Star.
London, England, 1825-12-09 00:00:00

PANTOMIME.

The inventors of this extraordinary art were two ob-
' scure Romans, named Pylades and Bathylius, who, we
are told by Zozimeus, were-rivals in its profession, in
the reign of Augustus Cesar. Pantomime was the name
given to the performer, not to the piece, and the admi-
ration bestowed on this rank and species of comedian
was, at one time, carried beyond that given to any other
performer. Cassiodorus, indeed, has thus designated
them " Men whose eloquent hands had a tongue, as
it were, on the top of each finger—men who spoke
while they were silent, and knew how to make an en-
tire recital without opening their months—men, in
awn, whom Polyhymnia had formed, in order to shew
there was no necessity for articulating, in order to con-
vey our thoughts." There is an abundance of anecdote
handed down by Lucian, and other writers of that age,
which sufficiently proves the high opinion then enter-
tained of them. Pantomime flourished in Rome, for
about two centuries, and finally sunk in the general an-
nihilation of the sciences and literature in that country.
In our own country, it has arrived to a great degree of
perfection; and for the attainment of excellence in this
art, we are indebted to the late Mr. J. Rich, the original
patentee and manager of Covent-Garden Theatre. In
this particular Rich was possessed of the greatest taste.
He had acquired considerable reputation by his own
pelf rmance of the motley hero, under the assumed
name of Lun, junior (being thus designated in the bills
of the day, and in the titles of the pantomimes which he
published), and it is most probable that the great repu-
tation he obtained as Harlequin might have arisen, in
some measure, from the splendour with which be pro•
duced these pieces, and from his being the first per-
former who had rendered the character at all intel-
ligible in this country. Since the period of Mr. Rich's
exhibitions, pantomime has increased rapidly in popu-
larity; and at Covent-Garden Theatre more especially,
has attained its chief eminence. This may be easily ac-
counted tor, as it is much easier to find both managers
to comprehend, and actors to personate the vagaries of
Harlequin and Clown, than the sublimities of Shak-
speare and Otway.

Yesterday, a man went into a general shop in Gra-
vel-lane, Borough, kept by a poor woman wbo has
but one eye. After asking ber for a small quantity of
each article that sbe sold, as tea, sugar, soap, and
coffee, while he kept sounding a sovereign, and com-
plained of having the toothache, he said that he had
heard treacle and brown paper was en excellent spe-
cific. She then procured a planter of that description,
which he suddenly applied to her eye, and disappeared
with the goods.
At the Middlesex Sessions yesterday, Thomas !Janis
appealed against the conviction of Wm. VALENTINK.
Esq. who sentenced him, under • the Vagrant Act, to
two months' imprisonment in the House of Cotrection,
for indecently exposing his person.—The conviction
was affirmed. _ _

The carriage of Mrs. MAR MAXWELL, of Notting-
ham-street, was overturned yesterday in St. Giles s,
leading into Oxford-street, and of three Ladies inside,
one hud her arm broken, and was conveyed to Mr. SAN-
GEnscnes, where every attention was paid her.
A Lady, in passing through Hampshire last summer,
observed the following notice on a board :+l. Horses
taken in to grass: long tads, 3s. 6d.; short tails, 2s."—
She asked the owner of the land the reason of the dif-
ference of price ? He anstgered, Is Yon see, Ma'am, the
long tails can brush away the flies, but the short ones
are so tormented by them, that they can hardly eat."'
In 1527. the Duke de BOURBON, General of the
Army of CHARLES V. was mortally wounded at the assault of
Rome. Some of his soldiers, passing by the place where he lay
nearly ex2iring, were debating among themselves whether tbe re-
port of his death was true. lie called out to them—" The Dyke
of Houma is at your head." •
LARGE IMOTII.—A friend at Arracan, inform. us
that hebas caught a moth, which measures from the tip of one
wing to the tip of the other len Both wings are beautifully
variegated with the brightest colours. Unless we are mistaken,
this is the largest moth upon record, exceeding in dimensions the
ilarge.t it: the British Museum, which we btlitve measures about
`arras inches from tip to tip.—.llfterui force, July