Similarly, however depressing the modern
burlesque, a slight acquaintance with the
literature of the stage is sufficient to assure
the student, that dramatic doggerel and
nonsense are not the exclusive possessions of
this age. Our forefathers had a deal of
rubbish served up to them. The heavy, stupid,
unreal five-act comedies in fashion
comparatively few years ago, and now happily
forgotten, do not get the best of it in
comparison with a few of the livelier works of
to-day. Many of the dramas of the last
few years are worth, in human life and
interest, any number of the stilted, flat, sham-
classical tragedies of early Drury Lane and
Covent Garden.

Also, having been told on high authority
that the morals of the stage are deteriorating,
Your Commissioner perhaps ought to
have accepted the statement as a fact. He
preferred, however, to judge for himself.

With a notion that it was barely possible
that some of the morbid self-depreciating
tendencies of Englishmen—always particularly
rife in stage matters, and always
eagerly grasped at by the enemies of the
theatre as weapons against it—might be at
work in the present complaints; and yet
with sincere anxiety to consider the question
with thorough impartiality, the tour of the
theatres was commenced by Your
Commissioner.

Your Commissioner may say, once for
all, that the ballet has always appeared
to him to be a violent, gymnastic
exercise, usually ungraceful, and almost
always stupid; and it is his conviction
that a large portion of the public are
of his mind. For it will doubtless have
been observed, when in the course of a
drama and for no obvious reason, the ladies
of the corps de ballet are introduced, their
gambadoes are watched with scant
interest by the audience, and the conclusion
of their portion of the evening's entertainment
is usually hailed with the feeblest
applause. In the pantomime, and where
it is allowed the first or chief place in the
performance, the ballet may be more
appreciated; owing to the varied combinations
of colour and form, afforded by the
ingenious grouping of a large corps de ballet,
on an ample stage. Those ballets which
consist chiefly of elaborate processions,
marches, and the like, are invariably more
popular than those relying on dancing
alone.

The two theatres first on Your
Commissioner's list, are both famous for their
ballet effects: undoubtedly a rich,
barbaric, and fantastic display in the one
pantomime was better received than an
elegant and prettily arranged dance in the
other. The dance was of its kind good,
and the principal dancer nimble and
clever; but there can be little novelty in
mere dancing feats, and the audience,
although appreciative, were not
enthusiastic. The costumes at both theatres
were gorgeous in the extreme, but differed
little, if at all, from those that
the public eye has been content to gaze
upon, without dismay, for many years. The
costumes of a stage fairy, and of a pantomime
prince or princess, are perfectly well
known, and it cannot be said that in either
of the cases now under treatment any very
special divergence from established rules
was noticeable; most certainly there was
nothing to call for interference from without.
Your Commissioner feels it, however,
necessary to mention, that the personages
who caused him the most satisfaction, and
whose antics, highly relished by the
audiences, were most ingenious and diverting,
were certainly clothed but lightly. At the
same time it is necessary to remark
that both these personages were of the
male sex; that one of them represented a
benighted, though amusing savage, whose
ideas of dress would naturally be limited;
and that the other, whose most conspicuous
article of dress was a pair of top boots, was
a cat.

At both these theatres several points
presented themselves strongly to Your
Commissioner's notice. Two may here be
mentioned beyond State control, and two on
which your Lordship's opinion may fairly
be asked.

Firstly, the public must by this time
have had pretty nearly enough of the Girl
of the Period. The present writer can
speak strongly for himself on this point.
The original papers written under this title
were of a not particularly agreeable nature.
The satire, however, if a little unfair, was
at all events brisk, and the subject was
not unsuited for satiric handling. Unfortunately,
the name and subject have been
seized upon by all the smaller wits, who
have never ceased worrying them ever
since. The town has been deluged with
Girls of the Period. The lady has been
served up in every form, musical, illustrative,
theatrical; and with every kind
of sauce, piquante and otherwise—chiefly
otherwise. She has been flourished at
the heads of unfortunate readers in every
newspaper and magazine. She has