ked the sight of all men of taste. Lekain himself
followed the example of Mdlle. Clairon, and, from that moment, their
talents thus perfected, excited mutual emulation and were worthy
rivals of each other."

Upon the English stage reform in this matter was certainly a matter of
slow growth. A German gentleman, Christian Augustus Gottlieb Goede by
name, who published, in 1821, a long account of a visit he had
recently made to England, expresses in strong terms his opinions on
certain peculiarities of its theatre. "You will never behold," he
writes, "foreign actors dressed in such an absurd style as upon the
London stage. The English, of all other nations the most superstitious
worshippers of fashion, are, nevertheless, accustomed to manifest a
strange indulgence for the incivilities which this goddess encounters
from their performers. I have seen Mr. Cooke personating the character
of Sir Pertinax McSycophant in 'The Man of the World,' in a buff coat
of antique cut, and an embroidered waistcoat which might have figured
in the court of Charles II.; though this play is of modern date and
the actor must of course have been familiar with the current costume.
In 'The Way to Keep Him,' Mr. C. Kemble acted the part of Sir
Brilliant Fashion, a name which ought to have suggested to him a
proper style of dress, in a frock absolutely threadbare, an obsolete
doublet, long pantaloons, a prodigious watch-chain of steel, and a
huge _incroyable_ under his arm. This last article, indeed, was an
appendage of 1802, but all the rest presented a genuine portrait of an
indigent and coxcombical journeyman tailor. He must have known that
pantaloons and an _incroyable_ rumpled and folded together are
incongruous articles of apparel--that no gentleman, much less Sir
Brilliant Fashion, would make his appearance in a threadbare coat; and
that steel watch-chains, as the chronicles of the Birmingham
manufactories plainly evince, have been out of date these fourscore
years. Neither would he, I am perfectly convinced, parade in such a
costume off the boards of the theatre. Why then should he choose to
exhibit such a whimsical figure upon them? May I venture to offer my
own conjecture on the subject? The real cause probably is that an
absurd costume is perfectly fashionable upon the English stage!"

In reply to these and similar strictures there is nothing much to be
said, unless it be that actors and audience alike were content with
things as they we