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    hypocrisy aiid its cruelty ; that I cannot find life amongst you , full or free in its growth ; and that I abominate such life as numbers accept—loathe it , and fl y from it . " Conway held up his hand , in sign that he desired to speak for me . " He has a right to his own opinion , the right to declare it , the right to act upon it . If we could all do as much , if we could come to each other ' s real opinions , our usages and statutes would more readily conform to our real knowledge and convictions ; instead of being made to conform in many things to the knowledge and opinions of a fierce , high-nosed race of Stony Arabia more than two thousand years ago . Tristan ' s mistake is , that he

    does not appreciate our difficulties . You know me too well , Tristan , to think that I would willingly be the—what shall I call it ?—the hypocrite I am—it is better to say it out—if it were not for the sake of others . I am in the church ; when I was a youth , I was inclined to study , and there was a living in the famil y ; ' and so I < went into the church . ' After I was there , I began to ask myself what it ¦ meant , that church . Many never ask themselves the question , or put it down as soon as it rises to their minds ; others ask it , and answer it as I did once before—that we are a

    College of Soothsayers , and that the church is a provision for cadets and scholars . But answer it how we may , we mostly ask the question after we have entered the fatal circle ^ and can get out no more . Or if I were to leap over it , what would become of my two sister , to whom the rectory is as much a provision as to myself ? No ; my only solicitude is that they may not see the renegade I am ; and they do not know , they have not a suspicion of that which is no secret to all of you , or to many more beside . " " Then you do not help them to know you or your duties , " interposed Margaret , from the throne where she sat , a living picture . " Tell them . "

    " No , Margaret ; they are not strong enough—neither born so nor bred so . But that is a difficulty , Tristan , which you do not appreciate . It is only one sample of numbers . " " I appreciate it fully . I only say , that if your timidity—pardon me , Conway , for using the word—were not endemic , your case would be seen to he the case of hundreds , if not of thousands ; and thousands cannot be punished for sincerity in our day . Your difficulty would cease , if none of you regarded it as a difficulty . But it is that bugbear ' difficulty' which holds down the Englishman morally , as it does the Italian industrially . I do not blame you ; I suppose you all like it—you to live without your real religion in the midst of a false one—every man to live in fetters . I would rather starve unfettered "

    " your sisters ?" "I never had any—except Julie . Well , I would rather that she should starve , too ; and so would she . But still , you all surprise me . Englishmen used to boast *© f speaking tfua * *» i » cl , when they hud but little mind to speak : they now dread to say what they think ,, and profess to think only what the average mind licenses . But come , we are ourselves getting to be an ' institution' for the maintenance of talk , and we are forgetting our business in hand . " " Except Walter , " said Edwardes ; " his pencil has not stayed , and the face there on the canvas grows more and more a reflex of that dread countenance which we all worship so devoutly . "

    " If you make Margaret smile , " said Stanhope , " you will foil me as much as by making her frown . That is right . " " How serene and grand she looks ! " said Edwardes . " Edwardes , I will turn you out , " exclaimed Stanhope ; " leave me to my business , and attend to your own . " Accordingly , we all fell to discussing the day of departure , the transit , the resting-places ; resolved to mix salt water with our fresh winds : for Edwardes would not be content without .

    While we were on that point , another friend came in—Markham , with a new proposition . He had heard of our project from Johnson , and came to ask us to his own place , in Sussex , close by the sea ; large grounds , with ajjlarge house ; all at our service . In spite of his manifest sincerity , I saw that the others hung back , from the Englishman ' s dread of an " obligation , " or of " being troublesome , " especially as they were so many . I do not suppose that either Stanhope or Margaret shared that dread . Margaret had risen from Inn- chair when Markham came in ;—she permitted him to hand her off the throne as they shook hands ; and she placed

    herself by Stanhope ' s side , with her hand on his shoulder . Seeing the hesitation , Markham specifically directed his request to Margaret ; who turned to Stanhope . He looked upon her with a smile of assent , ami she accepted . " Who will come ? " asked Markham . " You , of course , Tristan ; and you , Conway . Lord Werneth ? " Werneth said he was going to join the party . "At your own time , " replied Markham ; " and you , Edwardes , with your wife . A house , a park , a cutter , nil your ciwti . " " And you yourself , Mr . Markham V asked Margaret . " If I have your permission , on the Sunday : I , you know , urn a slave . "

    It was agreed . Hdwardcs lius promised to give us an much of his time as he can ; Markham the same ; Werneth will join us ia a week . We shall not disappoint Sophy Johnson , whom Yscult and I have promised to visit ; but from her place we shall go straight to Seven Hills . Of course Julie is of the party — Margaret volunteered that promise to Markham , with a sly . smile that sat strangely on the grave countenance of young Ceres ; and the great grocer received the promise with a blush that would have adorned the face of any girl . No man feels quite himself when the woman he has wooed in vain points his choice in another direction .

    Talking of Julie , the mystery is out . She has cultivated her lovely and brilliant voice to disengage her little property for me ! " No , Julie , " I said , " no property for me . It is a burden . I should give it away . I disapprove , seriously "—for she began to laugh— " of so many things connected with property , that I will not meddle with it . I will not buy and sell . I will not take other men ' s earnings , nor exact a fee for letting other meji get at ^ a ' s earth . I do not say that those are wrong who do soyou , at all events , cannot be wrong ; but I say that I have scruples ; I have ao practice in the matter ; I do not care to be troubled with the thought , or with settling my scruples , or with the responsibilities of property . I will pitch my tent where I am welcome , and when I cease to be welcome anywhere , I will strike my tent altogether in this world . And that will not be while dear Julie is alive—nor while Valperduta belongs to Giorgio

    and Elena . " Dear Julie looked disappointed ; but I soon made her know that I valued her sacrifice , though I would not use it . I think we shall start for Dutton on Monday , to be at Seven Hills on Tuesday or Wednesday . We all go to Dutton , taking up our abode at the inn , and the rest doing what they list while Yseult and I pay our visit , and Edwardes too ; for he will not miss the visit to Sophy Johnson .

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    DOUGLAS JERROLD'S NEW COMEDY . " Base is the slave who pays ! " When Pistol uttered that energetic and admirable sentiment , he had never known what it is to enjoy a " press privilege , " and , suddenly deprived thereof , to open the theatre by means of a silver key . I knew it on Saturday last . It was a new sensation " quite refreshing , " as the elegant writers phrase it . I felt independent for once . I , who had never dared to whisper a word of objection against any manager , actor , or author , —I , whose amiable admiration had been uniformly purchased , ( cheap , too , at the price , )—I , who called Caulfield a tenor and Charles Kean a tragedian , who rhapsodised about Harrison and doated on Castellan , —I was at last to " speak my mind ! " And what a mind !

    There was a terrific rush , for places , and criticism was represented by a " most powerful cast . " How could it be otherwise ? The new comedy was by Douglas the witty , Jerrold the keen . It had been produced at Windsor , as in old times the chefs-d ' oeuvre of Moliere were first produced at Versailles ; as in old times , also , our modern Moliere was invited to Windsor , gracefully received by the Court , and treated with , all the respect due to intellectual kingship . Yes ; you may not , perhaps , have oeeu it in llie papers , but Douglas was invited , Douglas was present , an . d the Court felt flattered and pleased by his presence . Men of intellect always are welcome there . These lords and ladies convened to laugh at the sparkling fancy of the dramatist , emulated each other in attentions to the man . We axe so proud of our clever men , in England ! We leave to other , and more sordid nations , the worship of inanities , —we worship genius . ( I have paid my money , and I am speaking ray mind . ) And what was this comedy which so delighted the Court P St . Cupid ;

    or , Dorothys Fortune . Let me try and give some report thereof . In the first place I note that the piece is written without a part for Charles Kean ; yet they say Jerrold is deficient in construction ! In the next place , I note that , both as to writing and construction , one cannot name a better first act : it is a model of an " exposition ; " all the points in the story are artistically presented , and the curtain falls leaving us in a pleasant titillation of curiosity and interest . The dialogue has been brilliant , the satire humane yet keen withal , the fancy playful . But the second act , though very amusing , has one great dramatic sin—want of progression . The curtain falls , and leaves all the characters , and all points of the story , in the same position , only a little intensified , as at the end of Act I . Valentine ' s love is more confirmed , the cousin's jealousy is deepened , the spy ' * suspicions have grown into certainties ; but the story has not moved to a climax , and , dramatically speaking , there is no second act at all . Act third winds the various threads into a dramatic ravel , and then unravels them again in a swift , summary manner .

    The curtain descends , the bravos nncl clappings finally cease , the laughing applaudera stream out of the theatre , and a » the critical mind settles down in quietness , and usIch itself briefly , What is St . Cupid ? the answer is slow in coming . Underneath the fireworks of wit there is in truth but a Blender thread of dramatic , anecdote ; a simple story of wooing and winning makes up the piece . One is pleased , but never excited—except to sudden laughter at the flashing dialogue ; the Berious interest is so quiot , and the intrigue so traiinparent , that it passes on without valuing any quick emotion . would have had

    In the hands of n good French company this eomody another kind of success . A word of praise , however , is duo to James Vining for his gentlemanly portrait of the gouty old diplomatist ; to Walter Lacy , for his quiet gaiety in the lover ; nnU unqualified praise- to Wright for hia ' tf ipmey queen : with iinexaggerated humour ho ontered into tho character , and filled up tho second net so that one never noticed its dramatic statioiiarinc-HH . Hurley an the pompous old schoolmaster was —Jlarloy . On Monday tho season of Frcm-h Plays begins , to tho delight of all lovers of fimusing pieces and good acting . Jliivol , the incomparable , open * tho campaign with Un Jf . o / tsieur gui suit Irs Dames , a pieeo which Bom& of my readers may have hud the rniafortune of seeing played at the Strand Theatre under tho title of Kensington Gardens , where a humoroud idftft was entrusted to tho most inlolotahiojetine premier ever inflicted q& tfu > credulity of a British pit . ViTUtf .

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    » January 29 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 117

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 29, 1853, page 117, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1971/page/21/