To many he was still, his new liberty and
privileges notwithstanding, but "a son of Belial"--ever of near kin to
the rogue and the vagabond, with the stocks and the whipping-post
still in his immediate neighbourhood, let him turn which way he would.
And then, certainly, his occupation had its seamy side. With this the
satirists, who loved censure rather for its wounding than its healing
properties, made great play. They were never tired of pointing out and
ridiculing the rents in the stroller's coat; his shifts, trials,
misfortunes, follies, were subjects for ceaseless derision. What Grub
Street and "penny-a-lining" have been to the vocation of letters,
strolling and "barn-strutting" became to the histrionic profession--an
excuse for scorn, underrating, and mirth, more or less bitter.
Still strolling had its charms. To the beginner it afforded a kind of
informal apprenticeship, with the advantage that while a learner of
its mysteries, he could yet style himself a full member of the
profession of the stage, and share in its profits. He was at once bud
and flower.
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