_note_ 1, i. 35, _note_ 2, i. 48, _note_ 1, i. 78, _note_
1, i. 101, _note_ 2, i. 122, _note_ 1, i. 123, _note_ 1, i. 140,
_note_ 1, i. 157, _note_ 2, i. 174, _note_ 2, i. 182, _note_ 2,
i. 191, _note_ 2, i. 222, _note_ 1, i. 224, _note_ 1, i. 238,
_note_ 1, i. 239, _note_ 1, i. 242, _note_ 1, i. 256, _note_ 1,
i. 258, _note_ 2, i. 264, _note_ 1, i. 273, _note_ 2, i. 300,
_note_ 1, i. 312, _note_ 2, ii. 30, _note_ 1, ii. 37, _note_ 1,
ii. 121, _note_ 1, ii. 148, _note_ 1, ii. 160, _note_ 1, ii.
163, _note_ 1, ii. 251, _note_ 1, ii. 256, _note_ 1, ii. 335,
_note_ 1, ii. 356.
Lebrun, Charles, painter, alluded to, i. 106.
Lee, Charles Henry, Master of the Revels, ii. 260.
---- Mrs. Mary, i. 163, _note_ 1.
---- Nathaniel, ii. 327;
his "Alexander the Great," i. 105;
a perfect reader of his own works, i. 113;
Mohun's compliment to him, i. 114;
failed as an actor, i. 114.
Leigh, Anthony, i. 98, i. 142, i. 304, i. 327;
Cibber's account of, i. 145-154;
his exuberant humour, i. 145;
in "The Spanish Friar," i. 145;
painted in the character of the Spanish Friar, i. 146;
his best characters, i. 146, i. 149;
and Nokes, their combined excellence, i. 147, his superiority to
Pinkethman, i. 149;
the favourite actor of Charles II., i. 154;
compared with Nokes, i. 154;
his death, i. 154, i. 188;
his "gag" regarding Obadiah Walker's change of religion, ii. 134;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 349.
Leigh, Mrs. Elizabeth, i. 98;
Cibber's account of, i. 162-163;
her peculiar comedy powers, i. 162;
note regarding her, i. 163, _note_ 1.
---- Francis, ii. 77, _note_ 1, ii. 94, _note_ 1, ii. 169, _note_ 2,
ii. 170, _note_ 1.
Leveridge, Richard, ii. 169, _note_ 3.
Licence granted by King William in 1695, i. 98.
Licensing Act of 1737, i. 278, _note_ 1, i. 286, i. 287, _note_ 4,
ii. 262.
"Lick at the Laureat," said to be the title of a pamphlet, i. 35,
_note_ 2.
Lincoln's Inn Fields, Duke's old Theatre in, i. xxxii., i. 88,
_note_ 2.
---- Betterton's theatre in, i. 194;
its opening, i. 196;
its success at first, i. 227;
its speedy disintegration, i. 228.
---- Rich's theatre in, ii. 79, ii. 100;
its exact situation, ii. 101, _note_ 1;
Rich's Patent revived at, ii. 165;
its opening, ii. 166, _note_ 1, ii. 171, _note_ 1;
actors desert Drury Lane to join, ii. 169.
"London Cuckolds," i. 267.
"London News-Letter," i. 302, _note_ 2.
Lord Chamberlain, Cibber on the power of the, ii. 10-23, ii. 74;
his name not mentioned in the Patents, ii. 10;
Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane on the power of, ii. 11, _note_ 1;
his power of licensing plays, ii. 11;
plays vetoed by him, ii. 12-14;
actors arrested by his orders, ii. 17-22;
his edicts against desertions, ii. 17, _note_ 1, ii. 18,
_note_ 1;
said to favour Betterton at the expense of rival managers, ii. 18;
various edicts regarding Powell, ii. 19, _note_ 1, ii. 20, _note_ 1,
ii. 94, _note_ 1;
warrant to arrest Dogget, ii. 21, _note_ 1;
his edict separating plays and operas in 1707, ii. 49, _note_ 1;
interferes on behalf of actors in their dispute with the Patentees
in 1709, ii. 68;
silences Patentees for contumacy, ii. 72;
his order for silence, 1709, quoted, ii. 73, _note_ 1.
Lord Chamberlain's Records, i. 229, _note_ 1, i. 315, _note_ 2, ii.
17, _note_ 1, ii. 18, _note_ 1, ii. 19, _note_ 1, ii. 20,
_note_ 1, ii. 21, _note_ 1, ii. 49, _note_ 1, ii. 50, _note_ 1,
ii. 69, _note_ 1, ii. 73, _note_ 1, ii. 79, _note_ 2, ii. 94,
_note_ 1, ii. 102, _note_ 1, ii. 108, _note_ 2, ii. 171,
_note_ 1, ii. 193, _note_ 1, ii. 218, _note_ 1, ii. 219, _note_ 1,
ii. 257, _note_ 1.
Lorraine, Duke of, ii. 219.
Louis XIV., mentioned, i. 6.
---- Prince, of Baden, ii. 228.
"Love in a Riddle," cast of, i. 244, _note_ 1.
Lovel (actor), ii. 347.
Lovelace, Lord, ii. 304.
"Love's Last Shift," cast of, i. 213, _note_ 1.
Lowin, John, ii. 335;
arrested for acting, i. xxx.;
superior to Hart, i. xxiv.;
his chief characters, i. xxvi.;
too old to go into Charles I.'s army, i. xxix.;
becomes an inn-keeper, and dies very poor, i. xxxi.
"Lucius Junius Brutus," by Lee, vetoed, ii. 13.
"Ludus Coventriæ," i. xxxviii.;
these plays acted at other towns besides Coventry, i. xxxviii.;
a description of them, i. xxxviii. _et seq._
"Lunatick, The," ii. 252, _note_ 1.
Luttrell's Diary quoted, i. 302, _note_ 2.
Macaulay, Lord, his "History of England" referred to, ii. 134,
_note_ 3.
"Macbeth" _in the nature of an opera_, i. 94, _note_ 1;
ii. 228, ii. 229, _note_ 1.
Macclesfield, Countess of, ii. 39. See also Mrs. Brett.
Macklin, Charles, ii. 270, ii. 362;
his first coming to London, ii. 261;
a great reformer, ii. 262.
Macready, William C, mentioned, i. 135, _note_ 1.
MacSwiney, Owen. See Swiney, Owen.
"Maid's Tragedy" vetoed in Charles II.'s time, ii. 12;
played with altered catastrophe, ii. 12.
Mainwaring, Arthur, ii. 369, _note_ 2.
Malone, Edmond, i. 185, _note_ 1, i. 197, _note_ 3, ii. 32, _note_ 1,
ii. 138, _note_ 1.
Management, Cibber on the duties and responsibilities of, ii. 199-207.
Margaret, Queen of Henry VI., pageant played before her, i. xl.
Marlborough, Duchess of. See Churchill, Lady.
---- Duke of, ii. 96, _note_ 1, ii. 130, ii. 164, ii. 228.
"Marriage à la Mode," by Cibber, cast of, ii. 5, _note_ 1.
Marshall, Anne, i. 161, _note_ 1;
said to be the first English actress, i. 90, _note_ 1.
---- Julian, his "Annals of Tennis" quoted, i. 315, _note_ 1.
Mary, the Virgin, and Joseph, characters in the "Ludus Coventriæ,"
i. xxxix.
---- Queen, her death, i. 193.
"Mary, Queen of Scotland," by Banks, vetoed, ii. 14.
Masculus, a comedian, who was a Christian martyr, i. xxii.
Masks, Ladies wearing, at the theatre, i. 266;
ultimately the mark of a prostitute, i. 267, _note_ 1.
Mason, Miss. See Countess of Macclesfield, and Mrs. Brett.
Masques, enormous expense of, ii. 209.
Master of the Revels. See Revels.
Mathews, Charles (the elder), his powers of imitation referred to,
i. 115, _note_ 1.
Mathias, St., the choosing of, as an apostle, dramatized in the
"Ludus Coventriæ," i. xxxviii.
Matthews, Brander, ii. 289, _note_ 1.
Maynard, Serjeant, a Whig lawyer, satirized, i. 149, _note_ 2.
Medbourn, Matthew, ii. 346.
Melcombe, Lord, mentioned, i. 14, _note_ 1.
"Mery Play between the Pardoner and the Frere, the Curate and
Neybour Pratte, A," described, i. xlv.
Miller, James, his "Art and Nature" failed, i. 152, _note_ 1.
---- Josias (actor), ii. 262.
Mills, John, i. 332, ii. 70, _note_ 2, ii. 129, _note_ 2, ii. 259,
_note_ 1, ii. 262;
his friendship with Wilks, i. 259, ii. 223;
his honesty and diligence, i. 260;
his large salary, i. 260;
advertisement regarding his salary, 1709, ii. 78, _note_ 1;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 362;
and the country squire, ii. 363.
Milward, William, i. 224, _note_ 2.
Mist, Nathaniel. See "Mist's Weekly Journal."
"Mist's Weekly Journal," ii. 163, _note_ 1, ii. 167, ii. 187.
Mohun, Lord, ii. 314;
implicated in Mountfort's death, i. 130, _note_ 1, ii. 342.
---- Michael, superior to his successors, i. xxiv.;
apprentice to Beeston, i. xxv.;
acted Bellamente, i. xxv.;
a captain in Charles I.'s army, i. xxix.;
his death, i. 96;
his admiration of Nat. Lee's elocution, i. 114;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 326.
Montague, Captain, insults Miss Santlow, i. 76;
chastised by Mr. Craggs, i. 77.
Moore, Mrs., ii. 77, _note_ 1, ii. 94, _note_ 1.
Morley, Professor Henry, his edition of the "Spectator," ii. 54,
_note_ 1.
Mountfort, William, i. 98, i. 108, i. 170, _note_ 1, i. 237, ii. 314;
taken into good society, i. 83;
Cibber's account of, i. 127-130;
his voice and appearance, i. 127;
his Alexander the Great, i. 127;
his excellent acting of fine gentlemen, i. 127;
his delivery of witty passages, i. 128;
his Rover, i. 128;
his versatility, i. 128, i. 210;
his Sparkish ("Country Wife") and his Sir Courtly Nice, i. 129;
copied by Cibber in Sir Courtly Nice, i. 129;
his tragic death, i. 130, i. 188;
memoir of him, i. 130, _note_ 1;
Tom Brown on his connection with Mrs. Bracegirdle, i. 170, _note_ 1;
his comedy of "Greenwich Park," ii. 41;
copied by Wilks, ii. 241;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 341;
full account of his death by the hands of Capt. Hill, ii. 342-345.
---- Mrs., i. 98, i. 237, ii. 343, ii. 367;
Cibber's account of, i. 165-169;
her variety of humour, i. 165;
her artistic feeling, i. 166;
her acting of the Western Lass, i. 166;
in male parts, i. 167;
plays Bayes with success, i. 167;
the excellence of her Melantha, i. 167;
memoir of, i. 169, _note_ 1;
leaves Betterton's company in 1695, i. 200;
her death, ii. 306;
Anthony Aston's description of, ii. 313.
Mountfort, Susanna, i. 334, _note_ 1.
Music in the theatre, i. xxxii.
Newcastle, Duke of, ii. 219;
(Lord Chamberlain), his persecution of Steele, ii. 193, _note_ 1.
Newington Butts, i. xlix.
Newman, Thomas, actor, one of their Majesties' servants, i. 88,
_note_ 3.
Nichols, John, his "Theatre, Anti-Theatre, &c.," ii. 66, _note_ 2,
ii. 168, _note_ 1, ii. 174, _note_ 2, ii. 176, _note_ 1, ii. 177,
_note_ 1, ii. 193, _note_ 1.
Nicolini (Nicolo Grimaldi), singer, ii. 48, ii. 51;
Cibber's high praise of, ii. 51;
praised by the "Tatler," ii. 52.
Noblemen's companies of players, i. xlvii.
Nokes, James, i. 98;
Cibber's description of, i. 141-145;
his natural simplicity, i. 141;
could not be imitated, i. 142;
his best characters, i. 142;
his ludicrous distress, i. 143;
his voice and person, i. 145;
and Leigh, their combined excellence, i. 147;
compared with Leigh, i. 154;
his death, i. 188;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 346;
why called "Nurse Nokes," ii. 348.
Nokes, Robert, i. 141, _note_ 1, i. 143, _note_ 2, ii. 346.
"Nonjuror, The," a line in the epilogue quoted, i. 49;
cast of, ii. 185, _note_ 2.
Norris, Henry, ii. 77, _note_ 1, ii. 94, _note_ 1.
---- Mrs., said to be the first English actress, i. 90, _note_ 1.
Northey, Sir Edward, his "opinion" on the Patent, ii. 32, _note_ 1.
Oates, Titus, i. 133.
Odell, Thomas, his theatre in Goodman's Fields, i. 282, _note_ 1.
"Old and New London," referred to, ii. 104, _note_ 1.
Oldfield, Mrs. Anne, i. 157, i. 251, _note_ 1, i. 332, ii. 69, ii.
129, _note_ 2, ii. 358;
memoirs of, published immediately after her death, i. 5;
her acting of Lady Townly praised in high-flown terms by Cibber,
i. 51, i. 312, _note_ 3;
admitted into good society, i. 83;
her unpromising commencement as an actress, i. 159, i. 305;
compared with Mrs. Butler, i. 164;
her rivalry with Mrs. Bracegirdle, i. 174, _note_ 2;
Cibber's account of, i. 305-312;
her good sense, i. 310;
her unexpected excellence, i. 306;
Cibber writes "The Careless Husband" chiefly for her, i. 308;
her perfect acting in it, i. 309;
and Wilks playing in same pieces, i. 314;
proposed to be made a manager, ii. 69;
gets increased salary instead, ii. 71;
advertisement regarding her salary, 1709, ii. 78, _note_ 1;
riot directed against, ii. 166;
settles a dispute between Wilks, Cibber, and Booth, ii. 236;
her death, ii. 254;
copied Mrs. Mountfort in comedy, ii. 313;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 367;
and Richard Savage, ii. 369.
Opera, i. 111;
control of, given to Swiney, ii. 48.
---- Italian, account of its first separate establishment, ii. 50-55;
decline of Italian, ii. 87-91.
Otway, Thomas, his failure as an actor, i. 114, _note_ 1;
his "Orphan," i. 116, _note_ 2.
Oxford, visited by the actors in 1713, ii. 133, ii. 135;
Dryden's Prologues at, ii. 134, ii. 136, _note_ 1;
its critical discernment, ii. 136.
---- Lord, Guiscard's attack on, referred to, i. 291.
Pack, George, ii. 77, _note_ 1, ii. 94, _note_ 1;
account of, ii. 169, _note_ 3.
Pageants formed part in receptions of princes, &c., i. xl. _et seq._
Painting the face on the stage, i. 182, _note_ 1.
Pantomimes, the origin of, ii. 180;
Cibber's opinion of, ii. 180;
"The Dunciad" on, ii. 181, _note_ 1.
"Papal Tyranny in the Reign of King John," cast of, ii. 269, _note_ 1.
Parish-clerks, play acted by, in 1391, i. xxxv.
Parliamentary reports on the theatres, i. 278, _note_ 1.
"Parson's Wedding, The," played entirely by women, i. xxxii.
"Pasquin" quoted, i. 36, _note_ 2.
Patent, copy of, granted to Sir William Davenant in 1663, i. liii.;
Steele's, ii. 174.
Patentees, the, their foolish parsimony, i. 164;
their ill-treatment of Betterton and other actors, i. 187;
the actors combine against them, i. 189;
their deserted condition, i. 194. (For transactions of the Patentees,
see also Rich, C.)
Pavy, Sal, a famous child-actor, i. xxxvi.;
Ben Jonson's epigram on, i. xxxvi.
Pelham, Hon. Henry, Cibber's "Apology" dedicated to, i. lv., _note_ 1.
Pembroke, Earl of, ii. 105, _note_ 1.
Pepys, Samuel, his "Diary," i. 119, _note_ 1, i. 161, _note_ 2, i.
182, _note_ 1, i. 267, _note_ 1, i. 303, _note_ 1.
Percival (actor), i. 183, _note_ 1.
Perkins, an eminent actor, i. xxvi.;
his death, i. xxxi.
Perrin, Mons. (of the Théâtre Français), ii. 221, _note_ 1, ii. 246,
_note_ 1.
Perriwigs, enormous, worn by actors, ii. 36, _note_ 1.
Phoenix, the, or Cockpit, i. xxvi.
"Picture, The," i. xxv.
Pinkethman, William, i. 313, i. 334, _note_ 1, ii. 129, _note_ 2, ii.
252, _note_ 1;
his inferiority to Anthony Leigh, i. 149;
his liberties with the audience, i. 152;
hissed for them, i. 153, _note_ 1;
his lack of judgment, i. 150;
plays Harlequin without the mask, i. 151;
his success as Lory in "The Relapse," i. 230;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 348.
---- the younger, ii. 349.
Plays, value of old, for information on manners, i. xxi.;
old, no actors' names given, i. xxv.;
originally used for religious purposes, i. xxxiv., i. xxxv.;
their early introduction, i. xxxvii.;
began to alter in form about the time of Henry VIII., i. xlv.;
origin of, in Greece and England, i. xlviii.;
the alteration in their subjects noticed by Stow in 1598, i. xlviii.;
temporarily suspended, i. xlix.;
arranged to be divided between Davenant's and Killigrew's companies,
i. 91;
expenses of, i. 197, _note_ 3.
Players defended regarding character, i. xxii.;
not to be described as rogues and vagabonds, i. xlix.;
entirely suppressed by ordinances of the Long Parliament, i. li.
Playhouses, large number of, in 1629, i. xlix.
"Poems on Affairs of State," quoted, i. 170, _note_ 1.
"Poetaster, The," played by the Children of her Majesty's Chapel, i.
xxxvi.
Poet Laureate, Cibber appointed, 1730, i. 32, _note_ 1.
Pollard, Thomas, a comedian, i. xxvi.;
superior to Hart, i. xxiv.;
too old to go into Charles I.'s army, i. xxix.;
arrested for acting, i. xxx.;
his retirement and death, i. xxxi.
Pollixfen, Judge, ii. 315.
Ponsonby-Fane, Sir Spencer, his memorandum on the power of the Lord
Chamberlain, ii. 11, _note_ 1.
Pope, Alexander, ii. 151;
Cibber's "Letter" to, quoted, i. 3, _note_ 1;
Cibber's first allusion to Pope's enmity, i. 21;
an epigram comparing Pope and Cibber in society, i. 29, _note_ 1;
Cibber's opinion of Pope's attacks, i. 35;
some of Pope's attacks quoted, i. 36, _note_ 1;
his attack on Atticus (Addison), i. 38;
Cibber's "Letter" to, quoted, i. 44, _note_ 1, i. 45, _note_ 2;
epigram attributed to him, on Cibber's Laureateship, i. 46, _note_ 1;
his "Moral Essays," quoted, i. 307, _note_ 3;
attacks Cibber for countenancing pantomimes, ii. 182, _note_ 1;
"The Nonjuror" a cause of his enmity to Cibber, ii. 189, _note_ 1;
his "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," ii. 189, _note_ 1;
his quarrel with Cibber, ii. 270-283;
Cibber's "Letter" to him, ii. 271;
his famous adventure, ii. 278;
Cibber's second "Letter" to, ii. 281;
his portrait of Betterton, ii. 339;
his attacks on Mrs. Oldfield, ii. 370. (See also "Dunciad.")
Porter, Mrs. Mary, ii. 129, _note_ 2, ii. 303, ii. 368;
Dogget plays for her benefit after his retirement, ii. 158;
accident to, ii. 254, ii. 365;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 365.
Portuguese, the, and religious plays, i. xxxv.
"Post-Boy Rob'd of his Mail," i. 328, _note_ 1, i. 329, _note_ 1.
Powell, George, i. 157, i. 193, i. 203, _note_ 1, i. 228, i. 259, i.
334. _note_ 1, ii. 77, _note_ 1, ii. 94, _note_ 1, ii. 129,
_note_ 2, ii. 238, ii. 301, ii. 311, ii. 363;
offered some of Betterton's parts, i. 188;
his indiscretion as a manager, i. 204;
mimics Betterton, i. 205, i. 207, _note_ 1;
the contest between him and Wilks for supremacy at Drury Lane, i.
237-243, i. 251-256;
his carelessness, i. 240, i. 243;
deserts Drury Lane, i. 239;
returns to Drury Lane, i. 239;
arrested for deserting his manager, ii. 18;
arrested for striking young Davenant, ii. 19;
discharged for assaulting Aaron Hill in 1710, ii. 94, _note_ 1;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 352.
Price, Joseph, account of him by Bellchambers, i. 146, _note_ 1.
Prince's Servants, The, before, 1642, i. xxvi.
Pritchard, Mrs., ii. 268, _note_ 1.
Profits made by the old actors, i. xxxii.;
of the theatre, how divided in 1682, i. 97.
Prologue-speaking, the art of, i. 271.
"Prophetess, The," i. 187.
"Provoked Husband," cast of, i. 311, _note_ 1.
"Provoked Wife," altered, ii. 233.
"Psyche," an opera, i. 94.
Puppet-show in Salisbury Change, i. 95.
Purcell, Henry, i. 187, _note_ 1, ii. 312.
Quantz, Mons., ii. 89, _note_ 1.
Queen's Servants, The, before 1642, i. xxvi.
---- Theatre in the Haymarket, success of Swiney's company in, ii. 1;
set aside for operas only, ii. 48;
its interior altered, ii. 79;
opened by the seceders from Drury Lane in 1709, ii. 87.
Quin, James, i. 224, _note_ 2, ii. 259, _note_ 1;
the chief actor at Garrick's appearance, ii. 262.
Raftor, Catherine. See Clive.
---- James, i. 330, _note_ 1.
Raillery, reflections on, i. 11.
Raymond, his "opinion" on the Patent, ii. 32, _note_ 1.
Red Bull Theatre, i. xxvi., i. xxix.;
used by King's Company after the Restoration, i. xxxi.;
drawing of the stage of the, ii. 84, _note_ 1.
Reformation of the stage, Cibber on, i. 81.
Rehan, Ada, a great comedian, ii. 289.
Religion and the stage, i. xxi., i. xxxiii.
"Renegado, The," i. xxv.
Revels, Master of the, his unreasonableness to Cibber, i. 275;
his fees refused to be paid, i. 277.
Rhodes, the prompter, ii. 333, ii. 339;
his company, at the Cockpit, i. xxviii.;
his company of actors engaged by Davenant, i. 87, _note_ 1.
Rich, Christopher, Patentee of Drury Lane, i. 181, _note_ 1, ii.
336, ii. 361, ii. 367;
description of, i. 233, _note_ 1;
admits servants to theatre gratis, i. 233;
his treatment of his actors, i. 252;
consults Cibber on matters of management, i. 253;
his principles of management, i. 262, ii. 6-8;
his tactics to avoid settling with his partners, i. 328;
his objections to an union of the two companies, i. 329;
permits Swiney to rent the Queen's Theatre, i. 331;
his foolish neglect of his actors, i. 334;
declines to execute his agreement with Swiney, i. 336;
wishes to bring an elephant on the stage, ii. 6;
introduces rope-dancers at Drury Lane, ii. 7;
silenced for receiving Powell, ii. 19, _note_ 1;
his share in the Patent, ii. 32, _note_ 1, ii. 98;
his dealings with Col. Brett, ii. 42-49, ii. 56-60;
Cibber on his misconduct, ii. 46;
his foolish mismanagement, ii. 60, ii. 65;
confiscates part of his actors' benefits, ii. 66;
ordered to refund this, ii. 68;
silenced by the Lord Chamberlain (1709), ii. 72;
his proceedings after being silenced, ii. 77, ii. 79, _note_ 2;
an advertisement issued by him regarding actors' salaries in 1709,
ii. 78, _note_ 1;
evicted by Collier from Drury Lane (1709), ii. 92;
his Patent revived in 1714, ii. 79, ii. 165;
his extraordinary behaviour to the Lord Chamberlain, ii. 98;
Genest's character of him, ii. 98, _note_ 1;
rebuilds Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, ii. 100;
his death, ii. 166, _note_ 1.
Rich, John, ii. 79, ii. 98, _note_ 2;
opens Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, ii. 166, _note_ 1;
an excellent Harlequin, ii. 181, _note_ 1;
manages the Lincoln's Inn Fields company, ii. 262;
opens Covent Garden, ii. 262.
"Richard III.," Cibber's adaptation of, i. 139;
his playing in, i. 139, i. 275;
cast of, ii. 288, _note_ 1.
Richardson, Jonathan, ii. 276.
Roberts, Mrs., one of Charles II.'s mistresses, ii. 212.
Robins, a comedian, i. xxvi.
Robinson, William, ii. 322;
Hart apprenticed to, i. xxiv.;
a comedian, i. xxvi.;
murdered by Harrison, i. xxix.
Rochester, Lord, ii. 138, _note_ 1, ii. 303.
Rogers, Mrs., i. 332, ii. 129, _note_ 2, ii. 169, _note_ 2, ii. 353;
her affectation of prudery, i. 135;
becomes Wilks's mistress, i. 136;
her eldest daughter, i. 136;
riot caused by, ii. 166.
Rogues and vagabonds, players not to be described as, i. xlix., i. 1.
"Roman Actor, The," i. xxv.
Roman Catholic religion, attacked by Cibber, i. 80.
Rope-dancers on the stage, ii. 7.
"Roscius Anglicanus." See Downes, John.
Rose Tavern, the, i. 303, _note_ 1.
Rowe, Nicholas, in love with Mrs. Bracegirdle, i. 172;
complains of French dancers, i. 317.
Royal Theatricals during George I.'s reign, ii. 208;
during previous reigns, ii. 209;
effect of audience on actors, ii. 214;
fees for, ii. 218.
Rymer, Thomas, ii. 324.
Sacheverel, Doctor, his trial hurtful to the theatres, ii. 91.
St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, Colley Cibber christened at, i. 7,
_note_ 2.
"St. James's Evening Post," ii. 198, _note_ 1.
St. Paul's Singing School, i. xlix.
Salisbury Court, the private theatre in, i. xxiv., i. xxvi., i.
xxviii.
Salvini, Tommaso, the great Italian tragedian, plays in Italian,
while his company plays in English, i. 325, _note_ 1.
Sandford, Samuel, i. 98, i. 327, ii. 244, _note_ 1;
the "Spagnolet" of the theatre, i. 130;
Cibber's account of him, i. 130-1;
his personal appearance, i. 131;
an actor of villains, i. 131, i. 137;
his Creon ("OEdipus"), i. 131;
the "Tatler" on his acting, i. 132, _note_ 1;
anecdote of his playing an honest character, i. 132;
"a theatrical martyr to poetical justice," i. 137;
his voice and manner of speaking, i. 138;
would have been a perfect Richard III., i. 138;
Cibber plays Richard III. in imitation of, i. 139;
Anthony Aston's description of, ii. 306;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 346.
Santlow, Hester, her first appearance as an actress, ii. 95;
her manner and appearance, ii. 95;
her character, ii. 96, _note_ 1;
her marriage with Booth, ii. 96, _note_ 1.
(See also Booth, Mrs. Barton.)
Satire, reflections on, i. 37;
Cibber's opinion regarding a printed and an acted, i. 289.
Saunderson, Mrs. See Betterton, Mrs.
Savage, Richard, ii. 39, _note_ 1;
and Mrs. Oldfield, ii. 369.
Scenes, first introduced by Sir William Davenant, i. xxxii., i. 87,
_note_ 1.
"Secular Masque, The," i. 268, _note_ 1.
Sedley, Sir Charles, Kynaston's resemblance to, ii. 341.
Senesino (singer), ii. 53.
Sewell, Dr. George, his "Sir Walter Raleigh," ii. 186, _note_ 1.
Shadwell, Charles, his "Fair Quaker of Deal," ii. 95.
---- Thomas, his comedy of "The Squire of Alsatia," i. 148.
Shaftesbury, first Earl of, i. 134, _note_ 1.
Shakespeare, William (see also names of his plays), a better author
than actor, i. xxv., i. 89;
his plays, i. xxv.;
his plays depend less on women than on men, i. 90;
expenses of plays in his time, i. 197.
"Sham Lawyer, The," ii. 252, _note_ 1.
Shank, John, a comedian, i. xxvi.;
played Sir Roger ("Scornful Lady"), i. xxvi.
Shatterel, ii. 326;
superior to his successors, i. xxiv.;
apprentice to Beeston, i. xxv.;
a quartermaster in Charles I.'s army, i. xxix.
Shelton, Lady, ii. 303.
Shore, John, brother-in-law of Colley Cibber, i. 184, _note_ 1.
---- Miss. See Cibber, Mrs. Colley, i. 184, _note_ 1.
"Shore's Folly," i. 184, _note_ 1.
"Silent Woman," i. xxiv.
Singers and dancers introduced by Davenant, i. 94;
difficulty in managing, ii. 88.
Skipwith, Sir George, ii. 60.
---- Sir Thomas (one of the Patentees of Drury Lane), ii. 109;
does Vanbrugh a service, i. 217;
receives "The Relapse" in return, i. 217;
a sharer in the Drury Lane Patent, ii. 31;
assigns his share to Colonel Brett, ii. 32;
his friendship for Brett, ii. 39;
claims his share from Brett, ii. 59.
Smith, William, i. 327, ii. 324, ii. 346;
insulted by one of the audience, i. 79;
defended by the King, i. 79;
driven from the stage because of the King's support of him, i. 79;
taken into good society, i. 83;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 319.
Sophocles, his tragedies, ii. 29.
Southampton House, Bloomsbury, i. 7, _note_ 3.
Southerne, Thomas, ii. 311;
prophesies the success of Cibber's first play, i. 212;
his "Oroonoko," i. 216, _note_ 1.
Spaniards, the, and religious plays, i. xxxv.
"Spectator," ii. 353.
Spiller, James, ii. 169, _note_ 2.
Stage, and religion, i. xxi., i. xxxiii.;
the, Cibber on the reformation of, i. 81;
audience on, forbidden, i. 234;
Cibber on the influence of, ii. 24-31;
shape of the, described, ii. 84;
doors, ii. 84, _note_ 1.
Statute regarding rogues and vagabonds, i. 1.;
against profanity on the stage, i. 1.;
against persons meeting out of their own parishes on Sundays for
sports, etc., i. 1.;
entirely suppressing players, i. li.
Steele, Sir Richard, i. 97, _note_ 2, i. 276, ii. 36, _note_ 1, ii.
109, ii. 128, ii. 151, ii. 217, ii. 251, ii. 257;
substituted for Collier in the Licence, ii. 162;
the benefits he had conferred on Cibber and his partners, ii. 162;
Dennis's attacks on, ii. 168, _note_ 1;
receives a Patent, ii. 173;
assigns equal shares in the Patent to his partners, ii. 174;
account of his transactions in connection with the theatre which
are ignored by Cibber, ii. 193, _note_ 1;
persecuted by the Duke of Newcastle, then Lord Chamberlain, ii.
193, _note_ 1;
his Licence revoked, ii. 193, _note_ 1;
restored to his position, ii. 193, _note_ 1;
the expiry of his Patent, ii. 193, _note_ 1;
assigns his share of the Patent, ii. 196;
brings an action against his partners, ii. 196;
account of the pleadings, ii. 196-208;
his recommendation of Underhill's benefit, ii. 351.
Stow, John, his "Survey of London" quoted, i. xxxv., i. xlviii.
Strolling players, i. xl., i. xlvii., i. 1.
Subligny, Madlle., a French dancer, i. 316.
"Summer Miscellany, The," ii. 272, _note_ 1.
Sumner, an eminent actor, i. xxvi.;
his death, i. xxxi.
Sunderland, Lady (the Little Whig), i. 320.
Swan Theatre, drawing of the stage of the, ii. 84, _note_ 1.
Swanston, Eliard, acted Othello, i. xxvi.;
the only actor that took the Presbyterian side in the Civil War,
i. xxix.
Swift, Jonathan, an attack on Cibber by him in his "Rhapsody on
Poetry" quoted, i. 52, _note_ 2.
Swiney, Owen, i. 97, _note_ 2, ii. 43, ii. 223, ii. 267;
his "Quacks," i. 247, _note_ 1;
account of his character, i. 329;
memoir of, i. 330, _note_ 1;
rents the Queen's Theatre from Vanbrugh, i. 330. i. 333. _note_ 1;
his agreement with Rich about renting the Queen's Theatre, i. 331;
Rich declines to execute it, i. 336;
his success at the Queen's Theatre in 1706-7, ii. 1;
his arrangement with his actors in 1706, ii. 9;
control of the opera given to, ii. 48;
his gain by the opera in 1708, ii. 55;
has joint control of plays and operas (1709), ii. 69;
forced to hand over the opera to Collier, ii. 102;
forced to resume the opera, ii. 107;
goes abroad on account of debt, ii. 108;
his return to England, ii. 108;
Cibber plays for his benefit, ii. 262.
"Tatler," the, i. 38, i. 132, _note_ 1, ii. 75, ii. 93, ii. 229,
_note_ 1, ii. 244, _note_ 1, ii. 244, _note_ 2, ii. 328, ii.
362, ii. 363;
its eulogium of Betterton, i. 118, _note_ 1;
recommends Cave Underhill's benefit, i. 155;
praises Nicolini, ii. 52;
its influence on audiences, ii. 162.
Taylor, John, his "Records of my Life" quoted, i. lxv., _note_ 1.
---- Joseph, ii. 334;
superior to Hart, i. xxiv.;
his chief characters, i. xxvi.;
too old to go into Charles I.'s army, i. xxix.;
arrested for acting, i. xxx.;
his death, i. xxxi.
"Tempest, The," as an opera, i. 94;
revival of, ii. 227.
Theatre, the, mentioned by Stow as recently erected, i. xlviii.
Théâtre Français, ii. 221, _note_ 1, ii. 246, _note_ 1.
Theatres, number of, before 1642, i. xxvi.;
more reputable before 1642, i. xxvii.;
less reputable after the Restoration, i. xxvii.;
evil, artistically, of multiplying, i. 92.
Theobald, Lewis, deposed from the Throne of Dulness, ii. 280.
Thomson, James, his "Sophonisba," ii. 368.
Tofts, Mrs. Katherine, i. 334, _note_ 1, ii. 51;
Cibber's account of, ii. 54.
"Tone" in speaking, i. 110, _note_ 1.
Trinity College, Cambridge, Caius Cibber's statues on the Library,
i. 59;
particulars regarding these, i. 59, _note_ 1.
Underhill, Cave, i. 98, i. 142, i. 327, ii. 307, ii. 346, ii. 347,
ii. 361;
his chief parts, i. 154-155;
Cibber's account of, i. 154-156;
his particular excellence in stupid characters, i. 154;
the peculiarity of his facial expression, i. 155;
his retirement and last appearances, i. 155, _note_ 2;
his death, i. 156;
Anthony Aston's description of, ii. 307;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 350.
Underwood, John, originally a "chapel boy," i. xxxvii.
Union of Companies in 1682, i. xxxii., i. 96;
in 1708, i. 301;
causes that led up to, ii. 45, ii. 48.
Valentini (Valentini Urbani), singer, i. 325, ii. 51, ii. 55.
Vanbrugh, Sir John, i. 269, i. 274, i. 284, ii. 107, ii. 110, ii.
190, ii. 337, ii. 353, ii. 367;
his opinion of Cibber's acting of Richard III., i. 139;
his "Relapse," i. 216, i. 218;
his high opinion of Cibber's acting, i. 216;
his "Provoked Wife," i. 216-217;
in gratitude to Sir Thomas Skipwith presents him with "The Relapse,"
i. 217;
his "Æsop," i. 216, i. 218;
his great ability, i. 219;
alters his "Provoked Wife," ii. 233;
his share in the "Provoked Husband," i. 311, _note_ 1;
builds the Queen's Theatre, i. 319;
and Congreve manage the Queen's Theatre, i. 320, i. 325;
his "Confederacy," i. 325;
"The Cuckold in Conceit" (attributed to him), i. 326;
his "Squire Trelooby," i. 326;
his "Mistake," i. 327;
sole proprietor of the Queen's Theatre, i. 326;
lets it to Swiney, i. 330, i. 333, _note_ 1.
Vaughan, Commissioner, ii. 278, _note_ 1.
"Venice Preserved," ii. 224, _note_ 1.
Verbruggen, John, i. 108, _note_ 2;
mentioned, i. 157, i. 193;
hangs about Downes, the prompter, i. 74, _note_ 1;
note regarding, i. 157, _note_ 2;
Anthony Aston's description of, ii. 311;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 354.
---- Mrs. See Mrs. Mountfort.
Vere Street, Clare Market, theatre in, i. xxxii.
Versatility, Cibber's views on, i. 209.
Victor, Benjamin, ii. 259;
a story told by him of Cibber's cowardice, i. 71, _note_ 1;
his "History of the Theatres," i. 110, _note_ 1, i. 297,
_note_ 1, ii. 259, _note_ 2, ii. 260, _note_ 1, ii. 261,
_note_ 1, ii. 264, ii. 270;
his "Letters" quoted, i. 58, _note_ 1;
his "Life of Booth," i. 5, _note_ 1, ii. 240, _note_ 2.
Villains, Cibber's views on, i. 131;
Macready's views on, referred to, i. 135, _note_ 1;
E. S. Willard mentioned as famous for representing, i. 135,
_note_ 1;
on the acting of, i. 222.
Vizard-masks (women of the town), i. xxvii. See also Masks.
Voltaire, his "Zaïre," ii. 248.
Walker, Obadiah, his change of religion, ii. 134.
Waller, Edmund, altered the last act of the "Maid's Tragedy," ii. 12.
Walpole, Horace, and Cibber, ii. 284.
Warburton, Bishop, mentioned, i. 106, _note_ 1, ii. 281.
Ward, Professor A. W., his "English Dramatic Literature," i. 187,
_note_ 1.
Warwick, Earl of, his frolic with Pope and Cibber, ii. 278.
Weaver, John, his "Loves of Mars and Venus," ii. 180, _note_ 2.
Webster, Benjamin, i. 88, _note_ 3.
"Wedding, The," i. xxv.
"Weekly Packet" quoted, ii. 171, _note_ 1.
Welsted, Leonard, satirically mentioned by Swift, i. 52, _note_ 2.
Westminster Bridge, difficulties in getting permission to build,
ii. 104.
Whig, the Little (Lady Sunderland), i. 320.
White's Club, Cibber a member, i. 29, _note_ 1.
Whitefriars, i. xlix.
"Whitehall Evening Post," Cibber sends verses to, regarding himself,
i. 47.
Whitelocke's "Memorials," ii. 209, _note_ 2.
Wigs. See Perriwigs.
Wildair, Sir Harry, i. 318.
"Wild-Goose Chase, The," i. xxv.
Wilks, Robert, i. 108, _note_ 2, i. 157, i. 270, i. 332, ii. 36,
_note_ 1, ii. 167, ii. 176, ii. 300, ii. 352, ii. 361, ii. 363,
ii. 368;
memoirs published immediately after his death, i. 5;
mistakes in his Hamlet, i. 100, _note_ 1;
lives with Mrs. Rogers, i. 136;
distressed by Pinkethman's "gagging," i. 153, _note_ 1;
his impetuous temper, i. 190, i. 191, _note_ 1, i. 191, _note_ 2,
ii. 127, ii. 150-155, ii. 171;
his return to Drury Lane from Dublin, i. 235;
his commencing as actor, i. 235;
the contest between him and Powell for supremacy at Drury Lane,
i. 237-243, i. 251-256;
his wonderful memory, i. 240, i. 242;
his diligence and care, i. 240, ii. 160;
his good character, i. 243;
made chief actor at Drury Lane, under Rich, i. 256;
his energy in managing, i. 257;
his disputes with Cibber, i. 258;
his friendship with Mills, i. 259;
as a prologue-speaker, i. 271;
the occasion of his coming to London, i. 304;
and Mrs. Oldfield playing in same pieces, i. 314;
made Deputy-manager by Brett, ii. 56, _note_ 1;
made joint-manager with Swiney and others in 1709, ii. 69;
advertisement regarding his salary, 1709, ii. 78, _note_ 1;
his characteristics as a manager, ii. 111, ii. 117;
his patronage of his friends, ii. 121;
his behaviour on Booth's claiming to become a manager, ii. 131,
ii. 141;
his favour for Mills, ii. 223;
his connection with Steele during the dispute about Steele's Patent,
ii. 193, _note_ 1;
his love of acting, ii. 225;
a genuine admirer of Cibber, ii. 226, _note_ 1;
attacked by Dennis, ii. 226, _note_ 2;
his excellence as Macduff, ii. 228;
gives the part to Williams, ii. 229;
but withdraws it, ii. 230;
complains of acting so much, ii. 232;
a scene between him and his partners, ii. 234-237;
benefits arising from his enthusiasm for acting, ii. 237;
and Booth, their opinion of each other, ii. 240;
formed his style on Mountfort's, ii. 241;
Cibber's comparison of Booth and Wilks, ii. 239-245;
his Othello, ii. 244;
death of, ii. 254;
memoir of, ii. 254, _note_ 4;
Patent granted to him, Cibber, and Booth, after Steele's death,
ii. 257.
Wilks, Mrs., inherits Wilks's share in the Patent, ii. 258;
delegates her authority to John Ellys, ii. 258;
her share sold to Fleetwood, ii. 261.
Willard, E. S., mentioned, i. 135, _note_ 1.
William of Orange, Cibber a supporter of, at the Revolution, i. 60;
made king, i. 70;
gives a Licence to Betterton, i. 192, _note_ 1.
Williams, Charles, Wilks gives him the part of Macduff, ii. 229;
but withdraws it, ii. 230;
hissed in mistake for Cibber, i. 179, _note_ 1.
---- Joseph, mentioned, i. 157, i. 200;
Bellchambers's memoir of, ii. 356.
Wiltshire (actor), leaves the stage for the army, i. 84;
killed in Flanders, i. 85.
Winchester College, Cibber stands for election to, and is
unsuccessful, i. 56;
his brother, Lewis Cibber, is afterwards successful, i. 56;
his father presents a statue to, i. 56;
communication from the Head Master of, i. 56, _note_ 2.
Wintershal (actor), belonged to the Salisbury Court Theatre, i. xxiv.
Woffington, Margaret, her artistic feeling, i. 166, _note_ 1;
an anecdote wrongly connected with her, ii. 266.
"Woman's Wit," cast of, i. 264, _note_ 1.
Women, their first introduction on the stage, i. xxxii., i. 89,
_note_ 1, i. 90.
Wren, Sir Christopher, the designer of Drury Lane Theatre, ii. 82.
Wright, James, his "History of Rutlandshire," i. 8;
quoted, i. 9, _note_ 1;
his "Historia Histrionica," i. xix.
Wykeham, William of, Cibber connected with by descent, i. 56.
"Ximena," cast of, ii. 163, _note_ 1.
York, Duke of (James II.), at Whitehall, i. 30.
Young, Dr. Edward, his "Epistle to Mr. Pope" quoted, i. 54, _note_ 1.
Young actors, dearth of, ii. 221.
END OF VOL. I.
[Illustration: CHISWICK PRESS:-C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT,
CHANCERY LANE.]
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 1: Colley Cibber's "brazen brainless brothers." According to
Horace Walpole, "one of the Statues was the portrait of Oliver Cromwell's
porter, then in Bedlam."]
[Footnote 2: Till the 25 Year of Queen _Elizabeth_, the Queen had not
any Players; but in that Year 12 of the best of all those who belonged
to several Lords, were chosen & sworn her Servants, as Grooms of the
Chamber. Stow's _Annals_, p. 698.]
[Footnote 3: The Right Honourable Henry Pelham. Davies ("Life of
Garrick," ii. 377) says that the "Apology" was dedicated to "that wise
and honest minister," Pelham. John Taylor ("Records of my Life," i. 263)
writes: "The name of the person to whom the Dedication to the 'Apology'
was addressed is not mentioned, but the late Mr. John Kemble assured me
that he had authority for saying it was Mr. Pelham, brother to the Duke
of Newcastle." From the internal evidence it seems quite clear that this
is so. In the Verses to Cibber quoted in "The Egotist," p. 69, the
authoress writes:--
"_Some praise a Patron and reveal him:
You paint so true, you can't conceal him._
Their _gaudy Praise undue but shames him,
While_ your's _by Likeness only names him."_]
[Footnote 4: Cibber, in Chapter ix., mentions that he is writing his
Apology at Bath, and Fielding, in the mock trial of "_Col._ Apol." given
in "The Champion" of 17th May, 1740, indicts the Prisoner "for that you,
not having the Fear of Grammar before your Eyes, on the ---- of ---- at
a certain Place, called the _Bath_, in the County of _Somerset_, in
_Knights-Bridge_, in the County of _Middlesex_, in and upon the
_English_ Language an Assault did make, and then and there, with a
certain Weapon called a Goose-quill, value one Farthing, which you in
your left Hand then held, several very broad Wounds but of no Depth at
all, on the said _English_ Language did make, and so you the said Col.
_Apol._ the said _English_ Language did murder."]
[Footnote 5: This seems to be a favourite argument of Cibber. In his
"Letter" to Pope, 1742, he answers Pope's line, "And has not Colley
still his Lord and Whore?" at great length, one of his arguments being
that the latter accusation, "without some particular Circumstances to
aggravate the Vice, is the flattest Piece of Satyr that ever fell from
the formidable Pen of Mr. _Pope_: because (_defendit numerus_) take the
first ten thousand Men you meet, and I believe, you would be no Loser,
if you betted ten to one that every single Sinner of them, one with
another, had been guilty of the same Frailty."--p. 46.]
[Footnote 6: Cibber's "Apology" must have been a very profitable book.
It was published in one volume quarto in 1740, and in the same year the
second edition, one volume octavo, was issued. A third edition appeared
in 1750, also in one volume octavo. Davies ("Dramatic Miscellanies,"
iii. 506) says: "Cibber must have raised considerable contributions on
the public by his works. To say nothing of the sums accumulated by
dedications, benefits, and the sale of his plays singly, his dramatic
works, in quarto, by subscription, published 1721, produced him a
considerable sum of money. It is computed that he gained, by the
excellent Apology for his Life, no less than the sum of £1,500." "The
Laureat" (1740) is perhaps Davies's authority for his computation.
"_Ingenious indeed_, who from such a Pile of indigested incoherent Ideas
huddled together by the _Misnomer_ of a History, could raise a
Contribution on the Town (if Fame says true) of Fifteen hundred
Pounds."--"Laureat," p. 96.
Cibber no doubt kept the copyright of the first and second editions
in his own hands. In 1750 he sold his copyright to Robert Dodsley for
the sum of fifty guineas. The original assignment, which bears the
date "March ye 24th, 1749/50," is in the collection of Mr. Julian
Marshall.]
[Footnote 7: Of Mrs. Oldfield there was a volume of "Authentick Memoirs"
published in 1730, the year she died; and in 1731 appeared Egerton's
"Faithful Memoirs," and "The Lover's Miscellany," in which latter are
memoirs of Mrs. Oldfield's "Life and Amours." Three memoirs of Wilks
immediately followed his death, the third of which was written by Curll,
who denounces the other two as frauds. Benjamin Victor wrote a memoir of
Booth which was published in the year of his death, and there was one
unauthorized memoir issued in the same year. Bellchambers instances the
Life of Congreve as another imposition.]
[Footnote 8: From this expression it appears that Cibber did not
contemplate again returning to the stage. He did, however, make a few
final appearances, his last being to support his own adaptation of
Shakespeare's "King John," which he called "Papal Tyranny in the Reign
of King John," and which was produced at Covent Garden on 15th February,
1745.]
[Footnote 9: "The Rehearsal," act iii. sc. 4.]
[Footnote 10: The christening of Colley Cibber is recorded in the
Baptismal Register of the Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields. The entry
reads:--
"November 1671 Christnings
20. Colly sonne of Caius Gabriell Sibber and Jane ux"]
[Footnote 11: Mr. Laurence Hutton, in his "Literary Landmarks of
London," page 52, says: "Southampton House, afterwards Bedford House,
taken down in the beginning of the present century, occupied the north
side of Bloomsbury Square. Evelyn speaks of it in his Diary, October,
1664, as in course of construction. Another and an earlier Southampton
House in Holborn, 'a little above Holborn Bars,' was removed some twenty
years before Cibber's birth. He was, therefore, probably born at the
upper or north end of Southampton Street, facing Bloomsbury Square,
where now are comparatively modern buildings, and not in Southampton
Street, Strand, as is generally supposed."]
[Footnote 12: Caius Gabriel Cibber, born at Flensborg in Holstein in
1630; married, as his second wife, Jane Colley, on 24th November, 1670;
died in 1700. He was, as Colley Cibber states, a sculptor of some note.]
[Footnote 13:
"Where o'er the gates, by his fam'd father's hand,
Great Cibber's brazen, brainless brothers stand."
(Final edition of "The Dunciad," i. verses 31-2.)
Bellchambers notes that these figures were removed to the New Hospital
in St. George's Fields. They are now in South Kensington Museum.]
[Footnote 14: "It was found by office taken in the 13th year of H. 8.
that _John Colly_ deceased, held the Mannour and Advowson of Glaiston of
_Edward_ Duke of Buckingham, as of his Castle of Okeham by knights
service."--Wright's "History and Antiquities of the County of Rutland,"
p. 64.
"In the 26. _Car._ I. (1640) Sir _Anthony Colly_ Knight, then Lord of
this Mannor, joyned with his Son and Heir apparent, _William Colly_
Esquire, in a Conveyance of divers parcels of Land in Glaiston, together
with the Advowson of the Church there, to _Edward Andrews_ of Bisbroke
in this County, Esquire: Which Advowson is since conveyed over to
_Peterhouse_ in Cambridge."--_Ibid._ p. 65.]
[Footnote 15: Fielding ("Joseph Andrews," chap. iii.), writing of Parson
Adams, says: "Simplicity was his characteristic: he did, no more than
Mr. Colley Cibber, apprehend any such passions as malice and envy to
exist in mankind; which was indeed less remarkable in a country parson,
than in a gentleman who has passed his life behind the scenes--a place
which has been seldom thought the school of innocence."]
[Footnote 16: Glout is an obsolete word signifying "to pout, to look
sullen."]
[Footnote 17: Bellchambers suggests that these two persons were the Earl
of Chesterfield and "Bubb Doddington." As to the former he is no doubt
correct, but I cannot see a single feature of resemblance between the
second portrait and Lord Melcombe. "The Laureat" says (p. 18) that the
portraits were "L----d C----d and Mr. E----e" [probably Erskine].
Bellchambers seems to have supposed that "Bubb" was a nickname.]
[Footnote 18: "Set the table on a roar."--"Hamlet," act v. sc. 1.]
[Footnote 19: Ter. _Eun._ i. 1, 18.]
[Footnote 20: _Ars Poetica_, 126.]
[Footnote 21: In William Byrd's collection, entitled "Psalmes, Sonets, &
songs of sadnes and pietie," 1588, 4to., is the song to which Cibber
probably refers:--
"My Minde to me a Kingdome is."
Mr. Bullen, in his "Lyrics from Elizabethan Song-books" (p. 78), quotes
it.]
[Footnote 22:
"And so many a time,
When I have spoke of you dispraisingly,
Hath ta'en your part."--"Othello," act iii. sc. 3.]
[Footnote 23: This is Gibber's first allusion to Pope's enmity. It was
after the publication of the "Apology" that Pope's attacks became more
bitter.]
[Footnote 24: Horace, _Epis._ ii. 2, 126.]
[Footnote 25: Charles II.'s flight from his Scottish Presbyterian
subjects, at the end of 1650, to take refuge among his wild Highland
supporters, was caused by the insolent invectives of the rigid
Presbyterian clergymen, who preached long sermons at him, on his own
wickedness and that of his father and mother, and made his life
generally a burden.]
[Footnote 26: Hor. _Od._ iv. 12, 28.]
[Footnote 27: "Os homini sublime dedit."--Ovid, _Met._ i. 85.]
[Footnote 28: Cibber is pardonably vain throughout at the society he
moved in. His greatest social distinction was his election as a member
of White's. His admission to such society was of course the subject of
lampoons, such as the following:--
"_The_ BUFFOON, _An_ EPIGRAM.
Don't boast, prithee _Cibber_, so much of thy State,
That like _Pope_ you are blest with the smiles of the Great;
With both they Converse, but for different Ends,
And 'tis easy to know their Buffoons from their Friends."]
[Footnote 29: Arlington did not, however, die till the 28th July, 1685,
surviving Charles II. by nearly six months.]
[Footnote 30: Cibber was appointed Poet-Laureate on the death of Eusden.
His appointment was dated 3rd December, 1730.]
[Footnote 31: "Forsan et hæc olim meminisse juvabit."--Virg. _Æneid_, i.
207.]
[Footnote 32: As Laureate, and as author of "The Nonjuror," Cibber is
bound to be extremely loyal to the Protestant dynasty.]
[Footnote 33: Curiously enough, Cibber's praise of his deceased
companion-actors has been attributed to something of this motive.]
[Footnote 34: Bellchambers prints these words thus: "Lick at the
Laureat," as if Cibber had referred to the title of a book; and notes:
"This is the title of a pamphlet in which some of Mr. Cibber's
peculiarities have been severely handled." But I doubt this, for there
is nothing in Cibber's arrangement of the words to denote that they
represent the title of a book; and, besides, I know no work with such a
title published before 1740. Bellchambers, in a note on page 114,
represents that he quotes from "Lick at the Laureat, 1730;" but I find
the quotation he gives in "The Laureat," 1740 (p. 31), almost
_verbatim_. As it stands in the latter there is no hint that it is
quoted from a previous work, nor, indeed, do the terms of it permit of
such an interpretation. I can, therefore, only suppose that Bellchambers
is wrong in attributing the sentence to a work called "A Lick at the
Laureat."]
[Footnote 35: The principal allusions to Cibber which, up to the time of
the publication of the "Apology," Pope had made, were in the
"Dunciad":--
"How, with less reading than makes felons 'scape,
Less human genius than God gives an ape,
Small thanks to France and none to Rome or Greece,
A past, vamp'd, future, old, reviv'd, new piece,
'Twixt Plautus, Fletcher, Congreve, and Corneille,
Can make a Cibber, Johnson, or Ozell."
Second edition, Book i. 235-240.
"Beneath his reign, shall Eusden wear the bays,
Cibber preside, Lord-Chancellor of Plays."
Second edition, Book iii. 319, 320.
In the "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot" there were one or two passing
allusions to Cibber, one of them being the line:--
"And has not Colley still his Lord and whore?"
for which Cibber retaliated in his "Letter" of 1742.
In the "First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace" (1737), Cibber is
scurvily treated. In it occur the lines:--
"And idle Cibber, how he breaks the laws,
To make poor Pinkey eat with vast applause!"]
[Footnote 36: Cibber's Odes were a fruitful subject of banter. Fielding
in "Pasquin," act ii. sc. 1, has the following passage:--
"_2nd Voter._ My Lord, I should like a Place at Court too; I don't much
care what it is, provided I wear fine Cloaths, and have something to do
in the Kitchen, or the Cellar; I own I should like the Cellar, for I am
a divilish Lover of Sack.
_Lord Place._ Sack, say you? Odso, you shall be Poet-Laureat.
_2nd Voter._ Poet! no, my Lord, I am no Poet, I can't make verses.
_Lord Place._ No Matter for that--you'll be able to make Odes.
_2nd Voter._ Odes, my Lord! what are those?
_Lord Place._ Faith, Sir, I can't tell well what they are; but I know
you may be qualified for the Place without being a Poet."
Boswell ("Life of Johnson," i. 402) reports that Johnson said, "His
[Cibber's] friends give out that he _intended_ his birth-day _Odes_
should be bad: but that was not the case, Sir; for he kept them many
months by him, and a few years before he died he shewed me one of them,
with great solicitude to render it as perfect as might be."
In "The Egotist" (p. 63) Cibber is made to say: "As bad Verses are the
Devil, and good ones I can't get up to----"]
[Footnote 37: "Champion," 29th April, 1740: "When he says (Fol. 23)
Satire is _angrily_ particular, every Dunce of a Reader knows that he
means angry with a particular Person."]
[Footnote 38: Cibber's allusion to Pope's treatment of Addison is a fair
hit.]
[Footnote 39: Juvenal, i. 79.]
[Footnote 40: Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 511) says: "If we except the
remarks on plays and players by the authors of the Tatler and Spectator,
the theatrical observations in those days were coarse and illiberal,
when compared to what we read in our present daily and other periodical
papers."]
[Footnote 41: "_Frankly._ Is it not commendable in a Man of Parts, to be
warmly concerned for his Reputation?
_Author [Cibber]._ In what regards his Honesty or Honour, I will make
you some Allowances: But for the Reputation of his Parts, not one
Tittle!"--"The Egotist: or, Colley upon Cibber," p. 13.
Bellchambers notes here: "When Cibber was charged with moral offences of
a deeper dye, he thought himself at liberty, I presume, to relinquish
his indifference, and bring the libeller to account. On a future page
will be found the public advertisement in which he offered a reward of
ten pounds for the detection of Dennis."]
[Footnote 42: "_Frankly._ It will be always natural for Authors to
defend their Works.
_Author [Cibber]._ And would it not be as well, if their Works defended
themselves?"--"The Egotist: or, Colley upon Cibber," p. 15.]
[Footnote 43: In his "Letter to Pope," 1742, p. 7, Cibber says: "After
near twenty years having been libell'd by our Daily-paper Scriblers, I
never was so hurt, as to give them one single Answer."]
[Footnote 44: "_Frankly._ I am afraid you will discover yourself; and
your Philosophical Air will come out at last meer Vanity in Masquerade.
_Author [Cibber]._ O! if there be Vanity in keeping one's Temper; with
all my Heart."--"The Egotist: or, Colley upon Cibber," p. 13.]
[Footnote 45: In his "Letter to Pope," 1742, p. 9, Cibber says: "I
would not have even your merited Fame in Poetry, if it were to be
attended with half the fretful Solicitude you seem to have lain under
to maintain it."]
[Footnote 46: The best epigram is that which Cibber ("Letter," 1742, p.
39) attributes to Pope:--
"In merry Old England, it once was a Rule,
The King had his Poet, and also his Fool.
But now we're so frugal, I'd have you to know it,
That Cibber can serve both for Fool and for Poet."
Dr. Johnson also wrote an epigram, of which he seems to have been
somewhat proud:--
"Augustus still survives in Maro's strain,
And Spenser's verse prolongs Eliza's reign;
Great George's acts let tuneful Cibber sing;
For Nature form'd the Poet for the King."
Boswell, i. 149.
In "Certain Epigrams, in Laud and Praise of the Gentlemen of the
Dunciad," p. 8, is:--
EPIGRAM XVI.
_A Question by_ ANONYMUS.
"Tell, if you can, which did the worse,
_Caligula_, or _Gr--n's_ [Grafton's] Gr--ce?
That made a Consul of a _Horse_,
And this a Laureate of an _Ass_."
In "The Egotist: or, Colley upon Cibber," p. 49, Cibber is made to say:
"An _Ode_ is a Butt, that a whole Quiver of Wit is let fly at every
Year!"]
[Footnote 47: "The Laureat" says: "The Things he calls Verses, carry the
most evident Marks of their Parent _Colley_."--p. 24.]
[Footnote 48: _A Line in the Epilogue to the_ Nonjuror.]
[Footnote 49: This allusion to time shows that Cibber began his
"Apology" about 1737.]
[Footnote 50: Fielding has many extremely good attacks on Cibber's style
and language. For instance:--
"I shall here only obviate a flying Report ... that whatever Language it
was writ in, it certainly could not be _English_.... Now I shall prove
it to be _English_ in the following Manner. Whatever Book is writ in no
other Language, is writ in _English_. This Book is writ in no other
Language, _Ergo_, It is writ in _English_."--"Champion," 22nd April,
1740.
Again ("Joseph Andrews," book iii. chap. vi.), addressing the Muse or
Genius that presides over Biography, he says: "Thou, who, without the
assistance of the least spice of literature, and even against his
inclination, hast, in some pages of his book, forced Colley Cibber to
write English."]
[Footnote 51: In later editions the expression was changed to "She here
outdid her usual excellence."]
[Footnote 52: "Decies repetita placebit."--Horace, _Ars Poetica_, 365.]
[Footnote 53:
"For instance: when you rashly think,
No rhymer can like Welsted sink,
His merits balanc'd, you shall find,
The laureat leaves him far behind."
Swift, _On Poetry: a Rhapsody_, l. 393.]
[Footnote 54: "_Frankly._ Then for your Reputation, if you won't bustle
about it, and now and then give it these little Helps of Art, how can
you hope to raise it?
_Author [Cibber]._ If it can't live upon simple Nature, let it die, and
be damn'd! I shall give myself no further Trouble about it."--"The
Egotist: or, Colley upon Cibber," p. 9.]
[Footnote 55: Young's second "Epistle to Mr. Pope."]
[Footnote 56: Indirectly surely, William of Wykeham being a priest.]
[Footnote 57: I am indebted to the courtesy of the Head Master of
Winchester College, the Rev. Dr. Fearon, for the information that this
statue, a finely designed and well-executed work, still stands over the
door of the big school. A Latin inscription states that it was presented
by Caius Gabriel Cibber in 1697.]
[Footnote 58: Bellchambers finds in this sentence "a levity, which
accords with the charges so often brought against Cibber of impiety and
irreligion;" and he quotes from Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 506) two
stories--one, that Cibber spat at a picture of our Saviour; and the
other, that he endeavoured to enter into discussion with "honest Mr.
William Whiston" with the intention of insulting him. Both anecdotes
seem to me rather foolish. I do not suppose Cibber was in any sense a
religious man, but his works are far from giving any offence to
religion; and, as a paid supporter of a Protestant succession, I think
he was too prudent to be an open scoffer. A sentence in one of Victor's
"Letters" (i. 72), written from Tunbridge, would seem to show that
Cibber at least preserved appearances. He says, "Every one complies with
what is called the _fashion_--_Cibber_ goes constantly to _prayers_--and
the Curate (to return the compliment) as constantly, when prayers are
over, to the _Gaming table_!"]
[Footnote 59: By the kindness of a friend at Cambridge I am enabled to
give the following interesting extracts from a letter written by Mr.
William White, of Trinity College Library, regarding the statues here
referred to: "They occupy the four piers, subdividing the balustrade on
the east side of the Library, overlooking Neville's Court. The four
Statues represent Divinity, Law, Physic, and Mathematics. That these
were executed by Mr. Gabriel Cibber our books will prove. I will give
you two or three extracts from Grumbold's Account Book, kept in the
Library. He was Foreman of the Works when the Library was built. I think
Cibber cut the Statues here. It is quite certain he and his men were
here some time: no doubt they superintended the placing of them in their
positions, at so great a height.
'Payd for the Carridg of a Larg Block Stone Given by John Manning to ye
Coll. for one of ye Figures 01:00:00.'
'May 7, 1681. Pd to Mr Gabriell Cibber for cutting four statues
80:00:00.' '27 June. Pd to ye Widdo Bats for Mr Gabriel Cibbers and
his mens diatt 05: 18: 11. Pd to Mr Martin [for the same] 12: 03:
03.'"
In connection with these statues an amusing practical joke was played
while Byron was an undergraduate, which was attributed to him--unjustly,
however, I believe.]
[Footnote 60: 5th November, 1688.]
[Footnote 61: Fielding, in "Joseph Andrews," book i. chap. I: "How
artfully does the former [Cibber] by insinuating that he escaped being
promoted to the highest stations in the Church and State, teach us a
contempt of worldly grandeur! how strongly does he inculcate an absolute
submission to our Superiors!"]
[Footnote 62: Fielding ("Champion," 6th May, 1740): "Not to mention our
Author's Comparisons of himself to King _James_, the Prince of _Orange_,
_Alexander the Great_, _Charles_ the XIIth, and _Harry_ IV. of _France_,
his favourite Simile is a Lion, thus _page_ 39, we have a SATISFIED
PRESUMPTION, that _to drive_ England _into slavery is like teaching_ AN
OLD LION TO DANCE. 104. _Our new critics are like Lions Whelps that dash
down the Bowls of Milk &c._ besides a third Allusion to the same Animal:
and this brings into my Mind a Story which I once heard from _Booth_,
that our Biographer had, in one of his Plays in a Local Simile,
introduced this generous Beast in some Island or Country where Lions did
not grow; of which being informed by the learned _Booth_, the Biographer
replied, _Prithee tell me then, where there is a Lion, for God's Curse,
if there be a Lion in_ Europe, Asia, Africa, _or_ America, _I will not
lose my simile_."]
[Footnote 63: Lucretius, i. 102.]
[Footnote 64: John Dennis, in an advertisement to "The Invader of his
Country," 1720, says, "'tis as easy for Mr. _Cibber_ at this time of Day
to make a Bounce with his Loyalty, as 'tis for a Bully at Sea, who had
lain hid in the Hold all the time of the Fight, to come up and swagger
upon the Deck after the Danger is over."]
[Footnote 65: "Champion," 29th April, 1740: "When in _page_ 42, we read,
_Beauty_ SHINES _into equal Warmth the Peasant and the Courtier_, do we
not know what he means though he hath made a Verb active of SHINE, as in
_Page_ 117, he hath of REGRET, _nothing could more painfully regret a
judicious Spectator_."]
[Footnote 66: One of the commonest imputations made against Cibber was
that he was of a cowardly temper. In "Common Sense" for 11th June, 1737,
a paper attributed to Lord Chesterfield, there is a dissertation on
kicking as a humorous incident on the stage. The writer adds: "Of all
the Comedians who have appeared upon the Stage within my Memory, no one
has taking (_sic_) a Kicking with so much Humour as our present most
excellent Laureat, and I am inform'd his Son does not fall much short of
him in this Excellence; I am very glad of it, for as I have a Kindness
for the young Man, I hope to see him as well kick'd as his Father was
before him."
I confess that I am not quite sure how far this sentence is ironically
meant, but Bellchambers refers to it as conveying a serious accusation
of cowardice. He also quotes from Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 487), who
relates, on the authority of Victor, that Cibber, having reduced
Bickerstaffe's salary by one-half, was waited upon by that actor, who
"flatly told him, that as he could not subsist on the small sum to which
he had reduced his salary, he must call the author of his distress to an
account, for that it would be easier for him to lose his life than to
starve. The affrighted Cibber told him, he should receive an answer from
him on Saturday next. Bickerstaffe found, on that day, his usual income
was continued." This story rests only on Victor's authority, but is, of
course, not improbable. There is also a vague report that Gay, in
revenge for Cibber's banter of "Three Hours after Marriage," personally
chastised him, but I know no good authority for the story.]
[Footnote 67: Cibber (1st ed.) wrote: "new Honours of Duke of
_Devonshire_, Lord Steward," &c. He corrected his blunder in 2nd ed.]
[Footnote 68: See Macaulay ("History," 1858, vol. ii. p. 251).]
[Footnote 69: Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 444) says: "Cibber and
Verbruggen were two dissipated young fellows, who determined, in
opposition to the advice of friends, to become great actors. Much about
the same time, they were constant attendants upon Downes, the prompter
of Drury-Lane, in expectation of employment."]
[Footnote 70: "The Laureat" states that Miss Santlow (afterwards Mrs.
Barton Booth) was the actress referred to; that Captain Montague was her
assailant, and Mr. Secretary Craggs her defender.]
[Footnote 71: See memoir of William Smith at end of second volume.]
[Footnote 72: See memoir.]
[Footnote 73:
"As where's that palace whereinto foul things
Sometimes intrude not?"--"Othello," act iii. sc. 3.]
[Footnote 74: Captain Griffin was, no doubt, the Griffin who is
mentioned by Downes as entering the King's Company "after they had begun
at Drury Lane." This is of course very indefinite as regards time. Drury
Lane was opened in 1663, but the first character for which we can find
Griffin's name mentioned, is that of Varnish in "The Plain-Dealer,"
which was produced in 1674. At the Union in 1682, Griffin took a good
position in the amalgamated company, and continued on the stage till
about 1688, when his name disappears from the bills. During this time he
is not called _Captain,_ but in 1701 the name of Captain Griffin appears
among the Drury Lane actors. Genest says it is more probable that this
should be Griffin returned to the stage after thirteen years spent in
the army, than that Captain Griffin should have gone on the stage
without having previously been connected with it. In this Genest is
quite correct, for the anecdote of Goodman and Griffin, which Cibber
tells in Chap. XII. shows conclusively that _Captain_ Griffin was an
actor during Goodman's stage-career, which ended certainly before 1690.
He appears to have finally retired about the beginning of 1708. Downes
says "_Mr._ Griffin _so Excell'd in_ Surly. Sir Edward Belfond, _The_
Plain Dealer, _none succeeding in the 2 former have Equall'd him_, [nor
any] _except his Predecessor Mr._ Hart _in the latter_" (p. 40). I have
ventured to supply the two words "nor any" to make clear what Downes
must have meant.]
[Footnote 75: The "Biographia Dramatica" (i. 87) gives an account
of James Carlile. He was a native of Lancashire, and in his youth was
an actor; but he left the stage for the army, and was killed at the
battle of Aughrim, 11th July, 1691. Nothing practically is known of
his stage career. Downes (p. 39) notes that at the Union of the Patents
in 1682, "Mr. _Monfort_ and Mr. _Carlile_, were grown to the Maturity
of good _Actors_." I cannot trace Carlile's name in the bills any later
than 1685.]
[Footnote 76: Wiltshire seems to have been a very useful actor of the
second rank. In 1685 he also appears for the last time.]
[Footnote 77: That Ben Jonson was an unsuccessful actor is gravely
doubted by Gifford and by his latest editor, Lieut.-Col. Cunningham, who
give excellent reasons in support of their view. See memoir prefixed to
edition of Jonson, 1870, i. xi.]
[Footnote 78: Sir William Davenant was the son of a vintner and
innkeeper at Oxford. It was said that Shakespeare used frequently to
stay at the inn, and a story accordingly was manufactured that William
Davenant was in fact the son of the poet through an amour with Mrs.
Davenant. But of this there is no shadow of proof. Davenant went to
Oxford, but made no special figure as a scholar, winning fame, however,
as a poet and dramatist. On the death of Ben Jonson in 1637 he was
appointed Poet-Laureate, and in 1639 received a licence from Charles I.
to get together a company of players. In the Civil War he greatly
distinguished himself, and was knighted by the King for his bravery.
Before the Restoration Davenant was permitted by Cromwell to perform
some sort of theatrical pieces at Rutland House, in Charter-House Yard,
where "The Siege of Rhodes" was played about 1656. At the Restoration a
Patent was granted to him in August, 1660, and he engaged Rhodes's
company of Players, including Betterton, Kynaston, Underhill, and Nokes.
Another Patent was granted to him, dated 15th January, 1663, (see copy
of Patent given _ante,_) under which he managed the theatre in Lincoln's
Inn Fields till his death in 1668. Davenant's company were called the
Duke's Players. The changes which were made in the conduct of the stage
during Davenant's career, such as the introduction of elaborate scenery
and the first appearance of women in plays, make it one of the first
interest and importance. (See Mr. Joseph Knight's Preface to his recent
edition of the "Roscius Anglicanus.")]
[Footnote 79: Thomas Killigrew (not "Henry" Killigrew, as Cibber
erroneously writes) was a very noted and daring humorist. He was a
faithful adherent of King Charles I., and at the Restoration was made a
Groom of the Bedchamber. He also received a Patent, dated 25th April,
1662, to raise a company of actors to be called the King's Players.
These acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. Killigrew survived the
Union of the two Companies in 1682, dying on the 19th of March, 1683. He
cannot be said to have made much mark in theatrical history. The best
anecdote of Killigrew is that related by Granger, how he waited on
Charles II. one day dressed like a Pilgrim bound on a long journey. When
the King asked him whither he was going, he replied, "To Hell, to fetch
back Oliver Cromwell to take care of England, for his successor takes
none at all."]
[Footnote 80: It is curious to note that this theatre, which occupied
the same site as the present Drury Lane, was sometimes described as
Drury Lane, sometimes as Covent Garden.]
[Footnote 81: Should be Lincoln's Inn Fields. Dorset Garden, which was
situated in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, was not opened till 1671.]
[Footnote 82: Genest (ii. 302) remarks on this: "How long this lasted
does not appear--it appears however that it lasted to Queen Anne's time,
as the alteration of 'Wit without Money' is dedicated to Thomas Newman,
Servant to her Majesty, one of the Gentlemen of the Great Chamber, and
Book-keeper and Prompter to her Majesty's Company of Comedians in the
Haymarket." Dr. Doran in his "Their Majesties' Servants" (1888 edition,
iii. 419), says that he was informed by Benjamin Webster that Baddeley
was the last actor who wore the uniform of scarlet and gold prescribed
for the Gentlemen of the Household, who were patented actors.]
[Footnote 83: The question of the identity of the first English actress
is a very intricate one. Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, in his "New History of
the English Stage," seems to incline to favour Anne Marshall, while Mr.
Joseph Knight, in his edition of the "Roscius Anglicanus," pronounces
for Mrs. Coleman. Davies says positively that "the first woman actress
was the mother of Norris, commonly called Jubilee Dicky." Thomas Jordan
wrote a Prologue "to introduce the first woman that came to act on the
stage," but as the lady's name is not given, this does not help us. The
distinction is also claimed for Mrs. Saunderson (afterwards Mrs.
Betterton) and Margaret Hughes. But since Mr. Knight has shown that the
performances in 1656 at Rutland House, where Mrs. Coleman appeared, were
for money, I do not see that we can escape from the conclusion that this
lady was the first English professional actress. Who the first actress
after the Restoration was is as yet unsettled.]
[Footnote 84: Meaning, no doubt, Nell Gwyn and Moll Davis.]
[Footnote 85: Genest points out (i. 404) that Cibber is not quite
accurate here. Shakespeare's and Fletcher's plays _may_ have been
shared; Jonson's certainly were not.]
[Footnote 86: See memoir of Hart at end of second volume.]
[Footnote 87: Genest says that this regulation "might be very proper at
the first restoration of the stage; but as a perpetual rule it was
absurd. Cibber approves of it, not considering that Betterton could
never have acted Othello, Brutus, or Hotspur (the very parts for which
Cibber praises him so much) if there had not been a junction of the
companies." Bellchambers, in a long note, also contests Cibber's
opinion.]
[Footnote 88: In the season 1735-6, in addition to the two Patent
Theatres, Drury Lane and Covent Garden, Giffard was playing at Goodman's
Fields Theatre, and Fielding, with his Great Mogul's Company of
Comedians, occupied the Haymarket. In 1736-7 Giffard played at the
Lincoln's-Inn-Fields Theatre, and Goodman's Fields was unused. The
Licensing Act of 1737 closed the two irregular houses, leaving only
Drury Lane and Covent Garden open.]
[Footnote 89: Cibber here refers to the Pantomimes, which he deals with
at some length in Chapter XV.]
[Footnote 90: Fielding ("Champion," 6th May, 1740): "Another Observation
which I have made on our Author's Similies is, that they generally have
an Eye towards the Kitchen. Thus, _page 56, Two Play-Houses are like
two_ PUDDINGS _or two_ LEGS OF MUTTON. _224. To plant young Actors is
not so easy as to plant_ CABBAGES. To which let me add a Metaphor in
_page 57_, where _unprofitable Praise can hardly give Truth a_ SOUP
MAIGRE."]
[Footnote 91: "Dramatic Operas" seem to have been first produced about
1672. In 1673 "The Tempest," made into an opera by Shadwell, was played
at Dorset Garden; "Pysche" followed in the next year, and "Circe" in
1677. "Macbeth," as altered by Davenant, was produced in 1672, "in the
nature of an Opera," as Downes phrases it.]
[Footnote 92: Dryden, in his "Prologue on the Opening of the New House"
in 1674, writes:--
"'Twere folly now a stately pile to raise,
To build a playhouse while you throw down plays;
While scenes, machines, and empty operas reign----"
and the Prologue concludes with the lines:--
"'Tis to be feared----
That, as a fire the former house o'erthrew,
Machines and Tempests will destroy the new."
The allusion in the last line is to the opera of "The Tempest," which I
have mentioned in the previous note.]
[Footnote 93:
"Probitas laudatur et alget." Juvenal, i. 74.]
[Footnote 94: In the Prologue to "The Emperor of the Moon," 1687, the
line occurred: "There's nothing lasting but the Puppet-show."]
[Footnote 95:
"Ita populus studio stupidus in funambulo
Animum occuparat."
Terence, _Prol. to "Hecyra,"_ line 4.]
[Footnote 96: See memoir of Michael Mohun at end of second volume.]
[Footnote 97: See memoir of Cardell Goodman at end of second volume.]
[Footnote 98: Of Clark very little is known. The earliest play in which
his name is given by Downes is "The Plain-Dealer," which was produced at
the Theatre Royal in 1674, Clark playing Novel, a part of secondary
importance. His name appears to Massina in "Sophonisba," Hephestion in
"Alexander the Great," Dolabella in "All for Love," Aquitius in
"Mythridates," and (his last recorded part) the Earl of Essex, the
principal character in "The Unhappy Favourite," Theatre Royal, 1682.
After the Union of the Companies in 1682 his name does not occur.
Bellchambers has several trifling errors in the memoir he gives of
this actor.]
[Footnote 99: Curll ("History of the English Stage," p. 9) says: "The
Feuds and Animosities of the KING'S _Company_ were so well improved, as
to produce an Union betwixt the two Patents."]
[Footnote 100: Cibber gives the year as 1684, but this is so obviously a
slip that I venture to correct the text.]
[Footnote 101: Genest (ii. 62) remarks: "The theatre in Dorset
Garden had been built by subscription--the subscribers were called
Adventurers--of this Cibber seems totally ignorant--that there were
any new Adventurers, added to the original number, rests solely on
his authority, and in all probability he is not correct."]
[Footnote 102: Cibber afterwards relates the connection of Owen Swiney,
William Collier, M.P., and Sir Richard Steele, with himself and his
actor-partners.]
[Footnote 103: The only one of Cibber's contemporaries of any note who
was alive when the "Apology" was published, was Benjamin Johnson. This
admirable comedian died in August, 1742, in his seventy-seventh year,
having played as late as the end of May of that year.]
[Footnote 104: The actor pointed at is, no doubt, Wilks. In the last
chapter of this work Cibber, in giving the theatrical character of
Wilks, says of his Hamlet: "I own the Half of what he spoke was as
painful to my Ear, as every Line that came from Betterton was
charming."]
[Footnote 105: Barton Booth, who was probably as great in the part of
the Ghost as Betterton was in Hamlet, said, "When I acted the Ghost with
Betterton, instead of my awing him, he terrified me. But divinity hung
round that man!"--"Dram. Misc.," iii. 32.]
[Footnote 106: "The Laureat" repeats the eulogium of a gentleman who had
seen Betterton play Hamlet, and adds: "And yet, the same Gentleman
assured me, he has seen Mr. _Betterton_, more than once, play this
Character to an Audience of twenty Pounds, or under" (p. 32).]
[Footnote 107: _Ars Poetica_, 102. This is the much discussed question
of Diderot's "Paradoxe sur le Comédien," which has recently been revived
by Mr. Henry Irving and M. Coquelin, and has formed the subject of some
interesting studies by Mr. William Archer.]
[Footnote 108: This is doubtless directed at Booth, who was naturally of
an indolent disposition, and seems to have been, on occasions, apt to
drag through a part.]
[Footnote 109: Ausonius, II, 8 (_Epigram_, xi.).]
[Footnote 110: "Alexander the Great; or, the Rival Queens,"
act ii. sc. 1.]
[Footnote 111: Bellchambers notes on this passage: "The criticisms of
Cibber upon a literary subject are hardly worth the trouble of
confuting, and yet it may be mentioned that Bishop Warburton adduced
these lines as containing not only the most sublime, but the most
judicious imagery that poetry can conceive. If Le Brun, or any other
artist, could not succeed in pourtraying the terrors of fortune, it
conveys, perhaps, the highest possible compliment to the powers of Lee,
to admit that he has mastered a difficulty beyond the most daring
aspirations of an accomplished painter." With all respect to Warburton
and Bellchambers, I cannot help remarking that this last sentence seems
to me perilously like nonsense.]
[Footnote 112: I can find no record of this revival, nor am I aware that
any other authority than Cibber mentions it. I am unable therefore even
to guess at a date.]
[Footnote 113: In 1706, in Betterton's own company at the Haymarket,
Verbruggen played Alexander. At Drury Lane, in 1704, Wilks had played
the part.]
[Footnote 114: Anthony Aston says that his voice "enforced universal
attention even from the Fops and Orange girls."]
[Footnote 115: Anthony Aston says of Mrs. Barry: "Neither she, nor any
of the Actors of those Times, had any Tone in their Speaking, (too much,
lately, in Use.)" But the line of criticism which Cibber takes up here
would lead to the conclusion that Aston is not strictly accurate; and,
moreover, I can scarcely imagine how, if these older actors used no
"tone," the employment of it should have been so general as it certainly
was a few years after Betterton's death. Victor ("History," ii. 164)
writes of "the good old Manner of singing and quavering out their tragic
Notes," and on the same page mentions Cibber's "quavering Tragedy
Tones." My view, also, is confirmed by the facts that in the preface to
"The Fairy Queen," 1692, it is said: "he must be a very ignorant Player,
who knows not there is a Musical Cadence in speaking; and that a Man may
as well speak out of Tune, as sing out of Tune;" and that Aaron Hill, in
his dedication of "The Fatal Vision," 1716, reprobates the "affected,
vicious, and unnatural tone of voice, so common on the stage at that
time." See Genest, iv. 16-17. An admirable description of this method of
reciting is given by Cumberland ("Memoirs," 2nd edition, i. 80): "Mrs.
Cibber in a key, high-pitched but sweet withal, sung, or rather
recitatived Rowe's harmonious strain, something in the manner of the
Improvisatories: it was so extremely wanting in contrast, that, though
it did not wound the ear, it wearied it." Cumberland is writing of Mrs.
Cibber in the earlier part of her career (1746), when the teaching of
her husband's father, Colley Cibber, influenced her acting: no doubt
Garrick, who exploded the old way of speaking, made her ultimately
modify her style. Yet as she was, even in 1746, a very distinguished
pathetic actress, we are forced to the conclusion that the old style
must have been more effective than we are disposed to believe.]
[Footnote 116: As Dr. Johnson puts it in his famous Prologue (1747):--
"Ah! let no Censure term our Fate our Choice,
The Stage but echoes back the public Voice;
The Drama's Laws the Drama's Patrons give,
For we, that live to please, must please to live."]
[Footnote 117: "Amphytrion" was played in 1690. The Dedication is dated
24th October, 1690.]
[Footnote 118: Downes ("Roscius Anglicanus," p. 34) relates Lee's
misadventure, which he attributes to stage-fright. He says of Otway the
poet, that on his first appearance "_the full House put him to such a
Sweat and Tremendous Agony, being dash't, spoilt him for an Actor. Mr._
Nat. Lee, _had the same Fate in Acting_ Duncan _in_ Macbeth, _ruin'd him
for an Actor too_."]
[Footnote 119: See memoir of Estcourt at end of second volume.]
[Footnote 120: It will be remembered that the Elder Mathews, the most
extraordinary mimic of modern times, had this same power in great
perfection. See his "Memoirs," iii. 153-156.]
[Footnote 121: Cibber has been charged with gross unfairness to
Estcourt, and his unfavourable estimate of him has been attributed to
envy; but Estcourt's ability seems to have been at least questionable.
This matter will be found treated at some length in the memoir of
Estcourt in the Appendix to this work.]
[Footnote 122: "His voice was low and grumbling."--Anthony Aston.]
[Footnote 123: In Otway's tragedy of "The Orphan," produced at Dorset
Garden in 1680, Betterton was the original Castalio.]
[Footnote 124: See memoir of Betterton at end of second volume.]
[Footnote 125: 13th April, 1710.]
[Footnote 126: In the "Tatler," No. 167, in which the famous criticism
of Betterton's excellencies is given, his funeral is stated to have
taken place on 2nd May, 1710.]
[Footnote 127: I do not know whether Cibber in making this remark had in
view Gildon's Life of Betterton, in which there are twenty pages of
memoir to one hundred and fifty of dissertation on acting.]
[Footnote 128: This seems to have been done to a very limited extent.
The first unquestionable date on which, after 1660, women appeared is
3rd January, 1661, when Pepys saw "The Beggar's Bush" at the Theatre,
that is, Killigrew's house, and notes, "and here the first time that
ever I saw women come upon the stage." At the same theatre he had seen
the same play on 20th November, 1660, the female parts being then played
by men. Thomas Jordan wrote "_A Prologue, to introduce the first woman
that came to act on the stage, in the tragedy called_ The Moor of
Venice" (quoted by Malone, "Shakespeare," 1821, iii. 128), and Malone
supposes justly as I think, that this was on 8th December, 1660; on
which date, in all probability, the first woman appeared on the stage
after the Restoration. Who she was we do not know. See _ante_, p. 90. On
7th January, 1661, Kynaston played Epicoene in "The Silent Woman," and
on 12th January, 1661, Pepys saw "The Scornful Lady," "now done by a
woman." On the 4th of the same month Pepys had seen the latter play with
a man in the chief part, so that it is almost certain that the
"boy-actresses" disappeared about the beginning of 1661.]
[Footnote 129: "The Laureat" (p. 33): "I am of Opinion, _Booth_ was not
wrong in this. There are many of the Sentiments in this Character, where
Nature and common Sense are outraged; and an Actor, who shou'd give the
full comic Utterance to them in his Delivery, would raise what they call
a _Horse-Laugh_, and turn it into Burlesque."
On the other hand, Theophilus Cibber, in his Life of Booth, p. 72,
supports his father's opinion, saying:--
"The Remark is just--Mr. _Booth_ would sometimes slur over such
bold Sentiments, so flightily delivered by the Poet. As he was
good-natured--and would 'hear each Man's Censure, yet reserve his
Judgment,'--I once took the Liberty of observing, that he had neglected
(as I thought) giving that kind of spirited Turn in the afore-mentioned
Character--He told me I was mistaken; it was not Negligence, but Design
made him so slightly pass them over:--For though, added he, in these
places one might raise a Laugh of Approbation in a few,--yet there is
nothing more unsafe than exciting the Laugh of Simpletons, who never
know when or where to stop; and, as the Majority are not always the
wisest Part of an Audience,--I don't chuse to run the hazard."]
[Footnote 130: A long account of the production of "Cato" is given by
Cibber in Chap. XIV. From the cast quoted in a note, it will be seen
that Cibber himself was the original Syphax.]
[Footnote 131: "The Laureat" (p. 33): "I have seen the Original _Syphax_
in _Cato_, use many ridiculous Distortions, crack in his Voice, and
wreathe his Muscles and his Limbs, which created not a Smile of
Approbation, but a loud Laugh of Contempt and Ridicule on the Actor." On
page 34: "In my Opinion, the Part of _Syphax_, as it was originally
play'd, was the only Part in _Cato_ not tolerably executed."]
[Footnote 132: Bellchambers on this passage has one of those aggravating
notes, in which he seems to try to blacken Cibber as much as possible. I
confess that I can see nothing of the "venom" he resents so vigorously.
He says:--
"Theophilus Cibber, in the tract already quoted, expressly states, that
Booth 'was not so scrupulously nice or timerous' in this character, as
in that to which our author has invidiously referred. I shall give the
passage, for its powerful antidote to Colley's venom:--