Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-01

mur1er ana Cne gnOSt OF my Vlctlm dp-
peared to me on the other side of the table,
1 should see no moro of you-all would be
darkness except where the light would show
me the ghost of him 1 had killed" II
seems to me from an imaginative point Of
view, looking at it as the poet woodland
that is the only way TO look at such scene
that Mr.. Irving is right; and If you are
to see
THE GHOSTS OF CHARING CROSS,
the figures in the previous acts of the great
play, you viii see them in that same "dim
religious light" family surrounded with
their proper accessories. For instance, turn
YOUR mind back some go years, and note
the scene on your left, where the statue of
Charles dominates the head of Parliament
street. Upon that spot originally stood the
Eleanor Cross, of which the handsomest
structure in front of the railway station be-
fore YOU is a memorial. There is draped
block, and by it stands the headsman; there
are troops and drums and solemn music; the
sun shines on the glittering accoutrements
of King Charles the Seconds officers; Gen.
eral Harrison, brave Englishman, whether
he deserved his fate we will not pause to
question, is here to die. They call him a
regicide; but Englishmen know how to die
for principle, for country, and for their flag,
upon whatever side they serve, for King or
Commonwealth, for Protestant Queen,
or Catholic King, for Church or Parlia-
ment. Citizen, soldier, statesman, General
Harrison is here to die. You hear the
warning drum; you see the victim, the
headsman, the scofing crowd. The statue
has disappeared, the traffic of bus and cab
is stilled, the railway station is no longer In
evidence; you see in their place the ancient
houses, the swinging signs, the overhanglng
gables; YOU see the Thames and Whitehall,
where Charles was beheaded, and you pause
to think how bravely a weak King laid
down his life, while you note the shadow OF
his death, how it falls upon his execution
ers; how one wrong breeds another, how
blood will have blood. "With a smiling
countenance" history records that General
Harrison said he was going to suffer for 'the
most glorious cause that ever was In the
world" When about to die, having his
face toward the Banqueting House at
Whitehall, one in derision called to him
and said, "Where is your good old cause?"
He smiled, and clapping his hand upon his
heart, said, "Here it is andI am going to
seal 1t with my blood.
How many other scenes will you call to
mind, standing here in the gaslight or at
MONDAY, that viii assert themselves in your
fancy. wiping out for the time being sur
rounding things and the busy crowd! And
what crowd it is, surging up from the
west to the city, making its way along the
Strand, into Fleet street, straight for st.
jaeent thoroughfaresl The very sight of it
made Charles Lamb soften shed tears for
fulness of joy at such multitude of life, "
though to Mr.. Augustus Hare, who quotes
the line in his London Walks, the Strand
is only "a vast thoroughfare crowded with
traffic and the place whittier we go to find
Exeter Hall, or the Adelphi or Gaiety
Theaters, as our tastes may guide u.s." And
vet ne tells us that for 300 years the Strand
was what the CorSo is to Rome and the Via
Nuova to Genoa-a street of palaces, occu-
pied by illustrious persons whose names are
part of our history. The highway from the
Royal Palace in Westminster to the Royal
Palace In the Fleet, the Strand could
tale unfold"
CHARACTERS ON LIES STAGE.
Think of the characters who have trod
this section of hfe's great stage in gaiety
and sorrow, in splendor and in rags; you
will see them marching before you according
to your own reading; and you will not see
them in any order but such as your memory
chooses at the moment. Coming "like
shadows to depart, we note Elizabeth and
her courtiers; Raleigh, full of the New
World; Shakespeare, boy and man; Sir
Francis Bacon in his coach, going to York
House; Shakespeare and Ben Jonson chat
ting over the new prospects Of the Globe
Theater; Cromwell with solid tread and
slow, marching to his destiny; Evelyn, the
diarist, in his chair, en- route for his house
in Villiers street; Sir Richard Steele busy
with his scheme for a nursery of the stage,
and hurrying to keep an appointment with
Addison, who wrote an epiIogue for his first
You pause as you watch the
quaint, picturesque figure, to recall the story
limbs relates of his theatrical ENTERPRISE.
When the house was nearly finished, Sir
anxious to test its acoustic proper
ties, placed himself at the back of the gal
lery, and requested the master carpenter to
speak up to him from the stage. The man
hesitated. Being pressed, he replied that
he did not know what to say. Steele de-
sired him to say whatever was uppermost in
his mind, and to make speech of it.
''Sir Richard Steele" said the carpenter,
in voice that was perfectly audible, ''for |
three months me and my men have been |
a-working in this theater, and we've never |
seen the color of your bonor's money. We |
will be very much obliged if you'll pay it |
directly; and until you do we won't drive |
another nail.
Sir Richard, in reply, intimated that the |
elocution was perfect-he could |
hear him distinctly-but he objected to the |
subject of his discourse. Apropos to this |
incident. it is believed that at
Charing Cross, Punch" first made his bow |
to England. In 1866, an italian Puffet |
player pitched his tent in this haunted |
ground, and for year or more paid rent |
to the overseers of st. Martins as 'tPunchi- |
nelli."
The two Napoleors are among the ghosts |
Of Charing Cross-what actors they were in |
life's great play! The father of Charles Mat |
thews, the comedian, was bookseller, lived |
near Richardson's shop in the Strand, and |
he remembered Napoleon Bonaparte resid- |
ing in London for five weeks in 1871 or 1872,
and saw him occasionally taking his cup of |
chocolate at the Northumberland coffee |
house, opposite Northumberland House, /
where the Grand Hotel now stands. Louis
Philippe lodged in the Adelphi, and was
frequently seen at the Lowther Bazaar. Ma
Doleon the Third was a familiar figure in
London before and after his fall After see
ing him at the height of his power in
France, 1 found myself one day a competi-
Tor for the same cab-we had both hailed it
1t Piccadilly Circus-and when turned to
waive my claim it was the exiled Emperor
who smiled his thanks to me and drove
away.
TINES GREAT PAGEANT.
Among the gay and romantic figures in
he shifting scenes we are contemplating are
he pioneers of the New World, Sir
Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh,
Ind the rest, trooping by in gay apparel to
zee the Queen about their perilous ventures;
before them comes Sebastian Cabot, up
rom Bristol, dressed in silks and with cap
Ind feathers, to receive money and commits
ions from the King; and following on in
Times great pageant there shall enter gal