The "Careless Husband" has not been acted these many, many years, yet to all who treasure the historical memories of the stage it should be recalled with interest, for it was in this gay comedy that the ravishing Nance shone forth in all the silvery light of her resplendent genius. Read the pages of the old play in unsympathetic mood and they may look musty and worm-eaten, but imagine Oldfield as the sprightly Lady Betty Modish, the elegant Wilks as Sir Charles Easy, and Cibber[A] himself in the empty-headed rôle of Lord Foppington, and, presto! everything is changed. The yellow leaves are white and fresh, the words stand out clear and distinct, and it takes but a slight flight of fancy to hear the dingy auditorium of Drury Lane echoing and re-echoing with laughter. For 'twas at Drury Lane that the comedy first saw the light, in December 1704, and this was the cast: LORD MORELOVE .... Mr. Powell. LORD FOPPINGTON .... Mr. Cibber. SIR CHARLES EASY .... Mr. Wilks. LADY BETTY MODISE .... Mrs. Oldfield. LADY EASY .... Mrs. Knight. LADY GRAVEAIRS .... Mrs. Moore. MRS. EDGING .... Mrs. Lucas. [Footnote A: Wilks had a singular talent in representing the graces of nature; Cibber the deformity in the affectation of them.--STEELE.] How the performance came about let Cibber explain. The "Apologist" has been speaking of Oldfield's success in Leonora, and he goes on to say: "Upon this unexpected sally, then, of the power and disposition of so unforseen an actress, it was that I again took up the first two acts of the 'Careless Husband,' which I had written the summer before, and had thrown aside in despair of having justice done to the character of Lady Betty Modish by any one woman then among us; Mrs. Verbruggen being now in a very declining state of health, and Mrs. Bracegirdle out of my reach and engag'd in another company: But, as I have said, Mrs. Oldfield having thrown out such new proffers of a genius, I was no longer at a loss for support; my doubts were dispell'd and I had now a new call to finish it." [Illustration: ROBERT WILKS _After the Painting by_ JOHN ELLYS, 1732]