The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-20 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES,

Sir,—lf the newspapers have been deprived of their
privileges in one respect, many of them have well as-
serted them Vn another, for, while all approve of my
circular and coincide in my views, many have showered
upon my devoted head every kind of anathema that can
well be conceived for daring to promulgate them. This
is only what I expected, and was quite prepared to re-
ceive, but I fancy it will not be until my next new piece
is produced that I ' shall be really able to judge of the
perfect impartiality of a portion of the press ; for, as the
Spectator of Saturday remarks (and I have no doubt
truly), " what the reporter loses in privilege perhaps the
public may gain in truth and pungency"—an admission
which enables me to meet Punch's question of " What
do you think of the critics, Mr. Mathews ? Are they
the style of men to be cajoled into saying what they
don't think by a nightly order ?" and to answer, upon
the authority of the Spectator, " Yes, Mr. Punch, I
think many of them are."
However, as you observe, sir, the " controversy be-
tween the theatres and the press is substantially settled,"
and I will, therefore, say no more on the matter, but
merely beg to thank you sincerely for the leading article
in the Times which so ably espoused my cause.
The object of my present intrusion is to reply to
another leading article of yours on the subject of the
extra shilling charged at the Lyceum box-office for book-
ing places, and to the letters with fictitious signatures
which are daily inserted in the Times, complaining of
the Lyceum, and only of the Lyceum, for sanctioning
such a custom. Why only the Lyceum 3
I have really no more to do with this question than
any other London manager, it being not a particular,
but a general custom, and have therefore waited a whole
week in the hope that one of my confreres would
have taken up the cudgels instead of myself;- the
manager of the Princess's Theatre especially, against
whom the accusation should have been made, in-
stead of against me, of " having been addressed once
before on the point, and having failed to convince either
his opponent or the public" (the charge you refer to,
no doubt, being the case brought forward in the county
court by a nobleman, who had paid for booking his place
in a stall). But as they seem to consider me the knight
errant who is to fight their battles while they stand pru-
dently aloof, I once more make myself " food for pow-
der."

It is rather singular that the Lyceum should be
selected as the point of attack, and that your correspon-
dents "Americus," "A Surgeon," " G.," and " Denta-
tus,".should allude to no other theatre, since it happens
that I have been the only manager who has attempted
to do away with the obnoxious custom. During my two
first seasons I abolished it altogether, and paid the box-
keepers and seatkeepers myself, at a loss of 700/. ; but
finding that the public did not in any way value the sac-
rifice, but paid the extra shilling as before (only with the
important difference to me that it went into the box-
keepers' pockets instead of into mine, I bearing the ex-
pense and they taking the money), I returned to the old
custom.

The truth is, sir, the fault is with human nature, and
not with the managers of theatres. Every man likes to
get an advantage over his neighbour, and, if he can do
so for a shilling, he doesn't hesitate to disburse that sum,
particularly when it also insures his individual comfort.
I may even venture to assert that he does so with more
satisfaction at the Lyceum than any other theatre, be-
cause his place is there kept for him the whole evening,
instead of only till the end of the first act of the first
piece, as at other places. He can therefore dine as late
as he pleases, and still be sure of finding his seat unoccu-
pied. Is this worth paying extra for or not ? There
lies the whole question.
Allow me to ask you, sir, whether you have ever seen
the painted board of " Engaged" hooked on to a first-
class railway carriage ? Is the extra halfcrown to the
guard (though against the law) ever refused to be given
or received and would not any man (I should for one)
prefer paying an extra shilling for a kept seat in a rail-
way carriage rather than be subject to the present
scramble and confusion in the attempt to get a seat atall ?
It is of course a matter of opinion, and nothing more.
It is a mistake, however, to suppose that " a tax of ls.
is levied on every person who buys a ticket for 55." The
custom of the Lyceum is, that ls. extra shall secure
places for six persons, 2s. for 12, &c., while other the-
atres, I understand, charge is. for every four persons, so
that your case of the " bookseller who does not charge
6s. for a ss. book, because ordered beforehand," is not
quite a case in point ; but I think you will find a better
at Charing-cross or the Regent's•circus. You are there
charged 6d. for the carriage of a parcel, and then have
to pay 2d. for booking it. Do you object to that ? Nay,
do you not put a penny stamp upon a letter, and expect
that for that sum it will reach its destination ? and yet,

if you wish to insure its safe delivery, are you not charged
6d. for its registry ? These payments are matters -of
choice ; so is oar extra shilling. May I not 'even ask
whether, down to the very pew-opener of your parish
church, doorkeepers of all sorts have not been remark-
able, from time immemorial, for the possession of " itch-
ing palms ?"
As to the proposition that" every seat," even in the
pit, should be " a reserved seat as soon as it is paid for,"
I can only say I should like to hear how it is to be done.
I should like to hear any device by which the first-pro-
miscuous rush of 700 holiday people on " boxing-night,"
who have been packed like biffins from four o'clock
in the afternoon in the pit-passage, is to be con-
trolled and conducted in an orderly manner to their
" reserved seats." There is generally so total an absence
of reserve of any kind on such occasions that I wish to
know who would undertake the task. Briareus himself,
with even 600 additional hands, would fail in the attempt.

You say that our theatres are more unfairly conducted
than those of any other country. Did you ever try to
get a box on the first night of any new opera or play at
any of the Parisian theatres, and did you succeed in
doing so under, at least, double the usual price ? Do
not the theatres throughout Italy invariably increase
their prices with their attraction ? And do not the
American managers actually sell their tickets by auction
under the porticos of their theatres whenever they have
a "star" of peculiar brightness to be gazed at? Do we
do this ? You will in justice admit that we do not.
Nor is it true that the prices of admission to the En-
glish theatres are exorbitant as compared with those
atrecacmayand ofo w,btadmissioneehvaeenrd ,y consideredprice
o topaid on the Continent. Take Paris, the greatest thea-
trical city in the world. At the Gymnase, Vaudeville,
and
xr
those
eVils•
ye
three
r ihs
thersoeet enat 41/yt Lyceum
5s
s theatres, the
de pricels,h o nqt loges,o
i nr isrank
your
k otsthe
tof
er
stalls at either of the above-named French theatres, .
must pay one franc extra—the price of a secured you
seat
thus becoming 6f. instead of sf. At the Palais Royal,
equally, the price of admission to the same places is 4f.
—becoming sf. when the places are secured.
Remember besides, sir, that we do not receive, as the
foreign theatres do, large sums of money from the
Government, almost equivalent to our rent. Our
theatres are all private speculations, and the endeavour
of every manager is, of course, to get back his outlay
in the best way he honestly can. I pay a rent of nearly
4,0001. per annum for the Lyceum ; my expenses are
upwards of 6001. per week, and my charge to the public
is as small as I can possibly afford. When that public
likes to come to me (which I am happy to say it vary
u o
wishf the stalks d'or.
premierese
ti secure
admission to
often does) it " pays its money and takes its choice."
When it is not inclined to come to me, I have never
found that it scrupled in the least to stay away.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Lyceum, Jan. 17. C. J. MATHEWS.
I need not, I presume, further allude to the letters of
the gentleman who laments the " extravagant outlay of
15s. for seats, ss. for cab hire (which, at any rate, is not
my doing), and is. for booking," or of the " Surgeon,"
who goes to the play " once in five years," or to those
of "Americus" and "Dentatus," whose statements are
simply untrue (why do they not give me their real names
and addresses that I may investigate their complaints
openly ?); but, in return, beg to "offer you one among
several letters I have also received :
"The box turnkey of the Lyceum is informed that One
who stands no nonsense will, in a few evenings, visit
that theatre, and will, sans ceremonie, proceed to take pos-
edknock down any scoundrel who shall attempt to prevent
session of any seat he chooses, and will be preparto
him. " ANGLICUB."
m
This, sir, perhaps suggests at once the readiest and
ost effectual mode that can be devised for summarily
ending all further discussion, and, at the same time,
affords an opportunity for the quiet and orderly visitor
to make choice between the extra shilling and security,
or the choice of a pugilistiscire:iycoouunrtoebreliea thtsheervuannt-E, ng-
lish " Anglicus."—l am,
O. J. M.