[Illustration: Ad Lalauze, sc]
_A short View of the Opera when first divided from the Comedy.
Plays recover their Credit. The old Patentee uneasy at their
Success. Why. The Occasion of Colonel_ Brett'_s throwing up
his Share in the Patent. The Consequences of it. Anecdotes
of_ Goodman _the Actor. The Rate of favourite Actors in his
Time. The Patentees, by endeavouring to reduce their Price,
lose them all a second time. The principal Comedians return to
the_ Hay-Market _in Shares with_ Swiney. _They alter that
Theatre. The original and present Form of the Theatre in_
Drury-Lane _compar'd. Operas fall off. The Occasion of it.
Farther Observations upon them. The Patentee dispossess'd of_
Drury-Lane _Theatre. Mr._ Collier, _with a new License,
heads the Remains of that Company_.
Plays and Operas being thus established upon separate Interests,[37]
they were now left to make the best of their way into Favour by their
different Merit. Although the Opera is not a Plant of our Native Growth,
nor what our plainer Appetites are fond of, and is of so delicate a
Nature that without excessive Charge it cannot live long among us;
especially while the nicest _Connoisseurs_ in Musick fall into such
various Heresies in Taste, every Sect pretending to be the true one:
Yet, as it is call'd a Theatrical Entertainment, and by its Alliance or
Neutrality has more or less affected our Domestick Theatre, a short View
of its Progress may be allow'd a Place in our History.
After this new Regulation the first Opera that appear'd was _Pyrrhus_.
Subscriptions at that time were not extended, as of late, to the whole
Season, but were limited to the first Six Days only of a new Opera. The
chief Performers in this were _Nicolini_, _Valentini_, and Mrs.
_Tofts_;[38] and for the inferior Parts the best that were then to be
found. Whatever Praises may have been given to the most famous Voices that
have been heard since _Nicolini_, upon the whole I cannot but come into
the Opinion that still prevails among several Persons of Condition who are
able to give a Reason for their liking, that no Singer since his Time has
so justly and gracefully acquitted himself in whatever Character he
appear'd as _Nicolini_. At most the Difference between him and the
greatest Favourite of the Ladies, _Farinelli_, amounted but to this, that
he might sometimes more exquisitely surprize us, but _Nicolini_ (by
pleasing the Eye as well as the Ear) fill'd us with a more various and
_rational_ Delight. Whether in this Excellence he has since had any
Competitor, perhaps will be better judg'd by what the Critical Censor of
_Great Britain_ says of him in his 115th _Tatler_, _viz._
"_Nicolini_ sets off the Character he bears in an Opera by his Action,
as much as he does the Words of it by his Voice; every Limb and Finger
contributes to the Part he acts, insomuch that a deaf Man might go along
with him in the Sense of it. There is scarce a beautiful Posture in an
old Statue which he does not plant himself in, as the different
Circumstances of the Story give occasion for it--He performs the most
ordinary Action in a manner suitable to the Greatness of his Character,
and shews the Prince even in the giving of a Letter or dispatching of a
Message, _&c._"[39]
His Voice at this first time of being among us (for he made us a second
Visit when it was impair'd) had all that strong, clear Sweetness of
Tone so lately admir'd in _Senesino_. A blind Man could scarce have
distinguish'd them; but in Volubility of Throat the former had much the
Superiority. This so excellent Performer's Agreement was Eight Hundred
Guineas for the Year, which is but an eighth Part more than half the Sum
that has since been given to several that could never totally surpass
him: The Consequence of which is, that the Losses by Operas, for several
Seasons, to the End of the Year 1738, have been so great, that those
Gentlemen of Quality who last undertook the Direction of them, found it
ridiculous any longer to entertain the Publick at so extravagant an
Expence, while no one particular Person thought himself oblig'd by it.
Mrs. _Tofts_,[40] who took her first Grounds of Musick here in her own
Country, before the _Italian_ Taste had so highly prevail'd, was then
not an Adept in it:[41] Yet whatever Defect the fashionably Skilful
might find in her manner, she had, in the general Sense of her
Spectators, Charms that few of the most learned Singers ever arrive at.
The Beauty of her fine proportion'd Figure, and exquisitely sweet,
silver Tone of her Voice, with that peculiar, rapid Swiftness of her
Throat, were Perfections not to be imitated by Art or Labour.
_Valentini_ I have already mention'd, therefore need only say farther of
him, that though he was every way inferior to _Nicolini_,[42] yet, as he
had the Advantage of giving us our first Impression of a good Opera
Singer, he had still his Admirers, and was of great Service in being so
skilful a Second to his Superior.
[Illustration: OWEN SWINEY.]
Three such excellent Performers in the same kind of Entertainment at
once, _England_ till this Time had never seen: Without any farther
Comparison, then, with the much dearer bought who have succeeded them,
their Novelty at least was a Charm that drew vast Audiences of the fine
World after them. _Swiney_, their sole Director, was prosperous, and in
one Winter a Gainer by them of a moderate younger Brother's Fortune. But
as Musick, by so profuse a Dispensation of her Beauties, could not
always supply our dainty Appetites with equal Variety, nor for ever
please us with the same Objects, the Opera, after one luxurious Season,
like the fine Wife of a roving Husband, began to loose its Charms, and
every Day discover'd to our Satiety Imperfections which our former
Fondness had been blind to: But of this I shall observe more in its
Place: in the mean time, let us enquire into the Productions of our
native Theatre.
It may easily be conceiv'd, that by this entire Re-union of the two
Companies Plays must generally have been perform'd to a more than usual
Advantage and Exactness: For now every chief Actor, according to his
particular Capacity, piqued himself upon rectifying those Errors which
during their divided State were almost unavoidable. Such a Choice of
Actors added a Richness to every good Play as it was then serv'd up to the
publick Entertainment: The common People crowded to them with a more
joyous Expectation, and those of the higher Taste return'd to them as to
old Acquaintances, with new Desires after a long Absence. In a Word, all
Parties seem'd better pleas'd but he who one might imagine had most Reason
to be so, the (lately) sole menaging Patentee. He, indeed, saw his Power
daily mould'ring from his own Hands into those of Mr. _Brett_,[43] whose
Gentlemanly manner of making every one's Business easy to him, threw their
old Master under a Disregard which he had not been us'd to, nor could with
all his happy Change of Affairs support. Although this grave Theatrical
Minister of whom I have been oblig'd to make such frequent mention, had
acquired the Reputation of a most profound Politician by being often
incomprehensible, yet I am not sure that his Conduct at this Juncture gave
us not an evident Proof that he was, like other frail Mortals, more a
Slave to his Passions than his Interest; for no Creature ever seem'd more
fond of Power that so little knew how to use it to his Profit and
Reputation; otherwise he could not possibly have been so discontented, in
his secure and prosperous State of the Theatre, as to resolve at all
Hazards to destroy it. We shall now see what infallible Measures he took
to bring this laudable Scheme to Perfection.
He plainly saw that, as this disagreeable Prosperity was chiefly owing
to the Conduct of Mr. _Brett_, there could be no hope of recovering the
Stage to its former Confusion but by finding some effectual Means to
make Mr. _Brett_ weary of his Charge: The most probable he could for the
Present think of, in this Distress, was to call in the Adventurers (whom
for many Years, by his Defence in Law, he had kept out) now to take care
of their visibly improving Interests.[44] This fair Appearance of Equity
being known to be his own Proposal, he rightly guess'd would incline
these Adventurers to form a Majority of Votes on his Side in all
Theatrical Questions, and consequently become a Check upon the Power of
Mr. _Brett_, who had so visibly alienated the Hearts of his Theatrical
Subjects, and now began to govern without him. When the Adventurers,
therefore, were re-admitted to their old Government, after having
recommended himself to them by proposing to make some small Dividend of
the Profits (though he did not design that Jest should be repeated)
he took care that the Creditors of the Patent, who were then no
inconsiderable Body, should carry off the every Weeks clear Profits in
proportion to their several Dues and Demands. This Conduct, so
speciously just, he had Hopes would let Mr. _Brett_ see that his Share
in the Patent was not so valuable an Acquisition as perhaps he might
think it; and probably make a Man of his Turn to Pleasure soon weary of
the little Profit and great Plague it gave him. Now, though these might
be all notable Expedients, yet I cannot say they would have wholly
contributed to Mr. _Brett_'s quitting his Post, had not a Matter of much
stronger Moment, an unexpected Dispute between him and Sir _Thomas
Skipwith_, prevailed with him to lay it down: For in the midst of this
flourishing State of the Patent, Mr. _Brett_ was surpriz'd with a
Subpoe into Chancery from Sir _Thomas Skipwith_, who alledg'd in his
Bill that the Conveyance he had made of his Interest in the Patent to
Mr. _Brett_ was only intended in Trust. (Whatever the Intent might be,
the Deed it self, which I then read, made no mention of any Trust
whatever.) But whether Mr. _Brett_, as Sir _Thomas_ farther asserted,
had previously, or after the Deed was sign'd, given his Word of Honour
that if he should ever make the Stage turn to any Account or Profit, he
would certainly restore it: That, indeed, I can say nothing to; but be
the Deed valid or void, the Facts that apparently follow'd were, that
tho' Mr. _Brett_ in his Answer to this Bill absolutely deny'd his
receiving this Assignment either in Trust or upon any limited Condition
of what kind soever, yet he made no farther Defence in the Cause. But
since he found Sir _Thomas_ had thought fit on any Account to sue for
the Restitution of it, and Mr. _Brett_ being himself conscious that, as
the World knew he had paid no Consideration for it, his keeping it might
be misconstrued, or not favourably spoken of; or perhaps finding, tho'
the Profits were great, they were constantly swallowed up (as has been
observ'd) by the previous Satisfaction of old Debts, he grew so tir'd of
the Plague and Trouble the whole Affair had given him, and was likely
still to engage him in, that in a few Weeks after he withdrew himself
from all Concern with the Theatre, and quietly left Sir _Thomas_ to
find his better Account in it. And thus stood this undecided Right till,
upon the Demise of Sir _Thomas_, Mr. _Brett_ being allow'd the Charges
he had been at in this Attendance and Prosecution of the Union,
reconvey'd this Share of the Patent to Sir _George Skipwith_, the Son
and Heir of Sir _Thomas_.[45]
Our Politician, the old Patentee, having thus fortunately got rid of Mr.
_Brett_, who had so rashly brought the Patent once more to be a
profitable Tenure, was now again at Liberty to chuse rather to lose all
than not to have it all to himself.
I have elsewhere observ'd that nothing can so effectually secure the
Strength, or contribute to the Prosperity of a good Company, as the
Directors of it having always, as near as possible, an amicable
Understanding with three or four of their best Actors, whose good or
ill-will must naturally make a wide Difference in their profitable or
useless manner of serving them: While the Principal are kept reasonably
easy the lower Class can never be troublesome without hurting
themselves: But when a valuable Actor is hardly treated, the Master must
be a very cunning Man that finds his Account in it. We shall now see how
far Experience will verify this Observation.
The Patentees thinking themselves secure in being restor'd to their
former absolute Power over this now only Company, chose rather to govern
it by the Reverse of the Method I have recommended: For tho' the daily
Charge of their united Company amounted not, by a good deal, to what
either of the two Companies now in _Drury-Lane_ or _Covent-Garden_
singly arises, they notwithstanding fell into their former Politicks of
thinking every Shilling taken from a hired Actor so much clear Gain to
the Proprietor: Many of their People, therefore, were actually, if not
injudiciously, reduced in their Pay, and others given to understand the
same Fate was design'd them; of which last Number I my self was one;
which occurs to my Memory by the Answer I made to one of the
Adventurers, who, in Justification of their intended Proceeding,[46]
told me that my Sallary, tho' it should be less than it was by ten
Shillings a Week, would still be more than ever _Goodman_ had, who was a
better Actor than I could pretend to be: To which I reply'd, This may be
true, but then you know, Sir, it is as true that _Goodman_ was forced to
go upon the High-way for a Livelihood. As this was a known Fact of
_Goodman_, my mentioning it on that Occasion I believe was of Service to
me; at least my Sallary was not reduced after it. To say a Word or two
more of _Goodman_, so celebrated an Actor in his Time, perhaps may set
the Conduct of the Patentees in a clearer Light. Tho' _Goodman_ had left
the Stage before I came to it, I had some slight Acquaintance with him.
About the Time of his being expected to be an Evidence against Sir _John
Fenwick_ in the Assassination-Plot,[47] in 1696, I happen'd to meet him
at Dinner at Sir _Thomas Skipwith_'s, who, as he was an agreeable
Companion himself, liked _Goodman_ for the same Quality. Here it was
that _Goodman_, without Disguise or sparing himself, fell into a
laughing Account of several loose Passages of _his_ younger Life; as his
being expell'd the University of _Cambridge_ for being one of the
hot-headed Sparks who were concern'd in the cutting and defacing the
Duke of _Monmouth_'s Picture, then Chancellor of that Place. But this
Disgrace, it seems, had not disqualified him for the Stage, which, like
the Sea-Service, refuses no Man for his Morals that is able-bodied:
There, as an Actor, he soon grew into a different Reputation; but
whatever his Merit might be, the Pay of a hired Hero in those Days was
so very low that he was forced, it seems, to take the Air (as he call'd
it) and borrow what Money the first Man he met had about him. But this
being his first Exploit of that kind which the Scantiness of his
Theatrical Fortune had reduced him to, King _James_ was prevail'd upon
to pardon him: Which _Goodman_ said was doing him so particular an
Honour that no Man could wonder if his Acknowledgment had carried him a
little farther than ordinary into the Interest of that Prince: But as he
had lately been out of Luck in backing his old Master, he had now no way
to get home the Life he was out upon his Account but by being under the
same Obligations to King _William_.
Another Anecdote of him, though not quite so dishonourably enterprizing,
which I had from his own Mouth at a different Time, will equally shew to
what low Shifts in Life the poor Provision for good Actors, under the
early Government of the Patent, reduced them. In the younger Days of
their Heroism, Captain _Griffin_ and _Goodman_ were confined by their
moderate Sallaries to the Oeconomy of lying together in the same Bed
and having but one whole Shirt between them: One of them being under the
Obligation of a Rendezvous with a fair Lady, insisted upon his wearing
it out of his Turn, which occasion'd so high a Dispute that the Combat
was immediately demanded, and accordingly their Pretensions to it were
decided by a fair Tilt upon the Spot, in the Room where they lay: But
whether _Clytus_ or _Alexander_ was obliged to see no Company till a
worse could be wash'd for him, seems not to be a material Point in their
History, or to my Purpose.[48]
By this Rate of _Goodman_, who, 'till the Time of his quitting the Stage
never had more than what is call'd forty Shillings a Week, it may be
judg'd how cheap the Labour of Actors had been formerly; and the
Patentees thought it a Folly to continue the higher Price, (which their
Divisions had since raised them to) now there was but one Market for
them; but alas! they had forgot their former fatal Mistake of squabbling
with their Actors in 1695;[49] nor did they make any Allowance for the
Changes and Operations of Time, or enough consider the Interest the
Actors had in the Lord Chamberlain, on whose Protection they might
always rely, and whose Decrees had been less restrain'd by Precedent
than those of a Lord Chancellor.
In this mistaken View of their Interest, the Patentees, by treating their
Actors as Enemies, really made them so: And when once the Masters of a
hired Company think not their Actors Hearts as necessary as their Hands,
they cannot be said to have agreed for above half the Work they are able
to do in a Day: Or, if an unexpected Success should, notwithstanding,
make the Profits in any gross Disproportion greater than the Wages, the
Wages will always have something worse than a Murmur at the Head of them,
that will not only measure the Merit of the Actor by the Gains of the
Proprietor, but will never naturally be quiet till every Scheme of getting
into Property has been tried to make the Servant his own Master: And this,
as far as Experience can make me judge, will always be in either of these
Cases the State of our _English_ Theatre. What Truth there may be in this
Observation we are now coming to a Proof of.
To enumerate all the particular Acts of Power in which the Patentees
daily bore hard upon _this_ now only Company of Actors, might be as
tedious as unnecessary; I shall therefore come at once to their most
material Grievance, upon which they grounded their Complaint to the Lord
Chamberlain, who, in the Year following, 1709, took effectual Measures
for their Relief.
The Patentees observing that the Benefit-Plays of the Actors towards the
latter End of the Season brought the most crowded Audiences in the Year,
began to think their own Interests too much neglected by these partial
Favours of the Town to their Actors; and therefore judg'd it would not
be impolitick in such wholesome annual Profits to have a Fellow-feeling
with them. Accordingly an _Indulto_[50] was laid of one Third out of the
Profits of every Benefit for the proper Use and Behoof of the
Patent.[51] But that a clear Judgment may be form'd of the Equity or
Hardship of this Imposition, it will be necessary to shew from whence
and from what Causes the Actors Claim to Benefits originally proceeded.
During the Reign of King _Charles_ an Actor's Benefit had never been
heard of. The first Indulgence of this kind was given to Mrs. _Barry_
(as has been formerly observed[52]) in King _James_'s Time, in
Consideration of the extraordinary Applause that had followed her
Performance: But there this Favour rested to her alone, 'till after the
Division of the only Company in 1695, at which time the Patentees were
soon reduced to pay their Actors half in good Words and half in ready
Money. In this precarious Condition some particular Actors (however
binding their Agreements might be) were too poor or too wise to go to
Law with a Lawyer, and therefore rather chose to compound their Arrears
for their being admitted to the Chance of having them made up by the
Profits of a Benefit-Play. This Expedient had this Consequence; that the
Patentees, tho' their daily Audiences might, and did sometimes mend,
still kept the short Subsistance of their Actors at a stand, and grew
more steady in their Resolution so to keep them, as they found them less
apt to mutiny while their Hopes of being clear'd off by a Benefit were
depending. In a Year or two these Benefits grew so advantageous that
they became at last the chief Article in every Actor's Agreement.
Now though the Agreements of these united Actors I am speaking of in
1708 were as yet only Verbal, yet that made no difference in the honest
Obligation to keep them: But as Honour at that time happen'd to have but
a loose hold of their Consciences, the Patentees rather chose to give it
the slip, and went on with their Work without it. No Actor, therefore,
could have his Benefit fix'd 'till he had first sign'd a Paper
signifying his voluntary Acceptance of it upon the above Conditions, any
Claims from Custom to the contrary notwithstanding. Several at first
refus'd to sign this Paper; upon which the next in Rank were offer'd on
the same Conditions to come before the Refusers; this smart Expedient
got some few of the Fearful the Preference to their Seniors; who, at
last, seeing the Time was too short for a present Remedy, and that they
must either come into the Boat or lose their Tide, were forc'd to comply
with what they as yet silently resented as the severest Injury. In this
Situation, therefore, they chose to let the principal Benefits be over,
that their Grievances might swell into some bulk before they made any
Application for Redress to the Lord-Chamberlain; who, upon hearing their
general Complaint, order'd the Patentees to shew cause why their
Benefits had been diminish'd one Third, contrary to the common Usage?
The Patentees pleaded the sign'd Agreement, and the Actors Receipts of
the other two Thirds, in Full Satisfaction. But these were prov'd to
have been exacted from them by the Methods already mentioned. They
notwithstanding insist upon them as lawful. But as Law and Equity do not
always agree, they were look'd upon as unjust and arbitrary. Whereupon
the Patentees were warn'd at their Peril to refuse the Actors full
Satisfaction.[53] But here it was thought necessary that Judgment should
be for some time respited, 'till the Actors, who had leave so to do,
could form a Body strong enough to make the Inclination of the
Lord-Chamberlain to relieve them practicable.
Accordingly _Swiney_ (who was then sole Director of the Opera only) had
Permission to enter into a private Treaty with such of the united Actors
in _Drury-Lane_ as might be thought fit to head a Company under their
own Menagement, and to be Sharers with him in the _Hay-Market_. The
Actors chosen for this Charge were _Wilks_, _Dogget_, Mrs. _Oldfield_,
and Myself. But before I proceed, lest it should seem surprizing that
neither _Betterton_, Mrs. _Barry_, Mrs. _Bracegirdle_, or _Booth_ were
Parties in this Treaty, it must be observ'd that _Betterton_ was now
Seventy-three, and rather chose, with the Infirmities of Age upon him,
to rely on such Sallary as might be appointed him, than to involve
himself in the Cares and Hurry that must unavoidably attend the
Regulation of a new Company. As to the two celebrated Actresses I have
named, this has been my first proper Occasion of making it known that
they had both quitted the Stage the Year before this Transaction was
thought of.[54] And _Booth_ as yet was scarce out of his Minority as an
Actor, or only in the Promise of that Reputation which, in about four
or five Years after, he happily arriv'd at. However, at this Juncture
he was not so far overlook'd as not to be offer'd a valuable Addition
to his Sallary: But this he declin'd, being, while the Patentees were
under this Distress, as much, if not more, in favour with their chief
Menager as a Schematist than as an Actor: And indeed he appear'd, to
my Judgment, more inclin'd to risque his Fortune in _Drury-Lane_,
where he should have no Rival in Parts or Power, than on any Terms to
embark in the _Hay-Market_, where he was sure to meet with Opponents
in both.[55] However, this his Separation from our Interest when our
All was at stake, afterwards kept his Advancement to a Share with us
in our more successful Days longer postpon'd than otherwise it probably
might have been.
When Mrs. _Oldfield_ was nominated as a joint Sharer in our new
Agreement to be made with _Swiney_, _Dogget_, who had no Objection to
her Merit, insisted that our Affairs could never be upon a secure
Foundation if there was more than one Sex admitted to the Menagement of
them. He therefore hop'd that if we offer'd Mrs. _Oldfield_ a _Carte
Blanche_ instead of a Share, she would not think herself slighted. This
was instantly agreed to, and Mrs. _Oldfield_ receiv'd it rather as a
Favour than a Disobligation: Her Demands therefore were Two Hundred
Pounds a Year certain, and a Benefit clear of all Charges, which were
readily sign'd to. Her Easiness on this Occasion, some Years after, when
our Establishment was in Prosperity, made us with less Reluctancy
advance her Two Hundred Pounds to Three Hundred Guineas _per Annum_,
with her usual Benefit, which, upon an Average, for several Years at
least doubled that Sum.
[Illustration: ANNE OLDFIELD.]
When a sufficient number of Actors were engag'd under our Confederacy with
_Swiney_, it was then judg'd a proper time for the Lord-Chamberlain's
Power to operate, which, by lying above a Month dormant, had so far
recover'd the Patentees from any Apprehensions of what might fall upon
them from their late Usurpations on the Benefits of the Actors, that they
began to set their Marks upon those who had distinguish'd themselves in
the Application for Redress. Several little Disgraces were put upon them,
particularly in the Disposal of Parts in Plays to be reviv'd, and as
visible a Partiality was shewn in the Promotion of those in their
Interest, though their Endeavours to serve them could be of no
extraordinary use. How often does History shew us, in the same State of
Courts, the same Politicks have been practis'd? All this while the other
Party were passively silent, 'till one Day the Actor who particularly
solicited their Cause at the Lord-Chamberlain's Office, being shewn there
the Order sign'd for absolutely silencing the Patentees, and ready to be
serv'd, flew back with the News to his Companions, then at a Rehearsal in
which he had been wanted; when being call'd to his Part, and something
hastily question'd by the Patentee for his Neglect of Business: This
Actor, I say, with an erected Look and a Theatrical Spirit, at once threw
off the Mask and roundly told him----_Sir, I have now no more Business
Here than you have; in half an Hour you will neither have Actors to
command nor Authority to employ them._----The Patentee, who though he
could not readily comprehend his mysterious manner of Speaking, had just a
Glimpse of Terror enough from the Words to soften his Reproof into a cold
formal Declaration, That _if he would not do his Work he should not be
paid_.--But now, to complete the Catastrophe of these Theatrical
Commotions, enters the Messenger with the Order of Silence in his Hand,
whom the same Actor officiously introduc'd, telling the Patentee that the
Gentleman wanted to speak with him from the Lord-Chamberlain. When the
Messenger had delivered the Order, the Actor, throwing his Head over his
Shoulder towards the Patentee, in the manner of _Shakespear_'s _Harry the
Eighth_ to Cardinal _Wolsey_, cry'd--_Read o'er that! and now--to
Breakfast, with what Appetite you may_. Tho' these Words might be spoken
in too vindictive and insulting a manner to be commended, yet, from the
Fulness of a Heart injuriously treated and now reliev'd by that instant
Occasion, why might they not be pardon'd?[56]
The Authority of the Patent now no longer subsisting, all the confederated
Actors immediately walk'd out of the House, to which they never return'd
'till they became themselves the Tenants and Masters of it.
Here agen we see an higher Instance of the Authority of a
Lord-Chamberlain than any of those I have elsewhere mentioned: From
whence that Power might be deriv'd, as I have already said, I am not
Lawyer enough to know; however, it is evident that a Lawyer obey'd it,
though to his Cost; which might incline one to think that the Law was
not clearly against it: Be that as it may, since the Law has lately made
it no longer a Question, let us drop the Enquiry and proceed to the
Facts which follow'd this Order that silenc'd the Patent.
From this last injudicious Disagreement of the Patentees with their
principal Actors, and from what they had suffered on the same Occasion
in the Division of their only Company in 1695, might we not imagine
there was something of Infatuation in their Menagement? For though I
allow Actors in general, when they are too much indulg'd, or govern'd by
an unsteady Head, to be as unruly a Multitude as Power can be plagued
with; yet there is a Medium which, if cautiously observed by a candid
use of Power, making them always know, without feeling, their Superior,
neither suffering their Encroachments nor invading their Rights, with an
immoveable Adherence to the accepted Laws they are to walk by; such a
Regulation, I say, has never fail'd, in my Observation, to have made
them a tractable and profitable Society. If the Government of a
well-establish'd Theatre were to be compar'd to that of a Nation, there
is no one Act of Policy or Misconduct in the one or the other in which
the Menager might not, in some parallel Case, (laugh, if you please) be
equally applauded or condemned with the Statesman. Perhaps this will not
be found so wild a Conceit if you look into the 193d _Tatler_, Vol. 4.
where the Affairs of the State and those of the very Stage which I am
now treating of, are, in a Letter from _Downs_ the Promptor,[57]
compar'd, and with a great deal of Wit and Humour, set upon an equal
Foot of Policy. The Letter is suppos'd to have been written in the last
Change of the Ministry in Queen _Anne_'s Time. I will therefore venture,
upon the Authority of that Author's Imagination, to carry the
Comparison as high as it can possibly go, and say, That as I remember
one of our Princes in the last Century to have lost his Crown by too
arbitrary a Use of his Power, though he knew how fatal the same Measures
had been to his unhappy Father before him, why should we wonder that the
same Passions taking Possession of Men in lower Life, by an equally
impolitick Usage of their Theatrical Subjects, should have involved the
Patentees in proportionable Calamities.
During the Vacation, which immediately follow'd the Silence of the
Patent, both Parties were at leisure to form their Schemes for the
Winter: For the Patentee would still hold out, notwithstanding his
being so miserably maim'd or over-match'd: He had no more Regard to
Blows than a blind Cock of the Game; he might be beaten, but would never
yield; the Patent was still in his Possession, and the Broad-Seal to it
visibly as fresh as ever: Besides, he had yet some Actors in his
Service,[58] at a much cheaper Rate than those who had left him, the
Sallaries of which last, now they would not work for him, he was not
oblig'd to pay.[59] In this way of thinking, he still kept together such
as had not been invited over to the _Hay-Market_, or had been
influenc'd by _Booth_ to follow his Fortune in _Drury-Lane_.
By the Patentee's keeping these Remains of his broken Forces together,
it is plain that he imagin'd this Order of Silence, like others of the
same Kind, would be recall'd, of course, after a reasonable time of
Obedience had been paid to it: But, it seems, he had rely'd too much
upon former Precedents; nor had his Politicks yet div'd into the Secret
that the Court Power, with which the Patent had been so long and often
at variance, had now a mind to take the publick Diversions more
absolutely into their own Hands: Not that I have any stronger Reasons
for this Conjecture than that the Patent never after this Order of
Silence got leave to play during the Queen's Reign. But upon the
Accession of his late Majesty, Power having then a different Aspect, the
Patent found no Difficulty in being permitted to exercise its former
Authority for acting Plays, _&c._ which, however, from this time of
their lying still, in 1709, did not happen 'till 1714, which the old
Patentee never liv'd to see: For he dy'd about six weeks before the
new-built Theatre in _Lincoln's-Inn-Fields_ was open'd,[60] where the
first Play acted was the _Recruiting Officer_, under the Menagement of
his Heirs and Successors. But of that Theatre it is not yet time to give
any further Account.
The first Point resolv'd on by the Comedians now re-established in the
_Hay-Market_,[61] was to alter the Auditory Part of their Theatre, the
Inconveniencies of which have been fully enlarged upon in a former
Chapter. What embarrass'd them most in this Design, was their want of
Time to do it in a more complete manner than it now remains in,
otherwise they had brought it to the original Model of that in
_Drury-Lane_, only in a larger Proportion, as the wider Walls of it
would require; as there are not many Spectators who may remember what
Form the _Drury-Lane_ Theatre stood in about forty Years ago, before
the old Patentee, to make it hold more Money, took it in his Head to
alter it, it were but Justice to lay the original Figure which Sir
_Christopher Wren_ first gave it, and the Alterations of it now
standing, in a fair Light; that equal Spectators may see, if they were
at their choice, which of the Structures would incline them to a
Preference. But in this Appeal I only speak to such Spectators as allow
a good Play well acted to be the most valuable Entertainment of the
Stage. Whether such Plays (leaving the Skill of the dead or living
Actors equally out of the Question) have been more or less recommended
in their Presentation by either of these different Forms of that
Theatre, is our present Matter of Enquiry.
It must be observ'd, then,[62] that the Area or Platform of the old Stage
projected about four Foot forwarder, in a Semi-oval Figure, parallel to
the Benches of the Pit; and that the former lower Doors of Entrance for
the Actors were brought down between the two foremost (and then only)
Pilasters; in the Place of which Doors now the two Stage-Boxes are fixt.
That where the Doors of Entrance now are, there formerly stood two
additional Side-Wings, in front to a full Set of Scenes, which had then
almost a double Effect in their Loftiness and Magnificence.
By this Original Form, the usual Station of the Actors, in almost every
Scene, was advanc'd at least ten Foot nearer to the Audience than they
now can be; because, not only from the Stage's being shorten'd in front,
but likewise from the additional Interposition of those Stage-Boxes, the
Actors (in respect to the Spectators that fill them) are kept so much
more backward from the main Audience than they us'd to be: But when the
Actors were in Possession of that forwarder Space to advance upon, the
Voice was then more in the Centre of the House, so that the most distant
Ear had scarce the least Doubt or Difficulty in hearing what fell from
the weakest Utterance: All Objects were thus drawn nearer to the Sense;
every painted Scene was stronger; every grand Scene and Dance more
extended; every rich or fine-coloured Habit had a more lively Lustre:
Nor was the minutest Motion of a Feature (properly changing with the
Passion or Humour it suited) ever lost, as they frequently must be in
the Obscurity of too great a Distance: And how valuable an Advantage the
Facility of hearing distinctly is to every well-acted Scene, every
common Spectator is a Judge. A Voice scarce raised above the Tone of a
Whisper, either in Tenderness, Resignation, innocent Distress, or
Jealousy suppress'd, often have as much concern with the Heart as the
most clamorous Passions; and when on any of these Occasions such
affecting Speeches are plainly heard, or lost, how wide is the
Difference from the great or little Satisfaction received from them? To
all this a Master of a Company may say, I now receive Ten Pounds more
than could have been taken formerly in every full House! Not unlikely.
But might not his House be oftener full if the Auditors were oftener
pleas'd? Might not every bad House too, by a Possibility of being made
every Day better, add as much to one Side of his Account as it could
take from the other? If what I have said carries any Truth in it, why
might not the original Form of this Theatre be restor'd? but let this
Digression avail what it may, the Actors now return'd to the
_Hay-Market_, as I have observ'd, wanting nothing but length of Time to
have govern'd their Alteration of that Theatre by this original Model of
_Drury-Lane_ which I have recommended. As their time therefore was
short, they made their best use of it; they did something to it: They
contracted its Wideness by three Ranges of Boxes on each side, and
brought down its enormous high Ceiling within so proportionable a
Compass that it effectually cur'd those hollow Undulations of the Voice
formerly complain'd of. The Remedy had its Effect; their Audiences
exceeded their Expectation. There was now no other Theatre open
against them;[63] they had the Town to themselves; they were their own
Masters, and the Profits of their Industry came into their own Pockets.
[Illustration: THEOPHILUS CIBBER AS ANTIENT PISTOL.]
Yet with all this fair Weather, the Season of their uninterrupted
Prosperity was not yet arriv'd; for the great Expence and thinner
Audiences of the Opera (of which they then were equally Directors) was a
constant Drawback upon their Gains, yet not so far but that their Income
this Year was better than in their late Station at _Drury-Lane_. But by
the short Experience we had then had of Operas; by the high Reputation
they seem'd to have been arriv'd at the Year before; by their Power of
drawing the whole Body of Nobility as by Enchantment to their
Solemnities; by that Prodigality of Expence at which they were so
willing to support them; and from the late extraordinary Profits
_Swiney_ had made of them, what Mountains did we not hope from this
Molehill? But alas! the fairy Vision was vanish'd; this bridal Beauty
was grown familiar to the general Taste, and Satiety began to make
Excuses for its want of Appetite: Or, what is still stranger, its late
Admirers now as much valued their Judgment in being able to find out the
Faults of the Performers, as they had before in discovering their
Excellencies. The Truth is, that this kind of Entertainment being so
entirely sensual, it had no Possibility of getting the better of our
Reason but by its Novelty; and that Novelty could never be supported but
by an annual Change of the best Voices, which, like the finest Flowers,
bloom but for a Season, and when that is over are only dead Nose-gays.
From this Natural Cause we have seen within these two Years even
_Farinelli_ singing to an Audience of five and thirty Pounds, and yet,
if common Fame may be credited, the same Voice, so neglected in one
Country, has in another had Charms sufficient to make that Crown sit
easy on the Head of a Monarch, which the Jealousy of Politicians
(who had their Views in his keeping it) fear'd, without some such
extraordinary Amusement, his Satiety of Empire might tempt him a second
time to resign.[64]
There is, too, in the very Species of an _Italian_ Singer such an
innate, fantastical Pride and Caprice, that the Government of them (here
at least) is almost impracticable. This Distemper, as we were not
sufficiently warn'd or apprized of, threw our musical Affairs into
Perplexities we knew not easily how to get out of. There is scarce a
sensible Auditor in the Kingdom that has not since that Time had
Occasion to laugh at the several Instances of it: But what is still more
ridiculous, these costly Canary-Birds have sometimes infested the whole
Body of our dignified Lovers of Musick with the same childish
Animosities: Ladies have been known to decline their Visits upon account
of their being of a different musical Party. _Cæsar_ and _Pompey_ made
not a warmer Division in the _Roman_ Republick than those Heroines,
their Country Women, the _Faustina_ and _Cuzzoni_, blew up in our
Common-wealth of Academical Musick by their implacable Pretensions to
Superiority.[65] And while this Greatness of Soul is their unalterable
Virtue, it will never be practicable to make two capital Singers of the
same Sex do as they should do in one Opera at the same time! no, not
tho' _England_ were to double the Sums it has already thrown after them:
For even in their own Country, where an extraordinary Occasion has
called a greater Number of their best to sing together, the Mischief
they have made has been proportionable; an Instance of which, if I am
rightly inform'd, happen'd at _Parma_, where, upon the Celebration of
the Marriage of that Duke, a Collection was made of the most eminent
Voices that Expence or Interest could purchase, to give as complete an
Opera as the whole vocal Power of _Italy_ could form. But when it came
to the Proof of this musical Project, behold! what woful Work they made
of it! every Performer would be a _Cæsar_ or Nothing; their several
Pretensions to Preference were not to be limited within the Laws of
Harmony; they would all choose their own Songs, but not more to set off
themselves than to oppose or deprive another of an Occasion to shine:
Yet any one would sing a bad Song, provided no body else had a good one,
till at last they were thrown together, like so many feather'd Warriors,
for a Battle-royal in a Cock-pit, where every one was oblig'd to kill
another to save himself! What Pity it was these froward Misses and
Masters of Musick had not been engag'd to entertain the Court of some
King of _Morocco_, that could have known a good Opera from a bad one!
with how much Ease would such a Director have brought them to better
Order? But alas! as it has been said of greater Things,
_Suis et ipsa Roma viribus ruit._
Hor.[66]
Imperial _Rome_ fell by the too great Strength of its own Citizens! So
fell this mighty Opera, ruin'd by the too great Excellency of its
Singers! For, upon the whole, it proved to be as barbarously bad as if
Malice it self had composed it.
Now though something of this kind, equally provoking, has generally
embarrass'd the State of Operas these thirty Years, yet it was the
Misfortune of the menaging Actors at the _Hay-Market_ to have felt the
first Effects of it: The Honour of the Singer and the Interest of the
Undertaker were so often at Variance, that the latter began to have but
a bad Bargain of it. But not to impute more to the Caprice of those
Performers than was really true, there were two different Accidents that
drew Numbers from our Audiences before the Season was ended; which were
another Company permitted to act in _Drury-Lane_,[67] and the long Trial
of Doctor _Sacheverel_ in _Westminster-Hall_:[68] By the way, it must be
observed that this Company was not under the Direction of the Patent
(which continued still silenced) but was set up by a third Interest,
with a License from Court. The Person to whom this new License was
granted was _William Collier_, Esq., a Lawyer of an enterprizing Head
and a jovial Heart; what sort of Favour he was in with the People then
in Power may be judg'd from his being often admitted to partake with
them those detach'd Hours of Life when Business was to give way to
Pleasure: But this was not all his Merit, he was at the same time a
Member of Parliament for _Truro_ in _Cornwall_, and we cannot suppose a
Person so qualified could be refused such a Trifle as a License to head
a broken Company of Actors. This sagacious Lawyer, then, who had a
Lawyer to deal with, observing that his Antagonist kept Possession of a
Theatre without making use of it, and for which he was not obliged to
pay Rent unless he actually _did_ use it, wisely conceived it might be
the Interest of the joint Landlords, since their Tenement was in so
precarious a Condition, to grant a Lease to one who had an undisputed
Authority to be liable, by acting Plays in it, to pay the Rent of it;
especially when he tempted them with an Offer of raising it from three
to four Pounds _per Diem_. His Project succeeded, the Lease was sign'd;
but the Means of getting into Possession were to be left to his own Cost
and Discretion. This took him up but little Time; he immediately laid
Siege to it with a sufficient Number of Forces, whether lawless or
lawful I forget, but they were such as obliged the old Governor to give
it up; who, notwithstanding, had got Intelligence of his Approaches and
Design time enough to carry off every thing that was worth moving,
except a great Number of old Scenes and new Actors that could not easily
follow him.[69]
A ludicrous Account of this Transaction, under fictitious Names, may be
found in the 99th _Tatler_, Vol. 2. which this Explanation may now
render more intelligible to the Readers of that agreeable Author.[70]
This other new License being now in Possession of the _Drury-Lane_
Theatre, those Actors whom the Patentee ever since the Order of Silence
had retain'd in a State of Inaction, all to a Man came over to the
Service of _Collier_. Of these _Booth_ was then the chief.[71] The Merit
of the rest had as yet made no considerable Appearance, and as the
Patentee had not left a Rag of their Cloathing behind him, they were but
poorly equip'd for a publick Review; consequently at their first Opening
they were very little able to annoy us. But during the Trial of
_Sacheverel_ our Audiences were extremely weaken'd by the better Rank of
People's daily attending it: While, at the same time, the lower Sort,
who were not equally admitted to that grand Spectacle, as eagerly
crowded into _Drury-Lane_ to a new Comedy call'd _The fair Quaker of
Deal_. This Play having some low Strokes of natural Humour in it, was
rightly calculated for the Capacity of the Actors who play'd it, and to
the Taste of the Multitude who were now more disposed and at leisure to
see it:[72] But the most happy Incident in its Fortune was the Charm of
the fair Quaker which was acted by Miss _Santlow_, (afterwards Mrs.
_Booth_) whose Person was then in the full Bloom of what Beauty she
might pretend to: Before this she had only been admired as the most
excellent Dancer, which perhaps might not a little contribute to the
favourable Reception she now met with as an Actress, in this Character
which so happily suited her Figure and Capacity: The gentle Softness of
her Voice, the composed Innocence of her Aspect, the Modesty of her
Dress, the reserv'd Decency of her Gesture, and the Simplicity of the
Sentiments that naturally fell from her, made her seem the amiable Maid
she represented: In a Word, not the enthusiastick Maid of _Orleans_ was
more serviceable of old to the _French_ Army when the _English_ had
distressed them, than this fair Quaker was at the Head of that dramatick
Attempt upon which the Support of their weak Society depended.[73]
But when the Trial I have mention'd and the Run of this Play was over,
the Tide of the Town beginning to turn again in our Favour, _Collier_
was reduced to give his Theatrical Affairs a different Scheme; which
advanced the Stage another Step towards that Settlement which, in my
Time, was of the longest Duration.