"Ay, I remember when that old villain Solomon, the porter, fined me ten shillings for walking in there with spurs one day when I was late for dinner; he said the dean always took off his cap when he went in there by himself, and threatened to turn off old Higgs, when he had been scout forty years, because he heard him whistling one day while he was sweeping it out! Well," continued Savile, "you shall have my rooms; I shan't trouble them much now. I am going to pack all my books down to old Wise's[A] next week, to turn them into ready _tin_; so you may turn the study into a carpenter's shop, if you like. Oh, it can be managed famously!" [Footnote A: A well-known Oxford auctioneer of that day.] So, after a few _pros_ and _cons_, it was finally settled that Mr Savile's rooms should become the Theatre Royal, ---- College; and I was honoured with the responsible office of stage-manager. What the play was to be, was a more difficult point to settle. Savile proposed _Romeo and Juliet_, and volunteered for the hero; but it passed the united strength of the company to get up a decent _Juliet_. _Richard the Third_ was suggested; we had "six _Richards_ in the field" at once. We soon gave up the heroics, and decided on comedy; for since our audience would be sure to laugh, we should at least have a chance of getting the laugh in the right place. So, after long discussion, we fixed on _She Stoops to Conquer_. There were a good many reasons for this selection. First, it was a piece possessing that grand desideratum in all amateur performances, that there were several parts in it of equal calibre, and none which implied decided superiority of talent in its representative; secondly, there was not much _love_ in it--a material point where, as an Irishman might say, all the ladies were gentlemen; thirdly, the scenery, dresses, properties, and decorations, were of the very simplest description: it was easily "put upon the stage." We found little difficulty in casting the male characters: old Mrs Hardcastle, not requiring any great share of personal attractions, and being considered a part that would tell, soon found a representative; but when we came to the "donnas"--_prima_ and _seconda_--then it was that the manager's troubles began. It was really necessary, to insure the most moderate degree of success to the comedy, that Miss Hardcastle should have at least a lady-like deportment. The public voice, first in whispers, then audibly, at last vociferously, called upon Leicester. Slightly formed, handsome, clever, and accomplished, with naturally graceful manners, and a fair share of vanity and affectation, there was no doubt of his making a respectable heroine if he would consent to be made love to. In vain did he protest against the petticoats, and urge with affecting earnestness the claims of the whiskers which for the last six months he had so diligently been cultivating; the chorus of entreaty and