Punch (90.1886)

June 26, 1886.]

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

303

Turning over his flies in a regular tantrum. ( Wags his
head.) Perky Piseator regrets his precipitancy, I fancy.
( Winks.) Sweet on his new tackle—very, hut not quite
sure of his hasket. Shall stick to the Grand Old Bait
myself—for this match. Finer and fatter loh I never
saw. Ought to tickle 'em up. Fancy it will fetch 'em
after all, and then-(Chuckles.)

II-rt-ngt-n. Beastly hother, turning out this time of
the year. Prefer turf to stream myself, hut G. is so
impulsive. Don't quite like fishing against him, but
really can't stand his style any longer. "Wonder how I
shall get on with this lot. Bather mixed! Expect I
shall have to cut Angling Club altogether, and try my
own hook. (Groans.)

Ch-rch-U (aside). Here we are again! And what a
company! Who'd have thought, six months ago, of ns
four meeting as an angling party ? Great larks, though
they hardly seem to see it, I must say. Joe looks fierce,
Harty uncomfortable, and even Jumbo less complacent
than usual, though he is smiling so fatly over his "lob."
Fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind. Wonder how
much fellow-feeling there is between the four of us.
"Well, I'm all right. Got a most killing bait of my own,
which I shall just keep dark for awhile. (Aloud.) Oh,
I say, you fellows, it's quite understood that we 're not
to interfere with each other's swims, eh P

Omnes (gloomily). Hm-m-m-m ! !!

Ch-rch-ll (aside). Four Jolly Anglers "We! Tes, we
look it, don't we ?

THE TWO OPERAS.

In "The Garden."—Rigoletto showed us what Mile.
Ella Bussell could do, and how high she could go when
Gilda disappears into the attic storey—a most dram-attic
storey, in view of what takes place there—in the second
scene of Act I. Signor D'Andrade played the Fool
within measurable distance of perfection; and he can sing
too, which is much in this part, the thoroughly satisfac-
tory combination of acting and singing being rare.

Signor Mabini was II Duca—a very ill Duca—yet
he had an exceptional triumpli over aU other Dukes that
I've ever heard, and that was, that his La Donna e
Mobile feB hopelessly flat. For the rest, it was a good
performance; and as to the mise en scene, I was able,
with deep emotion, to exclaim, " Scenes of my child-
hood ! once more I behold ye!" Can Signor Lago
inform me whether the terms of the leases held by
Rigoletto and his neighbour Conte de Caprano compel
them to paint their houses within and without every
seven years ? If so, neither of them has done it.

Tin Balk in Maschera is to he performed again. It
deserved the encore, and ought to draw a very big house.

On Saturday La Traviata was given. Albani's acting
as Violetta, especiaUy in the Second Act, was very fine.
As to her singing, cela va sans dire— though, by the way,
if it did, the result would have been songs without words.

In "The Lane." — The Expert, " Nibelunglet,"
says:_" xhe revival, last week, of Mr. GoringThomas's
first operatic success, Esmeralda, was very welcome.
Miss Geobgina Burns played the heroine, and Mr. Leslie
Cbotty acted the pathetic part of Quasimodo as hereto-
fore. His singing in the last Act previous to his being
made ' Kino- of the Fools,' by the merry beggars, was
touching in "the extreme. Mr. Barton McGuckin as the
military hero, Phccbus, and Mr. James Sauvage as the
evilly disposed monk Frollo, were both more than satis-
factory, while the music of the opera is fascinating from
beginning to end. The critics say it is very French. By
that they presumably mean that it is a contrast to the
Anglo-not to say Double-Dutch strains of Colomba
and The Troubadour." I may add that, from a dramatic
point of view, Mr. McGuckin shone as Phcebits, an extra-
ordinary instance of Phojbus shmmg at night; and that
Mr. Salvage's Claude Frollo is one of the best things he
has done, which, perhaps, is not saying very much.

Seeing the patronage bestowed on musical performances
everywhere, and the discrimination shown by the mixed
audiences, it is a puzzle to mo how it seems to betaken as
settled, that an Opera Company Limited, with an English
and Italian season, would not pay a dividend, and that
the shares would soon be going for a mere song r lne
great experience and the praiseworthy energy of Mr. Carl
Bosa, mark him out as the Managing Director of such an
enterprise, and with a few good financial names on the

^ life I

THINGS ONE WOULD RATHER HAVE LEFT UNSAID.

Tlie Professor. " How singularly you and your Brother resemble each
other, Miss Angelina !"

Miss Angelina. "Is that a Compliment to my Brother, or a Compliment
to Me ?"

The Professor. " Oh, a Compliment to Neither, I assure you !"

Board, a good company on the boards could be started. If Mr. Bosa can make
a profit year after year, surely a well conducted commercial company working in
town and country, ought to be a paying concern. Madame Path might
leave her "Welsh rabbits, and take a large interest in such a scheme!

NlBBS.

A GEEA.T BOON.

" The Lord's Day " in London has come to be exclusively " The Day
of the Lords;" that is, of the Upper Classes, who have only to spend their
money and command their amusement. But for the Artisan, for the respectable
Working-Man and his family, it is indeed a day of rest from labour, but it is
a rest without recreation, wearying rather than refreshing. The Daily
Telegraph of last Saturday proposed the opening of "The Colinderies" free of
charge on Sundays. "What possible objection can there be to this? A simple
organisation wiU provide that this boon to the genuine "Working-Man shall not
entail extra compulsory labour on a single official, nor offend a single con-
scientious scruple. Mr. lunch has not, just now, the space at command to
allow him to go into the pros and cons of the question, but he refers his readers
to the plea for the millions in the Daily Telegraph of June 19th; and to that
provjosition therein contained he begs to say ditto. ' ^UN&Jtj.

TrtE Vicak of Bray Bedivivus.—There was a difficulty last Sunday among
the Churchmen, for it was a Double Festival. The anniversary of the Queen's
Accession fell on Trinity Sunday. Church and State Clergy were mightily
perplexed. The iEsthetic Archbishop did his best to serve two masters, but the
Bev. E. A. Humphreys, of Cambridge, triumphed over all obstacles by com-
posing a Hymn which celebrated the dual festival in one devout and loyal verse.
This Beverend Gentleman is a real Unionist, not an Unitarian, and, when pre-
ferment is about, we hope he will find his reward.