o that he may pass a
happy Sunday. The inaccuracies fascinate him. They offer such a splendid
chance of showing the knowledge possessed by him--and his library. When
very young he deals with the matter in a straightforward fashion, and
trounces the author for every unwitting solecism and willing
falsification that is discovered.

He writes a learned little disquisition headed by a remark, in the
Macaulay vein, as to matters of common knowledge, and shows from direct
authority that the dramatist is quite wrong in mixing up the Du Barri
who married the heroine with the Du Barri who took her away from the
milliner's shop, and gives a facetious touch of lightness to his
remarks by pointing out that neither of the scoundrels was connected
with a certain much-advertised proprietary food.

The more obscure the blunder the greater the writer's joy in it, for he
will be able to introduce observations beginning "That little known but
elegant author," etc., and if the subject is earlier than the Du Barri
period he will present some quotations in the uneconomically spelt old
French.

A little later in his career his method changes: he relies upon his
_batterie de cuisine_ as much as ever, but uses some art to conceal the
employment of his apparatus. There will be mere hints about the errors;
an adjective between two commas will sometimes represent a severe
correction. The books are not referred to, the corrections are made in a
fashion which suggests that no greater authority is needed than that of
the critic.

A time arrives when he comes to the conclusion that it is no part of his
duties to deal with the historical aspect of the matter; but, of course,
the habit is upon him, and he excuses himself by saying, after he has
pointed out all the errors which he has noticed, that they would not
matter in the least if the play were meritorious in other respects.

It is difficult to defend his attitude, which, however, is due to his
appreciation of the fact that nowadays a little knowledge is a well-paid
thing. Moreover, he does not wish it to be thought that his knowledge of
history--and books--is less than that of his rivals. Of course the
inaccuracies do not matter very much unless they are so gross as to
shock the great half-literate.

There is, however, a more valid objection to the historical play than
that it is certain to be inaccurate; the historical drama is rarely a
good drama.

The author is compelled by his matter t