open. Then, there are seldom any women in the pit; there are no playbills similar to ours, and in many of the theatres there is no orchestra, unless, of course, the nature of the performance requires one. The signal to raise the curtain is a knock, instead of a ring. There are two intolerable nuisances in France, the old women who bring the footstools (petits bancs), and the claque, or hired applauders, whose regular applause bursts out at stated periods with all the monotonous regularity of a roll of military drums, and ceases as suddenly as it com

mences.

In concluding this brief, and necessarily incomplete, sketch of the British stage it is gratifying to be able to assert that much of the old prejudice against the theatre is dying out; actors and actresses are no longer regarded as social outcasts, on the contrary, they are courted and esteemed.

Their calling is an important one, for if the famous Duke of Marlborough, who asserted that he had learnt all his English history from Shakespeare, were living now, he might also

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learn something of the history, arts, and costumes of the entire world from our modern stage.

A survey of three centuries of the history of the theatre is no light task to undertake, and must perforce be incomplete; I have striven to be accurate, and in that endeavour is to be found my chief claim upon the attention you have so patiently given me.

THE SECOND GLOBE THEATRE (1616).

A BRIEF CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY

PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DRAMA IN LONDON.

1530. Ralph Roister-Doister. By Nicholas Udall. A paraphrase of Latin comedy, the earliest play hitherto discovered in England.

1533. The Mery Playe between Johan the husband, Tyb his wife, and Sir Johan, the Preest. A kind of farce.

1543.

First act of parliament passed controlling stage representations.

1545. The earliest known "patent," creating a Master of the Revels, Plays, etc.

1547 to 1558, from the death of Henry VIII. to

that of Mary Tudor, stage playing was discouraged by the authorities, but soon after the accession of Elizabeth these restrictions were considerably modified. 1564. William Shakespeare born, April 23. 1566. Gammer Gurton's Needle. A farcical comedy by Bishop Still, long considered

the earliest regular drama in the English language.

1570. The playhouse called "The Theater," in Shoreditch, built. This is supposed to have been the first public building of the kind in England. "The Curtain," also near Shoreditch, built very shortly afterwards.

1572.

1574.

An act passed against the numerous players who wandered over the country, who were declared to be "rogues and vagabonds," unless they performed under the licence of some nobleman, or of two justices of the peace.

First royal licence for a theatre granted to Burbage and others, servants of the Earl of Leicester.

1576. The Blackfriars, and the Whitefriars Theatres erected.

1580. Newington Butts Theatre erected. 1580. Prohibition against plays on Sunday, which was only in force a short time.

1585. The Rose Theatre, and the Hope Theatre erected.

1589. Shakespeare part proprietor of the Blackfriars Theatre.

1594. The Globe Theatre, Bankside, built. 1595. The Swan Theatre, Bankside, built. 1596. Shakespeare and his partners in the Blackfriars Theatre petition the Privy

Council for permission to repair and improve that theatre.

1590 to 1612. Between these two dates it is supposed that all Shakespeare's plays were produced in London.

1599. The Fortune Theatre erected.

1605. Scenery and stage decorations introduced by Inigo Jones.

1613. The Globe Theatre burnt, June 29, during the performance of Henry VIII.

1616. William Shakespeare died, April 23.