The Sun.
London, England, 1822-05-13 00:00:00

. THE THEATRES.

D a URY•LANE.--T he Opera of Guy Man:tering
was repeated on Saturday at this '1 h t e
RAH ,as usual, was the= predominant.feature
in the piece, and sung with great effect.—The
After-piece was Catherine and Petruchio, both of
which characters were admirably supported by
Mrs. GLOVER and Mr. COOPER, and both re-
ceived the well.merited tribute of universal
applause.
COVENT-GARDEN.—OR Saturday last a new
play was brought forward at this Theatre, tinder
the title of The Law of Java. The characters
are as follow :--

Emperor of Java - - - Mr. ABBOTT.
Agib - - - - Mr. DURUSET.
Parbaya - - - - Mr. YOUNG.
Orzinga - - - - Mr. YATES.
Major Von Gidzen - - - Mr. FAWCETT.
Hans Gayvelt - - - Mr. JoxEs.
Pengoose - - - - - Mr. LISTON'.
Zaide - - - - Miss M. TREE.

. NOladee - - *- - Miss,STEPRENS.
Thefo owing is an outline of the Fable :
A gang of pirates make a descent upon the habitation of
Parbaya, an islander in the Indian seas, murder his child, and
carry off his beloved Zaide to the haarem of the Emperor of
Java, who purchases her as a slave. Her beauty captivates
his heart, and he ix, or course; a cruel and relentless lover. The
faithful Indian repels his advances, and her husband at last
discovers the place of her confinement, and in gaining the win-
dow of her apartment, is deteeted and conveyed before the Em-
peror. The punishment awarded to his offence is that of fetch-
ing the poison of the Upas from the tree. This, according to
the fable, was the manner in which the poison was obtained for
the arrows of the soldiers. Criminals were doomed to make
the attempt, and upon the state of the winds, and the degree
of pestilential vapour exhaled by the tree; depended their
safety. About one in twenty were said to return uninjured.A' corps of Dutch East India troopS are at this period in pos-
session of the island;. and the protectors of the Native Go-
vernment. They are, commanded by Major Van Glozen,
whose nephew, Flans Gayvelt, is entrusted with the custody
of Parhayti, previous to his journey, in quest of the poison-
tree. Zaide has been thrown into prison upon the disco-
very of her husband's attempt, but through the good of-
fices of her friend Nourjadee (another slave, in the haa-
rem), and the huManity of Hans Gayvelt, they obtain an
interview before his dreadful sentence is to' be carried
into effect. Previous to this, Parbaya has learnt that the
Emperor intends to administer the poison to Zaide if he pro-
cures it, unless she yields to his love. This determines him to
perish rather than to return from the tree. At the borders of
the country, which is desolated by the Upas, a priest, Orzinga,
is stationed to prepare criminals for their fatal journey. In
this man Parbaya discovers his father; and having heard that
the Emperor, has by a new decree condemned Zaide to death, in
the madness of despair he .etermi-....es to return to the palace
and protect .her with his last breath. Just at this moment,
however, a criminal, who had set out in search of the poison
the day before, appears with a cup of the poison in his hand,
and falls dead from the effects of his journey. Parhaya and
'Orzinga immediately return and arrive at the moment when
Zaide is going to the stake. Orzinga discovers a law in the
ancient books of the empire, by which, if the Emperor re-
fuses to comply with its provisions, lie loses his claim to the
throne. The law is, that any one returning with the poison of
the Upas shall receive any boon which he may demand. Of
course the request of Parbaya is the release of Zaide, and the
delivery of the two from their sufferings forms the" termination
of the play.

This Play is, we understand, the avowed pro-
duction► of Mr. COLMAN, but if the report of its
dramatic parentage had not preceded the repre-
sentation, its inherent spirit and interest would
sufficiently have indicated its origin. The public
have been. indebted to this author for some of the
most valuable productions of the Dramatic Muse,
which will always keep their ground. Besides
that superiority in point of original genius which
all his works, dramatic-or poetical, display, be
possesses such skill in the• construction of his
plots as enables him to diversify the characters
and incidents, to relieve the pathetic with the
ludicrous, and alternately to affect and to amuse
the audience. This skill lie has abundantly
shewn upon the present occasion, and the piece
altogether will not alone fully support his dra-
matic fame, but spew that, productive as his
Muse has been, she still possesses'all her
origi-
nal' fertility. fie has, indeed, afforded the
public a new source of interest and amuse-
ment, which must .have a proportionate influence
in giving increased attraction to the theatre
which has been so fortunate as to obtain so ex-
cellent a composition. We refer our Readers to
the Dramatis Personce for the merits of the seve-
ral performers, as we really have not space
enough to do justice to them or to the piece,
which affords_them all so admirable an opportu-
nity of exerting their •respective talents. We
must, however, particularly notice YOUNG, who
always renders himself conspicuous, and whose
character is exactly adapted ,to his powers.—
FAWCETT also is provided with a part well
suited to his talents. JONES and LISTON have
not been less attended to by the author, and
Miss STEPHENS
,and Bliss. TREE are under a
similar obligation, which' they fully return by the
merit of their performances. Miss TREE parti-
cularly distinguished herself,and even her merit as
a singer was excelled by the pathetic interest
of her acting.—The music does credit to the
taste a6d science of Mr. BISHOP, and the beauty
of the, scenery proves that the Proprietors of the
Theatre had a just confidence ,in the eventual
success of the play.—lt was announced by Mr.
YOUNG for repetition with the warmest acclama-
tions of a crowded audience,.

TILE BRITISH INSTITUTION.---This truly li-
beral institution, which not only gratifies the
public eye, but improves the public tastes by
presenting the works of the great Masters of
former times, was opened for a private view on
Saturday last. The present Exhibition pre-
sents some of the most valuable produc-
tions of the ITALIAN, SPANISH, FLEMISH,
and DUTCH ScHoor.s, belonging to his MA-
J ESTY, and many of the Nobility, Gentry,
&c., comprehending some of the very best works
of the respective Masters, and constituting, on
the whole, an admirable assemblage of graphic
excellence.

The Lords of the Council present at the meet-
ing on Saturday, at the Cock Pit, were the Lord President, the
Lord Chancellor, Lord Stowell, Sir John Nicholl, the Master
of the Rolls, Viscount Melville, &c.
Saturday morning, Mr. HASE, the Chief Cashier
of the Bank of England, gave notice at the Stock
Exchange, that all persons who had declared
their dissent to receive 4 per Cent. Stock. in lieu
of their Navy 5 per Cents. might, on giving the
Bank four days' notice, receive the amount of
their stock in money, together with interest at
the rate of 5 per Cent. per annum, from the sth
of January last to the day of payment.
At four o'clock, on Saturday afternoon, the
total amount of the subscriptions at the South Sea
House, in money and stock, was about 380,0001.
• The Lonn CHANCELLOR of Ireland has ap-
pointed Sir BENJAMIN BLOOMFIELD to be a Jus-
tice of the Peace for the County of Tipperary.

THE KING'S VISIT TO THE CONTINENT.—The
Moniteur of the 9th inst. contains the following
paragraph respecting his BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S
intended vi it to France
" According/ to particulars newly received respecting the
tour which the King of England intends making, it appears
that his Majesty's intention is to leave London in the last fort-
night of June, by whieh'time Parliament will have been pro-
rogued, and all the fievees and Presentations will be over. His
Majestrwill first go to Hanover, where he will remain till the
end of June. ' From thence he will -repair to Vienna, in con-
sequence of a promise given to the Emperor of Austria. Bril-
liant fetes will celebrate his residence in that capital. The
King will afterwards conte to 'Paris, where it is thought that
he will spend some time, and will inhabit the Palace of
Elyse Bourbon. His Maje.sty will embark at Dieppe to re-
turn to his Pavilion at Brighton. It was at first doubtful
whether this tour would:• take place, although announced by the
Journals but the improvement vhich the King's health has
derived from his excursion to Hanover has induced his Mini-
sters to press upon him the necessity of repeating that salutaxjr
experiment."

We understand the PITT CLUB Of Northum-
berland and Newcastle-uPon,Tyne have solicited LordSTE T
(his Lordship being a Member of the Club) to do them the
honour of presiding at the approaching annual festival, on the
213th inst. It may be feared, hoWever;that his Lordship's Par-
liamentary duties will prevent him from acceding to the wishes
of his Northern friends.

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