Punch (44.1863)

January 24, 1863.J PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

SI

NURSERY RHYMES.

(To be continued until every Town in the Kingdom has
been immortalised.)

There was a Young Lady of Leigh,

Who behaved rather rudely at tea,

Called the footman, “ Old Chap,”

Spilt her tea in her lap,

And cried, “ There goes my blessed Bohea.”

There was an Old Girl of Carshalton,

Whom conceit to absurdity brought on:

She said, “ If I chose,

I could write verse or prose,

That would not disgrace Mrs. Norton.”

There was a Young Lady of Cheadle,

Was deeply beloved by the beadle:

But she scoffed at his prayer,

Left her work on his chair,

And the beadle sat down on the needle.

There was an Old Girl of South Kilwortb,

Met the homoeopath, Dr. Dilworth :

And cried, “ You old snob, you ’ll
Be off with your globule ;

What’s such a ridiculous pill worth?”

There was a Young Lady of Bandy,

Who drank a large tumbler of brandy;

In a moment her eyes,

Turned to gooseberry pies,

And her hair, that was biack, became sandy.

A Light Wanted.

We perceive that at “a northern educational establish-
ment,” (penny-a-lining for a Scotch school,) a prize has
been given for a poem on the subject of “ Gas.” A young
gentleman at a southern educational establishment wants
to know whether it was written in a gas-meter.

A BAD EXCUSE BETTER THAN NONE.

First Volunteer Ensign. “ I declare I heard your Corps was Falling Off.”
Second Ditto. “A ll Bosh, my dear Sir. Our Adjutant Fell Off his Horse last week ;
that's how the report originated.”

THE LATEST CANARD.

It is rumoured that the Crown of Greece has been
offered to Rowland of Hatton Garden, under the im-
pression, that if accepted, he will be prepared to annex his
celebrated Macassar lie to those of Ionia,

CONCERNING EECHTER.

The Strand is the capital of London, and naturally takes the lead in
civilisation. Mr. Funcli is happy to state that now Mr. Fechter has
opened, there are in the Capital Street two theatres from which dirt
and harpies are banished. At the Lyceum and the Adelphi there is
neither a grinning nor an insolent box-keeper to extort a fee before
giving you what you have purchased, and you have comfortable seats,
whence you come without any unclean addition to your elegant gar-
ments, or the costlier and more elegant raiment of the partner of your
bosom and expenses. Some day other managers will be shamed into
following the example originally set by Mr. Albert Smith ; namely,
that of making a place of entertainment as comfortable as possible, and
of defending its patrons from a system of extortion. When they are,
Mr. Hunch will record their contrition.

“ Here are in all two worthy voices gained.”

Mr. Fechter, now a manager on his own account, merits a word
from the great Arbiter Flegantiarum, and of everything else, and shall
have what he merits. The Arbiter has already recognised this Seces-
sionist from the Parisian Union. Mr. Hunch has duly honoured the
French actor, who has sought to win new fame by Shakspearian imper-
sonation, and who has not paid Mr. W. Shakspeare the economical,
but questionable compliment of supposing that his words are strong
enough to make his plays attractive in spite of slovenly, conventional,
or downright bad acting, dingy scenery, and neglected accessories.
Mr. Fechter has treated Shakspeare like a gentleman, and nobody
ever repays such attention with so much generosity. The result was,
that notwithstanding certain drawbacks, it was, during Mr. Fechter’s
engagement, an intellectual pleasure to behold Shakspeare at the
Princess’s, “ which was not so before.” Fresh, earnest, subtle, and
raceful, supported by a well-drilled company, and surrounded by the
est aid which stage appliances could lend, Mr. Fechter created a
Sensation of which an educated public had no cause to be ashamed.

Now he appears as Manager, as well as Actor. Dr. Cumming is

out of town, and has locked up his prophesying implements, so that
Dr. Punch cannot offer anything in the prediction line. But, from the
opening night, he is inclined to believe that the new manager knows what
he is about. Mr. Hunch will be even more certain of it, when Mr.
Fechter abolishes, as of course he will do on reading this, the huge
booking fee of sixpence per seat, a singular mistake, imported from
Paris. The theatre is cleansed, and once more Madame Vestris’s
taste is revealed to the town. Something more has to be done before
the salle is quite what it was in the days of the Island of Jewels, but
upholsterers are but men, and must have time, whereof a fortnight is
scant allowance for the renovation of a theatre. The house is bright,
and glittering. The opening drama is an adaptation, and a French
artist has at least as good a right as an English dramatist to transfer a
Parisian success to British boards. Le Bossu, by M. Paul Feval, is
drawing Paris, and the Duke’s Motto, by Mr. John Brougham, is its
English counterpart. We have had nothing like it for incessant action,
escapes, intrigues, duels, supernaturalisms, improbability, and effective-
ness. It is a tale of the time of that estimable Prince, the Regent
Duke of Orleans, and several of the characters are about as worthy
of the wheel as the roues who made up his delightful Court. But there
is the young, warm-hearted dare-devil of an honourable soldier, who
throws his sword, and heart, and wit, and recklessness into the plot, and
there is some womanly truthfulness and affection to soften the sentiment
that pervades the piece, to elevate the gladiator into. a champion, and
the intriguer into a lover. Moreover, unless the killing an immense
number of persons who eminently deserve to be killed be considered
slightly ferocious, there is nothing in this play, dated in the wickedest
of wicked times, to offend English taste—the dramatist has never once
gone near that which should prevent the public from going near him.
The scenery and costumes even satisfy the fastidious eye of Mr. Hunch,
who, accustomed to his own exquisite delineations, is almost painfully
morbid upon artistic matters. The various performers do “ all that
they know,” be the same more or less. Leaving the “less” to the
critics, the “more” is exemplified in Mr. Fechter, who has to alter-
nate between soldier, hunchback, and lover, and whose versatility is a