The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-09-07 00:00:00

in Liverpool,
whose tables he

Power was a great favourite

was a welcome guest, can testify ; and he was inva-
luable in his professional character. But for this

preeminence, in that
forte, Tyrone Power

le which was peculiarly his
to struggle. Refer-

had lon,

J -
ring to this, and in their bearing generally, the fol-
lowing remarks are valuable, especially as coming
from a writer so versed in everything connected
with the histrionic profession as is the author of
the present biography :
STRUGGLES OF THE HISTRIONIC ARTIST.

"Circumstances connected with domestic affairs, tend-
ing to unsettle his mind, and prevent him from looking
forward to any fixed pursuit, particularly fitted him for
the stage—an uncertain career, full of charms and alluring
pictures for the youthful imagination, when viewed on the
surface, where all appears smooth, glittering, and attrac-
tive; but which,. when reduced to practical reality, has
more of the cares and anxieties of life, more heart-burn-
ings and disappointments, more difficulties and objections,
with a greater share of the bitterness of hope deferred,

than any other profession to which the energies can be
devoted. We speak not here of the unjust stigma and
degradation which narrow-minded bigotry basin all ages
endeavoured to affix as distinctive badges on the professors
of the histrionic art; as under the feudal tyrannies, the
collar of slavery marked out the hereditary serf. Much
of this has been swept away by the influence of individual
character. and the general spread of education—that im-
_

partial remover of prejudice, and sovereign auxiliary of
truth. But the barriers which oppose theatrical success
are manifold and peculiar. More numerous afid compli-
cated than those of any other art, because this single art
presents an amalgamation of all the rest. Inferiority is
linked to a life of endless drudging labour. * * There
5s no rural road to distinction or independence on the
stage. No highway to fame and fortune but that which
can be laid open by genius and perseverance. Here pri-
vate patronage and personal influence are powerless. They
can neither induct the aspirant into a comfortable sinecure,
nor maintain him in a prominent position. He can only
force his onward progress by a rare combination of endow-
ments which are accorded to few, and to that chosen few
the crowning opportunity is often denied."

Tyrone Power was rapidly rising to wealth, as his
name was widely known to fame, when he was
taken away. Let his admirers read the narrative,
and let those who knew him not now learn some-
thing of him. 'We may all of us rise wiser than we
were from a biography—and this, just as it is
viewed philosophically. Meanwhile, we cannot re-
sist giving a poetic effusion of Power's, written in
June, 1821, on reaching the shores of England
after a voyage from Southern Africa; and what
gives it singular interest is the anecdote which ac-
companies it. " The vessel in her course passed in
sight of St. Helena, but without touching at that
island. While the passengers in the cabin were
drinking a glass of wine to the health of the ex-
Emperor, word was sent down that an eagle was
seen from the deck, cleaving the air in flight from
the frowning rock. All remarked that this was a
curious incident, and some said it was an omen of
something. On arriving at Falmouth, they learned
that, on that very day, the once mighty Napoleon
had expired in his lonely corner of exile.

" Soul of the brave ! Thou art fled ;
But, perchance thy great spirit triumphantly rode
On the wind. driven cloud, that rall'd o'er my head,
While borne to its final abode.

Griev'd that such d

by rest
so•lonl

Little my heart v
Had I known, ha

old be thine;

bless'd,
Thy spirit its prison indignantly spurn'd,
Far happier and freer than mine.
In the hour when we drank to thy liberty
Our voices were heard—thou wert free ;
As a curse we breath'd on thy jailors that day,
The death-angel proudly had borne thee away,
And left them to watch o'er thy tenantless clay

" I heard the tale with incredulous sm
When they told m

I saw him-c 1...
I saw hi
But I de

the yiel

he bird of thy pride w'as nigh

21 float o'er
em'd not ti

vas there

To waft thee on to thy native sky.
In the hour of thy birth thou wert mark'd ty fat(
And who, that bath noted thy changing star
Will refuse to I

That thou wert the child of
For thee she form'd th' imi

And the dungeon roe
And a jailer was mad

" Farewell ! The

May we

's one.who mourns thy fate,

not a monarch

[lath learn' to s

Of
k to see thy

The other articles will repay perusal; but our space
limits us merely to an intimation of their names.
" Sir Jasper Carew" is continued ; " Jerdan and
Miss Mitford" are handled side by side ; " A Flying
Shot at the United States" is a smart article by a
tourist ; " China—the war ; the peace" comes
next ; then follows the story "by the O'Hara
Family"—" Clough Fionn ;" and as no magazine
would be complete without noticing one of the
greatest men of the day, " Hanna's Life of Chal-
mers" furnishes materials for an interesting article;
and " Ireland—its garden and its grave" brings us
to the close. On that momentous subject, here is
the essence of the author's views : " The only means
we possess of making Ireland moral, peaceable, in-
dustrious, and happy, is to Protestantise her."
True, but bow? The author answers thus : " Give
the people a sound religious education, and protect
them from violence in the exercise of civil and reli-
gious liberty, and the rest will follow as a mere
matter of time."

On the Present Position of the Life Assurance Inte-
rests of Great Britain. By W. T. Thomson,

F.R.S:E. Edinburgh : Blackwood and Sons.
This letter, addressed to the President of the
Board of Trade by the manager of two of the most
prosperous Life Assurance companies in the king-
dom, recommends itself on two considerations—the
importance of the subject, and the nosition of the
writer. Mr. Thomson has devoted a life-time to
the study of the principles of life assurance, and is
thoroughly
acquainted with. the operations of these
provident societies. He ri, a clear writer, and is
1,
thoroughly in earnest. Ihe importance of life
assurance cannot he too much impressed upon the
public; and while the business of these societies is
rapidly increasing, and
their number as rapidly
augmenting, it is equally important that the public
should know, or have the means of
is knowing, the
stability of the offices in which they invest their ca-
pital or surplus savings :it also clear that the
public, in the present position of affairs, cannot be
the best judges, for they have not the opportunity.
By an Act of Parliament passed in 1844, great
facilities were given for the formation of new life
assurance societies, but it has not adequately pro-
vided for our knowledge of their solvency. It is
not to be inferred that the societies presently exist-
ing are unable to meet their average annual liabili-
ties ;—we say average annual liabilities, for they are
founded upon vital statistics, and it is not to be
supposed that any one of them, much less several,
should be caned upon in any single year to meet
their entire pecuniary responsibilities; but, when
we find
in the multiplication of societies an enor-
mous increase in their aggregate liabilities, it is well
to be cautious; and when w e know that " nearly
One-Ilia of the whole existing offices" have been