The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-21 00:00:00

Asstistui Os:BOARD SHIP.—Mr. Moss Phillips, a tailor,
was surnamed before Mr. Rushton, on Saturday, to an-
swer the complaint of a Mrs. Trigg, a lodging-house-
keeper, who charged him with having committed a grievous
assault upon her person. She stated that her husband
was a sailor, and that, on Tuesday last, she went on board
the Leipsig, a vessel which had just returned from a long
voyage, and was lying out in the river, for the purpose of
soliciting some of the hands to board and lodge at her es-
tablishment. The defendant, who vas also soliciting work
on hoard, was in the act of quarrelling with her niece,
whom she had taken with her, and *bile she (the com-
plainant) was passing from one side of the vessel towards
where they were quarrelling, he struck her a Wow on the
upper lip with his clenched hand, and with such force that
the ring he was wearing on his finger cut open the part,
and she had since been obliged to get it stitched.. It bled
upwards of a pint. An attempt was made on the part of
the defence to prove that she had followed him with a
stick and used abusive language; but Mr. Rushton said
the defendant had behaved in a most unjustifiable meatier,
He should pay a fine of 40s. and costs, or be imprisoned
fourteen days. The fine was forthwith paid.
Ma, LOVER'S IRISH EVENINGS.—There appears to be'
a mania, and not an unproductive one, on the past of our
vocalists and actors, for solo entertainments, if such we
may term them. Wilson has earned, we know not how
much of honor and pelf, by his Scottish entertainments.
Philips has given to the public some splendid selections of
old English song, and has been only too little supported.
Templeton again has given us Scottish song, and Horn-
castle Irish, with success only inferior, but with merit not
at all inferior to Wilson ; whilst our comedians, Ham-
mond, Raymond, and others have been, with more or less
success, experimentalizing upon the favour of the public.
But it has remained for Lover to try what the poet, the
romancist, the composer, and the singer, all in one,. could
do in the same line ; and we are happy to record that such
an experiment has shewn that, before an English, pla-
ne, or a Liverpool public at all events, a concentration of
talent is not esteemed as a bar to success—nay, that the
poet or musician is net less esteemed because he presides
over, and even sings his own sweet lays.—On Friday even-
ing Mr. Lover presented us, in the Assembly Room,
Great George-street, with his " Illustrations of the na-
tional characteristics and melody of his country,"—that
country being, as is known to most of our readers, Ire-
land. We have seen in the same rooms many audiences;
and we never saw any more respectable or more overflow-
ing. In fact, from the number of respectable people that
we saw going away, from sheer want of accommodation,
we are satisfied that a room double the size would have been
crowded on this occasion. In addition to the lecture, or
introductory remarks of Mr. Lover, it was announced that
he would be assisted by the vocal talent of Mr. Ryalls
and Miss Whitnall, an announcement which fully justified
(
the great expectations entertained. We must say that in
the interest of the entertainment given, Lover far exceeded
any of his predecessors in the same line. As a man of
undoubted genius and, a poet and romancist besides,
no-
thing mediocre can flow from his lips ; and his.introduc-
tory matter, in these lectures, was distinguished- by a
novelty and raciness which we have not as yet heard in any of our modern " entertainments." We were cer-
tainly prepared for this. We expected more from Lover
than from the mere vocalists who have preceded him ; but
we did not expect from him singing so chaste and perfect
as that with which he favoured us. His " Molly Bawnr'
was, of its kind, a unique performance. Indeed, we query
much whether any other man can sing this pleasing song
so pleasingly as its writer and composer; and " The
Widow Macree" we never heard so well sung before. Lover
is himself " The Widow Macree."—We• have said that on.
Friday night he was ably assisted by Mr. Ryalls and Miss
Whitnall. The former is a chaste and most finished singer;
the latter we never heard to greater advantage. Her
performance of that strange eccentric song, " Coo Coo,"
which was encored, was a most beautiful effort, and con-
vinces us that this lady is fitted to take a much higher
stand as a singer—a genuine English singer too—than she
has hitherto been accounted fit to occupy.
THEATRE ROYAL.—During the past week we have had
a grateful change in the performances at this theatre, the
legitimate drama having taken the place of the somewhat
flimsy pieces which hare formed the stock during the pre-
sent season ; and, notwithstanding the increased prices of
admission to which the managers have thought it
necessary to resort, the attendance and concequentre-
ceipts must have shown tolerably conclusively what kind
of theatricals the public of Liverpool are inclined to sup-
port. We are not in this town a very play-loving people,
as various past experiments of managership have proved.
We are not so completely dependent upon the theatre for
the bestowal of our leisure hours as the inhabitants of the
brick and mortar world which surrounds St. Paul's ; and
it requires, on that account something of more than ordi..
nary attraction and excellence to seduce us from the out
of door amusements which so abound in our favoured
locality. To this circumstance we would direct the at-
tention of the present management, and impress upon
them the fact that, if they look for success in Liverpool,
during a summer season especially, they must persevere
in the course which they entered upon last week, and
provide the public with novelty and talent, and a little
more of the higher order of the drama than has as yet
been afforded us. We give this hint in all kindness and
sincerity. We are confident that the wish of the lessees
is to give satisfaction, and that they will receive our ad-
vice in the same spirit in which it is offered. The pieces
selected for the appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Kean, have been Bulwer's play of " Money," the
" Gamester," and Shakspere's comedy of " As you like
it." In the first, it struck us that Mr. Kean appeared
to the greatest advantage, the part of Evelyn being one
more fitted for his powers than some of the more arduous
characters in which we have seen him. There is little in
the character or in the play itself to attract the enthu-
siasm of an audience; but if we must have Mr. Bulwer's
conceited philosophy on the stage, we cannot have it
more correctly given than by Mr. Kean. The part of
Clara was beautifully sustained by Mrs. Kean ; and in
what we may call the explanation scene, in which she
gives Evelyn her reasons for her first rejection of his
hand, she drew down such a burst of applause as has not
recently been elicited in this theatre. The other cha-
racters in the piece were well sustained by the local com-
pany, some of whom we may remark, display, when put
into parts above those of bandits, smugglers, &c., to
which they have been too much confined, powers for
which the public had not previously given them credit.
Mr. Grafton as Sir Frederick, and Mr. Braid as Dudley
Smooth, are in this category. The former was excruci-
atingly and exquisitely puppyish, and the latter precisely
the man whom the author meant to present to the stage.
Mr. Compton dressed and acted the character of the
liberal vestryman to admiration. He was in himself a
picture.—ln the " Gamester" Mr. Kean's Beverley was
well nigh faultless, as indeed are all his impersonations,
although none of them come up to our ideas of what might
be made of them in the hands of genius. The play pre-
sents many fine situations and tableaux, which none
knows better than an artistic actor like Keen how to
bring out. We are still, therefore, warranted in terming
his efforts as faultless ; for when an actor does all that is
set down for him by the text, it is not properly a fault
that he does not do more. As the trusting, loving wife,
Mrs. Kean was almost perfect and completely natural, if
it were possible to be so in such a character as Mrs.
Beverley. A woman who can bear to see her husband
squander fortune, time, and happiness, and yet meet him
with an everlasting good humour, and submissiveness to
heartless exactions, in lieu of reproach or contempt, is
indeed

" Rara axis in terris, nigroque similima cygno."
There are few such women the stage; and we know
not that the picture on the stage is an instructive one. It
affords however some tine points for the display of acting ;
and of these Mrs. Kean makes the most, and is natural
as a woman can be in an unnatural situation. The scene
in which the jewels are given up is well given, although
the readiness displayed by the wife is scarcely warranted
by any strong necessity discernible from the flimsy rea-
soning of the husband, and indeed gives us a poor opinion
of her power of perception. The last, or prison scene,
is, however, on the part of both, a beautiful piece of act-
ing, and deservedly drew down the enthusiastic applause
of the audience.—in the part of Benedick Mr. Kean was
scarcely at home, although it was given with great pro-
priety throughout. Kean is not " the Benedick" which
Shakspere drew—not the mercurial and witty, and withal
somewhat sardonic Benedick—a little in fact too much of
the latter and too little of the former intermingled. In
better health Mrs. Kean might be Beatrice; but, al-
though in some portions of the part she was excellent as
is usual with her, as a whole the impersonation was too
cold. Compton, in our idea, failed a little in Dogberry.
A severe cold, however, under which he has violently la-
boured throughout the week, must in part be his excuse.
A WAGON OVER THE PIER.—On Thursday, whilst
some men were putting a Wagon laden with corn on board
one of the ferry boats, at the slip end of George's baths,
the rope to which it was attached gave way, and the
wagon, with its contents, fell over into the basin. In its
progress down the slip, two women were knocked down,
one escaped without injury ; the other had we are sorry to
say, her leg broken.