66 Theatrical Matter*. C JAN - 



" The beasts, astonished, still remained in douLt 



That Woods and Forests should have turned them out ,' 



With Carlton rooks they made their comjnon caws 



Compell'd to bow to Woods' and Forests' laws. 



By roars from beasts, and oaths from keepers surly, 



Was Burleigh House thus turned to hurly-burley ; 



And beasts and birds sought out for other lays, 



Where the King's Mews still celebrates their praise. 



I was obliged their common route to share, 



And found it quite a bore without a bear. 



From that snug nook, so well known at the entry, 



Where half a century had stood a sentry, 



Ejected, I was left to cry alone, 



"With the great bard' My occupation's gone.' " 



The lines then proceed to describe, with a most prolific prodigality of 

 pun, the difficulties which impeded the performers' engagement and 

 transit to the theatre. 



tc Some thought no poet could be got to write 



For one who put George Colman in a fright. 



Some thought the new performer's length of ear, 



Would seem, on public men^ a public sneer. 



Some thought such public talents shown in brute* 



A libel on some " honourable" mutes. 



Some thought by law they could not let her land, 



Because her ivories were contraband 



The vessel, too, would tremble with her weight, 



And captains be quite frighted with her freight 

 v Said we'd no room in safety here to place her, 



And that our prompter would not dare to face her. 



I proved the voyage easy of endurance 



I promised, then, that I could find assurance 



I signed and sealed, thinking the matter national 



But hoping still her rations would be rational 



Till freight all paid, her custom duties clear, 



She coGies herself to pay her duties here 



We hoping you your patronage will grant 

 v,- To Messrs. Mathews, Yates, and Elephant." 



. The experiment, however, has succeeded " prodigiously." Miss Jelk 

 has become the talk of the wits of the grand monde, as our readers will 

 observe in another part of our publication. The theatre is crowded, and 

 the proprietors are said to be in treaty with the King of the Ashantees 

 for a troop of lions, who, if they do not gratify the public appetite, will 

 probably indulge their own. Though, for curious specimens of creation, 

 the very best might be found among the lion-s of the West End. 



At Drury Lane, a new comedy was produced, under the auspices of 

 Lord Glengall, and as yet unclaimed by any one else. It deserved a 

 favourable reception, and had one. The plot of ' ' the Follies of Fashion" 

 consisted of the foolish contrivances of a city family to make their way 

 into the society of the nobles ; and the uneasy and intricate contrivances 

 by which persons of rank manage to make themselves useless, ridiculous, 

 and unhappy. Lord Splashton and his pretty lady are both furiously in 

 lov* with each other ; yet both, by the laws of fashion, are forced to seem 

 furiously in love with somebody else. There is the " Ami de la Maison," 

 who pays his adorations to the lady, and the " charming widow," who 

 Deceives the attentions of the lord. The pair are finally ruined in 



