The Sun.
London, England, 1802-11-01 00:00:00

W ' 'fl ' t tE,I tP r:

CO.-4,ent, Garje,t.

. , . • ,
Te E new Capu.dy tirotivht fi?rwara at this Thek-
tre,- -on Satnrday 11:it, for tbe firs:. time, undei the
Otte-of' Ddfivs and Eliinders, is the prodtittioii of
Ms. RieNNOLDS. , ..

DRAMATIS PERSON7E:
Henry Sapling, - - Mr. wis.
Sapling, „
Paul. Postpone, - - . - ltlr. Fxwcr
Lieutenant St. Orme, - .Mr. St Do° S
Sir Edward Dclanny, • - Mr. NI ua KA . -
Privilege - - Mrt•StsimoNs. •
Robert drange, - Mr. EM L R .
liOnOrra, - 41. JOHNSTON.
Mrs. St. Ormer,,
,Lourcita St. Ome, Mrs. H. Si ODON S.
Mrs. Sagling, 1- - •,".7• MA T Tocks. -
• The Scene of 461i0n lies ht Herefordshire. LietttenantSt.
0 rmeivas married manv‘years before the Opening of the Play
to 'the daughter of the late Sir Frederick Delaitny, contrary
to the wish of het father. Discarded be him, the Lady goes
with her husband to America, where liey live-some time in
comfort, but, owing to St. Ornie's ill-state of health, fall
into embarrassment and distress. Latiretta;
in order to support her parents goes ttpun,c4te. Stage, and -Mrs.
St. Orme, 'with. a hope of softening tier father returns to
England, but- finds him inflexible. He, however,, keeps her
in-his hOuse,•deceives her into a belief that her husband has
taken rni4tress, and induces St. 'Orme to believe that hi 4
wife is insane, to account for I)er not returning to
and to. prevent him from : following Mr. -(Me of the'
letters which St. Orme sent to Sir Frederick, written upon.
.a presumption that Itis wife Was detanged in mind, ear.:
n-estly• intreats hint to confine her. This passage, which is
the elfed of -connubial solicitude, is etuelly misconstrued by
Sir Frederick,. who induces Mrs. St. Orme to, consider it as
the result of treacherous and barbarous infidelity on the part
hcrihttsband. At length, St. t)rme, anxious to behold
" firs KtO, returns to England. and "demaritls.a sight, of her
fcorrr her father, who refuses to let her husband see her, or
know Where•she is confined. St. Orme-in. agony pres:nts a
pistol, and demands satisfaction. In the struggle that ensu-
ed the pistol went oil, and lodged its contents in Sir Frede-
. rick, who dies soon after. The on;), person present,. on this
melancholy occasion, is Latiretta. St. Orme is taken up and
imprisoned, ancliat the opening of the Play, lie is about to be-
tried for the murder of his father-in-law.. Lauretta retires
into a place of obscurity, in order-to avoid the horrid neces-
say
ivt,giving evidence against her father. The _rrosecution
is carried on' by Sir' Edward •'Delauny, the Nephew of Sir
Frederick, who has left him all his, fortune on the death of
Mrs. Orme. Sir• Edward has placed Mts. ()rine tinder the
care of Farmer Nightshade, a despicable 'minion of his put;
poses, and she is closely confined ill his house. Henry Sap-
ling, a spirited and • amiable Officer in- -the Witish Naky,_ is
the particular friend of St. Orme, and as the haunt of-I..itt-
retta had been discovered by the perseverance and vigilance.
of Sir Edward's agents ; Henry procures her a male. disguise,
and recommends ler as a servant to Nightshade. A t the
command of Nightshade,, Lauretta sings a inelatitholy
expressive of the unhappy state of her fortune. The sound
,eaehes the ear of hiss. st,...artt3r,. whose exelannitions in
consequence engage the attention of her daughter, anci lie
latter suddenly takes Off the-chitin frOm the doot and releases
, her. A tender interview ensues, ..but the Farmer opposes
their departur front .his ;louse. 'Henry Sapling again fortu-
nately appears, and takes them away under his protet.tion.
St. Orme is brought to trial;'but, for want of a .Witness
• against him is acquitted. HO instantly. hastens to Sir• Ed-
wards to demand his wife. The latter rejects his intreaties.
Mrs. St. Orme is,-indeed, averse to-see her husband, being pre-
possessed against him by the false charges of het late father.
Lauretta, in' order to raise coinptinEtion ha the mind of Sir
Edward, has a painting of a vestal Virgin buried' alive, il-
luininated, as it bears some tcseinblatice to the state to whicri
he had doomed her mother.' Sir Edward,- with much agita-
tion, but at length with hardened impenitence, resists the
appeal of the picture; and at last Mrs. Sr. Orme rushes into
the room, and Sir Edward then gives way to feelings of con-
trition, resolves to surrender- all the hereditary 'property-to
her, and relieves the .feelings of St. Orme, by assuring him,
that Sir Frederick died a natural death.

Such -is the melancholy part of this -play. There- is ano-
ther plot relative to Mr. and Mrs. Sapling. Thelon-net-had
been a simple Country. Squire, but is flaisked, as lie terms it,
into a fashionable Gentleman; by his wife,- who encourages
the visits of Mr. Privilege, a man who lives by'What.wits he
possesses, and by the aid of 'a few trifling bur jashionatte ta-
lents, is able to procure a :fithionable subsistence. The'wite-
intends to let Privilege marry her husband's' ward, .1-lonoria.,
and. Sapling assents to this disposal of her hind. Honoria,
however, is attached to the generous Henry Sapling, ,the
*Nephew of her' Guardian. Henry,,is ako .very much.'at-
tached to her, but is connected with a pretended woman of
quality, Lady Sensitive, • who is in fact a rapacious 'vvritnan
of the town. The Audience only' hear of Lady Sensitive, as
they only heal. of Mrs. Grundy, in Speed the 'Plough. But
the great Agent of the Piece, by whose Delayr and Blunders
Most of the events are promoted and retarded, is Postpone,
an Attorney, a man who is supposed to be divided between
business and pleasure, and Who, ,by the slightest call of the
-latter, is induced to negled the most important concerns.
After a multiplicity of ludicrous incidents, which we will
not venture to describe, Privilege is defeated in his attempt's
to obtain Honoria by artifice, Henry's Mistress, Lady Sens!,
tive, who, he thought, was dying with grief on account of
his absence, goes off with an Irish Officer, and Henry. and
Honoria, with the Consent of her Guardian, are to have all
their virtues rewarded in marriage.

An attempt to try Mi.. REYNOLDS'S produCtiqns
by the ruler of dramatic corriosition, would be ah_
surd,
.as he has never attended to those rules, and
holds them in defiance. They Who go to his Plays
must prepare themselves for diverting extravagance.
He has, in his late pieces indeed, interwoven a Pathe-
tic Story, in the manner 'of the German School.. The
Comedy before us: is a medley of the mournful and
the ludicrous. It is, in fatq, a -melancholy Arc,7;el,
blended with a 'whimsical Farce andif we can ad-
mit that such an odd compound is fit for the. Stage,:
it must be acknowledged that' he has mingled them
'together with dna. His melanCholy scenes in.
terest the affeCtions, and 'those of the sportive kind
• exercise the riSible muscles. After all, he' may
irertaiW be.(Vended upon the Sime. principle upon
which.Dr: JthiN.sorr defends SH4KESPEARE, if we
maylaPply fhe'paSste,e to writers so widely different,
without a-. profanation of .Criticism. Theworld
presents- " a chaos 'of mingled purposes andscasual-
tiesi" in which, 'as the great Critic says, " at the
:same time, the. ReVeller is !lasting to his wine, and
the Mourner burying his 'Friend, in which the ma-
•lignity of one `is sometimes defeated by the. frolic of
another ; and Many mischiefs and many benefits are
done and hindered, without design." If this he a
true representation of life, it
,may' surely be exhi-
bited in the Drama, which professes to be. the
mirror ..of life. ---Whether; R Whether, however, Mr. :Y-
NOl.Di does not 'hold forth Caricatures rather than
real Portraits, a• fair question,; but as a faithful..
delineation of Characier might be' too tame in its ef.
feti, the Dramatist, in the present state 'of things,
is obliged, in some degree, to resort to e)taggesk.
ration and burlesque.—The idea of bringinga mar'
to trial, for.the murder of his fatherLin'-law, and.
the confinement of a- Lady, on a charge of insanity,
are certainly matters of too serions and melancholy.
a kind, for the comic Drama, and nothing but the
success of the Gernian. SehOnl could have induced
Mr..R.E.YNoLos to shut his eyes agairtst propriety
so mell as to Make them the subject of a Comedy.,
We do not conceive that an audience have nothing
to do btit to laugh,
.wht.ii they are invited to, a
Comedy ; to impress•good morals,
_alai to inculcate
amiable sentiments,-may properly be the busineSs of
Comedy ; but if suit meiancltoly circumstance'; as
we allude to, are rendered familiar to the comic
Drama, the proper distinCtions of the DraMa will,
in time, be 'wholly- subverted and effaced: -Upon