POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 71, 5 August 1868, Page 2

POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS.

— $ — The third of those enlorliilnments was given last evening, and there were upwards of a thousand persons present, It may bo wondered how (he Town Hall could have hold Htioh a number, but the takings show that between 000 and 1000 paid for admission, while many, unable to procure tickets inconflcquenco ol! (lie rush at the doors, got Into the hall wilhout paying. In addition to these, a largo nninber were obliged to return to their homes. The oommlileo had made arrangements previously for tho hotter accommodation'of visitors, and notwithstanding tho crush at first, extremely 'little confusion was aftevwivrda created, if wo are to pass over lhe momentary panic which was caused by Iho alarm of lire— an alarm which, raised in the manner It was, might havo produced results too dlnaslroiiH to contemplate, it was only by tho strong assurances of soveral gentlemen from tho doors and the platform that nothing wm wrong, that order wai restored. Tho Vorv Roy. tho J)i-,yn or Cnuiaxoiiuuon delivered the opening address, He said i —Ladles and gentlemen, I regard It, I assure you, as a very great honour and privilege to bo asked to preside on this occasion, and to open the entertainment this evening, If, hi tbo vcmnrki I nlmll now make, 1 .shall appear to you In any degree to repeat what win better said on former evenings by his Honor (lie Judge and tho Rev Mr Fraser, T must bog your kind indulgence * for, having boon unable to bo presont on those evenings, through indisposition on (ho first occasion, and an unavoidable engagement on iho second, l could only gather from private Information, and from Ihe necessarily brief reports lv tho newspapers, the purport of tho remarks mado by those gentlemen, 1 shall bo quite content, however, to appear as a supporter of the views enunciated by Ihem ■ and, II! I cannot entertain you much by my address, I can at. least make your mouths water by keeping you waiting a little while for the cnturlaliimcnt which is to follow, (Laughter.) My object will be, not to lecture you, but to address to you a kiw friendly remarks on lhe character of (hese onlorlalnmcittM. And, iv (lie first place, 1 cannot refrain from expressing my very great gratification at (heir success, During a long residence in (bis town— of which, If lam not quite the oldest Inhabitant, 1 am not far from it — fow tilings have pleased me more than the thorough Hiiccess which has attended this experiment, (Applause.) 1 have long thought that entertainments on Ibis model wen: the things io be alined at-onlerlainnionts of a homely, varied charact or, not eouslHting of a single lecture, but combining musical pieces, short readings, recitations, and short addresses or papers. A series of lectures Is apt to be 100 great aliislc both upon lhe time of lhe lecturer nnd Iho patience of Iho audience, The most capable men lv a community liko ours, where there aro no few men of leisure, are Just those who aro suro to be most occupied and have least time to prepare lectures * and oftentimes Ihe hours they could illnfiord to nparo from their Kcanty leisure, or ihelr aleeji, for ihuprejiiiriitlonof thoir luulurcH, has boon ill-rewarded by the thin audience assembled lo Union to tliem, Rut In entertainments like I hose Unit we liave now hit upon, Uiere Isa charming variety, whicli Is good both for the entertainers, and tho entertained, (Applause.) The burden Is not all laid onono person, If one piece moves heavily, another Is lighter, Nothing lasts long enough lo bo tiring. Tho music Is a relief to tbe readings, and tho readings to tho mimic. And people go homo at a reasonable hour, having heard -nothing very profound, or very slartllng, or yory new, but having spent a pleasant evening, and feeling a wholesome Sonne of recreation and refreshment. (Ap-

plause,) All honour, then, to tboae who havo set this ball rolling, and may thoy keep It in motion a long timo. (Hear, hear.) Thoy must feci, I am sure, a grent satisfaction in meeting with such unmlstakeablc and unexpected success iv their disinterested endeavours. And tho best ot! it is that it is uot only a success for the present time, but it is n great discovery for all future times. (Applause). We have found out what will succeed in bringing together large numbers of people, and giving them an instructive and pleasant evening, and the precedent having been once established, we shall bo able to return to It with confidence winter after winter. (Applause). I have no doubt, Indeed, that it will become a regular institution. So charmed am I with tho success nl this experiment that I venture lo hope tbat you will excuse mo if I dilate n little on some of those features which have contributed, in my mind, to give it attractiveness, Aimmg.it theso, I have already noticed the varied nature of tho programme, which I look upon as ono very important feature. Tho other points I wish to notice arc, the cheapness of these entertainments, their broad popular basis,! heir domestic eharaeter,nnd the fact that they have no ulterior object beyond that of pleasing and being pleased. (Applause.) Tho cheapness of these entertainments l I hope no one will bo offended at my dwelling on that point, and extolling it as a virtue, I think we have learnt some lessons by tbo hard' times we have gone through. We have learnt to value our sixpences and threepences more than wo did. (Hear, hear.) We havo learnt something more of those plain aud homely virtues of prudence and economy. We have learnt not to be so dreadfully ashamed of being thought poor. Formerly we would not have thought of charging less than a shilling. Our ideas were .so large and grand, that a man would have required a great amount of moral courage to think of proposing sixpence ns tho prico of admission to an entertainment of this description, (Hear, and applause.) It Is a sign, then, I think, of a real improvement when a committee has the boldness to come forward and oll'er an evening's amusement for threepence. (Laughter.) And you havo shewn, by your appreciation of the bill of fare submitted to you on the two former evenings, that you have considered the entertainments as good as they arc cheap. (Applause.) The price is not lixed so low because lhey are not worth more, but because the commlttco wished to bring the enjoyment of the highest talent our community can nll'ord within Ihe reach of every individual, (heir only care being to obtain sufficient to pay expenses. The next point I wish to notice is, the thoroughly popular basis of those entertainments. Something very much of tlie mime kind, as regards the varied character of the programme, has been attempted here, both iv former times and more recently, but in connection with particular societies or particular religious denominations. Now, I liave not n word to pay against such special entertainment:) ; they do not Interfere with these, not' these with them, Rooiiuso we have managed to give a largo party with success, thoro is no reason why all «iimllcr parties should be given up. Rut thero is a peculiar pleasure, to my mind, In meeting together iw one people, without any distinction whatever, except that of entertainers and entertained ■ and whoro nil arc amateurs and none professionals, even that distinction vanishes, for the entertainer*) on ono night are the entertained on another. We meet here iw fellow-citizens and fellow-men to enjoy a pleasant ovoning together • and the result, I am sure, is, whether we know It or not, that our hearts uro enlarged and onr sympathies widened. (Applause) The time may perhaps conic iv the distant future when even in this world men may meet together without distinction ot party or creed, being till of one faith and one mind i but in the meantime let us bo glad, when opportunities are afforded us, of putting differences aside for a time, and of meeting togothor as though we were all one, (Applause.) And besides enlarging our sympathies, these meetings may help some of us to wear off some of that shyness and exeiuslvciiess, that stiffness and awkwardness which Is said, ami with some justice I think, to be one of the characteristics of Englishmen. Many a man who Is conscious of having some little talent, and has received n fair education, when hesecs that with a little pains mid a little determination to overcome his natural shyness, he may help with other-} to furnish oul an evening's entertainment, will be induced by tho example of others to come forward and offer himself as an occasional reader or reciter. And surely tho desire of giving pleasure to largo numbers of people, Is a worthy object of ambition which may well stimulate the efforts of the young men amongst us to cultivate their talents in reading and reciting, which will assuredly be for their own bcncllt, as well as for the entertainment of their ncghboiirs. (Applause) And then, again, the domestic character of these entertainments is to my mind a most pleasing feature in tliem. I believe that Mr Fraser dwelt much on this point in his opening address last Tuesday j and I thoroughly agree with him, If I hose entertainments, by their broad and popular character, havo a lemlonoy to counteract one faulty characteristic of Englishmen -their shyness and cxelusivencss, not to say their pride — in another respect they are thoroughly in keeping wllh one of the best features of that character, the Knglish love of quiet fireside amusements, Eor these entertainments arc made up of just thoso ingredients which compose the evening's amusements of peaceful, nappy, cultivated homes. I hasten on to (he last point I proposed to dwell upon— the faot, I mean, that wo havo no ulterior purpose in meeting here' beyond that of passing v pleasant evening together. Oftentimesentertainments are got up for charitable purposes, or to help forward some object of public utility. And this is all very well and very praiseworthy. Rut hcrctherchmn ulterior object iv tho minds of tho promoters, and the

entertainment of tho nudience is a secondary thing. Mnking money is all they aire for, nnd this, though it is for n good object, interferes with tho genuineness and heartiness of tlie entertainment. It Is n.s though you asked your friends to a party, not to give them au evoniug's pleasure, but for what you can get out of them. Well, there i« nothing of that sort in our entertainments ; we repudiate all such notions. Our object is an evening's entertainment, pure and simple, improving, instructive, even elovating, iv far iv wo can make it, but an entertainment, or refreshment, n recreation after tho tolls of the day, which will have a healthy, bracing intlucncc on the mind, nnd make us feel better and happier, Aye hardly know how or why. Ladiea and gentlemen, I will not detain von any longer, but will bespeak your kind attention nnd hearty appreciation for the music and the readings whicli have been promised In thl.i evening's programme, (Applause.) Tho first item on the programme was a vocal solo, hy Mrs Lloyd, "Merry is the Greenwood," which wns loudly applauded. Mr 11. E. Alport followed with a reading entitled " A Railway Adventure," a selection which, although it has frequently boon read by this gentleman before, did not fail to afford undiminished merriment. A violin solo by Mr Alexander Lean (accompanied on the pianoforte by Mr 11. Packer) was much admired ; but It was to be deplored tliat the alarm of firo was raised at tbis stage of tho entertainment. Mr T. R. Shapter read Rell'a •' Mary Queen of Scots," and he certainly read it n great deal better than on any former occasion, With cure and attention this gentleman will become an ngreeable render. The vocal solo •* Autumn Winds " (with nccommniment) was next given by Mr Henry Thompson, with considerable success. The Rev, R, A, Lingard followed with a reading, which, referring as it did to all plmses of soeietv, was most apropos to so largo anil m i xcd nn assemblage. The reading was wel 1 received. A solo was then sung by Mr P. Hobbs j nnd the entertainment closed with the National Anthem. We have liecn informed that tbe money taken at tbe doors amounts to about All 10s.