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THE ANNALS OF

COVENT GAEDEN THEATEJE

VOL. II

THE ANNALS OF
CO VENT GARDEN THEATRE

FROM 1782 TO 1897

HENRY SAXE WYNDHAM

WITH 45 ILLUmtATIONS

IN TWO VOLUMES—VOL. II

LONDON

CHATTO & WINDUS

1906

PRINTED BT

WILLIAM CXOWBS AND SONS, LIMITBD,

LONDON AND BBCCLBS.

All rights rtsetv^d

CONTENTS

OF VOL. II

CHAPTBK PAOB

Xni. 1819—1828 1

1827—1882 47

1882—1887 71

XVI. 1887—1839 110

XVn. 1839—1846 142

XVm. 1847—1856 180

1856—1870 218

1871—1897 262

Appendix I. Chronological List of Patbntebs,

Lbssbbs, and Managbrs . 298

„ II. Principal Evbnts from 1782—1897 294

„ III. NoTBS ON Portraits, btc. . 802

Index 821

ILLUSTRATIONS

TO VOL. II

Thomas Hasris Frontttpiece

Fn)m the Painimg 6y John Opie^ ILA., in the potKSsion qf
I Mr, T, Norton tamgrnan

TO FACB PAOB

Miss Stephens as Susanna in "The Mabriaoe of

FlQABO" 2

From the Painting 6y Henrjf Fraddle, engraotd bjf Sm IT.

ReifndldM and S, Coutim

Chablbs Ksmblb 16

From ike Painiinff fiy G, H» Harlow^ engraved fty T. Lupton

Henby R. Bishop 26

From ike Engraving hg B. HoU

Cahl Maria von Weber 32

From the Painting by John Cawse, lithographed hg H, J» Lane
YkWCBTS AND y»ifHT.» AS CaPTAIN CoPP AND THE £jNO

IN THE Comedy of '^Charles the Second, or the
Merry Monarch" . . 60

From the Painting bg G, Clintf engraved hg T. Lupton

William Charles Macready 110

From the Miniature hg Thorbumf engraved bg Poudwhite

Charles J. Mathews 142

From an Engramt^ qfter the Painting bg E, Jones^ bg permiittion

qf Messrs, MaemiUan

Madame Vestris as Don Oiovanni in the Extrava-
ganza '* Giovanni in London ** 144

••
vu

viii ILLUSTRATIONS

TO FACB PAGE

Mapamk Vestris 164

From a contemporary lAtkcffraph

Frederick Beale 182

From ** 7%e LaqIu qf Other Days" by permission of Messrs,

MaemiUan

Frederick Oye Id4

From a Photograph in the possession of Miss Clara Gye

Fanny Cerito 199

From the Painting by F. Simoneau^ engraved by G, H, Every

J. H. Anderson, "The Wizard op the North," during
WHOSE Tenancy in 1856 Coyent Garden Theatre
WAS THE Second Time destroyed by Fire . • 200

First Alarm of Fire at close of the Bal Masque,
Coyent Garden Theatre, 1856 208

Scene from "Babil and Bijou" at Coyent Garden
Theatre, 1872 266

Sir Michael Costa 275

The Coyent Garden Stage set for a Performance '
(Present Day)

The Auditorium from the Stage (Present Day) .

. 289

Neil Forsyth, Esq., M.V.O 291

From a Photograph by Messrs, Langfier

THE ANNALS OF

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

CHAPTER XIII

1819-1828

Macready points out the disadvantages Covent
Garden Theatre laboured under at the opening
of the 1819-20 season, as against the prosperity
once more being enjoyed by Drury Lane.

Miss O'Neill had gone, Miss Stephens was
absent on leave, ListOn was ill, and Young had
seceded. On the other hand, Elliston was now
manager of a magnificent company at Drury
Lane, including Edmund Kean, Munden, Mrs.
Glover, Miss Kelly, and last, but not least,
Madam Vestris, with whom we shall some years
later make nearer acquaintance in the course of
our history.

The season opened with Macbeth^ with
Charles Kemble as the Thane, a part which
his best Mends considered him unsuccessftil in,
and Mrs. Bunn as Lady Macbeth.

On September 8 Macready made his first

VOL. !!• 1 B

THE ANNALS OF

appearance in the character, new to him, of
Joseph Surface, which, he informs us, "in after
years I made one of my most perfect repre-
sentations."

A sad falling ofF in the popularity of the
once prosperous house was now manifest. Mac-
ready says "a fatality seemed to impend over
its fortunes," and its condition suddenly became
almost desperate.

" Indeed, there seemed scarcely a chance of
keeping it open. The original building debt,
with its weight of interest, was still a heavy
pressure on the concern, requiring extraordinary
receipts ... to buoy up the credit of the estab-
lishment, whilst neither in tragedy, comedy, nor
opera did it appear possible for the managers, in
the absence of so many attractive performers, to
present an entertainment likely to engage public
attention."

To make matters worse, Charles Kemble
quarrelled with Henry Harris, and also with-
drew temporarily from the theatre. Things
looked so black that Harris afterwards told
Shiel "he did not know in the morning when
he rose whether he should not shoot himself
before the night."

On December 11 Shakespear's Comedy of
Errors was brought out as an opera by Bishop,
with Miss Stephens and Miss Tree in the cast,

MISS STEPHENS AS SUSANNA II
From Ihe Faiitling by He

"the marriage of FIGARO."
igraiid by S. W. Reynolds

* • • •

«> • • •

•..:•

* ^ • ».

• • •*

b..

V «,

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

who sang the duet, "Tell me where is fancy
bred," with great success. This was, however,
but a single success to compensate for many
failures.

In these trying circumstances it stands to
the credit of Macready and his brother actors
that they did their best to aid the embarrassed
management by voluntarily foregoing their
salaries until Christmas, on condition of re-
ceiving the arrears after that date. Conse-
quently for several weeks there was "no
treasury" in the largest and hitherto most
successful theatre in London.

Something sensational had to be done, and
done quickly. Mr. Henry Harris proposed,
somewhat diffidently, to Macready that he
should appear in King Richard III. This was,
in other words, that he should play a part uni-
versally admitted to be one of Kean's most won-
derftd successes, and for which his [Macready's]
figure was not well adapted. To fail would
obviously have been to call down a shower of
ridicule upon the actor's head, and to plunge
the unlucky theatre still deeper into the mire.
It is not, therefore, surprising that Macready
shrank from the ordeal, and hesitated to give
his assent. The irresistible logic of the box-
office receipts, however, backed by the urgent
requests of Henry Harris, which finally took

THE ANNALS OF

the more potent form of command, at length
prevailed, and Macready fomid the matter taken
out of his hands, and himself billed to play the
part of Richard on October 25, 1819.

Not to further prolong the story, we may say
at once that the anxieties of actor and manage-
ment had a happy termination. The bold stroke
aroused intense interest on all sides, and before a
packed house, Macready scored a great triumph.
Indeed, it is hardly too much to say that, in
the opinion of many of the greatest critics of the
day, the young actor — he was only twenty-six —
raised himself by his performance on to the plane
in which Kemble and Kean, his great pre-
decessor and greater rival, moved in almost
undisputed sovereignty.

The play was announced for immediate
repetition, at which the house was crammed, and,
happiest of all, the treasury was reopened on the
following Saturday, the performers freely admit-
ting that they were " indebted to him for their
salaries."

Kean and the Drury Lane management,
however, were not going to submit tamely to the
challenge, and immediately put the play on with
new dresses and scenery, so for several evenings
the curious spectacle was presented of the same
great tragedy at both theatres.

Macready's triumph naturally emboldened

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

him to further attempts, and on November 29 he
made a successful effort to rival Kemble in
CmiolaTms.

Fortune now began to turn her fickle face
once more in the direction of Covent Garden.
One or two more Shakespearian characters were
successfully achieved. Adaptations of Ivanhoe and
The Antiquary (as a musical play) appeared, and
on May 17, 1820, Sheridan Knowles's famous
tragedy of Virgirdtis first saw the light at Covent
Garden. The story of the acceptance of this play
by Macready, to whom it was first sent, is some-
what lengthy as told by him, but a brief recapi-
tulation of the facts is, perhaps, not out of place.

The play had been already produced at
Glasgow with success, and through a mutual
friend Knowles procured Macready's promise to
read it. The latter did so, and in his impulsive
way sat down and penned an enthusiastic note to
the author, an entire stranger to him, which, on
reflection, he tore up and did not send.^

However, he re-read the play that evening,
and this time, convinced of its value, again sat
down to write his opinion to the author.

Eventually Harris accepted it, on Macready's
recommendation, offering £400 for twenty nights'

* An interesting note may be made of the faeX that Macready
speaks of '' the postman's beU sounding up the street as he was
sealing the letter."

THE ANNALS OF

performance. The heroine's part was taken by
the lovely Maria Foote, and Charles Kemble
was also included in the cast. It was a
grand success, and has since retained a place
as a classic piece in many good repertoire
companies.

During the Easter week that spring Macready
was much gratified by a compliment paid him by
old Mr. Thomas Harris, the patentee and chief
proprietor of the theatre, who came up to town
from his seat, Belmont, near Uxbridge. He sent
a message desiring to see him at his hotel, where
Macready found ** a very old gentleman, with all
the ceremonious and graceful manners . . . of his
day." He wished to thank him personally for
the service rendered to the theatre in its distress,
a manifestation, it is easy to believe, greatly appre-
ciated by Macready, who was himself rather more
in sympathy with the old school of ceremony
and reserve than with the freedom and easy
cordiality that prevailed among his Bohemian
associates.

On January 29, 1820, the death of Greorge III*
involved the closing of the theatre till February
17, a period of nearly three weeks, in itself a
serious loss to the proprietors and actors.

Bishop this season directed the " oratorios *' as
his own speculation, but relinquished the under-
taking at the end of the season. They began on

COVE NT GARDEN THEATRE

February 18 with a grand selection from Handel
in memory of the late king.

Old Mr. Harris's visit to town at Easter
must have been one of the last of his life, for he
died, according to Boaden, at Wimbledon on
October 2, 1820, in the seventy-eighth year of
his age.*

This event wisis of the highest importance to
the fortunes of the theatre. It recalled Kemble
to London from his residence at Toulouse, and
there can be little doubt that it was the direct
cause of the idea, which he later carried into
effect, of transferring the responsibility entailed
by his share in the property to his brother
Charles.

While old Mr. Harris lived, the absolute
control was vested in him, and could be deputed
to whomsoever he chose. At his death
this right did not descend to his son. The

* O'Keeffe^ in his reminiscences, speaks of having, in 1781, seen
an unfinished portrait of Mr. Harris at the apartments of Mr. (after-
wards Sir) William Beechey, R.A.^ in Macclesfield Street. It was
not, he 8a3rs, very large, but a most excellent likeness of a very
handsome man. If, as is not unlikely, this is the portrait which
used to hang over the mantel in the green-room of the theatre, it
must have shared the general &te of the many even more valuable
and interesting works of art, literary and otherwise, that perished
in the conflagration of 1806. Harris himself had, it appears, em-
ployed Gainsborough Dupont to paint, for himself, the principal
periormers of Covent Garden Theatre in their most distinguished
impersonations. As these were probably intended for the walls of
his private residence, it is by no means impossible that many, if not
all, of them are in existence at the present time.

THE ANNALS OF

co-proprietors were all entitled to be consulted,
a state of affairs which it is easy to believe did
not make for smooth working. According to
Boaden, the transfer of Kemble's sixth part took
place during November, in (apparently) the year
1820. Macready, writing many years later, and
probably trusting to memory for dates, places
this event in the early spring of 1821. More-
over, he speaks of the share as one-fourth, which
the best authorities agree to be an error. He
attributes the subsequent disasters that befel
the property to Kemble's parting with his
entirely unprofitable possession, apparently ig-
noring the fact that in any event the property
would, in the course of nature, have gone partly
or wholly to Charles on his brother's death, two
years later.

The most that can be said is that it possibly
hastened the catastrophe, although there is no
guarantee that, without the supreme managerial
power, Henry Harris, the chief proprietor, could
have made it as successful as his father did.

Fanny Kemble, in her " Record of a Girlhood,"
says —

" My father received the property my uncle
transferred to him with cheerful courage, and
not without sanguine hopes of retrieving its
fortimes : instead of which, it destroyed his and
those of his family, who, had he and they been

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

untrammelled by the fatal obligation of working
for a hopelessly ruined concern, might have
turned their labours to far better personal
account Of the £80,000 my uncle sank in
building Covent Garden, and all the years of
toil my father, my sister, and myself sank in
endeavouring to sustain it, nothing remained to
us at my father's death : not even the ownership
of the only thing I ever valued the property for,
viz. the private box which belonged to us, the
yearly rent of which was valued at £800, and
the possession of which procured us for several
years much enjoyment."

From a letter of Henry Harris, dated July
27, 1820, it seems that he hoped to effect
economies at Covent Garden by means of a
speculation in a Dublin theatre. If this were
so, he must have been grievously disappointed ;
nor is it easy to comprehend how the feasibiUty
of such an idea ever presented itself to a business
man.

'^ Covent Garden Theatre^

" Tkurs., July 27, 1820.

" Dear Sir,

"Previous to my leaving town, I
have looked over the accounts of the theatre for
the last season, and as it will appear the receipts
have been considerably less than any season at
the present theatre. The expenditure will like-
wise be foimd to have been much less, and a
considerable sum has been paid off from the debt

THE ANNALS OF

of former years, so that if a balance were struck,
I think, even with the last low receipts, a profit
would be found on the season. However, it
shows us that we must not, in ftiture, be so san-
guine about the receipts, and that it is absolutely
necessary to make every possible reduction in
the expenditure. I have applied diligently to
that effect, and have been able to reduce the
expenses for the ensuing season above £200 per
week. This I have been able to do principally
by the means of the Dublin Theatre; for by
keeping a theatrical force there, ready at any
time to be transplanted, I can, of course, do
with less stationary company at Covent Garden.
The bills of the different tradesmen are not yet
collected, but they have promised to have every-
thing ready for your inspection by the 7th of
August I fear you will find the whole debt
still amount to a large sum: our only con-
solation is, that it is small in comparison to
what it was, and that I don't know any of our
creditors who are likely to behave rigidly or ill-
naturedly towards us. Hoping for better times.

" I am, dear sir,

" Yours very truly,

" H. Harris.

"J. S. WiUett, Eaq.''

It is melancholy to think that after the uphill
fight they had waged so gallantly since the
black days of 1809, after almost paying off
the crushing burden of debt remaining on the

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

building, the proprietors were not destined to
have their reward in seeing their fine property
free from encumbrance.

But we are anticipating events a little. For
the present we are concerned with the season
that commenced September 18, 1820, on which
date Romeo and Juliet was played, with Charles
Kemble and Miss Wensley in the name parts.
On October 18 Cymbeline was performed, and
Macready appeared as lachimo, with Miss Foote
as Imogen. Twelfth Nighty arranged by Bishop
as an opera (!), in which Miss Tree sang ''Bid
me Discourse," followed, and on December 9
VandenhofF, a new and valuable addition to the
company, first appeared, in King Lear. He
afterwards performed Sir Giles Overreach and
Coriolanus, and some other characters, and then
terminated his engagement.

Between the opening of the season in
September, and Christmas, when the new panto-
mime. Harlequin and Friar JBa^con, was brought
out, Grimaldi frequently appeared as Kasrac in
Aladdin J and although his health was gradually
but surely failing, his increasing infirmity did
not, it is said, show any efiect upon his per-
formances. His son. Young Joe, who had first
appeared at Covent Garden five years before
(December 26, 1815) as Chitteque in the panto-
mime of Harlequifi and Fortunio^ was now

THE ANNALS OF

^^gs^ged for the first time regularly at the
theatre, and bade fair to become a great public
favourite, a promise, unfortunately, never destined
to be fulfilled. Of his father at this time, Theo-
dore Hook said, " The strength of Grimaldi, the
Garriek of clowns, seems, like that of wine, to
increase with age ; his absurdities are admirable."

Among the successes of the season was
Barry Cornwall's tragedy of Mtrandola produced
January 9, 1821, and played for nine nights to
overflowing houses. But, says Macready, during
the [remaining seven nights of the nm, " the
wind was taken out of our sails by Miss Wilson
at Drury Lane, as Mandane in ArtaooerxeSy
who drew the town for twenty nights from the
report of George IV. having heard and praised
the new vocalist."

Later in the season one of the mangled
Shakespearian plays, The Tempest^ was given,
"with songs interpolated by Reynolds, among
the mutilations and barbarous ingraftings of
Dryden and Davenport."

Finally came one of the great tests, if not
the greatest of all, for tragedians, when Macready
played that character of Shakespear's, which has
probably given rise to more discussion and con-
troversy than any single one in the whole litera-
ture of the world. Hamlet was announced for
his benefit on June 8, 1821, and in what is for

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

him a singularly brief account of the production,
he tells us that ''the theatre was crowded and
the applause enthusiastic."

On March 20 Miss Dance, a pupil of Mrs.
Siddons, made her first appearance on the stage,
as Mrs. Haller in The Stranger. She afterwards
played Juliet, Lady Townly in Gibber's Pro-
voked Husband, and other leading parts.

The coronation of George IV., on July 19,
1821, was made an excuse for considerably pro-
longing the season.

Covent Garden brought forward Shakespear's
Henry IV.^ Part 2, for the sake of the famous
pageant of Henry V.'s coronation in the last act.
The play had not been seen there since Kemble
brought it forward in 1804, without much success.
On this occasion we have Macready's testimony
"that the play rewarded the managers with
houses crowded to the ceihng for many nights."
The principal parts were cast as follows : The
King, Macready; Shallow, W. Farren; Pistol,
Blanchard ; The Prince of Wales, C. Kemble ;
Dame Quickly, Mrs. Davenport.

Madam Vestris, who had lent the power of
her many personal charms to Covent Garden
during the season, left at its close, and was
promptly engaged by the enterprising Mr.
EUiston at Drury Lane for the 1821-2 season.

In March, 1821, the last Unk between Covent

THE ANNALS OF

Garden Theatre and its old and popular play-
wright, O'KeefFe, appeared, in the shape of
a five-act comedy entitled Olympia, which he
had submitted to the proprietors several years
before.

From a letter written by Harris to Mr.
Surman, dated December, 1821, which was read
at the Harris v. Kemble trial in 1881, we learn
that in the eleven seasons after opening the new
theatre the receipts (presumably gross) were
£991,811, or an average sum of £82,650 per
annum.*

The song of '' Should he upbraid," which is a
paraphrase of Petruchio's speech just before the
entry of Katharina ( The Taming of the Shrevo^
act 2), was composed by Sir Henry Bishop for
a revival of The Two Gentlemen of Verona at
Covent Garden Theatre in 1821, and was first
sung by Miss Tree in that play.

During the summer of 1821 Macready re-
newed his engagement for another five years
with Harris. His terms were now " the highest
salary given in the theatre," and as it appeared
that both Young and Miss Stephens were en-
gaged at £20 a week, Macready claimed a
similar sum, and got it, with the verbal stipula-
tion that if any other regular actor should re-
ceive more, he also should be raised to the

* Theatrical Observer, September^ 1831 (see also appendix).

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

same amount To this arrangement Reynolds
was a witness.

Before dealing with the plays produced in
the 1821-2 season, we are obliged to revert to
the unfortunate quarrels between the new pro-
prietor, Charles Kemble, and his co-proprietor,
Henry Harris, which eventually led to the
latter's resignation of a post he was so very
eminently fitted for.

It is perhaps hardly just to Harris to de-
scribe the commencement of the affair as a
quarrel, which, as we know, needs two in its
making, since it appears from two contemporary
chroniclers of such diametrically opposite views
as Bunn and Macready that Charles Kemble
began the battle by the formation of a '^ cave "
among the proprietors, consisting of himself,
Mr. Willet, Captain Forbes, R.N., and the
representatives of Mrs. Martindale, directed
against Henry Harris, who, as we know, held
thirteen twenty-fourths of the entire holding
himself.*

Bunn mentions an incident (q.v.) said to have
occurred five years before, but of which I have
been unable to find an account, when '' Henry
Harris was instigated to assault Mr. Charles
Kemble on the stage for alleged heartless and

* They especiallf resented Hams continuing to receive the
£1000 per anuiun payable to his father as manager.

THE ANNALS OF

irritating conduct." What truth there is in
this it is not easy to ascertain, but some trivial
quarrel may well have rankled in Charles
Kemble's mind, and determined him to try
and oust his co-proprietor from his position of
authority.

He was so far successful that he brought an
offer from Harris to withdraw altogether from
management upon payment to him of £12,500
per annum. This the other party declined,
whereupon Harris offered to take the theatre
himself and pay them the £18,500 per annum,
an offer which by no means suited their ill-
advised ambition. Accordingly, they accepted
his first proposition, and became Harris's tenants
for seven years, at a rent of £12,000 per annum.
The lease itself was not, however, signed, Harris,
with somewhat unbusiness-like leniency, allowing
possession of the theatre upon signature of an
agreement to sign it. Under the new arrange-
ment Charles Kemble, on March 11, 1822,
signed the agreement by which he became act-*
ing-manager,* Fawcett retaining his old office
of stage-manager, probably the only member of
the new board with any genuine knowledge of
the duties of his position.

About the only productions worthy of notice

* Additional MSS. British Mnaenm (C. Kemble's diaiy, March-
June^ 1822).

CHARLES KEMBLE
iax by G. H. Hartou; cngravtd by T. LupioH.

• ••

»- c e

>•

I* •*

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

were those of Julitis Ccesar and a benefit given
on August 5 for the relatives and seven children
of John Emery, a. favourite Co vent Garden actor,
who died in July. On this occasion The Rivals
was performed with a fine cast, almost the last
occasion for many years when such a constella-
tion could be seen there : Sir Anthony, Munden ;
Captain Absolute, C. Kemble ; Faulkland,
Young ; Acres, Liston ; Lydia, Mrs. Edwin ;
Mrs. Malaprop, Mrs. Davenport.

One other production demands notice, viz.
The Law of Java^ an opera distinguished by
the collaboration of George Colman, junior, and
Bishop, and in which the immortal ** Mynheer
Vandunck" first made his appearance, May 11,
1822.

The pantomime at Christmas was Harlequin
and Mother Bunch ; or^ The Yellow Zhvarf, in
which both Grimaldi and his son, J. S. Grimaldi,
played. It had a very £Bdr run until Easter,
when another of Grimaldi's former successes,
Cherry's Fair Star, was revived.

The new committee were not long in proving
their striking incapacity for theatre management.
They parted with three of their most popular
performers at once, says Macready, for " an in-
considerable weekly sum," the trio being Liston,
Miss Stephens, and Young. The latter, however,
while he had only enjoyed a weekly salary of £20
VOL. II. 17 c

THE ANNALS OF

at Covent Garden, received that sum nightly
from Drury Lane. Elliston had, besides, violated
a hitherto sacred agreement between the patent
theatres, that no performer should walk from one
house to the other without at least a year inter-
vening. Miss Stephens, the second great artist,
left a weekly salary of £20 for one of £60, and
Liston, the third, sprang from £l7 per week to
£50 and £60 per week.* It is therefore difficult
to agree with Macready's view that only " an
inconsiderable amount tempted these popular
players from their allegiance." The new manage-
ment of Govent Garden were only willing to
renew their engagements at the old salaries of
£20 per week, whereas Elliston was, in fact,
inaugurating the era of enormous salaries which
has continued without intermission ever since,
and which has rendered the task of making a
theatrical venture pay so extremely difficult.

Alfred Bunn gives the following interesting
particulars of the salaries which had prevailed up
to that time, and which may all be regarded as
average maximum salaries of the time. There
were, however, exceptions, as in the case of the
boy Betty, whose friends made a particularly
advantageous arrangement, by which he secured
fifty guineas per night, and a dear benefit frx)m
both the patent theatres. This, however, cannot

* Bunn's "Stage/' vol. i. p. 66.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

be regarded as having any real bearing on the
point.

" In the very height of their popularity," says
Bunn, " such actors as Munden. Fawcett, Quick,
Edwin, Irish Johnstone, etc., had £14 a week.
Lewis, as actor and manager, had £20 a week, and
in January, 1812, Mathews, the Mathews, the
most extraordinary actor that ever lived, says, in
a letter to Mrs. Mathews, of a proposed engage-
ment at Covent Garden Theatre, *Now to my
offer, which I think stupendous and inagmJiceTit^
£l7 a week.' John Kemble, for acting and
managing, had £86 a week. Miss O'Neill's salary
at the beginning of her brilliant career was £15,
and never exceeded £25. George Cooke (greatly
attractive) had £20 per week. Mrs. Jordan's
salary at the zenith of her popularity was
£81 10s. per week. Mr. Charles Kemble, until
he became his own manager, never had more
than £20 per week."

Mr. Bunn has plenty more to say on this
vexed subject, and many deductions to draw, but
space forbids further quotation. A quaint foot-
note, however, forms the " tag " to his discourse,
and must find a place.

^^ It has been alleged as an excuse for the
present exorbitant salaries that money was far
more valuable some years ago than it is now
(1839), but the existing state of things gives the

THE ANNALS OF

lie direct to any such assertion, and proves that
its value is greater than ever, eg. —

"* Magazines for one penny.' *" Locke on the
Human Understanding " for threepence/ * Best
hats, seven shillings.' ' Six miles on an omnibus
for sixpence.' * Steam to Gravesend, ninepence/

* Ditto to France, five shillings, and to the d ^1

himself for very little more.' "

1822-8. It is not surprising to read that
with the magnijficent company of performers now
enlisted in the Drury Lane company, as against
the beggarly array at Covent Garden, the former
became the fashion and the latter a desert. The
unhappy mistake of the Covent Garden com-
mittee was soon brought home to them, and they
applied to Harris to resume management, a step
in itself which must have caused them no small
mortification. Not without reason, he refused,
pointing out that they had broken up his power-
ful company, and were, in fact, asking him to
make bricks without straw.

Persisting in his determination to force them
to their knees, he brought an action to compel
them to sign the lease, a course which, however
much legality it contained, certainly appears a
mistaken one to us, and one which resulted in
the bankruptcy of the concern.

A few lines may here be devoted to the cha-
racter of Henry Harris, of whom we now virtually

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

take leave in our chronicles. In spite of some
mistakes, he was without a doubt as much gifted
with the art of management as his father had
been. Although obliged to contend against
great and unexampled difficulties, yet the theatre
under his rule was generally prosperous. His
friend Bunn said of him —

"He was endowed with a sound under-
standing, an acute observation, clear judgement,
and great decision, together with the sometimes
fatal gift of an excellent heart. If his efforts
were sometimes frustrated by those causes that
will eventually frustrate the efforts of any entre-
preneuVy at others his exertions were crowned
with the most brilliant success."

Parke relates of him that he was never known
to invite any of his performers to his table with
the exception of Mr, Lewis, who was his deputy
manager, and Mr. Shield, his composer. In spite
of this, when, in May, 1889, this autocratic yet
capable manager died, Bunn confessed that "a
man more deservedly respected or more generally
beloved never descended into *the populous
homes of death.' "

The season of 1822-8 did not open until
October 1, when Twelfth Night was performed.
Among the new plays were Alt Pacha and The
Soldiers Daughter, a two-act melodrama by

THE ANNALS OF

Howard Payne, which had already been played
at Drury Lane, and in which T. P. Cooke took
part. On December 8 Maid Marian^ a three-
act opera by Bishop, was performed, and the
name of its author, J. R. Planch^, shows us that
we have at last entered comparatively modem
times.

Macready had made his first appearance for
the season on November 18, in OtheUo^ with a
cast sadly depleted of stars.

Harlequin and the Ogress ; or^ The Sleeping
Beauty^ was the pantomime for the season, and
was attended with success. Grimaldi's biographer
says —

" Nothing could exceed the liberality displayed
by Mr. Harris in getting up this species of
entertainment; . . .to which their almost
uniform success may be attributed. This spirit
was not confined to the stage, but was also ex-
tended to the actors. . . • The principal actors
were allowed a pint of wine each every night the
pantomime was played, and on the evening of its
first representation they were invited to a hand-
some dinner at the Piazza Coffee House, whither
they all repaired directly the rehearsal was over."

On January 28 a dramatic version of Scott's
" The Fortunes of Nigel," entitled Nigel; or^
The Crown Jewels^ was hurriedly brought out by
Charles Kemble in order to forestall a similar

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

production at the rival theatre. It was not a
success, and, indeed, was so nearly a complete
£Eulure that EUiston decided to abandon his own
production.

The oratorio season began on February 9, in
which Madame Camporese, Mrs. Salmon, Miss
Paton, Mr. Braham, and Mr. Sapio took part.
At the end of the first part a " concertante " for
two harps, by Bochsa and his pupil, Miss Dibdin,
was performed. Parke speaks of the incongruous
effect produced by " a gigantic sort of a person-
age like Mr. Bochsa playing on so feminine an
instrument."

A revival of King John took place on March
8, for which Planch^ tells us he gratuitously
designed the costumes. He did more, he con-
vinced Kemble so thoroughly of the many
existing anachronisms in stage costume and
management generally, that the entire superin-
tendence of the production was entrusted to him,
greatly to the indignation of Messrs. Fawcett
and Farley, respectively the stage-manager and
" purveyor of spectacle " to the theatre.

** Never," says Planch^, "shall I forget the
dismay of some of the performers when they
looked upon the flat-topped chapeaux de fer of
the twelfth century, which they irreverently
stigmatized as stew-pans. Nothing but the

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fact that the classical features of a Kemble
were to be surmounted by a precisely similar
abomination would, I think, have induced one
of the rebellious barons to have appeared in it.
They had no faith in me, and sulkily assumed
their new and strange habiliments in the fiill
belief that they should be roared at by the
audience. They were roared at, but in a much
more agreeable way than they had contem-
plated. • . •

'' Receipts of from £400 to £600 nightly soon
reimbursed the management for the expense of
the production, and a complete reformation
of dramatic costume became from that moment
inevitable upon the English stage."

On March 15 there was played, for the first
time, the tragedy of Julian^ by Miss Mitford,
which was not a success, but which is said to
have been the first play distinguished by the
omission * of a prologue and epilogue. For it
Miss Mitford received £100 in cash, and £100 by
an accepted bill due October 12, 1828. Macready
took the title part, and the boy part of Alfonso,
King of Sicily, was taken by Miss Foote.

On March 28, 1828, a new melodrama by
Farley appeared, entitled The Vision of the Sun ;
or J The Orphan of Peru, in which Grimaldi
played an important part, but even in its first

* Planch^ also claims credit for thb innovation for his play^
4 Woman Never VeM, November 9, 1824.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

nights he was so weak and ill he could scarcely
struggle through the evening, every effort he
made being foUowed by cramp and spasms of
terrible pain, which, however, he concealed en-
tirely from the audience. On the twenty-fourth
night of the piece he at length found himself
unable any longer to bear the fearful trial, and
he decided to throw up his part, which was
thenceforth played by his son. After this occa-
sion, although poor Grimaldi cherished hopes of
returning to his profession, he did but very little
work, and in the ensuing season he tendered his
resignation to the proprietors, who generously
allowed him £5 a week for the rest of the season,
and, which was yet more gratif}dng to him,
appointed his son principal clown in his stead.

May 8, 1828, is, however, a memorable date
in Covent Garden's history. It saw the produc-
tion of an opera by Howard Payne and Bishop,
the bare title of which, Clari, or The Maid of
Milan^ it is safe to say, is totally unknown to
ninety-nine per cent, of the inhabitants of Great
Britain. But it is almost equally certain that
every English-speaking person in the world could
hum an air first sung in that opera — the air of
" Home, Sweet Home." *

* It is sad to relate that the original MS. of the opera, formerly
in the possession of the late Mr. Julian Marshall^ is now in the
United States.

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The opera, as a whole, did not meet with
very high praise at the hands of contemporary
critics. The Harmomcon of June, 1828, said —

"We should be surprised were Mr, Bishop
to execute any task allotted to him in such
a way as to expose himself to censure. His
present production • . . is free from blame;
but it is also unentitled to praise, for it possesses
nothing that is distinguished by originality of
conception . . • or elegance of effect. The chief
character is assigned to Miss Tree, and it could
not have been placed in better hands. To the
interest which Miss Tree always excites by her
feeling and gentleness, may be ascribed in a great
measure the salvation of the piece."

In a later number of the Harmonicon (Sep-
tember, 1828) the critic deals with the opera in
more detail, and thus he speaks of the immortal
song —

"'Home, Sweet Home' is the cheval de
bataiUe^ the most popular thing in the opera,
and that to which much of its success may be
attributed. This air is announced as ' composed
and partly founded on a Sicilian air' by Mr.
Bishop. Now, we are led by that spirit which
always influences critics ... to compare these
two songs together, and upon bringing them into
juxtaposition . . . they appeared as one and the
same thing. That, however, which is sung on
the stage is a beautiful air, whether it was bom

HENRY R. BISHOP.
IK the Engraving ty B, Holl.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

under the serene sky of classic Sicily or beneath
the dense clouds that overhang Covent Garden
Theatre."

It should also not be forgotten that Macready
first played Shylock on May 18, 1828, and with
this season the second period of the tragedian's
connection with Covent Garden came to an
abrupt termination. That part of his contract
with the theatre which was verbal, and which,
in effect, guaranteed him a salary equal to the
highest in the company, was not ratified by
Charles Kemble and his partners, and he decided
to quit the company, in which he had served
since September, 1816, and which was the scene
of all his first great London triumphs.

We shall not hear much of him in our
chronicles for a period of nearly thirteen years,
not until, in fact, he enters Covent Garden
Theatre as its ruler, for a brief, yet notable,
reign.

For the present he also became a member
of the almost unparalleled constellation of star
artists at Drury Lane, which included the names
of Kean, Young, Munden, Liston, Dowton,
EUiston, Terry, Harley, Knight, Miss Stephens,
and Madam Vestris.

The remainder of the 1822-8 season presented
nothing of importance.

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We have previously (see p. 847, vol. i.) referred
to the dismissal this year of John Brandon, who
must certainly have been the oldest servant con-
nected with the theatre. He had been engaged
at Covent Garden since 1768, a period of fifty-
five years, and had since 1808 filled the highly
responsible oflSce of treasurer, to which he had
been appointed by Mr. T. Harris, influenced by
the advice of Mr. John Kemble. It must have
been not the least painful result of the Harris-
Kemble dispute that involved the summary
congS of so well-tried a servant.

The 1828-4 season opened on October 1, with
MtLch Ado and Rosina, followed on successive
nights by The School for Scandal (always a good
" show " when Charles Kemble played his scape-
grace namesake), the Comedy of Errors, and
Clari.

On October 8 a new historical romance
called The Beaton of Liberty was produced
with success, doubtless greatly aided by Bishop's
music.

On November 5, Cortez ; or The Conquest of
MexicOy a three-act drama by Planch^, with
music by Bishop, in which Miss Love and Miss
Paton, two excellent singers, both found con-
genial parts. Mr. Genest brings his usual trite
reproach against the dramatist for ^^ introducing
horses and music into the play." But with

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

some cutting down the piece was acted some
seventeen times in all. It contained an air
not quite forgotten even at the present day,
* Yes, 'tis the Indian Drum.'

The Harmonicon* thus delivers itself upon
the production.

** This piece has fallen a good deal under the
displeasure of some of our daily and weekly
critics; the chief cause of offence seems to be
the horses employed in it. But, really, upon
this point we cannot help agreeing in what the
manager says in a deprecatory advertisement
prefixed to the book of songs.

" * With regard to the horses, the hope only
is expressed that as they have been often ap-
plauded when introduced merely for stage effect,
they will not be less favourably received when
their appearance is sanctioned by history, and is
highly important to the interest and probability
of the drama.'

I j»

During the 1828-4 season the tenor Sinclair,
who was by many thought a serious rival of
John Braham, made his reappearance in
England at Covent Garden, after an absence
of six years, which he had spent studying in
Italy.

If we may believe his son's statement, Charles
Young returned to Covent Garden during the

• Vol. i. p. 201.

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1828-4 season, at his Drury Lane terms, viz.
£50 a night, a figure which I believe to be
exaggerated.

On December 12 a tragedy by Mrs. Hemans,
The Vespers of Palermo^ was performed and,
unfortunately, damned at the same time.

A note in the 1862 edition of her works tells
us the play had been handed over to the
managing committee of Covent Garden two
years before, in 1821, and her sister writes shortly
before the fateful night: "After innumerable
delays, uncertainties, and anxieties, the fate of
the tragedy, so long in abeyance, is now drawing
to a crisis.*'

On November 27 the authoress herself
writes :—

" All is going on as well as I could possibly
desire. ... I received a message yesterday from
Mr. Kemble informing me of the unanimous
opinion of the green-room conclave in favour of
the piece."

Mrs. Hemans herself was at St. Asaph when
it was produced, and two days had to elapse
before the news of its reception could reach her.
Not only Mrs. Hemans's family, but all her more
immediate friends and neighbours, were wrought
up to a pitch of intense expectation. Various
newspapers were ordered expressly for the

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

occasion, and the post-office was besieged at
twelve o'clock at night by some of the more
zealous of her friends, eager to be the first heralds
of the triumph so undoubtingly anticipated.

Her boys had worked themselves up into an
uncontrollable state of excitement, and were all
lying awake " to hear about mamma's play," and
perhaps her bitterest moment of mortification
was when she went up to their bedsides to
announce that all their bright visions were
dashed to the ground, and that the performance
had ended in all but a failure.

It is, however, more cheering to remember
that it was again brought forward not very long
after, this time in Edinburgh, where it proved
a great success, earning warm commendation
from no less a judge than Sir Walter Scott,
who wrote a kind letter to the gentle authoress
that brought balm to her wounded feelings.

On May 8, 1824, Charles Kemble played
Falstaff in Henry IV. ^ Part 1, for the first time
in London. By all accounts, it was by no means
a part for which he was fitted, either by nature
or his art.

On July 9 a piece founded on Mrs. Shelley's
famous romance of " Frankenstein " was played,
entitled Presumption ; or^ The Fate of Franken-
stein. It met with partial success only. Accord-
ing to the Harmonicoftf the receipts of the theatre

THE ANNALS OF

had fisdlen off very considerably at this time
without any corresponding reduction of ex-
penditure.

On July 19 the season ended, and with it
the invaluable services of Henry Bishop to the
theatre terminated. From the Harmonicon of
May, 1824, we learn that the managing com-
mittee refused to augment his salary, and Mr.
Elliston, the lessee of Drury Lane, wisely seized
the opportunity of adding so much musical
talent to his establishment. From the same
source in the following month is the name of
Bishop's successor, Carl von Weber, first learnt.
He was in his thirty-seventh or thirty-eighth
year, in the zenith of his reputation as a com-
poser^ and fresh from his triumphs in his native
land.

The first production of note in the 1824-5
season was Weber's new opera of Der Frei-
schiUz^ which had already been brought out at
the Royal English Opera House on Thursday,
July 28, 1824, with immense; success. This was
repeated at Covent Garden, the piece being
played no less than fifty-two times during the
season. Besides the production in London
three months before that we have mentioned,
and in which Braham and T. P. Cooke played,
several minor theatres brought it out, and Drury
Lane soon followed, and was, according to

CARL MARIA VON WEBER.

•ting by John Caa-sr, litkograplud by R. J. I^h

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Genest, the best of the many versions that
appeared. The Harmmucon of November, 1824,
while criticizing the performers. Miss Love, Miss
Paton, Pearman, and Isaacs, somewhat severely,
gave praise to the production in general, and to
the chorus and orchestra in particular.

Among the new productions of the season
which failed was a melodrama entitled Father
and Son ; or^ The Bock of Charbonnier, produced
on February 28, 1825. This was by Edward
Fitzball, an author new to Covent Garden, but
who had already met with a good deal of popular
appreciation at the Surrey Theatre. Fitzball's
own account of his trepidation on being sum-
moned to the theatre by Charles Kemble and
invited to write for them is extremely vivid, not
to say grotesque. Let those who wish to com-
prehend fiilly the grovelling adulation bestowed
upon the manager of a great theatre by a suc-
cessful playwright read " Thirty-Five Years of a
Dramatic Author's Life." Fitzball will be best
remembered by a later generation as the writer
of the famous song, " My Pretty Jane," which,
set to music by Bishop, is for us of to-day
inseparably associated with the name of Sims
Reeves.

The remainder of the season was uneventfiil.
Several of Shakespear's plays, each converted
into " a sort of opera," as Genest puts it, were

VOL. II. 88 D

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produced, notably As You Like It, Twelfih\N%ght,
and the Comedy of Errors. Other productions
mduded Romeo and Juliet , Mttch Ado, Hamlet
(with Charles Kemble in the rdle). The School
for Scandaiy Macbeth, Venice Preserved, King
John, Merchant oj Venice, The Bellas Stratagem,
She Stoops to Conquer, Every Man in his
Humour, Julius Cassar, and many other plays
of equal note, besides a large number of new
productions since forgotten.

It would appear from Parke's memoirs that
this season's oratorios were at the cost of the
lessees of the theatre, Charles Kemble and
Messrs. Willett and Forbes, and he records that
they induced the unfortunate musicians in the
orchestra to play at reduced salaries to allow
of their being carried on with less risk.

"The return these performers experienced
from the lessees was, that the most part of them,
and the best, were dismissed at the end of the
season to make room for musicians of inferior
talent on inferior terms."

He frirther comments sardonically on the

change in the character of the music from those

given fifty years before, when none but strictly

sacred music was performed, and " not only the

performers who assisted at them, but the public

also who attended at them, appeared in mourning

dresses."

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Among the interesting operatic productions
of the season was Weber's JPredosa, which was
not, however, equal to the master's other works.
) By way of celebrating the coronation of

Charles X. of France on May 29, 1825, a grand
representation of the ceremony was arranged for
Covent Garden by Kemble, who despatched
Planch^ to Rheims to make sketches of the
costumes and ceremony generally. On July 10,
i.e. towards the end of the season, this was
produced with great splendour and accuracy of
detail, and completely eclipsed the rival attempt
at Drury Lane, which Planch^ condemns as
hasty, slovenly, and inaccurate.

The 1825-6 season was to prove a remark-
able one. It opened on September 26 with
JuUus Coesar, with Charles Kemble in the title
role. On October 21 a new opera, entitled
Lilla^ was produced, and withdrawn after six
representations. On October 28 No Song no
Supper was revived, with the part of Margaretta
by Mary Anne Goward (afterwards Mrs. Keeley),
of whom we shall have to speak more fiilly in
connection with Oheron, On November 10
Madam Vestris * reappeared at Covent Garden
as Macheath in The Beggar's Opera^ and on
the 15th of the month as Susanna in The

* She had begun her engagement as Mandaue in Arne's
Artaxerxt9 on Monday^ November 7«

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Marriage of Figaro. On December 1 this
versatile actress played Lydia Languish, and
later in the season the part of Madge in L&oe
in a Fillage^ for the only time in her life.

On December 10 there appeared a tragedy
by Miss Harriet Lee, entitled The Three
Strangers^ and founded on the same story as
Byron's more celebrated tragedy of Werner^
which it preceded by many years. Byron had,
it appeared, openly chosen Miss Lee's plot for
his poem, thereby forcing her to offer her
play for production or incur the suspicion of
plagiarism.

But the climax of the season, and that which,
undoubtedly, gives it its chief claim to distinc-
tion, was the production on April 12, 1826, of
Weber's opera of Oberon; or. The Elf-King's
Oath. The libretto was dramatized by Planch^
from a poem by Wieland. The following is the
cast: Fairies — Oberon, C. Bland; Puck, Miss
H. Cawse; Titania, Miss Smith. Franks —
Charlemagne, Austin ; Sir Huon, Braham ;
Sherasmin, Fawcett. Arabians — Haroun al
Raschid, Chapman; Baba-Khan, Baker; Reza,
Miss Paton ; Fatima, Madam Vestris ; Namouna,
Mrs. Davenport ; Almanza, Cooper ; Boshano,
Miss Lacy. The scenery was by T. and W» '
Grieve, Mr. Pugh, and Mr. Luppino.

The new musical director of the theatre, Carl

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

von Weber, arrived in England on March 5,
1826, and took up his abode at the house of
Sir Gteorge Smart, now known as 108, Great
Portland Street, to superintend the production
of what, alas ! was to be his first and last English
opera. His first public appearance in England
was at Covent Garden Theatre on March 8,*
when he conducted selections from Der Frei-
schUtz^ amidst universal tokens of enthusiasm
from all parts of the theatre.

Fanny Kemble speaks of Sir George Smart
as the leader of the Covent Garden orchestra —

**and our excellent old friend. . . . He was a
man of very considerable musical knowledge,
and had a peculiar talent for teaching and accom-
panying the vocal compositions of Handel.
During the whole of my father's management
at Covent Garden he had the supervision of
the musical representations, and conducted the
orchestra, and he was principally instrumental
in bringing out Weber's fine operas of Der
FreischUtz and Obef^on.''

Unless she is referring to this particular
period of her father's management, it is difficult
to comprehend her assertion that Smart super-
vised the music "during the whole of my
father's management," as Bishop had certainly

* Parke gives this date as March 29 on p. 227 of his '' Memoirs/'
And as the 8th on p. 223.

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filled that position until the end of the 1824-5
season (q.v.).

Reverting to the first appearance of Obero7i,
we learn from Planch^ that he was greatly
hampered in the adaptation of the work to
Weber's ideas by the lack of competent actors
and singers.

^^None of our actors could sing, and but
one singer could act — Madam Vestris. At
the first general rehearsal with fiill band,
scenery, etc., the effect [of Miss Coward's solo]
was not satisfactory, and Fawcett, in his
usual brusque manner, exclaimed, ^That must
come out ! It won't go I ' Weber, who was
standing in the pit, leaning on the back of the
orchestra, so feeble that he could scarcely stand
without support, shouted, * Wherefore shall it
not go?' And leaping over the partition like
a boy» snatched the baton from the conductor,
and saved from excision one of the most delicious
morceaux in the opera."

Oberon proved a great success, and was,
according to Genest, performed thirty-one times
in the course of the season.

It will have been remarked that the newest
dehviante in the Covent Garden company. Miss
Goward, is not mentioned as having a place in
the cast. That she took part, however, in the
performance is a matter of historical fact, and

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

subjoined is a brief account of her career, ex-
tracted from the Musical Times of April 1,
1899, in which Mr* F. G. Edwards gives a deeply
interesting account of the event, taken from her
own lips, and written shortly after the death of
the famous actress on March 12, 1899, at the
venerable age of ninety-three.

Mary Ann Goward (afterwards Keeley) was
bom at Ipswich on November 22, 1805. She
was endowed with a pure soprano voice of re-
markable compass. Like many other aspirants
to fame, Miss Goward found her opportimity
through the failure of another singer, though
in her case it was the result of a double failure.
One of the most popular and best-known ex-
cerpts from Oberon is the " Mermaid's Song,"
of which the history is intimately connected
with the famous old actress, then a yoimg and
fascinating girl.

Mr. F. G. Edwards visited Mrs. Keeley, then
in her eighty-ninth year, at 10, Pelham Crescent,
South Kensington, for a talk with her upon
Oberon. She vividly recalled all the incidents
connected with its production. She said that
two other singers of repute had tried to sing
the "Mermaid's Song," but without success.
The Mermaid had to sing at the very back
of the stage, where it was extremely difficult
to hear the soft accompaniment. There was

THE ANNALS OF

some danger of the air having to be sacrificed,
when Sir George Smart, Weber's host, said,
" Little Groward will sing it," and she did.

" Weber came up to me afterwards," said Mrs.
Keeley, ^* and placing his beautiful hand on my
shoulder, said, *My little girl, you sang that
song very nicely; but what for did you put
in that note?' Which little note [said the
octogenarian mermaid to Mr. Edwards] / put
in — on my own account."

The sad fftte of the distinguished composer is
well known. He had been in ill-health from
lung disease for a long time past, and little doubt
can be felt that the worry and anxiety attendant
on the new opera hastened the end of this gifted
man.

On the morning of June 5, exactly thirteen
weeks after his arrival in England, he was found
dead in his bed, and once more the luck of
Covent Garden deserted it.

The funeral of the deceased composer took
place amid considerable pomp at the recently
destroyed Roman Catholic church of St. Mary,
Moorfields. Many offers of assistance in a pro-
posed performance of Mozart's " Requiem " were
received, among others being " the entire band of
Covent Garden."

A committee formed to carry out the arrange-

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

ments included the names of M oscheles, Braham,
Attwood, Sir George Smart, Collard, Chappell»
and others. The funeral was of a very imposing
character, and attracted enormous crowds. The
procession included '' Mutes on horseback in silk
dresses," and all the other hideous paraphernalia
of the period. As the procession moved down
the aisle of the chapel, Mozart's " Requiem " was
commenced. The conductor was Mr. Attwood,
who presided at the organ. The band was led
by Mr. Cramer, and amongst the other instru-
mentalists were Mori, Ella, Harper (trumpet).
Smithies (trombone), and Chipp (double drums).

In 1844, at the instigation of Richard Wagner,
the remains of Weber were removed to Dresden,
and reinterred.

The remaining events of the season must be
briefly related. On May 20 Scott's novel of
" Woodstock " was dramatized, with Charles
Kemble as Louis Kemeguy, the disguised king.
On June 1 Madam Vestris played, for her bene-
fit, the part of Mrs. Page in the Merry Wives of
Windsor, arranged as an opera. Braham also
played regularly throughout the season, which
ended on June 28.

The 1826-7 season found a very similar
company acting, but without Braham, who trans-
ferred his services to Drury Lane. Madam
Vestris, however, was retained, and, as was her

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wont, played a good many "breeches parts'
during the season.

On November 4 Miss Mitford's tragedy of
Foscari — written, as she asserts, before Byron's
poem of a similar name — was performed with
some measure of success, and repeated fifteen
times.

On January 2, 1827, Boieldieu's opera of La
Dame Blanche^ anglicized into The White Maid,
was performed at Covent Garden with only
moderate success. It had been first produced
about a year before in Paris, where it created a
perfect furore, and its popularity has, indeed,
lasted well up to recent times, for it was as
frequently played in Paris in the seventies and
eighties as it had been half a centiuy before,
when it had all the charm and merit of novelty
to recommend it. It may be remembered as
containing transcriptions of Scotch airs, including
that of " Robin Adair." Vestris played the part
of Grcorge Brown, the disguised hero, on its first
production.

On April 16 a play founded on the once-
popular romance of "Peter Wilkins; or. The
Flying Indians," was produced with great success,
and acted fifty times.

During the season Maria Foote made a brief
reappearance on four successive nights, and on
June 29 the theatre closed.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

The 1827-8 season witnessed an event so
important in the history of the theatre that it
overshadows the other happenings to a very large
extent.

Before we deal, however, with the melancholy
career of Edmund Kean, we must glance briefly
at the remaining members of the company he
was now to reinforce by his prodigious genius.
They were headed, of course, by their manager
and proprietor, Charles Kemble, who repeated in
the autumn and winter many of his favourite
parts. Fawcett, Bartley, Keeley, Young, Farley,
W. Farren, and Blanchard formed a very strong
contingent for comedy and tragedy, while Miss
Kelly (who made her first appearance there as
Alexis in The Shepherd Boy) brought her very
great talents to the support of the company,
which could hardly boast of many actresses of
the highest rank. Mrs. Davenport and Madam
Vestris were, it is true, still there, but the other
names. Miss Jarman, Miss Goward, Miss Hughes,
Miss Henry, and Mrs. Faucit are hardly of the
same lustre.

John Reeve, who had lately been playing at
the Adelphi, made his first appearance at Covent
Garden in the spring, and several fine casts were
brought together on benefit nights, notably on
May 19, when opera lovers had the rare treat of
seeing Madam Vestris play Cherubino.

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On March 17, 1828, Joe Grimaldi took his
farewell benefit at Sadler's Wells, the theatre
with which, as he told his audience, he had been
connected since he was three years old, a period
of forty-five years. To the shame of the Covent
Garden proprietors be it said, they allowed his
request for the loan of the theatre for a benefit
there to fall through, apparently out of sheer
carelessness ; and Charles Kemble had the morti-
fication of seeing the greatest clown of his own
or any other time accorded the hospitality of
Covent Garden's rival, Drury Lane, by Mr. Price,
the lessee and manager, with a generous readiness
which will redound evermore to his credit. It is
satisfactory to remember that from the Drury
Lane fund, to which he had long been a sub-
scriber, he received an annuity of £lOO for the
too -short remainder of his busy life, which
terminated on May 81, 1887-

Ever since the failure of FitzbalPs play of
Father and Son he had been cold-shouldered by
Kemble and the other Covent Garden directors.
This year, however, he sent in a play entitled
The DeviFs ElianVy founded on the famous
German legend of "Peter Schemihl; or. The
Shadowless Man." This Fawcett and Morton,
the readers to the theatre, accepted. Rodwell
wrote music to it, the Grieves and Finley painted
the scenery. Miss Goward and Miss Hughes

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

sang, and under Farley's direction the piece
proved a great success, bringing in the writer
a couple of hundred pounds, and establishing
him as a success&l writer for the theatre.

This, however, is slightly anticipating events,
as it was not produced till April 20, 1829, after
Miss Fanny Kemble's debute to the success of
which Fitzball frankly admits he owed the
receipt of his money.

Upon the authority of the late E. Laman
Blanchard,* who contributed it to the paper, a
curious fact is gleaned from the Birmingham
Daily Gazette of February 2, 1883 :~

" As late as 1826 the writer of these lines
weU remembers that a special armoury of pistols
and blunderbusses was kept at the stage door of
Co vent Garden Theatre to protect those actors
who lived in the suburbs, or were going by
private conveyance into the country, from the
frequent attacks of highwaymen. One guinea
was always left with the stage doorkeeper as a
security for the return of the weapon, and the
charge was made of two shillings a month."

But space is limited, and we must turn to
the great event of the season, the first appear-
ance at Covent Garden of the extraordinary
actor whose genius had literally dragged Drury

* Blauchard's fiftther was a comediau at the theatre.

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Lane from the jaws of ruin to the height of
prosperity.

His connection with our subject only begins
when, alas ! his fatal craving for stimulants had
brought his physical powers to the lowest ebb
consistent with the daily practice of his pro-
fession.

Such as it is, however, it forms so important
a portion of our history that it must be reserved
for a fresh chapter.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

CHAPTER XIV

1827-1832

It is not possible here to do more than glance at
the meteoric and sorrowful career of Edmund
Kean. Few novelists have conceived anything
in fiction more romantic and extraordinary than
the story of his early years. The illegitimate son
of an unnatiural mother, herself the daughter of
the brilliant George SaviUe Carey, he was left to
the care of strangers when three months old. By
his mother he was claimed again, and again
abandoned. Brought up amid the necessarily
sordid and wretched surroundings of the poorest
and humblest members of the profession he
eventually reached the top of, fighting against
incredible difficulties, and steadfastly pursuing
the aims he knew himself capable of achieving,
he stands for all time as an example of the
reward awaiting those who have the grit to
do as he did. And, after all this, the pity and
mystery of his terrible fall 1 To have trium-
phantly surmounted the obstacles, only to prove
how miserably impotent he was to conquer the

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more insidious enemy — drink — and finally to
die when he might still have hoped to do even
greater things than he had accomplished; to
have touched and sat on the throne vacated by
Garrick and Kemble, never to reign there as he
might so well have reigned — it is a story almost
too lurid to write about, and certainly too dark
for a novelist to dare to paint.

His connection with Covent Garden was
t3rpical of his career. It began only in the short
evening of his life. Almost the whole of his
stage triumphs are bound up with the history of
Drury Lane Theatre. •

The reason for his secession in October, 1827,
is not clearly related by his biographers, but it is
stated that he had a dispute with Price, the
manager, and it is not unlikely that this con-
cerned the engagement of his son Charles, who
was then about to make his debut as an actor, to
his father's intense sorrow and anger.

On October 15, 1827, he played Shylock at
Covent Garden before a crowded and brilliant
audience, and it is said that his acting was ^' as
noble, as complete, and as rich as ever;" and
in that terrible scene with Tubal, when Shylock
discovers his ungrateful daughter's flight, he was
as powerful, finished, and impressive as he alone
could be. He repeated Shylock on October 17 ;
on the 22nd he appeared as Richard, and on the

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

24th as Sir Giles Overreach, one of his most
tremendous creations. On December 21 he
played Othello to the lago of Young, the Cassio
of Charles Kemble, the Roderigo of Farley, and
the Desdemona of Miss Jarman.

There was a terrific crush in the house.
Doran relates that he saw strong men clamber
from the pit into the lower boxes to escape suffo-
cation, and weak men, in a fainting condition,
passed by friendly hands towards the air in the
same way. He remembered Charles Kemble —

" in his lofty, bland way, trying to persuade a
too-closely packed audience to fancy themselves
comfortable, and to be silent, which they would
not be till he appeared who . . . could subdue
them to silence or stir them to ecstasy at his will."

Kean had announced in the bills that this
was to be his last season upon the stage ; but the
pinch of his exhausted resources was beginning
to make itself felt, and, while his years of magni-
ficent receipts were over his equally magnificent
expenditure, had, alas ! left its mark alike upon his
pocket and his health. He had long found it
necessary to resort to power^ stimulants in the
shape of very hot and strong brandy and water
before going on the stage, in order to fit him for
the exhausting characters he was called upon to
play.

VOL. 11. 49 E

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He had an illness at the close of his season,
and could not reappear till January 7, 1828,
when he played Richard III. I^ater on he acted
Lear, a character which, in his weakened physical
condition, he was able to identify even more
completely with the infirmities and failing intel-
lect of the old king, than when in good health.
Shortly afterwards he went abroad, and then
embarked on a provincial tour, his general decay
ever increasing and rendering his recourse to the
poisonous aid of brandy more frequent and
copious than ever. However, he reappeared at
his old home of Drury Lane in November, after
a dispute with Charles Kemble, who tried, meanly
enough, it must be owned, to compel him to
play at the rival house. But, after a good deal
of haggling, he appeared at Covent Garden on
January 5 and 8, 1829, and received £50 a night.
It is painful in the extreme either to write or
read of these last performances. The flashes of
his former self that showed in his acting became
rarer and rarer, and it was only the stimulus of
the public roars of applause and the breath of the
footlights that seemed to bring him to himself.
We will anticipate the next few years, and finish
at once the unhappy story.

His farewell appearance before a London
audience was, however, destined to be made, as
Kemble's and Mrs. Siddons's had been, at Covent

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Garden Theatre. His son, with whom he had
by this time become reconciled, was engaged by
Laporte to play there in February, 1888, as
Sir Edward Mortimer, and on March 15 the
manager engaged the father and son to play with
each other as Othello and lago for a few nights*

On the 20th and 21st E. Kean played
Shylock, a character which did not make such
exhaustive demands upon his physical strength,
and on March 25 he played, for the last time, as
it proved, in Othello, to his son's lago. The
Desdemona on this sadly historical occasion was
Miss Ellen Tree. His biographer, Hawkins,
describes the event as follows : —

** There had been no rehearsal. He was
assisted from his carriage into the dressing-room,
where he sank, drooping and nerveless, into a
chair. * Tell my boy,' he said to Charles Kemble,
* that I want to see him.' When Charles Kean
entered the dressing-room he found his father so
weak he deemed it advisable to ask Mr. Warde
to be in readiness to proceed with the part should
the great tragedian become unable to support it
throughout the play.

"*I am very ill,' Kean murmured, *I am
afraid I shall not be able to go on.' Cheered up
by Charles Kemble, who stood by his side with a
glass of very hot brandy-and-water in his hand,
he dressed himself with difficulty. While Charles
was playing the first scene with Roderigo, Kean

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prepared to appear, Charles came off, led his
father to the wing, and as the scene opened they
went on."

The tumultuous enthusiasm that followed is
described by a writer in Fraser's Magaztne^ three
months after, as unexampled in the history of the
stage.

"The performance progressed through the
first and second acts, but before the great third
act was reached the excitement which had helped
to buoy him up was passed, and his strength
began to fail rapidly.

" * Mind, Charley, that you keep before me,'
he anxiously enjoined his son. *! don't know
that I shaU be able to kneel, but if I do, be sure
you lift me up.' But he managed to struggle
through, and it was only when he endeavoured
to abandon himself to the overwhelming storm
of passion that Othello gives way to, that he
stopped and trembled, tottered, and reeled insen-
sible into his son's arms. His last words were
murmured into. Charles's ear, * I am dying — speak
to them for me.' And so amid sympathetic
applause he was gently carried away from the
sight of the audience.

" However, his once fine constitution enabled
him to rally a little afterwards, and he did not
die until some weeks later, on May 15, 1888,
when he passed away at his cottage at Richmond,
and was interred in the old church there. He
was forty-six years old."

CO VENT GARDEN THEATRE

Even in this our necessarily brief record of
Kean, it would be unjust to omit all mention of
his large-minded charity. This, the special and
peculiar virtue of the theatrical profession as a
whole, was conspicuous in the character of the
great tragedian. The reverses he met with, and
the loss of income his mania for drink entailed,
were never allowed to check or stint his flow of
liberality, especially if directed towards the relief
of suffering and charity in every and any form.
However slender his own banking account, he
never hesitated to open it for the benefit of his
humbler brethren, and this will surely be
accounted unto him for righteousness.

We must now again resume the broken
thread of our story dropped at the beginning
of the 1827-8 season.

The musician upon whom devolved the
duties of musical director at Covent Garden
upon the death of Weber was Thomas Simpson
Cooke, more familiarly known as Tom Cooke.

This fine old musician and singer, whom
until recently there were some living that could
remember, had for many years been intimately
acquainted with theatres and theatrical work.
He began his musical career as a band leader
at fifteen in Dublin. Later on he became the
principal tenor singer at Drury Lane, where,
indeed, he remained for nearly twenty years,

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from 1815 till 1824. On the occasion of one of
his benefit nights at the old Theatre Royal, he
exhibited his versatility by performing in suc-
cession on the violin, flute, oboe, clarionet,
bassoon, horn, violoncello, double bass, and
pianoforte.

He is now principally remembered as the
composer of many popular glees, among them
being " Hail, Bounteous Nature," " Come, Spirits
of Air," etc. ; but he wrote, besides these, some
fifteen or sixteen operas, most of which are now
forgotten.

The season was not a particularly noticeable
one, except for the performances of Edmund
Kean.

An unfortunate occurrence soon after the
opening of the 1828-9 season compelled the
closing of the theatre for a fortnight. This was
the explosion, on November 20, of a gasholder
in the basement of the theatre, by which two
men lost their lives. The accident occurred
between one and two o'clock in the afternoon,
while the cellars in which the oil-gas apparatus
was fixed were being cleaned. In these cellars
was an accumulation of putrid oil and dirt,
which was floating on the surface of the water
in the tanks. This escaped on to the floor, and
there became ignited by some workmen's candles.
At the same time an escape of gas occurred

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

from the gasometer, and an explosion was the
natural result, by which an unfortunate store-
keeper and the gas-man lost their lives.

In consequence of this calamity, the per-
formances were not again resumed until
December 8, 1828.

Such a serious loss as that entailed by a
fortnight's closing in the height of the season
had a disastrous effect on the finances of the
establishment. Later on a dispute with Madam
Vestris, over a matter in which the actress
showed herself somewhat arbitrary and unreason-
able, and which caused her temporary with-
drawal, was the occasion of a still further
monetary loss. Charles Kemble was, it is to
be feared, a very unsuitable person to exercise
the command he held in the huge undertaking.
According to Alfred Bunn, he allowed himself,
as manager, a salary of £30 per week, an increase
of £10 over the amount he received under the
management of Henry Harris.

Another and a highly important contributory
cause for the disasters that were now overtaking
the theatre is alluded to in considerable detail
by Alfred Bunn. The system of "orders," or
free admissions, had reached a truly extraordinary
height during the reign of Charles Kemble,
Willett, and Forbes.

Bunn's observations on this subject are so

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pertinent and so true, even at the present day,
that they deserve repetition.

" I come now to another alarming difficulty
with which a director of these [the patent]
theatres has to contend, which, despite the
resolution and the prudence every novice is bent
upon adopting, will never be got rid of, and
which is of more vital detriment than may at
first be imagined. I allude to the free admis-
sions, commonly called orders, the bane of the
profession.

"Contend as you may against the issue of
such privileges, there are so many to whom, in
the mutual exchange of coiul^sies, they must be
given, that it is almost hopeless to draw the line
of distinction. Performers, for the most part,
stipulate for them — limit the issue to a few
members, and you sour the rest of the company.
The press claim them on the score of reciprocity
• . . and although by such argument they should
naturally be extended only to those journals
whose circulation can render a correspondent
advantage, yet, if you omit a paper or periodical
of the vilest description, your reputation is
assailed by it, and your exertions misrepresented
in the most shameless and mendacious manner."

It is probable that the law of libel has been
amended since these words were penned, to
an extent that would render the terrors that
assailed Mr. Bunn comparatively innocuous to

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the modem theatre managers. He follows the
paragraph just quoted by a truly extraordinary
statement, from which it appears that from May
17 to July 12, 1824, Mr. Robertson, treasurer
to the theatre, wrote 11,008 orders, which, calcu-
lated at the rate of seven shillings each (the
price of admission to the boxes), amounts to
the sum of £8,851 Is.

Then follows a tabular statement, showing in
detail the number of orders given each night
on which Charles Kemble played many of his
favourite characters, and proving that the
greater portion of the orders were given for
his support Such a truly reckless exercise of
managerial power could only have one result.
That result came in the course of the season
we are now dealing with, the disastrous one
that began in October, 1829.

Before finally quitting the season of 1828-9,
place must be foimd for notice of a sufficiently
remarkable occurrence which took place on June
8. This was the representation of Der Frei-
schiitZj a German opera, by German singers and
in German words. Parke tells us that, in spite
of the performers' ability, the audience was thin.

On Tuesday, April 7, 1829, a dramatic and
musical performance took place at Covent
Garden Theatre under the title of The Feast
of Neptwie. The receipts from a crowded

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audience amounted to £885 18^. taken at the
doors, and £264 19^. tickets sold, a total of
£600 12^.* After expenses were deducted, in-
cluding £200 for use of the theatre, the surplus
was paid to Mr. Sievierf for a life-size bust
of Dibdin, placed in the Veterans* Library,
Greenwich Hospital.

From the August newspapers it appears that
the rates and taxes due to the parish church
of St. Paul, Covent Garden, from the previous
half-year were long overdue. Accordingly, the
signal disgrace of a distraint under a Bow Street
magistrate's warrant was inflicted upon the fine
old theatre for the sum of £896, while in ad-
dition to this the King s tax-gatherer put a
man in possession for assessed taxes due, to the
amount of above £600.

But the miserable calamity of a forced sale
was averted by the generous exertions of the
many and influential lovers of the drama and
music, who doubtless carried fresh in their re-
collections the innumerable artistic triumphs in
the past quorum pars magna fuerunt. A sub-
scription was started to reopen the theatre free
of debt. Laporte, the then manager of the
Opera House, or King's Theatre, generously

• MuHcal World, 1838,

t Robert William Sievier, engraver and sculptor (1794—1865),
eventually abandoned art and took to science. Elected a Fellow of
the Royal Society.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

granted the use of it free of all expenses
for one night, the result of which was the
magnificent addition to the fiind of £750. Further-
more, many of the principal players of the day
volunteered to perform gratuitously for several
nights to help tide over the crisis. Let their
names be preserved. Edmund Kean promised,
but, alas ! never gave, three nights ; Miss Kelly
and Miss Foote gave ten nights, and T. P.
Cooke six nights, free of charge ; and on October
5 the theatre reopened with Romeo and JuUet,
with the added attraction of a long-expected
dtbutf that of Fanny Kemble, — daughter of
Charles and Mrs. Kemble (who had left the
stage, as Miss De Camp, upwards of twenty
years), — in the tremendous character of Juliet, to
the Romeo of Abbott, who had not acted there
for five years, her father playing Mercutio, Mrs.
Davenport as the Nurse, and Mrs. Charles
Kemble as Lady Capulet.

On October 6 Miss Ellen Tree made her
first appearance at Covent Garden as Lady
Townly in The Provoked Htisband, and played
regularly throughout the season. On February
4 Ninnetta^ an opera adapted by Bishop from
Rossini's La Gazza Ladra, to a libretto by
Fitzball, in three acts, was first performed, and
was acted twelve times during the season. The
"oratorios," directed by William Hawes, were

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performed as usual during the Lent season, and
were well attended.

On April 18, 1830, Rossini's Cenereivtola was
brought out under its English title of Cinderella,
beloved of the pantomime Ubrettist of to-day,
Rossini's music was adapted by Lacy, who, we
learn, " made copious additions from other works
of Rossini " !

An adaptation of Boieldieu's Les Deux Nuits,
by Bishop and Fitzball, produced on November
17, 1829, failed.

On May 20, 1880, John Fawcett, the faithful
friend and stage-manager to Covent Garden and
its succession of owners for so many years, took
his farewell of the stage, followed a few nights
later by Mrs. Davenport. Fawcett had been
connected with the theatre since 1791, a period
of close upon forty years. There are various
references to him in the Bunn, Fitzball, Mac-
ready, and other memoirs, which all combine
to show him as the typical stage-manager, a
somewhat sour, crabby, but withal kind-hearted
man, whose very blimtness of speech probably
had no small effect in adding to the weight his
opinions undoubtedly possessed with the theatre's
directors. *

Among the successes of the year was The

* Fawcett's most celebrated original part was that of Dr. Pan-
gloss in The Heir-tU^Law, first played at the Haymarket.

FAWCETT AND KEMBLE AS CAPTAIN COPP AND THE KING IN
THE COMEDY OF "CHAKLES THE SECOND, OR THE MERRY
MONARCH."

From the Painting by G. Ctinl, ciigravt.1 bf T. l.vflon.

• ••

• •••

• • • • •• •

• • • %• • •

• • •

• •

^ " " :• t * ! •.• • •

• • •

• • ••'• ••

• ••

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

PiloU a nautical opera, in which T. P. Cooke
scored immensely in the part of Long Tom.

The immense success of Fanny Kemble
as a popular draw sufficed to raise the ebbing
fortunes of the great playhouse once again to com-
parative prosperity ; a debt of £18,000 for rent,
etc., was cleared off, and a fresh start enabled to
be made. In Mrs. Butler's (Fanny Kemble's)
charming " Record of a Girlhood " a vivid de-
scription is given of her agitation and nervousness
attendant on her d&buty and Xhejurore her acting
and charm of person created. It is curious that,
with all her family's strong dramatic tendencies
seething within her, she freely confesses her great
personal distaste for her profession (a distaste she
shared with Macready, who never made any
secret of his contempt for the means by which
he achieved fame and fortune). She acted Juliet
120 times running, '^ with all the unevenness and
immature inequality . . . which were n6ver cor-
rected in my performance." Her salary was fixed
at thirty guineas a week, and the Saturday after
she came out she presented herself, for the first
and last time, at the treasury of the theatre to
receive it, and carried it, clinking, with great
triumph to her mother, the first money she
ever earned. It is not difficult to picture the
delight of a yoimg girl thus suddenly promoted
to affluence from the "twenty poimds a year

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which my poor father squeezed out of his hard-
earned income for my allowance."

Among the persons Fanny Kemble used to
see behind the scenes was a young clergyman,
who obtained Charles Kemble's permission to go
there on the strength of his parentage. He was
a natural son of William IV. and Mrs. Jordan,
and had been given the vicarage of Mapledurham,
a position he was wholly unfitted for either by
training or inclination. He had been brought
up as a sailor, and, as was frequently the custom
in those days, on the death of a brother he had
been taken from on board ship and compelled to
go into the Church, nilly willy, a barbarous pro-
ceeding which one is glad to think has been
virtually impossible for fifty years past. The
season closed at the end of May, 1880, with the
benefit night of Fanny Kemble, and her own
first appearance in the character of Lady Townley
in Vanbrugh's play of TJie Provoked Husband.
In one of the most interesting pages of her diary
she tells of a memorable event occurring to her
that summer. This was a journey, sitting by
the side of George Stephenson, on the experi-
mental line he had built between Liverpool and
Manchester.

The 1880-1 season opened on October 4
with Romeo and JvUet, with Fanny Kemble as
Juliet. An unfortunate event somewhat marred

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the first nights. This was the thrashing, well-
deserved and deliberately provoked, administered
by Charles Kemble to Westmacott, editor of the
Age^ a scurrilous publication long since forgotten,
for the abominable libels printed in his paper in
the guise of criticisms upon Fanny Kemble's
acting.

Before Christmas the King and Queen
honoured the theatre with a visit to see The Pro-
voked Husband^ on which occasion the house
was cranuned from floor to ceiling. Other plays
produced were The Stranger, and The King's
Wager, by Tom Taylor and Charles Reade, a
play dealing with Charles II. and Nell Gwyn.
In The Fair Penitent, an adaptation of an old
play by Massinger, Miss Kemble tells us she
was a failure.

During January, 1881, a casual reference
in her autobiography is made to the fact of
the validity of the theatre's patents being then
imder the consideration of Lord Brougham, a
matter which she airily disposes of by writing,
" I am afraid they are not worth a farthing." In
the next month she lifts a comer of the curtain
veiling the deplorable condition of the theatre by
mentioning that it was involved in no less than
six lawsuits ! One of these at least was the
result of the attack being made by Mr. S. J.
Arnold, of the then English Opera House, upon

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the rights to their monopoly of the two great
houses of Drury Lane and Covent Garden.

A committee of the House of Commons was
appointed to deal with the subject, and many
eminent actors and managers, including Charles
Kemble, were examined and gave their opinions
upon it. No prophet was needed to foretell
Kemble's opinion. It was asking the lamb
whether the wolf had a right to devour him.
He predicted many disasters if the patents were
abolished. The great companies of good sterling
actors would be broken up and dispersed, since
there would no longer exist establishments suffi-
ciently important to maintain any large body of
them. The best plays would no longer find
adequate representatives of any but a few of the
principal parts ; the school of fine acting would
be lost, no play of Shakespear's would be de-
corously put on the stage, and all would be the
worse for the change. Says Miss Kemble —

" The cause went against us, and every item
of his prophecy concerning the stage has un-
doubtedly come to pass . . . the profession was
decidedly the worse for the change;" but she
adds dryly, " I am not aware, however, that the
public has suffered much by it."

An interesting proof of the intense respect
paid to his illustrious sister by Charles Kemble
is found in Fanny Kemble's mention of—

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

" a little box or recess opposite the prompter s
box and of much the same proportions, that my
father had fitted up for the especial convenience
of my Aunt Siddons whenever she chose to
honour my perfonnances with her presence. She
came to it several times, but the draughts in
crossing the stage were bad, and her life was
not prolonged much after my coming upon
the stage. She died, in fact, on Jime 8 [1881]
following."

Among the noteworthy pieces performed
during March was Bonaparte^ a play dealing
with the fortimes of Napoleon from his first
exploits as a young artillery officer to the last
dreary agony of his exile in St. Helena.

According to the Theatrical Observer of
August 20, 1881, Kemble and Harris had now
arranged their differences amicably, and the
management of the theatre was to remain in the
same hands as last season.

Fanny Kemble's diary during the early
months of 1882 makes but melancholy reading
for the historian of Covent Garden. Much of it
concerns, as is but natural, the production of
her own play of Francis /., a play she herself
considered unsuitable for stage production. There
are, however, some references to more interesting
matters. Among these was the Covent Garden
production of Meyerbeer's opera of Robert le

VOL. II. 65 F

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jDiable. This fEunous opera had been first pro-
duced in Paris the year before, on November 21,
1881. Grove gives the date and place of the
first London production as February 20, 1882,
at Drury Lane, under the title of The Demon ; or.
The Mystic Branchy and of the Covent Garden
version on the day following, under the title of
The Fiend Father ; or^ Robert of Normandy. Mr.
Edwards, in his "History of the Opera," speaks
of a third London version at The King's, or
His Majesty's, in June, as meeting with scant
success, a result which the Covent Garden pro-
duction could hardly improve upon. Mr.
Edwards tells us that Meyerbeer's music was
performed with such alterations as will be easily
conceived by those who remember how the
works of Rossini, and, indeed, all foreign com-
posers, were treated at this time on the English
stage. Lord Mount-Edgcumbe* appears to have
been terribly shocked at the various incidents of
the plot.

"Never," he says, "did I see a more dis-
agreeable and disgusting performance. The
sight of the resurrection of a whole convent of
nuns, who rise from their graves and begin
dancing like so many bacchants, was revolting,
and a sacred service in a church accompanied by
an organ on the stage not very decorous."

* '^ Musical Reminisoences,'' by the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe.
Umdon^ 1834.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Fanny Kemble herself thus refers to it — .

"Tuesday, [February] 21. Went to the
theatre to see the new opera, our version of
Robert the Devil. The house was very fiill.
Henry Greville was there with the Mitfords.
What an extraordinary piece, to be sure ! I
could not help looking at the fiill house and
wondering how so many decent English men
and women could sit thus such a spectacle."

On February 24, 1882, she writes to a friend
as follows : —

"That luckless concern in which you are a
luckless shareholder [Covent Garden] is going to
the dogs faster every day, and in spite of the
Garriek Club [then recently opened with a great
flourish of trumpets], I think j:he end of it, and
that no distant one, will be utter ruin."

Later she refers to the enormous cost of
producing Robert le Diable as forbidding a
heavy outlay upon anything else. Affairs were
now black indeed for Charles Kemble and his
co-proprietors. He was obliged, it seems, to
dispense with many of the luxuries in his daily
life he had hitherto been accustomed to. His
large house, horse and carriage, had to be dis-
pensed with, and yet, says Fanny —

" It is pitiful to see how my father clings to
that theatre. Is it because the art he loves once

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had its noblest dwelling there ? Is it because his
own name, and the names of his brother and
sister are graven as it were on its very stones ?
Does he think he could not act in a smaller
theatre? What can . . . make him so loth to
leave that ponderous ruin? Even to-day, after
summing up all the care and toil and waste of
life and fortune which that concern has cost his
brother, himself, and all of us, he exclaimed,
*Oh, if I had but £10,000, I could set it all
right again, even now 1 ' My mother and I
actually stared at this infatuation. If I had
twenty or a hundred thousand pounds, not one
farthing would I give to the redeeming of that
fatal millstone."

Later on, pleasanter matters appear in the
" Records." Sheridan Knowles could not agree
with the Drury Lane managers, to whom he
had offered the production of his new play. The
Hunchback^ and brought it to Covent Garden,
meaning to act Master Walter himself.

In March one of the many Chancery suits in
which C. Kemble's mismanagement had involved
the theatre came to an end, but brought no relief
to Kemble, who continued, his daughter records,
to be in deplorable spirits, and bowed down with
care. Aft«r March 12 she writes, " My friend.

Miss S , came and paid me a long visit,

during which my play of Francis I. and The
Hunchback were produced." The latter appeared

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

on April 5, 1882, with both Charles Kemble and
Fanny in it She writes of it, " Knowles' deli^t-
ful play had a success as great and genuine as it
was well deserved, and will not fail to be a lasting
favourite alike with audiences and actors."

On Friday, March 22, 1882, Fanny Kemble
acted for the last time in the theatre her great-
uncle had built At the end Mr. Bartley made
a speech, mentioning the Kembles' impending
departure, and bespeaking the goodwill of the
audience for the new management There were
calls for Knowles, and then for the Kembles,
who appeared to a great outburst of affection.
Fanny threw her nosegay of flowers into the pit,
and her father led her off, crjring, to her dressing-
room. Laporte, the new manager, ran after
them to be introduced to her, and she wished
him success amid her tears. Affectionate fare-
wells followed — of Rye, the old property-man,
Louis, his boy, and all the humble servants and
workpeople, who all regretted the departure
from their old home of these bearers of the
historic name that had in the past brought such
imperishable fame and lustre to the walls of
Covent Garden.*

* Bann ('' The Stage/' vol. i. p. 17) says : '^t is a general
impression that Mr. C. Kemhle's management would have been
accompanied by iu greater success had he been satisfied with con-
fining himself to that range of business allotted him by his pre-
deceesor, in which he never had an equal/'

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We now leave Fanny Kemble, and continue
in a new chapter our retrospect of Covent
Garden's fortunes under the management of
Laporte, to whom, at the end of the 1882 season,
it was determined to let the theatre for a
season.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

CHAPTER XV

1882-1«87

A HUNDRED years of Covent Garden Theatre's
history has now been unfolded to the reader, and
it seems a not unsuitable opportunity to review
briefly the relative position of the huge enterprise
at the beginning and the close of its century.

Since its opening in December, 1782, it had
known no less than seven principal patentees, as
distinct from others holding only a minor interest
in the theatre. These were, (1) John Rich, the
first and last to hold the entire patent, and to
manage his property himself; (2) John Beard,
his son-m-law, who shared the property with
others, although retaining the managership;
(8) George Colman, the elder, who for about
seven years exercised managerial control, although
but a joint holder of shares with (4) Thomas
Harris, senior, who eventually became the owner
of more than half the entire property, and re-
tained for many years the sole control in a wise
autocracy; following him came, as responsible
manager and part proprietor, (5) John Philip

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Kemble, who retained the position alone until
1809, when he was joined by (6) Henry Harris,
the son of the old manager ; together they held
office until, in 1822, John Kemble made over his
interests to (7) his brother Charles, whose ruinous
mismanagement of the magnificent property
eventually brought the entire concern to a
bankrupt condition in 1829. From this deplor-
able state it was only rescued by charitable
donations, and the gift of their services by
popular actors and singers. From then until
1882 it had struggled on in a sort of hand-to-
mouth existence, until, in the autumn season of
that year, it was taken by M. Laporte, of whom
we are shortly about to treat. In dealing with
its associations with masters of music, we find
that during the century of its existence, its
history has been indestructibly linked with many
of those whose careers give to the history of
English music its brightest lustre. The giant
name of Handel overshadows all his contempo-
raries, but Thomas Augustine Arne, Jonathan
Battishill, Samuel Arnold, and Charles Dibdin, are
no mean compeers of even Handel's fame, while
William Shield, Mazzinghi, Reeve, Attwood,
William Russell, Henry Bishop, Carl Weber,
Braham, and Tom Cooke, form a brilliant con-
stellation of musicians any theatre might be
proud to count among its musical memories.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

It is impossible to mention even a tithe of the
names of famous actors and actresses who had
graced its boards during the period under review.
David Garrick, Peg Woffington, the Gibbers,
father and son, Mrs. Gibber, John Beard, James
Quin, Macklin, Shuter, Woodward, Sheridan,
Mrs. Glive, Barry, the Kembles, Mrs. Siddons,
Edmund Kean, and a hundred others claim
equal mention.

When it was built, there were but five other
theatres in London worthy of being counted as
serious rivals. These were, Drury Lane, Govent
Garden's elder sister; The Kmg's Theatre in
the Haymarket, opened in 1705; the Lmcoln's
Inn Fields Theatre, Rich's first theatrical specu-
lation, which was converted from theatrical
purposes after 1756 ; the " Little Theatre in the
Haymarket " (so-called to distinguish it from the
Bang's Theatre across the way), first erected in
1720; and The Goodmans Field's Theatre,
whose brief yet brilliant career came to an end
1742. At the close of Govent Garden's tenth
decade, bold and successful rivals were springing
up in many directions. Of its old competitors,
Drury Lane was still the most formidable, having
at this particular time an especially powerful
combination wherewith to oppose the sadly
depleted and disorganized company at the other
patent theatre. The King's Theatre, soon to

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be known as His Majesty's, had an established
reputation for opera, German, French, and
Italian, while its opposite neighbour had for
some years been known as The Haymarket, and
held a warm place in the affections of London
playgoers. Added to these were some serious
rivals still nearer to the classic ground of Bow
Street,

A building in the Strand, formerly occupied
by the Royal Academy of Arts, and subsequently
opened about 1790, as a theatre, had been, in
1809, reopened by Samuel James Arnold, son of
Dr. Arnold, as " The English Opera-house," with
a season from June 8 to October 8 in each year.
Here Charles Mathews the elder gave his famous
" At Homes," and here Weber's Der Frdschiitz
had been first produced on July 22, 1824.

Then there were Astley's Amphitheatre,
opened in 1780 ; Sadler's Wells ; The Surrey, or
Royal Circus, first opened in 1782 by C. Dibdin ;
the Royal Cobourg; the Brunswick, opened in
1828 ; the Olympic in Wych Street, opened in
1806 ; the West London (turned into a theatre
about 1800) in Tottenham Street ; and the
Sanspareil, or Adelphi, m the Strand, forming
altogether a serious menace to the hitherto
inviolable position assumed and successfrilly
maintained by the patentees of . the venerable
Theatres Royal. At all these theatres the prices

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

were considerably lower than those of the senior
establishments, which not unnaturally induced
the ever-practical playgoer to give them the
preference in bestowing his patronage, recogniz-
ing, as he soon did, that if not so magnificent as
to the surroundings, he very often got better
value for his money in the less pretentious
houses.

1882-8 proved to be, in many respects, an
artistically successful season for Covent Garden,
if not financially so for the lessee. For the first
time in its history a foreigner was found in
command. This was the enterprising French
comedian Monsieur Pierre Francois Laporte,
previously known to the London public as an
energetic and liberal-minded operatic entrepre-
neur at the King's Theatre. Laporte had first
come to England some eight years before, and
appeared at the theatre in Tottenham Street

In 1826-7 he became successively a member
of the Drury Lane company and of the Hay-
market company, and in 1828 he became manager
of the King's Theatre, which he ran with some
success until 1881, when his evil genius tempted
him to try his luck in the huge venture of Covent
Garden, still fiirther complicating his position by
acting as well as managing.

The commencement of the autumn season
was preceded by a short season of French plays

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in July and August, during which the famous
French actress Mile. Mars and the danseuse
Taglioni made a brief appearance at Covent
Garden.

The previous year had been rendered notice-
able by the first English appearances of the
celebrated violinist Paganini at a series of con-
certs at the King's Theatre in June, 1881. This
extraordinary man was then at the height of
his fame. It is curious, however, that, not until
four years before had he ever performed outside
his native land. His first appearance in Paris
had been made on March 9 in the same year
(1881). In connection with this the foUoMring
letter ^ is of great interest, addressed as it is to
Henry Robertson by Rophino Lacy, who was
then staying in Paris.

"Paris,
" Hotel da Luxembourg.
'^ Rue de Vaugirara,

"Thursday^ March 10, 1831.

" Dear Sir,

** I was last night present at the most
extraordinary exhibition I ever witnessed : it was
Paganini's first appearance in public in this
country. Much as Fame has trumpeted about
his name, no idea can be formed of what he
really is until seen. He is a grotesque wonder,
and that in the true sense of the word ; you can

* It was kindly lent me by Dr. H. T. Scott, of 31, Buckingham
Palace Road, S.W.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

draw no comparison between him and anybody
else ; he stands unique m his kind, and to say all
in a short phrase, his performance verges as close
upon impossibility as it's possible. Were it my
intention to enter into a critique upon this
phenomenon, I could quickly fill up four or five
sheets, and perhaps could entertain you by a
relation of his awkward manners, his ungraceful
motions exciting loudest shouts of laughter, his
mad mountebank tricks, his amazing [power], etc.,
etc. But you naturally ask me why the deuce I
write to you about Paganini ? And my answer
is at once, because I advise you to engage him if
you yet caii. Engage him on liberal terms for as
many nights as you can get him — that is before
he's heard anywhere else. Let his performance
be as here upon the stage, with a sort of concert,
and after it either an acting piece or little Ballet.
If his Fame do not cram your house at any
prices the first night, rest assured your walls will
be filled to bursting the 2^ There are musicians,
fiddle players, amateurs, youths, and ambitious
Fathers in London who themselves alone will
suffice. Such a thing never was before, and
perhaps never again will be. He played at the
Grand Opera House (on the Stage). The price
paid him by the managers was 10,000 fi^cs,
£400 sterling for the one night. They doubled
the prices, and it was extremely difiicult to get
into the house. The receipts were 25,000 francs
(£1000). As your desire is doubtless to make
money, my first thought was to give you such
immediate notice and advice as I considered

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serviceable to your interests, and . if. again unsuc-
cessful, I shall only again regret it for your sakes.

" I remain, Dear Sir,
" Very truly yours,

" M. RoPH^ Lacy.

'* Henry Robertson^ Elsq.,
'' Box Office,
'' Theatre Royal, Covent Garden,

'* London.

" Delivered immediately."

Unfortunately for Covent Garden, the astute
Mr. Lacy's advice was not acted upon by the
managers until the summer of 1882, and the
great prize was snapped up by the King's
Theatre, where, in June and July, he appeared
at Mr. Hawes's concerts before enormous crowds.
The value of the great violinist as a draw being
fully demonstrated, the cautious management of
Covent Garden engaged him for his series of
" farewell appearances," which began on August
8, 1882, and continued till August 17, 1882.
Besides the Paganini concerts, the ballet of
Masaniello was produced with great success.

There are several interesting events during
the 1882-8 season, each claiming some attention
at our hands. These we will take, as usual, in
chronological order, and so preserve, as far as
possible, the historical sequence of our story.

In January, 1888, appeared Nell Gxvynne,
the Gist of that brilliant writer Douglas Jerrold's

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

productions to court public favour at Covent
Garden. In this, one of the earliest modem

plays dealing with the ever-fascinating courtesan,
Mrs. Keeley, as Orange Moll, and Miss Taylor,
afterwards Mrs. Lacy, made great hits.

In February, 1888, the famous production of
the Israelites in EgypU in costume, took place,
under the auspices of Rophino Lacy. In Feb-
ruary also Charles Kean's debut * at the great
theatre was made before a keenly interested and
appreciative audience, in the character of Sir
Edward Mortimer.

The former of these performances was a
curious mixture, consisting of Rossini's Mose,
interspersed with choruses from Handel's Is?riel
in Egypt In spite of its doubtfully artistic
qualities, it met with great success, and was
honoured by the presence of the Duchess of
Kent and Princess Victoria.

It will be remembered that during the month
of March, 1888, the final performances took place
in which the last flicker of Edmund Kean's
genius was seen, and in which he, for the first
and last time, appeared on the same boards as his
son Charles. Of this we have already spoken
in some detail, and need not, therefore, refer to
again.

* He had first appeared as an actor six years before^ at Drury
Lane, with bat scant success.

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On April 24 another play, by S. Knowles,
The Wife^ was produced. It is distinguished by
the fact that Charles Lamb wrote both a pro*
logue and an epilogue for it.

It was impossible, however, that even such
powerftil attractions as these, when merely occur-
ring occasionally, should suffice to bolster up
Laporte's disastrous speculation, and the end of
the season came very shortly afterwards, the un-
fortunate lessee retiring, a sadder and a wiser
man, to resume his position at His Majesty's
Theatre for a few short years, prior to his pre-
mature death from heart disease, in 1841.

The reins of management were no sooner
dropped from the hands of the unfortunate
Laporte, than we find a still more ambitious
attempt on the part of Mr. Alfred Bunn, at this
time directing the fortunes of Drury Lane. In
his occasionally entertaining memoirs of ^'The
Stage " he thus refers to the preliminary negotia-
tions opened shortly aft;er the collapse of Kean's
engagement at Covent Garden —

" The prospect of the two theatres (the one
closed and the other undone in the midst of vic-
tory) led to a renewal of the question previously
agitated, of uniting their interests. ... In the
opinions of the most experienced men attached
to the profession, there seemed to be no other
means of saving them [Covent Garden and Drury

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Lane] from impending annihilation than by unit-
ing them under one management. ... In such
opinion I heartily joined, and accordingly devoted
myself to the accomplishment of so desirable an
end. . . . How it worked and how it terminated
it will be our province to inquire into. At all
events, it gave rise to an excitement (the vital
spark of theatrical existence), and to a degree
of amusement — ^fun if you will— not likely to
occur again."

Bunn accordingly, in May, 1888, became
joint lessee of the two theatres, and issued a long
address to the public, for part of which space
must be found.

''All parties will admit that the theatrical
times have long been out * of joint ; ' for within
a recent period Covent Garden Theatre was not
only prematurely closed, but the scenery, dresses,
and properties were actually advertised for sale ;
and although the theatre was afterwards re-
opened, it was effected by public subscription,
and by the creditors' consent to take a composi-
tion for their claims. It will also be recollected
that, during the whole of the previous ten years'
management, it had but one profitable season."

Bunn goes on to say that Drury Lane had
been equally unfortunate, three lessees having
failed, only Captain Polhill's great wealth saving
him from a similar fate.

He further reminds the public that Henry

VOL. II. 81 G

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Harris, during his management, had succeeded in
making Covent Garden pay, the salary list being
less then than it was later; while the receipts
had, on the contrary, in Harris's day, been
larger. It is worth noting, too, that Henry
Harris, who was still proprietor of no less than
seven-twelfths of the theatre, thoroughly and
entirely approved of Bunn's policy.

Bunn's enterprise did not, however, obviously,
meet with the approval of those members of the
profession who had been in the habit of playing
off one theatre against the other, and who now
saw a lever which had proved very useful as a
means of forcing up their salaries to an alanning
extent, suddenly deprived of the fulcrum from
which it derived its power.

Another and a more powerful opponent of
the patent theatres and their manager now arose
in the person of Mr. Edward Lytton Bulwer,
afterwards Lord Lytton, who on July 25 induced
the House of Commons to pass an Act of Parlia-
ment which, in Bimn's opinion, "would have
had the effect of annihilating the two patent
theatres." Bunn, never lacking in courage,
accordingly petitioned the King and the House
of Lords against the Act, and with complete
success.

His double season opened fh^t at Drury
Lane on Saturday, October 5, 1888, Covent

COVEN T GARDEN THEATRE

Garden following suit on the Monday after with
Pizarro and a farce. He had also undertaken
the unpleasant and delicate work of revising the
free list, which gave mortal offence to the persons
through whose names the managerial pencil was
drawn. The production of Ghistaxms the Third
on November 16, with a representation of a
masked ball in the last act, set all London agog
with excitement. " To such a pitch of fashion
did this opera reach, that I have seen on the
stage during the masquerade between thirty and
forty peers of an evening."* On the fiftieth
night a grand supper was given by Bunn on the
stage to the united forces of the two houses.

Inspired by the success his predecessor
Laporte had scored with the remarkable dramatic
representation, under Rophino Lacy, of Handel's
Israelites in Egypt^ Bunn now set about the
preparation of another sacred subject — Handel's
Jephtha — in the same manner. Rophino Lacy,
who had arranged the Israelites^ was again en-
trusted with the task, and everything portended
success. Suddenly, on the day preceding the
performance, it was withdrawn by Bunn. He
explains his action by stating that a repetition of
the Israelites, which had been so popular the year
before, had been prohibited by the Lord Cham-
berlain, and that although, not to appear too

♦ Bunn, "The Stage/ vol. i. p. 141.

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inconsistent, the authorities had nominally
granted the new licence, he felt that he would
be acting in consonance with their wishes by
abandoning the idea. As a matter of fact, Dr.
Blomfield, then Bishop of London, was opposed
to the idea, and had induced Queen Adelaide
to set the Lord Chamberlain's department into
motion. Perhaps by way of consolation, Bunn
was informed that his two theatres were to be
honoured by a royal visit — Drury Lane on
April 24, and Covent Garden on May 1. For
the latter Tlie Ihienna^ My Neighbour's Wife,
and Turning the Tables were commanded.

With a good deal of natural indignation,
Bunn relates how Liston, who was to play in the
third piece, declined to do so unless it were put
earlier in the bill, a request which the manager
was obliged to comply with, or risk the loss of
brilliancy consequent on his chief comedian's
defection. A pleasanter anecdote is that he
relates of Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, son, it
will be remembered, of the King, when Duke
of Clarence, and Mrs. Jordan. He visited the
theatre on this occasion with his father, and
calling Bunn out of the green room —

" with a considerable degree of excitement, said,
* Bunn, I have not been behind the scenes of this
theatre since the last evening my dear mother
performed here, and ' (here his lordship took me

COVENT GARDEN THEATRfe

by the arm, walked down the long passage on
that side of the house, and kicked open the
dressing-room door at the end of it) ^ that is the
room in which she used to dress. I came with
her almost every night, long, long before I wore
any of these gew-gews ' (pointing to his uniform
and its decorations). ^Excuse my emotion'
(passing his hand over his eyes) ; ^ I could not
help — and, to tell you the truth, I could not
resist — ^being here this evening, but I never mean
to come again. I was happier then than, with
all the enjoyments of life, I have ever been
since.' "

This really charming and touching anecdote
does no less honour to Bunn's appreciation of
the finer feelings of titled humanity than to
the honest manliness of the son of William
the Fourth and his lovely mistress, Dorothy
Jordan.

But there is a most curious coincidence in
connection with the story which has quite
defied all efforts at elucidation on the part of
the present writer. George VandenhofT, in his
** Dramatic Reminiscences," relates an almost
exactly similar occurrence as having taken place
under the Vestris management six years later.
The only difference between the two stories is
that the monarch who was visiting the theatre
when Vestris was manager was the late Queen
Victoria, while the son of Mrs. Jordan and

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William the Fourth who goes into the dressing-
room was Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence. Vanden-
hoff asserts that he was told the anecdote by
Vestris herself, who conducted the royal visitor
to the dressing-room on that occasion. Now,
there are three possible solutions. Either Vestris
had heard the story about Bunn, and told it of
herself ; or Bunn heard it of Vestris, and told it
of himself ; * or perhaps both the royal brothers
did actually, on separate occasions, what was
related of them.

To continue Bunn's story of his enormous
enterprise, he next made arrangements with
some of the most eminent French dancers for
the production of a new ballet at Covent Garden
Theatre, which, imfortunately, did not prove a
financial success. His attention was at this time
again diverted from the theatres under his con-
trol by a renewal of the parliamentary attack
upon them — ^this time in the House of Lords,
and led by the Marquis of Clanricarde. Again
Mr. Bunn protested energetically, both in person
and by petition, to the Duke of Devonshire, the
Lord Chamberlain of the day. He also sought
the support of the Duke of Wellington, who, it
is satisfactory to relate, took Mr. Bunn's side of
the case; and with the powerful aid thus in-
voked the bill was again — and, as far as Mr.

* His memoirs of ''The Staged were not poblished till 1840.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Bann: was concerned, finally — defeated. • . The
season terminated with the one hundredth repre-
sentation of Ghistavus.

Before the end of the summer, however, a
very remarkable benefit was organized on
November 16, 1884, for the popular old stage-
manager, George Bartley. On this occasion he
was able to announce a truly extraordinary
combination of choregraphic talent. The per-
formances commenced, as the play-bill sets forth,
with the —

" celebrated last scene of the Grand Italian opera
of Anna Bolena^ the Part of Anna Bolena by
Mademoiselle Giulietta Grisi (Her First Appear-
ance in a Dramatic Character on the English
Stage ; Smeaton, Miss H. Cawse ; Hervay,
Signor Galli ; Rochford, Signor D'Angeli. The
Chorus from the Italian Opera House. Previous
to the Act of the Opera the Original Overture
to Anna Bolena^ and Mr. Mori has obligingly
consented to Lead the Band.

" After which (First Time in this Theatre) the
favourite new Comedy of the Wedding Gown!
Matthew Lubeski, Mr. Cooper ; Clarendon, Mr.
King ; Effingham, Mr. Duruset ; Beeswing, Mr.
W. Farren ; Valise, Mr. Baker ; Creamly, Mr. S.
Russell ; Junket, Mr. Meadows ; Dowager Lady
Mowbray, Mrs. Faucit ; Margaret, Miss Taylor ;
Mrs. Fossil, Mrs. C. Jones ; Augusta, Miss
Phillips."

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There then followed an air by Signor Ivanhoff,
and a ballad by Mr. H. Phillips entitled " Woman/'
by G. Withers, 1 650. After this (by special desire)
came the celebrated farce of My Neighbour's
Wife; and the evening's entertainment concluded
with the grand ballet (in one act), " as now per-
formed at the King's Theatre," called La Sylphide^
the principal characters by Mademoiselle Tag-
lioni, and Monsieur Theodore Guerinot, and in-
cluding a grand pas de trois by MesdemoiseUes
Noblet and Dupont, and Monsieur Albert.

The last-named artist took his benefit the
following Friday, when many of the same artists
appeared, reinforced by the presence of Signors
Rubini and Tamburini in Gustaxms.

Planch^ tells a story of Mrs. Bartley that is
too good to be lost She and her husband
visited the United States, and shortly after they
set sail, one of the crew became mutinous and
received a very severe cut on the head from the
captain in the presence of the passengers. Mrs.
Bartley, who was beginning to suffer from mal
de meTf was much shocked and alarmed, became
very ill, and retreated to her cabin, from which
she did not emerge till they were almost in
sight of port. The first day she ventured
on deck, the man she had seen cut down was
at the wheel. Approaching him with kindly
interest she inquired, " How is your head now ? "

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

and received for answer, " West and by north,
ma*am."

During the summer of 1884, Bunn made
an abortive attempt to engage Charles Kemble
at £10 a night for Covent Garden, which
the latter declined. Bunn, thereupon, wrote
protesting his inability to pay more, and hoping
Kemble "would not oppose his tenant by
playing in any other London theatre than
his [Covent Garden]." In this also he was
doomed to disappointment, for in the ensuing
June, Kemble engaged at the Haymarket.

Principally, it appears, owing to the instiga-
tion of Captain Polhill, a return was made at
the commencement of the 1884-5 season, to
the much-debated popular prices, and a circular
was issued to the public, announcing that the
terms of admission would be as follows : stalls,
7s. ; dress circle, first price, 7*. ; second price,
8*. 6d. ; upper circles, first price, 5^. ; second
price, 8*. ; pit,, first price, 8*. 6d. ; second price,
2*. ; lower gallery, 2s. ; second price, 1*. ; upper
gallery, 1*. ; second price, 6^.

Henry Harris was, as he always had been,
convinced of the futility of the innovation, an
opinion which Bunn shared. Harris's opinion
was sufficiently incisive.

"The fatal step of lowering the prices was

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in itself enough to put an extinguisher on all
fashion. Who buys cheap and stinking fish?
And who wanted any additional proof, that when
there is an attraction in the theatres, they will
come without regard to the prices, and when
there is none, they wiU not come at any price ? "

However, as we shall see, the proprietors
soon recognized the error into which they had
been led, and at Christmas, 1884, the old prices
were restored.

This was probably brought about partly by
the secession of Captain Polhill from the Drury
Lane board, and as this gentleman had largely
borne the financial burden alone, his departure
was a serious blow, happening as it did three
weeks before Christmas. Planch^ states that
Polhill told him, " with his own lips," that he
had lost £50,000 during his four years' connection
with the theatre. It is interesting to read of an
effort made by Bunn at this time to induce Sir
Robert Peel to lend his support to a proposal
to subsidize the two patent theatres. A petition
was presented, the usual arguments were brought
forward, the meritorious example of France
quoted, and— the proposal quashed.

In a letter of exactly six lines. Peel regretted
" he was wholly unable to hold out to Mr. Bunn
any prospect of pecuniary aid for the support of
the theatre from the public ftmds."

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

. Accordingly, Bunn was left entirely to him-
self, and as Planch^ points out, having nothing
to lose, went recklessly on with the two theatres,
although experience had so lamentably proved
the total failure of the scheme professionally and
financially.

Bimn's dual control at this time led to some
strange scenes, referred to by Planche in his
"Recollections," and by Raymond in his
" Memoirs of Elliston."

"The audience was sometimes kept waiting
a quarter of an hour and upwards at one house
while a performer was finishing his part at the
other . . . and the whole coiys de ballet was
frequently extracted from the last scene of a
piece at Drury Lane, and hurried over for the com-
mencement of one at Covent Garden. . . . Broad
Court and Martlett Buildings from about half-
past nine at night to a quarter from ten ex-
hibited a most extraordinary scene. Actors,
half attired, with enamelled faces, and loaded
with the paraphernalia of their art, were passing
and repassing as busy as pismires. . . . At the
season of Christmas, when this state of alternation
was at its height, the female figure-dancers
pattered from one house to another six times
during the evening, and underwent the opera-
tion of dressing and undressing no less than
eight," *

• '' Life of Robert Elliston/' Routledge, London^ 1867.

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We now come to the incident of Malibran's
engagement, of which Mr. Bmm remained so
justifiably proud that he quotes the entire text
of the contract, and which saw the apex set
upon the ever-growing pyramid of extravagant
salaries paid to great artists.

The articles of the contract are not without
interest at the present day, but space forbids
our quoting them in their entirety. They pro-
vided that the great singer should sing for
nineteen nights at Covent Garden, between
May 18, 1885, and July 1 following, for the
sum of £2875, or at the rate of £125 per night,
the singer giving her services for a twentieth
night. She undertook to sing in La Sonnam-
bida, by Bellini, and Le Mariage de Figaro;
and she ftirther undertook to sing elsewhere
only at concerts, and not at any other theatres.
The regular season having expired, certain of
the artists, notably John Templeton, a Scotch
tenor, took occasion to demand enormously in-
creased salaries for the renewed engagement
with Malibran. Bunn relates a funny story of
this gentleman, who fancied the beautiftil singer
had been rude to him one evening, and de-
manded Bunn's advice in the matter. He re-
commended him to call upon her, and ask how
or if he had offended her ?

Her reply, half serious, half laughing, was,

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

"I thought you wanted, sir, to kiss me." It
must be borne in mind that at this time half
the nobility of Europe would have cheerfully
blacked her boots if she had wished it. But all
the canny Scot said was, " Gude God I is that
all? Mak your mind easy. I would na kiss
you for ony consideration ; " and shaking hands
with the prima dorinaj left the room.

Templeton had, it fippears, been chosen by
the beautiful singer herself to sing with her in
La Stmnarnbula^ and although Templeton's en-
gagement with Bunn required him to give his
services at either theatre, this did not carry
with it that he should perform at more than
one of them on any given night. Yet arrange-
ments were so made that Templeton had to sing
in opera at both theatres on tho same night.

The course pursued was to leave, as rapidly
as possible, the Covent Garden Theatre, wrapped
up in a roquelaure^ and to rush to the other
house. On one occasion a delay occurred in
his arrival, and John Cooper, stage-manager of
Drury Lane Theatre, addressed the very im-
patient audience with the announcement that
Mr. Templeton was at that instant completing
his performance at Covent Garden Theatre
with Madame Malibran, and if the audience
would kindly permit the orchestra to repeat
the overture, no doubt shortly Mr. Templeton

THE ANNALS OF

would be in attendance. When Templeton
arrived he was bathed in perspiration, and
Cooper attempted to convey in his person the
impatience he himself had suffered from in the
house, but this was more than Templeton could
endure quietly. "Do you see the exhausted
state I am in? I must have time." Urged
again, his reply was, " My whiskers won't stick,
and until they are on / cannot go on." His
character of Masaniello required him to have
moustaches and whiskers, and as soon as he
was prepared for the stage, he promptly ap-
peared. Alas! in the midst of his pathetic
song, " My sister dear," the unstable moustache
worked into his mouth and interrupted his sing-
ing ; when, with an impetuosity in keeping with
the character of Masaniello, he tore from his
lips the hairy covering and flung it before him.
Like an octopus, the hirsute offering clung to
the strings of the violin of Tom Cooke, leader
of the orchestra, and the dramatic effort was
so magnificent that the house rose en masse and
cheered.

.Malibran's method of inspiring Templeton
with a knowledge of dramatic effects was in-
genious, if unpleasant; when she wished him
to depict rage, if she could not otherwise obtain
her object, she would give him a hearty pinch
on the arm, while to the audience she simply

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

appeared to be bestowing caresses, which her
jealous lover naturally repulsed. On one occa-
sion, not appreciating her hidden motive, he
stamped with rage, from actual pain ; this stamp
produced a most electric effect upon the audience,
and upon the hint, so painfully acquired, he ever
after acted.

Maria Felicita Malibran-Garcia was at this
time at the greatest height of her phenomenal
career. Born in 1808, and therefore about twenty-
seven years of age, she was the daughter of
Manuel Garcia, himself an operatic tenor artist
of great eminence. First appearing on the stage
as a child of five, she was brought up in the
most intensely musical atmosphere it was
possible to conceive, first in Naples and later
on in I^ondon, under her father's own tuition.
Her operatic debut appears to have been made
at the King's Theatre as a substitute for Ronzi,
another singer, in June, 1825 ; but her real first
experience was gained in New York, where she
rapidly improved, " acquiring confidence, ex-
perience, and the habit of the stage." Here
also her father gave her in marriage to M.
Malibran, an elderly French merchant, an error
she soon realized and took an early oppor-
tunity of correcting. In 1827 she returned
to Paris, and from that time onward her reputa-
tion increased by leaps and bounds, till in 1885

THE ANNALS OF

we find her the undisputed queen of operatic
artists. According to Grove, the

" charm of her voice seems to have consisted
chiefly in the peculiarity of timbre, unusual
extent, in her excitable temperament, which
prompted her to improvise passages of strange
audacity upon the stage, and on her strong
musical feeUng, which kept those improvisations
nearly always within the bounds of good taste.
Her voice was a contralto, having much of the
super-register added, and with an interval of
^dead notes' intervening, to conceal which she
used great ingenuity, with almost perfect

success."

According to a tabular statement given by
Biinn, the nightly average receipt of Malibran's
sixteen performances of La Sonnambula was £811,
that of ten representations of Fidelio* being £880.

At the termination of her engagement, Bunn
re-engaged her for seven nights at Drury Lane,
at the end of which she embarked for the Conti-
nent. Those who wish for fiirther details of the
short but incomparably brilliant career of this
gifted member of a gifted family, must seek them
in Bunn's and other contemporary memoirs. A
few lines only must suffice here. She ftilfilled
one more engagement with Bunn, in the succeed-
ing year, 1886, this time at Drury Lane. Her

* FideUo was first prodaoed on the English Stage at Covent
Garden Theatre, June 12^ 1835.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

last appearance there was on July 1, subsequent
to which she returned to Belgium. Early in
September she again left for England, intending
to sing at Manchester, where she arrived on
the 10th. Here she fell ill, and after partially
fulfilling her engagement took to her bed- at the
Moseley Arms, where she remained until her
death, which occurred on Friday, September 28,
1886, at the age of twenty-eight years.

It is with a mental gasp of astonishment that
one recalls the fact that the gifted singer's elder
brother, Mr. Manuel Garcia, who was already
thirty-one years of age at the date of his sister's
untimely death, should be to-day alive and well
in the year of grace 1905, having attained the
patriarchal age of one hundred years. Nor is he
the only one of his generation still with us, his
sister, Madame Pauline Viardot-Garcia, a name
scarcely less illustrious than that of Malibran,
being also hale and hearty in a green old age in
her Paris home.

With the end of the 1885 season, Mr. Alfired
Bunn's resources also came to the end of their
tether. "The responsibility of two stupendous
concerns on the shoulders of a man without
capital, the joint rental of which amounted to
£16,865,^ with the addition of £2000 for taxes, was

* In a footnote on p. 209^ vol. iii.^ Bunn says he paid £17>370
for rent in two years^ £2000 for taxes^ to the proprietors of Covent
Garden alone !

VOL. 11. 97 H

THE ANNALS OF

too great to continue." It consequently became
necessary to seek release, either by resigning the
entire undertaking, or by reducing its financial
burden.

Bunn therefore approached the proprietors
of the two houses with the very fair offer of
a reduced rent to each of £1500. This was
accepted by the Drury Lane Committee, but
fatuously declined by Charles Kemble and his
friends on the Covent Garden board. One can
but share Bunn's amazement at the blundering
stupidity which, almost throughout, characterised
their entire management of their property.
Henry Harris was, it is only fair to state, willing
to see the concession made, and as he owned
more than half the entire property, his wishes
should have ruled the day, but he was out- voted,
and as Bunn forcibly puts it, "The very
gentlemen who, in ten years of their own
management paid no rent at all, and in two years
of mine were paid close upon £17,000, refused
their tenant a dimitaution of £1500 in a rental of
£8685 1 " On this Bunn very naturally threw up
the affair, and the theatre was advertised to be
let. As a faithful chronicle of facts it should not
be omitted from our account of the Bunn era
that Planch^ asserts the failure was due to the
fact of Bunn's own mismanagement. For instance,
instead of giving tragedy and comedy at Drury

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Lane and opera and spectacle at Co vent Garden,
"he actually put up tragedy against tragedy,
dividing instead of combining his forces, and
opposing himself more fatally than any rival
could have done." As, however, Bunn himself, on
p. 278, vol. i., of his work, " The Stage," expressly
states that it was his aim to avoid this, there is
little doubt that whenever it was possible to
carry out the correct policy it was done.

The manner of D. W. Osbaldiston becoming
tenant of Covent Garden Theatre affords one
more illustration of the hackneyed saw that
" fools will rush in where angels fear to tread."
This is the pith of the story as related by Mr.
Fitzball* himself. This gentleman came down
to breakfast one morning, and seeing that the day
was a fine one, and that, moreover, Covent Garden
Theatre was advertised in the IHines to let, went
and took it. At that time the committee still
consisted of Mr. Moore, Captain Forbes, Charles
Kemble, and some others, including their right-
hand man and treasurer, Mr. Robertson. There
was, it seems, a trifling formality in the shape
of £1000 deposit, which Mr. Fitzball did not
happen to have upon him at the moment.
Amazing to relate, "Mr. C. Kemble, who was
one of the best friends I (Fitzball) ever possessed,
made a fine speech in my favour, and the £1000

* '* Thirty-five Yean oi a Dnunatic Author's life '' (1859).

THE ANNALS OF

deposit was waived. I became, in fact, by mutual
consent, lessee of the Theatre Royal, Covent
Garden."

This was all very fine, but to the worthy Mr.
Fitzball's dismay, he found that he had plunged
into a very vortex of troubles. Every one fore-
boded a failure. ''I began to be of the same
opinion — in fact, I had not the slightest idea what
care, what toil, what anxiety working a theatre
absolutely required, especially such a theatre as
Covent Garden." Finally, illness attacked him,
and this proved the last straw. He received a
letter from Osbaldiston, his old manager, con-
gratulating him upon taking the theatre, and
wishing for a slice in the speculation.

"I wrote him word to come to me, which
he did the moment he arrived in town, and,
instead of a slice, I ofiered him the whole theatre,
securing to myself the position of emergency
author at a good salary, for two years! He
agreed willingly to my proposal. I introduced
him to the proprietors, who saw that I was ex-
ceedingly ill, although they unanimously led
me to believe that I should have recovered my
nervous equilibrium had I been fairly launched,
and expressed their regrets at my resolution.

" I believe they were sincere, but I believe,
also, that I wanted bodily strength, nerve, and
experience to have carried out so vast a design.

'' Osbaldiston became lessee in my stead, and

100

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

a splendid* company he engaged for the cam-
paign, consisting of G. Bennet, Collins, Haines,
J. Webster, Tilbury, Manvers, C. Hill, Morley,
Vale, Rogers, Collet, Mrs. West, Miss Taylor,
Miss Turpin, Mrs. Battersby, Mrs. Vincent,
and many others, with George Rodwell as
musical director.

"On October 19, 1885, we opened with
Hamlet. Mr. Charles Kemble, who had just
returned from America, as Hamlet, and Henry
Wallack as stage manager."

Fitzball then refers very briefly to a most
important event: "the prices had been con-
siderably reduced to meet the emergencies of
the times." f

This bold stroke on the part of the new
lessee, it is needless to say, caused a tremendous
fluttering in the theatrical dovecotes of London.
It was, according to Mrs. Mathews, the direct
cause of the closing of the Adelphi Theatre,
which had been opened by Charles J. Mathews
and Frederick H. Yates, on September 28, 1885.
Poor Mr. Bunn was nearly driven frantic by
the ill-luck which brought about this ruinous
competition with Drury Lane.

^^ Gould any reasonable man suppose that
a body of people, owning the theatre in which

* We shall see further on that their splendour was purely a
matter of opinion.

t The reduced prices were 4«., 2s., and \s.

101

THE ANNALS OF

the taste of the Kemble family had so long
astonished and delighted the town, would have
so far lost sight of the reputation their pro-
perty had so long enjoyed as to consent to its
being converted from the first theatre in the
world into a mere minor one? Could it be
contemplated that, after being offered £7165
yearly to conduct Covent Garden Theatre as
nearly as possible in the manner it had been
conducted, the owners should let it for something
more than this ... on the express understand-
ing that he, Osbaldiston, was at liberty to reduce
the prices to those of the Adelphi and Olympic ?
Could the commission of such a sacrilege as
this have been deemed within the scope of
possibility? . . . But so it was. This splendid
building was leased to Mr. Osbaldiston, and
the extraordinary experiment referred to was
accordingly tried by him."

Mr. Bunn goes on to complain bitterly of
the effect this bolt from the blue had upon the
receipts of Drury Lane, and that, in spite of
the almost unprecedented list of artists he had
on his books. People flocked to Covent Garden,
he says, out of sheer curiosity to participate in
an event so uncommon as the reduction of prices
to nearly one-half, in one of the national theatres.
In spite, too, of the fact that, excepting Charles
Kemble, the Covent Garden company were "as
totally unknown as if they had just arrived from

102

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Greenland," the receipts at the Drury Lane Mac-
beth fell from £860 15*. to £129 15*., while that to
Hamlet fell from £249 8* to £99 6*. Othello was
played at Drury Lane to a house of £162 6*., and,
says the indignant Drury Lane manager, *^ I have
not a doubt that the receipt at Covent Garden
the same evening was half as much again to see
Paul Clifford^ or some such disgusting trash."

Apart from the reduction in prices, which {pa>ce
Mr. Bunn) was a perfectly justifiable experiment,
apparently Osbaldiston's initial mistake was
the putting forward a melodrama entitled Jona-
than Bradfordj which had proved a great success
during his management of the Surrey Theatre,
but which the quidnuncs and critics of the day
were not slow in condemning as entirely unsuit-
able to the genius of Covent Garden.

The receipts from this cause fell off, until
Fitzball, on October 28, produced a ** musical
burletta entitled Paul Clifford^ founded on
Bulwer Lytton's popular novel, and introducing
a real stage-coach and six horses." This proved
a success, and the receipts began to rise again.

Later on another of Fitzball's productions,
a comedy entitled the Inheritance^ founded on
a novel by Miss Ferrier, met with a chorus of
faint praise from the re\dewers.

Osbaldiston then brought out an adaptation
of T'ke Bronze Horse, from Scribe and Auber's

108

THE ANNALS OF

opera, with music not only by Auber, but by
Rodwell. This created a tremendous ^ror^, and
completely took the wind out of the Dniry Lane
production of the genuine article by Bunn,*
which appeared at the same time. Apparently
Fitzball at this time remonstrated very seriously
with Osbaldiston against his being obliged to
write all the pieces. The manager, however, only
laughed at this, and, having former successes of
Fitzball's in his mind, determined to exact his
pound of flesh. Consequently poor Fitzball was
turned on to a burlesque, with the quasi facetious
title of Za-za-ze-zi'ZO-zu^ left unfinished by a
talented young writer named Milner, who had
died suddenly before its completion. This was
a job Fitzball detested, but he had no alternative
than to obey, and the burlesque duly came out
and met with success. It is only of interest
to us now as having probably seen the first
reference to a railway in a theatre, since they
were then " not only new to the stage, but to the
world," as Fitzball points out.

Among successive productions were Sigismund
AugustTiSy by Captain Addison ; Robert Macaire^
by Selby, and most interesting of all, the first
appearance of Helen Faucit, a lady whose name
is familiar, even to the younger generation of
to-day, as Lady Martin. She made her d(but

* It is only fair to state that Bunn denies this.

104

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

on Tuesday, January 5, 1886, as Julia in The
Hunchback^ by Knowles, a part which Miss
Fanny Kemble had originally created. Miss
Faucit made an immediate hit, and is even said
to have revived memories of the wonderful Miss
O'Neill, especially in Venice Preserved. Helen
Faucit was at this time a young girl of nineteen,
somewhat frail of health, and certainly none too
well equipped for the long and arduous life she
had in front of her. Her mother was the
daughter of the Mr. Diddear whose name is
&miliar to students of the theatrical world of
the later eighteenth century. Her father and
mother were from early years closely associated
with the stage, Mr. Faucit being a member
of Diddear's company when he married his
manager's daughter. Mrs. Faucit, as we know,
had first appeared at a London Theatre on
October 7, 1818, in the character of Desdemona
on the same classic boards her lovely daughter
was now to grace. The latter was first an-
nounced to come out as Jidiet, and, to her bitter
disappointment, the play was changed, owing to
the fact that no actor young enough to play
Romeo could be found. The terrible ordeal
was triumphantly passed through, and in her
husband's words, ^* the inspiration of genius was
recognized by an enthusiastic audience."* In an

* ''Helena Faucit, Lady Martin/* by Sir T. Martin (1900).

105

THE ANNALS OF

intensely interesting letter to Mrs. S. C Hall,
written nearly half a century later, in 1881, she
tells the story of her first appearance, the terrific
nervousness, the misery of anticipated &ilure,
the encouragement by the audience, her deaf old
grandfather seated in the orchestra, and the final
triumph, ending with Osbaldiston's giving her a
three years' engagement as leading actress at
£80 a week.

Charles Kemble played his original part of
Sir Thomas Clifibrd for the occasion, and won
her enthusiastic admiration and respect, both for
his superb acting and his unfailing kindness to
her. The Times and other papers wrote the
most flattering and gratifjring notices of her
success, comparing her most favourably with
Fanny Kemble as Julia, and foretelling the
brilliant career that lay before her.

She repeated her success as Belvidera in
Venice Preserved^ as Lady Margaret in Joanna
Baillie's tragedy of Separation^ and on March 10
as Juliet.

Macready's engagement was announced to
open on May 8, 1886, and on the 18th she
appeared with him as Mrs. Haller. On May 26
she acted the part of Clemanthe with him in
Talfourd's play of /ow, in which she bore com*
parison with Ellen Tree, who also played the
part. The play was a great success, and the run

106

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

only terminated when Macready, owing to pre-
vious engagements, had to leave the theatre.
The season closed on Jmie 20 with her benefit,
as Mrs. Beverley in The Gamester^ aiid as
Katharine to C. Kemble's Petruchio.

In the spring of 1887 Osbaldiston had
enlisted under his banner no less than eight actors
and actresses of the first rank — Charles Kemble,
who was playing a farewell round of his favourite
characters, Macready, VandenhofF, B. Webster,
Farren, Mrs. West, Mrs. Glover, and Helen
Faucit. Kemble's appearances were made in
such great masterpieces of acting and writing as
The School for Scandal^ King John^ Julitis
CcesaVy and, on the great farewell night itself,
Miich Ado about Nothing. Eyewitnesses tell us
that he played that night better than ever ; and
be it remembered that here was the ideal Bene-
dick as he was the ideal Romeo.

When the curtain fell, the spectacle, familiar to
those walls, was presented of a tremendous scene
of enthusiasm, having a Kemble for its object.
Again it rose, and he was seen surrounded by the
entire company, as well as by every member of
the profession in London, including Edwin
Forrest, the great American tragedian, Bartley,
Farley, and many others. Kemble broke down
completely in addressing his enthusiastic friends,
and the curtain finally feU on a saddened

107

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audience. We shall, however, find the great
actor playing for short periods for several years
after his official £Eirewell performance.

Osbaldiston, following the example of more
illustrious predecessors, put forward a piece in
order to introduce the attraction of live animals
on the stage : this was called Thalaba the Des-
troyer ^ from Southey's poem ; and its production
was attended by an incident which might have
had serious results. Among the* animals, engaged
from the Surrey Zoological Gardens, were some
Burmah bulls, who, probably excited by their
strange surroundings, butted down their stable
doors, and let loose their fellow-performers, the
elephants. The animals rushed helter-skelter
upon the stage, driving before them the terrified
performers, who were fortunately able to escape
up a steep stone staircase, leaving their four-
footed comrades to ^^ take the stage," so to speak,
by storm.

Before the close of the 1886-7 season Mac-
ready played in several other new pieces with
Miss Faucit. These included Bulwer's play, The
Dicchesse de la Valtiere, which, in spite of his and
her fine acting; was a failure, and quickly with-
drawn. Two other new productions must be
referred to: Knowles's Brian Boroihme and
Browning's Strafford^ the latter of which was
produced on May 1, 1887. Between this date

108

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

and the end of the month Helen Faucit appeared
as two more of Shakespear's heroines — Imogen
in Cymbetine^ and Hermione in The Winter's
Tale. Although it will necessitate travelling
over some of the same ground, yet, for the sake
of presenting the period of Macready's connection
with Osbaldiston and his own reign as manager
with some continuity, we will defer further
notices of Helen Faucit's other performances until
the succeeding chapter, where they will be inter-
polated among those extracts from Macready's
Diary, from which the overmastering egotism
of the diarist sometimes omitted them.

10»

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CHAPTER XVI

1887-1889

It is necessary to retrace our steps a little at this
point, in order that the story of Macready's
management, as told in his Diary, may be clearly
brought before the reader.

In April of 1886 Macready* records the fact
of Osbaldiston's refusal to engage him upon
certain terms he had proposed. He adds, " I feel
no regret at it ; for it is money purchased at a
heavy cost of feeling to go into that theatre."

Soon after this occurred the famous assault
upon Bunn by Macready at Drury Lane, which
terminated in an action at law and Macready 's
paying £150 damages.

On May 5 we again read of an offer to Mac-
ready from Osbaldiston of £200 for twelve
nights. Thereupon Macready offered to play for
£200 for ten nights, or £120 for six. Finally,
the tragedian accepted the engagement very
much on these terms, beginning on Wednesday,

♦ Vol. ii. p. 18.

110

• V b

• to i

to ••

t •

C V f

' ft

• * to

V (> b b to

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

May 11, and ending on Saturday, June 11. He
also promised to act two nights gratuitously.

On May 7 he notes, " In the Covent Garden
playbills my name was blazing in large red letters
at the head of the announcement."

On May 9 Maeready called at Covent Garden
Theatre and saw Osbaldiston, to settle the date
of production of Talfourd's tragedy Ion for the
26th. He notes, '^ Spoke about orders, dressing-
room, etc., in all of which Mr. O* seemed desir-
ous of accommodating me. Was introduced to
Mr. Fitz-ball(!), the Victor Hugo, as he terms
himself, of England."

On May 11 he writes, " On my entrance in
Macbeth^ the pit — indeed, the house — rose and
waved hats and handkerchiefs, cheering in the
most fervent and enthusiastic manner. It lasted
so long it rather overcame me ; but I entered on
my own task, determined to do my best, and I
think I never acted Macbeth more really, or
altogether better."

At the fall of the curtain Maeready made a
speech, thanking his audience for their kindness
and apologizing for his own hastiness of temper
in the Bunn incident.

On the 18th he notes, " Went to the theatre
and acted Virginius in a splendid manner, quite
bearing the house along with me."

On May 18 he writes, " Rehearsed Stranger.

Ill

THE ANNALS OF

Talfourd read Ion in the green room. . . .
I was called for by the audience, but would
not go on without Miss Faucit, whom I led
forward."

On May 19 he says, " Spoke about my name
being put in the bills by Mr. Osbaldiston after
Mr. [Charles] Kemble's."

On May 26 he writes, " Went to the theatre
and acted the character [Ion] as well as I have
ever played any previous one." There was the
usual speech from Macready at the fall of the
curtain (all duly "reported" by himself in his
Diary), and a grand supper afterwards at Tal*
fourd's, graced by the presence of Wordsworth,
Landor, Browning, Miss Mitford, and many
other celebrities.

Chorley speaks of this production in his
autobiography —

"When Talfourd's Io7i was published, it
appeared to myself (and still appears) to be the
most noble, highly finished, and picturesque
modem classical tragedy existing on the English
stage. It was not its large private distribution,
not merely the great reputation of its author, but
the vital, pathetic excellence of the drama, and
the rich poetry of the diction, which, on the night
of the production of the play at Covent Garden,
filled that great theatre with an audience the like
of which, in point of distinction, I have never seen

112

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

in any English theatre. There were the flower
of our poets, the best of our lawyers, artists of
every world, and of every quality. There was a
poor actor of some enterprise and promise, Mr.
Cathcart, who, in the fiilness of zeal and ex-
pectation, absolutely walked up to London from
Brighton to be present at the first performance."

On May 28 Macready notes, " I acted the
Stranger, but indifferently, still was called for by
the audience, and led on Miss Faucit."

On May 81 Macready was approached by
Fitzball, presumably on behalf of Osbaldiston,
with an offer of a renewal of the engagement in
the autunm. He asked £40 per week as a
mimmum. On June 8 a further interview with
Fitzball took place, and an offer of £85 per week,
and then £40 per week, and half a clear benefit
with six weeks vacation. ** I said I would think
about it," records Mr. Macready.

On June 8 Macready accepted the last-
mentioned terms from Osbaldiston for twenty-
two weeks. After a provincial tour he records,
under date July 14, " At Covent Garden Theatre
met Mr. Osbaldiston, and after urging him to
engage Mr. Vandenhoff and Miss E. Tree, read
my article of agreement to him, to which he
assented, and also to my claim of flesh-coloured
stockings, and to the announcement of my name
us first."

VOL. II. 118 I

THE ANNALS OF

On August 8 he notes, " Forster told me
Browning had fixed on Strafford for the subject
of a tragedy." On August 12, " Received letters
from Osbaldiston, who declines engaging Miss
Huddart ; he is a man of no forethought." On
October 8 he appears to have opened against
Covent Garden with Macbeth.

On October 21 he notes, " Oh, what a change
has taken place in this theatre ! I remember it
offering accommodation to the actor in every
particular, and now it is a dirty desert, except
before the curtain, which, perhaps, may be looked
upon as reproof to my complaint."

"October 25. — At the theatre there was a
violent disturbance from the overcrowded state
of the pit; the audience demanded that the
money should be returned; the play could not
be heard. Charles Kemble went forward, and
addressed the audience, but effected nothing.
Mr. H. Wallack went forward in the next scene.
But the audience would not allow the play to
proceed, and at last ... I went forward. I said,
* Under the circumstances, ... if the ladies and
gentlemen who could not obtain room would
require their money from the box-keeper, and
tell him to charge it to my account, I should be
most happy to be responsible for it.' The whole
house cheered very enthusiastically, and like the
sea under the word of Neptune, the waves were
instantly stilled."

114

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Macready makes no mention of the fact that
on November 2, 1886, Charles Kemble was
appomted Exammer of Plays in place of the
yomiger Colman, just deceased.

" London, November 2. — Read Bulwer's play
of the Duchesse of La VaUiire in Mr. Osbaldiston's
room. The actors and actresses were, or seemed
to be, very much pleased with the play, but I
cannot put much confidence in them.

"November 18. — Acted Brutus with more
self-possession than on the first night, and learned
some things in the performance. ... I am pleased
to hear that every paper noticed the Senate Scene
which I induced Mr. Osbaldiston to have.

"December 1. — Acted Virginius as well as
my temper and the state of the play would let
me. Mr. Osbaldiston would not suffer the super-
numeraries to be rehearsed on account of the
expense, fifteen shillings! . . . Dow came into
my room, and told me my orders were stopped.
I had over- written myself.

"1887, January 2. — Acted Lord Hastings
very, very ill indeed.

"January 8. — Rehearsed Bragelone. . . .
Bulwer and Forster were there. . . .

"January 4. — Acted Bragelone well. . . .
Being called for, I did not choose to go on with-
out Miss Faucit, whom I led forward. . . . The
play . . . did not end until eleven o'clock.
Bulwer drove me home. . . .

"On January 22 Macready was ill, and
could not play on 28rd.

115

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"March 80. — I went to the theatre, . . .
and read to Mr. Osbaldiston [Browning's] play
of Strafford ; he caught at it with avidity, agreed
to produce it without delay, and to give the
author £12 per night for twenty-five nights. £10
per night for ten nights beyond.

"May 1. — Rehearsed Strafford [presumably
in morning] . . . and acted it as well as I could
under the nervous sensations I experienced."

It is necessary here to break off for a while
from Macready's rather egotistic self-communings
and to revert to the other personages of the com-
pany. These were reinforced by T. P. Cooke,
in the famous part of William in Jerrold's
nautical drama of BUxck-eifd Susan. Osbaldiston,
probably worried by the poor prospect before
him of making his venture a success, was growing
irritable, and his friend Fitzball records that he
had a quarrel with several of the actors, among
them being H. Wallack, the stage-manager. To
such a length did he carry his resentment that
he actually gave orders Wallack should be re-
fused admittance, an order which the worthy
stage - manager entirely declined to obey, and
presented himself at night as usual dressed for
his part. Pushing past the substitute, he played
his character in spite of the orders of the
manager, who, we learn, had the good sense to
be struck with the humour of the situation,

116

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

and was obliged to laugh at his subordinate's
disobedience.

Later on, however, Wallaek did quit his post,
and Fitzball recommended Benjamin Webster,
afterwards lessee of the Haymarket, for the
vacancy. For Fitzball's benefits he had the in-
valuable assistance of Madame Grisi, Balfe, and
IvanhoiTe on one occasion, and on another Balfe
and his wife, Giubeli, and Templeton came and
sang in Balfe's then extremely popular opera,
The Siege of RocheUe^ for the first time of its
production at Covent Garden. An extraordinary
and romantic circumstance is related by Mr.
Fitzball of this occasion, connecting Covent
Garden Theatre with one of the most remarkable
and beautiftd women known to history. This
was none other than the famous adventuress,
Lola Montez, then only at the beginning of her
career, and barely twenty years of age. Her
beauty must have been of that kind known as
beautS du diable. The daughter of an Irish
ensign and a Spanish mother, she was educated
in Paris and at Bath. To escape an unpleasant
marriage, she eloped with an army captain. The
marriage proved unhappy. She afterwards be-
came f&mous as a dancer in half the capitals
of Europe, was for a year mistress of the
mad King of Bavaria, Louis I., and directed
the fortunes of that kingdom the while, then

117

THE ANNALS OF

turned lecturer, and finally died, still young, a
penitent

This, then, was the romantic individual who
made a brief appearance at the theatre on
the occasion of the excellent Mr. Fitzball's
benefit. Needless to remark, her manner of
doing so was in accordance with her eccentric
habits.

She had, it appears, shortly before been
dancing at His Majesty's Theatre, but, owing
to a disturbance into the particulars of which we
need not now enter, had abruptly terminated the
engagement. A fiiend of Fitzball's, more in jest
than in earnest, suggested that he should en-
deavour to obtain the lady's consent to dance for
him for one night, and thus secure an unparal-
leled attraction for his benefit. Here we will let
Fitzball tell his own story.

" I repaired at once to her apartments, and
simply by sending up my card was graciously
admitted. She was sitting for her portrait — a
charming likeness, but far less charming than the
original. I explained my errand, and was at
once . . • left without hope. It was, perhaps,
that a look of disappointment, if not something
of distress, crossed my features ; but in an instant
her look changed, her voice also. * I will, how-
ever,' she continued blandly, * ask my mamma '
(I think she said * mamma') *what she thinks

118

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

of it. Give me your address ; 1 will write to
you.

J »

Fitzball then goes back to the theatre for a
rehearsal, and then home. To his surprise, he
finds the lovely Lola —

" seated on the sofa, chatting with my wife as if
they had known each other for years. She had
already made up her mind to dance for me.
When I mentioned terms, she refused to hear
me, and, in fact, intended and did dance tor me
for nothing. When the announcement appeared,
everybody was astonished, and was calculating
the enormous sum I had consented to give for
the attraction.

"Lola Montez arrived on the evening in a
splendid carriage, accompanied by her maid, and,
without the slightest affectation, entered the
dressing-room prepared for her reception.

"When she was dressed to appear on the
stage, she sent for me, to inquire whether I
thought the costume she had chosen would be
approved of. I have seen sylphs appear, and
female forms of the most dazzling beauty, in
ballets and fairy dreams, but the most dazzling
and perfect form I ever did gaze upon was Lola
Montez, in her splendid white-and-gold attire
studded with diamonds, that night. . . . Her
dancing was quite unlike anything the public
had ever seen — so original, so flexible, so graceftil,
so indescribable.

" At the conclusion of her perfonnance, after

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THE ANNALS OF

a rapturous and universal call for her reappear-
ance, when I advanced with delighted thanks,
again holding up her hand in graceful remon-
strance, she refused to hear me, and in half an
hour, in the same carriage, had quitted the
theatre. From that time I never again had
the exceeding pleasure of seeing the generous,
the beautiful Madame Lola Montez."

In a gracefully worded footnote Fitzball adds
that, in spite of her singular reputation, on this
occasion she was, as every one must allow, all
that was generous, ladylike, and gentle. We
have no space to pursue the subject further, but
the incident is suggestive of the charming and
delightful book that might be written upon the
kind deeds and generous actions of those whose
names are often the synon3rms of characters very
different

Among the other productions of the Osbal-
diston management was Esmeralda^ turned into
an opera, with music from Weber's " Preciosa,"
and Miss Romer as Esmeralda. Her entrance,
attended by the gipsies, dancing, with numbers
of coins glittering and jingling on wide, flowing
skirts, imder a canopy of tapestry of all colours,
created quite a sensation.

The end of the Osbaldiston r^me was
now fast approaching. It says something in-
deed for his ability and energy that he was

120

COVEN T GARDEN THEATRE

able to continue his management during two
seasons.

Vandenhoff, the tragedian, left the theatre
suddenly, justly disgusted, says Fitzball, with
Osbaldiston for placing him in a half-price piece.
Elton was engaged as his substitute; and with
Helen Faucit, Webster, and Miss Vincent, and
the aid of Charles Marshall's* beautiful scenery,
the season drew near its conclusion.

Osbaldiston, at nearly the end of the season,
listened to everybody, and taking every one's
advice, with unceasing losses, seemed to lose all
mastery over himself. At this time he engaged
Mr. Rophino Lacy as adviser and acting-
manager. This gentleman had in the time of
Kemble held a position in the theatre, and had
besides been employed by Bunn and Laporte.
Osbaldiston soon fell out with him, however,
and refused him the privilege of a private box,
thereby incurring an action for compensation,
which Lacy lost, in spite of calling Kemble
and many other famous actors to testify on his
behalf. Fitzball asserts that a ludicrous accident
in court prevented Charles Kemble- from rising
to speak. This was nothing less than the sudden
spUtting of his nether garments, which, it will
be remembered, were worn very tight in the

* C. Marshall (1806-1800)^ one of the most prominent and
sttccessfdl scene painters of his day.

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then prevailing fashion. Happily, an old lady
in a neighbouring inn was able to repair the
alarming breach in time for Kemble to appear
and testify at a later stage in the proceedings.

We will now resume the story of the theatre
as told in Macready's diary.

"May 18, [1887].— Acted Posthumus in a
most discreditable manner. . . .

"June 8. — Acted Othello pretty well. . . .
Was called for at the end of the play, and well
received. Thus ended my Covent Garden en-
gagement, which, thank God, has been profitable
and agreeable to me. God be praised."

After this Macready fulfilled an engagement
during the summer months at the Haymarket
under Webster. While still there, on June 17
we read in his diary —

"Called on Mr. Robertson and spoke with
him on the subject of his note to me on the
subject of entering into the management of
Covent Garden Theatre ; premising that I would
not venture any part of my little property, nor
make any venture beyond that of my own talent.
He was to lay Mr. Osbaldiston's refusal to
continue in the management before the pro-
prietors, to sound them upon the reopening of
the theatre, and give me notice of their views.

"June 22. — Called on Mr. Robertson and
learned from him that the proprietors, with

122

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

whom he had spoken, were very favourable to
the plan ... of my conducting the theatre.
Stat^ to him my views that the necessary ex-
penses of the proprietors should be the very first
appropriated portion of the receipts; that an
additional sum should be on the contingent
footing of the performers' salaries, and that the
remainder should be taken from the surplus, if
^^y^ urged the indispensable necessity of the
renovation of the theatre wardrobe and scenery.
Deputed Bartley to get a statement of the highest
average weekly expenses of the theatre last
season, its salary list, etc. Learned that, at the
last year's rent, the nightly expense was £154.
. . • This startled me, and made me pause.

" June 27. — Explained to Robertson my com-
plete views as to the proprietors, viz. to take my
chance of payment for my acting talent with the
chance of £7000 rent to them, out of a surplus
of £1800 to take £800 and any surplus that
might be over that sum.

"June 29. — Went to Covent Garden. In
my interview with Robertson and Bartley, it
was mentioned that the proprietors . . . thought
that I ought to incur part of the risk. To this
I instantly observed, that I did not covet the
office ; that, in risking my name, time, peace of
mind, salary as performer, balance of loss, and
increased expenses, I did more than enough, and
that I adhered to what I started with, viz. that
I would not lay out one single shiUing nor risk one
farthing beyond a night's expenses. I gave my
reasons for this, which were considered not

128

THE ANNALS OF

only fair, but liberal, both by R[obertson] and
B[artley]. They were both very sanguine as to
the experiment, and I remained doubtful, but
holding to what seemed to me duty.

"July 6. — My health, thank Gk)d, much
better. At the theatre I received a note from
Robertson appointing a meeting to-morrow at
ten, to mention to me a proposed deviation from
my offer by the proprietors of Covent Garden
Theatre, also a note from the Literary Fund.

" July 7. — Proceeded to Robertson. He laid
before me the modification of what was termed
my proposal, which amounted to the addition of
£720, the cost, as they calculated, of their outlay
in repairs, etc., to the ground-rent, etc., to be
paid in nightly instalments out of the first
receipts, and a retention of two private boxes.
I gave no direct answer, but, not seeing any
strong cause of objection, talked over with
Robertson and Bartley sundry measures to be
pursued in the event of my undertaking the
conduct of the theatre. Called on H. Smith,
and consulted with him on the proposed plan ;
he thought it advisable to make the effort,
observing that, as in everything, there was risk.
There was not more here than in ordinary cir-
cumstances.

"July 8. — Went down to Covent Garden,
and at Robertson's met Bartley; told him of
my objections to the proprietors' plan and of my
emendations, which he thought very fair and
not likely to meet with opposition. Sent him
to Wilmott, the Drury Lane prompter, to sound

124

COVEN T GARDEN THEATRE

him, and if he found him well disposed, to open
to him confidentially my wish to engage him.
Whilst he was gone, I made out the draft of a
letter to Robertson, and, upon the calculations I
made, gave in my amended proposal, which I
think most fair. Bartley, returning, related to
me his conversation with Wilmott, who ex-
pressed himself delighted on hearing that I had
undertaken the conduct of the theatre, and then,
having imparted to him as much as was necessary,
he desired to call on me. In a little time he
came, and at first seemed in high spirits at the
prospect before him, which subsided as he gained
time to reflect. I offered him £5 under the idea
that he had £6, but he admitted he had only £5 ;
on which I counselled him to offer himself for
£4 — a very unpalatable proposition."

Eventually Macready settled with Wilmott
as prompter at £4 10*. for thirty-six weeks. On
July 11 he offered to engage Miss Faucit at £15
per week. On the 12th he received a letter
from Vandenhoff demanding £21 per week, and
narrates further negotiations with Robertson and
Bartley. On the 14th he had Miss Faucit's
answer, ^^ expressing the best spirit as far as she
was concerned. " The troubles of his new position
were now crowding thick and fast on him. He
had apparently much difficulty in getting decided
answers from the other members of the company.
In all probability his offers were all made on the

125

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basis of reduced terms all round, and the actors
and singers not unnaturally hesitated to accept
before making sure they could not get better
terms elsewhere. Eventually he found himself
without the services of Vandenhoff and Miss
Romer, and consequently decided to reduce his
offer to £40 per night rent for one hundred
and eighty nights, paying himself £80 a week,
and dividing any surplus at the rate of three-
fifths to the proprietors and two-fifths to himself.
On July 19 he notes that the occupation of
his mind on other matters was beginning to have
a bad effect on his acting. On the 20th he
settled with various persons for their salaries :
Mrs. Glover and Mr. F. Vining, £9 lO^r. each";
T. Matthews, £8 ; and wrote to Kenney * offering
him the post of reader at £8 per week. On the
21st he saw Mr. Marshall, painter to the theatre,
and other persons, and arranged various matters,
among others to exclude women of the town
from the two lowest tiers of boxes. At length,
on the 22nd, he writes —

"My mind is quite made up to enter upon
the direction of Covent Garden Theatre, and I
fen'^ently and with humility invoke the blessing
of Almighty God upon my efforts and labours."

* Charles Lamb Kenney (1821-1881)^ son of James Kenney^
dramatist^ and a godson of ''Elia,'' dramatic critic to the Times,
secretary to Sir J. Paxton and M. de Lesseps, author of the libretti
of a great many operas.

126

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

On the 24th he writes, "Went into the
theatre to take possession of it." Both G. H.
Rodwell, the music director, and Marshall, the
scene painter, had accepted reduced terms. Mr.
Harris, the principal proprietor, caUed, and, he
says, gave him some very valuable hints. On
July 27 Macready records : " Received a letter,
in very kind strain, from Calcraft, lamenting
my undertaking," and to this he appears to
have subsequently added, " his lamentation was
a prophecy."

He then engaged Elton at ten guineas, and
heard from Kenney, accepting his offer of £8.
On August 5 he purchased an opera by Rooke
for £100 down, £10 per night for ten nights,
£15 for ten nights, and £10 for fifteen nights.
On August 7 he decided to make certain struc-
tural alterations, and to remove the statues from
the closed saloon to the entrance hall. He was
anxious, it appears, to get the special patronage
of the young Queen Victoria, and had interviews
with Lord Dudley, Lord Conyngham (the then
Lord Chamberlain), and others for the purpose of
getting her permission to call the Covent Garden
players "Her Majesty's Company of Performers."

On August 26 he writes: "Left my dear,
my blessed home, its quiet and its joys, to enter
on a task for which nature and taste have dis-
qualified me."

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During 1887 the death occurred of John
Fawcett, who as actor, author, stage-manager, or
treasurer, was connected with Covent Garden
very nearly forty years.

On September 80, 1887, the theatre opened
under Macready's management with A Winter's
Tale^ and A Roland for an Oliver. Boxes, 5*. ;
second price, 2^. Qd. ; pit, 2^. Qd. ; second price,
1*. 6d. ; lower gallery, 1*. 6d. ; second price,
1*. ; upper gallery, 1*. ; second price, Qd. The
second price at the end of the third act of plays,
and the second of operas. Stage director, Mr.
Willmott ; musical director, Mr. G. H. Rodwell ;
acting-manager, Mr. Bartley. On this occasion
J. Anderson made his first appearance at Covent
Garden as Florizel.

On October 2 Macready played Hamlet, and
notes that the audience appreciated several of
the improvements in the theatre. One of the
features of Macready's management was his
practice of sending free admissions to persons
distinguished in science, art, and literature.

On October 19 there is already an ominous
entry in the " Diary."

^^Saw Bartley, and asked him his opinion
of our prospect ; he said he began to be afi^d of
it. I told him, as I afterwards repeated to Mr.
Robertson, that it was necessary the proprietors
should be prepared to meet the approaching

128

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

crisis ; that I would pay to the amount of £1000,
restore the salary I had received, and work it
on for the actors and proprietors as long as I
could without any remuneration."

On October 22 Macready found that he had
only a balance of £481 5^. 9d. left at Ransom's,
his bankers, after paying away the promised
£1000, returning £90 for his salary.

Later on things became more cheerfiiL
Clarkson Stanfield undertook to paint some
scenery in the shape of "a diorama for the
pantomime," and the Queen promised to come
to the theatre in November.

On Friday, October 27» 1887, a famous name
first appears in the Covent Garden play-bill, its
owner, then a man thirty-three years of age, being
Samuel Phelps, who on this occasion played
Jaffier in Venice Preserved. Macready and
Helen Faucit were also in the cast, and the play
was followed by No Song no Supper, and a farce
called The Spitfire. Phelps' success as Jaffier
was so conspicuous that he unfortunately in-
curred Macready*s jealousy, and the latter would
not act with him again in the same piece, but
cast Mr. Warden for Pierre on the repetition of
the tragedy.*

A few days later he still further compromised
his position by a splendid performance of Othello

• ''Phelpe'Iife,'?. 47.
VOL. II. 129 K

THE ANNALS OF

to Macready's lago. The manager made no
concealment of the fact that he intended to
shelve him during the run of his contract, or
make him play only second-rate characters.

" Your time must come," he told him, " but
I am not going to try and hasten it. I was
kept back by Yoimg and Kean, and you wiU
have to wait for me."

Consequently we only find Phelps playing
such characters as Macduff, Cassius in Julms
Ccesar^ Antonio in the Tempest ^ etc., etc.,
although he did once or twice play Rob Roy,
one of Macready's characters.

Miss Faucit had amiably consented to waive
her right, under the agreement with Osbaldiston,
to choice of parts and a salary of £80 a week.
This she agreed to reduce to £15, although, as
we shall see, Macready honourably preferred at
the end of the season to pay her and the other
actors and actresses who had made similar con-
cessions, their full salaries.

On November 11 a comic opera by the
well-known musical writer, John Hullah, was
produced, entitled The Barbers ofBassora, with
libretto by Maddison Morton.

From November 15 to 17, 1887, the date
fixed for the royal visit, Macready was inces-
santly occupied with the multifarious details of

180

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the theatre. Scene-room, wardrobe, armoury,
property-room, contriving effects for the stage,
ordering refreshments, revising the plays and
cutting them, rehearsals, answering applications
for admission, and a thousand and one other
things occupied his attention, and with all this
during the day, he was acting such emotional
and exhausting parts as Hamlet at night. The
Queen had commanded the first act of Fra
Diavolo for the State performance.

Unfortunately, in spite of all poor Macready's
care and worry, something very like a fiasco
occurred. He had decided on not increasing the
prices, and this doubtless attracted an enormous
crowd to the pit and cheaper parts of the
house. Consequently a tumult arose, and women
began to scream and faint —

" a great number being lifted over the boxes in
an exhausted condition. Mr. Bartley had leave
from the Queen to address the audience, which
he did, tendering the price of admission to those
who, not having room, might wish to return.
When order was restored, the play proceeded.

" I acted, not to please myself : I could not
recover my self-possession. The Queen sent to
say she expected to see me ... I dressed myself
in frill dress, and went with Bartley to wait on
her as she retired. The ladies-in-waiting and the
officers, etc., passed through the room, and at
length the Queen — a very pretty little girl —

181

THE ANNALS OF

came. Lord Conyngham told her who I was. i

She smiled and bowed, and said, 'I am very
much obliged to you.' Pointed me out to the
Duchess of Kent and bowed repeatedly to me."

"November 28. — Joan of Arc succeeded
entirely.

" December 2. — Went to theatre, where I sat
for some time revolving the hopeless condition of
the concern. I strove to calm my spirits. ... 1
could not rally, my heart had quite sunk within me.

" Saw the new opera, AmeliCj which, silly as
the words are, and over-weighed as it is with
music, was quite successful."

" December 16. — Went to the theatre, . . .
and found myself about £2200 to make up. • . .
Profit, therefore, is beyond all hope."

On December 18 the Queen visited the
theatre again, and on December 26 was produced
the grand pantomime Harlequin^ and Peeping
Tom of Coventry, for which Clarkson Stanfield
had painted his famous moving diorama of scenes
from the north of Italy, the Alps, Germany, and
France, including the Col du Bon Homme by
moonlight, and concluding with the British
Channel. In the play-bills Macready expressed
his thanks to Stanfield for having, ^^ in a manner
the most liberal and kind, . . . laid aside his
easel to present the manager with his last work,
in a department of art so conspicuously advanced
by him."

182

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Happily the last entry, on December 26,
reads: "The pantomime succeeded completely,
for which I feel most grateful."

During the early part of January, 1888,
King Lear was in rehearsal, and Macready was
much exercised about the inclusion or otherwise
of the Fool, which he could not find a suitable
actor for. Finally, on Bartley's suggestion, Miss
P. Horton, known in our days as Mrs. German
Reed, was cast for the part 1

Macready sent Stanfield £800 for the diorama,
which the latter generously returned, asking for
£150 only. " God bless him," says the Diary.

On January 15 a name appears that was
afterwards to loom large in the annals of Covent
Garden : " Went to the theatre, was detained
long by Mr. Gye, who wanted to argue with me
that I ought to retain his light through the run
of the pantomime, which he charged at £l 10s. per
night, with no stipulation as to the expense ! "
Frederick Gye had invented a new limelight
which was used on Stanfield's diorama with great
effect. Macready thought it too costly, and cut
it out, greatly damaging his effects thereby.

On January 20 Macready gave Clarkson
Stanfield a handsome piece of silver plate, in
recognition of his generosity in the matter of the
scenery.

On February 3 Macready received a new play

188

THE ANNALS OF

from Bulwer Lytton, or at all events he records :
" Received a letter from Bulwer with the title of
the Adventurer, but when I saw it written down
I would not consent to it." This was the cele-
brated play afterwards known as The Lady of
Lyons , produced anonymously February 15, 1888.

" It was composed," says Lytton in the pre-
face, " with a twofold object. In the first place,
sympathizing with the enterprise of Mr. Macready
as manager of Covent Garden, and believing that
many of the higher interests of the drama were
involved in the success or failure of an enterprise
equally hazardous and disinterested, I felt, if I
may so presume to express myself, something of
the Brotherhood of Art, and it was only for
Mr. Macready to think it possible that I might
serve him in order to induce me to make the
attempt.

" Secondly, I was anxious to see whether or
not, after the comparative failure on the stage of
The Duchesse de la VaJUerey certain critics had
truly declared that it was not in my power to
att£un the art of dramatic construction and
theatrical effect."

The play was a great success. It was the
prime cause of Helen Faucit's immense popu-
larity, in the part of Pauline, and after having
been in the bills several weeks proved a great
draw. The authorship was acknowledged after

a fortnight's run.

184

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Max^ready does not devote much space in his
Diary to its reception, the whole of his thoughts
being occupied by the production of CoriolanuSf
which took place on March 12, and was well
received, although the enormous popularity of
The Lady of Lyons quite swamped it, greatly to
Macready's mortification.

He records the following list of pieces as
being performed in Easter week: Sinbad the
Sailor J an after-piece, MoA^belK The Lady of
Lyons, The Two Foscari, Cmiolanus, The Hypo-
crite. High Life Below Stairs, and the opera of
ATrdUe, in four of which he was playing.

On April 21 Macready "was startled at
learning that there was only just enough cash to
meet the day's demands."

There is little else of interest during the
remainder of the spring and early summer of
1888. Macready had, in May, virtually made up
his mind to retire from his position as manager.
One or two new plays * were produced, but the
principal attraction seems to have been stiU The
Lady of Lyons. On May 81 the company,
headed by Bartley, made a presentation to
Macready in the green-room, in reply to which,
" as nearly as I can remember, I said," and here

* Marina Faliero, by B3nron^ with Miss Faucit as Marina^ which
only ran three nights ; The Athenian Captive, by Talfourd ; and
Woman 8 Wit, by Kuowles^ which had a run of thirty-one nights.

185

THE ANNALS OF

the Diary prints a page and three-quarters of
dose print containing the entire speech.

In June an offer was made on Macready's
behalf to take the theatre for the ensuing season
(1888-9) at a rental of £6800, which, with a
stipulation regarding a possible surplus, they
agreed to.

Macready reckoned that his own pecuniary
loss by management during the season amounted
to £1800.

Undaunted, however, by his losses, he set to
work to cut down expenses in all directions, and
early in September issued a bill announcing the
reopening for Monday, September 24. His
company was undoubtedly a strong one, in-
cluding Vandenhoff, Anderson, Helen Faucit,
Miss Horton, Phelps, Elton, Serle, Vining, and
many others, the musical director being, as
before, Tom Cooke.

Among the opening productions were Hamlet
and the Tempesty with a " flying part " for Miss
Horton as Ariel. The remainder of the cast
was as follows : Alonzo, Mr. Warde ; Sebastian,
Mr. Diddear ; Prospero, Mr. Macready ; Antonio,
Mr. Phelps ; Ferdinand, Mr. Anderson ; Cahban,
Mr. G. Bennett ; Trinculo, Mr. Harley; Stephano,
Mr. Bartley; Miranda, Miss Faucit; Iris, Mrs.
Serle; Juno, Miss Rainforth. The music was
selected from the works of Purcell, Linley, and

186

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Dr. Ame. The Tempest ran fifty-five nights
during the season, to an average of £230 nightly.
In October, 1888, The Musical World remarks —

"Operatic events have not as yet been
abundant. Fra Diavolo is given once a week
under the baton of Mr. T. Cooke, the director.
. . . Miss P. Horton — Lady Allcaster. So far
as the Mtbsical World can judge, the tide of
popular favour has fairly set in to Covent
Garden. The houses are filled every night, and
at Drury Lane there has been a very beggarly
show of empty boxes."

The preparation for the pantomime of
Christmas, 1888, seems to have absorbed
Macready's attention to an enormous extent
throughout the early part of the season. One
of the effects consisted of a diorama of the
events in the years 1887-8, including the interior
of the Duomo at Milan during the coronation
of the Emperor of Austria, and a view of the
ruins of the Royal Exchange — destroyed by fire,
January 10, 1888.

On December 26, poor Macready records
the unfortunate pantomime's complete failure,
in spite of the £1500 which it had cost him, and
which about represents the sum spent on a
single effect by the pantomime kings of to-day.

On January 5 Bulwer Lytton's new play
of Richelieu was read to the company, and

187

THE ANNALS OF

Macready ''was agreeably surprised to find it
excite them in a very extraordinary manner."

On February 1, 1839, Queen Victoria again
visited the theatre to see the Lady of Lyons.
After the play, Macready, dressed in fiill court
costume, preceded her Majesty downstairs, carry-
ing two wax candles, in pursuance of the custom
then prevailing.

On March 7, Richelieu was produced with
the following cast: Louis XIII., Mr. Elton;
Gaston, Mr. Diddear ; Richelieu, Mr. Macready ;
Baradas, Mr. Warde; Mauprat, Mr. Anderson;
De Beringhen, Mr. Vining ; Father Joseph,
Mr. Phelps; Huguet, Mr. George Bennett;
Fran9ois, Mr. Howe; Julie de Mortemar, Miss
Helen Faucit ; Marion de Lorme, Miss Charles.

The play made a hit at once. Macready
says, "the success of the play seemed to be
unequivocal."

On June 10 appeared the last of Macready 's
Shakespearian revivals, Hem^ V.^ with Vanden-
hoff as Chorus, Bedford and Harley as Bardolph
and Pistol, Miss P. Horton as their Boy, and
scenery painted by Clarkson Stanfield. Of this
there is an excellent and unprejudiced description
in N. P. Willis's « Pencillings by the Way," a
book which, we fancy, is not much read nowadays.

"A shilling procured us the notice of the

188

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

box-keeper, who seated us near the stage, and I
had just time to point out Mr. Babbidge (sic)
the calculator, who happened to be three seats
from us, when the curtain rose and discovered

* Time the chorus * in beard, scythe, and russet.
VandenhofF delivered the succeeding speeches
of Time . . . with good emphasis and discretion.

• As he went on, the clouds, which the lifting of
the curtain had dissolved, rolled up and away
and superb tableaux glided past, representing
the scene and personages of the act that was
to follow. This was Stanfield's work and nothing
could possibly be more admirable and magnificent.
The King's embarkation at Southampton, the
passage of the fleet, its arrival in France, the
siege of Harfleur . . . etc., were all pictures done
in the highest style of art. It was wonderful how
this double representation, this scenic present-
ment to the eye, added to the interest and mean-
ing of the play. Light as the mere dramatic
interest of. Henry V. is, it kept us on the stretch
of excitement to the close. There was no chance
for Macready's acting . . . but he . . . walked
through his part with propriety, failing only in
the love scene with Katherine at the close, which
he made, I thought, unnecessarily coarse and
rude. Miss Vandenhoff looked extremely hand-
some in the character, besides plapng it capitally
well. • . . Altogether the play, as all London
has acknowledged, was exceedingly creditable to
Macready's taste, as well as his liberality and
enterprise. A night or two after, I was at
Covent Garden again to see Bulwer's new play

189

THE ANNALS OF

of Richelieu. It was gorgeously got up and . . .
the action of the piece kept up an unbroken and
intense interest in the house/'

Anderson, in his "Actor's Life," speaks of
the annoyance caused to the actors during the
rehearsals of this piece by the presence on the
stage of the manager's numerous firiends. Morning
after morning there sat, close to the prompter's
table, Messrs. Browning, Bulwer, Dickens, Mac-
lise, Forster, and others, to our great horror and
disgust. Mrs. Humby was especially annoyed
at Forster's, " roaring out, when I miss a word,
* Put her through it again, Mac, put her through
it again,' as if I were a piebald mare at Astleys I "

On May 12, 1889, Henry Harris, the son of
the theatre's old manager and proprietor, Thomas
Harris, died at Brighton.*

On July 16 Macready's tenure of the theatre
ended with a final performance of Henry V.,
and on the twenty-fifth a grand banquet in his
honour was held at Freemason's Tavern, with
the Queen's uncle, the Duke of Sussex, in the
chair, and half a hundred peers, members of
Parliament, literary and artistic celebrities assem-
bled to support him. It is interesting to recall

* Of him Bunn says : '^ Hie records of Covent Garden Theatre
famish ample testimony of his industry^ his talent^ and his liberality.
The last thought in his mind was the aggrandisement of himself^ the
first was the advancement of the profession he swayed^ and he has
left no one behind fit to sacceed him."

140

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the fact that the toast of the health of the late
company of Covent Garden Theatre on this
occasion was proposed by Charles Dickens and
acknowledged by Mr. Serle.

A somewhat enigmatical entry in the " Diary "
closes Macready's connection with our subject.

" One thing is quite certain, I could not have
closed the theatre (had I continued) with one
shilling surplus (vice £1200) ; I should not have
been placed as the present tenant is, for the
Olympic would have been open; I might have
been ill, which would be ruin; I should never
have seen my children ; a calamity nearly equal."

What rendered Macready's splendid failure
so particularly galling, was the knowledge that
his hatred rival Bunn at Drury Lane was doing
huge business with Charles Kean in the same
Shakespearian plays Macready had to withdraw
on account of their meagre drawing powers.
With Macready's management the connection of
Miss Faucit with Covent Garden Theatre also
apparently ends, for she accompanied him first
to the Haymarket, and afterwards to Drury
Lane, and although there may have been some
isolated appearances of the great actress there in
after years, no mention of them is made in her
life by Sir T. Martin, nor would their importance
be sufficient to merit any special record.

141

THE ANNALS OF

CHAPTER XVII

1889-1846

The end of Macready's venture had been so
disastrous to almost all concerned, that it needed
a bold man indeed to embark on the almost fatal
enterprise of trying to make Covent Garden
Theatre a pa3ring concern. Doubtless, however,
the proprietors were prepared to make fiEtirly con-
siderable reductions to a likely tenant, and that
they did so is evident from C. J. Mathews' own
account of the negotiations, brief as it is. He
and his wife. Madam Vestris, were at the time
managing the Olympic with considerable success,
although —

''the fact soon stared us in the face that there
was no chance in so small a theatre of ever re-
couping the heavy loss that had been incurred
during our absence [in America], and Covent
Garden being offered to us on most advantageous
terms, we determined to transfer ourselves and
our company, with scenery, dresses, and proper-
ties, to that house. The expenses of embellish-
ment and previous preparation were enormous,

142

LHAKLtS ;. MATHLIt^.- " ■

Afitr the Painting by R. Jone;, by ptrmisiion of Mtars. Macmillait.

>. i.

y b b k
• • w fc

b • I.

• * *

• • c «. e

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

but we were buoyed up with the most sanguine
hopes of success."

And so Charles James Mathews entered
upon a speculation which he never ceased to
regret to the last days of his life.

George Vandenhoff, in his " Dramatic Remi-
niscences," gives a vivid and racy description of
his entering himself in—

^^ Madam Vestris' corps dramatigue^ then
being organized for active service at Covent
Garden Theatre, London. Charles was brought
up as an architect, but . . . took to the stage,
and yoked his fortunes, in a lover's knot,
with those of *the widow* (Vestris was the
widow of Vestris, the French dancer — Vestris
fils, of course — ^her father was an old Italian,
Bartolozzi, a sculptor). ... In New York, * from
a variety of causes, they (Vestris and Mathews),
failed, returned to England in a huff, and became
lessees of Covent Garden Theatre, that is, Charles
Mathews, lessee, Madam Vestris, manager, for
in management Charley was a cipher by the side
of *her humorous ladyship,' whose temper was
none of the sweetest, but whose taste, tact, and
judgment were almost equal to her fickleness,
luxury, and extravagance.

"She was, when Mathews married her,* already
in the *sere,* with a good deal of the * yellow
leaf' visible. . . . She had commenc^ her

* July 18, 1838.

148

THE ANNALS OF

theatrical career with ^clat^ as an Italian opera
singer ; had afterwards played in Paris in French
comedy ; and had latterly, for many years, been
a standing favourite in the English theatres, in
characters requiring a certain espieglerie, nearly
aUied to efirontery, together with fair musical
capabilities — the sovhrette chantante in fine. . . .
Now Vestris was admirably gift;ed, cut out, and
framed to shine en petit maitre ; she was remark-
able for the symmetry of her limbs, especially of
those principally called on to fill these parts ; she
had a fearless ofi^-hand manner, and a fine mezzo-
soprano voice, the full contralto («c) notes of
which did her good service in Don Giovanni
[(?) Little Don Giovanni], Captain Macheath, etc.,
etc. . . . She was the best soubrette chantante of
her day ; self-possession, archness, grace, coquiterief
seemed natural to her ; these, with her charming
voice, excellent taste in music, fine eyes, and
exquisite form, made her the most fascinating
. . . actress of her time.

" Believe it, reader, no actress that we have
now (1860) can give you an idea of the attractions,
the fascinations, the witcheries of Madam Vestris
in the heyday of her charms."

At this time C. Mathews was about thirty-
five, she about forty- three years of age.

George Vandenhoff, junr., at that time prac-
tising in the legal profession at Liverpool, was
engaged by Vestris, somewhat to his own
astonishment, at £8 a week, partly, no doubt,

144

• •"

W to

f e

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

on the strength of his name, and given the part
of Leon in Beaumont and Fletcher's comedy of
Rule a Wife and Have a Wife^ produced on
Monday, October 14, 1889. There was a fine
cast, and the papers all spoke favourably of the
new performer and the mise-en-scene generally.
But this is anticipating a little.

The season commenced on Monday, Sep-
tember 80, 1889, with an elaborate production
of Love's Labour LosU a play which not even
the oldest actor in the company had ever seen
performed. The cast included Robert Keeley,
Bartley, Meadows, Granby, Cooper, Vining,
Anderson (at £16 a week, or double what Mac-
ready paid him), Mesdames Vestris, Nisbett,
Humby, Lee, and Rainforth, with some others
of less note. The scenery, painted by Grieve
and Sons,

"was beautiftil in the extreme, the dresses
splendid and appropriate, sketched by Planch^,
the materials and harmony of colour selected
and arranged by Madam Vestris herself. The
comedy must have been an immense success, but
for one untoward circumstance — an awful mis-
take in theatrical policy — viz. that of shutting
up the shilling gallery and excluding Hhe
gods 'from their time-honoured benches on high
Olympus."

And so once more Covent Garden Theatre

VOL. II. 145 L

THE ANNALS OF

presented the spectacle of an enraged mob of
brutal galleryites, yelling their brazen indigna-
tion at an inoffensive company of talented men
and beautiful women enlisted under the banner
of two popular favourites who asked nothing
more exorbitant than a fair price and a little
justice. No apologies were listened to, and not
until a placard promising the reopening of the
shilling gallery was exhibited on the stage was
the play allowed to proceed. It was too late,
however, and an ill-omened start had been made,
for the labours of love were, indeed, lost, and the
play very soon withdrawn.

The first original production of importance
was Sheridan Knowles's play of Love^ in which
Ellen Tree appeared.

Ellen Tree had just returned from the United
States, where she had made herself a universal
favourite ; and this new play of Knowles's was
produced to display her talents worthily in the
Countess. The part was admirably suited to
her, and she did it full justice. She was well
supported by J. R. Anderson in Huon, the
first original part of importance which had been
entrusted to him on the London stage. He
acted it with great spirit, and with Madam
Vestris in Catherine and Cooper as the Duke,
the play ran ten successive weeks, and, although
it put money into the theatre's treasury, it was

146

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

not in sufficient quantities to render the enter-
prise a financial success, and to poor Mathews'
horror, ruin at once seemed to stare him in the
face. The enormous responsibilities so appalled
him that in his extremity he was obliged to have
recourse to the fatal remedies of the professional
money-lender. "Duns, brokers, and sheriff's
officers soon entered upon the scene, and
Mathews, who had never known what pecimiary
difficulty meant, was gradually drawn into an
inextricable vortex of involvement." Light
broke in upon the darkness, however, in an
unexpected way! Somebody [possibly Bishop,
who was reappointed musical director by
Madam Vestris] had the happy inspiration of
reviving the Beggar's Opera, dressed for the
first time since its first production in the original
costume, and it achieved an instantaneous suc-
cess. The cast was a fine one: Captain Mac-
heath, Mr. W. Harrison; Peachum, Mr. W.
Farren; Lockit, Mr. Hartley ; Filch, Mr.
Harley ; Polly Peachum, Miss Rainforth ; Lucy
Lockit, Madam Vestris.

To every one's surprise, the receipts went up,
and a long and remimerative run was entered
upon. This was followed by a successful panto-
mime, and by a memorable production of the
Merry Wives of Windsor, in which Mathews
played Slender, and Bartley, Falstaff ; while Mrs.

147

THE ANNALS OF

Ford, Mrs. Page, and Ann Page were played
respectively by Mrs. Nisbett, Madam Vestris,
and Miss Rainforth.

Anderson speaks of the most interesting event
of the first season being the reappearance of C.
Kemble for six nights by " her Majesty's com-
mand." On March 24, 1840, he played Don
Felix in The Wonder. His reception was most
enthusiastic, and the audiences enormous.
Although: he was at this time considerably over
seventy, he is said to have acted Mercutio like a
man of forty I

The foUowing Ust of plays, performed during
Mathew's management, drawn up by himself,
was found among his papers : —

Season 1839-40.

Tragedie9.

No. of

ttm«8

tim«s

Hamlet ... ... ••• 3

Romeo and Juliet ...

... 5

Ion ■•• •*• •.• ••• 2

Comedies.

Lovers Labour Lost

.. 9

Merry Wives

... 11

School for Scandal

.. 16

Twelfth Night

... 4

Rule a Wife

.. 5

Belle's Stratagem ...

... 1

Country Squire

.. 2

Faint Heart

... 2

Rivals

.. 16

Secret Service

... 4

John Bull

Dr. Dillworth

... 4

Clandestine Marriage

.. 3

Scapegoat

... 2

Double Gallant

.. 12

Queen^s Horse

... 3

Wonder

.. 2

Ask No Questions ...

... 5

Baronet ...

.. 1

Why did You Die ?

... 1

Much Ado ...

.. 1

Don't be Frightened

... 2

Know Your Own Mind .

.. 3

My Neighbour's Wife

... 4

As You Like It

.. 2

High Life Below Stairs

... 1

148

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Pantomimes and Melodramas.

No. of Ko. off

times timet

Great Bed of Ware ... 48 Champs Elys^es (ballet) ... 14

Fortunate Ides (masque) ... 20 Sleeping Beauty 35

Also 3 plays^ 7 interludes^ 13 fiirces and musical after-pieces^ and
6 operas^ including Artaxerxes and The Duenna.

Vandenhoff speaks of the revival of Milton's
ComtLS —

'^ as the most brilliant production of the season,
presenting the most classical and perfectly artis-
tic ensemble of all the spectacle-pieces brought
out under the Vestris-Mathews management. It
was an honour to the theatre, the representation
of this beautiful masque, . . . with all the luxury
of scenic display, with the accompaniments of
music sung by syren lips, and every aid that art
could bring to delight the senses, and to realize
the great poet's picture — a dream of Paradise,
broken in upon by Comus and his satyr rout,
and rebuked by the chaste lady, * pure, spotless,
and serene,' in the midst of their midnight orgies
and incantations. The groupings and arrange-
ments of the tableaux were admirable, and some
of the mechanical effects were almost magical,
especially that exquisite scene in which Madam
Vestris, as Sabrina, appeared at the head of the
waterfall, immersed in the cup of a lily up to the
shoulders, and in this fairy skiff floated over
the fall and descended to the stage. . . . Miss
Rainforth sang the spirit-music charmingly,
while Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, and an immense
c(yrps de ballet^ gave eflfect to the revels of Comus
and his crew. There were forest scenes of the

149

THE ANNALS OF

greatest pictorial beauty, filled with mythological
and fabulous beings, bacchanals and satyrs, • • .
intermingled with wood-nymphs and strange and
grotesque monsters, forming a wild medley, . . .
with the super-added intoxication of a madden-
ing dance. . . . Yet, successful as it was, I have
been informed that it did little more than repay
its outlay I "

All the receipts, therefore, were certainly not
sufficient to satisfy the insatiable maw of the
money-lenders, and the unlucky manager com-
plains that all was sunshine for every one but
himself. While he paid nobody, no one seemed
to care ; but when he began to pay a few, they
all clamoured at once for their money.

The next season, 1840-1, was again a good
one, and would be noticeable if only for the first
production, on March 4, 1841, of Boucicault's
celebrated comedy,* London Assurance^ with the
following splendid cast : Sir Harcourt Courtley,
Mr. W. Farren ; Charles Courtley, Mr. J. Ander-
son; Max Hdrkaway, Mr. G. Hartley; Dolly
Spanker, Mr. Keeley; Dazzle, Mr. C. J.
Mathews; Mark Meddle, Mr. Harley; Grace
Harkaway, Madam Vestris ; Lady Gay Spanker,
Mrs. Nisbett ; Pert, Mrs. Humby.

* Fanny Kemble says, in her ''Records^" that she heard, bat
cannot vouch for the truth of the report, that Boucicaalt's remune-
ration was £300 for the piece. On the strength of it he was also said
to have bought two horses, a cab, and seven new coats !

150

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

When the comedy was first put into rehearsal,
John Brougham and Dion Boucicault appeared
as the joint authors. The original Dazzle was
written for an Irishman, and John Brougham
was to have played the part. Then it was dis-
covered there would be nothing for Charles
Mathews to do in the comedy. The consequence
was, the part had to be rewritten for the manager.
This led to a dispute, and an arrangement was
finally made that Brougham should relinquish
his share in the authorship, and resign the part
of Dazzle to Mathews. On the twentieth night
the comedy was announced in the bills as having
been written by D. L. Bourcicault, as he then
spelt his name. The last night of the season,
June 3, London Assurance was played for the
sixty-ninth time, and with it ended .Tames Ander-
son's connection with Covent Garden Theatre,
for he transferred his services to Macready at
Drury Lane for the two ensuing years.

During the year 1841 Bishop's last dramatic
composition, TJie Fortunate Isles, written in
honour of Queen Victoria's marriage, was pro-
duced at Covent Garden.

Among the galaxy of beautiful and talented
women gathered under the banner of Madam
Vestris, two at least must be singled out for
special mention, if only for the halo of romance
which surrounds their names and careers. The

151

THE ANNALS OF

first of these was a feir young girl who, according
to VandenhofTs account, figured annually in the
Christmas pantomimes as Columbine — Miss
Fairbrother. This lady, not long after, with-
drew from the stage, and became the wife,
morganatic, bien entendUf of H.R.H. the late
Duke of Cambridge, by whom, and by whose
august cousin, the late Queen Victoria, she was
for many long and happy years sincerely loved
and respected until her death, as Mrs. Fitz-
George, in 1889, at a very advanced age.

The other member of a company that may
almost be termed illustrious in its combination
of talent, wit, beauty, and rank, and whose
career was especially interesting, was Mrs.
Nisbett, or, as she was when she made her
dSbut, Miss Mordaunt. She had made her d^btU
at Covent Garden Theatre in 1828, in the
character of the Widow Cheerly in Tfie SolcUei^'s
Daughter. Her success was instantaneous, and
from among the host of admirers who soon
encircled her she fell in love with Captain
Nisbett of the Guards, a gentleman of good
family and fortime, and a fine fellow into the
bargain. He, on his part, adored his beautiful
young wife, and for a time they lived together
in the most complete happiness. By a heart-
breaking accident the gallant young husband
lost his life, just when everything in their lives

152

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

seemed at its brightest, and, naturally enough,
the unhappy young widow, partly to seek dis-
traction and partly to supplement her scanty
income, returned to the stage. Here she soon
attained the position of one of the first come-
diennes on the English stage, and at the time
(1885) Vandenhoff writes, she was at the summit
of her powers and beauty.

" She was at that time slight and fragile yet
gracefiil in figure, all life, sparkle, and animation.
Her laugh was a peal of music ; it came fix>m
her heart, and went direct to yours ; nothing
could resist it; it was contagious as a fever,
catching as a fire, flashing as the lightning.

" ' As if Joy itself
Were made a living thing, and wore her shape.'

I have seen her set a whole theatre, when the
audience seemed unusually immovable, in a
delirium of gaiety by the mere contagion of her
ringing laugh . . . running through the whole
diatonic scale of ha-ha-ha's, till every soul in
the house felt the spell, gave themselves up to
its influence, and joined in a universal laughing
chorus ! "

The part of Lady Gay Spanker in London
Assurance was written for her, and in it she was
facile princeps. Madam Vestris, although she
had engaged her at a large salary, and was not
openly hostile, was jealous of her both on account
of her youth, her good fortune and superior

158

THE ANNALS OF

position in life. To complete the picture of this
lady, the idol of our grandfathers, she supported
her mother and sisters and educated her brothers
out of her earnings. Eventually she married
again — Sir William Boothby, an aged baronet,
who only enjoyed his felicity a few months.
After his death she returned a second time to
the stage, under her old name of Mrs. Nisbett,
until her retirement and death at the early age
of forty-eight at St. Leonards.

The great revival of Midsummer Nighfs
Dream this season was also a feather in the
cap of Vestris and Mathews. Planch^ * asserts
that it was the first time the play was done with
the ever-delightful, inspired music of Mendels-
sohn. When it was first suggested, a great
effect was required for the last scene, and
Planch^ pointed out Shakespeare's own words
as a hint for the producers to act upon —

Through the house give glimmering light.

• • • • *

Every elf and fairy sprite
Hop as light as bird from briar^
And this ditty, after me.
Sing, and dance it trippingly. '^

This was accordingly carried out by Grieve,
the scenic artist, and the exquisite scene realized
with such lovely effect that it ran for eight or
nine weeks, and produced a veritable sensation.

* Vol. ii. p. 61.

154

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

List of Plays produced by Charles J. Mathews^ 1840-1.

Comedies.

No. of

Ko. of

timoB

UmM

"^ Merry Wives

... 28

John Boll •••

... 1

Twelfth Night

... 1

Fashionable Arrivals

... 20

School for Scandal

... <i

White Milliner • ...

... 10

Rivals

... 4

London Assurance ...

... 69

Spanish Curate

... 21

Critic ...

... 14

Plays.

Love

... 2

Midsummer Night's Dream 69

Bride of Messina . . .

... 18

•

Operas.

Beggars' Opera ...

... 12

FraDiavolo

... 6

Musical After-pieces.

Sleeping Beauty 15 Patter v. Clatter ...

Greek Boy 17 Waterman

He would be an Actor ... 1 Beauty and the Beast

Twice Killed
Shocking Events
Ringdoves ...
Simpson & Co.
First Floor ...

Farces.

4 Brother Ben

2 Captain of the Watch

2 Two in the Morning

5 A Quiet Day

6 Secret Service

... 1
... 1

... 45

19
6

43
3
1

Pantomimes and Melodramas.

Castle of Otranto 55 Auld Robin Gray (ballet) 1

Embassy 12 (to Thursday^ June 3, 1841,

last night of season.)

Mathews' third season, 1841-2, was as great
a success artistically and financially as the first
two had been, and it was, doubtless, immensely
assisted by the splendid success of Miss Adelaide
Kemble, daughter of Charles Kemble, who, in

* By D. Jerrold (a failure).

155

THE ANNALS OF

almost exactly the same way as her talented
elder sister Famiy had done eleven or twelve
years before, proved the veritable dea ex
macMndf who brought lustre and fortune to
gild the declining glories of her family. From
a letter from Fanny Kemble to one of her
friends, which is printed in her memoirs, we
learn that Adelaide, who had but shortly before
returned from a long sojourn abroad, in July,
1841, concluded

'^an extremely agreeable and advantageous en-
gagement with Covent Garden — Le. Madame
Vestris and Charles Mathews — for a certain
number of nights at a very handsome salary.
This is every way delightfril to me, . . . and it
places her where she will meet with respect and
kindness, both from the public and the members
of the profession with whom she will associate.
Covent Garden is in some measure our vantage
ground, and I am glad that she should thence
make her first appeal to an English audience."

Fanny Kemble was present to witness the
dSbut, which took place on Tuesday, November
2, 1841, in Bellini's opera of Norma^ which she
sang in English, retaining the whole of the
recitative. Her success was triumphant, and
the fortunes of the unfortunate theatre, which
again were at the lowest ebb, revived under
the influence of her great and immediate

156

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

popularity, and the overflowing houses that,
night after night, crowded to hear her.

In January, 1842, Fanny Kemble writes—

" My father, I am sorry to say, gets no rent
fix)m the theatre. The nights on which my
sister does not sing the house is literally empty.
Alasl it is the old story over and over again,
that whole ruinous concern is propped only by
her. That property is like some fate to which
our whole family are subject, by which we are,
every one of us, destined to be borne down by
turn, after vainly dedicating ourselves to its
rescue."

Fanny's statement regarding the rent is
difficult to credit. Probably Charles Kemble's
share of the rent paid by the Mathews was
swallowed up by creditors and legal expenses
long before it could reach his pocket or those
of his family.

In April, 1842, Adelaide was singing the
part of Susanna in the Nozze di Figaro to very
fine houses, her acting of the part being very
highly praised.

Among the novelties — unsuccessftil, alasl —
brought out this season was a new play by
Sheridan Knowles, entitled Old Maids.

"My part," says Vandenhoff^, "was the
serious character in the comedy, a young Claude

157

THE ANNALS OF

Melnotte-y kind of London apprentice, who
falls in love with one of the old maids. Lady
Blanche (Vestris) fights a duel with Sir Philip
Brilliant (Mathews), who takes him with him to
the army, and brings him back a colonel and a
hero, to wed, of course, the lady of his love.
The point most applauded was the duel. ... It
never missed fire. Angelo, the great maitre
d^armes, was present at our last rehearsal, and
we had the advantage of his suggestions and
approval."

After a run of thirteen nights the play was
withdrawn. Vandenhoff ascribes it to the fact
that Knowles had outwritten himself. At any
rate, he only wrote once more. The Rose of
Aragon^ which was also a failure, and "then
took to preaching against acting and the drama ! "

The following was the disposition of the
various members of the company in the 1841-2
season, as related by Vandenhoff: —

Gentlemen: acting and stage-manager, Mr.
George Bartley, with a great variety of business
— the bluff, hearty old man, peres^ nobles, Fal-
staff, etc. ; light comedy and eccentrics — Charles
Mathews (lessee), Walter Lacy, F. Vining;
leading business- -George Vandenhoff, John
Cooper; low comedy — ^.I. P. Harley, D.
Meadows ; Irish character — John Brougham ;
heavy business — C. Diddear, J. Bland ; walking

158

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

gentlemen — C. Selby, A. Wigan, H. Bland ;
pantomime and general business — Messrs.
Payne, Honner, Ridgway, Morelli, and J. Ridg-
way. Ladies: Mrs. Nisbett, Madame Vestris,
Mrs. Glover, Mrs. Lacy, Mrs. Bland, Mrs.
Brougham, Miss Cooper, Miss Lea, Mrs. S. C.
Jones, Mrs. Selby, Mrs. West. Columbine :
Miss Fairbrother, two Misses Kendalls, and
large corps de ballet. Operas : Miss A. Kemble
and Messrs. W. Harrison, Binge, and Horn-
castle, tenors ; Mr. Stretton, baritone ; Messrs.
Borrani and Leffler, bass ; and a fine chorus.

This, of course, takes none of the enonnous
working staff into consideration at all.*

On the whole, then, it is hardly surprising
to read that, in spite of Adelaide and Charles
Kemble, who were getting £20 a night, the
other members of the company were only
getting half-salaries at the latter portion of the
season.

There is little doubt that had Mathews been
assisted in his financial matters by an able man
of business he would have " pulled through "
his troubles safely, and the course of Covent
Garden's history might have been substantially
different. Such, however, was not his good
fortune, and the more astute among his associates
speedily took advantage of his easy-going habits

* See Appendix.

159

THE ANNALS OF

where money was concerned. It has been our
painful duty, as a faithful chronicler of things
that were, to record several actions of the bland
and gracious Mr. Charles Kemble that can hardly
redound to his credit. Among them there is
nothing meaner than the action of himself and
his co-proprietors in stepping in at the end of
the Vestris-Mathews third season, and coolly
appropriating to themselves the entire property
and wardrobe of the unlucky lessees, on the
ground of the arrears of rent, amounting, as they
alleged, to £14,000. Mathews was probably too
light-hearted and good-natured a man to bear
malice for long, but he complains bitterly of the
treatment to which he was subjected.

** Little did that amiable lady [Miss Adelaide
Kemble] imagine that her triumph would be my
ruin, but so it turned out. The proprietors of
Covent Garden, who had previously been content
to be, as it were, sharers in our speculation by
making the rent easy to us, now saw that they
could do without us. The theatre was well
stocked, and in perfect order. Miss Kemble's
father was one of the proprietors, and under his
management, with the brilliant attraction of his
talented daughter, they could get on very well
without us. The blow was soon announced.
The theatre was taken out of our hands, after
three years of outlay and labour to establish it,
in order that others might reap the expected

160

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

harvest; our property was all confiscated to
meet the alleged arrears of £14,000, the scenery,
wardrobe, and properties we had brought from
the Olympic included — and we found ourselves
adrift with nothing left but a piece of plate
(presented by the company) and the debts of
the concern."

According to Planch^, the actual outstanding
arrears of rent amounted to £600 in a rental of
as many thousands.

Thus ended what the entire company of the
theatre found the most capable, competent, and
admirable period of management they had ever
known. A note by Mr. J. R. Anderson, in
C. J, Mathews' " Life," says — .

'* Madame was an admirable manager, and
Charles an amiable assistant. The arrangements
behind the scenes were perfect, the dressing-
rooms good, the attendants well-chosen, the
* wings ' kept clear of all intruders — no strangers,
or crutch and toothpick loafers allowed behind
to flirt with the ballet-girls, only a very few
private friends were allowed the privilege of
visiting the green-room, which was as handsomely
frirnished as any nobleman's drawing-room, and
those friends appeared always in evening dress.
Dear old Charles Young (the tragedian). Planch^,
Sheridan Knowles, Leigh Hunt, Edwin Landseer
and his brother, and a few intimate friends of
Charles Mathews, were about all I ever saw

VOL. II. 161 M

THE ANNALS OP

there. There was great propriety and decorum
observed in every part of the establishment, great
harmony, general content prevailed in every
department of the theatre, and universal regret
was felt when the admirable managers were
compelled to resign their government."

VandenhoiF also bears testimony to the fact
that —

"to Vestris's honour, she was not only scru-
pulously careful not to offend propriety by
word or action, but she knew very well how to
repress any attempt at dmhU-eTUendre^ or doubt-
ful insinuation, in others. The green-room in
Covent Garden was a most agreeable lounging
place, . . . from which was banished every word
or allusion that would not be tolerated in a
drawing-room. ... It must be understood that
in Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres
there were a first and second green-room; the
first, exclusively set apart for the corps dramatique
proper — ^the actors and actresses of a certain
position ; the second, belonging to the corps de
balleU the pantomimists, and all engaged in that
line of business (who are called the * little
people'), except the principal male and female
dancers (at that time Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert), who
had the privilege of the first green-room."

The term " green-room " arose originally from
the fact of its being carpeted in green (baize
probably), and the covering of the divans a

162

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

similar colour. The first green-room was a
withdrawing-room, carpeted and papered ele-
gantly, with a handsome chandelier in the centre,
several globe lights at the sides, a comfortable
divan, covered in figured damask, running round
the whole room, large pier and mantel-glasses on
the walls, and a AiU-length, movable swing-glass,
so that, on entering, an actor could see himself
fix)m head to foot at one view.

Mr. Vandenhoff goes on to describe at length
the system by which the various characters were
summoned by the prompter, who instructed the
call-boy, who, unless the character was enacted
by a "star," proceeded to the green-room to
make the call. Only " stars " were allowed to be
called in their dressing-rooms, and at Covent
Garden the calls were made by the name of the
actor or actresses, and not by the name of the
character they represented. He further joins
in the encomiums bestowed upon Vestris and
Mathews as ideal managers —

" the courtesy of their behaviour to the actors,
and consideration for their comforts, formed an
example well worthy to be followed by managers
in general. . . . On special occasions — ^the open-
ing night of the season, or a * Queen's Visit ' — tea
and coffee were served in the green-room ; in fact,
the reign of Vestris and her husband might be
described as the drawing-room management."

16a

THE ANNALS OF

The folloAving is the list of plays produced
during the third season—

Comedies,

No. of

Umet

. 7

. 6

No. of
times

v^ Londou Assurance... . ...

J\lVB«o ... •*• ...

'^Merry Wives

•^She Would and She Would

.^ Ot ••• ••• ••• o

^ What Will the World Say? 18
. Old Maids 16

School for Scandal'

Court and City

Wives as they Were

Irish Heiress

Bubhles of the Day (by D.
Jerrold) ••• ... ...

Midsummer Night's Dream

4 ^
15 ^

7 ^

Beggar's Opera
Fra Diavolo
Norma

Beauty and the Beast
Poor Soldier
Comus ... ...

'^ Patter V. Clatter ...
•"Brother Ben

Caught Napping ...
"^ Animal Magnetism

^Critic

"" Popping the Question
^ Wrong Man

Openu,

... 2 Elena Uberti

7 Marriage of Figaro
... 42 Sonnambula

Musical After-pieces.

... 6 White Cat ...

... 6 Charles XII.

... 18 . •

Farces,

7 Irish Tutor ...

8 Omnibus

1 Free and Easy

5 United Service

10 Simpson & Co.

7 Ringdoves ...

10 My Wife's Mother

15
11

18
10

2 -
6 ^
12*^

I.e..

2 -
1

Hans of Iceland
Wooden Leg

Pantomimes f Battels^ etc,

... 22 Guy Earl of Warwick ... 48
... 15 (to Saturday^ April 16^ last

night of season.)

Alfred Bunn, in the preface to his entertaining
account of " The Stage," writes with much good
humour of the " luck " enjoyed by Madam Vestris
in her management at Covent Garden. She began

164

c *.

w w

^-fc

^^:

w
u
w

***

* •_ *

w «• b t>

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

well by opening early in September, and by
obtaining special leave of the Lord Chamberlain
to perform on certain evenings in Lent, by which
she was able to close so much earlier, and thereby
to escape the fearftil odds against a patent manager
as the London season approaches its height.
Then, according to Mr. Bunn, Charles Kemble,
when he appeared for the six nights in March,
1840, "on each of which he filled most of the
crevices in Covent Garden Theatre," would not
accept one farthing for his six performances,
although his reappearances must have contributed
at least £1500 to the treasury of the theatre, which,
without that aid, it never would have seen, and as
that contribution arrived at so ticklish a period
of the season as Lent, it must have been doubly
acceptable. . . . Bunn adds that Madam Vestris
received £10,000 more than was taken in the best
of Mr. Macready's two seasons, but that, not-
withstanding such great receipts, she lost con-
siderably, as she confessed in her parting address,
and if, with her acknowledged attainments,
admirable tact and taste, her labours, popularity,
and the all-powerful charm of her sex, she was
not able to put money in her house, Mr. Bunn
naturally concludes that nobody would be able
to do so.

Evidently Bishop had resigned his position of
musical director to Mathews and Madam Vestris

165

THE ANNALS OF

after their second season, for, according to the
writer of the memoir of Madam Vestris in
" Grove's Dictionary," the director of the music
during the last year of her tenure was Julius
Benedict, who appears to have owed his appoint-
ment there to a letter of recommendation, dated
July 28, 1841, from Adelaide Kemble* to
Mathews. Benedict was at this time about
thirty-five years of age, and had been more or less
intimately associated with all the greatest musi-
cians of the day, from Beethoven himself, whom
he only saw once, to Weber, whose favourite
pupil he was. We shall come across him several
times in the later days of Covent Garden, when
his Lily of Killamey had established his reputa-
tion as one of the most popular composers and
conductors of his day.

It is not inappropriate here to notice an
event which was indirectly to exercise a con-
siderable influence upon the future of Covent
Garden Theatre. This was the premature death
from heart disease, in the summer of 1841, of the
unfortunate M. Laporte, who had sought repose
in his French country house from the incessant
worry and anxieties consequent on his position as
manager of His Majesty's Theatre. There was
abeady in active operation at this establishment
the internal cabal against the directorate which

* See vol. ii. p. 104, *' IJfe of Charles J. Mathews.

166

»j

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

brought about the &mous Tamburini row, and
was doubtless indirectly responsible for the early
death of the honourable and gifted artiste who
held the unenviable position of manager. The
gentleman who was to succeed him was one of
a very different temperament. Educated as a
lawyer, and accustomed to the intricacies of
finance, Benjamin Lumley (a gentleman of
Jewish extraction, whose real name was Levi),
had, since Laporte's second period of manage-
ment in 1886, been his right-hand man, and
found it a comparatively short step to take to
the place of commander from his position as first
lieutenant. This position he assumed in 1842,
about the time (i.e. in May) that Charles Kemble
and his co-proprietors again attempted the control
of their unfortunate property. The terms on
which he had done so are not specifically referred
to in Mrs. Butler's memoirs. Doubtless the
phenomenal success of his daughter Adelaide
was, as Charles Mathews asserts, the main
attraction in his eyes. Later on she writes —

" My father is looking wonderfiilly well, and
appears to be enjoying his mode of life extremely.
He spends his days at Covent Garden, and finds,
even now — when the German company are
carrying on their operations there — enough to do
to keep him interested and incessantly busy
within those charmed and charming precincts."

167

THE ANNALS OF

Chorley thus refers to the German company's
season —

" This year [1842] there was ... a German
company headed hy the best brilliant German
singer I have ever heard. . . . This was Made-
moiselle Jenny Lutzer. It would not be easy to
accomplish more, or to execute what was under-
taken more perfectly than she did. Her voice,
too, had a clear ringing tone, which lent itself
well to the style chosen by her. The company
of which she formed one — together with M°**-
Stockl Heinefette and Herr Staudigl — attempted
M. Meyerbeer's Les Hitguenots in German (on
April 20, 1842). But the day of that magnificent
opera had not yet come for England ; and
indeed, when given with German text, it loses
effect to a degree which is hardly explicable.
Then the utmost care and luxury must be
expended on its production, or the work becomes
duU and tiring and its effect chill. This a
company of strangers, who were only here for
a few weeks, and in a theatre of insufficient
resources, could not afford, and Lscs Huguenots^
accordingly, was overlooked and judged, and
people who had not seen the opera in Paris,
found it in no respect remarkable, nor worthy of
its reputation."

The season dragged its weary length on from
Saturday, September 10, when Kemble recom-
menced his ill-starred enterprise with Norma^ in
which his two daughters scored a great success,

168

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

and an after-piece by Douglas Jerrold, entitled
Gertrude's Cherries ^ until Tuesday, November 1,
which appears to have been the last opera night
under his management, when Adelaide Kemble
sang with Miss Rainforth and Mrs. Shaw, a new
contralto, in // Matrimonio Segreto.

Alas, not all the acknowledged talent and
charm of Adelaide Kemble's singing could bring
enough grist to keep the mill working! By
November, 1842, her sister writes to Lady
Dacre —

" You may perhaps see in the papers a state-
ment of the disastrous winding up of the season
at Covent Garden, or rather, its stiU more
disastrous abrupt termination. After our aU
protesting and remonstrating with all our might
against my father again being involved in that
Heaven-forsaken concern, and receiving the most
solemn and positive assurances from those who
advised him into it for the sake of having his
name at the head of it, that no responsibility or
liability whatever should rest upon or be incurred
by him, and that if the thing did not turn out
prosperously, it should be put an end to, and the
theatre immediately closed, they have gone on,
in spite of night after night of receipts below
the expenses, and now are obliged suddenly to
shut up shop, my poor father being, as it turns
out, personally involved for a considerable

sum."

169

THE ANNALS OF

Later she writes, " My sister ... is to go on
with her performances tiU Christinas, when the
whole concern passes into the hands of Mr.
Biinn,^ who, perhaps, is qualified to manage it."

On Wednesday, November 9, a magnificent
production of The Tempest took place, with
Vandenhoff as Prospero, and Miss Rainforth as
Ariel, Miss Horton, with whom the part had
been particularly associated, having followed
Macready to Drury Lane. Great things were
hoped for from this, as a spectacle which should
draw aU London; but unhappily these hopes
were not destined to fulfilment, for on Saturday,
November 26, the following paragraph appeared
in The Globe newspaper—

"Mr. Bunn is to be the new manager of
Covent Garden from Christmas next. The
performers are making arrangements to keep the
theatre open on their own account till that time.
The change, which was only decided on Thurs-
day last (24th inst.), was on the part of the
proprietors consenting to take £20 a night instead
of £85 until the new management."

The only production of which I can find a
record worthy of note was a revival of The
MeiTy Wives of Windsor, on Monday, December
12. On December 26 a sort of " stop-gap "

* This is a plan which evidently came to nought^ and to which
no further references are made in the letters of Fanny Kemble.

170

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

pantomime was brought out by the " writers in
Punchy'' upon the not very promising subject of
Magna Charta, but the references to it in the
Press were of a very half-hearted character.
Fanny Kemble writes —

" I think I should like to act with my sister
during this month in order to secure their salaries
to the actors, to make up the deficit which now
lies at the door of my father's management, to
put a good benefit into his poor pocket, and to
give a rather more cheerful ending to my sister's
theatrical career." *

January 5, 1848, she adds —

" The houses at Covent Garden are quite fuU
on my sister's nights, but deplorably empty on
the others, I believe. 1 speak from hearsay, for
I have not been into the theatre since the terrible
business of the break-up there, and do not think
I shall ever see her last performances, for I have
no means of doing so. I can no longer ask for
private boxes, as during my father's management,
of course, nor, indeed, would it be right for me
to do so on her nights, because they all let very
well ; and as for paying for one or even a seat
in the public ones, I have not a single farthing
in the world to apply to such a purpose."

January 8 was her [Adelaide Kemble's]

* Adelaide Kemble must probably have become engaged by this
time to Mr. Sartoris^ whom she married a few months later.

171

THE ANNALS OF

benefit; she had a very fine house, and sang
" Norma," and the great scene from JDer
FreischUtz and " Auld Robm Gray/'

During 1848 there were two attempts made
to " run " Covent Garden Theatre : the first by
Henry Wallaek, who rented the theatre for
a short and disastrous season lasting from
October 2 to October 81, 1848 ; and the second
by Bunn, who, says Planche, " made a brief and
desperate struggle against adverse fortune, after
which the theatre ceased to be a temple of the
national drama."

Another train of associations for the historic
spot was started in September, 1848, with the
engagement of Covent Garden Theatre for meet-
ings by the Anti-Corn Law League for fifty
nights at £60 a night. The first of these great
meetings was held on September 28, when
speeches were delivered by Richard Cobden, by
John Bright, by W. J. Fox, and by Daniel
O 'Council. There is little doubt that to this
remarkable series of meetings was largely due
the extraordinary wave of popular excitement
upon which such matchless orators poured their
floods of eloquence, and which led the people
of Great Britain to take the irrevocable step
that many of their children are now so bitterly
regretting. This is in no sense a political work,
but a curious commentary upon the enthusiastic

172

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

prophecies of the leaders is found as we read
the report of their speeches in Covent Garden
Theatre. Mr. W. J. Fox, afterwards M.P. for
Oldham, eloquently pictured the great theatre
filled to the roof with the unhappy thousands
of poor persons, starving and wretched, whose
misery was directly brought about, according to
the speaker, by the Com Duties. ** Suppose
this to be done," he said, "we should be told
that there has always been poverty in the
world, that there are numerous ills which laws
can neither make nor cure, that whatever is
done, distress will still exist." He then proceeds
to scout such excuse for inaction. "Strike off
every fetter upon industry, give labour its full
rights," etc., etc., the natural inference being that
only by these devices would poverty be at aU
events alleviated, if not dispersed, and the way
paved for the Millennium. What, I wonder,
would the enthusiastic Mr. Fox say, could he
now revisit " the glimpses of the moon," and find
the poor are still with us, only in tenfold the
numbers that they were then. That misery and
starvation still stalk the streets of London,
and that to the residuum of poverty that then
and always existed, must now be added the
millions of workers whose trades have vanished,
beaten on their own ground by cheap German
and American products, and whose miserable

178

THE ANNALS OF

means do not even suffice to provide the where-
withal to purchase the cheap loaf that it was
hoped would be within the reach of the poorest
in the land when the Com Laws were repealed.

There is another reference of a political
nature to Covent Garden Theatre, in the
reminiscences of John Coleman.*

" My first visit to Covent Garden was not to
see a play, but to see one of the greatest players
on the political stage, Daniel O'Connell. It was
immediately after the verdict at the State Trial
in Dublin had been reversed by the writ of
error from the House of Lords.f For the
moment all Liberal London, regardless of race
and creed, streamed forth in their thousands to
do honour to his triumph. . . . The next night
a public reception was given to him at Covent
Garden. Thither, too, I made my way. The
huge edifice was packed from base to dome.
Crowded out of the pit, boxes, and dress-circle,
ultimately, by dint of much persuasion and a
little bribery, I got on to the stage amidst the
committee and others of the privileged class. The
audience hung spellbound on the words of the
great orator. . . . Stem men cried one moment
and laughed the next. Strange to say, they
never laughed in the wrong place, though once,
at least, he afforded them a unique opportunity.
As he approached the end of his oration, carried
away by his theme, he took his wig off (a brown

* Vol. i. p. 101. t This was in September, 1844.

174

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

*jazey'), put it in his hat, and mopped his
beautiful bald brow with a great flaming crimson
bandana. The action appeared so natural and
appropriate, that no one seemed to think it
absiu-d or even incongruous."

It is sad to recollect that even then, at the
apparent height of his triumph, he was in reality
a spent force, for only two years later the great
statesman and Liberator died on his way to Rome,
a broken-hearted and disappointed man.

On January 2, 1845, a single performance of
great interest took place at Covent Garden, of
Sophocles' Antigone f rendered into English by
W. Bartholomew from the German version,
which had been set to music by Mendelssohn.
The following cast was chosen, and the music
was under the direction of George Macfarren:
Creon, King of Thebes, Mr. VandenhofF; Hsemon,
son of Creon, Mr. James Vining ; Tiresias, a blind
soothsayer, Mr. Archer ; Phocion, a sentinel, Mr.
Hield; Cleon, a messenger, Mr. Rae; chorus-
speaker, Mr. Rogers; Eurydice, Creon's queen,
Mrs. W. Watson; Antigone and Irmene,
daughters of iEdipus, Miss Vandenhoif and Mrs.
J. Cooke.

Mendelssohn, writing to a Mend in the pre-
vious November, says —

" I am very glad to hear that the Antigone is

175

THE ANNALS OF

to be performed at Covent Garden, although the
mere sound of Antigoiie at Covent Garden has
something startling in itself. It is utterly impos-
sible for me to come over, although I sincerely
and truly wish I could come ! But the music is
sate in Macfarren's hands. Pray have very good
solo voices to sing the quartet, and a very power-
ful chorus ; and let them sing the choral recita-
tives with great energy, and not in time, but quite
as a common recitative, following each other, and
thus keeping together. It sounds as if impos-
sible, but is very easy thus."

It is to be feared that the result of the experi-
ment was not a very brilliant success. The
Ghbe critic, while speaking well of Mr. and
Miss Vandenhoff, says he was —

" disappointed at the operatic parts of the play.
The materials of a chorus of sixty male voices
require time and labour to mature, and are
not to be gathered at a moment's warning from
the * Cider-cellars ' and the * Coal-hole.' • . .
There is a lack of solemnity, an absence of
thrilling pauses, and an occasional outbreak
of jovial, rollicking measures in sad discord-
ance with the woebegone tale of Thebes. Half
these learned Thebans of the chorus might
be dispensed with, the remainder drilled into
something like precision of voice, and especially
of gesticulation, the latter being of the most
extraordinary redundancy."

176

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

It is interesting to record that the single
scene was painted by John, the brother of
George Macfarren, the musical director.

An excellent caricature of the performance
appeared in Punch of January 18, 1845, to which
Mendelssohn refers as follows. Writing to his
sister Fanny at Rome, March 25, 1845, he says —

" See if you cannot find Punch for January 18.
It contains an account of Antigone at Covent
Garden, with illustrations, especially a view of
the chorus, which has made me laugh for three
days.

"The chorus-master, with his plaid trousers
showing underneath, is a masterpiece, and so is
the whole thing, and most amusing. I hear
wonderfiil things of the performance. . . . Only
fancy that during the Bacchus chorus there is a
regular ballet with all the ballet girls ! "

We have already referred to the Anti-Corn
Law agitation, and do not wish to mention it
again, except to record the holding of a great
bazaar, commencing on May 8, at Covent Garden
Theatre, and lasting for three weeks, the object,
of course, being to raise money for the Anti-Corn
Law League. So well did it ftilfil its purpose
that, in the three weeks during which it was
open, no less than 125,000 people paid for admis-
sion, and a sum of £25,000 was realized for the
coffers of the league.

VOL. II. 177 N

THE ANNALS OF

The last Covent Garden meeting appears to
have heen held in June, 1845, and three years
and a half later the appeals were sueeessfiil, and
the agitation at an end.

Among the desperate attempts to set up
Covent Garden Theatre as a prosperous concern
by men lacking either in brains or in capital,
none is more melancholy than that of Mr.
Laurent, who took a short lease of the theatre
for twenty-four nights, from Tuesday, February
4, 1845. He opened with Henry IV.^ and a
cast which included Mr. and Miss Vandenhoff
and " Mr. Betty," presumably the " infant Ros-
cius " of forty years before, or his son, as Hotspur.
The opening night was, it is said, well attended,
but it can have been only a flash in the pan.

On Wednesday, February 26, a paragraph
appeared in The Globe newspaper as follows,
under the heading of Covent Garden —

" A meeting of the actors of this establish-
ment was held, to consider the following proposi-
tions of Mr. Laurent, upon the adoption of which
depended the opening of the house: that all
connected with the theatre should relinquish all
claim to salary for the four nights they had ren-
dered their services last week, when the season
was so abruptly brought to a close ; they were
also to agree to play during a new season, sharing
each night the receipts, after expenses were paid,

178

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

as well as fiill salary of Mr. Vandenhoff, viz. £10,
which included Miss Vandenhoff. The majority
agreed, but one dissentient did not think the
remainder of the company should be sacrificed to
secure two gentlemen — Mr. Laurent and Mr.
Vandenhoff."

•

Evidently the proposed reopening proved
quite abortive, for I can find no further trace of
the theatre being open for performance that
season ; and during the greater part of 1846 the
theatre was closed for the extensive structural
alteration necessitated by its conversion into an
opera house.*

A few lines may be devoted to the mention
of William Grieve, whose death occurred during
1844, and who had, with his brother, been con-
nected as scene-painter for Covent Garden
Theatre for many years. It is said that he was
accorded the distinction unique for a scene-
painter of being called before the curtain during
a performance of Robert le Diable in 1882.

* See Appendix for description.

17»

THE ANNALS OF

CHAPTER XVIII

1847-1856

With the opening of Covent Garden Theatre in
the year 1847 as an opera house, a new period
in its history commences. We have akeady (see
pp. 168-4) briefly traced the causes that led to this
epoch-making occurrence, but they may again
be glanced at here. During the latter end of
Laporte's management of His Majesty's Theatre
his state of health had brought about a certain
relaxing of his grip upon the reins of his trouble-
some team. Grumblings and murmurings became
loud and incessant ; discontent, jealousy of each
other, determination to act only when the artist
pleased and not when the manager ordered,
became frequent, until, as we know, the harassed
manager's death put a temporary end to the
rebellion. It was, however, renewed, though
in perhaps a less acute form, under the new
manager Lumley, and a sort of coalition, or
cabal, was formed to force him to his knees in
certain matters. This coalition, after several
seasons' fighting, he defeated decisively, and the
leading spirit, Signor Costa, the musical director

180

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

imder Lumley, together with certain eminent
artists, seceded from the theatre and determined
to start an opposition season of their own, backed
by the eminent music publishers, Cramer, Beale,
and Co. This famous firm had been brought
into the speculation in a roundabout fashion.
Persiani was apparently the originator of the
whole scheme. He owed Lumley a grudge, it
is said, for refusing an opera of his composition.
Together with a partner named Galletti and a
letter of credit upon Rothschild's for £85,000, he
took Covent Garden Theatre upon lease, and,
having done so, discovered, like Fitzball, that he
and his partner were unequal to the task of
managing the imdertaking. Through the inter-
mediary services of a mutual friend, Manfredo
Maggioni, they were introduced to Cramer,
Beale, and Co., and Frederick Beale was accord-
ingly appointed manager and director at a large
salary and free of all pecimiary liability — a highly
desirable stipulation. Mr. Beale thereupon as-
sumed management, on the understanding that
Signor Persiani should bank £5000, and keep
that sum standing to the credit of the imder-
taking. On Costa's recommendation, Signor B.
Albano was engaged as architect, and the Messrs.
Holland as builders.* The latter estimated the

* For a Ml description of alterations the reader is referred to
the Appendix.

181

THE ANNALS OF

cost of the alterations at £8000, for which, some-
what rashly, Frederick Beale made himself
personally responsible. Like all estimates, these
proved fallacious, and Mr. Beale eventually foimd
himself liable for £22,000, to which huge sum
the expense of rebuilding reached.

The redoubtable Signor Costa was followed
into his new quarters by some singers whom
Lumley could ill afford to be without. They
included Mario, by far the most popular baritone
of the day ; Grisi, one of the greatest dramatic
sopranos, perhaps, of any time — certainly of her
own ; Tamburini, on account of whose absence
a riot had taken place at Her Majesty's ; and the
Fersianis, of whom the husband " was till then
known as an unsuccessful composer," * his wife
being also a celebrated prima donna. According
to Lumley's account, the artistes sang at lower
rates of salary to assist the conmion cause.

Nor was the secession confined to the stage.
According to Grove, "nearly the whole" — and
even Mr. Lumley himself admits "many
members" — of the orchestra "followed their
leader," Signor Costa, in his new enterprise,
among them being the famous violinist, M.
Prosper Sainton, who was principal violin.

Covent Garden was now fighting a sort of
triangular operatic duel with both Drury Lane,

* Lumley's '^ Reminiscences of the Opera^*' p. 157.

182

FREDERICK BEALE.
J'ram " The Lighl of Olher Days," iy fitrmissian of Messrs. Macmillaa

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

under Mr. Bunn, and His Majesty's. The last
opponent had the advantage of an energetic and
powerful director in Lumley, who, in spite of
the serious losses he had suffered in his company,
yet numaged to open his season on February 16
with a fine Ust of artistes, including the name of
one who was destined to more than compensate
him for the secession of his jealous and trouble-
some Italians, who, whatever their virtues as
artistes, must have constantly threatened his
continued sanity as employes. Over the posses-
sion of this lady, the renowned Jenny Lind, a
struggle was now to take place, into the details
of which we have unfortunately not the space to
enter in these pages. Briefly, they are as follows :
The Swedish Nightingale had in 1845 somewhat
imprudently entered into negotiations with Mr.
Bunn, and signed a contract to appear at Drury
Lane Theatre. This she afterwards desired to
cancel — a wish that Bunn, not unnaturally, did
not see his way to meet, particularly when he
found that her reluctance to act for him was
partly due to her wish to act for Mr. Lumley.

Eventually he transferred his rights in her
contract to Lumley's opponents at Covent
Garden, and the contest for the honour and profit
of "presenting" her became still more acute.
Lumley offered to bear the cost of any legal
action that might be taken; but Jenny Lind

188

THE ANNALS OF

still hesitated, protesting that she could not start
for England until the dreaded contract was
cancelled and herself absolved from all penalties.
The situation appeared to be a deadlock. Mean-
while affairs at Covent Garden moved with
smoothness. An attempt was made to invoke
the authority of the Crown, by virtue of the
restrictions placed on the patent theatres, to
restrain the performance of opera at Covent
Garden. The attempt failed.

"The age was one when it was the policy
of Government to discountenance monopo-
lies of every kind. The objection was over-
ruled. Covent Garden opened four days before
Her Majesty's, and to all appearance successfully,
for, in addition to the powerful prestige of la
xneiUe garde^ the d^rid of Mademoiselle Alboni
was triumphant." f

Tuesday, April 6, was advertised for the
opening performance, to consist of Semiramide
and the ballet by Albert, entitled UOdalisque^
in which Mesdemoiselles Fleury from Paris, and
Bertin from Vienna, and other distinguished
dancers would perform. Another well-known
name, that of Mr. Vincent Novello, now first
appears in our annals. He was engaged by
Beale as organist. The scenery was by Grieve

* Consisting of Grisi^ Mario, Tamburiui^ and Persiaui.
t Lamley^ p. 180.

184

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

and Telbin, and the subscriptions amounted to
little short of £25,000. All appeared coiUeur de
rose, not the least auspicious part of the scheme
being its new title of the " Royal Italian Opera,"
which emanated from the fertile brain of the new
director.

But at length the fateful day of Lumley's
triumph came, and with it the collapse of the
"bluff" of the Covent Garden management.
Jenny Lind was persuaded to come, she sang at
Her Majesty's Theatre on the evening of May
4, 1847) and from that moment all opposition and
rivalry were extinguished, and England lay at
her feet.

Perhaps it is hardly correct to speak of the
Bunn contract as a bluff, since Bimn did bring
an action for breach of contract, and actually
recovered £2500 damages.

But we must return to the doings of the
" opposition," which constitute the subject of our
history. As Lumley admits, a trump-card had
also been secured by the Covent Garden manage-
ment in the new singer. Marietta Alboni, described
in " Grove's Dictionary" as " the most celebrated
contralto of the nineteenth century," and at this
time only twenty-three years of age, and in the
first flush of her youthfiil beauty. As so many
of the greatest artists in the world have been, she
was a native of Romagna, and had been trained

185

THE ANNALS OF

at Bologna, where she was so fortunate as to meet
with Rossini and became, so it is said, his only
pupil. Her first appearance was made at La
Scala in 1848, and between that time and 184!7
she sang in Vienna, St. Petersburg, and many
other great European cities.

She made her Covent Garden debut in
Rossini's Sendramde^ and sang afterwards in
Lucrezia Borgia. The day after her d^mt
Persiani spontaneously raised her salary for the
season from £500 to £2000, and her reputation
was established.

Great as was her success, however, as we shall
see, it was not sufficient to avert the loss suffered
by the new impresario in his first season, and for
which the Jenny Lind fever at Her Majesty's
was no doubt accountable.

Mr. Willert Beale, in his highly interesting
account of his own and his father's connection
with the theatre,* makes the startling statement
that no less than three different incendiary
attempts had been made to set the theatre on
fire during the alterations, all of which were
fortunately extinguished in time, and the origin
of which was never discovered.

In spite, however, of the apparently splendid
start and the immense reception of Alboni,
things behind the scenes were far from prosperous.

* " 'Hie Light of Other Days,"' p. 46,

186

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

** Fersiani had taken fright. He renewed the
stipulated sum of £5000 twice, and then made
excuses to delay Anther payment, being alarmed
at the cost of rebuilding, the terrific expenses he
had undertaken to pay, . . . and the current
expenses. The letter of credit upon Rothschild's
vanished. Galletti turned out to be ^ a man of
straw.' Hollands were only paid two or three
thousand pounds, and after giving bills for
£12,000 more, Persiani fled ! "

Needless to say, affairs at the theatre were in
a terrible state of confusion. The enormous
staff, the artists, the hundred and one creditors of
all sorts were pressing for their money, and
Beale, junior, was despatched after the ftigitive
to try and bring him to reason. After a long
chase.through France and Italy and back again,
he was found in Paris, and Mr. Frederick Beale
came over to conduct the negotiations, which
ended by Persiani's return and a temporary
smoothing over of the trouble.

When the season ended the receipts were
found to amount, roughly, to £55,000, and the
expenses to £79,000. To balance the deficit of
£24,000 there were £8000 of Persiani's bills and
properties in the theatre valued, also roughly, at
another £8000. Mr. Frederick Beale thereupon
came forward and offered to take the respon-
sibility of the remaining £8000, provided that

187

THE ANNALS OF

Persiani would surrender the lease and guarantee
to meet the bills. This was done, Persiani retired,
and Mr. Frederick Beale became the lessee and
manager of the theatre.

Among the curious incidents related by Beale
of the time of storm and stress through which
they had passed, is one when, owing to non-receipt
of salaries, a certain prima dmi'iia refused to sing,
and another opera, // BarbierCy was substituted
for that advertised. The hasty notice sent to the
artists failed to reach the principal one, Ronconi,
and the unfortunate Mr. Beale set off in a cab to
find Tamburini, with whom there had already
been some trouble respecting the giving of this
very rdle to Ronconi. Tamburini most good-
naturedly consented to appear, and came back
with Beale. In the meanwhile, imknown to
any one, Ronconi also turned up with his wife,
went to his dressing-room and attired himself for
the part Imagine the horror of the manager at
seeing two Barbers present themselves in his
room ! Ronconi stood by his contract, and again
Tamburini had to be apologized to, and event-
ually retired without appearing.

Frederick Beale had among his acquaintances
at this time a certain Mr. Frederick Delafield,*
a wealthy brewer by trade, and an enthusiastic

* A member of the well-known firm of Combe^ Delafield,
and Co.

188

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

musical amateur by taste, who with Mr. A.
Webster, a £riend of his own, Uved at Willow
Bank, Fulham. Delafield used to frequent the
shop of Cramer and Co. daily, and watch the
progress of the subscription list, then under
the management of William Chappell, with
immense interest. He was thoroughly con-
versant with the prospects of the concern, and
beheving it would prove a profitable undertaking,
proposed to Beale that he should become a
partner in it. Beale agreed, and he became a
joint director. This arrangement did not work
well owing to the interference of Webster,
Delafield's friend, in the management, which
Beale naturally resented. This again led to a
frirther rearrangement, by which Beale assigned
Delafield his entire interest in the lease and
management for £8000, the sum he himself
had paid for them. For this Delafield received
Persiani's bills for £8000, scenery and properties
estimated at another £8000, undertaking to pay
a similar sum of £8000, the remainder of the
deficit, as premium for the lease which was
transferred to him.

During the seasons of 1848-9, therefore, the
director of the Royal Italian Opera was Mr.
Frederick Delafield, who called to his aid Mr.
Gye, at that time occupied in assisting Mons.
JuUien to run EngUsh opera at Drury Lane.

189

THE ANNALS OF

The new director advertised the following
seventeen operas, mounted in 1847, as forming
a guarantee for the season 1848 : —

Semramide, UltaJiana in Algieri, II Bar-
biere^ La Gazza LadrUf La Donna del Lagq^
of Rossini; L/uda^ Elmr d^Arruyre^ Lucrezia
Borgia, Anna Bolena, Maria di Rohan, of
Donizetti ; JEmani and Due Foscari, of Verdi ;
Norma, Sonnambula,* Puritani, of Bellini ; and
Don Giovanni and Nozze di Figaro, of Mozart.

In addition to these the lessee announced
that an adaptation of Meyerbeer's grand opera
of Les Huguenots, and a new opera by Auber,
entitled Hayd^e, had been expressly prepared
for the first appearance in England of Madame
Pauline Viardot-Garcia, fresh from her un-
paralleled Continental triumphs. Other artists
announced to appear were Alboni and Fersiani
in Rossini's opera-serio of Tancredi, which was
billed to open the season ; Grisi in La l^avorita,
with Mario, Ronconi, and Marini as the other
principals; and Madame Castellan in Rossini's
Gmllaume Tell, on the mounting of which a
great deal of money was expended. The
orchestra consisted of sixteen first violins led by
Sainton, fifteen seconds led by Ella, ten tenors
led by Hill, ten 'cellos led by Lindley, ten double

* At a performance of Sonnambula, on May 22^ 1849^ Suns
Reeves made his first appearance at Covent Garden.

190

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

basses led by Anfossi, two harps, two flutes, two
oboes (Messrs. Barret and Nicholson), two
clarionets (Messrs. Lazarus and Boos^), two bas-
soons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones,
one ophicleide, drums (Mr. Chipp), triangle, and
Mr. Horton, bass drum. The military band was
under the direction of Mr. (rodfrey, bandmaster
of the Coldstream Guards. The chorus num-
bered forty ladies and fifty-four male voices.
The ballet included the promise of no less than
ten d^butanteSy including Lucile Grahn. It
will thus be seen that to the bold venture of
Mr. Delafield might be applied the words of
Hamlet, that if they could not absolutely com-
mand success, they would at least desen^e it.
But a malign fate still pursued the theatre.
Costa and Delafield were continually at logger-
heads. Delafield complained of Costa's lack of
energy, and Costa openly flouted Delafield's
orders. In July a financial crisis occurred, and
was only averted by Gye's assistance.

According to Planch^, Alfred Bunn renewed
his connection with Covent Garden Theatre
during Delafield's tenancy as acting-manager.

Among the greatest and most interesting
novelties occurred the first production of The
Huguenots in its Italian dress, as Gli Ugonotti^
which took place on July 20, 1848. Enormous
expenses were incurred, and a heavy loss to the

191

THE ANNALS OF

unlucky Delafield was the unfortunate result.
It is stated that to such an extent was his
passion carried for realism in detail, that as
much as £60 was paid for a single suit of armour
in one of his productions. He was, however,
sufficiently sanguine to continue his efforts after
the loss on The Huguenots^ and staked a huge
sum of money on three more great productions,
the first of which, viz. La ProphetCy first pro-
duced July 24, 1849, was new to England,
Lucrezia Borgia^ and Donna del Lago^ on the
last of which he is said to have lost £25,000
alone, the total personal loss incurred in the two
seasons being, it was understood, over £60,000.

Such madly ruinous speculation as this could,
of course, not continue, and by the end of the
1849 season, Mr. Delafield had come to the end
of his tether, and became a bankrupt. The
performers then, by the advice, it is said, of Gye,
for some time worked under a sort of joint-stock
or co-operative arrangement, and continued to
give performances. This was not likely to last,
and from the occasion came the man in the
person of Gye himself, who was begged to
remain there as director, under the management
of a committee of shareholders, and thus solved
the difficulties that appeared likely to bring per-
manent disaster to the opera house. Mr. Dela-
field, in the mean time, took up his residence

192

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

at Boulogne-sur-Mer, until the great firm, of
which he was a member, had honourably paid
every creditor in ftill the debts incurred in that
disastrous speculation.

From the year 1850 onwards, and for many a
brilliant season, the other name of Covent Garden
was Frederick Gye. Until the voluminous diaries
and memoirs left by the famous impresario are
published, the inner history of The Royal Italian
Opera, Covent Garden, under his rule is not likely
to become known. Any errors or lacunae^ there-
fore, that may be noticeable in the present writer^s
account of the succeeding thirty years' history of
the theatre, must be set down to unavoidable
circumstances. By the courtesy of Mr. Ernest
Gye, Frederick Gye's son, and for some years
himself the responsible manager of the theatre,
the writer has been allowed to peruse the series
of prospectuses issued by the management before
the commencement of every season. These have
been of the greatest possible interest and value,
for from them have been gleaned many of the
details now, it is believed, for the first time put
before the public in a connected form.

The year 1850 is principally noticeable for
the production of La Juive^ Halevy's greatest
opera, and one that has, up to quite recent times,
maintained a large part of its popularity. Another
notable event took place on March 16, when the
VOL. n. 198 o

THE ANNALS OF

great German basso, Herr Formes, made his
English d^bnt as Caspar in Der FreischUtz.

The 1851 season, upon which much anxious
care and expectation had been spent, in view of
the great influx of distinguished foreign critics
and visitors that it was known the Great
Exhibition would attract, opened on Thursday,
April 8, 1851, with Rossini's Semiramidej Grisi,
Tamberlik, Castellan, and Formes appearing in
it. Among other successful novelties given
were a revival of Masaniello, and of Fidelio
in Italian, with Castellan in the boy-part of
Fidelio.

In the prospectus for the foUowing year the
directors take credit to themselves for the manner
in which the artistic standard of the Royal Italian
Opera had been maintained before the critical
audiences of 1851. They further announced the
re-engagement of the distinguished artistes of
the past season, and the acceptances of contracts
by others, new to the company at Covent Garden.
The soprani included Grisi and Pauline Viardot ;
and the contralti a new-comer of great distinction.
Mademoiselle Seguin; the tenors numbered
Mario, Tamberlik, Galvani, and Gui^mard, the
two latter being new-comers ; and the basses,
Ronconi, Bartolini, Formes, and Marini.

The great Louise Taglioni, and many other
fiEimous dansemes brought their charming art to

194

FRKDKKICK CVE,

ifiA in Ike pos^nsion oj Mhi

to *,

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.!-•!

. ft «

• •

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the aid of the operas, and the illustrious company
was rounded off by Mr. Costa and his ah*eady
unrivalled orchestra. Spohr's now forgotten
opera of Faust was promised to be produced
under his own direction, and many other great
attractions foreshadowed.

The arrangement for the production of Spohr's
Faust had been made by Gye personally, while
on a visit to the composer early in the year.
Spohr's autobiography informs us that it was
« the urgent wish of the Queen for the perform-
ance of the opera on the Italian stage," which
brought it about. It necessitated the rewriting
of a portion of the opera, but the event entirely
rewarded him for his three months' work. On
July 15, when the first public performance took
place under Spohr's own baton, the chorus of
praise was unanimous, and the delighted com-
poser returned to Germany agreeably impressed
with the excellence of the great combination of
band, soloists, chorus, and ndse-eii'Scene of the
Italian opera under Mr. Gye.

But the great operatic sensation of 1852 was
the fight between Gye and Lumley, of Her
Majesty's, over the possession of Johanna Wagner,
whose name was the only one that rivalled
that of Jenny Lind in its magnetic hold upon the
people of musical Europe. Lumley had, on the
strength of an agreement effected through a

195

THE ANNALS OF

friend of the Wagner family, Dr. Bacher, adver-
tised Fraulein Wagner's name in his prospectus
for the year, in the sure and certain hope that
her advent would recoup him for several recent
disappointments in his perpetual and imtiring
fight with his dangerous rival Gye. But the
latter gentleman, relying on the principle that
all was fair in operatic as in other warfare, bid
a higher price for the services of the great singer,
and won, though up to a certain point only, viz.
she threw up Her Majesty's and announced her
intention of appearing under the rival banner.
But this was more than Lumley could stand, and
he applied for and was granted an injunction to
restram her from appearing. The case was duly
argued, and the injunction confirmed. She was
forbidden to appear at Covent Garden, and by
some legal juggling it would take too long to
explain, at Her Majesty's also I Thus, as Mr.
Lumley tells us, "she was forced to return to
Germany, the disappointed victim of a grasping
avarice ' that o'erleaps itself.' " Lumley brought
a further action against Gye, claiming £20,000
damages, which he won on the technical plea,
but lost on the claim for damages, on the ground
that there was not sufficient evidence of Gye's
previous knowledge of the contract existing
between Lumley and the Wagners.

So ended the famous quarrel, as in the

196

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

celebrated fable, where the lawyers had the
oyster, and the litigants the empty shell.

Of the year 1858 I can find nothing more
interesting to record than the mention of a
failure, viz. that of Berlioz opera of Benvenuto
CeUim. It should, however, be remembered that
Gye was now, and for the next three years, in
the happy position of being without a great
operatic rival, for Her Majesty's remained closed
until 1856. It is true that Drury Lane, under
Mr. E. T. Smith, continued to run seasons of
opera with a fair measure of success, but the
" Lane " has never possessed the prestige attach-
ing to Her Majesty's as one of the two homes
in London of Italian opera.

1854 was a notable year for the patrons of
Mr. Gye and the opera house. They had
secured the adhesion of the greatest bass singer
of his own or any other time — ^the illustrious
Luigi Lablache. He was at this time already
well advanced in age, being, in fact, in his
sixtieth year ; but time had, it is said, made but
small inroads upon his voice, as it had, indeed,
none at all upon his popularity and his un-
exampled powers as an actor. Space will not
permit of any further reference to this great man
and greater artist, but his presence alone would
have served, as we noted above, to confer lustre
upon the theatre and the season. Lablache had

197

THE ANNALS OF

compeers worthy of him in Mesdemoiselles Sophie
Cruvelli and Bosio, while the company still
boasted of the pillars which had hitherto sup-
ported its high position, in the names of Mario,
Ronconi, Tamberlik, and Costa.

Reference is made in the prospectus to the
"approaching retirement" of Madame Grisi,
which, however, following the well-established
example of many previous artists, both vocal and
dramatic, was a " plaguey long time " in coming,
and did not in effect take place until seven years
later, in 1861 ; and even then was only a farewell
as far as Gye and the Royal Italian Opera
were concerned, for five years afterwards she
reappeared at Her Majesty's I It is worthy of
remark that Gye now was able to boast of three
of the original illustrious quartette for whom
Donizetti, eleven years before, had composed
Don Pasqitaley an opera which, however, had not
yet been mounted at Covent Garden, and was
promised by the directors for this season.

We must not omit to mention the death of
the "last of the Romans," Charles Kemble, at
the good old age of seventy-nine years, and w^ho
was thus spared the knowledge of the second
disaster which overtook his ill-fated property two
years later.

The 1855 season began on April 10, and
in the annual prospectus reference is made to

198

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the great forthcoming event of the production
of Meyerbeer's latest and greatest success, L'Etoile
du Nord. Two other events of the very first class
added lustre to the year. These were the pro-
duction of Verdi's new opera, // Trovatore^ on
May 17, and the first appearance of the great
danseuse, on whom the mantle of Taglioni and
Vestris had fallen, viz. Mademoiselle Fanny Cerito.
Lablache, Grisi, Mario, Ronconi, and the rest of
the wonderful combination were still at the com-
mand of Gye, and altogether an exceptionally
brilliant season was the result. It must have
been almost the last season in which the pro-
digious powers of Luigi Lablache were heard,
for in the succeeding year his health began to
fail, an4 two years later, in 1858, this gifted artist
and honourable gentleman died, in his native city
of Naples, mourned and regretted by the entire
musical community of Europe.

During January Monsieur Jullien, who was
intimately associated with Mr. Gye, took Covent
Garden for a series of concerts at which many
great artists performed. Nor must it be for-
gotten that the faded glories of Tamburini's
voice were once again heard, to the regret of
those who remembered the great artist in his
prime.

The ill-starred year of 1856 began badly
for Covent Garden, at least, from a histrionic

199

THE ANNALS OF

point of view. For a sum of £2000 the theatre
was sub-let in January for six weeks, the re-
mainder of the winter season, to the so-called
"Professor" Anderson, or the Wizard of the
North, as he preferred to be styled, for the per-
formance of legerdemain and pantomime. This
gentleman opened his season with a performance
of Rob Roy, in which he himself took the title-
r(5&, with a certain amount of success. Other
members of the cast were Messrs. Gourlay, Sam
CoweU, Mrs. J. W. Wallack, and Harriet
Gordon. This was alternated, during January,
with a farce and a pantomime, in the former
of which Mr. Leigh Murray played. The
advertisements announced that at nine p.m.
the entry was half-price to all parts of the
house. AU this was legitimate enough. Later
on, during Anderson's conjuring entertainments,
entitled " Magic and Mystery," he attempted to
retort upon Charles Mathews, who was then at
Drury Lane, for a burlesque upon Anderson's
entertainment, which Mathews called The Great
Grun Trick. It is evident that the whole thing
was feeble in the extreme, and unworthy alike
of the house in which it was produced, and even
of the audience who came to see it, for it met
with marked disapprobation from them, and was
eventually withdrawn.

On Ash Wednesday a "monster concert"

200

J. H. ANDERSON, "THE WIZARD OF THE NORTH," DURING WHOSE
TENANCY IN 1856 COVENT CARDKN THEATRE WAS THK SECOND
TIME DESTROYED HV FFKE,

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

was given at Covent Garden, presumably by the
enterprising Anderson, among the singers being
Madame Caradori, Miss Escott, "the Messrs."
Braham, and others. The Illustrated London
News, commenting on the programme, says it
contained between forty and fifty pieces, but
nothing of interest to the musical amateur I

On February 4 Douglas Jerrold's nautical
drama, Black-ey'd Susan, was revived, the part
of William being taken by the versatile Mr.
Anderson.

On February 17 the death occurred at his
residence in London of the veteran tenor, Henry
Braham, in his eightieth year, whose name
carries us back to the old theatre of Rich,
Handel, and Harris, and whose fame dated
from 1801, when he appeared there in Mazzinghi
and Reeve's opera, Chains of the Heart, com-
mencing a career which for thirty years saw him
the undisputed head of his profession in England,
and universally acclaimed as the greatest
oratorio tenor singer the world had ever seen.

Anderson produced the The Bohemian Girl
on February 18 to a huge audience, which,
says a critic who was present, "uproariously
applauded ever3rthing, good, bad, and indif-
ferent."

In the Illustrated London News the follow-
ing paragraph appeared on March 1 : —

201

THE ANNALS OF

** Professor Anderson has announced what he
ealls a * Carnival Benefit/ to take place on Monday
next. The performance will consist of the farce
of The Great Ghin Tricky the opera of The
Soniiambula^ the drama of Thne tries all, the
new squib of What does he want ? the melodrama
of Gilderoy^ and the pantomime of Ye Belle
Alliance; o?% Harlequin a7ui t/ie Field of t/ie
Cloth of Gold. This extraordinary combination
of entertainments is to commence on Monday
forenoon and continue till midnight. The cast
will on this occasion consist of the united houses
of Covent Garden, Drury Lane, and the Strand
Theatre ; and we have no doubt that the stupen-
dous performance will meet with a corresponding
success. The carnival is to be concluded on
Tuesday night by a grand bal masqut'' *

These were the exact words of the last an-
nouncement of a performance of any kind at
the second of Covent Garden's magnificent
theatres; and they were also the death-warrant
for its execution.

Anderson's farrago of opera mixed with rub-
bish was duly performed on Monday, March 8,
and the curtain rung down for the last time on
the stage where the Kembles and Mrs. Siddons
had taken their farewell of a British audience.

* It is said that Gye put a veto on the hall when he first heard
of it^ and was only induced to consent to its taking place on account
of the losses Anderson had sustained by his six weeks' rental of the
theatre.

202

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

On Tuesday night the bal masque took place,
and at five minutes before five o'clock on Wed-
nesday morning of March 5, while the last bars
of " God Save the Queen " were being played,
the great ill-fated building was, alas I again dis-
covered to be on fire. The story of the melan-
choly catastrophe is, in many of its details, merely
a repetition of the first disaster, notably in the
hideous rapidity with which the flames devoured
the building and its contents. By 5.80 the roof
had fallen in, and all hope of saving anjrthing
substantial from the wreck had been abandoned.
The following vivid and picturesque description
of the event is taken from the Illustrated Times^
a publication which has long been discontinued
and forgotten. It is interesting to read, in the
" Life of Tom Robertson," the dramatist, that
the pseudonym of "The Lounger" was that
under which the brilliant author of Ca^te was
known when writing for the Illustrated Times.

" Braidwood in Bow Stkeet.

" If during the month of May, last year, my
cousin Julia, who is always brought up from
Yorkshire by her mother, when that venerable
but misguided lady comes to town to attend the
religious meetings at Exeter Hall, to get her
teeth looked to, and to invest in a new ^ frt)nt ' at
Truefitt's — if, at that period, I say, my cousin
Julia had asked me to give her an idea of that

208

THE ANNALS OF

dreadfully wicked, worldly place, the Royal
Italian Opera, what would [have been my reply ?
Probably I should have discoursed to her about
the noble portico, and the convenient entrance,
about the splendid flight of stairs, and the hand-
some columns on either side, about the lofty
reception rooms through which one passed, and
about the snug, cosy little pit box, into which it
was generally my good fortune to be issued. I
should have told her of the deep crimson decora-
tions, of the fine chandelier, of the universal
blaze of light, of the air of aristocracy that was
perceptible. I should have talked of her Majesty,
in her box ; of noted ladies (dames whose draw-
ing-room costumes are faithfiilly chronicled in
the Morning Post) sitting in the grand tier ; of
the stalls, filled with gentlemen, oiled, curled,
white neckclothed, solemn, inane, every third one
of whom might have sat for the portrait of one
of Mr. Leech's * swells'; of the pit, closely
packed with * genteel ' young men, bald-headed
old gentlemen, theatrical critics, in seedy clothes,
and dowdy ladies, the old ones in turbans, the
young ones in wreaths. I should have mentioned
the dingy foreigners, who are all musical, and all
on the free list, who stand round the back of the
pit, applauding all the best morceatia? of the
opera, beating time with heads and feet, and
shrinking from a false note as from a hot iron ;
the librarians scuttling about from side to side,
reckoning up their gains, and bowing obsequi-
ously to such of their patrons as they chance to
come across ; the * gentlemen of the press '

204

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

making notes on the fly-leaves of their libretti.
I should have enlarged on Grisi and Mario, on
their powers of acting and singing, on their
quarrels and terms ; on Costa, and his position,
and his row with Lumley, and his musical skill ;
on Beverley, and his painting ; on Harris, and
his grouping. But, if the said Julia were now to
put to me the afore-mentioned question, my
answer would, lindeed, be different. I should
describe to her four gray semi-blackened walls,
enclosing a heap of loose bricks, blistered plaster,
and incandescent embers. Along one of these
walls still stand a few little pillars, and in every
circle and crevice where woodwork still remains,
a lambent flame is fitfully struggling against the
humid atmosphere with which it is surrounded.
There is no box for her Majesty now, no grand
tier, no stalls, no pit. The oiled and curled
gentlemen do not care particularly about it, for
Mitchell and Sams sell stalls for Lumley as well
as Gye, and will give an equal amount of tick for
one house as the other. Old people generally
hope that the Opera will now be taken back to
the * King's Theatre,' its legitimate abode; the
newspaper critics are rather sorry on the whole,
for Bow Street was convenient to the printing
offices ; the foreigners have not come over just
yet, and when they do, so long as they are on
the free Ust, they won't care; and as for the
artistes of all descriptions, rumour says Mr. Gye
means to keep them together, and provide some
refuge for the * lyric drama,' so that they won't
suffer.

205

THE ANNALS OF

"Furthermore, if Julia, with that ardent
thirst for knowledge with which I have found it
necessary to imbue her, were to inquire what has
caused tliis vast alteration, I should immediately
calm her curiosity by reading to her the following
business-like announcement, copied from Mr.
Braidwood's official report: — 'Theatre Royal,
Covent Garden — Burnt down, properties and
contents partially insured in the Phoenix and
other offices. Building — insurance unknown.'

"Yes, Covent Garden Theatre, the Royal
Italian Opera, one of the sights of London, the
most magnificent theatrical establishment in
Europe, the perfecting of which in its recent
state ruined one of London's wealthiest men and
hampered many others, is no more — a thing that
has been, but that assuredly never will be again.
I knew it in the day of its glory. I have seen it
in its ruin. Let me record what I know of its
final anguish.

" It has been my fortune, good or ill, to
attend many bah masques. From the rattling
carnival balls of the Grand Opera at Paris, with
their PostiUions, Ddbardeurs, Titis, Vivandi^res,
Pierrots, Polichinelles, and wonderful variety of
costume and fun, to the ghastly solemnity of a
masquerade at Vauxhall, where the ^ romps ' and
charity-boys, the knights-in-armour, the devils
and dustmen, the melancholy Greeks, the
wretched Charles the Seconds, and the paste-
board-nosed gents, shriek and fight in the gravelled
enclosure — I know them all. But I can safely
say that never, during the whole course of my

206

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

experience, did I ever * assist' at a scene of
lower blackguardism than that which occurred
at Covent Garden Theatre on the night of Mr.
Anderson's bal rnasque. We do not understand
these affairs in England; Jullien, who leads us
by the nose better than anybody else, and who
has succeeded in introducing us to one advantage
with many foreign ideas, has utterly failed in
making us comprehend the true spirit of the
masquerade. There are many things against it ;
we are a dull prosaic people; we cannot stand
chaff, nor can we return it, substituting generally
an oath for a repartee; and, moreover, to don
a costume is looked upon as a disgrace. So
that Jullien's balls, though attended by the very
best of the ^ fast ' set, all the private boxes and
the dress circle being thronged, and all the
arrangements of lighting, decoration, order, etc.,
perfect, when looked upon as sources of amuse-
ment, must be considered failures. Judge, then,
of the scene presented by Professor Anderson's
masquerade, at which there were not twenty
persons present in evening dress, the decorations
of which would have been discreditable to a
bam, the company at which would have dis-
graced a dancing saloon and only held middle
rank at a penny 'gaff,' the whole conduct ot
which was a disgrace to every one connected
with it. Can any of your readers who have seen
this magnificent theatre filled with the first
personages in the land, unexceptionably dressed,
and listening with breathless attention to Grisi's
sorrow or Mario's despair, imagine the boxes

207

THE ANNALS OF

filled with drunken savages, with their feet stick-
ing over the cushions, some of them eating the
supper which they had procured from the saloon,
and twO'thirds at least of the male portion of the
audience with cigars in their mouths ? Less than
one-tenth of the assemblage was in fancy costume,
shooting coats, pea jackets, and muddy boats
being in great force. Instead of the pretty white
and gold drapery familiar to the frequenters of
M. Jullien's masquerades, the walls were covered
with old theatrical ' flats ' roughly nailed against
them, while the ^ flies ' and all the upper portions
of the theatre were left uncovered. A general
air of melancholy pervaded the place ; there were
no extra lamps to illuminate the boarded pit;
and the din^y dressed ^dancers capered in a
forced and solemn manner to the music of a
dreary band. From eleven at night until four
in the morning was this ghastly attempt at
revelry proceeded with ; then the numbers began
to thin, but even at five o'clock there were still
some two hundred persons left. These, however,
were so hopelessly used up, that Mr. Anderson
instructed i the band to play * God save the
Queen' (a hint which is invariably taken even
by the most drunken British audience), and it
was during the performance of this anthem that
two of the firemen, engaged in conversation on
the stage, observed a bright light shining through
the chinks and crevices of the carpenter's shop,
high overhead. They hastened upstairs, and on
arriving at the shop the whole danger was
apparent. The place was filled with flame and

208

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

smoke, heaps of charred and smouldering embers
were scattered about; and on their endeavours
to open one of the fire-mains connected with a
tank on the roof^ which would have turned
eighteen tons of water into the theatre, the fire
overtook the men and drove them back without
their effecting their purpose. The jovial crowd
on the stage, however, knew nothing of all this ;
no smell of fire could reach them through the
dense clouds of tobacco smoke which hung over
their heads, and they roared away at * Send her
victorious,' etc., until the sudden descent of a
blazing groove in which the 'wings' stand (not
a * beam,' as erroneously stated) first gave them
the idea that something might be wrong. Then
came an indescribable scene of confusion and
horror. Mr. Anderson roared * Fire ! ' the few
people left, rushed to the entrances, the gas was
turned off, women were trampled on, wreaths
of smoke and sheets of flame burst through the
roof, and the police alone maintained that wonder-
ful calmness and presence of mind which dis-
tinguishes them as a body, took possession of
all the doors, prevented all entrance, and facilitated
the egress of the frightened crowd. Now came
the few feasible attempts at salvage. The pro-
ceeds of the night, said to be some £290, which
lay in the treasury, were carried off by a Mr.
Kingston, who rejoices in the title of *the
Wizard's secretary.' Mr. Anderson, Mr. Ponteau,
the treasurer of the theatre, and Mr. E. T. Smith,
of Drury Lane, rushed to Mr. Gye's private room
J9ind secured certain valuable documents and
VOL. II. 209 p

THE ANNALS OF

paraphernalia. Some properties and hanky-
panky tricks belonging to Mr. Anderson, and
fortunately placed in an apartment near the
stage-door were saved, as were some furniture
and a piano belonging to Mr. Costa. And now
the flames had burst through the roof, and
columns of fire darting into the air illuminated
the surrounding neighbourhood for the distance
of three miles, and showed the distant Surrey
Hills standing out in bold relief. The glare,
visible throughout the entire metropolis, roused
the watches at every station throughout of the
fire-brigade, and in a very few minutes the
galloping of horses and the lumbering noise of
the engines were heard at the end of Bow Street
Curiously enough, the first engine on the spot
was one of those belonging to Delafield and
Company, a partner of which house had ruined
himself in the conduct of the opera. The supply
of water was excellent, but those acquainted
with the interior of theatres, know that every
piece of woodwork is so heated with the constant
gas as to be almost in the condition of touch-
wood, and that all scenes, wings, flats, cordage,
canvas, and theatrical property generally, are
peculiarly inflammable. The fire then, pent up,
furnace-like, within the four huge walls, burnt
with incredible velocity until half-past five
o'clock. Then, with a tremendous crash, the
roof fell in, a volcano of sparks was shot into the
air, and the most exciting part was at an end.
No fives were lost. A man sleeping in the
theatre, heard neither the roar of the populace nor

210

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the raging of the fire, but was awakened by a
difficulty of respiration produced by the smoke,
rushed to the window, and was promptly rescued
by a ladder. There was also a rumour that a
boy and a young woman were missing, but this,
happily, turns out to be imfounded. The value
of the property destroyed cannot possibly be
told. Ail the fittings and decorations, all the
magnificent scenery painted by Grieve and
Telbin, all the mountings, dresses, and properties
of sixty operas ; the dramatic library, which was
unique in its kind, the valuable operatic scores,
some of which, such as the Elisir (TAmore by
Donizetti, and the Oberon of Weber, can
never be replaced; the original MSS. of the
School for Scandal^ the Miller aiid his Mefi, the
score of the opera of The Slave and hundreds
of other curious works ; the armoury, consisting
of more than a hundred suits of real, admirably-
finished armour, and four original pictures by
Hogarth, representing the * Seasons,' which hung
in Mr. Gye's private room, are lost for ever.

" Of the origin of the fire nothing is, nor ever
will be, correctly ascertained. Four firemen
were on the estabhshment of the theatre, whose
duty it was to visit hourly every part of the
building. On Tuesday night they seem to have
neglected this duty, and remained on the stage.
People talk of a strong gas leakage, and it is
reported that the machinist of the theatre had
represented this fact to certain of the proprietors,
who had ignored his statement. Should not
some notice be taken of this ?

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" At the time of this dreadful cakmity Mr.
Gye was in Paris, where he had arrived at the
close of a tour made for the purpose of contract-
ing professional engagements for the forthcoming
season. The news was telegraphed to him, and
he came over at once, came over to see four
blackened walls in Bow Street, and to find him-
self, I should imagine, an almost ruined man.*

" Since Mr. Delafield's bankruptcy the affairs
have been managed by a committee of share-
holders, among whom were Sir William de
Bathe, Colonel Brownlow Knox, etc., etc., and
Mr. Gye has had the chief direction.

"The late building was the property of
various * renters,' who, of course, by its destruc-
tion have been severe losers, as it was uninsured,
and they could have no possible claim upon any
future erection. Among these proprietors were
the Kemble &imily, the family of the late Mr.
Harris, Mr. Surman, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Thomas
Grieve, the eminent scene painter, etc.

"It is not believed that a theatre will be
built on the site; nor is one wanted. The
fallacy of so enormous a house for theatrical
representation has long been proved. Even if

* From an article by Miss Clara Gye in the Gentlewoman
(August 20^ 1896)^ we gather that Gye's personal loss amounted to
over £30^000. Miss Gye further adds^ " If sympathy could have
filled the gap^ those who suffered most would have had little to
regret^ and in my fisither's case the kindness shown him on all sides
and by all grades can never be forgotten^ especially that of more
than one of the poorer employds^ who came and actually offered him
the use of their small savings if the money could help him for the
moment."

212

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

it were not, we have still Drury Lane and the
old Opera House. Private residences and shops,
or else the monster Model Hotel, will be erected
on the area (some say a poultry market, for
which the Duke of Bedford, the ground landlord,
has a strong predilection), and Covent Garden
Theatre, on the stage of which Incledon, Charles
Kemble, Mrs. Glover, G. F. Cooke, Miss
Stephens, Miss O'Neill, Macready, W. Farren,
and Fanny Kemble, made their first appearance,
and on the boards of which Edmund Kean made
his farewell bow, will be simply a reminiscence
and a name.

" On Thursday, the very day after the con-
flagration, her Majesty, Prince Albert, and the
Princess Royal, visited the ruins. Her Majesty
and the Princess Royal arrived about four
o'clock, attended by Lady Churchill, the Lady
in Waiting, Major-General Buckley, and Captain
the Hon. Dudley de Ros, as Equerries. The
royal party approached the theatre by way of
Hart Street, and alighted in Prince's Place, in
which her Majesty's private entrance was situated.
There they were received by Mr. Gye, the lessee
of the building, who had arrived from Paris in
the course of the morning, and conducted to a
position which commanded an advantageous view
of the ruins. To reach this point, her Majesty
and the Princess Royal had to pass through a
portion of a lobby connecting the Royal Court-
yard with the Piazza entrance to the pit, and
strewn over with a mass of charred ruins, through
which they had to pick their steps with some

218

THE ANNALS OF

care. They were conducted through a low door-
way in one of the interior walls, to a spot near
what had been the position of her Majesty's
private box, from which they obtained an excel-
lent view of the ruins, and were able to form an
adequate conception of the vast area originally
covered by the building, and the melancholy
scene of desolation and destruction which it pre-
sented. After asking Mr. Gye a few questions,
her Majesty, the Princess Royal, and the royal
suite left the theatre, and returned to Buckingham
Palace.

" Shortly after five o'clock, his Royal High-
ness Prince Albert, attended by Colonel Phipps,
and Captain the Hon. Dudley de Ros, drove up
in a private carriage to the royal entrance in
Prince's Place, and on alighting were received
by Mr. Gye, and conducted to the spot from
which the Queen and the Princess Royal had
just inspected the ruins. His Royal Highness
spent about twenty minutes contemplating the
spectacle of devastation, and then retired.

"On the same day on which her Majesty
visited the ruins, several members of the nobility
and aristocracy were also attracted to the scene
of the conflagration. Among these were the
Duchess of Wellington, the Duke of Bedford,
the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lady Peel, Lord
Ward, Lord Colville, Lord Marcus Hill, Lord
Elcho, and Mr. Hardinge, M.P.

" Throughout the whole of Thursday barriers
were thrown across both ends of Bow Street and
Hart Street, which form the only means of access

214

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

to the theatre, so as to divert the whole of the
passenger and carriage traffic, the latter of which
might endanger the external walls left standing.
Shores were erected in the course of the day to
support the side of the edifice abutting upon
Hart Street, fi*om which danger was apprehended,
and policemen were stationed to prevent persons
privileged to pass along that thoroughfare from
loitering in a place which commanded, though
not without risk, the most advantageous view of
the ruins.

" Among the earliest of the visitors on
Friday, March 7, was his Royal Highness the
Duke of Cambridge — a constant and liberal sup-
porter of the Royal Italian Opera. His Royal
Highness was received by Mr. Gye,* and con-
ducted over the wreck of the building to those
points of view from which the best observation
of the ruins could be obtained. The Duke
expressed to Mr. Gye his deep regret at the
heavy misfortune that had befallen him; and,
when informed of the lessee's confident intention
to carry on the opera in some other metropolitan
theatre during the present season, his Royal
Highness spoke in the most encouraging manner
of the proposed enterprise. After devoting half
an hour to an inspection of the ruins, his Royal
Highness took his departure.

" At half-past three o'clock his Royal High-
ness Prince Alfred arrived at the theatre, attended
by Colonel Phipps. Mr. Gye had left at this
time, and in his absence his Royal Highness was
received by Mr. Ponteau, treasurer and secretary

215

THE ANNALS OF

to the theatre, by whom, attended by Mr. Super-
intendent Durkin of the F division, the young
Prince was conducted over the ruins. Mr
Ponteau pointed out to his Royal Highness the
most remarkable results of tiie conflagration,
and, carefully avoiding all points of danger, led
the Prince to those spots from whence the best
view of the coup (Tteil could be obtained.

" Prince Alfred had scarcely left when his
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales arrived,
attended by Mr. Gibbs. Mr. Ponteau acted as
cicerone to his Royal Highness, accompanied as
before by Superintendent Durkin and Inspector
Dodd. The Prince desired to be led to the spot
from whence her Majesty had viewed the interior
of the building on the previous day, a request
which was immediately complied with. His
Royal Highness expressed the deepest interest
in the scene here disclosed ; and, selecting a few
curious relics from the debris of molten glass and
other refrise lying around, asked permission to
retain them, which was immediately accorded by
Mr. Ponteau. The Prince viewed the building
from almost every point of view, and before
retiring expressed, in a very gracious manner, his
sense of the attention which had been shown him.

" The members of the nobility who continued
to arrive throughout the day — both ladies and
gentlemen — kept the oflicials constantly occupied,
the dangerous state of certain parts of the build-
ing rendering it necessary that no persons should
be allowed to approach the ruins unattended.
As the walls settle, the partially destroyed

216

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

principals and beams give way, and large quanti-
ties of bricks and rubbish were continually falling.
The Chief Commissioner of Police, Sir Richard
Mayne, has several times visited the ruins : and,
on Thursday, after consulting the surveyors ap-
pointed under the 18 and 19 Vic, cap. 122, it was
determined that all such portions of the outer
and inner walls as were in an unsafe state should
be at once pulled down. Accordingly, applica-
tion was made to the sitting magistrate at Bow
Street, and formal permission having been
granted, Messrs. Holland Brothers, of Duke
Street, the builders appointed by the Commis-
sioners of Police for shoring up and pulling down
ruinous buildings, under the above Act, were
directed to commence operations forthwith. On
Thursday night, last week, the lofty wall abutting
on Hart Street was partially shored up, pre-
paratory to being pulled down, the surveyors
having condemned this portion of the building
as unsafe. On Friday two hundred men were
laid on ; and on Saturday all access to the ruins
was stopped, as well for the safety of the public
as not to impede the operations of the workmen.
"The surveyors have condemned almost all
the walls, both on the outside and in the interior
of the building. They are to be pulled down at
first to a level which will render accident almost
impossible, and then the ruins will be handed
over to the representatives of the proprietors of
the theatre.

" The Lounger."

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THE ANNALS OF

CHAPTER XIX

1856-1870

We are not concerned here with the fortunes
of the company of artistes who were deprived of
their proper home by the destruction of Covent
Garden Theatre, and we must pass immediately
to the history of the great structure which took
its place. Thanks to the phenomenal energy and
talents of Frederick Gye, the third theatre which
arose, phoenix like, from the ashes of the second,
was in no wise inferior to its predecessor. On
the contrary, it surpassed that great edifice in
many points. The half-century which had elapsed
since the construction of the old theatre, stood
for much in the application of the practical arts
of building and decoration. Taste and money
were not lacking,^ and the enterprise and genius of
Gye allied to these, produced the grand theatre
which is still standing another half-century later,
a visible monument of the glories of its two
splendid ancestors.

Gloomy as were the doubts expressed for the
future of Covent Garden Theatre when it was

218

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

first burnt down in 1808, it yet survived to
witness many a stirring scene, and echo many a
score of glorious voices. When the second
crushing disaster overtook it, the croakers were
once more heard muttering their prophecies over
the ftiture of the famous site. Again, however,
were they destined to prove false prophets, for it
arose more stately than ever. Gye's opera house
is now half a century old, and in spite of the
rumours that are constantly spread abroad in the
press * that the end of Covent Garden Theatre
is imminent, that the Duke of Bedford wants the
site for other purposes, that the opera syndicate
are dissatisfied, and that the Lord Chamberlain
may advise the Crown to withdraw the patent,
yet we may take comfort in the thought that
threatened theatres, Uke men, may Uve long,
that even great ground-landlords are chary of
disturbing a historic site, that our Lord Cham-
berlam's officials are nothing if they are not
conservative, and that, lastly, there is still the
British pubUc to reckon with. Now the public
are sentimental, and might, if they were once
roused, raise a veritable hornet's nest of protest
about the vandals who would conspire to rob
them of the wonderful associations which cUng to
the site, in spite of the destruction, apparently so
radical, that overtook the bricks and mortar of

* See DaUy Mail, December 8^ 1904.

219

THE ANNALS OF

two theatres out of the three that have occupied it,
Happy in the present possession of our historic
opera house, therefore, we may with some confi-
dence look forward to many a delightful evening
spent in its classic precincts before it becomes the
prey of the house-breaker, and a place for
memory only to linger over.

During the year 1857,* although work was
proceeding busily on the construction of the new
theatre, so enormous was the task of the builders
that progress appeared to be slow, and 1858
found the place still a mere shell, with hardly a
suggestion of the finished and beautiful building
that was to be. Right up to the very moment
of opening did the apparent chaos continue.
But the architect, Mr. E. M. Barry, son of the
great genius to whom we owe the gracious and
beautiful Houses of Parliament, and Messrs.
Lucas Brothers, the contractors, spurred on by
the restless and dauntless spirit of the manager,
had made up their minds that the date announced.
May 15, was to see the performances duly recom-
mence. From a newspaper of that time the
following accoimt may be quoted, which gives us
a hint of the feverish energy with which these
gentlemen worked, and the enormous interest
taken in the work by the entire population of
London.

* The foundations were laid in October^ 1857.

220

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

The account of the opening night is again
quoted from the Illustrated London News : —

"The new Covent Garden Theatre did
actuaUy open last Saturday night, thereby setting
at rest the multitude of doubts, disputes, con-
jectures, and speculations afloat among all sorts
of people, almost down to the last moment. The
controversy assumed one form peculiarly English.
Numberless bets were taken, and it was cur-
rently said that the sums staked on the event
amounted altogether to more than £100,000.
Scepticism, indeed, was not unreasonable, for
though we read in our newspapers every morn-
ing that Covent Garden Theatre will open on
Saturday, May 15, yet the announcement
seemed to be visibly contradicted by the aspect
of the building. . . . Theatrical postponements
are common enough, and announcements, it is
surmised, are often made, only to be contra-
dicted, a device supposed to quicken public
ciuiosity and interest. People scrambling along
Bbw Street through heaps of rubbish and troops
of workmen, and lookuig at rough walls, im-
finished pillars, an uncovered roof, and unglazed
windows, could not but say, ^ If the outside is in
this state, what must the inside be ? ' . . . Even
on the morning of the opening day the confrision
seemed to be increasing instead of diminishing,
and persons, tempted by curiosity to visit the
scene of their expected evening's amusement,
were inclined to wonder how they could ever
get into the house. But when they returned

221

THE ANNALS OF

they found that all was changed. Every obstruc-
tion had been cleared away, and there was
nothing but regularity and order. Immense
crowds assembled, and rows of carriages ap*
proached fix)m every quarter, and yet such were
the arrangements that every one arrived at the
right door, and reached the proper seat without
the least difficulty. ..."

The new Opera House stood upon a portion
of the site of the old theatre and upon other
ground added thereto at the back. The re-
maining portion of the site was eventually
occupied by a gigantic conservatory, the Floral
Hall, afterwards used as a concert-room. The
new theatre was very different in appearance
from its predecessor, owing to its great height,
and also to the fact that the architect, Mr.
Edward M. Barry, had adopted the Italian in
lieu of the Grecian style of architecture. The
Bow Street front is of an imposing character,
and consists of a portico and two wings. The
lower portion of the portico is arranged as a
carriage-porch, and is completely sheltered, so
that opera-going visitors may enter any of the
five doors under the portico. The order of
architecture employed for the portico is the
Corinthian; and the columns, which are con-
structed of Portland stone, are three feet eight
inches in diameter, and thirty-six feet high, or

222

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

three feet higher than those forming the portico
of the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The
five arched windows under the portico light
the grand staircase and crush-room ; and the
sculptured firieze over these windows, and the
figures and carved panels at the sides of
the portico, are the works of Flaxman, which
so long adorned old Covent Garden Theatre,
and are now (by the liberality of the Duke of
Bedford) among the principal ornaments of its
successor. In the niches at the sides of the
portico are statues of Tragedy and Comedy, and
the sculptures in panels represent the modem
and ancient drama. The panel at the left of
the portico contains Hecate in her car, with
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The long panel
under the portico is filled with sculpture repre-
senting the modem and ancient drama, the
former being typified by Shakespear and
Milton, accompanied by some of the characters
in their principal works, such as Prospero,
Caliban, Samson Agonistes, and the personages
in Comus ; and the latter represented by Aris-
tophanes, Menander, and iEschylus, with the
Muses, Bacchus, Minerva, and other heathen
deities and personages. The panel next Hart
Street contains Pegasus attended by nymphs.
The whole of the above is in excellent preser-
vation, and was careftilly cleaned before its

228

THE ANNALS OF

reinstatement. The other sculpture of the new
theatre is highly suggestive of the purpose of
the building: the carving of the ends of the
portico between the capitals of the pilasters dis-
plays musical instruments. The keystones of
the windows are theatrical masks; and sunk
in circular panels between the windows are
busts of Shakespear, Milton, iEschylus, and
Aristophanes. It is worth remembering, to the
credit of the builders of fifty years ago, that
the immense portico, one of the largest in
London, was begun and completed within a
period of seven weeks, a feat that even modem
American '' hustling " methods can hardly hope
to surpass.

The prospectus had announced the engage-
ments of Grisi, Didiee, Mdlle. Parepa, Mdlle.
Victoire Balfe, Madam Bosio, Signore Mario,
Formes, Rossi, Tamberlik, and many others of
the old company, and these all duly appeared.
Costa again took his old place, and William
Beverley and Messrs. Grieve and Telbin had
painted new scenery. Flotow's new opera of
Martha was promised, as were many other
splendid operas, with such casts as seldom, if
ever, fall to the lot of managers of the present
day.

The first performance in the new building
was The HugueriotSy with Grisi, Mario, and the

224

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

rest in their accustomed parts. A certain
amount of delay occurred owing to the time
spent in shifting and setting the new scenes and
machinery. It was consequently past midnight
when the curtain fell at the end of the third
act, and as the opera was not concluded, the
opportimity was seized by the turbulent people
in the upper regions to create the familiar dis-
turbance. The singing of "God save the
Queen " was interrupted with calls for the
fourth act, mingled with yells and hisses. For-
tunately, her Majesty was not present; but
on Saturday, June 5, she paid her first visit
to the new opera house, by which time all was
working smoothly.

In December, 1858, Mr. Gye concluded an
arrangement with the highly successfiil company,
under the management of Miss Louisa Pyne and
Mr. W. Harrison, by which the theatre was let
for the winter season to them, after their Drury
Lane season had closed, for the performance of
English opera. Accordingly, on December 27,
the season began with the performance of Balfe's
new opera of SataneUa^ followed by the panto-
mime of Little Red Riding Hoody with the
following cast : —

Satanella. — Count Rupert, Mr. W. Harrison ;
Hortensius, Mr. George Honey; Karl, Mr. A.
St Albyn ; Braccacio, Mr. H. Corrie ; the
VOL. II, 225 Q

THE ANNALS OF

Vizier, Mr. W. H. Payne ; Pirate, Mr. Bartle-
man ; Nobles, Messrs. Terrott and Kirby ; Ari-
manes, Mr. Weiss ; Lelia, Miss Rebecca Isaacs ;
Stella, Miss Susan Pyne ; Bertha, Miss Mortimer ;
Lady, Mrs. Martin ; and Satanella, Miss Louisa
Pyne. Conductor, Mr. Alfred Mellon.

Little Red Riding Hood. — ^Music, Miss
Mortimer ; Italian opera, Miss Cecilia Ranoe ;
English opera, Miss Emily Bums ; Pantomime,
Miss Crankell. Characters in the story — ^The
Very Wicked Baron (afterwards Wolf), Mr.
W. H. Payne ; Roberto (his head man), Mr.
Frederick Payne; Conn (in love with Little
Red Riding Hood, afterwards Harlequin), Mr.
Henry Payne ; Little Red Riding Hood (after-
wards Columbine), Miss Clara Moyan; Old
Granny (afterwards Pantaloon), Mr. Barnes ;
the Wolf, by a Great Brute (afterwards Clown),
Mr. Flexmore ; Rustics, Guards, Footmen, etc.
etc. ; Queen Moss-Rose (Protectress of Little
Red Riding Hood), Miss Elsworthy; Fairy
Rosebud, Miss Francks ; Cupid, Miss Williams ;
Wealthiana (the Evil Genius aiding the Wicked
Baron), Miss Morrell; Fairies, Sylphides, etc.,
by the Ccrrps de Ballet; five Sprites by Mr.
Jameson and Sons.

It is hard to find fresh epithets for the
" great " seasons of Italian opera which followed
each other with imfailing regularity under the

226

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

"consulship" of Gye. 1859, as regards its
personnel J was no exception. The " old guard,"
many of them, still remained, and were strength-
ened by new blood whenever possible. Meyer-
beer's last new opera of Dinorah was performed
on July 26 in Italian, and later on in English.
This alone relieved the end of what would other-
wise have been a season somewhat lacking in
novelty. Immense expectations had been aroused,
and a brilliant success was scored. The whole
mise-en'Scenef greatly aided by Beverley's superb
scenery, was worthy of the renowned opera house
and the composer, and more than this need not
be said.

The season closed on August 6, somewhat
later than usual ; and during the autumn, Mr.
Harris, who had been so long stage-manager at
Covent Garden, took the Princess's Theatre
under his own direction. On Monday, October
8, the Pyne-Harrison season reopened Covent
Garden in its capacity of the Royal ElngUsh
Opera House, with an EngUsh version of
Dinorah. This was produced in a manner in
no way inferior to the previous production. The
English libretto was written by Mr. Chorley, and
the dialogue was spoken, without recitatives.
The critics were delighted with Miss Pyne's
assumption of the title-rdfe, which was declared
to be equal to that of the Italian opera artiste's in

227

THE ANNALS OF

every way. It is rendered memorable if only for
the fSact that Charles Santley made his operatic
dibut in the character of Hoel, nominally the
hero of the piece, although an extremely milov-
able person, and an ungrateful part for the actor.
The orchestra was again under Mellon's direction,
and the entire performance was a triumph for all
concerned. During the autunm the Floral Hall,
intended by Mr. Gye for concerts, was completed
and opened, the designs and construction of which
being doubtiess inspired by that of the Crystal
Palace. The architect was Mr. Edward M. Barry.
The next event of interest was the dihut of Miss
Parepa as Leonora in an Elnglish version of
TrovatorCy and Santiey again lent his powerful
aid to the piece as Count de Lana. It must be
remembered that Mr. Santiey had already a
double interest in the fortunes of the venerable
theatre, as he had lately married Miss Gertrude
Kemble, granddaughter of Charles, and niece of
Fanny and Adelaide Kemble.

During the first six weeks of the year 1860
some of the older favourites were revived, includ-
ing the Bose of CastiUe and Crown Diamonds.
After prolonged expectation and delay, Vincent
Wallace's new opera Lurline^ on a libretto deal-
ing with the story of the Loreley, was produced
on February 28 with complete success. The
adapter of the terrible old German legend did

228

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

not dare to end the story with a general drowning
of his dramatis persoruje^ and so the grimness of
the plot was mitigated, somewhat to its detri-
ment, be it said. The success of the opera was,
however, so great that it ran to the end of the
season, greatly to the profit and satisfaction of
the management.

Before the Italian opera season of 1860 began,
a notable performance was given on Thursday,
March 29, at Covent Garden, ^^ in aid of the funds
of the Dramatic College," an institution the sub-
sequent history of which it would be interesting
to trace. It was established in 1858, and it was
already, at the tune of the benefit, affording
support to six or seven superannuated actors and
actresses. A more remarkable concourse of great
artists had certainly never been seen either at
Covent Garden or any other English playhouse,
as the following extracts from the play-bill
show : —

" Money. — Sir John Vesey, Mr. F. Matthews ;
Sir F. Blount, Mr. Belford; Evelyn, Mr.
Creswick; Graves (his original character), Mr.
B. Webster ; Benjamin Stout, M.P., Mr. Keeley ;
Lord Glossmore, Mr Harcourt Bland; Sharp,
Mr. H. Mellon; Page, Miss Stoker; Clara
Douglas, Mrs. Charles Young ; Georgina Vesey,
Miss Bufton ; Lady Franklin, Mrs. H. Marston.

" Merdiaiit of Venice. — Duke of Venice, Mr.

229

THE ANNALS OF

H. Mellon ; Gratiano, Mr. David Fisher ; Shylock,
Mr. Phelps ; Antonio, Mr. Ryder ; Bassanio, Mr.
H. Marston ; Salarino, Mr. H. Farrell ; Salanio,
Mr. F. Charles; Portia, Miss Amy Sedgwick;
Nerissa, Miss Buhner.

" Black-eyed Stisan. — Doggrass, Mr. G. Peel ;
Lieutenant Pike, Mr. T. J. Anderson; Eaker,
Mr. H. Reeves ; WiUiam, Mr. T. P. Cooke ; *
Gnatbrain, Mr. J. L. Toole; Jacob Twig, Mr.
Cockrill; Hatchett, Mr. C. J. Smith; Plough-
share, Mr. Friend ; Susan, Miss Woolgar (Mrs, A.
Mellon) ; Dolly Mayflower, Miss Louise Keeley.

** Macbeth. — Lady Macbeth, Miss Glyn;
Physician, Mr. G. Peel ; Gentlewoman, Madame
Simon.

" * God Save the Queen.' — Principal vocalists :
Miss L. Pyne, Mr. W. Harrison, Mr. Paul
Bedford, and Mr. E. Murray.

" The School for Scandal. — Sir Peter Teazle,
Mr. Chippendale; Joseph Surface, Mr. Howe;
Charles Surface, Mr. Charles Mathews; Lady
Teazle, Mrs. Charles Mathews.

" Vocal Music. — Miss Louisa Pyne, Madame
Catharine Hayes, Mr. W. Harrison.

" Box and Cox. — Box, Mr. J. B. Buckstone ;
Cox, Mr. Compton ; Mrs. Bouncer, Mrs. Griffiths.

" Christy's Minstrels, B. B. — Mr. Benjamin
Bobbin, Mr. F. Robson; Squire Greenfield,
Mr. C. Cooke ; Bob Rattles, Mr. Horace Wigan ;
Joe, Mr. H. Cooper; Mrs. Puncheon, Mrs.
Stephens ; Dorothy, Mrs. W. S. Emden.

* This was his last appearance as an actor^ at seventy-four years
of age.

280

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

"Mr. E. Stirling and Mr. E. Murray, stage
and acting managers ; Mr. A. Mellon, conductor
of the music."

It is hardly surprising to read that the appear-
ance of each great "star" was "greeted with
vociferous acclamation."

The opening of the Italian opera season of
1860 was heralded by the seventh performance
of Dinorah; the title-rdfe taken by Madam
Miolan Carvalho, Corentino by Gardoni, and
Hoel by Faure, whose first appearance in
England was thus made in the part originally
written for him by Meyerbeer himself.

Another interesting dibut was that of Made-
moiselle Rosa Csillag, of Vienna, in FideliOf while
Flotow's new opera of StradeUa^ and a revival of
Le PropfietCf were among the allurements held
forth to the subscribers in the prospectus. Under
the heading of " concerts," a production, for the
jBrst time in England, of Gluck's Orpheus and
EurydicCi illustrated with costume, scenery, and
decoration, was also added, as a sort of bonus or
bonne bouclie to all the opera subscribers.

On December 20, 1860, died Alfred Bunn,
aged sixty-two years. Planch^ says of him —

" He was a strange compound ; by no means
bad-hearted, wonderfully good-tempered in diffi-
culties and disasters, and endured with the
greatest fortitude the most violent attacks of a

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THE ANNALS OF

cruel complaint to which he was subject. . . .
His management [of Covent Garden] was sheer
gambling of the most reckless description, in no
one instance that I ;can remember terminating
prosperously, whatever might have been the
success of certain productions in the course of it."

A few words may be devoted to recording
the fact that the principal attraction of the
season, beyond all else, had been the continuous
series of triumphs scored by Grisi and Mario
whenever they appeared.

On December 6, during the Pjme-Harrison
season, Balfe's opera Biafica; or, the Bravo's
Bride, with a libretto by Palgrave Simpson,
founded upon a forgotten melodrama by *' Monk
Lewis," called RugaiUino; or, the Bravo of Venice,
was produced with considerable success. It
shared the honours of the season as usual with
the annual pantomime, Bluebeard, in which W.
H. Payne, a famous clown and father of the
Harry Payne of later years, Harry Boleno, and
others appeared.

Another novelty consisted of a musical
setting of Longfellow's " Song of Hiawatha," by
an American composer named Stoepel. It was
arranged as a recitation interspersed with songs
and choruses ; but, in spite of some merits, does
not appear to have proved a great draw. On
February 20, 1861, a clever adaptation of Auber's

282

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Domino Noir^ by Chorley, appeared with great
success. Miss Pjme scored heavily as the heroine,
and the other members of the cast did ample
justice to the delightful opera.

The season ended in March with the Domino
Noir and Mendelssohn's Son aiid Stranger. The
latter is a musical trifle, never intended for per-
formance in a great opera house, and it is hardly
surprising to hear that it did not succeed.

At the end of the year 1860 Mr. Gye's extra-
ordinary acuteness in scenting out great artists
once again stood him in good stead, and many
and various have been the stories of the competi-
tion between Mr. Gye on the one hand and Mr.
J. H. Mapleson, then manager of the Lyceum
Theatre, on the other, to secure the right to the
services of Adelina Patti. Mr. Mapleson, as
usual, makes une bonne histoire of the transaction
in his ''Memoirs." He tells us that he had
actually, in the autumn of 1860, entered into a
contract with Mademoiselle Patti, as she then
was, on behalf of Mr. E. T. Smith, who was then
lessee and manager of Her Majesty's, to sing
there in the forthcoming season at a salary of
£40 a week At the same time he engaged
Mario, whose term had expired at Covent Garden,
while Costa also undertook to join the following
year on the expiration of his contract with Mr.
Gye.

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During April, 1861, the singer arrived from
America, and, finding that her engagement with
Mr. E. T. Smith was likely to prove void and of
no eflfect, she very properly set about finding a
manager whose undertakings would be duly
carried out. She came into contact with Mr.
Gye, who recognized at once the prize that had
fallen into his hand, and wisely clinched the
bargain he had entered into with her by a pay-
ment in hard cash in advance. He had further
stifled any further chance of possible competition
from Smith by a payment to him of £4000, on
condition of his refraining from opening the
theatre.

Mr. Gye's prospectus, however, which an-
nounces the commencement of the season for
April 2, 1861, makes no mention of Adelina
Patti's name, nor, indeed, are any of the artistes
engaged remembered to-day by the " man in the
street," with the exception of Tamberlik, Madame
Rudersdorff, and Herr Formes, although it only
states that "an engagement had been offered"
to the great basso.

It is evident, therefore, that either Patti's en-
gagement was not secure when the prospectus
appeared, or that Gye did not think the name
sufficiently well known to print. But the story
of Adelina Patti's dibut so overshadows all other
events of the 1861 season, that we must give it

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COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

its due prominence, and treat of it before other
matters can be dealt with. She chose for her
first appearance the part of Amina, in La
Sonnambula^ on Tuesday, May 14, 1861.

At this time Adelina Fatti was nineteen years
of age, although, by all accoimts, she looked
much younger. Mr. Kuhe, in his " Recollections,'*
says she appeared to be about fourteen. Upon
making her entry she had no reception, for the
audience were so amazed at her youth that they
forgot to applaud. But her singing soon dis-
pelled all doubts, and, to quote Mr. Kuhe again —

" it was manifest that here was no case of merely
exceptional talent: we were face to face with
phenomenal genius. The next day's papers . . .
voiced but one opinion. For the second perfor-
mance tickets were sold at a premium, and on
all hands Mr. Gye received felicitations on his
lucky find."

Patti repeated the part eight times, and added
to her repertoire the rSles of Lucia, Violetta,
Zerlina (in Don Giovanni)^ Martha, and Rosina,
and in an incredibly short space of time took an
almost undisputed place as the most popular
prima donna of her day. During her second
season the only great artist who could at all be
said to seriously menace her position was Madame

Th^r^se Titiens, whom Mr. Mapleson (by this

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time migrated to Her Majesty's) had engaged
as his prima dwina. This lady had (according to
Mapleson) received most tempting oflfers from
Mr. Gye to join the Covent Garden company.
These were conveyed to her by Mr. Gye's
envoy and stage-manager, Mr. Harris, the fJEtther
of a yomig man whose name was to loom large
nearly a generation later in the annals of Covent
Garden. He produced a contract, signed by
Mr. Gye, with the amount she was to receive in
blank, leaving her to fill in anything she chose.
The lady, however, rightly considering her word
to be as good as her bond, replied simply that
she had given her promise to Mr. Mapleson, and
would not break it.

To return to the 1861 season, however, the
production of Mozart's Don Criovannij on Mon-
day, May 18, 1861, also demands notice. The
critics of the day gratefully acknowledged the
artistic completeness of the performance.

" We had Mozart's music, all Mozart's music,
and nothing but Mozart's music. The utmost
respect was paid to the text, there were no omis-
sions, no interpolations, no alterations in order
to enable a favourite performer to sing music
suitable to his voice. . . . We had Faure as the
briUiant Ubertine, the only person since Tamburini
who can both act the part and sing the music,
Csillag as Elvira, Penco as Donna Anna,

286

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Tamberlik as Ottavio, Formes as Leporello, Ron-
coni as Masetto, this great actor, for the love of
art, having accepted a small part which he made
a great one, and Miolan-Carvalho, as captivating
a Zerlina as could be desired."

The rise of the new "star" coincided with
the setting of the old, for during May Grisi
began a series of eight farewell performances at
Covent Garden, which may be said to have
created scenes as remarkable for their enthusiasm
as the successive triumphant appearances in new
rtles of Adelina Patti. During this autumn two
famous actors (whose London dihuts had occurred
at Covent Garden) died at a good old age. These
were William Farren and John Vandenhoff.

On October 21, the Pyne and Harrison season
began with Glover's new opera, founded on
Victor Hugo's story of Ruy Bias. Santley, who
had temporarily deserted the Covent Garden
management, returned this season to the scene
of his operatic dibut. Mac&rren's Robin Hood,
which had appeared at Her Majesty's the preced-
ing season, was produced on Friday, November 8,
with great success. Later, on November 80,
Balfe's opera, 7%^ Puritan's Daughter, was
brought out amid great enthusiasm, Louisa Pyne,
Harrison, Santley, and the rest, winning unstinted
praise from critics and public.

At Christmas the management presented the

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famous old English story of " Gulliver s Travels "
as a pantomime, by the celebrated Maddison
Morton, author of Box and Cooo. The cUm of
the season was, of course, the production, on
February 8, 1862, of Benedict's Lily of KiUamey,
or, as it was at first announced, Bose of KiUamey.
The plot was that of the Colleen Bawn^ which
had just had a succes fou at the Adelphi. John
Oxenford was responsible for the libretto, and
the principal characters were as follows: Eily
O'Connor, Miss Louisa Pyne ; Myles na Coppa-
leen, Mr. Harrison; and Danny Mann, Mr.
Santley. The acting and mounting of the piece
were alike perfect, and the foundations of a solid
and lasting popularity were laid. The enterpris-
ing management fiirther had the satis£a,ction of
seeing their ablest recruit, Mr. Santley, engaged
by Mr. Gye for the Italian opera season of the
year 1862.

Mr. Gye, in his annual prospectus for the
season, refers to the Great International Exhibi-
tion of 1862 as being likely to attract visitors to
London, and congratulates his subscribers, and,
incidentally, himself, on having a brilliant list of
artists and operatic fare to set before his foreign
patrons.

Headed by the new prima donna^ Adelina
Patti, they included Signor Tamberlik, Mario,
Faure, Formes, and Gardoni, while Mr. Costa

288

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

in spite of temptations to join M apleson at the
Lane, remained faithful to Gye.

The season, while quite up to the mark in
perswineU was not distinguished, however, by
any startling novelty, and we pass at once to the
continuation of the interesting enterprise of the
Pyne and Harrison management, which opened
on August 25 with the Lily of KiUarney.

On November 16 this year Planch^ and
Vincent Wallace's opera of Lovers Triuinph was
produced, and the former enters a spirited protest
against —

'' the barbarous treatment to which it was sub-
jected. . . . Being produced before Christmas,
as soon as the holidays arrived it was sacrificed,
as too many have been before it, to the panto-
mime. The length of the dull, monstrous, hybrid
spectacle, which has superseded the bright, lively
harlequinade of earlier days, precluding the pos-
sibility of giving the opera in its integrity, airs,
duets, and concerted pieces were cruelly hacked
and mutilated, without reference to the author or
composer, . . . and this, remember, by a man-
agement which solicited the support of the public

for a national opera. ... In France the author
and composer would have their remedy at law
against any manager guilty of such injustice ! "

The pantomime which provoked Planch^'s
wrath was Harlequin Beauty and the Beast. It
is obvious that the management are seldom, if

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ever, to blame for following the public taste in
such a matter. Planch^ had no real ground for
complaint He had no doubt been liberally paid
for his share of the opera, and the two entrepre-
neurs were simply following a well-established
custom in compressing his work for the purpose
of the Christmas production.

About the beginning of the year 1868 a great
opportunity presented itself to the lessee and
impresario of Covent Garden. A new opera was
being performed at the Theatre Lyrique in Paris,
by Gounod. The English rights in the music
had been secured, it is said, for 1000 francs, by
Thomas Chappell, the publisher, who immedi-
ately opened negotiations with Mr. Gye for its
production at Covent Garden. The work, how-
ever, had not apparently made much impression
on Mr. Gye, who had been specially to Paris to
hear it, and he assured Mr. Augustus Harris,
who, Mapleson tells us, had formed a better
opinion of the music than his chief, that there
was nothing in it but one fine chorus.

Consequently, after due consideration, Mr.
Gye reftised to have anything to do with it, and
Mapleson had the happiness of securing it. The
chorus mentioned by Gye as the only one worth
anything was " The Soldier's Chorus," and the
opera was Faust 1 1

Mr. Gye soon saw that he had made an

240

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

enormous mistake, and, like a wise man, came to
terms with the enemy, and produced his own
version of the opera at Covent Garden on July 2,
with the following cast: Margherita, Miolan-
Carvalho, the creator of the part at the The^ltre
I^yrique ; Siebel, Nantier Didier ; Mephisto-
pheles, Faure ; Valentine, Graziani ; and Faust,
Tamberlik.

The fact of his being able to do this is so
unusual that the account Mr. Mapleson gives of
the matter is worth quoting.

It appears that on realizing the likelihood of
the new opera proving a veritable gold-mine to
its possessor, he arranged with M. Gounod to
purchase the " exclusive rights " over the work,
which the composer — oblivious of the fact that
he had already sold the English rights (but not
exclusive rights) to the Paris publishers, from
whom Mr. Mapleson bought them — duly made
over to him.

Mr. Gye thereupon, in perfect good faith,
proceeded to inform Mr. Mapleson that while he
did not wish to interfere with arrangements
already concluded, he should expect a royalty for
the future upon every performance of the opera
at Her Majesty's. This claim Mr. Mapleson
resisted, and an action at law resulted, which
established the fact, painful enough, as Mapleson
says, for M. Goimod, that, owing to some defect

VOL. II. 241 R

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in registration, no exclusive rights of performance
could be secured for Fatist in England by
any one.

Among the great events of the opera season
of 1868 was the dibutt on July 18, of Made-
moiselle Pauline Lucca, a yoimg singer who had
begun her career in the chorus of the opera at
Vienna. Later on she appeared at various
Continental capitals with ever-increasing success
and fame, until, in July, 1868, she appeared at
Covent Garden in the imusually trying rdle —
for a dibutante — of Valentina in The IIt£gue7iots,
creating an extraordinary impression, although
she only appeared for three performances during
her visit.

The critics immediately recognized that in
Mademoiselle Lucca a star of the first magnitude
had made its appearance, the only cause for
regret, being that coming as she did at the very
close of the season, it was impossible for her to
satisfy the furore her singing immediately
created. Although, like Adelina Patti, she was
petite in stature, her voice, a pure soprano, had
great power and compass, while her rare beauty,
dignity, and grace, combined with her talent,
ensured her a place at the top of the ladder of
fame that is often so painfully climbed by less
gifted aspirants.

The season ended on August 1 in a perfect

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COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

blaze of triumph for Gye and the great artists
whom his never-failing energy, liberality, and
perspicacity had attracted to his banner.

During the summer Mr. Alfred Mellon ran a
series of Promenade Concerts with considerable
success; and on Monday, October 12, Miss Louisa
Pyne and Mr. W. Harrison opened what they
announced as their eighth and last season of
management at Covent Garden Theatre with
Vincent Wallace's new opera, The Desert Flower.
The production did not meet with an especially
warm reception from the critics and the public,
in spite of the brilliancy and versatility of Miss
Pyne's assumption of the impossible character of
the rather truculent heroine with the pretty name.
Naturally enough the first performances were
welcomed by crowded audiences, and the really
charming music found innumerable admirers.

Another novelty presented by the enterprising
management was a new opera by Balfe, Blanche
de NeverSi which appeared on November 21,
Again, however, it was demonstrated that good
music, by a popular musician, though sung by
gifted artists and mounted with taste and
liberality, are not sufficient to ensure lasting
success unless to these are added a strikingly
dramatic story simply and effectively told. Balfe
also committed the error of forsaking his earlier,
lighter style of composition for a grandiose

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attempt at serious opera, which did not become
him. The Christmas pantomime was adapted by
Bjrron upon the well-worn theme of St. George
and the Dragon. Later on Levey's Faitchette
attracted a fair measure of public support ; while
on Thursday, February 11, 1864, Macfarren's
opera on Fitzball's libretto fipom She Stoops to
Conquer was produced, and proved attractive
enough to enable the Pyne-Harrison manage-
ment to conclude their eighth and last season
without loss.

The " Royal English Opera," as they called
their enterprise, had certainly earned the grati-
tude of the music lovers of London. In the
printed farewell address issued by the lessees to
their last audience, a brief statement of their
record showed that in their eight seasons, fifteen
new operas and five operettas, together with
eleven revivals, had been presented. They had,
in &ct, removed the standing reproach under
which England laboured, of having no home for
English opera, no theatre in which native com-
posers could secure a hearing for works which
demanded a large and well-trained body of artists
to interpret them. A significant note is struck
by the reference in their address to the fact that
in their eight seasons they had expended in
artists' salaries, authors, and musical copyrights,
upwards of £200,000.

244

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

From the ashes of their company there arose
in the same year (1864) the joint-stock enterprise
known as the English Opera Company, Limited,
which announced their intention of starting
operations in October. This speculation, how-
ever, proved anything but a success, and the
only novelty produced by them was Mac£Girren's
Helvellyn, itself long since forgotten.

In 1864f Patti returned, fv31 of Continental
triumphs, to Covent Garden and her English
friends, while Pauline Lucca also secured special
permission from the Berlin authorities to spend
almost the entire season in London, under Mr.
Gye's management. During the season this
gifted artist was announced to take the parts of
Margherita in Faust, Cherubino in Nozze di
Figaro, Mrs. Ford in Nicolay's Merry Wives of
Windsor, and Catarina in L'Etoile du Nord, but
an unfortunate illness prevented her from carry-
ing out her intentions, and after only four per-
formances she was obliged to return to Germany
for a rest and change of air. The principal
male singers were Tamberlik, who played Otello,
and Faure in his great rdle of Peter the Great in
UEtoile du Nord. Signor Graziano and Signor
Mario also appeared in many favourite operas,
the latter for the first time assuming the r6le of
Faust.

During the spring the furore created by

245

THE ANNALS OF

Garibaldi's visit was at its height, and the famous
general was honoured by a gala performance at
Covent Garden, at which the cream of Gye's
company assisted, and which realized £1141.*

The great success of the season was Patti's
assumption of the rdle of Margarita, which recalled
the great Jenny Lind's nights at Her Majesty's
years before. The only failure of the season was
the revival of Flotow's Stradellaj which had been
promised the year before and not performed.

During the 1864 season a young English
musician, who was beginning to make a great
name by his personal charm and extraordinary
talents, applied for and was granted the post of
organist at Covent Garden, under the friendly
wing of the redoubtable Michael Costa. This
was Arthur Sullivan, then only twenty-two
years of age, but already known to musicians
and the public as the composer of the famous
music to Shakespear's Tempest^ produced by
Manns at the Crystal Palace in 1862.

Costa was greatly impressed with the ability
of his young recruit, and commissioned him to
write a ballet, which was produced May 14,
1864, under the title of L'lle Eiichantee.

There can be no doubt that to this early
association with the theatre we owe that bent of

* The performance consisted of Norma, and the 2nd and Srd
Acts of Miuaniello.

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COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Sullivan's genius which afterwards prompted him
to write the wonderftd series of comic operas by
which his fame among English-speaking people
was so firmly established. Mr. Findon, in his
charming but disappointingly brief "Life of
Sullivan," tells an anecdote of his connection
with the theatre that is worth repetition.

•

" In the midst of the church scene in Faust^
the wire connecting the pedal under Costa's foot
with the metronome stick at the organ broke.
In the concerted music this meant disaster, as
the organist could hear nothing but his own
instrument. Quick as thought, while he was
playing the introductory solo, Sullivan called a
stage hand. *6o and tell Mr. Costa that the
wire is broken, and that he has to keep his ears
open and follow me,' he said. No sooner had
the man gone to deliver his message than the
full meaning of the words dawned upon Sullivan.
What would the autocratic Costa say to such a
message, delivered in such a manner ? When
the scene ended, Sullivan went to tender his
apologies ; but the maestro was too much alive
to the importance of the message to take offence,
and was thankful enough that his young assistant
was ready-witted enough to avoid the otherwise
inevitable fiasco."

In 1864 E. L. Blanchard produced a panto-
mime, for the first time apparently, on the popular
story of " Cinderella," and set a fashion which

247

THE ANNALS OF

is likely to go on as long as pantomime are
produced at all

Among the few successes of the Royal
English Opera (Limited) was the production on
March 4, 1865, of Gounod's Mock Doctor {Le
M^decin Malgr^ Lui)^ adapted by Charles
Kenney.

During the Italian opera season of 1865,
Patti was announced to take up four new rdles^
viz. Linda di Chamounix, Susanna in Nozze di
FigarOf Elvira in Bellini's JPuritamt and Famina
in // Flauto Magico. Pauline Lucca, who had,
by reason of her unlucky illness, been prevented
from fulfilling her engagements, was announced
for several new characters, the principal one —
that of Selika in UAfricaiTie — having been
designated for her by the great composer himself,
whose death, occurring in May, 1864, had caused
an irreparable loss to the music of the world.
If, indeed, the statement made in the opera
prospectus was not an exaggeration, Meyerbeer
had been waiting fourteen years for suitable
interpreters of the r6hs^ for the reason that, in
his opinion, the Academic in Paris did not at
any one time possess the artistes necessary for its
execution.

Faure had been chosen by Meyerbeer ex-
pressly for the part of Nelusco in the Paris
production of L'Africaine^ and this caused his

248

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

absence from the English opera of 1865. Among
other artistes engaged were Madame Miolan-Car-
valho, Signor Mario, Signor Wachtel, Signor
Graziani, Herr Schmid, and Signor Ronconi.
Among the operas promised were UEtoile du
Nordf Linda di Chamounix^ Norma^ Les Hugue-
iiotSy Gtiillaume Tell, Fra Diavolo, II Flauto
MagicOf Faustj Nozze di Figaro, Lticrezia
Borgia, Le Prophete, and The Ballo in Maschero,
besides L'Africaine, as already mentioned, in
which Pauline Lucca " creating " the part of
Selika, made an impression which, according to
the writer in " Grove's Dictionary,'* " will not
soon be forgotten by those who had the good
fortune to see it." This was in July, 1865.

During the same month a bombshell was
exploded among the opera habitues of London
by the announcement of Mr. Gye, that he had
transferred the proprietorship of Covent Garden
to a public company. Not a word of this is
hinted at in the prospectus published in the
previous March, in which the announcements of
the forthcoming season are set out in the cus-
tomary detail. Nor is it clear now whether the
" public company " referred to was the same
which, in 1868, made another abortive attempt to
float itself and enter upon opera management.

The history of this transaction is sufficiently
curious to be related in detail, but those more

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particularly interested are referred to Mr. Maple-
son's account of it. Briefly, it may be said that,
although it appeared likely enough that the idea
would be carried into effect, for various reasons
it never was, and at the beginning of the 1866
season Mr. 6ye announced that he remained the
proprietor of the opera house as before. He
took occasion, however, to remind the public
that it was now just twenty years since the old
theatre had been partially rebuilt and rearranged
to render it suitable for the establishment of a
great Italian opera house, for until that time, he
points out, no attempt had ever been made to
place permanently before them any other than
operas of the old Italian repe7^toiref in which
none but the most meagre employment of
scenery, costume, and orchestral and choral
power had been thought necessary.

In the early part of 1866 the Royal English
Opera Company were playing the Domino Noir^
with Louisa Pyne as Angela ; but in the middle
of February the performances suddenly ceased,
owing, it was said, to the funds having been
exhausted.

Probably the most distinguished d^butaivte of
the year 1866 was Carlotta, sister of Adelina
Patti, who had for some time enjoyed a great
reputation as a concert singer, and now made her
first appearance on the stage in England.

250

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

The company still included her more cele-
brated sister and Pauline Lucca, while Mario,
Faure, Naudin, Graziano, Ronconi, and Nicolini
all contributed their brilliant talents to the suc-
cesses of the season.

Another dSvt as far as opera was concerned
was that of Madame Lemmens-Sherrington, then
known as the principal £nglish soprano of her
day.*

Among other subsequently famous names
must be remembered that of Emile Sauret, who
made his ddmt then as a boy at a concert on
August 27, 1866. In December, 1866, Gustave
Garcia, son of the famous old singing-master,
appeared at Covent Garden with his wife in an
operetta entitled TeiTtble Hymen.

1867 was a year in which the French held a
grand exhibition in Paris, and this caused special
arrangements to be made by the great ttitre-
preneur of Covent Garden to attract visitors to
the opera.

The greatest event of the season was, of
course, the production on July 11 of Gounod's
new opera of Romeo and Juliet , in which Adelina
Patti was announced to create the female title
rdhj while that of Romeo was created by Signor
Mario.

* Grove says Madame Lemmens-Sherrington debuted in opera
during 1867.

251

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Three distinguished persons, all of whom, in
their different eapaeities, had been intimately
associated with Covent Garden a generation
before, expired this year, in the persons of
Maria, Comitess of Harrington (the beauti&l
Miss Foote) ; Sir George Smart, the friend and
host of Weber; and Clarkson Stanfield, the
artist.

The Christmas pantomime for the year was
The Babes in the Wood, by G. A. k Beckett, a
writer who for many years was the chief pur-
veyor of libretti for this form of entertainment to
Londoners.

In December, 1867, Her Majesty's Theatre
had, for the second time, met the fate which
overhangs all theatrical enterprises, viz. destruc-
tion by fire, and for ten years Mr. Gye was once
more " monarch of all he surveyed " in musical
London. It was not until 1877 that it once
more became an opera house.

In March, 1868, Mr. Gye issued his usual
prospectus for the forthcoming season, in which
he alluded to certain rumours that had recently
been circulated in the press concerning the pur-
chase of the opera from the director, and its
conversion into a company with limited liability,
in conjunction with Mr. Mapleson's interests in
Her Majesty's. Matters had actually progressed
to a point at which Mr. Gye considered it settled,

252

COVEN T GARDEN THEATRE

and began to make plans as to how and where
he was to spend his leisure time when he was no
longer manager of an enormous theatre.

The contracts were all concluded and signed,
accountants spent many days at Covent Garden
examining books and vouchers for ten years past,
when suddenly, and for no ostensible reason, the
whole scheme collapsed, and poor Mr. Gye had
to leave off thinking about Scottish moors and
country houses, and set to work to regain lost
time and reorganize his company once more.
Fortunately he was a man of courage and infinite
resource, and the crisis was safely tided over.

We must here again revert to the Mapleson
" Memoirs," and to the account therein given by
their author of the first proposals — which ema-
nated from Mr. Gye — for the amalgamation of
the two undertakings of the Royal Italian Opera,
Covent Garden, and the company from Her
Majesty's Theatre. On June 19, 1868, Mr.
Frederick Gye wrote a letter to Mr. Mapleson
suggesting a meeting, which duly took place, and
which resulted in articles of partnership being
drawn up binding the parties to remain together
for three years on the basis of half-profits, the
agreement to be kept secret for six months.

On the conclusion of this agreement, Mr.
Mapleson rented Covent Garden for the autumn
season of 1868 from Mr. Gye, for, he says, a

258

THE ANNALS OF

double reason : first, Her Majesty's was in ashes,
and he had no place to give his autumn per*
formances ; second, his being there would enable
him to see Mr. Gye personally without causing
surprise, in order to discuss forthcoming arrange-
ments. During this autumn Mr» Mapleson
informs us he discovered Mademoiselle Scalchi,
the contralto, ** then singing at a building which
had been a circus."* He engaged her for five
years. About this time he also brought out
Miss Minnie Hauk, a young singer about
eighteen years of age. She made her d^mt with
success at Covent Garden as Amina in La
S(mnandmla on November 5, 1868, her next
part being that of Cherubino in Nozze di Figaro.

After due discussion with Mr. Gye, it was
decided that the joint enterprise should be carried
on at Covent Garden, pending the rebuilding of
Her Majesty's.

Following a suggestion of Gye's, the two
managers resolved on effecting a notable altera-
tion in the internal economy of the vast establish-
ment. This was nothing less than the removal
from his autocratic position, of Costa, the con-
ductor. This gentleman, doubtless well aware
of the value of his own services, had been in the

* It is possible Mr. Mapleson is here referring to the Agricul-
tural Hall, at which Mademoiselle Scalchi sang for the first time iu
England, September 16, 1868.

254

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

habit of making his own engagements of the
orchestra, of course, leaving the management of
the theatre to pay the salaries he had fixed. He
himself was invariably present on pay-day, and
would remorselessly dock the salary of any
musician who had been absent or late from any
cause whatsoever. Did the unfortunate man
venture to resist his tyranny, for tyranny it was,
it meant not only the loss of his engagement at
the opera, but at the various provincial festivals
and the Sacred Harmonic Society, at which
Costa's will was paramount. It is not surprising
that the joint managers of Covent Garden, them-
selves men of considerable force of character, did
not contemplate running the gi'eat theatre with
a subordinate vested with such extraordinary
powers and methods of using them. Neither
was it to be wondered at that the autocrat, whose
will had so long been supreme, would tolerate for
a single night the assumption by the managers of
rights he had enjoyed for over twenty years. Mr.
Mapleson tells us that when he heard that they
actually proposed to make the engagements with
the orchestral players themselves, he immediately
resigned, as much to Mr. Gye's satisfaction as it
doubtless was to that of his co-manager.

They engaged two new conductors to fill his
place, Signors Arditi and Vianesi, the former of
whom was already the possessor of extensive

255

THE ANNALS OF

experience on the Continent and in America, and
is now principally remembered as composer of the
famous vocal waltz ** II Bacio."

The opening of the new season (1869) was
most auspicious, £12,000 was received in private
subscriptions, £29,000 from the booksellers and
libraries, and another £29,000 from the box-office
sales during the season. From other sources,
the Floral Hall concerts, etc., came a sum of
£10,000, raising the total, according to Mapleson,
to £80,000, against which they paid away in
artists' salaries £22,000; working expenses, in-
cluding chorus, £18,000; and orchestra and
sundries £9,500 ; leaving them with a clear profit
of nearly £86,000, by no means a bad result of
the season's doings. Mr. Mapleson had to pay
as his contribution towards the use of the theatre,
insurance and poor rates amounting to £8,000.
A quaint paragraph in the Mapleson ** Memoirs "
makes mention of the fetct that, by the articles
of association, Mr. Gye had stipulated that he
should take no part in the management of the
theatre, unless he wished to do so, a wish ** that
came upon him after about a fortnight."

Among the new works or revivals promised
during the 1869 season were Fidelio, The Magic
Flute, Robert le Diable, Cherubini's Medea,
Hamlet, by Ambrose Thomas (for the first time
in England, and with Nilsson as Ophelia), and

256

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Don Btccefalo. Don Giovanni was played with
the truly wonderful combination of Titiens as
Donna Anna, Nilsson as Donna Elvira, and Patti
as Zerlina, Don Ottavio being taken by Mario,
and Don Juan himself by Faure.

Space forbids more than a brief mention of
the astounding constellation of celebrated singers
whose services were now rendered available at
Covent Garden under the joint management.
Besides those mentioned there were also Mesde-
moiselles Pauline Lucca, lima di Murska, Sinico,
Scalchi, and Bauermeister among the lady artistes,
while to Faure and Mario (whose names, though
recorded by Mr. Mapleson as performers, are not
mentioned in the prospectus) must be added
those of Signor Tamberlik, the first time for four
years, Signor Foli, and Mr. Santley. The
principal danseiLses were Mademoiselle Dor and
Mademoiselle Bos^, the latter for the first time
in England.

Among other famous names the staff of the
theatre included Signor Bevignani at the piano-
forte, Mr. J. T. Carrodus as leader of the band,
and as suggeritori or prompters Signors Rialp
and Lago, who afterwards became himself
manager for a season or two.

The prospectus is significantly silent concern-
ing the all-important change in the conductor's
seat, nor is there any mention of the twenty-one
VOL. II. 257 s

THE ANNALS OF

years of service of the redoubtable Michael
Costa.

The only advance in subscription prices
appears from the prospectus to have been in the
second row of amphitheatre stalls, raised from
twelve guineas to eighteen guineas for the
season of forty nights.

Mr. Mapleson next deals with certain nego-
tiations which were now entered into between
himself, Gye, and a Mr. George Wood, of the
famous firm of Cramer and Co., who had, in
company with a Mr. Jarrett, one of the staff
of the theatre and a former member of the
orchestra, taken Drury Lane Theatre with a
view of setting up a rival opera. This, for some
reason undivulged to Mapleson and Gye, they
did not do, and Mr. Wood proposed instead
to become a third member of the firm, and
thus still &rther ensure the operatic monopoly
at Covent Garden Theatre.

Wood thought he held a very strong trump-
card in the fact that, by some oversight on the
part of Messrs. Gye and Mapleson, several of
their best artists had been allowed to sign
contracts with him. They included Christine
Nilsson, Mongini, De Murska, Trebelli, Faure,
Santley, and others, whose defection would un-
doubtedly have proved a very serious blow to
the company.

258

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

How simple and beautiful, therefore, was the
arrangement by which he proposed to transfer
his rights to the rival establishment as a going
concern, and draw a cool £5000 or £6000 clear
profit for doing so. Alas! for these delightful
calculations. He had omitted to reckon with the
afore-mentioned Mr Jarrett, through whom, as
agent for the various artists, the agreements had
been made. That gentleman intervened at a
dramatic moment, on the very day the triple
agreement was to be signed, and in the hour and
moment of the coming signature. He pointed
out to Mr. Wood that, under the contracts, the
seceding artists could only perform at Drury Lane,
and that even if he (Wood) joined Mapleson and
Gye, they could not sing at Covent Garden,
and he would still have to pay their salaries,
whether he opened at Drury Lane or not. In
short, Mr. Wood was in a cleft stick, and he
had no option but to open at Drury Lane,
well knowing that he could not hope for a
profit, and, incidentally, that his competition,
while disastrous to himself, would hardly fail
to prove equally injurious to Covent Garden.

This, in fact, was what occurred. Mr. Wood's
pianoforte business was ruined by the enterprise,
and we have Mr. Mapleson's authority for stating
that there was no money made that season
(1870) at Covent Garden, deprived as they were

259

THE ANNALS OF

at one fell stroke of five or six of their finest
performers.

The only important alteration in the staff
discoverable from the programmes, is that the
name of Signor Tito Mattei now replaced that
of Signor Bevignani, while the latter took Arditi's
place at the conductor's desk with Signor
Vianesi.

The principal novelty advertised in the 1870
prospectus was the opera of Macbeth^ by Verdi,
now so seldom heard, but then spoken of as his
chef dHosuvre !

On January 4, 1870, one of those brilliant
benefit performances took place at Covent Gar-
den recalling in its main features those many
great occasions half a century before of which
the theatre was so often the scene. This was
the benefit accorded to Charles J. Mathews, the
eminent comedian and an ex-manager of Covent
Garden, in the time when, with his first wife,
the beautifiil Madam Vestris, he spent an event-
ful three years there, a period which saw the
production of London AssuraTice and many
other then famous productions long since passed
into the limbo of the forgotten.

All the principal theatres sent representa-
tives. Scenes from the popular pieces of the day
were followed by the second act of the Critic^
which was played with the following astonishing

260

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

cast : Dangle, Mr. Alfred Wigan ; Governor,
Mr. F. Matthews; Sneer, Mr. Barry Sullivan;
Lord Leicester, Mr. J. Clarke ; Puflf, Mr. Charles
Mathews; Sir W. Raleigh, Mr. L.Brough; Under
Prompter, Mr. Charles Mathews, junior; Sir
C. Hatton, Mr. W. H. Payne ; Lord Burleigh,
Mr. J. B. Buckstone ; Beefeater, Mr. J. L. Toole ;
Whiskerandos, Mr. Compton; first niece, Mrs.
Keeley; second niece, Mrs. F. Matthews; Til-
burina, Mrs. C. Mathews ; Confidante, Mrs.
Chippendale. The bill of the play also included
the names of Benjamin Webster, Mrs. A. Mellon,
Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft in a scene from School^
Mrs. Hermann Vezin, H. Y. Byron, J. S. Clarke,
and Madam Celeste.

Needless to say, such a performance attracted
an audience " so large as to tax even the ample
resources of Covent Garden Theatre."

261

THE ANNALS OF

CHAPTER XX

1871-1897

Chiefly owing to certain disputes, terminating
in lawsuits, over various matters concerning the
lease of Her Majesty's Theatre, the agreement
between Messrs. Gye and Mapleson did not reach
its third year (1871), but the latter gentleman
rented the theatre from Mr. Gye for the autumn
season of that year, which terminated early in
December.

This, however, is anticipating our account of
the regular summer season of operas which, once
more under the sole direction of Mr. Frederick
Gye, began on Tuesday, March 28, 1871, with
Donizetti's opera of Lucia di Lammermoor.

The season is rendered notable by the feet
that, as set forth in the prospectus, Signor Mario,
after performing at Covent Garden during no less
than twenty-three out of the twenty-four seasons
of the existence of the Royal Italian Opera, had at
length determined to retire. In addition to this
melancholy but supreme attraction, Mr. Gye
was still able to count upon the unrivalled

262

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

exertions of Adelina Patti and Pauline Lucca.
Mario's farewell took place on July 19 as Fer-
nando in La Favoritay a part in which he
was unequalled, amid a scene of indescribable
enthusiasm.

Later on the revival of Hal^vy*s greatest
work, La Juive^ first produced at Covent Garden
in 1850, and of which the entire scenery and
accessories were destroyed in the 1856 fire,
excited great interest.

The season saw a notable debutante at Covent
Garden in the person of Mademoiselle de M^ric
Lablache.

Madame Parepa-Rosa had been engaged for
the season, after many years' absence, but upon
her return from America, was prevented by ill-
ness from appearing. An English violinist, who
has since won renown, Alfred Gibson, became a
member of the orchestra during this season, and
filled his position there for no less than twelve
years.

The 1872 season found almost exactly the
same company of performers with Mr. Gye, but
their numbers were heavily reinforced, no less
than seven new artistes appearing for the first
time in England. One of these soon proved
herself a worthy member of the superb dynasty
of queens of song who have rendered the name
of Covent Garden Theatre illustrious for ever.

268

THE ANNALS OF

Mr. Mapleson gives an amusing and charac-
teristic account of the accident by which he was
deprived of the honour of introducing Made-
moiselle Emma Albani to the British public.
Space forbids our quoting it in ftill, but it is
worth mentioning that providence intervened in
the shape of the lady's cabman, who drove her,
on her first arrival in London, to the theatre of
Mr. Gye, instead of, as she supposed, to that
managed by Mr. Mapleson (Drury Lane). Both
of those gentlemen were unknown to her person-
ally ; and all being fair in love and war, the astute
manager of Covent Garden was not slow to take
advantage of the prize within his grasp, and
engaged her on the spot. After the contract
was signed, Mr. Gye, however, courteously and
honourably explained to Mademoiselle Albani
the mistake she had made, and there and then
offered to release her from her engagement — an
offer which she naturally declined, and which, it
is hardly necessary to add, she certainly had no
after-cause to wish she had accepted.

Mademoiselle Albani was announced as
" from the Pergola Theatre, at Florence ; " and
with the great singer's glorious voice still ringing
in our ears, its beauties hardly touched by time,
it is easy to imagine \he furore her appearance in
La Sonnambula must have caused.

A still more epoch-marking event promised

264

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

for the year 1872 remains to be noted, although
it was actually postponed until three years later.
It is interesting to read the cautious words used
by manager Gye in introducing for the first time
the works of Richard Wagner to an English
audience.

"The introduction on the Italian Stage in
England of the operas by Richard Wagner has
naturally frequently been a subject of considera-
tion with the director of the Royal Italian Opera.

" The admirers of Wagner have predicted for
his works unprecedented successes in England,
while his detractors have warned the director
that the "music of the future," as Wagner's
compositions have been ironically styled, would
drive all opera subscribers from the theatre, and
. . . the director has naturally hesitated to run
so great a risk as to produce operas, the success
of which appeared so problematical. An event,
however, has lately occurred which has entirely
falsified the sombre predictions of the anti-
Wagnerites.*

"The director, therefore, considers that the
production of one of Herr Wagner's operas
should no longer be delayed, and as three of the
most celebrated interpreters of those productions
in Germany are now engaged at the Royal Italian
opera . . . the director has determined to pro-
duce . . . Lohengrin. . . . The principal charac-
ters to be undertaken by Mademoiselle Marianne

* This was the triumphant success of Lohengrin in Italy.

265

THE ANNALS OF

Brandt, Heir Kochler, and Mademoiselle Emmy
Zimmermann."

The prospectus did not anticipate that their
dibutantCj Emma Albania would prove to be
amongst the greatest interpreters of the principal
female character in hoheiigriny but so it was ; as
Elsa she appeared in May, 1875, in the Italian
version of the opera, which had been prepared
for Mr. Mapleson, but which he did not for
various reasons produce, and as Elsa she achieved
one of those great triumphs such as seldom fall
to the lot of any artist at the very outset of their
career. But of this more will be heard in its
proper place. At all events, none of the great
Wagnerian artists mentioned in the 1872 pros-
pectus appeared in- the opera, for the reason
that it was produced in the Italian language with
exclusively Italian artists engaged in the cast.

During the autumn of 1872 a considerable
success was scored on August 29 by the pro-
duction of a " fantastical spectacle " by Dion
Boucicault and Planch^, entitled Babil and
Bijou. In it appeared a young singer, Joseph
Maas, who afterwards achieved some reputation,
other parts being taken by Mrs. Howard Paul,
Lionel Brough, Annie Sinclair, and Helen Barry.

The season 1878 began on Tuesday, April 1,
and Gye announced with pardonable pride that

266

SCF.NE FBO^[ "BAliK. AND *[J'ta":AT:C^\-et;I"j:;^_R»Fi',

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COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

he was still able to count the three most re-
nowned prime donne in Europe among his
pensionnaires in the persons of Adelina Patti,
Pauline Lucca, and Emma Albani, and besides
these stars, Mesdames Scalchi, Sinieo and Mon-
belli, Signors Nicolini, Bettini, Graziani, Cotogni,
Maurel, and Faure, were still lending their
powerfiil support to this brilliant company.

The repertoire of the theatre now included
no less than forty-four operas, the novelties
promised being Verdi's Ernam, and a revival of
Rossini's Mosd en EgittOj with new scenery,
costumes, and decorations.

1874 found a similar company announced as
engaged, with the possible exception of Lucca,
whose arrival by the date of her first performance
on Apnl 8 was considered doubtftil. Among
the newest operas promised, Jtfigv/on, by Ambroise
Thomas, should be mentioned as having enjoyed
a long spell of popularity. The Christmas
pantomime for the year was the Babes in
the Woody with a cast which included Rebecca
Isaacs, a singer whose talents had brought her a
reputation in a higher form of dramatic art than
pantomime.

The season of 1875 was announced to com-
mence on Tuesday, March 80, with GhiffUelmo
Tell; a company of singers with the same stars
at their head was engaged as before. Rom^o et

267

THE ANNALS OF

JtUiette was announced for the first time for seven
years, and Le pr6 aux Clercs^ by Herold, was
given for the first time in England. These
events are, however, of second-rate importance
compared to the first production of Lohengrin^
which took place on May 8 before an audience
that packed Covent Garden to overflowing.
According to Mr. Klein, who was present, it was
about the worst performance of LoJiefigrin ever
seen in an important theatre, in spite of the
singing of Albani as Elsa and Nicolini as Lohen-
grin. The chorus sang out of tune, and the
orchestra played too loud. But, in spite of these
disadvantages, the opera was received with
tremendous enthusiasm, and its success was
complete.

The pantomime this year was upon the
subject of Cinderella^ which had not been utilized
at Covent Garden since its original production
by Blanchard eleven years previously.

1876 began, as many previous seasons had
done, with William Tell in Italian. Among the
artists announced for first appearances was Signor
Gayarr^, who had, according to Mr. Mapleson,
broken a contract made with him, and rendered
himself liable for £8000 damages, won in an
action in the Italian courts, and which the
director of Her Majesty's found himself unable
to obtain. He did not, however, make his debut

268

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

until the following year. The novelties presented
were Verdi's grand opera of A'ida, with Adelina
Patti in the title rdle, and Tannhduserj in which
Albani sang the principal female rd/e, that of
Venus.

In 1877 the repertoire of Covent Garden
Theatre reached the total of 50 operas, a number
possessed, as the director proudly announced, by
no other theatre in Europe. It may be interest-
ing to give a brief summary of them under the
composers' names —

6 by Meyerbeer

8 by Verdi

1 by Ricci

3 ft Mozart

2 yy Grounod

2 „ Wagner

5 f, Roflsini

1 „ llioinas

1 ,f Campana

1 „ Gluck

1 „ Flotow

1 „ Cimarosa

1 „ Weber

4 „ Auber

1 ,f Poniatowski

7 ,y Donizetti

1 ,, BeetboFen

1 ,y Gomez

3 ,, BeUini

The most noteworthy event was perhaps the
London debut (April 7) of Gayarr^, a Spaniard
by birth, with an Italian training, who held a
premier position among tenors for many years in
operatic London. Mr. Klein says : —

"He * bridged over' to a large extent the
interval that separated Mario's retirement from
the advent — as a tenor — of Jean de Reszke. . . .
He was an admirable ^ Lohengrin,' and was the
first singer in this part to vary the charm of the
love music in the bridal duet by the judicious
employment of a particularly lovdy mezza voce"

During the year, Her Majesty's Theatre, after

269

THE ANNALS OF

a period of ten years' silence, once again heard the
music of an opera within its walls.

During the autumn of 1878 and the next
year, the Brothers Gatti took the theatre for a
series of Promenade Concerts, and engaged the
services of Arthur Sullivan as principal conductor.
His inclusion of a selection from the music of
Piimfore during the concerts is always said to
have first turned the sun of popularity towards
the Opera Comique where that opera was being
performed.

In December of this year the death occurred
of Frederick Gye, as the result of a gun accident,
after a career of almost continuous success, and
lasting over thirty years. The death of Charles
J. Mathews {q.v.) occurred in the same month,
aged seventy-five.

In April, 1879, the theatre reopened under
the sole management of Mr. Ernest Gye, who
had been for many years associated with its
greatest successes under the guidance of his
father. He still numbered Patti and Scalchi in
his company, and to them Jean Lassalle was now
added, for whom Le Rot de LcJiorCj by Massenet,
was produced.

1880 saw the Covent Garden ddbyt of a great
bass singer, Edouard de Reszke, as Indra in Le
JRoi de Lahore. He was then a young man, only
twenty-six years of age, but his voice had already

270

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

" developed the richness of timbre and amplitude
of volume for which it is remarkable " (Klein).
He did not, however, attain the enormous popu-
larity that his brother Jean has since achieved.

In 1880, Prosper Sainton, who had for many
years been leader of the band at Covent Garden,
resigned that position.

1881 was rendered notable by the visit of
Anton Rubinstein to London, principally to see
the production of his opera. The Demons at Covent
Garden.

1882 saw the return of the captivating artist,
Pauline Lucca, after an absence of ten years, dur-
ing which, says Mr. Klein, her voice had lost none
of its freshness, while the piquant grace of her
style . . . was even more striking than before.

She played in Camien here for the first time
this year, but her performance of Selika in
UAfricaine remained, as it had ever been, her
chef dHosuvrCy or, as Mr. Klein describes it, " a
dream — a supreme achievement to be mentioned
in the same breath with the Rosina of Patti and
the Marguerite of Christine Nilsson."

The critics of the day remarked upon the
dearth of male singers at Covent Garden. Only
one dihutanU Monsieur Dufriche, is described as
" fisdrly successful.*' Novelties, too, were few and
far between, the only new opera promised being
Lenepveu's Velleda^ the first performance of which

271

THE ANNALS OF

took place on Tuesday, July 4. As, however
says one critic, ** this Mras evidently placed upon
the stage rather to gratify the singers than the
listeners, the less said about it the better."

Mr. Lunn, writing in the Musical Times for
February, 1882, calls attention

"to the fact of so few of our most eminent
lyrical vocalists being Italians. . . . Madame
Patti is an American, of Spanish extraction ;
Madame Albani is a Canadian; Madame Sem-
brich is a Pole; Madame Fiirsch-Madier is a
German ; Madame Valleria, American ; Madame
Trebelli and Mdlle. De Reszk^, French ; Seiior
Gayarrd, Spanish ; Signor Mierzwinski, a Pole ;
Herr Labatt, German; MM. Faure, Maurel,
Verguet, Nicolini, Soulacroix, and Lassalle, French.
Granting, then, that when purely Italian operas
are given, those to whom the language is foreign,
although able to sing the notes, must pronounce
the words imperfectly, what possible reason can
there be, when so many nationalities are repre-
sented in a lyrical company, for translating every
opera into Italian ? With a number of German
vocalists accustomed to sing the music in the
language to which it was composed, why should
not a German Opera be performed in German ?
With French artists, imbued with the character-
istics of the school, why not play a French Opera
in French ? Surely those who were not bom in
Germany or France could quite as easily study
the language of those coimtries as that of Italy.

272

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

It is true that these questions are now practically
answered by the visit of a German company to
England, and this may very probably be followed
by a company from France ; but in the interest
of the lessees to whom the lyrical drama in this
country has been so long intrusted, we should
have been glad if they could have foreseen and
prepared for this decline in the taste for Italian
opera before it was too late."

Later in the season the same writer notes
with satisfaction and some surprise that the
change he advocated had been decisively effected.

Probably not the oldest hahitv^ of Covent
Garden Theatre at this date could remember the
singing of the famous Kitty Stephens, whose
reputation dated back half a century before.
This gifted and beautifiil lady, in the person of
the Dowager Countess of Essex, expired early in
1882, at her house in Belgrave Square.

A writer on musical matters, recording her
death, says —

" As Miss Stephens, she appeared in the then
popular operas, ArtaxerxeSj The Duen7ia, and
The Beggar's Opera. Those, however, were
days when dramas interspersed with songs satis-
fied a large portion of the musical public, and
Miss Stephens was, perhaps, even greater in
mere ballad-singing than in the rendering of
more important pieces. Her voice was most
sympathetic in quality, and its compass reached
VOL. II. 278 T

THE ANNALS OF

to D in alt ; but she relied less upon display
than upon the earnest and natural delivery of
her words. With all who loved an artless style
and purity of vocalization she was a great
favourite; and much regret was felt when, in
the zenith of her popularity, she became Countess
of Essex, and retired from the profession. The
Earl of Essex, whom she married, was a widower,
and at the time of the wedding was eighty-two
years of age. He died shortly after his marriage ;
and the Dowager Countess, who was much
respected in private society, lived to be eighty-
eight."

Up to this year Colonel Mapleson had been
for some time closely associated (in both London
and New York) with Mr. Ernest Gye and the
directors of the Royal Italian Opera, Limited.
He now found himself obliged to withdraw from
the connection, and Mr. Ernest Gye was left as
general manager of the company.

In the records of the year mention must be
made of the death of Richard Wagner, the great
poet-musician, whose daring achievements had
revolutionized opera the wide world over, and
whose productions had long since made their all-
conquering presence felt at Covent Garden.

The entire season of 1888 was only timed to
last twelve weeks, and but little that was novel
or even interesting was foimd in the programme.
On the opening night Aida was performed with

274

> I*

v> •

•

* • • * _ •

# "

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

a new tenor, Signor Marconi. In / Puritani
a new baritone, Signor Battistini, appeared as
Rieeardo with great success. Pauline Lucca
again sang, and Boito's Mejistofele was produced.
The habitues of the house were pleased by the
restoration of " Fops Alley," and there were other
structural improvements in the interior, chiefly
with a view to safety in case of alarm of fire
or panic of any sort. The only important novelty
was Ponchielli's La Griocondaj which was well re-
ceived ; while Joseph Maas, whose operatic (Mmt
took place in Lohengrin^ proved that English
vocalists are sometimes able to hold their own
among the highest ranks of the profession.

1884 was noticeable for the death of the first,
and, indeed, the last, great conductor of the
Royal Italian Opera under 6ye, Sir Michael
Costa. It is true that for fifteen years his auto-
cratic personality had been removed from the
theatre, but there can be no disputing the fact
that it was under his bdton that Covent Garden
became identified, as it did, with all that was
greatest and best in the musical art of its day.
Curiously enough, the year of his death was to
witness the temporary eclipse also of the great
institution over which he had virtually ruled.

The season does not appear to be in any
way remarkable, Albani, Lucca, Tremelli, and
De Reszke, being a few among the great

275

THE ANNALS OF

names in the programmes. That which may
certainly be held to have redeemed the season
from any charge of lack of distinction, was the
concurrent arrangement by which German operas
were produced (and enthusiastically received)
during June. Indeed, for the performance of
Loheiigrin on Wednesday, June 11, with Madame
Albani as Elsa, it was said that the demand
for seats exceeded the record created by the
first night of Verdi's Aida in 1876, from which
the critics concluded that the public were more
ready to hear a new masterpiece, provided it
was likely to be reasonably well performed, than
they were to hear any of the worn-out operas
of which for a generation they had had a
surfeit.

It will be remembered that Mr. Ernest Gye
now had the theatre under his sole control, but
his responsibility was not of long duration, for
at the end of the 1884 season, the company he
managed which held the sub-lease of Covent
Garden feU into financial difficulties. Various
reasons are put forward to account for this,
among them the disinclination of society folk
to patronize the opera except on Patti nights.
Mr. Klein speaks of this period as that of the
decline and faU of Italian opera in London.
Contemporary with this was the rise in fortunes
of English and German opera. 1885 and 1886

276

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

were almost wholly barren seasons, and a climax
occurred with a riot at Her Majesty's on March
6, 1886, after which the theatre remained closed
for a year. Mapleson gives his version of the
Royal Italian Opera's decease with characteristic
bluntness. He says that it collapsed for want
of £2000 1

Colonel Mapleson ran a short season of Italian
opera at Covent Garden in July, 1885. Un-
fortunately, Patti was unable to appear, as
annoimced, in La Traviata on the opening
night, owing to a cold caught driving over
some Welsh mountains to her train, or, as
Mr. Mapleson humorously puts it, "Signor
Nicolini . . . from some uncontrollable desire
to catch an extra salmon, had exposed La Diva
to the early morning air, an act of impru-
dence which cost me something like £1000."
This happened twice during the season, which,
however, ended with Patti as Leonora in //
Traoatoref and a grand presentation to her of a
diamond bracelet in commemoration of her
twenty-fifth consecutive annual engagement at
Covent Garden, which theatre, in the words of an
address spoken by Mr. Mapleson at the time,
" had the honour of introducing her when still a
child to the public of England, and indirectly,
therefore, to that of Europe and the whole
civilized world."

277

THE ANNALS OF

In 1886 there appeared anonymously a little
volume apparently written by a foreigner, criti-
cising with much acumen the state of music in
England in the year 1885. It is entitled " Music
in the Land of Fogs," by Felix Remo, and there
is little doubt that M. Remo, with whose identity
we are unacquainted, lays his finger on the cause
of the decay in operatic prosperity in his chapter
dealing with the subject.

"Notwithstanding," says M. Remo, "the
immense and beautiful halls of Covent Garden,
Her Majesty's, and Drury Lane, which are
essentially adapted for music on a great scale,
London has no National Opera Theatre. Opera
is represented there by three months of the
Italian season, which lasts from May till the close
of July [M. Remo writes before the days of an
added six weeks autumn season], by some few
weeks of opera in English, and by a few theatres
in which operettas are performed. The question
is, therefore, . . . how comes it that . . . London,
so wealthy and so prone to pleasures, has not a
permanent national opera ? What does it lack ?
It has the theatres, the composers, the wealth,
and the national operas. If there are not a great
number of the latter, it is simply owing to the
absence of a market for their wares, and to the
fact that, after labouring for six months, their
pieces may be played once, and frequentiy not at
all. A national opera would encourage them,
and the competition would have as its outcome

278

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

the production of really good work. Moreover,
the representations could be varied by producing
foreign works in English, as is done in the
national theatres of other countries."

But the reason opera run as a private enter-
prise does not uniformly prosper is, according to
our foreign critic—

" the lack of the moral support of the population,
the fixing of reasonable prices of admission, and
the engaging of artists who will not crush the
undertaking by putting forward pretensions
which their talent, whatever it might be, never
justifies. The star system has been the bane of
Italian Opera. Ensemble has been sacrificed
to it."

Monsieur R6mo then enters into an elaborate
argument«to prove his contention, and incidentally
shows how the system he attacks had, since the
days of Handel, been almost invariably fatal to
its promoters, with the brilliant exception of
Frederick Gye. He then gives some figures,
showing the burden that Covent Garden lessees
had to bear in 1885.

There were then sixty-three years of the lease

to run, and the ground rent, according to Monsieur

R§mo was, £1216 12^. per annum. Mr. Gatti

was, at that time, proprietor of the lease, which

was, however, mortgaged, together with the

buUding itself.

279

THE ANNALS OF

So it was hardly to be wondered at that the
sons of Frederick Gye stooped under a burden so
heavy, and &ced with the accumulated dis-
advantages before mentioned.

1886, therefore, foimd Covent Garden tenant-
less, and with Her Majesty's in similar plight, it
appeared likely that no Italian opera would be
played at all. From this reproach, however,
London was saved by Signor Lago, whose name
was already familiar at Covent Garden. Sup-
ported by Monsieur Gayarre and others, Lago
got together a troupe of artistes that included
Albani, Maurel, and Ella RusselL

The last-named lady made a highly successful
appearance, while the baritone, Signor d'Andrade,
was also weU thought of, but the scenic display
and mounting generally was not up to the
standard that patrons of the first opera house in
London had a right to expect.

Happily, however, a brighter time for the
lovers of opera was at hand. With the necessity
for a new system came the man to provide it,
and with the doings of the new-comer we shaU
close our long record of events.

The first weeks of the 1887 season were utilized
at Covent Garden by Mr. Mapleson, as inde-
fatigable as ever. His only novelty was Gounod's
Mirelluj revived after twenty years' neglect, with
Madam Nevada in the title-rdle. There was

280

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

also Bizet's Prehears de PerleSy but neither opera
created a great deal of interest. "Popular
prices " was the order of the day, and during the
remainder of the season nothing heroic was
attempted. Signor Lago followed, opening his
season on May 24, at the usual opera prices,
with La Favorita, Later on WilUam Tell was
revived, and a real novelty — Glinka's La Fie
pour le Czar — was placed upon the stage for the
first time in England. Thus Signor Lago was
a very excellent stop-gap ; but he was merely
keeping the place warm for one who might
almost have been destined from his cradle to
revive the ancient glories of Covent Garden.
His very surname was suggestive of the palmiest
days of the older building on the famous site.
His father, Augustus Harris the first, had been
connected, as we have seen, a generation and a
half before, with the great productions of the
greatest days of Frederick Gye.

Mr. Klein quotes him as saying —

"My father was stage-manager at Covent
Garden, and if any infant ever stage-managed his
£sither, I was that in£Emt. Almost as soon as I
could run alone he used to take me with him to
the theatre. I remember quite well, as a little
boy, standing in the wings as he walked about
the stage, while the great prima domms came and
petted and kissed me."

281

THE ANNALS OF

An enviable recoUeetion, indeed !

Augustus Harris was in 1887 still a young
man, and ftill of immense enthusiasm* Possessed
of great organizing ability and plenty of good
experience for his years, he had started a season
of grand opera at Drury Lane, of which he had
the lease, with the object of attracting the
aristocracy, and once more making the opera the
central social fimction of the London season.
He was so fortunate as to secure the services of
the tenor Jean de Reszke, then but little known
in London, where his brother and sister had both
already been seen and heard in opera. This
superb artist and his brother were immediately
engaged at £100 a night and £820 a month
respectively. Jean opened in A'ida^ and secured
an instant and complete triumph.

The season possessed many other interest-
ing features, which cannot be mentioned here;
but it was not financially a successfiil one for
the enterprising young manager. Undaunted
by this, he again set to work systematically
to realize the ultimate object of his hopes
from the first. This was to obtain the lease
of Covent Garden, and transfer his splendid
company, bag and baggage, across Bow Street to
its proper home. With the powerful aid of some
leading society ladies, notably Lady de Grey and
Lady Charles Beresford, and Mn H. V. Higgins,

282

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Lady de Grey's brother-in-law, a canvass was
begun of the smartest and richest people in the
great world of London, and this resulted in a
subscription that, in a very short time, rendered
the impresario quite easy in his mind as to the
success of his bold experiment.

During Christmas, 1887, the management
produced Jack and the Beanstalk, which may
now quite possibly prove to have been the last
pantomime produced in the original home of
English pantomime.

On Monday, May 14, 1888, Augustus Harris
inaugurated his first Covent Garden season. The
opera chosen was Lticrezia, with Trebelli as
MafHo Orsini. A brilliant audience, headed by
the Prince and Princess of Wales, now their
Majesties King Edward VII. and Queen Alex-
andra, were present, and a successful season was
early foreshadowed. The principal new-comers
engaged were the De Reszkes and Madam Melba,
the famous Australian soprano ; but there were,
besides, Ella Russell, Margaret Macintyre, Albani,
Trebelli, and others of the very first rank among
the company. The great night upon which the
Polish brothers De Reszke and liassalle made
their rentrde is described by Mr. Klein in his
"Recollections," who also refers at length to
the general success, artistic and financial, that
attended the rest of the season*

288

THE ANNALS OF

Mr. Klein gives an interesting account of the
working of the hierarchy that " ran " the opera-
house through the medium of Augustus Harris
when he was alive, and the perscynnel of which
is, to a large extent, the same to-day, save that
the place of manager is filled by Harris's suc-
cessor, the secretary to the all-powerfiil syndicate,
Mr. Neil Forsyth.

" The subscription for the season of 1889 was
larger than ever. The Prince of Wales (now
King Edward VII.) was taking a deep personal
interest in the opera, and he and the Princess
were among its most regular attendants. Closely
in the royal wake followed an ever-augmenting
section of the aristocracy, overflowing from grand
and pit-tier boxes into several rows of stalls ; . . .
and the duty of representing these subscribers
vis-a-vis with the manager was fulfilled with
much tact by Mr. Harry V. Higgins, the brother-
in-law of Lady de Grey. Her ladyship never
for an instant relaxed the hold which her initial
efforts had given her in the control and working
of the organization.

"At first purely artistic and disinterested,
then guided by a general consensus of opinion,
finally dictated by her own individual ideas — the
wishes of this indefatigable lady have grown to
be the commands — nay, the absolute law — of the
most independent opera house in Europe. . . .
It is enough, then, to say that Lady de Grey
. . . occupied from the outset a position of

284

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

extraordinary power and influence. . . . During
the early days of the renaissance much diplomacy
was used by all parties. Mr. Higgins would
convey suggestions to Mr. Harris, who would
thereupon have a chat with Lady de Grey, and
promise to do his best to meet her wishes. Need-
less to add that they seldom passed unheeded.
As time went on the fnocbis operandi gradually
altered. When Harris became overwhelmed
with his various duties, he was glad to rely upon
Mr. Higgins for advice, or even to go to Lady
de Grey * for instructions.' A new prima do7ina
had to be engaged, a new opera to be commis-
sioned, a Continental success to be mounted, a
new box-subscriber to be passed and admitted.
Ere any of these things could be done, it was
essentifid that Lady de Grey should be consulted.
So by degrees her word became law, and law it
remains to this day."

The 1889 season's novelties included Bizet's
Picheurs de Perles, which failed, and a long-
expected performance of Gounod's Rom^ and
JvUettCy in French, with a superb cast, rivalling
any of the traditional great nights of the
theatre's best days : Rom6o, Jean de Reszke ;
Fr. Laurent, Edouard de Reszke ; Tybalt, M.
Montariol ; Mercutio, M. Winogradow ; Capulet,
M. Seguin; Due, M. Castelmary; Stefano,
Mile. Jane de Vigne ; Gertrude, Mme. Lablache ;
Juliette, Mme. Melba.

285

THE ANNALS OF

It is not surprising that such an ensemble
attracted great audiences, as did an even more
interesting occasion on July 18, 1889, when Jean
de Reszke first appeared as Walther von Stok-
ing in Wagner's IHe Meistersinger. The opera
was not at that time done, as it had been five
years before, in German, but in Italian, an
anachronism banished in the light of later days.
The cast was as follows : Walther von Stolzing,
Jean de Reszke ; Hans Sachs, M. Lassalle ;
Beckmesser, M. Isnardon; David, M. Mon-
tariol; Pogner, Signor Abramoff ; Kothner, M.
Winogradow ; Magdalena, Mile. Bauermeister ;
Eva, Mme. Albani. Conductor, Signor Manci-
nelli ; stage-manager, M. Lapissida.

A noteworthy event of the season was a gala
performance in honour of the Shah of Persia,
the first since the visit of the Emperor Napoleon
III. and his lovely Empress many years before.

1890 witnessed what Mr. Klein calls a craze
for opera in French.

"The Romeo experiment was bearing fiiiit
with a vengeance. As far as time for preparation
would permit, no opera composed to a French
text was to be sung in any but the French
language. Curiously enough, Faust and Les
Huguenots were still for a brief spell to be given
in their Italian dress, but Le PropJietey La
Favorita^ Hamlet^ Carmen^ and Esmeralda^ were

289

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

all to be done in French for the first time. . . .
The subscription for the season amounted to
£40,000 for ten weeks of five nights each."

It is curious how seldom we meet in published
writings with the name of those powerful indi-
viduals who are almost always ^^ behind the
scenes/' in another sense than the theatrical one,
in public events, and upon whose will the course
of those events so largely depends. The owner
of the lease of Covent Garden Theatre at this
time was, of course, not Mr., or as he was soon to
become, Sir, Augustus Harris, nor yet the wealthy
and powerful syndicate, but a gentleman totally
unknown to fame, a Mr. A. Montague.

The theatre was unfortunately, as had been
so often its fate, heavily mortgaged, and the
owner was in consequence so uncertain of the
future of his property, that he would not let
Harris have a long sub-lease. Eventually he let
it to Signor Lago for a six weeks' autunm season
of Italian opera at popular prices. During this
time the sisters Ravogli made their debuts in
Off do with immense success.

Of the season of 1891 Mr. Klein gives some
interesting statistics, and if not quite, as he
states, the heaviest opera season on record, the
brief statement in figures is sufficient evidence of
the hard work done at Covent Garden during

287

THE ANNALS OF

the sixteen weeks' season. "Twenty operas
were mounted, six for the first time under
Harris's directorate, and ninety-four representa-
tions were given in sixteen weeks. The total
receipts were £80,000/' The company included
forty artists, all the most prominent of whom we
have already named frequently in this work.
The operas sung were as follows : —

IVrfor.

Pnfor-

minoM

manoes

Faofit

... 12

Traviata

... 4

Lohengnu

... 9

Manon

... 4

Romeo

... 8

Le Prophete

... 3

Hugaenots

... 8

Mireille

... 3

Carmen

... 7

Meistersinger

... 2

Orfito

... 6

Lucia

... 2

Don Giovanni

.. 6

Mefistofele

... 2

Tannhfiuser

Martha

... 2

Rigoletto

... 6

Aida...

... 2

Otello

... 4

Fidelio

... 1

During the autumn Augustus Harris gave a
season of French opera with a company of artists
from the Opera-Comique, including Mademoiselle
Simonnet and others.

In 1892 Harris sandwiched a season of
German opera by German artists from Bayreuth
on Wednesdays at Covent Garden, an adroit
move, by which he secured himself from risk of
loss, as Wednesday was an "off night." The
Wagner enthusiasts thus had the felicity of
hearing Alvary as Siegfried and Rosa Sucher
as Brunnhilde in the great London home of

288

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J «

: -- -

- -:-

J
J V

* -t J ^ •*

V *

4 4

, <* -* w

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

opera. This year, too, it is recorded that Harris
very properly dropped the traditional word
'^ Italian," and announced his season for the
first time officially as "Royal Opera, Covent
Garden."

In 1892 Harris, combining as he did in his
own person the dictatorship of both Drury
Lane and Covent Garden Theatres, produced
the extraordinary total of one hundred and fifty
operatic representations at the two houses during
the comparatively short space of time at his
disposal.

From the winter season of 1892-8 dates
the inception, too, of that great and successful
series of bals masquh at Covent Garden which
have done much to remove the blame of public
dulness from our London winters, and which,
moreover, continue a tradition associated with
Covent Garden from its earliest days.

In 1898 London first made the acquaintance
of the younger school of Italian opera composers
in Mascagni and Leoncavallo. A royal wedding,
that of the present Prince and Princess of Wales,
was the occasion of a State performance at Covent
Garden, while the unusual event occurred of two
English operas being produced during the last
month of the season, viz. Isidore de Lara's Amy
Robsart and Villiers Stanford's Feiled Prophet
(in Italian).
VOL, II, 289 u

THE ANNALS OF

In 1894 there were presented new operas by
Massenet, Bruneau, and Cowen, together with
two novelties, one by the veteran Verdi, Falstaff^
and Manon LescauU by Puccini.

1895 witnessed the return of Adelina Patti
and the teniporary absence from Covent Garden
of De Reszke, for the first time for eight years.
The Patti rentrie was, of course, an extraordinary
triumph.

In 1896 the De Reszkes were back again,
this time singing Wagner's operas in the poet-
composer's native tongue, together with Plan^on,
Albani, and Emma Eames. But the year was
saddened for Covent Garden habitues by the
heavy blow that befel them in the death of Sir
Augustus Harris during the very height of the
season, at the distressingly early age of forty-four.

Such intense mental activity as his has
always the tendency to overstrain the bodily
faculties. Mr. Klein says that he did not realize
the limit of his physical powers. Alas I for the
blind fatuity that urges such men as he, with
their valuable lives in their hands, headlong to
almost certain breakdown in the mad rush for
power and position. He bore, as we know, the
name famous in Covent Garden annals a century
before, and his genius for management, com-
bined with talent as an impresario^ librettist,
and stage-manager, were worthy of his name»

290

• •

• ••

• •

• •• •

••• . •.

XEH, FORSYTH, ESQ., M.V.O.
I-nal J Fh.'t,'^-rafh fy Menu. Langfier. Old UonJ S

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

than which it is impossible to bestow higher
praise.

Upon the death of Sir Augustus Harris the
present Covent Garden Syndicate was formed to
carry on the opera house. Having Earl de Grey
as its head, and Mr. Higgins as a director, there
was no fear that the previous record would be
spoilt. Mr. Maurice Grau became (for a short
time only) managing director, and Mr. Neil
Forsyth — ^so well known to Londoners in general
and opera lovers in particular — secretary, in
which position he has since remained, to the
satis&ction of all having dealings with the
theatre.

And now we have come to the end of our
long journey, since it is not our intention to
pursue the history of Covent Garden's triumphs
into the last few years. Much — though not, it
is to be hoped, of surpassing interest — has had
perforce to be omitted. And now there are
rumours in the air that the famous old play-
house is to be pulled down, and the site turned
over to the ground landlord for extension of the
market. What truth there may be in such
reports the present writer knoweth not. But
it may well be long before such a decision is
reached. Such traditions as those included in
the history of Covent Garden Theatre are not
to be lightly tampered with. Whatever be its

291

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

fate, nothing, it is consoling to think, can rob
it of the recollections of its past glory and
present &me. It is the humble wish of the
writer that his name may perhaps be yet re-
membered by posterity awhile as the chronicler,
fJEdthfiil as £Eir as in him lay, who drew together
the many scattered strands that form Covent
Garden's banner of immortality, and enshrined
them in the pages of the present book.

292

APPENDIX

Patentees, Lessees, and Managers of
CovENT Garden Theatre (chrono-
logically arranged) from 1782 to the
Present Day.

John Rich
John Beard

George Colman and others

Thomas Harris ... ... ••.

Thomas Harris and John Philip Kemble
Henry Harris and John Philip Kemble

Charles Kemble and others

Alfred Bann

D. W, Osbaldiston

W, C. Macready

Madam Vestris and C. J. Mathews ...
Charles Kemble (second time)

H. Wallack

i Laarent

Frederick Beale

Frederick Delafield

Frederick Gye

Professor Anderson (sab-lessee)
Louisa Pjme and William Harrison
Colonel Mapleson (sub-lessee) ...
Ernest Gye ... ...

Signor Lago ... ... ...

Sir Aagnstos Harris

. 1732-1761

. 1761-1767

1767-1774

. 1774-1802

. 1802-1809

. 1809-1822

. 1822-1832

. 1832-1834

. 1835-1837

, 1837-1839

. 1839-1842

. Part of 1842

„ 1843

,, 1845

. 1846-1847

1847-1849

. 1849-1878

Part of 1856

Part of 1866-64

Varions dates

... 1879-1884

... 188&-1887

• • • loOo— lo9o

Neil Forsyth (secretary of Sjmdicate) 1897 to present day

298

APPENDIX

Principal Events connected with Covent
Garden Theatre in each Season from
THE Opening to the Present Day.

1782. James Shepherd, architect, built new theatre
for J. Rich, who opened same on December 6.

1784. Handel took theatre for opera first time

November 0. Ptistor Fido produced. Mile.
Sall6 appeared.

1785. Handel's Athdlia produced. Beef Steak Club

started.

1736. HandePs Alexander' a Feast first produced,

February 19.

1737. Handel left, having lost heavily.

1740. November 6, Peg WofKngton's first appearance
at Covent Garden. Probable rehearsal of
"Rule Britannia" at Covent Garden. Also
J. Lockman's and Boyce's oratorio David's
Lamentation over Savl and Jonaihan.

1742. George Anne Bellamy's first appearance on the

stage. Love for Love^ on March 27. Mrs.
Cibber engaged.

1743. Handel again took theatre for oratorio, February

18. First performance of Samson; Beard
sang the part of *' Samson." March 28, first
time of Messiah in London ; March 25, second
time of Messiah in London ; March 29, third
time of Messiah in London.

1744. Joseph and Semite in Lent.

1745. CoUey Cibber's last appearance.

1746. Handel insolvent. Garrick's first appearance at

Covent Garden as " King Lear," June 11.

294

APPENDIX

1747. First performance of Judas Macchahevs. Garrick

became manager Drury Lane, April 9.

1748. First performances of HandeFs Alexander Baelus

and Joshua.

1740. Fii*st performance of Theodora (containing
"Angels ever bright and fair"). The
Messiah first announced in London as The
Messiah^ and not, as hitherto, A Sa^yred
Oratorio.

1755. Mrs. Siddons born.

1757. Triumph of Time, Handel's last oratorio. Doug-
las first produced in London, March 14.
Peg WofiSngton's last appearance, being
stricken with illness on Covent Garden
stage.

1759. HandeFs last appearance, April 6th (dies Good

Friday, April 13, age seventy-four); leaves
his organ at Covent Garden to Rich. Beard
married Rich's daughter as his second wife
this year.

1760. Jonathan Battishill appointed conductor of the

band about this time (age about twenty-
two). John Stanley and J. C. Smith joined
in carrying on oratorios.

1761. Rich died, November 26; buried Hillingdon.

Dibdin's first opera, The Shepherds Artifice.
Beard and Bencraft began management;
ground rent £300 per annum.

1762. Samuel Arnold engaged as musical director.

Fitzpatrick Riot. Artaxerxes^ by Ame,
first produced February 2, 1763.
1765. January 30, Mrs. Gibber died. First benefit for
Theatrical Fund. Israel in Egypt first per-
formed at Covent Garden.

1767. Beard retired. T. Harris, Powell, Rutherford, G.

Colman (May 14) buy patent for £60,000;
each had one-fourth interest. The pianoforte
first used in public at Covent Garden.

1768. January 29, first production on any stage of

295

APPENDIX

Goldsmith's first play. The Oood-natured
Man. Rutherford sold his share to Leake,
bookseller, and Degge, a solicitor. J. Brandon
(afterwards famous as box-keeper) entered
service of Covent Garden.
1769-70. Lawsuit between the patentees (see Oentle-
man's Magazine^ 1768).

1772. Miss Linley sang in oratorio during Lent. Theatre

partly rebuilt.

1773. She Stoops to Conquer first produced on any

stage (Monday, March 15). The Macklin
riots.

1774. Ck>lman resigned, and sold his share to his part-

ners, and Harris became manager, eventually
buying out Leake and Degge and Powell's
widow, afterwards Mrs. Fisher, wife of leader
of Covent Garden band. Dr. Linley and
Stanley carry on the oratorios ; J. C. Smith
retires.

1775. Sheridan's comedy, The Rivals^ first produced

on any stage, January 17. The Duenna
(Sheridan and Linley's opera), November 21.
The Ck>vent Garden Fund was incorporated
by Act of Parliament.*

1776. The Seraglio, by Dibdin, November 14. Arne's

Caractacus produced, December 6. Garrick
retired.

1777. Anna Storace first appeared at Covent Garden

in the oratorios. Spranger Barry died.

1778. C. Dibdin appointed composer to Covent Garden,

£10 a week, or £300 for season.

1779. A coalition or working agreement made with

Drury Lane. Miss Ray murdered, April 7,
in the Piazza.

* The existence of the Covent Garden Fand was terminated by
an order of the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division), dated
August *l, 18d9^ whereby its benefits were transferred to the Royal
General Theatrical Fund and the Actors Benevolent Fund, re-
spectively.

296

APPENDIX

1780. The Beliefs Stratagem first produced on any

stage, February 1.

1781. Mrs. Inchbald first played at Covent Garden.

Jackson of Exeter wrote music for comic
opera (The Lord of the Manor) at Druiy
Lane. Charles Laml/s visit to the theatre.

1782. Dibdin left Covent Garden. William Shield

succeeded him. Mrs. Abington first appeared
at Covent Garden, November 29.

1786. Mrs. Siddons' first appearance at Covent Garden,

February 25, at a benefit. Mrs. Billington*s
first appearance at Covent Garden.

1787. April 21, Braham's d6but as a boy at Covent

Garden. Covent Garden partly rebuilt this
year by Mr. Holland.

1791. Death of John Beard. Shield resigned ; Mazzinghi

employed. Oscar and Malvina^ by W.
Reeve. Shield re-engaged at Covent Garden.

1792. W. Reeve appointed composer to Covent Garden.

Theatre again partly rebuilt. Architect, Mr.
Holland. Prices increased: boxes, 6a.; pit,
da. 6cK. ; gallery, 2a. ; and upper gallery, la.
Duke of Bedford lent £15,000, and raised
ground-rent to £940.

1793. Arnold appointed organist to Westminster

Abbey, and wrote music for one more panto-
mime for Covent Garden.

1794. George Colman, senior, died.

1795. Ashley, famous bassoonist, became director of

oratorios.

1796. Signora Galli sang in oratorios at seventy-five

years of age.

1800. Haydn's Creation first performed in England,

March 28. G. F. Cooke first appeared
there.

1801. William Russell appointed composer to Covent

Garden. Braham reappeared at Covent
Garden as a man. Attwood's last opera this
yean

297

APPENDIX

1802. John Philip Kemble bought Lewis's sixth share
in the theatre, and became manager.

1808. Kemble and Mrs. Siddons' first season at Covent
Garden. John BuU^ by 6. Gohnan, Junr.,
first produced, March 5.

1804. Master Betty or ^ the young Roecius " appeared.

1805. Charles Mathews' first appearance at Covent

Garden for Dibdin's benefit. "The Bay of
Biscay" first sung by Braham at Covent
Garden. Mozart's additional accompaniment
to The Messiah first performed in public

1806. Grimaldi first engaged at Covent Garden.

1808. Theatre burnt on September 20; fire consumed

many of Handel's MS. scores, his organ, the
wines of Beefsteak Club, etc.

1809. Covent Garden Theatre reopened. O.P. Riots.

1811. Henry Bishop appointed composer to Covent

Garden and director of music for three years.

1812. Mrs. Siddons retired from stage.

1813. Death of W. Russell.

1814. Miss O^Neill's first appearance at Covent Garden.

1816. Macready's first appearance at Covent Garden;

also Miss Stephens, afterwards Countess of
Essex.

1817. J. P. Kemble retired from stage, June 23.

1818. William Farren appeared at Covent Garden.

1819. Mrs. Siddons' last appearance on the stage, June 9.
1820-2. Virginivsj by J. S. Knowles, first produced May

17, 1820. T. Harris (the elder) died and
Kemble made over his share to his brother
Charles.

1822. Henry Harris and C. Kemble quarrelled. H.

Harris retired.

1823. Claris or The Maid of MHan^ in which " Home,

Sweet Home" comes, first produced on any
stage at Covent Garden, May 8. J. P. Kemble
died, February 26.
1824-6. Weber appointed music director in place of
Bishop. Oberon first produced, April 12, 1826 ;

298

APPENDIX

Weber dying shortly after. Tom Cooke
appointed in place of Weber.

1827. La Dame Blanche^ by Boieldieu, first produced.

Edmund Kean's first appearance at Govent
Garden.

1828. Gasholder at theatre exploded.

1820. Fanny Kemble's d4but there, October 5. A dis-
traint for rates and taxes at Covent Garden.

1881. Mrs. Siddons died. The theatre involved in six

lawsuits.

1882. 77i6 Hunchback^ by Knowles, first produced there,

April 5. G. Kemble gave up, after losing
heavily. Laporte became manager. Paganini
appeared there. Fanny Kemble's farewell.

1888-4. Charles Kean appeared there with his father.
Edmund Kean's last London appearance
there. Alfred Bunn, manager of both Covent
Garden and Drury Lane. Princess Victoria
visited the theatre. Malibran engaged.
Fidelio first produced in England.

1885. Osbaldiston became manager.

1836. Helen Faucit's dSbut^ January 5. Charles Kemble's
farewell.

1887. Macready manager. Queen Victoria's first visit

to Covent Garden. Clarkson Stanfield, scenic
artist there. Appearance of Lola Montez at
Covent Garden.

1888. The Lady of Lyons first produced on any stage,

February 15.

1880. Richelieu first produced on any stage, March 7.
Macready's management ended and Vestris-
Mathews' management began.

1840-2. Charles Kemble's last appearances, March,
1840. London Assurance first produced on
any stage, March 4, 1841. Adelaide Kemble's
d^hutf November 2, 1841. Sudden termina-
tion of the season, November, 1842.

1848. Adelaide Kemble retired and married. Anti-
Corn Law meetings at Govent Garden.

200

APPENDIX

1844. Daniel O'ConneU at Covent Garden.

1845. Mendelssohn's Antigone produced.

1846. Theatre reconstructed as an opera house. F.

Beale manager.

1847. Persian! and Costa started the Royal Italian

Opera.
1848-9. Delafleld manager of opera. Lost £60,000 in

two years. Produced The Hugusnots and

Le Prophdte and became bankrupt.
1850. La Juivct by Hal^vy, first produced. Frederick

Gye became director.
1852. The great Joanna Wagner action between Lumley

of Her Majesty's Theatre and Gye. Taglioni

at Covent Garden.

1854. Charles Kemble died.

1855. First appearance of Cerito at Covent Garden.

Jullien's first concert there. Trovatore first
produced. May 17.

1856. Covent Garden again burnt to the ground during

masked ball, March 5.

1857. Foundation Stone laid in October.*

1858. Rebuilt by Gye, and reopened May 15. The Pyne-

Harrison company opened at Covent Garden.
Charles Santley made his operatic d4but
there.
1850-60. Meyerbeer's Dinorah^ >nd Wallace's Lurline
produced.

1861. Patti's d4hut at Covent Garden.

1862. The Lily of KUlamey first produced, February 8.
1868. Faust produced there. D^btU of Pauline Lucca.

1864. Arthur Sullivan organist at Covent Garden.

1865. Meyerbeer's L'Africaine produced.

1866. Carlotta Patti's d4but at Covent Garden.

1867. RomSo et Jvliette, by Gounod, first produced

there.

* Upon this occasion the original stone laid by George, Prince
of VV^ales, in 1806, was discovered, and the writer is assured hj
Mr. Edwin O. Sachs, architect to the theatre, that it is still in
position at the north-east comer of the building.

800

APPENDIX

1868. Costa resig^ned. Mapleson took Covent Garden

for six weeks.

1869. Mapleson and Gye joined forces. Christine Nilsson,

Santley, and many other great artists en-
gaged.

1870. Tito Mattel pianist at Covent Garden. Verdi's

Macbeth produced.

1871. Mario's farewell, July 19. Gye and Mapleson

parted.

1872. Albani's d4hut at Covent Garden. Bahil and

Bijou produced, August 29.
1875. Lohengrin, first time in England, May 8.

1878. Death of Frederick Gye.

1879. Mr. Ernest Gye director of the opera.

1880. Prosper Sainton resigned leadership of the band.
1882. Return of Pauline Lucca.

1884. Death of Sir M. Costa.

1885. Colonel Mapleson again at Covent Garden.

1886. Signor Lago's season at Covent Garden. EH^

Russell's d^but.

1888. Augustus Harris became lessee and operatic

director. The de Reszkes and Melba en-
gaged.

1889. Rom4o et Juliette in French.

1892. Engagement of great Wagner singers from
Bayreuth. Harris continued his manage-
ment of Drury Lane conjointly with Covent
Garden.

1894. Verdi's Falstaff produced.

1895. Patti's return.

1896. Death of Sir A. Harris.

1897. The Royal Opera Syndicate became lessees of

Covent Garden Theatre.

801

APPENDIX

lit

Rich's Portraits. (See Frontispieoe to voL i.)

It has been by no means an easy matter to obtain any
portrait of Rich suitable for reproduction in this work.
No painting or portrait is to be found in the National
Portrait Gallery, nor is there anything of the kind in
the print collection at the British Museum. Indeed, the
writer was definitely assured there that it was highly
improbable such a thing was in existence. Inquiry
among print shops in London established the fact that,
if any such existed, they were extremely scarce. Cari-
catures there certainly are, if not in abundance, in
quite a considerable number, most of them representing
him in harlequin's costume, with the mask concealing
his features. The excellent French print, reproduced
opposite page 6, vol. L, is fortunately an exception, and
is probably a very fair likeness, apart from its intei'est
as presenting the harlequin in detail, and not as one
of a group. The graceful action of the figure is well
caught, and altogether the print is of the greatest
possible value.

Of other pictures representing Rich, there is one at
the Garrick Club, which, attributed to Hogarth, is a
picture of Rich with his family, and quite valueless
for purposes of reproduction, even if the club author!
ties would allow it to be so used. It is, perhaps,
permissible to comment upon the curious policy adopted
by the club towards such requests, bearing in mind
that it was originally founded ''in the interests of
Dramatic Art I "

802

APPENDIX

It is said that Hogarth's connection with Rich was
occasioned by the great artist's satirical print caricatur-
ing the Beggofn's Opera. However this may be, later
on Rich commissioned him to paint a group from the
prison scene of the opera, a picture into which he
introduced a number of portraits of the company,
including Beard as Captain Macheath, and Rich himself.

Mr. W. J. Lawrence finds a difficulty in reconciling
the undoubted friendship which existed between the
two men with the fact that the satirical plate of
** Rich's entry into Covent Garden " is also ascribed to
Hogarth. But it is to be doubted whether Rich was
either very thin-skinned or a man who bore malice for
long, and he had been accustomed for so many years as
a public man to be the target for caricaturists, that one
more or less probably did not affect him.

There is existent in Hogarth's Collected Works
another ^* conversation piece," entitled *' Garden Scene
at Mr. Rich's villa at Cowley." Ireland, in his '' Graphic
Illustrations," * speaks of having seen it in the possession
of Abraham Langford, of Highgate, whose family had
it direct from the painter's hands.

Langford was the successor in his business of Cock,
the famous auctioneer, who was an old friend of Rich,
to whom he is represented as speaking in Hogarth's
other picture of the prison scene in the Beggar^ s Opera.

It 1b an extraordinary thing that Ireland makes the
error of calling the Covent Garden manager " Thomas "
instead of John Rich, a fact which, to our thinking,
somewhat detracts from the value of his lengthy
remarks upon the picture. It shows the famous harle-
quin seated in the foreground, while the figure of his
second wife. Amy, is shown standing by a table, with
her hand upon it. The other figures are : his friend
Cock, who is examining a picture, which is held up for
his inspection by a servant ; Mrs. Cock, who was a well-
known connoisseur in art matters; and, lastly, the
portrait of the painter himself, who is presumably

• Vol. ii. 17W, p. 68.

808

APPENDIX

also discussing the merits of the picture under con-
sideration.

Ireland considers this group as '*the best of our
artist's productions in this style of painting I have
ever seen. It is exceUently grouped, and each figure
is happily appropriate to the general subject."

In the catalogue of the effects of the Beef Steak
Club, sold at Christie's in 1867, it is noteworthy that
a *^ portrait of John Rich, Esq.,'* fetched 278. It would
be interesting to trace the present whereabouts of this
picture, but the writer has not been successful in
doing so.

It was obvious that none of the portraits we have
referred to above presented the man in sufficient detail
to be completely satisfactory.

The writer had, in fact, almost given up hope of
coming across anything of the kind, especially as an
inquiry in Notes and Qaeries failed to bring any
replies — although it brought the invaluable assist-
ance of Mr. W. J. Lawrence to his aid — when
one of those curious coincidences occurred which do
sometimes happen outside the pages of a detective
story. By the merest chance the writer discovered
that a near relative of his own was actually married
to a lineal descendant of Rich himself I Naturally
from thence it was plain sailing. The family still
happily possessed a fine half-length portrait of their
distinguished ancestor, and its present possessor. His
Honour Judge Wood, most kindly allowed it to be
photographed, and reproduced in this work. It may
not be without interest to state that the owner of the
picture is descended from Rich's eldest daughter, Henri-
etta, who married James Bencraft, one of her father's
company of actors, and that Judge Wood also possesses
a fine holograph two-page letter from Rich to ''dear
Henny," which goes far to refute the alleged illiteracy
of the eccentric manager.

804

APPENDIX

Pbdiorbe of the Owner of the Rich Portrait.
J.Rich

I
Henrietta = James Bencraft

Mary = Captain James Baird^ R.M.L.I.

Charlotte Mary = Sir WiUUm Wightmau,

Judge of Coart of
Qaeen's Bench

Caroline Elizabeth Wightman = Canon Peter Almeric Leheup

Wood^ Rector of Littleton^
Middlesex^ afteinnrards of
Newent^ Glos.

William Wightman Wood^ County Court Judge.

It is believed that the portrait was left, or given
in his lifetime, by John Rich to his eldest daughter,
Mrs. Bencraft, from whom it passed to her eldest
daughter, Harriet Bencraft, who died unmarried about
1887. After Miss Bencraft's death it came into the
possession of her niece, Charlotte Mary Baird (after-
wards Lady Wightman), daughter of Captain James
Baird, R.M.L.I., of Lochend, near Edinburgh, and his
wife, fi^e Mary Bencraft. Lady Wightman, on her death
in 1871, left it to her nephew. General Augustus Eraser
Baird, late Bengal Staff Corps, for his life, and on his
death to her eldest grandson, Judge Wightman Wood,
in whose possession it now is.

Thb Bencraft and Beard Portraits.

The Bencraft portrait was also bequeathed to Judge
Wood by Lady Wightman, who in her lifetime gave
away a third portrait, which was afterwards returned
to her daughter, Mrs. Benson, in whose possession it
now is, and who supposed it to be Bencraft when an
old man. But upon comparing it with an engraving
of Beard, the celebrated tenor, published in 1787, it was
found to be the original of the engraving. This portrait
no doubt came to Lady Wightman from her great-aunt,

VOL. II. 805 X

APPENDIX

Mrs. Beard, Rich*8 second daughter, Charlotte, who
married, first. Captain King, and, secondly, John Beard,
and died at Hampton 1818.

Early Pantomimes. (See vol. i. p. 8.)

The indecency of early pantomimes is frequently
alluded to by contemporary writers, Mr. W. J.
Lawrence describes a copy of the first edition of
''Harlequin Horace'* in his possession, which bears
the date of 1731. ** The frontispiece shows the Temple
of the Muses, an obvious stage scene, with a panto-
mimic datise d deux in the background, and ladies in
boxes at the sides viewing — and some of them seem-
ingly shocked at — the performance. In the foi*eground
Apollo reclines despondingly on the works of Shake-
speare and Vanbrugh, while the Hogarthian action of
the dog in Perseus and Andromeda indicates the
contempt shown for the deity even by the animal
creation."

Programmes and Playbills.

It may not be unacceptable to the reader to include
here some remarks upon the subject of playbills,
printed in the Era newspaper, from the able 'pen,
we believe, of the late Mr. R. W. Lowe, a well-known
authority upon theatHcal affairs.

*' Playbills, or theatrical placards, about which a
lengthy chapter could be written, were invented, I
believe, by one Cosmo d*Orvieto, a Spanish dramatist
who flourished a short time before Cervantes, and it
was Dryden who, in 1667, at the production of his
Indian Emperor^ first had programmes distributed at
the doors. Previously, dramatic performances were
announced by a crier in the streets to the sound of a
tambourine, although in ancient Rome the bill existed,
the author's name being given on it when he was at all
celebrated and likely to * draw.' In France theatrical
placards were originally quite different from what they
are at present, ^e author's name never appeai*ed on

806

APPENDIX

them, the actors merely amiouncing that ' their poet
had chosen an exceUent subject.* The poet of each
theatre bemg well known, it was needless to name him.
A still longer time elapsed before the actors were men-
tioned in the bill, and the comedians gained by this
omission, for the public always expected to see the
leading members of the company. Disorderly scenes
often occurred, however, when this hope was disap-
pointed. In the second series of Ld Revue B^troapecHve
I have discovered the report of a council held by the
comedians of Paris in December, 1789, to draw up a
petition to the mayor imploring him not to order them
to put the actors' names on the bill, as they considered
such an innovation highly injurious to their interests.
But although it contained neither authors' nor actors*
names a playbill in those times was a very elaborate
document, replete with details about the crowded state
of the house the previous day, the merit of the piece
to eome, and the absolute necessity of engaging places
for it as early as possible. A flattering criticism of the
play was often given — the * puff preliminary ' already —
and occasionally the whole bill was written in verse.
When a cabal against a new piece was dreaded, no bill
appeared.

''Another form of advertisement formerly in use
was the announcement from the stage of the next day's
entertainment."

This also obtained in England at the London
theatres as late as Macready's day. He refers to the
practice more than once in his autobiography. It is an
unfortunate fact that the national collections at the
British Museum are not at all complete in the depart-
ment of playbills. Although it is evident that such
ephemeral productions were bound to become scarce,
they have received but little attention from collectors.
The collection of Drury Lane and Go vent Gkirden bills
presented by the late Sir Augustus Harris is probably
the finest and most complete in existence, but it con*
tains many gaps. These are annoyingly frequent when
they should record important first night performances
or the d4buta of great actors and actresses. Miss
Schlesinger, a well-known writer on musical matters^

807

APPENDIX

in an article on opera playbills in the Cannoiaaeur of
September, 1002, says : —

" The market value of playbills is not at the present
time very great, an early Garrick bill privately sold
realizing about two guineas, but old playbills are being
eagerly sought after not only by amateurs for their
collections, but also by those interested in musical and
dramatic history, in musical biography, and in musical
instruments of bygone days ; in fact, by all who are
seeking to reconstitute the past.

" l^e collector is often puzzled by finding two or
even three playbills of the same date similar but not
identical in every item ; all may be gentdne documents,
but it is important to know which represents the
actual order of the performance. Neither printing nor
distribution was accomplished during the first decades
of the last century with the same lightning rapidity
as in our day, and forecast handbills, complete in every
detail and containing at the bottom of the sheet exact
information as to where tickets might be obtained,
were printed and distributed in advance, as well as the
general poster announcement of larger size. When,
on account of some alteration in the programme, the
handbills had to be reprinted on the day of the per-
formance, the information as to the purchase of tickets,
no longer necessary, was often omitted, a circumstance
which frequently proves a guide in discriminating
between the bills, when a clue is not otherwise obtain-
able from the daily press.

"At the end of the eighteenth century the daily
newspapers published the correct bills of the principal
theatres at length; this was considered so influential
in promoting the circulation of the paper that the
proprietors of the news-sheets willingly paid the
theatres a yearly subsidy for the privilege."

Dibdin tells a story in his reminiscences of Lewis,
the actor and harlequin of Covent Garden, with whom
he was in the habit of walking home to Barnes from
the theatre once a week throughout the summer.

"One day as we passed a Richmond playbill, in
which Mrs. Jordan's name presented itself in the largest
possible type, he (Lewis) remarked on the numerous

808

APPENDIX

heartburnings such kind of distinction often produced
in provincifJ theatres, as well as the little squabbles
arising from the order of precedence in which per-
formers' names were placed in a playbill. With respect
to the latter he highly commended Mr. Kemble's ar-
rangement, by which the actors took rank in the bill
according to the dignity (not the [acting] value) of the
characters performed. When actors, dancers, etc., repre-
sented equal characters en maase^ as soldiers, citizens,
etc., their names were always placed alphabetically."

Theatrical Propertibs and Scenery at Covbnt
Garden in 1748. (See vol. i. p. 92.)

It is possible that a remarkable schedule of scenery
and properties at Covent Garden, preserved at the
British Museum,* was compiled in connection with the
above mortgage. To any one with even a slight
technical knowledge of the theatre behind the scenes,
this list possesses a peculiar interest.

" The Schedule referred to in and by an Indenture
of Assignment made the 30th day of January, 1744,
Between John Rich, late of the Parish of Saint George
Bloomsbury but now of the Parish of Saint Paul
Covent Garden, in the County of Middlesex, Esq.
(Eldest son and heir and also Devisee named in the
last will and testament of Christopher Rich, late of the
Parish of St. Martin in the Fflelds in the same County
of Middlesex, Esquire, his late father, deceased), of the
first part, Martha Launder, of the Parish of St. George
Hanover Square in the said County of Middlesex,
spinster, of the second part, and Hutchinson Mure, of the
Parish of St. James within the liberty of Westminster
and County of Middlesex, Esquire of the third part. . . •

*' A list of Scenes. [Flatn in the Scene Ro(ym.'\ Cottage
and long village. Medusa's Cave and 8 pieces. Grotto
that changes to Country house. Inside of Merlin's cave,
outside of ditto, dairy. Hermitage, Clock Chamber,
Farm Yard, Country House, Church, town, chimney
chamber, fort, Rialto, Harvey's hall, Othello's new Hall.
Hill transparent and 2 peices, Inn Yard, Arch to

* Addl. MS. 12,201, f. 30.

809

APPENDIX

Waterfall, Back of Timber Yard, Short Village, Second
Hill, front of timber yard, garden, short wood.

'' [Flats in the Top Fliesl Shop Flat and Flats in the
Shop. — ^A large pallace arch, an old low flat of a tower
and church, an open flat with cloudings on one side,
and palace on the other. [Back flats in Scene room],
Harvey^s palace, Bishop's garden, waterfall, long village,
long wood, com fields, the arch of Harveys palace,
back Arch of Ariodante's pallace, a canal, a seaport,
[Back Flats in Great Ro(mi\. The flat to the Arch and
groves, open country doth. [Ditto in the Top flies\.
The Sea back cloth, the King's Arms, Curtain. [ Wings
in the Scene Room\. 4 Ariodante's pallace, 12 Harvey's
pallace, do. rock, dx). woods, do. Atalanta's garden. . . .
Ceres garden, 6 vault, do. Hill, do. Inn Yard, do. fine
chamber, do. plain chamber. [Wings in Oreat Room\f
Eight moonlight. [Do. in Painters Boom]^ 2 of Ario-
dante's pallace, but are rubbed out and not painted.
[Do. in the Shop], 2 tapestry, 2 old Bock [Painted pieces
%n the Scene Boom], 6 tint pieces, Shakespeare's monu-
ment, Macbeth's cave, CBdipus tower, the moon in emp.
of do. an arbour, 2 pieces transparent Hill, a balcony,
old garden wall, a balcony pedestall, front of gallery in
Ariodante, a small palace border in do., a frontispiece
in do., 2 wings, common canopy in Bich^ 2*^, a Balus-
trade, 8 peices open Country, tree, Blind, near garden
wall, 2 peices tree in Margery, a palmtree in dra^gon
wantley, a sign of Rummer with beam, new mount in
four peices and 2 brass lines and iron swivells, the
two lottery wheels, 6 ground peices to the trees in
Orpheus, a figure in Harvey's palace, 2 stone figures
in Medusa's cave, [Do, in Oreat room], 7 open country
peices, 6 peices cornfields, 4 open country peices, 4
orange trees in potts, 6 garden peices, hedge stile and
fence 4 peices, a ground peice in two parts, front of
garden that changes to house, 4 peices, 6 rock peices
with trees, the house at end of melon ground. Balus-
trade and 2 figures, back part of melon ground and
2 trussells, the burning mountain two peices, the back
of machine in Jupiter and Europa, the Moon in Enyp. of
do., a blind to the back machine, the back of the back
machine, a ground peice of Atalanta's garden, the back
cloth, sky border to Arch in coronaticm, cottage in
Margery, 4 haycocks, eight posts to false stages, the
King and Princes box comp*. The front of great

810

APPENDIX

machine in Jwpiter and Europa, The water peioe to
bridge, a pedestall in Winter's Tale^ a i)eice ground
landskip, [Do. in Yard\^ 2 wings and 1 border to the back
machine, 8 wings to great machine in rwpe^ four borders
to ditto, the falling rock in AUsina^ four i)eices, the com-
pass border to Atalanta^s garden, the bridge in The
Rehearsalf 8 i)eices, the front of a small chariot cloud-
ing, 6 gothick chamber borders for false stage, 2 large
boitlers fixed to Battens used in oiiera, [Painted peieea
in first flies\ a gibbet tree in Apollo and Daphne, a
transparent in Oedipua, King of Thebes, a do., a blind
in Tlieodosius, a small rock flat, eight peices of old
clouding, a marble pedestall, 3 figures on pedestalls, 6
do. with braces, cornfields in 6 peices, a tomb in Timon,
a garden wall in five pieces, the front of an Altar. [Do.
in the Top Flies], 6 waves, and 2 shore peices to ditto, a
peice of a falling rock in the Operas, 8 old wings, the
horses to front of Back machine in Apollo and Daphne,
[Do. in painting Room], a tomb with figure and lamp,
columns to Fame's temple, 2 water peices out of use, 2
large branches for coronation. [Do. in Shop], a i)eice of
2 columns and Arches with hinges, arch and balustrade,
part of an old paH"*, 2 peices, an arbour, a large border of
Ariodante*s pallace and small transparent in Atalanta,
the front of a ship, the front of Ceres chariot, the figure
of Massinello on a pedestall, an old rock, two oxen in
Justin, an old small landskip, a clouding to a machine,
a large frame for scaffold, a border to frontispiece in
Ariodante, four furrows in Justin, a small old peice out
of use, half an old architect front, two small i)eices to
do., a sign of a Harlequin and sign iron, 12 i)eices of
breaking clouds in Apollo and Daphne, an old sky
border, 12 pedestalls of different sizes, one of the muses
on a pedestall, [Propertys \in Scene room], the Spanish
table, study of books, a blind used common, a coffin, a
tub, 5 stage ladders . . ., a Gibbet in Orpheus, 6 doubters
and 8 lighting Sticks, rProi)erties in Great Room] ... a
haycock in 2 i)eices, the mill in Faustus, supper table
and 2 chairs, ... 2 scaffolds for Sorcerer . . . nine
single blinds with 48 tinn candlesticks ... a red curtain
fixt to batten . . . [Do. in the Yard] . . . The stage in
the rape in four i)eices, front steps to do. . . . the great
travelling machine made for OnTpheus . . . [Do. in first
flies], 6 battins with red bays for barrs, 12 top grooves

• ?Rape qfPrMerpine,

811

APPENDIX

with 6 iron braces and ropes, 2 small borders and 2 iron
rods, large hill hung . • . key and collar to the fly in
Perseus^ the scroll of 1000 crowns a month ... 6 handles
and 12 brackets for the sea . . . the statute in the Rapcy
the buck basket, the tubb, egg, wheelbarrow, dunghill,
childs stool, gardner's basket, a raree show, 8 green
banks, a lyon, ... a turning chair and screens, Perseus,
. • . Rhodope's chair on castors, beaureau, skeleton's
case, pidgeon house, skeleton table and leather chair
. . . the great wheel and spindle, a small wheel and
barrel to the circular fly • . . cupids chariot, two rain
trunks and frames. . • • The Stage cloth . • . three
canopys to the King and Princes boxes, a red bench
and footstool to ditto. Medusa's couch, . . . The chariot
in Emp[eror] of Moon^ the dragon in Faustua^ a Mounte-
bank's stage and tressells ... 4 barrels, w^ and ropes
to the flies, ... 41 green benches, the rails that part
the pit in 5 i)eices . . ., a flying chariot, the great
machine Jupiter and Europa . . . the curtain bell and
line, a hook to draw off the cloudings, three lighting
sticks. [Do. in Top fiiea]^ 12 braces and stays to the
round fly, a monster, the Calash and wheels in Emp. of
Moon^ 2 barrels, weights, wires and scaffoldings to
dragon. [Do. in Roof\ The ban*el to the Stages with
roi)es, weights, etc., a barrel to flgure in Oedip^us^ V* and
rope, the barrel to the great machine in Jupiter and
Europa^ now used in Comus, with their wires, wts.
and ropes, 2 old barrels, 2 old Gibbets. . . . The border
bell and 12 candlesticks. [Properiiea in Painting Room],
. . . Painters scaffold, wts., roiies and grooves, 2 colour
stones and dressers fixt, 2 folding trussels, and 1 fixt
for painters use. . . . The fortiflcation chair in Jupiter
and Europa, the body of a machine in Apollo and
Daphne, a grindstone handle and trough, a painters
easel, and do. with figure of Harlequin, 86 thunder balls,
6 baskets to do. ... 4 candlesticks for the thimder.
[Do, in the Shop], 8 hanging scaffolds, roi)es and hand-
rails to round fly, 7 waves not cover**, the cutt chariot
in Sorcerer, a large modell of the Stage not flnished . . .
the thunder bell and line. . . . [Do., &c,, contained in the
Cellar], the lamps in front fixt with barrels, cordage,
wts., &c., the grave trap and 8 others with do., the
scene barrel fixt with cog wheels, See., 12 pr. of Scene
ladders fixt with ropes, Banquo's trap with barrel and
cordage, 6 columns to the dome in Perseus, a barrel

812

APPENDIX

groove, and wts. to trees in Orpheua^ 6 trees to do., the
post and barrel to pidgeon house, the egg trap and box
snaps, flap to grave trap, the Pallisadoes barrel, cordage,
&c. ... an old woman and grooves in Favstns, a
trophy, a rock and grooves, rope, a cloud, the Shell in
Comus . . . and 41 sconce candlesticks ... 5 tin blinds
to Stage lamps . . . 115 three comer tinn lamps, 2 long
iron braces and screws in Orpheus^ one long >do. in
Merlin^ 8 small do. ... 6 old iron rings and c^uns for
branches brought from Lincolns Inn. . . . The trap
bell and sconce bell, [Do.^ &c.f on the StctgeX the frontis-
piece, wings and borders, the curtain and borders, six
iron rims and brass chains for branches, borders and
6 pair of cloudings flxt to battens with barrels, wts.
and ropes, three hill borders, transparent and blind,
do. the melon ground, wts. barrels and ropes, 2 back
garden cloths &ct, 24 blinds to scene ladders, 192 tinn
candlesticks to do., 12 do. fixt to a post with five canopys,
a hang^ gibbet flxt with ropes and pulleys, 80 bottom
grooves of different sizes, Ceres falling car, 4 large
braces to mount in PeraeuSf a pyramid in Atlanti's
garden, a tree used in a dance, 2 tops to back machine,
the serpent and trunk, one large carpet, one throne and
4 other carpets, 4 bell glasses, the bell machine flxt with
barrel, wts. &c. . • . [Stuff in Yard]^ 14 lamps posts for
stage out of use. [Ao, in Rope Ro<mi\ 2 muffle ropes
with swivells flt for use. ... 2 old check ropes with
swivells, 19 old ropes of different lengths used in Rape^
a muffle to fly in Emp, of Moon. , • . The weights and
their dimensions. The great counterpoize to all the
traps and iron hooks 487 lbs. The grave trap, 2 wts.
and iron hooks 126 lb., middle trap 67 lb., counterpoize
to front lamps 170 lbs., 2 weights in painting room
250 lb., total 1100 lbs. [In the fliesl 1 wt. 7}-inch
diameter 2^ in. deep, ditto 1 wt. 10 in. diam. 2 in. deep,
ditto 1 wt. 10 do., 2 do. |. To the six brances several
wts. and iron hooks 7^ do., 11 do., ditto 1 w^ 7 do.,
2^ do. To the chariot in Merlin^ 1 wt. 6 do., 6 do. . . .

To the machine the back of the stage and iron
hook, 6^ diam., 4 ft. 10^ deep. . . .

[Th£ Chreen Boom]^ a grate, a clock, a large glass in a
gilt frame, a small mahogany table, 15 candle branches,
a scuttle, a pair of snuffers, . . .

[Candle Room]^ 46 copi)er pans, 12 iron pans, 5

818

APPENDIX

candle baskets, 2 dozen wood boxes for pans, 2 doz.
and half hanging candlesticks, 8 doz. brass sockets for
branches. . . .

Ptapertiea Contirvued.

8 maces gilt, 2 crosses . . •

Medusa's Head, a wooden crow, 2 Charon's paddles,
. . . saddle, bridle, and harness in Emp. of the Moan,
three frogs, one toad, one snail, and three other dresses,
2 boars one stufft, an alligator, 6 small tree branches
and two trophies, Minerva's shield, 6 dancers chairs, two
Hodds with bricks and mortar, a birdcatchers cage, 2
netts, a leather bottle, a painted owl ... 2 wooden legs
and a seat, a yoak and a saddle and trappings for mo^
coronation ... 3 tin halberts, a spring javelin, 12 tin
spears with tassells, 12 crooks, 3 running footman's
canes and ... 8 pasteboard shields, S tin do., a
spinning wheel, a cobbler's bench ... a baboon, 2 arms,
a body of a Taylor, a head of a lawyer, 8 pr. of crutches,
7 haymakers forks, 8 rakes, 5 tin fruit stands, 8 tin
crowns, chimney-sweepers bag, shovels and brush,
tinkers budget, hammers and kettle, 5 pasteboard signs,
6 tin-headed spears, 12 devils forks, 6 wooden guns,
2 large iron-headed spears, Oroonoko's chains, 8 parch-
ment masks, 8 transparent letters, one iron skull-cap,
Macbeth's daggers, 2 pasteboard fowls, 6 wood flam-
beaux, transparent skeleton, two artificiall melons,
pierrot's cand^, 3 brass do., 2 green lawyers bags, a
stufFt ham, the shield in Perseus [and Andromeda] of
looking glass.

Organs at Covent Garden. (See vol. i. p. 825.)

The following interesting details concerning the
Covent Garden organs were kindly given to me by
Dr. C. W. Pearce,* the well-known musician, who is

* '^Dear Mr. Saxe Wyndham^

"I have great pleasare in sending yon accoonts of
three Covent Garden Theatre organs^ dated respectively 1808^
1809, 1810.

^^ Observe that Jordan's organ (1808) was a third shorter in
compass than its successor^ built by Russell in the following year^
and that the Jordan tierce and trumpet were not repeated in the
later instrument. The former stop must have been truly horrible^
with the ^unequal temperament' then in vogue. Russell's two
4-feet stops were a step in the modem direction ; but the absence of

314

APPENDIX

a great authority on the subject. They have not, I
believe, previously been published.

Extracts from a MS. book bound in parchment,
entitled '' An Account of Organs and Organ Builders,
collected by Henry Leffler. 1800."

** [The collection was begun in the year named, but
was obviously continued for some years after that
date.— C. W. P.]

*^ Organ in Vauxhall Gardens [as it existed in] 1800.
One sett of keys from CO to E, with shifting movement.

** Great (7 stops) : Oi)en Diapason, 52 pipes ; Stopped
Diapason, 52 pipes ; Principal, 52 pipes ; Flute, 52 pii)es ;
Twelfth, 52 pipoB ; Sesquialtera IV. Ranks, 208 pipes.

'^ ' Built about six weeks after Adam was breeched.' "

Organ in Old Theatre RoyaZ^ Covent Garden (1808).
(Burnt with the theatre, 1808.)
Built by Jordan.
** One sett of keys from GG to D, long octaves.
"7 stops: Oi)en Diapason, 55 pipes; Stopped Dia-
pason ; 55 pipes ; Principal, 55 pifies ; Twelfth, 55 pijies ;
Fifteenth, 55 pipes ; Tierce, 55 pipes ; Trumi)et, 55 pii)es.

Organ in New Theatre Royals Covent Garden (1800).
Built by Russell ; open*d Oct. 1800.

the lower bass octave to the open diapason must have been a serious
lofis^ probably occasioned by lack of room, although the omission
of a reed stop as well seems to point to an exercise of niggardly
economy in the cost. I take it that Jordan's organ was not buUt in
the year 1806, but was then recorded by Mr. Lemer. The ' oratorio
organ ' shows a still further advance by having one of its stops —
the hautboy — enclosed in a swell-box, although plaved from the
same manual as the other stops. Here we get not only a trumpet^
but an open diapason running to the bottom. You may like to
compare the accounts of these three Covent Garden organs with
that of the organ in Vauxhall Gardens at the beginning of the 19th
century. I gather from Mr. Leffler's disparaging remark that this
last-named instrument was an M organ, perhaps goin^ as hr back
as Handelian times. His abstention from grumbling m the case of
the three theatre organs leads one to suppose that these were more
up to date than the organ at Vauxhall !

'^ With kind regards and best Christmas wishes,

" Believe me,

" Yours very sincerely,

•' C. W. Pkaace."

815

APPENDIX

" One row of keys, long octaves, GO to F.

" 7 stops ; Open Diapason to O, 47 pipes ; Stopped
Diapason, 58 pipes ; Principal, 58 pipes ; Flute, 58 pipes ;
Twelfth, 58 pipes ; Fifteenth, 58 pipes ; Sesquialtera III.
ranks, 174 pipes.**

" Oratorio Organ, Covent Garden Theatre (1810).

" Built by Allen, 1810.

" Has one sett of keys, long octaves, up to F.

" 8 stops : Open Diapason, 58 pipes ; Stopped Dia-
pason, 58 pipes ; Principal, 58 pipes ; Twelfth, 58 pipes ;
Fifteenth, 58 pipes ; Sesquialtera III. ranks, 174 pipes ;
Trumpet, 58 pipes ; Hautboy Swell, to Middle C.**

Receipts of the Seasons.* (See vol. ii. p. 14.)

The gross receipts during the twelve seasons, 1809-
1821, amounted to £001,811, or an annual average of
£82,650. These seasons were under the management
of Harris. After the new arrangement by which C.
Kemble, Willett, and Forbes became lessees, during the
1824 season the receipts amounted to £71,000.

1809-10
1810-11
1811-12
1812-13
1813-14
1814-15
1815-16

1816-17
1817-18
1818-19
1819-20
1820-21

£ t. d.

96,051 14 4
106,177 8 10
95^001 6 2
78,209 3 8
87,160 14 11
93,613 17 9
83,780 7 9
77,603 1 3
75,149 9 8
74,121 12 4
55,833 14
69,108 15 10

September 6, 1819— April 20, 1820 :

157 nights

157 nights' salaries and weekly payments ...

September 18, 1820— April 14, 1821 :

157 nights ... ... ... ... ...

157 nights' salaries and weekly payments ...

£ 9. d.

34,464 6 6
26,932 19 4

37,902 3
23,034 14 10

* Extracted from printed report of Henry Harris's appeal in the
House of Lords against a Chancery suit filed by C. Kemble. *

816

APPENDIX

(See vol. ii. p. 150.)
The following is taken from C. J. Mathews' ** Life '
(edited by Charles Dickens) : —

A REHr&N OF ALL PeBSONB ENGAGED IN THIS EsTABLIBHMENT
DURING THE WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 26^ 1840.

Company — Gentlemen
„ Chorus singers
„ Ladies

Band

Officers

Box-keepers

Check and money takers ...

2
15

Bradweifs Department,

Workers 60

Snpers 22 =

Scenery Dept. Painting-

room ... ... ...

Sloman*9 Department,

Carpenters ...

For working pantomime ...

Cassidy

Gentiemeihs Wardrobe,

Workers 24

Dressers 14

Extras 18 = ... ...

Ladieit' Wardrobe,

Workers 42

Dressers 14

Attendants 2

Mrs. Thomas^ Mrs. Lewis 2 =

Supers.

Midsummer Night's Dream

Pantomime

Extra chorus and hand ...

Property Department
Printers, hillstickers^ etc. ...
Watch and firemen

Police

Attendance at Bar,

•

Boxes 16

Pit 18

Gallery 8 =

Place-keepers

Box-keepers

7
10

Total

684

Extract prom the '* Illustratbd London News,"
December 6, 1856. (See vol. ii. pp. 170-181.)

A NEW Italian opera on an entirely novel basis in this
country, designed to combine the French and German
grand oiiera with the Italian school, having been
organissed by Mr. Gruneisen and his friends in the
course of the year 1846, the next step was to find a
suitable house for the new company. Ck>vent Garden,
one of the' largest of our theatres, was still too small
for the purpose, and Mr. Albano, who had hitherto been
chiefly known as a civil engineer, was called to under-
take the gigantic work. He submitted three plans —
one by which it would have been transformed into the

817

APPENDIX

largest theatre in the world, surpassing San Carlo and
La Scala ; a second, smaller than those theatres ; and a
third, wUch, though it gave additional tiers of private
boxes, left the theatre of its original size. The second
plan was adopted.

Mr. Albano obtained possession of the building in
the beginning of December, 1846, and for five weeks the
work of demolition went on with marvellous rapidity.
Afterwards three relays of workmen, at one time
amounting to from 000 to 1200 persons, were employed
in the house, who worked day and night.

We have not space to describe the skilful operations
by which the architect obtained a very extensive
auditory, with an increase from three to six tiers of
boxes (making altogether one hundred and eighty-eight),
with first and second amphitheatre, and gidlery, with-
out disturbing the effect of the house, which, at the
opening on the 6th of April, 1847, contained about four
thousand persons. The building, as a whole, was con-
verted into one of the largest theatres out of Italy.

On entering, the appearance of the house was ex-
ceedingly striking. Tlie breadth between the boxes
was 60 ft., with 80 ft. from box to curtain, which
gave a good proportion to the height, with its colossal
amphitheatre. The stage, between the columns of the
proscenium, was 46 ft. wide, being a gain of about 10 ft.
over the old one. The sky-like ceiling was one of the
most imposing beauties of the new edifice, its dimensions
being 70 ft. by 62. Acoustic principles were universally
admitted to have been well cared for, and most success-
fully carried out in its construction, being partly elliptic,
partly hyperbolic, and covered all round ; and the pros-
cenium, forming a splayed arch, threw the voice into
the centre of the house. We have engraved this superb
theatre, as it appeared at the opening, on the night of
the 6th April, 1847, in the presence of an immense
assemblage of rank and fashion, and of artistical and
literary celebrities ; for no one present that night can
ever forget the burst of applause which followed the
magic effect produced by the instantaneous and brilliant
illumination of the house, when the famous band struck
up, and the curtain rose, showing the first scene of the
opera of SemAraniide.

And now let us recall from memory, and survey for
a moment, what the architect's skill accomplished in

818

APPENDIX

that structure, so rich, yot so simple ; so gorgeous, yet
so elegant ; so massive in its proportions, and yet so
light. The circular sweep of the six tiers of boxes, with
the graceful curves in their fronts ; the white and gold
ornaments in relief of their fa9ades, relieved here and
there by a ground of turquoise blue; the crimson
hangings and parapets ; the elegant caryatides on the
grand tier, witii its rich acanthus leaf and exquisite
frieze; the lovely blue ceiling, with its floral, archi-
tectural and allegorical belts, its chaste cornice in white
and gold, and the gilded perforated ornament, through
which the chandelier descended ; the superb panels and
Royal arms in bold relief on the proscenium, bounded
on one side by the figures of Italy, and on the other by
that of Britannia — both emblems on golden grounds —
gave to the whole pictorial gracefulness and harmonious
amalgamation.

Considering the magnitude of the works, that the
theatre was taJcen to pieces and reared again in all the
splendour of the opera house within the short space of
four months — full one-third of this time being occupied
in pulling down the audience part of the house, from
the foundation of the vaults to within a few inches
under the roof, etc. — it must be admitted that a great
feat was accomplished by Mr. Albano. Immediately
after the conflagration, by wbich this magniflcent
theatre was reduced to a heap of ruins, many inaccurate
statements were made with respect to the cost of the
works, which are set down at sums varying from
£40,000 to £75,000 ; but we learn from the published
statement of Mr. Albano that the whole of the cost of
the works of building, i>ainting, etc., was under £28,000.
There^ was a further sum of £4000 expended for flx-
tures, chandelier, gas-fittings, looking-glasses, and other
fittings.

NOTES AND ERRATA

VOL. I

Page 6 (1st par.). The author is assured hy Mr. W. J. Lawrence
that there is no foandation for the statement that Rich's stage name
of " Lun " was derived from a French Harlequin.

Page 29 (2nd par.). The print hy Vaudergucht here referred

319

APPENDIX

to formed the frontispiece to one of the editions of '' Harleoain
Horace/' a satire by the Rev. J. Miller^ which was dedicated to
J N R H, Esq.

Page 30 (2nd line from bottom), for "pU-boxes" read "pit and
boxes.

Page 73. The statement as to the arrangement of the Panto-
mime plot of Orpheus and Euridice is an error, and should be
disregarded. '

Paffe 186. A writer in Grove's Dictionary points oat that the
tune which resembles the fieunous Advent Hymn was a concert-room
song entitled " Guardian Angels, now protect me." It was intro-
duced into The Golden Pippin (presumably at Ck>vent Garden) in
1776, and sung by Miss CaUey in the character of Juno.

Page 223 (bottom line). The Duke of Milan, by Massinger, was
not an unacted play.

Page 268 (7fli line), for " Obranto" read " Otrantor

VOL. II

Page 17 (22nd line), for Cherry's Fair Star read Cherry and Fair
Star.

Page 18 (13th line^, for Govent Garden read Covent Garden.
Page 114 (6th line), for against read again at.
Page 192 (9th line), for « La Prophete " read " Le Prophete.''
Page 201 03th line), for Henry Braham read John Braham.
Page 206 (7th line), for boats read boots.

320

INDEX

NoTB* — Sififfers and the more important PUuft are indexed under tkete
headinfft as wdl as tmder their separate letters, thus "BroAom" inll he found
among " Singers " as wM <u under " B" The doss-headings are not, howeoer^
arranged alphabetically, hut in the order in which each name is dealt with in
the text. AU Shakespeare's plays are indexed under ** Shakespearian Eevivals,'*
Pantomimes are indexed only wndtr thdr dass-heading^ and are not separately
referred to.

Abbott, ii. 59

Aborcom, Marchioness of, i. 297

Abington, Mrs., L 136, 231,

266, 266, 273
Account of the burning of

GoTent Garden, on March 5,

1866, by Tom Robertson

(author of Caste, etc.), ii.

203-217
Account, i. 60, 66, 124, 338,

342; ii. 9, 10, 14, 187, 266
Additional accompaniments to

Meuiah, i. 309
Adelphi llieatre^ iL 74
Admission (terms of )—

1834-6 season, ii. 89, 101

September 30, 1837> ii. 128
Advertisements —

that servants may keep pUuses,
L68

of SampMUf i. 86

of 1769 season, Handel's
works, i. 133

of Memah, i. 134, 309

of The Crealian, i. 276

of Anderson's jHilina8qu^n,202
Albani, Mile. Emma —

her introduction to Mr. Oye,
ii. 264

Albani, Mile. Emma — continued,
as Elsa in Lohengrin, ii. 266,

268,276
as Venus in TannhdiMer, ii. 269
her nationality, ii. 272
and 1888 season, iL 283
as Eva in Die Meieteninger, ii.
286

Albert, M., u. 88, 184

Alboni, Marietta, ii. 184, 186,
186,190

" Airs WeU " (duet), i. 301

Alsop, Mrs., i. 367

Anderson, J., ii. 128, 136, 138,
140, 146, 146, 160, 161, 161

Anderson, " Professor,*' or
"The Wizard of the North,"
u. 200-210

'* Angeb ever bright and fair,"
i. 349

Antiquary (musical drama), ii. 6

Architectural account of new
Co vent Garden Theatre (1806-
09) on reconstruction after
Great Fire, i. 330-838

Arditi, Signer, iL 266, 266

<< Arethusa" (song), L 233, 260

Ame, Dr. Thomas Augustine,
L 63, 69, 76, 92, 98, 142, 162,
163, 164, 166, 161, 184, 186,
187, 197, 211, 216, 216, 326

VOL. II.

821

INDEX

Ame, Michael, i. 225, 259
Ame^ Susanna Maria (afterwards

Mrs. Gibber), i. 59, 92
Arnold, Dr., i. 122, 166, 161,

183, 210, 213, 214, 227, 228,

260,261
Arnold, S. J. , ii. 74
Arthur, John, i. 5
Ashe, Mrs., L 309
Ashley, C, i. 265
Ashley, John, L 261, 276, 310
Astley's Amphitheatre, ii. 74
As You Like It, Vide under

Shakespearian Revivals
Attwood, Thomas, i. 262> 277,

286, 368 ; ii. 41
'* Auld Lang Syne," i. 233
'' Auld Robin Gray," i. 265; ii.

172

Operas and Operettas

Achilles, i. 32

Alcina, i. 51

Alexander's Feast, i. 53, 62, 120

AtaJanta, i. 54, 61

Arminius, L 61

Alcestes, i. 93, 120, 122

Artaxerxes, i. 152, 154, 229, 244,

284; ii. 12
Accomplished Maid, i. 160
Achilles in Petticoats, i. 197
Annette and Lubin, i. 218
Amphitryon, L 227
Andromache, i. 250
Abroad cmd cU Home, i. 264
Adrian and Orrila, i. 299
AmUie, ii. 132, 135
Antigone, ii. 175
Anna Bolena, ii. 190
L'Africaine, ii 248, 249
Aida, ii. 269, 274, 276, 282
Amy Rcbsart, ii. 289

Babil and Bijou (musical £aree),

ii. 266
Baddeley (actor), L 184
Baillie, Joanna, ii. 106
Balfe, ii. 117, 225, 232, 243
Balfe, Mile. Victoire, ii 224
Ballantyne, on Mrs. Siddons, i.

356,357
Balleta—

Auld Robin Oray, iL 155

Champs Elysiesy ii. 149

Cupid and Psyche, i. 265

Deaih qf Cafiain Cook, The,
i. 247

Guy, Earl of Warwick, iL 164

La Sylphide, ii. 88

U Odalisque, ii 184

Ulle EnchanUe, ii 246

MasanUHo, ii 78

Oscar and McUvina, i. 252

Poor Jack, i. 319
Bannister, i. 214, 234, 243, 251
11 Barbiere, u. 188
Barnes (Pantaloon), ii. 226
Barrington, Mrs., i. 118, 141
Barry, £. M. (architect), ii. 22(t,
222

The Floral HaU, ii. 228
Barzymore (actor), i. 353
Barry, Mrs., i. 217
Barry, Spranger, i. 118, 119,

122-126, 128, 168, 196, 200,

213, 378
Barsanti, Miss, L, 197, 198, 214
Bartley, G., ii. 145, 147, 150, 158
Bartley, Mrs., iL 88
Bartolini, ii. 194
Barton Booth, i. 19, 147, 297
Bath, Countess of, L 165
Battishill, L 274
Battistini, Signor, ii. 275

822

INDEX

Bauermeister, MUe., ii 257, 286 Benefit perfonnances — contd.

Baumgarton, C. F., i. 261

" Bay of Biscay " (aong), i. 306-

S08
Bayswater Hospital, i. 277
Beale, Frederick (Cramer^

Beale & Co.), ii. 181, 182,

187-189
Beards John, i. 53, 83, 92, 136,

139, 151, 152, 154, 161-163,

165, 170, 173, 174
Beardmore, Mrs. (formerly Miss

Parke), i. 291
Beaius Stratagem, L 302
k Beckett, G. A., ii. 252
Bedford, Duke of, i. 21, 142,

255
Beefsteaks, Sublime Society of,

or the Beefsteak Club, L 46,

263, 278, 325
Bellamy, Miss Georgianna, i.

80, 81, 82, 94, 113, 115, 125,

126, 133, 145, 166, 160, 179,

181
Bdle'a Stratagem, i. 225 ; ii. 34,

148
Bellini, ii. 156
Bellochi, Mme., i. 381
BeUhazzar (oratorio), i. 120
Bencraft, i. 151, 156; ii. (App.

iiL)304, 305
Benedict, Julius, iL 166, 238
Benefit performances —
for Milward's widow and chil-
dren, i. 81
„ Mrs. Porter, i. 86
„ Scotch Teterans (1745), i.

97
„ Ryan's widow, L 143
„ Theatrical Fund, L 158,

160, 161, 183, 213
„ Mrs. Yates, i 181
„ Goldsmith, L 194

for Samuel Beddish, i. 219
„ Henderson's widow, i. 239
„ widow and orphans of

the men who fell in the

naval action ofi' Cape St.

Vincent, L 265
„ Lewis, i. 266
„ Royal Humane Society, i.

274
„ O'Keefe, i. 277
„ Bayswater Hospital, L 277
„ Cooke, George, i. 281
„ Lee Lewes, i. 292
„ T. Dibdin, i. 308
„ Mrs. Mattocks, i. 322
„ relief of British prisoners

in France, i. 353
„ aged and infirm actors and

actresses and widows

and children of Cogent

Garden Theatre, i. 360
„ Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, L

360
„ Charles Kemble, i. 373, 382
„ relatives and children of

John Emery, deceased,

u. 17

„ Dibdin bust by Sievier,
placed in the Yeteraos'
Library, Greenwich Hos-
pital, ii. 58

„ Fund to reopen Covent
Garden and to avert
forced sale (£750 real-
ized at the King's Opera
House), iL 58, 59

„ the Dramatic College, ii.
229

„ Charles Mathews, ii. 260
Bensley, i. 197
Benvenuto CeUini, opera by

Berlioz, ii. 197

828

INDEX

Beresford, Lady Oharlee, ii. 282

Bernard^ i. 200

Bernard, Mn., i. 261

Bertin (danoer)^ ii. 184

Betterfcon, i. 2

Betterton, Mias (afierwardt

Bfrs. Glover), L 266, 298;

ii. 1, 107
Betiini, ii. 267
Betty, Master^ i. 30S-d06, 360;

ii. 178
Beverley (aoene-painter), ii. 205,

224,227
Beyignani^ Signer (pianist)^ ii.

267,260
Biokentaff (dramatist)^ L 160,

177, 179
** Bid me Diaoonrse," ii. 11
BiUington, Mis., i. 241, 243,

244, 262, 282-284, 291, 378
Biahop, Sir Henry, i. 352, 358,
360, 361, 367, 368, 372, 377 ;
iL 2, 14, 17, 22, 26, 28, 32,
33, 69, 60, 161, 166

left OoTent Garden and en-
gaged at Dmry Lane, ii. 32
Blaeh-^ed Sman, ii. 116, 201
Blanchard, E. L., ii. 247
Blanohard, i. 251, 353 ; iL 13,

43
Bland, Mra., i. 309
Boaden (critic), i. 231, 236, 238,

240, 241, 266, 258, 269, 263,

264, 267, 272, 279, 287, 289,

292, 294, 326, 331, 341, 351,

373; ii.7
Bob AcreBj Grimaldi aa, i. 360
Bochaa (harpiat), ii. 23
Boieldieu (oompoaer), L 366 ;

ii. 42
Bolton, Miaa, i 353
Bononcini, i. 37
Booth, Miaa, i. 363

Boa6, MUe. (dancer), ii. 267
Boaio, MUe., iL 198, 224
BoQcicault —

London As9uraneej iL 160, 161

BdM and Bijou, iL 266
Bow Lane, St. Mary Aldermary,

L282
Box and Cox (farce), i. SM)1 ; iL

230
Boyce, Dr., L 77,144
Braham, John, i. 242, 264, 282,

284, 286, 287, 290, 301, 306,

310, 323 ; iL 23, 32, 41, 201
Brandon, John (box-keeper), i.

287, 300, 320, 328, 343, 34e<

348; iL 27
Brandt, Mile. Marianne (ainger

in Wagnerian opera), ii. 265,

266
Brent, Ifisa, L 136, 143, 162
Bridgwater (actor), L 81
Bright, John, Anti-Corn Law

meetinga, ii. 172
Brooke, Mrs., L 246
Browninff —

fi^, iL 108. 114, 116

at anpper, ii. 112

at rehearaala, ii. 140
** Brown Jug " (aong), L 233
Brown, Mias (Mra. Catgill), i.

206, 206
Bmnawick Theatre, ii. 74
Brunton, i. 363
Brunton, Miaa, i. 239, 251
Bufton, Miaa, ii. 229
Bulkeley Mra. (Miaa Wilford),

L 167, 176, 197, 198, 200,

217
Bidl, John, L 291, 316 ; ii. 148,

166
Bullock, William, i. 69
Bunn, Alfred, i. 361, 380; ii.
16, 18-21, 56, 69, 80-103,

324

INDEX

Bunn, Alfred — continved,

141, 164, 170, 172, 183, 185,
231, 232
on exorbitant salaries, ii. 19
on Henry Harris, ii. 21
as joint lessee of Covent
Qarden and Drury Lane, ii.
80-98
his death, ii. 231
memoir, ii. 231, 232
Bunn, Mrs. (formerly Miss

Somerville), iL 1
Burlington, Countess of, i. 114
Busby, Dr., i. 274, 289
Busybody, i. 167, 218
Byrne, James, i. 11
Byron —
Marino FalierOy ii. 135

Operas and Operettas

Beggar's Opera, i. 18, 31, 71, 77,
90, 97, 136, 138, 144, 161,
215, 266, 302, 360; ii. 35,
147, 155, 164

Berenice, i. 63

Barber of Seville, i. 377

Banditti (afterwards CasUe of
Andalusia), u. 227, 228, 231

n Barbiere, ii. 188, 190

Benvenuto Cellini, ii. 197

Bohemian Girl, ii. 201

Bianca, ii. 232

Blanche de Nevers, ii. 243

Ballo in Maschera, ii. 249

Bronse Horse, ii. 104

Cambridge, Duke of, and Miss

Fairbrother, ii. 152
Camporese, Mme., ii. 23
Cantelo, Miss, i. 248

Capacity of seating, i. 337

Capper, Miss, i. 276

Captain of the Watch (farce),

ii. 155
Carestini, Oiovanni, i. 61
Carey, George Savile, i. 62, 91
Carey, Henry, i. 61, 90, 127
Cargill, Mrs. (Miss Brown), i.

205,206
Carrodus, J. T., ii. 267
Canralho, Mme., ii. 231, 237,

241,249
Carver (scene-painter), i. 231
Castellan, Mme., ii. 190, 194
C€uile of Otranto (melodrama),

iL155
Casts of plays and operas —
Clandestine Marriage, i. 170
The Bivals—
first night, i. 198
subsequently, ii. 17
ITie Heir at Law, i. 267
School for Scandal, i. 363 ; ii.

230
Henry IV,, Part 2, ii. 13
Oberan (first performance), ii.

36
Othdlo, iL 49
Borneo and Juliet, ii. 59
Anna Bolena, ii. 87
Wedding Gown, iL 87
The Tempest, iL 136
Bichdieu, ii. 13^
Merry Wives of Windsor, ii.

147, 148
London Assurance (first oast),

iL150
Antigone (Mendelssohn's

opera), ii. 175
Satandla (Balfe's opera), iL

226
Money, ii. 229
Merchant of Venice, ii. 229

825

INDEX

Caste of plays and openm—^anid.

BJack^eyed 8u$an, ii. 230

Box and Cox, ii. 290

Lily of KiOarney, ii. 238

Bon Giovanni, iL 267

RomSo and Julidte (Gaonod*B
opera), iL 285

Dm Meiiternnger, iL 286
Catelani, i. 323, 349, 363
Catley, Anne, i. 153, 183, 186
Oato, i. 81, 99, 201, 361
Centenary of Covent Garden,

u. 71-75
Cerito, Fanny (dancer), ii. 199
Chapel Royal, The ChUdren of

the, L 157
Chapman, Miaa, L 251
Oharlfs XJL (musical after-
piece), ii. 164
Charlotte of Saxe-Coburg, Prin-
cess, L 369
Cherry, Andrew (playwright), i.

306
Cherublni, i. 286
Chippendale, ii. 230
Chronide newspaper on the

O. P. Riote, i. 341
Cibber, Colley, i. 59, 80, 81,

95,297
Cibber, Mrs., L 59, 83, 84, 90,

92, 94, 97, 99, 100, 101, 103,

106, 118, 119, 122, 123, 125,

136,297
Cibber, Theophilus, i. 97, 106
Clandestine Marriage —

special oast, i. 170

other performances, i. 164 ; ii.
148
Clanricarde, Marquis, ii. 86
Clarke (actor), i. 141
Clifford, Henry, and O.P. Riote,

ii. 343, 347
Clinch, L 199, 201

Clive, Mm., i. 80, 90, a3, 94,

96, 106, 136, 181
Clowns —

John Arthur, L 5

Gnnuddi, i. 18, 308, 316, 317-
319, 360, 363, 360, 372,
380; ii. 11,17,24,25,44

Grimaldi, young Joe, ii. 11,
17,25

Flexmore, ii. 226
Cobb (Ubrettist), i. 272, 277
Cobbett, William, on O.P.

Riots, L 345
Cobden, Richard, Anti-Corn

Law meetings, ii. 172
Colman, George, i. 164-170,

173-181, 187-198, 214, 281
Colman, George (the younger),

L 267, 291, 316 ; ii. 17
Columbines —

Miss Kilby, L 73

Nancy Dawson, L 138

Miss Parker, i. 354

Miss Fairbrother, iL 152, 159

Miss Kendalls, ii. 159

Miss Claxa Moyan, ii. 226
Comedy qf Errors. Vide under

Shakespearian Revivals
Conductors —

C. F. Baumgarten, i. 259, 261

Mountun, i. 261

W. Ware, i. 272

G. Ashley, i. 276, 310

Sir Henry Bishop, i. 352,
358, 360, 361, 367, 368,
372 ; ii. 2, 14, 17, 22, 28,
151

Samuel Wesley, i. 381

Sir George Smart, iL 37

Tom Cooke, iL 136, 137

Julius Benedict, iL 166, 238

Signor Costa, ii. 180-182, 195,
224, 238, 254, 255

826

INDEX

Alfred MeUon, ii. 226, 228

Signer Arditi, ii. 255

Signor Vianesi, ii. 255, 260

Signer Bevignani, ii. 260

Signor Mancinelli, ii. 286
Conti, Signor, i. 54
Oooke, Dr., i. 260
Cooke, George (actor), i. 27^

281, 233, 289, 291, 298-901,

319, 322, 347
Cooke, T. P., i. 368 ; iL 22, 32,

59, 61, 116, 230
Cariolanus. Vide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
ComhUl fire (1748), i. 106
Cornwall, Bany, ii. 12
Costa, Michael, ii. 180-182, 195,

198, 224, 233, 238, 246, 247,

254, 255, 275
Costumes —

Harlequin, i. 11

Macbeth, i. 196

Play of King John^ ii. 24

Coronation Pageant of Charles
X. of France, ii. 35
Cotogni, Signor, ii. 267
Count K5nigsmark, i. 102
Countess of Bath, L 165
Country Girl, i. 265, 312, 353
Covent Garden ~

prospectus, 1730, L 20, 24

original deed or agreement,
December, 1731, i. 21

architect, L 24, 330 ; ii. 181

site, i. 24, 326

dimensions, L 29, 333^336

opening night, i. 30

agreement with Fleetwood,
i. 49

accounts, i. 50, 56, 124, 338,
342

mortgages, i. 92, 142

Covent Grarden — continued,
organ (bequeathed by Handel,

1757), i. 135, 326
riots, i. 110-112, 164, 266,

286, 313-316, 324, 339-348 ;

ii 145, 146
leases, i. 142, 255, 288; u.

16, 99, 160, 178
ground rent, i. 145, 255
Rich's management, i. 21-149
Beard and Bencraft's manage-
ment, i. 151
Half-price Riots, i. 154
footlights, L 159
dSmt of the pianoforte, i. 161
sale of patents by Rich's exe-
cutors, L 164, 165, 167
Colman^s management, i. 173-

198
Powell and Rutherford's

shares sold, i. 182
Colman's shares sold to

Thomas Harris, i. 198
Thomas Harris's management,

L198
Charles Dibdin appointed

musical director, L 217
murder of Miss Ray, i. 221
partial reconstruction, Mr.

Holland architect, L 224
actor accidentally killed, i.

248
almost entirely rebuilt, 1792,

Holland architect, i. 255,

266
loan by Duke of Bedford,

and new lease, i. 255
Shilling Gallery Rioto, L 256
TA« Creation (first perform-
ance in England), i. 275,

276
disputes between proprietors

and actors, arbitration, i.278

827

INDEX

Oorent Ghurden— con<tniied.

BeefsteAk Glob, i. 278

Bale of books of words of
songs, and prices reduced,
.288

Henry Harris associated wifch
his father in the manage-
ment, i. 289

Lewis's (stage manager) share
sold to J. P. Kemble, i.
294

value of the whole concern in
1802, i. 293, 294

table showing exact interests
of Thomas and Henry
Harris, Kemble, and the
two other proprietors, i.
296

O. P. Bioto, i. 313-316, 324,
339-348

destroyed by fire, i. 324-329

Horwood's plans, i. 326

transference of company to
the King's Theatre during
rebuilding, L 330

munificent contributions to-
wards rebuilding, i. 329, 330

first stone laid by Prince of
Wales, i. 330

architect of new buUding,
Sir Richard Smirke, i. 330

detailed account of new build-
ing, i. 330-338

reopened after fire, L 339

percentage of profit, i. 342

audit of accounts by a com-
mittee, i. 342

Harris and Kemble manage-
ment to retirement of
Thomas Harris, i. 293-349

Henry EDirris takes up his
father's share in the
management, L 349

828

Covent (harden — continued.

T. Dibdin's engagement ter-
minated, i. 361
sale of KiUigrew's patent, L

361
time of commencement of

performance, i. 376
the band, sums paid to them,

L379
in low water, iL 1-10
theatre closed for three

weeks on death of George

III., ii. 6
death of Thomas Harris, and

its bearing on the control

of the property, ii. 7-10
transfer J. P. Kemble's share

to his brother Charles, ii.

7,8
receipts for eleven seasons

after opening of the new

theatre, iL 14
agreement by 0. Kemble and

others to pay rent to H.

Harris in respect of EDirris's

interest, ii. 16
engagement of Carl von

Weber as musical director

in place of Bishop, ii. 32
blunderbusses lent to actors

to protect them from high-
waymen, ii. 46
Edmund Kean, ii. 47-^
great crush, December 21,

1827, to see Kean as
OtheUo, ii. 49

Thomas Simpson Cooke (Tom
Cooke) musical director on
death of Weber, ii. 63

gas explosion, November 20,

1828, ii. 64

theatre ''orders," or free
admissions, ii. 65-^7

INDEX

Covent Gftrden — continued.

Covent Gkurden — continued.

distraint for rates, ii. 58
disgrace of forced sale averted,

ii. 58, 69
the validity of the theatre's

patents, ii. 63
patents abolished, ii. 64
Laporte manager,March,1832,

ii69
centenary (1832), historical

review, iL 71-75
Bunn's dual control of Drury

Lane and Oovent (harden,

iL 80-98
end of Bunn's management,

theatre advertised to be let,

ii.98
Osbaldiston, D. W., how he

became leasee, ii. 99-101
Macready's management nego-
tiations, ii. 122-127
Charles Mathews and Madame

yestris*s management, ii.

142-161
the Yestris-Mathews lease

terminated on the ground

of arrears of rent, ii. 160
theatre hired for Anti-Oom

Law meetings, iL 172
Anti-Corn League Bazaar, ii.

177

Laurent's short lease, ii. 178

as an opera-house, circum-
stances attending the open-
ing, ii. 180, 181

Persiani joint leasee with
Galletti (1847), ii. 181, 182

Frederick Beale, lesaee and
manager in place of Persiani
and Oalletti, ii. 188

Frederick Delafield, lessee in
place of Frederick Beale,
ii. 189

829

Frederick Oye, director under
committee of shareholders,
u. 192

known as Boyal Italian Opera
House, ii. 192

Gye and Lumley's fight for
possession of Johanna
Wagner, ii. 195, 196

sub-let (January, 1856) for
six weeks to *' Professor"
Anderson, ii. 199

Anderson's carnival benefit,
Tuesday, March 4, 1856, ii.
202

theatre burnt to the ground,
March 5, 1856, iL 203-217

detailed account of recon-
structed building, ii. 222-
224

reopened after fire, ii. 221,
222,224,226

let by Gye for winter
season, December, 1858, to
Louisa Pyne and W. Har-
rison for English opera, ii.
225

The Floral Hall, ii. 228

dSbut of Adelina Patti, ii.
235

Gye and Mapleson in partner-
ship, ii. 253-260

promenade concerts (1878),
Arthur SuUivan conductor,
ii. 270

Frederick Gye died Decem-
ber, 1878, and Ernest Gye
assumed sole management,
ii. 270, 276

theatre closed for a year, ii.
277

Signor Lago's short manage-
ment, ii. 280, 281

INDEX

Covent Gaiden-— oon^iied.
Sir Augustus Hanis's maaage-

meni, ii. 281-290
deep personal interest taken
by King Edward VIL, ii.
284
Lady de Grey'a power orer
the management, ii. 284,
286
operas in French, iL 286
Mr. A. Montague owner of

the lease, ii. 287
operas in German, in 1892,

u. 288
on death of Sir Augustus
Harris, syndicate formed to
cany on the opera-house,
ii. 291
organs at Covent Garden, ii.

314, 315, 316
gross reoeipts, twelve seasons,

1809-21, ii. 316
persons engaged during week
ending December 26, 1840,
ii. 317
Mr. Albano's work in 1846,
Covent Garden reoonstruc-
tion, ii. 317-319
Cowley, Mrs., L 225, 253
Cowley (Rich's house at), i. 103
Cradock (dramatic auUior), i.

184,192
Crawford, Mrs., i. 236, 266, 268
Cresswell (scene-painter), i. 287
Critic (Sheridan), i. 238 ; ii. 155,

164,260
Crosby, Miss, i. 276
Cross (dramatist), i. 268
CruveUi, MUe., ii. 198
Csillag, Rosa, iL 231, 236
Culloden, Battle of, i. 104
Cumberland, Duke of^ L 104,
263

CumberUnd, Ridiard, i. 100,

101, 183, 187, 193, 225, 229,

263, 266, 274
Cure for the Heart Ache^ i. 264,

269
Cyrnhdine. Vide under Shake-

speatian Revivals

Operas and Operettas

Ohehea Pensioner, L 220

CasOe of Andalusia, i. 227, 228,

231

Caar, L 249

Orusade, i. 249

Oftatns of the Heart; or. The

Slave hy Choice, i. 284
CdbiMt, i. 285, 290

Comedy of Errors, ii. 2

ClaH; or. The Maid of MHan,

ii. 25, 28
Ceneremtola (Cinderella), by

Rossini, ii. 60
Carmen, ii. 271
Czar La Vie pour le, by Glinka,

ii.281
Clercs, le Pre aux, ii. 268

Oratorio
Creation, L 261, 275, 276

Dancb, Miss (actress), ii 13.

Dancer, Mrs., i. 168

Dancers —
Mile. SaU^, i. 41, 42, 44, 45
M. and Mme. Mechel, i. 80
MUe. Violette, i. 114
M. Poitier, i. 126
Nancy Dawson, i. 137, 138

880

INDEX

DBSicen-Hxmtinued,

Miss Parker, i. 354

Mine. Sachi or Saqui, i. 368,
378

MUe. TagUoni, ii. 88, 194

Guerinot, Theodore, ii. 88

MUe. Noblet, ii. 88

Mile. Dapont, ii. 88

M. Albert, ii. 88, 184

Lola MonteE, ii. 117-120

Mr. and Mm. Gilbert, ii 162

Mile. Fleury, ii. 184

Bertin, ii. 184

Lucile Grahn, ii. 191

Fanny Cerito, ii 199

MUe. Dor, ii. 257

Mile. Boa^, iL 257
Davenport, Mm., i. 260, 267,

298, 353 ; ii. 13, 17, 43, 59, 60
Davey, John, composer of ** The

Bay of Biscay," i. 306, 308,

377
Davies, Thomas, i. 98, 104, 105
Dawson, Nancy, i. 137, 138
Deborah (oratorio), i. 63
Decorative machinery, i. 336
Delafield, Frederick —

lessee in place of Frederick
Beale, ii. 189

and Costa, ii. 191

his losses, iL 192
Delane (actor), i. 66, 79, 80, 94,

106, 113, 117
Denman (singer), i. 276, 310
Der FreUehutz, ii. 32

by Grerman singera and in
German words, iL 57
Devonshire, Duchess of, i. 297
Devonshire, Duke of, ii. 86
Dibdin, Charles, L 155, 156, 160,

162, 179, 210, 216, 217-220,

223-227, 232, 255, 321, 361,

863

Dibdin, Mm., i. 274, 321

Dibdin, Thomas, i. 270-272,
278-281, 285, 288, 290, 301,
308, 311, 317, 321, 351

Dickens, Charles —
at rehearsals, iL 140
at dinner in honour of Mac-
ready, ii. 141

Dickons, Mn. (formerly Miss
Poole), L 321, 323, 353, 377,
381

Diddear, Miss (afterwards Mrs.
Faucit), i. 361

Didi^, Mile, (singer), ii. 224

Digges (actor), i. 217

Dignum (singer), L 276

DUlon, John, L 376

Dimensions of theatre as recon-
structed after 1808-09 fire, i.
333-^36

Dodsley, Robert (dramatist), i.
48, 49, 133

Dor, BiUe., ii. 257

Douglas (drama), i. 127, 142, 302

Dowton, iL 27

Dramatic and other criticism^ i.
89
on OaraetaeuSf i. 212
„ Mra. Abington, i. 231, 273
„ J. P. Kemble, L 236
„ Mn. Billington, i. 241
„ Lewis, i. 256
„ Thomas Harris, L 258
„ Tlie Heir at Law, L 267
„ G^eoxge Cooke, L 279
„ melodrame, i. 289
„ Master Betty, L 304
„ Mn. Siddons as Lady

Macbeth, i. 319
„ Mn. Siddons as actress, L

357
„ Mn. Jordan, L 364
„ Miss Stephens, i. 372

881

INDEX

»i

Dramatio and other orifcicism —
eoniinved,
on Hiaa Tree and '* Home,
Sweet Home/' ii. 26
Cartez; or. The Conquest

of Mexico^ ii. 28
Talfourd*8 /on, ii. U3
Mrs. Niabett, ii. 152, 153
AfUigone^ ii. l76
artistic performance of

Don Giovanni, ii. 236
Pauline Lucca, ii. 242
Signor Qayarrtf , iL 269
Velleday an opera, ii 270
opera in England entitled
Muiie in the Land of Fogs,
ii. 278, 279
Drury Lane Theatre, i. 1, 7, 11,
12, 18, 19, 35, 72, 77, 79, 80,
90, 92, 94, 96, 103, 105, 106,
114, 118, 123, 126, 136, 138,
144, 147, 168, 164, 168, 170,
175, 183, 184, 207, 215, 217,
223, 226, 228, 230, 236, 250,
251, 262, 277. 289, 293, 337,
352, 356, 359, 361, 362 ; ii.
1, 20, 27, 32, 35, 48, 50, 73,
80-103, 141, 182, 197, 258,
259
burnt down, i. 338
and Edmund Kean, ii. 48, 50
and Covent Gkurden under

Alfred Bunn, ii. 80-98
and Malibran, ii. 96
and E. T. Smith, ii. 197
and Gleorge Wood of Cramer

& Co., ii. 258, 259
and Sir Augustus Harris, ii.
282,283
Dryden, John, i. 9, 14, 53, 62
Dual control by Bunn of Covent
Garden and Drury Lane, ii.
91

Ducheue de la VaUi^ iL 106,

115, 134
Duchess of Devonshire, i. 297
Duchess of Northumberland, i.

297
Dudley, i. 251, 259
Dufriche, M., iL 271
Duke of Cumberland, L 104
Dumesnil, Mme., i. 115
Dunstall (actor), i. 118, 141, 196
Dupont, Mile., ii. 88
Duruset (singer), i. 368
Dussek, i. 268

Operae and Operettas

Dragon of WanUey^ i. 61, 65
Dufo, i.63

Double MUtake, i. 160
Duenna, i. 201, 206 ; ii. 84
Don Giovanni, i. 368 ; ii. 190,

236, 257
Der Freischutz, iL 32, 57, 74

194
La Dame Blanche, ii. 42
La Donna del Logo, ii. 190, 192
Due Foscari, ii. 190
Don Paaqudle, ii. 198
Dinorah, ii. 227, 231
Domino Noir, iL 233, 250
Desert Flower, iL 243
Demon, ii. 271
Die Meistersinger, ii. 286

Earl of Egrbmont, L 297

Edward VII., King, at in-
auguration of Covent Garden,
1888 season, ii. 283

Edwin, Mrs., ii. 17

Elkr (Harlequin), L 360, 379

882

INDEX

EUiston, 263 ; ii. 1, 13, 18, 23,

27
Elton, ii. 121, 136, 138
Emery, John, i. 269
Emery, Winifred, i. 269 ; U. 17
English miuio —
Miuic in the Land of Fogs,
by Felix Remo, ii. 278, 279
English Opei»—
first winter season Dec. 1858,
Pyne and EDirrison Com-
pany, ii. 225
Louisa Pyne as Dinorah, in

an English version, ii. 227
Charles Santley, operatic

debut, U.22S
eighth and last season, and
amount expended, ii. 244
Erard (bass singer), i. 53
Esten, Mrs., i. 251
Esther (oratorio), i. 62, 120
Eoery Man in his Eum(mry L
153, 302 ; ii. 34

Operas and Operettas

Escapes, i. 286
English Fleet, i, 301
Esmeralda, ii. 120
Elena Uherti, ii. 164
Elisir d^Amare, ii. 190
Emani, ii. 190, 267

Fai&brotheb, Miss (Mrs. Fitz-
geoiy[e, wife of the Duke of
Cambridge), ii. 152, 159

Cross Purposes, i. 186
St. Patrick's Day, i. 201
Plymouth in an Uproar, i. 223

Farces — continued.

Marriage Act, i. 225, 227
I%e Merry Mourners, i. 251
Boxand Cox, L 257 ; ii. 230
Lock and Key, i. 263
The Jewand the Doctor, i. 272
Poor Gentleman, i. 281
Baising the Wind, i. 301, 324
The Miser, i. 216
Turning the Tables, ii. 84
My Neighbour's Wife, ii. 84,

88
The Spitfire, ii. 129
High Life Below Stairs, ii. 135,

148
Twice KiUed, ii. 155
Shocking Events, ii. 155
Bingdoves, ii. 155, 164
Simpson 6b Co,, ii. 155, 164
First Floor, ii. 155
Brother Ben, ii. 155, 164
Captain of the Watch, ii. 155
Two in the Morning, ii. 155
A Quiet Day, ii. 155
Caught Napping, ii. 164
Animal Magnetism, ii. 164
Popping the Question, ii. 164
Wrong Man, ii. 164
Irish Tutor, ii. 164
Omnibus, ii. 164
Free and Easy, ii. 164
United Service, ii. 164
My Wife's Mother, ii. 164

Farewell performances —
Mrs. Porter, i. 85
John Beard, L 162
Charles Macklin, i. 245
Signor Marchesi^ i. 250
Ghurick, as King Lear, i. 264
Mrs. Abington, i. 273
Mrs. Mattocks, i. 322
Mrs. Siddons, i. 357, 358, 382
Mrs. Jordan, i. 363

888

INDEX

Farewell performanoes — oonld.
J. P. Kemble, i. 367, 373-375
MiB8 O'NeUl, i. 382
Edmund Keaii, ii. 61, 62
Charles Kemble, ii. 107
Mario aa Fernando in La
Favorita, ii. 263
Farinelli, i. 52
Farley, L 298, 353, 372, 375 ; u.

43, 45, 49, 107
Faiquhar, L 3, 77, 79
Farren, Miss, i. 214, 217
Farren, William (the first), i.

251, 262 ; ii. 237
Farren, William (the second), i.
379; ii 13, 43, 107, 147,
160
Faucit, Miss Helen (afterwards
Lady Martin), ii. 104-109,
121, 130, 134, 136, 138
as Pauline in The Lady of
Lyons, ii. 134, 135
Faucit, Mrs. (nA Miss Diddear),

i. 361 ; ii. 43, 87
Faure, ii. 231, 236, 238, 241,

245, 251, 257, 258, 267, 272
Fawcett, John, i. 259, 267, 281,
292, 353, 363, 370, 375,
380 ; ii. 16, 43, 60, 128
his retirement, ii. 60
Fearon (sctor), i. 198
Fennell, i. 251

Feriier, Miss (novelist), ii. 103
Fielding, L 6, 13
Fires at Covent Garden —
March 5, 1856, ii. 203-217
Mr. Braidwood's report, ii.

206
Sept. 19, 1808, i. 324-329
Fire at Drury Lane Theatre,

1809, i. 338
Fire at Her Majesty's Theatre,
ii. 252

Fire insurance (paid by oopi-
panies after fire, 1808), L 338
Fire protection, i. 337, 338
First appearances at Gorent
Garden —
Peg Woffington, i. 77
Miss Georgianna Bellamy, i.

81
Garrick, David, i. 97
Gentleman Smith, i. 124
Miss Noflsiter, i. 125
Tate Wilkinson, i. 128
Miss HaUam(Mr8. Mattocks),

i.l43
Miss Anne Catley, i. 163
Charles Dibdin, i. 156
Miss Wilford(Mr8. Bulkeley),

L157
Anna Storaoe, i. 214
J. P. Kemble at Drury Lane,

i. 236
Pope, i. 238
Mrs. BiUington, i. 241
John Braham (Abram), i. 242
Charles Indedon^ L 250
Mrs. Jordan, i. 250
Miss Poole, i. 259
Mrs. Davenport, i. 260
John Emery, i. 269
Mrs. Dibdin, i. 274
George Cooke in BichardllL,

L280
Master Betty, or the young

Rosciiis, i. 303
Mrs. Siddons, i. 355-356
Fanny Kemble, ii. 61> 62
Paganini (in France), ii 76,

77
Helen Faucit^ ii. 106
Adelina Patti, ii. 234, 235
Pauline Lucca, iL 242
Emile Sauret, iL 261
Albani, ii. 264

884

INDEX

FixBt peiformancea —
Samson, i. 85
Messiah, i. 87, 88
Joseph <md His Brethren, L 95
Sernde, i. 95
Papal Tyranny in the reign of

King John, i. 95
Theodora, L 117
The Miser, i. 127
The Fressgang, L 127
Douglas, i. 127
Cleone, i. 133

Spirit of Contradiction, i. 137
Thomas and Sally, i. 142
Florizel and Perdita, i. 143
Zimri, i. 143
Artaxerxes, i. 152
Love in a Village, L 153
Shepherd's Artifice, i. 155
The Maid of the Mill, i. 156
The Spanish Lady, i. 157
I%e Summer's Tale, i. 160
The Double Mistake, i. 160
Hie Accomjdished Maid, i. 160
The School for Guardians, i.

160
PerplexUies, 1 160
Love in the City, i. 160
False Delicacy, i. 175
The Oood-natured Man, i. 176
Lycidas (dramatio elegy), L 178
The Foydl Merchant, i. 179
Lionel and Clarissa, i. 179
The Royal Garland, i. 181
Cyrus, L 181
Orestes, i. 181
The Brothers, i. 183
Timanthes, i. 183
The Portrait, i. 183
The Fairy Princess, i. 184
Zobeide, L 184
ui» -Hbwr btfore Marriage^ L

184

885

First performances — continued,
Elfrida, i. 186
Cross Purposes, i. 186
The Golden Pippin, i. 186
She Stoops to Conquer, i. 187
The Duellist, i. 197
Achilles in Petticoats, i. 197
The Man of Business, I 197
ne Bivals, i. 198-200
CUonice, i. 200
Edward and Eleanora, i. 201
/8<. Patrick's Day, i. 201
I%6 Duenna, i. 201
Seraglio, L 210
(7aractoctM, i. 210
I%e Resurrection, i. 214
Love finds the Way, L 216
ui(^ed, L 216
Poor Vulcan, i. 216
i2o«e and Colin, i. 218
ir»i«s Revenged, i. 218
-4nne«e anc^ Luhin, i. 218
2%c Zrtwiy of the Manor, I 218
The Medley, i. 218
2%0 Touchstone, i. 219
7%« JRite/ Falsehood, I 220
C^%e20ea Pensioner, i. 220
Plymouth in an Uproar, i. 223
J7ar2e/ttt» Everywhere, i. 224
2%e Shepherdess of the Alps, I

224
I%e Widow of Delphi, i. 226
2%e Belle's Stratagem, i. 225
2%« Islanders ; or, 5P%c Jfar-

riage Act, i. 225
2%« Man of the World, i. 227
Jupiter and Alcmena; or, Am-
phitryon, L 227
2%e Banditti ; afterwards, 77ie

Castle of Andalusia, i. 227
Tristram Shandy, i. 232
Robin Hood, L 233
Marriage of Figaro, i. 236

INDEX

Fint performanoes — continued.
Omat, i. 239

The Enchanted CaeOe, L 242
The Fair Peruvian, i. 242
Nina, i. 244
Marian, i. 246
Highland Bed, i. 246
The German Hotd, L 261
ITte Woodman, i. 261
Oscar and Mahnna, L 262
A Day in Turkey, i. 263
I%0 Eoad to Buin, i. 263
Hartford Bridge; or, Hie iS^trfo

qfihe Cbmp, L 266
Harle^in's Mueeum, i. 266
Columbus, i. 267
Xove*8 Frailties, L 269
FontainviUe Forest, i. 269
^e^ ^Uey, i. 269
The Siege o/Meaux, i. 260
l%e SicUian Bomance, L 260
The Mysteries of the Castie, L

260
A Cure for the Heart Ache, i.

264
False Impressions, i. 266
Secrets Worth Knowing, L 266
Knave or Not, i. 266
The Baft, i. 268
Bamah Droog, I 269, 272
The Mouth of the NUe, L 270
The Jew and the Doctor, L 272
Joanna, i. 274
Britannia, i. 274
Speed the Plough, L 274
The Creation, i. 276, 276
The Magic Oak, L 277
The Old Clotheman, L 277
The Turnpike Gate, i 277
Paul and Virginia, i. 277
Poor Oenileman, L 281
La Perouse, i. 281
Tfie Cabinet, i. 286

Fint perfonnanoeB — continued.
The Escapee, L 286
A Tale of Mystery, L 289
Family Quarrels, L 290
John BuU, L 291
Baieing the Wind, i. 301
The English Fleet, L 301
Ndson's Glory, i. 311
Mother Goose, i. 317
2W Faces under a Hood, i.

321
17ie Wanderer, L 321
Harlequin and Padmanaba,

1.363
2^ Virgin of the Sun, i. 368
Hie Miller and his Men, L 360
The Farmer's Wife, i. 361
John of Paris, L deb
The Slave, i. 372
Bobinson Crusoe, i. 372
Beiribution, L 376
Balamira; or, 2%e FoS q^

Tunis, i. 377
Evadne, i. 380
J^nx^/o,L381
Ftr^nttM, ii. 6, 6
Miranddaj ii. 12
Olympia, ii. 14
2%6 Zato qfJava, ii. 17
Julian, ii. 24
2%e Ffston o/ ^ i^Mfi ; or, ihe

Orphan of Peru, ii. 24
The Veepers of Palermo, ii. 30,

31
Father and Son ; or, The Bock

of Charbonnier, ii. 33
Lilla,iL36
Oberon. ii. 36-40
The Pilot, ii. 60, 61
Brian Borothme (Knowles), ii.

108
Strafford (Browning), ii. 108
Bichdieu (Lytton), ii. 138

886

INDEX

Fint perfonnanoet — continued.

Love^ iL 146

London Astwrance (Bood-
oaolt), ii. 160

Old Matdi (Knowles), ii. 157

Lily ofKiUamey, iL 238

Lohengrin^ in England, ii.
268
Fiaher, David, ii. 230
FitsbaU, Edwaid (author), iL 33,
44, 46, 69, 60, 99-101, 103,
111, 117, 121

and Lola Monteas, iL 117-120
Fitzolarenee, Lord Adolphna, iL

86
Fitedarence, Lord Frederick, ii.

84
Fitzgerald, L 199, 201, 203, 206,

319, 345, 357, 358
Fleetwood, Charles, L 49, 72,

80,83,92
Fleury, Iflle. (dancer), ii. 184
Flezmore (down), ii. 226
FoU, Signor, ii. 257
Foote, Maria, i. 382 ; ii. 6, 11,

24, 42, 69, 262
Foote, Samuel, L 106, 141, 142,

215
Footlights, L 159
Fordyoe, Lady Caroline, writer

and composer of *' Auld Robin

Gray," L 265
Form^ Herr, ii. 194, 224, 234,

238
Forrest, Edwin, L 107
Forster, William (Dickens's bio-
grapher), ii. 140
JPWsart, iL 42, 135
Foundling Hospital, i. 282
Fox, W. J., Anti-Corn Law

meetings, ii. 172
Frederick, Prince of Wales, i.

104,120

Fredolfo^ a tragedy by Maturin,
L381

Operas and Operettas

Fancied Queen, i. 33
Pastor Fido, i. 41
Florizd and Ferdita, L 143
Fairy Princess, i. 184
Flitch of Bacon, L 233
Fontainebleau, L 238
Fair Peruvian, I 242, 243
Farmer, L 269
Figaro,'^ozze di, i. 283, 381 ; iL

92, 167, 164, 190, 245, 248,

249,254
Family Quarrels, L 290
Faces, Two under a Hood, i. 321
Farmer's Wife, i. 361
Fra Diavolo, iL 137, 155, 164,

249
La Favw'Ua, u. 190, 263, 281
Fidelio, ii. 96, 194, 231, 256
Faust (Spohr), ii. 195
Faust (Gounod), ii. 240, 241,

245,249
Fanehette, ii. 244
II Flauto Magieo, ii. 248, 249,

256
Fal$taff, ii. 290

Gallbtti, Signor, lessee with
Persiani, 1847, ii. 181, 187

Galli, Signon, L 264

Galrani, ii. 194

Gcunester, iL 107

Gazda, Gustavo, ii. 251

Garcia, lianud, iL 97

Garda, Mme. PauUne Viardot,
u. 97, 190

VOL. IL

887

INDEX

Gacdoni, iL 231, 238

Qarihaldi, ii. 246

Garrick Oinh, ii. 67

Ganiok, David, i, 80, 83, 94,
97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103,
104, 106, 106, 108 (and Mou-
net), 114, 117, 118, 123, 127,
133, 136, 137, 140, 144, 147,
164, 158, 164r-177, 187, 189,
190, 196, 203, 207, 209, 210,
213, 219, 239, 264, 280, 366

Gaatherot, Mme., i. 249

Gayarrtf, Signor (tenor), ii. 268,
269, 272, 280

George I., i. 102

Geoxge H., i. 41, 76, 103, 142

George III., i. 144, 181, 247 ;
u. 6

George IV., ii. 12, 13
ooronation perf ormanooB, ii. 13

Grerman Opera Company's sea-
Bon, 1842, ii 168

Gildon (dramataat), i. 1

Glover, Mrs. (Hiss Betterton),
i. 266, 298; ii. 1, 107, 159

Glover's opera of Buy Blas^ iL
237

Glyn, Miss, as Lady Macbeth,
ii.230

Godfrey (bandmaster), ii. 191

Goldsmith, Oliver, i. 169-178,
187-195, 200, 209

Oood-natured Man^ i. 169, 170,
175, 178, 179, 187, 195

Goodwin and Tabb (copyists),

i.277
Goodwin, Thomas (copyist), i.

275-277
Gbunod —
FauAt, ii. 240, 241, 245, 249
Ramio et Jvlietie, ii. 251, 267,

285
If treOa, ii 280

Goward, Mary Anne (afterwaxda
Mrs. Keeley), ii. 36, 39, 40,
44, 79, 261
Grahn, Lucile (dancer), iL 191
Grasiani, iL 241, 245, 249, 251,

267
Green, Mrs., i. 141, 198
Green-rooms, L 335, 336; ii.

161, 162, 163, 313
Greenwich Hospital, Dibdin'a

bust by Sievier, ii. 58
Grey, Lady de, ii. 282
Grimaldi (senr.), L 72, 73
Grimaldi, i. 18, 308, 316, 317-
319, 350, 353, 360, 372, 380 ;
iL 11, 17, 24, 25, 44
Grimaldi, J. S. ('* Young Joe "),

u. 11, 17
Grimaldi, Mrs., i. 316
Grisi, iL 87, 117, 182, 190, 194,

198, 199, 224, 232, 237
Gutfrinot, M. Theodore, ii. 88
Gui^mard (tenor), ii. 194
GuUdford, Lord, L 329
Gtutavtu III^ iL 83, 87
**Quj Mannering," L 368
Gye, Ernest, ii. 193
assumed management, ii. 270,
276
Gye, Frederick —
invents new limelight, iL

133

called by F. Delafield (lessee

of Oovent Garden) to assist

in the management, ii. 189

director under committee of

shareholders, ii. 192
engagement of Lablache, iL

197, 198, 199
and the 1856 Oovent Garden

fire, iL 212
his personal loss by the fire,
u. 212

888

INDEX

Gye, Frederick — continued,
and the rebuilding of the

theatre, ii. 218-224
competes with Mapleson for

services of Adelina Patti,

u. 233
and Adelina Patti, ii. 23i, 235
and Gounod's Faust, ii. 240^

241
and Garibaldi*B ^dsit, ii. 246
and proposed transfer of pro-
prietorship to a public

company, ii. 249, 252, 253
agreement with Mr. Maple-
son, ii. 253, 254

their partnership manage-
ment, iL 254, 260
removal of Costa as conductor,

ii. 254, 255
Jarrett and Wood defection,

ii. 258-260
appropriates Mile. Albani, ii.

264

cautious words in introducing
the works of Richard Wag-
ner, ii. 265, 266 j

died December, 1878, ii. 270

Operas and Operettas

Guardian Outwitted^ i. 156
QMen Pippin, i. 186
Oazza Ladra, La, ii. 59, 190
Oiocanda, La, ii. 275

Hall, Joe, i. 71

Haliam, Miss (afterwards Mrs.
Mattocks), i. 143, 156, 197,
217, 251, 292, 298, 322

Hamilton, Mrs., i. 136, 141, 152

Hamht, Vide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
Handel, George Frederick, i. 34-
39, 51, 54, 56-60, 62, 63, 64,
65, 85, 88, 94, 98, 104, 107,
116, 117, 120-122, 132, 133-
135, 141, 143, 164, 264, 281,
325; ii. 7
Harcourt, Lady, i. 327
Harlequins —
John Rich, i. 4, 5, 6, 11, 72
Bologna, i. 18
Lee Lewes, i. 192
Lewis, i 272
EUar, i. 360, 379
Henry Payne, ii. 226
Harley, J. P., ii. 27, 138, 147,

150,158
Harlowe, Mrs., i. 251
Harrington, Countess of (Miss
Foote), i. 382; ii. 6, 11, 24,
42, 59, 252
Harris, Henry, i. 289, 296, 349,
354, 364, 368-370, 375, 380 ;
ii 2-5, 10, 14, 20, 81, 82,
89, 98, 127, 140
disputes with C. Kemble, and
withdrawal from manage-
ment, ii. 15, 16
asked to resume management,

ii. 20
differences adjusted, ii. 65
Harris, Sir Augustus —
and (Gounod's Faust, ii. 240
Dmry Lane, ii. 282
Covent Garden, ii. 283
Lady de Grey, ii. 284, 285
Overman opera in 1892, ii.
288
his death in 1896, ii. 290
Harris, Thomas, i. 164, 165, 168,
177-181, 198, 199, 202-205,
210, 212-220, 226^ 228, 231,

»»

889

INDEX

296, 237, 239, 240, 243, 262,

253» 267-292, 293-303, 317-

321, 348-349; iL 6-8
Hairis v. Kemble trial, ii. 14
HarriBon, i. 248, 262, 261
HarriBon, W., iL 169, 226, 230,

237, 238, 243
Hartley, Mn., i. 197
Hank, Mumie, iL 264
Hawes^ Willian^, ii. 69
Haydn, L 276, 276
Hayley, William, L 249
Haymarket, Queen's Theatre (or

King's), L 2, 14, 16, 62, 183,

362; ii.73, 262
Haymarket Theatre, L 109 e<

seq., 214 ; ii. 73, 74
Haalitt (critic), L 373
Eeart of Midlothian, i. 381
Heir ai Law, L 267, 302
HemaDs, Mrs., her tragedy of

2%e Vespers of Palermo, iL 30,

31
Henderson (actor), L 223, 236,

239
Henry IV. \

r. JFuieander Shake-
VL 1 spearian Revivals

„ riiL]

Higgins, H. v., iL 282

High Life Bdow Staira (farce),

ii. 136, 148
Hill, Sir John, L 73, 74
Hippisley, L 103, 107
Historical romance, 7%6 Beacon

of Liberty, u. 2S
Hoadley, Dr., i. 102
Hoare, Prince, i. 263, 286, 286
Hogarth, William, L 29
his four pictures, "The
Seasons," destroyed in the
1866 Covent Garden ^fire,
H.211

»»

>»

Holcroft (actor), L 237, 261,

263, 269, 286
Holland, Lady, i. 297
Holland, Messrs. (bmlders),
1847, ii. 181, 187

employed to demolish the
ruins after the great fire
in 1866, ii. 217
HoUogan (scene-painter), i. 287
Holman, i. 261
Home, Rev. John, L 127, 216
'' Home, Sweet Home," L 362;

ii. 26
Honey, George, ii. 226
Hook, James, L 218, 242
Hoole (dramatist), L 183, 200
Horton, Miss P. (afterwaida

Mrs. Grerman Reed), iL 133,

136, 137, 170
Horton, Mrs., i. 76, 106, 117
Horwood (architect), i. 326
Hot CodliM, L 381
House department, i. 337
Howe, Mr. (actor), ii. 138, 230
Hughson's ''History of Lon-
don," L 330
Hull, Thomas, L 167, 168, 160,

179, 196, 197, 201, 208, 216,

230,298,322
Hullah, John, iL 130
Hnmby, Mrs., ii. 146, 160
HvnMack, iL 68, 106
*' Hunting we wiU go," L 216
Hunt, Leigh, ii. 161
Hypocrite, u. 136

Operas and Operettas

Hercules, L 116, 121
Highland Bed, L 246
Huguenots, u. 168, 190, 192, 224

242,249
Haydie, ii. 190
HanOet, ii. 26Q

949

INDEX

Inchbald, Mrs., i. 226, 242, 274,

278, 279, 295, 297, 304
Indedon, Charles, i. 250, 259,
266, 276, 277, 282, 301, 306,
360,365
Infant phenomena —
Master Betty, i. 303-306
Miss Mudie, i. 312
Instrumentalists —
WUliam Parke (oboist), i. 234,

235, 244, 248, 250, 252,

259, 261, 263, 265, 272,

273, 275, 277, 284, 301,

310, 349, 379 ; ii. 21, 34
Griffith Jones (pianist), i. 235
Billington (double bass), i. 241
Carl Weicbsel (clarinet), i.

241,284
Knyvett (organist), i. 248,

252, 261
Mme. Gautherot (yiolinist),

i.249
Richardson (organist), L 253
Smith, John Christopher

(organist), i. 120, 143, 158,

261
Dr. Cooke (organist), i. 260
Dr. Arnold (organist)^ i. 260,

261
John Ashley (bassoon player),

i. 261, 276, 310
Thomas Attwood (organist),

i. 262, 277, 286, 368 ; ii. 41
C. Ashley (violoncello), i. 265
DuBsek (pianist), L 268
Jamovicki (violinist), L 273
Battishill (organist), i. 274
William Russell (organist and

pianist), L 282
Samuel Wesley (organist), L

381

Instrumentalists — continued,
Bochsa (harpist), ii. 23
Harper (trumpet), ii. 41
Smithies (trombone), ii. 41
Chipp (double drums), ii. 41,

191
Paganini (violinist), ii. 76
Prosper - Sainton (violinist),

u. 182, 190, 271
Vincent Novello (organist),

ii.l84
Godfrey, ii. 191
Arthur Sullivan (organist), iL

246
Bevignani (pianist), ii. 257
J. T. Canodus, ii. 257
Tito Mattel, iL 260
Alfred Gibson (violinist), ii.
263

/on, iL 106, 111-113, 148

Isaacs, Miss Rebecca, ii. 226,
267

Isaacs (singer), iL 33

Isradin Egypt (oratorio), i. 158,
162 ; iL 79

'* Ivanhoe," iL 5

Openly etc.
VlUjXiana in Algteri, ii. 190

Jackson, William (of Exeter), L

178, 204, 308
Jacob, Sir Hildebrand, L 65
Jacobite Rebellion, L 98
Jaffier, Garrick as, L 103
Jarman, Miss, iL 43, 49
Jamovicki (violin), L 273
Jarrett (agent), iL 268, 259
Jephthah (oratorio), L 162
Jerrold, Douglas, iL 78, 116,

164, 169, 201

841

INDEX

Jews, diBturbance created by, i.
290

JohuBon, Dr., i. 176, 190>193,
238,239

JohnBtone, Mrs., i. 363, 354

Johnstone (singer), i. 269, 271,
272

Jones, Griffith, i. 236

Jordan, Mrs., L 260, 266, 277,
292, 322, 353, 360, 363, 364

Joieph and his Brethren (ora-
torio), i. 95

Joshua (oratorio), i. 107

Judas Macchabeus (oratorio), i.
104, 107, 117, 120, 134, 162

JudUh (oratorio), i. 161, 187

Jtilius Cassar. Ft(2e under Shake-
spearian Revivals

JuUien, M., iL 189, 199

Operas, Oratorios, etc.

Jusiifiy i. 61
JotieSf Tom, i. 181
John of Paris, i. 366
Java, The Law of, iL 17
Juive, La, ii. 193, 263

Kean, Charles, ii. 61, 62, 79,

141
Eean, Edmund, i. 62, 362; ii.

1, 27, 43, 47-53, 69
Keeley, Mrs., ii. 35, 44, 79

and Weber, ii. 39, 40
Kelly, Hugh (dramatist), i. 176,

178,299
Kelly, Miss, ii. 1, 69
Kemble, Adelaide, ii. 155-157,

159, 166, 167, 169, 171
Kemble, Charles, i. 298, 321,

353, 360, 367, 373, 375, 382 ;

Kemble, Charles —continued.
ii. 1, 2, 7, 11, 13, 15-17, 23,
27, 31, 33-35, 41, 43, 49-^2,
65, 69, 62-70, 89, 99, 101,
106, 107, 114, 116, 166, 157,
166, 167, 198
Kemble, Fanny (daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Kemble),
ii. 37, 45, 69, 61-70, 150,
166, 157, 169, 171
as Juliet in Borneo and
Juliet, ii. 69
Kemble, John Philip, i. 226,
236, 236, 246, 279, 289,
293-305, 309^16, 318, 324,
339-348, 351, 353, 362, 367,
368, 370, 373-376 ; ii. 7
and the burning of the theatre,

i.327

ungenerous treatment by the
audiences at farewell per-
formances, L 367
Kemble, Mrs. Charles (Miss de

Camp), i. 353, 360, 370, 371 ;

iL69
Kemble, Mrs. Stephen, i. 234
Kemble, Stephen, i. 236
Kennedy, Mrs., i. 216, 233
Kenney, Charles Lamb (librettLst

and Times critic), u. 126, 248
Kenney, James (dramatist), i.

301
Kenrick (dramatist), i. 197, 218
Kent, Duchess of, and Princeaa

Victoria, ii. 79
Kilby, Miss, L 73
King Edward VII., ii. 283
King G^rge I., i. 102
King George II., i. 41, 75, 103,

142
King George III., i. 144, 181,

247 ; ii. 6
King George IV., ii. 12, 13

842

INDEX

King John. Vide under Sfaake-

Bpearian Revivals
King Lear, Vide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
King's (or Queen's) Theatre^ i.

2, 14, 16, 62, 183, 362 ; ii. 73,

262
Knight, Mrs., i. 262
Knight of Bnowdon (musical

drama), L 362
Kniveton, i. 197
Knowles, Sheridan —

VirginiuSy ii. 6

The Hunchback, ii. 68, 69

The Wife, ii. 80

Brian Boraihme, ii. 108

Woman's Wit, ii. 136

Love, ii. 146

Old Maids, ii. 167

Tlu Rose of Aragon, ii. 168,
161
Knyvetb, i. 248, 262, 261
Kochler, Herr (Wagnerian

opera-singer), iL 266
Konigsmark, Count, i. 102
Kotasebue, i. 272, 273, 274, 281,

321,368

O^ras, Operettas, etc.'
King's Oath, li. 36-40

Lablache, Luigi, ii. 197, 199
Lablache, MUe. de M^ric, ii.

263,286
Lacy, actor at Drury Lane, i.

166, 167
Lacy, Mrs. (formerly Miss

Taylor), ii. 79, 101, 169
Lacy, Rophino, ii. 76-79, 121

Lady of Lyons, ii. 134, 136,

138
Lago, Sigiior, ii. 280
Lamb, Charles, i. 229 ; ii. 80
Lambert, George, I. 46
Lampe, John Frederick, i. 60,

61
Landor, Walter Savage, ii. 112
Landseer, Edwin, ii. 161
Lansdowne, Lord, i. 14
Laporte, Pierre Fran9ois, ii. 69,

76, 80, 166, 180
Lassalle, Jean (singer), ii. 270,

272, 283, 286
Lee, actor, i. 198, 199, 200
Lee Lewes, i. 192, 198, 217, 292
Lee, Miss Harriet, ii. 36
Lemmens-Sherrington, Mme.,

ii. 251
Lessingham, Mrs., i. 177, 178,

181, 198
Lewis, i. 197, 198, 261, 294,

296, 298 ; iL 21
Lewis, '*Monk,'* 1.363
Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, i.

3, 6, 7, 16, 24, 26, 27, 29, 39,

60, 107, 297 ; ii. 73
Lind, Jenny, u. 183, 186, 186
Linley, Dr., i. 199, 201, 207
Linley, Miss, i. 184, 186, 206
Liston, i. 363, ii. 1, 17, 27, 84,
Lockman, John, i. 77
Lola Montez, ii. 117-120
London Assurance —

first cast, ii. 160

other performances, ii. 166,
164
Lord Chamberlain, i. 66, 278
Loutherberg, P. J. de, i. 240
''Love has Eyes " (song), i. 361
Love, Miss, ii. 28, 33
Love's Labour's Lost, Vide

under Shakespearian Revivals

848

INDEX

Low'b Latt Shift, I 69

Love for Love, i. 81

Xotw'f FraiUiee, i, 269

Love, ii. 146, 166

Lfucas Brothers, oontracton for

the rebuilding of Covent

Garden Theatre after the 1866

fire, ii. 220
Luoca, Pauline, ii. 242, 246, 248,

249, 261, 267, 263, 267, 271
Lumley, Benjamin, ii. 167, 181-

186
Luteer, Jenny, Mile, (operatic

singer), ii. 168
Lytton (Bulwer, Lord), ii. 82,
103, 108, 134, 137, 138, 140

and The Lady of Lyons, iL

* 134,138

Bidielieu, ii. 137, 138

Opertu and Operettas

Love in a Village, L 163, 161,
182, 183, 222, 241, 270 ; ii.
36
Love in the City, i. 160
Lycidas, i. 178
Lionel and Clarissa, i. 179
Love finds the Way, i. 216
Lady of <A« Manor, i. 218, 229
LiOa, ii. 36
Lucrezia Borgia, ii. 186, 190,

192, 249, 283
Lucia, iL 190, 262
Lurline, iL 228
Lily ofKillamey, ii. 238, 239
Love*s Triumph, ii. 239
Linda di Chamounia^, ii. 249
Lohengrin, ii. 266, 268, 276
LItaliana in Algieri, ii. 190
V Usurpator Innocente, i. 260

BfAAS^ Joseph, ii. 266, 276
Macaire, Robert, ii. 104
Macbeth, Lady —

Mrs. Siddons, i. 319

Mrs. Siddons's farewell, i. 369

Miss Glyn, ii. 230
liatheth. Vide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
Macfarren, George, ii. 176-177 —

Eobin Hood, ii. 237

She Stoops to Conquer, ii. 244

Hdvellyn, ii. 246
Macfarren, John, ii. 177
Macintyre, Margaret, ii. 283
Mackenzie, Henry, i. 249
Macklin, Charles, i. 80, 94, 106,

118, 123, 124, 163, 173, 179,

184, 196-197, 227, 246, 319
Macklin, Miss, L 124, 136, 141,

166, 160, 214
Macklin, Mrs., L 106, 118, 123,

124
Macready (senior), i. 242
Macready, W. C, L 366, 370,

382 ; iL 1-8, 11-18, 22, 24, 27,

106, 107, 108, 110-116, 122-

141
Malibran, ii. 92-97

and Templeton (tenor singer),
ii. 92, 93, 94

the peculiarities of her voice,
ii.96

death, ii. 97
Mancinelli, Signer, ii. 286
Man of the World, i. 227, 319
Mansfield, Lord, L 197
Mapleson, J. H., ii. 233, 241,

263-260, 277
Mara, Mme., i. 264, 266, 268,

273
Marched, Signor, i. 260

844

INDEX

Marchioness of Abercom, i. 297
Marooni, ii. 275
Maaini (baas), ii. 190, 194
Mario, ii. 182, 190, 194, 198,
199, 224, 232, 233, 238, 245,
249, 251, 257, 262
Marriage qf Figaro as a play, i.

237
Man, MUe., ii. 76
Marshall, Charles (scene-pain-
ter), ii. 121, 126
Marston, H., ii. 230
Marston, Mrs. H., ii. 229
Martin, * Lady (Helen Faucit),
ii. 104-109, 121, 130, 136,
138, 141
Martindale, Ann, i. 296 ; ii. 15
Martyr, Mrs., i. 260, 266
Mason (dramatiBt), i. 186, 211
Masques —
Alfred (by Ame), i. 75, 76
Judgement of Paris^ i. 75
Fortunate Islee, ii 149
Comu8 (Milton), i. 153 ; iL 149,
164
Mathews, Charles (senr.), i. 308,
359, 363, 364, 366, 368, 369,
370 ; ii. 74
Mathews, C. J. (junr.), ii. 101,
142-161, 165-167, 230, 261,
270
Corent Garden under his
management, ii. 142-161
Mathews, F., iL 229
Mattei, Tito, ii. 260
Mattocks, Mrs. (Miss Hallam),
i. 143, 156, 197, 217, 251, 292,
298,322
Mattocks, William, i. 143, 152,

156,197
Maurel, ii. 267, 272, 280
Mazzinghi, Joseph, L 252, 253,
270, 272, 277, 284

Measure for Measure, Vide
under Shakespearian Revivals

Mechel, M. and Mme., i. 80

Melba, Madam, ii. 283, 285

Mellon, AUred, ii. 226, 228, 243

Mellon, H., ii. 229, 230

Mellon, Mrs. Alfred (formerly
Miss Woolgar), ii. 230

Melodrames —
A Tah of Mystery, i. 289
JRohinson Crusoe, i. 372
The Soldier's Daughter, ii. 21
The Vision of the dun ; or, The

Orphan of Peru, ii. 24
Father and Son; or. The Bock

of Charhonnier, ii. 33
Jonathan Bradford, ii. 103
CasHe of Otranto, ii. 155 •

Merchant of Venice. Vide under
Shakespearian Revivals «

Merry Wives qf Windsw. Vide
under Shakespearian Revivals

Messiah (oratorio), i. 87, 116,
117, 134, 162, 264, 267, 273

Metham, Mr., i. 115

Meyerbeer and UAfrioaine, ii.
65, 248, 249

Midewmmer Nights Dream, Vide
under Shakespearian Revivals

Miller (singer), i. 310

Milner (dramatist), ii. 104

Milton's Comtif, ii. 149

Miser, i. 127, 186

Mitford, Miss, ii. 24, 42, 112

MoU^, i. 272

Molloy, J. F., i. 115

Monbelli, Mme., ii. 267

Montez, Lola, ii. 117-120

More, Hannah, i. 220

Morrison, Alfred, i. 376

Morrison, Dillon & Co., i. 376

Morton (dramatist), i. 257, 264,
266, 274, 372

845

INDEX

Morton, Maddison, i. 257; ii.

130
Moscheles, ii. 41
Mosi en EgiUo, iL 79, 267
Mother Ooae (suocessf ul panto-
mime), i. 317-320
Mounefc, Jean, i. 107-113
Mountain (band conductor), i.

261
Mountain, Mrs., i. 261, 261
Mountjoy, Lord, i. 329
Moyan, Miaa Clara (Columbine),

ii. 226
Mozart, i. 262, 281, 283, 309,
323, 368, 381 ; ii. 236

<*Requiem,*'ii. 40, 41
Much Ado ahotU Nothing. Vide

under Shakespearian Reviyals
Mudie, MisB, i. 312
Munday, Misa, i. 309
Munden, Joseph (actor), i. 251,

253, 267, 278, 353 ; u. 1, 17,

27
Murphy, Arthur (actor and

dramatist), i. 126, 192, 216
di Murska, Ihna, ii. 257, 258
Musical afterpieces —

Sleeping Beauty, iL 155

Greek Boy, ii. 155

He would be an Actor, ii. 155

Patter y. Clatter, iL 155, 164

Waterman, it. 155

Beauty and the Beast, iL 155,
164

White Cat, ii. 164

Charles XIL, iL 164

Gertrudes Cherries, iL 169
Musical comedies —

The Spanish Dollars; or, 7%e
Priest of the Parish, L 306
Musical dramas —

Joanna, i. 274

The Knight of Snowdon, L 352

Musical dramas — continued.
The Slave, i. 372
The Antiquary (Scott), iL 5
The Feast of Neptune, iL 57
Paul Cliford, iL 103 1
The Fortunate Isles, iL 151

Musical farces —
This Farmer, L 269
Bamah Droog, L 269, 272
The Jew and the Doctor, L

272
The Quaker, L 339
Za-zarze-zi'ZO'ZU, iL 104
Barber ofBassora, ii. 130
Baba and Bijou, ii. 266

Musical interludes —
The Baft, L 268
The Old Clothesman, L 277
The Turnpike Gate, L 277

Musicians' agreements —
Coyent Grarden band, signed
by Bishop, L 379

My Neighbour's Wife, ii. 84, 88,
148

'* My Pretty Jane " (song), ii.
33

Operas and Operettas

Maid of the Mia,!. V6%

Marian, L 246

Magician no Conjurer, i. 253

MUler and his Men, i. 360

Maid Marian, ii. 22

Merry Wives of Windsor, ii. 41,

245
Matrimonia Segreio, 11, ii. 169
Maria di Rohan, ii. 190
Masanidlo, iL 194
Martha, ii. 224
Medea, iL 256
ilfac6eM, ii. 260
Mignon, iL 267

846

INDEX

Mefiatofde, iL 275
Mirdla, ii. 280
Manon Lesoaut, ii. 290

*' National Anthem/' i. 91, 92,

339
Nationality of vocaliBts, ii. 272
Nandin (singer), ii. 261
Nautical drama, Blaek-eye^d

Suiarif ii. 116
Nautical opera, The Pilots ii. 60,

61
Ndl OtvynnCf ii. 78
Nelson —

Victory of the Nile, i. 270

Victory of Trafalgar, i. 311

"Nelaon, Death of" (song),
i. 242

Nehon^s Glory (musicial im-
promptu), i. 311
Nevada, Madam, ii. 280
New Way to pay Old DAts^ i.

226,227
Nicootina, "Spiletta" Signora,

i.l25
Nicolini, ii. 251, 267, 268, 272
Nilwon, Christine, ii. 256, 257,

258
Nubett, Mrs., ii. 145, 148, 150,

152, 153, 159
Noblet, Mile, (dancer), ii. 88
Northumberland, Duchess of,

i. 297
Northumberland, Duke of, i.

329
No Song no Supper^ i. 265; ii.

35, 129
Nossiter, Miss, i. 125, 126
Novello, Vincent (as oiganist),

u. 184

Operas and Operettas

Nina, i. 244
NeUey Abbey , i. 259
Norma, ii. 156, 164, 168, 190,
249

Oberon (opera), ii. 35
O'Brien (farce-writer), i. 186
O'Connell, Daniel, Anti-Corn

Law meetings, ii. 172, 174
O'Hara, i. 186

O'KeeflFe, i. 227, 228, 232, 238,
239, 246, 247, 249, 251, 258-
259, 269, 277 ; ii. 14

reminiscences, ii. 7
Olympic Theatre, ii. 74
O'Neill, Miss, i. 362, 365, 380,

382; ii. 1
O. P. Riots, i. 313-316, 324
Orchestra, i. 336 ; ii. 34
*' Orders," or free admissions, ii.

55-57

"Orders," revision by Bunn, ii.

83
Orpheus and Eurydice (Gluck's

opera), iL 231
Osbaldiston, D. W., ii. 99-102,

106-109, 110-116
Othello. Vide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
Operas and operettas —

The Beggar^s Opera, I 18, 31,
71, 77, 90, 97, 136, 138, 144,
161, 215, 266, 302, 360; ii.
35, 147, 155, 164

Achilles, L 32

ne Fancied Queen, i. 33

Pastor Fido, L 41

Ahiwi^ i. 51

847

INDEX

Openui and operettas — eon-
tinued,

* Altmnder's Feast, i. 53, 62,

120
Atalanta, i. 64, 61
ArminiuBf i. 61
Justin j' or, Giustino, L 61
Droffon of Wantley, i. 61, 65
Dido, L 63
Berenice, L 63
Alcestes, i. 93, 120, 122

• Ckoice of Hercules, i. 121
Thomas and Sally, i. 142
Flarizel and PerdUa, i. 143
Artaaoerxes, i. 152, 154, 229,

244,284; ii. 12
Love in a Village, i. 153, 161,

182, 183, 222, 241, 270 ; iL 36
Shepherd^s Artifice, i. 155
The Guardian Outwitted, i.

156
The Maid qf the Mill, 1 156
The Spanish Lady, i. 157
7%e Summer's Tale, 1 160
The Double Mistake, i. 160
The Accomplished Maid, i. 160
Love in the City, i. 160
Rosamond, i. 161
Lycidas (dramatic elegy), L

178
The Royal Merchant, i. 179
Lionel and Clarissa, i. 179
The Royal Garland, L 181
Tom Jones, L 181
The Portrait, i. 183
2%e Fairy Princess, i. 184
The Golden Pippin, L 186
Achilles in Petticoals, i. 197
The Duenna, i. 201, 206 ; ii. 84
Seraglio, L 210
Love finds the Way, i. 216

Operas and operettas — con-
tinued.
Poor Vulcan, i. 216, 243
Rose and Colin, I 218
Wives Revenged, L 218
Annette and Lubin, L 218
The Lady <^ the Manor, L 218,

229
Chelsea Pensioner, L 220
The Shepherdess of the Alps, i.

224
Jupiter and Akmena; or»

Amphitryon, L 227
The Banditti, afterwards The

Castle of Andalusia, i. 227,

228,231
The Flitch qf Bacon, L 233
The Poor Soldier, L 233, 250 ;

ii.l64
Rosina, i. 233 ; ii. 28
Robin Hood, i. 223, 234
FontainUeau, i. 238
The Fair Peruvian, i. 242,

243
Nina, i. 244

Marian, I 246 >'

Highland Red, i. 246
The Prophet, i. 249
The Czar, i. 249
The Crusade, L 249
Andromache, i, 250
VUsurpator Innocente, L 250
The Woodman, i. 251
The Magician no Conjuror, i

253
Netley Abbey, i. 259
The Poor Sailor, L 262
Abroad and at Home, L 264
Tfie Farmer, i. 269
Ramah Droog, i. 269
Paul and Virginia, i. 277

* Sohoeloher'B Life of Handel olassifies " Alexander's Feast " as an
ode, and ** The Choioe of Heroules " as an interlude.

848

INDEX

Operas and operettas — con-
tinued,
UAUtgro ed <l Penseroso^ i. 281
Nazze di Figaro, i. 283, 381 ;
ii. 92, 157, 164, 190, 246,
248, 249, 254
Chain$ of the Heart; or, The

Slave by Choice, i. 284
ne Cabinet, i. 285, 290
J%e Eecapee, L 286
FamUy Quarrels, L 290
Adrian and Orrila, i. 299
The English Fled, L 301
ISvo Faces under a Hood, L 321
ne Miller and his Men, I 360
ne Farmei^s Wife, L 361
John of Paris, L 3e6
Don Giovanni, L 368; iL 190,

236,257
Barber of SeviUe, i. 377
Comedy of Errors, ii. 2
Tuftl/ih Night (BiBhop), iL 11
The Law of Java (Bishop), ii.

17
Maid Marian (Bishop), ii. 22
CWt; or. The Maid of Milan,

ii.25,28
Der Freischiitz, iL 32, 57, 74,

194
Preciosa, iL 35
IrtSa,ii.35

Oberon; or, The Elf, ii. 35
King's Oath, ii. 36-40
Merry Wives of Windsor, ii.

41,245
La Dame Blanche, iL 42
Ninneita {La Qazza Ladra,

Rossini), iL 59
Cinderella {Cenerentola, Ros-
sini), iL 60
The Pilot, iL 60
Bobert le DiabU, ii. 65, 66, 179,

Operas and operettas — con*

tinued.
ifo«r (Rossini), iL 79, 267
La 8onnarnbul€i, ii. 92, 96^ 164,

190, 235, 254, 264
Fiddio, iL 96
The Bronze Horse (adaptation),

iL104
Siege of Boehdle (Balf e), ii. 117
Esmeralda, ii. 120
Am^ie, iL 132, 135
Fra Diavolo, iL 137, 155, 164,

249
Norma (Bellini), ii. 156, 164,

168, 190, 249
Elena Uberti, ii. 164
Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer), iL

168, 190, 192, 224, 242, 249
H Matrimonio Segreto, ii. 169
Antigone (Mendelssohn), ii.

175
Semiramide, iL 184, 190, 194
Lucrezia Borgia, ii. 186, 190,

192, 249, 283
II Barbiere, ii. 188, 190
L'Ttaliana in Algien, ii. 190
La Oazza Ladra, ii. 190
La Donna dd Lago, ii. 190,

192
Lucia, ii. 190, 262
Elisir d^Am/ore, ii. 190
Anna Bolena, iL 190
Maria di Bohan, iL 190
Emani (Veidi), ii. 190, 267
Due Foscari (Veidi), u. 190
Puritani (Bellini), u. 190, 248,

275
Haydee (Auber), iL 190
Tanoredi (Rossini), iL 190
La Favorita, ii. 190, 263, 281
GuHlaume Tell, u. 190, 249,

267, 268, 281
Le PropkHe, iL 190, 231, 249

949

INDEX

Openw and operettas — con-

Hnued,
La Juitfe (Halevy), ii. 193, 263
Ma§anielU>j ii. 194
Fiddio, ii. 194, 231, 266
Famt (Spohr), ii. 196
BtnveMUo Cellini (Berlioz), ii.

197
Don FoB^udU (Donizetti)^ ii.

198
L*£Mle du Nord (Meyerbeer),

u. 199, 246, 249
II Trovatare (Verdi), ii. 199,

277
TTie Bohemian Girl, ii. 201
Martha (Flotow), ii 224
Satanella (Ball e), u. 226
Binorah (Meyerbeer), ii. 227,

231
Boee of CaeUXU, ii. 228
Lurline (WaUace), ii. 228
Straddla, ii. 231, 246
Orpheus and Ewrydice, ii. 231
Bianoa, ii. 232
Domino Noir, ii. 233, 260
Buy Bias (Glover), iL 237
BMn Hood (Macfarren), ii.

237

The Puritan's Daughter
(Balf e), iL 237

LUy of KUlarney (Benedict),
ii. 238, 239

Lovis Triumph (Vincent Wal-
lace), u. 239

Fau^ (Gounod), ii. 240, 241,
246,249

The Desert Flower, ii. 243

Blanche de Nevers, ii. 243

FancheUe (Leyey), ii. 244

She Stoops to Conquer (Mac-
farren), ii. 244

II Flauto Magico, iL 248, 249,
266

850

Operas and operettas— con-
tinued,
VJJrioaine, ii. 248, 249
Linda di OAanumntx, iL 249
Ballo in Masehera, iL 249
Terrible Hymen, ii. 261
Bom£o et Juliette (Goanod),

ii. 261, 267, 286
Medea (Cherubini), iL 266
Hamlet (Ambroise Thomas), iL

266
Macbeth (Veidi), iL 260
Lohengrin (Wagner), iL 266,

268,276
Mignon (Ambroise Thomas),

u. 267
Le pre aux Clercs (Harold), ii.

268
Aida (Verdi), iL 269, 274,

276,282
Tannhauser, iL 269
Le Boi de Lahore (Massenet),

ii. 270
The Demon (Rabinstein), iL

271
Carmen, ii. 271
VeOeda (Lenepyeu), iL 271
MeflstofeU (Boito), ii. 276
LaGioconda (Ponchielli), ii. 275
Mirdla (Gounod), iL 280
Feeheurs de Perles (Bizet), ii.

281,286
La Vie pour le Czar (Glinka),

iL281
Die Meistersinger (Wagner), ii.

286
Amy Bchsart (Isidore de Lara),

iL289
Veiled Prophet (Villiers Stan-
ford), ii. 289
^o/fto/ (Verdi), ii. 290
Manon Lescaut (Puccini), ii.
290

INDEX

Oratorios—
Esther, I 62, 120
Deborah, I es
H Trwnfo del Tempo e deUa

Verita, i. 63
David's LamenkUion over Satd

and Jonathan, L 77
Sampson, or Samson, i. 86,

87, 89, 116, 117, 134, 136,

162
2%e Messiahs

first performed, i. 87, 162,
264

other performances, i. 116,

117, 134, 162, 264, 267,
273

Joseph and His Brethren, L 95

Semde, i. 95

OccasiofuU Oratorio, i. 98

Juelas Macehaheus, i. 104, 107,

117, 120, 134, 162
Alexander Bmhis, L 107
Joshua, i. 107
Solomon, i. 116, 134
Susannah, i. 116, 134
Said (Handel), i. 117
Theodora, I 117
Hercules, i. 116, 121
Belshazssar, i. 120
Triumph of Time and Truth,

i. 132
Zimri, 1 143
Israel in Egypt, i. 168, 162 ; ii.

79
Judith, i. 161, 187
Jephthah, i. 162

dramatized version with-
drawn at instance of Dr.
Blomfield, Bishop of Lon-
don, ii. 83, 84
The Cure of Saul {Dr. Arnold),

i. 183
The Besurrection, L 214

Oratorios — continued.

The Creation, L 261, 275, 276
Britannia, i. 274

Paoanini, ii. 76, 77, 78
first appearance in France,
ii.76
Page (singer), i. 310
Pageants —
the procession from the
Abbey at the coronation of
George III., i. 144
Shakespearian characters, i.

368
Henry Y. coronation scene,

u. 13
Charles X. of France corona-
tion, ii. 34
Painting-room, i. 336
Pahner, John, i. 229, 267
Panic of fire at Sadler's Wells,

i. 321
Pantaloons-
Barnes, i. 18 ; ii. 226
Grimaldi (senior), i. 72
Pantomimes —
coarseness of early produc-
tions, ii. 306
Harlequin Sorcerer, i. 5, 123
Harlequin Amulet, i. 11
Mars and Venus, 1. 12
Orpheus and Eurydice, L 12
Cupid and Bacchus, i. 12
Harlequin Doctor Faustus, i.

16
The Bape of Proserpine, L 47
Jupiter and Europa, i. 63
Harlequin Barber, i. 80
Perseus and Andromeda, i. 116,
160

851

INDEX

•fi*a Inwuion^ i. 147
Moih^ Shiptony i. 183
Ths Medley, L 218
The TinushsUme, i. 219
Harlequin Everywhere, L 224
Lun'ti Qhoat, i. 229
Lard Mayor' a Day, L 232
The Magic Cavern, L 238
The Nunnery, I 238
Lave in a Camp, i. 238
Hie ChoUric Faihere, i. 238
Omai, i. 239

The Enchanted Castle, i. 242
Aladdin and the Wander/ul

Lamp, i. 247, 300 ; u. 11
Oacar and MaJvina (ballet),

i. 252
Harlequin's Museum, i. 256
The Magic Oak, i. 277
La P^rouse, i. 281
Harlequin's Almanack ; or,

l%e Four Seasons, i. 287
Mother Goose, i. 317-320, 349,

381
Harlequin in His Element, i.

321
Harlequin Asmodeus ; or,

Cupid on Crutches, i. 360
Bluebeard, i. 351
Harlequin and Fadmandba, i.

353
Harlequin and the Swans, i.

300
Baron Munchausen; or. The

Fountain of Love, i. 379
Hariequin and Friar Bacon,

ii. 11
Harlequin and Mother Bunch ;

or. The Ydlow Dwarf, ii.

17
Cherry and Fair Star, ii. 17
Harlequin and the Ogress ; or, I

Pantomimei — continued.

The Sleeping Beauty, iL 22,

149
Harlequin and Peeping Tom

of Coventry, iL 132
6^00^ Bed of Ware, ii. 149
Hans (f Icdand, ii. 164
Wooden Leg, ii. 164
Magna Charia, iL 171
LOOe Red Biding Hood, u.

225
Bluebeard, ii. 232
Cullivei's Travels, ii. 238
Harlequin Beauty and the

Beast, ii. 239
St. Oeorge and the Dragon, iL

244
Cinderdla, u. 247, 268
The Babes in the Wood, iL 252,

267
Jack and the Beanstalk, ii. 283
Ptoepa, MUe., ii. 224, 228, 263
Parke, IfisB (afterwards Mrs.

Beudmore), i. 291
Parke, William (instrumenfc-
aliat), i. 234, 235, 244, 248,
260, 252, 259, 261, 263, 265,
268, 272, 273, 275, 276, 277,
284, 301, 310, 349 ; ii. 21, 34
Parker, Miss (Columbine), i. 354
Parrin (singer), i. 310
Parry, John (senior), i. 361
Patents and patentees, i. 164,
166, 167 ; ii. 63, 64, 71, 72,
82,86
Paton, Miss, u. 23, 28, 33
Patti, Adelina, iL 233, 234, 235,
238, 245, 246, 248, 257, 263,
267, 269, 270, 272, 277, 291
Patti, Carlotta, ii. 250
Payne, Henry (Harlequin), ii.

226
Payne, Howard, ii. 22, 26

952

INDEX

Peannan (singer), ii. 33
Peel, Sir Robert, ii. 90
Pen9o^ Mme., ii. 236
Pereiti, i. 152
PerBiani, M., ii. 181, 182
Penriani, Mme., ii.il82, 187, 190
Phelps, Samuel, iL 129, 136,

138,230
Phoenix Fire Office—
lirstCoyent Garden fire, i. 326
second Covent Grarden fire,
ii. 206
Pitt, Mrs., i. 261, 270
Pizarro, L 299, 302, 324 ; ii. 83
Phinch^, J. R., ii. 22, 23, 28,
36, 36, 38, 88, 90, 91, 146,
161,231,239,266
on opera of Lovt^s 2W«mpA,
ii. 239 ,..
Plans (Horwood's), i. 326
Plays . (tragedies, comedies),
etc. —
The Recruiting Officer, i. 3, 77,

126
Tunible-dotvn Dick, i. 6
The Cheats o/Scapin; or, The

Tavern Bilkers, i. 12, 31
Way of the World, L 30, 42,

229,230
Othello, i. 32, 34, 82, 84, 97,
106, 179, 236, 302 ; ii. 22, 49
King Lear, i. 32, 97, 99, 106,
179, 264, 382 ; iL 11, 60, 133
Timan of Athens, i. 32
Merry Wives of Windsor, i. 32,
302; ii 147, 148, 166, 164,
170
l%e Tuscan IVeaty, I 33
Macbeth, i. 34, 97, 126, 183,
196, 223, 302, 319, 322, 324,
339, 367, 367, 369, 373; iL
1, 34, 111, 114, 136, 230
Henry VIIL, i. 34, 310

VOL. II. 858

Plays (tragedies, comedies), etc.

-— continued*

TroUus and Cressida, i, 34

Bichard IIL, i. 34, 84, 97, 99,

195, 302, 360, 371 ; ii. 3, 48

Hamlet, i. 34, 72, 90, 93, 97,

99, 184, 236, 289, 298, 363,

367 ; ii. 12, 34, 101, 128, 148

Measure/or Measure, i. 34, 302

Henry IV. (Part 1), i. 46, 101,

302; ii. 31, 178
Henry IV. (Part 2), i. 68, 302 ;

ii. 13
The Orphan L 47
Bute a Wife and have a Wife,

L 47 ; iL 146, 148
Venice Preserved, i. 47, 84, 103,

123 ; iL 34, l06, 106, 129
The Toyshop, i. 48
Theodosius, i. 60
King John, i. 61, 66 ; iL 23,

34,107
Nest of Plays, L 66
Bichard IL, i. 66, 322
Henry V., i. 68, 142, 144, 182,

302, 316 ; ii. 138, 139
Henry VL (Part 1), i. 68
Marina, L 68
Love's Last Shift, I 69
Spanish Fryar, i. 69, 84
The Parricide, i. 70
Provoked Husband, i. 71, 126 ;

iL 13, 69, 62, 63
Constant Couple, L 79, 127
Old Bachelor, L 79, 84
Cato, i. 81, 99, 201, 361
Love for Love, L 81
^sop, L 82

The Conscious Lovers, L 84
The Orphan, L 84, 94
Albion Queens, L 86, 160
Merchant of Venice, i. 93, 126,
302 ; ii. 34, 230

2 A

INDEX

PUys (tragediM, Gomedies), etc
. — continued.
Papal Tyranny in the Reign

of King John, I 96
Stratagem, i. 97, 217
Fair Penitent, i. 99
Miae in her Teene; or. The

Medley of Jjcvere, i. 108
Suspidoue HtUband, i. 108
Provoked Wife, i. 113, 115
Coriolanut (ThomBon'B), i. 115
All/or Love, L 115
Borneo and Juliet, L 118, 143,

302, 367 ; iL 11, 34, 62, 148
Hie Engliehman at Paris, i.

124
Coriolanus (Shakespeur's), L

125, 315, 362, 368 ; ii. 5, 11,

135
The Rival Queme, i. 126
The Miser, i. 127, 186
2^ Pressgang, L 127
Douglas, L 127, 142, 302
Lethe, i. 128
As You Like It, 1 129; iL 34,

148
Cymbdine, L 377 ; iL 11, 109,

133, 177, 219
Cleone, i. 133
The Spirit of Contradiction, L

137
The Minor, i. 141
Every Man in his Humour, L

153, 302 ; ii. 34
Hie Busybody, 1 157, 218
The Accomplished Maid, i. 160
Perplexities, L 160
The School for Guardians, L

160, 216
The Clandestine Marriage, L

164,170; iL148
The Oood-^fuUwred Man, i. 169,

170, 176, 178, 179, 187, 195

PUyt (tragedies, oomediee), etc.

-—conUnued,
False Ddicacy, i. 175
She Sloops to Conquer, i. 177,

187-196, 200, 216, 260 ; u.

34
Jane Shore, i. 181, 302, 322
Cyrus, i. 181
Orestes, I 181
ne Brothers, i. 183, 187
Timanthes, i. 183
Zobeide, LIU
An Hour before Marriage, i.

184
The Wife in the Right, i. 184
Twelfth Night, i. 184, 322 ; ii.

11, 21,(34, 148, 155
Elfrida, i. 186
Hke West Indian, i. 187
The Dudliet, i. 197
The Man (^ Business, i. 197
The Rivals, i. 198-200, 225,

302, 350 ; ii. 17, 148, 155, 164
Cleonice, i. 200
Edward and Eleanora, i. 201
St. Patrick's Day, i. 201
The School/or Scandal, i. 207,

268; ii. 28, 34, 107, 148,

155, 164, 230
Caraetacw, i. 211
Tempest, i. 213, 378 ; iL 12, 170
Alfred, L 216
Cross Purposes, i. 218
l%e Fatal Falsaood,i. 220
Percy, L 220

Hie Duke of MUan, i. 224
The Widow of Delphi, i. 225
Hie BdU^s Stratagem, i. 225 ;

iL34,148
A New Way to pay Old Debts,

L 226^ 227
ne Man of the World, I 227,
319

854

INDEX

PUyB (tragedies, comedies), etc.

Plays (tragedies, comedies), etc.

— continued,
Triitmm Shandy, i. 232
l%e Marriage </ Figaro, i. 237
The CHHc, i. 238 ; ii. 165, 164,

260
The Intriguing Chambermaid,

L242
MarceUa, i. 249
Force of Fashion, I 249
Endora, i. 249

The Widow of Malabar, i. 249
The Oerman Hotd, i. 251
The School for Arrogance, i.

251
Lorenao, i. 251
WHd Oat$,i. 251
7%e Dreamer Awake, i. 251
National Fr^'udiee, i. 251
A Day in Turk^, i. 253
The Road to Buin, i. 263
Hartford Bridge; or, I^

Skirts of the Camp, i. 256
Colwnbue, i. 257
How to grow Bich, i. 257
Love'e FraiUies, i. 259
Fontainville Forest, I 259
The Siege of Meaux, L 260
The Sicilian Bomance, L 260
I%e Mysterie$ of the Castle, i.

260
Sheoa the Jew, I 263
A Cure for the Heart Ache, i.

264,269
ne Country Girl, i. 265, 312,

353
Feggy's Love, i. 265
No Song no Supper, i. 265; iL

35,129
False Impressions, L 266
Secrete worth Knowing, L 266
Knave or Not, I 266
The Heir at Law, L 267, 302

855

— continued.
The Mouth of the Nile, i. 270
Count <f Burgundy, i 273
T%ree weeks after Marriage, i.

273
The Farmhouse, L 274
Joanna, i. 274
Speed the Plough, i. 274, 302
The Stranger, L 281, 302 ; ii.

13, 63, 111
John BuU, i. 291, 316; u.

148,155
Pitarro, i. 299, 302,^324; iL 83
Beau» Stratagem, i. 302
Much Ado about Nothing, i.

302; ii. 28; 34, 107, 148
Barbarossa, i. 303
The Spanish Dollars; or, The

Priest of the Parish, i. 306
GiMy or not GuiUy, i. 308
Valentine and Orson, i. 316
The Wanderer, i. 321
Timour the Tartar, i. 353
Julius Cmsar, i. 359, 377 ; ii.

17, 34, 35, 107
Midsummer Nights Dream, L

367, 377 ; u. 154, 155, 164
Ouy Mannering, i. 368
Distressed Mother, i. 370
Betribution, i. 376
BobBoy,i.m; ii. 200
Balamira; or. The Fall of

Tunis, i. 377
Evadne,i. 380
Heart of Midlothian, i. 381
Fredoifo, I 381
Ivanhoe,iL 5
Virginius, ii. 5, 111
Mirandcla, ii. 12
Olympia, ii. 14
Taimingofthe Shrew, iL 14
Two Gentlemenqf Verona, iL L4

INDEX

PkyB (tragedies, comedies), etc.

— continued,
Ali Facha, u. 21
Hie Soldier*s Daughter, ii. 21
Nigel; or, The Crown Jetveh,

ii.22
Julian^ ii. 24

Comedy of Errore, ii. 28, 34
Cor^; or, The Conquest of

MeaoicOf ii. 28
The Veepers of Palermo, ii. 30
Presumption ; or, 2%0 Foto <2^

i^n^efM^etn, ii. 31
The Three Strangere, ii. 36
Woodstock, ii. 41
FoscaH, ii. 42, 135
Pflfor WHkins ; or, ^e J^y%

Indians, ii. 42
7%0 Dtfvi^'f Eliadr, iL 44
7%« JKn^'f Wager, ii. 63
2^ i^atr Penitent, ii. 63
Bonaparte^ ii. 65
i^rancu /., ii. 65, 68
The Hunchback, ii. 68, 105
Ndl Owynne, ii. 78
The Wife, u. 80
Gustavus the Third, ii. 83, 87
My Neighbour's Wife, ii. 84,

88,148
Jonathan Bradford, ii. 103
Paid CHfford, ii. 103
Jn7i0ritonce, ii. 103
Sigismund Augustus, ii. 104
Robert Maoaire, iL 104
Separation, ii. 106
/on, ii. 106, 111-113, 148
The Gamester, ii. 107
Duchesse de la VaUiere, ii. 108^

115, 134
Brian Boroihme, ii. 108
Strafford, u. 108, 114, 116
A Winter^s Tale, iL 109, 128
Black-ey'd Susan, ii. 116, 201

PlayB (tragedies, coraediea), etc.

— continued.
A Roland for an Olitfer, ii. 128
The Lady of Lyons, ii. 134,

135, 138
7%e Hypocrite, ii. 135
Marino FaUero, ii. 135
The Athenian Captive, ii. 135
Woman's WU, ii. 135
Rithdieu, ii. 138, 140
Love's Labour^ s Lost, ii. 145^ 148
Love, ii. 146, 155
The Wonder, ii. 148
Country Squire, ii. 148
Double GaUant, ii. 148
Baronet, ii. 148
Know your Gum Mind, ii. 148
Faint Heart, iL 148
Secret Service, ii. 148, 155
Dr. DiUworth, u. 148
Scapegoat, ii. 148
Queen's Horse, ii. 148
Ask no Questions, ii. 148
Why did you diel iL 148
2>on'^ he frightened, ii. 148
Z/on<i(m ^Mttrvnoe, ii. 150, 155,

164
Spanish Curate, ii. 155
Fashionahle Arrivals, iL 165
WhiU Milliner, ii. 155
Bride of Messina, iL 155
Old Maids, ii. 157, 164
The Rose of Aragon, ii. 158
She Would omd She Would

Not, ii. 164
What wiU the World sayf iL

164
Court and City, ii. 164
Wives as they Were, ii. 164
Irish Heiress, ii. 164
Bubbles qf the Day, iL 164
Money, iL 229
Pocock (Ubrettist), L 360, 372,377

856

INDEX

Poitier, M. (dancer)^ i. 126
PolhiU, Gaptaiii, u. 81, 89, 90
Poole, Miss, i. 269, 264, 273,

321, 323, 363, 381
Pope (actor), i. 238, 267
Pope, Alexander (poet), L 6, 16,

18, 48, 49
Pope, Ifra. (the first, formerly

Miss Tounge);i. 217, 223, 236,

261, 264, 292
Pope, Mrs. (the second), i. 266
Porpora, Nicola^ i. 62
Porter, Mrs., i. 86
Portug^ Row, i. 3, 24
Powell, William, i. 164-168,

179, 180, 182, 296
Press notices, i. 26, 26, 30, 40-
44, 63, 64,: 66, 62, 76,
86-90, 149-161, 211, 212,
218, 246; u. 26, 29, 170,
178, 179

on Antigone^ IL 176

Punch on Antigone^ ii. 177

Professor Anderson's concert,
ii.201

the great 1866 fire, ii. 203

of the opening night after the
rebuilding, ii. 221
Pritchard, Mrs., i. 80, 94, 106,

136
Programmes and play-biUs, ii.

306,307-309
Properties and scenery in 1743.

Vide Appendix, ii. 309-314
Protection against fire, L 337
Provoked Husband, i. 71, 126 ; ii.

13, 69, 62, 63
Provoked Wife, i. 113, 116
Puttick and Simpson, i. 171
Pye (Poet Laureate), i. 260
Pyne, Louisa, ii. 226, 226, 227,

230, 237, 238, 243, 260
Pyne, Susan ii. 226

Operds and Operettas

PortraU, 1 183

Poor Vulcan, I 216, 243

Poor Soldier, i. 233, 260 ; ii. 164

Prophet, I 249

Poor Sailor, L 262

Paul and Virginia, 1. 277

Penseroso, L* Allegro ed il, i. 28 1

Precioaa, ii. 36

PUa, ii 60

Puritani, ii. 190, 248, 276

Prophhte, Le, ii. 190, 231, 249

Puritan's Daughter, ii. 237

Pecheurs de Perles, iL 281, 286

QuBENSBEBBT, Duchess of , i. 116
Queensberry, Duke of, i. 296
Quick, i. 192, 194, 198, 267, 269
Quin, 1. 81, 84, 94, 97, 99, 100,

103, 106, 107, 113, 114, 116,

119, 122

Rainforth, Miss, i. 146, 147,
148, 149, 169, 170

Reade, Charles, iL 63

Reconstructed theatre after total
destruction by fire, 1806-09,
detailed architectural ac-
count, i. 330-338

Reddish, Samuel, i. 219

Reed, Mrs. German (formerly
Miss P. Horton), u. 133

Reeve, WOliam, i. 262, 270,
272, 277, 283, 284, 287

Reeves, Sims, iL ^

Rehearsals, annoyance to actors
by presence of outsiders, iL 140

<' Requiem" (Mozart), i. 281

Besurrection (oratorio), i. 214

867

INDEX

de Beuke, Edouard, ii. 270, 285,

290
de Besske, Jean, ii. 282, 285,

286,290
Betiremeni of lin. Siddons, i.

365-368
Reynolds (play-writer), L 249,
257, 200, 266, 368, 370; iL15
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, i. 170,

190,192
Rich, Christopher, i. 1, 2, 3
Rich, John —
penKNoal, i. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10,
12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 36,
46, 49, 63, 60, 66, 67, 73,
78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 92, 93,
97, 96, 99, 102, 103, 104,
106, 106, 107, 108 (and
MounetX 116, 117-127, 129,
135, 136, 137, 139-141, 143,
144, 146-149, 162, 107, 171
public performances, L 3, 5, 31
his portraits, ii. (App.) 302-
304
Rich, Mrs., i. 158
Rich, the Miues, i. 82
Bu^rd II. Vide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
BichardllL Fide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
Richards, John Inigo, R.A., i.

231,272
Richardson, i. 263
BieMteu, ii. 138, 140
Riots at Covent Garden, L 110-
112, 154, 266, 286, 3ia^l6,
324,339-348; ii. 146, 146
BivdU^ I7t&-^
cast when first performed, i.

198-200
other performances, i. 226,
302, 360; ii. 17, 148, 166,
164

Bead to Buin, i. 253
Robertson (a proprietor), ii.

122-126
Robertson, Tom (author of

CasUf etc.), on Covent Crarden

fire, ii 203-217
Bobert the DrntU, ii. 66, 66, 67
«< Robin Adair" (long), i. 323 ;

ii. 42
Robinson, Mrs., i. 209
Bd> Bay, i. 377 ; ii. 200
Rodwell, O. H. (musical direc-
tor), ii. 127, 128
Boland/or an OUver^ iL 128
Borneo and Juliet. Vide under

Shakespearian Revivals
Romer, Miss, ii. 120
Ronconi, ii. 188, 190, 194, 198,

199, 237, 249, 261
Rosdus, the young, i. 303-^06
Rossi (linger), ii. 224
Rowe, N., i. 99, 100, 114
Royal Coburg Theatre, iL 74
Royal Humane Sodety, i. 274
Rubini, Signor, ii. 88
Rubinstein, Anton, iL 271
Bute a Wife and have a Wife, i.

47 ; U. 146, 148

*' Rule Britannia," i. 75, 98, 323
Russell, Ella, iL 280, 283

Russell, William, L 282

Rutherford, L 164, 166, 168,

180,182

Ryan (actor), L 106, 136, 141

Ryder (actor), i. 246

Rye (property man), ii. 69

Operas and Operettas

Bosamondy L 161
Boyal Merchant, L 179
Boyal Garland, L 181
Base and Colin, L 218
i^oMno, L 233 ; ii. 28

858

INDEX

Bobtn Hood (Shield), i. 233,

234
Bamah Droog^ i. 269
Bo9t of CkuitUe, ii. 228
Buif Bhu, u. 237
Bobin Hood (MacfamnX ii

237
Borneo et Jidntte (€k>imod), ii.

251, 2G7, 286
Boi d6 Lahore, ii. 270
BobeH le Diahle, ii. 65, 66, 179,

256

Saohi, or Saqui, Mme., i. 368,

378
Sadler's Wells Theatre, i. 282,
321 ; ii. 74

alarm of fire, i. 321

and Grimaldi, i. 360; ii. 44
Sainton, Proaper, ii. 182, 271
St. Patrick's Day (Sheridan^ i.

201
St. Pkul's Cathedral, Thomas

Athrood, L 262
Salaries to actors and actresses
and singers —

Qarriok, L 83, 102, 103

Henderson, i. 223

Dibdin, i. 271

Mrs. Billington, i. 283, 284

Master BeUy, i. 305 ; ii. 18

Grimaldi, L 316

Mrs. Siddons, i. 320

Mrs. Dickons, L 321

Booth, L 371

Fawcett (as stage manager),
i. 375

Toung, ii 14, 17, 18

Miss Stephens, ii. 14, 18

Macready, ii. 14, 110, 113

Liston, iL 18

Salaries to actors and actresses
and singers — continued.

Munden, ii. 19

Fawcett, ii. 19

Quick, ii. 19

Edwin, ii. 19

Johnstone, ii. 19

Lewis, ii. 19

Mathews, ii. 19

Kemble, John, iL 19

Miss O'Neill, ii. 19

George Cooke, ii. 19

Mrs. Jordan, ii. 19

Kemble, Charles, ii. 19, 55

Kemble, Fanny, ii. 61

Malibnm, ii. 92

Miss Faucit, u. 126, 130

Mrs. Glover, ii. 126

F. Yining, ii. 126

Elton, ii. 127

George Yandenhoff, ii. 144

Anderson, ii. 145

Adelaide Kemble, iL 159

Alboni, iL 186

AdeUna Patti, iL 233
Sale, L 276

Salisbury, Marquis of, i. 278
Sdlly in out AUey, i. 62, 259
Salmon, Mrs. (singer), iL 23
Soamon (oratorio), L 85, 87, 89,

116, 117, 134, 136, 162
Sandwich, Earl of, i. 221
Santley, Charles —

operatic dibut^ ii. 228

married to Miss Gertrude
Kemble, iL 228

engaged for Italian opera
season, ii. 238

engaged for 1869 Italian opera
season, ii. 257
Sapio, ii. 23
Saul (oratorio), L 117
Sauret, Emile, iL 251

859

INDEX

Soalohi, Mile, (linger), ii. 254,

267, 207, 270
Soene-painten —

J. N. SerFandoni, i. 40, 121

€(eoige Lambert^ i. 46

John Lugo Richaidfl, R.A., i.
231,272

Carver, i. 231

Lotttherberg, P. J. de, i. 240

Hollogan) i 287

Wliitmore, L 287

Creuwell, i. 287

T. and W. Grieve, ii. 36, 44,
145, 154, 179, 184, 224

Charles Marshall, u. 121,

126,127
Clarkaon Stanfield, ii. 129,

132, 138» 139
Beverley, iL 206, 224, 227
Telbin, ii. 224
Scenic effects —
BliiAea/rd, i. 361
elephant on the stage, i. 363
earthquake, i. 368
real stage-coach and six horses,

ii. 103
Burmah bulls and elephants

on the stage ; performers

flee, ii. 108
Frederick Gye'a new limelight,

ii. 133
Henry F. (Stanfield's effects),

ii. 139
Cirmus, ii; 149
Midsummer Nighfs Dream,

ii. 164
Schmidt, Herr (singer), ii. 249
School for Scandal —
original MS.- destroyed in

1866 Covent Garden fire,

u. 211
performances, i. 207, 268 ; ii.

28, 34, 107, 148, 166, 164, 230

Scotch Veteran's Fund, i. 97
Scott, Sir Walter, L 362, 377 ;

ii. 22, 41
Seating capacity, i. 337
Second, Mrs., L 276, 276
Sedgwick, Amy, ii. 230
'' See the Conquering Hero," i.

104
Seguin, Mile., ii. 194
Selby (dramatist), i. 104
Semde (oratorio), i. 95
Serle, i. 136, 141
Serres, Mrs., i. 263
Servandoni, John N., i. 40
Sestini, i. 228
Shakespear —
statue by Rossi, i. 332, 333
two-hundredth anniversary, L

368
an act from five different

plays performed, L 377
mangled performance of the

Tempestj ii. 12
cast for Henry IV., Part 2,

ii. 13
Great success of King John
with suitable costumes, iL
23
Charles Kemble as Fabtaff in
Henry IV., Pikrt 1, ii. 31 ;
as Hamlet, ii. 101
Edmund Kean as King Lear,

ii.«)
Fanny KemUe as Juliet, ii.

69, 61
Macready as Macbeth, ii. Ill
Phelps as Othello, ii. 129

as Shylodc, ii. 230
Henry F., Macready's revival

of, ii. 138, 139
Mideummer NigIU'9 Dream,
first time • with. Mendels-
sohn's music, ii. 164

860

INDEX

Shakespear — continued.
Merchant of Venice^ strong

cii8t,ii. 2d0
MiflB Glyn am Lady Macbeth,

ii. 230
Shakespearian Reviyals —
Othdlo, i. 32, 84, 82, 84, 97,

106, 179, 236, 302 ; ii. 22,

49
King Lear, i. 32, 97, 99, 106,

179, 264, 382 ; iL 11, 60, 133
Timon of Athens, i. 32
Merry Wives of Windsor, i.

32, 302 ; ii. 147, 148, 166,

164,170
Ma<Mh, i. 34, 97, 126, 183,

196, !223, 302, 319, 322,

324, 339, 367» 367, 369,

373; ii 1, 34, 111, 114,

136,230
Henry VIIL, i. 34, 310
Troilus and Cressida, i. 34 ;
Biehard IIL, i. 34, 84, 97, 99;

196,302,360,371; ii. 3, 48
Hamlet, L 34, 72, 90, 93, 97,

99, 184, 236, 289, 298, 363,

307 ; u. 12, 34, 101, 128, 148
Measure for Measwre^i, 34, 302
Henry IV., Pirt 1, i. 46, 101,

302; ii. 31, 178
Henry IV., Part 2, i. 68, 302 ;

U. 13
King John, i. 61, 66; ii. 23,

34, 107
Richard IL, L 66, 322
Henry V., i. 68, 142, 144, 182,

302, 316 ; ii. 138, 139
Henry VI, Part 1, i. 68
Merchfvnt of Venice, i. 93,

•126,302; ii. 34, 230
Borneo and Juliet, i. 118,

143, 302, 367 ; ii. 11, 34,

62,148

Shakespearian Reviyah — wntd.
Coriolanus, i. 126, 316, 362,

368 ; ii. 6, 11, 136
As You Like It, L 129; ii.

34, 148
Cymheline, I 133, 177, 219,

377 ; ii. 11, 109
Twelfth Night, i. 184, 322;

ii. 11, 21, 84, 148, 166
Tmpest, i. 213, 378 ; u. 12, 170
Much Ado about Nothing, i.

302; ii. 28, 34, 107, 148
Julius Cmsar, i. 369, 377;

ii. 17, 34, 36, 107
Midsummer Nighfs Dream, i.
367, 377 ; ii. 164, 166, 164
Taming of <Ae Shrew, ii. 14
Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii.

14
Comedy of Errors, ii. 28, 84
A Winter's Tale, ii. 109, 128
Love*s Labowr's Lost, ii. 146,
148
Sheridan, Richard Brinaley, i.
184, 198-207, 217, 228, 229,
238, 247, 289, 296, 298, 299,
338-339,343
Sheridan, Thomas, i. 93, 94,

126, 186, 201
She Stoops to Conquer, i. 177,
187-196, 200, 216, 260 ; u. 34
Shiel (tragedy-writer), i 377,

381; iL 2
Shield, William, i. 232, 234,
238, 242, 246-262, 266, 269,
260, 263, 266, 269 ; iL 21
Ship Tayem, Greenwich, Dus-

sek at dinner, i. 268
Shore, Jane, i. 181, 302, 322
'< Should he upbraid? '' ii. 14
Shttter, <<Ned" (actor), L 126,

137, 166, 176, 184, 197, 208
Siddons, Henry, i. 260, 286, 288

861

INDEX

Siddons, Mn. H., i. 298
SiddoiiB, Sarah, i. 236, 236, 239,

288, 289, 310, 311, 316, 319,

320,363,365,369,373,382;

iL13, 65
retirement, L 355-^358
last performanoe as Lady

Macbeth, L 367, 368
farewell address written by

her nephew, i. 368
letter to Lady Haroourt on

burning of Oovent Garden,

i. 328, 329
letter on O. P. Riots, i. 344
Sievier, Robert William, F.R.S.
(engrayer and sculptor), ii.
68
Sinclair (tenor singer), i. 368 ;

ii. 29
Singers —
Miss Nonas, L 31
Cuzzoni, i. 37
Carestini, OioTanni, i. 51
Strada, Signora, i. 61
Porpora, Nicola, i. 62
FarineUi, i. 62
Young Miss Cecilia (wife of

Dr. Ame), L 62, 77
Erard (basso), i. 63
Beard, John, L53, 83» 87, 92,

136, 139, 161, 162, 164,

161-163, 166, 170, 173, 174
Gonti, Signer, i. 64
Mn. Gibber, L 69, 83, 84, 92,

94
Dubottig, i. 86
Miss Brent (Mrs. Pinto), i.

136, 143, 162, 166
Mrs. Vernon, L 143, 162
Tenduoci, 1. 152
Peretti, i. 162

Anne Gatley, i. 163, 183, 186
Brickler, i. 161

Singers — eoniinued.
Miss Elizabeth Linley, i. 184,

186,205
Miss Brown (Mrs. Caigill), i.

205,206
Anna Storace, L 214, 282,

283, 286, 287, 301, 365
Mrs. Kennedy, i. 215, 233
Gharies Dibdin, i. 165-156,

160, 162,1179, 210, 216-220,

223-227, 232, 266
Sestini, L 228
Mrs. Billington, i. 241, 243,

244, 262, 282, 283, 284, 291,

378
John Braham, i. 242, 264^

282, 284, 286, 287, 290, 301,

306, 310, 323 ; ii. 23, 32, 41
Harrison, i. 248, 252
Miss Gantelo, i. 248
Gharles Indedon, i. 250, 259,

260, 266, 276, 277, 282, 301,

306,360,365
Signor Marchesi, i. 260
William Reeve, i. 262, 270,

272, 277, 283, 284, 287
Johnstone, i. 259, 271, 272
Miss Poole (afterwards Mrs.

Dickons), i. 269, 264, 273,

321, 323, 353, 377, 381
Fawoett, John, i. 259, 267,

281, 292, 353, 363, 370, 375,

380; iL 16,43,60,128
Mrs. Martyr, L 260, 266
Mrs. Serres, i. 263
Madame Mara, i. 264, 266,

268,273
Signora Galli, i. 264
Mrs. Second, i. 276, 276
Miss Gapper, i. 276
Miss Tennant, i. 276
Miss Grosby, i. 276
Dignum, i. 276

862

INDEX

Singers — oontinued.
Denman, i. 276» 310
Sale, i. 276

Storace, Stefano, i. 283
Stoiaoe, Stephen, i. 283
MisB Ptoke (afterwards Mrs.

Beardmore), i. 291
Ifra. Ashe, L 309
Mrs. Bland, i. 309
Miss Munday, i. 309
Page, i. 309
Parrin, i. 308
MiUer, i. 309
Mrs. Dickons, i. 259, 264,

273, 321, 323, 353, 377, 381
Catalani, i. 323, 349, 353
Miss Stephens, i. 360^ 361,

362, 365, 368, 372, 381;

ii. 1, 2, 17, 27, 273
T. Cooke, i. 368 ; ii. 22, 32, 59
Sinclair, i. 268 ; ii. 29
Duruset, L 368
Mme. Bellochi, L 381
Miss Tree, iL 2, 11, 14» 51
Mme. Camporese, ii. 23
Mrs. Salmon, ii. 23
Miss Paton, ii. 23, 28, 83
Mr. Sapio, ii. 23
Miss Love, iL 28, 33
Pearman, ii.33
Isaacs, iL 33
Mme. YestriB, i. 383; ii. 1,

13, 27, 35, 41-43, 55, 85,

142-161, 164-166
Mrs. Keeley (formerly Miss

Ooward), ii.35, 39, 40, 44, 79
Orisi, Giulietta, ii. 87, 117,

182, 190, 194, 198, 199, 244,

237
Signor Rubini, ii. 88
Signor Ttunburini, iL 88, 167,

182, 188, 199
MaUbran, u. 92-97

Singers — corUinyed,
Garcia, Manuel, ii. 97
Mme. Pauline Yiardot-Gkir-

cia, u. 97, 190, 194
Balfe, ii. 117
Templeton, John, iL 92-95,

117
Miss Bomer, iL 120
Adelaide Kemble, ii. 155-157,

159, 166, 167, 169, 171
W. Harrison, iL 159, 225,

230, 237, 238, 243
Miss Rainforth, ii. 145-149,

169, 170
Mile. Jenny Lutzer, ii. 168
Bfario, ii. 182, 190, 198, 199,

224, 238, 245, 249, 251, 257
Persiani, Mme., ii. 182, 190
Mile. Alboni, iL 184, 185, 186,

190
Ronooni, ii. 188, 190, 194, 198,

199, 237, 249, 251
Mme. Castellan, ii. 190, 194
Herr Form^ ii. 194, 224, 237,

238
Tamberlik, ii. 194, 198, 224,

234, 236, 238, 241, 245,257
Mile. Seguin, ii. 194
Oalyani, ii. 194
Oui6mard, ii. 194
Bartolini, iL 194
Marini, ii. 190, 194
Johanna Wagner, ii. 195, 196
Luigi Lablaohe, iL 197, 199
Mile. Cruvelli, iL 198
Mile. Bosio, iL 198, 224
MUe. Didi^e, u. 224
Mile. Parepa, ii. 224, 228, 263
MUe. Yictoire BaHe, ii. 224
Rossi, ii. 224
George Honey, ii. 225
Miss Rebecca Isaacs, ii. 225,

267

868

INDEX

Singen— eon<tiiiiee{.
Louisa Pyne, ii. 225, 226, 227,

290, 287, 238, 243, 260
Suaan Pjrne, ii 226
Charles Santley, ii 228, 237,

238, 257, 258
Madam Carvalho, ii. 231,

237, 241, 249
Oardoni, iL 231, 238
Faure, ii. 231, 236, 238, 241,

245, 251, 257, 258, 267, 272
Rosa CaiUag, ii. 231, 236
Titiens, ii. 235, 257
Adelina Patti, ii. 233, 234,

235, 238, 245, 246, 248, 251,

257, 267, 269, 270, 272, 277
Pen90, Mme., ii. 236
Graziani, ii. 241, 245, 249,

251, 267
Pauline Lucca, ii 242, 245,

248, 251, 257, 267, 271, 275
Signor Waohtel, ii. 249
Herr Schmidt, ii. 249
Carlotta Patti, ii. 250
Naudin, ii. 251
Nicolini, ii. 251, 267, 268, 272
Mme. Lemmens-Shenington,

ii. 251
MUe. Scalchi, iL 254, 257,

267, 270
Minnie Hauk, ii. 254
Christine Nilsson, ii. 266, 257,

258
lima di Murska, ii. 257, 258
Sinico, Mme., ii. 257, 267
Mme. Bauermeister, ii. 257
FoU, Sig., ii. 257
Mme. Trebelli, ii. 258, 272,

283
MUe. de M6rio Lablache, ii.

263,285
MUe. Albani, ii. 264, 267, 268,

269, 272, 276, 280, 283

Singers — continued,
Mme. MonbeUi, ii 267
Joseph Maas, ii. 266, 275
Signor Bettini, ii 267
Signor Cotogni, ii 267
Signor Maurel, ii 267, 272,

280
Jean LaasaUe, ii. 270, 272, 283
Edouard de Resske, ii. 270,

283,285
Monsieur Dufriche, ii. 271
Senor GayarrS, ii 268, 269,

272,280
Signor Marconi, ii. 275
Signor Battistini, ii 275
Ella RusseU, ii. 280, 283
Signor d'Andrade, ii 280
Madame Nevada, ii. 280
Jean de Reszke, ii. 282, 283,

285
Melba, Madam, ii. 283, 285
Margaret Macintyre, ii. 283

Sinico, Mme., ii. 257, 267

Smart, Sir Geoige, ii 37, 40, 41,
252

Smirke, Sir Richard, i. 330

Smith, ''Gentleman" (actor), i.
124, 126, 133, 136, 156, 160,
191, 196, 196, 197, 217

Smith, John Christopher (or-
ganist), i 120, 143, 158, 261

SmoUett, i 120

<< Soldier tired" (song), i 284,
323, 353

Solomon (oratorio), i 116, 134

SomerviUe, Miss (afterwards
Mrs. Alfred Bunn), i. 380;
ii.l

Son and Stranger, a musical
interlude (IVIendelssohn), ii.
233

Songs, etc —

' ' SaUy in our Alley, " i 62, 259

864

INDEX

Songs, etc. — continued.
<'Rale Britannia," I 75, 98,

301,323
''National Anthem," i. 91,

92,339
''See the Conquering Hero,"

i. 104
" A-hunting we will go," i. 216
"The Wolf," i. 233
"The Arethnaa," i. 233, 260
"Sleep on," i. 233
" The Brown Jug," i. 233
" Auld Lang Syne," i. 233
"The Death of Nelson," i.

242
"Blue Peter," L 269
"Yo, heave ho," i. 260
"Auld Robin Gray," i, 266;

ii. 172
"The Soldier tired," i. 284,

323,363
" AU's WeU " (duet), i. 301
" The Bay of Biscay," i. 306-

308
" Robin Adair," i. 323 ; ii. 42
"Angels ever bright and

fair," i. 349
" Home, Sweet Home," i. 362 ;

U.25
" Love has Eyes," i. 361
"HotCodlins,"i. 381
"Tell me, where is Fancy

bred " (duet), ii. 3
"Bid me discourse," ii. 11
" Should he upbraid ? " ii. 14
" Mynheer Vandunck *' (trio),

u. 17
"My Pretty Jane," iL 33
"n Bacio" (vocal waltz), ii.

266
Sophia Dorothea (consort of

George I.), i. 102
Sparks (actor), i. 113, 118, 141

Speed the Plough, i. 274, 302
Spencer, Mrs., i. 266
Spohr*s Faust and Queen Vic-
toria, ii. 196
Stage, i. 336, 336, 363; iL

161
Stanfield, Clarkson, ii. 129, 132,

262
Stanley, John (blind organist),

i. 143, 168
Stephens, Miss (Countess of
Essex), L 360, 361, 362, 366
368,372, 381; ii. 1, 2, 17,
27,273
Stevens, Mrs. Prisdlla, i. 93
Storace, Anna, i. 214, 282, 283,

286, 287, 301, 366
Storace, Stefano, i. 283
Storace, Stephen, i. 283
Signora Strada, i. 61
Stranger, i. 281, 302 ; ii. 13, 63,

111
Sullivan, Arthur (as organist),
ii. 246, 247
and Costa, ii. 247
conducts promenade concerts

in 1878, u. 270
popularity of his selections
from H.M.S. Pinc^ore, ii.
270
Sums paid for operas, oratorios,
and musical pieces —
to Gay, i. 19

„ Handel, i. 66, 67, 60, 117
„ Ame, i. 162, 302
„ Arnold, i. 167
„ Dibdin, i. 179, 218, 224,

226-227, 288
„ OlCeefe, i. 227, 228, 292
„ Braham, i. 302
„ Shield, i. 302
„ Storace, i. 302
„ Rooke, ii. 127

865

INDEX

Sums paid for scenery and

mountingy etc. —
for Orphetu^ i. 74
„ OtiKM, i. 239, 240
J, a live elephant, i. 354
to Clarkaon Stanfield, ii. 133
Sums paid to authors, play-

wrightSy and librettists,

etc. —
Goldsmith, i. 177, 194
Dibdin, i. 217, 218, 224, 225-

227, 288, 302
O'Keefe, i. 227, 228, 292
Sheridan Knowles, iL 5
Miss Mitford, ii. 24
Charles Lamb Kenney, ii. 126,

127
Boucicault f or XoiMfon Assur-

antx^ ii. 150
during eight English opera

seasons, ii. 244
Surrey Theatre, ii. 74

Operas and Operettas

Shepherd's Ariifioe^ i. 155
Spanish Lady^ L 157
Sikmmer's TaU, i. 100
Seraglio^ i. 210
Sh^herdess of the Alps, i. 224
La Sannambtilckf ii. 92, 96| 164,

190, 235, 254, 264
Siege of Bochefle^ ii. 117
Semiramide, ii. 184, 190, 194
Straddla, ii. 231, 246
Satanella, ii. 225
She Stoops to Conquer (Mac-

farren), ii. 244

Taguoni, MUe., ii. 88, 194
Talfourd (dramatist), ii. 106,
112, 135

Talma, i. 373, 374

TamberUk, iL 194, 198, 224,

234, 237, 288, 241, 245, 257
Tamburini, ii. 88, 167, 182,

188, 199, 236
Taming of the Shrew. Vide

under Shakespearian Revivals
Taylor, Miss (afterwards Mrs.

Lacy), ii. 79, 101
Taylor, Tom, ii. 63
Telbin (scene-painter), ii. 224
Tempest. Vide under Shake-
spearian Revivals
Templeton, John (tenor singer),
u. 92-95

and Malibran, ii. 93, 94
Tenduoci, i. 152
Tennant, Miss, i. 276
Terry, i. 363, 368 ; u. 27
Theatrical Fund, i. 158, 160,

161, 183, 208, 213
Theobald, Lewis, i. 15, 74
TTieodora (oratorio), i. 117
The Times—

on O. P. Riots, i. 341
„ Helen Faucit's debut, ii. 106
Thomson (dramatist), i. 201
Thurmond, John, i. 15
Time of commencement of per-
formance^ L 376
7\mon of Athens, Vide under

Shakespearian Revivals
Titiens, Th^rese, ii. 235, 257
Toole, J. L., ii. 230
Trebelli, Mme., ii. 258, 272,

283
Tree, EUen, ii. 2, 11, 14, 51, 59,

106,146
Tristram Shandy^ i. 232
Troilus and Crtssida, Vide

under Shakespearian Revivals
Thtming the Ihbles (farce), ii.

866

INDEX

TwtHfik Nighi. Vide under
Shakespearian ReviTala

aa an opera, ii. 11
Twias, Horace, nephew of Birs.

Siddona, i. 368
Two Genilemen of Verona^ ii. 14

Openu and Operettas

Thamae and SaUy, i. 142
Tiffel/th Nigh* (Bidiop), ii. 11
Tancredi, u. 190
mi, GuiOaume, ii. 190, 249,

267, 268, 281
II Travaiore, iL 199, 277
Tirrible Hymen, ii. 261
Tannhimaer, ii. 269

Yandbnhoff, George^ ii 86, 143,
144, 167, 168, 170, 176, 178
on Mrik Nisbett, iL 162, 163
„ Sheridan Knowlea, ii. 168
Vandenhoff, John M., i. 382 ; ii.
11, 107, 121, 136, 138, 139,
237
Vanzhall Gardens^ i. 163, 216
Veiled FrapM (opera), iL 289
VelMa (opera), ii. 271
Venice Preserved (drama), i. 47,
84, 103, 123 ; ii. 34, 106, 106,
129
Vernon, Mia., L 143, 162
VeetriB, Mme., L 383 ; ii 1, 13,
27, 36, 41-43, 66, 86, 142-
161, 164-166, 230, 261
as Cherubino, ii. 43
management with Charles

Mathews, ii 142-161
Vandenhoffs account of her,
u. 143, 144
Yianesi, Signor, ii. 266
Viardot, Pauline, ii. 194

Victoria —
Princess, and Duchess of
Kent at performance of
Rossini's Mos^ 1833, ii. 79
Queen, ii. 86, 131, 132
Queen, at the ruins of Covent
Gkunden Opera House after
the fire in 1866, ii. 213
Vincent, Miss, ii. lOJ, 121
Vincent, Mrs., L 133
Vining, F., u. 126, 136, 138,

146, 168, 176
Violette, Mile. Eva Maria

(mamed to Garrick), L 114
VirginiuSf ii. 6, 111
Voltaire, L 181, 184

Wachtbl, Signor, ii. 249
Wagner, Johanna, ii 196, 196
Wagner, Richard, ii. 41, 266, 266

his death, iL 274
Walcott, Dr., or Wolcot, i. 244
Walker (actor), L 61
WaUaoe, Vincent, ii. 228, 239,

243
WaUack, Henry (stage mana-
ger), ii. 101, 116, 172
Ward, Miss, i. 113, 117, 160
Wardrobe, L 337 ; ii. 317
Warren, Miss, L 239
Water music (Handel), i. 67
Waterman (musical afterpiece),

u. 166
Way qf the World (play), i. 30,

42,229,230
Wearer, John, i. 11, 12
Webb, Mrs., i. 238, 261
Weber, Carl von, ii. 32, 36-^,
74,166
and Oberon, iL 36-38

867

INDEX

Weber, Carl yon — continued,

and Mrs. Ked^ (Biiaa Go-
waid), ii. S9, 40

death and funeral, ii« 40, 41
Webster, Ben, ii. 107, 117, 121,

229
Wellington, Doke of, ii. 86
Wells, Mrs., i. 251
Wensley, Miss, ii. 11
Wesley, Samuel, i. 381
West London Theatre, ii. 74
Westmaoott, editor of the Age^

thrashed by Charles Kemble,

U.63
Westminster Abbey —
Dr. Cooke, L 260
Dr. Arnold, L 260
Westminster School, i. 100
Weston, Mrs., i. 363
White, Greorge (proprietor), i.

296
Whitmore (scene-painter), i. 287
Wigan, A., ii. 169
Wilde, Miss, i. 197
Wilford, Miss (Mrs. Bulkeley),

i. 167, 176, 197, 198, 200, 217
Wilkinson, Tate, i. 128, 129,

140-142, 146, 169, 369
WUks, i. 297
William IV., his sons by Mrs.

Jordan, ii. 62, 84
Wilson (actor), i. 251
Winter*s Tale. Vide under

Shakespearian Reyivals
Woffington, Peg, i. 77-79, 80,

94, 106, 113, 114, 116, 119,

122, 126, 126, 127, 128-132
"Wolf, The" (song), i. 233
Wood, George, of the firm of

Cramer & Co., ii 268, 269

Wood, His Honour Judge, pos-
sessor of portrait of John
Rich, ii. 304, 306

Woodstock, u. 41

Woodward, Harry, i. 80-82, 118,
128, 163, 166, 191, 197, 213

Woolgar, Miss (Mrs. Alfred
MeUon), ii. 230

Wordsworth, u, 112-

Operas and Operettas

Wives Revenged^ ii. 218
Woodman^ ii. 261

Tatss, Frederick H, ii 101
Tates, Mrs., i. 167, 179, 181,

184,242
Yates, Richard, i. 67, 106, 1^,

167,232
Toung, Cecilia (became the wife

of Dr. Ame), L 63, 73, 77
Toung, Charles Mayne, i. 349,
353, 363, 367, 369 ; ii. 1,
17, 27, 29, 43, 49
engaged at Drury Lane at a
salary of £20 per night,
ii 17, 18
Toung, Mrs. Charles, ii. 299

Tounge, Miss (afterwards the
first Mrs. Pope), i. 217, 223,
236, 261, 264, 292

ZiMMBKMANN, Mile. Emmy,
(Wagnerian opera singer), ii.
266

Zimri (oratorio), L 143

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Full text of "The Annals of Covent Garden Theatre from 1732 to 1897: A Guide to the Plays ..."

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