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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A History of Pantomime, by R. J. Broadbent
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A History of Pantomime
+
+Author: R. J. Broadbent
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2004  [eBook #13469]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Linda Cantoni, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME
+
+by
+
+R. J. BROADBENT
+
+Author of "STAGE WHISPERS," etc.
+
+LONDON:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+WILLIAM WADE, ESQUIRE.
+
+This book is dedicated as a small token of the
+Author's esteem and regard.
+
+R.J.B.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+One of the most important factors in the making of Theatrical History
+has been that of Pantomime, yet in many of the published works dealing
+with the History of the Stage it has, with the exception of a passing
+reference here and there, been much neglected.
+
+It is with a view of conveying to the reading public some little, and,
+perhaps, new information about this ancient form of entertainment that I
+am tempted to issue this History of Pantomime in the hope and belief
+that it may not only prove interesting, but also instructive, to all
+lovers of the Stage.
+
+R.J.B.
+
+Liverpool, December, 1901.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Origin of Pantomime
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Origin of Tragedy and Comedy--Mythology--The meaning of
+the word Pantomime--The origin of Harlequin, Columbine,
+Clown, and Pantaloon--Grecian Mythology--Transformation
+Scenes--The rise of Grecian Tragedy and Comedy--The
+Satirical Drama
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+The origin of the Indian Drama--Aryan Mythology--Clown
+and Columbine--Origin of the Chinese Drama--Inception
+of the Japanese Drama--The Siamese Drama--Dramatic
+performances of the South Sea Islanders, Peruvians,
+Aztecs, Zulus, and Fijis--The Egyptian Drama
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+"Dancing," _i.e._ Pantomime--Grecian Dancing and Pantomimic
+Scenes--Aristotle--Homer--Dances common to
+both Greeks and Romans
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Thespis--The Progress of Tragedy and Comedy--Aeschylus--The
+Epopée--Homer--Sophocles--Euripides--Grecian
+Mimes--The First Athenian Theatre--Scenery
+and Effects
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Roman Theatres--Description--"Deadheads"--Pantomime
+in Italy--Livius Andronicus--_Fabulae Atellanae_--Extemporal
+Comedy--Origin of the Masque, Opera, and
+Vaudeville--Origin of the term Histrionic--Etruscans--Popularity
+of Pantomime in Italy--Pantomimists banished
+by Trajan--Nero as a Mime--Pylades and Bathyllus--Subjects
+chosen for the Roman Pantomimes--The Ballet--The
+_Mimi_ and _Pantomimi_--_Archimimus_--Vespasian--Harlequin--"Mr.
+Punch"--Zany, how the word originated--Ancient
+Masks--Lucian, Cassiodorus, and Demetrius
+in praise of Pantomime--A celebrated _Mima_--Pantomimes
+denounced by early writers--The purity of the
+English stage contrasted with that of the Grecian and
+Roman--Female parts on the Grecian and Roman stages--The
+principal Roman _Mimas_--The origin of the Clown
+of the early English Drama
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into Britain--First
+English reference to the word Pantomime--The
+fall of the Roman Empire--The sacred play--Cornish
+Amphitheatres--Pantomimical and Lyrical elements in
+the sacrifice of the Mass--Christian banishment of the
+_Mimis_--Penalties imposed by the Church--St. Anthony
+on Harlequin and Punch--Vandenhoff--what we owe to
+the _Mimis_
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Pantomime in the English Mystery or Miracle Plays and
+Pageants--A retrospect of the Early Drama--Mysteries
+on Biblical events--Chester, Coventry, York, and Towneley
+Mystery Plays--Plays in Churches--Traces of the
+Mystery Play in England in the Nineteenth Century--Mystery
+Plays on the Continent--The Chester series of
+Plays--The Devil or Clown and the _Exodiarii_ and
+_Emboliariae_ of the Ancient Mimes
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+The Clown or Fool of the early English Drama--Moralities--The
+Interlude--The rise of English Tragedy and
+Comedy--"Dumb Shews" in the Old Plays--Plays
+suppressed by Elizabeth--A retrospect
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+The Italian Masque--The Masque in England--First
+appearance in this country of Harlequin--Joe Haines as
+Harlequin--Marlowe's "Faustus"--A Curious Play--The
+Italian Harlequin--Colley Cibber, Penkethman--Shakespeare's
+Burlesques of the Masque--Decline of the Masque
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Italian Pantomime--Riccoboni--Broom's "Antipodes"--Gherardi--Extemporal
+Comedies--Salvator Rosa--Impromptu Acting
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Pantomimical Characters--Neapolitan Pantomime--The
+Harlequin Family--The Original Characters in the
+Italian Pantomimes--Celebrated Harlequins--Italian
+and French Harlequins--A French view of the English
+Clown--Pierrots' origin--Pantaloon, how the name has
+been derived--Columbine--Marionette and Puppet Shows
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Italian Scenarios and English "Platts"--Pantaloon--Tarleton,
+the Clown--Extemporal Comedy--The Poet
+Milton--Ben Jonson--The Commonwealth--"A Reign
+of Dramatic Terror"--Robert Cox and his "Humours"
+and "Drolleries"--The Restoration
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Introduction of Pantomimes to the English Stage--Weaver's
+"History of the Mimes and Pantomimes"--Weaver's
+Pantomimes--The prejudice against Pantomimes--Booth's
+counsel
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+John Rich and his Pantomimes--Rich's Miming--Garrick,
+Walpole, Foote--Anecdotes of Rich--Pope--The dance
+of internals in "Harlequin Sorcerer"--Drury Lane--Colley
+Cibber--Henry Fielding, the Novelist--Contemporary
+Writers' opinion of Pantomime--Woodward, the
+Harlequin--The meaning of the word Actor--Harlequins--"Dr.
+Faustus," a description--William
+Rufus Chetwood--Accidents--Vandermere, the Harlequin--"Orpheus
+and Eurydice" at Covent Garden--A
+description--Sam. Hoole, the machinist--Prejudice
+against Pantomime--Mrs. Oldfield--Robert Wilks--Macklin--Riot
+at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre--Death of Rich
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Joseph Grimaldi
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Plots of the old form of Pantomimes--A description of
+"Harlequin and the Ogress; or the Sleeping
+Beauty of the Wood," produced at Covent Garden--Grimaldi,
+_Père et Fils_--Tom Ellar, the Harlequin, and
+Barnes, the Pantaloon--An account of the first production
+of the "House that Jack built," at Covent Garden--Spectacular
+display--Antiquity and Origin of some
+Pantomimic devices--Devoto, Angelo, and French, the
+Scenic Artists--Transparencies--Beverley--Transformation
+Scenes
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Pantomimic Families--Giuseppe Grimaldi--James Byrne,
+the Harlequin and Inventor of the modern Harlequin's
+dress--Joseph Grimaldi, Junior--The Bologna Family--Tom
+Ellar--The Ridgways--The Bradburys--The
+Montgomerys--The Paynes--The Marshalls--Charles
+and Richard Stilt--Richard Flexmore--Tom Gray--The
+Paulos--Dubois--Arthur and Charles Leclerq--"Jimmy"
+Barnes--Famous Pantaloons--Miss Farren--Mrs.
+Siddons--Columbines--Notable Actors in Pantomime
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Popular Pantomime subjects--Poor Pantomime Librettos--Pantomime
+subjects of our progenitors--The various
+versions of "Aladdin"--"The Babes in the Wood"--"Blue
+Beard"--"Beauty and the Beast"--"Cinderella"--"Dick
+Whittington"--"The House that Jack Built"--"Jack
+the Giant Killer"--"Jack and the Beanstalk"--"Red
+Riding-Hood"--"The Sleeping Beauty in the
+Wood"--Unlucky subjects--"Ali Baba and the Forty
+Thieves"--"The Fair One with Golden Locks"--The
+source of "Sindbad the Sailor" and "Robinson Crusoe"
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Pantomime in America
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+Pantomimes made more attractive--The Restrictive Policy
+of the Patent Houses--"Mother Goose" and "George
+Barnwell" at Covent Garden--Lively Audiences--"Jane
+Shore"--"Harlequin Pat and Harlequin Bat"--"The
+first speaking opening"--Extravagence in Extravaganzas--The
+doom of the old form of Pantomime--Its
+revival in a new form--A piece of pure Pantomime--Present
+day Mimetic Art--"_L'Enfant Prodigue_"--A
+retrospect--The old with the new, and conclusion
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Origin of Pantomime.
+
+
+From the beginning of all time there has been implanted in the human
+breast the Dramatic instinct full of life and of vigour, and finding
+undoubtedly its outlet, in the early days of civilization, if not in the
+Dramatic Art then in the poetry of motion with that necessary and always
+essential concomitant of both--Pantomime. Indeed, of the Terpsichorean
+Art, it has been truly observed "That deprived of the imitative
+principle (_i.e._, Pantomime), the strength, the mute expression, it
+becomes nothing but a series of cadenced steps, interesting merely as a
+graceful exercise." Equally so in every way does it apply to the
+Dramatic Art, which minus its acting, its gestures--in a word, its
+Pantomime--we have nothing but, to quote Hamlet, "Words, words, words."
+
+In observing "That all the world's a stage, and the men and women merely
+players," Shakespeare doubtless included in the generic term "players,"
+Pantomimists as well: Inasmuch as this, that when, and wherever a
+character is portrayed, or represented, be it in real life or on the
+stage--"Nature's looking-glass," and the world in miniature--the words
+that the individual or the character speaks, are accompanied with
+gesture and motion, or, in other words, Pantomime, when "The action is
+suited to the word, the word to the action."
+
+To trace the original origin of Pantomime, or Mimicry, we must go to
+Nature herself where we can find this practised by her from the
+beginning of all time as freely, and as fully, as ever it was, or ever
+will be, upon the stages of our theatres. What better evidence, or
+instances, of this can we have than in those studies of her handiwork?
+as the larger species of caterpillars, when, by stretching themselves
+out in imitation of, and to make their foes think that they are snakes;
+tigers and lions choosing a background in keeping with, and in imitation
+of, the colours of their bodies, in order to seize their unwary prey;
+and for the same purpose crocodiles imitating a rotting log; the green
+tint of the lizard's skin for the sake of concealment; the playful
+imitativeness of the mocking bird; the hysterical laugh of the hyaena;
+the gaudy colours of tropical snakes imitated by others, besides many
+other examples of Mimicry, in such as butterflies of the species
+_Danaidae_ and _Acraediae_, the _Heliconidiae_ of tropical America; and
+hornets, wasps, ants, and bees. All this, it may be urged, is only
+instinct. True; but is it not also Mimicry--the Pantomime of Nature,
+and, though, of course, of a different kind, and for very different
+objects, is, nevertheless, of a kind of instinctive Pantomime or Mimicry
+which each and every one of us possesses in greater or lesser degrees,
+and as much as we do the Dramatic instinct.
+
+The very name Pantomime itself signifies Nature as Pan was amongst the
+Ancients, the allegorical god of Nature, the shepherd of Arcadia, and
+with _Mimos_, meaning an imitator, we have, in the combination of these
+two words, "an imitator of Nature," and from whence we derive the origin
+of our word Pantomime.
+
+Dryden says:--
+
+    "Pan taught to join with wax unequal reeds;
+    Pan loves the shepherds and the flocks he feeds."
+
+"Pan," says Servius, "is a rustic god, formed in similitude of Nature,
+whence he is called Pan, _i.e._, All: for he has horns in similitude of
+the rays of the sun and the horns of the moon; his face is as ruddy as
+the imitation of the aether; he has a spotted fawn skin on his breast in
+likeness of the stars; his lower parts are shaggy on account of the
+trees, shrubs, and wild beasts; he has goat's feet to denote the
+stability of the earth; he has a pipe of seven reeds on account of the
+harmony of the heavens, in which there are seven sounds; he has a crook,
+that is a curved staff, on account of the year, which runs back on
+itself _because he is the god of all Nature_."
+
+Bernardin de St. Pierre observes of Pantomime, "That it was the first
+language of man; it is known to all nations; and is so natural and so
+expressive that the children of white parents learn it rapidly when they
+see it used by the negroes."
+
+Of the Pantomimic language--a universal language and common to the whole
+world from time immemorial--Charles Darwin says in his "Descent of Man,"
+that "The intellectual and social faculties of man could hardly have
+been inferior in any extreme degree to those now possessed by the
+lowest savage; otherwise primeval man could not have been so eminently
+successful in the struggle for life as proved by his early and wide
+diffusion. From the fundamental differences between certain languages
+some philologists have inferred that, when man first became widely
+diffused, he was not a speaking animal; but it may be suspected that
+languages, far less perfect than any now spoken, _aided by gestures_,
+might have been used, and yet have left no traces on subsequent and more
+highly-developed tongues."
+
+With the progress of, and also as an aid to, civilization how could the
+traveller or the trader, not only in the beginning of time, but also
+now, when occasion demands, in their intercourse with foreign nations
+(unless, of course, they know the language) make themselves understood,
+or be able to trade, unless they were or are able to use that "dumb
+silent language"--Pantomime? Civilization undoubtedly owes much of its
+progress to it, and, also the world at large, to this only and always
+universal language. To both the deaf, as well as the dumb, its
+advantages have ever been apparent.
+
+Therefore, from prehistoric times, and from the beginning of the world,
+we may presume to have had in some form or another, the Pantomimic Art.
+In the lower stages of humanity, even in our own times, there is, in all
+probability, a close similarity to the savagedom of mankind in the early
+Antediluvian period as "This is shown (says Darwin) by the pleasure
+which they all take in dancing, rude music, painting, tattooing, and
+otherwise decorating themselves--in their mutual comprehension of
+_gesture language_, and by the same inarticulate cries, when they are
+excited by various emotions." It naturally follows that even if there
+was only dancing, there must necessarily, as a form of entertainment,
+have also been Pantomime. Again, all savage tribes have a war-dance of
+some description, in which in fighting costume they invariably go
+through, in Pantomimic form, the respective movements of the Challenge,
+the Conflict, the Pursuit, and the Defeat, whilst other members of the
+tribe, both men and women, give additional stimulus to these
+representations by a rude form of music.
+
+The Ostyak tribe of Northern Asia give us a specimen of the rude
+imitative dances of early civilization in a Pantomimic exhibition of the
+Chase; the gambols and habits of the wolf and other wild beasts. The
+Pantomimic dances of the Kamchadales are in imitation of birds, dogs,
+and bears; and the Damaras represent, by four of the tribe stooping down
+with their heads together, and uttering harsh cries, the movements of
+oxen, and of sheep. The Australian Bushmen Mimic the leaping of calves,
+the antics of the baboon, and the buzzing of swarms of bees. Primitive
+Pantomimic dancing is practised amongst the South Sea Islanders, and
+other races, and just as it was, presumably, at the beginning of the
+world.
+
+Having briefly traced the origin of Pantomime, and the source of
+dancing, let us, in order to further amplify my subject, look at also
+for a moment the origin of music, in the time of prehistoric man.
+
+From Nature also do we derive this art, as "The sighing of the wind
+passing over a bed of reeds is Nature's first suggestion of breath," and
+of music. The clapping of hands and the stamping of feet is man's first
+element in the making of music, which developed itself into the
+formation of drums, bells, and cymbals, and the evolution of the same
+primary principle.
+
+It has been argued, and also ridiculously pretended, that in the
+Antediluvian period mankind only lived in caves with the hairy mammoth,
+the cave bear, the rhinoceros, and the hyaena, in a state of barbarous
+savagery; and that only since the Deluge have the Arts been known and
+cities built on this terrestrial sphere of ours. Could anything be more
+fallacious?
+
+We know, from the Bible, that the first man was created about six
+thousand years ago, and some sixteen hundred and fifty-six years
+afterwards the inhabitants of the world, with the exception of Noah and
+his family, consisting of eight souls all told, were destroyed by the
+flood. Noah and his family, we can take it, were of the same race of
+mankind then on the earth, of the same descent and of the same flesh and
+blood (as we all are) of our common father and mother, Adam and Eve; yet
+we are not told that Noah (he was six hundred years old when he went
+into the Ark) and his family were savages. In the 4th chapter, 21st
+verse of Genesis, of Jubal-Cain, we learn that "He was the father of all
+such as handle the harp and organ"; and in the following verse,
+Tubal-Cain is described as "An instructor of every artificer in brass
+and iron."
+
+We learn, also, that magnificent statues were made in Egypt some six
+thousand years ago; and that mention is made of a statue of King
+Cephren, said to have been chiselled about this period, and many learned
+men also affirm that letters were known to the inhabitants of the
+Antediluvian world. All this, however, hardly looks like the work of a
+barbarous race, and points to an acquaintance with the Arts, at any rate
+of Music and Sculpture, and that of the artificers and workers in brass
+and iron.
+
+To follow, for my subject, this reasoning a little further, if there was
+music (which, doubtless, there was) there must also have been dancing,
+and, if dancing, there must, in the Antediluvian age, as a form of
+entertainment, have also been Pantomime. On the other hand, even
+supposing that man, at this period, was nothing else but a complete
+savage, the words of Darwin, that I have quoted on a previous page,
+conclusively proves, I think (on a common-sense like basis), of the
+existence of dancing, a rude form of music, and, of course, Pantomime at
+this epoch.
+
+Ingersoll's doctrine was that "The distance from savagery to Shakespeare
+must be measured not by hundreds, but by millions, of years."
+
+Finally, why, and for what reason, should the Lord God, in His
+all-seeing goodness and mercy, punish the inhabitants of the
+Antediluvian world if they were only poor unenlightened savages? Was it
+not because they were idolaters and worshippers of idols, "And that
+every imagination of the thoughts of his (man's) heart was only evil
+continually," as the sixth chapter and fifth verse of Genesis tells us?
+This then being so, we know also that in every ancient form of religion
+dancing was one of the acts of worship, and if dancing, there must as
+previously stated, have also been Pantomime.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Origin of Tragedy and Comedy--Mythology--The meaning of the word
+Pantomime--The origin of Harlequin, Columbine, Clown, and
+Pantaloon--Grecian Mythology--Transformation Scenes--The rise of Grecian
+Tragedy and Comedy--The Satirical Drama.
+
+
+In the year 2347 B.C., in Chapter 9, verse 20, in Genesis, there occurs:
+"And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard." This is
+one of the first acts that Noah did after the Deluge, and it is, as
+history tells us, from the rites and ceremonies in celebration of the
+cultivation of the vine, that we owe the origin of Tragedy and Comedy.
+
+After the Deluge God placed His bow in the heavens as His covenant with
+man that the world should no more be accursed; and in the first ages of
+this world's history, Noah and his descendants celebrated their
+deliverance from the Ark, the return of the seasons, and the promise of
+plenty in their several religious rites and ceremonies. The children of
+Shem had in general Asia as their portion; Japhet had Europe; and Ham,
+Africa.
+
+Soon, however, religion began to lose its purity, and it then began to
+degenerate very fast. Men began to repair to the tops of mountains,
+lonely caves and grottoes, where they thought resided their gods. To
+honour them they erected altars and performed their vows. Amongst the
+Ancients their Mythology went no further than the epoch of the Deluge,
+and in honour of which, and also of the Ark, they erected many temples
+called Aren, Theba, Argus (from whence was probably derived the Argo of
+the Argonauts, and the sacred ship of Osiris), Cibotus, Toleus, and
+Baris.
+
+The symbol by which the Mythologists represented the Ark was an immense
+egg. This was supposed to have been produced by Ether and Chaos, at the
+bidding of Time, the one ethereal being who created the universe. By Nox
+(Night) the egg was hatched, which, being opened into two parts, from
+the upper part was formed heaven, and the lower earth.
+
+In the sacred rites of Osiris, Isis, and the Dionysia of Bacchus, the
+Ark or Ship was introduced. The Dove, by many nations, in their
+celebrations, was looked upon as a special emblem of peace and
+good-will. Theba, in Egypt, was originally one of the temples dedicated
+to the Ark. Both priests and sooth-sayers were styled Ionah or Doves. To
+Dodona, in Epirus, was brought this and the first Grecian oracle all the
+rites and history of the Thebans. The priestesses of this temple were
+known in the Latin as _Columbae_. It is from this word that we derive
+the name Columbine, which means, in the Italian, "little dove." Homer
+alludes to the priestesses as doves, and that they administered to Zeuth
+(Noah). Nonnus speaks of Cadmus, and others of Orpheus, as introducing
+into Greece the rites of Dionysus or Bacchus.
+
+The Ancients, mentions Kennedy in his work on "Mythology," have highly
+reverenced Noah, and designated him as Noa, Noos, Nous, Nus, Nusas,
+Nusus (in India), Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, Osiris, Prometheus,
+Deucalion, Atlas, Deus, Zeus, and Dios. Dios was one of the most ancient
+terms for Noah, and whence was derived Deus--Nusus compounded of Dios
+and Nusos, which gives us Dionysus, the Bacchus of the Greeks, and the
+chief god of the heathen world. Bacchus was, properly speaking, Cush
+(the son of Ham, and grandson of Noah), though both Dionysus and Bacchus
+are, by ancient writers, frequently confounded with one another.
+
+The resting of the Ark upon Mount Baris, Minyas, the Ararat of Moses in
+Armenia, the dispersal of the flood, the multiplication of the families
+of the earth, and the migration from the plains of Shinar of the
+descendants of the sons of Chus or Cush (as it is sometimes written),
+and called Chushites or Cushites, to different parts of the world, being
+joined by other nations, particularly those of the descendants of Ham,
+one of the sons of Noah. They were the first apostates from the truth,
+but being great in worldly wisdom and knowledge they were thought to be,
+and looked upon as a superior class of beings. Ham they looked upon as a
+divinity, and under the name of Ammon they worshipped him as the Sun,
+and Chus likewise as Apollo, a name which was also bestowed by the
+Ancients upon Noah. The worship of the sun in all probability originated
+the eastern position in our churches.
+
+Another of the ancient deities worshipped by the Ammonians was Meed, or
+Meet, the Cybele of the Phrygians, the nurse of Dionysus, and the Soul
+of the World.
+
+Nimrod, the "mighty hunter" (who possessed the regions of Babylonia and
+Chaldee), and one of the sons of Cush, was the builder of that seminary
+of idolatory the City and Tower of Bel, and erected in honour of the god
+Bel, and another name for the sun. Upon the confusion of tongues when
+hitherto "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech," it
+came to be known as Babylon, "The City of Confusion." Homer introduces
+Orion (Nimrod) as a giant and a hunter in the shades below, and the
+author of the "Pascal Chronicles" mentions that Nimrod taught the
+Assyrians or Babylonians to worship fire. The priests of Ammon, named
+Petor or Pator, used to dance round a large fire, which they affected in
+their dancing to describe. Probably from this the Dervish dances all
+over the East may be traced to this source.
+
+Kennedy observes, of the confusion of tongues at Babel, that it was only
+a labial failure, so that the people could not articulate. It was not an
+aberration in words or language, but a failure and incapacity in labial
+utterance. Epiphanius says that Babel, or Babylon, was the first city
+built after the flood.
+
+The Cushites were a large and numerous body, and after their dispersion
+from Babylon they were scattered "Abroad upon the face of the earth."
+They were the same people who imparted their rites and religious
+services into Egypt, as far as the Indus and the Ganges, and still
+further into Japan and China. From this event is to be discovered the
+fable of the flight of the Grecian god Bacchus, the fabulous wanderings
+of Osiris, and the same god under another name, of the Egyptians.
+Wherever Dionysus, Osiris, or Bacchus went, the Ancients say that he
+taught the cultivation of the soil, and the planting of the vine.
+Dionysus, Bacchus, or Osiris, as I have shown in a preceding page, were
+only other designations for Noah.
+
+Of the Hindu heathen deity, Vishnu, Father Boushet mentions an Indian
+tradition, concerning a flood which covered the whole earth, when Vishnu
+made a raft, and, being turned into a fish, steered it with his tail.
+Vishnu, like Dagon, was represented under the figure of a man and fish.
+
+Strangely enough, the regions said to have been traversed by Dionysus,
+Osiris, or Bacchus were, at different times, passed through by the
+posterity of Ham, and in many of them they took up their residence. In
+his journeyings the chief attendants of Osiris, or Bacchus, were Pan,
+Anabis, Macedo, the Muses, the Satyrs, and Bacchic women were all in his
+retinue. The people of India claim him as their own, and maintain that
+he was born at Nusa in their country. Arrian speaks of the Nuseans as
+being the attendants of Dionysus. In all traditions Dionysus appears as
+the representative of some power of Nature.
+
+The first who reduced Mythology to a kind of system were, in all
+probability, the Egyptians. Egypt was ever the land of graven images,
+and under the veil of Allegory and Mythology the priests concealed
+religion from the eyes of the vulgar. In the beginning, brute animals
+and certain vegetables were represented as the visible symbols of the
+deities to which they were consecrated. Hence Jupiter Ammon was
+represented under the figure of a Ram; Apis under a Cow; Osiris of a
+Bull; Mercury or Thol of an Ibis; Diana or Babastis of a Cat; and Pan of
+a Goat. From these sources are derived the fabulous transformation of
+the gods celebrated in Egyptian Mythology, and afterwards imported into
+Greece and Italy to serve as the subjects of the Grecian and Roman
+Pantomimes.
+
+Pantomime as we now know the term, means, not only the Art of acting in
+dumb show, but also that of a spectacle or Christmas entertainment. (I
+may add in parenthesis, that in the early part of the last century--the
+nineteenth--the dictionaries only refer to Pantomime as meaning the
+former of the above two definitions, and not the latter.)
+
+Pan, regarded as the symbol of the universe, was also the god of flocks,
+pastures, and shepherds in classic Mythology, and the guardian of bees,
+hunting and fishing in his Kingdom of Arcadia. His form, like the
+Satyrs, both supposed to have been the offsprings of Mercury, was that
+of a man combined with a goat, having horns and feet like the latter
+animal.
+
+_Mimos_ (Gr.), as I have stated in the beginning, means an "imitator,"
+or a "mimic," and from which word we have the derivation of the words
+"mimicry," "mimetic," and the like.
+
+Pan was the traditional inventor of the Pandean pipes, and also from
+his name we derive many words that are in our language, such as "panic"
+(Pan used to delight in suddenly surprising the shepherds whilst tending
+their flocks), and the other attributes of this noun, including that
+recently coined term of the Americans, "panicy."
+
+Pan is said to have been the son of Mercury, or even Mercury himself,
+and others say that he was the son of Zeus. Mercury and Zeus, it will be
+remembered in Mythology, were only names for Noah. Pan is unnoticed by
+Homer.
+
+A heathen deity of Italy, Lupercus, the guardian of their flocks and
+pastures, has also been identified with Pan, and in whose honour annual
+rural festivals, known as Lupercalia, were observed.
+
+The Lupercalian festivals were held on the 15th of the Kalends of March.
+The priests, Luperci, used to dance naked through the streets as part of
+the ceremonies attached to the festival.
+
+Mention has been made by Dr. Clarke, in his "Travels," Vol. IV., that
+Harlequin is the god Mercury, with his short sword _herpe_, or his rod,
+the _caduceus_ (which has been likened to the sceptre of Judah), to
+render himself invisible, and to transport himself from one end of the
+earth to the other, and that the covering on his head, the winged cap,
+was the _petasus_. Apropos of this, the following lines in the tenth
+Ode, of the first book of Horace, will probably occur to the reader:
+
+    "Mercury! Atlas' smooth-tongued boy, whose will
+      First trained to speed our wildest earliest race,
+    And gave their rough hewn forms with supple skill
+      The gymnast's grace.
+
+    "'Tis thine the unbodied spirits of the blessed,
+      To guide to bliss, and with thy _golden rod_
+    To rule the shades; above, below, caressed
+      By every god."
+
+Mercury, as we have seen, was among the Ancients, only another name for
+Noah. "Indeed," says Dr. Clarke, "some of the representations of Mercury
+upon ancient vases are actually taken from the scenic exhibitions of the
+Grecian theatre; and that these exhibitions were also the prototypes
+whereon D'Hancarville shows Mercury, Momus, and Psyche delineated as we
+see Harlequin, Columbine, and Clown on our stages. The old man
+(Pantaloon), is Charon (the ferryman of hell). The Clown is Momus, the
+buffoon of heaven, the god of raillery and wit, and whose large gaping
+mouth is in imitation of the ancient masks."
+
+Amongst the Aryans, Medians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Babylonians, and
+other nations (including our own, as did not Lilly predict the execution
+of Charles I., the plague, the great fire of London, and other events)
+was astrology practised. The Egyptians peopled the constellation of the
+Zodiac (the first open book for mankind to read), with Genii, and one of
+the twelve Zodiacal signs was Aries (the Ram). The ram is of the same
+species as the goat, and the god Pan was the Goat god, as we know. The
+astrologers, in their divinations and rulings of the planets placed the
+various parts of the body under a planetary influence. The head and face
+were assigned to the house of Aries, and therefore the face notably for
+the Pantomimic Art was placed by the ancient astrologers under the
+influence of this particular planet.
+
+The heathen worship of Pan was not only known in Arcadia, but also
+throughout Greece, although it did not reach Athens until after
+Marathon.
+
+Of Pan's death Plutarch tells the story that in the reign of Tiberius,
+one Thamus, a pilot, visiting the islands of Paxae, was told of this
+god's death. When he reached Palodes he told the news, whereupon loud
+and great lamentations were heard, as of Nature herself expressing her
+grief. The epoch of the story coincides with the enactment of that grim,
+and the world's greatest tragedy on the hill of Golgotha, and the end,
+and the beginning of a new world. Rabelais, Milton, Schiller, and also
+Mrs. Browning, have allusions to this story of Plutarch's.
+
+The ambitious family of the Titans (the bones of the "giants on the
+earth" before the Deluge, gave rise to the stories of the Titans found
+in caves), and their scions and coadjutors Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Mercury,
+Apollo, Diana, Bacchus, Minerva, or Pallas, Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto,
+and Neptune furnish by far the greatest part of the Mythology of Greece.
+Tradition says that they left Phoenicia about the time of Moses to
+settle in Crete, and from thence they made their way into Greece, which
+was supposed at that time to be inhabited by a race of savages. The arts
+and inventions were communicated to the natives, and the blessings of
+civilization in process of time inspired the inhabitants with
+admiration. They, therefore, relinquished worshipping the luminary and
+heavenly bodies, and transferred their devotion to their benefactors.
+Then into existence sprang the most inconsistent and irreconcilable
+fictions. The deified mortals, with their foibles and frailities, were
+transmitted to posterity in the most glorious manner possible, and hence
+accordingly, in both the Odyssey and the Iliad of Homer, we have a
+strange and heterogeneous mixture of what is not only mighty in heroes,
+but also that which is equally mean.
+
+In the Grecian Mythology the labours of Hercules, the expedition of
+Osiris, the wanderings and transformation of Io, the fable of the
+conflagration of Phaeton, the rage of Proserpine, the wanderings of
+Ceres, the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Orgia, or sacred rites of Bacchus,
+in fine, the ground work of Grecian Mythology is to be traced to the
+East, from where also all our nursery tales, and also our popular
+Pantomime subjects; (which is the subject of another chapter) perhaps,
+with the exception of our own "Robinson Crusoe," originated.
+
+The nine Muses called Pierides in Grecian Mythology were the daughters
+of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (Memory), supposed to preside over the liberal
+Arts and the sciences. They were Calliope (Heroic Poetry), Clio Euterpe
+(Music), Erato (Love Poetry), Melpomene (Tragedy), Polyhymnia (Muse of
+Singing and Rhetoric), Terpsichore (Dancing), Thalia (Comedy), and
+Urania (Astronomy). Mount Parnassus, Mount Helicon, and the fountains of
+Castalia and Aganippe were the sacred places of the Muses.
+
+The Eleusinian Mysteries are of a period that may be likened to the 7th
+century B.C., and at these Mysteries as many as 30,000 persons, in the
+time of Herodotus, assembled to witness them. The attributes of these
+Grecian Mysteries, like those of the Egyptians, consisted of
+processions, sacrificial offerings, purifications, dances, and all that
+the Mimetic and the other Arts could convey; add to this the various
+coloured lights, and the fairy-like grandeur of the whole, we have
+something that may be likened to the Transformation, and other
+fairy-like scenes of English Pantomimes and Extravaganzas.
+
+At the Orgia, or sacred rites of Bacchus, the customary sacrifice to be
+offered, because it fed on vines, was the goat. The vine, ivy, laurel,
+asphodel, the dolphin, lynx, tiger, and ass were all sacred to Bacchus.
+The acceptable sacrifice to Venus was a dove; Jupiter, a bull; an ox of
+five years old, ram or boar pig to Neptune; and Diana, a stag. At the
+inception of the Bacchanalian festivals in Greece, the tragic song of
+the Goat, a sacred hymn was sung, and from which rude beginning sprang
+the Tragedy and Comedy of Greece. The Greeks place every event as
+happening in their country, and it is not surprising that they claim for
+themselves the inception of Tragedy and Comedy, which they undoubtedly
+were the originators of in Greece, but the religious festivals of
+Dionysus, Osiris, and Bacchus, to which we are supposed to owe the
+inception of Tragedy and Comedy, were known long before the Greeks knew
+them. (Dionysus was the patron and protector of theatres.) "The purport
+of the song was that Bacchus imparted his secret of the cultivation of
+vines to a petty prince in Attica, named Icarius, who happened one day
+to espy a goat brouzing upon his plantations, immediately seized, and
+offered it up as a sacrifice to his divine benefactor; the peasants
+assembled round their master, assisted in the ceremony, and expressed
+their joy and gratitude in music, songs, dances, and Pantomime on the
+occasion; the sacrifice grew into a festival, and the festival into an
+annual solemnity, attended most probably every year with additional
+circumstances, when the countrymen flocked together in crowds, and sang
+in rustic strains the praises of their favourite deity."
+
+Amongst the reported followers of these Bacchanalian festivals were
+those fabulous race of grotesque sylvan beings, previously referred to,
+known as the Satyrs. They were of a sturdy frame, in features they had
+broad snub noses, and appeared in rough skins of animals with large
+pointed ears, heavy knots on their foreheads, and a small tail. The
+elder Satyrs were known as Sileni. The younger were more pleasing and
+not so grotesque or repulsive in appearance as the elder Satyrs. To the
+Satyrs can be traced the variegated dress of the modern Harlequin, as in
+ancient Greek history mention is made of the performers enacting Satyrs
+being sometimes habited in a tiger's skin of various colours, which
+encircled the performer's body tightly, and who carried a wooden sword,
+wore a white hat, and a brown mask. According to Servius (as we have
+seen) Pan had also a bright spotted dress "in likeness of the stars."
+
+From these rustic festivals originated the Satyr, or Satirical Drama, as
+did its Italian prototype, the _Fabulae Atellanae_ or, _Laudi Osci_.
+These rural sacrifices became, in process of time, a solemn fast, and
+assumed all the pomp and splendour of a religious ceremony; poets were
+employed by the magistrate to compose hymns, or songs, for the occasion;
+such was the rudeness and simplicity of the age that their bards
+contended for a prize, which, as Horace intimates, was scarce worth
+contending for, being no more than a goat or skin of wine, which was
+given to the happy poet who acquitted himself best in the task assigned
+him.
+
+From such small beginnings Tragedy and Comedy took their rise; and like
+(as the best writers on these subjects tell us) every other production
+of human art, extremely contemptible; that wide and deep stream, which
+flows with such strength and rapidity through cultivated Greece, took
+its rise from a small and inconsiderable fountain, which hides itself in
+the recesses of antiquity, and is almost buried in oblivion; the name
+alone remains to give us some light into its original nature, and to
+inform us, that Tragedy and Comedy, like every other species of poetry,
+owe their birth to Religion.
+
+Appropriately does Horace observe:--
+
+    "Nor was the flute at first with silver bound,
+    Nor rivalled emulous the trumpet's sound;
+    Few were its notes, its forms were simply plain,
+    Yet not unuseful was its feeble strain,
+    To aid the chorus, and their songs to raise,
+    Filling the little theatre with ease,
+    To which a thin and pious audience came
+    Of frugal manners, and unsullied fame."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+The origin of the Indian Drama--Aryan Mythology--Clown and
+Columbine--Origin of the Chinese Drama--Inception of the Japanese
+Drama--The Siamese Drama--Dramatic performances of the South Sea
+Islanders, Peruvians, Aztecs, Zulus, and Fijis--The Egyptian Drama.
+
+
+Of the Indian Drama we learn that the union of music, song, dance, and
+Pantomime took place centuries ago B.C., at the festivals of the native
+gods, to which was afterwards added dialogue, and long before the
+advent, out of which it grew, of the native drama itself.
+
+The progenitors of the Indo-European race, the Aryans--in Sanscrit
+meaning Agriculturists--who crossed the Indus from Amoo, where they
+dwelt near the Oxus, some two thousand years before Christ, were the
+original ancestors and people of India.
+
+The Aryan race (Hindus and Persians only speak of themselves as Aryans)
+laid the foundation of the Grecian and Roman Mythology, the dark and
+more sombre legends of the Scandinavian and the Teuton; and all derived
+from the various names grouped round the Sun god, which in the lighter
+themes the Aryans associated with the rising and the setting of the sun,
+in all its heavenly glory, and with the sombre legends the coming of the
+winter, and marking the difference between lightness and darkness.
+
+In India the origin of dramatic entertainments has been attributed to
+the sage Bharata (meaning an actor), who received, it is said, a
+communication from the god Brahma to introduce them, as the latter had
+received his knowledge of them from the Vedas. Bharata was also said to
+be the "Father of dramatic criticism." Pantomimic scenes derived from
+the heathen Mythology of Vishnu--a collection of poems and hymns on the
+Aryan religion--are even now in India occasionally enacted by the Jatras
+of the Bengalis and the Rasas of the provinces in the west, and, just as
+their forefathers did ages and ages ago. An episode from the history of
+the god Vishnu, in relation to his marriage with Laxmi, was a favourite
+subject for the early Indian Drama. Of Vedic Mythology Professor Max
+Müller observes that in it "There are no genealogies, no settled
+marriages between gods and goddesses. The father is sometimes the son,
+the brother, the husband, and she who in one hymn is the mother, is in
+another the wife. As the conceptions of the poet vary so varies the
+nature of these gods."
+
+The Hindoo dramatic writer, Babhavñti--the Indian
+Shakespeare--introduced with success in one of his dramas, like in our
+"Hamlet," "a play within a play," and much in a similar way as our early
+dramatists used in their plays, the "dumb shows."
+
+Between the native Tragedy and Comedy, as in China, there was no
+definite distinction, and, although both contained some of the best and
+noblest sentiments, yet the racial philosophy of caste enters greatly
+into the construction of each.
+
+In the Hindoo Mythology we have prototypes of the gods of the Egyptian,
+Grecian, and Roman Mythologies. The god Vishnu, who, in Aryan Mythology,
+is the wind and "Traverses the heavens in three strides," is the
+greatest of all heathen deities. His dwelling-place was "The aerial
+mountains, where the many horned and swiftly moving cattle abide." In
+Grecian Mythology Hermes or Mercury took on some of the characteristics
+of Vishnu.
+
+In the Eleusinian Mysteries of the Greeks, the signs and symbols that
+marked the worship of Vishnu by the Aryans, are apparent; and in the
+British Museum the scenes of the vases of the Hamilton collection agree
+closely with the Sacti rites of Hindustan.
+
+After having briefly noticed and introduced Vishnu or Hermes to the
+notice of the reader, we will now take another of the Aryan
+deities--See-Va, the Wine god. This myth was the Dionysus, or Bacchus,
+of the Greeks, and the expedition of this "immortal" through the world
+to instruct mankind in agriculture, is likened as well as the god
+himself by the Egyptians to their deity Osiris--the god of the Nile. The
+worship of See-Va, Bacchus, or Osiris extended over Asia Minor, Greece,
+and Italy.
+
+The visit and advent of the Wine or Pleasure god Bacchus to India, with
+his accompanying train of sylvan and rural deities, and nymphs, is
+supposed to have conquered the Hindoos, and taught them civilization,
+besides the cultivation of the vine. Strange to relate that when
+Alexander and his army reached the present Cabul they found ivy and
+wild vines (both sacred to Bacchus) growing in abundance, and they were
+met by processions dressed in parti-coloured dresses, playing on drums
+like the Bacchic festivals of Greece and Lower Asia of that time.
+
+Female parts were acted by women, but it was not a general custom; and
+the Clown of the piece was always a Brahma, or if not, at any rate a
+pupil of Brahma.
+
+Also among the minor characters was the _Vita_, "the accomplished
+companion," a part sometimes played by men and sometimes by women.
+Probably in this in the latter instance we have the origin of the
+Columbine and Soubrette part in after years of the European stage as the
+term "accomplished companion," would equally apply to both. It is only a
+surmise, yet history as we know is continually repeating itself--even in
+Soubrette parts, and in more senses than one.
+
+Of scenic displays that it possessed there was little or none, though
+the exits and entrances to the stage had probably some device to denote
+them. What they possessed in the way of properties it is more than
+useless to speculate, as, whatever could be said, could only be
+conjectural. In dressing their parts propriety in costume, and in
+adhering to the habits of the Indian Drama, seems to have been observed
+with some show of consistency.
+
+The Chinese Drama also arose from the Hindoo developing itself as time
+rolled on from Pantomimes and ballets. A very ancient Pantomime is said
+to have been symbolical of the conquest of China by Wou Wang. Others
+were on subjects of the Harvest, War, and Peace; whilst many were only
+of an obscure nature. With the rise and progress of the native drama
+about five hundred years before Christ Pantomimes fell into disrepute.
+
+It is interesting to note that one of the penal codes of the Celestial
+Empire was, that those who wrote plays with vicious, or immoral
+tendencies, should stay in "purgatory" as long as their plays were
+performed. This precept was all right in theory, but in practice it was
+more honoured in the breach than in the observance, as amongst the whole
+of the Celestial dramatic writers only one in about ten thousand seems
+to have conformed to this rule.
+
+The dramatic writers of China duly observed the question of rank and
+priority, and just as much as the native Hindoo writers observed that of
+the various phases of caste.
+
+Plays were divided into acts and scenes, and occasionally were prefixed
+by a prologue. Performances took sometimes a single day, and favourite
+plays oftentimes longer.
+
+The Japanese type of drama seems to have originally evolved itself from
+that of the Chinese, though its singing, dancing, historical, and
+Pantomimical displays are, of course, purely native.
+
+A native of Japan, though of Chinese descent, Hadu Kawatsa, at the
+close of the 6th century (A.D.) gave dramatic entertainments in Japan.
+The Japanese claim for the Pantomimical dance Sambâso as a preventative
+of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; and this dance, it is said, that
+within recent years, is used as a prelude to dramatic entertainments.
+
+Isono Zenji is thought to have been the originator of the Japanese
+Drama, but her performances were more those of the _Mima_--dancing and
+posturing.
+
+In the seventeenth century Saruwaka Kanzaburô introduced the drama
+proper into Japan by the erection, in 1624, of a theatre, and nearly
+fifty years later than the first permanent theatre that was erected
+(1576) in England.
+
+Popular historical subjects were chosen for the plays, though the names
+of the characters were transformed. Fancy plays, operas, ballets, which
+in the latter women appeared, became also very popular.
+
+Within sight of the closing years of the last century (the nineteenth),
+Japanese actors were more or less under a ban when the same was happily
+removed.
+
+Siam was content with the Indian style of dramatic and Pantomimic
+entertainments. Theatrical performances were also slightly known--though
+no regular type of drama is known--amongst the South Sea Islanders, the
+Peruvians, the Aztecs, the Zulus, and the Fijis, the two last named
+having a similar version of our popular Pantomime subject, "Jack and the
+Beanstalk."
+
+The Egyptians possessed no regular type of drama, yet in both the Books
+of Job and Ruth the dramatic element is strongly marked. At the rustic
+festivals of the native gods, as in Greece and Italy, there was,
+however, the dramatic elements of the union of song, dance, and
+Pantomime, and we are told that the priests not only studied music, but
+also taught the art to others. Again in the rites of the dead the
+Mysteries of the sepulture over the transmigration of souls, the
+dramatic element entered largely into these mystic rites and
+celebrations. Amongst the Pagan Greeks, as I have previously stated, and
+the Romans, we learn of similar celebrations, carried out with great
+pomp and ceremony, such as the apotheosis of the soul departing from its
+earthly to its heavenly abode.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+"Dancing," _i.e._ Pantomime--Grecian Dancing and Pantomimic
+Scenes--Aristotle--Homer--Dances common to both Greeks and Romans.
+
+
+In tracing the History of Pantomime it becomes a matter of considerable
+difficulty, and, as Baron, in his _Lettres sur la Danse_, observes that
+when the word Dancing occurs in an old author, that it should always be
+translated by "gesticulation," "declamation," or "Pantomime." When we
+read that an actress "danced" her part well in the tragedy of Medea,
+that a carver cut up food dancing, that Heligobalus and Caligula
+"danced" a discourse for an audience of state, we are to understand that
+they--actress, carver, and emperor--declaimed, gesticulated, made
+themselves understood in a language without words. Acting is also
+oftentimes confounded with dancing, and it is, therefore, manifestly
+impossible to distinguish now one from the other.
+
+"The Greeks," mentions Butteux, applied the term "Dancing" to all
+measured movements, even to military marching. They danced anywhere and
+everywhere; and we are told that both their limbs and bodies spoke.
+
+Cybele was supposed by the Greeks to have taught dancing on Mount Ida to
+the Corybantes, and they also say that it was in their country that
+Apollo revealed the Terpsichorean Art, and that of Music and Poetry.
+
+After all this, it is not very surprising that they make claim for the
+innovation of Pantomime. This, of course, we know is different, as we
+have seen that, from time immemorial Pantomimic scenes and dances have
+been represented. Cassiodorus attributes its institution to Philistion;
+Athenaens assigns it to Rhodamanthus, or to Palamedes.
+
+With the Greeks, Pantomimes became very popular, and they were
+distinguished by various names. Before they began their Tragedies the
+Greeks used to give a Pantomimic display. The principal Pantomimists
+were known as _Ethologues_, meaning painters of manners. One of the most
+celebrated of these Mimes was Sophron of Syracuse. In depicting the
+conduct of man so faithfully, the Pantomimes of the Greek Mimes served
+to teach and inculcate useful moral lessons. The moral philosophy of the
+Mime, Sophron, was so pure that Plato kept a book of his poems under his
+pillow when on his death-bed. Besides these Moralities, as they were
+termed, there were, in addition, light pieces of a farcical kind, in the
+portrayal of which the Mimes were equally as successful as in the other
+species.
+
+The dancing of the Greeks was an actual language, in which all
+sentiments and passages were interpreted. By the aid of the
+Terpsichorean Art, Professor Desrat says, "That the Greeks, a nation of
+heroes, trained themselves in the art of hand-to-hand combat."
+
+"Dancing," says another writer, "and imitative acting in the lower
+stages of civilization are identical, and in the sacred dances of
+ancient Greece we may trace the whole Dramatic Art of the modern world.
+The Spartans practised dancing as a gymnastic exercise, and made it
+compulsory upon all children from the age of five."
+
+And we are also told that religious processions went with song and dance
+(and, of course, Pantomime), to the Egyptian temples; the Cretan chorus
+sang hymns to the Greek gods; David danced in procession before the Ark
+of the Covenant; and that we are to "Praise the Lord with the sound of
+the trumpet, praise Him with the psaltery and the harp; praise Him with
+the timbrel and the _dance_."
+
+Aristotle speaks of Mimetic dances three hundred years before the
+Augustan era. He also says that dancers want neither poetry or music, as
+by the assistance of measure and cadence only they can imitate human
+manners, actions, and passions.
+
+Again, "Homer, describing the employment of the Delian priestesses, or
+Nuns, of the order of St. Apollo of Delos, that they were great adepts
+in the Art of Mimicry, and that part of the entertainment which they
+afforded to the numerous people of different nations; who formed their
+congregations was, as the poet expresses it, from their _being skilled
+to imitate the voices and the pulsation or measure of all nations, and
+so exactly was their song adapted that every man would think he himself
+was singing_."
+
+Homer also mentions a dance invented for Ariadne. In the midst of the
+dancers, there were two dancers who sang the adventures of Daedalus,
+supplementing their singing by gestures, and explaining in Pantomime the
+subject of the whole performance.
+
+The Pyrrhic dance of the Greeks was a sort of military Pantomime. The
+Greeks had several kinds of Pyrrhic dances, the names of which varied
+with the character of the performance.
+
+    The Hyplomachia imitated a fight with shields.
+    The Skiamachia was a battle with shadows,
+    The Monomachia was an imitation of single combat.
+
+Some of the Mimetic dances common to both Greeks and Romans were The
+Loves of Adonis and Venus, the Exploits of Ajax, the Adventures of
+Apollo, the Rape of Ganymede, the Loves of Jupiter and Danae, the Birth
+of Jupiter, Hector, the Rape of Europa, the Labours of Hercules,
+Hercules Mad, the Graces, Saturn devouring his Children, the Cybele in
+honour of Cybele, the Cyclops, the Sorrows of Niobe, the Tragic End of
+Semele, the Wars of the Titans, the Judgment of Paris, Daphne pursued by
+Apollo, the Bucolic Dance, and the Dance of Flowers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Thespis--The Progress of Tragedy and Comedy--Aeschylus--The
+Epopée--Homer--Sophocles--Euripides--Grecian Mimes--The First Athenian
+Theatre--Scenery and Effects.
+
+
+When Thespis first pointed out the tragic path, and when (as Horace
+tells us in his Odes) that "The inventor of the Art carried his vagrant
+players on a cart," by his introduction of a new personage, who relieved
+the chorus, or troop of singers, by reciting some part of a well-known
+history, or fable, which gave time for the chorus to rest. All that the
+actors repeated between the songs of the chorus was called an episode,
+or additional part, consisting often of different adventures, which had
+no connexion with each other. Thus Pantomime, the song, and the dance,
+which were at first the only performances, became gradually and
+insensibly a necessary and ornamental part of the drama.
+
+From this time, the actor, or reciter, was more attended to than the
+chorus; however, his part was executed, and it had the powerful charms
+of novelty to recommend it, and quickly obscured the lustre of the
+chorus, whose songs were now of a different nature, insomuch that the
+original subject of them, the praise of Bacchus, was by degrees either
+slightly mentioned, or totally passed over and forgotten; the priests,
+who we may suppose for a long time presided over the whole, were alarmed
+at so open a contempt of the deity, and unanimously exclaimed, that this
+was nothing to Bacchus; the contempt grew into a kind of proverbial
+saying, and as such is handed down to us.
+
+From the origin of Tragedy and Comedy, and to the days of Thespis, and
+from this time to that of Aeschylus, all is doubt, conjecture, and
+obscurity; neither Aristotle, nor any other ancient writer, gives us the
+least insight into the state and progress of the Greek Drama; the names
+of a few, and but a few, tragedians, during this dark period, are handed
+down to us; such were Epigenes, the Sicyonion, and Pratinas, who wrote
+fifty-two plays, thirty-two of which are said to be satirical. After
+Thespis, came his scholar Phrynicus, who wrote nine tragedies; for one
+of which, we are told, he was fined fifty drachmas, because he had made
+it (an odd reason) too deep, and too affecting; there was another, also
+named Phrynicus, author of two tragedies: to these must be added
+Alcaeus, Phormus, and Choeritas, together with Cephisodorus, an
+Athenian, who wrote the "Amazon," and Apollophanes, supposed to have
+been the author of a tragedy named "Daulis," though Suidas is of another
+opinion. Tragedy had, during the lives of these writers, probably made
+but a slow progress, and received but very little culture and
+improvement; when at length the great Aeschylus arose, who, from this
+rude and undigested chaos, created as it were a new world in the system
+of letters.
+
+Poets, and perhaps epic poets, there might have been before Homer (the
+latter, who, in all probability, lived within fifty years of the Fall of
+Troy--1250 B.C.). Dramatic writers there certainly were before Aeschylus
+the former notwithstanding, we may, with the utmost propriety, style the
+inventor and father of heroic poetry, and the latter of the ancient
+drama, which, before his time, does not appear to have had any
+particular form but that of Pantomime, song, and the union of song and
+dance. _Aeschylus first introduced dialogue_, that most essential part
+of tragedy, and by the addition of the second personage, threw the whole
+fable into action, and restored the chorus to its ancient dignity.
+
+Aeschylus having, like a tender parent, endowed his darling child with
+every mental accomplishment, seemed resolved that no external ornaments
+should be wanting to render her universally amiable; he clothed her,
+therefore, in the most splendid habit, and bestowed upon her everything
+that Art could produce, to heighten and improve her charms. Aeschylus,
+who being himself author, actor, and manager, took upon him the whole
+conduct of the drama, and did not neglect any part of it; he improved
+the scenery and decorations, brought his actors into a well constructed
+theatre, raised his heroes on the _cothurnus_, or buskin, invented the
+masks, and introduced splendid habits with long trains, that gave an air
+of majesty and dignity to the performers.
+
+From the time when Tragedy began to assume a regular form, we find her
+closely following the steps of epic poetry; all the parts of _epopée_,
+or heroic poem, may be traced in tragedy, though, as Aristotle observes,
+all the parts of tragedy are not to be found in the _epopée_; whence the
+partisans of the stage with some reason conclude, that perfection in the
+former is more difficult to be attained than in the latter. Without
+entering into a dispute, we may venture, however, to say that from Homer
+the tragedians drew the plan, construction, and conduct of their fables,
+and not unfrequently, the fable itself; to him they applied for
+propriety of manners, character, sentiment, and diction.
+
+From this era then, we are to consider Tragedy as an elegant and noble
+structure, built according to the rules of art, symmetry, and
+proportion; whose every part was in itself fair, firm, and compact--and
+at the same time contributed to the beauty, utility, and duration of the
+whole edifice.
+
+Sophocles and Euripides carefully studied the plan laid down by
+Aeschylus, and by their superior genius and judgment, improved it in a
+short time to its highest state of perfection, from which it gradually
+declined to the rise of the Roman Drama.
+
+Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were the three great tragic poets;
+and from the works of these three illustrious writers, and from them
+alone, we must draw all our knowledge of the ancient Greek Tragedy.
+
+Comedy, like Tragedy, owes its origin to the union of music, song,
+dance, and Pantomime; Tragedy to the dithyrambick, and Comedy to the
+phallica; and each of them (emulating Pantomime), began to form
+themselves into dramatic imitations; each studied to adopt a measure
+suited to their purpose:--Tragedy, the more lofty, chose the tetrameter;
+and comedy, which aimed at familiarity, the iambic. But, as the style of
+tragedy improved, Nature herself, says Aristotle, directed the writers
+to abandon the capering tetrameter, and to embrace that measure which
+was most accommodated to the purposes of dialogue; whence the iambic
+became the common measure of both Tragedy and Comedy.
+
+Sophocles brought on a third actor, which number was not exceeded in the
+Greek tragedies during the same scene. Horace alludes to this, "_nec
+quarta loqui persona laboret_," (Let not a fourth person strive to
+speak): but it was not observed in comedy. Players of second parts were
+obliged to speak so low as not to drown the voice of the chief actor.
+Tyrants were always played by subalterns. The women were only dancers
+(and Pantomimists). Female parts were performed by eunuchs.
+
+On the Grecian stage, those performers who devoted themselves entirely
+to the Art of Miming originally came from Sicily and southern Italy,
+though the exact period is difficult to determine with any degree of
+certainty.
+
+The figures of tragic or comic actors were known by the long and strait
+sleeves which they wore. The servants in comedy, below the dress with
+strait sleeves, had a short cassock with half-sleeves. That the
+characters might be distinguished (a difficulty in this respect arising
+from the size of the theatres) parasites carried a short truncheon; the
+rural deities, shepherds, and peasants, the crook; heralds and
+ambassadors, the _caduceus_; kings, a long, straight sceptre; heroes, a
+club, etc. The tunic of tragic actors descended to the heels, and was
+called _palla_. They generally carried a long staff or an erect sceptre.
+They who represented old men, leaned upon a long and crooked staff.
+
+The first Greek theatre at Athens (says Fosbroke, in his "Antiquities,")
+was a temporary structure of boards, removed after the performances were
+closed. This fashion continued till the erection of the theatre of
+Bacchus, at Athens, which served as a model for the others. The Greek
+theatre was no more than a concave sweep, scooped out of the hollow side
+of a hill, generally facing the sea. The sweep was filled with seats,
+rising above each other, and ascended by staircases, placed like the
+_radii_ of a circle. This semi-circular form was adopted not merely for
+convenience of vision, but for an aid to the sound. This range for
+spectators was called the _coilon_ or hollow. The area below was the
+_conistra_, or pit. There was no superstructure for a gallery, but
+around the rim of the building were porticos, by which the spectators
+entered, and whither they could retire, if it rained. The portico just
+about the highest corridor, or lobby, was denominated the _cercys_, and
+used by the women. Where is now the orchestra, was a platform, called
+by that name; and here, among the Greeks, were stationed the musicians;
+chorus and Mimes; among the Romans, the Emperor, Senate, and other
+persons of quality. Seven feet above the orchestra, and eleven above the
+_conistra_, or pit, was the front stage, or proscenium, upon which stood
+an altar to Apollo. Here the principal actors performed, and the site of
+the altar was devoted to the dances (of the Mimes) and songs of the
+chorus. The part called the _scena_ was in line with the ornamental
+columns, upon the sides of the stage.
+
+The ancient scenery at first consisted of mere boughs, but afterwards of
+tapestry, not painted canvas. The Greek stage consisted of three parts,
+the _scena_, across the theatre, upon the line of the curtain in our
+theatres; the proscenium, where the actors performed; and the
+post-scenium, the part behind the house, before-mentioned. To form parts
+of the scenes there were prisms of framework, turning upon pivots, upon
+each face of which was strained a distinct picture, one for tragedy,
+consisting of large buildings, with columns, statues, and other
+corresponding ornaments; a second face, with houses, windows, and
+balconies, for comedy; a third applied to farce, with cottages,
+grottoes, and rural scenes. There were the _scenae versatiles_ of
+Servius. Besides these, there were _scenae ductiles_, which drew
+backwards and forwards, and opened a view of the house, which was built
+upon the stage, and contained apartments for machinery, or retirement
+for the actors. As to the patterns of the scenes, in comedy, the most
+considerable building was in the centre; that on the right side was a
+little less elevated, and that on the left generally represented an inn.
+In the satirical pieces they had always a cave in the middle, a wretched
+cabin on the right, and on the left an old ruined temple, or some
+landscape. In these representations perspective was observed for
+Vitruvius remarks (C. 8) that the rules of it were invented and
+practised from the time of Aeschylus, by a painter named Agararchus, who
+has even left a treatise upon it. After the downfall of the Roman
+Empire, these decorations of the stage were neglected, till Peruzzi, a
+Siennese, who died in 1536, revived them.
+
+There were three entries in front, and two on the sides; the middle
+entry (termed the Royal door) was always that of the principal actor;
+thus, in tragedy, it was commonly the gate of a palace. Those on the
+right and left were destined to the second-part players, and the two
+others, on the sides, one to people from the country, the other to those
+from the harbour, or any public place.
+
+Pollux informs us, that there were trap-doors for ghosts, furies, and
+the infernal deities. Some under the doors, on one side, introduced the
+rural deities, and on the other the marine. The ascents or descents were
+managed by cords, wheels, and counter-weights. Of these machines none
+were more common than those which descended from heaven in the end of
+the play, in which the gods came to extricate the poet in the
+_denouement_. The kinds were chiefly three; some conveyed the performer
+across the theatre in the air; by others, the gods descended on the
+stage; and a third contrivance, elevated, or supported in the air,
+persons who seemed to fly, from which accidents often happened. (It is
+from this that the well-known phrase "_Deus ex machina_" has its
+origin.) As the ancient theatres were larger than ours, and unroofed,
+there was no wheel-work aloft, but the performer was elevated by a sort
+of crane, of which the beam was above the stage; and turning upon
+itself, whilst the counter-weight made the actor descend or ascend,
+caused him to describe curves, jointly composed of the circular motion
+of the crane, and the vertical ascent. The _anapesmata_ were cords for
+the sudden appearance of furies, when fastened to the lowest steps; and
+to the ascension of rivers, when attached to the stage. The
+_ceraunoscopium_ was a kind of moveable tower, whence Jupiter darted
+lightning, supposed to be the Greek fire, as in Ajax Oielus. The machine
+for thunder (_bronton_) was a brazen vase, concealed under the stage, in
+which they rolled stones. Festus calls it the Claudian thunder, from
+Claudius Pulcher, the inventor. The most dreadful machines were,
+however, the _pegmata_ (a general term also for all the machines), which
+first consisted of scaffolds in stories, &c. These first exhibited
+criminals fighting at the top, and then, dropping to pieces,
+precipitated them to the lower story, to be torn to pieces by wild
+beasts. Sometimes they were for vomiting flames, &c. The _theologium_
+was a place more elevated than the stage, where the gods stood and
+spoke, and the machines which held them rested.
+
+The seats of the spectators were divided into stories, each containing
+seven rows of seats, with two passages (_praecinctiones_) around them
+above and below. Small staircases divided the seats into sections,
+called _cunei_, and ended in a gate at the top, which communicated with
+passages (the _vomitoriae_) for admission.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Roman Theatres--Description--"Deadheads"--Pantomime in Italy--Livius
+Andronicus--_Fabulae Atellanae_--Extemporal Comedy--Origin of the
+Masque, Opera, and Vaudeville--Origin of the term
+Histrionic--Etruscans--Popularity of Pantomime in Italy--Pantomimists
+banished by Trajan--Nero as a Mime--Pylades and Bathyllus--Subjects
+chosen for the Roman Pantomimes--The Ballet--The _Mimi_ and
+_Pantomimi_--_Archimimus_--Vespasian--Harlequin--"Mr. Punch"--Zany, how
+the word originated--Ancient Masks--Lucian, Cassiodorus, and Demetrius
+in praise of Pantomime--A celebrated _Mima_--Pantomimes denounced by
+early writers--The purity of the English stage contrasted with that of
+the Grecian and Roman--Female parts on the Grecian and Roman stages--The
+principal Roman _Mimas_--The origin of the Clown of the early English
+Drama.
+
+
+The Roman theatres (continues Fosbroke) were of a similar D form. Two
+lofty arched doorways entered into the pit. In front of the stage, which
+was very shallow, was a pew-like orchestra. The proscenium was very
+narrow, and instead of a drop scene was the _elisium_, a house, narrow,
+with a kind of bow window front in the centre, and a door on each side:
+for Pollux says that a house with two stories formed part of the stage,
+whence old women and panders used to look down and peep about them.
+Within the house were apartments. Around the back of the stage was a
+_porticus_. At Herculaneum, on a balustrade which divided the orchestra
+from the stage, was found a row of statues, and on each side of the
+_pulpitum_, an equestrian figure. Below the theatre (great and small)
+was a large square constructed, says Vitruvius, for the reception of the
+audience in bad weather. It consisted of Doric columns, around an open
+area, forming an ample portico for this purpose, whilst under it were
+arranged _cellae_, or apartments, amongst which were a soap manufactory,
+oil mill, corn mill, and prison. An inner _logia_ was connected with a
+suite of apartments. There was also an _exedra_, or recess.
+
+Among the Romans, theatrical approbation was signified by an artificial
+musical kind of noise, made by the audience to express satisfaction.
+There were three species of applause denominated from the different
+noises made in them, viz.: _Bombus_, _Imbrius_, and _Testae_.
+
+First, a confused din, made either by the hands or mouth. The second and
+third, by beating on a sort of sounding vessel placed in the theatres
+for that purpose. Persons were instructed to give applause with
+skill--and there were even masters who professed to teach the art. The
+proficients in this way let themselves out for hire to the poets,
+actors, &c., and were so disposed as to support a loud applause. These
+they called _Laudicena_. At the end of the play, a loud peal of applause
+was expected, and even asked of the audience either by the chorus or by
+the person who spoke last. The formula was "_Spectatore Claudite_," or
+"_Valete et Plaudite_." The applauders were divided into _Chori_, and
+disposed in theatres opposite to each other, like the choristers in
+cathedrals, so that there was a kind of concert of applause. The free
+admission tickets were small ivory death's heads, and specimens of these
+are to be seen in the Museum of Naples. From this custom, it is stated,
+that we derive our word "Deadhead," as denoting one who has a free
+entrance to places of amusement.
+
+With the dawn of the Roman Empire, Pantomime, in Italy, is first
+authentically mentioned. The Emperor Augustus always displayed great
+favour to the Art, and even by some writers he has been credited with
+being the originator of Pantomime. This, of course, as we have seen, is
+impossible, and to use a familiar and trite saying, the Pantomimic Art
+is "as old as the hills" themselves. Again, Bathyllus and Pylades (both
+freed slaves, the former born in Cilicia, and the latter came from
+Alexandria), and Hylas, the principal exponents of Pantomime during the
+reign of Augustus, have also been credited with the honour of
+originating Pantomime.
+
+The early Roman entertainments only consisted of the military and sacred
+dances, and the scenes in the circus. With the advent of the arts of
+Greece the austerity hitherto practised by the Romans, which had arisen,
+says Duray, "Much more from poverty than conviction," for "Two or three
+generations had sufficed to change a city which had only known meagre
+festivities and rustic delights into the home of revelry and pleasure."
+
+With the Romans, in their Pantomimic entertainments, the whole gamut of
+the emotions were gone through.
+
+When the Greek drama was brought into Rome by Livius Andronicus, the
+_Fabulae Atellanae_, or _Laudi Osci_--derived from the town of Atella,
+in Campania, between Capua and Naples--was still employed to furnish the
+Interludes, and just in a similar way as the _Satyra_ Extemporal
+Interludes supplied the Grecian stage. None of these Atellan Farces
+have been committed to us, but Cicero, in a letter to his friend
+Papyrius Paetus, speaks of them as the "More delicate burlesque of the
+old Atellan Farces." From them also, we derive the Extemporal Comedy, or
+_Comedia del' Arte_ of Italy (afterwards to be noted), with its
+characters, Harlequin, Clown, Pierrot, and the like, associated with
+English and Italian Pantomime, and the progenitor also of all those
+light forms of entertainment known as the Masque, the Opera, and the
+Vaudeville. On English dramatic literature the Italian Extemporal
+Comedies and their Pantomimical characters have also had a considerable
+amount of influence.
+
+Livy mentions that actors were sent for (_circa_ 364 B.C.) from Etruria,
+who, without verses or any action expressive of verses, danced not
+ungracefully, after the Tuscan manner to the flute. In process of time
+the Roman youth began to imitate these dancers intermixing raillery with
+unpolished verses, their gestures corresponding with the sense of the
+words. Thus were these plays received at Rome, and being improved and
+refined by frequent performance the Roman actors acquired the name of
+_Histriones_, from the Etruscan _Hister_, meaning a dancer or a stage
+player. (From this we obtain our words histrion and histrionic). But
+their dialogue did not consist of unpremeditated and coarse jests in
+such rude verses as were used by the _Fescennini_, but of satires,
+accompanied with music set to the flute, recited with suitable gestures.
+After satires, which had afforded the people subject of coarse mirth
+and laughter, were, by this regulation, reduced to form and acting, by
+degrees became an art, the Roman youth left it to players by profession,
+and began, as formerly, to act farces at the end of their regular
+pieces. These dramas were called _Exodia_, and were generally woven with
+the _Atellanae_ Comedies. These were borrowed from the Osci, and were
+always acted by the Roman youth. Tacitus speaks of _Atellanae_ Comedies
+written in the spirit and language of the Osci having been acted in his
+time.
+
+It is thought that the Etruscans possessed histories, poems, and dramas,
+and, if these, then certainly they knew the Pantomimic Art, out of
+which, in all probability, their dramatic entertainments grew. To the
+Etruscans the Romans owe their early civilization.
+
+The Etruscan era is supposed to have commenced about 1044 B.C., and we
+are told that the Etruscans shared with the Greeks, and the Phoenicians,
+the maritime supremacy of the Mediterranean. In the sepulchral chambers
+of the Necropolis of Tarquinii, which extends for many miles, there are
+several scenes painted in the archaic style by the Etruscans,
+representing the Chase, the Circus, and Dancing Girls.
+
+Soon after its innovation among the Romans, Pantomime spread all over
+Italy and the provinces. So attractive did it become in Rome, and so
+popular, that Tiberius issued a decree forbidding the knights and nobles
+to frequent their houses of entertainment, or to be seen walking in the
+streets with them. Trajan also oppressed and banished the Pantomimists.
+Under Caligula, however, they were received with great favour, and
+Aurelius made them priests of Apollo. Nero, who carried everything to
+the extremity of foolishness, was not content in patronising the
+Pantomimes, but must needs assist, and appear himself, as a _Mimi_. Here
+again, in Nero, another claimant as the author of Pantomime has been put
+forward.
+
+"So great (observes Gaston Vuillier, in his 'History of Dancing,') was
+the admiration for Pylades and Bathyllus that the theatrical supporters
+clothed themselves in different liveries, and broils in the public
+streets were of frequent occurrence." "The rivalries of Pylades and
+Bathyllus," says De Laulnaye, "occupied the Romans as much as the
+gravest affairs of state. Every citizen was a Bathyllian or a Pyladian."
+Augustus reproved Pylades on one occasion for his quarrels with
+Bathyllus. The Mime retorted, "It is well for you that the people are
+engrossed by our disputes; their attention is thus diverted from your
+actions." A bold retort, but it shows how important these Mimes were.
+The banishment of Pylades brought about an insurrection, and the Emperor
+had to recall him.
+
+Cassius attributes the disgrace of Pylades to the intrigues of
+Bathyllus, Suetonius to his effrontery; for on one occasion, when acting
+Hercules, annoyed by the criticism of the spectators, he tore off his
+mask, and shouted to them: "Fools, I am acting a madman." They thought
+his gestures too extravagant. Another time he shot off arrows amongst
+the spectators. Amongst other privileges extended by the Emperor
+Augustus to the _Mimis_ was being exempt from magisterial control and
+immunity from military serving.
+
+The subjects chosen for the Roman Pantomimes, like those of the Grecian
+mysteries, from which they doubtless were borrowed, were of a
+Mythological description, and they were of such a nature that the
+audience could follow them easily, even if they were not already
+previously acquainted with them. Between the Roman Pantomime, and the
+Western _ballet d'action_, there is hardly any difference. The Romans
+always liked to see their stages well peopled; and to help in the action
+of their Pantomimes, a chorus accompanied with music, formed part of the
+entertainment. The _Mimis and Mimas_, like the ballet of the present
+day, provided the dances in addition to their Pantomimic Art of posing
+and posturing.
+
+Mr. Isaac Disraeli, in his work, "Curiosities of Literature," edited by
+the late Earl of Beaconsfield, thus distinguishes between the _Mimi_ and
+the _Pantomimi_ of the Ancients. The _Mimi_ were an impudent race of
+buffoons who excelled in mimicry, and like our domestic fools, were
+admitted into convivial parties to entertain the guests. Their powers
+enabled them to perform a more extraordinary office; for they appear to
+have been introduced into funerals to mimic the person, and even the
+language of the deceased. Suetonius describes an _archimimus_
+accompanying the funeral of Vespasian. This _archimimus_ performed his
+part admirably, not only representing the person, but imitating,
+according to custom, _ut est mos_, the manners and language of the
+living Emperor. He contrived a happy stroke at the prevailing foible of
+Vespasian, when he enquired the cost of all this funeral pomp--"Ten
+million of sesterces!" On this he observed that if they would give him
+but a hundred thousand they might throw his body into the Tiber.
+
+The _Pantomimi_ were quite of a different class. They were tragic
+actors, and usually mute; they combined the arts of gesture, music, and
+dances of the most impressive character. Their silent language has often
+drawn tears by the pathetic emotions they excited; "Their very nod
+speaks, their hands talk, and their fingers have a voice," says one of
+their admirers.
+
+These Pantomimists seem to have been held in great honour. The tragic
+and the comic masks were among the ornaments of the sepulchral monuments
+of an _Archmime_ and a _Pantomimi_. Montfaucon conjectures that they
+formed a select fraternity.
+
+The parti-coloured hero (Harlequin), with every part of his dress, has
+been drawn out of the greatest wardrobe of antiquity; he was a Roman
+Mime. Harlequin is described with his shaven head (_rasis capitibus_);
+his sooty face (_fuligine faciem abducti_); his flat unshod feet,
+(_planipedes_), and his patched coat of many colours, (_Mimi
+centunculo_). Even _Pulcinello_, whom we familiarly call "Punch," may
+receive, like other personages of no great importance, all his dignity
+from antiquity; one of his Roman ancestors having appeared to an
+antiquary's visionary eye in a bronze statue; more than one erudite
+dissertation authenticates the family likeness; the nose long, prominent
+and hooked; the staring goggle eyes; the hump at his back, and at his
+breast; in a word, all the character which so strongly marks the Punch
+race, as distinctly as whole dynasties have been featured by the
+Austrian lip and the Bourbon nose.
+
+The genealogy of the whole family is confirmed by the general term which
+includes them all: in English, Zany; in Italian, _Zanni_; in the Latin,
+_Sannio_; and a passage in "Cicero _De Oratore_," paints Harlequin and
+his brother gesticulators after the life; the perpetual trembling motion
+of their limbs, their ludicrous and flexible gestures, and all the
+mimicry of their faces: "_Quid enim potest tam ridiculum quam Sannio
+esse? Qui ore vultu, imitandis motibus, voce, denique corpore ridetur
+ipso._" Lib II., Sect. 51. ("For what has more of the ludicrous than
+Sannio? Who, with his mouth, his face, imitating every motion with his
+voice, and, indeed, with all his body, provokes laughter.")
+
+The Latin Sannio was changed by the Italians into (as Ainsworth
+explains) Zanni, as, in words like Smyrna and Sambuco, they change the
+s into z, which gives Zmyrna and Zambuco, and hence we derive our word
+Zany. The word is, however, originally obtained from the Greek _Sannos_
+(observes Quadrio), from whence the Latins derived their _Sannio_.
+
+From the size of the ancient theatres it was not possible to notice the
+visage of the actors, and this was one, but not the only reason, why
+masks were adopted. The Ancients did not like a character to be
+attempted, to which a proper appropriation was not annexed, and these
+masks were so contrived, that the profile on one side exhibited chagrin,
+and on the other serenity, or whatever other passion was most required.
+The actor thus, according to the part he was playing, presented the side
+of the mask best suited to the passage which he was reciting. The large
+mouths of these masks were presumed to have contained some bronze
+instrument suited to assist the voice, upon the principle of the
+speaking trumpet; for the mask was wider, and the recitation in tragedy
+much louder than in comedy, so that the voice might be heard all over
+the theatre. The masks of the dancers were of regular features.
+
+By some it has been contended that these masks covered both the head and
+the shoulders under the supposed idea that when the head was thus
+enlarged it would throw the whole body into symmetry when raised upon
+stilts. It has, also, been argued that the masks for some of the
+characters were made of gold-beaters skin, or some transparent substance
+just covering the face so that the facial muscles could be seen through
+it, and the eyes, mouth, and ears being left uncovered. These masks,
+however, delineated very carefully the features of the character that
+were to be represented. Something not unlike the huge Pantomime masks of
+a hideous and frightful shape that we sometimes see in our present day
+Pantomimes must have appeared, especially those that covered the head
+and shoulders of the _Mimis_ in the days of the Romans. Those that were
+just of the size of the face in all probability were fantastic and
+picturesque; and the third and remaining species of mask made of a
+transparent substance could hardly have been very effective.
+
+Mr. Wright tells us, in his book on the Chester Mystery plays (which
+work I shall again refer to later on), that masks were used in the
+Mystery series of plays acted in England during the thirteenth and
+fourteenth centuries.
+
+Julius Pollux is still more ample in his account of theatrical masks
+used in Tragedy, Satyr, and Comedy. Niobe weeping, Medea furious, Ajax
+astonished, and Hercules enraged. In Comedy, the slave, the parasite,
+the clown, the captain, the old woman, the harlot, the austere old man,
+the debauched young man, the prodigal, the prudent young woman, the
+matron, and the father of a family, were all constantly characterised by
+particular masks.
+
+Lucian and the other writers of the Augustan era, have handed down to us
+sufficient information to show how Pantomime in Rome was so highly
+thought of. Cassiodorous, speaking of them, says:--"Men whose eloquent
+hands had a tongue, as it were, on the tip of each finger--men who spoke
+while they were silent, and knew how to make a recital without opening
+their mouths--men, in short, whom Polyhymnia had formed in order to show
+that there was no necessity for articulation in order to convey our
+thoughts." Demetrius, a cynic philosopher, laughed at the Romans for
+permitting so strange an entertainment; but having been, with much
+difficulty, prevailed upon to be present at the representation of one of
+them, he was confounded with wonder. The story represented was that of
+Mars and Venus, the whole performed by a single actor, who described the
+fable in _dumb show_. At length the philosopher, wrought up to the
+highest pitch of admiration, exclaimed, "That the actor _had no occasion
+for a tongue, he spoke so well with his hands_."
+
+Of one Pontus, who had come on a visit to Nero, we are told that he was
+present at a performance, in the course of which a favourite Mime gave a
+representation of the Labours of Hercules. The Mime's gestures were so
+precise that he could follow the action without the slightest
+hesitation. Being struck by the performance, on taking leave he begged
+Nero to give him the actor, explaining that there was a barbarous tribe
+adjoining his dominions, whose language no one could learn, and that
+Pantomime could express his intentions to them so faithfully by gestures
+that they would at once understand.
+
+The dress of the performers of Pantomime was made to reveal, and not to
+conceal, their figures. After the second century women began to act in
+their representations, and even down to the sixth century we find them
+associating themselves with Pantomime, and mention is made of a
+celebrated _Mima_, who was ultimately raised to the imperial throne.
+Through the lewdness of the _Mimis_ and _mimas_ in Pantomime, their
+dress, or rather lack of dress, Pantomimes were denounced, not only by
+the early Christian writers, but also by some of the Pagan writers, like
+Juvenal, as being very prejudicial to morality.
+
+It has, however, always been a favourite topic of the Prynne's, the
+Jeremy Collier's and the Dr. Style's, and such like opponents of the
+theatre, to contrast the English stage with the purity of the Grecian
+and Roman Theatres. Now, without stopping to enquire whether this has
+any particular connection with the subject of their dissertations, or
+whether it is not in fact quite irrelevant to the question, it is
+impossible not to remark the crass ignorance which these assertions
+display of the manners and customs of the theatres of either the Greeks
+or the Romans. Without wearying the reader by entering into a long
+discussion upon the subject, it will be sufficient to recall certain
+passages in Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plautus, and Terence to induce them
+to hesitate in assenting to such vague assertions of the purity of
+either the Grecian or Roman dramatic writers. William Prynne, the
+English Puritan writer, in his violent attack on the stage in the
+"_Histrio-Mastix_" or "Players Scourge"--which book, by the way, for
+some unfavourable comments therein on the Queen of Charles I., and the
+ladies of her Court, for attending theatrical representations, was
+debarred his rooms (he was a barrister), by the Court of Star Chamber,
+sentenced to be imprisoned for life, fined £5,000, committed to the
+Tower, placed in the pillory, both ears cut off, and his book burnt by
+the common hangman; yet after undergoing all these pains and penalties,
+he published a _recantation of all that he had previously written in his
+"Histrio-Mastix_"--says "It seems that the Grecian actors did now and
+then to refresh the spectators, bring a kind of cisterne on the stage,
+wherein naked women did swim and bathe themselves between the acts and
+scenes; which wicked, impudent, and execrable practice the holy father
+Chrysostom doth sharpely and excellently declaime against."
+
+Xenophon mentions the tale of "Bacchus and Ariadne," Pantomimically
+played, and Martial tells us he saw the whole story of "Pasiphae,"
+minutely represented on the stage of the _Mimis_, and Plautus, in his
+epilogue to "Casina," has--
+
+    "Nunc vos aequim est, manibus meritis,
+    Meritam mercedem dare.
+    Qui faxit, clam uxorem, ducat scortum
+    Semper quod volet.
+    Verum qui non manibus clare, quantum
+    Potent, plauserit,
+    Ei, pro scorto, supponetur hircus unctus nantea."
+
+On the Roman stage female parts were represented in tragedy by men, is
+ascertained (says Malone) by one of Cicero's letters to Atticus, and by
+a passage in Horace. Horace mentions, however, a female performer called
+Arbuscula, but as we find from his own authority men personated women on
+the Roman stage, she was probably an _Emboliariae_. Servius calls her a
+_Mima_, or one who danced in the Pantomimic dances, and which seems more
+probable, as she is mentioned by Cicero, who says the part of Andromache
+was played by a male performer on the very day Arbuscula also performed.
+
+The principal Roman _Mimas_ were:--Arbuscula, Thymele, Licilia,
+Dionysia, Cytheris, Valeria, and Cloppia.
+
+In the satirical interludes of the Grecian stage, and the _Fabulae
+Atellanae_ of the Roman theatres, the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of
+the Mimes, were the remote progenitors (says Malone) of the Vice or
+Devil, and the Clown of our English Mystery plays, the latter series of
+plays being the origin of the drama of this country. The exact
+conformity between our Clown and the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of
+the Roman stage is ascertained by that passage in Pliny--"_Lucceia Mima
+centum annis in scena pronuntiavit. Galeria, Copiola, Emboliariae,
+reducta est in scenam: annum certissimum quartum agens_," is thus
+translated by an English author, Philemon Holland, "Lucceia, a common
+Vice in a play, followed the stage, and acted thereupon 100 yeeres. Such
+another Vice that _plaied the foole, and made sporte between whiles in
+interludes_, named Galeria Copiola, was brought to act upon the stage
+when she was in the 104th yeere of her age." We shall, in another
+chapter, return to the Vice, or Clown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into Britain--First English
+reference to the word Pantomime--The fall of the Roman Empire--The
+sacred play--Cornish Amphitheatres--Pantomimical and Lyrical elements in
+the sacrifice of the Mass--Christian banishment of the
+_Mimis_--Penalties imposed by the Church--St. Anthony on Harlequin and
+Punch--Vandenhoff--what we owe to the _Mimis_.
+
+
+With the advent of Julius Caesar and the conquest of Britain by the
+Romans, about the year 52 B.C., we have, in all probability, the first
+introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into this country. Inasmuch as
+we have it upon the authority of history that Caesar travelled with his
+Mimes, and it is, therefore, not improbable that they came into Britain
+with him. England, then, during the occupancy of the Romans, must have
+known the Dramatic Art, or else (as Dibdin observes) Pacuvius, Accius,
+and Livius Andronicus were ignorant of it. Martial tells us that it did,
+and so does Boadicea, so that we have not only Roman authorities for it,
+but also British.
+
+The word "Pantomime" could not, I may say here, have been Anglicised
+earlier than sometime during the seventeenth century. Dr. Johnson's
+earliest example is from "Hudibras"--
+
+    "Not that I think those _Pantomimes_,
+    Who vary action with the times,
+    Are less ingenious in their art
+    Than those who duly act one part."
+
+Bacon and Ben Jonson use the Latin _Pantomimi_--"Here be certain
+_Pantomimi_ that will represent the voices of players." Again in the
+"Masque of Love's Triumph," etc., 1630, "After the manner of the old
+_Pantomimi_ they dance over a distracted Comedy of Love."
+
+The fall of the Roman Empire and the progress of Christianity in Europe
+sounded the death knell of Paganism and its attributes, of which
+Pantomime was deemed to be one, owing to the bad odour in which this
+form of entertainment had got to during the last days of the Empire.
+Notwithstanding this the church was only too glad to avail itself of
+Pantomime as a vehicle to portray before the world at large, and in
+order to turn attention to the great moral truths to be deduced from the
+death of Him on Calvary Hill. These exhibitions of religious subjects,
+in the form of _tableaux vivants_, took place in the churches, and,
+having regard to the sacred edifices in which they were given, they
+were, especially in the beginning, I conjecture, performed in dumb show,
+without any dialogue. Afterwards dialogue was introduced, and they began
+to be, not only held in the churches, but also in the church-yards, the
+streets, and in booths.
+
+It is true the sacred play was not a new institution, as one is said to
+be mentioned about the time of the Fall of Jerusalem. In Cornwall, plays
+were given in the ancient times in the open air, after the fashion of
+the Roman Amphitheatre, with the dialogue in the Cymric tongue.
+Pantomimical performances might also have been given in those open-air
+theatres by the Romans.
+
+Perhaps no better example of the early Sacred Drama I can give, and
+which is still with us, and performed daily, is the sacrifice of the
+Mass in all Roman Catholic Churches throughout the length and breadth of
+the world. In the Mass we have a dramatic action _pantomimically_
+presented, in part aided by lyrical and epical elements. I will not,
+however, pursue this portion of my subject further, save than to add
+that at the Catholic Churches' festivals, especially during Holy Week or
+Passion Week, what I have mentioned of the Mass becomes at these times
+marked in even a greater degree.
+
+With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, the _Mimis_ became
+wanderers on the face of the earth, only appearing at festivals and the
+like, when they were wanted, and returning to their haunts as
+mysteriously as they came.
+
+In the fourth century A.D. they were excluded from the benefit of the
+rites of the Church, and even those who visited their entertainments,
+instead of churches, on the Sundays and holidays, were excommunicated.
+The Theodosian creed provided that the actors were not to have the
+sacraments administered to them save when death was imminent, and then
+only that, in case of recovery, their calling should be renounced.
+
+In the second century one of the Fathers of the Church wrote a special
+treatise against plays (_Tertulian De Spectaculis_), in which he asks
+those who will not renounce them "Whether the God of truth, who hates
+all falsehood, can be willing to receive into His kingdom those whose
+features and hair, whose age and sex, whose sighs and laughter, love and
+anger, are all feigned. He promises them a tragedy of their own when, in
+the day of Judgment, they shall be consigned to everlasting suffering."
+
+However, the church was not always against the stage, even in those
+early times, as St. Thomas Aquinas says that "The office of the player
+as being serviceable for the enlivenment of men, and as not being
+blameworthy if the player leads an upright life." Both Saints Thomas
+Aquinas and Anthony supported the stage, the latter only stipulating
+that the character of Harlequin should not be represented by a
+clergyman, nor that Punch should be exhibited in church.
+
+It is one of the most remarkable things that, despite the bitterness,
+hostility, and deadly enmity that has been levelled at the stage, and
+its players termed "Rogues and Vagabonds" from time immemorial, how it
+has lived through it all. In connection with this how the lines of that
+great actor, Vandenhoff, occurs to me, a few of which, with the reader's
+permission, I subjoin.
+
+    "The drama's now a great established fact,
+    That can't be blink'd, ignored how'er attack'd
+    By vain abuse or angry prejudice;
+    The time's gone by when _playing was a vice_;
+    When bigots mark'd the actor with a ban,
+    (Tho' saintly crowds to hear his accents ran),
+    Denied him sacred rite and hallowed grave--
+    Filching from God the soul he made to save--
+    And, for the pleasure which his life had giv'n
+    On earth, refused him dead, a place in heav'n.
+    No! wiser days bring gentler feelings in,
+    And 'Nature's touches makes the whole world kin'."
+
+By degrees the _Mimis_, or mummers, with their fellows, spread
+themselves all over Europe. The humbler of the craft, in fact it might
+be said of them all, as Othello's occupation had (for them) long since
+been gone, strolled from castle to castle, from village to town, and
+earning their livelihood as best they could. To these wandering
+Bohemians we owe such traditions of the drama that survived with them
+into succeeding ages; and to them also we are indebted for keeping alive
+by inculcating unto others the Art of _Pantomimus_, when in the heyday
+of its popularity in the Roman Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Pantomime in the English Mystery or Miracle Plays and Pageants--A
+retrospect of the Early Drama--Mysteries on Biblical events--Chester,
+Coventry, York, and Towneley Mystery Plays--Plays in Churches--Traces of
+the Mystery Play in England in the Nineteenth Century--Mystery Plays on
+the Continent--The Chester series of Plays--The Devil or Clown and the
+_Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of the Ancient Mimes.
+
+
+It is presumed that, not only were the early sacred plays acted in
+dumb-show, but that the Miracle or Mysteries of Religion series of
+plays--which grew out of the sacred play--also the Pageants in the
+beginning, and for long afterwards were acted in this wise. Percy, in
+his "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," also takes this view. He
+says:--"They were (the Mysteries) probably a kind of _dumb show_,
+intermingled, it may be, with a few short speeches, at length they grew
+into regular scenes of connected dialogues, formally divided into acts
+and scenes." Colley Cibber has: "It has been conjectured that the actors
+of the Mysteries of Religion were _mummers_, a word signifying one who
+makes and disguises himself to play the fool _without speaking_. They
+were dressed in an antic manner, _dancing, mimicking_, and _showing
+postures_." Mr. Wright also observes (in his work on the Mystery Plays
+of Chester, published by the Shakespearean Society) that the "_chief
+effect seems to have been caused by the dumb show_."
+
+Before dealing with the Mysteries, and as perhaps a kind of retrospect,
+let us have a look what Wharton has to say of the early drama. "Trade,"
+he says (in the early centuries) "was carried on by means of fairs, which
+lasted several days. Charlemagne established many great marts of this
+sort in France, as did William the Conqueror and his Norman successors
+in England. The merchants, who frequented these fairs in numerous
+caravans and companies, employed every art to draw the people together.
+They were, therefore, accompanied by jugglers, minstrels, and buffoons
+(_i.e._, Pantomimists), who were no less interested in giving their
+attendance and exercising their skill on these occasions. Few large
+towns existed, no public spectacles or popular amusements were
+established; and as the sedentary pleasures of domestic life and private
+society were yet unknown, the fair time was the season for diversion. In
+proportion as the shows were attended and encouraged, they began to be
+set off with new decorations and improvements; and the arts of
+buffoonery being rendered still more attractive by extending their
+circle of exhibition, acquired an importance in the eyes of the people.
+By degrees the Clergy, observing that the entertainments of dancing,
+music, and mimicry exhibited at these annual celebrations made the
+people less religious by promoting idleness and a love of festivity,
+proscribed these sports and excommunicated the performers."
+
+Mystery plays were afterwards divided into three classes, though the
+generic term Mysteries, meaning all three, is generally used. In the
+Mysteries, Biblical events were principally used; Miracle plays were
+obtained from the legends of the saints; and the last, Moralities,
+allegorical stories of a moral character not essentially taken from the
+Bible, or from the legends of the saints, comprised the third heading.
+The Mysteries were for several centuries known on the Continent before
+they were performed in England. The earliest Mystery play known to have
+been acted in England was at Dunstable about the year 1110. It was
+probably in Latin, and composed by a Norman monk.
+
+It is a peculiarity of the English Mystery plays that they were combined
+into a series of plays on the Old and New Testament; and in which the
+whole course of Divine Providence, from the Creation to the Day of
+Judgment, is set before the spectator. Four noted groups of plays were
+the Chester, the Towneley, Coventry, and York Mystery plays. The Chester
+plays began on Whit Monday, and, continued till the following Wednesday.
+Permission to perform them, in the beginning of their institution, had
+twice to be asked of the Pope. They consisted of 24 plays, and were
+almost annually performed till 1577. Before the suppression of the
+monasteries the Grey Friars at Coventry were celebrated for their
+exhibitions of the Mystery plays usually on _Corpus Christi_. The
+Towneley, or Woodkirk group of plays were acted at Woodkirk, about four
+miles from Wakefield, and they are of a style that may be likened to the
+times of Henry VI., or Edward IV. Until the Mystery play fell into
+disuse, the trading companies and guilds seem principally to have
+maintained them. The mixture of secular with ecclesiastical players
+helped to change the characters of the English plays and to provoke
+censure, which began to be levelled at them from the beginning of the
+thirteenth century.
+
+The practise of performing plays in sacred edifices in England, had not
+ceased in 1542, when Bishop Bonner prohibited them in his diocese.
+However, so late as 1572, it appears that Interludes were occasionally
+performed in Churches.
+
+Collier speaks of a kind of Mystery, or Miracle play, exhibited in the
+last century, with the characters of Herod, Beelzebub, and others. In
+1838 Sandy mentions of having seen the play of "St. George and the
+Dragon," presented in the Northern and Western parts of the Kingdom, or
+rather Queendom, as Victoria had just ascended the throne. I myself
+remember quite well, within a couple of decades ago, what was probably
+at the time a remnant of the old Mystery play presented in a rural part
+of Lancashire by men in a fantastic garb, and termed by the country
+folk, "Paste-eggers." They generally appeared about Good Friday and on
+to Easter; and their performance consisted of a mixture of music (?),
+songs, and sometimes not over choice language. This custom does not now
+exist where I write of, but it may do--though I very much doubt--in some
+rural parts. On the Continent, as at Oberammergau, Mystery plays are
+still enacted.
+
+The following account of the Chester Mysteries may be of interest, and
+appears (says Warton) in the Harleian Catalogue. M.S. Harl. 2013, etc.
+Exhibited at Chester in the year 1327 at the expense of the different
+trading companies of that city. "The Fall of Lucifer," by the tanners;
+"The Creation," by the drapers; "The Deluge," by the dyers; "Abraham,
+Melchizedeck and Lot," by the barbers; "Moses, Balak and Balaam," by the
+cappers; "The Salutation and the Nativity," by the wrights (carpenters);
+"The Shepherds feeding the Flocks by Night," by the painters and
+glaziers; "The Three Kings," by the vintners; "The oblation of the Three
+Kings," by the mercers; "The Killing of the Holy Innocents," by the
+goldsmiths; "The Purification," by the blacksmiths; "The Temptations,"
+by the butchers; "The Blindmen and Lazarus," by the glovers; "Jesus and
+the Lepers," by the cowesarys; "Christ's Passion," by the bowyers,
+fletchers and ironmongers; "Descent into Hell," by the cooks and
+inn-keepers; "Resurrection," by the skinners; "Ascension," by the
+taylors; "The Election of St. Matthias," "Sending of the Holy Ghost,"
+etc., by the fishmongers; "Anti-christ," by the clothiers; and "The Day
+of Judgment," by the websters (weavers). The reader will perhaps smile
+at some of these combinations. This is the substance and order of the
+former part of the play. God enters, creating the world, he breathes
+life into Adam, leads him into Paradise, and opens his side while
+sleeping. Adam and Eve appear _naked_, and _not ashamed_; and the old
+Serpent enters, lamenting his fall. He converses with Eve. She eats part
+of the forbidden fruit, and gives part to Adam. They propose, according
+to the stage directions, to make themselves, _subligacula a folis
+quibus tegamus pudenda_, cover their nakedness with leaves and converse
+with God. God's curse. The Serpent exits, hissing. They are driven from
+Paradise by four angels, and the Cherubim with a flaming sword. Adam
+appears digging the ground, and Eve spinning. Their children, Cain and
+Abel, enter, the former kills his brother. Adam's lamentation. Cain is
+banished, etc., etc.
+
+Adam and Eve, in the "altogether," so to speak, were acted like this as
+late as the sixteenth century. In a play called "The Travails of the
+Three English Brothers," acted in 1607, there occurs this:--
+
+"Many idle toyes, but the old play _that Adam and Eve acted in bare
+action under the figge tree draws most of the gentlemen_."
+
+An Account of the Proclamation of the Mystery plays, acted in "Ye Citye
+on ye Dee," may prove of interest, and the copy of which I subjoin is
+taken from the Harleian M.S. No. 2013.
+
+"The proclamation for Whitsone playes made by Wm. Newell, Clarke of the
+Pendice, 24 Hen. 8. Wm. Snead 2nd yere Maior."
+
+"For as much as auld tyme, not only for the augmentation and increese of
+the holy and catholick faith of our Saviour Jesu Christ, and to exort
+the mindes of comon people to good devotion and holsome doctrine
+thereof, but also for the comonwelth and prosperity of this citty, a
+play and declaration of divers storyes of Bible beginning with the
+Creation and fall of Lucifer, and ending with the generall Judgment of
+the world, to be declared and played in Whitsonne weeke, was devised and
+made by one Sir Henry Frances, sometyme moonck of this monastrey
+disolved, who obtayning and gat of Clemant, then Bushop of Rome, a 1000
+dayes of pardon, and of the Bushop of Chester at that tyme 40 dayes of
+pardon, graunted from thensforth to every person resorting, in peaceable
+manner with good devotion, to heare and see the sayd playes, from time
+to time as oft as they shall be played within the said citty (and that
+every person or persons disturbing the sayd playes in the maner wise to
+be acused by the authority of the sayd pope Clemant's bulls, untill such
+tyme as he or they be absolved thereof) which playes were devised to the
+honor of God by John Arnway, then maior of this citty of Chester, his
+brethren and whole cominalty thereof, to be brought forth, declared, and
+played, at the cost and charges of the craftesman and occupations of the
+sayd citty, which hitherto have from tyme to tyme used and performed the
+same accordingly.
+
+"Wherefore Mr. maior, in the King's name, stratly chargeth and
+commandeth that every person and persons of what estate, degree, or
+condition so ever he or they be resorting to the sayd playes, do use
+themselves peaciblie, without making any assault, affray, or other
+disturbance, whereby the same playes shall be disturbed, and that no
+manner of person or persons, whiche so ever he or they be, do use or
+wear any unlawfull weapons within the precinct of the sayd citty during
+the tyme of the sayd playes (not only upon payn of cursing by authority
+of the sayd Pope Clemant's bulls but also) upon payn of imprisonment of
+their bodyes, and making fine to the King at Mr. maior's pleasure."
+
+Archdeacon Rogers, who died in 1595, and saw the Whitsuntide plays
+performed at Chester in the preceding year, gives the following account
+of the mode of exhibition:--
+
+"The time of the yeare they were played was on Monday, Tuesday, and
+Wenseday in Whitson weake. The maner of these playes weare every company
+had his pagiant, or parte, which pagiants weare a high scafolde with 2
+rowmes, a higher and a lower, upon 4 wheeles. In the lower they
+apparelled themselves, and in the higher rowme they played, being all
+open on the tope, that all behoulders might heare and see them. The
+places where they played them was in every streete. They begane first at
+the abay gates, and when the first pagiante was played, it was wheeled
+to the high crosse before the mayor, and soe to every streete; and soe
+every streete had a pagiant playinge before them at one time, till all
+the pagiantes for the daye appoynted weare played, and when one pagiant
+was neere ended, word was broughte from streete to streete that soe they
+mighte come in place thereof exceedinge orderlye, and all the streetes
+have their pagiantes afore them all at one time playeinge togeather; to
+se which playes was greate resorte, and also scafoldes and stages made
+in the streetes in those places where they determined to playe their
+pagiantes."
+
+Strutt has the following description of the Mystery plays:--"In the
+early dawn of literature, and when the sacred Mysteries were the only
+theatrical performances, what is now called the stage did then consist
+of three several platforms or stages, raised one above another; on the
+uppermost sat the _Pater Caelestis_, surrounded with his angels; on the
+second appeared the holy saints and glorified men; and the last and
+lowest were occupied by mere men who had not passed through this life to
+the regions of eternity. On one side of this lowest platform was the
+resemblance of a dark pitchy cavern, from whence issued appearance of
+fire and flames; and when it was necessary the audience were treated
+with hideous yellings and noises, as imitations of the howlings and
+cries of the wretched souls tormented by the relentless demons. From
+this yawning cave the devils themselves constantly ascended, to delight
+and instruct the spectators; to delight because they were usually the
+greatest jesters and buffoons that then appeared; and to instruct for
+that they treated the wretched mortals who were delivered to them with
+the utmost cruelty, warning thereby all men carefully to avoid the
+falling into the clutches of such hardened and relentless spirits."
+
+It is interesting to note that Hell was imitated by a whale's open jaws,
+behind which a fire was lighted, in such a way, however, so as not to
+injure the "damned," who had to pass into its gaping mouth. The
+performer who impersonated God had not only his face but also the hair
+of his wig gilded. Christ was dressed in a long sheep's skin. The Devil,
+or Vice (the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of the ancient _Mimis_), was
+easily recognisable by his horns and his tail, whilst his beard was of a
+bright red colour, to indicate the flames of the region in which he
+dwelt. Judas also wore a wig of a fiery hue, and, after being hung, had
+sometimes to do the "cock crowing," as some old accounts of the York
+Mysteries show.
+
+It appears to have been customary for the Devil to appear before the
+audience with a cry of "Ho! ho! ho!" somewhat similar to the
+ejaculations of the Pantomime Clown in after years. (See _Gammer
+Gurton's Needle_, Act II., Sc. 3, and "The Devil is an Ass," by Ben
+Jonson, Act I., Sc. 1.) The following passage occurs in "Wily Beguiled,"
+1606. "Tush! feare not the dodge; I'll rather put on my flashing red
+nose, and my flaming face, and come wrapped in a calfe's skin, and cry
+'Ho! ho! ho!'" Again, "I'll put me on my great carnation nose, and wrap
+me in a rousing calf's-skin suit, and come like some hob-goblin, or some
+Devil ascended from the grisly pit of hell, and like a scarebabe make
+him take to his legs; I'll play the Devil, I warrant ye."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+The Clown or Fool of the early English Drama--Moralities--The
+Interlude--The rise of English Tragedy and Comedy--"Dumb Shews" in the
+Old Plays--Plays suppressed by Elizabeth--A retrospect.
+
+
+In the sixth chapter of this work, in quoting Malone, I have mentioned
+that the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of the _Mimis_ were the remote
+progenitors of the Clown of the Mystery Plays of this country. Now let
+us see what were the duties the Clown fulfilled in the old plays of this
+country, and also briefly of the others who were known under the generic
+name of Clown or fool.
+
+In the early drama the Clown was a personage of no mean importance and
+whose duty was to preserve the stage from vacancy by amusing the
+audience with extemporary buffoonery, and also at the end of the
+performance. And, as Heywood, in his "History of Women" (1624), says "By
+his mimic gestures to breed in the less capable mirth and laughter." On
+these occasions, it was usual to descant, in a humourous style, on
+various subjects proposed to him by the spectators; but they were more
+commonly entertained with what was termed a jig: this was a ludicrous
+composition in rhyme, sung by the Clown, accompanied by his pipe and
+tabor. In these jigs there were sometimes more actors than one, and the
+most unbounded license of tongue was allowed; the pith of the matter
+being usually some scurrilous exposure of persons among, or well known
+to the audience. Here again history repeats itself in this once more,
+and in imitation of the satirical interludes of the Grecian stage and
+the _Atellans_ and _Mimis_ of the Roman theatres.
+
+The practice of putting the fools and Clowns in requisition between the
+acts and scenes (observes Francis Douce), and after the play was
+finished, to amuse the spectators with their tricks, may be traced to
+the Greek and Roman theatres; and their usages being preserved in the
+middle ages, wherever the Roman influence had spread, it would not, of
+course, be peculiar to England. The records of the French theatre
+demonstrate this fact; in the "Mystery of Saint Barbara," we find this
+stage direction:--_Pausa. Vadunt, et stultus loquitur._ (A pause. They
+quit the stage, and the fool speaks). And in this way he is frequently
+brought on between the scenes.
+
+It is quite obvious that the terms Clown and fool were used, though
+improperly, perhaps, as synonymous by our old dramatists. Their confused
+introduction might render this doubtful to one who had not well
+considered the matter. The fool of our early plays denoted a mere idiot
+or natural, or else a witty hireling retained to make sport for his
+masters. The Clown was a character of more variety; sometimes he was a
+mere rustic; and, often, no more than a shrewd domestic. There are
+instances in which any low character in a play served to amuse with his
+coarse sallies, and thus became the Clown of the piece. In fact, the
+fool of the drama was a kind of heterogeneous being, copied in part from
+real life, but highly coloured in order to produce effect. This opinion
+derives force from what is put into the mouth of Hamlet, when he
+admonishes those who perform the Clowns, to speak no more than is set
+down for them. Indeed, Shakespeare himself cannot be absolved from the
+imputation of making mere caricatures of his merry Andrews, unless we
+suppose, what is very probable, that his compositions have been much
+interpolated with the extemporaneous jokes of the players. To this
+folly, allusions are made in a clever satire, entitled, "Pasquils
+Mad-cappe, throwne at the Corruptions of these Times," 1626, quarto.
+
+      "Tell country players, that old paltry jests
+        Pronounced in a painted motley coate,
+      Filles all the world so full of cuckoo nests,
+        That nightingales can scarcely sing a note.
+    Oh! bid them turn their minds to better meanings;
+    Fields are ill sowne that give no better gleanings."
+
+Sir Philip Sidney reprobates the custom of introducing fools on the
+stage; and declares that the plays of his time were neither right
+tragedies nor right comedies, for the authors mingled kings and Clowns,
+"not," says he, "because the matter so carrieth it, but thrust in the
+Clowne by head and shoulders to play a part in majestical matters, with
+neither decencie nor discretion; so as neither the admiration and
+commisseration, nor the right sportfulnesse, is by their mongrell
+tragie-comedie obtained." Rankin, a puritan, contemporary with
+Shakespeare, wrote a most bitter attack on plays and players, whom he
+calls monsters; "And whie monsters?" says he, "because under colour of
+humanitie they present nothing but prodigious vanitie; these are wels
+without water, dead branches fit for fuell, cockle amongst corne,
+unwholesome weedes amongst sweete hearbes; and, finallie, feends that
+are crept into the worlde by stealth, and hold possession by subtill
+invasion." In another place, he says, "some transformed themselves to
+rogues, others to ruffians, some others to Clownes, a fourth to fools;
+the rogues were ready, the ruffians were rude, theyr Clownes cladde as
+well with country condition, as in ruffe russet; theyr fooles as fond as
+might be."
+
+To give a clear view of our subject, something of the different sorts of
+fools may be thus classed:
+
+1.--The _general domestic fool_, termed often, but _improperly_, a
+_Clown_; described by Puttenham as "a buffoune, or counterfett foole."
+
+2.--The _Clown_, who was a mere country booby, or a witty rustic.
+
+3.--The _female fool_, who was generally an idiot.
+
+4.--The _city or corporation fool_, an assistant in public
+entertainments.
+
+5.--The _tavern fool_, retained to amuse the customers.
+
+6.--The _fool of the ancient Mysteries and Moralities_, otherwise the
+_Vice_.
+
+7.--The _fool in the old dumb shows_, often alluded to by Shakespeare.
+
+8.--The _fool in the Whitsun ales and morris dance_.
+
+9.--The _mountebank's fool, or merry Andrew_.
+
+There may be others in our ancient dramas, of an irregular kind, not
+reducible to any of these classes; but to exemplify them is not within
+the scope of this essay: what has been stated may assist the readers of
+old plays to judge for themselves when they meet with such characters.
+
+The practice of retaining fools can be distinctly traced from the
+remotest times. They were to be found alike in the palace and the
+brothel; the Pope had his fool, and the bawd hers; they excited the
+mirth of kings and beggars; the hovel of the villain and the castle of
+the baron were alike exhilarated by their jokes. With respect to the
+antiquity of this custom in England, it appears to have existed even
+during the period of our Saxon history, but we are certain of the fact
+in the reign of William the Conqueror. Maitre Wace, an historian of that
+time, has an account of the preservation of William's life, when Duke of
+Normandy, by his fool, _Goles_; and, in Domesday book, mention is made
+of _Berdin joculator regis_; and though this term sometimes denoted a
+minstrel, evidence might be adduced to prove, that in this instance it
+signified a buffoon.
+
+The entertainment, fools were expected to afford, may be collected in
+great variety from our old plays, especially from those of Shakespeare;
+but, perhaps, a good idea may be formed of their general conduct from a
+passage in a curious tract by Lodge, entitled, "Wit's Miserie," 1599,
+quarto: "Immoderate and disordinate joy became incorporate in the bodie
+of a jeaster; this fellow in person is comely, in apparell courtly, but
+in behaviour a very ape, and no man; his studie is to coin bitter
+jeasts, or to shew antique motions, or to sing baudie sonnets and
+ballads; give him a little wine in his head, he is continually flearing
+and making of mouthes; he laughs intemperately at every little occasion,
+and dances about the house, leaps over tables, outskips men's heads,
+trips up his companions' heeles, burns sack with a candle, and hath all
+the feats of a lord of misrule in the countrie: feed him in his humour,
+you shall have his heart; in mere kindness he will hug you in his armes,
+kisse you on the cheeke, and rapping out an horrible oath, crie 'God's
+soule, Tum, I love you, you knowe my poore heart, come to my chamber for
+a pipe of tobacco, there lives not a man in this world that I more
+honor.' In these ceremonies you shall know his courting, and it is a
+speciall mark of him at table, he sits and makes faces: keep not this
+fellow company, for in jingling with him, your wardropes shall be
+wasted, your credits crackt, your crownes consumed, and time (the most
+precious riches of the world) utterly lost."
+
+With regard to the fool's business on the stage, it was nearly the same
+as in reality, with this difference, that the wit was more highly
+seasoned. In Middleton's "Mayor of Quinborough," a company of actors,
+with a Clown, make their appearance, and the following dialogue
+ensues:--
+
+1st Cheater. This is our Clown, sir.
+
+Simon.       Fye, fye, your company
+             Must fall upon him and beat him; he's too fair i'faith,
+             To make the people laugh.
+
+1st Cheater. Not as he may be dress'd, sir.
+
+Simon.       Faith, dress him how you will. I'll give him
+             That gift, he will never look half scurvily enough.
+             Oh! the Clowns that I have seen in my time,
+             The very peeping out of one of them would have
+             Made a young heir laugh, though his father lay a-dying;
+             A man undone in law the day before,
+             (The saddest case that can be) might for his second
+             Have burst himself with laughing, and ended all
+             His miseries. Here was a merry world, my masters!
+             Some talk of things of state, of puling stuff;
+             There's nothing in a play like to a Clown,
+             If he have the grace to hit on it, that's the thing indeed.
+             Away then, shift; Clown, to thy motley crupper.
+
+In the _praeludium_ to Goffe's "Careless Shepherdess," 1656, quarto,
+there is a panegyric on them, and some concern is shown for the fool's
+absence in the play itself, while it is stated that "The motley coat was
+banished with trunk-hose." Yet in Charles II.'s reign, some efforts were
+made to restore the character. In the tragedy of "Thorney Abbey, or the
+London Maid," 1662, 12mo., the prologue is delivered by a fool, who uses
+these words:--"The poet's a fool who made the tragedy, to tell a story
+of a king and a court, and leave a fool out on't, when in Pacey's, and
+Sommer's, and Patche's, and Archer's times, my venerable predecessours,
+a fool was alwaies the principal verb." Shadwell's play of "The Woman
+Captain," 1680, is perhaps the last in which a regular fool is
+introduced; and even there, his master is made to say that the character
+was exploded on the stage. In real life, as was formerly stated, the
+professed fool was to be met with at a much later period, but the custom
+has long been obsolete.
+
+What I have said of the Mysteries of Religion plays will, I hope, be
+sufficient to show the reader how they were associated with Pantomime.
+The Moralities, founded on the Mysteries, were the means used to
+inculcate, by the aid of a slight plot, religious truths without
+directly using scriptural or legendary subjects. Malone says of
+them:--"I am unable to ascertain when the first Morality appeared, but
+incline to think not sooner than the reign of Edward IV. (about 1460).
+The public pageants of the reign of his predecessor were uncommonly
+splendid, and being then _first_ enlivened by the introduction of
+_speaking_ allegorical personages, properly and characteristically
+habited, naturally led the way to these personifications, by which
+Moralities were _distinguished from_ the simple religious dramas called
+Mysteries."
+
+The Interlude, that was the progenitor of English Comedy, next arrived.
+The origin of the Interlude is credited to John Heywood.
+
+It is interesting to note that a play, entitled, "Gammer Gurton's
+Needle," is credited with being our first English Comedy, though its
+humour and wit, it is stated, is of a low and sordid kind. Others make
+claim for the comedy, "Ralph Roister Doister."
+
+Tragedy and Comedy now began to raise their heads, yet they could not,
+for some time, do more than bluster and quibble. There is an excellent
+criticism on them by that distinguished statesman, poet, scholar, and
+brave soldier, Sir Philip Sydney. "Some of their pieces were only '_dumb
+shews_,' some with choruses, and some they explained by an
+Interlocutor," says an old writer on the subject. The mention of
+Pantomime in connection with tragedy, and as an example how Pantomime
+was requisitioned in Shakespeare's time, is shown in the Second Scene of
+Act III. of "Hamlet," wherein the "dumb shew" is given by the players.
+
+The true drama, however, received birth and perfection from the creative
+geniuses of Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Jonson, and others.
+Though the stage no sooner began to talk than it grew scurrilous, and
+plays were thought "Dangerous to Religion, the State, Honesty, and
+Manners, and also for Infection, in Time of Sickness." Wherefore they
+were afterwards for some time suppressed. But upon application to the
+Queen and Council they were again tolerated under the following
+restrictions: "That no Plays be acted on Sundays at all, nor on any
+other Holidays till after Evening Prayer. That no playing be in the
+_Dark_, nor continue and such Time, but the Auditors may return to their
+Dwellings in London before Sunset, or at least before it be _Dark_." The
+foregoing is from Stow, and this Act was made in the reign of Elizabeth.
+The Virgin Queen does not seem to have cared much about this enactment,
+as we find that on Sunday, the 24th September, 1592, she and her Court
+attended a play at Oxford.
+
+As Tragedy and Comedy progressed on the English stage, Pantomime, as far
+as it was associated with the dumb shows in the early English drama,
+became, little by little, a thing of the past.
+
+We have seen, and traced, from the Creation of this planet, and through
+succeeding ages, how Pantomime has always flourished; we have seen also
+how the Interlude gave way to the Comedy; we will now see how this love
+of light entertainment formulated in this country by the Interlude, and,
+about the same time, by the Italian Masque Comedy, the progenitor of
+Pantomime (referring to the whole as a spectacle), and the forerunner in
+France, also of that other form of light entertainment known as the
+French Vaudeville, cultivated by Le Sage and other French writers of
+note.
+
+To go to the bed-rock for our facts, and for the innovation of all this,
+it is necessary in thought, and perhaps as well in spirit, to journey to
+Italy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+The Italian Masque--The Masque in England--First appearance in this
+country of Harlequin--Joe Haines as Harlequin--Marlowe's "Faustus"--A
+Curious Play--The Italian Harlequin--Colley Cibber,
+Penkethman--Shakespeare's Burlesques of the Masque--Decline of the
+Masque.
+
+
+In Italy the Masque entertainment long held sway, and was a light form
+of amusement, consisting of Pantomime, music, singing, and dancing, and
+an adaptation of the _Fabulae Atellanae_ of ancient Italy. The
+performers wore masks, also high-heeled shoes, fitted with brass or iron
+heels, which jingled as they danced. This ancient custom to present-day
+stage dancers will doubtless be of interest. Masks, like on the stages
+of the Greeks and the Romans, were used, hence the title Mask, or
+Masque, as it is sometimes written both ways. In the days of Elizabeth
+the custom was also practised in the Elizabethean Masque. The Masquerade
+and the Masked ball, or _Bal-Masque_, are survivals of this ancient
+custom.
+
+Crossing the Alps, if the reader will accompany me, the Italian Masque
+Comedy we find was already known in France in the fifteenth century. In
+the days of Mary de Medici ballets were introduced, and by the time of
+Louis XIV. "Opera" (_i.e._, the Masque) was in full swing in the early
+part of this reign. On the Spanish stage ballets, with allegorical
+characters, were known in the sixteenth century; and, in fact,
+throughout Europe about this age, and some time previously this
+improvised form of Italian Comedy, and the several characters in it,
+belonging to the family of Harlequin, had long been familiar subjects.
+
+Returning to England after our little holiday, the Masque in the
+fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had become very popular. The
+architect, Inigo Jones, being frequently employed to furnish the
+decorations with all the magnificence of his invention. At the Courts of
+Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and up to the time when all plays were
+totally suppressed, was it the rage. At the Restoration the Masque was
+revived again, and here, borrowing the name from the continent, it is
+called "Opera." In proof of this, in Dryden's work, "Albion and
+Albanius," 1685, "Opera" is defined as a "poetical tale or picture
+represented by vocal and instrumental music, and endowed with machines
+and dances."
+
+The dramatic poet and author, Ben Jonson, collaborated with Inigo Jones,
+the architect, in devising these Masque plays, Jonson supplying the
+words, and Jones the scenic effects, the latter being very gorgeous,
+consisting of "landscapes, mountains, and clouds, which opened to
+display heathen deities illuminated by variegated coloured lights." Over
+these Masques or "Operatic" entertainments Jonson and Jones quarrelled,
+as the former's grievance was that he received no more for his
+librettos than Jones did for his scenic devices. Ben Jonson thereupon
+wrote satires upon Inigo Jones, and in one of his squibs appears the
+satirical line, "Painting and Carpentry are the Soul of Masque." Is not
+this applicable to many of our present-day Pantomimes, which, as I have
+just stated in the previous chapter, the Masque was one of the original
+progenitors?
+
+Inigo Jones and Jonson first collaborated in the "Masque of Blackness,"
+performed at Whitehall on Twelfth Night, 1603. In our money this Masque
+cost some £10,000. Jones and Jonson's quarrel originated because the
+poet had, in the "Masque of Chloridia," performed in 1630, prefixed his
+own name before that of Jones. In consequence of this "rare old Ben" was
+deprived--through Jones' influence--of employment at Court.
+
+Gifford, in his "Memoirs of Ben Jonson," says that "In poetry, painting,
+architecture, they (the Masques) have not since been equalled."
+
+"The Masque," continues Gifford, "as it attained its highest degree of
+excellence, admitted of dialogue, singing and dancing; these were not
+independent of one another, but combined by the introduction of some
+ingenious fable into an harmonious whole. When the plan was formed, the
+aid of the sister-arts was called in; for the essence of the Masque was
+pomp and glory. Movable scenery of the most costly and splendid kind was
+lavished on the Masque; the most celebrated masters were employed on
+the songs and dances; and all that the kingdom afforded of vocal and
+instrumental excellence was employed to embellish the exhibition. Thus,
+magnificently constructed, was composed, as Lord Bacon says, for
+princes, and by princes it was played. Of these Masques, the skill with
+which their ornaments were designed, and the inexpressible grace with
+which they were executed appear to have left a vivid impression on the
+mind of Jonson. His genius awakens at once, and all his faculties attune
+to sprightliness and pleasure. He makes his appearance like his own
+Delight, accompanied with Grace, Love, Harmony, Revel, Sport, and
+Laughter."
+
+In the Masques the Pantomimic dances of the Masquers were known as
+motions:--
+
+    "In curious knot and mazes so
+    The Spring at first was taught to go;
+    And Zephyr, when he came to woo
+    His Flora had his _motions_ too;
+    And thus did Venus learn to lead
+    The Idalian brawls, and so to tread,
+    As if the wind, not she did walk,
+    Nor press'd a flower, nor bow'd a stalk."
+
+Before the arrival of the Italian Masque in England, the Harlequin
+family were unknown, and, doubtless, Harlequin's first appearance in
+this country was in consonance with the Masque itself.
+
+Heywood, in a tract, published in 1609, entitled, "_Troia Britannica_,"
+mentions "Zanyes, Pantaloons, Harlakeans, in which the French, but
+especially the Italians, have been excellent as known in this country."
+
+The earliest record I can find of a Harlequin performing in this country
+is in the Masque given before Charles I. and his Court on the Sunday
+evening following Twelfth Night, 1637. An account of this Masque, as
+well as other information dealing with the Masque entertainments, will
+be found in my volume, "Stage Whispers," and in the article on
+theatrical scenery.
+
+In a comedy, written by Ravenscroft, after the Italian manner, Joe
+Haines, in 1667, donned the motley jacket of Harlequin, and which, in
+all probability, was the first appearance of Harlequin on the English
+boards, though not in England, as stated above. In a farce of the
+audacious Mrs. Aphra Behn's, produced twenty years afterwards, Harlequin
+and Scaramouch were two of the characters. Mrs. Behn died April 16,
+1689, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. To Marlowe's
+"Faustus," Mountfort added comic scenes to the tragedy, introducing
+Harlequin and Scaramouch. A Harlequin, Pantaloon, Columbine, and Clown
+appeared in a curious piece in 1697, entitled, "Novelty; or Every Act a
+Play." The first act consisted of a pastoral Drama, the second of a
+Comedy, the third a Masque, the fourth a Tragedy, and the fifth act a
+Farce.
+
+In Italy the fame of Harlequin was at its zenith at the close of the
+seventeenth century. In this country in 1687 a Harlequin (Penkethman)
+appeared in a farce called "The Emperor of the Moon" without a mask.
+Colley Cibber says of this performance "That when he (Penkethman) first
+played Harlequin in 'The Emperor of the Moon' several gentlemen (who
+inadvertently judged by the rules of nature) fancied that a great deal
+of the drollery, and spirit of his grimace was lost by his wearing that
+useless, unmeaning mask, therefore insisted that the next time of his
+acting that part he should play without it. Their desire was accordingly
+complied with, but alas! in vain--Penkethman was no more Harlequin. His
+humour was quite disconcerted."
+
+In "The Tempest," Shakespeare introduces a Masque, and also in his
+"Midsummer Nights' Dream," the play of "Pyramus and Thisbe," performed
+by the Clowns, is in burlesque of the Masque plays.
+
+In both these two plays of the bard's, and in connection with the Masque
+plays, we see, from the stage directions in them, how Pantomime formed
+part of their effective representation.
+
+In out heroding-herod in the way of splendour, showy dresses and
+expensive machinery, the Masque soon fell into decay; and, as Ben Jonson
+states, "The glory of all these solemnities had perished like a blaze,
+and gone out in the beholder's eyes; so short-lived are the bodies of
+all things in comparison with their souls."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Italian Pantomime--Riccoboni--Broom's "Antipodes"--Gherardi--Extemporal
+Comedies--Salvator Rosa--Impromptu Acting.
+
+
+Pantomime in Italy had two distinct features, one a species of
+buffoonery, termed _Lazzi_, and the other Extemporal or Improvised
+Comedies.
+
+"_Lazzi_," mentions Riccoboni, in his "_Histoire du Theâtre Italien_,"
+is a term corrupted from the old Tuscan _Lacci_, which signifies a knot,
+or something that connects. (Both the _Lazzi_ and the Extemporal
+Comedies were all derived from the one original source, that of the
+Satirical drama of the Greeks, and perpetuated in the _Fabulae
+Atellanae_ or _Laudi Osci_ of Italy.)
+
+Riccoboni continues: "These pleasantries, called _Lazzi_, are certain
+actions by which the performer breaks into the scene, to paint to the
+eye his emotions of panic or jocularity; but as such gestures are
+foreign to the business going on, the nicety of the art consists in not
+interrupting the scene, and connecting the _Lazzi_ with it; thus to tie
+the whole together."
+
+_Lazzi_ is what we might term "bye play," which, by gesture and action,
+could not detract, but rather added to the effectiveness of the scene in
+progress.
+
+In Broom's "Antipodes," which was performed at the Salisbury Court
+Theatre, London, in 1638, a _by-play_, as he calls it, is represented in
+this comedy--"A word (explains Malone) for the application of which we
+are indebted to this writer, there being no other term in our language
+that I know of, which so properly expresses that species of Interlude
+which we find in our poet's 'Hamlet,' and other pieces."
+
+Riccoboni, in describing some _Lazzi_, says that Harlequin and Scapin
+being in a famished condition, Scapin, in order to bring their young
+mistress out, asks Harlequin to groan. Scapin explains to her the
+reason, and while they are talking, Harlequin is performing his _Lazzi_.
+This consists of eating an imaginary hatful of cherries, and throwing
+the stones at Scapin; or catching imaginary flies, and chopping off
+their wings.
+
+"_Lazzi_," we are told, "although they seem to interrupt the progress of
+the action, yet in cutting it they slide back into it, and connect or
+tie the whole."
+
+When Riccoboni and his company first appeared in France, though being
+unable to speak nothing but Italian, their audiences, though not being
+able to understand the _words_, yet the performers were such
+past-masters in the Mimetic Art that their representations were just as
+intelligible and as expressive as if they had been with words.
+
+Gherardi, in his treatise, "_Theâtre Italien_," speaks of a Scaramouch,
+who, waiting for his master, Harlequin, seats and plays on the guitar.
+Suddenly, by Pasquariel, he is thrown into a fright. "It was then," says
+Gherardi, "that incomparable model of our most eminent actors displayed
+the miracles of his art; that art which paints the passions in the face,
+throws them into every gesture, and through a whole scene of frights
+upon frights, conveys the most powerful expression of ludicrous terror.
+This man moved all hearts by the simplicity of nature, more than skilful
+orators can with all the charms of persuasive rhetoric."
+
+The Extemporal Comedies were all improvised, the actors underwent no
+rehearsal, and, as the name denotes, everything was impromptu. The
+Scenario, or plot, had just simply the scenes and the characters set
+forth, and it was then hung in a conspicuous place on the stage; and
+just in a similar way as the gas or lime light "plots" are affixed in
+present day theatres, though the Scenarios were not as elaborate as what
+some of our gas or limelight "plots" are.
+
+Before going on the stage, the Mimes just inspected the Scenario of the
+_Comedia Del' Arte_, and for the dialogue and action everything depended
+solely upon their Pantomimic genius.
+
+Disraeli mentions that men of great genius had a passion for performing
+in these Extemporal Comedies, and, amongst others, the great painter,
+Salvator Rosa. A favourite character of Rosa's was that of Formica, a
+Clown of Calabria. Passeri, in his life of Rosa, tells the following
+anecdote:--
+
+One summer, Salvator Rosa joined a company of young persons, who were
+curiously addicted to the making of _Comedie all' Improviso_. In the
+midst of a vineyard they raised a rustic stage, under the direction of
+one Mussi, who enjoyed some literary reputation, particularly for his
+sermons preached in Lent.
+
+Their second Comedy was numerously attended, and I went among the rest.
+I sat on the same bench by good fortune with Cavalier Bernini,
+Romanelli, and Guido, all well-known persons. Salvator Rosa, who had
+already made himself a favourite with the Roman people, under the
+character of Formica, opened with a prologue in company with other
+actors. He proposed for relieving themselves of the extreme heats and
+_ennui_ that they should make a Comedy, and all agreed. Formica (Rosa)
+then spoke (in the satirical Venetian dialect) these exact words, which
+Mr. Disraeli translates as follows:--"I will not, however, that we
+should make a Comedy like certain persons who cut clothes, and put them
+on this man's back, and on that man's back; for at last the time comes
+which shows how much faster went the cut of the shears than the pen of
+the poet; nor will we have entering on the scene, couriers, brandy
+sellers, and goatherds, and there stare shy and blockish, which I think
+worthy the senseless invention of an ass."
+
+Passeri continues: "At this time Bernini had made a Comedy in the
+Carnival very pungent and biting; and that summer he had one of
+Castelli's performed in the suburbs, where, to represent the dawn of
+day, appeared on the stage water-carriers, couriers, and goat-herds,
+going about--all which is contrary to rule, which allows of no character
+who is not concerned in the dialogue to mix with the groups. At these
+words of the Formica, I, who well knew his meaning, instantly glanced my
+eye at Bernini, to observe his movements; but he, with an artificial
+carelessness, showed that this 'cut of the shears' did not touch him;
+and he made no apparent show of being hurt. But Castelli, who was also
+near, tossing his head and smiling in bitterness, showed clearly that he
+was hit."
+
+In concluding, Mr. Disraeli observes that: "This Italian story, told
+with all the poignant relish of these vivacious natives, to whom such a
+stinging incident was an important event, also shows the personal
+freedoms taken on these occasions by a man of genius, entirely in the
+spirit of the ancient Roman _Atellanae_ or the Grecian _Satyra_."
+
+Of Extemporal Comedies, Riccoboni mentions that: "This kind of spectacle
+is peculiar to Italy; one cannot deny that it has graces perfectly its
+own, and which _written Comedy can never exhibit_. This impromptu mode
+of acting furnishes opportunities for a perpetual change in the
+performance, so that the same Scenario repeated still appears a new one:
+thus one Comedy may become twenty Comedies. _An actor of this
+description, always supposing an actor of genius, is more vividly
+affected than one who has coldly got his part by rote. But figure,
+memory, voice, and even sensibility, are not sufficient for the actor
+all' improvista; he must be in the habit of cultivating the imagination,
+pouring forth the flow of expression, and prompt in those flashes which
+instantly vibrate in the plaudits of an audience._"
+
+Again, Gherardi: "Anyone may learn a part by rote, and do something bad,
+or indifferent, on another theatre. With us the affair is quite
+otherwise; and when an Italian actor dies, it is with infinite
+difficulty that we can supply his place. An Italian actor learns nothing
+by head; he looks on the subject for a moment before he comes forward on
+the stage, and entirely depends upon his imagination for the rest. The
+actor who is accustomed merely to recite what he has been taught is so
+completely occupied by his memory, that he appears to stand, as it were,
+unconnected either with the audience or his companions; he is so
+impatient to deliver himself of the burthen he is carrying that he
+trembles like a schoolboy, or is as senseless as an echo, _and could
+never speak if others had not spoken before_. Such a tutored actor among
+us would be like a paralytic arm to a body: an unserviceable member,
+only fatiguing the healthy action of the sound parts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Pantomimical Characters--Neapolitan Pantomime--The Harlequin Family--The
+Original Characters in the Italian Pantomimes--Celebrated
+Harlequins--Italian and French Harlequins--A French view of the English
+Clown--Pierrots' origin--Pantaloon, how the name has been
+derived--Columbine--Marionette and Puppet Shows.
+
+
+After having shown what the _Lazzi_ and Extemporal Comedies were like,
+let us now turn to the Pantomimical characters associated with their
+representations.
+
+Every one, observes Mr. Isaac Disraeli, of this grotesque family were
+the creatures of national genius, chosen by the people for themselves.
+Italy, both ancient and modern, exhibits a gesticulating people of
+comedians, and the same comic genius characterised the nation through
+all its revolutions, as well as the individual through all his fortunes.
+The lower classes still betray their aptitude in that vivid humour,
+where the action is suited to the word--silent gestures sometimes
+expressing whole sentences. They can tell a story, and even raise the
+passions, without opening their lips. No nation in modern Europe
+possesses so keen a relish for the burlesque, insomuch as to show a
+class of unrivalled poems, which are distinguished by the very title;
+and perhaps there never was an Italian in a foreign country, however
+deep in trouble, but would drop all remembrance of his sorrows, should
+one of his countrymen present himself with the paraphernalia of Punch at
+the corner of a street. I was acquainted with an Italian, a philosopher
+and a man of fortune, residing in this country, who found so lively a
+pleasure in performing Punchinello's little comedy, that, for this
+purpose, with considerable expense and curiosity, he had his wooden
+company, in all their costume, sent over from his native place. The
+shrill squeak of the tin whistle had the same comic effect on him as the
+notes of the _Ranz des Vaches_ have in awakening the tenderness of
+domestic emotions in the wandering Swiss--the national genius is
+dramatic. Lady Wortley Montagu when she resided at a villa near Brescia,
+was applied to by the villagers for leave to erect a theatre in her
+saloon: they had been accustomed to turn the stables into a playhouse
+every Carnival. She complied, and, as she tells us, was "Surprised at
+the beauty of their scenes, though painted by a country painter. The
+performance was yet more surprising, the actors being all peasants; but
+the Italians have so natural a genius for comedy, they acted as well as
+if they had been brought up to nothing else, particularly the Arlechino,
+who far surpassed any of our English, though only the tailor of our
+village, and I am assured never saw a play in any other place." Italy is
+the mother, and the nurse, of the whole Harlequin race.
+
+Hence it is that no scholars in Europe but the most learned Italians,
+smit by the national genius, could have devoted their vigils to narrate
+the evolutions of Pantomime, to compile the annals of Harlequin, to
+unroll the genealogy of Punch, and to discover even the most secret
+anecdotes of the obscurer branches of that grotesque family, amidst
+their changeful fortunes, during a period of two thousand years. Nor is
+this all; princes have ranked them among the Rosciuses; and Harlequins
+and Scaramouches have been ennobled. Even Harlequins themselves have
+written elaborate treatises on the almost insurmountable difficulties of
+their art. I despair to convey the sympathy they have inspired me with
+to my reader; but every _Tramontane_ genius must be informed, that of
+what he has never seen, he must rest content to be told.
+
+Of the ancient Italian troop we have retained three or four of the
+characters, while their origin has nearly escaped our recollection; but
+of the burlesque comedy, the extempore dialogue, the humorous fable, and
+its peculiar species of comic acting, all has vanished.
+
+Many of the popular pastimes of the Romans unquestionably survived their
+dominion, for the people will amuse themselves, though their masters may
+be conquered; and tradition has never proved more faithful than in
+preserving popular sports. Many of the games of our children were played
+by Roman boys; the mountebanks, with the dancers and tumblers on their
+moveable stages, still in our fairs, are Roman; the disorders of the
+_Bacchanalia_, Italy appears to imitate in her Carnivals. Among these
+Roman diversions certain comic characters have been transmitted to us,
+along with some of their characteristics, and their dresses. The
+speaking Pantomimes and Extemporal Comedies which have delighted the
+Italians for many centuries, are from this ancient source.
+
+Rich, in his "Companion to the Latin Dictionary," has an excellent
+illustration of this passage:--"This Art was of very great antiquity,
+and much practiced by the Greeks and Romans, both on the stage and in
+the tribune, induced by their habit of addressing large assemblies in
+the open air, where it would have been impossible for the majority to
+comprehend what was said without the assistance of some conventional
+signs, which enabled the speaker to address himself to the eye, as well
+as the ear of the audience. These were chiefly made by certain positions
+of the hands and fingers, the meaning of which was universally
+recognised and familiar to all classes, and the practice itself reduced
+to a regular system, as it remains at the present time amongst the
+populace of Naples, who will carry on a long conversation between
+themselves by mere gesticulation, and without pronouncing a word." That
+many of these signs are similar to those used by the Ancients, is proved
+by the same author, who copies from an antique vase a scene which he
+explains by the action of the hands of the figures, adding, "A common
+lazzaroni, when shown one of these compositions, will at once explain
+the purport of the action, which a scholar with all his learning cannot
+divine." The gesture to signify love, employed by the Ancients and
+modern Neapolitans, was joining the tips of the thumb and forefinger of
+the left hand; an imputation or asseveration by holding forth the right
+hand; a denial by raising the same hand, extending the fingers. In
+mediaeval works of art, a particular attitude of the fingers is adopted
+to exhibit malicious hate: it is done by crossing the forefinger of each
+hand, and is generally seen in figures of Herod or Judas Iscariot.
+
+Down to the fifteenth century there is not much known of the family of
+Harlequin, with the exception, perhaps, that the name Zany became more
+widely distributed into such as Drolls, Clowns, Pantaloons, Punches,
+Scaramouches, and the like. In the Italian Comedy, of purely native
+growth, the original characters were Pantaloon, a Venetian Merchant;
+Dottore, a Bolognese physician; Spavento, a Neapolitan braggart;
+Pulcinello, a wag of Apalia; Giangurgoto and Corviello, two Clowns of
+Cala-simpleton; and Arlechino, a blundering servant of Bergamo.
+
+The latter The Harlequin of the Italian theatre, has passed through,
+mentions Mr. Disraeli, all the vicissitudes of fortune. At first (as we
+have seen) he was a true representative of the ancient Mime; but, during
+the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, he degenerated into a booby and
+a gourmand, the perpetual butt for a sharp-witted fellow, his companion,
+Brighella, the knife and the whetstone. Harlequin, however, under the
+reforming hand of Goldoni, became, in after years, a child of nature,
+and the delight of his country; and he has commemorated the historical
+character of the great Harlequin Sacchi. It may serve the reader to
+correct his notions of one, from the absurd pretender with us who has
+usurped the title. "Sacchi possessed a lively and brilliant imagination.
+While other Harlequins merely repeated themselves, Sacchi, who always
+adhered to the essence of the play, contrived to give an air of
+freshness to the piece by his new sallies and unexpected repartees. His
+comic traits and his jests were neither taken from the language of the
+lower orders, nor that of the comedians. He levied contributions on
+comic authors, on poets, orators, and philosophers; and in his
+impromptus they often discovered the thoughts of Seneca, Cicero, or
+Montaigne. He possessed the art of appropriating the remains of these
+great men to himself, and allying them to the simplicity of the
+blockhead; so that the same proposition which was admired in a serious
+author, became highly ridiculous in the mouth of this excellent actor."
+In France Harlequin was improved into a wit, and even converted into a
+moralist; he is the graceful hero of Florian's charming compositions,
+which please even in the closet. "This imaginary being, invented by the
+Italians, and adopted by the French," says the ingenious Goldoni, "has
+the exclusive right of uniting _naiveté_ with _finesse_, and no one ever
+surpassed Florian in the delineation of this amphibious character. He
+has even contrived to impart sentiment, passion, and morality to his
+pieces." Harlequin must be modelled as a national character, the
+creature of manners; and thus the history of such a Harlequin might be
+that of the age and of the people, whose genius he ought to represent.
+
+The history of a people is often detected in their popular amusements;
+one of these Italian Pantomimic characters shows this. They had a
+_Capitan_, who probably originated in the _Miles gloriosus_ of Plautus;
+a brother, at least, of our Ancient Pistol and Bobadil. The ludicrous
+names of this military poltroon were Spavento (Horrid fright),
+Spezza-fer (Shiver-spear), and a tremendous recreant was Captain
+Spavento de Val inferno. When Charles V. entered Italy, a Spanish
+Captain was introduced; a dreadful man he was too, if we are to be
+frightened by names: Sangre e Fuego! and Matamoro! His business was to
+deal in Spanish rhodomontades, to kick out the native Italian Capitan,
+in compliment to the Spaniards, and then to take a quiet caning from
+Harlequin, in compliment to themselves. When the Spaniards lost their
+influence in Italy, the Spanish Captain was turned into Scaramouch, who
+still wore the Spanish dress, and was perpetually in a panic. The
+Italians could only avenge themselves on the Spaniards in Pantomime! On
+the same principle the gown of Pantaloon over his red waistcoat and
+breeches, commemorates a circumstance in Venetian history expressive of
+the popular feeling.
+
+The characters of the Italian Pantomime became so numerous, that every
+dramatic subject was easily furnished with the necessary personages of
+comedy. That loquacious pedant, the Dottore, was taken from the lawyers
+and the physicians, babbling false Latin in the dialect of learned
+Bologna. Scapin was a livery servant, who spoke the dialect of Bergamo,
+a province proverbially abounding with rank intriguing knaves, who,
+like the slaves in Plautus and Terence, were always on the watch to
+further any wickedness; while Calabria furnished the booby Giangurgello
+with his grotesque nose. Molière, it has been ascertained, discovered in
+the Italian theatre at Paris his "_Medecin malgre Lui_," his
+"_Etourdi_," his "_L'Avare_," and his "_Scapin_." Milan offered a pimp
+in Brighella; Florence, an ape of fashion in Gelsomino. These and other
+Pantomimic characters, and some ludicrous ones, as the Tartaglia, a
+spectacled dotard, a stammerer, and usually in a passion, had been
+gradually introduced by the inventive powers of an actor of genius, to
+call forth his own peculiar talents.
+
+The Pantomimes, or, as they have been described, the continual
+Masquerades, of Ruzzante, with all these diversified personages, talking
+and acting, formed, in truth, a burlesque comedy. Some of the finest
+geniuses of Italy became the votaries of Harlequin; and the Italian
+Pantomime may be said to form a school of its own. The invention of
+Ruzzante was one capable of perpetual novelty. Many of these actors have
+been chronicled either for the invention of some comic character, or for
+their true imitation of nature in performing some favourite one. One,
+already immortalised by having lost his real name in that of Captain
+Matamoros, by whose inimitable humours he became the most popular man in
+Italy, invented the Neapolitan Pullicinello; while another, by deeper
+study, added new graces to another burlesque rival. One Constantini
+invented the character of Mezetin, as the Narcissus of Pantomime. He
+acted without a mask, to charm by the beautiful play of his countenance,
+and display the graces of his figure; the floating drapery of his
+fanciful dress could be arranged by the changeable humour of the wearer.
+Crowds followed him in the streets, and a King of Poland ennobled him.
+The Wit and Harlequin Dominic sometimes dined at the table of Louis
+XIV.--Tiberio Florillo, who invented the character of Scaramouch, had
+been the amusing companion of the boyhood of Louis XIV.; and from him
+Molière learnt much, as appears by the verses under his portrait:--
+
+    Cet illustre comédien
+    De son art traça la carrière:
+    II fut le maître de Molière,
+    Et la Nature fut le sien.
+
+The last lines of an epitaph on one of these Pantomimic actors may be
+applied to many of them during their flourishing period:--
+
+    Toute sa vie il a fait rire;
+    Il a fait pleurer a sa mort.
+
+Several of these admirable actors were literary men, who have written on
+their art, and shown that it was one. The Harlequin Cecchini composed
+the most ancient treatise on this subject, and was ennobled by the
+Emperor Matthias; and Nicholas Barbieri, for his excellent acting called
+the Beltrame, a Milanese simpleton, in his treatise on comedy, tells us
+that he was honoured by the conversation of Louis XIII., and rewarded
+with fortune.
+
+A sketch of Harlequin's original part is worth recording. "He is a
+mixture of wit, simplicity, ignorance, and grace, he is a half made up
+man, a great child with gleams of reason and intelligence, and all his
+mistakes and blunders have something arch about them. The true mode of
+representing him is to give him suppleness, agility, the playfulness of
+a kitten with a certain coarseness of exterior, which renders his
+actions more absurd. His part is that of a faithful valet; greedy;
+always in love; always in trouble, either on his own or his master's
+account; afflicted and consoled as easily as a child, and whose grief is
+as amusing as his joy."
+
+His costume consisted of a jacket fastened in front with loose ribbons,
+and pantaloons of wide dimensions, patched with various coloured pieces
+of cloth sewn on in any fashion. His beard was worn straight, and of a
+black colour; on his face he had a half black mask and in his belt of
+untanned leather he carried a wooden sword.
+
+In Italy there were many varieties of Harlequin, the most notable being
+Trivelin, and Truffaldin. The dress of the former, instead of the
+patches symmetrically arranged, had triangular patches along the seams,
+and suns and moons only for patches. He wore the soft hat and hare's
+foot, but did not carry the wooden sword. The hare's foot denoting
+speed, has in all probability its origin in the winged cap of the god
+Mercury.
+
+Truffaldin is a species of Harlequin, who first appeared about 1530. He
+represented (_truffa_, the villain) a sneaking kind of knave, and in the
+middle of the seventeenth century this character was very popular.
+
+In France, about 1660, Cardinal Mazarin invited one Joseph Dominique
+Biancolelli, to come to Paris to give entertainments. Shortly after his
+arrival Biancolelli gave quite a new reading to the character of
+Arlechino, as he made him not only a wit and punster, but also a bit of
+a philosopher. Biancolelli's improvements did not end here, as he turned
+his attention to the dress of Arlechino, which was now made of finer and
+better quality, whilst the parti-coloured patches were made more
+artistic and attractive. On the death of Lolatelli, who, in his
+lifetime, had played a kind of Arlechino part, Biancolelli succeeded
+him, and soon sprang into prominence, and acquired a great artistic
+reputation. Whilst dancing before Louis XV. Biancolelli contracted a
+cold, which set up inflammation of the lungs, causing his death. His
+companions, at the theatre in which he performed, to mark the sense of
+their great grief, closed the theatre for a month. Biancolelli died in
+1688.
+
+As Arlechino, Biancolelli was succeeded by his son, Pierre, who played
+under the name of Dominique.
+
+A Tuscan, named Gherardi, who had obtained celebrity as a singer, was
+the next successful French Harlequin. In consequence of a fall Gherardi
+met his death, in the year 1700.
+
+Nearly a couple of decades afterwards, in 1716, Thomassin made his
+appearance as Harlequin, in pieces written for him by Marivaux, such as
+"_Le Prince Travesti_," "_La Surprise de l'Amour_," and in which he
+appeared with great success. So daring were Thomassin's tricks, and in
+such popularity was he held, that, fearful of losing their favourite
+like Gherardi, he was obliged to discontinue them.
+
+Another competitor now arose to take the crown from Thomassin, and in
+the person of one Carlo Bertinazzi, commonly called Carlin. Our actor,
+Garrick, was an admirer of this famous Mime. Of Carlin, M. Sand
+speaks:--"Like most clever buffoons, he had a very melancholy
+disposition, and, as with Dominique, his gaiety was what the English
+term humour. It belonged to his mind, and not to his temperament."
+Carlin also wrote a book entitled, "_Les Metamorphosis d'Arlequin_." In
+1783 Carlin died, and his place in the favour of the public was filled
+by Galinetti.
+
+The French view of the English Clown is interesting: "The English clown
+(whose nearest representative on the French stage is Pierrot) is an odd
+and fantastical being. The Florentine Stentorella alone resembles him in
+his jests and tricks. His strange dress seems to have been taken from
+the American Indians. It consists of a white, red, yellow, and green net
+work, ornamented with diamond-shaped pieces of stuff of various colours.
+His face is floured, and streaked with paint a deep carmine; the
+forehead is prolonged to the top of the head, which is covered with a
+red wig, from the centre of which a little stiff tail points to the sky.
+His manners are no less singular than his costume. He is not dumb, like
+our Pierrot, but, on the contrary, he sustains an animated and witty
+conversation; he is also an acrobat, and very expert in feats of
+strength."
+
+M. Blandelaire gives a more poetical description: "The English Pierrot
+is not a person as pale as the moon, mysterious as silent, straight and
+long, like the gallows to whom we have been accustomed in Deburean. The
+English Pierrot enters like the tempest, and tumbles like a parcel; his
+laugh resembles joyous thunder. He is short and fat; his face is floured
+and streaked with paint; he has a great patch of red on each cheek; his
+mouth is enlarged by prolongation of the lips by means of two red bands,
+so that when he laughs his mouth appears to open from ear to ear."
+
+The Pierrots--not only in France, but on the Continent generally--took
+all the characteristics of the Zanys, Bertoldo, Paggliaccio, Gros,
+Giullaume, Pedrolino, Gilles, Corviello, and Peppe Nappa, of the Italian
+Comedy, and all owing at least their original conception to the theatres
+of the Greeks, and the Romans. On the Italian stage there was not a
+principal Clown like in England, the foremost place being occupied by
+Arlechino. The four principal masked characters of the Italian _Comedia
+del' Arte_ in Venice consisted of Tartaglia (a stammerer), Truffildino,
+Brighella (a representative of orators and public personages), and
+Pantaloon (a native of Venice). The name of Pantaloon is derived from
+_planta-leone_ (_plante-lion_--he planted the lion). The probable
+meaning of it in this particular is that the Venetian merchants, it is
+said, in boasting of their conquests set up their standard--the Venetian
+standard being the lion of St. Mark--on various islands in the
+Mediterranean, and from which they were nicknamed, it is said, "plant
+lion." A more probable derivation of the word is that the ancient patron
+saint of Venice is San Pantaleone. St. Pantaleone's day is July 27. He
+was martyred A.D. 303. In "Childe Harold," Lord Byron, in Canto IV.,
+stanza 14, has that "The Venetian name of Pantaleone is her very
+by-word."
+
+Pantaloon has been, at various times, husband, father, and widower.
+Sometimes he is rich, then poor, and occasionally a spendthrift. The
+dress that he wore consisted of tight red breeches, rather short, a long
+black robe, red stockings and waistcoat, a little woollen skull-cap and
+slippers.
+
+When the Venetian republic lost Negropont mourning generally was
+adopted, and Pantaloon adopted it with the rest, and on the Continent
+mourning has, I believe, formed a component part of Pantaloon's dress
+ever since.
+
+In 1750 Darbes, in Italy, was one of the best Pantaloons. Darbes, on
+one occasion, ventured to play this character in one of Goldoni
+characters, without a mask, and which, we are told, was a failure. A
+similar attempt was made on the English stage, which I have previously
+referred to.
+
+Mention has been previously made of females appearing on the stage
+during the Grecian and Roman periods. From this, however, there arose on
+the Italian stage, in after years, the _Servetta_ or _Fantesca_, a kind
+of waiting maid, or "accomplished companion" part, and called later, in
+France, _Soubrette_, and the origin of which, in all probability, can be
+traced to the _Mimas_ of _Pantomimus_.
+
+In the sixteenth century mention is made of a troupe of performers known
+as _Amorosos_ or _Innamortos_, appearing in Italy. Those who only
+appeared in the female parts were known as Colombina, Oliva, Fianetta,
+Pasquella, and Nespella. Columbina's part, the "accomplished companion,"
+like the _Vita_ of the Indian Drama, was sometimes that of mistress, and
+sometimes that of maid. Up to 1560 women were unknown on the Italian
+stage. In England just one hundred years later.
+
+Three generations of the family of Biancolelli, the Harlequin,
+grandmother, grand-daughter, and great grand-daughter appeared as
+Columbines in France. The most talented was Catherine, the daughter of
+Dominique, and she made her _debut_ in 1683, in "_Arlequin Protée_,"
+with great success.
+
+About 1695, Columbine appeared in a parti-coloured gown like a female
+Harlequin, and in the piece "_Le Retour de la foie de Besons_," acted at
+the Comedie Italiene. As the innovation was much liked, the part of
+Columbine came to be dressed like the Harlequin. The Columbine dressed
+in short muslin skirts is a creation of modern times. In the French
+Comedies Columbine was often Harlequin's wife, but she never had the
+powers of a magical wand.
+
+In the old form of Pantomime there were many other personages in these
+dumb shows which we never had in the English Pantomimes. To note a few
+of them:--The Captain, a bragging swash-buckler; the Apothecary, a
+half-starved individual with a red nose; and a female _soubrette_, who
+acted for her mistress, Columbine, similar duties as what Clown
+performed as valet for his master. The Doctor brought at first on the
+stage in 1560, was supposed to be a lawyer or a physician. From 1560 his
+dress was that of a professor's, a short, black tunic, stockings, and a
+black mask covering the forehead and nose. Another, Façanappa, had a
+long parrot nose, surmounted by a pair of green spectacles, a flat hat,
+with a broad brim, a waistcoat covered with tinsel, and a long white
+coat with large pockets. Like the Clown of our early English plays, and
+like his ancestors, the _Atellans_ and _Mimes_, he had the privilege of
+making allusions from the stage, in what, I suppose, were something like
+the Interludes. Il Barone is another variety. He was a Sicilian lord,
+deceived by his daughter, and also duped by his valets. "_Il Barone_"
+was a favourite subject for another form of "Miming," that of the
+wooden figures called Marionettes.
+
+Marionette entertainments were known both to the Greeks and the Romans.
+The adventures of "_Don Juan_" and "_Don Giovanni_," of the Italian
+Opera, in all probability sprang originally from the adventures of Punch
+in the puppet shows.
+
+Puppet shows introduced into France (_temp._ Charles IX.) from Italy,
+where they were and are still known as _Fantoccini_, by Marion--hence
+their name--and then into this country, are mentioned by Shakespeare,
+Pepys, Jonson, Swift, and the Essayists.
+
+Puppet shows, in this country, were formerly known as "Motions."
+Shakespeare's Antolycus frequented fairs and the like, and he also
+composed a "Motion" of "The Prodigal Son." Mystery plays were also
+represented by puppets.
+
+In England, especially at Bartholomew Fair, they were always very
+popular, and the chief survivor of this form of "dumb show" is "Mr.
+Punch" of our streets, whose ancient history I have briefly mentioned in
+another chapter, but not that of "Mrs. Punch," on whose history I am
+unable--however so brief--to throw any light.
+
+Let us now, dear reader, return to England, and trace in this country
+something more of the History of Pantomime, and for which we will now
+open another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Italian Scenarios and English "Platts"--Pantaloon--Tarleton, the
+Clown--Extemporal Comedy--The Poet Milton--Ben Jonson--The
+Commonwealth--"A Reign of Dramatic Terror"--Robert Cox and his "Humours"
+and "Drolleries"--The Restoration.
+
+
+It has been thought that our dramatic poet, Massinger, drew upon the
+Italian Comedy for the humour of some of his plays. That there was some
+form of intercourse between the English and Italian stage is shown by
+the discovery of one of the Italian Scenarios, or "Platts," as we know
+them, at Dulwich College, which discovery Steevens describes as "a
+mysterious fragment of ancient stage direction, and of a species of
+dramatic entertainment which no memorial is preserved in any annals of
+the English stage." The "Platt," written in a large hand, "And
+containing directions, was thought to have been affixed near the
+prompter's stand, and it has even an oblong hole in its centre to admit
+of being suspended on a wooden peg (Disraeli). On it, and in a familiar
+way, appear the names of the players, such as: Pigg, White and Black,
+Dick and Sam, Little Will Barne, Jack Gregory, and the Red-faced
+fellow."
+
+A "Platt" of the "Seven Deadly Sinnes," supposed to have been written by
+Dick Tarleton, the famous Clown, is preserved, I believe, in Dulwich
+College. It consists of a pasteboard fifteen inches high, and nine in
+breadth, and on it is written, in two columns, the following:--
+
+"A tent being placed on the stage for Henry the Sixth; he in it asleep.
+To him the lieutenant, and a pursuivant (R. Cowley, Jo. Duke), and one
+warder (R. Pallant). To them Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, and Covetousness at
+one door; at another door Envy, Sloth, and Lechery. The three put back
+the four, and so _exeunt_.
+
+"Henry awaking, enter a keeper (J. Sinclair), to him a servant (T. Belt),
+to him Lidgate and the keeper. _Exit_, then enter again--then Envy
+passeth over the stage. Lidgate speaks."
+
+These "Platts" were, in all probability, one of the first written forms
+of Pantomimic entertainments known in England, and borrowed, as
+mentioned, from the Scenarios of the Italians. That form of home
+amusement well-known in family circles, "Acting Charades," may be
+likened to them.
+
+To get all the information that we can obtain of the "Platts," I am sure
+I cannot do better than quote the words of Mr. Isaac Disraeli, well
+assured that they will be more acceptable than any I can make.
+
+Some of these "Platts" are on solemn subjects, like the tragic
+Pantomimes; and in some appear "Pantaloon, and his man Peascod, with
+_spectacles_." Steevens observes, that he met with no earlier example of
+the appearance of Pantaloon, as a specific character on our stage; and
+that this direction concerning "the spectacles" cannot fail to remind
+the reader of a celebrated passage in "As you like it." (Scene 6, Act
+II.).
+
+                ... "The sixth age shifts
+    Into the lean and slippered pantaloon;
+    With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
+    His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide
+    For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
+    Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
+    And whistles in his sound."
+
+Perhaps, he adds, Shakespeare alludes to this personage, as habited in
+his own time. The old age of Pantaloon is marked by his leanness, and
+his spectacles and his slippers. He always runs after Harlequin, but
+cannot catch him; as he runs in slippers and without spectacles, is
+liable to pass him by without seeing him. Can we doubt that this
+Pantaloon had come from the Italian theatre, after what we have already
+said? Does not this confirm the conjecture, that there existed an
+intercourse between the Italian theatre and our own? Further, Tarleton,
+the comedian, celebrated for his "Extemporal wit," was the writer or
+inventor of one of these "Platts." Stow records of one of our actors
+that "he had a quick, delicate, refined _Extemporal wit_." And Howes,
+the continuator of Stow's Chronicles of another, that "he had a
+wondrous, plentiful, pleasant, _Extemporal_ wit."
+
+Praiseworthy reference is also made of Tarleton in "Kinde-Hart's
+Dream," 4to., published in 1592. In 1611 a book was published entitled
+"Tarleton's Jeasts." Tarleton was so celebrated in his time that his
+portrait was hung out as a sign for alehouses. "To sit with Tarleton on
+an ale-post's signe," observes Bishop Hall in his satires. Oldys, in his
+M.S. notes, mentions that "There is an alehouse sign of a tabor and pipe
+man, with the name of Tarleton under it, in the borough of Southwark,
+and it was taken from the print before the old 4to. book of 'Tarleton's
+Jeasts;' and Lord Oxford had a portrait of him with his tabor and pipe,
+which was probably taken from the pamphlet called 'Tarleton's Jeasts,'
+on the title page of which there is a wooden plate of Tarleton, at full
+length in his Clown's dress, playing on his pipe with one hand, and
+beating his drum with the other."
+
+These actors then (continues Mr. Disraeli), who were in the habit of
+exercising their impromptus, resembled those who performed in the
+unwritten comedies of the Italians. Gabriel Harvey, the Aristarchus of
+the day, compliments Tarleton for having brought forward a _new species
+of dramatic exhibition_. If this compliment paid to Tarleton merely
+alludes to his dexterity at _extemporaneous wit_ in the character of the
+_Clown_, as my friend Mr. Douce thinks, this would be sufficient to show
+that he was attempting to introduce on our stage the Extemporal Comedy
+of the Italians, which Gabriel Harvey distinguishes as "a new species."
+As for these "Platts," which I shall not venture to call "Scenarios,"
+they surprise by their bareness, conveying no notion of the piece
+itself, though quite sufficient for the actors. They consist of mere
+exits and entrances of the actors, and often the real names of the
+actors are familiarly mixed with those of the _dramatis personae_.
+Steevens has justly observed, however, on these skeletons, that although
+"The drift of these dramatic pieces cannot be collected from the mere
+outlines before us, yet we must not charge them with absurdity. Even the
+scenes of Shakespeare would have worn as unpromising an aspect, had
+their skeletons only been discovered." The printed _Scenarios_ of the
+Italian theatre were not more intelligible; exhibiting only the _hints_
+for scenes.
+
+Thus, I think, we have sufficient evidence of an intercourse subsisting
+between the English and Italian theatres, not hitherto suspected; and I
+find an allusion to these Italian Pantomimes, by the great town-wit Tom
+Nash, in his "Pierce Pennilesse," which shows that he was well
+acquainted with their nature. He, indeed, exults over them, observing
+that our plays are "honourable and full of gallant resolution, not
+consisting, like theirs, of Pantaloon, a Zany, and a w---e (alluding to
+the women actors of the Italian stage); but of emperors, kings, and
+princes." My conviction is still confirmed, when I find that Stephen
+Gosson wrote the comedy of "Captain Mario;" it has not been printed, but
+"Captain Mario" is one of the Italian characters.
+
+Even at a later period, the influence of these performances reached the
+greatest name in the English Parnassus. One of the great actors and
+authors of these pieces, who published eighteen of these irregular
+productions, was Andreini, whose name must have the honour of being
+associated with Milton's, for it was his comedy or opera which threw the
+first spark of the "Paradise Lost" into the soul of the epic poet--a
+circumstance which will hardly be questioned by those who have examined
+the different schemes and allegorical personages of the first projected
+drama of "Paradise Lost": nor was Andreini, as well as many others of
+this race of Italian dramatists, inferior poets. The Adamo of Andreini
+was a personage sufficiently original and poetical to serve as the model
+of the Adam of Milton. The youthful English poet, at its representation,
+carried it away in his mind. Wit, indeed, is a great traveller; and thus
+also the "Empiric" of Massinger might have reached us from the Bolognese
+Dottore.
+
+The late Mr. Hole, the ingenious writer on the "Arabian Nights,"
+observed to me that Molière, it must be presumed, never read Fletcher's
+plays, yet his "_Bourgeois Gentilhomme_," and the other's "Noble
+Gentleman," bear in some instances a great resemblance. Both may have
+been drawn from the same Italian source of comedy which I have here
+indicated.
+
+Many years after this article was written, appeared "The History of
+English Dramatic Poetry," by Mr. Collier. That very laborious
+investigator has an article on "Extemporal Plays and Plots," iii., 393.
+The nature of these "Platts" or "Plots," he observes, "Our theatrical
+antiquaries have not explained." The truth is that they never suspected
+their origin in the Italian "Scenarios." My conjectures are amply
+confirmed by Mr. Collier's notices of the intercourse of our players
+with the Italian actors. Whetstone's Heptameron, in 1582, mentions "The
+comedians of Ravenna, who are not _tied to any written device_." In
+Kyd's Spanish Tragedy the Extemporal Art is described:--
+
+    The Italian tragedians were so sharp of wit,
+    That in one hour of meditation
+    They would perform anything in action.
+
+These Extemporal plays were witnessed much nearer than in Italy--at the
+_Theâtre des Italiens_ at Paris--for one of the characters replies:--
+
+    I have seen the like,
+    In Paris, among the French tragedians.
+
+Ben Jonson has mentioned the Italian "Extemporal Plays," in his "Case is
+Altered"; and an Italian _commediante_ and his company were in London in
+1578, who probably let our players into many a secret.
+
+Evil times, with the advent of the Commonwealth, soon fell upon our
+theatres, and when they, as well as plays, were suppressed by order of
+the Puritan Parliament, some of the actors followed the Royalist cause
+(we do not hear of any taking the side of the Parliament), and lost
+their lives fighting for the king. Others attempted to enact plays in
+secret, but these performances more often than not, caused the actors
+incarceration in some prison. At Holland House, in Kensington, many of
+these secret performances, by the aid of bribery, took place. To give
+timely warning of the performances Mr. Wright, in his "_Historia
+Histronica_," mentions that "Alexander Goff, the woman-actor, was the
+jackal to give notice of time and place to the lovers of the drama."
+
+All this however, could not, and would not, keep the spirit of the drama
+alive. The theatres were, we know, totally suppressed, "so there might
+be no more plaies acted." Play-goers there were, as I have shown, but
+they never knew when, in witnessing a performance, they might be seized
+by the military, to be fined or imprisoned, or perhaps both. A more
+lengthy reign of "Dramatic Terror" than what we had at this period,
+would, in all probability, have left us little or no trace of the Drama
+of this country. But a saviour was at hand, and that was Pantomime.
+
+Pantomime, as previously stated, kept alive for ages, after the downfall
+of the Roman Empire, the Dramatic Art, and during the Commonwealth of
+this country, it practically did the same for us.
+
+Owing to the exigences of the times, one Robert Cox, an actor of
+considerable genius, after the fashion of the Extemporal Comedies of
+Italy, invented a series of dramatic exhibitions at the Red Bull Theatre
+(where the first English actress made her appearance December 8, 1660)
+and elsewhere, under the guise of rope-dancing, a number of comic scenes
+from Shakespeare, Shirley, Marston, Beaumont, and Fletcher, and others.
+Cox's exhibitions, known as "Humours" or "Drolleries," were collected by
+Marsh, and reprinted (1672) by Francis Kirkman, the author and
+book-seller. This collection is entitled "The Wits, or Sport upon Sport,
+in select pieces of Drollery, digested into scenes by way of dialogue.
+Together with variety of Humours of several nations fitted for the
+pleasure and content of all persons, either in Court, City, Country, or
+Camp."
+
+Of these "Humours" Kirkman observes, "As meanly as you may now think of
+these Drolls, they were then acted by the best comedians; and, I may
+say, by some that then exceeded all now living; the incomparable Robert
+Cox, who was not only the principal actor, but also the contriver and
+author of most of these farces. How I have heard him cried up for his
+John Swabber, and Simpleton the Smith; in which he being to appear with
+a large piece of bread and butter, I have frequently known several of
+the female spectators and auditors to long for it; and once that
+well-known natural, Jack Adams of Clerkenwell, seeing him with bread and
+butter on the stage, and knowing him, cried out, 'Cuz! Cuz! give me
+some!' to the great pleasure of the audience. And so naturally did he
+act the smith's part, that being at a fair in a country town, and that
+farce being presented the only master-smith of the town came to him,
+saying, 'Well, although your father speaks so ill of you, yet when the
+fair is done, if you will come and work with me, I will give you twelve
+pence a week more than I give any other journeyman.' Thus was he taken
+for a smith bred, that was, indeed, as much of any trade."
+
+With the death of the Lord Protector, Cromwell, "The merry rattle of
+Monk's drums coming up the Gray's Inn Road, welcomed by thousands of
+dusty spectators," the return of Charles II., 1660, and though Charles
+was more a lover of the stage than of the drama, the theatre again
+recovered its credit, and to vigorously flourish once more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Introduction of Pantomimes to the English Stage--Weaver's "History of
+the Mimes and Pantomimes"--Weaver's Pantomimes--The prejudice against
+Pantomimes--Booth's counsel.
+
+
+The year 1702 marks the appearance of the first Pantomime introduced to
+the English stage, written by John Weaver, a friend of Addison and
+Steele's, and entitled "Tavern Bilkers." It was produced at Drury Lane.
+
+The author was by profession a dancing-master; his name is not to be
+found in any biographical dictionary, yet, it is evident that the
+"little dapper, cheerful man" had brains in his head as well as talent
+in his heels.
+
+John Weaver was the son of a Mr. Weaver, whom the Duke of Ormond, the
+Chancellor of Oxford, licensed in 1676 to exercise the profession of a
+dancing-master within the university. The date of his birth is unknown,
+but we first hear of him as stage-managing the production of his own
+Pantomime at Drury Lane, 1702, an entertainment which he described as
+one of "dancing, action, and motion." The latter would appear to have
+been a failure, as in his "History of the Mimes and Pantomimes,"
+published in 1728, Weaver states that his next attempt on similar lines
+did not take place until many years afterwards--not until the year 1716,
+in fact. In 1716 Weaver was back in London producing two burlesque
+Pantomimes, "The Loves of Mars and Venus," and "Perseus and Andromeda."
+At Drury Lane, in the following year, "Orpheus and Eurydice," and
+"Harlequin Turn'd Judge," was produced, and "Cupid and Bacchus" in 1719.
+Weaver also wrote many treatises on dancing, some of which were highly
+commended by Steele.
+
+Another Pantomime of Weaver's was "The Judgment of Paris"--date
+uncertain--performed by the author's pupils "in the great room over the
+Market-house," Shrewsbury--in which town he had taken up his
+residence--in the year 1750. John Weaver died September 28th, 1760, and
+was buried at St. Chads, Shrewsbury.
+
+The mention above of "Perseus and Andromeda" calls to mind that there
+were several pieces of this name. One of them was severely commented on
+in "The Grub-Street Journal" of April 8, 1731. Its title was:--"Perseus
+and Andromeda; or the Flying Lovers, in five Interludes, three serious
+and two comic. The serious composed by Monsieur Roger, the comic by John
+Weaver, dancing-masters."
+
+It is only just to assign to Weaver the entire credit of being the first
+to introduce Pantomimes on the English stage, though the author's
+original bent was "scenical dancing," or ballet dancing, by
+representations of historical incidents with graceful motion. In his
+"History of Pantomimes" the author is careful to distinguish between
+those entertainments where "Grin and grimace usurp the passions and
+affections of the mind," and those where "A nice address and management
+of the passions take up the thoughts of the performer." "Spectators,"
+says Weaver, in 1730, or thereabouts, "are now so pandering away their
+applause on interpolations of pseudo-players, merry Andrews, tumblers,
+and rope dancers; and are but rarely touched with, or encourage a
+natural player or just Pantomime."
+
+It was, however, left to John Rich to place Pantomime on a firm footing.
+Before dealing with Rich and his Pantomimes, which I shall treat of in
+the next chapter, it is appropriate here to note how Pantomimes
+generally came to be introduced on the English stage.
+
+Colley Cibber mentions:--About this time the patentee (Rich) having very
+near finished his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, began to think of
+forming a new company; and, in the meantime, found it necessary to apply
+for leave to employ them. By the weak defence he had always made against
+the several attacks upon his interests, and former Government of the
+theatre (Drury Lane), it might be a question, if his house had been
+ready, in the Queen's (Anne) time, whether he would then have had the
+spirit to ask, or interest enough to obtain leave to use it; but in the
+following reign, as it did not appear he had done anything to forfeit
+the right of his patent, he prevailed with Mr. Craggs, the younger, to
+lay his case before the king, which he did in so effectual a manner that
+(as Mr. Craggs himself told me) his Majesty was pleased to say upon it,
+"That he remembered when he had been in England before, in King
+Charles's time, there had been two theatres in London; and as the patent
+seemed to be a lawful grant, he saw no reason why two play-houses might
+not be continued."
+
+The suspension of the patent being thus taken off, the younger multitude
+seemed to call aloud for two play-houses! Many desired another, from the
+common notion, that two would always create emulation, in the actors.
+Others too were as eager for them, from the natural ill-will that
+follows the fortunate or prosperous in any undertaking. Of this low
+malevolence we had, now and then, remarkable instances; we had been
+forced to dismiss an audience of a hundred and fifty pounds, from a
+disturbance spirited up, by obscure people, who never gave any better
+reason for it than that it was their fancy to support the idle complaint
+of one rival actress against another, in their several pretensions to
+the chief part in a new tragedy. But as this tumult seemed only to be
+the wantonness of English liberty, I shall not presume to lay any
+further censure upon it.
+
+Now, notwithstanding this public desire of re-establishing two houses;
+and though I have allowed the former actors greatly our superiors; and
+the managers I am speaking of not to have been without their private
+errors, yet under all these disadvantages, it is certain, the stage, for
+twenty years before this time, had never been in so flourishing a
+condition.
+
+But, in what I have said, I would not be understood to be an advocate
+for two play-houses; for we shall soon find that two sets of actors,
+tolerated in the same place, have constantly ended in the corruption of
+the theatre; of which the auxiliary entertainments, that have so
+barbarously supplied the defects of weak action, have, for some years
+past, been a flagrant instance; it may not, therefore, be here improper
+to shew how our childish Pantomimes first came to take so gross a
+possession of the stage.
+
+I have upon several occasions, already observed, that when one company
+is too hard for another, the lower in reputation has always been forced
+to exhibit fine newfangled foppery, to draw the multitude after them; of
+these expedients, singing and dancing had formerly been most effectual;
+but, at the time I am speaking of, our English music had been so
+discountenanced since the taste of Italian Operas prevailed, that it was
+to no purpose to pretend to it. Dancing, therefore, was now the only
+weight, in the opposite scale, and as the new theatre sometimes found
+their account in it, it could not be safe for us wholly to neglect it.
+
+Cibber's antagonistical views towards Pantomime were shared, as we
+shall see, by a good many others.
+
+Booth, however, a greater actor than Cibber, and a tragedian to boot,
+took a more business-like view of the proceedings, thinking thin houses
+the greatest indignity the stage could suffer. "Men of taste and
+judgment (said he) must necessarily form but a small proportion of the
+spectators at a theatre, and if a greater number of people were enticed
+to sit out a play because a Pantomime was tacked to it, the Pantomime
+did good service to all concerned. Besides, if people of position and
+taste could, if so minded, leave before the nonsense commenced--an
+opportunity they do not seem to have embraced since Booth reminded the
+opponents of Pantomime how Italian opera had drawn the nobility and
+gentry away from the play-houses, as appeared by the melancholy
+testimony of their receipts, until Pantomime came to the rescue when pit
+and gallery were better filled, and the boxes too put on a nobler
+appearance."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+John Rich and his Pantomimes--Rich's Miming---Garrick, Walpole,
+Foote--Anecdotes of Rich--Pope--The dance of infernals in "Harlequin
+Sorcerer"--Drury Lane--Colley Cibber--Henry Fielding, the
+Novelist--Contemporary Writers' opinion of Pantomime--Woodward, the
+Harlequin--The meaning of the word Actor--Harlequins--"Dr. Faustus," a
+description--William Rufus Chetwood--Accidents--Vandermere, the
+Harlequin--"Orpheus and Eurydice" at Covent Garden--A description--Sam.
+Hoole, the machinist--Prejudice against Pantomime--Mrs. Oldfield--Robert
+Wilks--Macklin--Riot at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre--Death of Rich.
+
+
+It was in 1717 that Rich devised this new form of entertainment, though
+it was not till 1724, when "The Necromancer, or History of Dr. Faustus"
+was produced by Rich, which took the town by storm, that Pantomime
+became such a rage. It has been stated that what induced Rich to turn
+his attention to Pantomime was the bringing over of a German, named
+Swartz, who had two performing dogs that could dance. They were engaged
+at £10 a night; and brought full houses. However, be this as it may, in
+the "Daily Courant," of December 20, 1717, we find him, advertising for
+his "Italian Mimic Scenes"--as he, for long enough, so termed his
+Pantomimes--as follows:--
+
+      "Harlequin Executed: a new Italian Mimic Scene between a
+      Scaramouch, a Harlequin, a Country Farmer, his Wife, and
+      others."
+
+
+Of Rich and his early Pantomimes, Davies observes:--
+
+John Rich was the son of Christopher Rich, formerly patentee of Drury
+Lane Theatre, and he imbibed from his father a _dislike of people with
+whom he was obliged to live and converse_. His father wished to acquire
+wealth by French dancers and Italian singers, than by the united skill
+of the most accomplished comedians. The son inherited the same taste,
+and when he came into the patent, with his brother Christopher, of Drury
+Lane, and after having ineffectually tried his talent for acting in the
+part of the Earl of Essex, and other important characters, he applied
+himself to the study of Pantomimical representations at Lincoln's Inn
+Fields Theatre. To retrieve the credit of his theatre Rich created a
+species of dramatic composition unknown to this, and, I believe, to any
+other country, which he called Pantomime. It consisted of two parts, one
+serious, the other comic; by the help of gay scenes, fine habits, grand
+dances, appropriate music, and other decorations, he exhibited a story
+from "Ovid's Metamorphosis," or some other fabulous history. Between the
+pauses of the acts he interwove a comic fable, consisting chiefly of the
+courtship of Harlequin and Columbine, with a variety of surprising
+adventures and tricks, which were produced by the magic wand of
+Harlequin; such as the sudden transformation of palaces and temples to
+huts and cottages; of men and women into wheelbarrows and joint stools;
+of trees turned to houses; colonnades to beds of tulips; and mechanics'
+hops into serpents and ostriches.
+
+It is a most remarkable fact that the Pantomimes that Rich brought out,
+all of them could be written down as successes. In the exhibition of his
+Pantomimes, Mr. Rich always displayed the greatest taste. He had also
+acquired a considerable reputation as a performer of the motley hero
+under the name of "Lun Junr," as he was so designated on the bills at
+that time, and he was the first performer who rendered the character of
+Harlequin at all intelligible in this country. To others he taught the
+art of silent, but expressive, action, the interpreter of the mind.
+Feeling was pre-eminent in his Miming; and he used to render the scene
+of a separation with Columbine as graphic as it was affecting. Excellent
+were his "statue scenes" and his "catching the butterfly;" so also were
+his other dumb show performances.
+
+Of Rich, Garrick wrote:--
+
+    "When Lun appeared with matchless art and whim,
+    He gave the power of speech to every limb;
+    Though masked and mute conveyed his quick intent,
+    And told in frolic's gestures all he meant."
+
+Rich, however, erred in thinking himself a better actor than a
+Pantomimist; and, in fact, he thought himself a finer actor than the
+great Garrick himself. "You should see _me_ play Richard!" was a
+favourite cry of his.
+
+In 1782, after seeing the Pantomime of "Robinson Crusoe," Walpole said,
+"How unlike the Pantomimes of Rich, which were full of wit, and
+coherent, and carried on by a story."
+
+As I have shown above, Rich had, like many other people, his own
+particular little idiosyncrasies, and when in the season 1746-7 he
+netted nearly £9,000 from his Pantomimes, to the chagrin of Garrick and
+Quin, he was very angry and much annoyed because he, as Harlequin, had
+contributed little or nothing. Another mannerism of his was to despise
+the regular drama on these occasions, and he has been known to look at
+the packed audience through a small hole in the curtain, and then
+ejaculate, "Ah! you are there, you fools, are you? Much good may it do
+you!"
+
+Rich used to address everyone as "Mister." On one occasion Foote, being
+incensed at being so addressed, asked Rich why he did not call him by
+his name. "Don't be angry," says Rich, "I sometimes forget my own name."
+"I know," replied Foote, "that you can't write your own name, but I
+wonder you should forget it."
+
+The first of Rich's successes was "Harlequin Sorcerer." On its
+production Pope wrote:--
+
+    "Behold a sober sorcerer rise
+    Swift to whose wand a winged volume flies;
+    All sudden, gorgon's hiss and dragon's glare,
+    And ten horned fiends and giants rush to war.
+    Hell rises, heaven descends, and dance on earth,
+    Gods, imps and monsters, music, rage and mirth,
+    A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball,
+    Till one wide conflagration swallows all;
+    Thence a new world to nature's laws unknown,
+    Breaks out refulgent with a heaven its own;
+    Another Cynthia her new journey runs,
+    And other planets circle after suns.
+    The forests dance, the rivers upwards rise,
+    Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies;
+    At last, to give the whole creation grace,
+    Lo! one vast egg produces human race."
+
+Of Harlequin, in "Harlequin Sorcerer," being hatched from an egg by the
+rays of the sun. This has been called a master-piece of Rich's Miming
+"From the first chipping of the egg (says Jackson) his receiving of
+motion, his feeling of the ground, his standing upright, to his quick
+Harlequin trip round the empty shell, through the whole progression,
+every limb had its tongue, and every motion a voice."
+
+As probably occurring in "Harlequin Sorcerer," there is an amusing
+incident. The belief in the possibility of a supernatural appearance on
+the stage existed (says an old writer) about the beginning of the
+eighteenth century. A dance of infernals having to be exhibited, they
+were represented in dresses of black and red, with fiery eyes and snaky
+locks, and garnished with every pendage of horror. They were twelve in
+number. In the middle of their performance, while intent upon the figure
+in which they had been completely practised, an actor of some humour,
+who had been accommodated with a spare dress, appeared among them. He
+was, if possible, more terrific than the rest, and seemed to the
+beholders as designed by the conductor for the principal fiend. His
+fellow furies took the alarm; they knew he did not belong to them, and
+they judged him an infernal in earnest. Their fears were excited, a
+general panic ensued, and the whole group fled different ways; some to
+their dressing-rooms, and others, through the streets, to their own
+homes, in order to avoid the destruction which they believed to be
+coming upon them, for the profane mockery they had been guilty of. The
+odd devil was _non inventus_. He took himself invisibly away, through
+fears of another kind. He was, however, seen by many, in imagination, to
+fly through the roof of the house, and they fancied themselves almost
+suffocated by the stench he had left behind. The confusion of the
+audience is scarcely to be described. They retired to their families,
+informing them of this supposed appearance of the devil, with many of
+his additional frolics in the exploit. So thoroughly was its reality
+believed that every official assurance which could be made the following
+day did not entirely counteract the idea. The explanation was given by
+Rich himself, in the presence of his friend Bencraft, the contriver, and
+perhaps the actor of the scheme, which he designed only as an innocent
+affair, to confuse the dancers, without adverting to the serious
+consequences which succeeded.
+
+I have met with another author, who, in giving an account of this
+transaction, places it as a much earlier period, and says it was during
+the performance of "Dr. Faustus," and that when the devil took flight he
+carried away with him the roof of the theatre. This story may be
+alluded to in a very curious work, entitled, "The Blacke Booke" (a
+proper depository), "London, printed in black letter, by T.C. for
+Jeffery Chorlton, 1604." "The light burning serjant Lucifer" says of
+one, running away through fear of fire at a brothel, "Hee had a head of
+hayre like one of my divells in 'Doctor Faustus,' when the olde theatre
+crakt and frighted the audience."
+
+Emulating Rich, Drury Lane then followed with "Mars and Venus," of which
+Colley Cibber says: Was formed into something more than motion without
+meaning into a connected presentation of dances in character, wherein
+the passions were so happily expressed, and the whole story so
+intelligibly told by a mute narration of gesture only, that even
+thinking spectators allowed it to be both a pleasing and a rational
+entertainment; though, at the same time, from our distrust of its
+reception we durst not venture to decorate it with any extraordinary
+expense of scenes or habits; but upon the success of this attempt it was
+rightly concluded that if a visible expense in both were added to
+something of the same nature, it could not fail of drawing the town
+proportionately after it.
+
+From this original hint there (but every way unequal to it) sprang forth
+that succession of monstrous medlies, that have so long infested the
+stage, and which arose upon one another alternately, at both houses,
+outvying in expense, like contending bribes on both sides at an
+election, to secure a majority of the multitude.
+
+If I am asked (after condemning these fooleries myself) how I came to
+assent or continue my share of expense to them? I have no better excuse
+for my error, than confessing it. I did it against my conscience, and
+had not virtue enough to starve by opposing a multitude that would have
+been too hard for me.
+
+("The Drama's laws the Drama's patrons give," has always been an axiom
+of the stage; and worthy Colley Cibber, notwithstanding his antagonism,
+and the rivalry of Rich, had too good a knowledge of this truism not to
+do otherwise but follow the popular voice.)
+
+Notwithstanding then (Cibber continues) this, our compliance with the
+vulgar taste, we generally made use of these Pantomimes, but as crutches
+to our weakest plays. Nor were we so lost to all sense of what was
+valuable, as to dishonor our best authors in such bad company. We still
+had a due respect to several select plays, that were able to be their
+own support; and in which we found constant account, without painting
+and patching them out.... It is a reproach to a sensible people to let
+folly so quickly govern their pleasures.
+
+Henry Fielding, the novelist, was one of Harlequin's assailants. "The
+comic part of the English Pantomimes," he says, "being duller than
+anything before shown on the stage could only be set off by the
+superlative dulness of the serious portion, in which the gods and
+goddesses were so insufferably tedious, that Harlequin was always a
+relief from still worse company." Eager for theatrical reform, the
+"Weekly Miscellany" of 1732, said that plays were not intended for
+tradesmen, and denounced Pantomimes as infamous.
+
+Another competitor, who entered the lists against Rich, was Thormond, a
+dancing-master, and at Drury Lane Theatre he produced "Dr. Faustus," in
+1733. Speaking of this Pantomime, Pasquin mentions that "An account is
+very honestly published, to save people the trouble of going to see it."
+
+In a Pantomime produced at Drury Lane in the following year, there were
+Macklin, Theo. Cibber (who ultimately lost his life by shipwreck in the
+Irish Sea, in company with a troupe of Pantomimists), Mrs. Clive, and
+Mrs. Cibber. At the performance it was announced that the money paid
+would be returned to anyone who went out before the overture; but no one
+availed themselves of the concession. Commenting on the occurrence, a
+contemporary writer observes:--"Happy is it that we live in an age of
+taste, when the dumb eloquence and natural wit and humour of Harlequin
+are justly preferred to the whining of Tragedy, or the vulgarity of
+Comedy."
+
+Garrick, at Drury Lane, finding his audience with no heart for tragedy,
+and that they must have Pantomime, very wisely said, "If you won't come
+to 'Lear' and 'Hamlet,' I must give you Harlequin." And Harlequin he
+did give them, in the person of Woodward, one of the best of Harlequins
+that ever trod the stage. A contemporary print of the time, represents
+Woodward being weighed in one scale, with all the great actors of the
+day in the other, and Woodward makes them all kick the beam.
+
+To satirise the prevailing fashion, Garrick penned the following:--
+
+    They in the drama find no joys,
+    But doat on mimicry and toys;
+    Thus, when a dance is on my bill,
+    Nobility my boxes fill;
+    Or send three days before the time
+    To crowd a new-made Pantomime.
+
+Garrick's success, however, was, I am of opinion, undoubtedly owing to
+his being such a clever Pantomimist. "We saw him," says Grimm, "play the
+dagger scene in 'Macbeth' in a room in his ordinary dress, without any
+stage illusion; and, as he followed with his eyes the air-drawn dagger,
+he became so grand that the assembly broke into a cry of general
+admiration. Who would believe that this same man, a moment after,
+counterfeited, with equal perfection, a pastry cook's boy, who, carrying
+a tray of tartlets on his head, and gaping about him at the corner of
+the street, lets his tray fall, and, at first stupified by the accident,
+bursts at last into a fit of crying?"
+
+All our great actors have been good Mimics, and herein, doubtless, lies
+the secret of their success. The mere intonation of words unaccompanied
+by a strict knowledge of "that dumb, silent language," Pantomime, is
+only _parroting_. Herein, therefore, lies the true imitativeness of the
+actor, and _the natural form of acting_. The word actor "Is a name only
+given to the persons in a dramatic work, _because they ought to be in
+continual action during the performance of it_." It does not mean that
+the actor is to stand still, and to be in action only with his tongue
+when speaking his "lines." No! he bears the honoured name of actor, and
+he should bring the full power of gesture language--Pantomime--that he
+has at his control into play in order to be convincing in the character
+that, for the time being, he is.
+
+Action (mentions Betterton, in his "History of the English Stage,"
+1741), can never be in its perfection but on the stage. Action, indeed,
+has a natural excellence in it superior to all other qualities; action
+is motion, and motion is the support of nature, which without it would
+sink into the sluggish mass of chaos. Life is motion, and when that
+ceases, the human body so beautiful, nay so divine, when enlivened by
+motion, becomes a dead and putrid corpse, from which all turn their
+eyes. The eye is caught by anything in motion, but passes over the
+sluggish and motionless things as not the pleasing object of its view.
+
+The natural power of motion, or action, is the reason that the
+attention of the audience is fixed by any irregular, or even fantastic
+action, on the stage, of the most indifferent player; and supine and
+drowsy when the best actor speaks without the addition of action. The
+stage ought to be the seat of passion in its various kinds, and,
+therefore, the actors ought to be thoroughly acquainted with the whole
+nature of the affections, and habits of the mind, or else they will
+never be able to express them justly in their looks and gestures, as
+well as in the tone of their voice and manner of utterance. They must
+know them in their various mixtures, as they are differently blended
+together in the different characters they represent; and then that
+excellent rule in the "Essay on Poetry" will be of equal use to the poet
+and player:--
+
+    Who must look within to find
+    These _secret_ turns of Nature in the mind;
+    Without this part in vain would be the whole,
+    And but a _body_ all without a soul?
+
+A few words more just to lay further stress on the importance of
+Pantomime, and then to return to our History. Take any part in any play,
+strip from it in its enactment the whole of its gesture language, could
+we realise that the actor appearing in it was portraying nature for us?
+Replace the Pantomime so essential to the part, and the character
+becomes--or rather should become if properly played--a creature of flesh
+and blood the same as ourselves. Pantomime, on the other hand, does not
+require words to be spoken to express its meaning, as it is quite
+expressible without.
+
+A contemporary account of the production of the Pantomime "Harlequin Dr.
+Faustus," at Drury Lane Theatre, forms interesting reading, in addition
+to providing a contrast with present-day Pantomime.
+
+Every action is executed to different agreeable music, so adapted that
+it properly expresses what is going forward; in the machinery there is
+something so highly surprising that words cannot give a full idea of it.
+The effects described seem to be marvellous, considering the state of
+theatrical mechanism. A devil riding on a fiery dragon rides swiftly
+across the stage. Two country men and women enter to be told their
+fortunes, when Dr. Faustus waves his wand, and four pictures turn out of
+the scenes opposite, representing a judge and a soldier, a dressed lady,
+and a lady in riding habit; the scene changes to the outside of a
+handsome house, when the louting men, running in, place their backs
+against the door. The front of the house turns, and at the same instant
+the machine turns, a supper ready dressed rises up. The countrymen's
+wives remain with the Doctor, who (afterwards) goes out. He beckons the
+table, and it follows him. Punch, Scaramouch, and Pierrot are next met
+by the Doctor, who invites them into a banquet. The table ascends into
+the air. He waves his wand, and asses' ears appear at the sides of their
+heads. A usurer lending money to Dr. Faustus demands a limb as
+security, and cuts off the Doctor's leg, several legs appear on the
+scene, and the Doctor strikes a woman's leg with his wand, which
+immediately flies from the rest, and fixes to the Doctor's stump, who
+dances with it ridiculously. The next scene opens, disclosing the
+Doctor's study. He enters affrighted, and the clock strikes one; the
+figures of Time and Death appear. Several devils enter and tear him in
+pieces, some sink, some fly out, each bearing a limb of him. The last,
+which is the grand scene, is the most magnificent that ever appeared on
+the English stage--all the gods and goddesses discovered with the
+apotheosis of Diana, ascending into the air.
+
+The tricks that formed part and parcel of the Pantomimes, in causing
+surprise and wonderment, placed Harlequin, for his extraordinary feats,
+in the first rank of magicians. Oftentimes, however, they were the cause
+of many accidents.
+
+Chetwood--William Rufus Chetwood--who had, in the eighteenth century, a
+bookseller's shop in Covent Garden, and was, for twenty years, prompter
+for Drury Lane, a writer of four plays, and a volume of sketches of the
+actors whom he had met, says:--"A tumbler at the Haymarket beat the
+breath out of his body by an accident, and which raised such vociferous
+applause that lasted the poor man's life, for he never breathed more.
+Indeed, his wife had this comfort, when the truth was known, pity
+succeeded to the roar of applause. Another accident occurred in the
+Pantomime of 'Dr. Faustus' (previously referred to), at Lincoln's Inn
+Fields Theatre, where a machine in the working threw the mock Pierrot
+down headlong with such force that the poor man broke a plank on the
+stage with his fall, and expired; another was sorely maimed that he did
+not survive many days; and a third, one of the softer sex, broke her
+thigh."
+
+Vandermere, the Harlequin, one of the most agile that ever trod the
+stage, on one occasion, in the pursuit by the Clown, leaped through a
+window on to the stage, a full thirteen feet. Performing at the Dublin
+theatre one night, having a prodigious leap to make, the persons behind
+the scenes not being ready to receive him in the customary blanket, he
+fell upon the stage and was badly bruised. This accident occasioned him
+to take a solemn oath that he would never take another leap upon the
+stage; nor did he violate his oath, for when he afterwards played
+Harlequin another actor of his size, and of considerable activity was
+equipped with the parti-coloured habit, and when a leap was necessary
+Vandermere passed off on one side of the stage as Dawson--Vandermere's
+understudy--entered at the other, and undertook it.
+
+How little do we know of the tragic ending of these poor unhappy
+Pantomimists' lives. Their names even have not been handed down to us,
+and they, like probably many more with whose quips and quiddities we
+have laughed at with infinite zest, have long since gone "to that bourne
+from whence no traveller returns," and perhaps, "unwept, unhonoured, and
+unsung."
+
+On February 12, 1739, Rich produced, at Covent Garden (opened in
+December 1732, with Congreve's "Way of the World"), "Orpheus and
+Eurydice." On the mounting something like £2,000 were spent.
+
+Rich devised the scenario and comic scenes. Lewis Theobald wrote the
+libretto, and George Lambert--founder of the Beefsteak Club--painted the
+scenery. Hippisley played Clown, Manager Rich was the Harlequin, and
+Signor Grimaldi, father of the celebrated Mime, to be noted further on,
+was the Pantaloon. This is the first instance of a member of the
+Grimaldi family (says Mr. W.J. Lawrence) appearing in English Pantomime.
+
+The following was the argument and the curious arrangement of the
+scenes:--Interlude I.--Rhodope, Queen of Thrace, practising art magic,
+makes love to Orpheus. He rejects her love. She is enraged. A serpent
+appears who receives Rhodope's commands, and these ended, glides off the
+stage. Here the comic part begins. In the Opera (as practically it was)
+a scene takes place between Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice's heel is
+pierced by the serpent, behind the scenes. She dies on the stage--after
+which the comic part is continued. Interlude II. Scene: Hell. Pluto and
+Orpheus enter. Orpheus prevails on Pluto to restore Eurydice to him.
+Ascalox tells Orpheus that Eurydice shall follow him, but that if he
+should look back at her before they shall have passed the bounds of
+Hell, she will die again. Orpheus turns back to look for Eurydice,
+Fiends carry her away. After this the comic part is resumed. Interlude
+III.--Orpheus again rejects Rhodope's solicitations. Departs. The scene
+draws, and discovers Orpheus slain. Several Baccants enter in a
+triumphant manner. They bring in the lyre and chaplet of Orpheus.
+Rhodope stabs herself. The piece concludes with the remainder of the
+comic part.
+
+"'The Scots Magazine' for March, 1740, says:--'Orpheus and Eurydice'
+draws the whole town to Covent Garden, whether for the Opera itself (the
+words of which are miserable stuff) or for the Pantomimical Interlude,
+with which it is intermixed, I cannot determine. The music is pretty
+good, and the tricks are not foolisher than usual, and some have said
+that they have more meaning than most that have preceded them. The
+performance is grand as to the scenery. What pleases everybody is a
+regular growth of trees, represented more like nature than what has yet
+been seen upon the stage, and the representation of a serpent so lively
+as to frighten half the ladies who see it. It is, indeed, curious in its
+kind, being wholly a piece of machinery, that enters, performs its
+exercise of head, body, and tail in a most surprising manner, and makes
+behind the curtain with a velocity scarcely credible. It is about a foot
+and a half in circumference of the thickest part, and far exceeds the
+former custom of stuffing a bag into such likeness. It is believed to
+have cost more than £200; and when the multitude of wings, springs,
+etc., whereof it consists, are considered, the charge will not appear
+extravagant. The whole Royal family have been to see this performance;
+and, from what can be judged, everybody else will see it before the end
+of the season, the house being every day full at 3 o'clock, though
+seldom empty till after eleven."
+
+Sam Hoole--father of the translator of Tasso and Ariosto--was Rich's
+chief machinist at this period, and the inventor of this famous serpent.
+He had, according to Cumberland, a shop where he sold mechanical toys.
+Having a large stock of serpent toys left on his hands he became a
+ruined and bankrupt man.
+
+"Orpheus and Eurydice" was revived by Rich in 1747, and again in 1755;
+when it ran 31 nights. In 1768 it was reproduced by his successors at
+Covent Garden. In October, 1787, it was again put in the bill, and this
+time by Royal Command, it was said.
+
+Of the number of Pantomimes brought out by Rich I shall not dilate on,
+and those that I have referred to will, doubtless, show what all these
+"plays without words" were like.
+
+During the summer season of 1761, at Drury Lane, Murphy and Foote
+endeavoured
+
+    "From Pantomime to free the stage
+    And combat all the ministers of the age,"
+
+by ridiculing the popular amusement in having the character of Harlequin
+hung in full view of the audience in a play entitled "The Wishes." When
+the catastrophe was at hand Murphy whispered to Cumberland: "If they
+don't damn this, they deserve to be damned themselves!" No sooner were
+the words uttered than a turbulent mob in the pit broke out, and quickly
+put an end to the dire fatality with which Pantomime and its hero,
+Harlequin, were threatened.
+
+Christopher Rich gave the first engagement to the afterwards celebrated
+actress, Mrs. Oldfield, and, previously, a similar kindness to Robert
+Wilks, about the year 1690, at the salary of fifteen shillings a week,
+with two shillings and sixpence deducted for teaching him to dance.
+Another famous performer, Macklin, was also introduced to the stage by
+this family.
+
+At the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, in 1721, there was a memorable
+riot, caused by some drunken aristocratic beaux, owing to an alleged
+insult, which one of their number was supposed to have received. The
+beau referred to, a noble Earl, had crossed the stage whilst Macbeth and
+his lady were upon it, in order to speak to a companion who was lolling
+in the wings. Rich told the noble Earl that for his indecorum he would
+not be allowed behind the scenes again, which so incensed the latter
+that he gave Manager Rich a smart slap on the face, which Rich returned.
+Swords then were drawn, and between the actors and the beaux a free
+fight ensued, which ended in the former driving the latter out of the
+theatre. The rioters, however, again obtained access, and rushing into
+the boxes, cut down the hangings, besides doing other damage, when, led
+by Quin and a number of constables, several of the beaux were captured,
+and taken before the magistrates. The end of it all was that the matter
+was compromised; but, in order to prevent a recurrence of such
+disorderly scenes, a guard should attend the performances. The custom of
+having the military in attendance at our theatres--which the above
+affray was the primary cause--was in vogue for over a hundred years
+after this event.
+
+Rich lived to see Pantomimes firmly established at Drury Lane and Covent
+Garden. Drury Lane did, for a few years, discard it in favour of
+spectacle, but ultimately found it advisable to return to Pantomime.
+
+At the beginning of the 'sixties of the eighteenth century--1761--died
+the father of Harlequins in England, and also--as he has been called--of
+English Pantomimes, and there is, I believe, a costly tomb erected to
+his memory in Hillingdon Church-yard, Middlesex.
+
+Rich left Covent Garden Theatre to his son-in-law, Beard, the vocalist,
+with the not unpleasant restriction, however, that the property should
+be sold when £60,000 was bid for it, and for which sum it ultimately
+passed into the hands of Harris, Colman, and their partners.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Joseph Grimaldi.
+
+
+The year 1778 marks an epoch in the History of Pantomime, as just over
+three-quarters of a century before marked another epoch, the
+introduction of Pantomimes to the English stage. On December 18th, 1778,
+was born Joseph Grimaldi--afterwards the Prince of Clowns, and the son
+of Giuseppe Grimaldi ("Iron Legs"). Joe's first appearance was at
+Sadler's Wells on April 16, Easter Monday, 1781, he not being quite
+three years old. Dickens, in the "Memoirs of Grimaldi," has given us
+from the Clown's own diary, which Grimaldi kept close up to the time of
+his death, on May, 31st, 1837, a full and true account of the life of
+this remarkably clever Pantomimist. To add to what Dickens has written
+of "Only a Clown" (which doubtless the reader is already acquainted
+with) would only be like painting the lily; and, perhaps, I cannot do
+better in honouring his memory than by quoting the words of Mr. Harley
+at the annual dinner of the Drury Lane Fund, spoken in the June
+following Grimaldi's death:--"Yet, shall delicacy suffer no violence in
+adducing one example, for death has hushed his cock-crowing cachination,
+and uproarious merriment. The mortal Jupiter of practical Joke, the
+Michael Angelo of buffoonery, who, if he was _Grim-all-day_, was sure to
+make you chuckle at night."
+
+A contemporary writer of Grimaldi's days thus eulogises the Prince of
+Clowns:--
+
+As a Clown, Mr. Grimaldi is perfectly unrivalled. Other performers of
+the part may be droll in their generation; but, which of them can for a
+moment compete with the Covent Garden hero in acute observation upon the
+foibles and absurdities of society, and his happy talent of holding them
+up to ridicule. He is the finest practical satyrist that ever existed.
+He does not, like many Clowns, content himself with raising a
+horse-laugh by contortions and grimaces, but tickles the fancy, and
+excites the risibility of an audience by devices as varied as they are
+ingenious. "He uses his folly as a stalking-horse, under cover of which
+he shoots his wit;" and fully deserves the encomium bestowed upon him by
+Kemble, who, it is said, pronounced him to be "the best low comedian
+upon the stage."
+
+There are few things, we think, more delightful than a Pantomime--that
+is, a _good_ Pantomime, such as is usually produced at Covent Garden. We
+know there are a set of solemn pompous mortals about town, who express
+much dignified horror at the absurdities of these things, and declaim
+very fluently, in good set terms, upon the necessity of their abolition.
+Such fellows as these are ever your dullest of blockheads. Conscious of
+their lack of ideas, they think to earn the reputation of men of
+sterling sense, by inveighing continually against what _they_ deem to be
+frivolity; while they only expose more clearly to all observers the sad
+vacuum which exists in their _pericraniums_. Far, far from us be such
+dullards, and such opinions; and let us continue to laugh heartily at
+our Pantomimes, undisturbed by their tedious harangues; "Do they think,
+because they are _wise_, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" The man
+who refuses to smile at the humours of Grimaldi is made of bad
+materials--_hic niger est_--let no such man be trusted!
+
+Can there possibly be a more captivating sight than that which the
+theatre presents nightly, of hundreds of beautiful children all happy
+and laughing, "as if a master-spring constrained them all;" and filled
+with delight, unalloyed and unbounded, at the performance of one man?
+And shall that man go without his due meed of praise? Never be it said!
+No, Joey! When we forget thee, may our right hand forget its cunning! We
+owe thee much for the delight thou hast already afforded us; and rely
+upon thee, with confident expectation, for many a future hour of gay
+forgetfulness. Well do we remember, in our boyish dreams of bliss, how
+prominent a feature thou didst stand amongst the anticipated enjoyments
+of Christmas; how the thoughts of home, of kindred, and release from
+school, were rendered ten-fold more delightful by the idea of thy motley
+garb and mirth-inspiring voice, which ever formed the greatest enjoyment
+our holidays afforded. Heaven be praised, we still are children in some
+respects, for we still feel gladdened by thy gambols, as heartily as we
+did years ago, when we made our periodical escape from the terrors of
+our old pedagogue's frown, and went with Aunt Bridget ("Happier than
+ourselves the while") to banquet upon the Pantomimic treat provided for
+us. "All wisdom is folly," says the philosopher; but we often incline to
+think the converse of the proposition correct, when we see thee put thy
+antic disposition on, and set the audience in a roar by the magic of thy
+powers.
+
+It is thought by many persons that Grimaldi is seen to greater advantage
+on the small stage of Sadler's Wells, than on the more capacious one of
+Covent Garden; but, this is an opinion with which we cannot coincide. He
+always appears to us more at his ease at the latter house; to come forth
+exulting in his power, and exclaiming, "Ay, marry, here my soul hath
+elbow-room." His engagement there has certainly been a lucrative
+speculation for the proprietors. "Mother Goose," we believe, drew more
+money than any other piece which has been produced during the present
+century; and no Pantomime since brought forward at Covent Garden has
+been unsuccessful; which is mainly to be attributed to his inimitable
+performance of Clown. It is scarcely possible for language to do justice
+to his unequalled powers of gesture and expression. Do our readers
+recollect a Pantomime some years ago, in which he was introduced begging
+a tart from a pieman? The simple expression, "May I?" with the look and
+action which accompanied it, are impressed upon our recollection, as
+forming one of the finest pieces of acting we ever witnessed. Indeed,
+let the subject be what it may, it never fails to become highly amusing
+in the hands of Grimaldi; whether it is to rob a pieman, or open an
+oyster, imitate a chimney-sweep, or a dandy, grasp a red-hot poker, or
+devour a pudding, take snuff, sneeze, make love, mimic a tragedian,
+cheat his master, pick a pocket, beat a watchman, or nurse a child, it
+is all performed in so admirably humorous and extravagantly natural a
+manner, that spectators of the most saturnine disposition are
+irresistibly moved to laughter.
+
+Mr. Grimaldi also possesses great merit in Pantomimic performances of a
+different character, which all are aware of, who have ever seen him in
+the melodrama, called "Perouse," and other pieces of the same
+description.
+
+We cannot better terminate this article, than with a poetical tribute to
+his powers, addressed to him by one of the authors of "Horace in
+London," who appears to have had a true relish of his subject:--
+
+    Facetious Mime! thou enemy of gloom,
+      Grandson of Momus, blithe and debonair,
+    Who, aping Pan, with an inverted broom,
+      Can'st brush the cobwebs from the brows of care.
+
+    Our gallery gods immortalize thy song;
+      Thy Newgate thefts impart ecstatic pleasure;
+    Thou bid'st a Jew's harp charm a Christian throng,
+      A Gothic salt-box teem with attic treasure.
+
+    When Harlequin, entangled in thy clue,
+      By magic seeks to dissipate the strife,
+    Thy furtive fingers snatch his faulchion too;
+      The luckless wizard loses wand and wife.
+
+    The fabled egg from thee obtains its gold;
+      Thou sett'st the mind from critic bondage loose,
+    Where male and female cacklers, young and old,
+      Birds of a feather, hail the sacred Goose.
+
+    Even pious souls, from Bunyan's durance free,
+      At Sadler's Wells applaud thy agile wit,
+    Forget old Care while they remember thee,
+      "Laugh the heart's laugh," and haunt the jovial pit.
+
+    Long may'st thou guard the prize thy humour won,
+      Long hold thy court in Pantomimic state,
+    And, to the equipoise of English fun,
+      Exalt the lowly, and bring down the great.
+
+Again we are told "That his Pantomime was such that you could fancy he
+would have been the Pulcinello of the Italians, the Harlequin of the
+French, that he could have returned a smart repartee from Carlin. His
+motions, eccentric as they were, were evidently not a mere lesson from
+the gymnasium; there was a will and mind overflowing with, nay living
+upon fun, real fun. He was so extravagantly natural, that the most
+saturnine looker-on acknowledged his sway; and neither the wise, the
+proud, or the fair, the young nor the old, were ashamed to laugh till
+tears coursed down their cheeks at Joe and his comicalities."
+
+Grimaldi used sometimes to play in two different Pantomimes at two
+different theatres, when he would have to go through some twenty scenes.
+
+Unlike the painting of the face with a few patches adopted by the
+modern Clown, Grimaldi used to give one the idea of a greedy boy, who
+had covered himself with jam in robbing from a cupboard. Grimaldi
+dressed the part like a Clown should be dressed. His trousers were large
+and baggy, and were fastened to his jacket, and round his neck he wore a
+schoolboy's frill--part of the dress, in all probability, borrowed from
+the Spanish Captain and the French Pierrot.
+
+At Drury Lane on Friday, June 27, 1828, he took his farewell benefit.
+The following being the bill:--
+
+Mr. Grimaldi's Farewell Benefit,
+On Friday, June 27th, 1828,
+will be performed
+JONATHAN IN ENGLAND,
+after which
+A MUSICAL MELANGE,
+To be succeeded by
+THE ADOPTED CHILD,
+and concluded by
+HARLEQUIN HOAX,
+In which Mr. Grimaldi will act Clown in one scene,
+sing a song, and speak his
+FAREWELL ADDRESS.
+
+With the reader's permisson, I will give, from his "Memoirs," the
+address he spoke:--
+
+"Ladies and Gentlemen:--In putting off the Clown's garment, allow me to
+drop also the Clown's taciturnity, and address you in a few parting
+sentences. I entered early on this course of life, and leave it
+prematurely. Eight-and-forty years only have passed over my head--but I
+am going as fast down the hill of life as that older Joe--John Anderson.
+Like vaulting ambition, I have overleaped myself, and pay the penalty in
+an advanced old age. If I have now any aptitude for tumbling it is
+through bodily infirmity, for I am worse on my feet than I used to be on
+my head. It is four years since I jumped my last jump--filched my last
+oyster--boiled my last sausage--and set in for retirement. Not quite so
+well provided for, I must acknowledge, as in the days of my Clownship,
+for then, I dare say, some of you remember, I used to have a fowl in one
+pocket and sauce for it in the other.
+
+"To-night has seen me assume the motley for a short time--it clung to my
+skin as I took it off, and the old cap and bells rang mournfully as I
+quitted them for ever.
+
+"With the same respectful feelings as ever do I find myself in your
+presence--in the presence of my last audience--this kindly assemblage so
+happily contradicting the adage that a favourite has no friends. For the
+benvolence that brought you hither--accept, ladies and gentlemen, my
+warmest and most grateful thanks, and believe, that of one and all,
+Joseph Grimaldi takes a double leave, with a farewell on his lips, and a
+tear in his eyes.
+
+"Farewell! That you and yours may ever enjoy that greatest earthly
+good--health, is the sincere wish of your faithful and obliged servant.
+God bless you all!"
+
+Poor Joe was buried in the burying-ground of St. James' Chapel, on
+Pentonville Hill, and in a grave next to his friend, Charles Dibdin. May
+the earth lie lightly over him!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Plots of the old form of Pantomimes--A description of "Harlequin and the
+Ogress; or the Sleeping Beauty of the Wood," produced at Covent
+Garden--Grimaldi, _Père et Fils_--Tom Ellar, the Harlequin, and Barnes,
+the Pantaloon--An account of the first production of the "House that
+Jack built," at Covent Garden--Spectacular display--Antiquity and Origin
+of some Pantomimic devices--Devoto, Angelo, and French, the Scenic
+Artists--Transparencies--Beverley--Transformation Scenes.
+
+
+Of the plots of the old form of Pantomime and what these entertainments
+were generally like, graphically, does Planché describe them.
+
+How different (he says) were the Christmas Pantomimes of my younger
+days. A pretty story--a nursery tale--dramatically told, in which "the
+course of true love never did run smooth," formed the opening; the
+characters being a cross-grained old father, with a pretty daughter, who
+had two suitors--one a poor young fellow, whom she preferred, the other
+a wealthy fop, whose pretensions were, of course, favoured by the
+father. There was also a body servant of some sort in the old man's
+establishment. At the moment when the young lady was about to be
+forcibly married to the fop she despised, or, on the point of eloping
+with the youth of her choice, the good fairy made her appearance, and,
+changing the refractory pair into Harlequin and Columbine, the old
+curmudgeon into Pantaloon, and the body servant into Clown: the two
+latter in company with the rejected "lover," as he was called, commenced
+the pursuit of the happy pair, and the "comic business" consisted of a
+dozen or more cleverly constructed scenes, in which all the tricks and
+changes had a meaning, and were introduced as contrivances to favour the
+escape of Harlequin and Columbine, when too closely followed by their
+enemies. There was as regular a plot as might be found in a melodrama.
+An interest in the chase which increased the admiration of the ingenuity
+and the enjoyment of the fun of the tricks, by which the runaways
+escaped capture, till the inevitable "dark scene" came, a cavern or a
+forest, in which they were overtaken, seized, and the magic wand, which
+had so uniformly aided them, snatched from the grasp of the despairing
+Harlequin, and flourished in triumph by the Clown. Again at the critical
+moment the protecting fairy appeared, and, exacting the consent of the
+father to the marriage of the devoted couple, transported the whole
+party to what was really a grand last scene, which everybody did wait
+for. There was some congruity, some dramatic construction, in such
+Pantomimes; and then the acting. For it was acting, and first-rate
+acting.
+
+To give the reader a further insight into the old form of Christmas
+Pantomimes, I cull the following from "The Drama," a contemporary
+magazine of the period (1822):--
+
+In compliance with the long-established custom of gratifying the holiday
+visitors of the theatres with Pantomimic representations at this season
+of year, a new piece of that description was produced at this theatre
+(Covent Garden) last night, December 26th, 1822, under the title of
+"Harlequin and the Ogress; or the Sleeping Beauty of the Wood." The
+introductory story is taken from the well-known tale of "The Sleeping
+Beauty," in "Mother Bunch's Fairy Tales," which had before been
+"melodramatised," but had not hitherto been taken for the groundwork of
+a Harlequinade.
+
+The piece opens in one of the fabled grand caverns under the Pyramids of
+Egypt, in which the three fatal sisters of Mother Bunch's Mythology are
+seen spinning and winding a ball of golden thread, the fastening of
+which to the wrist of the Sleeping Beauty is intended to add another
+century to the duration of her life, and of the power which the Ogress,
+or Fairy, has exercised over her, and her possessions, for the preceding
+hundred years. The ball having been completed, with the due quantum of
+magic incantation in such cases prescribed, is consigned to the care of
+Grim Gribber, the porter of the castle, with directions to attach it to
+the wrist of the lady in the chamber of sleep, whither he accordingly
+proceeds for that purpose; but overcome by the soporific influences of
+the atmosphere of that enchanted place, he falls into a deep sleep ere
+his task is accomplished. The Prince Azoff, with his Squire Abnab,
+straying from a hunting party into the enchanted cedar grove, encounters
+the Fairy Blue-bell, protector of the Sleeping Beauty, who imparts to
+the Prince the story of her enchantment, furnishes him with a magic
+flower to protect him from the influence of the Ogress, and instructs
+him in the means of releasing the Beauty at the expiration of the term
+of her first enchanted sleep, which is then drawing to a close. In the
+amazement which seizes the Prince on finding himself in the chamber of
+sleep, at the splendour of everything around him, and the sight of the
+Sleeping Beauty with her surrounding train of attendants, whose
+faculties are all enchained in the same preternatural slumber, he lets
+fall the magic flower, and becomes thereby subject to the power of the
+Ogress, from which he is, however, rescued on the instant by the
+protecting interference of the Fairy Blue-bell. But in punishment of his
+neglect, he is condemned to wander for a time in search of happiness
+with the now-awakened Beauty, pursued by the relentless Ogress and her
+servant, Grim Gribber. The whole of the persons engaged in the scene now
+undergo the prescriptive Pantomimic changes, and the ordinary succession
+of Harlequinade adventures, tricks, and transformations ensue.
+
+Our old favourites, the Grimaldis, father and son, Mr. Ellar as
+Harlequin, and Mr. Barnes as Pantaloon, were hailed, on their
+appearance, with the warmth of greeting to which their excellence in
+their several parts fully entitles them, and displayed their wonted
+drollery, gracefulness, and agility: and Miss Brissak, who, for the
+first time, appeared as Columbine, acquitted herself with tolerable
+credit, and was very well received.
+
+The scenery in general was marked with that characteristic beauty and
+highly-finished excellence, which have long distinguished the
+productions of this theatre: and the panoramic series of views of the
+River Thames, from Greenwich to the Nore, on the passage of the Royal
+flotilla for Scotland, and its arrival in Leith Roads, probably surpass
+everything of the kind before exhibited. There are several diverting
+tricks and ingenious changes. Grimaldi's equipment of a patent safety
+coach at Brighton, in particular was highly amusing. The machinery,
+which is, in many instances, of a most complicated description, worked
+remarkably well for a first night's exhibition; and the whole went off
+with a degree of _eclat_, which must have been exceedingly gratifying to
+the managers, as auguring the probability of such a lengthened run for
+the piece as may amply recompense the pains and expense which have been
+so lavishly bestowed in its preparation. The house was filled in every
+part, and the announcement of the Pantomime's repetition was received
+with the most clamorous approbation, undisturbed by a single dissentient
+voice.
+
+The first production of "The House that Jack Built," at Covent Garden,
+on December 26, 1824, also reads interestingly:--
+
+The Pantomime is before us, and we should ill-repay the pleasure it
+afforded us, if we did not acknowledge and make public its excellence.
+The name implies the source from which it is taken, and we had,
+therefore, the supreme pleasure of renewing our friendship with those
+very old acquaintances, the "Priest all shaven and shorn, the maiden all
+forlorn, the cow with the crumpled horn, the dog that worried the cat,
+that killed the rat, that eat up the malt, that lay in the House that
+Jack built." This, of course, gave us, as it appeared to do many others,
+great pleasure, "For should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never
+brought to mind." Mr. Farley, however, who supports (like an Atlas) all
+the weight of bringing forward these annual pieces of fun and foolery,
+and who appears to be as learned in the mystic lore of "hoary
+antiquity," as he is in the mysteries of all the wonders of the tricks,
+changes, and mechanism of the Pantomimic world, has let us this time
+into a secret, which will doubtless cause much erudite argument, and
+pros and cons from various sage antiquarians for months to come, in that
+invaluable work of old Sylvanus Urban, 'yclept the "Gentlemen's
+Magazine." As the play-bills on which this important piece of
+information is to be found, will doubtless be bought up by all the
+mystogogii of the Metropolis, and shortly become scarce, we shall take
+the liberty of inserting it in our imperishable pages, for the benefit,
+not only of posterity, but for those of our own day, who are infected
+with the building mania, and who, we think, ought to make Mr. Farley
+some very valuable present to mark their sense of the obligation they
+are under to him, in consequence of the benefit which must accrue to
+them from it. It appears from this fragment in what manner Jack became
+possessed of his house, and which it never before occurred to us, to
+enquire. Thus then the mystery is elucidated by Mr. Farley.
+
+Jack's Wager;
+
+"By virtue of one of our forest charters, if a man do build a dwelling
+upon common land, from sun-set to sun-rise, and enclose a piece of
+ground, wherein there shall be a tree growing, a beast feeding, a fire
+kindled, and provision in the pot, such dwelling shall be freely held by
+the builder, anything to the contrary, nevertheless, notwithstanding."
+Forest Laws.
+
+Accordingly Jack, in the opening scene, is represented just before
+nightfall, as completing his dwelling, by putting on the chimney pot as
+the finishing stroke; he then claims his bride, Rosebud, from her
+father, Gaffer Gandy, who refuses his consent, having determined on
+bestowing her hand on one Squire Sap. Jack, in despair, repairs to Poor
+Robin, the village astrologer, who is intently observing an eclipse of
+the moon (which, by-the-bye, is most excellently managed), and relates
+his griefs. The old man cheers his drooping spirits, by casting his
+nativity and finding by his observations, that Jack's stars are of the
+most benign influence, and that all his wishes shall be fulfilled. The
+marriage of the maiden all forlorn with the Squire is on the point of
+being completed, when Venus (one of whose doves had been preserved by
+Jack) dispatches Cupid to the assistance of the despairing lovers, by
+the magic of whose powerful wand the usual Pantomimic changes are
+effected in a trice--Jack becomes Harlequin; Rosebud, Columbine;
+Gaffer, Pantaloon; the Squire, the Lover; and the Priest, the Clown.
+Mirth, revelry, fun, frolic, and joviality are now the order of the day,
+and the scene changes to a view of Hyde Park and the Serpentine River on
+a frosty morning in January: in which is represented, with admirable
+effect, a display of patent skating. An oil cloth is spread upon the
+stage, a group comprised of various laughable characters are assembled
+on it, and skate about with as much rapidity, and precisely as though it
+were a sheet of ice. The adroit skill of old stagers on the slippery
+surface, with the clumsy awkwardness and terror of novices in the art,
+are well represented. A prodigious fat man makes his appearance; when a
+race is called for, he, of course, tries his prowess, when the ice
+cracking beneath the heavy weight assembled on it gives way with a heavy
+crash, and "Fatty" is consigned to a watery bed. Assistance is
+immediately tendered, when, by Harlequin's power, a lean and shrivelled
+spirit of the deep rises from below to the great alarm of the beholders,
+and whose limbs continue to expand till his head touches the clouds. The
+whole of the scene is one of the most laughable and best managed in the
+Pantomime. Kew Gardens, on a May-day morning, is also a very pleasing
+scene, in which some pretty Morris dancing is introduced. The Barber's
+shop, in which shaving by steam is hit off, is excellent in its way, but
+not so well understood in its details, as to make it equally effective
+in representation. Vauxhall Bridge, and the Gardens which succeeds it,
+are also charmingly painted by the Grieves, and from hence the Clown
+and Pantaloon take an "Aeronautic excursion" to Paris. This is a
+revolving scene--the balloon ascends--and the English landscape
+gradually recedes from the view--the gradual approach of night--the
+rising of the moon--the passing of the balloon through heavy clouds--and
+the return of day, are beautifully represented; the sea covered with
+ships, is seen in distant perspective with the French coast; a
+bird's-eye view of Paris follows, and the balloon safely descends in the
+gardens of the Tuileries. The adjoining palace, mansions, and gardens
+being brilliantly illuminated, give the scene a most splendid and
+picturesque effect. A variety of other scenes, but far too numerous to
+mention individually, deserve the highest applause, particularly the
+village of Bow, Leadenhall Market, with a change to an illuminated civic
+feast in the Guildhall; Burlington Arcade at night, and the village of
+Ganderclue by sunrise. The Temple of Iris, formed of the "radiant
+panoply of the heavenly arch," by Grieve, is most brilliant.
+
+The advent of Pantomime, early in the eighteenth century, gave a special
+fillip to spectacular display, as they were all announced to be set off
+with "new scenery, decorations, and flyings."
+
+Some of the stage devices of Pantomime are of considerable antiquity;
+as, for instance, the basket-work hobby-horses, that figured as far back
+as the old English Morris dances, to be revived in the French ballet of
+the seventeenth century, and, in after years, in English Pantomime.
+
+The Pantomime donkey is at least, we are told, 200 years old. In
+"_Arlequin Mercure Galant_," produced in Paris in 1682, by the Italian
+Comedians, Harlequin made his entrance on a moke's back--and the
+merriment afterwards being greatly enhanced when Master "Neddy," with
+Pan seated on its back, suddenly came in two, to the consternation of
+the beholders. To the Italian Pantomime Comedians we owe many of our
+stage devices and tricks. The statue scene in "Frivolity," played by the
+Messrs. Leopolds, was introduced by the Italians in "_Arlequin Lingere
+du Palais_," when this piece was performed at Paris in 1682. Again, the
+device of cutting a hole in a portrait for an eaves-dropper's head to be
+inserted, was used in "_Columbine Avocat_" as far back as 1685.
+
+In "_Arlequin Lingere du Palais_," played at the Hotel de Bourgogne in
+October, 1682, there was represented two stalls--an underclothier's and
+a confectioner's. Harlequin dressed half like a man and half like a
+woman, with a mask on each side of his face to match presides in this
+dual capacity at both stalls. Pasquariel, who comes to buy, is utterly
+bewildered, and is made the target of both jests and missiles of
+monsieur of the confectioners, and mademoiselle of the adjoining stall.
+Possibly the shop scenes in our English Harlequinades may have
+originated from this. A similar idea to the above was given in O'Keefe's
+Pantomime of "Harlequin Teague; or the Giants' Causeway," performed at
+the Haymarket in 1782. Charles Bannister appeared in this Pantomime and
+sang a duet as a giant with two heads, one side representing a gentleman
+of quality, and the other a hunting squire. Mrs. German Reed, about
+1855, appeared representing two old women, between whom an imaginary
+conversation was held, Mrs. Reed turning first one side of her face to
+the audience, and then the other. Fred Maccabe, in his "Essence of
+Faust," had also a similar allusion, and by many "transformation
+dancers" was it used. The antiquity of many other devices could be
+noted, but I must desist, yet I cannot help remarking that even here we
+have more exemplifications of history repeating itself.
+
+Scenical representations and mechanical devices in Italy had long been
+made a fine art, and an English traveller and critic observes that our
+painting compared to theirs is only daubing. I find among their
+decorations statues of marble, alabaster, palaces, colonnades,
+galleries, and sketches of architecture; pieces of perspective that
+deceive the judgment as well as the eye; prospects of a prodigious
+extent in spaces not thirty feet deep. As for their machines I can't
+think it in the power of human wit to carry their inventions further. In
+1697, I saw at Venice an elephant discovered on the stage, when, in an
+instant, an army was seen in its place; the soldiers, having by the
+disposition of their shields, given so true a representation of it as if
+it had been a real elephant.
+
+In Rome, at the Theatre Capranio, in 1698, there was a ghost of a woman
+surrounded by guards. This phantom, extending her arms and unfolding her
+clothes, was, with one motion, transformed into a perfect palace, with
+its front, its wings, body, and courtyard. The guards, striking their
+halberds on the stage, were immediately turned into so many waterworks,
+cascades, and trees, that formed a charming garden before the palace. At
+the same theatre, in the opera "_Nerone Infante_," the interior of hell
+was shown. Here part of the stage opened, and discovered a scene
+underneath, representing several caves, full of infernal spirits, that
+flew about, discharging fire and smoke, on another side the river of
+Lethe and Charon's boat. Upon this landing a prodigious monster
+appeared, whose mouth opening to the great horror of the spectators,
+covered the front wings of the remaining part of the stage. Within his
+jaws was discovered a throne of fire, and a multitude of monstrous
+snakes, on which Pluto sat. After this the great monster, expanding his
+wings, began to move very slowly towards the audience. Under his body
+appeared a great multitude of devils, who formed themselves into a
+ballet, and plunged, one after the other, into the opening of the floor.
+The great monster was in an instant transformed into an innumerable
+multitude of broad white butterflies, which flew all into the pit, and
+so low that some often touched the hats of several of the spectators,
+and at last they disappeared. During this circumstance, which
+sufficiently employed the eyes of the spectators, the stage was
+refitted, and the scene changed into a beautiful garden, with which the
+third act began.
+
+The scene painter, Devoto, painted the scenery and decorations for the
+Goodman's Fields Theatre, where, it is interesting to note, David
+Garrick made his first _London_ appearance in 1741. His first appearance
+on any stage had been made at Ipswich on Tuesday, 21st July, in the same
+year, under the name of Lyddall. Garrick, during his time, introduced
+many novelties in the way of scenery and transparencies, acting on the
+suggestions of Signor Seivandoni, the scenic artist at the Opera-house,
+and the fencing master, Dominico Angelo. These transparencies became the
+talk of London, and it has been known for several plays to have been
+written so as to introduce them. The first transparent scene is said to
+have been the "Enchanted Wood," introduced in "Harlequin's Invasion," at
+Drury Lane, the painter being one French, the scenic artist of the
+theatre.
+
+Beverley, the scene painter for Madame Vestris, half a century ago,
+brought fairy, or Pantomime, scenes to great perfection. Leopold Wagner,
+speaking of them, says:--"We have it upon the authority of Mr. Planché
+that these were almost entirely due to the skilled efforts and successes
+of Mr. William Beverley, who, in the nature of Extravaganza, so
+impressed the public with his fine talents as an artist upon theatrical
+canvas, that gorgeous scenes became quite the rage, and how, year after
+year, Mr. Beverley's powers were taxed to the utmost to outdo his
+former triumphs, and how the most costly materials and complicated
+machinery were annually put into requisition until the managers began to
+suffer."
+
+Speaking of the production on the 26th December, 1849, of "The Island of
+Jewels," Planché says, "The novel, and yet exceedingly simple, falling
+of the leaves of a palm tree, which discovered six fairies, supporting a
+coronet of jewels, produced such an effect as I scarcely remember having
+witnessed on any similar occasion up to that period. The last scene
+became the first in the estimation of the management. The most
+complicated machinery, the most costly materials were annually put into
+requisition, until their bacon was so buttered that it was impossible to
+save it. Nothing was considered brilliant but the _last_ scene. Dutch
+metal was in the ascendant. It was no longer even painting, it was
+upholstery. Mrs. Charles Mathews herself informed me that she had paid
+between £60 and £70 for gold tissue for the dresses of the
+Supernumeraries alone." I wonder what Mrs. Mathews would say if she
+could now visit this terrestrial sphere of ours?
+
+All this love of spectacular display soon began to supersede the good
+old-fashioned Christmas Pantomimes.
+
+In his work, "Behind the Scenes," Mr. Fitzgerald very graphically
+describes the Transformation scene of later days, and now becoming
+nearly as obsolete as the Harlequinade. All will recall in some
+elaborate transformation scene how quietly and gradually it is evoked.
+First the gauzes lift slowly one behind the other--perhaps the most
+pleasing of all scenic effects--giving glimpses of the Realms of Bliss
+seen beyond in a tantalising fashion. Then is revealed a kind of half
+glorified country, clouds and banks evidently concealing much. Always a
+sort of pathetic, and, at the same time, exultant strain rises, and is
+repeated as the changes go on; now we hear the faint tinkle--signal to
+those aloft on the "bridges" to open more glories. Now some of the banks
+begin to part slowly, showing realms of light with a few divine
+beings--fairies--rising slowly here and there. More breaks beyond, and
+more fairies rising with a pyramid of these ladies beginning to mount
+slowly in the centre. Thus it goes on, the lights streaming on full in
+every colour and from every quarter in the richest effulgence. In some
+of the more daring efforts the _femmes suspendues_ seem to float in the
+air or rest on the frail support of sprays or branches of trees. While,
+finally, at the back of all the most glorious paradise of all will open,
+revealing the pure empyrean itself, and some fair spirit aloft in a
+cloud among the stars; the apex of all. Then all motion ceases; the work
+is complete; the fumes of crimson, red, and blue fire begin to rise at
+the wings; the music bursts into a crash of exultation; and, possibly to
+the general disenchantment, a burly man, in a black frock coat, steps
+out from the side and bows awkwardly. Then, to a shrill whistle, the
+first scene of the Harlequinade closes in, and shuts out the brilliant
+vision.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Pantomimic Families--Giuseppe Grimaldi--James Byrne, the Harlequin and
+Inventor of the modern Harlequin's dress--Joseph Grimaldi, Junior--The
+Bologna Family--Tom Ellar--The Ridgways--The Bradburys--The
+Montgomerys---The Paynes--The Marshalls--Charles and Richard
+Stilt--Richard Flexmore--Tom Gray--The Paulos--Dubois--Arthur and
+Charles Leclerq--"Jimmy" Barnes--Famous Pantaloons--Miss Farren--Mrs.
+Siddons--Columbines--Notable Actors in Pantomime.
+
+
+In the histrionic profession the genius of hereditary is shown over and
+over again; and no more so than in Pantomimic families. For, if blessed
+with a numerous progeny, the sons became--the eldest, of course, could
+only, as the place of honour, be Clown--the others, Harlequins,
+Pantaloons; the daughters, Columbines; and, perhaps, Harlequinas.
+
+In the last chapter but one I have referred to Grimaldi's father,
+Giuseppe Grimaldi, "Iron Legs," and now let us recall something more of
+the sire of so worthy a son.
+
+As a dancer--as his father was before him--and Pantomimist, Giuseppe
+Grimaldi, before coming to England, had appeared at the fairs of France
+and Italy. In 1758 Giuseppe made his first appearance on the stage of
+Drury Lane, under Garrick's management, in a new Pantomime dance,
+entitled, "The Millers."
+
+For some thirty years afterwards the Signor continued to be a member of
+the Drury Lane _corps de ballet_, and appearing as Clown, Harlequin, and
+Pantaloon.
+
+In 1764, Giuseppe played Harlequin in a Clown-less Pantomime at Sadler's
+Wells, and in the Drury Lane Pantomime of the same year, though there
+were Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Columbine in it, there was no Clown.
+Drury Lane was then only open in the winter, and Sadler's Wells in the
+summer months.
+
+A notable Harlequin was Mr. James Byrne, the ballet-master. "Mr. Byrne,"
+says Grimaldi, in his "Memoirs," "was the best Harlequin on the boards,
+and never has been excelled, or even equalled, since that period."
+
+Mr. Byrne came of a well-known dancing family, and to him we owe the
+introduction of the tight-fitting dress worn by Harlequin. Until the
+production of the Pantomime of "Harlequin Amulet, or the Magic of Mona,"
+at Drury Lane Theatre, written by Mr. Powell, produced at Christmas,
+1799, by Mr. Byrne, and which ran until Easter, 1800--it had been the
+loose jacket and trousers of the ancient Mimes. It had also been
+considered indispensable that Harlequin should be continually
+attitudinising in the five different positions of Admiration,
+Flirtation, Thought, Defiance, and Determination; and continually
+passing from one to the other without pausing. Byrne, for newer
+attitudes, abolished these postures, but long afterwards the old form of
+posing was, and is still, retained by the exponents of Harlequin.
+
+In this Pantomime, Byrne, as Harlequin, appeared in a white silk
+close-fitting shape, fitting without a wrinkle, and into which the
+variegated colours of time-honoured memory were woven, and covered with
+spangles, presenting a very bright appearance.
+
+Mr. Byrne, also gave the character of Harlequin an entirely new reading.
+The colours of Harlequin's dress had every one a significance, as
+follows:--Red, temper; blue, love; yellow, jealousy; brown or mauve,
+constancy. When Harlequin wore his mask down he was supposed to be
+invisible. On his mask he had two bumps, denoting knowledge on the one
+hand, and thought on the other, whilst in his cap he wore a hare's foot,
+and a worked device on his shoes, indicating flight and speed. Can we
+not from the bumps of knowledge and the hare's foot trace the
+characteristics of the god Mercury, which, as previously stated, was the
+prototype of Harlequin. With the bat, or magic sword, the gift from the
+fairies to him, Harlequin was supposed to be invulnerable, and if he
+lost his sword he would fall into the power of the Clown.
+
+Byrne's innovation was not resisted, and it was well received, and ever
+since this memorable occasion, the character of Harlequin has, for the
+most part, been dressed as Byrne dressed it. The significance of the
+present-day variegated colours of Harlequin's costume are somewhat
+different to the above, and denote: red, fire; blue, water; yellow, air;
+and black, earth. These--the four elements--are typical of the regions
+governed by Mercury.
+
+Mr. Byrne was at Drury Lane in the time of Garrick. He died December
+4th, 1845, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. Mrs. Byrne, who was also
+a dancer, pre-deceasing her husband by a few months in her
+seventy-fourth year.
+
+Joseph Grimaldi, son of "Old Joe," made, at twelve years of age, his
+first appearance at Sadler's Wells in 1814, playing Man Friday to his
+father's Robinson Crusoe. For several years both father and son played
+together in various Pantomimes; and it was thought that before young Joe
+there was a brilliant future. This, however, was soon dissipated, as he
+embarked upon vicious courses, and through a blow on the head received
+in some brawl "He became a wild and furious savage; he was frequently
+attacked with dreadful fits of epilepsy, and continually committed
+actions which nothing but insanity could prompt. In 1828 he had a
+decided attack of insanity, and was confined in a strait waistcoat in
+his father's house for some time."
+
+From engagements at Drury Lane, Sadler's Wells, the Pavilion and the
+Surrey Theatre in turn, he was dismissed, finally "Falling into the
+lowest state of wretchedness and poverty. His dress had fallen to rags,
+his feet were thrust into two worn-out slippers, his face was pale with
+disease, and squalid with dirt and want, and he was steeped in
+degradation." This unhappy life came to a final close in a public-house
+in Pitt Street, off the Tottenham Court Road.
+
+Signor Pietro Bologna, a country-man and friend of Giuseppe Grimaldi,
+Joe Grimaldi's father, brought with him from Genoa his wife, two sons
+and a daughter. They were all Mimes, and, in a Pantomime produced in
+1795, entitled, "The Magic Feast," Signor Bologna was Clown, and his
+son, "Jack" Bologna, was Harlequin; the latter being also Harlequin to
+Grimaldi's Clown, both at Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells. "Jack"
+Bologna married a sister of Mary Bristow, Joe Grimaldi's second wife,
+and the mother of poor young Joe.
+
+Tom Ellar was another famous Harlequin, first making his appearance at
+the Royalty, Goodman's Fields, in 1808. For several seasons he played
+Harlequin at Covent Garden.
+
+Many years ago penny portraits of Mr. Ellar "In his favourite character
+of Harlequin," were published by a Mr. Skelt, or a Mr. Park, of Long
+Lane, Smithfield, and were the delight of those, who, if living now, are
+old and gray.
+
+Tom Ellar died April 8, 1842, aged 62. Previous to his death he must
+have fallen upon evil days, as Thackeray, in 1840, wrote: "Tom, who
+comes bounding home from school, has the doctor's account in his trunk,
+and his father goes to sleep at the Pantomime to which he takes him.
+_Pater infelix_, you too, have laughed at Clown, and the magic wand of
+spangled Harlequin: what delightful enchantment did it wave round you in
+the golden days 'when George the Third was King?' But our Clown lies in
+his grave; and our Harlequin Ellar, prince of many of our enchanted
+islands, was he not at Bow Street the other day, in his dirty, faded,
+tattered motley--seized as a law breaker for acting at a penny theatre,
+after having well nigh starved in the streets, where nobody would listen
+to his old guitar? No one gave a shilling to bless him: not one of us
+who owe him so much!"
+
+Another Pantomime family were the Ridgways. Tom Ridgway was Clown under
+Madame Vestris's management at Covent Garden.
+
+There have been several Bradburys since the time of Grimaldi's great
+rival, Robert Bradbury, died July 21, 1831, who wore on his person nine
+strong "pads," in order to go through some extraordinary feats.
+
+The Montgomerys; the Paynes, Harry and Fred; nor should the name of "Old
+Billy" Payne be omitted. "Billy" Payne it was, it will be remembered,
+who, in 1833, helped, from the stage of Covent Garden, the dying Edmund
+Kean.
+
+Then there were the Marshalls, Harry and Joseph; Charles and Richard
+Stilt; and a very original and amusing Clown, Richard Flexmore, died
+August 20, 1860, aged 36. Tom Gray, a famous Clown of Covent Garden,
+died January 28th, 1768, aged upwards of 100 years; the Paulo family of
+Pantomimists; Dubois, Arthur and Charles Leclerq, Walter Hilyard, and
+many, many others.
+
+In the 'twenties and 'thirties a popular and famous Pantaloon was
+"Jimmy" Barnes, died September 28th, 1838. Barnes, in the summer of
+1830, was engaged to play in an English company at Paris, but they had
+hardly commenced to perform when the Revolution of July broke out. Some
+years afterwards Barnes published in "Bentley's Miscellany," from his
+old original M.S., an amusing and illustrated account of his wanderings.
+
+Amongst other Pantaloons there have been--Thomas Blanchard, died August
+20, 1859, aged 72; William Lynch, died June 29, 1861, aged 78; R.
+Norman, died September 16, 1858, aged 70; George Tanner, died February
+8, 1870; and Paulo, a member of Mr. Charles Kean's Company at the
+Princess's Theatre, had as Pantaloon appeared in many Pantomimes. It is
+a notable fact that a good number of our Mimes were long-livers.
+
+Long before Miss Farren, afterwards Countess of Derby (died April 21,
+1829), first charmed a London audience, we hear of her in 1772 at
+Wakefield in one of her first parts--if not her first--that of
+Columbine. She could both sing well and dance gracefully. One of the
+earliest "parts" that even the great Mrs. Siddons (that afterwards was),
+when a young girl, played, was in connection with Pantomime, as Combes
+remembered to have seen her "Standing by the side of her father's stage,
+and knocking a pair of snuffers against a candle-stick to imitate the
+sound of a wind-mill, during the representation of some Harlequinade."
+
+In days gone by Madame Leclerq, Carlotta Leclerq, Charles Kean's
+Columbine in the seasons of 1850-1-2, E. Dennett, Emma Boleno, died
+October 18th, 1867, aged 35; Marie Charles, who died from an accident by
+fire, Pavilion Theatre, January 21, 1864, and others have won
+considerable fame in the part of Columbine.
+
+Amongst those who have played Harlequin in days gone by, have been the
+elder Kean, and the well-known actor, Mr. Wilson Barrett, who, early in
+his career, played this part for an extra two shillings and sixpence
+"thrown in," to augment his then weekly salary of seventeen shillings
+and sixpence; whilst Sir Henry Irving tells us that he also has appeared
+in Pantomime, in the character of a wicked fairy, named Venoma, in days
+since past, for a small monetary emolument.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Popular Pantomime subjects--Poor Pantomime Librettos--Pantomime subjects
+of our progenitors--The various versions of "Aladdin"--"The Babes in the
+Wood"--"Blue Beard"--"Beauty and the Beast"--"Cinderella"--"Dick
+Whittington"--"The House that Jack Built"--"Jack the Giant
+Killer"--"Jack and the Beanstalk"--"Red Riding Hood"--"The Sleeping
+Beauty in the Wood"--Unlucky subjects--"Ali Baba and the Forty
+Thieves"--"The Fair One with Golden Locks"--The source of "Sindbad the
+Sailor" and "Robinson Crusoe."
+
+
+It may be of interest in this History of Pantomime to note the origin of
+some of our most popular present day Pantomime subjects, besides showing
+many of our present day Pantomime libretto writers that in such
+well-known themes as "Aladdin," "Cinderella," and others, there is no
+need to cast their stories pretty much in the same groove, year after
+year, when by drawing on the fairy-lore of the East much that is new and
+original, for present-day English Pantomimes, is waiting the attention
+of their skill and ingenuity.
+
+Though the stories of popular English Pantomimes are practically the
+same each year (why I do not know), yet, not content with this, in many
+of our large cities and towns we frequently see the same Pantomime title
+not only "billed" at one theatre, but perhaps at several others. This
+clashing and clashing year after year with one another's titles (I say
+nothing about the "plots," as these, in many instances, only consist of
+a half-penny worth of author to an intolerable deal of music-hall gag),
+cannot but, I have long been of opinion, adversely affect the box-office
+receipts, unless, of course, the Pantomime-goer makes a point of "doing
+the round," so to speak, which, however, is not generally the case.
+
+As Pantomime writers in the early days there were Thomas Dibdin, son of
+Charles Dibdin, the writer of nautical ballads, Pocock and Sheridan.
+Dibdin was one of the best of Pantomime librettists, and from the years
+1771 to 1841 his prolific pen, as a writer of Pantomimes, was never
+idle, as from it came some thirty-three Pantomimes, and all successes.
+Amongst other literary luminaries, in after years, as writers of
+Pantomime Extravaganzas, there were J.R. Planché, E.L. Blanchard, W.
+Brough, Mark Lemon, H.J. Byron, Wilton Jones, and John Francis McArdle.
+
+History always repeats itself we know, and poor Pantomime books were not
+unknown as far back as half a century ago, as the subjoined parody on
+the "Burial of Sir John Moore," by the late Albert Smith plainly
+shows:--
+
+    Not a laugh was heard, not a topical joke,
+      As its corse to oblivion we hurried;
+    Not a paper a word in its favour spoke
+      On the Pantomime going to be buried.
+
+    We buried it after the Boxing Night,
+      The folks from the galleries turning;
+    For 'twas plain it would scarcely pay for the light
+      Of the star in the last act burning.
+
+    No useless play-bill put forth a puff,
+      How splendid the public had found it,
+    But it lay like a piece that had been called "stuff,"
+      With a very wet blanket around it.
+
+After this digression for one brief moment more, let us take a passing
+glance at some of the Pantomime subjects which our progenitors delighted
+in. They had not the continual ringing of the changes on half-a-dozen
+Pantomime subjects, as we have at present, but revelled in such
+attractions as "Harlequin Don Quixote," "The Triumph of Mirth, or
+Harlequin's Wedding," "The Enchanted Wood or Harlequin's Vagaries,"
+"Hurly Burly, or the Fairy of the Wells," "Blue Beard, Black Beard, and
+Grey Beard," and many others. However, to return.
+
+Of the Pantomime subjects, whose origin we are going to enquire into,
+let us first commence with "Aladdin."
+
+According to the many versions of this popular story in Europe and Asia,
+it would seem that its origin originally was of Buddhist extraction. In
+our common English version of "Aladdin," in "The Arabian Nights," which
+was taken from Galland's French version, it is doubtless an Eastern
+picture. It does not occur, however, in any known Arabian text (says
+Mr. Clouston, in "Popular Tales," and to whose work I am indebted for
+much of the information for this chapter) of "The Thousand and One
+Nights" (_Elf Laila wa Laila_), although the chief incidents are found
+in many Asiatic fictions, and it had become orally current in Greece and
+Italy before it was published by Galland. A popular Italian version,
+which presents a close analogy to the familiar story of "Aladdin"
+(properly "_Alá-u-d-Din_," signifying "Exaltation of the Faith") is
+given by Miss M.H. Busk, in her "Folklore of Rome," under the title of
+"How Cajusse was married."
+
+A good natured looking old man one day knocks at the door of a poor
+tailor out of work; his son, opening the door, is told by the old man
+that he is his uncle, and he gives him half a piastre to buy a good
+dinner. When the tailor comes home--he was absent at the time--he is
+surprised to hear the old man claim him as a brother, but finding him so
+rich he does not dispute the matter. After the old man had lived some
+time with the tailor and his family, literally defraying all the
+household expenses, he finds it necessary to depart, and with the
+tailor's consent takes the boy Cajusse with him, in order that he may
+learn some useful business. But no sooner do they get outside the town
+than he tells Cajusse that it is all a dodge. "I'm not your uncle," he
+says, "I want a strong, daring boy to do something I am too old to do.
+I'm a wizard--don't attempt to escape for you can't." Cajusse, not a bit
+frightened, asks him what it is he wants him to do; and the wizard
+raises a flat stone from the ground, and orders him to go down, and
+after he gets to the bottom of the cave to proceed until he comes to a
+beautiful garden, where he will see a fierce dog keeping watch. "Here's
+bread for him. Don't look back when you hear sounds behind you. On a
+shelf you will see an old lantern; take it down, and bring it to me." So
+saying the wizard gave Cajusse a ring, in case anything awkward should
+happen to him after he had got the lantern, when he had only to rub the
+ring, and wish for deliverance. Cajusse finds precious stones hanging
+like frost from the trees in the garden underground, and he fills his
+pocket with them. Returning to the entrance of the cave, he refuses to
+give up the lantern till he has been drawn out; so the wizard thinking
+merely to frighten him replaces the stone. Cajusse finding himself thus
+entrapped rubs the ring, when instantly the Slave of the Ring appears,
+and the youth at once orders the table to be laid for dinner. He then
+calls for his mother and father, and they all have an unusually good
+meal. Some time afterwards, Cajusse had returned home, the town was
+illuminated, one day in honour of the marriage of the Sultan's daughter
+to the Vizier's son. He sends his mother to the palace with a basket of
+jewels, and, to demand the Sultan's daughter in marriage. The Sultan is
+astounded at the purity of the gems, and says he will give his answer in
+a month. At the end of the same week the Grand Vizier's son is married
+to the Princess. Cajusse rubs his lantern and says "Go to-night and take
+the daughter of the Sultan and lay her on a poor pallet in our
+outhouse." This is done, and Cajusse begins to talk to her, but she is
+far too frightened to answer. The Sultan learns of his daughter's
+whereabouts, and does not know what to make of the strange business. The
+son of the Vizier complains to his father that his wife disappears every
+night, and comes back just before dawn. Cajusse now sends his mother to
+the Sultan with three more baskets full of jewels, and the Sultan tells
+her he may come and see him at the palace. Having received this message,
+Cajusse rubs the lantern, gets a dress of gold and silver, a richly
+caparisoned horse, four pages with rich dresses to ride behind them, and
+one to go before, distributing money to the people. Cajusse is next
+married to the Princess, and they live together in a most magnificent
+palace with great happiness. By-and-bye the old wizard hears of this,
+and resolves to obtain the lantern by hook or by crook. Disguising
+himself as a pedlar he comes to the palace calling out the familiar "New
+lamps for old." By this means he obtains the precious lamp, and
+immediately transports the palace and the princess to an island in the
+high seas. Cajusse, by the aid of the magic ring, quickly follows, to
+find his princess a prisoner in the power of the wizard. He then gives
+her this advice: "Make a feast to-night; say you'll marry the old wizard
+if he'll tell you what thing would be fatal to him, and you will guard
+him against it." The princess gets from the magician the fatal secret.
+"One must go into a far distant forest," he says "Where there is a beast
+called the hydra, and cut off his seven heads. If the middle head is
+split open a leveret will jump out and run off. If the leveret is split
+open, a bird will fly out. If the bird is caught and opened, in its body
+is a precious stone, and should that be placed under my pillow I shall
+die." Cajusse accomplishes all these things, and gives the life-stone to
+the princess, together with a bottle of opium. The princess drugs the
+wizard's wine, and when he had laid his head on his pillow (under which
+was the stone) he gave three terrible yells, turned himself round three
+times, and was dead. After thus ridding themselves of their enemy,
+Cajusse and his bride lived happy ever afterwards.
+
+Aladdin's adventure with the magician in the enchanted cave has also its
+counterpart in Germany (see Grimms' German Collection).
+
+Another "Aladdin" version is the tale of Marúf, the last in the Búlák
+and Calcutta printed Arabic texts of the "Book of Marúf" in "The
+Thousand and One Nights." The story is to the effect that Marúf had
+given out that he was a rich man, under which false pretence he marries
+the Sultan's daughter. The tale he spread about was that he was
+expecting the arrival of a rich caravan, which contained all his
+princely wealth. After they were married, Marúf confesses to his wife
+the imposture he has practised on them. She urges him to fly, or his
+head would be forfeited, and procures him a disguise to flee the
+country. He does so, and, whilst journeying through a village, he sees a
+man ploughing in a field, whom he asks for food. Whilst the latter is
+away, Marúf continues the ploughing, where the man had left off, and
+the ploughshare strikes against something hard in the ground, which
+turns out to be an iron ring in a marble slab. He pulls at the ring, and
+Marúf discovers a small room covered with gold, emeralds, rubies, and
+other precious stones. He also discovers a coffer of crystal, having a
+little box, containing a diamond in its entirety. Desirous of knowing
+what the box further contains, he finds a plain gold ring, with strange
+talismanic characters engraved thereon. Placing the ring on his finger,
+he is suddenly confronted by the Genii of the Ring, who demands to know
+what are his commands. Marúf desires the Genii to transport all the
+treasure to the earth, when mules and servants appear, and carry it to
+the city which Marúf had left, much to the chagrin of the Vizier, who
+did not like Marúf. Marúf, during a great feast prepared for the
+occasion, tells the Sultan how he became possessed of the treasure, when
+the Sultan begs the loan of the ring, which Marúf hands to the Vizier to
+give him, and which no sooner does he get, than he commands the Genii to
+convey Marúf to some desert island, and leave him to die. The Vizier
+also serves the Sultan the same way, and then he turns his attention to
+"Mrs. Marúf," whom he threatens with death if she refuses to marry him.
+At a banquet she makes the Vizier drunk, obtains possession of the ring,
+secures the return of Marúf and the Sultan, and the decapitation of the
+Vizier.
+
+The "Babes in the Wood" was registered on the books of Stationers' Hall
+as a ballad as far back as 1595.
+
+To take another familiar Pantomime subject, "Blue Beard," this story is
+said to have been invented as a satire on our King Henry VIII. There is
+little doubt, however, of it originating from a very ancient source; and
+to afford the reader all the possible information on the subject, a
+writer in "The Drama," a magazine of the beginning of the last century
+has the following, though he does not state his authority for the
+information:--
+
+As this extraordinary personage has long been the theme, not only of
+children's early study and terror, it will be gratifying to peruse the
+character of that being who really existed, and who was distinguished in
+horror and derision by the strange appellation of "Blue Beard."
+
+He was the famous Gilles, Marquis de Laval, a Mareschal of France, and a
+General of uncommon intrepidity, who greatly distinguished himself in
+the reigns of Charles VI. and VII., by his courage, particularly against
+the English, when they invaded France. He rendered such services to his
+country, which were sufficient to immortalize his name, had he not for
+ever tarnished his glory by the most terrible and cruel murders,
+blasphemies, and licentiousness of every kind. His revenues were
+princely; but his prodigality was sufficient to render even an Emperor a
+bankrupt. Wherever he went he had in his suite a seraglio, a band of
+players, a company of musicians, a society of sorcerers and magicians,
+an almost incredible number of cooks, packs of dogs of various kinds,
+and above 200 led horses. Mezerai, an author of great repute, says,
+that he encouraged and maintained men who called themselves sorcerers,
+to discover hidden treasures, and corrupted young persons of both sexes
+to attach themselves to him, and afterwards killed them for the sake of
+their blood, which was requisite to form his charms and incantations.
+These horrid excesses may be believed, when we reflect on the age of
+ignorance and barbarism in which they were certainly too often
+practised. He was at length, for a state crime against the Duke of
+Brittany, sentenced to be burnt alive in a field at Nantz in 1440, but
+the Duke, who was present at his execution, so far mitigated the
+sentence, that he was first strangled, then burnt, and his ashes buried.
+Though he was descended from one of the most illustrious families in
+France, he declared, previous to his death, that all his terrible
+excesses were owing to his wretched education.
+
+"Blue Beard" was first dramatised at Paris, in 1746, when "_Barbe Bleu_"
+was thus announced:--_Pantomime_--_representée par la troupe des
+Comediens Pantomimes, Foir St. Laurent_. It was afterwards dramatised at
+the Earl of Barrymore's Theatre, Wargrave, Berks., and in 1791. After
+that the subject was produced at Covent Garden Theatre as a Pantomime.
+
+"Beauty and the Beast," the latter a white bear, is to be found in
+"Popular Tales from the Norse," by Mr. Dasent, and in the collection of
+"Popular Tales from the German" by the Brothers Grimm. As a ballad the
+story of "Beauty and the Beast" is a very old one.
+
+"Cinderella" is to be found in the language of every European country.
+In ancient Hindu legends it appears; in tales related by the Greek poets
+it is also to be found.
+
+The story of "Cinderella," according to the ancient Hindu legends, is
+that of the Sun and the Dawn. Cinderella has been likened to Aurora, the
+Spirit of the Dawn, and the fairy Prince of the legend is the morning
+Sun, ever closely pursuing her to make her his bride. The Hindu legend
+of the lost slipper is that a wealthy Rajah's beautiful daughter was
+born with a golden necklace, which contained her soul, and, if the
+necklace was taken off and worn by someone else, the Princess would die.
+The Rajah gave her on her birthday a pair of slippers with ornaments of
+gold and gems upon them. The princess went out upon a mountain to gather
+flowers, and whilst stooping there to pluck the flowers, one of her
+slippers fell into the forest below. A Prince, who was hunting, picked
+up the slipper, and was so charmed with it that he said he would make
+the wearer his wife. He made his wish known, but no one came to claim
+the slipper; at length word was given to the Prince where to find the
+Rajah's daughter; and shortly afterwards they were married. One of the
+wives of the Prince, being jealous of the Rajah's daughter, stole the
+necklace, put it on her own neck, and then the Rajah's daughter died.
+The Prince, afterwards, found out the secret of the necklace, and got it
+back again, and put it on his dead wife's neck, and she came to life,
+and they lived ever afterwards in the greatest harmony.
+
+The ancient Grecian version of "Cinderella" is that of the story of a
+beautiful woman named Rhodope, who, whilst bathing, an eagle flew away
+with one of her slippers to Egypt, and dropped it in the lap of the King
+as he sat at Memphis on the judgment seat. The King was so attracted by
+the smallness and beauty of the slipper that he fell in love with the
+wearer, and afterwards made her his wife.
+
+In Tuscany, Persia, Norway, Denmark, Russia, the story of "Dick
+Whittington" is well known. In all probability, like many other fairy
+tales, its origin was from a Buddhist source. The English version, that
+the Lord Mayor Whittington was the poor ill-used boy he is represented
+to have been in the popular tale seems quite impossible, since according
+to Stow (mentions Mr. Clouston) he was the son of Sir Richard
+Whittington, Knight. The story was current in Europe in the thirteenth
+century. In the chronicle of Albert, Abbot of the Convent of St. Mary of
+Slade, written at that period, it is related that there were two
+citizens of Venice, one of whom was rich, the other poor. It fortuned
+that the rich man went abroad to trade, and the poor man gave him as his
+venture two cats, the sale of which, as in our tale of the renowned
+"Dick Whittington," procured him great wealth.
+
+On September 21st, 1668, Pepys makes mention in his diary of going to
+Southwark Fair, and of seeing the puppet show of "Whittington," which he
+says "was pretty to see." A Pantomime on the subject was also given by
+Rich early in the eighteenth century.
+
+In Tuscany, the "Dick Whittington" story runs that in the fifteenth
+century, a Genoese merchant, who presented two cats to the King, was
+rewarded by him with rich presents.
+
+In Norway, a poor boy, having found a box full of silver money under a
+stone, emptied the box and its contents into a lake--one piece, however,
+floated, which he kept, believing it to be _good_. His mother, hearing
+of this, thrust him out of doors; and he eventually obtained employment
+in a merchant's house. The merchant, having to make a voyage to foreign
+parts, he asked each of his servants what he should "venture" for him.
+The poor boy offered all he had, the silver penny, of which he was still
+the possessor. With this the merchant purchased a cat, and sailed away,
+but the vessel in which he was in was driven out of her course on to the
+shores of a strange country. The merchant going ashore went to an inn,
+and, in a room, he saw the table laid for dinner, with a long rod for
+each man who sat at it. When the meat was set on the table, out swarmed
+thousands of mice, and each one who sat at the table beat them off with
+his rod. The cat was brought into service, and sold for a hundred
+dollars, and soon put an end to the career of the mice. When the
+merchant had weighed anchor, much to his surprise, he saw the cat
+sitting at the mast head. Again foul weather came on, and again the
+vessel was driven to another strange country, where the mice were just
+as numerous as before. The cat was called in, sold this time for two
+hundred dollars, and away the merchant sailed. No sooner, however, was
+he at sea, than the cat once more appeared before him. The vessel was
+again driven out of her course to another strange country, over-run with
+rats this time, when poor pussy was sold a third time, for the sum of
+three hundred dollars. Again the cat made its appearance; and the
+merchant thinking to do the poor boy out of his money, a dreadful storm
+arose, which only subsided on the merchant making a vow that the boy
+should have every penny. When he arrived home the merchant faithfully
+kept his promise, gave the boy the six hundred dollars, and the hand of
+his daughter besides.
+
+A Breton legend of the story of "Dick Whittington" runs that three sons
+go to seek their fortune, the eldest of whom, Yvon, possesses a cat. The
+cat again plays an important part. Yvon becomes the friend of the Lord
+of the Manor, and has gold and diamonds bestowed upon him in galore.
+
+The Russian version is that a poor little orphan boy buys a cat, which
+some mischievous boys were teasing, for three copecks (about a penny).
+Taken into the service of a merchant the latter goes to a distant
+country, accompanied by the cat of the orphan boy. Puss making sad work
+of some rats, which threatened to make an end of the merchant in the
+inn, which he occupied. He ultimately sold the cat to the landlord for a
+sack full of gold. Returning home, on his way thither, he thought how
+foolish it would be to give all the money to the boy. Whereupon a
+dreadful storm arose, and the vessel, in which was the merchant, was in
+danger of sinking. The merchant, knowing that the storm had arisen
+through his change of purpose, prayed to heaven for forgiveness, when
+the sea became calm, and the vessel arrived safely in port, when the
+merchant paid over to the orphan boy all the wealth obtained by the sale
+of the cat.
+
+In the Persian version, unlike the other legends, the cat is owned by a
+poor widow, who had been impoverished through her sons, and was left
+with only a cat. The sale of the cat produces great wealth; and the
+widow, Kayser, immediately sends for her sons to share her
+newly-acquired fortune. What follows is different to the other versions
+of these wonderful cat stories. The sons only too eager to share the
+wealth of their mother, fit out many vessels, and begin to trade largely
+with India and Arabia. Thinking that to acquire wealth by commerce
+alone, rather slow work, they turned pirates, and were a source of
+trouble and annoyance to the neighbouring states, till about 1230 A.D.,
+when they were reduced to vassalage under Persian rule.
+
+"The House that Jack Built" has its prototype in a sacred hymn in the
+Talmud of the Hebrews.
+
+"Jack, the Giant Killer" and "Jack and the Beanstalk" are two very
+ancient themes coming from the North, of the time, it is said, of King
+Arthur, and of the days when "Giants were upon the earth." The
+well-known cry of the giants in these legends--
+
+    "Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum,
+    I smell the blood of an Englishman;
+    Be he alive or be he dead,
+    I'll grind his bones to make my bread,"
+
+is also referred to by Shakespeare in "King Lear," in Act III., Scene 5,
+when Edgar sings:--
+
+    "Child Rowland to the dark Tower came;
+    His word was still, fee, foh, and fum,
+    I smell the blood of an Englishman."
+
+The English version of the story of "Jack the Giant Killer," must,
+therefore, be older than the time of Elizabeth. It is also a strange and
+significant fact that amongst the Zulus, and the inhabitants of the Fiji
+Islands, there are similar legends of the story of "Jack and the
+Beanstalk."
+
+The story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" is also to be found in old Hindoo
+tales, in which the beans denote abundance. The Russians have a story in
+which a bean falls to the ground, and an old man, the Sun, climbs up by
+it to heaven. "The ogre in the land above the skies," observes Mr.
+Baring Gould, "who was once the all-father, possessed three treasures--a
+harp, which played of itself enchanting music; bags of gold and
+diamonds; and a hen which daily laid a golden egg. The harp is the
+wind, the bags of gold are the clouds dropping the sparkling rain, and
+the golden egg laid every day by the red hen is the producing sun." The
+same idea in "Jack and the Beanstalk" occurs in the fairy legends of the
+North and the East, as well as in Grecian stories.
+
+In "Jack the Giant Killer," the gifts given to Jack are found in Tartar,
+Hindoo, Scandinavian, and German legends.
+
+Now let us note briefly the origin of "Red Riding Hood" and "The
+Sleeping Beauty in the Wood." All the other fairy stories that we know
+of are to be found in other countries, and springing originally from
+Asia, where they were made ages and ages ago.
+
+The Wolf in the story of "Red Riding Hood" has been likened to the days
+of our own "Bluff King Hal," owing to the latter's suppression of the
+monasteries, and Red Riding Hood herself, whom the Wolf subsequently
+eats, with her hood and habit, was supposed to be typical of the
+monastic orders.
+
+The Hindoo's version of the "Red Riding Hood" story is a pretty and
+fanciful one. Their idea was that there was always a great Dragon
+endeavouring to devour Indra, the Sun god, and to prevent the Sun from
+shining upon the earth, Indra ultimately overcomes the Dragon. Red
+Riding Hood, with her warm habit, is supposed to be the setting sun
+casting its red and glittering rays as it sinks to rest. The old
+Grandmother is Mother Earth; and the Wolf, the Dragon; and when all is
+dark and still, the Wolf swallows the Grandmother, namely, the Earth;
+and afterwards, as Night has fallen, the Evening Sun. The Huntsman
+denotes the Morning Sun, and he chases away all the dark clouds gathered
+during the night, and by doing so kills the Wolf; recovers the old
+Grandmother Earth, and brings to life again, Little Red Riding Hood.
+Another version (observes Mr. T. Bunce) is that the Wolf is the dark,
+and dreary winter, that kills the Earth with frost, but when spring
+comes again it brings the Earth and the Sun back to life.
+
+In "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood," the maiden has been likened to the
+Morning dawn, and the young Prince, who awakens her, with a kiss, to the
+Sun.
+
+"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," in concluding this chapter, I may say,
+with "The Fair One with Golden Locks," forms to the superstitious the
+only two unlucky Pantomime subjects.
+
+"Sindbad, the Sailor," taken from the "Arabian Nights," has its origin
+in Persian and Arabian tales.
+
+Of all our Pantomime subjects, "Robinson Crusoe," seems to be the only
+one we can properly lay claim to as being "of our own make," so to
+speak, and written by Daniel De Foe, and, in the main, from the
+imagination. De Foe, it has been stated, derived his idea for this
+story from the adventures of one, Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who
+had been a castaway on the Island of Juan Fernandez. The first portion
+of "Robinson Crusoe" appeared in "The Family Instructor," in 1719, of
+which De Foe was the founder. It, at once, sprang into popularity, and
+has left its author undying fame. De Foe was born about 1660 in the
+parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, died 26th April, 1731, and was buried
+in Bunhill Fields.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Pantomime in America.
+
+
+Pantomime, in America, had not a very long run, it being killed by the
+farcical comedy. Mr. E.L. Blanchard supposes that "Mother Goose" was the
+first Pantomime played in America, but this is an error, as it was not
+until 1786, when Garrick's "Harlequin's Invasion," and R. Pocock's
+"Robinson Crusoe" were played at the John Street Theatre, New York, that
+Pantomime made its advent in America. "Mother Goose" was afterwards
+played, but it did not suit the Yankee's taste. Rich's Harlequin, Gay of
+"The Beggars Opera," produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, and which
+it is said made "Rich Gay, and Gay Rich," also went to America, and
+where, it is said, he became the Chief of an Indian tribe in the Far
+West. In the South Sea Bubble Gay held some £20,000. His friends advised
+him to sell, but he dreamed of greatness and splendour, and refused
+their counsel. Ultimately, both the profit and the principal was lost,
+and Gay sunk under the calamity so low that his life became in danger.
+
+American Pantomimes consisted of a semi-pastoral "opening," performed
+almost entirely in dumb show, and a big trick Harlequinade, and down to
+the time of Pantomime's decease in America was it played like this.
+
+George L. Fox made Pantomime highly popular in America. Born in May of
+1825, he, as an actor and comedian in Yankee and Irish parts, held his
+own in popularity with the great Joseph Jefferson.
+
+Fox might be properly termed "The Grimaldi of America," as he was the
+representative Clown of the land of the stars and stripes. His Clown's
+parts he dressed like Grimaldi, and with the whitened face and bald head
+of Pierrot, the French type of Clown.
+
+The year that "Mother Goose" came to New York saw the introduction of a
+French troupe of Pantomimists, known as the Ravels. In imitation of
+these performers Fox introduced in the 'fifties ballet Pantomimes, and
+several Ravelsque pieces like "The Red Gnome" and "The Schoolmaster"
+with good results.
+
+In 1862 Fox was at the Bowery Theatre, and, during his occupation of the
+same, he did much to popularise Pantomime. Half a dozen years afterwards
+we find him at the Olympic Theatre, New York, where he produced "Humpty
+Dumpty," which ran 483 nights, and for five years, till 1873, it held
+its place, on and off, in the bill. Altogether it was played 943 times.
+Fox, from this, was known as Humpty Dumpty, and, strangely enough, also,
+the Americans for long enough afterwards called every Pantomime "Humpty
+Dumpty."
+
+Fox was a very good mimic, imitating all the Hamlets of the day, besides
+being a good melodramatic actor. He died October 24th, 1877, at
+Cambridge, Mass., of softening of the brain.
+
+Tony Denier, a pupil of the Ravels, and a quondam friend of Fox, next
+took Fox's place in the estimation of the American public. Of Denier, we
+are told that he arrived in Boston in 1852, with the proverbial
+half-crown in his pocket. He was of French extraction, and descended
+from one of the best French families. In 1863 he was with P.T. Barnum,
+and appearing as a one-legged dancer. In 1868, he went into Pantomime,
+toured "Humpty Dumpty," and for some twenty years afterwards kept the
+Pantomimic ball merrily rolling until his retirement at Chicago into
+private life. Denier made Harlequinade tricks a speciality.
+
+Pantomime in America may be said to have lived about a quarter of a
+century; but in the autumn of this year (1901) Pantomime, as we now know
+it in this country, made its first appearance at the Broadway Theatre,
+New York, when last year's Drury Lane annual, "The Sleeping Beauty and
+the Beast," was successfully presented. It is very probable that this
+class of entertainment will become very popular in America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+Pantomimes made more attractive--The Restrictive Policy of the Patent
+Houses--"Mother Goose" and "George Barnwell" at Covent Garden--Lively
+Audiences--"Jane Shore"--"Harlequin Pat and Harlequin Bat"--"The first
+speaking opening"--Extravagence in Extravaganzas--The doom of the old
+form of Pantomime--Its revival in a new form--A piece of pure
+Pantomime--Present day Mimetic Art--"_L'Enfant Prodigue_"--A
+retrospect--The old with the new, and conclusion.
+
+
+Pantomimes, as they grew, were made more and more attractive, "new
+scenery, decorations, and flyings" were introduced, and with new
+"flyings," of course, more accidents.
+
+The restrictive policy adopted by the Patent theatres--till the repeal
+of their patents (1843)--towards the minor houses, which gave to the
+former the sole and only right of performing the "legitimate" was, by
+the minor theatres, infringed in many ways. The means adopted was the
+employment of Pantomime in the depiction of plays adapted and considered
+suitable for the minor theatres. These were entirely carried on by
+action, and when the actor could not express something that had to be
+explained, like the names of characters, a scroll, with the necessary
+details inscribed thereon, was unrolled in full view of the audience.
+These entertainments were very popular at the close of the eighteenth
+century, and they were also the means of providing some first-class
+Pantomimists--as, for instance, Bologna and D'Egville.
+
+In a couple of volumes by Mr. J.C. Cross, entitled, "Circusiana," the
+author of many of these old "dumb shows," the reader can see what they
+were like. The scripts of these plays consisted, like our ancient
+"Platts" and the Italian Scenarios, of principally stage directions.
+
+John Palmer, the actor who died on the stage of the Theatre Royal,
+Liverpool--now used for the purpose of a cold storage--after uttering,
+in the part of "The Stranger," the words "There is another and a better
+world," found that, after building his theatre, the Royalty, in
+Wellclose Square, that he was prohibited its use, used to give
+Pantomimic representations, and just in a similar way as what the minor
+theatres did, as mentioned above.
+
+It is amusing to note how the titles of some of Shakespeare's
+works--which at one time the Patent theatres had the monopoly--were got
+over; "Hamlet" has been known to have been played as "Methinks I see my
+Father;" "Othello," as "Is He Jealous?;" "Romeo and Juliet," as "How to
+Die for Love;" "The Merchant of Venice," under "Diamond Cut Diamond,"
+and so on. Music and dancing also were introduced _ad lib_ into these
+performances.
+
+The Pantomime of "Mother Goose," produced at Covent Garden, December 29,
+1806, which ran 92 nights, was preceded by "George Barnwell," and
+brought some £20,000 into the theatre treasury. Strangely enough, for
+about thirty years, it was the unvarying rule to play "George Barnwell"
+at this theatre on a Boxing Night, which, from all accounts, owing to
+the liveliness of the gods and goddesses assembled on these
+occasions--the Tragedy was as much a Pantomime as the Pantomime proper
+that followed. Of these "merry moments" Dibdin recalls that Tragedies,
+Comedies, and Operas were doomed to suffer all the complicated
+combinations of "Pray ask that gentleman to sit down," "Take off your
+hat?" and the like. "But the moment," continues Dibdin, "the curtain
+goes up (on the Pantomime), if any unfortunate gentleman speaks a word
+they make no reply, _but throw him over directly_."
+
+Seemingly afterwards, at Pantomime time, "Barnwell" was discarded in
+favour of "Jane Shore," as in "The Theatrical Magazine" we find a writer
+penning the following:--
+
+A few years since it was the established rule to play "George Barnwell,"
+by way, we suppose, of a "great moral lesson" to the apprentices of
+London. In this age of innovation this venerable custom has been broken
+down, but the principle seems not wholly to have been abandoned. "Jane
+Shore" has supplanted "Barnwell," and the anxieties of the age, are, it
+would appear, now directed towards the softer sex. Seriously speaking,
+we consider these Christmas selections as exceedingly absurd. Visitants
+at this period of the year frequent the theatre less for the purpose of
+seeing the play than the Pantomime, and at both theatres it was this
+evening their chief, and almost only, attraction; for the tragedy of
+Rowe, which is of very little merit, derived but trifling interest or
+effect from the performers who personated the prominent characters.
+Moreover the lessons of the pulpit have unfortunately but too slight an
+influence on those who attend them, and we are rather fearful the moral
+benefits to be derived from these stage lectures, to the apprentices and
+servants of the metropolis, do not countervail the loss of pleasure
+sustained by those who would be so much better pleased; and, therefore,
+perhaps, taught by a lively comedy, satirising some of the light vices
+or laughable follies of the age. We trust this theatrical nuisance will
+be for the future reformed; we can almost excuse the holiday folks for
+being turbulent, when we reflect upon the insult offered to their
+understandings, in the treatment they receive on these occasions.
+
+In 1830, at Covent Garden Theatre, Peake introduced into the Pantomime
+of "Harlequin Pat, and Harlequin Bat" a "speaking opening." Pantomime,
+however, pursued the even tenour of its way until the production at the
+Adelphi, about 1857, of a Pantomime, with a "burlesque opening," and
+"the thin end of the wedge" was provided, written by Mark Lemon. In the
+Harlequinade, Madame Celeste appeared as Harlequin _à la Watteau_, and
+Miss Mary Keeley was the Columbine. These Extravaganzas, from the pen of
+Planché, with scenery by Beverley, and all under the management of
+Vestris, afterwards became quite the rage.
+
+I have previously referred to the excellence of Beverley's scenes under
+the _regime_ of Madame Vestris. Extravagance in Extravaganzas, like "The
+Blue Bird," "Once Upon a Time," and the like, caused the managers, in
+the matter of scenery, to enter into serious competition with one
+another.
+
+Pantomime, it was thought, was doomed, as its decease at this epoch
+seemed impending. It managed, however, to come again into popular
+favour, but in a very different shape. Instead of the usual comic
+Pantomime it was played by two different sets of performers, and having
+no connection with one another. The opening scenes, like a soap bubble,
+began to grow larger and larger, the double plot was abandoned, the
+Transformation scene became the principal feature, and a long
+Harlequinade at the _end_.
+
+In the Pantomime of "Red Riding Hood," written by F.W. Green, and
+produced at Her Majesty's Theatre, during the 'eighties, an effort was
+made to compose and invent a piece of pure Pantomime. The Vokes family,
+J.T. Powers, and others, appeared in this Pantomime.
+
+In France and Italy particularly, the Mimetic Art still flourishes; but
+in this country it is practically a lost Art. One of the best examples,
+and most successful, we have had in recent years of this ancient form
+of entertainment in this country was that of "_L'Enfant Prodigue_,"
+played by Mdlle. Jane May and a French Company of Pantomimists. There
+are, however, several other very brilliant Pantomimists excellent in
+their Art, like the Martinetti troupe, the two brothers Renad, and the
+Leopolds.
+
+"It is a pity (observes Dickens, in 'The Theatre') that the knowledge of
+it (Pantomime) cannot be more extended among our modern actors and
+actresses, so few of whom understand anything about the effectiveness of
+appropriate gesture. A few lessons in the business of Harlequin would
+teach many a young man, for instance, the simple lesson that arms may be
+moved with advantage from the shoulder as well as from the elbow; and so
+we should get rid of one of the awkwardest, ugliest, and commonest of
+modern stage tricks. And there would be nothing derogatory in the study.
+Many of our most distinguished actors have graduated in Pantomime."
+
+Mr. Davenport Adams, writing in "The Theatre," for January, 1882, on the
+decline of Pantomime, says:--
+
+"We may say of present-day Pantomime that the trail of the music-hall is
+over it all. I admit the extreme ability of certain music-hall
+comedians. I object, however, altogether, to the intrusion of such
+artists into the domain of Pantomime, and I do so because they, and
+others not so able, bring with them, so to speak, an atmosphere which it
+is sad to see imported into the theatre. They bring with them, not only
+their songs, which, when offensive in their wording, are sometimes made
+doubly dangerous by their tunefulness; not only their dances, which are
+usually vulgar, when they are not inane, but their style and manner and
+'gags,' which are generally the most deplorable of all. The objection to
+music-hall artists on the stage is, not only that they take the bread
+out of the mouths of 'the profession,' which is a minor consideration
+for the public, but that they have the effect of familiarising general
+audiences, and children especially, with a style and a kind of singing,
+dancing, and 'business' which, however it may be relished by a certain
+class of the population, ought steadily to be confined to its original
+habitat. The managers are, of course, very much to blame, for it is by
+their permission, if not by their desire, that youthful ears are regaled
+with 'W'st, w'st, w'st,' and similar elegant compositions. Such songs as
+these would not be tolerated by _paterfamilias_ in his drawing-room,
+yet, when he takes his children to the Pantomime, they are the most
+prominent portion of the entertainment."
+
+In the last century, Pantomimes, in the form so dear to our forefathers,
+sometimes twice yearly--at Easter and Christmas--were given. The comic
+and other scenes were in that true sense of the word humorous and funny.
+The reason was not far to seek, as they were all played by _actors_. The
+music-hall had not, as far as Pantomime was concerned, made such inroads
+as at the present time it has done into the dramatic profession. Clown,
+to _pater_ and _materfamilias_, and others, was a source of genuine
+enjoyment; and though they may have passed the sere and yellow leaf of
+age, the laughs and hearty merriment of their grand-children gathered
+around them made them think of other days, when they were young
+themselves. Picture them all, dear reader, sitting in the Family
+Circle--now termed the Dress Circle--a happy party with smiling and
+contented faces, laughing at some _genuine acting_--Pantomime though it
+be--no _double entendre_ songs, and nothing to be ashamed of.
+
+To the young a visit to the Pantomime was invariably a yearly occurrence
+to be joyfully remembered till the next Boxing Day came round again. Do
+they, or can they, understand Pantomime in its present form? I very much
+doubt it.
+
+When towards the close of the 'fifties, and the double plot was
+abandoned, the character of Harlequin began to be played by women, the
+origin of what is now known as the "principal boy," and some acrobatic
+turns, or other speciality business, began to be introduced during the
+course of the Pantomime, which greatly discounted the efforts of
+Harlequin and Clown.
+
+Another competitor that took up the running to the abolition of Clown
+and his companions, was the music-hall, which began introducing
+Pantomimes and ballets. The first to do this, some years ago, was the
+Canterbury, other halls soon following suit.
+
+The managers of the theatres took up arms, with the result that various
+decisions, chiefly averse to the music-halls, were obtained. A decision
+of the Court of Common Pleas left the music-halls in a position to give
+ballets with costume and scenic effects without any such control or
+precautions as was exercised in theatres under the Lord Chamberlain's
+authority. The duration of the litigation was all owing to the vague
+definition "Stageplays in the 6 and 7 Vict. c. 68," and of "Music,
+dancing and public entertainments in the Act 25, Geo. II., c. 30."
+
+Of present-day Pantomime, with the immense sums spent annually on its
+gorgeous spectacular display and costly dresses, there is no necessity
+for me here to dilate upon, as it is a subject that is well known to us
+all. All that is beautiful about it is due principally to the scenic
+artists and the costumiers. The best parts are, as a general rule,
+allotted to music-hall "stars," whose names will draw the most money.
+And the followers of Thespis have, until the reign of King Pantomime is
+over, to take oftentimes second-class places in the Pantomimic form of
+entertainment of the present day.
+
+In the old days everyone looked forward to the performances of Clown and
+his companions; but little by little their business went, until finally
+this has dwindled down to about one or two scenes--which, in some few
+instances is still retained.
+
+And now to formally "ring down," and in writing the "tag," there is, I
+may say, with the sound of the prompter's bell, a melancholy ring as the
+passing knell of Clown and his merry companions, and the "tag," as it
+were, their epitaph.
+
+Pantomimes--as our forefathers knew them--have become a thing of the
+past, and the survivors, Clown and his comrades, the former whose quips
+and quiddities, in childhood's happy days, many of us still lovingly
+remember; the wonderment with which we gazed at the magical tricks
+wrought by Harlequin and his wand; the quaint conceits and ambling gait
+of Pantaloon; and, last but not least, bewitching Columbine, with whom,
+most likely as each year came round, in youthful ardour we fell anew in
+love's toils, are all rapidly vanishing into the dim and distant past,
+and to live in the future only in the memory.
+
+
+
+CURTAIN.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME***
+
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+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A History of Pantomime, by R. J. Broadbent</title>
+<style type="text/css">
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, A History of Pantomime, by R. J. Broadbent</h1>
+<pre class="pg">
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: A History of Pantomime</p>
+<p>Author: R. J. Broadbent</p>
+<p>Release Date: September 15, 2004  [eBook #13469]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME***</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<center><h4>E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Linda Cantoni,<br>
+            and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h4></center>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>
+    A
+</h1>
+<center>
+    <h1>HISTORY OF PANTOMIME. </h1>
+</center>
+<center><b>
+    BY
+</b></center>
+<center><b>
+    R. J. BROADBENT,
+</b></center>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+    Author of "STAGE WHISPERS," etc.
+</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+    &nbsp;</p>
+<center>
+    LONDON<br>
+    <br>
+    1901
+</center>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+    &nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<hr>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+    &nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<h3>
+    TO
+</h3>
+<h3>
+    WILLIAM WADE, ESQUIRE.
+</h3>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+    This book is dedicated as a small token of the
+    Author's esteem and regard.
+</p>
+<center>
+    R.J.B.
+    <p>&nbsp;</p>
+</center>
+
+
+
+<hr>
+
+
+<h2>
+    &nbsp;</h2>
+
+<h2>
+    CONTENTS.
+</h2>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a></p>
+<p style="text-indent: 0em">&nbsp;</p>
+<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0001">CHAPTER I.</a></p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">Origin of Pantomime<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0002">CHAPTER II.</a></p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">Origin of Tragedy and Comedy&mdash;Mythology&mdash;The meaning of
+the word Pantomime&mdash;The origin of Harlequin, Columbine,
+Clown, and Pantaloon&mdash;Grecian Mythology&mdash;Transformation
+Scenes&mdash;The rise of Grecian Tragedy and Comedy&mdash;The Satirical Drama<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0003">CHAPTER III.</a></p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">The origin of the Indian Drama&mdash;Aryan Mythology&mdash;Clown
+and Columbine&mdash;Origin of the Chinese Drama&mdash;Inception
+of the Japanese Drama&mdash;The Siamese Drama&mdash;Dramatic
+performances of the South Sea Islanders, Peruvians, Aztecs, Zulus, and Fijis&mdash;The
+  Egyptian Drama
+<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0004">CHAPTER IV. </a>
+<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">"Dancing," <i>i.e.</i> Pantomime&mdash;Grecian Dancing and Pantomimic
+Scenes&mdash;Aristotle&mdash;Homer&mdash;Dances common to both Greeks and Romans
+<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0005">CHAPTER V. </a>
+<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">Thespis&mdash;The Progress of Tragedy and Comedy&mdash;Aeschylus&mdash;The
+Epopée&mdash;Homer&mdash;Sophocles&mdash;Euripides&mdash;Grecian
+Mimes&mdash;The First Athenian Theatre&mdash;Scenery and Effects<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+<p style="text-indent: 0em">&nbsp;</p>
+<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0006">CHAPTER VI. </a>
+<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">Roman Theatres&mdash;Description&mdash;"Deadheads"&mdash;Pantomime
+in Italy&mdash;Livius Andronicus&mdash;<i>Fabulae Atellanae</i>&mdash;Extemporal
+Comedy&mdash;Origin of the Masque, Opera, and
+Vaudeville&mdash;Origin of the term Histrionic&mdash;Etruscans&mdash;Popularity
+of Pantomime in Italy&mdash;Pantomimists banished
+by Trajan&mdash;Nero as a Mime&mdash;Pylades and Bathyllus&mdash;Subjects
+chosen for the Roman Pantomimes&mdash;The Ballet&mdash;The
+<i>Mimi</i> and <i>Pantomimi</i>&mdash;<i>Archimimus</i>&mdash;Vespasian&mdash;Harlequin&mdash;"Mr.
+Punch"&mdash;Zany, how the word originated&mdash;Ancient
+Masks&mdash;Lucian, Cassiodorus, and Demetrius
+in praise of Pantomime&mdash;A celebrated <i>Mima</i>&mdash;Pantomimes
+denounced by early writers&mdash;The purity of the
+English stage contrasted with that of the Grecian and
+Roman&mdash;Female parts on the Grecian and Roman stages&mdash;The
+principal Roman <i>Mimas</i>&mdash;The origin of the Clown of the early English
+  Drama<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0007">CHAPTER VII. </a>
+<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">Introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into Britain&mdash;First
+English reference to the word Pantomime&mdash;The
+fall of the Roman Empire&mdash;The sacred play&mdash;Cornish
+Amphitheatres&mdash;Pantomimical and Lyrical elements in
+the sacrifice of the Mass&mdash;Christian banishment of the
+<i>Mimis</i>&mdash;Penalties imposed by the Church&mdash;St. Anthony
+on Harlequin and Punch&mdash;Vandenhoff&mdash;what we owe to
+the <i>Mimis</i></p>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+<a href="#2HCH0008">CHAPTER VIII. </a>
+<blockquote>
+  <p>
+<br>
+Pantomime in the English Mystery or Miracle Plays and
+Pageants&mdash;A retrospect of the Early Drama&mdash;Mysteries
+on Biblical events&mdash;Chester, Coventry, York, and Towneley
+Mystery Plays&mdash;Plays in Churches&mdash;Traces of the
+Mystery Play in England in the Nineteenth Century&mdash;Mystery
+Plays on the Continent&mdash;The Chester series of
+Plays&mdash;The Devil or Clown and the <i>Exodiarii</i> and
+<i>Emboliariae</i> of the Ancient Mimes</p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0009">CHAPTER IX. </a>
+<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">The Clown or Fool of the early English Drama&mdash;Moralities&mdash;The
+Interlude&mdash;The rise of English Tragedy and
+Comedy&mdash;"Dumb Shews" in the Old Plays&mdash;Plays suppressed by Elizabeth&mdash;A
+  retrospect<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0010">CHAPTER X. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+The Italian Masque&mdash;The Masque in England&mdash;First
+appearance in this country of Harlequin&mdash;Joe Haines as
+Harlequin&mdash;Marlowe's "Faustus"&mdash;A Curious Play&mdash;The
+Italian Harlequin&mdash;Colley Cibber, Penkethman&mdash;Shakespeare's
+Burlesques of the Masque&mdash;Decline of the Masque<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0011">CHAPTER XI. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Italian Pantomime&mdash;Riccoboni&mdash;Broom's "Antipodes"&mdash;Gherardi&mdash;Extemporal
+Comedies&mdash;Salvator Rosa&mdash;Impromptu Acting<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0012">CHAPTER XII. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Pantomimical Characters&mdash;Neapolitan Pantomime&mdash;The
+Harlequin Family&mdash;The Original Characters in the
+Italian Pantomimes&mdash;Celebrated Harlequins&mdash;Italian
+and French Harlequins&mdash;A French view of the English
+Clown&mdash;Pierrots' origin&mdash;Pantaloon, how the name has
+been derived&mdash;Columbine&mdash;Marionette and Puppet Shows<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0013">CHAPTER XIII. </a>
+<br>
+&nbsp;</p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">Italian Scenarios and English "Platts"&mdash;Pantaloon&mdash;Tarleton,
+the Clown&mdash;Extemporal Comedy&mdash;The Poet
+Milton&mdash;Ben Jonson&mdash;The Commonwealth&mdash;"A Reign
+of Dramatic Terror"&mdash;Robert Cox and his "Humours" and &quot;Drolleries&quot;&mdash;The
+  Restoration<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0014">CHAPTER XIV. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Introduction of Pantomimes to the English Stage&mdash;Weaver's
+"History of the Mimes and Pantomimes"&mdash;Weaver's
+Pantomimes&mdash;The prejudice against Pantomimes&mdash;Booth's counsel<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0015">CHAPTER XV. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+John Rich and his Pantomimes&mdash;Rich's Miming&mdash;Garrick,
+Walpole, Foote&mdash;Anecdotes of Rich&mdash;Pope&mdash;The dance
+of internals in "Harlequin Sorcerer"&mdash;Drury Lane&mdash;Colley
+Cibber&mdash;Henry Fielding, the Novelist&mdash;Contemporary
+Writers' opinion of Pantomime&mdash;Woodward, the
+Harlequin&mdash;The meaning of the word Actor&mdash;Harlequins&mdash;"Dr.
+Faustus," a description&mdash;William
+Rufus Chetwood&mdash;Accidents&mdash;Vandermere, the Harlequin&mdash;"Orpheus
+and Eurydice" at Covent Garden&mdash;A
+description&mdash;Sam. Hoole, the machinist&mdash;Prejudice
+against Pantomime&mdash;Mrs. Oldfield&mdash;Robert Wilks&mdash;Macklin&mdash;Riot
+at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre&mdash;Death of Rich<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0016">CHAPTER XVI. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Joseph Grimaldi<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0017">CHAPTER XVII. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Plots of the old form of Pantomimes&mdash;A description of
+"Harlequin and the Ogress; or the Sleeping
+Beauty of the Wood," produced at Covent Garden&mdash;Grimaldi,
+<i>Père et Fils</i>&mdash;Tom Ellar, the Harlequin, and
+Barnes, the Pantaloon&mdash;An account of the first production
+of the "House that Jack built," at Covent Garden&mdash;Spectacular
+display&mdash;Antiquity and Origin of some
+Pantomimic devices&mdash;Devoto, Angelo, and French, the
+Scenic Artists&mdash;Transparencies&mdash;Beverley&mdash;Transformation Scenes<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0018">CHAPTER XVIII. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Pantomimic Families&mdash;Giuseppe Grimaldi&mdash;James Byrne,
+the Harlequin and Inventor of the modern Harlequin's
+dress&mdash;Joseph Grimaldi, Junior&mdash;The Bologna Family&mdash;Tom
+Ellar&mdash;The Ridgways&mdash;The Bradburys&mdash;The
+Montgomerys&mdash;The Paynes&mdash;The Marshalls&mdash;Charles
+and Richard Stilt&mdash;Richard Flexmore&mdash;Tom Gray&mdash;The
+Paulos&mdash;Dubois&mdash;Arthur and Charles Leclerq&mdash;"Jimmy"
+Barnes&mdash;Famous Pantaloons&mdash;Miss Farren&mdash;Mrs.
+Siddons&mdash;Columbines&mdash;Notable Actors in Pantomime<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0019">CHAPTER XIX.</a></p>
+<blockquote>
+<p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Popular Pantomime subjects&mdash;Poor Pantomime Librettos&mdash;Pantomime
+subjects of our progenitors&mdash;The various
+versions of "Aladdin"&mdash;"The Babes in the Wood"&mdash;"Blue
+Beard"&mdash;"Beauty and the Beast"&mdash;"Cinderella"&mdash;"Dick
+Whittington"&mdash;"The House that Jack Built"&mdash;"Jack
+the Giant Killer"&mdash;"Jack and the Beanstalk"&mdash;"Red
+Riding-Hood"&mdash;"The Sleeping Beauty in the
+Wood"&mdash;Unlucky subjects&mdash;"Ali Baba and the Forty
+Thieves"&mdash;"The Fair One with Golden Locks"&mdash;The
+source of "Sindbad the Sailor&quot; and &quot;Robinson Crusoe&quot;<br>
+</p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0020">CHAPTER XX. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+  Pantomime in America<br>
+  </p>
+</blockquote>
+&nbsp;<p style="text-indent: 0em"><a href="#2HCH0021">CHAPTER XXI. </a> </p>
+<blockquote>
+  <p style="text-indent: 0em">
+<br>
+Pantomimes made more attractive&mdash;The Restrictive Policy
+of the Patent Houses&mdash;"Mother Goose" and "George
+Barnwell" at Covent Garden&mdash;Lively Audiences&mdash;"Jane
+Shore"&mdash;"Harlequin Pat and Harlequin Bat"&mdash;"The
+first speaking opening"&mdash;Extravagence in Extravaganzas&mdash;The
+doom of the old form of Pantomime&mdash;Its
+revival in a new form&mdash;A piece of pure Pantomime&mdash;Present
+day Mimetic Art&mdash;"<i>L'Enfant Prodigue</i>"&mdash;A retrospect&mdash;The old with
+  the new, and conclusion</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<hr>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<br>
+
+
+</p>
+
+
+<h2>
+    <a name="PREFACE">PREFACE. </a>
+</h2>
+<p>
+    One of the most important factors in the making of Theatrical History
+    has been that of Pantomime, yet in many of the published works dealing
+    with the History of the Stage it has, with the exception of a passing
+    reference here and there, been much neglected.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is with a view of conveying to the reading public some little, and,
+    perhaps, new information about this ancient form of entertainment that I
+    am tempted to issue this History of Pantomime in the hope and belief
+    that it may not only prove interesting, but also instructive, to all
+    lovers of the Stage.
+</p>
+<center>
+    R.J.B.
+</center>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+    Liverpool, December, 1901.
+</p>
+
+
+
+<a name="2HCH0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER I.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    Origin of Pantomime.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    From the beginning of all time there has been implanted in the human
+    breast the Dramatic instinct full of life and of vigour, and finding
+    undoubtedly its outlet, in the early days of civilization, if not in the
+    Dramatic Art then in the poetry of motion with that necessary and always
+    essential concomitant of both&mdash;Pantomime. Indeed, of the Terpsichorean
+    Art, it has been truly observed "That deprived of the imitative
+    principle (<i>i.e.</i>, Pantomime), the strength, the mute expression, it
+    becomes nothing but a series of cadenced steps, interesting merely as a
+    graceful exercise." Equally so in every way does it apply to the
+    Dramatic Art, which minus its acting, its gestures&mdash;in a word, its
+    Pantomime&mdash;we have nothing but, to quote Hamlet, "Words, words, words."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In observing "That all the world's a stage, and the men and women merely
+    players," Shakespeare doubtless included in the generic term "players,"
+    Pantomimists as well: Inasmuch as this, that when, and wherever a
+    character is portrayed, or represented, be it in real life or on the
+    stage&mdash;"Nature's looking-glass," and the world in miniature&mdash;the words
+    that the individual or the character speaks, are accompanied with
+    gesture and motion, or, in other words, Pantomime, when "The action is
+    suited to the word, the word to the action."
+</p>
+<p>
+    To trace the original origin of Pantomime, or Mimicry, we must go to
+    Nature herself where we can find this practised by her from the
+    beginning of all time as freely, and as fully, as ever it was, or ever
+    will be, upon the stages of our theatres. What better evidence, or
+    instances, of this can we have than in those studies of her handiwork?
+    as the larger species of caterpillars, when, by stretching themselves
+    out in imitation of, and to make their foes think that they are snakes;
+    tigers and lions choosing a background in keeping with, and in imitation
+    of, the colours of their bodies, in order to seize their unwary prey;
+    and for the same purpose crocodiles imitating a rotting log; the green
+    tint of the lizard's skin for the sake of concealment; the playful
+    imitativeness of the mocking bird; the hysterical laugh of the hyaena;
+    the gaudy colours of tropical snakes imitated by others, besides many
+    other examples of Mimicry, in such as butterflies of the species
+    <i>Danaidae</i> and <i>Acraediae</i>, the <i>Heliconidiae</i> of tropical America; and
+    hornets, wasps, ants, and bees. All this, it may be urged, is only
+    instinct. True; but is it not also Mimicry&mdash;the Pantomime of Nature,
+    and, though, of course, of a different kind, and for very different
+    objects, is, nevertheless, of a kind of instinctive Pantomime or Mimicry
+    which each and every one of us possesses in greater or lesser degrees,
+    and as much as we do the Dramatic instinct.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The very name Pantomime itself signifies Nature as Pan was amongst the
+    Ancients, the allegorical god of Nature, the shepherd of Arcadia, and
+    with <i>Mimos</i>, meaning an imitator, we have, in the combination of these
+    two words, "an imitator of Nature," and from whence we derive the origin
+    of our word Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Dryden says:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "Pan taught to join with wax unequal reeds;
+    Pan loves the shepherds and the flocks he feeds."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    "Pan," says Servius, "is a rustic god, formed in similitude of Nature,
+    whence he is called Pan, <i>i.e.</i>, All: for he has horns in similitude of
+    the rays of the sun and the horns of the moon; his face is as ruddy as
+    the imitation of the aether; he has a spotted fawn skin on his breast in
+    likeness of the stars; his lower parts are shaggy on account of the
+    trees, shrubs, and wild beasts; he has goat's feet to denote the
+    stability of the earth; he has a pipe of seven reeds on account of the
+    harmony of the heavens, in which there are seven sounds; he has a crook,
+    that is a curved staff, on account of the year, which runs back on
+    itself <i>because he is the god of all Nature</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Bernardin de St. Pierre observes of Pantomime, "That it was the first
+    language of man; it is known to all nations; and is so natural and so
+    expressive that the children of white parents learn it rapidly when they
+    see it used by the negroes."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of the Pantomimic language&mdash;a universal language and common to the whole
+    world from time immemorial&mdash;Charles Darwin says in his "Descent of Man,"
+    that "The intellectual and social faculties of man could hardly have
+    been inferior in any extreme degree to those now possessed by the
+    lowest savage; otherwise primeval man could not have been so eminently
+    successful in the struggle for life as proved by his early and wide
+    diffusion. From the fundamental differences between certain languages
+    some philologists have inferred that, when man first became widely
+    diffused, he was not a speaking animal; but it may be suspected that
+    languages, far less perfect than any now spoken, <i>aided by gestures</i>,
+    might have been used, and yet have left no traces on subsequent and more
+    highly-developed tongues."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With the progress of, and also as an aid to, civilization how could the
+    traveller or the trader, not only in the beginning of time, but also
+    now, when occasion demands, in their intercourse with foreign nations
+    (unless, of course, they know the language) make themselves understood,
+    or be able to trade, unless they were or are able to use that "dumb
+    silent language"&mdash;Pantomime? Civilization undoubtedly owes much of its
+    progress to it, and, also the world at large, to this only and always
+    universal language. To both the deaf, as well as the dumb, its
+    advantages have ever been apparent.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Therefore, from prehistoric times, and from the beginning of the world,
+    we may presume to have had in some form or another, the Pantomimic Art.
+    In the lower stages of humanity, even in our own times, there is, in all
+    probability, a close similarity to the savagedom of mankind in the early
+    Antediluvian period as "This is shown (says Darwin) by the pleasure
+    which they all take in dancing, rude music, painting, tattooing, and
+    otherwise decorating themselves&mdash;in their mutual comprehension of
+    <i>gesture language</i>, and by the same inarticulate cries, when they are
+    excited by various emotions." It naturally follows that even if there
+    was only dancing, there must necessarily, as a form of entertainment,
+    have also been Pantomime. Again, all savage tribes have a war-dance of
+    some description, in which in fighting costume they invariably go
+    through, in Pantomimic form, the respective movements of the Challenge,
+    the Conflict, the Pursuit, and the Defeat, whilst other members of the
+    tribe, both men and women, give additional stimulus to these
+    representations by a rude form of music.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Ostyak tribe of Northern Asia give us a specimen of the rude
+    imitative dances of early civilization in a Pantomimic exhibition of the
+    Chase; the gambols and habits of the wolf and other wild beasts. The
+    Pantomimic dances of the Kamchadales are in imitation of birds, dogs,
+    and bears; and the Damaras represent, by four of the tribe stooping down
+    with their heads together, and uttering harsh cries, the movements of
+    oxen, and of sheep. The Australian Bushmen Mimic the leaping of calves,
+    the antics of the baboon, and the buzzing of swarms of bees. Primitive
+    Pantomimic dancing is practised amongst the South Sea Islanders, and
+    other races, and just as it was, presumably, at the beginning of the
+    world.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Having briefly traced the origin of Pantomime, and the source of
+    dancing, let us, in order to further amplify my subject, look at also
+    for a moment the origin of music, in the time of prehistoric man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From Nature also do we derive this art, as "The sighing of the wind
+    passing over a bed of reeds is Nature's first suggestion of breath," and
+    of music. The clapping of hands and the stamping of feet is man's first
+    element in the making of music, which developed itself into the
+    formation of drums, bells, and cymbals, and the evolution of the same
+    primary principle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It has been argued, and also ridiculously pretended, that in the
+    Antediluvian period mankind only lived in caves with the hairy mammoth,
+    the cave bear, the rhinoceros, and the hyaena, in a state of barbarous
+    savagery; and that only since the Deluge have the Arts been known and
+    cities built on this terrestrial sphere of ours. Could anything be more
+    fallacious?
+</p>
+<p>
+    We know, from the Bible, that the first man was created about six
+    thousand years ago, and some sixteen hundred and fifty-six years
+    afterwards the inhabitants of the world, with the exception of Noah and
+    his family, consisting of eight souls all told, were destroyed by the
+    flood. Noah and his family, we can take it, were of the same race of
+    mankind then on the earth, of the same descent and of the same flesh and
+    blood (as we all are) of our common father and mother, Adam and Eve; yet
+    we are not told that Noah (he was six hundred years old when he went
+    into the Ark) and his family were savages. In the 4th chapter, 21st
+    verse of Genesis, of Jubal-Cain, we learn that "He was the father of all
+    such as handle the harp and organ"; and in the following verse,
+    Tubal-Cain is described as "An instructor of every artificer in brass
+    and iron."
+</p>
+<p>
+    We learn, also, that magnificent statues were made in Egypt some six
+    thousand years ago; and that mention is made of a statue of King
+    Cephren, said to have been chiselled about this period, and many learned
+    men also affirm that letters were known to the inhabitants of the
+    Antediluvian world. All this, however, hardly looks like the work of a
+    barbarous race, and points to an acquaintance with the Arts, at any rate
+    of Music and Sculpture, and that of the artificers and workers in brass
+    and iron.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To follow, for my subject, this reasoning a little further, if there was
+    music (which, doubtless, there was) there must also have been dancing,
+    and, if dancing, there must, in the Antediluvian age, as a form of
+    entertainment, have also been Pantomime. On the other hand, even
+    supposing that man, at this period, was nothing else but a complete
+    savage, the words of Darwin, that I have quoted on a previous page,
+    conclusively proves, I think (on a common-sense like basis), of the
+    existence of dancing, a rude form of music, and, of course, Pantomime at
+    this epoch.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Ingersoll's doctrine was that "The distance from savagery to Shakespeare
+    must be measured not by hundreds, but by millions, of years."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Finally, why, and for what reason, should the Lord God, in His
+    all-seeing goodness and mercy, punish the inhabitants of the
+    Antediluvian world if they were only poor unenlightened savages? Was it
+    not because they were idolaters and worshippers of idols, "And that
+    every imagination of the thoughts of his (man's) heart was only evil
+    continually," as the sixth chapter and fifth verse of Genesis tells us?
+    This then being so, we know also that in every ancient form of religion
+    dancing was one of the acts of worship, and if dancing, there must as
+    previously stated, have also been Pantomime.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER II.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-indent: 0em; text-align: center">
+    Origin of Tragedy and Comedy&mdash;Mythology&mdash;The meaning of the word
+    Pantomime&mdash;The origin of Harlequin, Columbine, Clown, and
+    Pantaloon&mdash;Grecian Mythology&mdash;Transformation Scenes&mdash;The rise of Grecian
+    Tragedy and Comedy&mdash;The Satirical Drama.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    In the year 2347 B.C., in Chapter 9, verse 20, in Genesis, there occurs:
+    "And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard." This is
+    one of the first acts that Noah did after the Deluge, and it is, as
+    history tells us, from the rites and ceremonies in celebration of the
+    cultivation of the vine, that we owe the origin of Tragedy and Comedy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After the Deluge God placed His bow in the heavens as His covenant with
+    man that the world should no more be accursed; and in the first ages of
+    this world's history, Noah and his descendants celebrated their
+    deliverance from the Ark, the return of the seasons, and the promise of
+    plenty in their several religious rites and ceremonies. The children of
+    Shem had in general Asia as their portion; Japhet had Europe; and Ham,
+    Africa.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Soon, however, religion began to lose its purity, and it then began to
+    degenerate very fast. Men began to repair to the tops of mountains,
+    lonely caves and grottoes, where they thought resided their gods. To
+    honour them they erected altars and performed their vows. Amongst the
+    Ancients their Mythology went no further than the epoch of the Deluge,
+    and in honour of which, and also of the Ark, they erected many temples
+    called Aren, Theba, Argus (from whence was probably derived the Argo of
+    the Argonauts, and the sacred ship of Osiris), Cibotus, Toleus, and
+    Baris.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The symbol by which the Mythologists represented the Ark was an immense
+    egg. This was supposed to have been produced by Ether and Chaos, at the
+    bidding of Time, the one ethereal being who created the universe. By Nox
+    (Night) the egg was hatched, which, being opened into two parts, from
+    the upper part was formed heaven, and the lower earth.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the sacred rites of Osiris, Isis, and the Dionysia of Bacchus, the
+    Ark or Ship was introduced. The Dove, by many nations, in their
+    celebrations, was looked upon as a special emblem of peace and
+    good-will. Theba, in Egypt, was originally one of the temples dedicated
+    to the Ark. Both priests and sooth-sayers were styled Ionah or Doves. To
+    Dodona, in Epirus, was brought this and the first Grecian oracle all the
+    rites and history of the Thebans. The priestesses of this temple were
+    known in the Latin as <i>Columbae</i>. It is from this word that we derive
+    the name Columbine, which means, in the Italian, "little dove." Homer
+    alludes to the priestesses as doves, and that they administered to Zeuth
+    (Noah). Nonnus speaks of Cadmus, and others of Orpheus, as introducing
+    into Greece the rites of Dionysus or Bacchus.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Ancients, mentions Kennedy in his work on "Mythology," have highly
+    reverenced Noah, and designated him as Noa, Noos, Nous, Nus, Nusas,
+    Nusus (in India), Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, Osiris, Prometheus,
+    Deucalion, Atlas, Deus, Zeus, and Dios. Dios was one of the most ancient
+    terms for Noah, and whence was derived Deus&mdash;Nusus compounded of Dios
+    and Nusos, which gives us Dionysus, the Bacchus of the Greeks, and the
+    chief god of the heathen world. Bacchus was, properly speaking, Cush
+    (the son of Ham, and grandson of Noah), though both Dionysus and Bacchus
+    are, by ancient writers, frequently confounded with one another.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The resting of the Ark upon Mount Baris, Minyas, the Ararat of Moses in
+    Armenia, the dispersal of the flood, the multiplication of the families
+    of the earth, and the migration from the plains of Shinar of the
+    descendants of the sons of Chus or Cush (as it is sometimes written),
+    and called Chushites or Cushites, to different parts of the world, being
+    joined by other nations, particularly those of the descendants of Ham,
+    one of the sons of Noah. They were the first apostates from the truth,
+    but being great in worldly wisdom and knowledge they were thought to be,
+    and looked upon as a superior class of beings. Ham they looked upon as a
+    divinity, and under the name of Ammon they worshipped him as the Sun,
+    and Chus likewise as Apollo, a name which was also bestowed by the
+    Ancients upon Noah. The worship of the sun in all probability originated
+    the eastern position in our churches.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Another of the ancient deities worshipped by the Ammonians was Meed, or
+    Meet, the Cybele of the Phrygians, the nurse of Dionysus, and the Soul
+    of the World.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Nimrod, the "mighty hunter" (who possessed the regions of Babylonia and
+    Chaldee), and one of the sons of Cush, was the builder of that seminary
+    of idolatory the City and Tower of Bel, and erected in honour of the god
+    Bel, and another name for the sun. Upon the confusion of tongues when
+    hitherto "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech," it
+    came to be known as Babylon, "The City of Confusion." Homer introduces
+    Orion (Nimrod) as a giant and a hunter in the shades below, and the
+    author of the "Pascal Chronicles" mentions that Nimrod taught the
+    Assyrians or Babylonians to worship fire. The priests of Ammon, named
+    Petor or Pator, used to dance round a large fire, which they affected in
+    their dancing to describe. Probably from this the Dervish dances all
+    over the East may be traced to this source.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Kennedy observes, of the confusion of tongues at Babel, that it was only
+    a labial failure, so that the people could not articulate. It was not an
+    aberration in words or language, but a failure and incapacity in labial
+    utterance. Epiphanius says that Babel, or Babylon, was the first city
+    built after the flood.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Cushites were a large and numerous body, and after their dispersion
+    from Babylon they were scattered "Abroad upon the face of the earth."
+    They were the same people who imparted their rites and religious
+    services into Egypt, as far as the Indus and the Ganges, and still
+    further into Japan and China. From this event is to be discovered the
+    fable of the flight of the Grecian god Bacchus, the fabulous wanderings
+    of Osiris, and the same god under another name, of the Egyptians.
+    Wherever Dionysus, Osiris, or Bacchus went, the Ancients say that he
+    taught the cultivation of the soil, and the planting of the vine.
+    Dionysus, Bacchus, or Osiris, as I have shown in a preceding page, were
+    only other designations for Noah.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of the Hindu heathen deity, Vishnu, Father Boushet mentions an Indian
+    tradition, concerning a flood which covered the whole earth, when Vishnu
+    made a raft, and, being turned into a fish, steered it with his tail.
+    Vishnu, like Dagon, was represented under the figure of a man and fish.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Strangely enough, the regions said to have been traversed by Dionysus,
+    Osiris, or Bacchus were, at different times, passed through by the
+    posterity of Ham, and in many of them they took up their residence. In
+    his journeyings the chief attendants of Osiris, or Bacchus, were Pan,
+    Anabis, Macedo, the Muses, the Satyrs, and Bacchic women were all in his
+    retinue. The people of India claim him as their own, and maintain that
+    he was born at Nusa in their country. Arrian speaks of the Nuseans as
+    being the attendants of Dionysus. In all traditions Dionysus appears as
+    the representative of some power of Nature.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The first who reduced Mythology to a kind of system were, in all
+    probability, the Egyptians. Egypt was ever the land of graven images,
+    and under the veil of Allegory and Mythology the priests concealed
+    religion from the eyes of the vulgar. In the beginning, brute animals
+    and certain vegetables were represented as the visible symbols of the
+    deities to which they were consecrated. Hence Jupiter Ammon was
+    represented under the figure of a Ram; Apis under a Cow; Osiris of a
+    Bull; Mercury or Thol of an Ibis; Diana or Babastis of a Cat; and Pan of
+    a Goat. From these sources are derived the fabulous transformation of
+    the gods celebrated in Egyptian Mythology, and afterwards imported into
+    Greece and Italy to serve as the subjects of the Grecian and Roman
+    Pantomimes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pantomime as we now know the term, means, not only the Art of acting in
+    dumb show, but also that of a spectacle or Christmas entertainment. (I
+    may add in parenthesis, that in the early part of the last century&mdash;the
+    nineteenth&mdash;the dictionaries only refer to Pantomime as meaning the
+    former of the above two definitions, and not the latter.)
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pan, regarded as the symbol of the universe, was also the god of flocks,
+    pastures, and shepherds in classic Mythology, and the guardian of bees,
+    hunting and fishing in his Kingdom of Arcadia. His form, like the
+    Satyrs, both supposed to have been the offsprings of Mercury, was that
+    of a man combined with a goat, having horns and feet like the latter
+    animal.
+</p>
+<p>
+    <i>Mimos</i> (Gr.), as I have stated in the beginning, means an "imitator,"
+    or a "mimic," and from which word we have the derivation of the words
+    "mimicry," "mimetic," and the like.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pan was the traditional inventor of the Pandean pipes, and also from
+    his name we derive many words that are in our language, such as "panic"
+    (Pan used to delight in suddenly surprising the shepherds whilst tending
+    their flocks), and the other attributes of this noun, including that
+    recently coined term of the Americans, "panicy."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pan is said to have been the son of Mercury, or even Mercury himself,
+    and others say that he was the son of Zeus. Mercury and Zeus, it will be
+    remembered in Mythology, were only names for Noah. Pan is unnoticed by
+    Homer.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A heathen deity of Italy, Lupercus, the guardian of their flocks and
+    pastures, has also been identified with Pan, and in whose honour annual
+    rural festivals, known as Lupercalia, were observed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Lupercalian festivals were held on the 15th of the Kalends of March.
+    The priests, Luperci, used to dance naked through the streets as part of
+    the ceremonies attached to the festival.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mention has been made by Dr. Clarke, in his "Travels," Vol. IV., that
+    Harlequin is the god Mercury, with his short sword <i>herpe</i>, or his rod,
+    the <i>caduceus</i> (which has been likened to the sceptre of Judah), to
+    render himself invisible, and to transport himself from one end of the
+    earth to the other, and that the covering on his head, the winged cap,
+    was the <i>petasus</i>. Apropos of this, the following lines in the tenth
+    Ode, of the first book of Horace, will probably occur to the reader:
+</p>
+<pre>    "Mercury! Atlas' smooth-tongued boy, whose will
+      First trained to speed our wildest earliest race,
+    And gave their rough hewn forms with supple skill
+      The gymnast's grace.
+
+    "'Tis thine the unbodied spirits of the blessed,
+      To guide to bliss, and with thy <i>golden rod</i>
+    To rule the shades; above, below, caressed
+      By every god."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Mercury, as we have seen, was among the Ancients, only another name for
+    Noah. "Indeed," says Dr. Clarke, "some of the representations of Mercury
+    upon ancient vases are actually taken from the scenic exhibitions of the
+    Grecian theatre; and that these exhibitions were also the prototypes
+    whereon D'Hancarville shows Mercury, Momus, and Psyche delineated as we
+    see Harlequin, Columbine, and Clown on our stages. The old man
+    (Pantaloon), is Charon (the ferryman of hell). The Clown is Momus, the
+    buffoon of heaven, the god of raillery and wit, and whose large gaping
+    mouth is in imitation of the ancient masks."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Amongst the Aryans, Medians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Babylonians, and
+    other nations (including our own, as did not Lilly predict the execution
+    of Charles I., the plague, the great fire of London, and other events)
+    was astrology practised. The Egyptians peopled the constellation of the
+    Zodiac (the first open book for mankind to read), with Genii, and one of
+    the twelve Zodiacal signs was Aries (the Ram). The ram is of the same
+    species as the goat, and the god Pan was the Goat god, as we know. The
+    astrologers, in their divinations and rulings of the planets placed the
+    various parts of the body under a planetary influence. The head and face
+    were assigned to the house of Aries, and therefore the face notably for
+    the Pantomimic Art was placed by the ancient astrologers under the
+    influence of this particular planet.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The heathen worship of Pan was not only known in Arcadia, but also
+    throughout Greece, although it did not reach Athens until after
+    Marathon.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of Pan's death Plutarch tells the story that in the reign of Tiberius,
+    one Thamus, a pilot, visiting the islands of Paxae, was told of this
+    god's death. When he reached Palodes he told the news, whereupon loud
+    and great lamentations were heard, as of Nature herself expressing her
+    grief. The epoch of the story coincides with the enactment of that grim,
+    and the world's greatest tragedy on the hill of Golgotha, and the end,
+    and the beginning of a new world. Rabelais, Milton, Schiller, and also
+    Mrs. Browning, have allusions to this story of Plutarch's.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The ambitious family of the Titans (the bones of the "giants on the
+    earth" before the Deluge, gave rise to the stories of the Titans found
+    in caves), and their scions and coadjutors Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Mercury,
+    Apollo, Diana, Bacchus, Minerva, or Pallas, Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto,
+    and Neptune furnish by far the greatest part of the Mythology of Greece.
+    Tradition says that they left Phoenicia about the time of Moses to
+    settle in Crete, and from thence they made their way into Greece, which
+    was supposed at that time to be inhabited by a race of savages. The arts
+    and inventions were communicated to the natives, and the blessings of
+    civilization in process of time inspired the inhabitants with
+    admiration. They, therefore, relinquished worshipping the luminary and
+    heavenly bodies, and transferred their devotion to their benefactors.
+    Then into existence sprang the most inconsistent and irreconcilable
+    fictions. The deified mortals, with their foibles and frailities, were
+    transmitted to posterity in the most glorious manner possible, and hence
+    accordingly, in both the Odyssey and the Iliad of Homer, we have a
+    strange and heterogeneous mixture of what is not only mighty in heroes,
+    but also that which is equally mean.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the Grecian Mythology the labours of Hercules, the expedition of
+    Osiris, the wanderings and transformation of Io, the fable of the
+    conflagration of Phaeton, the rage of Proserpine, the wanderings of
+    Ceres, the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Orgia, or sacred rites of Bacchus,
+    in fine, the ground work of Grecian Mythology is to be traced to the
+    East, from where also all our nursery tales, and also our popular
+    Pantomime subjects; (which is the subject of another chapter) perhaps,
+    with the exception of our own "Robinson Crusoe," originated.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The nine Muses called Pierides in Grecian Mythology were the daughters
+    of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (Memory), supposed to preside over the liberal
+    Arts and the sciences. They were Calliope (Heroic Poetry), Clio Euterpe
+    (Music), Erato (Love Poetry), Melpomene (Tragedy), Polyhymnia (Muse of
+    Singing and Rhetoric), Terpsichore (Dancing), Thalia (Comedy), and
+    Urania (Astronomy). Mount Parnassus, Mount Helicon, and the fountains of
+    Castalia and Aganippe were the sacred places of the Muses.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Eleusinian Mysteries are of a period that may be likened to the 7th
+    century B.C., and at these Mysteries as many as 30,000 persons, in the
+    time of Herodotus, assembled to witness them. The attributes of these
+    Grecian Mysteries, like those of the Egyptians, consisted of
+    processions, sacrificial offerings, purifications, dances, and all that
+    the Mimetic and the other Arts could convey; add to this the various
+    coloured lights, and the fairy-like grandeur of the whole, we have
+    something that may be likened to the Transformation, and other
+    fairy-like scenes of English Pantomimes and Extravaganzas.
+</p>
+<p>
+    At the Orgia, or sacred rites of Bacchus, the customary sacrifice to be
+    offered, because it fed on vines, was the goat. The vine, ivy, laurel,
+    asphodel, the dolphin, lynx, tiger, and ass were all sacred to Bacchus.
+    The acceptable sacrifice to Venus was a dove; Jupiter, a bull; an ox of
+    five years old, ram or boar pig to Neptune; and Diana, a stag. At the
+    inception of the Bacchanalian festivals in Greece, the tragic song of
+    the Goat, a sacred hymn was sung, and from which rude beginning sprang
+    the Tragedy and Comedy of Greece. The Greeks place every event as
+    happening in their country, and it is not surprising that they claim for
+    themselves the inception of Tragedy and Comedy, which they undoubtedly
+    were the originators of in Greece, but the religious festivals of
+    Dionysus, Osiris, and Bacchus, to which we are supposed to owe the
+    inception of Tragedy and Comedy, were known long before the Greeks knew
+    them. (Dionysus was the patron and protector of theatres.) "The purport
+    of the song was that Bacchus imparted his secret of the cultivation of
+    vines to a petty prince in Attica, named Icarius, who happened one day
+    to espy a goat brouzing upon his plantations, immediately seized, and
+    offered it up as a sacrifice to his divine benefactor; the peasants
+    assembled round their master, assisted in the ceremony, and expressed
+    their joy and gratitude in music, songs, dances, and Pantomime on the
+    occasion; the sacrifice grew into a festival, and the festival into an
+    annual solemnity, attended most probably every year with additional
+    circumstances, when the countrymen flocked together in crowds, and sang
+    in rustic strains the praises of their favourite deity."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Amongst the reported followers of these Bacchanalian festivals were
+    those fabulous race of grotesque sylvan beings, previously referred to,
+    known as the Satyrs. They were of a sturdy frame, in features they had
+    broad snub noses, and appeared in rough skins of animals with large
+    pointed ears, heavy knots on their foreheads, and a small tail. The
+    elder Satyrs were known as Sileni. The younger were more pleasing and
+    not so grotesque or repulsive in appearance as the elder Satyrs. To the
+    Satyrs can be traced the variegated dress of the modern Harlequin, as in
+    ancient Greek history mention is made of the performers enacting Satyrs
+    being sometimes habited in a tiger's skin of various colours, which
+    encircled the performer's body tightly, and who carried a wooden sword,
+    wore a white hat, and a brown mask. According to Servius (as we have
+    seen) Pan had also a bright spotted dress "in likeness of the stars."
+</p>
+<p>
+    From these rustic festivals originated the Satyr, or Satirical Drama, as
+    did its Italian prototype, the <i>Fabulae Atellanae</i> or, <i>Laudi Osci</i>.
+    These rural sacrifices became, in process of time, a solemn fast, and
+    assumed all the pomp and splendour of a religious ceremony; poets were
+    employed by the magistrate to compose hymns, or songs, for the occasion;
+    such was the rudeness and simplicity of the age that their bards
+    contended for a prize, which, as Horace intimates, was scarce worth
+    contending for, being no more than a goat or skin of wine, which was
+    given to the happy poet who acquitted himself best in the task assigned
+    him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From such small beginnings Tragedy and Comedy took their rise; and like
+    (as the best writers on these subjects tell us) every other production
+    of human art, extremely contemptible; that wide and deep stream, which
+    flows with such strength and rapidity through cultivated Greece, took
+    its rise from a small and inconsiderable fountain, which hides itself in
+    the recesses of antiquity, and is almost buried in oblivion; the name
+    alone remains to give us some light into its original nature, and to
+    inform us, that Tragedy and Comedy, like every other species of poetry,
+    owe their birth to Religion.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Appropriately does Horace observe:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "Nor was the flute at first with silver bound,
+    Nor rivalled emulous the trumpet's sound;
+    Few were its notes, its forms were simply plain,
+    Yet not unuseful was its feeble strain,
+    To aid the chorus, and their songs to raise,
+    Filling the little theatre with ease,
+    To which a thin and pious audience came
+    Of frugal manners, and unsullied fame."
+</pre>
+<a name="2HCH0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER III.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    The origin of the Indian Drama&mdash;Aryan Mythology&mdash;Clown and
+    Columbine&mdash;Origin of the Chinese Drama&mdash;Inception of the Japanese
+    Drama&mdash;The Siamese Drama&mdash;Dramatic performances of the South Sea
+    Islanders, Peruvians, Aztecs, Zulus, and Fijis&mdash;The Egyptian Drama.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    Of the Indian Drama we learn that the union of music, song, dance, and
+    Pantomime took place centuries ago B.C., at the festivals of the native
+    gods, to which was afterwards added dialogue, and long before the
+    advent, out of which it grew, of the native drama itself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The progenitors of the Indo-European race, the Aryans&mdash;in Sanscrit
+    meaning Agriculturists&mdash;who crossed the Indus from Amoo, where they
+    dwelt near the Oxus, some two thousand years before Christ, were the
+    original ancestors and people of India.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Aryan race (Hindus and Persians only speak of themselves as Aryans)
+    laid the foundation of the Grecian and Roman Mythology, the dark and
+    more sombre legends of the Scandinavian and the Teuton; and all derived
+    from the various names grouped round the Sun god, which in the lighter
+    themes the Aryans associated with the rising and the setting of the sun,
+    in all its heavenly glory, and with the sombre legends the coming of the
+    winter, and marking the difference between lightness and darkness.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In India the origin of dramatic entertainments has been attributed to
+    the sage Bharata (meaning an actor), who received, it is said, a
+    communication from the god Brahma to introduce them, as the latter had
+    received his knowledge of them from the Vedas. Bharata was also said to
+    be the "Father of dramatic criticism." Pantomimic scenes derived from
+    the heathen Mythology of Vishnu&mdash;a collection of poems and hymns on the
+    Aryan religion&mdash;are even now in India occasionally enacted by the Jatras
+    of the Bengalis and the Rasas of the provinces in the west, and, just as
+    their forefathers did ages and ages ago. An episode from the history of
+    the god Vishnu, in relation to his marriage with Laxmi, was a favourite
+    subject for the early Indian Drama. Of Vedic Mythology Professor Max
+    Müller observes that in it "There are no genealogies, no settled
+    marriages between gods and goddesses. The father is sometimes the son,
+    the brother, the husband, and she who in one hymn is the mother, is in
+    another the wife. As the conceptions of the poet vary so varies the
+    nature of these gods."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Hindoo dramatic writer, Babhavñti&mdash;the Indian
+    Shakespeare&mdash;introduced with success in one of his dramas, like in our
+    "Hamlet," "a play within a play," and much in a similar way as our early
+    dramatists used in their plays, the "dumb shows."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Between the native Tragedy and Comedy, as in China, there was no
+    definite distinction, and, although both contained some of the best and
+    noblest sentiments, yet the racial philosophy of caste enters greatly
+    into the construction of each.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the Hindoo Mythology we have prototypes of the gods of the Egyptian,
+    Grecian, and Roman Mythologies. The god Vishnu, who, in Aryan Mythology,
+    is the wind and "Traverses the heavens in three strides," is the
+    greatest of all heathen deities. His dwelling-place was "The aerial
+    mountains, where the many horned and swiftly moving cattle abide." In
+    Grecian Mythology Hermes or Mercury took on some of the characteristics
+    of Vishnu.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the Eleusinian Mysteries of the Greeks, the signs and symbols that
+    marked the worship of Vishnu by the Aryans, are apparent; and in the
+    British Museum the scenes of the vases of the Hamilton collection agree
+    closely with the Sacti rites of Hindustan.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After having briefly noticed and introduced Vishnu or Hermes to the
+    notice of the reader, we will now take another of the Aryan
+    deities&mdash;See-Va, the Wine god. This myth was the Dionysus, or Bacchus,
+    of the Greeks, and the expedition of this "immortal" through the world
+    to instruct mankind in agriculture, is likened as well as the god
+    himself by the Egyptians to their deity Osiris&mdash;the god of the Nile. The
+    worship of See-Va, Bacchus, or Osiris extended over Asia Minor, Greece,
+    and Italy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The visit and advent of the Wine or Pleasure god Bacchus to India, with
+    his accompanying train of sylvan and rural deities, and nymphs, is
+    supposed to have conquered the Hindoos, and taught them civilization,
+    besides the cultivation of the vine. Strange to relate that when
+    Alexander and his army reached the present Cabul they found ivy and
+    wild vines (both sacred to Bacchus) growing in abundance, and they were
+    met by processions dressed in parti-coloured dresses, playing on drums
+    like the Bacchic festivals of Greece and Lower Asia of that time.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Female parts were acted by women, but it was not a general custom; and
+    the Clown of the piece was always a Brahma, or if not, at any rate a
+    pupil of Brahma.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Also among the minor characters was the <i>Vita</i>, "the accomplished
+    companion," a part sometimes played by men and sometimes by women.
+    Probably in this in the latter instance we have the origin of the
+    Columbine and Soubrette part in after years of the European stage as the
+    term "accomplished companion," would equally apply to both. It is only a
+    surmise, yet history as we know is continually repeating itself&mdash;even in
+    Soubrette parts, and in more senses than one.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of scenic displays that it possessed there was little or none, though
+    the exits and entrances to the stage had probably some device to denote
+    them. What they possessed in the way of properties it is more than
+    useless to speculate, as, whatever could be said, could only be
+    conjectural. In dressing their parts propriety in costume, and in
+    adhering to the habits of the Indian Drama, seems to have been observed
+    with some show of consistency.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Chinese Drama also arose from the Hindoo developing itself as time
+    rolled on from Pantomimes and ballets. A very ancient Pantomime is said
+    to have been symbolical of the conquest of China by Wou Wang. Others
+    were on subjects of the Harvest, War, and Peace; whilst many were only
+    of an obscure nature. With the rise and progress of the native drama
+    about five hundred years before Christ Pantomimes fell into disrepute.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is interesting to note that one of the penal codes of the Celestial
+    Empire was, that those who wrote plays with vicious, or immoral
+    tendencies, should stay in "purgatory" as long as their plays were
+    performed. This precept was all right in theory, but in practice it was
+    more honoured in the breach than in the observance, as amongst the whole
+    of the Celestial dramatic writers only one in about ten thousand seems
+    to have conformed to this rule.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The dramatic writers of China duly observed the question of rank and
+    priority, and just as much as the native Hindoo writers observed that of
+    the various phases of caste.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Plays were divided into acts and scenes, and occasionally were prefixed
+    by a prologue. Performances took sometimes a single day, and favourite
+    plays oftentimes longer.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Japanese type of drama seems to have originally evolved itself from
+    that of the Chinese, though its singing, dancing, historical, and
+    Pantomimical displays are, of course, purely native.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A native of Japan, though of Chinese descent, Hadu Kawatsa, at the
+    close of the 6th century (A.D.) gave dramatic entertainments in Japan.
+    The Japanese claim for the Pantomimical dance Sambâso as a preventative
+    of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; and this dance, it is said, that
+    within recent years, is used as a prelude to dramatic entertainments.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Isono Zenji is thought to have been the originator of the Japanese
+    Drama, but her performances were more those of the <i>Mima</i>&mdash;dancing and
+    posturing.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the seventeenth century Saruwaka Kanzaburô introduced the drama
+    proper into Japan by the erection, in 1624, of a theatre, and nearly
+    fifty years later than the first permanent theatre that was erected
+    (1576) in England.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Popular historical subjects were chosen for the plays, though the names
+    of the characters were transformed. Fancy plays, operas, ballets, which
+    in the latter women appeared, became also very popular.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Within sight of the closing years of the last century (the nineteenth),
+    Japanese actors were more or less under a ban when the same was happily
+    removed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Siam was content with the Indian style of dramatic and Pantomimic
+    entertainments. Theatrical performances were also slightly known&mdash;though
+    no regular type of drama is known&mdash;amongst the South Sea Islanders, the
+    Peruvians, the Aztecs, the Zulus, and the Fijis, the two last named
+    having a similar version of our popular Pantomime subject, "Jack and the
+    Beanstalk."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Egyptians possessed no regular type of drama, yet in both the Books
+    of Job and Ruth the dramatic element is strongly marked. At the rustic
+    festivals of the native gods, as in Greece and Italy, there was,
+    however, the dramatic elements of the union of song, dance, and
+    Pantomime, and we are told that the priests not only studied music, but
+    also taught the art to others. Again in the rites of the dead the
+    Mysteries of the sepulture over the transmigration of souls, the
+    dramatic element entered largely into these mystic rites and
+    celebrations. Amongst the Pagan Greeks, as I have previously stated, and
+    the Romans, we learn of similar celebrations, carried out with great
+    pomp and ceremony, such as the apotheosis of the soul departing from its
+    earthly to its heavenly abode.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IV.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    "Dancing," <i>i.e.</i> Pantomime&mdash;Grecian Dancing and Pantomimic
+    Scenes&mdash;Aristotle&mdash;Homer&mdash;Dances common to both Greeks and Romans.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    In tracing the History of Pantomime it becomes a matter of considerable
+    difficulty, and, as Baron, in his <i>Lettres sur la Danse</i>, observes that
+    when the word Dancing occurs in an old author, that it should always be
+    translated by "gesticulation," "declamation," or "Pantomime." When we
+    read that an actress "danced" her part well in the tragedy of Medea,
+    that a carver cut up food dancing, that Heligobalus and Caligula
+    "danced" a discourse for an audience of state, we are to understand that
+    they&mdash;actress, carver, and emperor&mdash;declaimed, gesticulated, made
+    themselves understood in a language without words. Acting is also
+    oftentimes confounded with dancing, and it is, therefore, manifestly
+    impossible to distinguish now one from the other.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The Greeks," mentions Butteux, applied the term "Dancing" to all
+    measured movements, even to military marching. They danced anywhere and
+    everywhere; and we are told that both their limbs and bodies spoke.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Cybele was supposed by the Greeks to have taught dancing on Mount Ida to
+    the Corybantes, and they also say that it was in their country that
+    Apollo revealed the Terpsichorean Art, and that of Music and Poetry.
+</p>
+<p>
+    After all this, it is not very surprising that they make claim for the
+    innovation of Pantomime. This, of course, we know is different, as we
+    have seen that, from time immemorial Pantomimic scenes and dances have
+    been represented. Cassiodorus attributes its institution to Philistion;
+    Athenaens assigns it to Rhodamanthus, or to Palamedes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    With the Greeks, Pantomimes became very popular, and they were
+    distinguished by various names. Before they began their Tragedies the
+    Greeks used to give a Pantomimic display. The principal Pantomimists
+    were known as <i>Ethologues</i>, meaning painters of manners. One of the most
+    celebrated of these Mimes was Sophron of Syracuse. In depicting the
+    conduct of man so faithfully, the Pantomimes of the Greek Mimes served
+    to teach and inculcate useful moral lessons. The moral philosophy of the
+    Mime, Sophron, was so pure that Plato kept a book of his poems under his
+    pillow when on his death-bed. Besides these Moralities, as they were
+    termed, there were, in addition, light pieces of a farcical kind, in the
+    portrayal of which the Mimes were equally as successful as in the other
+    species.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The dancing of the Greeks was an actual language, in which all
+    sentiments and passages were interpreted. By the aid of the
+    Terpsichorean Art, Professor Desrat says, "That the Greeks, a nation of
+    heroes, trained themselves in the art of hand-to-hand combat."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Dancing," says another writer, "and imitative acting in the lower
+    stages of civilization are identical, and in the sacred dances of
+    ancient Greece we may trace the whole Dramatic Art of the modern world.
+    The Spartans practised dancing as a gymnastic exercise, and made it
+    compulsory upon all children from the age of five."
+</p>
+<p>
+    And we are also told that religious processions went with song and dance
+    (and, of course, Pantomime), to the Egyptian temples; the Cretan chorus
+    sang hymns to the Greek gods; David danced in procession before the Ark
+    of the Covenant; and that we are to "Praise the Lord with the sound of
+    the trumpet, praise Him with the psaltery and the harp; praise Him with
+    the timbrel and the <i>dance</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Aristotle speaks of Mimetic dances three hundred years before the
+    Augustan era. He also says that dancers want neither poetry or music, as
+    by the assistance of measure and cadence only they can imitate human
+    manners, actions, and passions.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Again, "Homer, describing the employment of the Delian priestesses, or
+    Nuns, of the order of St. Apollo of Delos, that they were great adepts
+    in the Art of Mimicry, and that part of the entertainment which they
+    afforded to the numerous people of different nations; who formed their
+    congregations was, as the poet expresses it, from their <i>being skilled
+    to imitate the voices and the pulsation or measure of all nations, and
+    so exactly was their song adapted that every man would think he himself
+    was singing</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Homer also mentions a dance invented for Ariadne. In the midst of the
+    dancers, there were two dancers who sang the adventures of Daedalus,
+    supplementing their singing by gestures, and explaining in Pantomime the
+    subject of the whole performance.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Pyrrhic dance of the Greeks was a sort of military Pantomime. The
+    Greeks had several kinds of Pyrrhic dances, the names of which varied
+    with the character of the performance.
+</p>
+<pre>    The Hyplomachia imitated a fight with shields.
+    The Skiamachia was a battle with shadows,
+    The Monomachia was an imitation of single combat.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Some of the Mimetic dances common to both Greeks and Romans were The
+    Loves of Adonis and Venus, the Exploits of Ajax, the Adventures of
+    Apollo, the Rape of Ganymede, the Loves of Jupiter and Danae, the Birth
+    of Jupiter, Hector, the Rape of Europa, the Labours of Hercules,
+    Hercules Mad, the Graces, Saturn devouring his Children, the Cybele in
+    honour of Cybele, the Cyclops, the Sorrows of Niobe, the Tragic End of
+    Semele, the Wars of the Titans, the Judgment of Paris, Daphne pursued by
+    Apollo, the Bucolic Dance, and the Dance of Flowers.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER V.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Thespis&mdash;The Progress of Tragedy and Comedy&mdash;Aeschylus&mdash;The
+    Epopée&mdash;Homer&mdash;Sophocles&mdash;Euripides&mdash;Grecian Mimes&mdash;The First Athenian
+    Theatre&mdash;Scenery and Effects.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    When Thespis first pointed out the tragic path, and when (as Horace
+    tells us in his Odes) that "The inventor of the Art carried his vagrant
+    players on a cart," by his introduction of a new personage, who relieved
+    the chorus, or troop of singers, by reciting some part of a well-known
+    history, or fable, which gave time for the chorus to rest. All that the
+    actors repeated between the songs of the chorus was called an episode,
+    or additional part, consisting often of different adventures, which had
+    no connexion with each other. Thus Pantomime, the song, and the dance,
+    which were at first the only performances, became gradually and
+    insensibly a necessary and ornamental part of the drama.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From this time, the actor, or reciter, was more attended to than the
+    chorus; however, his part was executed, and it had the powerful charms
+    of novelty to recommend it, and quickly obscured the lustre of the
+    chorus, whose songs were now of a different nature, insomuch that the
+    original subject of them, the praise of Bacchus, was by degrees either
+    slightly mentioned, or totally passed over and forgotten; the priests,
+    who we may suppose for a long time presided over the whole, were alarmed
+    at so open a contempt of the deity, and unanimously exclaimed, that this
+    was nothing to Bacchus; the contempt grew into a kind of proverbial
+    saying, and as such is handed down to us.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From the origin of Tragedy and Comedy, and to the days of Thespis, and
+    from this time to that of Aeschylus, all is doubt, conjecture, and
+    obscurity; neither Aristotle, nor any other ancient writer, gives us the
+    least insight into the state and progress of the Greek Drama; the names
+    of a few, and but a few, tragedians, during this dark period, are handed
+    down to us; such were Epigenes, the Sicyonion, and Pratinas, who wrote
+    fifty-two plays, thirty-two of which are said to be satirical. After
+    Thespis, came his scholar Phrynicus, who wrote nine tragedies; for one
+    of which, we are told, he was fined fifty drachmas, because he had made
+    it (an odd reason) too deep, and too affecting; there was another, also
+    named Phrynicus, author of two tragedies: to these must be added
+    Alcaeus, Phormus, and Choeritas, together with Cephisodorus, an
+    Athenian, who wrote the "Amazon," and Apollophanes, supposed to have
+    been the author of a tragedy named "Daulis," though Suidas is of another
+    opinion. Tragedy had, during the lives of these writers, probably made
+    but a slow progress, and received but very little culture and
+    improvement; when at length the great Aeschylus arose, who, from this
+    rude and undigested chaos, created as it were a new world in the system
+    of letters.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Poets, and perhaps epic poets, there might have been before Homer (the
+    latter, who, in all probability, lived within fifty years of the Fall of
+    Troy&mdash;1250 B.C.). Dramatic writers there certainly were before Aeschylus
+    the former notwithstanding, we may, with the utmost propriety, style the
+    inventor and father of heroic poetry, and the latter of the ancient
+    drama, which, before his time, does not appear to have had any
+    particular form but that of Pantomime, song, and the union of song and
+    dance. <i>Aeschylus first introduced dialogue</i>, that most essential part
+    of tragedy, and by the addition of the second personage, threw the whole
+    fable into action, and restored the chorus to its ancient dignity.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Aeschylus having, like a tender parent, endowed his darling child with
+    every mental accomplishment, seemed resolved that no external ornaments
+    should be wanting to render her universally amiable; he clothed her,
+    therefore, in the most splendid habit, and bestowed upon her everything
+    that Art could produce, to heighten and improve her charms. Aeschylus,
+    who being himself author, actor, and manager, took upon him the whole
+    conduct of the drama, and did not neglect any part of it; he improved
+    the scenery and decorations, brought his actors into a well constructed
+    theatre, raised his heroes on the <i>cothurnus</i>, or buskin, invented the
+    masks, and introduced splendid habits with long trains, that gave an air
+    of majesty and dignity to the performers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From the time when Tragedy began to assume a regular form, we find her
+    closely following the steps of epic poetry; all the parts of <i>epopée</i>,
+    or heroic poem, may be traced in tragedy, though, as Aristotle observes,
+    all the parts of tragedy are not to be found in the <i>epopée</i>; whence the
+    partisans of the stage with some reason conclude, that perfection in the
+    former is more difficult to be attained than in the latter. Without
+    entering into a dispute, we may venture, however, to say that from Homer
+    the tragedians drew the plan, construction, and conduct of their fables,
+    and not unfrequently, the fable itself; to him they applied for
+    propriety of manners, character, sentiment, and diction.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From this era then, we are to consider Tragedy as an elegant and noble
+    structure, built according to the rules of art, symmetry, and
+    proportion; whose every part was in itself fair, firm, and compact&mdash;and
+    at the same time contributed to the beauty, utility, and duration of the
+    whole edifice.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Sophocles and Euripides carefully studied the plan laid down by
+    Aeschylus, and by their superior genius and judgment, improved it in a
+    short time to its highest state of perfection, from which it gradually
+    declined to the rise of the Roman Drama.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were the three great tragic poets;
+    and from the works of these three illustrious writers, and from them
+    alone, we must draw all our knowledge of the ancient Greek Tragedy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Comedy, like Tragedy, owes its origin to the union of music, song,
+    dance, and Pantomime; Tragedy to the dithyrambick, and Comedy to the
+    phallica; and each of them (emulating Pantomime), began to form
+    themselves into dramatic imitations; each studied to adopt a measure
+    suited to their purpose:&mdash;Tragedy, the more lofty, chose the tetrameter;
+    and comedy, which aimed at familiarity, the iambic. But, as the style of
+    tragedy improved, Nature herself, says Aristotle, directed the writers
+    to abandon the capering tetrameter, and to embrace that measure which
+    was most accommodated to the purposes of dialogue; whence the iambic
+    became the common measure of both Tragedy and Comedy.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Sophocles brought on a third actor, which number was not exceeded in the
+    Greek tragedies during the same scene. Horace alludes to this, "<i>nec
+    quarta loqui persona laboret</i>," (Let not a fourth person strive to
+    speak): but it was not observed in comedy. Players of second parts were
+    obliged to speak so low as not to drown the voice of the chief actor.
+    Tyrants were always played by subalterns. The women were only dancers
+    (and Pantomimists). Female parts were performed by eunuchs.
+</p>
+<p>
+    On the Grecian stage, those performers who devoted themselves entirely
+    to the Art of Miming originally came from Sicily and southern Italy,
+    though the exact period is difficult to determine with any degree of
+    certainty.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The figures of tragic or comic actors were known by the long and strait
+    sleeves which they wore. The servants in comedy, below the dress with
+    strait sleeves, had a short cassock with half-sleeves. That the
+    characters might be distinguished (a difficulty in this respect arising
+    from the size of the theatres) parasites carried a short truncheon; the
+    rural deities, shepherds, and peasants, the crook; heralds and
+    ambassadors, the <i>caduceus</i>; kings, a long, straight sceptre; heroes, a
+    club, etc. The tunic of tragic actors descended to the heels, and was
+    called <i>palla</i>. They generally carried a long staff or an erect sceptre.
+    They who represented old men, leaned upon a long and crooked staff.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The first Greek theatre at Athens (says Fosbroke, in his "Antiquities,")
+    was a temporary structure of boards, removed after the performances were
+    closed. This fashion continued till the erection of the theatre of
+    Bacchus, at Athens, which served as a model for the others. The Greek
+    theatre was no more than a concave sweep, scooped out of the hollow side
+    of a hill, generally facing the sea. The sweep was filled with seats,
+    rising above each other, and ascended by staircases, placed like the
+    <i>radii</i> of a circle. This semi-circular form was adopted not merely for
+    convenience of vision, but for an aid to the sound. This range for
+    spectators was called the <i>coilon</i> or hollow. The area below was the
+    <i>conistra</i>, or pit. There was no superstructure for a gallery, but
+    around the rim of the building were porticos, by which the spectators
+    entered, and whither they could retire, if it rained. The portico just
+    about the highest corridor, or lobby, was denominated the <i>cercys</i>, and
+    used by the women. Where is now the orchestra, was a platform, called
+    by that name; and here, among the Greeks, were stationed the musicians;
+    chorus and Mimes; among the Romans, the Emperor, Senate, and other
+    persons of quality. Seven feet above the orchestra, and eleven above the
+    <i>conistra</i>, or pit, was the front stage, or proscenium, upon which stood
+    an altar to Apollo. Here the principal actors performed, and the site of
+    the altar was devoted to the dances (of the Mimes) and songs of the
+    chorus. The part called the <i>scena</i> was in line with the ornamental
+    columns, upon the sides of the stage.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The ancient scenery at first consisted of mere boughs, but afterwards of
+    tapestry, not painted canvas. The Greek stage consisted of three parts,
+    the <i>scena</i>, across the theatre, upon the line of the curtain in our
+    theatres; the proscenium, where the actors performed; and the
+    post-scenium, the part behind the house, before-mentioned. To form parts
+    of the scenes there were prisms of framework, turning upon pivots, upon
+    each face of which was strained a distinct picture, one for tragedy,
+    consisting of large buildings, with columns, statues, and other
+    corresponding ornaments; a second face, with houses, windows, and
+    balconies, for comedy; a third applied to farce, with cottages,
+    grottoes, and rural scenes. There were the <i>scenae versatiles</i> of
+    Servius. Besides these, there were <i>scenae ductiles</i>, which drew
+    backwards and forwards, and opened a view of the house, which was built
+    upon the stage, and contained apartments for machinery, or retirement
+    for the actors. As to the patterns of the scenes, in comedy, the most
+    considerable building was in the centre; that on the right side was a
+    little less elevated, and that on the left generally represented an inn.
+    In the satirical pieces they had always a cave in the middle, a wretched
+    cabin on the right, and on the left an old ruined temple, or some
+    landscape. In these representations perspective was observed for
+    Vitruvius remarks (C. 8) that the rules of it were invented and
+    practised from the time of Aeschylus, by a painter named Agararchus, who
+    has even left a treatise upon it. After the downfall of the Roman
+    Empire, these decorations of the stage were neglected, till Peruzzi, a
+    Siennese, who died in 1536, revived them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There were three entries in front, and two on the sides; the middle
+    entry (termed the Royal door) was always that of the principal actor;
+    thus, in tragedy, it was commonly the gate of a palace. Those on the
+    right and left were destined to the second-part players, and the two
+    others, on the sides, one to people from the country, the other to those
+    from the harbour, or any public place.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pollux informs us, that there were trap-doors for ghosts, furies, and
+    the infernal deities. Some under the doors, on one side, introduced the
+    rural deities, and on the other the marine. The ascents or descents were
+    managed by cords, wheels, and counter-weights. Of these machines none
+    were more common than those which descended from heaven in the end of
+    the play, in which the gods came to extricate the poet in the
+    <i>denouement</i>. The kinds were chiefly three; some conveyed the performer
+    across the theatre in the air; by others, the gods descended on the
+    stage; and a third contrivance, elevated, or supported in the air,
+    persons who seemed to fly, from which accidents often happened. (It is
+    from this that the well-known phrase "<i>Deus ex machina</i>" has its
+    origin.) As the ancient theatres were larger than ours, and unroofed,
+    there was no wheel-work aloft, but the performer was elevated by a sort
+    of crane, of which the beam was above the stage; and turning upon
+    itself, whilst the counter-weight made the actor descend or ascend,
+    caused him to describe curves, jointly composed of the circular motion
+    of the crane, and the vertical ascent. The <i>anapesmata</i> were cords for
+    the sudden appearance of furies, when fastened to the lowest steps; and
+    to the ascension of rivers, when attached to the stage. The
+    <i>ceraunoscopium</i> was a kind of moveable tower, whence Jupiter darted
+    lightning, supposed to be the Greek fire, as in Ajax Oielus. The machine
+    for thunder (<i>bronton</i>) was a brazen vase, concealed under the stage, in
+    which they rolled stones. Festus calls it the Claudian thunder, from
+    Claudius Pulcher, the inventor. The most dreadful machines were,
+    however, the <i>pegmata</i> (a general term also for all the machines), which
+    first consisted of scaffolds in stories, &amp;c. These first exhibited
+    criminals fighting at the top, and then, dropping to pieces,
+    precipitated them to the lower story, to be torn to pieces by wild
+    beasts. Sometimes they were for vomiting flames, &amp;c. The <i>theologium</i>
+    was a place more elevated than the stage, where the gods stood and
+    spoke, and the machines which held them rested.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The seats of the spectators were divided into stories, each containing
+    seven rows of seats, with two passages (<i>praecinctiones</i>) around them
+    above and below. Small staircases divided the seats into sections,
+    called <i>cunei</i>, and ended in a gate at the top, which communicated with
+    passages (the <i>vomitoriae</i>) for admission.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VI.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Roman Theatres&mdash;Description&mdash;"Deadheads"&mdash;Pantomime in Italy&mdash;Livius
+    Andronicus&mdash;<i>Fabulae Atellanae</i>&mdash;Extemporal Comedy&mdash;Origin of the
+    Masque, Opera, and Vaudeville&mdash;Origin of the term
+    Histrionic&mdash;Etruscans&mdash;Popularity of Pantomime in Italy&mdash;Pantomimists
+    banished by Trajan&mdash;Nero as a Mime&mdash;Pylades and Bathyllus&mdash;Subjects
+    chosen for the Roman Pantomimes&mdash;The Ballet&mdash;The <i>Mimi</i> and
+    <i>Pantomimi</i>&mdash;<i>Archimimus</i>&mdash;Vespasian&mdash;Harlequin&mdash;"Mr. Punch"&mdash;Zany, how
+    the word originated&mdash;Ancient Masks&mdash;Lucian, Cassiodorus, and Demetrius
+    in praise of Pantomime&mdash;A celebrated <i>Mima</i>&mdash;Pantomimes denounced by
+    early writers&mdash;The purity of the English stage contrasted with that of
+    the Grecian and Roman&mdash;Female parts on the Grecian and Roman stages&mdash;The
+    principal Roman <i>Mimas</i>&mdash;The origin of the Clown of the early English
+    Drama.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    The Roman theatres (continues Fosbroke) were of a similar D form. Two
+    lofty arched doorways entered into the pit. In front of the stage, which
+    was very shallow, was a pew-like orchestra. The proscenium was very
+    narrow, and instead of a drop scene was the <i>elisium</i>, a house, narrow,
+    with a kind of bow window front in the centre, and a door on each side:
+    for Pollux says that a house with two stories formed part of the stage,
+    whence old women and panders used to look down and peep about them.
+    Within the house were apartments. Around the back of the stage was a
+    <i>porticus</i>. At Herculaneum, on a balustrade which divided the orchestra
+    from the stage, was found a row of statues, and on each side of the
+    <i>pulpitum</i>, an equestrian figure. Below the theatre (great and small)
+    was a large square constructed, says Vitruvius, for the reception of the
+    audience in bad weather. It consisted of Doric columns, around an open
+    area, forming an ample portico for this purpose, whilst under it were
+    arranged <i>cellae</i>, or apartments, amongst which were a soap manufactory,
+    oil mill, corn mill, and prison. An inner <i>logia</i> was connected with a
+    suite of apartments. There was also an <i>exedra</i>, or recess.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Among the Romans, theatrical approbation was signified by an artificial
+    musical kind of noise, made by the audience to express satisfaction.
+    There were three species of applause denominated from the different
+    noises made in them, viz.: <i>Bombus</i>, <i>Imbrius</i>, and <i>Testae</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    First, a confused din, made either by the hands or mouth. The second and
+    third, by beating on a sort of sounding vessel placed in the theatres
+    for that purpose. Persons were instructed to give applause with
+    skill&mdash;and there were even masters who professed to teach the art. The
+    proficients in this way let themselves out for hire to the poets,
+    actors, &amp;c., and were so disposed as to support a loud applause. These
+    they called <i>Laudicena</i>. At the end of the play, a loud peal of applause
+    was expected, and even asked of the audience either by the chorus or by
+    the person who spoke last. The formula was "<i>Spectatore Claudite</i>," or
+    "<i>Valete et Plaudite</i>." The applauders were divided into <i>Chori</i>, and
+    disposed in theatres opposite to each other, like the choristers in
+    cathedrals, so that there was a kind of concert of applause. The free
+    admission tickets were small ivory death's heads, and specimens of these
+    are to be seen in the Museum of Naples. From this custom, it is stated,
+    that we derive our word "Deadhead," as denoting one who has a free
+    entrance to places of amusement.
+</p>
+<p>
+    With the dawn of the Roman Empire, Pantomime, in Italy, is first
+    authentically mentioned. The Emperor Augustus always displayed great
+    favour to the Art, and even by some writers he has been credited with
+    being the originator of Pantomime. This, of course, as we have seen, is
+    impossible, and to use a familiar and trite saying, the Pantomimic Art
+    is "as old as the hills" themselves. Again, Bathyllus and Pylades (both
+    freed slaves, the former born in Cilicia, and the latter came from
+    Alexandria), and Hylas, the principal exponents of Pantomime during the
+    reign of Augustus, have also been credited with the honour of
+    originating Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The early Roman entertainments only consisted of the military and sacred
+    dances, and the scenes in the circus. With the advent of the arts of
+    Greece the austerity hitherto practised by the Romans, which had arisen,
+    says Duray, "Much more from poverty than conviction," for "Two or three
+    generations had sufficed to change a city which had only known meagre
+    festivities and rustic delights into the home of revelry and pleasure."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With the Romans, in their Pantomimic entertainments, the whole gamut of
+    the emotions were gone through.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When the Greek drama was brought into Rome by Livius Andronicus, the
+    <i>Fabulae Atellanae</i>, or <i>Laudi Osci</i>&mdash;derived from the town of Atella,
+    in Campania, between Capua and Naples&mdash;was still employed to furnish the
+    Interludes, and just in a similar way as the <i>Satyra</i> Extemporal
+    Interludes supplied the Grecian stage. None of these Atellan Farces
+    have been committed to us, but Cicero, in a letter to his friend
+    Papyrius Paetus, speaks of them as the "More delicate burlesque of the
+    old Atellan Farces." From them also, we derive the Extemporal Comedy, or
+    <i>Comedia del' Arte</i> of Italy (afterwards to be noted), with its
+    characters, Harlequin, Clown, Pierrot, and the like, associated with
+    English and Italian Pantomime, and the progenitor also of all those
+    light forms of entertainment known as the Masque, the Opera, and the
+    Vaudeville. On English dramatic literature the Italian Extemporal
+    Comedies and their Pantomimical characters have also had a considerable
+    amount of influence.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Livy mentions that actors were sent for (<i>circa</i> 364 B.C.) from Etruria,
+    who, without verses or any action expressive of verses, danced not
+    ungracefully, after the Tuscan manner to the flute. In process of time
+    the Roman youth began to imitate these dancers intermixing raillery with
+    unpolished verses, their gestures corresponding with the sense of the
+    words. Thus were these plays received at Rome, and being improved and
+    refined by frequent performance the Roman actors acquired the name of
+    <i>Histriones</i>, from the Etruscan <i>Hister</i>, meaning a dancer or a stage
+    player. (From this we obtain our words histrion and histrionic). But
+    their dialogue did not consist of unpremeditated and coarse jests in
+    such rude verses as were used by the <i>Fescennini</i>, but of satires,
+    accompanied with music set to the flute, recited with suitable gestures.
+    After satires, which had afforded the people subject of coarse mirth
+    and laughter, were, by this regulation, reduced to form and acting, by
+    degrees became an art, the Roman youth left it to players by profession,
+    and began, as formerly, to act farces at the end of their regular
+    pieces. These dramas were called <i>Exodia</i>, and were generally woven with
+    the <i>Atellanae</i> Comedies. These were borrowed from the Osci, and were
+    always acted by the Roman youth. Tacitus speaks of <i>Atellanae</i> Comedies
+    written in the spirit and language of the Osci having been acted in his
+    time.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is thought that the Etruscans possessed histories, poems, and dramas,
+    and, if these, then certainly they knew the Pantomimic Art, out of
+    which, in all probability, their dramatic entertainments grew. To the
+    Etruscans the Romans owe their early civilization.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Etruscan era is supposed to have commenced about 1044 B.C., and we
+    are told that the Etruscans shared with the Greeks, and the Phoenicians,
+    the maritime supremacy of the Mediterranean. In the sepulchral chambers
+    of the Necropolis of Tarquinii, which extends for many miles, there are
+    several scenes painted in the archaic style by the Etruscans,
+    representing the Chase, the Circus, and Dancing Girls.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Soon after its innovation among the Romans, Pantomime spread all over
+    Italy and the provinces. So attractive did it become in Rome, and so
+    popular, that Tiberius issued a decree forbidding the knights and nobles
+    to frequent their houses of entertainment, or to be seen walking in the
+    streets with them. Trajan also oppressed and banished the Pantomimists.
+    Under Caligula, however, they were received with great favour, and
+    Aurelius made them priests of Apollo. Nero, who carried everything to
+    the extremity of foolishness, was not content in patronising the
+    Pantomimes, but must needs assist, and appear himself, as a <i>Mimi</i>. Here
+    again, in Nero, another claimant as the author of Pantomime has been put
+    forward.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "So great (observes Gaston Vuillier, in his 'History of Dancing,') was
+    the admiration for Pylades and Bathyllus that the theatrical supporters
+    clothed themselves in different liveries, and broils in the public
+    streets were of frequent occurrence." "The rivalries of Pylades and
+    Bathyllus," says De Laulnaye, "occupied the Romans as much as the
+    gravest affairs of state. Every citizen was a Bathyllian or a Pyladian."
+    Augustus reproved Pylades on one occasion for his quarrels with
+    Bathyllus. The Mime retorted, "It is well for you that the people are
+    engrossed by our disputes; their attention is thus diverted from your
+    actions." A bold retort, but it shows how important these Mimes were.
+    The banishment of Pylades brought about an insurrection, and the Emperor
+    had to recall him.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Cassius attributes the disgrace of Pylades to the intrigues of
+    Bathyllus, Suetonius to his effrontery; for on one occasion, when acting
+    Hercules, annoyed by the criticism of the spectators, he tore off his
+    mask, and shouted to them: "Fools, I am acting a madman." They thought
+    his gestures too extravagant. Another time he shot off arrows amongst
+    the spectators. Amongst other privileges extended by the Emperor
+    Augustus to the <i>Mimis</i> was being exempt from magisterial control and
+    immunity from military serving.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The subjects chosen for the Roman Pantomimes, like those of the Grecian
+    mysteries, from which they doubtless were borrowed, were of a
+    Mythological description, and they were of such a nature that the
+    audience could follow them easily, even if they were not already
+    previously acquainted with them. Between the Roman Pantomime, and the
+    Western <i>ballet d'action</i>, there is hardly any difference. The Romans
+    always liked to see their stages well peopled; and to help in the action
+    of their Pantomimes, a chorus accompanied with music, formed part of the
+    entertainment. The <i>Mimis and Mimas</i>, like the ballet of the present
+    day, provided the dances in addition to their Pantomimic Art of posing
+    and posturing.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Isaac Disraeli, in his work, "Curiosities of Literature," edited by
+    the late Earl of Beaconsfield, thus distinguishes between the <i>Mimi</i> and
+    the <i>Pantomimi</i> of the Ancients. The <i>Mimi</i> were an impudent race of
+    buffoons who excelled in mimicry, and like our domestic fools, were
+    admitted into convivial parties to entertain the guests. Their powers
+    enabled them to perform a more extraordinary office; for they appear to
+    have been introduced into funerals to mimic the person, and even the
+    language of the deceased. Suetonius describes an <i>archimimus</i>
+    accompanying the funeral of Vespasian. This <i>archimimus</i> performed his
+    part admirably, not only representing the person, but imitating,
+    according to custom, <i>ut est mos</i>, the manners and language of the
+    living Emperor. He contrived a happy stroke at the prevailing foible of
+    Vespasian, when he enquired the cost of all this funeral pomp&mdash;"Ten
+    million of sesterces!" On this he observed that if they would give him
+    but a hundred thousand they might throw his body into the Tiber.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The <i>Pantomimi</i> were quite of a different class. They were tragic
+    actors, and usually mute; they combined the arts of gesture, music, and
+    dances of the most impressive character. Their silent language has often
+    drawn tears by the pathetic emotions they excited; "Their very nod
+    speaks, their hands talk, and their fingers have a voice," says one of
+    their admirers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    These Pantomimists seem to have been held in great honour. The tragic
+    and the comic masks were among the ornaments of the sepulchral monuments
+    of an <i>Archmime</i> and a <i>Pantomimi</i>. Montfaucon conjectures that they
+    formed a select fraternity.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The parti-coloured hero (Harlequin), with every part of his dress, has
+    been drawn out of the greatest wardrobe of antiquity; he was a Roman
+    Mime. Harlequin is described with his shaven head (<i>rasis capitibus</i>);
+    his sooty face (<i>fuligine faciem abducti</i>); his flat unshod feet,
+    (<i>planipedes</i>), and his patched coat of many colours, (<i>Mimi
+    centunculo</i>). Even <i>Pulcinello</i>, whom we familiarly call "Punch," may
+    receive, like other personages of no great importance, all his dignity
+    from antiquity; one of his Roman ancestors having appeared to an
+    antiquary's visionary eye in a bronze statue; more than one erudite
+    dissertation authenticates the family likeness; the nose long, prominent
+    and hooked; the staring goggle eyes; the hump at his back, and at his
+    breast; in a word, all the character which so strongly marks the Punch
+    race, as distinctly as whole dynasties have been featured by the
+    Austrian lip and the Bourbon nose.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The genealogy of the whole family is confirmed by the general term which
+    includes them all: in English, Zany; in Italian, <i>Zanni</i>; in the Latin,
+    <i>Sannio</i>; and a passage in "Cicero <i>De Oratore</i>," paints Harlequin and
+    his brother gesticulators after the life; the perpetual trembling motion
+    of their limbs, their ludicrous and flexible gestures, and all the
+    mimicry of their faces: "<i>Quid enim potest tam ridiculum quam Sannio
+    esse? Qui ore vultu, imitandis motibus, voce, denique corpore ridetur
+    ipso.</i>" Lib II., Sect. 51. ("For what has more of the ludicrous than
+    Sannio? Who, with his mouth, his face, imitating every motion with his
+    voice, and, indeed, with all his body, provokes laughter.")
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Latin Sannio was changed by the Italians into (as Ainsworth
+    explains) Zanni, as, in words like Smyrna and Sambuco, they change the
+    s into z, which gives Zmyrna and Zambuco, and hence we derive our word
+    Zany. The word is, however, originally obtained from the Greek <i>Sannos</i>
+    (observes Quadrio), from whence the Latins derived their <i>Sannio</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From the size of the ancient theatres it was not possible to notice the
+    visage of the actors, and this was one, but not the only reason, why
+    masks were adopted. The Ancients did not like a character to be
+    attempted, to which a proper appropriation was not annexed, and these
+    masks were so contrived, that the profile on one side exhibited chagrin,
+    and on the other serenity, or whatever other passion was most required.
+    The actor thus, according to the part he was playing, presented the side
+    of the mask best suited to the passage which he was reciting. The large
+    mouths of these masks were presumed to have contained some bronze
+    instrument suited to assist the voice, upon the principle of the
+    speaking trumpet; for the mask was wider, and the recitation in tragedy
+    much louder than in comedy, so that the voice might be heard all over
+    the theatre. The masks of the dancers were of regular features.
+</p>
+<p>
+    By some it has been contended that these masks covered both the head and
+    the shoulders under the supposed idea that when the head was thus
+    enlarged it would throw the whole body into symmetry when raised upon
+    stilts. It has, also, been argued that the masks for some of the
+    characters were made of gold-beaters skin, or some transparent substance
+    just covering the face so that the facial muscles could be seen through
+    it, and the eyes, mouth, and ears being left uncovered. These masks,
+    however, delineated very carefully the features of the character that
+    were to be represented. Something not unlike the huge Pantomime masks of
+    a hideous and frightful shape that we sometimes see in our present day
+    Pantomimes must have appeared, especially those that covered the head
+    and shoulders of the <i>Mimis</i> in the days of the Romans. Those that were
+    just of the size of the face in all probability were fantastic and
+    picturesque; and the third and remaining species of mask made of a
+    transparent substance could hardly have been very effective.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Wright tells us, in his book on the Chester Mystery plays (which
+    work I shall again refer to later on), that masks were used in the
+    Mystery series of plays acted in England during the thirteenth and
+    fourteenth centuries.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Julius Pollux is still more ample in his account of theatrical masks
+    used in Tragedy, Satyr, and Comedy. Niobe weeping, Medea furious, Ajax
+    astonished, and Hercules enraged. In Comedy, the slave, the parasite,
+    the clown, the captain, the old woman, the harlot, the austere old man,
+    the debauched young man, the prodigal, the prudent young woman, the
+    matron, and the father of a family, were all constantly characterised by
+    particular masks.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Lucian and the other writers of the Augustan era, have handed down to us
+    sufficient information to show how Pantomime in Rome was so highly
+    thought of. Cassiodorous, speaking of them, says:&mdash;"Men whose eloquent
+    hands had a tongue, as it were, on the tip of each finger&mdash;men who spoke
+    while they were silent, and knew how to make a recital without opening
+    their mouths&mdash;men, in short, whom Polyhymnia had formed in order to show
+    that there was no necessity for articulation in order to convey our
+    thoughts." Demetrius, a cynic philosopher, laughed at the Romans for
+    permitting so strange an entertainment; but having been, with much
+    difficulty, prevailed upon to be present at the representation of one of
+    them, he was confounded with wonder. The story represented was that of
+    Mars and Venus, the whole performed by a single actor, who described the
+    fable in <i>dumb show</i>. At length the philosopher, wrought up to the
+    highest pitch of admiration, exclaimed, "That the actor <i>had no occasion
+    for a tongue, he spoke so well with his hands</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of one Pontus, who had come on a visit to Nero, we are told that he was
+    present at a performance, in the course of which a favourite Mime gave a
+    representation of the Labours of Hercules. The Mime's gestures were so
+    precise that he could follow the action without the slightest
+    hesitation. Being struck by the performance, on taking leave he begged
+    Nero to give him the actor, explaining that there was a barbarous tribe
+    adjoining his dominions, whose language no one could learn, and that
+    Pantomime could express his intentions to them so faithfully by gestures
+    that they would at once understand.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The dress of the performers of Pantomime was made to reveal, and not to
+    conceal, their figures. After the second century women began to act in
+    their representations, and even down to the sixth century we find them
+    associating themselves with Pantomime, and mention is made of a
+    celebrated <i>Mima</i>, who was ultimately raised to the imperial throne.
+    Through the lewdness of the <i>Mimis</i> and <i>mimas</i> in Pantomime, their
+    dress, or rather lack of dress, Pantomimes were denounced, not only by
+    the early Christian writers, but also by some of the Pagan writers, like
+    Juvenal, as being very prejudicial to morality.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It has, however, always been a favourite topic of the Prynne's, the
+    Jeremy Collier's and the Dr. Style's, and such like opponents of the
+    theatre, to contrast the English stage with the purity of the Grecian
+    and Roman Theatres. Now, without stopping to enquire whether this has
+    any particular connection with the subject of their dissertations, or
+    whether it is not in fact quite irrelevant to the question, it is
+    impossible not to remark the crass ignorance which these assertions
+    display of the manners and customs of the theatres of either the Greeks
+    or the Romans. Without wearying the reader by entering into a long
+    discussion upon the subject, it will be sufficient to recall certain
+    passages in Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plautus, and Terence to induce them
+    to hesitate in assenting to such vague assertions of the purity of
+    either the Grecian or Roman dramatic writers. William Prynne, the
+    English Puritan writer, in his violent attack on the stage in the
+    "<i>Histrio-Mastix</i>" or "Players Scourge"&mdash;which book, by the way, for
+    some unfavourable comments therein on the Queen of Charles I., and the
+    ladies of her Court, for attending theatrical representations, was
+    debarred his rooms (he was a barrister), by the Court of Star Chamber,
+    sentenced to be imprisoned for life, fined £5,000, committed to the
+    Tower, placed in the pillory, both ears cut off, and his book burnt by
+    the common hangman; yet after undergoing all these pains and penalties,
+    he published a <i>recantation of all that he had previously written in his
+    "Histrio-Mastix</i>"&mdash;says "It seems that the Grecian actors did now and
+    then to refresh the spectators, bring a kind of cisterne on the stage,
+    wherein naked women did swim and bathe themselves between the acts and
+    scenes; which wicked, impudent, and execrable practice the holy father
+    Chrysostom doth sharpely and excellently declaime against."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Xenophon mentions the tale of "Bacchus and Ariadne," Pantomimically
+    played, and Martial tells us he saw the whole story of "Pasiphae,"
+    minutely represented on the stage of the <i>Mimis</i>, and Plautus, in his
+    epilogue to "Casina," has&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "Nunc vos aequim est, manibus meritis,
+    Meritam mercedem dare.
+    Qui faxit, clam uxorem, ducat scortum
+    Semper quod volet.
+    Verum qui non manibus clare, quantum
+    Potent, plauserit,
+    Ei, pro scorto, supponetur hircus unctus nantea."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    On the Roman stage female parts were represented in tragedy by men, is
+    ascertained (says Malone) by one of Cicero's letters to Atticus, and by
+    a passage in Horace. Horace mentions, however, a female performer called
+    Arbuscula, but as we find from his own authority men personated women on
+    the Roman stage, she was probably an <i>Emboliariae</i>. Servius calls her a
+    <i>Mima</i>, or one who danced in the Pantomimic dances, and which seems more
+    probable, as she is mentioned by Cicero, who says the part of Andromache
+    was played by a male performer on the very day Arbuscula also performed.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The principal Roman <i>Mimas</i> were:&mdash;Arbuscula, Thymele, Licilia,
+    Dionysia, Cytheris, Valeria, and Cloppia.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the satirical interludes of the Grecian stage, and the <i>Fabulae
+    Atellanae</i> of the Roman theatres, the <i>Exodiarii</i> and <i>Emboliariae</i> of
+    the Mimes, were the remote progenitors (says Malone) of the Vice or
+    Devil, and the Clown of our English Mystery plays, the latter series of
+    plays being the origin of the drama of this country. The exact
+    conformity between our Clown and the <i>Exodiarii</i> and <i>Emboliariae</i> of
+    the Roman stage is ascertained by that passage in Pliny&mdash;"<i>Lucceia Mima
+    centum annis in scena pronuntiavit. Galeria, Copiola, Emboliariae,
+    reducta est in scenam: annum certissimum quartum agens</i>," is thus
+    translated by an English author, Philemon Holland, "Lucceia, a common
+    Vice in a play, followed the stage, and acted thereupon 100 yeeres. Such
+    another Vice that <i>plaied the foole, and made sporte between whiles in
+    interludes</i>, named Galeria Copiola, was brought to act upon the stage
+    when she was in the 104th yeere of her age." We shall, in another
+    chapter, return to the Vice, or Clown.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VII.
+</h2>
+
+
+<h3 style="text-indent: 0em; text-align:center">
+    Introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into Britain&mdash;First English
+    reference to the word Pantomime&mdash;The fall of the Roman Empire&mdash;The
+    sacred play&mdash;Cornish Amphitheatres&mdash;Pantomimical and Lyrical elements in
+    the sacrifice of the Mass&mdash;Christian banishment of the
+    <i>Mimis</i>&mdash;Penalties imposed by the Church&mdash;St. Anthony on Harlequin and
+    Punch&mdash;Vandenhoff&mdash;what we owe to the <i>Mimis</i>.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    With the advent of Julius Caesar and the conquest of Britain by the
+    Romans, about the year 52 B.C., we have, in all probability, the first
+    introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into this country. Inasmuch as
+    we have it upon the authority of history that Caesar travelled with his
+    Mimes, and it is, therefore, not improbable that they came into Britain
+    with him. England, then, during the occupancy of the Romans, must have
+    known the Dramatic Art, or else (as Dibdin observes) Pacuvius, Accius,
+    and Livius Andronicus were ignorant of it. Martial tells us that it did,
+    and so does Boadicea, so that we have not only Roman authorities for it,
+    but also British.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The word "Pantomime" could not, I may say here, have been Anglicised
+    earlier than sometime during the seventeenth century. Dr. Johnson's
+    earliest example is from "Hudibras"&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "Not that I think those <i>Pantomimes</i>,
+    Who vary action with the times,
+    Are less ingenious in their art
+    Than those who duly act one part."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Bacon and Ben Jonson use the Latin <i>Pantomimi</i>&mdash;"Here be certain
+    <i>Pantomimi</i> that will represent the voices of players." Again in the
+    "Masque of Love's Triumph," etc., 1630, "After the manner of the old
+    <i>Pantomimi</i> they dance over a distracted Comedy of Love."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The fall of the Roman Empire and the progress of Christianity in Europe
+    sounded the death knell of Paganism and its attributes, of which
+    Pantomime was deemed to be one, owing to the bad odour in which this
+    form of entertainment had got to during the last days of the Empire.
+    Notwithstanding this the church was only too glad to avail itself of
+    Pantomime as a vehicle to portray before the world at large, and in
+    order to turn attention to the great moral truths to be deduced from the
+    death of Him on Calvary Hill. These exhibitions of religious subjects,
+    in the form of <i>tableaux vivants</i>, took place in the churches, and,
+    having regard to the sacred edifices in which they were given, they
+    were, especially in the beginning, I conjecture, performed in dumb show,
+    without any dialogue. Afterwards dialogue was introduced, and they began
+    to be, not only held in the churches, but also in the church-yards, the
+    streets, and in booths.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is true the sacred play was not a new institution, as one is said to
+    be mentioned about the time of the Fall of Jerusalem. In Cornwall, plays
+    were given in the ancient times in the open air, after the fashion of
+    the Roman Amphitheatre, with the dialogue in the Cymric tongue.
+    Pantomimical performances might also have been given in those open-air
+    theatres by the Romans.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Perhaps no better example of the early Sacred Drama I can give, and
+    which is still with us, and performed daily, is the sacrifice of the
+    Mass in all Roman Catholic Churches throughout the length and breadth of
+    the world. In the Mass we have a dramatic action <i>pantomimically</i>
+    presented, in part aided by lyrical and epical elements. I will not,
+    however, pursue this portion of my subject further, save than to add
+    that at the Catholic Churches' festivals, especially during Holy Week or
+    Passion Week, what I have mentioned of the Mass becomes at these times
+    marked in even a greater degree.
+</p>
+<p>
+    With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, the <i>Mimis</i> became
+    wanderers on the face of the earth, only appearing at festivals and the
+    like, when they were wanted, and returning to their haunts as
+    mysteriously as they came.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the fourth century A.D. they were excluded from the benefit of the
+    rites of the Church, and even those who visited their entertainments,
+    instead of churches, on the Sundays and holidays, were excommunicated.
+    The Theodosian creed provided that the actors were not to have the
+    sacraments administered to them save when death was imminent, and then
+    only that, in case of recovery, their calling should be renounced.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the second century one of the Fathers of the Church wrote a special
+    treatise against plays (<i>Tertulian De Spectaculis</i>), in which he asks
+    those who will not renounce them "Whether the God of truth, who hates
+    all falsehood, can be willing to receive into His kingdom those whose
+    features and hair, whose age and sex, whose sighs and laughter, love and
+    anger, are all feigned. He promises them a tragedy of their own when, in
+    the day of Judgment, they shall be consigned to everlasting suffering."
+</p>
+<p>
+    However, the church was not always against the stage, even in those
+    early times, as St. Thomas Aquinas says that "The office of the player
+    as being serviceable for the enlivenment of men, and as not being
+    blameworthy if the player leads an upright life." Both Saints Thomas
+    Aquinas and Anthony supported the stage, the latter only stipulating
+    that the character of Harlequin should not be represented by a
+    clergyman, nor that Punch should be exhibited in church.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is one of the most remarkable things that, despite the bitterness,
+    hostility, and deadly enmity that has been levelled at the stage, and
+    its players termed "Rogues and Vagabonds" from time immemorial, how it
+    has lived through it all. In connection with this how the lines of that
+    great actor, Vandenhoff, occurs to me, a few of which, with the reader's
+    permission, I subjoin.
+</p>
+<pre>    "The drama's now a great established fact,
+    That can't be blink'd, ignored how'er attack'd
+    By vain abuse or angry prejudice;
+    The time's gone by when <i>playing was a vice</i>;
+    When bigots mark'd the actor with a ban,
+    (Tho' saintly crowds to hear his accents ran),
+    Denied him sacred rite and hallowed grave&mdash;
+    Filching from God the soul he made to save&mdash;
+    And, for the pleasure which his life had giv'n
+    On earth, refused him dead, a place in heav'n.
+    No! wiser days bring gentler feelings in,
+    And 'Nature's touches makes the whole world kin'."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    By degrees the <i>Mimis</i>, or mummers, with their fellows, spread
+    themselves all over Europe. The humbler of the craft, in fact it might
+    be said of them all, as Othello's occupation had (for them) long since
+    been gone, strolled from castle to castle, from village to town, and
+    earning their livelihood as best they could. To these wandering
+    Bohemians we owe such traditions of the drama that survived with them
+    into succeeding ages; and to them also we are indebted for keeping alive
+    by inculcating unto others the Art of <i>Pantomimus</i>, when in the heyday
+    of its popularity in the Roman Empire.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER VIII.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Pantomime in the English Mystery or Miracle Plays and Pageants&mdash;A
+    retrospect of the Early Drama&mdash;Mysteries on Biblical events&mdash;Chester,
+    Coventry, York, and Towneley Mystery Plays&mdash;Plays in Churches&mdash;Traces of
+    the Mystery Play in England in the Nineteenth Century&mdash;Mystery Plays on
+    the Continent&mdash;The Chester series of Plays&mdash;The Devil or Clown and the
+    <i>Exodiarii</i> and <i>Emboliariae</i> of the Ancient Mimes.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    It is presumed that, not only were the early sacred plays acted in
+    dumb-show, but that the Miracle or Mysteries of Religion series of
+    plays&mdash;which grew out of the sacred play&mdash;also the Pageants in the
+    beginning, and for long afterwards were acted in this wise. Percy, in
+    his "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," also takes this view. He
+    says:&mdash;"They were (the Mysteries) probably a kind of <i>dumb show</i>,
+    intermingled, it may be, with a few short speeches, at length they grew
+    into regular scenes of connected dialogues, formally divided into acts
+    and scenes." Colley Cibber has: "It has been conjectured that the actors
+    of the Mysteries of Religion were <i>mummers</i>, a word signifying one who
+    makes and disguises himself to play the fool <i>without speaking</i>. They
+    were dressed in an antic manner, <i>dancing, mimicking</i>, and <i>showing
+    postures</i>." Mr. Wright also observes (in his work on the Mystery Plays
+    of Chester, published by the Shakespearean Society) that the "<i>chief
+    effect seems to have been caused by the dumb show</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before dealing with the Mysteries, and as perhaps a kind of retrospect,
+    let us have a look what Wharton has to say of the early drama. "Trade,"
+    he says (in the early centuries) "was carried on by means of fairs, which
+    lasted several days. Charlemagne established many great marts of this
+    sort in France, as did William the Conqueror and his Norman successors
+    in England. The merchants, who frequented these fairs in numerous
+    caravans and companies, employed every art to draw the people together.
+    They were, therefore, accompanied by jugglers, minstrels, and buffoons
+    (<i>i.e.</i>, Pantomimists), who were no less interested in giving their
+    attendance and exercising their skill on these occasions. Few large
+    towns existed, no public spectacles or popular amusements were
+    established; and as the sedentary pleasures of domestic life and private
+    society were yet unknown, the fair time was the season for diversion. In
+    proportion as the shows were attended and encouraged, they began to be
+    set off with new decorations and improvements; and the arts of
+    buffoonery being rendered still more attractive by extending their
+    circle of exhibition, acquired an importance in the eyes of the people.
+    By degrees the Clergy, observing that the entertainments of dancing,
+    music, and mimicry exhibited at these annual celebrations made the
+    people less religious by promoting idleness and a love of festivity,
+    proscribed these sports and excommunicated the performers."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mystery plays were afterwards divided into three classes, though the
+    generic term Mysteries, meaning all three, is generally used. In the
+    Mysteries, Biblical events were principally used; Miracle plays were
+    obtained from the legends of the saints; and the last, Moralities,
+    allegorical stories of a moral character not essentially taken from the
+    Bible, or from the legends of the saints, comprised the third heading.
+    The Mysteries were for several centuries known on the Continent before
+    they were performed in England. The earliest Mystery play known to have
+    been acted in England was at Dunstable about the year 1110. It was
+    probably in Latin, and composed by a Norman monk.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is a peculiarity of the English Mystery plays that they were combined
+    into a series of plays on the Old and New Testament; and in which the
+    whole course of Divine Providence, from the Creation to the Day of
+    Judgment, is set before the spectator. Four noted groups of plays were
+    the Chester, the Towneley, Coventry, and York Mystery plays. The Chester
+    plays began on Whit Monday, and, continued till the following Wednesday.
+    Permission to perform them, in the beginning of their institution, had
+    twice to be asked of the Pope. They consisted of 24 plays, and were
+    almost annually performed till 1577. Before the suppression of the
+    monasteries the Grey Friars at Coventry were celebrated for their
+    exhibitions of the Mystery plays usually on <i>Corpus Christi</i>. The
+    Towneley, or Woodkirk group of plays were acted at Woodkirk, about four
+    miles from Wakefield, and they are of a style that may be likened to the
+    times of Henry VI., or Edward IV. Until the Mystery play fell into
+    disuse, the trading companies and guilds seem principally to have
+    maintained them. The mixture of secular with ecclesiastical players
+    helped to change the characters of the English plays and to provoke
+    censure, which began to be levelled at them from the beginning of the
+    thirteenth century.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The practise of performing plays in sacred edifices in England, had not
+    ceased in 1542, when Bishop Bonner prohibited them in his diocese.
+    However, so late as 1572, it appears that Interludes were occasionally
+    performed in Churches.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Collier speaks of a kind of Mystery, or Miracle play, exhibited in the
+    last century, with the characters of Herod, Beelzebub, and others. In
+    1838 Sandy mentions of having seen the play of "St. George and the
+    Dragon," presented in the Northern and Western parts of the Kingdom, or
+    rather Queendom, as Victoria had just ascended the throne. I myself
+    remember quite well, within a couple of decades ago, what was probably
+    at the time a remnant of the old Mystery play presented in a rural part
+    of Lancashire by men in a fantastic garb, and termed by the country
+    folk, "Paste-eggers." They generally appeared about Good Friday and on
+    to Easter; and their performance consisted of a mixture of music (?),
+    songs, and sometimes not over choice language. This custom does not now
+    exist where I write of, but it may do&mdash;though I very much doubt&mdash;in some
+    rural parts. On the Continent, as at Oberammergau, Mystery plays are
+    still enacted.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The following account of the Chester Mysteries may be of interest, and
+    appears (says Warton) in the Harleian Catalogue. M.S. Harl. 2013, etc.
+    Exhibited at Chester in the year 1327 at the expense of the different
+    trading companies of that city. "The Fall of Lucifer," by the tanners;
+    "The Creation," by the drapers; "The Deluge," by the dyers; "Abraham,
+    Melchizedeck and Lot," by the barbers; "Moses, Balak and Balaam," by the
+    cappers; "The Salutation and the Nativity," by the wrights (carpenters);
+    "The Shepherds feeding the Flocks by Night," by the painters and
+    glaziers; "The Three Kings," by the vintners; "The oblation of the Three
+    Kings," by the mercers; "The Killing of the Holy Innocents," by the
+    goldsmiths; "The Purification," by the blacksmiths; "The Temptations,"
+    by the butchers; "The Blindmen and Lazarus," by the glovers; "Jesus and
+    the Lepers," by the cowesarys; "Christ's Passion," by the bowyers,
+    fletchers and ironmongers; "Descent into Hell," by the cooks and
+    inn-keepers; "Resurrection," by the skinners; "Ascension," by the
+    taylors; "The Election of St. Matthias," "Sending of the Holy Ghost,"
+    etc., by the fishmongers; "Anti-christ," by the clothiers; and "The Day
+    of Judgment," by the websters (weavers). The reader will perhaps smile
+    at some of these combinations. This is the substance and order of the
+    former part of the play. God enters, creating the world, he breathes
+    life into Adam, leads him into Paradise, and opens his side while
+    sleeping. Adam and Eve appear <i>naked</i>, and <i>not ashamed</i>; and the old
+    Serpent enters, lamenting his fall. He converses with Eve. She eats part
+    of the forbidden fruit, and gives part to Adam. They propose, according
+    to the stage directions, to make themselves, <i>subligacula a folis
+    quibus tegamus pudenda</i>, cover their nakedness with leaves and converse
+    with God. God's curse. The Serpent exits, hissing. They are driven from
+    Paradise by four angels, and the Cherubim with a flaming sword. Adam
+    appears digging the ground, and Eve spinning. Their children, Cain and
+    Abel, enter, the former kills his brother. Adam's lamentation. Cain is
+    banished, etc., etc.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Adam and Eve, in the "altogether," so to speak, were acted like this as
+    late as the sixteenth century. In a play called "The Travails of the
+    Three English Brothers," acted in 1607, there occurs this:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Many idle toyes, but the old play <i>that Adam and Eve acted in bare
+    action under the figge tree draws most of the gentlemen</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    An Account of the Proclamation of the Mystery plays, acted in "Ye Citye
+    on ye Dee," may prove of interest, and the copy of which I subjoin is
+    taken from the Harleian M.S. No. 2013.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The proclamation for Whitsone playes made by Wm. Newell, Clarke of the
+    Pendice, 24 Hen. 8. Wm. Snead 2nd yere Maior."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "For as much as auld tyme, not only for the augmentation and increese of
+    the holy and catholick faith of our Saviour Jesu Christ, and to exort
+    the mindes of comon people to good devotion and holsome doctrine
+    thereof, but also for the comonwelth and prosperity of this citty, a
+    play and declaration of divers storyes of Bible beginning with the
+    Creation and fall of Lucifer, and ending with the generall Judgment of
+    the world, to be declared and played in Whitsonne weeke, was devised and
+    made by one Sir Henry Frances, sometyme moonck of this monastrey
+    disolved, who obtayning and gat of Clemant, then Bushop of Rome, a 1000
+    dayes of pardon, and of the Bushop of Chester at that tyme 40 dayes of
+    pardon, graunted from thensforth to every person resorting, in peaceable
+    manner with good devotion, to heare and see the sayd playes, from time
+    to time as oft as they shall be played within the said citty (and that
+    every person or persons disturbing the sayd playes in the maner wise to
+    be acused by the authority of the sayd pope Clemant's bulls, untill such
+    tyme as he or they be absolved thereof) which playes were devised to the
+    honor of God by John Arnway, then maior of this citty of Chester, his
+    brethren and whole cominalty thereof, to be brought forth, declared, and
+    played, at the cost and charges of the craftesman and occupations of the
+    sayd citty, which hitherto have from tyme to tyme used and performed the
+    same accordingly.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Wherefore Mr. maior, in the King's name, stratly chargeth and
+    commandeth that every person and persons of what estate, degree, or
+    condition so ever he or they be resorting to the sayd playes, do use
+    themselves peaciblie, without making any assault, affray, or other
+    disturbance, whereby the same playes shall be disturbed, and that no
+    manner of person or persons, whiche so ever he or they be, do use or
+    wear any unlawfull weapons within the precinct of the sayd citty during
+    the tyme of the sayd playes (not only upon payn of cursing by authority
+    of the sayd Pope Clemant's bulls but also) upon payn of imprisonment of
+    their bodyes, and making fine to the King at Mr. maior's pleasure."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Archdeacon Rogers, who died in 1595, and saw the Whitsuntide plays
+    performed at Chester in the preceding year, gives the following account
+    of the mode of exhibition:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The time of the yeare they were played was on Monday, Tuesday, and
+    Wenseday in Whitson weake. The maner of these playes weare every company
+    had his pagiant, or parte, which pagiants weare a high scafolde with 2
+    rowmes, a higher and a lower, upon 4 wheeles. In the lower they
+    apparelled themselves, and in the higher rowme they played, being all
+    open on the tope, that all behoulders might heare and see them. The
+    places where they played them was in every streete. They begane first at
+    the abay gates, and when the first pagiante was played, it was wheeled
+    to the high crosse before the mayor, and soe to every streete; and soe
+    every streete had a pagiant playinge before them at one time, till all
+    the pagiantes for the daye appoynted weare played, and when one pagiant
+    was neere ended, word was broughte from streete to streete that soe they
+    mighte come in place thereof exceedinge orderlye, and all the streetes
+    have their pagiantes afore them all at one time playeinge togeather; to
+    se which playes was greate resorte, and also scafoldes and stages made
+    in the streetes in those places where they determined to playe their
+    pagiantes."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Strutt has the following description of the Mystery plays:&mdash;"In the
+    early dawn of literature, and when the sacred Mysteries were the only
+    theatrical performances, what is now called the stage did then consist
+    of three several platforms or stages, raised one above another; on the
+    uppermost sat the <i>Pater Caelestis</i>, surrounded with his angels; on the
+    second appeared the holy saints and glorified men; and the last and
+    lowest were occupied by mere men who had not passed through this life to
+    the regions of eternity. On one side of this lowest platform was the
+    resemblance of a dark pitchy cavern, from whence issued appearance of
+    fire and flames; and when it was necessary the audience were treated
+    with hideous yellings and noises, as imitations of the howlings and
+    cries of the wretched souls tormented by the relentless demons. From
+    this yawning cave the devils themselves constantly ascended, to delight
+    and instruct the spectators; to delight because they were usually the
+    greatest jesters and buffoons that then appeared; and to instruct for
+    that they treated the wretched mortals who were delivered to them with
+    the utmost cruelty, warning thereby all men carefully to avoid the
+    falling into the clutches of such hardened and relentless spirits."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is interesting to note that Hell was imitated by a whale's open jaws,
+    behind which a fire was lighted, in such a way, however, so as not to
+    injure the "damned," who had to pass into its gaping mouth. The
+    performer who impersonated God had not only his face but also the hair
+    of his wig gilded. Christ was dressed in a long sheep's skin. The Devil,
+    or Vice (the <i>Exodiarii</i> and <i>Emboliariae</i> of the ancient <i>Mimis</i>), was
+    easily recognisable by his horns and his tail, whilst his beard was of a
+    bright red colour, to indicate the flames of the region in which he
+    dwelt. Judas also wore a wig of a fiery hue, and, after being hung, had
+    sometimes to do the "cock crowing," as some old accounts of the York
+    Mysteries show.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It appears to have been customary for the Devil to appear before the
+    audience with a cry of "Ho! ho! ho!" somewhat similar to the
+    ejaculations of the Pantomime Clown in after years. (See <i>Gammer
+    Gurton's Needle</i>, Act II., Sc. 3, and "The Devil is an Ass," by Ben
+    Jonson, Act I., Sc. 1.) The following passage occurs in "Wily Beguiled,"
+    1606. "Tush! feare not the dodge; I'll rather put on my flashing red
+    nose, and my flaming face, and come wrapped in a calfe's skin, and cry
+    'Ho! ho! ho!'" Again, "I'll put me on my great carnation nose, and wrap
+    me in a rousing calf's-skin suit, and come like some hob-goblin, or some
+    Devil ascended from the grisly pit of hell, and like a scarebabe make
+    him take to his legs; I'll play the Devil, I warrant ye."
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IX.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    The Clown or Fool of the early English Drama&mdash;Moralities&mdash;The
+    Interlude&mdash;The rise of English Tragedy and Comedy&mdash;"Dumb Shews" in the
+    Old Plays&mdash;Plays suppressed by Elizabeth&mdash;A retrospect.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    In the sixth chapter of this work, in quoting Malone, I have mentioned
+    that the <i>Exodiarii</i> and <i>Emboliariae</i> of the <i>Mimis</i> were the remote
+    progenitors of the Clown of the Mystery Plays of this country. Now let
+    us see what were the duties the Clown fulfilled in the old plays of this
+    country, and also briefly of the others who were known under the generic
+    name of Clown or fool.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the early drama the Clown was a personage of no mean importance and
+    whose duty was to preserve the stage from vacancy by amusing the
+    audience with extemporary buffoonery, and also at the end of the
+    performance. And, as Heywood, in his "History of Women" (1624), says "By
+    his mimic gestures to breed in the less capable mirth and laughter." On
+    these occasions, it was usual to descant, in a humourous style, on
+    various subjects proposed to him by the spectators; but they were more
+    commonly entertained with what was termed a jig: this was a ludicrous
+    composition in rhyme, sung by the Clown, accompanied by his pipe and
+    tabor. In these jigs there were sometimes more actors than one, and the
+    most unbounded license of tongue was allowed; the pith of the matter
+    being usually some scurrilous exposure of persons among, or well known
+    to the audience. Here again history repeats itself in this once more,
+    and in imitation of the satirical interludes of the Grecian stage and
+    the <i>Atellans</i> and <i>Mimis</i> of the Roman theatres.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The practice of putting the fools and Clowns in requisition between the
+    acts and scenes (observes Francis Douce), and after the play was
+    finished, to amuse the spectators with their tricks, may be traced to
+    the Greek and Roman theatres; and their usages being preserved in the
+    middle ages, wherever the Roman influence had spread, it would not, of
+    course, be peculiar to England. The records of the French theatre
+    demonstrate this fact; in the "Mystery of Saint Barbara," we find this
+    stage direction:&mdash;<i>Pausa. Vadunt, et stultus loquitur.</i> (A pause. They
+    quit the stage, and the fool speaks). And in this way he is frequently
+    brought on between the scenes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is quite obvious that the terms Clown and fool were used, though
+    improperly, perhaps, as synonymous by our old dramatists. Their confused
+    introduction might render this doubtful to one who had not well
+    considered the matter. The fool of our early plays denoted a mere idiot
+    or natural, or else a witty hireling retained to make sport for his
+    masters. The Clown was a character of more variety; sometimes he was a
+    mere rustic; and, often, no more than a shrewd domestic. There are
+    instances in which any low character in a play served to amuse with his
+    coarse sallies, and thus became the Clown of the piece. In fact, the
+    fool of the drama was a kind of heterogeneous being, copied in part from
+    real life, but highly coloured in order to produce effect. This opinion
+    derives force from what is put into the mouth of Hamlet, when he
+    admonishes those who perform the Clowns, to speak no more than is set
+    down for them. Indeed, Shakespeare himself cannot be absolved from the
+    imputation of making mere caricatures of his merry Andrews, unless we
+    suppose, what is very probable, that his compositions have been much
+    interpolated with the extemporaneous jokes of the players. To this
+    folly, allusions are made in a clever satire, entitled, "Pasquils
+    Mad-cappe, throwne at the Corruptions of these Times," 1626, quarto.
+</p>
+<pre>      "Tell country players, that old paltry jests
+        Pronounced in a painted motley coate,
+      Filles all the world so full of cuckoo nests,
+        That nightingales can scarcely sing a note.
+    Oh! bid them turn their minds to better meanings;
+    Fields are ill sowne that give no better gleanings."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Sir Philip Sidney reprobates the custom of introducing fools on the
+    stage; and declares that the plays of his time were neither right
+    tragedies nor right comedies, for the authors mingled kings and Clowns,
+    "not," says he, "because the matter so carrieth it, but thrust in the
+    Clowne by head and shoulders to play a part in majestical matters, with
+    neither decencie nor discretion; so as neither the admiration and
+    commisseration, nor the right sportfulnesse, is by their mongrell
+    tragie-comedie obtained." Rankin, a puritan, contemporary with
+    Shakespeare, wrote a most bitter attack on plays and players, whom he
+    calls monsters; "And whie monsters?" says he, "because under colour of
+    humanitie they present nothing but prodigious vanitie; these are wels
+    without water, dead branches fit for fuell, cockle amongst corne,
+    unwholesome weedes amongst sweete hearbes; and, finallie, feends that
+    are crept into the worlde by stealth, and hold possession by subtill
+    invasion." In another place, he says, "some transformed themselves to
+    rogues, others to ruffians, some others to Clownes, a fourth to fools;
+    the rogues were ready, the ruffians were rude, theyr Clownes cladde as
+    well with country condition, as in ruffe russet; theyr fooles as fond as
+    might be."
+</p>
+<p>
+    To give a clear view of our subject, something of the different sorts of
+    fools may be thus classed:
+</p>
+<p>
+    1.&mdash;The <i>general domestic fool</i>, termed often, but <i>improperly</i>, a
+    <i>Clown</i>; described by Puttenham as "a buffoune, or counterfett foole."
+</p>
+<p>
+    2.&mdash;The <i>Clown</i>, who was a mere country booby, or a witty rustic.
+</p>
+<p>
+    3.&mdash;The <i>female fool</i>, who was generally an idiot.
+</p>
+<p>
+    4.&mdash;The <i>city or corporation fool</i>, an assistant in public
+    entertainments.
+</p>
+<p>
+    5.&mdash;The <i>tavern fool</i>, retained to amuse the customers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    6.&mdash;The <i>fool of the ancient Mysteries and Moralities</i>, otherwise the
+    <i>Vice</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    7.&mdash;The <i>fool in the old dumb shows</i>, often alluded to by Shakespeare.
+</p>
+<p>
+    8.&mdash;The <i>fool in the Whitsun ales and morris dance</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    9.&mdash;The <i>mountebank's fool, or merry Andrew</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There may be others in our ancient dramas, of an irregular kind, not
+    reducible to any of these classes; but to exemplify them is not within
+    the scope of this essay: what has been stated may assist the readers of
+    old plays to judge for themselves when they meet with such characters.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The practice of retaining fools can be distinctly traced from the
+    remotest times. They were to be found alike in the palace and the
+    brothel; the Pope had his fool, and the bawd hers; they excited the
+    mirth of kings and beggars; the hovel of the villain and the castle of
+    the baron were alike exhilarated by their jokes. With respect to the
+    antiquity of this custom in England, it appears to have existed even
+    during the period of our Saxon history, but we are certain of the fact
+    in the reign of William the Conqueror. Maitre Wace, an historian of that
+    time, has an account of the preservation of William's life, when Duke of
+    Normandy, by his fool, <i>Goles</i>; and, in Domesday book, mention is made
+    of <i>Berdin joculator regis</i>; and though this term sometimes denoted a
+    minstrel, evidence might be adduced to prove, that in this instance it
+    signified a buffoon.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The entertainment, fools were expected to afford, may be collected in
+    great variety from our old plays, especially from those of Shakespeare;
+    but, perhaps, a good idea may be formed of their general conduct from a
+    passage in a curious tract by Lodge, entitled, "Wit's Miserie," 1599,
+    quarto: "Immoderate and disordinate joy became incorporate in the bodie
+    of a jeaster; this fellow in person is comely, in apparell courtly, but
+    in behaviour a very ape, and no man; his studie is to coin bitter
+    jeasts, or to shew antique motions, or to sing baudie sonnets and
+    ballads; give him a little wine in his head, he is continually flearing
+    and making of mouthes; he laughs intemperately at every little occasion,
+    and dances about the house, leaps over tables, outskips men's heads,
+    trips up his companions' heeles, burns sack with a candle, and hath all
+    the feats of a lord of misrule in the countrie: feed him in his humour,
+    you shall have his heart; in mere kindness he will hug you in his armes,
+    kisse you on the cheeke, and rapping out an horrible oath, crie 'God's
+    soule, Tum, I love you, you knowe my poore heart, come to my chamber for
+    a pipe of tobacco, there lives not a man in this world that I more
+    honor.' In these ceremonies you shall know his courting, and it is a
+    speciall mark of him at table, he sits and makes faces: keep not this
+    fellow company, for in jingling with him, your wardropes shall be
+    wasted, your credits crackt, your crownes consumed, and time (the most
+    precious riches of the world) utterly lost."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With regard to the fool's business on the stage, it was nearly the same
+    as in reality, with this difference, that the wit was more highly
+    seasoned. In Middleton's "Mayor of Quinborough," a company of actors,
+    with a Clown, make their appearance, and the following dialogue
+    ensues:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>1st Cheater. This is our Clown, sir.
+</pre>
+<pre>Simon.       Fye, fye, your company
+             Must fall upon him and beat him; he's too fair i'faith,
+             To make the people laugh.
+</pre>
+<pre>1st Cheater. Not as he may be dress'd, sir.
+</pre>
+<pre>Simon.       Faith, dress him how you will. I'll give him
+             That gift, he will never look half scurvily enough.
+             Oh! the Clowns that I have seen in my time,
+             The very peeping out of one of them would have
+             Made a young heir laugh, though his father lay a-dying;
+             A man undone in law the day before,
+             (The saddest case that can be) might for his second
+             Have burst himself with laughing, and ended all
+             His miseries. Here was a merry world, my masters!
+             Some talk of things of state, of puling stuff;
+             There's nothing in a play like to a Clown,
+             If he have the grace to hit on it, that's the thing indeed.
+             Away then, shift; Clown, to thy motley crupper.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    In the <i>praeludium</i> to Goffe's "Careless Shepherdess," 1656, quarto,
+    there is a panegyric on them, and some concern is shown for the fool's
+    absence in the play itself, while it is stated that "The motley coat was
+    banished with trunk-hose." Yet in Charles II.'s reign, some efforts were
+    made to restore the character. In the tragedy of "Thorney Abbey, or the
+    London Maid," 1662, 12mo., the prologue is delivered by a fool, who uses
+    these words:&mdash;"The poet's a fool who made the tragedy, to tell a story
+    of a king and a court, and leave a fool out on't, when in Pacey's, and
+    Sommer's, and Patche's, and Archer's times, my venerable predecessours,
+    a fool was alwaies the principal verb." Shadwell's play of "The Woman
+    Captain," 1680, is perhaps the last in which a regular fool is
+    introduced; and even there, his master is made to say that the character
+    was exploded on the stage. In real life, as was formerly stated, the
+    professed fool was to be met with at a much later period, but the custom
+    has long been obsolete.
+</p>
+<p>
+    What I have said of the Mysteries of Religion plays will, I hope, be
+    sufficient to show the reader how they were associated with Pantomime.
+    The Moralities, founded on the Mysteries, were the means used to
+    inculcate, by the aid of a slight plot, religious truths without
+    directly using scriptural or legendary subjects. Malone says of
+    them:&mdash;"I am unable to ascertain when the first Morality appeared, but
+    incline to think not sooner than the reign of Edward IV. (about 1460).
+    The public pageants of the reign of his predecessor were uncommonly
+    splendid, and being then <i>first</i> enlivened by the introduction of
+    <i>speaking</i> allegorical personages, properly and characteristically
+    habited, naturally led the way to these personifications, by which
+    Moralities were <i>distinguished from</i> the simple religious dramas called
+    Mysteries."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Interlude, that was the progenitor of English Comedy, next arrived.
+    The origin of the Interlude is credited to John Heywood.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is interesting to note that a play, entitled, "Gammer Gurton's
+    Needle," is credited with being our first English Comedy, though its
+    humour and wit, it is stated, is of a low and sordid kind. Others make
+    claim for the comedy, "Ralph Roister Doister."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Tragedy and Comedy now began to raise their heads, yet they could not,
+    for some time, do more than bluster and quibble. There is an excellent
+    criticism on them by that distinguished statesman, poet, scholar, and
+    brave soldier, Sir Philip Sydney. "Some of their pieces were only '<i>dumb
+    shews</i>,' some with choruses, and some they explained by an
+    Interlocutor," says an old writer on the subject. The mention of
+    Pantomime in connection with tragedy, and as an example how Pantomime
+    was requisitioned in Shakespeare's time, is shown in the Second Scene of
+    Act III. of "Hamlet," wherein the "dumb shew" is given by the players.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The true drama, however, received birth and perfection from the creative
+    geniuses of Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Jonson, and others.
+    Though the stage no sooner began to talk than it grew scurrilous, and
+    plays were thought "Dangerous to Religion, the State, Honesty, and
+    Manners, and also for Infection, in Time of Sickness." Wherefore they
+    were afterwards for some time suppressed. But upon application to the
+    Queen and Council they were again tolerated under the following
+    restrictions: "That no Plays be acted on Sundays at all, nor on any
+    other Holidays till after Evening Prayer. That no playing be in the
+    <i>Dark</i>, nor continue and such Time, but the Auditors may return to their
+    Dwellings in London before Sunset, or at least before it be <i>Dark</i>." The
+    foregoing is from Stow, and this Act was made in the reign of Elizabeth.
+    The Virgin Queen does not seem to have cared much about this enactment,
+    as we find that on Sunday, the 24th September, 1592, she and her Court
+    attended a play at Oxford.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As Tragedy and Comedy progressed on the English stage, Pantomime, as far
+    as it was associated with the dumb shows in the early English drama,
+    became, little by little, a thing of the past.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We have seen, and traced, from the Creation of this planet, and through
+    succeeding ages, how Pantomime has always flourished; we have seen also
+    how the Interlude gave way to the Comedy; we will now see how this love
+    of light entertainment formulated in this country by the Interlude, and,
+    about the same time, by the Italian Masque Comedy, the progenitor of
+    Pantomime (referring to the whole as a spectacle), and the forerunner in
+    France, also of that other form of light entertainment known as the
+    French Vaudeville, cultivated by Le Sage and other French writers of
+    note.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To go to the bed-rock for our facts, and for the innovation of all this,
+    it is necessary in thought, and perhaps as well in spirit, to journey to
+    Italy.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER X.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    The Italian Masque&mdash;The Masque in England&mdash;First appearance in this
+    country of Harlequin&mdash;Joe Haines as Harlequin&mdash;Marlowe's "Faustus"&mdash;A
+    Curious Play&mdash;The Italian Harlequin&mdash;Colley Cibber,
+    Penkethman&mdash;Shakespeare's Burlesques of the Masque&mdash;Decline of the
+    Masque.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    In Italy the Masque entertainment long held sway, and was a light form
+    of amusement, consisting of Pantomime, music, singing, and dancing, and
+    an adaptation of the <i>Fabulae Atellanae</i> of ancient Italy. The
+    performers wore masks, also high-heeled shoes, fitted with brass or iron
+    heels, which jingled as they danced. This ancient custom to present-day
+    stage dancers will doubtless be of interest. Masks, like on the stages
+    of the Greeks and the Romans, were used, hence the title Mask, or
+    Masque, as it is sometimes written both ways. In the days of Elizabeth
+    the custom was also practised in the Elizabethean Masque. The Masquerade
+    and the Masked ball, or <i>Bal-Masque</i>, are survivals of this ancient
+    custom.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Crossing the Alps, if the reader will accompany me, the Italian Masque
+    Comedy we find was already known in France in the fifteenth century. In
+    the days of Mary de Medici ballets were introduced, and by the time of
+    Louis XIV. "Opera" (<i>i.e.</i>, the Masque) was in full swing in the early
+    part of this reign. On the Spanish stage ballets, with allegorical
+    characters, were known in the sixteenth century; and, in fact,
+    throughout Europe about this age, and some time previously this
+    improvised form of Italian Comedy, and the several characters in it,
+    belonging to the family of Harlequin, had long been familiar subjects.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Returning to England after our little holiday, the Masque in the
+    fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had become very popular. The
+    architect, Inigo Jones, being frequently employed to furnish the
+    decorations with all the magnificence of his invention. At the Courts of
+    Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and up to the time when all plays were
+    totally suppressed, was it the rage. At the Restoration the Masque was
+    revived again, and here, borrowing the name from the continent, it is
+    called "Opera." In proof of this, in Dryden's work, "Albion and
+    Albanius," 1685, "Opera" is defined as a "poetical tale or picture
+    represented by vocal and instrumental music, and endowed with machines
+    and dances."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The dramatic poet and author, Ben Jonson, collaborated with Inigo Jones,
+    the architect, in devising these Masque plays, Jonson supplying the
+    words, and Jones the scenic effects, the latter being very gorgeous,
+    consisting of "landscapes, mountains, and clouds, which opened to
+    display heathen deities illuminated by variegated coloured lights." Over
+    these Masques or "Operatic" entertainments Jonson and Jones quarrelled,
+    as the former's grievance was that he received no more for his
+    librettos than Jones did for his scenic devices. Ben Jonson thereupon
+    wrote satires upon Inigo Jones, and in one of his squibs appears the
+    satirical line, "Painting and Carpentry are the Soul of Masque." Is not
+    this applicable to many of our present-day Pantomimes, which, as I have
+    just stated in the previous chapter, the Masque was one of the original
+    progenitors?
+</p>
+<p>
+    Inigo Jones and Jonson first collaborated in the "Masque of Blackness,"
+    performed at Whitehall on Twelfth Night, 1603. In our money this Masque
+    cost some £10,000. Jones and Jonson's quarrel originated because the
+    poet had, in the "Masque of Chloridia," performed in 1630, prefixed his
+    own name before that of Jones. In consequence of this "rare old Ben" was
+    deprived&mdash;through Jones' influence&mdash;of employment at Court.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Gifford, in his "Memoirs of Ben Jonson," says that "In poetry, painting,
+    architecture, they (the Masques) have not since been equalled."
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The Masque," continues Gifford, "as it attained its highest degree of
+    excellence, admitted of dialogue, singing and dancing; these were not
+    independent of one another, but combined by the introduction of some
+    ingenious fable into an harmonious whole. When the plan was formed, the
+    aid of the sister-arts was called in; for the essence of the Masque was
+    pomp and glory. Movable scenery of the most costly and splendid kind was
+    lavished on the Masque; the most celebrated masters were employed on
+    the songs and dances; and all that the kingdom afforded of vocal and
+    instrumental excellence was employed to embellish the exhibition. Thus,
+    magnificently constructed, was composed, as Lord Bacon says, for
+    princes, and by princes it was played. Of these Masques, the skill with
+    which their ornaments were designed, and the inexpressible grace with
+    which they were executed appear to have left a vivid impression on the
+    mind of Jonson. His genius awakens at once, and all his faculties attune
+    to sprightliness and pleasure. He makes his appearance like his own
+    Delight, accompanied with Grace, Love, Harmony, Revel, Sport, and
+    Laughter."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the Masques the Pantomimic dances of the Masquers were known as
+    motions:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "In curious knot and mazes so
+    The Spring at first was taught to go;
+    And Zephyr, when he came to woo
+    His Flora had his <i>motions</i> too;
+    And thus did Venus learn to lead
+    The Idalian brawls, and so to tread,
+    As if the wind, not she did walk,
+    Nor press'd a flower, nor bow'd a stalk."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Before the arrival of the Italian Masque in England, the Harlequin
+    family were unknown, and, doubtless, Harlequin's first appearance in
+    this country was in consonance with the Masque itself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Heywood, in a tract, published in 1609, entitled, "<i>Troia Britannica</i>,"
+    mentions "Zanyes, Pantaloons, Harlakeans, in which the French, but
+    especially the Italians, have been excellent as known in this country."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The earliest record I can find of a Harlequin performing in this country
+    is in the Masque given before Charles I. and his Court on the Sunday
+    evening following Twelfth Night, 1637. An account of this Masque, as
+    well as other information dealing with the Masque entertainments, will
+    be found in my volume, "Stage Whispers," and in the article on
+    theatrical scenery.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a comedy, written by Ravenscroft, after the Italian manner, Joe
+    Haines, in 1667, donned the motley jacket of Harlequin, and which, in
+    all probability, was the first appearance of Harlequin on the English
+    boards, though not in England, as stated above. In a farce of the
+    audacious Mrs. Aphra Behn's, produced twenty years afterwards, Harlequin
+    and Scaramouch were two of the characters. Mrs. Behn died April 16,
+    1689, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. To Marlowe's
+    "Faustus," Mountfort added comic scenes to the tragedy, introducing
+    Harlequin and Scaramouch. A Harlequin, Pantaloon, Columbine, and Clown
+    appeared in a curious piece in 1697, entitled, "Novelty; or Every Act a
+    Play." The first act consisted of a pastoral Drama, the second of a
+    Comedy, the third a Masque, the fourth a Tragedy, and the fifth act a
+    Farce.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In Italy the fame of Harlequin was at its zenith at the close of the
+    seventeenth century. In this country in 1687 a Harlequin (Penkethman)
+    appeared in a farce called "The Emperor of the Moon" without a mask.
+    Colley Cibber says of this performance "That when he (Penkethman) first
+    played Harlequin in 'The Emperor of the Moon' several gentlemen (who
+    inadvertently judged by the rules of nature) fancied that a great deal
+    of the drollery, and spirit of his grimace was lost by his wearing that
+    useless, unmeaning mask, therefore insisted that the next time of his
+    acting that part he should play without it. Their desire was accordingly
+    complied with, but alas! in vain&mdash;Penkethman was no more Harlequin. His
+    humour was quite disconcerted."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In "The Tempest," Shakespeare introduces a Masque, and also in his
+    "Midsummer Nights' Dream," the play of "Pyramus and Thisbe," performed
+    by the Clowns, is in burlesque of the Masque plays.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In both these two plays of the bard's, and in connection with the Masque
+    plays, we see, from the stage directions in them, how Pantomime formed
+    part of their effective representation.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In out heroding-herod in the way of splendour, showy dresses and
+    expensive machinery, the Masque soon fell into decay; and, as Ben Jonson
+    states, "The glory of all these solemnities had perished like a blaze,
+    and gone out in the beholder's eyes; so short-lived are the bodies of
+    all things in comparison with their souls."
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XI.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Italian Pantomime&mdash;Riccoboni&mdash;Broom's "Antipodes"&mdash;Gherardi&mdash;Extemporal
+    Comedies&mdash;Salvator Rosa&mdash;Impromptu Acting.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    Pantomime in Italy had two distinct features, one a species of
+    buffoonery, termed <i>Lazzi</i>, and the other Extemporal or Improvised
+    Comedies.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "<i>Lazzi</i>," mentions Riccoboni, in his "<i>Histoire du Theâtre Italien</i>,"
+    is a term corrupted from the old Tuscan <i>Lacci</i>, which signifies a knot,
+    or something that connects. (Both the <i>Lazzi</i> and the Extemporal
+    Comedies were all derived from the one original source, that of the
+    Satirical drama of the Greeks, and perpetuated in the <i>Fabulae
+    Atellanae</i> or <i>Laudi Osci</i> of Italy.)
+</p>
+<p>
+    Riccoboni continues: "These pleasantries, called <i>Lazzi</i>, are certain
+    actions by which the performer breaks into the scene, to paint to the
+    eye his emotions of panic or jocularity; but as such gestures are
+    foreign to the business going on, the nicety of the art consists in not
+    interrupting the scene, and connecting the <i>Lazzi</i> with it; thus to tie
+    the whole together."
+</p>
+<p>
+    <i>Lazzi</i> is what we might term "bye play," which, by gesture and action,
+    could not detract, but rather added to the effectiveness of the scene in
+    progress.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In Broom's "Antipodes," which was performed at the Salisbury Court
+    Theatre, London, in 1638, a <i>by-play</i>, as he calls it, is represented in
+    this comedy&mdash;"A word (explains Malone) for the application of which we
+    are indebted to this writer, there being no other term in our language
+    that I know of, which so properly expresses that species of Interlude
+    which we find in our poet's 'Hamlet,' and other pieces."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Riccoboni, in describing some <i>Lazzi</i>, says that Harlequin and Scapin
+    being in a famished condition, Scapin, in order to bring their young
+    mistress out, asks Harlequin to groan. Scapin explains to her the
+    reason, and while they are talking, Harlequin is performing his <i>Lazzi</i>.
+    This consists of eating an imaginary hatful of cherries, and throwing
+    the stones at Scapin; or catching imaginary flies, and chopping off
+    their wings.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "<i>Lazzi</i>," we are told, "although they seem to interrupt the progress of
+    the action, yet in cutting it they slide back into it, and connect or
+    tie the whole."
+</p>
+<p>
+    When Riccoboni and his company first appeared in France, though being
+    unable to speak nothing but Italian, their audiences, though not being
+    able to understand the <i>words</i>, yet the performers were such
+    past-masters in the Mimetic Art that their representations were just as
+    intelligible and as expressive as if they had been with words.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Gherardi, in his treatise, "<i>Theâtre Italien</i>," speaks of a Scaramouch,
+    who, waiting for his master, Harlequin, seats and plays on the guitar.
+    Suddenly, by Pasquariel, he is thrown into a fright. "It was then," says
+    Gherardi, "that incomparable model of our most eminent actors displayed
+    the miracles of his art; that art which paints the passions in the face,
+    throws them into every gesture, and through a whole scene of frights
+    upon frights, conveys the most powerful expression of ludicrous terror.
+    This man moved all hearts by the simplicity of nature, more than skilful
+    orators can with all the charms of persuasive rhetoric."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Extemporal Comedies were all improvised, the actors underwent no
+    rehearsal, and, as the name denotes, everything was impromptu. The
+    Scenario, or plot, had just simply the scenes and the characters set
+    forth, and it was then hung in a conspicuous place on the stage; and
+    just in a similar way as the gas or lime light "plots" are affixed in
+    present day theatres, though the Scenarios were not as elaborate as what
+    some of our gas or limelight "plots" are.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Before going on the stage, the Mimes just inspected the Scenario of the
+    <i>Comedia Del' Arte</i>, and for the dialogue and action everything depended
+    solely upon their Pantomimic genius.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Disraeli mentions that men of great genius had a passion for performing
+    in these Extemporal Comedies, and, amongst others, the great painter,
+    Salvator Rosa. A favourite character of Rosa's was that of Formica, a
+    Clown of Calabria. Passeri, in his life of Rosa, tells the following
+    anecdote:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    One summer, Salvator Rosa joined a company of young persons, who were
+    curiously addicted to the making of <i>Comedie all' Improviso</i>. In the
+    midst of a vineyard they raised a rustic stage, under the direction of
+    one Mussi, who enjoyed some literary reputation, particularly for his
+    sermons preached in Lent.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Their second Comedy was numerously attended, and I went among the rest.
+    I sat on the same bench by good fortune with Cavalier Bernini,
+    Romanelli, and Guido, all well-known persons. Salvator Rosa, who had
+    already made himself a favourite with the Roman people, under the
+    character of Formica, opened with a prologue in company with other
+    actors. He proposed for relieving themselves of the extreme heats and
+    <i>ennui</i> that they should make a Comedy, and all agreed. Formica (Rosa)
+    then spoke (in the satirical Venetian dialect) these exact words, which
+    Mr. Disraeli translates as follows:&mdash;"I will not, however, that we
+    should make a Comedy like certain persons who cut clothes, and put them
+    on this man's back, and on that man's back; for at last the time comes
+    which shows how much faster went the cut of the shears than the pen of
+    the poet; nor will we have entering on the scene, couriers, brandy
+    sellers, and goatherds, and there stare shy and blockish, which I think
+    worthy the senseless invention of an ass."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Passeri continues: "At this time Bernini had made a Comedy in the
+    Carnival very pungent and biting; and that summer he had one of
+    Castelli's performed in the suburbs, where, to represent the dawn of
+    day, appeared on the stage water-carriers, couriers, and goat-herds,
+    going about&mdash;all which is contrary to rule, which allows of no character
+    who is not concerned in the dialogue to mix with the groups. At these
+    words of the Formica, I, who well knew his meaning, instantly glanced my
+    eye at Bernini, to observe his movements; but he, with an artificial
+    carelessness, showed that this 'cut of the shears' did not touch him;
+    and he made no apparent show of being hurt. But Castelli, who was also
+    near, tossing his head and smiling in bitterness, showed clearly that he
+    was hit."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In concluding, Mr. Disraeli observes that: "This Italian story, told
+    with all the poignant relish of these vivacious natives, to whom such a
+    stinging incident was an important event, also shows the personal
+    freedoms taken on these occasions by a man of genius, entirely in the
+    spirit of the ancient Roman <i>Atellanae</i> or the Grecian <i>Satyra</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of Extemporal Comedies, Riccoboni mentions that: "This kind of spectacle
+    is peculiar to Italy; one cannot deny that it has graces perfectly its
+    own, and which <i>written Comedy can never exhibit</i>. This impromptu mode
+    of acting furnishes opportunities for a perpetual change in the
+    performance, so that the same Scenario repeated still appears a new one:
+    thus one Comedy may become twenty Comedies. <i>An actor of this
+    description, always supposing an actor of genius, is more vividly
+    affected than one who has coldly got his part by rote. But figure,
+    memory, voice, and even sensibility, are not sufficient for the actor
+    all' improvista; he must be in the habit of cultivating the imagination,
+    pouring forth the flow of expression, and prompt in those flashes which
+    instantly vibrate in the plaudits of an audience.</i>"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Again, Gherardi: "Anyone may learn a part by rote, and do something bad,
+    or indifferent, on another theatre. With us the affair is quite
+    otherwise; and when an Italian actor dies, it is with infinite
+    difficulty that we can supply his place. An Italian actor learns nothing
+    by head; he looks on the subject for a moment before he comes forward on
+    the stage, and entirely depends upon his imagination for the rest. The
+    actor who is accustomed merely to recite what he has been taught is so
+    completely occupied by his memory, that he appears to stand, as it were,
+    unconnected either with the audience or his companions; he is so
+    impatient to deliver himself of the burthen he is carrying that he
+    trembles like a schoolboy, or is as senseless as an echo, <i>and could
+    never speak if others had not spoken before</i>. Such a tutored actor among
+    us would be like a paralytic arm to a body: an unserviceable member,
+    only fatiguing the healthy action of the sound parts."
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XII.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Pantomimical Characters&mdash;Neapolitan Pantomime&mdash;The Harlequin Family&mdash;The
+    Original Characters in the Italian Pantomimes&mdash;Celebrated
+    Harlequins&mdash;Italian and French Harlequins&mdash;A French view of the English
+    Clown&mdash;Pierrots' origin&mdash;Pantaloon, how the name has been
+    derived&mdash;Columbine&mdash;Marionette and Puppet Shows.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    After having shown what the <i>Lazzi</i> and Extemporal Comedies were like,
+    let us now turn to the Pantomimical characters associated with their
+    representations.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Every one, observes Mr. Isaac Disraeli, of this grotesque family were
+    the creatures of national genius, chosen by the people for themselves.
+    Italy, both ancient and modern, exhibits a gesticulating people of
+    comedians, and the same comic genius characterised the nation through
+    all its revolutions, as well as the individual through all his fortunes.
+    The lower classes still betray their aptitude in that vivid humour,
+    where the action is suited to the word&mdash;silent gestures sometimes
+    expressing whole sentences. They can tell a story, and even raise the
+    passions, without opening their lips. No nation in modern Europe
+    possesses so keen a relish for the burlesque, insomuch as to show a
+    class of unrivalled poems, which are distinguished by the very title;
+    and perhaps there never was an Italian in a foreign country, however
+    deep in trouble, but would drop all remembrance of his sorrows, should
+    one of his countrymen present himself with the paraphernalia of Punch at
+    the corner of a street. I was acquainted with an Italian, a philosopher
+    and a man of fortune, residing in this country, who found so lively a
+    pleasure in performing Punchinello's little comedy, that, for this
+    purpose, with considerable expense and curiosity, he had his wooden
+    company, in all their costume, sent over from his native place. The
+    shrill squeak of the tin whistle had the same comic effect on him as the
+    notes of the <i>Ranz des Vaches</i> have in awakening the tenderness of
+    domestic emotions in the wandering Swiss&mdash;the national genius is
+    dramatic. Lady Wortley Montagu when she resided at a villa near Brescia,
+    was applied to by the villagers for leave to erect a theatre in her
+    saloon: they had been accustomed to turn the stables into a playhouse
+    every Carnival. She complied, and, as she tells us, was "Surprised at
+    the beauty of their scenes, though painted by a country painter. The
+    performance was yet more surprising, the actors being all peasants; but
+    the Italians have so natural a genius for comedy, they acted as well as
+    if they had been brought up to nothing else, particularly the Arlechino,
+    who far surpassed any of our English, though only the tailor of our
+    village, and I am assured never saw a play in any other place." Italy is
+    the mother, and the nurse, of the whole Harlequin race.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Hence it is that no scholars in Europe but the most learned Italians,
+    smit by the national genius, could have devoted their vigils to narrate
+    the evolutions of Pantomime, to compile the annals of Harlequin, to
+    unroll the genealogy of Punch, and to discover even the most secret
+    anecdotes of the obscurer branches of that grotesque family, amidst
+    their changeful fortunes, during a period of two thousand years. Nor is
+    this all; princes have ranked them among the Rosciuses; and Harlequins
+    and Scaramouches have been ennobled. Even Harlequins themselves have
+    written elaborate treatises on the almost insurmountable difficulties of
+    their art. I despair to convey the sympathy they have inspired me with
+    to my reader; but every <i>Tramontane</i> genius must be informed, that of
+    what he has never seen, he must rest content to be told.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of the ancient Italian troop we have retained three or four of the
+    characters, while their origin has nearly escaped our recollection; but
+    of the burlesque comedy, the extempore dialogue, the humorous fable, and
+    its peculiar species of comic acting, all has vanished.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Many of the popular pastimes of the Romans unquestionably survived their
+    dominion, for the people will amuse themselves, though their masters may
+    be conquered; and tradition has never proved more faithful than in
+    preserving popular sports. Many of the games of our children were played
+    by Roman boys; the mountebanks, with the dancers and tumblers on their
+    moveable stages, still in our fairs, are Roman; the disorders of the
+    <i>Bacchanalia</i>, Italy appears to imitate in her Carnivals. Among these
+    Roman diversions certain comic characters have been transmitted to us,
+    along with some of their characteristics, and their dresses. The
+    speaking Pantomimes and Extemporal Comedies which have delighted the
+    Italians for many centuries, are from this ancient source.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Rich, in his "Companion to the Latin Dictionary," has an excellent
+    illustration of this passage:&mdash;"This Art was of very great antiquity,
+    and much practiced by the Greeks and Romans, both on the stage and in
+    the tribune, induced by their habit of addressing large assemblies in
+    the open air, where it would have been impossible for the majority to
+    comprehend what was said without the assistance of some conventional
+    signs, which enabled the speaker to address himself to the eye, as well
+    as the ear of the audience. These were chiefly made by certain positions
+    of the hands and fingers, the meaning of which was universally
+    recognised and familiar to all classes, and the practice itself reduced
+    to a regular system, as it remains at the present time amongst the
+    populace of Naples, who will carry on a long conversation between
+    themselves by mere gesticulation, and without pronouncing a word." That
+    many of these signs are similar to those used by the Ancients, is proved
+    by the same author, who copies from an antique vase a scene which he
+    explains by the action of the hands of the figures, adding, "A common
+    lazzaroni, when shown one of these compositions, will at once explain
+    the purport of the action, which a scholar with all his learning cannot
+    divine." The gesture to signify love, employed by the Ancients and
+    modern Neapolitans, was joining the tips of the thumb and forefinger of
+    the left hand; an imputation or asseveration by holding forth the right
+    hand; a denial by raising the same hand, extending the fingers. In
+    mediaeval works of art, a particular attitude of the fingers is adopted
+    to exhibit malicious hate: it is done by crossing the forefinger of each
+    hand, and is generally seen in figures of Herod or Judas Iscariot.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Down to the fifteenth century there is not much known of the family of
+    Harlequin, with the exception, perhaps, that the name Zany became more
+    widely distributed into such as Drolls, Clowns, Pantaloons, Punches,
+    Scaramouches, and the like. In the Italian Comedy, of purely native
+    growth, the original characters were Pantaloon, a Venetian Merchant;
+    Dottore, a Bolognese physician; Spavento, a Neapolitan braggart;
+    Pulcinello, a wag of Apalia; Giangurgoto and Corviello, two Clowns of
+    Cala-simpleton; and Arlechino, a blundering servant of Bergamo.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The latter The Harlequin of the Italian theatre, has passed through,
+    mentions Mr. Disraeli, all the vicissitudes of fortune. At first (as we
+    have seen) he was a true representative of the ancient Mime; but, during
+    the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, he degenerated into a booby and
+    a gourmand, the perpetual butt for a sharp-witted fellow, his companion,
+    Brighella, the knife and the whetstone. Harlequin, however, under the
+    reforming hand of Goldoni, became, in after years, a child of nature,
+    and the delight of his country; and he has commemorated the historical
+    character of the great Harlequin Sacchi. It may serve the reader to
+    correct his notions of one, from the absurd pretender with us who has
+    usurped the title. "Sacchi possessed a lively and brilliant imagination.
+    While other Harlequins merely repeated themselves, Sacchi, who always
+    adhered to the essence of the play, contrived to give an air of
+    freshness to the piece by his new sallies and unexpected repartees. His
+    comic traits and his jests were neither taken from the language of the
+    lower orders, nor that of the comedians. He levied contributions on
+    comic authors, on poets, orators, and philosophers; and in his
+    impromptus they often discovered the thoughts of Seneca, Cicero, or
+    Montaigne. He possessed the art of appropriating the remains of these
+    great men to himself, and allying them to the simplicity of the
+    blockhead; so that the same proposition which was admired in a serious
+    author, became highly ridiculous in the mouth of this excellent actor."
+    In France Harlequin was improved into a wit, and even converted into a
+    moralist; he is the graceful hero of Florian's charming compositions,
+    which please even in the closet. "This imaginary being, invented by the
+    Italians, and adopted by the French," says the ingenious Goldoni, "has
+    the exclusive right of uniting <i>naiveté</i> with <i>finesse</i>, and no one ever
+    surpassed Florian in the delineation of this amphibious character. He
+    has even contrived to impart sentiment, passion, and morality to his
+    pieces." Harlequin must be modelled as a national character, the
+    creature of manners; and thus the history of such a Harlequin might be
+    that of the age and of the people, whose genius he ought to represent.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The history of a people is often detected in their popular amusements;
+    one of these Italian Pantomimic characters shows this. They had a
+    <i>Capitan</i>, who probably originated in the <i>Miles gloriosus</i> of Plautus;
+    a brother, at least, of our Ancient Pistol and Bobadil. The ludicrous
+    names of this military poltroon were Spavento (Horrid fright),
+    Spezza-fer (Shiver-spear), and a tremendous recreant was Captain
+    Spavento de Val inferno. When Charles V. entered Italy, a Spanish
+    Captain was introduced; a dreadful man he was too, if we are to be
+    frightened by names: Sangre e Fuego! and Matamoro! His business was to
+    deal in Spanish rhodomontades, to kick out the native Italian Capitan,
+    in compliment to the Spaniards, and then to take a quiet caning from
+    Harlequin, in compliment to themselves. When the Spaniards lost their
+    influence in Italy, the Spanish Captain was turned into Scaramouch, who
+    still wore the Spanish dress, and was perpetually in a panic. The
+    Italians could only avenge themselves on the Spaniards in Pantomime! On
+    the same principle the gown of Pantaloon over his red waistcoat and
+    breeches, commemorates a circumstance in Venetian history expressive of
+    the popular feeling.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The characters of the Italian Pantomime became so numerous, that every
+    dramatic subject was easily furnished with the necessary personages of
+    comedy. That loquacious pedant, the Dottore, was taken from the lawyers
+    and the physicians, babbling false Latin in the dialect of learned
+    Bologna. Scapin was a livery servant, who spoke the dialect of Bergamo,
+    a province proverbially abounding with rank intriguing knaves, who,
+    like the slaves in Plautus and Terence, were always on the watch to
+    further any wickedness; while Calabria furnished the booby Giangurgello
+    with his grotesque nose. Molière, it has been ascertained, discovered in
+    the Italian theatre at Paris his "<i>Medecin malgre Lui</i>," his
+    "<i>Etourdi</i>," his "<i>L'Avare</i>," and his "<i>Scapin</i>." Milan offered a pimp
+    in Brighella; Florence, an ape of fashion in Gelsomino. These and other
+    Pantomimic characters, and some ludicrous ones, as the Tartaglia, a
+    spectacled dotard, a stammerer, and usually in a passion, had been
+    gradually introduced by the inventive powers of an actor of genius, to
+    call forth his own peculiar talents.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Pantomimes, or, as they have been described, the continual
+    Masquerades, of Ruzzante, with all these diversified personages, talking
+    and acting, formed, in truth, a burlesque comedy. Some of the finest
+    geniuses of Italy became the votaries of Harlequin; and the Italian
+    Pantomime may be said to form a school of its own. The invention of
+    Ruzzante was one capable of perpetual novelty. Many of these actors have
+    been chronicled either for the invention of some comic character, or for
+    their true imitation of nature in performing some favourite one. One,
+    already immortalised by having lost his real name in that of Captain
+    Matamoros, by whose inimitable humours he became the most popular man in
+    Italy, invented the Neapolitan Pullicinello; while another, by deeper
+    study, added new graces to another burlesque rival. One Constantini
+    invented the character of Mezetin, as the Narcissus of Pantomime. He
+    acted without a mask, to charm by the beautiful play of his countenance,
+    and display the graces of his figure; the floating drapery of his
+    fanciful dress could be arranged by the changeable humour of the wearer.
+    Crowds followed him in the streets, and a King of Poland ennobled him.
+    The Wit and Harlequin Dominic sometimes dined at the table of Louis
+    XIV.&mdash;Tiberio Florillo, who invented the character of Scaramouch, had
+    been the amusing companion of the boyhood of Louis XIV.; and from him
+    Molière learnt much, as appears by the verses under his portrait:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    Cet illustre comédien
+    De son art traça la carrière:
+    II fut le maître de Molière,
+    Et la Nature fut le sien.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    The last lines of an epitaph on one of these Pantomimic actors may be
+    applied to many of them during their flourishing period:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    Toute sa vie il a fait rire;
+    Il a fait pleurer a sa mort.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Several of these admirable actors were literary men, who have written on
+    their art, and shown that it was one. The Harlequin Cecchini composed
+    the most ancient treatise on this subject, and was ennobled by the
+    Emperor Matthias; and Nicholas Barbieri, for his excellent acting called
+    the Beltrame, a Milanese simpleton, in his treatise on comedy, tells us
+    that he was honoured by the conversation of Louis XIII., and rewarded
+    with fortune.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A sketch of Harlequin's original part is worth recording. "He is a
+    mixture of wit, simplicity, ignorance, and grace, he is a half made up
+    man, a great child with gleams of reason and intelligence, and all his
+    mistakes and blunders have something arch about them. The true mode of
+    representing him is to give him suppleness, agility, the playfulness of
+    a kitten with a certain coarseness of exterior, which renders his
+    actions more absurd. His part is that of a faithful valet; greedy;
+    always in love; always in trouble, either on his own or his master's
+    account; afflicted and consoled as easily as a child, and whose grief is
+    as amusing as his joy."
+</p>
+<p>
+    His costume consisted of a jacket fastened in front with loose ribbons,
+    and pantaloons of wide dimensions, patched with various coloured pieces
+    of cloth sewn on in any fashion. His beard was worn straight, and of a
+    black colour; on his face he had a half black mask and in his belt of
+    untanned leather he carried a wooden sword.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In Italy there were many varieties of Harlequin, the most notable being
+    Trivelin, and Truffaldin. The dress of the former, instead of the
+    patches symmetrically arranged, had triangular patches along the seams,
+    and suns and moons only for patches. He wore the soft hat and hare's
+    foot, but did not carry the wooden sword. The hare's foot denoting
+    speed, has in all probability its origin in the winged cap of the god
+    Mercury.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Truffaldin is a species of Harlequin, who first appeared about 1530. He
+    represented (<i>truffa</i>, the villain) a sneaking kind of knave, and in the
+    middle of the seventeenth century this character was very popular.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In France, about 1660, Cardinal Mazarin invited one Joseph Dominique
+    Biancolelli, to come to Paris to give entertainments. Shortly after his
+    arrival Biancolelli gave quite a new reading to the character of
+    Arlechino, as he made him not only a wit and punster, but also a bit of
+    a philosopher. Biancolelli's improvements did not end here, as he turned
+    his attention to the dress of Arlechino, which was now made of finer and
+    better quality, whilst the parti-coloured patches were made more
+    artistic and attractive. On the death of Lolatelli, who, in his
+    lifetime, had played a kind of Arlechino part, Biancolelli succeeded
+    him, and soon sprang into prominence, and acquired a great artistic
+    reputation. Whilst dancing before Louis XV. Biancolelli contracted a
+    cold, which set up inflammation of the lungs, causing his death. His
+    companions, at the theatre in which he performed, to mark the sense of
+    their great grief, closed the theatre for a month. Biancolelli died in
+    1688.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As Arlechino, Biancolelli was succeeded by his son, Pierre, who played
+    under the name of Dominique.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A Tuscan, named Gherardi, who had obtained celebrity as a singer, was
+    the next successful French Harlequin. In consequence of a fall Gherardi
+    met his death, in the year 1700.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Nearly a couple of decades afterwards, in 1716, Thomassin made his
+    appearance as Harlequin, in pieces written for him by Marivaux, such as
+    "<i>Le Prince Travesti</i>," "<i>La Surprise de l'Amour</i>," and in which he
+    appeared with great success. So daring were Thomassin's tricks, and in
+    such popularity was he held, that, fearful of losing their favourite
+    like Gherardi, he was obliged to discontinue them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Another competitor now arose to take the crown from Thomassin, and in
+    the person of one Carlo Bertinazzi, commonly called Carlin. Our actor,
+    Garrick, was an admirer of this famous Mime. Of Carlin, M. Sand
+    speaks:&mdash;"Like most clever buffoons, he had a very melancholy
+    disposition, and, as with Dominique, his gaiety was what the English
+    term humour. It belonged to his mind, and not to his temperament."
+    Carlin also wrote a book entitled, "<i>Les Metamorphosis d'Arlequin</i>." In
+    1783 Carlin died, and his place in the favour of the public was filled
+    by Galinetti.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The French view of the English Clown is interesting: "The English clown
+    (whose nearest representative on the French stage is Pierrot) is an odd
+    and fantastical being. The Florentine Stentorella alone resembles him in
+    his jests and tricks. His strange dress seems to have been taken from
+    the American Indians. It consists of a white, red, yellow, and green net
+    work, ornamented with diamond-shaped pieces of stuff of various colours.
+    His face is floured, and streaked with paint a deep carmine; the
+    forehead is prolonged to the top of the head, which is covered with a
+    red wig, from the centre of which a little stiff tail points to the sky.
+    His manners are no less singular than his costume. He is not dumb, like
+    our Pierrot, but, on the contrary, he sustains an animated and witty
+    conversation; he is also an acrobat, and very expert in feats of
+    strength."
+</p>
+<p>
+    M. Blandelaire gives a more poetical description: "The English Pierrot
+    is not a person as pale as the moon, mysterious as silent, straight and
+    long, like the gallows to whom we have been accustomed in Deburean. The
+    English Pierrot enters like the tempest, and tumbles like a parcel; his
+    laugh resembles joyous thunder. He is short and fat; his face is floured
+    and streaked with paint; he has a great patch of red on each cheek; his
+    mouth is enlarged by prolongation of the lips by means of two red bands,
+    so that when he laughs his mouth appears to open from ear to ear."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Pierrots&mdash;not only in France, but on the Continent generally&mdash;took
+    all the characteristics of the Zanys, Bertoldo, Paggliaccio, Gros,
+    Giullaume, Pedrolino, Gilles, Corviello, and Peppe Nappa, of the Italian
+    Comedy, and all owing at least their original conception to the theatres
+    of the Greeks, and the Romans. On the Italian stage there was not a
+    principal Clown like in England, the foremost place being occupied by
+    Arlechino. The four principal masked characters of the Italian <i>Comedia
+    del' Arte</i> in Venice consisted of Tartaglia (a stammerer), Truffildino,
+    Brighella (a representative of orators and public personages), and
+    Pantaloon (a native of Venice). The name of Pantaloon is derived from
+    <i>planta-leone</i> (<i>plante-lion</i>&mdash;he planted the lion). The probable
+    meaning of it in this particular is that the Venetian merchants, it is
+    said, in boasting of their conquests set up their standard&mdash;the Venetian
+    standard being the lion of St. Mark&mdash;on various islands in the
+    Mediterranean, and from which they were nicknamed, it is said, "plant
+    lion." A more probable derivation of the word is that the ancient patron
+    saint of Venice is San Pantaleone. St. Pantaleone's day is July 27. He
+    was martyred A.D. 303. In "Childe Harold," Lord Byron, in Canto IV.,
+    stanza 14, has that "The Venetian name of Pantaleone is her very
+    by-word."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pantaloon has been, at various times, husband, father, and widower.
+    Sometimes he is rich, then poor, and occasionally a spendthrift. The
+    dress that he wore consisted of tight red breeches, rather short, a long
+    black robe, red stockings and waistcoat, a little woollen skull-cap and
+    slippers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When the Venetian republic lost Negropont mourning generally was
+    adopted, and Pantaloon adopted it with the rest, and on the Continent
+    mourning has, I believe, formed a component part of Pantaloon's dress
+    ever since.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In 1750 Darbes, in Italy, was one of the best Pantaloons. Darbes, on
+    one occasion, ventured to play this character in one of Goldoni
+    characters, without a mask, and which, we are told, was a failure. A
+    similar attempt was made on the English stage, which I have previously
+    referred to.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mention has been previously made of females appearing on the stage
+    during the Grecian and Roman periods. From this, however, there arose on
+    the Italian stage, in after years, the <i>Servetta</i> or <i>Fantesca</i>, a kind
+    of waiting maid, or "accomplished companion" part, and called later, in
+    France, <i>Soubrette</i>, and the origin of which, in all probability, can be
+    traced to the <i>Mimas</i> of <i>Pantomimus</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the sixteenth century mention is made of a troupe of performers known
+    as <i>Amorosos</i> or <i>Innamortos</i>, appearing in Italy. Those who only
+    appeared in the female parts were known as Colombina, Oliva, Fianetta,
+    Pasquella, and Nespella. Columbina's part, the "accomplished companion,"
+    like the <i>Vita</i> of the Indian Drama, was sometimes that of mistress, and
+    sometimes that of maid. Up to 1560 women were unknown on the Italian
+    stage. In England just one hundred years later.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Three generations of the family of Biancolelli, the Harlequin,
+    grandmother, grand-daughter, and great grand-daughter appeared as
+    Columbines in France. The most talented was Catherine, the daughter of
+    Dominique, and she made her <i>debut</i> in 1683, in "<i>Arlequin Protée</i>,"
+    with great success.
+</p>
+<p>
+    About 1695, Columbine appeared in a parti-coloured gown like a female
+    Harlequin, and in the piece "<i>Le Retour de la foie de Besons</i>," acted at
+    the Comedie Italiene. As the innovation was much liked, the part of
+    Columbine came to be dressed like the Harlequin. The Columbine dressed
+    in short muslin skirts is a creation of modern times. In the French
+    Comedies Columbine was often Harlequin's wife, but she never had the
+    powers of a magical wand.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the old form of Pantomime there were many other personages in these
+    dumb shows which we never had in the English Pantomimes. To note a few
+    of them:&mdash;The Captain, a bragging swash-buckler; the Apothecary, a
+    half-starved individual with a red nose; and a female <i>soubrette</i>, who
+    acted for her mistress, Columbine, similar duties as what Clown
+    performed as valet for his master. The Doctor brought at first on the
+    stage in 1560, was supposed to be a lawyer or a physician. From 1560 his
+    dress was that of a professor's, a short, black tunic, stockings, and a
+    black mask covering the forehead and nose. Another, Façanappa, had a
+    long parrot nose, surmounted by a pair of green spectacles, a flat hat,
+    with a broad brim, a waistcoat covered with tinsel, and a long white
+    coat with large pockets. Like the Clown of our early English plays, and
+    like his ancestors, the <i>Atellans</i> and <i>Mimes</i>, he had the privilege of
+    making allusions from the stage, in what, I suppose, were something like
+    the Interludes. Il Barone is another variety. He was a Sicilian lord,
+    deceived by his daughter, and also duped by his valets. "<i>Il Barone</i>"
+    was a favourite subject for another form of "Miming," that of the
+    wooden figures called Marionettes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Marionette entertainments were known both to the Greeks and the Romans.
+    The adventures of "<i>Don Juan</i>" and "<i>Don Giovanni</i>," of the Italian
+    Opera, in all probability sprang originally from the adventures of Punch
+    in the puppet shows.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Puppet shows introduced into France (<i>temp.</i> Charles IX.) from Italy,
+    where they were and are still known as <i>Fantoccini</i>, by Marion&mdash;hence
+    their name&mdash;and then into this country, are mentioned by Shakespeare,
+    Pepys, Jonson, Swift, and the Essayists.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Puppet shows, in this country, were formerly known as "Motions."
+    Shakespeare's Antolycus frequented fairs and the like, and he also
+    composed a "Motion" of "The Prodigal Son." Mystery plays were also
+    represented by puppets.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In England, especially at Bartholomew Fair, they were always very
+    popular, and the chief survivor of this form of "dumb show" is "Mr.
+    Punch" of our streets, whose ancient history I have briefly mentioned in
+    another chapter, but not that of "Mrs. Punch," on whose history I am
+    unable&mdash;however so brief&mdash;to throw any light.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Let us now, dear reader, return to England, and trace in this country
+    something more of the History of Pantomime, and for which we will now
+    open another chapter.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIII.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Italian Scenarios and English "Platts"&mdash;Pantaloon&mdash;Tarleton, the
+    Clown&mdash;Extemporal Comedy&mdash;The Poet Milton&mdash;Ben Jonson&mdash;The
+    Commonwealth&mdash;"A Reign of Dramatic Terror"&mdash;Robert Cox and his "Humours"
+    and "Drolleries"&mdash;The Restoration.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    It has been thought that our dramatic poet, Massinger, drew upon the
+    Italian Comedy for the humour of some of his plays. That there was some
+    form of intercourse between the English and Italian stage is shown by
+    the discovery of one of the Italian Scenarios, or "Platts," as we know
+    them, at Dulwich College, which discovery Steevens describes as "a
+    mysterious fragment of ancient stage direction, and of a species of
+    dramatic entertainment which no memorial is preserved in any annals of
+    the English stage." The "Platt," written in a large hand, "And
+    containing directions, was thought to have been affixed near the
+    prompter's stand, and it has even an oblong hole in its centre to admit
+    of being suspended on a wooden peg (Disraeli). On it, and in a familiar
+    way, appear the names of the players, such as: Pigg, White and Black,
+    Dick and Sam, Little Will Barne, Jack Gregory, and the Red-faced
+    fellow."
+</p>
+<p>
+    A "Platt" of the "Seven Deadly Sinnes," supposed to have been written by
+    Dick Tarleton, the famous Clown, is preserved, I believe, in Dulwich
+    College. It consists of a pasteboard fifteen inches high, and nine in
+    breadth, and on it is written, in two columns, the following:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    "A tent being placed on the stage for Henry the Sixth; he in it asleep.
+    To him the lieutenant, and a pursuivant (R. Cowley, Jo. Duke), and one
+    warder (R. Pallant). To them Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, and Covetousness at
+    one door; at another door Envy, Sloth, and Lechery. The three put back
+    the four, and so <i>exeunt</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Henry awaking, enter a keeper (J. Sinclair), to him a servant (T. Belt),
+    to him Lidgate and the keeper. <i>Exit</i>, then enter again&mdash;then Envy
+    passeth over the stage. Lidgate speaks."
+</p>
+<p>
+    These "Platts" were, in all probability, one of the first written forms
+    of Pantomimic entertainments known in England, and borrowed, as
+    mentioned, from the Scenarios of the Italians. That form of home
+    amusement well-known in family circles, "Acting Charades," may be
+    likened to them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To get all the information that we can obtain of the "Platts," I am sure
+    I cannot do better than quote the words of Mr. Isaac Disraeli, well
+    assured that they will be more acceptable than any I can make.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Some of these "Platts" are on solemn subjects, like the tragic
+    Pantomimes; and in some appear "Pantaloon, and his man Peascod, with
+    <i>spectacles</i>." Steevens observes, that he met with no earlier example of
+    the appearance of Pantaloon, as a specific character on our stage; and
+    that this direction concerning "the spectacles" cannot fail to remind
+    the reader of a celebrated passage in "As you like it." (Scene 6, Act
+    II.).
+</p>
+<pre>                ... "The sixth age shifts
+    Into the lean and slippered pantaloon;
+    With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
+    His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide
+    For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
+    Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
+    And whistles in his sound."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Perhaps, he adds, Shakespeare alludes to this personage, as habited in
+    his own time. The old age of Pantaloon is marked by his leanness, and
+    his spectacles and his slippers. He always runs after Harlequin, but
+    cannot catch him; as he runs in slippers and without spectacles, is
+    liable to pass him by without seeing him. Can we doubt that this
+    Pantaloon had come from the Italian theatre, after what we have already
+    said? Does not this confirm the conjecture, that there existed an
+    intercourse between the Italian theatre and our own? Further, Tarleton,
+    the comedian, celebrated for his "Extemporal wit," was the writer or
+    inventor of one of these "Platts." Stow records of one of our actors
+    that "he had a quick, delicate, refined <i>Extemporal wit</i>." And Howes,
+    the continuator of Stow's Chronicles of another, that "he had a
+    wondrous, plentiful, pleasant, <i>Extemporal</i> wit."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Praiseworthy reference is also made of Tarleton in "Kinde-Hart's
+    Dream," 4to., published in 1592. In 1611 a book was published entitled
+    "Tarleton's Jeasts." Tarleton was so celebrated in his time that his
+    portrait was hung out as a sign for alehouses. "To sit with Tarleton on
+    an ale-post's signe," observes Bishop Hall in his satires. Oldys, in his
+    M.S. notes, mentions that "There is an alehouse sign of a tabor and pipe
+    man, with the name of Tarleton under it, in the borough of Southwark,
+    and it was taken from the print before the old 4to. book of 'Tarleton's
+    Jeasts;' and Lord Oxford had a portrait of him with his tabor and pipe,
+    which was probably taken from the pamphlet called 'Tarleton's Jeasts,'
+    on the title page of which there is a wooden plate of Tarleton, at full
+    length in his Clown's dress, playing on his pipe with one hand, and
+    beating his drum with the other."
+</p>
+<p>
+    These actors then (continues Mr. Disraeli), who were in the habit of
+    exercising their impromptus, resembled those who performed in the
+    unwritten comedies of the Italians. Gabriel Harvey, the Aristarchus of
+    the day, compliments Tarleton for having brought forward a <i>new species
+    of dramatic exhibition</i>. If this compliment paid to Tarleton merely
+    alludes to his dexterity at <i>extemporaneous wit</i> in the character of the
+    <i>Clown</i>, as my friend Mr. Douce thinks, this would be sufficient to show
+    that he was attempting to introduce on our stage the Extemporal Comedy
+    of the Italians, which Gabriel Harvey distinguishes as "a new species."
+    As for these "Platts," which I shall not venture to call "Scenarios,"
+    they surprise by their bareness, conveying no notion of the piece
+    itself, though quite sufficient for the actors. They consist of mere
+    exits and entrances of the actors, and often the real names of the
+    actors are familiarly mixed with those of the <i>dramatis personae</i>.
+    Steevens has justly observed, however, on these skeletons, that although
+    "The drift of these dramatic pieces cannot be collected from the mere
+    outlines before us, yet we must not charge them with absurdity. Even the
+    scenes of Shakespeare would have worn as unpromising an aspect, had
+    their skeletons only been discovered." The printed <i>Scenarios</i> of the
+    Italian theatre were not more intelligible; exhibiting only the <i>hints</i>
+    for scenes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Thus, I think, we have sufficient evidence of an intercourse subsisting
+    between the English and Italian theatres, not hitherto suspected; and I
+    find an allusion to these Italian Pantomimes, by the great town-wit Tom
+    Nash, in his "Pierce Pennilesse," which shows that he was well
+    acquainted with their nature. He, indeed, exults over them, observing
+    that our plays are "honourable and full of gallant resolution, not
+    consisting, like theirs, of Pantaloon, a Zany, and a w&mdash;-e (alluding to
+    the women actors of the Italian stage); but of emperors, kings, and
+    princes." My conviction is still confirmed, when I find that Stephen
+    Gosson wrote the comedy of "Captain Mario;" it has not been printed, but
+    "Captain Mario" is one of the Italian characters.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Even at a later period, the influence of these performances reached the
+    greatest name in the English Parnassus. One of the great actors and
+    authors of these pieces, who published eighteen of these irregular
+    productions, was Andreini, whose name must have the honour of being
+    associated with Milton's, for it was his comedy or opera which threw the
+    first spark of the "Paradise Lost" into the soul of the epic poet&mdash;a
+    circumstance which will hardly be questioned by those who have examined
+    the different schemes and allegorical personages of the first projected
+    drama of "Paradise Lost": nor was Andreini, as well as many others of
+    this race of Italian dramatists, inferior poets. The Adamo of Andreini
+    was a personage sufficiently original and poetical to serve as the model
+    of the Adam of Milton. The youthful English poet, at its representation,
+    carried it away in his mind. Wit, indeed, is a great traveller; and thus
+    also the "Empiric" of Massinger might have reached us from the Bolognese
+    Dottore.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The late Mr. Hole, the ingenious writer on the "Arabian Nights,"
+    observed to me that Molière, it must be presumed, never read Fletcher's
+    plays, yet his "<i>Bourgeois Gentilhomme</i>," and the other's "Noble
+    Gentleman," bear in some instances a great resemblance. Both may have
+    been drawn from the same Italian source of comedy which I have here
+    indicated.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Many years after this article was written, appeared "The History of
+    English Dramatic Poetry," by Mr. Collier. That very laborious
+    investigator has an article on "Extemporal Plays and Plots," iii., 393.
+    The nature of these "Platts" or "Plots," he observes, "Our theatrical
+    antiquaries have not explained." The truth is that they never suspected
+    their origin in the Italian "Scenarios." My conjectures are amply
+    confirmed by Mr. Collier's notices of the intercourse of our players
+    with the Italian actors. Whetstone's Heptameron, in 1582, mentions "The
+    comedians of Ravenna, who are not <i>tied to any written device</i>." In
+    Kyd's Spanish Tragedy the Extemporal Art is described:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    The Italian tragedians were so sharp of wit,
+    That in one hour of meditation
+    They would perform anything in action.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    These Extemporal plays were witnessed much nearer than in Italy&mdash;at the
+    <i>Theâtre des Italiens</i> at Paris&mdash;for one of the characters replies:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    I have seen the like,
+    In Paris, among the French tragedians.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Ben Jonson has mentioned the Italian "Extemporal Plays," in his "Case is
+    Altered"; and an Italian <i>commediante</i> and his company were in London in
+    1578, who probably let our players into many a secret.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Evil times, with the advent of the Commonwealth, soon fell upon our
+    theatres, and when they, as well as plays, were suppressed by order of
+    the Puritan Parliament, some of the actors followed the Royalist cause
+    (we do not hear of any taking the side of the Parliament), and lost
+    their lives fighting for the king. Others attempted to enact plays in
+    secret, but these performances more often than not, caused the actors
+    incarceration in some prison. At Holland House, in Kensington, many of
+    these secret performances, by the aid of bribery, took place. To give
+    timely warning of the performances Mr. Wright, in his "<i>Historia
+    Histronica</i>," mentions that "Alexander Goff, the woman-actor, was the
+    jackal to give notice of time and place to the lovers of the drama."
+</p>
+<p>
+    All this however, could not, and would not, keep the spirit of the drama
+    alive. The theatres were, we know, totally suppressed, "so there might
+    be no more plaies acted." Play-goers there were, as I have shown, but
+    they never knew when, in witnessing a performance, they might be seized
+    by the military, to be fined or imprisoned, or perhaps both. A more
+    lengthy reign of "Dramatic Terror" than what we had at this period,
+    would, in all probability, have left us little or no trace of the Drama
+    of this country. But a saviour was at hand, and that was Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pantomime, as previously stated, kept alive for ages, after the downfall
+    of the Roman Empire, the Dramatic Art, and during the Commonwealth of
+    this country, it practically did the same for us.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Owing to the exigences of the times, one Robert Cox, an actor of
+    considerable genius, after the fashion of the Extemporal Comedies of
+    Italy, invented a series of dramatic exhibitions at the Red Bull Theatre
+    (where the first English actress made her appearance December 8, 1660)
+    and elsewhere, under the guise of rope-dancing, a number of comic scenes
+    from Shakespeare, Shirley, Marston, Beaumont, and Fletcher, and others.
+    Cox's exhibitions, known as "Humours" or "Drolleries," were collected by
+    Marsh, and reprinted (1672) by Francis Kirkman, the author and
+    book-seller. This collection is entitled "The Wits, or Sport upon Sport,
+    in select pieces of Drollery, digested into scenes by way of dialogue.
+    Together with variety of Humours of several nations fitted for the
+    pleasure and content of all persons, either in Court, City, Country, or
+    Camp."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of these "Humours" Kirkman observes, "As meanly as you may now think of
+    these Drolls, they were then acted by the best comedians; and, I may
+    say, by some that then exceeded all now living; the incomparable Robert
+    Cox, who was not only the principal actor, but also the contriver and
+    author of most of these farces. How I have heard him cried up for his
+    John Swabber, and Simpleton the Smith; in which he being to appear with
+    a large piece of bread and butter, I have frequently known several of
+    the female spectators and auditors to long for it; and once that
+    well-known natural, Jack Adams of Clerkenwell, seeing him with bread and
+    butter on the stage, and knowing him, cried out, 'Cuz! Cuz! give me
+    some!' to the great pleasure of the audience. And so naturally did he
+    act the smith's part, that being at a fair in a country town, and that
+    farce being presented the only master-smith of the town came to him,
+    saying, 'Well, although your father speaks so ill of you, yet when the
+    fair is done, if you will come and work with me, I will give you twelve
+    pence a week more than I give any other journeyman.' Thus was he taken
+    for a smith bred, that was, indeed, as much of any trade."
+</p>
+<p>
+    With the death of the Lord Protector, Cromwell, "The merry rattle of
+    Monk's drums coming up the Gray's Inn Road, welcomed by thousands of
+    dusty spectators," the return of Charles II., 1660, and though Charles
+    was more a lover of the stage than of the drama, the theatre again
+    recovered its credit, and to vigorously flourish once more.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIV.
+</h2>
+
+
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Introduction of Pantomimes to the English Stage&mdash;Weaver's "History of
+    the Mimes and Pantomimes"&mdash;Weaver's Pantomimes&mdash;The prejudice against
+    Pantomimes&mdash;Booth's counsel.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    The year 1702 marks the appearance of the first Pantomime introduced to
+    the English stage, written by John Weaver, a friend of Addison and
+    Steele's, and entitled "Tavern Bilkers." It was produced at Drury Lane.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The author was by profession a dancing-master; his name is not to be
+    found in any biographical dictionary, yet, it is evident that the
+    "little dapper, cheerful man" had brains in his head as well as talent
+    in his heels.
+</p>
+<p>
+    John Weaver was the son of a Mr. Weaver, whom the Duke of Ormond, the
+    Chancellor of Oxford, licensed in 1676 to exercise the profession of a
+    dancing-master within the university. The date of his birth is unknown,
+    but we first hear of him as stage-managing the production of his own
+    Pantomime at Drury Lane, 1702, an entertainment which he described as
+    one of "dancing, action, and motion." The latter would appear to have
+    been a failure, as in his "History of the Mimes and Pantomimes,"
+    published in 1728, Weaver states that his next attempt on similar lines
+    did not take place until many years afterwards&mdash;not until the year 1716,
+    in fact. In 1716 Weaver was back in London producing two burlesque
+    Pantomimes, "The Loves of Mars and Venus," and "Perseus and Andromeda."
+    At Drury Lane, in the following year, "Orpheus and Eurydice," and
+    "Harlequin Turn'd Judge," was produced, and "Cupid and Bacchus" in 1719.
+    Weaver also wrote many treatises on dancing, some of which were highly
+    commended by Steele.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Another Pantomime of Weaver's was "The Judgment of Paris"&mdash;date
+    uncertain&mdash;performed by the author's pupils "in the great room over the
+    Market-house," Shrewsbury&mdash;in which town he had taken up his
+    residence&mdash;in the year 1750. John Weaver died September 28th, 1760, and
+    was buried at St. Chads, Shrewsbury.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The mention above of "Perseus and Andromeda" calls to mind that there
+    were several pieces of this name. One of them was severely commented on
+    in "The Grub-Street Journal" of April 8, 1731. Its title was:&mdash;"Perseus
+    and Andromeda; or the Flying Lovers, in five Interludes, three serious
+    and two comic. The serious composed by Monsieur Roger, the comic by John
+    Weaver, dancing-masters."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is only just to assign to Weaver the entire credit of being the first
+    to introduce Pantomimes on the English stage, though the author's
+    original bent was "scenical dancing," or ballet dancing, by
+    representations of historical incidents with graceful motion. In his
+    "History of Pantomimes" the author is careful to distinguish between
+    those entertainments where "Grin and grimace usurp the passions and
+    affections of the mind," and those where "A nice address and management
+    of the passions take up the thoughts of the performer." "Spectators,"
+    says Weaver, in 1730, or thereabouts, "are now so pandering away their
+    applause on interpolations of pseudo-players, merry Andrews, tumblers,
+    and rope dancers; and are but rarely touched with, or encourage a
+    natural player or just Pantomime."
+</p>
+<p>
+    It was, however, left to John Rich to place Pantomime on a firm footing.
+    Before dealing with Rich and his Pantomimes, which I shall treat of in
+    the next chapter, it is appropriate here to note how Pantomimes
+    generally came to be introduced on the English stage.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Colley Cibber mentions:&mdash;About this time the patentee (Rich) having very
+    near finished his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, began to think of
+    forming a new company; and, in the meantime, found it necessary to apply
+    for leave to employ them. By the weak defence he had always made against
+    the several attacks upon his interests, and former Government of the
+    theatre (Drury Lane), it might be a question, if his house had been
+    ready, in the Queen's (Anne) time, whether he would then have had the
+    spirit to ask, or interest enough to obtain leave to use it; but in the
+    following reign, as it did not appear he had done anything to forfeit
+    the right of his patent, he prevailed with Mr. Craggs, the younger, to
+    lay his case before the king, which he did in so effectual a manner that
+    (as Mr. Craggs himself told me) his Majesty was pleased to say upon it,
+    "That he remembered when he had been in England before, in King
+    Charles's time, there had been two theatres in London; and as the patent
+    seemed to be a lawful grant, he saw no reason why two play-houses might
+    not be continued."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The suspension of the patent being thus taken off, the younger multitude
+    seemed to call aloud for two play-houses! Many desired another, from the
+    common notion, that two would always create emulation, in the actors.
+    Others too were as eager for them, from the natural ill-will that
+    follows the fortunate or prosperous in any undertaking. Of this low
+    malevolence we had, now and then, remarkable instances; we had been
+    forced to dismiss an audience of a hundred and fifty pounds, from a
+    disturbance spirited up, by obscure people, who never gave any better
+    reason for it than that it was their fancy to support the idle complaint
+    of one rival actress against another, in their several pretensions to
+    the chief part in a new tragedy. But as this tumult seemed only to be
+    the wantonness of English liberty, I shall not presume to lay any
+    further censure upon it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now, notwithstanding this public desire of re-establishing two houses;
+    and though I have allowed the former actors greatly our superiors; and
+    the managers I am speaking of not to have been without their private
+    errors, yet under all these disadvantages, it is certain, the stage, for
+    twenty years before this time, had never been in so flourishing a
+    condition.
+</p>
+<p>
+    But, in what I have said, I would not be understood to be an advocate
+    for two play-houses; for we shall soon find that two sets of actors,
+    tolerated in the same place, have constantly ended in the corruption of
+    the theatre; of which the auxiliary entertainments, that have so
+    barbarously supplied the defects of weak action, have, for some years
+    past, been a flagrant instance; it may not, therefore, be here improper
+    to shew how our childish Pantomimes first came to take so gross a
+    possession of the stage.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I have upon several occasions, already observed, that when one company
+    is too hard for another, the lower in reputation has always been forced
+    to exhibit fine newfangled foppery, to draw the multitude after them; of
+    these expedients, singing and dancing had formerly been most effectual;
+    but, at the time I am speaking of, our English music had been so
+    discountenanced since the taste of Italian Operas prevailed, that it was
+    to no purpose to pretend to it. Dancing, therefore, was now the only
+    weight, in the opposite scale, and as the new theatre sometimes found
+    their account in it, it could not be safe for us wholly to neglect it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Cibber's antagonistical views towards Pantomime were shared, as we
+    shall see, by a good many others.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Booth, however, a greater actor than Cibber, and a tragedian to boot,
+    took a more business-like view of the proceedings, thinking thin houses
+    the greatest indignity the stage could suffer. "Men of taste and
+    judgment (said he) must necessarily form but a small proportion of the
+    spectators at a theatre, and if a greater number of people were enticed
+    to sit out a play because a Pantomime was tacked to it, the Pantomime
+    did good service to all concerned. Besides, if people of position and
+    taste could, if so minded, leave before the nonsense commenced&mdash;an
+    opportunity they do not seem to have embraced since Booth reminded the
+    opponents of Pantomime how Italian opera had drawn the nobility and
+    gentry away from the play-houses, as appeared by the melancholy
+    testimony of their receipts, until Pantomime came to the rescue when pit
+    and gallery were better filled, and the boxes too put on a nobler
+    appearance."
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XV.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    John Rich and his Pantomimes&mdash;Rich's Miming&mdash;-Garrick, Walpole,
+    Foote&mdash;Anecdotes of Rich&mdash;Pope&mdash;The dance of infernals in "Harlequin
+    Sorcerer"&mdash;Drury Lane&mdash;Colley Cibber&mdash;Henry Fielding, the
+    Novelist&mdash;Contemporary Writers' opinion of Pantomime&mdash;Woodward, the
+    Harlequin&mdash;The meaning of the word Actor&mdash;Harlequins&mdash;"Dr. Faustus," a
+    description&mdash;William Rufus Chetwood&mdash;Accidents&mdash;Vandermere, the
+    Harlequin&mdash;"Orpheus and Eurydice" at Covent Garden&mdash;A description&mdash;Sam.
+    Hoole, the machinist&mdash;Prejudice against Pantomime&mdash;Mrs. Oldfield&mdash;Robert
+    Wilks&mdash;Macklin&mdash;Riot at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre&mdash;Death of Rich.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    It was in 1717 that Rich devised this new form of entertainment, though
+    it was not till 1724, when "The Necromancer, or History of Dr. Faustus"
+    was produced by Rich, which took the town by storm, that Pantomime
+    became such a rage. It has been stated that what induced Rich to turn
+    his attention to Pantomime was the bringing over of a German, named
+    Swartz, who had two performing dogs that could dance. They were engaged
+    at £10 a night; and brought full houses. However, be this as it may, in
+    the "Daily Courant," of December 20, 1717, we find him, advertising for
+    his "Italian Mimic Scenes"&mdash;as he, for long enough, so termed his
+    Pantomimes&mdash;as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>      "Harlequin Executed: a new Italian Mimic Scene between a
+      Scaramouch, a Harlequin, a Country Farmer, his Wife, and
+      others."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Of Rich and his early Pantomimes, Davies observes:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    John Rich was the son of Christopher Rich, formerly patentee of Drury
+    Lane Theatre, and he imbibed from his father a <i>dislike of people with
+    whom he was obliged to live and converse</i>. His father wished to acquire
+    wealth by French dancers and Italian singers, than by the united skill
+    of the most accomplished comedians. The son inherited the same taste,
+    and when he came into the patent, with his brother Christopher, of Drury
+    Lane, and after having ineffectually tried his talent for acting in the
+    part of the Earl of Essex, and other important characters, he applied
+    himself to the study of Pantomimical representations at Lincoln's Inn
+    Fields Theatre. To retrieve the credit of his theatre Rich created a
+    species of dramatic composition unknown to this, and, I believe, to any
+    other country, which he called Pantomime. It consisted of two parts, one
+    serious, the other comic; by the help of gay scenes, fine habits, grand
+    dances, appropriate music, and other decorations, he exhibited a story
+    from "Ovid's Metamorphosis," or some other fabulous history. Between the
+    pauses of the acts he interwove a comic fable, consisting chiefly of the
+    courtship of Harlequin and Columbine, with a variety of surprising
+    adventures and tricks, which were produced by the magic wand of
+    Harlequin; such as the sudden transformation of palaces and temples to
+    huts and cottages; of men and women into wheelbarrows and joint stools;
+    of trees turned to houses; colonnades to beds of tulips; and mechanics'
+    hops into serpents and ostriches.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is a most remarkable fact that the Pantomimes that Rich brought out,
+    all of them could be written down as successes. In the exhibition of his
+    Pantomimes, Mr. Rich always displayed the greatest taste. He had also
+    acquired a considerable reputation as a performer of the motley hero
+    under the name of "Lun Junr," as he was so designated on the bills at
+    that time, and he was the first performer who rendered the character of
+    Harlequin at all intelligible in this country. To others he taught the
+    art of silent, but expressive, action, the interpreter of the mind.
+    Feeling was pre-eminent in his Miming; and he used to render the scene
+    of a separation with Columbine as graphic as it was affecting. Excellent
+    were his "statue scenes" and his "catching the butterfly;" so also were
+    his other dumb show performances.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of Rich, Garrick wrote:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "When Lun appeared with matchless art and whim,
+    He gave the power of speech to every limb;
+    Though masked and mute conveyed his quick intent,
+    And told in frolic's gestures all he meant."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Rich, however, erred in thinking himself a better actor than a
+    Pantomimist; and, in fact, he thought himself a finer actor than the
+    great Garrick himself. "You should see <i>me</i> play Richard!" was a
+    favourite cry of his.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In 1782, after seeing the Pantomime of "Robinson Crusoe," Walpole said,
+    "How unlike the Pantomimes of Rich, which were full of wit, and
+    coherent, and carried on by a story."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As I have shown above, Rich had, like many other people, his own
+    particular little idiosyncrasies, and when in the season 1746-7 he
+    netted nearly £9,000 from his Pantomimes, to the chagrin of Garrick and
+    Quin, he was very angry and much annoyed because he, as Harlequin, had
+    contributed little or nothing. Another mannerism of his was to despise
+    the regular drama on these occasions, and he has been known to look at
+    the packed audience through a small hole in the curtain, and then
+    ejaculate, "Ah! you are there, you fools, are you? Much good may it do
+    you!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Rich used to address everyone as "Mister." On one occasion Foote, being
+    incensed at being so addressed, asked Rich why he did not call him by
+    his name. "Don't be angry," says Rich, "I sometimes forget my own name."
+    "I know," replied Foote, "that you can't write your own name, but I
+    wonder you should forget it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The first of Rich's successes was "Harlequin Sorcerer." On its
+    production Pope wrote:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "Behold a sober sorcerer rise
+    Swift to whose wand a winged volume flies;
+    All sudden, gorgon's hiss and dragon's glare,
+    And ten horned fiends and giants rush to war.
+    Hell rises, heaven descends, and dance on earth,
+    Gods, imps and monsters, music, rage and mirth,
+    A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball,
+    Till one wide conflagration swallows all;
+    Thence a new world to nature's laws unknown,
+    Breaks out refulgent with a heaven its own;
+    Another Cynthia her new journey runs,
+    And other planets circle after suns.
+    The forests dance, the rivers upwards rise,
+    Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies;
+    At last, to give the whole creation grace,
+    Lo! one vast egg produces human race."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Of Harlequin, in "Harlequin Sorcerer," being hatched from an egg by the
+    rays of the sun. This has been called a master-piece of Rich's Miming
+    "From the first chipping of the egg (says Jackson) his receiving of
+    motion, his feeling of the ground, his standing upright, to his quick
+    Harlequin trip round the empty shell, through the whole progression,
+    every limb had its tongue, and every motion a voice."
+</p>
+<p>
+    As probably occurring in "Harlequin Sorcerer," there is an amusing
+    incident. The belief in the possibility of a supernatural appearance on
+    the stage existed (says an old writer) about the beginning of the
+    eighteenth century. A dance of infernals having to be exhibited, they
+    were represented in dresses of black and red, with fiery eyes and snaky
+    locks, and garnished with every pendage of horror. They were twelve in
+    number. In the middle of their performance, while intent upon the figure
+    in which they had been completely practised, an actor of some humour,
+    who had been accommodated with a spare dress, appeared among them. He
+    was, if possible, more terrific than the rest, and seemed to the
+    beholders as designed by the conductor for the principal fiend. His
+    fellow furies took the alarm; they knew he did not belong to them, and
+    they judged him an infernal in earnest. Their fears were excited, a
+    general panic ensued, and the whole group fled different ways; some to
+    their dressing-rooms, and others, through the streets, to their own
+    homes, in order to avoid the destruction which they believed to be
+    coming upon them, for the profane mockery they had been guilty of. The
+    odd devil was <i>non inventus</i>. He took himself invisibly away, through
+    fears of another kind. He was, however, seen by many, in imagination, to
+    fly through the roof of the house, and they fancied themselves almost
+    suffocated by the stench he had left behind. The confusion of the
+    audience is scarcely to be described. They retired to their families,
+    informing them of this supposed appearance of the devil, with many of
+    his additional frolics in the exploit. So thoroughly was its reality
+    believed that every official assurance which could be made the following
+    day did not entirely counteract the idea. The explanation was given by
+    Rich himself, in the presence of his friend Bencraft, the contriver, and
+    perhaps the actor of the scheme, which he designed only as an innocent
+    affair, to confuse the dancers, without adverting to the serious
+    consequences which succeeded.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I have met with another author, who, in giving an account of this
+    transaction, places it as a much earlier period, and says it was during
+    the performance of "Dr. Faustus," and that when the devil took flight he
+    carried away with him the roof of the theatre. This story may be
+    alluded to in a very curious work, entitled, "The Blacke Booke" (a
+    proper depository), "London, printed in black letter, by T.C. for
+    Jeffery Chorlton, 1604." "The light burning serjant Lucifer" says of
+    one, running away through fear of fire at a brothel, "Hee had a head of
+    hayre like one of my divells in 'Doctor Faustus,' when the olde theatre
+    crakt and frighted the audience."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Emulating Rich, Drury Lane then followed with "Mars and Venus," of which
+    Colley Cibber says: Was formed into something more than motion without
+    meaning into a connected presentation of dances in character, wherein
+    the passions were so happily expressed, and the whole story so
+    intelligibly told by a mute narration of gesture only, that even
+    thinking spectators allowed it to be both a pleasing and a rational
+    entertainment; though, at the same time, from our distrust of its
+    reception we durst not venture to decorate it with any extraordinary
+    expense of scenes or habits; but upon the success of this attempt it was
+    rightly concluded that if a visible expense in both were added to
+    something of the same nature, it could not fail of drawing the town
+    proportionately after it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    From this original hint there (but every way unequal to it) sprang forth
+    that succession of monstrous medlies, that have so long infested the
+    stage, and which arose upon one another alternately, at both houses,
+    outvying in expense, like contending bribes on both sides at an
+    election, to secure a majority of the multitude.
+</p>
+<p>
+    If I am asked (after condemning these fooleries myself) how I came to
+    assent or continue my share of expense to them? I have no better excuse
+    for my error, than confessing it. I did it against my conscience, and
+    had not virtue enough to starve by opposing a multitude that would have
+    been too hard for me.
+</p>
+<p>
+    ("The Drama's laws the Drama's patrons give," has always been an axiom
+    of the stage; and worthy Colley Cibber, notwithstanding his antagonism,
+    and the rivalry of Rich, had too good a knowledge of this truism not to
+    do otherwise but follow the popular voice.)
+</p>
+<p>
+    Notwithstanding then (Cibber continues) this, our compliance with the
+    vulgar taste, we generally made use of these Pantomimes, but as crutches
+    to our weakest plays. Nor were we so lost to all sense of what was
+    valuable, as to dishonor our best authors in such bad company. We still
+    had a due respect to several select plays, that were able to be their
+    own support; and in which we found constant account, without painting
+    and patching them out.... It is a reproach to a sensible people to let
+    folly so quickly govern their pleasures.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Henry Fielding, the novelist, was one of Harlequin's assailants. "The
+    comic part of the English Pantomimes," he says, "being duller than
+    anything before shown on the stage could only be set off by the
+    superlative dulness of the serious portion, in which the gods and
+    goddesses were so insufferably tedious, that Harlequin was always a
+    relief from still worse company." Eager for theatrical reform, the
+    "Weekly Miscellany" of 1732, said that plays were not intended for
+    tradesmen, and denounced Pantomimes as infamous.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Another competitor, who entered the lists against Rich, was Thormond, a
+    dancing-master, and at Drury Lane Theatre he produced "Dr. Faustus," in
+    1733. Speaking of this Pantomime, Pasquin mentions that "An account is
+    very honestly published, to save people the trouble of going to see it."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a Pantomime produced at Drury Lane in the following year, there were
+    Macklin, Theo. Cibber (who ultimately lost his life by shipwreck in the
+    Irish Sea, in company with a troupe of Pantomimists), Mrs. Clive, and
+    Mrs. Cibber. At the performance it was announced that the money paid
+    would be returned to anyone who went out before the overture; but no one
+    availed themselves of the concession. Commenting on the occurrence, a
+    contemporary writer observes:&mdash;"Happy is it that we live in an age of
+    taste, when the dumb eloquence and natural wit and humour of Harlequin
+    are justly preferred to the whining of Tragedy, or the vulgarity of
+    Comedy."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Garrick, at Drury Lane, finding his audience with no heart for tragedy,
+    and that they must have Pantomime, very wisely said, "If you won't come
+    to 'Lear' and 'Hamlet,' I must give you Harlequin." And Harlequin he
+    did give them, in the person of Woodward, one of the best of Harlequins
+    that ever trod the stage. A contemporary print of the time, represents
+    Woodward being weighed in one scale, with all the great actors of the
+    day in the other, and Woodward makes them all kick the beam.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To satirise the prevailing fashion, Garrick penned the following:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    They in the drama find no joys,
+    But doat on mimicry and toys;
+    Thus, when a dance is on my bill,
+    Nobility my boxes fill;
+    Or send three days before the time
+    To crowd a new-made Pantomime.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Garrick's success, however, was, I am of opinion, undoubtedly owing to
+    his being such a clever Pantomimist. "We saw him," says Grimm, "play the
+    dagger scene in 'Macbeth' in a room in his ordinary dress, without any
+    stage illusion; and, as he followed with his eyes the air-drawn dagger,
+    he became so grand that the assembly broke into a cry of general
+    admiration. Who would believe that this same man, a moment after,
+    counterfeited, with equal perfection, a pastry cook's boy, who, carrying
+    a tray of tartlets on his head, and gaping about him at the corner of
+    the street, lets his tray fall, and, at first stupified by the accident,
+    bursts at last into a fit of crying?"
+</p>
+<p>
+    All our great actors have been good Mimics, and herein, doubtless, lies
+    the secret of their success. The mere intonation of words unaccompanied
+    by a strict knowledge of "that dumb, silent language," Pantomime, is
+    only <i>parroting</i>. Herein, therefore, lies the true imitativeness of the
+    actor, and <i>the natural form of acting</i>. The word actor "Is a name only
+    given to the persons in a dramatic work, <i>because they ought to be in
+    continual action during the performance of it</i>." It does not mean that
+    the actor is to stand still, and to be in action only with his tongue
+    when speaking his "lines." No! he bears the honoured name of actor, and
+    he should bring the full power of gesture language&mdash;Pantomime&mdash;that he
+    has at his control into play in order to be convincing in the character
+    that, for the time being, he is.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Action (mentions Betterton, in his "History of the English Stage,"
+    1741), can never be in its perfection but on the stage. Action, indeed,
+    has a natural excellence in it superior to all other qualities; action
+    is motion, and motion is the support of nature, which without it would
+    sink into the sluggish mass of chaos. Life is motion, and when that
+    ceases, the human body so beautiful, nay so divine, when enlivened by
+    motion, becomes a dead and putrid corpse, from which all turn their
+    eyes. The eye is caught by anything in motion, but passes over the
+    sluggish and motionless things as not the pleasing object of its view.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The natural power of motion, or action, is the reason that the
+    attention of the audience is fixed by any irregular, or even fantastic
+    action, on the stage, of the most indifferent player; and supine and
+    drowsy when the best actor speaks without the addition of action. The
+    stage ought to be the seat of passion in its various kinds, and,
+    therefore, the actors ought to be thoroughly acquainted with the whole
+    nature of the affections, and habits of the mind, or else they will
+    never be able to express them justly in their looks and gestures, as
+    well as in the tone of their voice and manner of utterance. They must
+    know them in their various mixtures, as they are differently blended
+    together in the different characters they represent; and then that
+    excellent rule in the "Essay on Poetry" will be of equal use to the poet
+    and player:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    Who must look within to find
+    These <i>secret</i> turns of Nature in the mind;
+    Without this part in vain would be the whole,
+    And but a <i>body</i> all without a soul?
+</pre>
+<p>
+    A few words more just to lay further stress on the importance of
+    Pantomime, and then to return to our History. Take any part in any play,
+    strip from it in its enactment the whole of its gesture language, could
+    we realise that the actor appearing in it was portraying nature for us?
+    Replace the Pantomime so essential to the part, and the character
+    becomes&mdash;or rather should become if properly played&mdash;a creature of flesh
+    and blood the same as ourselves. Pantomime, on the other hand, does not
+    require words to be spoken to express its meaning, as it is quite
+    expressible without.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A contemporary account of the production of the Pantomime "Harlequin Dr.
+    Faustus," at Drury Lane Theatre, forms interesting reading, in addition
+    to providing a contrast with present-day Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Every action is executed to different agreeable music, so adapted that
+    it properly expresses what is going forward; in the machinery there is
+    something so highly surprising that words cannot give a full idea of it.
+    The effects described seem to be marvellous, considering the state of
+    theatrical mechanism. A devil riding on a fiery dragon rides swiftly
+    across the stage. Two country men and women enter to be told their
+    fortunes, when Dr. Faustus waves his wand, and four pictures turn out of
+    the scenes opposite, representing a judge and a soldier, a dressed lady,
+    and a lady in riding habit; the scene changes to the outside of a
+    handsome house, when the louting men, running in, place their backs
+    against the door. The front of the house turns, and at the same instant
+    the machine turns, a supper ready dressed rises up. The countrymen's
+    wives remain with the Doctor, who (afterwards) goes out. He beckons the
+    table, and it follows him. Punch, Scaramouch, and Pierrot are next met
+    by the Doctor, who invites them into a banquet. The table ascends into
+    the air. He waves his wand, and asses' ears appear at the sides of their
+    heads. A usurer lending money to Dr. Faustus demands a limb as
+    security, and cuts off the Doctor's leg, several legs appear on the
+    scene, and the Doctor strikes a woman's leg with his wand, which
+    immediately flies from the rest, and fixes to the Doctor's stump, who
+    dances with it ridiculously. The next scene opens, disclosing the
+    Doctor's study. He enters affrighted, and the clock strikes one; the
+    figures of Time and Death appear. Several devils enter and tear him in
+    pieces, some sink, some fly out, each bearing a limb of him. The last,
+    which is the grand scene, is the most magnificent that ever appeared on
+    the English stage&mdash;all the gods and goddesses discovered with the
+    apotheosis of Diana, ascending into the air.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The tricks that formed part and parcel of the Pantomimes, in causing
+    surprise and wonderment, placed Harlequin, for his extraordinary feats,
+    in the first rank of magicians. Oftentimes, however, they were the cause
+    of many accidents.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Chetwood&mdash;William Rufus Chetwood&mdash;who had, in the eighteenth century, a
+    bookseller's shop in Covent Garden, and was, for twenty years, prompter
+    for Drury Lane, a writer of four plays, and a volume of sketches of the
+    actors whom he had met, says:&mdash;"A tumbler at the Haymarket beat the
+    breath out of his body by an accident, and which raised such vociferous
+    applause that lasted the poor man's life, for he never breathed more.
+    Indeed, his wife had this comfort, when the truth was known, pity
+    succeeded to the roar of applause. Another accident occurred in the
+    Pantomime of 'Dr. Faustus' (previously referred to), at Lincoln's Inn
+    Fields Theatre, where a machine in the working threw the mock Pierrot
+    down headlong with such force that the poor man broke a plank on the
+    stage with his fall, and expired; another was sorely maimed that he did
+    not survive many days; and a third, one of the softer sex, broke her
+    thigh."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Vandermere, the Harlequin, one of the most agile that ever trod the
+    stage, on one occasion, in the pursuit by the Clown, leaped through a
+    window on to the stage, a full thirteen feet. Performing at the Dublin
+    theatre one night, having a prodigious leap to make, the persons behind
+    the scenes not being ready to receive him in the customary blanket, he
+    fell upon the stage and was badly bruised. This accident occasioned him
+    to take a solemn oath that he would never take another leap upon the
+    stage; nor did he violate his oath, for when he afterwards played
+    Harlequin another actor of his size, and of considerable activity was
+    equipped with the parti-coloured habit, and when a leap was necessary
+    Vandermere passed off on one side of the stage as Dawson&mdash;Vandermere's
+    understudy&mdash;entered at the other, and undertook it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    How little do we know of the tragic ending of these poor unhappy
+    Pantomimists' lives. Their names even have not been handed down to us,
+    and they, like probably many more with whose quips and quiddities we
+    have laughed at with infinite zest, have long since gone "to that bourne
+    from whence no traveller returns," and perhaps, "unwept, unhonoured, and
+    unsung."
+</p>
+<p>
+    On February 12, 1739, Rich produced, at Covent Garden (opened in
+    December 1732, with Congreve's "Way of the World"), "Orpheus and
+    Eurydice." On the mounting something like £2,000 were spent.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Rich devised the scenario and comic scenes. Lewis Theobald wrote the
+    libretto, and George Lambert&mdash;founder of the Beefsteak Club&mdash;painted the
+    scenery. Hippisley played Clown, Manager Rich was the Harlequin, and
+    Signor Grimaldi, father of the celebrated Mime, to be noted further on,
+    was the Pantaloon. This is the first instance of a member of the
+    Grimaldi family (says Mr. W.J. Lawrence) appearing in English Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The following was the argument and the curious arrangement of the
+    scenes:&mdash;Interlude I.&mdash;Rhodope, Queen of Thrace, practising art magic,
+    makes love to Orpheus. He rejects her love. She is enraged. A serpent
+    appears who receives Rhodope's commands, and these ended, glides off the
+    stage. Here the comic part begins. In the Opera (as practically it was)
+    a scene takes place between Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice's heel is
+    pierced by the serpent, behind the scenes. She dies on the stage&mdash;after
+    which the comic part is continued. Interlude II. Scene: Hell. Pluto and
+    Orpheus enter. Orpheus prevails on Pluto to restore Eurydice to him.
+    Ascalox tells Orpheus that Eurydice shall follow him, but that if he
+    should look back at her before they shall have passed the bounds of
+    Hell, she will die again. Orpheus turns back to look for Eurydice,
+    Fiends carry her away. After this the comic part is resumed. Interlude
+    III.&mdash;Orpheus again rejects Rhodope's solicitations. Departs. The scene
+    draws, and discovers Orpheus slain. Several Baccants enter in a
+    triumphant manner. They bring in the lyre and chaplet of Orpheus.
+    Rhodope stabs herself. The piece concludes with the remainder of the
+    comic part.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "'The Scots Magazine' for March, 1740, says:&mdash;'Orpheus and Eurydice'
+    draws the whole town to Covent Garden, whether for the Opera itself (the
+    words of which are miserable stuff) or for the Pantomimical Interlude,
+    with which it is intermixed, I cannot determine. The music is pretty
+    good, and the tricks are not foolisher than usual, and some have said
+    that they have more meaning than most that have preceded them. The
+    performance is grand as to the scenery. What pleases everybody is a
+    regular growth of trees, represented more like nature than what has yet
+    been seen upon the stage, and the representation of a serpent so lively
+    as to frighten half the ladies who see it. It is, indeed, curious in its
+    kind, being wholly a piece of machinery, that enters, performs its
+    exercise of head, body, and tail in a most surprising manner, and makes
+    behind the curtain with a velocity scarcely credible. It is about a foot
+    and a half in circumference of the thickest part, and far exceeds the
+    former custom of stuffing a bag into such likeness. It is believed to
+    have cost more than £200; and when the multitude of wings, springs,
+    etc., whereof it consists, are considered, the charge will not appear
+    extravagant. The whole Royal family have been to see this performance;
+    and, from what can be judged, everybody else will see it before the end
+    of the season, the house being every day full at 3 o'clock, though
+    seldom empty till after eleven."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Sam Hoole&mdash;father of the translator of Tasso and Ariosto&mdash;was Rich's
+    chief machinist at this period, and the inventor of this famous serpent.
+    He had, according to Cumberland, a shop where he sold mechanical toys.
+    Having a large stock of serpent toys left on his hands he became a
+    ruined and bankrupt man.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Orpheus and Eurydice" was revived by Rich in 1747, and again in 1755;
+    when it ran 31 nights. In 1768 it was reproduced by his successors at
+    Covent Garden. In October, 1787, it was again put in the bill, and this
+    time by Royal Command, it was said.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of the number of Pantomimes brought out by Rich I shall not dilate on,
+    and those that I have referred to will, doubtless, show what all these
+    "plays without words" were like.
+</p>
+<p>
+    During the summer season of 1761, at Drury Lane, Murphy and Foote
+    endeavoured
+</p>
+<pre>    "From Pantomime to free the stage
+    And combat all the ministers of the age,"
+</pre>
+<p>
+    by ridiculing the popular amusement in having the character of Harlequin
+    hung in full view of the audience in a play entitled "The Wishes." When
+    the catastrophe was at hand Murphy whispered to Cumberland: "If they
+    don't damn this, they deserve to be damned themselves!" No sooner were
+    the words uttered than a turbulent mob in the pit broke out, and quickly
+    put an end to the dire fatality with which Pantomime and its hero,
+    Harlequin, were threatened.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Christopher Rich gave the first engagement to the afterwards celebrated
+    actress, Mrs. Oldfield, and, previously, a similar kindness to Robert
+    Wilks, about the year 1690, at the salary of fifteen shillings a week,
+    with two shillings and sixpence deducted for teaching him to dance.
+    Another famous performer, Macklin, was also introduced to the stage by
+    this family.
+</p>
+<p>
+    At the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, in 1721, there was a memorable
+    riot, caused by some drunken aristocratic beaux, owing to an alleged
+    insult, which one of their number was supposed to have received. The
+    beau referred to, a noble Earl, had crossed the stage whilst Macbeth and
+    his lady were upon it, in order to speak to a companion who was lolling
+    in the wings. Rich told the noble Earl that for his indecorum he would
+    not be allowed behind the scenes again, which so incensed the latter
+    that he gave Manager Rich a smart slap on the face, which Rich returned.
+    Swords then were drawn, and between the actors and the beaux a free
+    fight ensued, which ended in the former driving the latter out of the
+    theatre. The rioters, however, again obtained access, and rushing into
+    the boxes, cut down the hangings, besides doing other damage, when, led
+    by Quin and a number of constables, several of the beaux were captured,
+    and taken before the magistrates. The end of it all was that the matter
+    was compromised; but, in order to prevent a recurrence of such
+    disorderly scenes, a guard should attend the performances. The custom of
+    having the military in attendance at our theatres&mdash;which the above
+    affray was the primary cause&mdash;was in vogue for over a hundred years
+    after this event.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Rich lived to see Pantomimes firmly established at Drury Lane and Covent
+    Garden. Drury Lane did, for a few years, discard it in favour of
+    spectacle, but ultimately found it advisable to return to Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    At the beginning of the 'sixties of the eighteenth century&mdash;1761&mdash;died
+    the father of Harlequins in England, and also&mdash;as he has been called&mdash;of
+    English Pantomimes, and there is, I believe, a costly tomb erected to
+    his memory in Hillingdon Church-yard, Middlesex.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Rich left Covent Garden Theatre to his son-in-law, Beard, the vocalist,
+    with the not unpleasant restriction, however, that the property should
+    be sold when £60,000 was bid for it, and for which sum it ultimately
+    passed into the hands of Harris, Colman, and their partners.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVI.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    Joseph Grimaldi.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    The year 1778 marks an epoch in the History of Pantomime, as just over
+    three-quarters of a century before marked another epoch, the
+    introduction of Pantomimes to the English stage. On December 18th, 1778,
+    was born Joseph Grimaldi&mdash;afterwards the Prince of Clowns, and the son
+    of Giuseppe Grimaldi ("Iron Legs"). Joe's first appearance was at
+    Sadler's Wells on April 16, Easter Monday, 1781, he not being quite
+    three years old. Dickens, in the "Memoirs of Grimaldi," has given us
+    from the Clown's own diary, which Grimaldi kept close up to the time of
+    his death, on May, 31st, 1837, a full and true account of the life of
+    this remarkably clever Pantomimist. To add to what Dickens has written
+    of "Only a Clown" (which doubtless the reader is already acquainted
+    with) would only be like painting the lily; and, perhaps, I cannot do
+    better in honouring his memory than by quoting the words of Mr. Harley
+    at the annual dinner of the Drury Lane Fund, spoken in the June
+    following Grimaldi's death:&mdash;"Yet, shall delicacy suffer no violence in
+    adducing one example, for death has hushed his cock-crowing cachination,
+    and uproarious merriment. The mortal Jupiter of practical Joke, the
+    Michael Angelo of buffoonery, who, if he was <i>Grim-all-day</i>, was sure to
+    make you chuckle at night."
+</p>
+<p>
+    A contemporary writer of Grimaldi's days thus eulogises the Prince of
+    Clowns:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    As a Clown, Mr. Grimaldi is perfectly unrivalled. Other performers of
+    the part may be droll in their generation; but, which of them can for a
+    moment compete with the Covent Garden hero in acute observation upon the
+    foibles and absurdities of society, and his happy talent of holding them
+    up to ridicule. He is the finest practical satyrist that ever existed.
+    He does not, like many Clowns, content himself with raising a
+    horse-laugh by contortions and grimaces, but tickles the fancy, and
+    excites the risibility of an audience by devices as varied as they are
+    ingenious. "He uses his folly as a stalking-horse, under cover of which
+    he shoots his wit;" and fully deserves the encomium bestowed upon him by
+    Kemble, who, it is said, pronounced him to be "the best low comedian
+    upon the stage."
+</p>
+<p>
+    There are few things, we think, more delightful than a Pantomime&mdash;that
+    is, a <i>good</i> Pantomime, such as is usually produced at Covent Garden. We
+    know there are a set of solemn pompous mortals about town, who express
+    much dignified horror at the absurdities of these things, and declaim
+    very fluently, in good set terms, upon the necessity of their abolition.
+    Such fellows as these are ever your dullest of blockheads. Conscious of
+    their lack of ideas, they think to earn the reputation of men of
+    sterling sense, by inveighing continually against what <i>they</i> deem to be
+    frivolity; while they only expose more clearly to all observers the sad
+    vacuum which exists in their <i>pericraniums</i>. Far, far from us be such
+    dullards, and such opinions; and let us continue to laugh heartily at
+    our Pantomimes, undisturbed by their tedious harangues; "Do they think,
+    because they are <i>wise</i>, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" The man
+    who refuses to smile at the humours of Grimaldi is made of bad
+    materials&mdash;<i>hic niger est</i>&mdash;let no such man be trusted!
+</p>
+<p>
+    Can there possibly be a more captivating sight than that which the
+    theatre presents nightly, of hundreds of beautiful children all happy
+    and laughing, "as if a master-spring constrained them all;" and filled
+    with delight, unalloyed and unbounded, at the performance of one man?
+    And shall that man go without his due meed of praise? Never be it said!
+    No, Joey! When we forget thee, may our right hand forget its cunning! We
+    owe thee much for the delight thou hast already afforded us; and rely
+    upon thee, with confident expectation, for many a future hour of gay
+    forgetfulness. Well do we remember, in our boyish dreams of bliss, how
+    prominent a feature thou didst stand amongst the anticipated enjoyments
+    of Christmas; how the thoughts of home, of kindred, and release from
+    school, were rendered ten-fold more delightful by the idea of thy motley
+    garb and mirth-inspiring voice, which ever formed the greatest enjoyment
+    our holidays afforded. Heaven be praised, we still are children in some
+    respects, for we still feel gladdened by thy gambols, as heartily as we
+    did years ago, when we made our periodical escape from the terrors of
+    our old pedagogue's frown, and went with Aunt Bridget ("Happier than
+    ourselves the while") to banquet upon the Pantomimic treat provided for
+    us. "All wisdom is folly," says the philosopher; but we often incline to
+    think the converse of the proposition correct, when we see thee put thy
+    antic disposition on, and set the audience in a roar by the magic of thy
+    powers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is thought by many persons that Grimaldi is seen to greater advantage
+    on the small stage of Sadler's Wells, than on the more capacious one of
+    Covent Garden; but, this is an opinion with which we cannot coincide. He
+    always appears to us more at his ease at the latter house; to come forth
+    exulting in his power, and exclaiming, "Ay, marry, here my soul hath
+    elbow-room." His engagement there has certainly been a lucrative
+    speculation for the proprietors. "Mother Goose," we believe, drew more
+    money than any other piece which has been produced during the present
+    century; and no Pantomime since brought forward at Covent Garden has
+    been unsuccessful; which is mainly to be attributed to his inimitable
+    performance of Clown. It is scarcely possible for language to do justice
+    to his unequalled powers of gesture and expression. Do our readers
+    recollect a Pantomime some years ago, in which he was introduced begging
+    a tart from a pieman? The simple expression, "May I?" with the look and
+    action which accompanied it, are impressed upon our recollection, as
+    forming one of the finest pieces of acting we ever witnessed. Indeed,
+    let the subject be what it may, it never fails to become highly amusing
+    in the hands of Grimaldi; whether it is to rob a pieman, or open an
+    oyster, imitate a chimney-sweep, or a dandy, grasp a red-hot poker, or
+    devour a pudding, take snuff, sneeze, make love, mimic a tragedian,
+    cheat his master, pick a pocket, beat a watchman, or nurse a child, it
+    is all performed in so admirably humorous and extravagantly natural a
+    manner, that spectators of the most saturnine disposition are
+    irresistibly moved to laughter.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Grimaldi also possesses great merit in Pantomimic performances of a
+    different character, which all are aware of, who have ever seen him in
+    the melodrama, called "Perouse," and other pieces of the same
+    description.
+</p>
+<p>
+    We cannot better terminate this article, than with a poetical tribute to
+    his powers, addressed to him by one of the authors of "Horace in
+    London," who appears to have had a true relish of his subject:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    Facetious Mime! thou enemy of gloom,
+      Grandson of Momus, blithe and debonair,
+    Who, aping Pan, with an inverted broom,
+      Can'st brush the cobwebs from the brows of care.
+
+    Our gallery gods immortalize thy song;
+      Thy Newgate thefts impart ecstatic pleasure;
+    Thou bid'st a Jew's harp charm a Christian throng,
+      A Gothic salt-box teem with attic treasure.
+
+    When Harlequin, entangled in thy clue,
+      By magic seeks to dissipate the strife,
+    Thy furtive fingers snatch his faulchion too;
+      The luckless wizard loses wand and wife.
+
+    The fabled egg from thee obtains its gold;
+      Thou sett'st the mind from critic bondage loose,
+    Where male and female cacklers, young and old,
+      Birds of a feather, hail the sacred Goose.
+
+    Even pious souls, from Bunyan's durance free,
+      At Sadler's Wells applaud thy agile wit,
+    Forget old Care while they remember thee,
+      "Laugh the heart's laugh," and haunt the jovial pit.
+
+    Long may'st thou guard the prize thy humour won,
+      Long hold thy court in Pantomimic state,
+    And, to the equipoise of English fun,
+      Exalt the lowly, and bring down the great.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    Again we are told "That his Pantomime was such that you could fancy he
+    would have been the Pulcinello of the Italians, the Harlequin of the
+    French, that he could have returned a smart repartee from Carlin. His
+    motions, eccentric as they were, were evidently not a mere lesson from
+    the gymnasium; there was a will and mind overflowing with, nay living
+    upon fun, real fun. He was so extravagantly natural, that the most
+    saturnine looker-on acknowledged his sway; and neither the wise, the
+    proud, or the fair, the young nor the old, were ashamed to laugh till
+    tears coursed down their cheeks at Joe and his comicalities."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Grimaldi used sometimes to play in two different Pantomimes at two
+    different theatres, when he would have to go through some twenty scenes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Unlike the painting of the face with a few patches adopted by the
+    modern Clown, Grimaldi used to give one the idea of a greedy boy, who
+    had covered himself with jam in robbing from a cupboard. Grimaldi
+    dressed the part like a Clown should be dressed. His trousers were large
+    and baggy, and were fastened to his jacket, and round his neck he wore a
+    schoolboy's frill&mdash;part of the dress, in all probability, borrowed from
+    the Spanish Captain and the French Pierrot.
+</p>
+<p>
+    At Drury Lane on Friday, June 27, 1828, he took his farewell benefit.
+    The following being the bill:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Grimaldi's Farewell Benefit,
+    On Friday, June 27th, 1828,
+    will be performed
+    JONATHAN IN ENGLAND,
+    after which
+    A MUSICAL MELANGE,
+    To be succeeded by
+    THE ADOPTED CHILD,
+    and concluded by
+    HARLEQUIN HOAX,
+    In which Mr. Grimaldi will act Clown in one scene,
+    sing a song, and speak his
+    FAREWELL ADDRESS.
+</p>
+<p>
+    With the reader's permisson, I will give, from his "Memoirs," the
+    address he spoke:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ladies and Gentlemen:&mdash;In putting off the Clown's garment, allow me to
+    drop also the Clown's taciturnity, and address you in a few parting
+    sentences. I entered early on this course of life, and leave it
+    prematurely. Eight-and-forty years only have passed over my head&mdash;but I
+    am going as fast down the hill of life as that older Joe&mdash;John Anderson.
+    Like vaulting ambition, I have overleaped myself, and pay the penalty in
+    an advanced old age. If I have now any aptitude for tumbling it is
+    through bodily infirmity, for I am worse on my feet than I used to be on
+    my head. It is four years since I jumped my last jump&mdash;filched my last
+    oyster&mdash;boiled my last sausage&mdash;and set in for retirement. Not quite so
+    well provided for, I must acknowledge, as in the days of my Clownship,
+    for then, I dare say, some of you remember, I used to have a fowl in one
+    pocket and sauce for it in the other.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "To-night has seen me assume the motley for a short time&mdash;it clung to my
+    skin as I took it off, and the old cap and bells rang mournfully as I
+    quitted them for ever.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "With the same respectful feelings as ever do I find myself in your
+    presence&mdash;in the presence of my last audience&mdash;this kindly assemblage so
+    happily contradicting the adage that a favourite has no friends. For the
+    benvolence that brought you hither&mdash;accept, ladies and gentlemen, my
+    warmest and most grateful thanks, and believe, that of one and all,
+    Joseph Grimaldi takes a double leave, with a farewell on his lips, and a
+    tear in his eyes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Farewell! That you and yours may ever enjoy that greatest earthly
+    good&mdash;health, is the sincere wish of your faithful and obliged servant.
+    God bless you all!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Poor Joe was buried in the burying-ground of St. James' Chapel, on
+    Pentonville Hill, and in a grave next to his friend, Charles Dibdin. May
+    the earth lie lightly over him!
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVII.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Plots of the old form of Pantomimes&mdash;A description of "Harlequin and the
+    Ogress; or the Sleeping Beauty of the Wood," produced at Covent
+    Garden&mdash;Grimaldi, <i>Père et Fils</i>&mdash;Tom Ellar, the Harlequin, and Barnes,
+    the Pantaloon&mdash;An account of the first production of the "House that
+    Jack built," at Covent Garden&mdash;Spectacular display&mdash;Antiquity and Origin
+    of some Pantomimic devices&mdash;Devoto, Angelo, and French, the Scenic
+    Artists&mdash;Transparencies&mdash;Beverley&mdash;Transformation Scenes.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    Of the plots of the old form of Pantomime and what these entertainments
+    were generally like, graphically, does Planché describe them.
+</p>
+<p>
+    How different (he says) were the Christmas Pantomimes of my younger
+    days. A pretty story&mdash;a nursery tale&mdash;dramatically told, in which "the
+    course of true love never did run smooth," formed the opening; the
+    characters being a cross-grained old father, with a pretty daughter, who
+    had two suitors&mdash;one a poor young fellow, whom she preferred, the other
+    a wealthy fop, whose pretensions were, of course, favoured by the
+    father. There was also a body servant of some sort in the old man's
+    establishment. At the moment when the young lady was about to be
+    forcibly married to the fop she despised, or, on the point of eloping
+    with the youth of her choice, the good fairy made her appearance, and,
+    changing the refractory pair into Harlequin and Columbine, the old
+    curmudgeon into Pantaloon, and the body servant into Clown: the two
+    latter in company with the rejected "lover," as he was called, commenced
+    the pursuit of the happy pair, and the "comic business" consisted of a
+    dozen or more cleverly constructed scenes, in which all the tricks and
+    changes had a meaning, and were introduced as contrivances to favour the
+    escape of Harlequin and Columbine, when too closely followed by their
+    enemies. There was as regular a plot as might be found in a melodrama.
+    An interest in the chase which increased the admiration of the ingenuity
+    and the enjoyment of the fun of the tricks, by which the runaways
+    escaped capture, till the inevitable "dark scene" came, a cavern or a
+    forest, in which they were overtaken, seized, and the magic wand, which
+    had so uniformly aided them, snatched from the grasp of the despairing
+    Harlequin, and flourished in triumph by the Clown. Again at the critical
+    moment the protecting fairy appeared, and, exacting the consent of the
+    father to the marriage of the devoted couple, transported the whole
+    party to what was really a grand last scene, which everybody did wait
+    for. There was some congruity, some dramatic construction, in such
+    Pantomimes; and then the acting. For it was acting, and first-rate
+    acting.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To give the reader a further insight into the old form of Christmas
+    Pantomimes, I cull the following from "The Drama," a contemporary
+    magazine of the period (1822):&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    In compliance with the long-established custom of gratifying the holiday
+    visitors of the theatres with Pantomimic representations at this season
+    of year, a new piece of that description was produced at this theatre
+    (Covent Garden) last night, December 26th, 1822, under the title of
+    "Harlequin and the Ogress; or the Sleeping Beauty of the Wood." The
+    introductory story is taken from the well-known tale of "The Sleeping
+    Beauty," in "Mother Bunch's Fairy Tales," which had before been
+    "melodramatised," but had not hitherto been taken for the groundwork of
+    a Harlequinade.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The piece opens in one of the fabled grand caverns under the Pyramids of
+    Egypt, in which the three fatal sisters of Mother Bunch's Mythology are
+    seen spinning and winding a ball of golden thread, the fastening of
+    which to the wrist of the Sleeping Beauty is intended to add another
+    century to the duration of her life, and of the power which the Ogress,
+    or Fairy, has exercised over her, and her possessions, for the preceding
+    hundred years. The ball having been completed, with the due quantum of
+    magic incantation in such cases prescribed, is consigned to the care of
+    Grim Gribber, the porter of the castle, with directions to attach it to
+    the wrist of the lady in the chamber of sleep, whither he accordingly
+    proceeds for that purpose; but overcome by the soporific influences of
+    the atmosphere of that enchanted place, he falls into a deep sleep ere
+    his task is accomplished. The Prince Azoff, with his Squire Abnab,
+    straying from a hunting party into the enchanted cedar grove, encounters
+    the Fairy Blue-bell, protector of the Sleeping Beauty, who imparts to
+    the Prince the story of her enchantment, furnishes him with a magic
+    flower to protect him from the influence of the Ogress, and instructs
+    him in the means of releasing the Beauty at the expiration of the term
+    of her first enchanted sleep, which is then drawing to a close. In the
+    amazement which seizes the Prince on finding himself in the chamber of
+    sleep, at the splendour of everything around him, and the sight of the
+    Sleeping Beauty with her surrounding train of attendants, whose
+    faculties are all enchained in the same preternatural slumber, he lets
+    fall the magic flower, and becomes thereby subject to the power of the
+    Ogress, from which he is, however, rescued on the instant by the
+    protecting interference of the Fairy Blue-bell. But in punishment of his
+    neglect, he is condemned to wander for a time in search of happiness
+    with the now-awakened Beauty, pursued by the relentless Ogress and her
+    servant, Grim Gribber. The whole of the persons engaged in the scene now
+    undergo the prescriptive Pantomimic changes, and the ordinary succession
+    of Harlequinade adventures, tricks, and transformations ensue.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Our old favourites, the Grimaldis, father and son, Mr. Ellar as
+    Harlequin, and Mr. Barnes as Pantaloon, were hailed, on their
+    appearance, with the warmth of greeting to which their excellence in
+    their several parts fully entitles them, and displayed their wonted
+    drollery, gracefulness, and agility: and Miss Brissak, who, for the
+    first time, appeared as Columbine, acquitted herself with tolerable
+    credit, and was very well received.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The scenery in general was marked with that characteristic beauty and
+    highly-finished excellence, which have long distinguished the
+    productions of this theatre: and the panoramic series of views of the
+    River Thames, from Greenwich to the Nore, on the passage of the Royal
+    flotilla for Scotland, and its arrival in Leith Roads, probably surpass
+    everything of the kind before exhibited. There are several diverting
+    tricks and ingenious changes. Grimaldi's equipment of a patent safety
+    coach at Brighton, in particular was highly amusing. The machinery,
+    which is, in many instances, of a most complicated description, worked
+    remarkably well for a first night's exhibition; and the whole went off
+    with a degree of <i>eclat</i>, which must have been exceedingly gratifying to
+    the managers, as auguring the probability of such a lengthened run for
+    the piece as may amply recompense the pains and expense which have been
+    so lavishly bestowed in its preparation. The house was filled in every
+    part, and the announcement of the Pantomime's repetition was received
+    with the most clamorous approbation, undisturbed by a single dissentient
+    voice.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The first production of "The House that Jack Built," at Covent Garden,
+    on December 26, 1824, also reads interestingly:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Pantomime is before us, and we should ill-repay the pleasure it
+    afforded us, if we did not acknowledge and make public its excellence.
+    The name implies the source from which it is taken, and we had,
+    therefore, the supreme pleasure of renewing our friendship with those
+    very old acquaintances, the "Priest all shaven and shorn, the maiden all
+    forlorn, the cow with the crumpled horn, the dog that worried the cat,
+    that killed the rat, that eat up the malt, that lay in the House that
+    Jack built." This, of course, gave us, as it appeared to do many others,
+    great pleasure, "For should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never
+    brought to mind." Mr. Farley, however, who supports (like an Atlas) all
+    the weight of bringing forward these annual pieces of fun and foolery,
+    and who appears to be as learned in the mystic lore of "hoary
+    antiquity," as he is in the mysteries of all the wonders of the tricks,
+    changes, and mechanism of the Pantomimic world, has let us this time
+    into a secret, which will doubtless cause much erudite argument, and
+    pros and cons from various sage antiquarians for months to come, in that
+    invaluable work of old Sylvanus Urban, 'yclept the "Gentlemen's
+    Magazine." As the play-bills on which this important piece of
+    information is to be found, will doubtless be bought up by all the
+    mystogogii of the Metropolis, and shortly become scarce, we shall take
+    the liberty of inserting it in our imperishable pages, for the benefit,
+    not only of posterity, but for those of our own day, who are infected
+    with the building mania, and who, we think, ought to make Mr. Farley
+    some very valuable present to mark their sense of the obligation they
+    are under to him, in consequence of the benefit which must accrue to
+    them from it. It appears from this fragment in what manner Jack became
+    possessed of his house, and which it never before occurred to us, to
+    enquire. Thus then the mystery is elucidated by Mr. Farley.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Jack's Wager;
+</p>
+<p>
+    "By virtue of one of our forest charters, if a man do build a dwelling
+    upon common land, from sun-set to sun-rise, and enclose a piece of
+    ground, wherein there shall be a tree growing, a beast feeding, a fire
+    kindled, and provision in the pot, such dwelling shall be freely held by
+    the builder, anything to the contrary, nevertheless, notwithstanding."
+    Forest Laws.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Accordingly Jack, in the opening scene, is represented just before
+    nightfall, as completing his dwelling, by putting on the chimney pot as
+    the finishing stroke; he then claims his bride, Rosebud, from her
+    father, Gaffer Gandy, who refuses his consent, having determined on
+    bestowing her hand on one Squire Sap. Jack, in despair, repairs to Poor
+    Robin, the village astrologer, who is intently observing an eclipse of
+    the moon (which, by-the-bye, is most excellently managed), and relates
+    his griefs. The old man cheers his drooping spirits, by casting his
+    nativity and finding by his observations, that Jack's stars are of the
+    most benign influence, and that all his wishes shall be fulfilled. The
+    marriage of the maiden all forlorn with the Squire is on the point of
+    being completed, when Venus (one of whose doves had been preserved by
+    Jack) dispatches Cupid to the assistance of the despairing lovers, by
+    the magic of whose powerful wand the usual Pantomimic changes are
+    effected in a trice&mdash;Jack becomes Harlequin; Rosebud, Columbine;
+    Gaffer, Pantaloon; the Squire, the Lover; and the Priest, the Clown.
+    Mirth, revelry, fun, frolic, and joviality are now the order of the day,
+    and the scene changes to a view of Hyde Park and the Serpentine River on
+    a frosty morning in January: in which is represented, with admirable
+    effect, a display of patent skating. An oil cloth is spread upon the
+    stage, a group comprised of various laughable characters are assembled
+    on it, and skate about with as much rapidity, and precisely as though it
+    were a sheet of ice. The adroit skill of old stagers on the slippery
+    surface, with the clumsy awkwardness and terror of novices in the art,
+    are well represented. A prodigious fat man makes his appearance; when a
+    race is called for, he, of course, tries his prowess, when the ice
+    cracking beneath the heavy weight assembled on it gives way with a heavy
+    crash, and "Fatty" is consigned to a watery bed. Assistance is
+    immediately tendered, when, by Harlequin's power, a lean and shrivelled
+    spirit of the deep rises from below to the great alarm of the beholders,
+    and whose limbs continue to expand till his head touches the clouds. The
+    whole of the scene is one of the most laughable and best managed in the
+    Pantomime. Kew Gardens, on a May-day morning, is also a very pleasing
+    scene, in which some pretty Morris dancing is introduced. The Barber's
+    shop, in which shaving by steam is hit off, is excellent in its way, but
+    not so well understood in its details, as to make it equally effective
+    in representation. Vauxhall Bridge, and the Gardens which succeeds it,
+    are also charmingly painted by the Grieves, and from hence the Clown
+    and Pantaloon take an "Aeronautic excursion" to Paris. This is a
+    revolving scene&mdash;the balloon ascends&mdash;and the English landscape
+    gradually recedes from the view&mdash;the gradual approach of night&mdash;the
+    rising of the moon&mdash;the passing of the balloon through heavy clouds&mdash;and
+    the return of day, are beautifully represented; the sea covered with
+    ships, is seen in distant perspective with the French coast; a
+    bird's-eye view of Paris follows, and the balloon safely descends in the
+    gardens of the Tuileries. The adjoining palace, mansions, and gardens
+    being brilliantly illuminated, give the scene a most splendid and
+    picturesque effect. A variety of other scenes, but far too numerous to
+    mention individually, deserve the highest applause, particularly the
+    village of Bow, Leadenhall Market, with a change to an illuminated civic
+    feast in the Guildhall; Burlington Arcade at night, and the village of
+    Ganderclue by sunrise. The Temple of Iris, formed of the "radiant
+    panoply of the heavenly arch," by Grieve, is most brilliant.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The advent of Pantomime, early in the eighteenth century, gave a special
+    fillip to spectacular display, as they were all announced to be set off
+    with "new scenery, decorations, and flyings."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Some of the stage devices of Pantomime are of considerable antiquity;
+    as, for instance, the basket-work hobby-horses, that figured as far back
+    as the old English Morris dances, to be revived in the French ballet of
+    the seventeenth century, and, in after years, in English Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Pantomime donkey is at least, we are told, 200 years old. In
+    "<i>Arlequin Mercure Galant</i>," produced in Paris in 1682, by the Italian
+    Comedians, Harlequin made his entrance on a moke's back&mdash;and the
+    merriment afterwards being greatly enhanced when Master "Neddy," with
+    Pan seated on its back, suddenly came in two, to the consternation of
+    the beholders. To the Italian Pantomime Comedians we owe many of our
+    stage devices and tricks. The statue scene in "Frivolity," played by the
+    Messrs. Leopolds, was introduced by the Italians in "<i>Arlequin Lingere
+    du Palais</i>," when this piece was performed at Paris in 1682. Again, the
+    device of cutting a hole in a portrait for an eaves-dropper's head to be
+    inserted, was used in "<i>Columbine Avocat</i>" as far back as 1685.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In "<i>Arlequin Lingere du Palais</i>," played at the Hotel de Bourgogne in
+    October, 1682, there was represented two stalls&mdash;an underclothier's and
+    a confectioner's. Harlequin dressed half like a man and half like a
+    woman, with a mask on each side of his face to match presides in this
+    dual capacity at both stalls. Pasquariel, who comes to buy, is utterly
+    bewildered, and is made the target of both jests and missiles of
+    monsieur of the confectioners, and mademoiselle of the adjoining stall.
+    Possibly the shop scenes in our English Harlequinades may have
+    originated from this. A similar idea to the above was given in O'Keefe's
+    Pantomime of "Harlequin Teague; or the Giants' Causeway," performed at
+    the Haymarket in 1782. Charles Bannister appeared in this Pantomime and
+    sang a duet as a giant with two heads, one side representing a gentleman
+    of quality, and the other a hunting squire. Mrs. German Reed, about
+    1855, appeared representing two old women, between whom an imaginary
+    conversation was held, Mrs. Reed turning first one side of her face to
+    the audience, and then the other. Fred Maccabe, in his "Essence of
+    Faust," had also a similar allusion, and by many "transformation
+    dancers" was it used. The antiquity of many other devices could be
+    noted, but I must desist, yet I cannot help remarking that even here we
+    have more exemplifications of history repeating itself.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Scenical representations and mechanical devices in Italy had long been
+    made a fine art, and an English traveller and critic observes that our
+    painting compared to theirs is only daubing. I find among their
+    decorations statues of marble, alabaster, palaces, colonnades,
+    galleries, and sketches of architecture; pieces of perspective that
+    deceive the judgment as well as the eye; prospects of a prodigious
+    extent in spaces not thirty feet deep. As for their machines I can't
+    think it in the power of human wit to carry their inventions further. In
+    1697, I saw at Venice an elephant discovered on the stage, when, in an
+    instant, an army was seen in its place; the soldiers, having by the
+    disposition of their shields, given so true a representation of it as if
+    it had been a real elephant.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In Rome, at the Theatre Capranio, in 1698, there was a ghost of a woman
+    surrounded by guards. This phantom, extending her arms and unfolding her
+    clothes, was, with one motion, transformed into a perfect palace, with
+    its front, its wings, body, and courtyard. The guards, striking their
+    halberds on the stage, were immediately turned into so many waterworks,
+    cascades, and trees, that formed a charming garden before the palace. At
+    the same theatre, in the opera "<i>Nerone Infante</i>," the interior of hell
+    was shown. Here part of the stage opened, and discovered a scene
+    underneath, representing several caves, full of infernal spirits, that
+    flew about, discharging fire and smoke, on another side the river of
+    Lethe and Charon's boat. Upon this landing a prodigious monster
+    appeared, whose mouth opening to the great horror of the spectators,
+    covered the front wings of the remaining part of the stage. Within his
+    jaws was discovered a throne of fire, and a multitude of monstrous
+    snakes, on which Pluto sat. After this the great monster, expanding his
+    wings, began to move very slowly towards the audience. Under his body
+    appeared a great multitude of devils, who formed themselves into a
+    ballet, and plunged, one after the other, into the opening of the floor.
+    The great monster was in an instant transformed into an innumerable
+    multitude of broad white butterflies, which flew all into the pit, and
+    so low that some often touched the hats of several of the spectators,
+    and at last they disappeared. During this circumstance, which
+    sufficiently employed the eyes of the spectators, the stage was
+    refitted, and the scene changed into a beautiful garden, with which the
+    third act began.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The scene painter, Devoto, painted the scenery and decorations for the
+    Goodman's Fields Theatre, where, it is interesting to note, David
+    Garrick made his first <i>London</i> appearance in 1741. His first appearance
+    on any stage had been made at Ipswich on Tuesday, 21st July, in the same
+    year, under the name of Lyddall. Garrick, during his time, introduced
+    many novelties in the way of scenery and transparencies, acting on the
+    suggestions of Signor Seivandoni, the scenic artist at the Opera-house,
+    and the fencing master, Dominico Angelo. These transparencies became the
+    talk of London, and it has been known for several plays to have been
+    written so as to introduce them. The first transparent scene is said to
+    have been the "Enchanted Wood," introduced in "Harlequin's Invasion," at
+    Drury Lane, the painter being one French, the scenic artist of the
+    theatre.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Beverley, the scene painter for Madame Vestris, half a century ago,
+    brought fairy, or Pantomime, scenes to great perfection. Leopold Wagner,
+    speaking of them, says:&mdash;"We have it upon the authority of Mr. Planché
+    that these were almost entirely due to the skilled efforts and successes
+    of Mr. William Beverley, who, in the nature of Extravaganza, so
+    impressed the public with his fine talents as an artist upon theatrical
+    canvas, that gorgeous scenes became quite the rage, and how, year after
+    year, Mr. Beverley's powers were taxed to the utmost to outdo his
+    former triumphs, and how the most costly materials and complicated
+    machinery were annually put into requisition until the managers began to
+    suffer."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Speaking of the production on the 26th December, 1849, of "The Island of
+    Jewels," Planché says, "The novel, and yet exceedingly simple, falling
+    of the leaves of a palm tree, which discovered six fairies, supporting a
+    coronet of jewels, produced such an effect as I scarcely remember having
+    witnessed on any similar occasion up to that period. The last scene
+    became the first in the estimation of the management. The most
+    complicated machinery, the most costly materials were annually put into
+    requisition, until their bacon was so buttered that it was impossible to
+    save it. Nothing was considered brilliant but the <i>last</i> scene. Dutch
+    metal was in the ascendant. It was no longer even painting, it was
+    upholstery. Mrs. Charles Mathews herself informed me that she had paid
+    between £60 and £70 for gold tissue for the dresses of the
+    Supernumeraries alone." I wonder what Mrs. Mathews would say if she
+    could now visit this terrestrial sphere of ours?
+</p>
+<p>
+    All this love of spectacular display soon began to supersede the good
+    old-fashioned Christmas Pantomimes.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In his work, "Behind the Scenes," Mr. Fitzgerald very graphically
+    describes the Transformation scene of later days, and now becoming
+    nearly as obsolete as the Harlequinade. All will recall in some
+    elaborate transformation scene how quietly and gradually it is evoked.
+    First the gauzes lift slowly one behind the other&mdash;perhaps the most
+    pleasing of all scenic effects&mdash;giving glimpses of the Realms of Bliss
+    seen beyond in a tantalising fashion. Then is revealed a kind of half
+    glorified country, clouds and banks evidently concealing much. Always a
+    sort of pathetic, and, at the same time, exultant strain rises, and is
+    repeated as the changes go on; now we hear the faint tinkle&mdash;signal to
+    those aloft on the "bridges" to open more glories. Now some of the banks
+    begin to part slowly, showing realms of light with a few divine
+    beings&mdash;fairies&mdash;rising slowly here and there. More breaks beyond, and
+    more fairies rising with a pyramid of these ladies beginning to mount
+    slowly in the centre. Thus it goes on, the lights streaming on full in
+    every colour and from every quarter in the richest effulgence. In some
+    of the more daring efforts the <i>femmes suspendues</i> seem to float in the
+    air or rest on the frail support of sprays or branches of trees. While,
+    finally, at the back of all the most glorious paradise of all will open,
+    revealing the pure empyrean itself, and some fair spirit aloft in a
+    cloud among the stars; the apex of all. Then all motion ceases; the work
+    is complete; the fumes of crimson, red, and blue fire begin to rise at
+    the wings; the music bursts into a crash of exultation; and, possibly to
+    the general disenchantment, a burly man, in a black frock coat, steps
+    out from the side and bows awkwardly. Then, to a shrill whistle, the
+    first scene of the Harlequinade closes in, and shuts out the brilliant
+    vision.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0018"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XVIII.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Pantomimic Families&mdash;Giuseppe Grimaldi&mdash;James Byrne, the Harlequin and
+    Inventor of the modern Harlequin's dress&mdash;Joseph Grimaldi, Junior&mdash;The
+    Bologna Family&mdash;Tom Ellar&mdash;The Ridgways&mdash;The Bradburys&mdash;The
+    Montgomerys&mdash;-The Paynes&mdash;The Marshalls&mdash;Charles and Richard
+    Stilt&mdash;Richard Flexmore&mdash;Tom Gray&mdash;The Paulos&mdash;Dubois&mdash;Arthur and
+    Charles Leclerq&mdash;"Jimmy" Barnes&mdash;Famous Pantaloons&mdash;Miss Farren&mdash;Mrs.
+    Siddons&mdash;Columbines&mdash;Notable Actors in Pantomime.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    In the histrionic profession the genius of hereditary is shown over and
+    over again; and no more so than in Pantomimic families. For, if blessed
+    with a numerous progeny, the sons became&mdash;the eldest, of course, could
+    only, as the place of honour, be Clown&mdash;the others, Harlequins,
+    Pantaloons; the daughters, Columbines; and, perhaps, Harlequinas.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the last chapter but one I have referred to Grimaldi's father,
+    Giuseppe Grimaldi, "Iron Legs," and now let us recall something more of
+    the sire of so worthy a son.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As a dancer&mdash;as his father was before him&mdash;and Pantomimist, Giuseppe
+    Grimaldi, before coming to England, had appeared at the fairs of France
+    and Italy. In 1758 Giuseppe made his first appearance on the stage of
+    Drury Lane, under Garrick's management, in a new Pantomime dance,
+    entitled, "The Millers."
+</p>
+<p>
+    For some thirty years afterwards the Signor continued to be a member of
+    the Drury Lane <i>corps de ballet</i>, and appearing as Clown, Harlequin, and
+    Pantaloon.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In 1764, Giuseppe played Harlequin in a Clown-less Pantomime at Sadler's
+    Wells, and in the Drury Lane Pantomime of the same year, though there
+    were Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Columbine in it, there was no Clown.
+    Drury Lane was then only open in the winter, and Sadler's Wells in the
+    summer months.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A notable Harlequin was Mr. James Byrne, the ballet-master. "Mr. Byrne,"
+    says Grimaldi, in his "Memoirs," "was the best Harlequin on the boards,
+    and never has been excelled, or even equalled, since that period."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Byrne came of a well-known dancing family, and to him we owe the
+    introduction of the tight-fitting dress worn by Harlequin. Until the
+    production of the Pantomime of "Harlequin Amulet, or the Magic of Mona,"
+    at Drury Lane Theatre, written by Mr. Powell, produced at Christmas,
+    1799, by Mr. Byrne, and which ran until Easter, 1800&mdash;it had been the
+    loose jacket and trousers of the ancient Mimes. It had also been
+    considered indispensable that Harlequin should be continually
+    attitudinising in the five different positions of Admiration,
+    Flirtation, Thought, Defiance, and Determination; and continually
+    passing from one to the other without pausing. Byrne, for newer
+    attitudes, abolished these postures, but long afterwards the old form of
+    posing was, and is still, retained by the exponents of Harlequin.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In this Pantomime, Byrne, as Harlequin, appeared in a white silk
+    close-fitting shape, fitting without a wrinkle, and into which the
+    variegated colours of time-honoured memory were woven, and covered with
+    spangles, presenting a very bright appearance.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Byrne, also gave the character of Harlequin an entirely new reading.
+    The colours of Harlequin's dress had every one a significance, as
+    follows:&mdash;Red, temper; blue, love; yellow, jealousy; brown or mauve,
+    constancy. When Harlequin wore his mask down he was supposed to be
+    invisible. On his mask he had two bumps, denoting knowledge on the one
+    hand, and thought on the other, whilst in his cap he wore a hare's foot,
+    and a worked device on his shoes, indicating flight and speed. Can we
+    not from the bumps of knowledge and the hare's foot trace the
+    characteristics of the god Mercury, which, as previously stated, was the
+    prototype of Harlequin. With the bat, or magic sword, the gift from the
+    fairies to him, Harlequin was supposed to be invulnerable, and if he
+    lost his sword he would fall into the power of the Clown.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Byrne's innovation was not resisted, and it was well received, and ever
+    since this memorable occasion, the character of Harlequin has, for the
+    most part, been dressed as Byrne dressed it. The significance of the
+    present-day variegated colours of Harlequin's costume are somewhat
+    different to the above, and denote: red, fire; blue, water; yellow, air;
+    and black, earth. These&mdash;the four elements&mdash;are typical of the regions
+    governed by Mercury.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Byrne was at Drury Lane in the time of Garrick. He died December
+    4th, 1845, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. Mrs. Byrne, who was also
+    a dancer, pre-deceasing her husband by a few months in her
+    seventy-fourth year.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Joseph Grimaldi, son of "Old Joe," made, at twelve years of age, his
+    first appearance at Sadler's Wells in 1814, playing Man Friday to his
+    father's Robinson Crusoe. For several years both father and son played
+    together in various Pantomimes; and it was thought that before young Joe
+    there was a brilliant future. This, however, was soon dissipated, as he
+    embarked upon vicious courses, and through a blow on the head received
+    in some brawl "He became a wild and furious savage; he was frequently
+    attacked with dreadful fits of epilepsy, and continually committed
+    actions which nothing but insanity could prompt. In 1828 he had a
+    decided attack of insanity, and was confined in a strait waistcoat in
+    his father's house for some time."
+</p>
+<p>
+    From engagements at Drury Lane, Sadler's Wells, the Pavilion and the
+    Surrey Theatre in turn, he was dismissed, finally "Falling into the
+    lowest state of wretchedness and poverty. His dress had fallen to rags,
+    his feet were thrust into two worn-out slippers, his face was pale with
+    disease, and squalid with dirt and want, and he was steeped in
+    degradation." This unhappy life came to a final close in a public-house
+    in Pitt Street, off the Tottenham Court Road.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Signor Pietro Bologna, a country-man and friend of Giuseppe Grimaldi,
+    Joe Grimaldi's father, brought with him from Genoa his wife, two sons
+    and a daughter. They were all Mimes, and, in a Pantomime produced in
+    1795, entitled, "The Magic Feast," Signor Bologna was Clown, and his
+    son, "Jack" Bologna, was Harlequin; the latter being also Harlequin to
+    Grimaldi's Clown, both at Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells. "Jack"
+    Bologna married a sister of Mary Bristow, Joe Grimaldi's second wife,
+    and the mother of poor young Joe.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Tom Ellar was another famous Harlequin, first making his appearance at
+    the Royalty, Goodman's Fields, in 1808. For several seasons he played
+    Harlequin at Covent Garden.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Many years ago penny portraits of Mr. Ellar "In his favourite character
+    of Harlequin," were published by a Mr. Skelt, or a Mr. Park, of Long
+    Lane, Smithfield, and were the delight of those, who, if living now, are
+    old and gray.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Tom Ellar died April 8, 1842, aged 62. Previous to his death he must
+    have fallen upon evil days, as Thackeray, in 1840, wrote: "Tom, who
+    comes bounding home from school, has the doctor's account in his trunk,
+    and his father goes to sleep at the Pantomime to which he takes him.
+    <i>Pater infelix</i>, you too, have laughed at Clown, and the magic wand of
+    spangled Harlequin: what delightful enchantment did it wave round you in
+    the golden days 'when George the Third was King?' But our Clown lies in
+    his grave; and our Harlequin Ellar, prince of many of our enchanted
+    islands, was he not at Bow Street the other day, in his dirty, faded,
+    tattered motley&mdash;seized as a law breaker for acting at a penny theatre,
+    after having well nigh starved in the streets, where nobody would listen
+    to his old guitar? No one gave a shilling to bless him: not one of us
+    who owe him so much!"
+</p>
+<p>
+    Another Pantomime family were the Ridgways. Tom Ridgway was Clown under
+    Madame Vestris's management at Covent Garden.
+</p>
+<p>
+    There have been several Bradburys since the time of Grimaldi's great
+    rival, Robert Bradbury, died July 21, 1831, who wore on his person nine
+    strong "pads," in order to go through some extraordinary feats.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Montgomerys; the Paynes, Harry and Fred; nor should the name of "Old
+    Billy" Payne be omitted. "Billy" Payne it was, it will be remembered,
+    who, in 1833, helped, from the stage of Covent Garden, the dying Edmund
+    Kean.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Then there were the Marshalls, Harry and Joseph; Charles and Richard
+    Stilt; and a very original and amusing Clown, Richard Flexmore, died
+    August 20, 1860, aged 36. Tom Gray, a famous Clown of Covent Garden,
+    died January 28th, 1768, aged upwards of 100 years; the Paulo family of
+    Pantomimists; Dubois, Arthur and Charles Leclerq, Walter Hilyard, and
+    many, many others.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the 'twenties and 'thirties a popular and famous Pantaloon was
+    "Jimmy" Barnes, died September 28th, 1838. Barnes, in the summer of
+    1830, was engaged to play in an English company at Paris, but they had
+    hardly commenced to perform when the Revolution of July broke out. Some
+    years afterwards Barnes published in "Bentley's Miscellany," from his
+    old original M.S., an amusing and illustrated account of his wanderings.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Amongst other Pantaloons there have been&mdash;Thomas Blanchard, died August
+    20, 1859, aged 72; William Lynch, died June 29, 1861, aged 78; R.
+    Norman, died September 16, 1858, aged 70; George Tanner, died February
+    8, 1870; and Paulo, a member of Mr. Charles Kean's Company at the
+    Princess's Theatre, had as Pantaloon appeared in many Pantomimes. It is
+    a notable fact that a good number of our Mimes were long-livers.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Long before Miss Farren, afterwards Countess of Derby (died April 21,
+    1829), first charmed a London audience, we hear of her in 1772 at
+    Wakefield in one of her first parts&mdash;if not her first&mdash;that of
+    Columbine. She could both sing well and dance gracefully. One of the
+    earliest "parts" that even the great Mrs. Siddons (that afterwards was),
+    when a young girl, played, was in connection with Pantomime, as Combes
+    remembered to have seen her "Standing by the side of her father's stage,
+    and knocking a pair of snuffers against a candle-stick to imitate the
+    sound of a wind-mill, during the representation of some Harlequinade."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In days gone by Madame Leclerq, Carlotta Leclerq, Charles Kean's
+    Columbine in the seasons of 1850-1-2, E. Dennett, Emma Boleno, died
+    October 18th, 1867, aged 35; Marie Charles, who died from an accident by
+    fire, Pavilion Theatre, January 21, 1864, and others have won
+    considerable fame in the part of Columbine.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Amongst those who have played Harlequin in days gone by, have been the
+    elder Kean, and the well-known actor, Mr. Wilson Barrett, who, early in
+    his career, played this part for an extra two shillings and sixpence
+    "thrown in," to augment his then weekly salary of seventeen shillings
+    and sixpence; whilst Sir Henry Irving tells us that he also has appeared
+    in Pantomime, in the character of a wicked fairy, named Venoma, in days
+    since past, for a small monetary emolument.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0019"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XIX.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Popular Pantomime subjects&mdash;Poor Pantomime Librettos&mdash;Pantomime subjects
+    of our progenitors&mdash;The various versions of "Aladdin"&mdash;"The Babes in the
+    Wood"&mdash;"Blue Beard"&mdash;"Beauty and the Beast"&mdash;"Cinderella"&mdash;"Dick
+    Whittington"&mdash;"The House that Jack Built"&mdash;"Jack the Giant
+    Killer"&mdash;"Jack and the Beanstalk"&mdash;"Red Riding Hood"&mdash;"The Sleeping
+    Beauty in the Wood"&mdash;Unlucky subjects&mdash;"Ali Baba and the Forty
+    Thieves"&mdash;"The Fair One with Golden Locks"&mdash;The source of "Sindbad the
+    Sailor" and "Robinson Crusoe."
+</h3>
+<p>
+    It may be of interest in this History of Pantomime to note the origin of
+    some of our most popular present day Pantomime subjects, besides showing
+    many of our present day Pantomime libretto writers that in such
+    well-known themes as "Aladdin," "Cinderella," and others, there is no
+    need to cast their stories pretty much in the same groove, year after
+    year, when by drawing on the fairy-lore of the East much that is new and
+    original, for present-day English Pantomimes, is waiting the attention
+    of their skill and ingenuity.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Though the stories of popular English Pantomimes are practically the
+    same each year (why I do not know), yet, not content with this, in many
+    of our large cities and towns we frequently see the same Pantomime title
+    not only "billed" at one theatre, but perhaps at several others. This
+    clashing and clashing year after year with one another's titles (I say
+    nothing about the "plots," as these, in many instances, only consist of
+    a half-penny worth of author to an intolerable deal of music-hall gag),
+    cannot but, I have long been of opinion, adversely affect the box-office
+    receipts, unless, of course, the Pantomime-goer makes a point of "doing
+    the round," so to speak, which, however, is not generally the case.
+</p>
+<p>
+    As Pantomime writers in the early days there were Thomas Dibdin, son of
+    Charles Dibdin, the writer of nautical ballads, Pocock and Sheridan.
+    Dibdin was one of the best of Pantomime librettists, and from the years
+    1771 to 1841 his prolific pen, as a writer of Pantomimes, was never
+    idle, as from it came some thirty-three Pantomimes, and all successes.
+    Amongst other literary luminaries, in after years, as writers of
+    Pantomime Extravaganzas, there were J.R. Planché, E.L. Blanchard, W.
+    Brough, Mark Lemon, H.J. Byron, Wilton Jones, and John Francis McArdle.
+</p>
+<p>
+    History always repeats itself we know, and poor Pantomime books were not
+    unknown as far back as half a century ago, as the subjoined parody on
+    the "Burial of Sir John Moore," by the late Albert Smith plainly
+    shows:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    Not a laugh was heard, not a topical joke,
+      As its corse to oblivion we hurried;
+    Not a paper a word in its favour spoke
+      On the Pantomime going to be buried.
+
+    We buried it after the Boxing Night,
+      The folks from the galleries turning;
+    For 'twas plain it would scarcely pay for the light
+      Of the star in the last act burning.
+
+    No useless play-bill put forth a puff,
+      How splendid the public had found it,
+    But it lay like a piece that had been called "stuff,"
+      With a very wet blanket around it.
+</pre>
+<p>
+    After this digression for one brief moment more, let us take a passing
+    glance at some of the Pantomime subjects which our progenitors delighted
+    in. They had not the continual ringing of the changes on half-a-dozen
+    Pantomime subjects, as we have at present, but revelled in such
+    attractions as "Harlequin Don Quixote," "The Triumph of Mirth, or
+    Harlequin's Wedding," "The Enchanted Wood or Harlequin's Vagaries,"
+    "Hurly Burly, or the Fairy of the Wells," "Blue Beard, Black Beard, and
+    Grey Beard," and many others. However, to return.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of the Pantomime subjects, whose origin we are going to enquire into,
+    let us first commence with "Aladdin."
+</p>
+<p>
+    According to the many versions of this popular story in Europe and Asia,
+    it would seem that its origin originally was of Buddhist extraction. In
+    our common English version of "Aladdin," in "The Arabian Nights," which
+    was taken from Galland's French version, it is doubtless an Eastern
+    picture. It does not occur, however, in any known Arabian text (says
+    Mr. Clouston, in "Popular Tales," and to whose work I am indebted for
+    much of the information for this chapter) of "The Thousand and One
+    Nights" (<i>Elf Laila wa Laila</i>), although the chief incidents are found
+    in many Asiatic fictions, and it had become orally current in Greece and
+    Italy before it was published by Galland. A popular Italian version,
+    which presents a close analogy to the familiar story of "Aladdin"
+    (properly "<i>Alá-u-d-Din</i>," signifying "Exaltation of the Faith") is
+    given by Miss M.H. Busk, in her "Folklore of Rome," under the title of
+    "How Cajusse was married."
+</p>
+<p>
+    A good natured looking old man one day knocks at the door of a poor
+    tailor out of work; his son, opening the door, is told by the old man
+    that he is his uncle, and he gives him half a piastre to buy a good
+    dinner. When the tailor comes home&mdash;he was absent at the time&mdash;he is
+    surprised to hear the old man claim him as a brother, but finding him so
+    rich he does not dispute the matter. After the old man had lived some
+    time with the tailor and his family, literally defraying all the
+    household expenses, he finds it necessary to depart, and with the
+    tailor's consent takes the boy Cajusse with him, in order that he may
+    learn some useful business. But no sooner do they get outside the town
+    than he tells Cajusse that it is all a dodge. "I'm not your uncle," he
+    says, "I want a strong, daring boy to do something I am too old to do.
+    I'm a wizard&mdash;don't attempt to escape for you can't." Cajusse, not a bit
+    frightened, asks him what it is he wants him to do; and the wizard
+    raises a flat stone from the ground, and orders him to go down, and
+    after he gets to the bottom of the cave to proceed until he comes to a
+    beautiful garden, where he will see a fierce dog keeping watch. "Here's
+    bread for him. Don't look back when you hear sounds behind you. On a
+    shelf you will see an old lantern; take it down, and bring it to me." So
+    saying the wizard gave Cajusse a ring, in case anything awkward should
+    happen to him after he had got the lantern, when he had only to rub the
+    ring, and wish for deliverance. Cajusse finds precious stones hanging
+    like frost from the trees in the garden underground, and he fills his
+    pocket with them. Returning to the entrance of the cave, he refuses to
+    give up the lantern till he has been drawn out; so the wizard thinking
+    merely to frighten him replaces the stone. Cajusse finding himself thus
+    entrapped rubs the ring, when instantly the Slave of the Ring appears,
+    and the youth at once orders the table to be laid for dinner. He then
+    calls for his mother and father, and they all have an unusually good
+    meal. Some time afterwards, Cajusse had returned home, the town was
+    illuminated, one day in honour of the marriage of the Sultan's daughter
+    to the Vizier's son. He sends his mother to the palace with a basket of
+    jewels, and, to demand the Sultan's daughter in marriage. The Sultan is
+    astounded at the purity of the gems, and says he will give his answer in
+    a month. At the end of the same week the Grand Vizier's son is married
+    to the Princess. Cajusse rubs his lantern and says "Go to-night and take
+    the daughter of the Sultan and lay her on a poor pallet in our
+    outhouse." This is done, and Cajusse begins to talk to her, but she is
+    far too frightened to answer. The Sultan learns of his daughter's
+    whereabouts, and does not know what to make of the strange business. The
+    son of the Vizier complains to his father that his wife disappears every
+    night, and comes back just before dawn. Cajusse now sends his mother to
+    the Sultan with three more baskets full of jewels, and the Sultan tells
+    her he may come and see him at the palace. Having received this message,
+    Cajusse rubs the lantern, gets a dress of gold and silver, a richly
+    caparisoned horse, four pages with rich dresses to ride behind them, and
+    one to go before, distributing money to the people. Cajusse is next
+    married to the Princess, and they live together in a most magnificent
+    palace with great happiness. By-and-bye the old wizard hears of this,
+    and resolves to obtain the lantern by hook or by crook. Disguising
+    himself as a pedlar he comes to the palace calling out the familiar "New
+    lamps for old." By this means he obtains the precious lamp, and
+    immediately transports the palace and the princess to an island in the
+    high seas. Cajusse, by the aid of the magic ring, quickly follows, to
+    find his princess a prisoner in the power of the wizard. He then gives
+    her this advice: "Make a feast to-night; say you'll marry the old wizard
+    if he'll tell you what thing would be fatal to him, and you will guard
+    him against it." The princess gets from the magician the fatal secret.
+    "One must go into a far distant forest," he says "Where there is a beast
+    called the hydra, and cut off his seven heads. If the middle head is
+    split open a leveret will jump out and run off. If the leveret is split
+    open, a bird will fly out. If the bird is caught and opened, in its body
+    is a precious stone, and should that be placed under my pillow I shall
+    die." Cajusse accomplishes all these things, and gives the life-stone to
+    the princess, together with a bottle of opium. The princess drugs the
+    wizard's wine, and when he had laid his head on his pillow (under which
+    was the stone) he gave three terrible yells, turned himself round three
+    times, and was dead. After thus ridding themselves of their enemy,
+    Cajusse and his bride lived happy ever afterwards.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Aladdin's adventure with the magician in the enchanted cave has also its
+    counterpart in Germany (see Grimms' German Collection).
+</p>
+<p>
+    Another "Aladdin" version is the tale of Marúf, the last in the Búlák
+    and Calcutta printed Arabic texts of the "Book of Marúf" in "The
+    Thousand and One Nights." The story is to the effect that Marúf had
+    given out that he was a rich man, under which false pretence he marries
+    the Sultan's daughter. The tale he spread about was that he was
+    expecting the arrival of a rich caravan, which contained all his
+    princely wealth. After they were married, Marúf confesses to his wife
+    the imposture he has practised on them. She urges him to fly, or his
+    head would be forfeited, and procures him a disguise to flee the
+    country. He does so, and, whilst journeying through a village, he sees a
+    man ploughing in a field, whom he asks for food. Whilst the latter is
+    away, Marúf continues the ploughing, where the man had left off, and
+    the ploughshare strikes against something hard in the ground, which
+    turns out to be an iron ring in a marble slab. He pulls at the ring, and
+    Marúf discovers a small room covered with gold, emeralds, rubies, and
+    other precious stones. He also discovers a coffer of crystal, having a
+    little box, containing a diamond in its entirety. Desirous of knowing
+    what the box further contains, he finds a plain gold ring, with strange
+    talismanic characters engraved thereon. Placing the ring on his finger,
+    he is suddenly confronted by the Genii of the Ring, who demands to know
+    what are his commands. Marúf desires the Genii to transport all the
+    treasure to the earth, when mules and servants appear, and carry it to
+    the city which Marúf had left, much to the chagrin of the Vizier, who
+    did not like Marúf. Marúf, during a great feast prepared for the
+    occasion, tells the Sultan how he became possessed of the treasure, when
+    the Sultan begs the loan of the ring, which Marúf hands to the Vizier to
+    give him, and which no sooner does he get, than he commands the Genii to
+    convey Marúf to some desert island, and leave him to die. The Vizier
+    also serves the Sultan the same way, and then he turns his attention to
+    "Mrs. Marúf," whom he threatens with death if she refuses to marry him.
+    At a banquet she makes the Vizier drunk, obtains possession of the ring,
+    secures the return of Marúf and the Sultan, and the decapitation of the
+    Vizier.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The "Babes in the Wood" was registered on the books of Stationers' Hall
+    as a ballad as far back as 1595.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To take another familiar Pantomime subject, "Blue Beard," this story is
+    said to have been invented as a satire on our King Henry VIII. There is
+    little doubt, however, of it originating from a very ancient source; and
+    to afford the reader all the possible information on the subject, a
+    writer in "The Drama," a magazine of the beginning of the last century
+    has the following, though he does not state his authority for the
+    information:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    As this extraordinary personage has long been the theme, not only of
+    children's early study and terror, it will be gratifying to peruse the
+    character of that being who really existed, and who was distinguished in
+    horror and derision by the strange appellation of "Blue Beard."
+</p>
+<p>
+    He was the famous Gilles, Marquis de Laval, a Mareschal of France, and a
+    General of uncommon intrepidity, who greatly distinguished himself in
+    the reigns of Charles VI. and VII., by his courage, particularly against
+    the English, when they invaded France. He rendered such services to his
+    country, which were sufficient to immortalize his name, had he not for
+    ever tarnished his glory by the most terrible and cruel murders,
+    blasphemies, and licentiousness of every kind. His revenues were
+    princely; but his prodigality was sufficient to render even an Emperor a
+    bankrupt. Wherever he went he had in his suite a seraglio, a band of
+    players, a company of musicians, a society of sorcerers and magicians,
+    an almost incredible number of cooks, packs of dogs of various kinds,
+    and above 200 led horses. Mezerai, an author of great repute, says,
+    that he encouraged and maintained men who called themselves sorcerers,
+    to discover hidden treasures, and corrupted young persons of both sexes
+    to attach themselves to him, and afterwards killed them for the sake of
+    their blood, which was requisite to form his charms and incantations.
+    These horrid excesses may be believed, when we reflect on the age of
+    ignorance and barbarism in which they were certainly too often
+    practised. He was at length, for a state crime against the Duke of
+    Brittany, sentenced to be burnt alive in a field at Nantz in 1440, but
+    the Duke, who was present at his execution, so far mitigated the
+    sentence, that he was first strangled, then burnt, and his ashes buried.
+    Though he was descended from one of the most illustrious families in
+    France, he declared, previous to his death, that all his terrible
+    excesses were owing to his wretched education.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Blue Beard" was first dramatised at Paris, in 1746, when "<i>Barbe Bleu</i>"
+    was thus announced:&mdash;<i>Pantomime</i>&mdash;<i>representée par la troupe des
+    Comediens Pantomimes, Foir St. Laurent</i>. It was afterwards dramatised at
+    the Earl of Barrymore's Theatre, Wargrave, Berks., and in 1791. After
+    that the subject was produced at Covent Garden Theatre as a Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Beauty and the Beast," the latter a white bear, is to be found in
+    "Popular Tales from the Norse," by Mr. Dasent, and in the collection of
+    "Popular Tales from the German" by the Brothers Grimm. As a ballad the
+    story of "Beauty and the Beast" is a very old one.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Cinderella" is to be found in the language of every European country.
+    In ancient Hindu legends it appears; in tales related by the Greek poets
+    it is also to be found.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The story of "Cinderella," according to the ancient Hindu legends, is
+    that of the Sun and the Dawn. Cinderella has been likened to Aurora, the
+    Spirit of the Dawn, and the fairy Prince of the legend is the morning
+    Sun, ever closely pursuing her to make her his bride. The Hindu legend
+    of the lost slipper is that a wealthy Rajah's beautiful daughter was
+    born with a golden necklace, which contained her soul, and, if the
+    necklace was taken off and worn by someone else, the Princess would die.
+    The Rajah gave her on her birthday a pair of slippers with ornaments of
+    gold and gems upon them. The princess went out upon a mountain to gather
+    flowers, and whilst stooping there to pluck the flowers, one of her
+    slippers fell into the forest below. A Prince, who was hunting, picked
+    up the slipper, and was so charmed with it that he said he would make
+    the wearer his wife. He made his wish known, but no one came to claim
+    the slipper; at length word was given to the Prince where to find the
+    Rajah's daughter; and shortly afterwards they were married. One of the
+    wives of the Prince, being jealous of the Rajah's daughter, stole the
+    necklace, put it on her own neck, and then the Rajah's daughter died.
+    The Prince, afterwards, found out the secret of the necklace, and got it
+    back again, and put it on his dead wife's neck, and she came to life,
+    and they lived ever afterwards in the greatest harmony.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The ancient Grecian version of "Cinderella" is that of the story of a
+    beautiful woman named Rhodope, who, whilst bathing, an eagle flew away
+    with one of her slippers to Egypt, and dropped it in the lap of the King
+    as he sat at Memphis on the judgment seat. The King was so attracted by
+    the smallness and beauty of the slipper that he fell in love with the
+    wearer, and afterwards made her his wife.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In Tuscany, Persia, Norway, Denmark, Russia, the story of "Dick
+    Whittington" is well known. In all probability, like many other fairy
+    tales, its origin was from a Buddhist source. The English version, that
+    the Lord Mayor Whittington was the poor ill-used boy he is represented
+    to have been in the popular tale seems quite impossible, since according
+    to Stow (mentions Mr. Clouston) he was the son of Sir Richard
+    Whittington, Knight. The story was current in Europe in the thirteenth
+    century. In the chronicle of Albert, Abbot of the Convent of St. Mary of
+    Slade, written at that period, it is related that there were two
+    citizens of Venice, one of whom was rich, the other poor. It fortuned
+    that the rich man went abroad to trade, and the poor man gave him as his
+    venture two cats, the sale of which, as in our tale of the renowned
+    "Dick Whittington," procured him great wealth.
+</p>
+<p>
+    On September 21st, 1668, Pepys makes mention in his diary of going to
+    Southwark Fair, and of seeing the puppet show of "Whittington," which he
+    says "was pretty to see." A Pantomime on the subject was also given by
+    Rich early in the eighteenth century.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In Tuscany, the "Dick Whittington" story runs that in the fifteenth
+    century, a Genoese merchant, who presented two cats to the King, was
+    rewarded by him with rich presents.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In Norway, a poor boy, having found a box full of silver money under a
+    stone, emptied the box and its contents into a lake&mdash;one piece, however,
+    floated, which he kept, believing it to be <i>good</i>. His mother, hearing
+    of this, thrust him out of doors; and he eventually obtained employment
+    in a merchant's house. The merchant, having to make a voyage to foreign
+    parts, he asked each of his servants what he should "venture" for him.
+    The poor boy offered all he had, the silver penny, of which he was still
+    the possessor. With this the merchant purchased a cat, and sailed away,
+    but the vessel in which he was in was driven out of her course on to the
+    shores of a strange country. The merchant going ashore went to an inn,
+    and, in a room, he saw the table laid for dinner, with a long rod for
+    each man who sat at it. When the meat was set on the table, out swarmed
+    thousands of mice, and each one who sat at the table beat them off with
+    his rod. The cat was brought into service, and sold for a hundred
+    dollars, and soon put an end to the career of the mice. When the
+    merchant had weighed anchor, much to his surprise, he saw the cat
+    sitting at the mast head. Again foul weather came on, and again the
+    vessel was driven to another strange country, where the mice were just
+    as numerous as before. The cat was called in, sold this time for two
+    hundred dollars, and away the merchant sailed. No sooner, however, was
+    he at sea, than the cat once more appeared before him. The vessel was
+    again driven out of her course to another strange country, over-run with
+    rats this time, when poor pussy was sold a third time, for the sum of
+    three hundred dollars. Again the cat made its appearance; and the
+    merchant thinking to do the poor boy out of his money, a dreadful storm
+    arose, which only subsided on the merchant making a vow that the boy
+    should have every penny. When he arrived home the merchant faithfully
+    kept his promise, gave the boy the six hundred dollars, and the hand of
+    his daughter besides.
+</p>
+<p>
+    A Breton legend of the story of "Dick Whittington" runs that three sons
+    go to seek their fortune, the eldest of whom, Yvon, possesses a cat. The
+    cat again plays an important part. Yvon becomes the friend of the Lord
+    of the Manor, and has gold and diamonds bestowed upon him in galore.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Russian version is that a poor little orphan boy buys a cat, which
+    some mischievous boys were teasing, for three copecks (about a penny).
+    Taken into the service of a merchant the latter goes to a distant
+    country, accompanied by the cat of the orphan boy. Puss making sad work
+    of some rats, which threatened to make an end of the merchant in the
+    inn, which he occupied. He ultimately sold the cat to the landlord for a
+    sack full of gold. Returning home, on his way thither, he thought how
+    foolish it would be to give all the money to the boy. Whereupon a
+    dreadful storm arose, and the vessel, in which was the merchant, was in
+    danger of sinking. The merchant, knowing that the storm had arisen
+    through his change of purpose, prayed to heaven for forgiveness, when
+    the sea became calm, and the vessel arrived safely in port, when the
+    merchant paid over to the orphan boy all the wealth obtained by the sale
+    of the cat.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the Persian version, unlike the other legends, the cat is owned by a
+    poor widow, who had been impoverished through her sons, and was left
+    with only a cat. The sale of the cat produces great wealth; and the
+    widow, Kayser, immediately sends for her sons to share her
+    newly-acquired fortune. What follows is different to the other versions
+    of these wonderful cat stories. The sons only too eager to share the
+    wealth of their mother, fit out many vessels, and begin to trade largely
+    with India and Arabia. Thinking that to acquire wealth by commerce
+    alone, rather slow work, they turned pirates, and were a source of
+    trouble and annoyance to the neighbouring states, till about 1230 A.D.,
+    when they were reduced to vassalage under Persian rule.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "The House that Jack Built" has its prototype in a sacred hymn in the
+    Talmud of the Hebrews.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Jack, the Giant Killer" and "Jack and the Beanstalk" are two very
+    ancient themes coming from the North, of the time, it is said, of King
+    Arthur, and of the days when "Giants were upon the earth." The
+    well-known cry of the giants in these legends&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum,
+    I smell the blood of an Englishman;
+    Be he alive or be he dead,
+    I'll grind his bones to make my bread,"
+</pre>
+<p>
+    is also referred to by Shakespeare in "King Lear," in Act III., Scene 5,
+    when Edgar sings:&mdash;
+</p>
+<pre>    "Child Rowland to the dark Tower came;
+    His word was still, fee, foh, and fum,
+    I smell the blood of an Englishman."
+</pre>
+<p>
+    The English version of the story of "Jack the Giant Killer," must,
+    therefore, be older than the time of Elizabeth. It is also a strange and
+    significant fact that amongst the Zulus, and the inhabitants of the Fiji
+    Islands, there are similar legends of the story of "Jack and the
+    Beanstalk."
+</p>
+<p>
+    The story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" is also to be found in old Hindoo
+    tales, in which the beans denote abundance. The Russians have a story in
+    which a bean falls to the ground, and an old man, the Sun, climbs up by
+    it to heaven. "The ogre in the land above the skies," observes Mr.
+    Baring Gould, "who was once the all-father, possessed three treasures&mdash;a
+    harp, which played of itself enchanting music; bags of gold and
+    diamonds; and a hen which daily laid a golden egg. The harp is the
+    wind, the bags of gold are the clouds dropping the sparkling rain, and
+    the golden egg laid every day by the red hen is the producing sun." The
+    same idea in "Jack and the Beanstalk" occurs in the fairy legends of the
+    North and the East, as well as in Grecian stories.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In "Jack the Giant Killer," the gifts given to Jack are found in Tartar,
+    Hindoo, Scandinavian, and German legends.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Now let us note briefly the origin of "Red Riding Hood" and "The
+    Sleeping Beauty in the Wood." All the other fairy stories that we know
+    of are to be found in other countries, and springing originally from
+    Asia, where they were made ages and ages ago.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Wolf in the story of "Red Riding Hood" has been likened to the days
+    of our own "Bluff King Hal," owing to the latter's suppression of the
+    monasteries, and Red Riding Hood herself, whom the Wolf subsequently
+    eats, with her hood and habit, was supposed to be typical of the
+    monastic orders.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Hindoo's version of the "Red Riding Hood" story is a pretty and
+    fanciful one. Their idea was that there was always a great Dragon
+    endeavouring to devour Indra, the Sun god, and to prevent the Sun from
+    shining upon the earth, Indra ultimately overcomes the Dragon. Red
+    Riding Hood, with her warm habit, is supposed to be the setting sun
+    casting its red and glittering rays as it sinks to rest. The old
+    Grandmother is Mother Earth; and the Wolf, the Dragon; and when all is
+    dark and still, the Wolf swallows the Grandmother, namely, the Earth;
+    and afterwards, as Night has fallen, the Evening Sun. The Huntsman
+    denotes the Morning Sun, and he chases away all the dark clouds gathered
+    during the night, and by doing so kills the Wolf; recovers the old
+    Grandmother Earth, and brings to life again, Little Red Riding Hood.
+    Another version (observes Mr. T. Bunce) is that the Wolf is the dark,
+    and dreary winter, that kills the Earth with frost, but when spring
+    comes again it brings the Earth and the Sun back to life.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood," the maiden has been likened to the
+    Morning dawn, and the young Prince, who awakens her, with a kiss, to the
+    Sun.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," in concluding this chapter, I may say,
+    with "The Fair One with Golden Locks," forms to the superstitious the
+    only two unlucky Pantomime subjects.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "Sindbad, the Sailor," taken from the "Arabian Nights," has its origin
+    in Persian and Arabian tales.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of all our Pantomime subjects, "Robinson Crusoe," seems to be the only
+    one we can properly lay claim to as being "of our own make," so to
+    speak, and written by Daniel De Foe, and, in the main, from the
+    imagination. De Foe, it has been stated, derived his idea for this
+    story from the adventures of one, Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who
+    had been a castaway on the Island of Juan Fernandez. The first portion
+    of "Robinson Crusoe" appeared in "The Family Instructor," in 1719, of
+    which De Foe was the founder. It, at once, sprang into popularity, and
+    has left its author undying fame. De Foe was born about 1660 in the
+    parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, died 26th April, 1731, and was buried
+    in Bunhill Fields.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0020"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XX.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    Pantomime in America.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    Pantomime, in America, had not a very long run, it being killed by the
+    farcical comedy. Mr. E.L. Blanchard supposes that "Mother Goose" was the
+    first Pantomime played in America, but this is an error, as it was not
+    until 1786, when Garrick's "Harlequin's Invasion," and R. Pocock's
+    "Robinson Crusoe" were played at the John Street Theatre, New York, that
+    Pantomime made its advent in America. "Mother Goose" was afterwards
+    played, but it did not suit the Yankee's taste. Rich's Harlequin, Gay of
+    "The Beggars Opera," produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, and which
+    it is said made "Rich Gay, and Gay Rich," also went to America, and
+    where, it is said, he became the Chief of an Indian tribe in the Far
+    West. In the South Sea Bubble Gay held some £20,000. His friends advised
+    him to sell, but he dreamed of greatness and splendour, and refused
+    their counsel. Ultimately, both the profit and the principal was lost,
+    and Gay sunk under the calamity so low that his life became in danger.
+</p>
+<p>
+    American Pantomimes consisted of a semi-pastoral "opening," performed
+    almost entirely in dumb show, and a big trick Harlequinade, and down to
+    the time of Pantomime's decease in America was it played like this.
+</p>
+<p>
+    George L. Fox made Pantomime highly popular in America. Born in May of
+    1825, he, as an actor and comedian in Yankee and Irish parts, held his
+    own in popularity with the great Joseph Jefferson.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Fox might be properly termed "The Grimaldi of America," as he was the
+    representative Clown of the land of the stars and stripes. His Clown's
+    parts he dressed like Grimaldi, and with the whitened face and bald head
+    of Pierrot, the French type of Clown.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The year that "Mother Goose" came to New York saw the introduction of a
+    French troupe of Pantomimists, known as the Ravels. In imitation of
+    these performers Fox introduced in the 'fifties ballet Pantomimes, and
+    several Ravelsque pieces like "The Red Gnome" and "The Schoolmaster"
+    with good results.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In 1862 Fox was at the Bowery Theatre, and, during his occupation of the
+    same, he did much to popularise Pantomime. Half a dozen years afterwards
+    we find him at the Olympic Theatre, New York, where he produced "Humpty
+    Dumpty," which ran 483 nights, and for five years, till 1873, it held
+    its place, on and off, in the bill. Altogether it was played 943 times.
+    Fox, from this, was known as Humpty Dumpty, and, strangely enough, also,
+    the Americans for long enough afterwards called every Pantomime "Humpty
+    Dumpty."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Fox was a very good mimic, imitating all the Hamlets of the day, besides
+    being a good melodramatic actor. He died October 24th, 1877, at
+    Cambridge, Mass., of softening of the brain.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Tony Denier, a pupil of the Ravels, and a quondam friend of Fox, next
+    took Fox's place in the estimation of the American public. Of Denier, we
+    are told that he arrived in Boston in 1852, with the proverbial
+    half-crown in his pocket. He was of French extraction, and descended
+    from one of the best French families. In 1863 he was with P.T. Barnum,
+    and appearing as a one-legged dancer. In 1868, he went into Pantomime,
+    toured "Humpty Dumpty," and for some twenty years afterwards kept the
+    Pantomimic ball merrily rolling until his retirement at Chicago into
+    private life. Denier made Harlequinade tricks a speciality.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pantomime in America may be said to have lived about a quarter of a
+    century; but in the autumn of this year (1901) Pantomime, as we now know
+    it in this country, made its first appearance at the Broadway Theatre,
+    New York, when last year's Drury Lane annual, "The Sleeping Beauty and
+    the Beast," was successfully presented. It is very probable that this
+    class of entertainment will become very popular in America.
+</p>
+<a name="2HCH0021"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER XXI.
+</h2>
+<h3 style="text-align: center">
+    Pantomimes made more attractive&mdash;The Restrictive Policy of the Patent
+    Houses&mdash;"Mother Goose" and "George Barnwell" at Covent Garden&mdash;Lively
+    Audiences&mdash;"Jane Shore"&mdash;"Harlequin Pat and Harlequin Bat"&mdash;"The first
+    speaking opening"&mdash;Extravagence in Extravaganzas&mdash;The doom of the old
+    form of Pantomime&mdash;Its revival in a new form&mdash;A piece of pure
+    Pantomime&mdash;Present day Mimetic Art&mdash;"<i>L'Enfant Prodigue</i>"&mdash;A
+    retrospect&mdash;The old with the new, and conclusion.
+</h3>
+<p>
+    Pantomimes, as they grew, were made more and more attractive, "new
+    scenery, decorations, and flyings" were introduced, and with new
+    "flyings," of course, more accidents.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The restrictive policy adopted by the Patent theatres&mdash;till the repeal
+    of their patents (1843)&mdash;towards the minor houses, which gave to the
+    former the sole and only right of performing the "legitimate" was, by
+    the minor theatres, infringed in many ways. The means adopted was the
+    employment of Pantomime in the depiction of plays adapted and considered
+    suitable for the minor theatres. These were entirely carried on by
+    action, and when the actor could not express something that had to be
+    explained, like the names of characters, a scroll, with the necessary
+    details inscribed thereon, was unrolled in full view of the audience.
+    These entertainments were very popular at the close of the eighteenth
+    century, and they were also the means of providing some first-class
+    Pantomimists&mdash;as, for instance, Bologna and D'Egville.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In a couple of volumes by Mr. J.C. Cross, entitled, "Circusiana," the
+    author of many of these old "dumb shows," the reader can see what they
+    were like. The scripts of these plays consisted, like our ancient
+    "Platts" and the Italian Scenarios, of principally stage directions.
+</p>
+<p>
+    John Palmer, the actor who died on the stage of the Theatre Royal,
+    Liverpool&mdash;now used for the purpose of a cold storage&mdash;after uttering,
+    in the part of "The Stranger," the words "There is another and a better
+    world," found that, after building his theatre, the Royalty, in
+    Wellclose Square, that he was prohibited its use, used to give
+    Pantomimic representations, and just in a similar way as what the minor
+    theatres did, as mentioned above.
+</p>
+<p>
+    It is amusing to note how the titles of some of Shakespeare's
+    works&mdash;which at one time the Patent theatres had the monopoly&mdash;were got
+    over; "Hamlet" has been known to have been played as "Methinks I see my
+    Father;" "Othello," as "Is He Jealous?;" "Romeo and Juliet," as "How to
+    Die for Love;" "The Merchant of Venice," under "Diamond Cut Diamond,"
+    and so on. Music and dancing also were introduced <i>ad lib</i> into these
+    performances.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The Pantomime of "Mother Goose," produced at Covent Garden, December 29,
+    1806, which ran 92 nights, was preceded by "George Barnwell," and
+    brought some £20,000 into the theatre treasury. Strangely enough, for
+    about thirty years, it was the unvarying rule to play "George Barnwell"
+    at this theatre on a Boxing Night, which, from all accounts, owing to
+    the liveliness of the gods and goddesses assembled on these
+    occasions&mdash;the Tragedy was as much a Pantomime as the Pantomime proper
+    that followed. Of these "merry moments" Dibdin recalls that Tragedies,
+    Comedies, and Operas were doomed to suffer all the complicated
+    combinations of "Pray ask that gentleman to sit down," "Take off your
+    hat?" and the like. "But the moment," continues Dibdin, "the curtain
+    goes up (on the Pantomime), if any unfortunate gentleman speaks a word
+    they make no reply, <i>but throw him over directly</i>."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Seemingly afterwards, at Pantomime time, "Barnwell" was discarded in
+    favour of "Jane Shore," as in "The Theatrical Magazine" we find a writer
+    penning the following:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    A few years since it was the established rule to play "George Barnwell,"
+    by way, we suppose, of a "great moral lesson" to the apprentices of
+    London. In this age of innovation this venerable custom has been broken
+    down, but the principle seems not wholly to have been abandoned. "Jane
+    Shore" has supplanted "Barnwell," and the anxieties of the age, are, it
+    would appear, now directed towards the softer sex. Seriously speaking,
+    we consider these Christmas selections as exceedingly absurd. Visitants
+    at this period of the year frequent the theatre less for the purpose of
+    seeing the play than the Pantomime, and at both theatres it was this
+    evening their chief, and almost only, attraction; for the tragedy of
+    Rowe, which is of very little merit, derived but trifling interest or
+    effect from the performers who personated the prominent characters.
+    Moreover the lessons of the pulpit have unfortunately but too slight an
+    influence on those who attend them, and we are rather fearful the moral
+    benefits to be derived from these stage lectures, to the apprentices and
+    servants of the metropolis, do not countervail the loss of pleasure
+    sustained by those who would be so much better pleased; and, therefore,
+    perhaps, taught by a lively comedy, satirising some of the light vices
+    or laughable follies of the age. We trust this theatrical nuisance will
+    be for the future reformed; we can almost excuse the holiday folks for
+    being turbulent, when we reflect upon the insult offered to their
+    understandings, in the treatment they receive on these occasions.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In 1830, at Covent Garden Theatre, Peake introduced into the Pantomime
+    of "Harlequin Pat, and Harlequin Bat" a "speaking opening." Pantomime,
+    however, pursued the even tenour of its way until the production at the
+    Adelphi, about 1857, of a Pantomime, with a "burlesque opening," and
+    "the thin end of the wedge" was provided, written by Mark Lemon. In the
+    Harlequinade, Madame Celeste appeared as Harlequin <i>à la Watteau</i>, and
+    Miss Mary Keeley was the Columbine. These Extravaganzas, from the pen of
+    Planché, with scenery by Beverley, and all under the management of
+    Vestris, afterwards became quite the rage.
+</p>
+<p>
+    I have previously referred to the excellence of Beverley's scenes under
+    the <i>regime</i> of Madame Vestris. Extravagance in Extravaganzas, like "The
+    Blue Bird," "Once Upon a Time," and the like, caused the managers, in
+    the matter of scenery, to enter into serious competition with one
+    another.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pantomime, it was thought, was doomed, as its decease at this epoch
+    seemed impending. It managed, however, to come again into popular
+    favour, but in a very different shape. Instead of the usual comic
+    Pantomime it was played by two different sets of performers, and having
+    no connection with one another. The opening scenes, like a soap bubble,
+    began to grow larger and larger, the double plot was abandoned, the
+    Transformation scene became the principal feature, and a long
+    Harlequinade at the <i>end</i>.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the Pantomime of "Red Riding Hood," written by F.W. Green, and
+    produced at Her Majesty's Theatre, during the 'eighties, an effort was
+    made to compose and invent a piece of pure Pantomime. The Vokes family,
+    J.T. Powers, and others, appeared in this Pantomime.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In France and Italy particularly, the Mimetic Art still flourishes; but
+    in this country it is practically a lost Art. One of the best examples,
+    and most successful, we have had in recent years of this ancient form
+    of entertainment in this country was that of "<i>L'Enfant Prodigue</i>,"
+    played by Mdlle. Jane May and a French Company of Pantomimists. There
+    are, however, several other very brilliant Pantomimists excellent in
+    their Art, like the Martinetti troupe, the two brothers Renad, and the
+    Leopolds.
+</p>
+<p>
+    "It is a pity (observes Dickens, in 'The Theatre') that the knowledge of
+    it (Pantomime) cannot be more extended among our modern actors and
+    actresses, so few of whom understand anything about the effectiveness of
+    appropriate gesture. A few lessons in the business of Harlequin would
+    teach many a young man, for instance, the simple lesson that arms may be
+    moved with advantage from the shoulder as well as from the elbow; and so
+    we should get rid of one of the awkwardest, ugliest, and commonest of
+    modern stage tricks. And there would be nothing derogatory in the study.
+    Many of our most distinguished actors have graduated in Pantomime."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Mr. Davenport Adams, writing in "The Theatre," for January, 1882, on the
+    decline of Pantomime, says:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+    "We may say of present-day Pantomime that the trail of the music-hall is
+    over it all. I admit the extreme ability of certain music-hall
+    comedians. I object, however, altogether, to the intrusion of such
+    artists into the domain of Pantomime, and I do so because they, and
+    others not so able, bring with them, so to speak, an atmosphere which it
+    is sad to see imported into the theatre. They bring with them, not only
+    their songs, which, when offensive in their wording, are sometimes made
+    doubly dangerous by their tunefulness; not only their dances, which are
+    usually vulgar, when they are not inane, but their style and manner and
+    'gags,' which are generally the most deplorable of all. The objection to
+    music-hall artists on the stage is, not only that they take the bread
+    out of the mouths of 'the profession,' which is a minor consideration
+    for the public, but that they have the effect of familiarising general
+    audiences, and children especially, with a style and a kind of singing,
+    dancing, and 'business' which, however it may be relished by a certain
+    class of the population, ought steadily to be confined to its original
+    habitat. The managers are, of course, very much to blame, for it is by
+    their permission, if not by their desire, that youthful ears are regaled
+    with 'W'st, w'st, w'st,' and similar elegant compositions. Such songs as
+    these would not be tolerated by <i>paterfamilias</i> in his drawing-room,
+    yet, when he takes his children to the Pantomime, they are the most
+    prominent portion of the entertainment."
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the last century, Pantomimes, in the form so dear to our forefathers,
+    sometimes twice yearly&mdash;at Easter and Christmas&mdash;were given. The comic
+    and other scenes were in that true sense of the word humorous and funny.
+    The reason was not far to seek, as they were all played by <i>actors</i>. The
+    music-hall had not, as far as Pantomime was concerned, made such inroads
+    as at the present time it has done into the dramatic profession. Clown,
+    to <i>pater</i> and <i>materfamilias</i>, and others, was a source of genuine
+    enjoyment; and though they may have passed the sere and yellow leaf of
+    age, the laughs and hearty merriment of their grand-children gathered
+    around them made them think of other days, when they were young
+    themselves. Picture them all, dear reader, sitting in the Family
+    Circle&mdash;now termed the Dress Circle&mdash;a happy party with smiling and
+    contented faces, laughing at some <i>genuine acting</i>&mdash;Pantomime though it
+    be&mdash;no <i>double entendre</i> songs, and nothing to be ashamed of.
+</p>
+<p>
+    To the young a visit to the Pantomime was invariably a yearly occurrence
+    to be joyfully remembered till the next Boxing Day came round again. Do
+    they, or can they, understand Pantomime in its present form? I very much
+    doubt it.
+</p>
+<p>
+    When towards the close of the 'fifties, and the double plot was
+    abandoned, the character of Harlequin began to be played by women, the
+    origin of what is now known as the "principal boy," and some acrobatic
+    turns, or other speciality business, began to be introduced during the
+    course of the Pantomime, which greatly discounted the efforts of
+    Harlequin and Clown.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Another competitor that took up the running to the abolition of Clown
+    and his companions, was the music-hall, which began introducing
+    Pantomimes and ballets. The first to do this, some years ago, was the
+    Canterbury, other halls soon following suit.
+</p>
+<p>
+    The managers of the theatres took up arms, with the result that various
+    decisions, chiefly averse to the music-halls, were obtained. A decision
+    of the Court of Common Pleas left the music-halls in a position to give
+    ballets with costume and scenic effects without any such control or
+    precautions as was exercised in theatres under the Lord Chamberlain's
+    authority. The duration of the litigation was all owing to the vague
+    definition "Stageplays in the 6 and 7 Vict. c. 68," and of "Music,
+    dancing and public entertainments in the Act 25, Geo. II., c. 30."
+</p>
+<p>
+    Of present-day Pantomime, with the immense sums spent annually on its
+    gorgeous spectacular display and costly dresses, there is no necessity
+    for me here to dilate upon, as it is a subject that is well known to us
+    all. All that is beautiful about it is due principally to the scenic
+    artists and the costumiers. The best parts are, as a general rule,
+    allotted to music-hall "stars," whose names will draw the most money.
+    And the followers of Thespis have, until the reign of King Pantomime is
+    over, to take oftentimes second-class places in the Pantomimic form of
+    entertainment of the present day.
+</p>
+<p>
+    In the old days everyone looked forward to the performances of Clown and
+    his companions; but little by little their business went, until finally
+    this has dwindled down to about one or two scenes&mdash;which, in some few
+    instances is still retained.
+</p>
+<p>
+    And now to formally "ring down," and in writing the "tag," there is, I
+    may say, with the sound of the prompter's bell, a melancholy ring as the
+    passing knell of Clown and his merry companions, and the "tag," as it
+    were, their epitaph.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Pantomimes&mdash;as our forefathers knew them&mdash;have become a thing of the
+    past, and the survivors, Clown and his comrades, the former whose quips
+    and quiddities, in childhood's happy days, many of us still lovingly
+    remember; the wonderment with which we gazed at the magical tricks
+    wrought by Harlequin and his wand; the quaint conceits and ambling gait
+    of Pantaloon; and, last but not least, bewitching Columbine, with whom,
+    most likely as each year came round, in youthful ardour we fell anew in
+    love's toils, are all rapidly vanishing into the dim and distant past,
+    and to live in the future only in the memory.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+    &nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<h3>
+    CURTAIN.</h3>
+
+
+<p>
+    &nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 13469-h.txt or 13469-h.zip *******</p>
+<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br />
+<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/6/13469">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/6/13469</a></p>
+<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.</p>
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diff --git a/old/13469.txt b/old/13469.txt
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13469.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A History of Pantomime, by R. J. Broadbent
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A History of Pantomime
+
+Author: R. J. Broadbent
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2004  [eBook #13469]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Linda Cantoni, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME
+
+by
+
+R. J. BROADBENT
+
+Author of "STAGE WHISPERS," etc.
+
+LONDON:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+WILLIAM WADE, ESQUIRE.
+
+This book is dedicated as a small token of the
+Author's esteem and regard.
+
+R.J.B.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+One of the most important factors in the making of Theatrical History
+has been that of Pantomime, yet in many of the published works dealing
+with the History of the Stage it has, with the exception of a passing
+reference here and there, been much neglected.
+
+It is with a view of conveying to the reading public some little, and,
+perhaps, new information about this ancient form of entertainment that I
+am tempted to issue this History of Pantomime in the hope and belief
+that it may not only prove interesting, but also instructive, to all
+lovers of the Stage.
+
+R.J.B.
+
+Liverpool, December, 1901.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Origin of Pantomime
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Origin of Tragedy and Comedy--Mythology--The meaning of
+the word Pantomime--The origin of Harlequin, Columbine,
+Clown, and Pantaloon--Grecian Mythology--Transformation
+Scenes--The rise of Grecian Tragedy and Comedy--The
+Satirical Drama
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+The origin of the Indian Drama--Aryan Mythology--Clown
+and Columbine--Origin of the Chinese Drama--Inception
+of the Japanese Drama--The Siamese Drama--Dramatic
+performances of the South Sea Islanders, Peruvians,
+Aztecs, Zulus, and Fijis--The Egyptian Drama
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+"Dancing," _i.e._ Pantomime--Grecian Dancing and Pantomimic
+Scenes--Aristotle--Homer--Dances common to
+both Greeks and Romans
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Thespis--The Progress of Tragedy and Comedy--Aeschylus--The
+Epopee--Homer--Sophocles--Euripides--Grecian
+Mimes--The First Athenian Theatre--Scenery
+and Effects
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Roman Theatres--Description--"Deadheads"--Pantomime
+in Italy--Livius Andronicus--_Fabulae Atellanae_--Extemporal
+Comedy--Origin of the Masque, Opera, and
+Vaudeville--Origin of the term Histrionic--Etruscans--Popularity
+of Pantomime in Italy--Pantomimists banished
+by Trajan--Nero as a Mime--Pylades and Bathyllus--Subjects
+chosen for the Roman Pantomimes--The Ballet--The
+_Mimi_ and _Pantomimi_--_Archimimus_--Vespasian--Harlequin--"Mr.
+Punch"--Zany, how the word originated--Ancient
+Masks--Lucian, Cassiodorus, and Demetrius
+in praise of Pantomime--A celebrated _Mima_--Pantomimes
+denounced by early writers--The purity of the
+English stage contrasted with that of the Grecian and
+Roman--Female parts on the Grecian and Roman stages--The
+principal Roman _Mimas_--The origin of the Clown
+of the early English Drama
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into Britain--First
+English reference to the word Pantomime--The
+fall of the Roman Empire--The sacred play--Cornish
+Amphitheatres--Pantomimical and Lyrical elements in
+the sacrifice of the Mass--Christian banishment of the
+_Mimis_--Penalties imposed by the Church--St. Anthony
+on Harlequin and Punch--Vandenhoff--what we owe to
+the _Mimis_
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Pantomime in the English Mystery or Miracle Plays and
+Pageants--A retrospect of the Early Drama--Mysteries
+on Biblical events--Chester, Coventry, York, and Towneley
+Mystery Plays--Plays in Churches--Traces of the
+Mystery Play in England in the Nineteenth Century--Mystery
+Plays on the Continent--The Chester series of
+Plays--The Devil or Clown and the _Exodiarii_ and
+_Emboliariae_ of the Ancient Mimes
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+The Clown or Fool of the early English Drama--Moralities--The
+Interlude--The rise of English Tragedy and
+Comedy--"Dumb Shews" in the Old Plays--Plays
+suppressed by Elizabeth--A retrospect
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+The Italian Masque--The Masque in England--First
+appearance in this country of Harlequin--Joe Haines as
+Harlequin--Marlowe's "Faustus"--A Curious Play--The
+Italian Harlequin--Colley Cibber, Penkethman--Shakespeare's
+Burlesques of the Masque--Decline of the Masque
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Italian Pantomime--Riccoboni--Broom's "Antipodes"--Gherardi--Extemporal
+Comedies--Salvator Rosa--Impromptu Acting
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Pantomimical Characters--Neapolitan Pantomime--The
+Harlequin Family--The Original Characters in the
+Italian Pantomimes--Celebrated Harlequins--Italian
+and French Harlequins--A French view of the English
+Clown--Pierrots' origin--Pantaloon, how the name has
+been derived--Columbine--Marionette and Puppet Shows
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Italian Scenarios and English "Platts"--Pantaloon--Tarleton,
+the Clown--Extemporal Comedy--The Poet
+Milton--Ben Jonson--The Commonwealth--"A Reign
+of Dramatic Terror"--Robert Cox and his "Humours"
+and "Drolleries"--The Restoration
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Introduction of Pantomimes to the English Stage--Weaver's
+"History of the Mimes and Pantomimes"--Weaver's
+Pantomimes--The prejudice against Pantomimes--Booth's
+counsel
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+John Rich and his Pantomimes--Rich's Miming--Garrick,
+Walpole, Foote--Anecdotes of Rich--Pope--The dance
+of internals in "Harlequin Sorcerer"--Drury Lane--Colley
+Cibber--Henry Fielding, the Novelist--Contemporary
+Writers' opinion of Pantomime--Woodward, the
+Harlequin--The meaning of the word Actor--Harlequins--"Dr.
+Faustus," a description--William
+Rufus Chetwood--Accidents--Vandermere, the Harlequin--"Orpheus
+and Eurydice" at Covent Garden--A
+description--Sam. Hoole, the machinist--Prejudice
+against Pantomime--Mrs. Oldfield--Robert Wilks--Macklin--Riot
+at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre--Death of Rich
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Joseph Grimaldi
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Plots of the old form of Pantomimes--A description of
+"Harlequin and the Ogress; or the Sleeping
+Beauty of the Wood," produced at Covent Garden--Grimaldi,
+_Pere et Fils_--Tom Ellar, the Harlequin, and
+Barnes, the Pantaloon--An account of the first production
+of the "House that Jack built," at Covent Garden--Spectacular
+display--Antiquity and Origin of some
+Pantomimic devices--Devoto, Angelo, and French, the
+Scenic Artists--Transparencies--Beverley--Transformation
+Scenes
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Pantomimic Families--Giuseppe Grimaldi--James Byrne,
+the Harlequin and Inventor of the modern Harlequin's
+dress--Joseph Grimaldi, Junior--The Bologna Family--Tom
+Ellar--The Ridgways--The Bradburys--The
+Montgomerys--The Paynes--The Marshalls--Charles
+and Richard Stilt--Richard Flexmore--Tom Gray--The
+Paulos--Dubois--Arthur and Charles Leclerq--"Jimmy"
+Barnes--Famous Pantaloons--Miss Farren--Mrs.
+Siddons--Columbines--Notable Actors in Pantomime
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Popular Pantomime subjects--Poor Pantomime Librettos--Pantomime
+subjects of our progenitors--The various
+versions of "Aladdin"--"The Babes in the Wood"--"Blue
+Beard"--"Beauty and the Beast"--"Cinderella"--"Dick
+Whittington"--"The House that Jack Built"--"Jack
+the Giant Killer"--"Jack and the Beanstalk"--"Red
+Riding-Hood"--"The Sleeping Beauty in the
+Wood"--Unlucky subjects--"Ali Baba and the Forty
+Thieves"--"The Fair One with Golden Locks"--The
+source of "Sindbad the Sailor" and "Robinson Crusoe"
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Pantomime in America
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+Pantomimes made more attractive--The Restrictive Policy
+of the Patent Houses--"Mother Goose" and "George
+Barnwell" at Covent Garden--Lively Audiences--"Jane
+Shore"--"Harlequin Pat and Harlequin Bat"--"The
+first speaking opening"--Extravagence in Extravaganzas--The
+doom of the old form of Pantomime--Its
+revival in a new form--A piece of pure Pantomime--Present
+day Mimetic Art--"_L'Enfant Prodigue_"--A
+retrospect--The old with the new, and conclusion
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Origin of Pantomime.
+
+
+From the beginning of all time there has been implanted in the human
+breast the Dramatic instinct full of life and of vigour, and finding
+undoubtedly its outlet, in the early days of civilization, if not in the
+Dramatic Art then in the poetry of motion with that necessary and always
+essential concomitant of both--Pantomime. Indeed, of the Terpsichorean
+Art, it has been truly observed "That deprived of the imitative
+principle (_i.e._, Pantomime), the strength, the mute expression, it
+becomes nothing but a series of cadenced steps, interesting merely as a
+graceful exercise." Equally so in every way does it apply to the
+Dramatic Art, which minus its acting, its gestures--in a word, its
+Pantomime--we have nothing but, to quote Hamlet, "Words, words, words."
+
+In observing "That all the world's a stage, and the men and women merely
+players," Shakespeare doubtless included in the generic term "players,"
+Pantomimists as well: Inasmuch as this, that when, and wherever a
+character is portrayed, or represented, be it in real life or on the
+stage--"Nature's looking-glass," and the world in miniature--the words
+that the individual or the character speaks, are accompanied with
+gesture and motion, or, in other words, Pantomime, when "The action is
+suited to the word, the word to the action."
+
+To trace the original origin of Pantomime, or Mimicry, we must go to
+Nature herself where we can find this practised by her from the
+beginning of all time as freely, and as fully, as ever it was, or ever
+will be, upon the stages of our theatres. What better evidence, or
+instances, of this can we have than in those studies of her handiwork?
+as the larger species of caterpillars, when, by stretching themselves
+out in imitation of, and to make their foes think that they are snakes;
+tigers and lions choosing a background in keeping with, and in imitation
+of, the colours of their bodies, in order to seize their unwary prey;
+and for the same purpose crocodiles imitating a rotting log; the green
+tint of the lizard's skin for the sake of concealment; the playful
+imitativeness of the mocking bird; the hysterical laugh of the hyaena;
+the gaudy colours of tropical snakes imitated by others, besides many
+other examples of Mimicry, in such as butterflies of the species
+_Danaidae_ and _Acraediae_, the _Heliconidiae_ of tropical America; and
+hornets, wasps, ants, and bees. All this, it may be urged, is only
+instinct. True; but is it not also Mimicry--the Pantomime of Nature,
+and, though, of course, of a different kind, and for very different
+objects, is, nevertheless, of a kind of instinctive Pantomime or Mimicry
+which each and every one of us possesses in greater or lesser degrees,
+and as much as we do the Dramatic instinct.
+
+The very name Pantomime itself signifies Nature as Pan was amongst the
+Ancients, the allegorical god of Nature, the shepherd of Arcadia, and
+with _Mimos_, meaning an imitator, we have, in the combination of these
+two words, "an imitator of Nature," and from whence we derive the origin
+of our word Pantomime.
+
+Dryden says:--
+
+    "Pan taught to join with wax unequal reeds;
+    Pan loves the shepherds and the flocks he feeds."
+
+"Pan," says Servius, "is a rustic god, formed in similitude of Nature,
+whence he is called Pan, _i.e._, All: for he has horns in similitude of
+the rays of the sun and the horns of the moon; his face is as ruddy as
+the imitation of the aether; he has a spotted fawn skin on his breast in
+likeness of the stars; his lower parts are shaggy on account of the
+trees, shrubs, and wild beasts; he has goat's feet to denote the
+stability of the earth; he has a pipe of seven reeds on account of the
+harmony of the heavens, in which there are seven sounds; he has a crook,
+that is a curved staff, on account of the year, which runs back on
+itself _because he is the god of all Nature_."
+
+Bernardin de St. Pierre observes of Pantomime, "That it was the first
+language of man; it is known to all nations; and is so natural and so
+expressive that the children of white parents learn it rapidly when they
+see it used by the negroes."
+
+Of the Pantomimic language--a universal language and common to the whole
+world from time immemorial--Charles Darwin says in his "Descent of Man,"
+that "The intellectual and social faculties of man could hardly have
+been inferior in any extreme degree to those now possessed by the
+lowest savage; otherwise primeval man could not have been so eminently
+successful in the struggle for life as proved by his early and wide
+diffusion. From the fundamental differences between certain languages
+some philologists have inferred that, when man first became widely
+diffused, he was not a speaking animal; but it may be suspected that
+languages, far less perfect than any now spoken, _aided by gestures_,
+might have been used, and yet have left no traces on subsequent and more
+highly-developed tongues."
+
+With the progress of, and also as an aid to, civilization how could the
+traveller or the trader, not only in the beginning of time, but also
+now, when occasion demands, in their intercourse with foreign nations
+(unless, of course, they know the language) make themselves understood,
+or be able to trade, unless they were or are able to use that "dumb
+silent language"--Pantomime? Civilization undoubtedly owes much of its
+progress to it, and, also the world at large, to this only and always
+universal language. To both the deaf, as well as the dumb, its
+advantages have ever been apparent.
+
+Therefore, from prehistoric times, and from the beginning of the world,
+we may presume to have had in some form or another, the Pantomimic Art.
+In the lower stages of humanity, even in our own times, there is, in all
+probability, a close similarity to the savagedom of mankind in the early
+Antediluvian period as "This is shown (says Darwin) by the pleasure
+which they all take in dancing, rude music, painting, tattooing, and
+otherwise decorating themselves--in their mutual comprehension of
+_gesture language_, and by the same inarticulate cries, when they are
+excited by various emotions." It naturally follows that even if there
+was only dancing, there must necessarily, as a form of entertainment,
+have also been Pantomime. Again, all savage tribes have a war-dance of
+some description, in which in fighting costume they invariably go
+through, in Pantomimic form, the respective movements of the Challenge,
+the Conflict, the Pursuit, and the Defeat, whilst other members of the
+tribe, both men and women, give additional stimulus to these
+representations by a rude form of music.
+
+The Ostyak tribe of Northern Asia give us a specimen of the rude
+imitative dances of early civilization in a Pantomimic exhibition of the
+Chase; the gambols and habits of the wolf and other wild beasts. The
+Pantomimic dances of the Kamchadales are in imitation of birds, dogs,
+and bears; and the Damaras represent, by four of the tribe stooping down
+with their heads together, and uttering harsh cries, the movements of
+oxen, and of sheep. The Australian Bushmen Mimic the leaping of calves,
+the antics of the baboon, and the buzzing of swarms of bees. Primitive
+Pantomimic dancing is practised amongst the South Sea Islanders, and
+other races, and just as it was, presumably, at the beginning of the
+world.
+
+Having briefly traced the origin of Pantomime, and the source of
+dancing, let us, in order to further amplify my subject, look at also
+for a moment the origin of music, in the time of prehistoric man.
+
+From Nature also do we derive this art, as "The sighing of the wind
+passing over a bed of reeds is Nature's first suggestion of breath," and
+of music. The clapping of hands and the stamping of feet is man's first
+element in the making of music, which developed itself into the
+formation of drums, bells, and cymbals, and the evolution of the same
+primary principle.
+
+It has been argued, and also ridiculously pretended, that in the
+Antediluvian period mankind only lived in caves with the hairy mammoth,
+the cave bear, the rhinoceros, and the hyaena, in a state of barbarous
+savagery; and that only since the Deluge have the Arts been known and
+cities built on this terrestrial sphere of ours. Could anything be more
+fallacious?
+
+We know, from the Bible, that the first man was created about six
+thousand years ago, and some sixteen hundred and fifty-six years
+afterwards the inhabitants of the world, with the exception of Noah and
+his family, consisting of eight souls all told, were destroyed by the
+flood. Noah and his family, we can take it, were of the same race of
+mankind then on the earth, of the same descent and of the same flesh and
+blood (as we all are) of our common father and mother, Adam and Eve; yet
+we are not told that Noah (he was six hundred years old when he went
+into the Ark) and his family were savages. In the 4th chapter, 21st
+verse of Genesis, of Jubal-Cain, we learn that "He was the father of all
+such as handle the harp and organ"; and in the following verse,
+Tubal-Cain is described as "An instructor of every artificer in brass
+and iron."
+
+We learn, also, that magnificent statues were made in Egypt some six
+thousand years ago; and that mention is made of a statue of King
+Cephren, said to have been chiselled about this period, and many learned
+men also affirm that letters were known to the inhabitants of the
+Antediluvian world. All this, however, hardly looks like the work of a
+barbarous race, and points to an acquaintance with the Arts, at any rate
+of Music and Sculpture, and that of the artificers and workers in brass
+and iron.
+
+To follow, for my subject, this reasoning a little further, if there was
+music (which, doubtless, there was) there must also have been dancing,
+and, if dancing, there must, in the Antediluvian age, as a form of
+entertainment, have also been Pantomime. On the other hand, even
+supposing that man, at this period, was nothing else but a complete
+savage, the words of Darwin, that I have quoted on a previous page,
+conclusively proves, I think (on a common-sense like basis), of the
+existence of dancing, a rude form of music, and, of course, Pantomime at
+this epoch.
+
+Ingersoll's doctrine was that "The distance from savagery to Shakespeare
+must be measured not by hundreds, but by millions, of years."
+
+Finally, why, and for what reason, should the Lord God, in His
+all-seeing goodness and mercy, punish the inhabitants of the
+Antediluvian world if they were only poor unenlightened savages? Was it
+not because they were idolaters and worshippers of idols, "And that
+every imagination of the thoughts of his (man's) heart was only evil
+continually," as the sixth chapter and fifth verse of Genesis tells us?
+This then being so, we know also that in every ancient form of religion
+dancing was one of the acts of worship, and if dancing, there must as
+previously stated, have also been Pantomime.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Origin of Tragedy and Comedy--Mythology--The meaning of the word
+Pantomime--The origin of Harlequin, Columbine, Clown, and
+Pantaloon--Grecian Mythology--Transformation Scenes--The rise of Grecian
+Tragedy and Comedy--The Satirical Drama.
+
+
+In the year 2347 B.C., in Chapter 9, verse 20, in Genesis, there occurs:
+"And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard." This is
+one of the first acts that Noah did after the Deluge, and it is, as
+history tells us, from the rites and ceremonies in celebration of the
+cultivation of the vine, that we owe the origin of Tragedy and Comedy.
+
+After the Deluge God placed His bow in the heavens as His covenant with
+man that the world should no more be accursed; and in the first ages of
+this world's history, Noah and his descendants celebrated their
+deliverance from the Ark, the return of the seasons, and the promise of
+plenty in their several religious rites and ceremonies. The children of
+Shem had in general Asia as their portion; Japhet had Europe; and Ham,
+Africa.
+
+Soon, however, religion began to lose its purity, and it then began to
+degenerate very fast. Men began to repair to the tops of mountains,
+lonely caves and grottoes, where they thought resided their gods. To
+honour them they erected altars and performed their vows. Amongst the
+Ancients their Mythology went no further than the epoch of the Deluge,
+and in honour of which, and also of the Ark, they erected many temples
+called Aren, Theba, Argus (from whence was probably derived the Argo of
+the Argonauts, and the sacred ship of Osiris), Cibotus, Toleus, and
+Baris.
+
+The symbol by which the Mythologists represented the Ark was an immense
+egg. This was supposed to have been produced by Ether and Chaos, at the
+bidding of Time, the one ethereal being who created the universe. By Nox
+(Night) the egg was hatched, which, being opened into two parts, from
+the upper part was formed heaven, and the lower earth.
+
+In the sacred rites of Osiris, Isis, and the Dionysia of Bacchus, the
+Ark or Ship was introduced. The Dove, by many nations, in their
+celebrations, was looked upon as a special emblem of peace and
+good-will. Theba, in Egypt, was originally one of the temples dedicated
+to the Ark. Both priests and sooth-sayers were styled Ionah or Doves. To
+Dodona, in Epirus, was brought this and the first Grecian oracle all the
+rites and history of the Thebans. The priestesses of this temple were
+known in the Latin as _Columbae_. It is from this word that we derive
+the name Columbine, which means, in the Italian, "little dove." Homer
+alludes to the priestesses as doves, and that they administered to Zeuth
+(Noah). Nonnus speaks of Cadmus, and others of Orpheus, as introducing
+into Greece the rites of Dionysus or Bacchus.
+
+The Ancients, mentions Kennedy in his work on "Mythology," have highly
+reverenced Noah, and designated him as Noa, Noos, Nous, Nus, Nusas,
+Nusus (in India), Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, Osiris, Prometheus,
+Deucalion, Atlas, Deus, Zeus, and Dios. Dios was one of the most ancient
+terms for Noah, and whence was derived Deus--Nusus compounded of Dios
+and Nusos, which gives us Dionysus, the Bacchus of the Greeks, and the
+chief god of the heathen world. Bacchus was, properly speaking, Cush
+(the son of Ham, and grandson of Noah), though both Dionysus and Bacchus
+are, by ancient writers, frequently confounded with one another.
+
+The resting of the Ark upon Mount Baris, Minyas, the Ararat of Moses in
+Armenia, the dispersal of the flood, the multiplication of the families
+of the earth, and the migration from the plains of Shinar of the
+descendants of the sons of Chus or Cush (as it is sometimes written),
+and called Chushites or Cushites, to different parts of the world, being
+joined by other nations, particularly those of the descendants of Ham,
+one of the sons of Noah. They were the first apostates from the truth,
+but being great in worldly wisdom and knowledge they were thought to be,
+and looked upon as a superior class of beings. Ham they looked upon as a
+divinity, and under the name of Ammon they worshipped him as the Sun,
+and Chus likewise as Apollo, a name which was also bestowed by the
+Ancients upon Noah. The worship of the sun in all probability originated
+the eastern position in our churches.
+
+Another of the ancient deities worshipped by the Ammonians was Meed, or
+Meet, the Cybele of the Phrygians, the nurse of Dionysus, and the Soul
+of the World.
+
+Nimrod, the "mighty hunter" (who possessed the regions of Babylonia and
+Chaldee), and one of the sons of Cush, was the builder of that seminary
+of idolatory the City and Tower of Bel, and erected in honour of the god
+Bel, and another name for the sun. Upon the confusion of tongues when
+hitherto "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech," it
+came to be known as Babylon, "The City of Confusion." Homer introduces
+Orion (Nimrod) as a giant and a hunter in the shades below, and the
+author of the "Pascal Chronicles" mentions that Nimrod taught the
+Assyrians or Babylonians to worship fire. The priests of Ammon, named
+Petor or Pator, used to dance round a large fire, which they affected in
+their dancing to describe. Probably from this the Dervish dances all
+over the East may be traced to this source.
+
+Kennedy observes, of the confusion of tongues at Babel, that it was only
+a labial failure, so that the people could not articulate. It was not an
+aberration in words or language, but a failure and incapacity in labial
+utterance. Epiphanius says that Babel, or Babylon, was the first city
+built after the flood.
+
+The Cushites were a large and numerous body, and after their dispersion
+from Babylon they were scattered "Abroad upon the face of the earth."
+They were the same people who imparted their rites and religious
+services into Egypt, as far as the Indus and the Ganges, and still
+further into Japan and China. From this event is to be discovered the
+fable of the flight of the Grecian god Bacchus, the fabulous wanderings
+of Osiris, and the same god under another name, of the Egyptians.
+Wherever Dionysus, Osiris, or Bacchus went, the Ancients say that he
+taught the cultivation of the soil, and the planting of the vine.
+Dionysus, Bacchus, or Osiris, as I have shown in a preceding page, were
+only other designations for Noah.
+
+Of the Hindu heathen deity, Vishnu, Father Boushet mentions an Indian
+tradition, concerning a flood which covered the whole earth, when Vishnu
+made a raft, and, being turned into a fish, steered it with his tail.
+Vishnu, like Dagon, was represented under the figure of a man and fish.
+
+Strangely enough, the regions said to have been traversed by Dionysus,
+Osiris, or Bacchus were, at different times, passed through by the
+posterity of Ham, and in many of them they took up their residence. In
+his journeyings the chief attendants of Osiris, or Bacchus, were Pan,
+Anabis, Macedo, the Muses, the Satyrs, and Bacchic women were all in his
+retinue. The people of India claim him as their own, and maintain that
+he was born at Nusa in their country. Arrian speaks of the Nuseans as
+being the attendants of Dionysus. In all traditions Dionysus appears as
+the representative of some power of Nature.
+
+The first who reduced Mythology to a kind of system were, in all
+probability, the Egyptians. Egypt was ever the land of graven images,
+and under the veil of Allegory and Mythology the priests concealed
+religion from the eyes of the vulgar. In the beginning, brute animals
+and certain vegetables were represented as the visible symbols of the
+deities to which they were consecrated. Hence Jupiter Ammon was
+represented under the figure of a Ram; Apis under a Cow; Osiris of a
+Bull; Mercury or Thol of an Ibis; Diana or Babastis of a Cat; and Pan of
+a Goat. From these sources are derived the fabulous transformation of
+the gods celebrated in Egyptian Mythology, and afterwards imported into
+Greece and Italy to serve as the subjects of the Grecian and Roman
+Pantomimes.
+
+Pantomime as we now know the term, means, not only the Art of acting in
+dumb show, but also that of a spectacle or Christmas entertainment. (I
+may add in parenthesis, that in the early part of the last century--the
+nineteenth--the dictionaries only refer to Pantomime as meaning the
+former of the above two definitions, and not the latter.)
+
+Pan, regarded as the symbol of the universe, was also the god of flocks,
+pastures, and shepherds in classic Mythology, and the guardian of bees,
+hunting and fishing in his Kingdom of Arcadia. His form, like the
+Satyrs, both supposed to have been the offsprings of Mercury, was that
+of a man combined with a goat, having horns and feet like the latter
+animal.
+
+_Mimos_ (Gr.), as I have stated in the beginning, means an "imitator,"
+or a "mimic," and from which word we have the derivation of the words
+"mimicry," "mimetic," and the like.
+
+Pan was the traditional inventor of the Pandean pipes, and also from
+his name we derive many words that are in our language, such as "panic"
+(Pan used to delight in suddenly surprising the shepherds whilst tending
+their flocks), and the other attributes of this noun, including that
+recently coined term of the Americans, "panicy."
+
+Pan is said to have been the son of Mercury, or even Mercury himself,
+and others say that he was the son of Zeus. Mercury and Zeus, it will be
+remembered in Mythology, were only names for Noah. Pan is unnoticed by
+Homer.
+
+A heathen deity of Italy, Lupercus, the guardian of their flocks and
+pastures, has also been identified with Pan, and in whose honour annual
+rural festivals, known as Lupercalia, were observed.
+
+The Lupercalian festivals were held on the 15th of the Kalends of March.
+The priests, Luperci, used to dance naked through the streets as part of
+the ceremonies attached to the festival.
+
+Mention has been made by Dr. Clarke, in his "Travels," Vol. IV., that
+Harlequin is the god Mercury, with his short sword _herpe_, or his rod,
+the _caduceus_ (which has been likened to the sceptre of Judah), to
+render himself invisible, and to transport himself from one end of the
+earth to the other, and that the covering on his head, the winged cap,
+was the _petasus_. Apropos of this, the following lines in the tenth
+Ode, of the first book of Horace, will probably occur to the reader:
+
+    "Mercury! Atlas' smooth-tongued boy, whose will
+      First trained to speed our wildest earliest race,
+    And gave their rough hewn forms with supple skill
+      The gymnast's grace.
+
+    "'Tis thine the unbodied spirits of the blessed,
+      To guide to bliss, and with thy _golden rod_
+    To rule the shades; above, below, caressed
+      By every god."
+
+Mercury, as we have seen, was among the Ancients, only another name for
+Noah. "Indeed," says Dr. Clarke, "some of the representations of Mercury
+upon ancient vases are actually taken from the scenic exhibitions of the
+Grecian theatre; and that these exhibitions were also the prototypes
+whereon D'Hancarville shows Mercury, Momus, and Psyche delineated as we
+see Harlequin, Columbine, and Clown on our stages. The old man
+(Pantaloon), is Charon (the ferryman of hell). The Clown is Momus, the
+buffoon of heaven, the god of raillery and wit, and whose large gaping
+mouth is in imitation of the ancient masks."
+
+Amongst the Aryans, Medians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Babylonians, and
+other nations (including our own, as did not Lilly predict the execution
+of Charles I., the plague, the great fire of London, and other events)
+was astrology practised. The Egyptians peopled the constellation of the
+Zodiac (the first open book for mankind to read), with Genii, and one of
+the twelve Zodiacal signs was Aries (the Ram). The ram is of the same
+species as the goat, and the god Pan was the Goat god, as we know. The
+astrologers, in their divinations and rulings of the planets placed the
+various parts of the body under a planetary influence. The head and face
+were assigned to the house of Aries, and therefore the face notably for
+the Pantomimic Art was placed by the ancient astrologers under the
+influence of this particular planet.
+
+The heathen worship of Pan was not only known in Arcadia, but also
+throughout Greece, although it did not reach Athens until after
+Marathon.
+
+Of Pan's death Plutarch tells the story that in the reign of Tiberius,
+one Thamus, a pilot, visiting the islands of Paxae, was told of this
+god's death. When he reached Palodes he told the news, whereupon loud
+and great lamentations were heard, as of Nature herself expressing her
+grief. The epoch of the story coincides with the enactment of that grim,
+and the world's greatest tragedy on the hill of Golgotha, and the end,
+and the beginning of a new world. Rabelais, Milton, Schiller, and also
+Mrs. Browning, have allusions to this story of Plutarch's.
+
+The ambitious family of the Titans (the bones of the "giants on the
+earth" before the Deluge, gave rise to the stories of the Titans found
+in caves), and their scions and coadjutors Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Mercury,
+Apollo, Diana, Bacchus, Minerva, or Pallas, Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto,
+and Neptune furnish by far the greatest part of the Mythology of Greece.
+Tradition says that they left Phoenicia about the time of Moses to
+settle in Crete, and from thence they made their way into Greece, which
+was supposed at that time to be inhabited by a race of savages. The arts
+and inventions were communicated to the natives, and the blessings of
+civilization in process of time inspired the inhabitants with
+admiration. They, therefore, relinquished worshipping the luminary and
+heavenly bodies, and transferred their devotion to their benefactors.
+Then into existence sprang the most inconsistent and irreconcilable
+fictions. The deified mortals, with their foibles and frailities, were
+transmitted to posterity in the most glorious manner possible, and hence
+accordingly, in both the Odyssey and the Iliad of Homer, we have a
+strange and heterogeneous mixture of what is not only mighty in heroes,
+but also that which is equally mean.
+
+In the Grecian Mythology the labours of Hercules, the expedition of
+Osiris, the wanderings and transformation of Io, the fable of the
+conflagration of Phaeton, the rage of Proserpine, the wanderings of
+Ceres, the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Orgia, or sacred rites of Bacchus,
+in fine, the ground work of Grecian Mythology is to be traced to the
+East, from where also all our nursery tales, and also our popular
+Pantomime subjects; (which is the subject of another chapter) perhaps,
+with the exception of our own "Robinson Crusoe," originated.
+
+The nine Muses called Pierides in Grecian Mythology were the daughters
+of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (Memory), supposed to preside over the liberal
+Arts and the sciences. They were Calliope (Heroic Poetry), Clio Euterpe
+(Music), Erato (Love Poetry), Melpomene (Tragedy), Polyhymnia (Muse of
+Singing and Rhetoric), Terpsichore (Dancing), Thalia (Comedy), and
+Urania (Astronomy). Mount Parnassus, Mount Helicon, and the fountains of
+Castalia and Aganippe were the sacred places of the Muses.
+
+The Eleusinian Mysteries are of a period that may be likened to the 7th
+century B.C., and at these Mysteries as many as 30,000 persons, in the
+time of Herodotus, assembled to witness them. The attributes of these
+Grecian Mysteries, like those of the Egyptians, consisted of
+processions, sacrificial offerings, purifications, dances, and all that
+the Mimetic and the other Arts could convey; add to this the various
+coloured lights, and the fairy-like grandeur of the whole, we have
+something that may be likened to the Transformation, and other
+fairy-like scenes of English Pantomimes and Extravaganzas.
+
+At the Orgia, or sacred rites of Bacchus, the customary sacrifice to be
+offered, because it fed on vines, was the goat. The vine, ivy, laurel,
+asphodel, the dolphin, lynx, tiger, and ass were all sacred to Bacchus.
+The acceptable sacrifice to Venus was a dove; Jupiter, a bull; an ox of
+five years old, ram or boar pig to Neptune; and Diana, a stag. At the
+inception of the Bacchanalian festivals in Greece, the tragic song of
+the Goat, a sacred hymn was sung, and from which rude beginning sprang
+the Tragedy and Comedy of Greece. The Greeks place every event as
+happening in their country, and it is not surprising that they claim for
+themselves the inception of Tragedy and Comedy, which they undoubtedly
+were the originators of in Greece, but the religious festivals of
+Dionysus, Osiris, and Bacchus, to which we are supposed to owe the
+inception of Tragedy and Comedy, were known long before the Greeks knew
+them. (Dionysus was the patron and protector of theatres.) "The purport
+of the song was that Bacchus imparted his secret of the cultivation of
+vines to a petty prince in Attica, named Icarius, who happened one day
+to espy a goat brouzing upon his plantations, immediately seized, and
+offered it up as a sacrifice to his divine benefactor; the peasants
+assembled round their master, assisted in the ceremony, and expressed
+their joy and gratitude in music, songs, dances, and Pantomime on the
+occasion; the sacrifice grew into a festival, and the festival into an
+annual solemnity, attended most probably every year with additional
+circumstances, when the countrymen flocked together in crowds, and sang
+in rustic strains the praises of their favourite deity."
+
+Amongst the reported followers of these Bacchanalian festivals were
+those fabulous race of grotesque sylvan beings, previously referred to,
+known as the Satyrs. They were of a sturdy frame, in features they had
+broad snub noses, and appeared in rough skins of animals with large
+pointed ears, heavy knots on their foreheads, and a small tail. The
+elder Satyrs were known as Sileni. The younger were more pleasing and
+not so grotesque or repulsive in appearance as the elder Satyrs. To the
+Satyrs can be traced the variegated dress of the modern Harlequin, as in
+ancient Greek history mention is made of the performers enacting Satyrs
+being sometimes habited in a tiger's skin of various colours, which
+encircled the performer's body tightly, and who carried a wooden sword,
+wore a white hat, and a brown mask. According to Servius (as we have
+seen) Pan had also a bright spotted dress "in likeness of the stars."
+
+From these rustic festivals originated the Satyr, or Satirical Drama, as
+did its Italian prototype, the _Fabulae Atellanae_ or, _Laudi Osci_.
+These rural sacrifices became, in process of time, a solemn fast, and
+assumed all the pomp and splendour of a religious ceremony; poets were
+employed by the magistrate to compose hymns, or songs, for the occasion;
+such was the rudeness and simplicity of the age that their bards
+contended for a prize, which, as Horace intimates, was scarce worth
+contending for, being no more than a goat or skin of wine, which was
+given to the happy poet who acquitted himself best in the task assigned
+him.
+
+From such small beginnings Tragedy and Comedy took their rise; and like
+(as the best writers on these subjects tell us) every other production
+of human art, extremely contemptible; that wide and deep stream, which
+flows with such strength and rapidity through cultivated Greece, took
+its rise from a small and inconsiderable fountain, which hides itself in
+the recesses of antiquity, and is almost buried in oblivion; the name
+alone remains to give us some light into its original nature, and to
+inform us, that Tragedy and Comedy, like every other species of poetry,
+owe their birth to Religion.
+
+Appropriately does Horace observe:--
+
+    "Nor was the flute at first with silver bound,
+    Nor rivalled emulous the trumpet's sound;
+    Few were its notes, its forms were simply plain,
+    Yet not unuseful was its feeble strain,
+    To aid the chorus, and their songs to raise,
+    Filling the little theatre with ease,
+    To which a thin and pious audience came
+    Of frugal manners, and unsullied fame."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+The origin of the Indian Drama--Aryan Mythology--Clown and
+Columbine--Origin of the Chinese Drama--Inception of the Japanese
+Drama--The Siamese Drama--Dramatic performances of the South Sea
+Islanders, Peruvians, Aztecs, Zulus, and Fijis--The Egyptian Drama.
+
+
+Of the Indian Drama we learn that the union of music, song, dance, and
+Pantomime took place centuries ago B.C., at the festivals of the native
+gods, to which was afterwards added dialogue, and long before the
+advent, out of which it grew, of the native drama itself.
+
+The progenitors of the Indo-European race, the Aryans--in Sanscrit
+meaning Agriculturists--who crossed the Indus from Amoo, where they
+dwelt near the Oxus, some two thousand years before Christ, were the
+original ancestors and people of India.
+
+The Aryan race (Hindus and Persians only speak of themselves as Aryans)
+laid the foundation of the Grecian and Roman Mythology, the dark and
+more sombre legends of the Scandinavian and the Teuton; and all derived
+from the various names grouped round the Sun god, which in the lighter
+themes the Aryans associated with the rising and the setting of the sun,
+in all its heavenly glory, and with the sombre legends the coming of the
+winter, and marking the difference between lightness and darkness.
+
+In India the origin of dramatic entertainments has been attributed to
+the sage Bharata (meaning an actor), who received, it is said, a
+communication from the god Brahma to introduce them, as the latter had
+received his knowledge of them from the Vedas. Bharata was also said to
+be the "Father of dramatic criticism." Pantomimic scenes derived from
+the heathen Mythology of Vishnu--a collection of poems and hymns on the
+Aryan religion--are even now in India occasionally enacted by the Jatras
+of the Bengalis and the Rasas of the provinces in the west, and, just as
+their forefathers did ages and ages ago. An episode from the history of
+the god Vishnu, in relation to his marriage with Laxmi, was a favourite
+subject for the early Indian Drama. Of Vedic Mythology Professor Max
+Mueller observes that in it "There are no genealogies, no settled
+marriages between gods and goddesses. The father is sometimes the son,
+the brother, the husband, and she who in one hymn is the mother, is in
+another the wife. As the conceptions of the poet vary so varies the
+nature of these gods."
+
+The Hindoo dramatic writer, Babhavnti--the Indian
+Shakespeare--introduced with success in one of his dramas, like in our
+"Hamlet," "a play within a play," and much in a similar way as our early
+dramatists used in their plays, the "dumb shows."
+
+Between the native Tragedy and Comedy, as in China, there was no
+definite distinction, and, although both contained some of the best and
+noblest sentiments, yet the racial philosophy of caste enters greatly
+into the construction of each.
+
+In the Hindoo Mythology we have prototypes of the gods of the Egyptian,
+Grecian, and Roman Mythologies. The god Vishnu, who, in Aryan Mythology,
+is the wind and "Traverses the heavens in three strides," is the
+greatest of all heathen deities. His dwelling-place was "The aerial
+mountains, where the many horned and swiftly moving cattle abide." In
+Grecian Mythology Hermes or Mercury took on some of the characteristics
+of Vishnu.
+
+In the Eleusinian Mysteries of the Greeks, the signs and symbols that
+marked the worship of Vishnu by the Aryans, are apparent; and in the
+British Museum the scenes of the vases of the Hamilton collection agree
+closely with the Sacti rites of Hindustan.
+
+After having briefly noticed and introduced Vishnu or Hermes to the
+notice of the reader, we will now take another of the Aryan
+deities--See-Va, the Wine god. This myth was the Dionysus, or Bacchus,
+of the Greeks, and the expedition of this "immortal" through the world
+to instruct mankind in agriculture, is likened as well as the god
+himself by the Egyptians to their deity Osiris--the god of the Nile. The
+worship of See-Va, Bacchus, or Osiris extended over Asia Minor, Greece,
+and Italy.
+
+The visit and advent of the Wine or Pleasure god Bacchus to India, with
+his accompanying train of sylvan and rural deities, and nymphs, is
+supposed to have conquered the Hindoos, and taught them civilization,
+besides the cultivation of the vine. Strange to relate that when
+Alexander and his army reached the present Cabul they found ivy and
+wild vines (both sacred to Bacchus) growing in abundance, and they were
+met by processions dressed in parti-coloured dresses, playing on drums
+like the Bacchic festivals of Greece and Lower Asia of that time.
+
+Female parts were acted by women, but it was not a general custom; and
+the Clown of the piece was always a Brahma, or if not, at any rate a
+pupil of Brahma.
+
+Also among the minor characters was the _Vita_, "the accomplished
+companion," a part sometimes played by men and sometimes by women.
+Probably in this in the latter instance we have the origin of the
+Columbine and Soubrette part in after years of the European stage as the
+term "accomplished companion," would equally apply to both. It is only a
+surmise, yet history as we know is continually repeating itself--even in
+Soubrette parts, and in more senses than one.
+
+Of scenic displays that it possessed there was little or none, though
+the exits and entrances to the stage had probably some device to denote
+them. What they possessed in the way of properties it is more than
+useless to speculate, as, whatever could be said, could only be
+conjectural. In dressing their parts propriety in costume, and in
+adhering to the habits of the Indian Drama, seems to have been observed
+with some show of consistency.
+
+The Chinese Drama also arose from the Hindoo developing itself as time
+rolled on from Pantomimes and ballets. A very ancient Pantomime is said
+to have been symbolical of the conquest of China by Wou Wang. Others
+were on subjects of the Harvest, War, and Peace; whilst many were only
+of an obscure nature. With the rise and progress of the native drama
+about five hundred years before Christ Pantomimes fell into disrepute.
+
+It is interesting to note that one of the penal codes of the Celestial
+Empire was, that those who wrote plays with vicious, or immoral
+tendencies, should stay in "purgatory" as long as their plays were
+performed. This precept was all right in theory, but in practice it was
+more honoured in the breach than in the observance, as amongst the whole
+of the Celestial dramatic writers only one in about ten thousand seems
+to have conformed to this rule.
+
+The dramatic writers of China duly observed the question of rank and
+priority, and just as much as the native Hindoo writers observed that of
+the various phases of caste.
+
+Plays were divided into acts and scenes, and occasionally were prefixed
+by a prologue. Performances took sometimes a single day, and favourite
+plays oftentimes longer.
+
+The Japanese type of drama seems to have originally evolved itself from
+that of the Chinese, though its singing, dancing, historical, and
+Pantomimical displays are, of course, purely native.
+
+A native of Japan, though of Chinese descent, Hadu Kawatsa, at the
+close of the 6th century (A.D.) gave dramatic entertainments in Japan.
+The Japanese claim for the Pantomimical dance Sambaso as a preventative
+of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; and this dance, it is said, that
+within recent years, is used as a prelude to dramatic entertainments.
+
+Isono Zenji is thought to have been the originator of the Japanese
+Drama, but her performances were more those of the _Mima_--dancing and
+posturing.
+
+In the seventeenth century Saruwaka Kanzaburo introduced the drama
+proper into Japan by the erection, in 1624, of a theatre, and nearly
+fifty years later than the first permanent theatre that was erected
+(1576) in England.
+
+Popular historical subjects were chosen for the plays, though the names
+of the characters were transformed. Fancy plays, operas, ballets, which
+in the latter women appeared, became also very popular.
+
+Within sight of the closing years of the last century (the nineteenth),
+Japanese actors were more or less under a ban when the same was happily
+removed.
+
+Siam was content with the Indian style of dramatic and Pantomimic
+entertainments. Theatrical performances were also slightly known--though
+no regular type of drama is known--amongst the South Sea Islanders, the
+Peruvians, the Aztecs, the Zulus, and the Fijis, the two last named
+having a similar version of our popular Pantomime subject, "Jack and the
+Beanstalk."
+
+The Egyptians possessed no regular type of drama, yet in both the Books
+of Job and Ruth the dramatic element is strongly marked. At the rustic
+festivals of the native gods, as in Greece and Italy, there was,
+however, the dramatic elements of the union of song, dance, and
+Pantomime, and we are told that the priests not only studied music, but
+also taught the art to others. Again in the rites of the dead the
+Mysteries of the sepulture over the transmigration of souls, the
+dramatic element entered largely into these mystic rites and
+celebrations. Amongst the Pagan Greeks, as I have previously stated, and
+the Romans, we learn of similar celebrations, carried out with great
+pomp and ceremony, such as the apotheosis of the soul departing from its
+earthly to its heavenly abode.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+"Dancing," _i.e._ Pantomime--Grecian Dancing and Pantomimic
+Scenes--Aristotle--Homer--Dances common to both Greeks and Romans.
+
+
+In tracing the History of Pantomime it becomes a matter of considerable
+difficulty, and, as Baron, in his _Lettres sur la Danse_, observes that
+when the word Dancing occurs in an old author, that it should always be
+translated by "gesticulation," "declamation," or "Pantomime." When we
+read that an actress "danced" her part well in the tragedy of Medea,
+that a carver cut up food dancing, that Heligobalus and Caligula
+"danced" a discourse for an audience of state, we are to understand that
+they--actress, carver, and emperor--declaimed, gesticulated, made
+themselves understood in a language without words. Acting is also
+oftentimes confounded with dancing, and it is, therefore, manifestly
+impossible to distinguish now one from the other.
+
+"The Greeks," mentions Butteux, applied the term "Dancing" to all
+measured movements, even to military marching. They danced anywhere and
+everywhere; and we are told that both their limbs and bodies spoke.
+
+Cybele was supposed by the Greeks to have taught dancing on Mount Ida to
+the Corybantes, and they also say that it was in their country that
+Apollo revealed the Terpsichorean Art, and that of Music and Poetry.
+
+After all this, it is not very surprising that they make claim for the
+innovation of Pantomime. This, of course, we know is different, as we
+have seen that, from time immemorial Pantomimic scenes and dances have
+been represented. Cassiodorus attributes its institution to Philistion;
+Athenaens assigns it to Rhodamanthus, or to Palamedes.
+
+With the Greeks, Pantomimes became very popular, and they were
+distinguished by various names. Before they began their Tragedies the
+Greeks used to give a Pantomimic display. The principal Pantomimists
+were known as _Ethologues_, meaning painters of manners. One of the most
+celebrated of these Mimes was Sophron of Syracuse. In depicting the
+conduct of man so faithfully, the Pantomimes of the Greek Mimes served
+to teach and inculcate useful moral lessons. The moral philosophy of the
+Mime, Sophron, was so pure that Plato kept a book of his poems under his
+pillow when on his death-bed. Besides these Moralities, as they were
+termed, there were, in addition, light pieces of a farcical kind, in the
+portrayal of which the Mimes were equally as successful as in the other
+species.
+
+The dancing of the Greeks was an actual language, in which all
+sentiments and passages were interpreted. By the aid of the
+Terpsichorean Art, Professor Desrat says, "That the Greeks, a nation of
+heroes, trained themselves in the art of hand-to-hand combat."
+
+"Dancing," says another writer, "and imitative acting in the lower
+stages of civilization are identical, and in the sacred dances of
+ancient Greece we may trace the whole Dramatic Art of the modern world.
+The Spartans practised dancing as a gymnastic exercise, and made it
+compulsory upon all children from the age of five."
+
+And we are also told that religious processions went with song and dance
+(and, of course, Pantomime), to the Egyptian temples; the Cretan chorus
+sang hymns to the Greek gods; David danced in procession before the Ark
+of the Covenant; and that we are to "Praise the Lord with the sound of
+the trumpet, praise Him with the psaltery and the harp; praise Him with
+the timbrel and the _dance_."
+
+Aristotle speaks of Mimetic dances three hundred years before the
+Augustan era. He also says that dancers want neither poetry or music, as
+by the assistance of measure and cadence only they can imitate human
+manners, actions, and passions.
+
+Again, "Homer, describing the employment of the Delian priestesses, or
+Nuns, of the order of St. Apollo of Delos, that they were great adepts
+in the Art of Mimicry, and that part of the entertainment which they
+afforded to the numerous people of different nations; who formed their
+congregations was, as the poet expresses it, from their _being skilled
+to imitate the voices and the pulsation or measure of all nations, and
+so exactly was their song adapted that every man would think he himself
+was singing_."
+
+Homer also mentions a dance invented for Ariadne. In the midst of the
+dancers, there were two dancers who sang the adventures of Daedalus,
+supplementing their singing by gestures, and explaining in Pantomime the
+subject of the whole performance.
+
+The Pyrrhic dance of the Greeks was a sort of military Pantomime. The
+Greeks had several kinds of Pyrrhic dances, the names of which varied
+with the character of the performance.
+
+    The Hyplomachia imitated a fight with shields.
+    The Skiamachia was a battle with shadows,
+    The Monomachia was an imitation of single combat.
+
+Some of the Mimetic dances common to both Greeks and Romans were The
+Loves of Adonis and Venus, the Exploits of Ajax, the Adventures of
+Apollo, the Rape of Ganymede, the Loves of Jupiter and Danae, the Birth
+of Jupiter, Hector, the Rape of Europa, the Labours of Hercules,
+Hercules Mad, the Graces, Saturn devouring his Children, the Cybele in
+honour of Cybele, the Cyclops, the Sorrows of Niobe, the Tragic End of
+Semele, the Wars of the Titans, the Judgment of Paris, Daphne pursued by
+Apollo, the Bucolic Dance, and the Dance of Flowers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Thespis--The Progress of Tragedy and Comedy--Aeschylus--The
+Epopee--Homer--Sophocles--Euripides--Grecian Mimes--The First Athenian
+Theatre--Scenery and Effects.
+
+
+When Thespis first pointed out the tragic path, and when (as Horace
+tells us in his Odes) that "The inventor of the Art carried his vagrant
+players on a cart," by his introduction of a new personage, who relieved
+the chorus, or troop of singers, by reciting some part of a well-known
+history, or fable, which gave time for the chorus to rest. All that the
+actors repeated between the songs of the chorus was called an episode,
+or additional part, consisting often of different adventures, which had
+no connexion with each other. Thus Pantomime, the song, and the dance,
+which were at first the only performances, became gradually and
+insensibly a necessary and ornamental part of the drama.
+
+From this time, the actor, or reciter, was more attended to than the
+chorus; however, his part was executed, and it had the powerful charms
+of novelty to recommend it, and quickly obscured the lustre of the
+chorus, whose songs were now of a different nature, insomuch that the
+original subject of them, the praise of Bacchus, was by degrees either
+slightly mentioned, or totally passed over and forgotten; the priests,
+who we may suppose for a long time presided over the whole, were alarmed
+at so open a contempt of the deity, and unanimously exclaimed, that this
+was nothing to Bacchus; the contempt grew into a kind of proverbial
+saying, and as such is handed down to us.
+
+From the origin of Tragedy and Comedy, and to the days of Thespis, and
+from this time to that of Aeschylus, all is doubt, conjecture, and
+obscurity; neither Aristotle, nor any other ancient writer, gives us the
+least insight into the state and progress of the Greek Drama; the names
+of a few, and but a few, tragedians, during this dark period, are handed
+down to us; such were Epigenes, the Sicyonion, and Pratinas, who wrote
+fifty-two plays, thirty-two of which are said to be satirical. After
+Thespis, came his scholar Phrynicus, who wrote nine tragedies; for one
+of which, we are told, he was fined fifty drachmas, because he had made
+it (an odd reason) too deep, and too affecting; there was another, also
+named Phrynicus, author of two tragedies: to these must be added
+Alcaeus, Phormus, and Choeritas, together with Cephisodorus, an
+Athenian, who wrote the "Amazon," and Apollophanes, supposed to have
+been the author of a tragedy named "Daulis," though Suidas is of another
+opinion. Tragedy had, during the lives of these writers, probably made
+but a slow progress, and received but very little culture and
+improvement; when at length the great Aeschylus arose, who, from this
+rude and undigested chaos, created as it were a new world in the system
+of letters.
+
+Poets, and perhaps epic poets, there might have been before Homer (the
+latter, who, in all probability, lived within fifty years of the Fall of
+Troy--1250 B.C.). Dramatic writers there certainly were before Aeschylus
+the former notwithstanding, we may, with the utmost propriety, style the
+inventor and father of heroic poetry, and the latter of the ancient
+drama, which, before his time, does not appear to have had any
+particular form but that of Pantomime, song, and the union of song and
+dance. _Aeschylus first introduced dialogue_, that most essential part
+of tragedy, and by the addition of the second personage, threw the whole
+fable into action, and restored the chorus to its ancient dignity.
+
+Aeschylus having, like a tender parent, endowed his darling child with
+every mental accomplishment, seemed resolved that no external ornaments
+should be wanting to render her universally amiable; he clothed her,
+therefore, in the most splendid habit, and bestowed upon her everything
+that Art could produce, to heighten and improve her charms. Aeschylus,
+who being himself author, actor, and manager, took upon him the whole
+conduct of the drama, and did not neglect any part of it; he improved
+the scenery and decorations, brought his actors into a well constructed
+theatre, raised his heroes on the _cothurnus_, or buskin, invented the
+masks, and introduced splendid habits with long trains, that gave an air
+of majesty and dignity to the performers.
+
+From the time when Tragedy began to assume a regular form, we find her
+closely following the steps of epic poetry; all the parts of _epopee_,
+or heroic poem, may be traced in tragedy, though, as Aristotle observes,
+all the parts of tragedy are not to be found in the _epopee_; whence the
+partisans of the stage with some reason conclude, that perfection in the
+former is more difficult to be attained than in the latter. Without
+entering into a dispute, we may venture, however, to say that from Homer
+the tragedians drew the plan, construction, and conduct of their fables,
+and not unfrequently, the fable itself; to him they applied for
+propriety of manners, character, sentiment, and diction.
+
+From this era then, we are to consider Tragedy as an elegant and noble
+structure, built according to the rules of art, symmetry, and
+proportion; whose every part was in itself fair, firm, and compact--and
+at the same time contributed to the beauty, utility, and duration of the
+whole edifice.
+
+Sophocles and Euripides carefully studied the plan laid down by
+Aeschylus, and by their superior genius and judgment, improved it in a
+short time to its highest state of perfection, from which it gradually
+declined to the rise of the Roman Drama.
+
+Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were the three great tragic poets;
+and from the works of these three illustrious writers, and from them
+alone, we must draw all our knowledge of the ancient Greek Tragedy.
+
+Comedy, like Tragedy, owes its origin to the union of music, song,
+dance, and Pantomime; Tragedy to the dithyrambick, and Comedy to the
+phallica; and each of them (emulating Pantomime), began to form
+themselves into dramatic imitations; each studied to adopt a measure
+suited to their purpose:--Tragedy, the more lofty, chose the tetrameter;
+and comedy, which aimed at familiarity, the iambic. But, as the style of
+tragedy improved, Nature herself, says Aristotle, directed the writers
+to abandon the capering tetrameter, and to embrace that measure which
+was most accommodated to the purposes of dialogue; whence the iambic
+became the common measure of both Tragedy and Comedy.
+
+Sophocles brought on a third actor, which number was not exceeded in the
+Greek tragedies during the same scene. Horace alludes to this, "_nec
+quarta loqui persona laboret_," (Let not a fourth person strive to
+speak): but it was not observed in comedy. Players of second parts were
+obliged to speak so low as not to drown the voice of the chief actor.
+Tyrants were always played by subalterns. The women were only dancers
+(and Pantomimists). Female parts were performed by eunuchs.
+
+On the Grecian stage, those performers who devoted themselves entirely
+to the Art of Miming originally came from Sicily and southern Italy,
+though the exact period is difficult to determine with any degree of
+certainty.
+
+The figures of tragic or comic actors were known by the long and strait
+sleeves which they wore. The servants in comedy, below the dress with
+strait sleeves, had a short cassock with half-sleeves. That the
+characters might be distinguished (a difficulty in this respect arising
+from the size of the theatres) parasites carried a short truncheon; the
+rural deities, shepherds, and peasants, the crook; heralds and
+ambassadors, the _caduceus_; kings, a long, straight sceptre; heroes, a
+club, etc. The tunic of tragic actors descended to the heels, and was
+called _palla_. They generally carried a long staff or an erect sceptre.
+They who represented old men, leaned upon a long and crooked staff.
+
+The first Greek theatre at Athens (says Fosbroke, in his "Antiquities,")
+was a temporary structure of boards, removed after the performances were
+closed. This fashion continued till the erection of the theatre of
+Bacchus, at Athens, which served as a model for the others. The Greek
+theatre was no more than a concave sweep, scooped out of the hollow side
+of a hill, generally facing the sea. The sweep was filled with seats,
+rising above each other, and ascended by staircases, placed like the
+_radii_ of a circle. This semi-circular form was adopted not merely for
+convenience of vision, but for an aid to the sound. This range for
+spectators was called the _coilon_ or hollow. The area below was the
+_conistra_, or pit. There was no superstructure for a gallery, but
+around the rim of the building were porticos, by which the spectators
+entered, and whither they could retire, if it rained. The portico just
+about the highest corridor, or lobby, was denominated the _cercys_, and
+used by the women. Where is now the orchestra, was a platform, called
+by that name; and here, among the Greeks, were stationed the musicians;
+chorus and Mimes; among the Romans, the Emperor, Senate, and other
+persons of quality. Seven feet above the orchestra, and eleven above the
+_conistra_, or pit, was the front stage, or proscenium, upon which stood
+an altar to Apollo. Here the principal actors performed, and the site of
+the altar was devoted to the dances (of the Mimes) and songs of the
+chorus. The part called the _scena_ was in line with the ornamental
+columns, upon the sides of the stage.
+
+The ancient scenery at first consisted of mere boughs, but afterwards of
+tapestry, not painted canvas. The Greek stage consisted of three parts,
+the _scena_, across the theatre, upon the line of the curtain in our
+theatres; the proscenium, where the actors performed; and the
+post-scenium, the part behind the house, before-mentioned. To form parts
+of the scenes there were prisms of framework, turning upon pivots, upon
+each face of which was strained a distinct picture, one for tragedy,
+consisting of large buildings, with columns, statues, and other
+corresponding ornaments; a second face, with houses, windows, and
+balconies, for comedy; a third applied to farce, with cottages,
+grottoes, and rural scenes. There were the _scenae versatiles_ of
+Servius. Besides these, there were _scenae ductiles_, which drew
+backwards and forwards, and opened a view of the house, which was built
+upon the stage, and contained apartments for machinery, or retirement
+for the actors. As to the patterns of the scenes, in comedy, the most
+considerable building was in the centre; that on the right side was a
+little less elevated, and that on the left generally represented an inn.
+In the satirical pieces they had always a cave in the middle, a wretched
+cabin on the right, and on the left an old ruined temple, or some
+landscape. In these representations perspective was observed for
+Vitruvius remarks (C. 8) that the rules of it were invented and
+practised from the time of Aeschylus, by a painter named Agararchus, who
+has even left a treatise upon it. After the downfall of the Roman
+Empire, these decorations of the stage were neglected, till Peruzzi, a
+Siennese, who died in 1536, revived them.
+
+There were three entries in front, and two on the sides; the middle
+entry (termed the Royal door) was always that of the principal actor;
+thus, in tragedy, it was commonly the gate of a palace. Those on the
+right and left were destined to the second-part players, and the two
+others, on the sides, one to people from the country, the other to those
+from the harbour, or any public place.
+
+Pollux informs us, that there were trap-doors for ghosts, furies, and
+the infernal deities. Some under the doors, on one side, introduced the
+rural deities, and on the other the marine. The ascents or descents were
+managed by cords, wheels, and counter-weights. Of these machines none
+were more common than those which descended from heaven in the end of
+the play, in which the gods came to extricate the poet in the
+_denouement_. The kinds were chiefly three; some conveyed the performer
+across the theatre in the air; by others, the gods descended on the
+stage; and a third contrivance, elevated, or supported in the air,
+persons who seemed to fly, from which accidents often happened. (It is
+from this that the well-known phrase "_Deus ex machina_" has its
+origin.) As the ancient theatres were larger than ours, and unroofed,
+there was no wheel-work aloft, but the performer was elevated by a sort
+of crane, of which the beam was above the stage; and turning upon
+itself, whilst the counter-weight made the actor descend or ascend,
+caused him to describe curves, jointly composed of the circular motion
+of the crane, and the vertical ascent. The _anapesmata_ were cords for
+the sudden appearance of furies, when fastened to the lowest steps; and
+to the ascension of rivers, when attached to the stage. The
+_ceraunoscopium_ was a kind of moveable tower, whence Jupiter darted
+lightning, supposed to be the Greek fire, as in Ajax Oielus. The machine
+for thunder (_bronton_) was a brazen vase, concealed under the stage, in
+which they rolled stones. Festus calls it the Claudian thunder, from
+Claudius Pulcher, the inventor. The most dreadful machines were,
+however, the _pegmata_ (a general term also for all the machines), which
+first consisted of scaffolds in stories, &c. These first exhibited
+criminals fighting at the top, and then, dropping to pieces,
+precipitated them to the lower story, to be torn to pieces by wild
+beasts. Sometimes they were for vomiting flames, &c. The _theologium_
+was a place more elevated than the stage, where the gods stood and
+spoke, and the machines which held them rested.
+
+The seats of the spectators were divided into stories, each containing
+seven rows of seats, with two passages (_praecinctiones_) around them
+above and below. Small staircases divided the seats into sections,
+called _cunei_, and ended in a gate at the top, which communicated with
+passages (the _vomitoriae_) for admission.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Roman Theatres--Description--"Deadheads"--Pantomime in Italy--Livius
+Andronicus--_Fabulae Atellanae_--Extemporal Comedy--Origin of the
+Masque, Opera, and Vaudeville--Origin of the term
+Histrionic--Etruscans--Popularity of Pantomime in Italy--Pantomimists
+banished by Trajan--Nero as a Mime--Pylades and Bathyllus--Subjects
+chosen for the Roman Pantomimes--The Ballet--The _Mimi_ and
+_Pantomimi_--_Archimimus_--Vespasian--Harlequin--"Mr. Punch"--Zany, how
+the word originated--Ancient Masks--Lucian, Cassiodorus, and Demetrius
+in praise of Pantomime--A celebrated _Mima_--Pantomimes denounced by
+early writers--The purity of the English stage contrasted with that of
+the Grecian and Roman--Female parts on the Grecian and Roman stages--The
+principal Roman _Mimas_--The origin of the Clown of the early English
+Drama.
+
+
+The Roman theatres (continues Fosbroke) were of a similar D form. Two
+lofty arched doorways entered into the pit. In front of the stage, which
+was very shallow, was a pew-like orchestra. The proscenium was very
+narrow, and instead of a drop scene was the _elisium_, a house, narrow,
+with a kind of bow window front in the centre, and a door on each side:
+for Pollux says that a house with two stories formed part of the stage,
+whence old women and panders used to look down and peep about them.
+Within the house were apartments. Around the back of the stage was a
+_porticus_. At Herculaneum, on a balustrade which divided the orchestra
+from the stage, was found a row of statues, and on each side of the
+_pulpitum_, an equestrian figure. Below the theatre (great and small)
+was a large square constructed, says Vitruvius, for the reception of the
+audience in bad weather. It consisted of Doric columns, around an open
+area, forming an ample portico for this purpose, whilst under it were
+arranged _cellae_, or apartments, amongst which were a soap manufactory,
+oil mill, corn mill, and prison. An inner _logia_ was connected with a
+suite of apartments. There was also an _exedra_, or recess.
+
+Among the Romans, theatrical approbation was signified by an artificial
+musical kind of noise, made by the audience to express satisfaction.
+There were three species of applause denominated from the different
+noises made in them, viz.: _Bombus_, _Imbrius_, and _Testae_.
+
+First, a confused din, made either by the hands or mouth. The second and
+third, by beating on a sort of sounding vessel placed in the theatres
+for that purpose. Persons were instructed to give applause with
+skill--and there were even masters who professed to teach the art. The
+proficients in this way let themselves out for hire to the poets,
+actors, &c., and were so disposed as to support a loud applause. These
+they called _Laudicena_. At the end of the play, a loud peal of applause
+was expected, and even asked of the audience either by the chorus or by
+the person who spoke last. The formula was "_Spectatore Claudite_," or
+"_Valete et Plaudite_." The applauders were divided into _Chori_, and
+disposed in theatres opposite to each other, like the choristers in
+cathedrals, so that there was a kind of concert of applause. The free
+admission tickets were small ivory death's heads, and specimens of these
+are to be seen in the Museum of Naples. From this custom, it is stated,
+that we derive our word "Deadhead," as denoting one who has a free
+entrance to places of amusement.
+
+With the dawn of the Roman Empire, Pantomime, in Italy, is first
+authentically mentioned. The Emperor Augustus always displayed great
+favour to the Art, and even by some writers he has been credited with
+being the originator of Pantomime. This, of course, as we have seen, is
+impossible, and to use a familiar and trite saying, the Pantomimic Art
+is "as old as the hills" themselves. Again, Bathyllus and Pylades (both
+freed slaves, the former born in Cilicia, and the latter came from
+Alexandria), and Hylas, the principal exponents of Pantomime during the
+reign of Augustus, have also been credited with the honour of
+originating Pantomime.
+
+The early Roman entertainments only consisted of the military and sacred
+dances, and the scenes in the circus. With the advent of the arts of
+Greece the austerity hitherto practised by the Romans, which had arisen,
+says Duray, "Much more from poverty than conviction," for "Two or three
+generations had sufficed to change a city which had only known meagre
+festivities and rustic delights into the home of revelry and pleasure."
+
+With the Romans, in their Pantomimic entertainments, the whole gamut of
+the emotions were gone through.
+
+When the Greek drama was brought into Rome by Livius Andronicus, the
+_Fabulae Atellanae_, or _Laudi Osci_--derived from the town of Atella,
+in Campania, between Capua and Naples--was still employed to furnish the
+Interludes, and just in a similar way as the _Satyra_ Extemporal
+Interludes supplied the Grecian stage. None of these Atellan Farces
+have been committed to us, but Cicero, in a letter to his friend
+Papyrius Paetus, speaks of them as the "More delicate burlesque of the
+old Atellan Farces." From them also, we derive the Extemporal Comedy, or
+_Comedia del' Arte_ of Italy (afterwards to be noted), with its
+characters, Harlequin, Clown, Pierrot, and the like, associated with
+English and Italian Pantomime, and the progenitor also of all those
+light forms of entertainment known as the Masque, the Opera, and the
+Vaudeville. On English dramatic literature the Italian Extemporal
+Comedies and their Pantomimical characters have also had a considerable
+amount of influence.
+
+Livy mentions that actors were sent for (_circa_ 364 B.C.) from Etruria,
+who, without verses or any action expressive of verses, danced not
+ungracefully, after the Tuscan manner to the flute. In process of time
+the Roman youth began to imitate these dancers intermixing raillery with
+unpolished verses, their gestures corresponding with the sense of the
+words. Thus were these plays received at Rome, and being improved and
+refined by frequent performance the Roman actors acquired the name of
+_Histriones_, from the Etruscan _Hister_, meaning a dancer or a stage
+player. (From this we obtain our words histrion and histrionic). But
+their dialogue did not consist of unpremeditated and coarse jests in
+such rude verses as were used by the _Fescennini_, but of satires,
+accompanied with music set to the flute, recited with suitable gestures.
+After satires, which had afforded the people subject of coarse mirth
+and laughter, were, by this regulation, reduced to form and acting, by
+degrees became an art, the Roman youth left it to players by profession,
+and began, as formerly, to act farces at the end of their regular
+pieces. These dramas were called _Exodia_, and were generally woven with
+the _Atellanae_ Comedies. These were borrowed from the Osci, and were
+always acted by the Roman youth. Tacitus speaks of _Atellanae_ Comedies
+written in the spirit and language of the Osci having been acted in his
+time.
+
+It is thought that the Etruscans possessed histories, poems, and dramas,
+and, if these, then certainly they knew the Pantomimic Art, out of
+which, in all probability, their dramatic entertainments grew. To the
+Etruscans the Romans owe their early civilization.
+
+The Etruscan era is supposed to have commenced about 1044 B.C., and we
+are told that the Etruscans shared with the Greeks, and the Phoenicians,
+the maritime supremacy of the Mediterranean. In the sepulchral chambers
+of the Necropolis of Tarquinii, which extends for many miles, there are
+several scenes painted in the archaic style by the Etruscans,
+representing the Chase, the Circus, and Dancing Girls.
+
+Soon after its innovation among the Romans, Pantomime spread all over
+Italy and the provinces. So attractive did it become in Rome, and so
+popular, that Tiberius issued a decree forbidding the knights and nobles
+to frequent their houses of entertainment, or to be seen walking in the
+streets with them. Trajan also oppressed and banished the Pantomimists.
+Under Caligula, however, they were received with great favour, and
+Aurelius made them priests of Apollo. Nero, who carried everything to
+the extremity of foolishness, was not content in patronising the
+Pantomimes, but must needs assist, and appear himself, as a _Mimi_. Here
+again, in Nero, another claimant as the author of Pantomime has been put
+forward.
+
+"So great (observes Gaston Vuillier, in his 'History of Dancing,') was
+the admiration for Pylades and Bathyllus that the theatrical supporters
+clothed themselves in different liveries, and broils in the public
+streets were of frequent occurrence." "The rivalries of Pylades and
+Bathyllus," says De Laulnaye, "occupied the Romans as much as the
+gravest affairs of state. Every citizen was a Bathyllian or a Pyladian."
+Augustus reproved Pylades on one occasion for his quarrels with
+Bathyllus. The Mime retorted, "It is well for you that the people are
+engrossed by our disputes; their attention is thus diverted from your
+actions." A bold retort, but it shows how important these Mimes were.
+The banishment of Pylades brought about an insurrection, and the Emperor
+had to recall him.
+
+Cassius attributes the disgrace of Pylades to the intrigues of
+Bathyllus, Suetonius to his effrontery; for on one occasion, when acting
+Hercules, annoyed by the criticism of the spectators, he tore off his
+mask, and shouted to them: "Fools, I am acting a madman." They thought
+his gestures too extravagant. Another time he shot off arrows amongst
+the spectators. Amongst other privileges extended by the Emperor
+Augustus to the _Mimis_ was being exempt from magisterial control and
+immunity from military serving.
+
+The subjects chosen for the Roman Pantomimes, like those of the Grecian
+mysteries, from which they doubtless were borrowed, were of a
+Mythological description, and they were of such a nature that the
+audience could follow them easily, even if they were not already
+previously acquainted with them. Between the Roman Pantomime, and the
+Western _ballet d'action_, there is hardly any difference. The Romans
+always liked to see their stages well peopled; and to help in the action
+of their Pantomimes, a chorus accompanied with music, formed part of the
+entertainment. The _Mimis and Mimas_, like the ballet of the present
+day, provided the dances in addition to their Pantomimic Art of posing
+and posturing.
+
+Mr. Isaac Disraeli, in his work, "Curiosities of Literature," edited by
+the late Earl of Beaconsfield, thus distinguishes between the _Mimi_ and
+the _Pantomimi_ of the Ancients. The _Mimi_ were an impudent race of
+buffoons who excelled in mimicry, and like our domestic fools, were
+admitted into convivial parties to entertain the guests. Their powers
+enabled them to perform a more extraordinary office; for they appear to
+have been introduced into funerals to mimic the person, and even the
+language of the deceased. Suetonius describes an _archimimus_
+accompanying the funeral of Vespasian. This _archimimus_ performed his
+part admirably, not only representing the person, but imitating,
+according to custom, _ut est mos_, the manners and language of the
+living Emperor. He contrived a happy stroke at the prevailing foible of
+Vespasian, when he enquired the cost of all this funeral pomp--"Ten
+million of sesterces!" On this he observed that if they would give him
+but a hundred thousand they might throw his body into the Tiber.
+
+The _Pantomimi_ were quite of a different class. They were tragic
+actors, and usually mute; they combined the arts of gesture, music, and
+dances of the most impressive character. Their silent language has often
+drawn tears by the pathetic emotions they excited; "Their very nod
+speaks, their hands talk, and their fingers have a voice," says one of
+their admirers.
+
+These Pantomimists seem to have been held in great honour. The tragic
+and the comic masks were among the ornaments of the sepulchral monuments
+of an _Archmime_ and a _Pantomimi_. Montfaucon conjectures that they
+formed a select fraternity.
+
+The parti-coloured hero (Harlequin), with every part of his dress, has
+been drawn out of the greatest wardrobe of antiquity; he was a Roman
+Mime. Harlequin is described with his shaven head (_rasis capitibus_);
+his sooty face (_fuligine faciem abducti_); his flat unshod feet,
+(_planipedes_), and his patched coat of many colours, (_Mimi
+centunculo_). Even _Pulcinello_, whom we familiarly call "Punch," may
+receive, like other personages of no great importance, all his dignity
+from antiquity; one of his Roman ancestors having appeared to an
+antiquary's visionary eye in a bronze statue; more than one erudite
+dissertation authenticates the family likeness; the nose long, prominent
+and hooked; the staring goggle eyes; the hump at his back, and at his
+breast; in a word, all the character which so strongly marks the Punch
+race, as distinctly as whole dynasties have been featured by the
+Austrian lip and the Bourbon nose.
+
+The genealogy of the whole family is confirmed by the general term which
+includes them all: in English, Zany; in Italian, _Zanni_; in the Latin,
+_Sannio_; and a passage in "Cicero _De Oratore_," paints Harlequin and
+his brother gesticulators after the life; the perpetual trembling motion
+of their limbs, their ludicrous and flexible gestures, and all the
+mimicry of their faces: "_Quid enim potest tam ridiculum quam Sannio
+esse? Qui ore vultu, imitandis motibus, voce, denique corpore ridetur
+ipso._" Lib II., Sect. 51. ("For what has more of the ludicrous than
+Sannio? Who, with his mouth, his face, imitating every motion with his
+voice, and, indeed, with all his body, provokes laughter.")
+
+The Latin Sannio was changed by the Italians into (as Ainsworth
+explains) Zanni, as, in words like Smyrna and Sambuco, they change the
+s into z, which gives Zmyrna and Zambuco, and hence we derive our word
+Zany. The word is, however, originally obtained from the Greek _Sannos_
+(observes Quadrio), from whence the Latins derived their _Sannio_.
+
+From the size of the ancient theatres it was not possible to notice the
+visage of the actors, and this was one, but not the only reason, why
+masks were adopted. The Ancients did not like a character to be
+attempted, to which a proper appropriation was not annexed, and these
+masks were so contrived, that the profile on one side exhibited chagrin,
+and on the other serenity, or whatever other passion was most required.
+The actor thus, according to the part he was playing, presented the side
+of the mask best suited to the passage which he was reciting. The large
+mouths of these masks were presumed to have contained some bronze
+instrument suited to assist the voice, upon the principle of the
+speaking trumpet; for the mask was wider, and the recitation in tragedy
+much louder than in comedy, so that the voice might be heard all over
+the theatre. The masks of the dancers were of regular features.
+
+By some it has been contended that these masks covered both the head and
+the shoulders under the supposed idea that when the head was thus
+enlarged it would throw the whole body into symmetry when raised upon
+stilts. It has, also, been argued that the masks for some of the
+characters were made of gold-beaters skin, or some transparent substance
+just covering the face so that the facial muscles could be seen through
+it, and the eyes, mouth, and ears being left uncovered. These masks,
+however, delineated very carefully the features of the character that
+were to be represented. Something not unlike the huge Pantomime masks of
+a hideous and frightful shape that we sometimes see in our present day
+Pantomimes must have appeared, especially those that covered the head
+and shoulders of the _Mimis_ in the days of the Romans. Those that were
+just of the size of the face in all probability were fantastic and
+picturesque; and the third and remaining species of mask made of a
+transparent substance could hardly have been very effective.
+
+Mr. Wright tells us, in his book on the Chester Mystery plays (which
+work I shall again refer to later on), that masks were used in the
+Mystery series of plays acted in England during the thirteenth and
+fourteenth centuries.
+
+Julius Pollux is still more ample in his account of theatrical masks
+used in Tragedy, Satyr, and Comedy. Niobe weeping, Medea furious, Ajax
+astonished, and Hercules enraged. In Comedy, the slave, the parasite,
+the clown, the captain, the old woman, the harlot, the austere old man,
+the debauched young man, the prodigal, the prudent young woman, the
+matron, and the father of a family, were all constantly characterised by
+particular masks.
+
+Lucian and the other writers of the Augustan era, have handed down to us
+sufficient information to show how Pantomime in Rome was so highly
+thought of. Cassiodorous, speaking of them, says:--"Men whose eloquent
+hands had a tongue, as it were, on the tip of each finger--men who spoke
+while they were silent, and knew how to make a recital without opening
+their mouths--men, in short, whom Polyhymnia had formed in order to show
+that there was no necessity for articulation in order to convey our
+thoughts." Demetrius, a cynic philosopher, laughed at the Romans for
+permitting so strange an entertainment; but having been, with much
+difficulty, prevailed upon to be present at the representation of one of
+them, he was confounded with wonder. The story represented was that of
+Mars and Venus, the whole performed by a single actor, who described the
+fable in _dumb show_. At length the philosopher, wrought up to the
+highest pitch of admiration, exclaimed, "That the actor _had no occasion
+for a tongue, he spoke so well with his hands_."
+
+Of one Pontus, who had come on a visit to Nero, we are told that he was
+present at a performance, in the course of which a favourite Mime gave a
+representation of the Labours of Hercules. The Mime's gestures were so
+precise that he could follow the action without the slightest
+hesitation. Being struck by the performance, on taking leave he begged
+Nero to give him the actor, explaining that there was a barbarous tribe
+adjoining his dominions, whose language no one could learn, and that
+Pantomime could express his intentions to them so faithfully by gestures
+that they would at once understand.
+
+The dress of the performers of Pantomime was made to reveal, and not to
+conceal, their figures. After the second century women began to act in
+their representations, and even down to the sixth century we find them
+associating themselves with Pantomime, and mention is made of a
+celebrated _Mima_, who was ultimately raised to the imperial throne.
+Through the lewdness of the _Mimis_ and _mimas_ in Pantomime, their
+dress, or rather lack of dress, Pantomimes were denounced, not only by
+the early Christian writers, but also by some of the Pagan writers, like
+Juvenal, as being very prejudicial to morality.
+
+It has, however, always been a favourite topic of the Prynne's, the
+Jeremy Collier's and the Dr. Style's, and such like opponents of the
+theatre, to contrast the English stage with the purity of the Grecian
+and Roman Theatres. Now, without stopping to enquire whether this has
+any particular connection with the subject of their dissertations, or
+whether it is not in fact quite irrelevant to the question, it is
+impossible not to remark the crass ignorance which these assertions
+display of the manners and customs of the theatres of either the Greeks
+or the Romans. Without wearying the reader by entering into a long
+discussion upon the subject, it will be sufficient to recall certain
+passages in Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plautus, and Terence to induce them
+to hesitate in assenting to such vague assertions of the purity of
+either the Grecian or Roman dramatic writers. William Prynne, the
+English Puritan writer, in his violent attack on the stage in the
+"_Histrio-Mastix_" or "Players Scourge"--which book, by the way, for
+some unfavourable comments therein on the Queen of Charles I., and the
+ladies of her Court, for attending theatrical representations, was
+debarred his rooms (he was a barrister), by the Court of Star Chamber,
+sentenced to be imprisoned for life, fined L5,000, committed to the
+Tower, placed in the pillory, both ears cut off, and his book burnt by
+the common hangman; yet after undergoing all these pains and penalties,
+he published a _recantation of all that he had previously written in his
+"Histrio-Mastix_"--says "It seems that the Grecian actors did now and
+then to refresh the spectators, bring a kind of cisterne on the stage,
+wherein naked women did swim and bathe themselves between the acts and
+scenes; which wicked, impudent, and execrable practice the holy father
+Chrysostom doth sharpely and excellently declaime against."
+
+Xenophon mentions the tale of "Bacchus and Ariadne," Pantomimically
+played, and Martial tells us he saw the whole story of "Pasiphae,"
+minutely represented on the stage of the _Mimis_, and Plautus, in his
+epilogue to "Casina," has--
+
+    "Nunc vos aequim est, manibus meritis,
+    Meritam mercedem dare.
+    Qui faxit, clam uxorem, ducat scortum
+    Semper quod volet.
+    Verum qui non manibus clare, quantum
+    Potent, plauserit,
+    Ei, pro scorto, supponetur hircus unctus nantea."
+
+On the Roman stage female parts were represented in tragedy by men, is
+ascertained (says Malone) by one of Cicero's letters to Atticus, and by
+a passage in Horace. Horace mentions, however, a female performer called
+Arbuscula, but as we find from his own authority men personated women on
+the Roman stage, she was probably an _Emboliariae_. Servius calls her a
+_Mima_, or one who danced in the Pantomimic dances, and which seems more
+probable, as she is mentioned by Cicero, who says the part of Andromache
+was played by a male performer on the very day Arbuscula also performed.
+
+The principal Roman _Mimas_ were:--Arbuscula, Thymele, Licilia,
+Dionysia, Cytheris, Valeria, and Cloppia.
+
+In the satirical interludes of the Grecian stage, and the _Fabulae
+Atellanae_ of the Roman theatres, the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of
+the Mimes, were the remote progenitors (says Malone) of the Vice or
+Devil, and the Clown of our English Mystery plays, the latter series of
+plays being the origin of the drama of this country. The exact
+conformity between our Clown and the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of
+the Roman stage is ascertained by that passage in Pliny--"_Lucceia Mima
+centum annis in scena pronuntiavit. Galeria, Copiola, Emboliariae,
+reducta est in scenam: annum certissimum quartum agens_," is thus
+translated by an English author, Philemon Holland, "Lucceia, a common
+Vice in a play, followed the stage, and acted thereupon 100 yeeres. Such
+another Vice that _plaied the foole, and made sporte between whiles in
+interludes_, named Galeria Copiola, was brought to act upon the stage
+when she was in the 104th yeere of her age." We shall, in another
+chapter, return to the Vice, or Clown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into Britain--First English
+reference to the word Pantomime--The fall of the Roman Empire--The
+sacred play--Cornish Amphitheatres--Pantomimical and Lyrical elements in
+the sacrifice of the Mass--Christian banishment of the
+_Mimis_--Penalties imposed by the Church--St. Anthony on Harlequin and
+Punch--Vandenhoff--what we owe to the _Mimis_.
+
+
+With the advent of Julius Caesar and the conquest of Britain by the
+Romans, about the year 52 B.C., we have, in all probability, the first
+introduction of the Roman Pantomimic Art into this country. Inasmuch as
+we have it upon the authority of history that Caesar travelled with his
+Mimes, and it is, therefore, not improbable that they came into Britain
+with him. England, then, during the occupancy of the Romans, must have
+known the Dramatic Art, or else (as Dibdin observes) Pacuvius, Accius,
+and Livius Andronicus were ignorant of it. Martial tells us that it did,
+and so does Boadicea, so that we have not only Roman authorities for it,
+but also British.
+
+The word "Pantomime" could not, I may say here, have been Anglicised
+earlier than sometime during the seventeenth century. Dr. Johnson's
+earliest example is from "Hudibras"--
+
+    "Not that I think those _Pantomimes_,
+    Who vary action with the times,
+    Are less ingenious in their art
+    Than those who duly act one part."
+
+Bacon and Ben Jonson use the Latin _Pantomimi_--"Here be certain
+_Pantomimi_ that will represent the voices of players." Again in the
+"Masque of Love's Triumph," etc., 1630, "After the manner of the old
+_Pantomimi_ they dance over a distracted Comedy of Love."
+
+The fall of the Roman Empire and the progress of Christianity in Europe
+sounded the death knell of Paganism and its attributes, of which
+Pantomime was deemed to be one, owing to the bad odour in which this
+form of entertainment had got to during the last days of the Empire.
+Notwithstanding this the church was only too glad to avail itself of
+Pantomime as a vehicle to portray before the world at large, and in
+order to turn attention to the great moral truths to be deduced from the
+death of Him on Calvary Hill. These exhibitions of religious subjects,
+in the form of _tableaux vivants_, took place in the churches, and,
+having regard to the sacred edifices in which they were given, they
+were, especially in the beginning, I conjecture, performed in dumb show,
+without any dialogue. Afterwards dialogue was introduced, and they began
+to be, not only held in the churches, but also in the church-yards, the
+streets, and in booths.
+
+It is true the sacred play was not a new institution, as one is said to
+be mentioned about the time of the Fall of Jerusalem. In Cornwall, plays
+were given in the ancient times in the open air, after the fashion of
+the Roman Amphitheatre, with the dialogue in the Cymric tongue.
+Pantomimical performances might also have been given in those open-air
+theatres by the Romans.
+
+Perhaps no better example of the early Sacred Drama I can give, and
+which is still with us, and performed daily, is the sacrifice of the
+Mass in all Roman Catholic Churches throughout the length and breadth of
+the world. In the Mass we have a dramatic action _pantomimically_
+presented, in part aided by lyrical and epical elements. I will not,
+however, pursue this portion of my subject further, save than to add
+that at the Catholic Churches' festivals, especially during Holy Week or
+Passion Week, what I have mentioned of the Mass becomes at these times
+marked in even a greater degree.
+
+With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, the _Mimis_ became
+wanderers on the face of the earth, only appearing at festivals and the
+like, when they were wanted, and returning to their haunts as
+mysteriously as they came.
+
+In the fourth century A.D. they were excluded from the benefit of the
+rites of the Church, and even those who visited their entertainments,
+instead of churches, on the Sundays and holidays, were excommunicated.
+The Theodosian creed provided that the actors were not to have the
+sacraments administered to them save when death was imminent, and then
+only that, in case of recovery, their calling should be renounced.
+
+In the second century one of the Fathers of the Church wrote a special
+treatise against plays (_Tertulian De Spectaculis_), in which he asks
+those who will not renounce them "Whether the God of truth, who hates
+all falsehood, can be willing to receive into His kingdom those whose
+features and hair, whose age and sex, whose sighs and laughter, love and
+anger, are all feigned. He promises them a tragedy of their own when, in
+the day of Judgment, they shall be consigned to everlasting suffering."
+
+However, the church was not always against the stage, even in those
+early times, as St. Thomas Aquinas says that "The office of the player
+as being serviceable for the enlivenment of men, and as not being
+blameworthy if the player leads an upright life." Both Saints Thomas
+Aquinas and Anthony supported the stage, the latter only stipulating
+that the character of Harlequin should not be represented by a
+clergyman, nor that Punch should be exhibited in church.
+
+It is one of the most remarkable things that, despite the bitterness,
+hostility, and deadly enmity that has been levelled at the stage, and
+its players termed "Rogues and Vagabonds" from time immemorial, how it
+has lived through it all. In connection with this how the lines of that
+great actor, Vandenhoff, occurs to me, a few of which, with the reader's
+permission, I subjoin.
+
+    "The drama's now a great established fact,
+    That can't be blink'd, ignored how'er attack'd
+    By vain abuse or angry prejudice;
+    The time's gone by when _playing was a vice_;
+    When bigots mark'd the actor with a ban,
+    (Tho' saintly crowds to hear his accents ran),
+    Denied him sacred rite and hallowed grave--
+    Filching from God the soul he made to save--
+    And, for the pleasure which his life had giv'n
+    On earth, refused him dead, a place in heav'n.
+    No! wiser days bring gentler feelings in,
+    And 'Nature's touches makes the whole world kin'."
+
+By degrees the _Mimis_, or mummers, with their fellows, spread
+themselves all over Europe. The humbler of the craft, in fact it might
+be said of them all, as Othello's occupation had (for them) long since
+been gone, strolled from castle to castle, from village to town, and
+earning their livelihood as best they could. To these wandering
+Bohemians we owe such traditions of the drama that survived with them
+into succeeding ages; and to them also we are indebted for keeping alive
+by inculcating unto others the Art of _Pantomimus_, when in the heyday
+of its popularity in the Roman Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Pantomime in the English Mystery or Miracle Plays and Pageants--A
+retrospect of the Early Drama--Mysteries on Biblical events--Chester,
+Coventry, York, and Towneley Mystery Plays--Plays in Churches--Traces of
+the Mystery Play in England in the Nineteenth Century--Mystery Plays on
+the Continent--The Chester series of Plays--The Devil or Clown and the
+_Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of the Ancient Mimes.
+
+
+It is presumed that, not only were the early sacred plays acted in
+dumb-show, but that the Miracle or Mysteries of Religion series of
+plays--which grew out of the sacred play--also the Pageants in the
+beginning, and for long afterwards were acted in this wise. Percy, in
+his "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," also takes this view. He
+says:--"They were (the Mysteries) probably a kind of _dumb show_,
+intermingled, it may be, with a few short speeches, at length they grew
+into regular scenes of connected dialogues, formally divided into acts
+and scenes." Colley Cibber has: "It has been conjectured that the actors
+of the Mysteries of Religion were _mummers_, a word signifying one who
+makes and disguises himself to play the fool _without speaking_. They
+were dressed in an antic manner, _dancing, mimicking_, and _showing
+postures_." Mr. Wright also observes (in his work on the Mystery Plays
+of Chester, published by the Shakespearean Society) that the "_chief
+effect seems to have been caused by the dumb show_."
+
+Before dealing with the Mysteries, and as perhaps a kind of retrospect,
+let us have a look what Wharton has to say of the early drama. "Trade,"
+he says (in the early centuries) "was carried on by means of fairs, which
+lasted several days. Charlemagne established many great marts of this
+sort in France, as did William the Conqueror and his Norman successors
+in England. The merchants, who frequented these fairs in numerous
+caravans and companies, employed every art to draw the people together.
+They were, therefore, accompanied by jugglers, minstrels, and buffoons
+(_i.e._, Pantomimists), who were no less interested in giving their
+attendance and exercising their skill on these occasions. Few large
+towns existed, no public spectacles or popular amusements were
+established; and as the sedentary pleasures of domestic life and private
+society were yet unknown, the fair time was the season for diversion. In
+proportion as the shows were attended and encouraged, they began to be
+set off with new decorations and improvements; and the arts of
+buffoonery being rendered still more attractive by extending their
+circle of exhibition, acquired an importance in the eyes of the people.
+By degrees the Clergy, observing that the entertainments of dancing,
+music, and mimicry exhibited at these annual celebrations made the
+people less religious by promoting idleness and a love of festivity,
+proscribed these sports and excommunicated the performers."
+
+Mystery plays were afterwards divided into three classes, though the
+generic term Mysteries, meaning all three, is generally used. In the
+Mysteries, Biblical events were principally used; Miracle plays were
+obtained from the legends of the saints; and the last, Moralities,
+allegorical stories of a moral character not essentially taken from the
+Bible, or from the legends of the saints, comprised the third heading.
+The Mysteries were for several centuries known on the Continent before
+they were performed in England. The earliest Mystery play known to have
+been acted in England was at Dunstable about the year 1110. It was
+probably in Latin, and composed by a Norman monk.
+
+It is a peculiarity of the English Mystery plays that they were combined
+into a series of plays on the Old and New Testament; and in which the
+whole course of Divine Providence, from the Creation to the Day of
+Judgment, is set before the spectator. Four noted groups of plays were
+the Chester, the Towneley, Coventry, and York Mystery plays. The Chester
+plays began on Whit Monday, and, continued till the following Wednesday.
+Permission to perform them, in the beginning of their institution, had
+twice to be asked of the Pope. They consisted of 24 plays, and were
+almost annually performed till 1577. Before the suppression of the
+monasteries the Grey Friars at Coventry were celebrated for their
+exhibitions of the Mystery plays usually on _Corpus Christi_. The
+Towneley, or Woodkirk group of plays were acted at Woodkirk, about four
+miles from Wakefield, and they are of a style that may be likened to the
+times of Henry VI., or Edward IV. Until the Mystery play fell into
+disuse, the trading companies and guilds seem principally to have
+maintained them. The mixture of secular with ecclesiastical players
+helped to change the characters of the English plays and to provoke
+censure, which began to be levelled at them from the beginning of the
+thirteenth century.
+
+The practise of performing plays in sacred edifices in England, had not
+ceased in 1542, when Bishop Bonner prohibited them in his diocese.
+However, so late as 1572, it appears that Interludes were occasionally
+performed in Churches.
+
+Collier speaks of a kind of Mystery, or Miracle play, exhibited in the
+last century, with the characters of Herod, Beelzebub, and others. In
+1838 Sandy mentions of having seen the play of "St. George and the
+Dragon," presented in the Northern and Western parts of the Kingdom, or
+rather Queendom, as Victoria had just ascended the throne. I myself
+remember quite well, within a couple of decades ago, what was probably
+at the time a remnant of the old Mystery play presented in a rural part
+of Lancashire by men in a fantastic garb, and termed by the country
+folk, "Paste-eggers." They generally appeared about Good Friday and on
+to Easter; and their performance consisted of a mixture of music (?),
+songs, and sometimes not over choice language. This custom does not now
+exist where I write of, but it may do--though I very much doubt--in some
+rural parts. On the Continent, as at Oberammergau, Mystery plays are
+still enacted.
+
+The following account of the Chester Mysteries may be of interest, and
+appears (says Warton) in the Harleian Catalogue. M.S. Harl. 2013, etc.
+Exhibited at Chester in the year 1327 at the expense of the different
+trading companies of that city. "The Fall of Lucifer," by the tanners;
+"The Creation," by the drapers; "The Deluge," by the dyers; "Abraham,
+Melchizedeck and Lot," by the barbers; "Moses, Balak and Balaam," by the
+cappers; "The Salutation and the Nativity," by the wrights (carpenters);
+"The Shepherds feeding the Flocks by Night," by the painters and
+glaziers; "The Three Kings," by the vintners; "The oblation of the Three
+Kings," by the mercers; "The Killing of the Holy Innocents," by the
+goldsmiths; "The Purification," by the blacksmiths; "The Temptations,"
+by the butchers; "The Blindmen and Lazarus," by the glovers; "Jesus and
+the Lepers," by the cowesarys; "Christ's Passion," by the bowyers,
+fletchers and ironmongers; "Descent into Hell," by the cooks and
+inn-keepers; "Resurrection," by the skinners; "Ascension," by the
+taylors; "The Election of St. Matthias," "Sending of the Holy Ghost,"
+etc., by the fishmongers; "Anti-christ," by the clothiers; and "The Day
+of Judgment," by the websters (weavers). The reader will perhaps smile
+at some of these combinations. This is the substance and order of the
+former part of the play. God enters, creating the world, he breathes
+life into Adam, leads him into Paradise, and opens his side while
+sleeping. Adam and Eve appear _naked_, and _not ashamed_; and the old
+Serpent enters, lamenting his fall. He converses with Eve. She eats part
+of the forbidden fruit, and gives part to Adam. They propose, according
+to the stage directions, to make themselves, _subligacula a folis
+quibus tegamus pudenda_, cover their nakedness with leaves and converse
+with God. God's curse. The Serpent exits, hissing. They are driven from
+Paradise by four angels, and the Cherubim with a flaming sword. Adam
+appears digging the ground, and Eve spinning. Their children, Cain and
+Abel, enter, the former kills his brother. Adam's lamentation. Cain is
+banished, etc., etc.
+
+Adam and Eve, in the "altogether," so to speak, were acted like this as
+late as the sixteenth century. In a play called "The Travails of the
+Three English Brothers," acted in 1607, there occurs this:--
+
+"Many idle toyes, but the old play _that Adam and Eve acted in bare
+action under the figge tree draws most of the gentlemen_."
+
+An Account of the Proclamation of the Mystery plays, acted in "Ye Citye
+on ye Dee," may prove of interest, and the copy of which I subjoin is
+taken from the Harleian M.S. No. 2013.
+
+"The proclamation for Whitsone playes made by Wm. Newell, Clarke of the
+Pendice, 24 Hen. 8. Wm. Snead 2nd yere Maior."
+
+"For as much as auld tyme, not only for the augmentation and increese of
+the holy and catholick faith of our Saviour Jesu Christ, and to exort
+the mindes of comon people to good devotion and holsome doctrine
+thereof, but also for the comonwelth and prosperity of this citty, a
+play and declaration of divers storyes of Bible beginning with the
+Creation and fall of Lucifer, and ending with the generall Judgment of
+the world, to be declared and played in Whitsonne weeke, was devised and
+made by one Sir Henry Frances, sometyme moonck of this monastrey
+disolved, who obtayning and gat of Clemant, then Bushop of Rome, a 1000
+dayes of pardon, and of the Bushop of Chester at that tyme 40 dayes of
+pardon, graunted from thensforth to every person resorting, in peaceable
+manner with good devotion, to heare and see the sayd playes, from time
+to time as oft as they shall be played within the said citty (and that
+every person or persons disturbing the sayd playes in the maner wise to
+be acused by the authority of the sayd pope Clemant's bulls, untill such
+tyme as he or they be absolved thereof) which playes were devised to the
+honor of God by John Arnway, then maior of this citty of Chester, his
+brethren and whole cominalty thereof, to be brought forth, declared, and
+played, at the cost and charges of the craftesman and occupations of the
+sayd citty, which hitherto have from tyme to tyme used and performed the
+same accordingly.
+
+"Wherefore Mr. maior, in the King's name, stratly chargeth and
+commandeth that every person and persons of what estate, degree, or
+condition so ever he or they be resorting to the sayd playes, do use
+themselves peaciblie, without making any assault, affray, or other
+disturbance, whereby the same playes shall be disturbed, and that no
+manner of person or persons, whiche so ever he or they be, do use or
+wear any unlawfull weapons within the precinct of the sayd citty during
+the tyme of the sayd playes (not only upon payn of cursing by authority
+of the sayd Pope Clemant's bulls but also) upon payn of imprisonment of
+their bodyes, and making fine to the King at Mr. maior's pleasure."
+
+Archdeacon Rogers, who died in 1595, and saw the Whitsuntide plays
+performed at Chester in the preceding year, gives the following account
+of the mode of exhibition:--
+
+"The time of the yeare they were played was on Monday, Tuesday, and
+Wenseday in Whitson weake. The maner of these playes weare every company
+had his pagiant, or parte, which pagiants weare a high scafolde with 2
+rowmes, a higher and a lower, upon 4 wheeles. In the lower they
+apparelled themselves, and in the higher rowme they played, being all
+open on the tope, that all behoulders might heare and see them. The
+places where they played them was in every streete. They begane first at
+the abay gates, and when the first pagiante was played, it was wheeled
+to the high crosse before the mayor, and soe to every streete; and soe
+every streete had a pagiant playinge before them at one time, till all
+the pagiantes for the daye appoynted weare played, and when one pagiant
+was neere ended, word was broughte from streete to streete that soe they
+mighte come in place thereof exceedinge orderlye, and all the streetes
+have their pagiantes afore them all at one time playeinge togeather; to
+se which playes was greate resorte, and also scafoldes and stages made
+in the streetes in those places where they determined to playe their
+pagiantes."
+
+Strutt has the following description of the Mystery plays:--"In the
+early dawn of literature, and when the sacred Mysteries were the only
+theatrical performances, what is now called the stage did then consist
+of three several platforms or stages, raised one above another; on the
+uppermost sat the _Pater Caelestis_, surrounded with his angels; on the
+second appeared the holy saints and glorified men; and the last and
+lowest were occupied by mere men who had not passed through this life to
+the regions of eternity. On one side of this lowest platform was the
+resemblance of a dark pitchy cavern, from whence issued appearance of
+fire and flames; and when it was necessary the audience were treated
+with hideous yellings and noises, as imitations of the howlings and
+cries of the wretched souls tormented by the relentless demons. From
+this yawning cave the devils themselves constantly ascended, to delight
+and instruct the spectators; to delight because they were usually the
+greatest jesters and buffoons that then appeared; and to instruct for
+that they treated the wretched mortals who were delivered to them with
+the utmost cruelty, warning thereby all men carefully to avoid the
+falling into the clutches of such hardened and relentless spirits."
+
+It is interesting to note that Hell was imitated by a whale's open jaws,
+behind which a fire was lighted, in such a way, however, so as not to
+injure the "damned," who had to pass into its gaping mouth. The
+performer who impersonated God had not only his face but also the hair
+of his wig gilded. Christ was dressed in a long sheep's skin. The Devil,
+or Vice (the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of the ancient _Mimis_), was
+easily recognisable by his horns and his tail, whilst his beard was of a
+bright red colour, to indicate the flames of the region in which he
+dwelt. Judas also wore a wig of a fiery hue, and, after being hung, had
+sometimes to do the "cock crowing," as some old accounts of the York
+Mysteries show.
+
+It appears to have been customary for the Devil to appear before the
+audience with a cry of "Ho! ho! ho!" somewhat similar to the
+ejaculations of the Pantomime Clown in after years. (See _Gammer
+Gurton's Needle_, Act II., Sc. 3, and "The Devil is an Ass," by Ben
+Jonson, Act I., Sc. 1.) The following passage occurs in "Wily Beguiled,"
+1606. "Tush! feare not the dodge; I'll rather put on my flashing red
+nose, and my flaming face, and come wrapped in a calfe's skin, and cry
+'Ho! ho! ho!'" Again, "I'll put me on my great carnation nose, and wrap
+me in a rousing calf's-skin suit, and come like some hob-goblin, or some
+Devil ascended from the grisly pit of hell, and like a scarebabe make
+him take to his legs; I'll play the Devil, I warrant ye."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+The Clown or Fool of the early English Drama--Moralities--The
+Interlude--The rise of English Tragedy and Comedy--"Dumb Shews" in the
+Old Plays--Plays suppressed by Elizabeth--A retrospect.
+
+
+In the sixth chapter of this work, in quoting Malone, I have mentioned
+that the _Exodiarii_ and _Emboliariae_ of the _Mimis_ were the remote
+progenitors of the Clown of the Mystery Plays of this country. Now let
+us see what were the duties the Clown fulfilled in the old plays of this
+country, and also briefly of the others who were known under the generic
+name of Clown or fool.
+
+In the early drama the Clown was a personage of no mean importance and
+whose duty was to preserve the stage from vacancy by amusing the
+audience with extemporary buffoonery, and also at the end of the
+performance. And, as Heywood, in his "History of Women" (1624), says "By
+his mimic gestures to breed in the less capable mirth and laughter." On
+these occasions, it was usual to descant, in a humourous style, on
+various subjects proposed to him by the spectators; but they were more
+commonly entertained with what was termed a jig: this was a ludicrous
+composition in rhyme, sung by the Clown, accompanied by his pipe and
+tabor. In these jigs there were sometimes more actors than one, and the
+most unbounded license of tongue was allowed; the pith of the matter
+being usually some scurrilous exposure of persons among, or well known
+to the audience. Here again history repeats itself in this once more,
+and in imitation of the satirical interludes of the Grecian stage and
+the _Atellans_ and _Mimis_ of the Roman theatres.
+
+The practice of putting the fools and Clowns in requisition between the
+acts and scenes (observes Francis Douce), and after the play was
+finished, to amuse the spectators with their tricks, may be traced to
+the Greek and Roman theatres; and their usages being preserved in the
+middle ages, wherever the Roman influence had spread, it would not, of
+course, be peculiar to England. The records of the French theatre
+demonstrate this fact; in the "Mystery of Saint Barbara," we find this
+stage direction:--_Pausa. Vadunt, et stultus loquitur._ (A pause. They
+quit the stage, and the fool speaks). And in this way he is frequently
+brought on between the scenes.
+
+It is quite obvious that the terms Clown and fool were used, though
+improperly, perhaps, as synonymous by our old dramatists. Their confused
+introduction might render this doubtful to one who had not well
+considered the matter. The fool of our early plays denoted a mere idiot
+or natural, or else a witty hireling retained to make sport for his
+masters. The Clown was a character of more variety; sometimes he was a
+mere rustic; and, often, no more than a shrewd domestic. There are
+instances in which any low character in a play served to amuse with his
+coarse sallies, and thus became the Clown of the piece. In fact, the
+fool of the drama was a kind of heterogeneous being, copied in part from
+real life, but highly coloured in order to produce effect. This opinion
+derives force from what is put into the mouth of Hamlet, when he
+admonishes those who perform the Clowns, to speak no more than is set
+down for them. Indeed, Shakespeare himself cannot be absolved from the
+imputation of making mere caricatures of his merry Andrews, unless we
+suppose, what is very probable, that his compositions have been much
+interpolated with the extemporaneous jokes of the players. To this
+folly, allusions are made in a clever satire, entitled, "Pasquils
+Mad-cappe, throwne at the Corruptions of these Times," 1626, quarto.
+
+      "Tell country players, that old paltry jests
+        Pronounced in a painted motley coate,
+      Filles all the world so full of cuckoo nests,
+        That nightingales can scarcely sing a note.
+    Oh! bid them turn their minds to better meanings;
+    Fields are ill sowne that give no better gleanings."
+
+Sir Philip Sidney reprobates the custom of introducing fools on the
+stage; and declares that the plays of his time were neither right
+tragedies nor right comedies, for the authors mingled kings and Clowns,
+"not," says he, "because the matter so carrieth it, but thrust in the
+Clowne by head and shoulders to play a part in majestical matters, with
+neither decencie nor discretion; so as neither the admiration and
+commisseration, nor the right sportfulnesse, is by their mongrell
+tragie-comedie obtained." Rankin, a puritan, contemporary with
+Shakespeare, wrote a most bitter attack on plays and players, whom he
+calls monsters; "And whie monsters?" says he, "because under colour of
+humanitie they present nothing but prodigious vanitie; these are wels
+without water, dead branches fit for fuell, cockle amongst corne,
+unwholesome weedes amongst sweete hearbes; and, finallie, feends that
+are crept into the worlde by stealth, and hold possession by subtill
+invasion." In another place, he says, "some transformed themselves to
+rogues, others to ruffians, some others to Clownes, a fourth to fools;
+the rogues were ready, the ruffians were rude, theyr Clownes cladde as
+well with country condition, as in ruffe russet; theyr fooles as fond as
+might be."
+
+To give a clear view of our subject, something of the different sorts of
+fools may be thus classed:
+
+1.--The _general domestic fool_, termed often, but _improperly_, a
+_Clown_; described by Puttenham as "a buffoune, or counterfett foole."
+
+2.--The _Clown_, who was a mere country booby, or a witty rustic.
+
+3.--The _female fool_, who was generally an idiot.
+
+4.--The _city or corporation fool_, an assistant in public
+entertainments.
+
+5.--The _tavern fool_, retained to amuse the customers.
+
+6.--The _fool of the ancient Mysteries and Moralities_, otherwise the
+_Vice_.
+
+7.--The _fool in the old dumb shows_, often alluded to by Shakespeare.
+
+8.--The _fool in the Whitsun ales and morris dance_.
+
+9.--The _mountebank's fool, or merry Andrew_.
+
+There may be others in our ancient dramas, of an irregular kind, not
+reducible to any of these classes; but to exemplify them is not within
+the scope of this essay: what has been stated may assist the readers of
+old plays to judge for themselves when they meet with such characters.
+
+The practice of retaining fools can be distinctly traced from the
+remotest times. They were to be found alike in the palace and the
+brothel; the Pope had his fool, and the bawd hers; they excited the
+mirth of kings and beggars; the hovel of the villain and the castle of
+the baron were alike exhilarated by their jokes. With respect to the
+antiquity of this custom in England, it appears to have existed even
+during the period of our Saxon history, but we are certain of the fact
+in the reign of William the Conqueror. Maitre Wace, an historian of that
+time, has an account of the preservation of William's life, when Duke of
+Normandy, by his fool, _Goles_; and, in Domesday book, mention is made
+of _Berdin joculator regis_; and though this term sometimes denoted a
+minstrel, evidence might be adduced to prove, that in this instance it
+signified a buffoon.
+
+The entertainment, fools were expected to afford, may be collected in
+great variety from our old plays, especially from those of Shakespeare;
+but, perhaps, a good idea may be formed of their general conduct from a
+passage in a curious tract by Lodge, entitled, "Wit's Miserie," 1599,
+quarto: "Immoderate and disordinate joy became incorporate in the bodie
+of a jeaster; this fellow in person is comely, in apparell courtly, but
+in behaviour a very ape, and no man; his studie is to coin bitter
+jeasts, or to shew antique motions, or to sing baudie sonnets and
+ballads; give him a little wine in his head, he is continually flearing
+and making of mouthes; he laughs intemperately at every little occasion,
+and dances about the house, leaps over tables, outskips men's heads,
+trips up his companions' heeles, burns sack with a candle, and hath all
+the feats of a lord of misrule in the countrie: feed him in his humour,
+you shall have his heart; in mere kindness he will hug you in his armes,
+kisse you on the cheeke, and rapping out an horrible oath, crie 'God's
+soule, Tum, I love you, you knowe my poore heart, come to my chamber for
+a pipe of tobacco, there lives not a man in this world that I more
+honor.' In these ceremonies you shall know his courting, and it is a
+speciall mark of him at table, he sits and makes faces: keep not this
+fellow company, for in jingling with him, your wardropes shall be
+wasted, your credits crackt, your crownes consumed, and time (the most
+precious riches of the world) utterly lost."
+
+With regard to the fool's business on the stage, it was nearly the same
+as in reality, with this difference, that the wit was more highly
+seasoned. In Middleton's "Mayor of Quinborough," a company of actors,
+with a Clown, make their appearance, and the following dialogue
+ensues:--
+
+1st Cheater. This is our Clown, sir.
+
+Simon.       Fye, fye, your company
+             Must fall upon him and beat him; he's too fair i'faith,
+             To make the people laugh.
+
+1st Cheater. Not as he may be dress'd, sir.
+
+Simon.       Faith, dress him how you will. I'll give him
+             That gift, he will never look half scurvily enough.
+             Oh! the Clowns that I have seen in my time,
+             The very peeping out of one of them would have
+             Made a young heir laugh, though his father lay a-dying;
+             A man undone in law the day before,
+             (The saddest case that can be) might for his second
+             Have burst himself with laughing, and ended all
+             His miseries. Here was a merry world, my masters!
+             Some talk of things of state, of puling stuff;
+             There's nothing in a play like to a Clown,
+             If he have the grace to hit on it, that's the thing indeed.
+             Away then, shift; Clown, to thy motley crupper.
+
+In the _praeludium_ to Goffe's "Careless Shepherdess," 1656, quarto,
+there is a panegyric on them, and some concern is shown for the fool's
+absence in the play itself, while it is stated that "The motley coat was
+banished with trunk-hose." Yet in Charles II.'s reign, some efforts were
+made to restore the character. In the tragedy of "Thorney Abbey, or the
+London Maid," 1662, 12mo., the prologue is delivered by a fool, who uses
+these words:--"The poet's a fool who made the tragedy, to tell a story
+of a king and a court, and leave a fool out on't, when in Pacey's, and
+Sommer's, and Patche's, and Archer's times, my venerable predecessours,
+a fool was alwaies the principal verb." Shadwell's play of "The Woman
+Captain," 1680, is perhaps the last in which a regular fool is
+introduced; and even there, his master is made to say that the character
+was exploded on the stage. In real life, as was formerly stated, the
+professed fool was to be met with at a much later period, but the custom
+has long been obsolete.
+
+What I have said of the Mysteries of Religion plays will, I hope, be
+sufficient to show the reader how they were associated with Pantomime.
+The Moralities, founded on the Mysteries, were the means used to
+inculcate, by the aid of a slight plot, religious truths without
+directly using scriptural or legendary subjects. Malone says of
+them:--"I am unable to ascertain when the first Morality appeared, but
+incline to think not sooner than the reign of Edward IV. (about 1460).
+The public pageants of the reign of his predecessor were uncommonly
+splendid, and being then _first_ enlivened by the introduction of
+_speaking_ allegorical personages, properly and characteristically
+habited, naturally led the way to these personifications, by which
+Moralities were _distinguished from_ the simple religious dramas called
+Mysteries."
+
+The Interlude, that was the progenitor of English Comedy, next arrived.
+The origin of the Interlude is credited to John Heywood.
+
+It is interesting to note that a play, entitled, "Gammer Gurton's
+Needle," is credited with being our first English Comedy, though its
+humour and wit, it is stated, is of a low and sordid kind. Others make
+claim for the comedy, "Ralph Roister Doister."
+
+Tragedy and Comedy now began to raise their heads, yet they could not,
+for some time, do more than bluster and quibble. There is an excellent
+criticism on them by that distinguished statesman, poet, scholar, and
+brave soldier, Sir Philip Sydney. "Some of their pieces were only '_dumb
+shews_,' some with choruses, and some they explained by an
+Interlocutor," says an old writer on the subject. The mention of
+Pantomime in connection with tragedy, and as an example how Pantomime
+was requisitioned in Shakespeare's time, is shown in the Second Scene of
+Act III. of "Hamlet," wherein the "dumb shew" is given by the players.
+
+The true drama, however, received birth and perfection from the creative
+geniuses of Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Jonson, and others.
+Though the stage no sooner began to talk than it grew scurrilous, and
+plays were thought "Dangerous to Religion, the State, Honesty, and
+Manners, and also for Infection, in Time of Sickness." Wherefore they
+were afterwards for some time suppressed. But upon application to the
+Queen and Council they were again tolerated under the following
+restrictions: "That no Plays be acted on Sundays at all, nor on any
+other Holidays till after Evening Prayer. That no playing be in the
+_Dark_, nor continue and such Time, but the Auditors may return to their
+Dwellings in London before Sunset, or at least before it be _Dark_." The
+foregoing is from Stow, and this Act was made in the reign of Elizabeth.
+The Virgin Queen does not seem to have cared much about this enactment,
+as we find that on Sunday, the 24th September, 1592, she and her Court
+attended a play at Oxford.
+
+As Tragedy and Comedy progressed on the English stage, Pantomime, as far
+as it was associated with the dumb shows in the early English drama,
+became, little by little, a thing of the past.
+
+We have seen, and traced, from the Creation of this planet, and through
+succeeding ages, how Pantomime has always flourished; we have seen also
+how the Interlude gave way to the Comedy; we will now see how this love
+of light entertainment formulated in this country by the Interlude, and,
+about the same time, by the Italian Masque Comedy, the progenitor of
+Pantomime (referring to the whole as a spectacle), and the forerunner in
+France, also of that other form of light entertainment known as the
+French Vaudeville, cultivated by Le Sage and other French writers of
+note.
+
+To go to the bed-rock for our facts, and for the innovation of all this,
+it is necessary in thought, and perhaps as well in spirit, to journey to
+Italy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+The Italian Masque--The Masque in England--First appearance in this
+country of Harlequin--Joe Haines as Harlequin--Marlowe's "Faustus"--A
+Curious Play--The Italian Harlequin--Colley Cibber,
+Penkethman--Shakespeare's Burlesques of the Masque--Decline of the
+Masque.
+
+
+In Italy the Masque entertainment long held sway, and was a light form
+of amusement, consisting of Pantomime, music, singing, and dancing, and
+an adaptation of the _Fabulae Atellanae_ of ancient Italy. The
+performers wore masks, also high-heeled shoes, fitted with brass or iron
+heels, which jingled as they danced. This ancient custom to present-day
+stage dancers will doubtless be of interest. Masks, like on the stages
+of the Greeks and the Romans, were used, hence the title Mask, or
+Masque, as it is sometimes written both ways. In the days of Elizabeth
+the custom was also practised in the Elizabethean Masque. The Masquerade
+and the Masked ball, or _Bal-Masque_, are survivals of this ancient
+custom.
+
+Crossing the Alps, if the reader will accompany me, the Italian Masque
+Comedy we find was already known in France in the fifteenth century. In
+the days of Mary de Medici ballets were introduced, and by the time of
+Louis XIV. "Opera" (_i.e._, the Masque) was in full swing in the early
+part of this reign. On the Spanish stage ballets, with allegorical
+characters, were known in the sixteenth century; and, in fact,
+throughout Europe about this age, and some time previously this
+improvised form of Italian Comedy, and the several characters in it,
+belonging to the family of Harlequin, had long been familiar subjects.
+
+Returning to England after our little holiday, the Masque in the
+fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had become very popular. The
+architect, Inigo Jones, being frequently employed to furnish the
+decorations with all the magnificence of his invention. At the Courts of
+Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and up to the time when all plays were
+totally suppressed, was it the rage. At the Restoration the Masque was
+revived again, and here, borrowing the name from the continent, it is
+called "Opera." In proof of this, in Dryden's work, "Albion and
+Albanius," 1685, "Opera" is defined as a "poetical tale or picture
+represented by vocal and instrumental music, and endowed with machines
+and dances."
+
+The dramatic poet and author, Ben Jonson, collaborated with Inigo Jones,
+the architect, in devising these Masque plays, Jonson supplying the
+words, and Jones the scenic effects, the latter being very gorgeous,
+consisting of "landscapes, mountains, and clouds, which opened to
+display heathen deities illuminated by variegated coloured lights." Over
+these Masques or "Operatic" entertainments Jonson and Jones quarrelled,
+as the former's grievance was that he received no more for his
+librettos than Jones did for his scenic devices. Ben Jonson thereupon
+wrote satires upon Inigo Jones, and in one of his squibs appears the
+satirical line, "Painting and Carpentry are the Soul of Masque." Is not
+this applicable to many of our present-day Pantomimes, which, as I have
+just stated in the previous chapter, the Masque was one of the original
+progenitors?
+
+Inigo Jones and Jonson first collaborated in the "Masque of Blackness,"
+performed at Whitehall on Twelfth Night, 1603. In our money this Masque
+cost some L10,000. Jones and Jonson's quarrel originated because the
+poet had, in the "Masque of Chloridia," performed in 1630, prefixed his
+own name before that of Jones. In consequence of this "rare old Ben" was
+deprived--through Jones' influence--of employment at Court.
+
+Gifford, in his "Memoirs of Ben Jonson," says that "In poetry, painting,
+architecture, they (the Masques) have not since been equalled."
+
+"The Masque," continues Gifford, "as it attained its highest degree of
+excellence, admitted of dialogue, singing and dancing; these were not
+independent of one another, but combined by the introduction of some
+ingenious fable into an harmonious whole. When the plan was formed, the
+aid of the sister-arts was called in; for the essence of the Masque was
+pomp and glory. Movable scenery of the most costly and splendid kind was
+lavished on the Masque; the most celebrated masters were employed on
+the songs and dances; and all that the kingdom afforded of vocal and
+instrumental excellence was employed to embellish the exhibition. Thus,
+magnificently constructed, was composed, as Lord Bacon says, for
+princes, and by princes it was played. Of these Masques, the skill with
+which their ornaments were designed, and the inexpressible grace with
+which they were executed appear to have left a vivid impression on the
+mind of Jonson. His genius awakens at once, and all his faculties attune
+to sprightliness and pleasure. He makes his appearance like his own
+Delight, accompanied with Grace, Love, Harmony, Revel, Sport, and
+Laughter."
+
+In the Masques the Pantomimic dances of the Masquers were known as
+motions:--
+
+    "In curious knot and mazes so
+    The Spring at first was taught to go;
+    And Zephyr, when he came to woo
+    His Flora had his _motions_ too;
+    And thus did Venus learn to lead
+    The Idalian brawls, and so to tread,
+    As if the wind, not she did walk,
+    Nor press'd a flower, nor bow'd a stalk."
+
+Before the arrival of the Italian Masque in England, the Harlequin
+family were unknown, and, doubtless, Harlequin's first appearance in
+this country was in consonance with the Masque itself.
+
+Heywood, in a tract, published in 1609, entitled, "_Troia Britannica_,"
+mentions "Zanyes, Pantaloons, Harlakeans, in which the French, but
+especially the Italians, have been excellent as known in this country."
+
+The earliest record I can find of a Harlequin performing in this country
+is in the Masque given before Charles I. and his Court on the Sunday
+evening following Twelfth Night, 1637. An account of this Masque, as
+well as other information dealing with the Masque entertainments, will
+be found in my volume, "Stage Whispers," and in the article on
+theatrical scenery.
+
+In a comedy, written by Ravenscroft, after the Italian manner, Joe
+Haines, in 1667, donned the motley jacket of Harlequin, and which, in
+all probability, was the first appearance of Harlequin on the English
+boards, though not in England, as stated above. In a farce of the
+audacious Mrs. Aphra Behn's, produced twenty years afterwards, Harlequin
+and Scaramouch were two of the characters. Mrs. Behn died April 16,
+1689, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. To Marlowe's
+"Faustus," Mountfort added comic scenes to the tragedy, introducing
+Harlequin and Scaramouch. A Harlequin, Pantaloon, Columbine, and Clown
+appeared in a curious piece in 1697, entitled, "Novelty; or Every Act a
+Play." The first act consisted of a pastoral Drama, the second of a
+Comedy, the third a Masque, the fourth a Tragedy, and the fifth act a
+Farce.
+
+In Italy the fame of Harlequin was at its zenith at the close of the
+seventeenth century. In this country in 1687 a Harlequin (Penkethman)
+appeared in a farce called "The Emperor of the Moon" without a mask.
+Colley Cibber says of this performance "That when he (Penkethman) first
+played Harlequin in 'The Emperor of the Moon' several gentlemen (who
+inadvertently judged by the rules of nature) fancied that a great deal
+of the drollery, and spirit of his grimace was lost by his wearing that
+useless, unmeaning mask, therefore insisted that the next time of his
+acting that part he should play without it. Their desire was accordingly
+complied with, but alas! in vain--Penkethman was no more Harlequin. His
+humour was quite disconcerted."
+
+In "The Tempest," Shakespeare introduces a Masque, and also in his
+"Midsummer Nights' Dream," the play of "Pyramus and Thisbe," performed
+by the Clowns, is in burlesque of the Masque plays.
+
+In both these two plays of the bard's, and in connection with the Masque
+plays, we see, from the stage directions in them, how Pantomime formed
+part of their effective representation.
+
+In out heroding-herod in the way of splendour, showy dresses and
+expensive machinery, the Masque soon fell into decay; and, as Ben Jonson
+states, "The glory of all these solemnities had perished like a blaze,
+and gone out in the beholder's eyes; so short-lived are the bodies of
+all things in comparison with their souls."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Italian Pantomime--Riccoboni--Broom's "Antipodes"--Gherardi--Extemporal
+Comedies--Salvator Rosa--Impromptu Acting.
+
+
+Pantomime in Italy had two distinct features, one a species of
+buffoonery, termed _Lazzi_, and the other Extemporal or Improvised
+Comedies.
+
+"_Lazzi_," mentions Riccoboni, in his "_Histoire du Theatre Italien_,"
+is a term corrupted from the old Tuscan _Lacci_, which signifies a knot,
+or something that connects. (Both the _Lazzi_ and the Extemporal
+Comedies were all derived from the one original source, that of the
+Satirical drama of the Greeks, and perpetuated in the _Fabulae
+Atellanae_ or _Laudi Osci_ of Italy.)
+
+Riccoboni continues: "These pleasantries, called _Lazzi_, are certain
+actions by which the performer breaks into the scene, to paint to the
+eye his emotions of panic or jocularity; but as such gestures are
+foreign to the business going on, the nicety of the art consists in not
+interrupting the scene, and connecting the _Lazzi_ with it; thus to tie
+the whole together."
+
+_Lazzi_ is what we might term "bye play," which, by gesture and action,
+could not detract, but rather added to the effectiveness of the scene in
+progress.
+
+In Broom's "Antipodes," which was performed at the Salisbury Court
+Theatre, London, in 1638, a _by-play_, as he calls it, is represented in
+this comedy--"A word (explains Malone) for the application of which we
+are indebted to this writer, there being no other term in our language
+that I know of, which so properly expresses that species of Interlude
+which we find in our poet's 'Hamlet,' and other pieces."
+
+Riccoboni, in describing some _Lazzi_, says that Harlequin and Scapin
+being in a famished condition, Scapin, in order to bring their young
+mistress out, asks Harlequin to groan. Scapin explains to her the
+reason, and while they are talking, Harlequin is performing his _Lazzi_.
+This consists of eating an imaginary hatful of cherries, and throwing
+the stones at Scapin; or catching imaginary flies, and chopping off
+their wings.
+
+"_Lazzi_," we are told, "although they seem to interrupt the progress of
+the action, yet in cutting it they slide back into it, and connect or
+tie the whole."
+
+When Riccoboni and his company first appeared in France, though being
+unable to speak nothing but Italian, their audiences, though not being
+able to understand the _words_, yet the performers were such
+past-masters in the Mimetic Art that their representations were just as
+intelligible and as expressive as if they had been with words.
+
+Gherardi, in his treatise, "_Theatre Italien_," speaks of a Scaramouch,
+who, waiting for his master, Harlequin, seats and plays on the guitar.
+Suddenly, by Pasquariel, he is thrown into a fright. "It was then," says
+Gherardi, "that incomparable model of our most eminent actors displayed
+the miracles of his art; that art which paints the passions in the face,
+throws them into every gesture, and through a whole scene of frights
+upon frights, conveys the most powerful expression of ludicrous terror.
+This man moved all hearts by the simplicity of nature, more than skilful
+orators can with all the charms of persuasive rhetoric."
+
+The Extemporal Comedies were all improvised, the actors underwent no
+rehearsal, and, as the name denotes, everything was impromptu. The
+Scenario, or plot, had just simply the scenes and the characters set
+forth, and it was then hung in a conspicuous place on the stage; and
+just in a similar way as the gas or lime light "plots" are affixed in
+present day theatres, though the Scenarios were not as elaborate as what
+some of our gas or limelight "plots" are.
+
+Before going on the stage, the Mimes just inspected the Scenario of the
+_Comedia Del' Arte_, and for the dialogue and action everything depended
+solely upon their Pantomimic genius.
+
+Disraeli mentions that men of great genius had a passion for performing
+in these Extemporal Comedies, and, amongst others, the great painter,
+Salvator Rosa. A favourite character of Rosa's was that of Formica, a
+Clown of Calabria. Passeri, in his life of Rosa, tells the following
+anecdote:--
+
+One summer, Salvator Rosa joined a company of young persons, who were
+curiously addicted to the making of _Comedie all' Improviso_. In the
+midst of a vineyard they raised a rustic stage, under the direction of
+one Mussi, who enjoyed some literary reputation, particularly for his
+sermons preached in Lent.
+
+Their second Comedy was numerously attended, and I went among the rest.
+I sat on the same bench by good fortune with Cavalier Bernini,
+Romanelli, and Guido, all well-known persons. Salvator Rosa, who had
+already made himself a favourite with the Roman people, under the
+character of Formica, opened with a prologue in company with other
+actors. He proposed for relieving themselves of the extreme heats and
+_ennui_ that they should make a Comedy, and all agreed. Formica (Rosa)
+then spoke (in the satirical Venetian dialect) these exact words, which
+Mr. Disraeli translates as follows:--"I will not, however, that we
+should make a Comedy like certain persons who cut clothes, and put them
+on this man's back, and on that man's back; for at last the time comes
+which shows how much faster went the cut of the shears than the pen of
+the poet; nor will we have entering on the scene, couriers, brandy
+sellers, and goatherds, and there stare shy and blockish, which I think
+worthy the senseless invention of an ass."
+
+Passeri continues: "At this time Bernini had made a Comedy in the
+Carnival very pungent and biting; and that summer he had one of
+Castelli's performed in the suburbs, where, to represent the dawn of
+day, appeared on the stage water-carriers, couriers, and goat-herds,
+going about--all which is contrary to rule, which allows of no character
+who is not concerned in the dialogue to mix with the groups. At these
+words of the Formica, I, who well knew his meaning, instantly glanced my
+eye at Bernini, to observe his movements; but he, with an artificial
+carelessness, showed that this 'cut of the shears' did not touch him;
+and he made no apparent show of being hurt. But Castelli, who was also
+near, tossing his head and smiling in bitterness, showed clearly that he
+was hit."
+
+In concluding, Mr. Disraeli observes that: "This Italian story, told
+with all the poignant relish of these vivacious natives, to whom such a
+stinging incident was an important event, also shows the personal
+freedoms taken on these occasions by a man of genius, entirely in the
+spirit of the ancient Roman _Atellanae_ or the Grecian _Satyra_."
+
+Of Extemporal Comedies, Riccoboni mentions that: "This kind of spectacle
+is peculiar to Italy; one cannot deny that it has graces perfectly its
+own, and which _written Comedy can never exhibit_. This impromptu mode
+of acting furnishes opportunities for a perpetual change in the
+performance, so that the same Scenario repeated still appears a new one:
+thus one Comedy may become twenty Comedies. _An actor of this
+description, always supposing an actor of genius, is more vividly
+affected than one who has coldly got his part by rote. But figure,
+memory, voice, and even sensibility, are not sufficient for the actor
+all' improvista; he must be in the habit of cultivating the imagination,
+pouring forth the flow of expression, and prompt in those flashes which
+instantly vibrate in the plaudits of an audience._"
+
+Again, Gherardi: "Anyone may learn a part by rote, and do something bad,
+or indifferent, on another theatre. With us the affair is quite
+otherwise; and when an Italian actor dies, it is with infinite
+difficulty that we can supply his place. An Italian actor learns nothing
+by head; he looks on the subject for a moment before he comes forward on
+the stage, and entirely depends upon his imagination for the rest. The
+actor who is accustomed merely to recite what he has been taught is so
+completely occupied by his memory, that he appears to stand, as it were,
+unconnected either with the audience or his companions; he is so
+impatient to deliver himself of the burthen he is carrying that he
+trembles like a schoolboy, or is as senseless as an echo, _and could
+never speak if others had not spoken before_. Such a tutored actor among
+us would be like a paralytic arm to a body: an unserviceable member,
+only fatiguing the healthy action of the sound parts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Pantomimical Characters--Neapolitan Pantomime--The Harlequin Family--The
+Original Characters in the Italian Pantomimes--Celebrated
+Harlequins--Italian and French Harlequins--A French view of the English
+Clown--Pierrots' origin--Pantaloon, how the name has been
+derived--Columbine--Marionette and Puppet Shows.
+
+
+After having shown what the _Lazzi_ and Extemporal Comedies were like,
+let us now turn to the Pantomimical characters associated with their
+representations.
+
+Every one, observes Mr. Isaac Disraeli, of this grotesque family were
+the creatures of national genius, chosen by the people for themselves.
+Italy, both ancient and modern, exhibits a gesticulating people of
+comedians, and the same comic genius characterised the nation through
+all its revolutions, as well as the individual through all his fortunes.
+The lower classes still betray their aptitude in that vivid humour,
+where the action is suited to the word--silent gestures sometimes
+expressing whole sentences. They can tell a story, and even raise the
+passions, without opening their lips. No nation in modern Europe
+possesses so keen a relish for the burlesque, insomuch as to show a
+class of unrivalled poems, which are distinguished by the very title;
+and perhaps there never was an Italian in a foreign country, however
+deep in trouble, but would drop all remembrance of his sorrows, should
+one of his countrymen present himself with the paraphernalia of Punch at
+the corner of a street. I was acquainted with an Italian, a philosopher
+and a man of fortune, residing in this country, who found so lively a
+pleasure in performing Punchinello's little comedy, that, for this
+purpose, with considerable expense and curiosity, he had his wooden
+company, in all their costume, sent over from his native place. The
+shrill squeak of the tin whistle had the same comic effect on him as the
+notes of the _Ranz des Vaches_ have in awakening the tenderness of
+domestic emotions in the wandering Swiss--the national genius is
+dramatic. Lady Wortley Montagu when she resided at a villa near Brescia,
+was applied to by the villagers for leave to erect a theatre in her
+saloon: they had been accustomed to turn the stables into a playhouse
+every Carnival. She complied, and, as she tells us, was "Surprised at
+the beauty of their scenes, though painted by a country painter. The
+performance was yet more surprising, the actors being all peasants; but
+the Italians have so natural a genius for comedy, they acted as well as
+if they had been brought up to nothing else, particularly the Arlechino,
+who far surpassed any of our English, though only the tailor of our
+village, and I am assured never saw a play in any other place." Italy is
+the mother, and the nurse, of the whole Harlequin race.
+
+Hence it is that no scholars in Europe but the most learned Italians,
+smit by the national genius, could have devoted their vigils to narrate
+the evolutions of Pantomime, to compile the annals of Harlequin, to
+unroll the genealogy of Punch, and to discover even the most secret
+anecdotes of the obscurer branches of that grotesque family, amidst
+their changeful fortunes, during a period of two thousand years. Nor is
+this all; princes have ranked them among the Rosciuses; and Harlequins
+and Scaramouches have been ennobled. Even Harlequins themselves have
+written elaborate treatises on the almost insurmountable difficulties of
+their art. I despair to convey the sympathy they have inspired me with
+to my reader; but every _Tramontane_ genius must be informed, that of
+what he has never seen, he must rest content to be told.
+
+Of the ancient Italian troop we have retained three or four of the
+characters, while their origin has nearly escaped our recollection; but
+of the burlesque comedy, the extempore dialogue, the humorous fable, and
+its peculiar species of comic acting, all has vanished.
+
+Many of the popular pastimes of the Romans unquestionably survived their
+dominion, for the people will amuse themselves, though their masters may
+be conquered; and tradition has never proved more faithful than in
+preserving popular sports. Many of the games of our children were played
+by Roman boys; the mountebanks, with the dancers and tumblers on their
+moveable stages, still in our fairs, are Roman; the disorders of the
+_Bacchanalia_, Italy appears to imitate in her Carnivals. Among these
+Roman diversions certain comic characters have been transmitted to us,
+along with some of their characteristics, and their dresses. The
+speaking Pantomimes and Extemporal Comedies which have delighted the
+Italians for many centuries, are from this ancient source.
+
+Rich, in his "Companion to the Latin Dictionary," has an excellent
+illustration of this passage:--"This Art was of very great antiquity,
+and much practiced by the Greeks and Romans, both on the stage and in
+the tribune, induced by their habit of addressing large assemblies in
+the open air, where it would have been impossible for the majority to
+comprehend what was said without the assistance of some conventional
+signs, which enabled the speaker to address himself to the eye, as well
+as the ear of the audience. These were chiefly made by certain positions
+of the hands and fingers, the meaning of which was universally
+recognised and familiar to all classes, and the practice itself reduced
+to a regular system, as it remains at the present time amongst the
+populace of Naples, who will carry on a long conversation between
+themselves by mere gesticulation, and without pronouncing a word." That
+many of these signs are similar to those used by the Ancients, is proved
+by the same author, who copies from an antique vase a scene which he
+explains by the action of the hands of the figures, adding, "A common
+lazzaroni, when shown one of these compositions, will at once explain
+the purport of the action, which a scholar with all his learning cannot
+divine." The gesture to signify love, employed by the Ancients and
+modern Neapolitans, was joining the tips of the thumb and forefinger of
+the left hand; an imputation or asseveration by holding forth the right
+hand; a denial by raising the same hand, extending the fingers. In
+mediaeval works of art, a particular attitude of the fingers is adopted
+to exhibit malicious hate: it is done by crossing the forefinger of each
+hand, and is generally seen in figures of Herod or Judas Iscariot.
+
+Down to the fifteenth century there is not much known of the family of
+Harlequin, with the exception, perhaps, that the name Zany became more
+widely distributed into such as Drolls, Clowns, Pantaloons, Punches,
+Scaramouches, and the like. In the Italian Comedy, of purely native
+growth, the original characters were Pantaloon, a Venetian Merchant;
+Dottore, a Bolognese physician; Spavento, a Neapolitan braggart;
+Pulcinello, a wag of Apalia; Giangurgoto and Corviello, two Clowns of
+Cala-simpleton; and Arlechino, a blundering servant of Bergamo.
+
+The latter The Harlequin of the Italian theatre, has passed through,
+mentions Mr. Disraeli, all the vicissitudes of fortune. At first (as we
+have seen) he was a true representative of the ancient Mime; but, during
+the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, he degenerated into a booby and
+a gourmand, the perpetual butt for a sharp-witted fellow, his companion,
+Brighella, the knife and the whetstone. Harlequin, however, under the
+reforming hand of Goldoni, became, in after years, a child of nature,
+and the delight of his country; and he has commemorated the historical
+character of the great Harlequin Sacchi. It may serve the reader to
+correct his notions of one, from the absurd pretender with us who has
+usurped the title. "Sacchi possessed a lively and brilliant imagination.
+While other Harlequins merely repeated themselves, Sacchi, who always
+adhered to the essence of the play, contrived to give an air of
+freshness to the piece by his new sallies and unexpected repartees. His
+comic traits and his jests were neither taken from the language of the
+lower orders, nor that of the comedians. He levied contributions on
+comic authors, on poets, orators, and philosophers; and in his
+impromptus they often discovered the thoughts of Seneca, Cicero, or
+Montaigne. He possessed the art of appropriating the remains of these
+great men to himself, and allying them to the simplicity of the
+blockhead; so that the same proposition which was admired in a serious
+author, became highly ridiculous in the mouth of this excellent actor."
+In France Harlequin was improved into a wit, and even converted into a
+moralist; he is the graceful hero of Florian's charming compositions,
+which please even in the closet. "This imaginary being, invented by the
+Italians, and adopted by the French," says the ingenious Goldoni, "has
+the exclusive right of uniting _naivete_ with _finesse_, and no one ever
+surpassed Florian in the delineation of this amphibious character. He
+has even contrived to impart sentiment, passion, and morality to his
+pieces." Harlequin must be modelled as a national character, the
+creature of manners; and thus the history of such a Harlequin might be
+that of the age and of the people, whose genius he ought to represent.
+
+The history of a people is often detected in their popular amusements;
+one of these Italian Pantomimic characters shows this. They had a
+_Capitan_, who probably originated in the _Miles gloriosus_ of Plautus;
+a brother, at least, of our Ancient Pistol and Bobadil. The ludicrous
+names of this military poltroon were Spavento (Horrid fright),
+Spezza-fer (Shiver-spear), and a tremendous recreant was Captain
+Spavento de Val inferno. When Charles V. entered Italy, a Spanish
+Captain was introduced; a dreadful man he was too, if we are to be
+frightened by names: Sangre e Fuego! and Matamoro! His business was to
+deal in Spanish rhodomontades, to kick out the native Italian Capitan,
+in compliment to the Spaniards, and then to take a quiet caning from
+Harlequin, in compliment to themselves. When the Spaniards lost their
+influence in Italy, the Spanish Captain was turned into Scaramouch, who
+still wore the Spanish dress, and was perpetually in a panic. The
+Italians could only avenge themselves on the Spaniards in Pantomime! On
+the same principle the gown of Pantaloon over his red waistcoat and
+breeches, commemorates a circumstance in Venetian history expressive of
+the popular feeling.
+
+The characters of the Italian Pantomime became so numerous, that every
+dramatic subject was easily furnished with the necessary personages of
+comedy. That loquacious pedant, the Dottore, was taken from the lawyers
+and the physicians, babbling false Latin in the dialect of learned
+Bologna. Scapin was a livery servant, who spoke the dialect of Bergamo,
+a province proverbially abounding with rank intriguing knaves, who,
+like the slaves in Plautus and Terence, were always on the watch to
+further any wickedness; while Calabria furnished the booby Giangurgello
+with his grotesque nose. Moliere, it has been ascertained, discovered in
+the Italian theatre at Paris his "_Medecin malgre Lui_," his
+"_Etourdi_," his "_L'Avare_," and his "_Scapin_." Milan offered a pimp
+in Brighella; Florence, an ape of fashion in Gelsomino. These and other
+Pantomimic characters, and some ludicrous ones, as the Tartaglia, a
+spectacled dotard, a stammerer, and usually in a passion, had been
+gradually introduced by the inventive powers of an actor of genius, to
+call forth his own peculiar talents.
+
+The Pantomimes, or, as they have been described, the continual
+Masquerades, of Ruzzante, with all these diversified personages, talking
+and acting, formed, in truth, a burlesque comedy. Some of the finest
+geniuses of Italy became the votaries of Harlequin; and the Italian
+Pantomime may be said to form a school of its own. The invention of
+Ruzzante was one capable of perpetual novelty. Many of these actors have
+been chronicled either for the invention of some comic character, or for
+their true imitation of nature in performing some favourite one. One,
+already immortalised by having lost his real name in that of Captain
+Matamoros, by whose inimitable humours he became the most popular man in
+Italy, invented the Neapolitan Pullicinello; while another, by deeper
+study, added new graces to another burlesque rival. One Constantini
+invented the character of Mezetin, as the Narcissus of Pantomime. He
+acted without a mask, to charm by the beautiful play of his countenance,
+and display the graces of his figure; the floating drapery of his
+fanciful dress could be arranged by the changeable humour of the wearer.
+Crowds followed him in the streets, and a King of Poland ennobled him.
+The Wit and Harlequin Dominic sometimes dined at the table of Louis
+XIV.--Tiberio Florillo, who invented the character of Scaramouch, had
+been the amusing companion of the boyhood of Louis XIV.; and from him
+Moliere learnt much, as appears by the verses under his portrait:--
+
+    Cet illustre comedien
+    De son art traca la carriere:
+    II fut le maitre de Moliere,
+    Et la Nature fut le sien.
+
+The last lines of an epitaph on one of these Pantomimic actors may be
+applied to many of them during their flourishing period:--
+
+    Toute sa vie il a fait rire;
+    Il a fait pleurer a sa mort.
+
+Several of these admirable actors were literary men, who have written on
+their art, and shown that it was one. The Harlequin Cecchini composed
+the most ancient treatise on this subject, and was ennobled by the
+Emperor Matthias; and Nicholas Barbieri, for his excellent acting called
+the Beltrame, a Milanese simpleton, in his treatise on comedy, tells us
+that he was honoured by the conversation of Louis XIII., and rewarded
+with fortune.
+
+A sketch of Harlequin's original part is worth recording. "He is a
+mixture of wit, simplicity, ignorance, and grace, he is a half made up
+man, a great child with gleams of reason and intelligence, and all his
+mistakes and blunders have something arch about them. The true mode of
+representing him is to give him suppleness, agility, the playfulness of
+a kitten with a certain coarseness of exterior, which renders his
+actions more absurd. His part is that of a faithful valet; greedy;
+always in love; always in trouble, either on his own or his master's
+account; afflicted and consoled as easily as a child, and whose grief is
+as amusing as his joy."
+
+His costume consisted of a jacket fastened in front with loose ribbons,
+and pantaloons of wide dimensions, patched with various coloured pieces
+of cloth sewn on in any fashion. His beard was worn straight, and of a
+black colour; on his face he had a half black mask and in his belt of
+untanned leather he carried a wooden sword.
+
+In Italy there were many varieties of Harlequin, the most notable being
+Trivelin, and Truffaldin. The dress of the former, instead of the
+patches symmetrically arranged, had triangular patches along the seams,
+and suns and moons only for patches. He wore the soft hat and hare's
+foot, but did not carry the wooden sword. The hare's foot denoting
+speed, has in all probability its origin in the winged cap of the god
+Mercury.
+
+Truffaldin is a species of Harlequin, who first appeared about 1530. He
+represented (_truffa_, the villain) a sneaking kind of knave, and in the
+middle of the seventeenth century this character was very popular.
+
+In France, about 1660, Cardinal Mazarin invited one Joseph Dominique
+Biancolelli, to come to Paris to give entertainments. Shortly after his
+arrival Biancolelli gave quite a new reading to the character of
+Arlechino, as he made him not only a wit and punster, but also a bit of
+a philosopher. Biancolelli's improvements did not end here, as he turned
+his attention to the dress of Arlechino, which was now made of finer and
+better quality, whilst the parti-coloured patches were made more
+artistic and attractive. On the death of Lolatelli, who, in his
+lifetime, had played a kind of Arlechino part, Biancolelli succeeded
+him, and soon sprang into prominence, and acquired a great artistic
+reputation. Whilst dancing before Louis XV. Biancolelli contracted a
+cold, which set up inflammation of the lungs, causing his death. His
+companions, at the theatre in which he performed, to mark the sense of
+their great grief, closed the theatre for a month. Biancolelli died in
+1688.
+
+As Arlechino, Biancolelli was succeeded by his son, Pierre, who played
+under the name of Dominique.
+
+A Tuscan, named Gherardi, who had obtained celebrity as a singer, was
+the next successful French Harlequin. In consequence of a fall Gherardi
+met his death, in the year 1700.
+
+Nearly a couple of decades afterwards, in 1716, Thomassin made his
+appearance as Harlequin, in pieces written for him by Marivaux, such as
+"_Le Prince Travesti_," "_La Surprise de l'Amour_," and in which he
+appeared with great success. So daring were Thomassin's tricks, and in
+such popularity was he held, that, fearful of losing their favourite
+like Gherardi, he was obliged to discontinue them.
+
+Another competitor now arose to take the crown from Thomassin, and in
+the person of one Carlo Bertinazzi, commonly called Carlin. Our actor,
+Garrick, was an admirer of this famous Mime. Of Carlin, M. Sand
+speaks:--"Like most clever buffoons, he had a very melancholy
+disposition, and, as with Dominique, his gaiety was what the English
+term humour. It belonged to his mind, and not to his temperament."
+Carlin also wrote a book entitled, "_Les Metamorphosis d'Arlequin_." In
+1783 Carlin died, and his place in the favour of the public was filled
+by Galinetti.
+
+The French view of the English Clown is interesting: "The English clown
+(whose nearest representative on the French stage is Pierrot) is an odd
+and fantastical being. The Florentine Stentorella alone resembles him in
+his jests and tricks. His strange dress seems to have been taken from
+the American Indians. It consists of a white, red, yellow, and green net
+work, ornamented with diamond-shaped pieces of stuff of various colours.
+His face is floured, and streaked with paint a deep carmine; the
+forehead is prolonged to the top of the head, which is covered with a
+red wig, from the centre of which a little stiff tail points to the sky.
+His manners are no less singular than his costume. He is not dumb, like
+our Pierrot, but, on the contrary, he sustains an animated and witty
+conversation; he is also an acrobat, and very expert in feats of
+strength."
+
+M. Blandelaire gives a more poetical description: "The English Pierrot
+is not a person as pale as the moon, mysterious as silent, straight and
+long, like the gallows to whom we have been accustomed in Deburean. The
+English Pierrot enters like the tempest, and tumbles like a parcel; his
+laugh resembles joyous thunder. He is short and fat; his face is floured
+and streaked with paint; he has a great patch of red on each cheek; his
+mouth is enlarged by prolongation of the lips by means of two red bands,
+so that when he laughs his mouth appears to open from ear to ear."
+
+The Pierrots--not only in France, but on the Continent generally--took
+all the characteristics of the Zanys, Bertoldo, Paggliaccio, Gros,
+Giullaume, Pedrolino, Gilles, Corviello, and Peppe Nappa, of the Italian
+Comedy, and all owing at least their original conception to the theatres
+of the Greeks, and the Romans. On the Italian stage there was not a
+principal Clown like in England, the foremost place being occupied by
+Arlechino. The four principal masked characters of the Italian _Comedia
+del' Arte_ in Venice consisted of Tartaglia (a stammerer), Truffildino,
+Brighella (a representative of orators and public personages), and
+Pantaloon (a native of Venice). The name of Pantaloon is derived from
+_planta-leone_ (_plante-lion_--he planted the lion). The probable
+meaning of it in this particular is that the Venetian merchants, it is
+said, in boasting of their conquests set up their standard--the Venetian
+standard being the lion of St. Mark--on various islands in the
+Mediterranean, and from which they were nicknamed, it is said, "plant
+lion." A more probable derivation of the word is that the ancient patron
+saint of Venice is San Pantaleone. St. Pantaleone's day is July 27. He
+was martyred A.D. 303. In "Childe Harold," Lord Byron, in Canto IV.,
+stanza 14, has that "The Venetian name of Pantaleone is her very
+by-word."
+
+Pantaloon has been, at various times, husband, father, and widower.
+Sometimes he is rich, then poor, and occasionally a spendthrift. The
+dress that he wore consisted of tight red breeches, rather short, a long
+black robe, red stockings and waistcoat, a little woollen skull-cap and
+slippers.
+
+When the Venetian republic lost Negropont mourning generally was
+adopted, and Pantaloon adopted it with the rest, and on the Continent
+mourning has, I believe, formed a component part of Pantaloon's dress
+ever since.
+
+In 1750 Darbes, in Italy, was one of the best Pantaloons. Darbes, on
+one occasion, ventured to play this character in one of Goldoni
+characters, without a mask, and which, we are told, was a failure. A
+similar attempt was made on the English stage, which I have previously
+referred to.
+
+Mention has been previously made of females appearing on the stage
+during the Grecian and Roman periods. From this, however, there arose on
+the Italian stage, in after years, the _Servetta_ or _Fantesca_, a kind
+of waiting maid, or "accomplished companion" part, and called later, in
+France, _Soubrette_, and the origin of which, in all probability, can be
+traced to the _Mimas_ of _Pantomimus_.
+
+In the sixteenth century mention is made of a troupe of performers known
+as _Amorosos_ or _Innamortos_, appearing in Italy. Those who only
+appeared in the female parts were known as Colombina, Oliva, Fianetta,
+Pasquella, and Nespella. Columbina's part, the "accomplished companion,"
+like the _Vita_ of the Indian Drama, was sometimes that of mistress, and
+sometimes that of maid. Up to 1560 women were unknown on the Italian
+stage. In England just one hundred years later.
+
+Three generations of the family of Biancolelli, the Harlequin,
+grandmother, grand-daughter, and great grand-daughter appeared as
+Columbines in France. The most talented was Catherine, the daughter of
+Dominique, and she made her _debut_ in 1683, in "_Arlequin Protee_,"
+with great success.
+
+About 1695, Columbine appeared in a parti-coloured gown like a female
+Harlequin, and in the piece "_Le Retour de la foie de Besons_," acted at
+the Comedie Italiene. As the innovation was much liked, the part of
+Columbine came to be dressed like the Harlequin. The Columbine dressed
+in short muslin skirts is a creation of modern times. In the French
+Comedies Columbine was often Harlequin's wife, but she never had the
+powers of a magical wand.
+
+In the old form of Pantomime there were many other personages in these
+dumb shows which we never had in the English Pantomimes. To note a few
+of them:--The Captain, a bragging swash-buckler; the Apothecary, a
+half-starved individual with a red nose; and a female _soubrette_, who
+acted for her mistress, Columbine, similar duties as what Clown
+performed as valet for his master. The Doctor brought at first on the
+stage in 1560, was supposed to be a lawyer or a physician. From 1560 his
+dress was that of a professor's, a short, black tunic, stockings, and a
+black mask covering the forehead and nose. Another, Facanappa, had a
+long parrot nose, surmounted by a pair of green spectacles, a flat hat,
+with a broad brim, a waistcoat covered with tinsel, and a long white
+coat with large pockets. Like the Clown of our early English plays, and
+like his ancestors, the _Atellans_ and _Mimes_, he had the privilege of
+making allusions from the stage, in what, I suppose, were something like
+the Interludes. Il Barone is another variety. He was a Sicilian lord,
+deceived by his daughter, and also duped by his valets. "_Il Barone_"
+was a favourite subject for another form of "Miming," that of the
+wooden figures called Marionettes.
+
+Marionette entertainments were known both to the Greeks and the Romans.
+The adventures of "_Don Juan_" and "_Don Giovanni_," of the Italian
+Opera, in all probability sprang originally from the adventures of Punch
+in the puppet shows.
+
+Puppet shows introduced into France (_temp._ Charles IX.) from Italy,
+where they were and are still known as _Fantoccini_, by Marion--hence
+their name--and then into this country, are mentioned by Shakespeare,
+Pepys, Jonson, Swift, and the Essayists.
+
+Puppet shows, in this country, were formerly known as "Motions."
+Shakespeare's Antolycus frequented fairs and the like, and he also
+composed a "Motion" of "The Prodigal Son." Mystery plays were also
+represented by puppets.
+
+In England, especially at Bartholomew Fair, they were always very
+popular, and the chief survivor of this form of "dumb show" is "Mr.
+Punch" of our streets, whose ancient history I have briefly mentioned in
+another chapter, but not that of "Mrs. Punch," on whose history I am
+unable--however so brief--to throw any light.
+
+Let us now, dear reader, return to England, and trace in this country
+something more of the History of Pantomime, and for which we will now
+open another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Italian Scenarios and English "Platts"--Pantaloon--Tarleton, the
+Clown--Extemporal Comedy--The Poet Milton--Ben Jonson--The
+Commonwealth--"A Reign of Dramatic Terror"--Robert Cox and his "Humours"
+and "Drolleries"--The Restoration.
+
+
+It has been thought that our dramatic poet, Massinger, drew upon the
+Italian Comedy for the humour of some of his plays. That there was some
+form of intercourse between the English and Italian stage is shown by
+the discovery of one of the Italian Scenarios, or "Platts," as we know
+them, at Dulwich College, which discovery Steevens describes as "a
+mysterious fragment of ancient stage direction, and of a species of
+dramatic entertainment which no memorial is preserved in any annals of
+the English stage." The "Platt," written in a large hand, "And
+containing directions, was thought to have been affixed near the
+prompter's stand, and it has even an oblong hole in its centre to admit
+of being suspended on a wooden peg (Disraeli). On it, and in a familiar
+way, appear the names of the players, such as: Pigg, White and Black,
+Dick and Sam, Little Will Barne, Jack Gregory, and the Red-faced
+fellow."
+
+A "Platt" of the "Seven Deadly Sinnes," supposed to have been written by
+Dick Tarleton, the famous Clown, is preserved, I believe, in Dulwich
+College. It consists of a pasteboard fifteen inches high, and nine in
+breadth, and on it is written, in two columns, the following:--
+
+"A tent being placed on the stage for Henry the Sixth; he in it asleep.
+To him the lieutenant, and a pursuivant (R. Cowley, Jo. Duke), and one
+warder (R. Pallant). To them Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, and Covetousness at
+one door; at another door Envy, Sloth, and Lechery. The three put back
+the four, and so _exeunt_.
+
+"Henry awaking, enter a keeper (J. Sinclair), to him a servant (T. Belt),
+to him Lidgate and the keeper. _Exit_, then enter again--then Envy
+passeth over the stage. Lidgate speaks."
+
+These "Platts" were, in all probability, one of the first written forms
+of Pantomimic entertainments known in England, and borrowed, as
+mentioned, from the Scenarios of the Italians. That form of home
+amusement well-known in family circles, "Acting Charades," may be
+likened to them.
+
+To get all the information that we can obtain of the "Platts," I am sure
+I cannot do better than quote the words of Mr. Isaac Disraeli, well
+assured that they will be more acceptable than any I can make.
+
+Some of these "Platts" are on solemn subjects, like the tragic
+Pantomimes; and in some appear "Pantaloon, and his man Peascod, with
+_spectacles_." Steevens observes, that he met with no earlier example of
+the appearance of Pantaloon, as a specific character on our stage; and
+that this direction concerning "the spectacles" cannot fail to remind
+the reader of a celebrated passage in "As you like it." (Scene 6, Act
+II.).
+
+                ... "The sixth age shifts
+    Into the lean and slippered pantaloon;
+    With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
+    His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide
+    For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
+    Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
+    And whistles in his sound."
+
+Perhaps, he adds, Shakespeare alludes to this personage, as habited in
+his own time. The old age of Pantaloon is marked by his leanness, and
+his spectacles and his slippers. He always runs after Harlequin, but
+cannot catch him; as he runs in slippers and without spectacles, is
+liable to pass him by without seeing him. Can we doubt that this
+Pantaloon had come from the Italian theatre, after what we have already
+said? Does not this confirm the conjecture, that there existed an
+intercourse between the Italian theatre and our own? Further, Tarleton,
+the comedian, celebrated for his "Extemporal wit," was the writer or
+inventor of one of these "Platts." Stow records of one of our actors
+that "he had a quick, delicate, refined _Extemporal wit_." And Howes,
+the continuator of Stow's Chronicles of another, that "he had a
+wondrous, plentiful, pleasant, _Extemporal_ wit."
+
+Praiseworthy reference is also made of Tarleton in "Kinde-Hart's
+Dream," 4to., published in 1592. In 1611 a book was published entitled
+"Tarleton's Jeasts." Tarleton was so celebrated in his time that his
+portrait was hung out as a sign for alehouses. "To sit with Tarleton on
+an ale-post's signe," observes Bishop Hall in his satires. Oldys, in his
+M.S. notes, mentions that "There is an alehouse sign of a tabor and pipe
+man, with the name of Tarleton under it, in the borough of Southwark,
+and it was taken from the print before the old 4to. book of 'Tarleton's
+Jeasts;' and Lord Oxford had a portrait of him with his tabor and pipe,
+which was probably taken from the pamphlet called 'Tarleton's Jeasts,'
+on the title page of which there is a wooden plate of Tarleton, at full
+length in his Clown's dress, playing on his pipe with one hand, and
+beating his drum with the other."
+
+These actors then (continues Mr. Disraeli), who were in the habit of
+exercising their impromptus, resembled those who performed in the
+unwritten comedies of the Italians. Gabriel Harvey, the Aristarchus of
+the day, compliments Tarleton for having brought forward a _new species
+of dramatic exhibition_. If this compliment paid to Tarleton merely
+alludes to his dexterity at _extemporaneous wit_ in the character of the
+_Clown_, as my friend Mr. Douce thinks, this would be sufficient to show
+that he was attempting to introduce on our stage the Extemporal Comedy
+of the Italians, which Gabriel Harvey distinguishes as "a new species."
+As for these "Platts," which I shall not venture to call "Scenarios,"
+they surprise by their bareness, conveying no notion of the piece
+itself, though quite sufficient for the actors. They consist of mere
+exits and entrances of the actors, and often the real names of the
+actors are familiarly mixed with those of the _dramatis personae_.
+Steevens has justly observed, however, on these skeletons, that although
+"The drift of these dramatic pieces cannot be collected from the mere
+outlines before us, yet we must not charge them with absurdity. Even the
+scenes of Shakespeare would have worn as unpromising an aspect, had
+their skeletons only been discovered." The printed _Scenarios_ of the
+Italian theatre were not more intelligible; exhibiting only the _hints_
+for scenes.
+
+Thus, I think, we have sufficient evidence of an intercourse subsisting
+between the English and Italian theatres, not hitherto suspected; and I
+find an allusion to these Italian Pantomimes, by the great town-wit Tom
+Nash, in his "Pierce Pennilesse," which shows that he was well
+acquainted with their nature. He, indeed, exults over them, observing
+that our plays are "honourable and full of gallant resolution, not
+consisting, like theirs, of Pantaloon, a Zany, and a w---e (alluding to
+the women actors of the Italian stage); but of emperors, kings, and
+princes." My conviction is still confirmed, when I find that Stephen
+Gosson wrote the comedy of "Captain Mario;" it has not been printed, but
+"Captain Mario" is one of the Italian characters.
+
+Even at a later period, the influence of these performances reached the
+greatest name in the English Parnassus. One of the great actors and
+authors of these pieces, who published eighteen of these irregular
+productions, was Andreini, whose name must have the honour of being
+associated with Milton's, for it was his comedy or opera which threw the
+first spark of the "Paradise Lost" into the soul of the epic poet--a
+circumstance which will hardly be questioned by those who have examined
+the different schemes and allegorical personages of the first projected
+drama of "Paradise Lost": nor was Andreini, as well as many others of
+this race of Italian dramatists, inferior poets. The Adamo of Andreini
+was a personage sufficiently original and poetical to serve as the model
+of the Adam of Milton. The youthful English poet, at its representation,
+carried it away in his mind. Wit, indeed, is a great traveller; and thus
+also the "Empiric" of Massinger might have reached us from the Bolognese
+Dottore.
+
+The late Mr. Hole, the ingenious writer on the "Arabian Nights,"
+observed to me that Moliere, it must be presumed, never read Fletcher's
+plays, yet his "_Bourgeois Gentilhomme_," and the other's "Noble
+Gentleman," bear in some instances a great resemblance. Both may have
+been drawn from the same Italian source of comedy which I have here
+indicated.
+
+Many years after this article was written, appeared "The History of
+English Dramatic Poetry," by Mr. Collier. That very laborious
+investigator has an article on "Extemporal Plays and Plots," iii., 393.
+The nature of these "Platts" or "Plots," he observes, "Our theatrical
+antiquaries have not explained." The truth is that they never suspected
+their origin in the Italian "Scenarios." My conjectures are amply
+confirmed by Mr. Collier's notices of the intercourse of our players
+with the Italian actors. Whetstone's Heptameron, in 1582, mentions "The
+comedians of Ravenna, who are not _tied to any written device_." In
+Kyd's Spanish Tragedy the Extemporal Art is described:--
+
+    The Italian tragedians were so sharp of wit,
+    That in one hour of meditation
+    They would perform anything in action.
+
+These Extemporal plays were witnessed much nearer than in Italy--at the
+_Theatre des Italiens_ at Paris--for one of the characters replies:--
+
+    I have seen the like,
+    In Paris, among the French tragedians.
+
+Ben Jonson has mentioned the Italian "Extemporal Plays," in his "Case is
+Altered"; and an Italian _commediante_ and his company were in London in
+1578, who probably let our players into many a secret.
+
+Evil times, with the advent of the Commonwealth, soon fell upon our
+theatres, and when they, as well as plays, were suppressed by order of
+the Puritan Parliament, some of the actors followed the Royalist cause
+(we do not hear of any taking the side of the Parliament), and lost
+their lives fighting for the king. Others attempted to enact plays in
+secret, but these performances more often than not, caused the actors
+incarceration in some prison. At Holland House, in Kensington, many of
+these secret performances, by the aid of bribery, took place. To give
+timely warning of the performances Mr. Wright, in his "_Historia
+Histronica_," mentions that "Alexander Goff, the woman-actor, was the
+jackal to give notice of time and place to the lovers of the drama."
+
+All this however, could not, and would not, keep the spirit of the drama
+alive. The theatres were, we know, totally suppressed, "so there might
+be no more plaies acted." Play-goers there were, as I have shown, but
+they never knew when, in witnessing a performance, they might be seized
+by the military, to be fined or imprisoned, or perhaps both. A more
+lengthy reign of "Dramatic Terror" than what we had at this period,
+would, in all probability, have left us little or no trace of the Drama
+of this country. But a saviour was at hand, and that was Pantomime.
+
+Pantomime, as previously stated, kept alive for ages, after the downfall
+of the Roman Empire, the Dramatic Art, and during the Commonwealth of
+this country, it practically did the same for us.
+
+Owing to the exigences of the times, one Robert Cox, an actor of
+considerable genius, after the fashion of the Extemporal Comedies of
+Italy, invented a series of dramatic exhibitions at the Red Bull Theatre
+(where the first English actress made her appearance December 8, 1660)
+and elsewhere, under the guise of rope-dancing, a number of comic scenes
+from Shakespeare, Shirley, Marston, Beaumont, and Fletcher, and others.
+Cox's exhibitions, known as "Humours" or "Drolleries," were collected by
+Marsh, and reprinted (1672) by Francis Kirkman, the author and
+book-seller. This collection is entitled "The Wits, or Sport upon Sport,
+in select pieces of Drollery, digested into scenes by way of dialogue.
+Together with variety of Humours of several nations fitted for the
+pleasure and content of all persons, either in Court, City, Country, or
+Camp."
+
+Of these "Humours" Kirkman observes, "As meanly as you may now think of
+these Drolls, they were then acted by the best comedians; and, I may
+say, by some that then exceeded all now living; the incomparable Robert
+Cox, who was not only the principal actor, but also the contriver and
+author of most of these farces. How I have heard him cried up for his
+John Swabber, and Simpleton the Smith; in which he being to appear with
+a large piece of bread and butter, I have frequently known several of
+the female spectators and auditors to long for it; and once that
+well-known natural, Jack Adams of Clerkenwell, seeing him with bread and
+butter on the stage, and knowing him, cried out, 'Cuz! Cuz! give me
+some!' to the great pleasure of the audience. And so naturally did he
+act the smith's part, that being at a fair in a country town, and that
+farce being presented the only master-smith of the town came to him,
+saying, 'Well, although your father speaks so ill of you, yet when the
+fair is done, if you will come and work with me, I will give you twelve
+pence a week more than I give any other journeyman.' Thus was he taken
+for a smith bred, that was, indeed, as much of any trade."
+
+With the death of the Lord Protector, Cromwell, "The merry rattle of
+Monk's drums coming up the Gray's Inn Road, welcomed by thousands of
+dusty spectators," the return of Charles II., 1660, and though Charles
+was more a lover of the stage than of the drama, the theatre again
+recovered its credit, and to vigorously flourish once more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Introduction of Pantomimes to the English Stage--Weaver's "History of
+the Mimes and Pantomimes"--Weaver's Pantomimes--The prejudice against
+Pantomimes--Booth's counsel.
+
+
+The year 1702 marks the appearance of the first Pantomime introduced to
+the English stage, written by John Weaver, a friend of Addison and
+Steele's, and entitled "Tavern Bilkers." It was produced at Drury Lane.
+
+The author was by profession a dancing-master; his name is not to be
+found in any biographical dictionary, yet, it is evident that the
+"little dapper, cheerful man" had brains in his head as well as talent
+in his heels.
+
+John Weaver was the son of a Mr. Weaver, whom the Duke of Ormond, the
+Chancellor of Oxford, licensed in 1676 to exercise the profession of a
+dancing-master within the university. The date of his birth is unknown,
+but we first hear of him as stage-managing the production of his own
+Pantomime at Drury Lane, 1702, an entertainment which he described as
+one of "dancing, action, and motion." The latter would appear to have
+been a failure, as in his "History of the Mimes and Pantomimes,"
+published in 1728, Weaver states that his next attempt on similar lines
+did not take place until many years afterwards--not until the year 1716,
+in fact. In 1716 Weaver was back in London producing two burlesque
+Pantomimes, "The Loves of Mars and Venus," and "Perseus and Andromeda."
+At Drury Lane, in the following year, "Orpheus and Eurydice," and
+"Harlequin Turn'd Judge," was produced, and "Cupid and Bacchus" in 1719.
+Weaver also wrote many treatises on dancing, some of which were highly
+commended by Steele.
+
+Another Pantomime of Weaver's was "The Judgment of Paris"--date
+uncertain--performed by the author's pupils "in the great room over the
+Market-house," Shrewsbury--in which town he had taken up his
+residence--in the year 1750. John Weaver died September 28th, 1760, and
+was buried at St. Chads, Shrewsbury.
+
+The mention above of "Perseus and Andromeda" calls to mind that there
+were several pieces of this name. One of them was severely commented on
+in "The Grub-Street Journal" of April 8, 1731. Its title was:--"Perseus
+and Andromeda; or the Flying Lovers, in five Interludes, three serious
+and two comic. The serious composed by Monsieur Roger, the comic by John
+Weaver, dancing-masters."
+
+It is only just to assign to Weaver the entire credit of being the first
+to introduce Pantomimes on the English stage, though the author's
+original bent was "scenical dancing," or ballet dancing, by
+representations of historical incidents with graceful motion. In his
+"History of Pantomimes" the author is careful to distinguish between
+those entertainments where "Grin and grimace usurp the passions and
+affections of the mind," and those where "A nice address and management
+of the passions take up the thoughts of the performer." "Spectators,"
+says Weaver, in 1730, or thereabouts, "are now so pandering away their
+applause on interpolations of pseudo-players, merry Andrews, tumblers,
+and rope dancers; and are but rarely touched with, or encourage a
+natural player or just Pantomime."
+
+It was, however, left to John Rich to place Pantomime on a firm footing.
+Before dealing with Rich and his Pantomimes, which I shall treat of in
+the next chapter, it is appropriate here to note how Pantomimes
+generally came to be introduced on the English stage.
+
+Colley Cibber mentions:--About this time the patentee (Rich) having very
+near finished his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, began to think of
+forming a new company; and, in the meantime, found it necessary to apply
+for leave to employ them. By the weak defence he had always made against
+the several attacks upon his interests, and former Government of the
+theatre (Drury Lane), it might be a question, if his house had been
+ready, in the Queen's (Anne) time, whether he would then have had the
+spirit to ask, or interest enough to obtain leave to use it; but in the
+following reign, as it did not appear he had done anything to forfeit
+the right of his patent, he prevailed with Mr. Craggs, the younger, to
+lay his case before the king, which he did in so effectual a manner that
+(as Mr. Craggs himself told me) his Majesty was pleased to say upon it,
+"That he remembered when he had been in England before, in King
+Charles's time, there had been two theatres in London; and as the patent
+seemed to be a lawful grant, he saw no reason why two play-houses might
+not be continued."
+
+The suspension of the patent being thus taken off, the younger multitude
+seemed to call aloud for two play-houses! Many desired another, from the
+common notion, that two would always create emulation, in the actors.
+Others too were as eager for them, from the natural ill-will that
+follows the fortunate or prosperous in any undertaking. Of this low
+malevolence we had, now and then, remarkable instances; we had been
+forced to dismiss an audience of a hundred and fifty pounds, from a
+disturbance spirited up, by obscure people, who never gave any better
+reason for it than that it was their fancy to support the idle complaint
+of one rival actress against another, in their several pretensions to
+the chief part in a new tragedy. But as this tumult seemed only to be
+the wantonness of English liberty, I shall not presume to lay any
+further censure upon it.
+
+Now, notwithstanding this public desire of re-establishing two houses;
+and though I have allowed the former actors greatly our superiors; and
+the managers I am speaking of not to have been without their private
+errors, yet under all these disadvantages, it is certain, the stage, for
+twenty years before this time, had never been in so flourishing a
+condition.
+
+But, in what I have said, I would not be understood to be an advocate
+for two play-houses; for we shall soon find that two sets of actors,
+tolerated in the same place, have constantly ended in the corruption of
+the theatre; of which the auxiliary entertainments, that have so
+barbarously supplied the defects of weak action, have, for some years
+past, been a flagrant instance; it may not, therefore, be here improper
+to shew how our childish Pantomimes first came to take so gross a
+possession of the stage.
+
+I have upon several occasions, already observed, that when one company
+is too hard for another, the lower in reputation has always been forced
+to exhibit fine newfangled foppery, to draw the multitude after them; of
+these expedients, singing and dancing had formerly been most effectual;
+but, at the time I am speaking of, our English music had been so
+discountenanced since the taste of Italian Operas prevailed, that it was
+to no purpose to pretend to it. Dancing, therefore, was now the only
+weight, in the opposite scale, and as the new theatre sometimes found
+their account in it, it could not be safe for us wholly to neglect it.
+
+Cibber's antagonistical views towards Pantomime were shared, as we
+shall see, by a good many others.
+
+Booth, however, a greater actor than Cibber, and a tragedian to boot,
+took a more business-like view of the proceedings, thinking thin houses
+the greatest indignity the stage could suffer. "Men of taste and
+judgment (said he) must necessarily form but a small proportion of the
+spectators at a theatre, and if a greater number of people were enticed
+to sit out a play because a Pantomime was tacked to it, the Pantomime
+did good service to all concerned. Besides, if people of position and
+taste could, if so minded, leave before the nonsense commenced--an
+opportunity they do not seem to have embraced since Booth reminded the
+opponents of Pantomime how Italian opera had drawn the nobility and
+gentry away from the play-houses, as appeared by the melancholy
+testimony of their receipts, until Pantomime came to the rescue when pit
+and gallery were better filled, and the boxes too put on a nobler
+appearance."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+John Rich and his Pantomimes--Rich's Miming---Garrick, Walpole,
+Foote--Anecdotes of Rich--Pope--The dance of infernals in "Harlequin
+Sorcerer"--Drury Lane--Colley Cibber--Henry Fielding, the
+Novelist--Contemporary Writers' opinion of Pantomime--Woodward, the
+Harlequin--The meaning of the word Actor--Harlequins--"Dr. Faustus," a
+description--William Rufus Chetwood--Accidents--Vandermere, the
+Harlequin--"Orpheus and Eurydice" at Covent Garden--A description--Sam.
+Hoole, the machinist--Prejudice against Pantomime--Mrs. Oldfield--Robert
+Wilks--Macklin--Riot at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre--Death of Rich.
+
+
+It was in 1717 that Rich devised this new form of entertainment, though
+it was not till 1724, when "The Necromancer, or History of Dr. Faustus"
+was produced by Rich, which took the town by storm, that Pantomime
+became such a rage. It has been stated that what induced Rich to turn
+his attention to Pantomime was the bringing over of a German, named
+Swartz, who had two performing dogs that could dance. They were engaged
+at L10 a night; and brought full houses. However, be this as it may, in
+the "Daily Courant," of December 20, 1717, we find him, advertising for
+his "Italian Mimic Scenes"--as he, for long enough, so termed his
+Pantomimes--as follows:--
+
+      "Harlequin Executed: a new Italian Mimic Scene between a
+      Scaramouch, a Harlequin, a Country Farmer, his Wife, and
+      others."
+
+
+Of Rich and his early Pantomimes, Davies observes:--
+
+John Rich was the son of Christopher Rich, formerly patentee of Drury
+Lane Theatre, and he imbibed from his father a _dislike of people with
+whom he was obliged to live and converse_. His father wished to acquire
+wealth by French dancers and Italian singers, than by the united skill
+of the most accomplished comedians. The son inherited the same taste,
+and when he came into the patent, with his brother Christopher, of Drury
+Lane, and after having ineffectually tried his talent for acting in the
+part of the Earl of Essex, and other important characters, he applied
+himself to the study of Pantomimical representations at Lincoln's Inn
+Fields Theatre. To retrieve the credit of his theatre Rich created a
+species of dramatic composition unknown to this, and, I believe, to any
+other country, which he called Pantomime. It consisted of two parts, one
+serious, the other comic; by the help of gay scenes, fine habits, grand
+dances, appropriate music, and other decorations, he exhibited a story
+from "Ovid's Metamorphosis," or some other fabulous history. Between the
+pauses of the acts he interwove a comic fable, consisting chiefly of the
+courtship of Harlequin and Columbine, with a variety of surprising
+adventures and tricks, which were produced by the magic wand of
+Harlequin; such as the sudden transformation of palaces and temples to
+huts and cottages; of men and women into wheelbarrows and joint stools;
+of trees turned to houses; colonnades to beds of tulips; and mechanics'
+hops into serpents and ostriches.
+
+It is a most remarkable fact that the Pantomimes that Rich brought out,
+all of them could be written down as successes. In the exhibition of his
+Pantomimes, Mr. Rich always displayed the greatest taste. He had also
+acquired a considerable reputation as a performer of the motley hero
+under the name of "Lun Junr," as he was so designated on the bills at
+that time, and he was the first performer who rendered the character of
+Harlequin at all intelligible in this country. To others he taught the
+art of silent, but expressive, action, the interpreter of the mind.
+Feeling was pre-eminent in his Miming; and he used to render the scene
+of a separation with Columbine as graphic as it was affecting. Excellent
+were his "statue scenes" and his "catching the butterfly;" so also were
+his other dumb show performances.
+
+Of Rich, Garrick wrote:--
+
+    "When Lun appeared with matchless art and whim,
+    He gave the power of speech to every limb;
+    Though masked and mute conveyed his quick intent,
+    And told in frolic's gestures all he meant."
+
+Rich, however, erred in thinking himself a better actor than a
+Pantomimist; and, in fact, he thought himself a finer actor than the
+great Garrick himself. "You should see _me_ play Richard!" was a
+favourite cry of his.
+
+In 1782, after seeing the Pantomime of "Robinson Crusoe," Walpole said,
+"How unlike the Pantomimes of Rich, which were full of wit, and
+coherent, and carried on by a story."
+
+As I have shown above, Rich had, like many other people, his own
+particular little idiosyncrasies, and when in the season 1746-7 he
+netted nearly L9,000 from his Pantomimes, to the chagrin of Garrick and
+Quin, he was very angry and much annoyed because he, as Harlequin, had
+contributed little or nothing. Another mannerism of his was to despise
+the regular drama on these occasions, and he has been known to look at
+the packed audience through a small hole in the curtain, and then
+ejaculate, "Ah! you are there, you fools, are you? Much good may it do
+you!"
+
+Rich used to address everyone as "Mister." On one occasion Foote, being
+incensed at being so addressed, asked Rich why he did not call him by
+his name. "Don't be angry," says Rich, "I sometimes forget my own name."
+"I know," replied Foote, "that you can't write your own name, but I
+wonder you should forget it."
+
+The first of Rich's successes was "Harlequin Sorcerer." On its
+production Pope wrote:--
+
+    "Behold a sober sorcerer rise
+    Swift to whose wand a winged volume flies;
+    All sudden, gorgon's hiss and dragon's glare,
+    And ten horned fiends and giants rush to war.
+    Hell rises, heaven descends, and dance on earth,
+    Gods, imps and monsters, music, rage and mirth,
+    A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball,
+    Till one wide conflagration swallows all;
+    Thence a new world to nature's laws unknown,
+    Breaks out refulgent with a heaven its own;
+    Another Cynthia her new journey runs,
+    And other planets circle after suns.
+    The forests dance, the rivers upwards rise,
+    Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies;
+    At last, to give the whole creation grace,
+    Lo! one vast egg produces human race."
+
+Of Harlequin, in "Harlequin Sorcerer," being hatched from an egg by the
+rays of the sun. This has been called a master-piece of Rich's Miming
+"From the first chipping of the egg (says Jackson) his receiving of
+motion, his feeling of the ground, his standing upright, to his quick
+Harlequin trip round the empty shell, through the whole progression,
+every limb had its tongue, and every motion a voice."
+
+As probably occurring in "Harlequin Sorcerer," there is an amusing
+incident. The belief in the possibility of a supernatural appearance on
+the stage existed (says an old writer) about the beginning of the
+eighteenth century. A dance of infernals having to be exhibited, they
+were represented in dresses of black and red, with fiery eyes and snaky
+locks, and garnished with every pendage of horror. They were twelve in
+number. In the middle of their performance, while intent upon the figure
+in which they had been completely practised, an actor of some humour,
+who had been accommodated with a spare dress, appeared among them. He
+was, if possible, more terrific than the rest, and seemed to the
+beholders as designed by the conductor for the principal fiend. His
+fellow furies took the alarm; they knew he did not belong to them, and
+they judged him an infernal in earnest. Their fears were excited, a
+general panic ensued, and the whole group fled different ways; some to
+their dressing-rooms, and others, through the streets, to their own
+homes, in order to avoid the destruction which they believed to be
+coming upon them, for the profane mockery they had been guilty of. The
+odd devil was _non inventus_. He took himself invisibly away, through
+fears of another kind. He was, however, seen by many, in imagination, to
+fly through the roof of the house, and they fancied themselves almost
+suffocated by the stench he had left behind. The confusion of the
+audience is scarcely to be described. They retired to their families,
+informing them of this supposed appearance of the devil, with many of
+his additional frolics in the exploit. So thoroughly was its reality
+believed that every official assurance which could be made the following
+day did not entirely counteract the idea. The explanation was given by
+Rich himself, in the presence of his friend Bencraft, the contriver, and
+perhaps the actor of the scheme, which he designed only as an innocent
+affair, to confuse the dancers, without adverting to the serious
+consequences which succeeded.
+
+I have met with another author, who, in giving an account of this
+transaction, places it as a much earlier period, and says it was during
+the performance of "Dr. Faustus," and that when the devil took flight he
+carried away with him the roof of the theatre. This story may be
+alluded to in a very curious work, entitled, "The Blacke Booke" (a
+proper depository), "London, printed in black letter, by T.C. for
+Jeffery Chorlton, 1604." "The light burning serjant Lucifer" says of
+one, running away through fear of fire at a brothel, "Hee had a head of
+hayre like one of my divells in 'Doctor Faustus,' when the olde theatre
+crakt and frighted the audience."
+
+Emulating Rich, Drury Lane then followed with "Mars and Venus," of which
+Colley Cibber says: Was formed into something more than motion without
+meaning into a connected presentation of dances in character, wherein
+the passions were so happily expressed, and the whole story so
+intelligibly told by a mute narration of gesture only, that even
+thinking spectators allowed it to be both a pleasing and a rational
+entertainment; though, at the same time, from our distrust of its
+reception we durst not venture to decorate it with any extraordinary
+expense of scenes or habits; but upon the success of this attempt it was
+rightly concluded that if a visible expense in both were added to
+something of the same nature, it could not fail of drawing the town
+proportionately after it.
+
+From this original hint there (but every way unequal to it) sprang forth
+that succession of monstrous medlies, that have so long infested the
+stage, and which arose upon one another alternately, at both houses,
+outvying in expense, like contending bribes on both sides at an
+election, to secure a majority of the multitude.
+
+If I am asked (after condemning these fooleries myself) how I came to
+assent or continue my share of expense to them? I have no better excuse
+for my error, than confessing it. I did it against my conscience, and
+had not virtue enough to starve by opposing a multitude that would have
+been too hard for me.
+
+("The Drama's laws the Drama's patrons give," has always been an axiom
+of the stage; and worthy Colley Cibber, notwithstanding his antagonism,
+and the rivalry of Rich, had too good a knowledge of this truism not to
+do otherwise but follow the popular voice.)
+
+Notwithstanding then (Cibber continues) this, our compliance with the
+vulgar taste, we generally made use of these Pantomimes, but as crutches
+to our weakest plays. Nor were we so lost to all sense of what was
+valuable, as to dishonor our best authors in such bad company. We still
+had a due respect to several select plays, that were able to be their
+own support; and in which we found constant account, without painting
+and patching them out.... It is a reproach to a sensible people to let
+folly so quickly govern their pleasures.
+
+Henry Fielding, the novelist, was one of Harlequin's assailants. "The
+comic part of the English Pantomimes," he says, "being duller than
+anything before shown on the stage could only be set off by the
+superlative dulness of the serious portion, in which the gods and
+goddesses were so insufferably tedious, that Harlequin was always a
+relief from still worse company." Eager for theatrical reform, the
+"Weekly Miscellany" of 1732, said that plays were not intended for
+tradesmen, and denounced Pantomimes as infamous.
+
+Another competitor, who entered the lists against Rich, was Thormond, a
+dancing-master, and at Drury Lane Theatre he produced "Dr. Faustus," in
+1733. Speaking of this Pantomime, Pasquin mentions that "An account is
+very honestly published, to save people the trouble of going to see it."
+
+In a Pantomime produced at Drury Lane in the following year, there were
+Macklin, Theo. Cibber (who ultimately lost his life by shipwreck in the
+Irish Sea, in company with a troupe of Pantomimists), Mrs. Clive, and
+Mrs. Cibber. At the performance it was announced that the money paid
+would be returned to anyone who went out before the overture; but no one
+availed themselves of the concession. Commenting on the occurrence, a
+contemporary writer observes:--"Happy is it that we live in an age of
+taste, when the dumb eloquence and natural wit and humour of Harlequin
+are justly preferred to the whining of Tragedy, or the vulgarity of
+Comedy."
+
+Garrick, at Drury Lane, finding his audience with no heart for tragedy,
+and that they must have Pantomime, very wisely said, "If you won't come
+to 'Lear' and 'Hamlet,' I must give you Harlequin." And Harlequin he
+did give them, in the person of Woodward, one of the best of Harlequins
+that ever trod the stage. A contemporary print of the time, represents
+Woodward being weighed in one scale, with all the great actors of the
+day in the other, and Woodward makes them all kick the beam.
+
+To satirise the prevailing fashion, Garrick penned the following:--
+
+    They in the drama find no joys,
+    But doat on mimicry and toys;
+    Thus, when a dance is on my bill,
+    Nobility my boxes fill;
+    Or send three days before the time
+    To crowd a new-made Pantomime.
+
+Garrick's success, however, was, I am of opinion, undoubtedly owing to
+his being such a clever Pantomimist. "We saw him," says Grimm, "play the
+dagger scene in 'Macbeth' in a room in his ordinary dress, without any
+stage illusion; and, as he followed with his eyes the air-drawn dagger,
+he became so grand that the assembly broke into a cry of general
+admiration. Who would believe that this same man, a moment after,
+counterfeited, with equal perfection, a pastry cook's boy, who, carrying
+a tray of tartlets on his head, and gaping about him at the corner of
+the street, lets his tray fall, and, at first stupified by the accident,
+bursts at last into a fit of crying?"
+
+All our great actors have been good Mimics, and herein, doubtless, lies
+the secret of their success. The mere intonation of words unaccompanied
+by a strict knowledge of "that dumb, silent language," Pantomime, is
+only _parroting_. Herein, therefore, lies the true imitativeness of the
+actor, and _the natural form of acting_. The word actor "Is a name only
+given to the persons in a dramatic work, _because they ought to be in
+continual action during the performance of it_." It does not mean that
+the actor is to stand still, and to be in action only with his tongue
+when speaking his "lines." No! he bears the honoured name of actor, and
+he should bring the full power of gesture language--Pantomime--that he
+has at his control into play in order to be convincing in the character
+that, for the time being, he is.
+
+Action (mentions Betterton, in his "History of the English Stage,"
+1741), can never be in its perfection but on the stage. Action, indeed,
+has a natural excellence in it superior to all other qualities; action
+is motion, and motion is the support of nature, which without it would
+sink into the sluggish mass of chaos. Life is motion, and when that
+ceases, the human body so beautiful, nay so divine, when enlivened by
+motion, becomes a dead and putrid corpse, from which all turn their
+eyes. The eye is caught by anything in motion, but passes over the
+sluggish and motionless things as not the pleasing object of its view.
+
+The natural power of motion, or action, is the reason that the
+attention of the audience is fixed by any irregular, or even fantastic
+action, on the stage, of the most indifferent player; and supine and
+drowsy when the best actor speaks without the addition of action. The
+stage ought to be the seat of passion in its various kinds, and,
+therefore, the actors ought to be thoroughly acquainted with the whole
+nature of the affections, and habits of the mind, or else they will
+never be able to express them justly in their looks and gestures, as
+well as in the tone of their voice and manner of utterance. They must
+know them in their various mixtures, as they are differently blended
+together in the different characters they represent; and then that
+excellent rule in the "Essay on Poetry" will be of equal use to the poet
+and player:--
+
+    Who must look within to find
+    These _secret_ turns of Nature in the mind;
+    Without this part in vain would be the whole,
+    And but a _body_ all without a soul?
+
+A few words more just to lay further stress on the importance of
+Pantomime, and then to return to our History. Take any part in any play,
+strip from it in its enactment the whole of its gesture language, could
+we realise that the actor appearing in it was portraying nature for us?
+Replace the Pantomime so essential to the part, and the character
+becomes--or rather should become if properly played--a creature of flesh
+and blood the same as ourselves. Pantomime, on the other hand, does not
+require words to be spoken to express its meaning, as it is quite
+expressible without.
+
+A contemporary account of the production of the Pantomime "Harlequin Dr.
+Faustus," at Drury Lane Theatre, forms interesting reading, in addition
+to providing a contrast with present-day Pantomime.
+
+Every action is executed to different agreeable music, so adapted that
+it properly expresses what is going forward; in the machinery there is
+something so highly surprising that words cannot give a full idea of it.
+The effects described seem to be marvellous, considering the state of
+theatrical mechanism. A devil riding on a fiery dragon rides swiftly
+across the stage. Two country men and women enter to be told their
+fortunes, when Dr. Faustus waves his wand, and four pictures turn out of
+the scenes opposite, representing a judge and a soldier, a dressed lady,
+and a lady in riding habit; the scene changes to the outside of a
+handsome house, when the louting men, running in, place their backs
+against the door. The front of the house turns, and at the same instant
+the machine turns, a supper ready dressed rises up. The countrymen's
+wives remain with the Doctor, who (afterwards) goes out. He beckons the
+table, and it follows him. Punch, Scaramouch, and Pierrot are next met
+by the Doctor, who invites them into a banquet. The table ascends into
+the air. He waves his wand, and asses' ears appear at the sides of their
+heads. A usurer lending money to Dr. Faustus demands a limb as
+security, and cuts off the Doctor's leg, several legs appear on the
+scene, and the Doctor strikes a woman's leg with his wand, which
+immediately flies from the rest, and fixes to the Doctor's stump, who
+dances with it ridiculously. The next scene opens, disclosing the
+Doctor's study. He enters affrighted, and the clock strikes one; the
+figures of Time and Death appear. Several devils enter and tear him in
+pieces, some sink, some fly out, each bearing a limb of him. The last,
+which is the grand scene, is the most magnificent that ever appeared on
+the English stage--all the gods and goddesses discovered with the
+apotheosis of Diana, ascending into the air.
+
+The tricks that formed part and parcel of the Pantomimes, in causing
+surprise and wonderment, placed Harlequin, for his extraordinary feats,
+in the first rank of magicians. Oftentimes, however, they were the cause
+of many accidents.
+
+Chetwood--William Rufus Chetwood--who had, in the eighteenth century, a
+bookseller's shop in Covent Garden, and was, for twenty years, prompter
+for Drury Lane, a writer of four plays, and a volume of sketches of the
+actors whom he had met, says:--"A tumbler at the Haymarket beat the
+breath out of his body by an accident, and which raised such vociferous
+applause that lasted the poor man's life, for he never breathed more.
+Indeed, his wife had this comfort, when the truth was known, pity
+succeeded to the roar of applause. Another accident occurred in the
+Pantomime of 'Dr. Faustus' (previously referred to), at Lincoln's Inn
+Fields Theatre, where a machine in the working threw the mock Pierrot
+down headlong with such force that the poor man broke a plank on the
+stage with his fall, and expired; another was sorely maimed that he did
+not survive many days; and a third, one of the softer sex, broke her
+thigh."
+
+Vandermere, the Harlequin, one of the most agile that ever trod the
+stage, on one occasion, in the pursuit by the Clown, leaped through a
+window on to the stage, a full thirteen feet. Performing at the Dublin
+theatre one night, having a prodigious leap to make, the persons behind
+the scenes not being ready to receive him in the customary blanket, he
+fell upon the stage and was badly bruised. This accident occasioned him
+to take a solemn oath that he would never take another leap upon the
+stage; nor did he violate his oath, for when he afterwards played
+Harlequin another actor of his size, and of considerable activity was
+equipped with the parti-coloured habit, and when a leap was necessary
+Vandermere passed off on one side of the stage as Dawson--Vandermere's
+understudy--entered at the other, and undertook it.
+
+How little do we know of the tragic ending of these poor unhappy
+Pantomimists' lives. Their names even have not been handed down to us,
+and they, like probably many more with whose quips and quiddities we
+have laughed at with infinite zest, have long since gone "to that bourne
+from whence no traveller returns," and perhaps, "unwept, unhonoured, and
+unsung."
+
+On February 12, 1739, Rich produced, at Covent Garden (opened in
+December 1732, with Congreve's "Way of the World"), "Orpheus and
+Eurydice." On the mounting something like L2,000 were spent.
+
+Rich devised the scenario and comic scenes. Lewis Theobald wrote the
+libretto, and George Lambert--founder of the Beefsteak Club--painted the
+scenery. Hippisley played Clown, Manager Rich was the Harlequin, and
+Signor Grimaldi, father of the celebrated Mime, to be noted further on,
+was the Pantaloon. This is the first instance of a member of the
+Grimaldi family (says Mr. W.J. Lawrence) appearing in English Pantomime.
+
+The following was the argument and the curious arrangement of the
+scenes:--Interlude I.--Rhodope, Queen of Thrace, practising art magic,
+makes love to Orpheus. He rejects her love. She is enraged. A serpent
+appears who receives Rhodope's commands, and these ended, glides off the
+stage. Here the comic part begins. In the Opera (as practically it was)
+a scene takes place between Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice's heel is
+pierced by the serpent, behind the scenes. She dies on the stage--after
+which the comic part is continued. Interlude II. Scene: Hell. Pluto and
+Orpheus enter. Orpheus prevails on Pluto to restore Eurydice to him.
+Ascalox tells Orpheus that Eurydice shall follow him, but that if he
+should look back at her before they shall have passed the bounds of
+Hell, she will die again. Orpheus turns back to look for Eurydice,
+Fiends carry her away. After this the comic part is resumed. Interlude
+III.--Orpheus again rejects Rhodope's solicitations. Departs. The scene
+draws, and discovers Orpheus slain. Several Baccants enter in a
+triumphant manner. They bring in the lyre and chaplet of Orpheus.
+Rhodope stabs herself. The piece concludes with the remainder of the
+comic part.
+
+"'The Scots Magazine' for March, 1740, says:--'Orpheus and Eurydice'
+draws the whole town to Covent Garden, whether for the Opera itself (the
+words of which are miserable stuff) or for the Pantomimical Interlude,
+with which it is intermixed, I cannot determine. The music is pretty
+good, and the tricks are not foolisher than usual, and some have said
+that they have more meaning than most that have preceded them. The
+performance is grand as to the scenery. What pleases everybody is a
+regular growth of trees, represented more like nature than what has yet
+been seen upon the stage, and the representation of a serpent so lively
+as to frighten half the ladies who see it. It is, indeed, curious in its
+kind, being wholly a piece of machinery, that enters, performs its
+exercise of head, body, and tail in a most surprising manner, and makes
+behind the curtain with a velocity scarcely credible. It is about a foot
+and a half in circumference of the thickest part, and far exceeds the
+former custom of stuffing a bag into such likeness. It is believed to
+have cost more than L200; and when the multitude of wings, springs,
+etc., whereof it consists, are considered, the charge will not appear
+extravagant. The whole Royal family have been to see this performance;
+and, from what can be judged, everybody else will see it before the end
+of the season, the house being every day full at 3 o'clock, though
+seldom empty till after eleven."
+
+Sam Hoole--father of the translator of Tasso and Ariosto--was Rich's
+chief machinist at this period, and the inventor of this famous serpent.
+He had, according to Cumberland, a shop where he sold mechanical toys.
+Having a large stock of serpent toys left on his hands he became a
+ruined and bankrupt man.
+
+"Orpheus and Eurydice" was revived by Rich in 1747, and again in 1755;
+when it ran 31 nights. In 1768 it was reproduced by his successors at
+Covent Garden. In October, 1787, it was again put in the bill, and this
+time by Royal Command, it was said.
+
+Of the number of Pantomimes brought out by Rich I shall not dilate on,
+and those that I have referred to will, doubtless, show what all these
+"plays without words" were like.
+
+During the summer season of 1761, at Drury Lane, Murphy and Foote
+endeavoured
+
+    "From Pantomime to free the stage
+    And combat all the ministers of the age,"
+
+by ridiculing the popular amusement in having the character of Harlequin
+hung in full view of the audience in a play entitled "The Wishes." When
+the catastrophe was at hand Murphy whispered to Cumberland: "If they
+don't damn this, they deserve to be damned themselves!" No sooner were
+the words uttered than a turbulent mob in the pit broke out, and quickly
+put an end to the dire fatality with which Pantomime and its hero,
+Harlequin, were threatened.
+
+Christopher Rich gave the first engagement to the afterwards celebrated
+actress, Mrs. Oldfield, and, previously, a similar kindness to Robert
+Wilks, about the year 1690, at the salary of fifteen shillings a week,
+with two shillings and sixpence deducted for teaching him to dance.
+Another famous performer, Macklin, was also introduced to the stage by
+this family.
+
+At the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, in 1721, there was a memorable
+riot, caused by some drunken aristocratic beaux, owing to an alleged
+insult, which one of their number was supposed to have received. The
+beau referred to, a noble Earl, had crossed the stage whilst Macbeth and
+his lady were upon it, in order to speak to a companion who was lolling
+in the wings. Rich told the noble Earl that for his indecorum he would
+not be allowed behind the scenes again, which so incensed the latter
+that he gave Manager Rich a smart slap on the face, which Rich returned.
+Swords then were drawn, and between the actors and the beaux a free
+fight ensued, which ended in the former driving the latter out of the
+theatre. The rioters, however, again obtained access, and rushing into
+the boxes, cut down the hangings, besides doing other damage, when, led
+by Quin and a number of constables, several of the beaux were captured,
+and taken before the magistrates. The end of it all was that the matter
+was compromised; but, in order to prevent a recurrence of such
+disorderly scenes, a guard should attend the performances. The custom of
+having the military in attendance at our theatres--which the above
+affray was the primary cause--was in vogue for over a hundred years
+after this event.
+
+Rich lived to see Pantomimes firmly established at Drury Lane and Covent
+Garden. Drury Lane did, for a few years, discard it in favour of
+spectacle, but ultimately found it advisable to return to Pantomime.
+
+At the beginning of the 'sixties of the eighteenth century--1761--died
+the father of Harlequins in England, and also--as he has been called--of
+English Pantomimes, and there is, I believe, a costly tomb erected to
+his memory in Hillingdon Church-yard, Middlesex.
+
+Rich left Covent Garden Theatre to his son-in-law, Beard, the vocalist,
+with the not unpleasant restriction, however, that the property should
+be sold when L60,000 was bid for it, and for which sum it ultimately
+passed into the hands of Harris, Colman, and their partners.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Joseph Grimaldi.
+
+
+The year 1778 marks an epoch in the History of Pantomime, as just over
+three-quarters of a century before marked another epoch, the
+introduction of Pantomimes to the English stage. On December 18th, 1778,
+was born Joseph Grimaldi--afterwards the Prince of Clowns, and the son
+of Giuseppe Grimaldi ("Iron Legs"). Joe's first appearance was at
+Sadler's Wells on April 16, Easter Monday, 1781, he not being quite
+three years old. Dickens, in the "Memoirs of Grimaldi," has given us
+from the Clown's own diary, which Grimaldi kept close up to the time of
+his death, on May, 31st, 1837, a full and true account of the life of
+this remarkably clever Pantomimist. To add to what Dickens has written
+of "Only a Clown" (which doubtless the reader is already acquainted
+with) would only be like painting the lily; and, perhaps, I cannot do
+better in honouring his memory than by quoting the words of Mr. Harley
+at the annual dinner of the Drury Lane Fund, spoken in the June
+following Grimaldi's death:--"Yet, shall delicacy suffer no violence in
+adducing one example, for death has hushed his cock-crowing cachination,
+and uproarious merriment. The mortal Jupiter of practical Joke, the
+Michael Angelo of buffoonery, who, if he was _Grim-all-day_, was sure to
+make you chuckle at night."
+
+A contemporary writer of Grimaldi's days thus eulogises the Prince of
+Clowns:--
+
+As a Clown, Mr. Grimaldi is perfectly unrivalled. Other performers of
+the part may be droll in their generation; but, which of them can for a
+moment compete with the Covent Garden hero in acute observation upon the
+foibles and absurdities of society, and his happy talent of holding them
+up to ridicule. He is the finest practical satyrist that ever existed.
+He does not, like many Clowns, content himself with raising a
+horse-laugh by contortions and grimaces, but tickles the fancy, and
+excites the risibility of an audience by devices as varied as they are
+ingenious. "He uses his folly as a stalking-horse, under cover of which
+he shoots his wit;" and fully deserves the encomium bestowed upon him by
+Kemble, who, it is said, pronounced him to be "the best low comedian
+upon the stage."
+
+There are few things, we think, more delightful than a Pantomime--that
+is, a _good_ Pantomime, such as is usually produced at Covent Garden. We
+know there are a set of solemn pompous mortals about town, who express
+much dignified horror at the absurdities of these things, and declaim
+very fluently, in good set terms, upon the necessity of their abolition.
+Such fellows as these are ever your dullest of blockheads. Conscious of
+their lack of ideas, they think to earn the reputation of men of
+sterling sense, by inveighing continually against what _they_ deem to be
+frivolity; while they only expose more clearly to all observers the sad
+vacuum which exists in their _pericraniums_. Far, far from us be such
+dullards, and such opinions; and let us continue to laugh heartily at
+our Pantomimes, undisturbed by their tedious harangues; "Do they think,
+because they are _wise_, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" The man
+who refuses to smile at the humours of Grimaldi is made of bad
+materials--_hic niger est_--let no such man be trusted!
+
+Can there possibly be a more captivating sight than that which the
+theatre presents nightly, of hundreds of beautiful children all happy
+and laughing, "as if a master-spring constrained them all;" and filled
+with delight, unalloyed and unbounded, at the performance of one man?
+And shall that man go without his due meed of praise? Never be it said!
+No, Joey! When we forget thee, may our right hand forget its cunning! We
+owe thee much for the delight thou hast already afforded us; and rely
+upon thee, with confident expectation, for many a future hour of gay
+forgetfulness. Well do we remember, in our boyish dreams of bliss, how
+prominent a feature thou didst stand amongst the anticipated enjoyments
+of Christmas; how the thoughts of home, of kindred, and release from
+school, were rendered ten-fold more delightful by the idea of thy motley
+garb and mirth-inspiring voice, which ever formed the greatest enjoyment
+our holidays afforded. Heaven be praised, we still are children in some
+respects, for we still feel gladdened by thy gambols, as heartily as we
+did years ago, when we made our periodical escape from the terrors of
+our old pedagogue's frown, and went with Aunt Bridget ("Happier than
+ourselves the while") to banquet upon the Pantomimic treat provided for
+us. "All wisdom is folly," says the philosopher; but we often incline to
+think the converse of the proposition correct, when we see thee put thy
+antic disposition on, and set the audience in a roar by the magic of thy
+powers.
+
+It is thought by many persons that Grimaldi is seen to greater advantage
+on the small stage of Sadler's Wells, than on the more capacious one of
+Covent Garden; but, this is an opinion with which we cannot coincide. He
+always appears to us more at his ease at the latter house; to come forth
+exulting in his power, and exclaiming, "Ay, marry, here my soul hath
+elbow-room." His engagement there has certainly been a lucrative
+speculation for the proprietors. "Mother Goose," we believe, drew more
+money than any other piece which has been produced during the present
+century; and no Pantomime since brought forward at Covent Garden has
+been unsuccessful; which is mainly to be attributed to his inimitable
+performance of Clown. It is scarcely possible for language to do justice
+to his unequalled powers of gesture and expression. Do our readers
+recollect a Pantomime some years ago, in which he was introduced begging
+a tart from a pieman? The simple expression, "May I?" with the look and
+action which accompanied it, are impressed upon our recollection, as
+forming one of the finest pieces of acting we ever witnessed. Indeed,
+let the subject be what it may, it never fails to become highly amusing
+in the hands of Grimaldi; whether it is to rob a pieman, or open an
+oyster, imitate a chimney-sweep, or a dandy, grasp a red-hot poker, or
+devour a pudding, take snuff, sneeze, make love, mimic a tragedian,
+cheat his master, pick a pocket, beat a watchman, or nurse a child, it
+is all performed in so admirably humorous and extravagantly natural a
+manner, that spectators of the most saturnine disposition are
+irresistibly moved to laughter.
+
+Mr. Grimaldi also possesses great merit in Pantomimic performances of a
+different character, which all are aware of, who have ever seen him in
+the melodrama, called "Perouse," and other pieces of the same
+description.
+
+We cannot better terminate this article, than with a poetical tribute to
+his powers, addressed to him by one of the authors of "Horace in
+London," who appears to have had a true relish of his subject:--
+
+    Facetious Mime! thou enemy of gloom,
+      Grandson of Momus, blithe and debonair,
+    Who, aping Pan, with an inverted broom,
+      Can'st brush the cobwebs from the brows of care.
+
+    Our gallery gods immortalize thy song;
+      Thy Newgate thefts impart ecstatic pleasure;
+    Thou bid'st a Jew's harp charm a Christian throng,
+      A Gothic salt-box teem with attic treasure.
+
+    When Harlequin, entangled in thy clue,
+      By magic seeks to dissipate the strife,
+    Thy furtive fingers snatch his faulchion too;
+      The luckless wizard loses wand and wife.
+
+    The fabled egg from thee obtains its gold;
+      Thou sett'st the mind from critic bondage loose,
+    Where male and female cacklers, young and old,
+      Birds of a feather, hail the sacred Goose.
+
+    Even pious souls, from Bunyan's durance free,
+      At Sadler's Wells applaud thy agile wit,
+    Forget old Care while they remember thee,
+      "Laugh the heart's laugh," and haunt the jovial pit.
+
+    Long may'st thou guard the prize thy humour won,
+      Long hold thy court in Pantomimic state,
+    And, to the equipoise of English fun,
+      Exalt the lowly, and bring down the great.
+
+Again we are told "That his Pantomime was such that you could fancy he
+would have been the Pulcinello of the Italians, the Harlequin of the
+French, that he could have returned a smart repartee from Carlin. His
+motions, eccentric as they were, were evidently not a mere lesson from
+the gymnasium; there was a will and mind overflowing with, nay living
+upon fun, real fun. He was so extravagantly natural, that the most
+saturnine looker-on acknowledged his sway; and neither the wise, the
+proud, or the fair, the young nor the old, were ashamed to laugh till
+tears coursed down their cheeks at Joe and his comicalities."
+
+Grimaldi used sometimes to play in two different Pantomimes at two
+different theatres, when he would have to go through some twenty scenes.
+
+Unlike the painting of the face with a few patches adopted by the
+modern Clown, Grimaldi used to give one the idea of a greedy boy, who
+had covered himself with jam in robbing from a cupboard. Grimaldi
+dressed the part like a Clown should be dressed. His trousers were large
+and baggy, and were fastened to his jacket, and round his neck he wore a
+schoolboy's frill--part of the dress, in all probability, borrowed from
+the Spanish Captain and the French Pierrot.
+
+At Drury Lane on Friday, June 27, 1828, he took his farewell benefit.
+The following being the bill:--
+
+Mr. Grimaldi's Farewell Benefit,
+On Friday, June 27th, 1828,
+will be performed
+JONATHAN IN ENGLAND,
+after which
+A MUSICAL MELANGE,
+To be succeeded by
+THE ADOPTED CHILD,
+and concluded by
+HARLEQUIN HOAX,
+In which Mr. Grimaldi will act Clown in one scene,
+sing a song, and speak his
+FAREWELL ADDRESS.
+
+With the reader's permisson, I will give, from his "Memoirs," the
+address he spoke:--
+
+"Ladies and Gentlemen:--In putting off the Clown's garment, allow me to
+drop also the Clown's taciturnity, and address you in a few parting
+sentences. I entered early on this course of life, and leave it
+prematurely. Eight-and-forty years only have passed over my head--but I
+am going as fast down the hill of life as that older Joe--John Anderson.
+Like vaulting ambition, I have overleaped myself, and pay the penalty in
+an advanced old age. If I have now any aptitude for tumbling it is
+through bodily infirmity, for I am worse on my feet than I used to be on
+my head. It is four years since I jumped my last jump--filched my last
+oyster--boiled my last sausage--and set in for retirement. Not quite so
+well provided for, I must acknowledge, as in the days of my Clownship,
+for then, I dare say, some of you remember, I used to have a fowl in one
+pocket and sauce for it in the other.
+
+"To-night has seen me assume the motley for a short time--it clung to my
+skin as I took it off, and the old cap and bells rang mournfully as I
+quitted them for ever.
+
+"With the same respectful feelings as ever do I find myself in your
+presence--in the presence of my last audience--this kindly assemblage so
+happily contradicting the adage that a favourite has no friends. For the
+benvolence that brought you hither--accept, ladies and gentlemen, my
+warmest and most grateful thanks, and believe, that of one and all,
+Joseph Grimaldi takes a double leave, with a farewell on his lips, and a
+tear in his eyes.
+
+"Farewell! That you and yours may ever enjoy that greatest earthly
+good--health, is the sincere wish of your faithful and obliged servant.
+God bless you all!"
+
+Poor Joe was buried in the burying-ground of St. James' Chapel, on
+Pentonville Hill, and in a grave next to his friend, Charles Dibdin. May
+the earth lie lightly over him!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Plots of the old form of Pantomimes--A description of "Harlequin and the
+Ogress; or the Sleeping Beauty of the Wood," produced at Covent
+Garden--Grimaldi, _Pere et Fils_--Tom Ellar, the Harlequin, and Barnes,
+the Pantaloon--An account of the first production of the "House that
+Jack built," at Covent Garden--Spectacular display--Antiquity and Origin
+of some Pantomimic devices--Devoto, Angelo, and French, the Scenic
+Artists--Transparencies--Beverley--Transformation Scenes.
+
+
+Of the plots of the old form of Pantomime and what these entertainments
+were generally like, graphically, does Planche describe them.
+
+How different (he says) were the Christmas Pantomimes of my younger
+days. A pretty story--a nursery tale--dramatically told, in which "the
+course of true love never did run smooth," formed the opening; the
+characters being a cross-grained old father, with a pretty daughter, who
+had two suitors--one a poor young fellow, whom she preferred, the other
+a wealthy fop, whose pretensions were, of course, favoured by the
+father. There was also a body servant of some sort in the old man's
+establishment. At the moment when the young lady was about to be
+forcibly married to the fop she despised, or, on the point of eloping
+with the youth of her choice, the good fairy made her appearance, and,
+changing the refractory pair into Harlequin and Columbine, the old
+curmudgeon into Pantaloon, and the body servant into Clown: the two
+latter in company with the rejected "lover," as he was called, commenced
+the pursuit of the happy pair, and the "comic business" consisted of a
+dozen or more cleverly constructed scenes, in which all the tricks and
+changes had a meaning, and were introduced as contrivances to favour the
+escape of Harlequin and Columbine, when too closely followed by their
+enemies. There was as regular a plot as might be found in a melodrama.
+An interest in the chase which increased the admiration of the ingenuity
+and the enjoyment of the fun of the tricks, by which the runaways
+escaped capture, till the inevitable "dark scene" came, a cavern or a
+forest, in which they were overtaken, seized, and the magic wand, which
+had so uniformly aided them, snatched from the grasp of the despairing
+Harlequin, and flourished in triumph by the Clown. Again at the critical
+moment the protecting fairy appeared, and, exacting the consent of the
+father to the marriage of the devoted couple, transported the whole
+party to what was really a grand last scene, which everybody did wait
+for. There was some congruity, some dramatic construction, in such
+Pantomimes; and then the acting. For it was acting, and first-rate
+acting.
+
+To give the reader a further insight into the old form of Christmas
+Pantomimes, I cull the following from "The Drama," a contemporary
+magazine of the period (1822):--
+
+In compliance with the long-established custom of gratifying the holiday
+visitors of the theatres with Pantomimic representations at this season
+of year, a new piece of that description was produced at this theatre
+(Covent Garden) last night, December 26th, 1822, under the title of
+"Harlequin and the Ogress; or the Sleeping Beauty of the Wood." The
+introductory story is taken from the well-known tale of "The Sleeping
+Beauty," in "Mother Bunch's Fairy Tales," which had before been
+"melodramatised," but had not hitherto been taken for the groundwork of
+a Harlequinade.
+
+The piece opens in one of the fabled grand caverns under the Pyramids of
+Egypt, in which the three fatal sisters of Mother Bunch's Mythology are
+seen spinning and winding a ball of golden thread, the fastening of
+which to the wrist of the Sleeping Beauty is intended to add another
+century to the duration of her life, and of the power which the Ogress,
+or Fairy, has exercised over her, and her possessions, for the preceding
+hundred years. The ball having been completed, with the due quantum of
+magic incantation in such cases prescribed, is consigned to the care of
+Grim Gribber, the porter of the castle, with directions to attach it to
+the wrist of the lady in the chamber of sleep, whither he accordingly
+proceeds for that purpose; but overcome by the soporific influences of
+the atmosphere of that enchanted place, he falls into a deep sleep ere
+his task is accomplished. The Prince Azoff, with his Squire Abnab,
+straying from a hunting party into the enchanted cedar grove, encounters
+the Fairy Blue-bell, protector of the Sleeping Beauty, who imparts to
+the Prince the story of her enchantment, furnishes him with a magic
+flower to protect him from the influence of the Ogress, and instructs
+him in the means of releasing the Beauty at the expiration of the term
+of her first enchanted sleep, which is then drawing to a close. In the
+amazement which seizes the Prince on finding himself in the chamber of
+sleep, at the splendour of everything around him, and the sight of the
+Sleeping Beauty with her surrounding train of attendants, whose
+faculties are all enchained in the same preternatural slumber, he lets
+fall the magic flower, and becomes thereby subject to the power of the
+Ogress, from which he is, however, rescued on the instant by the
+protecting interference of the Fairy Blue-bell. But in punishment of his
+neglect, he is condemned to wander for a time in search of happiness
+with the now-awakened Beauty, pursued by the relentless Ogress and her
+servant, Grim Gribber. The whole of the persons engaged in the scene now
+undergo the prescriptive Pantomimic changes, and the ordinary succession
+of Harlequinade adventures, tricks, and transformations ensue.
+
+Our old favourites, the Grimaldis, father and son, Mr. Ellar as
+Harlequin, and Mr. Barnes as Pantaloon, were hailed, on their
+appearance, with the warmth of greeting to which their excellence in
+their several parts fully entitles them, and displayed their wonted
+drollery, gracefulness, and agility: and Miss Brissak, who, for the
+first time, appeared as Columbine, acquitted herself with tolerable
+credit, and was very well received.
+
+The scenery in general was marked with that characteristic beauty and
+highly-finished excellence, which have long distinguished the
+productions of this theatre: and the panoramic series of views of the
+River Thames, from Greenwich to the Nore, on the passage of the Royal
+flotilla for Scotland, and its arrival in Leith Roads, probably surpass
+everything of the kind before exhibited. There are several diverting
+tricks and ingenious changes. Grimaldi's equipment of a patent safety
+coach at Brighton, in particular was highly amusing. The machinery,
+which is, in many instances, of a most complicated description, worked
+remarkably well for a first night's exhibition; and the whole went off
+with a degree of _eclat_, which must have been exceedingly gratifying to
+the managers, as auguring the probability of such a lengthened run for
+the piece as may amply recompense the pains and expense which have been
+so lavishly bestowed in its preparation. The house was filled in every
+part, and the announcement of the Pantomime's repetition was received
+with the most clamorous approbation, undisturbed by a single dissentient
+voice.
+
+The first production of "The House that Jack Built," at Covent Garden,
+on December 26, 1824, also reads interestingly:--
+
+The Pantomime is before us, and we should ill-repay the pleasure it
+afforded us, if we did not acknowledge and make public its excellence.
+The name implies the source from which it is taken, and we had,
+therefore, the supreme pleasure of renewing our friendship with those
+very old acquaintances, the "Priest all shaven and shorn, the maiden all
+forlorn, the cow with the crumpled horn, the dog that worried the cat,
+that killed the rat, that eat up the malt, that lay in the House that
+Jack built." This, of course, gave us, as it appeared to do many others,
+great pleasure, "For should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never
+brought to mind." Mr. Farley, however, who supports (like an Atlas) all
+the weight of bringing forward these annual pieces of fun and foolery,
+and who appears to be as learned in the mystic lore of "hoary
+antiquity," as he is in the mysteries of all the wonders of the tricks,
+changes, and mechanism of the Pantomimic world, has let us this time
+into a secret, which will doubtless cause much erudite argument, and
+pros and cons from various sage antiquarians for months to come, in that
+invaluable work of old Sylvanus Urban, 'yclept the "Gentlemen's
+Magazine." As the play-bills on which this important piece of
+information is to be found, will doubtless be bought up by all the
+mystogogii of the Metropolis, and shortly become scarce, we shall take
+the liberty of inserting it in our imperishable pages, for the benefit,
+not only of posterity, but for those of our own day, who are infected
+with the building mania, and who, we think, ought to make Mr. Farley
+some very valuable present to mark their sense of the obligation they
+are under to him, in consequence of the benefit which must accrue to
+them from it. It appears from this fragment in what manner Jack became
+possessed of his house, and which it never before occurred to us, to
+enquire. Thus then the mystery is elucidated by Mr. Farley.
+
+Jack's Wager;
+
+"By virtue of one of our forest charters, if a man do build a dwelling
+upon common land, from sun-set to sun-rise, and enclose a piece of
+ground, wherein there shall be a tree growing, a beast feeding, a fire
+kindled, and provision in the pot, such dwelling shall be freely held by
+the builder, anything to the contrary, nevertheless, notwithstanding."
+Forest Laws.
+
+Accordingly Jack, in the opening scene, is represented just before
+nightfall, as completing his dwelling, by putting on the chimney pot as
+the finishing stroke; he then claims his bride, Rosebud, from her
+father, Gaffer Gandy, who refuses his consent, having determined on
+bestowing her hand on one Squire Sap. Jack, in despair, repairs to Poor
+Robin, the village astrologer, who is intently observing an eclipse of
+the moon (which, by-the-bye, is most excellently managed), and relates
+his griefs. The old man cheers his drooping spirits, by casting his
+nativity and finding by his observations, that Jack's stars are of the
+most benign influence, and that all his wishes shall be fulfilled. The
+marriage of the maiden all forlorn with the Squire is on the point of
+being completed, when Venus (one of whose doves had been preserved by
+Jack) dispatches Cupid to the assistance of the despairing lovers, by
+the magic of whose powerful wand the usual Pantomimic changes are
+effected in a trice--Jack becomes Harlequin; Rosebud, Columbine;
+Gaffer, Pantaloon; the Squire, the Lover; and the Priest, the Clown.
+Mirth, revelry, fun, frolic, and joviality are now the order of the day,
+and the scene changes to a view of Hyde Park and the Serpentine River on
+a frosty morning in January: in which is represented, with admirable
+effect, a display of patent skating. An oil cloth is spread upon the
+stage, a group comprised of various laughable characters are assembled
+on it, and skate about with as much rapidity, and precisely as though it
+were a sheet of ice. The adroit skill of old stagers on the slippery
+surface, with the clumsy awkwardness and terror of novices in the art,
+are well represented. A prodigious fat man makes his appearance; when a
+race is called for, he, of course, tries his prowess, when the ice
+cracking beneath the heavy weight assembled on it gives way with a heavy
+crash, and "Fatty" is consigned to a watery bed. Assistance is
+immediately tendered, when, by Harlequin's power, a lean and shrivelled
+spirit of the deep rises from below to the great alarm of the beholders,
+and whose limbs continue to expand till his head touches the clouds. The
+whole of the scene is one of the most laughable and best managed in the
+Pantomime. Kew Gardens, on a May-day morning, is also a very pleasing
+scene, in which some pretty Morris dancing is introduced. The Barber's
+shop, in which shaving by steam is hit off, is excellent in its way, but
+not so well understood in its details, as to make it equally effective
+in representation. Vauxhall Bridge, and the Gardens which succeeds it,
+are also charmingly painted by the Grieves, and from hence the Clown
+and Pantaloon take an "Aeronautic excursion" to Paris. This is a
+revolving scene--the balloon ascends--and the English landscape
+gradually recedes from the view--the gradual approach of night--the
+rising of the moon--the passing of the balloon through heavy clouds--and
+the return of day, are beautifully represented; the sea covered with
+ships, is seen in distant perspective with the French coast; a
+bird's-eye view of Paris follows, and the balloon safely descends in the
+gardens of the Tuileries. The adjoining palace, mansions, and gardens
+being brilliantly illuminated, give the scene a most splendid and
+picturesque effect. A variety of other scenes, but far too numerous to
+mention individually, deserve the highest applause, particularly the
+village of Bow, Leadenhall Market, with a change to an illuminated civic
+feast in the Guildhall; Burlington Arcade at night, and the village of
+Ganderclue by sunrise. The Temple of Iris, formed of the "radiant
+panoply of the heavenly arch," by Grieve, is most brilliant.
+
+The advent of Pantomime, early in the eighteenth century, gave a special
+fillip to spectacular display, as they were all announced to be set off
+with "new scenery, decorations, and flyings."
+
+Some of the stage devices of Pantomime are of considerable antiquity;
+as, for instance, the basket-work hobby-horses, that figured as far back
+as the old English Morris dances, to be revived in the French ballet of
+the seventeenth century, and, in after years, in English Pantomime.
+
+The Pantomime donkey is at least, we are told, 200 years old. In
+"_Arlequin Mercure Galant_," produced in Paris in 1682, by the Italian
+Comedians, Harlequin made his entrance on a moke's back--and the
+merriment afterwards being greatly enhanced when Master "Neddy," with
+Pan seated on its back, suddenly came in two, to the consternation of
+the beholders. To the Italian Pantomime Comedians we owe many of our
+stage devices and tricks. The statue scene in "Frivolity," played by the
+Messrs. Leopolds, was introduced by the Italians in "_Arlequin Lingere
+du Palais_," when this piece was performed at Paris in 1682. Again, the
+device of cutting a hole in a portrait for an eaves-dropper's head to be
+inserted, was used in "_Columbine Avocat_" as far back as 1685.
+
+In "_Arlequin Lingere du Palais_," played at the Hotel de Bourgogne in
+October, 1682, there was represented two stalls--an underclothier's and
+a confectioner's. Harlequin dressed half like a man and half like a
+woman, with a mask on each side of his face to match presides in this
+dual capacity at both stalls. Pasquariel, who comes to buy, is utterly
+bewildered, and is made the target of both jests and missiles of
+monsieur of the confectioners, and mademoiselle of the adjoining stall.
+Possibly the shop scenes in our English Harlequinades may have
+originated from this. A similar idea to the above was given in O'Keefe's
+Pantomime of "Harlequin Teague; or the Giants' Causeway," performed at
+the Haymarket in 1782. Charles Bannister appeared in this Pantomime and
+sang a duet as a giant with two heads, one side representing a gentleman
+of quality, and the other a hunting squire. Mrs. German Reed, about
+1855, appeared representing two old women, between whom an imaginary
+conversation was held, Mrs. Reed turning first one side of her face to
+the audience, and then the other. Fred Maccabe, in his "Essence of
+Faust," had also a similar allusion, and by many "transformation
+dancers" was it used. The antiquity of many other devices could be
+noted, but I must desist, yet I cannot help remarking that even here we
+have more exemplifications of history repeating itself.
+
+Scenical representations and mechanical devices in Italy had long been
+made a fine art, and an English traveller and critic observes that our
+painting compared to theirs is only daubing. I find among their
+decorations statues of marble, alabaster, palaces, colonnades,
+galleries, and sketches of architecture; pieces of perspective that
+deceive the judgment as well as the eye; prospects of a prodigious
+extent in spaces not thirty feet deep. As for their machines I can't
+think it in the power of human wit to carry their inventions further. In
+1697, I saw at Venice an elephant discovered on the stage, when, in an
+instant, an army was seen in its place; the soldiers, having by the
+disposition of their shields, given so true a representation of it as if
+it had been a real elephant.
+
+In Rome, at the Theatre Capranio, in 1698, there was a ghost of a woman
+surrounded by guards. This phantom, extending her arms and unfolding her
+clothes, was, with one motion, transformed into a perfect palace, with
+its front, its wings, body, and courtyard. The guards, striking their
+halberds on the stage, were immediately turned into so many waterworks,
+cascades, and trees, that formed a charming garden before the palace. At
+the same theatre, in the opera "_Nerone Infante_," the interior of hell
+was shown. Here part of the stage opened, and discovered a scene
+underneath, representing several caves, full of infernal spirits, that
+flew about, discharging fire and smoke, on another side the river of
+Lethe and Charon's boat. Upon this landing a prodigious monster
+appeared, whose mouth opening to the great horror of the spectators,
+covered the front wings of the remaining part of the stage. Within his
+jaws was discovered a throne of fire, and a multitude of monstrous
+snakes, on which Pluto sat. After this the great monster, expanding his
+wings, began to move very slowly towards the audience. Under his body
+appeared a great multitude of devils, who formed themselves into a
+ballet, and plunged, one after the other, into the opening of the floor.
+The great monster was in an instant transformed into an innumerable
+multitude of broad white butterflies, which flew all into the pit, and
+so low that some often touched the hats of several of the spectators,
+and at last they disappeared. During this circumstance, which
+sufficiently employed the eyes of the spectators, the stage was
+refitted, and the scene changed into a beautiful garden, with which the
+third act began.
+
+The scene painter, Devoto, painted the scenery and decorations for the
+Goodman's Fields Theatre, where, it is interesting to note, David
+Garrick made his first _London_ appearance in 1741. His first appearance
+on any stage had been made at Ipswich on Tuesday, 21st July, in the same
+year, under the name of Lyddall. Garrick, during his time, introduced
+many novelties in the way of scenery and transparencies, acting on the
+suggestions of Signor Seivandoni, the scenic artist at the Opera-house,
+and the fencing master, Dominico Angelo. These transparencies became the
+talk of London, and it has been known for several plays to have been
+written so as to introduce them. The first transparent scene is said to
+have been the "Enchanted Wood," introduced in "Harlequin's Invasion," at
+Drury Lane, the painter being one French, the scenic artist of the
+theatre.
+
+Beverley, the scene painter for Madame Vestris, half a century ago,
+brought fairy, or Pantomime, scenes to great perfection. Leopold Wagner,
+speaking of them, says:--"We have it upon the authority of Mr. Planche
+that these were almost entirely due to the skilled efforts and successes
+of Mr. William Beverley, who, in the nature of Extravaganza, so
+impressed the public with his fine talents as an artist upon theatrical
+canvas, that gorgeous scenes became quite the rage, and how, year after
+year, Mr. Beverley's powers were taxed to the utmost to outdo his
+former triumphs, and how the most costly materials and complicated
+machinery were annually put into requisition until the managers began to
+suffer."
+
+Speaking of the production on the 26th December, 1849, of "The Island of
+Jewels," Planche says, "The novel, and yet exceedingly simple, falling
+of the leaves of a palm tree, which discovered six fairies, supporting a
+coronet of jewels, produced such an effect as I scarcely remember having
+witnessed on any similar occasion up to that period. The last scene
+became the first in the estimation of the management. The most
+complicated machinery, the most costly materials were annually put into
+requisition, until their bacon was so buttered that it was impossible to
+save it. Nothing was considered brilliant but the _last_ scene. Dutch
+metal was in the ascendant. It was no longer even painting, it was
+upholstery. Mrs. Charles Mathews herself informed me that she had paid
+between L60 and L70 for gold tissue for the dresses of the
+Supernumeraries alone." I wonder what Mrs. Mathews would say if she
+could now visit this terrestrial sphere of ours?
+
+All this love of spectacular display soon began to supersede the good
+old-fashioned Christmas Pantomimes.
+
+In his work, "Behind the Scenes," Mr. Fitzgerald very graphically
+describes the Transformation scene of later days, and now becoming
+nearly as obsolete as the Harlequinade. All will recall in some
+elaborate transformation scene how quietly and gradually it is evoked.
+First the gauzes lift slowly one behind the other--perhaps the most
+pleasing of all scenic effects--giving glimpses of the Realms of Bliss
+seen beyond in a tantalising fashion. Then is revealed a kind of half
+glorified country, clouds and banks evidently concealing much. Always a
+sort of pathetic, and, at the same time, exultant strain rises, and is
+repeated as the changes go on; now we hear the faint tinkle--signal to
+those aloft on the "bridges" to open more glories. Now some of the banks
+begin to part slowly, showing realms of light with a few divine
+beings--fairies--rising slowly here and there. More breaks beyond, and
+more fairies rising with a pyramid of these ladies beginning to mount
+slowly in the centre. Thus it goes on, the lights streaming on full in
+every colour and from every quarter in the richest effulgence. In some
+of the more daring efforts the _femmes suspendues_ seem to float in the
+air or rest on the frail support of sprays or branches of trees. While,
+finally, at the back of all the most glorious paradise of all will open,
+revealing the pure empyrean itself, and some fair spirit aloft in a
+cloud among the stars; the apex of all. Then all motion ceases; the work
+is complete; the fumes of crimson, red, and blue fire begin to rise at
+the wings; the music bursts into a crash of exultation; and, possibly to
+the general disenchantment, a burly man, in a black frock coat, steps
+out from the side and bows awkwardly. Then, to a shrill whistle, the
+first scene of the Harlequinade closes in, and shuts out the brilliant
+vision.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Pantomimic Families--Giuseppe Grimaldi--James Byrne, the Harlequin and
+Inventor of the modern Harlequin's dress--Joseph Grimaldi, Junior--The
+Bologna Family--Tom Ellar--The Ridgways--The Bradburys--The
+Montgomerys---The Paynes--The Marshalls--Charles and Richard
+Stilt--Richard Flexmore--Tom Gray--The Paulos--Dubois--Arthur and
+Charles Leclerq--"Jimmy" Barnes--Famous Pantaloons--Miss Farren--Mrs.
+Siddons--Columbines--Notable Actors in Pantomime.
+
+
+In the histrionic profession the genius of hereditary is shown over and
+over again; and no more so than in Pantomimic families. For, if blessed
+with a numerous progeny, the sons became--the eldest, of course, could
+only, as the place of honour, be Clown--the others, Harlequins,
+Pantaloons; the daughters, Columbines; and, perhaps, Harlequinas.
+
+In the last chapter but one I have referred to Grimaldi's father,
+Giuseppe Grimaldi, "Iron Legs," and now let us recall something more of
+the sire of so worthy a son.
+
+As a dancer--as his father was before him--and Pantomimist, Giuseppe
+Grimaldi, before coming to England, had appeared at the fairs of France
+and Italy. In 1758 Giuseppe made his first appearance on the stage of
+Drury Lane, under Garrick's management, in a new Pantomime dance,
+entitled, "The Millers."
+
+For some thirty years afterwards the Signor continued to be a member of
+the Drury Lane _corps de ballet_, and appearing as Clown, Harlequin, and
+Pantaloon.
+
+In 1764, Giuseppe played Harlequin in a Clown-less Pantomime at Sadler's
+Wells, and in the Drury Lane Pantomime of the same year, though there
+were Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Columbine in it, there was no Clown.
+Drury Lane was then only open in the winter, and Sadler's Wells in the
+summer months.
+
+A notable Harlequin was Mr. James Byrne, the ballet-master. "Mr. Byrne,"
+says Grimaldi, in his "Memoirs," "was the best Harlequin on the boards,
+and never has been excelled, or even equalled, since that period."
+
+Mr. Byrne came of a well-known dancing family, and to him we owe the
+introduction of the tight-fitting dress worn by Harlequin. Until the
+production of the Pantomime of "Harlequin Amulet, or the Magic of Mona,"
+at Drury Lane Theatre, written by Mr. Powell, produced at Christmas,
+1799, by Mr. Byrne, and which ran until Easter, 1800--it had been the
+loose jacket and trousers of the ancient Mimes. It had also been
+considered indispensable that Harlequin should be continually
+attitudinising in the five different positions of Admiration,
+Flirtation, Thought, Defiance, and Determination; and continually
+passing from one to the other without pausing. Byrne, for newer
+attitudes, abolished these postures, but long afterwards the old form of
+posing was, and is still, retained by the exponents of Harlequin.
+
+In this Pantomime, Byrne, as Harlequin, appeared in a white silk
+close-fitting shape, fitting without a wrinkle, and into which the
+variegated colours of time-honoured memory were woven, and covered with
+spangles, presenting a very bright appearance.
+
+Mr. Byrne, also gave the character of Harlequin an entirely new reading.
+The colours of Harlequin's dress had every one a significance, as
+follows:--Red, temper; blue, love; yellow, jealousy; brown or mauve,
+constancy. When Harlequin wore his mask down he was supposed to be
+invisible. On his mask he had two bumps, denoting knowledge on the one
+hand, and thought on the other, whilst in his cap he wore a hare's foot,
+and a worked device on his shoes, indicating flight and speed. Can we
+not from the bumps of knowledge and the hare's foot trace the
+characteristics of the god Mercury, which, as previously stated, was the
+prototype of Harlequin. With the bat, or magic sword, the gift from the
+fairies to him, Harlequin was supposed to be invulnerable, and if he
+lost his sword he would fall into the power of the Clown.
+
+Byrne's innovation was not resisted, and it was well received, and ever
+since this memorable occasion, the character of Harlequin has, for the
+most part, been dressed as Byrne dressed it. The significance of the
+present-day variegated colours of Harlequin's costume are somewhat
+different to the above, and denote: red, fire; blue, water; yellow, air;
+and black, earth. These--the four elements--are typical of the regions
+governed by Mercury.
+
+Mr. Byrne was at Drury Lane in the time of Garrick. He died December
+4th, 1845, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. Mrs. Byrne, who was also
+a dancer, pre-deceasing her husband by a few months in her
+seventy-fourth year.
+
+Joseph Grimaldi, son of "Old Joe," made, at twelve years of age, his
+first appearance at Sadler's Wells in 1814, playing Man Friday to his
+father's Robinson Crusoe. For several years both father and son played
+together in various Pantomimes; and it was thought that before young Joe
+there was a brilliant future. This, however, was soon dissipated, as he
+embarked upon vicious courses, and through a blow on the head received
+in some brawl "He became a wild and furious savage; he was frequently
+attacked with dreadful fits of epilepsy, and continually committed
+actions which nothing but insanity could prompt. In 1828 he had a
+decided attack of insanity, and was confined in a strait waistcoat in
+his father's house for some time."
+
+From engagements at Drury Lane, Sadler's Wells, the Pavilion and the
+Surrey Theatre in turn, he was dismissed, finally "Falling into the
+lowest state of wretchedness and poverty. His dress had fallen to rags,
+his feet were thrust into two worn-out slippers, his face was pale with
+disease, and squalid with dirt and want, and he was steeped in
+degradation." This unhappy life came to a final close in a public-house
+in Pitt Street, off the Tottenham Court Road.
+
+Signor Pietro Bologna, a country-man and friend of Giuseppe Grimaldi,
+Joe Grimaldi's father, brought with him from Genoa his wife, two sons
+and a daughter. They were all Mimes, and, in a Pantomime produced in
+1795, entitled, "The Magic Feast," Signor Bologna was Clown, and his
+son, "Jack" Bologna, was Harlequin; the latter being also Harlequin to
+Grimaldi's Clown, both at Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells. "Jack"
+Bologna married a sister of Mary Bristow, Joe Grimaldi's second wife,
+and the mother of poor young Joe.
+
+Tom Ellar was another famous Harlequin, first making his appearance at
+the Royalty, Goodman's Fields, in 1808. For several seasons he played
+Harlequin at Covent Garden.
+
+Many years ago penny portraits of Mr. Ellar "In his favourite character
+of Harlequin," were published by a Mr. Skelt, or a Mr. Park, of Long
+Lane, Smithfield, and were the delight of those, who, if living now, are
+old and gray.
+
+Tom Ellar died April 8, 1842, aged 62. Previous to his death he must
+have fallen upon evil days, as Thackeray, in 1840, wrote: "Tom, who
+comes bounding home from school, has the doctor's account in his trunk,
+and his father goes to sleep at the Pantomime to which he takes him.
+_Pater infelix_, you too, have laughed at Clown, and the magic wand of
+spangled Harlequin: what delightful enchantment did it wave round you in
+the golden days 'when George the Third was King?' But our Clown lies in
+his grave; and our Harlequin Ellar, prince of many of our enchanted
+islands, was he not at Bow Street the other day, in his dirty, faded,
+tattered motley--seized as a law breaker for acting at a penny theatre,
+after having well nigh starved in the streets, where nobody would listen
+to his old guitar? No one gave a shilling to bless him: not one of us
+who owe him so much!"
+
+Another Pantomime family were the Ridgways. Tom Ridgway was Clown under
+Madame Vestris's management at Covent Garden.
+
+There have been several Bradburys since the time of Grimaldi's great
+rival, Robert Bradbury, died July 21, 1831, who wore on his person nine
+strong "pads," in order to go through some extraordinary feats.
+
+The Montgomerys; the Paynes, Harry and Fred; nor should the name of "Old
+Billy" Payne be omitted. "Billy" Payne it was, it will be remembered,
+who, in 1833, helped, from the stage of Covent Garden, the dying Edmund
+Kean.
+
+Then there were the Marshalls, Harry and Joseph; Charles and Richard
+Stilt; and a very original and amusing Clown, Richard Flexmore, died
+August 20, 1860, aged 36. Tom Gray, a famous Clown of Covent Garden,
+died January 28th, 1768, aged upwards of 100 years; the Paulo family of
+Pantomimists; Dubois, Arthur and Charles Leclerq, Walter Hilyard, and
+many, many others.
+
+In the 'twenties and 'thirties a popular and famous Pantaloon was
+"Jimmy" Barnes, died September 28th, 1838. Barnes, in the summer of
+1830, was engaged to play in an English company at Paris, but they had
+hardly commenced to perform when the Revolution of July broke out. Some
+years afterwards Barnes published in "Bentley's Miscellany," from his
+old original M.S., an amusing and illustrated account of his wanderings.
+
+Amongst other Pantaloons there have been--Thomas Blanchard, died August
+20, 1859, aged 72; William Lynch, died June 29, 1861, aged 78; R.
+Norman, died September 16, 1858, aged 70; George Tanner, died February
+8, 1870; and Paulo, a member of Mr. Charles Kean's Company at the
+Princess's Theatre, had as Pantaloon appeared in many Pantomimes. It is
+a notable fact that a good number of our Mimes were long-livers.
+
+Long before Miss Farren, afterwards Countess of Derby (died April 21,
+1829), first charmed a London audience, we hear of her in 1772 at
+Wakefield in one of her first parts--if not her first--that of
+Columbine. She could both sing well and dance gracefully. One of the
+earliest "parts" that even the great Mrs. Siddons (that afterwards was),
+when a young girl, played, was in connection with Pantomime, as Combes
+remembered to have seen her "Standing by the side of her father's stage,
+and knocking a pair of snuffers against a candle-stick to imitate the
+sound of a wind-mill, during the representation of some Harlequinade."
+
+In days gone by Madame Leclerq, Carlotta Leclerq, Charles Kean's
+Columbine in the seasons of 1850-1-2, E. Dennett, Emma Boleno, died
+October 18th, 1867, aged 35; Marie Charles, who died from an accident by
+fire, Pavilion Theatre, January 21, 1864, and others have won
+considerable fame in the part of Columbine.
+
+Amongst those who have played Harlequin in days gone by, have been the
+elder Kean, and the well-known actor, Mr. Wilson Barrett, who, early in
+his career, played this part for an extra two shillings and sixpence
+"thrown in," to augment his then weekly salary of seventeen shillings
+and sixpence; whilst Sir Henry Irving tells us that he also has appeared
+in Pantomime, in the character of a wicked fairy, named Venoma, in days
+since past, for a small monetary emolument.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Popular Pantomime subjects--Poor Pantomime Librettos--Pantomime subjects
+of our progenitors--The various versions of "Aladdin"--"The Babes in the
+Wood"--"Blue Beard"--"Beauty and the Beast"--"Cinderella"--"Dick
+Whittington"--"The House that Jack Built"--"Jack the Giant
+Killer"--"Jack and the Beanstalk"--"Red Riding Hood"--"The Sleeping
+Beauty in the Wood"--Unlucky subjects--"Ali Baba and the Forty
+Thieves"--"The Fair One with Golden Locks"--The source of "Sindbad the
+Sailor" and "Robinson Crusoe."
+
+
+It may be of interest in this History of Pantomime to note the origin of
+some of our most popular present day Pantomime subjects, besides showing
+many of our present day Pantomime libretto writers that in such
+well-known themes as "Aladdin," "Cinderella," and others, there is no
+need to cast their stories pretty much in the same groove, year after
+year, when by drawing on the fairy-lore of the East much that is new and
+original, for present-day English Pantomimes, is waiting the attention
+of their skill and ingenuity.
+
+Though the stories of popular English Pantomimes are practically the
+same each year (why I do not know), yet, not content with this, in many
+of our large cities and towns we frequently see the same Pantomime title
+not only "billed" at one theatre, but perhaps at several others. This
+clashing and clashing year after year with one another's titles (I say
+nothing about the "plots," as these, in many instances, only consist of
+a half-penny worth of author to an intolerable deal of music-hall gag),
+cannot but, I have long been of opinion, adversely affect the box-office
+receipts, unless, of course, the Pantomime-goer makes a point of "doing
+the round," so to speak, which, however, is not generally the case.
+
+As Pantomime writers in the early days there were Thomas Dibdin, son of
+Charles Dibdin, the writer of nautical ballads, Pocock and Sheridan.
+Dibdin was one of the best of Pantomime librettists, and from the years
+1771 to 1841 his prolific pen, as a writer of Pantomimes, was never
+idle, as from it came some thirty-three Pantomimes, and all successes.
+Amongst other literary luminaries, in after years, as writers of
+Pantomime Extravaganzas, there were J.R. Planche, E.L. Blanchard, W.
+Brough, Mark Lemon, H.J. Byron, Wilton Jones, and John Francis McArdle.
+
+History always repeats itself we know, and poor Pantomime books were not
+unknown as far back as half a century ago, as the subjoined parody on
+the "Burial of Sir John Moore," by the late Albert Smith plainly
+shows:--
+
+    Not a laugh was heard, not a topical joke,
+      As its corse to oblivion we hurried;
+    Not a paper a word in its favour spoke
+      On the Pantomime going to be buried.
+
+    We buried it after the Boxing Night,
+      The folks from the galleries turning;
+    For 'twas plain it would scarcely pay for the light
+      Of the star in the last act burning.
+
+    No useless play-bill put forth a puff,
+      How splendid the public had found it,
+    But it lay like a piece that had been called "stuff,"
+      With a very wet blanket around it.
+
+After this digression for one brief moment more, let us take a passing
+glance at some of the Pantomime subjects which our progenitors delighted
+in. They had not the continual ringing of the changes on half-a-dozen
+Pantomime subjects, as we have at present, but revelled in such
+attractions as "Harlequin Don Quixote," "The Triumph of Mirth, or
+Harlequin's Wedding," "The Enchanted Wood or Harlequin's Vagaries,"
+"Hurly Burly, or the Fairy of the Wells," "Blue Beard, Black Beard, and
+Grey Beard," and many others. However, to return.
+
+Of the Pantomime subjects, whose origin we are going to enquire into,
+let us first commence with "Aladdin."
+
+According to the many versions of this popular story in Europe and Asia,
+it would seem that its origin originally was of Buddhist extraction. In
+our common English version of "Aladdin," in "The Arabian Nights," which
+was taken from Galland's French version, it is doubtless an Eastern
+picture. It does not occur, however, in any known Arabian text (says
+Mr. Clouston, in "Popular Tales," and to whose work I am indebted for
+much of the information for this chapter) of "The Thousand and One
+Nights" (_Elf Laila wa Laila_), although the chief incidents are found
+in many Asiatic fictions, and it had become orally current in Greece and
+Italy before it was published by Galland. A popular Italian version,
+which presents a close analogy to the familiar story of "Aladdin"
+(properly "_Ala-u-d-Din_," signifying "Exaltation of the Faith") is
+given by Miss M.H. Busk, in her "Folklore of Rome," under the title of
+"How Cajusse was married."
+
+A good natured looking old man one day knocks at the door of a poor
+tailor out of work; his son, opening the door, is told by the old man
+that he is his uncle, and he gives him half a piastre to buy a good
+dinner. When the tailor comes home--he was absent at the time--he is
+surprised to hear the old man claim him as a brother, but finding him so
+rich he does not dispute the matter. After the old man had lived some
+time with the tailor and his family, literally defraying all the
+household expenses, he finds it necessary to depart, and with the
+tailor's consent takes the boy Cajusse with him, in order that he may
+learn some useful business. But no sooner do they get outside the town
+than he tells Cajusse that it is all a dodge. "I'm not your uncle," he
+says, "I want a strong, daring boy to do something I am too old to do.
+I'm a wizard--don't attempt to escape for you can't." Cajusse, not a bit
+frightened, asks him what it is he wants him to do; and the wizard
+raises a flat stone from the ground, and orders him to go down, and
+after he gets to the bottom of the cave to proceed until he comes to a
+beautiful garden, where he will see a fierce dog keeping watch. "Here's
+bread for him. Don't look back when you hear sounds behind you. On a
+shelf you will see an old lantern; take it down, and bring it to me." So
+saying the wizard gave Cajusse a ring, in case anything awkward should
+happen to him after he had got the lantern, when he had only to rub the
+ring, and wish for deliverance. Cajusse finds precious stones hanging
+like frost from the trees in the garden underground, and he fills his
+pocket with them. Returning to the entrance of the cave, he refuses to
+give up the lantern till he has been drawn out; so the wizard thinking
+merely to frighten him replaces the stone. Cajusse finding himself thus
+entrapped rubs the ring, when instantly the Slave of the Ring appears,
+and the youth at once orders the table to be laid for dinner. He then
+calls for his mother and father, and they all have an unusually good
+meal. Some time afterwards, Cajusse had returned home, the town was
+illuminated, one day in honour of the marriage of the Sultan's daughter
+to the Vizier's son. He sends his mother to the palace with a basket of
+jewels, and, to demand the Sultan's daughter in marriage. The Sultan is
+astounded at the purity of the gems, and says he will give his answer in
+a month. At the end of the same week the Grand Vizier's son is married
+to the Princess. Cajusse rubs his lantern and says "Go to-night and take
+the daughter of the Sultan and lay her on a poor pallet in our
+outhouse." This is done, and Cajusse begins to talk to her, but she is
+far too frightened to answer. The Sultan learns of his daughter's
+whereabouts, and does not know what to make of the strange business. The
+son of the Vizier complains to his father that his wife disappears every
+night, and comes back just before dawn. Cajusse now sends his mother to
+the Sultan with three more baskets full of jewels, and the Sultan tells
+her he may come and see him at the palace. Having received this message,
+Cajusse rubs the lantern, gets a dress of gold and silver, a richly
+caparisoned horse, four pages with rich dresses to ride behind them, and
+one to go before, distributing money to the people. Cajusse is next
+married to the Princess, and they live together in a most magnificent
+palace with great happiness. By-and-bye the old wizard hears of this,
+and resolves to obtain the lantern by hook or by crook. Disguising
+himself as a pedlar he comes to the palace calling out the familiar "New
+lamps for old." By this means he obtains the precious lamp, and
+immediately transports the palace and the princess to an island in the
+high seas. Cajusse, by the aid of the magic ring, quickly follows, to
+find his princess a prisoner in the power of the wizard. He then gives
+her this advice: "Make a feast to-night; say you'll marry the old wizard
+if he'll tell you what thing would be fatal to him, and you will guard
+him against it." The princess gets from the magician the fatal secret.
+"One must go into a far distant forest," he says "Where there is a beast
+called the hydra, and cut off his seven heads. If the middle head is
+split open a leveret will jump out and run off. If the leveret is split
+open, a bird will fly out. If the bird is caught and opened, in its body
+is a precious stone, and should that be placed under my pillow I shall
+die." Cajusse accomplishes all these things, and gives the life-stone to
+the princess, together with a bottle of opium. The princess drugs the
+wizard's wine, and when he had laid his head on his pillow (under which
+was the stone) he gave three terrible yells, turned himself round three
+times, and was dead. After thus ridding themselves of their enemy,
+Cajusse and his bride lived happy ever afterwards.
+
+Aladdin's adventure with the magician in the enchanted cave has also its
+counterpart in Germany (see Grimms' German Collection).
+
+Another "Aladdin" version is the tale of Maruf, the last in the Bulak
+and Calcutta printed Arabic texts of the "Book of Maruf" in "The
+Thousand and One Nights." The story is to the effect that Maruf had
+given out that he was a rich man, under which false pretence he marries
+the Sultan's daughter. The tale he spread about was that he was
+expecting the arrival of a rich caravan, which contained all his
+princely wealth. After they were married, Maruf confesses to his wife
+the imposture he has practised on them. She urges him to fly, or his
+head would be forfeited, and procures him a disguise to flee the
+country. He does so, and, whilst journeying through a village, he sees a
+man ploughing in a field, whom he asks for food. Whilst the latter is
+away, Maruf continues the ploughing, where the man had left off, and
+the ploughshare strikes against something hard in the ground, which
+turns out to be an iron ring in a marble slab. He pulls at the ring, and
+Maruf discovers a small room covered with gold, emeralds, rubies, and
+other precious stones. He also discovers a coffer of crystal, having a
+little box, containing a diamond in its entirety. Desirous of knowing
+what the box further contains, he finds a plain gold ring, with strange
+talismanic characters engraved thereon. Placing the ring on his finger,
+he is suddenly confronted by the Genii of the Ring, who demands to know
+what are his commands. Maruf desires the Genii to transport all the
+treasure to the earth, when mules and servants appear, and carry it to
+the city which Maruf had left, much to the chagrin of the Vizier, who
+did not like Maruf. Maruf, during a great feast prepared for the
+occasion, tells the Sultan how he became possessed of the treasure, when
+the Sultan begs the loan of the ring, which Maruf hands to the Vizier to
+give him, and which no sooner does he get, than he commands the Genii to
+convey Maruf to some desert island, and leave him to die. The Vizier
+also serves the Sultan the same way, and then he turns his attention to
+"Mrs. Maruf," whom he threatens with death if she refuses to marry him.
+At a banquet she makes the Vizier drunk, obtains possession of the ring,
+secures the return of Maruf and the Sultan, and the decapitation of the
+Vizier.
+
+The "Babes in the Wood" was registered on the books of Stationers' Hall
+as a ballad as far back as 1595.
+
+To take another familiar Pantomime subject, "Blue Beard," this story is
+said to have been invented as a satire on our King Henry VIII. There is
+little doubt, however, of it originating from a very ancient source; and
+to afford the reader all the possible information on the subject, a
+writer in "The Drama," a magazine of the beginning of the last century
+has the following, though he does not state his authority for the
+information:--
+
+As this extraordinary personage has long been the theme, not only of
+children's early study and terror, it will be gratifying to peruse the
+character of that being who really existed, and who was distinguished in
+horror and derision by the strange appellation of "Blue Beard."
+
+He was the famous Gilles, Marquis de Laval, a Mareschal of France, and a
+General of uncommon intrepidity, who greatly distinguished himself in
+the reigns of Charles VI. and VII., by his courage, particularly against
+the English, when they invaded France. He rendered such services to his
+country, which were sufficient to immortalize his name, had he not for
+ever tarnished his glory by the most terrible and cruel murders,
+blasphemies, and licentiousness of every kind. His revenues were
+princely; but his prodigality was sufficient to render even an Emperor a
+bankrupt. Wherever he went he had in his suite a seraglio, a band of
+players, a company of musicians, a society of sorcerers and magicians,
+an almost incredible number of cooks, packs of dogs of various kinds,
+and above 200 led horses. Mezerai, an author of great repute, says,
+that he encouraged and maintained men who called themselves sorcerers,
+to discover hidden treasures, and corrupted young persons of both sexes
+to attach themselves to him, and afterwards killed them for the sake of
+their blood, which was requisite to form his charms and incantations.
+These horrid excesses may be believed, when we reflect on the age of
+ignorance and barbarism in which they were certainly too often
+practised. He was at length, for a state crime against the Duke of
+Brittany, sentenced to be burnt alive in a field at Nantz in 1440, but
+the Duke, who was present at his execution, so far mitigated the
+sentence, that he was first strangled, then burnt, and his ashes buried.
+Though he was descended from one of the most illustrious families in
+France, he declared, previous to his death, that all his terrible
+excesses were owing to his wretched education.
+
+"Blue Beard" was first dramatised at Paris, in 1746, when "_Barbe Bleu_"
+was thus announced:--_Pantomime_--_representee par la troupe des
+Comediens Pantomimes, Foir St. Laurent_. It was afterwards dramatised at
+the Earl of Barrymore's Theatre, Wargrave, Berks., and in 1791. After
+that the subject was produced at Covent Garden Theatre as a Pantomime.
+
+"Beauty and the Beast," the latter a white bear, is to be found in
+"Popular Tales from the Norse," by Mr. Dasent, and in the collection of
+"Popular Tales from the German" by the Brothers Grimm. As a ballad the
+story of "Beauty and the Beast" is a very old one.
+
+"Cinderella" is to be found in the language of every European country.
+In ancient Hindu legends it appears; in tales related by the Greek poets
+it is also to be found.
+
+The story of "Cinderella," according to the ancient Hindu legends, is
+that of the Sun and the Dawn. Cinderella has been likened to Aurora, the
+Spirit of the Dawn, and the fairy Prince of the legend is the morning
+Sun, ever closely pursuing her to make her his bride. The Hindu legend
+of the lost slipper is that a wealthy Rajah's beautiful daughter was
+born with a golden necklace, which contained her soul, and, if the
+necklace was taken off and worn by someone else, the Princess would die.
+The Rajah gave her on her birthday a pair of slippers with ornaments of
+gold and gems upon them. The princess went out upon a mountain to gather
+flowers, and whilst stooping there to pluck the flowers, one of her
+slippers fell into the forest below. A Prince, who was hunting, picked
+up the slipper, and was so charmed with it that he said he would make
+the wearer his wife. He made his wish known, but no one came to claim
+the slipper; at length word was given to the Prince where to find the
+Rajah's daughter; and shortly afterwards they were married. One of the
+wives of the Prince, being jealous of the Rajah's daughter, stole the
+necklace, put it on her own neck, and then the Rajah's daughter died.
+The Prince, afterwards, found out the secret of the necklace, and got it
+back again, and put it on his dead wife's neck, and she came to life,
+and they lived ever afterwards in the greatest harmony.
+
+The ancient Grecian version of "Cinderella" is that of the story of a
+beautiful woman named Rhodope, who, whilst bathing, an eagle flew away
+with one of her slippers to Egypt, and dropped it in the lap of the King
+as he sat at Memphis on the judgment seat. The King was so attracted by
+the smallness and beauty of the slipper that he fell in love with the
+wearer, and afterwards made her his wife.
+
+In Tuscany, Persia, Norway, Denmark, Russia, the story of "Dick
+Whittington" is well known. In all probability, like many other fairy
+tales, its origin was from a Buddhist source. The English version, that
+the Lord Mayor Whittington was the poor ill-used boy he is represented
+to have been in the popular tale seems quite impossible, since according
+to Stow (mentions Mr. Clouston) he was the son of Sir Richard
+Whittington, Knight. The story was current in Europe in the thirteenth
+century. In the chronicle of Albert, Abbot of the Convent of St. Mary of
+Slade, written at that period, it is related that there were two
+citizens of Venice, one of whom was rich, the other poor. It fortuned
+that the rich man went abroad to trade, and the poor man gave him as his
+venture two cats, the sale of which, as in our tale of the renowned
+"Dick Whittington," procured him great wealth.
+
+On September 21st, 1668, Pepys makes mention in his diary of going to
+Southwark Fair, and of seeing the puppet show of "Whittington," which he
+says "was pretty to see." A Pantomime on the subject was also given by
+Rich early in the eighteenth century.
+
+In Tuscany, the "Dick Whittington" story runs that in the fifteenth
+century, a Genoese merchant, who presented two cats to the King, was
+rewarded by him with rich presents.
+
+In Norway, a poor boy, having found a box full of silver money under a
+stone, emptied the box and its contents into a lake--one piece, however,
+floated, which he kept, believing it to be _good_. His mother, hearing
+of this, thrust him out of doors; and he eventually obtained employment
+in a merchant's house. The merchant, having to make a voyage to foreign
+parts, he asked each of his servants what he should "venture" for him.
+The poor boy offered all he had, the silver penny, of which he was still
+the possessor. With this the merchant purchased a cat, and sailed away,
+but the vessel in which he was in was driven out of her course on to the
+shores of a strange country. The merchant going ashore went to an inn,
+and, in a room, he saw the table laid for dinner, with a long rod for
+each man who sat at it. When the meat was set on the table, out swarmed
+thousands of mice, and each one who sat at the table beat them off with
+his rod. The cat was brought into service, and sold for a hundred
+dollars, and soon put an end to the career of the mice. When the
+merchant had weighed anchor, much to his surprise, he saw the cat
+sitting at the mast head. Again foul weather came on, and again the
+vessel was driven to another strange country, where the mice were just
+as numerous as before. The cat was called in, sold this time for two
+hundred dollars, and away the merchant sailed. No sooner, however, was
+he at sea, than the cat once more appeared before him. The vessel was
+again driven out of her course to another strange country, over-run with
+rats this time, when poor pussy was sold a third time, for the sum of
+three hundred dollars. Again the cat made its appearance; and the
+merchant thinking to do the poor boy out of his money, a dreadful storm
+arose, which only subsided on the merchant making a vow that the boy
+should have every penny. When he arrived home the merchant faithfully
+kept his promise, gave the boy the six hundred dollars, and the hand of
+his daughter besides.
+
+A Breton legend of the story of "Dick Whittington" runs that three sons
+go to seek their fortune, the eldest of whom, Yvon, possesses a cat. The
+cat again plays an important part. Yvon becomes the friend of the Lord
+of the Manor, and has gold and diamonds bestowed upon him in galore.
+
+The Russian version is that a poor little orphan boy buys a cat, which
+some mischievous boys were teasing, for three copecks (about a penny).
+Taken into the service of a merchant the latter goes to a distant
+country, accompanied by the cat of the orphan boy. Puss making sad work
+of some rats, which threatened to make an end of the merchant in the
+inn, which he occupied. He ultimately sold the cat to the landlord for a
+sack full of gold. Returning home, on his way thither, he thought how
+foolish it would be to give all the money to the boy. Whereupon a
+dreadful storm arose, and the vessel, in which was the merchant, was in
+danger of sinking. The merchant, knowing that the storm had arisen
+through his change of purpose, prayed to heaven for forgiveness, when
+the sea became calm, and the vessel arrived safely in port, when the
+merchant paid over to the orphan boy all the wealth obtained by the sale
+of the cat.
+
+In the Persian version, unlike the other legends, the cat is owned by a
+poor widow, who had been impoverished through her sons, and was left
+with only a cat. The sale of the cat produces great wealth; and the
+widow, Kayser, immediately sends for her sons to share her
+newly-acquired fortune. What follows is different to the other versions
+of these wonderful cat stories. The sons only too eager to share the
+wealth of their mother, fit out many vessels, and begin to trade largely
+with India and Arabia. Thinking that to acquire wealth by commerce
+alone, rather slow work, they turned pirates, and were a source of
+trouble and annoyance to the neighbouring states, till about 1230 A.D.,
+when they were reduced to vassalage under Persian rule.
+
+"The House that Jack Built" has its prototype in a sacred hymn in the
+Talmud of the Hebrews.
+
+"Jack, the Giant Killer" and "Jack and the Beanstalk" are two very
+ancient themes coming from the North, of the time, it is said, of King
+Arthur, and of the days when "Giants were upon the earth." The
+well-known cry of the giants in these legends--
+
+    "Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum,
+    I smell the blood of an Englishman;
+    Be he alive or be he dead,
+    I'll grind his bones to make my bread,"
+
+is also referred to by Shakespeare in "King Lear," in Act III., Scene 5,
+when Edgar sings:--
+
+    "Child Rowland to the dark Tower came;
+    His word was still, fee, foh, and fum,
+    I smell the blood of an Englishman."
+
+The English version of the story of "Jack the Giant Killer," must,
+therefore, be older than the time of Elizabeth. It is also a strange and
+significant fact that amongst the Zulus, and the inhabitants of the Fiji
+Islands, there are similar legends of the story of "Jack and the
+Beanstalk."
+
+The story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" is also to be found in old Hindoo
+tales, in which the beans denote abundance. The Russians have a story in
+which a bean falls to the ground, and an old man, the Sun, climbs up by
+it to heaven. "The ogre in the land above the skies," observes Mr.
+Baring Gould, "who was once the all-father, possessed three treasures--a
+harp, which played of itself enchanting music; bags of gold and
+diamonds; and a hen which daily laid a golden egg. The harp is the
+wind, the bags of gold are the clouds dropping the sparkling rain, and
+the golden egg laid every day by the red hen is the producing sun." The
+same idea in "Jack and the Beanstalk" occurs in the fairy legends of the
+North and the East, as well as in Grecian stories.
+
+In "Jack the Giant Killer," the gifts given to Jack are found in Tartar,
+Hindoo, Scandinavian, and German legends.
+
+Now let us note briefly the origin of "Red Riding Hood" and "The
+Sleeping Beauty in the Wood." All the other fairy stories that we know
+of are to be found in other countries, and springing originally from
+Asia, where they were made ages and ages ago.
+
+The Wolf in the story of "Red Riding Hood" has been likened to the days
+of our own "Bluff King Hal," owing to the latter's suppression of the
+monasteries, and Red Riding Hood herself, whom the Wolf subsequently
+eats, with her hood and habit, was supposed to be typical of the
+monastic orders.
+
+The Hindoo's version of the "Red Riding Hood" story is a pretty and
+fanciful one. Their idea was that there was always a great Dragon
+endeavouring to devour Indra, the Sun god, and to prevent the Sun from
+shining upon the earth, Indra ultimately overcomes the Dragon. Red
+Riding Hood, with her warm habit, is supposed to be the setting sun
+casting its red and glittering rays as it sinks to rest. The old
+Grandmother is Mother Earth; and the Wolf, the Dragon; and when all is
+dark and still, the Wolf swallows the Grandmother, namely, the Earth;
+and afterwards, as Night has fallen, the Evening Sun. The Huntsman
+denotes the Morning Sun, and he chases away all the dark clouds gathered
+during the night, and by doing so kills the Wolf; recovers the old
+Grandmother Earth, and brings to life again, Little Red Riding Hood.
+Another version (observes Mr. T. Bunce) is that the Wolf is the dark,
+and dreary winter, that kills the Earth with frost, but when spring
+comes again it brings the Earth and the Sun back to life.
+
+In "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood," the maiden has been likened to the
+Morning dawn, and the young Prince, who awakens her, with a kiss, to the
+Sun.
+
+"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," in concluding this chapter, I may say,
+with "The Fair One with Golden Locks," forms to the superstitious the
+only two unlucky Pantomime subjects.
+
+"Sindbad, the Sailor," taken from the "Arabian Nights," has its origin
+in Persian and Arabian tales.
+
+Of all our Pantomime subjects, "Robinson Crusoe," seems to be the only
+one we can properly lay claim to as being "of our own make," so to
+speak, and written by Daniel De Foe, and, in the main, from the
+imagination. De Foe, it has been stated, derived his idea for this
+story from the adventures of one, Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who
+had been a castaway on the Island of Juan Fernandez. The first portion
+of "Robinson Crusoe" appeared in "The Family Instructor," in 1719, of
+which De Foe was the founder. It, at once, sprang into popularity, and
+has left its author undying fame. De Foe was born about 1660 in the
+parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, died 26th April, 1731, and was buried
+in Bunhill Fields.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Pantomime in America.
+
+
+Pantomime, in America, had not a very long run, it being killed by the
+farcical comedy. Mr. E.L. Blanchard supposes that "Mother Goose" was the
+first Pantomime played in America, but this is an error, as it was not
+until 1786, when Garrick's "Harlequin's Invasion," and R. Pocock's
+"Robinson Crusoe" were played at the John Street Theatre, New York, that
+Pantomime made its advent in America. "Mother Goose" was afterwards
+played, but it did not suit the Yankee's taste. Rich's Harlequin, Gay of
+"The Beggars Opera," produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, and which
+it is said made "Rich Gay, and Gay Rich," also went to America, and
+where, it is said, he became the Chief of an Indian tribe in the Far
+West. In the South Sea Bubble Gay held some L20,000. His friends advised
+him to sell, but he dreamed of greatness and splendour, and refused
+their counsel. Ultimately, both the profit and the principal was lost,
+and Gay sunk under the calamity so low that his life became in danger.
+
+American Pantomimes consisted of a semi-pastoral "opening," performed
+almost entirely in dumb show, and a big trick Harlequinade, and down to
+the time of Pantomime's decease in America was it played like this.
+
+George L. Fox made Pantomime highly popular in America. Born in May of
+1825, he, as an actor and comedian in Yankee and Irish parts, held his
+own in popularity with the great Joseph Jefferson.
+
+Fox might be properly termed "The Grimaldi of America," as he was the
+representative Clown of the land of the stars and stripes. His Clown's
+parts he dressed like Grimaldi, and with the whitened face and bald head
+of Pierrot, the French type of Clown.
+
+The year that "Mother Goose" came to New York saw the introduction of a
+French troupe of Pantomimists, known as the Ravels. In imitation of
+these performers Fox introduced in the 'fifties ballet Pantomimes, and
+several Ravelsque pieces like "The Red Gnome" and "The Schoolmaster"
+with good results.
+
+In 1862 Fox was at the Bowery Theatre, and, during his occupation of the
+same, he did much to popularise Pantomime. Half a dozen years afterwards
+we find him at the Olympic Theatre, New York, where he produced "Humpty
+Dumpty," which ran 483 nights, and for five years, till 1873, it held
+its place, on and off, in the bill. Altogether it was played 943 times.
+Fox, from this, was known as Humpty Dumpty, and, strangely enough, also,
+the Americans for long enough afterwards called every Pantomime "Humpty
+Dumpty."
+
+Fox was a very good mimic, imitating all the Hamlets of the day, besides
+being a good melodramatic actor. He died October 24th, 1877, at
+Cambridge, Mass., of softening of the brain.
+
+Tony Denier, a pupil of the Ravels, and a quondam friend of Fox, next
+took Fox's place in the estimation of the American public. Of Denier, we
+are told that he arrived in Boston in 1852, with the proverbial
+half-crown in his pocket. He was of French extraction, and descended
+from one of the best French families. In 1863 he was with P.T. Barnum,
+and appearing as a one-legged dancer. In 1868, he went into Pantomime,
+toured "Humpty Dumpty," and for some twenty years afterwards kept the
+Pantomimic ball merrily rolling until his retirement at Chicago into
+private life. Denier made Harlequinade tricks a speciality.
+
+Pantomime in America may be said to have lived about a quarter of a
+century; but in the autumn of this year (1901) Pantomime, as we now know
+it in this country, made its first appearance at the Broadway Theatre,
+New York, when last year's Drury Lane annual, "The Sleeping Beauty and
+the Beast," was successfully presented. It is very probable that this
+class of entertainment will become very popular in America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+Pantomimes made more attractive--The Restrictive Policy of the Patent
+Houses--"Mother Goose" and "George Barnwell" at Covent Garden--Lively
+Audiences--"Jane Shore"--"Harlequin Pat and Harlequin Bat"--"The first
+speaking opening"--Extravagence in Extravaganzas--The doom of the old
+form of Pantomime--Its revival in a new form--A piece of pure
+Pantomime--Present day Mimetic Art--"_L'Enfant Prodigue_"--A
+retrospect--The old with the new, and conclusion.
+
+
+Pantomimes, as they grew, were made more and more attractive, "new
+scenery, decorations, and flyings" were introduced, and with new
+"flyings," of course, more accidents.
+
+The restrictive policy adopted by the Patent theatres--till the repeal
+of their patents (1843)--towards the minor houses, which gave to the
+former the sole and only right of performing the "legitimate" was, by
+the minor theatres, infringed in many ways. The means adopted was the
+employment of Pantomime in the depiction of plays adapted and considered
+suitable for the minor theatres. These were entirely carried on by
+action, and when the actor could not express something that had to be
+explained, like the names of characters, a scroll, with the necessary
+details inscribed thereon, was unrolled in full view of the audience.
+These entertainments were very popular at the close of the eighteenth
+century, and they were also the means of providing some first-class
+Pantomimists--as, for instance, Bologna and D'Egville.
+
+In a couple of volumes by Mr. J.C. Cross, entitled, "Circusiana," the
+author of many of these old "dumb shows," the reader can see what they
+were like. The scripts of these plays consisted, like our ancient
+"Platts" and the Italian Scenarios, of principally stage directions.
+
+John Palmer, the actor who died on the stage of the Theatre Royal,
+Liverpool--now used for the purpose of a cold storage--after uttering,
+in the part of "The Stranger," the words "There is another and a better
+world," found that, after building his theatre, the Royalty, in
+Wellclose Square, that he was prohibited its use, used to give
+Pantomimic representations, and just in a similar way as what the minor
+theatres did, as mentioned above.
+
+It is amusing to note how the titles of some of Shakespeare's
+works--which at one time the Patent theatres had the monopoly--were got
+over; "Hamlet" has been known to have been played as "Methinks I see my
+Father;" "Othello," as "Is He Jealous?;" "Romeo and Juliet," as "How to
+Die for Love;" "The Merchant of Venice," under "Diamond Cut Diamond,"
+and so on. Music and dancing also were introduced _ad lib_ into these
+performances.
+
+The Pantomime of "Mother Goose," produced at Covent Garden, December 29,
+1806, which ran 92 nights, was preceded by "George Barnwell," and
+brought some L20,000 into the theatre treasury. Strangely enough, for
+about thirty years, it was the unvarying rule to play "George Barnwell"
+at this theatre on a Boxing Night, which, from all accounts, owing to
+the liveliness of the gods and goddesses assembled on these
+occasions--the Tragedy was as much a Pantomime as the Pantomime proper
+that followed. Of these "merry moments" Dibdin recalls that Tragedies,
+Comedies, and Operas were doomed to suffer all the complicated
+combinations of "Pray ask that gentleman to sit down," "Take off your
+hat?" and the like. "But the moment," continues Dibdin, "the curtain
+goes up (on the Pantomime), if any unfortunate gentleman speaks a word
+they make no reply, _but throw him over directly_."
+
+Seemingly afterwards, at Pantomime time, "Barnwell" was discarded in
+favour of "Jane Shore," as in "The Theatrical Magazine" we find a writer
+penning the following:--
+
+A few years since it was the established rule to play "George Barnwell,"
+by way, we suppose, of a "great moral lesson" to the apprentices of
+London. In this age of innovation this venerable custom has been broken
+down, but the principle seems not wholly to have been abandoned. "Jane
+Shore" has supplanted "Barnwell," and the anxieties of the age, are, it
+would appear, now directed towards the softer sex. Seriously speaking,
+we consider these Christmas selections as exceedingly absurd. Visitants
+at this period of the year frequent the theatre less for the purpose of
+seeing the play than the Pantomime, and at both theatres it was this
+evening their chief, and almost only, attraction; for the tragedy of
+Rowe, which is of very little merit, derived but trifling interest or
+effect from the performers who personated the prominent characters.
+Moreover the lessons of the pulpit have unfortunately but too slight an
+influence on those who attend them, and we are rather fearful the moral
+benefits to be derived from these stage lectures, to the apprentices and
+servants of the metropolis, do not countervail the loss of pleasure
+sustained by those who would be so much better pleased; and, therefore,
+perhaps, taught by a lively comedy, satirising some of the light vices
+or laughable follies of the age. We trust this theatrical nuisance will
+be for the future reformed; we can almost excuse the holiday folks for
+being turbulent, when we reflect upon the insult offered to their
+understandings, in the treatment they receive on these occasions.
+
+In 1830, at Covent Garden Theatre, Peake introduced into the Pantomime
+of "Harlequin Pat, and Harlequin Bat" a "speaking opening." Pantomime,
+however, pursued the even tenour of its way until the production at the
+Adelphi, about 1857, of a Pantomime, with a "burlesque opening," and
+"the thin end of the wedge" was provided, written by Mark Lemon. In the
+Harlequinade, Madame Celeste appeared as Harlequin _a la Watteau_, and
+Miss Mary Keeley was the Columbine. These Extravaganzas, from the pen of
+Planche, with scenery by Beverley, and all under the management of
+Vestris, afterwards became quite the rage.
+
+I have previously referred to the excellence of Beverley's scenes under
+the _regime_ of Madame Vestris. Extravagance in Extravaganzas, like "The
+Blue Bird," "Once Upon a Time," and the like, caused the managers, in
+the matter of scenery, to enter into serious competition with one
+another.
+
+Pantomime, it was thought, was doomed, as its decease at this epoch
+seemed impending. It managed, however, to come again into popular
+favour, but in a very different shape. Instead of the usual comic
+Pantomime it was played by two different sets of performers, and having
+no connection with one another. The opening scenes, like a soap bubble,
+began to grow larger and larger, the double plot was abandoned, the
+Transformation scene became the principal feature, and a long
+Harlequinade at the _end_.
+
+In the Pantomime of "Red Riding Hood," written by F.W. Green, and
+produced at Her Majesty's Theatre, during the 'eighties, an effort was
+made to compose and invent a piece of pure Pantomime. The Vokes family,
+J.T. Powers, and others, appeared in this Pantomime.
+
+In France and Italy particularly, the Mimetic Art still flourishes; but
+in this country it is practically a lost Art. One of the best examples,
+and most successful, we have had in recent years of this ancient form
+of entertainment in this country was that of "_L'Enfant Prodigue_,"
+played by Mdlle. Jane May and a French Company of Pantomimists. There
+are, however, several other very brilliant Pantomimists excellent in
+their Art, like the Martinetti troupe, the two brothers Renad, and the
+Leopolds.
+
+"It is a pity (observes Dickens, in 'The Theatre') that the knowledge of
+it (Pantomime) cannot be more extended among our modern actors and
+actresses, so few of whom understand anything about the effectiveness of
+appropriate gesture. A few lessons in the business of Harlequin would
+teach many a young man, for instance, the simple lesson that arms may be
+moved with advantage from the shoulder as well as from the elbow; and so
+we should get rid of one of the awkwardest, ugliest, and commonest of
+modern stage tricks. And there would be nothing derogatory in the study.
+Many of our most distinguished actors have graduated in Pantomime."
+
+Mr. Davenport Adams, writing in "The Theatre," for January, 1882, on the
+decline of Pantomime, says:--
+
+"We may say of present-day Pantomime that the trail of the music-hall is
+over it all. I admit the extreme ability of certain music-hall
+comedians. I object, however, altogether, to the intrusion of such
+artists into the domain of Pantomime, and I do so because they, and
+others not so able, bring with them, so to speak, an atmosphere which it
+is sad to see imported into the theatre. They bring with them, not only
+their songs, which, when offensive in their wording, are sometimes made
+doubly dangerous by their tunefulness; not only their dances, which are
+usually vulgar, when they are not inane, but their style and manner and
+'gags,' which are generally the most deplorable of all. The objection to
+music-hall artists on the stage is, not only that they take the bread
+out of the mouths of 'the profession,' which is a minor consideration
+for the public, but that they have the effect of familiarising general
+audiences, and children especially, with a style and a kind of singing,
+dancing, and 'business' which, however it may be relished by a certain
+class of the population, ought steadily to be confined to its original
+habitat. The managers are, of course, very much to blame, for it is by
+their permission, if not by their desire, that youthful ears are regaled
+with 'W'st, w'st, w'st,' and similar elegant compositions. Such songs as
+these would not be tolerated by _paterfamilias_ in his drawing-room,
+yet, when he takes his children to the Pantomime, they are the most
+prominent portion of the entertainment."
+
+In the last century, Pantomimes, in the form so dear to our forefathers,
+sometimes twice yearly--at Easter and Christmas--were given. The comic
+and other scenes were in that true sense of the word humorous and funny.
+The reason was not far to seek, as they were all played by _actors_. The
+music-hall had not, as far as Pantomime was concerned, made such inroads
+as at the present time it has done into the dramatic profession. Clown,
+to _pater_ and _materfamilias_, and others, was a source of genuine
+enjoyment; and though they may have passed the sere and yellow leaf of
+age, the laughs and hearty merriment of their grand-children gathered
+around them made them think of other days, when they were young
+themselves. Picture them all, dear reader, sitting in the Family
+Circle--now termed the Dress Circle--a happy party with smiling and
+contented faces, laughing at some _genuine acting_--Pantomime though it
+be--no _double entendre_ songs, and nothing to be ashamed of.
+
+To the young a visit to the Pantomime was invariably a yearly occurrence
+to be joyfully remembered till the next Boxing Day came round again. Do
+they, or can they, understand Pantomime in its present form? I very much
+doubt it.
+
+When towards the close of the 'fifties, and the double plot was
+abandoned, the character of Harlequin began to be played by women, the
+origin of what is now known as the "principal boy," and some acrobatic
+turns, or other speciality business, began to be introduced during the
+course of the Pantomime, which greatly discounted the efforts of
+Harlequin and Clown.
+
+Another competitor that took up the running to the abolition of Clown
+and his companions, was the music-hall, which began introducing
+Pantomimes and ballets. The first to do this, some years ago, was the
+Canterbury, other halls soon following suit.
+
+The managers of the theatres took up arms, with the result that various
+decisions, chiefly averse to the music-halls, were obtained. A decision
+of the Court of Common Pleas left the music-halls in a position to give
+ballets with costume and scenic effects without any such control or
+precautions as was exercised in theatres under the Lord Chamberlain's
+authority. The duration of the litigation was all owing to the vague
+definition "Stageplays in the 6 and 7 Vict. c. 68," and of "Music,
+dancing and public entertainments in the Act 25, Geo. II., c. 30."
+
+Of present-day Pantomime, with the immense sums spent annually on its
+gorgeous spectacular display and costly dresses, there is no necessity
+for me here to dilate upon, as it is a subject that is well known to us
+all. All that is beautiful about it is due principally to the scenic
+artists and the costumiers. The best parts are, as a general rule,
+allotted to music-hall "stars," whose names will draw the most money.
+And the followers of Thespis have, until the reign of King Pantomime is
+over, to take oftentimes second-class places in the Pantomimic form of
+entertainment of the present day.
+
+In the old days everyone looked forward to the performances of Clown and
+his companions; but little by little their business went, until finally
+this has dwindled down to about one or two scenes--which, in some few
+instances is still retained.
+
+And now to formally "ring down," and in writing the "tag," there is, I
+may say, with the sound of the prompter's bell, a melancholy ring as the
+passing knell of Clown and his merry companions, and the "tag," as it
+were, their epitaph.
+
+Pantomimes--as our forefathers knew them--have become a thing of the
+past, and the survivors, Clown and his comrades, the former whose quips
+and quiddities, in childhood's happy days, many of us still lovingly
+remember; the wonderment with which we gazed at the magical tricks
+wrought by Harlequin and his wand; the quaint conceits and ambling gait
+of Pantaloon; and, last but not least, bewitching Columbine, with whom,
+most likely as each year came round, in youthful ardour we fell anew in
+love's toils, are all rapidly vanishing into the dim and distant past,
+and to live in the future only in the memory.
+
+
+
+CURTAIN.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME***
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