Science, Art, And The Drama.

Science , Art , and the Drama .

MIRRORS , ANCIENT AND MODERN . According to the learned Beckmann , in his " History of Inventions , " it is highly probable that a limpid brook was the first mirror . Primitive man , or rather woman , was not content for long with that inconvenient lookingglass , and it is very likely that early in the Stone Age vanity and ingenuity lound an artificial substitute for the meandering brook . Some stones answer fairly well for the purpose , and , in fact , we read in ancient writers of

stone mirrors . Pliny mentions the obsidian stone , or agate , in this respect ; and we know that the . ancient Peruvians , besides mirrors of silver , copper , and brass , possessed some which slightly astonished their Spanish conquerors . They were made of a black and opaque slone , which was susceptible cf a fine polish . The earliest written records we have refer to metal mirrors , but the opinions as to time , place , and composition seem to

be as numerous and various as the antiquaries and commentators themselves . The Greeks were , at an early period , possessed of small mirrors , chiefly of bronze , and occasionally covered with a thin coating of silver . Besides its use at the toilet table , in the preparation of Psyche knots and graceful drapery , it was also used in divinations . The practice was to let one down into a well by means of a string to within a few inches of the

water , when it was pulled up , and after a few minutes was expected to show the face of the sick person in whose behalf the ceremony was performed . Roman writers like Pliny and Seneca , in declaiming against increasing luxury , state it was the ambition of every foolish woman to possess a silver mirror . Examples of these Greek and Roman articles are to be seen in collections of antiquities at towns wherever those old civilisations had spread ,

and from a specimen found in Cornwall it is supposed that the Celtic population of England copied the form and substance of the Roman mirror . It was not , however , till the early part of the iG ' . h century that they became common as articles of furniture and decoration . Previously they were carried at the girdle , being merely small circular plaques of polished metal , fixed in a shallow box .

The outsides were often of gold , enamel , ivory , or ebony , and much ingenuity and art was expended in their decoration , with representations in relief of love , domestic , hunting , and other interesting scenes . As early as 625 we find Pope Boniface IV . sending Queen Ethelberga , of Northumberland , a present of a silver mirror . Alter the method of covering glass with thin sheets of metal was discovered , some time during the Middle Ages ,

it is vaguely supposed , steel and silver mirrors were still cherished , to the neglect of the new fangled glasses . Their manufacture , on a commercial basis , was first developed in Venice about the year 1517 , and in England early in the seventeenth century the business was started by Sir Robert Mansell . Mirrors of metal are still common in Oriental countries among people not afflicted with that malady styled progress . Bronze is the

favoured substance in Japan , and the first mirror ever made in that charming country is religiously preserved at Ise as an object of the highest veneration , while that said to be presented by the Sun goddess at the foundation of the empire is an important item in the Japanese regalia . In addition to the historical and utilitarian interest , the mirror is famous in the wide realms of mystery and superstition . According to Brand , mirrors were used b y

magicians " in their superstitious and diabolical operations . The great and mythical Prester John possessed a mirror which showed him everything which took place in his dominions . The celebrated mirror which Merlin gave to King Ryence—it was called " Venus-looking glass "revealed to its holders anything that a friend or foe was doing , and other interesting incidents usually associated with the detective ' s profession .

Britomart , King Ryence's daughter , saw in it her future husband , and also his name , Sir Artazal . According to the old mythology , Vulcan made one which revealed the past , present , and future . Another famous mirror was that belonging to Kelly , the speculator or seer , in the service of Dr . Dee . It resembled a piece of cannel coal , and is thus celebrated in Hudibras" Kelly did all his feats upon

Ihe devil ' s looking glass , a stone . "

There is a tradition that the Gunpowder Plot was discovered by D . \ Dee , and hi ; , wonderful mirror . In a Prayer book , presented by Baskett , is a curious engraving representing the discovery through its agency . " The plate , " says a correspondent in " Notes and Queries , " " would seem to represent the method by which , under Providence—as . is evinced by the eye—the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot was , at the time , seriously

believed to have been effected . The tradition , moreover , must have been generally believed , or it never could have found its way into a Prayer book , printed by the king's printer . In the pleasant regions of folk-lore the mirror holds a fairly prominent place . To break one is considered an unlucky affair , a notion which is one of the most prevalent and persistent bits of modern superstition . In many parts of England , seven years of

trouble , is considered the penalty for such an accident ; but the still more serious Scottish people regard it as a sign , that a member of the family will soon die . In the South of England , it is looked upon as a bad omen for a bride , on her wedding morning , to take a last peep at the glass before starting for church , and the struggle between superstition and vanity , is no doubt very keen . The Swedish girls are afraid to look in the glass after

dark , or by artificial light , lest they should forfeit the good opinion of the other sex . Most people still appear to regard it as a bad omen to see the new moon for the first time through a window pane , or reflected in a mirror . In some districts the practice of covering the look ng glass , or removing it , in the presence of death , still exists . The reason for this is not very obvious ,

though Mr . Baring Gould says there is a popular notion that if a person looks into a mirror in the chamber of death , he will see the corpse looking over his shoulder . Such superstitions seem to sj ^ est a near approach to the primitive modes of thoughts of men , who found mirrors in stones , " and " glasses in the running brook . "

PAINTERS IN THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH

The long and remarkable reign of this lady could not but furnish many opportunities to artists of signalising themselves . There is no evidence that Elizabeth had much taste for painting ; but she Hved pictures of herself . In them she could appear really handsome ; and yet to do the profession justice they seem to have II ittered her the least of all her dependants . 'Here is not a single portrait of her that one can call beautiful . The prolusion of ornaments with which they are loaded , are marks of her continual

Science, Art, And The Drama.

fondness for dress , while they entirely exclude all grace , and leave no more room for a painter's genius , than if he had been employed to copy an Indian idol totally composed of hands and necklaces . A pale Roman nose , a head of hair loaded with crowns and powdered with diamonds , a vast ruff , a vaster fardingale , and a bushel of pearls , are the features by which everybody knows at once the pictures of Queen Elizabeth . There is ,

at Hatfield , a portrait of her , when Princess , accompanied b y emblems , which was painted during her residence there . It represents a young woman , fair , but not beautiful . There is another , when Princess , at Kensington , said to be by Holbein . It is a half length , in a red dress . Sir James Melville , in his memoirs , describes , in a very interesting manner , his interview and conversation with Oueen Elizabeth ,

when she was in her 32 nd year , 1564 . He observed "that her hair was more reddish than yellow , curled , in appearance , naturally . She desired to know of me what colour of hair was reputed best , and whether my queen ' s ( Mary Queen of Scots ) hair or hers was the best , and which of them two was fairest . " Melville's reply was very courtly , but not satisfactory , for , like a true knight , he would not allow the meed of superior beauty to any

but his own mistress . At his first audience he was received in the privy garden . The queen was walking in an alley ; she considered the open daylight as most favourable to her beauty . As her nose was the peccant feature , thin and hooked , or , as Naunton says , " high nosed ; " most of her portraits present a full face in order to conceal it . In 156 3 she issued a proclamation , now in the State paper-office , and which may be seen , by

which none but a " special atnninge paynler" is permitted to draw her likeness , and Zuccaro was then , probably , appointed . Raleigh , in his preface , to the History of the World , says , that she ordered all pictures of her , by unskilful painters to be burned . Hentzner saw her when she had advanced to her 65 th year , in 1591 . " Next came the Queen , very majestic , her face oblong , fair , but wrinkled , her eyes small , yet black and pleasant , her nose a little hooked , her lips thin , and her teeth black . She had in her

ears two pearls , with very rich drops , she wore false hair , and that red , upon her head she had a small crown . Her bosom was uncovered , as all the English ladies'have it till they marry , and she had on a necklace of exceeding fine jewels ; her hands were small , her fingers long , and her stature neither tall nor low . " Long before this period she had quarrelled with her looking glasses , and her indignation was so great because they would not flatter that her female attendants removed the mirrors ( at that time small ) from any room through which she was about to pass . { To be continued . )

Vaudeville Theatre.

VAUDEVILLE THEATRE .

" Kitty Grey , " which has been adapted by J . S . Piggott from the popular piece at Paris " Les Fetards , " is noticeable from the pleasing fact that , while the amusing incidents of the original are retained in the English version , there is in the dialogue nothing offensive to decency or good taste , a marked contrast to the production at an adjacent theatre , which , we regret to say , has been much in favour with playgoers during the season fast drawing to a close . As the story of " Kitty Grey" is doubtless

familiar to most of our readers we will not trouble them with the details , but confine our remarks to the interpreters of the piece . Among the male characters we have Sir John Binfield ( the peccant butterfly husband ) , Lord Plantagent ( the silly man of fashion ) , and the eccentric King of Illyria . These roles are well filled , and with great spirit , by Messrs . Herbert Ross , George Grossmith , jun ., and VV . L . Abingdon . By the clever way in which

they play into each other s hands the intrigue and its entanglements are brought prominently before the audience , by whom the difficulties and compromising incidents which ensue are thoroughly appreciated . Of the ladies , the two most important parts are taken by the charming sisters , Miss Ellis and Miss Hilda Jeffreys . We have noticed with much interest the career of Miss Ellis Jeffreys during the present season . She seemed to

have made her mark at the Criterion , and the favourable impressions have been maintained at the yaudeville . We do not recollect having seen her sister previously ; she evinces great promise for the future . As Lady Binfield and Kitty Grey the fair artistes are essential to the well-deserved success of the piece ; how charmingly does Miss Ellis Jeffreys portray the

conflicting emotions of love and jealousy in the dressing-room scene . She is well seconded by her sister Hilda as Kitty Grey ; the embarrassments which arise are very amusing . A word of praise is certainly due to Miss Lillie Belmore , who , as the Aunt ( Mrs . Bright ) serves as a foil to Kitty Grey . She fully realises her part . As a whole , " Kitty Grey " is worthy of high commendation .

SAVOY THEATRE . It may be considered a good test of the merit of a piece if , alter the lapse of miny years , it will survive a revival and continue to be attractive . Tnis is the case with several of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas—we say advisedly several , not all . "The Pirates of Penzance "has entered

into a new phase of existence , and exhibits considerable increasing vitality . What a delight it is to welcome an old favourite and anticipate the charming melodies as they come in rapid succession . The onlv one of the original cast is Miss Rosina Brandram , her experienced artistic rendering of the character she has resumed helped materially the well-deserved success of the revival . Tne graceful , unaffected acting of the talented Miss Isabel

Joy , joined to her pure , youthful voice , enabled her to do full justice to the part of Mabel . Frederick , the pirate apprentice , was well undertaken by Mr . Robert Evett . He has a pleasing voice , which he used to good effect in the solos , duets , and concerted music . The Pirate King and Samuel , his Lieutenant , were entrusted to Messrs . Powis Pinderand W . H . Leon , who acquitted themselves with credit . Major-General Stanley was in the cap able hands of Mr . Henry A . Lytton , who gave the well-known song with much

spirit ; his embarrasssment at finding companion rhymes was amusing ly snown . We must not forget Mr . Walter Passmore , who brought out tne comic element in the Ssrgeant of Police . Tne song he sings—• ' A policeman ' s life is not a happy one "—was so appreciated by the audience , that it was repeated four times . The chorus is tuneful and narmonious , and sang the concerted music in a highly satisfactory manner . We congratulate Mr-Doyly Carte on the success of the revival , which we trust may have a long continuance .

GREAT QUEEN-STREET THEATRE . At his pretty , little , i . ew thea ' . re , Bro . W . S . Penley has wisely revive " " The Private Secretary . " It bids fair to have a renewed tide of success . It is itrange to think that this popular piece whea first produced was a