MR. SALA'S LECTURES.

Press, Volume XLII, Issue 6246, 25 September 1885, Page 3

MR. SALA'S LECTURES.

W'tiUfvlß AND PAGEANTS.

_■ j* %_sa_m__bcd audience greeted Mr $Mh with hearty applause when he adSZeid last night to discourse upon " Shows eiftgsaa-u? This was advertised as * jades'lecture." and it -was well ■MMQibid lrr %* pateoneeses, who indeed g£ ihown much approval of Mr Sala jfces he began to lecture. jjßaiiing that "the show's the thing," •ad canparing himself to the Jackdaw ,]£ perches in kiffb places, does nothing, «sieverjthinjf,an_ af terwarda eayß "Caw" riff-* it iv numerous columns, Mr Sala to give a rapid outline of the : \maoua remarkable pageants of which " Seat?been a spectator. Whether out of jjft-atga tojfche supposed taste of his ffgfinina j-ndLence. or because ceremonies ia, which Bojalty figures furnish most of gfe remark-b-t pageante now-a-days, a hags majority of those referred to last Sit were connected with our Bojal _£n_y and the Imperial Family of France. ftoearbest took tbe lecturer back to a Ate when, as he gallantly remarked, got a lady that listened to him ctftorß. to ft happy time when he himsdfwaa only ten years old, to 1838, when was crowned. At this disof tjmfl toe procession, which took its State!} cense from Buckingham Palace to —_jtod-a_f Abbey, remained in his mind as a mere rao__t chaos; but the picture at tbe oaatrd figure stood out de_rly, thoviag a P*k. trembling, nervous girl, ■attire, wi—i sweet trusting eyes, and upon j_r-ljgf the euspidon of a smile, whioh jgigfetjet be forerunner of a sob. Bsfgse Mr Sala had reached an age when aayaaae Editor would have cared to pay fie sad print hia "copy" it was his good ' fafteaeto witness a ceremony, which, had a happened ten or twenty yews later, w9-_ cer_—-y have been immortalized by k_ in the columns of the " Daily Teliefpfh," He was at Bchool in Paris—one _*g_teh boy among four or five hunjjnd youthful Gauls—aEd (for what is 'j«B8 among bo many ?) be was wont to atoaeby the Bufferings they inflicted upon big small person for the humiliations •heated upon their country at Waterloo and __dalg_r, and the brutalities with which Sir Hudson Lowe, as they were persuaded, Hfiitb-—ved the last moments of the Great __foleoa. Saddenly their national aniMB_y waa abated by the generosity of _Bd Pdmerston, who permitted tbe reot Napoleon's body from St. Helena to -ranee, and the ceremony of tbe second - torid provided this second of Mr Sda'a taseaafa. A vivid description be washable h*#ve of this. Of the ptocemiSako^ **f- - jbs Invalidea; of the neat men wbo _H_—led in it, the Marshals of France, with Louis Philippe and hia son; of fito objects placed on the coffin,: the sacked hat worn by the great General, Austerlitz, the cloak which had shrouded ' y.ilm at Jena, the sword he had drawn at •Marengo; the multitude forgot time, place, _d errcumstance, and shouted "Vive' Ta\apereur" with all the enthusiasm of - /IslS. After that Mr Sala began to acquire - _meyand reputation by his sight-seeing. Jf&ile the Crystal Palace was attracting j .fto world to Sydenham, he was the host, jl-ily with the late M. Soyer, the famous -SMgi of half the rank and talent tf London The talent included Lord Brong- "" atm, Benjamin D'leraeli, Bichard Doyle, taifAoay, and the great Profeasor HoUo■■__s. Bis reminiscences of the last were '- Tary fanny, but he had also some very ~' aimaknTaiae for the great advertiser's: ./ifew-_u-py and substantial benefioence. Jge Aext saw London from a balloon, and aaafs got killed by the bursting of bis un-i ttHftja. coaveyance, and in 1859 be was unseat at the Queen's first great volonwhea the wild talk of_: the lr__h colonels had woke that feroe from; of sleep. r, -anemia of tbe Prince Consort, HfaMßan inland the Prince Imperial, of tbe Prinse of Wales, of Connaught, and the Duke of '-_■_£- Mr Sala with of remarkable scenes, - *__?**. ' cc,oae —*lly eloquent while jgriag.**_te claims of tne Prince fSfHKftt to onr national gratitude for bis __wsmuble services to creating a __««—- bate tor art in England, and . Wroftbhißg the art schools of design, J*__b hat. bo much improved our man-- _*_**£-. A brilliant .ketch of Spanish 4_wr. introduced apropos of the instoUa«_*of King Alfonso, and a graphic pori ***4*/'#. Signer Gallesga, the famous oor- . of «The Times," relieved the gj*_«f the exslmperial funerals, and ", afte'ifietarer sowed another success with *__ very aaueing inddents of his Spaniah l__*yßg.. He conduded with the - *S§2r **?"' 'Taaxl ot Beaccme__eld,irom warn, aa 3» describe- it, the ordinary s_u*ave details of mutes, and soaxves, ■JJ ww^oiesisad funeralhaked meats, " _™«y'«teined sextons, were by the good **'<>*_-' executors altogether exduded. Mr Sala wiU give his last lee*P_uees of the Pen—-Dickens and . TaatAeray." , -"sr:.- ..,_;.' ', ';