the day time they were taken in the evening."
Mr. Burnand as "Mephistopheles."
Mr. Burnand told with great gusto of his interview with the Vice-Chancellor for permission for the first performance.
The worthy Vice-Chancellor was in a hurry, as he had to attend a "meeting of the Heads." Was it a Greek play? Good gracious, no; it was "Box and Cox." After the query as to the Greek drama, young Burnand was afraid to tell him the title, and therefore merely said, "We are thinking of playing a little piece by Mr. Maddison Morton."
"Fellow of Trinity?" asked the Vice-Chancellor.
He was not.
"Um! And you propose acting a play written by Mr. Morton, who is not a Fellow of Trinity? What is the name?"
"Box and Cox," replied the undergrad.
Fortunately time prevented the Vice-Chancellor from asking if Box and Cox were Fellows of Trinity, and he went forth and laid the matter before "the Heads." The permission was denied. But Mr. Burnand and his fellow Thespians were not to be put down by the Heads. They got a couple of rooms at "The Hoop Hotel," and after having ladders placed handy for escape in case the college authorities got wind of the occurrence, a start was made. From that day the club has remained one of the most successful of all amateur societies. Here is the first programme:—
| A. D. C. | |
| This evening will be presented | |
| A FAST TRAIN!! HIGH PRESSURE!! EXPRESS!! | |
| Colonel Jack Delaware | Mr. G. Seymour. |
| Griffin | Mr. Tom Pierce. |
| Biffin | Mr. A. Herbert. |
| To be followed by | |
| DID YOU EVER SEND YOUR WIFE TO CAMBERWELL? | |
| Chesterfield Honeybun | Mr. Tom Pierce. |
| Crank | Mr. W. Smith. |
| Mrs. Houghton | Mr. C. Digby. |
| Mrs. Crank | Mr. T. King. |
| Mrs. Jewell | Mr. R. Johnson. |
| To conclude with the Burlesque Tragic Opera, | |
| BOMBASTES FURIOSO. | |
| Artaxominous (King of Utopia) | Mr. Tom Pierce. |
| Fusbos | Mr. T. King |
| General Bombastes | Mr. James Beale. |
| Distaffina | Mr. C. Digby. |
| Army, Courtiers, &c. | |
| Acting Manager—Tom Pierce, Esq. | |
| Stage Manager—N. Yates, Esq. | |
| Prompter—J. Stepherd, Esq. | |
| Scenery and Appointments by S. J. E. Jones, Esq. | |
Many of these names were noms de théâtre. Mr. A. Herbert was General FitzGerald, whilst Mr. Tom Pierce was Mr. F. C. Burnand. It was under the name of "Tom Pierce" that he wrote many successful plays. The portraits reproduced in these pages show Mr. Burnand in many of the characters which he played at Cambridge—as Popple, in "In for a Holyday"; as Mephistopheles, in "Alonzo the Brave"; as Jumbo, in "Turkish Waters"; as Rumtifoozle; and as the Ex-Chicken, with Mr. Quinton Twiss—a celebrated amateur—as Benjamin Bobbin, in "B. B.," a farce written by Mr. F. C. Burnand in conjunction with Mr. Montagu Williams. Mr. Burnand still has the MS. of the original plot of "Alonzo the Brave," produced at Cambridge.
"Well," Mr. Burnand continued, in his happiest mood, "I took my degree, and left
