Sunny locks
Hang on their temples like a golden fleece.
It was on the night of his own benefit that Mr. Lewis took a formal and final farewell of the public, under circumstances so honourable to him as no actor, perhaps has ever been able to boast of. During the thirty-six years he had been a player, he had never once fallen under the displeasure of his audience. The play was “Rule a Wife and have a Wife,” in which he performed the Copper Captain. After the comedy, when the curtain dropped, Mr. Lewis came forward and addressed the house in the following words:
“ladies and gentlemen,
“I have the honour of addressing you for the last time. This is the close of my theatrical life; (loud cries of no! no!) and I really feel so overcome by taking leave forever of my friends and patrons; that might it not be deemed disrespectful or negligent I could wish to decline it; (Loud applause, and a cry of go on! go on!) but it is a duty which I owe, and I will attempt to pay it, conscious I shall meet your indulgence; for when I remind you that I have been thirty-six years in your service, and cannot recollect to have fallen once under your displeasure, my dramatic death cannot be met by me without the strongest emotions of regret and gratitude.
“I should offer my acknowledgments for innumerable acts of kindness shown to my earliest days, and your yet kinder acceptance of, and partiality shown to my latest efforts; all these I powerfully feel, though I have not the words to express those feelings.——But while this heart has a sensation it will beat with gratitude.
“Ladies and gentlemen, with the greatest respect, and, if you will admit the word, the sincerest affection, I bid you farewell.”
During the delivery of this address, Mr. Lewis was evidently much affected. His voice faultered, and the tear started from his eye. The audience were also much affected at this parting scene, and took leave of their favourite with loud and universal acclamations. The house was crowded to excess.
Thus (says the London writer) every hour is seen stealing from this stock of harmless pleasure, and our theatrical register serves only to record our losses. What can we put in balance against the death of Parsons, Suett, Palmer, and King, and the retirement of Mrs. Mattocks, Miss Pope, and Mr. Lewis?—Nothing. What is there in prospect?—the further loss of Mrs. Siddons and Mrs. Jordan. These two stars of the first magnitude will also soon be missing in the theatrical hemisphere, and where is he who can say that he has discovered any promise that this light will, in our time, be repaired?—Nowhere.
“The greatest fires are out, and glimmering night succeeds.”
On his taking a final leave of the Dublin stage, Mr. Lewis spoke the following address:
From ten years old till now near fifty-six,
Of all I’ve gained, the origin I fix
Here on this fav’rite spot; when first I came
A trembling candidate for scenic fame,
In numbers lisping, here that course began
Which, through your early aid, has smoothly ran;
Here too, returning from your sister land,
Oft have I met your smile, your lib’ral hand:
Oft as I came Hibernia still has shown
That hospitality so much her own.
But now the prompter, Time, with warning bell,
Reminds me that I come to bid farewell!
With usual joy this visit I should pay,
But here, adieu is very hard to say.
Yet take my thanks for thousand favours past—
My wishes that your welfare long may last—
My promise that, though Time upon this face
May make his annual marks, no time can chase
Your memory here, while memory here has place.
My meaning is sincere, though plainly spoke—
My heart, like yours, I hope, is heart of oak;
And that although the bark, through years, may fail ye,
The trunk was, is, and will be true shillaly.
The Comedy annexed to this number.
The favourable reception which this comedy met in London, will no doubt induce the managers of America to produce it on their boards. For this reason it has been selected by the editors.
In the general reception of this comedy on the stage, the author has been more successful than in the judgment it has received from the press. Of the criticisms which have appeared in the London publications, we have seen two, which disagree with each other on its merits. That the reception by a large audience and the opinion of a critic should differ, is not at all surprising. In the present instance one of those critics is at complete variance with the audience, and says “it is as dull as the ministerial benches, and yet as patriotic as the opposition.” The editors reserve their opinion till they see it acted.
The conductors thank “Dramaticus” for his communications, to which they will pay the proper attention. Though the series for the month of February is complete, they have made room for four of the articles with which he has favoured them.