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II<br />

Spectacle, Farce, Melodrama, and<br />

Minstrelsy Fifty Years Ago<br />

A<br />

PART of my stock in trade, of<br />

course, was my theatrical experi-<br />

ence, which dated from my seeing<br />

the Viennese children at the Boston Museum<br />

when I was eight years of age. Then<br />

followed, at great yawning, heart-straining<br />

intervals of time, the fairy plays which<br />

were " features " at that theatre for a se-<br />

ries of years. I recall my ecstasy in witnessing<br />

these dramas, in order that my<br />

contemporaries may reglow and rethrill<br />

with me over the reminiscence. It is of no<br />

use to tell me, to tell any of us, that chil-<br />

dren enjoy themselves as much at the the-<br />

atrical shows of to-day as we enjoyed our-<br />

selves at the plays of circa 1850. And I<br />

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