English Opera-House.
The Times, 1824-03-26T00:00:00

That veky extraordinary exhibitor, Mlr. Mlathews, made his first appearance for the season at this theatre last night; and the attrac- tion of his Trip to Arerica crammed the ho se, at an early hour, in everv quarter. The entertaminent consists, as was anticipated, and indeed announced, of sketches of American life and arrange- ments, collected, or supposed to be collected, by the actor in his theatrical tour. Itis not so well writtenas the best of his present- .ments have been, but there is novelty in the subject, and the per- formaxce is of the highest description. WVe (that is, the audience) start with Mfr. Mathews direct from London; the rest of the tra- vellisgconlpanions jom on the other side the Atlantic. Among these are MIr. Jack Topamm, a young Englishman, who is to make tihe puns, and Mr. Btmy, his middlC-sged cousin, who is to laugh at them. Mr.Pertizngtou!, whois to do "therespectable"(American) and Mlr. Ravenzstop, who is to be chief " bore;" besides a variety of evaneccent chtracters, incidental to the action-innkeepers, colo. nels, negroes, judges, and postilions-who serve to illustrate the bu- siness of the scene, and drop in and out of memory, as we pass from one locality to another. The inmkeepers of course are among the very first " lions" looked after by the people; but they are the most striking features in Mr. Mathews's entertainment The fact is, that the very stries which have excited curiosity as t America have, in a great degree tsed up the mr.eans of administering to its gr.ttifcaton. The poits to be laid hold of were so broad and we have had tourists in such abundance, that they have almost all been described and caricatured into the bargain al- ready. Coarse meats, and coaTser manners; sbort commons, and no bows; wre have batd in print, over, and over, and over again. I The hiring the servant, or "hclp," (for servant" Iwould be de- grading) tells well. The dinner to General Jackson, with the F rench genrcmsn's speech and song, does admirably. The negro theatre is new; and the calling out of the militia one of the best bits oftheevening. In the conversations, MV}r. Tophamt and MIr Bray take the lead, aided by Mlr. Ravenstop, who quotes Joe Miller nm support of American claims to wit and liumour; and a military gentleman, who has one cant phrase, which he introduces on all occasions. Here, a good deal of the jest lies, of course, in the American vocabnlary-the " I guess," " I reckon," and " I calculate," applied where doubt seems hardly to be practicable; and the strange huddling of epithet, in talking of "a pretty, particular, considerable, d-d heavy shiower of rain" being expreted. Beyond, however, a little gasco. nade, somepeculiarities of tone in speaking,(whkih are odd enough), and these singularities of expression, the conversation oi steam-boats and stage-coaches, as given by Mr. Mathews-for MUr. Pen- nington, we apprehend, is his only specin.en in the way of genteel society-is just like that which we should meet with among half-educated people in similar situations in England. The post-officescenehassomegoodtthings.init; the Frenchman coming for the letter from his daughter particularly. Mlr. Dowbikii's stories about bis uncle are perfectly vulgar life in this country; the Ame- rican judge's charge to the grand jury is entertaining, and excellently well given. The songs are none of them well written, *vhat effect they have belongs to the acting entirelv. The third division of the entertainment (the " Tour" concluding at the end of the second) consists of a dramatic sketch, in one act, called All's IPell at Natchitoches, in which Mr. Mlathews performs a Kentucky cobler, an American farmer, a French tailor, a fat Negro, a Dutch ladv, amd an IriAeman. The plot lies in a contention among all the gentlemen (except the Negro) for the hand of the lady; and eventually the Irishman carries her off, in a real sledge, drawvn by a real pony. The very good acting of Mathiews in the tailor, the cobler, and the Irishman, madethis part of the entertainmient the most effective of the evening; but the whi le (as he ma-ages it) is highly entertaining; and it was received with the warmest applause from all quarters of the theatre. ENGLstiL OPRd-HOUSE.