The Sun.
London, England, 1812-05-20 00:00:00

1011 7'Jll SUN,

tltt; tpITOR,
The reproof given to Sir FRANCIS Bukinvr, in
Vnur paper of the i 3;h instant, is as handsome as it
is jnst. What effect it may:have upon that Gentle-
man's mind, I know not ; but without going.the
whole length of the conclusion it leads to, surely
we may say, that it is for him to consider, whether
his habits of thinking and acting are not such as will
tend io indispose his mind more and more to a sym-
pathy with all the rational and weal-intentioned part
of mankind., The ultimate consequences of this,
his mind may not be prepared for :—I hope it is
not become callous to them. But it will be well
.for him to revise his opinions if the judgment
that should correa them is not already too far per-
verted to,perform that office. The "alrox animus"
that Horace ascribes to Cato, may with far greater
justice be applied to the modern demagogue, who
has no emsar to oppose, nor any dangers to combat
but what his condii& is much More likely to increase
or to create than prevent. The examples of past
times, and the general' opinions (the respectable
ones at least) of the present, are sufficient to ad-
monish him of this, if his, passions and self-conceit
have not raised him above all regard for truth.
'• _ I am„ Sir,
Your Itumble, Servant,
May 15, 1812: 'RURICOLA.

THE THEATRE.--.The Beggar's Opera last niht
introduced Mr. KENT, from the Dublin Theatre, in
the part of Macheath. He is of the middle size, is
a good-looking man, , and has a sufficient portion of
vocal power and musical knowledge to render bint
a suitable representative of the charatler. Her sup-
ported it altogether with manly case and spirit, and
seems by no means destitute of humour. He was
particularly, welt received arid encored in " How
happy could I be with either."- It is proper to ob-
lerve,,however, that in singing he seems to be tOo
much inclined to the fashionable style of flourishing
his airs—a style which is only suitable to, the best
voices. Miss BELLCHAMBERS was a very interesting
representative of Polly; both in the simplicity of her.
aging and the manner in--Which she gave the,airs.
She should not, however, so often throw out the
full power of her voice, as it appears,harsh, inicom-
parison with \the general delicacy of her tones.—
Mrs. WILLIAMS, an .acAress of provincial repute,
was the Lucy. She is a spirited actress, and wor-
thy of a station on the -London Poards, but she
seems too much disposed to curich the dialogue with
the efforts of her own fancy. ThiS' yraaice
was observable in. many repetitions, ,interje6tions,
and interpolation's,, which rendered, the chara6er
more violent than the author el,,:signed the'charatier
of Lucy to'be,. as a contrast to the gentle tenderricss
of Polly. Such liberties in the theatriCal commu-
nity ought not to be, tolerated'even in the ephemet al
productions 'of most living writers, hut are particu,-
larly reprehensible in the text of, GAY, who may be
considered es one of our Classical Authors. The
Theatre is much improved in Its appearance, and
we_ were glad to see a tolerably numerous au-
dience:

CoLEainGe.--This Gentlemen yesterday
connuenc.d a aeries of Lectures at W tems's Rooms,
on the subject of Poetry, and particularly of the
dramatic kind. The discourse of yesterday may be
chiefly considered as introluaory, though it con-
tained many ingenious and profound remarks, which
rendered it, in a great measure, a detached compo-
sition. Many of his poOion% though striking, and
probably just, were of so novel a cast t hat fhey were
rather more fit for contemplation in the closet, than
to afford matter for a report on.a cursory hearing in
a public assembly. Mr. C. very successfully illus-
trated the distinaion between a Poem, and Poetry
in its abstraa Meaning. The first lie described as a
composition merely calculated to excite pleasure and
represent nature', and the other as an appeal to the
internal 'powers of man, drawing forth a fill exer-
tion. of thbse, powers, and adding the workings of
the mind to the conceptions suggested by external
I nature. •He illustrated this distinaion by a reftr-
cence to DANTE, who seemed totconsider himself as
a follower of VIRGIL, as well as to TASSO, CA-
MORNS, and other modern Poets, all whom .appear-
ed to lia've some ancient model, in view, but who
had shewn excellencies of their.own creatio ),which
they had grafted on their imitations of some favou-
rite author of antiquity. On this point the Leanrer
displayed great ingenuity as well as profound re-,
flection, and an original cast of thought. He ad-
verted also to Sopnocita *and SHAKESPEARE,*.and
seemed to think that if the periods of their reTec-
tiv,e births had been changed, they would probably
have shewn a genius of the same nature, and with
the same direction. We shall nor, however, pre-
tend to follow Mr. COLERIDGR through a Lecture
which contained such novel, original, and recondite
-matter. It afforded evident 'pleasure, and of no
ordinary kind, to a numerous company; most of
whom were suitable auditors on such ran pc-
ca,ion. Among other characters of well-known
taste and talents present, we observed Sir
JAMES NPINTOSH, Sir GEORGE and Lady BEAU-
MONT, the Hon. AUGUSTUS PHIPPS and his Lady,
Mr. BARROW, of the Admiralty, Mr. SOTHEBY;
whose merit as a poet and a scholar are well known,
Mr. WORDS WORTH, an author of great and original
merit, and many other charaaers of acknowledged
judgment and talents.

The new Drury-Lane Theatre has a good oppor-
tunity of preparing a good wardrobe as well as'a
convenient edifice, by, observing that. of Covent-
Garden Theatre, which is by far the most splendid,
as, well as the most exa& in costume, that has ever
been seen in this country, and for which the public
are wholly indebted to the judgment and taste of
KFMBLE. Such a wardrobe corresponds, in charae-
ter with our great national amusement, and is no
more than what ought to be employedbringing
forward with suitable dignity the . works of. Die
greptest Dr:imitia Poets which ever adorned Lite-
rature, and tended to improire the morals of a
peOple.

Yesterday, an account was received in town of
the death orthe mother of Lady CASSILLtS ; in
consequence of which, a numerous pal 6/, invited
by her Ladyship for this day, •is put off, arid the
family are preprint; to leave town for Scotland,