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 FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD 
 
 
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 THE 
 
 LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 
 
 INCLUDING A SUMMARY OF 
 
 THE ENGLISH STAGE FOR THE LAST FIFTY YEARS, 
 
 AND A DETAILED ACCOUNT Of THE 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF THE PRINCESS'S THEATRE, 
 
 FROM 1850 TO 1859. 
 
 BY JOHN WILLIAM COLE. 
 
 ' Orator ad vos venio oinatu prologi : 
 Sinite exorator ut sim. 
 Quia sciebam dubiam fortunam esse scenicam, 
 Spe incerta eertum mihi laborem sustuli." TERENTII HECYRA. 
 
 ' There's nothing simply good nor ill alone ; 
 Of every quality, comparison 
 The only measure is, and judge opinion." DR. DONNE'S POEMS. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 
 in OrbinarjT to |pi*r 
 
 1859. 
 
 [The right of translation is reserved.'}
 
 LONDON : 
 R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL, 

 
 College 
 Library 
 
 CONTENTS TO VOL. II. 
 
 V. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Charles Kean enters on the Management of the Princess's Theatre 
 in Partnership with Mr. Keeley " Twelfth Night " the Open- 
 ing Play The Great Exhibition of 1851 Its Success and Ob- 
 jects London Inundated with Foreigners Opinion of the 
 French on English Character and Habits Distinction between 
 French and English Dramatists The Theatres Crowded nightly 
 throughout the Summer Company engaged at the Princess's 
 Theatre Old Pieces revived New Pieces produced The 
 "Gamester" on Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean's Benefit Night 
 Eemarks on the Moral Tendency of the Play and the Lesson 
 it Inculcates Conclusion of the Season Its great Success Re- 
 tirement of Mr. Macready His Farewell Benefit and Parting 
 Address at Drury Lane Short Summary of his Career The 
 Conspiracy against him in America 
 
 CHAPTER II, 
 
 The Princess's Theatre under the sole Management of Mr. Charles 
 Kean The Season commences with the "Merry Wives of 
 Windsor" Cast of the Comedy Critical Observations " King 
 John," the first great Historical Revival Mrs. Siddons' Reflec- 
 tions on the Character of Constance The "Corsican Brothers " 
 Many Versions and Burlesques of the latter Its great Attrac- 
 tions at the Princess's Supernatural Agency Well-authenti- 
 cated Ghost Stories Mademoiselle Clairon's Disembodied Per- 
 secutor Tender Precautions Our Clerks The Easter Specta- 
 cle, " Wittikind and his Brothers " Mr. Lovell's Play of the 
 "Trial of Love" The Phantasm of the Vampire The Panto- 
 mime of "Betty Taylor" Close of the Season on the 14th of 
 July Number of Pieces performed General Result .... 23 
 
 1
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Mr. C. Kean's third Season at the Princess's The Prima Donna 
 Melodrama of " Mont St. Michel" Engagement and First Ap- 
 pearance of Mr. Wright Mr. Westland Marston's Play of 
 "Anne Blake" Retirement of Mr. Bartley Pantomime of 
 "Cherry and Fair Star" Mr. Douglas Jerrold's Comedy of 
 "St. Cupid, or Dorothy's Fortune " Revival of " Macbeth" 
 " Fly Leaf" General Remarks on the Play as now represented 
 Easter Spectacle of "Marco Spada" Revival of Lord Byron's 
 " Sardanapalus " " Fly Leaf" Burlesques Unfairness of the 
 Practice Mr. T. P. Cooke at the Princess's Close of the 
 Season . . . - . 40 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Correspondence between Mr. Charles Kean and Mr. Douglas 
 Jerrold Mr. Blanchard Jerrold's Statement in his Father's 
 Life Reasons for publishing the Letters Their Tendency and 
 Result Incidental Observations . 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Fourth Season of Mr. C. Kean's Management at the Princess's 
 "Sardanapalus" continued with unceasing Attraction Sheri- 
 dan's Comedy of the "Rivals" The " Lancers," adapted from the 
 French, by Captain L. Vernon, M.P. "A Modern Fashionable 
 Drawing-room" Article in a Weekly Paper, on the Windsor 
 Theatricals Statements answered Large Sums paid for origi- 
 nal Dramas Long and serious Illness of Mrs. C. Kean Panto- 
 mime of the "Miller and his Men" Revival of "King 
 Richard III." Colley Gibber's Alterations Great Difference 
 of Opinion on this Point Reasons for adopting the altered 
 Play Result not Satisfactory Supposed Causes " Married 
 Unmarried " " Away with Melancholy " and " A Storm in a 
 Tea-cup " Magical Drama of " Faust and Marguerite "- 
 Mr. C. Kean's Mephietoplieles " From Village to Court " The 
 " Courier of Lyons " produced for Mr. Kean's Benefit His 
 Performance in the double Characters of Lesurguea and Dubosc 
 Close of the Season Number of Pieces performed Melo- 
 drama and high Tragedy
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Delayed Commencement of the Fifth Season at the Princess's 
 Cholera in London Sudden Illness and Death of Mrs. Fitzwil- 
 liam Death of Mrs. Warner "Living too Fast" Mr. Douglas 
 Jerrold's Play of the " Heart of Gold " Comparative Failure 
 Spectacle of " Schamyl, the Circassian Hero " Pantomime of 
 "Blue Beard" Casimir de la Vigne's "Louis the Eleventh," 
 adapted by Mr. Dion Bourcicault Great Success of the Play 
 Extraordinary Impression made by Mr. C. Kean in the Character 
 of the King Critical Analysis The Author, the Actor, and 
 the Play Complimentary Letters to Mr. C. Kean 113 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A " Game of Romps "The " Muleteer of Toledo " " How Stout 
 You're Getting" Revival of Shakespeare's " King Henry the 
 Eighth," and Return of Mrs. C. Kean to the Stage Critical 
 Remarks on the Play and Performance Garrick and Kemble's 
 Alterations of Shakespeare Mr. C. Kean's Cardinal Wolsey ; 
 Mrs. C. Kean's Queen Katharine Unprecedented Attraction, 
 and Run of One Hundred Consecutive Nights Acting Superior 
 to Pageantry Publication of " Henry the Eighth," with Pre- 
 face and Notes Restored Scenes and new Stage Arrangements 
 Condensation of the Fifth Act^End of the Season Diffi- 
 culties Surmounted Concluding Reflections and General 
 Summary 133 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Renewal of Mr. C. Kean's Lease for Four Years Season of 1855 
 1856 at the Princess's New Farce of " Don't Judge by Appear- 
 ancesA " Wonderful Woman "The "Critic" The " Rivals" 
 The " Heir at Law" "Every One has His Fault "Mrs. C. 
 Kean as Lady Eleanor Irwin Pantomime on the Subject of the 
 "Maid and the Magpie" "Hamlet" "Jealous Wife" 
 " Louis the Eleventh " " Merchant of Venice " Death of the 
 great tenor Singer, John Braham The " First Printer," a new 
 Play by Messrs. C. Reade and Tom Taylor Arguments on the 
 Treatment of the Subject and its Historical Accuracy Mr. C. 
 Kean as Laurence Costar " Faust and Marguerite " " A 
 Prince for an Hour " The " Victor Vanquished " Revival of
 
 vi CONTENTS. 
 
 the " Winter's Tale " Extraordinary Kun of One Hundred and 
 Two Nights Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean as Leontes and Hermione 
 Close of the Season Mr. C. Kean' s Address Number of Shake- 
 spearean Performances Death of Madame Vestris 156 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Seventh Season under Mr. C. Kean's Management at the Princess's 
 Theatre Eevival of Sheridan's "Pizarro," with Alterations and 
 Additions Prefatory Notice Different Opinions as to the 
 Literary Merit of the Play Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean as Rolla, and 
 Elvira Historical Mistake of Killing Pizarro in the original 
 Play Great Success of the present Eevival Sixty-eight 
 Repetitions Next Shakespearean Performance "A Midsum- 
 mer Night's Dream" Early Alterations of this Play Garrick's 
 Opera in 1763 The Fairies represented by Children Col- 
 man's Adaptation in 1777 Eeynolds's Musical Version _at 
 Covent Garden in 1816 Madame Vestris's revival at Covent 
 Garden, and Mr. Phelps's at Sadler's Wells Both Excellent 
 Mr. C. Kean's Eestoration of the original Play runs for One 
 Hundred and Fifty Nights during the first two Seasons The 
 " Kose of Amiens," a Comedy in two acts, and the Pantomime 
 of " Aladdin," both by Mr. J. M. Morton 184 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 Eevival of " King Eichard the Second " by Mr. C. Kean Previous 
 Alterations of this play by Tate, Theobald, and Wroughton 
 Invariable want of Attraction; attributed to the essentially 
 Undramatic Nature of the Subject Edmund Kean in "Eichard 
 the Second "at Drury Lane, in 1815 Macready in the same 
 Part at the Haymarket, in 1851 Summary of the Play and 
 new Effects as produced by Mr. C. Kean His Acting as the 
 King Mrs. C. Kean as the Queen The Play runs for Eighty- 
 four Nights without Intermission General Eemarks Eevival 
 of the " Tempest " Close of the Season Two Hundred and 
 Forty-two Shakespearean Eepresentations 202 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 Vacation of Seven Weeks Mr. and Mrs. Kean visit Venice 
 The Theatre opens on the 12th of October Newly Decorated 
 The "Tempest" .Resumed Buns altogether for Eighty-seven 
 Nights Eeproduction of " Eichard the Second " Pantomime
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 of the " White Cat " Death of Lady Boothby, formerly Mrs. 
 Nisbett Mr. Kean elected a Fellow of the Society of Anti- 
 quaries Festival Performances at the Opera House on occa- 
 sion of the Princess Royal's Marriage Absence of Mr. and Mrs. 
 C. Kean Opinions expressed in the Papers " Macbeth " at the 
 Opera House "Hamlet" at the Princess's on the same Even- 
 ing Demonstration in the Princess's Theatre on the 19th of 
 January Statement of Facts 226 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Two new Farces, the " Stock Exchange, or, the Green Business;" 
 and "Samuel in Search of Himself," on Easter Monday Revival 
 of " King Lear " from the Text of Shakespeare Tate's Alteration 
 General and Critical Remarks Death of Mrs. Davison, 
 formerly Miss Duncan Last Performance at the old Adelphi 
 Theatre in the Strand Peculiar Style of Audience, Actors, and 
 Authors Revival of the " Merchant of Venice " Novelties 
 Introduced Mr. Kean's Shylock Mrs. C. Kean's Portia 
 General Observations on the Play Actors of the Principal 
 Characters The new Prelude of " Dying for Love " . . . . 248 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Death of the celebrated French Actress, Mademoiselle Rachel at 
 Le Cannet, near Montpellier Short Summary of her Theatrical 
 Career Her enormous Profits in a few Years Her Will and 
 Funeral Obsequies 274 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Proposal for the Establishment of a Dramatic College, or Asylum, 
 for, Decayed Actors and Actresses Public Meeting in the 
 Princess's Theatre, Mr. C. Kean in the Chair Report of Pro- 
 ceedings lead by Mr. Cullenford Speeches by Mr. C. Kean, 
 Mr. Dickens, Mr. Creswick, Mr. T. P. Cooke, Mr. Harley, Mr. 
 B. Webster, Mr. Robert Bell, Sir G. Armytage, Mr. F. 
 Matthews, and Sir W. De Bathe Published Report of 1858, 
 with amount of Subscriptions Her Majesty becomes Patroness 
 Difference with Mr. Henry Dodd, and final Rejection of his 
 Offer Death of John Pritt Harley Summary of his Career 
 Close of the Season at the Princess's Mr. C. Kean's Address 
 General Observations . , - . , 293
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Mr. C. Kean's Farewell Season as Manager of the Princess's 
 Theatre "Merchant of Venice" continued Second Revival of 
 " King John " Ditto of " Macbeth " Production of " Much 
 Ado about Nothing" Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean as Benedick and 
 Beatrice Farce of "Thirty-three next Birthday" Pantomime 
 of the " King of the Castle " " Jealous Wife " " Corsican 
 Brothers " " Midsummer Night's Dream " " Louis the 
 Eleventh" "Hamlet" 318 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Presentation of a Testimonial to Mr. Kean from the Committee of 
 the Dramatic College Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean's Annual Benefit 
 in 1359 Last Shakespearean Revival "King Henry the Fifth" 
 Original Effects Storming of Harfleur Battle of Agincourt 
 Introduced Episode of Action Letters from Historical Au- 
 thorities Mrs. C. Kean as the Chorus Mr. C. Kean as King 
 Henry Unprecedented Attraction of the Play Delineation 
 of National Character Fluellen identified with David Gam 
 Correspondence New Comedietta, " If the Cap Fits " 
 " Henry the Eighth " Banquet and Testimonial proposed by 
 the Etonians Notices in the Papers Congratulatory Letters . 339 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Banquet and Testimonial to Charles Kean at the St. James's Hall, 
 on the 20th July, 1859 Speeches on that occasion Conclud- 
 ing Summary - ... 360
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 or 
 
 CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHARLES KEAN ENTERS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PRINCESS'S 
 THEATRE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MR. KEELEY ' TWELFTH NIGHT ' THE 
 OPENING PLAY THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851 ITS SUCCESS AND 
 OBJECTS LONDON INUNDATED WITH FOREIGNERS OPINION OF THE 
 FRENCH ON ^ENGLISH CHARACTER AND HABITS DISTINCTION BETWEEN 
 FRENCH AND ENGLISH DRAMATISTS THE THEATRES CROWDED NIGHTLY 
 THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER COMPANY ENGAGED AT THE PRINCESS'S 
 THEATRE OLD PIECES REVIVED NEW PIECES PRODUCED ' THE GAME- 
 STER' ON MB, AND MRS. C. KEAN's BENEFIT NIGHT REMARKS ON THE 
 MORAL TENDENCY OF THE PLAY AND THE LESSONS IT INCULCATES 
 CONCLUSION OF THE SEASON ITS GREAT SUCCESS RETIREMENT OP 
 MR, MACRKADY HIS FAREWELL BENEFIT AND PARTING ADDRESS AT 
 DRURY LANE SHORT SUMMARY OF HIS CAREER THE CONSPIRACY 
 AGAIKST HIM IN AMERICA. 
 
 IN August, 1850, Charles Kean, in partnership with 
 Mr. Keeley, entered on a lease for two years, of the 
 Princess's Theatre, in Oxford Street, and for the first 
 time embarked on the " stormy sea " of management. 
 The Keans and the Keeleys formed a rich coalition of 
 
 VOL. II. B
 
 2 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 diversified talent. The progressive events of their 
 experiment were watched with unusual interest, howbeit 
 they had fallen on evil days, and their net was cast in 
 troubled waters. Much was wanting to revive public 
 taste and restore the stage, generally supposed to be on 
 the decline, to its former elevation. Mr. Phelps had 
 already raised the standard of legitimacy at Sadler's 
 Wells, and was making a manly stand ; but his scene 
 of action was far east, and too much circumscribed by 
 its locality to divert into unwonted channels the anta- 
 gonistic tide of fashion. It was felt by all the ardent 
 partizans of our national drama, that unless some com- 
 pelling force could be applied to counterbalance the 
 thousand and one causes which pressed heavily on its 
 vitality, the most intellectual of all recreations stood in 
 danger of being numbered with the things that were, 
 and the art and its professors might calculate the hour 
 when both should lie down peaceably together, inscrib- 
 ing over their common sepulchre " Fuimus Troes, fuit 
 Ilium, et in gens gloria Teucrorum." 
 
 Many of Charles Kean's friends trembled when they 
 saw that he had determined to risk in the uncertain 
 issue of managerial speculation the fame and fortune 
 which he had toiled to establish by persevering industry 
 from youth to mature manhood. But a favouring pre- 
 sentiment accompanied his name, with a strong impres- 
 sion that the star of his destiny, hitherto so bright, 
 would still continue in the ascendant. He had many 
 and high qualifications for his new work, backed by 
 sound experience. Much reliance was placed on his 
 acknowledged abilities, joined with those of his accom- 
 plished lady, their estimation in general society, and 
 irreproachable characters. His known liberality too in 
 his dealings with authors was expected to give an 
 impetus to theatrical literature. He had already paid
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 3 
 
 a second 4007. to the author of the " Wife's Secret," for 
 another play, and was in treaty with several of the 
 leading English dramatists to employ their pens in a 
 similar task. If the genius of Sheridan Knowles slum- 
 bered on its laurels and could not be awakened, there 
 were younger disciples of the same school who might 
 aspire to fill his vacant place. In addition to these and 
 other prospects on the favourable side, Charles Kean and 
 his clever coadjutor were backed by a potent ally 
 capital; without which reserve talent and resolution 
 have often been swallowed up and exhausted in the 
 sacrifices necessary to ensure victory. What Monte- 
 cuculi said of war is quite as applicable to theatrical 
 management. The three most essential ingredients of 
 success are money, money, money ! 
 
 The first season under the new dynasty, at the 
 Princess's, commenced on the 28th of September, 1850, 
 and occupied an uninterrupted period of nearly thirteen 
 months; terminating on the 17th of October, 1851, 
 with the opening play of " Twelfth Night." The net 
 profit amounted to 7,000/. ; but it. was the year of the 
 Exhibition, in Hyde Park, and the result cannot be 
 taken as forming any ground for an average calculation. 
 
 The Great Exhibition of 1851 ; might well be called 
 the world's wonder, for such in truth it was. The most 
 perfect realization of a magnificent idea that ever entered 
 the mind of man. The scheme of Henri Quatre for a 
 general peace coalition throughout Europe was scarcely 
 more sublime, and evidently not so practicable. The 
 treasures that were brought together in the Crystal Palace, 
 in Hyde Park, exceeded all that imagination could have 
 anticipated. No such collection can ever be accu- 
 mulated again, although the shell that contained them 
 has been surpassed in architectural elegance by its more 
 elaborate successor at Sydenham. By crossing from
 
 4 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 one department to another, you were as completely in 
 the country designated, as if the carpet of Prince Hous- 
 sein had actually annihilated time and space, and 
 carried you there in a minute. You heard its language, 
 saw the complexion of its people, and investigated its 
 productions. The whole formed a scene of realized 
 enchantment, an animated cosmorama, to lose yourself 
 in for a month, without weariness, and to think of for 
 ever after. 
 
 A calculation computed on police returns, estimated 
 the number of visitors to the Crystal Palace, during the 
 six months that it remained open, at seven millions. 
 The total receipt of money considerably exceeded half 
 a million sterling, leaving an available balance of 
 240,000/. The only way of seeing the Exhibition 
 thoroughly and with comfort, was by a season-ticket, 
 of which, as a matter of course, none but residents could 
 avail themselves. You thus took your time, divided 
 your visit into sections, and examined everything in 
 succession. To-day you were in France, to-morrow in 
 Austria, the day following in Italy, and the next week 
 in India. You then crossed an imaginary Atlantic and 
 glanced over Canada and the United States. 
 
 On this plan it required three months, at the rate of 
 several hours per diem, to become acquainted with all 
 the marvels that were submitted to view. A country 
 family arriving by an excursion train, with a return 
 ticket, good for a week, and sometimes only for three 
 days, could obtain little better than a bird's-eye glance, 
 galloping along, catalogue in hand (as Sir Francis 
 Head galloped over the Pampas), reeking with per- 
 spiration, and resolved as a point of principle as well as 
 of value received, to toil regularly through the official 
 list of twenty thousand articles. 
 
 The predictions of the alarmists were verified to the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 5 
 
 letter during the summer of 1851. London for several 
 months was occupied by the French, but quite in a 
 family way, and without disturbing the entente cordiale. 
 An Englishman wonders how our continental friends 
 contrive to live in so expensive a city as London, know- 
 ing that they are not usually endowed with a superfluity 
 of the circulating medium. But there they were, and 
 appeared to enjoy themselves amazingly. You met two. 
 foreigners, as you perambulated the streets, for one 
 indigenous child of the soil. They were less mysti- 
 fied by the wonders of the Exhibition than by the 
 total absence of soldiers, the order and peaceable de- 
 meanour of the vast multitudes that thronged the 
 thoroughfares, and the perfect ease with which a few 
 hundred policemen managed everything, without any 
 apparent effort. These points of home discipline are 
 utterly incomprehensible to strangers, who are accustomed 
 to behold in every capital of Europe a vast entrenched 
 camp, bristling wil h bayonets and artillery, a powder 
 magazine ready to explode with the slightest ignition 
 They saw Queen Victoria go into the heart of the city, 
 to the Lord Mayor's fete, and return through countless 
 thousands in the middle of the night, with a simple escort 
 of honour. They saw her pass in all the paraphernalia 
 of regal state to prorogue the two houses of Parliament,, 
 still only with a few policemen to keep the passage 
 clear, while all London stood in respectful attendance, 
 cheering and saluting with spontaneous loyalty. Here 
 were evidences of a firmly-based monarchy, a paternal 
 government, a nation satisfied with their institutions, and 
 their power of maintaining them, more convincing than 
 a triple line of fortifications, and a bivouac of troops in 
 every square. 
 
 The great London Exhibition, which has been fol- 
 lowed by many imitations, was not only the best, but
 
 6 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 had the advantage of being the first. Amongst the 
 remarkable features which distinguished this mighty 
 gathering of the nations, may be noticed the little 
 trouble the police had in keeping order, and the small 
 amount of robbery. 
 
 But where were the croakers who prophesied failure, 
 and the constitutional opposers of everything, who 
 thought (" the wish was father to the thought ") the 
 building would be gutted by a simultaneous rising of all 
 the socialists, chartists, and red republicans in the world, 
 expressly engaged and congregated for that particular 
 performance ? 
 
 The impression left on the mind after each successive 
 visit to the Crystal Palace, was one of unqualified admi- 
 ration, mingled with gratitude to the presiding Provi- 
 dence which crowned this great undertaking with such 
 brilliant success. The blessing which was invoked by 
 the greatest of earthly sovereigns on the inaugural day 
 had been signally vouchsafed. The six months which 
 followed were pregnant with instruction. All was har- 
 mony, peace, and good-will. A mantle of protection 
 appeared to be thrown round the vast edifice, from the 
 first opening of its doors. All felt they were entering 
 on a scene devoted exclusively to instructive recreation, 
 where evil passions had no field for their exercise. 
 There was a universal impression that permanent ad- 
 vantages would result, irrespective of the vast additional 
 sums of money that had been brought into circulation, 
 and the many thousands who were thereby enabled to 
 obtain employment. It was estimated that, during the 
 summer of 1851, the average population of London had 
 increased to the amount of 300,000 souls. An inter- 
 course sprang up which had no previous existence. 
 Foreigners, instead of vague surmises, acquired more po- 
 sitive knowledge of us, our habits, institutions, resources,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 7 
 
 and peculiarities, from ocular observation, in that short 
 period of six months, than in the thirty-six years which 
 had previously elapsed since the gates of the Continent 
 were opened on the fall of Napoleon. We had gone 
 amongst them, but they had come sparingly to us. Many 
 prejudices have been abandoned, and many mistaken 
 views have given way, which are not likely again to ob- 
 tain influence. Our foreign friends have seen and learned 
 that there are better avenues to public prosperity than 
 annual revolutions erected on barricades, and that a 
 government and constitution may be firmly established 
 without a garrison of a hundred thousand men in the 
 capital to compel obedience. The exhibition of the 
 produce of all countries was an honest peace-offering 
 from England to the whole world a cordial proclama- 
 tion of amity, unaccompanied by protocols or remon- 
 strances. When the collection began to be dispersed, 
 there ensued much discussion as to the preservation of 
 the building. With many reasons for the retention of 
 Sir Joseph Paxton's magnificent structure, the arguments 
 in favour of its removal prevailed. It may be considered 
 fortunate that they did. Any other course would have 
 been an error. It was erected as a temporary depository 
 for an express purpose, which had been gloriously ac- 
 complished, and under the implied condition of being 
 pulled down within a given period. 
 
 The whole was a great national event ; an epoch in 
 history; a period to date from in the chronology of 
 future annalists. " ' I was in the great battle under the 
 walls of Moscow ! ' This," said Napoleon to his veterans 
 on the morning of Borodino, "will be your proudest 
 recollection when reposing from the toils of service." 
 And often shall we, in the garrulity of old age, repeat to 
 our grandchildren, "I was in London at the Great 
 Exhibition of 1851, and will tell you of all the marvels
 
 8 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 I saw there." The enormous mass of all that the intel- 
 lect and ingenuity of man could produce of rare and 
 valuable ; the discoveries of industry, the triumphs of 
 art, the improvements of scientific invention, brought 
 together with such cost and labour from the remotest 
 corners of the earth, and arranged with such unparalleled 
 skill, have long been scattered abroad, and have passed 
 into the hands of different purchasers, never to be col- 
 lected again. The daily recurring thousands, whose 
 presence gave life and animated interest to the glowing 
 scene, have subsided back into the sober, plodding tenor 
 of ordinary avocation. The equipages of the royal, the 
 noble, and the refined, no longer throng the surrounding- 
 avenues. The ceaseless sound of many voices, the strange- 
 blending of many foreign languages, have long been 
 succeeded by unbroken silence. What would have been 
 gained had the building still occupied the vast area, an 
 untenanted monument, an empty reminiscence, a casket 
 stripped of the treasures it was constructed to enclose? 
 The historic records, the practical influence on civiliza- 
 tion, the increase of commercial intercourse, are more 
 enduring and more satisfactory memorials of the mighty 
 bazaar, than the Crystal Palace transformed into a 
 winter garden, or a gigantic hippodrome. Devoted to- 
 such purposes as these (which were the most favourite 
 propositions for its conversion), it might have been useful 
 and ornamental, but would have ceased to be a con- 
 necting link with the object which called it into exist- 
 ence. It would have resembled the funereal pyramid of 
 Cheops, without the ashes of the founder ; the mausoleum 
 without the relics of the hero it was intended to preserve ; 
 or the mere outward case of the watch, divested of 
 its costly and complicated machinery. Better that all 
 should be removed, than that a mutilated skeleton should 
 be retained. There may be something of barbarism,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 9 
 
 but there was grandeur in the obsequies of Alaric, the 
 conquering Ostrogoth. His devoted followers, by the 
 labour of their prisoners, forcibly diverted the course of 
 the Busentinus, near Consentia, erected his sepulchre in 
 the empty bed of the river, piled over his mortal remains 
 the accumulated treasures and memorials of many con- 
 quered nations, including those of Imperial Rome ; and 
 then turned on the stream again to engulph the monarch 
 and his trophies, that no vestige of either might remain 
 as tangible evidences, after the soul which gave them 
 reality, and power, and substance, had been summoned 
 back to its account. The immortality of the Exhibition 
 was riot dependent on the mutation or breaking up of the 
 building in which it had been contained. It rested with 
 the historian, the painter, the engraver, and the conse- 
 quences to be transmitted through succeeding generations. 
 Foreign visitors are invariably struck with the extent 
 and enormous population of London ; with the building 
 mania that extends on every side, and seems likely to 
 continue until the whole county of Middlesex is covered 
 with brick. But a general impression seems to exist, 
 more especially amongst the French, that England alto- 
 gether, without reference to climate, is un pays triste 
 a dull country to live in. A Parisian carries the same 
 gay indifference to the " Bourse " with which he enlivens 
 the drawing-rooms and coffee-houses. John Bull cannot 
 do this. With him, the Stock Exchange is the serious 
 business of his life. He has no idea of mixing up a 
 laugh, or a trifling anecdote, with monetary calculations. 
 But his mistake is, that he cannot leave his commercial 
 face at home when he mingles in society, or locked up 
 in the desk with his scrip and debentures. He enjoys 
 himself with an effort ; and whether he is dancing, play- 
 ing cards, or enduring music, appears very much as if 
 he was thinking of something else. If you tell him a
 
 10 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 joke, lie laughs at the end as a matter of duty and 
 politeness, but seldom looks as if he were listening. 
 He has, usually, what the French call V air preoccupe, 
 and which they consider, not without cause, the very 
 antipodes of relaxation. He cannot give himself up, 
 heart and soul, as they do, to the influence of the mo- 
 ment. This is one leading reason why our national 
 drama which is always, to a certain extent, a reflex of 
 national character with more nerve and vigour, has far 
 less ease, variety, and piquancy than that of our volatile 
 neighbours. It is not that our writers are deficient in 
 sparkling wit or broad humour. The comedies of Con- 
 greve, Farquhar, Goldsmith, Sheridan, Colman, Morton, 
 and various living authors, attest the contrary ; but their 
 telling points are mostly got up for the occasion, and 
 worked off with labour ; as professed diners-out prime 
 themselves with their best stories for public display, 
 when they appear all fun and sparkle. But if you catch 
 them at home in undress, they have a look of habitual 
 melancholy, while their gibes and mockeries are as 
 threadbare as their dressing-gowns. In fact, we often 
 assume gaiety without any feeling of mirth ; while the 
 French laugh constitutionally at the most solemn matters, 
 as forming a portion of what they please to consider the 
 burlesque of life. Let us be content to keep our gravity, 
 coupled with the national reproach of heaviness, rather 
 than run into the opposite extreme. 
 
 During the summer of 1851, there were nineteen 
 theatres open in London, exclusive of the two Italian 
 operas and the St. James's, devoted entirely to French 
 tragedy and comedy. This list applies to quasi-legiti- 
 mates only, and has no reference to hippodromes, gar- 
 dens, casinos, Grecian saloons, and the thousand and 
 one irregulars which swarmed in every corner of the 
 city and suburbs, and where dramatic performances,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 11 
 
 under some form or other, were represented daily and 
 nightly. Nearly all reaped an abundant harvest, princi- 
 pally gathered in from the visitors and foreign strangers ; 
 although throughout the month of May there was an 
 alarm of failure, and managerial faces elongated in 
 proportion. But the panic was momentary, and from 
 June onwards a reactionary tide set in, which never 
 ebbed again, but filled the theatrical treasuries, with two 
 or three exceptions, even to overflowing. 
 
 In Fraser's Magazine for August, 1851 (No. 260), it 
 was stated that the theatres were empty, that the 
 managers had proved themselves bad calculators in 
 expecting they would be filled ; that our dramas were 
 not formed on the models suited to the taste of conti- 
 nental audiences; and that the Exhibition afforded 
 reason enough for " a beggarly account of empty boxes," 
 as neither foreigner nor native could sit out a play on a 
 hot evening after a long day devoted to the wonders of 
 the Crystal Palace. 
 
 While this was elaborately set forth for the edifica- 
 tion of country readers, nightly facts obtruded them- 
 selves in direct refutation. All the theatres were so 
 crowded that it was difficult to obtain squeezing room. 
 More than half the plays exhibited mere adaptations or 
 translations from the French ; while at least five-sixths 
 of the audiences were composed of foreigners and holiday 
 excursionists from the country. That the same pieces were 
 repeated night after night with little thought of variety, 
 was a tolerable proof of continued attraction, and also that 
 the attraction rested with the strangers. The resident 
 play-goers were compulsively banished by the " hundred 
 and fifty-fourth night of the ' Alhambra,' " the " two 
 hundred and twenty-third of 'King Charming,' " and the 
 " three hundred and thirty-first of ' Green Bushes.' ' 
 
 The company collected for the opening of the
 
 12 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 Princess's Theatre, in Sept. 1850, included the follow- 
 ing names : Messrs. C. Kean, Keeley, Harley, Bartley, 
 Wigan, Meadows, Ryder, Fisher, King, Bolton, Oath- 
 cart, Addison, Flexmore ; Mesdames, C. Kean, Keeley, 
 Winstanley, Wigan, Daly ; Mesdemoiselles, Phillips, C. 
 Leclercq, Robertson, Murray, M. Keeley, and Des- 
 borough. During the first season, the Shakespearean 
 plays represented were as follows: " Hamlet," fourteen 
 times ; " Twelfth Night," forty ; " As You Like It,'* 
 four; the " Merchant of Venice," twelve ; and " Henry 
 the Fourth" (Part I.), twenty-two. The " Wife's 
 Secret," commanded twenty-six repetitions ; the 
 " Gamester," fourteen ; the " Prisoner of War,'* 
 thirteen ; the " Stranger," seven ; and " Town and 
 Country," four. The principal novelties were, the 
 " Templar," and the "Duke's Wager," by Mr. Slous ; 
 " Lost in a Maze," by Mr. Bourcicault ; and a romantic 
 drama in the melo-dramatic line, of a very peculiar 
 character, skilfully adapted from the French, by Mr. 
 John Oxenford, entitled " Pauline." In the latter, the 
 powerful acting of Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean, in two well 
 contrasted original parts, elicited universal approbation. 
 The situations in this drama are dangerous and revolt- 
 ing. Nothing but the most artistic delineation, regu- 
 lated by good taste, could have rendered them endurable 
 to any English audience. There were also six light 
 farces, namely, "Platonic Attachments/' "A Model of 
 a Wife," " Sent to the Tower," " Betsy Baker," " To 
 Parents and Guardians," and " Apartments to Let ;'* 
 with the pantomine of " Alonzo the Brave," by Mr. 
 Fitzball, and the burlesque spectacle of the " Alhambra,'* 
 by Mr. Albert Smith, produced at Easter and continued 
 without interruption to the close of the season. The 
 total number of pieces acted amounted to twenty-seven, 
 of which twelve were entirely new.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S A. 13 
 
 In the early part of the season, Her Majesty engaged 
 a box, which she has retained annually ever since, and 
 still more satisfactorily marked her approbation of the 
 theatre by constant personal attendance. 
 
 On the occasion of their benefit, Mr. and Mrs. C. 
 Kean appeared in the " Gamester," and " Honey- 
 moon" the same bill which had been selected ten 
 years before, in Dublin, on the day of their marriage. 
 The performance was received with enthusiasm by a 
 house crowded to the roof, and elicited long articles of 
 encomium from the leading papers. The characters of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Beverley have always been popular with 
 the leading performers of their day. Mr. and Mrs. 
 C. Kean had been accustomed to act their principal 
 parts together for many years during their tours in the 
 principal country theatres, and their later engagements 
 in London. They thus acquired a power of producing 
 combined effects by long study and practice a perfec- 
 tion of art which strangers cannot reach, who only meet 
 at accidental intervals in professional life, and have no 
 harmony of thought or reciprocal feeling, in concep- 
 tion of character. By constant association, they were 
 enabled to act up to each other with a certainty of 
 perfect co-operation, tending greatly to the advantage 
 of the play represented, which we have often seen 
 marred and weakened by a want of this complete under- 
 standing between the parties on whom the weight and 
 interest almost entirely rest. We can recall no instance 
 in which the value of mutual support more forcibly de- 
 monstrates itself than in the performance of Beverley 
 and Mrs. Beverley by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean. The 
 most captious critic would have been puzzled to detect 
 an oversight or suggest an improvement in their personi- 
 fication of these two characters. Nothing was wanting 
 to the completeness of the picture, and nothing over-
 
 14 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 looked from the beginning to the end. We were not 
 startled by a momentary flash of brilliancy, followed 
 by half an hour of unexciting tameness. All was 
 sustained, equal, and impressive, with every varying 
 shade of passion justly discriminated. Mrs. C. Kean is 
 peculiarly suited to Mrs. Beverley, uniting with a natural 
 elegance of manner, refined sensibility and unaffected 
 pathos. Her never varying affection for her husband 
 under all trials, her perfect confidence in his heart not- 
 withstanding the errors of his head, were beautifully por- 
 trayed. In a character so carefully studied by several 
 generations of highly-gifted actresses, it is not easy to 
 strike out new effects, or to introduce untried readings. 
 To deviate from what has been done before, merely to 
 avoid comparison or for the temptation of novelty, is not 
 only injudicious, but opens a dangerous avenue to 
 failure. Mrs. C. Kean's conception and execution of 
 this part were consistent with sound taste and judgment. 
 She is neither a copyist nor an unnecessary innovator. 
 Her general style is not formed on any particular model 
 or school, but follows nature, the great teacher and 
 master of all. Her reply to Stukelys insinuations 
 against Severity's fidelity, contained in the words, " I'll 
 not believe it," was one of the most powerfully original 
 points we ever saw delivered. The whole of the scene 
 with StuJcely, and her last interview with Beverley 
 when he is dying in the prison, absorbed the attention 
 of the audience between mingled plaudits and tears, to 
 an extent of which the modern stage affords but few 
 examples. 
 
 Some amongst the surviving residue of the old play- 
 goers, who exist on reminiscences of the past, and have 
 little sympathy with living pretensions, speak with 
 rapture of the "astounding sensation" produced by 
 Mrs. Siddons in Mrs. Beverley. Nothing, they say,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 15 
 
 could ever approach the manner in which she uttered 
 the simple sentence, "Mistaken had been kinder;" or 
 her entire scene where she rejects the overtures of 
 StuJcely ; or her exclamation in the fifth act to Jarvis, 
 "'Tis false, old man," &c. ; or her hysteric laugh, and 
 look of fixed despair, at the death of Beverley. All this 
 may be true to the letter, as to the effect produced, but 
 it ought not to incline us to undervalue the talents of 
 the artists we possess, or lead us to forget that acting 
 was considered more miraculous, was more fashionably 
 followed, and much more fervently applauded, fifty years 
 ago, than it is now. An apathetic chill has damped 
 the spirit of recent audiences, which tames down the 
 fervor and intensity of the most impassioned performers, 
 checks their confidence in themselves, and often para- 
 lyzes their most powerful efforts. Dr. Johnson remarks, 
 with great truth, in his preface to Shakespeare : " All, 
 perhaps, are more willing to honour past than present 
 excellence ; the great contention of criticism is to find 
 the faults of the moderns and the beauties of the 
 ancients. While an author is yet living, we estimate 
 his powers by his worst performance, and when he is 
 dead, we rate them by the best." What is here ap- 
 plied to authors only may be readily extended to actors 
 and artists in general. A statue is often raised to the 
 buried merit, which, when alive, was scarcely recog- 
 nized. 
 
 Not many years since, a short time only before the 
 revival of the " Gamester" at the Princess's,when it was 
 acted at the Haymarket and other theatres in London, 
 more than one critic in the daily papers volunteered 
 a crusade against the play itself. It was called obso- 
 lete, old-fashioned, common-place, vapid, prosy, out 
 of date ; we are not sure that twaddling was not amongst 
 the disparaging epithets. The subject was pronounced
 
 16 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 too exciting ; the catastrophe too harrowing for the feel- 
 ings ; while the weakness of Beverley rendered him too 
 contemptible for sympathy. 
 
 All this was easily written, had an imposing aspect in 
 print, and may have passed current with hundreds of 
 mere casual readers who are caught by a novel and 
 intrepid assertion, without troubling themselves to 
 inquire through what mode of reasoning it can be 
 proved. To us, the " Gamester '' has always appeared 
 a moral lesson worthy of the pulpit, a domestic tragedy 
 of the highest order. Simple, powerful, effective, and 
 probable in the construction of the plot ; clear, intelli- 
 gible, nervous, and pathetic in the dialogue. A leaf 
 from nature's book, applicable to all times, and all 
 countries ; not a page from the registry of any parti- 
 cular manners, or a record of any passing absurdity 
 which may command its votaries to-day, and is totally 
 forgotten to-morrow. The characters appear to be 
 made for the situations they are placed in, and the in- 
 cidents develop themselves naturally as if produced by 
 the characters. 
 
 A vice is here held up to detestation, with all its 
 appalling consequences, more absorbing than any other, 
 which has brought greater desolation to the hearths of 
 families, and has entailed more misery on the descendants 
 of those who have thus immolated themselves on the 
 altar of that destroying Moloch, than human weakness, 
 tyranny, and depravity, have ever produced in any other 
 shape, or through any other agency. As Dr. Young 
 observed, " the fatal prevalence of gaming required such 
 a caustic as the concluding scene of this play presented." 
 The very want of resolution and consistent firmness in 
 Beverley, the readiness with which he falls into the 
 snares of his tempter and evil genius ; those very points 
 which have been somewhat hastily objected to, consti-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 17 
 
 tute the strong truth, the reality, the interest, and above 
 all, the moral warning of the story. Of ten average 
 men, nine are weak in some particular instance. This is 
 the besetting failure of humanity, and this natural weak- 
 ness often engenders more mischief than positive crime. 
 The absolutely wicked are few in number compared 
 with the victims they entangle, without whom their 
 power for evil would be circumscribed almost to nullity. 
 They would die for lack of sustenance, or be forced to 
 prey upon each other, and become extinct for want of 
 necessary food to keep their restless faculties in action. 
 The moral teacher keeps back the more valuable half of 
 his lesson if he suppresses the power of bold iniquity in 
 operation on the irresolutely virtuous. As men are con- 
 stituted (and who is to change their organization ?), the 
 number who resist successfully is far exceeded by those 
 who sink when strong temptation presents itself. To 
 deny sympathy to the fallen, is to close the volume of 
 our own humanity and to fly to ideal standards which 
 cease to be instructive because we know them to be 
 fictitious. We must study man as he is, if we desire or 
 expect to extract profit from his example, either in folly 
 or in wisdom, in error or in excellence. 
 
 It was also quite bewildering to be told that the last 
 scene of any tragedy could be too harrowing or exciting 
 for the taste of an age which positively revelled in the 
 monstrous exaggerations of French melodrama and 
 German metaphysics, the most extravagant flights of 
 which were eagerly acknowledged and hailed with 
 rapturous evidences of enjoyment. If the most salu- 
 tary elements of legitimate tragedy are not impres- 
 sively embodied in this fine play, we shall really feel 
 indebted to some more sublimated discoverer who will 
 enlighten us as to where they are to be found and in 
 what they consist. 
 
 VOL. II. C
 
 18 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Charles Kean's Beverley was in every respect worthy 
 of his gifted associate. It was, perhaps, his very best 
 assumption, up to that time, out of the Shakespearean 
 range. His attitude of deep despair, and the expression 
 of his countenance when first discovered, furnished an 
 index and an unmistakeable prologue to what was to 
 follow. Before the actor had spoken a dozen lines, 
 the audience penetrated his masterly conception of the 
 character, and were prepared for all the thrilling inci- 
 dents which form the sequel, and rise on each other in 
 rapid succession. The scene in the gambling-house 
 with Stukely, in the third act, after he had ventured and 
 lost his last resource, was given with overwhelming 
 power. To call it impassioned is to speak faintly. It 
 was an absolute whirlwind, a sweeping tempest of ago- 
 nized frenzy, bearing down all before it, and produced 
 an effect on the audience which proclaimed its terrible 
 reality. His dying struggles in the last scene were 
 equally impressive. One of the distinguishing charac- 
 teristics of his style is the identity with which he marks 
 his stage deaths, according to the causes and circum- 
 stances under which they are supposed to take place. A 
 cold, calculating observer, who can think and write that 
 the fate of Beverley excites no commiseration, has never 
 seen the part embodied by Charles Kean, or has schooled 
 himself into an insensible, iron stoicism, which sets feel- 
 ing at defiance, laughs at the calamities of life, and, as 
 Shakespeare says, " makes a pish at chance and suffer- 
 ance." We envy not the frigid philosophy or callous 
 indifference which could look on such acting, in such a 
 drama, without deriving benefit from the " salutary woe" 
 which Dr. Johnson emphatically describes as the test 
 and triumph of the tragic muse. Even the cruel tyrant 
 of Pheraea wept at a tragedy of Euripides; and we 
 doubt if any one, however possessed by the passion of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 19 
 
 play, could witness the "Gamester" without a determi- 
 nation to reform. 
 
 The partnership between Messrs. Keeley and Charles 
 Kean terminated by mutual arrangement, before the 
 theatre re-opened for the next season. The former, with 
 his talented lady, remained members of the company, 
 but the latter was announced as the sole manager. 
 
 Amongst other " memorabilia" which marked the year 
 1851, we must enumerate the retirement from the stage 
 of William Charles Macready, who, during his long 
 London career of thirty-five years, had always filled a 
 prominent, and latterly a commanding situation. He 
 went through a succession of farewell performances at 
 the Haymarket during the early part of the winter, and, 
 on the 26th of February, closed with his final benefit at 
 Drury Lane, selecting Macbeth for his last appearance. 
 In his parting address, he spoke fervently of the public 
 support which had cheered him through many difficulties, 
 and enhanced the happiness of his life. " The lapse of 
 time," he said, " has not dimmed the recollection of the 
 encouragement which gave impulse to the inexperienced 
 essay of my youth, and stimulated me to persevere when 
 struggling hardly for equality of position with the genius 
 and talent of the great artists whose superior excellence 
 I ungrudgingly admitted, admired, and honoured." 
 Following the example of Young, he ceased from his 
 labours while his strength was yet entire, and for the 
 same reason. " Because," he concluded, " I would not 
 willingly abate one jot of your esteem, I retire with the 
 belief of yet unfailing powers, rather than linger on the 
 scene, to set in contrast the feeble style of age with the 
 more vigorous exertions of better years." Soon after 
 his retirement, he was honoured, as his great predecessor 
 John Kemble had been, with a public dinner, and the 
 presentation of a testimonial. It was the second time he 
 
 C2
 
 20 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 had received a similar compliment the first having been 
 conferred upon him on his secession from the managerial 
 sceptre of Covent Garden, in 1839. 
 
 Macready practised in an excellent school, and long 
 stood side by side in honourable competition with all 
 the greatest performers of his day. He followed no 
 previous style, but with the boldness of a strong mind, 
 created one for himself ; peculiar and startling, not emi- 
 nent for grace, but thrilling with effect. Nature had 
 endowed him with a noble voice, and study gifted him 
 with the resources of elocution. He was often accused 
 of mannerism, but this charge, of somewhat vague de- 
 finition, may lie against almost every artist who has 
 attained distinguished eminence. James Kenney, the 
 dramatic author, was fond of maintaining that an actor 
 ought to be a mannerist, provided the manner was good 
 and original. Whether by direct teaching, or the re- 
 flected fascination of example, Macready engendered a 
 host of imitators, none of whom have emulated the repu- 
 tation of their model, or upheld the strong personality 
 which stamped his conceptions. They were for the 
 most part, servile and offensive, where he was powerful 
 and original. It is satisfactory to think that the breed 
 tends to extinction rather than increase. 
 
 Even to his concluding season, it continued to be a 
 debated question whether Macready was, in the enlarged 
 sense, a first-rate representative of first-rate Shake- 
 spearean characters. But on the subject of his mana- 
 gerial efforts to advance the interests of the legitimate 
 drama, and to illustrate worthily the works of our great 
 poet, there has been but one decision that of the 
 warmest praise. He proved himself a valuable pioneer, 
 opening avenues untrod before ; and would in all pro- 
 bability have advanced much farther, had the encou- 
 ragement kept pace with the outlay. It has been
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 21 
 
 frequently stated in conversation, and reiterated in print, 
 that during his four years' management, of two seasons 
 in each term, at the two great national theatres, he 
 suffered in his fortune to the amount of 10,000?. Such 
 a result, supposing it to be an approximation to the 
 truth, was sufficient to check the most enthusiastic 
 spirit, and impresses a conviction that the public were 
 not yet prepared for the complete revolution which 
 Mr. Charles Kean has since effected. 
 
 The modern drama is almost identified with the name 
 of Macready: Knowles, Bulwer, Talfourd, Shiel, and 
 Byron, may claim him as their predominant illustrator. 
 While the works of these popular writers retain their 
 hold on the living generation, the memory of his acting 
 in Virginius and William Tell, in Ion, Werner, Claude 
 Melnotte, and Cardinal Richelieu will also be recorded 
 with corresponding admiration. 
 
 Macready twice visited France professionally ; Ame- 
 rica three times. Of all the English tragedians, he 
 proved to be the leading favourite with the Parisians, 
 and his great profits in the United States evinced the 
 popularity he enjoyed throughout the transatlantic con- 
 tinent. His third and last tour was curtailed by the 
 unexpected riot at New York, in May, 1849, fomented, 
 as is generally believed, by Edwin Forrest, who, whether 
 deservedly or not, has thereby linked himself to a noto- 
 riety, as unenviable as that of Erostratus ; and even more 
 criminal, for instead of the temple only, his madness 
 involved the destruction of the worshippers. If Forrest 
 had any part, directly or indirectly, in that savage and 
 unmanly tumult, which drove Macready from America, 
 and caused the sacrifice of many lives, he has much to 
 answer for. 
 
 Mr. Macready carried with him to the privacy of his 
 domestic circle, a love of classic lore and studious habits,
 
 22 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 resources for the evening of life which ordinary casualties 
 have no power to diminish. But his hearth has been 
 unexpectedly desolated, and his household deities rudely 
 shivered round him. Gaps have been formed which 
 never can be filled up again. These sad visitations 
 have called forth the unmingled sympathy which has 
 been universally felt and acknowledged.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 23 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 THE PRINCESS'S THEATRE UNDER THE SOLE MANAGEMENT OF MR, CHARLES 
 KEAN THE SEASON COMMENCES WITH THE MERRY WIVES OP WINDSOR 
 CAST OF THE COMEDY CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS KING JOHN, THE 
 FIRST GREAT HISTORICAL REVIVAL MRS. SIDDONS's REFLECTIONS ON 
 THE CHARACTER OF CONSTANCE THE CORSICAN BROTHERS MANY VER- 
 SIONS AND BURLESQUES OF THE LATTER ITS GREAT ATTRACTIONS AT THE 
 PRINCESS'S SUPERNATURAL AGENCY WELL AUTHENTICATED GHOST 
 STORIES MADEMOISELLE CLAIRON'S DISEMBODIED PERSECUTOR TEN- 
 DER PRECAUTIONS OUR CLERKS THE EASTER SPECTACLE, WITTIKIND 
 AND HIS BROTHERS MR. LOVELL'S PLAY OF THE TRIAL OF LOVE THE 
 
 PHANTASM OF THE VAMPIRE THE PANTOMIME OF BILLY TAYLOR CLOSE 
 
 OF THE SEASON ON THE 14TH OF JULY NUMBER OF PIECES PERFORMED 
 GENERAL RESULT. 
 
 ON Saturday, the 22d of November, 1852, the Princess's 
 Theatre re-opened under the sole direction of Mr. Charles 
 Kean, with Shakespeare's " Merry Wives of Windsor," 
 divested of the operatic and textual interpolations by 
 which it had been too long disfigured. It now became 
 once more what the author had constructed it for a 
 legitimate comedy, with a rich assemblage of well-con- 
 trasted characters, leading naturally to a quick suc- 
 cession of incidents arising from the situations as they 
 occur. The fine, racy dialogue was no longer impeded 
 by the introduction of bravuras, interminable duets, and 
 flourishes, so interwoven in labyrinthine mazes, that it 
 appeared impossible for the singers ever to get out of 
 them ; and made the audience almost echo Dr. Johnson's 
 wish, that such painful vocalism had been impossible. 
 Even more misplaced was the similar attempt to opera- 
 tise the " Comedy of Errors," the whole effect of which
 
 24 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 depends on the rapidity with which the action is carried 
 on, and the perpetually recurring entrances and exits of 
 the persons mistaken for each other. 
 
 A clever journal, in congratulating the public on the 
 banishment of music from the present revival of Shake- 
 speare's witty comedy, observed : " Only fancy the 
 arch and perplexing rogueries of the frolicsome dames 
 upon amorous Old Jack interrupted every five minutes 
 by warbling information that 
 
 ' Crabbed age and youth 
 Cannot live together ;' 
 
 and by reminding us of the old proverb, 
 ' All that glitters is not gold.' 
 
 Imagine, if you can, characters which ought to be sus- 
 tained by actresses of first-rate comic talents, in the 
 hands of English prima donnas ; and, to complete the 
 absurdity of the contrast, the accepted lover of sweet 
 Anne Page personated by a gigantic or punchy tenor, 
 who stops the action of the play at the exact moment 
 when it is worked up to a point, to sing to you the 
 pleasing intelligence that 
 
 ' The winter it is past, 
 And the summer's come at last ;' 
 
 to impart in tuneful obscurity substituted for words that 
 * the wintry wind ' is 
 
 ' Not so unkind 
 As man's ingratitude ;' 
 
 and in ' sweet sounds ' to make you acquainted with the 
 pleasing fiction that 
 
 ' A lover's eyes will strike an eagle blind.' " 
 
 The subjoined cast of the play will furnish an idea 
 
 of the manner in which the restored text of Shakespeare 
 
 was given at the Princess's on this occasion : Falstaff, 
 
 Mr. Bartley ; Ford, Mr. C. Kean ; Page, Mr. J. Vining ;
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 25 
 
 Fenton, Mr. J. Cathcart; Shallow, Mr. Meadows; 
 Slender, Mr. Harley ; Sir Hugh Evans, Mr. Keeley ; 
 Doctor Caius, Mr. Wigan; Host, Mr. Addison; Bar- 
 dolph, Mr. Wynn; Pistol, Mr. Ryder; Nym, Mr. F. 
 Cooke ; Mrs. Ford, Mrs. C. Kean ; Mrs. Page, Mrs. 
 Keeley ; Anne Page, Miss Mary Keeley ; Mrs. Quickly, 
 Mrs. Winstanley. 
 
 The same paper from which we have quoted above, 
 and which, under a changed dynasty, subsequently be- 
 came one of Charles Kean's bitterest assailants, con- 
 tained the following encomium on his performance of 
 Ford: "We have never seen this character so ably 
 conceived, or executed with such masterly skill. The 
 nervous, irritable manner he displayed in the scene 
 where he induces Falstaff to undertake his mission to 
 Mrs. Ford gave ample evidence of how deeply and cor- 
 rectly Mr. Kean has studied the peculiarities of the 
 jealous husband. It was one of the best pieces of nature 
 we have for some time seen displayed, and as such was 
 felt and appreciated by warm applause." Actors of high 
 standing, John Kemble included, were wont to deliver 
 the part of Ford in a tone of measured, solemn declama- 
 tion, forgetting that the extraordinary phase which 
 jealousy assumes in this eccentric humorist is as distinct 
 from the tragic passion of Othello or Leontes as the wit 
 of Falstaff is from the pathos of Lear. The effect here 
 is to be produced by comic extravagance. of manner and 
 utterance, in keeping with the still more extravagant 
 suspicion, which becomes utterly incongruous when 
 coupled with a staid, collected demeanour. Those who 
 are old enough to remember Wroughton in Ford* have 
 
 * Richard Wroughton (a native of Bath) retired in 1815. A second- 
 class actor in general, with strong physical deficiences, but occasionally 
 inspired to excellence, as in Ford ; Darlemont (" Deaf and Dumb") ; Sir 
 John Restless ("All in the Wrong"); and Apemantus, in "Timon of 
 Athens."
 
 26 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 seen what Shakespeare intended and Charles Kean re- 
 vived. 
 
 The " Merry Wives of Windsor" ran for twenty- five 
 nights, and then made way for " King John," produced 
 on the 9th of February, 1852. This may be considered 
 the new manager's first great attempt on the plan he has 
 since carried out with such indomitable perseverance and 
 triumphant success. He had long felt that, even by his 
 most eminent predecessors, Shakespeare in many respects 
 had been imperfectly illustrated. He had seen what 
 earlier actors and managers had accomplished. He felt 
 that steps had been taken in the right direction; and 
 longed ardently to press farther on in the same path, 
 to a more complete end. No longer fettered by restrain- 
 ing influences, and confident in the result, although pre- 
 vious experiments were attended by failure, he entered 
 boldly on the enterprise. The result is before the 
 public. It has worked a total revolution in the dramatic 
 system by the establishment of new theories and the 
 subversion of old ones. The time had at length arrived 
 when a total purification of Shakespeare, with every 
 accompaniment that refined knowledge, diligent research, 
 and chronological accuracy could supply, was suited to 
 the taste and temper of the age, which had become emi- 
 nently pictorial and exacting beyond all former prece- 
 dent. The days had long passed when audiences could 
 believe themselves transported from Italy to Athens by 
 the power of poetical enchantment without the aid of 
 scenic appliances. 
 
 In addition to the managerial credit which Mr. Charles 
 Kean established by this early effort, and the still 
 higher expectations he gave birth to from the manner in 
 which " King John " was placed before the public, he 
 made an important step in his reputation as an actor 
 of the first class by a very complete and well-studied
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 27 
 
 embodiment of the principal character one of the most 
 difficult, and perhaps altogether the most repulsive on 
 the stage. There is nothing to assist the representative 
 no taking qualities, no commanding energy, no bril- 
 liancy, even in crime. All is sordid, contemptible, 
 gloomy, and ferocious. Yet there is dramatic strength 
 in this craven monarch, as Shakespeare has drawn him, 
 which has commanded the attention of the greatest 
 tragedians. Old stage records tell us how the " shining 
 lights " of other days acquitted themselves in this 
 arduous part. According to them, Quin lumbered pain- 
 fully through, growled some passages, bellowed others, 
 and chanted the rest. Churchill, in the " Rosciad," 
 sneers at Mossop for brow-beating the French King, and 
 says the poor tame monarch seemed in danger of being 
 swallowed up by his voracious brother of England. 
 Sheridan the elder was pronounced too monotonous ; 
 Powell deficient in weight, and Holland exuberant in 
 ^noise. Garrick never could entirely satisfy himself in 
 the part, and alternated between John and Faulconbridge, 
 without reaching perfect mastery in either. Had his 
 fire arid spirit been trebled, he lacked the six feet and 
 the thews and sinews without which Faulconbridge can- 
 not satisfy the eye of the spectator. John Kemble's 
 performance of the King was considered faultless ; 
 Young, following in the track of Kemble, played it with 
 almost equal effect. Many estimated it as Macready's 
 best Shakespearean attempt ; and in Charles Kean's list 
 it may perhaps take the fifth place, giving precedence 
 to his Hamlet, Lear, Wolsey, and ShylocJc. 
 
 The force of poetical genius is wonderfully exhibited 
 in compounding a stage hero from such unpromising 
 materials. Unlike his kindred of the house of Anjou, 
 who were generally remarkable for gigantic proportions 
 and a gallant bearing, John was as insignificant in form
 
 28 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 as he was timid and grovelling in mind. His stature, 
 when the skeleton was measured on the opening of the 
 tomb in Worcester Cathedral, proved to be diminutive 
 almost to dwarfishness ; but his capacity for crime was 
 illimitable. He was all gloom, without a scintillation of 
 light, or a momentary interval of relief. Jests have been 
 recorded of Tiberius and Caligula ; Pope Alexander VI. 
 and Louis XI. had within their dark spirits a germ of 
 diabolical humour ; but the features of John Lackland 
 were never known to relax into a smile, or his tongue to 
 give utterance to a mirthful sentiment. The scene 
 where he darkly suggests the murder of Arthur to 
 Hubert, and the terrible agonies of his death, are trying 
 tests of the actor's power, in which he can raise no 
 sympathy, and must extort applause by such life-like 
 touches of painting as none but a great master can 
 elicit. 
 
 In the Lady Constance, Mrs. C. Kean stepped out of 
 the line peculiarly recognized as her own, and assumed 
 .a character of matronly dignity and agonizing passion, 
 which had been supposed to tax to their utmost the 
 surpassing energies of her greatest predecessor, Mrs. 
 Siddons. She had performed the part with universal 
 approbation in New York, but had not yet ventured it 
 in London. It was a hazardous undertaking, with the 
 reminiscences attached to it. The result completely 
 took the public by surprise. Never was a character 
 represented with more true feeling and natural pathos ; 
 with more convincing evidence of careful study, or a 
 more complete demonstration of having thoroughly 
 caught up the spirit of the author. If Mrs. Siddons 
 filled her audience with superior awe, Mrs. C. Kean 
 drew more largely upon their tears. Campbell says, 
 in his " Life of Mrs. Siddons," that it was not unusual 
 for spectators to leave the house when her part in the
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 29 
 
 tragedy was over, as if they could no longer enjoy 
 Shakespeare himself when she ceased to be his inter- 
 preter. This sounds very like a poet's hallucination. 
 The sentence reads with an imposing air, but we have 
 never heard it corroborated. Constance disappears from 
 the scene in the third act. We find it impossible to 
 believe that any one would lose two-fifths of a fine 
 play, and take so little interest in the general subject, 
 as not to wait for the catastrophe. What the biographer 
 quotes as the great departed representative's own im- 
 pression of the character is of higher value, and com- 
 prises a useful lesson on the importance of abstraction in 
 the art of acting. In the memoranda left behind her, 
 Mrs. Siddons says : " Whenever I was called upon to 
 personate the character of Constance, I never, from the 
 beginning of the play to the end of my part in it, once 
 suffered my dressing-room door to be closed, in order 
 that my attention might be constantly fixed on those 
 distressing events, which, by this means, I could plainly 
 hear going on upon the stage, the terrible effects of 
 which progress were to be represented by me. More- 
 over, I never omitted to place myself, with Arthur in 
 my hand, to hear the march, when, upon the reconcilia- 
 tion of England and France, they enter the gates of 
 Angiers, to ratify the contract of marriage between the 
 Dauphin and the Lady Blanche; because the sickening 
 sounds of that march would usually cause the bitter 
 tears of rage, disappointment, betrayed confidence, 
 baffled ambition, and, above all, the agonizing feelings 
 of maternal affection, to gush into my eyes. In short, 
 the spirit of the whole drama took possession of my 
 mind and frame, by my attention being incessantly 
 riveted to the passing scene." 
 
 A strange contrast to this refined conception of the 
 study that great acting requires, is presented by the
 
 30 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 habitual carelessness of Mrs. Pritchard, a tragic actress 
 who, until Mrs. Siddons appeared, stood first on the 
 list. It is recorded of her, that she never read more of 
 the play of " Macbeth" than her own part, as furnished 
 by the prompter ; and was perfectly astonished when 
 Garrick purified it of the interpolations of Davenant, 
 and restored the original text.* Quin, also, observed 
 with indignation, " What does little Davy mean by all 
 this nonsense about a new version ? Don't I act Shake- 
 speare's Macbeth?" 
 
 The carelessness and habitual confidence of the young 
 pillars of the drama of the present day, would do well to 
 pause over Mrs. Siddons's memoranda, and other valuable 
 precepts which have been bequeathed for their instruc- 
 tion ; provided they will condescend to profit by them. 
 They are greedy enough of celebrity, but dislike the 
 study by which only it can be acquired. They look 
 aspiringly to the top of the ladder, but are apt to forget 
 the laborious instalments by which it is to be reached. 
 
 Ten years before the production of " King John" at 
 the Princess's, Mr. Macready had revived the same play, 
 with much appropriate pomp, at Drury Lane. His field 
 of action was larger, which gave him many advantages; 
 but in accuracy of detail, the second representation sur- 
 passed the first. From the list of authorities, named in the 
 play-bill as having been consulted by Mr. C. Kean, an 
 idea may be formed of the amount of reading and re- 
 search necessary to produce the perfect restoration which 
 was aimed at and attained. The public see the result. 
 They are satisfied, surprised, and excited to vehement 
 applause. But they do not sufficiently appreciate, and, 
 perhaps, scarcely understand, the ability and industry 
 by which, in three hours, they have gathered in a store 
 
 * According to Dr. Johnson, Mrs. Pritchard was vulgar, illiterate, and 
 spoke bad English.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 31 
 
 of information which years of laborious study could 
 alone convey to them through any other channel. 
 
 Before quitting the subject of " King John" at the 
 Princess's Theatre, it would be unjust not to name, in 
 a special sentence of approval, the impressive acting of 
 Miss Kate Terry, then a child of ten years of age, as 
 Prince Arthur, and of Mr. Ryder as Hubert. Hubert is 
 subordinate in rank ; but he stands in prominent situa- 
 tions in the play, and requires an actor of weight and 
 judgment. Unless he plays up to the King in the 
 scenes in which they appear together, especially in 
 the third act, the effect will go for nothing. George 
 Frederick Cooke, after his great London success, sus- 
 tained this apparently second-rate character with John 
 Kemble, and won more applause than was anticipated, 
 although placed far below his mark. Bridgewater was 
 the Hubert in Quin's time : a painstaking actor, and a 
 thrifty man, who combined the opposite trades of a 
 vendor of coals and a disciple of Thespis. One night, 
 after the scene in the fourth act, upon going into the 
 green-room, Quin took him by the hand, and thanked 
 him for his earnest support on that particular occasion : 
 " for sometimes, you know, Bridge," said he, " that, in 
 the midst of a most important scene, your ideas wander 
 to your coal- wharf, and you are thinking less of Shake- 
 speare than of measuring out a bushel of coals to some 
 old crone, who looks as if she would never pay for 
 them." 
 
 A fortnight after the production of " King John," the 
 performances were varied by another specimen of the 
 French modern school, even more peculiar than its prede- 
 cessor, " Pauline," and destined to a much more enduring 
 attraction. In this instance, the supernatural was most 
 ingeniously and effectively blended with the romantic. 
 We allude to the far-famed " Corsican Brothers," who
 
 32 
 
 were first transplanted to the London boards on the 
 24th of February, 1852. This singular drama ran 
 sixty-six nights during the first season ; and has been 
 repeated, in all, above two hundred and seventy times. 
 No sooner did it receive the stamp of current fashion at 
 the Princess's, than nearly every theatre in the metro- 
 polis brought forward versions of their own. For a time, 
 the subject became a perfect mania ; and, as a matter of 
 course, was burlesqued. There can be no safer criterion 
 of success than ridicule. No opera can be said to have 
 made a hit, unless the telling airs are ground on barrel 
 organs at the corner of every street, and parodied by 
 itinerant ballad-singers. The taste which enjoys and 
 encourages travesty, though participated in by many, is 
 certainly not of an elevated order. When it invades 
 Shakespeare, it ought to be denounced as sacrilege, and 
 inspires a wish for a special act; or, that the outraged 
 bard could obtain a day rule, and come back in the 
 flesh to carry off the perpetrators bodily to condign 
 judgment in some penal limbo, created expressly for the 
 purpose. 
 
 As regards the " Corsican Brothers," nothing could 
 be better than the acting of Mr. Charles Kean in the 
 characters of the imperturbable, self-collected Fabien, and 
 the gentler Louis dei Franchi; and nothing could be 
 more real and exciting than the masqued carnival at 
 the Opera House in Paris. But, still, the piece owed 
 much of its extraordinary success to the Ghost, with the 
 novel and appalling manner in which its agency was 
 introduced. 
 
 Unquestionably, there is comfort and consolation, 
 blended with positive enjoyment, in a well-authenticated 
 ghost story. In spite of the advance of practical utili- 
 tarianism, with the accompanying decline of romantic 
 feeling, few are willing to give up Sir George Villiers,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 33 
 
 Mrs. Veal, Lord Tyrone, Lord Lyttleton's dove and 
 white lady, or the stern half-pay Major who appeared 
 to his old friend and comrade, to reprimand him for 
 suffering his favourite sword to get rusty. All the 
 world listens with interest to these and similar records. 
 There is a fascination in a tale of supernatural horror, 
 which philosophy can no more explain than it can with- 
 stand. The credulous followers of spirit rapping and 
 clairvoyance, the dupes of calculating impostors, are 
 poor representatives of this genuine faith. 
 
 More people believe in ghosts than choose to acknow- 
 ledge their credulity. Even scoffers tremble while they 
 pretend to laugh. Let us remember what the sage 
 Imlac says, in " Rasselas :" " That the dead are seen 
 no more I will not undertake to maintain, against the 
 concurrent and unvaried testimony of all ages and of all 
 nations. There is no people, rude or learned, amongst 
 whom apparitions of the dead are not related and be- 
 lieved. This opinion, which, perhaps, prevails as far as 
 human nature is diffused, could become universal only 
 by its truth. Those that never heard of one another 
 would not have agreed in a tale which nothing but ex- 
 perience can make credible. That it is doubted by 
 single cavillers can very little weaken the general evi- 
 dence ; and some who deny it with their tongues confess 
 it by their fears." 
 
 There are, it must be admitted, two damaging points 
 connected with ghosts, in respect to the fulfilment of 
 their mission. They cannot take the initiative in dia- 
 logue, they can only speak when they are spoken to ; 
 and in nineteen cases out of twenty, they frighten those 
 to whom they appear to such an extent, that they render 
 them tongue-tied and paralyzed. 
 
 Mademoiselle Clairon, the celebrated French tragic 
 actress, the rival and contemporary of Dumesnil, and 
 
 VOL. II. D
 
 34 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 the immediate predecessor of Kaucourt, Duchesnois, and 
 Georges, was haunted for two years* by a ghost, who 
 appears to have been exclusively malicious, and dis- 
 turbed in his rest by disappointed love. He was a 
 young man who had sought her acquaintance soon after 
 her first brilliant success. She received him into inti- 
 macy, liked his society, gave him, certainly, some en- 
 couragement, relieved him from pecuniary difficulties, 
 but refused to marry him under the most passionate and 
 repeated entreaties. They had known each other for 
 about two years and a half, when the ill-starred lover, 
 finding himself on his death-bed, implored her to grant 
 him a last interview ; a request which those who sur- 
 rounded her warmly seconded, but her own repugnance 
 prevented her from complying with. He died, attended 
 by servants, and the only friend, a female, whom he had 
 latterly admitted to his confidence. On that same even- 
 ing, as the clock struck eleven, Mademoiselle Clairon 
 being at supper with a large party, a dreadful cry was 
 heard by all present, which she immediately recognized 
 as the voice of her deceased lover, and fainted with 
 emotion and terror. For more than two years this same 
 unearthly cry, which seemed to proceed from the empty 
 air, was constantly heard by her wherever she happened 
 to be at the moment, and by all who were present at the 
 time. In vain the police established the most diligent 
 search, thinking it might either be a trick or a conspi- 
 racy ; but nothing ever transpired to shake the impres- 
 sion of its being a supernatural visitation. Sometimes 
 the sharp report of a gun or pistol was substituted for 
 the cry, accompanied by a loud and continued clapping 
 of hands. This last demonstration reminded her of the 
 favour of the public to which she had been so long 
 accustomed ; the effect was agreeable and consoling, 
 * See her Memoirs, written by herself.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 35 
 
 rather than productive of terror. All this went on for 
 the time already named ; and on the last occasion there 
 was an accompaniment of melodious music, as if the 
 ghostly visitant was taking his departure in a friendly 
 and reconciled state of mind. 
 
 Not long after this, an elderly lady was announced, 
 and admitted to the presence of La Clairon, appearing 
 before her as a perfect stranger. They sat down and 
 gazed on each other in perfect silence, and with instinc- 
 tive interest. At length the old lady explained who she 
 was, and the object of her visit. She proved to be the 
 friend of M. de S ; had attended him on his death- 
 bed ; and now felt prompted by incontrollable anxiety to 
 see the woman whose cruelty had hastened his decease. 
 After much circumlocution, and many explanations, 
 " Mademoiselle," said she, " I do not blame your con- 
 duct ; and my poor friend fully admitted his obligations 
 to you ; but his unhappy passion mastered his judgment, 
 and your refusal to see him embittered, while it accele- 
 rated, his last moments. His eyes were fixed upon the 
 clock, anxiously watching the motion of the hands, when 
 at half-past ten his valet announced to him your positive 
 refusal to come. After a short silence, he seized me by 
 the arm, in a paroxysm of despair, which nearly deprived 
 me of my senses, and exclaimed, ' Unfeeling woman ! 
 she will gain nothing by this ; 1 will persecute her 
 after death, as I have followed her throughout my life !' 
 I tried to calm him ; but he died as he uttered these 
 dreadful words." 
 
 Such is the account which Mademoiselle Clairon her- 
 self has left of this very extraordinary episode in her 
 personal history. She states the fact, without pretending 
 to understand or account for it ; but modestly admits 
 that she feels herself too insignificant to suppose that she 
 could be selected as an object or medium of supernatural 
 
 D2
 
 36 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 communication. Assuredly she was no accomplice in 
 these "manifestations," which, like the more recent 
 table-juggling, were exhibited in the presence of many 
 witnesses. 
 
 Two light one-act pieces, " Tender Precautions," by 
 Mr. Serle ; and " Our Clerks," by Mr. Tom Taylor, 
 were successfully produced in the early part of the season 
 of 1851-2. The run of the latter was prematurely 
 stopped by the secession from the Princess's of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Keeley, who had performed the principal characters, 
 written expressly for them, and measured to their pecu- 
 liarly happy style. The Easter spectacle of " Wittikind 
 and his Brothers," was less universally approved, and 
 reached only twenty-one repetitions, after which it "died 
 and made no sign." This tale of fairy magic combined 
 much splendour of dresses and scenery, lively dialogue, 
 and clever acting ; but the plot and story were not skil- 
 fully condensed. They dragged on slowly, producing 
 tedium, which subsequent curtailment was unable to re- 
 lieve. Burlesque had passed its hey-day, and began to 
 give evident symptoms of decrepitude. 
 
 On the 7th of June, Mr. Lovell's play of the " Trial 
 of Love " was represented for the first time ; the two 
 principal characters by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean. Neither 
 the actors nor the author, on this occasion, came up to 
 the level of the high reputation they had jointly assisted 
 in establishing for the "Wife's Secret," to which admir- 
 able drama the present bore considerable resemblance, 
 in the construction of plot, the time of action selected, 
 the style of interest, and the truthfulness and grace of 
 sentiment expressed in language of more than ordinary 
 poetic beauty. Less than this was not to be looked for 
 from the pen of a writer so well known and so justly 
 appreciated as Mr. Lovell. Judged by a positive stan- 
 dard, the merits of the " Trial of Love " call for warm
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 37 
 
 panegyric ; but the high place in literature which the 
 writer had attained, exposed him to a comparison with 
 himself a trying, though an inevitable ordeal. Tested 
 by his own fame, it must be admitted that something 
 was deficient. The characters appeared to be repetitions 
 of his own fancy, reflected symbols of those he had pre- 
 viously created, and with which his mind had become so 
 identified, that he drew them again without the con- 
 sciousness of their being recognizable as copies of 
 original portraits from the one hand. An objection or 
 blemish of this nature is more strongly obvious in a play 
 than in any other form of imaginary composition. The 
 " Trial of Love " ran twenty-three nights, greatly to the 
 enjoyment of successive audiences. With the exception 
 of the " Provost of Bruges," and the " Wife's Secret," 
 both by the same author, we cannot readily name any 
 recent play, belonging to the same class, of superior 
 pretensions. 
 
 On the 14th of June Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean selected 
 the " Trial of Love " for their benefit, after which was 
 produced a very extraordinary melo- dramatic extrava- 
 ganza (by Mr. Dion Bourcicault), with as singular a 
 designation " The Vampire ; a Phantasm, related in 
 Three Dreams." This strange specimen of the worst 
 possible style of French taste bore no affinity, excepting 
 the first part of the title, to an operatic romance, by 
 Planche", which came out at the English Opera-house in 
 1820, and derived its origin (through French descent) 
 from a fragment attached to one of Lord Byron's poems, 
 and a tale by Dr. Polidori, for some time attributed, 
 though quite erroneously, to the noble bard himself. 
 The whole affair, including the performance of the 
 Vampire hero, by the English dramatizer, may be con- 
 sidered a mistake, of which the less that is said the 
 better.
 
 38 THE. LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 The season closed on the 14th of July, having been 
 much shorter in duration, and considerably more limited 
 in remunerative success, than its immediate predecessor. 
 For this result there were many obvious reasons, 
 amongst which might be placed foremost the temporary 
 reaction, very naturally to be looked for, which had 
 succeeded the unusual excitement of the Great Exhibi- 
 tion. The different pieces acted amounted to exactly 
 the same number as in the year preceding, namely 
 twenty-seven ; of which nine were new. Amongst 
 the latter, the pantomime of " Billy Taylor " must not 
 be forgotten, which completed its full attraction of nine 
 consecutive weeks, and fully upheld the reputation which 
 the house had long enjoyed in that most important 
 branch of the art dramatic. The pantomime has ever 
 been one of a London manager's safest cards, if played 
 with ordinary skill. No matter how slack business may 
 be before Christmas, he is sure to turn the tide, and 
 " pull up " losses, through the enticement of the fare 
 usually provided at that genial season. This same verb 
 " to pull up," is one which managers have occasion to 
 conjugate more frequently than they desire, and not 
 always with corresponding success. 
 
 There is another anomalous feature attached peculiarly 
 to the statistics of pantomime. Success has little to do 
 with excellence. No matter whether the subject be 
 original or hackneyed ; whether the concoction be the 
 best or worst of its kind ; or whether the thousands it 
 must inevitably cost, be reckoned by pounds, shillings, 
 or pence, the length of its run, and the returns to the 
 treasury, are pretty much the same. There is a certain 
 sum to be got in a certain time, and no increased pres- 
 sure, either in outlay, ornament, or supplementary attrac- 
 tion; no interpolated adjuncts, whether in the shape 
 of acrobats, aeronauts, funambulists, elephants, horses,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 39 
 
 dancing dogs, or monkeys ; of duplicate harlequins and 
 columbines, multiplied clowns, and incalculable sprites, 
 can swell that sum beyond the average amount. The 
 case reduces itself to a matter of arithmetic. So many 
 holiday visitors for a given number of weeks, give so 
 much and no more. 
 
 Harlequin and his associates are not indigenous, but 
 of exotic, continental parentage ; yet they have become, 
 with time and familiar association, so thoroughly en- 
 grafted on our island soil, that no country can compete 
 with England in a genuine comic pantomime. The 
 humour is nof understood or relished elsewhere. The 
 breed, too, has greatly improved with expatriation. 
 Neither the French Pierrot, nor the Italian Scaramuccia, 
 or Zannetto, are to be compared to our Clown ; while 
 the foreign Arlechino is little better than a clumsy, 
 blundering buffoon.
 
 40 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MR. c. KEAN'S THIRD SEASON AT THE PRINCESS'S THE PRIMA DONNA 
 MELODRAMA OF MONT ST. MICHEL ENGAGEMENT AND FIRST APPEARANCE 
 OF MR. WRIGHT MR. WESTLAND MARSTON'S PLAY OP ANNE BLAKE RE- 
 TIREMENT OF MR. BARTLET PANTOMIME OF CHERRY AND FAIR STAR 
 MR. DOUGLAS JERROLD'S COMEDY OF ST. CUPID, OR DOROTHY'S FORTUNE 
 REVIVAL OF MACBETH FLY LEAF GENERAL REMARKS ON THE PLAY 
 AS NOW REPRESENTED EASTER SPECTACLE OF MARCO SPADA REVIVAL 
 OF LORD BYRON'S SARDANAPALUS FLY LEAF BURLESQUES UN- 
 FAIRNESS OF THE PRACTICE MR. T. P. COOKE AT THE PRINCESS'S 
 CLOSE OF THE SEASON. 
 
 CHARLES KEAN'S third campaign at the Princess's com- 
 menced on the 18th of September, 1852, with a comedy, 
 in two acts, adapted from the French by Bourcicault, 
 called the " Prima Donna." This new drama intro- 
 duced Miss Heath, a young beginner of much promise, 
 who made a very favourable impression ; and Mr. 
 Walter Lacy, a well-established metropolitan favourite, 
 who succeeded to the post vacated by the departure of 
 Mr. Wigan. The "Prima Donna" ran thirty-four 
 nights; but, though a complete and ingeniously con- 
 structed specimen of the drawing-room class, it had 
 scarcely weight enough to constitute the feature of 
 an evening's performance. It was well acted, and 
 pleased without being attractive, inaugurating the sea- 
 son as an agreeable prologue to the more important 
 novelties in active preparation. Within three weeks 
 a romantic melodrama followed, under the title of 
 " Mont St. Michel, or, the Fairy of the Sands ;" also 
 derived from a French source, and dramatized by Mr.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 41 
 
 Bayle Bernard. The action is supposed to pass in 
 Normandy in 1660, while Cardinal Mazarin exercised 
 dictatorship in France. Every aid that beautiful 
 scenery, punctiliously correct costume, and excellent 
 acting could render, to carry out the ideas of the author, 
 were lavishly bestowed ; but thirteen performances 
 wound up the affair. There was something in the 
 arrangement of the piece that failed to stamp it with the 
 expected longevity. It must be remembered, however, 
 as having presented to a new constituency Mr. Wright, 
 so long the comic atlas of the Adelphi, who had now 
 transferred his services to a very different scene of action 
 the arena as distinct as if he had travelled to Edinburgh 
 or Dublin. Every theatre in London, although it may 
 be separated only by a street from its next neighbour, 
 has an audience exclusive moulded to its own atmo- 
 sphere. The new comer was received on his entry, as 
 might have been expected, with long and loud applause. 
 He had trod those boards before, and was a returned 
 favourite rather than a total stranger. For an instant 
 he appeared embarrassed, but soon recovered his self- 
 command, and went to his work with the confidence of an 
 experienced practitioner, and a merry glance of his eye, 
 which said emphatically, " our old acquaintanceship has 
 got a little rusty, and we scarcely recognise each other 
 after some years' absence ; but it shall be no fault of 
 mine if we are not on intimate terms before the night is 
 over/' Harley had a part in the same piece, written up 
 to his individual peculiarities, a pompous self-sulHcient, 
 empty-headed local magistrate of the Muddhwork or Von 
 Dunder family, who venerates the sacred institution of 
 hanging, and would consign his own father to the " edge 
 of penny cord" without remorse, if it fell within the 
 line of what he persuades himself is his duty. It was 
 delightful to see two such actors as Harley and Wright,
 
 42 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 types of different histrionic ages and schools, exchanging 
 hits in friendly contest. They resembled two cunning 
 masters of fence, equally matched, thrusting and parry- 
 ing, playing carte and tierce, without advantage on either 
 side. 
 
 The third novelty of the season appeared on the 28th 
 of October, in a more important shape than its imme- 
 diate predecessors, a five-act play, entitled "Anne 
 Blake," from the pen of Mr. Westland Marston, the 
 author of " Strathmore," the " Patrician's Daughter," 
 and " Marie de Meranie," a writer who has placed his 
 name, as a modern dramatist, in the front rank with 
 Sheridan Knowles, Bulwer, and Douglas Jerrold. His 
 earlier triumphs had proved that he was gifted with 
 poetical imagination and clear judgment. He had shown 
 himself a master of pathos and a genuine pupil of nature. 
 There was nothing in the title of the present play to fore- 
 stall attention, or shadow forth startling effects ; no pro- 
 mise of agonising incidents or a harrowing catastrophe. 
 It could neither be historical nor romantic. No clue was 
 indicated by which to guess on what the interest might 
 turn, how the story would unravel itself, what passions 
 would be called into action, and by what process the 
 author intended to work out a moral or a conclusion. 
 He must have thought with Juliet " What's in a 
 name?" when he selected one so simple and inexplicable. 
 All this spoke of the self-reliance of genius, which scorns 
 a flourish of trumpets, and relies on its own inherent 
 strength. 
 
 In the construction of his play (which has been 
 printed), Mr. W. Marston appears to have taken simpli- 
 city in power to be a great secret of dramatic effect. 
 This is one of the points which marks the mastery of 
 Shakespeare over all other dramatic writers. The inci- 
 dents in "Anne Blake" are small in themselves, but
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 43 
 
 they expand under skilful treatment. All that they 
 comprise might happen to any one to-morrow in the or- 
 dinary occurrences of life ; and, although a happy issue 
 falls less surely within the category of human events, it 
 here occurs without the appearance of studied design, 
 and is not forcibly dragged in, as Alexander by mere 
 strength severed the Gordian knot, which he was unable 
 by ingenuity to disentangle. The character of the heroine 
 is well suited to call forth the powers of a great actress. 
 Nothing could exceed the truth and beauty of Mrs. C. 
 Kean's performance. Such a part is the more difficult to 
 embody, in proportion as it appears easy. It abounds in 
 fine touches and delicate pencillings, which require the 
 most skilful discrimination, the most refined taste, to 
 bring out with due effect. The author has portrayed 
 a being, naturally kind and sensitive, warped by 
 harsh treatment into fretfulness, caprice, and suspicion, 
 until, with no inherent fault, she is on the brink of fatal 
 error. But the warm heart bubbles up under the imposed 
 surface, and the true principles vindicate their superiority 
 when circumstances give them play. Colonel TJtorold is 
 a fine, manly, open-hearted soldier, clear and consistent 
 in thought and action, a just type of a noble class which 
 affords many living exemplars. A man of truth in word 
 and deed; the moral and the executive happily com- 
 bined, and forming together a character more deve- 
 loped by strength of intellect than oratorical display. 
 All this Mr. C. Kean embodied with the distinctive iden- 
 tity which forms one of his peculiar attributes. When the 
 fourth act terminated with the finest scene of the play, in 
 which Thorold relates to Anne the story of her parents, 
 and the ties which bound him so closely to her father, 
 there was scarcely a dry eye in the house. Intense at- 
 tention was only interrupted by suppressed sobs, and 
 when the audience had time to recover, their satisfaction
 
 44 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 was expressed in a loud and simultaneous call for the 
 two great performers who had so pleased by paining 
 them. A spontaneous compliment which we believe to 
 be without precedent on the English stage. This was 
 repeated with equal fervour as the curtain fell in the fifth 
 act, when the author was also demanded, according to 
 modern custom, and bowed his acknowledgments from a 
 private box. 
 
 "Anne Blake" was performed for forty-two nights, but 
 many of the houses were not remunerative. Here was 
 a play, of a high order, beautifully written, admirably 
 acted, and perfect in all the details of scenic decoration 
 and appointment. Successive audiences evinced their 
 delight by what may be considered the most unerring 
 evidences mingled tears and applause ; while the press 
 was unanimous in eulogy. How then is it to be ac- 
 counted for that the attraction should fall so far below 
 the expectations justly excited ? The question resolves 
 itself into one of those unaccountable paradoxes appa- 
 rently inherent in all matters connected with the drama, 
 and which neither reasoning nor experience can reduce to 
 a satisfactory conclusion. A manager naturally repeats 
 a good play which gives satisfaction as long as his 
 treasury tells him there is a chance of return ; but the 
 experiment must have a limit. In the olden time, it 
 was not unusual to force down an indifferent or even a 
 bad novelty until it became productive by mere dint of 
 repetition. But the cause and the consequence have 
 both become obsolete in modern practice. 
 
 On Saturday, the 18th of December, the veteran 
 George Bartley took his leave of the stage in a farewell 
 benefit, announced under the immediate patronage of 
 her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert ; 
 that night being the fiftieth anniversary of his appear- 
 ance in London. After sustaining one of his favourite
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 45 
 
 characters, Falstaff, in the first part of " Henry the 
 Fourth," he addressed a crowded audience in a short 
 farewell speech, frequently interrupted by loud applause. 
 Bartley was born in Bath (1782), a city which has given 
 many good actors to the stage. His father, a decayed 
 merchant, had in the decline of life become box-keeper 
 to the theatre there, which may have led the son to 
 imbibe a taste for the dramatic art. While struggling 
 with the vicissitudes of a strolling life, Mrs. Jordan be- 
 came acquainted with and recommended him to Sheridan. 
 On the llth of December, 1802, he appeared at Drury 
 Lane, as Orlando, in " As You Like It," and in 
 1805, was the original Count Montalbon, in Tobin's 
 successful comedy of the " Honeymoon." For five 
 years he remained the stock juvenile lover and principal 
 walking gentleman ; but his short stature and disposi- 
 tion to obesity warned him that his tenure of that line 
 was likely to be brief. He therefore betook himself to 
 the provinces for more general practice, and for the 
 seven succeeding years, filled prominent positions at 
 Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, and Liverpool, either as 
 lessee, acting-manager, or performer. At Birmingham, 
 in 1814, he married his second wife, Miss Smith, a 
 tragic actress of high repute, considered by many the 
 successor of Mrs. Siddons. In 1815 he re-appeared at 
 Drury Lane, as Falstaff, and laid the foundation of his 
 future fame. He next visited America, accompanied by 
 his wife, and returned with an independent fortune, 
 sufficient for people of moderate desires. Not wishing 
 to retire into idle life, he engaged in the winter at 
 Covent Garden, and during the summer recess at the 
 Lyceum, occasionally delivering lectures on astronomy 
 (written for him of course), illustrated by the then 
 new transparent orrery. When Fawcett retired from 
 the stage-management of Covent Garden, Bartley sue-
 
 46 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 ceeded him, and retained his post through all changes 
 of dynasty, under Charles Kemble, Laporte, Bunn, 
 Macready, and Madame Vestris. He was fond of 
 office, and assimilated himself readily to the views of 
 the shifting authorities. If there was policy rather than 
 independence in this, the most that can be said is, that 
 he followed numerous examples, higher in rank and 
 more expanded in ambition. At a period when he 
 enjoyed professional happiness to a great extent, his 
 domestic comfort was rudely broken up, by the suc- 
 cessive deaths within a few years of his only son 
 and daughter, followed by that of his wife, and con- 
 summated by the loss of nearly all his realised fortune, 
 in a disastrous speculation. During the years 1848, 
 1849, and 1850, he was honoured by her Majesty's 
 commands to read at Buckingham Palace, and Windsor 
 Castle, the translations of "Antigone" and "CEdipus," for 
 which Mendellsohn had composed his immortal music. 
 Subsequently he was selected to give lessons in elocu- 
 tion to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. On 
 Saturday, the 17th of July, 1858, while sitting with his 
 old friend and brother actor Mr. Charles Farley, at a per- 
 formance of the Christy's Minstrels, he was suddenly 
 seized with paralysis, and being immediately conveyed 
 home to his house in Woburn Square, he remained 
 speechless from that period till he died on the following 
 Thursday, the 22d. For a moment or two only he 
 appeared sensible to a kind inquiry from her Majesty 
 as to the state of his health. His remains were depo- 
 sited with those of his family in the churchyard of 
 St. Mary's, at Oxford. 
 
 Bartley maintained through life an unblemished 
 character. The high estimation in which he was held 
 privately, enhanced his professional reputation, perhaps 
 beyond the rank to which his talents entitled him.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.8.A. 47 
 
 He could scarcely "be deemed an actor of the very first- 
 class. Although uniformly correct, judicious, hearty, 
 and in earnest, with a perfect knowledge of the mechan- 
 ism of his art, there was an appearance of labour, a 
 want of that utter concealment of study, and of the rich, 
 unaffected colouring which marked the acknowledged 
 master-pieces of some three or four of his predecessors 
 and contemporaries ; such as Munden, Dowton, Fawcett, 
 and William Farren. We hesitate to place him 
 exactly in the same line, though, in many respects, an 
 efficient substitute when called upon to fill the place of 
 either 
 
 The Pantomine at the Princess's, for the Christmas of 
 1852-3, on the subject of " Cherry and Fair Star," had 
 the usual success, and rather more than the usual run, 
 extending to ten weeks. On Saturday, the 22d of 
 January, 1853, a new Comedy, in three acts, by the 
 late Douglas Jen-old, entitled " St. Cupid ; or, Dorothy's 
 Fortune," was presented for the first time in public. 
 It had been previously recommended for her Majesty's 
 private theatricals at Windsor, and acted by royal 
 command at the Castle, on the preceding evening, 
 Friday, January the 21st. Every effort had been made 
 to establish a favourable anticipation ; every possib'e 
 care had been bestowed on the rehearsals, and the 
 acting throughout gave the most unqualified satisfac- 
 tion. The principal characters were sustained by Mrs. 
 C. Kean, Mrs. Walter Lacy, Mr. Wright, Mr. Harley, 
 Mr. Walter Lacy, Mr. J. Vining, and Mr. Ryder. 
 The comedy was well received by the public, and 
 noticed by the critics in a just and complimentary strain. 
 It was played thirty-seven nights, but with very limited 
 attraction (the receipts averaging considerably less than 
 the expenditure), and is not likely ever to be asked for 
 again. There was a superabundance of the epigrammatic
 
 48 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 terseness of diction, the sarcastic pungency, the spark- 
 ling flashes of humour, the originality of design, the 
 distinctness of character, for which the brilliant writer 
 had long been celebrated ; but the one great principle of 
 dramatic vitality construction was wan ting. Of plot 
 there was little, and of incident less. It was all dialogue, 
 but the wittiest dialogue will not alone make an effec- 
 tive play. Without the action and situations by which 
 they are enforced ; even the inspired lessons of Shakes- 
 peare would fall flatly upon the minds of his most 
 devoted worshippers. 
 
 The tragedy of " Macbeth " was performed before 
 her Majesty at Windsor Castle, on Friday the 4th of 
 February. On Monday, the 14th of the same month, 
 it was given to the public at the Princess's. On this 
 occasion, Mr. C. Kean, for the first time, appended to 
 his ordinary play bill, an additional " Fly Leaf," in 
 which he prepared the audience for many innovations 
 in architecture and costume, and named the authorities 
 he had consulted. It ran thus: 
 
 " The success which attended the production of ' King 
 John/ in 1852, has encouraged me to attempt a second 
 Shakespearean revival on the same scale. The very un- 
 certain information, however, which we possess respecting 
 the dress worn by the inhabitants of Scotland, in the 
 eleventh century, renders any attempt to present this 
 tragedy attired in the costume of the period a task of 
 very great difficulty. I hope, therefore, I may not be 
 deemed presumptuous if I intrude a few words upon 
 the subject, and endeavour to explain upon what autho- 
 rities I have based my opinions. 
 
 " In the absence of any positive information handed 
 down to us upon this point, I have borrowed materials 
 from those nations to whom Scotland was continually 
 opposed in war. The continual inroads of the Norse-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 49 
 
 men, and the invasion of Canute, in 1031, who, com- 
 bining in his own person the sovereignty of England, 
 Norway, and Denmark, was the most powerful monarch 
 of his time, may have taught, at least the higher 
 classes, the necessity of adopting the superior weapons 
 and better defensive armour of their enemies. For 
 these reasons I have introduced the tunic, mantle, cross 
 gartering, and ringed byrne of the Danes and Anglo- 
 Saxons, between whom it does not appear that any very 
 material difference existed ; retaining, however, the 
 peculiarity of the striped and chequered garb, which 
 seems to be generally admitted as belonging to the 
 Scotch long anterior to the history of this play ; together 
 with the eagle's feather in the helmet, which, according 
 to Gaelic tradition, was the distinguishing mark of a 
 chieftain. Party-coloured woollens and cloths appear to 
 have been commonly worn amongst the Celtic tribes 
 from a very early period. 
 
 "Diodorus Siculus and Pliny, allude to this peculiarity 
 in their account of the dress of the Belgic Gauls ; Strabo, 
 Pliny, and Xiphilin, record the dress of Boadicea, Queen 
 of the Iceni, as being worn chequer-wise, of many colours, 
 comprising purple, light and dark red, violet and blue. 
 
 " There is every reason to believe that the armour and 
 weapons of the date of Macbeth were of rich workman- 
 ship. Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, is described 
 by Snorre, as wearing, in the battle with Harold II., 
 King of England, A.D. 1066, a blue tunic and a splendid 
 helmet. The Norwegians not having expected a battle 
 that day, are said to have been without their coats of mail. 
 
 " This mail appears to have been composed of iron 
 rings or bosses, sewn upon cloth or leather, like that of 
 the Anglo-Saxons. Thorlef, a young Icelandic or Nor- 
 wegian warrior, of the tenth century, is mentioned in 
 the Eyrbiggia Saga as wearing a most beautiful dress, 
 
 VOL. II. E
 
 50 
 
 and it is also said that his arras and equipments were 
 extremely splendid. 
 
 " The seals and monuments of the early kings and 
 nobles of Scotland, represent them as armed and attired 
 in a style similar to their Anglo-Norman contemporaries. 
 Meyrick, in his celebrated work on ancient armour, 
 gives a plate of Alexander I., who commenced his reign 
 in 1107, (only fifty years after the death of Macbeth), 
 and there we find him wearing a hauberk, as depicted in 
 Saxon illuminations, over a tunic of red and blue cloth. 
 
 " The Earl of Huntingdon, who succeeded Alexander, 
 under the title of David I., is represented on horseback, 
 in his seal, wearing a tunic to the knee, which Col. 
 C. H. Smith (one of our most distinguished authorities, 
 to whom I am deeply indebted on this, as on all former 
 occasions), in his work on the ancient costume of Eng- 
 land, describes as being party coloured. In the same 
 volume he gives the figure of a Scotch knight of the 
 time of Edward L, 1306, who holds a spear with a leaf- 
 shaped blade. On his head he wears a small skull-cap 
 of steel, like some of the ancient Anglo-Saxon warriors 
 of the eleventh century, and is habited in a surcoat of 
 cloth, descending to the knee, very much resembling a 
 kind of tartan. Siward, Earl of Northumberland, and 
 his son, who, with their followers, were despatched by 
 King Edward the Confessor, to the aid of Malcolm, were 
 equipped in the leather suits called corium or corietum, 
 Avhich were introduced amongst the Saxons in the ninth 
 century, and are described as having been worn by Earl 
 Harold's soldiers in 1063, in his war with the Welsh. 
 In the " Life of St. Colomba," written in Latin by 
 Adomnan, one of his successors, in the early part of the 
 seventh century, and translated into English by Dr. 
 John Smith, in 1798, we are told that the monks at 
 that time were clothed in the skins of beasts ; though
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 51 
 
 latterly they had woollen stuffs, manufactured by them- 
 selves, and linen, probably imported from the Continent. 
 The houses were made of wicker, or wands, woven on 
 stakes, which were afterwards plastered with clay, and 
 even the Abbey of lona was built of the same rude 
 materials. 
 
 "Roderick, King of Strathclyde, is mentioned by 
 Ducange as sleeping on a feather bed about this time ; 
 so that even in those primitive ages luxuries were known 
 amongst the great. 
 
 " In the four centuries and a half which intervened 
 between the death of St. Colomba and the reign of 
 Macbeth, it is reasonable to presume that considerable 
 improvements took place amongst the Scotch, and that 
 the fashion of their dress and buildings was borrowed 
 from their more civilized neighbours. Under these 
 considerations, the architecture previous to the Norman 
 conquest, has been adopted throughout the entire play. 
 During the five centuries which preceded that event, 
 the Anglo-Saxons made great advances, and erected 
 many castles and churches of considerable importance. 
 They excelled in iron work, and frequently ornamented 
 their buildings with colour. On this subject I have 
 availed myself of the valuable knowledge of George 
 Godwin, Esq., F.S.A., of the Royal Institute of Archi- 
 tects, for whose suggestions I take this opportunity of 
 acknowledging my obligations." 
 
 The attention of the public was powerfully arrested by 
 this explanatory preface. Had such a document been 
 put forth in the days of Garrick, it would have been 
 more than " caviare " to the million, and scarcely less 
 intelligible to the select few. In those days of little 
 inquiry on such matters, no one ever thought of figuring 
 to his mind's eye a portrait of Macbeth, in the outward 
 man, divested of a heavy court-suit as stiff as buckram, 
 
 E2
 
 52 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 of complicated ruffles, and a ponderous wig " of Marl- 
 borough's ample fold," confined at first in a tie, but let 
 loose to dangle about the actor's ears and shoulders 
 when he re-entered in consternation from the murder of 
 Duncan. Mr. Kean was anxious to impart his own 
 earnest love of correct illustration to the audience to 
 whom he appealed, and the "Fly-leaf" carried with it 
 the assurance that in any historical play nothing would 
 be introduced except under the sanction of historical 
 authority. From that moment the preface was looked 
 upon as a necessary introduction to the performance, 
 and became associated with it, as an interpretation, in 
 the same light in which the Greek chorus elucidates the 
 progress of the classical tragedy. The novelty was 
 speedily copied by those who had never thought of it 
 before, and from imitation passed on to burlesque, in 
 the ordinary course of almost every original idea that 
 obtains popularity and is felt to be instructive. 
 
 The system of Shakespearean restoration which 
 Charles Kean had so triumphantly introduced in " King 
 John," he carried, if possible, to a higher degree of 
 perfection in " Macbeth." Encouragement increases 
 effort. Finding his own views so warmly acknowledged 
 by the public, he pursued them with the confidence 
 which success naturally inspires. " Macbeth " ran for 
 twenty weeks, at the rate of three performances per 
 week. No physical strength could endure or render 
 justice to the leading character under more frequent 
 repetition. Throughout the whole of this period, the 
 houses were literally crowded to the roof, and on many 
 evenings hundreds were turned away who could obtain 
 no admittance. The pit entrance was besieged at an 
 early hour, and the old days of dramatic enthusiasm 
 seemed to be revived. In the new arrangement of the 
 play, the text of Shakespeare was most carefully pre- 
 served, a few occasional passages only being omitted as
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 53 
 
 unnecessary to the action, and lengthening without elu- 
 cidating the dialogue. It was deemed desirable to 
 retain the appropriate music of Matthew Lock, which 
 had been so happily composed for, and had been so long 
 identified in complete harmony with the subject, that it 
 might almost be considered as flowing from the Shake- 
 spearean fount. This introduction, as it had ever been be- 
 fore, was still sanctioned by general approval. Amongst 
 the chief mechanical novelties we may enumerate the 
 manner in which the apparition of Banquo was con- 
 trived, the entire arrangement of the witches through- 
 out, particularly in the cauldron scene, which was most 
 picturesquely original ; the rude grandeur of the banquet 
 in the third act, and the imposing picture at the close. 
 
 Mrs. C. Kean had appeared in London before, as Lady 
 Macbeth, and with great success. Her admirable per- 
 formance astonished all who had been accustomed to 
 associate her more exclusively with the gentler heroines 
 of the stage, and who were scarcely prepared to find the 
 Viola, Portia, and Rosalind of Shakespeare equal to this 
 tremendous incarnation. 
 
 As Macbeth, Charles Kean had frequently won the 
 admiration and applause of the public during his earlier 
 seasons at the Haymarket. We have already named 
 this character as one of the prominent features of his 
 attraction at that theatre during the season of 1840"!. 
 Since that period, his style, retaining all its inherent 
 energy, had become mellowed by experience and 
 corrected by study and constant reflection. When the 
 torrent of rage became necessary, he gave vent to it, as 
 before, in an overwhelming burst ; but now, another 
 great and perhaps superior attribute presented itself with 
 more marked peculiarity in his general mode of delivery 
 a power of condensed energy in repose, with, an 
 accompanying clearness of enunciation which renders
 
 54 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 the suppressed whisper as impressive as the loudest 
 explosion of agony. There is a mastery of art in this 
 which none but the most highly gifted and chosen few 
 are able to accomplish. The latter quality is progres- 
 sively derived from judgment regulated by refined taste ; 
 the former springs from the sudden inspiration of genius 
 with the lightning-like rapidity of thought; as the 
 old Greek painter dashed his sponge at the mouth of 
 the horse he was delineating, and at once produced the 
 foam which had so long baffled his imitative skill. 
 
 Nothing indicates true genius and conceptive strength 
 more decidedly than the rare faculty of conveying 
 intense passion without, as Shakespeare says, " tearing 
 it to tatters, to very rags," and splitting the ears of the 
 groundlings with intolerable, unmeaning noise. Deep, 
 concentrated feeling is never loud ; but common-place, 
 routine imitators of acting, who feel nothing, are much 
 given to exercise lungs in place of judgment, and to 
 roar unmercifully when, if actually possessed by the 
 simulated rage, nature would render them almost inar- 
 ticulate. They cannot be made to understand this, and 
 ; appeal from individual censure to the plaudits of the 
 injudicious and ignorant many, by which their mistakes 
 are too often encouraged. "Can you shout?" was a 
 question once put by a country manager to an ambitious 
 novice. " I rather flatter myself I can," replied the 
 Macbeth in embryo. " Then learn to shout in the 
 right place, and you'll do," was the comforting rejoinder. 
 In this " right place " lies nearly all the mystery ; it 
 forms a dramatic pom asinorum as difficult to surmount as 
 the fifth proposition of Euclid. 
 
 On one of the most triumphant repetitions of Macbeth 
 at the Princess's, Mr. C. Kean received a compliment 
 equally unexpected and agreeable. Mademoiselle 
 Rachel happened to be present in a private box. He
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 55 
 
 knew that she formed one of the audience, and played 
 his best in consequence. When the play ended, she 
 came round to his dressing-room for personal introduc- 
 tion. Her praises were poured forth with all the ardour 
 of appreciating genius, and wound up with this enthu- 
 siastic ebullition, " Permettez qui je vous embrasse." 
 Such a request demanded instant compliance, and the 
 fraternal salute was most cordially exchanged between 
 the two great artists. The incident recalls a similar one 
 that happened when Garrick visited Paris. In a 
 private party at the house of Mademoiselle Clairon, the 
 Rachel of her day, he was asked to gratify the company 
 by a specimen of his powers. He rose at once, and 
 gave the dagger soliloquy from " Macbeth," without 
 preparation or arrangement. The spectators were elec- 
 trified, and Clairon, although unacquainted with the 
 English language, was so excited by the expressive 
 action <ind features, that she caught Garrick in her arms, 
 and kissed him. Mrs. Garrick, who was present, and 
 frequently related the story, invariably added, "All 
 were surprised, but David and I were delighted." 
 
 The Easter spectacle for 1853, at the Princess's 
 Theatre, consisted of a melodrama, entitled, " Marco 
 Spada," very tastefully adapted by Mr. Palgrave Simp- 
 son, from Scribe's opera of the same name ; the music 
 by Auber being of course omitted. This piece was 
 infinitely embellished by the introduction of a superb 
 ball-room scene in the second act. It proved very 
 successful, and commanded a run of forty-six nights, 
 continued for thirty-two more after the opening of the 
 next season. 
 
 On Easter Monday, in this year, an important change 
 took place in theatrical government. Mr. B. Webster 
 resigned the direction of the Haymarket, which he had 
 held for sixteen years, and was succeeded by Mr. Buck-
 
 56 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 stone; the former gentleman from that time confining 
 himself to the sole superintendence of the Adelphi. 
 Mr. Webster's rule over the Haymarket was eminently 
 brilliant and successful. The best authors and actors 
 were most liberally paid, and the national drama encou- 
 raged with patriotic zeal. In 1844, he offered 500?., 
 with contingent advantages, for a prize comedy, to 
 be awarded by a committee, consisting of Messrs. C. 
 Young, E. S. Moran, Henry Ottley, J. C. Searle, the 
 Rev. Alexander Dyce, and G. P. R. James, with Charles 
 Kemble for chairman. Nearly one hundred plays were 
 sent in, and the palm was awarded to a comedy called 
 " Quid pro Quo ; or, the Day of Dupes," by Mrs. Gore. 
 This was selected simply because it was considered the 
 best of the lot, and not from any estimate of abstract 
 merit. It was coldly received by the public ; its short 
 dramatic life seconded but feebly the liberal intention of 
 the manager, and brought no reimbursement to his 
 exchequer. 
 
 On the 13th of June, Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean selected 
 for their annual benefit Lord Byron's gorgeous tragedy 
 of " Sardanapalus." Such a revival immediately follow- 
 ing "Macbeth," and so totally distinct in character and 
 historical epoch, excited public expectation to the 
 highest pitch. The manner in which all new pieces 
 had been produced at the Princess's invested the 
 promise of " Sardanapalus " with unusual interest ; 
 and never within the annals of theatrical history 
 was a promise more completely redeemed, or an 
 expected enjoyment more thoroughly surpassed. When 
 the curtain rose, we saw before us the restored palace of 
 Sennacherib in embodied reality; and within a few 
 moments the stage became filled with the court and 
 retinue of the Assyrian monarch, who lived 2,700 
 years ago, as exactly re-animated " in form and
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, P.S.A. 57 
 
 moving as express and admirable" as if the sculp- 
 tures in the British Museum had stepped on to the 
 boards of the theatre by the power of a magician's 
 talisman. We copy the fly-leaf from the bill, which, 
 as in the preceding case of " Macbeth," embraces a 
 programme of the spirit in which the present revival 
 was conceived : 
 
 " In the production of Lord Byron's tragedy of 
 ' Sardanapalus,' I have availed myself of the wonderful 
 discoveries made within the last few years by Layard, 
 Botta, and "Others, on the site of the ancient Nineveh. 
 It was during the latest excavations made by Mr. 
 Layard, in the south-east palace of the Mount of Nim- 
 roud, that our illustrious countryman arrived at the 
 conclusion that this interesting structure was the work 
 of the son of Esarhaddon, who was himself the son of 
 Sennacherib, so famous in sacred history. 'Although, 
 says Mr. Layard, ' no part of the history of this royal 
 builder has been as yet recovered, still there is eveiy 
 reason to believe that this son of Esarhaddon was 
 no other than the Sardanapalus, who, conquered by the 
 Medes and Babylonians, under Cyaxares (B. c. 806), 
 made one funeral pile of his palace, his wealth, and his 
 wives.' 
 
 "To render visible to the eye, in connexion with Lord 
 Byron's drama, the costume, architecture, and domestic 
 manners of the ancient Assyrian people, verified by the 
 bas-reliefs, which, after having been buried for nearly 
 3,000 years, have in our own day been brought to light, 
 was an object that might well inspire the enthusiasm of 
 one who has learnt that scenic illustration, if it have the 
 weight of authority, may adorn and add dignity to the 
 noblest works of genius. 
 
 " I have humbly endeavoured to convey to the stage
 
 58 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 an accurate portraiture and a living picture of an age 
 long since past away, but once as famous as our own 
 country for its civilization and power, and more inti- 
 mately associated with the destructive wars of the 
 Jewish race than any other people. No pains have 
 been spared to present to the eye the gorgeous and 
 striking scenery that has been so unexpectedly dug 
 from the very bowels of the earth. The sculptures now 
 in the British Museum have been rigidly followed ; and 
 when recent discovery has failed to give authority for 
 minor detail, I have, wherever it has been possible, 
 borrowed designs from surrounding nations flourishing 
 at the same epoch. In decoration of every kind, 
 whether scenic or otherwise, I have diligently sought 
 for truth ; and it is with some pride and satisfaction I 
 am enabled to announce that a verdict of approval has 
 been received from the judge (Mr. Layard) most compe- 
 tent to speak with decision upon the surpassingly inte- 
 resting subject with which I have had to deal. 
 
 "It is hardly necessary to remind the reader, that 
 Assyria and the country beyond the two rivers, the 
 Tigris and the Euphrates, constituted, if not actually 
 the cradle of mankind, at all events the theatre on 
 which the descendants of Noah performed their first 
 conspicuous part. The plains of Shinar witnessed not 
 only the defeat of that presumptuous enterprise which 
 scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth, but 
 also the exploits of the ' mighty hunter,' and the 
 triumph of his ambition, in the establishment of the first 
 monarchy recorded either by sacred or profane writers. 
 
 " ' More than 2,000 years ' (says a modern writer, in 
 recording the marvellous results of French and English 
 discovery on the Assyrian plains) ' had Nineveh lain 
 in its unknown grave, when a wandering English scho- 
 lar, and a French savant, urged by a noble inspiration,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 59 
 
 sought the seat of the once powerful empire, and search- 
 ing until they found the dead city, threw off its shroud 
 of sand and ruin, and revealed once more to an 
 astonished and curious world, the temples, the palaces, 
 and the idols, the representations of war, and the 
 triumphs of peaceful art, of the ancient Assyrians. 
 The Nineveh of Scripture the Nineveh of the oldest 
 historians the Nineveh, twin sister of Babylon, glory- 
 ing in a civilization of pomp and power, all traces of 
 which were believed to be gone the Nineveh in which 
 the captive tribes of Israel had laboured and wept, was, 
 after a sleep of twenty centuries, again brought to light. 
 The long lost was found the dead palaces were ex- 
 humed the strange, huge sculptures were dug out, and 
 their inscriptions were deciphered. The proofs of 
 ancient splendour were again beheld by living eyes ; 
 and by the skill of the draughtsman and the pen of the 
 antiquarian travellers, made known to the world. Pa- 
 tience and industry rescued from the earth these trea- 
 sures of a long gone people, giving proof of a great 
 civilization existing in the earliest stages of the history 
 of the human race.' 
 
 " It is a noteworthy fact, that, until the present mo- 
 ment, it has been impossible to render Lord Byron's 
 tragedy of ' Sardanapalus ' upon the stage with proper dra- 
 matic effect, because, until now we have known nothing 
 of Assyrian architecture and costume. It is also deserv- 
 ing of remark, that, interesting as the bas-reliefs which 
 have furnished such information are, they could not find 
 dramatic illustration but for the existence, of the only 
 tragedy that has reference to the period of which they 
 treat. I consider myself fortunate in having been per- 
 mitted to link together the momentous discoveries of one 
 renowned Englishman with the poetic labours of another. 
 
 " Lord Byron having closely followed the history of
 
 60 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Sardanapalus, as given by Diodorus Siculus, who has 
 erroneously placed the site of the ancient Nineveh on 
 the banks of the Euphrates, I have ventured to alter 
 the text where this mistake is made, and have given the 
 city its proper position on the river Tigris." 
 
 The late discoveries on the banks of the far-famed 
 river having created for Assyria and its capital an un- 
 expected interest, Charles Kean, prompted by a truly 
 classical mind, and an inborn love of historical illustra- 
 tion, seized upon the opportunity that presented itself, 
 while yet the newly imported relics were a topic of 
 general conversation, with the tact of a skilful general 
 and the taste of an accomplished artist. The subject 
 and the time fortuitously harmonized. "Sardanapalus" 
 had been acted at Drury Lane in 1834, under the ma- 
 nagement of Mr. Bunn, on which occasion Macready 
 personated the effeminate monarch. It was not one of 
 his happy assumptions. With the exception of the 
 dream in the fourth act, his powers appeared to slumber 
 through an uncongenial part. There was some corre- 
 spondence as to the heroine being supported by Mrs. 
 Mardyn, a very beautiful woman, who had long retired 
 from the stage, but had never risen beyond an actress of 
 moderate ability even when in her prime. Her name, 
 in earlier days, had been, in something of a question- 
 able shape, mixed up with that of the noble author, and 
 it was said that she had supplied the model from which 
 he drew his fair Ionian slave. But the report of her 
 re-appearance subsided into air, while the play itself 
 made little impression, and was withdrawn after a few 
 unprofitable repetitions. The time for its successful 
 production had not arrived. The coming disinterment 
 of Nineveh within the next twenty years had cast no 
 shadows before, neither were the wonderful sculptures of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 61 
 
 the British Museum, the accumulated treasures of indi- 
 vidual enterprise and sagacity, yet gazed upon by daily 
 myriads. Lord Byron declared repeatedly, in conver- 
 sation, in letters, and in print, that his tragedies were 
 not composed with the most remote view to the stage 
 that they were neither intended for, nor suited to, repre- 
 sentation ; and exclaimed loudly against Elliston's im- 
 molation of "Marino Fatiero" He even applied for 
 an injunction to restrain future attempts, but without 
 success. Having served on the committee of Drury 
 Lane, he was well acquainted with the managers and 
 actors of his day. He had no great opinion either of 
 their taste or discrimination, disliked to be fettered by 
 their caprices, and, above all, dreaded the ordeal of a 
 mixed audience. He may have been sincere to a cer- 
 tain extent ; but we suspect there was both fencing and 
 coquetry in some part of his objections. Why did he 
 write in the dramatic form, if he repudiated the legiti- 
 mate exercise of that style of composition? The 
 essential and characteristic ingredient of a play is action 
 " Something," as Jeffrey says in the Edinburgh 
 Review, " supposed to pass before the eyes of the 
 assembled spectators." We have known many dra- 
 matic authors, but we never yet encountered one who 
 considered it a compliment to be told that his play was 
 more fit for the closet than the stage that it read better 
 than it would act. He is almost as well pleased with 
 the qualifying distinction as an actor is when an influ- 
 ential critic calls his performance of a pet part, respec- 
 table. That a play should be written for the express 
 purpose of not being acted, sounds very like a pre- 
 determined contradiction. It seems almost as incon- 
 ceivable as that a dinner should be cooked not to be 
 eaten a song composed not to be sung a book printed 
 not to be read a coat made not to be worn or a house
 
 62 
 
 built not to be inhabited. Had Lord Byron lived to 
 see " Sardanapalus " placed on the stage as it was at 
 the Princess's Theatre, he would have altered his opi- 
 nion, and must have admitted, from proved experiment, 
 that his tragedy contains all the leading elements of 
 dramatic success action, dialogue, incident, interest, 
 and catastrophe; not forgetting what he himself calls 
 the " law of literature throughout the more civilized 
 parts of the world," and still fondly cherished by a few 
 rigidly classical enthusiasts a strict observance of the 
 Aristotelean unities. He would have been taught, too, 
 that the tribunal he so earnestly prayed deliverance 
 from, is never slow to acknowledge the supremacy of 
 genius, when clothed in appropriate garb, and attended 
 by its indispensable auxiliaries. 
 
 In spite of all that exploded bigotry and prejudice 
 have attempted to set forth to the contrary, the stage, as 
 it presents a combination of the ornamental arts, will 
 ever, when properly administered, be considered the most 
 improving as well as the most intellectual of civilized 
 recreations. We see there placed before us, in actual 
 existence, the animated reality of what we can otherwise 
 only become acquainted with through the cold medium 
 of description. The genius of the poet, aided by the 
 executive talent of the actor, recalls the buried ages of 
 the past, and brings them in review before us with 
 a living reality which mere reading or relation could 
 never impart. We think profitably, and acquire useful 
 lessons in the study, but we live over again in the 
 theatre. " The drama," as Lord Bacon justly observes, 
 "is as a history brought before the eyes ; it exhibits the 
 image of things as if they were present, while history 
 treats of them as entirely extinct." Plato wished that 
 virtue could assume a visible form. Dramatic repre- 
 sentation gives one both to virtue and to vice. It sets
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 63 
 
 forth models for admiration and abhorrence ; and as ex- 
 ample is better than precept, the moral thus presented 
 affords the benefit of both at once. 
 
 Many who had taught themselves to believe, or had 
 been drilled into a conviction, that the modern stage is 
 in a state of decline, and that we live under the lower 
 empire of theatrical taste, began to dismiss their pre- 
 conceived notions, and to repent of a long-cherished 
 heresy, as they witnessed and felt the gradual effect of 
 these unprecedented revivals. Where one person for- 
 merly enjoyed the lights of knowledge, and admitted the 
 impulses of refinement, a thousand now possess the ad- 
 vantages which were denied to their grandfathers. But 
 this general advance of education has added new difficul- 
 ties to the dramatic art. The appetite of the public is 
 much more craving and more difficult to satisfy than it 
 was fifty or even twenty years ago. The present age is 
 eminently pictorial, and in the embellishment of a play, 
 the most costly accessories are now indispensable which 
 formerly were never required. Errors or deficiencies of 
 costume and general decoration, which in the days of 
 Garrick and under the management of the Kembles were 
 passed without notice, are now watched and scrutinized 
 with the most jealous criticism. The very cavillers who 
 cry out upon superabundant ornament, would be the 
 first to carp and exclaim if that salient object of their 
 censure should either be modified or withdrawn. 
 
 " Sardanapalus," as revived by Charles Kean, com- 
 prised a subject for reflective study, from which the most 
 careless spectator might derive profitable information and 
 ennobling thoughts. His own performance of the last 
 descendant of Semiramis was marked by the truth, 
 energy, and variety which distinguish his ablest con- 
 ceptions. The Assyrian monarch is a sanguine vo- 
 luptuary, without being constitutionally unfeeling or
 
 64 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 effeminate ; a royal sensualist, who enjoys life while he 
 dallies with death ; who rushes from the banquet-table 
 to the battle-field with the careless gaiety of a disciple 
 of Epicurus, and rises into a hero under the pressure of 
 circumstances, without effort or parade. The terrible 
 grandeur of his self-sacrifice would be incredible, nay, 
 almost unnatural, did we not believe it to be true. 
 In sociable qualities, and in good temper, he bears a 
 striking resemblance to our own Charles II., while he 
 soars far beyond him in inherent magnanimity. We 
 feel interested in his fate from the beginning ; he retains 
 our sympathy to the end, and we mourn sincerely over 
 his fall. We almost forgive his inconstancy to his 
 Queen for the touching kindness and self-reproaches of 
 their parting interview. 
 
 Myrrha, the Ionian captive, is a beautiful introduc- 
 tion, forming the chief charm and relieving feature of 
 the drama. Utterly unselfish, and devoted to the King 
 from personal affection, she uses her influence over him 
 for the most ennobling purposes, appearing more like a 
 guardian genius than an earthly lover, striving to win 
 him from his fatal course, while she soothes and adorns 
 its appalling close. The feminine softness and devotion 
 of the character, so heroically blended with Grecian pride 
 and courage, were portrayed by Mrs. C. Kean with all 
 her accustomed taste and nice discrimination. Miss 
 Heath enacted the single scene, in which the Queen 
 Zarina appears, with dignity and feeling. Some frigid 
 critics have condemned this affecting episode as un- 
 necessary and inappropriate. In our humble judgment 
 we think it as opposite to both as language can express ; 
 and if the excited feelings of an audience are to be 
 admitted as evidence on the question, we can appeal 
 to them strongly in support of the impression pro- 
 duced. The stern soldier, but faithful friend and subject,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 65 
 
 Salemenes, stood prominently forth in the hands of Mr. 
 Ryder, and formed throughout an admirable contrast 
 to the amiable thoughtlessness of Sardanapalus. Lord 
 Byron himself imagined that the character of his regal 
 hero approached the comic ; a strange fantasy, for 
 which we profess ourselves unable to discover the slight- 
 est foundation. 
 
 In the acting version of this noble drama all the 
 subordinate parts were filled by careful and judicious 
 representatives. Every line was distinctly and charac- 
 teristically uttered. The curtailments necessary to 
 bring the play, as originally written, within reasonable 
 acting length, tended greatly to increase and condense 
 its dramatic force. It is difficult to make selections from 
 a whole so skilfully blended together ; but we may name 
 three leading effects, as surpassing in truthful display 
 anything we had ever until then seen attempted on the 
 stage: the procession which introduced the entry of 
 Sardanapalus, in the first act ; the banquet and dance 
 in the hall of Nimrod in the third ; and the con- 
 flagration of the palace and city, which closed the 
 fifth. 
 
 Those of our readers who are acquainted with the 
 mechanism of a theatre will readily understand that the 
 last wonderful exhibition was produced more by artificial 
 means, than through the agency of real fire an element 
 too dangerous to employ to any extent Many of the 
 audience, however, satin mingled admiration and terror. 
 On the first night, an old half-pay colonel, in the stalls, 
 was overheard by his neighbour saying to himself, 
 " Oh ! hang it ! this is too much. Kean is going beyond 
 the mark this time he will certainly burn the theatre 
 down." He then looked round to observe the effect 
 on the assembled house, and continued " There'll be 
 a rush to the doors in a moment, and lives may be lost ; 
 
 VOL. II. F
 
 66 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 but I shall keep my seat, come what may, until they are 
 all out." 
 
 The insurance companies took the alarm, and sent 
 their officers to make a strict investigation. The 
 mystery was explained to them, and on the next 
 night they were posted in a convenient corner of the 
 stage, from whence they could witness the entire 
 operation. But when the flames burst forth, the pile 
 began to sink, and what appeared to be blazing rafters 
 and showers of fire descended from the roof of the 
 palace, they made a precipitate retreat, exclaiming that 
 they were perfectly satisfied. 
 
 The unusual attraction of the Assyrian tragedy stimu- 
 lated a corresponding amount of the never-wanting 
 ridicule which dogs -the steps of successful management, 
 according to the received London practice. Such oppor- 
 tunities are tempting, and not likely to be passed over, 
 as long as the public encourage what it would be better 
 taste to condemn. Shakespeare's " Macbeth " and 
 " Merchant of Venice" had been very recently degraded 
 to travesty ; why then should Lord Byron be spared ? 
 Two burlesques on " Sardanapalus " appeared within 
 a week of each other, at different theatres, whilst the 
 original, at the Princess's, was in the first glow of its at- 
 traction. The "Fly-leaf," again, was considered too good 
 :to escape, and furnished food for more extensive parody. 
 
 If there be any truth in spirit-rapping, and the dead 
 are really cognizant of, and take an interest in the every- 
 day occurrences of the life they have left, we wish some 
 specially-gifted medium would charm up Lord Byron, 
 and inquire of him how he feels as to the stage treat- 
 ment of his dramatic works. To the last hour of his 
 existence, he protested against their being acted. Even 
 of " Werner," he said in the preface, " The whole is 
 neither intended, nor in any shape adapted, for the stage."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 67 
 
 We wish it were possible to ask him, for what conceiv- 
 able reason a professed author dramatizes a popular 
 novel, unless with a conviction of its fitness for repre- 
 sentation. 
 
 A highly successful season at the Princess's termi- 
 nated with the sixty-first representation of Lord Byron's 
 tragedy; which, on the re-opening in the following 
 October, was again resumed, and continued for thirty- 
 two additional nights. During the season which ended 
 on the 2d September, 1853, the " Corsican Brothers " 
 commanded fifty-five full houses. The only light 
 novelty produced was a piece, in one act, entitled, 
 " Chesterfield Thinskin" (an adaptation from the French, 
 by Mr. Maddox), which came out in the beginning of 
 August, and ran to the last night. The total number 
 of pieces acted, during a season of rather more than 
 eleven months, amounted to thirty. Of these, seven 
 only, including the pantomime, were entirely new. 
 Three old farces, the " Spitalfields Weaver," " Bom- 
 bastes," and " Deaf as a Post," were revived for Mr. 
 Wright, who seceded from the company when the season 
 ended. "Black-eyed Susan" was played during a 
 three-weeks' engagement of T. P. Cooke, before Christ- 
 mas. We rejoice to see that this the truest representa- 
 tive of the British tar of Nelson's day, who ever stepped 
 from the quarter-deck to the boards, is still rated on the 
 theatrical books, and has lately danced his inimitable 
 hornpipe, with as much vigour as he displayed when we 
 first had the pleasure of his acquaintance more years 
 ago than we feel disposed to chronicle. Without envy- 
 ing him his activity, we sincerely wish we were able 
 to emulate it.
 
 68 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MR. CHARLES KEAN AND MR. DOUGLAS JERROLD 
 MR. BLANCHARD JERROLD'S STATEMENT IN HIS FATHER'S LIFE REA- 
 SONS FOR PUBLISHING THE LETTERS THEIR TENDENCY AND RESULT 
 INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 DURING the year 1853, from April to October, an inter- 
 change of letters took place between Mr. Charles Kean 
 and the late Mr. Douglas Jerrold, entirely confined to 
 certain dramatic arrangements pending between them, 
 and as yet imperfectly carried out. It was not intended, 
 in the present biography, to refer to this correspondence, 
 or to the permanent hostility thereby engendered in 
 Mr. Jerrold's mind towards Mr. Kean in his double 
 capacity as manager and actor. The matter had been 
 forgotten by the public ; Mr. Douglas Jerrold was dead ; 
 and Mr. Kean would never have permitted any allusion 
 to, or revival of the ungracious subject, had not Mr. 
 Blanchard Jerrold so unnecessarily (shall we add, im- 
 prudently and indelicately?) raked up its ashes in his 
 recent life of his father. In that work he has thought 
 proper to republish a most virulent article from Lloyd's 
 Weekly Newspaper of October the 15th, 1854, on the 
 production of the " Heart of Gold." 
 
 We step a little onward in the order of time, to in- 
 sert the article here, as necessary to a clear understand- 
 ing of what follows : 
 
 "'A HEART OF GOLD' AT THE PRINCESS'S. 
 
 "For obvious reasons, 'A Heart of Gold' is not a 
 subject for criticism in this journal. A few facts, how-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 69 
 
 ever, may be given by the author in this his farewell 
 to all dramatic doings. The piece was written some 
 four years since, at the solicitation of Mr. Charles Kean, 
 and duly paid for. The hero and heroine were to be 
 acted by himself and Mrs. Charles Kean. They were, 
 in fact, written to be so acted. 
 
 " Subsequently, however, Mr. Kean's tragic claims 
 were questioned in a wicked publication called Punch : 
 and the actor himself graphically rendered in certain 
 of his many moods of dramatic inspiration. Where- 
 upon, Mr. Charles Kean broke his compact with the 
 author of 'A Heart of Gold;' he would not play his 
 hero, but find a substitute. A new cast of characters 
 was proposed, against which the author gave his written 
 protest But Mr. Charles Kean had, in 1850, bought 
 the drama ; and, therefore, in his own mercantile way, 
 conceived that in 1854 he had a right to do what he 
 liked with his own black-and-white ' nigger/ The 
 author thought differently, and stood to his protest. 
 Despite of which, however, on the close of last season, 
 Mr. Charles Kean's solicitor informed the author's 
 solicitor (there is parchment on Parnassus !) that ' A 
 Heart of Gold' would be produced at the commence- 
 ment of the present season. To this no answer was 
 made. The author had once protested, and that he 
 thought sufficient to Mr. Kean and to himself. Never- 
 theless, the piece was put into rehearsal ; and yet the 
 author had no notice of the fact. Perhaps Mr. Kean 
 thought the author might spontaneously send his soli- 
 citor to superintend the rehearsals, who, with Mr. Kean's 
 solicitor, would settle writs of error as to readings, mis- 
 conceptions, and so forth. Had the author done so, 
 even under such professional revision, there had doubt- 
 less been fewer misdemeanours against nature, good 
 taste, and propriety.
 
 70 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 " Yet it is under such wilful injuries committed lay a 
 management that a drama is, nevertheless, to be buoyant! 
 It is through such a fog of player's brain that the inten- 
 tion of the author is to shine clearly forth. With a cer- 
 tain graceful exception, there never was so much bad 
 acting as in ' A Heart of Gold.' Nevertheless accord- 
 ing to the various printed reports the piece asserted its 
 vitality, though drugged and stabbed, and hit about the 
 head, as only some players can hit a play hard and 
 remorselessly. 
 
 " In a word, against the author's protest of misrepre- 
 sentation, was his play flung, huddled upon the stage ; 
 without a single stage revision allowed on his part. 
 Solicitors have been alluded to, but it should be 
 stated, legal interference was first employed by the 
 author for his self-security. He would have no written 
 or personal communication with an individual who had 
 violated the confidence of honourable minds by printing 
 ' for private circulation only ' private letters ; letters 
 that had the writer's consent been, as is usual in such 
 cases, demanded might, for him, have been posted in 
 market-places. It was in consequence of this mean- 
 ness, that the author, in subsequent correspondence, 
 employed a solicitor. For, in the writer's mind, it 
 requires a very nice casuistry to discover the difference 
 between picking the confidence of a private letter and 
 picking a lock. To be sure, there is this difference in 
 the penalties : in one case we employ a policeman in 
 the other contempt." 
 
 The above notice, Mr. Blanchard Jerrold duly verifies 
 as coming from the pen of his father, and endorses it 
 with his own opinion in the following words : 
 
 " This farewell was written in the most natural bitter-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 71 
 
 ness of spirit, and it is only because I know it to be 
 just, that I print it." 
 
 Here is a direct challenge, and silence now would as- 
 suredly be misconstrued into an admission of weakness. 
 Under a combined battery of detraction and ridicule, 
 poured upon him for many successive months in two 
 widely circulated papers, Mr. Kean remained perfectly pas- 
 sive. Many of his friends wondered at this, and urged him 
 to reply. But he was too good a general to commit such 
 an error, and too prudent to engage an enemy on his 
 own ground with his own weapons. He would not give 
 that enemy the triumph of seeing him wince ; and ex- 
 perience had taught him that a public man gains nothing 
 by impatience under attack. He had neither time nor 
 inclination for newspaper controversy. He felt that he 
 had a great majority on his side, and was satisfied with 
 that conviction. He knew, moreover, that the public 
 take little interest in personal disputes, beyond the 
 momentary excitement and pleasure of a squabble of 
 any kind, with the hope and expectation of its winding 
 up, after the usual mode, with the club logic of the 
 worthy sergeant in " Tom Jones." " Craving your 
 pardon, Sir," says Partridge, " that's a non sequitur." 
 "You're another, if you come to that," retorts the 
 sergeant ; " and I'll fight any man for a crown." 
 
 That Mr. Kean did circulate amongst his friends the 
 correspondence between Mr. Douglas Jerrold and him- 
 self, is as certain as that he had just cause for so doing. 
 The immediate provocation was a notice of " Faust and 
 Marguerite," that appeared in Punch of the 6th of May, 
 1854 ; and was copied into Lloyd's of the 7th. This 
 article, being too long for insertion here, is included in 
 the Appendix (A). We refer to it as an exemplar 
 of the series, and as a literary curiosity, showing how
 
 72 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 weakly a clever man can write when he suffers rational 
 criticism to be superseded by personal acrimony. 
 
 Mr. Kean was driven to the course he adopted, in self- 
 defence, to explain what was otherwise an unintelligible 
 mystery, and to let the truth be known to his own 
 circle, as it actually occurred. Such critical notices as 
 those indited by Mr. Douglas Jerrold manifestly defeat 
 themselves ; but, although the animus which dictates 
 them may be transparent, many are inclined to ask, 
 " Why is this so ? and what can Mr. Kean have done 
 to provoke such pertinacious hostility ?" Perhaps a 
 solution lies in the subjoined correspondence. 
 
 There is not a syllable in these letters intended or 
 implied, in the most remote degree, by either writer, to 
 be of a private or confidential nature. They treat as 
 exclusively of matters of business, as the negotiation by 
 which a house is leased, or an interchange of property 
 effected between contracting parties. They are as avail- 
 able for evidence, in case of litigation, as a bill of sale 
 or an attested account. No sophistry can subject them 
 to any other interpretation. The attempt is ridiculous. 
 If a common jury, or a special court of honour, could be 
 assembled to consider such a charge, they would throw 
 it out in scorn without a moment's deliberation. 
 
 When the relations and friends of Mr. Douglas 
 Jerrold, with a natural bias by which we are all more 
 or less influenced, seek to represent him as a man of 
 philanthropic soul and kindly sympathies, of benevolent 
 heart and social affections, of brilliant wit, playful but 
 unwounding, of vast conversational powers and un- 
 limited scope of intellect, of gentle temper and happy 
 disposition, it falls not within the province of a 
 stranger to dispute the fidelity of the picture. But 
 when, to complete this eulogium, facts and inferences 
 are assumed, injurious to the character of another, jus-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 73 
 
 tice casts aside reserve, and demands truth. The deal- 
 ings of public men, in their professional capacities, are 
 extensively canvassed and claimed as legitimate subjects 
 of discussion. Conclusions are often drawn from very 
 imperfect information. If, in the present case, on a 
 full statement, public opinion should be less favourable 
 to his father's memory than Mr. Blanchard Jerrold may 
 desire or anticipate, he must remember that he alone 
 has evoked the subject, and has no one but himself to 
 blame for the result. 
 
 The writer of these pages, in speaking freely here 
 and in other places, of Mr. Kean's thoughts and 
 opinions with regard to the transactions referred to, 
 begs to have it understood explicitly that he was, 
 and had been for many years, in daily, he may say 
 in hourly communication with him. He knew every 
 turn of his mind, and reflected the impression of his 
 feelings almost as faithfully as he retained them himself. 
 
 The " Correspondence" with Mr. Jerrold will tell its 
 own story ; but a few preliminary observations are 
 necessary, to render the questions it involves suffi- 
 ciently intelligible. Two three-act dramas had been 
 purchased by Mr. Kean from Mr. Jerrold, in 1851 ; the 
 " Heart of Gold," and " St. Cupid ; or, Dorothy's For- 
 tune." For each of these, 300^., the sum agreed on, 
 had been paid to the author on delivery of the respective 
 manuscripts. It was intended that the first should take 
 its due precedence in representation ; but it was mutually 
 agreed, in consequence of incidental circumstances, that 
 the order of acting should be inverted, and the second 
 supersede the first. In the meantime (in April, 1852), 
 Mr. Jerrold proposed to Mr. Kean a treaty for a third 
 drama. This Mr. Kean was unwilling to enter into, 
 having already two in hand, paid for but not acted. In 
 the course of the conversation, Mr. Jerrold stated that
 
 74 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 he was urgently in want of money, upon which Mr. 
 Kean at once adopted his views, and advanced him 100?. 
 on account of the suggested play. This sum Mr. Jerrold 
 afterwards considered as a loan, and repaid with the 
 accruing interest on the 28th of April, 1853. 
 
 It has been seen that the comedy of '' St. Cupid, ' 
 having "been previously played at Windsor Castle by 
 selection of her Majesty, was produced at the Princess's 
 in January, 1853. It was well received and frequently 
 repeated, but, as a commercial venture, the manager 
 found himself out of pocket to a large amount, without 
 including the purchase money. Early in the year pre- 
 ceding, 1852, Mr. Douglas Jerrold, in addition to his 
 literary connexion with Punch, had become the avowed 
 editor of Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, one of the most 
 extensively circulated publications of the class in the 
 metropolis. That paper had always, in its theatrical 
 criticisms, expressed the most flattering opinions of Mr. 
 C. Kean in his professional capacity ; and the friendly 
 spirit suffered no change under the new editorship until 
 the progress of the correspondence now to be produced. 
 Nothing could be more complimentary than the articles 
 on the " Trial of Love," "Anne Blake," and other less 
 important novelties. Of " Macbeth " we find this 
 notice, on the 20th of February, 1853 : 
 
 "'Macbeth,' played at the Princess's on Monday 
 night, is a marvellous triumph of scenic and mechanic 
 art. We shall not attempt to describe all its glories, all 
 its scenic effects. We would as soon endeavour with 
 pen and ink to paint a rainbow on our paper, or to give 
 the glowing colours of a cameleon. Suffice it, that it is 
 a magnificent triumph for the management, and will 
 reward Mr. C. Kean with golden opinions, and what 
 he may think quite as good golden assets."
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 75 
 
 Of Sardanapalus, in the paper of the 12th of June, a 
 more elaborate panegyric runs thus : 
 
 " That one performance gave us a better insight into 
 the manners and habits of the Assyrians, than a whole 
 lifetime has enabled us to acquire of the French. It 
 was a grand lesson of animated geography; and the 
 more curious, as being the animated geography of a 
 nation that is dead. Mr. Charles Kean has been the 
 noble teacher on this occasion, and he cannot be praised 
 too highly for the generous spirit in which he has carried 
 out and illustrated his pleasant teaching. He has done 
 his work like a magician. With his managerial rod he 
 has made Nineveh spring out of the pages of Mr. 
 Layard's monumental book, and to become endowed 
 with all the awe and grandeur of the living thing. He 
 has built a new empire upon the stage ; the result is 
 something to remember for life. We have never seen 
 anything so perfect on the modern stage, and it cer- 
 tainly is a great honour to the theatre that has produced 
 it ; an honour that has not only k been honourably gained 
 by the prodigality that has been showered, as profusely 
 as the golden shower of fire in the last scene, upon 
 its production, but likewise by the refined taste that, 
 aided by Mr. Layard, has presided over it. Two great 
 qualities manifest themselves throughout the feeling of 
 a poet, and the pocket of a prince ; and we need not 
 say how rarely it is that you meet with either the 
 one or the other, much less a combination of the two, 
 in a manager now-a-days. To finish, it is a joy to us 
 to confess that, for many years to come, ' Sardanapalus ' 
 will be a beautiful picture to hang up in the long, dreary 
 halls of our dramatic recollections ; a beautiful picture 
 we shall always be able to look back to with increased 
 pleasure."
 
 76 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Those who are curious in such matters, if they turn 
 over the pages of Punch of about the same period, 
 or a little later, will find this identical picture grossly 
 caricatured by the same hand, which may supply 
 them with materials for profitable meditation; and in 
 Lloyd's of September the llth, 1853, the earlier opinion 
 of " Macbeth " assumes an altered tone, difficult to 
 understand without a clue : 
 
 "Macbeth has been reproduced at Sadler's Wells, 
 with all the original effects of 1847. These are the 
 same effects which Mr. C. Kean made such liberal use 
 of last season, for his version at the Princess's. They 
 are in every respect as effective as the latter, and have 
 the still further merit of being produced the first." 
 
 In a subsequent article, on the 6th of November, 
 we find this general summary : " Play-going at the 
 Princess's is sight-seeing, and nothing more ; and a visit 
 is invariably accompanied by the ennui that accom- 
 panies sight-seeing." The current in Lloyd's Weekly 
 Newspaper began to turn into the hostile channel after 
 the notice on Sardanapalus in June, and very speedily 
 settled down into unmitigated invective. The squibs 
 and caricatures in Punch had taken long precedence ; 
 but as Punch lashes everybody and everything, Charles 
 Kean had, at least, the satisfaction there of being ridi- 
 culed in good company. 
 
 A notice of Mr. Blanchard Jerrold's book, in John 
 Bull, of February 26th, 1859, says: "The abuse of 
 Mr. Kean (in Punch] was marked (if we are not mis- 
 taken) by a character of malevolence quite alien from 
 the ordinary tone of dramatic censure. In fact, Mr. 
 Jerrold's attacks on Mr. Kean had commenced long 
 before this, when the former was a contributor to the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 77 
 
 Morning Herald, and the latter was just rising into 
 fame as an actor of mark. They commenced, too, 
 immediately after a play of Jerrold's had been declined 
 at the Hay market Theatre, in consequence, as he con- 
 jectured, of Mr. Kean's repugnance to undertaking one 
 of the characters in it."* 
 
 Having now cleared the way by explanatory notes, 
 we proceed to introduce the correspondence : 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " 3, Torrington Square, 
 " 26th April, 1853. 
 
 "Mr DEAR MR. JERROLD, 
 
 " I have been expecting, according to your promise, 
 to hear from you respecting the Nautical Drama we 
 talked about. It is now nearly twelve months since I 
 advanced you 100Z. in anticipation of a new piece, and 
 I am naturally anxious to ascertain that something is 
 in progress. I wish the drama to be in my possession 
 before the close of the present season ; and feel satisfied 
 that the subject is one that, with the aid of your genius, 
 will prove successful. Requesting an early reply, 
 " I remain, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN." 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " Circus Road, St. John's Wood, 
 " 26th April, 1853. 
 
 "Mt DEAR MR. KEAN, 
 
 " Our arrangement for another drama had no refer- 
 ence to a ' Nautical ' drama ; that was an after-propo- 
 
 * There is a mistake here. When Mr. Kean was acting at the Hay- 
 market and long before he had any idea of entering on management, 
 Mr. D. Jerrold proposed to him to purchase a play of his, called (we 
 believe) the " Spendthrift," which Mr. Kean declined.
 
 78 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 sition on your part, that I thought had wholly passed 
 away with the late Easter. Nevertheless, our original 
 agreement I will, at your wish, fully cancel. My 
 thoughts have reverted to the first subject, which shall 
 be, or shall not, as you elect, 
 
 " If you think the nautical drama available, I shall, 
 notwithstanding, be very glad to give my notion of the, 
 matter to a gentleman who, I believe, would do full 
 justice to the subject. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " D. JERROLD." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " 27th April, 1853. 
 
 "Mr DEAR MR, JERROLD, 
 
 "I do not quite understand your reply to my 
 note. It is perfectly true that you suggested to me a 
 subject for a two-act drama about a twelvemonth since, 
 when you asked for an advance of 100?. I immediately 
 let you have that sum, at no small inconvenience to 
 myself, as you stated you were at the time much pressed 
 for money ; without entering into any very detailed 
 understanding with you respecting the piece, beyond 
 the fact that you were to accomplish it during the 
 theatrical vacation, which portion of your agreement, I 
 need not remind you, was not fulfilled. Having at the 
 time in my possession two three-act pieces from your 
 pen, for which I had paid you the full amount, namely, 
 300/. for each, it stands to reason I did not then require 
 a third, and was only actuated by a kindly feeling and 
 a desire to oblige you* 
 
 " When I applied to you on the subject of a nautical 
 drama, not having heard a word from you in the 
 interim, on the original subject named, I did so, intend-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 79 
 
 ing this should be in lieu of the one first mentioned. 
 You now tell me that you will either cancel the original 
 subject, or go on with it, as I may wish ; and at the same 
 time infer that you decline writing the nautical piece. 
 
 " Handing over the subject in question, as you now 
 propose to do, to another author, is of course not to be 
 thought of. If I wished another to undertake the work, 
 I could find that author myself. I wish your aid for the 
 nautical drama, which, if carried out as we agreed 
 upon, I feel would have much more attraction than the 
 subject originally proposed by you. I am quite willing 
 to avail myself of your offer, and cancel the original 
 understanding. If you will, however, finish (as you 
 promised to do) the nautical drama in three acts, intro- 
 ducing the stage effects we talked of, I will give you an 
 additional 200?. to the 100?. you have already received. 
 If this arrangement does not meet your views, you will 
 oblige me by returning the 1007. 1 have advanced. Let 
 me have your answer without delay ; and believe me, 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN." 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " 26, Circus Road, St. John's Wood, 
 " 28th April, 1853. 
 
 "Mr DEAR MR. KEAN, 
 
 " Herewith I return you the 100?. advanced last 
 April, I think, within a day or two of the present date. 
 Under the circumstances, and to make the matter a 
 purely commercial one between us, you must permit me, 
 in deference to my own self-respect, to add to the 100?. 
 the twelvemonth's interest, at five per cent. It is 
 very true, that, desiring to comply with your wish, so 
 earnestly expressed, I did waive the subject upon which 
 you advanced the money, and consented, with no plea-
 
 80 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 sure to myself, for I have had enough of nautical pieces 
 by which fortunes have been made by others, and com- 
 paratively twopence-halfpenny by your humble servant; 
 nevertheless, I did consent to handle oakum once more 
 for the Princess's. But this arrangement, as I have 
 said, passed away into thin Easter air with your 
 new Easter drama. My thoughts have since been 
 occupied with the previous subject, However, no harm 
 is done. I might, were it permissible to a writer, a 
 mere writer, to complain about anything, I might, 
 perhaps, venture a slight murmur of disappointment, 
 that my first drama, written for your first season, 
 remains unacted in your third. I might complain, but 
 will be dumb as an oyster, and nevertheless 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "DOUGLAS JEEROLD." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " 3, Torrington Square 
 " 28th April, 1853. 
 
 "Mr DEAR MR. JERROLD, 
 
 " I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your cheque 
 for 105?. in return for the 100?. I advanced you last 
 April, the additional 51. being interest for the same. 
 
 " Of course I have no answer to make to your 
 remarks concerning ' the fortunes that have been made 
 by others and the comparatively twopence-halfpenny 
 by you,' on account of your former nautical pieces, 
 beyond reminding you that my offer was 300?. for a 
 drama of the kind, being the same sum you have 
 asked and received from me, for a three-act play and a 
 three-act comedy. 
 
 " In reply to your concluding remarks, that you 
 might perhaps venture a slight murmur of disappoint- 
 ment that your first drama, written for me, had not yet
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 81 
 
 been acted, you must permit me to remind you that 
 you were put fully in possession by me of the unfor- 
 tunate position of affairs between * * * and myself; 
 and appeared from your tone, not only to sympathise 
 with me, but also to appreciate the motives that induced 
 me to put it aside. Indeed, as you well knew at the 
 time, I had no alternative. 
 
 " Afterwards, it was at your own express desire that 
 * St. Cupid ' should be brought out first, should I be 
 fortunate enough to have it selected for representation at 
 Windsor Castle. 
 
 " I cannot but feel that you must have forgotten 
 our various conversations, or you would not now urge 
 against me a complaint which has no foundation in 
 justice. 
 
 " I have endeavoured to do all in my power that is 
 right and kind by you, and if I have failed in con- 
 veying that impression to your mind, I can only express 
 my very great regret. 
 
 " Truly yours, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN." 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " 26, Circus Road, St. John's Wood, 
 " 29th April, 1853. 
 
 " MY DEAR MR. KEAN. 
 
 " Pray believe me that I make no complaint what- 
 ever of the postponement of the piece during your 
 junction with * * *. It was necessary, and I felt 
 that you were hardly placed. But, when we parted at 
 the conclusion, or some time before the conclusion of 
 last season, it was certainly my impression that you 
 proposed to open the present season with the first drama. 
 Something mocks my memory, if you did not on that 
 VOL. II. G
 
 82 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 occasion observe, 'then you'll have two pieces next 
 season.' But let this pass. Your offer for the nautical 
 piece is liberal ; and it is by no means of your terms 
 I should think to complain. What I mean is, the 
 recollection of the scurvy treatment I received where 
 the largest success accrued to others, makes nautical 
 dramas particularly repugnant to me, though I should 
 certainly have written the piece for Easter ; and for this 
 simple reason, I had promised to do so. Your arrange- 
 ments took another form. 
 
 " For myself, in this matter, I part in perfect good 
 temper ; for, as I have said, there is, I hope, no 
 harm done. 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 . "DOUGLAS JERROLD." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " 3, Torrington Square, 
 " 30th April, 1853. 
 
 "Mr DEAR MR. JERROLD, 
 
 " You are, so far, quite correct in stating that it was, 
 at one time, my intention to commence the present 
 season with your drama. Afterwards, however, when 
 ' St. Cupid ' had been selected for representation at the 
 Court Theatricals, I suggested to you the policy of allow- 
 ing that comedy to be first performed at the Princess's, 
 as any previous production of yours in the same season 
 might, in some degree, mar the Sclat which would, 
 under the unprecedented circumstances, probably attend 
 ' St. Cupid.' You perfectly coincided with my opinion, 
 and expressed your desire that ' St. Cupid ' should be 
 first performed ; therefore what has been done received 
 your sanction and approval, and you surely are not 
 justified in the complaint you have made against me. 
 In answer to what you state respecting ' the nautical
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 83 
 
 drama," it is perfectly true that, when I first sub- 
 mitted the matter to you, it was with a view to Easter ; 
 but in an after conversation between us, while sitting 
 together on the bench adjoining Massingham's Office, it 
 was agreed to relinquish the original intention with 
 regard to Easter (for various reasons which I need not 
 now enumerate), and you left me with a promise that 
 you would write me a drama on the subject named. I 
 was certainly impressed with the feeling that it was as 
 much a bargain between us, as if there had existed a 
 written contract to that effect. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " CHARLES 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " 26, Circus Road, St. John's Wood, 
 " May 17th, 1853. 
 
 "MY DEAR MR. KEAN, 
 
 " Will you favour me by letting me know if it be 
 your intention to produce my play of the ' Heart of 
 Gold ' next season. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "DOUGLAS JERROLD." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " May 18th, 1853. 
 
 "Mr DEAR MR. JERROLD,- 
 
 " In all our business transactions I have never 
 failed to consult your wishes, and am equally disposed 
 to do so now. Tell me explicitly what you desire 
 respecting the ' Heart of Gold," and it shall be carried 
 out in every point, if practicable. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "CHARLES KEAN." 
 
 To this letter Mr. Jerrold sent no reply. 
 G2
 
 84 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JEEROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " August 24th, 1853. 
 "DEAR SlB, 
 
 " As I infer, from your late correspondence with 
 me, that you are anxious your play of the ' Heart of 
 Gold ' should be produced without delay, I have deter- 
 mined, whatever may be the inconvenience to myself, 
 to make it one of the earliest novelties of my next 
 season. 
 
 " As we close on Friday week, 2d September, it 
 will be necessary that the drama should be read, and 
 the parts distributed, before that date. 
 
 " In the absence of Mr. Wright, who leaves my 
 theatre, I purpose giving the part of Michaelmas to Mr. 
 Harley ; Mrs. Walter Lacy will play Molly Dindh ; 
 Mr. Ryder, the part of John Dymond ; and the rest of 
 the characters will be cast according to the ability of 
 the company. 
 
 " Perhaps you will so far oblige me, as to name the 
 day (Saturday exc'epted), on which you will read the 
 piece. 
 
 " I remain, yours faithfully, 
 
 "CHARLES KEAN." 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " 26, Circus Road, St. John's Wood, 
 " August 25th. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " Probably I may be enabled to relieve you of my 
 drama of the ' Heart of Gold.' To the cast you pro- 
 pose I cannot consent. In the event of finding another 
 theatre, are you disposed, the money being repaid, to 
 return the drama to 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 "D. JEEROLD."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.8.A. 85 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " 25th August, 1853. 
 "DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I will meet your wishes, and immediately return 
 the play of the ' Heart of Gold,' if you will refund 
 the 3007. I have paid you for it. 
 
 "I do so under the conviction that no good can 
 accrue to any party concerned in its production at my 
 theatre, where a hostile and malicious feeling exists, on 
 the part of the author, towards the person and manage- 
 ment of the man to whom it is entrusted.* 
 
 " As I quit London on the 3d September, perhaps 
 you will be good enough to acquaint me with your deter- 
 mination respecting the re-purchase before that date. 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN." 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " August 30th. 
 "DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I do not return to London until the end of 
 September. I will then, should I find my drama 
 available elsewhere, of which I have little doubt, re- 
 purchase it of you. Of course, you cannot forget that 
 you applied to me to write the piece. I never sought 
 you; the parts were written for Mrs. Kean and yourself, 
 and accepted with much laudation. After three seasons 
 you propose a most damaging alteration of cast, and 
 break your compact. Be it so. 
 
 " And now, dear Sir, as to ' the hostile and malicious 
 feeling' you attribute to me as regards your ' person 
 
 * This is in reference to the repeated attacks made upon Mr. 0. 
 Kean in Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper and Punch. They must be read to 
 convey an understanding of their full virulence.
 
 86 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 and management,' I can believe that your habits may 
 not enable you to perceive the ill manners and the 
 injustice of such an unsupported imputation. Neither 
 hostility nor malice exist in me towards you or your 
 doings. You would probably think it very rude in me 
 were I, because you have broken faith with me, to 
 stigmatize you as a person vain, capricious, unstable in 
 his agreements, with a festering anxiety to consider 
 every man his mortal enemy, who is not prepared to 
 acknowledge him the eighth wonder of the habitable 
 world. 
 
 " I feel almost certain that you would think this 
 very rude in me. Therefore, be more chary of your 
 imputations of malice and hostility towards 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " DOUGLAS JERROLD." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " August 31st, 1853. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I wish to pass over that portion of your letter 
 (received this morning) intended to be offensive, and 
 confine myself to saying that, throughout our transac- 
 tions, I have acted towards you with all the kindness, 
 liberality, and consideration in my power, which I fear 
 your unfortunate nature is not capable of appreciating. 
 
 " Your personalities do not in the least surprise me, 
 for you have taught me to expect them. Did I deserve 
 the opprobrious epithets you have bestowed upon my 
 character, I fear I should not be worthy of that ' respect 
 from the respected' which I have throughout life endea- 
 voured to gain, and which I have reason to believe I 
 now enjoy. 
 
 " You are quite right when you assert that / sought
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 87 
 
 you in the first instance. No one has a higher estimate 
 than myself of your talent, and the ' Heart of Gold ' 
 was written in consequence of my expressed desire to 
 possess a play from a man of your genius and celebrity. 
 It is quite true that I have had that play "by me for 
 three seasons. It was not acted during the two first 
 seasons, as you already know, from the unfortunate dis- 
 agreement between me and * * *. 
 
 " During the present season, you will remember, you 
 were put aside only for YOURSELF. When you wrote 
 the comedy of ' St. Cupid,' you sought me, because at 
 the time you wanted money, which I at once advanced. 
 And to suit your interest, quite as well as my own, it 
 was determined between us that ' St. Cupid ' should 
 take the place of the 'Heart of Gold' (which was 
 then about to be presented) and be acted first. In our 
 third compact, which you afterwards thought proper to 
 break, you again sought me, because again you wanted 
 money, which / again at once advanced. A year 
 elapsed, and you had not written one line ; you declined 
 fulfilling your agreement with me ; and the money I 
 had last advanced, namely, 100/., was returned to me 
 with 51. interest. 
 
 " To meet your evident desire that the ' Heart of 
 Gold' should be brought out without any further delay, 
 I purposed making it the first novelty of the ensuing 
 season, and the scenery was already in progress. I 
 cannot understand the damaging alteration of cast of 
 which you complain. I never contemplated withdraw- 
 ing Mrs. Kean from Maud ; Mr. Harley is cast the 
 character you expressly wrote for him ; and when I 
 mentioned Mrs. W. Lacy, you appeared perfectly satis- 
 fied with her for the maid. The only alteration, then, 
 is the substitution of Mr. Ryder for myself as John 
 Dymond, which, in theatrical parlance, is a rugged,
 
 88 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIME,; 
 
 heavy character, and an elderly man. Mr. Ryder is a 
 good actor, and certainly a favourite at the Princess's, 
 while in other parts he seems acceptable to you. I 
 cannot, then, see what serious damage you can imagine 
 the cast sustains by the simple removal of an actor 
 whose value you are ever endeavouring to depreciate. 
 I never expressed any partiality for the part of Dymond, 
 for I do not think it suited to me; but would very 
 willingly have done my best with it to have satisfied 
 the views and wishes of a popular and friendly author ; 
 although I see no reason why I should in the slightest 
 degree inconvenience myself for one who studiously 
 seeks occasions to indulge in unprovoked hostility 
 towards 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN. 
 
 " I quit London for the Continent on Saturday, and 
 shall be happy to hear from you respecting the re-pur- 
 chase of your play, on my return in October." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " Royal Princess's Theatre, 
 llth October, 1853. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " Having returned to London, I am anxious to 
 ascertain if you are now prepared to carry out your 
 own proposal of re-purchasing the ' Heart of Gold.* 
 Your answer will oblige 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 89 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " 26, Circus Road, St. John's Wood, 
 
 "October 12, 1853. 
 "DEAR SIR, 
 
 " My proposal to re-purchase the ' Heart of Gold' 
 was, as you will perceive, purely provisional. I have 
 beset no manager with any communication on the 
 matter ; and from the aspect of the British theatre in 
 1853, I see no likelihood of any very successful issue 
 from the representation of the play elsewhere. I can 
 only wish that the time bestowed upon it had been em- 
 ployed on any other composition, that would have 
 borne, as it might, immediate results. Any way, in 
 the present condition of the London stage, I cannot 
 give any further attention to a matter that has been 
 productive only of annoyance and disappointment to 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " D. JERROLD." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " Royal Princess's Theatre, 
 " Oct. 13th, 1853. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " Your letter of yesterday's date has required me to 
 refer to our correspondence, in which you volunteer the 
 proposal of re-purchasing your play of the ' Heart of 
 Gold.' In yours of the 25th of August last, you say, 
 ' Possibly I may be enabled to relieve you of my 
 drama. In the event of finding another theatre, are 
 you disposed, the money being re-paid, to return the 
 drama?' And again, on the 30th August, you write, 
 ' I do not return to London until the end of September ; 
 I will then, should I find my drama available else-
 
 90 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 where, of which I have little doubt, re-purchase it of 
 you.' 
 
 " From these two communications I naturally con- 
 cluded you had some arrangement in immediate view. 
 You are scarcely likely to find a purchaser, unless you 
 looked for one ; and if you have ' beset no manager' 
 with any communication on the subject, I confess I do 
 not see how any manager could know you had such an 
 article to dispose of. There are two points in your 
 letter I am unable to understand. First, how the aspect 
 of the British theatre in 1853 can have changed during 
 the short interval of seven weeks, which has elapsed 
 since you made your first overture to me on the subject. 
 And, second, whether your expression, ' I see no likeli- 
 hood of any very successful issue from the play else- 
 where,' is intended as a compliment to my particular 
 theatre, or as an oblique condemnation of the insuffi- 
 ciency of all theatres. Having paid you 3001. down on 
 delivery of the play, in my humble judgment the ' im- 
 mediate results,' as far as your interests are concerned, 
 have assumed a tolerably substantial form. Mine, I 
 regret to say, are for the present in rather a dim per- 
 spective ; and the delay has been principally occasioned 
 by your own proposal, which, I now understand, you 
 find yourself utterly unable to carry out. 
 
 " I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN." 
 
 " To CHARLES KEAN, ESQ. 
 
 " 26, Circus Road, St. John's Wood, 
 " Oct. 18th, 1853. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I have little to add to my last. Should an oppor- 
 tunity present itself, promising a fair production of my 
 drama elsewhere than at your theatre, I shall most gladly
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 91 
 
 carry out my first provisional intention of re-purchasing 
 the play. 
 
 " Considering that you are the person who has, origi- 
 nally, broken faith in the matter, it is I who have the 
 right of complaint, for procrastination and final disap- 
 pointment. I have only to repeat that I did not seek 
 you, and am heartily sorry that you ever addressed 
 yourself to 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 "D. JERROLD." 
 
 " To DOUGLAS JERROLD, ESQ. 
 
 " October 14th, 1853. 
 "DEAR SIR, 
 
 " My reply to yours, of this date, shall be comprised 
 in very few words, and will, I sincerely hope, close our 
 correspondence. Argument having failed, you seem 
 disposed to retire on personalities. There I confess my 
 inability to engage, and must decline to follow. 
 
 " I most emphatically deny ever having ' broken faith' 
 with you. This is a chimera of your own creation, an 
 imaginary disappointment, which I think you will find 
 it very difficult to substantiate beyond mere assertion. 
 You say you are ' heartily sorry that I ever addressed 
 myself to you.' The balance of regret ought to weigh 
 heavily on my side ; as, on looking over my books, I 
 find I have paid you 600?. for two plays (one as yet 
 unacted) ; and that sum is considerably under the loss I 
 sustained by ' St. Cupid.' 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " CHARLES KEAN."
 
 92 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES ' 
 
 Before closing the subject, we have yet a remark to 
 make on Mr. Blanchard Jerrold's book. At page 11 
 of his preface, in reply to some communications sent to 
 the Press, an American paper, by a London correspond- 
 ent, he says : 
 
 " Then the American public is informed that Douglas 
 Jerrold was ' down' upon Mr. Charles Kean, in Lloyd's 
 Weekly Newspaper, till his death, because he conceived 
 that Mr. Kean had purposely contrived the failure of 
 the ' Heart of Gold.' The fact is that, after this piece 
 was produced, my father never wrote a line about Mr. 
 Kean or his management in the said newspaper." 
 
 Mr. Blanchard Jerrold's memory has sadly failed him, 
 or he would have scarcely ventured this strong assertion. 
 We cannot expect our readers to waste their valuable 
 time by wading through the heavy columns from 
 November, 1854, to April, 1857. We supply them 
 with an index to save that trouble.* They will there 
 find abundant evidence that the series of notices on Mr. 
 Kean and his management was continued, whenever the 
 production of a new piece supplied the opportunity, in 
 the same strain, and carrying internal evidence, which 
 cannot be mistaken, of proceeding from the same pen. 
 A denial of the latter inference would amount to a 
 transparent quibble. There are the articles, to speak 
 for themselves, inserted by Mr. Douglas Jerrold in the 
 paper of which he was the sole editor. He is as much 
 responsible for their paternity as if they stood acknow- 
 ledged by his signature at full length. 
 
 * See, in the Appendix (B) extracts from Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, 
 Nov. 12th, 1854 ; Jan. 14th, 1855 ; Jan. 21st, 1855 ; Jan. 28th, 1855 ; 
 Feb. 4th, 1855; March 18th, 1855; April 15th, 1855; May 20th, 
 1855 ; May 27th, 1855 ; June 10th, 1855 ; July 8th, 1855 ; July 22d, 
 
 1855 ; Aug. 31st, 1856 ; Oct. 19th, 1856 ; Oct. 26th, 1856 ; Nov. 9th, 
 
 1856 ; March 15th, 1857.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 93 
 
 All well-wishers to the stage may probably regret that 
 a dramatic author should ever combine the apparently 
 incompatible functions of a dramatic critic. If his play 
 be rejected or ill received, not being able to retort on the 
 public, the manager presents himself as a ready scape- 
 goat on whom to vent with pen or influence the over- 
 flowings of his disappointment. The case under dis- 
 cussion presents a remarkable instance. For years, 
 Mr. Douglas Jerrold avails himself of a two-fold public 
 channel, entirely at his command, to undermine as far 
 as his power extends Mr. C. Kean's professional reputa- 
 tion, to cry down his most successful efforts, and to hold 
 him up to ridicule and contempt. But when Mr. C. 
 Kean, after long forbearance, privately defends himself 
 for the satisfaction of his friends, he is charged in the 
 coarsest terms with a departure from the courtesies of 
 refined society, and the meanness of violating the confi- 
 dence of honourable minds. 
 
 We have stated the facts : the commentary we leave 
 to the public.
 
 94 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOURTH SEASON OF MB. C. KEAN'S MANAGEMENT AT THE PRINCESS'S 
 8ARDANAPALUS CONTINUED WITH UNCEASING ATTRACTION SHERIDAN'S 
 COMEDY OF THE RIVALS THE LANCERS, ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH, 
 BY CAPTAIN L. VERNON A MODERN FASHIONABLE DRAWING-ROOM 
 ARTICLE IN A WEEKLY PAPER, ON THE WINDSOR THEATRICALS STATE- 
 MENTS ANSWERED LARGE SUMS PAID FOR ORIGINAL DRAMAS LONG 
 AND SERIOUS ILLNESS OF MRS. C. KEAN PANTOMIME OF THE MILLER 
 
 AND HIS MEN REVIVAL OF KING RICHARD III. COLLEY GIBBER'S 
 
 ALTERATIONS GREAT DIFFERENCE OF OPINION ON THIS POINT REA- 
 SONS FOR ADOPTING THE ALTERED PLAY RESULT NOT SATISFACTORY 
 SUPPOSED CAUSES MARRIED UNMARRIED AWAY WITH MELANCHOLY, 
 AND A STORM IN A TEA-CUP MAGICAL SPECTACLE OF FAUST AND MAR- 
 GUERITE MR. c. KEAN'S MEPHISTOPHELES FROM VILLAGE TO COURT 
 
 THE COURIER OF LYONS PRODUCED FOR MR. KEAN'S BENEFIT HIS PER- 
 FORMANCE IN THE DOUBLE CHARACTERS OF LESURGUES AND DUBOSC 
 CLOSE OF THE SEASON NUMBER OF PIECES PERFORMED MELODRAMA 
 AND HIGH TRAGEDY. 
 
 THE fourth season at the Princess's commenced on 
 Monday, the 10th of October, 1853, with " Sardana- 
 palus," which appeared to have lost none of its attrac- 
 tion. The old comedy of the " Rivals " was revived, 
 and with the beginning of November the performances 
 were varied by the production of a highly interesting 
 drama, in three acts, entitled the " Lancers ; or, the 
 Gentleman's Son," freely adapted by Captain Leicester 
 Vernon, M.P., from the " Fils de Famille," of Monseiur 
 Bayard, performed during the preceding year with 
 unusual success at the Gymnase, in Paris. This piece 
 was acted for forty-nine nights, and gave universal 
 satisfaction. Nothing could be more complete than a
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 95 
 
 fac simile of a modern drawing-room, which was repre- 
 sented in the second act, on a stage principally filled by 
 subordinate actors. It is not easy to marshal a mimic 
 army on the boards, to go through the evolutions of a 
 battle, to arrange a triumphal or civic procession, or to 
 produce the trained confusion of a mob of rioters ; but it 
 is far more difficult to present a full company of ladies 
 and gentlemen arrayed in fashionable attire, and moving 
 with the ease of polished society. It is a curious fact, 
 in the peculiarities of acting, that in private theatricals, 
 where the performers are chiefly drawn from the aristo- 
 cratic circles, civil or military, the break-down generally 
 occurs in the representation of the high classes, who 
 become stiff and awkward when required to assume 
 theatrically what may be termed their natural attri- 
 butes. Amateur low comedians, such as Jem Baggs 
 or Bill Mattock, are more plentiful than Rangers, 
 Doricourts, or Mirabels. The eccentric Lord Barrymore 
 was inimitable in the ignorant vulgarity of Scrub, but 
 failed when he attempted the airy elegance of Archer. 
 
 The altered tone of Mr. Douglas Jerrold's mind, in 
 regard to Mr. C. Kean, had for some time manifested 
 itself in a series of depreciating sneers, and insinuations, 
 through the ready medium of the two papers before 
 named. On the 13th of November, 1853, he opened a 
 direct attack (the immediate occasion for which presented 
 itself in a recent performance at Windsor Castle). An 
 article in Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper contained these 
 passages, under the head of 
 
 " THE GREAT KEAN MONOPOLY. 
 
 " The Kean monopoly has been broken through. Mr. 
 Phelps performed 'Henry the Fifth,' at Windsor Castle, 
 on Thursday last. He has been the first to find a north- 
 west passage to the palace. The passage once found,
 
 96 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 others may quickly follow. The difficulties of the pas- 
 sage no one can conceive, but those who have had to 
 steer through the immense blocks of ice which Mr. 
 Charles Kean has thrown in the way of his brother 
 managers He has used this privilege for the glori- 
 fication of himself as an actor and a manager, until the 
 Queen and the Court have been brought to believe that 
 there was but one English actor, and but one English 
 theatre ; that actor being Mr. Charles Kean, and that 
 theatre being the Princess's !!.... We hope a dramatic 
 commission will be issued from Windsor Castle (and 
 how proud we shall be if we are nominated to sit upon 
 it !) to inquire into the following questions : 
 
 " How far the patronage bestowed upon Mr. Charles 
 Kean has benefited the drama ? 
 
 " How often he has allowed other managers to perform? 
 and the number of times those managers have per- 
 formed in comparison with Charles Kean ? 
 
 " To inquire how often Mr. Phelps has performed at 
 Windsor Castle, before Thursday evening, November 
 10th, 1853? 
 
 " To discover the names of the other tragedians who 
 have played at Windsor Castle, by the kind permission 
 and favour of Mr. Charles Kean ? 
 
 " To ascertain, if possible, the number of original pieces 
 Mr. Charles Kean has produced since he has been in 
 possession of the patronage of the court ? 
 
 " On the other side, to ascertain the number of revivals, 
 adaptations, and more particularly translations, which 
 Mr. Charles Kean has produced during the same 
 period ? 
 
 "To find out the sum of money, if possible, which Mr. 
 Charles Kean has paid to living authors for the en- 
 couragement of the drama, since he has been manager 
 of the Princess's ?
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. , 97 
 
 "On the other side, to find out the sums of money 
 which Mr. Charles Kean has paid to translators for the 
 discouragement of the ditto, during the same period ? 
 
 " To investigate the principles, if any, of Mr. Charles 
 Kean's management? .... And lastly to state the 
 extent of injury which the English stage would suffer, 
 and whether it would be more weak and ailing than it 
 already is, if Mr. Charles Kean were to lose to-morrow 
 the lucrative situation which he at present holds at 
 Court, of ' WET NURSE TO THE BRITISH DRAMA ? ' 
 
 " If the above commission is issued, we should like of 
 all things to be present during Mr. Charles Kean's ex- 
 amination. In the meantime, Mr. Phelps has broken 
 up the great Kean monopoly ; and the monopoly now 
 broken, we hope that henceforth dramatic free trade will 
 reign at the palace in its stead. The actor's loaf and 
 the author's crust (for where the former gets a loaf the 
 latter only gets a crust) both depend upon it." 
 
 On reading this article it is difficult to decide whether 
 disrespect to the Court or animosity against Mr. C. 
 Kean constitutes the prominent feature. A string of 
 assertions and inferences such as we find here lie beyond 
 the scope of argument ; their value can only be tested 
 by facts. How do the facts stand in the case before us? 
 The evidence of printed bills and authenticated accounts 
 present them as follows : Previous to his performance of 
 Henry the Fifth at Windsor Castle, Mr. Phelps had 
 appeared there in the characters of Francesco Agolanti, in 
 Leigh Hunt's " Legend of Florence," in Hubert ( " King 
 John ") , and in the sick King, in the second part of " Henry 
 the Fourth." When " Henry the Fifth " was proposed, 
 by the Court, as one of the Windsor plays, during the 
 season of 1853, Mr. Kean was asked to represent the 
 hero. He remarked that he had never yet acted the 
 part, but that Mr. Phelps had, and suggested the pro- 
 
 VOL. II. H
 
 98 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 priety of its being committed to that gentleman. The 
 suggestion was acceded to. Mr. Macready, Mr. Van- 
 denhoff, and Mr. James Wallack had also been included 
 in the casts of "Julius Csesar," "Hamlet," and 
 " Charles the Twelfth." Up to the date of Mr. Douglas 
 Jerrold's article, thirty-two dramatic pieces had been 
 performed; eleven of these before Mr. Kean became a 
 manager. Nine were supplied from the resources of 
 his own theatre ; the remaining twenty- three chiefly from 
 the Hay market, the Lyceum, Sadler's Wells, and the 
 Adelphi. Mr. C. Kean had himself performed eleven 
 times, Mrs. C. Kean eight, Mr. Webster seven, Mr. C. 
 Mathews five, Mr. Keeley ten, and Mr. Buckstone 
 three. The power and patronage so emphatically de- 
 nounced by Mr. Douglas Jerrold, consisted, as far as Mr. 
 C. Kean was concerned, in carrying out the wishes and 
 views of his illustrious employers ; the lucrative monopoly 
 in the disbursement of a large sum of money. Mr. Kean 
 volunteered his gratuitous services as manager, which 
 were graciously accepted. He might venture respect- 
 fully to name a particular performer or play if asked 
 to do so ; but no reasonable person will suppose for a 
 moment that he could presume to step beyond that 
 point ; his functions were to obey and not to dictate. 
 When an opportunity offered he exercised the permission 
 of suggesting, as in the special instances of Mr. Phelps 
 for Henry the Fifth, and Mr. Douglas Jerrold's play 
 of " St. Cupid," which, through his earnest recommend- 
 ation, received the stamp of court favour before it was 
 submitted to the public. But notwithstanding this, the 
 play proved, in a commercial sense, a failure. The 
 " actor's loaf " and the "author's crust" changed the 
 relative value, which Mr. Jerrold assigns to them ; the 
 former being represented by the Algebraic figure 
 (minus) to the amount of something like 800?. ; the latter 
 exemplified by + (plus) 300Z.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 99 
 
 Leaving the topic of the Windsor plays, the points 
 so broadly insinuated in other portions of the article are 
 equally answered by simple facts. 
 
 During his three years of management, Mr. C. Kean 
 had accepted and paid for nineteen original dramas, of 
 which fifteen had been already acted, with eleven adap- 
 tations or translations. The Shakespearean revivals 
 amounted to nine. For the original pieces he had paid 
 3,685?.; for the adaptations and translations, 1,1357. ; total 
 4,820?. Of this large amount. 600?. had been received 
 for two pieces by the writer of the article, who publicly 
 called upon Mr. Kean to show "the sum of money, if 
 possible, which he had paid to living authors for the 
 encouragement of the drama, since he had been manager 
 of the Princess's?" Within two seasons after the date 
 to which these particulars refer, Mr. Kean paid nearly 
 2,000?. more for costly novelties which were seldom pro- 
 ductive. Such experiments cannot be repeated ad in- 
 finitum. They enforce their own termination, by the 
 most coercive of all arguments a heavy balance on the 
 wrong side of the ledger. 
 
 With the commencement of 1854, the arrangements of 
 the season received an important check in the serious 
 illness of Mrs. C. Kean, which occasioned the substitution 
 of Miss Murrayfor her part otMyrrha in " Sardanapalus," 
 and necessitated a total change in the general plan. For 
 a long interval of nearly eighteen months, the public 
 lamented the absence of one of their greatest favourites, 
 while her husband, losing her invaluable co-operation, 
 felt himself placed in the position of a leader deprived of 
 his right arm. 
 
 The pantomime on the old familiar subject of the 
 " Miller and his Men," proved to be one of the most 
 attractive that had been brought forward of late years. 
 Some original and highly effective tricks transported 
 
 H2
 
 100 THE LIFE AND THEATHICAL TIMES 
 
 rom Paris produced an extraordinary sensation. The 
 value of a good pantomime trick in these days, if entirely 
 new, is equal to that of a virgin nugget. On Monday, 
 the 20th of February, 1854, "Kichard the Third" was 
 revived with great splendour. In this instance Mr. C. 
 Kean departed for once from his system of a pure restora- 
 tion of the text of Shakespeare, and adopted the long- 
 sanctioned amendments of Colley Gibber. It was a 
 point of much difficulty on which he deliberated long 
 before coming to a decision. Shakespeare's tragedy, 
 under the title of the " Life and Death of King Richard 
 the Third," had been essayed at Covent Garden on the 
 12th of March, 1821, the principal character being then 
 sustained by Mr. Macready. It was coldly received, 
 and a single repetition, a week after, on the 19th, wound 
 up the experiment. Something was gained in the resto- 
 ration of the entire part of Queen Margaret of Anjou, 
 and Clarence's dream, but more was lost by the want of 
 condensation in the latter portion of the play; while 
 the scene of the impeachment of Hastings so long pilfered 
 by Howe, in his " Jane Shore," fell flat from being already 
 too familiar. 
 
 The reasons which influenced Mr. C. Kean's preference 
 of the altered version on the present occasion, were set 
 forward as follows, in the fly-leaf : 
 
 "It is now a general conviction, that to do justice on 
 the stage to the immortal productions of Shakespeare, 
 they should be represented, as closely as possible, in 
 conformity with the ascertained text of the poet ; and in 
 the Shakespearean revivals which have taken place of 
 late years, at more than one theatre, a laudable endea- 
 vour has been made to keep this salutary object in view. 
 If a departure, then, from a rule which it behoves every 
 true lover of his art to follow with loyal fidelity, occurs
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 10 
 
 at any time, some apology or explanation would seem 
 due to the public for the rare exception. 
 
 " In selecting the play of ' King Richard the Third,' I 
 have, upon mature consideration, decided on adopting the 
 well-known version of Colley Gibber, instead of going 
 back to the original text of Shakespeare. That text has 
 been practically 'declared by the greatest ornaments of 
 the drama, less fitted in its integrity for representation on 
 the stage than almost any other generally acted play of 
 the great poet ; whilst, on the other hand, the tragedy, 
 as modified by Gibber, being rather a condensation than 
 an alteration of Shakespeare (the interpolations them- 
 selves being chiefly selections from his other plays), has 
 been pronounced one of the most admirable and skilful 
 instances of dramatic adaptations ever known. David 
 Garrick made his first appearance in London, in 1741, in 
 Colley Gibber's version of ' King Richard the Third ; ' 
 and Henderson adopted the same play; the classical John 
 Kemble followed deliberately in the wake of his great 
 predecessors ; and to these succeeded George Frederick 
 Cooke, and my late father, Edmund Kean. With such 
 distinguished precedents for my guide, I might well 
 hesitate in reverting, on the present occasion, to the 
 original text, even if their judgment had not been sanc- 
 tioned by the voice of experience, and were it not also 
 a fact that the tragedy of ' King Richard the Third,' as 
 adapted by Gibber, is most intimately associated with the 
 traditionary admiration of the public for those renowned 
 and departed actors. 
 
 " There may be a question as to the propriety of tam- 
 pering at all with the writings of our bard : but there 
 can be none that as an acting play, Colley Gibber's ver- 
 sion of ' King Richard the Third,' evinces great dramatic 
 judgment, and a consummate acquaintance with scenic 
 effect. To be convinced of this, it is sufficient to glance
 
 102 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 at the skilful arrangement of the fifth act ; and there can 
 be no doubt, that a careful comparison of the original 
 and the altered tragedy, left no choice to the masters I 
 have named, who were naturally anxious to present the 
 work in the most striking and spirit-stirring form before 
 the eyes of the spectator. 
 
 " In the production at this theatre of ' Sardanapalus/ 
 ' Macbeth,' and ' King John,' I have selected different 
 periods of history for illustration, and have endeavoured 
 to arrive at every available authority, with the view of 
 transferring, as far as possible, to the stage, a living and 
 pictorial embodiment of the past. ' King Richard the 
 Third' affords a new epoch, distinct from all the fore- 
 going, and I have taken the same pains to give proper 
 scenic and decorative effect to this most busy and event- 
 ful chapter of our annals. 
 
 " The following authorities have been consulted : 
 ' Meyrick's Ancient Armour,' 'Col. C. H. Smith's Ancient 
 Costume of Great Britain,' ' Planche"s unpublished work 
 on the Costume of Richard III.,' ' Strutt's Dresses and 
 Habits of the People of England,' ' Fairholt's Costume 
 in England,' ' Fosbroke's Encyclopaedia of Antiquities,' 
 : Dugdale'sMonasticon Anglicanum,' ' Shaw's Dresses and 
 Decorations,' ' Stothard's Monumental Effigies,' ' Frois- 
 sart's Chronicles,' 'Pugin's Glossary of Ecclesiastical 
 Ornament and Costume,' and the Herald Office." 
 
 " Richard the Third," in its new form, ran only nine- 
 teen nights, a short career and a very limited success 
 for a great Shakespearean revival at the Princess's. The 
 result was disappointing to the manager, and unexpected 
 by his admirers. Where was the cause of this com- 
 parative failure to be sought for? Not in the acting, for 
 it was loudly applauded by the audience, and eulogized 
 warmly in the leading papers. Mr. C. Kean had won
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 103 
 
 much of his early London reputation in the " Crook- 
 backed Tyrant," and his performance now, as might be 
 expected, was far superior to what it had been in 1838, 
 and 1841. The whole action of the play centres in 
 Richard. He is the pivot on which every movement turns ; 
 an Atlas who carries the entire weight on his shoulders. 
 Seldom absent from the scene, his controlling agency 
 pervades the collected dramatis persona, who appear as 
 obedient machines directed by his single will. He is 
 all evil like John, unillumined by even a glimmering of 
 humanity; but he is, unlike the earlier Plantagenet, gifted 
 at the same time with a subtle and commanding genius, 
 and moves through the scene a master demon of irresist- 
 ible power. From his entrance to his fall, the mind and 
 eye of the spectator are riveted on his proceedings. He 
 fascinates like the rattlesnake, although you know that 
 his spring is death. The character is altogether one of 
 the most arduous and complicated in the range of the 
 drama, requiring from its representative a combination 
 of mental and physical energy seldom united in the same 
 individual. The finest conceptions pass for nothing, if 
 the actor lacks the more telling faculty of execution. 
 Richard is alternately restless and contemplative ; 
 thoughtful in arranging his schemes, rapid and decisive 
 as lightning in carrying them into execution ; hypocri- 
 tical and audacious ; gloomy and sardonically humorous ; 
 remorseless, but accessible to the terrors of conscience ; 
 cunning and bold; treacherous and heroically daring. 
 He is a perpetual contrast, a multiplied antithesis, as 
 crafty as Ulysses, as variable as Proteus, and more full 
 of unscrupulous expedients than Machiavel himself. The 
 actor who can embody all these opposing passions and 
 sentiments in one portrait of brilliant colouring, is un- 
 doubtedly a mighty master in his art. Mr. C. Kean 
 accomplished this, and fully vindicated his title to the
 
 104 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 post which public opinion has accorded to him, after long 
 years of trial and study, and in which he has never been 
 supplanted that of being the first and greatest tragedian 
 of his day. From his entrance, in close soliloquy with 
 himself, until his desperate combat and dying agony on 
 the field of Bos worth, all was sustained in perfect keeping 
 with the character, and fearfully impressive. For pas- 
 sages of superior merit, we might select the entire scene 
 with Lady Anne, the soliloquies, all marked by variety 
 and concentrated meaning, the repulse of Buckingham 
 in the fourth act, the delivery of the celebrated line, " Off 
 with his head so much for Buckingham!" the tent 
 scene ; and, above all, the exclamation, " Who's there?' 1 
 on the intrusion of Catesby into his tent. In all these 
 points Mr. C. Kean produced effects startling as they 
 were original, and calling forth enthusiastic applause. 
 The modern play-going public indulge too sparingly in 
 these demonstrative evidences of their satisfaction. 
 Without encouragement the most effervescing actor be- 
 comes chilled. Mrs. Siddons and John Kemble used 
 frequently to declare that they were unable to exert their 
 full powers to a cold or apathetic audience. On the re- 
 vival of which we are nov. speaking, every part down to 
 the inferior subordinates was efficiently represented, and 
 when to such acting is added the gorgeous perfection of 
 stage paraphernalia and historic accuracy of which our 
 ancestors had no conception, entertainment is thus profit- 
 ably blended with instruction, and the theatre becomes 
 in reality, what its sanguine advocates have long pre- 
 dicted it might be brought to, a valuable school of anti- 
 quarian illustration, and a living lecture on the past. 
 
 Why, again we ask ourselves, did this fine play, thus- 
 presented, fail to excite the public or draw them in 
 crowds to the theatre? We can only conclude that it 
 was because Gibber's adaptation had lost its time-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 105 
 
 honoured credit, and nothing now would be tolerated 
 but genuine, unadulterated Shakespeare. And yet, on 
 the other hand, if the original play had been preferred, 
 and condensed within acting limits, we doubt much 
 whether the result would have been more satisfactory. 
 Accident and caprice are so mixed up with the fate of all 
 theatrical ventures, that they baffle the soundest judgment 
 and the longest practice. But opinions sink in value 
 when the opportunity of testing them by experiment has 
 passed away. 
 
 On the 28th of March, a serious drama taken from the 
 French by Mr. Morris Barnett, was produced under the 
 title of " Married Unmarried," and was most favourably 
 received. The principal parts were well acted by Mr. 
 Ryder, Mr. W. Lacy, Miss Heath, and Miss Murray. 
 It was repeated fifty-eight nights, but after the first 
 attraction subsided, was forgotten with many others of a 
 similar class. Two very amusing farces, " Away with 
 Melancholy," by Mr. J. M. Morton, and "A Storm in a 
 Tea-Cup," by Mr. Bayle Bernard, were also called in to 
 vary the performances. 
 
 On Wednesday, in Easter week (April the 19th), a 
 more important novelty formed the principal feature of 
 the bill, under the title of "Faust and Marguerite," a 
 magical drama, adapted from the French. During Mr. 
 C. Kean's theatrical career, he has scarcely achieved a 
 more decided triumph as an actor than in this singular 
 production. It presented him a new line, totally dis- 
 tinct from any in which he had courted distinction on 
 earlier occasions. 
 
 The subject of this melodramatic spectacle had long 
 been familiar to many in the German of Goethe; in 
 more than a dozen English translations by writers of 
 eminence, all of whom have conveyed much of the true 
 spirit of the original ; and also from a more recent repre-
 
 106 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 sentation of the play by the German company at the 
 St. James's Theatre in 1852. It excites some surprise 
 that a composition of so much inherent power, and 
 withal so popular and well-known, had not been trans- 
 ferred to the English stage at an earlier period. The 
 operatic play named "Faustus," produced with consi- 
 derable although ephemeral success at Drury Lane, in 
 1826, had scarcely any connexion with the imaginative 
 story of Goethe beyond the name. He himself, in all 
 probability, had never read the old drama of Marlowe, 
 which the affected lovers of black letter are wont to 
 praise upon hearsay ; and if he had, he disregarded it. 
 When the great German philosopher composed this 
 renowned work, which crowns his reputation, he had no 
 view to the production of an acting drama. He thought 
 little of the applauses of the pit, the marvellous expression 
 of the actor, or the resources of the mechanist. He 
 adopted the dramatic form, because it presented greater 
 facilities than either the epic or didactic of carrying out 
 in continuous dialogue the profound subtleties and 
 elaborated disquisitions, the varieties of thought and 
 feeling in which his subject was likely to entrain him. 
 His " Faust " is, in fact, a complicated moral essay, an 
 anatomical investigation of the heart of man, partaking- 
 more of the nature of a metaphysical poem than of a 
 represented play; while, at the same time, it contains 
 many of the most essential and prominent requisites of 
 the latter, in incident, contrasted character, and exciting- 
 situations. There are some indelicate passages, and 
 others that more than border on impiety ; but they are 
 not taken into account by the enthusiastic admirers of 
 Goethe, who overlook small blemishes in a galaxy of 
 beauty. The French playwright, M. Michel Carre, has 
 availed himself of the dramatic elements, with the pecu- 
 liar tact in construction for which our neighbours are so
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 107 
 
 remarkable, and wherein we must yield them the palm 
 of superiority without dispute. The plan he followed 
 has been carried out with even improved success by the 
 English adapter. The French piece was produced in 
 Paris at the Theatre du Gyrnnase, on the 19th of 
 August, 1850. The version performed at the Princess's 
 was closely modelled upon this, with some very material 
 alterations, all tending to one point increased effect. 
 The charm of the romantic drama lies in quick and 
 varied action, which keeps the attention of the spectator 
 ever on the alert, and excites without wearying him, 
 To produce this, in the present instance, great pains 
 were taken to clear up the somewhat dreamy philosophy 
 of Goethe; to connect his disjointed plot; to confine the 
 incidents retained to a consecutive series ; and to relieve 
 the deep sardonic malignity of Mepliistoplieles by an infu- 
 sion of light, satirical humour, which makes him some- 
 times amusing, and almost human, instead of being ever 
 demoniacally appalling. By these means, the general 
 effect is rendered less oppressive, while the interest of the 
 situations and the point of the moral are in no degree 
 weakened. We lose, it is true, the poetical flights 
 occasionally mystified, more Germanico / and instead 
 of transcendental philosophy we have clear conversa- 
 tional dialogue, which by some sharp critics was con- 
 demned as homely and even vulgar. 
 
 There were, and are still, divided opinions as to the 
 moral and religious tendency of this singular drama. 
 Some objectors wondered how it passed the censorship of 
 the Lord Chamberlain, and loudly questioned the ortho- 
 doxy of the conclusion ; but the public poured in in 
 crowds to see a beautiful and original exhibition. Few 
 pieces have been more permanently attractive. The 
 greater share of this success was due to Mr. Kean's acting 
 in Mephistopheles. The entire business of the scene, as
 
 108 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 with Richard the Third, centres in him. He pulls the 
 wires and the obedient puppets respond to his call. 
 The character stands alone, and is exclusively sui generis, 
 belonging to no previous class, and without prototype 
 or parallel. The actor has no model to set before his 
 mental or physical eye as a guide. He cannot turn 
 to established conceptions or conventional rules. He 
 must create a style suited to an identical portraiture, 
 unlike any he has ever studied before, either in contem- 
 porary life, in poetry, history, fable, or tradition. The 
 attributes which distinguish Mephistopheles have no 
 analogy with those required for Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo, 
 Lear, Shylock, or Benedick. To conceive and execute 
 this strange novelty, demands a concentration of strength, 
 a distinctness of purpose, and a versatile imagination, 
 seldom indeed combined. These faculties Mr. Kean 
 developed in his personation with admirable skill. 
 Throughout he was cool, self-possessed, decisive, original, 
 and certain of himself. The Mephistopheles of the drama 
 is too conscious of his power to forget his constitutional 
 irony, his contempt for man, or to indulge in ebullitions 
 of mere human anger or emotion. He plays with his 
 victims as the cat does with the mouse, or the angler 
 with the trout, which he has securely hooked and can 
 land when he pleases. The character would be intole- 
 rable, but for the humour with which it is ingeniously 
 invested. Mr. Kean's embodiment of this unique por- 
 trait has been generally pronounced one of the most 
 extraordinary specimens of histrionic art the stage 
 can boast. It can only be understood by being seen, 
 and that more than once before its merit can be tho- 
 roughly appreciated. It is, in fact, a thing to arrest and 
 absorb the faculties of the spectator while the play is in 
 progress, and to beset his imagination for hours after. 
 Individual points are not easily particularized, neither
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 109 
 
 does the part admit of minute dissection. It must be 
 taken as a whole, and judged in its integrity. MepJii- 
 stopheles is seldom absent from the scene, and you feel 
 him as intensely when he is not present as if he stood 
 before your eyes. Even while he is silent, his expres- 
 sion speaks with more eloquence than language. In 
 actual bulk of words he says little, but every syllable 
 has weight. His speeches are epigrams, with a sting at 
 the end of every line. 
 
 On the 5th of June a lively and successful drama in 
 two acts by Mr. J. M. Morton was produced under the 
 title of " From Village to Court," adapted, as usual, 
 from the French, and on the 26th of the same month, 
 Mr. C. Kean selected for his benefit a second melodrama 
 founded on a remarkable trial with a melancholy result, 
 and called the " Courier of Lyons." * For the moment 
 the series of Shakespearean plays was suspended, much 
 to the injury of the manager's exchequer, and the grati- 
 fication of the public, by the long-continued illness of 
 Mrs. C. Kean. 
 
 The judicial fact which supplies the materials for the 
 " Courier of Lyons," occurred in Paris during the early 
 period of the Revolution, under the rule of the Directory. 
 A robbery and murder of the most atrocious nature was 
 committed by three accomplices ; two were taken, but 
 the third, and principal contriver escaped. A person of 
 respectable rank in society, and of unblemished character, 
 totally innocent, was arrested on strong suspicion, arising 
 from his extraordinary resemblance to the real criminal. 
 Direct evidence of identity was produced, and sworn 
 to, against him. He was tried, condemned, and guillo- 
 tined with the other two. Shortly after, the true culprit 
 was discovered, and the fatal mistake became publicly 
 known. The family of the unfortunate victim (a second 
 * See the French " Causes C&ebres."
 
 110 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 Galas), under the early consulship of Napoleon, insti- 
 tuted a suit for the restoration of his property, which 
 had been confiscated according to law. and succeeded in 
 obtaining a reversal of the sentence, with the full ac- 
 knowledgment of their rights. The subject, with altered 
 names and locality, was dramatized nearly thirty years 
 ago, but never produced on the London boards.* The 
 version from which the present English adaptation, by 
 Mr. Charles Keade, is taken, was first acted at the 
 Theatre de la Gaiete in Paris, on the 16th of March, 1850. 
 By permission of his living representatives, the real name 
 of " Lesurgues " was restored to the principal character. 
 In Paris there was a double catastrophe, alternately 
 represented to suit opposite tastes. According to one, 
 Lesurgues was executed, and by the other reprieved. 
 The English adapter and manager rejected the variation 
 and preferred sending the audience home in a happy 
 mood. In other respects the drama was greatly condensed, 
 the parts heightened, and the interest concentrated, to 
 bring it more in accordance with English taste. 
 
 The piece is one of rapid and exciting action. The 
 interest begins with the beginning, never flags, and 
 rises gradually to the conclusion, keeping the audience 
 in an agony of suspense to the last moment. As a 
 melodrama it ranks high in its class. Of Mr. Kean's 
 acting in the two characters of Dubosc and Lesurgues it 
 is impossible to speak in warmer terms than it de- 
 served. The effect was far more striking than in the 
 " Corsican Brothers," as the features of the parts are 
 thrown into stronger contrast, and afford a wider scope 
 to the executive variety of the artist. Nothing can 
 be more opposed than the vulgar, coarse villainy of 
 the one, and the refined, honest, and manly fervour of 
 
 * A translation was acted in Dublin in 1827, under the title of 
 the " Courier of Naples."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. Ill 
 
 the other. The changes are absolutely miraculous. The 
 actor leaves the stage at the left hand side, and in a 
 moment appears at the right the same individual in 
 person, but a different character, changed in costume, 
 and utterly opposed in manners. The distinct identity 
 and attributes of each were never lost sight of or con- 
 founded for a single instant. To preserve this in per- 
 petual alternations through a long play is in itself a 
 physical task demanding unusual power. The appear- 
 ance of the double at the winding-up was a mechanical 
 mystery which many spectators witnessed for a score 
 of times without satisfying themselves how such an 
 instantaneous substitution could be contrived. Her 
 Majesty and the Prince Consort occupied the Royal Box 
 on the first night (their attendance being a marked com- 
 pliment to Mr. Kean on the occasion of his benefit) , and 
 appeared to be wrapt in deep attention by the interest of 
 the scene. The " Courier of Lyons " came out late in 
 June, a position which only allowed twenty-six repeti- 
 tions up to the last night. It was renewed when the 
 theatre opened again, and attracted nearly the same 
 number of gratified audiences. 
 
 Mr. Kean closed his third season on the 9th of August, 
 1854. The number of different dramas played amounted 
 to eighteen ; the novelties, including the pantomime, to 
 eight. The protracted illness of Mrs. Kean disarranged 
 the plans of the season, compelled the suspension of the 
 projected Shakespearean revivals, and drove the manager, 
 as a matter of expediency rather than choice, to sub- 
 stitute melodramatic spectacle more prominently than 
 he intended. By the performance of such parts as 
 Mephistophdes, and the blended Dubosc and Joseph 
 Lesurgues, he afforded his detractors an opportunity 
 which they greedily embraced of saying that, although 
 unrivalled in melodrama, he was not a tragedian of the
 
 112 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 first class ; forgetting the long range of the highest and 
 most legitimate tragedy on which his progressive repu- 
 tation had been built. Such objections, when wanted, 
 spring up as rapidly as mushrooms, in equal abundance, 
 and from similar ground. The modern romantic drama 
 embraces a mixture of components which assuredly do 
 not carry the mind up to the classic elevation of the 
 Sophoclean or Shakespearean tragedy. But an actor 
 of skill and taste may raise an inferior branch of the art 
 to which he stoops occasionally, without detriment to his 
 own fame ; and of this an eminent instance will present 
 itself when we treat of Mr. Kean's performance in 
 " Louis the Eleventh." 
 
 Garrick was condemned by some of his enthusiastic 
 advocates for descending to Abel Drugger, Scrub, and 
 Fribble ; but by so doing he proved his boundless 
 versatility, and gave additional contrast to the passion 
 of Lear, the hypocrisy of Richard, and the melancholy 
 grace of Hamlet.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 113 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DELAYED COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIFTH SEASON AT THE PRINCESS'S 
 CHOLERA IN LONDON SUDDEN ILLNESS AND DEATH OF MRS. FITZ- 
 WILLIAM DEATH OF MRS. WARNER LIVING TOO FAST MR. DOUGLAS 
 JERROLD'S PLAY OF THE HEART OF GOLD COMPARATIVE FAILURE- 
 SPECTACLE OF SCHAMYL THE CIRCASSIAN HERO PANTOMIME OF BLUE- 
 BEARD CASIMIR DE LA VIGNE*S LOUIS THE ELEVENTH, ADAPTED BY M. 
 DION BOURCICAULT GREAT SUCCESS OF THE PLAY EXTRAORDINARY 
 
 IMPRESSION MADE BY MR. C. KEAN IN THE CHARACTER OF THE KING 
 
 CRITICAL ANALYSIS THE AUTHOR, THE ACTOR, AND THE PLAY COM- 
 PLIMENTARY LETTERS TO MR. C. KEAN. 
 
 THE commencement of Mr. Kean's fifth 'season was- 
 delayed longer than had been planned, from two inci- 
 dental causes, the one public, the other private the 
 visitation of Asiatic chorera in London, and his own 
 illness, which detained him in Paris. The course of the 
 destroying malady, which seems yet to be but imperfectly 
 understood, was on this occasion as eccentric as that of a* 
 comet. Coming from the east, it paused with fatal 
 effect in the circumjacent vicinity of Golden Square, and 
 passing up Poland Street to the south side of Oxford 
 Street, immediately opposite the Princess's Theatre, 
 halted as if a barrier had arrested its progress at that 
 point. No cases penetrated to the north. This singu- 
 larity has been even more strikingly exhibited in India. 
 A regiment on the march, with the two wings divided 
 by a ravine, has been stricken on the one bank and not 
 on the other. It has also been recorded by officers serv- 
 ing in that country that the deadly and unseen enemy 
 has been checked by firing vollies of blank cartridge in 
 the air. These facts support the theory adopted by 
 
 VOL. II. I
 
 114 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 many, that, as regards cholera, atmospheric influence 
 has much to do with the spread of infection. 
 
 This fearfully rapid disease deprived the stage of an 
 actress of much celebrity, Mrs. Fitzwilliam, who died 
 on the llth of November, 1854, after an illness of a 
 very few hours, being then only in her fifty-second 
 year. She was born at Dover, where her father was 
 manager, in a dwelling-house attached to the theatre. 
 At five years old she began to act childish parts, and, 
 at fourteen, was a leading actress in the Kent company. 
 Her musical preceptress was Mrs. Bland, from whom she 
 derived much of her peculiar charm in singing ballads 
 and simple airs. In 1816, she appeared at the Hay- 
 market, and subsequently removed to the Olympic and 
 the Surrey, under Elliston and T. Dibdin. At the 
 Olympic, she acquired notice by her performance as 
 the Countess of Lovelace, in " Rochester," and at the 
 Surrey surpassed Mrs. Egerton, the original Madge 
 Wildfire, by the superiority with which she warbled the 
 wild snatches of songs interwoven with the part. In 1821, 
 she married Mr. Edward Fitzwilliam, a comic actor and 
 vocalist, who left the stage in 1845, and died in 1852. 
 In 1832, Mrs. Fitzwilliam assumed the helm of manage- 
 ment at Sadler's Wells, and took her farewell benefit 
 there in 1839. She then visited America for a year, and 
 on her return engaged at the Haymarket. She left be- 
 hind her a son and a daughter. The former, a musical 
 composer of rising fame, died prematurely. The latter 
 lately filled an important situation in the theatre so long 
 graced by her mother's abilities. 
 
 Mrs. Fitzwilliam was an artist in the school of Mrs. 
 Jordan and Miss Fanny Kelly ; a school which has still 
 a representative in Mrs. Keeley. The four preserve a 
 succession which seems likely to terminate with the liv- 
 ing inheritress. The line embraces chambermaids and
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 115 
 
 country simpletons, impudent boys, Englishwomen of 
 humble rank, whether serious or comic ; and includes in 
 all, the fascinating accompaniment of artless, unorna- 
 mented songs and melodies naturally introduced, and 
 illustrative of the character to which they are attached. 
 
 The death of Mrs. Fitzwilliam was followed within a 
 fortnight by that of Mrs. Warner, which occurred, 
 though from a very different cause, on the 24th of 
 September. She had long suffered under a most painful 
 and incurable malady, which prostrated her powers and 
 rendered her incapable of acting for nearly a year and a 
 half. Her last appearance in England was at Sadler's 
 Wells in August 1851, where she represented Mrs. 
 Oakly for her own benefit. She then went to America, 
 and played with all the success that could be desired, 
 when indications of cancer compelled her return to un- 
 dergo an operation. Again she visited New York, but 
 the rapid increase of her disease rendered acting impos- 
 sible, and, in the spring of 1853, she returned home, a 
 hopeless invalid. From this period to the date of her 
 death, she bore the most excruciating agony with sur- 
 prising fortitude. Her Majesty the Queen warmly in- 
 terested herself in the case, and allowed her the use of a 
 carriage. Her friends exerted themselves to raise a fund 
 for her support. Mrs. C. Kean, through her personal 
 influence, obtained by far the largest subscription, 
 amounting to 405/., 501. of which was contributed by 
 Mr. Kean and herself. This money was invested and 
 paid in weekly proportions up to the day of Mrs. War- 
 ner's death. On the occasion of some judicial proceed- 
 ings which took place in the bankruptcy court in Decem- 
 ber, 1853, the judge asked how the poor lady had been 
 supported during the affliction of her long illness. By 
 the exertions of many kind friends, was the answer, 
 mentioning the names of the parties, but those of Mr. 
 and Mrs. C. Kean were not even alluded to. The omis- 
 
 i 2
 
 116 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 sion might have "been accidental or intended. In either 
 case it was extraordinary. Mrs. Warner was endowed 
 with great personal beauty, and powers of a high order 
 in the delineation of matronly heroines. Her best parts 
 were Lady Macbeth, Queen Katharine, Hermione ("Win- 
 ter's Tale"), Emilia, in "Othello," and the Queen, in 
 " Hamlet," which latter she performed at the Windsor 
 theatricals in 1849. Her name will ever remain asso- 
 ciated with that of Mr. Phelps in the honourable expe- 
 riment of converting Sadler's Wells into a Shakespearean 
 theatre. The announcement on the opening-night, May 
 27th, 1848, contained this passage : 
 
 " Mrs. Warner and Mr. Phelps have embarked in the 
 management of Sadler's Wells Theatre, in the hope of 
 eventually rendering it what a theatre ought to be a 
 place for justly representing the works of our great 
 dramatic poets. This undertaking is commenced at 
 a time when the stages which have been exclusively 
 called ' national ' are closed or devoted to very different 
 objects from that of presenting the real drama of 
 England, and when the law has placed all theatres 
 upon an equal footing of security and responsibility,, 
 leaving no difference except in the object and conduct 
 of the management." 
 
 On this occasion, Mrs. Warner delivered an opening 
 address, written by Mr. T. J. Serle, and sustained Lady 
 Macbeth, to the Macbeth of Mr. Phelps. Fifteen years 
 have since elapsed. The persevering energy of Mr. 
 Phelps has crowned the enterprize so boldly commenced 
 in an unpromising locality with permanent success. 
 
 The season at the Princess's commenced on Monday, 
 the 9th of October, with a new comedietta, in one act, 
 by a young author, Mr. A. C. Troughton, entitled 
 " Living Too Fast; or, a Twelvemonth's Honeymoon." 
 It was eminently successful, and has held its place on the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 117 
 
 stock list with undiminished popularity. The writer has 
 since produced other pieces of a more important character, 
 and has improved on his early promise. But the chief 
 feature of the opening night was a drama, in three acts, 
 by Mr. Douglas Jerrold, called "A Heart of Gold." 
 This play, as we have mentioned in a preceding chapter, 
 had been written for, and purchased by, Mr. Kean, prior 
 to the acceptance of " St. Cupid," but by mutual agree- 
 ment the order of respective production was reversed. 
 Four years rolled on; actors left the company, others 
 supplied their places, and important changes took place, 
 interfering materially with the original arrangements. 
 
 The characters in "A Heart of Gold " were confined to 
 homely life ; there was no possible relief or aid to be 
 supplied from show or pageantry, but there was some- 
 thing inherently dreary and uncomfortable in the plot, 
 incidents, and final development. The general tone of 
 notice in the papers implied, under kind expressions, an 
 evident feeling that the work was below the standard of 
 the author's reputation. The public confirmed their 
 opinion by such a dull reception and slack attendance 
 that the play was withdrawn after the eleventh repre- 
 sentation, in consequence of deficient receipts. It had 
 been most carefully rehearsed ; new scenes were painted; 
 and all the performers discharged their duty loyally, 
 although the author, in his disappointment, laid much of 
 the failure to their account. 
 
 On the 6th of November, the " Heart of Gold " was 
 succeeded by a novelty of very opposite cast a grand 
 military spectacle, adapted by Mr. Palgrave Simpson, 
 from a piece then playing in Paris with great success. 
 The subject suggested itself from the political occur- 
 rences of the hour. Schamyl, the warrior-prophet of 
 'Circassia, had long been considered the delegated hero 
 of the east. The liberation of his country from Russian
 
 118 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 thraldom, through his agency, was as confidently 
 looked for on the opening of the Crimean campaign, as 
 the capture of Sebastopol by a coup de main, the carry- 
 ing of the fleet at Cronstadt by our gallant admiral's 
 sharpened cutlasses, or the consequent conflagration of 
 the docks and arsenals at St. Petersburgh. All these 
 fondly indulged chimeras are, we doubt not, long since 
 catalogued in the regions of the moon, as additions to 
 the roll of unaccomplished events, examined by Astolfo 
 when he ascended thither on his hippogriff in search 
 of the lost wits of Orlando. 
 
 The spectacle, however, which cost enough to keep a 
 small principality for a twelvemonth, ran only twenty- 
 three nights, and then died of sheer exhaustion. It 
 helped, nevertheless, to fill up the time before Christmas, 
 when the pantomime, on the subject of " Bluebeard," 
 raised the somewhat stagnant feeling of the play-going 
 public. 
 
 An amusing incident occurred during one of the re- 
 hearsals of " Schamyl." A particular scene represented 
 a cataract, above which, at a considerable elevation from 
 the stage, a raft had to pass, occupied by three or four 
 persons, one erect, and the others in stooping or recum- 
 bent positions. A considerable delay occurred. Mr. 
 Kean, who superintended the rehearsal, called loudly to 
 demand the cause. No answer. " Why does not the 
 raft come on ? " Again no answer. The question 
 being reiterated, one of the actors, who should have 
 been at his post, at last appeared from the back of the 
 stage, and exclaimed with excitement, ec The raft is 
 unsafe, sir ; it would endanger a man's life to venture on 
 it! I really cannot incur such a risk." Some further 
 discussion then arose, interrupted suddenly by a loud 
 burst of applause from all who were looking on. This 
 was occasioned by the appearance of the raft passing
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 119 
 
 steadily across with Mrs. Kean standing in the centre, 
 occupying the position of the apprehensive remonstrant. 
 We need scarcely say he was silenced by this eloquent 
 reply. 
 
 Mistakes had been committed, and unexpected diffi- 
 culties assisted also to mar the earlier part of the sea- 
 son. Up to this date, Mr. Kean had only appeared in 
 the three melodramas of the " Corsican Brothers," 
 " Faust and Marguerite," and the " Courier of Lyons," 
 varied after Christmas by one or two occasional per- 
 formances of "Hamlet," the " Stranger," and the " Iron 
 Chest ;" but on Saturday, the loth of January, he burst 
 on the town with renovated strength in a new drama of 
 high legitimate nature, being an English adaptation by 
 Mr. Dion Bourcicault, of Casimir De La Vigne's cele- 
 brated historical tragedy of " Louis the Eleventh." 
 This play commanded sixty-two repetitions, and silenced 
 all pertinacious denials of Mr. C. Kean's hardly won 
 pre-eminence as the leading tragedian of the day. Even 
 the most determined opponents at length yielded up 
 their prejudices to the public verdict. During his long- 
 practice of twenty-eight years, he now for the first 
 time stood before his judges in an original part of 
 first-rate importance. The play has acquired a cele- 
 brity from his representation of the principal character, 
 which calls upon us to dwell a little on the work and 
 the writer. 
 
 "Louis the Eleventh" was produced at the Theatre 
 Francois, in Paris, as far back as February, 1832, and 
 by many French critics was held to be the master- 
 piece of its author. Casimir De La Vigne, it will 
 be remembered, died towards the end of the year 1843, 
 aged only forty-nine. He was a prolific writer, and one 
 of the most popular of the modern poets of his country. 
 Noble and inspiring sentiments are embodied in his
 
 120 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 verses; his characters, particularly when taken from 
 history, are drawn with fidelity, severe truth, individual 
 precision, and graphic distinctness. He never alters a 
 portrait, which flattery might soften and render more 
 agreeable by keeping in the background, or subduing 
 altogether, prominent but repulsive features ; and he 
 seldom suffers himself to be seduced into the substitu- 
 tion of mere grace and elegance in place of the vigorous 
 thought and strong sentiment which, though less pleas- 
 ing and attractive, are better calculated to leave a lasting 
 impression on the mind. In more than one respect, he 
 is worthy of a comparison with Corneille. He has the 
 same clear, consecutive reasoning, and a fair portion of 
 the similarly remarkable faculty of condensing much 
 meaning into a small compass. Why a dramatist pos- 
 sessed of this ability, and enjoying such an exalted 
 reputation in his own country, should not have been 
 more frequently introduced to the London boards, is a 
 question which naturally occurs, and may be answered 
 by a reference to the many obvious points of distinction 
 in national taste, and to the various experiments by w^hich 
 it has been proved, that because a given play has met 
 with great success in Paris, it by no means follows, as a 
 corollary, that it must have the same good fortune in 
 London. Contrary instances are ready in abundance. 
 
 English managers, on the other hand, are often accused 
 of want of patriotism, or of defective judgment, in run- 
 ning too readily to the foreign market for the supply 
 which may be found, of a superior quality, and to any 
 extent, at home. A glance at the res gestce of the leading 
 London theatres for the last three or four years, or any 
 other selected period, will show that much of this charge 
 is unjust- -that indigenous talent has not been set aside 
 unfairly or indiscriminately that original authors have 
 not been too modest to ask, or managers too niggardly
 
 OF CHARLES KEAX, F.S.A. 121 
 
 to give, large sums for original plays. But the public 
 are capricious, and do not always accept the bill thus 
 drawn and endorsed ; in which case, the contracting 
 party who buys is in an infinitely worse predicament than 
 he who sells. The former has probably paid something 
 considerably over the usual price for what comes recom- 
 mended under an established name, which looks imposing 
 in an announcement, but in a commercial sense often 
 turns out to be an empty myth. After one or two failures 
 at home, success steps in from abroad. In fact, the 
 French beat us systematically, in plot, construction, and 
 what is universally understood by the term coups de 
 theatre dramatic effects. One English writer may be 
 an imaginative poet ; another, a stern moralizer ; a third, 
 rich in epigram and satire ; a fourth, an able sketcher of 
 character ; a fifth, a racy humourist, and so on. But all 
 these qualities count for little unless they are united 
 with a knowledge or perception of practical effect. We 
 do not mean such mechanical contrivances as a trap- 
 door or a sliding panel, a ghost or a demon, surrounded 
 by blue or red fire, in every scene. The ingredients we 
 consider as indispensably requisite, are passion, action, 
 and varied incident. In the dramatic development of 
 these agencies, our continental neighbours generally 
 leave us behind them. 
 
 The French poet has worked the pith of his play al- 
 most entirely into the single character of the King. 
 Whether this plan of a grand historical drama is sound 
 in principle, is a question open to critical inquiry, on 
 which very opposite opinions may be delivered ; but 
 that it demands from the "actor who is called upon to 
 embody such a conception of his author, a gigantic 
 combination of mental and physical attributes, is an 
 evident fact, which establishes itself without argu- 
 ment. Louis XI. was essentially a wicked and re-
 
 122 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 morseless tyrant. His reign presents a complicated 
 tissue of crime and hypocrisy, unvaried by a single act 
 of mercy, a solitary impulse of affection, or an excep- 
 tional access of human feeling. He lived in terror, and 
 died in despair. There is an awful lesson to be extracted 
 from the terrible events included within the sixty years 
 of his existence on earth, and during one third of which 
 he was permitted to scourge his fellow-men by the exer- 
 cise of unlimited power. Louis, as presented in Casimir 
 De La Vigne's play, is drawn exclusively from history. 
 No heightened colouring is superadded from poetry or 
 imagination. The novelist here is not suffered to dis- 
 tort the true character of the monarch. Comines has 
 depicted him with rather a lenient hand. He forgot, or 
 pardoned, the outrage which obtained for him the cog- 
 nomen of tete lottee. Other authorities have been less 
 warped or delicate, and all the hideous features of his 
 character are so familiar by description, that when reading 
 of him, we feel the presence of the demon-man in terrible 
 reality. In Sir Walter Scott's romance of " Quentin 
 Durward," he is pleasant, sometimes almost amiable, 
 and exhibits human sympathy in two or three instances. 
 In the hands of the French dramatist, he never unbends, 
 never relaxes for a moment from his constitutional 
 hypocrisy, his bigotted superstition, his bloodthirsty 
 tyranny, his doubts of every one, and his overwhelming 
 dread of death and futurity. Louis of Valois was not 
 naturally a coward, for he had given proofs, at least of 
 passive valour, when he fought at Mont L'Hery ; of cool 
 self-possession, when he voluntarily placed himself in the 
 power of Charles of Burgundy, at Peronne; and of 
 confidence in his personal resources, when he cajoled Ed- 
 ward IV. of England, at Amiens, and turned aside by 
 agile diplomacy the most dangerous invasion that had 
 threatened France since the days of Cressy, Poictiers,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 123 
 
 and Agincourt. The whole character, like Richard of 
 Gloucester, his contemporary, is a compound of opposites 
 and antitheses. He was, at the same time, trustful and 
 suspicious, hoarding and wasteful, audacious and timid, 
 mild of bearing and given to unbridled bursts of passion, 
 soft of speech and relentless of heart ; a violator of every 
 oath he pledged, a breaker of every treaty to which 
 he subscribed his name ; a scoffer at religion, while 
 he bent in terror before leaden images of saints ; and 
 to wind up all, the first French monarch who bore the 
 title, long continued by his succesors, of " the most 
 Christian King." 
 
 To reconcile the play as much as possible to the clas- 
 sical unities, which are still reverenced in France, when 
 what is understood by the "regular drama" is con- 
 cerned, M. De La Vigne has crowded together incidents 
 which took place at long intervals, and ends with 
 the death of Louis, represented as immediately following 
 that of Charles the Bold, although seven years actually 
 interposed between the two events. The sequence of 
 incidents is most ingeniously contrived, and except to a 
 rigid chronologist, the anachronisms are imperceptible, 
 and may be excused. The careless spectator, who sits 
 to be entertained, without deep research, will not readily 
 detect where the true chain of history is broken, and 
 reality superseded by fiction. The characters include 
 Philip de Comines, the pliant biographer ; Tristan 
 rHermite, the formidable provost-marshal ; Olivier le 
 Dain, the barber-minister ; the amiable Dauphin, after- 
 wards, and but for a short reign, Charles IX. ; and the 
 devout ascetic, Frangois de Paule, who practised in 
 his own person the severe self-denial he recommended 
 to others. There are also Jacques Coitier, the king's 
 physician, who holds his life in his hands, the only 
 living being he dare not do without, lest he should die
 
 ]24 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 for lack of help in his disease and guilt ; and Marie, 
 the gentle daughter of Comines / and the fiery Nemours, 
 her betrothed lover, thirsting for the blood of his father's 
 murderer, and ready to lay down youth, life, love, and 
 ambition, on the altar of the Moloch of revenge. These, 
 with a group of peasants, compelled to act joy while 
 quaking with terror, make up the list of characters. 
 
 The English adaptation, which is skilfully managed, 
 and conveyed in easy, flowing language, follows the 
 original with accuracy, differing only in one material 
 point at its termination. In the French play, the pardon 
 of Nemours arrives too late. He is executed ; and thus 
 the crimes of Louis receive a posthumous addition, as 
 his solitary act of penitence is too tardy to be availing. 
 In stern moral and poetical justice, as regards the arch 
 criminal, the catastrophe may be justified ; but as a 
 question of which leaves the most satisfactory impression 
 on the audience, public opinion was decidedly in favour 
 of the change. 
 
 Of the effect produced by Mr. Kean in the character 
 of Louis the Eleventh, it is more than difficult to convey 
 an adequate description. We do not recollect anything 
 to compare with it in recent times ; nor can we name 
 any theatrical performance, it has ever been our fortune 
 to witness, so totally free from blemish or objection ; 
 sustained with such uniform power, relieved by so much 
 variety, and altogether presented to the judgment of the 
 public as a picture of such brilliant colouring and 
 masterly filling up in all its different shades. Many 
 lingering and obstinate cavillers were totally converted 
 by this great achievement. The enthusiastic feeling of 
 the house on the first night reminded us of the excite- 
 ment we had witnessed during the best days of his 
 father's Othello. Even when the play was over, and he 
 lay dead before the audience, they trembled lest he
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 125 
 
 should start up again, and work fresh mischief with the 
 revivified influence of a ghoul or a vampire. Mr. Kean 
 is not, in "Louis the Eleventh," as in the "Wife's 
 Secret," supported by his accomplished partner, in a 
 part of dramatic strength and interest superior to his 
 own. The play wants the controlling charm which 
 attaches to a prominent heroine. There is nothing here 
 to assist the single actor ; he must create his levers for 
 himself. The character of Louis is so far beyond sym- 
 pathy, so utterly repulsive, that in the hands of a coarse 
 or clumsy artist, it would be unendurable. The secret 
 of the true effect lies in the relief and variety ; and the 
 knowledge of these grand arcana marks the distinction 
 between mediocrity and excellence. Herein lie the 
 mystery and mastery of genius, whether exemplified 
 by the painter, the poet, or the actor; and in the 
 management of these resources, always thrown in at 
 the critical moment, and in the right place, as a skilful 
 general arranges his reserves, Mr. C. Kean earned his 
 audience completely along with him, and swept away 
 objections which a monotonous manner would have ren- 
 dered fatal. The character, as he wielded it, became as 
 plastic as the clay in the hands of the modeller, and, with 
 every slight movement, presented a new feature. Look- 
 ing to the past, we cannot readily select any actor of 
 former days who could have competed with the living 
 representative. Great requisites they had, but seldom 
 or never so many combined the quick, piercing eye, 
 the flexible intonation, the expressive features, the 
 compact, manageable figure ; the rapid action ; the 
 varying conception ; and the same extraordinary facility 
 of depicting the weakness of age, the exhaustion of 
 physical pain, and the gradual approaches of death. 
 On this occasion the press echoed the decision of the 
 public, with scarcely a dissentient voice. " Louis the
 
 126 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Eleventh" was acted for sixty- two nights during the first 
 season of its production, and has ever since continued one 
 of the most attractive plays on the permanent list. Mr. 
 Kean received many congratulatory letters, written by 
 judges whose testimony was valuable, and from which 
 the following are selected, without order of date : 
 
 From COLONEL THE HON. SIR CHARLES PHIPPS, K.C.B. 
 
 " Buckingham Palace, 
 " Feb. 20th, 1855. 
 
 "MY DEAR KEAN, 
 
 " I wished very much to have seen you last night, 
 but I could not leave my two young ladies without a 
 chaperon. I wished to have told you, whilst my admi- 
 ration was boiling, how admirable I thought your per- 
 sonification of Louis the Eleventh. I consider it the 
 finest piece of acting that I have seen in my experience. 
 I can understand the possibility of the passionate scenes 
 being equalled perhaps, magnificent as they are. But 
 the way in which you managed to identify your mind 
 with the double character you had to portray, is to me 
 an excellence in art which is wonderful. There appeared 
 to be no, look, no gesture, no tone of voice, that was not 
 that of a cruel, cowardly old man. Any one who knows 
 you in private life must feel how much of art there must 
 be in this. You have known me often a sincere 
 critic ; you will, I am sure, believe in the truth of my 
 admiration. If I had time I would go much into detail 
 upon this piece of acting, which kept my cheeks burning 
 with excitement, whilst my lower man was, like the 
 King's, in the ' Arabian Nights',' marble from the 
 cold. 
 
 " I may tell you that the opinion of your performance 
 is equally high upon the part of my royal mistress and
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 127 
 
 master. Remember me kindly to Mrs. Kean. I hope 
 she keeps well. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 " C. B. PHIPPS." 
 
 From SAMUEL WARREN, M.P. 
 
 "35, Wobiirn Place, Russell Square, 
 " 19th January, 1855. 
 
 ' MY DEAR Sir, 
 
 " Permit me to thank you cordially for the un- 
 bounded delight which you afforded all my family last 
 night, by your splendid representation of Louis the 
 Eleventh. They hardly know how to express themselves, 
 such is the sort of infatuation with which you have filled 
 them ; and they will not hear of my returning to chambers 
 this morning before I write to say how greatly they are 
 
 obliged to you This is Term-time, and my 
 
 evenings are uncertain ; but it shall go hard if I do not, 
 in a day or two, find myself in the stalls. I am most 
 impatient to go ; and to such a piece as that of last night, 
 infinitely prefer going alone. 
 
 " I hope you will allow me to present you and Mrs. 
 Kean with a copy of the new edition of " Ten Thousand 
 a Year," which I have rigorously revised throughout. 
 " I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours, very much obliged, 
 " SAMUEL WAKREN." 
 
 " Sir F. Thesiger and his family were there last 
 night." 
 
 " Jan. 23d, 1855. 
 " MY DEAR SlR, 
 
 " I return you a thousand thanks for one of the 
 greatest entertainments I have (as an old actor) expe- 
 rienced for years. The best opinion I can give of
 
 128 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 your performance of Louis the Eleventh, is to reiterate the 
 criticisms of my friend the Critic. Wishing you many 
 years of health to repeat such representations, I have 
 much pleasure in signing myself 
 
 " Your sincere admirer, 
 
 " WILLIAM FARREN." 
 
 From Miss ISABELLA GLYNN. 
 
 , " 13, Brook Street, '"Grosvenor Square. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 " Indeed I highly value your kindness in affording 
 me the opportunity of witnessing your rare performances 
 as often as I can. Work will soon preclude me from 
 that enjoyment very often, so I at once avail myself of 
 your generosity and ask for a box for next Friday. If 
 last Friday was not one of your grandest nights, what 
 then must you be when self-pleased ! You were great. 
 We all felt very distressed about that noise, for I know 
 how deeply hurt you would be by it ; but you soon lost 
 us to all but your wonderful powers. I have not a 
 doubt but that the seeming coldness of the audience 
 arose from an inability to applaud you. Your intensity 
 is really terrible. I felt white with excitement, and 
 caught myself holding by the chairs, grasping tightly 
 for comfort, for I could scarcely breathe, and could not 
 applaud until I was enough recovered to remember you 
 were acting. I could write pages on every part of your 
 great work. But your entire dying scene, how true 
 and affecting it was. That crawling to the crown with no 
 physical power, but with a deadly yet real energy, makes 
 my flesh creep now only to think of it. I am reluctant 
 not to dwell on this longer, but must cease to intrude 
 upon your valuable time, and patience too, as I fear I do. 
 " Yours, very obliged and admiringly, 
 
 "ISABELLA GLYNN."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 129 
 
 From MRS. HOWITT. 
 
 " The Hermitage, Highgate Rise, 
 "Jan. 23rd. 
 
 " MY DEAR MR. KEAN, 
 
 " You are quite prepared, I am sure, to hear that 
 we were delighted, last night, by your new character, 
 for you must yourself be aware of its extraordinary 
 power and elaboration. We were astonished, for it 
 exceeded our expectations, and we expected a great 
 treat. It was unquestionably one of the most wonder- 
 fully conceived impersonations that was ever given. 
 There is no halting in it, it falls short in no way of the 
 perfection of nature, and one's very blood runs cold at 
 the realized villainy, hypocrisy, and cowardice of the 
 character. It is a master-piece in your hands, and we 
 congratulate you not only on your success, but on the 
 possession of such creative power. 
 
 '' We longed to say as much to you last night, and 
 to have shaken hands with Mrs. Kean, whom we saw 
 on the other side of the theatre, but she was not in her 
 box between the acts, nor after the play, and we would 
 not miss a single word. However, receive our thanks 
 for a very great pleasure, and with our united regards 
 to you both, 
 
 " Believe me, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " MARY HOWITT." 
 
 From SAMUEL LOVER, ESQ. 
 
 " 43, Denbigh Street, Warwick Square 
 " 25th Jan., 1855. 
 
 " MY DEAR KEAN, 
 
 " Though you must by this time be almost weary of 
 laudation of your Louis the Eleventh, I cannot resist the 
 VOL. IT. K
 
 130 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 pleasure of thanking you for the intellectual enjoyment 
 your performance of Saturday last afforded me. In con- 
 ception most artistic ; in execution masterly. May many 
 more such triumphs lie before you. 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 " SAMUEL LOVER." 
 
 From J. PALGRAVE SIMPSON, ESQ. 
 
 " 9, Alfred Place West, Thurlow Square, Brompton, 
 " 15th Jan., 1855. 
 
 " MY DEAR MRS. KEAN, 
 
 " I called at your house yesterday in the hope of 
 seeing you, but to my disappointment I heard that you 
 were all gone out. Perhaps I ought not, however, to 
 say ' disappointment,' since the fact convinced me that 
 Mr. Kean was not so much exhausted as I feared he 
 would have been from his tremendous exertions the 
 previous day. Pray present him, what I could not give 
 by word of mouth, my heartfelt congratulations upon 
 the triumph he has achieved. I am pleased to find that 
 such papers as I have seen, coincide entirely with me 
 in the sentiment that his performance was one of the 
 greatest histrionic displays ever witnessed on the English 
 stage. 1 myself am enthusiastic about him. I have 
 scarcely yet recovered from my state of over-excitement 
 and the intensity of emotion which the performance 
 produced upon me. You know my extreme fond- 
 ness for the stage, and you may guess with what 
 gratification I witnessed acting in which it is impossible 
 to find one movement that does not completely sym- 
 pathise with one's own feelings ; impossible to see 
 anything but perfection. I wish my opinion could be 
 worth, in your eyes, what that of many better and 
 higher men must be, that I might give my return to 
 Mr. Kean for the great, great gratification he has afforded
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 131 
 
 me. One reason for my wishing to see you was, to ask 
 whether you or Mr. Kean had any commands for Paris, 
 for which place I start to-morrow evening, per mail 
 train. If I can do anything, will you please let me 
 
 know With kind regards to Mr. Kean and 
 
 every wish for your joint success and prosperity, 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 " J. PALGKAVE SIMPSON." 
 
 The success of " Louis the Eleventh " established a 
 decisive period in Mr. C. Kean's career as an actor. It was 
 also remarkable for the winding up of a determined oppo- 
 sition, which had hitherto accompanied every new play 
 produced under his management. A small knot of ene- 
 mies congregated together on all these occasions, and took 
 post in different parts of the theatre, acting by signals 
 under preconcerted arrangement. Whenever the great 
 majority of the house applauded, they intermingled th<,- 
 note of disapprobation, and frequently marred the effect 
 of the most telling passages by premeditated noises, so 
 ingeniously contrived as to appear accidental. The 
 finest points cf the finest acting may be destroyed by a 
 cough or a sneeze, thrown in at the exact moment, as 
 effectually as by the virulent hiss, which cannot always 
 be ventured with equal safety. During the run of 
 " Richard the Third," the practice was so apparent, and 
 so evidently against the feeling of the audience, that 
 Mr. Kean, accompanied by his acting manager, waited 
 on Sir R. Birnie, with a view to the adoption of pro- 
 tective measures. The police officers on duty in the 
 theatre, declared their conviction that a conspiracy 
 undoubtedly existed, but so organized that they were 
 unable to detect it. When the individuals thus engaged 
 felt that they were under surveillance or had become 
 obnoxious to the public generally, they never shov/ed 
 
 K 2
 
 132 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 front, but immediately left the theatre or remained silent 
 for the rest of the evening. After the second or third 
 repetition of "Louis the Eleventh" they finally dis- 
 appeared, either from exhausted funds or in despair of 
 carrying their object. These matters may appear unin- 
 telligible to those who have never had occasion to fathom 
 the full extent of personal pique or jealousy. In the 
 present instance, 
 
 " Imputation and strong circumstance 
 Which lead to the door of truth," 
 
 point to the suspected parties ; but in the absence of 
 positive proof we abstain from the most remote inference. 
 They know themselves, and may be assured that they 
 are known. The remark can offend none but those wha 
 are conscious of its application. " Qui capit, ille facit."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 133 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A GAME OP ROMPS THE MULETEER OF TOLEDO HOW STOUT YOU RE 
 
 GETTING REVIVAL OF SHAKESPEARE'S KING HENRY THE EIGHTH, AND 
 RETURN OF MRS. C. KEAN TO THE STAGE CRITICAL REMARKS ON THE 
 PLAY AND PERFORMANCE MR. C. KEAN'S CARDINAL WOLSEY J MRS. C. 
 KEAN'S QUEEN KATHARINE UNPRECEDENTED ATTRACTION, AND RUN OF 
 ONE HUNDRED CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS ACTING SUPERIOR TO PAGEANTRY 
 PUBLICATION OF HENRY THE EIGHTH, WITH PREFACE AND NOTES RE- 
 STORED SCENES AND NEW STAGE ARRANGEMENTS CONDENSATION OF 
 THE FIFTH ACT END OF THE SEASON DIFFICULTIES SURMOUNTED 
 CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS AND GENERAL SUMMARY. 
 
 SUBSEQUENTLY to the production of " Louis the 
 Eleventh," three light pieces were brought forward at 
 the Princess's, during the season of 1854-5, from the 
 pen of Mr. J. M. Morton, author in ordinary to the 
 establishment. "A Game of Romps," the "Muleteer 
 of Toledo," and " How Stout You're Getting," were all 
 of French origin, freely adapted, and met with the 
 usual ephemeral success. Why does not this easy, 
 agreeable writer extend his ambition, trust more to his 
 own resources, invoke the spirit of his father, and try 
 his hand at an original comedy ? We have had none 
 that bids for immortality since Sir Bulwer Lytton's 
 "Money."* The field is still open and productive; a 
 rich harvest might yet be gathered by followers of the 
 
 * The title and subject of this fine play are, and ever will be, uni- 
 versally applicable ; and must ensure enduring popularity, despite the 
 fluctuating caprices of fashion, while the wit of Congreve and Sheridan 
 is remembered, and their language spuken.
 
 134 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 same school. " A Game of Romps," the first of the 
 three trifles alluded to above, came out on the 12th of 
 March. The French piece from which it is taken bears 
 the title of " Les Jeux Innocents." It was a mere 
 sketch, with little or no plot, deriving attraction almost 
 exclusively from the personal charms of the ladies in- 
 cluded in the cast,, and the humour of Harley, who 
 played a sort of French Dominie Sampson, in which he 
 was measured to the life. The piece altogether was an 
 improvement on the original. In Paris there were some 
 amongst the bevy of intended graces the very opposite 
 of attractive. At the Princess's they were, without ex- 
 ception, dangerously beautiful. These short, one-act 
 introductions, so much in fashion in the present day, 
 are very available for the purpose of playing in the 
 audience, and setting them in good humour for the more 
 important business that is to follow. They are built ex- 
 clusively on smart dialogue, quick repartee, and comic 
 situation. From these ingredients a preliminary half- 
 hour of exciting merriment is often gained, particularly 
 if there is no studied determination to be funny, the 
 transparent labour of which clogs and defeats the most 
 zealous aspirations of humorous writers and their ex- 
 ponents. A spectator or listener never thoroughly 
 enjoys a joke unless he feels it to be spontaneous, 
 natural, arising from the circumstances of the case, and 
 born of itself. Then he laughs heartily, and, having 
 got into the true vein, seldom pulls up until his gallop 
 is exhausted. But if he perceives that the author and 
 actors are flagging, or exhausting themselves in painful 
 attempts to produce hilarity, not to be extracted from 
 the materials with which they are working, he soon be- 
 comes inoculated with their heaviness, and his mirth 
 evaporates in a yawn. " A Game of Romps " was 
 entirely divested of this damaging characteristic.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 135 
 
 The "Muleteer of Toledo," designated in the bills as 
 a "romance" in two acts, was selected for the Easter 
 novelty.* In its original form as an opera, much of the 
 action was carried on through the medium of M. 
 Adolphe Adam's popular music. In the English 
 alteration we had humour for melody, and smart epi- 
 grammatic dialogue in place of long-concerted pieces 
 and interminable finales, in which the words, supposed 
 and intended to be interpreters of the sense, are too 
 often smothered up in lyrical evolutions, revolutions, 
 inflexions, and variations. Whether this change is an 
 improvement forms a question for a critical jury ; but if 
 they were empanelled from an Easter Monday audience, 
 there can be little doubt that the verdict would be 
 unanimous in favour of the laugh. During that season 
 of merriment a joke would carry the day against a 
 bravura, without hesitation. 
 
 "How Stout You're Getting" turns entirely on the 
 distress of a fat little gentleman, Mr. Plummy, a chemist 
 and druggist, who has no idea that he is becoming 
 corpulent, until constantly reminded by his wife and 
 others that he expands daily in circumference and 
 weight, as a natural consequence of indolent and gor- 
 mandising habits. Mr. D. Fisher, as Plummy, deserved 
 the highest praise, not only for his humour but for the 
 physical exhaustion he so loyally sustained no trivial 
 matter in the dog days, with the thermometer at 90. 
 To combine the bulk of an incipient Falstaff with the 
 agility of Harlequin is more easily conceived than exe- 
 cuted. 
 
 A combination of two important events in Mr. C. 
 
 * The same subject has since acquired additional reputation with 
 Balfe's music, as the " Rose of Castile," so successfully produced by the 
 English Operatic Company under the management of Miss Pyne and 
 Mr. Harrison.
 
 136 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Kean's individual management, and in general theatrical 
 history, occurred on Wednesday evening, the 16th of 
 May, 1855, by the production of Shakespeare's " King 
 Henry the Eighth," and the re-appearance of Mrs. C. 
 Kean, after a long secession of nearly a year and a 
 half, occasioned through severe and constantly recurring 
 illness. It had been currently reported and believed 
 that she had retired altogether into private life. The 
 rumour gained strength with time, and anxiety in- 
 creased as months rolled by and no announcement 
 appeared of the return of the highly gifted lady whose 
 absence was so severely felt. The apprehension of her 
 loss was also augmented by the conviction that no rising 
 star had given evidence of power, either present or pro- 
 spective, to fill the much regretted vacancy. The recent 
 recruits were not of a standard to justify their being 
 placed in the front rank. There might be some pro- 
 mising candidates ready for judgment, but as yet they 
 were unenlisted. Every great artist is looked upon as 
 public property, and all members of society are jealous 
 of their share in what they regard as common right. 
 When Garrick went to Italy, a young performer named 
 Powell sprang up unexpectedly, and stopped the gap with 
 so much success, that Lacy wrote to his partner, telling 
 him there was not the least occasion to hurry himself or 
 abridge his intended tour. This intelligence brought 
 the apprehensive Roscius back at double speed, trembling 
 lest his laurels should be in danger. When Garrick 
 retired, Henderson and John Kemble stepped forward, 
 well trained and gifted, to compete for the vacant throne. 
 When Kemble's hour of repose arrived, there were 
 Young, who had long reflected his style, and Edmund 
 Kean, who had converted half its worshippers. As Mrs. 
 Gibber, Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Barry, and Mrs. Yates 
 successively waned, Mrs. Siddons rose in her meridian
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 137 
 
 splendour, and eclipsed them all. When she too with- 
 drew, there was Miss O'Neill ready to step into her 
 place. We could not point to any living luminary 
 likely to console us for the loss of Mrs. Charles Kean. 
 In addition to her acknowledged professional supre- 
 macy, a warmth of regard and respect attaches to her 
 personal character, which gave to the enthusiastic 
 plaudits that resounded through the house as she 
 entered, and were long continued, the appearance rather 
 of the greetings of private friends than the mere delight 
 expressed by a promiscuous audience at once more seeing 
 before them, restored to health and in full possession of 
 her powers, one of the brightest ornaments that has 
 ever graced the theatrical profession. With her return, 
 the Princess's Theatre recovered the full lustre which her 
 long absence had somewhat eclipsed, while the drama in 
 general regained a most important pillar of strength. 
 
 Much diversity of opinion has been indulged in by 
 learned commentators as to the merit of " King Henry 
 the Eighth" in comparison with the rest of Shakespeare's 
 historical plays. Many consider it the best, as it is the 
 last, and most carefully constructed, both in regard to 
 the facts introduced, and the powerful contrast with 
 which the leading characters are opposed to each other. 
 The age was one of unparalleled magnificence a taste 
 fed and encouraged by the personal habits of the two 
 monarchs of France and England. The latter nation in 
 particular, then as now, richer than its neighbours, 
 spared no expense in shows, entertainments, and apparel. 
 A nobleman of that day carried half a year's revenue on 
 his back whenever he appeared in full state. We are 
 greatly advanced in our notions and practice of domestic 
 comfort, elegance, and convenience, but we cannot rival 
 our ancestors in outward display. In festivals and 
 banquets, too, they vied with royalty itself, and were as
 
 138 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 lavish as Apicius, who committed suicide after the high 
 Roman fashion, when his steward announced to him 
 that the cash in his strong box was reduced to 250,000 
 crowns, sufficient in his estimation for only one supper 
 more. 
 
 If there is less of stirring action, of the din and 
 vicissitude of war, of hero painting and ambitious 
 rivalries, of plots, conspiracies, rebellions, conquests, 
 and political reverses in " Henry the Eighth," than in 
 the plays illustrating earlier and more unsettled reigns, 
 there is a much greater infusion of pomp and pageantry, 
 an increased gorgeousness of detail, mingled with pas- 
 sages of exquisitely imaginative poetry, which compete 
 with any that have proceeded from the same magic pen. 
 The two most prominent characters, the Queen and the 
 Cardinal, require powers of the very highest order, 
 mental rather than physical, and can only be rendered 
 truthful and effective in proportion as the representatives 
 tiirow aside stage conventionalities or hereditaiy adop- 
 tion, and study them from the features so minutely deli- 
 neated in the histories and chronicles from whence 
 Shakespeare derived the sources of his own inspiration. 
 Many of the most important scenes are so faithfully 
 rendered, that the substance and even the words of the 
 dialogue are not altered, but merely heightened by the 
 glowing genius of the poet into harmonious verse. The 
 defect of the play lies in the anti-climax at the end, the 
 total cessation of interest in the fifth act. After the fall 
 of Wolsey and the death of Queen Katharine, the action 
 ceases. And yet to drop the curtain on the latter 
 incident had always been found somewhat incomplete 
 when the experiment was tried. Then, again, the long 
 and disconnected introduction of the scenes in which 
 Cranmer is concerned was pronounced also to be in- 
 sufferably wearisome. We take no interest in a sub-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 139 
 
 ordinate character we have not seen before, and who is 
 brought in at the fag end to supply the place of the 
 more attractive principals who have vanished from the 
 scene. However venerable in history, the illustrious 
 archbishop is not entertaining on the stage. We re- 
 member well the yawns and lassitude of the audiences 
 in the days of the Kembles, throughout this inter- 
 minable episode, from which not even the traditional 
 buffooneries of Bishop Gardiner in his forced reconcilia- 
 tion with the Primate, or the following glories of the 
 christening, could effectually revive them. 
 
 In the arrangement of " Henry the Eighth," which 
 embraces a period of twelve years, Shakespeare has 
 indulged in two or three deviations from chronology, for 
 which he has been loudly condemned. The most im- 
 portant of these is placing the death of Queen Katharine 
 before the birth and christening of the Princess Elizabeth. 
 He did this, not from ignorance or carelessness, as ready 
 censurers have supposed, but to wind up his play more 
 agreeably than if he had closed with a tragic incident ; 
 and to introduce a panegyric on the reigning queen, 
 under whose patronage he wrote, and who was, if pos- 
 sible, more punctilious in her extreme old age, more 
 exacting in obsequious homage, and more swayed by 
 flattery, than she had been in the meridian of her power 
 and womanhood. The poet had another delicate task to 
 accomplish in the delineation of Henry the Eighth him- 
 self. It was necessary to render him respectable at 
 least, if not amiable, and neither point would be attained 
 without steering far beyond the latitude of truth. Shake- 
 speare, however, compromised the difficulty with tolerable 
 success, by selecting a portion of the sensual tyrant's 
 life the least open to broad objection. 
 
 If, five years earlier, Mr. C. Kean had said to any 
 given circle of listeners, " I will bring out a play of
 
 140 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Shakespeare, and one not hitherto generally popular, 
 and I will run that play one hundred nights to crowded 
 houses," the company present would have smiled in 
 unanimous unbelief, and would have answered (or, if 
 courtesy chained their tongues, they would have uttered 
 in thought), " The thing is an empty chimera, and the 
 enthusiast who dreams of it as a practical reality, is a 
 candidate for Hanwell or St. Luke's. How is it possible 
 that you, a degenerate modern, should fancy you can 
 accomplish what Garrick and the Kembles never thought 
 of undertaking? And with Shakespeare, too, who is 
 obsolete and out of fashion, unsuited to the taste of the 
 day ! A text book, if you like, but one seldom opened 
 except as a reference, to settle a dispute, or verify a 
 quotation." 
 
 Well, the experiment was tried, and succeeded. The 
 attempt and completion became realized facts, to be 
 quoted by future generations, in writing or speaking of 
 the stage, as one of the most marvellous incidents con- 
 nected with the subject on which they dilate ; a land- 
 mark in dramatic chronology. A Shakespearean play 
 did run for one hundred consecutive nights, with the 
 exception only of Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean's benefit, when 
 a change of performance was substituted as a compliment 
 to their immediate patrons and friends. The nearest 
 approach to this great attraction occurred in the instance 
 of " Macbeth," at this same theatre in 1853, and when 
 Miss Fanny Kemble came to the rescue of Covent 
 Garden in the season of 1829 30, on which occasion 
 " Romeo and Juliet " produced upwards of forty attrac- 
 tive repetitions. It could not be the pageantry, the pro- 
 cession, the banquet, or the scenery, that achieved this 
 great triumph ; as much, and even more, of all those em- 
 bellishments, and at a greater cost, had been bestowed on 
 the same subject at earlier revivals. Before, and during
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 141 
 
 the period of Garrick's management, "Henry the Eighth" 
 was on the acting list, and selected as a vehicle for costly 
 expenditure seldom reimbursed. We read of its running 
 twenty nights at Drury Lane, in the early part of 1728, 
 to houses which scarcely paid the expense, and were 
 principally attracted by the magnificence of a corona- 
 tion, introduced as a fac-simile of that of George II., 
 who had just ascended the throne. Booth acted the 
 King, which in those days was considered the principal 
 part, and Colley Gibber was the Wolsey a character for 
 which he had no single requisite. 1,000?. was expended 
 on the coronation scene alone a very large sum more 
 than a century ago. But what was this, or any recent 
 outlay, compared to the 100,000/., which the Athe- 
 nians are said to have lavished on a single tragedy of 
 Euripides'? " Henry the Eighth" was also a favourite 
 play during the reign of the Kembles. The writer of 
 these pages, in conversation with Charles Kemble on 
 this particular subject, has more than once been told by 
 him that it was the most costly and least remunerative of 
 all the great revivals under his brother's superintendence. 
 What, then, could have produced the superior attraction 
 in 1855 ? Assuredly not the expenditure and show, for 
 they had been equalled, if not surpassed, before. Let 
 us deal justly, and say, it must have been the extraor- 
 dinary combination of all the highest elements of art, 
 until then, neither sought for nor employed with the 
 same happy discrimination. The result belongs to the 
 life-painting, the vivid resurrection of persons, places, 
 and events the severe, undeviating accuracy of historic 
 research, rather than to dumb pictorial accompaniments, 
 however appropriate and imposing, or to new mechanical 
 appliances, with all their marvellous ingenuity. The 
 acting is the oil that feeds the lamp, and without that 
 rich pabulum in ample supply, the light would soon 
 fid" into " darlsnoss visible."
 
 142 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 In a single season the characters of Wolsey and Queen 
 Katharine were played by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean oftener 
 than by their greatest predecessors during a career of 
 thirty years. This was a fact which the most resolute 
 detractors were unable to dispute, although pertinacious 
 in spirit, while few in number, and clinging to their own 
 notions with the dogged obstinacy of prejudice, deter- 
 mined to be wrong. From this time forward they 
 slackened and declined. Mr. Kean had now so firmly 
 established his position, had won such golden opinions 
 from an overwhelming majority, that he had no occasion 
 to heed a few dissentient voices, which finally lost 
 themselves in their own clamour. 
 
 The usual " fly-leaf" with which Mr. C. Kean had 
 accompanied his earlier Shakespearean restorations was 
 affixed to the bills of "Henry the Eighth;" but this 
 time both play and preface escaped burlesque. Either 
 the usual indulgers of that practice were conscience- 
 stricken, or the vulgar resource had lost its popularity. 
 With reference to his alterations, Mr. Kean said : " In 
 the revival of ' Henry the Eighth,' it will be perceived 
 that I have ventured to differ from the stage arrange- 
 ments of my predecessors. Although in their time fine 
 scenic effects were produced, and much pageantry was 
 displayed, the management did not attempt, nor did the 
 public require, that scrupulous adherence to historical 
 truth in costume, architecture, and the multiplied details 
 of action, which modern taste demands, and is so capable 
 of appreciating, when employed in the service of the 
 monarch of dramatic poetry." The notice wound up 
 with the following sentence: " I cannot conclude with- 
 out an allusion to Mrs. Charles Kean's return to the 
 stage, after a long secession, occasioned by sevei'e illness. 
 It is only thus that I can record my appreciation of the 
 compliment she has received in the voluntary proposal
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 143 
 
 of the ladies of the company, not representing characters 
 in the play, to appear as her ' Ladies in Waiting.' 
 Such an offer is the more valuable, as it combines a 
 graceful expression of personal esteem with a zealous 
 desire to uphold the interests of the theatre." 
 
 The revival of " Henry the Eighth " was accompanied 
 by a printed edition of the plan as then acted, with 
 historical and explanatory notes by Mr. C. Kean. The 
 books were sold in the theatre alone, for the exclusive 
 accommodation of its frequenters, and above 6,000 
 copies were thus circulated. The plan has since been 
 continued with all the subsequent Shakespearean resto- 
 rations, in an unbroken series. These plays, in a 
 collected form, are now in course of publication by 
 Messrs. Bradbury and Evans. They are highly valuable 
 in a literary sense, and may be strongly recommended 
 as eligible studies for the more youthful readers of the 
 dramatic master; the text being carefully preserved, 
 and assiduously purified from all objectionable passages 
 or expressions. 
 
 The new acting version of " Henry the Eighth " 
 must be considered here with regard to its fitness for 
 representation. It was not ventured as a critical liberty, 
 or an ambitious experiment to improve Shakespeare as 
 he wrote ; but as a zealous effort to place the poet on the 
 stage for which he composed, to the best advantage, and 
 with the reality which he conceived and intended, 
 although without a hope of seeing the accomplishment 
 with his own eyes. In doing this, it is equally permis- 
 sible as necessary to curtail or restore ; Avhile true taste 
 shrinks from any attempt to alter or amend witli 
 arbitrary judgment, too often regulated by caprice or 
 biassed perception. Mr. C. Kean cannot be too much 
 commended for the care with which he has preserved the 
 genuine text of Shakespeare, as well a? for the re-intro-
 
 144 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 duction of some noble passages, to the exclusion of others 
 of infinitely less beauty and importance. The notes 
 bespeak depth of research, and the scrupulous regard for 
 truth by which even the most trifling improvement 
 was held in abeyance, until supported by unquestion- 
 able authority. No names are assigned without a 
 stated reason, and characters are no longer blended for 
 stage convenience (such, for instance, as Cromwell and 
 Griffith), which Shakespeare, following history, had 
 distinctly separated. The error has been too often 
 indulged by managers of high pretensions in earlier 
 days, when a punctilious observance of all these details 
 was less imperative than modern taste requires, and 
 values in proportion. A printed book of Mr. 0. Kean's 
 "Henry the Eighth" was absolutely called for to 
 convey the full account of all the startling novelties 
 that were introduced into this fine drama. As every- 
 body went to see it acted, so almost every one who 
 could command a spare shilling purchased a book, that 
 he might recall at his ease, in his arm-chair, the succes- 
 sion of dazzling scenes which had so enchanted his 
 faculties in the theatre. Many persons have a passion 
 for reading while they are assisting (as the French say) 
 at the performance. We have no right to quarrel with 
 individual taste, but we cannot commend this habit, 
 except in the case of an Italian opera, or a performance 
 in French or German, where the difficulty of following 
 the foreign idiom often demands reference to a present 
 interpreter. A dramatic representation is intended to 
 strike directly through the medium of the eye; but if 
 the eye is constantly wandering to a page, more than 
 half the effect is lost. The reader who is looking on 
 his book instead of on the stage, may occasionally find 
 that an actor has tripped in the text, or detect him 
 in substituting and for but. He has made a point
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 145 
 
 against him, as a critic, it is true ; but he loses in intel- 
 lectual enjoyment much more than he can possibly gain 
 by the discovery of an unimportant fact. The appearance 
 of a line of students, too, operates as an embarrassing 
 check on the energies of the performer. We have seen 
 Othello sink suddenly from the height of frenzied 
 .passion to dead apathy, when his eye fell by accident on 
 the apparition of a grave, spectacled, elderly gentleman 
 in the stage box, pouring over his text-book as immov- 
 ably and solemnly as if he were spelling a mystified 
 leader, or a long parliamentary debate in one of the 
 morning papers. We therefore recommend it as a much 
 more wholesome canon, to purchase a book by all means, 
 but after you have witnessed the performance, and to 
 read it carefully while at breakfast on the following day. 
 We are somewhat surprised to find Hazlitt, who has 
 been often quoted as an acute Shakespearean critic, 
 expressing himself as follows : " The representing the 
 very finest of Shakespeare's plays on the stage, even 
 by the best actors, is, we apprehend, an abuse of the 
 genius of the poet Shakespeare has embodied his 
 characters so very distinctly, that he stands in no need 
 of the actor's assistance to make them more distinct." 
 It is not very easy to understand these sentences, or to 
 follow their meaning with satisfaction ; but we suppose 
 they are intended to convey that Shakespeare's plays 
 are weakened by being acted, and ought to be entirely 
 reserved for the closet; a startling position, which 
 would astonish Shakespeare not a little if he could be 
 made aware of it. As he undoubtedly wrote his plays to 
 be acted before they were read (many of them were not 
 printed at all during his life), for the stage in preference 
 to the library, we may take it for granted that he knew 
 what he meant and intended, and how to construct 
 his own conceptions for his own selected purpose. But 
 
 VOL. II. L
 
 146 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 these subtle commentators would fain persuade us 
 that they are more deeply in his confidence than he was 
 himself, and can interpret the workings of his mind 
 with more fidelity than he has exhibited them. 
 
 The same materials from which Mr. C. Kean so 
 laboriously studied and selected in his Shakespearean 
 revivals were available to his predecessors. The same 
 authorities were open to their research, and yet they 
 disregarded, or, having casually looked into them, passed 
 them over as of no moment. It is true that such 
 minute historical accuracy was not then expected. 
 General knowledge was more limited. The taste of the 
 day satisfied itself with a bold outline, a striking feature 
 in a few prominent situations, instead of a portrait 
 complete in all its details. If, occasionally, a great 
 scenic display was presented, it stood by itself; there 
 was no attempt to carry a series of corresponding efforts 
 throughout an entire performance. Mr. Kean is the 
 first manager who has understood and accomplished this 
 perfect coherence. Former generations saw " Henry 
 the Eighth " represented with certain insulated effects, 
 such, for instance, as the coronation of Anne Boleyn, 
 and the christening of her infant daughter ; but they 
 never witnessed the whole play illustrated, as now, by 
 a succession of historical pictures, in which every 
 person, group, and movement is modelled from life ; not 
 taken from imagination or poetical resemblance, but 
 embodied from the minute descriptions of those who 
 liad seen, known, and lived with the characters intro- 
 duced : with whom they were as familiarly acquainted as 
 with the places they inhabited and the costumes they 
 wore. The order of Wolsey's march as he is passing to 
 the council chamber, the dazzling splendour of the 
 banquet at York Place, the solemnity of the execution 
 ** Buckingham, the distribution of the court for the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.SA. 147 
 
 trial of the divorce question between the King and 
 Katharine of Arragon. the etherial beauty of the 
 vision in the scene of her dream and death ; and above 
 all, the introduction of the highly characteristic inter- 
 view between the two cajoling cardinals and their perse- 
 cuted victim ; these bold and truthful innovations are 
 exclusively the result of Mr. Kean's close examination 
 of his subject, and are as entirely new as they are 
 superior in value and reality to the old conventional 
 arrangements they have so happily superseded. It is by 
 the independent exercise of its own strength that true 
 talent bursts from the fetters of habit and traditional 
 routine, finding variety and power in its own innate 
 resources. 
 
 The old mode of disposing the trial scene is per- 
 petuated in Harlowe's celebrated picture, usually called 
 the Kemble Family, from the number of portraits it 
 contains of that distinguished race. The painting, we 
 believe, has disappeared mysteriously, but the engrav- 
 ings are numerous and familiar. There we see the 
 King seated on his throne in presiding dignity, and the 
 two cardinals at the table, mixed up with the other 
 members of council. There is nothing to mark the 
 ecclesiastical supremacy with which the court was 
 invested. The Queen stands majestically in the front. 
 We look on an imposing group, picturesque and 
 poetical, but conveying no true reflection of the event 
 as it occurred. According to Mr. Kean's disposition 
 of the stage, the two cardinals, who are appointed under 
 a special commission from Home to try the case, are 
 seated together on an elevated platform. The great 
 churchmen and lawyers occupy their appointed stalls. 
 The King, as plaintiff in the cause, sits on the right- 
 hand side in front, and answers to the legal summons. 
 The Queen, as defendant, enters when called for, and 
 
 T. 2
 
 148 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 takes her place on the opposite side. Here is history 
 transferred to the boards, and blended in perfect accor- 
 dance with the Shakespearean text. Even in a dramatic 
 sense, the present arrangement is superior to the former 
 one. 
 
 Another and more important evidence of sound judg- 
 ment was manifested in the restoration of the fine scene 
 beginning the third act, wherein the two cardinals, by 
 command of the King, visit Queen Katharine in her sad 
 privacy, to try and prevail on her to consent to the 
 divorce. How or why Mrs. Siddons could have been 
 induced to sacrifice this valuable portion of her part 
 we never could understand. Is it possible that John 
 Kemble thought it interfered with his own Wolsey, and 
 excised it from jealousy? If so, his discrimination was 
 terribly at fault, and his sister's complaisance seriously 
 marred the general interest of the play, the intention of 
 the poet, and the rapid contrast of events his genius 
 sought invariably to produce. At this interview, Wolsey 
 is in the plenitude of his greatness. " Take heed," 
 says the Queen, goaded almost to madness by his hollow 
 importunity, " take heed, for heaven's sake, lest at once 
 the burden of my sorrows fall upon ye." In the very 
 next scene, the implied judgment is accomplished, and 
 we find the king-cardinal suddenly hurled, without the 
 slightest warning or preparation, from his high estate 
 into misery more signal and abject than that of the 
 helpless woman he has assisted to destroy. It would be 
 difficult to cite a more consummate instance of Shake- 
 speare's deep insight into the moral of all human trans- 
 actions, as well as his mastery over every possible 
 variety of dramatic effect. If Kemble could have wit- 
 nessed these two scenes at the Princess's Theatre, he 
 would surely have altered his opinion, and repented of 
 his ill-considered curtailment.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 149 
 
 Again, we think Mr. Kean displayed the tact of a 
 great practical artist, in cutting down the fifth act to 
 the last scene of the christening, and by the introduction 
 of a moving panorama, which carried us to the church 
 of the Grey Friars at Greenwich, where that ceremony 
 was performed. There had been already two pro- 
 cessions ; a third would be monotonous. What is gained 
 in other parts of the play outvalues, by an immense 
 calculation, the portions that have been cast aside. The 
 acting has yet to be spoken of before we dismiss the 
 subject. 
 
 Mrs. C. Kean's Queen Katharine gave ample evidence 
 that during her long illness she had found intervals for 
 study and preparation. The character could not be 
 represented in such impressive reality without deep fore- 
 thought and meditative care. It was one of the finest 
 specimens we ever saw of what has been pronounced 
 the perfection of acting, art producing nature. When 
 Mrs. Siddons in the zenith of her success called upon 
 Dr. Johnson, he asked her "which of Shakespeare's 
 heroines she liked best?" She answered, without 
 hesitation, " Queen Katharine, because it is the most 
 natural and feminine." " You are right, madam," re- 
 plied the great critic, " and when you appear in that 
 part, old and infirm as I am, I will endeavour to hobble 
 out and see you." Now, this is clearly Mrs. C. Kean's 
 reading of Queen Katharine, and these attributes so con- 
 genial with her own, enabled her to achieve a signal 
 triumph. A few sexagenarian playgoers may look back 
 with proud reminiscences, hallowed by time, to the com- 
 manding figure of Mrs. Siddons, her sustained solemnity 
 of manner, her thrilling, deep-toned utterance, her axvful 
 majesty of deportment. All these endowments we fully 
 admit and remember ; but in simple pathos, in natural 
 bursts of indignation when urged beyond patience, in
 
 150 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 the gentle, unartificial, and purely woman-like features 
 of the character, we venture to say, and we hope with- 
 out heresy, she is exceeded by Mrs. C. Kean. Mrs. 
 Siddons may have commanded superior admiration, 
 but Mrs. C. Kean touches the feelings with greater 
 intensity. She suffers the woman to predominate over 
 the queen, and mourns the loss of the king's affections 
 with deeper regret than the decline from her worldly 
 state. She is wounded in her heart more incurably than 
 in her rank. This, we apprehend to have been Shake- 
 speare's own view ; and this, in our humble judgment, 
 was never so truthfully conveyed before, and without 
 the restored scene, would be imperfectly attempted. 
 We have reason to believe that this opinion in sub- 
 stance, and almost in the same words, has been ex- 
 pressed by one of Mrs. Siddons's earlier and most accom- 
 plished successors, who has long retired into the privacy 
 of domestic life. In the dying scene, Mrs. C. Kean 
 depicted the exhaustion of physical suffering with such 
 artistic truthfulness, that every breath was suspended, 
 and many were the white handkerchiefs displayed as 
 the act-drop came slowly down. The falling back after 
 an effort to rise, and expiring in her chair, was far more 
 natural and impressive than if she had tottered off, as 
 heretofore, supported by her attendants. For some 
 seconds the audience sat ri vetted in absorbed attention, 
 and no sound escaped them ; but as soon as the house 
 could recover, one simultaneous burst of applause pro- 
 claimed the power of the enchantress who had spell- 
 bound their faculties by such potent necromancy. 
 
 It would be difficult to conceive two characters more 
 thoroughly opposed to each other than Louis the Eleventh 
 and Cardinal Wolsey. There is craft, and cunning, and 
 duplicity, and conscience yielding to convenience, as far 
 as worldly matters are concerned, (Wolsey was sincere
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 151 
 
 in his religion) in each ; but expressed after a totally 
 different fashion. An actor of great ability might suc- 
 ceed in one and fail in the other ; yet Mr. C. Kean has 
 been eminently successful in both. His versatility 
 was never more strikingly exhibited than in these two 
 contrasted assumptions. Wolsey is a difficult, perhaps 
 an overrated character; identified too, by the elders, 
 with personal associations of John Kemble. The two 
 first acts contain little beyond unimpassioned declama- 
 tion, and one or two traits of individual peculiarity. In 
 the great scene of his disgrace and fall, in the third act, 
 the entire pith of the part is concentrated ; all that he 
 says and does before work up to that sudden catastrophe. 
 But this single scene contains so much in a small com- 
 pass that it taxes the full powers of the actor, and none 
 but one of first-rate pretensions can grapple with it 
 successfully. 
 
 Mr. C. Kean does not give us the hereditary Wolsiy 
 of the stage after the mannerism of any preceding actor ; 
 but the Cardinal of history, closely followed, as the 
 poet has transferred him from the chroniclers, and with 
 a minute attention to every small feature, in a portrait 
 drawn with stereotyped distinctness. 
 
 It is fortunate for himself, as well as wholesome for 
 the cause of the drama, when an actor can venture to 
 eschew established notions, and strike into an untrodden 
 path. Modern advancement permits this, while ancient 
 prejudice shrank from it with holy horror. Mr.C. Kean's 
 deviations from the established rule in Wolsey, were posi- 
 tively alarming. It may not be generally remembered, 
 by those who have the stately mien of Kemble ever 
 before their eyes, that the great cardinal was short in 
 stature, and somewhat corpulent ; and although haughty 
 and imperious with the high nobility who hated him, 
 no man ever exceeded him in affability and courteous- 
 ness of manner, when there was no political motive for
 
 152 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 assuming a different deportment. Mr. C. Kean care- 
 fully noted all these points, and his performance through- 
 out was marked by the varying shades of character 
 which this cqnsummate actor assumed, according to the 
 circumstances in which he was placed, and the parties 
 with whom he came in contact. Wolsey could simulate 
 humility and self-command when it suited his purpose, 
 but his natural temper was hot and ungovernable. The 
 poet has invested him with a dignity and resignation in 
 his fall, which call forth universal sympathy, until we 
 forget his unbridled ambition and arrogance in the 
 depth of his degradation. Mr. C. Kean gave the whole 
 of his last scene with a most pathetic eloquence, in 
 which nature completely triumphed over systematic 
 habits, and truth superseded hypocrisy. His costume 
 appeared to be taken from undoubted authorities, and 
 so sedulously did he preserve minor details in the 
 manners of this great child of fortune, as well as all 
 the more important attributes, that when he crossed 
 the stage in the first procession, he held in his hand 
 " the hollow orange, filled with a part of a sponge, 
 wherein was vinegar and other confections, against 
 the pestilent airs, which Cavendish describes as his 
 constant custom," when passing through streets or cor- 
 ridors, where he might be pressed on by many suitors. 
 An old gentleman, on the first night observed to a friend, 
 seated next to him, " Mr. Kean in many respects gives 
 me a more perfect idea of Cardinal Wolsey, as history 
 has described him, than any actor I have ever seen, 
 and I remember them all." 
 
 Mr. Walter Lacy deserved much credit for his per- 
 sonification of Henry the Eiqhth, which he looked to 
 
 */ *J ' 
 
 a point. His " make up " was admirable, and his acting 
 equal to it. The monarch of many wives was a fear- 
 ful companion, although Shakespeare has done all that 
 genius could effect to humanize and render him fit for
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F S.A. 153 
 
 society, without departing entirely from historical facts. 
 There was no safety for any head under such a trucu- 
 lent ruler; his humorous intervals were almost as 
 dangerous as his paroxysms of rage. The part easily 
 admits of exaggeration in the hands of a coarse or care- 
 less actor. Mr. W. Lacy is entitled to full credit for 
 not yielding to a temptation sanctioned by respectable 
 precedent. The author has given Anne Boleyn nothing 
 to do, and little to say. Her fair representative, Miss 
 Heath, possesses the external requisites, and satisfied 
 the eye, which is not the least important consideration 
 in filling up the outline of a vapid stage beauty. Mr. 
 Ryder's Duke of Buckingham was well conceived and 
 embodied. The part soon fades from the scene, but is 
 invariably assigned to an important actor. Mr. Cooper, 
 in the restored part of Griffith, spoke some beautiful 
 speeches with great propriety and feeling. In every 
 respect the play presented a perfect realization of history, 
 and was universally acknowledged as such by the 
 public, with the exception of a few constitutional sneers 
 from the narrow minority who are never pleased, and a 
 faint expiring groan or two from the unhappy excep- 
 tions who envy the success they can neither arrest nor 
 attain. 
 
 On 16th July, 1855, William Farren took his final 
 leave of the stage at the Haymarket Theatre, appear- 
 ing in the second act of the " Clandestine Marriage." 
 He retired into private life with a handsome fortune 
 and a brilliant reputation, although the former, we 
 suspect, had suffered a little from his managerial specu- 
 lations at the Strand and the Olympic. For some years, 
 increased infirmities had rendered him so inarticulate, 
 that it was difficult to recognise the great actor of 
 earlier days. The genius was still there, but the phy- 
 sical power was wanting to give the due effect. The 
 Times, in a very eulogistic notice, added : " It is just
 
 154 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 possible that to many young playgoers, our praise of 
 Mr. Farren may appear overcharged ; so we will at once 
 anticipate their objections by declaring that no fre- 
 quenter of theatres of less than eight years' standing is 
 qualified to utter an opinion on the subject." 
 
 On his last night, Farren acted only a portion 
 of what had formerly been his great part Lord 
 Ogleby. The house was crowded. Many leading per- 
 formers from various theatres testified professional 
 respect by contributing their services, and were grouped 
 round him for the closing scene. Miss Helen Faucit 
 gracefully presented the veteran with a laurel wreath, 
 and Harley flung his arms round the neck of his old 
 stage companion. The audience, as might be expected, 
 cheered vociferously when the curtain fell. 
 
 Mr. C. Kean's season closed on the 14th September, 
 1855 a season protracted to the unusual length of 
 eleven months. The fact spoke success ; but it was a 
 success fairly wrung from the public by Herculean 
 exertions, in the face of many incidental obstacles, 
 sufficient to wear out ordinary enterprise, and to exhaust 
 restricted resources. At the commencement of the 
 winter, the theatrical horizon presented a dreary pros- 
 pect. People's minds were depressed by the recent 
 visitation of a deadly disease, preoccupied with the 
 novelty of war, the unsatisfactory state of affairs in the 
 Crimea, the exaggerated reports of loss and disaster, 
 the burden of increased taxes, and the general uncer- 
 tainty attendant on a complete revulsion in the usually 
 placid routine of social life. Many families were in 
 mourning for the loss of dear relatives who had fallen 
 in battle; and many more trembled to look over the 
 columns of eacli succeeding gazette. There was much 
 to think of more absorbing than the ordinary relaxa- 
 tions or amusements of life. It was no easy task, under 
 these circumstances, to direct public attention to the
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. lo/> 
 
 theatre, and to retain it there, as if by magnetic attrac- 
 tion, throughout a long and anxious period. Mr; C. 
 Kean accomplished this by untiring energy and perse- 
 verance, marking the most difficult year of his dramatic 
 government by an event without parallel in the history 
 of the stage one hundred repetitions of a single 
 Shakespearean play. It was difficult to decide whether 
 the public or the manager should receive the heartiest 
 congratulations on this extraordinary success. Mr. 
 Kean, by what he had now done, raised such expecta- 
 tions as to what he would yet do, that it became more 
 than difficult for him to keep pace with his own reputa- 
 tion. He had revived and restored to its pristine 
 vigour the legitimate drama, so repeatedly said to be 
 crumbling to extinction, and had good reason to be 
 proud of what he had effected in defiance of potent 
 obstacles. The public felt that they owed him much ; 
 and he, in his turn, could not fail to rely with full con- 
 fidence on their steady support. We had been so long 
 accustomed to be told that Shakespeare was buried 
 more deeply than his own Prospero promised to drown 
 his magic book, and to hear what were once called our 
 great national theatres mourned over as mausoleums of 
 the departed, that our satisfaction was doubled when we 
 found the inimitable bard once more vindicating his claims 
 to his title, and flourishing with renewed vitality. A 
 change of local situation is of no importance. It matters 
 little where the temple is placed, if the true divinity is 
 worshipped within. When ^Eneas fled from the burning 
 ruins of Troy, he carried his household gods with him, 
 and found a new home for them on the hearthstone of 
 an infant colony. Mr. Kean planted Shakespeare firmly 
 on the boards of the Princess's Theatre, and there he 
 was welcomed with as much warmth as if he had never 
 moved from his earlier pedestals.
 
 156 THE. LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 RENEWAL OP MR. 0. KEAN'S LEASE FOR FOUR TEARS SEASON OF 1855-6 
 AT THE PRINCESS'S NEW FARCE OF DON'T JUDGE BY APPEARANCES 
 A WONDERFUL WOMAN THE CRITIC THE RIVALS THE HEIR-AT-LAW 
 
 EVERY ONE HAS HIS FAULT MRS. C. KEAN AS LADY ELEANOR IRWIN 
 
 PANTOMIME ON THE SOBJECT OF THE MAID AND MAGPIE HAMLET 
 
 JEALOUS WIFE LOUIS THE ELEVENTH MERCHANT OF VENICE 
 DEATH OF THE GREAT TENOR SINGER JOHN BRAHAM THE FIRST PRINTER, 
 A NEW PLAY BY MESSRS. C. READE AND TOM TAYLOR ARGUMENTS ON 
 THE TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT AND ITS HISTORICAL ACCURACY 
 MR. C. KEAN AS LAURENCE COSTAR FAUST AND MARGUERITE A 
 PRINCE FOR AN HOUR THE VICTOR VANQUISHED REVIVAL OF THE 
 WINTER'S TALE EXTRAORDINARY RUN OF ONE HUNDRED AND TWO 
 NIGHTS MR. AND MRS. C. KEAN AS LEONTES AND HERMIONE CLOSE 
 OF THE SEASON MR. C. KEAN'S ADDRESS NUMBER OF SHAKESPEAREAN 
 PERFORMANCES DEATH OF MADAME VESTRIS. 
 
 UP to the date of which we have now arrived, Mr. C. 
 Kean had paid considerably above 6,000. to living 
 authors of high repute for various dramatic novelties ; 
 but the results had not answered his expectations. 
 Shakespeare was evidently his trusting point, and to 
 that inexhaustible mine he determined henceforward 
 to look, for the substantial reward of his labours, and 
 the artistic reputation he valued even more than profit. 
 
 His lease of the Princess's Theatre terminated on the 
 31st of July, 1855 ; but he had a stipulated condition 
 enabling him to renew on the same terms for an ad- 
 ditional four years, by giving six months' notice. This 
 clause, on mature deliberation, he determined to avail 
 himself of, and laid his plans accordingly. The ensuing 
 engagements were all made for the full term. It was
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 157 
 
 ever a point in Mr. Kean's system to have as few changes 
 in his company as possible. He knew the value of forces 
 accustomed to work together, and the advantages to 
 be derived from constant association. The most im- 
 portant addition to the company consisted of Mr. Frank 
 Matthews, who joined from the Lyceum, where he had 
 long enlisted under the banners of Madame Vestris, and 
 Mr. C. Mathews. 
 
 The season at the Princess's opened on the 22d of 
 October. The performances commenced with a new 
 farce in one act, by Mr. J. M. Morton, entitled " Don't 
 Judge by Appearances ;" an agreeable trifle, well selected 
 to usher in the stately splendour of " Henry the Eighth." 
 After one hundred repetitions, this noble drama came 
 again before the public as fresh and attractive as during 
 its first run. The christening and diorama were now 
 omitted. 
 
 On the 27th of October, Mr. C. Dance's clever 
 little comedy of" A Wonderful Woman," was performed, 
 to introduce Mr. Frank Matthews in a part originally 
 played by him, Crepin the cobbler. This he followed 
 by Sir Fretful Plagiary in the " Critic." The recep- 
 tion of the new actor (new to the boards he was then 
 treading) testified the warm satisfaction of the audience 
 at seeing him enrolled in the ranks, where he has since 
 filled a conspicuous place. 
 
 "Henry the Eighth" continued to be performed for 
 fifty additional nights before it was finally laid aside. 
 During the early part of the season, the old comedies of 
 the " Eivals," the " Heir-at-Law," and " Every One has 
 his Fault/' were revived in succession, and afforded 
 opportunities of showing the general strength of the 
 company to much advantage. It would be difficult to 
 select three more opposite specimens of distinct schools. 
 Sheridan, Colman, and Mr?. Inchbald, have little in
 
 153 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 common except a thorough knowledge of stage effect, 
 and the conventional technicalities, which form, what 
 we may call the rudiments of dramatic authorship. Mrs. 
 Inchbald has not the sparkling wit of Sheridan, the rich 
 humour of Colman, or the power of grouping together 
 incidental eccentricities, which the more desultory habits 
 of man's life supply him with in greater abundance 
 than a female writer can have opportunities of acquiring 
 from personal experience. 
 
 Changes of taste, as regard dramatic composition, have 
 become almost as rapid as the varying fashions of our 
 garments. What pleased our fathers, and grandfathers, 
 finds, with few exceptions, but scanty favour with their 
 more fastidious descendants. Whether the stage has 
 improved or deteriorated in consequence of these mul- 
 tiplied and ever recurring revolutions is a question diffi- 
 cult to decide ; and which, like many others of higher 
 importance, may be argued to infinity, without arriving 
 at a satisfactory conclusion ; and fortunate it is that such 
 diversity of opinion should continue to exist. Were it 
 otherwise, we should be continually jostling each other 
 in an uncomfortable crowd, if we all travelled together 
 on the one narrow highway of this over-populous world. 
 As it is, every one chooses a path for himself, in which 
 to indulge his own peculiar bent. By some the revival 
 of an old comedy is considered a relief and a treat ; by 
 others it is condemned as an uncalled-for resurrection, 
 and <e a bore." We plead guilty to the charge of ranking 
 ourselves with the former class, even at the risk of being 
 pronounced old and " slow," and behind the era in which 
 we live. Even on the score of contrast, if for nothing 
 else, the occasional change is welcome. " Every One 
 has his Fault," at the Princess's Theatre was principally 
 remarkable for the performance of Mrs. C. Kean, as 
 Lady Eleanor Irwin. To a reader of the play, the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F S.A. 159 
 
 character appears trivial. She seldom appears on the 
 scene, and what she says has nothing in it beyond the 
 simplest expression of her attachment to her husband 
 and children, with her distress at the common misery 
 in which they are involved. There are no stilts, no 
 tragic inflation, and no overwhelming bursts of passion ; 
 but there is natural feeling and pathos, in the delineation 
 of which Mrs. C. Kean has never been surpassed. Mrs. 
 Inchbald's comedy consists of dialogue rather than 
 action. The language is easy and pleasing, but never 
 rises into brilliant wit. The speeches do not sparkle 
 with epigrammatic point, neither do the characters ex- 
 hibit the strong contrast of humour that tells so amaz- 
 ingly in the broader scenes of the " Heir-at-Law." The 
 lady's play is one of a school, which stands midway 
 between the sentimental and the grotesque. The serious 
 portion is certainly overstrained, yet it embraces nothing 
 that might not occur. Fact is often more extraordinary 
 than the wildest romance. The ingredients of the drama 
 will be cut down to a very circumscribed allowance if 
 nothing is to be included but what can be reconciled to 
 ordinary rules. No one disputes the beautiful and 
 natural simplicity which gives the charm to Gold- 
 smith's "Vicar of Wakefield." Yet the incidents crowded 
 together at the close are improbable to the last extreme. 
 The novel writer and the dramatist are surely entitled to 
 the same latitude. 
 
 The usual pantomime appeared at Christmas with the 
 usual success. The subject this year was selected by 
 Mr. Morton from the well-known story of the " Maid 
 and the Magpie." 
 
 On the 17th of February, 1856, died in London, John 
 Braham, who for more than half a century had been 
 acknowledged as the first English tenor, without a rival. 
 His age was said to be seventy-nine. It could not
 
 160 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 possibly be less, and might have been more, for at the 
 time of his death he had been sixty-six years before the 
 public. He made his first appearance at the Royalty 
 Theatre, through the interest of his relative and teacher, 
 Mr. Leoni, when scarcely fifteen ; and this must have 
 been somewhere about the year 1790. In 1796, being 
 then a full-grown man, he came out at Drury Lane, in 
 the new opera of " Mahmoud," in which John Kemble 
 played the hero. This was the last opera composed by 
 Storace, and was acted fifteen times. The young singer 
 made a most favourable impression, and never afterwards 
 lost his ground. Braham took no formal leave of the 
 stage, although for several years before his death he had 
 ceased to act. At Exeter Hall and other concerts, he 
 continued to sing almost to the last, and though uncer- 
 tain, sometimes blazed out with surprising power. He 
 amassed a large fortune, and lived in splendid style, 
 entertaining the first company in the land ; but in evil 
 hour he entered into speculative management at the St. 
 James's and the Colosseum, in both of which he sank 
 large sums of money. When examined before the 
 committee of the House of Commons, on the Dramatic 
 Question, in 18H2, he was asked amongst other interro- 
 gatories, whether he had ever been a manager, to which 
 he answered emphatically, " No, thank heaven ! " If he 
 had never been tempted from this resolve, he woul 
 have lived and died a richer man. But greater names 
 than his have been coupled with more flagrant incon- 
 sistency. The Duke of Wellington said in the House 
 of Lords that he must be mad before he would undertake 
 the duties of prime minister. Yet he was installed in 
 the office not long after he volunteered this declaration. 
 On Monday, the 3d of March, 1856, a new play in 
 three acts was produced, entitled the '' First Printer," 
 the subject of which is embodied in the title. An
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 161 
 
 original composition ; with no French leaven, but all 
 genuine English. The authors, Messrs. Charles Reade, 
 and Tom Taylor (dramatists of established repute), 
 adopt the Dutch version of the origin of typography, 
 and ascribe the exclusive invention to Laurence Costar, 
 sacristan of the Cathedral at Haarlem. While setting 
 aside the more recognised claim of John Gutenberg of 
 Mentz, they have even drawn the latter as a common 
 pilferer, and trader in goods dishonestly obtained. In 
 a preliminary notice affixed to the bill, it was stated 
 that they founded their opinion on the faith of a tale 
 handed down by Adrian Junius, the celebrated anti- 
 quary, and principal of Haarlem College. According to 
 this gossip, one Master Cornelius, a bookbinder, who 
 died in 1516, recollected and told how a certain John, 
 who worked with him in the employment of Costar, 
 when they were both lads, broke into the shop and 
 abstracted the printing apparatus, flying to Mentz, where 
 he set up on his own account. " If this story be true," 
 say Messrs. Reade and Taylor, " it follows from the 
 uncontested facts of the history of printing in Mentz, 
 that this John could have been no other than one of the 
 Gutenbergs." We confess that we cannot see the logic 
 of this assumed conclusion, but look upon it as resting 
 on a shadowy basis. That the Dutch legend presents 
 preferable points of dramatic effect, would seem more 
 like an argument, however the alleged facts may deviate 
 from historical truth. The question has given rise to 
 much controversy, and is likely to remain unsettled. 
 
 If we are to judge by such evidence as has reached us, 
 it appears most likely that the first conception of print- 
 ing emanated from Costar, who invented wooden blocks. 
 With these, he printed, about the year 1438, and a very 
 short time before his death (which took place in 1439, 
 at the age of sixty-nine), a book of images and letters, 
 
 VOL. II. M
 
 162 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 entitled " Speculum Humanse Salvationis ;" and com- 
 pounded a species of ink, more glutinous and less likely 
 to Hot than that in common use. The leaves of this 
 book were printed on one side only, and afterwards 
 pasted together. Gutenberg improved most materially 
 on the idea of Costar, by the invention of moveable 
 wooden types, which Peter Schseffer carried to the per- 
 fection of the cast metal types in matrices now in use. 
 The German writers reject the Haarlem tale, and insist 
 on the superior pretensions of Gutenberg. Lamartine, 
 in his recent memoir of the latter, supports the integrity 
 of his character and the extent of his genius, while 
 admitting that Laurence Costar was the father of the 
 thought. He says, " the discovery of the poor sacristan 
 would have covered the surface of the earth with plates 
 engraved or sculptured in relief, but would not have been 
 a substitute for a single case of moveable type. Never- 
 theless the principle of the art was developed in the 
 sacristy of Haarlem, and we might hesitate whether to 
 attribute the honour of it to Costar or Gutenburg, if its 
 invention had not been with one the mere accidental 
 discovery of love and chance, and with the other, the 
 well-earned victory of patience and genius." 
 
 There have not been wanting desperate antiquaries 
 who carry back this wonderful discovery to an infinitely 
 more remote period. Some maintain that printing was 
 in use during the building of Babylon, and others that 
 the knowledge of the art came even earlier than that 
 epoch from the Chinese. Abdalla's " Chinese History" 
 notices wooden tablets engraved to print entire pages 
 on one side of the leaf, and ages afterwards prac- 
 tised by Costar and other block-printers, in the Low 
 Countries. 
 
 Where historical characters are introduced into a 
 poem, a novel, or a play, poetical licence usually claims
 
 OF CHAELES KEAN, F.S.A. 163 
 
 the privilege of exalting or depreciating them according 
 to the immediate object of the writer. Is this practice 
 justifiable ? It has multiplied precedent, if not law and 
 reason, on its side. In the case now under discussion, 
 Gutenberg's children died before him, and he has left 
 no heir or representative to feel hurt at an imputation 
 on his memory, or to prosecute for libel if he has been 
 unjustly dealt with. 
 
 The play is well written, and the interest powerfully 
 sustained ; but there is something unsatisfactory in the 
 conclusion. The same principle of dramatic licence, in 
 the exercise of which the authors have blackened the 
 character of Gutenberg, called upon them to punish him 
 in proportion to the enormity of his guilt. He loses, it 
 is true, the wife he sought to filch from his rival, but 
 he retains the credit of his stolen invention, his conse- 
 quent riches, his reputation, and his rank as master of 
 the guild. To a worldly-minded man he has more 
 than an equivalent for the loss of domestic happiness. 
 As the authors have strained history in the first point, 
 they were the more bound to do so in the second. 
 When Euripides was blamed for bringing such a flagi- 
 tious villain as Ixion on the stage, and visiting him with 
 temporary prosperity, he replied, " but yet I brought 
 him not off till I had fastened him to a burning 
 wheel." 
 
 There are, moreover, some anachronisms in the 
 " First Printer " which could not fail to be generally 
 recognised. The biographical dictionaries tell us that 
 Laurence Costar was born in 1370, and died in 1439. 
 Assuming these dates to be correct, it is impossible that 
 he could have met Gutenberg at Mentz in 1440, he him- 
 self being still young in years. Again, the famous 
 Mentz Bible, spoken of in this play as already printed, 
 was only commenced in 1440, and finished in 1460 ; 
 M2
 
 164 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 and the honours conferred on the society of printers by 
 the Emperor Maximilian, together with their erection 
 into a guild, did not take place until long after the 
 death of Gutenberg, in 1468. 
 
 The part of Laurence Costar, maintained by Mr. C. 
 Kean, fell quite below the mark of the leading actor of 
 the day. But he threw his whole energies into it, and 
 made it stand much more forward than the authors could 
 have anticipated from the materials with which they 
 supplied him. In the scene of the third act, with Guten- 
 berg, he exhibited surprising power. The struggle 
 between physical exhaustion and intense passion was 
 given with startling reality. Such efforts of the actor's 
 art furnish examples of what genius can embody from a 
 faint outline, and profitable lessons to young performers 
 how the experience of a great master discovers efforts 
 which the scholar in his apprenticeship often passes 
 over, or is incapable of distinguishing. A strong part 
 may be made to tell in comparatively weak hands, but a 
 weak one requires the strength of a giant to sustain its 
 importance. 
 
 A play of so much merit, well acted and carefully got 
 up, eulogised by the press and warmly applauded by the 
 audience, might have been expected to enrich the 
 treasury and remain long on the acting list. On the 
 contrary, it added one more to the insolvable problems of 
 public caprice. After nine representations it was with- 
 drawn, simply because the receipts fell regularly below 
 the nightly expenditure, without any prospect of re- 
 action. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th of March, 18.56, while 
 darkness yet prevailed, the inhabitants in the neighbour- 
 hood of Covent Garden Theatre were startled from their 
 slumbers by the announcement of that splendid edifice 
 being on fire. In a few hours it was entirely consumed.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 165 
 
 The discovery was made before an assembly of many 
 thousands, who had been revelling in the saturnalia of 
 a bed masqut, given by Professor Anderson, the Wizard 
 of the North, had entirely dispersed. Fortunately, the 
 lingering revellers were few in number, or the alarm 
 might have occasioned a fatal rush, in which many lives 
 would in all probability have been lost. Not long since 
 (in February, 1859) the great The&tre du Cirque, at St. 
 Petersburg (devoted to Eussian operas and German 
 comedies), met destruction from fire, and also during or 
 immediately after it had been prostituted to a similar 
 desecration. These masquerade balls are as dangerous 
 as they are undramatic and demoralizing. It is mar- 
 vellous that the authorities do not prohibit them in- 
 public places, or that the proprietors of theatres expose 
 their buildings to unnecessary risk by letting them for 
 such unhallowed purposes. Covent Garden rose phoenix- 
 like from its ashes with increased splendour, and in less 
 than six months from the laying of the first stone the 
 new theatre opened, on the 15th of May, 1858, with the 
 opera of the " Huguenots." There were many specula- 
 tions as to what would be built on the ground, and 
 whether or not it would ever again be occupied by a 
 dramatic edifice, after two conflagrations, occurring 
 within fifty years. Superstitious observers, as they 
 passed by, might have said or thought, as they gazed 
 on the ruins, and the lumbered site, 
 
 " A merry place it was in days of yore, 
 But something ails it now ; the place is curs' d." 
 
 But the void is filled up by Mr. Gye's magnificent 
 building, one of the most commodious and perfect 
 theatres in Europe, specifically erected as an Italian 
 Opera House, and so constructed as to be equally avail- 
 able for anv varietv of dramatic entertainment. There
 
 166 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Miss Pyne and Mr. Harrison have, with their well- 
 selected company, recently elevated the standard of 
 national music for the encouragement of English art 
 and artists, with the success which their energy and 
 ability so amply deserve. 
 
 During the Easter week, " Faust and Marguerite " 
 was again brought forward, supported by two light 
 pieces, entitled respectively, "A Prince for an Hour," 
 and the " Victor Vanquished;" the first by Mr. J. M. 
 Morton, the last by Mr. Charles Dance. One introduced, 
 the other concluded, the performances. Both were 
 favourably received, and acted for more than fifty nights. 
 The " Victor Vanquished," a comedietta in one act 
 rather than a farce, is an ingeniously contrived and 
 elegant little drama, abounding in pointed and sparkling 
 dialogue. The characters are confined to three, 
 Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, the Baron de Gortz, his 
 private secretary and minister, and Ikla, a Tartar 
 princess, the Baron's niece. It can scarcely be called 
 historical, for the leading incident implies that the re- 
 nowned Alexander of the North once bowed to the 
 influence of Cupid, an assumed fact of which we have 
 no evidence, but still permissible as a dramatic liberty, 
 ven where such an acknowledged misogynist is con- 
 cerned. The traditional attributes of Charles the Twelfth, 
 with his strong personal peculiarities of manner and 
 dress, are so familiarly recognized, that when he appears 
 on the stage, we are prepared to look on a well-known 
 animated portrait stepping from the frame. Mr. F. 
 Matthews, his impersonator on this occasion, had evi- 
 dently studied the Koyal Swede with the care of a 
 discriminating artist, and presented him in living iden- 
 tity. Nothing was overdone ; while the clear, succinct 
 phraseology, and unique military bearing, were faith- 
 fully preserved.
 
 OF CHAKLES KEAN, F.S.A. 167 
 
 On the 28th of April, Shakespeare's " Winter's Tale " 
 added another to the series of great classical illustrations 
 by which Mr. C. Kean continued with unremitting per- 
 severance to mark the distinctive feature of his manage- 
 ment. 
 
 When it began to be rumoured that a Greek play was 
 in rehearsal at the Princess's, with all the usual prepara- 
 tion and research, many thought that Mr. Kean was 
 about to venture on the bold experiment of going back 
 to first principles, and intended to draw from the stores 
 of the early fathers of the drama, Sophocles or Euri- 
 pides. When it became known that the projected re- 
 vival was to be Shakespearean, the " Comedy of Errors," 
 " Troilus and Cressida," " Pericles," or " Timon of 
 Athens," presented themselves as the probable subject 
 of selection ; but no one thought of the " Winter's Tale." 
 No sooner was the fact announced in the bills, than 
 there arose much difference of opinion as to the judi- 
 ciousness of the choice, and the means it supplied. 
 What can be done with the "Winter's Tale"? was 
 asked by experienced play-goers. The plot was known 
 to be incongruous, the play full of anachronisms, uncer- 
 tain in epoch, confused in locality, irregular beyond all 
 precedent or comparison in construction, and hitherto 
 unattractive. These objections were pronounced insur- 
 mountable. Mr. Kean grappled them with a compelling 
 hand, and triumphed over all. Without altering the 
 original text, but merely by pruning and excision, he 
 triumphed over conflicting difficulties which had baffled 
 the ingenuity, and developed innumerable beauties 
 which had escaped the notice, of his most eminent pre- 
 decessors. 
 
 After the re-opening of the theatres on the extinction 
 of the Commonwealth, and the return of Charles II., the 
 genius of Shakespeare suffered a long eclipse, or only
 
 168 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 glimmered faintly through the vile imitations and altera- 
 tions which the corrupt taste of the day permitted to 
 supersede the majestic originals. Downes, in his Roscius 
 Anglicanus (1708), mentions that during a long series 
 of years, and in a list of fifty-one plays, frequently re- 
 presented, only three of Shakespeare's are to be found ; 
 so little was the great dramatist known and followed at 
 that time. Garrick swept away many of these worthless 
 substitutes, but he still retained some, and added a few 
 of his own when it suited his purpose. 
 
 Shakespeare has been condemned by worshippers of 
 the unities for making Perdita an infant in the third act, 
 and a woman in the fourth, passing over sixteen years 
 with a short address from Time as Chorus, to explain 
 the intermediate lapse. The censure is more hasty than 
 sound. His play, thus divided, is, in fact, a Mlogy, a 
 story related in two distinct sections a preliminary and 
 a sequel, strictly in accordance with classical rule and 
 precedent. Garrick destroyed the connexion by omitting 
 the first part of the action, and opening the second with 
 a short narrative only of the events that had occurred ; 
 namely, the jealousy of Leontes, the assumed death of 
 Hermione, and the expos;: re of her infant. To feel and 
 understand Shakespeare, we must take him as he is, 
 " with all his imperfections on his head," or reject him 
 altogether. ^Egrescitque medendo by being cured lie 
 grows sick. Scenes may be cut out or curtailed, and 
 objectionable superfluities may be expunged ; but there 
 is something so clear, comprehensive, and identical in 
 all Shakespeare's designs, that any material alteration 
 mars them entirely. John Kemble cast aside Garrick's 
 condensation of the " Winter's Tale," but retained his 
 added dialogue in the last scene. Macready did the 
 same. As actors, they thought the parts of Hermione 
 and Leontes heightened by having more to say at the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 169 
 
 close. Shakespeare, guided by nature, knew that, under 
 the circumstances of their unlooked-for re-union, they 
 would feel more than they could utter, and has given 
 them very few words. Mr. C. Kean, by adhering to the 
 original text, has proved himself the ablest commentator 
 and most faithful restorer of the poet's meaning. His 
 object is well conveyed in the passage with which he 
 concludes the prefatory notice attached to the play- 
 bills : " I have endeavoured," he there says, " and I 
 hope not altogether in vain, by the united accessories of 
 painting, music, and architecture, in conjunction with 
 the rapid movements and multiplied life which belong to 
 the stage alone, to re-embody the past ; trusting that the 
 combination may be considered less an exhibition of 
 pageantry appealing to the eye, than an illustration of 
 history addressed to the understanding." 
 
 Our readers are as well acquainted as we are with the 
 sources from whence Shakespeare has drawn his plot, 
 the new characters he has created,* the exquisite poetry 
 he has scattered through the play, and the graceful sur- 
 prise with which he winds up the catastrophe. We pass 
 from any trite dissertation on these points, which have 
 been so often discussed, to a review of the play as pro- 
 duced at the Princess's Theatre. It now belongs to the 
 past, and is not likely to be witnessed again ; although 
 Messrs. Bradbury and Evans's printed edition supplies- 
 all that reading can substitute for the animated reality. 
 
 As the curtain rose, we saw before us Syracuse at the 
 epoch of her highest prosperity, about 330 B.C., and 
 gazed on the fountains of Arethusa and the temple of 
 Minerva. After the short introductory scene between 
 Camilla and Archidamus, we passed to the banqueting- 
 hall in the Royal palace, where Leontes, Polixenes, Her- 
 mione, and guests were discovered reclining on couches, 
 
 * Antigomis, Paulina, Autolycus, and Clown.
 
 170 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 after the manner of the ancient Greeks. Musicians were 
 playing the hymn to Apollo, and slaves supplied wine 
 and garlands. Thirty-six resplendently handsome young 
 girls, representing youths in complete warlike panoply, 
 entered, and performed the evolutions of the far-famed 
 Pyrrhic dance. The effect was electrical, and established 
 at the commencement an impression of what might be 
 expected as the play advanced. The action then pro- 
 ceeded, with the frenzied jealousy of Leontes, his com- 
 mission to Camillo to murder Polixenes, and the escape 
 of the two latter by flight. 
 
 At the commencement of the second act we were pre- 
 sented with a beautiful interior, representing Hermione 
 in her domestic privacy, surrounded by the young 
 Prince Mamillius, and her attendant ladies. They are 
 interrupted by the violent entrance of the King, whose 
 insane delusion has increased with the departure of 
 Polixenes, and the innocent Queen is borne away to 
 prison. In the next scene, a representation of one of 
 the dreary "Latomige," or excavated dungeons, known 
 as the "Ear of Dionysius," conveyed a corresponding 
 idea of the severity with which the guiltless Hermione 
 is treated. We then return to the palace, and find 
 Leontes still torn by groundless passion, and meditating 
 extreme vengeance. Paulina enters with the new-born 
 infant, lays it at his feet, upbraids him with his tyranny, 
 and defends her absent mistress in a torrent of indignant 
 eloquence, until she is driven from the apartment. Anti- 
 gonus, her husband, is sworn by the King, on a most 
 solemn oath, involving his own life in pledge of obedi- 
 ence, to convey the babe to a remote, desert land, and 
 leave it there exposed to the chances of fortune. 
 
 The third act comprised the trial of Queen Hermione 
 in the public theatre at Syracuse, the usual hall of judg- 
 ment on great public occasions. The arrangement of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 171 
 
 the stage here presented an astonishing instance of 
 scenic illusion. The area is extremely limited ; yet, 'by 
 pictorial and mechanical combination, it appeared to 
 expand to the colossal proportions which we read of as 
 belonging to the most celebrated of those ancient build- 
 ings in which thirty thousand persons might be seated 
 on the benches.* A wonderful realization was presented 
 by the dense assembly of auditory and officials ; by the 
 imposing appearance of the King on his throne, with 
 sages and councillors ranged behind and on each side 
 of him ; by the arraigned Queen, borne in on her litter, 
 with attendant females ; and by the solemn procession 
 of the Oracle. When these were grouped together, and 
 the varying emotions of the whole assembly reflected in 
 animated gesticulation and expression, as the incidents 
 of the scene proceeded, the rapt, intense attention of 
 the entire house suspended applause for the moment; 
 but at the close they relieved themselves by reiterated 
 bursts of acclamation. The excitement had scarcely 
 subsided, when, after a considerable interval, the curtain 
 rose again for the fourth act. 
 
 In this portion of the play Mr. C. Kean substituted 
 Bithynia for Bohemia. The idea originated with Sir 
 Thomas Hanmer, in his annotations to his own edition 
 of Shakespeare (1744). The change of locality obviates 
 the cavil that has often been raised against the incon- 
 gruity of making Bohemia a country bordering on the 
 sea. The difference of name, as Mr. Kean observes in 
 his preface, " in no way affects the incidents or metre 
 of the play, while it affords an opportunity of represent- 
 ing the costume of the inhabitants of Asia Minor at 
 a corresponding period, associated so intimately with 
 
 * The Theatre of Bacchus at Athens could accommodate this num- 
 ber. Syracuse at one time exceeded even Athens in extent and external 
 magnificence.
 
 172 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Greece, professing the same form of paganism, and 
 acquiring additional interest from close proximity to the 
 Homeric kingdom of Troy." 
 
 Antigonus lands on a desert spot on the coast, and 
 leaves the infant Perdita to her fate. His vessel, with 
 all on board, is wrecked, and he himself torn to pieces 
 by a bear. An old shepherd and his son find the child, 
 with the accompanying gold and jewels, and bear it off 
 to be reared in humble obscurity. Clouds now descended 
 and filled the stage, leading to a classical allegory, repre- 
 senting the course of Time. As these clouds dispersed, 
 Selene, or Luna, was discovered in her car, acccompanied 
 by the Stars (personified by living figures), and gra- 
 dually sunk into the ocean. Time then appeared, 
 surmounting the globe, no longer represented by the 
 raditionary bald-headed elder, with his scythe and hour- 
 glass, but as a classical figure, more in accordance with 
 the character of the play as now represented. He spoke 
 the lines with which Shakespeare has connected the 
 two separate epochs of his play. As Time descended, 
 Phoebus rose with surpassing brilliancy in the chariot of 
 the Sun, encircled by a blaze of light which filled every 
 portion of the theatre. The group appeared to be de- 
 rived from that in the centre of Flaxman's Shield of 
 Achilles. The horses were modelled with a life and fire 
 that would have done honour to Baron Marochetti himself. 
 The statue-like grace and immobility of Apollo, as he 
 stood in the car, reining in his impetuous steeds, im- 
 pressed a universal conviction that this figure also was 
 artificial ; but the living reality was conveyed in the 
 most startling manner, when, at the full height of his 
 ascent, he suddenly raised his right arm to lash a restive 
 courser. The effect baffles description. The entire 
 allegory may be pronounced the greatest triumph of 
 art ever exhibited on the stage.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 173 
 
 As the allegorical pictures dissolved, we found our- 
 selves transported to the palace of Polixenes, in Bithynia, 
 and thence to a road-side landscape, where we were in- 
 troduced to the merry knave Autolycus, in the practice 
 of his thieving vocation, derived from his father Mer- 
 cury ; his selected victim being the unsuspecting Clown. 
 An extensive pastoral scene succeeded, rich in the luxu- 
 riance of Eastern foliage, with a distant view of Nicaea, 
 the capital of Bithynia, on the lake Ascania. Nothing 
 could be more delightful than this complete change from 
 the gorgeous palatial magnificence of the earlier portion 
 of the play ; and in this contrast of sylvan, as opposed 
 to city life, with the appropriate dialogue and imagery 
 he has placed in the mouths of his new actors, the 
 endless variety of Shakespeare's genius is most beauti- 
 fully depicted. A dance of shepherds and shepherdesses 
 comes in so naturally, and was performed with such 
 exquisite grace, and a musical accompaniment so com- 
 pletely in harmony with the scene, that we almost 
 fancied ourselves in Arcadia during the golden age. 
 The feeling thus produced on the mind of the spectator, 
 is imbued with the refined sentiment gathered from the 
 contemplation of a landscape by Gainsborough, or the 
 Infant John of Murillo. From this delicious dream we 
 were roused by the boisterous merriment of the Dionysia, 
 or grand festival of the vintage, in honour of Bacchus, 
 executed by an overpowering mass of satyrs, men, 
 women, and children, in wild disguises, and with frantic 
 energy. There must have been at least three hundred 
 persons engaged in this revel of organized confusion, 
 which worked up to a maddening burst at the end, 
 when they all rushed out, presenting a perfect revivifica- 
 tion of Comus and his Bacchanalian crew. The act 
 terminated with the discovery of Polixenes, who had 
 attended the rustic festival in disguise ; his bitter denun-
 
 174 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 elation of the attachment of his son and heir, Florizel, 
 for the supposed shepherdess Perdita ; and the conse- 
 quent flight of the young lovers to Sicily, through the 
 agency of Camilla. 
 
 The fifth act is curtailed with infinite advantage, 
 and hastens rapidly to the conclusion. The garden of 
 Leontes, adapted from a drawing found at Herculaneum, 
 exhibited the bereaved monarch, bowed down more by 
 remorse than time, mourning the result of his madness, 
 which has left him alone in his guilt and fruitless 
 penitence. Florizel, Perdita, Camilla, and Polixenes 
 arrive in succession. The King discovers his lost 
 daughter, and the long-severed friends are reconciled. 
 But a crowning happiness is still in store for Leontes, 
 which he little deserves. Paulina invites him to her 
 mansion to look on a marvellous statue of his deceased 
 Queen. It is herself ; and instead of inanimate marble, 
 he embraces living forgiveness. This closing scene has 
 ever formed the great charm of the play. Mr. C. Kean 
 contrived to invest it with such imposing novelty, that 
 although it wound up a long series of extraordinary 
 effects, each rising above the other, it surpassed them 
 all. The procession by torchlight, the passing round the 
 peristyle within which the statue is placed, the grouping 
 when Hermione was discovered, the expression of 
 wonder at the first stir of her head, and the general 
 movement as the curtain falls, are all within the ample 
 list of his own stage improvements, and the result of 
 the unwearied study and research he brought to 
 bear on this captivating drama, from the beginning 
 to the end. 
 
 The action of the " Winter's Tale" turns entirely on 
 the sudden jealousy of Leontes. Shakespeare has 
 exhibited this overwhelming passion in three opposite 
 characters, and under very distinct aspects. With
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 175 
 
 comic extravagance in Ford, with progressing passion in 
 Othello, and with frenzied suddenness in Leontes. In the 
 latter instance he has been censured by methodical 
 critics, who accuse him of abruptly departing from 
 nature. The jealousy of Leontes, according to them, is 
 unskilfully imagined, in being so utterly baseless, and in 
 the little preparation with which the coming torrent 
 is presented in such overbearing rapidity to the 
 audience. He has no subtle poisoner, no lago to pervert 
 a mind easily excited. But before we question the 
 workings of jealousy, let us remember what the great 
 master says in another place of the nature of this 
 impulse, which he has depicted with such terrible 
 energy : 
 
 " Jealous souls are not ever jealous for the cause, 
 But jealous for they are jealous ; 'tis a monster, 
 Begot upon itself, born on itself." 
 
 Othello is gradually wrought upon by treachery ; 
 Leontes creates and feeds his own disease. When he 
 utters to himself the first words indicating that the fever 
 is on him " At my request he would not," with refer- 
 ence to the yielding of Polixenes to prolong his stay at 
 the entreaty of Hermione, and again when he says soon 
 after, 
 
 " Too hot, too hot ! 
 To mingle friendship far, is mingling bloods ;" 
 
 the audience wonder, and are unable to comprehend his 
 meaning unless prepared for it by something in his 
 previous deportment. Mr. C. Kean, with the compre- 
 hensive genius of a great actor, leads up to this from 
 the opening of the scene. The idea, which we never 
 observed to have been conveyed by any preceding 
 representative, appeared to the audience as original 
 as it was artistically executed. By Mr. Kean's arrange-
 
 176 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 ment of the stage, Hermione is seated at the foot of the 
 couch of Leontes, in earnest conversation with Potixenes, 
 their guest, who bends forward to address her. Leontes 
 anxiously watches them, as if his mind were already 
 disturbed by the suspicion of undue intimacy; and 
 when they descended to the front, after the conclusion 
 of the banquet, his manner of soliciting his friend to 
 remain, and his demeanour in their subsequent dialogue, 
 was at intervals cold though courteous, studied but not 
 warm, diplomatic more than affectionate, an effort of the 
 tongue rather than a desire of the heart. It told the 
 story of what was to come, and the profound study with 
 which the actor had mastered the subtle conception 
 of his author. In the following interview with Camilla, 
 when Leontes gives way entirely to the demon that 
 possesses him, the expression of Mr. Kean's eye, and 
 the rapid variation of his features, resembled the flash 
 which precedes the thunderbolt and heralds in the 
 approaching storm. 
 
 Throughout the second act, he sustained the torrent 
 of passion with unabated fervour ; and in the third, at 
 the trial, calmed down to a collected sternness of 
 manner, in tone with the solemnity of the proceedings. 
 His agony of remorse at the end, when the sudden 
 deaths of his wife and son are announced in quick 
 succession, and the total change in his deportment 
 from the stern despot to the stricken man, marked 
 the care and intelligence with which he felt and 
 threw out in strong variety, the multiplied shades of 
 the character. 
 
 Shakespeare has beautifully relieved this play, by the 
 pastoral episode which occupies the fourth act. In the 
 fifth, we return to the court of the bereaved monarch, 
 bereaved through his own mad intemperance. When 
 Mr. Kean came into his garden, broken in spirit, faded
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 177 
 
 in form, and prematurely old, the contrast he presented 
 to the manly vigour we had beheld in the earlier scenes, 
 again demonstrated the perfect mastery of the actor 
 over his art. His reception of Florizel and Perdita 
 was touchingly subdued, and the instinctive affection 
 with which he gazed on the lovely shepherdess prepared 
 the audience for the recognition. But Leontes has yet 
 another revulsion of feeling to undergo before his part is 
 over. From hopeless sorrow and unavailing repentance 
 he is raised to inexpressible happiness, by rinding that 
 the supposed statue of his long-mourned Queen is her 
 animated reality. Here the poet has given Leontes 
 little to say ; but he has left him a world of meaning to 
 convey by look and expressive gesture, more eloquent 
 than words. 
 
 What shall we say of Mrs. C. Kean's Hermione 
 whether in appearance, costume, manner, elocution, or 
 conception? It was exquisite throughout. The cha- 
 racter is thoroughly feminine, and divested of resentful 
 feelings. Even when her life is in imminent danger, 
 she grieves more for the " crown and comfort " of that 
 life, her lord's favour, and for the apprehension of a taint 
 on her fair fame, than for any dread of extreme punish- 
 ment. She has no angry feelings against Leontes, even 
 while he is destroying her. When Shakespeare drew 
 this and other enchanting ideals of physical and moral 
 perfection, he must have foreseen in poetical perspective 
 that a time would come when, instead of being imper- 
 sonated by youths, as in his ruder age, they would find 
 more congenial representatives in lovely and accomplished 
 women. 
 
 There is not the intense passion developed in Hermione 
 that characterises her more fiery husband ; but there is 
 equal variety of feeling, with superior grace, and the 
 added charm of innocence wrongfully accused. We 
 
 VOL. II. N
 
 178 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 cannot understand the criticism of Horace Walpole, 
 who considers that Shakespeare intended the " Winter's 
 Tale " as a sequel to " Henry the Eighth ;" and we are 
 still more confounded when we are told of the strong 
 similarity between Hermione and Katharine of Arragon. 
 Both are exposed to a trial, it is true, but under circum- 
 stances as distinct as their respective demeanour. In 
 the case of Katharine, the trial is a mere judicial pro- 
 ceeding for a divorce ; in that of Hermione, it is a solemn 
 indictment for life or death. These trials establish no 
 more relationship or comparison between the two heroines 
 than honest Fluxllen is able to make out between Alex- 
 ander the Great and Harry of Monmouth, on much the 
 same line of argument ; namely, that there is a river in 
 Macedon and another in Wales. 
 
 In the celebrated statue scene, which concludes the 
 play, Mrs. C. Kean's interpretation of the poet's meaning 
 differs entirely from that of her most eminent prede- 
 cessors. A graceful or imposing attitude has been often 
 assumed ; but she adopts that which accords exactly 
 with the language of the text. Leontes says : 
 
 " Oh, thus she stood, 
 Even with such life of majesty, 
 When first I woo'd her ! " 
 
 The position directly implied maiden bashfulness, listen- 
 ing to a favoured suitor ; and when, at the proper time, 
 she gently raised her head, and extended her right arm, 
 the action spoke, " Take me, I am yours," more emphati- 
 cally than words could have conveyed the sentiment. 
 The chisel of Phidias or Praxiteles never wrought an 
 effigy in marble to surpass the motionless beauty and 
 grace of this noble figure, motionless and still as air, 
 until summoned into life. Her manner of descending 
 from the pedestal, and her silent embrace of Leontes,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.4. 179 
 
 spoke returning affection more powerfully than could 
 have done a volume of words. 
 
 The youthful lovers, Florizel and Perdita, found 
 charming impersonators in Miss Heath and Miss C. 
 Leclercq, who looked, moved, and spoke as if they had 
 been born and bred in a sylvan paradise. When 
 Garrick revived the " Winter's Tale," he wrote and 
 introduced a song for Perdita, which was afterwards dis- 
 placed for another by Sheridan, not more suited to the 
 character and the play than the first. Taste in Shake- 
 speare has happily advanced far beyond the point when 
 the conceits and prettinesses of the Delia Cruscan 
 school of verse were considered as amongst the leading 
 attractions, in one of his most poetical and imaginative 
 plays. 
 
 The " Winter s Tale " continued to run without in- 
 terruption for one hundred and two nights, to the close 
 of the season, which took place on the 22d of August. 
 Early in July a light prelude, under the title of " Music 
 hath Charms," adapted from the French by Mr. D. 
 Fisher, of the Princess's company, varied the introduc- 
 tory performances. On the last night, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Kean were loudly called for, and received with reiterated 
 acclamations. Mr. Kean then came forward alone, and 
 spoke to the following effect : 
 
 " LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, In obeying your kind 
 summons, I take the opportunity of expressing my 
 deep sense of gratitude for the constant favour with 
 which you have received my efforts since I first entered 
 upon management a favour which has enabled me to 
 present to you some of the most beautiful creations of 
 the greatest of all poets, with a success and attrac- 
 tion unprecedented in the annals of the stage. Such 
 results convert the most hazardous risk into triumphant 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 certainty, and convince me that I have struck the right 
 chord in endeavouring to make the stage a correct embo- 
 diment of what is true, real, and picturesque. We have 
 now reached the last night of our season, and the one 
 hundred and second representation of the ' Winter's 
 Tale;' but I can scarcely say 'farewell,' as in a few 
 days I hope once more to bid you 'welcome.' On 
 Monday, the 1st of September, this theatre will re- 
 open, with a revival of Sheridan's play of ' Pizarro,' 
 with the same attention to details which have accom- 
 panied our previous series of historical illustrations. In 
 the meantime, Ladies and Gentlemen, on the part of 
 Mrs. Kean and myself, I beg to tender you our re- 
 spectful thanks and assurances of continued zeal in your 
 service." 
 
 It has seldom happened that an actor of Mr. C.Kean's 
 celebrity has been supported by a partner equal in ability 
 to himself. This rare union gives them an exclusive 
 advantage. The cry of Mr. Kean's detractors became 
 fainter and fainter, as every succeeding season more 
 firmly established his reputation. Still there were a few 
 who continued pertinaciously to bark, though no longer 
 able to bite, and whose malignity was at least equal to 
 their impotence. A little before the season closed, one 
 of these impartial critics was indulging, in a mixed com- 
 pany, in loud and general condemnation of the " Winter's 
 Tale," as produced and acted at the Princess's Theatre. 
 On being asked if he had seen it, and closely pressed 
 for an answer, after fencing as long as he could, he mut- 
 tered a hesitating "No." This short monosyllable 
 comprises a folio of commentary on the value of opinions 
 which are not unfrequently delivered on equally sound 
 foundations. 
 
 During the season which now terminated, twenty
 
 OF CiJARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 181 
 
 different pieces were acted, of which four only were 
 new. Out of two hundred and forty-nine acting 
 nights, one hundred and sixty-seven were devoted to 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 Before we close this chapter, the death of Madame 
 Vestris must be noticed, which took place on the night 
 of Friday, the 8th of August, 1856, at her residence, 
 Grove Lodge, Fulham, after a long and painful illness, 
 which had prevented her from appearing before the 
 public for more than two years. Her last appearance 
 was on the occasion of her husband's (Mr. C. Mathews) 
 benefit, at the Lyceum, on Wednesday, July 26th, 1854, 
 in " Sunshine through Clouds," a translation of Madame 
 de Orirardin's play, " La Joie fait Peur." She was the 
 daughter of the well-known engraver, Bartolozzi, and 
 at the age of sixteen married M. Arniand Vestris, at 
 that time principal dancer and ballet-master at the 
 King's Theatre in the Haymarket. Very soon after her 
 marriage, in the year 1816, being an accomplished 
 musician and linguist, she came out as Proserpina, in 
 the Italian opera of " II Hatto di Proserpina." The 
 age of professional persons who have been long before 
 the public is invariably exaggerated. This was particu- 
 larly the case with Madame Vestris ; a strange pro- 
 pensity in human nature, which delights in making our 
 friends and contemporaries older than they really are, for- 
 getting that if time gallops with them, it is not likely 
 to amble gently with ourselves. But the weakness 
 originates in the vanity which many give way to, of 
 deducting a goodly decade or so from the sum total of 
 their own register. 
 
 Not producing the effect that was expected, Madame 
 Vestris accompanied her husband to Paris, and played 
 for some time in tragedy and comedy in the French 
 language, of which she was a perfect mistress. Sepa-
 
 182 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 rating from M. Vestris, she returned to England in 1819. 
 She engaged with Elliston, at that time manager of 
 Drury Lane, and shortly after established her fame in 
 a burlesque of Mozart's grand opera, called " Giovanni 
 in London," in which she, as the hero, and Harley as 
 Leporello, created an extraordinary sensation. From 
 that time she continued a leading favourite in the light 
 range of the drama, both at Co vent Garden and Drury 
 Lane, until in 1829 she became lessee of the Olympic 
 Theatre, which she speedily transformed into one of the 
 most fashionable temples of the dramatic art in London 
 a perfect theatrical boudoir. 
 
 In the year 1838, Madame Vestris, whose first hus- 
 band had died in 1825, married Mr. Charles Mathews, 
 and, leaving the Olympic under the management of Mr. 
 Planche", they started immediately for America. The 
 stars of the Olympic made but a slight impression on 
 Cousin Jonathan, and returned to England in 1839, in 
 the September of which year they entered on the lessee- 
 ship of Covent Garden. Here Madame Vestris introduced 
 the system of furnishing the drawing-rooms of modern 
 comedy with the sumptuous elegance of the saloons of 
 the nobility. But the plan was too expensive for the 
 receipts, although the company comprised a host of 
 talent, and the best writers were retained to supply a 
 constant succession of novelty. The lessees retired with 
 a heavy loss at the end of their third season, in April, 
 1842. In 1847 they opened the Lyceum, where the old 
 Olympic revels were revived, and many of the former 
 actors and authors once more rallied under their former 
 standard. Madame Vestris played several new parts of 
 importance ; but latterly, as her strength began to fail, 
 she principally confined herself to the direction of the 
 stage, and the charge of the wardrobe, in both of which 
 departments she evinced extraordinary taste and talent.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 183 
 
 Her name will long be remembered as one of the most 
 attractive actresses and agreeable singers of her day. 
 Her peculiar excellences lay in a natural ease, grace- 
 fulness, and vivacity, without apparent effort; in the 
 elegance of her costumes; and in her scrupulous adhe- 
 rence to the text of the author, even in the lightest of 
 farces or interludes.
 
 184 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SEVENTH SEASON UNDER MR. C. KEAN'S MANAGEMENT, AT THE PRINCESS* S 
 THEATRE REVIVAL OP SHERIDAN'S PIZARRO, WITH ALTERATIONS AND 
 ADDITIONS PREFATORY NOTICE DIFFERENT OPINIONS AS TO THE 
 LITERARY MERIT OF THE PLAY MR. AND MRS. C. KEAN AS ROLLA AND 
 ELVIRA HISTORICAL MISTAKE OF KILLING PIZARRO IN THE ORIGINAL 
 PLAY GREAT SUCCESS OF THE PRESENT REVIVAL, SIXTY-EIGHT 
 REPETITIONS NEXT SHAKESPEAREAN PERFORMANCE A MIDSUMMER 
 NIGHT'S DREAM EARLY ALTERATIONS OF THIS PLAY GARRICK'S OPERA 
 IN 1763 THE FAIRIES REPRESENTED BY CHILDREN COLMAN's ADAP- 
 TATION IN 1777 REYNOLDS'S MUSICAL VERSION AT COVENT GARDEN 
 IN 1816 MADAM VESTRIS'S REVIVAL AT COVENT GARDEN, AND MR. 
 PHELPS'S AT SADLER'S WELLS BOTH EXCELLENT MR. c. KEAN'S RESTO- 
 RATION OF THE ORIGINAL PLAY RUNS FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY 
 NIGHTS DURING THE FIRST TWO SEASONS THE ROSE OF AMIENS, A 
 COMEDY IN TWO ACTS, AND THE PANTOMIME OF ALADDIN, BOTH BY MR. 
 J. M. MORTON. 
 
 MR. C. KEAN'S seventh season commenced on Monday, 
 September 1st, 1856, after a short recess of one week 
 only. On this occasion, he revived Sheridan's adapta- 
 tion of Kotzebue's " Pizarro," a play that enjoyed great 
 reputation in its day, but had not been acted in London 
 for many years. The subject was entirely new to the 
 present generation. The reasons for this selection were 
 set forth by Mr. Kean in the following preface, ap- 
 pended to the play-bills, and newly printed edition : 
 
 " The success which has attended a series of historical 
 illustrations at the Princess's Theatre, can leave no reason- 
 able doubt that public taste approves this description of 
 entertainment. In compliance, therefore, with an opinion 
 so unequivocally conveyed, I have sought for a fresh 
 chapter in the pages of the past, which may combine
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 185 
 
 with the revival of a popular play, appertaining to a 
 deeply interesting period, much that is novel in the 
 accompanying arrangements. 
 
 " Heretofore, with the exception of ' Sardanapalus/ 
 the subjects have been chosen from the creations of 
 Shakespeare. In the present instance, I have selected 
 the well-known drama of ' Pizarro/ for the purpose of 
 exemplifying the customs, ceremonies, and religion of 
 Peru at the time of the Spanish invasion. 
 
 " The discovery of the Western hemisphere, by Chris- 
 topher Columbus (the most astounding achievement in 
 the annals of human enterprise), opened a way to the 
 numerous successors of that illustrious pioneer, who 
 penetrated region after region of the vast continent, 
 eager for conquest and for gain. 
 
 " Europe received the startling intelligence, that in- 
 stead of being occupied by tribes of rude and ignorant 
 savages, Mexico and Peru teemed -with millions of 
 humanized beings, far advanced in civilization, power, 
 and refinement. 
 
 " In fact, ' Pizarro ' and his followers had found the 
 Kingdom of the Incas inhabited by an industrious, disci- 
 plined population, united under the sway of a paternal 
 government, possessing numerous works of art, and 
 many national memorials. While nature appeared to 
 revel in her grandest and most picturesque aspect, the 
 land abounded with precious gems and metals to such 
 an extent, that amidst the gardens of temples and 
 palaces, trees and plants of gold and silver, most exqui- 
 sitely manufactured, stood intermingled with natural 
 productions. Birds of the same costly materials were 
 seen upon the artificial branches, and the interior of the 
 great Temple of the Sun, the most magnificent struc- 
 ture in the new world, was probably unsurpassed in the 
 richness of its decorations by any building in the old.
 
 186 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 " In the production of ' Sardanapalus/ in 1853, I 
 availed myself of the discoveries of Layard and Botta, to 
 place before the public a restoration of one of the 
 earliest cities enrolled in the world's record. On the 
 present occasion, I venture to hope that a correspond- 
 ing interest may be excited by the revival of an epoch 
 equally wonderful, although dating little more than 
 three hundred years antecedent to the present time. 
 
 " By the recent excavations in Assyria, entombed 
 races were raised before the eyes of the living ; while 
 through the adventurous and unscrupulous spirit of the 
 Spanish conquerors of America, in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, vast nations, buried in obscurity, unknowing and 
 unknown, were revealed in active existence, occupied 
 with the pursuits of cultivated life. We read, with sur- 
 prise mingled with awe, of an extensive empire, whose 
 mysterious origin is lost in the labyrinth of ages, con- 
 fined within its own limits, seeking no external inter- 
 course; of a people dwelling in towns and hamlets, 
 clustered amidst orchards and gardens, constructing 
 canals and subterraneous aqueducts, carrying roads 
 over plains and across mountains, forming beautiful 
 terraces on the sides of the Cordilleras, which bloomed 
 with every variety of vegetation ; rich in flocks, that 
 supplied garments of the finest M'ool, victims for the 
 altar, and viands for the banquet ; erecting palaces for 
 their Incas, and temples for their God, with a profusion 
 of wealth within the walls that almost rival the marvels 
 of Arabian fable; and what is most remarkable, enjoy- 
 ing the intellectual and refined amusement of a poetical 
 drama ! 
 
 " In adapting the selected play to the purposes of 
 historical illustration, passages have been abbreviated 
 which appeared unimportant, and several additions 
 made to carry out the object chiefly in view. For
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 187 
 
 instance, at the close, of the third act, I have introduced 
 the principal square of the city during the grand festival 
 of Raymi, the most magnificent and imposing of all the 
 Peruvian religious ceremonies, which was solemnized 
 with feasting, dancing, music, and song. On this occa- 
 sion, when the Grand Luminary was worshipped as a 
 visible god, chiefs, princes, and people, male and female, 
 of every rank, assembled in countless multitudes, and 
 marched in procession variously attired. Some wore the 
 skins of animals, some appeared as angels, with wings 
 of the condor, some in horrible masks threw them- 
 selves into postures like maniacs, while others displayed 
 their characteristic ornaments and warlike arms. High 
 above the joyous crowd, borne on the shoulders of his 
 subjects and seated in his golden chair, came the 
 monarch, prepared to pour out the consecrated wine as 
 a libation to the deity. All advanced to greet with 
 profound admiration the rising sun, which, having 
 arrived at the farthest point of its meridianal career, 
 began to retrace its course to the north. Long and 
 loud were the shouts of joy, songs of triumph, and 
 bursts of clamorous music, when the first rays gilded 
 the summits of the neighbouring mountain range, and 
 the excited multitude inhaled the atmosphere impreg- 
 nated with light. As we possess little information 
 respecting ' Quito ' (the place named by the dramatist), 
 the interior of the temple, in the second act, and the 
 view of the city in the third, are taken from the de- 
 scriptions so amply given of ' Cuzco/ the ancient capital 
 of the empire, once the scene of so much glory and 
 magnificence. 
 
 " The Indian airs introduced into the music are 
 founded on melodies published in Rivero and Tschudi's 
 work on ' Peruvian Antiquities/ as handed down to us 
 by the Spaniards after their conquest.
 
 188 THE LIFE AND TIIEATKICAL TIMES 
 
 " By the revival of ' Pizarro,' long known as a most 
 attractive play, I cannot but think that a wide field is 
 afforded for the introduction of that historical detail 
 which lends new interest to theatrical art. The present 
 age demands that all dramatic representations must of 
 necessity be accompanied by a certain selection of 
 scenery, dresses, and music. The public voice has 
 justified me in deciding that truth in these matters is 
 preferable to inaccuracy. Hence I conclude, that when 
 an appropriate opportunity is embraced of blending in- 
 struction with amusement, when the mind may be 
 informed while the eye is gratified, the drama is not 
 likely to lose or be degraded by the attempted associa- 
 tion." 
 
 "Pizarro" was first acted at Drury Lane, on the 24th 
 of May, 1799 ; too late in the season for the necessary 
 run, which ended on the thirty-first night when the 
 theatre closed. Neither duns from without, nor the 
 bankrupt state of the exchequer, could rouse Sheridan 
 to finish the play in time. He was unacquainted with 
 German, and worked from previous English transla- 
 tions of Kotzebue, of which there were three or four,* 
 although none had been acted. The literary pretensions 
 of "Pizarro" are certainly not of a high order, and 
 have been reduced by some writers to a contemptible 
 standard. A story is told that, during the season when the 
 " Castle Spectre " filled the exhausted treasury of Drury 
 Lane, Sheridan and Monk Lewis (as he was called), the 
 author, had some dispute in the green-room, when the 
 latter offered, in confirmation of his arguments, to bet 
 Mr. S. all the money which the " Castle Spectre " had 
 brought, that he was right. " No," replied the manager, 
 " I cannot afford to bet so much as that; but I will tell 
 * By Miss Plumptre, M. 0. Lewis, and Heron.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 189 
 
 you what I will do, I'll bet you all it is worth." The 
 witticism was as rich as it was ungrateful, and might 
 have justified a similar retort from the Monk in the 
 case of " Pizarro." Between the two plays it would be 
 difficult to settle the point of inferiority. 
 
 No speech was ever better calculated to entrap 
 applause than Rollas address to the soldiers, which 
 is entirely Sheridan's, and not in the original. It 
 was evidently intended as a taking reference to 
 the war with the French Republic, and a philippic 
 against the principles of the Revolution ; yet nothing 
 is said which might not with equal propriety be 
 addressed to an army of Peruvians. Such was the 
 popularity of this tragedy, that the King, George III., 
 could not resist his desire to see it. He had ceased 
 to visit Drury Lane for several years. Many causes 
 have been assigned for his absence from that particular 
 theatre, some sufficiently absurd ; such as a personal 
 dislike to Sheridan, because he was a Whig, a partisan 
 of Fox, and an intimate associate of the Prince of 
 Wales ; but the most probable reason was, that he had 
 commanded two pieces, which, on account of the com- 
 plicated machinery, could not be acted on the same 
 evening, unless he should wait two or three hours 
 between the play and the farce. The intimation of 
 the difficulty was given in a manner not considered as 
 consonant with court etiquette. 
 
 The juniors of the present generation who had 
 never seen " Pizarro " until now, had often heard their 
 fathers speak of John Kemble and Mrs. Siddons in 
 Rolla and Elvira ; of the glories of the Temple of the 
 Sun, and of the peals of applause that attended the 
 delivery of the Peruvian leader's far-famed oration to 
 his army. There was fine acting in those days, and 
 splendour and scenic pageantry, too, after a certain
 
 190 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 fashion; but there was little attempt at historical 
 truth ; no multitudes to fill the stage, no studied 
 groupings, and no complicated action, in which every 
 supernumerary engaged had a part to play, as essen- 
 tial to the completeness of the general picture, as the 
 imposing attitudes and declamation of the hero or 
 heroine. Instead of addressing an assembled nation, 
 Rolla spoke to some dozen and a half of discharged 
 veterans, who reminded the audience of the Pope's 
 body-guard, described by Voltaire as old ladies who 
 mount guard with umbrellas, and make war on 
 nobody. They stood on each side of the stage, ranged 
 in single file, with changeless aspects, and shouted 
 feebly at the close of the general's harangue, without 
 movement of limb or feature. Pizarro's tent, with 
 which the play opened, resembled the gorgeous pavi- 
 lion of a Persian satrap, and was large enough for the 
 residence of Tippoo Saib and his harem. There lay 
 Elvira on a sumptuous sofa, with a regal tiara, an 
 embroidered robe, and an interminable train of crimson 
 velvet, which swept the stage as she rose and moved 
 across with measured, queen-like steps. In the German 
 play, Elvira is habited as a page, in male attire, but this 
 was a dress that Mrs. Siddons refused to wear. "We 
 remember, too, the lasting impression made on our 
 boyish fancy by the miraculous transit of a ball of 
 lighted tow, which descended upon the altar, in the 
 temple scene, by means of an invisible wire ; and how 
 Rolla, to bribe the sentinel, produced from under his 
 cloak a modern red-morocco jewel-case, similar to 
 that which ladies lay upon their dressing-tables. 
 There were many other monstrous incongruities, but 
 they passed without notice, for the age had not then 
 been impressed with the conviction that " truth in such 
 matters of detail was preferable to inaccuracy."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 191 
 
 The most objectionable point in the original arrange- 
 ment of the play, was the ill-contrived and almost 
 ludicrous manner in which retributive justice was 
 dealt on Pizarro, who, after being bullied through five 
 acts by Alonzo, Elvira and Holla, in succession, was 
 killed unfairly in the end ; as Person commemorates 
 in his amusing parody : 
 
 " Four acts are tol, lol ; but the fifth's my delight, 
 Where history's trac'd with the pen of a Varro ; 
 And Elvira in black and Alonzo in white 
 Put an end to the piece by killing Pizarro." 
 
 It is but just to the memory of Kotzebue to remark 
 that this gross departure from historical fact was a 
 gratuitous interpolation by Sheridan, a compliance with 
 what was then the prevailing taste of the play-going 
 public, dragged in to excite the plaudits of the gallery, 
 and to foreshadow the fate of the invader with whom 
 England was menaced. Every schoolboy might have 
 known and remembered that Pizarro lived to con- 
 quer Peru, and was finally assassinated in his viceregal 
 palace at Lima, by the son and friend of his early 
 associate, Almagro, whom he had executed some 
 years before. The omission of this fictitious episode 
 in Mr. Kean's new arrangement, removed what had 
 always been considered an impediment and error, by 
 continuing the action after the death of Rolla. It 
 was a skilful exercise of the callida junctura which 
 denoted clear critical perception, and sound managerial 
 judgment. 
 
 A comparison between Mr. C. Kean's printed ver- 
 sion, and the earlier one of Sheridan, will show at once 
 the value and amount of the alterations and introduc- 
 tions. The most important of the latter are the mili- 
 tary chorus, and march of the Spanish troops at the
 
 192 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 end of the first act, and the grand Peruvian festival 
 of Raymi, which winds up the third. The gradual 
 approach of the rising sun, \vith the effect of the 
 expanding beams in this scene, and the earlier one of 
 the sacrifice in the temple, was gorgeous, imposing, 
 and novel beyond all precedent. The return of the 
 Peruvian army in triumph from the battle, with the 
 accompanying gratulations of their wives and children, 
 suggested reminiscences of the recent national demon- 
 stration, when the surviving heroes of the Guards, on 
 their return from the Crimea, marched through the 
 streets of London. The management of Rolla's 
 escape with Cora's child, was another point that 
 utterly bewildered the audience. Instead of the old- 
 fashioned mode of cutting down a rustic bridge, that 
 looked as if arranged for the purpose, he swung 
 himself by the pendent branch of a tree across a tre- 
 mendous chasm, and being mortally struck by the 
 musketry of the Spanish soldiers, in the passage, was 
 seen staggering through the rocks and glades until he 
 disappeared in the distance, the effect of perspective 
 being carried out by a duplicate figure of smaller 
 size, which gave rise to endless conjectures and argu- 
 ments as to how this optical delusion could be 
 contrived. 
 
 Mrs. C. Kean could never have seen Mrs. Siddons 
 in Elvira, or she might have involuntarily moulded 
 her conception upon that of such an illustrious prede- 
 cessor. This fortunately was impossible, and has given 
 us an original portraiture, instead of an imposing 
 copy. Mrs. Siddons looked and moved the tragedy 
 queen, with an innate air of regality she could never 
 entirely forget. She was stately, grand, impressive, 
 tremendous ; but she lacked flexibility, and it was 
 difficult to associate with her the idea that she was a
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F S.A. 193 
 
 being who could be led by ardent feeling into a position 
 of subserviency to a spirit inferior to her own. Mrs. 
 C. Kean was more like a warm-hearted, impulsive 
 woman, governed by excited imagination, more full of 
 feminine sympathy, and, if we may be permitted to 
 carry out the antithetical comparison, less fearful, but 
 more agreeable. In her hands the character became 
 softened without being rendered weak. She represented 
 Elvira as goaded and perverted by insult rather than 
 by injury. The distinction is as true to nature, as it is 
 clearly conveyed. "I have suffered at the hands of 
 Pizarro," she says to Rolla, " as deeply as scorn and 
 insult can infuse their deadly wounds." Her demeanour 
 and conduct bear out what Junius has so truthfully 
 laid down as an axiom in the complications of the 
 human heart : " Injuries may be atoned for and for- 
 given, but insults admit of no compensation; they 
 degrade the mind in its own esteem, and force it to 
 recover its level by revenge.'* 
 
 Rolla is a more amiable stage creation. He may 
 be unnaturally perfect, but he is infinitely interesting. 
 He moves through the play the cynosure of universal 
 admiration. Every eye looks on him with delight, and 
 every ear greedily catches his accents. How angry we 
 feel with Cora for her preference of the comparatively 
 tame Alonzo. Mr. C. Kean appeared to great advan- 
 tage in this noble impersonation, than which nothing 
 could be more opposite to his Wolsey, Hamlet, or Louis 
 the Eleventh. He, too, like his accomplished partner, 
 must have studied exclusively from his own ideas. 
 John Kemble died long before he became an actor, and 
 Young, the legitimate successor of the first Rolla, retired 
 while Charles Kean was yet in his early novitiate. Rolla 
 was never amongst his father's acknowledged characters, 
 and, on the few occasions when he performed it in 
 
 VOL. II.
 
 194 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 London, the play was either slurred over, or cooked up 
 in a hurry for a benefit. 
 
 Pizarro is one of those thankless tyrants who require 
 an imposing appearance, with a dauntless, determined 
 bearing ; a type of selfish ambition, as opposed to disin- 
 terested patriotism. A more faithful reflection of this 
 stern warrior could not have been given than by Mr. 
 Ryder. Cooper was impressive in Orozembo ; and Miss 
 Heath displayed much tenderness in Cora. The scenery 
 reflected the highest credit on Mr. Grieve and his able 
 assistants. The glowing luxuriance and warmth of South 
 American vegetation were transferred to the canvas with 
 the delicate finish of the richest cabinet painting. 
 
 On the 15th of October, 1856, before the attraction of 
 " Pizarro" had begun to wane, " A Midsummer Night's 
 Dream/' was produced. This beautiful emanation of 
 Shakespeare's fancy may be considered, perhaps, the 
 most exquisite specimen of graceful, imaginative, and 
 harmonious composition that the mind of a great poet 
 has ever conceived, or his pen transmitted to posterity. 
 The prying investigation of commentators has tortured 
 itself in vain attempts to discover any direct source or 
 popular story from whence Shakespeare derived or con- 
 structed his drama. All that they have been able to 
 burrow out amounts to the coincidence of a few names 
 which have been met with before, and a very slight 
 similarity between his fairies and those introduced in 
 Michael Drayton's fantastical poem of "Nymphidia." 
 These frivolous disparagements have been hypercritically 
 set forward to detract from the original conception of 
 the most universal and discursive genius ever enclosed 
 within a human form ; a genius which, with the swift- 
 ness of thought, could traverse and surpass the bound- 
 aries of the universe, control space and time, and in the 
 words of his own Puck, " put a girdle round about the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 195 
 
 earth in forty minutes." When Shakespeare wrote for 
 the emergencies of the theatre, he borrowed his subjects 
 from familiar tales, legends, or chronicles; when he 
 composed from pure inspiration and poetic impulse, he 
 drew upon his own exhaustless invention. 
 
 Garrick, when he revived "A Midsummer Night's 
 Dream " at Drury Lane, in 1 763, omitted many of the 
 most poetical passages, which are so profusely scattered 
 through the play that they supply more standard quota- 
 tions than almost any other single production of the 
 same author. The manager also supposed that as fairies 
 are generally associated with the idea of tiny, diminu- 
 tive elves, it would be a happy thought to have Oberon, 
 Titania, and their attendant courts and familiars, repre- 
 sented by small children. The conception was a mis- 
 take, and the experiment a failure. The piece, thus 
 metamorphosed, was acted only once, to a thin Novem- 
 ber audience who were cold and drowsy. Respect for 
 Shakespeare kept them silent, but that silence also 
 induced them to follow the example of the four lovers, 
 who in one scene are all discovered lying fast asleep on 
 the stage. Shakespeare has endowed the fairy monarch 
 and his queen with the language, feelings, sentiments, 
 passions, and jealousies of matured humanity. They 
 speak, think, and act like real men and women, remind- 
 ing us of Cupid, no longer the mythological infant, but 
 the lover and husband of Psyche. None of the attributes 
 given to them could be adequately conveyed through the 
 puerile organs of childhood. Consistency might to a 
 certain extent be imparted to the eye, but it was lost to 
 the intelligence. Shakespeare's fairies delight in the 
 moonlight revel on the noiseless grass; they are shadowy, 
 etherial, bright, elastic essences, gifted with supernatural 
 power and refinement, continually mixing themselves up 
 with the affairs of mortals ; but we cannot figure them 
 
 02
 
 196 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 to our minds as bearing any resemblance to the lilli- 
 putian, household imps, so inseparably connected with 
 our nursery fables and recollections. 
 
 It has been said, too, that the play is deficient in 
 dramatic interest ; that the lovers are tame, and that 
 Theseus and Hippolyta do nothing. Assuredly it is not 
 intended to embody a history of deep, concentrated 
 passion. There is no design of harrowing up the soul, 
 and of conveying the fearful lessons which are taught 
 bv " Othello," " Macbeth," or Lear/' To look for 
 violent, conflicting action, and collision of opposite cha- 
 racter, where the scene passes the boundaries of common 
 nature, and the chief actors are etherialized beings, 
 flitting through boundless space, is to expect them where 
 they can never be found, except in the in congruous tales 
 of eastern enchantment. The interest and incidents 
 of Shakespeare's play amply suffice for the purpose in 
 view, and he has combined them with the hand of a 
 great master, and with skilful variety to produce what 
 he designed, a fairy drama, A Midsummer Night's 
 Dream. If the mortals introduced had been rendered 
 more prominent than the mythological agents, the entire 
 construction and object of the play would have been 
 subverted. Shakespeare knew better than his critics 
 when, where, and how to bring his resources together, 
 and to balance them so as to preserve that just harmony 
 of proportion, which marks one of the most delicate 
 distinctions between ordinary ability and exalted genius. 
 
 Very few of Shakespeare's immortalities have been 
 so unmercifully subjected to the transmuting process 
 of the crucible as the "Midsummer Night's Dream." 
 As far back as the return of Charles II. (in 1661), a 
 comic actor named Cox, celebrated for a peculiar class 
 of drolls and farces, added this magnificent conception 
 to the list of his mummeries, or rather a part of it, under
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 197 
 
 the title of the " Humours of Bottom the Weaver." 
 About thirty years later (1692) it became an opera, and 
 was called the " Fairy Queen." In 1716, a drunken 
 bass singer, Leveridge by name, changed it into a 
 masque, entitled, " Pyramus and Thisbe," from which 
 it became a mock opera in 1745, the music being sup- 
 plied by a composer named Lampe. Ten years later, 
 Garrick produced it as " The Fairies," with Italian 
 singers. Colnian repeated a similar experiment in 
 1777 ; and, in 1816, it was presented as a musical play 
 at Coveut Garden, with alterations and additions by 
 Frederic Reynolds. The interpolations of the last-named 
 writer, wound up with a grand pageant, commemorative 
 of the triumphs of Theseus / which same triumphs have 
 no more connexion with the incidents and progress of 
 the original drama, than a panorama of the battle of 
 Waterloo. Theseus himself is only a subordinate pivot, 
 or indicated point to connect the story. During Madame 
 Vestris's management at Covent Garden, the true 
 Shakespearean version WPS restored, proving one of her 
 most attractive cards. Mr. Phelps also included it in 
 his list at Sadler's Wells. The two latter restorations 
 deserve to be mentioned in terms of the highest praise ; 
 they were steps in the right direction, although the 
 palm of superiority must be assigned to the still more 
 recent revival by Mr. Kean, of which we are now 
 speaking. 
 
 In the "Midsummer Night's Dream," which is 
 almost exclusively a creation of fancy, there is scarcely 
 any scope for that illustrative and historical accuracy, 
 or for that classical research, so peculiarly identified 
 with Mr. Kean's system of management, and with which 
 his name had now become almost synonymous : never- 
 theless, he availed himself of the few opportunities 
 afforded by the subject, of carrying out his favourite
 
 198 
 
 plan. So little is known of Greek manners and archi- 
 tecture in the time of Theseus, twelve hundred years 
 before the Christian era, and so probable is it that the 
 buildings were of the rudest form, that any attempt to 
 represent them on the stage would have failed in the 
 intended object of profitable instruction. Holding 
 himself, for these reasons, " unfettered with regard to 
 chronology," Mr. Kean presented ancient Athens to us, 
 in the opening scene, at the culminating period of its 
 magnificence, " as it would have appeared to one of its 
 own inhabitants at a time when it had attained its 
 greatest splendour in literature and art." His scho- 
 lastic taste took advantage of the specified scene of 
 action, to place before the eyes of the spectators, on the 
 rising of the curtain, a restored view of that famous 
 city, " standing in its pride and glory," which excited the 
 spontaneous sympathy, and called up some of the earliest 
 and deepest impressions of every educated mind. We 
 saw, on the hill of the Acropolis, the far-famed Par- 
 thenon, the Erichtheum, and the statue of the tutelary 
 goddess Minerva, or Athena ; by its side the theatre of 
 Bacchus ; in advance, the temple of Jupiter Olympus, 
 partially hiding the hall of the Museum ; and on the 
 right, the temple of Theseus. The view also included 
 the summit of that memorable eminence, " from whence 
 the words of sacred truth were first promulgated to the 
 Athenian citizens by apostolic inspiration." 
 
 Nothing could exceed the consistent harmony with 
 which all the varied elements of the play were blended 
 together. The introduction to the haunt of the super- 
 natural beings ; the first appearance of Oberon and 
 Titania, with their attendant trains ; the noiseless foot- 
 steps of the dance on the moonlit greensward, with the 
 shadowed reflection of every rapid and graceful move- 
 ment; the wood peopled with its innumerable fairy
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S A. 199 
 
 legions, whose voices lull their queen to sleep upon a 
 bank of flowers ; the melodious music composed by 
 Mendelssohn to the words of the author, in a strain 
 and tone of feeling in intimate sympathy with the 
 subject ; the perpetual change of scene and incident ; 
 the shifting diorama ; the beams of the rising sun glit- 
 tering on the leaves ; the gradual dispersion of the mist, 
 discovering the fairy guardians, light and brilliant as 
 gossamer, grouped around the unconsciously sleeping 
 mortals; the dazzling magnificence of the palace of 
 Theseus at the close, thronged on every staircase, 
 balustrade and corridor, with myriads of aerial beings, 
 who join in an unseen and unheard epithalamiutn on 
 the mortal inmates who have retired to rest; these, in 
 an endless succession of skilfully-blended, pictorial, 
 mechanical, and musical effects, overpowered the facul- 
 ties of the spectators with the influence of an enchanting 
 vision. AVritten description can convey but a faint idea 
 of the glowing, animated reality. The monotonous 
 feelings of every-day life were forgotten, and we woke 
 after a three hours' journey into another world, as if 
 from the recollection of a delicious dream. What more 
 convincing evidence could be given of the potency of the 
 spell than a mention of the fact that " A Midsummer 
 Night's Dream " was repeated for one hundred and fifty 
 nights during this and the following season. 
 
 The actors ought not to be forgoten. The play contains 
 no character suited to the abilities of Mr. and Mrs. C. 
 Kean. Theseus of Athens, and Hippolyta, his Amazonian 
 queen, take the lead amongst the human personages. 
 Hijipolyta says little,while Theseus has only to look heroic, 
 and speak some fine passages of poetry, never omitted 
 in selections from the " beauties of Shakespeare." Both 
 were splendidly impersonated by Miss Murray and 
 Mr. Ryder. Miss Heath and Miss Bufton, a* Helena,
 
 200 THE LIFE AND THEATKICAL TIMES 
 
 and Hermia, were beautiful to gaze upon. Miss Fanny 
 Ternan made a highly successful first appearance as 
 Oberon, and Miss Carlotta Leclercq acquitted herself 
 with bewitching grace as Titania, the Fairy Queen. 
 The progress of this young lady may be quoted as a 
 remarkable evidence of the excellent training of the 
 Princess's Theatre. In six years, from a member of 
 the corps de ballet, she became one of the most accom- 
 plished and versatile comic actresses of the present 
 day. Another presented itself in the precocious talent 
 of Miss Ellen Terry, a child of eight years of age, who 
 played the merry goblin, Puck, a part that requires 
 an old head on young shoulders, with restless elfish 
 animation, and an evident enjoyment of her own mis- 
 chievous pranks. For Bottom and his brother operatives, 
 the " hard-handed " men of Athens, who gratify their 
 own vanity and amuse their superiors with the tragic 
 mirth of " Pyramus and Thisbe," we had Harley, 
 F. Matthews, Meadows, Saker, and F. Cooke. These 
 rich comedians carried off the underplot and relief of 
 the play with exquisite fooling. Harley in particular, 
 presented a variety in the line of originals in which that 
 worthy scion of the old school had long been without a 
 rival. His acting was, in fact, a school of itself which 
 baffled imitation and died with its master. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 18th of November, an amusing and 
 well-constructed after-piece, in two acts, was produced, 
 entitled " Our Wife ; or the Rose of Amiens ;" in this 
 we recognized an adaptation (by Mr. J. M. Morton) 
 from a French operatic play, acted in Paris some six- 
 teen years ago, at the Opera Comique, called " La 
 Rose de Peronne," but not until now transplanted to 
 the London stage. The experienced English dramatist 
 condensed his materials with good taste and skill. Our 
 volatile neighbours, in the intricacies and ingenuities
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 201 
 
 of plot, and the combination of unexpected effects, 
 possess a certain superiority of constructive art which 
 we readily imitate and acknowledge, but seldom equal. 
 Yet mixed up with their best plays there is usually 
 some leading objection on the score of morality, some- 
 thing that offends English propriety and delicacy ; a 
 series of calamities arising from the eccentric indul- 
 gence of unsanctioned passion. Writers of this per- 
 suasion appear to think that an audience cannot be 
 excited except by strong pictures of depravity and 
 representations of " three piled " vice, which, for the 
 honour of human nature, we hope and believe to be the 
 exceptions rather than the rule. Hence the outcry 
 which always accompanies the production of a drama 
 of this class, although sometimes without diminishing 
 its attraction. For a nation that professes decorum, 
 and winces at immorality, we should be a little more 
 consistent. The moral poison of the Dame aux Came- 
 lias was refused a licence when presented in sturdy 
 out-spoken English ; but when by alchemic process it 
 became transmuted into Italian melody, it was per- 
 mitted to diffuse itself without let or limit. In the 
 " Rose of Amiens " there was no taint of this besetting 
 sin. All was light, humorous, entertaining, exciting, 
 and interesting, without a line in the dialogue or an. 
 inference in the plot and action, that could offend even 
 an audience of puritans. This pleasant little comedy 
 commanded thirty-three repetitions, and was only laid 
 aside for the pantomime, founded this year on the old 
 Arabian Nights' tale of " Aladdin and the Wonderful 
 Lamp."
 
 202 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 REVIVAL OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND BT MR. C. KEAN PREVIOUS AL- 
 TERATIONS OF THIS PLAY, BY TATE, THEOBALD, AND WROUGHTON INVA- 
 RIABLE WANT OF ATTRACTION ATTRIBUTED TO THE ESSENTIALLY UN- 
 DRAMATIC NATURE OF THE SUBJECT EDMUND KEAN IN RICHARD THE 
 
 SECOND, AT DRURY LANE, IN 1815 MACREADY, IN THE SAME PART, AT 
 
 THE HAYMARKET, IN 1851 SUMMARY OF THE PLAY, AND NEW EFFECTS, 
 AS PRODUCED BY MR. C. KEAN HIS ACTING AS THE KING MRS. C. KEAN 
 AS THE QUEEN THE PLAY RUNS FOR EIGHTY-FIVE NIGHTS WITHOUT IN- 
 TERMISSION GENERAL REMARKS REVIVAL OF THE TEMPEST CLOSE 
 OF THE SEASON TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO SHAKESPEAREAN 
 REPRESENTATIONS. 
 
 JOHN, Duke of Maryborough, a man of action rather 
 than a reader, and of very limited education, was often 
 heard to say that he derived his chief knowledge of his- 
 tory from witnessing the representations of Shakespeare's 
 plays. Yet in his day he could only have seen the 
 great magician imperfectly reflected in the mutilations 
 of Gildon, Dennis, Nahum Tate, Colley Gibber and Co., 
 with the " Macbeth " and " Tempest " of Dryden and 
 Davenant ; in all of which the name of the author was 
 preserved, while the strength and beauty of his poetry 
 were nearly suffocated. Had the great duke lived in 
 the present age, and witnessed Mr. C. Kean's genuine 
 revivals at the Princess's Theatre, his notions of Shake- 
 speare and English chronicled history would have been 
 much nearer the truth ; and he would have hailed a 
 revolution in literary and dramatic taste as extraordi- 
 nary, as the political changes to which he so largely 
 contributed.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 203 
 
 " .Richard the Second," from the true text of Shake- 
 speare, was produced at the Princess's on the 12th of 
 March, 1857. Mr. Kean, in a clear and ably written 
 preface to the published book, while detailing his list of 
 authorities, and thanking the zealous antiquaries who 
 had seconded his own researches, reiterated what he 
 had declared before ; namely, that his leading object in 
 the Shakespearean revivals was to preserve the language 
 of the author inviolate; to embellish his magnificent 
 conceptions with all the accessorial aid of pictorial and 
 mechanical appliances ; to resuscitate history whenever 
 the opportunity presented itself, even to the most 
 minute details, so that every scene should be a text to 
 lecture on ; and to base all that he presented to the 
 spectator on unimpeachable authorities. It need not 
 be asked, how is it possible that the dramatic art, with 
 its multiplied resources and extended influence could be 
 more nobly employed, or how could the memory of the 
 greatest poet that ever breathed, be more honoured and 
 exalted ? There can be but one answer, except from 
 the narrow nil admirari critics, who find all barren 
 " from Dan to Beersheba ; " who walk the world per- 
 petually writhing and sneering, disappointed and bil- 
 ious, vexed at the success of their neighbours, and who 
 never knew the luxury of an honest burst of exultation, 
 or joined in a heart-springing round of applause. And 
 fortunate it is for the drama, that these jaundiced cavil- 
 lers are in a powerless minority. 
 
 Steevens, the celebrated Shakespearean commentator 
 and editor, says, in a note appended to the " Yorkshire 
 Tragedy " (one of the seven spurious plays), and in his 
 edition of 1793, "The critics may applaud " Richard 
 the Second," though the successive audiences of more 
 than a century have respectively slumbered over it as 
 often as it has appeared on the stage. Garrick had
 
 204 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 once resolved on its revival, but his good taste at last 
 overpowered his ambition to raise it to the dignity of 
 the acting list." If Garrick had laid his fingers on this 
 play, we should have had as many un-Shakespearean 
 additions and alterations in the text, as he had been 
 guilty of in " Romeo and Juliet/' " Hamlet/ 5 the 
 "Winter's Tale/' and the "Midsummer Night's Dream." 
 On this point he was possessed with a caco-deemon, and 
 fancied it the spirit of the Bard of Avon. Nahum Tate, 
 in 1681, metamorphosed " Richard the Second " into 
 a thing called the " Sicilian Usurper/' changing the 
 time, place, and incidents, as well as the language. 
 This farago was stopped on the second night by the au- 
 thorities, not for its demerits or desecration of Shake- 
 speare, but because they thought it dangerous to allow 
 the public to witness successful rebellion. Theobald (the 
 dethroned hero of Pope's "Duuciad") in 1719 produced 
 another monstrous travesty at Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, 
 which ran for seven nights, and obtained for the muti- 
 lator a purse of one hundred guineas from Lord Orrery 
 for a fulsome dedication. In 1738, a third version was 
 tried at Covent Garden, chiefly remarkable for the per- 
 formance of "tall Johnson," as he was called, the son- 
 in-law of Aaron Hill, who was selected for John of Gaunt, 
 because he was bony and burly, and his stature ap- 
 proached seven feet. Then the play slumbered for 
 seventy-seven years, until, in 1815, the Drury Lane Com- 
 mittee employed their stage-manager, Wroughton, to 
 hash it up for Edmund Kean ; the said Wroughton 
 being a heavy actor, and a heavier scholar, with as little 
 of the Shakespearean inspiration as could be expected 
 from leaden mediocrity. Strangely fantastic were the 
 tricks which this play-wright was allowed to play with 
 his subject. The touching and naturally-flowing rhymes, 
 so characteristic of the early compositions of the author,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 205 
 
 and so peculiar to the age in which he wrote, were 
 laboriously and pedantically altered to halting blank 
 verse ; scenes were interpolated bodily from the disjecta 
 membra of several other plays; new speeches were 
 written, in justification of which, Colley Gibber on 
 " Richard the Third " was pleaded as a precedent, but 
 without his happy ingenuity ; Bolingbroke delivered a 
 panegyric on thriving ambition, from Aaron the Moor, 
 in " Titus Andronicus ; " and the Queen, who had been 
 despatched by Shakespeare to France, in accordance with 
 historical fact, was made to rush in frantically to the 
 dungeon at Pontefract, and expire on the body of her 
 murdered husband. 
 
 All this (shall we not call it sacrilege ?) and more, 
 was sanctioned in full council by a committee of erudite 
 lords and members of the lower house, who then held 
 the sceptre of Drury Lane in commendam ; all this 
 Shakespearecide received the fiat of the public, to a 
 certain extent, and was perpetrated, moreover, at the 
 precise period which after-dinner orators at charitable 
 festivals, and before the plate goes round, delight in 
 glorifying and bewailing as " the palmy days of the 
 drama." Edmund Kean did wonders with the part of 
 the deposed king. Many are still living who remember 
 how that bright genius struggled to emancipate Shake- 
 speare from the heavy dross with which he was clogged ; 
 what startling effects he produced, particularly in the 
 third act; but how, at the same time, no permanent 
 attraction could be elicited from such an ill-assorted 
 mixture. In the arrangement there was little thought 
 bestowed 011 the author, and none on the truthfulness of 
 history. Not even the powers of a Kean could restore 
 permanent life to a play in which the vital principle 
 had been so cruelly reduced. After ten or twelve repe- 
 titions it ceased to be inquired after.
 
 206 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Time rolled on, and in 1851 Mr. Macready appeared 
 twice as Richard the Second, at the Haymarket, a few 
 weeks only before he retired from professional life. It 
 was scarcely worth his while to venture a new part on 
 the eve of abdication. The play was then acted from 
 the text of Shakespeare, but not, in stage phraseology, 
 " got up," and its immediate withdrawal indicated a 
 very qualified approbation. The tone of criticism in 
 some of the most favourably-disposed journals, implied 
 directly that the want of success was owing to its being 
 essentially undramatic, although, in some respects, a fine 
 poem; a singular dictum, when we call to mind that 
 Shakespeare wrote exclusively for the stage, without 
 thinking of the study or the lecture room. 
 
 We have here enumerated all that the London public 
 have ever seen of " Richard the Second," on the boards,* 
 within the memory of the living generation. Thus, as 
 it will appear, the subject came fresh and vigorous into 
 the hands of Mr. Charles Kean. 
 
 " Richard^ the Second," as represented at the Prin- 
 cess's Theatre in 1857, opens in the Privy Council 
 Chamber at Westminster, with the quarrel of Boling- 
 broke and Norfolk, in the royal presence, and the King's 
 appointment that they shall decide the question by 
 single combat. After a short dialogue between the 
 widowed Duchess of Gloucester, who suspects Norfolk of 
 having contrived the murder of her husband, and John 
 of Gaunt, in the Savoy Palace, close to the Strand, the 
 scene shifts to the lists at Gosford Green, near Coven- 
 try ; and here we are presented with a passage of arms 
 according to the usages of ancient chivalry. The an- 
 tagonists are mounted, their spears in rest, the trumpets 
 sound the charge, and they are rushing to engage with 
 
 There was an alteration by a certain W. Goodall, resident in the 
 classic regions of Manchester, printed in 1772, but never acted.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 207 
 
 the impetuosity of mutual hatred, when the King throws 
 down his warder, suspends the duel, and banishes the 
 challenger and challenged. Had the fight proceeded, 
 and Mowbray by good fortune killed his haughty ap- 
 pellant, Richard might never have lost the crown, the 
 tragedy at Pontefract would not have darkened our 
 annals, and the subsequent history of England would 
 have detailed a different series of events. 
 
 The dying chamber of old " time-honoured Lan- 
 caster," in Ely House, Holborn, commences the second 
 act ; the bed, the paintings on the walls, the furniture, 
 and all the appointments of the room, being scrupu- 
 lously copied from authorities beyond dispute. \Ve 
 hear the indignant reproaches of Gaunt, and his un- 
 heeded advice to the thoughtless monarch, with the 
 angry replies of the latter, followed by the arbitrary 
 appropriation of his uncle's vast possessions, as soon as 
 he has ceased to breathe. The King then departs for 
 the Irish wars. Up to this point of the play, the cha- 
 racter of Richard is merely introductory, affording no 
 scope to the actor and exciting no interest with the 
 audience. He has proved himself an unjust steward, 
 and prepares the way for his own subsequent calamities. 
 
 The Queen is now introduced, at the entrance to St. 
 Stephen's Chapel. Shakespeare, for the sake of height- 
 ening the interest of his play, has deviated from his- 
 torical truth, by representing Isabella of Valois as a 
 woman; when espoused by Richard, she was a child, not 
 nine years old. There is no evidence to show that she 
 ever saw him after his departure for Ireland. She had 
 scarcely reached ten when he was slain. Henry the 
 Fourth, after some time, allowed her to retuin to France, 
 when she married the Duke of Orleans, and died in her 
 twenty-second year, September 13th, 1410. 
 
 As the Queen leaves the stage with the Duke of York
 
 208 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 who presents, without questioning his suspicious loyalty, 
 a most incompetent viceroy in troublous times, we pass 
 to a most beautifully painted landscape in Gloucester- 
 shire, through the forest glades of which the army of 
 Bolingbroke advances, in the full panoply of war, con- 
 fident in their leader, and glowing with the pride of 
 anticipated success. In the march of tbat formidable 
 and unopposed host through the heart of the country, 
 casting their ominous shadows before, we read the 
 approaching downfal of the absent king. 
 
 As the curtain rises for the third act, Richard lands 
 from Ireland at Milford Haven ; but has scarcely time 
 to express his joy at once more treading the soil of his 
 own kingdom, when he feels the sceptre gliding from 
 his hands. At every moment he receives tidings of the 
 rapid approach of his rival, and the desertion of his 
 friends. Now the dramatic pith of the character begins 
 to unfold itself. The abyss is yawning beneath his feet, 
 and the sudden discovery prostrates his manhood. The 
 accumulation of misery wrings his soul with agonizing 
 grief. He has no philosophy, but he can feel and suffer 
 acutely the impending degradation. He is a man, 
 though a weak and erring one, and we forget his faults 
 in his misfortunes. Shakespeare has made his poetical 
 Richard utter precisely what we can conceive the real 
 Richard to have given vent to, in that situation ; and 
 most impressively were the speeches rendered, and the 
 conflicting emotions conveyed, in tone, gesture, and 
 expression, by his living representative. We recollect 
 nothing finer than Mr. Kean's acting throughout this 
 entire scene, except perhaps his climax in the next, 
 when he comes forth from Flint Castle, and surren- 
 ders to Bolingbroke. The latter kneels and tenders 
 obeisance in mock humility. Richard struggling with 
 his indignation, replies,
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 209 
 
 " Fair cousin, you debase your princely knee, 
 To make the base earth proud with kissing it : 
 Me rather had my heart might feel your love, 
 Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy. 
 Up, cousin, up ; your heart is up, I know, 
 Thus high at least, (touching his own kead) 
 
 although your knee be low." 
 
 The burst of natural passion with which Mr. C. Kean 
 worked up this speech, and the effect he produced upon 
 the audience, almost persuaded those who remembered 
 his father in the same passage, that they saw him 
 standing bodily before them, in the person, and reflected 
 in the mind of his son. 
 
 Bolingbroke, now virtually king, proceeds to the me- 
 tropolis, accompanied, or rather attended by the captive 
 Richard. All readers of Shakespeare, from their school- 
 boy days, are familiar with the often-quoted description 
 of the entry of the two cousins into London, so pa- 
 thetically described by their uncle York to his Duchess, 
 in the latter portion of the play. This was declared by 
 Dryden, a jealous critic, to be a sublime passage of dra- 
 matic poetry superior to anything in Sophocles or Eu- 
 ripides, and which left the moderns, without exception, 
 at an immeasurable distance. Mr. C. Kean here seized 
 the boldest idea, and transferred to the scene the most 
 graphic Shakespearean illustration that ever entered into 
 the mind of actor or manager : an illustration that gave 
 a reality to the play it was never supposed to possess. He 
 embodied and anticipated the description of York, in an 
 episode of action, introduced between the third and fourth 
 acts, carrying on the story, connecting the chain of events, 
 and preparing the spectators for the solemn abdication 
 of -Richard which immediately follows. The contrast 
 of feeling and position between the falling and the 
 rising monarch is thus brought out in masterly relief. 
 This episode was pronounced by thousands who wit- 
 
 YOL. II. P
 
 210 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 nessed it on repeated occasions, to be, beyond all com- 
 parison, the most marvellous scenic illusion that had 
 ever been attempted. If a citizen of London, at 1399, 
 could have been actually revived, and seated within the 
 stalls of the theatre without passing through the changed 
 external world, he would have fancied that he saw a 
 living repetition of what he once had taken a part in. 
 There could not have been less than from five to six hun- 
 dred persons on those contracted boards, all moving in 
 trained regularity or organized disorder, according to the 
 varying incidents. The music, the joy-bells, the dances, 
 the crowded balconies and windows, the throngs in the 
 streets, the civic processions, the mailed warriors, the 
 haughty Bolingbroke, the heart-broken Richard, the 
 maddening shouts of gratulation which attend the one, 
 while the other is received with silence, gradually deep- 
 ening into murmurs, groans, and insults, the scrupulous 
 accuracy with which every dress and movement is pour- 
 tray ed ; all this completed a picture which brought back 
 the past to the eyes of the present, and bewildered the 
 spectators with a mingled sensation of astonishment 
 and admiration. The scene altogether surpassed the 
 glories of Wolsey's banquet and ball in " Henry the 
 Eighth/' or the maddening reality of the Dionysian 
 pastime in the " Winter's Tale/' The spell was ren- 
 dered still more potent by the knowledge that we saw 
 passing before us the resuscitation of a memorable 
 passage from our own domestic chronicles. 
 
 The pomp and bustle of the episode in the streets of 
 London, prepare the audience for the touching solem- 
 nity of Richard's abdication in Westminster Hall ; 
 which, with a short preceding scene of the Queen 
 with the Gardener at Langley, the Duke of York's 
 country residence, occupies the fourth act. Here again 
 the acting of Mr. C. Kean had its full play, riveting
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F S.A. 211 
 
 the attention of the audience, and dividing their ex- 
 pressions of satisfaction between tears and applause. 
 The effect produced in this part of the tragedy, which 
 depends entirely on the actor, proved beyond denial, 
 how the poetry can retain its full value distinct from 
 the surrounding pageantry, and how its power is in- 
 creased rather than obscured or weakened by accessorial 
 relief. 
 
 The fifth act opens before the Traitor's Gate at the 
 Tower, with a pathetic farewell between Richard and 
 his Queen. This scene affords Mrs. C. Kean the only 
 opportunity a very insignificant part allows of showing 
 that such talent as hers can create material out of 
 almost nothing, and that the impression which a finished 
 artist can produce, is not dependent on the amount of 
 words she has to utter. The features, the mind, and 
 the heart, are potent movers, even when the tongue has 
 little to express. 
 
 The play now rapidly hastens to a conclusion. In 
 the gloomy dungeon at Pontefract the crime is perpe- 
 trated, the body of the murdered Richard is laid before 
 BoHngbroke, in St. George's Hall, Windsor, while he 
 sits in state, as King, attended by the nobles of the land, 
 surrounded on the steps of the throne by his four sons, 
 in the plenitude of his power and triumph. In that 
 proud hour, when all his worldly hopes are realized, 
 remorse touches his soul, the moral is consummated, 
 the history is complete, and the curtain falls. 
 
 All the dry reading of the closet, the old black-letter 
 tomes of Holinshed and Hall, the multiplied volumes 
 of Rapin, Tindal and Hume, would fail to impress the 
 mind with such a truthful and lasting impression of 
 any given passage in our English annals, as that con- 
 veyed by a single play of Shakespeare, as placed upon 
 the stage of the Princess's Theatre during Mr. C. Kean's 
 
 P2
 
 212 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 management. Never was a great problem more com- 
 pletely solved by the result. 
 
 Old play-goers often remark, and old actors complain, 
 that modern audiences are less enthusiastic in the out- 
 ward and visible tokens of their delight ; less given to 
 applaud than were their fathers and grandfathers. The 
 fact is apparent. Hence it is inferred (somewhat hastily) 
 that acting has degenerated, and dramatic taste become 
 less fervid. We suspect the converse of both conclu- 
 sions to be nearer the truth. Education, refinement, 
 and general knowledge, have rendered all classes more 
 exacting. It is not so easy to astonish as it was formerly. 
 Thirty or forty years ago, the great idol of the day 
 made insulated points, at which the pit stood up, and 
 the house vociferously cheered. It was the actor they 
 went to see, rather than the play ; and when he was 
 not on the stage they yawned, for there was little then 
 of collateral aid to excite sustained attention. At least 
 half the entertainment operated as a soporific ; there 
 was no succession of pictures, no resuscitation of actual 
 manners and persons as they existed in bygone times ; 
 no accuracy of detail in unimportant as well as in the 
 more prominent scenes ; and no effort to present a con- 
 sistent whole, instead of a dazzling portion. Mark 
 what Shakespeare himself says in this identical play of 
 " Richard the Second " : 
 
 " As in a theatre, the eyes of men, 
 After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage, 
 Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
 Thinking his prattle to be tedious." 
 
 This shows distinctly that in his early day (and the 
 application holds good to a much more recent period), 
 the spectators thought little of the drama itself, and 
 had no perception of the power with which pictorial
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 213 
 
 and mechanical art could be called in to relieve, vary, 
 and enhance the effect of impressive acting. We know 
 no instance in which the fact has been so thoroughly 
 established as in Mr. C. Kean's performance in the third 
 and fourth acts of " Richard the Second/' in which 
 the dramatic essence of the character is concentrated. 
 The most exceptious critics have admitted that in this 
 arduous delineation there was no mannerism, no imita- 
 tion of any style, no exaggeration, nothing artificial or 
 laboured; the veritable Richard stood, moved, and 
 spoke before us, with all his wounded pride, his 
 mortified sensibility, his wrongs, his woes, and his 
 dearly expiated follies ; as transferred from the pages of 
 the historian, warmed and coloured by the imagination 
 of the poet, and called into re-animated existence by 
 the kindred genius of his interpreter. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean were ably seconded by Mr. Ryder, 
 who both looked and acted well as " the mounting Baling - 
 broke." Mr. Cooper and Mr. Walter Lacy deserve similar 
 commendation as the Dukes of York and Lancaster. 
 
 On the evening of the 13th of May, 1857, during 
 the performance of " Richard the Second," an accident 
 occurred, which threatened the destruction of the 
 theatre, with the loss of many lives. Providentially, the 
 impending calamity was averted. As the velvet curtains, 
 used instead of the usual drop scene, were withdrawn 
 for the fifth act, they suddenly caught fire from the gas- 
 lights at the side. The material being of the most 
 combustible nature, ignited with incredible rapidity. 
 The conflagration spread over the borders above, and in 
 a moment the whole of the proscenium was in flames. 
 The audience began to rise, and if a sudden rush to the 
 doors had taken place, as has sometimes occurred upon 
 a similar alarm, it is fearful to reflect on what might 
 have occurred. Mrs. C. Kean, who was discovered on the
 
 214 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 stage in her place to commence the act, came instantly 
 forward with the most perfect self-possession, assured 
 the audience that there was nothing to apprehend, that 
 the fire was only momentary, and would be subdued at 
 once, entreating them to sit still. Her presence of mind 
 communicated itself to those she addressed, and they 
 remained in their places. An ample supply of water 
 and other resources were in readiness, with active hands 
 that knew how to employ them. Some daring car- 
 penters, at the hazard of life and limb, detached the 
 flaming border from the mass above, and in a few 
 moments the stage was in a deluge, strewed with the 
 wrecks of scenery that had been destroyed. Mr. C. Kean 
 then announced the impossibility of concluding the 
 play, and requested the indulgence of the audience for 
 the inevitable omission. They dispersed quietly, and, 
 as we may suppose, deeply impressed with the general 
 escape from an awful danger. But strange elements 
 are mixed together in the composition of human feel- 
 ings, under any circumstances. For several days after, 
 letters were received by the management from parties 
 requiring either a return of their money, or admission 
 for another night, because a small part of the perform- 
 ance had been curtailed by the fire. These sticklers for 
 the full value received, remind us of the respectable old 
 lady in Colman's comic tale; who, when her son fell 
 from the gallery to the pit, and broke his neck on the 
 spot, as soon as she recovered from the shock, said to 
 the money-taker, 
 
 " But I must have the shilling back you know, 
 As Moses did not see the show." 
 
 Mrs. C. Kean's calm and courageous exertions during 
 this accident were the theme of just and universal en- 
 comiums. But amongst the most gratifying tokens of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 215 
 
 acknowledgment she received, was one proceeding from 
 a humble source, but not the less acceptable on that 
 account. Some of the working men of the theatre 
 requested her acceptance of a handsomely-emblazoned 
 testimonial, framed and glazed, bearing the following 
 inscription : 
 
 " PRESENTED TO 
 
 MRS. CHARLES KEAN, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 OPERATIVES OP THE PROPERTY DEPARTMENT, 
 OP THE 
 
 ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, 
 AS A MARK OF THEIR ESTEEM AND ADMIRATION 
 
 FOR HER HEROIC CONDUCT, 
 ON THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE AT THE ABOVE THEATRE, 
 
 MAY 13TH, 1857." 
 
 Such unpretending gifts are less costly and osten- 
 tatious than diamond necklaces and bracelets, but they 
 come from the heart, and are equally, if not more 
 valuable, when transmitted as heir- looms; for, as 
 Shakespeare truly says, 
 
 " Never anything can be amiss, 
 When simpleness and duty tender it." 
 
 The public have long been accustomed to admire in 
 Mrs. C. Kean the accomplished artist, whose rare en- 
 dowments shed lustre on her profession, while they 
 supply an encouraging example to her successors. But 
 the public cannot step behind the more interesting 
 scenes of her private life, and obtain a full knowledge 
 of the wonderful activity and energy of her character. 
 Perhaps the voice of personal friendship may be permitted 
 hereto offer its tributary homage, founded on long experi- 
 ence and observation. "While anxiously and affectionately
 
 216 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 seconding her husband throughout his arduous career 
 of management, her immediate province has been the 
 superintendence of the wardrobe. An idea of the heavy 
 responsibility of this office may be formed from the fact, 
 that in many of the great Shakesperean plays, no less 
 than fine hundred dresses have had to be designed and 
 arranged ; enough of itself to occupy the mind, and 
 distract it from the study of such fine intellectual crea- 
 tions as Constance, Hermione, Queen Katharine, and 
 Lady Macbeth. At all times and seasons, in sickness 
 or in health, whether the tide of human affairs runs 
 placidly or becomes troubled, there is in Mrs. C. Kean 
 an imperturbable self-command and equality of tem- 
 perament, a warmth of active benevolence, a generous 
 sympathy with, and consideration for the wants and 
 failings of others, which excite the esteem and wonder 
 of all who are acquainted with her. By what economy 
 of time she is enabled to superintend three distinct 
 households, independent of her professional duties, no 
 stranger could possibly be made to understand. In 
 addition to her own establishment, she has her aged 
 mother and elder sister, helpless themselves, and entirely 
 dependent on her care; and another widowed sister with 
 an overwhelming family, who look to her sustaining 
 counsel as their earthly guide and beacon. These are 
 complicated duties, and nobly they have been dis- 
 charged. 
 
 Another of Mr. J. M. Morton's agreeable trifles, 
 always of French origin, entitled, " An Englishman's 
 House is his Castle/' appeared on the llth; and on 
 Wednesday, July the 1st, " Richard the Second," after 
 the eighty-fifth night, was withdrawn for a time, to 
 make way for " The Tempest." 
 
 Shakespeare's " Tempest," as all the world knows, is 
 a work exclusively of imagination ; beautiful in thought,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 217 
 
 and original in execution. Coupled with " A Mid- 
 summer Night's Dream/' the two form, beyond all 
 question, the richest and most delightful creations of 
 fancy, which human faculty has ever embodied in the 
 poetical or dramatic form. Supernatural and imagina- 
 tive in the highest degree, they are as varied in character, 
 as the elements of the inexhaustible genius which never 
 exhibited the poverty of repeating itself. The fairy 
 wands of Oberon and Titania have nothing in common 
 with the necromantic staff of Prospero. The familiar 
 agents, Ariel and Puck, the delicate and the mischievous, 
 are as unlike each other as the masters to whom they 
 are subservient. In Mr. C. K can's treatment of these 
 exquisite subjects, we trace again the careful study and 
 unerring judgment which have on so many previous 
 occasions won for him the reputation of Shakespeare's 
 truest interpreter. Ariel, in particular, he has invested 
 with an air of originality, the more surprising as the 
 play has been elaborately " got up " under many suc- 
 cessive managements. There have been Ariels in pro- 
 fusion, who could act and sing beyond the reach of 
 critical censure, but they were full-grown voluptuous- 
 looking females : no one could beguile himself into the 
 delusion that they were anything less material or 
 substantial. Mr. C. Kean has given us, and for the first 
 time, the dainty spirit, the etherial essence that could 
 be compressed within a rifted pine, that appears formed 
 to revel on a bat's back, to couch in a cowslip's bell, 
 to tread the ooze of the salt deep, and to run upon the 
 sharp edge of the wind. 
 
 Volumes have been written by heavy, matter-of-fact 
 commentators, who delight in multiplying clouds and 
 darkness, but seldom irradiate an obscurity, to prove 
 that Shakespeare founded the " Tempest" on real facts 
 and places, that he drew from some known story or
 
 218 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 published incident ; that he is, in this instance, a mere 
 compiler of events, or an ingenious adapter and enlarger 
 of the thoughts of others. There is some confused 
 story that the poet Collins had read the subject in a 
 novel ; but he failed to recollect the name, nor could any 
 one else identify the work from his account of it. One 
 elaborate pundit has endeavoured to show in a rambling 
 essay, that Lampedusa was unquestionably the island 
 of Prospero, because it is, or was, uninhabited, and lies 
 somewhere in the latitude and longitude within which 
 it is possible a ship might be wrecked on a voyage from 
 Tunis to Naples. The claim set up for Bermuda is 
 more ridiculously out of the question, and plainly dis- 
 proved by the text. Ariel was once called up at mid- 
 night by Prospero, " to fetch dew from the still vexed 
 Bermoothes" The magician would have had no occasion 
 to send his messenger so many thousand leagues across 
 the Mediterranean and the Atlantic for the precious 
 exhalation, if his own island were the identical place in 
 which he could have supplied himself by merely stepping 
 to the entrance of his cell. 
 
 Malone and Chalmers each wrote and printed, for 
 private distribution, tracts on the incidents from which 
 the " Tempest " is derived. As literary rarities, their 
 pamphlets have sold respectively for two and three 
 guineas each; they contain ingenious conjectures, and 
 help to prove what Shakespeare did not intend. We 
 confess to no feelings in common with the dull, mathe- 
 matical precision which seeks to extinguish the brightest 
 rays of poetical fancy, and to measure an illimitable 
 mind by the ordinary physical standard. 
 
 The play taken as a whole, is indeed, 
 
 " A most majestic union, 
 And harmonious charmingly."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 219 
 
 Let due honour be rendered to Mr. C. Kean, for rescu- 
 ing Shakespeare from all attempts to localize the scene of 
 action. He says truly, " The enchanted island governed 
 by the mind ofProspero, released from its association with 
 the Bermudas, remains an imaginary kingdom, the scene 
 of affecting and mysterious incidents, over which Ariel 
 presides as the image of air, in spiritual contrast to 
 the grosser Caliban, who embodies the earthly element." 
 
 Shakespeare has fixed no distinct time when the 
 action of the "Tempest" is supposed to pass, either 
 directly, or by inference. In the present revival, the 
 thirteenth century was selected, as affording the oppor- 
 tunity of introducing a style of costume at once elegant 
 and picturesque. 
 
 In earlier times, the " Tempest," like many of Shake- 
 speare's acknowledged master-pieces, suffered terribly 
 from ruthless mutilations. Sir W. Davenant, Dryden, 
 and Shadvvell, successively transformed it into a comedy 
 and an opera ; in which they were followed by Garrick, 
 the elder Sheridan, and John Kemble, who retained the 
 injudiciously introduced characters of Dorinda and 
 Hypolito ; thus completely destroying the idea of the 
 author, and the key-note of feeling to the whole play, 
 the utter desolation of Prospero, with Miranda as his 
 only consolation and companion. The last manager, 
 too, with all his admitted classical taste, transplanted 
 the opening incident of the storm and shipwreck to the 
 second act, where its position is incongruous. He also 
 removed the celebrated speech in allusion to the intro- 
 duced masque in the fourth act, beginning with " These 
 our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits," to the end 
 of the play, and in exclusion of the original epilogue. 
 Mr. Kean, following out the system he has invariably 
 acted on in these glorious revivals, presents the text of 
 Shakespeare inviolate, omitting merely an occasional
 
 220 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 passage, or compressing a subordinate scene, with mani- 
 fest advantage to the action of the piece. That the last 
 opinion is correct, is evidenced by the approbation and 
 attendance of eighty-seven successive audiences. 
 
 One of the most strikingly original conceptions in the 
 new version of the " Tempest," was the entire execution 
 of the music (with the exception of the duet in the 
 masque) by an invisible choir, led by Miss Poole, whose 
 mellow voice sounded with the rich, full clearness of a 
 bell in the midst of, and above, the accompanying 
 melody. Much of this music has hitherto been executed 
 by Ariel, in presence of the audience, rendering too 
 material and terrestrial that airy essence, through whose 
 unseen agency, and by the delegated authority of 
 Prospero, the train of magical wonders is produced 
 throughout the play. Ariel formerly walked on and 
 off the stage after the conventional mode of entrance 
 and exit, moving with the substantial attributes of mor- 
 tality ; and when dismissed on an important errand, 
 instead of " drinking the air" in rapid obedience, came 
 deliberately forward, while the orchestra struck up a 
 symphony, and sang to the musicians instead of to 
 Prospero, an interpolated aria, beginning with, " Oh 
 bid your faithful Ariel fly," with one eye fixed on the 
 pit, and the other carefully watching the flourish of the 
 conductor's baton. Now, we were really presented with 
 a " delicate spirit," at one moment descending in a ball 
 of fire ; at another, rising gently from a tuft of flowers ; 
 again, sailing on the smooth waters on the back of a 
 dolphin ; then, gliding noiselessly over the sands, as 
 a water-nymph ; and ever and anon, perched on the 
 summit of a rock, riding on. a bat, or cleaving mid-air 
 with the velocity of lightning. The powers of modern 
 stage mechanism are almost as marvellous as the gift 
 ascribed to the magic wand and book of Prospero.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 221 
 
 The play opens, as Shakespeare has described, with 
 a ship in a tempest, struggling against the com- 
 bined fury of winds and waves, and ultimately seeming 
 to founder with all on board. How such an effect could 
 be produced, within such a confined space, appeared to 
 bafifle the comprehension of the audience. As the mist 
 of the storm disperses, the sun rises slowly on the 
 magic island, the sea subsides, the waters recede from 
 the " yellow sands," and Prospero is discovered with 
 Miranda, standing on the point of a rock, superintending 
 the effect of his art. He descends, and relates the 
 events of his early life, his deposition and banishment 
 through the treachery of his brother. Ariel and Caliban 
 are summoned in succession. Ferdinand enters, and at 
 the first sight, he and Miranda " change eyes." 
 
 In the second act, we have a romantic view of the in- 
 terior of the island, where the King of Naples, with his 
 attendant lords, has landed, and is hopelessly seeking 
 for his lost son. 
 
 A great triumph of scenic exhibition is reserved for 
 the third act. A long perspective of desolation gradually 
 changes from barrenness to tropical luxuriance; trees 
 rise from the earth, fountains and waterfalls gush 
 from the rocks ; while naiads, wood-nymphs, and satyrs 
 enter, hearing fruit and flowers, with which they form a 
 table, and having invited the King and his company to 
 partake, suddenly disappear. These classic denizens of 
 the woods are substituted for the " strange shapes " with- 
 out any specified identity, hitherto represented by ludi- 
 crous and unmeaning monsters, with devils' heads and 
 pitchforks, as being not only more poetical in them- 
 selves, but also more in accordance with the figure of 
 the Harpy which rises in the midst of them. The novelty 
 and elegance of the concluding dance excited universal 
 admiration.
 
 222 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 The fourth act is chiefly occupied with the gorgeous 
 masque of Juno, Ceres, Iris, and their attendant deities ; 
 and richly here does Prospero exhibit the " vanity of his 
 art/' always assisted by his obedient familiar, Ariel. At 
 the conclusion, Caliban and his sottish associates, in the 
 plot to murder Prospero, are hunted and tortured by a 
 legion of goblins, copied from furies depicted on Etruscan 
 vases. 
 
 In the fifth act, all the characters are brought together 
 by the controlling power of Prospero, in front of his cell. 
 Mutual recognition takes place. The stately magician 
 forgives the wrongs he has suffered from his false bro- 
 ther, bestows his daughter in marriage on Ferdinand, 
 and prepares to re-ascend his ducal throne ; having re- 
 nounced for ever the supernatural power he had acquired, 
 breaking his staff and drowning his book. Night en- 
 shrouds the scene. The released spirits take their flight 
 from the island, through the air ; morning breaks, and 
 shows the royal vessel floating gently, and in perfect 
 trim, on the unruffled waters. Prospero, standing on 
 the deck, delivers the epilogue. The ship gradually 
 sails off, the island recedes from sight, Ariel alone occu- 
 pies the scene, suspended in the air, anxiously watching 
 the departure of his late master, while a distant chorus 
 of spirits dies softly away as the curtain falls. Beauti- 
 fully contrasted is this last scene with the terror and 
 despair of the opening shipwreck. The action and 
 situation, the glass-like, motionless tranquillity of the 
 unruffled waters, the glow of atmosphere, and the ac- 
 companying sentiment, more easily felt than described, 
 reminded us of Moore's gently flowing lines, written 
 when sailing within the tropics : 
 
 " The sea is like a silvery lake, 
 And o'er its calm the vessel glides, 
 Gently, as if it fear'd to wake 
 The slumber of the silent tides."
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 223 
 
 Mr. C. Kean was dignified and impressive as Prospero. 
 The character has always been undertaken by the lead- 
 ing tragedian of the day, although it affords no scope for 
 the powers of a first-rate actor. There is neither pas- 
 sion nor variety. All that is required for an adequate 
 representation is sustained solemnity of deportment, 
 with graceful elocution, and here and there an impulse 
 of natural feeling. But the potent necromancer so 
 completely rules the action of the play, and every agent 
 employed is so thoroughly subservient to his will, that 
 the audience never lose sight of his paramount import- 
 ance. Like Mephistopheles, he is felt even when he is 
 not present, and is always expected to appear when 
 wanted, as the deus ex machina, to solve every difficulty, 
 and to settle every doubt. 
 
 The true spirit of Ariel, as now so artistically re- 
 modelled, was caught up by Miss Kate Terry with intui- 
 tive quickness. Miss Leclercq and Miss Bufton were 
 delightfully coupled as Miranda and Ferdinand. Mr. 
 Ryder had evidently studied Caliban with a perfect 
 understanding of the author's intention. His execu- 
 tion of this difficult part (difficult, because so easily 
 overdone), was one of the best of his many judicious 
 assumptions. Hurley, as Trinculo, and F. Matthews, as 
 Stephana, brought out the comic relief of the play in 
 excellent bearing. The scenery, dances, costumes, 
 music, and mechanical effects, in every department, 
 excited universal admiration. 
 
 The public, in general, are scarcely reflective enough 
 to estimate at their full value the amount of labour, 
 time, and intellectual exertion, to say nothing of the ex- 
 penditure of capital, by which such a revival as the 
 " Tempest " is carried out to the perfection that appears 
 so easy and natural when offered to public consideration. 
 Mr. C. Kean, by a long series of these costly and elevated
 
 224 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 experiments, has shown of what the stage is capable, 
 when viewed in the light of a national instructor. He 
 has added another, and a most influential medium to 
 the many sources of educational improvement which at 
 present engross the consideration of the best, the wisest, 
 and the most exalted in the land. 
 
 It has often been said by enthusiasts who mourned 
 over the degraded position of the stage, real or exag- 
 gerated, and who felt, or affected to feel, the misapplica- 
 tion of its noblest attributes, that the theatre might be 
 rendered a valuable school, as well as a fascinating 
 temple of recreation. The question has now ceased to 
 be one of retarded or doubtful solution. It has been 
 met by Mr. C. Kean with an unequivocal result. What 
 has been suggested as possible, he has triumphantly 
 accomplished. He has^ reformed, nay, he has even re- 
 generated, the national drama of the country. He has 
 revived a pure taste, which seemed to be verging towards 
 extinction ; and in an age when orators and philanthropists 
 of every class are clamouring for intellectual progress, 
 he has brought in, to further this great object, the most 
 powerful and attractive auxiliary that refined intellect 
 can supply. Museums are but dumb instructors. 
 Galleries of sculpture and painting, with their cata- 
 logued treasures, are cold and formal. Lectures on 
 philosophy, metaphysics, and mechanical science, are, of 
 necessity, tinged with technical pedantries. Logic 
 never charms, while it often wearies more than it con- 
 vinces. The principle of mingling the utile cum dulci, of 
 amusing while you teach, is as applicable to human 
 nature now, as it was in the days of Horace. The 
 child is a type of the man, and a sick child refuses the 
 medicine which brings health when presented in its 
 natural bitterness, but swallows it voraciously when 
 sweetened with honey. The mass of mankind is more
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 225 
 
 likely to profit by instruction agreeably insinuated than 
 harshly commanded. The theatre is a gentle monitor, 
 and as such, acceptable to the tastes of a great majority; 
 appealing to the reason, it is true, through the pleasant, 
 though perhaps hazardous medium of the senses, and 
 therefore open to objection, as easily pervertible to 
 abuse. But the lesson is not the less efficacious, if 
 judiciously administered, as the senses constitute the 
 most powerful alembic through which knowledge can 
 be instilled into the mind. The multitudes who have 
 no time or taste for reading, whose faculties are not 
 moulded for profound study, are readily impressed 
 through the eyes and ears with those important truths, 
 which, while they expand the understanding, soften and 
 improve the heart. The harmonious poetry of Shake- 
 speare presents nothing incompatible with the higher 
 sources whence our soundest moral doctrines are 
 derived. Persuasion often wins more than authority, 
 and in this sense (we speak it reverently), the stage 
 may avail when graver teaching fails. The quaint old 
 poet, Herbert, took a correct view of man as he is, 
 when he wrote : 
 
 " A verse may find him who a sermon flies, 
 And turn delight into a sacrifice." 
 
 Mr. C. Kenn closed his seventh season on the 21st of 
 August, 1857. During the twelve months (wanting 
 but ten days) of its duration, not more than twelve 
 pieces were performed, of which three only, including 
 the Pantomime, were new. Out of the two hundred 
 and ninety acting nights, no less than two hundred and 
 forty-two were devoted to Shakespeare. This fact 
 speaks more conclusively in favour of Mr. Kean's 
 system, and furnishes a more unanswerable reply to its 
 opponents, than a folio of laboured panegyric. 
 
 VOL. II. Q
 
 226 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 VACATION OF SEVEN WEEKS MB. AND MRS. KEAN VISIT VENICE THE 
 THEATRE OPENS ON THE 12TH OF OCTOBER, NEWLY DECORATED THE 
 
 TEMPEST RESUMED RUNS ALTOGETHER FOR EIGHTY-SEVEN NIGHTS 
 
 REPRODUCTION OF RICHARD THE SECOND PANTOMIME OF THE WHITE 
 CAT DEATH OF LADY BOOTHBY, FORMERLY MRS. NISBETT MR. KEAN 
 ELECTED A FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES FESTIVAL PER- 
 FORMANCES AT THE OPERA HOUSE ON OCCASION OF THE PRINCESS 
 
 ROYAL'S MARRIAGE ABSENCE OF MR. AND MRS. c. KEAN OPINIONS 
 EXPRESSED IN THE PAPERS MACBETH AT THE OPERA HOUSE HAMLET 
 AT THE PRINCESS'S ON THE SAME EVENING DEMONSTRATION IN THE 
 PRINCESS'S THEATRE ON THE 19iH OF JANUARY STATEMENT OF FACTS. 
 
 THE Princess's Theatre remained closed for seven 
 weeks, during which time it was entirely re-painted and 
 decorated in a light and tasteful style. 
 
 During the recess, Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean made a short 
 trip to the continent, passing by Paris and Lausanne, 
 and across the Alps to Milan, Verona, and Venice. 
 Mr. C. Kean had long desired to see the " Queen of the 
 Adriatic," and as the "Merchant of Venice" was 
 intended for a leading feature in the forthcoming season, 
 he determined to verify the authorities by personal 
 examination. 
 
 On the 12th of October, 1857, the theatre re-opened, 
 and the " Tempest " was resumed. The dramatic 
 horizon looked cloudy at this juncture. The American 
 defalcations had produced a commercial panic, the 
 extent and influence of which was undefined. Many 
 failures were gazetted, and more anticipated. From day 
 to day there were announcements of actual, and reports
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 227 
 
 of expected bankruptcy, which checked the ordinary 
 current of society, and drew away attention from public 
 amusements. Under similar contingencies theatres are 
 always amongst the greatest sufferers. We speak of 
 England exclusively, for in France the general feeling 
 takes an opposite turn. During the horrors of the 
 Revolution, under the reign of terror, when the guil- 
 lotine knocked at every door, and no one could tell how 
 soon his own turn would succeed that of his neighbour, 
 the theatres were crowded nightly. In 1814, and 
 again in 1815, after Waterloo, when the cannon of the 
 allies, frowning from the heights of Belleville and Mont- 
 martre threatened Paris with destruction, the loungers 
 of the Boulevards sat on their accustomed seats in 
 constitutional carelessness, and repaired to the Odeon, 
 the Gaiete, or the Varietes at the usual hour, as if 
 things were progressing in their customary routine. 
 
 After a run of eighty-seven nights, the " Tempest " 
 was finally withdrawn, and " Richard the Second " 
 again assumed its place in the bills. Amongst the 
 characters which have won for Mr. C. Kean his acknow- 
 ledged position as the first tragedian of the age, many 
 sound critics were disposed to assign the foremost 
 place to his Richard the Second. They looked upon it 
 as an original effort to be paralleled with Louis the 
 Eleventh. None of his most eminent predecessors, as 
 in many other instances, had associated their names 
 with the part. It suggested no comparisons. Bet- 
 terton and Booth, Quin, Garrick, and John Kemble, 
 had passed it by. Edmund Kean, it is true, elicited 
 from it some brilliant points, but although the per- 
 formance greatly enhanced his individual reputation 
 for the moment, it retained no permanent place on his 
 acting list. It remained for his son to identify himself 
 with the deposed Plantagenet. A play, never before 
 
 Q2
 
 228 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 attractive, which on its first production commands 
 eighty-five repetitions, and within a few months is again 
 resumed for twenty-seven more, must be assisted with 
 some controlling element of success, which no beauty 
 of language, no perfection of decorative accompaniment, 
 no amount of archaeological accuracy could of them- 
 selves supply. This great element must be sought for 
 in the power of acting; that rarely bestowed endow- 
 ment by which alone the purpose of the poet can be 
 adequately reflected, and through which channel only, 
 the by-gone ages of the world are called into new 
 existence, placed before the sight, and presented to the 
 mind of the spectator and auditor, as in a living pano- 
 rama. The scenes of memorable deeds, the actions 
 and attributes of remarkable men, are thus stamped on 
 our memories and rendered familiar to our perceptions 
 with an enduring strength, which no other medium of 
 information, no silent study in the closet, no consump- 
 tion of the midnight lamp, no recorded description 
 could possibly impart. 
 
 At the last session of the Society of Antiquaries, 
 during the summer of 1857, on the memorable 18th of 
 June, Mr. Kean was elected a fellow of that erudite 
 body, and on the 19th of November following, took his 
 seat in regular form as an admitted member. The 
 compliment was as flattering, as it was well earned and 
 judiciously bestowed. 
 
 On the 16th of November, a new farce was brought 
 forward at the Princess's, cleverly adapted from the 
 French, by Mr. John Oxenford, entitled "A Case of Con- 
 science." It ran for many nights up to the production 
 of the pantomime, and may be ranked amongst the 
 most agreeable of the light pieces usually selected at 
 the Princess's Theatre to play in the Shakespearean 
 revivals. The pantomime, founded on a well-known
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 229 
 
 story, was entitled " Harlequin and the White Cat ; or, 
 the Princess Blancheflower and her Three Godmothers." 
 This branch of the dramatic art appears destined never 
 to lose its Christmas attraction, although it has been 
 often said that the true genius of pantomime has been 
 for some time effete, and died with Grimaldi. But 
 there is as much immortality in the Clown as in Punch. 
 It is quite certain that Grimaldi is no longer here to 
 enliven us with his fathomless inexpressibles that held 
 every thing in the world, his inimitable thieveries, his 
 jokes, his songs, and his dialogue ; but another style of 
 humour has succeeded with another generation. The 
 laugh is as unremitting as ever, although the prompting 
 excitement is not exactly the same. There is some- 
 thing in the natural constitution of man in the abstract, 
 that attaches him to pantomime. It argues ill for the 
 moral temperament of any one who cannot enjoy this 
 glorious mummery. We should hesitate to select such 
 an unhappy exception for a travelling companion or a 
 next door neighbour. If Heraclitus were to return to 
 earth and secure a stall on any given night during the 
 holidays, we doubt if he would ever again lapse into his 
 constitutional melancholy. If Cato, the censor, could 
 stalk in after him, with scorn and anger at his heart, 
 and a decree for the abolition of theatres in his pocket, 
 we are prepared to offer the long odds that he would 
 be beaten by the epidemic mirth with which his eyes 
 and ears would be assailed. At the first peal he would 
 suspend his purpose, at the second, his grim philosophy 
 would relax into a smile, and at the third, he would 
 trample his decree under foot. If any of our readers 
 labour under low spirits without knowing why, that 
 depressing malady of the mind which the learned 
 denominate hypochondria, \ve earnestly recommend 
 them to try a course of pantomime, which will prove a
 
 230 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 more certain, as well as a much more palatable mode of 
 cure than the whole series of scientific remedies, with 
 hard appellations, which supplant each other as quickly 
 as the fashions alter, and not unfrequently before we 
 are able to spell their names. 
 
 On the 18th of January, 1858, died Lady Boothby, 
 better known as Mrs. Nisbett, one of the most fasci- 
 nating actresses of modern times. Her joyous, resonant 
 laugh, will never be forgotten by those who remember 
 her as Lady Gay Spanker, (" London Assurance,") or 
 as Constance, in the ' ' Love Chase/' She was the eldest 
 daughter of the late Lieutenant Frederick Hayes Mac- 
 namara, 52nd Foot, and of his wife, Jane Elizabeth 
 Williams. At the time of her death she was in her 
 forty-sixth year, having been born on the 1st of April, 
 1812. She evinced theatrical talent as a child, and in 
 consequence of family misfortunes adopted the stage as 
 a profession before she had completed fourteen. She 
 appeared at Drury Lane when about seventeen years of 
 age, and .soon took rank in the first class of comedy, a 
 position she maintained through her life. In January, 
 1831, when still under twenty, she married Captain 
 John Alexander Nisbett, of the Life Guards; who, 
 within a few months, was killed from the effects of an 
 accident received while trying a vicious and untrained 
 horse. On the death of her husband, Mrs. Nisbett 
 felt herself under the necessity of returning to the 
 stage ; and, having for several seasons delighted the 
 London public by her brilliant acting, she was again 
 led to the altar by Sir William Boothby, Bart., of Ash- 
 bourne Hall. In about three years Sir William died, 
 and she found herself a second time a widow without 
 adequate provision, and once more compelled to resume 
 her theatrical profession. But failing health soon 
 demanded her final retirement from public life. Her
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 231 
 
 last days were spent in domestic retirement with her 
 mother and eldest brother, whose almost sudden deaths 
 within a short period of each other, added to the loss 
 of a dearly beloved sister, so wrought upon her ex- 
 hausted frame that she was attacked with the illness 
 which, in two days, terminated her existence. 
 
 On the 25th of January, 1858, the Princess Royal of 
 England was united to Prince Frederick William of 
 Prussia, heir presumptive to the throne of Frederick the 
 Great; representative also of a staunch Protestant family, 
 the ancient allies of England, and previously connected 
 with the royal line of Hanover by the marriage of the 
 late Duke of York with the eldest daughter of King 
 Frederick William the Second. Great care had been 
 taken to bring the young couple into previous acquain- 
 tanceship, and to give them opportunities of becoming 
 mutually attached ; a guarantee for future happiness 
 too slightly estimated in royal alliances. In these 
 points the marriage was highly acceptable to the feel- 
 ings of the English people. Prussia, it is true, was 
 looked upon suspiciously in a political sense. She had 
 played a doubtful part during the Russian war ; had 
 carried the produce of our enemies to and fro in the 
 ports of the Baltic to the detriment of British trade, 
 and in evasion of existing treaties ; but this was looked 
 upon as arising more from the personal bias of the 
 King than from the wishes of his nation, who were 
 supposed to side warmly with us in their hearts. 
 Prussia was awkwardly placed, with an open frontier, 
 almost in the jaws of her gigantic neighbour, and in 
 danger of being swallowed up, in case of a rupture, 
 before distant allies could arrive in time for rescue. 
 Kingdoms of more internal strength, and less accessible 
 to foreign attack, had set the example of a temporising 
 policy with infinitely less excuse. England has so com-
 
 232 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 promised herself more than once when misgoverned by 
 men who, with little reputation of their own to lose, be- 
 stowed even less thought on the honour of their country. 
 On the occasion of this auspicious marriage, many 
 royal foreigners were invited as the guests of our 
 gracious Queen. Amongst other festivities, a series of 
 four dramatic performances under the immediate pa- 
 tronage of her Majesty, and directed by Mr. Mitchell, 
 of Bond Street, was announced to take place at the 
 Opera House, in the Haymarket, selected for the pur- 
 pose from its size and superior accommodation. These 
 performances were to consist of a tragedy, a comedy, 
 and farce, an English and an Italian opera; the two 
 leading objects being to gratify the public with an 
 unusual display of royalty congregated in honour of a 
 national event, and to exhibit before that august assem- 
 blage the most perfect specimens of English dramatic 
 art that living talent could supply. Nothing could be 
 better in idea than this plan, which nevertheless, like 
 many others equally well laid, was marred in execution 
 by clumsy diplomacy that might have been easily recti- 
 fied. Both objects failed. The absence of several first- 
 rate names, particularly those of Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean, 
 with a total want of skilful organization in the dispos- 
 able strength, reduced a portion of the performances to 
 a scale of painful mediocrity, that must have sadly dis- 
 appointed the strangers who were expected to wonder 
 and admire; while the general public were ostracised 
 by the fabulous prices of admission, which the specu- 
 lators deemed it convenient and were permitted to 
 exact. They were, in fact, the only parties who had 
 reason to be satisfied with the result.* The actors 
 
 * As much as eight, ten, and even twelve thousand pounds has been 
 named as their net profit ; but this must be taken as mere report, 
 resting upon no evidence beyond probable conjecture.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 233 
 
 wasted their efforts on an audience drawn together by 
 the show in front, and not by the professional talent, 
 which they could see at any time, to more advantage 
 and with undivided attention, in the theatres from 
 whence they were drafted. 
 
 As soon as it became known that " Macbeth" was to 
 take the lead in these festival performances, and that 
 the principal characters would not be sustained by 
 Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean, people began naturally to in- 
 quire the cause of this omission. It seemed unaccount- 
 able that the first actor and actress of the day, and the 
 selected director of her Majesty's private theatricals at 
 Windsor, should have no part in an arrangement 
 apparently emanating from royal desire. Much dis- 
 quisition took place on the subject, and many para- 
 graphs appeared in the journals, conveying something 
 like a general impression, coupled with surprise, that 
 Mr. C. Kean, under the avowed circumstances, must 
 either have given cause of offence in some quarter, 
 or had not been treated, for some reason or other, 
 with the courtesy to which he was entitled. A few 
 extracts, taken promiscuously from the papers, will 
 show that opinion, however differently expressed, and 
 based on such imperfect facts as had transpired, verged 
 always towards the same point. 
 
 The Morning Herald wrote thus (18th of January) : 
 
 "Much conversation has arisen, and many conflicting 
 statements have gone abroad, on the subject of this 
 forthcoming dramatic festival, as it has been designated. 
 Amongst the points which have been most discussed in 
 connexion with the matter, is the absence from the 
 announced programme of Mr. C. Kean and his com- 
 pany. This omission must appear the more surprising 
 to the public from the fact, that Mr. C. Kean has for
 
 234 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 many years conducted, with marked approbation, her 
 Majesty's private plays at Windsor. We cannot pre- 
 tend to penetrate completely the mystery in which the 
 transaction is involved ; but we have been informed 
 that Mr. Kean, in the course of the brief negotiations 
 which took place upon the point, held the opinion that 
 all the leading theatres might be thrown open in cele- 
 bration of an event which may be regarded as a subject 
 of national congratulation ; and that he expressed his 
 readiness to carry out such an arrangement in his own 
 establishment. Whatever may be the view we enter- 
 tain of the misunderstanding which has thus arisen, we 
 cannot help regretting that from this theatrical com- 
 memoration of a most interesting ceremony, the 
 greatest of our tragedians should be excluded." 
 
 The following article appeared in the Morning Chro- 
 nicle (January 15) : 
 
 " Many rumours are current with reference to the 
 dramatic representations which are to take place at her 
 Majesty's Theatre, in honour of the Princess Royal's 
 marriage ; and the plan, as at present announced, has 
 not been met by any very warm sympathy on the part 
 of the public. 
 
 "Why could not the projected entertainments have 
 taken place alternately at the regular theatres ? The 
 different plays would have been better acted on their 
 own ground; the public expectation would have been 
 more amply gratified; and the remuneration would 
 have flowed into more legitimate channels. ' Macbeth' 
 is to commence the series ; but, in the absence of our 
 leading performers, Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean, it can 
 scarcely convey to her Majesty's foreign guests a cor- 
 rect impression of our national stage. Mr. Kean, as 
 we understand, has declined to assist in a private com-
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 235 
 
 mercial speculation* In the same manner, an English 
 opera is to constitute another night's performance, 
 without the presence of our first tenor, Mr. Sims 
 Reeves." 
 
 In the Examiner (16th January, 1S58) we find this 
 notice : 
 
 " The arrangements, as they have been announced, 
 with reference to the four performances at the Opera 
 House, under her Majesty's patronage, on the occasion 
 of the Princess Royal's marriage, have given rise to 
 much conversation, and, we are sorry to add, not a 
 little discontent. The professed object is the gratifica- 
 tion of the public, who will virtually, however, be shut 
 out, owing to the enormous scale of the prices of ad- 
 mission, and the exclusive construction of the theatre 
 selected. The aifair is avowedly a commercial specula- 
 tion on the part of the undertaker, entered into at his 
 own risk ; and a great portion of the boxes and stalls 
 being farmed out to the acknowledged theatrical agents, 
 they will, naturally enough, exact prices rising in pro- 
 portion to the extent and eagerness of the demand ; 
 while the name and presence of the Queen, with those 
 of her royal and illustrious guests, will, of course, be 
 sedulously paraded and turned to the best pecuniary 
 account, like any other novelties or attractions of the 
 hour. All this, indeed, is taking place already. 
 
 " A correspondent of the Globe of Thursday evening 
 complains loudly of the extortions practised under the 
 sanction of her Majesty's name, with reference to the 
 entertainments in question. The Daily News of Friday 
 publishes another letter, protesting against the same 
 proceedings in still stronger terms, and detailing facts 
 within the writer's personal knowledge. 
 
 " Surely there is something improper and undignified
 
 236 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 in all this, which it would have been both good taste 
 and good sense to avoid. It is, also, naturally asked 
 why a gentleman, in no way connected with the English 
 stage, should have been selected to direct these per- 
 formances in preference to Mr. Charles Kean, so long 
 the conductor of her Majesty's private plays at Wind- 
 sor, not to speak of his professional eminence and 
 merited popularity. The name of an actor so distin- 
 guished and accomplished as Mr. Kean does not 
 even appear in the programme. If, as we have heard 
 it stated, Mr. Kean objected to co-operate with Mr. 
 Mitchell, on the ground that the plan was, in fact, a 
 private undertaking, injurious and opposed to the inte- 
 rests of his own and the other regular theatres, and ill 
 calculated to afford any substantial satisfaction to the 
 public, we must say the objection appears to us to have 
 been perfectly just. A little more tact in the manage- 
 ment of these festivities, might certainly have been 
 displayed with advantage. The plan of alternate 
 visits to the principal theatres would have produced 
 more general satisfaction; or each manager might have 
 been allowed to superintend his own play, with a fair 
 share in the profit, if any, of the night's performance." 
 
 The following appeared in the Court Circular of the 
 16th of January : 
 
 "The forthcoming ' Dramatic Festival,' in celebra- 
 tion of the Princess Royal's marriage, does not appear 
 to increase in popular favour ; and it is generally felt 
 that no opportunity will be afforded to the people of 
 participating in what, on the surface, appears intended 
 for their gratification. Although the royal party will 
 be present at four public theatrical performances, these 
 are rendered so exclusive, by an enormous scale of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 237 
 
 prices, that only the most opulent of her Majesty's 
 subjects will be able to behold the august assemblage. 
 
 "Neither can any benefit accrue to the legitimate 
 London managers from this mode of appropriating the 
 royal patronage. An opposing attraction, and a very 
 powerful one, is raised up against their own theatres, in 
 the heart of the Christmas season, and nothing what- 
 ever is vouchsafed to them to compensate for the unex- 
 pected injury. 
 
 " To this view of the affair we are, doubtless, to 
 attribute the fact that Mr. Charles Kean is not in- 
 cluded in the list of those who contribute to the 
 ' festival entertainment.' Nothing beyond surmise has 
 yet transpired with regard to the omission of a name 
 that, alone, would have made the performances repre- 
 sentative, inter alia, of English tragedy as it now exists 
 in the metropolis. The cause of Mr. C. Kean's absence 
 will certainly be demanded by the public. A Shake- 
 spearean drama played before an assembly of crowned 
 heads, without the assistance of the great Shakespearean 
 actor of the age, is too strange a fact not to elicit 
 anxious inquiry amongst all classes of this independent 
 and intellectual capital." 
 
 The "festival performance" of "Macbeth" came 
 off on Tuesday, the 19th of January. The day after, 
 the following notice appeared in the Times : 
 
 " It is not usual, in recording public festivals, or 
 other exhibitions, to note down what does not take 
 place ; but, nevertheless, an omission may be so ex- 
 ceedingly important as to render the blank it leaves 
 quite as conspicuous as any object presented to the eye. 
 The Roman procession immortalized by Tacitus, in 
 which the busts that were not carried outshone a host
 
 238 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 of sculptured Manlii and Quinctii, is familiar to the 
 merest dabbler in classical literature ; and those who 
 have not smattered so far, may, if they please, illustrate 
 the omission to which we here immediately allude, by 
 imagining a Lord Mayor's show, with the Lord Mayor's 
 carriage empty. Of course, we refer to the absence of 
 Mr. Charles Kean's name from the list of the artists 
 engaged last night as representatives of English tra- 
 gedy. By histrionic genius, matured of late years to 
 its highest degree of perfection, and by a splendid 
 style of stage management that has made the produc- 
 tion of each succeeding season eclipse its predecessor, 
 Mr. Charles Kean has made the Princess's Theatre the 
 acknowledged home of the Shakespearean drama. The 
 days of the patents have passed away, but the privilege 
 of holding an exclusive rank for the performance of the 
 tragic drama has now belonged for several years to the 
 Princess's Theatre; and to the exertions of Mr. Charles 
 Kean, in his twofold capacity, is this high position to 
 be solely attributed. No one could, indeed, ignore the 
 unquestionable merits of Mr. Phelps in raising the 
 character of Sadler's Wells, and implanting a venera- 
 tion for Shakespeare in a public previously accustomed 
 to lower forms of the drama. But, setting all other 
 consideration aside, it is still impossible to regard the 
 Pentonville district as the focus of the metropolitan 
 drama, or to accept the presence of Mr. Phelps as a 
 reason for the absence of Mr. Charles Kean. ' Why 
 is the manager of the Princess's Theatre and of the 
 Windsor theatricals not here?' is a question that must 
 have forced itself last night upon every person who had 
 not mixed in circles where theatrical politics form a 
 staple of conversation. Italian opera will be represented 
 by Mr. Lumley's company, with Signor Giuglini and 
 Mademoiselle Piccolomini, both (for the first time) in
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.8.A. 239 
 
 " La Somnambula ;" English opera will be represented 
 by the Pyne-Harrisoii company, engaged on the last 
 new work by Mr. Balfe ; the comic drama will be re- 
 presented by contingents from various theatres ; but 
 tragedy is performed without the artist who, above all, 
 is considered its representative. Here is, indeed, a 
 case of the omitted Brutus of the black cloth of 
 Faliero. 
 
 " A case so remarkable needs some explanation, and 
 we believe the facts are something like these, though 
 we by no means warrant them proof against correction. 
 Mr. Charles Kean was not passed over in the selection 
 of actors to play at the ' festival performances/ but, on 
 the contrary, was, in the first instance, requested by 
 Mr. Mitchell, who has the management of the solemni- 
 ties, to undertake the character of Macbeth. The re- 
 quest, it should be distinctly understood, was made by 
 Mr. Mitchell in his own capacity, as a speculator in 
 the advantages to be derived from a theatre on the 
 occasion of a royal visit; and, therefore, Mr. Charles 
 Kean was not bound to regard it as a demand or invita- 
 tion from the Court. Exercising the right of choice 
 which, under these circumstances, belonged to him, he 
 refused to take any part in the ' festival performances/ 
 Probably he considered that, after many years' good 
 service as superintendent of the Windsor theatricals, 
 the management of a theatrical entertainment asso- 
 ciated with a royal marriage might have been confided 
 to his well-tried energies; probably, too, he thought 
 that ' Macbeth' produced under other direction than 
 his own might not impress the foreign visitors of this 
 country with a correct notion as to the manner in 
 which Shakespeare's plays are put upon the stage for 
 the first-class audiences of this country. At all events, 
 this much is certain, that he acted on the broad prin-
 
 240 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 ciple, that one manager is not bound, by right or by 
 courtesy, to act for the benefit of another manager ; 
 and this much, also, is certain, that his refusal to play 
 is highly commended by many adepts in theatrical 
 politics. In an article merely intended to record the 
 events of an evening, it is not our intention to plunge 
 into the depths of a controversy. We merely wish 
 to explain, in as few terms as possible, the alleged 
 reason of Mr. Kean's non-participation in the ' festival 
 performances/ 
 
 " However, the attractions of the stage were but of 
 secondary importance last night. The royal party did 
 not arrive till deep in the second act of ' Macbeth,' 
 just when Mr. Phelps had begun the famous dagger 
 soliloquy. Now, the royal party was what the audience 
 expressly came to see, and the eyes constantly directed 
 towards the large empty box denoted an anxiety that 
 did not in the least refer to the fate of Duncan. On the 
 entrance of Her Majesty everybody, of course, arose, 
 and then the scrutiny of the brilliant assemblage occu- 
 pied all who could get a sight of it. So, somehow or 
 other, the tragedy reached its conclusion, not closely 
 watched in its tardy course, and leaving a strong 
 impression that spoken dramas do not greatly move 
 Operatic audiences. Music is evidently required to 
 arouse the sympathies in Her Majesty's Theatre, for 
 even the compositions ascribed to Lock, and so often 
 scorned, proved welcome last night. How, in the pre- 
 sence of that frigid public, must Mr. Phelps have longed 
 for the hearty Shakespeareans of his own district ! 
 How, if the report of the frigidity reached the ears of 
 Mr. Charles Kean, must he have rejoiced to think how 
 well he was out of the affair! It is no joke to play 
 tragedy before a blas& public, whose whole mind is ab- 
 sorbed by a royal box, and who dislike to find their
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 241 
 
 meditations interrupted by a ruffle of applause. Mr. 
 Phelps manfully sustained his energies to the end, and 
 well earned the plaudits that, on the fall of the curtain, 
 proceeded from the dramatically-disposed portion of the 
 audience. Miss Helen Faucit, also, was called for at 
 the close, and though she did not immediately make her 
 appearance, she stood prominently amongst the singers 
 during the performance of ' God save the Queen/ 
 
 " The singing of this anthem was the real feature of 
 the evening, and the spectacle presented when the 
 whole audience rose, including the occupants of the 
 royal box, was such as could not easily be found beyond 
 the precincts of our magnificent Opera House. For 
 presenting a royal party to the public, and for demon- 
 strating the feeling of that public to Royalty, there is 
 no place like her Majesty's Theatre. At the first note 
 of the national anthem all frigidity had vanished, and 
 the acclamations of an audience that completely filled 
 the house were heard on every side." 
 
 On the evening of the performance of " Macbeth " at 
 the Opera House, Mr. Kean appeared as Hamlet at his 
 own theatre. The feeling prevalent in the public mind 
 that he ought at that moment to be engaged elsewhere, 
 and that he had received a slight in the omission, led 
 to a special demonstration of respect on this particular 
 occasion. The house was crammed to suffocation in 
 every part soon after the opening of the doors, and 
 hundreds were turned away, unable to obtain entrance. 
 The stalls and boxes were filled by a company more 
 than usually brilliant ; the pit and gallery contained 
 hosts of enthusiastic Shakespeareans, assembled to 
 mark their high estimate of his living representative's 
 claims and position, as actor and manager. 
 
 On his entry, Mr. Kean was received with a perfect 
 
 VOL. II. K
 
 242 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 storm of approbation. The stalls rose in a body ; their 
 example was followed by boxes, pit, and gallery. Cheers 
 upon cheers resounded through the house, and some 
 minutes elapsed before the business of the scene was 
 thought of, or the play could resume its course. Doubt- 
 less many of his own personal friends were present ; 
 but they alone could not have produced the furore 
 which manifested itself. It was a genuine and hearty 
 expression of public feeling, on account of what was 
 evidently considered a public wrong. 
 
 Mr. Kean appeared for the moment to be over- 
 powered by this spontaneous burst, but he manned 
 himself speedily, and went through his arduous part 
 with redoubled energy, taxed to its highest exertion. 
 Every point was eagerly seized by the audience. The 
 applause was almost unremitting. At the close of 
 the great scene with his mother, which terminates 
 the third act, Hamlet was loudly called for, and was 
 obliged to appear before the curtain. The call was 
 unanimously renewed at the termination of the tra- 
 gedy, when Mr. Kean, having bowed his acknowledg- 
 ments, retired. The audience were not satisfied with 
 this. A continued and more enthusiastic demand for 
 his return made it evident that he was expected to say 
 something. He now felt it his duty to obey. Accord- 
 ingly he addressed the house briefly, but pithily, as 
 follows : 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen, It is not my custom ever 
 to address an audience, except on the concluding night 
 of a season ; but I fear that were I not on the present 
 occasion to respond to so unanimous an ebullition of 
 public feeling as you have honoured me with this even- 
 ing, my silence might be wrongly interpreted. I am 
 deeply sensible of your kindness, and beg you to accept
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 243 
 
 my heartfelt thanks. It would be affectation in me to 
 pretend not to understand the motives which have in- 
 fluenced this particular excitement, and it is another 
 convincing instance, in addition to the many I have 
 already received, that when a public man acts in a con- 
 scientious and upright manner, the public will always 
 afford him their sympathy and support. Throughout 
 my life I have coveted the verdict of public opinion, 
 professionally and socially, and this evening impresses 
 on me a most grateful conviction that my wishes are 
 realized." 
 
 These few appropriate words, containing a world of 
 condensed meaning, appeared to create a deep sensa- 
 tion, and produced a general repetition of the pre- 
 ceding applause. Several papers in articles on the 
 events of this evening, and with reference to the affair 
 generally, suggested that some further elucidation 
 would be desirable, and that Mr. Kean was, in fact, 
 called upon to supply the deficiency. He thought dif- 
 ferently, felt satisfied with the result, had no inclination 
 to stir up a controversy that might lead to disrespectful 
 conclusions, and remained silent. In a biographical 
 work such as the present, and in treating of a remark- 
 able incident in the life of an eminent professional man, 
 the same reserve might seem to be affected and unneces- 
 sary, while it would inevitably lead to misconstruction. 
 We therefore now state the facts as they occurred, with- 
 out presuming to venture either comment or inference. 
 
 Soon after the plan was resolved on, Mr. Mitchell 
 called upon Mr. Kean and proposed to him, as a matter 
 of business, to perform " Macbeth " with his company, 
 at the Italian Opera House. He stated that he had 
 taken that theatre for the purpose of giving three or 
 four dramatic and operatic representations during the 
 
 R2
 
 244 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 festivities consequent on the Princess Royal's marriage ; 
 that the scheme emanated from the Court, who had 
 entrusted him with the details of carrying it out, and 
 that it would receive the patronage of Her Majesty. 
 He distinctly explained that this was a speculation, the 
 loss or profit of which rested with himself, and that he 
 might either win or lose a large sum of money. Mr. 
 Keau asked whether Mr. Mitchell was instructed to 
 make any overture for his co-operation from higher 
 quarters, and was answered with an explicit negative. 
 He requested a short time to consider the proposal, and 
 in the course of the same evening replied in the following 
 letter : 
 
 " MY DEAR MR. MITCHELL, 
 
 " I have given the subject you submitted to me 
 this morning my deepest consideration, and regret 
 extremely that the conclusion at which I have arrived 
 is opposed to your wishes as expressed to me. 
 
 " I cannot but feel that the arrangement you con- 
 template with regard to the Haymarket Opera. House, 
 must prove most detrimental to my interest in every 
 way, and that in consequence I shall require all the 
 attraction at my command to counteract such an over- 
 whelming opposition. The absence of my professional 
 services on the occasion in question can be of no pos- 
 sible consideration to you ; for the very fact of your 
 being so fortunate as to secure the exclusive permission 
 of announcing Her Majesty's intended visits, must fill 
 the theatre from floor to ceiling, without reference 
 to the performers or performances. From my regard 
 for you personally, and my high estimation of your 
 character, I would waive any objection that did not 
 involve so large a sacrifice ; but as it is, the reasons for
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 245 
 
 my present refusal to meet your views are unfortunately 
 too numerous and too powerful. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "CHARLES KEAN.* 
 
 This letter produced a second visit from Mr. Mit- 
 chell, who again endeavoured with much urgency to 
 induce Mr. Kean to rescind his determination, and in 
 the course of the conversation, implied that the Court 
 would perhaps be annoyed at his refusal to co-operate. 
 Mr. Kean replied, "If this is your speculation, Mr. 
 Mitchell, as a matter of business I am justified in 
 declining. If the Court were interested in it, as a 
 matter of courtesy, in consideration of the position I 
 have held for so many years as director of Her Majesty's 
 private theatricals, 1 should assuredly have received 
 some personal communication through the usual 
 channel." These are the words that were used, for 
 the writer was present at the interview. Mr. Kean 
 then, to prevent any possibility of mistake, assured 
 Mr. Mitchell that he had no wish whatever to impede 
 his plans ; that he would not have undertaken the 
 speculation had it been proposed to him ; and that 
 even now, if the slightest indication should be con- 
 veyed to him that his services were desired, he would 
 lay aside all objections, and instantly comply. Mr. 
 Mitchell left him in evident anxiety to bring about 
 this result, and with an expectation that it would be 
 easy of accomplishment. In due course of time, the 
 following letter decided the question. 
 
 * As a proof that Mr. Kean's professional opinion as to the injurious 
 effect of these performances was justly based, it may be stated here 
 that at that very period, usually the most productive of the London 
 season, he sustained a loss of several thousand pounds.
 
 248 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 " London, Royal Library, Old Bond Street, 
 " Dec. 7th, 1857. 
 
 " DEAR MR. KEAN, 
 
 " I had an interview with on Satur- 
 day, and again to day. He seems quite unwilling to 
 adopt ray suggestions, and I therefore feel that I ought 
 not to trouble you any further upon the subject. 
 
 " Yours faithfully ^ 
 
 " JOHN MITCHELL." 
 
 Here the matter ended. A correspondence sub- 
 sequently ensued between a gentleman of high position 
 at the Court, and Mr. Kean ; but being entirely of an 
 unofficial character, Mr. Kean has declined admitting 
 its introduction in these volumes. 
 
 It is quite true, as stated in some of the news- 
 papers, that he proposed to open his theatre gratui- 
 tously to the public, on a given night, to mark his 
 respect for the occasion, provided it would suit her 
 Majesty's convenience to honour him with her pre- 
 sence. The arrangement was found to be impractic- 
 able. But another fact, no less true, was not stated in 
 the papers, namely, that Mr. Kean conveyed, in the 
 clearest terms, to the proper authorities, his readiness 
 to obey the slightest indication of his royal mistress's 
 wishes which might be communicated; but such an 
 honour Avas not vouchsafed. There is no reason to 
 deny that Mr. Kean did at the time feel deeply pained 
 by the little consideration extended towards him 
 throughout these proceedings. Can this be surprising? 
 He had filled for many years, by express selection, the 
 distinguished post of director of her Majesty's private 
 theatricals. In the discharge of that nattering, but at 
 the same time, delicate and difficult duty, he had 
 encountered heavy pecuniary loss, and many profes-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 247 
 
 sional annoyances ; but the coveted approbation of his 
 august employers was dearer to his heart than all other 
 considerations. Public and printed testimony have 
 on more than one occasion been borne to the enthu- 
 siasm with which he has invariably prosecuted his art, 
 and the total absence of selfish or mercenary feeling 
 by which his actions have been governed. Let that 
 evidence now be corroborated by one who founds his 
 knowledge on long and intimate acquaintanceship. 
 In the case under immediate discussion, Mr. Kean 
 blended the double feeling of ardent loyalty to his 
 queen, and an anxious desire to uphold the interests of 
 his profession. Whatever might have been his per- 
 sonal convictions on the subject, all would have given 
 way at once, had a single word implied the desire 
 which would have been joyfully hailed as a command.
 
 248 THE LIFE ANB THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TWO NEW FARCES : THE STOCK EXCHANGE, OB THE GREEN BUSINESS, 
 AND SAMUEL IN SEARCH OP HIMSELF ON EASTER MONDAY REVIVAL OF 
 KING LEAB, FROM THE TEXT OF SHAKESPEARE TATE'S ALTERATION 
 GENERAL AND CRITICAL REMARKS DEATH OF MRS. DAVISON, FORMERLY 
 MISS DUNCAN LAST PERFORMANCE AT THE OLD ADELPHI THEATRE IN 
 
 THE STRAND PECULIAR STYLE OF AUDIENCE, ACTORS, AND AUTHORS 
 
 REVIVAL OF THE MERCHANT OF VENICE NOVELTIES INTRODUCED 
 MR. KEAN'S SHYLOCK MRS. C. KEAN'S PORTIA GENERAL OBSERVA- 
 TIONS ON THE PLAY, AND ACTORS OF THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS THE 
 NEW PRELUDE OF DYING FOR LOVE. 
 
 ON Easter Monday, April the 5th, 1858, " Faust and 
 Marguerite " was re-produeed, after an interval of two 
 years. There was no change in the cast. A new 
 Comedietta, by Mr. Charles Dance, preceded the sub- 
 stantial dish of the evening ; this was entitled " The 
 Stock Exchange, or the Green Business ;" and was 
 received with marked approbation. Its success de- 
 pended more on the excellence of blended acting 
 than on the predominant effect of one or two parts. 
 In this respect nothing could be better. " Samuel in 
 search of himself" (by Mr. Sterling Coyne and Mr. 
 Coape), which concluded the bill of fare, was farcical 
 and extravagant to the last extreme, well adapted in 
 the position assigned to it, for the purpose of sending 
 an Easter audience "laughing to their beds." The 
 title might have puzzled CEdipus as far as regards ana- 
 logy or association with the plot of this amusing baga- 
 telle, which was much indebted for its success to the 
 acting of our old friend Harley, fresh and mercurial
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 249 
 
 to the last, as a novice of yesterday. " King Lear " was 
 produced by Mr. C. Kean on Saturday, the 17th of 
 April. Lear is in many respects the most powerful of 
 Shakespeare's glorious imaginings ; this amounts to 
 saying that it is the finest tragedy the human mind 
 has ever conceived. The absolute palm, in the opinion 
 of most critics, lies dubiously between Macbeth, Hamlet, 
 Othello, and Lear. The poet's materials in Lear, as 
 far as plot and incident extend, are derived from 
 apocryphal history and acknowledged fable. From 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, an authority of little value, 
 although transcribed by Holingshed ; from an older 
 play, a preceding ballad, and a tale in the "Arcadia" 
 of Sir Philip Sidney, which supplies the episode, so 
 skilfully interwoven, of Gloucester and his sons. If 
 we are to admit, which we are not disposed to do, that 
 Shakespeare had but the narrow allowance of classic 
 learning so resolutely insisted on by Ben Jonson, Dr. 
 Farmer, and others, he must, at least, have possessed 
 an extensive acquaintance with English literature, and 
 a memory as unbounded as his genius. On such sub- 
 strata, collected from many mines, but amplified by 
 his own exhaustless fancy, he created those unparalleled 
 combinations of philosophy and poetry which have 
 placed his name and works in a category by them- 
 selves. This power of transmuting rough materials to 
 costly metal never has been, and we may safely predict, 
 never will be equalled, except under direct inspiration. 
 Shakespeare enjoyed the happiness accorded to few 
 writers, of living fame, and his immortality may bid 
 defiance to time and change. But after the Restora- 
 tion, and throughout the profligate reigns of the 
 Stuarts, he was nearly forgotten. In a list of more 
 than fifty plays, enumerated by the theatrical chro- 
 niclers of the day, and running over a period of
 
 250 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 twenty years, from 1663 to 1683, we discover only four 
 of Shakespeare's, including Titus Andronicus. So 
 thoroughly was the great poet lost sight of, that when 
 Nahum Tate produced his mangled adaptation of 
 "Lear," in 1681, he had the audacity to call it his own, 
 and it was noticed as such, at a later period, in two 
 numbers of the Tattler. This alteration became the 
 established text, with trifling changes and omissions ; 
 it held possession of the stage for nearly a century 
 and a half, from 1681 until within the last twenty 
 years; and this spurious version was successively 
 adopted by all the great actors, from Betterton, 
 Booth, Garrick, and Barry, down to John Kemble 
 and Edmund Kean inclusive. 
 
 " King Lear," as presented at the Princess's Theatre, 
 was considered by many as the most difficult triumph 
 which Mr. Kean had yet accomplished. His historical 
 lectures, for so the series of revivals might be denomi- 
 nated, have wrought a complete revolution in public 
 taste, and placed Shakespeare on a loftier pinnacle than 
 he ever occupied in those days so pathetically bemoaned 
 by the advocates of supposed theatrical degeneracy, 
 and worshipped by them and their followers as the 
 age of giants, *and the Augustan era of the British 
 stage. Augean perhaps, would be a more appropriate 
 term when we consider the mass of accumulated dross 
 by which the genuine ore of the poet had been so 
 long corrupted, and the purifying process it had to go 
 through. 
 
 In his arrangement of the text, Mr. Kean omits all 
 repulsive and coarse passages, while the necessary con- 
 densation gives more rapidity to the tide of passion, and 
 connects the incidents in an unbroken chain. The 
 putting out of Gloster's eyes is one of those exceptional 
 horrors that emulates the supper of Thyestes, or the
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 251 
 
 visible murder of her children by Medea. This is 
 merely glanced at in a few lines of dialogue, and thus 
 a leading objection is removed without injury to the 
 plot. Shakespeare has identified the story of the pas- 
 sionate old king and his three daughters with England, 
 at a time when "the land was peopled with rude 
 heathens, and the minds and hearts of men, as yet 
 unreclaimed by the softening influences of Christianity, 
 were barbarous and cruel," * No exact period is in- 
 dicated, but Mr. Kean has supposed a distinct era for 
 the action of the play (the eighth century), sufficiently 
 remote to assimilate with the subject, but still within 
 the scope of reliable authority for scenery and costume. 
 When fact is so qualified by fiction that it is impossible 
 to separate these conflicting ingredients, no extent of 
 antiquarian perseverance can reach the minute accuracy 
 which animates into living reflection the more certain age 
 of King John, Richard II., or Henry VIII. Mr. Kean 
 has so skilfully employed the resources which un- 
 wearied research enabled him to collect, that in the 
 arrangements of this great drama in the pictorial 
 accompaniments, whether sylvan or architectural, in 
 the dresses, arms, and implements, he presented us 
 with an original picture of early Saxon England, 
 fresh, glowing, and characteristic, which surprises and 
 delights the eye, while it leaves on the mind the strong 
 impression of historical truth. In all those points it is 
 evident that Mr. Kean trusts to no model, and refers to 
 no previous example. He forms his own conception 
 of Shakespeare's plays, casting aside all reminiscences 
 of traditional precedent. Not satisfied to pursue the 
 uncertain and ill-defined track which allured so many 
 followers, he strikes out new paths with the hardihood 
 of intuitive genius. His mind travels with the time, 
 * Mr. Kean's preface.
 
 252 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 and adapts itself to the age that sits in judgment on 
 his efforts. Instead of saying, " I will do this because 
 it has been done before," we see clearly he says, "I 
 will avoid all these errors, for I know how they can be 
 remedied ; " and he may appeal to public opinion in 
 testimony that his theory and practice are equally 
 sound. 
 
 The originality so strongly manifested by Mr. C. 
 Kean in his arrangement of the play, was even more 
 conspicuous in his performance of the leading character; 
 perhaps the most arduous on the stage, and the greatest 
 touchstone of the actor's power which even the exhaust- 
 less imagination of Shakespeare has created. Lear 
 presents an incarnation of impulsive passion a tem- 
 perament easily goaded to madness under the circum- 
 stances in which the poet has placed him. The 
 sufferings he goes through can only be relieved by 
 death. How thoroughly we sympathise with Kent, 
 when he closes the play with these impressive words : 
 
 " Vex not his ghost ; oh, let him pass. He hates him 
 That would upon the rack of this tough world 
 Stretch him out longer." 
 
 In by-gone days the catastrophe was reversed, winding 
 up with the happy marriage of Edgar and Cordelia (a 
 mawkish interpolation), and the restoration of Lear, who 
 was made to rejoice in his recovered authority. There 
 were not wanting many who hailed the change as an im- 
 provement, and more who received it as genuine Shakes- 
 peare. The present age has been brought to a truer 
 taste and a more just appreciation of the matchless bard ; 
 and not to all his predecessors combined are they so 
 much indebted for the reform as to Mr. Charles Kean. 
 
 The part of Lear includes all the higher elements of 
 tragedy under their most terrible attributes. It could
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 253 
 
 only be undertaken, with the hope of a prosperous issue, 
 by an actor who ranks in the very first class, and com- 
 bines an extraordinary union of mental and physical 
 qualifications. It has been said often by professed 
 critics, that " Lear " is a play that cannot be acted. 
 We incline, on the contrary, to think that it is essen- 
 tially an acting play; but its success or failure must 
 entirely depend on the strength with which the leading 
 character is delineated. The scenic appliances, the 
 niechamcism of the storm, beautifully and picturesquely 
 as they were employed in the present revival, would 
 fade into nothing, unless the representative of Lear 
 proved himself an Atlas, capable of bearing the entire 
 weight of the tragedy on his own shoulders. The poet 
 has given him a task far beyond ordinary reach, and 
 measured by his own gigantic standard. Mr. C. Kean 
 did wisely to abstain from grappling with Lear until 
 his judgment was ripened by long experience, and his 
 powers mellowed to their full maturity. This is one of 
 the parts that has been said, for several generations, to 
 have died with its immediate representative. When an 
 actor of eminence retires from the scene, it is usual to 
 predict that, in certain characters, he will have no suc- 
 cessor. At the funeral of Garrick, a devoted partisan, 
 with more zeal than wisdom, suggested that the play of 
 " Hamlet " should be buried in his grave. Yet shortly 
 after there came Henderson, and close on his footsteps, 
 John Kemble, who inherited the laurels of the deceased 
 Roscius in that very part, while yet his memory was 
 green. When Cooke died, in 1812, it was loudly pro- 
 claimed that Shylock and Richard had expired with 
 him. But within two years up sprang Edmund Kean, 
 who excelled him in both. He, too, has departed, and 
 the proud dynasty of the Kembles is theatrically ex- 
 tinct; but in their places we have Charles Kean, the
 
 254 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 worthy son of an illustrious sire, who has placed his 
 reputation as an actor of Shakespeare far above living 
 competition, and has established his fame on an enduring 
 basis, beyond all danger of subversion. 
 
 Mr. C. Kean's appearance in Lear was considered a 
 challenge to criticism, which was freely accepted. He 
 had every reason to be satisfied with the sentence pro- 
 nounced by the enthusiastic public, and the more 
 cautious exponents who lead or reflect public opinion. 
 The general verdict was that he had equalled his Hamlet 
 and Louis the Eleventh. It would be difficult to bestow 
 higher praise. The performance was, in truth, a mag- 
 nificent impersonation ; not great by fits and starts, or 
 marked by detached points, as was the case with his 
 father's, but a splendid and harmonious whole, com- 
 bining the result of long experience with the quick, 
 comprehensive genius, which not only seizes on the 
 prominent features of a portrait, but can also find a 
 charm, a grace, and an expressive meaning, in what 
 may appear to a less subtle apprehension but as inferior 
 and uncharacteristic lineaments. Mr. C. Kean's manner, 
 gait, and costume, were all in perfect keeping, and 
 indicated the most careful study. There was a tremu- 
 lous cadence in his voice, with an occasional break, 
 under progressive excitement, which conveyed most 
 naturally the impression of old age without the fullness 
 of decay. When the tide of feeling swelled into an 
 overwhelming torrent, it poured from him without any 
 exhibition of artistic prelude. He had not pronounced 
 half-a-dozen speeches before it was clearly manifest to 
 the audience that he had mastered the full range of the 
 character, the sensibility of temperament, the hasty, 
 extravagant passion, the blind, capricious impulsiveness, 
 so readily goaded to insanity, under excessive injury 
 and insult. It is difficult to imagine the effect with
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 255 
 
 which, at the close of the first act, he uttered the 
 celebrated curse on Goneril. To feel this truly, the 
 actor must be followed through every preceding alter- 
 nation of feeling, all of which converge to one point, 
 and lead up to the climax. Mr. Kean's attitude and 
 expression, when he flung down his hunting spear, and 
 fell on his knees before he spoke, presented a picture 
 worthy of the pencil of a Raphael. There is nothing in 
 written language, ancient or modern, to compete with 
 this tremendous imprecation. Lovers of Greek lore 
 challenge equality for the malediction on his sons, in 
 the " CEdipus Coloneus of Sophocles." * French critics 
 claim even superiority for the whirlwind of reproach 
 with which Camille assails her victorious brother in 
 " Les Horaces " of Corneille. In our humble opinion, 
 both wither into nothing when placed in direct com- 
 parison with Shakespeare. 
 
 Through the second act, the whirlwind of passion is 
 kept up by Mr. Kean with increasing intensity, as suc- 
 cessive indignities and new acts of ingratitude are 
 heaped upon him at the hands of his second daughter, 
 Regan. He rushes distractedly into the storm, and 
 here his reason begins to wander. The gradual advance 
 to the confirmed madness of the fourth act was finely 
 discriminated ; but if we are to name a particular 
 passage for superior praise, where all was uniformly 
 excellent, we must select the opening scene of the fifth 
 act, in which Lear recovers his intellects, and recognizes 
 his daughter Cordelia. It was so natural and touching, 
 that it excited the tears and plaudits of the house in 
 equal proportions. After that, the aged sufferer has 
 little to do but to expire of grief and worn-out nature, 
 
 * By an oblivious inconsistency, the deniers of Shakespeare's original 
 genius and learning affirmed that he borrowed the idea of this passage 
 from Sophocles.
 
 256 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 with the murdered Cordelia in his arms. A more 
 perfect picture than this sad group, or one that more 
 impressively embodies the substance of a " tragic 
 volume/' was never exhibited upon the stage. 
 
 The manager was well supported by his actors, who 
 all appeared to have caught the true Shakespearean 
 spirit. The Fool, one of the great poet's most delightful 
 conceptions in that class, could not have been entrusted 
 to a more pleasing representative than Miss Poole. Her 
 scraps of old songs were artless and affecting, and softened 
 down with exquisite relief the agonising passion of the 
 scenes in which they are introduced. The old masters 
 omitted the Fool. Garrick feared the buffooneries of 
 Woodward, to whom he thought of assigning it, and 
 abandoned the idea. John Kemble and Edmund Kean 
 found no Fool in Tate's version, and were content to 
 lose him. Macready was the first who restored the 
 character. Nothing was ever more dramatically effec- 
 tive than the contrast produced by the simplicity of this 
 poor natural, the simulated frenzy of Mad Tom, and 
 the gradual insanity of Lear. 
 
 Mr. Ryder's Edgar was a manly and effective per- 
 formance. One of the weekly papers called it, " a fine 
 sketch of Hanwell before the Conquest." Mr. Walter 
 Lacy was a showy Edmund, and Mr. Cooper pourtrayed 
 with chastened experience, the rough loyalty of Kent. 
 Miss Kate Terry made an interesting Cordelia, and her 
 two unamiable sisters, Goneril and Regan, were repre- 
 sented with imposing beauty by Miss Heath and Miss 
 Bufton. 
 
 On Thursday, the 10th of June, 1858, after thirty- 
 two consecutive repetitions, " King Lear " was with- 
 drawn to make room for the " Merchant of Venice." 
 Her Majesty and the Prince Consort were present on 
 the concluding night, it being the fourth visit of the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAX, F.S.A. 257 
 
 royal family to this noble tragedy. Why is it that 
 " Lear," while exciting unbounded admiration, is less 
 universally followed than other plays of inferior mark? 
 Because, though surprising, it is unsatisfactory, and 
 leaves an impression of pain on the spectator's mind 
 that all the power of the poet's genius and the actor's 
 art cannot alleviate. There is no female interest suffi- 
 cient to soften the prevailing gloom. Cordelia is a 
 beautiful sketch, but she is seldom seen. Goneril and 
 Regan are unqualified fiends, more wicked and repulsive 
 than even Lady Macbeth. The latter has commanding 
 energy in her crimes, and is at least faithful to her 
 husband, with one touch of feeling in reference to his 
 father. 
 
 The London papers of the first week of June, 1858, 
 contained the following announcement, which was read 
 with much regret by all who knew the subject of it 
 privately, or remembered her in her professional emi- 
 nence : " On Sunday, May 30th, died at Brompton, 
 Maria Kebecca Davison, formerly Miss Duncan, of the 
 Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and Hay- 
 market, aged seventy-eight, relict of the late James 
 Davison, Esq. whom she survived ten weeks." Maria 
 Duncan was the successor of Miss Farren, and for many 
 years maintained her position as the first high comedy 
 actress of the London stage. The original Juliana, in 
 the " Honeymoon," and the best Lady Teazle., Lady 
 Toivnly, Beatrice, Romp, Rosina, and Marian Ramsey, 
 of her day. As a singer of Scotch ballads she was un- 
 rivalled. Her parents belonged to the theatrical profes- 
 sion, and it might almost be said she was born upon the 
 stage. At five years of age, she acted the DitkeofYork, 
 at Liverpool, to the Richard the Third of G. F. Cooke, 
 and was highly complimented by the great eccentric 
 star, an unusual event, for he took little delight in 
 infantine precocity. His contempt for the young 
 
 VOL. II. S
 
 258 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Roscius was expressed in unmeasured diatribes; but 
 then he writhed under the degradation of stooping to 
 Glenalvon, while the boy towered above him in the 
 interesting character of NorvaL Miss Duncan, at thir- 
 teen, played Rosetta, in "Love in a Village," at Dublin, 
 and soon became an established favourite in the Irish 
 metropolis. Miss Farren saw her there as a mere child, 
 and predicted her future success. But she had still to 
 wait her time and opportunity. Seven years after Miss 
 Farren had left the stage and become Countess of 
 Derby, Mr. Wroughton, at that period stage manager of 
 Drury Lane, happened accidentally to see Miss Duncan 
 perform the Widow Cheerly (Soldier's Daughter), at 
 Margate, and offered her at once a liberal engagement 
 for the ensuing season. On the 8th of October, 1804, 
 she appeared as Lady Teazle, the same character in 
 which Miss Farren had retired. On that evening, 
 Mathews and Elliston also performed, for the first time, 
 Sir Peter Teazla and Charles Surface. Elliston had 
 only commenced his career at Drury Lane a fortnight 
 before, as Rolla, and was then looked upon as the rising 
 actor of the day. The " School for Scandal " was 
 repeated fifteen times. Miss Duncan folknved Lady 
 Teazle by Rosalind^ Violante, Lady Townly, and Maria 
 in the " Citizen ; " but Mrs. Jordan was also in the 
 company, and her presence somewhat restricted the 
 opportunities of the new comer. On the 31st of Jan- 
 uary, 1805, in the same season, Tobin's posthumous 
 comedy of the " Honeymoon " was produced, and ran 
 for twenty-eight nights. The Duchess afforded Miss 
 Duncan the most desirable of all chances in theatrical 
 life, a fine original character, of which she amply availed 
 herself. Her performance in this part has never been 
 approached by any succeeding actress. Her song at the 
 commencement of the fifth act, produced an unfailing 
 encore ; her style of dancing, graceful yet unaffected, and
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 259 
 
 so agreeably contrasting the movements of the lady with 
 those of the rustics with whom for the moment she was 
 associated, proved one of the most attractive features in 
 the comedy. In this, she was admirably seconded by 
 Elliston, who danced with such elegance, that excellent 
 light comedians afterwards were deterred from venturing 
 on the Duke Aranza, because they lacked that accom- 
 plishment. Egerton, a heavy actor, selected it for his 
 first London essay, and very nearly failed from his having 
 neglected to worship the muse Terpsichore. Miss Dun- 
 can married Mr. Davison on the 31st of October, 1812. 
 Ladies on the stage are apt to consider themselves more 
 attractive under their maiden appellations, and often, 
 continue to retain them after they have become matrons. 
 Miss Duncan had no such weakness. " An old Actress/' 
 who has written several amusing "recollections" in the 
 Era (the faithful record of theatrical doings), says of 
 her departed friend : " Her change of situation was 
 kept a secret, and her marriage surprised every one. 
 She was debating with me how she should be announced. 
 We laughed at the expense of poor Mrs. G., whose 
 husband, on account of false pride, would not suffer 
 her real name to appear, and she was, therefore, 
 announced as the late Miss Betterton. ' No, I will not/ 
 said Maria, ' be the late Miss Duncan, lest my friends, 
 on seeing me act, should consider me but the ghost 
 of my former self/ ' The same pen adds, " She 
 remained on the stage for many years after, nor quitted 
 it until declining into the ' vale of years.' The last time 
 I saw her on the boards was at the Haymarket (in 
 1825), in a piece called ' Tribulation/ In one scene 
 she and Dowtou displayed some fine acting. 'Ah!' 
 exclaimed Bannister, who was of our party, ' we old 
 ones did know how to do it !' and he loudly applauded 
 these kindred spirits." 
 
 S2
 
 260 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 On Wednesday, June the 2d, 1858, the last perfor- 
 mance took place at the " little Adelphi," the doors of 
 which were then closed, never again to open on the 
 same edifice. One of the smallest and most incommo- 
 dious of London theatres, it had long enjoyed a peculiar 
 reputation. The Adelphi had its own audience, its own 
 authors, actors, and pieces. In all these there was an 
 uninterrupted family inheritance, never disputed, but 
 duly descending from generation to generation. How 
 many names of celebrity are conjured up to memory, 
 when we glance hastily back on the fifty-three years' 
 life of this celebrated histrionic temple, devoted to red- 
 hot melodrama, burlesque, domestic tales of intense 
 interest, and " screaming farce." In its earliest epoch 
 of celebrity it was called the Sans Pareil, managed 
 by " true-blue Scott," as he was designated in popular 
 phrase, with his daughter as the presiding goddess. 
 Then succeeded Rodwell and Jones, under whom the 
 "Tom and Jerry" mania reflected the taste of the day, 
 and the freaks of " men on town " when George IV. was 
 king. There was much wrenching of knockers and 
 flooring of " Charlies " during this reign of slang and 
 the back slums ; but it helped to break up begging as 
 a profitable investment, and certainly killed poor Billy 
 Waters. After Rodwell and Jones came Terry, 
 Mathews, and Yates, whose reign suggests reminis- 
 cences of Buckstone and Fitzball; of T. P. Cooke, 
 O. Smith, Wilkinson, and Tyrone Power; of Wright 
 and Paul Bedford; of Mrs. Yates, and Mrs. Keeley; of 
 "The Pilot," "The Flying Dutchman," " The Wreck 
 Ashore," "Victorine," " Eory O'More," and, though 
 last not least, of " Jack Sheppard," which has since 
 been interdicted on the ground of its demoralizing 
 example. In 1844, Mr. Webster became proprietor of 
 the Adelphi, and appointed Madame Celeste as his
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 261 
 
 directress. "Then," says a notice in the Times, "the 
 same author who had maintained the dramatic character 
 of the theatre during the ' Mathews and Yates ' period, 
 came forward with his ' Green Bushes/ which may 
 fairly be pronounced a perfect monster of success ; 
 inasmuch as fourteen years of scarcely interrupted 
 wear and tear have proved insufficient to destroy its 
 popularity. Many pieces have been brought out with 
 various degrees of success since first Miami crossed 
 the bridge, with her rifle on her shoulder, and Muster 
 Greenidge and Jack Gong convulsed London with their 
 eccentricities; but nevertheless, Mr. Buckstone's 
 " Green Bushes" will always remain in the memory of 
 the present generation of playgoers as the type of the 
 old Adelphi. Nay, if in September next, Mr. B. Web- 
 ster, according to announcement, opens a new Adelphi 
 to the patronage of the public, a performance of this 
 unfading piece will be regarded as a very legitimate 
 house warming." The new Adelphi was not opened by 
 Mr. Webster until the 26th of December, 1858, and is 
 now one of the most elegant and commodious theatres 
 in London. 
 
 There has been much disquisition and some severe 
 homilies on the pernicious tendency of dramas of the 
 "Tom and Jerry " and "Jack Sheppard " school. It 
 cannot be said that they elevate the character of the 
 stage, neither, perhaps, would it be easy to prove that 
 they have permanently injured the morals of the public. 
 They have died with the tastes and habits that inspired 
 them, and may they long rest in peace. Their time- 
 honoured prototype, the "Beggars' Opera," is now 
 seldom brought forward. The stage would lose nothing 
 if it were finally buried and forgotten. Modern taste 
 has no perception of the poignant satire which gave 
 force to it when first written, and which has ceased to be
 
 262 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 understood or enjoyed with the times and individuals 
 that have passed away. 
 
 On Saturday, June the 12th, the " Merchant of 
 Venice/' was revived : Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean taking 
 their annual benefit on that evening. Actors and 
 actresses of the highest rank have won clustering 
 laurels as the representatives of Shylock and Portia. 
 Macklin, Henderson, Cooke, and Edmund Kean have 
 been indentified by past generations with " the Jew 
 that Shakespeare drew/' Mrs. Siddons first presented 
 herself before a London audience as the accomplished 
 heiress of Belmont, and frequently assumed the part in 
 her riper years. In those days, and down to the 
 present date, the " Merchant of Venice" was treated as 
 a quiet, domestic drama, with some exquisite passages 
 of poetry, and a scene or two of exciting passion ; but 
 it was never dreamed of as a vehicle for the most at- 
 tractive and faithful pictorial embellishment, or as a 
 medium for historical illustration equally delightful 
 and instructive. 
 
 It would be impossible to produce a stronger contrast 
 than that furnished by the presented subject when 
 considered with reference to its immediate predecessor. 
 Lear is all wild, romantic, rudely magnificent, painful in 
 progress and catrastrophe ; it touches the extreme verge 
 of tragic pathos and almost extends to the horrible. 
 The " Merchant of Venice," on the other hand, pre- 
 sents a continued series of softened and delicious 
 pictures; not all light, it is true, for then the sur- 
 rounding glare would be intolerable, but with enough 
 of shade and contrast to heighten while it relieves the 
 prevailing brilliancy. The historical importance of 
 Venice has passed away for ever; her palaces are 
 crumbling, her gondolas glide silently through the 
 canals unenlivened by song ; the haunt of merchants is
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 263 
 
 no longer on the Rialto ; but the immortal verse of 
 Shakespeare has invested the fair city of the sea with 
 a charm for Englishmen which cannot perish with 
 passing events, but which lives and blooms despite of 
 political or national changes. 
 
 " For unto us she hath a spell beyond 
 Her name in story, and her long array 
 Of mighty shadows, whose dim forms despond 
 Above the dogeless city's vanish'd sway ; 
 Ours is a trophy which will not decay 
 With the Rialto ; Shylock and the Moor, 
 And Pierre, cannot be swept or worn away 
 The keystones of the arch ! though all were o'er, 
 For us re-peopled were the solitary shore." 
 
 The "Merchant of Venice" has suffered less at the 
 hands of mutilators than many of Shakespeare's equally 
 popular dramas. Until Macklin restored the true 
 version in 1741, a miserable imitation by Lord Lans- 
 downe, called the "Jew of Venice/' (in 1701) had 
 superseded it as an acting play. In this, Shylock was 
 buffooned into a low comic character, performed by 
 Dogget, grotesquely habited and vulgarised. It re- 
 quired sometime before the public could be reconciled 
 to the change. As in the case of the Gravedigger's 
 innumerable waistcoats in Hamlet, the galleries were 
 unwilling to give up their traditional laugh. From the 
 days of Macklin until Mr. C. Kean's revival, no one 
 meddled with the text, and arrangement of the play, as 
 the contemporary of Quin and Garrack had settled it. 
 Macklin was a fine actor, in a very limited range, and 
 an author of some literary pretensions witness his 
 comedy of the "Man of the World," and the farce of 
 " Love a la Mode." But he was neither archaeologist, 
 nor painter, nor poet, nor an enthusiast for historical 
 accuracv ; and if he had been either or all of all these,
 
 264 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 the age in which he lived could not have understood 
 him. We have often felt surprised that Garrick never 
 attempted Shylock. He would have done wonders in 
 the part, with his fiery eye, his animated features, and 
 his flexible voice. Perhaps he was deterred by the 
 previous fame of Macklin, and unwilling to break a 
 lance with so formidable a competitor. 
 
 Let us now consider what the taste and study of 
 Mr. Kean have called into life from rich but hitherto 
 neglected materials. The curtain draws up and we 
 discover ourselves in Venice, the famed Queen of the 
 Adriatic, " throned on her hundred Isles." Not repre- 
 sented as of old, by the traditionary pair of flats of 
 Gothic aspect, symbolical alike of every age or country 
 since the style was invented ; but we see the actual 
 square of St. Mark with the campanile and clock-tower, 
 the cathedral, and the three standards, painted from 
 drawings taken on the spot ; restored, as in 1600, when 
 Shakespeare wrote the play, and the incidents he has 
 so skilfully interwoven are supposed to take place. 
 Throngs of picturesquely-contrasted occupants gradually 
 fill the area, passing and re-passing in their ordinary 
 avocations. Nobles, citizens, inquisitors, foreigners, 
 traders, water-carriers, and flower-girls are there ; a 
 flourish of trumpets announces the approach of the 
 Doge, who issues in state procession, oil his way to 
 some public ceremony. The arrangement of the scene 
 acts as an introductory prologue, and tells a story of 
 identity which at once transplants us to the spot we 
 are supposed to look on, and recals the era designated. 
 Antonio and his companions, who open the play, come 
 forward naturally from the surrounding groups, and 
 commence the dialogue and acting. In all there was 
 truthfulness and novelty ; a richness of conception and 
 a union of poetry, never before attempted or imagined,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 265 
 
 which, from the first moment, thoroughly engaged the 
 attention of the audience. 
 
 The scene now shifts to the country residence of 
 Portia, at Belmont, in which the saloon of the caskets 
 presents a gorgeous picture of mediaeval architecture 
 and domestic luxury. Shylock is then introduced in 
 the square of the Rialto, the exchange of Venice. 
 Here was the real resort of merchants, and not the 
 bridge, as some have erroneously supposed. The 
 second act embraces a general view of Venice, taken 
 from one of its most picturesque points, containing the 
 canals, bridges, and gondolas, with all the peculiar 
 localities and distinctive palaces that mark this strange 
 city as a gem without a parallel. Here the abduction 
 of Jessica takes place, in the midst of the frolic and 
 bustle of a masquerade, as indicated by the words of 
 the text. There have been many beautiful exhibitions 
 of dancing and merriment in the Princess's Theatre, 
 characteristic of various ages and countries ; but none 
 that in general estimation has equalled this. A Vene- 
 tian carnival is a thing of itself, as distinct from any 
 other street revel, from a bal masque in the Opera 
 House at Paris, from a country festival, or from an 
 assembly in a private drawing-room, as can possibly 
 be imagined. The great wonder is how, in so small a 
 space, such an appearance of vast extent could be con- 
 veyed, and how so many groups, and such complicated 
 movements, could be so gracefully organized. 
 
 The third act takes us again to Belmont, where 
 Bassanio wins his lovely prize. In this portion of the 
 play, too, we have the Rialto Bridge in its proper place, 
 and no longer doing duty as the sole memorial by which 
 Venice has, until now, been dramatically familiarized 
 to us. The celebrated trial scene of the fourth act, 
 where the poet puts forth all his strength, and the
 
 266 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 interest of the play is so finely worked up, takes place 
 in the " Sala dei Pregadi," or Hall of the Senators, 
 one of the most remarkable rooms in the seignorial 
 palace. The architecture and ornaments are puncti- 
 liously preserved. The costumes are taken from indis- 
 putable authority ; but the stage arrangement is exclu- 
 sively novel, and emanates entirely from Mr. Kean's 
 profound knowledge of his art and managerial skill. 
 He has utterly disregarded all conventional precedent, 
 and, confiding in his own genius, has succeeded in 
 embodying the most impressive court of justice that 
 has ever been subjected to the criticism of a theatrical 
 audience. We may readily imagine the amount of 
 mind and physical exertion which must have been 
 brought to bear to arrive at this perfect result. It is 
 not alone by the acting of the principal characters, or 
 by the superior intelligence of leading agents, that the 
 harmonizing effect is produced. The dumb magnificoes, 
 the subordinate officers, the clerks, heralds, and secre- 
 taries, the spectators crowded in the galleries and 
 door-ways, all demonstrate the same interest in the 
 gradual progress of the proceedings, and produce a 
 succession of pictures in which nothing is out of 
 keeping, but which satisfy the eye and critical judg- 
 ment of the most fastidious artist, while they positively 
 enchain the faculties of the general mass of beholders. 
 The verse of Shakespeare tells with tenfold power 
 when aided and expounded by these hitherto neglected 
 accessories. 
 
 The chief interest of the " Merchant of Venice " 
 undoubtedly ends with the defeat of Shylock and the 
 rescue of Antonio. For this reason some sapient com- 
 mentators, who persuade themselves that they could 
 dictate improvements to Shakespeare, have denounced 
 the last act as trifling and unnecessary. A few words
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 267 
 
 of explanation, they say, at the close of the trial, would 
 have sufficed to discover Portia and Nerissa to their 
 husbands ; and then the curtain should have dropped. 
 Garrick was persuaded by reasoning similar to this, 
 when he curtailed " Hamlet" of the two last acts, and 
 wound up with the play scene. But, happily, the judg- 
 ment of posterity has vindicated the original intention 
 of the author. Nothing, to our taste, can be more 
 natural and pleasing than the return to Belmont, in the 
 play we are now noticing, and the mode in which the 
 final explanation takes place. If the objectors could 
 have witnessed the repose and harmony of the moonlight 
 garden, provided by Mr. Grieve, and the lively grace of 
 Mrs. Kean, in the equivoque included in the speeches of 
 Portia, they would have felt, even if they wanted the grace 
 to confess, that the great poet was a truer interpreter 
 of his own mind, and a more consummate master in dra- 
 matic science, than they, with their mistaken crotchets. 
 In his veneration for the pure text of Shakespeare. 
 Mr. Kean has been careful to avoid substituting an 
 expression or a line not emanating from the original 
 source. He has, of necessity, expunged a few coarse 
 passages, which illustrate nothing beyond the colloquial 
 style and manners of an epoch less refined than the 
 present. This comes under the head of purification, 
 not omission, and takes nothing from strength, while it 
 vindicates delicacy. The scenes of courtship by the 
 Princes of Arragon and Morocco, had for many years 
 been excluded from the acting play ; why, it is too late 
 as well as needless, to inquire ; but their restoration is 
 an important feature, which heightens the interest at- 
 tached to the episode of the caskets. They are mate- 
 rial also to the complete development of the position, 
 character, and feelings of Portia. Mr. Kean well 
 knows the value of music and dancing, when those
 
 268 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 charming auxiliaries can be employed without violating 
 consistency. The serenade under Jessica's window; 
 the song, "Tell me, where is fancy bred?" while 
 Bassanio is commenting silently before the caskets on 
 which his fate depends ; and the madrigal in the last 
 act, in Portia's pleasure-grounds, are as appropriately 
 introduced as they were pleasingly executed. The 
 night carnival which terminates the second act equals 
 the celebrated " Dionysia " in the " Winter's Tale," 
 but in a totally different style ; and is, in fact, such a 
 passage from real life as could only be witnessed in 
 Venice, or on the boards of the Princess's Theatre. 
 What is there wanting in the " Merchant of Venice," 
 as represented by Mr. Kean, that genius can conceive, 
 art combine, or unlimited expenditure, regulated by 
 elegant taste, accomplish ? We have a play most in- 
 geniously constructed, exquisite poetry, and vigorous 
 delineation of character, which no mind but Shake- 
 speare's could have moulded together; combined with 
 acting of the most masterly description, heightened by 
 all that painting, grouping, dressing, and stage ar- 
 rangement can supply to complete a succession of 
 pictures, harmonious in the general blending, and 
 graphically distinct in each separate division. If any 
 mortal appetite is not satisfied with this, and still re- 
 quires more, the daughter of the horse-leech must cease 
 to be quoted as a type of inordinate expectation. 
 
 Portia is one of the most fascinating of Shakespeare's 
 female portraits. With a wise head on young shoulders, 
 we love while we admire her, and envy Bassanio the cer- 
 tainty of his coming happiness. When we regard the 
 feminine grace, purity, delicacy, and depth of feeling 
 with which Shakespeare has so lavishly embellished his 
 heroines ; and when we remember, too, that in the days 
 of dramatic infancy under which he wrote, his Violas,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAX, F.S.A. 269 
 
 Rosalinds, Juliets, Desdemonas, and Ophelias, were 
 personated by boys or bearded men,* it would be worth 
 the "jewel of Giamschid" or the Koh-i-noor to see him 
 restored in the flesh for a single evening, to witness 
 Mrs. C. Kean's delightful Portia. Our stage experience 
 carries us a long way back, more years than there is 
 any occasion to specify ; but we remember no one 
 who can be placed in comparison with her, taking into 
 account all the varied qualities of this noble, and, at 
 the same time, gentle and affectionate example of 
 woman in her most attractive attributes. Comic 
 actresses of celebrity have given infinite effect to the 
 lighter passages, but have failed entirely in the great 
 touchstone of the play the trial scene. Under 
 Garrick's reign, Mrs. Clive, unrivalled in her line as 
 a chambermaid, a termagant, or a hoyden, was long 
 permitted to burlesque Portia, for which she was 
 utterly unsuited. When personating the doctor of 
 laws, she gave imitations of the leading barristers of 
 the day. Garrick felt the absurdity, but he lived 
 under awe of her sarcastic wit, and dared not dis- 
 possess her of a part she held by prescriptive right 
 and the favour of the public. On the other hand, 
 some melancholy daughters of Melpomene, with smile 
 as mournful as their sighs, in depicting faithfully the 
 graver features of Portia, have lost sight of the un- 
 affected ease and gaiety, the high tone of natural 
 elegance, the inherent light-heartedness, with which 
 the poet has gifted this charming creature of his 
 fancy. We know not in which her present represen- 
 tative displays the greatest excellence. In the garb 
 and demeanour of the advocate, she was forensic wis- 
 
 * We all remember the anecdote of the apology made to Charles II., 
 who began to be impatient of delay, that the play could not begin 
 until the Queen was shaved.
 
 270 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 dom personified. In her own palace, and in her natural 
 habiliments, she looked and moved the princess, in- 
 spiring affection, while she commanded respect and 
 obedience. 
 
 Shylock stands alone in the dramatic repertory. The 
 part is short, and concentrated into three scenes, 
 unlike any other from the same hand ; intense, but not 
 varied. He stands in complete isolation on the Shake- 
 spearean canvass. We never find him, or even a 
 shadow of him, again. The passions of hatred and 
 revenge, national and sectarian, in their strongest de- 
 velopment, form the very essence of his nature. These 
 are common enough in humanity ; but, as the great 
 master of the human heart has here depicted them, 
 they assume a harrowing individuality which belongs 
 to the one terrible exception. It is so with Mr. C. 
 Kean's embodiment of the character. We cannot trace 
 in it the slightest resemblance to any of the other great 
 parts with which his name has become identified. There 
 is not a sentence, an action, or a glance, suggestive of 
 Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear, Wolsey, or Louis the Eleventh. 
 By this faculty of abstract painting, this singleness of 
 conception, when required, the actor proves, in the 
 most convincing manner, his perfect sway over the art 
 he practises, and his full intelligence of the author he 
 undertakes to reflect. Weighed as dramatic metal, 
 Shylock is all pure gold, without dross. He has no 
 superfluous scenes, no supplemental speeches, no diluted 
 eloquence. He utters no syllable without a pungent 
 meaning, and has a sarcasm in every sentence. Per- 
 petual vituperation of his creed, his nation, and his 
 calling, has moulded him into a concentrated retort, a 
 sort of rolled-up porcupine, with his quills pointed in 
 every direction. Some critics found fault with Mr. C. 
 Kean for showing, as they said, too much feeling, for
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 271 
 
 heightening the two or three passages that humanize 
 this repulsive character. Why should he not ? He 
 has the text to guide him. Shakespeare has made 
 Shylock express affection for the memory of his wife, 
 and place confidence in his daughter. He entrusts her 
 with his keys, and leaves her in charge of the house at 
 night. He spits out venom, it is true, without mea- 
 sure ; but always in reply, and never in attack. He is 
 not malignant from stern nature, or without strong 
 provocation. 
 
 The dramatic elements of Shylock are so clearly 
 defined, that it would seem impossible for a man of 
 talent to miss the intended effect ; and yet although, 
 with the. exception of Garrick, all the leading actors of 
 successive ages have grappled with him, few have 
 achieved a complete victory. It was Henderson's trial 
 part before a London audience in 1777, at the Hay- 
 market. Macklin attended, and praised him as a 
 debutant of promise. " I assure you, Sir,'' said the 
 recruit, " that I never had the advantage of seeing you 
 in this character." " I can readily believe that/' 
 replied the veteran ; " if you had, you would have 
 played very differently." Cooke, in 1800, almost effaced 
 the memory of Henderson's Shylock. He was pro- 
 nounced the legitimate successor of Macklin, until 
 Edmund Kean rose like a meteor in 1814, and Cooke's 
 warmest admirers acknowledged that he was beaten. 
 Charles Kean has now stepped into the place vacated by 
 his father, to complete the quintunivirate of great 
 Shylocks, and satisfy the world that the modern stage 
 has not degenerated. The Kembles John, Stephen, 
 and Charles each in their turns donned the gaber- 
 dine of the Jew ; but they would have done more 
 wisely to have left it in the wardrobe. Young and 
 Macready must be added to the list ; but none of the
 
 272 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 last named five added anything to their reputations, 
 while perhaps they disturbed the spirit of Shakespeare 
 by wilfully flying in the face of their peculiar attributes. 
 Legions of daring novices have broken down hopelessly 
 in the ambitious experiment. There is all that can be 
 desired in Mr. C. Kean's style, in his figure, his eye, 
 his features, his distinct elocution, his epigrammatic 
 terseness, his impassioned delivery, and his quick, 
 expressive action, to fit him for complete success in this 
 most striking and original impersonation. 
 
 Mr. Keaii received more complimentary letters on 
 his performance than would fill a small volume. We 
 select one in particular, from high classical authority : 
 
 " 11, Carlton House Terrace, 
 " July 14th, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAR MR. KEAN, 
 
 "Allow me to thank you very particularly, in 
 my wife's name and my own, for the treat which the 
 ' Merchant of Venice ' afforded us last night. I have 
 found in each of your representations from Shake- 
 speare, that the individuality you give to every play 
 effectually obviates all risk of sameness, either in the 
 characters, or what is more difficult, in the mise en scene ; 
 and that no new effort you have made disappoints, even 
 when subjected to the very severe test of comparison 
 with its predecessors. 
 
 " Let me also thank Mrs. Kean for her large share in 
 our gratification last evening. 
 
 "I am sorry that your very pressing employments 
 have prevented us from meeting lately; but I trust 
 that in another season Mrs. W. Gladstone and I may be 
 more fortunate. 
 
 " Believe me very faithfully yours, 
 
 " W. GLADSTONE.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 273 
 
 "P.S. I should have wished to bestow many com- 
 pliments on your ' King Lear ' in particular, did I not 
 feel that my ignorance and inexperience would render 
 it presumptous." 
 
 Miss Chapman, a niece of Mrs. Kean's, made her first 
 appearance on any stage as Jessica. She was evidently 
 oppressed by the embarrassment of her position, and 
 rendered even more timid by the kind reception with 
 which she was welcomed. Her appearance was ex- 
 tremely prepossessing, her voice sweet, and her manner 
 untainted by affectation, evidently betokening a familiar 
 acquaintance with good society. 
 
 On the 28th of June, the " Merchant of Venice " 
 was heralded in by a lively trifle of French paren- 
 tage, from the indefatigable pen of Mr. J. M. Morton, 
 under the name of " Dying for Love," a close transla- 
 tion of the original title, " Aimer et Mourir." The 
 English adapter contrived to heighten the very slender 
 materials with his usual characteristic humour. This 
 little piece ran with the "Merchant of Venice" to the 
 close of the season. 
 
 VOL. II.
 
 274 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DEATH OF THE CELEBRATED FRENCH ACTRESS MADEMOISELLE RACHEL, AT 
 LE CANNET NEAR MONTPELLTER SHORT SUMMARY OF HER THEATRI- 
 CAL CAREER HER ENORMOUS PROFITS IN A FEW YEARS HER WILL, AND 
 FUNERAL OBSEQUIES. 
 
 ON the night of Sunday, the 4th of July, 1858, 
 Mademoiselle Rachel, the pride of the French stage, 
 and one of the greatest tragic actresses of any country, 
 died at Le Cannet, in the south of France, after a 
 lingering and painful illness. Her repeated engage- 
 ments in London associate her name in some degree 
 with the English drama, and her world-wide reputation 
 entitles her to a passing word in the theatrical remi- 
 niscences of the time. Young in days, but mature in 
 fame, she was removed from the scene of her earthly 
 triumphs before she had completed her thirty-eighth 
 year. 
 
 "When Rachel returned from America in 1855, her 
 health was so evidently broken, that her medical 
 advisers at once pronounced her incapable of resuming 
 the duties of her profession. She had caught cold 
 by being too thinly attired at an evening party in New 
 York, and the cold settled on her lungs. From that 
 moment she never ceased to cough. The climate of 
 Cairo was recommended as a last resource a sentence 
 almost as fatal as Madeira to the consumptive English- 
 man. To the banks of the Nile she accordingly repaired, 
 in search of the anticipated amendment, which eluded 
 her grasp ; and after a fruitless sojourn she returned to
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 275 
 
 die in the south of France. Not long before her demise, 
 she recalled to her medical attendants an incident of 
 the period of her greatest success. She was playing 
 PhMre, and the Bey of Tunis critically said of her, 
 at the end of the piece, " She has a soul of fire in a 
 body of gauze." It was with a melancholy sigh she 
 remarked to her doctor, "Alas! he was right; and now 
 you see that the fire has destroyed the gauze/' 
 
 Many of the living generation may have seen and 
 recollect Georges and Duchesnois. Rachel may be 
 pronounced, on comparative evidence, superior to both. 
 Her mien in the grand heroines of Greek and Roman 
 tragedy was more severely classical. In feature, form, 
 and attitude, in the arrangement of her drapery and 
 the grace of her action, she presented the animated 
 embodiment of a statue, fresh from the chisel of Chan- 
 trey or Canova. 
 
 Mademoiselle Rachel, or, more properly speaking, 
 Elizabeth Rachel Felix (for such was her correct desig- 
 nation), was of Jewish descent and persuasion. She 
 first saw the light on the 28th of February, 1821, iu a 
 miserable country inn at an obscure village called 
 Munf, in the small canton of Arau, in Switzerland. 
 Her father, a native of Metz, and her mother, whose 
 maiden name was Esther Haya, followedthe avocation 
 of itinerant pedlars or hawkers, and for ten years after 
 her birth were incessantly occupied in travelling 
 through Switzerland and Germany. They encountered 
 many privations in this peripatetic life, and struggled 
 against a hard lot with fortitude and perseverance. 
 Tired at last of wandering, they migrated with their 
 family to Lyons, where Madame Felix set up a stall 
 for the sale of her goods, and Monsieur Felix at- 
 tempted to teach an imitation of German. But 
 customers and scholars came in slowly. Sarah, their 
 
 T2
 
 276 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 eldest daughter, frequented the various coffee-houses, 
 where she sang ballads, accompanied by herself on 
 the guitar; while the little Rachel, her junior-assis- 
 tant, went round the tables with a plate or a basket, 
 to collect voluntary contributions. 
 
 In 1830, the family made their way to Paris, poor, 
 struggling, and unknown, with no internal consciousness 
 or presentiment of the brilliant future which fortune 
 had in store for them. In the metropolis of France 
 they eked out existence much after the fashion they 
 had followed at Lyons. Rachel, now increased in 
 stature, executed duets with her sister throughout 
 the day at the doors of public places, and in the 
 evening brought home the diurnal receipts to the family 
 garret in the PUce de Greve. These homely details 
 have been denied by injudicious flatterers; but the 
 subject of them, with superior good sense and indepen- 
 dent spirit, frequently related the particulars herself. 
 
 During this epoch, Etienne Choron, founder of the 
 Royal Institution of Religious Music, chanced to 
 encounter the young vocalists. He was struck by their 
 natural gifts, and proposed to them to join his class. 
 Rachel, of the two, had made the greatest impression 
 on him, and in a consequent visit to her parents, he 
 pressed for her in preference to Sarah. She became 
 his pupil, and he pledged himself to take care of her 
 advancement. Her names were then condensed into 
 Elisa, to please her master. 
 
 In a short time it was discovered that her magnificent 
 organ of voice, metallic, sonorous, and flexible, was 
 better adapted to produce startling effects in impassioned 
 recitation, than in the more restricted field of scientific 
 music. Whereupon Choron transferred his protegee 
 to St. Aulaire, who trained up candidates for the stage 
 at an establishment not connected with the Conser-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 277 
 
 vatoire. Rachel, up to this period, had received scarcely 
 any education, and read with difficulty. St. Aulaire 
 bestowed on her four years of careful tuition, and 
 taught her, word by word, the parts of Hermione, 
 Iphigenie, and Mary Stuart. But the pupil was per- 
 petually at variance with her instructor. By a strange 
 misconception of her own capabilities, her bent inclined 
 to the chambermaids, or light heroines of comedy 
 a mistake to which she long continued to cling, in spite 
 of experience and proved inferiority. 
 
 In October, 1836, Rachel became a pupil of the 
 Conservatoire, in the class of Michelot. She was then 
 in her seventeenth year, and her parents were impa- 
 tient to turn her talent to current account. The wolf 
 was seldom absent from their door. Their poverty 
 increased with their increasing numbers. 
 
 Not many months after Elisa had become a member 
 of the Conservatoire, Poirson, manager of the Gymnase, 
 happened to be present at a representation of Racine's 
 " Iphigenia in Aulis/' which took place in the Salle 
 Chantereine. The part of Eriphile was sustained on 
 this occasion by the youthful Jewess. The character 
 is not historical, but an interpolated creation of the 
 author, of a very unamiable cast. It contains, never- 
 theless, dramatic force, with a good spice of vindictive 
 passion. The veteran saw, admired, and yielded to 
 the power of an inexperienced novice. Nature spoke 
 in her earnest tones, while strong feeling flashed from 
 her dark eye. Poirson's receipts had for some time 
 been dwindling down on a regularly graduated scale. 
 His money chest was threatened with consumption. 
 The usual frequenters of his theatre yawned over milk 
 and water vaudevilles, and went elsewhere in search of 
 more tickling food. He determined to lure them back, 
 if possible, before his declining treasury was symbolized
 
 278 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 by an infinite decimal. A treaty was soon concluded 
 with Monsieur Felix, for his daughter, on liberal terms, 
 with an express stipulation that the common-place 
 name of Elisa should be dropped for ever, and that of 
 Rachel substituted in its place. 
 
 A new drama by Paul Duport, entitled " La Ven- 
 deenne," was ordered, written, and prepared for her 
 first appearance. The press sounded the usual pre- 
 liminary flourishes, the hour of trial arrived, the public 
 crowded to the double novelty, but the result proved 
 fatal to both. The piece and the debutante fell toge- 
 ther. The part of La Vendeenne belonged to no de- 
 fined class. It came within the range of comedy, was 
 unsuited to Rachel's style, and afforded no scope for 
 her peculiar attributes. The manager, in disappoint- 
 ment and indignation withdrew the play from the bills, 
 and reduced his recruit to the ranks. Her spirit nearly 
 sank under this unlooked for disgrace. The prospect 
 of delivering messages instead of personating heroines, 
 appeared to crush for ever her aspiring hopes. It was 
 in vain that she applied to Vedel (director of the 
 Theatre Fran9ais) for succour or advice. He left her 
 letters unanswered and avoided all personal interviews. 
 He was, in fact, a mere titular monarch without power 
 or prerogative beyond the empty name. The associated 
 members of the Theatre Francjais acknowledge a sove- 
 reign, but rule as viceroys over him. The government 
 is a sort of oligarchical republic with a nominal head, 
 a Doge of Venice controlled by the Council of Ten. 
 
 Michelot, RacheFs master at the Conservatoire, look- 
 ing upon her prospects as entirely marred by this false 
 step, ceased to take any further interest in her fate. 
 In despair, she had recourse to Provost, a leading come- 
 dian of the Theatre Fran9ais. He treated her preten- 
 sions with the most undisguised contempt, told her she
 
 OF CHAELES KEAN, P.S.A. 279 
 
 would never become an actress, advised her to renounce 
 all idea of the stage, and to sell bouquets on the Boule- 
 vards. Discouraged again, but not utterly beaten, she 
 now repaired to Samson, the living Moliere of the 
 French drama, equally renowned as author and actor. 
 Here she was more fortunate. He heard her recite, 
 and his attention was speedily rivetted. He expressed 
 the most unbounded admiration at the extent and 
 quality of her voice, and undertook to train her up in 
 the line which nature so imperatively indicated that she 
 should follow. Governed by his sound experience she 
 renounced her favourite chamber-maids, and devoted 
 her combined energies to the lofty range of tragedy. 
 After a few months thus profitably employed, her 
 clouded horizon began to brighten. Vedel became 
 more accessible, and having patched up a truce with 
 his refractory confederates, was allowed for a time to 
 exercise his own discretion. He wisely suffered his 
 judgment to be led by the decided opinion of Samson. 
 
 Not long after, the bills and advertisements announced 
 Mademoiselle Rachel, at the Theatre Franc, ais, as Ca- 
 mille, in the far-famed " Horaces " of Corneille. It was 
 a daring hazard for a young girl, damped by previous 
 failure, and who had only completed the first quarter 
 of her nineteenth year. The turning point of her des- 
 tiny had now arrived. The chances were heavily against 
 her, and the time of year the most unfavourable that 
 the chapter of accidents could have selected. It was 
 approaching midsummer, the intense heat had ren- 
 dered Paris a desert ; all the world was at the sea-side 
 or in the country. The streets could have been shelled 
 from the heights of Belleville or Montmartre without 
 much loss of anything but ammunition. 
 
 A thinly scattered, listless, and unexpectant audience 
 assembled at the Franc, ais on the evening of that
 
 280 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 eventful 12th of June, 1838. The stalls were deserted, 
 and the voices of the actors reverberated back in hollow 
 echoes from the thinly populated area of the pit and 
 boxes. But in that small assemblage three individuals 
 were included who could make or crush a reputa- 
 tion, Dr. Veron, Merle, and Jules Janin, a trium- 
 virate of critics, from whose sentences there was no 
 appeal, and who governed theatrical opinion in Paris 
 as despotically as the Emperor of all the Russias en- 
 thrals the minds and bodies of his sixty millions of 
 serfs. It pleased them on this occasion to be enthusi- 
 astic in praise. Janin, in particular, indited an article 
 in the Debats, which settled the question beyond cavil, 
 and assured the success of the aspiring novice. 
 
 Within five months the new star was enabled to 
 enumerate six distinct and successive triumphs in as 
 many great and opposite characters. A seventh was yet 
 wanting to the list, which Vedel persuaded her, with 
 some misgiving, to undertake. Accordingly, on the 23d 
 of November, 1838, she was announced for Roxane, in 
 " Bajazet," an imperious virago, before whom Lady 
 Macbeth and Clytemnaestra sink into tameness; another 
 "adorable fury," as the French critics designate cer- 
 tain intemperate heroines of Corneille. 
 
 The associates of the company had already began to 
 boil over with jealousy, although their pockets were at 
 the same time stuffed to unwonted repletion, as they 
 shared in the managerial gains. But even money con- 
 soled them not for being partially eclipsed and placed 
 on the shelf. Comedy, they exclaimed, was in danger 
 of total extinction ! and they were called upon, in the 
 general interest, to make a stand before Rachel trampled 
 them all under her feet. Several of the influential 
 papers were induced to side with the malcontents. It 
 was determined that Roxane should immolate Rachel.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 281 
 
 As soon as she appeared in this new character on 
 the appointed evening, she became suddenly conscious 
 of the conspiracy, and felt that it was serious by the 
 coldness of her reception, the frozen temperament of 
 the pit, and the whispering of the boxes. On this 
 night, every paltry but calculated artifice which an 
 envious and unmanly clique could think of, was put in 
 practice to disconcert the actress and enfeeble her 
 wonted execution. For the moment they prevailed, 
 and dragged down their intended victim far below the 
 level of her usual standard. Even Jules Janin went 
 over to the camp of the enemy, and published to the 
 world in a laboured criticism that Roxane was a mise- 
 rable failure. But, on the second performance, Rachel 
 rose in her inherent strength despite all opposition, 
 carried the unprejudiced portion of the audience with 
 her in a whirlwind of applause, and, for once, the ora- 
 cular dictum was disregarded as a malicious fallacy. 
 At the third representation, the doors were crowded 
 from an early hour; and, on the fourth, the receipts 
 approached 300?. That evening she was nearly 
 smothered under the storm of wreaths, coronets, and 
 bouquets showered upon her from all parts of the house, 
 as" she re-appeared in obedience to an enthusiastic call, 
 after the tragedy had concluded. On the following day 
 she piled the trophies in a carriage, and drove to the 
 residence of Provost. " Buy some of these," said she, 
 " since you advised me to sell them." " Forgive a false 
 prophet," replied the old comedian with ready gallantry, 
 " and seal his pardon with a kiss." 
 
 Rachel had now firmly established her position. 
 Conspiracy henceforward was treated with contempt, 
 and she reigned without fear of rebellion or de- 
 thronement. The highest circles in Parisian society 
 courted her acquaintance, and the most fashionable
 
 282 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 drawing-rooms received her as an honoured guest. In 
 1838, there existed in Paris a select coterie of a demi- 
 religious character, divided between the spiritual and 
 the voluptuous, of which Madame Recamier, a living 
 Ninon de 1'Enclos, the ci-devant Venus of the Direc- 
 tory and Consulate, was president, and Chateaubriand 
 an influential member. There were bishops and arch- 
 bishops amongst them, and an imposing array of lite- 
 rary celebrities, male and female. This entire conclave 
 ardently desired to convert the gifted and popular 
 daughter of Israel. It would have been a notable 
 achievement to win over such an illustrious neophyte 
 to the bosom of the Catholic Church. Rachel astutely 
 humoured the aspirations of her zealous patrons, and to 
 mystify them more completely fell into their suggestion 
 of studying the part of the Christian convert, Pauline, 
 in Corneille's " Polyeucte Martyr." This professional 
 stratagem was crowned with signal success. She won 
 their sympathies, commanded their support, received 
 their lavish presents and remained true to the faith 
 of her fathers. 
 
 The extraordinary and enduring attraction of Rachel 
 appeared to justify the demand of unprecedented pay- 
 ment. In England, the leading theatrical stars of the 
 day make more by country engagements in a few weeks 
 than they can command in the metropolis throughout 
 a long season. London gives them the stamp and repu- 
 tation by which they are enabled to work the provinces 
 as an unfailing mine. It is the same in France, when 
 they can get the opportunities, which are not so readily 
 afforded. Leave of absence from Paris is more difficult 
 to obtain, and absence without leave is visited by heavy 
 forfeitures which are rigidly exacted, including loss of 
 present pay and future pension. It is construed, too, 
 into an act of contempt against the sovereign public,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 283 
 
 and would endanger the firmest popularity. Rachel, 
 however, contrived after^some time to exact six months 
 leave of absence every year; and, from 1845 onwards, 
 the exercise of her talent produced something like 
 16,OOOZ. per annum. Such a sum, so earned, for such 
 a length of time, without material fluctuation, exceeds 
 all that we know or have heard of in any other recent 
 case, either at home or abroad, arid rivals the recorded 
 miracles of the gains amassed by two or three great 
 actors, in ancient Rome. 
 
 There were other branches of the house of Felix, 
 who now, as a natural consequence of Rachel's success, 
 began to turn their thoughts to the stage, and deter- 
 mined to follow the line of life which had conducted 
 their sister to such a store of wealth and fame. She 
 as naturally responded to the call, and resolved to 
 quarter them on the theatre. She thought it morally, 
 politically, and religiously right to take care of her own. 
 From the opening chapter of the human history down 
 to the last, whenever it may be supplied, everybody has 
 done, does, and will continue to do, the same thing. 
 Right or wrong, the principle is supported by universal 
 practice. Raphael, Felix, Sarah, Rebecca, and even 
 the infant Dinah were successively enrolled in the 
 company and borne on the treasurer's books, assuredly 
 far more than they were worth. Rachel could com- 
 mand engagements for her relations, but she was nnable 
 to inoculate them with her genius. Scarcely a strip of 
 her mantle descended on their shoulders, with an ex- 
 ception, perhaps, in favour of Rebecca, who gave indi- 
 cations of promise, but died prematurely. The public 
 soon began to feel that they had rather too many of the 
 family. Such a multiplicity of Hebrew designations 
 appeared in the bills, and so much Jewish physiognomy 
 presented itself on the boards, that people no longer
 
 284 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 said, " Let us go to the Theatre Frar^ais," but "Let us 
 look in at the Synagogue." 
 
 The Siddons of the French stage (like our own) 
 always rose in the delineation of terrible, majestic, and 
 overwhelming rage with greater effect than when simple 
 tenderness or grief was to be depicted, without any 
 mixture of the sterner passions. She astonished the 
 mind more intensely than she touched the heart, and 
 called forth vociferous plaudits in greater abundance 
 than the silent homage of tears. Her undisputed 
 supremacy was achieved in characters of which the 
 prominent features are, hatred, contempt, irony, rage, 
 or despair. Those who have seen her as Camille in 
 " Les Horaces," can never forget the thrilling burst 
 of agony with which she wound up the celebrated im- 
 precation against Rome, in the fourth act, addressed 
 to her brother, when he returns victorious from the 
 combat, after having slain her lover and betrothed 
 husband. 
 
 It being Rachel's ambition to include in her range 
 all the recognised heroines of the classical French 
 drama, she continued from year to year to go through 
 the entire series. In all she was powerful and original, 
 but Phedre has been generally pronounced her master- 
 piece, as it had formerly been considered that of her 
 precursor, Duchesnois. The writer of this notice has 
 seen them both, and perfectly recollects the peculiar 
 excellences of each. Nothing could be more opposite 
 than their appearance and manner. Little similarity 
 could be traced, except in the effect, which was pro- 
 duced with equal force by different means. In quality 
 of voice, and skill in modulation, they were nearly on 
 a par ; but Rachel had immeasurably the advantage of 
 personal appearance. In the Phedre of Duchesnois 
 you saw and felt a consummate actress, but in Rachel
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 285 
 
 you looked upon and acknowledged the veritable pre- 
 sence of the guilty wife of Theseus, the poetical creation 
 of Euripides and Racine, devoured by a passion beyond 
 control, and enthralled by a fatal destiny which ren- 
 ders resistance hopeless. Both Duchesnois and Rachel 
 reflected nature through the perfection of art, but the 
 art was more skilfully concealed by the latter and 
 younger representative. 
 
 It has been repeatedly said by Rachel's detractors 
 (and where is the genius that can escape detraction ?) 
 that her talent was confined to a facility of execution ; 
 that she could do nothing without being taught, and 
 possessed within herself no creative or imaginative 
 power. That, in short, she was a mere parrot, quick to 
 catch an oral impression, or to remember a lesson, but 
 utterly without mental resources, and incapable of 
 teaching herself. In support of this conclusion her 
 defective education has been set forward as a leading: 
 
 O 
 
 argument. According to this censorious clique, when- 
 ever Rachel undertook a new part, she fled to her pre- 
 ceptor and adviser, Samson, from whom she imbibed 
 the inspiration which she could adopt and appropriate 
 with felicitous dexterity ; but which, in the absence of 
 superior intellect, she wanted the faculty of originating. 
 At the close of the most harrowing performance, said 
 these determined oppositionists, when the spectators 
 were bewildered with conflicting emotions, the hand of 
 Rachel was cold, her pulse beat no quicker than usual, 
 her features were composed, and she exhibited no 
 symptom of exhaustion from mental or physical fatigue. 
 In opposition to the well-known canon of Horace, she 
 excited thousands to enthusiasm, without participating 
 in the fever she had caused. 
 
 These are extreme opinions, which confute them- 
 selves. Admit that this great artist, in common with
 
 286 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 many others, has had recourse to instruction, and 
 received imparted ideas whence came the variety 
 which those who have seen her often and studied her 
 closely, cannot fail to have observed in her delineations 
 of the same character on different occasions ? If she 
 merely repeated a lesson acquired by rote, repetition 
 might mellow but could not alter the manner in which 
 that lesson would be delivered. It was always impos- 
 sible to pronounce judgment on Rachel from her first 
 performance of any given part. On such trials she was 
 often uncertain of her effects, and not until the third 
 or fourth experiment, when she had become confident 
 in the soundness of her conception, could she be said 
 to have discovered or put forth her full strength. 
 
 When Rachel obtained her first leave from the 
 Theatre Fran9ais in 1840, her earliest provincial visit 
 was to the great commercial city of Lyons Here she 
 produced a furor equal to that she had excited in Paris, 
 and at the conclusion of her engagement, the enthu- 
 siastic functionaries of the corporation presented her 
 with a coronet of massive gold, valued at 350 Napoleons. 
 After a triumphal progress through many of the lead- 
 ing towns in France, in 1841 she repaired to London, 
 and made her first appearance before an English 
 audience at the Opera House in the Haymarket, then 
 under the management of Laporte. Her attraction 
 exceeded even the most sanguine expectations, and was 
 crowned by the present of a magnificent ring from 
 her majesty Queen Victoria, as a tribute to her profes- 
 sional excellence. 
 
 In the following year she came again to the same 
 theatre, which had then passed into the hands of Mr. 
 Lumley. Between 1846 and 1853, she fulfilled five 
 successive engagements with Mr. Mitchell at the St. 
 James's, during which the London public had oppor-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 287 
 
 tunities of seeing her in nearly the entire range of her 
 great characters. She brought many influential intro- 
 ductions, and at the outset, invitations poured upon 
 her in abundance from fashionable and aristocratic 
 circles ; but after a season or two, although public 
 admiration continued and increased, private attention 
 received a check. During the summer of 1847, she 
 appeared in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edin- 
 burgh, and Glasgow. Negotiations were also at that 
 time entered into with the Dublin manager ; but 250?. 
 per night, secured, the sum proposed for herself and 
 troupe was considered too hazardous. If any one 
 had then prophesied that within twelve months after, 
 1,500?. nightly would be averaged in the last-named 
 city to five performances of Jenny Lind, at an unprece- 
 dented scale of prices, he would have been pronounced 
 an incurable lunatic. Such is the unfathomable lottery 
 of all theatrical speculation. 
 
 Notwithstanding the frozen climate of Russia, St. 
 Petersburgh has invariably given a warm reception to 
 foreign talent in every branch of art. Rachel was 
 received in the northern capital with enthusiasm sur- 
 passing that which had been lavished on the most 
 attractive of her predecessors. She was applauded to 
 the echo, feted, adulated, and returned home laden 
 with honours and riches, bending under the weight of 
 roubles and diamonds. During her visit to Russia, 
 the war broke out. Towards the conclusion of a grand 
 dinner, to which she was invited as a parting compli- 
 ment, some officers present, attached to the personal staff 
 of the Czar Nicholas, indulged in vaunting anticipations 
 of the approaching triumph of their master, and the 
 certain humiliation of France and England. " To our 
 speedy meeting again, Mademoiselle," exclaimed they, 
 pledging the fair guest in bumpers ; " we shall soon
 
 288 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 applaud you in Paris, and drink your health in the de- 
 licious wines of France." " Gentlemen," replied Rachel, 
 " I thank you for your good wishes, but France is not 
 rich enough to treat her prisoners with champagne." 
 
 Austria and Italy proved scarcely less remunerative 
 to the all-enchanting daughter of Melpomene. Having, 
 for the moment, exhausted Europe, she determined to 
 glean America. Enormons sums were offered, as a cer- 
 tainty, for two hundred performances in the United 
 States; but Rachel rejected them, and farmed herself 
 out, as she had done before, to her brother Raphael, who 
 had now amassed capital enough to venture on a more 
 gigantic experiment in the New World, and entirely on 
 his own responsibility. He miscalculated, and paid 
 dearly for his error. All the indigenous managers 
 united in a dead set against the intruding foreigner. 
 He would have done more wisely to have coalesced 
 with Barnum, or some practised speculator " native, 
 and to the manner born ; " success, then, might have 
 been extorted by dexterous puffing. As it was, the 
 whole matter eventuated in a signal commercial failure : 
 a result for which the heroine was totally unprepared. 
 
 Brother Jonathan bites rabidly at most of the baits 
 that are held out to tempt him. . Music, in any lan- 
 guage, fascinates his reason and imagination; but he is 
 no pupil of Aristotle, has no faith in the unities, and 
 is slow to appreciate Gallic nitrations of Sophocles and 
 Euripides. 
 
 Whether from chagrin at this single defeat, or 
 through the rapid inroads of organic disease which 
 undermined her health, Rachel's performances were 
 not resumed on her return to Europe. It was at 
 Charleston that she played for the last time, and her 
 concluding part was that of Adrienne Lecouvreur. 
 
 Despite the loss of time in America, and the un-
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 289 
 
 realized thousands she had calculated on, Rachel was 
 generally reported to be deux fois millionaire ; a gran- 
 diloquent phrase, which translated into prosaic English, 
 means that she had amassed one hundred thousand 
 pounds sterling; an almost incredible produce for less 
 than fifteen years of labour. She bore the character 
 of being parsimoniously inclined, except where her own 
 relations were concerned. Towards these she ever 
 practised the extreme of liberality. But her brothers 
 and sisters in the profession, when engaged in her pro- 
 vincial tours, complained that she paid them scantily, 
 and worked them to death. She herself was indefati- 
 gable, and has often been known to act six times in the 
 week, travelling, on occasion, twenty leagues from place 
 to place, and sleeping in her carriage. 
 
 This predominating love of money has been urged as 
 an argument to show that she could not be endowed 
 with the essential soul of genius. Avarice, according 
 to those who reason thus, is incompatible with lofty 
 intellect. It is a sordid, humiliating passion, as all- 
 absorbing as it is base ; which grovels on the earth in 
 search of dross and vulgar treasure, while pure, ethcrial 
 mind looks up to heaven, and loses itself in dreams of 
 immortality. All this sounds well in poetry, but fails 
 in practical illustration. Meanness in some things 
 does not, of necessity, preclude elevation in others. 
 The glorious philosophy of Bacon stooped to the con- 
 taminating influence of corruption ; and this lamentable 
 weakness has associated his name with a couplet of 
 Pope that will never die : 
 
 " If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shinM, 
 The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind." 
 
 Cassius was taunted by his intimate friend and brother 
 with having "an itching palm;" the great Duke of 
 VOL. II. U
 
 290 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Maryborough was known to be a worshipper of gold ; 
 and David Garrick bowed before his ingots, as to the 
 household deities of his hearth. Yet the first was ne- 
 vertheless a staunch patriot, the second an invincible 
 general, and the third a pre-eminent actor. 
 
 The great French actress never set herself up as an 
 Aspasia in learning, or advanced pretensions to more 
 education than she really possessed. Count Mole, 
 complimenting her one day in a strain of exaggerated 
 flattery, on her pure elocution, said, " Mademoiselle, 
 you have saved the French language." " If so, it is 
 by chance," replied she, " for I have never been taught 
 it." When the revolution of 1848 burst suddenly forth, 
 and Louis Philippe, by his own mismanagement, suf- 
 fered himself to be kicked from the throne he ought 
 never to have occupied, Rachel became a red-hot 
 patriot, in common with the infuriated million of Paris. 
 Night after night she appeared, at the conclusion of the 
 play, in a mixed military and Roman costume, and 
 pealed forth the Marseillaise Hymn, with glowing re- 
 publicanism, waving in her right hand the national 
 standard. The novelty and the prevailing sentiment of 
 the hour drew crowds to the strange exhibition ; but 
 when liberty and fraternity went down once more under 
 the memorable coup d'etat of December, 1851, Rachel 
 veered round in her tactics, and subsided into a fervent 
 Napoleonist. Talleyrand himself, who made and broke at 
 least twenty oaths of allegiance, never trimmed his time- 
 serving loyalty with more adroitness. And why should 
 blame attach to either ? Dynastic and legislative 
 changes in France may be considered as certain as the 
 periodical returns of a comet, and much more speedy in 
 rotation. No prudent citizen, therefore, should be con- 
 demned for swimming with a tide subject to so many 
 variations. At the restoration of the Bourbons in
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 291 
 
 1814 and 1815, the old soldiers of the Empire were 
 compelled to mount the white emblem of the family ; 
 but every man kept the tri-coloured cockade in his 
 knapsack, waiting to depose the lily with a moment's 
 notice, on the first cry of " Vive 1'Empereur." " Ready, 
 aye ready," is a good political motto, which admits of a 
 wide application. 
 
 In the theatre Rachel practised hauteur and reserve 
 towards her associates, and seldom entered the green- 
 room. The ante-chamber of her dressing apartment, 
 sumptuously furnished, constituted her hall of audience. 
 There between the acts, or at the close of her perform- 
 ance, she received visitors in queenly state. Ministers 
 and ambassadors were to be found amongst her crowd 
 of worshippers. At home her exclusive study was to 
 please. 
 
 Young, renowned, rich, handsome, with the world at 
 her feet, she might have married when and whom she 
 pleased ; but she adored the fame pertaining to her art 
 too earnestly to surrender it up to domestic privacy ; 
 her spirit was too independent to endure the ties and 
 fetters by which ordinary natures consent to be bound. 
 
 It was currently said that Rachel had embraced the 
 Roman Catholic faith, and received the sacrament, a 
 few days only before her death. This is contradicted 
 by the fact that she was attended in her last moments 
 by a Rabbi, and that her body being removed to Paris, 
 was publicly buried in the compartment of the cemetery 
 of Pere la Chaise appropriated to her people, according 
 to the rites of Judaism. Her will, it was also said, 
 and the general disposition of her vast property, would 
 be disputed by some who thought they had a more 
 legitimate claim than the nominated legatees. When 
 the coffin that contained her mortal remains was low- 
 ered into the earth, the Rabbi repeated aloud in Hebrew 
 
 u 2
 
 292 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 the prayer called HasJcabe, and then another in French. 
 Funeral orations were delivered by MM. Jules Jauin, 
 Bataille, and Maquet. M. Janin expressed his regret 
 that the deceased was not eulogised by the only man com- 
 petent to do so, but at present in exile, namely, Victor 
 Hugo. The grave was then filled up, and the vast 
 attending crowd returned to their daily avocations.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, P.S.A. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DRAMATIC COLLEGE, OR ASYLUM 
 FOR DECAYED ACTORS AND ACTRESSES PUBLIC MEETING IN THE 
 
 PRINCESS'S THEATRE, MR. c. KEAN IN THE CHAIR REPORT OF PRO- 
 CEEDINGS READ BY MR. CULLENFORD SPEECHES BY MR. C. KEAN, MR. 
 DICKENS, MR. CEESWICK, MR. T. P. COOKE, MR. HARLEY, MR. B. WEBSTER, 
 MR. ROBERT BELL, SIR G. ARMYTAGE, MR. F. MATTHEWS, AND SIR W. 
 DE BATHE PUBLISHED REPORT FOR 1858, WITH AMOUNT OF SUB- 
 SCRIPTIONS HER MAJESTY BECOMES PATRONESS DIFFERENCE WITH 
 MR. HENRY DODD, AND FINAL REJECTION OF HIS OFFER DEATH OF JOHN 
 PRITT HARLEY SUMMARY OF HIS CAREER CLOSE OF THE SEASON AT 
 
 THE PRINCESS'S MR. c. KEAN'S ADDRESS GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Ox Saturday, the 10th of July, 1858, a dramatic event 
 occurred which it would be unpardonable not to record. 
 Mr. Buckstone closed the Haymarket, after a season 
 of little less than five years, and 1,427 acting nights. 
 Throughout that long period, the theatre had remained 
 open without interruption, except on Sundays, during 
 the Passion Weeks, and on a few other occasional even- 
 ings prohibited by the Lord Chamberlain. The instance 
 is without precedent, and will in all probability stand 
 alone in future theatrical history. 
 
 In the course of the current year, a movement 
 originated which had long been wanting to erase a 
 reproach from the profession of the stage, that while 
 every trade and calling had its asylum or house of refuge 
 for destitute or disabled members, the actors alone 
 formed an apparently careless or selfish exception. The 
 spring, when once set in motion, accelerated in pace and 
 strength with corresponding alacrity.
 
 294 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 On Wednesday, the 21st of July, 1858, a public 
 meeting was held at the Royal Princess's Theatre, 
 CHAELES KEAN, Esq., F.S.A., in the chair, for the above- 
 named purpose. The pit and gallery were thrown open 
 to the public, and were crowded in every part ; the boxes 
 and stalls were occupied by those who had applied for 
 tickets before the day of meeting; and the stage was 
 fitted up for the use of the Provisional Committee and 
 reporters for the press. A great number of ladies were 
 present, and added much to the beauty of the scene by 
 the deep interest they appeared to take in the pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 On Mr. Kean's appearance on the stage, he received 
 several rounds of applause ; and when he proceeded to 
 the performance of his duties as chairman of the meeting, 
 those cheers were repeated. At a few minutes past one 
 o'clock, he addressed the meeting as follows: 
 
 " LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, The object of this 
 meeting is to awaken public attention to a subject of 
 very great interest to the members of the theatrical pro- 
 fession, and, if possible, to excite your sympathies, and 
 to enlist your co-operation, in providing an asylum for 
 some of those who, having long administered to your 
 amusement, seek rest and comfort in the evening of their 
 lives, for the brief space allotted to them after years of 
 toil and trouble, before the dark shadow descends upon 
 the dial of life. (Applause.) A kind and benevolent 
 gentleman, Mr. Henry Dodd, possessing landed property 
 in Berkshire, has volunteered to give five freehold acres, 
 for the purpose of building certain charitable houses for 
 the reception of aged and worn-out brothers and sisters 
 of the stage. In addition to the grant of land, I am 
 permitted to state that this gentleman will also contri- 
 bute one hundred guineas towards the erection of the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAX, F.S.A. 295 
 
 houses. (Applause.) Assuredly we must all feel that in 
 this instance wealth has been bestowed on one who truly 
 understands the value of the blessing which Heaven has 
 vouchsafed to him to do good to his fellow-creatures, 
 to supply the wants of the indigent, and to open a 
 refuge for the aged and destitute. Under these circum- 
 stances, it is a duty we owe to ourselves to strain every 
 nerve to assist this noble undertaking ; and I cannot but 
 feel that, as a professional body, we should be highly 
 culpable were we in any degree to neglect carrying out 
 such a disinterested intention. I will not detain you 
 any longer for the present, but will call upon Mr. 
 Cullenford, our excellent and indefatigable secretary, to 
 read the Report of the Provisional Committee, which will 
 inform you of what has been done towards the establish- 
 ment of this much-desired institution." (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. CULLENFORD read the Report, detailing the preli- 
 minary arrangements that had taken place, the appoint- 
 ment of a Provisional Committee, and the general 
 scheme of the proposed institution. 
 
 Mr. KEAN then said : " Ladies and Gentlemen, The 
 proceedings of this meeting having thus far advanced, 
 it becomes my duty to address a few words to you in 
 behalf of the object we have in view. First, however, 
 in the name of the Committee, allow me to thank you 
 most sincerely for the honour you have conferred upon 
 us by your presence here this (Jay, and for the kind 
 attention you have bestowed on the subject in question 
 a subject which, you are well aware, is of serious im- 
 port to the profession of the stage, and one which, 
 if successfully carried out, will be the means of com- 
 forting many who, having passed the summer of their 
 lives in your service, have nothing to cheer them, save 
 through your help, during the barren and .desolate
 
 296 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 winter which awaits the remnant of their days. 
 (Applause.) It may appear strange that no charitable 
 institution of the kind now proposed has as yet been 
 erected for the reception of aged and worn-out members 
 of the dramatic art. Almost every other occupation 
 of life can point to some such asylum for their decayed 
 and broken associates ; but for the actor there is no roof 
 as yet prepared to shelter his white hairs no home to 
 receive his shattered frame no haven of repose towards 
 which he can direct his tottering steps. (Applause.) 1 
 would not for one moment presume to advance as a 
 claim that which, I am sure, will spring from your own 
 generous and benevolent impulses ; but perhaps I may 
 be excused if, on such an occasion, as an actor myself, 1 
 derive some satisfaction in alluding to the obligations 
 which England is under to actors. I do not refer to 
 the long list of those distinguished performers whose 
 great talents delighted your ancestors, and some of 
 whose monuments now stand side by side with those of 
 the most illustrious of our dead in the Abbey of West- 
 minster ; (hear, hear) but I wish to remind you of two 
 important national legacies that have been bequeathed 
 by actors the legacy of deed, and the legacy of mind. 
 That noble institution for youth, and asylum for age, 
 Dulwich College (applause) was erected and endowed 
 by the sole and unaided charity of one of the most 
 honourable and respected men that ever drew the breath 
 of life Edward Alleyne, the actor ; (great applause) 
 and what pride must we, as a professional body, feel 
 that the brightest literature of our country, the works 
 of the most comprehensive mind that ever shed lustre on 
 our history, have been left to us by an actor William 
 Shakespeare. (Cheers.) Were it not for the stage, that 
 mighty genius could not have found vent for the inspi- 
 rations of his wondrous powers. That man, whose name
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 297 
 
 is the pride of England that marvel of the world, 
 whose fame is the envy of the foreigner, while he bows 
 in homage at his shrine that man was an actor ! 
 (Applause.) The memory of these two celebrated persons 
 alone should teach us all to reflect on the goodness and 
 the greatness of which the stage is capable, and prompt 
 the hearts of every English man and woman to encou- 
 rage and cherish those who devote their lives to the 
 development of an art which, when properly appreciated 
 and properly protected, cannot fail to prove itself a 
 source of national utility. (Loud applause.) Every 
 human undertaking advances by progressive steps, and, 
 in the words of our great poet, 
 
 ' We work by wit, and not by witchcraft, ; 
 And wit depends on dilatory time.' 
 
 " We do not expect that this project is to spring up in 
 a complete form as if by magic, like Aladdin's palace ; 
 but what we ask this day is, that you will now sow the 
 seed which hereafter may expand into a stately tree 
 that you will lay the foundation-stone upon which may 
 rise a goodly edifice. Let us hope that this meeting 
 is but the beginning of the end, and that most of us now 
 present may be spared to witness the prosperous results 
 of this infant scheme, which under your auspices will 
 grow into vigorous manhood. (Cheers.) Ladies and 
 Gentlemen, throughout the varying series of dramatic 
 representations provided for your amusement, from the 
 lofty inspirations of Shakespeare to the lighter effusions 
 of mirthful fancy, you see the members of each estab- 
 lishment who are endeavouring to afford you recreation 
 from the more serious duties and trials of life who are 
 engaged for the time being possibly in relieving your 
 minds from care and anxiety you see them in the 
 apparent enjoyment of health and strength. The vital
 
 298 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 spark burns strongly and brightly ; but ' look upon this 
 picture and on this ! ' Witness them in years to come, 
 when health is broken and strength prostrated infirm 
 and aged ill and in want helpless and afflicted no 
 rest, no comfort, no joy, as they close their earthly 
 scene; and then let the small, still voice within whisper 
 ' To these I am indebted for years and years of 
 service, in some instances perhaps for nearly half a 
 century. They cry for help, and shall I deny them 
 sympathy and assistance?' (Prolonged applause .1 No; 
 in the true spirit of Christianity, you will do unto others 
 as you would they should do unto you. (Applause.) 
 Let it be remembered that in our country the actor has 
 no reliance but on the public. His only hope is in the 
 hearts of his audience. Unlike the continental nations 
 of Europe, the theatre here receives no annual subsidy, 
 no pecuniary allowance from the Crown, the Govern- 
 ment, or the municipal authorities. The actor's only 
 recompense is your approval, his only pension your 
 voluntary gift. (Hear, hear.) To the public he must 
 look for support, and the British public never did and 
 never will refuse to do that which is just and liberal 
 in return for lives exhausted in their service. (Applause.) 
 There are hundreds of us, who, through the mercy 
 of Providence, may never need this aid ; and yet who 
 can foresee the changes and vicissitudes that await us ? 
 But we plead for our poorer brethren, for those less 
 fortunate and less strong, who by your bounty may thus 
 be enabled to look forward in old age to some prop 
 on which they may lean with security, relieved from 
 that mental disquietude which is ever engendered by 
 the dread of privation and poverty. Through your help 
 they will find a home for mind and body, where they 
 may enjoy in peace the pleasing retrospect of former 
 days, and prepare in tranquil resignation for the great
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 299 
 
 and solemn change that awaits us all. (Applause.) You 
 will not, I am sure, allow your feelings to evaporate 
 in useless sensibility, but you will stretch forth to them 
 the open hand of charity. To those less endowed with 
 means, I would say, do not hesitate because your gift be 
 trifling ; great or small, as the widow's mite was 
 acceptable, so will be your contribution. (Hear, hear.) 
 The act blesses the giver and the receiver. The hour 
 will come when we shall have to account for those gifts 
 which Providence has lent to us on earth. At that 
 solemn moment may the recording angel open the page 
 wherein is written that you have comforted and relieved 
 the aged and the destitute ; that you have rewarded 
 to the best of your ability the servants who have toiled 
 for you ; that you have vindicated one of the divine 
 qualities which adorn the human heart the quality 
 of charity. (Applause.) May you unanimously respond 
 to this appeal, and set an example here this day, which 
 will be followed by thousands, and which only requires 
 the moving impulse to arrive at a full and happy com- 
 pletion. Let us all bear in mind the beautiful and touch- 
 ing words of the Psalmist, ' Blessed is he that consi- 
 dereth the poor and needy, the Lord shall deliver him 
 in the time of trouble, and shall comfort him when he 
 lieth sick upon his bed.' I will not further encroach 
 upon your time and patience ; I fear I have already too 
 long detained you ('No, no,' and applause) but I 
 hope you will pardon the enthusiasm of one who feels 
 deeply the cause he is endeavouring to plead. (Applause.) 
 Before I resume my seat, allow me to state that, in 
 addition to the benevolent donor's intentions, and the 
 manner in which the Drury Lane and Covent Garden 
 theatrical funds are disposed to assist this undertaking 
 (great applause) I have this morning received a 
 letter from Mr. Buckstone, the treasurer of the General
 
 300 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Theatrical Fund, who is unavoidably detained in the 
 country, to the effect that his fund is anxious to imitate 
 the example of its elder sisters. If this arrangement, 
 therefore, be carried out, we shall commence with three 
 of the houses at once ; and allow me to take the oppor- 
 tunity of saying, that it will afford me very sincere 
 pleasure to hold myself responsible for the building of a 
 fourth." (Cheers and waving of hats and handkerchiefs.) 
 
 Mr. CHARLES DICKENS : " Ladies and Gentlemen, I 
 think I may venture to congratulate you beforehand on 
 the pleasant circumstance that the movers and seconders 
 of the resolutions which will be submitted to you will 
 probably have very little to say. Through the Report 
 which you have heard read, and through the comprehen- 
 sive address of the Chairman, the cause which brings us 
 together has been so very clearly stated to you, that it 
 can stand in need of very little, if of any, further expo- 
 sition. But, as I have the honour to move the first 
 resolution which this handsome gift, and the vigorous 
 action that must be taken upon it, necessitate, I think I 
 shall only give expression to what is uppermost in the 
 general mind here, if I venture to remark that, many as 
 the parts are in which Mr. Kean has distinguished him- 
 self on these boards, he has never appeared in one in 
 which the large spirit of an artist, the feeling of a man, 
 and the grace of a gentleman (hear, hear) have been 
 more admirably blended than in his this day's faithful 
 adherence to the calling of which he is a prosperous 
 ornament, and in this day's manly advocacy of its cause. 
 (Cheers.) Ladies and Gentlemen, the resolution en- 
 trusted to me is 
 
 " ' That the Report of the Provisional Committee be 
 adopted, and that this meeting joyfully accepts, and 
 gratefully acknowledges, the gift of five acres of land 
 referred to in the said Report.'
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 301 
 
 " It is manifest, I take it, that we are all agreed upon 
 this acceptance and acknowledgment, and that we all 
 know very well that this generous gift can inspire but 
 one sentiment in the breast of all lovers of the dramatic 
 art. As it is far too often forgotten by those who are 
 indebted to it for many a restorative flight out of this 
 working-day world, that the silks, and velvets, and elegant 
 costumes of its professors must be every night ex- 
 changed for the hideous coats and waistcoats of the 
 present day, in which we have now the honour and the 
 misfortune of appearing before you (cheers and laugh- 
 ter) so, when we do meet with a nature so considerately 
 generous as this donor's, and do find an interest in the 
 real life and struggles of the people who have delighted 
 it, so very spontaneous and so very, liberal, we have 
 nothing to do but to accept and to admire : we have no 
 duty left but to ' take the goods the gods provide us,' 
 and to make the best and the most of them. Ladies 
 and Gentlemen, allow me to remark, that in this 
 mode of turning a good gift to the highest account, lies 
 the truest gratitude. In reference to this, I could not 
 but reflect, whilst Mr. Kean was speaking, that in an 
 hour or two from this time the spot upon which we are 
 now assembled will be transformed into the scene of a 
 crafty and a cruel bond. (Immense cheering, which 
 lasted for some time.) I knew that, a few hours hence, 
 the grand canal of Venice will flow, with picturesque 
 fidelity, on the very spot on which I now stand dryshod, 
 and that 'the quality of mercy' will be beautifully 
 stated to the Venetian Council by a learned young 
 doctor from Padua ; on these very boards on which we 
 now enlarge upon the quality of charity and sympathy. 
 Knowing this, it came into my mind to consider how 
 different the real bond of to-day from the ideal bond of 
 to-night. Now, all generosity, all forbearance, all for-
 
 302 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 getfulness of little jealousies and unworthy divisions, all 
 united action for the general good. Then, all selfish- 
 ness, all malignity, all cruelty, all revenge, and all evil, 
 now all good. Then, a bond to be broken within the 
 compass of a few, three or four, swiftly passing hours, 
 now, a bond to be valid and of good effect generations 
 hence. (Great cheering.) Ladies and Gentlemen, of 
 the execution and delivery of this bond, between this 
 generous gentleman on the one hand, and the united 
 members of a too often and too long disunited art upon 
 the other, be you the witnesses. Do you attest of every- 
 thing that is liberal and free in spirit, that it is ; so nomi- 
 nated in the bond ; ' and of everything that is grudging, 
 self-seeking, unjust, or unfair, that it is by no sophistry 
 ever to be found there. I beg to move the resolution 
 which I have already had the pleasure of reading." 
 (Loud and continued cheering.) 
 
 The resolution, which MR. W. CRESWICK seconded, 
 was carried unanimously. 
 
 Mr. T. P. COOKE, seconded by MR, HARLEY, 
 proposed : 
 
 " That Charles Kean, Benjamin Webster, Charles 
 Dickens, and W. M. Thackeray, Esqs., be elected 
 Trustees of the said College." 
 
 Mr. BENJAMIN WEBSTER : " Previously, Ladies and 
 Gentlemen, to proposing the third resolution, I am 
 appointed to thank you for your approval of the four 
 names submitted to you as trustees of this proposed I 
 think I may say carried Institution ; and to assure you 
 that the endeavours of those trustees will be used to 
 carry the object to its utmost extent. I wish that for 
 your advantage one of those named who is absent from 
 us, Mr. Thackeray, had been here to thank you instead
 
 OF CHARLES KEAX, F.S.A. 303 
 
 of myself, but circumstances have occurred which pre- 
 vent his desired appearance here to-day. I know it 
 will be your loss, and not my gain, for I lack the power 
 of speech of that gifted gentleman. But I will yield in 
 earnestness of purpose, and earnestness of hope for a 
 brighter future for this profession, to no man, be he higli 
 or low. (Applause.) I feel it a great honour to hold 
 the post of Trustee to this College, and so, I am sure, 
 do my companions in that office. I thank you in their 
 names, and in my own ; and the more responsibility 
 you give to that office by your liberality, the more you 
 increase the honour you have conferred upon us. I 
 have now to propose to you the third resolution, which 
 is in these words : 
 
 " ' That a subscription be entered into for the pur- 
 pose of carrying out the gift of the donor and the in- 
 tention of the Provisional Committee, and of forwarding 
 the benevolent object for which we are assembled.' 
 
 " After the eloquent speeches which have been ad- 
 dressed to you, which so ably defined the end and objt ct 
 of our assembling here, a few words from me will suffice. 
 I am egotistical enough to believe that many here know 
 my humble efforts to obtain a few crumbs for the poor 
 player from the very rich table of Dulwich College 
 (' Hear, hear,' and cheers) ; but though all I prayed for 
 was most cheerfully granted by the four parishes having 
 the right to its benefit under Alleyne's will, more was 
 thought of building a church though one existed there 
 sufficient, as it was proved, for all the requirements of 
 the parish endowing it with 300Z. a year out of the 
 earnings of the profane stage-player, and placing it in 
 the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury, than conceding 
 a paltry WOL out of nearly a million and a quarter of 
 wealth, to four worn-out actors and actresses, and edu- 
 cating eight of their children ; and this, too, in the face
 
 304 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 of the fact that Alleyne originally commenced the Col- 
 lege for actors and their families. I trust that the result 
 has given birth in some degree to this laudable donation. 
 When I looked around upon the numerous colleges, 
 institutions, and hospitals for young and old, specially 
 devoted to certain trades and professions, I did feel that 
 there was an exception to my class, but your presence 
 here to-day proves such an exception to have been un- 
 deserved. (Loud cheers.) It has been the constant pur- 
 pose of my life to see an institution similar to Dulwich 
 College for the care-worn members of our much-neglected 
 and much-abused profession, having practically known 
 many of the trials and many of the vicissitudes and 
 necessities of an actor's life. I may be allowed to state, 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, that in my long experience as 
 manager, actor, and a man of the world, I have known 
 no class who, from the highest to the lowest employe in 
 the establishment, give more bountifully to the unfor- 
 tunate brother than the actor. Now if, indeed, charity 
 be a cloak, let it cover the many errors that ignorance 
 and fanaticism unjustly heap upon our calling. Thank 
 Heaven, there are hundreds, thousands, nay millions, 
 who do and will stand by us, even to the highest in the 
 realm, as the following admirably written letter, in 
 answer to a request that her Majesty would become our 
 Patroness, will amply prove : 
 
 " ' Osborne, July 16th, 1858. 
 
 " 'Mr DEAR ME. WEBSTER, I have had the honour 
 to lay before her Majesty the Queen the papers which 
 accompanied your letter to me of the 15th inst. I have 
 received the commands of her Majesty to say to you in 
 reply, that her Majesty would take much interest in any 
 plan for rendering more comfortable the declining years 
 of actresses and actors who are suffering under insufficient
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 305 
 
 means (great applause) ; and the Queen would wish every 
 success to the undertaking of which you have forwarded 
 the prospectus. The scheme is not, however, as yet 
 sufficiently advanced for her Majesty to become its 
 Patroness. The Queen has always required, before she 
 grants the use of her name to any new charity, that not 
 only shall the object be a deserving one, but that it shall 
 have been sufficiently appreciated and supported by the 
 public to give a reasonable security that the institution 
 shall be prosperous and permanent. When, therefore, 
 your plans have acquired a little more substantive cha- 
 racter, and there is good evidence of a cordial and general 
 support, you will be at liberty to apply to me again for 
 her Majesty's patronage. Sincerely yours, 
 
 " ' C. B. PHIPPS. 
 " ' B. Webster, Esq.' (Cheers.) 
 
 "Ladies and Gentlemen, that is the highest honour that 
 could be conferred upon us ; and so deeply am I inter- 
 ested in this cause, that without any attempt at osten- 
 tation, I will give, from large masses of stone I have in 
 Wales^approved, good stone sufficient to face the 
 whole of the twenty tenements, and the whole of the 
 stone required for the collegiate school. But the vitality 
 of the entire building is in your hands at least I hope 
 so, in the shape of pounds, "shillings, and pence, and I 
 trust the figures will speak for themselves more to the 
 purpose than I have." 
 
 Mr. Webster concluded by moving the resolution, 
 which was seconded in an extremely eloquent speech by 
 Mr. EGBERT BELL. 
 
 Sir GEORGE ARM YT AGE moved, " That Messrs. Coutts 
 and Company be the bankers, at the West-end, and 
 Messrs, llobarts, Curtis, and Company, in the City." 
 
 VOL. II. X
 
 306 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Mr. FRANK MATTHEWS seconded the resolution, which 
 was carried unanimously. 
 
 The SECRETARY then read the list of subscriptions 
 already received, amounting to nearly 900?. 
 
 Sir WILLIAM DE BATHE, seconded by Mr. BRADY, 
 M.P., proposed " That the thanks of this meeting are 
 hereby given to Charles Kean, Esq., for his impartial 
 and efficient services as Chairman of this meeting, and for 
 his kindness in offering the use of his theatre." (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. KEAN having acknowledged the compliment, the 
 proceedings terminated. 
 
 Within a few weeks after the meeting at the Princess's 
 Theatre, the Committee published their first Report, con- 
 taining the gratifying announcement that her Majesty 
 the Queen had graciously given her consent to become 
 Patroness, accompanied by a donation of 100?. The 
 entire amount collected at that date reached 1.852?., with- 
 out including annual subscriptions to the extent of 215?. 
 more. Nothing could be more encouraging than the 
 commencement and prospect. But clouds soon began to 
 gather, and from a quarter where they were least to be 
 expected. The gentleman so highly complimented as the 
 first mover of the scheme, and donor of the land, evinced 
 through his solicitor a disposition to fence round his 
 free gift with legal restrictions and stipulations which 
 apprised the Committee of coming difficulty. After 
 some correspondence of a very unsatisfactory nature, a 
 general meeting of the subscribers was held on the 13th 
 of January, 1859, in the Adelphi Theatre, which had 
 been placed at the disposal of the Provisional Committee 
 by Mr. B. Webster. Their Report was then read, con- 
 taining a full account of all the proceedings that had 
 taken place. The chair was taken at one o'clock by 
 Lord Tenterden, a nobleman who had always evinced 
 strong sympathies with the members of the dramatic
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 307 
 
 art. The meeting adopted a unanimous resolution to 
 repudiate Mr. Henry Dodd, and to consider and accept 
 one of two offers of the necessary land made by the Rev. 
 Edward Moore, and the London Necropolis Company. 
 The well-wishers to the cause will have no reason to 
 regret the momentary cheek, which gave rise to much 
 spontaneous sympathy. Out of evil comes good. Sir 
 William De Bathe and several gentlemen present volun- 
 teered at once to supply 501. each, as a separate fund for 
 the purchase of ground without favour or obligation ; 
 and many members also proposed to double their sub- 
 scriptions for the same purpose. It was stated at this 
 second meeting that the sum then in hand amounted to 
 3,000?., and the annual subscriptions to 250Z. That the 
 intended College so auspiciously projected will advance 
 rapidly towards completion may be considered as certain 
 as that the cause is charity, and its success involves our 
 national character. At a later meeting, it was finally 
 resolved to accept the ground offered near Woking, by 
 the London Necropolis Company. The first stone of the 
 building is expected to be laid in September next. 
 
 Few names will be more missed from the playbills, 
 than that of John Pritt Harley, who died, we may say 
 suddenly, at his residence in Grower-street, on Sunday, 
 the 22nd of August, 1858. He very nearly added another 
 to the list of actors who have fallen " in harness." 
 Harley was the son of a highly respectable draper and 
 silk-mercer, in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 
 where he was himself born. He was intended for the 
 medical profession, and afterwards for the law, but an 
 innate attachment to the drama, rigidly curbed by his 
 nearest relatives, gratified itself with the first opportunity; 
 and some juvenile efforts meeting with warm encourage- 
 ment, determined his future life. His regular theatrical 
 career may be dated from April. 1808, when he became 
 
 X 2
 
 308 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 a member of Mr. Trotter's company, then manager of 
 the Gravesend, Worthing, and Brighton theatres. From 
 thence he migrated to the York circuit, succeeding to 
 the ample line of comic characters vacated by Fawcett, 
 Mathews, Emery, and Knight. In the summer of 1815, 
 having returned to Brighton, he was seen and engaged 
 by Mr. Arnold for the then Lyceum Theatre, where he 
 appeared on the 15th of July, as Marcelli, in the manager's 
 opera of the " Devil's Bridge," and Peter Fidget, in Beaz- 
 ley's farce of the " Boarding House." During the same 
 year, as we have already mentioned, he established his 
 winter quarters at Drury-lane, and made a most success- 
 ful introduction on the 16th of September. Bannister's 
 farewell benefit had taken place on the 1st of June pre- 
 ceding, so that a wide field was open to rising ability. 
 
 At Drury Lane, with occasional excursions to the 
 country and engagements at the Lyceum, where he for 
 some time undertook the duties of stage manager, 
 Haiiey remained for more than twenty years, until Mr. 
 Braham opened the St. James's Theatre, in 1836, when 
 he joined the company formed by that gentleman. He 
 soon after, however, returned to his old quarters, and 
 was with Mr. Macready, at Covent Garden, in 1838, 
 and afterwards with Madame Vestris and Mr. Charles 
 Mathews when they opened the same establishment two 
 years later. He then joined Mr. Bunn at Drury Lane, 
 and finally, when Mr. Charles Kean made his great effort 
 to restore the fortunes of the legitimate drama at the 
 Princess's Theatre, in 1850, he gave in his adhesion to 
 the cause, and remained from that period an active and 
 prominent member of the company. His last original 
 part was Peter Pounce, in the farce called " Samuel in 
 Search of Himself." He succeeded Edmund Kean as 
 master of the Drury Lane theatrical fund, and held 
 that office until his death.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 309 
 
 Harley rose rapidly in public favour ; in humour and 
 versatility he almost equalled his model, Bannister, the 
 general round of whose characters he successfully filled. 
 His rising reputation was greatly assisted by original 
 parts in successful farces, amongst which may be enu- 
 merated Jack Phantom, in " Frightened to Death ; " 
 Popolmo, in the " Sleeping Draught ;" and Amoroso, 
 King of Little Britain in the burlesque of the same 
 name. In 1816, when " Every Man in his Humour" 
 was revived for Edmund Kean's Kitely, Harley sustained 
 Boladil, a great attempt for one comparatively new to 
 the London boards, and was thought by many to be the 
 best that had appeared since the days of Woodward. 
 In the Shakespearean clowns he had a quaint natural 
 humour peculiar to himself, flowing without effort, and 
 copied from no example, but the product of his own 
 conception, and embodied according to his physical attri- 
 butes. No actor, not even Munden or Listen, ever excited 
 more genuine laughter. It was impossible to feel dull 
 when Harley was upon the stage. The exercise of his art 
 appeared delightful to himself, and imparted spontaneous 
 gratification to his audience. He was the very opposite 
 of what is understood by the terms, a dry, laborious, 
 hard-working actor. Such men literally drag out 
 attention, and earn their fame and money by throes 
 and painful earnestness ; but they rarely cause the pulse 
 of the spectator to quicken, or his thoughts to lose for 
 a time all consciousness of the outward cares of life. 
 Harley was one of the last representatives and disciples 
 of a genuine style, which younger aspirants would do 
 wisely to study, before the few survivors of the generation 
 have entirely passed away. The reception with which our 
 old friend was invariably greeted, must have convinced 
 him in the most conclusive manner that ancient favorites 
 are not forgotten because fresher candidates may happen
 
 310 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 to be in the field, and that in spite of the railway speed 
 of modern improvement, the old school could stand by 
 the new and lose no ground. 
 
 The name of Harley was identified with an exten- 
 sive range of parts which no one could touch like him- 
 self. They form a numerous family, and were looked 
 upon as his personal property. We know not to whom 
 he could have bequeathed them, or who can claim legi- 
 timate succession as heir at law, now that a reversion has 
 occurred. On Friday, the 20th of August, he acted 
 Launcelot Gobbo with unusual spirit, and in reply to one 
 or two observations as to how well he seemed, answered 
 that he never felt better. Of the numerous audience on 
 that night assembled at the Princess's Theatre, not one 
 who enjoyed the grotesque activity with which he 
 skipped across the bridge when dismissed by Shylock, 
 imagined that they looked and laughed for the last time, 
 and that the fiat had gone forth destined so rapidly to 
 close his earthly career. As he reached the wing he 
 was seized with paralysis of the left side, and with as- 
 sistance reached the green-room where he was laid on 
 the sofa. Medical aid being immediately provided, the 
 case was pronounced imminent, and as soon as possible 
 he was conveyed to his own house in Gower-street, his 
 sister and only surviving relative (since dead) being 
 previously apprised by Mr. Ellis, the stage manager, 
 that an accident had happened to him. In a few hours 
 he lost recollection, sank gradually, and expired, ap- 
 parently without suffering or effort, on the afternoon of 
 Sunday, the 22nd August. The last coherent words lie 
 uttered were a quotation from the " Midsummer Night's 
 Dream," " I have an exposition of sleep come upon me." 
 It is not to be supposed that he thereby indicated any 
 consciousness of his approaching end. It was merely 
 the utterance of a familiar passage with regard to his
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 311 
 
 immediate sensation of drowsiness. Something similar 
 occurred when John Wesley was dangerously ill and 
 supposed to be at the point of death in Ireland, and 
 whose mind could scarcely be expected to be imbued 
 with the imagery of Shakespeare. Observing the 
 countenance of a lady who sat by his side endeavouring 
 to conceal her emotion under assumed tranquillity, he 
 looked towards her and said, "She sits like Patience on 
 a monument, smiling at Grief." 
 
 Different statements have appeared as to Harley's 
 age. We have reason to believe, on good authority, 
 that had he lived to reach another birthday he would have 
 completed seventy-three. He had also long been ac- 
 counted one of the rich men of the stage, but this, to 
 the surprise of all, was found to be erroneous. Except 
 his furniture and personal effects he had no realized 
 property. Yet he had received large sums, was not 
 known to indulge in extravagant propensities, or to 
 have suffered by speculation. At one time he had a veiy 
 considerable investment in the funds. How did he dis- 
 pose of his superfluity? This is a mystery not likely 
 to be unravelled. Great mistakes are often made as to 
 the savings of actors, which are not unfrequently esti- 
 mated at more than they have ever received. Harley's 
 life must have been happy beyond the ordinary lot. 
 He was respected and liked by all who knew him. He 
 had a merry heart, an equal temper, and an interminable 
 fund of anecdote, enjoying society, and contributing his 
 full share in lively conversation. He had never en- 
 cumbered himself with the cares of a family, remaining 
 unmarried throughout a long and successful professional 
 career, in which he encountered but a small share of the 
 ordinary rubs and disappointments. It seems rather a 
 remarkable coincidence that only a few weeks before, 
 his friend and comrade Bartley died at nearly the same
 
 312 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 age and from a similar attack. Bartley, however, 
 laboured under a heart complaint, so that his sudden 
 demise might have been more readily looked for. But 
 when men have reached and passed the term named by 
 the Psalmist, and may be supposed to be ready for the 
 great change, it matters little whether a learned disease 
 with a hard name, the sudden rupture of a vital chord, 
 or mere exhausted nature, is the proximate cause of their 
 departure. 
 
 The long and brilliant season at the Princess's Theatre 
 terminated on the evening of the 3rd of September, when 
 the " Merchant of Venice " was presented to a crowded 
 house with undiminished effect, and for the seventy-second 
 time without intermission. Had not a short interval of 
 rest been absolutely necessary, this beautiful play would, 
 in all probability, have run on to the full completion of 
 one hundred nights the ordinary term of a Princess's 
 Shakespearean revival. When the curtain fell on the 
 last scene, Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean were unanimously 
 summoned to receive a parting compliment, after which 
 Mr. C. Kean came forward alone, and took his temporary 
 leave of the audience in the following short but em- 
 phatic speech : 
 
 " Ladies and Gentlemen, At the close of each succes- 
 sive season it has ever been my custom to address a few 
 words to you in thankfulness for your kind support. 
 The present year, from various circumstances, in part 
 unavoidable, and in part, unexpected, has been to me a 
 period of great respons bility, anxiety, and fatigue ; 
 relieved, however, by evidences and expressions of public 
 feeling and sympathy, the memory of which can only 
 fade with life. Contrary to my original intention, I feel 
 compelled, from the mental and bodily strain I have 
 ndergone, to seek a few weeks of comparative repose,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAX, F.S.A. 313 
 
 that I may be the better able to bring to a successful 
 termination my next and last season. 
 
 " Permit me, therefore, to take this opportunity of 
 announcing my intention to re-open this house on 
 Saturday, the 2d of October ; and at the same time to 
 state that, on the 29th of August next, I shall take my 
 final leave as director of the Princess's Theatre. In the 
 meantime, Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me, in Mrs. 
 Kean's name, as well as my own, respectfully and grate- 
 fully to bid you farewell." 
 
 The season, we have said, was brilliant ; so it was in 
 exertion and apparent effect. We wish we could add, 
 successful, in a pecuniary sense. But to this it was 
 diametrically opposed, the loss exceeding 4,000?. A 
 casual observer and occasional visitor who sees a crowded 
 house, considers one sample an index of the whole, but 
 he knows nothing of the enormous outlay and nightly 
 expense, which too often exceed the aggregate returns. 
 The local causes of deficiency, in the present instance, 
 may be chiefly traced to the American failures, which 
 paralysed the commercial world, to an Italian Opera at 
 cheap prices, through the entire winter, and to the 
 " Festival Performances," which drained the purses of 
 the theatrical constituency, and abstracted large sums 
 from their legitimate recipients. 
 
 In the course of the eleven months' duration of the 
 expired season, nineteen different pieces were played, of 
 which four only were new; the pantomime and three 
 farces. Out of two hundred and sixty-nine acting 
 nights, there were only forty-two not devoted to Shake- 
 speare. 
 
 Every human discovery and improvement, all that 
 \dvances philosophy, science, literature, or mechanical 
 invention, is doomed to undergo the three successive
 
 314 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 phases of opposition, ridicule, and adoption. Mr. C. 
 Kean has pre-eminently illustrated this fact in the pro- 
 gress of his professional life. His claims, long and 
 obstinately contested, are at length universally admitted. 
 His restorations of Shakespeare are received as the most 
 truthful homage ever rendered to the greatest genius 
 that England or the world has produced. His fertile 
 mind and extensive scholarship have called into life 
 effects never before imagined ; whilst his versatile em- 
 bodiments of so many great characters in the Shake- 
 spearian range have identified him, as an actor, with the 
 Garricks, Hendersons, and Kembles of bygone ages, and 
 more especially with his own father, who, in two or three 
 leading elements, excelled them all. 
 
 It is too often the lot of living merit and the condi- 
 tion is a hard one to be treated with injustice ; to be 
 undervalued until a gap, not easily filled, impresses the 
 importance of a public loss, and the difficulty of filling 
 up a vacancy. Then follows the selfish regret and un- 
 availing penitence which mourns the absence of a pos- 
 session, the full value of which is only ascertained when 
 lost beyond recovery ; extorted tears to consecrate the 
 ashes of the dead, instead of the spontaneous tribute 
 which ought to soothe and adorn the presence of the 
 living ; a posthumous instalment on a just debt, which, 
 however flattering to his heirs, is paid too late to gratify 
 the silent creditor. There are such things, too, as personal 
 enmities, neither forgotten nor foregone until they can be 
 no longer indulged. More fortunate than many who 
 seek the temple of fame, Mr. C. Kean has not had to 
 wait for this tardy acknowledgment. His merits and 
 services as a public teacher are freely conceded, and he 
 enjoys the universal respect which attaches to un- 
 blemished private character and rare professional 
 excellence.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 315 
 
 Throughout the season of 1857-1858, Mr. Kean's 
 name was seldom absent from the bills. Night after 
 night he delighted the public with such varied perform- 
 ances as Prospero, Richard II., Hamlet, Louis XL, 
 Mephistopheles, King Lear, and Shylock. It is seldom 
 that a great actor and manager, when he has won the 
 double reputation, the acknowledged supremacy, for 
 which he has so perse veringly toiled, continues to im- 
 pose on himself the physical labour, which, if carried too 
 far, would break down the strongest constitution. Gar- 
 rick and John Kemble, for many years before their 
 retirement, acted only twice or thrice a week, at 
 particular portions of the season. They reposed on 
 their laurels ; but they remembered also that 
 
 " Time hath a wallet at his back, 
 Wherein he puts alms for oblivion ;; 
 A great siz'd monster of ingratitudes : 
 And to have done, is to hang 
 Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail, 
 In monumental mockery." 
 
 They therefore took care to present themselves now and 
 then on select occasions, to keep curiosity alive, to pre- 
 vent its being entirely attracted towards others, and to 
 watch their own fame, lest it should tarnish by disuse. 
 But Mr. C. Kean during his period of management 
 never allowed himself an intermitting relief. He re- 
 sembled a sentinel continually at his post, and worked 
 with as much untiring perseverance as in the days of 
 his early novitiate when slowly climbing up the steps 
 of the ladder. Such constant exertion could only be 
 sustained by that inborn enthusiasm which is ever the 
 accompaniment of true genius. It is a fact which in- 
 cludes a flattering compliment, while at the same time 
 it imposes a harassing condition, that although sup- 
 ported by an excellent working company, few plays
 
 316 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 were found to be attractive at the Princess's Theatre, 
 unless the names of Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean were in- 
 cluded in the cast. Here is at once a conclusive argu- 
 ment in reply to the diminishing but still pertinacious 
 section of cavillers, who are ready with an objection for 
 everything, and have so long endeavoured to maintain 
 that accessorial embellishment has injured genuine art, 
 and that the most important figures in the painting are 
 obscured by the gorgeousness of the surrounding frame- 
 work. Take away such representatives of Shakespeare's 
 heroes and heroines as Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean, and there 
 prejudiced Zoili would soon have it rendered palpable 
 to them, that the upholsterer and property man (those 
 favourite figures for a sneer), the scene-painter and 
 mechanist, are incompetent to touch the hearts of an 
 audience, or to vindicate the superiority of our matchless 
 mover of the passions. When the intricate machinery 
 of a watch is brought into harmony by mechanical skill, 
 it is the mainspring alone that can set the whole in 
 action ; break that, and all the rest becomes torpid and in- 
 effective. It is precisely thus with the blended elements 
 of a represented play. The scenery, the costumes, the 
 architecture, the arrangement of incidental groups, the 
 evolutions of well-trained supernumeraries, the most 
 accurate historical reflection of bygone ages and man- 
 ners, all these adjuncts may be called into use, and 
 restored as perfectly as classical taste and antiquarian 
 knowledge can reproduce them : but still, the life-like 
 reality, the animating charm, the mainspring in fact, 
 lies exclusively within the faculty of acting. Let the 
 performers who are set down for the great parts, fall 
 below the corresponding level which the genius of the 
 poet demands, and it has ever been seen that they 
 become indistinctly confused with the figures in the 
 background, and the entire picture fades into vapid
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 317 
 
 mediocrity. Without acting of a very high order, no 
 extent of pictorial embellishment could command one 
 hundred successive repetitions of a Shakespearean 
 drama. It is only by a well-balanced union of forces 
 that the effect is produced. Divide these forces, and 
 weakness supersedes power. " The hairs in a horse's 
 tail," says Dr. Donne, in a quaint comparison, " concur 
 in a single root of beauty and strength ; but being 
 separated and plucked out one by one, they lose all 
 value, and serve for little better than springes and 
 snares."
 
 318 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MR. C. KEAN S FAREWELL SEASON AS MANAGER OF THE PRINCESS'S 
 THEATRE MERCHANT OF VENICE CONTINUED SECOND REVIVAL OF 
 KING JOHN DITTO OF MACBETH PRODUCTION OF MUCH ADO ABOUT 
 
 NOTHING MR. AND MRS. C. KEAN AS BENEDICK AND BEATRICE FARCE 
 
 OF THIRTY-THREE NEXT BIRTHDAY PANTOMIME OF THE KING OF THE 
 
 CASTLE JEALOUS WIFE CORSICAN BROTHERS MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S 
 
 DREAM LOUIS THE ELEVENTH HAMLET. 
 
 A SHORT recess of four weeks passed rapidly over, 
 and on Saturday, the 2nd of October, 1858, Mr. C. 
 Kean opened his last campaign as manager of the 
 Princess's Theatre, with the seventy-third representa- 
 tion of the " Merchant of Venice," preceded by the farce 
 of " Dying for Love." Once more the curtain rose on 
 the Queen of the Adriatic in all her reanimated glory. 
 The enthusiastic welcome with which Mr. and Mrs. 
 Kean were greeted on their appearance, told empha- 
 tically the feeling of the public, and spoke in a combined 
 voice of estimation and anticipated regret. Two changes 
 had taken place in the cast of the play. Nerissa was 
 now acted, and very agreeably, by Miss Bufton, a 
 young lady of considerable promise and personal attrac- 
 tions, who improves rapidly with experience. Mr. 
 Saker succeeded the lamented Harley, as Launcelot 
 Qobbo, and deserves his full meed of praise for a careful 
 study of a part, difficult under such peculiar circum- 
 stances. 
 
 To give as much variety as possible to his concluding 
 season, Mr. Kean determined to repeat, in quick succes- 
 sion, a series of his principal Shakesperean revivals.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 319 
 
 Accordingly, in a fortnight, the " Merchant of Venice," 
 on the 17th of October, gave place to " King John," 
 which had not been represented since 1852. Nothing 
 could be more complete than the change. From the 
 anks of the Brenta and the sunny skies of Italy, 
 from the gay frolics of the carnival, and the stately, 
 mediaeval magnificence of the " dogeless" city, Mr. 
 Kean, by a single wave of his managerial wand, carried 
 us into other regions and more distant times ; recalling 
 our thoughts to fix them on a remarkable though not 
 glorious period of domestic history. We were now in 
 the stormy era of the Plantagenets, and found ourselves 
 treading the baronial halls and palaces of Norman Eng- 
 land, or listening to the war-blast on the old battle-fields 
 of Anjou and Kent. 
 
 We have three plays on the subject of King John. 
 The first, anonymous, earlier than Shakespeare's (in 
 1591), and which by some speculators has been attri- 
 buted to Marlowe. An action for libel would almost 
 lie on the insinuation. Here Shakespeare found the 
 plot, characters, and incidents. These he freely used ; 
 but the nervous language, the glowing thought, the 
 power, the pathos, and the passion, are all his own, and 
 could not have emanated from any other source. There 
 is not a single spark of either in the poor and vulgar 
 original. In 1745, old Colley Gibber, fired with the 
 mania of improving Shakespeare, inflicted on the town 
 a pernicious imitation, entitled, " Papal Tyranny in the 
 reign of King John." On this memorable occasion, the 
 ancient laureat, who had lost his teeth, returned to the 
 stage, and mumbled through Cardinal Pandulph ; but 
 the affair died a natural death, and its failure had 
 this advantage, that, since then, no sacrilegious invader 
 has ventured to substitute his crambe repetita for the 
 genuine text of Shakespeare. During the last hundred
 
 320 THE LIFE AND THEATKICAL TIMES 
 
 years, " King John" has been repeatedly brought forward 
 under successive and rival dynasties, but with mistakes 
 and shortcomings to the last; until Mr. C. Kean, in 
 1852, inaugurated his new system with a more perfect 
 revival than had yet been presented by the most highly- 
 gifted of his predecessors. As now re-produced, the 
 play had the advantage of his own intermediate expe- 
 rience, with the high finish of those powers of acting 
 which have grown by progressive steps to their complete 
 development. 
 
 Although far from the best in Shakespeare's historical 
 series, " King John " has characters of startling power, 
 and passages of poetic beauty, equal to any that he has 
 written elsewhere. When he selected this subject, we 
 have often wondered that he did not ascend a little 
 higher in time, and choose the popular and stirring 
 epoch which immediately preceded, the reign of the 
 lion-hearted Richard. Here was a monarch more in 
 accordance with English notions of regal heroism ; 
 and his death by the hand of the archer Bertrand de 
 Gourdon, at the siege of the Castle of Chaluz, with 
 his dying mercy to the man by whose hand he was 
 prematurely cut off, although not carried out after his 
 decease, would have supplied a catastrophe more drama- 
 tically striking, and less repulsive than the expiring 
 agonies of his miserable brother. The moral in either 
 case is nearly the same the transient nature of earthly 
 grandeur, and the emptiness of all human ambition. 
 
 The foreign policy of John was timid and inglorious ; 
 the domestic troubles of his reign invariably resulted 
 from his own overweening tyranny. Shakespeare has 
 entirely passed over all allusion to the great national 
 Charter, which the English barons wrung from their 
 cowardly but despotic master. He may have done 
 this from delicacy towards the absolutists of his own
 
 OF CHAKLES KEAN, F.S.A. 321 
 
 day, Elizabeth and James, who were also his personal 
 patrons ; but at all events he moulded to his own pur- 
 poses the other incidents in the reign of King John 
 with the scenic arrangement of the old play, scattering 
 about in rich profusion his own harmonious verse, his 
 vigorous passion, and his boundless amplification of 
 mind and feeling. He has engrafted no new charac- 
 ters, but he has gloriously heightened the rough 
 sketches he found in a barren soil. We cannot revel 
 in reminiscences which stir an Englishman's blood, and 
 fillip his pride, when our thoughts revert to this dark 
 period of our national annals. But it must not be 
 denied, and may be profitably studied and remembered. 
 Truly refreshing it is to find the living reality evoked 
 on the boards of the Princess's Theatre, in the form of 
 the most agreeable intellectual lesson, and with all the 
 stately adjuncts by which instruction can be seasoned 
 and recommended. 
 
 It is not easy to estimate Mr. C. Kean's performance 
 of the regal felon of the line of Anjou by any fixed 
 analysis, or comparative standard of excellence. Again, 
 he presented us with a complete and unique portrait, 
 which we can trace to no particular family, or antecedent 
 class. The English monarch is to the full as wicked 
 and remorseless as Louis the Eleventh ; but our thoughts 
 never revert to the one while witnessing the same evil 
 passions depicted in the mind and person of the other. 
 John is a compound of every contemptible and loath- 
 some attribute, either as man or monarch ; ambitious 
 and cruel to the last extreme ; not absolutely a coward 
 in the field, but a moral poltroon in the conduct of life ; 
 helpless and abject in adversity ; covetous, overbearing, 
 and impolitic when fortune smiles on him : a strange 
 blending of opposite qualities, which nevertheless often 
 meet, exhibiting fool and knave in alternating propor- 
 VO L. II. Y
 
 322 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 tions. During his whole existence,' as brought before 
 us by Shakespeare, we find nothing to admire, and as 
 he expires under the racking agonies of poison, while 
 we pay our just tribute to the power of his dramatic 
 representative, we feel relieved by the departure of the 
 man. 
 
 The pervading gloom of the play is felicitously 
 relieved by the humorous, dare-devil gallantry of Fal- 
 conbridge, who vindicates his royal blood, and becomes 
 even dignified as his responsibility increases. But the 
 softening charm lies with Constance and Arthur. For- 
 tune dealt hardly with them. Holinshed relates that 
 Arthur was imprisoned at Rouen, when he was supposed 
 to be murdered, as some said, by his uncle's own hand. 
 He was an adult youth and not a child, as Shakespeare 
 has represented him. This is certainly an important 
 deviation from fact, but by this poetic licence the bard 
 has invested his supplications to Hubert with the sim- 
 plicity of infantine innocence, and has given us one of 
 the most affecting scenes he ever imagined. Again, the 
 veritable Lady Constance of history demands our 
 respect and sympathy with less compelling influence 
 than the wronged widow and bereaved parent, so pow- 
 erfully transferred to the dramatic canvas. Maternal 
 anguish and despair have never been so naturally con- 
 ceived, or so pathetically expressed, as in the Constance 
 of Shakespeare. Enthusiasts in classic lore may turn 
 to the Clytemncestra, Hecuba, and Andromache of 
 Euripides, but they will seek in vain for those heart- 
 rending exclamations, those overwhelming touches of 
 nature, which lacerate the hearts of the audience, until 
 they find relief in tears. Her apostrophe to death, 
 beginning, " amiable, lovely death," in her last scene, 
 is superior to that fine invocation of the chorus in the 
 " Supplicants" of ^Eschylus, to the same power. There
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 323 
 
 is nothing in the French imitators of the ancients, in 
 the most vaunted passages of Corneille or Racine, 
 to be taken into comparison. Voltaire affected to 
 ridicule Shakespeare, and tried to make his countrymen 
 follow his example. The French themselves look upon 
 their cold declamatory tragedies as perfect in construc- 
 tion and dialogue. English taste judges them by a 
 standard very distinct from the scholastics of Aristotle. 
 Accustomed to the uncontrolled flights of Shakespeare, 
 we set little value on unities and classical restrictions. 
 We acknowledge readily the transcendent powers of a 
 Rachel and a Talma, while we wish they had better 
 materials to work with, and varieties of character to 
 delineate more in accordance with the ordinary sympa- 
 thies and feelings of humanity. 
 
 Such a noble part as Constance requires a great repre- 
 sentative, and on looking down the annals of the stage, 
 we find the names of Mrs. Gibber, Mrs. Yates, Mrs. 
 Siddons, and Miss O'Neill, successively identified with 
 the widow of Geoffrey. Mrs. C. Kean has put forth a 
 proud claim to be associated with this honoured list, 
 and the claim will be unanimously conceded. Her per- 
 formance is truly wonderful by far the finest female 
 portraiture on the living stage, and by many degrees 
 her own clief-cTceuvre. How different from the playful 
 elegance of Portia, and yet how thoroughly and intensely 
 Shakesperean ! It is worth going a hundred miles to 
 see, and will be required to be seen again and again 
 before its beauties can be felt or understood as they 
 deserve. Young actresses will do well to study this 
 accomplished mistress of her art, while they have yet 
 an opportunity, for such a model is not likely to be 
 supplied to them again. 
 
 Next to Constance and King John, Falconbridge, 
 Hubert, and Young Arthur, stand prominently forward 
 
 Y2
 
 324 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 as characters of importance. All three were well 
 personated by Mr. Walter Lacy, Mr. Ryder, and Miss 
 Ellen Terry, who succeeded her elder sister. Every 
 part was in the hands of an adequate performer. The 
 entire cast bore evidence of the completeness of the 
 Princess's company, so soon destined to be dispersed, 
 and never again united under the same banner. 
 
 Macbeth was revived on Monday, the 1 st of Novem- 
 ber, and performed alternately with "King John" for some 
 weeks. Five years had elapsed since its first produc- 
 tion by Mr. Kean, but nearly all the principal characters 
 were still in the same hands, the changes being chiefly 
 amongst the rank and file. 
 
 A quarter of a century hence, when the events of 
 to-day will have subsided into records of the past, the 
 generation of the then present hour may possibly esti- 
 mate at a truer value than we do now, the results of 
 Mr. C. Kean's eight years, of what may be exclusively 
 called Shakespearean management, at the Princess's 
 theatre. Time, the universal purifier, can alone decide 
 the question, as to how far national taste, refinement, 
 education, and manners, may have derived a permanent 
 and a beneficial impulse from a source hitherto under- 
 valued, or entirely passed over in the philosophical 
 speculations and practical theories of teachers, preachers, 
 and orators of every class; always on the alert to 
 enlighten and advance the world, but not invariably 
 happy in the means recommended to promote the 
 desired end. 
 
 We do not believe it possible that any thinking per- 
 son should see such a dramatic exhibition as " Macbeth," 
 at the Princess's theatre, without an impression that 
 there must be something in this beyond " a show," and 
 that the delightful recreation thus imparted, is not a 
 fiction of the hour, to make the labourer forget his
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 325 
 
 toil, the student relax his overwrought abstraction, or 
 the constitutionally indolent rouse up his torpid facul- 
 ties ; but that it combines a profound moral, and has in 
 it an instructive power, which elevates thought and 
 feeling, and tends to make man happier as well as better. 
 Some will smile, deriding this as mere enthusiasm, and 
 it may be that it is so ; but without enthusiasm the 
 world would be but a weary road to travel on, and 
 many would faint under their appointed trial. 
 
 Shakespeare has taken his materials for " Macbeth " 
 from Holinshed. The subject is well adapted to a dra- 
 matic poet's purpose. It has all that his form of com- 
 position requires situations and characters powerfully 
 contrasted, events rising in interest, each growing out 
 of the other and leading up to the catastrophe. The 
 intermingling of supernatural agency was never so 
 appropriate. The weak point in Macbeth' ' character is 
 superstition, and on that weakness he gradually falls 
 into the fathomless abyss of crime. Read the chronicle, 
 and what can be more bald and meagre than the manner 
 in which the events are related. They contain the argu- 
 ment and outline of a dramatic poem, but no colouring. 
 See the play, and who does not feel the sublimity of 
 thought, the harrowing intensity, the redundant images, 
 the practical reflections, the majestic poetry, once heard 
 never to be forgotten, which the genius of Shakespeare 
 lias called into life, and consigned to his lawful heirs, 
 the actors, to perpetuate by their executive skill. To 
 find anything to compare with " Macbeth," we must go 
 back to ./Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. There 
 we may find glimmerings of kindred inspiration, but we 
 shall seek in vain for them nearer our own times. Let 
 us descend from Greece to Rome, in her best days of 
 poetic pretension. Is there any spark of Shakespeare's 
 muse in the dull, laboured tragedies of Seneca, or who-
 
 326 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 ever may have written them in his name ? None, that 
 we could ever discover. What is there of similar genius 
 in the crude metaphysics of Schiller? Not a scintilla- 
 tion. What in the Frenchified classical ity of Corneille ? 
 In spite of our respect for M. Guizot's critical acumen, 
 we look upon the attempt to set up a parallel between 
 the father of the French stage and the father of ours 
 as literary profanation almost demanding criminal 
 proceedings. It is futile to endeavour to silence 
 us, as Voltaire tried to do a century ago, by charges of 
 violations of the unities, breaches of decorum, sins of 
 anachronism, the coarseness of here and there a conven- 
 tional phrase, or the carelessness of rapid composition. 
 In answer to all these pop-gun batteries, we oppose the 
 unapproachable beauties of the poetry, the profound 
 philosophy and moral, the majestic scope of the inven- 
 tion, which imagined new worlds when old ones were 
 exhausted, and distanced time himself in the race for 
 immortality. In fine, we say, show us a poem or a play 
 equal to " Macbeth," taken in all its components and 
 bearings, in the collected literature of the world. 
 
 When Mr. C. Kean enters as Macbeth, he gives the 
 key-note of the character before he has spoken a dozen 
 lines. He prepares us for the description which his 
 wife subsequently gives of him : 
 
 " Thou wouldst be great ; 
 Art not without ambition ; but without 
 The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, 
 That wouldst thou holily ; wouldst not play false, 
 And yet wouldst wrongly win." 
 
 After his interview with the witches he never loses 
 the bewildered look of a man whose mind has been 
 shaken by a supernatural encounter, and a congenial 
 prophecy. He still has energy and manliness of soul,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 327 
 
 but he has lost confidence in himself, and is no longer 
 sure of anything. The agitation of his mind resem- 
 bles the rolling of the sea in a storm. He fights and 
 struggles yet, but he is under a fatal influence, the 
 prediction of the witches, and the stinging excitements 
 of his wife. His nature is good, but he yields to the 
 double attack. He is brave but superstitious ; differing 
 entirely from Richard the Third, who is naturally 
 callous and void of conscience. Macbeth subsides into 
 crime ; and though we abhor his deeds, we think and 
 feel he had that within him which ought to have 
 shaped a better course. His despairing energy in the 
 fifth act clothes his fall with something approaching to 
 dignity. Such is Shakespeare's " Macbeth," as reflected 
 by Mr. C. Kean. Some of his predecessors have been 
 wonderfully great in insulated scenes ; but, as an entire 
 performance, sound judges place his above them all. 
 We have seen many Macbeths, and the peculiarities of 
 each come back upon us with the freshness of an event 
 of yesterday. Of those who flourished in the ages of 
 our fathers and grandfathers, the records are so ample 
 and minute, that we are as familiar with them as if 
 they also had fallen within our personal observation. 
 Mr. C. Kean, it is true, has the advantage of scenic 
 accompaniments, pictorial accuracy, and historical cos- 
 tume, which impart a reality to the action, very imper- 
 fectly sought for in earlier days. But let the merit of 
 this rest with himself, for the idea and application are 
 as much his own as the effect is unprecedented. 
 
 Lady Macbeth is associated with her partner through- 
 out the play. The image and presence of the wife 
 cannot be separated from her help-mate. The chronicle 
 gives but a few lines indicative of her disposition. She 
 is called the stimulatress of her husband to his first 
 deed of blood, " a woman very ambitious, burning
 
 328 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 with an unquenchable desire to hear the name of 
 ' queen.' " This slight groundwork is wrought up by 
 Shakespeare into a character of such dramatic power, 
 so repulsive, but irresistibly imposing, that it throws 
 into the shade the finest relics of the Greek tragedians, 
 those vaunted masters and models of the grand and 
 terrific. Compared to Lady Macbeth, Clytemncestra or 
 Medea are angels of peace and gentleness. Yet there is 
 no part on the stage that can win more applause by the 
 commanding strength of her mind and the vigour of her 
 language. But for her remorse in the end, darkly 
 hinted through the incoherent murmurings of her sleep, 
 we should be tempted to reject her as an alien to the 
 human family. It is Shakespeare and not history that 
 has irradiated this dark heroine with the single flash of 
 humanity, by which the unmingled savageness of her 
 heart is brightened. She would have slain the uncon- 
 scious Duncan herself, when she stole into his chamber, 
 and laid the daggers ready for her husband's use. 
 With the swiftness of lightning the infernal suggestion 
 flashed across her mind, but nature spoke for once ; " he 
 resembled her father as he slept," and her murderous 
 hand became paralysed. 
 
 In some of the Memoirs of Mrs. Siddons, or in her 
 published correspondence, we have read that her notion 
 of Lady Macbeth' s personal appearance depicted her as 
 a woman of small stature, with light hair, complexion, 
 and eyes. This is startling. Such physical attributes 
 were very different to those of the Queen of Tragedy 
 herself, and quite opposed to what we should associate 
 with the being designated by Dr. Johnson, in unvar- 
 nished terms, as " an ogress." 
 
 Mrs. C. Kean has proved herself the legitimate suc- 
 cessor of Mrs. Siddons, in Lady Macbeth, as in Con- 
 stance. Both performances are so true to the author's
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 329 
 
 meaning, while so distinct from each other, that it is 
 impossible to say which is best. The scenes of 
 " Macbeth " would fall flat, nay, they would almost be 
 unintelligible, without the support of a lady quite up to 
 the mark of the talent required for her husband. When 
 Madame Ristori was here, her Lady Macbeth, not much 
 run after by the public, found inordinate favour with 
 more than one professed critic. We bow to the gallantry 
 which eulogised a handsome woman, a foreigner, and 
 an accomplished artist ; but to compare her Lady 
 Macbeth to that of our own representative was as 
 unnecessary as it was absurd. The superiority of the 
 latter is glaringly manifested throughout, and pre- 
 eminently in the banquet and sleeping scenes. The 
 sufferings of that midnight walk, as represented by 
 Mrs. C. Kean, almost atones for the blood with which 
 she has deluged the play. Madame Ristori, it must be 
 admitted, had the disadvantage of a Macbeth, as comic 
 as Robson in the burlesque, but without an atom of his 
 peculiar and extraordinary power. 
 
 On Saturday the 19th of November, the performances 
 at the Princess's were varied by the production of " Much 
 Ado about Nothing; " perhaps the most complete comedy 
 ever dashed off by the rich fecundity of Shakespeare's 
 genius. It is a coruscation of brilliancy, teeming with 
 genuine wit, effective situations, and contrasted characters, 
 forming a most delightful relief to the two stately tra- 
 gedies with which it was flanked on either side. The 
 play comprises a double plot, most ingeniously contrived 
 and disentangled. Yet some captious objectors find 
 fault with the conspiracy against Hero, as clumsy and 
 improbable. If such hypercriticism is to stand good, it 
 will break down all that successive ages have considered 
 excellent in dramatic composition ; and if the imaginative 
 attributes of the drama are to be judged by, and reduced
 
 330 THE LIFE AND THEATKICAL TIMES 
 
 to matter of fact rules, we may banish at once, fancy, 
 invention, and poetic licence. Besides which, daily ex- 
 perience impresses the conviction that the incidents of 
 real life are often more inconsistent and improbable than 
 the wildest fictions of romance. 
 
 But whatever may be the merits or defects of the 
 episodial plot of " Much Ado about Nothing," the atten- 
 tion and interest of the spectators are almost exclusively 
 engrossed by Benedick and Beatrice. They form the 
 charm and cynosure of the play. We think of little else, 
 from their first tilting match in the opening scene, until 
 they are finally tricked into " a mountain of mutual 
 affection." These lively combatants are the most ex- 
 quisite of companions, delicious sweeteners of life's varie- 
 gated feast, however a doubt may arise as to their being 
 the most promising and happily matched of married 
 couples. They are the pure and beautiful emanations of 
 Shakespeare's creative mind. He first conceived and 
 gave a miniature of them as the Biron and Rosaline of 
 " Love's Labour's Lost." In the present comedy they 
 are expanded into full portraits, and launched on a new 
 sphere of action adopted by the great master for his 
 immediate purpose. It is seldom that Shakespeare takes 
 the trouble to invent his incidents. He usually draws 
 from history or earlier fiction, amplifying and adorning 
 at pleasure the restricted and not unfrequently common- 
 place materials supplied from current sources. The plot 
 on the two self-styled marriage haters is most happily 
 conceived ; and as they are as similar in disposition as 
 the difference of sex allows, repeating the same mode of 
 deception on each is natural and consistent. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean were seen to great advantage 
 as Benedick and Beatrice. The parts are well selected 
 to afford such opportunities of playing up to each other, 
 which associated feelings alone understand, and nothing
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 331 
 
 but constant practice can exercise with the high finish of 
 art Benedick has ever been a favourite with audience 
 and actors. Garrick, as we are told in his memoirs, 
 absolutely revelled in his delineation of this gallant 
 humorist. Henderson, who followed him, was thought 
 by good judges to tread closely on the heels of his pre- 
 decessor, although when he rehearsed this very part 
 before the great manager, the latter discouraged him by 
 saying, " Young man, you must get the worsted out of 
 your throat before you can expect to be an actor." Lewis 
 had all the breadth and vivacity required, but he wanted 
 aplomb, and marred the general effect by being some- 
 what flippant and fidgetty. Elliston, in his best days, 
 was considered an excellent representative, and Charles 
 Kemble's impersonation commanded universal praise. 
 Mr. C. Kean's may fairly be included in the same category. 
 When witnessing his soldierlike and graceful bearing, 
 with the easy, unlaboured humour by which, with a 
 single glance of the eye, a turn of expression in the 
 features, or a change of intonation in the voice, he excites 
 the audience to a spontaneous burst of laughter or ap- 
 plause, we can scarcely identify the same individual 
 whom, a night or two before, we have listened to and 
 looked upon as the sanguinary Macbeth, the gloomy 
 John, the crafty tyrant Louis, or the frenzied octogenarian 
 Lear. The versatile powers of the actor, as thus dis- 
 played, are truly marvellous. In personal, as in mental 
 attributes, nothing can be more contrasted than these 
 solemn, soul-appalling protagonists, and the accomplished 
 soldier, scholar, and man of fashion, the joyous Benedick, 
 the type of all that we conceive of elegant and fascinat- 
 ing in what Lord Byron aptly termed " gentleman's 
 comedy." Mr. Kean's first step on the stage bespoke 
 his full conception of the character. His early scenes 
 gradually worked up the spectators and himself as his
 
 332 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 humour progressed. There was no occasional flag or 
 pause, no sinking to rise again after a dull interval. It 
 was all buoyancy and flashes of light, each following 
 closely on the other with increasing brightness. We 
 may select for especial praise, and as indexes to the 
 subsequent scenes, the two celebrated soliloquies in the 
 second act, in the garden, where the supposed love of 
 Beatrice is conveyed to his astonished mind by his acci- 
 dental and unseen presence at the planned conversation 
 of his friends. We must add to these his fervid exit 
 with a determination to requite such unlocked for affec- 
 tion as it deserved. No acting, in the genuine vein of 
 the comic muse, could exceed this, which produced 
 unanimous applause. In the challenge to Claudw, 
 Benedick loses for the moment all his constitutional 
 light -heartedness. He is transferred into a deeply 
 serious man, in one of the most painful of situations, 
 peremptorily but reluctantly imposed on him by duty 
 and love. Mr. C. Kean, in this finely discriminated 
 passage of the part, is perfectly at home. He plays the 
 scene with marked feeling and delicacy. Charles Young, 
 in general a noble actor, quite mistook it. He preserved 
 even here a comic expression which destroyed the effect, 
 and would have thrown Shakespeare into a cold perspi- 
 ration, could he have witnessed the strange perversion of 
 his meaning in conscious presence. 
 
 Beatrice, in dramatic value, stands on a par with 
 Benedick. She yields him no jot of precedence or supe- 
 riority. Happy in the possession of an amiable, warm- 
 hearted temperament, and unaffected spirits, she returns 
 him arrow for arrow in the combat of words. Her gaiety 
 is artless, natural and unforced. The essence of her 
 mind is wit, which, like Benedick, she directs against 
 love and matrimony. But extremes often meet, and 
 thus these jarring elements are brought to blend into
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 333 
 
 harmonious and mutual subjection. Mrs. C. Kean 
 thoroughly comprehends every nice shade and feature 
 of this masterly "portrait. She presents it in all the 
 glowing life that the author imagined, but without ex- 
 aggeration or over-colouring. With all her elevated 
 position in society, and its associations of manner and 
 habit, her warm sympathies and cultivated tastes, some 
 Shakespearean investigators, seeing through a small 
 microscope, have discovered in Beatrice a tendency to self- 
 will, a strength of purpose, which augur inauspicously for 
 her connubial life in prospectu, and may darken it with an 
 occasional cloud. They affect to tremble for Benedick, 
 " the married man," and turn their thoughts with some 
 apprehension to the " predestinate scratched face" he so 
 earnestly deprecates. We confess that we never could 
 take this view, and Mrs. C. Kean has confirmed our 
 opposite conviction to our infinite delight. Shrewish 
 wives are not gifted with the good breeding and good 
 temper of her Beatrice. We feel truly grateful to 
 this accomplished mistress of her art for vindicating, 
 by her accurate and refined perception, the true intent 
 of Shakespeare ; and for allowing no infusion of selfish- 
 ness, no wayward humour to blemish or weaken the 
 moral grace and beauty of one of his most captivating 
 heroines. 
 
 Little was said in the bill, and less in the printed 
 version of the play, of the new effects so lavishly intro- 
 duced in the stage-arrangements and scenery, which 
 lost nothing in comparison with the recent splendour of 
 the " Merchant of Venice." The opening view, the har- 
 bour of Messina, was quite a pictorial gem. The gra- 
 dual illumination of the lighthouse and various mansions, 
 in almost every window, the moon slowly rising and 
 throwing her silver light upon the deep blue waters of 
 the Mediterranean, were managed with imposing reality.
 
 334 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Then followed the masquerade, with its variegated 
 lamps, bridge, gardens, and lake, seen through the 
 arches of the palace. The general acting left nothing to 
 be desired. Mr. F. Matthews added much to his repu- 
 tation by his impersonation of Dogberry. He was quaint, 
 original, and overflowing with stolid, good-humoured 
 importance, reminding the audience of W. Farren in 
 his best days. Mr. Meadows has long been identified 
 with Verges ; an unparalleled sketch of servile imbecility 
 acquiring in his hands substantial prominence. 
 
 In our more important notice of the Shakespearean 
 revival, we must not omit the mention of a new farce 
 produced on Monday the 21st of November, called 
 " Thirty-Three next Birthday," adapted from or founded 
 on a French original, but arranged in its English dress 
 by Mr. J. M. Morton. The substance of this amusing 
 prelude may be compressed into a few words. Miss 
 Havoc, a single lady, on the verge of thirty-three, is 
 determined to get married, and thinking she can more 
 readily obtain admirers as the young wife of an old 
 gentleman, than as a somewhat mature spinster, per- 
 suades an easy-tempered, obliging uncle, Major Havoc, 
 to assume the character of sposo, and accompany her in 
 that guise to a Welch watering-place. There she 
 speedily wins the hearts of two speculating swains, 
 Mr. Benson and Mr. Cackleberry, one young, and the 
 other middle-aged. After much equivoque and sundry 
 explosions of passion, the lady accepts the elder lover, 
 Mr. Cackleberry, the solicitor, and so the piece concludes. 
 The leading parts were extremely well acted by Miss 
 Murray, Mr. Cooper, and Mr. F. Matthews. The latter, 
 in particular, contributed much to the success. 
 
 The usual pantomime was produced at Christmas, but 
 this year from the pen of Mr. Forester (Alfred Crow- 
 quill). It proved to be one of the best and most attrac-
 
 OP CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 335 
 
 five that had been produced for years. The subject 
 was entirely invented by the author, the title being 
 " The King of the Castle ; or, Harlequin Prince Diamond 
 and the Princess Brighteyes." In the introduction, the 
 elegance and interest of a fairy tale were combined with 
 a fair proportion of broad burlesque, but without trench- 
 ing on the more legitimate buffooneries of the Clown and 
 Pantaloon. The surviving elders of the old school, the 
 contemporaries of Grimaldi, father and son, consider the 
 genius of pantomime as dead, buried, and forgotten ; 
 not considering that taste in this, as in other more im- 
 portant matters, has undergone a complete revolution 
 since their school-boy days, when they revelled in the 
 glories of " Mother Goose and the Golden Egg," and 
 that what pleased fifty years ago might be looked upon 
 as coarse, if not unintelligible, by the living generation. 
 It certainly requires more classical knowledge and a 
 higher endowment of intellectual faculty to write a first- 
 rate tragedy or comedy than to compound a good opening 
 to a pantomime ; nevertheless, the latter is a task of 
 great ingenuity , seeing how thoroughly the materials have 
 been ransacked and exhausted. A new idea descends 
 like a ray of light, and an original trick or transforma- 
 tion is as rare as a coin of Otho or Pescennius Niger. 
 
 The comic scenes of " The King of the Castle " in- 
 vented and arranged by Mr. Ellis, stage-manager, and 
 Mr. Cormack, ballet-master, contained some good hits 
 at the passing follies of the day, in which crinoline came 
 in for a conspicuous share. Here again the living 
 pantomimist labours under difficulties unknown to his 
 grandfather. There are few salient eccentricities in 
 modern manners to afford subject for illustration or 
 caricature. The world may be wiser than it was, but it 
 has grown more selfish and calculating, and people have
 
 336 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 no longer time to indulge in absurdities, which lead to 
 no increase of worldly store. Formerly, no one could 
 sit in a coffee-room for half an hour, or walk up 
 St. James's-Street without meeting character in some 
 decided shape, either developed by dress, bearing, or con- 
 versation. Now, we are all alike ; ever in a hurry, on 
 the one high road of utilitarianism, thinking, travelling 
 and sleeping at railway speed. All this may tend to make 
 people rich, and sharpen their wordly intellects, but it 
 furnishes no materials for a comic pantomime. Let us, 
 therefore, not criticise too closely, but be thankful to 
 those who still find means to supply us with a fe-v hearty 
 laughs from the old familiar source. 
 
 During the run of the pantomime, the old comedy of 
 the "Jealous Wife" was revived. This, with "Louis 
 the Eleventh," and the " Corsican Brothers," alternated 
 the performances, with the Shakespearean plays of " The 
 Merchant of Venice," " A Midsummer Night's Dream," 
 " Macbeth," " Much Ado about Nothing," and " Ham- 
 let;" forming a rich variety, which produced unceasing 
 attraction. "Hamlet" was performed eleven times 
 to crowded houses. " Age cannot wither " this noble 
 play, " nor custom stale its infinite variety." Let the 
 principal character be well acted, and the attraction never 
 fails. To master the representation of the Danish prince 
 requires the study of a life. John Kemble, speaking 
 from long experience, said so, when on the eve of retire- 
 ment. 
 
 The Germans assume, and many English admirers 
 of German criticism and literature have admited the 
 claim, that they possess a more correct and thorough 
 appreciation of Shakespeare than we ourselves acknow- 
 ledge or feel. In support of this assertion they appeal 
 to the elaborate disquisitions on Hamlet in " Wilhelm
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.8.A. 337 
 
 Meister's Apprenticeship," as containing the truest ana- 
 lysis of the play, and the principal character, which has 
 yet been given to the world. We rebel utterly against 
 this dictum. Shakespeare was neither a metaphysician 
 nor a transcendentalist.* He was simply an inspired 
 pupil of nature, who wrote as he thought and felt, with 
 unstrained, obvious meanings, and drew his pictures 
 from men as they are, and not from such ideal exagge- 
 rations as dogmatic, and frequently miscalled philosophy 
 creates in a morbid mood, and tries to render intelligible 
 by ingenious sophistries. An English auditor in the 
 theatre, and a student in the closet, look upon "Hamlet" 
 less as a poetical illusion than as an actual acquaintance 
 and associate a familiar being in actual existence. 
 They understand him without perplexing commentary, 
 and when they see him moving before them in living 
 identity, under the person and attributes of a great actor 
 and a faithful reflector of the poet's genius, such as 
 Mr. Charles Kean, they hail the illustration with delight, 
 and a perfect comprehension of what is intended to be 
 conveyed to their understandings, more intense and 
 distinct than any impression they could derive from 
 poring over the labored essays of Goethe and Ulrici. 
 
 On Friday, January 28th, 1859, another veteran actor, 
 Charles Farley, the father of the stage, departed this life. 
 Having attained the ripe age of eighty-seven, he outlived 
 all his theatrical contemporaries. Entering the theatrical 
 world in his tenth year, he saw the rise and progress 
 of all the Kembles, Cooke, Young, Edmund Kean, 
 
 * No nor a materialist, nor a freethinker, nor a denier of revelation 
 and a disbeliever in providence and futurity ; although Mr. W. J. Birch, 
 A.M. of New Inn Hall, Oxon, has laboured hard to prove him all these, 
 in a work published in 1847, entitled " An Inquiry into the Philosophy 
 and Religion of Shakespere." This is not the place to show the fallacy 
 of his arguments, which lie broadly open to refutation. 
 
 VOL. II. Z
 
 338 THE LTFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Macready, and Charles Kean. His peculiar talent lay in 
 the superintendance of pantomimes and melo-dramas. 
 He was also the author of several pieces of the latter 
 class. Both in his public and private capacity, he was 
 much esteemed, and his long dramatic experience sup- 
 plied his conversation with an endless fund of anec- 
 dotes.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 339 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PRESENTATION OF A TESTIMONIAL TO MR. KEAN FROM THE COMMITTEE OF 
 THE DRAMATIC COLLEGE MR. AND MRS. C. KEAN'S ANNUAL BENEFIT IN 
 1859 LAST SHAKESPEAREAN REVIVAL KING HENRY THE FIFTH 
 
 ORIGINAL EFFECTS STORMING OF HARFLEUR BATTLE OF AGINCOURT 
 
 INTRODUCED EPISODE OF ACTION TAKEN FROM HISTORICAL AUTHORI- 
 TIES MRS. C. KEAN AS THE CHORUS ; MR. C. KEAN AS KING HENRY 
 UNPRECEDENTED ATTRACTION OF THE PLAY DELINEATION OF 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER FLUELLEN IDENTIFIED WITH DAVID GAM 
 CORRESPONDENCE NEW COMEDIETTA, IF THE CAP FITS. HENRY THE 
 EIGHTH BANQUET AND TESTIMONIAL PROPOSED BY THE ETONIANS 
 NOTICES IN THE PAPERS CONGRATULATORY LETTERS. 
 
 ON Monday, February the 21st, a deputation, con- 
 sisting of Sir William De Bathe, Bart. ; Sir George 
 Armytage, Bart. ; Mr. Benjamin Webster, the chairman 
 of the provisional committee of the Dramatic College ; 
 and Messrs. Creswick, Jerwood, and Cullenford, waited 
 upon Mr. Charles Kean, at his private residence, in 
 Upper Hyde Park Street, for the purpose of presenting 
 him with the following testimonial : " In acknowledg- 
 ment of the great obligation of the Royal Dramatic 
 College, to Charles Kean, Esq., F.S.A., for services 
 rendered by him as chairman of the public meeting held 
 in the Royal Princess's Theatre, on the 21st of July, 
 1858; for his liberality in undertaking to provide one of 
 the dwellings for the reception of aged and infirm actors 
 and actresses ; for his admirable zeal in otherwise pro- 
 moting the interests of the College; and to record the 
 personal regard and sincere wishes of the Provisional 
 Committee for his future welfare." This testimonial 
 was elegantly inscribed upon vellum by Mr. Moring, of 
 
 z 2
 
 340 THE .LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 Holborn. Mr. Webster, in presenting it, spoke in high 
 praise of the great zeal with which Mr. Kean had 
 exerted himself on behalf of the college, and which the 
 latter gentleman responded to in suitable terms. 
 
 On Monday, the 28th of March, Mr. and Mrs. C. 
 Kean announced their annual benefit and last Shake- 
 spearean revival, the play selected being " Henry the 
 Fifth." The usual fly-leaf affixed to the bills concluded 
 with the following passage : 
 
 " As the term of my management is now drawing to 
 a close, I may, perhaps, be permitted, in a few words, to 
 express my thanks for the support and encouragement 
 I have received. While endeavouring, to the best of my 
 ability and judgment, to uphold the interests of the 
 drama in its most exalted form, I may conscientiously 
 assert, that I have been animated by no selfish or com- 
 mercial spirit. An enthusiast in the art to which my 
 life has been devoted, I have always entertained a 
 deeply rooted conviction, that the plan I have pursued 
 for many seasons, might, in due time, under fostering 
 care, render the stage productive of much benefit to 
 society at large. Impressed with a belief that the 
 genius of Shakespeare soars above all rivalry ; that he is 
 the most marvellous writer the world has ever known ; 
 and that his works contain stores of wisdom, intellectual 
 and moral, I cannot but hope that one who has toiled 
 for so many years, in admiring sincerity, to spread 
 abroad amongst the multitude these invaluable gems, 
 may, at least, be considered as an honest labourer, 
 adding his mite to the great cause of civilization and 
 educational progress. 
 
 " After nine years of unremitting exertions as actor 
 and director, the constant strain of mind and body 
 warns me to retreat from a combined duty which I find
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 341 
 
 beyond my strength, and in the exercise of which 
 neither zeal nor devotion, nor consequent success, can 
 continue to beguile me into a belief that the end 
 will compensate for the many attendant troubles and 
 anxieties. It would have been impossible, on my part, 
 to gratify my wishes in the illustration of Shakespeare, 
 had not my previous career as an actor placed me in a 
 position of comparative independence with regard to 
 speculative disappointment. Wonderful as have been 
 the yearly receipts, yet the vast sums expended sums, 
 I have eveiy reason to believe, not to be paralleled in 
 any theatre of the same capability throughout the 
 world make it advisable that I should now retire from 
 the self-imposed responsibility of management, involving 
 such a perilous outlay ; and the more especially, as a 
 building so restricted in size as the Princess's, renders 
 any adequate returns utterly hopeless. 
 
 " My earnest aim has been to promote the well-being 
 of my profession ; and if, in any degree, I have attained 
 so desirable an object, I trust I may not be deemed 
 presumptuous in cherishing the belief, that my arduous 
 struggle has won for me the honourable reward of 
 public approval." 
 
 No play could have been more appropriately timed 
 for the particular occasion on which it was brought 
 forward, than " Henry the Fifth," the only historical 
 drama in the English series, excepting the second part 
 of " Henry the Fourth," as yet unrepresented at the 
 Princess's. The great grandson of Edward the Third 
 was the most popular monarch that ever swayed the 
 sceptre of England in by-gone days. His short reign 
 may be looked back on with unmingled satisfaction, as 
 an epoch of glory, accompanied only by the one regret 
 that he should have been so prematurely cut off. How
 
 342 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 differently would English history have been written, 
 had Henry, with his chief princes and nobles been slain, 
 or made captive, as the chances were twenty to one 
 against them that they would, on the memorable field 
 of Agincourt. And again, had he not been suddenly 
 removed in the full bloom of his fame and manhood, 
 leaving the throne to an infant heir, in all human pro- 
 bability, the devastating quarrels of York and Lancas- 
 ter would never have filled our annals with their san- 
 guinary details. The records of that warlike age, the 
 campaigns in France, make the hearts of Englishmen 
 swell ; and are well recalled at a time when a restless 
 neighbour, armed to the teeth, is evidently in search of 
 an antagonist, anywhere, on any pretext ; and when con- 
 stant alarms warn us to be on our guard, and prepared 
 in case of unprovoked attack. The remembrance of 
 past heroism is a wholesome spur to national pride, a 
 sound guarantee for the future. 
 
 " Henry the Fifth " contains no female part of im- 
 portance. The play is full of bustle and animation, of 
 variety and excitement ; but, the interest turns on war 
 and politics, almost to the entire exclusion of domestic 
 feelings and relations. Here was an objection at once, 
 but for the happy thought of individualising the Chorus 
 as the Muse of History, and of thus securing the exalted 
 talent of Mrs. C. Kean, for the delivery of some of the 
 most impressive poetry of description that Shakespeare 
 ever penned. In other plays, the " Winter's Tale," 
 and " Pericles," for instances, Shakespeare has specifi- 
 cally named Time, and the old poet Gower, as the 
 representatives of this explanatory introduction to each 
 act. In Garrick's day, for some unknown reason, he 
 declined the part of " King Harry," but considered the 
 Chorus worthy of his elocutionary powers. He spoke 
 the speeches as Mr. Garrick, arrayed in the costume of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 343 
 
 the day, a full dress court suit, with powdered bag wig, 
 ruffles and sword. When " Henry the Fifth " was last 
 revived at Covent Garden, in 1839, we had the symbo- 
 lical " Chorus/' under the guise of an aged man, with 
 the traditionary appurtenances. By the present substi- 
 tution, as gracefully described in the preface, " an oppor- 
 tunity is afforded to Mrs. C. Kean, which the subject does 
 not otherwise supply, of appearing in this, the con- 
 cluding revival of her husband's management." In the 
 early editions of the play, this Chorus is simply called 
 a prologue ; and a prologue in effect it is, describing 
 and connecting the quick succession of events, the rapid 
 changes of locality ; and elucidating passages which 
 might otherwise appear confused or incongruous. But, 
 chorus, or prologue, or interpreter, or by whatever name 
 the mystical creation is to be designated, never until 
 now has its importance been so thoroughly felt and 
 understood. In the person of Mrs. C. Kean it forms 
 the presiding charm, the key-note, if we may use the 
 term, of the entire play. Her appearance, action, and 
 utterance, present a combined picture of classic grace, 
 and poetical inspiration. She might have stood to 
 any sculptor, ancient or modern, for a statue of the Clio 
 she so magnificently impersonates. 
 
 It was expected, and with good reason, that Mr. 
 Kean would light on a play (as yet unrepresented) 
 for his last great effort, that might enable him not 
 only to concentrate all the resources of his judgment 
 and experience, but affording at the same time a 
 field for new effects and untried experiments. He had 
 given festivals, masquerades, processions, and dances, 
 ancient and modern ; mythological tableaux and super- 
 natural appearances, unimagined and unattempted by 
 the most gifted of his predecessors. He had also 
 dealt largely with the "pomp and circumstance of
 
 344 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 war," in "Macbeth," "King John," and "Eichard 
 the Third." " Henry the Fifth," in addition to a great 
 conflict crowned by a splendid victory, includes a siege, 
 and the storming of a beleaguered fortress. Mr. Kean 
 seized the novelty with the strong grasp of an original 
 mind, and transferred to his small stage a representation 
 of the most terrible of military feats in a manner that 
 no description can even faintly convey an idea of, and 
 which required to be seen again and again before all its 
 wonders could be understood or appreciated. The assault 
 on Harfleur, which opens the third act ; the desperate re- 
 sistance of the French garrison ; the close conflict on 
 the ramparts ; the practice of the rude artillery of the 
 day, with the advance of other besieging engines ; and 
 the final entry of the victorious assailants through the 
 breach, formed altogether the most marvellous realiza- 
 tion of war, in its deadliest phase, that imitative art has 
 ever attempted. The marvel is increased by the small- 
 ness of the space within which such numbers of men 
 and so much complicated machinery are marshalled, 
 together with the organization of the entire scene. 
 Every supernumerary acted with the intelligence of a 
 trained artist, and every movement appeared as natural 
 as if dictated to each separate individual by the impulse 
 of the moment. Making due allowance for the scale of 
 action, the difference of weapons, equipments, and the 
 absence of defensive armour, the storming of the breach 
 at Harfleur, as transferred to the boards of the Princess's 
 Theatre, vividly embodied the carrying of the Malakoff, 
 as we have heard it described, and figure it in our 
 imagination, from pictures and recitals. 
 
 From Harfleur, the action of the play carries us 
 rapidly on to Agincourt, the Waterloo of the middle 
 ages ; a field which decided for a time the long rivalry 
 between France and England, and entirely to the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 345 
 
 advantage of the latter. Shakespeare in his glowing 
 scenes has followed the incidents of this great cam- 
 paign as he found them described in the Chronicles 
 of Holinshed, adorning them with the magic of 
 his own genius. Mr. C. Kean has invested Shake- 
 speare with the living identity he intended to represent, 
 and may have dreamed of as his thoughts looked on- 
 wards to futurity, but which in the infancy of stage 
 resources, and with an uneducated public, he never 
 could have hoped to witness in his own days. 
 
 The third and fourth acts comprise the most inter- 
 esting portion of the play. Again our wonder is called 
 forth by the skill with which the English army is 
 manoeuvred and brought into battle, and by the extent 
 of the masses employed. The march from their own 
 ground of encampment to the attack on the French host 
 the firm tread and demeanour of men resolved to con- 
 quer or die ; roused from momentary despondency, and 
 almost maddened by the inspiring address of their king 
 and leader, so gallantly delivered by Mr. Kean ; the 
 general excitement and stirring reality, so unlike stage 
 deception, and so closely embodying truth ; all these 
 animated delusions bewilder the faculties of sight and 
 hearing, and enforce on the spectators a conviction that 
 they are looking on the very men who fought and won 
 that glorious field. We are carried back to the actual 
 time and place, until we feel as if really participating 
 in, and present at the events thus surprisingly repro- 
 duced in the theatric microcosm, so faithfully reflecting 
 the world of four hundred and forty years anterior to 
 that of the day in which we live and move. 
 
 When King Henry returned to his own capital 
 crowned with the laurels of Agincourt, the citizens of 
 London prepared for him a reception which, in splen- 
 dour and imposing pomp, cast into shadow the Pagan
 
 346 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 triumphs of the Roman Caesars, while it far exceeded 
 them in heart-felt gratulation. Ever beloved by his 
 people, Henry was now their idol. Shakespeare speaks 
 of this pageant through the mouth of the Chorus, but, of 
 necessity passes over the scene. Mr. Kean has intro- 
 duced it in an episode of action, carefully following the 
 account of an eye-witness, whose MS. has been pre- 
 served, and is referred to in the preface to the printed 
 edition of the play as now acted. The locality is sup- 
 posed to be old London Bridge, from the Surrey side 
 of the river. The success of a somewhat similar episode 
 in " Richard the Second," undoubtedly suggested the 
 idea, but the mode in which the later introduction is 
 carried out, is totally different, and far more elaborate, 
 as well as superior in the interest of the situation and 
 the character of the incidents. In " Richard the Second," 
 we had the entry of a successful usurper, clouded by 
 the presence of his deposed and lawful monarch. In 
 " Henry the Fifth " we have the triumph of a popular 
 sovereign, unmingled with painful associations. The 
 arrangement of this scene may be quoted as another 
 wonderful instance of the fertility of Mr. Kean's mind, 
 and of the unremitting research he bestows on the im- 
 mediate subject of his illustration. The action ends 
 here, with the exception of the betrothal of King 
 Henry to the Princess Katharine, in the cathedral of 
 Troyes, which winds up the whole in graceful repose. 
 The play occupied nearly four hours. No prelude or 
 afterpiece was acted with it at first, but the attention 
 of the audience never wearied for a moment ; they 
 were manifestly so absorbed in the one subject, that the 
 introduction of any other would have been an inter- 
 ruption and not a relief. 
 
 There are no fewer than thirty-seven speaking cha- 
 racters in " Henry the Fifth," but they are all of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 347 
 
 minor importance, the acting strength being almost 
 exclusively concentrated in the King, who is seldom 
 absent from the [scene. It is not easy to decide as to 
 what section of the drama this amiable and popular 
 hero belongs. He has a vein of comic humour which 
 reminds us of the constitutional pleasantry of Prince 
 Hal, restrained and chastened by the dignity and 
 responsibility of his royal duties. The part does not 
 embrace the madness of Lear, the conscience-stricken 
 agony of Macbeth, the frenzied jealousy of Othello, or 
 the profoundly meditative philosophy of Hamlet; but 
 it requires, nevertheless, an actor of great and varied 
 power to supply an adequate representative. All the 
 great tragedians of the day, from John Kemble to 
 Charles Kean, have included it in their cast, although 
 with very unequal success. It requires the versatility 
 denied to some, but in which our present representative 
 so eminently excels. The pith and martial bearing of 
 the character lie principally in the third and fourth 
 acts. The reflections on sovereign power, and its hard 
 conditions, suggested to Henry by his midnight walk 
 through the camp on the eve of Agincourt, were delivered 
 by Mr. Kean with deeply impressive feeling. This 
 soliloquy, and his supplication to the " God of battles/' 
 are contrasted in a masterly manner with the fiery, 
 unstudied energy of his harangue before he leads his 
 army to the charge. The thorough comprehension of 
 the different points in Shakespeare's delineation of his 
 own especial hero, were also marked with great care by 
 Mr. Kean in the frankness of his manner when con- 
 versing with Fluellen ; in his dialogue with the soldiers, 
 Williams and Bates ; and in the military freedom and 
 gallantry of his courtship in the last scene. Such a 
 dramatic treat as Mr. Kean's revived " Henry the 
 Fifth," has never before been offered to the public, and
 
 348 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 will stand alone in all future histories of the English 
 stage. We may say, without exaggeration, that all 
 London flocked to see it, and all England crowded to 
 London for the same purpose. When the curtain fell 
 on the last oght of its performance, every one felt that 
 it would never rise again on a Shakespearean exhibi- 
 tion of similar excellence. The entire outlay exceeded 
 30001. The bill for the rehearsals of the supernumeraries 
 alone, amounted to 160?., including their refreshments. 
 Mr. Kean was so well satisfied with their attention to 
 his instructions, and the intelligence they exhibited in 
 catching the spirit of the scenes when explained to 
 them, that he doubled the pay of all on the first night, 
 and distributed above one hundred pounds more in 
 specific gratuities. 
 
 In the first act of " Henry the Fifth," Shakespeare 
 gives a farewell reminiscence of Falstaff, in the descrip- 
 tion of his death, by Mrs. Quickly. Of his followers, 
 Pistol retains some degree of prominence, but Nym 
 and Bardolph are mere cyphers, and the latter is 
 hanged for sacrilege. A subject so popular as " Henry 
 the Fifth," has occupied pens of far inferior inspira- 
 tion to that of Shakespeare. Neither the date nor the 
 author of the anonymous drama which preceded his, have 
 been ascertained. A reprint of it is to be found in a 
 collection of six plays, edited by Nichols, and published 
 in 1779. The two volumes occasionally occur in a sale 
 catalogue, and are curious to the Shakespearean collec- 
 tor. In 1664, another " Henry the Fifth," by the Earl 
 of Orrerey, was acted at the Duke of York's Theatre 
 in Lincoln' s-Inn-Fields. Downes (Koscius Angli- 
 canus) says it was excellently performed, and acted 
 ten days in succession. It is written in rhyme, and has 
 not the least resemblance to Shakespeare's, except in 
 the historical portion. Owen Tudor and the King are
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 349 
 
 represented as sworn friends, and are both in love with 
 the Princess Katharine. The love scenes are absurd to 
 the last degree. The characters were most splendidly 
 attired, particularly King Henry, Owen Tudor, and the 
 Duke of Burgundy, who wore the coronation suits of 
 King Charles II., the Duke of York, and the Earl of 
 Oxford. The actors who performed them were Harris, 
 Betterton, and Smith. It was said to have been in the 
 part of Owen Tudor that Betterton laid the foundation 
 of the great celebrity he afterwards acquired. 
 
 In 1723, Aaron Hill produced an alteration of 
 " Henry the Fifth," which was acted at Drury Lane 
 for four nights. Many of the incidents, and much of 
 the language, are borrowed from Shakespeare; but a 
 second plot is introduced by the addition of a new 
 female character, Harriet, as she is called, a niece of 
 Lord Scroope, who has been formerly seduced by the 
 King. She appears in men's clothes throughout, and 
 is made the means of discovering the conspiracy against 
 Henry. Mr. Hill, with a liberality or enthusiasm little 
 known or practised by authors of more recent days, 
 presented the managers of the theatre with sets of 
 scenes for this drama, which cost him 200Z. 
 
 Shakespeare, in the comic relief of his play, has 
 aimed at national dialects as understood in his age. 
 He has given us a Welshman, Fluellen ; an Irishman, 
 Macmorris ; a Scotchman, Jamy and a Frenchman, 
 Monsieur le Fer. With the exception of the former 
 they have always been omitted, and we may say with- 
 out detriment, in the acting versions. Fluellen is well 
 conceived, and an amusing introduction. In Jones's 
 " History of Brecknockshire," we find the following 
 passage, tending to connect this imaginary personage 
 with the historical David Gam, who so gallantly sacri- 
 ficed himself at Agincourt to save his king.
 
 350 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 " In consequence of an affray in the High Street of 
 Brecknock, in which David (Gam) unfortunately killed 
 his kinsman, Ritsiart fawr o'r Slwch, he was compelled 
 to fly into England ; and, to avoid a threatened prosecu- 
 tion for the murder, attached himself to the Lancastrian 
 party, to whose interest he ever after most faithfully 
 adhered. There can be little doubt but that Shake- 
 speare in his burlesque character of Fluellen, intended 
 David Gam ; though for obvious reasons, as his descen- 
 dants were then well known and respected in the 
 English court, he chose to disguise the name. I have 
 called Fluellen a burlesque character, because his 
 ' pribbles and prabbles ' sound ludicrously to an English 
 as well as to a Welsh ear. Yet, after all, Llewellyn is 
 a brave soldier, and an honest fellow ; he is admitted 
 into a considerable degree of intimacy with the king, 
 and stands high in his good opinion, which is strong 
 presumptive proof, notwithstanding Shakespeare, the 
 better to conceal his object, describes the death of Sir 
 David Gam, yet that he intended David Llewellyn by 
 this portrait of the testy Welchman ; for there was no 
 other person of that country in the English army who 
 could have been supposed to have been on such terms 
 of familiarity with the king. It must also be observed 
 that Llewellyn was the name by which he was known 
 in the army, and not Gam, or Squinting, by which 
 epithet, though it was afterwards assumed by his family, 
 he would probably have knocked down any man who 
 dared to address him. By his behaviour on this memor- 
 able day, he, in some measure, made amends for a life 
 of violence and rapine, and raised his posterity to riches 
 and respect. But, alas ! how weak, how idle is family 
 pride, how unstable worldly wealth ! At different 
 periods, between the years 1550, and 1700, I have 
 found these descendants of this hero of Agincourt (who
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 351 
 
 lived like a wolf and died like a lion), in possession of 
 every acre of ground in the county of Brecon ; at the 
 commencement of the eighteenth century, I find one of 
 them the common bellman of the town of Brecknock ; 
 and before the conclusion, two others supported by the 
 inhabitants of the parish where they resided, and even 
 the name of Games, in the legitimate line, extinct" 
 
 A small section of the clergy still continue, from time 
 to time, on the old ground of exploded fallacies, the 
 worn-out topic of abuse, to preach against the stage. 
 As usual, the advocates of the theatre reply, and a hot 
 controversy ensues, in which temper and argument are 
 frequently lost together, with more of scandal than 
 profit to either side. A more conclusive answer may 
 be found in the number of divines, who, throughout 
 Mr. Kean's management, might be seen, at all the 
 Shakespearean revivals, in the stalls and boxes of the 
 Princess's Theatre. During the run of " Henry the 
 Fifth," the following letter was addressed to him by 
 the incumbent of a rectory in the country : 
 
 " May 3, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 " Had not a friend unexpectedly come to see me 
 last evening, I should have written to you, apologizing 
 for the apparently rude way in which I sent my card 
 to you behind the scenes on Friday, after the per- 
 formance had commenced. Your kind letter received 
 this morning, has quite set my mind at rest as to the 
 manner in which you received it. My coming to town 
 at all was a sudden freak, carried out on the spur of 
 the moment. I wished to give my boys, who were 
 with me, an Easter holiday. I was particularly 
 anxious to see " Henry the Fifth ; " and on Friday 
 morning there was a sudden calm after some rough
 
 352 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 winds, which looked tempting enough for a sea trip. 
 Hence it was that we only arrived in London in time 
 to get to the Princess's at seven o'clock, and found all 
 the stalls engaged, and seemingly, the entire house 
 crammed. Kather than go so far on a fool's errand, 
 after raising the boys' expectations so high, I scratched 
 a hasty message to yourself, to see if you could help 
 me out of the difficulty, and immediately after this, the 
 boxkeeper found me a couple of seats, into which we 
 all three managed to pack ourselves, and sat very com- 
 fortably indeed throughout. I was far more than 
 gratified ; I would not have missed the representation 
 for anything ; I was delighted carried away. Since I 
 returned home, I have read through " Henry Fifth " 
 again, and wondered that I had not seen so many 
 beauties in it before. For such a lesson in elocution, 
 I and the five or six other clergymen I saw around 
 me, ought to be properly grateful to you. One of the 
 persons, by the bye, was my old tutor at Exeter 
 College, whom I had not seen since 1845. He is now, 
 I believe, a very energetic " via media " man, with a 
 strong bias to " Evangelicalism." He seemed, how- 
 ever, to be thoroughly rapt by the splendour of the 
 ecclesiastical ceremonial you set before us. So modestly 
 chaste, and so simply grand in outward pomp and in 
 
 exquisite music, that I do not believe even Lord 
 
 himself could have been offended at it. It was, in fact, 
 too real to offend the most delicate religious suscepti- 
 bility. There was nothing sham to strike either ear or 
 eye ; and so the touching nature of the various incidents 
 connected with Henry's invasion of France appealed 
 straight to our hearts. I can assure you that our atten- 
 tion and interest remained in the same unflagged con- 
 dition of excitement into which they had been worked 
 by the opening scenes. -,
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 353 
 
 " I should much like to know when the period of 
 your management closes, because a large party of us 
 intend to come up on purpose ; and yet, if possible, we 
 want to put off our coming until July. With my kind 
 regards and compliments to Mrs. Kean, in which all my 
 family will gladly join, when I apprise them of my 
 having written, and to yourself also, 
 " I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Very sincerely yours, 
 
 The attraction of " Henry the Fifth" superseded the 
 necessity of an Easter novelty ; but on Whit Monday, 
 the play, which until then had stood alone in the bills, 
 was followed by a new Comedietta, in one act, written 
 by Messrs. Yates and Harrington. It was called " If 
 the Cap Fits," and met with a most favourable recep- 
 tion, being repeated for nearly fifty nights. We know 
 not whether this amusing trifle is of French origin, or 
 entirely original. The dialogue is smartly written, 
 with point and humour, showing that the authors are 
 well practised in one leading essential of dramatic com- 
 position. The characters are ingeniously contrasted, and 
 were impersonated with due spirit by Miss Murray, 
 Miss Bufton, Mr. W. Lacy, Mr. Everett, and Mr. F. 
 Matthews. 
 
 On Saturday, July the 9th, "Henry the Fifth" was* 
 acted for the eighty-fourth time, and finally withdrawn 
 after that evening.* During the last nights the houses 
 were crowded to excess. The aggregate receipts went 
 far beyond those of its most successful Shakespearean 
 predecessors. The run of the play did not terminate 
 because its popularity was on the wane, but from a 
 
 At Covent Garden, in 1839, under Mr. Macready's management, 
 Henry the Fifth was acted twenty-one nights ; not consecutively, but 
 on alternative evenings with Richelieu, the Stranger, As You like it, 
 the Winter's Tale, and the Lady of Lyons. 
 
 YOL. II. A A
 
 354 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 desire on Mr. Kean's part to gratify his patrons with 
 variety, as the concluding weeks of his management 
 approached. " Henry the Eighth," which had been 
 repeatedly asked for, was produced on Monday, July 
 the llth. A lapse of four years had occasioned no 
 changes of importance in the distribution of the prin- 
 cipal characters. All the great scenic effects were re- 
 stored with their former splendour and historical accuracy. 
 The acting of Mr. and Mrs. 0. Kean, as Cardinal Wol- 
 sey and the Queen, presented, if possible, more finished 
 exhibitions of two of Shakespeare's most elaborate por- 
 traits, than those with which they had delighted one 
 hundred successive audiences in 1855. Our details in a 
 preceding chapter render repetition here unnecessary. 
 
 The season now approached its termination ; but, 
 before the last night was announced, Mr. Kean received 
 one of the most flattering tributes ever bestowed by 
 public opinion on distinguished ability and services. 
 His old Etonian companions came forward, sponta- 
 neously, to proclaim to the world that the first actor of 
 the day had been educated amongst them, and was one 
 of themselves. Through the following graceful an- 
 nouncement, they invited the people of England to join 
 them in a common tribute to one whose private and pro- 
 fessional life reflected honour on the seminary to which 
 they all belonged, and had been so perseveringly de- 
 voted to the elevation of a noble art. 
 
 " Proposed PUBLIC BANQUET and TESTIMONIAL to 
 CHAELES KEAN, F.S.A., at St. James's Hall, on 
 Wednesday, July 20, 1859. 
 
 THE EARL OF CARLISLE IN THE CHAIR. 
 
 " A number of noblemen and gentlemen, educated at 
 Eton, nearly all of them contemporary with Mr. Charles 
 Kean, have formed themselves into a Committee for the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 
 
 355 
 
 purpose of inviting their old schoolfellow to a banquet, 
 on the occasion of his retiring from the management of 
 the Princess's Theatre, and of presenting him with a 
 testimonial to mark their sense of his distinguished talent. 
 
 " The Committee, further considering that the right of 
 acknowledging Mr. Kean's services belongs to the nation 
 at large, are anxious that the public should unite with 
 them in testifying their admiration for one who has so 
 long and so successfully laboured to provide for their 
 intellectual enjoyment, and who has done so much 
 towards upholding the dignity and higli character of 
 the national stage. 
 
 "All communications to be addressed to the Hon. 
 Secretary, Thomas Henry Taunton, Esq., at Mr. Sams' 
 Royal Library, 1, St. James's Street. 
 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 His Grace the Duke of Newcastle. 
 His Grace the Duke of Rutland. 
 Most Hon. the Marquis of Lon- 
 donderry. 
 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Carlisle. 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Eglintoun. 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Craven. 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Dunraven. 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Norbury. 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Sandwich. 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Selkirk. 
 Right Hon. the Earl of Chesterfield. 
 Right Hon. the ViscountPollington. 
 Right Hon. theViscount Exmouth. 
 Right Hon. the Viscount Chelsea. 
 Rt. Hon.the Lord J. Manners, M.P. 
 The Lord Macdonald. 
 The Lord Ernest Bruce, M.P. 
 The Lord Lindsay. 
 The Lord John Scott. 
 Col. the Hon. Augustus LiddelL 
 Col. the Hon.Js. Lindsay, M.P. 
 Col. De Bathe. 
 Major Blake. 
 The Hon. William Cowper, M.P. 
 
 Right Hon. W. E Gladstone, M.P. 
 
 Right Hon. Spencer Walpole, M.P. 
 
 Gen, Sir J. Burgoyne, Bart. G.C.B. 
 
 SirWalterMinto Farquhar,Bt-M.P. 
 
 Sir Frederick Rogers, Bart. 
 
 Col. Clifford, M. P. 
 
 C. J. Selwyn, Esq. M.P. 
 
 Sir John Duntze, Bart. 
 
 Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, Bart. 
 
 Mr. Serjeant Kinglake, M. P. 
 
 William Vansittart, Esq. M.P. 
 
 Thomas E.Moss, Esq. of Liverpool. 
 
 Thomas Phinn, Esq. Q. C. 
 
 Walker Skirrow, Jun. Esq. 
 
 William Platt, Esq. 
 
 W. C. Long, Esq. 
 
 P. L. Powys, Esq. M.P. 
 
 Lewis Lloyd, Esq. 
 
 Charles Coding, Esq. 
 
 Charles Edward Johnston, Esq. 
 
 Rev. R. Lewis Browne. 
 
 James Robert Hope Scott, Esq. 
 
 D.C.L. and Q.C. 
 Lieut.-Col. M. Bruce. 
 
 T. H. Taunton, Esq. Hon. Sec. 
 
 A2
 
 356 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 These advertisements had no sooner appeared, than 
 many of the leading journals teemed with approving 
 paragraphs, indicating the general interest excited by 
 the subject. We select some passages from an article 
 in a paper of extensive circulation, and much weight 
 as a critical authority,* which condenses the chief points 
 in a tone of clear reasoning and just compliment. 
 
 " To Mr. Charles Kean belongs the singular merit of 
 distinguishing himself as the enthusiastic supporter of a 
 sinking cause, and of delaying the final doom of the 
 drama by his own individual force. From the aspect 
 of the theatrical horizon we have no right to augur that 
 any successor will arise to continue his work. On the 
 contrary, we are assured that the next director of the 
 Princess's Theatre will devote it to plays of the Porte 
 Saint Martin school ; and we cannot point to any other 
 establishment in central London, which any living ma- 
 nager would dream of consecrating unreservedly to the 
 manes of Shakespeare. 
 
 "Looking at the struggles of Mr. Kean, at the 
 labour of mind and body, for which no treasury could 
 compensate, we are inclined to compare him to those 
 patriots of the latter days of Greek independence, whose 
 names, less familiar than others who flourished in the 
 days of Marathon and Thermopylae, come down to us 
 surrounded by a tragic halo, and claim an especial 
 respect from the very circumstance that they could only 
 procrastinate, and could not prevent, the ruin of their 
 country the heroes of the Achaean League. David 
 Garrick, when he revived a love of Shakespeare, had 
 the pleasure of awakening a new sensation ; and the 
 Kembles and the elder Kean maintained the tragic 
 drama while its attractive powers were at their height ; 
 but in Mr. Charles Kean we have the aspect of a zealot 
 
 * See the " Saturday Review," of June 18th, 185<
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 357 
 
 contending against the tide of fashion, fighting against 
 the deadliest of adversaries, namely, weary indifference, 
 availing himself of expedient after expedient to carry 
 out the grand purpose of his life, without even the 
 hearty encouragement of those who ought to have sym- 
 pathized with his honest and well-directed endeavours. 
 To force the sight-hunters into Shakespearean worship, 
 he brought spectacle to a perfection little short of mira- 
 culous ; but by this very method he offended a number 
 of literary dilletanti, who, with monstrous assurance, and 
 in defiance of all the teachings of experience, tried to 
 make out a case in favour of shabby scenery. In vain 
 did Mr. Kean explain, by an address in his play-bills,, 
 that his scenery and dresses were replete with historical 
 instruction. The most miserable scribblers of burlesque 
 thought it comic to turn the addresses themselves into 
 ridicule, and were rewarded by the laughter of many 
 who ought to have known better. But the great artist 
 gave the best possible answer to his vituperators. He 
 did not rub a particle of gold from his scenes, or dismiss 
 a man from his band of supernumeraries, when they 
 could be of service ; but he relied more and more on 
 his genius as an actor ; and the toils of one entire season 
 were expended to prove that, notwithstanding all the 
 cant about smothering Shakespeare with finery, nobody 
 was more deeply impressed with the necessity of subor- 
 dinating accessories to principals than the great actor 
 himself. The characters which he successively played 
 at the commencement of the present (his 'farewell') 
 season, one after the other, imbued the public with the 
 conviction that a tragedian, unrivalled beyond the 
 thought of competition, was about to leave them. 
 
 " And by whom has Mr. Kean been really supported 
 throughout his honourable but toilsome career? Not 
 by any class or clique ; not by the aristocracy ; not by
 
 358 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 the cultivators of light literature ; not by a fashionable 
 coterie : but by that substantial, undefinable public that 
 takes in all these, but yet is influenced by none ; that 
 public of which no one can discover individual repre- 
 sentatives ; which expresses itself mass-wise, and which, 
 deaf to the voice of intrigue and party criticism, is quick 
 to appreciate the deserts of those who really work well 
 for its edification or amusement. In the eyes of the 
 public, Mr. Kean has ever been the great actor ; the 
 public have acknowledged the beauty and historic worth 
 of his decorations. It is only at the end of his career 
 that his schoolfellows, the Etonians, make their appear- 
 ance. They find him famous, and they honour the 
 independent exertions by which the fame has been 
 acquired." 
 
 During the interval that elapsed between the an- 
 nouncement and celebration of the festival, Mr. Kean 
 received a host of congratulatory letters from personal 
 friends and professional admirers, many of whom were 
 total strangers. Amongst the latter communications, 
 few were more gratifying than the one we here subjoin, 
 to which a double interest is attached, arising from the 
 feelings avowed, and the position of the writer as a 
 member of the clerical profession. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, " June 29 - 
 
 " I once took the liberty, I fear a very unautho- 
 rized one, of writing to you ; and I got so pleasant an 
 answer, that I venture to repeat the impertinence. 
 Living, as I do, two hundred miles from London, it is 
 no wonder that I have only just seen that a public 
 dinner is to be given to you on the 20th of July, and a 
 testimonial is also to be presented. I am so very poor 
 that I cannot afford to add to the testimonial, much less 
 to make a journey to London. But this makes me the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.8.A. 359 
 
 more anxious to express to you, by letter, the unfeigned 
 respect I feel for you, and the great pleasure it would 
 give me to be able to join in any mode of testifying my 
 sense of your admirable conduct in a profession which is 
 surrounded by no small difficulties in the way of a man's 
 duty. 
 
 " It would give me particular pleasure, as a clergy man, 
 to attend your dinner (as I attended Mr. Macready's 
 farewell dinner) ; because I have a special abhorrence of 
 the cant which pretends that it is improper for a clergy- 
 man to see a play. I believe that I have enjoyed as 
 pure pleasure, as refined and as sweet, as I am capable 
 of enjoying, in a theatre. 
 
 " I should have liked, also, as an old Eton master, 
 who have acted with Lord Carlisle at the Datchet Lane 
 Theatre, to have expressed, by my presence, my gratifi- 
 cation at finding that Eton can fit a man for anything. 
 
 " Wishing you all possible prosperity and happiness, 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Yours most sincerely,
 
 360 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 BANQUET AND TESTIMONIAL TO CHARLES KEAN AT THE ST. JAMES'S 
 HALL, ON THE 20TH JULY, 1859 SPEECHES ON THAT OCCASION CON- 
 CLUDING SUMMARY. 
 
 THE Dinner took place, as arranged, at St. James's 
 Hall, Regent-street, on Wednesday, the 20th of July. 
 An intermediate change of Ministry having called the 
 Earl of Carlisle, who was to have presided, to Ireland, 
 to resume the office of Viceroy, in his unavoidable 
 absence the chair was most ably iilled by his Grace the 
 Duke of Newcastle.* He entered the banquet room a 
 little after seven o'clock, and took his seat on a raised 
 dais running along the breadth of the Hall, having on 
 his right the guest of the evening, and on his left the 
 Right Honorable W. E. Gladstone, Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer. In the height of parliamentary business,, 
 these two distinguished statesmen found time to honour 
 the occasion by their personal attendance. Amongst 
 the committee who sat down at the cross table were 
 Viscount Exmouth ; Lord John Manners, M.P. ; Lord 
 Ernest Bruce, M.P. ; Lord Robert Clinton ; Colonel 
 the Hon. James Lindsay, M.P. ; the Right Hon. 
 Spencer Walpole, M.P. ; General Sir John Burgoyne, 
 G.C.B. j Sir Walter Minto Farquhar, Bart., M.P. ; 
 Sir Walter Stirling, Bart. ; C. H. Selwyn, Esq., M.P. ; 
 
 * It is a remarkable incident that Lord Carlisle, was thus, by the inter- 
 ference of political duty prevented for the second time from presiding at 
 a banquet given in honour of Mr. C. Kean. A similar difficulty pre- 
 sented itself in 1838.
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, P.S.A. 361 
 
 Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, Bart. ; Mr. Serjeant 
 Kinglake, M.P. ; W. Vansittart, Esq., M.P. ; Thos. 
 E. Moss, of Liverpool, Esq. ; W. Platt, Esq. ; W. C. 
 Long, Esq. ; P. L. Powys, Esq., M.P. ; Lewis Loyd, 
 Esq. ; Chas. E. Johnston, Esq. ; the Rev. R. Lewis 
 Browne ; Lieut.-Colonel M. Bruce ; Sir Erskine Perry, 
 M.P. ; Sir J. Johnstone, M.P. ; Beresford Hope, Esq., 
 M.P. ; and T. H. Taunton, Esq., honorary secretary. 
 In the general company, amounting to five hundred 
 and fifty (the full number the Hall would contain), 
 were Mr. W. M. Thackeray ; Mr. Clarkson Stanfield ; 
 Mr. David Roberts; Mr. Sims Reeves; Mr. John 
 Timbs, F.S.A.; Mr. Godwin, F.S.A.; Mr. Donne; Mr. 
 Lovell, and many other distinguished representatives of 
 literature, law, the fine arts, and the drama. The 
 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge were respec- 
 tively represented by their members. Behind the 
 Chairman was placed a marble bust of Mr. Kean, by 
 Bailey. The entertainment was graced by the presence 
 of nearly four hundred ladies in the galleries, who gave 
 an unwonted brilliancy and animation to the scene. 
 Mrs. Charles Kean entered the balcony during the 
 dinner, and was received with enthusiastic and long- 
 continued plaudits, which she acknowledged with much 
 grace and feeling. 
 
 The dinner being over, and " Non nobis Domine " 
 having been sung by the choir of Eton College, 
 
 The noble CHAIRMAN proposed " The Queen," which 
 was responded to with the customary enthusiasm, and 
 followed by the " National Anthem." 
 
 The next toast was " The Prince Consort, Prince of 
 Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family." The 
 CHAIRMAN, in proposing it, expressed a hope that the 
 Prince of Wales, in his next tour, would pay a visit to 
 some of the great colonies of England. (Loud cheers.)
 
 362 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 He also spoke in terms of high eulogy of the Duke of 
 Cambridge, who, he said, was devoting the whole of his 
 energies to the reorganisation of the British army. 
 
 The toast was drunk with the utmost cordiality. 
 
 Then followed " The Army and Navy/' to which 
 General Sir J. BuEGOYNE replied. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN again rose and said : " Gentlemen, I 
 now approach a theme for which I unfeignedly say I 
 feel myself incompetent a task from which many a 
 man better fitted than I am might well, not to his 
 discredit, shrink ; a task which I do not hesitate to say 
 I deeply regret has not fallen to the lot of him who was 
 originally intended to perform it (the Earl of Carlisle) . 
 Allow me, before proposing this toast, to say a word 
 with reference to the origin of the present banquet. 
 You, or at least many of you, know that every son 
 of Eton looks back with feelings of the tenderest 
 affection to the school in which he was brought up. 
 Many of you who were not educated at Eton may know 
 that there is a freemasonry amongst us which draws us 
 together under whatever circumstances, and in what- 
 ever quarter of the world we may be thrown. (Hear, 
 hear.) Well, then, we, Etonians, contemporaries of 
 Charles Kean (cheers), felt that whilst we enrolled in our 
 archives the names of some of the most distinguished 
 men which this country has produced (hear, hear)- 
 generals, statesmen, philosophers, poets, and others, 
 we had now a son of Eton who had brought fresh lustre 
 on the school to which we belonged, and of him there- 
 fore we were anxious to prove our admiration. (" Hear, 
 hear," cheers, and a cry of " Bravo.") But we felt at 
 the same time that in such a demonstration it was the 
 right of all to join. (Cheers ) We, Etonians, initiated 
 it, but we felt that it was proper to call upon you to 
 participate in it. (Hear, hear.) We felt that the fame
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 363 
 
 of Charles Kean is the property of all ; nurtured it was 
 at Eton, but it has grown with his growth, and is now 
 the property of his age and of his country ; and therefore 
 we have invited you all to meet at this banquet and to 
 join in that testimonial which is to be the consequence 
 of it. (Cheers.) It would occupy too long if I were to 
 attempt to give to you anything like a biography of our 
 guest, but I may be pardoned if in this assembly, 
 initiated by Etonians, I mention that it is now thirty- 
 five years ago since he and I, and many others at this 
 table, were first associated together in that school. 
 (Hear, hear.) That as a scholar he was distinguished 
 you may judge from what you have seen of him in after 
 life. (Hear, hear.) That as a boy he was popular I may 
 appeal to the friends who are assembled around me at 
 this table. (" Hear, hear," and great cheering.) But 
 that he was no book worm merely, I may prove by the 
 fact, that whilst the honorary secretary of this testi- 
 monial was the captain of the boats, he was the second 
 captain, and pulled the stroke in a match of six ; and it 
 is a curious fact that four out of those six are at the 
 present moment in this room. (Hear, and cheers.) 
 Nay, such was his prowess, and such was the honest 
 rivalry, which in that day as in most others, produces 
 friendship, that he and the honorary secretary pulled 
 the rival tens, and I believe it was a drawn match at 
 any rate, it was celebrated by a breakfast of the joint 
 crews at the " Christopher." (Cheers.) Tn the very 
 year that he left Eton he entered upon the stage. It 
 would be impertinence in me to refer to the circum- 
 stances which induced that step, but I may mention as 
 an additional element of credit to that career that his 
 education had not tended to any such course. I believe 
 that in six years from that time he performed on the 
 boards of Covent-garden for the last time with his
 
 364 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 distinguished father who died shortly after. (Great 
 applause.) And upon that occasion he also acted with 
 another with Miss Ellen Tree (cheers, the whole of 
 the company standing up and waving handkerchiefs 
 and hands to Mrs. Kean, who was in the gallery) with 
 her who has been the partaker of all his labours and all 
 his glories, and who is now the happy participator in the 
 honours which are thrust upon him. (" Hear, hear/* 
 and cheers.) Gentlemen, it would be absurd in me, 
 even if I were not too long encroaching upon your time, 
 (cries of " No, no "} to attempt anything like a descrip- 
 tion of the state of the Stage when Charles Kean entered 
 upon it ; but I may allude to this fact, that for some 
 time before, there had been a complete severance of 
 dramatic poetry from the theatre ; and whilst dramatic 
 poetry occupied the highest position in the imaginative 
 literature of this country, whilst every body delighted 
 in the poetry of the Elizabethan era in the closet, 
 Shakespeare was excluded, or nearly so, from those 
 boards upon which it had been his purpose and delight 
 to introduce the most beautiful conceptions of his genius. 
 (Cheers.) To avoid this evil, and to introduce a reform 
 in such a matter has been the object of Mr. Kean's life. 
 Gentlemen, in the days of ancient Greece, the theatre and 
 the drama were the most effective instruments in form- 
 ing the character of that remarkable people ; arid if it is 
 not the same at this moment, it is at any rate an index 
 to the social status of a people, and we may trace in 
 succession the feelings, and sentiments, and moral 
 opinions of this country if we look back to the coarse- 
 ness of language and coarseness, I believe, of language 
 alone which prevailed in the time of the Tudors, 
 degenerating into actual obscenity, and, what is worse, 
 profligacy of thought and sentiment in the time of 
 Charles the Second, followed up by the frivolity of
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 365 
 
 subsequent times. We shall see, I believe, now, if 
 not a complete revival of what we would earnestly 
 wish to see, at any rate we shall find a material 
 improvement in the tastes and sentiments of the 
 present day. (Hear, hear.) I have referred to ancient 
 Greece. In Greece the actors of that country were 
 considered worthy of the highest honours of the State ; 
 and it is strange, indeed, that, in this land of litera- 
 ture and art, whilst other followers of art, whilst sculp- 
 tors, painters, poets, receive, at any rate, some portion 
 and meed of praise, of approbation, and of respect, 
 and, so far from grudging it them, I say they do not 
 receive so much as they ought (cries of " Bravo," and 
 cheers) I say that it is strange that while they, at any 
 rate, receive some honour, that branch of art the most 
 rare, the most difficult in which to arrive at excellence, 
 seems to have been cast into the shade, and treated 
 almost with obloquy ; at any rate, with indifference. 
 (Hear, hear.) Honour, 1 then say, to the man who has 
 raised the stage from what it was when he entered upon 
 it to what it is now. I do not mean to say that he 
 found it in such a low state as I have represented it to 
 have been in former days, but he has raised it ma- 
 terially; and he has introduced reforms, begun by the 
 great Garrick, followed up by the two Kembles and his 
 own father, and now matured, and improved, and in- 
 creased by himself. (Applause.) I allude, of course, to 
 what have been called his Shakespearean revivals. We 
 all know their merits ; we have heard them criticized ; 
 but they have outlived criticism. (Hear, hear.) But 
 his fame does not rest alone, however greatly a portion 
 of it may, upon these Shakespearean revivals. He has 
 shown a versatility in his art ; he has shown a know- 
 ledge of the human character ; he has shown the in- 
 fluence of mind over the passions of men ; he has
 
 366 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 shown all these qualities in a way which proves that he 
 is no copyist, that he is not a mannerist, that he is not 
 a man with one idea only. (Cheers.) Moreover, he is 
 a great historical painter. I see some distinguished 
 professors of the art of painting in this room, and I ask 
 them whether they do not look upon Mr. Kean as a 
 rival in the art, only that their productions, happily for 
 them, descend, fresh as they came from their easels, to 
 posterity ; his, unhappily for him, perish in the same 
 evening, and leave nothing but their fame behind them ? 
 (Hear, hear.) His sceneries are not only lessons in art, 
 but they are lessons in history. (Hear, hear.) We have 
 become, of late years, many of us, attached to archaeo- 
 logy. I look upon Mr. Kean as one of the greatest 
 archaeologists of the day. (Hear, hear.) He has had 
 a reason for everything ; there is nothing which he in- 
 troduces upon the stage for which he has not authority, 
 and you may see living representations of Shakespeare's 
 characters, with the exact costume, the exact scenery, 
 the exact furniture of the rooms which, there is every 
 reason to believe, from pictures arid other sources, 
 existed at the time Shakespeare represented. But he 
 has done more ; he has introduced groups upon the 
 stage which approach to a marvel in merit ; the way he 
 has organized them, the way he has dealt with them, 
 the way he has brought them upon the stage, moved 
 them, and, when they have played their part, removed 
 them would be worthy of any general in the service. 
 (*' Hear, hear/' cheers, and laughter.) He has, in act- 
 ing Shakespeare, answered the question of Shakespeare 
 himself 
 
 " Can this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France 1 " 
 
 and Mr. Kean has proved that his cockpit could ; and 
 if it were said that it could be done in any but his
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 367 
 
 theatre, it would be believed to be impossible. Well, 
 but in what spirit has this been entered upon ? It has 
 been in no commercial spirit. (Cheers.) Not neglect- 
 ing the interests of his family and we should all have 
 less respect for him if he did (hear, hear) I say, not 
 neglecting the interests of his family, he has nevertheless 
 been actuated by a pure love of art, by a love of his 
 profession, by a noble spirit. (Hear, hear.) He no 
 doubt feels the truth of the lines, 
 
 " The drama's laws the drama's patrons give, 
 
 " For those who live to please must please to live." 
 
 We acknowledge that sentiment ; he has not been 
 improperly influenced by it ; he has never allowed the 
 love of gain to induce him to swerve for one moment 
 from that clear line of duty, I may call it, which he has 
 chalked out for himself ; he has followed his career re- 
 gardless of every selfish consideration (hear, hear), and 
 I am certain he now has his reward in the approval and 
 admiration of his friends and the public. (Cheers.) At 
 the same time, his hand has ever been open to assist 
 the poor and needy (hear, hear,) more especially if they 
 have belonged to his own profession. I need only 
 recal to you the meeting in the Princess's Theatre 
 about twelve months ago, when he eloquently advocated 
 the cause of the Dramatic College (a voice, " What has 
 become of it now ? "), and proved that not only was his 
 eloquence at the service of this charity, but that his 
 purse was ready too. (Hear, hear.) Now then, gen- 
 tlemen, as our guest has to follow me, I should indeed 
 stand unjustifiable before you if I said one word more 
 in advocating this testimonial. You know his public 
 merits ; many of you know his private virtues ("hear," 
 and cheers), and therefore I will only say that I now 
 ask you to drink to the health of one whose virtues and
 
 368 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 whose private character have brought around him a wide 
 circle of affectionate and admiring friends; to one whose 
 zeal in his profession, amounting almost to enthusiasm, 
 has led him to prove that, the theatre may be made, not 
 merely the vehicle for frivolous amusement, or, what is 
 worse, for dissipation, but that it may be erected into a 
 gigantic instrument of education for the instruction of 
 the young, and for the edification as well as amusement, 
 of those of maturer age. (Cheers, which lasted some 
 time.) I ask you to drink his health as one who has 
 exalted the character of the English theatre ; I ask you 
 to drink his health as one whose benevolence and 
 charity many down-trodden brothers and sisters of his 
 art have felt and blessed (hear, hear) ; I ask you to drink 
 his health as one who by his genius has illustrated, and 
 by his character has elevated, the profession on which 
 he has entered (applause) ; and, finally, I ask you to 
 drink his health as one whom I may term, if figura- 
 tively, at any rate without exaggeration, as the hierarch 
 of that glorious temple in which Shakespeare is en- 
 shrined." (Loud and long-continued cheering, in the 
 midst of which the noble chairman sat down.) 
 
 The toast was drunk by the company upstanding, 
 amidst enthusiastic cheering and waving of handkerchiefs 
 on the part of the ladies. Every point in this admir- 
 able speech told upon the listeners ; arid nothing more 
 forcibly than the tone of personal kindness by which 
 it was pervaded. 
 
 The general excitement having somewhat abated, 
 Mr. KEAN, on rising to return thanks, was rapturously 
 applauded. He said " My Lords and Gentlemen, when 
 I entered this room and took my seat in presence of 
 this distinguished company, as the invited guest of the 
 evening, I felt and appreciated at its full value, and, I 
 trust, with becoming pride, the flattering position to
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 369 
 
 which your favour has exalted me ; but it was impossible 
 for me to anticipate the kind and gracious eulogiums 
 of the noble chairman, so warmly and eloquently ex- 
 pressed, and your enthusiastic response, which I may truly 
 say has completely overpowered me. (Cheers.) lam totally 
 unable to thank you as I ought or as I wish. I throw 
 myself on your indulgence, entreating you to believe 
 in the sincerity of my feebly uttered sentiments, and 
 to pardon the poverty of my language in consideration 
 of the overflow of my heart. (Cheers.) Amongst the 
 leading influences of human character the ties of kin- 
 dred occupy a foremost rank ; next to these, perhaps, 
 may be placed the associations of boyhood, the remem- 
 brance of those happy days, at school or college, when 
 life " first put forth the tender leaves of hope;" when all 
 was spring and sunshine ; when our young minds were 
 engrossed with the present, and the gathering clouds of the 
 future were unseen or disregarded. (Sensation.) All 
 these thronging visions of the past come back upon me 
 at this moment, after the lapse of more than thirty years, 
 with the freshness of yesterday, and with that pure enjoy- 
 ment which only such revived feelings can impart, as I 
 look upon many of the faces by which I am surrounded,, 
 and consider the originating impulse that gave rise to the 
 present brilliant assemblage. (Cheers.) To be thus 
 recognised and presented, as it were, anew to the public 
 as the fellow-student and early companion of men who 
 have inherited or achieved the highest honours and the 
 purest fame men as universally esteemed for their 
 talents, their integrity, and their benevolence, as for 
 their exalted rank and social importance (cheers); 
 such a crowning episode in the pilgrimage of life is 
 surely more than enough to compensate for years of 
 toil, and to obliterate for ever the memory of past 
 struggles, anxieties, and disappointments. (Cheers.) 
 VOL. ii. r? B
 
 370 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 How, also, am I to find words in which to convey my 
 sense of obligation to my unswerving patrons and sup- 
 porters the public ; that public who have so frankly 
 and generously responded to the present call, and 
 whose co-operation was ever ready to promote what I 
 conscientiously believed to be the blending of their 
 most intellectual recreation with a true development of 
 the best purposes of our national drama. Let me offer 
 to their representatives here my heartfelt gratitude 
 
 " Only I have left to say 
 More is thy due than more than all can pay." 
 
 You have done me a great honour the greatest pos- 
 sible honour that could be conferred on a member of 
 the theatrical profession, and, consequently, on the 
 dramatic art itself; that art, the progress and prosperity 
 of which cannot be otherwise than a subject of interest 
 to every reflecting and educated mind; for the legiti- 
 mate object of the drama is to contribute to the intel- 
 lectual culture of mankind to expose to view the secret 
 springs of action, the most minute vibrations of the 
 human heart ; to exhibit the character of man under 
 all its various and conflicting passions ; to inspire senti- 
 ments which may serve the purposes of truth and 
 morality ; whose end, as Shakespeare has told us, both 
 at the first and now, was and is, " To hold as 'twere the 
 mirror up to nature ; to show virtue her own feature, 
 scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the 
 time, its form and pressure." (Cheers.) When these 
 objects are not attained, the drama has not fulfilled its 
 mission. It is not because the stage may be degraded 
 from its higher purposes that its beneficial influence 
 should be overlooked or rejected. (Cheers, and cries 
 of " Bravo ! ") All human institutions must neces- 
 sarily be defective in their organisation, as comprising
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 371 
 
 within themselves mingled elements of good and evil. 
 Imperfect in their source, they cannot be otherwise 
 than imperfect in their exercise. The effect depends 
 upon the care with which these elements are regulated, 
 and the utmost that can be hoped for is a preponderance 
 of good. (Cheers.) Thus, in the natural world, we find 
 plants possessing the contrasted ingredients of health 
 and destruction. Shakespeare has described this in 
 one of his most familiar passages 
 
 " Within the infant rind of this small flower 
 Poison hath residence and medicine power ; 
 Two such opposed foes encamp them still 
 In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will ; 
 And where the worser is predominant 
 Full soon the canker death eats up that plant." (Loud Cheers.) 
 
 These lines contain a brief but comprehensive moral, 
 which may be applied not only to the stage, but to every- 
 thing in life, of whatever class or quality. It may be 
 difficult to preserve a garden free from weeds, but who for 
 that reason would root up the flowers, or abandon them 
 to be choked ? (Cheers.) That which contains certain 
 advantages to society at large, surely should not be dis- 
 regarded as an instrument of good because it is capable 
 of misapplication. Its use, and not its abuse, should be 
 rendered most prominent, and its influence encouraged 
 as a humanising agent in embellishing life, refining taste, 
 and imparting knowledge. (Cheers.) Let it be remem- 
 bered, in the words of our own immortal poet, 
 
 " It is in ourselves that we are thus and thus ; " 
 and that 
 
 " There is good in everything." 
 
 (Cheers.) The love of the drama is inherent in our 
 nature, and must have been implanted there for some 
 beneficial purpose. For ages it has employed the 
 loftiest intellect, and has asserted universal sway over 
 
 B r> 2
 
 372 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 the heart and mind of man. In no country throughout 
 the world, past or present, has the poetical drama 
 reached such perfection as in England, for the annals of 
 genius and civilisation include but one Shakespeare. 
 (Cheers.) A stream of light has been poured upon 
 the world's surface by that brilliant luminary which no 
 change can darken, no time can obliterate. (Cheers.) 
 He casts his rays over the highest and the lowest ; his 
 influence is felt by every class and grade ; his authority 
 has been appealed to by the advocate, the judge, 
 the statesman, and the divine ; he has furnished 
 texts for science, philosophy, patriotism, affection, 
 charity and religion itself. (Cheers.) Truly has 
 the great moralist, Dr. Johnson, said, " Shakespeare 
 is a mine which contains gold and diamonds in inex- 
 haustible plenty. His plays are filled with practical 
 axioms and domestic wisdom. From his works may be 
 collected an entire system of civil and economical 
 prudence." And surely Dr. Johnson was right, for 
 where shall we find such boundless versatility of thought 
 and reasoning, such consummate knowledge of the 
 human heart, with all its complicated mechanism? such 
 golden precepts to improve the conduct of life, and 
 render men wiser, as well as better ? Not a turn of 
 thought not a fluctuation of feeling, was unknown to 
 him ; for his comprehensive mind reached everything, 
 glancing "From heaven to earth, from earth to heaven." 
 His faults reflect the manners of the day, not the 
 character of the man. (Cheers.) Had the theatre never 
 existed there would have been no field for the exercise 
 of this mighty genius ; and who will be bold enough to 
 assert that a mere human being was thus inspired by a 
 benign Providence for any other purpose than the 
 advantage of his fellow-creatures ? (Loud Cheers.) 
 The stage is the surest medium through which the
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 373 
 
 precious gems of this intellectual mine can be scattered 
 amongst the multitude ; and, as actors, we may well be 
 proud to be thus considered the trustees of this mighty 
 treasure. It is our peculiar privilege to bring genera- 
 tion after generation face to face with the poet himself, 
 giving vitality to his works in a manner which appeals 
 to the senses, and teaches while it fascinates. The 
 more Shakespeare is known to the million, the greater 
 amount of beneficial influence will be spread abroad, 
 and such a result is not to be anticipated from the 
 student in his closet, but from the actor in the theatre. 
 In " Murphy's Life of David Garrick" an incident is 
 related which may not be uninteresting to the present 
 company. It is there stated that about the year 1737, 
 amidst the darkness which immediately preceded the 
 advent of that wonderful actor and distinguished man, 
 the master works of our great poet were comparatively 
 neglected, and had given place to frivolity and folly. 
 The drama had, in fact, sunk into an abject condition. 
 To the honour of the ladies of that day, it is told that, 
 feeling the unhappy degradation of the national stage, 
 a subscription was set on foot by them to dethrone 
 buffoonery and restore Shakespeare. (Cheers.) Should 
 we ever again so far degenerate as to turn aside from 
 the right path, I would appeal to " that heaven of 
 beauty which now shines full upon us/' entreating them 
 to invoke the daughters of England to hasten to our 
 rescue, that under their angelic guidance we may be 
 led back from our erring way into the lost track. Then 
 might we say with the poet 
 
 " woman, woman, thou wast made 
 Like heaven's own pure and lovely light. 
 
 To cheer life's dark and desert shade, 
 And guide man's erring footsteps right." 
 
 (Cheers.) My lords and gentlemen, no words of mine
 
 374 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES 
 
 can convey my gratitude for the priceless compliment 
 you have bestowed upon me. I can only say that ' my 
 endeavours have ever come too short of my desires, yet 
 fil'd with my abilities/ The memory of this day will 
 be cherished by my representatives when I am no 
 longer amongst them, and I hope and believe will serve 
 to stimulate the efforts of the rising actor, awakening 
 in him the reflection that in the honourable exercise of 
 his vocation there is one reward ever open to him which 
 no obstacle can prevent, no prejudice can withhold a 
 prize above all others to which he should zealously and 
 steadily direct his aim respect from the respected." 
 (Mr. Kean resumed his seat amidst reiterated peals of 
 applause.) 
 
 The CHANCELLOR OP THE EXCHEQUER, then proposed 
 in eloquent terms " The health of the Chairman," which 
 was most enthusiastically received. In the course of 
 his speech, referring to the occasion of the meeting, 
 and the guest of the assembly, he said " I can, too, 
 render witness to Mr. Kean as being a public bene- 
 factor. (Hear, hear.) If anything could add to my 
 individual satisfaction in rendering that witness, it 
 would be the circumstance that I am politically con- 
 nected by representation, and have for many years been 
 connected, with one of the great seats of learning and 
 education in England. (Cheers.) I see in our friend 
 one of those who has ever asserted the social brother- 
 hood that exists between all true and genuine instru- 
 ments of human cultivation. (Hear, hear.) He has 
 said truly that in the Drama the greatest powers of the 
 human mind have been exhibited. This most influential 
 instrument, which has sometimes grovelled in the mire, 
 and which has rarely been appreciated to the full extent 
 of its capacity, Mr. Kean has devoted almost immea- 
 surable labour to raising up to its due and natural
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 375 
 
 elevation. This is the service that he has conferred 
 upon the age ; this is the service that we are here to 
 commemorate ; and I pray you to drink, as it ought to 
 be drunk, the health of my noble friend, the Chairman ; 
 because he has given us the advantage of his presence, 
 of his carefully matured thoughts, of his powerful ex- 
 pression, in order to convey to the world that which we 
 feel, and that which we desire to say and record. I 
 commend to you ' The Health of his Grace the Duke 
 of Newcastle.' ' 
 
 The noble CHAIRMAN in his reply used an expression 
 which called forth repeated plaudits. " We are met 
 here," he said, " without political animosity or jarring 
 feelings of any kind, ministers in office, and ministers 
 out of office, to join in a common tribute to one who, 
 without being of any party, belongs to and is recognized 
 by all." 
 
 Then followed the toast of " The Honorary Secre- 
 tary," H. T. Tauntou, Esq., which was also warmly 
 responded to. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN, in eloquent and appropriate terms, 
 gave "" The health of Mrs. Kean," which produced 
 another remarkable display from the assembled com- 
 pany. " I am conscious," said the noble Duke, " that 
 I stand in the presence of that lady, and I know 
 enough of her delicacy of mind, to know that it 
 would be most unpleasing to her, if upon this occa- 
 sion, and in so large an assembly as this, I were to enter 
 into any lengthened eulogy of her character. (Cheers.) 
 I know that she will only value the compliment which 
 we now pay her as reflecting upon her husband, and as 
 showing that she has participated in all his labours. 
 She has shared in his triumphs, and she rewards his 
 labours by her devoted affection. (Cheers.) But I may 
 be allowed, even in her presence, to say that she has
 
 376 THE LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES 
 
 exhibited a bright example to the English Stage in her 
 career. (Hear, hear.) In no respect have Mr. and Mrs. 
 Kean brought greater honour upon their establishment 
 in nothing have they more distinguished themselves 
 in their management of the Princess's Theatre, than in 
 the interest which they have shown in the almost 
 domestic and affectionate care which has been taken of 
 those who are engaged there. (Great applause.) They 
 have watched over their interests ; they have watched 
 over their morality and their happiness. (Hear, hear.) 
 They have attended to their health ; they have made 
 the Princess's more like a great domestic establishment 
 than a public institution in which people have no care 
 for those who serve them, provided they fulfil the duties 
 they have to perform. 1 say, then, honour to them, 
 and especial honour to Mrs. Kean in setting so bright 
 an example." (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. KEAN in reply said " The graceful manner in 
 which Mrs. Kean's name has been introduced to your 
 notice through the kindness of the noble chairman, and 
 the enthusiasm with which that name has been received 
 by the present company, is indeed most gratifying to 
 me. The compliment which I feel so deeply, is, I know, 
 equally felt by my wife. Permit me, however, to intreat 
 that in my anxiety to spare your time, you will not 
 estimate the amount of our mutual gratitude by the 
 brevity of my reply. (Hear, hear.) Amidst the com- 
 plicated duties of management, the director of a theatre, 
 like the general of an army, requires the assistance of 
 an efficient staff. Mrs. Kean has been my first aide- 
 de-camp, and never had commander one more able and 
 more indefatigable. (Loud cheers.) She has been my 
 solace in the hour of trouble, my counsellor in the hour 
 of need. Her courage never flagged, her heart never 
 failed. I may truly quote the words of Solomon : " She
 
 OF CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. 377 
 
 openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tougue is 
 the law of kindness." Once again, my lords and 
 gentlemen, accept my heartfelt thanks for the honour 
 you have conferred on my partner, friend, and wife." 
 (Prolonged cheering.) 
 
 The last toast was, " Floreat Etona," proposed by 
 Mr. Spencer H. Walpole, M.P. He said, " We are now 
 about to terminate our proceedings ; we terminate them 
 with this epilogue, viz., that we hope that all Eton men 
 who succeed us will have the same good fellow-feeling 
 towards their fellow-Etonians, that wherever they suc- 
 ceed honourably and nobly in life, we will be the first 
 to pay them the compliments of that success ; and 
 success was never more signal, never more marked, and 
 a reputation for it never more justly earned, in my 
 opinion, than it has been by the way in which Mr. Kean 
 has revived the noblest specimens of dramatic concep- 
 tion, in which he has pourtrayed to us the history of 
 every country by his representations ; and, let me add 
 (for that I am creditably informed is the fact), for the 
 noble manner in which he has protected every one who 
 has come under his care. (Cheers.) At this late hour 
 of the evening, I will say no more except this, that 
 though there are many here who are not Etonians, you 
 will, one and all of you, agree with me in this, that as 
 long as Etonians act in the spirit of gentlemen (hear, 
 hear), the spirit of honour and duty (hear, hear), that 
 noble spirit of wishing their fellow-students to succeed 
 better than themselves, so long will you drink with me 
 the toast which I propose, ' Floreat Etona.' ' 
 
 The toast was then drunk, and the band having 
 struck up " Auld laug syne," the company separated at 
 half-past eleven. 
 
 The dinner and wines were of a superior description, 
 and redounded to the credit of Mr. W. Donald.
 
 378 THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES, ETC. 
 
 The subscription list for the "Keaii Testimonial" 
 will be kept open until the 1st of May, 1860. It was 
 announced by the Hon. Secretary that the amount 
 already exceeded 1,000?. That sum will in all proba- 
 bility be doubled before the above-named date. 
 
 No public man, of whatever position or profession, has 
 ever received a greater compliment, or a more unequivo- 
 cal evidence of public approval, than that conferred on 
 Mr. C. Kean, on the 20th of July, 1859. 
 
 On the 29th of August, Mr. C. Kean retires finally 
 from the management of the theatre he has so glorious- 
 ly exalted. His last play will be " Henry the Eighth." 
 For years he may continue to delight the public with 
 his unrivalled powers of acting, and will in all proba- 
 bility add many thousands to his realized fortune. But 
 he cannot ascend to a loftier eminence of fame than 
 that which he has already reached, while neither time 
 nor rivalry can wither one leaf of the laurel crown he 
 has so triumphantly won. He has encountered many 
 obstacles, but enduring courage has enabled him to set 
 them all aside. He owes much to his own self-reliance, 
 based on upright principles, and innate integrity of heart 
 and purpose. His genius has never burned with a nicker- 
 ing light ; his perseverance has never faltered on the 
 roughest track. The public, for a long series of years, 
 have never chilled him by indifference or cold ap- 
 plause. He has been fortunate, but he has thoroughly 
 deserved his prosperity. And, in summing up the 
 favouring agencies that have smoothed his path, and 
 accelerated his progress, let us name with just acknow- 
 ledgment the warm, unflinching, and powerful advocacy 
 of the high and independent portion of the press that 
 mighty organ which has ever proved his sure citadel 
 of strength, against a few stubborn, though unavailing 
 attacks of prejudice and personal hostility.
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. Vol. ii. p. 71. 
 
 NOTICE ON " FATTST AND MABGUERITE," from " Punch" of 
 6th of May, 1854 (copied into Lloyd's of May 7th), 
 accompanied by a Caricature of MB. C. KEAN. 
 
 POODLE MEPHISTOPHELES AT THE PRINCESS'S. "No man, 
 like a Frenchman, can trim a poodle. This, we believe, may 
 be conceded as a national merit. No man, like a Frenchman, 
 can so quickly teach a poodle so many tricks ; to fetch and 
 carry; stand on three legs; pick letters from a biscuit alphabet ; 
 and, in a word, do all the things that make the cleverest of 
 dogs. The skill of perfect teaching cannot be denied to the 
 patience and intelligence of French genius ; and, assuredly, 
 Mons. Carre has marvellously vindicated the Gallic ability by 
 so trimming and teaching Goethe's Poodle, alias Mephistopheles, 
 that his originator would never know him again. 
 
 "'Seest thou the black dog' s&js Faust to Wagner 'rang- 
 ing through the corn and stubble ' ? 
 
 Faust. " Mark him well ! For what do you take the brute ? 
 
 Wagner. " For a poodle who, in his way, is puzzling out 
 the track of his master. 
 
 Faust. "Dost thou mark how, in wide spiral curves, he 
 quests round and ever near us 1 and, if I err not, a line of fire 
 follows upon his track. 
 
 Wagner. " I see nothing but a black poodle.
 
 382 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Such was the conviction of Mons. Michel Carre ; and so 
 in 1851, he goes to work, and trims and shapes Goethe's poem 
 of Faust into a thing for the French stage : and the thing 
 poodle-like having had its run upon all-fours in Paris, may 
 now be seen under the very moral management of Mr. Charles 
 Kean, in Oxford-street. A mere poodle ; and for a poodle- 
 one of the dullest dogs that ever defeated a teacher. But that 
 the poodle should have been trimmed by a Frenchman was, 
 doubtless, its excelling recommendation to a manager who 
 prefers his plays, even as his gloves, to be of Paris make. They 
 can be so stitched to fit, and be held so easily in hand ! 
 
 " For what could the startled, confounded manager have 
 done with the Mephistopheles of Goethe ? He would have 
 shaken at its power ; and haply, have transgressed under it, 
 like a poodle itself scared and frightened by Jove's thunder 
 and lightning. Now, poodle Mephistopheles, as trained and 
 taught by Mons. Carr6, was an animal not beyond the powers 
 of the master of the Princess's revels a puppy-dog to be led 
 in a string, or carried under the arm, even as puppy-dogs are 
 tethered or borne by flunkeys. 
 
 "'Driven behind the stove' (raves Faust of the real poodle, 
 Goethe's poodle) 'it is swelling like an elephant ; it fills the 
 whole space ; it is about to vanish into mist. Rise not to the 
 ceiling ! Down at thy master's feet ! Thou seest I do not 
 threaten in vain ; I will scorch thee with holy fire. Wait 
 not for the thrice-glowing light. Wait not for the strongest 
 of my spells.' " 
 
 " Now here are thunderbolt words, and scathing conjurations, 
 that a common manager, a merely simple provider for a simple 
 public, can hardly be expected to confront and live through. 
 And these things are Goethe's poodle : but the Frenchman 
 teaches the dog to answer to a very different sort of order : 
 hence, when the poodle or Mephistoplieles of the Princess's 
 enters upon his two legs, he runs in with no more of the devil 
 in him than may be expected of the dullest of footmen, with 
 just enough of speech to be stupid upon any subject, and on 
 the very shortest notice. Never was poodle cut so bare shorn
 
 APPENDIX. 383 
 
 so close that the very skin has been nipped by the scissors, and 
 still shows the unsightly wounds never was poor poodle so 
 maltreated as Goethe's tremendous black dog by the irreverent 
 Frenchman. Nevertheless, an easy critic has declared in favour 
 of M. Carry's dog, as it appears in the hands, or upon the arms 
 of Mr. Charles Kean, saying in justification of the clipping 
 and exposure of the poodle, as shown at the Princess's 
 
 " ' One person, if he had now been living, would have de- 
 cided on the wisdom of the manager, who having an effective 
 Easter piece in view, selected the low-art fabrication of M. 
 Michel Ca'rre', in preference to the high-art creation of the 
 German poet. The person we mean is Goethe himself.' 
 
 "Just as it might be said, 'one person, when Mr. Charles 
 Kean shall enter into an Elysium, will at least step forward 
 and embrace him for his acting of Shakespeare, with every 
 conceivable and inconceivable scenic effect, and the person we 
 mean is Shakespeare himself!' Even as Goethe might hug 
 and thank Michel Carre for his ' low-art fabrication ' (his low 
 cutting of the jacket of the poodle), so will Shakespeare em- 
 brace Mr. Charles Kean for his fabrication with very low cut- 
 tings of Gibber's Richard tJie Third. Wonderful must be the 
 sources of gratitude in the Fields of the Blest ! 
 
 " The Faust and Marguerite at the Princess's shows 
 
 Mr. Charles Kean to be a born spectacle-maker 
 
 Wonderful is the process by which all the poetry, all the 
 grandeur, is discharged from Goethe, the imagination and 
 subtleties of the Master being supplied by the pulleys of the 
 machinist and the colours of the scene-painter ! Everything 
 of life and beauty has been extracted, and a caput mortuum 
 that is, Charles Kean's Mephistopheles remains. 
 
 "And yet Mr. Kean never acted so naturally in all his life. 
 He was quite down to the part ; his perceptions of the poetic 
 trotting upon four legs. He, no doubt, felt the triumph of 
 common-place, and rejoiced in his element. We have been 
 accustomed to associate with Mephistopheles a devilish subtlety ; 
 a laughing spirit in the eye, burning like a burning-glass. Mr. 
 Kean was more consonant with his poodle-trimmer : he had
 
 384 APPENDIX. 
 
 no more subtlety in his speech than the waiter at the Dog 
 Tavern ; nothing more scorching in his looks than might flash 
 from brass buttons. There was boldness, but no burning. 
 
 " Some of the scenic effects are very beautiful, and worthy 
 of the Princess's as a gallery of illustration. The vision of 
 Marguerite (thanks to Marguerite herself !) was very lovely ; 
 and the procession to the Cathedral showed that the manager 
 had been a profound observer of the condition and demeanour 
 of people going to prayers. The sprinkling of babies was very 
 judicious and a little touching. 
 
 " The musical contest for the soul of Marguerite between 
 the demons under the stage, and the angels over it, was some- 
 what bold upon a moral English public : but when the soul 
 of Marguerite in white muslin, borne by angels in satin petti- 
 coats was carried to heaven ('without wires,' cries a critic, 
 hysterical with admiration) the delight of the gods was 
 perfect. 
 
 " The morality of Marguerite as painted (in rouge) by M. 
 Carre gives us rather Marguerite from the Palais Royal than 
 Marguerite from the well. We would advise Mr. Kean to take 
 a view of the latter, so exclusively painted by Miss Howitt. 
 It may do him good, as a royal and moral manager. 
 
 " As a piece of show and mechanism (wires unseen) Faust 
 and Marguerite will draw the eyes of the town ; especially the 
 eyes that have least brains behind them. It is the very tri- 
 umph of vulgar showiness, uninformed by a spark of genius. 
 Mr. Kean's poodle is all over a very dull dog ; a dog without 
 a bit of the wag in him, even in his tail. 
 
 " Nevertheless there is one triumph due to the actor. His 
 new nose is perfect : it has the true demoniacal curve. We 
 never saw a better view of the Devil's Bridge."
 
 APPENDIX. 385 
 
 B. Vol. II. p. 92. 
 EXTRACTS FROM: " LLOYD'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER." 
 
 " Nov. 12th, 1854. 
 
 OLD CLOTHES AT THE PRINCESS'S. " Again does this theatre 
 appear as the old clothes-shop to the Standard. Schamyl hav- 
 ing been worn to tatters at Shoreditch, the rags are picked up> 
 and newly-dyed are flaunted in Oxford-street. We have not 
 seen the second-hand tatters, but the Daily News says of the 
 article, that 'Schamyl, the Warrior Prophet, as produced at the 
 Princess's on Monday evening, is a piece without any dramatic 
 pretensions, either in construction or dialogue ; but merely a 
 thread upon which to hang a series of striking tableaux, let off 
 a good deal of gunpowder, and explode some rather second-rate 
 jokes at the expense of the Czar Nicholas and the Russians in 
 general. It is confessedly an importation from the Porte St. 
 Martin, and exhibits all the bold licence as to the unities that 
 becomes its parentage, including a lapse of twenty years be- 
 tween the latter portions of the warrior prophet's career.' It 
 is said that the manager is so addicted to things ' from the 
 French,' that he eats none but French eggs : and not then 
 until very stale." 
 
 " January \4tk, 1855. 
 
 " There has been nothing new, worthy of any attention, this 
 week. The pantomimes are in full run, and the burlesques in 
 full trundle. We fear, however, that, like St. Petersburg 
 whatever shows and seeming festivities may abound the 
 theatres feel the war. We are promised 'a new comedy' at 
 the Olympic. Something, we hope, worthy of the company 
 and the management, and not inevitably French. 
 
 " TJie Yellow Dwarf will, we should think, give good change 
 to the treasury, llobson's Dwarf is admirably devilish. Bits 
 of his tragedy are especially fine. We wish, by the way, that 
 
 VOL. II. C C
 
 386 .APPENDIX. 
 
 he would charitably play Hamlet for the edification of Mr. 
 Charles Kean, who has of late been attempting the Prince of 
 Denmark. After the attempt, Mr. Kean was, it is said, as 
 well as could be expected ; but as for Hamlet, he was so dread- 
 fully mauled that even his parent, Mr. William Shakespeare, 
 would not know him. 
 
 " January ~2lst, 1855. 
 
 "'Louis THE ELEVENTH.' 'Was played two years since at 
 Drury-lane, when Mr. Davenport acted with very considerable 
 and very varied powers, the monster king. The same piece 
 has been got up at the Princess's. We confess that we had 
 not the courage to encounter the five dreary acts, having once 
 endured them. The piece is a piece of one part. Louis, like 
 a tape-worm, goes through it. Certain critics have, in Mr. C- 
 Kean's own written words to the lamented Moran, 'come it 
 very strong' indeed. One calls Mr. Kean 'sublime!' another 
 quotes, in allusion to the worn out-state of the actor when 
 summoned for reward, the words of Napier, ' the laurel is nobly 
 won when the victor reels as he places it on his bleeding front.' 
 Thus, we are to suppose how, on Saturday, Charles Kean reeled 
 to his dressing-room under a load of greens. The picture is 
 very touching. Another critic a venerable hand avouches 
 that no actor could have acted like Charles Kean except David 
 Garrick. And M-hy not ? Listen, ' Edmund Kean would 
 have been too invariably impassioned ; Macready too sombre ; 
 John Kemble too stately ; Cooke too coarse ; and Young too 
 humorous. To get an adequate representation we must travel 
 back to David Garrick. He could have done it all.' But we 
 have no need of David, seeing that \ve rejoice in Charles. Gar- 
 rick died in 1779 : but on the authority of a living critic, 
 David could have done it all. Is not this coming it a little 
 too 'strong?' To name Edmund Kean, father, with Charles 
 Kean, son, is to compare the intellectual might of Cain with 
 the crow-bar force of Jack Shepherd. Mr. Charles Kean has, 
 we have never denied it, a certain amount of power for raw-
 
 APPENDIX. 38 
 
 head melodrama; but he is no more susceptible of the meta- 
 physical subtleties of pure tragedy than was ' Peter the Wild 
 Boy.' The Daily Xews speaks of the success of the piece as 
 moderate ; and of much of Mr. Kean's acting as mere rant. 
 Other Daily critics are, however, quite hysterical with rapture. 
 Falstoff averred of Hal that the Prince had given him ' medi- 
 cines to make him love him.' Have these critics unguardedly 
 
 taken medicines, or what ? 
 
 '' The translation of Saturday it is agreed upon all hands 
 was very handsomely got up. We have no doubt of the fact. 
 When the manager is the sole portrait in the fore-ground, the 
 daub is certain to have the biggest of golden frames. 
 
 " January 2Sth, 1855. 
 
 "'TiiE PET AND THE VICTIM.' ' The Spectator puts the con- 
 dition of Charles Kean a little pathetically. He is at once a 
 pet and a victim ! He is, says our contemporary, 'constantly 
 patronised by the court and higher classes, and constantly 
 satirized by the wits.' In such contests, the wits have invari- 
 ably had the best of it. A man cannot have letters patent 
 making him a great actor, as a man is patented breeches-maker 
 to the king. George the Second refused the dulness of his 
 German countenance to poetry and painting : he avowed that 
 he ' hated boetry and bainters :' nevertheless poetry and paint- 
 ing were not blighted by the royal aversion. Genius, for- 
 tunately, is independent of courts and aristocracies; or what, 
 long since, would have become of it ]" 
 
 " Feb. 4th, 1855. 
 
 "Miss ROMEO, or rather, Miss Cushman as Borneo, has 
 appeared this week at the Haymarket. The curiosity is not 
 a novelty. We have before seen Miss Cushman as Miss Romeo ; 
 and though the lady lover is full of flame, it is the flame of 
 phosphor it shines, but it does not burn. We could as soon 
 warm our hands at a painted fire, as feel the impetuous passion 
 
 CC2
 
 388 APPENDIX. 
 
 of an ungowned Romeo The part of Juliet has heen 
 
 played by a young lady bran-new from that nursery of the 
 drama, Liverpool. However, Miss Swanborough we must take 
 another opportunity to see. Certainly, there never was greater 
 room for a young and passionate actress. By the way, as a lady 
 acts Verona's youth, why should not a gentleman play Verona's 
 maiden 1 How would the subjoined for a novelty look in 
 the Haymarket playbill 1 
 
 I ' Romeo Miss CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN. 
 
 Juliet .... MR. CHARLES KEAX. 
 
 " There would be attraction in this, at least for one night. 
 Nor have we the least doubt that the representative of Juliet 
 would have at hand certain sagacious critics, who would dis- 
 cover in his portraiture of the virgin of Verona graces and 
 delicacies and profundities hitherto unknown or unacknow- 
 ledged. ' Miss O'Neill's Juliet was too feeble, Miss Fanny 
 Kemble's Juliet too forcible ; whereas, Mr. Charles Kean's 
 Juliet united the spirituality of the angelic nature with all 
 the ardour of purely human passion.' Mr. Paul Bedford has 
 played Polly Peachum, why should not Mr. Charles Kean 
 play Juliet ? Any way, we make a present of the hint to 
 the Haymarket manager." 
 
 " March IStJi, 1855. ' 
 
 " Les Jeux Innocents translated into A Game of Romps is 
 the last edition to the French pastry nightly on sale at the 
 Princess's. We learn from a friendly daily critic that it far 
 surpasses the original. But this of course. The same critic 
 (a critic may be like a pair of bellows, purchased and re- 
 tained to puff upon the premises) that Mr. C. Kean's Louis 
 XI. has even outlived the hard frost. ' Neither the severity 
 of the weather, nor the absorbing interests of passing events 
 have withdrawn public attention from this great achievement 
 of dramatic art, which continues to be a leading topic of con-
 
 APPENDIX. 389 
 
 versation among all play-going circles.' At this moment, the 
 death of Nicholas in St. Petersburg is nothing to the death of 
 Louis XI. in Oxford-street ! The critic declares that 
 
 " ' It is unquestionably the greatest triumph of the legiti- 
 mate acting which the modern stage can show, and is entitled 
 to rank in perfect parallel with the best efforts of the mighty 
 departed masters of earlier times, who sleep in their laurels, 
 and are usually pronounced unapproachable.' 
 
 " More : much more. Even as a live pug may be said to 
 be better than a dead lion, so may a yelp in Oxford-street be 
 better than a long sleep hi Westminster Abbey." 
 
 " April 15th, 1S53. 
 
 " At the Princess's there was a French opera without the 
 music ; and, we are of course told, the thing was better for 
 the want of harmony. Wring a skylark's neck, stuff it, stick 
 it in a fixed posture, and then put it in a fine framed and 
 glazed case ; it is a much better skylark than when singing 
 at "heaven's gate." The Princess's workman has translated 
 7*15 bird from life to death, and put it it is allowed on all 
 hands in a very fine case. The translation is by the stock 
 translator; the manager, like Hissgoose, the tailor, working 
 up his stuff on the premises 
 
 " In a few hours after this sheet shall be published, the 
 Emperor and Empress of the French will have arrived in 
 England as the guests of Queen Victoria. They are, it seems, 
 to go in state to the opera ; they may, too, visit the hippo- 
 potami at the park (they are at least not taken from the 
 French); but we do not see what can be offered to their 
 majesties at any of the theatres that they may not have 
 witnessed in the Paris original. Certainly, Astley's, as the 
 theatre for real English sports, is an exception ; and they 
 might make a day, calling at the Bank, the Mint, and the 
 Tower, on their way to visit Shakespeare at the Standard, 
 where, no doubt, Louis Napoleon would decorate Miss Glynn
 
 390 APPENDIX. 
 
 with the star of the Legion of Honour. All this is, however, 
 a matter of conjecture ; one point alone is certain. The 
 physicians of the Empress have, under all circumstances, em- 
 phatically forbidden her visit to the Princess's to see Mr. 
 Charles Kean's horrible death-faces in Louis XI. If their 
 majesties resolve to patronise the great actor ' from the 
 French,' it is understood that Mr. Kean will receive a con- 
 siderate command from Windsor to die in his own dressmg- 
 
 " May 20th, 1855. 
 
 " HENRY THE EIGHTH, produced at the Princess's on Wed- 
 nesday, 'regardless of expense,' must wait until next week. 
 It will keep. We are, however, happy to record the fact that 
 the play has again restored Mrs. Charles Kean to the stage, 
 from which to the loss of the public, and equally to their 
 regret severe illness had too long detained her. The 
 theatre can certainly ill spare the ' better half of Mr. Charles 
 Kean." 
 
 " May Ttth, 1855. 
 
 " THE PICTORIAL ' HENRY VIII.' Postponing to another 
 day the task of criticising Mr. Kean's Cardinal Wohey, as a 
 piece of acting, let us not delay the report of the highest 
 praise of 'Henry VIII.' as a piece of stage furniture. It is 
 allowed on all hands some of the critics have duly gone into 
 hysterics on the matter that for a stage-show, Mr. Kean's last 
 handiwork is by far the finest thing of his genius ; and there 
 is no doubt that Mr. Kean is a great, a very great, uphol- 
 sterer. His Oxford-street neighbours, Messrs. Jackson and 
 Graham, had better look well to their garlands in their carpets 
 and hearth-rugs. A gifted nobleman has immortalised his 
 name in a table ; and Pembrokes are to be found in smallest 
 lodging-houses. Who knows 1 Mr. Charles Kean may enrich 
 posterity with an original boot-jack ; or, haply, in finest
 
 APPENDIX. 391 
 
 moment of inspiration, bequeath a cribbage-board with self- 
 acting pegs, to happier generations. 
 
 " For ourselves though not, we hope, wholly insensible to 
 the influence of the beautiful, we would rather of the two have 
 Shakespeare acted, than Shakespeare merely furnished. We 
 care not that ' Macbeth ' is got up regardless of expense, if 
 Macbeth himself is every bit as wooden as Duncans bedstead. 
 Thus, it is possible that ' Henry VIII.,' as presented, so to 
 speak, under bare poles at the Haymarket, with Macready 
 for Wohey, may, to the lover of the art and the worshipper of 
 the poet, be even more valuable than the Wolsey of Mr. 
 Charles Kean with all the surrounding upholstery. According 
 to the Times' critic whose amiable weakness it is to press 
 too much assistance upon those he would serve Mr. Kean's 
 Wolsey is especially admirable, inasmuch as he is not ' intrin- 
 sically an awful personage.' The butcher's son is to be seen 
 through one of the princes of the church. ' The look,' says 
 the critic, ' that he darts at Campeggio, when the latter would 
 
 walk before him, has a sort of ' Who the d are you ? ' 
 
 about it that is inimitably consequential.' Could Shakespeare 
 see this, is it to be doubted that he too would dart a look at 
 Wolsey, as butchered by the actor, asking in the look 'Who 
 
 the d are you ? ' The critic talks of Mr. Kean's 'almost 
 
 professional depreciators.' Certain writers have properly de- 
 nounced such atrocities as ' Mephistopheles,' the 'Courier of 
 Lyons,' and so forth, as so much stage pollution ; and, of 
 course, they are the depreciators of the manager who sins in 
 them. 
 
 " Mr. Kean has endeavoured to prepare the town for the 
 blinding glories of his scenery and furniture, by issuing a sort 
 of play-bill that, at least, bears his name. Certainly, there 
 are two or three curious bits, whose paternity is unmistake- 
 able. They have the true flatulent pedantry the real prig- 
 gishness of the playhouse monarch. Mr. Charles Kean thus 
 identiBes himself with the Established Church : 
 
 " ' This play is supposed to have been written in 1601,
 
 392 APPENDIX. 
 
 fifty-five years afcer the death of the monarch, a portion of 
 whose -life is therein delineated. The five acts occupy twelve 
 years of a busy and most important reign (commencing in 
 1521, and ending with the christening of the infant Elizabeth 
 in 1533), and include those leading incidents, which were the 
 human means of establishing the STANDARD religion of our 
 country.' 
 
 " What does the man mean by the ' standard religion 1 r 
 Would he, even from amidst his stage carmine, pay a com- 
 pliment to the Archbishop of Canterbury 1 Would he, with 
 his hare's foot pat the Established Church on the cheek, as 
 the only standard faith, all sects of dissent being no better 
 than so many pocket-pieces 1 We fear the manager has had 
 so much to do with stage angels hanging them to invisible 
 wires for ' effect ' that he believes himself the highest Church 
 authority. Certainly, he never lets the chance of a stage 
 angel escape him. He says 
 
 " ' The ' Vision ' in the chamber of the dying Katharine, at 
 Kimbolton castle, replaces the introduced song of Patience,. 
 and the comparatively recent air of Handel, which change, I 
 trust, will be considered more appropriate, as bearing out the 
 queen's description of her dream, and preserving the original 
 idea of Shakespeare.' 
 
 " Upon this literal principle we might have the famous 
 ' Queen Mab ' speech of Mercutio illustrated by a moving 
 panorama. Mr. Kean would make a great hit with the 
 ' tythe-pig ; ' and, perhaps, kindly explain in his play-bill the 
 origin of tythes from the original Hebrew 
 
 " Mrs. Charles Kean was enthusiastically, nay, affectionately,, 
 welcomed on her return to the stage. We hope she may be 
 long spared to grace it. The manager himself thus speaks of 
 the return of Katharine : 
 
 " ' I cannot conclude this notice without an allusion to Mrs. 
 Charles Kean's return to the stage, after a long secession by 
 severe illness. It is only thus that I can record my appre- 
 ciation of the compliment she has received in the voluntary
 
 APPENDIX. 393 
 
 proposal of the ladies of the company, not representing 
 characters in the play, to appear as her 'ladies in waiting/ 
 Such an offer is the more valuable, as it combines a graceful 
 expression of personal esteem, with a zealous desire to uphold 
 the interest of the theatre.' 
 
 " Very good ; but we protest against this circumstance 
 being adopted as a precedent. We protest against any further 
 appearance of Mr. Charles Kean himself after an illness for 
 even managers who write on our 'standard religion' are 
 mortal attended by the Voluntary Principle. We hold up 
 our hands against the probability of a Sardancipalus, with a 
 volunteer guard of Assyrians in the persons of Brown, Jones, 
 and Robinson, to be further multiplied by Robinson, Brown, 
 and Jones. 
 
 " We have, for the present, confined ourselves to a notice of 
 the principle of re-production of Shakespeare by means of the 
 painter, the gilder, and the upholsterer. Now, we think there 
 ought to be something higher in the development of the drama, 
 than the art of the painter, and the handiwork of mechanics. 
 As the scenery and furniture have been made of the first 
 importance, by Charles Kean, he can scarcely complain if they 
 receive the first attention. For upon the high-pressure, double- 
 gilt principle of furnishing, rather than acting plays, it is not 
 impossible that a three-legged 'mediaeval' stool maybe reason- 
 ably considered, even before a Cardinal, and that Cardinal, a 
 Wolsey? 
 
 " June \0lk, ISou. 
 
 "TiiE 'PRINCESS'S' GALLERY. We have received several 
 letters in condemnation of Mr. Kean's trespass upon the front 
 rows of the gallery for the questionable accommodation of the 
 benighted individuals, doomed by their weakness to pay a box 
 price for a gallery elevation. This is a large tax for the sight 
 of a theatrical furniture warehouse ; but if a monomania will 
 pay it, we have nothing to say against the insanity. As to 
 wrong committed upon the gallery audience, they have the 
 best remedy in their own hands they can keep away. They
 
 394 APPENDIX.' 
 
 can see ' Henry VIII.' much better acted at the Standard for 
 a fourth of the sum required of them at the furniture depot at 
 the Princess's. Therefore, it is their own fault, and their own 
 gross extravagance, if they pay a shilling to hear a WoUey 
 gargle Shakespeare ; when, on the other hand, they may hear 
 delightful music admirably sung at Drury Lane for the small 
 charge of sixpence. One correspondent 'Justice' (who gives 
 liis name and address) avows that Mr. Kean did riot say 
 1 people of the gallery;' but 'gentlemen of the gallery.' For 
 the letter that appeared in our last we alike had the name 
 and address of the writer. We are, however, bound to give 
 the denial of 'Justice.'" 
 
 " July 8tlt, 1S55. 
 
 "PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. The severity of the summer appears 
 
 to have its effect upon the theatres Mr. Charles Kean's 
 
 furniture warehouse in Oxford-street feels the effect of the 
 hot weather, the upholstery of ' Henry VIII.' becoming some- 
 what neglected, Nevertheless, with a consummate priggishness 
 worthy of the Barnum of tragedy, the manager steadily puffs 
 his conjugal excellence, continuing to inform an enraptured 
 public of his happiness ' to announce that on this [the hun- 
 dredth] occasion, Mrs. C. Kean, whose performances have been 
 suspended for nearly a year and a-lialf by severe and pro- 
 tracted illness, will make her re-appearance.' Most happy 
 were the public to welcome the return of Mrs. C. Kean to 
 the stage, and most heartily do we hope that she may long be 
 spared to it ; for what Would become of us if given up to the 
 cruel tragedy of Mr. C. Kean, unmitigated by the graces of 
 his wife ? " 
 
 " July 22<f, 1835. 
 
 " MR. W. FARREN has finally retired from the stage to 
 the domesticity of his hearth ; where, we hope, he may long- 
 be the especial care of the fireside gods. Mr. Farren has 
 been nearly half-a-century an actor. He won his first suc- 
 cesses in Dublin, and, whilst a very young man, secured for
 
 APPENDIX. 395 
 
 himself a sudden and lasting popularity at Coven t Garden 
 and that, too, at a time when the stage boasted of very many 
 first-rate artists. Now, the stage lias two, or three, or four, or 
 (we fear we cannot go on) really fine actors. As an art, 
 acting in England is dying out ; now painted out by the 
 scene-painter, and now smothered under the velvet cushions 
 of the upholsterer. When Farren came out at Covent Garden, 
 Edmund Kean was a mighty Shakespearean presence at Drury 
 Lane. Farren bids adieu at the llaymarket, and Upholsterer 
 Kean furnishes Shakespeare with chairs and tables at the 
 Princess's ! A Kean of flesh and blood and a Kean of wood 
 French polished." 
 
 " A ufftist 31st, 1856. 
 
 " ' PIZARRO ' will be given on the reopening of the Princess's 
 to-morrow ; Mr. C. Kean in his farewell address of the 22d 
 inst. promising that Sheridan's play ' should be revived with 
 the same attention to details which has accompanied the 
 whole of the previous series of historical illustrations.' We 
 have no doubt that the spectacle will be very fine. ' Pizarro ' 
 is just the sort of play that may be fairly converted 
 into a clothes-peg. The rant and fustian of Sheridan, who 
 worked upon the old German translation as a mere thing to 
 draw money, entrapped George III. into passing applause 
 of the brilliant whig. Mr. Kean plays Holla : his intel- 
 lectual and histrionic qualifications are exactly up to the 
 part. As for the ' Winter's Tale/ we never saw so much 
 beautiful scenery with so much dreary acting. It was 
 Shakespeare not illustrated, but painted out. The whole 
 thing was a moving panorama. We confess that we prefer 
 a moving play." 
 
 " Oct. Wilt, 1856. 
 
 " ' A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM,' as painted at the Princess's, 
 and exhibited for the first time on Wednesday, must remain 
 for notice until next week. As the pictorial glories are quite 
 as bright as rainbows, but not so evanescent, they can wait."
 
 396 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Oct. 26th, 1856. 
 
 " ELEVATION OF THE DRAMA. In the Morning Herald 
 there was a long criticism on ' A Midsummer Night's 
 Dream,' as usual written 'on the premises;' in which the 
 retained critic declares that Mr. Kean has ' elevated the 
 national drama.' And so he has. He has hung it on a 
 clothes-peg." 
 
 "'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.' It is a great fact, 
 which nobody will therefore believe, that complaining, in time, 
 
 becomes a very tedious business Therefore, on purely 
 
 selfish grounds, we regret that there is no marked improve- 
 ment in the series of dramas undergoing ' illustration ' at the 
 Princess's theatre ; and we are, in consequence, doomed to 
 the dullest reiteration. 
 
 " In the first place, we have to see what all this illustration 
 comes to. No one can reasonably object to having an author's 
 scenes painted as carefully and as historically as possible. 
 That is of great service, and is, in fact, History as some of our 
 greatest writers have desired to have it. But Mr. Kean says 
 now, as he has before said, that he has not adopted the real era 
 of the play, because it was a less civilised era than another, 
 which he has therefore substituted. Now, if this principle be 
 once admitted as good law, where is it to end ? Suppose an 
 English play. Suppose Mr. Kean revives ' King John,' ' with 
 that attention to historical detail which has hitherto,' etc. 
 He will find, in all probability, very meagre information and 
 still more meagre civilisation to work upon. A dreadful di- 
 lemma, from which the escape is obvious. It is not Mr. Kean's 
 fault that the early centuries were brutal and ignorant, and 
 why should he be plagued with them when the nineteenth 
 century is ready cut and dried to hand 1 King John, there- 
 fore, instead of making his mark on Magna Charta, will at all 
 events take six easy lessons of Mr. Smart, and the deed will 
 be deposited with the barons' solicitors. ' The thunder of our 
 cannon,' that trifling poetic licence, will be fully supported, 
 and correct models of the last ordnance failures will be placed
 
 APPENDIX. 397 
 
 before the public as specimens of five hundred jears ago. 
 Thus is History taught at the Princess's. But why does the 
 manager sometimes ' deviate into sense ? ' Why was not the 
 trial of Queen Katharine modelled on that of Queen Caroline, 
 of which event we have far more copious accounts ? Such 
 questions might be endlessly repeated, if once the original 
 
 position be respected as sound policy 
 
 " Any concluding observations would sound like a summing 
 up. It may be done in one word. All the requisites for a 
 good representation of a drama are known and undeniable : 
 Are they here ? Certainly not. There is only one of the 
 elements, but that is surpassingly beautiful. But that is no 
 excuse, and we instinctively assume the black cap before 
 making our bow to Mr. Kean." 
 
 " Nov. 9th, 1S3G. 
 
 " THE 'DRAMA' AT THE PRINCESS'S. At other theatres there 
 is no insuperable obstacle to the restoration of a current dra- 
 matic literature ; at the Princess's there is such an obstacle. 
 At other theatres what is presented to the public consists at 
 least of drama in some shape, inferior in degree, or eccentric in 
 species, but still, good or bad, resting its main pretensions 
 upon recognised grounds of dramatic interest ; at the Princess's 
 alone an attempt is making, hitherto with a certain amount of 
 success, to substitute something else for the drama ; to subor- 
 dinate the play, whatever may be its merits, new or old, to the 
 spectacle; to make costume, scenery, and mechanism para- 
 mount to poetry and action ; to corrupt the taste of the spec- 
 tators by satiating them with gauds ; and ultimately to weaken 
 their sense of the moral dignity and beauty of the performance 
 by associating it with extraneous exhibitions which dazzle the 
 eyes and lull the judgment 
 
 " Now, in other theatres, the play, marred, or mutilated, or 
 travestied, is still ' the thing ;' but it is not the thing at the 
 
 Princess's It would be curious enough to speculate 
 
 upon the number of new plays of the highest class which
 
 398 APPENDIX. 
 
 might have been procured, and which might thus have given 
 an important stimulus to production in that branch of lite- 
 rature, for the 5,0007. said to have been expended upon the 
 scenery and properties of a single revival at the Princess's. 
 Tt is no doubt to be lamented that the system is inimical to 
 original production ; but even the total suppression of author- 
 ship is preferable to a breed of spurious pieces in which the 
 whole function of the dramatist should be to act as show- 
 man to the tailors and scene-painters. Literary Gazette. 
 [And for this the Morning Herald, by means of the hireling 
 critic of the manager, asks that Air. Kean should be 
 'knighted!']" 
 
 " March 15th, 1857- 
 
 " ' RICHARD THE SECOND ' has been produced at the Princess's 
 with all the elaborate pomp and splendour with which Mr. 
 Charles Kean ordinarily furnishes the text of Shakespeare. 
 Perhaps there is no play that can suffer less at the hands of 
 the scene-painter and decorator than 'Richard the Second;' 
 inasmuch as the play is comparatively deficient of great acting 
 situations. Indeed, it is rather a stage-chronicle than a drama, 
 and as such is susceptible of decoration. It is otherwise with 
 ' Macbeth,' for instance. In that play, ' the air-drawn dagger' 
 as seen by the actor ought to interest us more than the goblets 
 of the banquet-scene, however massive and however real. We 
 shall in our next speak at length of this last triumph of the 
 Princess's artists and decorators !'' 
 
 THE END. 
 
 R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET EILL.
 
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