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Mr. Edward Aronson. The Morlacchi legacy has not yet been paid into the treasury.

The Board of Estimate and Apportionment gave this year exactly one-half of the money received by the city from theatrical licenses, but, as the total amount of these licenses was not as large as usual, the share was less than hoped. The appropriation was, however, larger by $1,675 than it was last year.

The gross sum received from benefits is $10,171.31, a considerable reduction from last year's receipts from this source. This reduction is due, however, to accidental causes which prevented the consummation of plans for three benefits-one in Chicago, one in New York, and one in Boston. These benefits will now have to be given early next year, and they will doubtless bring up the average of the two years to a figure beyond any which have preceded them. Of the money raised St. Louis contributed $594.75, San Francisco $788.40, Louisville, Milwaukee, Richmond, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Memphis and Hartford together $1,197.75, Philadelphia $1,205.75, and New York $6,384.66.

"One of the pleasantest incidents in our experience with benefits this year," said Mr. Palmer, "was the generous act of our distinguished friend, the great French artist, M. Constant Coquelin, who, without solicitation from the officers of the Fund, arranged a charming entertainment at the Madison Square Theatre, from which our treasury benefited to the extent of about $1,600. This gentleman became greatly interested in the work of the Fund, and he has expressed to me his determination to give us another benefit when he returns to this country for a brief social visit next Spring. I am sure this large-hearted Frenchman will be all the more welcome whenever he visits our shores, for his kindly act towards the poor and suffering among that profession he loves so well, and of which he has been at all times a brilliant leader and a ready and able defender."

Mr. Palmer then spoke of, and mentioned the names of the Ladies' Hospital Committee, which consisted of Mrs. Louisa Eldridge, Mrs. Antonio Pastor, Mrs. Carl Haswin, Mrs. Carrie Jamieson, Alice Brown, Agnes Procter, Helen Ottolengui, Blanch Weaver, and Adele Clark; remarking upon the continuance of their good work.

The burial plot in Evergreen Cemetery next

engaged his attention, from which he passed to the question of the proposed Actors' House, which, he said, he hoped would be eventually founded, despite the obstacles which have hitherto obstructed them in their proposed work. Passing on to the bereavements by death of members of the Fund, he spoke feelingly of Edward Aronson, Mrs. Rosa M. Leland, and Lester Wallack. His address was interspersed by frequent applause. Eugene Oudin, next in order upon the programme, sang a romanza from "Clover," and was received very enthusiastically. Mr. Palmer then introduced Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, whose witty and interesting address provoked much laughter and frequent applause. Mr. Depew, in commencing, said: "There is one advantage the speaker has over the singer: the audience never calls for an encore." After a few facetious remarks respecting the ladies of the stage, and the opportunity which this occasion gave him to say what he thought of them, he passed on to the object of the meeting, with the remark, "Why are we here? As the stat esman from Texas said,-we are here for one of the first and noblest of the many good charities of our city. But the second object that brings us here is that the profession may learn something of themselves from amateurs like Dougherty and myself; and if they do not learn anything, they will at least find out what to avoid; and the first thing they will avoid is, never to speak their own piece. Among the ancients it was a matter to be proud of that a great lawyer or a great statesman had received his training at the hands of the great actor.

The most eminent of the orators of antiquity at the bar or in the senate boasts that his mentor, from whom he received his instruction, was Hortensius, the tragedian. We have, owing to newspapers and reporters, lost the beauty of the form of speech and devoted ourselves too much to its substitute, so that no orator of to-day would boast that his model had been a great actor. To the lawyer or to the politician who has had the training of the stage, more can be accomplished in winning juries or in stirring senates than by the man who has not been so trained. There is no speaker anywhere who is successful at the bar or on the platform or in legislative halls, or scarcely in the senate, who has not sat and listened and, as he listened, has absorbed something of the art

which stirs an audience, which moves it to mirth or arouses it to enthusiasm.

We have passed the period, fortunately, when the discussion is any longer pertinent whether the stage has its uses, or whether its immoralities should be prejudicially exposed. The gentleman who invades the front seat in the orchestra on every occasion when the ballet is on and criticizes the legitimate drama, it is said, has lost his function. (Applause.)

Take the lawyers, with the rascals there are among them; take the doctors, with the quacks there are among them; take the ministers, with the frauds there are among them; take the business men, with the thieves there are among them, and put the concensus of the whole on one side, and the players upon the other, and I think the concensus of the good would be quite as great among the players as among their fellows in other vocations. (Applause.)

No one goes to the theatre and listens, for instance, to Booth in Richelieu, to Irving in Louis XI. and Terry as Portia, or sees an old lady portrayed by our kind and gentle friend Mrs. Gilbert (applause), or sees Sir Peter Teazle portrayed as he has been for a half century across this stage by old John Gilbert (applause), no one who has been moved to mirth when he needs to be brought out of sorrow and relieved from care, but has been a better man or a better woman for having attended the theatre.

The most charitable people in the world are the players. There never is a call of suffering anywhere, there never is a great catastrophe, that stirs with unusual movement the pulses of the people, that a generous response is not given by the players in the form of benefits. They are the only profession who give benefits (applause). Lawyers never give them; doctors never give them; dentists never give them;

but actors come forward and make their offering with the two hands, of sympathy and money.

Mr. Depew then went on to relate an incident of his last summer's outing. Said he: I had the pleasure last summer in London of spending a most delightful hour at lunch-one of the most pleasurable hours I have ever spent among distinguished and famous and titled and royal people-with a lady who stands at the head of the English stage, and as a woman and wife and a mother is an ornament to her sex. 1

refer to Mrs. Kendall. In speaking of this very subject, she said: "I am proud of my profession; proud of it as an art; proud of it on account of its noble history and of the great names which adorn it; proud of it because it is an art, and the greatest genius must work to secure its highest honors, and must go through the preliminary course of academy and college before it can graduate and receive the diploma of distinguished consideration and deserved applause, and the only thing that brings discredit upon the stage and upon the honorable and historic profession is that the character of its members would stand favorably in comparison with the character of the members of all other professions were it not for the fact that the stage can be occupied at a single leap through the parlor window by people who degrade the high art by asking the applause of appreciative audiences for the notoriety of their lives."

Mr. Depew touched feelingly upon the terrible calamity which has just afflicted the country, and brought his eloquent address to a close by a reference to the object of the Fund; that the actor and actress in the hour of their distress would have the friendly hand of charity held out to them-and that their last resting-place should not be in an unknown grave, but be strewn with the flowers of sympathy-teaching the great lesson of humanity, that the whole world is akin.

After Massenet's "Scenes Pittoresques," by the orchestra, Mr. William Winter spoke at some length. Amongst other good things he said in reference to the present situation of the drama, that it was never so great or powerful in its influence as to-day, and, therefore, it should be a warning not to yield too subserviently to the tastes of the people in the way of humor, for it was often offensive to people of good taste and culture; and he thought that it was the duty of the profession to educate the people up to a true standard and not follow the popular taste, when its tendency was toward levity and horse play, and he was afraid that if the profession encouraged it, it would tend to degrade rather than elevate the stage.

Speaking of the duties of the dramatic critic, he thought that it should tend towards educating public opinion of the drama, and not as an instructor of the actor. He knew it was a difficult thing to educate public opinion; but he

felt that the two institutions, the press and the stage, might do much towards affecting its tone, while it certainly indicated the condition of the public mind.

Mr. Winter was followed by the Schuman Quartet:e, who sang a couple of selections very pleasingly, after which Mr. Daniel Dougherty, the last speaker of the occasion, was introduced.

After speaking of his earnest love for the drama, and his delight, from his earliest years, in witnessing the productions of his time, he complimented the members of the profession very warmly upon their distinguished gathering at this time, and remarked, that in prizing his own profession of the law, he was not unmindful of the high estimate that the world deservedly holds the various intellectnal callings in which industry, learning, talent and genius lifted their possessors to fame and fortune, he avowed that the art of the actor is equal to any and of all. He said that in every enlightened country, in every large community, there are members famous in law, medicine, and surgery, famous scientists, professors and writers, but the great actors in the higher range of the drama-speaking not in disparagement but admiration-but the great actors are spicuous, rare and resplendent as the planets amid the stars.

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He again complimented the profession and said they had reason to be proud of the stagethe stage that rose with the dawn of civilization, that has flourished in ages famed for the highest culture, inspired the pens of immortal poets, given scope to the genius of the actor, educated the masses to correct pronunciation, purified their tastes, elevated their sentiments, instructed them in the history of forgotten empires, filled them with the glory of great deeds by recalling from the grave and re-enacting before their eyes the lives of heroes who died thousands of years ago, that has roused the drooping spirits of degenerate nations, and rekindled the expiring fires of patriotism, that has thrilled the hearts of millions with touches of nature that make the whole world kin, that with generous mirth and wit that will not wound, hits at the follies of the times, that properly conducted tends to suppress vice, promote virtue; that was in the early ages of Christianity, and could be made again, a handmaid of religion.

Speaking of women he went on to say that they are exiled from many pursuits, while in acting she has been the especial favorite. He spoke of the unreasonable prejudice which still lingered against the stage, and how expedient and wise it was that under the lead of eminent actors, prominent managers and dramatic authors they had formed a corporate brotherhood to promote their welfare and assert the dignity of a noble profession-in love for the lowly and devotion to comrades of other days who fall wounded and helpless in the battle of life.

Mr. Dougherty then referred to the institution of the Edwin Forrest Home in Philadelphiathat it was worthy of the fame of its great founder, and hoped that it would thrive for centuries. In conclusion he said: "The American stage is indissolubly linked with our English literature, and will flourish until Shakespeare is forgotten,-and that can never be. He trusted that the Dramatic Fund so auspiciously begun, already so prosperous, and widespread in its beneficence will continue to play its noble part until the dark curtain falls at the end of everything.

The Coronation March from Le Prophète closed the programme, which was numerously attended by nearly all the leading people of the profession now in New York.

DRIFTWOOD.

-Mr. Lewis Dockstader's band of minstrels have had some unpleasant discussion on the road. A writer in the Buffalo Express of May 30th says: It is the skeleton of a minstrel company. You are traveling on your reputation at present, Mr. Dockstader. No inan can afford to do that. The man who does not progress goes backward. You had a great house last night. Could you fill it again to-night? The "best people in Buffalo" applauded everything that was said and done. Yet there were auditors who thought that some of your own humorous remarks were as décolleté as the gowns they were based on. Was that "refined" minstrelsy?

-Nat Goodwin has a new play. It is a translation of "Le Député de Bombignac," which Coquelin plays in, and properly adapted, should give Mr. Goodwin an opportunity to show his admirable comedy talents. Charles Windham's sucessful comedy, "The Candidate" is from the

same source.

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-Albert Smith was a dentist, who operated in Percy Street, Bedford Square, where a few scribblers of that day used to squander good things of an evening He was one of the earliest contributors to Punch. Among these scribblers were Gilbert à Beckett, the two Mayhews, Tom Taylor, Jerrold, Thackeray, Kenney, Tom Hood, the artist, Dicky Doyle, and Mark Lemon. The place of meeting was a small public-house, in a by-street behind the Olympic Theatre, kept by Mark Lemon, who was the editor. Some of these, perhaps the most Bohemian among those Bohemians, would occasionally carry their pipes to Percy Strect. It was to one of these meetings that Boucicault read his drama, "The Willow Copse," by the light of a single tallow-candle and of the bright wits of the crowd. At the end of the third act, when the great pathetic moment arrived, when his little audience, breathless with interest, had let their pipes out, the solitary candle, which had dwindled unnoticed into the socket, suddenly went out with a hiss and a gobble, deluging the situation with a roar of laughter.

-"One night in London," says Billy Emerson the minstrel, "I went to see 'The World,' and got a seat up front, near the boxes. A lady dropped her programme from the box she occupied, and I picked it up and handed it to her. She was a great swell, I could see, and I noticed that she looked at me pretty hard. 'Hullo,' thinks I, I guess I've made a mash.' I had on one of Bell's bang-up-suits, and I looked pretty natty. So I looked at my lady again with a sort of half eye. Just then the curtain went down, and she made a beckoning motion with her head. 'Aha!' I says to myself, I've made an impression on her royals!' I leaned forward, and I'll be smashed in pulp if she didn't hand me a sixpence! What's this for?' says I. 'Ah, you were kind enough to hand me my programme,' says she."

-Frank Van der Stucken sailed for Europe on Wednesday. He proposes to give a concert in Paris, within a month, of composition by native born Americans, and will draw upon Edgar S. Kelley, J. K. Paine, Arthur Foote, George W. Chadwick, F. Van der Stucken, Dudley Buck, E. A. MacDowell, and H. H. Huss for his Yankee programme. concert will take place at the Trocadero, -The programmes of the five concerts to be

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given during the Exposition, at the Trocadero, under the direction of Lamoureux, Colonne, Garcin, Vianesi and Danbé, have been made up by the first section of the musicial committee, under the presidency of Ambroise Thomas. They include the works of forty French composers, of whom twenty-eight are living, twelve dead. Room has been made on three programmes for two dead composers, Auber and Bizet; Berlioz is twice represented. Among the living composers, the members of the Institue alone will be performed in two concerts, one of symphonic, the other of dramatic music.

-A new comic opera has seen the light at the Costanze of Rome, the "Donne Curiose" (the curious women), by Uriglio, who himself led his work.

-There is a little green mound and humble marble slab in a secluded corner of Otterbein Cemetery, about twelve miles north of the city, says the Columbus, Ohio, Press, which marks the grave of the author of that famous ballad, "Darling Nellie Gray." A visitor to the spot learns from the inscription on the stone that it is the last resting place of Benjamin Russell Hanby. The seclusion of the tomb, the neglect shown it by all save a few relatives, and the general ignorance of its location form another illustration of the forgetfulness of the human race. Notwithstanding the grave of the author of "Darling Nellie Gray" is forgotten and neglected, his own beautiful ballad has sculptured out for him a monument of memory which will endure the changes of centuries to come.

-M. Brandus, head of the Paris music house, at present in New York, tells of a joke perpetrated on his firm in 1866. A musician named Carafa, who was always "broke," went to borrow money of Rossini, who was frequently in the same plight. The composer said: “I'm sorry I can't lend you any money, but I'll write some music for you, and if you will take it to Brandus he'll give you some money for it." Carafa gladly accepted this proposition, and in a wonderful short time Rossini had filled several pages with notes. The piece he entitled "Sweet Memories of l'Africaine, by Rossini." Carafa hurried to the Rue Richelieu to lay it before Brandus, who, on seeing the manuscript, was suprised, for Rossini and Meyerbeer, composer of "l'Africaine," were bitter enemies. The publisher's joy over receiv ing an improvisation on "l'Africaine," from

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