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Leader (1850-1860), 13th August 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 942, Untitled Article

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      recorded , l ^ o satisfactory result can be come to in the Italian question that does , not carry out these . It is not to be supposed that a conference or congress will arrive at this at once . Italy is still in travail , and the European mind will have to go through many phases before the solution can be entertained , many inore , perhaps , before it can be realised . Having engaged in commerce with Rosetti , we find him navigating a bark and lying south of

      Jesus Maria , when He was attacked by two Brazilian vessels . TEs was his first battle ; wherein , too , he was wounded ; but his crew were victorious . In his next battle , he was more fortunate . He , and thirteen companions , had to encounter 150 opponents . The adventure occurred in Brazil . The next chance that befel him was that of shipwreck . For this , however , he was speedily consoled by his marriage with Anna . All his recollections of this brave woman are touched

      with a tender melancholy . It is impossible for us to pursue Garibaldi through iali his adventures ^ We may note , in passing * that his first child was born at San Simon , in 1840 ; and that in the course of his fortunes he turned cattle-drover , or trappiere . At Montevideo his thoughts were yet onltaly . They follow : — "I conceived the idea of performing an important . service for my own country , while devoting myself to that in which I was residing . I soon perceived that the spirit and character of the Italians needed great efforts > to raise them from" the depressed state in which they existed in fact , as well as in the opinion of the world ; and I was determined to elevate them , by such a practical training as alone could secure the end . .

      * ' By means of Napoleon ' s treachery to the cause of liberty , vtoch he had pretended to espouse on entering Italy , that unhappy country had been led to a ruin more deep and complete than any of the other of his victims ; for she had been , more than any other , reduced to spiritual slavery , as well as temporal . The allies ( with Protestant Prussia and England among them ) had restored the papacy along with monarchy and aristocracy ; and yet the Italians were vilified as a degenerate race , and falsely accused of having brought their misfortunes upon themselves , by their ignorance , fanaticism and pusillanimity . "

      The protestantising of Italy is a bold notion , yet probably her delivery will , alter all , come by some such means . Perhaps England will not be able to act as she ought , until the advent of that possible regeneration . Let us respect Garibaldi and his Free Lancers , who are at liberty to pursue a course untrammeled by diplomatic formulae . He never despaired , he says , of Italy , Whosoever would understand the man should read this biography ; "wherefore we commend it earnestly to our readers .

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      THE LIFE AND THEATRICAL TIMES OF 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 1860 to 1859 . By John William Cole , 2 vols .- —Eloliard Bentley . The purpose of these volumes is evident . In them Mr . Kean has , in the name of another , put forth a register of the events of his management sit $ he Princess ' s Theatre , with so much of a memoir of himself as shall serve to introduce the great transaction of his life , and form the vehicle of his claim to be hereafter . remembered . This might have been done by means of an autobiography ; 1- « . « J > 4 * Tks * Mj *» nwiiia no oI-o ^ as ^ , n tno nvafnAa AmAi > f . i /\ nfi 4 uiaww

      VU , U WJV 3 H 3 nciC j « o Di * t * i /« vi . UA vuv > ) viyvjuwvuH to that mode ; and it would , besides , have been too direct in its application , and required another tone than that it was thought desirable to adopt . A judicious , or convenient friend , therefore , was considered preferable , who could marshal the materials according to order , and pronounce commendation with less restraint ; than the hero of the Story . It would not have been modest for Mr . JRLean , himself to have praised his management at the rate that Mr . Colo has done : and a stranger would not ; but much is excusable to the warmth of friendship ; and Mr . Cole has been careful that its mantle should , like charity , cover a multitude of Bins ) or rather call them , enthusiastic indiscretions .

      y pce g suppey Miss Glyn , whose good opinion was so desirable , and whose merits were not only acknowledged by the world , but by the management . Moreover , there is Miss Helen Faucit yet alive , high in fame and excellenc e * Either of these "would have been glad to occupy Mrs . Kean ' s place during her compelled absence . Why were not their services secured ? We are afraid that the answer is only too obvious , and furnishes an objection to actormanagements which is only too strong . Of such jealous potentates—so fearful of a free press—so despotically disposed to indite their own " articles , " no rival need expect to be admitted near the throne . It will not do to give another the ghost of a chance . This jealousy of the press seems to exist in Mr . Kean ' s mind , not only as to the present , but as to the past . Mr . Hazlitt , for instance , is sillily termed " a reporter , " and his articles condemned for unwholesome severity . One would have thought that Hazlitt ' s eloquent support of the elder Kean would have preserved his memory from such contempt . At any rate , he deserved recognition as one of the best of our dramatic < rriiiQs . Mr . Kean ' s notion is , that the gentlemen

      who hold office as such in the journals , are " subordinates" and " reporters "—not his judges , but properly the mere recorders , of ' his triuniphs ; or if they " hint a fault , or hesitate dislike , " necessarily his enemies . We had , indeed , heard that Mr . C . Kean was unfortunate in this respect , and habitually suffered an hallucination of mind amounting to disease ; but we are not the less surprised to find Mr . Cole thus furnishing evidence of the melancholy fact in the volumes before us . If Mr . Kean has had

      reason for his dissatisfaction , so much the worse for him in his dispute with Mr . Douglas Jerrold . If the current of public opinion did so run against the former , it was so far in favour of the latter . It is nOt to be supposed that the journals had entered into a combination against a single actor and manager , or that if condemnation were general it could be without reason . In point of fact , there never was . such a combination , nor such condemnation . From the beginning , the critics were , on the ^ contrary , only too disposed to favour Mr . Q . Kean ' s experiment at the Princess ' s Theatre ; and out of a regard to the well-known susceptibilities of the of remark

      manager , abstained from that severity which , in some instances , mi g ht have warned him frOm courses which , as it is confessed , led to great losses . However , Mr . C . Kean has paid the penalty of his infirmity ; and Mr . Cole has placed on record the judgment of Mr . D . Jerrold , which will be that also of the world , in relation to Mr . Kean and his quarrel with that gentleman and the press . It is impossible , perhaps , altogether to separate an ambitious actor froin the troublosome feeling of personal vanity ; but it is not , surely , every great performer who ¦ is consumed " with a festering anxiety to consider every man his mortal enemy , who is not prcparod to acknowledge him the eighth wonder of the habitable world . "

      This , irritability extends even to the audience . Again and again we are told intheso volumes , that modern audiences neglect to applaud , and that it is highly injurious to the actor , who needs the stimulant . This confirms a story we have often heard , that , in his provincial practice , Mr . Charles Kean has frequently addressed his country audience , requesting that they would show that they were pleased by then * plaudits , as without them he felt unable to do his best . Thp great

      opportunities for ats exercise . For instance , it is so ' self-contradictory that any part of it can be set against , any other part , and thus the advocacy of its pretended subject be demolished by matter extracted from its own pages . Thus we are told that the elder Kean was much annoyed by some newspaper criticism ; and that Mrs . Garrick thereupon counselled him to adopt her ; David ' s plan" write the articles himself : David always did so . " We find that the younger Kean is quite as sensitive to criticism , and are induced to suspect that in the work before us he has , under cover , adopted the old . lady ' s advice . But then a book is not a

      newspaper ! What a happiness in that fact ; for those newspapers are horrid things ! They are so often , too , " committed through the carelessness of their subordinates ! " . But this would not be objected to , it seems , when " the mistake inclines to the side of panegyric . " Oh , no 5 certainly not ; —all right then . " But when an opposite course is adopted , when certain individuals are selected for specific censure , and slashed right and lef t with a mortal tomahawk , the matter becomes too serious for pleasantry , and gives rise to painful reflections" !!! Of course it does . Much better ,

      therefore , for such individuals to write the articles themselves . They can ~ in books , —taut then there is the cost ; in newspapers , articles may —or might in Garrick ' s time — be inserted for nothing . Were it possible for those time , s to return , it is manifest fiat Mr . C . Kean would be supremely happy . Private testimonials may be substituted , however , both for newspapers and books , and right cheaply too , for they cost not even postage ^—sometimes not even an order for a private box . But mark what a . double-edged tool may even such a testimonial be . On the occasion of the production of Louis XI ; , Mr . Kean received several such

      private testimonials . One , and the most expressive Of the number , is " from Miss Isabella Glynw . " Note in the spelling of the name of this . eminent actress the superfluous n ; and this mistake is also committed in the signature . Is Miss Grlyh , then , so imperfectly known that such . an error is unimportant , and altogether natural ? If so , ' what is the value of her private testimonial ? Any letter from any possible person might serve the turn as well- And yet so it would appear to be ! For ' only a few pages on , we meet with this passage , in relation to Mrs . Kean ' s reappearance , af ter a long secession of nearly a year and a half , occasioned through severe illness : —

      ** It had been currently reported and believed that she had retired altogether into private life . * * * The apprehension of her loss was also augmented by the conviction that no rising star had given evidence of power , either present or prospective , to fill the much regretted vacancy . The recent recruits were not of a standard , to justify their being placed in the first rank :. There might be some promising candidates ready for judgment , but as yet they were unenlisted . , ' ? ? * As Mrs , ( Dibber , Mrs . Pritchard , Mrs . Barry , and Mrs . Yates , successively waned , Mrs . Siddons rose in her meridian splendour , and eclipsed them all . When she , too , withdrew , there was Miss O'Neil 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 . " Where was Miss Isabella . Glyn ( she of the one final n , not the two , we mean ) all this tune ? Had she not won a high reputation in Queen Katherine , Lady Macbeth , and , indeed , all the parts in which Mrs . Kean was now anxious to appear P And had she not also made some speoiol parts her own , such as Cleopatra , and the Duchess of Main , in -which in the world ' s judgment she need dread no rivalry P Did not Mr . Cole or Mr . Kean know this , any more than they knew how to spell her name ? If they did , might they not justly have thought that this lady was in a fair way of being esteemed Mrs . Kean ' s successor P nay .

      artist should rise above this abject condition ot dependence . The Kembles did . The good actor should gain his perception of the right by previous study , and learn to carry out JUia convictions regardless of then ? reception . He will , in fact , learn ^ to depend upon himself , and not on me house . Such also should be our conduct in the world at large . Why should the strong man loan for support on o ' thers P In fact , he will not . Such yearning for sympathy as Mr . Koan betrays is a confession of weakness .

      had already anticipated that honour by her aotual position on the stage of England P If they did not think so , why did they think it worth their while to quote her testimonial P To such mischievous and ridiculous results Mr . Cole ' s system of extravagant praiao necessarily leads . It is merely complimentary , or it is utterly false . We might pursue this portion of the subjeot further , and beneficially , too . If Miss Glyn ' a correspondence was really valuable , and no insult was really intended by the mis-spelling of her nanaej ^ how was it that the legitimate business of the Princess ' s theatre necessaril y stood still , during the long period of Mrs . Kean ' s illness ?

      This description . ol the book will show that it is open to obvious objections , and probabl y exposes both ita hero and writer to abundance of ridicule This hno , indeed , already set in ,- and it unfortunately happens that the work , both in its conception and execution , furnishes inexhaustible

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      CAMPAIGNING EXPHlilHNOHS . IN RAJPO 0 TA . NA ANDCENTKAL INDIA , PUltlNGTlIK SUrrKESSION OF THffl MUTINY , 1807—18 D 8 ., Vy Mrs . Henry Dulborly . —Smith , Elder nncl Co . Mrs . . DuDBiucT was struok in India with the great distance whioh still appeared to separate that country from England , and the necessity for draw-

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      Surelher la miht have been lid b 942 THE LEAP EE flSTo . 490 . Atia . Id , 1859

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 13, 1859, page 942, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2307/page/18/