The National Register.
London, England, 1812-10-11 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL 11F,GISTER.

OCT. 11.

assassin. This intrepidity manifests itself in his ead mess to at_
tack a weak boy, whom he had sworn to prwect, and in-thear- -
dour with which he prepares to fight with a. defenceless woman
His magnanimity is depicted by his ildvancin,,fr stab his
foe while sleeping, his firmness, by his sutlefin:2; his fixed
resolve to be changed by a word. A seniiincoai smv,.„.hr,
who, eng:iged in a contraband traffic, is l'apouring about ho-
nour and honesty throughout die play, is made
,consti..
coons, and held up to adin.,.ation a:: :i very amiable ..:I.aracter.
After this s'pecimen of the treat furnishiA 1)r6,46,
Persona., it is unnecessary for us to go. further to describe
doting magistrates who attempt to corrupt theipugig.:;'(;r'si ,
:ii;;f,
as these may be found, as well as the lady il the .
farce
Peeping Tom." The comic parts arc wi etched non.enti-
ties, and it is seal!), surprising that Mr. DtMOND, who has
no humour whatever, should so far mistake his talent, Ds to
attempt any thing laughable in the teeth of all his critics who,
however they may have di!'i.e!:ed from each other on sokie
points, have been unanimous in their contempt for his eau is
to excite risibility.
From the success of his " Doubtful Son," (which, by the
bye, we have since found is nothing but a close tiaasiation
of Beaumarchais Mere (;oupab:c), we were in hopes, wiii.ll
we heard of " The .f.thiop," that something tclerahle wookt
he pi oduced, more especially as it had been "In prepawa:
tion all the summer." How much we were disapponted
may be conceived, from what has already been said. The
piece contains nothing that can redound to the credit of its
authors, and poor as it is, it has not even the mei it of being
original. That Mr. DimoND should have taken the trouble
to steal what was so worthless, provokes a smile of contenirt.
It reminds us of the pickpocket who could not keep his hand
out of another's pocket, though he 1.11”. w it was empty. In
addition to the demerits we have already noticed, "The
,Ethiop" has the fault of beiti4 nearly twice as long as it
ought to be. We wish it were to be curtailed as Swift' once
curtailed a play which had been submitted to his peroial by
its author. if erre,/ other litre were blotted out, it would hut
contain half its present defects, and the beauties struck out.
with its faults would not be so numerous, or so great, as to

give a. 'much uneasiness.
The overture, if not one of the best we over lie: d, is cer-
tainly one of the loudest. The music, by Mr. Mitt op, is
altogether pleasing, but not sti ikingly he scenery
truly superb, and reflects credit on the libera!iLy of the
managers, but we cannot say much for their taste in lavish-
ing it on such a production as "The Althiop."
Tlie actors did their best for the author, who, unfortu-
nately, did not put it-in their power to do much. C.
KEM Bt.V. appeared to great advantage in " The
but You NG was kept very much in the back grouno in the
character of Almarnar. LasiruN and FAwcETT were pil-
loried in parts hi which all "talent was lost. Mrs. H.
JOHNSTON and Misr BOOTH were not quite so unfortunate
in the Sultana and Orasmin; There was me- h opposition to-
ware.s the close of the perforirance, but the house was too
well packed for the play to fail altogetbN, and the regula-
rity with which applause was thrown iq cit w'a, most
wanted, made us half-inclined to believe that the managers
had introduced-a cl:pping machine, whi!•!, they ccu:d work
by a steara;en'gine at e.
•

()CT. 11.

639