ines, 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 othe