The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-07 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

Last night Mr. Vandenhoff appeared as Cato in Addison's
celebrated Tragedy of that name, and to do him justice, fully
represented the calmness, dignity, stern stoicism, philosophic
pride, and self-immolating patriotism of the Noble Roman.
Perhaps there is not in the whole range of ancient and modern
Tragedy,a performance in which it is more difficult to award pro-
per merit to the actors, that Addison's Cato. The cause of this
will be found in the structure of this Tragedy, which is unnatural
throughout, and consequently the representation of it takes no
hold on the sympathies of an audience. Never were there so
many tragic incidents brought together for so little purpose.
We have love the most intense, revenge the most malignant,
filial piety the most ardent, and pariotism the most exalted ;
and yet so strangely has the author developed them in their influ-
ence on his characters, that when Marcia mistakes the dead body
of Sempronius for that of Juba, an inclination to laugh is the pre-
dominating feeling among the audience. The patriotism of
Cato—the virtue for which he is most admired—is altogether
a mistaken sentiment. There is no such thing as abstract
liberty; and even if there were, Cato knew it not. Love of
country is a vice, and not a virtue, if it include not the happi-
ness of children, household, friends, relatives, kindred, and fellow
inhabitants of the same village, city, or social community. Cato
cared for none of these—in the destroyer of the Roman Com-
monwealth he saw but Caesar, in the destruction of Roman
liberty he saw but the downfall of the Senate. He thought
less of the sufferings of Rome, than he did of his own self-con-
sistency, and the necessity of supporting to the last the un-
bending character for which he was distinguished. Cato died
not for the people, but for himself and the Senate—he immo-
lated himself to preserve untainted the dignity of his " order"
and the character of the Stoic. This is well exemplified in
the following words, which he • addresses to his daughter
Marcia as he is dying :

." Juba loves thee Marcia.
A senator of Rome, while Rome survived,
Would not have matched his daughter with a King;
But Caesar's arms have thrown down all distinction."
We have here the real sentiments of Cato, and they are
quite sufficient to give us a proper idea of what he un-
derstood by liberty and love of country. We do not
mean to infer that his limited knowledge of this noble
sentiment did not exceed that of the most distinguished
sages of the age in which he lived ; but we cannot close our
eyes to the fact, that the representation of such glimmerings of
intelligence produces an indifferent effect on those who fully
comprehend the principle in its widest and purest interpreta-
tion. Talk as we may about Spartan virtue and Roman li-
berty, we shall look in vain among the ancients for an act of
national greatness—for a proof of public love of freedom—
equal to Great Britain's greatness in the emancipation of her
Colonies. This is indeed a display of genuine love of liberty
of which Cato could not comprehend the magnitude.
But cold, and heavy, and unnatural as this tragedy really is,
Mr. Vandenhoff infused into it life, spirit, and energy, by the
almost unaided force of his powers as an actor. His bearing
was lofty throughout ; his language in the senate dignified and
impressive, and his action on the whole sufficiently graceful.
In his reply to the second speech of Lucius (Mr. Brindal) who
urges the necessity of making overtures of peace to acsar, be
gave the lines
" 'Twill never be too late
To sue for chains, and own a conqueror,"
with great effect. Indeed the whole of this scene was very
powerfully acted ; but his grandest effort was in that touching
part in the fourth act, when Porcius (Mr. King) enters ex-
claiming :
" Misfortune on misfortune ! grief on grief !
My brother Marcus--
CATo.—Hah ! what has he done ?

Has he forsook his post? Has he given way ?
Did he look tamely on and let 'em pass?"
His look here was sublime. We never witnessed anything
superior to the outstretching of his hands, his whole attitude,
and the triumph of the patriot over the father when, drawing
himself up, he says—

" I'm satisfied

Thanks to the Gods, my boy has done his duty !"
His manner of repeating the soliloquy is also deserving of
great praise. The only part which we thought defective was
where Cato, puzzled in the 'intricate mazes into which Plato
leads him, stops short, and says— • , .."
Here will I hold.—lf there's a Power, tke.."

Now here,inste;d oipansing, and suiting the action to the
word, by drawing himself up with the composed dignity of a
philosopher who has found a resting place in his own mind,
Mr. Vandenhoff stretched out his hand and bent forward as if
he was arguing the point with some wordy disputant whom he
wished to silence. With the exception of this, we found very
little to complain of in the whole of Mr. Vandenhofes per-
formance.
Mrs. Sloman acted the part of Marcia, and Miss Taylor
Lucia with considerable effect. The former lady' did not
please us much in the last scene, where Cato is brought in his
chair a few minutes before his death. Where were her knees
when Cato desired to lean his head on her bosom ? Or is it
of more importance to preserve the folds of a robe un-
ruffled, than to shock the moral feelings of an audience
by an act of cold indifference ? It was also a great error
to suffer Cato to fall without attempting to seize
him, and we think his death would be more dignified
were he to expire in the arms of his children. We cannot
help thinking that this part of the performance was greatly
misunderstood by the principal actors. We trust they will
look to it, and see that Cato die better, and that his children
manifest more filial piety. The other characters, with the ex-
ception of Mr. Younge, as Syphax, and Mr. King, as Por-
tius, were but indifferently supported. Of these, the part of
Syphax was by far the best sustained. When the curtain
fell, there was a call for Mr. Vandenhoff, but he did not come
forward. The tragedy was announced again for to-night amid
cheers which continued for some time. Although we do not
think that Cato will be called for more than a few nights, still
great praise is due, and much encouragement deserved, by Mr.
Bunn, for the great exertions which he is constantly making
to interest, amuse, and instruct the public by the representa-
tion of a succession of the finest pieces in the language.