Though at our birth (when both kicked up a shine)
His cry was stout, mine was the elder whine!
Hence this thin body, wise folks say who've been here,
"We're sure you are the elder, now we've seen yer."
When the two grow up (as they do between the first scene and the second), the question is, which is to be King of Rome—a question decided eventually by personal combat, in which Remus falls. Ultimately the pair decide to be partners in the throne—an obvious allusion to the position held by the two actors in reference to the Vaudeville Theatre.
The date of the production of "Romulus and Remus" (1872) could be fixed by the aid of a brief passage introduced in travestie of a scene between Cromwell and the King in Mr. Wills's "Charles I.," then "running" at the Lyceum. Early in the piece we have these lines:—
Remus. The public will have (though to me it's pills)
The classic drama. Well, they have their Wills.
Apollo. One manager this line keeps without swerving—
Baccharia. And he succeeds!
Romulus. But not without des-erving.
Later, Remus says to Romulus:—
I can't express to you the pain I suffer
In saying it; but, brother, you're a duffer!
I am the happy man! Pride has a tumble!
Your hopes of reigning, sir, are all of a crumble!