aliardo; Miss Murgatroyd, Bellemante; and the inimitable Mrs. Green,
Mopsophil. A great effect was produced when Harlequin is tossed in a
blanket, Act iii. Two long strips were sewn to the sides of the blanket
by which he held. From the front, however, they were invisible, and as
it seemed that Woodward was being thrown to a dangerous height this
spectacle immensely pleased the galleries.

In 1777 _The Emperor of the Moon_, very unnecessarily altered and by no
means bettered 'with the addition of several airs, duets, and choruses
selected from other compositions' (8vo, 1777), was produced at the
Patagonian Theatre. This theatre was situated in Exeter Change, Strand,
on a portion of the site of Burleigh House, the town house of the great
Lord Treasurer, which was afterwards known as Exeter House. It is very
doubtful if the theatre existed as such later than 1779.

There is an amusing reference to _The Emperor of the Moon_ in _The
Spectator_, No. 22 (Steele), Monday, 26 March, 1711. '_Your most humble
servant_, William Serene' writes to Mr. Spectator bewailing the fact
that nobody on the stage rises according to merit. Although grown old in
the playhouse service, and having often appeared on the boards, he has
never had a line given him to speak. None the less 'I have acted', he
asserts, 'several Parts of Household-stuff with great Applause for many
years: I am one of the Men in the Hangings in the _Emperour of the
Moon_.' [The allusion is of course to Act ii, III.] Ralph Simple,
Serene's friend, in a subsequent letter begs that upon the gentleman's
promotion to speaking parts 'I may succeed him in the Hangings, with my
Hand in the Orange-trees'. These humorous allusions are ample evidence
of the popularity of Mrs. Behn's pantomime and the frequency with which
it was performed.

TO THE LORD MARQUESS OF WORCESTER, &.

My Lord

It is a common Notion, that gathers as it goes, and is almost become a
vulgar Error, That Dedications in our Age, are only the effects of
Flattery, a form of Complement, and no more; so that the Great, to whom
they are only due, decline those Noble Patronages that were so generally
allow'd the Ancient Poets; since the Awful Custom has been so
scandaliz'd by mistaken Addresses, and many a worthy piece is lost for
want of some Honourable Protection, and sometimes many indifferent ones
traverse the World with that advantagious Pasport only.

This humble Offering, which I presume to lay at yo