The National Register.
London, England, 1812-11-15 00:00:00

THE ItECTIsTEII

NOV. 1.5

C,3•ilr, NOV.
" Ills NIA I, S3V li;t3 very I.:tiey had an ut his di,i;:tltr,
h:ts again sfpitit.4."
Tile division of the Russian fleet which was at Cronf.,ta,lt,
aniountiog, we believe, to I I sail cf the line, ; estdus
,ailed from that port for this country on the 27th ,lov!„bei.,
nit<l wns .ecu all well on the 290): The division winch wa:,

it ha'l not c•Ant:leted its ciinipments, hurt it was
to sail roi• this coontiy as soon as possible : it amounts to
SCYCII :ail of the hue.
Accounts from Curunna, received yesterday, inin.ar
that the Guards, which laatl-d at that place some tilE'• since,
had reached As!orga on the 17th Oct. and were Old! cd to
proceed thence to Malrid. The gist regiment ,vhidi Lad
marched from Corunna subsequetly, would, it «•1S sump oo d,
join Lord WELLINGTON on his march fro liar!o•s, Nt•th.
out any danger of its being cut off The figh apd c.cgth
regiments floatCo:!:, were at Corunna, hut wc.f. to
hat k for Lisbon, as it was not cotrldered safe for hem to
oceed overland to join Lord W ET.LIN:;TON.
Among the speculations, to which Mr. JouL BARLOW.
extraordinary.tlip to Moscow have given rise, one is, gnat he
has gone to solicit from Buot4 AP AltT E twelve sail of the
and 36. frigates, to be manned by Americans, an‘l mph.. cd
in annihilating the British no vy
(hi the recommendation of the Marquis of WELLINGTON,
a veteran battalion for garrison duty is to be ft.rmea of the
men of the ditlerent regiments, in the Peninsula, who are not
sayable of active service in the field.
The exports fg om Riga (except linseed) have this year
Callen oft two-thiids. The quantity of hemp shipped from
thenee, upon an average, exceeded the shipments from St.
Pctersburgh.
Preparations are making, with activity, for the Earl of
MOIRA'S voyage to India, in the Sea Horse frigate. :11r.
TIERNEY and Mr. PETER MOORE are both mentioned as
likely to have high situations in the new Government.
HOUSE OF PEERS.--The repairs in the House of Lords
arc conducted on a grand scale. The workmen are busily
employed in beautifying it for the reception of his Royal
Highness the REGENT. The Throne is to be fitted up with
suitable style. The Woolsack and scats arc to be re-covei
el
with new scarlet cloth ; the bronze and chandeliers polished;
the netting laid down a-fresh ; the tapestry (Spanish in-
venion-) considered the finest specimen in the kingdom, to
be properly cleaned, and the ventilation better arranged.
All the avenues and adjoining apartments arc also undergoing
prober repair. •
The Crown Officers have had several consultations on the
sentence lately passed on I.ieutenant GANA GE, of the Griffin
sloop of war, without having, it is said, come to a decided
opinion on his case. A correspondent informs us, that a
private soldier of the Gist regiment, who, a fel* years ago.
was found guilty of shooting his superior officer, had his sen-
tence remitted on grounds similar to those urged in defence
of the unfortunate Gentleman iu question.
The point of difference upon which Mrs. JORDAN 20
the Drury-lane Committee split, was, that the former de
manded terms similar to those of Mr. BETTY, while the
latter thought the terms of Mrs. SIDDONS would be of-

ficient.
On Tuesday, about 10 o'clock, one of the iron pipes for
the conveyance of water, at the bottom of St. Martin's-lane,
burst with a tremendous explosion, like the discharge of a
piece of ordnance. The water, in an immense bod
y,ouses.
rose
considerably higher than the tops of the adjoining,
h
In less than a quarter of an hour the greater part of Charing-
crdss was completely inundated, to the great inconvenience
of passengers.

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,T. 15.

DRAMATIC REGISTER..

DRU ltd'-LANE.

'lr. RAE. front Liverpool, who some years ago p-rformod
,t; the lad market, made last night a most successful (Abut
:isTheat.e in // mkt. The figure of this Gentleman is
w lying in importance lay those who have been ac-
,,oomed to contempl.ste the majestic form of K rst ut.t in
tic 5,,„i.• ctvtractet, itud there is a sharpness about his lea-
tws w'och detracts sotnewhat from the dignity of Lis
rotiorenance The former, however, if not a very cow_
in:wiling, is pod, and the latter, though not all it,
nrioa be, is by no means destitute of expression. Ills
..Re, from his not having been accustomed to so large
a theitie, he does not yet know properly how to manage on
c;csv occasion ; and in consequence of this, it sometimes !
heo,ows ont.leilsantly shrill, and not audible to all parts of
t:10 house. This fault we expect he will be able immedi-
at, !, 1,. cot rect ; and we are confident his powers, properly
exerted, are competent to give full effect to every thing he
Ind hp%e occasion to utter. His performance was much and
tl.serv.d.y aiplauded throu,hout. In some instances he
ga% e us an oriental reading of the character ; and this, if not
always entitled to praise. s.ented to mark that di,po,ition to
ext-cke a jodyonent of his own, which is necessary to make
actor. lAttness of the hour forbids us to follow
thiough his. Hanitel at present, and as we cannot notici
LA his tveri•s arld defects here, it would hardly be fair to
anti to the publit, to speak of one and not 4)f the other.
Impat;iality, therefore, compels us to defer any farther ob-
sertations we may have to offer till next Week.
DowToN was an excellent Po/onius, and RAYMOND a
ve,y respectable Ghovt. The other characters, vith the ex-
ception of 'Miss KELLy'g Ophita, were but indi&rently
filled up. Laertes was enacted by Mr. WA I, t.la cig., who
shook " the box that held his brains," so much, that we can
only say of him as was Prinerly seed of rock Rubbin-
4, !"
Wiggle w•-tvvl, went Ito head

COVENT GA.,DF.N THEATRE.

On Tuesday and Thursday Mr. BETTY performed in the
Ear/ of Esser and Doueas. The former play has long been I
a sort of dramatic dead letter, and we cannot say we feel
regret at learning that it is likely to continue so. The ;
lovers of the Drama would have bad much reason to
deplore the effects of Mr. BETTY'S acting, had it been
the means of placing this Tragedy again on the stock-list,;
and well might it have been said in the words of Volney,
" When we reflect on the use man makes of his powers,
tow little rc:.son have we to lament that Nature has not
given him more."
This calamity has happily been averted. Mr. BETTY'
Earl of Esse.r, though in many parts entitled to prai,e,
was as a whole the least successful of his performances. ()n-
-its various merits and demerits it is here mat necessary for
us to dwell, as the play is not likely to be repeated.
In Douglas Mr. BETTY came forward as Nureal, a cha-
racter to which he owed much of his celebrity when a boy.
The recollection of his former success in it made the major
part of the audience too sanguine in their expectations;
and the result, as is usual in such cases, was--disappointment.
In the early part of the play, far from lacing what from his
farmer fame, and recent exertions, it had been fondly anti-
cipated the Norval of the night would prove, he was tame
beyond endurance. His happiest moments in the first
scenes in which he was. engaged, did not raise his per.
formance above the level of Mr. CLAREMOVT'S acting,

TILE, NATIONAL REGISTER.

715

and nothing but the iespect which his .pterions meritorious
exertions had kindled, could entitle him to the forbearance
due to mediocrity. We k;iow not whether it was Indi.position,
or fear that caused this filling off; but certainly we never
saw him to so great a disathantage before, and we could
hardly feel satAied that it was the same performer whose
success on a former night gained so much upon the

audience.
Ile continued to move among the walking gentlemen till
that scene in the lc-irth act, in which Lads Randolph disco-
vers to him, that be is the son of Douglas. Here, censure
was compelled to retire to make way for praise. Norval was
not more ennobled by the disclosure then made, than was
Mr. BETTY as an actor, while attending to Moil Ma's narra-
tive. Ile seemed at once to start from that mental slumber
which had paralysed his exertions in the preceding scenes,
and to be at once himself. Throughout this arduous inter-
view, his acting was eminently marked by justness of con-
ceptionand felicity of execution, ;IA at once estorcd him
to the favour of the auoieacf!. Loud shouts of appro.
rewtird• d his labou:s, when be enguit eil the fate of
!,i, father, and his subsequent deportment, when the cha-
racter of Menalcon was developed to hint, had equal claims
to applause. In the scene in which he is taunted by
hilr-
wilco'', Mr. BETTY'S dclireation of the young soldier was
still more effective. The swell of indignant pride, with
which he listened to the insulting language held by his
' enemy, the scorn with which he retorted on Gtougron, and
the conflicting emotions which war in the bosom of Douglas.
while prompted by the acuteness of his feelings to disclose,
and by prudetve to conceal, the secret of his birth, were ad-
mirably pictured, and to the end of the act he wits emi-
nently great. In the fifth act, his performance was not
entitled to cie smne warm encomium. This 14 easily ac-
counted for, as the same scope for a display of talent is not
afforded. It was, however, generally satisfactory, and he
died with great eclat.
Mr. YOUNG, in Old Norral, was received with a shout of
applause, which expressed enthusiastic admiration. His
performance was, in many parts, excellent ; but he is not
a!wayssucces,ful in delineating the weakness and decrepitude
of age. When he repeated the following passage—
wby did I lea%e my home and ancient dame !
To find the youth—to tell him all I krcw.
we were surprised to see him turn his back on Lady Ran.
dolph, while speaking the first line. This must have been
merely a lapse of the moment, for we cannot suppose that
Mr. YOUNG thinks it was intended to be spoken nude. .
The other characters were very well sustained: Mrs.
U POWELL, in Lady Rando!ph, was particularly successful=
and BARRYMOILE gave great effect to many of the spceches
I; in Glenalvan. We would, however, advise this actor to
keep a little closer to his author than he did on Tuesday.—
'1 When he has next to recite the line,
Honey'd assent ! how sweet art thou to man !
we do not think it will be well to substitute for it,
Hooey'd assent ! lr w rLF.A.A. T art thou to the TASTE of man !
las he did on Thursday. If Mr. BanstYmoaz has a talent
for making tragedy speeches, .he had better write a play
himself, than fritter his genius away in mending the i
per-
formances of when. It may appear to him that the word
" sweet," is unnecessary where 44 honey" is mentioned ; and
that it is very desirable to introduce tack. We, however,
have not taste enough to relish his alteration, and thoubh his
qualifications for writing tragedy may be of the very first
order, we cannot say that, from this sample, we very
admire his ear for poetry.
The Recruiting Ofccr, of FAIIQUHAR's, was revive
Friday. MATTUEWS excited much mirth in Kite, any

much
.!(1 on
d tha
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