The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-08-07 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL LICENSED VICTUALLERS'
ASSOCIATION.

On Thursday, the members and friends of this excel-
lent society had a grand railway excursion to a rural fete
at the delightful valley of Chirk. The profits arising
from the festival are to be devoted to the school fund.
The morning was fine, and a large number of excusionists
—male and female—left the new landing-stage in one
of the Monks' ferry steamers. At Birkenhead a special
train was in waiting. After all were completely seated,
the engine started off, and in less than half an hour the
" ancient city" was reached. Here the train remained
sufficient time to allow the visitors to inspect the spacious
new station.

After the company had alighted, Mr. Sheil's brass band
led the way through the village of Chirk down to the
valley, a delightful and romantic spot, where a tent had
been erected, and the green sward marked out by varie-
gated flags for the various amusements of the day. The
view up the vale was exceedingly picturesque. Immedi-
ately in front is the splendid viaduct of twelve arches,
over which passes the railway, and a little below it is the
aqueduct, for the canal, boats along which were continu-
ally passing.
The journey by rail had a wonderful effect upon the
appetite, and, on arriving at the scene of the day's opera-
tions, some time was necessarily occupied in appeasing
the cravings of the stomach. This concluded, the com-
pany began to disperse themselves: some rambled about
the village—others took a walk through the grounds at
Brynkinalt-hall, the seat of Lord Dungannon—some
extended their rambles to Chirk Castle and Park, the seat
of Colonel Biddulph, whilst not a few went as far as the
vale and town of Llangollen. A little after noon the
sports commenced in the vale. Several splendid Mont-
golfier balloons ascended, amidst the loudest cheering,
quadrilles and country dances were started, donkey, sack,
and o'.,her races followed, and the other usual old English
sports were freely indulged in, creating considerable
amusement. From the aqueduct above an excellent bird's
eye view was obtained of the exciting scene below, and
numbers of the natives thus obtained a peep at the merry
and good-natured doings of the strangers. A race, which
excited considerable interest, was that between a lot of
ragged village urchins, who struggled to obtain a gown-
piece for their mothers, the entry of females for the
race being a failure. Of course, the swiftest foot won,
and the second best was rewarded with a shilling for his
trouble. The exertions of Mr. Luff, the chairman of the
committee, Mr. John Sefton, who officiated as master of
the ceremonies, Mr. George Grist, the secretary, and the
other officials, were deserving of all praise. Nor ought
we to omit to notice the excellent catering of Mr. Jones,
of Byrom-street. The train left Chirk about half-past
seven o'clock, and reached Liverpool about ten o'clock, a
pleasant day having been spent. We understand that the
members and friends of the Brunswick Club intend having
a cheap trip to the Lakes in the course of a fortnight.

THE SIR HARRY SMITH.—A new ship named The Sir
Harry Smith is now in dock; and, though not in size so
monstrous as some that we have recently noticed, she
has an extraordinary height between decks. As a British
American built ship she must be classed as one of the
finest that ever left the stocks ; and the neat manner in
which the berths are arranged will make her a most desi-
rable medium for passenger transit.
SONTAG IN LIVERPOOL.—We learn that, after a very
protracted negotiation, involving two journeys to London,
Miss Whitnall has concluded an engagement with Mr.
Lumley, lessee of her Majesty's theatre, for one night's
services of this great lyric phenomenon, and that Sontag
has consented to exhibit her extraordinary diversified
attainments in the same manner as at the concert on
Wednesday, at the Opera-house, when her singing in four
different languages elicited unprecedented acclamations
among the most fastidious and professional audience of
the season. Thalberg, the two Lablaches, and the admi-
rable new Rossinian tenor, Calzolari, accompany Sontag,
whom every musical person in the world must see and
hear as a matter of duty—as an imperative sacrifice alike
to present fashion and past fame, to beauty, to genius,
and to art, each in their highest development.
DEBTOR AND CREDITOR.—A respectable grocer, living
within one hundred miles of Pontypool, having heard
that one of his debtors had that morning started to Liver-
pool, en route for America, immediately followed the
party. When he arrived in Liverpool he lost no time in
calling on an attorney, stating that the party owed him
£l6, and he was determined to have him arrested. He
was advised that he could do nothing unless the man owed
him £2O. This puzzled the grocer who still vowed ven-
geance. A thought came into his head, however, that if
he could find the delinquent he would ask him in a friendly
way to take a glass of ale, and offer to lend him £4, which
would make his debt £2O. He no sooner thought of the
ruse than acted upon it. He soon found out his cus-
tomer; the bait took; he handed him the £4, and went
forthwith to his attorney and made affidavit of his debt,
to whom ho also paid £4 expenses of the writ, &c. Un-
fortunately, however, before the writ could be placed in
the hands of the sheriff the debtor was on board the ves-
sel, and far enough out of reach of the luckless creditor
who thus paid dearly for his jaunt to Liverpool.
THEATRE ROYAL.—The stars during the past week
have been Mr. and Mrs. Kean. They have appeared in
" Hamlet," " As You Like it," and the " Merchant of
Venice." They have also sustained the principal charac-
ters in that well-known comedy of Bulwer's, called
" Money," and a new tragedy by Moreton, entitled
" Strathmore." The latter has been very popular in
London. The scenes are in Scotland, and the time when
they took place was in the year 1677. The incidents are
gathered from the records of the persecution of the Scotch
Covenanters. Halbert Strathmore belongs to a family
who are devotedly attached to the interests of the King,
and have a very deadly hatred to this religious sect. He
has espoused their cause, however, and is also betrothed
to Katherine, daughter of Sir Rupert Lorn, who is very
active in the royal service, against this people. In an
affray between them and the loyalist troops, in which the
latter were routed, Andrew Keith, who is an aged minis-
ter amongst the former, is killed, and they demand Sir
Rupert's death, as he was at the head of the detachment
at this time. Strathmore has now as his prisoner the
father of the girl whom he loves so dearly. He must be
true to his party, and they sternly call for Sir Rupert's
blood. Kathleen pleads with Strathmore to save her
father's life. She recalls to his memory the many kind-
nesses which her father had shewn him. Finding this of
no avail, she lays before him those considerations which
arise out of their mutual attachment. Seeing that they
are equally unsuccessful, she drags him, in the height of
the paroxysm of her grief, to the hearth of the spacious
apartment in which they were, and tells Strathmore to
pronounce her father's doom on that very spot he once
had blessed them both. While Strathmore is delibera-
ting what course to pursue, Henry Lorn arrives at Sir
Rupert's castle with a number of troops, and liberates
him from the custody of the Covenanters. In the struggle
between the opposing parties Strathmore is wounded, and
is now Sir Rupert's prisoner. He soon has an interview
with Katherine, and while she is imploring her father to
save the life of her beloved he dies in her arms. Nothing
could surpass the beauty of Mrs. Kean's acting in this
tragedy. When she dragged Strathmore to the hearth
every one was breathless and speechless for a few seconds.
There was but one intent gaze at the display of anguish,
and it was not until the curtain had fallen that relief was
felt, when there uprose a storm of applause, which was
elegantly acknowledged by Mr..and Mrs. Kean. When
Strathmore dies in her arms, at the close of the last act,
and she tells her father that her beloved is " her own
now," many of the audience shed tears. Her mellifluous
tones few can withstand. Wilether she is in grief or in
love, there is in them such a tide of tenderness that every
one is overwhelmed by it and hurried on to the close of
the scene as keenly affected as if he were the actual parti-
cipator in the real transaction, and not the spectator of a
mere representation. When Mrs. Kean is giving vent to
her indignation she enlists the sympathies of all present.
Her mode of exhibiting it is so dignified and earnest that
one is compelled not only to admit that it is just, but also

to join her heartily in hating the individual and the con-
duct she is reprobating. Of Mr. Kean's personation of
Shakspere's characters we have had frequent occasion to
speak. In those he has already given we have observed
many indications of improvement. His manifestations of
passion have lost much of that coarseness with which they
were formerly commingled, while they retain their wonted
intenseness. In his declamation there is less ranting, and
his soliloquies are delivered with a far deeper pathos ;
amendment in these particulars has only been, and can
only be, effected by age, experience, and persevering
study.

THE LatIPOOL