Chapter XLIII: Act I: Sc. 1

‘_Oh, the wonderful works of Nature._’ _Ibid._ Act II. Sc. 3.

‘_Well, Tummy._’ _Ibid._

287. l. 6. In _The Examiner_ the article concludes as follows: ‘The
new farce of _What Next?_ is very broad, very improbable, but
if better managed, might have been made very laughable. The
plot turns entirely on the disguise assumed by a nephew to
personate his uncle, which leads to several ridiculous
surprises and blunders, and the carrying on and the
disentangling of the plot is effected with much more violence
than art. It was once or twice in danger, but it hurried on
so rapidly from absurdity to absurdity, that it at last
distanced the critics. Even as a farce, it is too crude and
coarse ever to become a very great favourite.’ ‘A moderate
Farce by T. Dibdin’ (Genest), produced at Drury Lane, Feb.
29.

287. _The Fair Penitent._ By Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), produced in
1703. On the present occasion Charles Kemble played Lothario.

‘_A Muse of fire_,’ _etc._ _Henry V._, Prologue.

‘_An awkward imitator of Shakespear._’ See _Tom Jones_, Book
IX. chap. 1.

288. ‘_Which to be hated_,’ _etc._ Pope’s _Essay on Man_, II. 218.

‘_It was the day_,’ _etc._ _The Fair Penitent_, Act III. Sc. 1.

Last line. The article in _The Examiner_ concludes with a brief
reference to the re-appearance of Braham in _Israel in
Egypt_, and gives the speech addressed by him to the
audience, who had received him with some signs of
disapprobation.

289. _The Duke of Milan._ Published in 1623.

‘_Which felt a stain_,’ _etc._ Burke, _Reflections on the
Revolution in France_ (_Select Works_, ed. Payne, II. 89).

290. ‘_Proud to die_,’ _etc._ _The Duke of Milan_, Act V. Sc. 2.

‘_Some widow’s curse_,’ _etc._ See _ante_, note to p. 274.

‘_By orphans’ tears._’ See _ante_, note to p. 277.

291. l. 5. Add: ‘Mr. Bartley spoke a new prologue on the occasion,
which was well received.’

_Miss O’Neill’s Lady Teazle._ In _The Examiner_ this article
begins as follows: ‘Miss O’Neill [we beg pardon of the Board
of Green Cloth, and are almost afraid that this style of
theatrical criticism may not be quite consistent with the
principles of subordination and the scale of respectability
about to be established in Europe; for we read in the
_Examiner_ of last week the following paragraph: “At Berlin,
orders have been given by the police to leave out the
titles of Mr., Mrs., and Miss, prefixed to the names of
public actors. The females are to take the name of _frou_.
Accordingly we see the part of Desdemona, in Shakespeare’s
tragedy of _Othello_, is given out to be played by _frou_
(woman) Schrok.” This is as it should be, and legitimate. But
to proceed till further orders in the usual style].’

_Miss Farren._ Elizabeth Farren (1759-1829), who first played
in London in 1777, retired in 1797, and in the same year
married the 12th Earl of Derby. Cf. _ante_, p. 389. Her last
appearance was in the character of Lady Teazle.

292. _Mrs. Egerton._ Sarah Egerton (1782-1847) first appeared in
London in 1811, and retired in 1835. Mrs. Baron Wilson (_Our
Actresses_, I. 79) relates that on the occasion here referred
to by Hazlitt she played Meg Merrilies in place of Emery, who
‘refused to put on petticoats.’

_The late Mr. Cooke._ George Frederick Cooke (1756-1811) was
frequently too intoxicated to appear on the stage. See
_ante_, note to p. 207.

293. ‘_The web of our life_,’ _etc._ _All’s Well that Ends Well_,