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 1850 to 1859

Front matter

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Chapter I

Charles Kean enters on the Management of the Princess's Theatre in Partnership with Mr. Keeley — " Twelfth Night " the Opening Play — The Great Exhibition of 1851— Its Success and Objects— London Inundated with Foreigners — Opinion of the French on English Character and Habits — Distinction between French and English Dramatists — The Theatres Crowded nightly throughout the Summer — Company engaged at the Princess's Theatre — Old Pieces revived — New Pieces produced — The "Gamester" on Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean's Benefit Night — Eemarks on the Moral Tendency of the Play and the Lesson it Inculcates — Conclusion of the Season — Its great Success — Retirement of Mr. Macready — His Farewell Benefit and Parting Address at Drury Lane — Short Summary of his Career — The Conspiracy against him in America

Chapter II

The Princess's Theatre under the sole Management of Mr. Charles Kean — The Season commences with the "Merry Wives of Windsor"— Cast of the Comedy — Critical Observations — " King John," the first great Historical Revival — Mrs. Siddons' Reflections on the Character of Constance — The "Corsican Brothers " — Many Versions and Burlesques of the latter — Its great Attractions at the Princess's — Supernatural Agency — Well-authenticated Ghost Stories — Mademoiselle Clairon's Disembodied Persecutor— Tender Precautions — Our Clerks — The Easter Spectacle, " Wittikind and his Brothers " — Mr. Lovell's Play of the "Trial of Love"— The Phantasm of the Vampire— The Pantomime of "Betty Taylor" — Close of the Season on the 14th of July — Number of Pieces performed — General Result .... 23

IV CONTENTS.

Chapter III

Mr. C. Kean's third Season at the Princess's — The Prima Donna — Melodrama of " Mont St. Michel" — Engagement and First Appearance of Mr. Wright — Mr. Westland Marston's Play of "Anne Blake" — Retirement of Mr. Bartley — Pantomime of "Cherry and Fair Star" — Mr. Douglas Jerrold's Comedy of "St. Cupid, or Dorothy's Fortune " — Revival of " Macbeth" — " Fly Leaf" — General Remarks on the Play as now represented — Easter Spectacle of "Marco Spada" — Revival of Lord Byron's " Sardanapalus " — " Fly Leaf" — Burlesques — Unfairness of the Practice — Mr. T. P. Cooke at the Princess's— Close of the Season . . . - . 40

Chapter IV

Correspondence between Mr. Charles Kean and Mr. Douglas Jerrold — Mr. Blanchard Jerrold's Statement in his Father's Life — Reasons for publishing the Letters — Their Tendency and Result — Incidental Observations .

Chapter V

Fourth Season of Mr. C. Kean's Management at the Princess's — "Sardanapalus" continued with unceasing Attraction —Sheridan's Comedy of the "Rivals" — The " Lancers," adapted from the French, by Captain L. Vernon, M.P. — "A Modern Fashionable Drawing-room" — Article in a Weekly Paper, on the Windsor Theatricals— Statements answered — Large Sums paid for original Dramas — Long and serious Illness of Mrs. C. Kean — Pantomime of the "Miller and his Men"— Revival of "King Richard III." — Colley Gibber's Alterations— Great Difference of Opinion on this Point — Reasons for adopting the altered Play — Result not Satisfactory — Supposed Causes — " Married Unmarried " — " Away with Melancholy " and " A Storm in a Tea-cup " — Magical Drama of " Faust and Marguerite "- Mr. C. Kean's Mephietoplieles — " From Village to Court " — The " Courier of Lyons " produced for Mr. Kean's Benefit — His Performance in the double Characters of Lesurguea and Dubosc — Close of the Season — Number of Pieces performed — Melodrama and high Tragedy

Chapter VI

Delayed Commencement of the Fifth Season at the Princess's — Cholera in London — Sudden Illness and Death of Mrs. Fitzwilliam — Death of Mrs. Warner — "Living too Fast" — Mr. Douglas Jerrold's Play of the " Heart of Gold " — Comparative Failure — Spectacle of " Schamyl, the Circassian Hero " — Pantomime of "Blue Beard" — Casimir de la Vigne's "Louis the Eleventh," adapted by Mr. Dion Bourcicault — Great Success of the Play — Extraordinary Impression made by Mr. C. Kean in the Character of the King — Critical Analysis — The Author, the Actor, and the Play — Complimentary Letters to Mr. C. Kean 113

Chapter VII

A " Game of Romps "—The " Muleteer of Toledo "— " How Stout You're Getting" — Revival of Shakespeare's " King Henry the Eighth," and Return of Mrs. C. Kean to the Stage— Critical Remarks on the Play and Performance — Garrick and Kemble's Alterations of Shakespeare — Mr. C. Kean's Cardinal Wolsey ; Mrs. C. Kean's Queen Katharine— Unprecedented Attraction, and Run of One Hundred Consecutive Nights — Acting Superior to Pageantry — Publication of " Henry the Eighth," with Preface and Notes — Restored Scenes and new Stage Arrangements —Condensation of the Fifth Act^End of the Season— Difficulties Surmounted — Concluding Reflections and General Summary 133

Chapter VIII

Renewal of Mr. C. Kean's Lease for Four Years— Season of 1855— 1856 at the Princess's — New Farce of " Don't Judge by Appearances—A " Wonderful Woman "—The "Critic"— The " Rivals" —The " Heir at Law"— "Every One has His Fault "—Mrs. C. Kean as Lady Eleanor Irwin— Pantomime on the Subject of the "Maid and the Magpie" — "Hamlet" — "Jealous Wife" — " Louis the Eleventh "— " Merchant of Venice " — Death of the great tenor Singer, John Braham — The " First Printer," a new Play by Messrs. C. Reade and Tom Taylor — Arguments on the Treatment of the Subject and its Historical Accuracy— Mr. C. Kean as Laurence Costar — " Faust and Marguerite " — " A Prince for an Hour " — The " Victor Vanquished " — Revival of vi CONTENTS.

the " Winter's Tale " — Extraordinary Kun of One Hundred and Two Nights — Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean as Leontes and Hermione — Close of the Season — Mr. C. Kean' s Address — Number of Shakespearean Performances — Death of Madame Vestris 156

Chapter IX

Seventh Season under Mr. C. Kean's Management at the Princess's Theatre— Eevival of Sheridan's "Pizarro," with Alterations and Additions — Prefatory Notice — Different Opinions as to the Literary Merit of the Play — Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean as Rolla, and Elvira — Historical Mistake of Killing Pizarro in the original Play — Great Success of the present Eevival — Sixty-eight Repetitions — Next Shakespearean Performance — "A Midsummer Night's Dream" — Early Alterations of this Play — Garrick's Opera in 1763 — The Fairies represented by Children— Colman's Adaptation in 1777— Eeynolds's Musical Version _at Covent Garden in 1816 — Madame Vestris's revival at Covent Garden, and Mr. Phelps's at Sadler's Wells — Both Excellent — Mr. C. Kean's Eestoration of the original Play runs for One Hundred and Fifty Nights during the first two Seasons — The " Kose of Amiens," a Comedy in two acts, and the Pantomime of " Aladdin," both by Mr. J. M. Morton 184

CHAPTEE X.

Eevival of " King Eichard the Second " by Mr. C. Kean — Previous Alterations of this play by Tate, Theobald, and Wroughton — Invariable want of Attraction; attributed to the essentially Undramatic Nature of the Subject — Edmund Kean in "Eichard the Second "at Drury Lane, in 1815— Macready in the same Part at the Haymarket, in 1851 — Summary of the Play and new Effects as produced by Mr. C. Kean — His Acting as the King — Mrs. C. Kean as the Queen— The Play runs for Eightyfour Nights without Intermission — General Eemarks — Eevival of the " Tempest " — Close of the Season — Two Hundred and Forty-two Shakespearean Eepresentations 202

CHAPTEE XI.

Vacation of Seven Weeks — Mr. and Mrs. Kean visit Venice — The Theatre opens on the 12th of October — Newly Decorated — The "Tempest" .Resumed — Buns altogether for Eighty-seven Nights — Eeproduction of " Eichard the Second " — Pantomime

CONTENTS. Vll

of the " White Cat " — Death of Lady Boothby, formerly Mrs. Nisbett — Mr. Kean elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries— Festival Performances at the Opera House on occasion of the Princess Royal's Marriage — Absence of Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean — Opinions expressed in the Papers — " Macbeth " at the Opera House — "Hamlet" at the Princess's on the same Evening— Demonstration in the Princess's Theatre on the 19th of January — Statement of Facts 226

CHAPTER XII.

Two new Farces, the " Stock Exchange, or, the Green Business;" and "Samuel in Search of Himself," on Easter Monday — Revival of " King Lear " from the Text of Shakespeare — Tate's Alteration — General and Critical Remarks — Death of Mrs. Davison, formerly Miss Duncan — Last Performance at the old Adelphi Theatre in the Strand — Peculiar Style of Audience, Actors, and Authors — Revival of the " Merchant of Venice " —Novelties Introduced — Mr. Kean's Shylock — Mrs. C. Kean's Portia — General Observations on the Play — Actors of the Principal Characters — The new Prelude of " Dying for Love " . . . . 248

CHAPTER XIII.

Death of the celebrated French Actress, Mademoiselle Rachel at Le Cannet, near Montpellier — Short Summary of her Theatrical Career — Her enormous Profits in a few Years — Her Will and Funeral Obsequies 274

CHAPTER XIY.

Proposal for the Establishment of a Dramatic College, or Asylum, for, Decayed Actors and Actresses — Public Meeting in the Princess's Theatre, Mr. C. Kean in the Chair — Report of Proceedings lead by Mr. Cullenford— Speeches by Mr. C. Kean, Mr. Dickens, Mr. Creswick, Mr. T. P. Cooke, Mr. Harley, Mr. B. Webster, Mr. Robert Bell, Sir G. Armytage, Mr. F. Matthews, and Sir W. De Bathe— Published Report of 1858, with amount of Subscriptions — Her Majesty becomes Patroness — Difference with Mr. Henry Dodd, and final Rejection of his Offer — Death of John Pritt Harley — Summary of his Career — Close of the Season at the Princess's — Mr. C. Kean's Address — General Observations . , - . , 293

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.

Mr. C. Kean's Farewell Season as Manager of the Princess's Theatre — "Merchant of Venice" continued — Second Revival of " King John " — Ditto of " Macbeth " — Production of " Much Ado about Nothing" — Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean as Benedick and Beatrice — Farce of "Thirty-three next Birthday" — Pantomime of the " King of the Castle " — " Jealous Wife " — " Corsican Brothers " — " Midsummer Night's Dream " — " Louis the Eleventh"— "Hamlet" 318

CHAPTER XVI.

Presentation of a Testimonial to Mr. Kean from the Committee of the Dramatic College — Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean's Annual Benefit in 1359 — Last Shakespearean Revival — "King Henry the Fifth" —Original Effects — Storming of Harfleur — Battle of Agincourt — Introduced Episode of Action — Letters from Historical Authorities— Mrs. C. Kean as the Chorus — Mr. C. Kean as King Henry — Unprecedented Attraction of the Play — Delineation of National Character— Fluellen identified with David Gam — Correspondence — New Comedietta, " If the Cap Fits " — " Henry the Eighth " — Banquet and Testimonial proposed by the Etonians — Notices in the Papers — Congratulatory Letters . 339

CHAPTER XVII.

Banquet and Testimonial to Charles Kean at the St. James's Hall, on the 20th July, 1859 — Speeches on that occasion — Concluding Summary - ... 360

THE

LIFE AND THEATEICAL TIMES or

CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A.

Chapter I

CHARLES KEAN ENTERS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PRINCESS'S THEATRE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MR. KEELEY — ' TWELFTH NIGHT ' THE OPENING PLAY — THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851 — ITS SUCCESS AND OBJECTS — LONDON INUNDATED WITH FOREIGNERS — OPINION OF THE FRENCH ON ^ENGLISH CHARACTER AND HABITS — DISTINCTION BETWEEN FRENCH AND ENGLISH DRAMATISTS — THE THEATRES CROWDED NIGHTLY THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER — COMPANY ENGAGED AT THE PRINCESS'S THEATRE — OLD PIECES REVIVED — NEW PIECES PRODUCED — ' THE GAME- STER' ON MB, AND MRS. C. KEAN's BENEFIT NIGHT — REMARKS ON THE MORAL TENDENCY OF THE PLAY AND THE LESSONS IT INCULCATES — CONCLUSION OF THE SEASON — ITS GREAT SUCCESS — RETIREMENT OP MR, MACRKADY — HIS FAREWELL BENEFIT AND PARTING ADDRESS AT DRURY LANE — SHORT SUMMARY OF HIS CAREER — THE CONSPIRACY AGAIKST HIM IN AMERICA.

IN August, 1850, Charles Kean, in partnership with Mr. Keeley, entered on a lease for two years, of the Princess's Theatre, in Oxford Street, and for the first time embarked on the " stormy sea " of management. The Keans and the Keeleys formed a rich coalition of

VOL. II. B diversified talent. The progressive events of their experiment were watched with unusual interest, howbeit they had fallen on evil days, and their net was cast in troubled waters. Much was wanting to revive public taste and restore the stage, generally supposed to be on the decline, to its former elevation. Mr. Phelps had already raised the standard of legitimacy at Sadler's Wells, and was making a manly stand ; but his scene of action was far east, and too much circumscribed by its locality to divert into unwonted channels the antagonistic tide of fashion. It was felt by all the ardent partizans of our national drama, that unless some compelling force could be applied to counterbalance the thousand and one causes which pressed heavily on its vitality, the most intellectual of all recreations stood in danger of being numbered with the things that were, and the art and its professors might calculate the hour when both should lie down peaceably together, inscribing over their common sepulchre — " Fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium, et in gens gloria Teucrorum."

Many of Charles Kean's friends trembled when they saw that he had determined to risk in the uncertain issue of managerial speculation the fame and fortune which he had toiled to establish by persevering industry from youth to mature manhood. But a favouring presentiment accompanied his name, with a strong impression that the star of his destiny, hitherto so bright, would still continue in the ascendant. He had many and high qualifications for his new work, backed by sound experience. Much reliance was placed on his acknowledged abilities, joined with those of his accomplished lady, their estimation in general society, and irreproachable characters. His known liberality too in his dealings with authors was expected to give an impetus to theatrical literature. He had already paid a second 4007. to the author of the " Wife's Secret," for another play, and was in treaty with several of the leading English dramatists to employ their pens in a similar task. If the genius of Sheridan Knowles slumbered on its laurels and could not be awakened, there were younger disciples of the same school who might aspire to fill his vacant place. In addition to these and other prospects on the favourable side, Charles Kean and his clever coadjutor were backed by a potent ally — capital; without which reserve talent and resolution have often been swallowed up and exhausted in the sacrifices necessary to ensure victory. What Montecuculi said of war is quite as applicable to theatrical management. The three most essential ingredients of success are money, money, money !

The first season under the new dynasty, at the Princess's, commenced on the 28th of September, 1850, and occupied an uninterrupted period of nearly thirteen months; terminating on the 17th of October, 1851, with the opening play of " Twelfth Night." The net profit amounted to 7,000/. ; but it. was the year of the Exhibition, in Hyde Park, and the result cannot be taken as forming any ground for an average calculation.

The Great Exhibition of 1851; might well be called the world's wonder, for such in truth it was. The most perfect realization of a magnificent idea that ever entered the mind of man. The scheme of Henri Quatre for a general peace coalition throughout Europe was scarcely more sublime, and evidently not so practicable. The treasures that were brought together in the Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, exceeded all that imagination could have anticipated. No such collection can ever be accumulated again, although the shell that contained them has been surpassed in architectural elegance by its more elaborate successor at Sydenham. By crossing from one department to another, you were as completely in the country designated, as if the carpet of Prince Houssein had actually annihilated time and space, and carried you there in a minute. You heard its language, saw the complexion of its people, and investigated its productions. The whole formed a scene of realized enchantment, an animated cosmorama, to lose yourself in for a month, without weariness, and to think of for ever after.

A calculation computed on police returns, estimated the number of visitors to the Crystal Palace, during the six months that it remained open, at seven millions. The total receipt of money considerably exceeded half a million sterling, leaving an available balance of 240,000/. The only way of seeing the Exhibition thoroughly and with comfort, was by a season-ticket, of which, as a matter of course, none but residents could avail themselves. You thus took your time, divided your visit into sections, and examined everything in succession. To-day you were in France, to-morrow in Austria, the day following in Italy, and the next week in India. You then crossed an imaginary Atlantic and glanced over Canada and the United States.

On this plan it required three months, at the rate of several hours per diem, to become acquainted with all the marvels that were submitted to view. A country family arriving by an excursion train, with a return ticket, good for a week, and sometimes only for three days, could obtain little better than a bird's-eye glance, galloping along, catalogue in hand (as Sir Francis Head galloped over the Pampas), reeking with perspiration, and resolved as a point of principle as well as of value received, to toil regularly through the official list of twenty thousand articles.

The predictions of the alarmists were verified to the letter during the summer of 1851. London for several months was occupied by the French, but quite in a family way, and without disturbing the entente cordiale. An Englishman wonders how our continental friends contrive to live in so expensive a city as London, knowing that they are not usually endowed with a superfluity of the circulating medium. But there they were, and appeared to enjoy themselves amazingly. You met two. foreigners, as you perambulated the streets, for one indigenous child of the soil. They were less mystified by the wonders of the Exhibition than by the total absence of soldiers, the order and peaceable demeanour of the vast multitudes that thronged the thoroughfares, and the perfect ease with which a few hundred policemen managed everything, without any apparent effort. These points of home discipline are utterly incomprehensible to strangers, who are accustomed to behold in every capital of Europe a vast entrenched camp, bristling wil h bayonets and artillery, — a powder magazine ready to explode with the slightest ignition » They saw Queen Victoria go into the heart of the city, to the Lord Mayor's fete, and return through countless thousands in the middle of the night, with a simple escort of honour. They saw her pass in all the paraphernalia of regal state to prorogue the two houses of Parliament,, still only with a few policemen to keep the passage clear, while all London stood in respectful attendance, cheering and saluting with spontaneous loyalty. Here were evidences of a firmly-based monarchy, a paternal government, a nation satisfied with their institutions, and their power of maintaining them, more convincing than a triple line of fortifications, and a bivouac of troops in every square.

The great London Exhibition, which has been followed by many imitations, was not only the best, but had the advantage of being the first. Amongst the remarkable features which distinguished this mighty gathering of the nations, may be noticed the little trouble the police had in keeping order, and the small amount of robbery.

But where were the croakers who prophesied failure, and the constitutional opposers of everything, who thought (" the wish was father to the thought ") the building would be gutted by a simultaneous rising of all the socialists, chartists, and red republicans in the world, expressly engaged and congregated for that particular performance ?

The impression left on the mind after each successive visit to the Crystal Palace, was one of unqualified admiration, mingled with gratitude to the presiding Providence which crowned this great undertaking with such brilliant success. The blessing which was invoked by the greatest of earthly sovereigns on the inaugural day had been signally vouchsafed. The six months which followed were pregnant with instruction. All was harmony, peace, and good-will. A mantle of protection appeared to be thrown round the vast edifice, from the first opening of its doors. All felt they were entering on a scene devoted exclusively to instructive recreation, where evil passions had no field for their exercise. There was a universal impression that permanent advantages would result, irrespective of the vast additional sums of money that had been brought into circulation, and the many thousands who were thereby enabled to obtain employment. It was estimated that, during the summer of 1851, the average population of London had increased to the amount of 300,000 souls. An intercourse sprang up which had no previous existence. Foreigners, instead of vague surmises, acquired more positive knowledge of us, our habits, institutions, resources, and peculiarities, from ocular observation, in that short period of six months, than in the thirty-six years which had previously elapsed since the gates of the Continent were opened on the fall of Napoleon. We had gone amongst them, but they had come sparingly to us. Many prejudices have been abandoned, and many mistaken views have given way, which are not likely again to obtain influence. Our foreign friends have seen and learned that there are better avenues to public prosperity than annual revolutions erected on barricades, and that a government and constitution may be firmly established without a garrison of a hundred thousand men in the capital to compel obedience. The exhibition of the produce of all countries was an honest peace-offering from England to the whole world — a cordial proclamation of amity, unaccompanied by protocols or remonstrances. When the collection began to be dispersed, there ensued much discussion as to the preservation of the building. With many reasons for the retention of Sir Joseph Paxton's magnificent structure, the arguments in favour of its removal prevailed. It may be considered fortunate that they did. Any other course would have been an error. It was erected as a temporary depository for an express purpose, which had been gloriously accomplished, and under the implied condition of being pulled down within a given period.

The whole was a great national event ; an epoch in history; a period to date from in the chronology of future annalists. " ' I was in the great battle under the walls of Moscow ! ' This," said Napoleon to his veterans on the morning of Borodino, "will be your proudest recollection when reposing from the toils of service." And often shall we, in the garrulity of old age, repeat to our grandchildren, "I was in London at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and will tell you of all the marvels

I saw there." The enormous mass of all that the intellect and ingenuity of man could produce of rare and valuable ; the discoveries of industry, the triumphs of art, the improvements of scientific invention, brought together with such cost and labour from the remotest corners of the earth, and arranged with such unparalleled skill, have long been scattered abroad, and have passed into the hands of different purchasers, never to be collected again. The daily recurring thousands, whose presence gave life and animated interest to the glowing scene, have subsided back into the sober, plodding tenor of ordinary avocation. The equipages of the royal, the noble, and the refined, no longer throng the surroundingavenues. The ceaseless sound of many voices, the strangeblending of many foreign languages, have long been succeeded by unbroken silence. What would have been gained had the building still occupied the vast area, an untenanted monument, an empty reminiscence, a casket stripped of the treasures it was constructed to enclose? The historic records, the practical influence on civilization, the increase of commercial intercourse, are more enduring and more satisfactory memorials of the mighty bazaar, than the Crystal Palace transformed into a winter garden, or a gigantic hippodrome. Devoted tosuch purposes as these (which were the most favourite propositions for its conversion), it might have been useful and ornamental, but would have ceased to be a connecting link with the object which called it into existence.

It would have resembled the funereal pyramid of Cheops, without the ashes of the founder ; the mausoleum without the relics of the hero it was intended to preserve ; or the mere outward case of the watch, divested of its costly and complicated machinery. Better that all should be removed, than that a mutilated skeleton should be retained. There may be something of barbarism, but there was grandeur in the obsequies of Alaric, the conquering Ostrogoth. His devoted followers, by the labour of their prisoners, forcibly diverted the course of the Busentinus, near Consentia, erected his sepulchre in the empty bed of the river, piled over his mortal remains the accumulated treasures and memorials of many conquered nations, including those of Imperial Rome ; and then turned on the stream again to engulph the monarch and his trophies, that no vestige of either might remain as tangible evidences, after the soul which gave them reality, and power, and substance, had been summoned back to its account. The immortality of the Exhibition was riot dependent on the mutation or breaking up of the building in which it had been contained. It rested with the historian, the painter, the engraver, and the consequences to be transmitted through succeeding generations. Foreign visitors are invariably struck with the extent and enormous population of London ; with the building mania that extends on every side, and seems likely to continue until the whole county of Middlesex is covered with brick. But a general impression seems to exist, more especially amongst the French, that England altogether, without reference to climate, is un pays triste — a dull country to live in.

A Parisian carries the same gay indifference to the " Bourse " with which he enlivens the drawing-rooms and coffee-houses. John Bull cannot do this. With him, the Stock Exchange is the serious business of his life. He has no idea of mixing up a laugh, or a trifling anecdote, with monetary calculations. But his mistake is, that he cannot leave his commercial face at home when he mingles in society, or locked up in the desk with his scrip and debentures. He enjoys himself with an effort ; and whether he is dancing, playing cards, or enduring music, appears very much as if he was thinking of something else. If you tell him a joke, lie laughs at the end as a matter of duty and politeness, but seldom looks as if he were listening. He has, usually, what the French call V air preoccupe, and which they consider, not without cause, the very antipodes of relaxation. He cannot give himself up, heart and soul, as they do, to the influence of the moment. This is one leading reason why our national drama — which is always, to a certain extent, a reflex of national character — with more nerve and vigour, has far less ease, variety, and piquancy than that of our volatile neighbours. It is not that our writers are deficient in sparkling wit or broad humour. The comedies of Congreve, Farquhar, Goldsmith, Sheridan, Colman, Morton, and various living authors, attest the contrary ; but their telling points are mostly got up for the occasion, and worked off with labour ; as professed diners-out prime themselves with their best stories for public display, when they appear all fun and sparkle. But if you catch them at home in undress, they have a look of habitual melancholy, while their gibes and mockeries are as threadbare as their dressing-gowns. In fact, we often assume gaiety without any feeling of mirth ; while the French laugh constitutionally at the most solemn matters, as forming a portion of what they please to consider the burlesque of life. Let us be content to keep our gravity, coupled with the national reproach of heaviness, rather than run into the opposite extreme.

During the summer of 1851, there were nineteen theatres open in London, exclusive of the two Italian operas and the St. James's, devoted entirely to French tragedy and comedy. This list applies to quasi-legitimates only, and has no reference to hippodromes, gardens, casinos, Grecian saloons, and the thousand and one irregulars which swarmed in every corner of the city and suburbs, and where dramatic performances, under some form or other, were represented daily and nightly. Nearly all reaped an abundant harvest, principally gathered in from the visitors and foreign strangers ; although throughout the month of May there was an alarm of failure, and managerial faces elongated in proportion. But the panic was momentary, and from June onwards a reactionary tide set in, which never ebbed again, but filled the theatrical treasuries, with two or three exceptions, even to overflowing.

In Fraser's Magazine for August, 1851 (No. 260), it was stated that the theatres were empty, that the managers had proved themselves bad calculators in expecting they would be filled ; that our dramas were not formed on the models suited to the taste of continental audiences; and that the Exhibition afforded reason enough for " a beggarly account of empty boxes," as neither foreigner nor native could sit out a play on a hot evening after a long day devoted to the wonders of the Crystal Palace.