APPENDIX

ΤΟ

VOLUME THE SECOND.

THE PROVOK'D HUSBAND.

AT page 13 of the Preface to The Provok'd Husband, Ꭺ

I have hazarded a conjecture that the character of Dr. Wolf, in The Non-Juror, was intended for Dr. George Hickes, supposing that The Case of Schism was his work. Since that Preface was written, I have met with a copy of The Non-Juror, to which are annexed two short Pamphlets, one intitled A Clue to the Comedy of The Non-Juror, with some Hints of Consequence relating to that Play, In a Letter to N. Rowe, Esq. Poet-Laureat to his Majesty, 8vo. 1718: The other A Compleat Key to the Non-Juror. Explaining The characters in that Play, with observations thereon. By Mr. Joseph Gay. The Third Edition, 8vo. 1718. In the latter of these the author objects, as I have done, to the representing a single character as descriptive of a whole body. At p. 25, he states for whom the characters were intended, and says "Dr. Wolf, either "Paul, who was hang'd, Welton, who lost his living, "or Howell, in Newgate." In the next page he gives "A faithful Catalogue of AUTHORS made Use of by "Mr. Cibber in his Play of the Non-Juror." and one of these is "The Case of Schism truly stated. By Mr. "Howell." Of this Mr. Howell I cannot find any account in the Biographias; but, in the Catalogue of The Bodleian Library, under the article LAURENCE HOWELL,

M. A. I find The Case of Schism in the Church of England truly stated. (Anon.) Lond. 1716, 8vo. Of Mr. Joseph Gay, whose real name was Captain John Durant Breval, some account may be seen in the Biogr. Dram. Vol. I. p. 64, and p. 272, new edition.

I have omitted to say, in speaking of Lady Townly at p. 21, that I consider her as an excellent modern illustration in high life of Solomon's position, that " All ❝is vanity and vexation of spirit." Eccles. 1. 14. With youth, beauty, health, riches and rank, she enters into what are called the pleasures of life; and, having proved them, finds their insufficiency to promote her real happiness, and she quits them for domestic peace with her husband and her own select friends. The lesson is valuable, and the tendency of it should be pointed out.

At p. 110, I have stated in a Note, that, as the play is now performed, the second and third scenes of the fifth act are transposed. At the suggestion of a friend, I will shew how this alteration is made, from Mrs. Inchbald's edition.

See p. 110, 1. 17, after that, Sir F. says,

"Well, cousin, you have made my very hair stond an "end, &c.". See p. 125, line 5, to redeem all.” line 10. Then add I hear company entering-You "know they see masks here to-day-conceal yourself in "this room, and for the truth." &c. see line 11. to where Sir F. Lady W. Miss and Squire go out, p. 130.

The next scene is the same as in the book, from p. 110 to p. 121, line 16, when the Servant does not enter, but Lady Townly, line 31, says "Sister, to your unerring 66 virtue," &c.

March 17.

APPENDIX

то

VOLUME THE THIRD.

LIONEL AND CLARISSA.

To what is said respecting Bickerstaff and his Operas in the Editor's Preface to Lionel and Clarissa, the following anecdote, from the Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, Written by Himself, (8vo. Edn. Vol. I. p. 250.) appears to be a proper addition. In the year 1765, the same year in which The Maid of the Mill was brought out, Cumberland's Summer's Tale, which he called A Musical Comedy of Three Acts, was performed at Covent Garden, though not with much success. Speaking of this play, he says: "Bickerstaff, who had established "himself in the public favour by the success of his 66 operas above-mentioned, seemed to consider me as an "intruder upon his province, with whom he was to keep no terms, and he set all engines of abuse to work upon me and my poor drama, whilst it was yet in re66 hearsal, not repressing his acrimony till it had been be"fore the public; when to have discussed it in the spirit "of fair criticism might have afforded him full matter of "triumph, without convicting him of any previous "malice or personality against an unoffending author. I was no sooner put in possession of the proofs, against him, which were exceedingly gross, than I remonstra"ted by letter to him against his uncandid proceeding; "I have no copy of that letter; I wish I had preserved "it, as it would be in proof to show that my disposition Q

VOL. III.

"to live in harmony with my contemporaries was, at my 66 very outset as a writer for the stage, what it has uni"formly been to the present hour, and that, although "this attack was one of the most virulent and unfair 66 ever made upon me, yet I no otherwise appealed "against it, than by telling him, That if his contempt "of my performance was really what he professed it to "be, he had no need to fear me as a rival, and might "relax from his intemperance; on the contrary, if alarm "for his own interest had any share in the motives for "his animosity, I was perfectly ready to purchase his

peace of mind and good will by the sacrifice of those "emoluments, which might eventually accrue from my "nights, in any such way as might relieve his anxiety, "and convince him of my entire disinterestedness in "commencing author; adding in conclusion, that he "might assure himself he would never hear of me again "as a writer of operas.' This I can perfectly recollect

was the purport of my letter, which I dictated in the "belief of what was reported to me as an apology for ❝his conduct, and entirely ascribed his hostility to his "alarm on the score of interest, and not to the evil tem

per of his mind. This was the interpretation I put upon what Mr. Bickerstaff had written of me, and my "real motive for what I wrote to him: I understood he 66 was wholly dependant on the stage, and that the necessity of his circumstances made him bitter against any one, who stept forward to divide the favour of the "public with him. To insult his poverty, or presume <6 on my advantage over him in respect of circumstances, 66 was a thought, that never found admission to my "heart, nor did Bickerstaff himself so construe my letter,

or suspect me of such baseness; for Mr. Garrick af"terwards informed me that Bickerstaff shewed this letter "to him as an appeal to his feelings of such a nature, as "ought to put him to silence; and when Mr. Garrick "represented to him, that he also saw it in that light, he "did not scruple to confess that his attack had been un"fair, and that he should never repeat it against me or 'my productions. I led him into no further tempta

"tions, for whilst he continued to supply the stage with "musical pieces, I turned my thoughts to dramas of "another cast, and we interfered no longer with each "other's labours."

See also Mr. Mudford's Life of Cumberland, just published, p. 156–161.

Since writing that Preface, I have read The Absent Man: A Farce, written by Bickerstaff, and performed at Drury-Lane in 1768. It is certainly highly farcical; but the subject is proper for Farce, and with some alterations might maintain a place upon the stage as a very amusing piece.

To the Dramatis Persona, p. 14, add SERVANT,