The Sun.
London, England, 1812-10-16 00:00:00

THEATRICAL .ADDRESSES

We again avail ourselves of an extract from
facetious -publication, consisting of ADDRESS.ES.
supposed to have been rejected by the Drury-lane
Committee. The following is assigned to Lord
11,‘'ItoN. It is a very ingenious imitation of his
Lordship'f; style in his last work, Childe Harold;
and we doubt not, that be has too strong a sense
of humour to-be offended With such an effusion of
pleasantry.

cur BONO

Sated with home., of wife, of children tired,
The restless.sOul is driven abroad to roam;
Sated abrOad,all•seen, yet.nought admir'd,
The restless soul is driven to ramble home ;
Sated with.hoth,,lteneath new Drury's dome
• , The fiend-Ennui awhile consents to pine,
•• There growls„hrid,curses; lilut a deadly Gnome,
Seornitig to view,fantastic Colombine„
Vie Win, with scorn and hate the nonsense of the Nine.
Ye reckless diipes, who hither wend your way,
To gliZe on dupes who meet an equal doom,
Pursuing "pastinsewglitt t.) betray,
Like falling stars in life's e•-crual gloom,
What seek ye. here' evanekent'bloorn ?
Woe's me ! the c‘.„t wreaths'she ever gave
Xre hut as flowers that decorate a tomb,
. Man's heart, the mourn-nil urn o'er which they wave,
Is sacred to despair, its pedestal the grave.
Has life sa little store of real woes,
That here ye wend to- caste fictitious grief?
- Or is it that from truth such anguish flows
Ye tour.. the drama for relief ?
Long shall ye find the pang,the respite brief,
.Or if one tolerable page appeas
In folly's voimne, 'tis the Actor's leaf,'
W'hh dries iris own by drawing,others' tears,
Arid raising present mirth, makeS glad his future years.
Albeit how like young Betty (loth he flee!
Light as the mote th,. t datinceth in the beam, •
He liveth only in man's present 'ee,
hash,lbis liftt;t hiS Menton. a dream, •
•
Oblivitnis down he drops iii'Lethe's stream :
Yet what are thPs- the learned and the great ?
Awhile.of longer wonderment the'theine !
Who shall presume to prophecy their date, •
Where nought is certain, save th' uncertainty of fate?
'Thistgoodly pile upheav'd by Wyatt'S toil,
Perchance than Holland's edifice More fleet,
Again red Lemnos' artisan may spoil;
The fire,ularm, and Midnight drum may beat,
And all be strewed }'smoking at your feet.
• Stattye ?, Perchance Death's angel may be sent
Ere from the flaming temple ye retreat,
And ye who flirt on revel idlesse bent
May find in Pleasure's fa-..T your grave and monument.
Your debts mount" high—ye plunge in deeper waste,
The plaint 4 calls—no warning voice ye hear;
The plaintiff sues—to public shews ye haste;
Time bailiff threats-7)T feel noidle fear;
Who can arrest your prodigal career? •
Who can keep down the levity of youth ?
What sound can startle age's stubborn ear ?
Who can redeem from wretchedness and ruth
Men true, to falSehood's voice, false to the voice of truth?
To thee, blest saint! who doff 'd thy skin to make
The Smithfield rabble leap from theirs
.with•jay,
We dedicate the pile—arise! awake !--
Knock down the muses, wit and sense destroy,
Clear our new Stage'from reason's dull alloy,
Charm bobbling age, and tickle capering youth
With cleaver, marrow-hone, and 'Tunbridge toy;
While, vibrating in unbelieving tooth,
Harps twang in Drury's walls, and make her boards a booth.
For what is Hamlet, but a hare in March ?
And chat is Brutus, hitt a croaking owi ?•
An,l what is Rolla ? Cupid steep'd in starch,
Orlando's helmet in Angustine, seowl. •
Shakerpear, how true thine adage, " fair ie.foulr
To him whose soul is with fruitimaraught,
The song of Braliamis an Irish bowl,
, .
Thinking is but an idle waste of thought,
• And nought is every thing, and every thing is nought.
Sons,Of Parnassus! whom I view above,
Not. laurel :crnWn'd, but clad in rusty black, •
Notspurring Pegasus through Tempe's grove, •
But pacing Grub-street on a jaded hack.
What reams of foolscap, while your' brains ye rack,
Ye mar, to make again ! for sure, ere long,
Condemned to tread the bards time-sanction'd track,
Ye all shall wailin poverty your wrong, •
And reproduce in rags the rags ye blot in song. .
So f,treS the bard who sings in fashion's train,
to starve, and only lives in death ;
We 5i,.7!,1- him tiff our patronage is vain,
Then round his skeleton wind morel wreath,
And his bones a balmy requiem breathe—
Oh ! with what tragic horror would he start
•,•" (Could he be conjur'd from the grave beneath)
To find the stage again -a,Thespian cart,
And elephants arid colts dciwn trample Shakespear's art.
'Hence, pedant Nature ! With thy Grecian rules,
Centaurs (not fabulous) those rules efface;
Back, sister muses, to your native schools ;
Here booted grooms usurp Apollo's place,
Hoofs shame the boards that Garrick used to grace ;
The play of limbs succeeds the play of wit; '
Man yields the drama to the Houynim race;
His prompter spurs, his licen:,er the bit,. . •
The stage a. four in hand, a jockey club the pit.
Is it for these ye rear this proud abode?
Is it for-these yotir superstition' seeks' '
-To build a temple, worth) of a god, •
To laud a monkey, or to worship leeks ?
Then be the stage, to recompense your freaks,
A Motley chit* jumbling age,and ranks, , •
Where Parich,-the lignum vitae Itoscius, squeaks,
And. Wisdom av,ieps„ and Folly plays his pranks, •
• And moody Madness laughs, and hugs the chain he clanks.

Tuesday sc'nnight, the 6th regiment of Foot
was minutely' inspected at the New Barracks,'
Cork, by Lieutenant-General. Lord FORBES, pre-
paratory to their embarkation for Spain.
. General HILL'S arrray is at Serena, moving on
to join the division of the Army under General
ALTER., at Toledo and Madrid.

,Sunday; about twelve o'clock, a very serious
alarm took place on board the Ganges prison ship
at plyinouth, wherein 730 French prisoners were
confined. Ono of themhad actually set fire. to the
ship and burned a great: hole in her-before it was
discovered. The incendiary was soon detected
and put in irons; he confessed his guilt, and de-
clared it was his intention' to destroy himself and
his companions, who were tired of confinement—
he was immediately :taken on' board the San
Ysidro. The prisoners all assisted in putting out
the fire; and it. was with difficulty they were re-
strained from tearing the offender in pieces.—Up-
wards of 2;000 French prisoners .have been sent
from the ships within these four days.