The National Register.
London, England, 1812-03-15 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL IiEGISTEI?

well-known effort of the Art of Painting in a place so confined as the
periodical columns of a wee;-.ly newspaper, where the rushinq in an;l
crowding of multifarious matters, all claiming a corner to meet the pub-
lic eye, itithrall the good-will of the publishers, and hurry them away
from subjects upon which they would chpecially delight to patw,, !mice,
and descant at leisure. We must therefore content ourselves with mere-
ly statin7, that for interest of subject, warmth of composition, correct-
ness of •Itsign, aptness and liveliness of expression, and propriety of co.
louring, this performance is full worthy a the praise which has already
I:een bestowed upon it, and does hiriour to the mind and skill of the
author.

No. 33. 4711ylock—Shakcspeare's Merchant of Tinier. By A. Firm
This is merely a head, and a hand lifted up above the head—but that hand
ha, such an expression, that eye such an eloquent utterance ! Really they
make us: grieve that Mr. Hume did not exercise his talents upon tl.t
whole scene, as we find it in our ever-inspired and ever-in:Tiring dra-
matic Bard. We expect more from him; let him not disappoint out
expectation.
No. 3s. Areizdiart Shepherds. By H. SING!. TTON.—There are in the
world such faces of women and men, which carry invariably upon theta
a certain sort of pleasbyness, which not only make us wish to see them
again and again, but even persuade us that we have seen them nary
times before. Whether this is the case w:th the small painting bi4ote
us, we dare not to decide ; but certain it is, that it is uncommonly ;wee-,
and gratifying to the eyes.
. . _

DRAMATIC REGISI

LYCEUM.

There is a remark in one of the smaller poems of Mr. W./11137rfosTii,
which, for truth at least, is not, in our opinion, exceeded by ;my oti:fr
in all the English poetry, which we have had an opportunity of thru-..
The remark is this, that " daisies (meaning the little flowers of t!,at
name) will he daisies still." These vords of Mr. 'Woituswoierii, NV;11)
a slight change, we are disposed to take into our service upon the pr,..
sent occasion; and say, that musical farces will be musical farce
Since the time of" lialy gaily, gamin) raly," si.iwn to the present d..y of
Frost and Thaw, and Turn Out, there is hardly any production of tl,t
above kind, the reading of which may not be employed to the smile
good purposes as the seven penitential psalms, and imposed as a
nance, at least for venial offences. If the dramatic writers of the preset t
day have not succeeded, their failure does not by any means arise,
either from want of frequency in attempt, or diligence in re-carel).
Ab,tracting entirely from the humble pilfering indwitry, with wl:;ch
they have applyed themselves to volumes of more en ml)ersorne
dime: -
shins, they have, of late, w ith a most exemplary lowliness of spirit,
even eaten into the children's library ; for, we believe, there is not (vie
halfpenny book, from the Little Red Riding jlood up to Tbr, e 1:i::•
gered Jack, in which the fancy of those good people has not been tirmig
ing for employment. We are not di:poied to indulge the snerriN,
or malicious lamentations of the heavy criticism that pretends to bew.:ll
the dullness of the times, and affects to shed tears :It the urn of tiii.teS-
rEAi r. We are e 9 tally averse to the capering phraseology of content-
orary remarkers, who would wish to seem pleased without any feelini;
of pleasure, and son-mimes assume the airs and the language of dislike,
at things which, it the truth were known, have really delighted them.
We cannot, however, Int share a little in the fears of those who appre-
hend that, in this country, at least so far as it appears, there is, a' Pre-
sent, hut a small portion of dramatic talent; and, were it not for the
situation in which fortune has placed us, we are not so prodigal even ot
contempt, as to squander it upon things that do not deserve to be 1,0-

ticed.
In our Paper of last Sunday we made no .observation upon the t.rw
n-vsical lice that is now in its progress through the Lyceum. We
businoss of more imp:xtance, nor should we notice it at present hat
for the encouragement of those who may suspect that any sort of dia-
logue, hesnrecred with a Halo poetry, however worn out in character
or in sentiment ; however incapable from plot of exciting expectation;
however disabled in tiviught, or ragged in expression, cannot ruffle the
composure of art audience, and force them into laughter even without
hearing a joke. We de not say that the piece in question has all those
failings; but this we say, that it is indebted for all the merriment I*.
I produces not to what is heard, but, almost exclusively, to whit a
seen; to the swelling (and let no person think that we are unconscious

01.110.11.4

NIARCII 15.

of his talents) of Mr. Dow-roN's cheeks, and the angry posture of
hi, wig, to the tossing about of chairs and tables, to the turning in
of NVIs DUNCANS to,fs, but, above all Lb the two bottles of port,
and the mutton-pye, of which Dr. Truckle disposes in the gd act, with
a hastim-ss of appetite that reminded us of Jerry Diddler.

The characters of this l'arce have been known to the Public for
more than a century. With respect, however, to Dr. Truckle, we canmot
but remark, that if a hoary personage like him,whatever may be even Ms
vices, were to heve been that drawn forth in the days of Lacedemonian
eleee, with such a reverend feebleness of knees, and with the tremor
age tire; his tongue, with even na other claims to respect, were he
iiave ken thus represented worried by the cane of a puppy, aid per-
pecuted into drunkenness by a jesting servant, we do not hesitate to say,
th;a the author who could have brought forward such a scene, or the
actor who could have shared in it, would have excited more indignation
thin could be expressed in billies. The offences of an old man ought,
to he enormous before humanity craild laugh at his af lictions.
r are not much acquainted, nor in truth are we deeply smi• ten with
the temes which musicians are pleased to impose upon the little dexte-
ef their ate, but with respect to the music of this piece, there is
very litt!e of it that we are desirous of hearing a second time. The
eriteser seems to have rested a great part of his hopes upon the ability
f the singer, and from what we have observed, it is pretty plain to us,
fait any possible combination of notes may he almost certain et ap-
rleuse if it be terminated by that very tormenting part of execution
which is called a shake: There was one simple ale by Miss Du er N,
ardbecause it was simple it was dclighttul, but it is not new, we have
frtqucntle heard it h< fore, in comieiny with some poetry of rather hunt-
tie origiu, beginning with the words—
Arrah, Pa,ldy, you garder,
You're like a Highlander,
For want of a treeches.

There is a certain expression in the look t.f Miss DUNCAN, and a
?arcing archness in her manner, which cannot fail to please, but w;th-
oJt rucaning the smallest offence, we must say that her features are not
Aufficiently tender to accompany either the chaste and trenibiing refu-
sais„ or the swooning seductive compliances of love.