* We briefly noted the success of The Curfew in our last. It now remains for us to fulfil our promise of drawing out its fable and descanting on its merits. The Dram. Pers. consist of→ Fitzharding, ................ Mr. Elliston. The glee and chorus of banditti by Atwood. The particular period of this drama is ascertained by a jest put into the mouth of Conrad-"What," says a bandit to him, "is the meaning of this curfew?" He replies-❝ Oh! it is a new invention of government to keep the people in the dark." Now if it was so recent as not to be universally known and understood, we are aware that the most ancient curfew was established by William the Conqueror, and the penalty was severe on any one, who, at eight o'clock, did not put out his light, cover the fire, and go to bed. About this time it appears that Baron De Tracy labours under " compunctuous visitations" of conscience, in consequence of a wrong done to his wife. When commander of a regiment abroad, in which Fitzharding served as a private, he had, March 2. The Curfew.-The Weathercock. March had, for some slight breach of discipline, had the latter branded in the arm; the memory of which Fitzharding nourished in his heart with the seeds of hatred and revenge. The Baron, convinced of his undue severity, had sought to reconcile him by concessions and kindnesses, with which Fitzharding seemed to be satisfied, that he might the more easily and free from suspicion "sweep to his revenge." Reporting himself dead, he commences his attack on the peace and happiness of De Tracy. By anonymous letters, he excites the passion of jealousy in the Baron against his lady, with whom, till then, he had lived in unsuspecting love. He even appoints a time when De Tracy shall detect the infidelity of his wife, and concealing himself in her chamber, the Baron surprises them, and stabs the Baroness. Fitzharding escapes, and the wound not proving mortal, the lady with her infant son flies from the castle, takes shipping for England, and is, in her passage, wrecked.→ She is supposed to have been lost, but was saved, and knowing but unknown in a cottage in the vicinity of her husband's abode, with their daughter, she lives with the son. Satisfied of her innocence, the Baron erects a mausoleum to her memory. Fitzharding still pursues him with insatiate rancour. Having become the leader of a banditti of Danes, he is resolved, at curfew-time, to storm the Norman Baron's castle, and put them all to the sword. Florence, the daughter of De Tracy, in love with Bertrand, without her father's consent, elopes in the disguise of a boy. When escaping with her lover, she is seized and carried off by the banditti. In the cavern her conduct induces them to determine that she shall die, and Robert, her own brother, who has been reduced by necessity to turn robber, is fixed upon to do the deed. The scene which ensues strongly reminds us of Hubert and Arthur, in John, and Walter, in the Children in the Wood. He spares her, and conducts her to his mother's cottage, where he leaves her, rather oddly, to introduce herself to Matilda-however, as the mother is reported to be a witch, her business there, and the rest of it, are, we suppose, left to her divination! In the interim Fitzharding steals the habit of a friar, who was about to go and confess the Baron, and takes the office upon himself. During the confession several events occur. That of his reading what the Baron could not is unaccountable, since, he only represented a priest. Matilda is brought into the presence, and accused of witchcraft. The accusation she rebuts, but undertakes to raise the Baron's wife from the dead. Knowing Fitzharding to be captain of a banditti, she becomes a spy on him. The pretended March 3. The Curfew.-Tekeli. March Friar prevails on the Baron to meet him privately at the mausoleum. Here he stands confessed-tells him that he is the author of all the mischief between him and his wife, and bids him prepare for death! At the instant of his attempting to stab the Baron, Mutilda starts from the mausoleum, and prevents the murder. This incident bears a strong resemblance to the denouement of the Castle Spectre. A happy conclusion now takes place in every respect but one- —Fitzharding rejects the Baron's mercy, and retires, an obdurate villain, to curse him in his prison. These are the principal characters and incidents of this play, which, it is clear, contains nothing, in either, that entitles it to much admiration on the score of novelty. Invention was not the characteristic of Mr. Tobin's mind, but he possessed such a happy, delicate, and neat mode of conveying conceptions, trite or rare, that we may say of him what Johnson affirmed of Goldsmith-nil teligit quod non ornavit.His style of writing is full of genius, and commands, in a high degree, the enviable art of giving new and agreeable faces to old friends, or presenting sentiments which have been often uttered, “but ne'er so well expressed." This was his forte, this the charm by which he fascinates. There is much pathos in the Curfew, and the interest is powerful to the end of the fourth act, but the fifth is inartificially and weakly managed. The whole is sombre, and its colour was, by no means, relieved by Mr. Elliston, the representative of the hero of the piece. He was tumid, heavy, and unimpressive. This play, in its original form, would, without doubt, have failed. Mr. Tobin, though a sensible man, was attached to modern philosophy, and a follower of the Godwinian tenets, with which the Curfew was sadly disfigured.He occasionally took leave of his reason, and suffered his imagination to explore what Chesterfield calls “the unknown and unknowable regions of metaphysics," where conjectures, endless as silly, supply the defect of unattainable knowledge, and too often usurp both its name and its influence. To these conjectures, mixed with twin-born politics, he was so devoted, that he would not permit his play to be weeded of them during his life. Being removed, a judicious hand has prudently eradicated them, and left a piece, which, in the present state of dramatic things, is not meanly valuable. With the exception of Mr. Elliston, for whom the part of Fitzharding is not fitted, all the charac ters were ably performed. Mrs. Powell played Matilda with vast dig nity and impression. Mr. Bannister was perfectly at home in Robert and March 5. The Curfew.-Tekeli. 7. Id.*-Id.t 9. Id. The Weathercock. 10. Id.-Tekeli. 12. Id.-The Young Hussar; or, Love and Mercy.‡ March and Miss Duncan in Florence, was truly excellent. The scene between Robert and Florence, where he is about to murder her, was a fine piece of acting. Mr. Siddons was more than usually firm, and his performance of Bertrand derived much advantage from it. Mathews and Palmer played the little allotted to them in their very best style. Penley's Walter, the toller of the curfew, was clever; and Barrymore was Barrymore-his part was a guilty, proud baron; all who have ever seen him play, know how he played it-ex uno disce omnes. The prologue was spoken by Mr. Bartley, and a lively epilogue by Miss Duncan. Of the chorus of banditti, we cannot speak highly: the glee, by Attwood, is beautiful, but was not, on the first night, very well sung by Fitzsimmons, Miller, and Gibbon. The pretended portrait of Matilda, in the first scene, is a likeness of Mrs. Powell, by that ingenious young artist Mr. Sharpe. As Mr. Tobin is again brought forward, we take this opportunity of remarking that we do not think the public have been well used by the suppression of his drama called The Furo Table, of which we lately heard so much. It is said to have been withdrawn out of respect to the late Duchess of D*********, and it was before rejected in compliment to the Duchess of G. This delicacy of the guardians of the stage does them immortal honour. To shew Vice her own image would be rude Proh, pudor! There is, in this, a tenderness towards the laxity of morals and virtue, in high life, which is really more alarming than it may at first appear. Mr. Phillips gave £.400 for the Curfew, providing it ran twenty nights. *The Curfew has been improved by curtailment, and is played with great satisfaction to crowded houses. + Tekeli still continues its attraction. The part of Tekeli, formerly filled by Mr. Elliston, is now performed, with very good effect, by Mr. Siddons. His height is advantageous to the representation, and he is never deficient in judgment. + The ground work of the Young Hussar, or Love and Mercy, appears to be taken from a French petite piece, and it is petite en verité. Whatever the ingenuity of Mr. Dimond, junr. could do, however, for his materials, has been done very much to the credit of his knowledge of dramatic effect. The characters are, Florian March 14. The Curfew.*-The Young Hussar; or, Love and Mercy: Ninon, ........................................................ .....Mrs. Bland. The plot might form the posy of a ring. Florian, thé young hussar, is in love with Caroline. To rescue his father Bertrand from prison, he has sold his uniform, and appears in little else but his regimental small cloaths. He is concealed by Caroline, in the residence of Larole; but Madame Larole, a musical cognoscente, favours Boncour's passion for her. The first act is taken up in hiding Florian from the family, the last in eluding the vigilance of his régiment. At length he discovers himself, and is punished for his offence by a noose-marriage. The interest is created and well supported by the contrivances to escape detection; but as the dialogue is literally nothing, it seems more calculated to make a ballet at the opera, than a farce. Mrs. Bland, in Ninon, an old servant, was dressed in such a singular manner as to afford a great deal of laughter at her entrance, and Mr. Gibbon's suit identified him as the green man. The former, and Mrs. Mountain, sung de lightfully, and Boncour's song, "Be mine, O ye powers," was very good: The music, by Mr. Kelly, is exceedingly pretty, and a full house appeared tolerably satisfied with the exhibition. * Mr. Bannister, on this night, resigned the part of Robert to Mr. De Camp. This materially injures the Curfew, and should not have been allowed. Mr. De Camp may be considered as Mr. Bannister's double, but in our opinion it is, Double, double, toil and trouble, without any of the delicate touches, or feeling and impressive acting of the original. + This entertaining opera was played for the eighteenth time. Its Interruption has been principally occasioned by Mr. Braham, who chose to take it into his "instrument of sound,” alias head, that he was disgraced by being sent on the stage merely to sing, without any opportunity of shewing how miserably unfit he is to attempt to do any thing else. We hope that the judgment of Mr. Kenny, on this occasion, will not |