the stale trick, and acts of low buffoonery. We read of the pantomimic actors Constantini and Cecchini being ennobled :—of Louis XIII. patronizing the merits of Nicholas Barbieri, and raising him to fortune ;-that Tiberio Fiurilli, the inventor of the character of Scaramouch, was the early companion of Louis XIV. ;—and that the wit of the Harlequin Dominic made him a favored guest at the same monarch's table. These instances of distinction are alone sufficient proof of the superior refinement of the actors of Italian pantomime, above our vulgar tribe of tumblers. The Italian artists were fellows "of infinite jest,”—whose ready wit enabled them to support extempore dialogue, suiting "the action to the word, and the word to the action;"-for the Arlequino of Italy was not a mute, like his English representative. Many of the Italian harlequins were authors of considerable reputation; Ruzzante, who flourished about 1530, may be regarded as the Shakspeare of pantomime. "Till his time," says D'Israeli, "they had servilely copied the duped fathers, the wild sons, and the tricking valets of Plautus and Terence; and perhaps not being writers of sufficient skill, but of some invention, were satisfied to sketch the plots of dramas, boldly trusting to extempore acting and dialogue. Ruzzante peopled the Italian stage with a fresh enlivening crowd of pantomimic characters. The insipid dotards of the ancient comedy were transformed into the Venetian Pantaloon, and the Bolognese Doctor; while the hare-brained fellow, the arch-knave, and the booby, were furnished from Milan, Bergamo, and Calabria. He gave his newly created beings new language, and a new dress. From Plautus, he appears to have taken the hint of introducing all the Italian dialects into one comedy, by making each character use his own; and even the modern Greek,-which, it seems, afforded many an unexpected play on words for the Italian. This new kind of pleasure, like the language of Babel, charmed the national ear; every province would have its dialect introduced on the scene, which often served the purpose both of recreation and a little innocent malice. Their masks and dresses were furnished by the grotesque masqueraders of the Carnival,-which, doubtless, often contributed many scenes and humors to the quick and fanci ful genius of Ruzzante."

To the interesting essay, by the author of the "Curiosities of Literature," from whence this extract is derived, we beg leave to refer the reader, for an anecdotical history of pantomime. Mr. D'Israeli, in conclusion, observes, that "in gesticulation and humor, our Rich appears to have been a complete mine: his genius was entirely confined to pantomime; and he had the glory of introducing Harlequin on the English stage,—which he played under the feigned name of Lun. He could describe to the audience by his signs and gestures, as intelligibly as others could express by words. There is a large caricature print of the triumph which Rich had obtained over the severe muses of tragedy and comedy, which lasted too long not to excite jealousy and opposition from the corps dramatique.

"Garrick, who once introduced a speaking Harlequin, has celebrated the silent but powerful language of Rich:—

When LUN appeared, with matchless art and whim,

He gave the power of speech to every limb,

Tho' mask'd and mute, convey'd his quick intent,
And told in frolic gestures what he meant:
But now, the motley coat and sword of wood
Require a tongue to make them understood !'"

Foote it was, we think, who attempted to get a standing for a Harlequin with a wooden leg, upon the English stage; and though he was supported by a clown upon crutches, these and other efforts to effect a witty reform in the mechanism of an English pantomime proved unsuccessful. Why is this burlesque race here," inquires Mr. D'Israeli, "privileged to cost so much, to do so little, and repeat that little so often?" In 1927, according to a statement which we believe to be tolerably correct, the "getting up," as it is termed, of the pantomimes produced on the 26th of December, in London, cost at—

and in other years, we believe, the cost has been considerably more ;—and yet this enormous expenditure left no impression on the popular memory,―mere stage-trick being far below the exhi bition of a juggler. True it is, that clever artists have been, for many years, employed to design and paint the scenery of the pantomimes; and, consequently, admirable pictures have been exhibited, especially at the national theatres, where this feature, indeed, constitutes the main attraction of the evening's performance. The stupid tragedy of "George Barnwell," produced for the sake of the city apprentices, was formerly the usual prelude to the Christmas pantomime, on the night of St. Stephen's day. Hone, in his Every Day Book, has chronicled that "the representation of this tragedy was omitted, in the Christmas holidays of 1819, at both theatres, for the first time." To be sure, this dull affair answered the purpose as well as any other,—it being an established rule with the tenants of the theatrical Olympus, that nothing shall be heard, save their own thunders, previously to the pantomime, on St. Stephen's night. The most famous pantomime which has been played in our time is, unquestionably, Mother Goose. When it was produced, or to whom the authorship is ascribed, we know not; but in 1808, it was revived, and played at the Haymarket, with an additional scene, representing the burning of Covent Garden Theatre. The pantomimes of the last thirty years have failed to effect a total eclipse of the brilliancy of "Harlequin and Mother Goose, or the Golden Egg;" which found its way into the list of provincial stock-pieces.

Connected with this golden age of English pantomime, the recollection of Grimaldi-Joey Grimaldi, as the gallery folk delighted to call him-is an obvious association. His acting, like

that of Liston, must have been seen to be understood or appreciated; for no description can convey an adequate idea of the power of expression and gesture. They who have not seen Joey, may never hope to look upon his like; and they who have seen him, must never expect to see his like again. On the English stage, never was clown like Grimaldi !-He was far more than a clown

-he was a great comic actor. But his constitution soon gave way under the trials to which it was exposed. In the depth of winter, after performing at Sadler's Wells, he was brought down,

night after night, wrapped in blankets, to Covent Garden; and there had for the second time in the course of the same evening, to go through the allotted series of grimaces, leaps, and tumbles. Poor Grimaldi, sunk by these exertions into a premature old age, was finally obliged to retire from the stage on the 27th of June, 1828;-and the Literary Gazette thus pleasantly, but feelingly, announced his intention :

"Our immense favorite, Grimaldi, under the severe pressure of years and infirmities, is enabled, through the good feeling and prompt liberality of Mr. Price, to take a benefit at Drury Lane on Friday next;-the last of Joseph Grimaldi! Drury's-Covent Garden's-Sadler's-everybody's Joe! The friend of Harlequin and Farley-kin!-the town clown!-greatest of fools!—daintiest of motleys!-the true ami des enfans! The tricks and changes

of life-sadder, alas! than those of pantomime-have made a dismal difference between the former flapping, filching, laughing, bounding antic, and the present Grimaldi. He has no spring in his foot-no mirth in his eye!-The corners of his mouth droop, mournfully, earthward; and he stoops in the back, like the weariest of Time's porters! L'Allegro has done with him, and Il Penseroso claims him for his own! It is said, besides, that his pockets are neither so large, nor so well stuffed, as they used to be on the stage: and it is hard to suppose fun without funds, or broad grins in narrow circumstances."

The mummers, who still go about, at this season of the year, in some parts of England, are the last descendants of those masquers who, in former times (as we have shown at length), contributed to the celebrations of the season, at once amongst the highest and lowest classes of the land; as their performances present, also, the last semblances of those ancient mysteries and moralities, by which the splendid pageantries of the court were preceded. Sir Walter Scott, in a note to "Marmion," seems to intimate that these mummeries are, in fact, the offspring and relics of the old mysteries themselves. The fact, however, seems rather to be, that these exhibitions existed before the introduction of the Scripture plays; and that the one and the other are separate forms of a practice, copied directly from the festival observances of the pagans. Accordingly, Brand speaks of a species of mumming

which "consists in changing clothes between men and women, who, when dressed in each other's habits, go from one neighbor's house to another, partaking of Christmas cheer, and making merry with them in disguise ;"—and which practice he traces directly to the Roman Sigillaria. In various parts of the continent, also, -as in France and Germany,-certain forms of mumming long existed, which appear to have been originally borrowed from the rites of idolatry: and the Scottish Guisars, or Guisarts—if the very ingenious explanation of their hogmanay cry, given by Mr. Repp (and for which we refer our readers to vol. iv., part I., of Archæologia Scotica) be correct-connect themselves with the superstitions of the northern nations.

Amongst the forms of ancient mumming which have come down to the present, or recent times, we may observe that the hobby-horse formed, as late as the seventeenth century, a prominent character, and that something of this kind seems still to exist. Dr. Plot, in his "History of Staffordshire," mentions a performance called the "Hobby-horse Dance," as having taken place, at Abbott's Bromley, during the Christmas season, within the memory of man ;-and we have already shown that a modification of the same practice continues to the present day, or did to within a few years back, in the isle of Thanet. This dance is described Dr. Plot, as being composed by 66 a person who carried the image of a horse between his legs, made of thin boards, and in his hands a bow and arrow. The latter, passing through a hole in the bow, and stopping on a shoulder, made a snapping noise, when drawn to and fro, keeping time with the music. With this man danced six others, carrying on their shoulders as many rein-deer heads, with the arms of the chief families to whom the revenues of the town belonged. They danced the heys and other country dances. To the above Hobby-horse, there belonged a pot, which was kept by turns by the reeves of the town, who provided cakes and ale to put into this pot: all people who had any kindness for the good intent of the institution of the sport, giving pence a-piece for themselves and families. Foreigners, also, that came to see it, contributed; and the money, after defraying the expense of the cakes and ale, went to repair the church, and support the poor." A reason given by some, as the origin of