The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-04-05 00:00:00

THEATRE-ROYAL

We briefly announced. in our publication of Tuesday last,
that Shakspeare's play of " A Midsummer Night's Dream "
had been produced on the previous evening. Those who are
conversant with this exquisite creation of the poet's fancy
must have at all times been fully aware of the difficulty that
exists in putting it effectively on the stage. The student,
with a fervent love of the immortal author, feels, while he
pores over the pages, his own imagination glow, and create
pictures wherein the fairies revel and sport in all their ethe-
rial brightness. He will depict them as diminutive creatures
with graceful and fragile forms, well suited to attend to Ti-
tania's bidding—beings that can
Hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear."
When the student sees these fairies appear before him on the
stage, good flesh and blood, of stature like his own, instead
of being small enough to
" Creep into acorn cups, and hide them there,"
he cannot but feel disappointed that his own conception is
If we cannot have talented people of fairy-
we must be content to find them as they are, more
, when we meet with them capable of understanding
and appreciating the great bard's silver-toned num-

not worked out

especially

•
i Midsummer Night's Dream" has been better
stage than on the present occasion, we doubt. It
..peen excelled, or perhaps equalled, in the Inovin-
may safely affirm—whether for novelty and beauty
;cenery, appropriateness of costume, or care in the

general getting up.
" A Midsummer Night's Dream," as a play, is not want-
ing in interest; but it reads better than it acts. There are
in it four plots, if they may be so called : there is one in
which Hippolyta and Theseus arc concerned ; one in which
Hermia and Lysander, Demetrius and Helena, are engaged ;
another wherein we become acquainted with the fairies, and
lastly with those droll fellows the " hard-handed men which
never laboured in their minds till now." The play is strange,
wild, and irregular. Although the scene is laid at Athens
and its neighbourhood, we find events detailed by Plutarch,
Ovid, and Virgil, mixed up with the fairy tales of early
lish time, made racy by the introduction of Manager

_ and his operative company. But what of this strange
mixture of character ? We are too much 'delighted with the
playfulness of Puck, the philosophy of Theseus, the spark-
ling and exquisite imagery of Oberon, and the humour and
simplicity of the actors, to care about the mode in which it
is conveyed to us. We take it as it Li, and feel thankful that

such a drama adorns our country's literature
There is in the " Midsummer Night's Dream "
ness, an etheriality, in the treatment of the subject
one of a garden spangled all over with flowers : stoop
,Nuere we will, we cannot but pluck one of surpassing beauty.
The working out of the story is singularly felicitous and in-
genious; and though we are not kept in suspense as to the
result, the mind is held captive, and feels interested from

an air►-
It re-

,ening to the close

•
Having thus briefly mentioned the,,Play itself, we now turn
to notice it as placed before us by Mr. Hammond. The
first scene represents a view of Athens, from the colonnade
in the palace of Theseus. In the distance is the proud City
of Minerva, the seat of ancient literature and fine art ; to
the right is the Temple of Jupiter, the plain stretching widely
to the left ; the middle ground is occupied by a lake. In the
foreground we see the cupola of a portion of Theseus' palace,
statuary and gardens occupying the stage. The nest scene
worthy of notice is the " Fairy Haunt." Here we are in-

troduced to the rulers and subjects of Fairyland. Some very
beautiful groups are formed ; after which; the scene changes

painted by Messrs. Parker and John-
Some very striking dioramic effects are produced in a
scene entitled " A Wood near Athens." It is first shown
by moonlight, and afterwards by sunlight. A purling brook
occupies the right of the stage, an old and thickly-foliaged
fiddle, and to the left is a sloping bank leading to a
ni alley, through which the light appears to stream.
ene is a well-conceived and cleverly-executed dance
Some pretty groups are here formed. One is
le for its novelty and effect: we allude to that in

Titania's Bower

gr
Iti this
of fairie

n the centre, appears by means)

it in the midst of a party-coloured shell. The
Hall in the palace of Theseus' is very chastely designed
d well executed. This scene• is by Mr. Johnson. In it
" Pyramus and Thisbe " is performed. The
. scene is very novel : the background is occupied by the
palatial halls of Theseus, brilliantly lighted; in the middle
of the stage is an illuminated gallery, thronged with the
fairies; holding various-coloured lamps in their hands, who

the episode o
la

)5, continual

passing to and fro, produce a curious and
At the conclusion, the scene is lit up by

coloured fires, and is magnificent.
We can hardly estimate the labour in the getting up of this
play, but the expense may easily be calculated as being con-
siderable. Mr. W. J. Hammond has put all his energy to
work, and, we must say, succeeded in placing one of Shak-
speare's finest plays before the public in a manner that re-

fleets the highest credit on his talent and ingenuity.
A great outcry is always raised for the legitimate drama.
It is now placed before the public in a style totally unprece-
dented out of London; a large sum of money has been laid

tis the consequence ? Here we have Shakspeare's most
?_nd beautiful play acted admirably, and for the first
,me, with splendid scenery and appointments, and none will
so to'see it !—and yet we believe the Amphitheatre has been
crammed ! Yankee mountebanks versus Shakspeare—John
Bull presiding as judge and jury—verdict for the plaintiffs!
Talk of public taste !—it makes one sick to think on 't.
We now speak of the acting. Miss Gardner looks Oberon
extremely well : her handsomely-formed figure is displayed
to advantage. She sings the difficult recitations and airs
with great sweetness, expression, and ability. The duet
with Miss Honner, " I know a bank," has been encored
every night. The glee, "Ye spotted snakes," has been ex-
cellently given by Mr. Travers, Messrs. Lunt, and Miss
Honner. Miss Honner, as the " first fairy," sang abomi-
nably out of tune on Monday. She has improved since.
Her opening air, " Over hill, over dale," would be better if
sung more carefully and with greater spirit. Mrs. Barton,
as the "second fairy," moves about really like one. She saw

on Friday the recitative, " Lo ! Night's swift dragons," and
air, " But we are spirits of another sort," very sweetly. Miss
Ellen Chaplin has greatly improved since she was last here,
She, played Titania very steadily. Miss Bennett gave the
impassioned language of Helena with fervour and pathos.
On two or three occasions she drew loud plaudits from the
udience. Miss Cleaver acted Hermia very cleverly, giving
expression to the language. Mr. Nantz appears likely
- he possesses good figure and voice : he recited,
lby says, with " good emphasis and discre-
-gry cleverly and humorously personated

to picas

Lord Ow

hird-banded men

sis fOr the

—Dot-
tom (Mr. W. J. Hammond), Quince (Mr. Baker), Flute
(Mr. Slaiter), Snug (Mr. T. Lee), Snout (Mr. Vivash),
and Starveling (Mr. Bellingham),—they carried all before
them. We have seldom heard such shouts of laughter as
" Pyramus and Thisbe " elicited. Baker's Quince was
inimitable : his delivery of the prologue was very rich. Mr.
Lee's Lion not only set the " spectators-on to laugh," but

Mr. Hammond, as Bottom the ri caver. played admirably
throughout. When wearing the ass's head, his comical
voice and odd appearance set the house fairly in a roar. His
Pyramus was extremely laughable. Mr. Mude as Theseus,
and Mrs. Baker as Hippolyta, had little to do, but that was
done well. Indeed, all parties seemed to exert themselves
to the utmost to make the play go well. It is altogether a
very fine production, and reflects great credit on the ma-
nagement.

DISASTROUS FLOOD AT DERBY

Great devastation of property has been occasioned at Derby
by a sudden and tremendous inundation which occurred on
Friday morning last. Between 1 and 2 o'clock the water
of the brook which runs through the town, owing to the heavy
fall of rain in the night, overflowed its boundary walls, and

i about one foot deep into the neighbouring streets ;
instantly given by the night police, but the

in alarm Iva,

flood swelled so rapidly that they were soon driven ftom
their stations. The rain came down a complete deluge, and
as the culverts of the brook course in Victoria-street would
not admit one-third of the waters that rushed along them,
all the lower streets were speedily inundated, and two rapid
currents were soon formed by the flood.; one running down
Cheapside, the Wadwick, and Victoria-streets, the other
along Willow-row, Bold-lane, and Saddler-gate ; these
streams met`" fast and furious " in the Corn-market, where
by 3 o'clock the inundation was at least six feet deep ; it
thence forced its way through Thorntree- lane and every
yard and avenue which led to the river Derwent. About four
the rain abated, and at sunrise the flood was gradually
lowering. As it was market-day and Easthy fair, it was
impossible to describe the confusion which existed among
the inhabitants and the country people who were crowding
to the town with their various wares. It is a melancholy
circumstance that this disaster has been attended with a loss
of human life: a poor woman, named Ingram, fell into the
flood, at the back of her residence, in Upper Brook-street,
about 6 o'clock ; and in about halt an hour afterwards she
was found quite dead by her husband. Several other persons
have been seriously, but not dangerously, injured. Many
horses, cows, calves, and pigs, have been drowned ; and the
gentlemen and tradesmen residing in the streets visited by
the flood have sustained great damage in their houses and
furniture, &c. Great loss has also been suffered by the shop-
keepers in the Corn-market, whose premises on the ground-
floor were inundated to thd height of four feet. The draw-
ing-room of Mr. Joseph Strutt's house among others was
completely fleoded. The solid stone bridge near St. John's
church was partly destroyed, and the most compact masonry
seemed unable in some parts of the town to resist the rush of

waters.
In the afternoon business was resumed, and the principal
streets which had been inundated were again passable, No
accurate estimate can yet be formed of the damage sustained,
but the amount must be something serious.
It is supposed that, as the flood rose to such a fearful
extent in two or three hours, a water-spout must have burst
over the town.

The following letter, dated Ist of April, has been addressed
by a respestable inhabitant of ,Derby, to a gentleman in this
town

All yesterday it was raining. in'torrents, and almost in-
ssantly, which continued with equal violence until about
,ree o'clock this morning, when the town had a most awful
ppearance. You will be able to form an idea when I tell
Tou, that it nearly came in at our shop door, which you are
aware is in a very high situation; it stood four feet in Mr.
James Strutt's dining-room, and six feet in the Sadler-gate.
The cellars and ground floors of the principal inns have suf-
fered very much ; in fact there is not an inn in the town fit
to go into ; all the shops in the Corn-market are closed, and
have circulated hand-bills, promising to open their shops in
the course of next week, to dispose of their damaged goods.
Messrs. Massey, Mr. Sale, Messrs. Cooke, Mr. Walton,
Mr. Wild, Mr. Hellaby, Mr. Huggins, Mr. Wallis, and se-
veral others, are very considerable losers ; many pigs, and a
great quantity of cattle were swept away. You may think I
laggerating, but upon my soul I thought we were all
together.
-` The worst part of the story is yet to be told, that is, the
loss of life. I understand three people were drowned, among
whom was a poor woman, drowned in'her own house, in the
Willow-row. There has been a great many accidents also in
shbourne, attended with the loss of several lives."

OF ENGLAND•—The usual average return
Alder the old act of the liabilities and assets of the Bank of
England, embracing the period from the 4th of January to
the 29th of March, both inclusive; which appeared in Friday
night's Gazette, gives the following results, viz. :—" That
the average of the 13 weeks ending the 29th March, as com-
pared with the average of the 13 weeks ending the 4th of
January, shows

An increase in the circulation of .. 320,000
An increase in the deposits of 709,000
An increase in the stock of bullion of
Wherefore. it appears that the increase in the liabilities is
£1,029,000, and this represents the increase in the total
.quantity of money in the 13 weeks ending the 29th of March,
as compared with the 13 weeks ending the • 4th of January,
ins() far as regards the administration of the currency by
the Bank of England. The yearly comparison is as follows:
The average of the 13 weeks ending the 29th of March, 1842,
as' compared with the 13 weeks ending the 30th of March,
1841, shows

An increase in the circulation of
An increase in the deposits of 1,445,000
An increase in the stock of bullion of
Wherefore it appears that the increase in the liabilities is
£1,860,000, and this represents the increase in the total
.quantity of money in the 13 weeks ending the 29th of March,
1842, as
compared with the 13 weeks ending the 30th of
March,lB4l, in so far as regards the administration of the
currency by the Bank of England."