The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-05-24 00:00:00

COVENT-GARDEN.

Last night wasiivived Shakspeare's
tragedy of Julius Cirsar, but as it possessed no novelty in
the cast of its characters, or the mode of its production, it
will not be necessary to enter at any length into an analysis
of the performance.
Although this tragedy, unlike some other pieces of our
great dramatic sriter, is deficient in the charm which
temale interest and a continuity of design and purpose can
communicate w the drama, yet does it possess considerable
hold upon our feelings on the stage principally, through
the medium of its three magnificent scenes in the first,
third, and fourth acts, and the number of its characters.
What is wanting in intensity in the present instance is
amply supplied by variety and contrast, and the import-
ance of the characters prevents our attention from becoming
wearied, notwithstanding the absence of extraordinary
sources of excitement. _

With respect to the performance last night we would
willingly attribute its excellencies to the merits of the
actors, and its defects to the noise of the galleries, which
were more than ordinarily inattentive and uproarious.
Mr. Young won laurels in Cassius, which we cannot com-
pliment him on wearing in Brutus; amt were there any
adequate representative of the latter character, we would
heartily recommend his resumption of the former. There
is something in this character of the solemn and the
stately, which was no doubt extremely impressive in the
hands of John Keinble, his great predecessor ; but unfor-
tunately the solemnity of Mr. Young is too monotonous to
be pleasing, and his stateliness is rather that of a
sehooknasti.r than a scholar. Mr. Cooper, as Cussius,
was correct, as usual, and spirited more than he is wont :
he played Brutus down in one or two scenes. Mark
Antony is a character well fitted to the capabilities of Mr.
C. Keroble, and he has long since made it entirely its own.
His fine person, and the chivalrous and energetic dash of
his manner, harmonize exquisitely with the accomplished
soldier and orator ; and if we were required to mention the
most effective and perfect performance of the evening, we
should certainly point to his personation of the noble
Roman. His delivery of the funeral oration over the body
of Caesar, from the rostrum, had the rare and difficult
merit of silencing even a Whitsuntide gallery into some-
thing like attention. Of Mrs. Vining in Culpurnia, and
Mrs. Faucit in Portia, we have only to say, that they
appeared to execute the little business they had to do with
propriety, but the noise of the aupernals prevents us front
vouching for the merit of their performance by hearsay.

HA Y3l A RKET.
Shakespeare's As you Like it, or rather it should be
called the " As you like it" of Shakespeare modernized,
for the transpositions and omissions and interspersions
have almost converted the original into a new piece, was
performed at this house last night. Two novelties oc-
curred in it—the performance of Rosalind by Madame
Vestris. for the first time, and the first appearance of a Mr.
Mude, as Jaques. Of the gentleman it perhaps would be
better to (lifer any minute criticism till his second perform-
ance of the character, which will be on Friday next,
as it is but fair to allow a new candidate for thea-
trical fame on the London boards, to walk once over
the course under favour. It may not be amiss, how-
ever, to tell Mr. Mude that the melancholy of Javier
is anything but a morose misanthropy; there is
nothing of dislike in his nature; it is rather a distaste,
or an indifference to the things of the world, resulting
from an over-contemplative habit; a perpetual rumi-
nating on his past experience, till thought has be-
come a passion, and all the active energies of his
soul absorbed in moralising on the objects around him.
His sympathy for the poor wounded sequestered stag
whose " big round tears coursed one another down his in-
nocent nose in piteous chase," entirely negatives the idea
that his" sullen fits" were in any way the result of a dis-
contented or an envious spirit. The repulsive gloom with
which Mr. invested Jaques was therefore altogether
a misconception ; the character is certainly by no means an
easy one to represent; nor perhaps is it one calculated,
from its peculiar cast, to afford any very great scope for
the display of histrionic talent, being better suited to the
closet than the stage ; but there are, nevertheleu,many very
excell ait passages in it, which are a sufficient test of any
inan's powers,and in the giving of those passages Mr. Muth:
by no means induced us to form a favourable opinion of him
The person of Mr. Mude is rather above the middle size,
but his countenance did not pourtray any remarkable
feature of intelligence ;'whether his brows were of nature's
own make or that of the green-room artist we could not de-
cide, but they were at all events of most portentous aspect.
The Rosalind of Mad. Vestris was every thing that could he
wished. Her sportive gaiety, her natural tenderness, were
of the true Shakespearean mould; nothing could he better
acted than her playful coquetry. with Orlando; the occa-
sional yielding of her real self in contention with her as-
sumed character, was admirably discriminating and true to
nature. In the two songs, "If love had lent you twenty
thousuul tongues," and " When daisies pied and violets
blue," she was loudly applauded and encored. Her act-
ing throughout was beautiful and complete. Mr. Dowton
did not perform Touchstone-, as was expected, owing to in-
disposition, and the part was undertaken by Mr. J. Hutt-
sell, who preserved the grotesque humour of that rare com-
pound of philosopher and lauflibon very effectively. Orlando
KU well sustained by Mr. Vining, and upon the whole,
the play, though much marrad by the curtailments and
alterations,went off very satisfactorily. The performance; of
the evening were concluded by the revived tuelo-drama of
Tekeli.

~ ~•~.•

EISTRDDVOI), OR MEETING OF WELSH BARDS
The tis ed.tvod, or Meeting of Welsh Bards, was held yesterday.
at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great (anent-street.
Sir CHARLES Moaoaw presided, and was supported by Vis-
count Clive and Lord Kenyon. The room was filled, chiefly with
ladies of distinguished rink and fashion.
The singular national custom which this Meeting was intended
to commemorate had its origin in very remote times, and no doubt
was conducted in a very diFerent manner from the present anniver-
sary. It was held at the summit of Arvon's highest mountains,
with the broad sky for a canopy instead of the stuccoed ceiling of
the Freemasons' Hall. It was sanctified by the presence of holy
Druids, rather than honoured by the attendance of grave senators.
Hardy knights, clad in steel, flourished their bossy shields where
gay ladies, attired in silks, now displayed their tiny forms ; sharp
spears glistened where bright eyes now beamed ; and, if historians
may be relied upon, the Congress of Bards which now furnished a
morning's amusement for some dozen fashionable culerh4 in die
neighbourhood of St. James's, in the olden time excited jealousy
in the mind of a powerful prince (Edward I.), and called into action
all the patriot energy and lofty pride of Cambria's hardy sons.
This certainly affords a striking contrast, and is replete with
mortification to the genuine lovers of romance, if any continue to
exist in these degenerate days : but, nevertheless, it cannot be denied,
that if the modern Eisteddvod has entirely lost its primitive cha-
racter, it has assumed another infinitely more agreeable, because
congenial to the taste and feeiings of the age we live in.
The business of the day was opened yesterday by the PRESI-
DENT, who briefly stated that the object of this institution was to
encourage and promote the cultivation of Welsh literature, poetry,
and music. Looking at the assemblage of beauty, rank, mid fa-
shion which surrounded him, he said he felt confident that the
institution must flourish.
After the SECRETARY had read the Report, which contained
nothing peculiarly interesting, a concert of national vocal and in-
strumenttl music was performed, in which several eminent profes-
sional singers and musicians took part.
The concert opened with the following glee and clients,
written, we understand, for the Powys Eisteddvad, by the Rev.
R. Mynas:—
CAMBRIA'S HOLIDAY.
Tell me not that Cambria's lyre
Wakes to rapture now no more ;
Tell me not that quenched her fire,
The Awes* day of glory's o'er.
With such eyes of beauty greeting,
With such patriot bosoms hefting;
Native genius met to nourish,
Wallin 6 lyre and mouse will flourish.
CHORUS.
String the harp. then—minstrels, play— .
This is Cambria's holiday.
TRIO.
What though clouds obscured her name,
And veil'd in cold neglect the past,
They acted but to embalm her fame,
Her halcyon days are come at last !
Bright the suns that rise to bless his,
Clear the skies that now caress her;
Days of glory, setting never,
May they live and last for ever !
ciloaus.
String the harp, then—minstrels, play—
This is Cambria's holiday.

When thefirst part of the concert had concluded, the PRESIDENT
announced the names of the successful candidates for the Society's
medals and premiums, and medallions were presented by Lady
Rodney to proxies who attended for Messrs. Davies, J. Williams,
0. Owens, and T. Jones, for poems and essays in the Welsh and
English languages; and to Mr. J. Parry, as a tribute to his emi-
nent services in preserving the national music of ll'ales.
The Pennillion singers, accompanied by the Welsh harpers,
excited much curiosity. The singer is obliged to follow the harper,
who may change the tune when he pleases; anti also perform vitia-
tions, whilst the vocalist must keep time, and end precisely with
the strain. Those are considered the hest singers who can adapt
stanzas of various metres to one melody, and who are acquainted
with the twenty-four measures, according to the bustle laws and
rules of composition. The singer will not commence with the
strain, but take it up at the second or third bar, as best 'tins the
metre of the pettnill he intends to sing.
The concert terminated at an advanced hour, and amidst the
applauses of the audience.
• Arven—PJetic Muse or Genius.

Yesterday the Duke of York and the Duchess of Glou-
cester visited the King.
The Duchess of Gloucester and the Princess Sophia
visited the Princess Augusta yesterday.
Yesterday Prince Leopold had a numerous dinner party
at Marlborough House. Arnow!. the company were, Prince
Gortchakoffl Count Ludolf (the Neapolitan Minister),
the Chevalier de Los Kios, the Spanish Minister ; M. de
Biederman, the Saxon Minister; the Chevalier de Neu-
mann, Secretary to the Austrian Embassy ; Baron Cetto,
the Bavarian Minister; Count Karoly, Lord Belgrave, Sir
S. Raffles. Sir E. Antrobus, Mr. H. Sumner, Mr. Denison,
and Mr. R. Grosvenor.

Mr. Secretary Canning gave a dinner on Sunday, and
also yesterday, to select parties, at Gloucester Lodge,
Brompton.
Count Munster, the Hanoverian Ambassador, had an
audience of his Majesty yesterday.
Yesterday morning, at half-past ten o'clock, the Lords
of his Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council had a
meeting at the Council Office, Whitehall Place, at which
the Earl of Harrowby presided as Lord President of the
Council. The Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice
of the Court of King's Bench, the Lord Chid Justice of
the Court of Common Pleas, Lord Gifford, Lord Col.
chester, the Lord Chief Baron, Lord Stowell, Lord 'feign-
mouth, Lord Bexley, Sir John Nichol!, Sir Henry Russell,
Sir George Warrender, Sir W. Fremantle, Mr. C. W.
Wynn, and Mr. Beckett, also attended as Lords of the
Council. The Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General
were in attendance on their Lordships during the time of
their sitting. The case which came before the considera-
tion of their Lordships was that of Mr. Buckingham
against the East India Company.
Letters received yesterday from Marta, mention the de-
parture of the Marquis of Hastings for England, in conse-
quence of the late proceedings at the India House. The
Marquis was to leave Malta on the 2.Sth of April, in the
Cambrian, for Genoa, on his way to England. His arrival
here may be therefore expected daily. Previous to his de-
parture an address was presented to his Lordship by the
merchants of the island expressing their hope that his ab-
sence would be but temporary, and that the object of his
visit to England may he in every respect successful. In
his answer, the Marquis observes, " The circumstances at
which you have pointed will command illy earliest atten-
tion after my arrival in England. The opportunity of
making oral representations to his Majesty's Ministers may
be materially beneficial, and I trust that on my speedy
return to you,. I shall be able to prove my having been no
idle advocate.

The Countess of Glengal and suite arrived in Cork on
Monday evening.
The Dean of Lincoln has presented the Minster with a
set of communion plate to the amount of 1,0001. It is
silver chased and gilt, and is similar to that which the King
has ordered for his private chapel at Windsor.
COI.OIIIIIAN BIBLE SOCIETY.—A public meeting was
held ou the 13th March, by the Minister of Foreign Re-
lations. Don Pedro Gush, Senator Melo, Representatives
Gomtz and Malo, Rector of the Great College of St. Bar-
tholomew, Dr. Estevez, Rector of the University, Friar
Galvez, Prior of the Convent of Preachers, Friar Gullies,
Dr. Quebeda and the Secretary of the University, in con-
sequence of an invitation of Mr. Thompson, agent of the
British and Foreign Bible Society. The Meeting was held
in the Chapter-room of the-University, and the object was
to establish a Bible Society in Colombia. The regulations
having been read, Senor Gaul made sotne remarks on the
subject. and moved that a more general meeting should be
called for the next Sunday at the same place, when a so-
ciety should be established ia Bogota, on the plan of those
which Lave conferred so many spiritual blessings on Eu-
rope, Asia, and Africa. A particular account of it is to be
given in the papers.
A specimen of a peculiar kind of cotton, the growth of
Colombia, has been recently exhibited at Sat ali:thh. It
• was obtained near Bogota, and is said to be of an extrewely
soft and perfectly silky texture and glossy app araLce, of a
short staple and dark or dingy colour. It grows nu a tree
of considerable height, different from our idant. The
cotton grows round the seed, in something like the shape
of a pine apple, so that when picked it requires no ginning.
The Indians work it into shawls, &c. and a quantity has
been sent to France, for the purpose of asmrtaining
whether it cannot be incorporated into the manufacture of
silk goods. A gentleman of Scriven county, Georgia, has
planted a small quantity of the seed, by wJv of experilient.
On the morning of Sunday last, the Cowgate, Black-
friars' Wynd, and the Grassmarket, were again the scene
of some frightful disorders. Many individuals were se-
verely wounded. The same morning a poor woman in
Gillan's Close was attacked and maltreated to the danger
of her life, by a man, his wife, and daughter, all of whom
hate absconded from justice.—Co!edonian Mercury.