The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume II.Cibber, Theophilus
History
The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume II.
Cibber, Theophilus
Poets, English -- Biography -- Early works to 1800; Poets, Irish -- Biography -- Early works to 1800
Mr. Winstanley, and after him Chetwood, has attributed a play to our
author called Lingua, or the Contention of the Tongue and the Five
Senses for Superiority, a Comedy, acted at Cambridge, 1606; but Mr.
Langbaine is of opinion, that neither that, Love's Loadstone,
Landagartha, or Love's Dominion, as Winstanley and Philips affirm, are
his; Landagartha being written by Henry Burnel, esquire, and Love's
Dominion by Flecknoe. In the Comedy called Lingua, there is a
circumstance which Chetwood mentions, too curious, to be omitted here.
When this play was acted at Cambridge, Oliver Cromwel performed the
part of Tactus, which he felt so warmly, that it first fired his
ambition, and, from the possession of an imaginary crown, he stretched
his views to a real one; to accomplish which, he was content to wade
through a sea of blood, and, as Mr. Gray beautifully expresses it,
shut the Gates of Mercy on Mankind; the speech with which he is said
to have been so affected, is the following,
Roses, and bays, pack hence: this crown and robe,
My brows, and body, circles and invests;
How gallantly it fits me! sure the slave
Measured my head, that wrought this coronet;
They lie that say, complexions cannot change!
My blood's enobled, and I am transform'd
Unto the sacred temper of a king;
Methinks I hear my noble Parasites
Stiling me Caesar, or great Alexander,
Licking my feet,--&c.
Mr. Langbaine ascribes to Brewer the two following plays,
Country Girl, a Comedy, often acted with applause, printed in 4to.
1647. This play has been revived since the Restoration, under the
title of Country Innocence, or the Chamber-maid turned Quaker.
Love-sick King, an English Tragical History, with the Life and Death
of Cartesmunda, the Fair Nun of Winchester; printed in 4to. London,
1655; this play was likewise revived 1680, and acted by the name of
the Perjured Nun. The historical part of the plot is founded upon the
Invasion of the Danes, in the reign of King Ethelred and Alfred.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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