The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-16 00:00:00

Poor Artemus Ward.

The very programme he issued, though some-
what similar to his American bills, was full of fun,
and disposed the audience to mirth. At Broadway,
No. 806, he had announced " that his foot was
once more on his native heath, and that is name is
trooly yours ;" and at the Egyptian-hall, Pic-
cadilly, his first line seriously informed us that
" during the vacation the hall had been carefully
swept out, and a new door knob added to the door."
His address was to be a " rather frisky prologue"
of about ten minutes in length and of nearly the
same width ; of the depth he modestly adds, " I
will say nothing." And when he represents him-
self, Artemus, as leaving his native shore, " the citi-
zens on the wharf, appeared entirely willing that he
should go. Bless you, sir,' they say, don't hurry
about coming back ; stay away for years if you
want to go.' It was very touching." It was very
funny, that's what it was, this artistic incongruity ;
that was the chief charalteristic of his wit, and it
was part and parcel of the man. The audience
actually saw before them a tall, fair gentleman,
with a face upon which Death had written his
summons open and at large, without a smile
upon his lips, with solemn and large eyes, talk-
ing in a soft and measured voice, and
often with apparent pain, certain incon-
gruous platitudes. Hence they were con-
tantly struck with surprise, and the laughter, sud-
denly explosive all over the hall, often rippled
up from different quarters of the room long after
the joke had passed. And add to this that all was
done in good style, without a tint of impropriety,
even when speaking of the Mormons. Once, indeed,
and the humorist was a Christain, he referred to the
knavery of Brigham Young, the vicious folly of
polygamy, as a gentleman of the world ; such a
thing, he said, was beneath debate, and far below
expatiation, in a civilised capital—but that was all.
In his very " puffs" there was a humour better than
in his book. He describes:himself as an orator thus :
—" It was a grand scene, Mr. Artemus Ward
standing on the platform talking; many of
the audience sleeping tranquilly in their seats,
others crying like a child at some of the jokes—and
when he announced that he should never lecture in
that town again, the applause was absolutely deafen-
ing." And happily this funny burlesque is as utterly
untrue as it is comic; for no one slept as he spoke;
and no one cried, or was ever wounded at his jokes.
And if most of his wit is evanescent, and he has
created no grand character, indeed left but two
—the bald old showman and his wife, with
his wax figures and his comical kangaroo, fond of
oratin', and so anxious to make a speech that he
thanks the Baldinsville ingin', because when he illu-
minated on the 4th of July the firemen thought
his house was on fire, and came up to it, and didn't
squirt,—he has, at any rate, left no line which we
could well wish to blot. He died young, after
much work, and after raising himself from an ob-
scure position. He had his best years to come, and
the wisdom and reflection that time would have
brougl.t would have ripened him into something
much higher than he was. He has left us a plea-
sant memory, and it is a happy thing to record that
he so loved the English, and was so touched and
warmed by the friendly hands and hearts that re-
ceived him here, that even in his illness he clung
to the shores of the old home which he had
often amused and against -which, after he had
known us, he had never said one word. So even to
the last line of his burlesque " opinion of the press,'
we must, as we think sadly of him, give his gentle
spirit the pleasure of hearing a hearty contradiction.
" And when he rose to go, and announced that he
should never lecture in that town again," he wrote,
" the applause was absolutely deafening." Truly,
when he rose to go, and turned his steps to the silent
shore where we are all travelling, there were many
hearts that were sad, and many eyes that were wet
with tears. Sydney Smith, a great master in the
domain that Artemus explored, said, after much sad
thought of wit and humour, " I wish I could satisfy
myself of their good effects, but I am convinced
that the probable tendency of both is tc corrupt the
understanding and the heart." But this young
humorist, so sadly taken from us, gave a proof in
his life that the reverse was true. 'Wit and humour
had expanded his understanding, and had not only
opened his heart, but had thrown wide the doors
of the great heart of the world to him.--London
Review.

The drama of " It's Never too Late to Mend"
will shortly be revived at the Princess's.
" Les Souvenirs," a new drama of M. Adolphe
Belot, is destined to replace " Les Brebis Gauloises" at
the Vaudeville.
It is reported that Wieniawski has resigned his
post at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.
Mr. Costa has returned to London, the perform-
ance of his " Naaman" in Paris being postponed till
August next.
Joachim will give two concerts of chamber music
in Paris during the month of April.
At a morning performance of " The Pirates of
the Savannah" (the piece in which Miss Menken appears),
at the Gaite, the large sum of 9,400 francs was taken.
Handel's " Ode to St. Cecilia" has been given
twice at the Athenee concerts with success. Are, then, the
French beginning to understand the groat master ?"

A young Belgian lady, Mdlle. Marie Heiloron, is
engaged to appear in " La Fille du Regiment" at the Opera
Comique. She is a pupil of Duprez.
Madlle. Marie Krebs will shortly make her first
appearance before a Parisian audience.
Laura Harris has left Brussels, and has been
singing lately at Abbeville. _ _

Mr. Cave, the lessee of the Marylebone, has en-
gaged Mr. Walter Montgomery to give six representations.
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