MISS O’NEILL’S WIDOW CHEERLY
This and the five succeeding theatrical papers from The Examiner of 1817 have been inserted in the text because the internal evidence seems to leave no room for doubt that they were written by Hazlitt. It is clear from A View of the English Stage that he was writing theatrical notices for The Examiner during the whole of the period in question (Jan.–May, 1817).
[297]. The best actress ... with one great exception, etc. For this comparison of Miss O’Neill with Mrs. Siddons, cf. vol. VIII. p. 198, and for Miss O’Neill’s failure in comedy, ibid. p. 291.