er, and in other parts, although he was not included in
the cast of "Woman's Wit." No doubt, from Macready's point of view,
this distinguished his case clearly from that of Talfourd's.

After the calling on of authors came the calling on of scene-painters.
But of late, with the help of much salutary criticism on the subject,
a disposition has arisen to check this very preposterous method of
acknowledging the merits of a worthy class, who should be satisfied
with learning from the wings or the back of the stage the admiration
excited by their achievements, and should consider themselves in such
wise as sufficiently rewarded. If they are to appear between their
scenes and the public, why not also the costumiers and the
gas-fitters, and the numberless other contributors to theatrical
success and glory? Indeed, as a rule, the applause, calls, and encores
of the theatre are honours to be conferred on singers and actors only,
are their rightful and peculiar property, and should hardly be
diverted from them or shared with others, upon any pretence whatever.

CHAPTER XXIX.

REAL HORSES.

A horse in the highway is simply a horse and nothing more; but,
transferred to the theatre, the noble animal becomes a _real_ horse.
The distinction is necessary in order that there may be no confusing
the works of nature with the achievements of the property-maker. Not
that this indispensable dramatic artist shrinks from competition. But
he would not have ascribed to him the production of another
manufactory, so to say. His business is in counterfeits; he views with
some disdain a genuine article. When the famous elephant Chunee
stepped upon the stage of Covent Garden, the chief performer in the
pantomime of "Harlequin and Padmanaba, or the Golden Fish," the
creature was but scornfully regarded by Mr. Johnson, the property-man
of Drury Lane. "I should be very sorry," he cried, "if I could not
make a better elephant than that!" And it would seem that he
afterwards justified his pretensions, especially in the eyes of the
playgoers prizing imitative skill above mere reality. We read in the
parody of Coleridge, in "Rejected Addresses":

Amid the freaks that modern fashion sanctions,
It grieves me much to see live animals
Brought on the stage. Grimaldi has his rabbit,
Laurent his cat, and Bradbury his pig;
Fie on such tricks! Johnson, the machinist,
Of former Drury, imitated life
Quite to the life! The el