[29] The "Old Vic," now reclaimed very much on the lines of the Russian ideal.
[30] The Musical World was edited by J. W. Davison, the musical critic of The Times, a well-equipped musician, an unflinching champion of Mendelssohn and a bitter and persistent disparager of Wagner and Schumann.
[31] Faust was produced at Her Majesty's Theatre (Mapleson) on June 11 and at Covent Garden (Gye) on July 2.
[32] Grove was then—in 1872—the manager of the Crystal Palace, and late in that year Punch wrote of him, "The Crystal Palace has never been so well kept as under the sway of my friend Mr. George Grove, Nemorum pulcherrimus ordo—Grove's rule is most admirable."
[33] Another Charles Eastlake, the namesake and nephew of the P.R.A., for many years contributed art-criticism to Punch over the signature "Jack Easel," but was clearly free from the suspicion of family bias.
[34] Some Experiences of a Barrister's Life.
[FASHION IN DRESS]
In the period under review in this volume England was dominated by two monstrosities, the crinoline and the Claimant. Fortunately they were not concurrent or England might have succumbed beneath the double incubus. The former was pronounced "gone" in 1867, the same year in which the arrival and recognition of the so-called Sir Roger Tichborne as the rightful heir was announced in the columns of Punch. The historic trial soon loomed large on the horizon, though it did not open till 1871. Of this portent some notice will be found elsewhere. Of the crinoline it is no exaggeration to say that Punch waged war against it for ten solid years; his pages resolve themselves into a sort of Crinoliniad; and when the monster fell it was not by force of arms assisted by guile as in the parallel campaign against Troy, but by its own absurdity and through the weariness of its supporters. With Punch it was a positive obsession. The extravagances of the crinoline dominate his "social cuts" from 1857 onwards. In 1858 he tells us that "Fops' Alley" at the opera is to be rechristened "Petticoat Lane"; and that the Ladies' Gallery in the House of Commons is to be enlarged as a concession to the lateral expansion of women's skirts. The popular negro song "Hoop de Dooden Doo" is re-written to fit the prevailing fashion, and a classical lyric, "My Flora," is perverted to suit the same purpose. Even at this early stage, however, Punch seems to have recognized the futility of his crusade. As he puts it: