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Thus the people of this minor transition exhibit in a most interesting way, rendered even more interesting by the repetition of it which, as we have seen and shall see, came about twenty years later the mixed phenomena of an after-piece and a lever de rideau, of precursorship and what we must for want of a better word call decadence.
Tartuffe was the after-piece; but neither the spirit and perfection of the acting, nor the pretty face and plump shoulders of Elmire, nor the soubrette's dimpled arms, nor the ingénue's innocent eyes, nor the noble, witty lines that filled the theatre and roused the audience to fresh attention, could stir his spirit that hung entranced on the lips of a tragic heroine.
The lecture was undoubtedly eclipsed in interest by this unexpected after-piece; but the lecturer was amply compensated by his triumph in having thus stirred the spirit and aroused the recollections of the dear old founder.
He dresses himself like a nigger on a holiday. I took him to the play the other night; and, by Jove, sir, he abused the actor who was doing the part of villain in the play, and swore at him so, that the people in the boxes wanted to turn him out. The after-piece was the 'Brigand, where Wallack comes in wounded, you know, and dies.
Box and Cox was the after-piece; and Mr. Clavering as Mrs. Bouncer, was the very beau-ideal of a landlady, "fair, fat, and forty." The prologue was excellent, and well delivered, and the amateur company had just reason to be proud of their performance. Having been favored with a copy of the opening address, I transcribe it.
The two artists, being compelled to appear in the after-piece at their theatre that evening, had come to the dinner made up and in full stage costume, ready to appear behind the footlights at the summons of the call-boy.
Goethe carried his condescension so far that he even wrote a continuation of an after-piece of Florian's; and his taste was so impartial that he even translated several of Voltaire's tragedies for the German stage.
Then a brilliant view of Mount Parnassus, with Apollo and the Nine Muses in full blast, shut the scene from sight, and soon Mr. Sharp appeared to ask their patience till the after-piece was ready, for Miss Douglas was too much injured to appear again.
After this period it became customary to exhibit dramas in TETRALOGIES, or sets of four; namely, a tragic trilogy, or series of three tragedies, followed by a Satyric play. These were often on connected subjects; and the Satyric drama at the end served like a merry after-piece to relieve the minds of the spectators.
His supper is soon over; there is a short after-piece of growling and snapping at hungry comrade, and then he lies down out in the snow to dream that whips have been abolished and hauling is discarded for ever, sleeping peacefully until morning, unless indeed some band of wolves should prowl around and, scenting campfire, howl their long chorus to the midnight skies.
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