The Express.
London, England, 1868-12-15 00:00:00

Plre RY -LANE.

-line is the main thoroughfare of Bohe-
are, Then. an, many lower neighbour-
at the West-end, and the slums of
,:.ter. Lambeth. or Bevou-dials far exceed
1,,a VTideuett. of hand to mouth poverty.
more theatrical thoroughfares, as 80w-
.v,,..tar-yaral. and Broacf-court hard by.
ornaments. gaudy trappings, and old
•. form the stock in trade of many a
_ op: awl where closely shaven, pallid
IA" elial•ked, shabby men are ever
. In little knots about tavern doors, or
: het heatrical announcements in the
a • afoies.aul. These are the Belvilles,
„how, the Howards, of the provincial
•Is• Hamlets and Orlandos admired by
gentry and revered by the local
wit, in has a treasured miss of
„„,mak under his tightly buttoned,
in shish Hoick's, Herrick, Bean,
am brought into the critical
a..re badly b) the side of the
now seeking au engage-
; theie are far snore artistic
t •, DI toy-I:ate, such as those in the pur-
. ;mare or &oho, from which
odd hats and odder gar-
. •ge ~t to take their constitutional
• . ,i ,1.1 light has made further labour
maul stick impossible--artists
• .tr..l tor the Academy, and hovel-
tor the twit hanging committee re-
..., fir,t di.tie• of man, and who regard
• c nitwit. et the fashionable world with

sigh. or glance up to their brilliantly:
windows ait u a murmured '• what rooms
egths.- list in Drury-lane these various
n 41,4 are fused. The dense poverty and
..ire:: of many of the streets abutting on
re 'warms of dirty unkempt children are
lid pies and paddling in the gutters at all
the day, slid where the week's or perhaps
's washing for the family hangs suspendeda
iwm.liandlett and broken sticks and
vntrie flags of truce between the inmates of
(rent than—this dirt and wretohodnee
Ars into and makes merry in the Lane. It
st the ginshop doors, it crowds their bare,
.11, for sprats and fried fish at the Jewish
.nto. who have dispensed with shop-fronts,
„-in ilate their establishment* to the cos-

carts, it swears and shrieks upon the
it indulges not infrequently in war-
L.lvigove which terminate in the tearing of
cr. in the clawing of faces, in screams for
•e and in au addition to the ocoupante of
ew—trect cells. It gossips amicably as well,
be heard comparing notes as to the
and unreasonable punctuality of the
• , f the weekly rent!, or the misfortune

Tonic, whose difficulties are con-
with a watch and who is ex-
sat in three weeks from now ;or the

•f the times, " with never a bit of
yont, of us, more's the pity." This irre-
, n tehedness leavens, but does not consti-
' sne. The proximity of the theatres, of
colour shops, of the Italian gallery of
-tattles, and the various half-hidden
. 1 callings connected with each, all
luselves in the shops and in the
e of the wayfarers felt on the pavement.
• in canvass blouses like brown holland
led well spotted with red, black,
paint. are assistant scene-painters
-tv men who have gipped out
heated property-rooms of Drury-
ovent-garden for a mouthful of such
the Lune can yield. It is a busy time
jroperty-rooms just now. The masks
enough to weigh upon a man's mind
ich force as her boarders' dinner-gravy
•he of Mrs. Todgers. Vast, vacuous,
y are at first like huge dish-covers, or
with the knobs of meat or fruit making
valleys on their surface. Then, by
dexterous mouldings and punch-
eyes, and cheeks, assume a more
human look ; squinty, paralytic
the glare of idiocy, the fatuous
• sot, the rage of the stage lunatic, are
••d in the pasteboard, until a row of
lying out to dry and grimacing
tI.• 1 ••,ker-on, testifies to the deft fingers
• •heir manipulators. To be shut
• , • •-• -room at night, with no other
• . '• oi conscience, must be trying to
Trenkenstein redivirue mid multi-
, the •tapanion it suggests most forcibly.
:•.auutie faces are only a small portion of
•• rtv-ri.iitu work. Stomachs are designed
: false hi ads, and legs and feet ; strange
....aging apparently to the pre-Adamite
which waggle when they are dragged
• stage-wire as if of intemperate habits;
Tsce, corks, bottles, boats, thrones, scaf-
,, 4, helmets, regalia, are all strewn about
rty-room as if by accident, but in reality
sternest and moo business-like
The prevailing odour is as of a
. g of size, paint, glue, and
. The heat is tremeudous, and
no harder working-place in the world.
of the ballet often traverse the: Lane,
warmest interest is taken, even in the
•• -hops, at the fate of every new piece
at '• over the way." It is a fond super-
: the district that Drury-lane Theatre is
• • any," let the speaker dwell where he
• tin-re are good reasons for the hearty
-Les tendered to the management. A
run and a prosperous season here and at
makes the old Lane fed young
The theatrical treasury overflows into the
.oines, and shops, and lodgings quite un-
there is unknown sympathy of
. -t kind between the approval of a critical
a a first night and hundreds of families,
and Bohemian, who live hard by.
-n• is poor, crowded, and squalid ; but it
tinctured with a desire to extract as
i-ounnt as possible out of the slenderest
ruffle it with the theatres and the

' • la smart and jaunty through ite dirt—
.: lifts it out of the ordinary low metro-
: if4l.liourhood, and givos it a character of
--liii►; eVeir?.

W~~1:%IIOL"SE

TO TDB IthtTOß Or TEI EXPRESS.

----
-Ina recent leader you refer to the opera-
- istrvutit illiNlllllloll of the Workhouse Infirmaries
t 4", olsuk of it with kindly words of praise
1""' wak• but seem doubtful whether it is still
I•. ochre remind you that during the last
, tcwciaton *impeded in procuring the erten-
-I•Nvilic.id workhouse infirmness, by not of
"t. of vme of the mast important of the ameliora-
M•e:L it Mid secured for the metropolitan work-
" ""411,,.. and farther that by representations
• "-.l* as eta repnrentative and as representative
:"uliltitssdary committee of the British Medical
the members of the committee of peen on
•,L • 1.111 vanity to the Archbishop of York
bare'.);, that committee passed by a vote,
'l^rub omposed in a minority of one, the ins-
:*.mendMnat that additional inspectors should
• mei that among such inspectors should
lally skilled by medical education
..iuties of infirmary inspection. Lord Devon
• oppmwl such appointment has since acted
•• •• d•mr two nftirAs of ins Sion—one fur a
M hi, own, and another for a near relative
n..ato stere:tary, Mr. Fleming. Those nit-
,. 1,4 w. h us on principle can be judided,
-+t w parliament and new administration
• 'I ~m tie. extrtiOnS a the Workhouse In-
.' • .1,,n may be uessfully renewed, I have
.1.01.• that the committee will once more
,•. the poor-law admiuistritiou with
am,
EltNilsT H 4ItT.

'.Lf Ein•l NfloN.—The Rey. Canon
1.410 in.d evening, at the rooms of
'."'• A--,iitatem, ea a .;ompul.ory ey.tern
`l' I:. R. Torrctui, M. P., in the chair.
-.111N., AM. NO ItEACI.T.-111 thO c 7140
le the Court of Eictiopier,
• di,„ iu buirtsir, the jury rwiwaserelileil
ii‘ilf•pier to o'clock, nnnaiued m c nucdtation
• huhlai•t. were dieclutrgeil without
,'•-•
K. The friend, of Mr. John
arc coil:aged in getting up a heitiinonial
lie, let of I,l6eriptiuns to the fund :drawly