[Illustration: Ad Lalauze, sc]
_Sir_ Richard Steele _succeeds_ Collier _in the
Theatre-Royal_. Lincoln's-Inn-Fields _House rebuilt_. _The
Patent restored. Eight Actors at once desert from the King's
Company. Why. A new Patent obtain'd by Sir_ Richard Steele,
_and assign'd in Shares to the menaging Actors of_ Drury-Lane.
_Of modern Pantomimes. The Rise of them. Vanity invincible and
asham'd. The_ Non-juror _acted_. _The Author not forgiven, and
rewarded for it._
Upon the Death of the Queen, Plays (as they always had been on the like
Occasions) were silenc'd for six Weeks. But this happening on the first
of _August_,[116] in the long Vacation of the Theatre, the Observance of
that Ceremony, which at another Juncture would have fallen like wet
Weather upon their Harvest, did them now no particular Damage. Their
License, however, being of course to be renewed, that Vacation gave the
Menagers Time to cast about for the better Alteration of it: And since
they knew the Pension of seven hundred a Year, which had been levied
upon them for _Collier_, must still be paid to somebody, they imagined
the Merit of a _Whig_ might now have as good a Chance for getting into
it, as that of a _Tory_ had for being continued in it: Having no
Obligations, therefore, to _Collier_, who had made the last Penny of
them, they apply'd themselves to Sir _Richard Steele_, who had
distinguished himself by his Zeal for the House of _Hanover_, and had
been expell'd the House of Commons for carrying it (as was judg'd at a
certain Crisis) into a Reproach of the Government. This we knew was his
Pretension to that Favour in which he now stood at Court: We knew, too,
the Obligations the Stage had to his Writings; there being scarce a
Comedian of Merit in our whole Company whom his _Tatlers_ had not made
better by his publick Recommendation of them. And many Days had our
House been particularly fill'd by the Influence and Credit of his Pen.
Obligations of this kind from a Gentleman with whom they all had the
Pleasure of a personal Intimacy, the Menagers thought could not be more
justly return'd than by shewing him some warm Instance of their Desire
to have him at the Head of them. We therefore beg'd him to use his
Interest for the Renewal of our License, and that he would do us the
Honour of getting our Names to stand with His in the same Commission.
This, we told him, would put it still farther into his Power of
supporting the Stage in that Reputation, to which his Lucubrations had
already so much contributed; and that therefore we thought no Man had
better Pretences to partake of its Success.[117]
Though it may be no Addition to the favourable Part of this Gentleman's
Character to say with what Pleasure he receiv'd this Mark of our
Inclination to him, yet my Vanity longs to tell you that it surpriz'd
him into an Acknowledgment that People who are shy of Obligations are
cautious of confessing. His Spirits took such a lively turn upon it,
that had we been all his own Sons, no unexpected Act of filial Duty
could have more endear'd us to him.
It must be observ'd, then, that as _Collier_ had no Share in any Part of
our Property, no Difficulties from that Quarter could obstruct this
Proposal. And the usual Time of our beginning to act for the Winter-Season
now drawing near, we press'd him not to lose any Time in his Solicitation
of this new License. Accordingly Sir _Richard_ apply'd himself to the Duke
of _Marlborough_, the Hero of his Heart, who, upon the first mention of
it, obtain'd it of his Majesty for Sir _Richard_ and the former Menagers
who were Actors. _Collier_ we heard no more of.[118]
The Court and Town being crowded very early in the Winter-Season, upon
the critical Turn of Affairs so much expected from the _Hanover_
Succession, the Theatre had its particular Share of that general
Blessing by a more than ordinary Concourse of Spectators.
About this Time the Patentee, having very near finish'd his House in
_Lincoln's-Inn Fields_, began to think of forming a new Company; and in
the mean time found it necessary to apply for Leave to employ them. By the
weak Defence he had always made against the several Attacks upon his
Interest and former Government of the Theatre, it might be a Question, if
his House had been ready in the Queen's Time, whether he would then have
had the Spirit to ask, or Interest enough to obtain Leave to use it: But
in the following Reign, as it did not appear he had done any thing to
forfeit the Right of his Patent, he prevail'd with Mr. _Craggs_ the
Younger (afterwards Secretary of State) to lay his Case before the King,
which he did in so effectual a manner that (as Mr. _Craggs_ himself told
me) his Majesty was pleas'd to say upon it, "That he remember'd when he
had been in _England_ before, in King _Charles_ his Time, there had been
two Theatres in _London_; and as the Patent seem'd to be a lawful Grant,
he saw no Reason why Two Play-houses might not be continued."[119]
The Suspension of the Patent being thus taken off, the younger Multitude
seem'd to call aloud for two Play-houses! Many desired another, from the
common Notion that _Two_ would always create Emulation in the Actors (an
Opinion which I have consider'd in a former Chapter). Others, too, were as
eager for them, from the natural Ill-will that follows the Fortunate or
Prosperous in any Undertaking. Of this low Malevolence we had, now and
then, had remarkable Instances; we had been forced to dismiss an Audience
of a hundred and fifty Pounds, from a Disturbance spirited up by obscure
People, who never gave any better Reason for it, than that it was their
Fancy to support the idle Complaint of one rival Actress against another,
in their several Pretensions to the chief Part in a new Tragedy. But as
this Tumult seem'd only to be the Wantonness of _English_ Liberty, I shall
not presume to lay any farther Censure upon it.[120]
Now, notwithstanding this publick Desire of reestablishing two Houses;
and though I have allow'd the former Actors greatly our Superiors; and
the Menagers I am speaking of not to have been without their private
Errors: Yet under all these Disadvantages, it is certain the Stage, for
twenty Years before this time, had never been in so flourishing a
Condition: And it was as evident to all sensible Spectators that this
Prosperity could be only owing to that better Order and closer Industry
now daily observ'd, and which had formerly been neglected by our
Predecessors. But that I may not impose upon the Reader a Merit which
was not generally allow'd us, I ought honestly to let him know, that
about this time the publick Papers, particularly _Mist_'s Journal, took
upon them very often to censure our Menagement, with the same Freedom
and Severity as if we had been so many Ministers of State: But so it
happen'd, that these unfortunate Reformers of the World, these
self-appointed _Censors_, hardly ever hit upon what was really wrong in
us; but taking up Facts upon Trust, or Hear-say, piled up many a pompous
Paragraph that they had ingeniously conceiv'd was sufficient to demolish
our Administration, or at least to make us very uneasy in it; which,
indeed, had so far its Effect, that my equally-injur'd Brethren, _Wilks_
and _Booth_, often complain'd to me of these disagreeable Aspersions,
and propos'd that some publick Answer might be made to them, which I
always oppos'd by, perhaps, too secure a Contempt of what such Writers
could do to hurt us; and my Reason for it was, that I knew but of one
way to silence Authors of that Stamp; which was, to grow insignificant
and good for nothing, and then we should hear no more of them: But while
we continued in the Prosperity of pleasing others, and were not
conscious of having deserv'd what they said of us, why should we gratify
the little Spleen of our Enemies by wincing at it,[121] or give them
fresh Opportunities to dine upon any Reply they might make to our
publickly taking Notice of them? And though Silence might in some Cases
be a sign of Guilt or Error confess'd, our Accusers were so low in their
Credit and Sense, that the Content we gave the Publick almost every Day
from the Stage ought to be our only Answer to them.
However (as I have observ'd) we made many Blots, which these unskilful
Gamesters never hit: But the Fidelity of an Historian cannot be excus'd
the Omission of any Truth which might make for the other Side of the
Question. I shall therefore confess a Fact, which, if a happy Accident
had not intervened, had brought our Affairs into a very tottering
Condition. This, too, is that Fact which in a former Chapter I promis'd
to set forth as a Sea-Mark of Danger to future Menagers in their
Theatrical Course of Government.[122]
When the new-built Theatre in _Lincoln's-Inn Fields_ was ready to be
open'd, seven or eight Actors in one Day deserted from us to the Service
of the Enemy,[123] which oblig'd us to postpone many of our best Plays
for want of some inferior Part in them which these Deserters had been
used to fill: But the Indulgence of the Royal Family, who then
frequently honour'd us by their Presence, was pleas'd to accept of
whatever could be hastily got ready for their Entertainment. And tho'
this critical good Fortune prevented, in some measure, our Audiences
falling so low as otherwise they might have done, yet it was not
sufficient to keep us in our former Prosperity: For that Year our
Profits amounted not to above a third Part of our usual Dividends; tho'
in the following Year we intirely recover'd them. The Chief of these
Deserters were _Keene_, _Bullock_, _Pack_,[124] _Leigh_, Son of the
famous _Tony Leigh_,[125] and others of less note. 'Tis true, they none
of them had more than a negative Merit, in being only able to do us more
Harm by their leaving us without Notice, than they could do us Good by
remaining with us: For though the best of them could not support a Play,
the worst of them by their Absence could maim it; as the Loss of the
least Pin in a Watch may obstruct its Motion. But to come to the true
Cause of their Desertion: After my having discover'd the (long unknown)
Occasion that drove _Dogget_ from the Stage before his settled
Inclination to leave it, it will be less incredible that these Actors,
upon the first Opportunity to relieve themselves, should all in one Day
have left us from the same Cause of Uneasiness. For, in a little time
after, upon not finding their Expectations answer'd in _Lincoln's-Inn
Fields_, some of them, who seem'd to answer for the rest, told me the
greatest Grievance they had in our Company was the shocking Temper of
_Wilks_, who, upon every, almost no Occasion, let loose the unlimited
Language of Passion upon them in such a manner as their Patience was
not longer able to support. This, indeed, was what we could not justify!
This was a Secret that might have made a wholesome Paragraph in a
critical News-Paper! But as it was our good Fortune that it came not to
the Ears of our Enemies, the Town was not entertain'd with their publick
Remarks upon it.[126]
After this new Theatre had enjoy'd that short Run of Favour which is apt
to follow Novelty, their Audiences began to flag: But whatever good
Opinion we had of our own Merit, we had not so good a one of the
Multitude as to depend too much upon the Delicacy of their Taste: We
knew, too, that this Company, being so much nearer to the City than we
were, would intercept many an honest Customer that might not know a good
Market from a bad one; and that the thinnest of their Audiences must be
always taking something from the Measure of our Profits. All these
Disadvantages, with many others, we were forced to lay before Sir
_Richard Steele_, and farther to remonstrate to him, that as he now
stood in _Collier_'s Place, his Pension of 700_l._ was liable to the
same Conditions that _Collier_ had receiv'd it upon; which were, that it
should be only payable during our being the only Company permitted to
act, but in case another should be set up against us, that then this
Pension was to be liquidated into an equal Share with us; and which we
now hoped he would be contented with. While we were offering to proceed,
Sir _Richard_ stopt us short by assuring us, that as he came among us by
our own Invitation, he should always think himself oblig'd to come into
any Measures for our Ease and Service: That to be a Burthen to our
Industry would be more disagreeable to him than it could be to us; and
as he had always taken a Delight in his Endeavours for our Prosperity,
he should be still ready on our own Terms to continue them. Every one
who knew Sir _Richard Steele_ in his Prosperity (before the Effects of
his Good-nature had brought him to Distresses) knew that this was his
manner of dealing with his Friends in Business: Another Instance of the
same nature will immediately fall in my way.
[Illustration: RICHARD STEELE.]
When we proposed to put this Agreement into Writing, he desired us not to
hurry ourselves; for that he was advised, upon the late Desertion of our
Actors, to get our License (which only subsisted during Pleasure) enlarg'd
into a more ample and durable Authority, and which he said he had Reason
to think would be more easily obtain'd, if we were willing that a Patent
for the same Purpose might be granted to him only, for his Life and three
Years after, which he would then assign over to us. This was a Prospect
beyond our Hopes; and what we had long wish'd for; for though I cannot
say we had ever Reason to grieve at the Personal Severities or Behaviour
of any one Lord-Chamberlain in my Time, yet the several Officers under
them who had not the Hearts of Noblemen, often treated us (to use
_Shakespear_'s Expression) with all the _Insolence_ of _Office_ that
narrow Minds are apt to be elated with; but a Patent, we knew, would free
us from so abject a State of Dependency. Accordingly, we desired Sir
_Richard_ to lose no time; he was immediately promised it: In the Interim,
we sounded the Inclination of the Actors remaining with us; who had all
Sense enough to know, that the Credit and Reputation we stood in with the
Town, could not but be a better Security for their Sallaries, than the
Promise of any other Stage put into Bonds could make good to them. In a
few Days after, Sir _Richard_ told us, that his Majesty being apprised
that others had a joint Power with him in the License, it was expected we
should, under our Hands, signify that his Petition for a Patent was
preferr'd by the Consent of us all. Such an Acknowledgment was immediately
sign'd, and the Patent thereupon pass'd the Great Seal; for which I
remember the Lord Chancellor _Cooper_, in Compliment to Sir _Richard_,
would receive no Fee.
We receiv'd the Patent _January 19, 1715_,[127] and (Sir _Richard_ being
obliged the next Morning to set out for _Burrowbridge_ in _Yorkshire_,
where he was soon after elected Member of Parliament) we were forced
that very Night to draw up in a hurry ('till our Counsel might more
adviseably perfect it) his Assignment to us of equal Shares in the
Patent, with farther Conditions of Partnership:[128] But here I ought to
take Shame to myself, and at the same time to give this second Instance
of the Equity and Honour of Sir _Richard_: For this Assignment (which I
had myself the hasty Penning of) was so worded, that it gave Sir
_Richard_ as equal a Title to our Property as it had given us to his
Authority in the Patent: But Sir _Richard_, notwithstanding, when he
return'd to Town, took no Advantage of the Mistake, and consented in our
second Agreement to pay us Twelve Hundred Pounds to be equally intitled
to our Property, which at his Death we were obliged to repay (as we
afterwards did) to his Executors; and which, in case any of us had died
before him, the Survivors were equally obliged to have paid to the
Executors of such deceased Person upon the same Account. But Sir
_Richard_'s Moderation with us was rewarded with the Reverse of
_Collier_'s Stiffness: _Collier_, by insisting on his Pension, lost
Three Hundred Pounds a Year; and Sir _Richard_, by his accepting a Share
in lieu of it, was, one Year with another, as much a Gainer.
The Grant of this Patent having assured us of a competent Term to be
relied on, we were now emboldened to lay out larger Sums in the
Decorations of our Plays:[129] Upon the Revival of _Dryden_'s _All for
Love_, the Habits of that Tragedy amounted to an Expence of near Six
Hundred Pounds; a Sum unheard of, for many Years before, on the like
Occasions.[130] But we thought such extraordinary Marks of our
Acknowledgment were due to the Favours which the Publick were now again
pouring in upon us. About this time we were so much in fashion, and
follow'd, that our Enemies (who they were it would not be fair to guess,
for we never knew them) made their Push of a good round Lye upon us, to
terrify those Auditors from our Support whom they could not mislead by
their private Arts or publick Invectives. A current Report that the
Walls and Roof of our House were liable to fall, had got such Ground in
the Town, that on a sudden we found our Audiences unusually decreased by
it: _Wilks_ was immediately for denouncing War and Vengeance on the
Author of this Falshood, and for offering a Reward to whoever could
discover him. But it was thought more necessary first to disprove the
Falshood, and then to pay what Compliments might be thought adviseable
to the Author. Accordingly an Order from the King was obtained, to have
our Tenement surveyed by Sir _Thomas Hewet_, then the proper Officer;
whose Report of its being in a safe and sound Condition, and sign'd by
him, was publish'd in every News-Paper.[131] This had so immediate an
Effect, that our Spectators, whose Apprehensions had lately kept them
absent, now made up our Losses by returning to us with a fresh
Inclination and in greater Numbers.
When it was first publickly known that the New Theatre would be open'd
against us; I cannot help going a little back to remember the Concern
that my Brother-Menagers express'd at what might be the Consequences of
it. They imagined that now all those who wish'd Ill to us, and
particularly a great Party who had been disobliged by our shutting them
out from behind our Scenes, even to the Refusal of their Money,[132]
would now exert themselves in any partial or extravagant Measures that
might either hurt us or support our Competitors: These, too, were some
of those farther Reasons which had discouraged them from running the
hazard of continuing to Sir _Richard Steele_ the same Pension which had
been paid to _Collier_. Upon all which I observed to them, that, for my
own Part, I had not the same Apprehensions; but that I foresaw as many
good as bad Consequences from two Houses: That tho' the Novelty might
possibly at first abate a little of our Profits; yet, if we slacken'd
not our Industry, that Loss would be amply balanced by an equal Increase
of our Ease and Quiet: That those turbulent Spirits which were always
molesting us, would now have other Employment: That the question'd Merit
of our Acting would now stand in a clearer Light when others were
faintly compared to us: That though Faults might be found with the best
Actors that ever were, yet the egregious Defects that would appear in
others would now be the effectual means to make our Superiority shine,
if we had any Pretence to it: And that what some People hoped might ruin
us, would in the end reduce them to give up the Dispute, and reconcile
them to those who could best entertain them.
In every Article of this Opinion they afterwards found I had not been
deceived; and the Truth of it may be so well remember'd by many living
Spectators, that it would be too frivolous and needless a Boast to give
it any farther Observation.
But in what I have said I would not be understood to be an Advocate for
two Play-houses: For we shall soon find that two Sets of Actors
tolerated in the same Place have constantly ended in the Corruption of
the Theatre; of which the auxiliary Entertainments that have so
barbarously supply'd the Defects of weak Action have, for some Years
past, been a flagrant Instance; it may not, therefore, be here improper
to shew how our childish Pantomimes first came to take so gross a
Possession of the Stage.
I have upon several occasions already observ'd, that when one Company is
too hard for another, the lower in Reputation has always been forced to
exhibit some new-fangled Foppery to draw the Multitude after them: Of
these Expedients, Singing and Dancing had formerly been the most
effectual;[133] but, at the Time I am speaking of, our _English_ Musick
had been so discountenanced since the Taste of _Italian_ Operas
prevail'd, that it was to no purpose to pretend to it.[134] Dancing
therefore was now the only Weight in the opposite Scale, and as the New
Theatre sometimes found their Account in it, it could not be safe for
us wholly to neglect it. To give even Dancing therefore some
Improvement, and to make it something more than Motion without Meaning,
the Fable of _Mars_ and _Venus_[135] was form'd into a connected
Presentation of Dances in Character, wherein the Passions were so
happily expressed, and the whole Story so intelligibly told by a mute
Narration of Gesture only, that even thinking Spectators allow'd it both
a pleasing and a rational Entertainment; though, at the same time, from
our Distrust of its Reception, we durst not venture to decorate it with
any extraordinary Expence of Scenes or Habits; but upon the Success of
this Attempt it was rightly concluded, that if a visible Expence in both
were added to something of the same Nature, it could not fail of drawing
the Town proportionably after it. From this original Hint then (but
every way unequal to it) sprung forth that Succession of monstrous
Medlies that have so long infested the Stage, and which arose upon one
another alternately, at both Houses outvying in Expence, like contending
Bribes on both sides at an Election, to secure a Majority of the
Multitude. But so it is, Truth may complain and Merit murmur with what
Justice it may, the Few will never be a Match for the Many, unless
Authority should think fit to interpose and put down these Poetical
Drams, these Gin-shops of the Stage, that intoxicate its Auditors and
dishonour their Understanding with a Levity for which I want a
Name.[136]
If I am ask'd (after my condemning these Fooleries myself) how I came to
assent or continue my Share of Expence to them? I have no better Excuse
for my Error than confessing it. I did it against my Conscience! and had
not Virtue enough to starve by opposing a Multitude that would have been
too hard for me.[137] Now let me ask an odd Question: Had _Harry the
Fourth_ of _France_ a better Excuse for changing his Religion?[138] I
was still, in my Heart, as much as he could be, on the side of Truth and
Sense, but with this difference, that I had their leave to quit them
when they could not support me: For what Equivalent could I have found
for my falling a Martyr to them? How far the Heroe or the Comedian was
in the wrong, let the Clergy and the Criticks decide. Necessity will be
as good a Plea for the one as the other. But let the Question go which
way it will, _Harry_ IV. has always been allow'd a great Man: And what I
want of his Grandeur, you see by the Inference, Nature has amply
supply'd to me in Vanity; a Pleasure which neither the Pertness of Wit
or the Gravity of Wisdom will ever persuade me to part with. And why is
there not as much Honesty in owning as in concealing it? For though to
hide it may be Wisdom, to be without it is impossible; and where is the
Merit of keeping a Secret which every Body is let into? To say we have
no Vanity, then, is shewing a great deal of it; as to say we _have_ a
great deal cannot be shewing so much: And tho' there may be Art in a
Man's accusing himself, even then it will be more pardonable than
Self-commendation. Do not we find that even good Actions have their
Share of it? that it is as inseparable from our Being as our Nakedness?
And though it may be equally decent to cover it, yet the wisest Man can
no more be without it, than the weakest can believe he was born in his
Cloaths. If then what we say of ourselves be true, and not prejudicial
to others, to be called vain upon it is no more a Reproach than to be
called a brown or a fair Man. Vanity is of all Complexions; 'tis the
growth of every Clime and Capacity; Authors of all Ages have had a
Tincture of it; and yet you read _Horace_, _Montaign_, and Sir _William
Temple_, with Pleasure. Nor am I sure, if it were curable by Precept,
that Mankind would be mended by it! Could Vanity be eradicated from our
Nature, I am afraid that the Reward of most human Virtues would not be
found in this World! And happy is he who has no greater Sin to answer
for in the next!
But what is all this to the Theatrical Follies I was talking of? Perhaps
not a great deal; but it is to my Purpose; for though I am an Historian,
I do not write to the Wise and Learned only; I hope to have Readers of no
more Judgment than some of my _quondam_ Auditors; and I am afraid they
will be as hardly contented with dry Matters of Fact, as with a plain
Play without Entertainments: This Rhapsody, therefore, has been thrown
in as a Dance between the Acts, to make up for the Dullness of what would
have been by itself only proper. But I now come to my Story again.
Notwithstanding, then, this our Compliance with the vulgar Taste, we
generally made use of these Pantomimes but as Crutches to our weakest
Plays: Nor were we so lost to all Sense of what was valuable as to
dishonour our best Authors in such bad Company: We had still a due
Respect to several select Plays that were able to be their own Support;
and in which we found our constant Account, without painting and
patching them out, like Prostitutes, with these Follies in fashion: If
therefore we were not so strictly chaste in the other part of our
Conduct, let the Error of it stand among the silly Consequences of Two
Stages. Could the Interest of both Companies have been united in one
only Theatre, I had been one of the Few that would have us'd my utmost
Endeavour of never admitting to the Stage any Spectacle that ought not
to have been seen there; the Errors of my own Plays, which I could not
see, excepted. And though probably the Majority of Spectators would not
have been so well pleas'd with a Theatre so regulated; yet Sense and
Reason cannot lose their intrinsick Value because the Giddy and the
Ignorant are blind and deaf, or numerous; and I cannot help saying, it
is a Reproach to a sensible People to let Folly so publickly govern
their Pleasures.
While I am making this grave Declaration of what I _would_ have done had
One only Stage been continued; to obtain an easier Belief of my
Sincerity I ought to put my Reader in mind of what I _did_ do, even
after Two Companies were again establish'd.
About this Time _Jacobitism_ had lately exerted itself by the most
unprovoked Rebellion that our Histories have handed down to us since the
_Norman_ Conquest:[139] I therefore thought that to set the Authors and
Principles of that desperate Folly in a fair Light, by allowing the
mistaken Consciences of some their best Excuse, and by making the artful
Pretenders to Conscience as ridiculous as they were ungratefully wicked,
was a Subject fit for the honest Satire of Comedy, and what might, if it
succeeded, do Honour to the Stage by shewing the valuable Use of
it.[140] And considering what Numbers at that time might come to it as
prejudic'd Spectators, it may be allow'd that the Undertaking was not
less hazardous than laudable.
To give Life, therefore, to this Design, I borrow'd the _Tartuffe_ of
_Moliere_, and turn'd him into a modern _Nonjuror_:[141] Upon the
Hypocrisy of the _French_ Character I ingrafted a stronger Wickedness,
that of an _English_ Popish Priest lurking under the Doctrine of our own
Church to raise his Fortune upon the Ruin of a worthy Gentleman, whom
his dissembled Sanctity had seduc'd into the treasonable Cause of a
_Roman Catholick_ Out-law. How this Design, in the Play, was executed, I
refer to the Readers of it; it cannot be mended by any critical Remarks
I can make in its favour: Let it speak for itself. All the Reason I had
to think it no bad Performance was, that it was acted eighteen Days
running,[142] and that the Party that were hurt by it (as I have been
told) have not been the smallest Number of my back Friends ever since.
But happy was it for this Play that the very Subject was its Protection;
a few Smiles of silent Contempt were the utmost Disgrace that on the
first Day of its Appearance it was thought safe to throw upon it; as the
Satire was chiefly employ'd on the Enemies of the Government, they were
not so hardy as to own themselves such by any higher Disapprobation or
Resentment. But as it was then probable I might write again, they knew
it would not be long before they might with more Security give a Loose
to their Spleen, and make up Accounts with me. And to do them Justice,
in every Play I afterwards produced they paid me the Balance to a
Tittle.[143] But to none was I more beholden than that celebrated Author
Mr. _Mist_, whose _Weekly Journal_,[144] for about fifteen Years
following, scarce ever fail'd of passing some of his Party Compliments
upon me: The State and the Stage were his frequent Parallels, and the
Minister and _Minheer Keiber_ the Menager were as constantly droll'd
upon: Now, for my own Part, though I could never persuade my Wit to have
an open Account with him (for as he had no Effects of his own, I did not
think myself oblig'd to answer his Bills;) notwithstanding, I will be so
charitable to his real _Manes_, and to the Ashes of his Paper, as to
mention one particular Civility he paid to my Memory, after he thought
he had ingeniously kill'd me. Soon after the _Nonjuror_ had receiv'd
the Favour of the Town, I read in one of his Journals the following
short Paragraph, _viz._ _Yesterday died Mr._ Colley Cibber, _late
Comedian of the Theatre-Royal, notorious for writing the_ Nonjuror. The
Compliment in the latter part I confess I did not dislike, because it
came from so impartial a Judge; and it really so happen'd that the
former part of it was very near being true; for I had that very Day just
crawled out, after having been some Weeks laid up by a Fever: However, I
saw no use in being thought to be thoroughly dead before my Time, and
therefore had a mind to see whether the Town cared to have me alive
again: So the Play of the _Orphan_ being to be acted that Day, I quietly
stole myself into the Part of the _Chaplain_, which I had not been seen
in for many Years before. The Surprize of the Audience at my unexpected
Appearance on the very Day I had been dead in the News, and the Paleness
of my Looks, seem'd to make it a Doubt whether I was not the Ghost of my
real Self departed: But when I spoke, their Wonder eas'd itself by an
Applause; which convinc'd me they were then satisfied that my Friend
_Mist_ had told a _Fib_ of me. Now, if simply to have shown myself in
broad Life, and about my Business, after he had _notoriously_ reported
me dead, can be called a Reply, it was the only one which his Paper
while alive ever drew from me. How far I may be vain, then, in supposing
that this Play brought me into the Disfavour of so many Wits[145] and
valiant Auditors as afterwards appear'd against me, let those who may
think it worth their Notice judge. In the mean time, 'till I can find a
better Excuse for their sometimes particular Treatment of me, I cannot
easily give up my Suspicion: And if I add a more remarkable Fact, that
afterwards confirm'd me in it, perhaps it may incline others to join
in my Opinion.
On the first Day of the _Provok'd Husband_, ten Years after the _Nonjuror_
had appear'd,[146] a powerful Party, not having the Fear of publick
Offence or private Injury before their Eyes, appear'd most impetuously
concern'd for the Demolition of it; in which they so far succeeded, that
for some Time I gave it up for lost; and to follow their Blows, in the
publick Papers of the next Day it was attack'd and triumph'd over as a
dead and damn'd Piece; a swinging Criticism was made upon it in general
invective Terms, for they disdain'd to trouble the World with Particulars;
their Sentence, it seems, was Proof enough of its deserving the Fate it
had met with. But this damn'd Play was, notwithstanding, acted
twenty-eight Nights together, and left off at a Receipt of upwards of a
hundred and forty Pounds; which happen'd to be more than in fifty Years
before could be then said of any one Play whatsoever.
Now, if such notable Behaviour could break out upon so successful a Play
(which too, upon the Share Sir _John Vanbrugh_ had in it, I will venture
to call a good one) what shall we impute it to? Why may not I plainly
say, it was not the Play, but Me, who had a Hand in it, they did not
like? And for what Reason? if they were not asham'd of it, why did not
they publish it? No! the Reason had publish'd itself, I was the Author
of the _Nonjuror_! But, perhaps, of all Authors, I ought not to make
this sort of Complaint, because I have Reason to think that that
particular Offence has made me more honourable Friends than Enemies; the
latter of which I am not unwilling should know (however unequal the
Merit may be to the Reward) that Part of the Bread I now eat was given
me for having writ the _Nonjuror_.[147]
And yet I cannot but lament, with many quiet Spectators, the helpless
Misfortune that has so many Years attended the Stage! That no Law has had
Force enough to give it absolute Protection! for 'till we can civilize its
Auditors, the Authors that write for it will seldom have a greater Call to
it than Necessity; and how unlikely is the Imagination of the Needy to
inform or delight the Many in Affluence? or how often does Necessity make
many unhappy Gentlemen turn Authors in spite of Nature?
What a Blessing, therefore, is it! what an enjoy'd Deliverance! after a
Wretch has been driven by Fortune to stand so many wanton Buffets of
unmanly Fierceness, to find himself at last quietly lifted above the
Reach of them!
But let not this Reflection fall upon my Auditors without Distinction;
for though Candour and Benevolence are silent Virtues, they are as
visible as the most vociferous Ill-nature; and I confess the Publick has
given me more frequently Reason to be thankful than to complain.