The members of the Shanghai Literary and Debating Society and their nou-resident friends, who nearly filled the Temperance Hall on Friday night, were able to realise to a great extent how Shakespeare's plays were presented to the audiences of his time; for, as in the great playwright's time, the actors were in the costume of the period, and they played without scenery or decorations. There was nothing to distract the audience from the ure words of the scenes which were ing spoken before them, and it speaks well for the powers of the performers, and for the spectators' love of poetry, that the success was so great. General Kennedy, the most excellent of Chairmen, presided, and opened the meeting with what he modestly termed a few prefatory remarks, all that the audience could expect, from one unaccustomed to public speaking. He said that he was very glad that so many of the three hundred members now on the rolls were there; but they should make a point of coming to the debates as well as to the smoking entertainments; it did not do for soldiers to confine their attendance to dress parades. At least a hundred members ought to come tothe debates, which would gladden the hearts of the Committee, and encourage the young blood in the society to flow more The Society had a variety of such as could not be surpassed in any city; musical talent, dramatic, recital tive, reading; they had every cause to be proud; they had earned the support of the community. They were assembled tonight to enjoy what was aptly termed a Shakespearean evening; it had been proposed to call it a "symposium," a word which he had found defined as ta merry feast and he hoped they would have tonight 'a feast of intellect, of cheer, and of fraternal kindness. It was with great diffidence that he approached the next branch of his subject, for he could not boast any right to attempt. to analyse the chara r of the Poet. England was in every way grand; like the octopus, she had stretched out her arms over the whole world, so that it had been truly said that from dawn to dawn the drum-beat of England reverberated round the world; but England, aye, the world, had only one Shakespeare. ' That the full intent of the dramatist should be grasped, he must. be acted, there was no art so impressive. The impressions made by (great actors and actresses, Forrest or Macready, Booth or Irving, Charlotte Cushman or Ellen Terry, were lifelong. Here we have no great actors; but we can read, we can have recitals, such as to-night's; and thus we (00 can display and augment our love and appreciation for the poet. In conclusion he drew the attention of performers and audience to Hamlet's speech to the players, for- printed on the programme.
This the Gene ral read with the temperance and smoothness, which it inculcates, and then sat down amid storm of applause.
The overture, which followed, was Mozart's Sonata No. 4, played as a pianoforte duet by Messrs. Beattie and Vinay. The flood of melody it contains has made this one of the best known of Mozart's composi+ tions, and it was admirably executed. The first Shakespearean piece was the dialogue between Ferdinand and Biron in the first scene of Love's Labour's Lost; the pretty piece of reasoning in which Biron proves that Ferdinand's rules for the acquirement of knowledge will defeat their own end. The play is believed to be Shakespeare's first; which is shown by the pure poetry of which it is almost entirely composed, and the wealth of rhymed endings. Dr. Milles and Mr. Macgregor both read well, the former being possibly a little tame, and not always audible; the latter shewed a pleasant appreciation of the bright spirit of humour which makes all Biron's lines so charming. The next selection, the dialogue between Hamlet and the First Player, was most unequal effort. It was a sad mis take for Mr. Grayston to put himself in direct contrast with Mr. Sharp, and he made worse by not having familiarized himself with the lines. Mr. Sharp's was just such 'a piece of elocution as Hamlet's description of the first player's merits demanded. came a pleasant interlude in Mr. Holli rendering of "'O Mistress Mir Twelfth Night, set to music by Sullivan. It is one of the happiest of Sir Arthur's sottings, for the music is absolutely fitted to the words, and Mr. Holliday, accompanied Mr. Vela, was in excellent voice, and his entrain and evident delight in the song carried the audience with him. He was vociferously encored, and repeated the second verse with the same spirit. Much was expected of Mr. Wedemeyer's recital of the humorous scene between Launcelot Gobbo and his father, from the Merchant of Venice, and the public expectation was fully satisfied. The enjoyment that the actors took in the merry dialogue was fully shared by his hearers, the only fault, a very slight one, being that Mr. Wedemeyer hardly gave his audience time to appreciate the humours of the two clowns, whose personalities he Kept admirably distinct. Mr. Dobson's voice being somewhat out of order, the next number had to be omitted; and Mr. Vinay opened the second part by playing the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.