When, in 1806, the Holy Roman Empire, after more than 800 reeling years, was jostled into its last bloody gutter by a Corsican elbow, when Virtue raged unchecked in England and that shrewd but disappointed politician, George III, was declared hopelessly insane, certain print shops in London began to sell miniature theatres. With them they sold engraved cards of scenes and characters; the priceĀa penny plain and tuppence colored. The game of playing with these toys became a fad more prevalent even than Virtue, and as fevered as the undone George. Recently, in...
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