Salmagundi; or, The whim-whams and opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, esq. [pseud.] and others. By William Irving, James Kirke Paulding and Washington Irving. Printed from the original ed., with a preface and notes by Evert A. Duyckinck.

THEATRICS. 127
hot rolls and muffins I Mrs. Cockloft thereupon turned up her
eyes, and the young ladies their noses; and it would have
edified a whole congregation to hear the conversation which
took place concerning the insolence of upstarts, and the vulgarity of would-be gentlemen and ladies, who strive to emerge
from low life by dashing about in carriages to pay a visit two
doors off; giving parties to people who laugh at them, and
cutting all their old friends.
THEATRICS.
BY WILLIAM WIZARD, ESQ.
IWENT a few evenings since to the theatre, accompanied by
my friend'Sbidlikens, the cockney, who is a man deeply read
in the history of Cinderella, Valentine and Orson, Blue Beard,
and all those recondite works so necessary to enable a man to
understand the modern drama.'Sbidlikens is one of those
intolerable fellows who will never be pleased with anything
until he has turned and twisted it divers ways, to see if it corresponds with his notions of congruity; and as he is none of the
quickest in his ratiocinations, he will sometimes come out with
his approbation, when everybody else has forgotten the cause
which excited it.'Sbidlikens is, morever, a great critic, for he
finds fault with everything; this being what I understand by
modern criticism. He, however, is pleased to acknowledge that
our theatre is not so despicable, all things considered; and
really thinks Cooper one of our best actors. The play was
OTHELLO, and to speak my mind freely, I think I have seen it
performed much worse in my time. The actors, I firmly believe,