The National Register.
London, England, 1812-09-27 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

cl PT. C 7.

p i rY~iY~

DRAM ATIt REGISIER.

1.1*( UM.
Ti po,tihie, that before SHAKSPEA RE and JONSON 44 hall
xS,„ (UM tat Cait," there we' e cri,ics cotemporary
them,*OO, like tho-f of the p, esent day, were in the
hit. 1 1 Aleo4in!: the absence of dramatic geeitis.at that
an I in pi rntini.: out the mel.aicholv failing oft to Le
4al OlCd, w.,en the writings !4a A g,p rAitE and JoNsoN
pith the ‘‘orts of eel tail immxtrri ba,ds,
irUt. all I,l4,(eck(i than, but 'those name; not reached
the ~;;-ctectitli century. Suppmieg this it may not appear
tet I v •m!,,,,srbie, that at some future yeriod, Will II Kti-
(rt.so are for ptten not till (ten) the dccli
1:;1%, • of d...iinatic genius, may cause a I eft,t cure to be made
ices to the vr4ers of our tio,e, similar to that now made
t :".it Al< SP FA itr- .10 NsO'S-9 ke. and similar to that which
f.trppcse,..ta ;heir dav, was made to vows of greater anti-
quity• e dr;;matie writers may he censured as punt,
will ss set ;IA" s, unv of thy t•) tread the earl) rendered
Nu t ions Its' that splendid constellation of talent which shed
lustre. 0,1 the close of th:- reign of Geor2e the Third, wilco
the v;enuine wit, irresivible humour, genius for poetry, and
knows: dge if n tile of aDi ODIN, a ItLy L DS, a PococK.
ai.d an AnNoin, shone forth to enlighten all postetit with
ahi ze rcrilpoitiy brizhl, that the lapse of asses could 'tot
dim, and wh,ch Tune aVemp.ing to ell could only find
Lim-e'frompetent to ioifiy:
A tv w Opera limn the pen of a Mr. CODE was on Tues-
da, pe,founctl for the hest time, which, to us, appeared a
pr,ducrion so emineutiv contemptible, that had the H EY-
ams, DIDDINS, i.)een b,it a reasonable time in their
rakes, we s. ould have expected. to hear much critical be-
vv,:itiog about depa ted genius, and about the sun of English
Opera him nit set never to rise again, for this apera,'by
Mr. ('ODE, is as much infer ior to the gene,al run of their
pieces, as thev are below the writings of Mr- SHLRIDA S-
-111 putting his name tt, such a peiformance, we think the au-
flint has displayed more intrepidity than w.sdom, lie may
perhaps Lave thought that his name would give respectability
to his p•ay. We kn iw not how this may he, but this we know,
that his play is not likely to give respectability to his name.
It owes its saivltion to the patriotism, not to Ihe taste of the
pubirc, as it is solely held together by a string of tine scnti
ments expressive of attarhtnent to Independence," " Li-
berty," and " Dear native land " These are thrown toge-
ther without anything of ingenuity to entitle them to adini
ration, or anything of novettv, or of extraordinary felicity
of expression to t ecommend Clem to the publi;. However
we do approve of the sentiments themselves, it moves our
indignation when they are used for such a purpose.
'They become degraded when employed merely as clap-
traps, and are no longer entitled to respect, while the mean
and, pitiful. practice of resorting to these in the absence of
wit calls forth all.the contempt and reprobation due to a
tt ick, for as nothing short of a shuttling trick, can we
regard such a subtet f:: be.
A sketch of the business, miserable as it is, may not be un-
acceptable to some of our reLders, though others may think
their time mispent in perusing it.
The Spaniards under ilionzo are fighting against the Sara-
cens, by whom their King Pdagio is supposed to be held in
captivity. lje,however, it appears, has been stabbed by Doh
lg"rani an unworthy favourite, who, in. common with most
theatrical assassins,. cannot. commit a murder outright
at' once, but having .wounded limbs leaves the com-
pletion of the business to Ramiro, who, as is usual in such
Cases, save the He of the Intended. victim, makes him spear

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that he will not let :t be known that he lives without his
(Ramirds) consent, and causes him to assume the character
of the Hermit l'f the I .ake. The lv.'ing his,detuOtter
t') have been murdered, but she,' thongh such we-' intended
to be her fate, is not only spared by i)on Garman, but
brought up by him as his own. She feels for him all the
affection of a datuliter for a father, but falling in love with
/Mara, with all her fi!ialliety, she runs away from hint in
the secood act, disgui4Cd as n boy, and seeks the proriot
camp, with a letter iron: herself to .-Hon7o, aod is sent back
in the third hy her lover, who ha, not discovered her, with
: a letter 10 lietse!l She to urn, with a; mach alacrity as she
Went, without haying displayed her akctian in any way but
weeriag the Greed
irecia. The traitorous desigos of GI/7mill:
lam begin to develope themselves, anl are oppose 1 by the
//conit at' the Late (the King) avliont Ramira has drawn
from his recess. lie throws oil his disguise, ay his presence,
to confute the fa!,eltoods of Gorman and the St racer envoy,
who had forged a tale of his being a piisoner, A battle
ensues, in which the King is victorious. The treason of
G than is now made puhlie, who rent nttturrrlitj, ill of a
:sudden becomes a virtuous good sort of a person, reiatrds his
I past conduct with horror, and auxious to make all the atone-
: inert in his power, dechres Cl .ra to be the King's daughter.
This story, though (,unsup? cried as it k) it might have been
conside,ed but as the sequel to his limner villainy, is at once
believed. The statement of a man of Gurman's character,
it should seem, is not to he doubted, and the parties immedi-
. tarty go through the customary ! oh's! starts, and
braces : Garman acknowledges himself to be unfit to live,
! and expects to he doomed to death. His Majesty, bids him live
I and repent. To this no Wection is made by Dun Garman,
and the piece ca ncludes with the union of ..1ioa.:o and Clara.
i 11'C we not disposed to libel the manager's un-
derstanding so far as to sus pose that he could mistake
this opera for a p:oduetion merit.
The conduct of the r.::.ce admirably accords with its plan,
and it is difficult to ::ay which is more absurd. The charac-
ters ale wretchedly cominon- place, and drawn without either
strength or humour. A young wife who is dissatisfied with
an old husband, in old husbzind who cnmolains of a noisy
wife, an old bachelor, and a maid past he rime, arc the
principal noecificv, and'aie given to make us gh. Here,
Mr. ('one, no doubt, thought he was pla. ing a'aatre card,
and that it was imposs.ble for any -audience to refine to be
entertained with what had been So often laughed at before,
and his anxiety to please is i'ery happily evinced in his
taking care to give the public
.what he knew they hkeds
Unfortuna'av, however, he did not provoke a.I that
laughter which he expected. This was rather Soto icing,
we are sure we have often seen the very same tOtgs kso r
e-
what better told to be sure) cause a great deal of mirth. The
serious busittess boasts considerable dralery, and - shows a
great knowledge of life. The King, visited in his solitude
by Aloe-:o, gives such good reasons for remaining in retire-
ment, that .4t0n70 is satisfied and about to leave him, when
his Nlajesty cries, " Ilold !" and expresses himself willing to
ieture. to the busy world, were it not for a solemn oath which
he has taken. These 'is something very natural in his con•
duct here, as he seems just about to hrelk his oath, when
Ramira enters to relieve him from the obligation. One
beautiful speech in the scene above-met tioned we ought not
to forget. The King says, • " when Freedom. is seen upon
earth, some tyrant al-ays rises to chain her to 'his car."
We are much edified by this statement. Till' we heiird it,
we did not know that t rants kept liberty so near them.
We rather apprehended that they were generally swamis to
banish 11.
•