1 A metaphor apparently taken from persons pulling in opposite directions at each end of a rope. I cannot see, as some have done, that it has anything in common with Horace's _Tortum digna sequi potius quant ducere funern_: 'More worthy to follow than to lead the tightened cord': which is a metaphor taken from a towing line, or any line acting in a similar manner, where one draws and another is drawn. Horace applies it to money, which he says should be the slave, and not the master of its possessor. All the world's a stage.--Shakespeare. En el teatro del mundo Todos son représentantes.--Calderon. Tous les comédiens ne sont pas au théâtre. --_French Proverb._ Rain came, and thaw, followed by drying wind. The roads were in good order for the visitors to the Aristophanic comedy. The fifth day of Christmas was fixed for the performance. The theatre was brilliantly lighted, with spermaceti candles in glass chandeliers for the audience, and argand lamps for the stage. In addition to Mr. Gryll's own houseful of company, the beauty and fashion of the surrounding country, which comprised an extensive circle, adorned the semicircular seats; which, however, were not mere stone benches, but were backed, armed, and padded into comfortable stalls. Lord Curryfin was in his glory, in the capacity of stage-manager. The curtain rising, as there was no necessity for its being made to fall,{1} discovered the scene, which was on the London bank of the Thames, on the terrace of a mansion occupied by the Spirit-rapping Society, with an archway in the centre of the building, showing a street in the background. Gryllus was lying asleep. Circe, standing over him, began the dialogue. 1 The Athenian theatre was open to the sky, and if the curtain had been made to fall it would have been folded up in mid air, destroying the effect of the scene. Being raised from below, it was invisible when not in use. CIRCE Wake, Gryllus, and arise in human form. GRYLLUS I have slept soundly, and had pleasant dreams. CIRCE I, too, have soundly slept--Divine how long. GRYLLUS Why, judging by the sun, some fourteen hours. CIRCE Three thousand years» GRYLLUS That is a nap indeed. But this is not your garden, nor your palace. Where are we now? CIRCE Three thousand years ago, This land was forest, and a bright pure river Ran through it to and from the Ocean stream. Now, through a wilderness of human forms, And human dwellings, a polluted flood Rolls up and down, charged with all earthly poisons, Poisoning the air in turn. GRYLLUS I see vast masses Of strange unnatural things.