The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-03 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE 3, 1865.

R. and Mrs. GERMAN REED, with Mr.
JOHN PARRY, will appear in their new entertain-
ment, entitled A PECULIAR FAMILY, by William
Brough. New scenery by T. and W. Grieve. To conclude
with MRS. ROSELEAF AT THE SEASIDE, by Mr. John
Parry. Every Evening, except Saturday, at 8. Wednesday
and Saturday afternoons, at 3. ROYAL GALLERY OF
ILLUSTRATION, 14, Regent-street.
Unreserved seats, is,, 25. ; stalls, .15. ; stall chairs, ss. May
be secured in advance, without fee, at the Gallery.

SA VE YOUR POOR TEETH, and EOMOnain
your Cigars.—BUTCHER'S PATENT CIGAR NIP-
PERS are sold everywhere. Price ld.

to the question before the Court, and he asserted he had
shown that this was not only a stage entertainment
within the meaning of the act, but also an interlude.
He trusted if the magistrate remained of the same opinion
as ho was when he gave his previous decision, that
his friend Mr. Poland will do what ho did not do before—
seek such an opinion as would give satisfaction to all parties,
and by which all parties would be bound.

OPERA. DI CANIERA, every Tuesday and Thursday
at 3, and Saturday at 8.

Mr. Tyrwhitt—That was the proper course. It was im-
possible to shut our eyes to the fact that this was a com-
plicated matter, and that if ever there was a subject which
required the attention of tho superior courts this was one.
Mr. Roberts—The Acts 10th Geo. 11. and 25th Goo. 11.
were passed under circumstances which had long ceased to
exist. He would call witnesses, and then he hoped the sense
of his own dignity would induce the magistrate, from the
indignity he had sustained in having the conviction quashed
after the able judgment he had given, would induce him to
uphold his previous judgment.

Mr. Horace Wigan, lessee of the Olympic Theatre, said—
I went to the Royal Alhambra on the 20th May. I gained
admission by paying at the door. There were two places
for taking money. I found the place fitted up like a theatre,
with pit, stalls, and tables for refreshments, galleries, and
balconies with chairs. There were also places resembling
private boxes. I believe there were tiers of boxes—certainly
two tiers. There is a difference in charge between the re-
served stalls and the seats. There is an orchestra and a
stage. The orchestra has musicians, and there is a pro-
scenium and lights in the usual Vey. There is a full band,
and what I should call a curtain. When the curtain was
withdrawn I saw an Oriental scene. There is, as far as I
can recollect, every appliance of a theatre. There is a pro-
scenium and the plan of a stage. There was a scene painted
to represent an Oriental landscape, and pieces of scenes
painted to represent rocks. I saw a ballet divertissement.
Mr. Poland—l object to that designation of it.
Mr. Tyrwhitt—l shall allow it.

Mr. Wigan—l saw a number of ladies dressed in the ordi-
nary costume of ballet dancers—from 60 to 70. They came
in from a large aperture in the costume that I have described,
and then danced down; and those that first descended on the
stage performed a serpentine figure, so as to occupy the
whole stage. Mr. Wigan described the dancing, as it has
already been fully described, to the effect that some ladies
came forward, and that an avenue was formed for the pre-
miere danseuse to pass through. The principal danseuse
danced three solo dances. The dance finished by the prin-
cipal danseuses forming themselves into a sort of bouquet
or basket of flowers. It could not have been performed
without stage accessories.
By Mr. Poland—l only saw women on the stage. The
daggers were all one shape. They held out mimic poniards
and danced, holding out poniards. Believed they were
dressed alike. The audience were charged for admission.
People sat round the tables on chairs and benches. I did
not go with Mr. Donne. The Hon. Mr. Ponsonby is not
connected with the theatre. I do not know whether the
Hon. Mr. Bentinck is. I throw myself on the protection
of the magistrate, and I do not feel bound to answer these
questions. No traps were used in the entertainment.
By Mr. Tyrwhitt=There was a great difference in the
performance. A ballet had a story, but a ballot divertisse-
ment had no story.
John M'Lean, a comedian, said—l got in by paying, and
I saw exactly what Mr. Wigan swears to. The ballet could
not be performed without stage accessories.
Mr. Milano, ballet-master—l saw the dagger dance per-
formed. it was originally produced at Drury-lane.
By Mr. Poland—lt was the same dance as in Azael per-
formed at Drury-lane. A ballet divertissement was danc-
ing with gesture. Should not call the movements in the
" Lancers" a gesture ; merely a polite movement.
Mr. W. Bonham Donne, in the Lord Chamberlain's Office
—I call it a ballet, and an entertainment of the stage.
By Mr. Roberts—The Lord Chamberlain has not been in
the habit of urging copies of directions for the ballet to be
sent to him. The ballet divertissement could be described
and examined. In future all ballets were to be sent in like
all other pieces. The Lord Chamberlain had interfered in
cases of the Italian Opera where the attire of the ladies
was objected to.

Mr. Poland said he appeared at that court for the second
time for the purpose of discussing whether or not Mr.
Strange had violated the act of Parliament. He would at
the outset say that Mr. Strange having embarked a large
capital in the building was desirous of giving to the public
the best entertainment the law allowed, without interfering
with the rights of the theatres or violating the law. What
Mr. Strange contended for, now as before, was this, that as
he held a licence from the Middlesex magistrates for music
and dancing, the music and dancing which he gave to the
public under the name of a ballot divertissement was war-
ranted under that license. Tho question whether this kind
of music and dancing was permitted by the Act of 25th
Geo. 11. had already been fully discussed at the sessions.
Mr. Roberts-1 deny that it was fully discussed.

Mr. Poland—The ballet had just been called an interlude,
but it was certainly not an interlude in the legal sense. He
came back to the old question, what was the meaning of the
25th Geo. 11. This act licensed another class, and he had
admitted that Mr. Strange had no right to present one class
of entertainment because he had licence under a different
act of Parliament. It had been asserted that music and
dancing meant that the public were to dance only. But
were the public also to take their flutes and pianos and play
to their own dancing ? It was manifest that the meaning of
the act was that the public should go to these places, not to
perform, but to be amused. If a house was open to the
public under licence it was immaterial whether people paid
money to dance themselves, or to see others dance who
were paid to amuse them. The case of " Clark v. Serle"
had been cited, but that would be found to go against the
argument of Mr. Roberts. The present was the first time
any distinction had been made between public dancing by
the public or by paid performers.
Mr. Tyrwhitt—When the act was passed there were no
places like the Alhambra.
Mr. Poland—The next question was, were the entertain-
ments at the Alhambra contrary to the Theatrical Act. In
the 10th Geo. 11., the word pantomime was omitted, and
not noticed until the 6th and 7th Vict., showing thereby
that the omission was noticed and supplied. Pantomime
meant an entertainment where there was action and plot
combined. But it was not possible to call pantomime ac-
tion only a pantomime. Suppose the Lancers was danced
in plain clothes, would that would be pantomime ? Cer-
tainly not. Nor could it be made pantomime by dancing
the Lancers in fancy costumes. He thought it rather hard
that Mr. Strange should be dragged to that court to hear a
question discussed and decided over again because the
plaintiffs were dissatisfied with the decision of a superior
Court, which the Quarter Sessions was. It had been said
that the ballet must be a stage entertainment because there
were stage accessories—that there were stage lights and
real water. But could any of these things affect the cha-
racter of the performance ? Attempts had been made by
witnesses to prove what were stage accessories but the
attempts reminded him of the old story of the author who
wrote an article about Chinese metaphysics. When asked
how he managed the matter, as he know nothing about the
subject, he said, " I read in the Encyclopaedia' the article
' China,' and afterwards the article ' Metaphysics,' and then
I compared the two, and wrote about Chinese metaphysics."
It was equally nonsensical to call dancing exhibitions an
entertainment of the stage by combining things that could
or did in any way affect the character of the performance.
What was an entertainment of the stage ? Would it
be a stage entertainment if the part of "Hamlet " was
read, or a song out of an opera sung? Then, with respect
to sending a copy of theperformance to the Lord Chamber-
lain, the Legislature never intended that a mere display
of pantomimic action should be described and sent. How
could a ballet divertissement be described so as to be un-
derstood by the Lord Chamberlain ? It must be stated
thus :—" Young ladies trip to footlights ; young ladies trip
back again from a line, and flourish daggers. Chief dancer
advances and flourishes one leg about. Chief dancer puts
leg to ground." This was all that could be sent, and cer-
tainly it was not what the Legislature intended the Lord
Chamberlain to receive. It was stated that why a copy ought
to be sent to the Lord Chamberlain, because if anything
improper were in the entertainment it could be stopped, but
if any breach of decorum occurred the magistrates could act
and put an end to it. The case cited did not show that any-
thing of the kind performed at the Alhambra was a stage
play or entertainment. (Mr. Poland here went over the
cases cited by Mr. Roberts, and pointed out in detail that
they were not applicable to the question now before the
Court). Before he concluded, he would call attention to
another matter. Mr. Roberts had stated that the magi-
strate (Mr. Tyrwhitt) had allowed an indignity to be put
upon him.
Mr. Tyrwhitt—Do not trouble yourself about that. I
have a perfect disregard for the whole thing.
Mr. Poland—From the statement which has appeared,
you were under an entire misunderstanding when you
granted the new summons. You stated that the quarter
sessions came to the determination of not granting a case
previous to giving their decision on the appeal.
Mr. Roberts—What was stated was, that the Middlesex
magistrates anticipated that an application would be made
for a case, and refused to grant one.
Mr. Poland—lt is not likely the magistrates would have
come to any such determination. What really took place
was this
Mr. Tyrwhitt—l must say I read the statement in one o
the papers.
Mr. Roberts—lt appeared in The Times.
Mr. Tyrwhitt—The application foranother summons was
founded on a fresh offence. I could not refuse it ; and the
fplaintiff, if he is disatisfied, has a right to have the matter
heard over and over again.
Mr. Poland—l will set the Court right with respect to
what occurred at the sessions. After the case was discussed
the magistrates retired to consider their decision. They
did come to a decision, and then they took the question of