Star.
London, England, 1813-11-01 00:00:00

irefedt,
UIPTENNIAL.DW.IsioN OF TIME.

• •
'The semen first years of life, man's break of day, •
Gleams of short sense, a dawn of thought display; .
When fourteen springs have bloonid, his downy cheek,
His soft and bashful meaning learns to speak;
From twenty-one proud manhood takes his date;
• strength

Yet is not _ complete till twenty-eight :
Then to his five and thirtieth, life's gay fire
sparkles, bums bright, and flames in fierce desire;
At forty-two, his eyes grave wisdom went,
And the dark Future dints him o'er with are;
With forty-nine, behold Ws tolls increase,
And busy hopes and fears disturb his peas;
At fifty-six, cool reason reigns entire; •
Then life burns steady and with temperate fire;
Bet sixty-three unbends the body's *rob, •
Ere the unwearied mind has run her length •
And when from seventy Age surveys her lot,
•
Fulgu'd, she stop, and wishes'all wets pant
--‘rripettsake

DRURrzA NE TWEdaRE.

A new Comedy, sailed First Impressions, or Trade
. is the West, was performed at this Theatre on Satur-
day night, said to be written by a Mr. ROBINSON, be-
ing his first dramatic work.—Sir Thomas (MuNDSN)
is the old stale representative of a wealthy citizen,
living at the west end of the town, married to a se-
cond wife (Mrs. EDWIN), a lady of fashion, and per- !
petaially boasting of the antiquity and splendour of
her descent. These characters are just the same as
may be found in severalpretty good plays, and which
liaveabounded in modern ephemeral comedies. Sir
7honuu has a daughter by a former wife (Miss Kula')
whom his lady designs to bestow on one Mr. Sapling,
* kind of fashionable booby, and whose absurdities
are not marked with sufficient force or humour to
render him the source of amusement for which he is
intended. Be is a very aukward compound of the
fop, the fool, and the rogue. The lady's affections;
however, are towards Mr. Harcourt (Euasion), a
gentleman, poor, and in debt to her father—a senten-
tious patriot, making fine speeches on political purity.
His public virtue incurs the dikpleasure of a convivial
but corrupt uncle (Lovamtova), a courtier busied in
electioneering, and who appears as chairman of a
drinking club of electors, and afterwards disinherits
his nephew for his unbending patriotism. Harcourt
is but the son of Sir Pertinax Macsycophant, embel-
lished with a little more oratory. His chequered
fortunes in the pursuit of his love affairs—such as his
challenging Sapling to a duel, and his being arrested
in the held, at the suit of Sir 7 hontap—foriu the main
work of the play. The chief attempt to be comic is
in the introduction of an old Lady (Mrs. SPARKS)
and a scientific Gentleman (WeeNctt), called Pro-
fessor Tripleton : their time is occupied by a ridiculous
_excess
ot botanical and chemical studies and experi-
ments, relieved by the delights of a scientific convent!.
tioni. In some passage's these prevailing follies were
tolerably well'ridiculed ; but both the characters are
overloaded, and frequently exposed the_ play to immi-
nent danger. In those scenes a widow lady (Mrs.
GLoveit) appears, whose " first impressk.ns" had
been in favour of a Mr. Forsescue (ItitE).—'!'here is
yet another love-plot. An
.injured and interesting
girl (Miss Bow l+ hearing of the proposed nuptials
of SOding and Sir Thomas's daughter, comes up from
Scotland, where she had been sufficiently marr; ..l to
Sapling, and throwing het self on the care of_the lady,
reveals to her the. circumstance of his guilt, and her
own abandonment. Some mock marriage contract
-is made between Sapling and the other damsel, which
is subsequently done away, by the appearance of the
girl '(the Mary 7 hornberry of the piece), the assertion
of her marriage, and the very easy consent of Mr.
Sapling, to keep to his first bargain. Meanwhile
Harcourt recovers some property, Fortescue settles mat-
ters with the lady of his fg first impressions," and the
whole business terminates with the weddings t.f die
different couples after their own likings. This is a
sketch of what is prominent in the plot. The charac-'
ter;, though so numerous, display little or no novelty
of conception : they aim merely at representing a few
existing The incidents ar.! many, and frequent-
ly not devoid of management ; but they du not excite,
by their novelty, the bustle and surprise which are
the author's evident object. The greatest portion of
his labours consists in his dialogue. Merit of a Irani-
cular, but not of an exalted description, may be al-
lowed him ; bet in his continual efforts at antithesis,
his constant straining to say something brilliant or
witty, he ho crammethis dialogue with a multitude
of common-place allusions to every topic which the
passing folly of the town can furnish. Most of what is
meant for wit deserves excision. The audience treated
the play most mercifully till towards the latter end.
To the perfoniers the author owes the greatest
obligations. We never saw a piece better acted,—_
Mr. MUNDENPS rich comic humour rendered the City
jests of Sir Thomas 7 rapwell very amusing. Sir Toby
was excellentll represented by Mr. LOVEGROVE. The
xwo lovers, Harcourt and Fortescue, were sustained with
feeling and energy, by Messrs. Et t. is roN and RAS
the former played with peculiar spirit. The female
department was equally well supported. Mrs. Gut-
VER and Mrs. EnwiN, as the lively widow and the
proud woman of quality, played with extraordinary
animation. Miss Kuta.v's character is quite unwor-
thy of her abilities ; she, however, gave it a degree
ot importance, which, but for her exertions, it could
not have attained. JNlrs. SPAIW', by her excellent
performance of Lady Among, rendered 'a character
not only endurable, but entertaining, which, in ether
handsmust infallibly have created disagreeblefeelings.
The Epilogue, whlch was spoken by Mrs. EDWIN;
though often interrupted by the tumult that prevailed,
was very effective, and called forth loud and reiter-
atod bursts of-applause.

The House was crowded in every part. The play
was given out amidst a tumultuous contest between
its supporters and opponents.

Wednesday se'nnight, that truly benevolent and
amiable character, Mr. WEBB, left Lowestoft, where
he had remained about three weeks, and during
which time he was constantly employed in the relief
of distressed objects ; ancient widows and orphan
children were his peculiar care ; in short, wherever
poverty appeared, there this charitable man was found
administering comfort. •
A few nights since as Mr. JOHN Bowths was re-
turning home near Dulwich, he was stopped by a
single footpad, and robbed of his watch and cash.