44 66 Indian, gets into the service of Baron Altra-ply the want of originality of character, doff, nephew of Prince Lowenstern, and and probability of incident, a mere hoaccompanies him to Tobolskow, whither the liday shew, interlarded with nonsensical Baron is journeying to claim the hand of songs and bad jokes. But," says the Catherine, the governor's niece, whose affect- author,* “ beef and mutton are the objects ions were already devoted to Count Calmar, of my ambition; and perhaps I would as by whom she is beloved. Romanoff assumes soon gain them by bad jokes as by good a ferocious aspect, and a deadly hate to the jokes; because, if, BY ACCIDENT, I Exile and his family, and completely blinds were to write one STERLING Comedy, the governor as to his intentions, and, jointly I know to a certainty I could never write with Welzien, is entrusted with the execution another; and therefore I should be damned of the Empress's orders; in pursuance of" by comparison." Thus it appears, from this which Ulrick is dragged from his retreat, and beef and inutton logic, that the author will imprisoned in Tobolskow, and they are sent cudgel his brains no longer," being deterin pursuit of Alexina, who has set out, mined to write very bad pieces, for fear he accompanied by Yermach, a faithful domestic, should, by accident, write a good one.We to St. Petersburgh, to solicit her father's par- are afraid this accident will not befal either don. He completely frustrates the vindictive Mr. R. or any other of the present fashionable designs of Welzien, and Alexina reaches the play-makers; not having any sterling about neighbourhood of Moscow in safety. The re- them, they are in no danger of being damned joicings of the inhabitants announced the suc- by such comparison. cession of Elizabeth to the throne of Russia. Alexina rushes into the presence of her new sovereign, and procures, through the means of the disguised Romanoff, her father's pardon, and immediately departs for Siberia, without waiting for the deed of pardon to be completed: by which means she is again subjected to all the bitterness of sorrow, and is compelled to marry the supposed. Daran. The governor at length receives the royal mandate from his court for the liberation of Count Ulrick, and by it becomes acquainted with the villainy and disgrace of Prince Lowenstern, which reconciles him to the union of his daughter with Count Calmar Daran throws of his disguise, appears as Romanoff, claims Alexina for his bride, and the Exile is restored to his former honours. This piece is the production of Mr. Reypolis, and has been described by the paid for puffs in the newspapers, as of the first order." We therefore hope such of our readers as have witnessed its performance, have improved the opportunity of judging for themselves, what a modern piece of the first order" consists of. For our part we found it, in point of literary merit, like Gratiano's reasons, not worth the looking after. But we were not much disappointed, as from a mere opera we do not expect any thing like sense or reason-no, not even from a new grand melo dramatic opera, interspersed with comic-tragic-buffoon pantomime; all which ingredients may be here discovered, with the usual characteristics of spectacle, processions, dancing, &c. intended to sup Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice: his reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them; and when you have them, they are not worth the search. SHAKESPARE, The character of baron Alltradoff, seems to have been drawn for the purpose of delineating and ridiculing the prevailing taste for publishing books of travels, tours, &c.-. but from the author's not supplying him with a spark of wit, or discriminating satire, he proved a mere non-entity, and had nothing to recommend him to cut a figure withal but what the taylor and the whisker-manufacturer had furnished him-He is called a peeping traveller, and the military governor of Tobolskow is represented to be a dancing governor. The performers did no injustice to the au thor; they powerfully supported his pantomime and buffoonery, from the dancing governor to the filial Alexina. But the principal attraction was the first appearance of Mr. Young, who seems to be possessed of talents that, with industry and attention, bid well ta place him advantageously in the public favour; and we shall be much disappointed, if, in process of time, he does not become a firstrate actor; provided he has fair play. But let him beware of flattery, nor ever lose himself by applying to the vile usage of newspaper puffs, as the managers do, to make their trash pass current. If he is determined to be respectable in his profession, he must, upon due consideration, abhor the stipendiated parasites of the players as much as if they were be spattering him with calumny and degradation, because he did not pay up to their price-a practice we know to have been often used by reptiles about the press, to the disgrace of its freedom, and fair and manly criticism. Mazzinghi, some of which is very pleasing, The music is the production of Mr. particularly the pantomine part. For a spe cimen of the songs our readers will recur to our article POETRY, p. 574. Vide Panorama, Vol. IV. p. 89, for Mr. Reynolds' Defence of Bad Writing! The story of The Erile is taken from the Elizabeth of Mme. Cottin, reviewed in Panorama, Vol. I. p. 999. That it should have attracted dramatic notice is not a matter of surprize, we wish it had been more rationally performed.-The Russian history affords variety of interesting subjects fit for the thea tre, and we have frequently wondered that no accomplished English author has dramatized the fate of Prince Menzicoft; particularly as M. de la Harpe not only set the example by his tragedy of Menzicoff, but also by his admired Historical Memoir of that Prince, which it is our pride to have given at full length, in p. 321, et seq. of our first volume. How peculiarly affecting is his description of the death of Menzicoff! and what a contrast does the following simple recital offer to the pantomimic mummery of The Exile! place where he wished to be interred near her ACTORS VINDICATED. To the Editor of the Literary Panorama. Sir-In your Panorama of October last "Religion," says M. de la Harpe, even in the height of his philosophical career, "reli- (Vol. V. pp. 87, 88.) you seem to treat the gion, which is the last asylum of fallen gran-players rather roughly on account of certain deur and a disturbed mind, appeared to be obnoxious performances; now, in justice to the principal support and occupation of Men- them, I hope you will have the candour to aczikoff, He had constructed an oratory; and knowledge that they are not to blame, since the his house, in its religious offices, resembled a performances are chosen by the managers, unI can inform cloister. The whole family assembled daily der whom they act as servants. you that the plays you have so properly noticed for public worship; in the morning and at noon; in the evening and at midnight. have been strongly reprobated by many of the He had not been six months in the desert performers-they have condemned as much as you can do, the pertinacity and obstinacy when his eldest daughter was attacked by the small pox; he was her nurse and her physi- of certain imperious managers, who have had cian, but all his care was in vain; he saw her the individual effrontery to oppose at their die as he had seen her mother; and he recited respective theatres the vox populi of England, over her lifeless form, the prayers which the when raised either for the Spaniards, or our Greek ritual prescribes for the dead. She was military defenders. Nor should it, Sir, escape buried in his oratory, and he marked the your notice, that all the minor theatres in town and country have been performing pieces entirely in coincidence with the na tional spirit; while Drury-Lane, CoventGarden, and the suffocating Haymarket, The Princess Menzicoff, smitten as she was by such rapid and multiplied misfortunes, could not support the horrid and fatiguing journey: she had lost her sight from continual weeping, and expired near Casan, in the arms of her husband. She was a woman of pre-eminent merit, distinguished by her birth and by her beauty, and whose virtues never relaxed in the brilliancy of her youth and the height of her fortune. Her memory was long held in veneration at the court of Russia, for the sweetness of her disposition, her sincere piety, and her charity to the poor and wretched. Menzikoff dug the grave with his own hands in which he interred her, and he scarce had time allowed him to shed a few tears over it, when he was obliged to proceed on his journey to the deserts of Siberia, 800 leagues from Peterburgh. * You have properly distinguished this theatre by the appellation suffocating. Some years ago, a number of unfortunate people were suffocated at this theatre, owing to the pit entrance being so inconvenient; notwithstanding this dreadful example, the inconve nience still continues, and thirteen steep stairs, are obliged to be descended, leading into a cavern, before admission can be obtained. Should not the magistrates be empowered to remedy such evils? are they not bound to refuse a licence for this theatre; until they see the safety of the public fully provided for?-If a fire were to happen during the performance, scarcely any of the audience could escape; the are all so very passages to their eternal shame be it spoken, have been, niard seems to recognize an old friend in every the only theatres performing those pieces you Englishman he meets.-Indeed we now see have so decidedly condemned. Nay, so perse-verifying their old proverb, "Con todo el vering has been the self-willed controuler of the mundo guerra, y pas con Ynglattera.second, that Pizarro was again advertised in Peace with England and war with all the the bills for Tuesday the 25th of October; world." and I am confidently told wasonly withdrawn by the express command of ass whom the manager dare not offend. Although, Sir, I do not wish to overload my good Lord Chamberlain with the ungracious management of the play-houses, yet somebody should take care to prevent the ambassadors to our court from being insulted; and I am glad to recognize the authority here used. In pure justice to other theatrical managers I beg leave to inform your readers that Mr. Wroughton is manager of Drury-Lane theatre; Mr. John Philip Kemble, of CoventGarden, (and not Don Philip, or Don John, as ill-naturedly said in a morning print, who certainly did not mean to compliment the Spaniards thereby). I am truly pleased at the attention you pay to the theatre, and hope you will not relax in your laudable observations; for it is disgusting to read the fulsome panegyricks of our diurnal prints; scarcely any of them have had the hardihood to condeinn the thrusting forward Pizarro at the present crisis; none of them in the manly manner you have so ardently expressed yourself. En passant, Mr. Editor, allow me to remark how very different the noble Spaniards were treating us at the time the Covent-Garden manager, by the aid of Kotzebuc-Sheridan's Pizarro, was consigning, them to execration. The following is an extract of a letter from Corunna, dated October 16th. Now, Mr. Editor, if our London managers continue so intent in performing pieces whose history is against the spirit of patriotism, why not at once dramatize the Norman Conquest, à la Corse? They may find one ready for them at Paris, entited Guillaume le Conquérant, in which" Harold is represented as a great coward, in order that he may be like the English;" for though it must be acknow ledged they allow us some bravery on the sea, yet the soldiers and the people are taught to believe that we cannot possibly encounter them on land. As this piece was written by order of Buonaparte, at the time of his so much boasted of invasion, I have no doubt it ́ would be soon noticed in the Moniteur as a proof of the English people's returning to reason through those virtuous organs the play-houses of the capital!-It would delight. the Thuilleries more than the spectacle of Caractacus, though that is written by an Englishman, and set off by the splendid decorations of the genius of a French dan cer;-it would please our enemy perhaps as much as the representation of the Mayor of Garrat, which is now exhibiting at Drury, Lane theatre, to ridicule our militia, I am, Sir, yours, &c. November, 1808, DRAMATICUS. COVENT-GARDEN NEW THEATRE. A new theatre will be erected with all pos"Generals Sir D. Baird, Manningham, sible expedition, by Robert Smirk, jun. esq. Warde and Cranford went last night to the architect, on the site of the late theatre-royal, theatre; a new entertainment was repeated, Covent-garden, and that of the houses adentitled THE PARLIAMENT OF PLUTUS, OR joining. In order to defray, in part, the FERNANDO AND GEORGE TRIUMPHANT; in great expence attached to this undertaking, which Kings Ferdinand VII. and George III. the sum of 50,000l. we are informed has embraced each other several times; this was been already subscribed for, in shares of 5001. received with enthusiastic applause, as also each, under the immediate patronage of his GOD SAVE THE KING, which was introduced majesty. Each of the subscribers to receive, frequently, and performed with the whole clear of the property tax, and all other house standing. The British officers were charges and uotgoings whatsoever, an aninvited into the private boxes, and every Spa-nuity of 251. to commence from the open narrow as to preclude every possibility of even a chance of preservation.-Your observations very justly tend to censure the proprietors for not having (since that melancholy event at which I was present) rendered that theatre more commodious and convenient; it is still a disgrace to them, and to the metropolis, so far as concerns egress and regress, and should be speedily remedied.—In fact, every theatre onght to be completely insulated. ing of the said new theatre, and to continue for the term of eighty-five years (being the remaining term of the lease, and of all the premises), with the addition of an annual transferrable free admission to any part of the theatre before the curtain, (private boxes excepted), for which the subscribers will be secured by the patent, and the new theatre, with the scenery, machinery, and all other property therein contained. The subscription to be paid by instalments.-The amount * of the insurance money is 44,0001. VIEWS OF SPAIN. Taken in the Year 1805. No. VII. manufactures, bridges, banks, and causeways, of the kingdom. The chamber of Mil y Quinientos or of one thousand five hundred, thus called be cause those who appeal to it from the sentences and judgments of the sovereign tribunals are obliged to deposit fifteen hundred ducats, which they forfeit in case of losing the appeal. The Sala de Justicia has an exclusive cognizance of certain causes, the particulars of which would be uninteresting, and perhaps unintelligible, to most of our readers; and for the judgment of capital causes of a certain description this chamber is united to the others. We are desirous, in the present number, of accomplishing two purposes; the first is, that of enabling our readers to judge on the exercise of the duties and authorities of government, as at present established by the Spaniards, in this extraordinary crisis of their nation; and, as we conceive that Catalonia is likely to be before long the scene of impor tant military events, we should, also, be happy to prepare our readers for judging on The Sala de Provincia judges appeals them with discrimination and correctness. in all important cases, and receives those from We might have introduced these subjects in the judgments of the two lieutenants civil of succession, as they are distinct in their nature; of the Alcaldes de Corte in civil affairs. Madrid Tenientes de Villa) and from those but according to the best intelligence that hasThese form a sixth chamber. reached us, time presses the consideration of them upon us. The council of Castile was the highest authority in Spain, and was treated as such by Joseph Buonaparte. It was in some degree analogous to our Privy Council, the Orders of which are regarded as entitled to general obedience, when they are the conse quences of regulations authorised by parliament; or when they look forward to speedy support by parliamentary authority. It was also in some degree analogous to our upper house of parliament, as a tribunal of dernier resort, and competent to the decision of cases of intricacy and importance. The following account of this council is the most satisfactory with which we are acquainted. The council of Castile holds the first rank among the councils and tribunals of the kingdon; it is at once a council of administration, which has the inspection of all the interior operations of government, and a sovereign tribonal that has an exclusive cognizance of certain causes, and in certain cases receives appeals from the other tribunals. The council of Castile is composed of five chambers. The first, the Sala de Govierno, which is confined to the affairs of adininistration; it also receives references accompanied with necessary forms, brought to the council in extraordinary cases; but it is only to send them to the second Sala de Govierno, or to the Sala de Justicia,, according to cir cumstances.. The second Sula de Govierno judges some of the causes brought before the council of Castile by extraordinary, reference, but its chief occupation is in matters relative to the VOL. V. [Lit. Pan. Dec. 1809.] 'The chamber of the Alcaldes de Casay Corte was formerly the tribunal which always accompanied the court of Spain. Since this is understood to be fixed at Madrid, the tribunal has been fixed there also; and as it formerly had a provincial jurisdiction near the residence of the Sovereign, it has still preserved such a jurisdiction to a certain dis-, tance from the capital. acknowledged by the grandees of Spain, and all its members have the right of committimus. The council of Castile is the only one The head of the council of Castile has the title of president or governor: these two dignities differ but little, except in honorary. distinctions. The president of the council of Castile must always be a grandee of Spain." When he appears in public, he has particular privileges. The office of president of the council of Castile had been revived, after a long interruption, in the person of the count d'Aranda, in one of those critical moments when men of genius become necessary. He discharged the duties of it during seven years, with energy and wisdom. The oldest members of this council, form what is called in Spain the Camara, properly the privy council of the monarch, and at the same time a sovereign tribunal for certain canses, such as all which have relation to the right of patronage, the successions of persons of the royal family, and all contests relative to the rights of cities (Ciudades) which differ from Villas, the former having a particular jurisdiction, and being represented in the Cortes of the kingdom. Marid is only a Villa, yet is represented in the Cortes like the Ciudades. But this is the only excep tion. T The Camara is also the council which issues all acts or patents of royal favour. All places in the magistracy, and all consistorial benefices are conferred by its means. It recommends to his majesty, through the mediutn of his minister of favour and justice, three persons to fill them, and the king chuses one of the three. 2. All the members of the Camara are ancient counsellors of Castile; these seldom obtain their places without having been presidents of a chancery or an audience, or at Least ancient counsellors of oue of these tribunals, or Alcade de Corte. We confess, that we had dreaded the effect of Spanish pride and inflexibility on the question of precedence in the arrangement of the powers destined to exercise authority; but, it affords us infinite pleasure to learn that an uniformity of action is likely to be established, and we shall not think the worse of Ferdinand, or his advisers, if ́measures appear to have been taken by his suggestion, or at his instance, for this purpose. For the present, the government of Spain is in the Supreme Junta of the kingdom; and as the members which compose it performa no common part on the theatre of events, but are destined either to an enviable iminortality, if successful, or to a pitiful distinction among the unfortunate, if unsuccessful, we shall record their installation into office and their names, and close the subject with our best wishes in behalf of their honest a d patriotic endeavours to save and serve their country. Under the circumstances that have lately happened in Spain, the council of Castile was placed in a very delicate and difficult situation. Ferdinand had appointed his uncle Antonio, president of a junta for governing the state. The old council naturally continued to be the channel of communication between the government and the nation, as before. While the French troops were ́in Madrid the council was under French powers, and was obliged to yield obedience to the peremptory tone of Murat, in his demand for the delivery of the Prince of Peace from his prison. The council however interfered with some effect in saying several of the Spaniards who were taken by the French in the affair of the second of May; and it received verbal Marquis de Campo Se List of the Members assembled, or the Junta of Aranjuez, Sept. 23, 180878400 President, ad interim; The most ex cel'ent Senor the 'Conde Florida Blanca.Arragon; Don Francisco Palafox, Dọn Lọrenzo Caloe.-Asturias; The Most Excel, lent Senor Don Melchor de Jovellanos, the Castile; -Val- and confidential communications from Fer- In consequence of the agreement of yesterday, the 24th inst. made in a preparatory conference, and by which it was resolved, that at half past nine o'clock this morning, the Supreme Central Junta of government of the kingdom should be installed, to which effect all the most serene deputies, present in this royal residence, amounting to more than two-thirds of the nuniber which should coin-. pose the juinta ef government, who are inentioned alphabetically in the margin, were summoned, the ceremony was observed in the following mannerThe said most serene deputies assctibled in the sacristy of the chapel belonging to the place of the |