, by
always tossing up a copper as soon as they had retired, and abiding by
the result of the throw.

One word in a more serious vein. I wish to express, in closing, my
profound gratification that my efforts to do my duty simply and
industriously should have met with your approval, and my gratitude for
its public and spontaneous expression. [Applause.]

LORD LYTTON

(SIR EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON)

MACREADY AND THE ENGLISH STAGE

[Speech of Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton at a public dinner given to William
C. Macready, London, March 1, 1851, on the occasion of the tragedian's
withdrawal from the stage. Lord Lytton, in proposing the toast of the
evening, delivered the following speech.]

GENTLEMEN:--When I glance through this vast hall, and feel how
weak and indistinct is my voice, I feel that I must frankly throw myself
upon your indulgence, and entreat your most patient and courteous
attention while I approach that subject which unites to-day an assembly
so remarkable for the numbers and distinction of those who compose it.
We are met to do honor to an eminent man, who retires into private life
after those services to the public which are most felt at the moment we
are about to lose them. There are many among you far better qualified
than I am to speak critically of the merits of Mr. Macready as an actor,
but placed as I am in this chair, I feel that I should justly disappoint
you if I did not seek to give some utterance to those sentiments of
admiration of which you have made me the representative.

Gentlemen, this morning I read in one of the literary journals, some
qualifying remarks as to the degree of Mr. Macready's genius; and now,
as I recognize here many who are devoted to literature and art, I will
ask them if I am not right in this doctrine--that the true measure of
the genius of an artist is the degree of excellence to which he brings
the art that he cultivates. Judge of Mr. Macready by this test, and how
great is that genius that will delight us no more; for it is because it
has so achieved what I will call the symmetry of art that its height and
its breadth have been often forgotten. We know that it is the uneven
and irregular surface that strikes us as the largest, and the dimensions
of a genius, like those of a building, are lost in the justness of its
proportions; and therefore it is that in recalling the surpassing
excellence of our guest as an artistical performer, one is really at a
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