The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-20 00:00:00

FABLE.

Zumirski has been sent to demand the hand of Phedora for
his Prince, and is prompted by his ambition to impose his
(laughter, Oswena, upon him instead of the Princess. To ac-
stuplish this he hires a band of Tartars to destroy her guard as
She is travelling to Lithuania, and take her prisoner. They per-
form their task so well as to leave only one of the escort alive,
and he was seen strugglingln the torrent which they suppose
td have carried him away. They Lady is delivered up to Zu-
tslraki, who confines her in the ruins of an Abbey in the midst
Of a forest, and departs with his daughter, who enters into his
schemes, to make her the wife of the Prince. The design is
(Aterheard by Herman and his sister, who having lost their
gay in the forest, hide themselves among the ruins, so as to
be witnesses of all that passes. Immediately after the de-
Parture of Zumirski, they liberate Phedora, and conduct her to
the cottage of their uncle, where she is hOspitably received.
At a village fête the Prince comes among his people to make
tnerry, and seeing the fair incognita, falls desperately in love.
Zumirski also recognises his intended victim, and hires ruffians
'o dispatch her on the following night ; but the deed is pre-
Vented by the lucky appearance of Carolstein, who was the
Person supposed to be drowned after the attack of the Tartars.
l'he guilty deeds of the wicked Counsellor are brought to light
in due time, and the Prince makes the agreeable discovery that
the maid whom he loved as a peasant is the proper sharer of his
throne: - . •

We regret that we cannot give as favourable a
report of the dramatic part of the composition as
of the music. The drama itself, we under-
stand, chiefly consists of a remoulding of for-
mer pieces written by Sir L. SKEFFINGTON,
Mr. T. DIBDIN, and other play-wrights of
minor theatres. It is, however, our duty to
make a few observations upon the struc-
ture of the Opera and the conduct of the
'fable. We have little to urge against the proba-
bility of the plot, because it is supposed to take
place in days of yore, and in a country
Where the: influence of law had little opera-
tion against the will- of the Sovereign, and
when extraordinary adventures might be expected
to arise. It seems absurd in Zumirski to endea-
vour to place his daughter on the throne of
Sweden, since he could never acknowledge her
as his child, and consequently could derive no
honour from her race, nor was it to be supposed
that the really intended , Bride could be con-
cealed, and no inquiry take place respecting
her. The escape of a single individual among
those of ' her retinue who had been sacrificed
by the cruel order of the perfidious Zumirski,
Was not sufficient, as her countrymen in gene-
ial could not be indifferent 'to her fate. It seems
strange too that ,Zurnirski, who had attained
a high character, who had been the instructor of
his Prince, and had trained him to virtue, should
OD a sudden become a• wicked traitor. It is
strange also that he did not order the destruction
of the intended Bride, as well as of her retinue,
as the dead " tell no tales," and he might have
contrived to make .the Prince in love with his
daughter. The daughter, °menu, in the earlier
scenes of the play. appears to be very amiable,
and honourably opposes the flagitious designs of
her father, but at lase she becomes as wicked as
himself, and endeavours by. falsehood to promote
her elevation. Such changes of character, particu-
larly that of Oswena,are revolting to the feelings,
as well as grossly improbable. Zumirski is foolish
Os well as wicked, for', having secured the Prin-
cess in his Castle, he does not leave any body to
Ivatch and prevent her escape, and though
the mansion may be supposed to be filled
by his servants, yet she is released by a
peasant youth and his sister, the former of
whom easily opens the door of the Castle.—
how much might Zumirski lament that his
door had not a Brahmah lock. Well, when the
Princess is '.conveyed to a cottage, instead of being
forwarded to the Sovereign, which might have
been easily effected, as it afterwards appears
that the Cottager, Jemmy Crow, (a strange name
for a Swede) an old soldier, is well known to his
Prince. The poor Princess is treated with little
ceremony by the Cottager's wife, who having
asked -what she can do, and hearing of her various
accomplishments, inquires if she can " feed the
Pigs." To increase the absurdities of the piece,
when the. Princess comes before the Sovereign at
a village.gte, and is particularly noticed by him,
she does not reveal he.self, and relate her suffer-
ings. But indeed such a discovery would' at once
have brought about the catastrophe, which of course
vas to be prolonged by more absurdities. We
forgot to notice, that when she is released by the
two young Peasants, instead of hastening to a
place of security, they all 'three enter into con-
versation at the very entrance of the Castle, and
indulge themselves in a song before they depart.
But the whole of this Piece is such a mass of im-
probabilities, that Ave geed not animadvert far-
ther on the subject. We shall therefore turn
to the more agreeable part of our duty, to
state, that the Music, by Arr. Bocusa and Mr.
T. CooKE, is very creditable to the talents
of both. The overture,, by the former, was ho-
noured by an-encore, and the music altogether
was much applauded, and several of the airs
were'repeated. -It is somewhat strange, and ap-
parently invidious, that in the play bills which
announced that the music was composed by
Mr. BOCIISA. and Mr. T. COOKE, '(" with one
- exception") the name of the composer of the
bravura sung by BRAHAM at the beginning
Of the third act was not mentioned. Yet
.the song, was encored, and we are told was
Composed by Mr. ROOKE, who has shewn his
Musical skill as the tutor of Miss FORDE, and who
does so much credit to his instructions.—We
have only to refer to the Dramatis Pcrsonce, and
to add, that all the Performers, particularly
ZRAHAM, COOPER, Mrs., W. WEST and Mrs.
AUSTIN, acquitted themselves ably, and so

did a Mr. J. BARNES, in Jemmy Crow, which
he took at a short notice, vice Mr. GATTIE, for
whose indisposition an apology wasmade. Upon
the whole, notwithstanding all the faults which
we have noticed, when some of them are removed,-
and the piece is altogether greatly curtailed, the
music ought to prolong its representation,
for a mixed audience are by no means nicely
critical, and are generally well satisfied when
their eyes and ears are gratified. A pleasing
ballet was introduced, the music of which was
composed by Mr. BOCIISA, and was lively and
appropriate. This ballet was admirably per-
formed by Mr. and Mrs. NOBLE, Mr. and Mrs.
OSCAR BYRNE, and Miss TREE. The, Opera
was announced for Saturday with little opposition.

KING'S THEATRE.—The Manager of this re-
sort of Fashion and Beauty has been actively preparing for the
opening of his harmonic season. We understand, that during
the vacation the premises have been surveyed with a view to a
general repair : the foundation has been restored, the roof
strengthened, and, by judicious arrangements, the whole build-
ing secured from fire. An improvement also has been adopt-
ed for the prevention of those offensive vapours which have
hitherto profaned. the Lobbies. From the prospectus it
appears that Madame CAMPORESE, Madame RONZI, Ma-
demoiselle CARADOILI, Madame VESTRIS, Signors Cl:RIONI,
PLACCE, and DE BEGNIS, have been retained; and Signors
REINA and PORTO, and Mademoiselle C.t...karsi, added to the
company. There is also a Madame Bottoolinio, who, it is
said, has not been equalled in this country since the time of
GRASSINI. The Ballet will be sustained by Cot LIN, C.
VESTRIS, RONZI, VESTRIS, MERCANpOTTI, VARENNES,
FANNY BIAS, ALBERT, NOBLET, N. a. 141 Madame FAL-
COUR, Mademoiselle AURELLIA, and M. ARmAup DES
FOIGES, the celebrated pupil of VESTRIS. The Theatre is to
open with La elernenza de_Tito, which will speedily be fol-
lowed by ROSSINI'S Donna del Lago, of which the subject is
taken from the Lady of the Lake, by WALTER SCOTT.—
Three new Ballets are in preparation, the first of which, called
Alfred, is composed by AN3IER, and is of the most splendid
character. The subscription is expected to surpass those of the
last two years.

PRIVATE TUE ATII.IALS.-111 T. ABBOTT last
night invited a very large assemblage of his friends
to the representation of Bombastes Furioso, at
his house in Conduit-street. The earlier part of

the evening was devoted to cards in his drawing-
room, and Quadrilles in his large room be-
hind. The farce was delayed on account, of
the absence of Mr. ABBOTT of Covent-garden
Theatre, brother of the host. On his arrival
the Piece commenced, and was supported
with ludicrous humour liy Mr. YATES the Actor.
as King, the Minister by Mr. 'lltrausET, the
General by an Amateur, and Distajlina by Mr.
ABBOTT the Actor.—Mr. YATES gave a whim-
sical song, so did Mr. ABBOTT, and also the Aetna-'
teur, who sung very well, and so did Mr. DURU•••
SET, who also sung with his usual skill. The
whole concluded with a very elegant cold colla-
tion ; after which dancing was resumed, and
some Glees given by Mr. DURUSET, Mr. MINT
the Actor, Mr. YATES, and others.—The en-
tertainment altogether was so varied and agree-
able that the company remained till a very late
hour in the morning, highly gratified by the at-
tentive coursesy and liberal hospitality of their
host.