Punch: Punch (100.1891)

February 21, 1891.]

93

HUNTING SKETCH.

The Lost Shoe, or Late for the Meat.

CANDOUR IN COURT.

[In Savell v. the Duke of Westminster, Lord
Esher., Master of the Rolls, said:—"It was the
demands for interrogatories and discovery of docu-
ments and commissions in cases of this simple
nature which had made the practice of the Common
Law so expensive, and caused the public to fly
from Courts of Law as from a pestilence. This
oppression must be put down."]

" How does it hap," quoth Esher, M.R ,
'' That Solicitors languish for lack of bread ?

That want of cases, as felt by the Bar,
To cases of want has recently led ?

Oh, how does it come, and why, and whence,

That men shun the Law as a pestilence ?

" It can't be denied that the public tries
To avoid an action by every means ;

To a Court it with much reluctance hies,
And to arbitration madly leans.

In fact—I say it without offence—

It shuns the Law as a pestilence.

" 'Tis all the fault," said this great Law Lord,
"Of demands for inspection, and similar
pleas;

Of expenses that neither side can afford,

Commissions and interrogator-ees ;
Till Pelion 's piled on Ossa—and hence
Men shun the Law as a pestilence.

" I call it oppression, and I'm a Judge !

We must put it down, for the wrong's acute;
And then the public no fees will grudge,

But will rush to get suited with a suit;
For Law, the perfection of common sense,
Should never be shunned as a pestilence ! "

KING JOHN AT OXFORD.

The Oxford University Dramatic Society have acted another
Shakspearian play with conspicuous success. To say that the
0. U. D. S. have acted a play of Shakspeare is to say nothing,
seeing that they are compelled, under fear of the most dreadful
punishments known to the University Calendar, to confine their
histrionic efforts to the drama as Shakspeare wrote it, with an
occasional excursion into the dramatic verse of Browning. A great
many, however, of the most influential members of the Hebdomadal
Council are said to view any such departure from Shakspeare with
alarm, as calculated to impair the discipline and sap the morality of
the tender nurselings confided to their charge, and it is doubtful if
the experiment will be repeated. Long live the legitimate drama,
say I, and so say all of us. But, after all, it may be questioned
whether those who can listen unharmed to the broad, and, if I may
say so, " illegitimate " humour of Faulconbridge in King John would
take much damage from Sheridan, or Lttton, or Tom Taylor, or
even—though I make this particular suggestion with bated breath—
from the performance of such burlesques as the A. D. C. at Cam-
bridge from time to time offers to its patrons.

All this is, however, by the way. We must take the 0. U. D. S.
as we find it, and I must confess I found it in a very strong and
flourishing condition during the performance of King John. The
audience is not an easy one to act to. Not that it errs on the side of
over-criticism. Rather it is too painfully friendly and familiar with
the actors. Here is a stray example culled from the Stalls:—

Enter King Philip, the Dauphin, and attendant Knights.
Undergraduate in the Stalls {to his Neighbour). Halloa! There's
old Johnnie in chain armour and a helmet. Did you ever see such a
rum 'un ? Let's make him laugh.

\_They do, and the unfortunate Knight infects his fellow Knights
at a moment when a specially stern demeanour is required.
Or again, as here :—
The Dauphin places his arm round the waist of the Lady Blanch,
and conducts her to the back of the stage.
Voice in the Dress Circle. Look out for the Proctor!

\_General laughter.

But in spite of these and similar exuberances, the play went well
from first to last, and the enthusiasm of the audience was unbounded.
It was statedonthe programme that Mr. Henry Irving had lent
the chain-mail and the tapestries. I have come to the conclusion
that he lent himself as well, and then went and pretended he was
his own son. At any rate, while Mr. Henry Irving (stated to be
of New College) was declaiming as King John, I could have sworn
that the impersonator of Shylock and Macbeth was walking the

stage. Voice, gesture, and even mannerisms were there, toned
down, of course, to suit the academic atmosphere, but manifest to all
who know and love the great original. My hearty congratulations
to the actor, whoever he was, on a most carefully studied and
dignified rendering of his difficult part. Mr. Alan Mackinnon,
who grouped and arranged the whole of the play, was vigorous and
spirited as Faulconbridge. He delivered his insults with immense
force and go. The letter "r" is not an easy one for him to pro-
nounce, but he struggled manfully with this obstacle, and after a
time I got perfectly accustomed to the bold tones in which he ordered
Austria to "hang a calf-skin chround those chrecbreant limbs."
King Philip's legs were, perhaps, too much inclined to independence,
and never quite seemed to have made up their minds where they
would settle down, but when once they were fixed the King was
every inch a King. Little Miss Mabel Hoare made us all weep
copiously as Arthur. I have kept Hubert to the last, in order to
emphasise my opinion that Mr. Clark, of New College, who acted
this tender-hearted Chamberlain, carried off the chief honours of
the performance. For consistent and restrained force, it would
not have been easy to match Mr. Clark's impersonation. Lady
Radnor's band was delightful, in light-blue and pink bows.

The fight in the Second Act was tremendous. Never have I seen
such dreadful blows delivered with such immense vigour on any
other stage. A very polite French Knight who had taken part in
the combat accorded me the honour of an interview afterwards. I
congratulated him, and suggested that so realistic a battle must
have been long and carefully rehearsed. " Rehearsals ! " he laughed ;
"not a bit of it. We just lace into one another's heads as hard as
we can lick." For the benefit of Mr. D'Oyly Carte and other fight-
ing managers I have given these admirable words as they were spoken.

I had almost forgotten the ladies. There were three, Miss Feytche,
Mrs. Charles Sim, and Miss Dowson, and they were all good—
especially Mrs. Sim as Constance.

And so farewell, for the present, to the 0. U. D. S. and to Oxford.
I may mention, by the way, that hospitality is as extensive and
port wine as abundant as ever in the neighbourhood of the High.
Experto crede. Tours to a turn, A Yagrant.

A South-African Sentiment.

(See Papers passim.)

The Colossus of Rhodes as a marvel they toss us ;
To which we retort, our Rhodes is a Colossus!

A Ready-made Military Chaplain.—" The Rev. the Dean of
Battle." Evidently of the Church militant.