The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-06-29 00:00:00

DEATH OF MR. ROBERT B. BROUGH.

Death has deprived English literature of one of ifs
most genial humourists, and left a wide circle of affec-
tionate friends to mourn the untimely loss of a noble;
true-hearted mail. Mr. Robert Brough has been cut on
in the prime of manhood, and in the full ripeness of his
intellectual powers, yet in the course of his compara-
tively brief career he had succeeded in achieving for
himself a reputation such as it is the lot of few to earn'
and those who had watched his progress and appreciated
the richness of his genius looked forward with proud
anticipation to the period when he would have succeeded
in climbing to a yet higher pinnacle of fame. There
an end now to such pleasant dreams; those noble asPirn•
tions, those intensely human sympathies, that tender
graceful fancy, lie paralysed by the cold hand of death'
Yet those who knew him best and loved him most—and
the one led inevitably to the other—may find Much con-
solation even under this heavy and unlooked-for bloc-
In less than half the full span of humaridife,• it is no
small thing to have developed rich fruit by the cultirs-
tion of high imaginative powers, to have gained a faille
which will assuredly endure, and to have won on ever!'
hand cordial esteem and honest friendship. 'Better to die
thus in youth than to linger on to old age, and Pass
away unhonoured and unloved.
The interest of a literary life lies in general but little
upon the surface ; the struggles, the trials, and the vie*
toiies which make up the biography of the mind on
general be faithfully traced only by a singld hand, 0'
in this case, alas ! that hand is for ever still. Mr' E'
Brough's career bore this close resemblance to that f
the majority of his fellow-labourers, that it 'C3i
characterised by few striking incidents. Born in London
in 1828, he was removed at a very early age to Pc'nti.
pool, in Monmouthshire, and thence to Newport, 11°
he received his scholastic training. He went to Man-
chester in 1843, and four years afterwards proceeded t°
Liverpool, where his literary tastes found their first out-
let in a facetious publication started by him, entitled
" The Liverpool Lion," which is still remembered bf
the townsmen for its merry jests and pleasant frog°.
At Liverpool, too, he commenced his career as a dramatist*
by writing, in conjunction with his brother, Mr.
Brough, the burlesque of " The Enchanted Isle," wlitc/IA
was played at the Amphitheatre with great success, an"
was the first of a long series of witty parodies on popullnrlmt
pieces which subsequently issued from his pen.
reproduction of this burlesque at the Adelphi gave h'51,1
his first introduction to the metropolitan public, all
shortly after this he was married to Miss E. Romer, °ud
of a gifted family, and herself possessing no small shsti
of dramatic talent. His removal to London was thus
doubly fortunate to him ;it gay,: him • not-only sett'
reputation and honourable gain, but a still greater
treasure—a fund and devoted wife..

Since that period his name has been, in one waY er
another, constantly before the public. Various coul'i
periodicals, such as the " Man in the Moon," "MaPbl:
tophiles," "Pasquin," "Diogenes," and the ~Cocc°'
Times," received the lighter effusions of his fancy; till,
' National Magazine ". and the " Welcome Guest a derived, for some time, their highest attraction front ",
somewhat more serious efforts ; and the playgoers °'
London will not need to he reminded of his fecunditf,,
and success as a writer of burlesque. Hi* " -Med°
and " Afasaniello" are still, and will probably long COA;
tinue to be, unrivalled ; and his latest production of t..,;°/3-
class, " Alfred the Great," gave no evidence of a diw:,
nished productiveness in his vein of humorous fauel:
and led his admirers to hope that he would acbiel"
many future triumphs in a field over which he maY
fairly said to have reigned supreme. tut his,constitll:
tion, always feeble, had been greatly impaired by tb,-
fatigue, the excitement, and we grieve to add e.'
anxieties and pecuniary embarrassments too often ink
dent to an author's life ; and at length his health iitter,i,
broke down. It is now less than four months since ""
rose from a bed of sickness to take part in the amateur
performance given by the Savage Club for the benefit/
the widows and families of two deceased literary gentle'
men ; he little dreamed then how soon a, similar et.
would be needed for the relief of his own. He lel'
rallied from the reaction which followed upon. this effulL'
an attempt was made to remove him to. Wales,. but ""
could proceed no farther on his way .than Manchester,
where he expired on Tuesday night, leaving his inauru;
ing widow and little ones wholly without.prossion i.
the future. It is impossible to believe that they will be
suffered to remain so. Already, we are informed, tu;
committee of the Savage Club, of which Bober,
r
Brough was president, have taken the first steps toWal'',
organising a dramatic performance for the benefit of 11.111,
family, and we feel satisfied so admirable au effort sc'il
meet with such a cordial co-operation as will secure ft't
it complete success.
he,
Mr. Robert Brough was, perhaps, best known to t,
mass of the public as an author of burlesque ;,..and
is to be regretted, because these productions, mar“,,
lously witty as they unquestionably are, display only t'
least remarkable of his varied powers. Strange. as t°
assertion may seem to those who have enjoyed. snare/
hearty laugh at the whimsicalities of his comic muse,
is nevertheless true that he excelled most in the pathetic;
overflowing with fun, he was, like Thomas .Hood,
nitely more admirable in Iris serious vein, and.,sorne °
his compositions of that class will be cherished as ger'3s:
To those who enjoyed his ffiendship, this characteristic °'
his genius could cause no surprise, for it was impossibly;
to remain long in intimate contact with him withal'
recognising the exuberance of his generous sympathil,
and the overflowing goodness of his heart. He Was 7i
ardent hater, but only of' that which was. intrinsica,'
mean or base ; his whole nature warmed into! ferv°llr
under the influence of every generous impulse, and 111
pen was never slow to obey its bidding. It.is hard t 0
write the last word of one who was, but a few 5110 r,
weeks ago, the idol of so many social circles, and icb°
has now been so suddenly laid low. But .the tliQughr:
now floating in the minds of those who knew hire
thoroughly may be summed up in one brief plirasers
he was an artist to emulate, a friend to cherish, 1101'
man to love.-3for;ibi; Star.
~

There has just died at La Soubiere, an old man, Je'
Paris, upwards of an hundred years of age. He led "u
active life, scarcely knew what illness was, diedFithuli,
pain, and enjoyed his intellectual faculties up to, the last
moment. He took long walks every day, and last year
walked five kilometres to his parish church, to receive
the sacrament at Easter.
MvsrEarous EVENT.—A circumstance occurred I°,,
Sunday in Queenstown which has given rise to fixcv;
conjecture and gossip among the'" guidwives." A °
days ago, as we are informed, a young lady cf,prePs'
sessiug appearance arrived at the Queen's Hotel ale'le'
where she lodgtd under the name of, we believe, .fry'
Carr. Last Sunday, just after the arrival of the tair
boat containing the American mails for the Persia/ ;
gentleman, fashionably dressed, called at the hotel add
inquired for Mrs. Carr. That lady immediately, 3P;
peaked with her luggage packed, paid her hills findlrebui
off in the Persia, accompanied by the gentleman..
vessel had been gone about, two hours, when Mr. Elliott.,.,
the proprietor of the " Queen's," received a ielegftm-_,
from Dublin offering him £lOO reward it' he detained
the lady. It was too late, however; the bird had new°
far on her way to America.—Cork Herald ft
::\VYNDII.I3I r. O'Biciax.—The particular estate,le
by the will of the Earl of Thomond, bearing date 14th i
October, 1738, having failed by the decease of
O'Brien without issue, the reversion to Percy Wy,nd°,7
took effect. This limitation was on condition ;of tut;
devisee's assumption of the name of O'Brien in place
,1
that of Wyndham. There is a story current, ,an
respectably vouched for, that on certain legal proqeog°
being taken to invalidate the devise to the Wyndl?ain
family, a question of consideration was started, and; '9"
the court inquiring of counsel for the devisee, what c.a'
sideration there was for the devise, counserreplied'
" Consideration, my lords ! Was it not a sufficient eo9'
sideration to have laid aside the noble name of TiTYad..'
ham, and to have assumed the barbarous appellf4kon f
O'Brien .1" It is said their lordships were satisfied, and
held for the validity of the devise.—Historkal
of the O'Briens, by Jaw C Domayhati:.4.2l., barrister-
at-law. ;.":.;
THE CHAMPIONS IN IRELAND.—RIOT AT DUBLIN.---
Sayers and Heenan appeared at the Rotunda Gardens,
Dublin, on Monday. In the evening it was with 9045i5
derable trouble the " champions" could disengagntUel4'
selves from the motley crowd by whom they were stir-
rounded. The " Benicia Boy " and BaTeTs'
promenaded as far as they would be permitted amongst
the masses that jostled to get near the two "heroes.'
After some time, persons began amusing theMielveti
by blocking the hats of their fellow spectators. The
standard of rebellion against all pugilistie authority was
raised, and in a very short time indeed the platform wag
broken to pieces, and the carpet with which it was covered
torn into shreds. This system of 'agitation had the etlef
of bringing in vast reinforcemenislrom
railings were scaled by hundreds froM every 'quarte.F.
The two pugilists presented themselves amidst a sthrni
of noise and confusion. Sayers tried to make himself
heard, and was understood to say that if a space
•
was cleared the science of himself and his Friend
would be displayed. This appeal was in fain, and
the Benicia Boy having tried his p
with as little success as his companeiornsu,abothPfo3lll°'
diately threw down the gloves, and then en.aWd t 4
scene of tumult and disorder'
prhaps never eclne4e-
ri
in Dublin ; hats were blocked, coat tails were' torn
off, and Johnston's refreshment marquee' Was col-
lapsed in the twinkling of an eye. The wine, •Nihl9kY'
and drink of all kinds which it contained, as well 85
all the money which had been received in during the
day for drink, were made away with by the rioters.
The police arrived in large numbers, and succeeded, after
much much trouble, in clearing the gardens and resato.jau
order. The "heroes" returned to their hotel, ni,dth
was quiet before eleven o'clock. At the timoaaseivere
row in the gardens, not less than 10,000 peorLo, for.
present. Heenan and Sayers left next In '
Belfast.

T of Dio
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jtiNE 29, 1860