104

THE TURKISH AMBASSADOR.

nishes farther testimony of the truth of the old adage, that when you are hitting your adversary a rap over the knuckles, you may as well hit him a good one.

CHAPTER VIII.

Ambassadors-foreign and other wise—Advantages of a tout ensemble— the decline of Pantomime, the cause, and the loss supplied—A humorous instance of stage direction-Gustavus and St. George-Ducrow's parrot, and the Hebrew Melodies-Count D'Orsay and Mr. Kenney-Mr. Farren and Prince Talleyrand-Cabinets of St. James's and the Tuileries-The case of a wig-The best way to cut a playAlarm at the prospect of war allayed-William Godwin-Sardanapalus -Lord Byron, Mrs. Mardyn-Mr. Moor-Mister William Dimond.

GUSTAVUS THE THIRD, and the glories of its Masked Ball, set the Cockneys in a complete fever; the town became literally Gustave-mad; and that grand desideratum in managerial matters, viz: its being unfashionable not to have seen any particular piece, was achieved. To such a pitch of fashion had the attendance to this opera reached, that I have seen on the stage, during the masquerade in the last act, between thirty and forty Peers of an evening, and have more than once numbered amongst them three foreign ambassadors.* This species of entertainment was almost the only field open at the time, which had not been hackneyed, and for the successful prosecution of which the TALENT was to be procured. Tragedy and comedy were

* I take this opportunity of mentioning a diplomatic anecdote, though not in connextion with any of these real SIMON PURES! A Noble Lord, with whose friendship I have been honoured for many years, entered the green-room on one of these evenings, and seeing an apparantly distin. guished foreigner on a settee, asked Lord William Lennox, "Who he was!" His Lordship, up to the joke, replied, “The Turkish Ambassador: shall I introduce you?" Up they accordingly came, when the former asked his Highness's opinion of Le bal masqué. The ambassador spoke highly of it; but when the Noble Lord, who had long been a resident in the French capital, observed, "Oui, oui, mais ce n'est pas si bien monté qu'à Paris;" his Highness, with a sudden change of accent and language, replied, "That's all gammon, Toм!" The effect was ludicrous enough, and the familiarity only pardonable, from the Noble Lord (GRAVES) having more than once told the ambassador (BUNN) he would cut his acquaintance, if he ever called him by any other name than Tom!

then, as they are now, nearly defunct for one great reason, that the order of talent which could have sustained them is no where to be found. In the absence of such, the flashes of genius which used to keep the stage alive are lost; and thus connoisseurs became disappointed, and the ignorant bored to death. It ceases, then, to be a matter of surprise, that a more signal success attended this representation than the stage had for many years witnessed, by the mere effect of a tout-ensemble. In the production of this piece, no particular reliance was placed upon the peculiar advantage of any one performer's acting; consequently no loss could be sustained by the introduction of any unnecessary airs or extraneous dignity, which too often arises from such causes; there were no exorbitant salaries paid to any histrio employed in its personation, and the outlay therefore was useful to the tradesmen, and beneficial to the magazins, of the theatre. Neither the illness, nor the insolence of any one could stop its career, nor in any respect mar its perfection: the result was necessarily of the highest importance to the scheme.

The good fortune thus flowing in, in Bow-street, was shortly afterwards followed up by the introduction of a different kind of novelty, in Great Russell-street. The rage for pantomime having considerably subsided since the retirement of the master spirit; its wand in fact having been broken with the broken health of its magician, Grimaldi; there seemed to be but little hope of successfully sustaining two pantomimes which, from their peculiar construction, and from the peculiar period of the year, MUST, despite the harmony of the combatants employed in them, be played in opposition to each other. There could be no objection, for it was the ground-work of the coalition, to pit tragedy, comedy, and farce, at the one house, against opera, ballet, and melo-drama at the other; but pantomime against pantomime was unnatural and absurd, in an estate where no longer any rivalry existed. I therefore entered into an arrangement with Mr. Ducrow, for the introduction of himself, his company, and his equestrian establishment, in a spectacle to be entitled St. George and the Dragon, the outline of which was submitted to his practised judgment, and under his guidance was eventually moulded into a most effective piece of pageantry. This innovation upon the customary amusements of the laughter-loving part of creation, which flock into London at this period of the year, was hailed with infinite delight, and rewarded with receipts such as no pantomime in that building, if in any other, had ever produced. The performance of Ducrow, as the renowned St. George, will be coeval with the recollection of his name; nor were his exertions confined to the simple representation of the principal character, but devoted with all the fag of

industry and exuberance of taste, to perfect the production of the piece.

Those who have merely known this extraordinary artiste in the pre-eminence of horsemanship, have yet to be acquainted with his display of natural acquirements, such as fall to the lot of few individuals. The observations on human nature by which he has profited are astonishing; and the excellent common sense by which he arrives at the drift of any argument is infinitely superior to the rhetoric employed by most of those with whom he argues. His knowledge of the stage is extensive-his own movements on it are graceful in the extreme-his disposition of others invariably effective-and though he occasionally carries his measures in a somewhat diverting manner*—still he does carry them.

The fiftieth night of Gustavus was celebrated, on the stage of Covent Garden Theatre, by a supper, to which the many noble supporters of that opera were invited, to meet the united company of the two theatres; † and the fiftieth night of St.

At one of the rehearsals of St. George and the Dragon, an instance of this occurred. The second act opens with the celebration of the nuptials of the Emperor's daughter-the ceremony of which is interrupted by the entrance of a neatherd, in great dismay, who announces the reappearance of the scourge of Egypt-(the dragon)-on the coast. Ducrow had told the supernumeraries to rush, on hearing the intelligence, to the feet of their Monarch, for advice-then to the Chancellor, to whom the Monarch was to refer them, and from him to the altar of their gods, then burning on the stage, as advised by the said Chancellor. He might as well have spoken as much Greek to them: they set off in a smart trot to one party, then to the other, without betraying the slightest indication of the alarm they were supposed to be suffering. Ducrow got into a positive fever, and acting it for them, exclaimed, "Look here, you d- -d fools! you should rush up to the King-that chap there, and say 'Old fellow, the Dragon is come, and we're in a mess, and you must get us out of it.' The King says, Go to Brougham,'-then you all go up to Brougham; and he says,, What the d-1 do I know about a Dragon? Go to your gods and your gods is that lump of tow burning on that bit of timber there." He accompanied all this with splendid pantomime action, and the effect was altogether perfect.

+ Ducrow came (after his performance of St. George at the other theatre) in the character of a Greek chieftain; and Count D'Orsay, who was present, considering his dress incomplete, requested me to present him, on his part, with a brace of pistols and a dirk mounted in ivory and gold, which had been worn by Lord Byron, and given by his Lordship to the Count. The princely liberality and excellent heart of this distinguished nobleman are more frequently exercised than is known. One trait (amongst many that might be mentioned) relating to a popular dramatic writer may suitably be introduced in a work professing to touch on dramatic matters. Mr. Kenney was anxious to obtain a situation in the Post Office for one of his sons; and, being totally unacquainted with the Post Master General, he solicited Count D'Orsay's influence. He could

BERTRAND ET RATON.

107

George and the Dragon was commemorated by a sumptuous dinner given by Mr. Ducrow on the stage of his own theatre, the humorous incidents attendant upon which would form a volume of themselves. I had sooner by far hear any one of Ducrow's very shortest speeches, than listen to all harangues of at least eleven-twelfths of the enlightened British Parliament; and there is many a member of the senate who has heard both, and will say the same. The incident which here occured to Nathan, the composer of the Hebrew Melodies (of whom the illustrious author of the words says, in a letter to Mr. Moore, "Sun-burn Nathan! Why do you always twit me with his vile Ebrew Nasalities?") literally convulsed the whole assembly. Nathan is partial to his own singing of his own melody, "Jephtha's Daughter;" a name which Ducrow confounded, or thought proper to do so, with one of a more theatrical sound; and wishing to amuse his friends, exclaimed, "Come, Mr. Nathan, tip us Jaffier's Daughter.'" The Israelite obeyed the call, and sat down to an upright pianoforte, on the top of which a favourite and well instructed parrot, belonging to Ducrow, had perched. The moment after he had run down the keys, and warbled the first line,

"Since our country, our God, oh! my sire,"

-d

the bird chattered out, in quite as audible a voice, "Dstuff, d―d stuff, Polly Ducrow." I almost fancy I can even now hear the shrieks of laughter it occasioned: but Nathan, unabashed, as soon as the company could command a more serious attention, "went at it again," and striking up that beautiful line,

"And the voice of my morning is o'er,"

the parrot gave him another touch of "Gammon! Gammon, Polly Ducrow," and there was an end to "The Song of Salem for that evening, at all events. I have a proper respect I hope for Mr. Nathan's musical abilities, but I am certain I should burst out into a fit of laughter, if I were ever to hear him sing again.

A very curious circumstance, amounting almost to an affair of State took place respecting the next novelty of any importance brought out at Drury Lane theatre. Having been. struck by the beauties of Monsieur Scribe's admirable comedy

not have applied to a kinder, or nobler patron. The Count lost not a moment in prefering the suit of the Dramatist to Lord Lichfield, and in communicating to Mr. Kenney his son's appointment.

108

PRINCE TALLEYRAND.

of Bertrand et Raton, during a recent visit to Paris, I took upon myself the task of translating, and adapting it to the English Stage, with a view to its immediate production. Having completed my labour, it was sent to Mr. Colman for examination, who transmitted it to the Vice-Chamberlain (the Earl of Belfast) then at Brighton, with his remark, that it contained nothing which was not admissible on our stage.

An opinion prevailing that the principal character in it (Count Bertrand) was intended to characterize Prince Talleyrand, at that time ambassador from France to the Court of St. James's, some hesitation arose as to granting a license, and on the 17th of January it was peremptorily refused. I lost no time in repairing to Brighton; having preceded my departure by a respectful memorial to the Vice-Chamberlain (backed by a letter from the Examiner,) stating my readiness to make such amendments and modifications as might be pointed out. I was received with great courtesy by Lord Belfast, who, after giving me audience, promised a reconsideration of the matter: and elate with that hope, I returned to London. The comedy was sent up next day to Mr. Colman, with several passages marked down for revision; for the purpose of effectually doing which, I received the following note:

"MY DEAR B—,

"20th January, 1834.

"With all we have to do, I don't see how I can return the MS., with alterations, before to-morrow. Pray dine with me to-day at half-past five-but come at four; we shall then have time to cut the play before we cut the mutton.

66

Yours most truly,

"G. C."

I went, and did both; on the 23d of January I received the official license, and on the 8th of February the comedy was produced, with the success which had been so justly anticipated. A day or two, however, before its first representation, I was waited upon by Sir Thomas Mash, then the Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's office, to inquire into the style and appearance of Mr. Farren's costume, selected for the character of the said Count Bertrand; an impression still existing, that the comedian was going to dress at the Diplomatist. I furnished Sir Thomas with a sketch of the questionable costume, which was returned to me with this note, looked forward to with no little curiosity, as I knew it was to be submitted to the King.