he chief fairy, and
transform themselves for harlequinade purposes, became an obsolete and
withdrawn delight.

Yet what were called "speaking pantomimes," that is, pantomimes
supplied to an unusual extent with spoken matter, were occasionally
produced in times not long past. Hazlitt mentions, only to condemn
however, an entertainment answering to this description. It was called
"Shakespeare _versus_ Harlequin," and was played in 1820. It would
seem to have been a revival of a production of David Garrick's. "It is
called a speaking pantomime," writes Hazlitt; "we had rather it had
said nothing. It is better to act folly than to talk it. The essence
of pantomime is practical absurdity keeping the wits in constant
chase, coming upon one by surprise, and starting off again before you
can arrest the fleeting 'phantom:' the essence of this piece was
prosing stupidity remaining like a mawkish picture on the stage, and
overcoming your impatience by the force of _ennui_. A speaking
pantomime such as this one is not unlike a flying waggon," &c. &c.

"Harlequin _versus_ Shakespeare" was generally voted dreary and a
failure. Of another "speaking pantomime," called "Harlequin Pat and
Harlequin Bat; or, The Giant's Causeway," produced at Covent Garden in
1830, Leigh Hunt writes: "A speaking pantomime is a contradiction in
terms. It is a little too Irish. It is as much as to say: 'Here you
have all dumb-show talking.' This, to be sure, is what made Grimaldi's
talking so good. It was so rare and seasonable that it only proved the
rule by the exception. The clowns of late speak too much. To keep on
saying at every turn, 'Hallo!' or 'Don't!' or 'What do you mean?' only
makes one think that the piece is partly written and not written
well." We may note that Mr. Tyrone Power, the famous Irish comedian,
appeared as harlequin in this pantomime, assisted by a skilled
"double" to accomplish the indispensable attitudinising, dancing, and
jumping through holes in the wall. Power abandoned his share in the
performance after a few nights, however, and the part was then
undertaken by Mr. Keeley, and subsequently by Mr. F. Matthews.

Gradually, speaking was to be heard more and more in pantomimes; and
some forty years ago an attempt was made to invest this form of
theatrical entertainment with peculiar literary distinction. In 1842
the staff of _Punch_, at that time very strong in talent, provided
Covent Garden with a pantomime upon the subject o