The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1810-01-05 00:00:00

INtERESTING NARRATIVE.

Died.'no Monday night, the Both last, of con-
sumption, in an obscure dwelling in Crossfield,
Halifax, and in circumstances of extreme distress, .'
Mrs. Standevens, aged 30. The short history .01
this accomplished cud unfortunate young woman is
painfully interesting; biti, as the !email* which it
teaches is full of iu.truction, s'kw particular* are
added, in the hope, tile!. as 11 warning example to
female youth, her sufferiogs and uselaucholy fate ,
may not have happened in vain :—Eliza Evans was ,
the only child of the Rev. Mr. Emus, of .Malpas, •
in Cheshire, domestic chaplaiu to Lord Choluton-
deley. Hareharacter, as given by one who knew
him, was, in every respect, excellent. fie was
exemplary and useful in the discharge of his sacred
office, noticed and caressed, by the rich mid the'
great, fur his acquirements and virtues, mid be-
loved by the poor for his piety sod charities.—
Eliza lost her mother at the early age of live years,
and tea years afterwards was bereft of her father.
The interval between these two deprivations was
spent at the best schools which Chester and Startler-
bury afforded. fler attainments were, worthy of
tile opportunities which she enjqed. In addition
to her native language, she became mistress of
French nod Italian, excelled iii music and draw-
ing, awl attained eminence in the variety of fancy-
work, without having neglected the more useful
acquisition of plain-work. She was sent for from
school to attend the death-bed of her father: he •
left her, at the age of is, about 800 K under the
guardianship of Sir Thomas Edwards, of Frotiesley.
To this little fortune Lord Chohnondeley added the
life-interest of the leasehold property possessed by
her father, estimated at from 001. to 701. per sun.
Her guardian died soon after his curate, and his
ward coot' ed to reside with Lady Edwards.
Sumecirsuinstances, which, at this distance of tune,
it were useless to detail, separated her front the
protection of this family, and she left them, to re-
side with an old servant and housekeeper of her
father. It is unnecessary to give any particulars
of the early disappointment of her hopeta—Youttg.
accomplished, in some degree independent, sepa-
rated from any near connexions, and ivornau!, be-
yond her year., by one imprudent act she plunged
herself into embarrassments which ended only with
her life. At this period she became acquainted
with Mr. Standevens, a young man of IJ, the hero,
at that time, of the Shrewsbury Theatre, sod who
wore the sock and buskin alternately, with equal
and no mean provincial celebrity. They met at a
musical paity. They were both musical. At six-
teen, whilst in mourning fur her father, she Isteame
s wife, at setrente-n a mother. tier history is now
Mon toll. Her life w, *hat may be seen in the
green-room of every provincial theatre. Her talents
were not adapted to the stage; her figureheas little,
her voice had lost its swertuess, and in particular she
could not get the better of a timidity which made
her never feel at home upon the stage. She did
Pot rise above very tiohorilinate parts in the theatre;
and during the greater portion of her career, she
'Was an actress, not from cleave, but necessity.—
!The dressed her fats with smiles, and her ',emus
with tiitery„ to citable her to still the clamorous
craving, and to clothe the noltedliess of six poor
children at home. To the wear nod tear of the first
actor ill all pert, of a provincial theatre, Mr. Stand-
even's constitution, originclly robust, fell a seen-
fice. As his health, and perhaps his theatrical fame
earl his powers of entertateing decreeord, his family
increased. A long sickness destroyed his only
means of hriviog, his wife and children, and added
to their emberressenents. The leasehold property,
the gift of Lord Cholmondeley, had beet' disposed
cif. About two years ago death removed poor
Stamlevest• front the contempletion of poverty
and 'suffering, which he could not alleviate.—
It ought not to be omitted, that when separated
from his wife by sickness, whist she followed with
pin or her family the fortunes of the company, this
poor man's letters endeavoured to cheer and support
her, and breathed unabated tenderness and affection
for her and her children. Mrs. S. endeavoured to
retain her steno's on the stage, humble as it was,
hut in vain. On the expiration of her engagement,
it could not be renewed ; her strength was unequal
even to her subordinate pert.; the insidious dis-
ease to which she fell a v'ctim was gradually under-
mining a constitution naturally delicate, and her
spirit was completely broken. On foot with her
children, 10 rags sod wretchedness, she travelled
from Tidswell, in Derbyshire, in search of her hus-
band's parish. About a year ago, whilst on this rout%
she arrived at Halifax, and entering at night with-
out any previous intimation, the house of a distant,
female relation of her hushand, threw herself and her
children ulani her protection. Bat theeirceuudenees
of this relative were entirely niteipial to such a
call : she had fur many years taken cafe of and edu-
cated the oldest boy, and has continued her kind-
Hess to this unfortunate family to the present hour.
Mrs. Standevens and her children lived some time
in a mom in Coppee.street, and afterwards, about
three months, in Croo-field. Here they were sup-
ported by a small allowance from her husband's
parish—by her needle--hy her tent hing a few
scholars—by the kindness of their relation—aud liy
the casual bounty of the charitable. tier di
Lad now nearly run its courier ; its last stage was
alleviated, and her paseige to the grave rendered
easier, by medical assistance. A few days before
her death, "she was admitted a home patient of
the Halifax General Dispensary, and vets relieved
from the fund of the Benevolent Society, lay the
visitor of the district in which she lived. She was
perfectly *Aare of her approaching dissolution.
)fl the ermine on which she died, she said to a
rotor kind neightionr, M Do not leave me, Martha!"
the poor woman knelt beside her, (the bed was en
Ilse floor) and supported the dying mother in her
arms. Afire having in this sitesation been a *loin
nine engaged in prayer, she looked for her oldest
daughter. whit was iseeling at the foot of the bed,
and. tiring her eyes upon her, serenely breathed,
' her lag. Her dying words were, 1 bequeath Inv
children to (liirl, myself into his heeds
She thus commended her orations to the pri.'ection
of him who is the• father ref the flatbed...es; and
trdsting to his merciful acceptance gave bark her
sp sit into the heeds of the widow's fled. This is
• sorrmsc.:l tale. het there are some circumstances
nu %Inch the feelings mat dwell with pleasure. The
aci i one men t s of heeyeuth she reamed to bertleath.
—lo lice accunsubittel distresses they ministered to

her stipparts and tuitigiste4 the aufferings which
they tuoild nut removs_,Sie was thus ittlat'l.crl to
be the instructress of lser children. le the '
40,0 which the etticiponlyrsisited, draw-
ing Add the use of he piano-forte, and made
raffles" su
pport
Of pffiittet hnd fancy-work for the
Of her fatuity.' 'Her quickness in con-
tributed to 'the twee end. And when her work
'or wall finished, she spent her bourti:ii.
rending. She mare than Mice afteniptecr.trepo-
•tal,ll4lt a -school,'nut the' world's prejudice win-
ed her: success :—"She had been as a playq;::
and it is no wonder that this laudable
failed. Unfortunate' woman ! • one single act of im-
Trudeuce.altered entirely' the complexions of her
life. What a contrast do the two portions of it
present. Though in the first fifteeu years she felt
the irreparable loss of a mother; and though her
mother's death ultimitelideprived her of an ad-
viser and a home, her childhood and youth *vie
spent, happily and usefully, iu the acquisition of
knowledge, and io the society of valuable friends.
The last fifteen years present a melancholy and
different picture ; but. in cireanistotioces and in so-
ciety by no means fotroiutable to virtue, her cha-
racter remained without blemish and without re-
proach.
And surely it is highly gratifying to find, that the
religious impressions of her infancy and youth, so
far from being effaced by ont.sequent years spent in
a dangerous profession, and marked with a variety
.of muttering% were recognized during her ilium. and
iu her last moments ; that they did not forsake her
amidst the most squalid wretchedness, or during
the most acute sufferings ; but rumbled her, in cir-
cumstances of extreme distress, to die in peace with
humble resignation and hope.—Five destitute or-
phans survive her—two daughters, of the ages of
It and 10, and three boys, of the ages of 13, 1, and
2 years ; the sixth child died five years ago.