The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-20 00:00:00

:THE .ROYAL DRAMATIC COLLEGE.

Our readers will remember that a public meeting
,wax held at the Princess's Theatre on the 21st of
July last to receive an offer of five acres of freehold
land on, which to build houses for aged and infirm
members of the theatrical profession—a dramatic
collegoin fact. -Mr, Henry Dodd, by whom the
land was offered, was represented on that occasion
as-a gentleman of large property and a truly bene!
volent heart, so kind, indeed that he desired never
to be 'known as the ,generous donor whose
praises were to be chronicled throughout the
land, and whO had only been induced to give
his name by the repeated requests of the
provisional -committee which had been formed
to organise the proceedings and to obtain funds to
erect the houses and provide pensions for the occu-
pants. Mr. DOdd, it was further stated, had also
promised to build a hall, to form the centre .of the
intended dwellings, and to add one hundred gui-
neas to the fund for general purposes. Much more,
indeed, was spoken of as the probable result of his
great wealth and charitable disposition but to
the land, hall,_and money
.only was he distinctly
,-pledged. There were two conditions annexed to
his offer, viz.., that the public meeting should give
evidence of a desire to. provide homesfOr worn-out
members of the theatrical profession, and elect
four trustees to receive a conveyance of the .
land ; this done, the land was to be con-
veyed immediately and unconditionally. The
meeting respo'nded to Mr..Dodd's demand 'in a
manner which must have been very delightful, even
if he was only enjoying a joke at the expense of
" the poor player."
For three months the committee patiently await-
ed the deed of conveyance, and not until. the middle
of October did any expression of anxiety on their;
part receive other answer than that the benevolent
gentleman had a way, of his own as well as a Will,
and that he must be. allowed, to ride his hobby
after his own manner. At length a draft was pro-:
duced of such a preposterous length that it might
,leave been supposed a number of ingenious lawyers
had been trying how many conditions it was possible
to cram into one deed of gift for five acres of land.
This deed and its conditions the proyisional corn-
mittee declined to. accept as a performance of the
promise made by Mr. Dodd; and subsequently
several odicr drafts containing conditions equally
numerous and equally absurd, were received. At
length the executive committee, diSgusted with
this paltering, called a special meeting, to lay
the facts before it. Mr. Macphail attended, and
made' the same speech he had 'delivered at
Several previous meetings, but convinced no-
body' that ho had spoke to the purpose. The
result of the special meeting was a call upon Mr.
Dodd fo complete an unqualified conveyance of LI I
land on or before -Tuetday, the I^th inst.,.and a"
intimation that in the event of. his not doing so; a
public meeting should be called to receive a state-
ment of the facts, and to authorise proceedings to
be taken to establish the college without his aidor
assistance. To this many members of the com-
mittee objected, thinking that he had taken quite
time enough, and several of them offered liberal
amounts towards the purchase of land. The ma-
jority, however, yielded to the desire that he shoUld,
be allowed the option of compliance before a public.
meeting was called on the subject.
At a meeting of the committee, held on Saturaay,
two long letters were read, one from Mr. Dodd,
containing many excuses for not having transferred
the land, and refusing to do so without conditions ;
the other from Mr. Macphail, attempting to prove
that nobody was able to arrive at a proper conclu-
sion lnit lumself. In consequence of Mr. Dodd's
default several otter offers of land have been re-

ceived. The " poor player" need have no fear that
the haven of rest held out to him will be any
longer " Like to the baseless fabric of a dream"--
Obse?•rer.

LOG OF THE 11BIXCE ALBERT.

GALWAY, DEC. 17.

The steamship Prince Albert arrived in this har-
bour to-day at: noon. She left New York on the
4th inst., reached St. John's, Newfoundland, on
the 9th, sailed for Galway on the 10th at 9.30 p.m.,
and arrived at the entrance of Galway Bay, off
the Arran islands, on the 16th, at 5 o'clock p.m.,
making the voyage in about 5 days 17 hours mean
time.

The Prince Albert brings 180 passengers, and
mails from Newfoundland. _

The following is an abstract of the log of the
Prince Albert. It is certified by her commander,
Captain Waters:—
"Sunday, Dec. 5, at 9 a.m., left Sandy Hook; course,
E. ; distance, 199 miles; north-west.
" 6.—Course N.'67 E. ; 74 miles ; lat. 40 45, long 68 ;
barometer, 30.3; thermometer, 51—moderate and fine.
" 62 35 E. ; 271} miles ; lat. 42 48, long. 62 40 ;
barometer, 29.93 ; thermometer, 49.
" 8.-67 N., 16 E. ; 261 miles ; lat. 43 36, long 56 58 ;
bargmeter, 29.80 ; thermometer, 47.
" 9.—At 445 p.m., stopped off St. John's, and fired
guns for pilot ; none came—remained all night.
" 10.—At 9 30 p.m. left St. John's.
" 11.—N. 77 E. ; 146 miles; lat. 48 3, long. 49 1 ; baro-
meter, 29.15 ; thermometer, 43.
" 12.—N. 73 E.; 288 miles: lat. 49 27, long. 42 1 ; baro-
meter, 29.15 ; thermometer, 43.
" 13.—N. 71 E. ; 285 miles ; lat. 50 30, long. 35 01; ba-
rometer, 29.10 ; thermometer, 44.
" 14.—N. 74 E. ; 299 miles; lat. 6153, long. 27 20 ; ba-
rometer, 29.16 ; thermometer, 49.
" 15.—N. 77 E. ; 293 miles ; lat. 53 4, long. 19 32 ; baro-
meter, 29.10 ; thermometer, 49.
" 16.—N. 87 E ; 263 miles ; lat. 52 56, long. 11 57 ; ba
rometei, 29.7 ; thermometer, 50.—At 4 p.m.: sounded in 60
Tallioms sand ; at 5 p.m. stopped ; sounded in 55 fathoms,
light bearing S.S.E. ; lay to for the night.
" Sun obscure during the entire passage; strong wind
from the W.N.W."

THE NEW POLITICAL WORK.

The Derby Ministry : A Series of Cabinet Pic-
tures. By Mark Rochester. Routledge and Co.

Few Cabinets afford a better series of " studies"
for the painter, or one more qualified to attract
the inquiring gaze of the people at large than the
Cabinet of Lord Derby. Opinions may differ re-

specting them politically, but as subjects of per-
sonal interest the Ministry certainly comprises in
its number some among the most popular men of
the generation. The Stanleys, father and son,
are individually objects of very general interest,
and to a certain extent of very cordial admiration.

The authors of "Pelham" and Vivian Grey" have
each in his time attracted no small share of the