Page:Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern.djvu/24

 the present age, of a much higher class than those of the time now under notice. Jugglers, inferior in skill, if we may judge from old drawings, to those who amused our ancestors; learned animals; rope-dancers; itinerant singers; stage-plays, in the literal sense of the word; and on the Continent, scripture pieces are yet performed, as they were in this country, (though perhaps in the shape of a puppetshow,) during the last Century. Of Mr. Punch, I