164 Tre-'Railway Life in London. 



might covet. Of course the old wounded soldier with a 

 wooden leg, who enters and tells the horrors of war in dumb 

 show, excites the compassion of all, and naturally enough 

 the old lady places him in a chair and provides another 

 banquet, and the villagers retire, and the old gentleman 

 goes to sleep ; and what more natural that the old soldier 

 should throw off his venerable locks, kick away his wooden 

 leg, and come out a brilliant young cavalier, and bound 

 about like a cork with the basket-maker's daughter ? And 

 of course no one but Perot or St. Leon could have done 

 this. 



The ballet dancers required to be good actresses as well 

 as dancers. Without following the Paul Pry fashion of 

 describing great people at home, the writer of this records 

 that he heard, only a week or two since, from the lips of 

 possibly the most distinguished dancer ever known, now a 

 charming grey-headed lady, who was the 'premiere danseuse 

 in the celebrated j9as de quatre, her opinion of the modern 

 ballet dancing. I need hardly say the lady was Madame 

 Taglioni. 



In answer to his question Avhether she had seen the 

 modern dancing, she said : '' Oh ! it is terrible ; to think 

 that women should so dress, and that ladies should go to 

 see them. No ! Taglioni," speaking of herself, '' never 

 danced so." It was very pleasant to bring all the old 

 puppets out and put them before her, in memory, again, 

 and to witness her dehght at having their names once more 

 presented to her mind, amongst others, that of a dis- 

 tinguished exile who was afterwards an emperor, and 

 long since dead. " Ah, poor Prince Louis Napoleon," she 

 exclaimed; "he had not much money then, but he was 

 very nice, and they never refused him a box." 



The opera naturally brings us to the omnibus box and 

 Fops Alley, the rendezvous for the dandies and men of 



