MISCELLANEOUS.

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 348, 7 April 1868, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Mr Charles Kean's death had been for some time expected, and it occurred on the 22nd of January, at his house near Kensington Gardens. He was but 57 ; but he had led an energetic and wearing life, and his nature was exciteable. It is understood that tho fatigues of the last voyage to the colonies completed the waste of his powers, and that he had contemplated only a farewell appearance before retiring altogether from the profession. The usual diversity of opinion, in regard to the artistic merits of an actor has not arisen, Mr Charles Kean's position having been long since settled by all who are capable of forming a judgment. He was without genius, but his talents and painstaking habits enabled him to holdthe tirst place among actors of the second-rate school, and at present we have no firstrate school. He was more thoughtful than Wallack, and more pleasant than Phelps. His Hamlet was much liked by many, but it was fragmentary. His Louis XI. was the best and finest thing he ever did, and though the character of the King is intensely disagreeable, and he never manifested a noble emotion, Kean saved him from our utter dislike by an infusion of humor. This is the part by which he will be remembered. Mr Kean's funeral took place at Keydell, whore he had bought a small estate. He leaves a fortune, which would have been far larger, but for his enormous outlay at the Princess's Theatre, where he indulged his honorable ambition to make his revivals splendid and famous. By the accomplished lady whom he married, Miss Ellen Tree, he leaves one child, a daughter. In all the private relations of life, Mr Kean was exemplary, and he was very kind to his subordinates. Perhaps, when many of his personations are forgotten, old dancers will remember the manager who never

stopped their salaries because they were ill. A Handsome Provision - for a Younger Son. — The term "A younger sun's fortune" is usually held to imply a scanty provision, very far removed from anything like competency, still less the possession of wealth. But the phrase has just now earned for itself quite another distinction in tho jjersou of a younger son" — in fact the very youngest — of Mr Crawshay, the millionaire, so well known as the proprietor of the extensive iron works at Merthyr Tydvil and Clyfartha. This gentleman, it is reported, takes under the will of his father property to the value of about two millions by absolute bequest, and being named residuary legatee, and in remainder io car tain revisions, it is comunted tint he will eventually be entitled to something very little short of another million. All this sounds quite fabulous ; but it seems thai; Mr Crawshaj', instead of P'^ssssiii'^ property to the value of about f >ur millions only, as was understood at the time of his death, has in reality died worth very nearly seven. Supposing such a capital yi skied an average interest of six per cent. — by no means an exaggerated interns'; — there would be a:i income of upwards of forty thousand pounds a year in the possession of one man, and the manner in which such a rent roll must needs accumulate can easily be imagined. It would seem, however, that Mr Crawshay, though he ' had "invested" in every possible "eligible" security, had, nevertheless, a i dne respect for the three per cents. He appears to have been one of the largest individual holders of consols in the kingdom, and it is narrated that a few days ago, on the transfer of hi 3 funded property becoming necessary for testamentary purposes, it was found that a signature or two j was changing the proprietorship of eight hundred thousand pounds ! A broker's commission oh such transfers is reckoned at half-a-crown in a hundred pounds, which in the present instance would yield just one thousand pounds for about ten minutes' easy work. Despite, however, his thus choosing to exhibit a marked preference in the distribution of his wealth, Mr Crawshay is understood to have provided in a most liberal manner for all who had recognised claims upon him. — Cones, of Saunders. Prevalence op Famine. — The extent to which famine prevails in various parts of Europe and on the southern shore of the Mediterranean is somewhat remarkable. The St. Petersburg correspondent of the London Morning Herald states that the distress amongst the poorer classes in j llussia, owing to the bad harvest, is in many parts of the country very severe. At, the opening of the Provincial Assembly of Novgorod, the Governor recommended a liberal vote of money to supply the peasants with the means of subsistence. The Governor of Olonetz opened the Provincial Assembly of that government with a similar address. With the accounts of suffering in Sweden we are already familiar. In Eastern Prussia the destitution is so severe that members of the royal family have volunteered to obtain contributions, and Parliament has appropriated considerable sums, which thus far prove inadequate. Not only in France, but along the northern coast of Africa, the lack of a good harvest is general. According to a recent letter from Paris, the number of deaths in Algeria within the last six months, from starvation, excaeds 100,000. This, the correspondent asserts, is no exaggeration. In the adjoining government of Tunis, from the I sea coast to the interior, there are numerous deaths from starvation. Last year complaints of the scarcity of food were seldom heard outside of India.