There can be no doubt of Master Betty having been the most "promising" young actor that ever delighted his contemporaries, and disappointed those that were to be so hereafter. His wonderful memory, his self-possession, his elegance of manner, his natural and feeling style of acting--all but his habit of dropping his _h's_, were parts of a promise of excellence. But his early audiences took these for a whole and complete performance. He was master of words but not of ideas, and in his boyhood was imperfectly educated. He could learn Hamlet in three or four days, and, no doubt, he played it prettily; but to play prettily and to act masterly, are different things. Hamlet is no matter for a boy to handle. Betterton acted it for fifty years, and, to his own mind, had not thoroughly fathomed the profoundest depths of its philosophy even then. Master Betty commenced too early to learn by rote; and the habits he then formed never permitted him to study as well as learn, by heart. The feeling and the nature, for which he was once praised, were those of a boy; they kept by him, and they were found weak and nerveless in the man. But therewith he reaped a large fortune, and he has prudently kept that too. May the old man long enjoy what the young boy, between natural abilities and the madness of "fashion," earned with happy facility. There remains but one name more of exceeding greatness to be mentioned,--that of Edmund Kean; but, ere we let our curtain fall on him, I have to notice something of the manners, customs, sayings, and doings of a past time, which differed greatly from that in which Kean was reared, flourished, and fell. Let us glance at that olden period before we summon him to occupy our final scene. [Illustration: Mr. Foote as Mrs. Cole.] FOOTNOTES: [79] This is somewhat fanciful. Jackson says nothing about Home, who was seated at the wing, "blubbering." [80] It is generally stated that the terms were fifty guineas and a clear benefit. [81] Should be twenty-eight nights. [82] This is wrong. Betty did play Zanga. [83] He again played at both houses, but his attraction was already waning. [Illustration: NORWICH THEATRE.] CHAPTER XI. STAGE COSTUME AND STAGE TRICKS. In the journals of 1723 I find various complaints of the deficiencies in the theatrical wardrobe. The shabbiness of the regal robes is especially dwelt upon, though those were splendid enough which were worn by a leading actor. Duncan and Julius Cæsar, at the above date, had worn the same robes _for a century_; and it was suggested that monarchy was brought into contempt by poorly-clad representatives.