The National Register.
London, England, 1819-01-10 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

annoyed the audience on the pree.Aing eveninq.
,Th(!
whole way a warfare between the partisans of Hartland
and Bradbury, in which the neutrals, certainly the
grunt majority of the spe •tators, were the chief sufferers.
While the contest was carried on, a great n,:mber of
the annexed hand bill were ejaculated throughout the
house

"Theatre Royal, Drury-Lane, Jan. 7.

"It may be necevary to inform the Public, that Mr. Bradbury
has no cause for complaint against the Management of ?bury-Lane
Theatre. he having been informer!. on Tuesday last, by a letter frown
Mr. S what lietuble. that although the late Pantomime, fur which
trit!y he was engaged, hail faikl, yet tiro Gentletucn of the Sub-Com-
mittee bail empowered Mr. 14 Kemble to ti.,,ure him Olt. that
his et.gagement should be as strictly if he had been
succe,sfid. And this ant:meat Mr. S. limbic assures the Public
is the fact."

This statement did not, however, produce a cessation
of hostilities, which were maintained for a considerable
time, even after the close of the pertimnance.

Though the commencement of the dispute at this
Theatre was so vigorous as 4o promise a long and
obstinate contest, the temper manifested on Thursday
night induces us to think that it is already concluded
he house was very well attended, but the manner in
which the Pantomime was received, proves that the
full attendance was nut occasioned by any hostile
feeling. There was occasionally a good deal of ap-
plause, and the disposition to coed inn was so feel.le,
us leact in its expression, as scarcely to &scree notice.
A few persons lingereu in the house for some time after
the curtain fell, but nothing took place in consequence
of their delay. There was neither a tight nor a speech,
nor even a noise.

COVENT GARDEN.

Shakspeare's play of The Twelfth Night was per-
formed at this theatre on Wednesday night, in a manner
which we think renders its repetition desirable 11)r all
parties. The play which we are now considering, like
that of The Irtnier's Tale," and one or two more,
holds an intermediate station between those which are
thus purely imaginative, and those which flints an exact
copy of living nature. It gives a picture of what ap-
proaches to reality, heightened by the vivacity without
the grossness of caricature. Of all its parts the cha-
racter of Sir Andrea, Agee-cheek is unquestionably
the most prominent; and in this Mr. Farrell, has
made his first avearance. It is a portrait so exqui-
sitely drawn,-so finished a developement of utter imbe-
cility, that although it has, we believe, given birth to
more imitations than any other of Shakspeare's comic
characters, it still retains all its original freshness. Mr.
Farrea's success in Lord Ogleby and Sir I'eler Teazle
had manife-ted his powers in seising the nicer dis-
tinctions of human character, and in giving expression
to many o' those fleeting and often unmarked lineaments
by which it is most certainly detected. A perfect con-
ception of Sir Andrew required more general knowledge
and study, because the ideas with which it is associated
are necessarily more remote than those which serve to
explain the parts he has hitherto sustained. It required
also, not perlaps the same, hut a considerable degree of
delicacy in the handling, if we may so express it ; for
the character, although simile and uniform, is deeply
stamped, and cannot be counterfeited with impunity.
It would be idle to examine the performance of an
actor in detail---an useless prying into secrets which
can only he properly understood by the leading
. professors of the art ; but of the general effect it is open
to us to speak, whether our opinion be consonant to
that of others or peculiar to ourselves. In tbis.light,
Mr. Furren may be said to have neither lost nor added
to his previous reputation. That reputation we consider
to be established, and on a foundation the firmer,
inasmuch as the small inequalities and slight defects
which strike us most, are those which, without even
any effort on his part, time will necessarily correct,
He intro:laced though sparingly in number, with much
taste and felicity, some of those unexpected sallies of
action and changes of tone, which contribute so much
to enliven our idea of the character, but which can only
be supplied' to the performer himself, by a just and
vigorous conception of his subject. The extreme
c%astity and reserve of his style subjects him to a certain
degree of hardiness, and furnished as strong a contrast
to the full, mellow, and glowing humour of Emery, in
Sir Toby Belch, as the fictitious originals themselves
present. Liston was the Ma/edit); and it will be
readily imagined by those who are familiar with the
play, that an criticism would he misapplied. He was
the vain, fantastic, original in every look and tone.
His Soliloquy Scene was highly diverting. Miss
Brunton performed Viola in a pretty interesting man-
ner ; and the entire represeatation was extremely well
supported.

The performers on Thursday night, did the rVinter's
Talc great justice. Miss Sommerville, as the heroine,
had an unusual opportunity for displaying her powers,
and she was fortunate in their display. tier reception
of the first appalling charge was natural and spirited,
her defence on the trial was delicate, v iniptessise ;
and when she sunk apparently not Ices miLrpowered by
the pain of such an imputation, than by the infirmity
of a mother's frame, the audience understood her feel-
ing, and followediter exit with loud applause. Mrs.
Yates, as Pauline:, playcl spiritedly in the Deem of

upbraiding the King. • Miss Beaumont's Perdita was
a pretty portraiture of a character of playful beauty,
Liston and Blanchard were admirable in their parts ; .
Abbott was devoured too early in the piece to actiOire
much distinction; though his new office of Dlfynt!..te
to the bundle which enacted the young rxpuyee, pro-
cured hint a prodigious exploskat of laughter, and his
death by the lamest of passible bears made his exit as
jocular as his entrance ; Fawcett'. Adolllcus was acute,
humorous, and indefatigable ; Keetable's Florizel was
the noblest of rustics ; and Youai: a ',exam was in the
early scenes a fine conception of ►iery jealousy, and in
the latter a close and painful sk tch of dejection prey—
ing upon a powerful mind and an unwearied love.
The discovery of the statue was prettily arranged;
Miss Somerville bore up the honours of sculpture
steadily, and the grace of her descent was much ap.
plaualed.

The opera of Figaro is to be produced at ent-
Garden Theatre as s►on as Miss Stephens returns to
town. The part of the Page is to be personated, we
uu&rstand, by Airs. T. Hill, who is establishing her
musical reputation under the able instruction of Mr.
Bishop.
The Earl of Miltown is the nobleman to whom, it
is said, Miss Stephens is about to give her hand.
Mr. Croker, it is sai.l. is going to hunt.

Extract of a Private Letter from Paris, dated Jan.
4.—" It is now' known that M. de Cities and M. Ba-
ron Louis contributed most to the formation of the
present Ministry, in which (so chance would have it) •
there are three Gascons (De Cazes, Dessolles and Por-
tal), and three members from Lorrain (Lmis, Gintvion
St. Cyr, and De Serrc). You may n ell believe that
this curious coincidence has excited mum merriment
here. The new Ministry will have much to do to rea-
lize its promises. Institutions of every kind are e 3...
pected from it. The guarant...e of the liberty of tha
press, the freedom of the journals, the re-casing of the
whole of the administrative system, impressed with the'
despotism that presided at its origin, the reform of the
criminal code, and many other improvements, are ex.
petted. The Ministry of the Police is suppromd, but
for soma years this suppression will be more in name
than in reality. M. Cuzcs will even continue to °cc's.
py the hotel occupied by the successive Ministers of
Police for the last 20 years, the Pouches, the Savarys,
and such like agents, although the inscription placed
over the door is withdrawn. Many changes are con.
templated in the Prefectures, the military commends,
and the foreign missions. General Maison, it is said, .
succeeds M. de Noaillcs as Ambassador at Petersburgh.
There is a talk of the creation of 20 new Peers."

The following is a letter from a person of high re-
spectability in Madrid, ad•lressed to a friend in Lonlon,
upon the melancholy occurrence of the death of the
Queen of Spain. We give it in the writers own
words:--

Y Madrid, Da. 28, 1818.

" MY ESTEEMED Feteep,—With this you will re-
ceive intelligence, which will doubtless afflict you
deeply. The Queen, the object of all our hopes and de-
sires, at the very moment when she appeared likely to
realize those hopesiand desires, by giving to his Majesty
and to the Spanish nation, a Prince of Asturias, sud-
denly expired, the night before last, at balk' past nine.
The feelings excited by so unlooked fur, and so fatal an
event, may be more easily conceived than described,
when we consider all the eminent viitles, and dii tin-
guishcd qualities, which characterized tier Alnjesty.—
The affliction of the King, who tenderly loved her,
molt be greatly aggravated, by the deep sense which he
entertains of her exalted merits, and by the cir-
cumstance that she expired in his arms. With
respect to the particulars of this most lamentable event
and of the subsequent ion also of the Infanta,
I must refer you to the Extraordinary Gozette. I
must add, however, that the King d splayed, on this
sad occas'on, a sensibility which did no less honour to
his heart, than justice to the deputes] object of his
tears It was intended at first to bleed his Majesty ;
but it was afterwards abandoned ; and, in the midst
of the general affliction, we have the satiscartion of
knowing that his Majesty is recovering from the first
shoe:, and that there is hope it may not essen-
tially affect his important health. It wauld he impos-
sible for yoe to t;rten an idea of the sensation which
lets b. en every where produced by this ovent. The
Queen had gained, its an extraordinary manner, the
love and affection of all classes 'the Royal Family,
the court, • the People, all, all, exhibit the 1110 f t
striking proafs the regard they bore towards her, and
of the pain which her death has occasioned. It so
completely occupies every mind, that at the present
moment I am unable to w. ite to yott upon any other
subject."
The French refers received on Friday announce the
death of the Queen of Spain, jest on the point of be.
coming a nueher. The king himself is at such a time
of life, that it is not improbable he may still look fur
heirs in a new marriage.
Her late Majesty was united in person to the King
on the 29th of September, 2816, having been hefere
married by proxy. His Malcsty was torn in 178-1..