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  • April 1, 1794
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The Freemasons' Magazine, April 1, 1794: Page 72

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    Article STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. ← Page 2 of 5 →
Page 72

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Strictures On Public Amusements.

; n the agonies of guilty desperation plunge a dagger in his own heart . —The La Mottes are restored to fortune and honour , and the piece concludes with the marriage of the two lovers . . , The scenery of this new Drama is very fine , particularly a moon-light , a thunderstorm by night shattering the ruins of-the abbey , the apartment where the * iurder was committed , and the cell in which the ghost appears . The introduction of the Ghost is by far the boldest attempt of the modern drama . the Authorand the whole is

But it has been conducted with such address by , scene so well performed , that it forms one of the best instances of terror , excited by mystery , which the stage can boast . Fontainville Forest is avowedly taken from Mrs . Radcliffe ' s Novel of the Romance of the Forest . " All the incidents are to be found in that part of the Romance of which the Old Abbey is the scene . The chief deviation from the Novel seems to be the making the son of La Motte the favoured lover of Adeline , by which means the character of Theodore is totally omitted . The Play was throughout well received , and has been since frequently repeated with applause .

PROLOGUE . BY MR . JAMES BOADEN , ( Author of the Play . ) THE Prologue once indeed , in days of old , Some previous facts of the new Drama told ; Pointed your expectation to the scene ' , . And clear'd obstruction that might intervene ;

1 ' ossess'd you with those aids the Author thought Were requisite to judge him as you ought . The Moderns previous hints like these despise , Demand intrigue , and banquet on surprise : The Prologue , notwithstanding , keeps its station , A trembling Poet ' s solemn lamentation . Cloak'd up in metaphor , it tells of shocks Fatal to shinewlaunch'dfrom hidden rocks ;

ps , Of critic batteries , of rival strife , " The Destinies that slit the thin-spun life . " Our Author chuses to prepare the way With lines at least suggested by his Play . Caught from the Gothic treasures of Romance , He frames his work , and lays the scene in France . The word , I see , alarms—it vibrates here ,

And Feeling marks its impulse with a tear . It brings to thought a people once rcfin'd , Who led supreme the manners of mankind ; Deprav'd by cruelty , by pride inflam'd , By traitors madden'd , and by sophists sham'd ; Crushing that freedom , which , with gentle sway > Courted their Revolution ' s infant day , Ere giant Vanity , with impious hand ,

Assail'd the sacred Temples of the Land . Fall ' n is that land beneath Oppression ' s flood ; Its purest sun has set , alas , in blood ! The milder planet drew from him her light , _ And when HE rose no more , soon sunk in night : The regal source of order once destroy'd , Anarchy made the fair creation void . Britonsto youby temperate freedom crown'd ,

, , For every manly sentiment renown'd , The Stage can have no motive to enforce The principles that guide your glorious course ; Proceed triumphant—' mid the world's applause , Firm to your King , your Altars , and your Laws .

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1794-04-01, Page 72” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 9 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01041794/page/72/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
LONDON: Article 1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 2
Untitled Article 3
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, OR GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY. Article 4
THE PRESENT STATE OF FREE MASONRY. Article 6
A CURE FOR ENVY. Article 9
JOHN COUSTOS, FOR FREEMASONRY, Article 10
CHARACTER OF EDWARD STILLINGFLEET, Article 13
CHARACTER OF CICERO. Article 15
LIFE OF THE RIGHT REVEREND GEORGE HORNE, Article 18
MEMOIRS OF THE LATE DR. PAUL HIFFERNAN. Article 25
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 32
A NARRATIVE Article 34
ACCOUNT OF A TOUR TO KILLARNEY, &c. Article 43
PLAN OF EDUCATION. Article 49
PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION. Article 52
THE WONDERFUL CUNNING OF A FOX. Article 57
MEMORABLE SPEECH OF THEOPHRASTUS Article 57
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. Article 58
POETRY. Article 65
MASONIC SONG. Article 66
A LYRIC ODE, BY GRAY. Article 66
CONTEST BETWEEN THE LIPS AND EYES. Article 67
LINES Article 68
Untitled Article 69
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 71
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 75
DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 78
BANKRUPTS. Article 81
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Page 72

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Strictures On Public Amusements.

; n the agonies of guilty desperation plunge a dagger in his own heart . —The La Mottes are restored to fortune and honour , and the piece concludes with the marriage of the two lovers . . , The scenery of this new Drama is very fine , particularly a moon-light , a thunderstorm by night shattering the ruins of-the abbey , the apartment where the * iurder was committed , and the cell in which the ghost appears . The introduction of the Ghost is by far the boldest attempt of the modern drama . the Authorand the whole is

But it has been conducted with such address by , scene so well performed , that it forms one of the best instances of terror , excited by mystery , which the stage can boast . Fontainville Forest is avowedly taken from Mrs . Radcliffe ' s Novel of the Romance of the Forest . " All the incidents are to be found in that part of the Romance of which the Old Abbey is the scene . The chief deviation from the Novel seems to be the making the son of La Motte the favoured lover of Adeline , by which means the character of Theodore is totally omitted . The Play was throughout well received , and has been since frequently repeated with applause .

PROLOGUE . BY MR . JAMES BOADEN , ( Author of the Play . ) THE Prologue once indeed , in days of old , Some previous facts of the new Drama told ; Pointed your expectation to the scene ' , . And clear'd obstruction that might intervene ;

1 ' ossess'd you with those aids the Author thought Were requisite to judge him as you ought . The Moderns previous hints like these despise , Demand intrigue , and banquet on surprise : The Prologue , notwithstanding , keeps its station , A trembling Poet ' s solemn lamentation . Cloak'd up in metaphor , it tells of shocks Fatal to shinewlaunch'dfrom hidden rocks ;

ps , Of critic batteries , of rival strife , " The Destinies that slit the thin-spun life . " Our Author chuses to prepare the way With lines at least suggested by his Play . Caught from the Gothic treasures of Romance , He frames his work , and lays the scene in France . The word , I see , alarms—it vibrates here ,

And Feeling marks its impulse with a tear . It brings to thought a people once rcfin'd , Who led supreme the manners of mankind ; Deprav'd by cruelty , by pride inflam'd , By traitors madden'd , and by sophists sham'd ; Crushing that freedom , which , with gentle sway > Courted their Revolution ' s infant day , Ere giant Vanity , with impious hand ,

Assail'd the sacred Temples of the Land . Fall ' n is that land beneath Oppression ' s flood ; Its purest sun has set , alas , in blood ! The milder planet drew from him her light , _ And when HE rose no more , soon sunk in night : The regal source of order once destroy'd , Anarchy made the fair creation void . Britonsto youby temperate freedom crown'd ,

, , For every manly sentiment renown'd , The Stage can have no motive to enforce The principles that guide your glorious course ; Proceed triumphant—' mid the world's applause , Firm to your King , your Altars , and your Laws .

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