ARTEMUS WARD IN ENGLAND

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21198, 23 June 1934, Page 15

ARTEMUS WARD IN ENGLAND

LETTERS TO "MR PUNCH" i, [By PETER ADDISON in the "Observer"! No American visitor to England has ever been more popular than "Artemus Ward," the humorist, who was born on April 26 a hundred years ago. Only the last summer and winter of his short life of thirty-three years were spent in England, but in those few months he won innumerable friends. He contributed to "Punch" a series of articles which were widely acclaimed. Delighted audiences made his closer aquaintance at the old Egyptian Hall, in Piccadilly, where his humorous lecture, "Artemus Ward among the Mormons," was given daily so long as his failing health permitted. His geniality and charm in private life made him a welcome figure at the Savage Club, which elected him a member; and when he lay dying of consumption at Southampton, after a short and unavailing visit to Jersey on medical advice, his brother Savages journeyed two at a time from London to bear him company in his last hours.

Making Fun of the Tower of London We can only guess at the effort it must have cost Artemus Ward while he was among us to live up to his reputation, in private as well as publicly, as a fellow of infinite jest. Fun and pathos are interwoven throughout the record. The friend who met him at Euston, on his arrival from Liverpool in that summer of 1866, had expected to greet the mirthful man with whom he had parted in America a year earlier. Instead, he found him "worn, wasted, and more grave than merry." But after a few hours' rest Artemus Ward embarked on a first exploration of London. Having fallen in love with England in advance for her rich and picturesque history, he visited the Tower of London before he had been here many days, and later made pilgrimage to Stratford-on-Avon. His sincere appreciation of those storehouses of beauty and memories did not prevent him from seeing—or manufacturing—a comic side to them. They supplied material for his "Punch" articles, which were ostensibly composed by the unlettered but shrewd showman whose imaginary adventures in America had brought fame to their author. The showman extracted lots of amusement from his new surroundings. Here is a specimen passage from the account of his visit to the Tower:—

The Warder shows us some instrooments of tortur, such as thumbscrews, throatcollars, etc., statin that these was conkered from the Spanish Armady, and addin what a crooil peple the Spaniards was in them days—which elissited from a bright-eyed little girl of about twelve summers the remark that she tho't it was rich to talk about the crooilty of the Spaniards usin thumbscrews, when we was in a Tower where so many poor people's heads had been cut off. This made the Warder stammer and turn red.

I was so pleased with the little girl's brightness that I could have kissed the dear child, and I would if she'd been six years older.

The articles were printed as letters to "Mr Punch," with the writer's name appended—for Artemus Ward was not merely the name of his mythical showman, but the professional name under which he wrote and lectured. It was an exceptional honour thus to be allowed to break "Punch's" rule of anonymity. To have been invited by Mark Lemon to contribute to "Punch" he considered the finest compliment of his career. The Showman Among the Savages There were great days and nights at the Savage Club as long as any vestige of strength remained to him. The headquarters of the club at that time was Ashley's Hotel, in Henrietta street, Covent Garden. Among the wits and bohemians who assembled there were many with familiar names—H. J. Byron, J. C. Brough and his brother Lionel, George Augustus Sala, George Grossmith, senior, Tom Hood, the younger, "Dick Donovan" (J. E. Preston Muddock—who died only this year), J. L. Toole, and T. W. Robertson, the dramatist. Most of these names were scrawled upon the form on which Artemus Ward was nominated for election. This was an occasion when his real name was used: "Candidate, Charles F. Browne; Qualification, Artemus Ward." It may be that his election to the club was—for him—a dubious blessing. D. C. Seitz, his biographer, says:—

The convivial nights of the Savage Club supplemented by much private hospitality, were wearing in the extreme, not so much from the absorbing of liquids, though that was considerable, but from the mental strain growing out of being always drawn upon to provide amusement for the expectant company.

How—and When—to Say "No" A relevant anecdote is told by Mr Charles Millward. He ane his wife were among Artemus Ward's kindest friends in London; and Mrs Millward, concerned at the wanLig physique of the humorist, pleaded with him to live more quietly. "You must learn to say 'No'," she urged, not foreseeing the sequel. In the middle of one night there came a loud knocking at the Millwards' door. The husband got out of bed and found Artemus Ward on the steps, in evening dress. He insisted that his message was for Mrs Millward's ears. When she came down he said, "It is done. I knew you would wish to hear it at once. I have been at the Savage Club all evening, and I have said 'No'!" • Tom Robertson became his most intimate friend among the Savages. The great playwright was working that summer on his comedy "Ours," and Artemus Ward had some small share in the finishing touches. At its New York production, indeed, the piece was announced as "An original comic drama by T. W. Robertson and Artemus Ward." When Artemus Ward left Jersey and, unable to stand the strain of the journey to London, remained at Southampton, Robertson was with him constantly. Once the dramatist begged him to swallow his medicine—a horrible concoction—saying: "Take it just for my sake. You .mow I would do anything for you." "Would you?" asked Artemus Ward, grasping his friend's hand. "Then you take it!" He died at Southampton on March 6, 1867. In May his body was re-' moved from Kensal Green and taken to America for final burial at Waterford# Jhjs birthplace,