jr ikratrts.

" Which is the best pantomime ?" is the question with which many a playgoer is greeted on the morning after "Boxing-day." As the march of intellect goes on, many vulgar fallacies are swept away ; but there is still a kind of vague belief, that, with moderate zeal and energy, a thea- trical enthusiast may see all the pantomimes at once. Something of this faith is apparent when the amusement-seeking world takes up a daily journal filled with pantomimic history, and hopes to elicit a comparison, where comparison is impossible.

The " weekly " critic, may, at Christmas-time, 'feel that his position is more agreeable than that of his "daily" brothers. They have all written with the knowledge of one pantomime only in each of their heads ; and as the beads themselves may vary, they can no more give a notion of comparative excellence, than a steelyard with an unstable weight can test the ponderosity of rival legs of mutton. The " We " in' this case is not the mere indicative of editorial majesty, but denotes a real plural—is a veritable pronoun of multitude. On the other band, the " weekly " critic has it in his power to stand forth as a being endowed with identity, and capable of deciding how far " fun " in one quarter has been balanced by

splendour in another. In a word, if he has no objection to a fagging holiday-week, he can compare. That we may not lose an inch of this

desirable ground, we confine ourselves for the present to the pantomimes as represented at the principal theatres. No disrespect to burlesques— (we record en passant the triumph of Mr. Beverley's pencil at the Lyceum)—but pantomime is the more national and more Christmas en- tertainment ; and we have sufficient specimens this year to make a separate category.

In the Drury Lane pantomime of King Humming-top, there is at any rate this virtue, (rare for Drury Lane,) that scenes, dresses, and " ap-

pointments," are new and clean throughout. A Drury Lane pantomime

generally looked like a dramatic museum of antiquated garments ; and we have often felt that The _Demon of Bust, or Harlequin in Holywell Str,et, would have been no bad title for the Yule-tide banquet. Mr. E. T. Smith has, however, changed all this. His pantomime looks new and shiny—sparkling, if not with crystals of the true Attic salt, at any rate

with good gilt and tinsel. The introduction is not very intelligibly wrought out, and the "comic business" is remarkable neither for busi- ness nor for vie comics; but the fanciful wardrobe is likely to render the

piece attractive. The circumstance that many of the incidents occur in an imaginary land of toys, gives occasion for the appearance of divers personified kites and peg-tops, whose odd aspect is the most striking fea- ture of the whole.

Harlequin and the Miller and his Hen, the pantomime at the Princess's, is beyond comparison the beat of the four now under review—probably

the best that has been seen for many years. There is not only that

scenic magnificence for which the house has so high a character, but there is a revival of that mechanical ingenuity for which our olden pan-

tomime was so renowned. The story of the old " Miller and his Men" is agreeably burlesqued without tediousness ; Mr. J. M. Morton working in all that comic detail, in which, as a writer of pantomime, he is so great a proficient. Nor does the invention end when the Clown begins, but throughout the whole much occurs that is both ingenious and fanciful. A change of six antiquated ladies into as many articles of wooden furni- ture, and a still more extraordinary trick in the opening, when a party of

friends, combining together so as to form a huge mask, show, not that two heads are better than one, but that four bodies are equal to one

head, these tricks, we say, prove that Mr. C. Kean has been wisely di-

recting his glances to the Porte St. Martin spectacle of Les Sept Herveilles du Monde. With equal wisdom has he looked at home also ; for his repre-

sentation of the Camp at Chobhani, with an army of admirably-drilled children, is one of the prettiest sights in London. Huline the Clown, though more of a posture-master than a humorist, is a great acquisition to this house.

The Haymarket pantomime of Harlequin and the Three Bears is a simple work of the very old school, and not a whit the less pleasant on

that account. Some of the scenes are very beautiful ; though in this respect it will not stand a comparison with the Princess's. The most re- markable feature about it is the musical talent of the Clown, Mr. Harry Marshall; who produces mirth on the fiddle, the concertina, and a har- monically-constructed gridiron,—playing long pieces on each of these in- struments. We are reminded of those City companies, the members of which are of every possible trade except the trade from which the com- pany takes its name. Our Clowns are now learning everything, but what "poor old Joe" would consider a Clown's business, and by and by, 'when we hear that a gentleman plays clown, we shall consider the in- formation analogous to that which we receive when we hear that a Royal Duke is a fishmonger or a merchant-tailor.

The Olympic pantomime of Harlequin Columbus is a mistake, committed by a very clever dramatist. He has sought to elevate the character of pantomime ; but, like an over-lofty edifice of cards, the work topples in consequence of its elevation. In answer to the remark that Milton was not successful as a sonneteer, Dr. Johnson observed, "Milton was a genius to hew a Colossus out of a rock, not to carve posies upon cherry- stones,"