The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-11 00:00:00

DEATH OF MADAME VESTRIS.

Purposing, as we do, in this off season, to give
critical and biographical notices of the more emi •
sent members of the theatrical profession, we have
scarcely commenced our task ere death has erased
from the list which we had jotted down the name
of one of the most celebrated women of the day.
Mrs. Charles Mathews, well known all over Europe
as Madame Vestris, expired on Friday night, at 12
o'clock, at her residence, Grove Lodge, Fulham,
after suffering for many months "under au excruci-
ating and incurable disease. Renowned during her
youth for her beauty and esprit, and during the
latter years of her life for her admirable taste and
knowledge of everything appertaining to dramatic
effect, few women have had their names brought so
prominently before the world ; indeed, as it is the
practice of would•be wits to father their dull jokes
and pointless inanities upon Sheridan or Curran in
order that they may pass muster, so was it the
habit of the flaneurs and diners out of twenty years
ago to attribute the most romantic anecdotes of
boundless extravagance or bizarre behaviour to
Madame Vestris. In creating for her this unen-
viable notoriety jealousy had no small share. It
is well known that in the eyes of the mean-spirited
there is nothing so criminal as success, and we re-
gret to say that in the theatrical profession the truth
of this axiom is too frequently elucidated. Madame
Vestris had not• only a talent for dramatic repre-
sentation—that is to say, for acting a character—
but she possessed that much rarer qualification, the
power of harmonising dramatic effect with the
realities of every-day life. During her management,
and under her artistic eye, were for the first time
produced comedies of modern life in which the dress
and behaviour of the characters and adjuncts and.
accessories of the scene were such as the audience
were rarely accustomed to see. Had a " super" to
come on and deliver a message, he was drilled to do
it simply and naturally, and not to announce it in
the blood-and-thunder voice which these persons
usually conceive to be inseparable from acting ;
while the speechless noblemen and guests at an
evening party were, by her, rescued from the wild
state of apparel in which they had hitherto in-
dulged, and clothed in ordinary evening costume.
Among ill-informed people, who, by the way,

are always the most garru-lous, it has been fora-
length of time the custom to speak of Madame
Testris as of an almost fabulous age ; and to marvel

that she had so long retained strength and spirit
enough to appear upon the stage. It is almost
needless to say that this assertion, like most others
of the same kind, was unfounded. The daughter
of a well-known engraver, named Bartolozzi, she
was born in the year 1797, and from the .first gave
evidence of extraordinary abilities as a musician
and a linguist. At the age of sixteen she was mar-
ried to M. Armand Vestris, the principal dancer at
and ballet-master of the then King's Theatre, in
the Haymarket, at whose solicitation she entered
upon the dramatic profession, appearing first as
Proserpina in the opera of " Il Ratto di Proser-
pina," at the theatre to which her husband was
attached. Having, however, scarcely made the
sensation which was expected, she did not re-
main in London, but accompanied her husband
to Paris, where she played for some time
in drama and tragedy in the French lan-
guage, of which she was a perfect mistress.
On her return to England in 1819, she accepted
an engagement with Mr. Elliston, at Drury-
lane, and Mozart's opera of "Don Giovanni" being
at that time at the height of its popularity, she
shortly afterwards established her fame in a bur-
lesque of that masterpiece called " Giovanni in
London," in which she as the hero, and Harley as
Leporello, created an extraordinary sensation.
From this time her success was complete, and she
reigned the spoilt favourite of the London public
both at Drury-lane and Covent-garden, playing
what is technically termed " first light comedy,"
such as Lydia Languish in " The Rivals," Letitia
Hardy in " The Bell's Stratagem," Miss Hard-
castle in " She Stoops to Conquer," &c. Charac-
ters of more serious interest she never attempted.
In the year 1829 she became lessee of the Olympic
Theatre, which she transformed into the most ele-
gant " temple of the drama" in London. Assisted
by an admirable company, and having at her com-
mand the freshest and smartest dramatic authors
then on town, her theatre soon became the most
popular in the metropolis. There were first pro-
duced those brilliant extravaganzas and revues of
Messrs. Planche and Charles Dance upon which
their, fame is built. On the 7th December, 1835,
Mr. Charles Mathews, who had been brought up
as an architect, made his first appearance on the
stage at the Olympic in a farce called the " Old
and Young Stager," in which he was admir-
ably supported by Liston, at that time the prop
of the establishment. In the year 1838 Madame
Vestris, whose husband had died, in 1825,
married Mr. Charles Mathews, and leaving the
Olympic under the management of Mr. Planche,
they immediately started for America. With our
Transatlantic neighbours, however,- the favourites
of the Olympic were a failure, and they returned
to England in 1839, in the September of which
year they entered upon the lesseeship of Covent
Garden. Under their management were produced
some of the chefs d'auvres of modern dramatic
authorship, among which may be mentioned "Lon-
don Assurance," " Time Works Wonders," " Old
Heads and Young Hearts," and some excellent
pantomimes, " The Castle of Otranto," the "Great
Bed of Ware," &c., and some of Mr. Planche's
best burlesques. Among the company were Messrs.
Fatten, Strickland, C. Mathews, Harley,,Keeley,
Anderson, Bartley, &c., and Mesdames Yestris,
Nisbett, Orger, Hunaby, &c. The speculation,
however, did not answer, and the lessees gave up
management at the end of their third season, in
April, 1842. After this they accepted a short tem-
porary engagement at Drury-lane with Mr. Mac-
ready, and a mere lengthened one with Mr Web-
ster, at the Haymarket. In 1846 Mr. and Mrs.
Mathews joined Mr. Maddox's company at the
Princess's, and in the autumn of 1847 they
opened the English Opera House, in Welling-
ton-street, under the name of the Lyceum.
Here the old Olympic Revels were renew-
ed, several of the former actors and authors
attached to the management flocking to
the newly-raised standard. Madame Vestris
played two or three important parts, such
as the Wonderful Woman and the Pride of the
Market, and made a great hit in more pathetic
characters, as, for instance, in Mr. Slingsby Law-
rance's " Chain of Events," and in the translation
of Madame de Girardin's play, "La Joie fait Peur,'i
under the name of 'fSunshine through the Clouds.' p
But her strength now began to fail her, and she
principally confined herself to the direction of the
stage, in which she showed that taste and talent
for which we have before described her as being so
remarkable. For the occasion of her husband's
benefit, on Wednesday, July 26, 1854, she made
her last appearance, in " Sunshine through the
Clouds," and since that she has been confined
always to the house, and principally to her room.
She is now no more ; but her name will long be
recollected in English theatrical society as that of
one of the cleverest and most far-seeing women of
her time. Of her faults there will be too many to
speak ; be it our task to chronicle her talent, her
liberality, and her perseverance in her profession.
—Morning Paper.

ANOTHER ASCENT OF MONT BLANO.—A letter front
Chamotinix -of the Ist, in the Savoy Gazette, says
" The great event of the day here is an ascent of Mont
Blanc, commenced yesterday morning, at eight o'clock,
by a Mr. Forman, an Englishman, and his daughter.
They arrived safely at the Grands-Mulets at three in the
afternoon, and by the light of lanterns left this morning
at two to ascend the giant of the Alps. At ten o'clock
the small party arrived on the crest of the highest moun-
tain in Europe, and after a halt of an hour left on their
return, and reached this place at seven in the evening.
This ascent will be talked of as one of the wonders of the
valley, both on account bf the little time employed (15
hours to ascend and 7 to descend), and of the intreipdity
shown by Miss Forman, of whom the guides speak in
raptures. This young lady is the fourth female who has
performed this feat. The progress of the tourists was
eagerly watched during the whole day, and every win-
dow that commanded a view of the path was bristling
with telescopes, like muskets from a loophole. The ar-
rival at Chaumonix was a perfect triumph ; all the inha-
bitants and the resident foreigners went out to meet
them, and the whole re-entered the place, headed by the
band of the guides in full costume, and amidst a salute
of cannon and the hearty shouts of the people. A sere-
nade and a display of fireworks finished the fete."
FATAL COLLIERY ACCIDENT.—A. melancholy occur-
rence took place on Friday at the Neachell Colliery,
Bull Pleck, a short distance from Wiilenhall. At ix
o'clock in the morning 7 men, including H. Hodgkiss,
the "butty," and two lads, descended a stonepit belong-
ing to Messrs. Sparrow. Five of the men and the two
boys proceeded at onbe into the workings, and two of
the men, France and Hayward, remained at the bottom.
France soon perceived the presence of foul air, and called
to Hodgkiss, the " butty," to withdraw the other men
and the boys from the headway. The men at the bottom
gave the alarm by shouting to the person on the bank.
Hodgkiss soon after reached the bottom, dragging the
boys, one by each hand. The whole party, with the ex-
ception of the "butty,''thenb
er
ecalnmweinedseansaikbilpe:
and
dn the
e
meantime the men on the bank
insensible menand boys were placed in it to be taken up]
When the skip was about 8 or 9 yards from the ground
one of the insensible men, Wm. Burns, fell from it. On
reaching the bank the others* were taken out, and the
usual means to restore animation were applied, we are
happy to state with perfect Success. The skip was again
lowered for the purpose of finding Burns, but 20 minutes
elapsed,.in consequence of the stifling gas, ere the men
could reach the bottom. The body of the unfortunate
man was found dead, with a fearful wound on the left
side of the head. He bad been ailing for some time past,
and the gas probably had a greater effect upon him, than
the other PA e n --13frolfrtglmi journal.