Chapter 75

interviews the applicant. Gherardi also gives a scene between Isabella (Elaria) and Colombine (Mopsophil); a scene where Harlequin arrives tricked out as an Apothecary to win Colombine (in Mrs. Behn it is Scaramouch who thus attempts to gain Mopsophil); and the final scene which differs considerably from the conclusion of the English farce. In Vol. II there are two further extracts ‘obmises dans le premier Tome’, a dialogue between the Doctor and Harlequin, ‘recit que fait Arlequin au Docteur, du Voyage qu’il a fait dans le Monde de la Lune’, and a short passage between Harlequin and Colombine, both of which can be closely paralleled in the English version. Mrs. Behn of course used the edition of 1684. Her statement that she only took ‘a very barren and thin hint of the Plot’ from the Italian, and again that ‘all the Words are wholly new, without one from the Original’ must not be pressed too strictly, although she has undeniably infused a new life, new wit and humour into the alien scenes.

In Maurice Sand’s standard work on Italian comedy, _Masques et Bouffons_ (Paris, 1860) there will be found copious citations from this pantomime, the popularity of which he attributes wholly to Gherardi. It was Biancolelli, however, who first brought it into favour and in whose lifetime it was actually printed, a rare honour, although doubtless it was owing to the great Gherardi that it retained and renewed its success. Gherardi died 31 August, 1700.

As the author himself states in his preface, _Harlequin roi dans la Lune_, a three act comedy by Bodard de Tézay, produced at the Variétés Amusantes, 17 December, 1785, has nothing to do with the old Italian scenes. An opera by Settle, entitled _The World in the Moon_, put on at Drury Lane in 1697, is quite different from Mrs. Behn’s farce. Settle has written a comedy which deals with the rehearsal of a new opera, _The New World in the Moon_. Tom Dawkins, a country lout just arrived in London, is taken to the theatre to see the rehearsal, and ordinary comic scenes intermingled with provision for elaborate sets, as the opera proceeds, form the strangest jumble. The piece takes its name from the first operatic scene, which represents a huge silver moon that gradually wanes, whilst a song, ‘Within this happy world above’, is performed.

THEATRICAL HISTORY.

_The Emperor of the Moon_, which is certainly as Lowe says ‘one of the best pantomimic farces ever seen’ on the English boards at any rate, was produced with great success at the Duke’s Theatre, Dorset Garden, in 1687. The character of Scaramouch was admirably suited to Tony Leigh, a low comedian ‘of the mercurial kind’, who ‘in humour ... loved to take a full career’, whilst Tom Jevon, young, slim and most graceful of dancers, proved the King of all Harlequins, past, present and to come. Lee and Jevon also acted the parts of Scaramouch and Harlequin in Mountford’s three act extravaganza, _Dr. Faustus_ (4to 1697), but produced a decade earlier, probably November, 1685. Scaramouch is the necromancer’s man, and the comic scenes, although the stage tricks are old, prove very good pantomime. It will be remembered that Harlequin and Scaramouch are to be found in _The Rover_, Part II. Mrs. Behn’s farce kept its place in the repertory and long remained a favourite. On 18 September, 1702, at Drury Lane, Will Pinkethman, complying with the wish of several friends and critics, essayed Harlequin without the traditional black mask, ‘but, alas! in vain: Pinkethman could not take to himself the shame of the character without being concealed; he was no more _Harlequin_; his humour was quite disconcerted; his conscience could not, with the same effrontery, declare against nature, without the cover of that unchanging face, which he was sure would never blush for it; no, it was quite another case; without that armour his courage could not come up to the bold strokes that were necessary to get the better of common sense.’

Amongst the more notable performances of _The Emperor of the Moon_ were two at Dorset Garden on the 16 and 21 November, 1706, when Estcourt acted Scaramouch, and Pinkethman, Harlequin. On 3 September, 1708, at Drury Lane, Bullock was Scaramouch; Bickerstaffe, Harlequin; Johnson, the old Doctor; Powell, Don Cinthio. At Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 28 June, 1717, Bullock again sustained Scaramouch and had Spiller as his Harlequin. Four years later, 6 February, 1721, they were acting the same rôles at this theatre, with Mrs. Cross as Bellemante, and Quin, Ryan, in the cast. The farce was repeated on 25 October of the same year. Bullock and Spiller kept their favourite parts, Hall was Baliardo; Quin, Cinthio; Ryan, Charmante; Mrs. Egleton, Mopsophil; Mrs. Bullock, Bellemante. Doggett’s _The Country Wake_ was played the same night. Ten years later, still at this theatre, on 20 October, 1731, Hall was again Baliardo and Mrs. Egleton, Mopsophil. On this occasion Pinkethman played Harlequin; Hippisley, Scaramouch; Milward, Charmante; and Chapman, Cinthio. The farce was put on as a first piece at Covent Garden, 14 February, 1739. Pinkethman was Harlequin; Rosco, Scaramouch; Arthur, the Doctor; Hallam, Charmante; Hall, Cinthio; Mrs. James, Mopsophil; Mrs. Vincent, Elaria; and the fair Bellamy, Bellemante. In 1748 there was a curious rivalry between the two theatres when both produced _The Emperor of the Moon_ on the same night, 26 December. At Covent Garden, where it was billed ‘not acted 10 years’, and produced as a first piece at considerable expense with magnificent decorations, Cushing played Harlequin; Dunstall, Scaramouch; Sparks, Baliardo; Ryan, Charmante; Delane, Cinthio; Peg Woffington, Bellemante; and the Bellamy, Elaria. It was, however, a dead failure and only acted twice. Contrary to expectation Cushing was very bad as Harlequin, whilst at Drury Lane Woodward was excellent. At the Lane, where it was played with Mrs. Centlivre’s _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_ and billed ‘not acted 20 years’, Yates took Scaramouch; Palmer, Charmante; King, Cinthio; Winstone, Baliardo; Miss Murgatroyd, Bellemante; and the inimitable Mrs. Green, Mopsophil. A great effect was produced when Harlequin is tossed in a blanket, Act iii. Two long strips were sewn to the sides of the blanket by which he held. From the front, however, they were invisible, and as it seemed that Woodward was being thrown to a dangerous height this spectacle immensely pleased the galleries.

In 1777 _The Emperor of the Moon_, very unnecessarily altered and by no means bettered ‘with the addition of several airs, duets, and choruses selected from other compositions’ (8vo, 1777), was produced at the Patagonian Theatre. This theatre was situated in Exeter Change, Strand, on a portion of the site of Burleigh House, the town house of the great Lord Treasurer, which was afterwards known as Exeter House. It is very doubtful if the theatre existed as such later than 1779.

There is an amusing reference to _The Emperor of the Moon_ in _The Spectator_, No. 22 (Steele), Monday, 26 March, 1711. ‘_Your most humble servant_, William Serene’ writes to Mr. Spectator bewailing the fact that nobody on the stage rises according to merit. Although grown old in the playhouse service, and having often appeared on the boards, he has never had a line given him to speak. None the less ‘I have acted’, he asserts, ‘several Parts of Household-stuff with great Applause for many years: I am one of the Men in the Hangings in the _Emperour of the Moon_.’ [The allusion is of course to Act ii, III.] Ralph Simple, Serene’s friend, in a subsequent letter begs that upon the gentleman’s promotion to speaking parts ‘I may succeed him in the Hangings, with my Hand in the Orange-trees’. These humorous allusions are ample evidence of the popularity of Mrs. Behn’s pantomime and the frequency with which it was performed.

TO THE LORD MARQUESS OF WORCESTER, &.

My Lord

It is a common Notion, that gathers as it goes, and is almost become a vulgar Error, That Dedications in our Age, are only the effects of Flattery, a form of Complement, and no more; so that the Great, to whom they are only due, decline those Noble Patronages that were so generally allow’d the Ancient Poets; since the Awful Custom has been so scandaliz’d by mistaken Addresses, and many a worthy piece is lost for want of some Honourable Protection, and sometimes many indifferent ones traverse the World with that advantagious Pasport only.

This humble Offering, which I presume to lay at your Lordship’s Feet, is of that Critical Nature, that it does not only require the Patronage of a great Title, but a great Man too, and there is often times a vast difference between these two great things; and amongst all the most Elevated, there are but very few in whom an illustrious Birth and equal Parts compleat the Hero; but among these, your Lordship bears the first Rank, from a just Claim, both of the glories of your Race and Vertues. Nor need we look back into long past Ages, to bring down to ours the Magnanimous deeds of your Ancestors: We need no more than to behold (what we have so often done with wonder) those of the Great Duke of _Beauford_, your Illustrious Father, whose every single Action is a glorious and lasting President to all the future Great; whose unshaken Loyalty, and all other eminent Vertues, have rendred him to us, something more than Man, and which alone, deserving a whole Volume, wou’d be here but to lessen his Fame, to mix his Grandeurs with those of any other; and while I am addressing to the Son, who is only worthy of that Noble Blood he boasts, and who gives the World a Prospect of those coming Gallantries that will Equal those of his Glorious Father; already, My Lord, all you say and do is admir’d, and every touch of your Pen reverenc’d; the Excellency and Quickness of your Wit, is the Subject that fits the World most agreeably. For my own part, I never presume to contemplate your Lordship, but my Soul bows with a perfect Veneration to your Mighty Mind; and while I have ador’d the delicate Effects of your uncommon Wit, I have wish’d for nothing more than an Opportunity of expressing my infinite Sense of it; and this Ambition, my Lord, was one Motive of my present Presumption in Dedicating this Farce to your Lordship.

I am sensible, my Lord, how far the Word Farce might have offended some, whose Titles of Honour, a Knack in dressing, or his Art in writing a Billet Doux, had been his chiefest Talent, and who, without considering the Intent, Character, or Nature of the thing, wou’d have cry’d out upon the Language, and have damn’d it (because the Persons in it did not all talk like Heros) as too debas’d and vulgar as to entertain a Man of Quality; but I am secure from this Censure, when your Lordship shall be its Judge, whose refin’d Sence, and Delicacy of Judgment, will, thro’ all the humble Actions and trivialness of Business, find Nature there, and that Diversion which was not meant for the Numbers, who comprehend nothing beyond the Show and Buffoonry.

A very barren and thin hint of the Plot I had from the Italian, and which, even as it was, was acted in _France_ eighty odd times without intermission. ‘Tis now much alter’d, and adapted to our English Theatre and Genius, who cannot find an Entertainment at so cheap a Rate as the French will, who are content with almost any Incoherences, howsoever shuffled together under the Name of a Farce; which I have endeavour’d as much as the thing wou’d bear, to bring within the compass of Possibility and Nature, that I might as little impose upon the Audience as I cou’d; all the Words are wholly new, without one from the Original. ‘Twas calculated for His late Majesty of Sacred Memory, that Great Patron of Noble Poetry, and the Stage, for whom the Muses must for ever mourn, and whose Loss, only the Blessing of so Illustrious a Successor can ever repair; and ‘tis a great Pity to see that best and most useful Diversion of Mankind, whose Magnificence of old, was the most certain sign of a flourishing State, now quite undone by the Misapprehension of the Ignorant, and Mis-representing of the Envious, which evidently shows the World is improv’d in nothing but Pride, Ill Nature, and affected Nicety; and the only Diversion of the Town now, is high Dispute, and publick Controversies in Taverns, Coffee-houses, &. and those things which ought to be the greatest Mysteries in Religion, and so rarely the Business of Discourse, are turn’d into Ridicule, and look but like so many fanatical Stratagems to ruine the Pulpit as well as the Stage. The Defence of the first is left to the Reverend Gown, but the departing Stage can be no otherwise restor’d, but by some leading Spirits, so Generous, so Publick, and so Indefatigable as that of your Lordship, whose Patronages are sufficient to support it, whose Wit and Judgment to defend it, and whose Goodness and Quality to justifie it; such Encouragement wou’d inspire the Poets with new Arts to please, and the Actors with Industry. ‘Twas this that occasion’d so many Admirable Plays heretofore, as Shakespear’s, Fletcher’s_, and _Johnson’s_, and ‘twas this alone that made the Town able to keep so many Play-houses alive, who now cannot supply one. However, My Lord, I, for my part, will no longer complain, if this Piece find but favour in your Lordship’s Eyes, and that it can be so happy to give your Lordship one hour’s Diversion, which is the only Honour and Fame is wish’d to crown the Endeavours of,

My Lord, Your Lordship’s Most Humble, and Most Obedient Servant, A. BEHN.

THE EMPEROR OF THE MOON.

PROLOGUE,

Spoken by Mr. _Jevern_.

_Long, and at vast Expence, th’industrious Stage Has strove to please a dull ungrateful Age: With Heroes and with Gods we first began, And thunder’d to you in heroick Strain: Some dying Love-sick Queen each Night you injoy’d, And with Magnificence at last were cloy’d: Our Drums and Trumpets frighted all the Women; Our Fighting scar’d the Beaux and Billet-Doux Men. So Spark in an Intrigue of Quality, Grows weary of his splendid Drudgery; Hates the Fatigue, and cries a Pox upon her, What a damn’d Bustle’s here with Love and Honour?

In humbler Comedy we next appear, No Fop or Cuckold, but slap-dash we had him here; We showed you all, but you malicious grown, | Friends Vices to expose, and hide your own; | Cry, damn it--This is such, or such a one. | Yet nettled, Plague, what does the Scribler mean? With his damn’d Characters, and Plot obscene. No Woman without Vizard in the Nation Can see it twice, and keep her reputation-- That’s certain, Forgetting-- That he himself, in every gross Lampoon, Her leuder Secrets spread about the Town; Whilst their feign’d Niceness is but cautious Fear, Their own Intrigues should be unravel’d here.

Our next Recourse was dwindling down to Farce, Then--Zounds, what Stuff’s here? ‘tis all o’er my-- Well, Gentlemen, since none of these has sped, Gad, we have bought a Share i’th’ speaking Head. So there you’ll save a Sice, | You love good Husbandry in all but Vice; | Whoring and drinking only bears a Price. |_

[The Head rises upon a twisted Post, on a Bench from under the Stage. After _Jevern_ speaks to its Mouth.

_Oh!--Oh!--Oh_!

Stentor. _Oh!--Oh!--Oh_!

[After this it sings _Sawny_, laughs, crys God bless the King in order.

Stentor answers.

_Speak louder_, Jevern, _if you’d have me repeat; Plague of this Rogue, he will betray the Cheat_. [He speaks louder, it answers indirectly. _--Hum--There ‘tis again, Pox of your Eccho with a Northern Strain. Well--This will be but a nine days Wonder too; There’s nothing lasting but the Puppets Show. What Ladies Heart’s so hard, but it would move, To hear_ Philander _and_ Irene’s _Love? Those Sisters too the scandalous Wits do say, Two nameless keeping Beaux have made so gay; But those Amours are perfect Sympathy, Their Gallants being as mere Machines as they. Oh! how the City Wife, with her nown Ninny, Is charm’d with, Come into my Coach,--Miss_ Jenny, _Miss_ Jenny. _But overturning_--Frible _crys--Adznigs, The jogling Rogue has murder’d all his Kids. The Men of War cry, Pox on’t, this is dull, We are for rough Sports,--Dog Hector, and the Bull. Thus each in his degree, Diversion finds, Your Sports are suited to your mighty Minds; Whilst so much Judgment in your Choice you show, The Puppets have more Sense than some of you_.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

MEN.

_Doctor_ Baliardo, Mr. _Underhill_. Scaramouch, _his Man_, Mr. _Lee_. Pedro, _his Boy_. Don Cinthio, Don Charmante, _both Nephews_ Young Mr. _Powel_. _to the Vice-Roy, and Lovers of_ Elaria _and_ Mr. _Mumford_. Bellemante, Harlequin, Cinthio’s _Man_, Mr. _Jevern_. _Officer and Clerk_. _Page_.

WOMEN.

Elaria, _Daughter to the Doctor_, Mrs. _Cooke_. Bellemante, _Niece to the Doctor_, Mrs. _Mumford_. Florinda, _Cousin to_ Elaria _and_ Bellemante. Mopsophil, _Governante to the young Ladies_, Mrs. _Cory_. _The Persons in the Moon, are_ Don Cinthio, _Emperor_; Don Charmante, _Prince of_ Thunderland. _Their Attendants, Persons that represent the Court Cards_. Keplair _and_ Galileus, _two Philosophers_. _Twelve Persons, representing the Figures of the twelve Signs of the Zodiack_. _Negroes, and Persons that dance_. _Musick, Kettle-Drums, and Trumpets_.

The SCENE, _NAPLES_.