Star.
London, England, 1821-04-12 00:00:00

. . • •
last sad office has been performed, and even then
spreads, its protecting mantle, sheltering the helpless
family of the deceased! With these benevolent cha-
racteristics, can it be believed that this praiseworthy,
unoffending Institution should have found an enemy ?
Yet, inciedible as it may appear, such is the fact.
A mo,t extragrdinary doctrine has lately been enter-
tained imisi expressed, that this appeal to our Drama-
tic Potions is unprecedented and derogatory ; and a
Gentleman, high in public estimation, has gone the
length Of condoling with me OR the humiliation
must feel by this annual solicitation. I know not into
how many minds such an idea may have made its
way ; but, lest the dissemination of the absurd opi-
nion may damp the ardour of a friend, or cripple the
efforts of a colleague, I beg to be permifted, once
for all, thus to answer it. Could I, upon turning to
the documents of our fund, discover that the leading
actors had ever skulked from their full share of con-
tribution, nay, if I had not indubitable proof that
(with few exceptions) they had subscribed much be-
yond what the necessity of the laws demanded of
them, paying large contributions themselves, but
exacting from their humbler brethren small ones ;
did I not find such names as Mr. Garrick and Mr.
Iteard, combining in themselves the character of
Proprietor and Actor, Contributor and Patron, with
those of Lewis, WI oughton,.Quick, Bannister, Bens-
ley, and a long list of females, from the commence-
ment of the Institution down to our last splendid or-
nament, whose absence has lately cast a shadow over
our theatrical hemisphere (I mean the late lovely Miss
O'Neill), all of whom had private fortunes sofficient
to secure them from the suspicion of subscribing to
these funds from any motive but that of the best
feelings towards their distressed brethren; then, in-
deed, we might blush when we ask assistance from
friendship, and, like the waggoner in the fable, be
reproved by the Gods for not plating our own shoul-
ders to the wheel. But, Gentlemen, I can take upon
me to declare, that no set of leading men, of any
profession, ever gave up their time and money for
the support of their indigent brethren, more liberally
or more cheerfully than the Actors have done. But
it must be palpable, that, in our uncertain professkin,
the numbers of the prosperous, compared to the.ne-
cessitous, are few indeed ; that consequently the
wants of the latter have increased, till the means of
the former have become exhausted ; so that, like the
mariner who jumps overboard to save a drowning
shipmate, they may be said to be sinking with the
weight their own humanity has imposed on them.
To our Illustrious Chairman has devolved the task
of stretching out his Royal hand to support these
humble servants of the Public—that benevolent heart
which PROVIDENCE, in its wisdom, bestowed upon
him to be a blessing to his country, has not disdained
to feel even-for their Woes. At his instigation arose
this Meeting, and I do declare with sincere verity,
there are many poor Actors and Actresses now 'en-
joying the little of life that remains, who, but for
this Institution, must have perished for want, or have
pined out their mi.erable existence in a parish work-
house. When these facts are made known, I trust
the most fastidious will acknowledge that he has
taken a false estimate of our Institution ; and that
so far from mine being a task of humility, to be
an humble agent under out Illustrious Chairman,
and to be chosen by. my colleagues as a proper
advocate for my distressed brethren, is an office of
high honour and distinction, and one of and with
which I am, and ought to be, proud and delighted.
But, Gentlemen, if my task were less publicly distin-
guished, I could take little merit to myself for doing
that which every honourable profession in this happy
country finds some friend_ready to execute. Are there
no Charitable Institutions in the Army and Navy, to
which the heads of these glorious professions belong,
and for which they are steady advbcates ? Do the
widows and children of the Clergy receive no benefit
from benevolence? Have the Faculty or the Artists
.neglected to obtain the assistance of humanity ? And
shall it be said that the humble Actor is not to ac-
cept the aid of the wealthy without incurring the
taunts of the cold-blooded and the vain? Indeed,
the answer is so evident, I would not for a moment
have dwelt on the subject, had I not reason to deplore
that the baneful influence of some such has occa-
sioned us much injury, particularly in the seceding
of one of our members, whose name I always consi-
dered an ornament to our community. But I hope
in GOD, if any Actor or any other person has been
seduced to wed himself to unworthy sentiments, he
will quickly repudiate them, and rettu-n without delay
to the path of generosity and duty. It had been said
by one of the most correct writers of dramatic his-
tory, that " the establishment of a Theatrical Fund
reflects great and lasting honour upon the race of
Actors who projected it.' I hope this company will
participate in his sentiment, and by their approbation
and support, convince the rising generation of Actors
and Actresses, that it is their duty to do all in their
power to cherish it. The historian also says, " One
honour the Actors can boast, which is entirely their
own—the greatest writer of this, or, perhaps, any
other nation, was one of them —Shakspeare was an
actor; and though he has been blamed for loving the
conversation of his comrades, it may fairly be pre-
sumed that it was not very licentious, for the lan-
guage of his plays is pure and chaste, when com-
pared with the locise dialogues of his contemporaries,
Beaumont and Fletcher, one the son of a Bishop, the
other of a Judge." Till within these few years, the
Actors were as neglectful of themselves as neglected
by the Legislature; they were governed by no parti.!
cular rules or 'orders, such as cement a society for its
own advantage or preservation. No laws were thought
of to secure them from injustice, oppression, or want; i
like a•ship at sea without a chart or compass, they
wei e driven about at the pleasure of the winds and
waves, their pilot the Manager, their rudder the
Audience. Our late venerable Sovereign (whose
memory every Actor, as well as every loyal subject,
must revere) was the first who rescued them horn the I
persecutions of fanatical Magistrates ; he protected
them by his countenance, secured them from insult
by his wisdom, and did more for their respectability
than had been done by all his predecessors. Our
present most gracious king has also lately conde-
scended to honour the Theatres as ith his presence ;
that this condescension should give us new life and
expectation is as nothing, when compared to the
general satisfaction diffused over thousands• of his
dutiful subjects. We humbly hope it is only' an ear-
nest of future visits; but be that as he shall think fit,-
• he has, with that condescending suavity so peculiarly