The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-19 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.

againstc t
of a a Papalrwtyh
erhilehee
King John, the bad hero of one of Shakspear's
finest historical plays, is exactly one of those
characters which only a great tragedianf .like Mr.
degree emmence.
C. Kean can raise to the proper de
—which Save
best
h uttersas onlythe speechtheeff e
clap-
trap, offending one portion of the audieupc
as it delights the rest—he is unquestieonaasbill
object not of sympathy,
.but aversion. Nor doeys anh
ever acquire the peculiar popularity to
a
villain of the lago school. may lay just claim. He
is not a valiant cynic, like Richard 111., who sea-
sons murder with sarcasm. If his heart does not
command affection, neither does his head enjoin
respect. He is simply a prince, who wishes to
strengthen a crooked title to a throne, without the
slightest scruple as to means, and also without the
slightest ability to keep upon his head the crown
he has unjustly acquired.
Nevertheless, Kmg John is a personage whom
all the histrionic artists who have been earnest in
attempting the highest tragic flights have delighted
to represent. What, then, is there in this meanest
of royal criminals that should awaken the ambi-
tion of those who seek the elevated and the sub-
lime ? On the surface all is uninviting. What
subtlety, so alluring, lies beneath the surface, that
the most towering ambition is tempted to call it
forth from its hidden depths ?
The only great scene for the actor that plays
King John is that in which the wicked monarch
gradually unfolds to his creature his morbid desire
to get rid of the innocent boy, who is the sole ob-
stacle to an uncontrolled possession of the throne ;
and the embodiment of the mental condition ex-
hibited in this scene demands the highest qualities.
John is a timid villain, who dares scarcely trust
his own thought, till he finds his evil aspirations
encouraged by the words of a too ready confidant.
He would not tell Hubert to kill Arthur, but he
would have him offer to perpetrate the foul deed on
the faintest indication of a word ; and for the ex-
hibition of this half-hidden, half-revealed purpose,
all the exquisite refinement
f.
Mr. Charles Kean
is required. Though the voice is lowered from that
anxiety for secrecy, which scarcely
.allows the
speaker to trust his own ears with his
frightful ima-
ginings, the intensity of evil desire is distinctly
shown, and there is something of desperation in the
eagerness with which the King leaps from his sup-
pressed mode of utterance to the ejaculations of a
hearty friendship for Hubert. A great moral is
conveyed in the fourth act, when John, with
a revulsion of feeling, upbraids the instru-
ment of crime, and fiercely is the
revulsion delineated by 14. Charles Kean; terrible,
too, is the death in the last scene, with all its com-
plicated agony ; but the scene which should be
witnessed again and again, studied over, and pon-
dered over, is that which we have endeavoured
faintly to describe. Here our great tragedian shows
himself a thorough master of all the profoundest

secrets of his art.
If the character of John is one revealed by hints
and faint suggestions, the emotions of the Lady
Constance—the other great character in the tra-
gedy—are displayed without reserve. The rage
and the still more impassioned grief by which this
unhappy lady is actuated, spring from the holiest
source—she is a fanatic of maternal tenderness.
Thoroughly does Mrs. Charles Kean appreciate all
the capabilities of this wonderful character, and we
should hail the revival of " King John" as the great
event of the theatrical year, were it only for the
opportunity afforded to the first living actress of.
giving an unbridled manifestation of her surpassing
power. That pride of grief, in which Constance
boasts, is grandly depicted, when shesits despairing
on the ground, with her imaginary companion, the
prescribed sorrow ; such a queen of awe has a right
to exact the homage of kings. Still more com-
manding are the utterance of her lacerated heart,
when despair is almost heightened to madness, but
nevertheless cannot subdue the tenderness of
the mother. Loud and indignant in the
assertion of her sanity, the passages in
which she recalls the image of her " pretty
Arthur' interrupt most pathetically the cur-
rentnf hpr. rasa •
lamenting her " widow-comfort, alLavneserthseorrsotage
cure," a mingled sentiment of awe and sympathy
is left in the minds of all who have witnessed this
mighty display of grief..
These two characters, sustained by the greatest
actor and actress of the age, stand forward dis-
tinctly from the rest ; but the whole play is pro-
duced in a complete style, that shows the archwo-
logical manager in full activity. Those heavily-
armed barons, with their strange-looking helmets
on their heads and netted chains about their shoul-
ders, with long shields, long swords, and long
surcoats—how immovable do they look in repose,
and how briskly do they intermingle with each
other when the cry of battle is raised! . How does
the Middle Age revive in the persons of burgher
and baron, when the hostile armies meet before
Angiers, and how sacred is the repose of Swinstead
Abbey ! How accurate, and how full of animation,
are all the masses !
We cannot omit to mention the very effective
manner in which the scene between Hubert and
Arthur was sustained. Mr. Ryder gives a good
striking portraiture to his character; and little
Miss E. Terry drew tears from many who sympa-
thised with her sufferings.
" King John" is the first " revival" of the " fare-
well season," and from the excellence of the acting,
and the perfection of the raise en scene, it makes
the word " farewell " more unmusical than ever.

THE EXTRAORDINARY PROCEEDINGS
AT NEWCASTLE.

A special sitting of the borough magistrates o
Gateshead was held at the town-hall, on Saturday
at two o'clock, the mayor (Bryan J. Prockter, Esq.)
and Mr. Alderman Smith being the sitting magis-
trates. The Viscomte F. de Maricourt, who had
been apprehended at Blyth (North) by Mr. Seborey,
the superintendent of police of the borough of
Gateshead, under a warrant issued by the bench
two days previously, was brought up in custody,
charged with having assaulted Mr. J. Bolivar
Manson, the editor of the Northern Daily Express.
The defendant, who is a slight made but active
young man, with a small light moustache and im-
perial' bowed to the magistrates on entering with
a courtly air equally removed from the ferocious
ruffian or the crack-brained young soldier who
might have been expected in his person. Mr.
George Reed, clerk to the magistrates, read the
charge, and Mr. Edward Glynn, a solicitor, of the
firm of Laws and Glynn, Newcastle, was sworn as
interpreter, and explained the substance of the in.
formation to the defendant. The bench decided to
hold the defendant to bail, Mr. Manson, who was
present, offering no objection. The defendant was
then bound over, himself in the penalty of £2OO,
and two sureties in the penalty of £lOO each, for
his appearance at the usual sitting of the borough
magistrates to-day (Tuesday). The defendant ex-
pressed, through the interpreter, to the bench, his
thanks for the courtesy with which he had been
treated, and both parties left the court with their
friends.
Mr. Sterling, of Westgate-hill, the tradesman
alleged to have been influenced by the Count de
Maricourt, has published a letter, wherein he, iri
the most positive terms, denies that the count ever
canvassed him for his vote, and so the extraordi-
nary affair stands.

The suspension has taken place of Messrs.
William Arnold and Sons, of Billiter-street, hemp manu-
facturers, with liabilites amounting to about £B,OOO. A
favourable liquidation is expected.

The general business of the port of London still
remains inactive. The number of ships reported inward
during the past week was 176, while 111 were cleared out-
ward, including 17 in ballast. The exports generally have
not been large and those to China in particular are verylimited. Of the ships now on the berth loading outward,
54 are for the Australian colonies, four for Vancouver's
Island, one for San Francisco,, and three for China.
THE HOMEWARD AUSTRALIAN " MAILS.—The
heavy portion of the mails from Australia, New Zealand,
&c., arrived at Southampton yesterday morning, by the
steam-ship Cambria, Captain James 'Anderson, chartered
by the Royal Mail ompany, which left Alexandria on the
6th and Malta on the 9th inst. The Cambria encountered
a strong gale from the eastward off Gibraltar, and passed
some deck gear, such as hencoops, do
In ac-
cordance Off Lisbon she passed several wine pipes.
line, the mails
ghouse, & ~ off the
cordance with the custom adopted on this
General ,
came home in charge of a clerk . on the ship's
office, and were all serted ready for delivery
passengers (of whom 24
arrival. - The Cambria brought 46 1 three ser-
vants,from the Posts
first-class, 10 children,
he Australian squadron), 41
and five invalids from the Australian
and 326 packages of mis-
cellaneous merchandise.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

CAMBRIDGE, OCT. 18.

A meeting of the members of the senate was held
to-day in the Arts School for the discussion of the
proposed regulations of the faculty of medicine. It
appeared that since these regulations (mainly drawn
up by the Board of Medical Studies) were submitted
to the senate in June last, the Act of Parliament
passed affecting the practice of medicine has ren-
dered various alterations necessary. The report
was accordingly referred back to the council of the
senate for reconsideration by the members in con-
junction with those of the Board of Medical Studies.