o was to sustain
the part of Bertrand, meditated dressing and "making up" after the
manner of Talleyrand. Sir Thomas Mash, the comptroller of the
Chamberlain's office, made direct inquiries in this respect. The
manager supplied a sketch of the costume to be worn by the actor. "I
knew it was to be submitted to the king," writes Mr. Bunn, and he
looked forward to the result with anxious curiosity. On the 7th of
February came an answer from Sir Thomas Mash. "I have the pleasure to
return your drawing without a syllable of objection." On the 8th,
"Bertrand et Raton," under the name of "The Minister and the Mercer,"
was first produced on the English stage.

The success of the performance was unquestionable, but the alarms of
the authorities were not over. Many of the players took upon
themselves to restore passages in the comedy which had been effaced by
the examiner; and, worse than this, Mr. Farren's appearance did not
correspond with the drawing sent to the Chamberlain's office. His wig
was especially objectionable; it was an exact copy of the silvery
silken tresses of Talleyrand, which had acquired a European celebrity.
It was plain that the actor had "made up" after the portrait of the
statesman in the well-known engravings of the Congress of Vienna. Mr.
Bunn had again to meet the angry expostulations of the Chamberlain. On
the 14th of February he wrote to Lord Belfast: "The passages bearing
reference to the Queen Matilda in conjunction with Struensee having
been entirely omitted, will, I trust, be satisfactory to your
lordship. Until the evening of performance I was not aware what style
of wig Mr. Farren meant to adopt, such matters being entirely at the
discretion of performers of his standard. I have since mentioned to
him the objections which have been pointed out to me, but he has sent
me word that he cannot consent so to mutilate his appearance, adding
that it is a wig he wore two years ago in a comedy called 'Lords and
Commons.'" If this was true there can be little doubt that the wig had
been dressed anew and curling-ironed into a Talleyrand form that had
not originally pertained to it. Meantime King William IV. had stirred
in the matter, despatching his Chamberlain to the Lords Grey and
Palmerston. "They--said to be exceedingly irate--instantly attended
the performance. In the box exactly opposite to the one they occupied,
sat, however, the gentleman himself, _l'homme veritable_, his
Excellency Prince Talleyra