The Sun.
London, England, 1825-12-05 00:00:00

[LDTTErt 1.3

• " Henrietta-ntreet, Nov. 27,1825-
" DEAR. Ste—l read Lady Teazle last night, and again
this morning, with great attention. Ido not see the slightest
difficulty to myself in performing the part. My view of her
character is still the same. She appears to ine any thing but a
fine Lady. Indeed, there is not a single line in the whole play
which describes her either as a beautid or an elegant woman :
but, on the contrary, as.haring been six months before a girl of
limited eduCation, and of the most homely habits. Now, if I
could reconcile it to my common sense, that such a person
could acquire the fashionable elegance of high life in so short
a period, I hope it is no vain boast to.say, that having bad the
1 good fortune to be received, for years past, into society far
above my rank in life, and having, therefore, had the best op-
portunities of observing the manners of the best orders, I must
be a sad bungler in my art if I could not, at least, convey some
notion of those manners in the personation of Lady Teazle;
but this, I repeat, is contrary to my commonsense-view of her
character. Still the town, has been so long accustomed to con-
sider her, through the representation of Miss Farren,and all her
successors in the part, in this, and in no other light, that I should
really tremble to attempt my..simple reading of her character,
from the dread of drawing on myself a severity of criticism which
I have ever had the good fortune to escape-.—and perhaps a cen-
sure from the public, who have hitherto received me with so
much kindness as considering I have never ventured beyond
the limits of my humble abilities. After saying so• ninth, I
must leave it to the wise heads who have suggested this hazard
to me to determine whether the business of the Theatre is in
such a position as to make the effort essential to its interests,
in which case, and in' which case alone, 1 could be induced,
though with fear and trembling, but " by particular desire,"
, to put on feathers and white satin, and make a fool of myself.
I am, dear Sir,
Your obedient faithful servant,
F. .111. KELLY.'.'

[LETTER I
, . Henrietta-street, Dec. 2, 1825.
" Dear Sir:—ln my great anxiety to ascertain how far I was
right in my anticipation'orthe consequences of my performing
Lady Teazle, I have • ventured to look into all the papers
this morning;, and though the generality of diem are highly
flattering anti indulgent, yet there are two which (as indeed I
expected would have teen the case with all) accuse me of folly
and presumption in undertaking the character.
"There appears also to have been a faling (which is extremely
painful to me).that, Mrs. Davison has been displaced for my
advancement to one of her characters. Now, as I cannot tell
them (what you told me) that she had given up the part, and
that you have pressed me against my own judgment, into the
performance of it, I do hope and request you will . take the
trouble to write a line to the Editors of The ltio,rning licraZd,
and Ths•Nc-.e Tlines,-to eionerate mefrom the cliarge of having
sought to obtrude myself on the public in a character which is
entirely out of my line, and which I was never ambitious to all.
1 am, Sir, your obedient faithful servant,
F. 31. KN1.1.X."

The public Critics seem to have founded their
opinion of the character of Lady Teazle upon the
manner in which it was represented by. Miss
FARREN. The first representative of the part
was MTS. ABINGTON, a comic actress unrivalled
in her day, and a woman of an excellent under-
standing. . She performed the part long before
Miss fir.tr,y was born, just in the manner that
this popular actress now represents it. It may
be`addecl, that Mrs. ABINGTON, besides her own
judgment, must have had the advantage of all
the lights which the author could throw upon
the character.
The English Stage is likely to lose Mr. T. P.
COOKE for a while. That' gentleman has, we understand,
accepted an engagement from the manager of the Theatre Porte
St. Martin, at Paris, where he is to come out as the Monster,
in Frankenstein. As the novel is remarkably popular in
France, the success of the melo.drame is considered certain.

Mr. WHITBREAD and Mr. IiANT(EY have each
presented 501, to the Loucks!) Mechanic's Justi-
Want),