The Sun.
London, England, 1824-05-20 00:00:00

BATII, MAY 17, 1824.

The new Tragedy of " The. Parricide," which
I mentioned in my last, was produced at our Theatre on Wed-
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doubtful. I will give you the substance of the plot, and make
a few remarks afterwards. The incidents are referred to an
early period of the Polish history, when Mislaw was its most
important Government, at which time continual attacks were
made upon the city by the Russians. Alfonso, the Parricide,
(Mr. BENNETT, of Covent-garden theatre), it appears is the
son of a Polish lady, ( Faulernaion ) who had been abducted by
a Russian Prince ( Riruski ), and he (...1/fintso) is reared among
the Poles in utter ignorance of his birth. He is bethrothed to
the Governor of Ilislaw's niece : This 'circumstance greatly
enrages Varanes, brother to the lady, who expresses himself
strongly on the subject to the Polish senate; in consequence of
this the senate treat him with contumely, and reject his services.
He then repairs to Rivoski, (the Russian Prince, and father of
Affonso), who is about to attack Mislaw, and offers to betray
the city into his hands. Rivoski knowing Alfonso to be his son
solicits an interview with him, and endeavours to withdraw his
allegiance front the Poles. Alfonso with great warmth refuses
to do so,, and the son, goaded on by the insults of the father,
draws hs sword to stab hint, when Rivoski discovers himself,
the son falls at his feet, and the curtain drops : This ends the
third act.

In the fourth act we find Alfonso returned to Mislaw, reviled
by the Poles as a traitor; iTfavilla joins in the outcry against
him, and he, overcome by this last circumstance, throws him-
self upon the ground in utter despair, exclaiming,
" Receive, Oh earth ! thy blighted son."
No sooner has he done so, however, than she becomes con-
vinced of his innocence, raises him up, and restores him to her
affections. Endermion kills herself; and Iraranes, whose
treachery has been discovered, also kills herself. Rivoski
attacks the city, and is in the act of carrying off Murillo,
(why, or for what purpose, does not appear), when Alfonsorushes forward and instantly stabs his father, without knowing
him to be so. The unfortunate parricide, when he discovers
that it is his father whom he has killed, becomes raving mad,
and fails dead upon the body. Mavilla then utters a piercing
shriek, and the curtain drops.
Of course there are other male characters, and other inci-
dents, to carry on the piece ;,but the above are the chief Natures
of the story : There is an army of about 6 Poles, and as many
Russians, to execute the war department.
The language and action are uniformly inflated,-,-there is
nothing to relieve the more tragic scenes,—and one murder, two
suicides, and one death from insanity, are really too much for
any tragedy to support upon its own shoulders ; besides, the
language at times,•borders upon the ridiculous. What, for
instance, (supposing it to have been spoken correctly), can be
made of the following ?
" lie's Alfonso) as guiltless as unsullied snow."
Now, who would for a moment suppose snow to be guilty of,
any offence? The author might as well, and with as much
propriety, have said, that lie was as guiltless as a hail-storm,
or a morning-dew. Supposing the word guiltless to have been
written pure, it then becomes a direct plagiarism. again,
when Alfonso is lamenting over the dead body of his father, he
is made to deliver the following nauseous idea :—he wished
that he (Alfonso) could open the issue of his blood, and pour
the gushing stream into his father, that he might be resuscitat-
ed ! I suppose the author had quite forgot that wind is neces-
sary to the animal existence of a human body; or, perhaps,
having written a tragedy, he thought he could restore the man
to life by the mere force of the aforesaid "gushing stream."
There is another fault Alfonso, having once discovered his
father, is made afterwards to come in and kill him, without
knowing him to be so. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the
author when he wrote this part of it, had in his mind the cele-
brated proverb, " it's a wise son that knows his own father :"
but really having once discovered him to Aljimso, such an in-
cident should not have occurred.
At the conclusion of the Play there was a loud contest, pro
and con, but I think the ayes had it.
Mr. GRAHAM, the aeronaut, intends to make an ascent
forfrtre
Bath in a new silk balloon, on the Bth of June next,
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