The National Register.
London, England, 1818-09-21 00:00:00

SEDT. ttl' •

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REGT sTr.n.

steadily by one set of principles, in order to avoid the
hazard of seeing London converted into a vast academy
A general meeting of proprietors wan held on Thurs- of crone, and :deluge of offences and frauds committed
day, conformably to the provisions of the charter, fur which no law and nu exertions would be sufficient to
the, purpose of declaring the half-yearly dividend, and control.
the transacting of stklehustess aft might be depend- Mr. Young observed, that he was anxious to press
inte. The resolution for dividing 5 per cent. on the upon the attention of the Directors, in whose honour
and humanity lie placed the fullest confidence, the pro-
October Company's stock, thr the half-year ending the 10th of •
prietv, with a view to the diminution of' thrgery, of
next, was unanimously agreed to, and notice
. withilmwing from circulation the oneaud the two pound
given that the warrants would be distributed on the
ft.'th of the same month. notes.
On the motion of adjournment, Mc. R. Jackson
rose, in order to' put one or two questions to the Chair,
which appeared to him very materially to affect both
the character . and the interests of thi-ir body. They
related to that alarming increase in the number of cases
of forgery, which had so powerfully and naturally en-
gaged the consideration of the public The sensation,
indeed, which it hattexcited, had some time since led
to,the amintment of a commission, containing names
of high .authority; awl the object of svhich iVas to
,de-
vise the means Of more effectually preventing this of-
'. fence.' Althougli its; proceedings had ht some degree
incurred the reproaah of tardiness, he trusteed that the
• persons of r. Mini 'it waeeompoied had not been deficient
either in vigilance or activity, 'and that the deity which
had taken place was attributedMlely to the difficulties
their t isk. He doubted not that they were deeply
npressed with 'thee consciousness, that the lit:: of a.
-fellow-creature hung en every hour el their delibera-
tions. It could not be cencealed that those who were
clefrauded by offences of this description, were chiefly
persons in the humbler classes of society, persons, whose
want of education and of ability to prosecute rendered
Venn the easy subject -of depredation. No man who
fuokiel at theepubiie newspapers could avoid seeing how
important it was that the conduct of the Rank sould
be fairly understood, as it respected the mode of con-
(tactil; their pro;:ecutious for the forgery of their notes.
It was well known that a practice had been recently
adopted of extending a comparative remission of.punish-
meat in particular cases, .by indicting for felony within'
the beech:. of clergy, end subjecting the offender to 14
years' trausporation. This was a chanp•e of .principle,
and it was desirable that the public should be
satisfied as to the manner in which that dienge operated,
and the nature of the discretion from which it origi-
nated. His ol;ect, thceethre, in now addressing him-
self to their notice. was to call for ex;):anation on two
prints the first of which. wits, whether the dtteimina-
tion relative to prosecuting capitally was left in the
breast ofone individual, or exercised upon the joint de-
hberation of the whole body of Directors. The-respon-
sibility attending such a trust was one of trembling
anxiety, for it bad been declared even from the bench,
on a late °easier', that capital punishment did not ap-
pear telave diminished the number of offeuces The
other point to which he wished to draw their attention
wasone on which it was also.neoess.cry that no misunder-
standing should prevail. He .was awareednit the agency
of those who wore employed in the work of . discover •
ing and tracing these offences was indisoonsible. The
inthrmation he desired was, whether the distribution
and apportionmen cf• the rewards bestowed on them I
was intrusted to the direction of an individual, or ad.-
ministered by he deliberate judgment of the Board.
The :Cowries, G. Dorrien, Esq. observed, that it
hod bezi publicly stated in another placeethat the dis-
rrction with itgard to lioth the points urged by the
learned gentl man, was .exereised upon the fullest de-
liberation by :.committeeddirectors specially appointed
for that purpu e.
Mr. R. Jet/ son dcdantd-linaself perfectly.. satiehoil
with this communication. His t'iniv object was trepre-
vent the public mind from being misled ; -for there were
those, who„ being unfriendly to their whole system and
institution, were disposed to avail themselves of this
particular subject, in order to raise a general preiuidice
a,oainst them; There existed out of doors a belief that
elle increased circulation of Bank-notes had been pro-
ductive of a great increase of the crime of forging end
,counterfeiting money. He had no knowledge whether
this was or was not the ease; -hut the only way of
taking a comet view of the question was by examining
the tetalogee of prosecutions lino colnino.counteefeit
money, who/. a snetalie currency we; the circulating
medium. Its he might offer a word of advice, lie should
recommend; it strongly to the Directors to act in eon-
rut with • . • Home -Department, in every use of this
nature to obtain .a :previous knowledge of its opinion,
and ties relieve themselves of too weighty a responsi-
bility If he had the honour of a seat among them, lie
shout! constantly orge the necessity of demanding the
interf, eine of the .1-lame.Pepartment, -so• that every
prosec tion might.have the double sanction of the-Bank.
and t e Government, and Jniirbt not appear, as now
too i any were 'inclined to think :t, the vindiettio
act of a.partial and•iiiteroo •lelaely. • Whatever.chan.e
ghoul take place in their palsy, it• was incumbent on
them: to be firmaind mirolaxeel iii their adherence to an
m system. The science of police was perlieps.
yet Its infanek stml :night one (ley be ceasidereA to
he of as. much dignity amp importance as any other
I ran h legislative study. '' that time
ezeud steive„.they were trader the uecereity of abiding

B.ellll IC OF ENGL44D.

The Governor remarked, that this was a subject for
the consideration of the Legislature, and must depend
on the renewal or expiration of the Restriction Act :
at the same 'time he might say, that if any objection
existed against the resumption of cash-payments, it was
• not among the Bank Directors that such objection
originated or was entertained.
The questiun of adjoarnment was then put and carried.

THE DR.1311.

DRUB Y LANE.

,Thissislorastew is fruitful in novelty at least. The
comedy of A Carehr the leart-Ache was performed on
Tuesday night, when tiemperfiirmers made their first
appearance on the boards; :11r. Watkin.son• in the part
of' Old Rapid, and Mr. Weston in that of Frank Oat.
lands. The Het gentleman is not unknown to the
public, having snored in a stfoonlinate sphere at the
Haymarket theatre ; he claims therefore but a brief no-
tice, and that principally on account of the new rank
he has taken. • His best praise is that. of looking and
dressing the character of Old- Rapid very well: he
strutted and fidgettedthrough some of the sez.nes with
tolerable success; his consternation at the discovery of
l'cang Rapid in the set of mending his coat, was hu-
morous and natant The character, however, in
general, was feeble and wanted point ; and of the fa-
therly ufil:ution which we have seen so strongly excited
in his predecessor, Munden, in the affair of the duel
with Young Stanley. he could give no idea. Mr. Wes-
ton played the sturdy peasant, Frank Oatland, with
some skill and discrimination. and we tkink we discern
a degree rf promise in him with respect to the future ;
he is very inferior, however, to his predecessors ;aid to
the notions of excellence generally formed by a London
audience. He alsoperiermed Markel: Delaney, in the
Irishman ~n London, and was snore successful than in
the comedy. Ile gays the songs with tolerable- voice
and humour, and caught some portion of the dry caustic
humour we expect to find in this character. His brogue
isateither very perfect, nor uniformly well preserved.
Bath the play and the farce were cast in a manner far
below mediocrity.
The tragedy of Othello was performed on Thursday
night at this theatre : the part of Whelk by a " gentle-
man, being is first appearance .on any stage.' This
gentleman has certainly soared,, to.) high in venturing
at once on such a character, where, independently of
the cominon difficulties of realizing the notions every
reader must form of this victim of passion, and masterly
creation of poetical genius, he has to contend with the
recollection, still fresh Our minds, of the greatest
Othello, prolaibly, that the.stage has ever produced. His
performance was principally deficient in dignity and u
general want of power to sustain the higher impulses
of' passion ;. he seemed, therefi:re, .tf, sink under the j
etiort,.and perhaps too for want of that experience
which should- collide him to husband his resources to
the best advantage, became gradually more feeble after
tote close of the third act, and instead of rising, us a
judicious actor must do, .on the approach of. the
Catas-
trophe, rendered the whole of' the sth act compaia-
lively tame and unimpressive. His delivery, allowing
for some trifling. ileficts of enunciation, is of a superior
order ; in general very slow and distinct, in excellent
Loping with the sense of the passage, and his thoughts
evidently accompanying his v.tterante—a cardinal
quality and the basis of all good. acting. His by-play
is tomsuallytutsl, and the business of the scene seldom
escapes hint. His gestures and action were those of a
pctiimner trained to the:stage, anti occasioctslly were of
that superior kind whieb:seem to obey the heart rather
than the head. The put of Desdemona was performed
by Mrs. 11;:xt, from the Bath theatre, who made, we
lieiicve, her first appearance on this occasion before a
London audience. This lady is a very pleasing actress,
and will prove, -d we mistake not, . something more
than un acquisition, an ornament to the stage. :ler
Desdemona is a very natural, unaPeted piece of aeung,
and us lit* a representation of the tender, inn;Y7ent
being who saw " Oth,iiit's visage in his mind,' as %ye
have ever witnessed.. Her face, with extremely rep,olar
features, is not remarkable for expression, but the tones
of her voice are. peculiarly soft and pleasing. The
scene where the Ilsatitiful nature .):* Eheiro's suspiciaa.
is first revealed to her, was peculiarly happy ;
the-
tran"e into u Lich its firek.efreet is to throw her, anti
*.her recovery Irma that to sue most acute anguish, j
couldscaseely been beater pressed. . The whole
-of -she. butt *tam was very little- inferior to it loth in
enneeptioe and execution. ‘. Mrs. Glover, whom we arc
glad to. see iu ber place again, sustained the part of'
:with the best eN.ativii of her powers,

with complete. success. The play was received with
very great applause; and when Barnard amar:
to ',amount,: the pertimmances fn. Saturday evening,
there was a very general call tio the repetition of Oilallu.