WILLIAM S. GILBERT.
If the name of the author of Pinafore were as widely known as is his work, William S. Gilbert would be one of the most celebrated of living persons. This gentleman, to whom we owe that delightful comic opera, is forty-five years of age, and a lawyer by profession, though he does not now practice law. Unlike "Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.," Mr. Gilbert does not "stick close to his desk," but does "go to sea." In fact, he wrote a great deal of Pinafore on board the yacht Pleione, of which he is the owner and captain, and doubtless "a right good captain, too." He has a companion who never leaves him, whose name is Roy. Roy, of course, is a dog, and besides being a dog he is also a capital sailor, for his master never goes to sea without him.
It must not be supposed that when Mr. Gilbert and his friend Arthur Sullivan have finished their opera, and placed it in the theatre manager's hands, their work is done. If you were to call at Mr. Gilbert's house while an opera is in preparation at the theatre, you might find him in his library, with two or three other persons, having a private performance on their own account.
These are actors who have proved themselves so dull in learning the business of their parts that, rather than have the performance injured by poor acting, the author is giving them private instruction. For besides being the inventor and author of Pinafore, the Pirates, and Patience, Mr. Gilbert designs all the costumes and scenery, drills the actors, and is as particular about everything on the stage being ship-shape as if he were really the captain of a man-of-war.
In addition to the operas named above, Mr. Gilbert has written The Sorcerer, and Trial by Jury, several plays, and The Bab Ballads, a book of most delightful nonsense. It may seem an easy thing to make people laugh, but the author of Pinafore really works very hard. It is pleasant to think, however, that hard work agrees with him, for it certainly does not spoil his good-humor.
[A LITTLE FAIRY.]
BY MRS. M. E. SANGSTER.
We have a little fairy,
Who flits about the house,
As gleeful as a cricket,
As quiet as a mouse.
She brings papa his slippers,
She runs up stairs and down,
The dearest little fairy
In all the busy town.