The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-11 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

A new piece in two acts was produced here last even-
ing with the title of The Carbonari. It is, like most of
our present dramatic novelties, from the French, but it is
scarcely so good as mcst of them, being deficient in that
great merit of the French playwrights, closeness and
neatness of construction, and effective incident and
situation. Dialogue predominates over action, a perilous
thing in most cases, but luckily in the present instance,
a large share of it falls to Mrs. Stirling, whose unaffected
and natural style of acting is always interesting. The
plot is a variation of the main idea of Don Cesar de
Bazan. A young nobleman, Frederic, Marquis de Pa-
larcini' is, with other young liberals, imprisoned in the
citadel at Parma, on suspicion of being Carbonari. Re-
becca (Mrs. Stirling), the daughter of a jew goldsmith
of the city, whom Frederic has in former days rescued from
the attacks of a fanatic mob, comes to the prison provided
with money to bribe the keeper to aid in the young
Marquis's escape, and by the interference of Gianina
(Miss E. Stanley), with whom the deputy jailer, Pepito
(Mr. Compton), is in love, she succeeds in conveying a
letter to hire' apprising him tbat means have been taken
to secure bis flight ; but he refuses to peril others for the
sake of a thing so worthless as his own life. The reso-
lution is no sooner taken than a report is brought that
the warrant for his execution has been signed, the Go-
vernment having resolved on making some severe
examples. -A young friend, Ascanio del Dongo, is a
fellow-prisoner with him, and supposes himself, errone-
ously, to be beloved by Rebecca. With only a few hours
to live, the Marquis thinks he may as well secure the
happiness of his friend by marrying Rebecca himself, and
leaving her a widow and a Marchioness with immense
wealth, and at liberty to wed Ascanio. Rebecca does not
know of his impending fate, and thinking that the resolution
of the Marquis proceeds from love for her, she consents, and
the marriage is solemnised with a celerity peculiar to
the weddings of French dramas. Now conies the em-
barrassment. By, a sudden rise of the populace the
despotic Ministry is upset, the Liberals placed in power,
and the Marquis, instead of being marched to the ram
parts and shot, is freed, escorted to the•palace, and
made Prime Minister! But what is he to do with a
wife who does not love him, and whom he has promised
to his friend? He applies for a decree of divorce,
but in the interview in which be intends to' com-
municate to her their separation, he discovers
that he is the beloved ; finds the Jewess looks
charmingly in her bridal dress, and finally keeps her him-
self, leaving his friend to console himself as best he may
under his disappointment. The comic bye-play of the
piece is carried on by Gianina and Pepito, in excellent
style; but the incident, as we said before, is meagre, and
there are none of those telling situations that so abound
in the stage career of that " humorous dare-devil," Don
Caesar, to whom the Marquis of this piece is next of kin,
without much family resemblance. But it is well put on
the stage, and well acted. The second act is by far the
best, and the admirable manner in which Mrs. Stirling
plays throughout the scene in which the Marquis gra-
dually discovers her affection for him, and her exertions
to save him during his peril, is most expressively na-
tural. The applause at the fall of the curtain was only
moderate, but Mrs. Stirling was called for, and received
the approbation of the audience.