Chapter XXXIX: Act III: Sc. 2, and Romeo and Juliet, Act V. Sc. 1

_Mr. Perry._ James Perry (1756-1821), proprietor and editor of
_The Morning Chronicle_.

‘_Screw the courage_,’ _etc._ _Macbeth_, Act I. Sc. 7.

176. ‘_Pritchard’s genteel_,’ _etc._ Churchill, _The Rosciad_, 852,
the reference being to Hannah Pritchard (1711-1768), the
actress who played Johnson’s Irene.

_Swiss bodyguards._ The famous corps, constituted in 1616, who
had shown such fidelity to Louis XVI. during the attack on
the Tuileries on August 10, 1792.

‘_Pigmy body_,’ _etc._ Dryden, _Absalom and Achitophel_, I.
157-8.

_The Fudge family in Paris_ (1818), Letter II. 116-123.

177. ‘_A master of scholars._’ Cf. _ante_, p. 167.

178. _The Characters of Shakespear’s Plays._ A second edition had
just been published. Hazlitt certainly availed himself to the
full of the license which he frankly claims in this
paragraph. An attempt has been made in the present edition to
indicate the source of his essays and criticisms, and also
the various publications into which they were afterwards
transferred.

179. _Mr. Kean’s Shylock._ Edmund Kean (1787-1833) had already acted
many important parts in the provinces. At Dorchester one of
his performances had been witnessed by Arnold, the stage
manager of Drury Lane, through whom an engagement was made
with the management of that theatre. Kean insisted on playing
Shylock, and though the management and his fellow-actors were
incredulous as to his powers, his success was undisputed.
Henceforward his many triumphs in London were associated with
the Drury Lane Theatre, except for a short period from 1827
to 1829, when his services were transferred to Covent Garden.
For a later account of his Shylock, see _ante_, pp. 294-6.

180. l. 8. In _The Morning Chronicle_ Hazlitt adds: ‘After the
play we were rejoiced to see the sterling farce of _The
Apprentice_[57] revived, in which Mr. Bannister was eminently
successful.’

_Miss Smith._ The assumed maiden name of the actress who
married George Bartley, the actor, on August 24, 1814. She
made her first appearance in London in 1805. She suffered by
comparison with Mrs. Siddons, and later with Miss O’Neill.

_Rae._ Alexander Rae (1782-1820), after acting for a season at
the Haymarket in 1806, made his first appearance at Drury
Lane on November 12, 1812. Kean quickly eclipsed him in
tragedy, though he maintained the reputation of being a good
Hamlet.

_‘Far-darting’ eye._

‘And covetous of Shakspeare’s beauty seen
In every flash of his far-beaming eye.’

COWPER, _The Task_, III. 601-2.

181. ‘_But I was born so high_,’ _etc._ _Richard III._, Act I. Sc.
3.

_The miserable medley acted for Richard III._ The work chiefly
of Colley Cibber, published in 1700.

_Cooke._ George Frederick Cooke (1756-1811). His first
appearance in London (Covent Garden, October 31, 1801) was in
this part, which remained one of his best impersonations.

‘_Stand all apart_,’ _etc._ _Richard III._ (Cibber’s version).

182. ‘_The golden rigol_,’ _etc._ _Ibid._ Interpolated from _Henry
IV._, Part II. Act IV. Sc. 5:

‘—— ——This is a sleep
That from this golden rigol hath divorced
So many English kings.’

‘_Chop off his head._’ See _post_, note to p. 201.

last line. In _The Morning Chronicle_ Hazlitt proceeds: ‘His
fall, however, was too rapid. Nothing but a sword passed
through the heart could occasion such a fall. With his innate
spirit of _Richard_ he would struggle with his fate to the
last moment of ebbing life. But on the whole the performance
was the most perfect of any thing that has been witnessed
since the days of Garrick. The play was got up with great
skill. The scenes were all painted with strict regard to
historic truth. There had evidently been research as to
identity of place, for the views of the Tower, of Crosby
House, etc. were, in the eye of the best judges, considered
as faithful representations according to the descriptions
handed down to us. The cast of the play was also good.
Green-room report says that Miss Smith refused the part
of the _Queen_, as not great enough _forsooth_ for her
superior talents, although Mrs. Siddons, Mrs. Pope,[58]
Mrs. Crauford[59] and others felt it to their honour to
display their powers in the character. In the present case
the absence of Miss Smith was not a misfortune, for Mrs.
Glover[60] gave to the fine scene with her children, a force
and feeling that drew from the audience the most sympathetic
testimonies of applause. Miss Boyce made a very interesting
and elegant representative of _Lady Anne_. We sincerely
congratulate the public on the great accession to the
theatrical art which they have obtained in the talents of Mr.
Kean. The experience of Saturday night convinces us that he
acts from his own mental resources, and that he has organs to
give effect to his comprehension of character. We never saw
such admirable use made of the eye, of the lip, and generally
of the muscles. We could judge of what he would have been if
his voice had been clear from hoarseness; and we trust he
will not repeat the difficult part till he has overcome his
cold. We understand, he is shortly to appear in _Don John_,
in _The Chances_. We know no character so exactly suited to
his powers.’

183. ‘_I am myself alone._’ _Richard III._ (Cibber’s version).

‘_I am not i’ the vein._’ _Richard III._ Act IV. Sc. 2.

‘_His grace looks cheerfully_,’ _etc._ _Ibid._ Act III. Sc. 4.

184. ‘_Take him for all in all_,’ _etc._ _Hamlet_, Act I. Sc. 2.

_Mr. Wroughton._ Richard Wroughton (1748-1822), the main part
of whose career closed in 1798. He returned to the stage two
years later, and continued to act till 1815.

_Mrs. Glover._ Julia Glover (1779-1850), the daughter of an
actor named Betterton, a favourite actress who had made her
first appearance in London in 1797.

‘_For in the very torrent_,’ _etc._ _Hamlet_, Act III. Sc. 2.

_Shakespeare Gallery._ Hazlitt refers to the well known
Shakespeare Gallery projected and carried out by Alderman
Boydell between 1786 and 1802.

185. _Mr. Kean’s Hamlet._ Drury Lane, March 12, 1814.

‘_A young and princely novice._’ _Richard III._, Act I. Sc. 4.

186. ‘_That has no relish_,’ _etc._ _Hamlet_, Act III. Sc. 3.

‘_That noble and liberal casuist._’ Charles Lamb refers to the
old English Dramatists as ‘those noble and liberal casuists.’
_Poems, Plays and Essays_ (ed. Ainger), p. 248.

‘_Out of joint._’ _Hamlet_, Act I. Sc. 5.

‘_Come then_,’ _etc._ Pope, _Moral Essays_, II. 17-20.

187. ‘_A wave of the sea._’ _A Winter’s Tale_, Act IV. Sc. 4.

‘_That within_,’ _etc._ _Hamlet_, Act I. Sc. 2.

‘_Weakness and melancholy._’ _Ibid._ Act II. Sc. 2.

‘_’Tis I, Hamlet the Dane._’ _Ibid._ Act V. Sc. 1.

188. ‘_I’ll call thee_,’ _etc._ _Ibid._ Act I. Sc. 4.

‘_The rugged Pyrrhus._’ _Ibid._ Act II. Sc. 2.

‘_Bordered on the verge_,’ _etc._ Cf. Pope, _Moral Essays_, II.
51-2.

189. _Mr. Raymond’s Representation_, _etc._ For Raymond, at this
time acting manager at Drury Lane, see Leigh Hunt’s _Critical
Essays_ (1807), pp. 29-32.

_Mr. Dowton._ William Dowton (1764-1851), one of the chief
comedians of the Drury Lane company, made his first
appearance in London in 1796 and retired in 1840.

‘_Flows on to the Propontic_,’ _etc._ This and the other
quotations in this notice are from _Othello_, Act III. Sc. 3.

_The rest of the play_, _etc._ Pope played Iago, Miss Smith
Desdemona and Mrs. Glover Emilia.

190. ‘_A consummation_,’ _etc._ Adapted from _Hamlet_, Act III. Sc.
1.

_Antony and Cleopatra._ This version was attributed to Kemble.

191. ‘_The barge_,’ _etc._ _Antony and Cleopatra_, Act II. Sc. 2.

192. ‘_He’s speaking now_,’ _etc._ _Ibid._ Act I. Sc. 5.

‘_It is my birth-day_,’ _etc._ _Ibid._ Act III. Sc. 13.

_Mrs. Faucit._ Harriet Faucit, the mother of Helen Faucit, had
made her first appearance, on October 7, as Desdemona.

_Mr. Terry._ Daniel Terry (1780?-1829), who appeared in
Edinburgh in 1809 and in London in 1813. He is chiefly
remembered as an intimate friend and correspondent of Sir
Walter Scott, many of whose novels he adapted for the stage.

_Artaxerxes._ By Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1778), originally
produced in 1762. The words were translated from Metastasio’s
‘Artaserse.’

_Miss Stephens._ Catherine Stephens (1794-1882), a great
favourite with Hazlitt who here notices her first important
appearance on the stage. She was popular not only on the
stage but in the concert-room. She retired in 1835 and in
1838 married the fifth earl of Essex.

193. _Catalani._ Angelica Catalani (1779-1849), the greatest _prima
donna_ of her time.

_Mr. Liston’s acting_, _etc._ See _ante_, pp. 159-60.

_The Beggar’s Opera._ See the essay ‘On Patronage and Puffing’
in _Table-Talk_ (Vol. VI. pp. 292-3), where Hazlitt gives an
interesting account of the writing of this article, ‘the
last,’ he says, ‘I ever wrote with any pleasure to myself.’
Cf. also _The Round Table_, (Vol. I. pp. 65-6) for an account
of _The Beggar’s Opera_, which Hazlitt was never tired of
praising.

‘_O’erstepping_,’ _etc._ _Hamlet_, Act III. Sc. 2.

194. ‘_Woman is_ [Virgins are] _like_,’ _etc._ _The Beggar’s Opera_,