Richard Steele: Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by G. A. AitkenSteele, Richard, Sir
General
Richard Steele: Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by G. A. Aitken
Steele, Richard, Sir
English drama (Comedy); Steele, Richard, Sir, 1672-1729
[11] William Cavendish, fourth Earl of Devonshire; created in 1694
Marquis of Hartington and Duke of Devonshire. The Duke was a Knight of
the Garter, and Lord Steward of the Household. He married Mary, second
daughter of the first Duke of Ormond, and he died in 1707.
[12] Perhaps the reference is to Charles Montagu, Lord Halifax, who, as
Pope says, was "fed with dedications."
[13] "Whether he trains for pleading, or essays
To practice law, or frame some graceful lays."
(Conington's _Horace,_ Ep. I. iii. 23-4, adapted to suit Steele's
modification of the original.)
[14] Wilks was CAMPLEY. In the _Tatler_ (No. 182), Steele says: "To
beseech gracefully, to approach respectfully, to pity, to mourn, to
love, are the places wherein Wilks may be said to shine with the utmost
beauty!" He had "a singular talent in representing the graces of
nature" and "the easy frankness of a gentleman."
[15] Contemporary writers loudly complained of the neglect of ordinary
plays at this time, owing to the importation of French tumblers and
rope-dancers, performing animals, and Italian singers. "The town ran
mad," says Gildon (_Comparison between the two Stages_), after some
of these entertainments. The theatres in Drury Lane and Lincoln's Inn
Fields tried to outdo each other in every new attempt made by either
of them. The "Celebrated Virgin," in a machine, shining in a full
zodiac, and "Harlequin and Scaramouch," with plenty of grimaces and
table-jumping, were favourite amusements. The cleverest plays would
rarely secure a reasonable audience unless they were accompanied by
dances, songs, and clowns. Colley Cibber (_Apology_, chap. x), says
that Rich paid "extraordinary prices to singers, dancers, and other
exotic performers, which were as constantly deducted out of the sinking
salaries of his actors." The majority of the people "could more easily
apprehend anything they _saw_, than the daintiest things that could be
said to them." Rich was only prevented bringing an elephant on to the
stage by "the jealousy which so formidable a rival had raised in his
dancers," and by the bricklayers assuring him that the safety of the
building would be imperilled. The complaint that what pleases is "the
skill of carpenter, not player," is exactly what we hear continually at
the present day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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