house, (how she pot there isn’t cleat—hut no matter, we ’re not impertinently curious)—where she has been nursing their sick boy, and when the miserable couple rush into each other’s arms, good Mrs.
Jarvis whispers to her husband and boy, “ We are not on in this Scene,”
and the three steal out on tip-toe. This is a bit of the
true pathos of comedy which may be put side by side with Robson listening to his son’s letter being read to him in the last Act of The Porter s Knot.
Act I.—Armytage Hall.—Resid
ence of Mr. Armitage} a country Squire. He is a widower, and his late wife’s name was Ruth, so as he has behaved very badly to his son, and is a very hard, unforgiving old man, he may at once be called the Ruthless Squire.
He keeps his deeds and jewels in a huge refrigerator, near the one large open window of his study, not twenty feet from the high road, and facing a sort of aviary, in which his Lodge-keeper and his daughter are supposed to have built their nest. For the sake of these deeds and jewels he is soon knocked on the head by Seth Preene, and the audience are delighted to know that they won’t have a chance of seeing this prosy Ruthless old man again. He is the only old bore in the piece, and Mr. Sms must have felt a consi
derable weight off his mind when he was finally disposedof. “Now,” Mr. Sims must have said to himself, “ now we can get along.”
For this felony Harold, who didn’t do it, is sentenced, and his cousin enjoys the property. Seth, in Act. II., hands over certain deeds to a Solicitor, which prove that the stupid and Ruthless Squire has left Harold his sole heir. This Solicitor doesn’t appear again until he turns up in a police station in the Borough, on Saturday night—though how he got there isn’t clear, unless he is on a visit to the Inspector, or cadging for business among the night charges—but again, we will not be impertinently curious, and after all there he is when he’s wanted, and if we ask “Who brought him ? ”
the reply is “Mr. Sims”— which must satisfy every right-minded person,-----well,
this Solicitor turns up as a deus ex machind, produces the deeds at the critical mo
ment when Seth confesses his crime. When the guilty and the innocent Armytages are summarily dealt with by a Police Inspector, entrusted by Scotland Yard with special powers for this night only,
and all ends, as it ought to do, happily.
The crowd in the Borough Scene and the fight are admir
ably managed. For the Stalls
the contrivance for showing “ another jolly row up stairs,” is rather too suggestive of-----but see our Artist’s notion of this.
Mr. Carte’s Theatre, The Saveloy, is not yet opened. “ Patience,” and all will be well.
At the Folly.—That the public should go to Mr. Toole’s Folly to laugh at Mr. Pinero’s Imprudence is natural enough, seeing that Im
prudence gives excellent soopo for Mr. Righton’s peculiar drollery, while Mr. Wood is very funny as a sort of malicious Captain Cuttle, and Mr. Clifford Cooper droll as a repulsively selfish old Anglo
Indian. ‘‘ Safe,” but not particularly novel situations, evoke roars of laughter. Miss Compton is a dashing representative of the gay Mrs. l arminter Blake. Miss Kate Bishop, and Mr. Carter, represent the more serious interest, such as it is, of the play. Doby the board
ing-house waiter, and Mattie, the drudge of the establishment, are two small character parts capitally worked up by Mr. Redwood and Miss Laura Lindon.
On account of the coming improvements in the “ auditororium,” as Mrs. Jarvis calls it, the workmen will be in, and this company
out, by the end of this month, which is a hint to anyone anxious to be amused by three Acts of Imprudence.
THE MEETING OE THE EMPERORS.
(From, Our Own Correspondent.)
Dantzig was selected as the place of meeting by the Emperor of Russia, who feels more secure at sea, and has a horror of railways.
The German Emperor would have preferred the meeting at one of his military camps. Like Angelina in the comic song he is “ very fond of soldiers,” so is the Crown Prince ; so is Bismarck ; so is Moltke.
Dantzig is a quaint old port—a full description of which you will find in Murray or Baedeker. It is celebrated for a drink called spruce, which is very popular in Whitechapel.
Bismarck was the first to arrive with his dog and his shorthand writer. The dog bit a railway porter, and the shorthand writer made
a note of it. Moltke was invited, ;but refused to come unless Bismarck could assure him that it meant “business.” Bismarck declined to commit himself, and Moltke remained at home.
The Emperor of Prussia, commonly called the Kaiser, arrived, and was told that the Emperor of Russia, commonly called the Czar,
was detained at sea by the fog. The Kaiser was visibly affected. When asked if he would sleep at Dantzig, he gave an evasive answer. The Czar arrived at last, and the meeting between the two Emperors was simply touching. They embraced each other with tears in their eyes. The Nihilist journals may talk about historical kisses, but, as bystander, I say the interview was simply touching. I could have kissed—but no matter, I was alone. Dinner had been ordered at one place, but another dinner was hurriedly ordered at another. I do not feel at liberty to state the reason for this change. It had nothing to do with cookery.
The conversation began with general topics. The Kaiser asked after the Livadia, wishing to show some interest in naval matters. “ A tub,” answered the Czar.
“ 1 thought so,” said the Kaiser, though he had never seen her. “ We are breaking her up, and shall never build another.”
“ Quite right,” returned Bismarck, “ the sea is not your element, nor ours.”
“You have abolished passports, I hear ? ” said the Czar. “ For years past,” returned the Kaiser.
“ You find no ill effects from your system ? ”
“None whatever. When we had passports, every blackguard coming into Germany possessed one without a flaw: now we have none, we are no worse off, and have ceased to worry respectable people.”
The Czar ruminated.
“ Time is precious,” said Bismarck, “ and perhaps we had better come to the point at once.”
“ Exactly, ’ returned, the Kaiser, quite obediently.
I have Todleben, and a million of soldiers,” said the Czar. And have MOLTKE and another million,” replied the Kaiser.
As stranSers ?re present,” interrupted Bismarck, “ we had probably better continue this discussion in another room.”
Though this was spoken in German, I understood it perfectly, and politely withdrew. As I was, quite accidentally, passing the door of their consulting-room, I fancy I heard the words, “Constanti
nople,” “Porte,” “Khedive,” “Anglo-French,” “Tripoli,” “Tunis,” “Italy,” and something above a whisper about “maintaining the peace of Europe,” which seemod to involve some splendid joke, as they all laughed heartily. I should have just popped in genially with “ I hope I don’t intrude,” had not my attention been attracted by a deep growl just at my toes, when I suddenly perceived Bis
marck’s dog on the door-mat. So I retired quietly. I shall see the Bizzy One privately, aud will communicate the information.
Act I.—The Ruthless Squire’s Uncomfortable Study. Aviary Lodge aud Birdcage Walk.
Last Act.—The Fearful Struggle in the Room over the Shop, ns it appeared to our Artist in the Stulls.
Imprudence and Folly.
Jarvis whispers to her husband and boy, “ We are not on in this Scene,”
and the three steal out on tip-toe. This is a bit of the
true pathos of comedy which may be put side by side with Robson listening to his son’s letter being read to him in the last Act of The Porter s Knot.
Act I.—Armytage Hall.—Resid
ence of Mr. Armitage} a country Squire. He is a widower, and his late wife’s name was Ruth, so as he has behaved very badly to his son, and is a very hard, unforgiving old man, he may at once be called the Ruthless Squire.
He keeps his deeds and jewels in a huge refrigerator, near the one large open window of his study, not twenty feet from the high road, and facing a sort of aviary, in which his Lodge-keeper and his daughter are supposed to have built their nest. For the sake of these deeds and jewels he is soon knocked on the head by Seth Preene, and the audience are delighted to know that they won’t have a chance of seeing this prosy Ruthless old man again. He is the only old bore in the piece, and Mr. Sms must have felt a consi
derable weight off his mind when he was finally disposedof. “Now,” Mr. Sims must have said to himself, “ now we can get along.”
For this felony Harold, who didn’t do it, is sentenced, and his cousin enjoys the property. Seth, in Act. II., hands over certain deeds to a Solicitor, which prove that the stupid and Ruthless Squire has left Harold his sole heir. This Solicitor doesn’t appear again until he turns up in a police station in the Borough, on Saturday night—though how he got there isn’t clear, unless he is on a visit to the Inspector, or cadging for business among the night charges—but again, we will not be impertinently curious, and after all there he is when he’s wanted, and if we ask “Who brought him ? ”
the reply is “Mr. Sims”— which must satisfy every right-minded person,-----well,
this Solicitor turns up as a deus ex machind, produces the deeds at the critical mo
ment when Seth confesses his crime. When the guilty and the innocent Armytages are summarily dealt with by a Police Inspector, entrusted by Scotland Yard with special powers for this night only,
and all ends, as it ought to do, happily.
The crowd in the Borough Scene and the fight are admir
ably managed. For the Stalls
the contrivance for showing “ another jolly row up stairs,” is rather too suggestive of-----but see our Artist’s notion of this.
Mr. Carte’s Theatre, The Saveloy, is not yet opened. “ Patience,” and all will be well.
At the Folly.—That the public should go to Mr. Toole’s Folly to laugh at Mr. Pinero’s Imprudence is natural enough, seeing that Im
prudence gives excellent soopo for Mr. Righton’s peculiar drollery, while Mr. Wood is very funny as a sort of malicious Captain Cuttle, and Mr. Clifford Cooper droll as a repulsively selfish old Anglo
Indian. ‘‘ Safe,” but not particularly novel situations, evoke roars of laughter. Miss Compton is a dashing representative of the gay Mrs. l arminter Blake. Miss Kate Bishop, and Mr. Carter, represent the more serious interest, such as it is, of the play. Doby the board
ing-house waiter, and Mattie, the drudge of the establishment, are two small character parts capitally worked up by Mr. Redwood and Miss Laura Lindon.
On account of the coming improvements in the “ auditororium,” as Mrs. Jarvis calls it, the workmen will be in, and this company
out, by the end of this month, which is a hint to anyone anxious to be amused by three Acts of Imprudence.
THE MEETING OE THE EMPERORS.
(From, Our Own Correspondent.)
Dantzig was selected as the place of meeting by the Emperor of Russia, who feels more secure at sea, and has a horror of railways.
The German Emperor would have preferred the meeting at one of his military camps. Like Angelina in the comic song he is “ very fond of soldiers,” so is the Crown Prince ; so is Bismarck ; so is Moltke.
Dantzig is a quaint old port—a full description of which you will find in Murray or Baedeker. It is celebrated for a drink called spruce, which is very popular in Whitechapel.
Bismarck was the first to arrive with his dog and his shorthand writer. The dog bit a railway porter, and the shorthand writer made
a note of it. Moltke was invited, ;but refused to come unless Bismarck could assure him that it meant “business.” Bismarck declined to commit himself, and Moltke remained at home.
The Emperor of Prussia, commonly called the Kaiser, arrived, and was told that the Emperor of Russia, commonly called the Czar,
was detained at sea by the fog. The Kaiser was visibly affected. When asked if he would sleep at Dantzig, he gave an evasive answer. The Czar arrived at last, and the meeting between the two Emperors was simply touching. They embraced each other with tears in their eyes. The Nihilist journals may talk about historical kisses, but, as bystander, I say the interview was simply touching. I could have kissed—but no matter, I was alone. Dinner had been ordered at one place, but another dinner was hurriedly ordered at another. I do not feel at liberty to state the reason for this change. It had nothing to do with cookery.
The conversation began with general topics. The Kaiser asked after the Livadia, wishing to show some interest in naval matters. “ A tub,” answered the Czar.
“ 1 thought so,” said the Kaiser, though he had never seen her. “ We are breaking her up, and shall never build another.”
“ Quite right,” returned Bismarck, “ the sea is not your element, nor ours.”
“You have abolished passports, I hear ? ” said the Czar. “ For years past,” returned the Kaiser.
“ You find no ill effects from your system ? ”
“None whatever. When we had passports, every blackguard coming into Germany possessed one without a flaw: now we have none, we are no worse off, and have ceased to worry respectable people.”
The Czar ruminated.
“ Time is precious,” said Bismarck, “ and perhaps we had better come to the point at once.”
“ Exactly, ’ returned, the Kaiser, quite obediently.
I have Todleben, and a million of soldiers,” said the Czar. And have MOLTKE and another million,” replied the Kaiser.
As stranSers ?re present,” interrupted Bismarck, “ we had probably better continue this discussion in another room.”
Though this was spoken in German, I understood it perfectly, and politely withdrew. As I was, quite accidentally, passing the door of their consulting-room, I fancy I heard the words, “Constanti
nople,” “Porte,” “Khedive,” “Anglo-French,” “Tripoli,” “Tunis,” “Italy,” and something above a whisper about “maintaining the peace of Europe,” which seemod to involve some splendid joke, as they all laughed heartily. I should have just popped in genially with “ I hope I don’t intrude,” had not my attention been attracted by a deep growl just at my toes, when I suddenly perceived Bis
marck’s dog on the door-mat. So I retired quietly. I shall see the Bizzy One privately, aud will communicate the information.
Act I.—The Ruthless Squire’s Uncomfortable Study. Aviary Lodge aud Birdcage Walk.
Last Act.—The Fearful Struggle in the Room over the Shop, ns it appeared to our Artist in the Stulls.
Imprudence and Folly.