a train of thought on the line of Memory, back to the PAYNES and the
VOKESES in the primest of their prime, if he would recall two or three
of the very best, mind you, _the very best_, Pantomimes ever seen in
the Tame West. For real good rollicking fun, the Pantomimes at the
Surrey and the Grecian used to be worth the trouble of a pilgrimage;
but it was a trouble, for the show used to commence early and end
late, and indigestion was the consequence of a disturbed dinner and
the unaccustomed heartiness of a most enjoyable supper.

[Illustration: "Sure such a pair," &c.]

Drury Lane Pantomime commences at 7.30, and is not over till 11.30,
and yet in these four hours there rarely comes over you any sense of
weariness, except perhaps when the ballets are too long. From first to
last the audience is expecting something, and is ready to accept every
transition from one scene to another as a change for the better. Mr.
HARRY NICHOLLS and Mr. HERBERT CAMPBELL are, of course, funny to look
at as the conventional proud sisters; only, as they admit in one of
their duets, "it's been done before," in _Cinderella_, for example;
and, by the way, in choosing this subject of _Beauty and the Beast_,
all resemblance between the two stories should have been got rid of,
as, up to the Ball Scene, except for the absence of the Pumpkin and
the Mice, it is difficult to distinguish between the two fairy tales.
But, when last I saw _Cinderella_, wasn't ROSINA VOKES the sprightly
heroine, and her brother with the wonderful legs the _Baron_? I think
so: but I will not be too much of a _laudator temporis acti_, and will
be thankful that one of the youthful Commissioners thoroughly enjoyed
this Pantomime, though he was not absolutely certain as to what might
be the effect of ghosts and skeletons on his very little brother,
aged five or six, if he were brought to see this show. For my part,