The National Register.
London, England, 1814-11-20 00:00:00

TUE NATIONAL iIIiIATI;TER.

1)R..131.A1'1C REGISTER.

DRURY•LANE.

Miss Walstein, whose engagement had been announced
with' all .that could enhance the expectations of 1.4 public,
and wtio came frorm the Dublin stage, (though, we under-
stand, not•a native of IrelarA,) honoured with the admira-
tion of the self-elected best judges in the world, made her
rst appearance in the hart of Calista, at this theatre, last
Tuesday. 'this lady, we are informed by persons who wit-
nessed her performances at the time, held a considerable
rank on the Edinburgh theatre fourteen years ago, when
youth gave an additional charm to her dramatic exhibition.
She afterwards made the usual provincial tour, and, at last,
settled in Ireland, where the friends of declamation granted
leer a hearty welcome and a home. She has now been
called from the seat of her fame to try whether it could be
extem:ed to the British metropolis, and confied by them
judgment of the first audience in the world.
We cannot but observe, that the character which Miss
"Walstein selected for her first appearance, betra)s sonic
want of judgment. No play can be mole immoral and tirc-
some than the FairePeatitent, anol no part so unatniahle as
that of Catista., ,Theltiaces and sensibility of an actress
might soften ruggedness, and render it more consonant
with the title of Fail'. Peuitent which 'he piece unaccount-
ably beats : but those are not found either in the person or
the mind of Miss Walstein. Nature has trot fitted het for
the melting mood, or even to delineate the softer emotions
of the proudest female bosoms. Her features are cast in
almost a more than. manly mould. Compared with them,
Mrs. Siddon's countenance would shrink into feminine
softness.. But- it is only their outward shape that is so
strongly marked ; the illuminatious of the soul, which give
life and every variety and power of expression to milder
and more beauteous faces, are completely wanting. The
eyes are dark, but dart no piercing beams, and with
all their loftiness of form, the features seem to possess hut
one unvarying expression, which, though it might suit "Ri
chard the Third " in the triumph of his villainy, is not suf.
liciently subdued by the utmost eftbrts of the actress ever to
sink into mere force and nobleness. Miss W.'s voice and deli-
very unfortunately yield her no assistance towards bringing he r
ithin the i of fetninality. fler voice, without being re-
markable for strength, has a certain elevation and monotony
of tune which fie igues the car, and her delivery is more like
the studied declamation of a boy than the language of an
able expounder of the passions.
We have occasionally complained of Mr. Rae's manner of
dividing his sentences, by which the sense is suspended and
epithets divorced from their substantives so as to produce an
unpleasant effect, What in him is only a peculiarity of
babit, or pePhape -the consequence of a natural want of
breath, seems in MEiss Walstein to be a fault of judgment
it is not an occasienal, bat a constant blemish in her per-
formance, and is carried so far, as, by the length of her pauses.,
to destroy all expression of feeling and sometimes of sense.
hence she abounds -with new readings, which form no
beauties in themselves, and sometimes rob the author of his
own. This erroneous division of periods, and inveterate
habit of declamation certainly compose Miss Walstein's chief
defect in tragedy, and are to a certain degree the sources of the
rest. They banish nature.feom her performance Art alone is
visible, but art misdirected and misapplied. Instead of the s:-
Inodulations which awaken all the sensibilities of the heart,
she has no other way of expressing a change of passion or

sentiments than by an alteration in the degree of boldness of
her intonations, so that in her animated and forcible
-passages
she rants, and in those of a milder character she is frequently
pompous, cold, and uninteresting. Miss Walstein's action
is generally good, though not very expressive always appro ,
priate. Its chief fault is a.want of en:emote.. She is too
much in the habit of gesticulating with one arm at a titre, and
when that is tired, with the other, so as to give them alternate
rest. This may be comfortable, butthrows an appearance of
stiffness into the whole of her deportment. There is also too
much pomposity in her tread, and too studied and evident a
desire of displaying her figure. This is still elegant, and.
when fuller, must have been remarkably handsome, but the
twists of her body, intended for " graceful bendings," have
something of aifectation which borders on the ridiculous.
;t was not by the curve of her back, or the artful disposi!ion
of her shoulders, that Mrs. Siddons electrified thousand, in
every character she assumed. Her soul identified itself with
the part, and her person and countenauwe following the im-
pulses of her mind, moved with grace and dignity, and
beamed with matchless expression. Attitudes, like decla-
mation, may he studied, hot- even should they boast
the perfeCtion of art, they would still he transcended b‘ a
single look flatight with feeling, a !tingle no.e tiemolons
with just expression, and the least trifling; action which be-
trays the presence of unaffected nature. Exquisite sen-
sibility alone can reach those perfections. It is-the parent
of taste, if not of j tl2.ment too, and wherever it is found to
exist, denotes, if not actual Occellenne. at least a capability
of attaining it. It is that, which we regret to state. Miss
\Valstein's performance of Calistn, leads us to think she
does not possess, and without which, it were ,grosi flattery
to tell her, she could ever hope to gain the first rank in the
drama. She is, however. highly respectable, and if she
would correct the pruriency of her declamation, rein in
her bursts of voice, refrain from injudicieusly dividing
her sentences, and appear less occupied with her own person,
she would certainly claim more applause than site has received,
and would rise superior to the hisses with which. it was fic-
quently accompanied. In Ireland, we understand. she played
second to Mies Smith (now Mrs. Bartley) during that Lady's
excursion to Dublin. We do not see, why on the metropo-
litan theatre she should lye placed above her. She has not
displayed any qualifications which entitle her to that honour.
Elliston looked the " gallant gay Lothario" to admiration,
but cast rather too deep a shade of seriousness into the man-
ners of the elegant and remorseless libertine. Rae was very
impressivo in Horatio, and Waliack displayed considerable
• feeling in Altamont. Pope in Sciolto gained great app!ausY,
but the piece itself possesses no recommendation of interest
or merit sufficient to render its revival a matter of satisfac-
tion to the public.

We have entered, by a' a very pleasing exhibition,
which we understood to have been established het very re-
cently in this metropolis. It is called a Picturesque and
Mechanical Spectacle. and ;s exactly similar to that of Pierre
at Paris, the Proprietor having been long one of that artist's
principal assistants. In the difrerent views, boats, carriages,
horses, men and women, and troops of military are intro-
duced moving in various directions, in a very natural and
accurate manner. Among the places represented we dislm-
gnished the place Louis Quinze at Paris, (which seemed
faithtu', b t ens confined me thought to rather too small a
portion of that nobly square) and-the Cape of Good Hope,
with Cape Town, the Table Mountain near it, and mer-
chantmen and ships of war sailing along the coast, some of