The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-08-29 00:00:00

THE STATESMAN.

LYCEUM THEATRE.

Mr. FAWCETT'i benefit took place list night—
and it gave us much pleasure to observe, that a
very crowded and elegant audience teqilied, by

their precence tin this occasion, the high esteem in
which the abilities of this excellent actor are gene-
rally hod. The entertainments consisted of the

Opera of The King's Proxy, in which Mr. IteAw-
cert. sutqatoed the character of the Earl of Dcron—
and a now musical Afterpiece (the it!ea harrowed

from a very poptilar French Melo-drame), intitled
The and Vie ; or, Which is thc
Thief ?-IVe had heard mei of the meriti of the

new dram' ; but they greatly exceed even the most
favourab'e reports. The pirmary cause of the nits-
. fortunes which assail innrlle, ths; heroirte of the
piece, is a mischievous Magpie-1011P of that class of
birds whom Ornithologists describe strongly in-
' dined to thiiting. This bird is a great favourite
in the house of Me. and Mrs. Gerrard, where
;Innate is employed as a sersant—and, at dif-
ferent times, steals a silver fork and spoon. Gran-
the father of Anat., shorn distress ha.l
obliged to enter the army, having threatened, in
a moment of irritation, the life of his Command-
ing Officer. is forced to fly, and on the very day
when the Magpie has made his last booty, pays his
daughter a visit in disguise. To her he ietrusts a
silver fork nod spoon, the last remnant of his for-
tune, directiug her to sell them privately, and to
place the produce in a hollow tree at the entrance
of the tillage, from whetters, at nightfall, he would
remove it. This interview over, Annette. immedi-
ate'y disposes of the articles to nu itinerant
and is noxious to deposit the money in the spot
prescribed—when her itti-ireA discovers that a silver
spoon is missing front the properly entrusted to her
cure. An examination ensues, ill which every cir-
cuttistatice disclosed is disadvantageous to her.
• .1r;;; states that she sold to him a silver fork and
spoon, marked eith the cipher 6 which is merely
the cip'%er of her father, but is supposed
to he that of Grnyeed, .•Innette, whom the fear of
sacriti:ing the life of a p.reet, has induced to pro.
serve ua inviolable Set rosy, refuses to account for
her possession of articles apparently agreeing with
those which were lost. 11,r trial is precipitated by
the vile arts of the Justice of the village, an amor.
ous old villain, whose insolent approaches she has
treated with contempt. and she is found guilty.
And now the guaids are conveying her to the place
of execution, when the Ma;ine, ever on the alert for ,
plunder, is observed to snatch up a small gold cross,
which &ntie had given In her lover, Bla.to, and
which he, absorbed in grief, had careles•ly left ex-
posed to Miig's depredatory vi-it. The feathered
thief carries his sdoil to the belfry of a neighbouring
church. 'Thither he is pursued by B!ava, who, in
searching after the stole', crucifix, discovers the fork
and spoon which had disappeared so mysteriously.
The few now comes f •rward with the articles which
he had bought from Annette, but which he could not
produce originally, as he had sold them, almost im-
mediately after he bad made the peicliase. The
in-
nocence of Janette is thus completely established,
and the vile motives of the Jsstice are matte equally
apparent. Having failed to revenge himself by the
destruction of ilanclic, he orders her father into
custody, as a deserter ; but his malice is baffled by
the production of a free pardon, which the officers of
his regiment, by whom Granville is much beloved,
have obtained--and of which his faithful comrade,
Francois, is the joyful messenger.
There is much good acting in this little piece, but
Miss KELLY, as Annette, displayed powers of the
most inestimable description. She soared infinitely
above all her coadjutors in the scene. The interview
with the Justice, in which, by a singular effort of
presence of mite!, she saves the life of her father,
deserves no less an epithet than that of admirable.—
It was fraught with the strongest and the purest feel-
ing. The scene in which 'fondle is accused with
t p theft, was exqnisitely natural. Miss KELLY
described, with painful fidelity., the wretcheduess of
a being, Conscious of innocence, and yet prevented,
by an imperious duty, from rendering that inno-
cence manifest. Mr. KNIGHT played Blazo with
great ability. Whenever unsephisticated feeling is
to be expressed, the simple earnestness and blunt
honesty of his manner, are sure to produce the hap.
piest effect. A!,'. Gerrard is a character quite in
Mr. I: wcr.vv's Hue. Gerrard is a plain, unsuspi.
cious, honest 112 is rough, without rudeness
- -and feeling, without affectation. Mr. FAWCETT
did ample justioe to the character. Messrs. Niatt-
sit (i.tva end O.V.SERRY, as Granville, the
.f.7stice, and the Jcy, 1, quitted themselves extremely
well.

The music, composed and selected by Mr. 11.
Sl' r, is very pretty—the hymn, in the second act,
is peculiarly so. The piece was received with the
most enthusistic applause, and, beyond a doubt,
will have a very extraordinary run.

The following is the account of a well-fought ac-
tion between the English brig Pilot, of 18 guns,
commanded by t apt. NICHOLAS, and a large Fiend,
frigate :—" On the 17th of Julie, the Pilot, being
on a cruise in the Mediterranean, fell in with a fri-
gate under the tricoloured flag, and after a chase
which lasted from day-lighttill half-past two o'clock,
she succeeded in gaining a position on the enemy's
weather-how, within pistol-shot, when she com-
menced a warm fire. which was immediately returned.
The action lasted till half-past four, when the frigate,
taking advantage of the PiLes rigging being much
cat up, crowded all sail, and tied ! As soon as the
datniges could he repaired, the brig pursued her op.
ponent, and every exertion was made by her to re.
new the contest; but at day-light the following morn.
ing her gallant crew had the mortification to find
that the enemy had eluded them during the night.
The frigate mounted 20 IG•pouuder commodes, and
two long 19.-pounders on the main deck, and fonr
long guns on her quarter-deck, besides smaller ones
(swivels) on the bulwark and in her tops ; and it has
been learnt that she had a complement of 125 men,
of is horn, it is probable, a considerable number
were killed or wounded, the brig's fire being con-
stantly directed against her hull. The enemy firing
high, the Piles loss was only one an killed, and
15 wounded."

• NAVAL COUR7=3IARTIAL.

The Court-Marti d held at Portsmouth, on board
the Gladiator, on Capt. Prink (the next senior Offi-
cer, after the death of Capt. DOwnie) and the Offi-
cers under his commsnd, for the IOsS of the British
squadron on Lake Champlain, closed its proceedings
on Monday last. The hillowing is the decisitin of the
Court :

" The Court haring maturely weighed the evidence,
is of opinion that the capture of his Majesty's ship
Confiance, rind the remainder of the squadron by the
American squadrott, was principally caused by the
British scpiadron having been urged into battle pre-
vious to its brio;{ in a proper state to meet the enemy,
by the promised co-operation of the land forces not
being carried into effect, and by the pressiog letters
of their Commander in Coke., whereby it,. appears
that he had, on the 10th of Sinember, 1814, only
waited for the naval attack to storm the enemy's
works ; and the signal of the approach on the frit-
lowiog day havilig been made by the scaling o( the
guns, as settled between Capt. Downie and Major
Coore, and which promised 'co-operation, was com•
municited to the other Officers and crews of the
squadron before the commencement of the

" The Court, however, is of opinion that the at-
tack wropid have been attended with more effect, if a
part of the goo-boats had not withdrawn themselves
from the atli(.ll, and others of the vessels had not
been previmie.l by baffling winds from getting into
the stations assigned to them—that Carain Pring, of
tho /.intiet, and Lieut. Robertson, who succeeded to
the command of the Cot:fiance 4r ter the lamented
fate of Captain Do tail', Itoce conduct was marked
by the greatest and Lieut. Christopher 8011,
commanding the Mier, try, and Mr. Robertson, corn-
niandiog the Bercsforel. 4uip.boats, who appeared to
take their trials at thin Court-Nhrtial, condUctril
themselves with great zeal, brat eiv, and ability, dur-
ing the action- that 1.11.11 t. I%Wilt/1 Hicks, com-
manding the Finch, '.!so conducted Lin:-elf in the ac-
tion with becoming bravery --that the other surviving
Officers and ship,' crow, exceptio4 M‘ChiP,
of the fjhrib, whip has not appeared here to take his
tr ial, also conducted themselves with lira very ; and
that Captain Pring, Lieut. Robertson, Lieut. flicks,
L eut. C. Bell, and 'Mr. ./3111P% Robertson, and the
rest of the surviving Officers and ships' company, ex-
cept Lieut. Nl`Gloie, ought to be most honourably
acquitted, and they are hereby most honourably ac-
quitted accordingly.