The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-02-13 00:00:00

MR. CHARLES KEAN

Mr. Mules Kean's Richard the Third is a palpable imita-
tion of the imitable in his father's personation of that character;
and rendered not the less evidently so by his studious avoidance
of one or two striking points of by-play in the original. The
mannerisms are exaggerated; and, wanting the genius that
redeemed them, they have' the effect of giving caricature. The
whole performance is a mere exhibition ofstage-i rick. Walking
briskly down to the coot-lights, Kith the air of a bravo, his
features braced up to the proper scrowling pitch, the actor pro-
ceeds to declaim with syllabic slowness in a monotonous sing-
song—emphasizing every principal word, and rolling the rs like
a drum—occasionally dropping his voice into a deep-toned
brawl, or breaking out with such a furious explosion of violence
that his chest and shoulders heave with the effort, and he seems
in. imminent danger of bursting a blood-vessel; and accompany-
ing his speech with a vigorous pantomime ofstamps and thumps
on the breast, till the climax is capped by a startling attitude—
in which he remains fixed till the applause subsides. Charles
Kean's personation Of Richard is wholly deficient in greatness,
and indeed in every intellectual attribute: the expression of his
countenance goes no further than a sneer or a look of defiance :
the spirit of the character is only apparent in so far as the
physical action is concerned; and then it isoften misrepresented
by the excessive means taken to exhibit it. For instance, in
the wooing of Lady Anne, he is so glaringly insincere, that
the scene, which verges on the improbable, becomes absurd:
the levity-of-the heartless plotter degenerates into pert flippancy;
his taunts and sarcasms into course jeering ; and his splenetic
impatience into outrageous violence, as importent as it is in-
decorous. Instead of the subtle political' and the daring soldier.
wise in council and brave in the field, whose ambition and lust
of power lead hint through treachery and blood to the throne,
we see a bully hero• of melodraina—a common stabber, who
plumes himself on being `• cunning in fence." Mr. Kean may
think it a triumph of success when in the last scene he fights on
one knee across the stage and back again, amidst the shouts of
the vulgar; but he may be assured that the popularity purchased
by such means rests upon a hollow foundation. We believe
Mr. Kean to be a young man of intelligence, eager to excel in
his art : now, if he will only bestow a tithe of the pains and
labour he has wasted on the practice of the gymnastics of the
stage, in studying the metaphysics of the characters he assumes,
and learning to merge the player in the ideal person, he may
turn his accomplishments to
good account. 'As it is, he exhibits
but the trappings and suits of tragedy : he has not that within
passeth show." His conceptions want not only spirituality,
but individual character and human feeling : they are cola,
artificial creations, without a spark of the Promethean fire to
give them vital warinth.—Spectator.

Mr. James Russell is fulfilling an engagement at Manchester.
His personation of Rory 0• Mora 1, spoken of in very flattering
terms.

WREXHAM POOR-LA %V UNlON.—During the present winter,
the foundations of an extensive workhouse, belonging to the
union, have been laid ; and it is expected that the building will
be covered in before autumn. The Exchequer Law Commis-
sioners have lent the sum of £6500 to the guardians, to enable
them to complete the erection.

FATAL ACCIDENT.-It is with the deepest regret we announce
the decease of Robert Hurt, Esq. whusc death was Occasioned
by the discharge of one of the barrels of a double-barrelled
gun, while in the act of loading the other on the Calvely estate.
This highly esteemed, and promising young gentleman, was
only 22 years of age, and eldest brother to Mrs. Daveupott.
The event has plunged the family at Calvely into the deepest
affliction.—Chester Gazette.

A SON ACCIDENTALLY SHOT BY HIS FATHER.—OD Thurs-
day, as Mr. George Woods, the head-keeper of Lord Jersey,
at Middleton, Oxon, was rabbit shooting, be bad the tnisfortune
to kill his own son, Lord Jersey's keeper for Somerton Manor.
A rabbit wag running down the riding in the wood, at which
Mr. Woods fired; his sou inconsiderately crossed in the same
direction at the moment, and received the whole charge iu his
back. The poor young man lived scarcely two hours, which he
spent in praying for mercy for himself and iu the earnest endea-
vour to comfort his father. The latter, who is a most respect-
able man, remains, as may be expected, in a most inconsolable
state.—Gloucester paper.

ICUESDAY MORNING. FEBRUARY 13, 1838

q• The Publication of the STANDARD commenced this morn.
ink at 4' o'clock.

TnE
QUEEN.—Several ridiculous paragraphs are now
" going the round of the papers" respecting her Majes-
ty's supposed partiality towards a young nobleman, of
" high family connexions, and possessed of extraordi-
nary personal attractions." The young nobleman al-
luded to is said to be the eldest son of a Scottish Duke.
We believe that the absurd rumours which have been so
, extensively propagated on this most delicate subject have
all originated with the Court Journal—a newspaper
which rests its sole claim to
public' support upon the
amount of scandal with which its columns are supplied.
Resting on no better authority than the on dit of the
Court Journal, our readers may be assured that the pre-
posterous stories about our youthful Queen are a tissue
of falsehoods from beginning to end. It is impossible ,
that any information on such a topic could find its way
into the columns of a newspaper from any authentic
gource. The correspondents, upon whose statements the
rumours of the Coq.rt Journal are founded, are chiefly
waiters in club-rooms, domestic servants out of livery,
and the coteries of fashionable milliners. It is, of course,
not likely that any of these " confidential informants"
can know any thing of what is passing in the private
circles of high life.

CONTRAST BETWEEN SLAVERY AND POPERY.—The
Liverpool Mercury of Friday last contains a long, dry,
and.verbose critique on a pamphlet recently published by
the Rev. Hugh M`Neile, on the consistency of opposing
Popery and Slavery, and the inconsistency of advocating
the extinction of the latter, and refusing to declaim
against the former. The remarks of the Mercury have
been promised for several weeks, and we may reason.
ably suppose that they wp re only placed in abeyance in
order that they might b published in as perfect a shape
as possible. The pamphlet on which the Mercury ani-
madverts appeared upwards of a month ago; we may,
therefore, justifiably conclude that the "senior editor"
has had ample time to examine the arguments which it
contains, and that the reply has only been deferred in
order to render more mature the observations • by which
the Mercury seeks to demolish those arguments. Be I

this as it. may, we can safely say that we have rarely
met with a more silly and nonsensical production than
this reply. It is as destitute of reason as it is of com-
mon sense. We can only characterise it as a tissue of
falsehoods or a string of impudent assumptions. The
materials of which it is composed seem to have been
scraped together from one of the editor's common-place
books, as is the case with most of the " original" articles
in the Mercury. The originality of these lucubrations
chiefly consists in the ludicrous manner in which the he-
terogeneous commonplace 4 are blended together. But
as it is possible that the confident and blustering tone of
the Mercury may deceive certain persons, we feel called
upon to offer a few remarks upon the reply to the Rev.
Hugh M'Neile.
Before we proceed, we would. just remind our readers

that a singular alteration of tone is perceptible among
the class of politicians, to which the Mercury professes
to be attached, on the subject of Popery. Twenty or
thirty years ago the liberal press was loud in its denun-
ciations of the Papal.system. The Dissenters generally
joined most lustily in • ridiculing'the superstitious mum-
meries and the damnable heresies of the Roman Catho-
lic faith and practice. The Evangelical Magazine of
that period was incessant in its attacks upon Popery.
Indeed, among the earlier advocates for the emancipation