The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-09-20 00:00:00

THE DRAMA.

- - Sin ce' our- last notice of the Th'eatre,. Mr. Vancliiihoff and
Miss Huddart have appeared as Sllylock and Portia, in " The
. Merchant of Venice," and as Coriolanus and Valumnia, .in the
play of " Coriolanus." The attempt to personify the popular
creations of Shakspeare's genius requires no small degree of
nerve in the performer, because they are as familiar " as
household words" to the generality of audiences, and because
we are more apt to draw our conclusions, and form an estimate
of the merit of a performance from a Comparison with former
actors and actresses, than with the Shylock, Portia, Coriolanus,
or Volumnia, of the author.
In Shylock,. Vandenhaff made what are: called, in " phrase
theatrical," some " good points." In the trial scene before the
Doge and magnificos of Venice, when Gratiano tells him that his
" desires are wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous," he very
deliberately takes " the bond" from under his girdle, unfolds it,
and, after pointing for some seconds to the seal with his knife,
replies in an under tone,
" Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond,
Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loudly."
This sarcasm was delivered with an effect that, we believe, it is
impossible to excel; indeed the whole' of the scene, as far as
Shylock and Portia were concerned, was admirably sustained.
Miss Huddart was infinitely more successful in Portia than she
was on a subsequent night in Volumnia.
• After the play of " Coriolanus," on Wednesday night, the
opera of " Guy Mannering" was produced, for the purpose of
introducing a corps of metropolitan- singers, consisting of Mr.
and Mr. H. Bedford, lir. Frazer, Miss E. Romer, and Miss
George, and truth compels us reluctantly to declare that they,
are not persons of much " note or likelih'ood."
We do not pretend to be skilled in the art and mystery of
" casting a play," and therefore are unable to fathom the
reasons why Slaiter, a good Yorkshireman, should have been
thrust into the part of Gilbert Glossin, which he could make
nothing of, and Baker, who, although an excellent comedian,
should be put into that of Dardy Dimwit, a character totally
out of his line.: MiSs Romer was the Lucy Bertram. In-
stead of making her appearance at the inn of Kippletringan,
followed by the Dominic and her maid, with a mind 'subdued
by the scene she is supposed to have just quitted at her late
father's house, from which she has been expelled by Gios,in—
. entered •alone, and, with one of her most fascinating smiles,
sang a bravura! which the uneducated, simple-:Winded Lucy
was not very likely to know a note of, and which, had she
known it, it was impossible for her fusing in her then.state of
mind. These violations of the unities of a piece we know are
not uncommon; but we must protest against them as barbarous
and unnatural. In this respect we may take a valuable lesson
from the French stage, who never suffer the unities of times,
places, or seasons to be invaded. As a Scotch actor, and par-
ticularly as the representative of the low life of the lowland part
of that country, Mackay is the best, indeed, we believe the only
actor on the stage that has ever attempted it successfully. A
new class of dramatic • characters, founded upon the Cuddie
Headriggs or Hobbie Elliotts of Scott, or from the Sketches
of poor Galt, whose race, we fear, is run, would, if introduced,
form an agreeable change from the worn-out race of Yorkshire-
men and rishmen that have so long kept possession of the
stage. •
The " Heart of Mid Lothian" was got up on Wednesday
night, and was followed by Weber's "Der,Freischutz." Of the
latter we have only to say, that its horrors were in every respect
perfectly horrible.
PAGANINI'S SECOND CONCERT was more numerously attend-
ed on Wednesday night, at the Amphitheatre, than either of his
former exhibitions here. The dress circle of boxes presented•
the gayest appearance, we were going to add, that we have
seen for the season, hut we believe we must qualify the expres-
sion by saying, that it equalled any that we have had the good
fortune to witness, The singing of Misses Wells and Watson,
although some of it was really very good, was not much attended
to, the company, for the most part, in the true John Bull
fashion, directing their whole attention to one only object,
Paganini—" the observed of all observers;" and if any thing
can justify this utter abstraction from all other considerations,
and the prostration of the 'mind to the temporary adoration of
one idol, the signor's feats maybe admitted as an excuse. In
the upper. regions of the house, there was a great deal of up-
roarious applause that we could have wished, for the honour of
good manners and decorum, had been reserved for the Amphi-
theatre in other days. At the close of each of Paganinis
pieces, an encore was bellowed for by some persons who ought
to have known better; the call was not attended to, except in
one instance. This is "a custom more honoured in the breach
than in the observance." Will the landlord give to his guests a
second bottle because the first happens to be good? Truly,
this practice of extorting more than we intend to pay for can
hardly be called fair dealing. Ilowever, at the close of the
" witches' dance," the signor obeyed the call, and reappeared
on the stage with one of his most winning smiles, when, instead
ofpermitting him to repeat the piece he was thus called upon to
play, some musical asses braved out "- Patrick's Day in the
Morning," and " Patrick's Day" was accordingly performed,
in a rather careless manner. 13y this time, we suppose this
illustrious musician has left us. We can only say, that what
he has gleaned here, or may collectelsewhere, his extraordinary
talents fully entitle him to.

LOSS OF THE AMPHITRITE.

The following is an official account of the loss of the Amphi-
trite:—

• • Repel Hotel, Boulogne, 11 Sept., 1833.
Stn,—ln obedience to the commands of my Lords Commissioner;
of the Admiralty, I have made the most minute investigation rela-
ting to the melancholy wreck of. the Amphitrite ; and as various in-
jurious mis-statements have gone forth, I deem it right to inform
their Lordships of my judgment in the case, without waiting the re-
sult of the inquiry I am making into the conduct of his fllajesty's
consul, which will probably take some days.
From the numerous vessels passing up and down channel, it ought
to be expected that occasional, disasters should occur, and that, ,too,
without misconduct being mputable—the present instance of the
Amphitrite I consider to be one of this description. The. gale was
most violent and unexpected at this season of the year, with a very
.heavy sea, and the wind yeering round from the g.W. to. the N.\%
placed the ship on the lee shore. The ship behaved very well—was
well found, had a chronometer on board, made little or no water.
The conduct of the master, more particularly when danger was dis-
covered, Was seamen-like, judicious, and decisive, and he was per-
fectly cool and collected throughout. When he saw it was impossible
to avoid the land, he told the mate that they " must look out for the
best berth, and run her up as high as possible." The helm was put
up, 'the after-sail taken in, and the yards squared for 'that purpose as
the ship grounded, after which the anchor was let go, and the chain-
cable shoved out with a view of lightening the ship forward, and sub-
sequently the shackle was taken out and the cable slipped, that the
vessel might drive up as the tide rose, the•main topsails being kept up
to assist her. Neither the master, the surgeon, or the crew had any
fears for their safety, or apprehended their inevitable fate on the rise
of the tide, for the pilots ueclare that no vessel, whatever her size
Or strength, could possibly have been saved, and they made no signals.
The greater part of the crew
.wenthelosv In the evening; someto sup-
per, and others to the hammocks, and were there till the sea broke
over them about nine o'clock, believing, as the ship made no water
after striking heavily on first grounding, that she would float up and
be left high and dry after high water. No - steps were taken to save
the crew, by getting on shore, although they had the means for so
doing within themselves by their own boats, and also it was proffered
to them in this instance by some gallant French pilots and fishermen,
. and it is evident there was a fair and reasonable hope that all hands
might have been saved by either •of those means, from the time the
ship struck at about half-past four till near seven in the evening. For
this sad, this most deplorable error in judgment, they have paid the
extreme penalty, and it is through this fatal error the lives of the
crew, and the poor, wretched passengers have been sacrificed; for
there is no reason to believe, from the evidence of the three surviv-
ing seamen, (all very intelligent men for their situations) that either
the.rnast" or surgeon feared or thought about the escape of the poor
convicts.. It was at one time ordered by the surgeon, to 'get the long
boat out to land the convicts, but most unhappily this was prevented
by the interference of his (the surgeon's) wile. This occurence was
not known to the master. The conduct of the pilots, Huret and Ter-
tarde with: their boats' crew of eight volunteers, mostly masters of
boats, and llenin who swam off to the ship, was beyond all praise,
and they are highly deserving the favourable consideration of his
Majesty's government. It was not known on shore or suspected that
the ship had passengers on board; till their bodies had been washed
up. I am, &c.,
(Signed) 11. D. MUDS, Captain. R.N.
I give an extract respecting the fatal interference of the surgeon's
Wife. Mr. John Owen, the boatswain, was the only witness that
knew any thing of this occurrence.
Extract from John Owen's deposition, taken Sept. 10. " The sur-
geon called me aft and ordered us to hoist the boat out, his wife stand-
big by him. She said that she would not go in the boat with the con-
vas. The surgeon then said neither the boat nor any person should
go on shore that night."
Extract from evidence :

You have stated in your deposition that the surgeon ordered the
long boat to be hoisted out, but his wife refused to go in with the con-
victs? What was the wife's reason? I don't know what eLse it
could be but pride.
Did the surgeon appear to spew any fear of the escape of the eon-
victs?—No. He would have allowed the convicts to have gone on
shore but for the interference of his wife.
•
To Hon. George Elliott, C. 8., fte. ftc. Sze.
Secretary, Admiralty.

BYRON ON SENTIMENT IN WOMEN.—" Does the cant of sen-
timent still continue in England ? (asked Byron.) Nothing
sickens me so completely as women who affect sentiment in
conversation. A woman without sentiment is not a woman ;
but I have observed, that those who most display it in words
bave least of the reality. Sentiment, like love and grief, should
be reserved for privacy; and when 1 hear women allichant their
sentimentality, I look upon it as an allegorical 'nude of declar-
ing their wish of finding an object on whom they could bestow
its superfluity. lamof a jealous nature, (said Byron,) and
should wish to call slumbering sentiment into life in the woman
I love, instead of finding that I was chosen, from its excess and
activity, rendering a partner in the firm indispensable. I should
bate a woman (continued he) who could laugh at or ridicule
sentiment, as I should, and do, women who have not religious
.
feelings; and, much as I bigotry, I think it a thousand
times more pardonable in a woman than irreligiou."—Lady
Ble.sinyter, in the New Monthly Maynene for September.