of an ingenious artist who teaches to
play on it by book, and to express by it the whole art of dramatic
criticism. "He has his bass and his treble catcall: the former for
tragedy, the latter for comedy; only in tragi-comedies they may both
play together in concert. He has a particular squeak to denote the
violation of each of the unities, and has different sounds to show
whether he aims at the poet or the player," &c.

The conveyance of a catcall to the theatre evidences a predisposition
to uproarious censure. Hissing may be, in the nature of impromptu
criticism, suddenly provoked by something held to be offensive in the
representation; but a playgoer could scarcely have armed himself with
a catcall without a desire and an intention of performing upon his
instrument in any case. Of old, audiences would seem to have
delighted in disturbance upon very light grounds. Theatrical rioting
was of common occurrence. The rioters were in some sort a disciplined
body, and proceeded systematically. Their plan of action had been
previously agreed upon. It was a rule that the ladies should be
politely handed out of the theatre before the commencement of any
violent acts of hostility; and this disappearance of the ladies from
among the audience was always viewed by the management as rather an
alarming hint of what might be expected. Then wine was sent for into
the pit, the candles were thrown down, and the gentlemen drew their
swords. They prepared to climb over the partitions of the orchestra
and to carry the stage by assault. Now and then they made havoc of the
decorations of the house, and cut and slashed the curtains, hangings,
and scenery. At Drury Lane, in 1740, when a riot took place in
consequence of the non-appearance of Madame Chateauneuf, a favourite
French dancer, a noble marquis deliberately proposed that the theatre
should be fired, and a pile of rubbish was forthwith heaped upon the
stage in order to carry into effect this atrocious suggestion. At the
Haymarket Theatre, in 1749, the audience, enraged at the famous Bottle
Conjurer hoax, were incited by the Culloden Duke of Cumberland to pull
down the house! The royal prince stood up in his box waving his drawn
sword, which someone, however, ventured to wrest from his grasp. The
interior fittings of the theatre were completely destroyed; the
furniture and hangings being carried into the street and made a
bonfire of, the curtain surmounting the flaming heap like a gigant