Before Mr Holcroft went from England, he had left an opera, called the Noble Peasant, in the hands of Mr Colman, then manager of the Haymarket theatre. This had been accepted; and such was Mr Colman’s opinion of it, that on his return, he advanced Mr Holcroft a hundred pounds, in the expectation of its future success. This piece was acted the ensuing season, (in 1784). The evening it was acted, Mr Holcroft had placed himself behind the scenes, as authors generally do, to watch the progress of the piece, or be of occasional assistance. At the end however of the first act, the effect produced on the audience seemed so discouraging, and disapprobation began to manifest itself so strongly, that Mr Holcroft could no longer stand it. He left the theatre, quite hopeless of success, and went and walked for an hour in St. James’s Park. He had by this time so far mastered the agitation of his spirits, that he returned to the Haymarket, tolerably resigned to his fate. He got in just at the conclusion of the third act, and was most agreeably surprised, when he heard the house resounding with applause, and saw himself surrounded by the actors and others, who came to congratulate him on the complete success of the piece.—It however only ran eleven nights. It was then stopped by Mr Colman, in consequence of a disagreement with the author, whom he had without reason suspected of writing some paragraphs in the Morning Herald against The Connoisseurs. Mr Holcroft soon after vindicated himself so fully from this charge, that Mr Colman was satisfied.[9]