Their Majesties' Servants. Annals of the English Stage (Volume 2 of 3)

There is no doubt that Foote loved some of those he jested at. He heard of Sir Francis Delaval's death, with tears; but he smiled through them, when he was told that the surgeons intended to examine the baronet's head. He remarked that it was useless; he had known the head for nearly a quarter of a century, and had never been able to find anything in it! But the wit's testimony to character is never to be taken without reserve. "Why does he come among us," he said of Lord Loughborough. "He is not only dull himself but the cause of dulness in others!" This is certainly not true, for this Scottish lawyer was remarkable in society for his hilarity, critical powers, and his store of epigrams and anecdotes. Lord Loughborough, moreover, merited the respect of Foote, as an old champion of the stage. When he was Mr. Wedderburn, and represented Dunfermline, in the General Assembly of Scotland, he resisted the motion for an act to prohibit the presence of either lay or clerical members of the Church, at dramatic representations. The Assembly had just before been shaken by the fact that the clergy had been to witness Home's "Douglas," and it had smiled grimly at the palliative plea of one offender, "that he had ensconced himself in a corner, and had hid his face in a handkerchief to avoid scandal!" Wedderburn opposed the motion in one of the best speeches which he ever delivered in Scotland, and which ended with these words: "Be contented with the laws which your wise and pious ancestors have handed down to you for the conservation of discipline and morals. Already have you driven from your body its brightest ornament, who might have continued to inculcate the precepts of the Gospel from the pulpit, as well as embodying them in character and action. Is it, indeed, forbidden to show us the kingdom of heaven by a parable? In all the sermons produced by the united genius of the Church of Scotland, I challenge you to produce anything more pure in morality, or more touching in eloquence, than the exclamation of Lady Randolph: —

"'Sincerity!Thou first of virtues, let no mortal leaveThy onward path, although the earth should gape,And from the gulf of hell, destruction cryTo take dissimulation's winding way.'"

Johnson rightly pooh-poohed this passage. Foote was admirable in impromptu. When he once saw a sweep on a blood-horse, he remarked: "There goes Warburton on Shakspeare!" When he heard that the Rockingham cabinet was fatigued to death and at its wit's end, he exclaimed, that it could not have been the length of the journey which had tired it! Again, when Lord Caermarthen, at a party, told him his handkerchief was hanging from his pocket, Foote replaced it, with a "Thank you, my lord; you know the company better than I." How much better does Foote appear thus, than when we find him coarsely joking on Lord Kelly's nose, while that lord was hospitably entertaining him, or sneering at Garrick for showing respect to Shakspeare, by a "jubilee."

After all, the enemies he had provoked killed him. His fire and his physical powers were decaying when some of those enemies combined to accuse him of an enormous crime.130 He did not fly, like guilty Isaac Bickerstaffe, under similar circumstances, but manfully met the charge, and proved his innocence. The anxiety, however, finished him. He had an attack of paralysis, played for the last time on the 30th of July 1777, in his "Maid of Bath," and after shifting restlessly from place to place, died on the 21st of October, at Dover. A few months previously, he had made over the Haymarket Theatre to Colman, for a life annuity of £1600, of which Foote lived but to receive one half-year's dividend. At the age of fifty-six, he thus passed away – an emaciated old man – and on Monday, the 27th of October, he was carried, by torchlight, to the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, whither Betterton, Barry, Mrs. Cibber, and others of the brotherhood of players, had been carried before him.

The Haymarket season of that year indicated a new era, for in 1777, Edwin, as Hardcastle,131 Miss Farren, as Miss Hardcastle, Henderson, as Shylock, and Digges, in Cato, made their first appearance in London. The old Garrick period – save in some noble relics (Macklin, the noblest of them all) – was clearly passing away.

What the dramatic poets produced from the period of Garrick's withdrawal to the end of the century will be best seen by a reference to the Supplement, which I append to this volume.

SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER XXII

List of the principal Dramatic Pieces produced at the Patent Theatres, from the Retirement of Garrick to the End of the Eighteenth Century: —

1776-77. —Drury Lane

"Trip to Scarborough" (altered by Sheridan from Vanbrugh). Miss Hoyden, Mrs. Abington.

"School for Scandal" (Sheridan). Sir Peter Teazle, King; Charles Surface, Smith; Lady Teazle, Mrs. Abington.

1776-77. —Covent Garden

"Caractacus" (Mason). Caractacus, Clarke; Evelina, Mrs. Hartley.

"Know Your Own Mind" (Murphy). Millamour, Lewis; Lady Bell, Mrs. Mattocks.

1777-78. —Drury Lane

"Battle of Hastings" (Cumberland). Edgar Atheling, Henderson; Edwina, Mrs. Yates.

1777-78. —Covent Garden

"Percy" (Hannah More). Percy, Lewis; Douglas, Wroughton; Edwina, Mrs. Barry.

"Alfred" (Home). Alfred, Lewis; Ethelswida, Mrs. Barry.

"Poor Vulcan" (Dibdin). Vulcan, Quick; Venus, Miss Brown.

1778-79. —Drury Lane

"Camp" (Tickell, falsely attributed to Sheridan).

"Fathers, or the Good-natured Man" (newly-discovered Comedy, by Fielding). Sir George Boncour, King.

"Law of Lombardy" (Jephson). Paladore, Smith; Bireno, Henderson; Princess, Miss Young.

"Who's the Dupe" (Mrs. Cowley). Gradus, King; Doyley, Parsons; Elizabeth, Mrs. Brereton.

1778-79. —Covent Garden

"Buthred" (Anon.). Buthred, Wroughton; Rena, Mrs. Hartley.

"Touchstone, or Harlequin Traveller" (a speaking Pantomime). Harlequin, Lee Lewes.

"Calypso" (Masque, by Cumberland). Telemachus, Mrs. Kennedy; Calypso, Miss Brown.

"Fatal Falsehood" (Hannah More). Rivers, Lewis; Julia, Mrs. Hartley.

1779-80. —Drury Lane

"Critic" (Sheridan). Sir Fretful, Parsons; Puff, King; Tilburina, Miss Pope.

"Times" (Mrs. Griffith). Lady Mary Woodley, Mrs. Abington.

"Zoraida" (Hodson). Zoraida, Mrs. Yates.

1779-80. —Covent Garden

"Mirror, or Harlequin Everywhere" (Burletta-Pantomime, by Dibdin). Harlequin, Bates.

"Widow of Delphi" (Cumberland).

"Deaf Lover" (Pilon). Meadows, Lee Lewes.

"Belle's Stratagem" (Mrs. Cowley). Doricourt, Lewis; Laetitia Hardy, Miss Younge.

1780-81. —Drury Lane

"Generous Impostor" (O'Beirne, afterwards Bishop of Meath). Sir Harry Glenville, Palmer; Mrs. Courtly, Mrs. Baddeley.

"Lord of the Manor" (Burgoyne). Trumore, Vernon; Moll Flagon, Suett.

"Royal Suppliants" (Dr. Delap). Acamas, Smith; Dejanira, Mrs. Crawford.

"Dissipation" (Andrews). Lord Rentless, Palmer; Lady Rentless, Mrs. Abington.

1780-81. --Covent Garden

"Tom Thumb" (Fielding's piece turned into an opera, by O'Hara). Tom, Edwin; Arthur, Quick; Dolalolla, Miss Catley.

"Siege of Sinope" (Mrs. Brooke). Pharnaces, Henderson; Thamyris, Mrs. Yates.

"Man of the World" (Macklin). Sir Pertinax, Macklin; Egerton, Lewis; Lady Rodolpha Lumbercourt, Miss Younge.

1781-82. —Drury Lane

"Fair Circassian" (Pratt, – Courtney Melmoth). Omar, Bensley; Hamet, Smith; Fair Circassian, Miss Farren.

1781-82. —Covent Garden

"Duplicity" (Holcroft). Sir Harry Portland, Lewis; Melissa, Mrs. Inchbald.

"Count of Narbonne" (Jephson). Count, Wroughton; Countess, Miss Younge.

"Which is the Man" (Mrs. Cowley). Lord Sparkle, Lee Lewes; Fitzherbert, Henderson; Lady Bell Bloomer, Miss Younge.

"Walloons" (Cumberland). Father Sullivan, Henderson.

1782-83. —Drury Lane

"Fatal Interview" (Hull). Montague, Smith; Mrs. Montague, Mrs. Siddons.

"School for Vanity" (Pratt). Onslow, Brereton; Ophelia Wyndham, Miss Farren.

1782-83. —Covent Garden

"Castle of Andalusia" (O'Keefe). Spado, Quick; Lorenza, Signora Sestini.

"Philodamus" (T. Bentley). Philodamus, Henderson.

"Rosina" (Mrs. Brooke). Belville, Bannister; Rosina, Miss Harper.

"Mysterious Husband" (Cumberland). Lord Davenant, Henderson; Sir Edmund, Yates; Lady Davenant, Miss Younge.

"Bold Stroke for a Husband" (Mrs. Cowley). Julio, Lewis; Olivia, Mrs. Mattocks.

1783-84. —Drury Lane

"Reparation" (Andrews). Lord Hectic, Dodd; Lady Betty Wormwood, Miss Pope.

"Lord Russell" (Rev. Dr. Stratford).

1783-84. —Covent Garden

"Poor Soldier" (O'Keefe). Patrick, Mrs. Kennedy; Dermot, Johnstone; Bagatelle, Wewitzer; Norah, Mrs. Bannister.

"More Ways than One" (Mrs. Cowley). Bellair, Lewis; Arabella, Mrs. Stephen Kemble.

"Robin Hood" (Mac Nally). Robin, Bannister; Clorinda, Mrs. Martyr.

1784-85. —Drury Lane

"The Carmelite" (Cumberland). Montgomerie, Kemble; St. Valori, Smith; Matilda, Mrs. Siddons.

"Natural Son" (Cumberland). Blushenly, Palmer; Lady Paragon, Miss Farren.

1784-85. —Covent Garden

"Fontainebleau; or, Our Way in France" (O'Keefe). Lackland, Lewis.

"Follies of a Day" (Holcroft, from Beaumarchais). Figaro, Holcroft; Almaviva, Lewis; Susanna, Miss Younge.

1785-86. —Drury Lane

"Heiress" (Burgoyne). Sir Clement Flint, King; Alscrip, Parsons; Lady Emily Gayville, Miss Farren.

"Captives" (Dr. Delap). Everallin, Kemble; Malvina, Mrs. Siddons.

1785-86. —Covent Garden

"Omai." Grand spectacle, by O'Keefe.

1786-87. —Drury Lane

"Richard Cœur de Lion" (Burgoyne). Richard, Kemble; Antonio, Miss Romanzini; Matilda, Mrs. Jordan; Laurette, Mrs. Crouch.

"School for Greybeards" (Mrs. Cowley). Alexis and Gaspar (the Greybeards), King and Parsons; Seraphina, Miss Farren.

"Seduction" (Holcroft). Lord and Lady Morden, Kemble and Mrs. Siddons.132

"Julia" (Jephson). Mentevole, Kemble; Julia, Mrs. Siddons.

1786-87. —Covent Garden

"Richard Cœur de Lion" (Mac Nally). Blondel, Johnstone; Queen Berengaria, Mrs. Billington.

"He Would be a Soldier" (Pilon). Caleb, Edwin; Charlotte, Mrs. Pope.

"Eloisa" (Reynolds). St. Preux, Pope; Eloisa, Miss Brunton.

"Such Things Are" (Mrs. Inchbald). Elvirus, Holman; Lady Tremor, Mrs. Mattocks.

1787-88. —Drury Lane

"New Peerage; or, Our Eyes may Deceive Us" (Harriet Lee). Lady Charlotte Courtly, Miss Farren.

"Fate of Sparta" (Mrs. Cowley). Cleombrotus, Kemble; Chelonice, Mrs. Siddons.

"Love in the East" (Cobb). Warnford, Kelly; Ormellina, Mrs. Crouch.

"The Regent" (B. Greatheed). Manuel, Kemble; Dianora, Mrs. Siddons.

1787-88. —Covent Garden

"The Farmer" (O'Keefe). Jemmy Jumps, Edwin; Molly Maybush, Mrs. Martyr.

"Ton; or, the Follies of Fashion" (Lady Wallace). Lord Bonton, Wewitzer; Lady Bonton, Mrs. Mattocks.

"Animal Magnetism" (Mrs. Inchbald). Doctor, Quick; Constance, Mrs. Wells.

1788-89. —Drury Lane

"Impostors" (Cumberland). Lord Janus, Palmer; Eleanor, Mrs. Jordan.

"Mary, Queen of Scots" (Hon. John St. John). Norfolk, Kemble; Queen Mary, Mrs. Siddons; Queen Elizabeth, Mrs. Ward.

"False Appearances" (General Conway). Marquis, Kemble; Cælia, Mrs. Kemble.

1788-89. —Covent Garden

"Highland Reel" (O'Keefe). Shelty, Edwin; Moggy, Miss Fontenelle.

"Child of Nature" (Mrs. Inchbald). Almanza, Farren; Amanthis, Miss Brunton.

"The Toy, or Hampton Court Frolics" (O'Keefe). Alibi, Quick; Lady Jane, Miss Brunton.

"Dramatist" (Reynolds). Vapid, Lewis; Ennui, Edwin; Willoughby, Macready; Louisa Courtney, Miss Brunton.

1789-90. —Drury Lane

"Marcella" (Hayley). Hernandez, Kemble; Marcella, Mrs. Powell.

"Haunted Tower" (Cobb). Lord William, Kelly; Lewis, Suett; Lady Elinor, Mrs. Crouch.

"Love in Many Masks" (Kemble, from Aphra Behn). Willmore, Kemble; Valeria, Mrs. Kemble; Helena, Mrs. Jordan.

1789-90. —Covent Garden

"Marcella" (Hayley). Hernandez, Harley; Marcella, Mrs. Pope.

"Eudora" (Hayley). Raymond, Holman; Eudora, Mrs. Pope.

"Widow of Malabar" (Marianna Starke). Indamora, Miss Brunton.

1790-91. —Drury Lane

"Better Late than Never" (Reynolds and Andrews). Saville, Kemble; Flurry, Dodd; Augusta, Mrs. Jordan.

"Siege of Belgrade" (Cobb). Seraskier, Kelly; Peter, Dignum; Katharine, Mrs. Crouch.

1790-91. —Covent Garden

"School for Arrogance" (Holcroft). Sheepy, Munden; Lady Peckham, Mrs. Mattocks.

"Two Strings to Your Bow" (Jephson). Lazarillo, Munden; Ferdinand, Macready; Clara, Mrs. Harlowe.

"Woodman" (the Rev. Bate Dudley). Wilford, Incledon.

"Modern Antiques" (O'Keefe). Cockletop, Quick; Frank, Munden.

"Lorenzo" (Merry). Lorenzo, Holman; Zoriana, Miss Brunton (afterwards Mrs. Merry).

"Wild Oats" (O'Keefe). Rover, Lewis; Ephraim Smooth, Munden; Lady Amaranth, Mrs. Pope.

1791-92. —Drury Lane Company at the King's Theatre, Haymarket

"Huniades" (Hannah Brand). Huniades, Kemble; Agmunda, by the authoress, her first appearance on any stage.

"Fugitive" (Richardson). Young Manly, Palmer; Lord Dartford, Dodd; Mrs. Larron, Miss Pope.

"Dido" (Hoare). Æneas, Mrs. Crouch; Dido, Madame Mara.

1791-92. —Covent Garden

"Notoriety" (Reynolds). Nominal, Lewis; Sophia, Mrs. Wells.

"Road to Ruin" (Holcroft). Goldfinch, Lewis; Old Dornton, Munden; Sophia, Mrs. Merry.

"Irishman in London" (Macready). Murtoch Delaney, Johnstone; Colloony, Macready; Cubba, Mrs. Fawcett.

1792-93. —Drury Lane at Haymarket Opera; except on Tuesdays and Saturdays, then at the Haymarket Theatre

"The Prize" (Hoare). Lenitive, Bannister, jun.; Caroline, Signora Storace.

"Rival Sisters" (Murphy). Theseus, Palmer; Ariadne and Phædra, Mrs. Siddons and Mrs. Powell.

"False Colours" (Morris). Sir Paul Panick, King.

1792-93. —Covent Garden

"Columbus" (Morton). Columbus, Pope; Cora, Mrs. Pope.

"Every One has his Fault" (Inchbald). Harmony, Munden; Lady E. Irwin, Mrs. Pope.

"Sprigs of Laurel" (O'Keefe). Nipperkin, Munden.

1793-94. —Drury Lane, under Colman, at the Haymarket

"Mountaineers" (Colman). Octavian, Kemble; Floranthe, Mrs. Goodall (was first acted in the summer of 1793, before the company went to Drury Lane in September).133

"Children in the Wood" (Morton). Walter, Bannister, jun.

"Lodoiska" (Kemble). Lovinski, Palmer; Lodoiska, Mrs. Crouch.

1794. —Drury Lane; in the new House built by Holland

"The Jew" (Cumberland). Sheva, Bannister, jun.; Eliza Ratcliffe, Miss Farren.

1793-94. —Covent Garden

"Siege of Berwick" (Jerningham). Seaton, Pope; Ethelberta, Mrs. Pope.

"Love's Frailties" (Holcroft). Sir Gregory Oldwort, Quick.

"Travellers in Switzerland" (Bate Dudley). Dorimond, Johnstone; Sir Leinster M'Laughlin, Rock.

"Siege of Meaux" (Pye). St. Pol, Pope; Matilda, Mrs. Pope.134

1794-95. —Drury Lane

"Emilia Galotti" (from Lessing, by Thompson).135 Appiani, C. Kemble; Orsina, Mrs. Siddons.

"Wedding Day" (Mrs. Inchbald). Young Contest, C. Kemble; Sir Adam, King; Lady Contest, Mrs. Jordan.

"Wheel of Fortune" (Cumberland). Penruddock, Kemble; Henry Woodville, C. Kemble; Emily Tempest, Miss Farren.

"Adopted Child" (Birch). Michael, Bannister, jun.; Nell, Mrs. Bland.

"First Love" (Cumberland). Billy Bustler, Suett; Sabina Rosny, Mrs. Jordan.

1794-95. —Covent Garden

"The Rage" (Reynolds). Darnley, Holman; Clara, Mrs. Mountain.

"Town before You" (Mrs. Cowley). Tippy, Lewis; Fancourt, Fawcett; Mrs. Fancourt, Mrs. Mattocks.

"Mysteries of the Castle" (Andrews and Reynolds). Hilario, Lewis.

"England Preserved" (Watson). Surrey, Holman.

"Life's Vagaries" (O'Keefe). George Burgess, Fawcett; L'Œillet, Farley; Augusta Woodbine, Miss Wallis.

"Deserted Daughter" (Holcroft). Mordent, Pope; Item, Quick; Joanna Mordent, Miss Wallis.

"Secret Tribunal" (Boaden). Herman, Holman; Ida, Miss Wallis.

1795-96. —Drury Lane

"Man of Ten Thousand" (Holcroft). Dorington, Kemble; Olivia, Miss Farren.

"Iron Chest" (Colman). Sir Edward Mortimer, Kemble; Judith, Miss De Camp.

"Almeyda" (Miss Lee). Alonzo, Kemble; Almeyda, Mrs. Siddons.

"Mahmoud" (Hoare). Mahmoud, Kemble.

"Vortigern" (Ireland, but acted as Shakspeare's). Vortigern, Kemble; Constantius, Bensley; Fool, King; Edmunda, Mrs. Powell; Flavia, Mrs. Jordan.

1795-96. —Covent Garden

"Speculation" (Reynolds). Tanjore, Lewis; Lady Katharine Project, Mrs. Davenport.

"Days of Yore" (Morton).136 Voltimar, Pope; Adela, Mrs. Pope.

"Lock and Key" (Hoare). Brummagem, Munden; Fanny, Mrs. Martyr.

1796-97. —Drury Lane

"Conspiracy" (Jephson). Sextus, Kemble; Vitellia, Mrs. Siddons.

"The Will" (Reynolds). Veritas, R. Palmer; Albina Mandeville, Mrs. Jordan.

1796-97. —Covent Garden

"Abroad and at Home" (Holman). Harcourt, Incledon.

"Cure for the Heart Ache" (Morton). Young Rapid, Lewis; Bronze, Farley; Ellen Vortex, Mrs. Pope.

"Wives as they Were and Maids as they Are" (Inchbald). Bronzely, Lewis; Miss Dorillon, Miss Wallis.137

1797-98. —Drury Lane

"Cheap Living" (Reynolds). Sponge, John Bannister.

"Castle Spectre" (Lewis). Osmond, Barrymore; Percy, Kemble.

"Blue Beard" (Colman). Abomelique, Palmer; Fatima, Mrs. Crouch.

"Knave or Not" (Holcroft). Monrose, Palmer; Susan, Mrs. Jordan.

"Stranger" (Kotzebue).138 Stranger, Kemble; Mrs. Haller, Mrs. Siddons.

1797-98. —Covent Garden

"False Impressions" (Cumberland). Scud, Quick.

"Secrets worth Knowing" (Morton). Undermine, Munden.

"He's much to Blame" (Holcroft).139 Versatile, Lewis; Lady Jane, Miss Betterton (afterwards Mrs. Glover).

"Curiosity" (by the late King of Sweden).

"Blue Devils" (Colman the Younger). Megrim, Fawcett.

1798-99. —Drury Lane

"Aurelio and Miranda" (Boaden). Aurelio, Kemble; Miranda, Mrs. Siddons.

"Secret" (Morris). Lizard, jun., John Bannister; Rosa, Mrs. Jordan.

"East Indian" (Lewis). Mortimer, Kemble; Zorayda, his daughter, Mrs. Jordan.

"Castle of Montval" (Whalley). Old Count, Kemble; Matilda, Mrs. Powell.

"First Faults" (Miss De Camp). Fallible, C. Kemble; Tulip, Miss Mellon.

"Pizarro" (Sheridan). Rolla, Kemble; Alonzo, C. Kemble; Cora, Mrs. Jordan; Elvira, Mrs. Siddons.

1798-99. —Covent Garden

"Lovers' Vows" (Inchbald). Frederick, Pope; Amelia, Mrs. H. Johnston.

"Ramah Droog" (Cobb). Sidney, Incledon.

"Jew and the Doctor" (T. Dibdin). Abednego, Fawcett.

"Laugh When You Can" (Reynolds). Gossamer, Lewis.

"Votary of Wealth" (Holman). Leonard, Pope; Julia, Mrs. Pope.

"Five Thousand a Year" (T. Dibdin). Fervid, Lewis; Maria, Miss Betterton.

"Birthday" (T. Dibdin). Captain Bertram, Munden.

"Fortune's Frolic" (Allingham). Robin Roughead, Fawcett.

1799-1800. —Drury Lane

"Adelaide" (Pye). Richard, Kemble; Adelaide, Mrs. Siddons.

"Of Age To-Morrow" (T. Dibdin). Frederick, John Bannister.

"De Montfort" (Joanna Baillie). De Montfort, Kemble; Jane, Mrs. Siddons.

"Indiscretion" (Hoare). Maxim, King; Julia, Mrs. Jordan.

"Antonio" (Godwin). Antonio, Kemble; Helena, Mrs. Siddons.

1799-1800. —Covent Garden

"Management" (Reynolds). Mist, Fawcett; Mrs. Dazzle, Mrs. Davenport.

"Turnpike Gate" (Knight). Crack, Munden.

"Joanna" (Cumberland, from Kotzebue). Joanna, Mrs. Pope.

"Speed the Plough" (Morton). Bob Handy, Fawcett.

"Paul and Virginia" (Cobb; – music by Mazzinghi). Paul, Incledon; Virginia, Mrs. H. Johnston.140

In the next chapter, we will examine something of the progress of the stage, as indicated by the above records.

1

Her niece.

2

She married J. Cator. —Doran MS.

3

"Eurydice" was played about thirteen times, and was thought worthy of revival in 1759.

4

This is the story told in the Biographia Dramatica, but Genest says "Merope" was acted three times.

5

Pope said "in a few passages."

6

Genest doubts this story, and gives very strong grounds for doing so. Vol. iii. pp. 306-8.

7

All dates regarding Wilks are difficult to determine; but as his appearance in Othello, previously referred to, took place at the end of the Irish Revolution – (Hitchcock says in December 1691) – this date, 1690, must be wrong. Besides, Rich does not seem to have obtained a footing in the theatre till March 1691.

8

See previous note.

9

Chetwood says sixty pounds.

10

It was apparently the same salary as Betterton's.

11

Chetwood says that he commanded a troop in the King's army.

12

In the 2d edition Dr. Doran adds: – "He was not altogether original; for the Tatler, in 1710, advises him to 'wholly forget Mr. Betterton, for that he failed in no part of Othello but when he has him in view.' Thomson says of him, as the hero in Sophonisba, 'Whatever was designed as amiable and engaging in Masinissa, shines out in Mr. Wilks's action.'"

13

"5 Oct. 1732. Robert Wilks in the Church on the north side of the north aisle, under the pews Nos. 9 and 10" (Reg. Burials, St. Paul, Covent Garden). —Doran MS.

14

This should be "playing Hamlet to Booth's Ghost," which makes all speculations whether Booth played Hamlet or not unnecessary. In point of fact, I do not think he ever did.

15

Dr. Doran adds, in the 2d edition: "A writer in the Prompter, however, says that Booth would have been too solemn for the lighter parts of Hamlet, 'if he had ever played the character.' Wilks's Hamlet was good only in the light and gayer portions, and in the scene in which at Ophelia's feet, Hamlet watches the king, Wilks's reading was perfection. In 'I say away! – Go on; I'll follow thee!' he addressed the whole line to the Ghost with a flourish of his sword; whereas, the first three words should be spoken to the two friends who struggle to keep him from following the apparition."

16

Queen Caroline (2d edition).

17

Caroline Dorothea (2d edition).

18

Bridgewater, not Mrs. Bridgewater.

19

Should be 26th September.

20

It would be more accurate to say that she played several "breeches" parts.

21

Although Dr. Doran states this as if it were undoubtedly accurate, it is not certain that it is so. It is only one of several stories to account for Quin's requiring to earn a living on the stage.

22

I can find no authority for this. He made his first appearance as Hotspur on 7th January 1718. He played Benducar on 26th September 1718.

23

He did not play Falstaff until 1720-21.

24

Should be "next season." Ryan's accident and Hallam's death took place in 1734-35; Mrs. Cibber's appearance in 1735-36.

25

Bond was not an actor, but apparently a distressed author. Davies expressly says that he was aged and infirm. It is scarcely correct to say that he died on the stage. He fainted on the stage and died the next morning.

26

Mrs. Cibber did not play Hermione. "The Distressed Mother" was played on 23d March 1736 for Theophilus Cibber's benefit, when Mrs. Cibber played Andromache. The Zara which Mrs. Porter acted was quite a different part from Aaron Hill's Zara, being the part in Congreve's "Mourning Bride."

27

I cannot trace that Mrs. Cibber ever played Jane Shore. Alicia was her part.

28

It was played five times.

29

Should be Quidam.

30

It is very questionable whether this farce was prohibited. There is nothing in the bills to show that it was; and the Biog. Dram., which says it was prohibited after having been played for some nights, is probably wrong. Fielding published "A Letter" to the Lord Chamberlain, on the subject of this farce; but the point of it is, why was "Miss Lucy" licensed, when less objectionable matter was condemned?