"Mr. _Booth_, in this part, though he gave full Scope to the Humour,

never dropped the Dignity of the Character--You laughed at _Henry_,

but lost not your Respect for him.--When he appeared most familiar,

he was by no means vulgar.--The People most about him felt the Ease

they enjoyed was owing to his Condescension.--He maintained the

Monarch.--_Hans Holbein_ never gave a higher Picture of him than did

the actor (_Booth_) in his Representation. When angry, his Eye spoke

majestic Terror; the noblest and the bravest of his Courtiers were

awe-struck--He gave you the full Idea of that arbitrary Prince, who

thought himself born to be obeyed;--the boldest dared not to dispute his

Commands:--He appeared to claim a Right Divine to exert the Power he

imperiously assumed.' (p. 75)." ]

[Footnote 133:

"Spirat Tragicum satis et feliciter audet."

Hor. _Epis._ ii. I, 166.]

[Footnote 134: "Aurenge-Zebe; or, the Great Mogul," act iv.]

[Footnote 135: Kynaston was the original Morat at the Theatre Royal in

1675; Hart the Aurenge-Zebe.]

[Footnote 136: "King Henry IV.," First Part, act i. sc. 3.]

[Footnote 137: See memoir of Kynaston at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 138: Downes spells Mountfort's name Monfort and Mounfort.]

[Footnote 139: "Spanish Friar," act ii. sc. 1.]

[Footnote 140: Willmore, in Mrs. Behn's "Rover," of which Smith was the

original representative.]

[Footnote 141: In Crowne's "Sir Courtly Nice," produced at the Theatre

Royal in 1685.]

[Footnote 142: William Mountfort was born in 1659 or 1660. He became a

member of the Duke's Company as a boy, and Downes says that in 1682 he

had grown to the maturity of a good actor. In the "Counterfeits,"

licensed 29th August, 1678, the Boy is played by Young _Mumford_, and in

"The Revenge," produced in 1680, the same name stands to the part of

Jack, the Barber's Boy. After the Union in 1682 he made rapid progress,

for he played his great character of Sir Courtly Nice as early as 1685.

In this Cibber gives him the highest praise; and Downes says, "Sir

Courtly was so nicely Perform'd, that not any succeeding, but Mr.

_Cyber_ has Equall'd him." Mountfort was killed by one Captain Hill,

aided, it is supposed, by the Lord Mohun who died in that terrible duel

with the Duke of Hamilton, in 1712, in which they hacked each other to

death. Whether Hill murdered Mountfort or killed him in fair fight is a

doubtful point. (See Doran's "Their Majesties' Servants," 1888 edition,

i. 169-172; see also memoir at end of second volume.)]

[Footnote 143: Creon (Dryden and Lee's "OEdipus"); Malignii (Porter's

"Villain"); Machiavil (Lee's "Cæsar Borgia").]

[Footnote 144: The "Tatler," No. 134: "I must own, there is something

very horrid in the publick Executions of an _English_ Tragedy. Stabbing

and Poisoning, which are performed behind the Scenes in other Nations,

must be done openly among us to gratify the Audience.

When poor _Sandford_ was upon the Stage, I have seen him groaning upon a

Wheel, stuck with Daggers, impaled alive, calling his Executioners, with

a dying Voice, Cruel Dogs, and Villains! And all this to please his

judicious Spectators, who were wonderfully delighted with seeing a Man

in Torment so well acted."]

[Footnote 145: Bellchambers notes: "This anecdote has more vivacity

than truth, for the audience were too much accustomed to see Sandford

in parts of even a comic nature, to testify the impatience or

disappointment which Mr. Cibber has described." I may add that I have

been unable to discover any play to which the circumstances mentioned by

Cibber would apply. But it must not be forgotten that, if the play were

damned as completely as Cibber says, it would probably not be printed,

and we should thus in all probability have no record of it.]

[Footnote 146: Probably the Earl of Shaftesbury.]

[Footnote 147: Macready seems to have held something like this view

regarding "villains." At the present time we have no such prejudices,

for one of the most popular of English actors, Mr. E. S. Willard, owes

his reputation chiefly to his wonderfully vivid presentation of

villainy.]

[Footnote 148: The play in question is "The Triumphs of Virtue,"

produced at Drury Lane in 1697, and the actress is Mrs. Rogers, who

afterwards lived with Wilks. The lines in the Epilogue are:--

"I'll pay this duteous gratitude; I'll do

That which the play has done--I'll copy you.

At your own virtue's shrine my vows I'll pay,

Study to live the character I play."]

[Footnote 149: Chetwood gives a short memoir of this "first-born," who

became the wife of Christopher Bullock, and died in 1739. Mrs. Dyer was

the only child of Mrs. Bullock's mentioned by Chetwood.]

[Footnote 150: See memoir of Sandford at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 151: It is a very common mistake to state that Cibber founded

his playing of Richard III. on that of Sandford. He merely says that he

tried to act the part as he knew Sandford _would_ have played it.]

[Footnote 152: Cibber's adaptation, which has held the stage ever since

its production, was first played at Drury Lane in 1700. Genest (ii.

195-219) gives an exhaustive account of Cibber's mutilation. His opinion

of it may be gathered from these sentences: "One has no wish to disturb

Cibber's own Tragedies in their tranquil graves, but while our

indignation continues to be excited by the frequent representation of

Richard the 3d in so disgraceful a state, there can be no peace between

the friends of unsophisticated Shakspeare and Cibber." "To the advocates

for Cibber's Richard I only wish to make one request--that they would

never say a syllable in favour of Shakspeare."]

[Footnote 153: "The Laureat" (p. 35): "This same Mender of Shakespear

chose the principal Part, _viz. the King_, for himself; and accordingly

being invested with the purple Robe, he screamed thro' four Acts without

Dignity or Decency. The Audience ill-pleas'd with the Farce, accompany'd

him with a smile of Contempt, but in the fifth Act, he degenerated all

at once into Sir _Novelty_; and when in the Heat of the Battle at

_Bosworth Field_, the King is dismounted, our Comic-Tragedian came on

the Stage, really breathless, and in a seeming Panick, screaming out

this Line thus--_A Harse, a Harse, my Kingdom for a Harse_. This highly

delighted some, and disgusted others of his Auditors; and when he was

kill'd by _Richmond_, one might plainly perceive that the good People

were not better pleas'd that so _execrable a Tyrant_ was destroy'd, than

that so _execrable an Actor_ was silent."]

[Footnote 154: James Noke, or Nokes--not _Robert_, as Bellchambers

states. Of Robert Nokes little is known. Downes mentions both actors

among Rhodes's original Company, Robert playing male characters, and

James being one of the "boy-actresses." Downes does not distinguish

between them at all, simply mentioning "Mr. Nokes" as playing particular

parts. Robert Nokes died about 1673, so that we are certain that the

famous brother was James.]

[Footnote 155: "The Comical Revenge; or, Love in a Tub."]

[Footnote 156: Of these plays, "The Spanish Friar," "The Soldier's

Fortune," and "Amphytrion" were produced after Robert Nokes's death.]

[Footnote 157: See memoir of James Nokes at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 158: "_Coligni_, the character alluded to, at the original

representation of this play, was sustained, says Downs, 'by that

inimitable sprightly actor, Mr. Price,--especially in this part.' Joseph

Price joined D'Avenant's company on Rhodes's resignation, being one

of 'the new actors,' according to the 'Roscius Anglicanus,' who were

'taken in to complete' it. He is first mentioned for _Guildenstern_,

in 'Hamlet;' and, in succession, for _Leonel_, in D'Avenant's 'Love

and Honour,' on which occasion the Earl of Oxford gave him his

coronation-suit; for _Paris_, in 'Romeo and Juliet;' the _Corregidor_,

in Tuke's 'Adventures of five hours;' and _Coligni_, as already

recorded. In the year 1663, by speaking a 'short comical prologue' to

the 'Rivals,' introducing some 'very diverting dances,' Mr. Price

'gained him an universal applause of the town.' The versatility of this

actor must have been great, or the necessities of the company imperious,

as we next find him set down for _Lord Sands_, in 'King Henry the

Eighth.' He then performed _Will_, in the 'Cutter of Coleman-street,'

and is mentioned by Downs as being dead, in the year 1673."

The above is Bellchambers's note. He is wrong in stating that Price

played the Corregidor in Tuke's "Adventures of Five Hours;" his part was

Silvio. He omits, too, to mention one of Price's best parts, Dufoy, in

"Love in a Tub," in which Downes specially commends him in this queer

couplet:--

"Sir Nich'las, Sir Fred'rick; Widow and Dufoy,

Were not by any so well done, Mafoy."

Price does not seem to have acted after May, 1665, when the theatres

closed for the Plague, for his name is never mentioned by Downes after

the theatres re-opened in November, 1666, after the Plague and Fire.]

[Footnote 159: "Sir Solomon; or, the Cautious Coxcomb," by John Caryll.]

[Footnote 160: By Otway.]

[Footnote 161: By Shadwell.]

[Footnote 162: "Rest" is a term used in tennis, and seems to have meant

a quick and continued returning of the ball from one player to the

other--what is in lawn tennis called a "rally."

Cibber uses the word in his "Careless Husband," act iv. sc. 1.

"_Lady Betty_ [to Lord Morelove]. Nay, my lord, there's no standing

against two of you.

_Lord Foppington._ No, faith, that's odds at tennis, my lord: not but if

your ladyship pleases, I'll endeavour to keep your back-hand a little;

though upon my soul you may safely set me up at the line: for, knock me

down, if ever I saw a rest of wit better played, than that last, in my

life."

In the only dictionary in which I have found this word "Rest," it is

given as "A match, a game;" but, as I think I have shown, this is a

defective explanation. I may add that, since writing the above, I have

been favoured with the opinion of Mr. Julian Marshall, the distinguished

authority on tennis, who confirms my view.]

[Footnote 163: By Durfey.]

[Footnote 164: Bartoline. Genest suggests that this character was

intended for the Whig lawyer, Serjeant Maynard. The play was written by

Crowne.]

[Footnote 165: See memoir of Pinkethman at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 166: In this farce, written by Mrs. Behn, and produced in

1687, Jevon was the original Harlequin. Pinkethman played the part in

1702, and played it without the mask on 18th September, 1702. The "Daily

Courant" of that date contains an advertisement in which it is stated

that "At the Desire of some Persons of Quality ... will be presented a

Comedy, call'd, _The Emperor of the Moon_, wherein Mr. _Penkethman_ acts

the part of _Harlequin_ without a Masque, for the Entertainment of an

_African_ Prince lately arrived here."]

[Footnote 167: This refers to "Art and Nature," a comedy by James

Miller, produced at Drury Lane 16th February, 1738. The principal

character in "Harlequin Sauvage" was introduced into it and played by

Theophilus Cibber. The piece was damned the first night, but it must not

be forgotten that the Templars damned everything of Miller's on account

of his supposed insult to them in his farce of "The Coffee House."

Bellchambers says the piece referred to by Cibber was "The Savage," 8vo,

1736; but this does not seem ever to have been acted.]

[Footnote 168: This probably refers to the incident related by Davies in

his "Dramatic Miscellanies":--"In the play of the 'Recruiting Officer,'

Wilks was the Captain _Plume_, and Pinkethman one of the recruits. The

captain, when he enlisted him, asked his name: instead of answering as

he ought, Pinkey replied, 'Why! don't you know my name, Bob? I thought

every fool had known that!' Wilks, in rage, whispered to him the name of

the recruit, _Thomas Appletree_. The other retorted aloud, '_Thomas

Appletree_? Thomas Devil! my name is Will Pinkethman:' and, immediately

addressing an inhabitant of the upper regions, he said 'Hark you,

friend; don't you know my name?'--'Yes, Master Pinkey,' said a

respondent, 'we know it very well.' The play-house was now in an uproar:

the audience, at first, enjoyed the petulant folly of Pinkethman, and

the distress of Wilks; but, in the progress of the joke, it grew

tiresome, and Pinkey met with his deserts, a very severe reprimand in a

hiss; and this mark of displeasure he changed into applause, by crying

out, with a countenance as melancholy as he could make it, in a loud and

nasal twang, 'Odso! I fear I am wrong'" (iii. 89).]

[Footnote 169: See memoir of Leigh at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 170: By Shadwell.]

[Footnote 171: Underhill seems to have partially retired about the

beginning of 1707. He played Sir Joslin Jolley on 5th December, 1706,

but Bullock played it on 9th January, 1707, and, two days after, Johnson

played Underhill's part of the First Gravedigger. Underhill, however,

played in "The Rover" on 20th January, 1707. The benefit Cibber refers

to took place on 3rd June, 1709. Underhill played the Gravedigger again

on 23rd February, 1710, and on 12th May, 1710, for his benefit, he

played Trincalo in "The Tempest." Genest says he acted at Greenwich on

26th August, 1710. The advertisement in the "Tatler" (26th May, 1709)

runs: "Mr. Cave Underhill, the famous Comedian in the Reigns of K.

Charles ii. K. James ii. K. William and Q. Mary, and her present Majesty

Q. Anne; but now not able to perform so often as heretofore in the

Play-house, and having had losses to the value of near £2,500, is to

have the Tragedy of Hamlet acted for his Benefit, on Friday the third of

June next, at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, in which he is to perform

his Original Part, the Grave-Maker. Tickets may be had at the

Mitre-Tavern in Fleet-Street." See also memoir of Underhill at end of

second volume.]

[Footnote 172: See memoir of Powel at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 173: John Verbruggen, whose name Downes spells "Vanbruggen,"

"Vantbrugg," and "Verbruggen," is first recorded as having played

Termagant in "The Squire of Alsatia," at the Theatre Royal, in 1688. His

name last appears in August, 1707, and he must have died not long after.

On 26th April, 1708, a benefit was announced for "a young orphan child

of the late Mr. and Mrs. Verbruggen." He seems to have been an actor of

great natural power, but inartistic in method. See what Anthony Aston

says of him. Cibber unfairly, as we must think, seems carefully to avoid

mentioning him as of any importance. "The Laureat," p. 58, says: "I

wonder, considering our Author's Particularity of Memory, that he hardly

ever mentions Mr. _Verbruggen_, who was in many Characters an excellent

Actor.... I cannot conceive why _Verbruggen_ is left out of the Number

of his excellent Actors; whether some latent Grudge, _alta Mente

repostum_, has robb'd him of his Immortality in this Work." See also

memoir of Verbruggen at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 174: See memoir of Williams at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 175: Produced at the Theatre Royal in 1692.]

[Footnote 176: In Chapter IX. of this work Cibber gives an elaborate

account of Mrs. Oldfield. He remarks there that, after her joining the

company, "she remain'd about a Twelvemonth almost a Mute, and

unheeded."]

[Footnote 177: See memoir of Mrs. Barry at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 178: In "The Orphan," produced at Dorset Garden in 1680, and

in "Venice Preserved," produced at the same theatre in 1682.]

[Footnote 179: In "The Rival Queens." Mrs. Marshall was the original

Roxana, at the Theatre Royal in 1677. So far as we know, Mrs. Barry had

not played Cleopatra (Dryden's "All for Love") when Dryden wrote the

eulogy Cibber quotes. Mrs. Boutell originally acted the part, Theatre

Royal, 1678.]

[Footnote 180: Bellchambers contradicts Cibber, saying that the

Agreement of 14th October, 1681 [see Memoir of Hart], shows that

benefits existed then. The words referred to are, "the day the young men

or young women play for their own profit only." But this day set aside

for the young people playing was, I think, quite a different matter from

a benefit to a particular performer. Pepys (21st March, 1667) says, "The

young men and women of the house ... having liberty to act for their own

profit on Wednesdays and Fridays this Lent." These were evidently

"scratch" performances on "off" nights; and it is to these, I think,

that the agreement quoted refers.]

[Footnote 181: As Dr. Doran points out ("Their Majesties' Servants,"

1888 edition, i. 160) this does not settle the question so easily as

Cibber supposes. Twelve Tory peers were created by Queen Anne in the

last few days of 1711, and Mrs. Barry did not die till the end of 1713.]

[Footnote 182: See memoir of Mrs. Betterton at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 183: Downes includes Mrs. Leigh among the recruits to the

Duke's Company about 1670. He does not give her maiden name, but Genest

supposes she may have been the daughter of Dixon, one of Rhodes's

Company. As there are two actresses of the name of Mrs. Leigh, and one

Mrs. Lee, and as no reliance can be placed on the spelling of names in

the casts of plays, it is practically impossible to decide accurately

the parts each played. This Mrs. Leigh seems to have been Elizabeth, and

her name does not appear after 1707, the Eli. Leigh who signed the

petition to Queen Anne in 1709 being probably a younger woman.

Bellchambers has a most inaccurate note regarding Mrs. Leigh, stating

that she "is probably not a distinct person from Mrs. Mary Lee."]

[Footnote 184: Mrs. Charlotte Butler is mentioned by Downes as entering

the Duke's Company about the year 1673. By 1691 she occupied an

important position as an actress, and in 1692 her name appears to the

part of La Pupsey in Durfey's "Marriage-Hater Matched." This piece must

have been produced early in the year, for Ashbury, by whom, as Cibber

relates, she was engaged for Dublin, opened his season on 23rd March,

1692. Hitchcock, in his "View of the Irish Stage," describes her as "an

actress of great repute, and a prodigious favourite with King Charles

the Second" (i. 21).]

[Footnote 185: Chetwood gives a long account of Joseph Ashbury. He was

born in 1638, and served for some years in the army. By the favour of

the Duke of Ormond, then Lord Lieutenant, Ashbury was appointed

successively Deputy-Master and Master of the Revels in Ireland. The

latter appointment he seems to have received in 1682, though Hitchcock

says "1672." Ashbury managed the Dublin Theatre with propriety and

success, and was considered not only the principal actor in his time

there, but the best teacher of acting in the three kingdoms. Chetwood,

who saw him in his extreme old age, pronounced him admirable both in

Tragedy and Comedy. He died in 1720, at the great age of eighty-two.]

[Footnote 186: This artistic sense was shown also by Margaret

Woffington. Davies ("Life of Garrick," 4th edition, i. 315) writes: "in

Mrs. Day, in the Committee, she made no scruple to disguise her

beautiful countenance, by drawing on it the lines of deformity and the

wrinkles of old age, and to put on the tawdry habiliments and vulgar

manners of an old hypocritical city vixen."]

[Footnote 187: In "The Scornful Lady."]

[Footnote 188: "The Bath; or, the Western Lass," produced at Drury Lane

in 1701.]

[Footnote 189: It is curious to compare with this Anthony Aston's

outspoken criticism on Mrs. Mountfort's personal appearance.]

[Footnote 190: Anthony Aston says "Melantha was her Master-piece."

Dryden's comedy was produced at the Theatre Royal in 1672, when Mrs.

Boutell played Melantha.]

[Footnote 191: Act ii. scene 1.]

[Footnote 192: Mrs. Mountfort, originally Mrs. (that is Miss) Percival,

and afterwards Mrs. Verbruggen, is first mentioned as the representative

of Winifrid, a young Welsh jilt, in "Sir Barnaby Whigg," a comedy

produced at the Theatre Royal in 1681. As Diana, in "The Lucky Chance"

(1687), Genest gives her name as Mrs. Mountfort, late Mrs. Percival; so

that her marriage with Mountfort must have taken place about the end of

1686 or beginning of 1687. Mountfort was killed in 1692, and in 1694 the

part of Mary the Buxom, in "Don Quixote," part first, is recorded by

Genest as played by Mrs. Verbruggen, late Mrs. Mountfort. In 1702, in

the "Comparison between the Two Stages," Gildon pronounces her "a

miracle." In 1703 she died. She was the original representative of,

among other characters, Nell, in "Devil of a Wife;" Belinda, in "The Old

Bachelor;" Lady Froth, in "The Double Dealer;" Charlott Welldon, in

"Oroonoko;" Berinthia, in "Relapse;" Lady Lurewell; Lady Brumpton, in

"The Funeral;" Hypolita, in "She Would and She Would Not;" and Hillaria,

in "Tunbridge Walks."]

[Footnote 193: Bellchambers has here a most uncharitable note, which I

quote as curious, though I must add that there is not a shadow of proof

of the truth of it.

"Mrs. Bracegirdle was decidedly not 'unguarded' in her conduct, for

though the object of general suspicion, no proof of positive unchastity

was ever brought against her. Her intrigue with Mountfort, who lost his

life in consequence of it,{A} is hardly to be disputed, and there is

pretty ample evidence that Congreve was honoured with a gratification of

his amorous desires.{B}

{Subnote A: "'We had not parted with him as many minutes as

a man may beget his likeness in, but who should we meet but

Mountfort the player, looking as pale as a ghost, sailing

forward as gently as a caterpillar 'cross a sycamore leaf,

gaping for a little air, like a sinner just come out of the

powdering-tub, crying out as he crept towards us, "O my back!

Confound 'em for a pack of brimstones: O my back!"--"How now,

_Sir Courtly_," said I, "what the devil makes thee in this

pickle?"--"O, gentlemen," says he, "I am glad to see you; but

I am troubled with such a weakness in my back, that it makes

me bend like a superannuated fornicator." "Some strain," said

I, "got in the other world, with overheaving yourself."--"What

matters it how 'twas got," says he; "can you tell me anything

that's good for it?" "Yes," said I; "get a warm girdle and tie

round you; 'tis an excellent corroborative to strengthen the

loins."--"Pox on you," says he, "for a bantering dog! how can

a single _girdle_ do me good, when a _Brace_ was my

destruction?"'--Brown's 'Letters from the Dead to the Living'

[1744, ii. 186].}

{Subnote B: "In one of those infamous collections known by the

name of 'Poems on State Affairs' [iv. 49], there are several

obvious, though coarse and detestable, hints of this

connexion. Collier's severity against the stage is thus

sarcastically deprecated, in a short piece called the

'Benefits of a Theatre.'

Shall a place be put down, when we see it affords

_Fit wives for great poets_, and whores for great lords?

Since _Angelica_, bless'd with a singular grace,

Had, by her fine acting, preserv'd all his plays,

In an amorous rapture, young _Valentine_ said,

One so fit for his plays might be fit for his bed.

"The allusion to Congreve and Mrs. Bracegirdle wants, of

course, no corroboration; but the hint at their marriage,

broached in the half line I have italicised, is a curious

though unauthorized fact. From the verses I shall continue to

quote, it will appear that this marriage between the parties,

though thought to be private, was currently believed; it is an

expedient that has often been used, in similar cases, to cover

the nakedness of outrageous lust.

He warmly pursues her, she yielded her charms,

And bless'd the kind youngster in her kinder arms:

But at length the poor nymph did for justice implore,

And _he's married her now_, though he'd ---- her before.

"On a subsequent page of the same precious miscellany, there

is a most offensive statement of the cause which detached our

great comic writer from the object of his passion. The thing

is too filthy to be even described."}]

[Footnote 194: Rowe and Congreve.]

[Footnote 195: In Congreve's "Way of the World."]

[Footnote 196: Cibber's chronology is a little shaky here. Mrs.

Bracegirdle's name appeared for the last time in the bill of 20th

February, 1707. Betterton's benefit, for which she returned to the stage

for one night, took place on 7th April, 1709.]

[Footnote 197: Mrs. Anne Bracegirdle made her first appearance on the

stage as a very young child. In the cast of Otway's "Orphan," 1680, the

part of Cordelio, Polydore's Page, is said to be played by "the little

girl," who, Curll ("History," p. 26) informs us, was Anne Bracegirdle,

then less than six years of age. In 1688 her name appears to the part of

Lucia in "The Squire of Alsatia;" but it is not till 1691 that she can

be said to have regularly entered upon her career as an actress. She was

the original representative of some of the most famous heroines in

comedy: Araminta, in "The Old Bachelor;" Cynthia, in "The Double

Dealer;" Angelica, in "Love for Love;" Belinda, in "The Provoked Wife;"

Millamant; Flippanta, in "The Confederacy," and many others. Mrs.

Bracegirdle appears to have been a good and excellent woman, as well as

a great actress. All the scandal about her seems to have had no further

foundation than, to quote Genest, "the extreme difficulty with which an

actress at this period of the stage must have preserved her chastity."

Genest goes on to remark, with delicious _naïveté_, "Mrs. Bracegirdle

was perhaps a woman of a cold constitution." Her retirement from the

stage when not much over thirty is accounted for by Curll, by a story of

a competition between her and Mrs. Oldfield in the part of Mrs. Brittle

in "The Amorous Widow," in which the latter was the more applauded. He

says that they played the part on two successive nights; but I have

carefully examined Dr. Burney's MSS. in the British Museum for the

season 1706-7, and "The Amorous Widow" was certainly not played twice

successively. I doubt the story altogether. That Mrs. Bracegirdle

retired because Mrs. Oldfield was excelling her in popular estimation is

most likely, but I can find no confirmation whatever for Curll's story.

"The Laureat," p. 36, attributes her retirement to Mrs. Oldfield's being

"preferr'd to some Parts before her, by our very _Apologist_"; but

though the reason thus given is probably accurate, the person blamed is

as probably guiltless; for I do not think Cibber could have sufficient

authority to distribute parts in 1706-7. Mrs. Bracegirdle died

September, 1748, but was dead to the stage from 1709. Cibber's remark on

p. 99 had therefore no reference to her.]

[Footnote 198: Cibber writes here with feeling; for, after his

"Nonjuror" abused the Jacobites and Nonjurors, that party took every

opportunity of revenging themselves on him by maltreating his plays.]

[Footnote 199: See _ante_, p. 63, for an allusion to this passage by

Fielding in "The Champion."]

[Footnote 200: Æneid, i. 630.]

[Footnote 201: This is a curious statement, and has never, so far as I

know, been commented on; the cause of Cibber's retirement having always

been considered mysterious. I suppose this reference to ill-treatment

must be held as confirming Davies's statement that the public lost

patience at Cibber's continually playing tragic parts, and fairly hissed

him off the stage. Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 471) relates the

following incident: "When Thomson's Sophonisba was read to the actors,

Cibber laid his hand upon Scipio, a character, which, though it appears

only in the last act, is of great dignity and importance. For two nights

successively, Cibber was as much exploded as any bad actor could be.

Williams, by desire of Wilks, made himself master of the part; but he,

marching slowly, in great military distinction, from the upper part of

the stage, and wearing the same dress as Cibber, was mistaken for him,

and met with repeated hisses, joined to the music of cat-cals; but, as

soon as the audience were undeceived, they converted their groans and

hisses to loud and long continued applause."]

[Footnote 202: Cibber retired in May, 1733. The reappearance he refers

to was not that he made in 1738, as Bellchambers states. He no doubt

alludes to his performances in 1734-35, when he played Bayes, Lord

Foppington, Sir John Brute, and other comedy parts. On the nights he

played, the compliment was paid him of putting no name in the bill but

his own.]

[Footnote 203: The original holders of the Patents, Sir William Davenant

and Thomas Killigrew, were dead in 1690; and their successors, Alexander

Davenant, to whom Charles Davenant had assigned his interest, and

Charles Killigrew, seem to have taken little active interest in the

management; for Christopher Rich, who acquired Davenant's share in 1691,

seems at once to have become managing proprietor.]

[Footnote 204: Davies ("Dramatic Miscellanies," iii. 444) gives the

following account of Cibber's first salary: "But Mr. Richard Cross, late

prompter of Drury-lane theatre, gave me the following history of Colley

Cibber's first establishment as a hired actor. He was known only, for

some years, by the name of Master Colley. After waiting impatiently a

long time for the prompter's notice, by good fortune he obtained the

honour of carrying a message on the stage, in some play, to Betterton.

Whatever was the cause, Master Colley was so terrified, that the scene

was disconcerted by him. Betterton asked, in some anger, who the young

fellow was that had committed the blunder. Downes replied, 'Master

Colley.'--'Master Colley! then forfeit him.'--'Why, sir,' said the

prompter, 'he has no salary.'--'No!' said the old man; 'why then put him

down ten shillings a week, and forfeit him 5_s._'"]

[Footnote 205: Complexion is a point of no importance now, and this

allusion suggests a theory to me which I give with all diffidence. We

know that actresses painted in Pepys's time ("1667, Oct. 5. But, Lord!

To see how they [Nell Gwynne and Mrs. Knipp] were both painted would

make a man mad, and did make me loathe them"), and we also know that

Dogget was famous for the painting of his face to represent old age. If,

then, complexion was a point of importance for a lover, as Cibber

states, it suggests that young actors playing juvenile parts did not use

any "make-up" or paint, but went on the stage in their natural

complexion. The lighting of the stage was of course much less brilliant

than it afterwards became, so that "make-up" was not so necessary.]

[Footnote 206: "The Laureat" (p. 103) describes Cibber's person thus:--

"He was in Stature of the middle Size, his Complexion fair, inclinable

to the Sandy, his Legs somewhat of the thickest, his Shape a little

clumsy, not irregular, and his Voice rather shrill than loud or

articulate, and crack'd extremely, when he endeavour'd to raise it.

He was in his younger Days so lean, as to be known by the Name of

_Hatchet Face_."]

[Footnote 207: Bellchambers notes that this part was originally played

by Percival, who came into the Duke's Company about 1673.]

[Footnote 208: Of Cibber's wife there is little record. In 1695 the name

of "Mrs. Cibbars" appears to the part of Galatea in "Philaster," and she

was the original Hillaria in Cibber's "Love's Last Shift" in 1696; but

she never made any great name or played any famous part. She was a Miss

Shore, sister of John Shore, "Sergeant-trumpet" of England. The

"Biographia Dramatica" (i. 117) says that Miss Shore's father was

extremely angry at her marriage, and spent that portion of his fortune

which he had intended for her in building a retreat on the Thames which

was called Shore's Folly.]

[Footnote 209: "The Double Dealer," 1693, was not very successful, and

when played at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 18th October, 1718, was announced

as not having been acted for fifteen years; so that this incident no

doubt occurred in the course of the first few nights of the play, which,

Malone says, was produced in November, 1693.]

[Footnote 210: "The Prophetess," now supposed to be mostly Fletcher's

work (see Ward's "English Dramatic Literature," ii. 218), was made into

an opera by Betterton, the music by Purcell. It was produced in 1690,

with a Prologue written by Dryden, which, for political reasons, was

forbidden by the Lord Chamberlain after the first night.]

[Footnote 211: "King Arthur; or, the British Worthy," a Dramatic Opera,

as Dryden entitles it, was produced in 1691. In his Dedication to the

Marquis of Halifax, Dryden says: "This Poem was the last Piece of

Service, which I had the Honour to do, for my Gracious Master, King

Charles the Second." Downes says "'twas very Gainful to the Company,"

but Cibber declares it was not so successful as it appeared to be.]

[Footnote 212: End of 1692.]

[Footnote 213: Betterton seems to have been a very politic person. In

the "Comparison between the two Stages" (p. 41) he is called, though not

in reference to this particular matter, "a cunning old Fox."]

[Footnote 214: This is no doubt a hit at Wilks, whose temper was

extremely impetuous.]

[Footnote 215: "The Laureat," p. 39: "He (Cibber) was always against

raising, or rewarding, or by any means encouraging Merit of any kind."

He had "many Disputes with _Wilks_ on this Account, who was impatient,

when Justice required it, to reward the Meritorious."]

[Footnote 216: This is a reference to the secession of seven or eight

actors in 1714, caused, according to Cibber, by Wilks's overbearing

temper. See Chapter XV.]

[Footnote 217: Downes and Davies give the following accounts of the

transaction:--

"Some time after, a difference happening between the United Patentees,

and the chief _Actors_: As Mr. _Betterton_; Mrs. _Barry_ and Mrs.

_Bracegirdle_; the latter complaining of Oppression from the former; they

for Redress, Appeal'd to my Lord of _Dorset_, then Lord Chamberlain, for

Justice; who Espousing the Cause of the Actors, with the assistance of Sir

_Robert Howard_, finding their Complaints just, procur'd from King

_William_, a Seperate License for Mr. _Congreve_, Mr. _Betterton_, Mrs.

_Bracegirdle_ and Mrs. _Barry_, and others, to set up a new Company,

calling it the New Theatre in _Lincolns-Inn-Fields_."--"Roscius

Anglicanus," p. 43.

"The nobility, and all persons of eminence, favoured the cause of the

comedians; the generous Dorset introduced Betterton, Mrs. Barry, Mrs.

Bracegirdle, and others, to the King, who granted them an audience....

William, who had freed all the subjects of England from slavery, except

the inhabitants of the mimical world, rescued them also from the

insolence and tyranny of their oppressors."--"Dram. Miscellanies,"

iii. 419.]

[Footnote 218: 28th December, 1694.]

[Footnote 219: The "Comparison between the two Stages" says (p. 7):

"'twas almost impossible in _Drury-Lane_, to muster up a sufficient

number to take in all the Parts of any Play."]

[Footnote 220: See memoir of Johnson at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 221: See memoir of Bullock at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 222: I do not think that the date of this Licence has ever

been stated. It was 25th March, 1695.]

[Footnote 223: "Comparison between the two Stages," p. 12: "We know what

importuning and dunning the Noblemen there was, what flattering, and

what promising there was, till at length, the incouragement they

received by liberal Contributions set 'em in a Condition to go on." This

theatre was the theatre in _Little_ Lincoln's Inn Fields. See further

details in Chap. XIII.]

[Footnote 224: No doubt, Rich.]

[Footnote 225: Downes says (p. 43), "the House being fitted up from a

Tennis-Court, they Open'd it the last Day of _April, 1695_."]

[Footnote 226: It will be noticed that Downes in the passage quoted by

me (p. 192, note 1) mentions Congreve as if he had been an original

sharer in the Licence; but the statement is probably loosely made.]

[Footnote 227: Bellchambers has here the following notes, the entire

substance of which will be found in Malone ("Shakespeare," 1821, iii.

170, _et seq._): "In Shakspeare's time the nightly expenses for lights,

supernumeraries, etc., was but forty-five shillings, and having deducted

this charge, the clear emoluments were divided into shares, (supposed to

be forty in number,) between the proprietors, and principal actors. In

the year 1666, the whole profit arising from acting plays, masques,

etc., at the King's theatre, was divided into twelve shares and three

quarters, of which Mr. Killegrew, the manager, had two shares and three

quarters, each share computed to produce about £250, net, per annum. In

Sir William D'Avenant's company, from the time their new theatre was

opened in Portugal-row, the total receipt, after deducting the nightly

expenses, was divided into fifteen shares, of which it was agreed that

ten should belong to D'Avenant, for various purposes, and the remainder

be divided among the male members of his troops according to their rank

and merit. I cannot relate the arrangement adopted by Betterton in

Lincoln's-inn-fields, but the share accepted by Congreve was, doubtless,

presumed to be of considerable value.

"Dryden had a share and a quarter in the king's company, for which he

bound himself to furnish not two, but three plays every season. The

following paper, which, after remaining long in the Killegrew family,

came into the hands of the late Mr. Reed, and was published by Mr.

Malone in his 'Historical Account of the English Stage,' incontestably

proves the practice alluded to. The superscription is lost, but it was

probably addressed to the lord-chamberlain, or the king, about the year

1678, 'OEdipus,' the ground of complaint, being printed in 1679:

"'Whereas upon Mr. Dryden's binding himself to write three playes a

yeere, hee the said Mr. Dryden was admitted and continued as a sharer

in the king's playhouse for diverse years, and received for his share

and a quarter three or four hundred pounds, communibus annis; but

though he received the moneys, we received not the playes, not one in

a yeare. After which, the house being burnt, the company in building

another, contracted great debts, so that shares fell much short of what

they were formerly. Thereupon Mr. Dryden complaining to the company

of his want of proffit, the company was so kind to him that they not

only did not presse him for the playes which he so engaged to write

for them, and for which he was paid beforehand, but they did also at

his earnest request give him a third day for his last new play called

_All for Love_; and at the receipt of the money of the said third

day, he acknowledged it as a guift, and a particular kindnesse of the

company. Yet notwithstanding this kind proceeding, Mr. Dryden has now,

jointly with Mr. Lee, (who was in pension with us to the last day of

our playing, and shall continue,) written a play called _Oedipus_,

and given it to the Duke's company, contrary to his said agreement,

his promise, and all gratitude, to the great prejudice and almost

undoing of the company, they being the only poets remaining to us. Mr.

Crowne, being under the like agreement with the duke's house, writt a

play called _The Destruction of Jerusalem_, and being forced by their

refusall of it, to bring it to us, the said company compelled us, after

the studying of it, and a vast expence in scenes and cloaths, to buy

off their clayme, by paying all the pension he had received from them,

amounting to one hundred and twelve pounds paid by the king's company,

besides near forty pounds he the said Mr. Crowne paid out of his owne

pocket.

"'These things considered, if notwithstanding Mr. Dryden's said

agreement, promise, and moneys freely giving him for his said last new

play, and the many titles we have to his writings, this play be judged

away from us, we must submit.

(Signed) "'Charles Killigrew.

"'Charles Hart.

"'Rich. Burt.

"'Cardell Goodman.

"'Mic. Mohun.'"]

[Footnote 228: The interval between the two plays cannot have been quite

three years. The first was produced in April, 1695, the second some time

in 1697.]

[Footnote 229: Produced early in 1700.]

[Footnote 230: Mrs. Mountfort was now Mrs. Verbruggen.]

[Footnote 231: The passage is:--

"The Freedom man was born to, you've restor'd,

And to our World such Plenty you afford,

It seems, like Eden, fruitful of its own accord.

But since, in Paradise, frail Flesh gave Way,

And when but two were made, both went astray;

Forbear your Wonder, and the Fault forgive,

If, in our larger Family, we grieve

One falling Adam, and one tempted Eve."]

[Footnote 232: In his Preface to "Woman's Wit," Cibber says, "But

however a Fort is in a very poor Condition, that (in a Time of General

War) has but a Handful of raw young Fellows to maintain it." He also

talks of himself and his companions as "an uncertain Company."]

[Footnote 233: Bellchambers has here this note: "Mr. Cibber's usage of

the verb _regret_ here, may be said to confirm the censure of Fielding,

who urged, in reviewing some other of his inadvertencies, that it was

'needless for a great writer to understand his grammar.'" See note 1 on

page 69.]

[Footnote 234: Genest (ii. 65) has the following criticism of Cibber's

statement: "There can be no doubt but that the acting at the Theatre

Royal was miserably inferiour to what it had been--but perhaps Cibber's

account is a little exaggerated--he had evidently a personal dislike

to Powell--everything therefore that he says, directly or indirectly,

against him must be received with some grains of allowance--Powell

seems to have been eager to exhibit himself in some of Betterton's

best parts, whereas a more diffident actor would have wished to avoid

comparisons--we know from the Spectator that Powell was too apt to

tear a passion to tatters, but still he must have been an actor of

considerable reputation at this time, or he would not have been cast

for several good parts before the division of the Company."]

[Footnote 235: "Old Bachelor," act iv. sc. 4:--

"_Fondlewife._ Come kiss _Nykin_ once more, and then get you in--So--Get

you in, get you in. By by.

_Lætitia._ By, _Nykin_.

_Fondlewife._ By, Cocky.

_Lætitia._ By, _Nykin_.

_Fondlewife._ By, Cocky, by, by."]

[Footnote 236: Regarding Powell's playing in imitation of Betterton,

Chetwood ("History of the Stage," p. 155) says: "Mr. _George Powel_, a

reputable Actor, with many Excellencies, gave out, that he would perform

the part of Sir _John Falstaff_ in the manner of that very excellent

_English Roscius_, Mr. _Betterton_. He certainly hit his Manner, and

Tone of Voice, yet to make the Picture more like, he mimic'd the

Infirmities of Distemper, old Age, and the afflicting Pains of the Gout,

which that great Man was often seiz'd with."]

[Footnote 237:

"Quicquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas,

Gaudia, discursus, nostri est farrago libelli."

Juvenal, i. 85.]

[Footnote 238: That is, January, 1696. The cast was:--

"Love's last Shift; or, the Fool in Fashion."

SIR WILLIAM WISEWOUD .............. Mr. Johnson.

LOVELESS .......................... Mr. Verbruggen.

SIR NOVELTY FASHION ............... Mr. Cibber.

ELDER WORTHY ...................... Mr. Williams.

YOUNG WORTHY ...................... Mr. Horden.

SNAP .............................. Mr. Penkethman.

SLY ............................... Mr. Bullock.

LAWYER ............................ Mr. Mills.

AMANDA ............................ Mrs. Rogers.

NARCISSA .......................... Mrs. Verbruggen.

HILLARIA .......................... Mrs. Cibber.

MRS. FLAREIT ...................... Mrs. Kent.

AMANDA'S WOMAN .................... Mrs. Lucas.]

[Footnote 239: In the Dedication to this play Cibber says that "Mr.

_Southern_'s Good-nature (whose own Works best recommend his Judgment)

engaged his Reputation for the Success."]

[Footnote 240: Gildon praises this play highly in the "Comparison

between the two Stages," p. 25:--

"_Ramble._ Ay, marry, that Play was the Philosopher's Stone; I

think it did wonders.

_Sullen._ It did so, and very deservedly; there being few

Comedies that came up to't for purity of Plot, Manners and

Moral: It's often acted now a daies, and by the help of the

Author's own good action, it pleases to this Day."]

[Footnote 241: Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 437) says: "So little was

hoped from the genius of Cibber, that the critics reproached him with

stealing his play. To his censurers he makes a serious defence of

himself, in his dedication to Richard Norton, Esq., of Southwick, a

gentleman who was so fond of stage-plays and players, that he has been

accused of turning his chapel into a theatre. The furious John Dennis,

who hated Cibber for obstructing, as he imagined, the progress of his

tragedy called the Invader of his Country, in very passionate terms

denies his claim to this comedy: 'When the Fool in Fashion was first

acted (says the critic) Cibber was hardly twenty years of age--how could

he, at the age of twenty, write a comedy with a just design,

distinguished characters, and a proper dialogue, who now, at forty,

treats us with Hibernian sense and Hibernian English?'"]

[Footnote 242: This same accusation was made against Cibber on other

occasions. Dr. Johnson, referring to one of these, said: "There was no

reason to believe that the _Careless Husband_ was not written by

himself."--Boswell's Johnson, ii. 340.]

[Footnote 243: "The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger," was produced at

Drury Lane in 1697. Cibber's part in it, Lord Foppington, became one of

his most famous characters. The "Comparison between the two Stages," p.

32, says: "_Oronoko_, _Æsop_, and _Relapse_ are Master-pieces, and

subsisted _Drury-lane_ House, the first two or three Years."]

[Footnote 244: "The Provoked Wife" was produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields

in 1697; and, as Cibber states, "Æsop" was played at Drury Lane in the

same year. It seems (see Prologue to "The Confederacy") that Vanbrugh

gave his first three plays as presents to the Companies.]

[Footnote 245: "Comparison between the two Stages," p. 12: "In the

meantime the Mushrooms in _Drury-Lane_ shoot up from such a desolate

Fortune into a considerable Name; and not only grappled with their

Rivals, but almost eclipst 'em."]

[Footnote 246: The last performance of this comedy which Genest indexes

was at Covent Garden, 14th February, 1763.]

[Footnote 247: Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 469) says: "The truth is,

Cibber was endured, in this and other tragic parts, on account of his

general merit in comedy;" and the author of "The Laureat," p. 41,

remarks: "I have often heard him blamed as a Trifler in that Part; he

was rarely perfect, and, abating for the Badness of his Voice and the

Insignificancy and Meanness of his Action, he did not seem to understand

either what he said or what he was about."]

[Footnote 248: "The Laureat," p. 44: "Whatever the Actors appear'd upon

the Stage, they were most of them _Barbarians_ off on't, few of them

having had the Education, or whose Fortunes could admit them to the

Conversation of Gentlemen."]

[Footnote 249: Davies praises Cibber in Fondlewife, saying that he "was

much and justly admired and applauded" ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 391); and in

the same work (i. 306) he gives an admirable sketch of Cibber as Justice

Shallow:--

"Whether he was a copy or an original in Shallow, it is certain no

audience was ever more fixed in deep attention, at his first appearance,

or more shaken with laughter in the progress of the scene, than at

Colley Cibber's exhibition of this ridiculous justice of peace. Some

years after he had left the stage, he acted Shallow for his son's

benefit. I believe in 1737, when Quin was the Falstaff, and Milward the

King. Whether it was owing to the pleasure the spectators felt on seeing

their old friend return to them again, _though for that night only_,

after an absence of some years, I know not; but, surely, no actor or

audience were better pleased with each other. His manner was so

perfectly simple, his look so vacant, when he questioned his cousin

Silence about the price of ewes, and lamented, in the same breath, with

silly surprise, the death of Old Double, that it will be impossible for

any surviving spectator not to smile at the remembrance of it. The want

of ideas occasions Shallow to repeat almost every thing he says.

Cibber's transition, from asking the price of bullocks, to trite, but

grave reflections on mortality, was so natural, and attended with such

an unmeaning roll of his small pigs-eyes, accompanied with an important

utterance of tick! tick! tick! not much louder than the balance of a

watch, that I question if any actor was ever superior in the conception

or expression of such solemn insignificancy."]

[Footnote 250: I presume Cibber means 1695. The Company was

self-governed from its commencement in 1695, and the disintegration

seems to have begun in the next season. See what Cibber says of Dogget's

defection a few pages on.]

[Footnote 251: In Lee's tragedy of "Cæsar Borgia," originally played at

Dorset Garden in 1680. Borgia was Betterton's part, and was evidently

one of those which Powell laid violent hands on.]

[Footnote 252: Among the Lord Chamberlain's Papers is a curious

Decision, dated 26 Oct. 1696, regarding this desertion. By it, Dogget,

who is stated to have been seduced from Lincoln's Inn Fields, is

permitted to act where he likes.]

[Footnote 253: Genest's list of Dogget's characters shows that he was

apparently not engaged 1698 to 1700, both inclusive; for the seasons

1706-7 and 1707-8; and for the season 1708-9. This would make the three

occasions mentioned by Cibber.]

[Footnote 254: Dryden, in his Address to Granville on his tragedy of

"Heroic Love" in 1698, says of the Lincoln's Inn Fields Company:--

"Their setting sun still shoots a glimmering ray,

Like ancient Rome, majestic in decay;

And better gleanings their worn soil can boast,

Than the crab-vintage of the neighbouring coast."]

[Footnote 255: "Comparison between the two Stages," p. 13: "But this

[the success of 'Love for Love'] like other things of that kind, being

only nine Days wonder, and the Audiences, being in a little time sated

with the Novelty of the _New-house_, return in Shoals to the Old."]

[Footnote 256: Cibber says nothing of his having been a member of the

Lincoln's Inn Fields Company. But he was, for he writes in his Preface

to "Woman's Wit": "during the Time of my writing the two first Acts I

was entertain'd at the New Theatre.... In the Middle of my Writing the

Third Act, not liking my Station there, I return'd again to the Theatre

Royal." Cibber must have joined Betterton, I should think, about the end

of 1696. It is curious that he should in his "Apology" have entirely

suppressed this incident. It almost suggests that there was something in

it of which he was in later years somewhat ashamed.]

[Footnote 257: "Comparison between the two Stages," p. 14: "The Town ...

chang'd their Inclinations for the two Houses, as they found 'emselves

inclin'd to Comedy or Tragedy: If they desir'd a Tragedy, they went to

_Lincolns-Inn-Fields_; if to Comedy, they flockt to _Drury-lane_."]

[Footnote 258: Christopher Rich, of whom the "Comparison between the two

Stages" says (p. 15): "_Critick_. In the other House there's an old

snarling Lawyer Master and Sovereign; a waspish, ignorant, pettifogger

in Law and Poetry; one who understands Poetry no more than Algebra; he

wou'd sooner have the Grace of God than do everybody Justice."]

[Footnote 259: This privilege seems to have been granted about 1697 or

1698. It was not abolished till 1737. On 5th May, 1737, footmen having

been deprived of their privilege, 300 of them broke into Drury Lane and

did great damage. Many were, however, arrested, and no attempt was made

to renew hostilities.]

[Footnote 260: Queen Anne issued several Edicts forbidding persons to be

admitted behind the scenes, and in the advertisements of both theatres

there appeared the announcement, "By Her Majesty's Command no Persons

are to be admitted behind the Scenes." Cibber here, no doubt, refers to

the Sign Manual of 13 Nov. 1711, a copy of which is among the

Chamberlain's Papers.]

[Footnote 261: Cibber is probably incorrect here. It seems certain from

the bills that Wilks did not re-appear in London before 1698.]

[Footnote 262: See note on page 235.]

[Footnote 263: "The Laureat," p. 44: "_Wilks_, in this Part of

_Palamede_, behav'd with a modest Diffidence, and yet maintain'd the

Spirit of his Part." The author says, on the same page, that Powel never

could appear a Gentleman. "His Conversation, his Manners, his Dress,

neither on nor off the Stage, bore any Similitude to that Character."]

[Footnote 264: "The Laureat," p. 44: "I believe he (Wilks) was obliged

to fight the Heroic _George Powel_, as well as one or two others, who

were piqued at his being so highly encouraged by the Town, and their

Rival, before he cou'd be quiet."]

[Footnote 265: Powell seems to have been at Lincoln's Inn Fields for two

seasons, those of 1702 and 1703, and for part of a third, 1703-4. He

returned to Drury Lane about June, 1704. For the arbitrary conduct of

the Lord Chamberlain, in allowing him to desert to Lincoln's Inn Fields

(or the Haymarket), but arresting him when he deserted back again to

Drury Lane, see after, in Chap. X.]

[Footnote 266: Cibber is here somewhat in the position of Satan

reproving sin, if Davies's statements ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 480) are

accurate. He says:--

"This attention to the gaming-table would not, we may be assured, render

him [Cibber] fitter for his business of the stage. After many an unlucky

run at Tom's Coffee-house [in Russell Street], he has arrived at the

playhouse in great tranquillity; and then, humming over an opera-tune,

he has walked on the stage not well prepared in the part he was to act.

Cibber should not have reprehended Powell so severely for neglect and

imperfect representation: I have seen him at fault where it was least

expected; in parts which he had acted a hundred times, and particularly

in Sir Courtly Nice; but Colley dexterously supplied the deficiency of

his memory by prolonging his ceremonious bow to the lady, and drawling

out 'Your humble servant, madam,' to an extraordinary length; then

taking a pinch of snuff, and strutting deliberately across the stage, he

has gravely asked the prompter, what is next?"]

[Footnote 267: "The Laureat," p. 45: "I have known him (Wilks) lay a

Wager and win it, that he wou'd repeat the Part of _Truewitt_ in the

_Silent Woman_, which consists of thirty Lengths of Paper, as they call

'em, (that is, one Quarter of a Sheet on both Sides to a Length) without

misplacing a single Word, or missing an (_and_) or an (_or_)."]

[Footnote 268: Alexander in "The Rival Queens."]

[Footnote 269: In "The Man of the Mode; or, Sir Fopling Flutter."]

[Footnote 270: Produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 29th January, 1728.]

[Footnote 271: "Love in a Riddle." A Pastoral. Produced at Drury Lane,

7th January, 1729.

ARCAS........................................ Mr. Mills.

ÆGON ........................................ Mr. Harper.

AMYNTAS ..................................... Mr. Williams.

IPHIS ....................................... Mrs. Thurmond.

PHILAUTUS, a conceited Corinthian courtier... Mr. Cibber.

CORYDON ..................................... Mr. Griffin.

CIMON ....................................... Mr. Miller.

MOPSUS ...................................... Mr. Oates.

DAMON ....................................... Mr. Ray.

IANTHE, daughter to Arcas ................... Mrs. Cibber.

PASTORA, daughter to Ægon ................... Mrs. Lindar.

PHILLIDA, daughter to Corydon ............... Mrs. Raftor.

_Mrs._ Raftor (at this time _Miss_ was not generally used) was

afterwards the famous Mrs. Clive. Chetwood, in his "History of the

Stage," 1749 (p. 128), says: "I remember the first night of _Love in a

Riddle_ (which was murder'd in the same Year) a Pastoral Opera wrote by

the _Laureat_, which the Hydra-headed Multitude resolv'd to worry

without hearing, a Custom with Authors of Merit, when Miss _Raftor_ came

on in the part of _Phillida_, the monstrous Roar subsided. A Person in

the Stage-Box, next to my Post, called out to his Companion in the

following elegant Style--'Zounds! _Tom!_ take Care! or this charming

little Devil will save all.'" Chetwood's "Post" was that of Prompter.]

[Footnote 272: Martial, xiii. 2, 8.]

[Footnote 273: Cibber should have written _Catiline_.]

[Footnote 274: This second part was called "Polly." In his Preface Gay

gives an account of its being vetoed. The prohibition undoubtedly was in

revenge for the political satire in "The Beggar's Opera." "Polly" was

published by subscription, and probably brought the author more in that

way than its production would have done. It was played for the first

time at the Haymarket, 19th June, 1777. It is, as Genest says, miserably

inferior to the first part.]

[Footnote 275: "Polly" was officially prohibited on 12th December, 1728.]

[Footnote 276: I know only one case in which a new piece is said to have

been prohibited because the other house was going to play one on the

same subject. This is Swiney's "Quacks; or, Love's the Physician,"

produced at Drury Lane on 18th March, 1705, after being twice vetoed.

Swiney in his Preface gives the above as the reason for the

prohibition.]

[Footnote 277: Cibber afterwards formed the best scenes of "Love in a

Riddle" into a Ballad Opera, called "Damon and Phillida."]

[Footnote 278: Bellchambers notes that this was probably Mrs. Oldfield.

But I think this more than doubtful, for this lady not only was fair,

but also, as Touchstone says, "had the gift to know it." It is, of

course, impossible to say decidedly to whom Cibber referred; but I fancy

that Mrs. Barry is the actress who best fulfils the conditions, though,

of course, I must admit that her having been dead for a quarter of a

century weakens my case.]

[Footnote 279: A "bite" is what we now term a "sell." In "The

Spectator," Nos. 47 and 504, some account of "Biters" is given: "a Race

of Men that are perpetually employed in laughing at those Mistakes which

are of their own Production."]

[Footnote 280: This is a capital sketch of Christopher Rich.]

[Footnote 281: Cibber's hint of Rich's weakness for the fair sex is

corroborated by the "Comparison between the two Stages," page 16:

"_Critick._ He is Monarch of the Stage, tho' he knows not how to govern

one Province in his Dominion, but that of Signing, Sealing, and

something else, that shall be nameless."]

[Footnote 282: "The Laureat," p. 48: "If _Minister Wilks_ was now alive

to hear thee prate thus, Mr. _Bayes,_ I would not give one Half-penny

for thy Ears; but if he were alive, thou durst not for thy Ears rattle

on in this affected _Matchiavilian_ stile."]

[Footnote 283: Characters in Ben Jonson's "Silent Woman."]

[Footnote 284: "The Laureat," p. 49: "Did you not, by your general

Misbehaviour towards Authors and Actors, bring an _Odium_ on your

Brother _Menagers_, as well as yourself; and were not these, with many

others, the Reasons, that sometimes gave Occasion to _Wilks_, to

chastise you, with his Tongue only."]

[Footnote 285: See memoir of John Mills at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 286: John Mills, in the advertisement issued by Rich, in 1709,

in the course of a dispute with his actors, is stated to have a salary

of "£4 a week for himself, and £1 a week for his wife, for little or

nothing." This advertisement is quoted by me in Chap. XII. Mills's

salary was the same as Betterton's. No doubt Cibber, Wilks, Dogget, and

Booth had ultimately larger salaries, but they, of course, were managers

as well as actors.]

[Footnote 287: Booth seems to have joined the Lincoln's Inn Fields

Company in 1700.]

[Footnote 288: Steele's comedy was produced at Drury Lane in 1702.

Cibber played Lord Hardy.]

[Footnote 289: The play was called "Woman's Wit; or, the Lady in

Fashion." It was produced at Drury Lane in 1697. It must have been in

the early months of that year, for in his Preface Cibber says, to excuse

its failure, that it was hurriedly written, and that "rather than lose a

Winter" he forced himself to invent a fable. "The Laureat," p. 50,

stupidly says that the name of the play was "_Perolla_ and _Isadora_."

The cast was:--

LORD LOVEMORE ................................... Mr. Harland.

LONGVILLE ....................................... Mr. Cibber.

MAJOR RAKISH .................................... Mr. Penkethman.

JACK RAKISH ..................................... Mr. Powel.

MASS JOHNNY, Lady Manlove's Son, a schoolboy .... Mr. Dogget.

FATHER BENEDIC .................................. Mr. Smeaton.

LADY MANLOVE..................................... Mrs. Powel.

LEONORA ......................................... Mrs. Knight.

EMILIA .......................................... Mrs. Rogers.

OLIVIA .......................................... Mrs. Cibber.

LETTICE ......................................... Mrs. Kent.]

[Footnote 290:

"Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetae." Hor. _Ars

Poetica_, 333.]

[Footnote 291:

"Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci." Hor.

_Ars Poetica_, 343.]

[Footnote 292: Pepys (12th June, 1663) records that the Lady Mary

Cromwell at the Theatre, "when the House began to fill, put on her

vizard, and so kept it on all the play; which of late is become a great

fashion among the ladies, which hides their whole face." Very soon,

however, ladies gave up the use of the mask, and "Vizard-mask" became a

synonym for "Prostitute." In this sense it is frequently used in

Dryden's Prologues and Epilogues.]

[Footnote 293: Compare with Cibber's condemnation Genest's opinion of

this play. He says (i. 365): "If it be the province of Comedy, not to

retail morality to a yawning pit, but to make the audience laugh, and to

keep them in good humour, this play must be allowed to be one of the

best comedies in the English language."]

[Footnote 294: To "The Pilgrim," revived in 1700, as Cibber states,

Dryden's "Secular Masque" was attached. Whether the revival took place

before or after Dryden's death (1st May, 1700) is a moot point. See

Genest, ii. 179, for an admirable account of the matter. He thinks it

probable that the date of production was 25th March, 1700. Cibber is

scarcely accurate in stating that "The Pilgrim" was revived for Dryden's

benefit. It seems, rather, that Vanbrugh, who revised the play,

stipulated that, in consideration of Dryden's writing "The Secular

Masque," and also the Prologue and Epilogue, he should have the usual

author's third night. The B. M. copy of "The Pilgrim" is dated, in an

old handwriting, "Monday, the 5 of May."]

[Footnote 295: Jeremy Collier.]

[Footnote 296: Genest notes (ii. 181) that in the original play the

Servant in the 2nd act did not stutter.]

[Footnote 297: Collier's famous work, which was entitled "A Short View

of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage: together with

the sense of Antiquity upon this Argument," was published in 1698.

Collier was a Nonjuring clergyman. He was born on 23rd September, 1650,

and died in 1726. The circumstance to which Cibber alludes in the second

paragraph from the present, was Collier's attending to the scaffold Sir

John Friend and Sir William Perkins, who were executed for complicity in

plots against King William in 1696.]

[Footnote 298: The facetious Joe Haines was an actor of great

popularity, and seems to have excelled in the delivery of Prologues and

Epilogues, especially of those written by himself. He was on the stage

from about 1672 to 1700 or 1701, in which latter year (on the 4th of

April) he died. He was the original Sparkish in Wycherley's "Country

Wife," Lord Plausible in the same author's "Plain Dealer," and Tom

Errand in Farquhar's "Constant Couple." Davies ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 284)

tells, on Quin's authority, an anecdote of Haines's pretended conversion

to Romanism during James the Second's reign. He declared that the Virgin

Mary appeared to him in a vision. "Lord Sunderland sent for Joe, and

asked him about the truth of his conversion, and whether he had really

seen the Virgin?--Yes, my Lord, I assure you it is a fact.--How was it,

pray?--Why, as I was lying in my bed, the Virgin appeared to me, and

said, _Arise, Joe!_--You lie, you rogue, said the Earl; for, if it had

really been the Virgin herself, she would have said _Joseph_, if it had

been only out of respect to her husband." For an account of Haines, see

also Anthony Aston.]

[Footnote 299: "The Laureat" (p. 53) states that soon after the

publication of Collier's book, informers were placed in different parts

of the theatres, on whose information several players were charged with

uttering immoral words. Queen Anne, however, satisfied that the

informers were not actuated by zeal for morality, stopped the

inquisition. These informers were paid by the Society for the

Reformation of Manners.]

[Footnote 300: Congreve's answer to Collier was entitled "Amendments of

Mr. Collier's false and imperfect Citations, &c. from the Old

Batchelour, Double Dealer, Love for Love, Mourning Bride. By the Author

of those Plays." Vanbrugh called his reply, "A Short Vindication of the

Relapse and the Provok'd Wife, from Immorality and Prophaneness. By the

Author." Davies says, regarding Congreve ("Dram. Misc.," iii. 401):

"Congreve's pride was hurt by Collier's attack on plays which all the

world had admired and commended; and no hypocrite showed more rancour

and resentment, when unmasked, than this author, so greatly celebrated

for sweetness of temper and elegance of manners."]

[Footnote 301: Charles Killigrew, who died in 1725, having held the

office of Master of the Revels for over forty years.]

[Footnote 302: Produced at Drury Lane in 1700. For some account of

Cibber's playing of Richard, see _ante_, pp. 139, 140.]

[Footnote 303: Chalmers ("Apology for the Believers in the Shakspeare

Papers," page 535) comments unfavourably on Cibber's method of stating

this fact, saying, "Well might Pope cry out, _modest_ Cibber!" But

Chalmers is unjust to Colley, who is not expressing his own opinion of

his play's importance, but merely reporting the opinion of Killigrew.]

[Footnote 304: Steele's name first appears in a License granted 18th

October, 1714. His Patent was dated 19th January, 1715.]

[Footnote 305: Chalmers ("Apology for the Believers," page 536) says:

"The patentees sent Colley Cibber, as envoy-extraordinary, to negotiate

an amicable settlement with the Sovereign of the Revels. It is amusing

to hear, how this flippant negotiator explained his own pretensions, and

attempted to invalidate the right of his opponent; as if a subsequent

charter, under the great seal, could supersede a preceding grant under

the same authority. Charles Killigrew, who was now sixty-five years of

age, seems to have been oppressed by the insolent civility of Colley

Cibber." But this is an undeserved hit at Cibber, who had suffered the

grossest injustice at Killigrew's hands regarding the licensing of

"Richard III." See _ante_, p. 275. The dispute regarding fees must have

occurred about 1715.]

[Footnote 306: The Licensing Act of 1737. This Act was passed by Sir

Robert Walpole's government, and gave to the Lord Chamberlain the power

to prohibit a piece from being acted at all, by making it necessary to

have every play licensed. This power, however, had practically been

exercised by the Chamberlain before, as in the case of Gay's "Polly,"

which Cibber has already mentioned. The immediate cause of this Act of

1737 was a piece called "The Golden Rump," which was so full of

scurrility against the powers that were, that Giffard, the manager to

whom it was submitted, carried it to Walpole. In spite of the opposition

of Lord Chesterfield, who delivered a famous speech against it, the Bill

was passed, 21st June, 1737. The "Biographia Dramatica" hints plainly

that "The Golden Rump" was written at Walpole's instigation to afford an

excuse for the Act. Bellchambers has the following note on this

passage:--

"The Abbé Le Blanc,{A} who was in England at the time this law passed,

has the following remarks upon it in his correspondence:--

"'This act occasioned an universal murmur in the nation, and was openly

complained of in the public papers: in all the coffee-houses of London

it was treated as an unjust law, and manifestly contrary to the

liberties of the people of England. When winter came, and the

play-houses were opened, that of Covent-garden began with three new

pieces, which had been approved of by the Lord Chamberlain. There was a

crowd of spectators present at the first, and among the number myself.

The best play in the world would not have succeeded the first night.{B}

There was a resolution to damn whatever might appear, the word _hiss_

not being sufficiently expressive for the English. They always say, to

_damn_ a piece, to _damn_ an author, &c. and, in reality, the word is

not too strong to express the manner in which they receive a play which

does not please them. The farce in question was damned indeed, without

the least compassion: nor was that all, for the actors were driven off

the stage, and happy was it for the author that he did not fall into the

hands of this furious assembly.

"'As you are unacquainted with the customs of this country, you cannot

easily devise who were the authors of all this disturbance. Perhaps you

may think they were schoolboys, apprentices, clerks, or mechanics. No,

sir, they were men of a very grave and genteel profession; they were

lawyers, and please you; a body of gentlemen, perhaps less honoured, but

certainly more feared here than they are in France. Most of them live in

colleges,{C} where, conversing always with one another, they mutually

preserve a spirit of independency through the body, and with great ease

form cabals. These gentlemen, in the stage entertainments of London,

behave much like our footboys, in those at a fair. With us, your

party-coloured gentry are the most noisy; but here, men of the law have

all the sway, if I may be permitted to call so those pretended

professors of it, who are rather the organs of chicanery, than the

interpreters of justice. At Paris the cabals of the pit are only among

young fellows, whose years may excuse their folly, or persons of the

meanest education and stamp; here they are the fruit of deliberations in

a very grave body of people, who are not less formidable to the minister

in place, than to the theatrical writers.

"'The players were not dismayed, but soon after stuck up bills for

another new piece: there was the same crowding at Covent-garden, to

which I again contributed. I was sure, at least, that if the piece

advertised was not performed, I should have the pleasure of beholding

some very extraordinary scene acted in the pit.

"'Half an hour before the play was to begin, the spectators gave notice

of their dispositions by frightful hisses and outcries, equal, perhaps,

to what were ever heard at a Roman amphitheatre. I could not have known,

but by my eyes only, that I was among an assembly of beings who thought

themselves to be reasonable. The author, who had foreseen this fury of

the pit, took care to be armed against it. He knew what people he had to

deal with, and, to make them easy, put in his prologue double the usual

dose of incense that is offered to their vanity; for there is an

established tax of this kind, from which no author is suffered to

dispense himself. This author's wise precaution succeeded, and the men

that were before so redoubtable grew calm; the charms of flattery, more

strong than those of music, deprived them of all their fierceness.

"'You see, sir, that the pit is the same in all countries: it loves to

be flattered, under the more genteel name of being complimented. If a

man has tolerable address at panegyric, they swallow it greedily, and

are easily quelled and intoxicated by the draught. Every one in

particular thinks he merits the praise that is given to the whole in

general; the illusion operates, and the prologue is good, only because

it is artfully directed. Every one saves his own blush by the authority

of the multitude he makes a part of, which is, perhaps, the only

circumstance in which a man can think himself not obliged to be modest.

"'The author having, by flattery, begun to tame this wild audience,

proceeded entirely to reconcile it by the first scene of his

performance. Two actors came in, one dressed in the English manner very

decently, and the other with black eyebrows, a ribbon of an ell long

under his chin, a bag-peruke immoderately powdered, and his nose all

bedaubed with snuff. What Englishman could not know a Frenchman by this

ridiculous picture! The common people of London think we are indeed such

sort of folks, and of their own accord, add to our real follies all that

their authors are pleased to give us. But when it was found, that the

man thus equipped, being also laced down every seam of his coat, was

nothing but a cook, the spectators were equally charmed and surprised.

The author had taken care to make him speak all the impertinencies he

could devise, and for that reason, all the impertinencies of his farce

were excused, and the merit of it immediately decided. There was a long

criticism upon our manners, our customs, and above all, upon our

cookery. The excellence and virtues of English beef were cried up, and

the author maintained, that it was owing to the qualities of its juice,

that the English were so courageous, and had such a solidity of

understanding, which raised them above all the nations in Europe: he

preferred the noble old English pudding beyond all the finest ragouts

that were ever invented by the greatest geniuses that France has

produced; and all these ingenious strokes were loudly clapped by the

audience.

"'The pit, biassed by the abuse that was thrown on the French, forgot

that they came to damn the play, and maintain the ancient liberty of the

stage. They were friends with the players, and even with the court

itself, and contented themselves with the privilege left them, of

lashing our nation as much as they pleased, in the room of laughing at

the expense of the minister. The license of authors did not seem to be

too much restrained, since the court did not hinder them from saying all

the ill they could of the French.

"'Intractable as the populace appear in this country, those who know how

to take hold of their foibles, may easily carry their point. Thus is the

liberty of the stage reduced to just bounds, and yet the English pit

makes no farther attempt to oppose the new regulation. The law is

executed without the least trouble, all the plays since having been

quietly heard, and either succeeded, or not, according to their merit.'"

See article in Mr. Archer's "About the Theatre," p. 101, and

Parliamentary Reports, 1832 and 1866.

{Subnote A: Mr. Garrick, when in Paris, refused to meet this

writer, on account of the irreverence with which he had

treated Shakspeare.}

{Subnote B: The action was interrupted almost as soon as begun,

in presence of a numerous assembly, by a cabal who had

resolved to overthrow the first effect of this act of

parliament, though it had been thought necessary for the

regulation of the stage.}

{Subnote C: Called here Inns of Court, as the two Temples,

Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Doctor's Commons, &c.}]

[Footnote 307: The theatre in Goodman's Fields was opened in October,

1729, by Thomas Odell, who was afterwards Deputy Licenser under the 1737

Act. Odell, having no theatrical experience, entrusted the management to

Henry Giffard. Odell's theatre seems to have been in Leman Street.]

[Footnote 308: I can find no hint that plays were ever stopped at

Odell's theatre. There is a pamphlet, published in 1730, with the

following title: "A Letter to the Right Honourable Sir Richard Brocas,

Lord Mayor of London. By a Citizen," which demands the closing of the

theatre, but I do not suppose any practical result followed. In 1733 an

attempt by the Patentees of Drury Lane and Covent Garden to silence

Giffard's Company, then playing at his new theatre in Goodman's Fields,

was unsuccessful. This theatre was in Ayliffe Street.]

[Footnote 309: Half of Booth's share of the Patent was purchased by

Highmore, who also bought the whole of Cibber's share. Giffard was the

purchaser of the remainder of Booth's share.]

[Footnote 310: This was John Harper. Davies ("Life of Garrick," i. 40)

says that "The reason of the Patentees fixing on Harper was in

consequence of his natural timidity." His trial was on the 20th

November, 1733. Harper was a low comedian of some ability, but of no

great note.]

[Footnote 311: Cibber again alludes to this in Chap. XIII.]

[Footnote 312: Sir Francis Wronghead is a character in "The Provoked

Husband," a country squire who comes to London to seek a place at Court.

In Act iv. Sir Francis relates his interview with a certain great man:

"Sir Francis, says my lord, pray what sort of a place may you ha' turned

your thoughts upon? My lord, says I, beggars must not be chusers; but

ony place, says I, about a thousand a-year, will be well enough to be

doing with, till something better falls in--for I thowght it would not

look well to stond haggling with him at first."]

[Footnote 313: Giffard seems to have retained his sixth part.]

[Footnote 314: Some account of the entire dispute between Highmore and

his actors will be found in my Supplement to this book.]

[Footnote 315: This "broken Wit" was Henry Fielding, between whom and

Cibber there was war to the knife, Fielding taking every opportunity of

mocking at Colley and attacking his works.

Mr. Austin Dobson, in his "Fielding," page 66, writes: "When the

_Champion_ was rather more than a year old, Colley Cibber published his

famous _Apology_. To the attacks made upon him by Fielding at different

times he had hitherto printed no reply--perhaps he had no opportunity of

doing so. But in his eighth chapter, when speaking of the causes which

led to the Licensing Act, he takes occasion to refer to his assailant in

terms which Fielding must have found exceedingly galling. He carefully

abstained from mentioning his name, on the ground that it could do him

no good, and was of no importance; but he described him as 'a broken

Wit,'" &c.

Mr. Dobson, on page 69, gives his approval to the theory that "Fielding

had openly expressed resentment at being described by Cibber as 'a

broken wit,' without being mentioned by name."]

[Footnote 316: The use of "channel," meaning "gutter," is obsolete in

England; but I am sure that I have heard it used in that sense in

Scotland. Shakespeare in "King Henry the Sixth," third part, act ii. sc.

2, has,

"As if a channel should be called the sea."

And in Marlowe's "Edward the Second," act i. sc. 1, occur the lines:--

"Throw off his golden mitre, rend his stole,

And in the channel christen him anew."]

[Footnote 317: Juvenal, i. 73.]

[Footnote 318: Mr. Dobson ("Fielding," page 67) says: "He [Cibber]

called him, either in allusion to his stature, or his pseudonym in the

_Champion_, a '_Herculean_ Satyrist,' a '_Drawcansir_ in Wit.'"]

[Footnote 319: Fielding's political satires, in such pieces as "Pasquin"

and "The Historical Register for 1736," contributed largely to the

passing of the Act of 1737, although "The Golden Rump" was the

ostensible cause.]

[Footnote 320: Fielding, in the "Champion" for Tuesday, April 22nd,

1740, says of Cibber's refusal to quote from "Pasquin"--"the good Parent

seems to imagine that he hath produced, as well as my Lord _Clarendon_,

a [Greek: Ktêma es aei]; for he refuses to quote anything out of

_Pasquin_, lest he should _give it a chance of being remembered_."

Mr. Dobson ("Fielding," page 69) says Fielding "never seems to have

wholly forgotten his animosity to the actor, to whom there are frequent

references in _Joseph Andrews_; and, as late as 1749, he is still found

harping on 'the withered laurel' in a letter to Lyttelton. Even in his

last work, the _Voyage to Lisbon_, Cibber's name is mentioned. The

origin of this protracted feud is obscure; but, apart from want of

sympathy, it must probably be sought for in some early misunderstanding

between the two in their capacities of manager and author."]

[Footnote 321: By Lord Chesterfield.]

[Footnote 322: Horace, _Ars Poetica_, 180.]

[Footnote 323: Guiscard's attack on Harley occurred in 1711.]

[Footnote 324: Genest (iii. 521) remarks, "If the power of the Licenser

had been laid _under proper regulations_, all would have been right."

The whole objection to the Licenser is simply that he is under no

regulations whatever. He is a perfectly irresponsible authority, and one

from whose decisions there is no appeal.]

[Footnote 325: Cibber received three thousand guineas from Highmore for

his share in the Patent (See Victor's "History," i. 8).]

[Footnote 326: "The Laureat," page 72: "Indeed, _Laureat_,

notwithstanding what thou may'st dream of the Immortality of this Work

of thine, and bestowing the same on thy Favourites by recording them

here; thou mayst, old as thou art, live to see thy precious Labours

become the vile Wrappers of Pastry-Grocers and Chandlery Wares." The

issue of the present edition of Cibber's "Apology" is sufficient

commentary on "The Laureat's" ill-natured prophecy.]

[Footnote 327: Cibber prints 1684, repeating his former blunder.

(See p. 96.)]

[Footnote 328: The first play acted by the United Company was "Hamlet."

In this Estcourt is cast for the Gravedigger, so that if Cibber's

anecdote is accurate, as no doubt it is, Estcourt must have "doubled"

the Gravedigger and the speaker of the Prologue.]

[Footnote 329: The first edition reads "1708," and in the next chapter

Cibber says 1708. In point of fact, the first performance by the United

Company took place 15th January, 1708. This does not make Estcourt's

"gag" incorrect, for though we now should not consider May, 1707, and

the following January in the same year, yet up to 1752, when the style

was changed in England, they were so.]

[Footnote 330: Southerne's "Oroonoko" was produced at Drury Lane

in 1696.]

[Footnote 331: Of Horden we know little more than Cibber tells us. He

seems to have been on the stage only for a year or two; and during 1696

only, at Drury Lane, does his name appear to important parts. Davies

("Dram. Misc.," iii. 443) says Horden "was bred a Scholar: he

complimented George Powell, in a Latin encomium on his Treacherous

Brothers."

"The London News-Letter," 20th May, 1696, says: "On _Monday_ Capt.

_Burges_ who kill'd Mr. _Fane_, and was found guilty of Manslaughter at

the _Old Baily_, kill'd Mr. _Harding_ a Comedian in a Quarrel at the

_Rose_ Tavern in _Hatton_ [should be _Covent_] _Garden_, and is taken

into custody."

In "Luttrell's Diary," on Tuesday, 19th May, 1696, is noted: "Captain

Burgesse, convicted last sessions of manslaughter for killing Mr. Fane,

is committed to the Gatehouse for killing Mr. Horden, of the Playhouse,

last night in Covent Garden."

And on Tuesday, 30th November, 1697, "Captain Burgesse, who killed Mr.

Horden the player, has obtained his majesties pardon."]

[Footnote 332: This tavern seems to have been very near Drury Lane

Theatre, and to have been a favourite place of resort after the play. In

the Epilogue to the "Constant Couple" the Rose Tavern is mentioned:--

"Now all depart, each his respective way,

To spend an evening's chat upon the play;

Some to Hippolito's; one homeward goes,

And one with loving she, retires to th' Rose."

In the "Comparison between the two Stages" one scene is laid in the Rose

Tavern, and from it we gather that the house was of a very bad

character:--

_"Ramb._ Defend us! what a hurry of Sin is in this House!

_Sull._ Drunkenness, which is the proper Iniquity of a Tavern, is here

the most excusable Sin; so many other Sins over-run it, 'tis hardly seen

in the crowd....

_Sull._ This House is the very Camp of Sin; the Devil sets up his black

Standard in the Faces of these hungry Harlots, and to enter into their

Trenches is going down to the Bottomless Pit according to the

letter."--_Comp._, p. 140.

Pepys mentions the Rose more than once. On 18th May, 1668, the first day

of Sedley's play, "The Mulberry Garden," the diarist, having secured his

place in the pit, and feeling hungry, "did slip out, getting a boy to

keep my place; and to the Rose Tavern, and there got half a breast of

mutton, off the spit, and dined all alone. And so to the play again."]

[Footnote 333: Cibber's chronology cannot be reconciled with what we

believe to be facts. Horden was killed in 1696; Wilks seems to have come

to England not earlier than the end of 1698, while it is, I should say,

certain that Estcourt did not appear before 1704. I can only suppose

that Cibber, who is very reckless in his dates, is here particularly

confused.]

[Footnote 334: For Leigh's playing of this character, see _ante_,

p. 145.]

[Footnote 335: Curll, in his "Life of Mrs. Oldfield," says that the only

part she played, previous to appearing as Alinda, was Candiope in

"Secret Love." She played Alinda in 1700.]

[Footnote 336: In 1702, Gildon, in the "Comparison between the two

Stages" (p. 200), includes Mrs. Oldfield among the "meer Rubbish that

ought to be swept off the Stage with the Filth and Dust."]

[Footnote 337: "Miff," a colloquial expression signifying "a slight

degree of resentment."]

[Footnote 338: Cibber is pleasantly candid in allowing that he had no

share in Mrs. Oldfield's success. The temptation to assume some credit

for teaching her something must have been great.]

[Footnote 339: Mrs. Anne Oldfield, born about 1683, was introduced to

Vanbrugh by Farquhar, who accidentally heard her reading aloud, and was

struck by her dramatic style. Cibber gives so full an account of her

that it is only necessary to add that she made her last appearance on

28th April, 1730, at Drury Lane, and that she died on the 23rd October

in the same year. It was of Mrs. Oldfield that Pope wrote the

often-quoted lines ("Moral Essays," Epistle I., Part iii.):--

"Odious! in woollen! 'twould a saint provoke

(Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke),

No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace

Wrap my cold limbs, and shade my lifeless face:

One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead--

And--Betty--give this cheek a little red."

I may note that, though Cibber enlarges chiefly on her comedy acting,

she acted many parts in tragedy with the greatest success.]

[Footnote 340: Produced 7th December, 1704, at Drury Lane.

"The Careless Husband."

LORD MORELOVE .............. Mr. Powel.

LORD FOPPINGTON ............ Mr. Cibber.

SIR CHARLES EASY ........... Mr. Wilks.

LADY BETTY MODISH .......... Mrs. Oldfield.

LADY EASY .................. Mrs. Knight.

LADY GRAVEAIRS ............. Mrs. Moore.

MRS. EDGING ................ Mrs. Lucas.]

[Footnote 341: Mrs. Oldfield played Lady Townly in the "Provoked

Husband," 10th January, 1728. I presume that Cibber means that this was

her last _important_ original part, for she was the original

representative of Sophonisba (by James Thomson) and other characters

after January, 1728.]

[Footnote 342:

"The Provoked Husband."

LORD TOWNLY ............... Mr. Wilks.

LADY TOWNLY ............... Mrs. Oldfield.

LADY GRACE ................ Mrs. Porter.

MR. MANLEY ................ Mr. Mills, sen.

SIR FRANCIS WRONGHEAD ..... Mr. Cibber, Sen.

LADY WRONGHEAD ............ Mrs. Thurmond.

SQUIRE RICHARD ............ Young Wetherelt.

MISS JENNY ................ Mrs. Cibber.

JOHN MOODY ................ Mr. Miller.

COUNT BASSET .............. Mr. Bridgewater.

MRS. MOTHERLY ............. Mrs. Moore.

MYRTILLA .................. Mrs. Grace. MRS.

TRUSTY .................... Mrs. Mills.

Vanbrugh left behind him nearly four acts of a play entitled "A Journey

to London," which Cibber completed, calling the finished work "The

Provoked Husband." It was produced at Drury Lane on 10th January, 1728.]

[Footnote 343:

"Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis

Offendar maculis."--Horace, _Ars Poetica_, 351.]

[Footnote 344: "The Laureat," p. 57: "But I can see no Occasion you have

to mention any Errors. She had fewer as an Actress than any; and neither

you, nor I, have any Right to enquire into her Conduct any where else."]

[Footnote 345: The following is the passage referred to:--

"But there is no doing right to Mrs. Oldfield, without putting people in

mind of what others, of great merit, have wanted to come near her--'Tis

not enough to say, she here outdid her usual excellence. I might

therefore justly leave her to the constant admiration of those

spectators who have the pleasure of living while she is an actress. But

as this is not the only time she has been the life of what I have given

the public, so, perhaps, my saying a little more of so memorable an

actress, may give this play a chance to be read when the people of this

age shall be ancestors--May it therefore give emulation to our

successors of the stage, to know, that to the ending of the year 1727, a

cotemporary comedian relates, that Mrs. Oldfield was then in her

highest excellence of action, happy in all the rarely found requisites

that meet in one person to complete them for the stage. She was in

stature just rising to that height, where the graceful can only begin to

show itself; of a lively aspect, and a command in her mien, that like

the principal figure in the finest painting, first seizes, and longest

delights, the eye of the spectators. Her voice was sweet, strong,

piercing, and melodious; her pronunciation voluble, distinct, and

musical; and her emphasis always placed, where the spirit of the sense,

in her periods, only demanded it. If she delighted more in the higher

comic, than in the tragic strain, 'twas because the last is too often

written in a lofty disregard of nature. But in characters of modern

practised life, she found occasion to add the particular air and manner

which distinguished the different humours she presented; whereas, in

tragedy, the manner of speaking varies as little as the blank verse it

is written in.--She had one peculiar happiness from nature, she looked

and maintained the agreeable, at a time when other fine women only raise

admirers by their understanding--The spectator was always as much

informed by her eyes as her elocution; for the look is the only proof

that an actor rightly conceives what he utters, there being scarce an

instance, where the eyes do their part, that the elocution is known to

be faulty. The qualities she had acquired, were the genteel and the

elegant; the one in her air, and the other in her dress, never had her

equal on the stage; and the ornaments she herself provided (particularly

in this play) seemed in all respects the _paraphernalia_ of a woman of

quality. And of that sort were the characters she chiefly excelled in;

but her natural good sense, and lively turn of conversation, made her

way so easy to ladies of the highest rank, that it is a less wonder if,

on the stage, she sometimes was, what might have become the finest woman

in real life to have supported." [Bell's edition.]]

[Footnote 346: Mr. Julian Marshall, in his "Annals of Tennis," p. 34,

describes the two different sorts of tennis courts--"that which was

called _Le Quarré_, or the Square; and the other with the _dedans_,

which is almost the same as that of the present day." Cibber is thus

correct in mentioning that the court was one of the lesser sort.]

[Footnote 347: Interesting confirmation of Cibber's statement is

furnished by an edict of the Lord Chamberlain, dated 11th November,

1700, by which Betterton is ordered "to take upon him ye sole

management" of the Lincoln's Inn Fields company, there having been great

disorders, "for want of sufficient authority to keep them to their

duty." See David Craufurd's Preface to "Courtship à la Mode" (1700), for

an account of the disorganized state of the Lincoln's Inn Fields

Company. He says that though Betterton did his best, some of the actors

neither learned their parts nor attended rehearsals; and he therefore

withdrew his comedy and took it to Drury Lane, where it was promptly

produced.]

[Footnote 348: Mons. Castil-Blaze, in his "La Danse et les Ballets,"

1832, p. 153, writes: "Ballon danse avec énergie et vivacité;

mademoiselle de Subligny se fait généralement admirer pour sa danse

noble et gracieuse." Madlle. Subligny was one of the first women who

were dancers by profession. "La demoiselle Subligny parut peu de temps

après la demoiselle Fontaine [1681], et fut aussi fort applaudie pour sa

danse; mais elle quitta le théâtre, en 1705, et mourut après l'année

1736."--"Histoire de l'Opéra." Of Mons. L'Abbé I have been unable to

discover any critical notice.]

[Footnote 349: Downes ("Roscius Anglicanus," p. 46) says: "In the space

of Ten Years past, Mr. _Betterton_ to gratify the desires and Fancies of

the Nobility and Gentry; procur'd from Abroad the best Dances and

Singers, as Monsieur _L'Abbe_, Madam _Sublini_, Monsieur _Balon_,

_Margarita Delpine_, _Maria Gallia_ and divers others; who being

Exhorbitantly Expensive, produc'd small Profit to him and his Company,

but vast Gain to themselves."

Gildon, in the "Comparison between the two Stages," alludes to some of

these dancers:--

"_Sull._ The Town ran mad to see him [Balon], and the prizes were rais'd

to an extravagant degree to bear the extravagant rate they allow'd him"

(p. 49).

"_Crit._ There's another Toy now [Madame Subligny]--Gad, there's not a

Year but some surprizing Monster lands: I wonder they don't first show

her at _Fleet-bridge_ with an old Drum and a crackt Trumpet" (p. 67). ]

[Footnote 350: In the Prologue to "The Ambitious Stepmother," produced

at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1701 (probably), Rowe writes:--

"The Stage would need no Farce, nor Song nor Dance,

Nor Capering Monsieur brought from Active France."

And in the Epilogue (not Prologue, as Cibber says):--

"Show but a Mimick Ape, or French Buffoon,

You to the other House in Shoals are gone,

And leave us here to Tune our Crowds alone.

Must Shakespear, Fletcher, and laborious Ben,

Be left for Scaramouch and Harlaquin?"]

[Footnote 351: In "The Constant Couple," and its sequel, "Sir Harry

Wildair."]

[Footnote 352: This theatre, opened 9th April, 1705, was burnt down 17th

June, 1788; rebuilt 1791; again burnt in 1867. During its existence it

has borne the name of Queen's Theatre, Opera House, King's Theatre, and

its present title of Her Majesty's Theatre.]

[Footnote 353: The beautiful Lady Sunderland. Mr. Percy Fitzgerald ("New

History," i. 238) states that it was said that workmen, on 19th March,

1825, found a stone with the inscription: "April 18th, 1704. This

corner-stone of the Queen's Theatre was laid by his Grace Charles Duke

of Somerset."]

[Footnote 354: Should be 1705. Downes (p. 47) says: "About the end of

1704, Mr. _Betterton_ Assign'd his License, and his whole Company over

to Captain _Vantbrugg_ to _Act_ under HIS, at the Theatre in the _Hay

Market_." Vanbrugh opened his theatre on 9th April, 1705.]

[Footnote 355: In Dryden's Prologue at the opening of Drury Lane in

1674, in comparing the situation of Drury Lane with that of Dorset

Garden, which was at the east end of Fleet Street, he talks of

"... a cold bleak road,

Where bears in furs dare scarcely look abroad."

This is now the Strand and Fleet Street! No doubt the road westward to

the Haymarket was equally wild.]

[Footnote 356: This experiment was never tried. From the time Cibber

wrote, the house was used as an Opera House.]

[Footnote 357:

"to Court,

Her seat imperial Dulness shall transport.

Already Opera prepares the way,

The sure fore-runner of her gentle sway."

"Dunciad," iii. verses 301-303.

"When lo! a harlot form soft sliding by,

With mincing step, small voice, and languid eye;

Foreign her air, her robe's discordant pride

In patchwork fluttering, and her head aside;

By singing peers upheld on either hand,

She tripp'd and laugh'd, too pretty much to stand."

"Dunciad," iv. verses 45-50.]

[Footnote 358: Salvini, the great Italian actor, played in America with

an English company, he speaking in Italian, they answering in English: I

have myself seen a similar polyglot performance at the Edinburgh Lyceum

Theatre, where the manager, Mr. J. B. Howard, acted Iago (in English),

while Signor Salvini and his company played in Italian. I confess the

effect was not so startling as I expected.]

[Footnote 359: "The Confederacy" was not produced till the following

season--30th October, 1705.]

[Footnote 360: It was acted ten times.]

[Footnote 361: Genest (ii. 333) says that Congreve resigned his share at

the close of the season 1704-5.]

[Footnote 362: Cibber should have said "The Confederacy." "The Cuckold

in Conceit" has never been printed, and Genest doubts if it is by

Vanbrugh. Besides, it was not produced till 22nd March, 1707.]

[Footnote 363: "The Mistake" was produced 27th December, 1705. "Squire

Trelooby," which was first played in 1704, was revived 28th January,

1706, with a new second act.]

[Footnote 364: A junction of the companies seems to have been talked of

as early as 1701. In the Prologue to "The Unhappy Penitent" (1701), the

lines occur:--

"But now the peaceful tattle of the town,

Is how to join both houses into one."]

[Footnote 365: In "The Post-Boy Rob'd of his Mail," p. 342, some curious

particulars of the negotiations for a Union are given. One of Rich's

objections to it is that he has to consider the interests of his

Partners, with some of whom he has already been compelled to go to law

on monetary questions.]

[Footnote 366: In July, 1705, Rich was approached on behalf of Vanbrugh

regarding a Union, and the Lord Chamberlain supported the latter's

proposal. Rich, in declining, wrote: "I am concern'd with above forty

Persons in number, either as Adventurers under the two Patents granted

to Sir _William Davenant,_ and _Tho. Killigrew_, Esq.; or as Renters of

_Covent-Garden_ and _Dorset-Garden_ Theatres.... I am a purchaser under

the Patents, to above the value of two Thousand Pounds (a great part of

which was under the Marriage-Settlements of Dr. _Davenant_)."--"The

Post-Boy Rob'd of his Mail," p. 344.]

[Footnote 367: Owen Swiney, or Mac Swiney, was an Irishman. As is

related by Cibber in this and following chapters, he leased the

Haymarket from Vanbrugh from the beginning of the season 1706-7. At the

Union, 1707-8, the Haymarket was made over to him for the production of

operas; and when, at the end of 1708-9, Rich was ordered to silence his

company at Drury Lane, Swiney was allowed to engage the chief of Rich's

actors to play at the Haymarket, where they opened September, 1709. At

the beginning of season 1710-11, Swiney and his partners became managers

of Drury Lane, but Swiney was forced at the end of that season to resume

the management of the operas. After a year of the Opera-house (end of

1711-12), Swiney was ruined and had to go abroad. He remained abroad

some twenty years. On 26th February, 1735, he had a benefit at Drury

Lane, at which Cibber played for his old friend. The "Biographia

Dramatica" says that he received a place in the Custom House, and was

made Keeper of the King's Mews. He died 2nd October, 1754, leaving his

property to Mrs. Woffington. Davies, in his "Dramatic Miscellanies" (i.

232), tells an idle tale of a scuffle between Swiney and Mrs. Clive's

brother, which Bellchambers quotes at length, though it has no special

reference to anything.]

[Footnote 368: At Drury Lane this season (1706-7) very few plays were

acted, Rich relying chiefly on operas.]

[Footnote 369: Cibber seems to be wrong in including Estcourt in this

list. His name appears in the Drury Lane bills for 1706-7, and his great

part of Sergeant Kite ("Recruiting Officer") was played at the Haymarket

by Pack. On 30th November, 1706, it was advertised that "the true

Sergeant Kite is performed at Drury Lane."]

[Footnote 370: See memoir of Theophilus Keen at end of second volume.]

[Footnote 371: Downes (p. 50) gives the following account of the

transaction:--

"In this Interval Captain _Vantbrugg_ by Agreement with Mr. _Swinny_,

and by the Concurrence of my Lord Chamberlain, Transferr'd and Invested

his License and Government of the Theatre to Mr. _Swinny_; who brought

with him from Mr. _Rich_, Mr. _Wilks_, Mr. _Cyber_, Mr. _Mills_, Mr.

_Johnson_, Mr. _Keene_, Mr. _Norris_, Mr. _Fairbank_, Mrs. _Oldfield_

and others; United them to the Old Company; Mr. _Betterton_ and Mr.

_Underhill_, being the only remains of the Duke of _York's_ Servants,

from 1662, till the Union in _October_ 1706."]

[Footnote 372: The chief actors left at Drury Lane were Estcourt,

Pinkethman, Powell, Capt. Griffin, Mrs. Tofts, Mrs. Mountfort (that is,

the great Mrs. Mountfort's daughter), and Mrs. Cross: a miserably weak

company.]

[Footnote 373: Swiney's company began to act at the Haymarket on 15th

October, 1706. Cibber's first appearance seems to have been on 7th

November, when he played Lord Foppington in "The Careless Husband."]

* * * * * *

Transcription note:

The Index, originally printed in Volume II and covering both volumes,

has been copied to the end of this volume for the convenience of

the reader.

The original spelling and grammar have been retained. Footnotes have been

moved to the end of this work. Minor adjustments to hyphenation and other

punctuation have been made without annotation.

Typographical changes to this volume:

pg lvi (Sidenote) in London or Westmister[Westminster]

pg liii Added heading [Letters Patent for Erecting a New Theatre]

pg 84 had military Commissions; Carlisle [Carlile]

pg 105 in a full rowd[Crowd] of Courtiers

pg 105 nd[And] therefore they shall know

pg 105 falls into this Rhapsody of Vain-lory[Vain-glory]

pg 138 that would have been the [extra the] least Part

pg 157 Likeness of these Theatrical Portraicts[Portraits]

pg 331 he had this wholsom[wholesome]

fn 91 played at Dorset Garden; "Pysche"["Psyche"] followed