The National Register.
London, England, 1808-01-24 00:00:00

MEI:TINC) OF DANK pßornitTorts.

Thursday a meeting was held at the Bank, of the rroprie:
tors of Bank.titock. At twelve o'cleck it considerable number
of persons were assembled, when the chair was taken, and after
a few introductory observations., a letter from the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, dated the 19th lust. wn read. The letter
respected, in part, the terms no which the national acrouots
%%ere to be conducted the Bank, it the proposition should
meet with the concurrence of the Proprietors, until the priblin
debt shall be reduced to three hundred million.. The accounts
were to he kept on the same plan as that which had been hitherto
adopted, without any alteration whatever, in consequence of
the increased magnitude of the concern. The letter contained,
rather, a requisition of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to
the Hauk Proprietors, to advance to tiovernmeut three millions
z. ithont interest s the payment to be secured by Exchequer
Bills payable in six months after the signing of a drilaitive
treaty of race; the money to be advanced on the sth of April
next. This requisition was assented to. It was also resolved to
present Government with 500,taltii. a, a consideration for the ur.-
claimed Dividends, and ticnetits derived from the Charter from
Government and that the Bank, instead of re,viving 270000/.
of Government, fur the at toia ion
_and a.lsistance given to its af•
fairs, would be zatistied to receive 20(1,0001. annually In faturva

♦:L,- :a
-* s

THE THEA'IRES.
DR1:111-
The performances of the last week have been :
Mo . Castle- Spectre with the new pantornime er
Fttrebond.
Tv rsn 4 v,.... A Trip to Scarhorrugh, with the pantdmime.
W roN ViD kf , The Cabinet, with the pantomime.
T lit RID k v The ,tioneo Mowi, with the pantomime.
kt: ID v,..... sever acted, Nonief king to Dtli with thf panto-

mime.
7'he Siege of Belgrade, with the pantomime.

In the Castle Spectre Nita. Lyre, the wife an Gentleman who
hoWs a respect:de situation in
.Drurv-lane Theatre), played
Angela, without either delighting or ()Wending us: Her person
is not particularly beautiful, nor her conceptions exceedingly
forcible; but her deportment appears unaffected, and her yoke.
though not pots erful, is pleasing. We understand she WlFlies
to engage herself for a secondary line of character, and, as far
us e have had an opportunity of judzing, we think her well
qualified for such a situation. Itut, if we have been rightly
informed as to the modesty of her expectations, we cahnot help
conceiying that she would have done more wisely in selecting for
her first appearance a character of less importance, in the re-
presematioa of which something less would, of eourse, have
been expected.
On ednesday. the 20th, a Mr. Smith appeared as T.nrenzo
in the Cabinet. The character W:V4 written chiefly for the intro-
duction of music; and as far as music is concerned, it was very
well performed by Ala t4raith. II is voice is a counter-tenor;
its compass is not great, anti the lower toms are neither strong nor
agreeable, but the upper notes are of. a very superior quality.
We now proceed to the rriacipati object of our theatrical
notice.
We critics are obliged to take the gond and the bad together.
Other people may wait to hear the general opinion on a new
piece, before they trouble themselves to see it; but we, as
tasters for the tuna, most witness every new performance on the
Tint night, atui, like the Persian ewp-hearers, if there be poison
in the draught, we are the first who suffer. Most heavily, in-
deed, we did sutler on Friday last, from the representation of a
new Comedy, called Something to no. This title seams to con-
(ern, en: :tic author, but the audience ; for to sit still through
live such acts as those of Friday night, is indeed sum: thin; In do
for a spectator, bat to have composed five-and-twenty such acts
w have been nothing to do fiw any writer.
A part of the play was take', fram a French piece, called
1.4 Diti4ence tie. Joigns: and the rest of it might be either
translated or oriainal, for aught we could discover. If it Was
translated, we should advise the author to use more care in his
next selection : if it was oriainal we should advise him never
to attempt dramatic compatition again. The principal cha-
racter i- a sutiag counsellor, eagerly hunt* for the first tee :
alit! in search of that fee he is contented to be barrister, attorney,
conveyancer :Lad war. Now, ti.atugh the )ast uf these titles
is a:laterally supposed to avroe very well with any of the three
faemer. yet the three fanner are seldom united in any society
bar. the society that is painted in thaw comedies. There was a
equag officer desirous of marrying an heiress—that character.
yve believe, is quite in nature. We had an Irishman too, with
all the propensities that are usually aalibed to the natives of
tae Siiter kingdom; but then he was always puffing himself:
and though ate may admit the propriety of painting an Irish-
man, brave ao4 geacrous, ardent and honourable, we are a
little astonished aril we see hint comina forward. to be the
only publisher of his oats, praises. There were two old gent le-
melt, stingy and knavish, and our acquaintance with them did
,o' lea.i ta to dtaire any further knosslydv of the family; but
at a ere intioduced per force to two y oung gentlelmen, their
r epheas. One was a male creature of that character which is
serretimes found in school-girls who have imbibed their minds
ata German novels ; and he talked in the genuine style of the
tratimental 4btuni. The other was a
,jockey prodigal, the
eaact rounterpartaf Gol6:finch in Mr. Holcroft's Road to Ruin.
The ladies in this piav appear to have been introduced as a
rirantatic ilin;tratiaa of Pope it famous aphorism.
Most women have nu characters at all. Anti the women of
this play had not oely no characters, hut, with the exception
of the heroine- alone, no business neither. And even the heroine
seemed to be a very namby-pamhy personate, walking about a
vod deal, Lut seeming to know as little whist she meant to do,
as the spectators them4elves. However, if we may venture. a
peat at the intratiaa of the author as to this part, we shall sa;

JAN. 24...

that the young lady must have been intended for a girl of Aenti-
silent and gaiety mixed.
So mach for character.--As to story, 1,0 could gat hr r :.one ;
for the Author; aware perhaps of the difficulty ts au-
dience must ha%e in listenin4 to his dialogue, oas unwilling- to
fatigue their attentinn still further by requiring them to IrmMle
themselves with plot. The Irishman made some hulls by N% ay
11: points ; but they were as remote from nitrate as were the
jukes of the other characters from wit,
The Nay was treated with the greatest fairness. The fir,t
Act, and a part of the second, %Scot off evtreinely ell. in
the third; the disapprohation of the audience evidently shelved
itself. In the fourth, discontent AV:V; for a littlewbileallsaved
by a song from Ails. Wand ; but when she h.td disappeared,
the tempest revived. The beginning of the fifth Act was greet-
ed with coughing and hissing and then the stage discovered a
court, where on a sudden a Judge appeared. But the audience
by this time were determined to judge fur themselves : and the
sacred olliccrs of .justice were so overwhelmed by the rage of
the multitude, that lawverl themselves forgot their impodeoce,
and the curtain fell amid one universal uproar. After the Epi-
logue., which was terribly hold and patriotic. All.. Decamp
announced The Sieger of lielgrade for the following night.
The condemnation of a play if, not often undeserved; but it
r frequently hap pun that the hissing begins sooner than justice
demands, On this occazion the author can lay no rot h "Hat-
`s terioz unction to his soul ;4' for the sentence of iitA night
was pronounced by
.one of the fairest and must impartial audi-
ences we ever hebekl, The unhappy poet has not declared him-
-self; and us the piece came forward from darkness, so it has
proceeded to oblivion.

cot-nn r CA MD E
The performances of the week have been :
MoN DA IC .. The .iffouninineere, with the new pantomime of
Harlequin in hie Elentrnt..
TUESDAY..... The ,Vanderer, with the pot,tomitile.
WEDNT.SD A V, The Wanderer, with the pantomime.
Tuvttso&Y,.. The Wanderer, with the pantomime.
Ps IDA V,. Thr• Wanderir,with the pantomime.
. Th.? Wanderer, with the pantomime.

cram. CON.
The conduct of it dashing' female, the wife a a distinguished
officer of considerable rank, will arord another opportunity for
the display of eloquence amongst the lawyers in Westminster-
hatl and it N ill also disclose some curious particulars, relative
to the conduct of the lady, for the last three verti, and that of
her paramour, who is a Start( Estsire. The husband of the
lady had been absent for three months previous to the •lt)tlt inst.
on hi- duty as an officer, and his lady occupied apartments in
Wigmorr-street. By the vigilance of an old servant, who had
served in the army SU years, ht had strong grounds to swpect
that the conduct of his lady amounted to adultery with the
squire ; and some incidents having given hint a full cons ictitm
of that fact, he made his Master acquainted with his saspicions.
Some plait; were laid out for tire• purpose of proving the lady's
conduct, and it is reported that one of these proved her in-
constancy to her husband, whom she dishonoured, at an inn on
the Western road, but a few miles from London, on Monday last.
We are in pose- ion of the names of the pariies, ts hich 5%
C
most decline, at present, even hinting at ; su:hice• it to say, that
the old servant, and the waiter and chambermaid at the inn, are
the witnesses to prove the act of adultery. The lady has out-
child, and site nuts lives apart from her husband.

OLD B.X ILLY.
No trial of importance °ream d either on Monday or 'Tuesday.
w 1:1)7,1 DA Y , J.t%. ¶O.
RING DnorriszG.—Edward Owen, a decent looking man,
of the age of tiS years, was indicted for stealing a gold watch
and a 5!. bank note, the property of .lane Croucher. The pro-
secutrix in this case was a very old lady, and was defrauled by
the stale trick of the prisoner's pretending to find a diamond
cross. She stated the trawzoction as follows :—that on the 4th
of December, she was walking down Piccadilly:, vs hen the pri-
soner accosted her. Ile looked like an honest country farnwr, •
and among other things he said, he had not been in London for
.even years before, and that he would not live in such a .-lirty
place if they mould give him a house for nothing. As th,-. p-
proached the Park Cate, lie stooped down, aLI