The Sun.
London, England, 1815-04-24 00:00:00

THE THEATRES.

Dan VI • LANE.—The Tragedy which has been so
long expected, and has excited so mach interest
in the hit;her dries, was brOught forward on Sa-
turday last, under the title of Ina. The story,
though expanded to a tedious extent. may be dis-
patched in a very. brief abstract. The time of ac-
tion, was tinting the Saxon ['qui/Telly. Cenulph
King of Wetisex (Pak:), had been some time at
war with that of Mercia. .To reconcile the pat •
Edelfrida (Mrs. GLOVER), the daughter of
the latter, arrives at.the court of Wessex, fur the
purpose of marrying Egbert (KEAN), the son of
Cenulph. It appears, however, that Egbert hail
been secretly married some years to Ina, the
daughter of an Old friend of Cenulph, and to whom
the latter had been indebted for his life. Egbert
is• ordered to annul the inarriae, hut refuses,
and, as Ede/frida•is much attached to him, she, in
revenge, roues the resentment of her father, who
moves with a powerful army towards Wessex. In
this extremity, the general call of Ceuulph's army
for Egbert to assume the command, induces his
father:to confer it upon him. He defeats the
enemy. Dining his absence, .Baldred MAO, an
abbot, but who had been a soldier, and a pas-
. sionate but rejected admirer of Ina, burns with
revenge towards her and his happy rival Egbert,
incites the King to summon Inn to court, and
propose to her the alternative of annulling her
marriage, or being doomed to immediate death.
She prefers the latter fate. At length, after Eg-
bert has visited the retreat Where he had secreted
• hut, finding that she was absent, and•has left re-
liqueh which lie' conceives she never would have
parted wit's till her death, he, concludes that she
has fallen beneath the auger at his father, and is
going
ito destroy himself, when Ina rushes in, ac-
compatiied by her father, who gives his consent to
their marriage, and the piece of course ends
happily. -
It should be mentioned that Baldred had em-
ployed assassins • to way-lay and murder Egbert,
but that the latter, by his eloquence, brings them
to repentance, and Baldred, in an-attempt to stab
I him, is slain by his companion illwyn should

be said also, that Edelfrida, having visited Ina'S
retreat, and vainly urged her to give up ,er hus-
band, attempts to kill her, but tieing prevented,'
she also destroys herself.. _
Such is the outline of this Tragedy, from which
our readers will perceive that there is not h ng of
novelty in the fable or the characrets. The visit
of Edelfrida to Ina's retreat resetwdes that of
Roxuna to Statira, and Eleanor to Fair Rosanicind..
the conversion of the.ass-assins their dire-
ful purpose by the remonstrance's of Ebert, is ana-
logous 40 that of Cato- and the conspivators xeited
bySernpronius. Upon the whole there it nos.
thing of impressive interest, more thao of novelty,
in this drama, t).0,1 It if it had been brought for.:
ward in It t!lOve compact state, it might have ex-
perienced a nuire fat.O.:rabie ree;:ption. The sen-
timents were of the ordinary kvel, and the language
was not recounnentled by any peculiar strength,
beauty, or elegance.' 'The images .seemei to be
taken from " all the Birds of the air," and "
the Beasts of the'held ;" and ‘we were a little sur-
prised that they were not also derived from "all
the Fishes in the sea." But whatLis-more ob-
jectionable is, that these images were introduced
at periods when bursts of passion might be ex-
pected. ‘Ve sincerely regret, that it is not it) our
power, consistently with our sense of duty to the
Public, to give a more favourable repot t of ibis
play, as Mrs. WiLmoT, the acknowledged author,
is a Lady celebrated for talents and attainments
in the Fine Arts.
KEAY, who was intended to he the Hero of the
Piece, bad a eharacter which admitted of no _pro.
minent:effeets. Mrs. GLoVER, an exrellent
Ac-
tress, is never in her 'proper element when she
appears in tragedy She made, however, 'more
of her part than we expected. /rut is a character
of too touch tenderness for Mrs. BARTLEY,- who
appears to most advantage in the expression of
tempestuous feelings. The play, however, alto-
gether, was supported with zeal and
PorE acquitted himself very well in the aged Mo-
narch ; and, RAE was sufficiently dark and malig-
nant in Baldred.
The Play was tolerably well received during the
first three arts, but the attempt of the King to pray
before the altar seemed so irreverent a circum-
stance for public view that a great Opposition
arose, whirl) contititt,d with little interm'ssion
• till the dropning Of the curtain, DEAN attempted
to announce it for repetition, but could not be
heard. It has been since withdrawn for altera-
tion, at the desire of the Author.—The Managers
did -their part in producing sonic. striking, though
alwayS appropriate scenery. The house was
crowded with the fashionable world.
• The Prologue, .of .course, of a grave descrip-
tion, was recited by PowELL ; but, under a mis-
taken idea of preserving the sense, he sometimes
ran the lines into one another, so as wholly to
destroy the divine. 7',his is -a coMmon error on
the stage. The Epilogue, which does credit to
the playful Muse of ANACttEON MOMIE, and
which we have inserted, was spoken by Mrs.
BARTLEY.