pence_ (eighteen-pence).

* * * * *


PUNCH'S THEATRE.

DIE HEXEN AM RHEIN; OR, RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURGH.

Mysterious are thy ways, O Yates! Thou art the only true melodramatist of
the stage and off the stage! When a new demonology is compiled thou shalt
have an honourable place in it. Thou shall be worshipped as the demon of
novelty, even by the "gods" themselves. Thy deeds shall be recorded in
history. It shall not be forgotten that thou wert the importer of
Mademoiselle Djeck, the tame elephant; of Monsieur Bohain, the gigantic
Irishman; and of Signor Hervi o'Nano, the Cockneyan-Italian dwarf. Never
should we have seen the Bayaderes but for you; nor T.P. Cooke in "The
Pilot," nor the Bedouin Arabs, nor "The Wreck Ashore," nor "bathing and
sporting" nymphs, nor other dramatic delicacies. Truly, thou art the
luckiest of managers; for all thy efforts succeed, whether they deserve it
or not. Sometimes thou drawest up an army of scene-painters, mechanists,
dancers, monsters, dwarfs, devils, fire-works, and water-spouts, in
terrible array against common sense. Yet lo! thou dost conquer! Thy pieces
never miss fire; they go on well with the public, and favourable are the
press reports. Wert thou a Catholic thou wouldest be canonised; for evil
spirits are thy passion; the Vatican itself cannot produce a more
indefatigable "devils' advocate!"

The repast now provided by Mr. Yates for those who are fond of "supping
full of horrors" is a devilled drama, interspersed with hydraulics--