The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-07 00:00:00

Dramatic, Equestrian, and kusical Sick

Fund Association.

The anniversary festiyal in aid of the funds of
this association was celebrated last evening at
Willis's Rooms, King-street, St. James's, under the
presidency of Mr. Lyster O'Beirne, M.P. Tin
company numbered in all upwards of 250 ladies and
gentlemen, and the arrangements were successfully
carried out under the able direction of Mr. Anson,
the secretary. The theatrical profession was repre-
sented in large numbers, and it was remarked that
the proportion of ladies was greater than it has been
at any former gathering.
Due honour having Leen done to the usual loyd,
cud patriotic toasts, the CHAIRMAN proposed " Sn:.
cess to the Dramatic, Equestrian, and Musical Sid
Fund Association," and as an illustration of tht
large amount of good which the society could effect
with comparatively small sums, Mr. O'Beirne men-
ioned the . case of an actor in a provincial town.
who, in consequence of the sickness and subsequent
,loath of his wife, had been thrown out of an en-
gagement and left penniless with two. helpless chil-
dren. He was not a subscriber to this association,
but he applied to
.the secretary, and he obtained
such relief as he needed, and at so small an expendi-
ture as IS. After some remarks respecting the
very_ acceptable practice of introducing ladies at
;hese meetings, the chairman made au earnest ap-
peal to the benevolent feelings of all present, and
more especially to those of the ladies, who he trusted
would exercise the privilege they possessed of influ-
encing the rougher portion of creation to do such
good as was now required of them. -(Cheers.)

The toast was drunk with the most cordial accla-
mations.

The CHAIRMAN then gave " The Ladies," say-
ing that he was permitted to associate with that
toast the name of a lady who had now become
familiar to this association as our household words.
Under such circumstances another syllable from him
would be surplusage, and he would therefore be con-
tent with commending the toast to their notice,
coupled with the name- of Mrs. Stirling.,
Mrs. STIRLING, on rising, spoke as follows :—Mr.
Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen, every privilege
entails its penalty. I believe that is true of the gen-
tlemen, I am sure it is true of the ladies ; but if the
privileges that belong to us by right of sex have their
penalties, the same thing holds, I find, of those we
win from yours. The privilege, for example, we are
now exercising—that of taking our places at a public
dinner table, is one that was once reserved for you.
The public dinner, like the Freemasons' lodge, was
tabooed to the ladies; we didn't know what mys-
teries might go on at either; we only knew we were
excluded from both-=that was enough. We concluded
there Must be a secret worth winning in the one—
and I need not remind you that the great masonic
secret has been in our keeping ever so long—and
that there was a privilege worth winning in the other;
so we determined to win it. Now, when a woman
determines to win a thing from a man, as a rule she
does win it sooner or later—generally sooner; so we
won our places at the public dinner, and ever since,
lat least—l won't answer for my sisters—have been
experiencing the penalty that follows this privilege
—the penalty of having to make a speech. It is usu-
ally taken for granted that to make a speech the
speaker must have something to say. I don't admit
it; mind, ladies have the power of saying a good deal
about nothing; but to make a good speech I do feel
one must be able to say one's something, or nothing,
neatly, prettily, and pointedly. It used to be said of
Dr.:Johnson that he never sent a storyinto the world
without putting a cocked hat on its head and a gold
headed cane in its hand. I am sure no lady's after-
dinner speech ought to be allowed out without the
most bewitching of headdresses and the most ele-
gant of French fans to flirt; and where is a poor
woman to find coin for such expensive appendages year
after after year? I find it very difficult to put a new
face on my after-dinner speech, in which I have to
acknowledge your. toast " The Ladies" on behalf of
my sisters, whose presence here your are good mough
to say graces your . board, and ought, I say, to
quicken your benevolence in the good c Luse we arc
all met to support. I admit we are in our places
here, for our presence testifies to our interest in a
charity whose field admits no limitation of sex, as its
liberality recoguises no distinction of " he" and
"she." Sickness and sorrow fall evenly on men
and women—and we are the weaker under its blows:
this gives women some special claims on the good
offices of this charity. I don't suppose, Mr. Chair-
man, that any of the gentlemen here are of the sort
described by Sydney Smith as " ready enough to do
the good Samaritan without the oil and the two-
pence ?" But there may be some whose generosity
would be more stirred, and their hearth more moved,
if they knew of the hard battles the actor and act-
ress have to fight—not their mimic battles on the
stage, " with four or five ragged foils, most ill-dis-
posed in brawl ridiculous"—but the real hard bat-
tles of brave, -though sometimes sinking hearts,
against the wants, the privations, and the disap-
pointments of a calling whose prizes are so few and
whose blanks so many. That the player's heart
and hand are ever open to his brother player's need
is now well known ; indeed, that is a virtue granted
to our profession by those who will not allow we can
possess another. We hope we sometimes do good
quietly and by stealth, but the world knows that
whenever some poor but worthy comrade has fallen
in his hard life's battle before he could make provi-
sion for the dear ones left hehind, the need is no
sooner known than the willing services of all are
tendered on behalf of the widow and the fatherless,
and I am proud to know that on all these occasions
the women do their womanly work of benevolence
no less strenuously than the men. Of all women's
rights there is none of which we are so proud as our
right to be in the midst of all who help the sick and the
suffering. Of all woman's missions none so certain as
her mission to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked,
to stay the failing steps, and to bind up the broken
heart. By virture of that right, in discharge of that
mission, we claim to figure in the front of thissociety,
not at its dinner-table only, or in its dance and 'Song,
but in thelist of its subscribers, in the ranks of its
promoters and of its workers. Gentlemen, the- very
flattering manner in which you received the mention
of my name in connection with this toast, if it could
not inspire me with eloquence, at least demands my
hearty thanks, which I tender you on my own be-
half and-for my sisters, who are proud to take part
in: your. work of charity-and-benevolence. I thank
you, for the toast of "The Ladies," and beg leaW to
drink the toast of the "The Gentlemen" in return.

Mrs. Stirling having resumed her seat amid the
most cordial marks of approval,
Mr. HALLIDAY proposed "The health of Mr. Be-
njamin Webster," the president of the association.
Mr. Webster was unfortunately totally unable to be
present on the occasion ; but the interest he had
ever shown in the welfare of the institution was not
in the smallest degree lessened, and no man was
more entitled than he was to the respect and good
wishes of the whole profession. (Loud cheers).
Mr. ANSON, the secretary, in responding to the
toast, said he had just received a most touching
letter from their esteemed friend, Mr. Webster, and
he was happy to say that their excellent president
was progressing towards restored health.
Air. HODGES proposed "The health of the Chair-
man," who briefly returned thanks, and the plea-
sures of the evening terminated in a ball, which
lasted till a late hour.

• EVANS'S.—During the- early portion of the
century the place was held in high repute as a
dinner and coffee-room. It acquired the name of the
" Star" from the number of men of rank by whom it was
frequented. It has been said that previous to the forma-
tion of clubs it was no unusual circumstance for nine
dukes to dine there in a day. The present hall,
to which the cafe department forms a species of
vestibule, was built on a plot of ground at the
rear of the Covent Garden Hotel. It was erected
at a time when the improved quality of the
performances attracted more visitors than could
well bo accommodated in the music room. The
garden, which during the last stage of its existence de-
generated into a receptacle for stunted and sooty shrubs,
was famed for having been the property of the well-known
Sir Kenelm Digby (1662). At a later period it contained
a cottage in which the Kembles occasionally resided when
in the full tide of their popularity at the neighbouring
theatre. According to tradition it was in this cottage that
their_talented daughter, Miss Fanny Keluble, wq,l
Once ci Weck,