Strictures On Public Amusements.

The chief attempt at novelty of character is Sir Frederick Faintly , winch is indeed , so novel , that we believe , and hope , it is not to be found in human nature . We learn , from the declaration of this character , that if a man calls him rascal , he is so good-natured as not to be affronted , and if he proceeds to kick him , he is too polite to quarrel with him . That there may be men in real life so destitute of spirit , so basely pusillanimous , we can conceive ; but that there ever existed at man of this description who would talk of a defect , which every man who feels it must , we should think , be anxious to conceal , we cannot imagine . But how is

the inconsistency heightened , how is the impropriety aggravated , by placing a cockade in the hat of such a character ? If such a man really existed , he certainly would not chuse the profession of a Soldier . Alderman Arable ( a citizen and farmer ) is a well-conceived character ; it is a satire on those persons who quit pursuits adapted to their capacities and education , for others with which they are totally unacquainted . Mr . Alderman , being ignorant ofthe business of a farmer , is every way imposed upon . His sonJack Arableis a student of lawto which he little

atten-, , , pays very tion . His keen touches at the profession afford much pleasantry , and the manner in which he expressed his disinclination to frequent Wesminster Hall , which he describes as a market full of black cattle , attended by very few buyers , almost convulsed the audience with laughter . The character of Emmeline , Project , and Tanjore , are sketched in our ac- , count of the fable . The latter is a gay and elegant portrait .

¦ Mr . REYNOLDS , with talents and humour that might enable him to " wing a flight . higher" than he has hitherto attempted , appears to us as-an Author who writes rather for emolument than fame , or to speak with move propriety , who aims rather to please the present age , than to instruct posterity . We mean not by this observation to discredit his talents in the slightest degree ; for in the serious part of his play , there is much good sense and much good Anting , that convince us ofhisabN lity to succeed in compositions of a higher class . If the town will have vibim and merriment , no one can supply them with a better stock than the Author of

Speculation ; and it would perhaps be deemed as unreasonable to suppose that a Dramatic . "Writer ought not to study the taste of an audience , as it would be to say that at tradesman ought : not to consult the taste of his customers . The piece before us is , not a Comedy that will undergo the ordeal of criticism . It abounds in farcical incidents , which rapidly succeed one another with very little attention to consistency or nature : but if reason wanders ungratified , risibility meets with ample indulgence ; and in most of our popular modern comedies the currency of the latter is accepted in lieu of the sterling value of the former .

The strokes of satire on gaming , and on the efficacy of dress to procure hospitality when Genius and Virtue are treated with contempt , are perhaps too just , On the whole , Speculation will be found more substantial in entertainment than / peculations usually are ; and if mirth be profit , the most economical auditor will think his money well laid out in purchasing admission to the dramatic table of our friend I-EYNOLDS .

. The performance was on the whole well . The Prologue , which was written by REYNOLDS , and spoken by HAHLEY , evinced a respectable gravity of versification : but it somt-what strangely ridiculed sentimental scenes , as the piece itself contained much of the sentimental cast ; it was a sort of Law Case , LIGHT SATIRE versus LuMrisii SENTIMENT . . TheEpjlogue was indeed a treat from , the pen of Miles Peter Andrews—ithad point , pun , and humour in abundance , bui wanted what his poemata minora always , want—connection ; it was given , however , with such provoking spirits by Mr ,

J- EWIS , that we forgot it wanted any thing . It bore a most humorous allusion to the straw female head-dress ornaments , fvJuphit resembles to a stubble-field : Of thveaten'd /_ mi » e who shall now complain ; When ev ' ry female forehead teems with grain . : '¦ When men of active lives , - -To fiil their gran'ries need but thresh their wives . Sfor wgre the matrons alone prolific : Old maids and young ! all , all are in the straw . The fkee has been several times Repeated with approbation .