plexioned ladies and gentlemen as lively as their hearts; and there was no end to the pleasure and perspiration of the evening, till the head of the gombah was fairly beaten in, and the last string of the bonjoo was scraped to pieces. I am, my dear Sir, Yours, truly, R. R. M. LETTER XXIII. THE LIONS OF KINGSTON. To MRS. HOLLAND. MY DEAR MADAM, Kingston, August, 1834. When it pleases the Jews to execute the drama, the poor victim to the injured laws of histrionic art is led forth before the eyes of the Hebrew multitude, (literally, in the place of public execution,) and, after various mutilations and unheard-of cruelties, that most unfortunate man, Mr. William Shakspeare, undergoes the extreme penalty of a representation of his plays in Kingston. Figure to yourself Romeo and Juliet in the agonies of such a representation-the most sentimental of lovers in the hands of a strapping Hebrew storekeeper-and the beautiful Juliet enacted by a lubberly Jew-boy from a linen-drapery establishment: fancy the awful strides of Capulet's daughter in the garden scene: imagine the terrific screams in the balcony, Romeo swearing like a trooper of Mantua by the "Blessed moon, That tips with silver all the fruit-tree tops-" that he is desperately in love: while the gentle Juliet, whose petticoats are rather too scanty to conceal the peeping extremities of a pair of Russia-duck inexpressibles, is straining her cracked voice, "To lure her tassel-gentle back again." But Romeo, in all probability is swigging some lastimported London particular at the wing, and can hardly be brought to time, while "Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud; As it is, however, she manages to "split the ears of the groundlings," and to inform the real "black Orangemen," and women outside the walls, "how silver sweet sound lovers' tongues by night;" while the genuine black-guards from the adjoining barracks in the gallery are struck all of a heap, at the idea of cutting up the poor fat buckra, in the tight hose, into little stars, and converting his grease into tallow candles,-which is the only way they can imagine of making the heavens look more bright by means of buckra's fatness. 66 On Saturday night the theatre is generally open in the cooler months: the lower tier of boxes is filled with the beauty and fashion of Israel in Kingston; and some wondrous pretty women there are too among the daughters of Zion in Jamaica, whose black, brilliant, oriental eyes possess the power of transfixing those on whom they chance to fall. No stony limits can hold love out," where so much beauty is often assembled in one small box. Excellent Stilton cheese and admirable salt butter may be purchased in the morning of some of the fashionables, who are the "observed of all observers," in this same theatre in the evening; but what signify Stilton cheese and salt butter in comparison with the diamonds and pearls, and precious stones, and trinkets of gold and silver, which glare and sparkle in the front row of the dress-circle. There is one of the performers who plays melodramatic characters with a considerable degree of talent. A passion for theatricals unfortunately induced him to assume the sock and buskin; he got tired of the stage, and, getting tired of the stage, he got tired of his life, and swallowed poison. To make assurance doubly sure, he dissolved a large quantity of an active poison in a very powerful menstruum; and, as a matter of course, having said, like Romeo," Here's to my love," he drank the potion. But the deuce of the matter was-the menstruum was so nauseous-the poison would not stay down: a medical man was sent for in great haste: the poor actor was said to be in the agonies of death: the doctor found him in a very perilous situation, but still entertained some hopes of his recovery. In the midst of this unpleasant scene, a brother actor of his entered the room in the slow and measured step of theatrical affliction, with one dusky finger pressed on his left temple, and a whole big hand expanded over the region of the heart: he walked towards the doctor. 66 This is a sad business, sir," said the doctor.-"Awful, sir!" responded the actor, in a tragic tone that one might expect to issue from the ghost of Talma-" very awful, indeed!" He approached the bed-side of the poor gentleman. "Ah, my friend," he exclaimed, "is it come to this? Is it thus that I see you? The play for Saturday announced but yesterday your name in the bills, and no chance of your appearance!" The poor gentleman, however, ultimately recovered, and is at present the only tolerable actor of the corps dramatique of this island. The actors are not always the only performers at this theatre, for the rising generation of the Hebrews sometimes performs pugilistic exploits. A scene of this kind lately occurred, which relieved the actors on the stage a good deal; for, as the attention of an audience cannot be directed two ways at once, however good the performance, it invariably turns from the stage to the scene of action in front of it. A country of which our earliest knowledge is only of a date of 340 years, can possess no other than very modern antiquities; but few even of these are to be found in Jamaica. Kingston was only built after the destruction of Port-Royal 142 years ago; consequently, no Spanish remains are to be found here, and, indeed, there are very few in any part of the island. Perhaps the objects of most interest, and of the greatest antiquity at present to be sought after, are the tombs and remains of the habitations of some of those republicans who took an active part in the downfal of the unfortunate Charles, and who fled here at the time of the Restoration. At that period, vast numbers of the proscribed republicans took refuge in Jamaica; and there is no doubt the spirit of liberty, the impatience of all control exercised by the authority of the mother country, and even the turbulent independence which has influenced the character of the colonial legislature, are to be attributed to the principles which the early republicans carried with them to this island. Among the partisans of Cromwell who fled here at his death, there were several of the regicides: Wait and Blagrove, two of the King's judges; the children of General Harrison; the son of Scott, from whose daughter the great proprietor Beckford was descended: the son of the President Bradshaw was also among the number of the republican settlers, but he appears to have arrived here prior to Cromwell's death. Colonel Humphrey, whose father had borne the sword before Bradshaw at the trial of the King, held a high military command here. Of persons who have signalized themselves in more peaceable pursuits, the names of very few are associated with colonial recollections. Kingston has been the residence of about half a dozen persons who subsequently distinguished themselves in literature and science: Smollett, Walcott, Lewis, Long, Brown, and Edwards, have been residents of Jamaica at different periods, and some of them sojourners at Kingston. But I ought not to omit, among its literary visitants, the talented author of the "Life of a Sailor;" nor the able author of "Tom Cringle" among its former residents, who has not chosen to divulge his name, and which I shall not presume to do, though it is tolerably well known to this community, and very generally respected by it; but in stating that he is neither an Englishman nor an Irishman, a sailor nor a soldier, I trust I am only lifting a very little corner of the veil of his mystery.* The house in which Smollett lodged in Kingston is still in existence in Harbour Street, and is now occu * If Tom were now to visit Jamaica, it would grieve his kind heart (for that he is a kind-hearted man, every reader of his must be persuaded) to find how few of those of his hospitable companions, whom he has made his heroes, are now in existence,-and how few of those who remain are in the prosperous circumstances in which he left them. The judge who never went to dinner without his ice-saw, has been gathered to his fathers; but "the one-handed Scotchman," who surmounted the objection to his costume at the door of the ball-room by converting his long trousers into knee-breeches, without the aid of his tailor, is still as vigorous and as genuinely Scotch as ever. Eschylus Stave still flourishes in Kingston, and time has not impaired his powers of elocution: the gentleman who broke his arm in the exploits after dinner, is sobered down to a quiet convivialist, the best-humoured man that ever was incurably argumentative. Old Steady in the west is just as imperturbable in the serenity of his nature, as the day he was burned out of the ship that was conveying him to Kingston; while the facetious Aaron Bang, at one time the Mercutio, and, at another, the Tristram Shandy of the novel, has merged into an elderly gentleman, the mercurialism of whose character is hardly to be recognised in the demure tranquillity of a pains-taking attorney. But the hand of time does not travel over the dial of human nature for a period of a dozen years, without affecting the elasticity of the spring which sets its machinery in motion; and that period has elapsed since the buoyant spirits of the planter of St. Thomas in the Vale furnished materials for the description of Aaron Bang's whimsicalities. It is not every Yorick, however, like Aaron Bang, who has been "a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy,"-whose jibes, and gambols, and flashes of merriment "were wont to set the table in a roar,"-who becomes estimable for his worth, when he has ceased to be remarkable for his jocularity. |