The National Register.
London, England, 1818-09-20 00:00:00

BANK OF ENGLAND.

Ageseml meeting of proprietors was held on Thurs-
day, conformably to the provisions of the charter, for
the purpose of declaring the half-yearly dividend, and
the transacting of such business as might be depend-
ing. The resolution for dividing 5 ,per cent. on the
Company's stock, for the half-year ending the iOth of
October next, was unanimously agreed to, and notice
given that the warrants would be distributed on the
12th of the same month.
On the motion of adjournment, Mr. R. Jacks
rose, in order to put one or two questions to the Chair,
which appeared to him very materially .to affect both
the character and the interests of their: body. They

related to that alarming increase in the number of eases
of forgery, which had soi powerfully.and naturally en-
gaged the consideration of the public The sensation,
indeed, which it had excited had some time since led
to.the appointment of a commission, containing names
of high authority, and the object of which •was to de•
vise the means of more effectually preventing thisof-
feoce. Although its proceedings .had in some degree
incurred the reproach of tardinescobe trusted that the
persons of whom it was composed had not been deficient
either in vigilance or activity, and that the delay which
had taken place was attributed solely.to the difficulties
of their task. He doubted not that they,were deeply
impressed -with the consciousness, that. the
.lite .of a
fellow-ereature hung on every. hour of their delibera-
tions. It could not be concealed that those who were
defrauded by offences of .this tleseription, were Jeltiony
persons in the humbler classes of society4ersous whose
want of education and of ability to prosecuto rendered•
them the casy,subject of depredation. :No .man who
looked at the public newspapers could avoid seeing how
imports :t itevas that.,the, conduct of the Bank. should
he fairiy -untlerstood,,as it respected the mode of •con-
ducting their prosecutions 'forthe forgery of their inttes.
•It was well known that a practice had been recently
-adopted of eatteutling.a comparative rochiuion of pueish-
ment in particular cases, by indicting for felony within
the.benefit of clergy, and subjecting
.the offender to l 4
years' transpor at ion. This was a Change of
.pcieciple,
anti it was desirable that the puhl..._ should be
atisfied es to the manner in which that change operated,
.and tke nature of the dirtretion front whieh it origi-
nated. His object, 411crefure, in now addtosing hint-
self to their uotice. was to call .for explanation, on two
points : tilt: first of which was, whether thesletermina-
tion relative to prosecuting •capitaliy wasdeft in the
b,e ist °lane in- iv lual, or exercised upon the joint de.
liberation of the wholo body of Directors. The resix,n.
sibility attending such a trust was one of trembliag
anxiety, for it had b ea declared even from the bench,
on a late occasion, that capital punishment did not ap-
inar to have dintinished the number of offences The
other point to which he wished to draw their attention
wasone on which it was also necessary that no misunder-
standing should prevail. •He was aware that the agency
of those who wore employed in the work of discover-
ing and tracing these offences was indispensible. The
'An r mat ions he desired was, whether the distribution
and apportionment of the rewards bestowed on them
was intrusted to the direction of an individual, or.ad-
ministered by the. delikerate judgment of the Board.
The Governor; ti. Dorrien, Esq. observed, Abet it
lad been publicly stated in another place, that the dis-
cretion with regard to oth the, Nines urged by the
'learned gentletnan, was exercised 'won the -fullezt de-
liberation by a committee of directors specially appointed

I,r that purpose.
?'Jr. R.. Jacksoo declared .himself perfectly satisfied
.with lifts etyma thttn icat inn. His only object was to yrs-
'vent the public mind from being misled ; for tb4re were
those, who, lx:ing unfriendly to their whole-system and
institution, were disposed to avail themselves of this
partioularsubject,in order to raise a general prejudice
again* them. • 'there existed out of doors a belief "hot
the increased circulation uf Bank-notes had been pro..
.ductive of a great increase of the crime of forging and
--counterfeiting money. .He bud no.knowledge whether .
--this was or was not the icase; -but. the only-way of
-caking a correct view of the question was by examining
the .catalogue of pro.secutions fur coining counterfeit
money, when. a metalic currency was the circulating
• naettium. it -he might offer a word of advice, he should
ft commend it strongly to.the Directors to act in eon-
eert with the time Department, in every case of this
nature 'to obtain Ai previous, knowledge of -its opinion,
ind thus 'relieve .theniselvetof .too weighty a responsi-
bility •If he had.theahonoua of a seat among-thean, be
abotdd.conataatly urge she. necessity of demanding the
interference of the Home Department, so that every
• prosecution nvight..havc the double sanction of the ,llank
and the Government, am! might sot appear, as 41,0%17
too many were inclined to think ,it,,.tbe vindictive
.act of a partialpand intecert.:d body. Whatever elum e
.abould take place in, desks, policy., it wasincumbent on!
them to be firm weed uurelexed in their adherence to am-
uniform sy:Acie. science tkf frit was. perhaps
, yet in its infancy, and tpight,teneddsy ha considered to
be-,of lob comb ittignity at 101 impirs4p,ce ...60 any .Cher.
brantb, of:political or legi4sitive study.'* Till that time.
should,Aunvc,.. they wete,ottax tit toxellity of staidiug

INAL REG TSTEP.

steadily by one set of principles, in order to avoid the
hazard of seeing London converted into a vast academy
of crimeatrul a deluge of offences and frauds committed
which no?law and no exertions would be sufficient to
control.
Mr. Young observed, abut he was anxious to press
upon the ,attention of the Directors, in whose honour
and humanity he placed the fullest confidence, the pro-
priety, with a view to the diminution of forgery, of
withdrawing from circulation the one and the two,pound
notes.

The Governor remarkel, that this was a subject for
the consideration of the Legislature, and tpuat depend
on the renewal or expiration of the Restriction Act :
at the same time he saljtht,say, that if any obiection
existed against the resumption of cash-payments, it was
not among the Bank Directors that such objection
originated or was entertained.
quesion of adjournment was thetyp t and 421irried.

'AWE DRAMA.

DRURY LAM.
'This theatre is fruitful in novelty at least. The
eonsetly of A Cure jar the Heart-dehe was performed on
Tuesday 'night, when two pertitsmers made their first
appearance on there boards; Mr...Wathinson in the part
of Old Rqpid, and, Mr. Weston.in that of Frank Out-
lands. The first gentlesnitn; it not unknown to the
public, having snored in ,a, subordinate sphere at the
Haymarket theatre ; he olitime therefore but a brief no-
tice, and jhat principally sm acceent of the atew rank
he has teken. Idis best poise is that of looking . and
dressing ;the chancier of#49ld Rapid very well: she
strutted,and fidgetted through some ofAhe scenes with
tolerable success; Isis consternation pt the discovery of
Young.Bapid in the act of meneAng his coatemas hu-
morous „and natural The ottanwter,
,however, in
general, was feeble and wanted point of the fa-
therly affection which we hove seen so strongly,excited
in his predeeesser, Nlunden, in the affair of the duel
with Yoate, e.,,Vienley. he could give no idea. Mr.AVere
ton played .the sturdy,neasunt, Frank Oatland, with
.some skill and diseninsinstiioo, ,and. we think we discern
a degree of prornisa in hits-,with respect to the future ;
be is very interior, however, to Isis predecessors and to
the notions of excellence generally formed by a London
audience. elle also performed 3liii:torh Delaney, in the
Irislanan ,n Lcndon, and was more successful than in
the coriedy. He gave the songs with tolerable voice
and humour, and caught some portion of the dry caustic
humour we expect to find in. this character. His brogue
it neither very perftiet, nor unifies* well preserved.
Both the play and the farce, were cent in a outrage far
below mediocrity.
The tragedy of !Othello was performed on Thursday
night at this theatre : the part of Othello by a " gentle-
man, /Aging his first appearance on any strge." This
geneleman has certaitsiy soared too high in venturing
at once on such a character, where, independently of
the common difficulties of realising the notions every
treader must form of this victim of passion, and masterly
icseation of poetical genius, he has to contend with the
recollection, still fresh in our minds, of the greatest
! Othello, probably, that the,stage has ever produced. His
performance was principally deficient in dignity and a'
general want of power to sustain the higher impulses
of passion ; le seemed, therefore, to sink niele.r the
effort, and perhaps too ter want of that experience
wLell should euable him to husbautl...his resources to
the hest adviestage, became gradually mow feeble after
the close of the third act, and instead of rising, as a
judicious actor must do, Dla the approach of, the cents:.
treele, rendered the whole, of thz. sth act comps. e-
asel; tame and unimpressive. His delivery, allowing
fi>r some trifling defected'. ensmeiatioe,is of a superior
order ; in general very slow and distinct, in excellent
keeping with the sense of the passage, and his thoughts
evidently accompanying his utterance—a cardinal
quality and the heels of all good acting. His by-play
is unusually good,..and the business of the scene seldom
escapes him. His gestures and nation were those of
performer trained to the stage, and, occasionally .were. of
that _superior kind which seem to.obey the heart rather
than the head. The part of De:den:ma was performed
' by Mrs. West, from the Bath theatre, who made, we
believe, her first. appearance on this occasion before a
i London audience. This lady is a very pleasing actress,
end, will prove, if .we mistake nut, sorr.ethirsg. snore
than anacquisitiou,..nn .ornament la the stage. Her
DeAdennona it; a very natural, unaffected piece of a4ing,
and as livelyea representation of the tender, innocent
being...who saw - " Othello's visage is his mind:' as we
have ever witnessed. , Her face., withextremely regular
sfeatures, is, not emmsrltable for eipsiostion, but the tones
of her voice are peculiarly soft And pleasing. The
scene where the dreadful nature of Otheas swspicions
-first revealed to Iv, was peculiarly happy ; the
_Unlace into which its first etfcct to threw her, and
her recovery from thee to the most ecu'e anguish,
:could scarcely have been hetttereexpresred. , The yetede
of the lastseesuewas. verylittle- inferior to, it both in
.conception andesseoution. .:Mrst Glover, whom we gee
glad to see in her place vain, sustained the part of
&taste with the beat oxen*
,of her powers, and

WI

with complete sueeess. The play was received with
very great applause ; and when Mr. Barnard appeared
to announce the performances for Saturday evening,
there was a very general call for the repetition of Othello.

COVENT-GARDEN,

Mr. W.-Farren, the actor who has made so success.
ful a debut in SirPeter.Teaele, appeared en Friday night
as Lord Oglefty is the Clandestine Marriage. This is
one of the most difficult characters in our drama ; the
qualities of which it is composed are so extremely sub-
tile and confined, and the whole portrait is made up of
touches solelicate, that the performer is in constant
danger of distortion on one hand, and of tameness
and insipidity on the
,other. With all the feebleness
of age, and more. than the vanity of youth, he hats to
practice an unfailing pordeness and urbanity ; and is
compelled, in the end, to sacrifice his vanity to his ge-
nerosity. With all his follies and all his infirmities, he
must constantly excite respect, and occasionally esteem,
in the breast of the spectator.' Mr.f:arrea has suc-
ceeded in byfar. the greater Part, and .his Lord Ogleky
deserves on the whole the praise of a masterly per-
formance. He was most fortunate in expressing the
rising impulses of vanity caused by the.passion believed
to be excited in his favourite.Miss Fowl", and in the
last scene where he is called upon for so noble an effort
of generosity. His attempts to conceal the reluctance
he felt at the painful civilities of the old eitizen were
ludicrous and.natutal.:, the scene where he proposed to
Old 114erling to marry his daughter Fanny,. was given
in .the best„style ; and his burst of surprise. svli,en the
citizen affects to believe that the object of his affections
wits his sister fieidelloerg,was. quite irresistible.,, Many
other passages might, be quoted equally worthy of praise.
The only deduction. that occurs to us is, that Mr.
Farren might have drawn Lord.gglnbil something more
of the.gentleman and Jess of the .baffitou ; we wife not
faith entitled to so much laughing at iiistssiship's ex-
pense as he afforded us :with all its defects,hoWever
gidly scanned, i. is-a performance of no common order,
and cannot fail to increase his reputation. He received
the most flattering aoplausein nearly every scene, frcm
a very numerous audience, and is to repeat the character
to-morrow evening.