ABSTRACT
The morning performance at this theatre, announced by Mr. Smith, in his grandiloquent style, as “A National Demonstration in aid of the wives and children of the British soldiers sent as an expeditionary force,” took place yesterday. Mr. Smith deserves much credit for his benevolence and public spirit; and he had the satisfaction of accomplishing his object very successfully. The performance was under the immediate patronage of the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, and several of the civic authorities, who honoured the occasion by attending in state; and there was, besides, a long list of ladies patronesses, which included the names of the Duchess of Cambridge, the Princess Mary, the Lady Mayoress, and many of the most illustrious members of the aristocracy. A number of policemen kept order in the purlieus of the theatre, and every part of the house filled with quietness and regularity. The stage-box, by means of a projecting balcony, was formed into a box of state, in which the civic magnates took their places amid great applause.
