RIVALRY; AND ENTER, SPRANGER BARRY.
Hitherto, under the mismanagement of the lazy and reckless
patentee, Fleetwood, Drury Lane had fallen to a level with Sadler's
Wells--tumblers and rope-dancers being put forward as the chief
attractions. Even after Garrick's accession, gross mismanagement
continued, and drove the principal actors, whose salaries were
often unpaid, into open rebellion. They sought permission from
the Lord Chamberlain, the Duke of Grafton, to open the theatre in
the Haymarket on their own account. But the grandson of Charles
II. sneered at the fact of an actor earning £600 a year, when a
relative of his own, in the navy, repeatedly exposed his life, in
the kings service, for half that sum. The duke put constraint on
them to return to their allegiance to Fleetwood. The latter dictated
hard terms to most of them, except to Garrick, and he flatly refused
to receive Macklin at all. This exclusion brought on a remarkable
theatrical riot. The confederate actors had agreed to triumph or to
fall together. To allow Macklin to be sacrificed to the resentment
of Fleetwood, was a betrayal on their part of the compact. Macklin
appealed to the town, and Roscius would have been driven from
the stage but for Fleetwood's hired pugilists, who pummelled one
portion of the audience into silence, and enabled the whole house to
enjoy, after all, what they most cared for--the acting of Garrick,
undisturbed. In this season, 1743-4, Roscius did not appear till
the 6th of December,[40] when he acted Bayes. Between that night,
and the close of the season, on the 31st of May, he played in all
seventy times. His most marked success was in Macbeth, in the tragedy
"written by Shakspeare," when he had Mrs. Giffard for his Lady; he
repeated this part thirteen times. Covent Garden opposed to him,
first Quin, in Davenant's alteration of Shakspeare, and subsequently
Sheridan, who on the 31st of March 1744, made his first appearance
at Covent Garden, in opposition to Garrick, as Hamlet.
The force of the two theatres will be better understood, perhaps, if
I show the exact amount of the opposition brought to bear against
each other. Garrick's Richard was met by that of Ryan; the Lord and
Lady Townley of Garrick and Mrs. Woffington, by those of Ryan and
Mrs. Horton; the Hamlet and Ophelia of the former two, by those of
Ryan (and afterwards of Sheridan) and Mrs. Clive. Garrick and Mrs.
Giffard, in "Macbeth," were opposed, first by Quin, then by Sheridan
and Mrs. Pritchard, who played everything, from the Thane's wife to
Kitty Pry. To oppose to him an amateur, like Highmore, in Lothario,
was absurd; Quin's Lear had no weight against the mad old king by his
young rival; and Mrs. Charke's Plume, one of the many male characters
which Cibber's daughter loved to play, was pale, compared with that
of the universal actor.
All the above were honourable competitors; but there also appeared
this season an actor, who became Garrick's personal enemy--namely,
Foote. The latter commenced his career at the Haymarket, February
6, 1744, as Othello, to the Iago of Macklin, who had opened that
house with a "scratch company," including "pupils"--while he was
disengaged at Drury Lane. Foote also played Hamlet,[41] to the Ghost
and First Gravedigger of Macklin; and did not find his vocation, as
he thought, in such parts as Lord Foppington.
At both patent houses the "Beggars' Opera" was produced; at Drury,
the Macheath and Polly were Blakes and Miss Budgell, an illegitimate
daughter of Eustace Budgell; at the Garden, Cashell's Macheath gave
way to that of Beard, while the Polly and Lucy of Kitty Clive and
Mrs. Pritchard, at the same theatre, charmed the auditors for a time,
and gave them pleasant memories for a long period to come.
The literature of the stage did not make progress this season.
Classical Cooke selected an assize case of murder in Kent, and
spoiled its terrible simplicity in his "Love the Cause." To Havard's
cold, declamatory tragedy, "Regulus," Garrick gave warmth and natural
eloquence; but even _his_ Zaphna, admirable as it was in "Mahomet,"
would not have saved the Rev. Mr. Miller's adaptation from Voltaire,
had that part of the public who hated the adapter, known to whom they
were indebted for it. Miller ended his uneasy life, during the run of
the play, a representation of which, after his death, contributed a
hundred pounds to the relief of his widow and children.
In the season of 1744-45, the old opposition was feebly sustained on
the part of Covent Garden, but with some novelty appended--especially
in the case of a ballad-singer like Cashell, attempting Hamlet
against Garrick![42] Further, the King John of the latter in
Shakspeare's play was opposed to old Cibber's alteration of the same
piece, produced at Covent Garden, as "Papal Tyranny," in which Quin
played the King, and toothless, nerveless Cibber, Pandulph. The
indulgent audience pitied the quavering old player.
Garrick's King John was a fine, but not the most perfect of his
performances; he was happy in such a Constance as Mrs. Cibber. Quin
congratulated himself on having such a Hubert as Bridgewater, the
ex-coal-dealer. The value of Cibber's mangling of Shakspeare, got
up to abuse the Pope, because of the Pretender, may be conjectured
by a single instance--that John is too shy to hint at the murder of
Arthur till Hubert has "shut the window-shutters." The modesty of the
mangler may be more than guessed at from the fact, that Cibber--in
his own words--"endeavoured to make it more like a play than I found
it in Shakspeare!"
Quin, to witness his rival's impersonation of Othello to the Iago
of Macklin, went to Drury, in company with Bishop Hoadley's son,
the doctor. Foote, in the previous February, had announced that his
Othello would "be new dressed, after the manner of his country."
Garrick, on his entrance, looked so ill in Quin's jealous eyes,
that he compared him to Hogarth's black boy, and said to Hoadley,
"Why doesn't he bring in the tea-kettle and lamp?" Great as Quin
was in mere declamation, Garrick excelled him in the address to the
senate.[43] Victor describes the falling into, and the recovery
from, the trance, as "amazingly beautiful;" but he honestly told
Garrick that the impersonation was short of perfection. Murphy states
that Garrick had the passions at command, and that in the sudden
violence of their transitions he was without a rival.
Garrick attempted Scrub with less success, and Quin had no reason
to be disquieted by his rival's Sir John Brute. Quin's Othello was
a favourite with the town; but in that part Garrick had a more
formidable rival in Sheridan, and the most formidable in Barry.
The only original character he played this season was Tancred, in
Thomson's "Tancred and Sigismunda," a play too sentimental and
stilted, too poor in incident, and too little varied in character,
in spite of its occasional richness and sweetness, to interest
an audience, in these days. It was otherwise, at the time of its
first appearance, when with Garrick, Tancred; Sheridan, Siffredi;
Delane, Osmond; and Mrs. Cibber, Sigismunda; the town sighed, wept,
and moaned over the love trials of the celebrated pair. Garrick's
Tancred is warmly eulogised by Davies, who describes Garrick and Mrs.
Cibber as "formed by nature for the illustration of each other's
talents. In their persons," he says, "they were both somewhat below
the middle size. He was, though short, well made; she, though in her
form not graceful, and scarcely genteel, was, by the elegance of her
manners and symmetry of her features, rendered very attractive. From
similarity of complexion, size, and countenance, they could have been
easily supposed brother and sister; but in the powerful expression
of the passions, they approached to a still nearer resemblance.
He was master of all the passions, but more particularly happy in
the exhibition of parts where anger, resentment, disdain, horror,
despair, and madness predominated. In love, grief, and tenderness,
she greatly excelled all competitors, and was also unrivalled in the
more ardent emotions of jealous love and frantic rage, which she
expressed with a degree of sensibility in voice, look, and action,
that she never failed to draw tears from the most unfeeling."
A change of proprietorship in the Drury Lane patent afforded Garrick
an excuse for repairing to Dublin. His rival, Sheridan, invited
him, not concealing his dislike, but professing readiness to meet
all his requirements. With some difficulty the terms were arranged,
and Garrick appeared in various characters, alternating them with
Sheridan, and playing frequently with a new actor, young Barry, who
was afterwards to become the most dreaded and the most brilliant of
his rivals.
For a long series of years the Irish stage had been, with rare
exceptions, in a pitiable condition. At one time three houses were
open, with a public only sufficient for one. Managing committees of
noblemen made the confusion worse confounded, and seven managers,
known as the "seven wise men," only exhibited their folly and
incapacity. There were performers of merit at from twelve shillings
to a guinea a week, who seldom obtained half their salaries. On one
occasion, we hear of the acting managers coming down to the theatre,
one evening, when, on comparing notes, they were all found to be
dinnerless, for want of cash and of credit. With the first money
that was paid at the doors they obtained a loin of mutton, with the
next they sent for bread, and with a third supply they procured the
generous beverage they most required; and then dined behind the
scenes while the performance was in progress.
Sheridan's management produced a thorough reformation; and when
Garrick appeared, on the 9th of December 1745, as Hamlet, the
sensation was extraordinary; but it was increased when Garrick,
Barry, and Sheridan acted in the same plays--the "Orphan" and the
"Fair Penitent." Then, the enthusiasm was unbounded. In the latter
play, Barry is said to have so distinguished himself in Altamont
as to have raised that character to a level with those of Lothario
and Horatio, played respectively by Garrick and Sheridan. This
was the most successful season ever known in Dublin. During its
progress Garrick played but one character he had never played
before,--Orestes,[44] and that he never repeated in England. His
objection to wear the old classical costume, or what then passed
for it, was extreme. His sojourn in Dublin was otherwise not void
of incident. There was one thin house, and that by command of a
leading lady of fashion, on the night of his playing Faulconbridge
to Sheridan's King John. The part of Constance belonged by right to
that sparkling young beauty, Mrs. Bellamy. Garrick thought her too
youthful to enact the mother of Arthur, and he persuaded Sheridan to
give the part to an older actress, Mrs. Furnival. The angry Bellamy
flew to lay her wrongs before the most influential woman then in
Dublin, the Hon. Mrs. Butler, whose word, throughout the Irish world
of fashion, passed for law. Mrs. Butler espoused the suppliant's case
warmly, and issued her decree, prohibiting the world over which she
ruled from visiting the theatre on the night "King John" was to be
played. As she gave excellent dinners and exquisite balls, she was
obeyed by all ages and both sexes, and the "quality," at least, left
the actors to play to empty boxes.
Garrick had recovered from the attendant mortification, when he asked
Mrs. Bellamy to play Jane Shore to his Hastings, for his benefit. The
lady declined. If she was too young for Constance, she was too young
for Jane Shore. Garrick applied to Mrs. Butler to use her influence,
but it availed nothing. He addressed a high-flown letter to Mrs.
Bellamy: "To my soul's idol, the beautified Ophelia;" but the epistle
fell into wrong hands and found its way into the papers.
[Illustration: (George Anne Bellamy)]
Roscius, before leaving Ireland, paid homage to the Hon. Mrs. Butler,
by taking leave of her in a formal visit. With equal formality, as
the visitor was about to depart, the lady placed in his hands a small
packet. It contained, she said, her own sentiments and convictions,
and, in presenting it to Mr. Garrick, all that she requested
was, that he would abstain from too curiously inquiring into its
contents until he had sailed out of Dublin Bay. The actor had vanity
enough to lead him to think that, within the mysterious packet might
be enclosed some token of affection, perhaps an acknowledgment of
love. He obeyed the lady's injunctions till the ship, which was
conveying him to Holyhead, had passed the Hill of Howth, then, "by
your leave, fair seal!" and he arrived at the heart of the mystery.
Carefully unfolded, he found a copy of _Wesley's Hymns_ and of
_Swift's Discourse on the Trinity_. In his disappointment he is said
to have flung both books into the sea; but I think he may have had
better taste, and that he took Mrs. Butler's remembrances with him to
London.
Before proceeding to chronicle the leading events of the next London
season, it remains to be stated that in the last season at Covent
Garden, there was one first appearance of note; that of George Anne
Bellamy, on the 22d of November, 1744, as Monimia, in the "Orphan."
Rich persuaded this gifted but self-willed girl to become an actress,
greatly to the displeasure of Quin, who objected to perform Chamont
to such a child. In the first three acts her terrors rendered her
so incapable, that old Quin's objections seemed justified; but,
recovering her power with her courage, the brilliant young creature
played with such effect that Quin embraced her after the act-scene
dropped, pronounced her "divine," and declared that she was of the
"true spirit." She sensibly strengthened a company already strong,
in Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Clive, and Mrs. Horton. On the 15th of April,
1745, Shuter, from Richmond, appeared at Covent Garden, in the
"Schoolboy," under the designation of _Master_ Shuter.
At the Haymarket, Theophilus Cibber revived some of Shakspeare's
plays, and produced his daughter Jane in Juliet and other parts;
but Colley compelled him to withdraw his daughter, and the Lord
Chamberlain forced him to close an unlicensed house, which, however,
his eccentric sister, Mrs. Charke, contrived to keep open for a
while, playing there Captain Macheath and other male characters
before she attempted to pass herself off on the world, or hide
herself from it, as a man.
There is this irregularity in the season of 1745-46, that neither
Garrick, nor Quin, nor Mrs. Cibber was engaged at either house. The
public was more concerned with the Scottish Rebellion than with the
drama. Loyal Lacy, who had succeeded the incapable Fleetwood in the
patent, applied for leave to raise 200 men in defence of King and
Government; and the whole Company of Drury Lane players expressed
their willingness to engage in it. The spirit which some hundred
years before had animated the loyal actors, now moved Delane, and
Luke and Isaac Sparks, with Barrington--all three newly come from
Ireland--Mills, with orthodox Havard, Bridges, Giffard, Yates,
Macklin, Neale, and Foote. The ladies, Clive, Woffington, Macklin,
mother and daughter, Mrs. Giffard, and the rest, applauded the loyal
confederacy. The "Nonjuror" was revived with Luke Sparks as Dr. Wolf,
because of its political allusions. Macklin in six weeks wrote his
"Henry VII., or the Popish Impostor," and distributed it act by act
for study, and he sent the Pretender, Perkin Warbeck, to execution
without much succouring King George. Ford's ultra-monarchical piece,
on the same subject, was revived at Goodman's Fields, and Covent
Garden rehearsed another to no effect, as the Rebellion was over
before the piece could suppress it. The "Massacre at Paris," with
its story of the pretensions of the Duke de Guise (Ryan) and its
famous Protestant prologue, was among the Covent Garden revivals. The
Scottish rebellion being over, Theophilus Cibber congratulated the
audience thereon at Drury; and Mrs. Pritchard, at the Garden, after
acting Arpasia in "Tamerlane," recited an exulting prologue, which
Dodsley printed in his best type. Both houses gave benefits for the
"Veteran Scheme" at Guildhall, for which scheme Mrs. Cibber offered
to play three nights, _gratis_, but was snubbed by a hyper-Protestant
in the papers. The handsome Catholic actress indignantly replied,
that her love for King George was not diminished by her faith in the
Romish religion. The whole matter ended merrily by George II. and
the entire royal family repairing to Covent Garden, where "Macbeth"
was performed, and a rebel and regicide put to death to the great
satisfaction of the royal, noble, gentle, and simple audience there
congregated.
I do not know which of the new comers, named above, so struck Lady
Townshend, that she told Horace Walpole, in September, 1745, "she had
seen a new fat player, who looked like everybody's husband." Walpole
replied, "I could easily believe that from seeing so many women who
looked like everybody's wives!"
In all other respects, there is little worthy of notice, save that,
at the close, when all was jubilee again, and Charles Edward no
longer an object of fear, Garrick re-appeared in London. He arrived
in town in May, 1746. Rich and Lacy were both eager to engage him,
but the former succeeded, and Garrick closed the season at Covent
Garden, by playing six nights at £50 per night. Thus he gained more
in a week than Betterton, ere he was a "master," had gained in a
year. Lacy, meanwhile, had secured Barry, and the town were eager to
hear him of the silver-tongue. Garrick generously said of him, in
answer to a query respecting the merits of the Irish actor, that he
was the most exquisite lover that had ever been seen on the stage.
Barry proved the truth of this criticism, by excelling Garrick in
Romeo, in which the latter was so fervent, the former so winning and
so seductive.
Before we proceed to notice the coming struggle, let us cast back a
glance at the stage from whence this master came.
FOOTNOTES:
[40] There is some obscurity about this date. Garrick's handbill
in answer to Macklin's "case" says that the latter was published
in order to prejudice him _that night_, and the bill is dated 5th
December 1743; but, in succeeding advertisements, the disturbance is
alluded to as "Tuesday night's" riot. Now Tuesday was certainly the
6th, not the 5th.
[41] It is extremely improbable that Foote was the unnamed
"Gentleman" who played Hamlet on this occasion.
[42] Cashell's Hamlet was a personal eccentricity on his benefit
night; not an attempt on the part of the theatre to oppose Garrick.
[43] Very doubtful. The statement rests on Victor's authority.
[44] Faulconbridge and Iago seem also to have been new characters
this season.
[Illustration: JAMES LACY.]