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R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

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146 Sir Arthur P<strong>in</strong>eropresume to <strong>in</strong>quire <strong>in</strong>to your private affairs; you willplease observe <strong>the</strong> same reticence with regard to m<strong>in</strong>e.'On ano<strong>the</strong>r occasion he <strong>was</strong> accosted <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> foyer of a<strong>the</strong>atre by a well-known amateur actor, a Mr H. SuchGranville. ' Excuse me, Mr Gilbert,' said that gentleman—' excuse me for speak<strong>in</strong>g to you without an <strong>in</strong>troduction.You may have heard of me; my name is Such, but I actas Granville.' 'Oh, do you,' retorted Gilbert, resent<strong>in</strong>g<strong>the</strong> liberty, '<strong>the</strong>n I wish your name <strong>was</strong> Granville andyou acted as such.' This encounter took place at <strong>the</strong>Garrick Theatre. Gilbert built <strong>the</strong> Garrick Theatre as aspeculation, and leased it to his friend John Hare. To <strong>the</strong>dismay of everybody concerned, when <strong>the</strong> digg<strong>in</strong>g for <strong>the</strong>foundation had reached a certa<strong>in</strong> depth a copious spr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>was</strong> discovered, and for a while it <strong>was</strong> feared that <strong>the</strong>build<strong>in</strong>g could not be proceeded with. 'Well,' saidGilbert, with more philosophy than he usually displayed,'at least we shall be able to let <strong>the</strong> fish<strong>in</strong>g.'Gilbert's first essay <strong>in</strong> dramatic writ<strong>in</strong>g <strong>was</strong> a piececalled Dulcamara, a burlesque of <strong>the</strong> Elisir d'Amore ofDonizetti and Romani. This <strong>was</strong> produced by MissT-bert, <strong>the</strong> lessee of <strong>the</strong> St James's Theatre <strong>in</strong> 1868.Jierbert had <strong>in</strong>vited Robertson to furnish her withiristmas enterta<strong>in</strong>ment, but his hands were too fullHow of his accept<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> job, so he begged her toist <strong>the</strong> commission to Gilbert, <strong>in</strong> whom he had a firmef. Miss Herbert acted on Robertson's advice, andit came to pass that what Byron did for Robertson,bertson <strong>was</strong> able to do for Gilbert. In nei<strong>the</strong>r case, ase younger Robertson observes <strong>in</strong> his Recollections ofhis fa<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>was</strong> judgment at fault. But, with Robertsonto <strong>the</strong> fore at <strong>the</strong> Pr<strong>in</strong>ce of Wales's as <strong>the</strong> author oforig<strong>in</strong>al work, Gilbert <strong>was</strong> not content to follow up <strong>the</strong>success of Dulcamara with pieces of <strong>the</strong> same order; and<strong>in</strong> 1870 <strong>the</strong> first of his fairy comedies—The Palace of

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