The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-23 00:00:00

THE TITEATRE.

LYCEUM.

A Musical Drama, written by Mr. LEwts,.
d'entleman well known in the literary was
last night represented at this Theatre, under the
title of Rich•alid Poor.

CHAIRACTERS
Lod Listless Mr. OXBERRY.
Modish ,. . Mr. l'vsr. • ,
niters ' Mr.-FAwcErr.
1 Walsingham ' Mr. PENSON.
Beauchamp ' Mr. Houri.
Frank Mr. KNIGIIT.
Squeez'em - Mr. l'E,
LEY:
Friponeau Mr. WuwiTtEß. •
'. Sparkle Mr. nsuEn..
Lady. Clara Modish Mr-;.011-GER.
Mrs. Ormond Miss GRIGLIETTI.
Mi,is Chattel-al! Mrs. HAuf.owE
Zorayda • Miss KELLY..
Mrs. Secret
' Mrs. BitAND.
The scene lies in the Metropolis. - ' • , .
. ,
FABLE. . .

Mr. Rivers, having impaired his fortune in his youth
by a round of extravagance, seeks to repair it in
India, where, under the assumed name of Moth-
mer, lie amasses an immense prOperty. The piece
commences at the period of his return to his na-
tive country, with the intention of enriching his
relatives with the fruits of his industry—his only
daughter, Zorayda, having eloped from him -with
Colonel Beauchamp.,- who had 'gained admittance
into his house', under the assumed name of Dori-
mont.—Beauchamp, who, some time before he be-
came- acquainted with Zorayda; 'had separated
from' hiS wife, a woman whose dreadful temper
hadi for three years; made his hateful, on his
arrival ii‘London with the fair runaway, oaces
her under the protection of Lady Clara Modish, an
affected, dissipatedwoinan of quality, who is mar-
ried to a relation of Mr. Rivers.---Rlvers,_ before
he disposes of his property, is determined to dis-
cover the -real character of:his relatives ; for thiS
purpose he calls on Mr. Modish, and, having
feigned extreme distress, requests. pecuniary
as-
sistar!ce, is treated with contempt. Ile next
applies to MrS.' Ormond, the sister of Modish,wbo,
though in extreme want .herself, stretches forth
the hand of charity to him. • He-re Wards her no-
ble-minded conduct by rendering her immediately
independent. 'Charmed With the benevolence of
his disposition, Mrs. Ormond, who is acquainted
with the story of Beauchamp and Zorayda, the
latter of whom has been introduced to her as Miss
Mandeville, employs her new-found relation -to
wait on the young lady at Mr. Modish's, to pro-
pose a, Union between her and Beauchamp, provid-
ed the report of his wife's death be well-found&l ;
hut, on the other hand; if that should not be the
truth, to advise her immediate return to her friends
in India. By mistake, Rivers encounters Miss
Chatterall, a wholesale vender of scandal, whom
he conceives to be the supposed Miss Mandeville,
and imparts to her his commission—the equivoque
consequent on this blunder, forms one of the
most laughable scenes in the Opera. Just as Ri-
vers is on the point of quitting the room, Beau-
champ, the destroyer of his peace, enters. •He
itfi-
mediately concludes 'that his daughter has been,
utterly tdeserted, for the purpose of fOrming a
connection with Miss Mandeville, and he detert
mines to challenge' Beauchamp. The latter, how-
ever, having rescued Mrs. Ormond front the vio-
lence of- Lord Listless, is, in revenge, quested at
the suit of his Lordship. Rivers, who has heard
from Mrs.-Ormond, that his character is austained
by any crime, except the seduction of Zorayda;
procures his release by paying the debt, still fully
determined to make him answer for his abandon
ed crfrinct. While he is intent on revenge, his
daughter, veiled, is introduced to him, by Mrs.
Ormond, as the Miss Mandeville,. whom he Was
commissioned 'to negiaciate with in the' morning.
He proceeds to paint the dreadful feelings to
which her father mns.tbe a prey, and implores her
to return to him before his hatred becomes rooted.
Suddenly .she discovers herself, and, overcame by
her tears and . intreaties, he pardons here. Beau-
champ; who has received certain intelligence of
the death of his wife, makes the antende hOnourable„,
by.giving his hand to Zorayda, and a general re-
conciliation takes place.

_ We have given an -acconnt-of the fable of this
piece, though it was by HO means unknown-to us,,
and is probably in the recollection of many of our
Readers. The play was-brought forward some
years ago at Drury-lane ,Theatre, for the benefit
of Mrs. Jortnar, and-was then `entitled The East
Indian, and though it wasl we.helieve, represented
again; yet it ,appears with_an air. Of novelty, hav-
ing been so little known to, the Public in general.
Our Readers will perceive, from the foregoing
sketch of the fable, that it bears, in some respects;
strong resemblance to The School for Scandal,
.particularly in the return of a wealthy Gentleman
from the East Indies, ivho assumes the. mask of
poverty in order to ascertain the true character of
his relations. But the plot altogether differs so much
from the admirable Comedy which we have men-
tioned, and there are also so many characters of a
different nature, that it would be severe indeed to
charge Mr. LEWIS with plagiarism. The Opera
is altogether very interesting, and many parts of
it are highly entertaining. There is much inge-
nious equivoqUe, the sentiments ,in general are
striking and impressive, and the.dietion is neat,
-spirited, and often elegant. There are some sen-
timents expressed in a very pointed manner,
though they cannot be considered ak— new, and
some strokes of humour .well-conceived, and
tersely expressed. In one respect the piece is
certainly liable to objection in, point Of morals,
for the violation of chastity, in the elopement of
a young lady with a marriftd man, is not stigma-
tised sufficiently, nor are, the parties 15rought to,
such severe sufferings as,' in point of poetical
justice, ought to be the result of such
,conduct.—,-
It is also to be observed, that instead. of the. bit-
ter remorse which ought to arise from such an ac-
tion, the parties console themselves with the hope
that the wife will die, and that' then, according to
the notion of Lucy, in The Beggar's Opera, the
mistress will be made " an 'tallest wonza-n."—
Such, indeed,. is the catastrophe of,this Opera,
and therefore the guilty parties at length are re-
warded for their mistonduct. It will boeasy, we
conceive, for the author to soften this objection,
by rendering, the parties more unhappy from self-
reproach, and the agonies of conirition. On the
other hand, it may be said that this misconduct

'excites so much uneasiness in the relatiAs of the
offending parties, that minds inclined to Virtue
may be induced to adhere to her precepts in order
tip prevent those who. are dear to them from suffer-
ing by their errors. - - But here- again it may be
said, that in cases like thti present, the innocent
suffer as well as the guilty. However, the play,
as We have said, has a strong interest, and -it is
relieved by passages of a very diverting nature.---
The acting was altogether such as, to render full
justice to the piece, and make it come home to
-the feelings of the audience. If we had not
witnessed the great ,merit of FAWCETT in Job
Thornbetry, we should have been more surprised
at the excellent manner in which he performed the
Father last night ; it was a truly affective repre-
sentation of parental tenderness, indignation, and
.manly spirit.' - Miss KELLY, in the daughter, dis-
played correspondent merit, and will doubtless
considerably raise her reputation as an actress.—
OXBERRY, KNIGHT, Mrs. URGER, MrS. HARLOWE,
Mrs. BLAND, and Miss GRIGLIETTI, for whom,
however, an apology-was made by Mr. RAYMOND,
on account of a cold Which she was suffering,
•and HonN and PYNE, alSo deserve praise for their
vocal-exertions. The Music, partly selected and
partly composed by HORN.,.. is througout very
,plea Sing. The piece experienced the warmest ap-
probation, and is likely to become very- popular.