dBooks desire

" Dibdin wrote the epitaph inscribed above her grave
in the cathedral yard of Rochester. A few lines may be extracted, but
it must be said that the composition is of inferior quality:
Alone, untaught,
And self-assisted (save by Heaven), she sought
To render each his own, and fairly save
What might help others when she found a grave;
By prudence taught life's troubled waves to stem,
In death her memory shines, a rich, unpolished gem.
It is conceivable--so much may perhaps be added by way of concluding
note--that Mrs. Baker unconsciously posed as a model, and lent a
feature or two, when the portrait came to be painted of even a more
distinguished "manageress," whose theatre was a caravan, however,
whose company consisted of waxen effigies, and who bore the name
of--Jarley.


CHAPTER VIII.
IN THE PIT.

There is something to be written about the rise and fall of the pit:
its original humility, its possession for a while of great authority,
and its forfeiture, of late years, of power in the theatre.


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