One day last week, after a struggle for life, Her Majesty's Theatre was
shut up, five hundred persons, so it was stated, lost employment, and
the _Cinderella_ family, proud sisters and all, nay, even the gallant
Prince himself, were turned adrift. Smiling, at the helm of the Drury
Lane Ship, stands AUGUSTUS DRURIOLANUS, who sees, not unmoved, the wreck
of "Her Majesty's Opposition," and murmurs to himself as _Jack and the
Beanstalk_ continues its successful course, "This is, indeed, the
survival of the fittest," and, charitably, DRURIOLANUS sends out a
life-boat entitled "Benefit Performance" to the rescue of the
shipwrecked crew. _Ave Cæsar_!
From this disaster there results a moral, "which, when found," it would
be as well to "make a note of." It is this: as evidently London will
not, or cannot, support two Pantomimes, several Circuses, and a Show
like BARNUM'S, all through one winter, why try the experiment?
especially when the _luxe_ of Pantomime, fostered by DRURIOLANUS, is so
enormous, that any competitor must be forced into ruinous and even
reckless extravagance, in order to enter into anything like rivalry with
The Imperator who "holds the field" for Pantomime, just as he holds "The
Garden" for Opera, against all comers.
These rival establishments only do harm to one another, spoil the public
by indulging their taste for magnificent spectacle, increasing in
gorgeousness every year, until true Pantomime will be overlaid with
jewelled armour, crushed under velvet and gold, and be lying helpless
under the weight of its own gorgeosity. We should question whether the
Olympian BARNUM has done much good for himself, seeing how gigantic the
expenses must be; and certainly he can't have done good to the theatres.
As to Shows, "The more the merrier" does not hold good. "The fewer the
better" is nearer the mark in every sense, and perhaps the experience of
this season may suggest even to DRURIOLANUS to give the public still
more fun for their money (and there is plenty of genuine fun in _Jack
and the Beanstalk_), with less show, in less time, and at consequently
less expense to himself, and with, therefore, bigger profits. We shall
see.
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[Illustration:
"Mr. GLADSTONE desires that ALL LETTERS, &c., should be addressed to
him at 10, St. James's Square, London."--_Standard, Jan. 25._
Why should "all letters" be addressed to Mr. GLADSTONE? Isn't anybody
else to have any? How about Valentine's Day? Will "_all letters_" be
addressed to him then? If so--then the above Illustration conveys only a
feeble idea of the result.]
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[Illustration: FELINE AMENITIES.
_Fair Hostess_ (_to Mrs. Masham, who is looking her very best_).
"HOWDYDO, DEAR? I HOPE YOU'RE NOT SO TIRED AS YOU _LOOK_!"]
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[Illustration: THE FINISHING TOUCH; OR, PREPARING FOR MR. SPEAKER'S
PARTY.
"THANK GOODNESS, HE'S READY AT LAST!"]
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