The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-16 00:00:00

PLOT.

Gil Biz (Miss KELLY), having set out in quest of his for-
tune, falls in with the banditti, who take him to their subter-
ranean cavern, where he finds a fellow prisoner Donna Mencia
(Miss CAREW), with whom he succeeds in making his escape
to Valladolid. Here the part of the hero is assumed by Mr.
Pc..tramii-t' who flintily succeeds in obtaining the fair hand of
his beloved Donna Mencia. This concludes the third act, and an
interval of no less than twenty-seven years is suppcscd to have
elapsed between that and the fourth, when Gil Blas de Sc^:til-
lane, high-in office, is presented to us in the goodly person of
Mr. BAR TLEY. iss KELLY again makes her appearance
in the scene as the fair and youthful daughter Antonia, who is
beloved. by the Sovereign himself, Philip IV. His Majesty
assumes .s.:veral disguises, and proves the integrity of Gil Blqs,
upon whom temptation only serves to shed a brighter lustre ;
and after lamenting that it is not his fate to possess AntOnia. S
innocent heart, joins her hands with those of her lover
Gcston (Mr; BRoADHuRs7), and so concludes the piece.
The characters and incidents derived froM the
novel extend only to the end of the third act,
and e! the remaining part of the story is pro-
vided by the author of the Opera.--ihe first
difficulty on the part of the audience is to re-
concile the mind to the idea that the three per-
sons who represent • the . character of the Hero,
Blas, are actually but tine, and that the change
in the person is brought on only by time. This
is a difficulty, however,' which it is impos-
sible to surmount, but we acknowledge that
the author has
_managed the node's with some
ingenuity.; yet we cannot follow the hero with
that sympathy which would otherwise be strongly
excited by the progress in life of the same
individual. The part of Gil Bias at the
age of 17 is drawn with an interesting simplicity,
archness and feeling, and is most admirably re-
presented by - Miss KELLY. In the second
part, at the age of 25,' we think the author
does nut consistently support the character,
Gil Bias appears with more levity and less feel-
ing than we should have expected from a youth
so well disposed at the former period, since he
conceives that he has killed a man, yet treats the
matter with facetiousness and jocularity, though
he might naturally conclude that so melancholy
an event would appear in a very different light to
Donna Mencia, his amiable Mistress. or, cri-
tically speaking, does this levity of character, in
the middle period, prepare us for that high
sense of morality and honour, and that dignified
gravity and wisdom, which mark the concluding
stage of his life. Subject to. these objections
to the inherent structure of the main cha-
racter, the piece is recommended by a variety
of incidents, and a diversity of characters,
which will render it, no doubt, much more
interesting and entertaining, when the neces-
sary curtailments are adopted, as the piece,
in point of length, extends beyond any Opera
that we ever attended.—Some of the jokes are
trite, and ought to be omitted, and some were
not taken by the audience; such, for instance, as
when Gil Bias tells the landlord, who boasts of
having been in the army, that he supposes he
was a trumpeter, and the man, in revenge, deter-
mines to give him a blow. There is no great
metit in the joke,; ,bet..we mention it as a..proof
of the inaptitude of the audience.—There are,
however, several new and whimsical jokes, which
were well understood and applauded.—Upon
the whole, the author, in his robbers, his persons
of rank, his females, the transmutations of his
characters, and the variety of the scenery, has
produced a piece that, with proper abridgements,
is likely to become very popular and attractive.
The Proprietor of the Theatre has performed
his east liberally, in the scenery, decorations, &c.
&c. The music is chiefly composed by a Mr.
Moss. We never heard of his name before, but
as it is in general pleasing he will probably raise
it into notice. Two of the songs were composed
by Mr. F. Son, who being himself a Spaniard
and an admirable performer on the Spanish
guitar, has founded them upon the musical taste
of his country. Of the acting in general we cannot
speak too highly. Miss KELLY was really all that
could he desired in the early part of Gil Bias,
and finally in Antonia, the daughter of Gil Blas
r.t 52. Wnescu had ail his indefatigable spirit
and bustle in Picaro, ILKINson his quaint and
original simplicity in Ambrose, T. P. Coortu his
terrific sternness Rolando, nor should Mr. J.
KNIGHT he passed over, as he gave Domingo, the
old cavern negro, with characteristic truth, in
tone, dialect, and manner. The third period
of Gil Bias was sustained with all the pre-
cision, energy, end good sense which uni-
formly mark the acting of BARTLEY. Miss
CA RLW .sun!z; sweetly and acted with great
feeling in the part of Donna Mencia. Row-
noTLIANt, in his several assumptions, acquitted
himself judiciously. BROADHURST and Miss
POVEY also ably supported the piece by their
vocal exertions, but the first song of the latter
was by no weans suited to her style of sing-
ing. The piece is generally ascribed to Mr.
PEAKE,
.jun. a gentleman whose dramatic tal,
lents have been very successfuly exerted on
several occasions, and, to adopt a phrase of Dr.
jourssosz, when the opera has undergone an
" amplitude of truncation," we have no doubt of
its subsequent success. The Theatre was crowded,
and the general receptiOn upon the whole very
favourable, but the extreme length of the piece
excited languor, and some disapprobation in its
progress, which will doubtless be obviated when
the intended suppressions announced by Mr.
BARTLEY at the conclusion shall be fully effected.

Earl BATHURST arrived in town on Wednesday
from hi? seat at Cirencester, in Oloucestershire, and had an in-
terview with the Earl of LavEßPool. yesterday.
The French Ambassador, Baron FAGEL, the
Ambassador from the Netherlands, and most of the Foreign
Ambassadors and Ministers, have transacted business at the
Foreign Office within these few days since the lamented death
of the Marquis of LONDONDERRY.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER left town
for Blackheath on Wednesday evening.
Lord WILLIAA3 BENTINCK arrived in town yes-
terday trQna Brussels, where he left the Duke of Wxx.t.pzu-
Toat in good health,