns awhile,
And seek with main night our sister Isle,
tYhe►e Nature revels in her vivid greets,
And storied beauties animate the scene •
There Royalty will aireteh a parent
And sours, with added blessing., cheer the land;
Soon, heavenly peace her balmy sway resume,
Anal Erin spread around her richest bloom.
Of late our stage with mimic grandeur shoot,
neglecting splendour. of the British Throne:
Tat Throne, where Freedom guards the snbjecta• right,
And where benignant mercy tempers might.
New seetw• of regal pomp to-night we skew,
Betties that must make each Irish hymns glow.
Ritiernia's parrots Saint bisiltnfghti shall view
Ise Issenceil digeity, with honours due.
Smog may his maws uphold their martial fame,
His fries& to succour, and his foes to tame,
Loot may the sister hies accord with pride,
Noe aught divide them but the rolling tide;
And, while secure from every hostile stroke,
The Shamrock flourish with the British Oak.
The piece commenced with► time arrival of Don
Giovanni in Dublin Bay. On his landing he is
received by a large concourse of the Irish popu.
lace, male and female; his repute for gallantry,
especially among the latter, seems to be admitted
es phis droll, so that lie has nothing to do bat
proceed stnsight forward, according to his old cus-
tom, of making love to all the women he meets.
He is introduced to the household of Cornelius
U'Shane, commonly called Kiag Conley, of the
old regal blood of Ireland. The monarch receives
him with effectiois, from remembrance of his affi-
nity with the Spaniards by his ancestor Allilesisse.
Giovanni, of course. makes love to the daughter,
Warrens, Princess of Innismore. who is be-
trothed, however, to a 'colonel 0' Donne,. After
some uninteresting business, the main pur-
pose of winch seems to he that of ridiculing the
pompous. prejudices slid pseudo-dignity of poor
King Cornet,. Giovanni goes to see Donnybrook
fair. Without stopping to multi the reasons for
his aevetal movements, which are not very import.
ant, Giovanni is seen in the subsequent scenes ut
Tipperary, at the Kilkenny theatre, at a nunnery
of Sr. Dominic (goitre. was there ever a Dominican
order of Mims Y at the Phoenix Path, and again in
the hall of King ( army. lie undergoes trial
and sentence of death in the latter place for having
fired the nunnery of St. Dominic. mid curried off
(Armagh, a novice thereof. At this moment the fir.
tag of the royal yacht is heard in the offing, anal
the rentetoce is remitted to make the joy of Ireland
nit the spprouch sof the Sovereign consummate.
The remainder of the piece is laid out iii the dis-
play of the royal yacht, the King's lauding and
entry into Dublin, the eerensoutula and pageantry
in the installation of the Irish Knights 111 the
Cathedral of St. Patrick, the whole being height-
ened by profusion of scenery, courtly proces-
sions, I-infinity bands, religious anthem. and songs
of ovation. One branch of the entertainments
which seems to have beets much relied on is the
songs and music. The latter is described in the
bills as being altogether derived from Mr. Mow's',
books of Melodies, executed in their best at) le by
Madanme VESTEII9, Miss CUBITT, Mite POTET,
Mrs. BLAND, and Miss COPELAND. The cha-
racters are coollecteol from the perannage• of various
novels, by Miss EDGEWORTH and Lady MORGAN,
which are supposed to throw the strongest light
OH the domestic habits anal general 111411Ottl
of die proper Irish. Hence we had, besides the
characters before mentioned, Mayan Gar (Mr.
t rzwi Am) ; not-erect AP earthy, otherwise
Mrs. M'Monernickk(Mia, Corst.Awo) i Lord GleN-
artos (Mr. Pan Lea ); mid s al of inferior conse-
quence. There was no 'eluter delineatiosi of their
parts until the limit's arrival was announced.
The audience then reeteeol to be agreed to forego
further inquiry us to what h.ad passed, and to dwell
contentedly on the rota-soot' which was to pass
Wore them. The scene opened tutu Sack-

s-4114
.
S