Star.
London, England, 1821-02-24 00:00:00

• NCE.

IJolto to give his accusers liberty. An attempt on the part of
Looms° to obtain the silence and forgiveness of Arsinio is tut.
successful; but the entreaties of Elmira, in the following scene
rove more fortunate; she vows that she will not survive ber
hnsband,•asd her father at length relents. Loren= is brought
1 in, but the intelligence of his accoser's mercy comes too late.—
The wretched man.bas already drank poison—his wife sinks
broken-hearted—and Lorenzo dies beside her.
If this Piece had not great intrinsic merit to sustain
it, it was evident to all present that it could not have
succeeded at all ; for never was there less preparation
for attracting the public attention than on the produc-
tion of this Piece. We speak not of the acting, which
was both zealously and meritoriously performed ; but
the Author placed no confidence in the usual aids of
new scenery, dresses, and decorations; or still more,
of previous insinuations as to its merit—yet in this
age of Melo-dramatic shew and stage effect, he had
the felicity to triumph without them. From the
commencement to the catastrophe, the plot proceeds
with all the spirit of poetry, and all the interest of
real life ; it is like the progress of natural events
heightened by romantic circumstances, which elevate
the effect without impairing the probability. The
Dramatis Persona include two characters, which task
the highest qualities of the performer; those charac-
ters are Lorenzo and Elmira. The former, who was
instigated to become an accessary in murder, has his
bosom torn by the dread of shame, and the reproaches
of conscience; this compound principle, swaying all
his actions, sentiments, and expressions, renders the
performance a great effort of the art. The latter, 4 ,
tender, fond-hearted, and devoted being, whose deli-
cacy of mind and heroism of heart, are so acted upon
by her unguarded fortunes, as, without disturbing
the moral principle, to produce the most deplorable
confusion of feeling and distraction of purpose. We
know of no female character on the Stage in which
the gentler affections are put to the rack of such
complicated'endurance, as in the heart-broken fidelity
with which Rimini performs the duties of fondness
to a husband, and filial piety to a father. The deep
tragic impression which many of the incidents of this .
Play make, is not connected with any affectation of
Gothic rudeness, or with the prevalent horn rs of the
German school ; it is the result of classical taste, di-
recting a vigorous imagination, and producing pathos
and appalling terror, without shocking the senses by
any violent and vulgar expedients to excite astonish-
ment. We have already given our opinion of the
energetic and beautiful language with which the Play
abounds ; we shall take one or two passages at ran-
dom : - When Elmira says,
" Methought you spoke of death !"
Lorenzo makes the following admirable answer :
e Yes ! I was thinking
That all must die! Kings, Princes must obey
The freezing call !—Statesmen must one day stoop
To pay their court to the despotic tomb !
Lawyers must refund the fee of life!
I leroes, unarm'd, forgetting sieges, battles,
Must, far from glory and the sound of praise,
T.Ae their last station !—lnspit'd Orators
7.1u,t shpn the multitude, wive mind they made,
And cleave to silence and oblivion!—
The Player must desert his mimic scene,
T. die indeed ! And Poets, fond of hope,
With their line sense of life, must humble too! •
And, at the summons, quit Caddie's spring,
To plunge amid the gloom of Erebou !"
—Again : On being told that Elmira blessed him,
Lorenzo exclaims—
,.. Methinlu. I hear .
The sweetness of her disappointed voite
Call that vain blessing down ; but it is no time
For tenderness. Fling me thy brand, Despair,
The wretch's weapon, temper'd in the fires
Of madness; that, when justice dooms, and shame
Cries out against me, I may stand the shock,
Or die like an entangled 113 n, biting
The toil e'en with the gasp that ends my life!"
The interest of the story, in its gradual develope-
mint, made the same impression oa the audience last
night as on its first representation. It progressively
acquires influence over the finest emotions of the
heart, as the secret in the bosom of Lorenzo is dis- •
closed, and as the conflict in the pathetic situation of
Elmira agitates her frame. The catastrophe cannot
be foreseen, and yet it is natural as well as afflicting.
Elmira is struck with the hand of death, by the dying aik
confession of her husband that he is a murderer—and NI
he must be a cold observer of female tenderness, wlio
does not recognize the truth of such a shock to the
tortured frame of a feeling and affectionate wife. It
was again crowned with unanimous applause, and
announced for repetition on Wednesday next.
Coarestr-GaeneN.—A Drama was produced last
night at this Theatre, called lleuriette ; or, The Farm
0. Senange. It is, with very few ai.erations, the same
Piece that has met with such brilliant success, and
is now performing, at the other House. Both ate
translations from the French Drama of Therese, the
Orphan of Geneva. Henriette, the principal cha-
racter, was sustained by -Mrs. VINING, a Lady of
great provincial celebrity, who made her first appear-
ance on the occasion before a London audience.—
Her performance exhibited numerous passages ( f
great beauty and feeling, evincing talents that cannot
tail to render ber a decided and valuable atquisitioa
to the stage. lArand, the Advocate, was played b;
Mr. VA NDE:SHOFP, who appeared to great advantage.
—III.A NCIIA RD, CONNOR, Mrs. FnUCIT, and Mrs.
DAVENPORT, also contributed their aid to the success
of the Piece, which wa; without alloy.

TIIENEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.--The Third gurn-
her of the New Series, fOr March 1, will contain,
sides the usual varieties in ART, SCIENCE, LITERA-
TURE, the DRAMA, POLITICS, and COSIIISRCE—
I. The Friars of Dijon, a Tale, by T. Campbell. Paq.—Jl.
The Temple and its Inhabitants.—lll. On Dant:kn.—TV.
Readers and Writers.—V. The Bachelor's Thermometer..V
On Collecting.—V 11. Thoughts on 'Thinking.—Vll I. Christian: ,
with a new Messy of Apparldons.—lX. Troubadour Poetry.
X. Novels of the Author of Don Quixote--The 111u.trtrt s
Scullion.—X I. The Fall of the Leaf, by the late Mrs. Joh
Ilunten—Xll. Narrative of the Captivity of Alexander Scott,
among the wandering Arabi of the Great African Deism—
XIII. Germany, Past and Present—Xl V. On tke
taste for Isolated Columns as Public Monuments.—XV. 8 &-
ence of Political Economy.— IV I. Ccuses of the present S;
nadon of Uomniprce Vi. s vt Circ:4 .1.4441.4
1314 to 14-0,

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