The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-08-20 00:00:00

THE DUMB SPEAKING.

A poor old fellow, who intimated by signs that he wag
deaf and dumb, was brought up charged with being drunk
and disorderly. It was stated that he had been for a consi-
derable time a nuisance in the town, and had made a great
noise in Bridewell since he had been there. We were
curious to know what kind of disturbance the dumb man
had made, when he gave our auricular organs a treat by
making a very unpleasant and unmeaning noise with his
mouth. It also appeared that, when the officers were tak-
ing something from him in Bridewell, it had the effect of
restoring his speech ! and that he said, with an oath, that
"he would give it them if they did not let that alone." He
was remanded for examination by a surgeon, in order to
obtain his certificate.

BAD NEWS FOR THE TEE-TOTALLERS.
Perhaps there were never, at the police-office of this
town, so many persons fined for drunk and disorderly con-
duct, as on this day. The answers of these individuals,
when asked what they had to say, were curious. One said
that "it was the first time he was drunk in that place."
Others—" they were not to say tipsy ;" " they were tipsy
they supposed.;" " they had never been drunk in their lives
before ;" &c. One Irishwoman was " jist gittin out of her
bed, and was not dhrunk at all at all ;" ,others met with
friends who " made them drunk ;" and scarcely any one
got drunk without some reason • so that, if we may believe
these worthies, drunkenness is die most reasonable thing in
the world!

CHARTIST BARBCRITT-EXCLUSIVE DEALING. - The
system of exclusive dealing is carried to a laughable extent
in this town, and it is to be feared that unless a salutary
check be put to its further progress, the external appearance
of the Israelitish race will become general among the pro-
fessors of the Christian faith. A gentleman, who has long
been in the habit of paying a daily visit to a barber's shop
in Blackett-street, on calling as usual the other morning,
found the " Hall deserted, and, on looking round, the fol-
lowing important announcement, posted in the shaving-shop,
caught his eye :—" NOTICE —Any person frequenting this
shop, and acting as a special constable, will refrain from
coming here in future. Signed G. Smith." Having read
this wonderful document, and being compelled to " own the
soft impeachment," he turned round, and was about to take
his departure, when he met the shop-boy, whom he thus
accosted:—" Well, my lad, I need not come here any more
it seems ?" " Are you a special constable, Sir ?" was the
prompt reply. " Yes." responded the gentleman, rubbing
his face significantly. " Then you can't be shaved here,'
rejoined the lad, with a chuckle of delight, which he half
attempted to conceal. Our informant urged the necessity of
his case, and his claim as an old and constant customer, but
his intreaties and remonstrances were alike in vain—the
Chartist fiat had gone forth, " Special constables shall
henceforth shave themselves or be contented to wear their
beards."—lbid.

RED CLoVER.—When the crop is in full blossom it should
be cut for hay, as close to the ground as possible, and within
two or three days, that the entire may be saved together, in
order to make as large a rick as possible in one day. The
quality of clover is very different to that of meadow hay, and
requires to be managed with much caution and judgment.
After being cut, it should remain some days in the swarth,
then turn daily, until it is sufficiently made to be fit for a
rick, and this will depend much on the state of the weather,
and weight of the crop. The hay should be shook as little
as possible while making, as great part of the leaves would
be lost if too much made, and these are the most valuable
part of the dry food. However, even in wet weather, the
swarth ought to be turned regularly, otherwise the hay would
become black and mouldy. It is usually fit to draw to the
rick-yard in eight or ten days, and should not be made into
cocks for this purpose until the morning of the day it is to
be carried ; for, was rain to fall on those cocks afterwards it
would be attended with much trouble and waste to get them
dry. Clover hay, being light and dry in its nature, ought
not to be too much made, and should be put together in a
sufficient succulent state to ferment moderately, which will
make it more nutritious. It should also be well trod in the
making, and the rick as soon as the heat declines, well
thatched and secured. Red clover hay is not nutritious for
cattle, but may be given to young beasts with winter green
food. It is excellent food for horses, but should be cut into
chaff and mixed with corn and bran, which will economise it
much, and the animals will thrive bettor.

Owing to the attraction of " Richelieu," it was played on
Friday instead of the " Lady of Lyons," again last night,, and
sto be repeated this evenmg. The management deserves
every praise for the munificence and taste with which their
part is performed, in the production of this fine and brilliant
historical drama. The dresses are effective, and made in the
first style of the art ; and the company appear to general ad-
vantage in the several parts, from the Cardinal down to the
most subordinate in the caste. The scenery must not be
forgot : the audience approvingly criticise every part of it,
as successively discovered to them.
Of the merits of the drama, in this season of pressure
'there is not sufficient space at command to descant with the
fulness that is necessary to raise criticism above the news-
paper dogmatism of yes and no—the characteristic of the pre-
suming commonplace of the day. But this much must be
said : nearly every one of the dramatis personce is a " cha-
racter." Such a play, therefore, requires close, careful, end
experienced acting. The third act is the best of the five. It
possesses the true nerve and sinew of artistical excellence.
Of itself, had the " Lady of Lyons" never been written or
played, it were enough to attest Bulwer's indisputable and
now admitted power as a first-rate writer for the STAGY. If
disposed to start objections, as a set-off to its many beauties,
we might, with reason on our side, express regret that some
of the scenes come " too tardy off :" there is an occasional
heaviness, but in what it consists, or upon what it depends, we
have not analyzed with sufficient closeness to be able to indi-
cate with satisfactory precision. Dramatically speaking, the
conclusion of the last act is as weak and disappointing,. as,
morally speaking, it is strong and gratifying. 'nun an error
on the right side, and, though a defect at the time, it is felt
as a redeeming excellence on reflection.

In a drama replete with beauties, and recommended by a
chasteness of language that a jury of scholars would adjudge
as preeminent, minor exceptions may pardonably be taken
where defects palpably exist, and invite comment. And we
cannot better mark the animus of what we shall say, than, in
the mitigating expression used by:a manly critic,,,when ad-
dressing Garrick on his defects, which he hated with the "
of a friend." What he said in substance was, that the
subject of his strictures should bear with him, and value his
frankness, inasmuch as if he detected spots upon the sun of
his genius and his execution as an artist, it was the results of
that very genius that furnished him with the optical instru-
ments by which he was enabled to perceive them. Well,
then, professedly " Richelieu" is an historical play. But
the true character of the Cardinal is not sustained : here
and there, after the third act, there is a swell--
big from what dramatic authors understand by the
term, fidelity of passion. The feeling raised and lodged
upon the audience by the scene where the Cardinal is con-
temned, and his counsel neglected by the automaton
king, is not historically true ; neither is it in keeping with
the real effect of the subduing force of Richelieu's character.
Instead of the dramatist conveying, and exciting pity for
Richelieu (!) it should be one of contempt for the miserable
and pusillanimous " King" being so blind, and deaf to
sound advice through the intensity of his pitiful imbecility.
But for what was assigned at the outset of this notice, more
had been said of parallel passages savouring of plagiarism.
A word in respect of the acting. With the exception of too
much declamation—the only valid objection worth naming,
Mr. Vandenhoff 's personation of Richelieu is of the first
class. Richelieu was of a temperament in which he could not
so much as feign declamation. With a man of a fiery, techy,
irritable, nervous constitution, he would feel it physically
and intellectually impossible to declaim. Hence this charac-
ter must fit Macready—like a glove—made to measure.
Irritable men of true genius with vigorous and active minds,
prompt, and endowed with a presence of mind that defeats
obstacles as fast as they arise and supplies them with an
armoury of resource by which to baffle stratagem by straW-
gem, and plot by counterplot—such men never " declaim."
Their style and manner of speech is like a succession of jets,
terse, concentrated, and passes like lightning direct to its
object. Where the heroes of dramas are made to speak in
abrupt terse pointed phraseology—such as the Tell, the Vir-
ginius, and Julian St. Pierre of Sheridan Knowles, and the
Richelieu of Bulwer—Macready conveys an effect that no
other artist of the day can produce : his own temperament
enables him to do this with life-like verisimilitude, and
with scarcely an effort. Instead of blaming that actor as
hasty and unreflecting reviewers have done for cutting out
the long speeches in the printed play, Macready will have
the approval of every competent critic, who appreciates the
fidelity of passion in the historical and constitutional cha-
racter of Richelieu.

Of Miss Vandenhoff's Julie it is unnecessary to repeat
what was observed on Friday. Mr. Gray's Be:radar it the
best thing we have seen him do, and, if it be worth mention-
ing, he reads it letter-perfect according to the acting copy
of the play. Is Mr. Chaplin correct in representing he-
ringlien like Justice Greedy, in " A New Way to pay Old
Debts" ? .Justice Greedy was a low pot-hunter; De Be-
ringhen—was not a glutton—we contend he was an epicure
—and was a finical courtier withal, and a gentleman. Mr.
Chaplin almost invariably is a correct speaker, but he fails
to convey the force of one of the best exits in the piece, by
otherwise reading the words " St. Dennis travelled without
his head :I am luckier than St. Dennis !" Miss Barrett
spoke the little she had to say in a natural manner, and
dressed the part as becomingly as she spoke it; and Mr.
Bland deserves the applause which he nightly secures by his
manner of playing and speaking the little part of Francois.
Till Friday we must reserve our remarks on 3lr. Ander-
son's Octavian.

•Mnan,M,%mie Me••=•.•••••,M.W.WO
EXECUTION OF JACOB FREDERICK MILIMT,
AT DURHAM.

•
• .
Jacob Frederick Ehlert, who was executed on Priday last,
in purSuance of the sentence of the court, for the murder of
Captain Berkholtz, was a native of Barth, in Pomerania.—
Since his condemnation the prisoner has been engagedlin
preparing a narrative of the horrid transaction in the German
language, and he brought it to a conclusion on Thursday
evening, when it was sealed up and entrusted to the governor
of the gaol for transmission to his friends in Pomerania. It
occupies several foolscap sheets, but it is understood not to
differ in the main points from his previous account of the
affair.
Notwithstanding the heavy showers which fell during the
night, and still continued, numbers of individuals were to be
seen making their way towards the scene of the execution •
and when the fatal hour arrived there would not be lase _than
a thousand persons assembled on the area in ftont Of the
County Courts. The greater part consisted of women and
children, but throughout the entire proceedings not ,the
slightest impropriety of conduct was witnessed. We must
now desire the reader to go with us into the " condemned
cell," where the prisoner was awaiting, with the greatest
composure, the arrival of the moment when he should be
called forth in order to be launched into eternity.
The Rev. C. G. Wheler, the chaplain of the gaol, arrived
at the prison about half-past seven o'clock in the morning,
the Rev. Hugh Salvin, being acquainted with the German
language, and on that account specially engaged during the
confinement of the prisoner, as assistant chaplain, having
reached the gaol somewhat earlier, for the purpose of admi-
nistering the holy rites of religion to the dying criminal.
These two rev. gentlemen, it is proper to state, have been
unremitting in their attendance on the prisoner during the
period of his confinement, the latter gentleman particularly,
who was enabled to pray and converse with him, to read the
scriptures to him in his mother tongue. The prisoner, it
appears, had been well educated, was conversant with the
literature of his own country, the habits•and manners of his
own and other European nations, and had good general ideas
on most subjects ; he could write well and speak his own
language fluently. At eight o'clock precisely, the prison bell
announced the arrival of the fatal hour which was to termi-
nate the mortal career of the wretched convict, and at that
time W. E. \\rooter, Esq. the under-sheriff, came forward to
demand the body of the prisoner in the usual form. The
criminal rose from his seat with great composure on hearing
the announcement, and placed his arm unconcernedly within
that of the Rev. Mr. Salvin, who accompanied him to the
scaffold. A procession was then formed, the under.sheriff
being first, the Chaplain second, then the prisoner, supported
by the Rev. Mr. Salvin, and closely followed by his two
companions in gaol, the governor of the County Prison, and
a number of sheriff's officers healing white wands. In this
order they crossed the prison yard and entered the Gnuid
Jury Room, where several individuals had already gaineditd.
mittance. The prisoner walked with a firm step, 'end
betrayed not the slightest emotion on witnessing the
spectators around him His appearance was not that ,of
a person who had undergotle great mental suffering ;
his countenance bore an air of great composure, and
a pleasant smile played gently on his cheeks. The mus-
cles of his body and face appeared well filled up, his
eyes bright, and, his hair having been cut since his condemna-
tion, he had, altogether, more the appearance of an English-
man than a Foreigner. He was dressed in a dark brown
surtout, light checked trowsers, Wellington boots, and choco.
late neckerchief. After entering the Grand Jury Room the
procession halted, and Mr. Booth, jun., who has had fre.
quent interviews with the prisoner since his confinement,
asked him if he had anything to communicate before ad-
vancing to the scaffold? . He ejaculated in German, " How
is it possible !" To the question, did he willingly give up his
own life for the life he had taken away, he replied, rather in-
dignantly, "No : I have taken no life at all." These were
the last words he was heard to utter.
The prisoner was then conducted near to the w indow open-
ing on to the scaffold, when the Rev. Mr. Wheler, turning
his face towards the prisoner, and lifting up his hands, said,
with a loud but somewhat faltering voice—" It is our painful
duty to commit the spirit of this our brother into the hands
of God, his maker. Receive it, oh God, having first cleansed
it in the atoning blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ,
to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, power,
and gloq, for ever." Here the Reverend Gentleman seemed
very much affected • after a brief interval he continued—
" The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and
the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with thee, and lead thee
into Paradise." The Reverend Gentleman then, with tears
in his eyes, and apparently much affected took the prisoner
by the hand, and said, in atone of affectionate fervour —" God
bless you," and immediately fell backward into the arms of
the Under Sheriff, and was led out of the room in a 'state of
complete exhaustion. The executioner then came forward
to perform his duty ; and several individuals shook hands
with the prisoner, and took their last farewell. His arms
having been pinioned, the white cap, edged with black, Ivas
placed upon his head. Just at this moment a gentleman
shook hands with the wretched culprit, and whilst in the act
of doing so, the executioner, who was standing behind the
prisoner, drew the cap over his face ; this was the last em-
brace, and so firmly did the prisoner retain his grasp that the
individual had some difficulty in withdrawing his hand. :The
prisoner was then led forward to the scaffold, by the execu-
tioner, and one of his companions in prison; he walked with
a firm step, and, having been placed upon the drop, immedi-
ately under the cross beam, stood with equal firmness whilst
the executioner adjusted the rope round his neck. All being
in readiness, the fatal bolt was drawn, and the unfortunate
culprit launched into eternity. His struggles were severe
and protracted, rather more than eight minutes having
elapsed before life became extinct. After hanging the usual
time, his body was cut down, and conveyed within the pkiion,
and the workmen commenced taking down the scaffold, which
in a short time was completely removed. Previous to the in-
terment of the prisoner, a cast of his head in stucco 'was
taken, with permission of the governor of the gaol, for the
Phrenological Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; after which
the body was buried within. the precincts of the prison, ac-
cording to the terms of the statute.