8^ MONTHLY' REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



but little altered from the days of Garrick and Macklin, underwent various 

 changes, particularly in the latter scenes ; but his cloak still bore the star of 

 the garter, as altered by Charles the First. The trunks were of the time of 

 James the First ; and the plumed hat, in the throne-scene, of the reign of 

 Charles the Second. Shylock assumed a red hat lined with black, on the 

 dictum of Mr. Douce, the illustrator of Shakespeare, who quoted St. Didier's 

 " Histoire de Venise" as his authority. Othello's dress was wholly changed ; 

 but the correct costume was sacrificed to what the actor considered effect. 

 The habits of King Lear and Richard the Second were certainly improved ; 

 and in a new but unsuccessful play, called * Ina,' the anglo-Saxon costume 

 was fairly represented. 



" In 1823, Mr. Charles Kemble set about the reformation of the costume of 

 Shakspeare's plays in good earnest. King John, the first part of Henry the 

 Fourth, As You Like It, Othello, Cymbeline, and Julius Caesar, were 

 successively, and as the public generally acknowledged, successfully revived. 

 The actors, dreadfully alarmed in the outset lest they should be made to look 

 ridiculous, were agreeably surprised by the impression produced upon the 

 audience, and have now become as anxious to procure authorities to dress 

 from, as they were previously annoyed at the idea of the innovation, and 

 distrustful of the effect. The spirit of critical enquiry into these^ matters has 

 been fairly aroused. The French stage, is still, in some points^ in advance 

 of our own ; but a few more years will, we hope, produce an entire and 

 complete reformation of our theatrical wardrobes. The persons entrusted 

 with their formation and management will find it necessary to be something 

 more than mere tailors ; articles of dress will be called by their right names 

 instead of technicals, which convey no meaning beyond the walls of a theatre. 

 Shapes and romaldis* will be forgotten with the melodramas Avhich gave birth 

 to them : and though it is too much to expect that every actor will become a 

 thorough-going antiquary, it is not too much to presume that, before they 

 wear a decoration, they will take the trouble to enquire when the order was 

 first established; and that the labours of Meyrick, Stothard, and others, 

 having afforded them light enough to dress by, they will not huddle on their 

 clothes in the dark, to be laughed at by a school-boy, who has clandestinely 

 visited at half-price the one-shilling gallery." 



Remarks on the British Relations with China, Second Edition, with 

 Notes and Illustrations. By Sir GEORGE F. STAUNTON, Bart. 

 Lloyd. 



HAVING in our May number entered very fully into the dispute existing 

 letween us and the Chinese, in answer to Messrs. Matheson and Lindsay's 

 pamphlets, we have little to say respecting the pamphlet before us, further 

 than to thank the author for the notes and illustrations, which he has added 

 to his former text, and for collecting and printing the opinions of the public 

 press on so important a subject. Considering as we do that our government is 

 now in possession of all the information that can be communicated to aid 

 them in adopting sound and discreet regulations for the future prospects of 

 our commerce with China, we do expect that they will issue such plain and 

 explicit orders for conducting the trade that whoever presides over it shall 

 not have occasion to plead ignorance, or be obliged to resort either to intrigue 

 or artifice. When an honourable course is pursued by the government's 

 representatives, and by our merchants in general, impediments to the regular 

 carrying on of the trade will seldom or never occur, except in the case of 

 smuggling and the killing of any of her subjects, whether by accident or 



* The latter, a tunic, so called from Us being worn by Romaldi in the " Tale of 

 Mystery." 



