John Keane

“ In time, he installed his son, Benjamin, in Birchin Lane in London to act as his agent and to sell cloaks. Keane’s career is a model of the intertwining of “merchandise, reading and writing,” all matters of importance to Puritans anxious to redeem their time on earth. [30]
Most London Puritans whose interests embraced first Plymouth and then Massachusetts Bay were merchants, but one was42 a prominent lawyer of the Middle Temple. This was “Counsellor” John White, so called to distinguish him from the minister, John White of Dorchester, another leader in New England colonization. ”

“ Keene, who is a restless old gentleman, and, moreover, quite green in the dignity of a land-holder, thought proper to turn his horse’s head, for this particular morning ride, directly towards these same “three eighties,” on which he had engaged Ashburn and his son to commence the important work of clearing. Mr. Keene is low of stature, rather globular in contour, and exceedingly parrot-nosed; wearing, moreover, a face red enough to lead one to suppose he had made his money as a dealer in claret; but, in truth, one of the kindest of men, in spite of a little quickness of temper. ”

“ Kean now transferred his services to Covent Garden, where, as Shylock, he made his first appearance on 15 Oct. 1827. Here he remained for the season, playing no new part. In May 1828 he played Richard III at the Théâtre Français, Paris, under the patronage of the Duc d'Orléans. Some curiosity was excited, but no appreciation. His visit was, however, commemorated in ‘Kean, ou Désordre et Génie’ by Alexandre Dumas, produced in 1836 at the Porte Saint-Martin. Forgiving his son Charles, Kean appeared with him on 1 Oct. ”

“ His father, Samuel Browne Keene of Furnival's Inn and Ipswich, was a solicitor, and died in 1838; his mother was Mary Sparrow, the daughter of John Sparrow of the Old, or Ancient, House, Ipswich, which stands in the Butter Market, and had been occupied by the Sparrow family for more than three centuries. Charles Keene was educated at the grammar school in Foundation Street, Ipswich. When he quitted it, at sixteen years of age, he came to London to enter his father's office. The law was found to be uncongenial by one whose taste for drawing was already manifest ”

“ He was presented with a tame lion with which he might be found playing in his drawing-room. The prizefighters Mendoza and Richmond the Black were among his visitors. Grattan was his devoted friend. In his earlier days Talma said of him, “He is a magnificent uncut gem; polish and round him off and he will be a perfect tragedian.” Macready, who was much impressed by Kean’s Richard III. and met the actor at supper, speaks of his “unassuming manner ... partaking in some degree of shyness” and of the “touching grace” of his singing. Kean’s delivery of the three words “I answer—NO!” ”

“ His Octavian was preferred to Elliston's; and Stephen Kemble told him that his Hotspur and Henry IV. were superior to those of his brother, John Kemble. Kean thought of London. "If I could only get there, and succeed! If I succeed, I shall go mad!"
There was much to be suffered by Kean and his wife before that triumph came. For lack of means, they have to walk from Birmingham to Swansea. Two hundred miles, and that poor lady may be a mother before she accomplishes half of them! They wend painfully on, pale, hungry, and silent; twelve miles a day ”

“ The eye would be pleased without the taste being offended; and there would be no tremendous burst of human passion cast into the background by the predominance of hats and feathers. "King John" at the Princess's, we pronounce, on this ground, to be a great success as a spectacle, but a failure as a play. Mr Kean has great merits; quick appreciation, sound intelligence, and occasionally a burst of something which, if it is not genius, is describable by no other word ”

“ His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk; and his mother was an actress, Ann Carey, grand-daughter of Henry Carey. When in his fourth year Kean made his first appearance on the stage as Cupid in Noverre’s ballet of Cymon. As a child his vivacity and cleverness, and his ready affection for those who treated him with kindness, made him a universal favourite, but the harsh circumstances of his lot, and the want of proper restraint, while they developed strong self-reliance, fostered wayward tendencies. ”

“ Ben, who probably had a great respect for learning, in consequence of his having none himself, gave a military salute to Mr O’Gallagher, saying, with his hand still to his hat, “A new boy, sir, come to school.”
“Oh, by the powers! don’t I know him?” cried Mr O’Gallagher; “it’s the young gentleman who bit a hole in his grandmother; Master Keene, as they call him. Keen teeth, at all events. Lave him with me; and that’s his dinner in the basket I presume; lave that too. He’ll soon be a good boy, or it will end in a blow-up.” ”

“ You appear to have a charmed life, Mr Keene.”
“I hope I shall long live to do credit to your protection, sir,” replied I.
“I hope so too, Mr Keene,” replied the captain, very kindly; “I sincerely hope so too. In all this business you have conducted yourself very manfully. It does you great credit, and your mother ought to be proud of you.”
“Thanky, sir,” replied I, for I was overjoyed at such language from Captain Delmar, and I thought to myself, if he says my mother ought be proud of me, he feels so himself. ”

“ Bob Cross, when he had heard me without interruption, said, “Well, Master Keene, there’s no telling what a man’s born to till after he’s dead, and then it’s all known: but it does appear to me that you are born to something out of the common. Here you are, not sixteen, not only playing a man’s part, but playing it manfully. You have been put in most difficult situations, and always have fallen upon your feet in the end. You appear to have an old head upon very young shoulders; at one moment to be a scampish boy full of mischief, and at another a resolute, cool, and clever man. ”

“ Lord de Versely is dead.”
“That is bad news, sir,” replied Cross—“very bad news, worse than losing the frigate. But, Captain Keene, we must have our ups and downs in this world. You have had a long run of good fortune, and you must not be surprised at a change. It is hard to lose your frigate and your father at the same time—but you have not lost your life, which is a great mercy to be thankful for.” ”

“ This depression of spirits remained with me during the time that I remained at Portsmouth, when, having obtained leave, I set off for London, and on arrival, put up at a fashionable hotel in Albermarle Street.
Chapter Thirty.
The next morning I called at Lord de Versely’s and sent up my card. I was immediately ushered up, and found myself in his presence. Lord de Versely rose from his sofa, and took my hand. “Keene, I am very glad to see you. I am proud that an élève of mine should have done me so much credit. You have gained all your rank in the service by your own merit and exertions.” ”

“ He had the canny Scot in him, as his grandmother had. It gave a unique flavor to his wit, and shone in and out behind his remarkable genius for affairs in that public service for which he was so essentially suited.
I went to see him in his last days in New York, where he was under treatment for some nervous malady, and he talked of Keene as if nothing had intervened. "My tall schoolmaster," he said, "was the most fascinating person I have ever met. I felt a great confidence that he would not drop me into the snow. I have not always felt that same confidence in men since." ”

“ If I was a despot, I would suppress hebdomadal writing of sermons, and people should be forbidden instead of bidden to talk nonsense upon sacred subjects.
Monday, 11th.—At night the theater was very full, and the audience pleasant. During supper my father, Charles Mason, and I had a long discussion about Kean. I cannot help thinking my father wrong about him. Kean is a man of decided genius, no matter how he neglects or abuses nature's good gift. He has it. He has the first element of all greatness—power. ”

“ Benjamin Keene, for such was his name, was certainly endowed with several qualities which were indispensable in a valet; he was very clean in his person, very respectful in his deportment, and, after the sovereign of Great Britain, looked upon the Honourable Captain Delmar as the greatest person in the world. Moreover, Benjamin Keene, although only a private marine was, without exception, one of the handsomest men that ever was seen and being equally as well made and well drilled as he was handsome in person, he was the admiration of all the young women. ”

“ He played the feigned character as if it were reality. Now we believe that a spirit of raillery should be thrown over the part, so as to carry off the gravity of the imposture. There is in Mr. Kean an infinite variety of talent, with a certain monotony of genius. He has not the same ease in doing common things that he has energy on great occasions. We seldom entirely lose sight of his Richard, and to a certain degree, in all his acting, ‘he still plays the dog.’ His dancing was encored. ”

“ The triumph was accumulative, and it was crowned by the tent-scene, the battle, and the death. Probably no actor ever even approached Kean in the last two incidents. He fenced with consummate grace and skill; and fought with an energy that seemed a fierce reality.
Rae had sneered at the "little man," but Rae now felt bound to be civil to the great tragedian, and referring to the passage of arms in "Richard III.," he, having to play Richmond, asked, "Where shall I hit you, sir, to-night?" "Where you can, sir," answered Kean ”

“ Of a stature rather below the middle size, and with a countenance that forms no index of the heroic mind, the younger Kean seems studious of displaying all those peculiarities of attitude, action, and intonation which we have been accustomed to regard rather as defects than as excellencies in his justly celebrated father. ”

“ Garrick could not sing; I can. Lewis could not act tragedy; I can. Mossop could not play comedy; I can. Edmund Kean never wrote a drama; I have.’ In the last comparison Elliston was altogether out. In the cheap edition of ‘Their Majesties’ Servants’ I have inserted a copy of a bill put up by Kean, in 1811, at York, in the ball-room of the Minster Yard of which city Edmund Kean and his young wife announced a two nights’ performance of scenes from plays, imitations, and songs, the whole enacted by the poor strolling couple. ”

“ Not so Keene, however, the fourth of the quartette. A hard-bitten man of fifty, Keene had been all over the world and had done everything, spoke half a dozen languages, and now very frankly made a large living in the racing game. He played polo and had a horse-raising outfit in India for the game, and was now on a leisurely return to the Far East after a year spent at home. Crude in some ways, he was in others astonishingly cultured, and Ogilvy had long since marked him down as that rarest of men—utterly dependable and a good sport. ”

“ One thing alone, amidst all the confusion and obscurity, seems certain; namely, that the Careys were in Richardson’s company before Kean joined it, and that, whether or not he believed them to be his parents, he dropped their acquaintance when he threw off their authority. Raymond says that when Kean, after his marriage, visited Bartholomew Fair, he was recognised by Carey, who was standing on the parade of Richardson’s theatre, and ran down the steps to greet him; the tragedian seemed [Pg 227] mortified, treated the strolling actor coldly, and “slunk away, literally like a dog in a fair.” ”

“ George Keene applauded with both hands as he sat at her feet looking out over the plains. Once more it seemed incredible that there should be such a place on God's earth as Hodinuggur.
'Well, some of us will be sitting at the gate thereof disconsolate ere long,' remarked a man leaning against a rock, with a cup of black coffee and a cigarette. 'By the way, Keene, we might share a tonga the day after tomorrow.'
'Mr. Keene is not going,' interrupted Mrs. Boynton quickly. 'No one wants him down there, and we need dancing men dreadfully. ”

“ Since his chivalrous adventure Keene had not before remembered the Logans and their dinner.
"First south-bound train, six-twelve."
"But—oh, she'll never wait for that! I tell you she was frantic! She'll walk back!"
"Oh, sure she will! Huh!"
"And I—see here, you've got to help me out of this! There's a good fellow! You take charge of this youngster until the mother—"
"Not on your life!" Keene produced a ten-dollar bill, but the man continued to back away, repeating: "No, sir, not on your life! I have trouble enough of my own!"
"But I'm due in Macalac—how far is that?"
"Next station. ”

“ Mr Keene was of so retiring a disposition that, as far as he could prevent it, no drawing of his were ever sold or exhibited in public. He was essentially the artist of the middle and lower classes, and drew with unerring and not unkindly appreciation the well-to-do city man, and the gay young clerk, the medical student, the old lady of the omnibus, the railway porter, the cabdriver., 'Arry and 'Arriet, and the street ragamuffin. ”

“ Kean has passion and energy enough to afford to lend it to the circumstances in which he is placed, without leaning upon them for support. He can make a dialogue between a master and a servant in common life, tragic, or infuse a sentiment into the Iron Chest. He is not afraid of being let down by his company. Formal dignity and studied grace are ridiculous, except in particular circumstances; passion and nature are every where the same, and these Mr. ”