THE DRURY LANE DINNER.
This is an anniversary, which, in conjunction with its fellow of the " Garden," is, and deserves to be, popular. It has high claims as a charity ; for many hundreds either do depend or are in danger of depending upon it for support. But who are these hundreds ?- The men who once spent their most valuable time in ainusing and instructing mankind; when we had sadness they volunteered mirth, and in them and their art there was always a relief to which the ennuye could fly from the heavy hours. There is a story about TALMA which illustrates this, and shows that even when despair stands at our elbow, there is still a zest left in the thought that for an hour or two we can be taken out of ourselves by the illusory feelings the actor has it in his power to raise.*
With all these favourable sentiments we attended the Drury Lane dinner on Wednesday, and everything that took place there served to confirm them : the charity was well supported by word and 'action, and everybody seemed happy in the assurance that the main object for which the dinner was appointed was going on pros- peronsly.
There is a something about the actors, which, till they are thus met tete-a-tete in a dining-room, prevents our having an exact idea of how they will perform the lesser humanities of eating, drinking, and talking, as mere men of our own growth, fashion, and comprehension. Their professional relation to the rest of the world throws around them " a dim dramatic light," that, like the morning mist, magnifies the general size of the object at the ex- pense of the minuter details. On the stage you don't know where to have them ; it is hop, skip, and jump—hic et ubique—and before you can lay your finger upon them in one spot as Censure and Hamlets, hey-presto—they are a dozen yards off, Calibans and Aguechecks. So much for the theatre : hut go to the Freemason's, and there you have them to a certainty for what they are, neither more nor less :—no shifting from heroes to niggers there—no trap- doors, prompt sides, or twolwings and a flat to "deceive the inexpe- rienced and delude the unwary :" there, for once in their lives they exhibit themselves, and put in their claim to be genuine flesh and blood.
This, then, was the case on Wednesday. Mr. COOPER the tra- gedian, walked about just like any common peripatetic, and though we watched him for full five minutes there was not a start nor a shrug visible for the whole of the time : HOWELL, the harlequin, had just such a coat as we wore, without eitherspangle, diamond, or tinsel upon it : and O. SMITH actually made his appearance with- out his Be,' Freischirtz inexpressibles!—What a strange series of improprieties ! Not so much as an "aside" from beginning to end; —not a single symptom of "a combat for six" either up-stairs among the ladies or down-stairs among the gentlemen ; and the only scene rehearsed was " the Banquet," where each appeared to he silently endeavouring to throw from his shoulders the weight of Macbeth's malediction of
"Damned be he that first cries 'I-bid, enough !'"
So much for generals. In particular, we must notice Mr. HARLEY, who was indeed the lion of the night. It was he who bowed in the Duke of CLARENCE ;—it was he who had the honour of facing his Royal Highness throughout—hobbing and nobbing With royalty quite cosily and at ease ;—it was he who announced that the subscriptions amounted to NOM, whereupon, as the re- porters very justly observed, followed " (dicers);"—and above all, it was he alone of all the tribe who was permitted to grace the oc- casion with a speech. This speech, however, both for its matter and its delivery, deserves notice. He commenced by observing, that in having gravely to plead the cause of charity he was some- thing like his illustrious predecessor (Gannaere) between Tragedy and Comedy, his subject pulling one way, and his natural tempera ment the other. This was putting the point well, and it was felt by those who had so often laughed at his Slender, his Goldfinch, and (in despite of critics, at) his Gravedigger. The rest of the speech was also in a good spirit, and the passage which he illus- trated by his allusions to SHAKSPEARE'S characters was more particularly effective.
"These are among the many claims that the worn-out veterans of the drama have upon your bounty :—how weakly they have been urged, I feel too conscious. Let me therefore invoke the immortal Bard or Nature and Humanity (himself an actor) to aid my plea. good, my Lord, will you see the players well bestowed ? D'ye hear, let them be well used, for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time : use them ac-
cording to your own honour and dignity; the less they deserve, the more merit in your bounty.' Shall Sir John call for a cup of sack, and receive only part of his stint= bread, one halfpenny ?' No; there's comfort yet. Sir Toby shall find there are ale and cakes in the world to cheer the evening of his days ; and Jack Falstaff shall again know ea; true Prince by instinct."
The latter allusion, which HARLEY made to bear on his Royal Highness by a low bow to the Duke, told extremely well, and drew forth the most vivid applause of the evening.
But speaking was not the only amusement afforded : the singers
did their part, and added that sort of festivity to the meeting, of which a bumper can be swallowed without feeling any ill effects the next morning. NICHOLSON, too, displayed the wonders of his flute, and, after his usual custom, discoursed most sweet music through his "recorder." To this must be added the coura- geous manner in which Miss Berrs trusted herself alone among so many he-monsters, and gave a song as her contribution to the agrt'ables of the evening : it was most beautifully sung, and the only fault to be found with it was that of the composer for not marking it "Da cape *The story runs, that Tabna, on the eve of making one of his provincial tours, received a letter urging him to hasten to such a town by such a day, because the writer had but live francs left in the world, and having determined to poison him- self, had made the following division of them 1. 8. Food and lodging for two days. • • 2 10
Admission to see Talma 2 0
Poison • • • • • 0 10
0
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