My aunt whispered me that she never saw such a set
of slovenly, unmannerly footmen sent to keep places in her life,
when, to her great surprise, she saw those fellows, at the end
of the act, pay the box-keeper for their places."
In 1730 the "Universal Spectator" notes: "The wearing of swords, at
the Court end of the town, is, by many polite young gentlemen, laid
aside; and instead thereof they carry large oak sticks, with great
heads and ugly faces carved thereon."
Elliston was, in 1827, lessee and manager of the Surrey Theatre.
"Quite an opera pit," he said to Charles Lamb, conducting him over the
benches of that establishment, described by Lamb as "the last retreat
of his every-day waning grandeur." The following letter--the
authenticity of which seems to be vouched for by the actor's
biographer--supplies a different view of the Surrey audience of that
date:
"_August 10th, 1827._
"SIR,--I really must beg to call your attention to a most
abominable nuisance which exists in your house, and which is, in
a great measure, the cause of the minor theatres not holding the
rank they should amongst playhouses.
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