The National Register.
London, England, 1808-02-15 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

The disappointed Donrers retires; and Algernon, who ar-
rives from Bath, having on that day come of are, presenth his
ouch.); estates to Ms father, and a reconciliation takes place.
Cieelg, who h:td set off in the morning to continue her journey,
is now brought back, in consequence of an offered reward, and
IrVra confesses that her marriage with Algernon it a' a hoax,
in order to avoid the union with Danvers, Is hen Cicely is intro-
dtwed and united to her lover. Selina then bestows ber hand on
the true Lord ll'oshdale, and the piece concludes with a hope
that the audience v. ill enable the author to say, " lbegone dull
Carr."

Such is the outtihe of a piece, which certainly had a very
fair trial, and m hich evidently escaped some hisses in the two
first acts, from the respect of the audience for the performers,
who most certainly, in general, did every thing possible for its
success.

ti Epilogue, containing some good points, was well spoken
by Miss Smith ; but as it also contained many apologies for imi-
tation, we must not be too severe on the author, for want of oil-
ginality.—ln sumo parts, the piece hears resemblance to Anne,
117;• Me Welch Heiress. Ilerbril, the father, is personified by
RiT Arthur, and the love of Solace, for the orphan, is evidently
the conuterpart of Wilkinson and ,Inna Meuse,. It nut), appear
invidious to trace imitation numb further, but we must neverthe-
less confess, that all the bustle and incident, of which there is a
sit Ificiency in the two last nets, has W'ren appeared before; but
it is indeed futile now to expect originalifg in this respire, as
every possible incident that can be produced by screens, sofas,
trapdoors, and chimney corners, has been already brought into
play.
!Upon the whole, our general opinion is in favour of this
piece, yet we strongly recommend mach curtailment, particu-
larly in the two first Acts, sr here the action seems to hang very
aturh ; and also in the common-place puns, and sentimental
clap-traps : other% ire the author's attempt at wit, upon the
Parliamentary Debates may be fumed upon himself; and we
rn:ty be tempted to congratulate ourselves, '' that although
forced to Im., it is fortunate that we are not obligzd le read."

FEB. 15.

pleasing glow to the fore-ground, and marks that chequered oh-
searity in the distance, so characteristic of an evening gale, when
the anxious Mariner watches the declining Sun, doomed, per-
haps, to see him rise no more.
With such acknowledged skill as Mr. Pocock possesses io this
line of painting, we cannot but feel regret when h turns his at-
tention with lss effect to other subjects. This observation is
draw n from us by No. 358—,1 Landscape and Banditti—in
which there is a tame, uninteresting accuracy of outline, rendered
even more displeasing by an affected contrast in the colouring.
The distant mountains have a darkness of purple which nature
never Oyes, whilst the trees and rocks in the tore-grounds, are
marked with a general ssnoothne::s and equality of brownish
tint, that destroy the effects, and is by no means consonant to
serial perspective.
No. 4i I.—Gulliver describing Fortification to Horses.
S. GILPIN . it. A.

As a Cattle Painter, Mr. Gilpin has often gained the owed
df applause at former exhibitions, and in this piece, his florses
are certainly well grouped, and spiritedly erecuted as Horses ;
but were it not for the figure of Gulliver in a corner tracing out
a square redoubt on the laud, they might pass for English
horses in a Park, as much as for the Houltnhyms of Swift.—
These is something so bizarre, and beyond nature, in the ori-
ginal idea, that we can attend only to the satire contained iu it ;
we are not surprised, therefore, if Mr. Gilpin has failed in his
attempt to embody an idea on canvas, to which the most
luxuriant fancy cannot give personification, and where the ex-
pression of wonder or delight might as weil arise from the
sight of a good feed of corn, as from all the horn works and
half-moons of a Pleydell. or a Vauban.
We looked round with anxious expectation for some specimens
of Brechey's pencil, hut were rather disappointed at finding only
some pretty little Landscapes, with the exception of a Mon:.'s
Head, No. 329. In this there is mulch character and expres-
sion : the mi Ned tone of relijoits Hope and Resignation is wen
marked, the lights are well utana,zed to aid the general enCrt,
and there is nothing of that stittiwss which might be expected
from a pencil so much accustomed to Portrait painting.
We shall he Imppy in a future 'Comber, to notice the nume-
rous efforts of Miss Spil-bury's pencil, together with Westhli,
Thomson, Drummond, and a long deetcra.