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    Untitled Article

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    Untitled Article

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    ACTORS AND AUTHORS.

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    Untitled Article

    But why not all over the kingdom ? Nothing can be more fallacious than the notion that the turnpike system makes every one pay for what he uses ; the roads are for the service of the whole nation . Every carrier ' s cart , every public conveyance is accessible to ar » y person who chooses to use it , and all would suffer were these roads allowed to fall into decay , . We all jay for harbours of refuge , whether we ever set foot-on board ship or not ; and there are many other appropriations of public money subject to the same rule . The qunker pays his income tax , part of which goes to buy gunpowder and rifled cannon . The peaceful and placable citizen , who looks on law as a bottomless pit , and never expects or hopes to be in a court of law , except , it may be , as a juryman , is obliged , and very right Iv , to contribute towards the salary of the Lord Chief Justice ; aiid there is no reason why the keeping up of the national highways should not be done at theViational expense .

    We hope to see the day when all turnpikes shall be abolished ; and among the many advantages to the people which would result from such a step , we will just mention a few . I . The incidence of the tax would be equal , for as all profit by good roads all ought to pay for them . 31 . The parish roads , coming under the same government , would be every where as good as what we now call high ways . III . There would be an immense saving , on the whole not less than thirty per cent ., by the cessation ~ of any need for turnpike srates , toll-houses , and turnpike-keepers , and there would be a large sum realised by the sale of the existing materials . IV . There would be an end to the Rebecca riots , and this in Wiik ' S would of itself be a not inconsiderable element of public tranquillity . ¦¦

    . . . . . „ . , ,. "V There would be a better and more scientific class o . t men chosen as surveyors , and thus all improvements in the art of roadmaking would be more speedily and generally adopted . . The late Mi-. It . N . Christmas , one of the most able of road surveyors ,, was especially of this opinion , and never failed to insist on tile advantages which would result from all the roads being taken into the hands of ^ Government . It would matter very little whether a separate tax were made , or whether the whole were charged oh the Consolidated Fund ; any way in which the nation could be called upon to pay , would be found less oppressive than that which exists at present . ¦ _

    . It may be said that we have good roads , and cannot therefore be much better off in this respect , that we have reforms to attend to far more urgent than this , that we must mend our constitution first , and then mend our ways ; and-we admit all this ; but we wish to call attention to what is a waste of time and a waste of money , and a specimen of unfair taxation , and a great inconvenience , in order that our hints may fructify , and be remembered when a proper occasion selves .

    Untitled Article

    Apart from the masonic ceremonial conducted by his Royal Highness and Mr . Benjamin Webster , the Master of the College , we say this was a most edifying spectacle . The sacrifice of time and ease which those ladies and gentlemen made to serve the interests of the general body was no light matter . Some of them were managers who had pressing duties in London , which they could ill afford to neglect ; almost all had to hasten back to town to dress for the evening ' s performance . What was sport to the public , who went down for a day ' s pleasure to see actors and actresses by daylight , was really hard work , involving a good deal of self-denial and condescension , to those ladies and gentlemen who contributed to their pleasure , and at the same time eased them of a , little of that superfluous cash which they . might have spent upon a less worthy object . A thoughtless observer might have deemed it a very pretty and easy thing for Miss Swanborough and Miss Wyxdram to stand there selling those nick-nacks . And so it was ; but both ladies had left serious work at home , and were undergoing a vast

    deal of extra fatigue quite gratuitously . It was pleasant to hear the peculiar tones associated with the Haymarket resounding on a country heath , amid trees which were not flat-sided , and a sky which was not a painted " border ; " but it was scarcely to be expected that a veteran like Mr . Buckstone would superintend Aunt Sally for the love of the thing . Mr . Toole might have youth and exuberance enough to give zest to an extra morning performance without salary ; " but certainly Mr . Paul . Bedfoud would be more happy taking his afternoon ' s " ' nap in his easy-chair , than standing here handing out sticks , and indulging in the characteristic iteration of " Here von are , here you are , here you nre . "

    The theatrical- ' profession on this occasion—« s on all occasions when their exertions are required on behalf of the body to which they belong—exhibited an amount of zeal and brotherly feeling which is not often found among other classes . This College is the fifth institution which has been established through the exer-tions of the profession for the relief and assistance oi aged , decayed , and sick members . There are already the T ) vnry Lane Fund , the Covent Garden Fund , the General Theatrical Fund , and the Dramatic , Equestrian , and Sick Fund Association , all of which grant pensions to aged members , or relief to members in the case of sickness . Now they have the Dramatic College , a sort of Greenwich Hospital—a haven of rest , where superannuated actors who have " fretted their hour" and made their last exit , may retire in their

    old age to live out their brief spun in comfort and peace , and in the company of congenial friends and associates . This college is- to —consist of twenty houses , each affording accommodation for two inmates . The building is to consist of a central hall , with library , sculpture room , and schoolrooms for the education of the children of the inmates ; and the whole of the money required , viz ., a sum of £ 2 , 500 , has already been subscribed . It is true that many persons not intimatelv connected with the profession have furnished a large proportion of this sum ; but- it is equally true that the project would never have been carried out but for the earnest exertions of the members of the profession themselves ; and must particularly we would mention thename of Mr . Benjamin Wjjiistek , whose untiring labours in promoting . the scheme , and bringing it to this crowning point of success , eminently entitle him . , to the

    position of Master of the College . Now , in order to extract a in oral from this latest effort oi the mu ^ FTrnui | fretf ^ ln ^ suffering members of their body , we would ask how it is that authors do so little for the members of their profession i ; Ihe actors , as we have recited , have no less than ' ¦ five provident and charitable institutions ; authors have only one , and that is purely n charify—the Literary Fund , presided over ami managed by hitvrati of the DitYASPUST order . The Literary Fund is ¦ remarkably eclectic in the dispensation of its benefits . A man may be a contributor to a leading daily newspaper , a monthly magazine , or a review for - . a quarter of a century , day after day , week after week , and month after month pouring ' forth the stores of his knowledge , his

    philosophy , and his experience for the instruction and the elevation ot tho minds of his fellow men , and yet , when his day is fur spent , and his energies have failed , there is no help for him from the Literary Jj und . To bo a literary innn in the eye of Dr . Dryasdust , you must have written a book—a book however stupid , useless , and unoriginal , something in so many pages , with a preface and title page , bound in calf , registered at Stationers' Hall , and the dryer and the dustier the better . Something about the Brahmin bull , or the cony of the Ganges , or the Incus of Peru , or tho IJillerential Calculus , or the luw of tangents , or a now . edition ot

    A MOST edifying spectacle was presented the other day on the J-V black , barren heath of Woking—we beg pardon , on the breezy downs of Maybury ; for Maybury , be it understood , is an oasis ' in that desert . A most edifying spectacle , we say , was presented on those breezy downs . It was that of an assemblage of our pi-iiVmpni ' . lifttors . and actresses , who had come many miles by rail , at o-reat expense and personal inconvenience to themselves , """ to assist m laying the foundation-stone of a College , or Itefuge , for old and infirm members of their profession . Chief among those who eno-au-edin this good work was His Royal Highness the Prince Consort who with his own hand laid the foundation-stone , thus

    testifving ' in the most marked manner the hearty interest which both he and our gracious Queen take in all that relates to the welfare of the dramatic profession . But the most remarkable , because most novel feature of the proceedings , was the part which the members of the profession themselves took in the ceremonial of the day . A bevy of ladies , including some of our most popular and talented actresses , were found both ready and willing to stand behind counters in an extempore bazaar , and play the part of shop-girls in « irnest for the good of the charity . There were the elegant Miss SwannonotrGit , whose pride it is never to allow even the humblest thinbut the best silk

    walking lady to go on her bijou stage in any g , condescending to the vending of sixpennypincushions . gilded into guineas' worths with a smile ; the over-fascinating Miss Woolgak—for we must still call her by that name—turning : the basest Brummagem into gold with a toss of her head ; the accomplished Mrs , Stirling charming guineas into her till with a laugh ; tho dashing Miss Sedgwick dispensing the moat modest of Havannas at a guinea apiece in defiance of the Excise- —for which weare sure the comptroller will never have the heart to prosecute ; the lively Miss Mabib Wilton scarcely taking the trouble to give anything for the money but u " thank ye , " or a pretty pout : but epithets are wanting .

    Suffice it to say , thnt behind those counters there wcro also rungoa MiHs Olivkk , Miss Saundeks , Mrs . Billinqton , Miss Kate Kelly Mrs . F . Mathicws , Miss Simms , Mrs . Cua bliss Young , Miss HimBlwr , Mm Makston , Mrs . Leigh Mubkay , Miss Bukton , Miss Neville—» perfect galaxy of talent and beauty too dazzling- almost for human eyes to look upon . And outside , on the breezy downs , there were " tho perennial " Mr . John Baldwin Utjckstone , the ever-delightful and nevor-fadinf ? Mr . Paul Bept foRD , and the ndmimble Mr . Toolk , conducting the noble game of Aunt Sally at tho remunerative rate of three sticks a shilling , the highest pmo being n brass 'bncoo box , recommended as having been contributed by the voternn Mr . T . P . Cook ; k , and said to have been one of tho numerous articles found in St . Domingo Billy .

    Dr . Goldsmith ' s " Earth and Animated Nature , " with notes confirmator y of dour Goldy's profound research m Natural History . The enemy of this munificent fund must write a book , bo it only a school Geography , in order that Dr . Duyasdust may have his revenge upon him by tardily doling out ft row pounds for his relief . To be sure , there is Her Majksty ' h civil list , out of which nn author , or the widow of an author , now and then gets an annuity of sixty pounds a year ; but here , as nt Vv . Dbyasuust ' s palace in tho Aclulp lii , you want a buck-stuir friend—somebody to say that you are well connected , or ' . that you have trcuttid"of something that is very profound and very stale , and flatand unprofitable . ¦

    very , very _ _ ..,,.. _ . c HowIih this ? Authors are certainly more subject to revoruoa ot fortune than actors Their occupation is less hcultliy ; on the whole , thoy nro not ftfl well paid , and as a body they are more liable to die early , loavinir wives and families in destitution bohind thorn—ttioiofore tho more need for co-operation among thoin to provide against tho evil day . Attempts in this direction have boon made over ana

    Untitled Article

    June 9 , 1860 . ] The Leader and Saturday Analyst , 541

    Actors And Authors.

    ACTORS AND AUTHORS .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1860, page 541, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2351/page/9/