When Dr. Liddel was headmaster at St. Peter's College he was in the habit of superintending the rehearsals of the Westminster Play. A story is told against him that when one of his pupils had to simulate intoxication, he proposed that the amateur should

Dr. Liddel is reported to have observed,

In those distant days there used, I believe, to be a beverage called behind the scenes at , and the would-be reveller drank deeply -too deeply-of this stimulant to keep up his courage. As a consequence, when he appeared in the drunken scene the performance was remarkably realistic, but scarcely redolent of So the story goes. No doubt the tale properly belongs to the collection of Benjamin Trovato.

An amateur actor, who still adorns the boards- but now on rare occasions-was accustomed to take his directions from Dr. Liddel with adequate respect, and then play his part at night after the model of the late Mr. Wright and the present Mr. Toole. My friend the waiter the other day gave a particularly original rendering of his part.

I asked, referring to one of his

" Oh, dear no,"

It was rather a dangerous expedient, but on the occasion to which I refer success attended the experiment. It was one of those rare instances where the end justified the means.