Star.
London, England, 1827-06-05 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

Yesterday morning the ceremony of the distribution
of premiums adjudged by the Society of Arts, Manu-
factures, &c. took place at the King's Theatre, and
attracted an immense concourse of spectators. The task
of presenting the premiums was, as usual, performed by
Ms R iyal Highness the Duke of Sussex. The Royal
Duke, who, on enteting the Theatre, was greeted by
enthusiastic plaudits, addressed the assembled company,
and stated, that they had met to celebrate the seventy-
ifilt anniversary of the foundation of the Society.—
He trusted that the report which was about to be read
would satisfy them that the objects this year submit-
ted to examination were as interesting as ever, and
that the beneficial influence of the Society had suf-
fered no decline. The Secretary then read the report,
which, after detailing the origin, rise, and progress
of i)se Society, proceeded to point out seriatim the
object and construction of the various wades to which
prizes bad this 'year been awarded. The candidates,
in the order in which their performances came under
consideration, were called up to receive the premiums.
Among the honorary candidates C. C. WESTERN, Esq.
M.P. obtained a gold medal for his long Anglamerino
wool. The Duke of Sussex paid this Gentleman a
handsome compliment, on his approaching to receive
the medal; and Mr. WESTERN explained to his ROYAL
HIGHNESS the nature of his improvement in the article.
Oat of the most interesting of the models exhibited
was the very ingenious invention of Mr. PAINS, for
lighting the clocks of churches. Mr. PAINE explained
to the company the principle by which the ingenious
operation of displaying and extinguishing the light is
performed at any given hour. The clock of St. Giles's
church is at present illuminated on Mr. PAINE'S prin-
ciple. Mr. PAINE obtained for his performance a
silver medal. The medals having been awarded to
the ninety-eight candidates, his Royal Highness the
Duke of Sussex rose, and in the name of the Sa-
'citty returned thanks to the numrrous company
for the encouragement they had extended to the
Society by their presence. They were particularly
grateful to the Ladies, whose ample attendance on the
meat occasion had so beautifully graced the cere-
ront.T. H.: Royal Highness stated that the objects for
which premiums had been awarded would be open for
poblicinspection at the Society's Rooms, in the Adelpbi,
for tie next fortnight, and he was convinced that the
•
Inspection of these works would afford much pleasure
to those who should visit them. His Roved Highness
concluded by hoping that when they were assembled
text year on a similar occasion, they might meet with
ejects equally interesting and deserving their attention.
His Royal Highnew then retired, and the company
separated.

Stinday, was consecrated at Lambeth Palace, by his
Grace the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, Dr. JAMES,
Bishop of Calcutta.
Last night a Concert was given at Mr. PENN'S, in
Spring-gardens, for the benefit of Mrs. HAMMOND. The
entertainment was is the style of an elegant private
party. In the course of the night, M. HAMMOND
sang some pleasing airs, which were received with ap-
probation by the audience. Among the Ladies who
sang was Miss GRANX, who took a part with Miss Ar-
itlrssou in the duet Lasciaraii non to ascolto. This duet
was really well executed. Dancing followed the Concert,
and the company did not separate until a late hour.
INC THAMES TUNNEL—Yesterday, at low water,
the Messrs. Bausius and Mr. BRANUM descended in
the diving-bell, and found that the raft, which was er-
roneously stated to have been taken up had tilted con-
siderably from the aperture ever which it had been
placed. Several reasons are assigned for this circum-
Ranee, each of which, though perhaps not of itself the
tails', may, when combined with others, have led to
the result. Among these are a deficiency in the weight
the clay deposited on the raft, the action of the tide
lad current, and the swell and agitation of the water,
treated by the passing and repassing of the steam-boats
ntai that particular spot. The raft Mr. 13NUNEL ex-
Petted to be able to raise at high tide last night, and
"ell properly loaded, intends. Lwesing it a second
guard, however, against those dircumitances
!Inch have shifted it from its late position, he purposes
"charge it with a large quantity nE pig iron, and other
atatenals of a ponderous nature. Should she second
agar prove futile, he means to asps the eoffer-data or
gawniate, which must, be rays, lutail his 4)425'4

SONNET
TO MR. PEEL,
ON W OPOUTND AUD FULING DiFINCI OT 11l LAM

MARQUIS Or

Pan ! in this dismal and disastrouitide,
Britain on thee no wavering hope has hung;
Through aU her isles thy early fame has rung,
And all her Sons with one applause replied;
And why? because in thee they saw allied
Firmness, and Modesty from Merit sprang,
The Statesman's thought profound, and winning tongue,
And English honour, worth all gifts beside !
Friend of the Dead ! in this degenerate age.
When werldlings bow to power the supple knee,
The good, the ltrm, the manly, and the sage
Math found a fitting eulogize in thee ;
Let Malice now seek out another prey,
For Pau. protects the tomb of CAMERA/108 TORY.

LITERATURE.

BEN NAZIR, THIk SARACEN..

The extraordinary circumstances attending the re-
presentation of this Tragedy, have given to it a degree
of interest, seldom equalled in these undramatic days,
and to which the intrinsic merits of the piece by no
means entitle it. Mr. KEAN, it is well known, com-
pletely failed in his attempt to personify Ben Nazir, the
hero of the Play ; and in consequence of the imbecility
of the actor, or of the author, or perhaps owing to the
demerits of both, the curtain descended amidst loud
and general hisses. The failure of Mr. KEAN, illness
and domestic misfortunes basing impaired his memory
and powers of study, has induced the author, Mr.
GRATTAN, to publish his Tragedy, in justice to him-
self as a dramatist, and as the writer of the popular
tales entitled " High ways and By-ways." Such a
step was certainly called for. Ot several hundred
lines in the part of Ben Nazir, Mr. KZAN, we are told,
did not deliver fifty altogether, and but few of those
correctly. He wholly omitted the soliloquies, and in
many of the scenes, but more particularly in the last
Act (the most important of all) be made scarcely an
effort to speak a line of the text. The Tragedy, thus
miserably represented, required all the efforts of the
actor to render it successful. It is a respectable but
feeble performance, and like Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S
Don Carlos, will neither be severely censured, nor
warmly admired. The plot is founded on facts con-
nected with the history of France in the eighth cen-
tury. Eudes, Duke of Aquitaine, agrees to wed his
daughter Enverance to Bear Nazir, a Saracen Chief,
Governor of Catalonia. The Lady, however, is secretly
attached to Charles, afterwards surnamed Martel,
Sovereign of France, and her first introduction into the
Play is to express her joy at the return of her Royal
lover:—

Ob, reverend father, friend, and Counsellor,
Embrace tby daughter with thy lowliest fold !
0, lam wild with joy. My hero comes,
My godlike Charles in victory comes to me,
Forth flashing from his triumph-wreathed brow
Glory for all the world, and love for me.
Upon learning of this splendid attachment, Eats con-
sents that his daughter should forsake the Moorish Chief,
and ally herself to the French Monarch. Ben AUsir,
to avenge the insult, under a show of courtesy, invites
Eudes and Enserance to a banquet, and while they are
regaling in the tent, a band of Moorish soldiers, under
the command of Ben Nazir, attack the Castle of Endes,
vanquish his retainers, and succeed in planting the cres-
vent above the Christian flag. The faithless Saracen,
of course, detains Ender and his daughter in confine-
ment, but at length he agrees to set them free upon
condition that Enserance should become his wife—a
circumstance not less singular than the words in
which the unfortunate L;dy conveys her consent to
the proposal.
Ben Nosir.—Man—monster—l am yours ! Oh, Heavens!
In the succeeding Act, the original lover, (:harks, ap-
pears upon the stage, and at tempts,in disguise, to rescue
Enserance, but fails in the attempt. Wearied out at last
with fruitless anxiety, and affianced to the man she
hates, Enterance, in a moment of despair, takes poison.,
and expires in the arms ot her husband, Ben Nazir.—
The latter, diets, most gallantly and consistently, places
the lifeless body of his wife in the arms of his rival,
Charles, and, like another Othello, stabs himself and
dies on the spot.
Such is a brief outline of Mr. GRATTAteg Tragedy, a
tragedy which, we hesitate not to say, could nest, under
the most favourable circumstances, have proved success-
ful on the stage. As a dramatic poem, it will, in the closet,
be read with pleasure, for the general correctness of its
language, and the quiet beauty of its descriptive and
sentimental passages. But even, in perusal, the want
of passion and energy is severely felt; and we occa-
sionally meet with such instances of bad taste or affec:
cation as the words—" avoidless"—" halkusly"—con-
joined consent," &c. Describing the charms of Line-
rance, Ben Pamir says, eloquently, while gazing on her
picture—
How beautiful she looks! How innocent, too!
Yet how deceitful! Hold! did she deceive me?
She never loved me, but how I loved her!
The new-born buds of Spring, first gazed upon
In holy solitude, by N 's worshipper ;
The desert fount, soft bubbling through the sands
To the earth-whispering ear of the parched pilgoim ;
The broad air on th' enlarged captive's brow ;
His native fields to the returning exile—
All that the fancy frames of joy was nought
To her young brain of beauty breaking o'er me.
I gazed on—followed it—even as an infant
Followeth the taper's flame!
The following is, perhaps, the best passage in the
whole play :
Charles. Aloor, lam one who carries in his breast
Au inborn honour, his isheri:ance—
Borne down for ages by the tide of Time,
A sunbeam on its flood.
Ben Naair. Honour inherited
Boast of the base who have not in themselves
Wherewith to breed true honour. Say, do I,
By mine own glory lit, less brilliant shine
Than if a race of 'scutcheoned rogues and fools
Shot their dull gkams putrescent from the tomb,
To stain, not gild, my innate nobleness?
Charles As well might the scorched Ethitip fancy cold,
The shivering Laplander imagine beat,
Net further off their feelings from the fact,
Than his, who sprung from Nature's dregs would strut
In spurious pride—and ape nubility.
Ben Natir. From Nature's dregs ! 0, Nature, thus it is
Thy swull'n-up spawn blaspheme thy fertile womb,
Degrading thee to dignify themselves.
Whence springs the trunk of the majestic oak?
Whence sprouts the young branch ot the princely pine?
' From Nature's dregs, I answer thee, where thou
And thy far-sopgbt forgotten ancestry
Ala, seek your loots.
, Charles. Such soil the plant may nourish;
. But honour's stem rises from a nobler suurte.
And like some distant and wind-waited seed
Unnoticed fishing on earth's totrenness, •
Borst high and bright lions the I fren,ive mass—
As I above thee, Moor, and thy swan slaves.