23 MAY 1931, Page 18

A Hundred Years Ago

THE " SPECTATOR," MAY 21sT, 1831.

" NAPOLEON BUONA PARTE AT COVENT GARDEN.

. . . The de'ath-bed scene follows: it is painfully literal, and quite unfit for stage representation. To hear the groans, and to witness the last moments of a dying man in a bedroom, with all the para- phernalia of a sick-chamber, on the stage, is painful to the feelings, under any circumstances ; but when the individual represented is one of the greatest men of his age; it becomes positively revolting,

and a sight for the gross multitude only. •