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and usually wore a long black velvet cloak, which is still retained in the play of Hamlet, as exhibited before the king and court of Denmark. Most, if not all, of Shakspeare's plays, were performed either at the Globe, or at the theatre in Blackfriars, which was a private playhouse, and usually performed by candlelight. In the other theatres they commenced at one o'clock in the afternoon, and the exhibition was usually finished in two hours; and so late as 1667, they commenced at three o'clock.

Scenes first made their appearance upon the English stage in 1662, at the opening of the Duke of York's Theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, which was opened by Sir William Davenant with one of his own plays, The Siege of Rhodes.

DRAMATIC CENSORSHIP.

Henry Fielding having ridiculed the ministry in his two plays of Pasquin and the Historic Register, a piece called the Golden Rump, which never was acted, never appeared in print, nor was it ever known who was the author, was sent anonymously to Mr. Henry Giffard, the manager of Goodman's Fields theatre, for representation. In this piece the most unbounded abuse was vented, not only against parliament, the council, and ministry, but even against the person of the king himself. The honest manager, free from design himself, suspecting none in others, but imagining that a licence of this kind, if permitted to run to such enormous lengths, would be attended with pernicious consequences to his interest, quickly perceived the snare, and carried the piece to the minister, with a view of consulting him upon it. The latter commended highly his integrity in this step, requested only the MS., but at the same time, that the manager might be no loser by his zeal for the interests of his king and country, ordered a gratuity equal to what he might have expected from the profits of representation. The minister instantly made use of the manuscript play, to introduce and pass a bill in parliament for limiting the number of theatres, and submitting every dramatic piece to the inspection of the lord chamberlain, previous to its appearance on the stage.

SOLDIERS DOING DUTY AT THE THEATRES-ROYAL.

In the reign of George the Second, when Quin acted in Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre, it occurred one night, during the performance of the Beggar's Opera, it being then a prevailing custom to admit noblemen and gentlemen behind the scenes, that one of them, a warm-tempered person, flushed with potent libations of usquebaugh, in a very interesting scene of the opera, crossed the stage, amidst the performers. Quin was behind the scenes, and

expostulated with the nobleman on the impropriety of his conduct. The latter on this struck Quin in the face, who returned the blow. This being witnessed by the nobleman's companions, they drew their swords, and a general fight ensued. The police of the town not being under such strict regulations as it is at present, nor by any means so numerous and effective, the proprietors called in the interference of the district watchmen, such characters as Dogberry, Verges, &c., and the noblemen were given in charge to them. They were kept in custody all night, and examined the next morning before the magistrates, and held to bail, when they made restitution and were discharged. His Majesty, hearing of the outrage, sent privately for a few of the ringleaders, whom he lectured rather severely on their improper conduct; and, to prevent the occurrence of such an outrage, the king was pleased to order that the guards should in future do duty every play night, which custom has never been dispensed with since.

ACTORS MAKING A TRADE OF THEIR PROFESSION.

Actors, prior to the year 1578, were retainers to the court and the nobility, and none had the privilege to act but such, except the Company of Parish Clerks, in religious plays, &c. Stowe says, speaking of the former, "This was at once a recreation, and used therefore, now and then occasionally, but afterwards by abuse became a trade and calling, and so remains to this day."

ORIGINAL THEATRICAL STAGES IN ENGLAND.

Most of our early dramatic pieces were performed in the yards of inns, in which, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, the comedians, who then first united themselves in companies, erected an occasional stage. The spectators viewed the performances from galleries or corridors, which at that time generally ran round the court-yards of inns; many of which may still yet be seen in the city of London and the Borough, and some slight remains of them exist in the Eagle Inn Yard, and the Falcon Inn Yard, Cambridge. In the latter, there are remains on one side of two tiers of railed galleries, of one tier at the opposite side, and one tier at the end; the stage, we may reasonably suppose, was on the fourth side. The Falcon Inn ceases to exist there, but the area still bears the name. There are slight vestiges of a gallery of this nature at the Black Bear Inn Yard, Cambridge, where, upon May 28, 1600, an interlude was performed, at which one Dominus Pepper was seen with an improper habit, having deformed long locks of an unseemly sight, and great breeches, indecent for a graduate or scholar of orderly carriage: therefore, the said Pepper was commanded to appear presently, and procure his hair to be cut or powled; and which being done, the said

Pepper, returning to the consistory, was there suspended, ab omni gradu suscepto et suscipiendo. In October 1812, an order was made by St. John's and Trinity College, that every young man, who appeared in hall or chapel in pantaloons or trousers, should be considered as absent.-Retrospective Review.

BEGGAR'S OPERA.

Attempts had been made, from time to time, to introduce musical dramas upon the Italian model on the English stage; but the scheme was not successfully brought to bear until the beginning of the last century. The novelty, patronised by the royal family and people of fashion, superseded the regular drama, and Shakspeare and Jonson, with other worthies, were forgotten, until the rage for music began to subside in a violent schism among the patrons and the performers, when the contending parties, tired of the war, and the perfidious lords and ladies withdrawing their alliance, the Beggar's Opera by John Gay burst forth in 1727, and the Italian opera was fairly, or as unfairly as many thought, hunted down.

Bonancini, a celebrated Italian composer, was ungraciously pitted against the great German, Handel. Cuzzoni and Faustina, two rival syrens, set the fashionables at war. Lady Pembroke headed one party, Lady Burlington the other. The wits enjoyed the sport, and sided with none. Hence Swift's epigram:

"Strange that difference should be

"Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee."

It may be remarked here, that the first female who ever performed Polly Peachum in the Beggar's Opera, viz. Miss Fenton, afterwards became Duchess of Bolton.

GARRICK'S FIRST PLAY-BILL.

When Garrick quitted Ipswich, where he played a few nights in a provincial company, he repaired to London; but it appears he was unable to get an engagement at any of the great houses. He was then obliged to join the company in Goodman's Fields, who, to avoid being sent to prison as rogues and vagabonds for acting without a licence, presented plays to their audiences gratis, charging them only for the concerts. Here it was that the British Roscius, trembling with hope and fear, made his first bow as Richard the Third.

The following is the copy of the bill:-Goodman's Fields, October 19, 1741. At the Theatre in Goodman's Fields, this day, will be performed, a Concert of Vocal and Instrumental Music, divided into two parts.-Tickets at Three, Two, and One Shilling. -Places for the Boxes to be taken at the Fleece Tavern, next

door to the Theatre. N.B. Between the two parts of the Concert will be presented an historical Play, called the Life and Death of King Richard the Third; containing the distresses of King Henry the Sixth; the artful acquisition of the Crown by Richard; the Murder of young Edward the Fifth and his brother in the Tower; the landing of the Earl of Richmond, and the Death of King Richard in the memorable Battle of Bosworth-field, being the last that was fought between the houses of York and Lancaster; with other true historical passages. The part of King Richard by a Gentleman (Garrick) who never appeared on any stage; King Henry, Mr. Giffard; Richmond, by Mr. Marshall; Prince Edward, Miss Hippesley; Duke of York, Miss Naylor, &c.; with an entertainment of dancing, &c. To which will be added, a Ballad Opera in one act, called the Virgin Unmasked. Both of which will be performed by persons gratis, for diversion. The Concert to begin at Six o'Clock exactly."

FIRST ENGLISH ACTRESS.

The first woman who appeared on the English stage was a Mrs. Coleman, who represented Ianthe, in Davenant's Siege of Rhodes. This was in 1656. Up to that period, men enacted the women characters, dressed as such.

PUNCH.

It is very difficult to trace accurately the origin of any character of this description; the reader, therefore, must be satisfied with an unconnected notice of it.

In some of the old mysteries, wherein, no doubt, some of our readers are well read, the devil was the buffoon of the piece, and used to indulge himself most freely in the gross indecencies tolerated in the earlier ages. When those mysteries began to be refined into moralities, the Vice gradually superseded the former clown, if he may be so designated; and at the commencement of such a change, frequently shared the comic part of the performance with him. The Vice was armed with a dagger of lath, with which he was to belabour the devil, who sometimes, however, at the conclusion of the piece, carried off the Vice with him. Here we have something like the club wielded by Punch, and the wand of Harlequin, at the present time, and a similar finish of the Devil and Punch may be seen daily in our streets. Thus much may be said of the origin of the character, and as to which most writers agree. The term Punch is an abbreviation from the Italian policinello or punchinello, which signifies a merry fool.

COXCOMB,

The fool, in the early drama, was frequently dressed in a

motley or parti-coloured coat, and each leg clad in different coloured hose. A sort of hood covered his head, resembling a monk's cowl: this was afterwards changed for a cap, each being usually surmounted with the neck and head of a cock, or sometimes only the crest, or comb; hence was derived the term Coxcomb.

FOOLS.

The custom of keeping fools for the purpose of producing amusement, ascends, as we are assured by the learned Fosbroke, to the classical ages. In Britain they were retained at court till the reign of Charles II., and in noblemen's families till perhaps a somewhat later date. Even the dignitaries of the Church in the middle ages kept fools to make them laugh—or to laugh at them. Nay, the grave David I. of Scotland, who built so many churches and monasteries, had a jester. The Lord Mayor of London also had his fool, one of whose regular jokes it was, at the great annual feast, to leap, clothes and all, into a huge custard-a jest which certainly could not be considered as deficient in cream, however monotonous it would be apt to become from repetition. In those days, moreover, fools were often retained at taverns to keep the guests in good humour.

PANTOMIME.

Pantomime, or Pantomimic Mystery in its more extended sense, was known to the Greek and Roman stages, being introduced on the latter by Pylades and Bathyllus, in the time of Augustus Cæsar. From that time to the present, different modifications of this representation have taken place on the continent, and the lofty scenes of ancient pantomime are degenerated to the bizarre adventures of Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Merryandrew. The first pantomime performed by grotesque characters in this country was at Drury Lane Theatre, in the year 1702. It was composed by Mr. Weaver, and called "The Tavern Bilkers." In 1717, the first harlequinade was performed at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, called "Harlequin Executed." It was composed by Mr. Rich.

HARLEQUIN.

Writers differ as to the origin of the term Harlequin; one says, “There was a young Italian actor of eminence in this style of character, came to Paris in the time of Henry III. of France, and having been received into the house of the President, Achilles de Harlai, his brother actors are said to have called him Harlequin, from the name of his master." Another says, “There was a knight called Harlequin, an extravagant dissipated man, who spent his substance in the wars of Charles Martel against the

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