THEATRICAL REVIEW. G19 



with this difference however that he then appeared as an amateur 

 before an audience of private friends, and now he presents himself for 

 approval before his friends the public. Many of our readers will 

 recollect the eclat with which the prudent lessee of the King's The- 

 atre played the " Comedien d'Etampes" some twelve years since at the 

 Queen's Theatre, when the French company was in its most flourish- 

 ing-state, enjoying a run of good fortune which seemed to desert them 

 when they deserted the scene of their early successors and pitched 

 their camp elsewhere in what appeared more favourable positions, 

 but in none of which did their affairs thrive as in Tottenham Street. 



When Perlet, the prince of Comedians, arrived in England to be 

 the centre of attraction among the world of French-play goers, the 

 part which Laporte had hitherto filled was restored to^him, its origi- 

 nal representative. None who have seen his performance of that 

 character will ever forget the rich but unobtrusive humour which he 

 threw into the part and the fidelity with which he represented the 

 peculiarities of the different individuals he undertook to] personify. 

 In Paris it was considered one of the chef d'oeuvres of his art, 

 and as he was cense to hold the first rank in his profession, not even 

 excepting the famous Potier, this was as high a compliment as could 

 be well rendered to his merit. In England he played the part with 

 the most distinguished success, and many of C. Mathews' audience 

 must have been familiar with the excellence of his unrivalled pro- 

 totype. 



Now as there is a considerable personal resemblance between C. 

 Mathews and Perlet, and as they are precisely in the same line, not 

 forgetting either that both sing much better than comic actors usually 

 do (though here Perlet has the advantage of possessing one of the finest 

 voices ever heard), the mind fell to comparison in spite of itself, and 

 granting that our young Englishman is not equal to his forerunner in 

 this piece, there is no reason to blush for his inferiority. His versatility 

 seems to be an inherited quality, as well as his peculiar rapidity of 

 articulation, and whether as the wandering player, the Welch gar- 

 dener, the old gentleman, or the distressed lady, there was abundant 

 food for the appetite of laughter-lovers. Indeed epicures of this 

 class are always provided with a good meal at the gay widow's public- 

 house. 



For the information of those who are not acquainted with either the 

 French or English piece, we will give a sketch^of the plot. An actor, 

 from motives of economy or for his pleasure, sends his trunk on to a 

 village inn he had formerly put up at, and follows it on foot ; the inn, 

 since his last visit, has been purchased and converted into a villa by 

 a grocer who has retired from business. He is away from home, gone 

 to visit his intended son-in-law at Liverpool. The player makes 

 himself so agreeable to the gardener and his wife that they invite 

 him to stay and refresh himself, and she, fancying that she traces in 

 his countenance a remarkable resemblance to her master, insists upon 

 his putting on the old gentleman's wig and dressing gown, to which 

 he consents, and amuses them by assuming the manner and language 

 of the testy old man. Just then enters a suitor of Mr. Currant's 

 daughter who has never seen him, and who is received by the ficti- 



