of them. The often-quoted law enacted in the reigns of Elizabeth and
James seems, however, to have been directed not against the established
city companies, but against the wandering country players. It reads,
quaintly enough: “All bear-wards, common players of interludes,
counterfeit Egyptians, etc., shall be taken, adjudged, and deemed
Rogues and Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggars, and shall sustain all pain and
punishment as by this act is in that behalf appointed.” For a résumé
of the phases of the actor’s lack of social position see John Fyvie’s
“Comedy Queens of the Eighteenth Century.”
[227] “Of course, in the theatrical profession, as in every other,
there have always been exceptional individuals whose characters and
abilities (especially if they managed to acquire a little wealth)
have raised them into the highest society of their time. But in the
case of actors it was always quite apparent that they were only there
in sufferance, and were tolerated because they were amusing. It was
thought a stinging satire, for example, when ‘Junius,’ incidentally
addressing Garrick, wrote: ‘Now mark me, _vagabond_; keep to your
pantomimes or be assured you shall hear of it.’”
[228] “Goldsmith having said, that Garrick’s compliment to the Queen,
which he introduced into the play of _The Chances_, which he had
altered and revised this year, was mean and gross flattery; Johnson:
‘... as to meanness (rising into warmth), how is it mean in a player--a
showman--a fellow who exhibits himself for a shilling, to flatter his
queen?’ (1773).
“He (Foote) mentioned, that an Irish gentleman said to Johnson,
‘Sir, you have not seen the best French players.’ Johnson: ‘Players,
Sir! I look on them as no better than creatures set upon tables
and joint-stools to make faces and produce laughter, like dancing
dogs.’--‘But, Sir, you will allow that some players are better than
others?’ Johnson: ‘Yes, Sir, as some dogs dance better than others.’
(1775).
“I wondered (said Johnson) to find Richardson displeased that I ‘did
not treat Cibber with more _respect_. Now, Sir, to talk of _respect_
for a _player_’ (smiling disdainfully). Boswell: ‘There, Sir, you
are always heretical; you never will allow merit to a player.’
Johnson: ‘Merit, Sir, what merit? Do you respect a rope-dancer, or
a ballad-singer?’ Boswell: ‘No, Sir; but we respect a great player,
as a man who can conceive lofty sentiments, and can express them
gracefully.’ Johnson: ‘What, Sir, a fellow who claps a hump on his
back, and a lump on his leg, and cries, “I am Richard the Third”?’”
(1777).--Boswell’s “Life of Johnson.”
[229] And even of Bracegirdle, the incomparably virtuous, certain
doubts exist. Mountford is thought by some to have been a favored
lover; and later Congreve, the poet, was accounted the actor’s
successor.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences
of inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed. In particular,
“to-day”, “today”, and similar words were printed both ways. When
hyphenated versions of those words appeared at the ends of lines, the
hyphens were retained.
Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.
All references to pages in the Preface were incorrect.
Page 33, Footnote 34: Uses both “Tisbe” and “Tisbé”.
Page 172, Footnote 107: “I am unable to bring me a present” probably is
a misprint for “bring you a present”.
Page 198, Footnote 125: “Sogno” was misprinted as “Songo”; changed here.
The Index refers to footnotes by the pages on which they originally
appeared. In versions of this eBook that use hyperlinks, those
references remain page-oriented; they do not link to specific footnotes.
Footnotes originally appeared at the bottoms of pages and were numbered
within chapters. In this eBook, they have been moved to the end,
following the Index, and renumbered in a single sequence.
End of Project Gutenberg's Heroines of the Modern Stage, by Forrest, Izard