THE GLOBE THEATRE.

Licensed by the Lord Chamberlain to Mr. F. MAITLAND, 26½, Newcastle Street.

Under the Management of

MRS. BERNARD-BEERE.

On SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11th, 1882,
WILL BE PRODUCED
A NEW AND ORIGINAL RUSTIC DRAMA, IN PROSE,
BY
ALFRED TENNYSON (POET LAUREATE),
ENTITLED, THE
PROMISE OF MAY,
IN THREE ACTS.

THE WHOLE PRODUCED UNDER THe MANAGEMENT OF

MR. CHARLES KELLY.

At 8.45 BY

THE PROMISE OF MAY. ALFRED TENNYSON.
The town lay still in the
low sun-light,		Farmer DobsonMr. CHARLES KELLY.But a red fire woke
in the heart of
the town,
EdgarMr. HERMANN VEZIN.
Farmer Steer, Dora's FatherMr. H. CAMERON.
Mr. Wilson, a Schoolmaster Mr. E. T. MARCH.
The hen cluct late by
the white farm gate,		James }{Mr. H. HALLEY.And a fox from the
glen ran away
with the hen,
Dan Smith }{Mr. C. MEDWIN.
Higgins } Farm Labourers {Mr. A. PHILLIPS.
The maid to her dairy came
in from the cow,		Jackson }{Mr. G. STEPHENS.And a cat to the cream, and a
rat to the cheese,
Allen }{Mr. H. E. RUSSELL.
The stock-dove coo'd at
the fall of night,		Dora SteerMrs. BERNARD-BEERE.And the stock-dove
coo'd till a
kite dropped down,
Eva, her SisterMISS EMMELINE ORMSBY.
By permission of Mr. Wilson Barrett.
The blossom had open'd on
every bough.		Sally} Farm Servants.{Miss ALEXES LEIGHTON.And a salt wind burnt the
blossoming trees.
Milly}{Miss MAGGIE HUNT.
The whole produced under the direction of
O joy for the promise of May,
of May.		Mr. CHARLES KELLY.O grief for the
promise of May,
of May,
ACT I.—STEER'S FARM.
O joy for the promise of May.Six years are supposed to have elapsed between Acts 1 & 2.O grief for the promise of
May. TENNYSON.
ACT II.—THE BRIDGE BY THE HAY FIELD.
ACT III.—THE UPPER HALL IN STEER'S FARM.
Music composed by Mr. HAMILTON CLARKE.
Dances arranged by Mr. J. D'AUBAN.
Rustic Dresses by Mrs. NETTLESHIP.
Scenery by Messrs. HANN, SPONG, & PERKINS.
Acting-Manager—Mr. CHARLES J. ABUD.

Assuming that Mrs. Bernard-Beere, as Dora Steer, speaks these lines, we have the counterpart of the villainously seductive Earl in Philip Edgar, a thankless part, which was admirably played by Mr. Hermann Vezin. This Edgar, having ruined and abandoned one sister, returns, after an interval of five or six years, to the scene of his former conquest, and lays siege to the heart of the other sister; confidentially informing the audience that he intends to marry Dora as an atonement for the injuries he has inflicted on the luckless Eva. The shouts of derisive laughter with which this announcement (the culmination of absurdity), was met on the first night, led Mr. Hermann Vezin to somewhat modify his language on the following evenings, but he was still compelled to inflict on the audience the most tedious and extraordinary soliloquies touching Communism, Free-love, Agnosticism, and other wholly undramatic topics. For Tennyson had, with characteristic bigotry, chosen to assume that a Freethinker must necessarily be a villain; and with a view of generally condemning opinions distasteful to him, had burdened poor Edgar with the task of proclaiming himself at once as a seducer, a hypocrite, a liar, a coward, a Freethinker, an Agnostic, a Secularist, a Democrat—and all this in speeches of a contradictory and decidedly tiresome description.

On the third representation of the drama the Marquis of Queensberry, who occupied a seat in the stalls, rose, and loudly protested against the Laureate's misrepresentation of the principles of freethought as a gross caricature, especially in regard to Edgar's sentiments about the law of marriage.

He subsequently addressed a letter to The Globe, containing the following explanation:—