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    No . 409 , . January 23 , 1658 . J THE LEA-DEB . 9

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    * hrouah organs which never pretend to original information on dramatic Xirs The real truth is simply this , " that Mr . Kean , looking at his former nosition . with the Court , and the position . he has long held vnth the nublic declined to submit to . the management of any person—declined , in fact in common parlance , to < play second fiddle '—unless at the express wish of the ' Court This was a stipulation that Mr . Mitchell , the entrepreneur , could hot avail himself of , the fact being-, not as was originally supposed , that Mr . Mitchell was a Master of the llevels engaged by the Court to gather together the most eminent professional artistes for the amusement ot its foreign quests but simply a bold speculator who had had the luck to induce a certain number of Royal personages and Serene Highnesses to come and be gazed at bv a hieh-price-paving mob , and who wished to provide for them , m their turn , some little amusement , in the shape of a well-acted play After Mr . Kean s refusal Mr . Phelps was next applied to , and i he tragedy of Macbeth , which was selected for the first representation on Tuesday night , was performed entirely by members of the Sadleks Wells company , with the exception ot the characters of Lady Macbeth and Macduff , which were respectively sustained

    , by Miss Helen Faucit and Mr . Howe . The house , wlncli was very preuuv decorated , was -filled , but not to excess , and the audience , apparently irozen by . the presence of Royalty , were apathetic and undemonstrative . The five long acts -were gone through solemnly and drearily m a silence broken only by the reception given to the two principal artists , and by few and far between rounds of applause . The Royal visitors , arriving at the most inopportune moment , during Mr . Pjiklps ' s delivery ot the Dagger soliloquy , were greeted with enthusiastic curiosity at its termination , settled themselves into their places , aud bore themselves with a patient resignation which should have been instructive to the many-headed . At the conclusion of the play the National Anthem was sung ; and with the appearance of the Keeleys m ' Twice Killed commenced the only enjoyable portion of the evening .

    A very different scene was at the same time taking place at the Pkincess s , where a most numerous and brilliant audience had assembled , determined to show Mr . Kean that his spirited conduct throughout this affair had been properly appreciated , and to countenance him by their presence and support . The stalls , dress circle , and private boxes were filled witli well-known laces , ¦ Guardsmen , litterateurs , ' swells / and all those whom the regular playgoer meets with on the first night of a new piece and on all important theatrical occasions . At the conclusion of Hamlet , Mr . Kean was twice summoned before the curtain , and on the second occasion he delivered the following most felicitous and diplomatic address : —

    " Ladies and Gentlemen , it is not my custom « ver to address . an audience except on the concluding-night of a season ; but I fear that on the present occasion , were I not to respond to so remarkable an ebullition of public feeling as that which you have exhibited towards me this evening , my silence might be wrongly interpreted . I am deeply sensible of your kindness , and beg you to accept my heartfelt thanks . It would be affectation in me to pretend not to understand the motives which have influenced this particular excitement , and it is another instance , in addition to the many I have . already received , that when a public man acts in a conscientious and upright manner the public will always afford him their sympathy and support . Throughout my life 1 have coveted the verdict of public opinion , professionally and socially , and this evening impresses on me a most gratifying conviction that my wishes are . realized . "

    The author of The Poor Strollers , the new drama at the A-T > eu ? hi , has shown Mmself an adept in the art of literary tailoring . Mr . Webster ' s part lits him like a coat , and the entire piece , with its copied characters , borrowed effects , and forcibly feeble dialogue , smacks strongly of ' cabbage . ' Ihe success of the production—and it was unequivocally successful—iurther proves ¦ what we have long suspected , that the Adelpjii audiences are , as a whole , utterly incapable of judgment or appreciation ; they have themselves fixed a standard of excellence , and imagine that whatever is offered to them m thenfavourite temple must be good . Mr . Webster ' s performance was , of course , careful and artistic , so was Mr . Seljjy's , so would have been Mr . W higut s had he but relleotcd that he is not supposed to see any audience belore him , and that therefore his winks , ' gag , ' and grimaces had better be suppressed .

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    MR . LEIGH HUNT'S NEW PLzVT . All who have observed , during the lust few weeks , that a new play by Mr . . Leigh Hunt lias been announced at the bottom of the Lycbfm playbills for speedy production , have known that , whenever the first night arrived , they would be gratified by seeing what is now but seldom seen on our stage—on original play written by a genuine English author , and combining the gaiety of immortal youth with the kindly knowledge and meditation ., of more than lmlf a century of servioe in all that can delight and ennoble Immunity . They knew union of

    that wit aud fancy , thai humour and poetry , would go together in a love ; and that the sparklo of animal spirits which would brighten , tho whole ¦ would scintillate from the eurface of underlying depths of thought and feeling . Many of thorn rememberod the production of the Legend of Florence at < 3 ovewt Gakdtsn in 1 S 10 ; and took it for a Juqxpy augury thut the success ( then achieved waa just about the time of the Queen ' s marriage , while this , tho isecond of tho poet ' s aoted dramas , is produced in tho sunshine of tho nuptials ¦ of the Queen ' s eldest daughter . If wo cannot entirely gel rid of superstiLiou from our imperfect human clay , let us bo glad that it sometimes assumes a

    •—genial-aB-well-aa-a-sullcu-aspfioL— _^ ^ Wednesday night , then , was a grout night at tho Lyceum , and Ewers ' Amazement * , or Uoiv will it End ? \ vua fairly started for a prosperous run . The jstory jnay bo briefly told . Tho Chevalier do Torsey , a soldier ol tho AarUa-• mentary forces during the wars of tho Erondo , is oupUirud by Captain De la Mourn , of Iko army ot tho Ifroudo ; ' but , as ho is about to visit his niibtross . ( the Countess de Montelais ) , De la Itomse allows hint to depart , on his giving ma -word that he will return with hia nitiuom , and ill company with tho lady , whom the captain , in his airy gallantry , would fain sco . Ho docs seo hor , aud

    finds that she is one of his former sweethearts , whom he had flirted with for a time , and soon forgotten . He gives De Torsey a packet of her letters to him . The lover fights with and wounds De la Rousse for his sarcastic bearing towards the lady , and resolves to break off with the lady herself on account of her first love- ^ a sin in liis estimation which is aggravated by her having given him a false impression on the subject . A friend of the Countess—one Louise de la Motte , a sister of charity—afterwards hands to the Countess another packet of letters , which in fact are none other than certain love letters addressed to herself'in former years by De Torsey / and these enable the lady to retu » n the bitter reproofs or her estranged admirer with tenfold force , on the ground that he has arrogated to his owji sex a right which he passionately denies to hers . They part : and the interest of the audience is now awaikened

    on behalf of De la Rousse , who is attended , during the sickness consequent on his wound , by Louise . She is veiled , and therefore he does not detect in her an old flame of his who , like many another , has long ceased to be thought of . But , after a little charming coquetry on her part , pleasantly dashed with raillery , she unveils ; and the foppish soldier , made thoughtful and sincere by suffering feels for the first time a genuine passion . He learns from Louise that Be Torsey and the Countess have quarrelled ; and he resolves , by means of ' some glorious , lovely lie / to bring them together again . This is effected ; and the piece concludes with the happy reuniting of the two pairs of lovers . Such is the outline of the story , and exquisitely is it filled np in the three acts of which the drama consists . * The four characters are amply sufficient , to sustain the interest at its full height throughout ; and the imbroglio is just complex enough to pique the spectators' curiosity , without , as in the plays of JFrench origin , being so ingeniously overwrought as to fatigue the audience in the endeavour to follow it . The story moves on with a quick , elastic step ,

    passing easily from situation to situation , and developing the characters of the lovers as they might be developed in real life , by the gradual influence of the events . The old , gay , ruffling , fighting , love-making days of the true Chevaliers are brought back with the hand of a master , and of one who has a peculiar genius for apprehending the airy and volatile spirit of those vanished times . The sunshine of the south lies basking over the -whole production , as over the troad plains where the grape ripens for the vintage of the bright and buoyant champagne . The very pathos is touched with golden glories of poetry , as tearful eyes with light . The beautiful dialogue between the two ladies on the divine unspoken language of music is one of the many exquisite bits of deep yet delicate feeling which are scattered through the drama , and which heighten while they relieve the rollicking animal spirits of De la Rousse . Yet , from our remembrance of Lovers " Aniaze ? nents as it was published some years ago in a periodical work , we are inclined to ask whether more of these tender and thoughtful passages have not

    been omitted in the representation . We feel sure that such is the case ; and we cannot but regret it , as the intention of the play is somewhat marred by the excisions . Notwithstanding the brilliant levity of De la Rousse , Mr . Hunt has evidently written this play with a deep and humane purpose . As in the Legend of Florence , he seeks to bring about a more equal , just , and n-enerous treatment of women by the rougher half of humanity . This is a feeling which at length—thank Heaven !—is being recognized by society , as we see by the legislation now just coming into force ; and no one has worked to that endlonger or more constantly than Leigh Hunt . Mr . Dillon , who acted the part of De la Rousse , was seen to more advantage than in tragic parts . If he missed the delicate shades and subtleties of the character , he played with force , gaiety , and animal spirits . Mr . Shore creditably sustained the difficult part of De Torsey . Mrs . Dillon was painstaking as Louise de la Motte ; and Mrs . 'Mellon ( Miss Woolgab ) played the haughty yet forgiving Countess with point and pathos . We would suggest , however ., 'to the last-named lady , that she is sometimes not sufficiently clear in her articulation . _

    . . . On the fall of Ihc curtain , the author was loudly called for , and appeared , led on by Mr . Dillon . It was a touchingly beautiful sight to behold the hero of a hundred fi g hts for liberty and humanity when the century was but young—the friend of Shelley and Keats—thcadoruer of familiar things with glorious associations—the poet , essayist , wit , and politician—receiving the heartfelt acknowledgments of men , several of wh om were not born till he was middle-aged , but who are all the freer lor his fearless pen , and the richer for the inheritance of his genius .

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    THE DRAMA IN PARIS . " Wednesday , " writes a correspondent in Paris , « I was present at a . general rehearsal of a new piece in three aots by Soujbb , entitled Feu JJonei , at the Tiii 2 atuk Fhancais . Tho moRt important character is confided to Kbgniisr , who plavs a lawyer ' s clerk with a finish and entrain not to bo surpassed . Tho whole cast is excellent ; Diilaunay , Monkosis , Gor , Mademoiselle Duuors , Mademoiselle Bboiian . A female speculator makes a most original character . There are eome situations in the piece of a very novel and amusing design , and of wit , arising out of thoso situations , moro than the usual proportion . The piece ie to bo produced on Saturday ( to-day ) . . Alkxaniorh Dumas the Yuuiigor ' s new play , A « Flls Nature ^ has achieved an immense success at the Gvjhnask . M Nevertheless , " Buys un accomplished critic , M . j > b Bbixov , ' ? moving , curious , reaL , oxoelktnt as it le , it has no moro relation to the dramatic « rt of Shakbpbauk and Moi-iftitn than photography , or mechanics ; and if this is the sort of dramatic art which the present and iho coming generations are destined to enjoy , jo vie console aiattinoiit do n tore plus jeune 1

    . , _ _„ , .. G ^ rmame , a . drama taken from Ermokd Auowt ' s remarkable story , is shortly to ^ e ^ produqodwatalvo ^ aAimu «« d _ w £ _ i' «< with pleasure that tho brilliant author of Tolla ia hard at work on ^ TMirrfor ^ the ~ V-AUDTovai ^ iar wluolwiflUft boar the curious and suggestive title of L'lmpasae . By tho way , MM . ijauniftitn and CArwNOU ' s Founts Bmmet Femtnet , written as a sort ot pendu it to tho ta Bonhommoa , has been a positive Jwiluro at tho V aowkvjlwc , ¦ »»»»« S « it Btill holds it » place in tho bills . Tho most eminent I ' nrifiijjn ur »" « " »™ : mously condemn it for t , ho laboured , and wiredrawn cynicism of tho writing , ana tho defective artifice of thu plot ; and tho audiences , by their i »*««™ " < £ » appear to resent tho attempt to make a second coup out ol tho first palpable hit .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 23, 1858, page 91, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2227/page/19/