appearance
and manners of a gentlewoman." Grimaldi was not less prompt in
expressing his complete satisfaction in regard to his engagements with
"the manageress." Dibdin wrote the epitaph inscribed above her grave
in the cathedral yard of Rochester. A few lines may be extracted, but
it must be said that the composition is of inferior quality:

Alone, untaught,
And self-assisted (save by Heaven), she sought
To render each his own, and fairly save
What might help others when she found a grave;
By prudence taught life's troubled waves to stem,
In death her memory shines, a rich, unpolished gem.

It is conceivable--so much may perhaps be added by way of concluding
note--that Mrs. Baker unconsciously posed as a model, and lent a
feature or two, when the portrait came to be painted of even a more
distinguished "manageress," whose theatre was a caravan, however,
whose company consisted of waxen effigies, and who bore the name
of--Jarley.

CHAPTER VIII.

IN THE PIT.

There is something to be written about the rise and fall of the pit:
its original humility, its possession for a while of great authority,
and its forfeiture, of late years, of power in the theatre. We all
know Shakespeare's opinion of "the groundlings," and how he held them
to be, "for the most part, capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb
shows and noise." The great dramatist's contemporaries entertained
similar views on this head. They are to be found speaking with supreme
contempt of the audience occupying the _yard_; describing them as
"fools," and "scarecrows," and "understanding, grounded men."

Our old theatres were of two classes, public and private. The
companies of the private theatres were more especially under the
protection of some royal or noble personage. The audiences they
attracted were usually of a superior class, and certain of these were
entitled to sit upon the stage during the representation. The
buildings, although of smaller dimensions than the public theatres
boasted, were arranged with more regard for the comfort of the
spectators. The boxes were enclosed and locked. There were _pits_
furnished with seats, in place of the _yards_, as they were called, of
the public theatres, in which the "groundlings" were compelled to
stand throughout the performance. And the whole house was roofed in
from the weather; whereas the public theatres were open to the sky,
excepting ove