The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-19 00:00:00

MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.

AT Ti PfMinn Ront, Mr. Copeland has seen fit to
withdraw the pantomime, and to woo the attendance of regular
playgoers by a revival of the legitimate drama. To Carry this
intention into effect, he has secured the aid of Mr. Barry Sul-
livan, whose histrionic merits have long insured him very
general favour with the Liverpc connoisseurs, as they have
also won for him the admiration of other auditories of refine-
ment. Daring the past week he has appeared on the Liver-
pool boaids in the characters of Sir Giles Overreach, Don
Ccesar de Bazan, Richelieu, Hamlet, King Lear, and The
Stranger, a wonderfully diversified range of parts for one
actor in one week. In all of these he was, at least, respectable,
and, in some of them, great. His impersonation of the mystic
Prince of Denmark was attractive and ingenious, and his read-
ing of the part displayed no small amount of well-directed
study. The character is, in all respects, a difficult one to ren-
der effectively before an audience, but in its representation'
Mr. Sullivan was, in a high degree, successful. Lear, a cha-
racter of equal difficulty, though more startling in its peculi-
arities than Hamlet, Mr. Sullivan played with good taste, and
a fair appreciation of his author. The hurricane bursts of
passion, which, from time to time, rend the mental texture of
the " foolish fond old man," were shot forth with great energy,
and told well with the house. His declamation seemed, in
some instances, rather formal and scholastic, yet, on the whole,
his performance was such as to merit warm applause. Last
night he appeared for the second time as Richelieu, and
enacted the wily, proud, old statesman with great.judgment
and ability. To-night he re-appears in Hamlet, and to-mor-
row Shakespeare's celebrated tragedy of " Macbeth" is to be
produced with entirely new stage effects. The original vocal
music is to be retained, but re-arranged by Mr. T. G. Reed : the
instrumental music to be arranged expressly for the revival by
Mr. t. Pitzwilliam. New scenery and costumes have been
designed and executed, together with appropriate machinery,
and, in short, every effort has been made to render the revival
attractive and interesting. The character of Macbeth will be
sustained by Mr. Barry Sullivan ; and that of Lady Macbeth
by Mrs. Vickery, from tin Theatre Royal, Drury-lane, who
will make her first appearance in Liverpool on this occasion.

AT THE ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE the equestrian company
from the Cirque Imperiale de France continues nightly to
draw crowds of admiring spectators. The feats of graceful
performances by the male and female equestrians excite the
most lively admiration, while the tight rope and other displays
are received with equal satisfaction and applause.

THE British and North Americam Royal Mail steam-ship
America sailed hence for Boston on Saturday, with 104 passen-

gers and a large cargo, besides the usual

- _
AUSTRALIAN Mens.—The sailing ship Kent, Capt. Cole-
man, left Plymouth Sound on Saturday morning at eight
o'clock, and the screw steam-ship Royal Charter, Captain
Boyce, in the afternoon, at four o'clock, both for Port Phillip .
wind easterly ; fine breeze.
Dugs of LANCASTER'S OWN RIFLES.—The recruiting for
this distinguished corps is'going on most favourably. Captain
Littledale has sent to head-quarters during the last fortnight
seventy-three fine young fellows : he is ably assisted by an
efficient staff of sergeants and men, and the vacancies caused
by the volunteering into the line will soon be filled up. Able-
bodied men should lose no time in making application to Ser-
geant Neal.
THE other day, at the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Station, in Southport, a man was taking a hamper from the
cart which contained sixteen live rabbits, when the bottom

came out of the hamper, and the rabbits scampered away in
all directions. Many of them got into the goods department.
Two dogs were employed, and a chase ensued, which, after an
haurls hunting, ended in the rabbits being recovered.—Pres-
lon Chronicle.

SIMPLICITY.—On Thursday, at the Liverpool Police-court,
John Wilson, aged 25, living on Shaw's-brow, timidly ap-
proached the desk of the magistrate's clerk, and, presenting a
document printed and worded like a summons, asked when
this case would come on. Taking np the paper, Mr. Garnett

;read it aloud, to the amusement of-the court. 'lt was dated
tfrom the Court of Hymen, signed " I. Lovewell," justice of the

peace, and commanded "John M. Wilson" to appear at the
,said Court of Hymen to answer a charge "having wilfully,
feloniously, and designedly waylaid and entrapped, and having
violently and feloniously assaulted and stolen from the plain-
tiff in this cause a heart," &e., and cautioned him not to fail,
under the penalty of being tarred and feathered. Mr. Garnett
asked the defendant what he had to say to the charge, to which
he replied that he did not know, as he was unable to under-
stand one-half of it. Mr. Garnett then informed him that the
case did not come under the jurisdiction of the magistrates,
and he left the court a happier if not a wiser man.
HOBE AND ANOTTLEE v. M`CA.masur.—At the Liverpool
County Court, on Thursday, Messrs. Hore and Co., passenger
agents, sued Mr. John M`Carthy, provision and ship-store
dealer, New Quay. The action was to recover £l5, the value
of certain surplus stores taken from the plaintiffs' ship North-
ern Belle, by defendant's agent, at New York. In September
last the plaintiffs were sending out passengers, and gave the
defendant an order to supply those passengers (forty-one in
number) with provisions for seventy days, that being the time
which the act of Parliament required the ship to be supplied
for. The order was supplied, and the defendant sent in a bill
charging at the rate of 25s per head for the forty-one passen-
gers. The vessel made a very .rapid voyage, and upon her ar-
rival at New York the defendant's agent there took possession
of the surplus stores, which he sold off, and retained the pro-
ceeds, rendering an account of the sales to his principal here.
It was to recover the value of these stores that the action was
brought. Verdict for the plaintiffs for the full amount.
SELECT VESTRY.—The Rev. Rector Campbell presided at
the, fortnighly meeting on Tuesday, when Mr. Woodruff called
the attention of the board to.a subject of great importance.

The board, he said, would be aware that within tha last few
days the government had introduced a bill into parliament,
the object of which was to do away, to a certain extent, with
the town dues of Liverpool. They would also be aware that,
as the bill was introduced by the government, it would require
no-ordinary effort to get rid of such an objectionable and unjust
measure. He had consulted the Rector on the subject, and
they had arrived at the'conclusion that the subject was of such
importance to the parish as !to justify the board in taking
active steps in the matter. They proposed to place themselves
in communication with the Mayor, and to call a future meet-
ing of the board, with the object of seeing what steps should
be taken in reference to the matter ; and he hoped whatever
course they might adopt would meet with the approval of the
committee. The proceedings •of the Finance Committee con-
tained a letter from the Poor-law Board, asking whether the
surcharge of £56. Bs. 4d., made upon Mr. Bradley by the
auditor, had yet been paid. Upon this resolution the com-
mittee resolved, as their opinion, that the question was one
which should be taken up bytthe general board, and dealt
with, instead of being allowed to remain exclusively upon one
member. After some conversation had taken place on the sub-
ject, the Chairman expressed an opinion that the resolution, if
passed as it stood on the books of the Finance committee, would
compromise the whole board, and he suggested that a resolu-
tion should be come to that the-board petition the Poor-law
Board at once on the subject-of the overcharge. Mr. Bradley
said this was all he wanted. The original resolution come to
by the committee was withdrawn, and a resolution, that the
Vestry petition the Poor-law Board on the subject, was
unanimously agreed to.
PROPOSED NEW MARKET.—On Friday, a meeting of the
inhabitants of the north end of the town was held, at the
house of Mr. Bunbury, Oldhall-street, to memorialise the
town council to build a market on the site of the old Borough
Gaol, instead of disposing of the land by auction. Mr.
McGuffie, who presided, said he wished it to be clearly under-
stood that he did not identify himself with any of the resolu-
tions that might be adopted, or pledge himself to anything
that might transpire. He thought itlneeessary to say so, from
the position he held as a councillor, and as one of the markets
committee, before whom the resolutions adopted at that meet-
ing might ultimately have to come. Mr. Brumfitt acted as
secretary.—ln answer to the chairman, Mr. Brumfitt said he
•had sent circulars to many of the residents in the north-west
side of the town, though not to Vauxhall or Scotland wards.—
The chairman said he hoped there were parties there from the
neighbourhood of Pownall-square ; andle.asked if there were,
but-no one replied.—As Mr. Murdoch was about to be called
upon to move the first resolution, Mr. Thompson rose and said,
before any further business was entered upon, it would only
be fair to adjourn the meeting, to enable ;them to get the
attendance of parties from every ward. It mould not be fair
to bolda meeting in which the two wards mentioned had not
a voice. There was plenty of time. The finance committee
met every Friday ; so he begged leave to move that they
adjourn 'to next Wednesday evening, at half-past seven, and in
else meantime to properly advertise it.—Mr. Councillor Godfrey
seconded the motion, as it was only fair to give every one a
chance.—Mr. Murdoch supported the motion.--Mr. Edward
Pulford was sorry to see Mr. Thompson and Mr. Godfrey,
who were so much interested in the borough gaol, take part
in the proceedings. It would look very much better to leave
it in other gentlemen's hands.—Mr. John Bunbury was pro-
ceeding to comment upon the proposed new market, and stated
that the new meeting had been called by two or three gentle-
men at the north end, who were not individually interested,—
when the chairman called him to order.—A gentleman re-
marked, it would be a pity to let that meeting pass without
discussing a little on the subject. On the motion being put,
it was unanimously adopted, and the meeting separated.
ROBBERY OF £l6O BY A TICKET-OF-LEAVE MAN.—The
ship Rangoon, Captain Huskins, arrived in the Mersey on
Wednesday, from Madras, bringing as a prisoner from that
place a modern Jack Sheppard, named Thomas Jones, who
was arrested in Madras on the charge of having stolen 146
sovereigns, 25/ dollars, and a diamond ring of the value of
£lO, the moneys and property of Captain L. 0. Legg, of the
British ship Berkshire, while lying in the French port of
Pondicherry, in the East Indies. The history of the prisoner
is remarkable, and worthy of record. He is a young man,
about twenty-eight years of age, about five feet six inches
in iaeight, slender make and rather gentlemanly in appear-
ance. His travels in the East having exposed him to the
effects of a tropical sun, his skin is considerably bronzed,
giving him the aspect of a foreigner. It appears that he is a
native of Liverpool, and that, some six years ago, he was
tried at the assizes, and sentenced to ten years' transportation,
for the crime of burglary. Having served the greatest
portion of the time in a penal settlement, he appears to
have obtained a ticket of leave ; but nothing was known
or heard of him by the authorities until the 24th of
August last, on which date he was found doing duty as
a seaman on board the English ship Berkshire, Captain
Legg, at the port of Pondicherry. On the night of the
same day, Jones was found wanting, and subsequently it was
discovered that the captain's desk had been broken open, and
about £l6O and a diamond ring stolen. Some short time
afterwards the prisoner turned up at Madras, where he was
apprehended in October, on the above charge, by Mr. Elliott,
the chief superintendent of police at that place. He was then
put on board the Rangoon for conveyance to England, and
arrived here as above-stated. Detective Carlisle took charge
of him on being landed, and escorted him to bridewell that
evening. He appeared to be perfectly acquainted with that
establishment, and solicited the favour of being located at No.
12 cell for the night. In conversation with Mr. Campbell, the
bridewell-keeper, the prisoner spoke in familiar terms of the
town, the bridewell, &c-, and said that he had been perfectly
well acquainted with the late stipendiary magistrate; having
been in his company on several occasions—the last time he
had that honour was particularly impressed upon his memory,
seeing that that gentleman committed him for trial. On
Thursday, he was brought before the magistrates, but no
evidence was gone into, Mr. Superintendent Clough having
stated that he had received a communication from a solicitor
in London, saying that the prisoner would be tried in the
metropolis. He was consequently handed over to the particu-
lar care of the police, for the purpose of being conveyed to
London.