The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-03 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE.

Paul Bedford's Complimentary Benefit,
A glorious evidence of the very cordial good feel-
ing with which he is individually regarded, both by
the playgoing public at large and by his own brother
and sister professionals, was yesterday accorded to
Paul Bedford upon the boards of Drury Lane
Theatre. Upon those same boards of Old Drury,
now Forty Years ago, Paul—then (blooming flower
that he was !) newly transplanted from Bath—
made his First Appearance before a London audience
as Young Hawthorne, in " Lore in a Village."
During the forty years that have since then
elapsed, he has (however unconsciously) been
steadily carrying out in regard to the public
generally a system of regular anti-Banting-
ism ! That is, if there be any truth in
the proverb about Laughter promoting Fatness.
The mere fact, however, of his being a Droll, would
never account for such a demonstration of good-
fellowship as that accorded to Paul Bedford yester-
day. As a demonstration of good-fellowship
towards him it was proof positive that he himself
was a good fellow. It was an attestation quite as
much of the worth of the man as of the popularity
of the low comedian. The immense area of Drury-
lane Theatre was filled full—from the orchestra
(inclusively) to the topmost row of the gallery,
where the latest comers among the audience, crowding
behind one another on tiptoe and peering over one
another's shoulders to get a glimpse of the stage,
were knocking their heads against the ceiling. The
performance consisted, according to the promise held
out by the programme, of a kind of an " animated
sandwich "—in quite another sense, however, than
that in which the term has been usually employed
since Boz first penned the phrase in one of the
earliest chapters of "Nicholas Nickleby "—an
" animated sandwich " consisting yesterday his-
trionically of a delicious petite comedie, in between
two hearty Farces. " The Area Belle" opened
the entertainment. Paul himself being Tosser
the Guardsman, and in that character chaunting
yet once again Blueskin's renowned bacchanalian
of " Jolly Nose," from Harrison Ainsworth's
" Jack Sheppard." Toole being Pitcher the
Bobby—boiled rags in the kitchen copper—but,
previously, singing an original song, by E. L.
Blanchard, entitled " Ile, She, and the Postman"
—a song the encore secured by the success of which
elicited from Mr. Took, not its repetition, but the
repetition of that odd comic extravagance in the
shape of a song (also by Blanchard)—" A Norrible
Tale." Mrs. Mellon (We Woolgar) was, of course,
the Penelope of this domestic Odyssey, and equally,
as a matter course, Mr. R. Romer was Walker
Chalks the Milkman. Afterwards came Mr.
Sothern's charming little elegant drawing-room
comedy of "My Aunt's Advice," in which Mr.
Sothern himself played with inimitable humour
Captain Howard Leslie, assisted by Miss Heath
and Mr. Billington as Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Arundel. Following which piece, came the
finest farce that ever was written—namely,
Morton's exquisitely ridiculous Box and Cox. Ex-
quisitely ridiculous to relate, however, in regard to
it, we don't remember ever to have seen " Box and
Cox" played more wretchedly than it was yesterday.
And this, too, with Mr. Buckstone in his own ori-
ginal character as Box, and with about the best
substitute the stage could now furnish for Mr.
Harley's part of Cox—Mr. Compton. Genuine
screamer though this matchless farce is in itself—it
actually fell flat yesterday with the audience, by rea-
son of its being so indifferently acted. No fault
this, however, of Mr. Buckstone's ! He—so far as
he pOssibly could be under the circumstances—was
as droll as ever, but nothing (not even Buckstone's
fun and self-possession) could bear up against the
depressing and bewildering influence of Mr. Comp-
ton's Cox of yesterday, and under that also of the
Mrs. Bouncer of the occasion. Both of these positively
seemed to recollect little or nothing of their parts !
The words, as set down for them,we listened in vain
for. Box was repeatedly without his cue—and had
to make what he could of his difficulties under the
circumstances. Mr. Compton never acted worse.
He was as dull as ditch-water. Fun, there was none
in him. And we were heartily glad when the
curtain at last descended upon a performance
through which Mr. Buckstone's imperturbable good
humour and inerradicable comicality struggled so
manfully that we could not but regard his Box,
through our occasional laughter, with mingled feelings
of admiration and commiseration. Afterwards
came the concluding part of the entertainment—as
set down in the Playbills, " Paul Bedford at Home !
A Morning Call." The green curtain, on rising—
revealing to the view of the immense audience,
nearly every actor and actress of any reputation
connected with all the chief theatres of the metro-
polis. Mr. Buckstone--and no one better could, by
possibility, have been selected for the offices—
was the Spokesman, and, besides that, also, the
Master of the Ceremonies. Speaking of the mag-
nificent success of this entertainment, Mr. Buck-
stone humorously remarked that if he were to ask
his friend Paul whether it had been successful, he
was sure that the only possible reply he could give
would be--" I believe you, my boy !" Paul, in his
ofte
is of feel-
ing,
very
mleading
speech, gave the audience (alternately apostrophised
by him as his " Patrons" and his " Children") a
spoken taste of his written Autobiography. Here
an there,d
a characteristico n g being
the
harangue.noticeablerabrambling
g Several
e oddities
ui n touches
h of his
t o
er s, andon beingactresses
assembled
iieby
ruopoeneentin
gt—he
g
recotghnierse
ed,
o
stage,
tea
re-
ceived the heartiest and kindliest g
a greeting as to old friends ! Conspicuous
among these being Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews,
Mr. Keeley, Mr. Sothern, Mrs. Stirling, Mr. Toole,
Mr. Walter Lacy, Mrs.. Mellon (Miss Woolgar), and
Miss Amy Sedgwick. Messrs. Shepherd and An-
derson, in evidence of sympathy for their recent
managerial misfortune through the burning down
of the Surrey Theatre—received an ovation. As
also did Messrs. Chatterton and Falconer—very
deservedly—by reason of their having placed their
noble house gratis at Paul Bedford's command for
the occasion of his Complimentary Benefit, therein,
yesterday. The ovation of the day, however, was
Paul's own. And it was one so genuine and so
hearty, alike on the part of his fellow professionals
and on the part of his still more numerous friends
the public, that we may sincerely, as we do, offer
him our very cordial congratulations upon it.

Mr. Paul Bedford, says one of our contemporaries,
began life as an opera singer ; he sang with Cata-
lani, and was the original Beppo in " Fra Diavolo,"
and it was good, therefore, to see many celebrated
singers shaking him by the hand amongst the actors
with whom he has been associated for half a century.
The receipts, after paying all expenses, will reach
about £5OO,
are not forgotten by the public,
a gratifying proof that old performers

PRICES OF CORN SINCE 1600._Official returns
give the average•prices of wheat from 1600 to the present
date. The highest averages from 1600 to 1795 were in
1648, when the average was 755. Gd., and in 1795, when it
was 755. 2d. In 1796 it rose to 78s. 7d. ;in 1800 it was 110 s.
5d., and next year, 115 s. 11d. The highest average on re-
cord, however, was in 1812, whent was 1225. Bd. iln 1813
it was 106 s. 6d., and it fell next year to 725. ld., and de-
clined with little oscillation to 1835, when the average was
395, 4d. It afterwards rose again, but in 1851 was as low as
38s. 7d,. It again rose to 745. 9d. in 1855. In the last four
years it has been gradually declining, having been in 1861
555. 6d, ; in 1862, 555, sd. ;
in 1868, 445. 94 ; and last year,
40s, per qr.
CORN IMPORTS.—The imports of foreign and
-
colonial grain and flour into Great Britain and
exception—r Ye.
Ireland in the past year show a falling off in every descrip-
tion of grain, with 05,575,398 qrs. in Itt
8
e tionwheat imported last year was 5,381,245 qrs., against
63 ; xee
thepquantity
1,388,119 qrs., against 2,078,717 qrs. in 1863; of oats
2,039,708 qrs., against 2,376,473 qrs., The quantity of
barley was
in 1863 ; of beans,
212,665 qrs., against 488,436 qrs. in 1863 ; of peas,
249,731 qrs., against 299,154 qrs. in 1863 ; of buck wheat
1,185 qrs., against 23,219 qrs. in 1863 ; of maize
1,473,118 qrs., against 2,964,765 qrs. in 1863 ; of
wheat, meal, and flour 4,552,933 cwt. against
5,174,512 cwt. in 1863; but of rye the imports in 1864 were
115,157 qrs., against 22,412 qrs. in 1863. The total figures
were 12,387,492 qrs. in 1864, against 15,553 958 qrs. in 1863.
The lowest imports of foreign wheat since 1826 was in 1835,
when only 46,530 qrs. of 'wheat were imported ; and the
highest was in 1862, when 9,542,362 qrs. of wheat were
imported. The imports have been progressively increasing
since the repeal of the corn laws. The total imports in 1862
were 18,942,658:qr5.. being the largest on record ; and next
were thole of 1861, Nhen the total Wag 16,08,238 qrs.