The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-23 00:00:00

THE srN, LONDON, MOINTDA.Y EVENING, SEPTEMBER 28, 11544,

VICTORIA THEATRE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—A paragraph having appeared in the papers,
headed "A Scene in a Theatre," and which, from its
incorrectness, is calculated to do me serious injury,
unless contradicted, I beg, in fairness, you will insert
the following statement by Miss Vincent, to the exact
truth of which I most solemnly pledge myself.
Your obedient servant,
D. W. OSBALDISTON.

Victoria Theatre, Sept. 21, 1844.
" As Mr. Kirby, in his grossly false statements, has
thought proper to assert that he was insulted before
me during his performance of Othello, I here declare,
in justice to myself as well as to Mr. Osbaldiston, that
such assertion is utterly false. Mr. Kirby received
no insults from any one but met with the greatest
kindness from all the ladies and gentlemen connected
with him in his most imrrfect representation of the
character of Othello. I rom the commencement of
the play I endeavoured to hide his deficiencies in the
text; and, by speaking many portions of his speeches
with my own, contrived to keep together, as
much as possible, the subject of the author,
not only for his sake, but on account of the vast
trouble and expense that had been gone to by the
management in the getting up' of the tragedy ; but,
in the third and fourth acts, I found myself placed in
such unpleasant dilemmas, that I could no longer sup-
press my feelings at the annoyances I was subjected
to, which, Mr. Osbaldiston perceiving, desired I
would bring the play to as a speedy conclusion as I
could. This was all that occurred ; and the impudent
assertion of Mr. Kirby, that Mr. Osbaldiston said—
' He would not be humbugged by a d—d Yankey,'
which Mr. Kirby's would-be friends have got inserted
in the papers, I declare, as others standing by can
testify with me, to be a gross falsehood. It is my
opinion that Mr. Kirby, finding himself so unequal
to his task, did not intend to finish the part, as he
frequently said to me, during the night, What shall
I do? I do not know one line of the fifth act;' and
this, too, after stating, a week ago, that Othello was
his favourite part, and he hoped, in playing it, to
retrieve his many faults in Hamlet. I am sorry he has
had recourse to such base untruths, to screen his
unparalleled conduct; and I am still more sorry, that
some of our public journals have given such an erro-
neous statement of a case so insulting to the manage-
ment—so insulting to the ladies and gentlemen of the
theatre—so insulting to the public—and so insulting
to myself, " ELIZA VINCENT.
" Sept. 21, 1844."

AGRICULTURAL MEETING IN
SURREY.

The agricultural meeting of the Weald of Surrey
Agricultural Association was held on Friday at
Capel. The show of stock was very considerable,
and, in the opinion of the judges, of a superior de-
scription. There was a ploughing match in the early
part of the day, for which twenty-two teams started,
and upwards oflool. were distributed in prizes to the
different competitors.
The company afterwards sat down to dinner in a
marquee erected in the field. There were present—
C. Barclay, Esq., Chairman ; J. W. Denison, EEsq.,
M.P.; Lee Steere, Esq.; Rev. Dr. Young, Rev. Dr.
Cook, N. R. Bartley, Esq. ; G. Napper, Esq.; D.
Heath, Esq., and several other gentlemen, and nearly
two hundred of the principal farmers of the county.
C. BARCLEY, Esq., in proposing " Success to the
Association," said that he had had the good fortune
to preside at its first meeting, and the present he be-
lieved was the sixth annual occasion in which they
had assembled. During that period the agricultural
interest had sustained many changes and reverses,
but he would appeal with confidence to any
practical man whether, in the last few years, there
had not been very great improvement in the cultiva-
tion of land and rearing of stock.—(Hear, hear.)
These societies had done a great deal of good, and
he was very glad to see that they had created a desire
in the minds of the farmers to improve the cultiva-
tion of the soil, and to try any system that was cal-
culated to effect that object.—(Rear.) It should be
borne in mind that all these improvements necessarily
occasioned an increased demand for labour ; and al-
though some political economists expressed an opinion
that it was impossible to find employment for their
abundant population, he must confess that he did not
coincide in that opinion, as he considered that, at all
events, for many years to come, the improvements
that were going on in agriculture would occasion
ample demand for labour. The plan of draining,
which they all knew was of such essential importance,
and which was now coming into such general use,
would alone, in his opinion, create for a long time a
considerable demand for labour. He had no hesita-
tion also in stating his opinion, that the labouring
population were better off at the present time than
they had been at any period during the last cen-
tury. His attention had been called to the fact,
that in the year 1744, just a century ago, wheat
was the same price it was at present, viz.,
ss. 6d. per bushel, and at that period the wages of
labourers were 6s. per week, and they were now 10s.
per week. He did not mean from this fact to urge
that the labouring population were better off by the
amount of 4s. per week, because it was well known
that the circumstances were very different ; but he
certainly did contend that there was no truth in the
assertions that had been made that the labourers were
getting lower and lower, and that it was clear this
was not the can ; and when they saw men take prizes,
as some had done that day, for a servitude of 35 years'
work for one master, he thought it unfair to say that
they had degenerated.—(Hear.) He repeated that
these meetings had done a great deal of good, and when,
at the show at Southampton, they saw actually two
or three miles of ground covered by tents filled with
stock and implements for the purposes of agriculture,
it was impossible to doubt the importance and in-
terest taken in that pursuit ; and he thought that
they should take encouragement from these circum-
stances, and be satisfied with their present position.
—(Cheers) He concluded by proposing the toast,
which was received in a most enthusiastic manner.
The healths of the Members for this division of the
county having been given,
T. W. DENISON, Esq., returned thanks, and he
observed that, after what had been said relative to the
importance of such associations as the present, he
would only express his entire concurrence in that
opinion. He considered they were the means of
binding together the landlord, tenant, and labourer,
of improving the cultivation of the land, and by the
prizes which they distributed to the poorer classes,
showed them they had their interest at heart, and
that they were anxious to promote their moral wel-
fare and prosperity._(Cheers.) He attended these
meetings with great pleasure, and he was gratified to
see that agriculture was in a prosperous state in the
county. He trusted they should long be exempt from
those unfortunate occurrences (he would put it on
that footing) which prevailed in other counties,
and that they would always give a fair day's wages
fair
r day'ssh an amount of wages to their
u
work—(Cheers)—and that they
flrbou a
would
giverers which, he was sorry to say, in other
counties had been denied them.—(Hear, hear.) The
prosperity of agriculture was the first wish of his
heart, and he hoped they would continue their im-
provements until every barren field was made to
smile with plenty.—(Cheers.) From statistics that
had been laid before Parliament, it appeared that
seven-ninths of the population were engaged in agri-
culture, and only two-ninths in manufactures, and he
thought this fact must convince every one, even the
manufacturers themselves, of the importance of agri-
culture, and that, if it fell, every other interest in the
country must fall with it.—(Cheers.)
The health of the Chairman, and some other toasts,
were then given, and the meeting separated.

CHRIST'S HOSPITAL.

The delivering of orations, which occurs according
to ancient custom at this period every year, prior to
the senior boys going to the Universities, took place
on Saturday, in the large and beautiful hall of the
llospital. The entrance leading to the hall was
opened to visitors at half-past twelve o'clock, which
was filled in a very short time. It was near two,
however, when the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor,
accompanied by Aldermen Gibbs and Musgrove, and
several of the City officers, entered the room and
took the chair. One of the most imposing portions
of the spectacle was the appearance of the younger
alumni, who filled the large gallery from which
issued the imposing tones of the organ when his
Lordship entered the room. In the centre of the
hall were seated the twelve " Grecians," surrounding
the Rev. Dr. Rice, the headmaster. Such a spectacle
as was presented on Saturday is surely one that har-
monises with the highest feelings of our nature,
while reason sanctions it, not from its antiquity, but
from the good, useful results, which it is adapted to
produce. It is not a naked pageant, like many of
the legacies of antiquity. It is instinct with life,
and imbued with the spirit of what is good and
valuable. One's mind is hurried back to that which
was emphatically the golden age of literature, when
the academy and the stoa were filled by those vene-
rable ancients whose influence guided the progress
of humanity in their own times, and is still felt in
the conduct of affairs in ours. And how far a better
monument of his fame has the youthful founder of
this Hospital left behind him than many whose royal
names shine in our annals with a stronger light?
Christ's Hospital has conferred more good on England
than Cressy or Poictiers. We were not, therefore,
surprised at the high eulogiums passed on the
institution and its royal founder by the four
first Grecians in praise of the " Royal Hos-
pitals." The first was in Latin, and was de-
livered by the second Grecian, Langham Dale, who
executed his part with considerable energy and great
propriety of diction. This young gentleman is pro-
ceeding to Queen's College, Oxford. The next was
in English, and was delivered by the first Grecian,
Morton Amos Leicester, who is proceeding to St.
John's College, Cambridge. This being in English,
was capable of being more generally appreciated than
the other. The oration was full of good taste and
sound sense. It recounted the benefits which the
Royal Hospitals conferred, and challenged all Greece
and Rome to produce so good an institution. The
Greek oration, on the same subject, was delivered by
Edward Taylor Hudson, third Grecian and Classical
Medallist, who is proceeding to Trinity College,
Cambridge. There was great elegance and fluency
in this gentleman's pronunciation, and even those
who were not able to understand the language, could
not fail to be struck with its glorious harmonies.
The French oration was delivered by the eleventh
Grecian, Edward Algernon Newton, whose delivery
and pronunciation was most superior. There was
great energy in his manner, and considerable fluency
in his language. We should say, that his style of
speaking was considerably the best. Then followed
Latin Alcaics, being an ode to the Queen on the birth
of a second Prince.

Imperii Decus et Columna, delivered by Gowen
Edward Evans, fourth Grecian, and Mathematical
Medallist. Greek lambics, on the Spanish Armada,
by George Voigt. English Ode to the Prince of
Wales, on his being made a Governor of Christ's
Hospital, by John Daniel Williams, twelfth Grecian ;
Latin Hexameters, on the Conversion of St. Paul, by
Edward Tudor Scorgill, fifth Grecian ; Greek lam-
bics, a translation of the Remorse, in Hamlet, by
William Frederick Greenfield, seventh Grecian, and
Mathematical Medallist ; Latin Elegiacs, a transla-
tion from Cowper's " Boadicea," by Thomas Johnson
Potter, tenth Grecian ; Greek Sapphics, on the death
of Campbell, the poet, by Malcom Laing, eighth
Grecian; an English Poem on Edward the Sixth, by
Thomas Stedman Polehampton, ninth Grecian. It
is scarcely necessary to say that all of these were
received with the greatest satisfaction and applause ;
and the whole audience seemed to be well pleased and
gratified with the proceedings.