The original of all these local dramas was _New York in 1848_, or, as it was called during its long run of twelve weeks at the Olympic in that year, _A Glance at New York_. It was a play of shreds and patches, hurriedly and carelessly stitched together by Mr. Baker, the prompter of Mitchell's famous little theatre, in order to cover the nakedness of the programme on the night of his own annual benefit. It had no literary merit, and no pretensions thereto; and it would never have attracted public attention but for the wonderful "B'hoy" of the period, played by F. S. Chanfrau--one of those accidental but complete successes upon the stage which are never anticipated, and which cannot always be explained. He wore the "soap locks" of the period, the "plug hat," with a narrow black band, the red shirt, the trousers turned up--without which the genus was never seen--and he had a peculiarly sardonic curve of the lip, expressive of more impudence, self-satisfaction, suppressed profanity, and "general cussedness" than Delsarte ever dared to put into any single facial gesture. Mr. Chanfrau's Mose hit the popular fancy at once, and retained it until the Volunteer Fire Department was disbanded; and _A Glance at New York_ was fol-lowed by _Mose in California_, _Mose in a Muss_, and even _Mose in China_. Mr. Matthews, in an article contributed to one of the magazines a few years ago, records the fact that during one season Mr. Chanfrau played Mose at two New York theatres and in one theatre in Newark on the same night.