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June 9,18 60] The Leader and Saturday An...
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ACTORS AND AUTHORS. A MOST edifying- spe...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Rebecca And Tjie Turnpikes., *' Thrho Wa...
But why not all over the kingdom ? Nothing can be more fallacious than the notion that the turnpike system makes every one pay for what he uses ; the roads are for the service of the whole nation . Every carrier ' s cart , every public conveyance is accessible to any person who chooses to use it , and all would suffer were these roads allowed to fall into decay . We . all pay fdr harbours ' of refuge ; whether we ever set foot oh board ship or not ; and there are many other appropriations of public money subject to the same rule . The quaker pays his income tax , part of which goes to buy gunpowder : md rifled cannon . The peaceful and placable citizen , who looks on law as a bottomless pit , and never expects or hopes to be in a court of law , except , it may be , as a juryman , is obliged , and very rightly , to contribute towards the salary of the Lord Chief Justice ; and there is no reason why the keeping up of the national highways should not be done at the national expense .
We hope to see the day when all turnpikes shall be abolished ; and among the many advantages to the people which would result from such a step , we will just ¦ mention a few . I . The incidence of the tax would be equal , for as all profit by good roads all ought to pay for them . II . The parish roads , coming Under the same government , would be everywhere as good as what we now call highways . III . There would be an immense saving , on the whole not less than thirty per cent ., by the cessation of any need for turnpike gates , toll-houses , and turnpike-keepers , and there would be a large sum realised by the sale of the existing materials . IV . There would he an end to the Rebecca riots , and this in Wales would of itself be a not inconsiderable element of public tranquillity .
V . There would be a better and more scientific class of men chosen as surveyors , and thus all improvements in the art of roadmaking would be more speedily and generally adopted . The late Mr . 11 . N . Christmas , one of the most able of road surveyors , was especially of this opinion , and never failed to insist on the advantages which would result from all the roads being taken into the hands of Government . It would matter very little whether a separate tax were made , or whether the whole were charged on the Consolidated Fund ; any way in which the nation could be called upon to pay , would be ¦ found less oppressive than that which exists at present .
" It may bVsaid that we have good roads , and cannot therefore be much better off in this respect , that we have reforms to attend ^ to far more urgent than this , that we must mend our constitution first , and then mend our ways ; and we admit all this ; but we wish to call attention to what is a waste of time and a . waste of rooiiey , and a specimen of unfair taxation , and a great inconvenience , in order that our hints may , fructify , and be remembered when-a proper occasion serves .
June 9,18 60] The Leader And Saturday An...
June 9 , 18 60 ] The Leader and Saturday Analyst , 541
Actors And Authors. A Most Edifying- Spe...
ACTORS AND AUTHORS . A MOST edifying- spectacle was presented the other day on the black , barren heath of Woking—we beg pardon , on the breezy downs of Maybury ; for Maybury , be it understood , is an oasis in that desert . A most edifying spectacle , we say , was presented on those breezy downs . It was that of an assemblage of our ; principal actors ahd ^ treWsTwlro ^ lTaid- ^^ « reat expense and personal inconvenience to themselves , "to assist " in laying the foundation-stone of a College , or Ilefuge , for old and infirm members of their profession . Chief among those who engaged in this good work was His Royal Highness the Pjrince Cond laid the foundationstonethutesti
tort , who with his own han - , s - fying in the most marked manner the hearty interest which both lie and our gracious Queen take in all that relates to the welfare of the dramatic profession . But the most remarkable , because most novel feature of the proceedings , was the part which the members of the profession themselves took in the ceremonial of the day . A bevy of ladies , including some of our most' popular and talented actresses , were found both ready and willing to stand behind counters in an extempore bazaar , and p lay the part of shop-girls in earnest for the good of the charity . There were the elegant Miss Swanbokough , whose pride it is never to allow even the humblent walking- lady to go on her bijou stage in anything but the best silk , condescendinir to the vending of sixpenny pincushions . gilded into
guineas' worths with a smile ; the ever-fascinatmg Miss Woolgak—lor we must still call her by that name—turning the basest Brummagem into gold with a toss o ' f her head ; the accomplished Mrs . Stiklino charming guineas into her till with a laugh ; the dashing Miss Sedgwick dispensing the most modest of Huvannas at a guinea apiece in defiance of the Excise- —for which weare sure thecomptrollor will never have the heart to prosecute ; tlio lively Miss Mabie Wilton scarcely taking the trouble to give anything for the money but a " thank ye , " or a pretty pout : but epithets are wanting . Suffico it to say , that behind those counters there wore also rangod Miss Oliveu , Miss Saundehs , Mrs . Billinqton , Miss Kate
Kklly , Mis .. F . Matiikw 8 » M » 9 §^ Miss \ HKitBEnT , Mrs . Makston , Mrs . Leigh Mubkay , Miss Button , Miss Neville—a perfect guluxy of talent and beauty too dazzling almost for human eyes to look upon . And outside , on the breezy downs , there were " tho perennial" Mr . Jojtn Baldwin Buckstone , the over-delightful and never-fading Mr . Paul Bei > - jfobd , and the admirable Mr . Toole , conducting the noble game of Aunt Sally at tho remunerative into of three sticks a shilling , tho highest prize being a bruss 'bacno box , recommended as having been contributed by the veteran Mr . T , P . Cooke , nnd said to have been one of tho numerous artieles found in St . Domingo Billy .
Apart from the masonic ceremonial conducted by his Royal Highness and Mr . Benjamin Webster , the Master of the College , we say this was a most edifying spectacle . The sacrifice of time and ease which those ladies and gentlemen made to serve the interests of the general body was no light matter . Some of them were managers who had pressing ! , duties in Lo ? id , on , which they could ill afford to neglect ; almost all had to hasten back to town to dress for the evening ' s performance . What was sport to the public , who went down for a day ' s pleasure to see actors and actresses by daylight , was really hard work , involving a good deal of self-denial and condescension , to those ladies and gentlemen who contributed to their pleasure , and at the same time eased them of a little of that superfluous cash which they might have spent upon a less worthy object . A thoughtless observer might have deemed it a very pretty and easy thing for Miss Swanboeough and Miss Wyxdham to stand there selling those nick-nacks . And so it was ; but both ladies had left serious work at home , and were undergoing a vast
deal of extra fatigue quite gratuitously . It was pleasant to hear the peculiar tones associated with the Haymarket resounding on a countr . v heath , amid trees which were not flat-sided , and a sky which was not a painted " border ; " but it was scarcely to be expected that a veteran like Mr . Buckstone would superintend Aunt Sally for the love of the thing . Mr . Toole might have youth and exuberance enoug-h to give zest to an extra morning performance without salary : but certainly Mr . Paul Bedford would be more happy taking his afternoon ' s " nap in his easy-chair , than standhig here handing out sticks , and indulging in the characteristic iteration of '" Here you are , here you are , here you are . "
The theatrical profession on this occasion—as on all occasions when their exertions are required on behalf of the body to which they belong—exhibited an amount of zeal and brotherly feeling which is not often found among other classes . This College is the fifth institution which has been established through the exertions of the profession for the relief and assistance of aged , decayed , and sick members . There are already the prury Lane Fund , the Covent Garden Fund , the General Theatrical . Fund , and the Dramatic , Equestrian , and Sick Fund Association , all of which grant pensions to aged members , or relief tor members in the case of sickness . Now they have the Dramatic College , a sort _ of Greenwich Hospital—a haven of rest , where superannuated Jictors who have w fretted their hour" and made their last exit , may retire in their
old age to live out their brief span in comfort and peace , and ^ iri the company of congenial friends and associates . This college is to consist of twenty houses , each affording accommodation for two inmates . The building is to consist of a central hall ,. with library , sculpture room , and schoolrooms for the education of the children of the inmates ; and the whole of the money required , viz ., a sum of £ 2 ; 5 CK ) , has already been subscribed . It is true that many persons not intimately connected with the profession have furnished a large proportion of this sum ; but it is equally true that the project would never have been carried out but for the earnest exertions of the members of the profession themselves ; and most particularly we would mention thenameofMr . Benjamin Wehs . ti « b , whose untiring labours in promoting the scheme , and bringing it
to this crowning point of success , eminently entitle him to the position of Master of the College . —^ tfowrin ^ rder ^ o-exh'aetr-a ^ moK ^ much-maligned theatrical profession on behalf of the aged and suffering members of their body , we would ask how it is that authors do so little for the . members of their profession ? r Ihc actors , as we have recited , have no less than five provident and charitable institutions ; authors have only one , and that is -purely ji charity—the Literary Fund , presided over and managed by Uttcvati of the DkyaSdust order . The Literary Fund is remarkably eclectic in the dispensation of its benefits . A man may be a contributor to a leadindailnewspapera monthly magazine , or a review for
g y , a quarter of a century , day after day , week after week , and month after month pouring forth the stores of his knowledge , his philosophy , and his experience for the instruction and the elevnt ion of the ininds of his fellow men , and yet , wlien his day is far spent ami his energies have failed , there is no help for him from the Literary I und . To be a literary man in the eye of Dr . Duyasdust , you must have written a book—a book however stupid , useless , and unoriginal , something in so many pages , with a preface and title page , bound in calf , registered at Stationers' Hail , and the dryer and tho dustier the better . Something about the Briihmin bull , or the cow of the Ganges , or the Incas of Peru , or tho Differedition
ential Calculus , or the law of tangents , or a new of Dr . Goldsmith ' s " Earth and Animated Nature , " with notes oonfinnatory of dear Goldy's profound research in Natural History . The enemy of this munificent fund must writea book , be it only a school Geography , in order that Dr . Day asdust may have his revenge upon him by tardily doling out u few pounds for his relief . To be sure , there is Her Majesty's civil list , out of which an author , or tho widow of nn author , now nnd then gets an annuity of sixty pounds a year ; but here , as ait i > r . T ) BYASDusT 8 palace in the Adt'lphi , you want n back-stair friend—somebody to say that you lire well connected , or that you huvo treated of something that ia very profound and very stale ,
and vcrv flat , and very unprofitable . How'i s this ? Authors are certainly more subject to reverse * ot fortuno than actors . Their occupation is less healthy ; on the whole , they are not as well paid , and as a body they are inoro liable to die early , leaving wives and families in destitution behind thoiu— -tiioroforo , the more need for co-opuration among them to provide against the evil day . Attempts in this direction have boon inado over und
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1860, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09061860/page/9/
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