But the most popular, by a long way, of all French operas, for purposes of burlesque, has been the "Faust" of Gounod. Of the many travesties of this, or of the story embodied in it, the earliest was that of Halford, brought out at the Olympic in 1854. This was followed in 1857 by a piece called "Alonzo the Brave," written by Mr. Burnand for performance by University amateurs at Cambridge, and mingling the story of Alonzo, as told in the ballad, with that of Faust, in a fashion effective, if a little puzzling. In this piece of extravagance (in which, by the way, Mr. Burnand played Mephistopheles), Imogene is the heroine, taking the place of Marguerite in the affections of Faust. For a while, in the absence of Alonzo, she yields to the snares of the tempter; but, in the end, her first sweetheart appears to her as his own ghost, her inconstancy is forgiven, and Faust retires from the scene. Seven years later Mr. Burnand wrote a burlesque called "Faust and Marguerite" for the St. James's. He had Ashley for his Faust, Charles Mathews and Mrs. Charles Mathews for his Mephistopheles and Marguerite, H. J. Montague for his Valentine, and "Johnny" Clarke for his Martha. In this instance he followed the story of the opera pretty closely till near the end, when Faust was sued for breach of promise of marriage, and escaped the clutches of Mephistopheles only by consenting to pair off with Martha! A visit to a music-hall formed part of the action, and gave occasion for some pointed lines. Said Faust:-- I'm saddened by your modern comic singing; and Mephistopheles went on to describe the scene:-- There sat the draper's clerk, who wildly loves The tenth-rate _prima donna_ in cleaned gloves; The would-be swell, who thinks it mighty grand To shake the comic singer by the hand; Who pays for his amusement through the nose, And stands not on the order of his "goes." He thinks the dark girls dressed in blue first-raters, And is familiar with the seedy waiters; He sips his sling or takes some sort of toddy, And encores everything and everybody. Marguerite says at one point-- That _circled orb_, you think, 's the moon; it ain't: We know 'tis but a _circle daub_ of paint. And she remarks elsewhere that The minnow is the _minnow_-mum of fishes. Faust says, in one place-- Our _prima donna_, sir, has gone, I guess, To make herself _primmer_ and to _don her_ dress. There is a diverting parody on "My Mother":-- Who guided you o'er lake and fell, Who told you all there was to tell, Ne'er missed a place, but showed it well? Your Murray!