_Horace_! Poor Pater will pretend not to have "quite caught them;" or
"not been attending;" but to himself he will own how entirely he has
forgotten his Latin, and perhaps he will make a good resolution to
himself to "look up his _Horace_ again." Then the learned young lady
will be asked by her Mamma, or by her sharp young bothering sister,
"what that Latin means," and though she might be able to construe
it when she sees it, to translate it offhand at one hearing is a
difficulty, and she will evade the question by saying, "Please, don't
talk! I want to listen to the piece."

The youth in the Stalls, fresh from college or school, will be about
as much equal to the translation offhand as is young _Sir Lucian
Brent_ when asked by Mr. CATHCART to give the meaning of the Latin on
the ancient brasses in the old church, and they won't thank you for
bringing school studies into playtime. On the whole, nothing is gained
by this Dr. Panglossian introduction of Latin quotation; it doesn't
help the action, nor emphasise a character, nor does it strengthen a
situation, to bring in even the most appropriate lines which are not
"in a language understanded of the people." _Sir Richard Philliter,
Q.C._, might be known in private life to his friends as Sir HORACE
DAVUS (_Non Oedipus_). Mr. CATHCART's _Pedgrift_, parish clerk and
sexton, is an excellent little character-sketch, as is also that of
_Mrs. Hornutt_, the pew-opener.

As for Mr. FORBES ROBERTSON and Miss KATE RORKE, they seemed to me to
be what the author had made them--i.e., stagey. Miss DOLORES DRUMMOND,
as _Mrs. Veale_, is very good, and Miss MARIE LINDEN, except in one
stagey bit in the Third Act, plays with great care and judgment.
The interior of the old country church (Act III.) is a masterpiece
of scenic art and stage arrangement,--a perfect picture by Mr.