The National Register.
London, England, 1809-11-05 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

deep." Upon the whole, we think him a respectable sub-
stituse in those parts so ably filled by Porr.
The public attention had of late heen turned to the ex-
pected debug of Mrs. Clarke, from the Manchester Theatre ;
this appearance took place on Monday 'night, in,Euphraski
in The Grecian Daughter; but the present circumstances
of the Theatre are certainly a draWback upon fair criticism.
The part of Euphrasia is, perhaps, not a true criterion of
the merit of an Actress ; the whole plot is trifling, and the
.extraordinary fact of filial piety is the only incident which
could have dramatized this portion of history, and even
,that incident is not of a nature to be represented on the
Stage. The following Address was spoken by Mr. Cooke.

Though hostile rage so long within these walls
Has rais'd a tempest that each heart appals
A female Candidate comes forth to-night,
Who knows your kindness equals all your might.
Hence on that kindness she e'en now relies,
While the winds roar, and while the billows rise;
For whatsoe'er may Britons rouse and vex,
With pride they still 'protect the gentler sex.
But though our Novice ventures free from dread
Lest the storm bursts on her defenceless head,
Yet when her arduous enterprize she views,
The danger awes her and her power subdues,
For fear that Critics, a terriffic train,
iler efforts should reject as rash and vain.
Success, indeed, those efforts oft have found,
And Hope has cheered her on provincial ground ;
But here 'tis said that Judgment holds her seat,
And Sages more profound and rigid meet :
Well—still she dares to urge her humble plea,
Since mercy softens every stern decree.
, The face and figure of this Acti•ess are highly impressive
And majestic, but we cannot call them engaging; she is
above the middle size, her figure slender and graceful, and
she has some resemblance to her inimitable model, for she
Aertainly has not been inattentive to the acting of Mrs.
Siddens. There is, however, a stiffness' and formality in
her manner, which time, perhaps, may remedy ; her left
arm often hangs lifeless, whilst the right too pointedly
displays the embroidered robe : in the more impassioned
parts too, the action of the arms was too violent, whilst
her body .seemed inanimate. The scornful toss of the
head does not become the softer scenes, nor does the
loudness of the voice always make it better heard; her
Voice, however, seems capable of modulation, and to
possess a greater variety than her countenance, which
though sufficiently expressive of haughtiness, does not
appear so well calculated for the softer feelings. In
those passages where she exerted herself most, she ra-
ther failed from a •too studied attention to her acting,
which made her seem to slur over some of the less pro-
minent incidents. In the scene where she persuades
Philotas to admit her to Evander, she was highly impres-
sive, yet her first meeting with her father was too cold to
excite sympathy, nor did she seem sufficiently moved when,
in the last act, Philotes tells the tyrant that Evander is
dead; in this scene, indeed, there was a great deficiency
of acting, both on her part, and that of Mr. Brunton.
lerdcfects, however, are not those the most difficult to over-
come, and she bids fair to become a favourite with the
town.

The storm has been increasing to a hurricane, and has
raged with greater violence than ever, during the whole
of last week. The row has been most uproarious, and
only by seeing the Actors move their lips could it be
imagined that they were speaking. Penny rattles have
been beard amidst the uproar, and have been highly ap-
plauded. 'Vie noise was occasionally diversified by imita-
tions of barking, mewing, and crowing, by two or three
shrill sounding catcalls, and by the loud vociferation of
" Old Prices 1" from several parts of the House. " God
save the King" and " Rule Britannia" were sung in full
chorus. After the curtain finally dropped, theteremony
was revived with peat spirit, in thert,giving Oro cheers;

NOV. 5.

for John Bull, aad three groans for John Kernble. 0. P
was worn in several hats in the pit; and a curious circum-
stance happened on Tuesday, which in its result is of consi-
derable importance, not only with a view to the theatrical
rights of John Bull, but, generally to the liberty of the
subject. A Gentleman in the pit, who had 0. P. on his
bat, was rudely seized mid dragged away, for the purpose
of being conveyed to Bow-street, to answer for this mighty
offence of wearing 0. P. He observed that he was per-
, fectly ready to go there to meet the charge. On his arrival
at the Public Office, he was discovered to be Mr. Clifford,
the Barrister; and those who had so rudely seized him slunk
away. Mr. Clifford insisted upon going before Mr. Read;
and on arriving in the presence of the Magistrate, shelved
the letters in the hat, and demanded to know if that was
to be considered as an offence ?—Mr. Read asked what
charge there was against Mr. Clifford, and Mr. Brandon
appeared to charge that Gentleman with wearing 0. P. in
his hat. On being asked if he had any other charge, Mr.
Brandon said that Mr. Clifford made a noise; this Mr.
Clifford distinctly denied, and Mr. Brandon declining
swearing to his assertion, then said it was some other
person I Mr. Cliftbrd then observed, 'that he had placed
0. P. in his hat for the purpose of trying the question, and
ascertaining whether any Magistrate would consider that
as an offence for which he was to be held to bail. Mr.
Head informed Mr. Clifford, that there was no charge
against him, and that he was discharged.
This decision of the Magistrate in the case of Mr. Clifford,
must apply equally to every article of dress, emblem, or sym-
bol, worn or used in the Theatre, applicable to the present
contest between the Public and the Proprietors. Several
small rings were formed in the pit on Friday, for the display
of mock-fights, and towards the end a very large one was
cleared, for the amusement of running up and down the
benches. The boxes also were more noisy than usual, and
a placard was for some time held even there, at the end
of a Gentleman's stick. At the conclusion of the per-
formance, not one word of which, from the entrance of
the half-price, could be heard, three cheers were given
for Mr. Curronn, and three groans for Mr. KEIHBLE.
After this, a person suggested that the 0. P.'s should de-
part in procession two and two, an idea which was instant-
ly caught at, and the pit marshalled themselves accord-
ingly. In this array, they proceeded huzzaing throng!'
Bow-street, and calling out" Old Prices," into the Strand,
where they gave three loud cheers at the Morning Chro-
nicle Office, and three groans at the Morning Posts
The members of the Covent Garden row, are now so
completely drilled, we had almost said organized, as to
form a procession last night of nearly half a mile in length.
The question is not now " What do you want?" nor is it
whether the rise of prices, in the first instance, were right
or wrong; hut it is of vital importance that such proceed-
ings should be checked, by doing away the original cause
of complaint.—Let the Managers then convince the Public,
by a fair statement, that their claims are just ; let a fair
explanation take place ; but let not the public peace be en-
dangered by the consequences which may arise from their
obstinate adherence to a hasty and, perhaps, imprudent
speculation.—lt is better for a watchful Government to
prevent than to punish.

We trust that it is now drawing to a conclusion, for we
are assured, that Mr. Mash, Chief Clerk in the Office of the
Lord Chamberlain, has officially announced to Mr. Kern-
ble that there must be an end put to the scene of riot and
tumult in the Theatre, either by the Managers yielding to
the universal feeling of the public, or by suspending the
patent. Mr. Xemble requested a few days time to com-
municate with Mr. Harris, who is at Bath, but who is so
much recovered as to be on his return to town. Mr. Mash
said that his instrustions were peremptory, but on the
earnest supplication of Mr. Kemble to give time for a com-
munication with his partner, he agreed to report the appli•.
plication to Lord Dartmouth.