PAGE

214.

passage: Iago is a Jesuit out of orders, and ought to wear black. Mr. Kean had on a red coat (certainly not "the costume of his crime," which is hypocrisy), and conducted the whole affair with the easy intrepidity of a young volunteer officer, who undertakes to seduce a bar-maid at an inn.' His cue, etc. King Lear, Act 1. Sc. 2.

215. 'Who has that heart so pure, etc. Othello, Act 11. Sc. 3. 216. What a full fortune, etc. Othello, Act 1. Sc. I.

"Here is her father's house, etc.

Ibid. Act 1. Sc. 1.

Ode to Indifference. By Mrs. Frances Greville, Fanny Burney's godmother. 'What is the reason, etc. Othello, Act 1. Sc. I.

217. 'I cannot believe, etc.

Ibid. Act 11. Sc. 1.

And yet how nature,' etc.

Ibid. Act 111. Sc. 3.

Nearly are allied, etc. Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, 1. 163-4.

Who knows all quantities [qualities], etc. Othello, Act 1. Sc. 3. In The
Examiner the following note is appended to this passage:-

'If Desdemona really "saw her husband's visage in his mind," or fell in love with the abstract idea of "his virtues and his valiant parts," "2 she was the only woman on record, either before or since, who ever did so. Shakespeare's want of penetration in supposing that those are the sort of things that gain the affections, might perhaps have drawn a smile from the ladies, if honest Iago had not checked it by suggesting a different explanation. It should seem by this, as if the rankness and gross impropriety of the personal connection, the difference in age, features, colour, constitution, instead of being the obstacle, had been the motive of the refinement of her choice, and had, by beginning at the wrong end, subdued her to the amiable qualities of her lord. Iago is indeed a most learned and irrefragable doctor on the subject of love, which he defines to be "merely a lust of the blood, and a permission of the will." The idea that love has its source in moral or intellectual excellence, in good nature or good sense, or has any connection with sentiment or refinement of any kind, is one of those preposterous and wilful errors, which ought to be extirpated for the sake of those few persons who alone are likely to suffer by it, whose romantic generosity and delicacy ought not to be sacrificed to the baseness of their nature, but who treading securely the flowery path, marked out for them by poets and moralists, the licensed artificers of fraud and lies, are dashed to pieces down the precipice, and perish without help.' In the following number of The Examiner (August 14, 1814) Leigh Hunt, then in Surrey Gaol, wrote a long reply to this characteristic passage. In the number for September 4, the dramatic critic of The Examiner replied to Hazlitt's article on the character of Iago. A letter from Hazlitt by way of rejoinder appeared on September 11 (see Appendix to these notes). The critic replied (closing the controversy) on September 18. 218. Oh gentle lady, etc. Othello, Act 11. Sc. I.

The milk of human kindness.' Macbeth, Act 1. Sc. 5.
Hamlet, Act 11. Sc. 3.

"Least relish of salvation, etc.

'Oh, you are well tuned now,' etc.

Though in the trade of war, etc.

Othello, Act 11. Sc. 1.

Ibid. Act 1. Sc. 2.

219. My noble lord, etc. Ibid. Act II. Sc. 3.

"It is not written in the bond. The Merchant of Venice, Act iv. Sc. 1.

220. Though I perchance, etc. Othello, Act 111. Sc. 3.

"O grace, etc. Ibid.

1 Othello, Act 1. Sc. 3.

2 His honours and his valiant parts.' Ibid.

3 Ibid.

PAGE

220.

221.

This may do something, etc. Ibid.

'I did say so,' etc.

'Work on,' etc.

Ibid.

Ibid. Act iv. Sc. 1.

How is it, General, etc. Ibid.

"Look on the tragic loading,' etc. Ibid. Act v. Sc. 2.

Mr. Kean's Richard II. Shakespeare's play with considerable alterations and additions (by Wroughton), produced March 9, 1815, and acted thirteen times. This is the first paper which Hazlitt wrote as regular dramatic critic of The Examiner. Leigh Hunt, the editor, who was released from prison in February 1815, had intended to take up this work, and had begun the year (while still in Surrey gaol) by contributing a series of articles on the principal actors and actresses of the day. He had also written one Theatrical Examiner' (February 26, on Kean's Richard III.) before he was compelled by the stirring events of the 'hundred days' to devote all his attention to politics. Thus the work of dramatic critic, as well as the carrying out of the 'Round Table' scheme, fell to Hazlitt. Cf. the advertisement to The Round Table (Vol 1. p. xxxi.).

We are in the number, etc. Cf. Lamb's essay On the tragedies of Shakspere considered with reference to their fitness for stage representation,' originally published in The Reflector (1811).

Hamlet, Act 111. Sc. 2.

222. Inexpressible [inexplicable] dumb-show and noise.' "Segnius per aures,' etc. Horace, Ars Poetica, 180. Mr. Kean in very many passages, etc. Cf. Coleridge's well-known saying (Table Talk, April 27, 1823): To see him [Kean] act, is like reading Shakspere by flashes of lightning.'

223. Overdone or come tardy of [off]' Hamlet, Act II. Sc. 2.

224. Why on thy knee, etc. Richard II., Act . Sc. 3.

"Oh that I were a mockery king, etc.

Ibid. Act iv. Sc. 1.

The Editor of this Paper. Leigh Hunt first saw Kean as Richard III., and
wrote a criticism in The Examiner (February 26, 1815) to which Hazlitt
refers.
Mr. Pope. Alexander Pope (1763-1835) from 1785 till 1827 acted an
immense number of parts both at Drury Lane and Covent Garden.
Mr. Holland. Charles Holland (1768-1849?), nephew of the better known
Charles Holland (1733-1769), Garrick's friend, first appeared at Drury
Lane in 1796.

Idly tacked on to the conclusion. For Mrs. Bartley to rant and whine in,'
The Examiner adds.

The Unknown Guest.
Arnold, the manager.

Produced on March 29, 1815, and attributed to

Mr. Arnold. Samuel James Arnold (1774-1852) in 1809 opened the Lyceum Theatre as the English Opera House, of which he was manager for many years. He was manager at Drury Lane from 1812 to 1815. 225. More honoured, etc. Hamlet, Act 1. Sc. 4.

Mr. Kelly.

Michael Kelly (1764 ?-1826), after singing abroad chiefly in Italy and Vienna, first appeared in 1787 at Drury Lane of which he became musical director.

Mr. Braham. See vol. vII., note to p. 70.

226. Mr. Phillips. Thomas Philipps (1774-1841), the composer, who first appeared in London in 1796.

Mrs. Dickons. Maria Dickons (1770-1833) appeared at Covent Garden as Miss Poole (her maiden name) in 1793. She joined the Drury Lane company in 1811 and retired about 1820.

PAGE

226. Miss Kelly. Frances Maria Kelly (1790-1882), a niece of Michael Kelly, appeared at Drury Lane as early as 1798 and was chiefly associated with that theatre during her long career as an actress. She retired in 1835 and devoted herself to the training of young actresses. She was a great friend of the Lambs and the heroine of Elia's Barbara S. The present volume shows how greatly Hazlitt admired her acting.

Mr. Knight. Edward Knight (1774-1826), Little Knight,' a regular member of the Drury Lane company from 1812.

227. Love in Limbo. Attributed to Millingen.

Zembuca. Zembuca, or the Net-Maker and his Wife, by Pocock.

Mr. Kean's Zanga. At Drury Lane, May 24, 1815.

The Revenge. By Edward Young, produced in 1721.

228. I knew you could not bear it. Act iv. Sc. I.

And so is my revenge.' Act v. Sc. 2.

Oxberry. William Oxberry (1784-1824), one of the regular Drury Lane comedians. His Dramatic Biography (5 vols. 1820-1826) was edited after his death by his widow.

229. Mr. Bannister's Farewell. June 1, 1815. Hazlitt had already published part of this article in The Round Table, (vol. 1. p. 155).

The World. By James Kenney, produced in 1808.

The Children in the Wood. By Thomas Morton, music by Dr. Samuel Arnold, produced in 1793.

Mr. Gattie. Henry Gattie (1774-1844), a member of the Drury Lane company from 1813 till his retirement in 1833.

The Honey-Moon. By John Tobin (1770-1804), produced in 1805.

Mrs. Davison. Maria Rebecca Davison (1780-1858) appeared at Drury Lane (as Miss Duncan) in 1804, and was chiefly associated with that theatre for a number of years.

Decamp. See post, note to p. 247.

We do not wonder, etc. This passage to the end is in The Round Table. See vol. 1. pp. 155-6 and notes.

230. Comus. Produced April 28, 1815, and acted fourteen times.

231. Of mask and antique pageantry! L'Allegro, 128.

A marvellous proper man.' Richard III., Act 1. Sc. 2.

Mr. Duruset. J. B. Durusett, an agreeable tenor singer' at Covent Garden.
He was regarded as the principal male singer during the absence of John
Sinclair from that theatre.

'Magic circle.'

233. Royal fortitude.'

Dryden, Prologue to The Tempest, 19-20.

Comus, 540 et seq.

Ibid. 291 et seq.

whose mind ensued,

Through perilous war, with regal fortitude.'

Wordsworth's Sonnet, November, 1813,' published in 1815. In the note Hazlitt probably refers to the omission of The Evening Walk (1793), which was not republished till 1837.

Mr. Kean's Leon. June 20, 1815.

Leon. In Fletcher's Rule a Wife and Have a Wife.

234. Mr. Bartley. George Bartley (1782 ?-1858) first appeared at Drury Lane in

1802, and became manager of Covent Garden in 1829.

PAGE

234. 'Double deafness.'

Cf. But yield to double darkness nigh at hand.'

Samson Agonistes, 593. The Shakespear Gallery. 235. The gay creatures,' etc.

Cf. ante, note to p. 184.
Comus, 299.

Messrs. Young, etc. Charles Mayne Young (1777-1856), who succeeded Kemble as the chief tragedian at Covent Garden, and retired in 1832; William Abbott (1789-1843), a member of the Covent Garden company for many years from 1812; John Emery (1777-1822), one of the best actors of his time, especially in rustic parts, associated almost entirely with Covent Garden from 1798 till his death; Sarah Booth (1793-1867), who first appeared at Covent Garden in 1810.

'Tis much. Cymbeline, Act 1. Sc. 6.

236. Airy shapes, etc. Cf. Paradise Lost, 1. 775 et seq.

Mr. Grimaldi's Orson. In Valentine and Orson, the part in which Joseph
Grimaldi (1779-1837) made his first appearance (1806) at Covent Garden.
Tricksy spirit. The Tempest, Act v. Sc. 1.

237. Mrs. Bland.

Maria Theresa Bland (1769-1838), who made her first appearance at Drury Lane (as Miss Romanzini) in 1786. Hazlitt heard her in Liverpool in 1792. See vol. vii. p. 193.

After the songs of Apollo. Love's Labour's Lost, Act v. Sc. 2.

My Wife! What Wife? By Barrett, produced July 25, 1815.

Keep such a dreadful pudder [pother],' etc. King Lear, Act 111. Sc. 2.

238. Good Mr. Tokely [Master Brook],' etc. The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 11.

Sc. 2.

'In the likeness of a sigh. Romeo and Juliet, Act 11. Sc. 1.

239. Mr. Meggett. This actor from Edinburgh made his first appearance at the Haymarket on July 19, 1815. Genest (VIII. 486) says that he was 'cruelly used by the bigotted admirers of Kean.'

The Mountaineers. By George Colman the younger, produced in 1795.
Mr. Harley's Fidget. In The Boarding House, a musical farce by Samuel
Beazley (1786-1851), first produced on August 26, 1811.

Mr. Harley. John Pritt Harley (1786-1858) made his first appearance in
London at the English Opera House in July, 1815. Soon afterwards he
joined the company at Drury Lane, where he remained till 1835, and made
a great reputation as a comic actor and singer.

The Blue Stocking. Moore's M.P., or the Blue-Stocking (1811).

240. Mr. Wallack. James William Wallack (1791 ?-1864), a versatile actor well known for many years both in London and America.

Mrs. Harlowe. Sarah Harlowe (1765-1852), a low comedy actress who first appeared at Covent Garden in 1790.

'Warbled, etc. Cf. 'In amorous ditties all a summer's day.' Paradise Lost, 1. 449.

'As one incapable, etc. Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 7.

The Iron Chest. By George Colman the younger, produced by Kemble in 1796.

241. The Squire of Dames. The Faerie Queene, Book III. Canto vII.

The giantess

was Argante.
Mr. Capel Lofft. Capell Lofft (1751-1824), a well-known politician and
miscellaneous writer, the patron of the poet Bloomfield and Napoleon.
The letter referred to by Hazlitt appeared in The Morning Chronicle,
August 3, 1815.

Mr. Foote. An actor from Edinburgh who had made his first appearance in
London on July 18, 1815.

PAGE

242. Mr. Gyngell. Gyngell's Exhibition of the original Fantoccini, the Microcosm, the Moving Panorama,' etc. was on view at this time at the theatre in Catherine Street.

Living in London. Attributed to Jameson, produced August 5, 1815.

'Want of decency,' etc. The Earl of Roscommon's Essay on Translated Verse,

114.

243. Quod sit, etc. Horace, Ars Poetica, 188.

The King's Proxy. By Samuel James Arnold.

Plato. The Republic, Book vi.

244. Mr. and Mrs. T. Cooke. Thomas Simpson Cooke (1782-1848), who composed the music for The King's Proxy.

1. 23.
The Examiner proceeds to quote from The Morning Chronicle a
favourable notice of a new musical farce (by E. P. Knight) entitled A Chip
of the Old Block, or, The Village Festival, and adds: This account is from
the Chronicle. It is much too favourable. The piece is one of the most
wretched we have seen. A statute fair would be more entertaining. The
political claptraps were so barefaced as to be hissed. Matthews sung a
song with that kind of humour and effect of which our readers will easily
form an idea.'

The Maid and the Magpie.

Arnold's version, produced August 21, 1815. 245. The Hypocrite. By Isaac Bickerstaffe, first produced in 1768.

246. Sleek o'er his rugged looks.

Macbeth, Act II. Sc. 2.

Major Sturgeon. In Foote's The Mayor of Garratt.

Mrs. Sparks. See Leigh Hunt's Dramatic Essays (ed. Archer and Lowe),

P. 177.

Mrs. Orger. Mary Ann Orger (1788-1849) appeared at Drury Lane in 1808. She was the wife of Thomas Orger, a Quaker.

247. Has honours, etc. Cf. Some have greatness thrust upon 'em.' Twelfth Night, Act 11. Sc. 5.

Mr. Decamp.

De Camp (Mrs. Charles Kemble's brother) had played Isidore in Coleridge's Remorse (January 23, 1813). For another failure of his see Lamb's Letters (ed. W. Č. Hazlitt), 1. 377.

Mr. Edwards's Richard III. September 25, 1815.

Sole sway and sovereignty.' Cf. 'Give solely sovereign sway.' Macbeth,
Act 1. Sc. 5.

248. Mr. Incledon. Charles Incledon (1763-1826), the tenor, a good singer but a bad actor, appeared at Covent Garden from 1790 till 1815.

249. Lovers' Vows.

Mrs. Inchbald's version of Kotzebue's Natural Son, first produced at Covent Garden, 1798, revived at Drury Lane, September 26, 1815.

Mrs. Mardyn. Mrs. Mardyn had been very successful in Dublin. A false
report was afterwards spread that she had eloped with Byron. See Byron's
Letters and Journals (ed. Prothero), 111. 217, and Mrs. Baron Wilson's Our
Actresses, 1. 198-207.

Mr. Dowton for the first time. October 5, 1815.

'Merry jest. Titus Andronicus, Act v. Sc. 2.

250. Mr. Lovegrove. William Lovegrove (1778-1816), who made his reputation at Bath, and appeared in London in 1810.

Wewitzer. Ralph Wewitzer (1748-1825), who had had a long career, chiefly in secondary parts. This was one of his last appearances.

1. 18. The Examiner article continues: The new farce [at Covent Garden, October 5, 1815], called The Farce-Writer, has been very successful; we wish we could add deservedly so. It is a happy instance of lively dulness.