MR. PHELPS AND THE STRATFORD-UPON-AVON COMMITTEE. IN wishing (said Mr. Phelps, in his pamphlet), that the ensuing correspondence between myself and certain individuals acting officially on behalf of the Stratfordupon-Avon Committee for the celebration of the tercentenary of the birth of Shakespeare should be made public, I have no other desire than that I may set myself right not only with my personal friends, many of whom have already applied to me for an explanation of the causes which have induced me to refuse to take any part in the proposed performance to take place at Stratford in connection with the approaching celebration, but also that the motives which have induced me to this refusal, to vindicate my professional position in this country may not appear in a false light, either through misconception or misrepresentation, to that public whose approval has been my great encouragement and reward during the many years of study and exertion I have devoted to the cultivation of the higher drama, and more especially to the illustration of the genius of Shakespeare; and which approval I should be unwilling to forfeit in a matter which, if it involve to a certain extent considerations which may be regarded as purely private and personal, in a much greater degree affects the estimation which I won from the public in the exercise of my profession on the one hand, and on the other the respect and deference due from me in the same capacity to the public. Not deeming, when this correspondence opened, that its course would be otherwise than simple, natural, and satisfactory, as had been its commencement, I made no copies of my own letters, and therefore must appear most reluctantly as a narrator; for however brief and few the -sentences needed to link the sequence of letters, I should have infinitely preferred leaving the correspondence to tell Cits own tale. Tercentenary of the Birth of Shakespeare. (No. 1.) Committee Room, Town Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon, 7th December, 1863. Sir, As instructed, I take leave respectfully to address to you the annexed copy of a resolution adopted unanimously at the above date by the Committee organised here for the celebration of the Shakespeare tercentenary in Stratford-upon-Avon. As time is now very precious to the Committee, and an accident has detained the despatch of this letter for a couple of days, would you have the great kindness to favour me with your reply by return of post. I am, Sir, Truly yours, Samuel Phelps, Esq. ROBT. E. HUNTER, : Moved by J. J. Nason, Esq., M.B., seconded by E. F. Flower, Esq. (the Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon), and unanimously resolved :That the Secretary be instructed to write to Samuel Phelps, Esq., requesting that gentleman to take part in the dramatic performances at the festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, in April next.” To this letter I replied, that I believed it was intended to give a Shakespearian performance at Drury Lane Theatre on the 23rd of April, and in that case that my services would be required in London, but that if it should prove otherwise, I should be happy to assist the Committee. To this came the following counter reply : (No. 2.) Committee Room, Town Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon, 12th December, 1863. Sir, In reply to your kind note of yesterday, consenting to take! part in the Shakespeare tercentenary celebration here, "if not in requisition in Drury Lane Theatre," permit me to say that it is not intended to have any dramatic performance in Stratford on the 23rd of April. According to present arrangements "Hamlet" will be played on Tuesday, the 26th of that month. The Rev. Mr. J. C. M. Bellew, who is a Vice-president and member of the local Committee, has, however, kindly undertaken to see you on the subject, and will probably do so on Monday next. I take leave to inclose you a copy of our programme, a revised edition of which will be published in a few days, and I hope you will do the Committee the honour of adding your name to the list of Vicepresidents. Your most obedient servant, I am, Sir, Samuel Phelps, Esq., &c. ROBT. E. HUNTER, From the day on which I received this letter until the 16th of January, 1864, a space of more than one calendar month, I waited in daily and patient expectation to see the Reverend Mr. Bellew, or to hear from the Committee. At length, on that day, I wrote to Stratford-upon-Avon, asking whether the Rev. Mr. Bellew, not having appeared, as announced, in the capacity of spokesman for the Committee, I was to consider that the offer of my services, elicited by their request, had been rejected. On the evening of the same day, and before, of course, I could receive any reply to this question, the following came to hand : A short time back you would receive a communication from our Secretary at Stratford, asking you to favour the tercentenary festival with your presence and support. I have delayed writing to you until I could know definitely what play of Shakespeare's the Committee proposed to present. It is now arranged that "Cymbeline" will be produced at Stratfordupon-Avon, on the evening of Tuesday, April 26th. This therefore is the proper time for me to address you, and convey the invitation of the Stratford Committee to take part in their performance. I hope it is unnecessary for me to add, that I should think the programme incomplete unless both you and Miss Faucit could be included in it. I sincerely trust that you will feel disposed to favour the Stratford festival with your support and assistance; and I can assure you that if you will undertake the part of Iachimo, your consent to play that part will be received by all concerned in promoting the festival with the liveliest satisfaction. You will greatly oblige me if you will let me hear from you at your early convenience; and I hope your engagements will not prevent you, as the foremost of English tragedians, from taking part in the performances of a festival got up to do honour to Shakespeare's Before I replied to this, I deemed it advisable to wait for an answer to my letter to the Stratford Committee. It came on the 20th, informing me simply that a gentleman would call on me. I then replied to Mr. Bellew, explaining why I had not answered immediately, and concluding with a plain statement that I declined assisting at the Stratford festival. I must here observe, in order to render the next communication from Mr. Bellew intelligible, that I had, received at the same time, with the first official letter from the Secretary of the Stratford Committee, a private note from that gentleman, expressing a personal desire on his part to see me act in " Hamlet," " Othello," or "Macbeth," at the approaching Stratford performances. Unintentionally I mixed up the private note, mentioning three characters, with the official letter, mentioning only one→→ the first. I regret this mistake, as it has brought blame on the Secretary, but the confusion lends no strength to the case of the Committee or of Mr. Bellew, as the case may be, for the play of "Hamlet" is distinctly mentioned in the second official letter; and why is it mentioned in a letter to me, if at that time, and before Mr. Bellew's announced but never paid visit, it had been contemplatedTM to offer the part of Hamlet to another person? My Dear Sir, (No. 4.) Bedford Chapel, New Oxford Street, January 20, 1864,-5 p.m. Your note is just received, and I send an instant reply, because I feel assured there must be some error. The facts you state as communicated to you by Mr. Hunter are utterly unknown to me; and the delays occasioned in my writing to you were simply because I pressed upon the Committee the folly of asking a variety of persons to play, not being able distinctly to propose to them what to play. There cannot be any possible difference of opinion and desire among any of the Committee at Stratford upon the one point, viz.-to produce a play in which you can appear to the satisfaction of yourself and the public. I am quite certain you are labouring under some misapprehension, therefore I write again to beg you to re-consider your decision, with the perfect confidence that if you would prefer a night specially devoted to a play for you, and the parts cast as you might advise, the Committee would do all in their power to produce it with proper effect. I know it was their wish to combine you and Miss Faucit in one play, and with this view " Cymbeline" was selected. As I write in perfect ignorance regarding Mr. Hunter's letter to you, or who directed him to specify "Hamlet,' 'Macbeth," and "Othello,' I can say nothing on that matter; but it certainly surprises me, particularly as the Committee specially requested another gentleman to appear as Hamlet. I can only say (feeling certain they will support my request), that if "Macbeth," or "Othello," or any other play of Shakespeare's will be more acceptable to you than joining in "Cymbeline," it shall be got up for you; and got up as far as possible according to your wishes. Whatever you may decide, let me beg you to dismiss any misconception as to their wish, for it would indeed be grievous if you were misled by any private letter from Stratford, and in consequence of it to form a final decision which every one concerned would regret. I feel certain that five minutes' conversation would set the matter straight, and if agreeable to you I will call anywhere convenient. S. Phelps, Esq. Believe me, J. M. BELLEW. Now, for the first time, I made a record of the words used by me in the letter subsequently addressed to the representatives of the Stratford Committee. Here, therefore, is what I wrote in reply to the above:— My Dear Sir, (No. 5.) I claim the right, upon the following grounds to be considered the foremost man in my profession in a demonstration meant to honour Shakespeare. I have produced worthily thirty-four of his plays, which no individual manager ever did before. They were acted in my theatre four thousand times, during a period extending over eighteen years. I acted to the satisfaction of a large English public all his |
