During my long residence in London and the southern suburbs of that great city [till 1853] I was a frequent visitor to the theatres and music-halls […]. I witnessed several of Charles Kean’s revivals at the Princess’s [Theatre]—[…] [including] “Pizarro”, with John Ryder as the Spanish conqueror. Never before had the temple scene [...] been put on the stage as it was by Kean. The Peruvian warriors, white-robed priests, and “virgins of the sun,” with their long black hair floating over their shoulders, were grouped opposite a gilded representative of the luminary of day; and as the sunbeams fell upon it, lighting it into splendour, the hymn to the sun was sung.