18

MEMS OF A MANAGER.

lectured at Drury Lane Theatre on any night any drama was represented at the other house, by the united talent of all the London theatres, the receipt to his lecture should have doubled that of the performance. The reader has been already reminded of Doctor Johnson's celebrated line,-"Those who live to please must please to live," and the more he keeps it before him, the surer will he be to go right in his judgment upon London theatricals. Now to our journal again :

February 12.-They hiss Mr. King nightly for his performance of Richmond; and yet, I have Shakspeare's authority for putting him in the part :— 66 Henry the Sixth

"Did prophesy that Richmond should be KING!"

A friend of mine called on me to-day, who met Mr. Lambton, Lord Durham's brother, at dinner yesterday, and Lambton told him that he was dining at the palace on Thursday last, and was talking with Lord Melbourne over Lord Mulgrave's "Private theatricals," when, the royal attention being attracted, her Majesty was pleased to ask what sort of an actor Lord Mulgrave was? "Oh, very bad, very bad indeed," was the premier's reply. And "So I should think," was her Majesty's gracious rejoinder. Her Majesty ought to be, and is, a good judge. Murphy out-so he was in not accepting my offer; but he gave me two reasons for declining

MEMS OF A MANAGER.

19

it his great timidity was one, and then the obvious necessity of letting out the secret of his science, another. A scribe by the name of Fox is belabouring Charles Kean in a morning paper-to judge by his writings, his name should be GOOSE!

February 18.-Seguin, senior, dined with me today; the opera lost the premier of its cabinet when it lost him. In terseness of remark, in biting, shrewd, and wherewithal polite, irony, he has no equal but-TALLEYRAND. He is a complete theatrical diplomatist. Murphy, the "weather gauge," paid me a visit; he is an extraordinary man, and though he has been out occasionally, my faith is not yet shaken in the principles he lays down-he is right to-day. As he came into the room all of a shiver, and exclaimed with genuine Hibernian accent and emphasis, "Gracious God, what tirrible. weather!" he seemed very much astonished at my replying, "It's your own fault, for predicting it!"

February 26.-Met Captain Barclay-" a thousand miles in a thousand hours"-hey, and as fine a fellow now as ever, and our "dearly beloved" Jackson, too," the corporeal pastor and master" of the great poet, Lord Byron, at dinner to-day-he gave us the sublime chant (immortalized in Don Juan),

"On the high toby spice flash the muzzle,"

in his very best manner; and he gave me a letter addressed to him by the mighty lord, of which the following, hitherto unpublished, is a copy, and which

20 UNPUBLISHED LETTER FROM LORD BYRON.

I mean to keep as a prize, as long as "all this flesh. keeps in a little life:"

"DEAR JACK,

"Cambridge, Oct. 30, 1803.

My servants, with their usual acuteness, have "contrived to lose my swordstick. Will you get me "such another, or as much better as you like, and

66

keep it till I come to town. I also wish you to ob"tain another bottle of that same Lamb's-Conduit"Street remedy, as I gave the other to a physician

66

to analyse, and I forgot to ask him what he had "made of it. Keep that also till we meet, which "I hope will be soon, and believe me ever yours ❝ truly,

66 B."

"P.S. I am this far on my way north, and will "write to you again on my arrival."

February 28th.-Attended a meeting of those foolish people called "the Renters" of the theatreclamorous for their dividends, and as abusive as if I had them in my pocket. Their chief claim to such lies in the fact of the former holders of their debentures having sold to the proprietors their claim to Killigrew's patent; but as almost every purpose of that patent has been vitiated by the acts of government, the purchase may be considered a sort of fraud. They talk of meeting again on the 21st of next month, and if they do,

"Then I'll speak a little."

MEMS OF A MANAGER.

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March 1.—Her Majesty having been pleased with Mr. Charles Kean's Richard III., was pleased to come and see it again.

March 3.-Charles Kean appeared in Sir Giles Overreach, and, to my poor way of thinking, it is the best thing by far he has done. I see now the reason why Macready stipulated, in his last article of engagement with me, not to be called upon to act this character!

March 10.-We brought forward, for the first time in an English garb, Mozart's opera of The Zauberflote; and as a mere matter of opinion, regardless of what others do think, and not at all affecting what I do not think, I deem it to be one of the most perfectly "got up" affairs our stage has seen, being long and properly studied in every respect, and elaborately prepared in every department. That kindest of all kind contributors, Murray, presented me with a copy of Wilkinson's extraordinary work-one of the most extraordinary ever published in this or any other country-"THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF 66 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS," which was of infinite service to me. Who would be without it, that could attain to it by gift or purchase?

I bethought me at this time of the repeated and unjust attacks levelled at me for neglecting the legitimate drama, and the fulsome compliments paid the rival lessee for his support of it; and I could not but contrast the causes which led to so much illiberality, falsehood, and injustice; for while Covent Garden

22

MACREADY'S CORIOLANUS..

was exhausting its resources in the preparation of Auber's opera of the Domino Noir, which proved an utter failure, Drury Lane was giving some one of Shakspeare's plays every night, backed by this celebrated composition, Mozart's Magic Flute, which completely filled the theatre! A perseverance in such reckless partisanship recoils at last upon the perpetrators of it-a lie too often repeated is detected at last, although it appear in print; because there are yet left in the world people who prefer the evidence of their own eyesight to the assertions of all the scribes in Christendom.

With a view, however, of redeeming past errors, a very praiseworthy, but not very prudent, step was now taken by the Covent Garden Manager; for the admirable manner in which Coriolanus was produced was worthier of far better acting than it met with. When the principal character in this noble play was represented by the late Mr. John Kemble, the people flocked in shoals to see it, notwithstanding it was unable to boast of any such excellent preparation. "Blessed is he that expecteth nothing, and he can never be disappointed!" Nothing was expected from Mr. Macready's personation of the noble Roman, and no disappointment was experienced at nothing being achieved. The play, therefore, brought Mr. Macready a great deal of credit, but very little ready money—it is preferable to have the two, if possible; but the latter is more useful in a theatre. There is no leading the public taste; the people are almost as