The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-02-09 00:00:00

KEAN IN AMERICA.

[From a Philadelphia Paper of the 12th January.]
A gentleman who left the theatre last evening, about ten
o'clock, has given us the following account of what took
place in reference to the anticipated engagement of Mr.
Kean :—The theatre, last night, was perhaps a scene of
as much confubion as we ever witnessed in Philadelphia.
The comedy of Charles the Second passed off withnut in-
terruption, but the moment the curtain dropped the calla
for " Kean, Keen," became deafening, and continued the
whole interval, till the curtain rose for the Lady of the
Lake; the noise was then renewed with redoubled vioj
knee, till at length Mr. Wood came forward, and amidst
many interruptions stated in effect that be was quite un-
certain as to the determination of Mr. Kean; and that lie
had written to him during the effervescence of feeling oc-
casioned by the Heston proceedings, stating that lie had
better delay the fulfilment of his engagement, and that be
(Mr. K.) had done so ; but that since the feeling had sub-
sided, he hail written again, telling him that it would be
perfectly safe that he should come hither. To this no
answer had been returned. He had no power of com-
pelling Mr. Kean to appear before them, but he wished
for his appearance, and had no doubt the Philadelphia pub-
lie would accept of him as a great actor, without reference
to his personal failings, whatever they may have been. The
piece then proceeded with occasional interruptions till the
end of the second act, when the call through the house for
Mr. Wood and Mr. Mortimer became general. After muck
delay, a gentleman whom we supposed to be Mr. Morti-
mer came forward to the front of the boxes, and made a
motion to speak. Ile began by stating that he was forced'
forward very much against his inclination, but that he had
determined not to speak at all until Mr. Wood was on the
stage to hear him (we forgot to say that the speaker had
before expressed this determination, and that when lie
carried his intentions into effect Mr. Wood was just below
him, and appeared to listen to him with attention): he
continued—lt is due to those who deputed me to go to
New York to see Mr. Kean, as well as to the managers,
that I should state the result of my mission. Mr. Kean
told me that lie had received a letter from Mr. Wood
(which he showed me), in which Mr. Wood gave it as his
opinion that Mr. Kean's coming to Philadelphia to fulfil
his engagement would probably endanger his personal
safety or his life. Mr. Kean was not prepared to encounter
a repetition of the proceedings that had disgraced another
city, and, after consulting with his friends, determined to
relinquish his engagement altogether, which he did, " for
why," said he, " shall I again encounter those who may
assassinate me ?" (Some dissatisfaction was here ex-
pressed.) The speaker continued—" Ladies and gentle-
men, this was not the opinion which Mr. Kean had formed
of you ; but it is an opinion which any man would hare
been justified in forming, from the contents of the letter
to which I allude. Mr. Kean thinks better things of a
Philadelphia public, and though he cannot now perform
his original engagement of appearing here twelve nights,
yet I believe, were he assured of the kind intentions you
have manifested towards him, now and on former occa-
sions, he would yet appear before this audience for a short
period." The speaker sat down amidst applause, and we
hastily left the theatre to give this imperfect and short ac-
count of the proceedings, without being able to say what
followed theui.