The Sun.
London, England, 1822-06-19 00:00:00

FOR. THE SUN

MR. EDITOR-Presuming on the generally ad-
mitted principle that a Public Journal cannot be
more laudably occupied than in promulgating
any thing which may tend to the encouragement
of genius, or the defence and advancement of our
National Literature, I am induced ,to hope that
you will grant a place in your columns to the
following statement :

Having read, in a Morning Paper, a paragraph, stating that
a Three-act Tragedy, entitled Regulus, has been produced in
Paris with great success ; and conceiving it probable that a
translation from the same may shortly appear in this country, I
feel anxious to give publicity to the fact of a Five-act Tragedy,
on the same subject, having been written by me, and proffered
to the Manager of Covent Garden Theatre, upwards of five,
years ago; and also to make known the occurrences which
have caused it to remain thus long in manuscript. This Play,'
as soon as finished, was sent anonymOusly to Covent-Garden
Theatre, where it remained for several weeks, and 'whence, at
the close of the season, it was returned to me, with a letter from
Mr. Fawcett, desiring that I would " occasionally look of it,
with a view to alteration," during the recess, and present it
again the following season.
Having adopted such amendments as suggested themselves to
my mind, I introduced myself to 31r. Henry Harris and placed
the manuscript in his hands, receiving from him an assurance
that he would peruse it immediately. On my next visit to Mr.
Harris, he informed me that " it had been read, conjointly by
his father and himself ; that they had both been highly grati-
fied by the perusal of 'it, and that he had every wish to pro-
duce it, bat that a month must elapse before he could give me a
definitive answer, in which interim he wished the part designed
for Miss O'Neil to be strengthened." This was done : fur-
ther delays were proposed, and eventually the production of the
piece was declined. At this period I proposed publishing it,
but, was restrained from so doing by the advice of some friends
of refined taste and high literary attainments, who were very
unwilling that it should appear in print unacted, and in the lat-
ter part of the year 1819, when 31r. Macready performed the
character of Coriolanus, I submitted at to the perusal of that
Gentleman, whose impression, as to its merits, was thus ex.
pressed in a note addressed to me

, have read with deep attention and with very great
pleasure your Tragedy, and (as performers are but instruments
in others hands) if Mr. Harris shall receive it, my humble
powers shall be strained to ensure its 'triumph. Here is the
limit of my means, though not my wishes, of serving the Author
of Regulus," &c.
Mr. Harris, however, still retaining his former objection, I
had no further chance of success until that gentleman relin-
quished the management, when Mr. Charles Kemble (who had
previously read and approved of the Play), accepted it for re-
presentation, and it would have been submitted on the stage,
to the ordeal of public opinion, during the present season, had
it not been for the impediment which has deprived the world'
'of many a Dramatic effort; namely, the impossibility of ren-
dering the actors satisfied with the parts allotted to them.

Taking advantage of the engagement of Mr. Charles Kemble
at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, I have now offered the
Tragedy to the consideration of the proprietor of that Houie ;
and, in concluding this epistle, would merely observe, that (as
my Manuscript has been in the hands of several persons, be-
sides those whom I have mentioned; and, as the intercourse
between the Capitals of England and France has been, for a
considerable period, so incessant and familiar, the circum-
stance of a Play, founded on the same portion of history as
mine, being produced at Paris at this moment, is (to say the
least of it) a very remarkable coincidence.

I remain, Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
Kennington, June 12, 1822. JOSEPH LUNN.

ANECDOTE of TURKISH TREACHERY.

[From SiradDERT KER PORTER'S Account o f his Visit to
Babylon, in the year 1818.]
" The usual state ceremonies over, I set forth from the
Turkish camp, attended by a troop of its horsemen, supported
by a pretty strong party of Arab Cavaliers belonging to my
old friend Keill Mahmoud. Bassam; and on my way I became
acquainted with a transaction, at which my then untutored ex-
perience in Ottoman faith and honour, made me stand in
amaze. It seems that nothing but a system of petty warfare
had been going on between the Pacha of Bagdad's troops, on
the insurgent Arabs, since the Kiahya's (the Turkish General)
arrival on the banks of the Euphrates, the wary commander,
vigilantly watching within his tent some opportunity of seizing
an advantage over his enemy by surprise or stratagem ; and
an opening for the latter, in the form of negociation, presented
itself. Terms of honourable arrangement in the redress of
grievances" were held out to the refractory tribes; and the ve-
nerable Mahmoud Bassam, always anxious to keep peace be-
tween his restless brethren and his friend the Pacha, found
means to obtain an interview with some of the desert Chiefs,
when by persuasion, and pledging his own faith on that of the
Turkish Commander, he prevailed on the great leaders of the
tribes to consent to a conference with the Kiahya in his tent—
to assure them still more of their perfect safety in this signal
act of confidence, the Kiahya dispatched to them his sealed
attested oath taken on the Koran, that their persons should be
held sacredly inviolable, and that all existing differences be-
tween them and the Porte should be speedily settled io their
complete content. Thus pledged, twelve Chiefs attended by
six or eight servants each, arrived at the Turkish camp, and
were received with every mark of good will and respect. The
Kiahya unbending from his usual cold solemnity, met them
with animated professions of welcome and esteem. When the
time drew near to execute his deed of treachery, that he might
put his victims completely off their guard, and prevent inter-
position from the man who had innocently drawn them into
the snare, he proposed to the honest and/simple-minded Mah-
n- oad Bassam that he should go to the quarters of a certain
officer of rank, to inspect the kaalets (dresses of honour) pre-
pared there for the Chiefs, before they were presented to
his noble guests. No sooner had the good old Arab en-
tered the tent of the officer, than he found himself a tem-
porary prisoner. No kaalets were in sight ; and guess-
ing at once the treachery intended, frantic with rage at his own
faith in Ottoman honour having been perverted into a decoy for
his confiding brethren, he conceived no fears for himself, but
boldly, though unavailingly, demanded his liberty, that he
might fly to the rescue of those whom lie had unconsciously be-
trayed. Meanwhile he anticipated the scene that was acting
in the Kiahya's tent.
" The moment he was aware that Mahmoud Bassam had
passed beyond reach of hearing what was passing, and of com-
municating with his own Arabs, the treacherous host made a
signal, and in an instant the Chiefs were surrounded, seized,
and disarmed. Some were silent, in unutterable rage ;
others expostulated against the breach of faith ; but the only
answers given were abusive language, while not merely their
arms were taken away, but their native Military dresses and
rich ornaments were displaced for miserable garments and
chains. They were thence conveyed to Bagdad, and, under
every circumstance of insult and privation, thrown into prison
to await the final sentence of their fate. I have since heard'
that that coup de main of treachery has been distinguished with
particular 9probation by the Higher Powers. So much for
l'utkish :Faith :"