The Sun.
London, England, 1824-07-09 00:00:00

AFRICAN THEATRICALS.

The following letter has been addressed to
Mr. M I,TIIEWs, the Comedian, by Mr. HEwLETT,
the Chief Performer of the African Theatre,
New York : •
MY DEait MATHEws.....The old proverb, " out of sight out
of mind," although exemplified by you individually, is not, I
am happy to perceive, nationally; for though I have not been
honoured with a line from you since' you left our happy shores,
your pockets lined with golden eagles, and your face puckered
with smiles, yet I was rejoiced to perceive, by the Anti-radical
Papers, that you had not forgotten that there actually existed
such a small spot as the United States of America. From the
aforesaid Papers we have learnt that you had been treating
John Bull with a laugh at brother .Jonathan, by
.reciting your
travels in this country, doubless, with all that wit and gaiety,
that whim and humour, that genius and gusto, for which you
are so eminently distinguitNed. This is all fair. You have
made the welkin roar by your inimitable hits at John Bull on this
side the Atlantic; where is the justice in withholding a reciprocal
roar at us in good Old England? But, my dear Mathews, in your
new entertainment, I lament to say, you have given one cause of
complaint. You have, I perceive, by the programme of your
performance, ridiculed our Allican Theatre in Mercer-street,
and burlesque me with the rest of the Negro actors, as u
y
are pleased to call' us-mimic our 'styiett—imitated our dioa-
lect—laughed at our , anomalies—and lampooned, O shame !
our complexions. Was this well for a brother actor ? At your
earnest and pressing solicitation I performed several of my best
parts; was perfect to a letter ; and, although it war a hazardous
experiment, I even attempted your celebrated Mail Coach, which
met with your unqualified approbation. Imagine, therefore,
my grief, when receiving a package of Newspapers, franked, I
believe, by my friend Canning (who, by the bye, has made an
elegant speech about African Emancipation, &c.), in which we
are all unmercifully handled and mangled in your new enter-
tainment, called a Trip among the Yankees. I was particularly
chagrined at your sneers about the Negro Theatre. Why these
reflections on our colour, my dear Mathews, so unworthy your
genius and humanity, your justice and generosity ? Our im-
mortal Bard says (and he is our Bard us well as yours ; for we
are all descendants of the Plantagenets, the white and the red
rose)—our Bard, Shakspeare, makes Desdennota say,
" I saw Othello's visa ,re in his mind."
Now, when you was ridiculing the " chief black tragedian,"
and burlesquing the" real negro melody," was it my " mind,"
or my " visage," which should have made an impression upon
you ? Again, my dear Mathews, our favourite Bard makes
Othello, certainly an interesting character, speak thus :
" Haply, for I am black."
This is as much as to say, 'tis happy that I am black. here
then we see a General proud of his complexion. In our free
and happy country, custom and a meridian sun have made some
distinctions and classifications in the order of society relative to
complexions, " 'Tis true, 'tie pity, and pity 'tie, 'tie true ;"
but in England, where these anomalous distinctions are un-
known, nay, where international marriages and blending of
colours are sometimes seen, what warrant can you have for
lampooning our complexion ?
Let me not be considered as censuring your course of enter-
tainments. lam so much the servant of the public, as office-
holders would say, that I am even proud to be laughed et; and
certain I am that no man on earth can raise a laugh at others'
expellee equal to yourself. In short, you have my entire good
wishes; but, my dear Mathews, remember when you next
ridicule the " tincture of the skin," do not forget the texture
of the mind.
I am always most affectionately and respectfully yours,
Il ENV UM'?

Chief performer of the African Theatre, Mercer-street, which
will be opened one night only for my benefit; tailor and coa'
scourer, John-street.

THE WEST INDIAN.—It is erroneously stated
in a Morning Paper that this Comedy never was
represented at Covent-garden Theatre. The
fact is that it was brought forward at that Thep tre
in the season following that in which it first ap..
peered at Drury-lane. WoonwAan was the
Belcour, but though a superior actor to KING,
the latter made the first impression, and therefore
Woonwano resigned the part. It afterwards
first introduced that admirable actor, the late
Mr. Lewis, to the London audience in the part
of Belcour, at Covent-garden Theatre, and gave
an auspicious promise of the excellence which
rendered him in due time the chief comic actor of
his (lay.
MU. SINCLAIL—The sons of Handel, who rank
amongst the very first of our musical societies,
have judiciously availed themselves of the pre-
sence of Mr. SINCLAIR in this city, to pay a com-
pliment to his distinguished professional talents,
by inviting him to their annual dinner, at Morri-
son's, on Friday, the 9th inst. Testimonies of
this kind are honourable to both parties, to those
who give and him who receives, and so Mr.
BRAHAM felt last year, when he favoured the
society with his company at their anniversary
dinner.—(Dublin Freeman's Journal.)