The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-24 00:00:00

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Royal Dramatic age.

The third anniversary dinner, for which the late
Mr. T. P. Cooke has bequeathed ample funds in his
curiously-worded will, took place at the College at
Maybury last evening. The terms of the great
nautical actor's last testament are as follow :
" And for the more effectually carrying into opera-
tion my intentions, on the 23d day of April in each
year, which is the birthday of our immortal dra-
matic poet, Shakespeare, and which is my own natal
day also, a public holiday or treat should be given
to the pensioners of the college for the celebration
of this day. And that on this occcasion an annual
dinner shall be provided in the hall of the college,
at which the master, wardens, and members of the
council should preside, and to which the whole of
the pensioners, and any supporters and patrons of
the drama, and well-wishers to the college ; and
such members of my family as shall be living, and
the trustees for the time being of my will (if any)
shall be invited."

As upon the two previous occasions, the dinner
was laid in the central hall, and the whole of the
inmates of the college were present. Mr. Benjamin
Webster, the founder, presided, supported by Mr.
Hugh Cumming, the son-in-law of the late T. P.
Cooke, Miss Patey Joseph, Miss Kate Carson, Miss
Fanny Hunt, Miss Buffton, Mr. A. R. Slous (the
author of " True to the Core"), Mr. Croker, Mr.
B. Webster, jun., Mr. Mohamet, Mr. Gruneisen,
Mr. G. B. Childs, Mr. R. J. Wood, Mr. Raw, Mr.
S. Burton, Mr. Lavender, Mr. Churchill, &c.
At the conclusion of the dinner (which included
every luxury of the season, and was served by
Messrs. Willis, of St. James's, in a manner that gave
marked satisfaction) the usual loyal and patriotic
toasts were drunk with much enthusiasm.

_ .
The CHAIRMAN subsequently gave the toast of the
day, observing that by the will of a great and good
man they were once again assembled to do honour
to his memory, but the first wish of their deceased
benefactor was that they should do honour to the
memory of the immortal bard. The great poet who
was " not for an age, but for all time" stood upon
a literary eminence peculiarly his own ; but to dilate
on the genius displayed in his works would be to tell
an oft-told tale. Without further preface, there-
fore, he gave the toast "To the Immortal Memory
of William Shakspere." (Great cheering.?
Mr. CHURCHILL then went through the- form of
reading the will of the deceased gentleman, and the
chairman subsequently gave the " Donor of the
Play," in the course of which he referred to the ver-
satile talents of the late T. P. Cooke, and to the bril-
liant success that had attended his career as.an actor,
observing that he had left behind him a sincere
evidence of the love and interest be felt in his pro-
fession. After stating that the drama produced by
Mr. Slous had realised at the Surrey £527 6s. 6d.,
and at Liverpool £6OO, and expressing his belief
that before next year the council would have a large
sum to dole out for the benefit of the recipients, he
concluded by coupling the name of Mr. Cumming
with the toast.
Mr. GRUNEISEN proposed " The Drama," in an
interesting speech.
Mr. SLOUS replied, and concluded by giving
"Success to the Institution."
The CHAIRMAN afterwards proposed " The War-
dens," in terms to the effect that there were two or
three to whom the College was indebted for the
getting up of the present entertainment, but to none
was more credit due than to Mr. Anson, their

honorary secretary.
Other toasts were subsequently given and drunk,
and the company separated after spending a most
agreeable afternoon.
The musical selections, which were of the highest
class, were under the direction of Mr. T. Kings-
bury, who presided at the piano, and the artistes
who gave their services were Mrs. Henri Drayton,
Miss Julia Derby, Mr. Henri Drayton, and Mr.
Edward Murray.

4 LADY'S GLIMPSE OF THE LATE WAIL

IN BOHEMIA•

Miss Eden has written a pleasant book on the
late German war. Her sympathies are all with
Austria, such a display of sympathies for the van-
quished, after the waste of praise lavished so
largely on victorious and successful Prussia, is de-
lightful to witness. During the war the authoress
was staying at Bodenbach on the Elbe, and
made the most of her opportunities in seeing
and hearing what was going on. Her de-
scriptions are very lively and life-like. Her sym-
pathies are as warm and genuine as her detestation
of Bismarck and the needlegun is thorough-going.
She evidently shared the belief—so common at
the time when Benedek stood on the plains
of Bohemia confronting the boastful hosts of
Prussia—that Austria had merely to put out
her strength to throw the Prussian armies back
on Berlin, and to march into that northern
capital. Though there was a mystery about
Benedek's movements which surprised even
friends less enthusiastic about Austria than Miss
Eden, yet few doubted the military power of
Austria, which was one of the traditions of Eu-
rope, and yet few, if any, imagined that in a
few short weeks, after only one heavy blow,
Austria would suffer such a collapse. We now
know that it was not strategy, but weakness and
disorganization in the Austrian war department,
and treachery on the part of Bavaria, which
prompted the dilatory tactics of Benedek. But we
must not detain our readers from judging for
themselves of the pleasant and lively manner in
Which Miss Eden delights to describe scenes out of
that short but disastrous Bohemian campaign.
We give the following scene as a favourable spe-
cimen of her descriptive powers :
" About twelve o'clock we were disturbed by a rap out-
side the window, which looked into the lane, and had a
raised pathway running past it. A very brown face
appeared, and J—, instantly mounting the dresser,
opened the window. It was one of the Jiigers, who said
ho was dreadfully coll.—might he come in and warm him-
self ? Oh! yes,' said J—,. 'and have some boor also.'
So in marched the Jager, and we had to go and dis-
cover the key of the cellar, as well as the way to draw
the beer. By and bye, others of the bivouac finding the
warm kitchen better than the cold night air, we had the
room full of them. J —not only gave them all beer, but
she and her maid cut them thick slices of bread and
butter. They were so pleased and delighted that in the
warmth and light they soon regained their usual spirits
and conversational powers. We laughed heartily, think-
ing how astonished our friends in England would have
been if they could only have seen us in this sanded kitchen
from twelve at mid-night till two in the morning, sin*-
, rounded by large open baskets of crockery, all packed
ready to be carried away, with Jiigers seated on every
available place, chairs, Zstools, and even the kitchen
dresser—the floor strewn with their knapsacks, and their
round hats covered by drooping black plumes (no roseEt
in them now) hanging on every available peg and projee-
fair
I:mid:eight,
with blue eyes
tiA.ehytet
sat
ollnfi
to-di
pux
ec;tl.,lN'eernloil:seet
us'tYey
tion. I was sitting over the fire, Gamp-like, with my
man
he
tful
y
ld
e
bonnet and shawl on ready for a start. Whilst J
and her maid attended to the men's suppers, I gave
them lights for there pipes and cigars. I also did the con-
versational department; and very pleasant and amusing
they were to talk to—so natural and simple, like chil-
dren. . . . The questions the soldiers asked. us
were most amusing. When, in reply to the question,
`What country did we come from ?' ""weed' heard
England,' some of them looked as if they had neverl
,ston-
of such a country before, whilst others
in
.
B. °den-
it
`Why were we up so late ? " Because there
hotel.'
T lat as
suppose
1 utheyl
likedf eroliignbhuteEs lige:sal:ll.°d:and asked, Were not
salc'elld; and
dd
asked,
tu se belong to us ? '
was a mine going t' oWbbOy s :tieurneg Nv
closel living
t t haaiti
t returningi:se,
ag pdaooskilteil
:if el
the
aN‘n,
ot adus d. t
01
n e crestn, a
no!
%t,
hit
oco
a,tl ;leo, ryttinghsi
vl:etgE.i;tinagldol olics'kohl
e
s
the other lady ?' All this chat served to while away
the long hours of expectation.
againisitltei said
wt hooein3:
de mustbare
earth, but whether
sdafeestiinloym-
e
u with
ainnd
me, and, after making a long speech in Italia'n upd by
heaven,
seemed
niuv:leegand
al tiloaoN
alwayits
ys
es
home
tloedltatll;e,mthetyo
gratitude remember the
two English ladies, and the pleasant, night they had
passed in the Inu BodentAcli.

Mr. Murray Dunlop has announced to the elec-
tors of Greenock that he will not again offer himself for
re-election. Mr. Dunlop assigns, as a reason for adopting
this course, the coming long and arduous struggles which
ho foresees will result from the passing of the present Re-
form Bill, and into which ho is unable to enter as he could
wish on account of advancing yearq.

i , j

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