The National Register.
London, England, 1812-08-23 00:00:00

THE N4TIONAL REGISTER.

ILIYNIARKEI THEATRE.

On the I.sth a new Play, in three acts, was produced at
this Theatre, under the title of Look at fromc.
This piece is written by Mr. Er RE; the performer. It is
founded on the Zeduco a Dr. Moorm. Our limits will not
allow us to point out the various deviations from the original
story which appear in Look at Jfonw ; nor to offer any length-
ened strictures on the effect produced by the alterations
made. We shall perhaps best consult the wishes of our
readers by shortly describing the manner in which the story
is here told, leaving them to compare it with the novel from
which it is professedly taken.

('snot Salerno, is represented as neuleciing, his wife for a miss
tress, who exerts all her arts to make him suspect the viitue of
his wifu ; and lie in consequence becomes e‘cessively jea'ous of
while he is giving her the best reasiui in the woild to I.),:j..idoas of him.
lie is led to believe that the brother of his lady is her paramour, and
that loss own son is the olf•piin:z of an adulterous intercourse between
Pn'cwit: (the brother) and the Couut&ss. Incidents occur which
kgrengthen this suspici,n, and his thirst for vengeance subsequently
prompts itini to destroy I ()lewd:: and the cl»Itl. Pclewitz unexpectedly
disappears, and it is given out that the child died suddenly. The
Countrss conies forward in frantic agony, and laments the loss of her
infant, who it appears had bern tons Irons Item arms by ruffians, whose
only object could be minder. Iler ravings determine the Count to
remove her, in order to silecce her complainti for ever. The villains
whom the Count hikes to seize her, by mistake seize his mistress instead
of his wife. The captain of the vessel which was to convey her from
Naples proves to be Poleuits in disguise, who having out-blibed the
Count, thins the instruments of his vengeance ag,ainst him. By these
pleans the hfe of the infant has been saved, and the Count baffled by
the treachery of his agin:s, attempts to murder P.gewita with his own
hand. Foiled in this attempt, and his intentions defeated at all points,
fine finally retires, raging with despair, his wile having previously been
divorced from bins by the authority of the Pope.
Such are the leading features of this Play. Of the manner
in which the outline has been filled up, we cannot say much
in the way of praise. The intention of the author to:relieve
the serious parts of the piece, by occasionally throwing in
scenes of a light description, is not very successfully carried
into execution. •

The comic characters introduced are, with th'e exception
of the part of La Tour, miserable non-entities ; and the busi-
ness in which they are engaged is very awkwardly attached
to the main story, if, indeed, it may be said to be attached
to it at all. It boasts, however, some pleasantry, and obtained
applause, though a few of the audience were so absurdly fas-
tidious as to hiss one part where their delicacy was shocked,

AUG. 23.

by an equivoque, in which a lady talked of locking a door
and letting down a blind, as if these were things which could
not be introduced on the stage with a proper regard to deco.
rum. If this preposterous squeamishness he carried much
farther, it will soon he thought indecent for a Dramatic
make use of the word Mom& r, and obscene to allow a sofa to
appear on the stage.
We cannot give Mr. F; v RE much credit for comic contriv.
avec, llis attempts in this way do little honour to his inge.
nuity, and a' c, in fact, intolerably clumsy. We will Lring an
instance La Tour, an intriguing Frenchman, sk ishing to
hide himself, lies dowu on a sVii in the apartment which S,-
terno is about to enter. and on which the Count might be ex.
pected to sit. here La lour thinks he is concealed by a
black cloak which he throws over him. This is something
'like the ostrich, who hides his head in the rushes to elude his
put suers. After such a contrivance we sliou'd not be sur-
prised if Mr. EYRE, in one of his' future pieces, should
make his hero hide himself in an apartment which those he
would avoid are about to cuter, by standing on the table with
his (yes shut.
The characters, generally speaking, arc but feebly drawn.
Those of Cameron and Signora Clementi are, in themselves,
singularly inconsi t9nt. The former at fist appears to he a
mean, pusillanimous, servile booing Scoichman, and after-
wal ds a man of surprising honesty and courage, and possess-
ing withal a very independent spirit ;—the latter is in the
cat ly part of the play a silly chattet ing old woman, not much
burthened with principle, but happily becomes, in the third
act, a'woman of great penetration and an object of admiration
for firmness and for f. iendship.
The language is very frequently entitled to praise, and there
arc thoughts both in the comic and in tie serious scenes,
which are given with such felicity of expiession, that we could
almost regret, on their account, the probable short life of the
piece. There ate, however, many parts, in which Mr.
Eyar. would have done well to have called in more of re-
flection to his aid. lie makes one of his ruffians wish the
night were darker, and stigmatise the moon as a sad twiny to
gentlemen of their profession. To this, his fellow replie,:, so
much the better, for it will light us to our prey. The first of
these speeches, it must be admitted, is very characteristic of
the bravo, according to all the representations the stage has
furnished for the last century, but it is rather too ridiculous
to make the second ruffian answer in reference to the asser-
tion of the first, that the moon was an enemu " so much the
better I" We would, moreover, advise Mr. Eyne, if a
speech, which •he thinks remarkably good, should again
occur to him when writing, not to let it 1 e repeated half
a dozen times in the same piece, lest the Critics should say,
" Too much of a good thing is good for nothing." It may
be, that " Your triumph will be short" is a very good
phrase, and Mr. EYRE may be entitled to public thanks for
being the first to hit upon it, but we do not see the propriety
of making the Count repeat it, towards the end of the play,
every dine he speaks, till it has the effect of, 011apod's
"Thank'ye, I owe you one."
The title " Look at Home," in itself a good one, is not
applied with effect in any part of the play. It, of course,
refers to the suspicions of the Count as compared with his con-
duct, but it does not tell well. Neither does the piece end
well; indeed, we could hardly help exclaiming, at the fall of
the curtain, " Oh, most lame conclusion'." With all its
faults, however, the actors gave it some eclat ; but we cannot
say Mr. EYRE is very much indebted to the scene painters,
or to the artists who contrived the last scene, which, it should
seem, was intended to be very grand, as Vesuvius is seen
isk blazing with all the awful magnificence of a till kiln!

AVG. 23i

BATTLE OF SALAMANCA.

(EXTRACT OF A PRIVATE LETTER.)
Salamanca, July 26.
You will be glad, no doubt, to have a few details respecting the
battle of Salamanca, which has been in every respect the most bril-
liant affair this or any British army has been engaged in. 1 will not
attempt to give you all the different movements, but to point out the
leading features which have characterised this glorious day.
The enemy having been reinforced, made a feint to cross the Dnuro,
at Toro; but immediately when he thought Lord Wellington's at-
tention was directed to that point, pushed along the right bank to
Tordesillas, and in the night crossed his whole army at and near that
place. The allied army moved to Canisal, with an advance to Cos-
tragon ; and the advanced posts came in contact at the litter on the
morning of the 19th, and the enemy actually cannonaded us into the
position of Canisal !
On the evening of the 20th, Marshal Marmont moved his whole
army by their left, with an intention of turning our right flank. This
way done just before dark ; and when day broke next morning, he had
the satisfaction of finding the British line drawn out opposite, and
ready either to fight or to manoeuvre, as he chose. He again pro-
ceeded by his left, and of course Lord Wellington kept pace with
Mtn, which presented an extraordinary sight ; two large armies
marching parallel to each other as if by mutual consent, and occa-
sionally cannonading each other as opportunities offered. This flank
movement continued for upwards of three leagues, when the aliies
halted about that distance from the position in front of Salamanca,
and the French continued their route to pass the Tormes at Alba and
Huerta. This they did on the 21st, and Lord W. on the evening of
that day, likewise passed the river, and took up a position, covering
the town of Salamanca, and defending the Ciudad Rodrigo road.
We encamped late at night in the most tremendous thunderstorm I
ever witnessed, which added to the picturesque effect of the scene;
but could not he exactly styled as Buonaparte did the one which oc-
curred when he crossed the Danube, " the forerunner of a day glo-
rious to the French army." So violent was the efnct of the thunder.
storm, that upwards of fifty dragoons were maimed by the cavalry
horses breaking loose; many of the latter galloped off in all directions,
and sonic never returned.
At day-light on the 22d, the enemy began skirmishing in our front,
and their columns of infantry and cavalry were seen in motion, appa-
rently still moving to the left. We had a wood in our front, and the
enemy having one directly on his left, his movements were in some
measure concealed from us, and rendered doubtful. But upon getting
more extended to his left, we had a clear view of the movements of
his columns. Marniont then commenced manoeuvring, and endea-
voured by the uncertainty of his motions to distract Lord Welling-
ton's attention, and draw our force to points where he only meant
to threaten. But there Lord W. sheweld himself more than equal to
the French Marshal, and- counteracted all his plans. We had a deal
of cannonading during the whole forenoon. At one point the artillery
of our division commenced operations upon some heavy columns of
the enemy, and the long six-pounders sent the shot into the very centre
of them. They moved farther off, judging, no doubt, that the better
part of valour was discretion.
This sort of work continued the whole forenoon, and we lost con-
siderably from the cannonade which they incessantly kept up upon
one or other part of the line. About two o'clock we were ordered to
move to the right, and form in two lines upon the flank of the 4th di.
vision, becoming by this means the right of the whole line of infantry,
with the exception of the tsd division. We made this movement under
a heavy tire of shot and shells from the heights opposite, which the
-enemy had pushed on, and taken possession of.
Now arrived the critical movement which decided the fate of the
French army. Lord Wellington found the enemy still continuing to
-open to his left ; their impertinence in cannonading us put him out
of all patience • and when an officer arrived with information that the
enemy were still further oil; going to their left, he said, " Then, by
God ! we will attack them." These words tell like a thunderbolt
on the French army; and in three hours they were in flight and con.
fusion in all directions, and those very guns which had been firing
upon us on their way to Salamanca, were escorted by British soldiers
into Salamanca.
The 13(1 division, under General Pakenham, wheeled forward their
right, and came upon the left flank of the enemy; while the sth on
their left, in two lines, advanced up the hill, upon which were
formed the enemy's columns, under cover of their gun;. Lord Wel-
lington's words to one of our Generals were instantly put in execu-
tion—" You will attack thtm, and drive them to the devil." Shot,
shells, grape, and musketry, could not unsteady the step, or waver
the line of British infantry ; nor did they even fire a shot until within
about forty yards of the enemy, whose columns had formed into
squares, and received them, the moment they surmounted the brow
of the hill, with a fire of musketry, which was but once returned;
the line gave one general cheer, and dashed into the midst of the
enemy; they broke, and gave way, and the heavy cavalry rushing
through the interval between us, and the Sd division charged them,
and added to the panic and slaughter. The 4th division on our lett
met with a flank fire, and were compelled to retire; but the tith (in
reserve) coming up, carried the height had
they attacked. I 4:t het

625

than this, as to the detail of the business, I cannot give an account,
except that every point was successively forced, and the French-army
put to the rout. An eagle and two standards, with four pieces of
cannon, were taken by the sth division.
Not an hour did it require to put the thing in execution ; it was
absolutely like electricity : the people who were lying down, endea-
vouring to avoid the elfeets of a heavy cannonade, sprung upon their
legs as if touched by a magic wand, and without any alteration of po.
sition, without any formation whatever, the British line instantly
advanced up the heights, and drove every thing before them to
pieces: and that same army which with so much bravado had an-
noyed, and apparently bullied us, were turned upon, defeated, and
pat to Bight. Nothing was wanting but the word,—and Marmont
brought it upon himself. Lord W. says, "he forced me to lick
him." It was impos:.ible to have seen fellows go at the enemy as
our soldiers did, without being enthusiastic. Victory never could
have been doubtful.