The death of the two popular managers on the Surrey
side of the water—Messrs. Decaow and DAVIDGE—within a week of each other, cannot be passed unnoticed.
ANDREW Duenow was an artist unrivalled in his way : not merely an expert equestrian, though as such he is entitled to distinction as the first of his profession—he bad a lively fancy and an elegant taste in matters within his proper sphere ; but the phraseology of the stable was the medium in which his ideas were expressed. When he mounted, the horses in the circus, or stepped on the pedestal as a living representa- tive of the antique statues, Durnow showed himself a pantomimic genius of rare powers and consummate training. He made his horses Houbynhms in intelligence ; but he was no Yahoo. The burning of Astley's, and the loss of a favourite domestic and some pet quadrupeds by the fire—not the pecuniary loss—acting on an excitable tempera- ment, unhinged his mind ; and though he recovered the use of his faculties, his nervous system had received too severe a shock, and he was struck with paralysis.
Mr. DAVLDGE was better known as an enterprising manager than an actor ; though not devoid of histrionic talent. His career at the Surrey is remarkable as showing the two extremes of failure and success. When he first had the theatre, he resorted to the shilling-order system, and lost all: he again took it, and went upon the plan of providing a variety of the best performances he could command, from melodrama and pantomime to tragedy and opera, with low prices of admission and no orders : by this means the house filled nightly to overflow, and Mr. DA.VIDGE reaped a handsome fortune ; while his brother managers on the Middlesex side were lucky if they escaped ruin.
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