opposition and followed the counsel of the marquis. The musical
prelude was again heard in the streets of Grantham, and crowded houses
were obtained. The company enjoyed a prosperous season, and left the
town in great credit. "And I am told," adds Wilkinson, "the custom is
continued at Grantham to this day."

An early instance of the explanatory address, signed by the dramatist
or manager, which so frequently accompanies the modern playbill, is to
be found in the fly-sheet issued by Dryden in 1665. The poet thought
it expedient in this way to inform the audience that his tragedy of
"The Indian Emperor" was to be regarded as a sequel to a former work,
"The Indian Queen," which he had written in conjunction with his
brother-in-law, Sir Robert Howard. The handbill excited some
amusement, by reason of its novelty, for in itself it was but a simple
and useful intimation. In ridicule of this proceeding, Bayes, the hero
of the Duke of Buckingham's burlesque, "The Rehearsal," is made to
say: "I have printed above a hundred sheets of paper to insinuate the
plot into the boxes."

Chetwood, who had been twenty years prompter at Drury Lane, and in
1749 published a "History of the Stage," describes a difficulty that
had arisen in regard to printing the playbills. Of old the list of
characters had been set forth according to the books of the plays,
without regard to the merits of the performers. "As, for example, in
'Macbeth,' Duncan, King of Scotland, appeared first in the bill,
though acted by an insignificant person, and so every other actor
appeared according to his dramatic dignity, all of the same-sized
letter. But latterly, I can assure my readers, I have found it a
difficult task to please some ladies as well as gentlemen, because I
could not find letters large enough to please them; and some were so
fond of elbow room that they would have shoved everybody out but
themselves, as if one person was to do all and have the merit of all,
like generals of an army." Garrick seems to have been the first actor
honoured by capital letters of extra size in the playbills. "The
Connoisseur," in 1754, says: "The writer of the playbills deals out
his capitals in so just a proportion that you may tell the salary of
each actor by the size of the letter in which his name is printed.
When the present manager of Drury Lane first came on the stage, a new
set of types, two inches long, were cast on purpose to do honour to
his extraordinary meri