[Page 337,] line 11 of essay. Miss Pope. See note on page 465.
[Page 338,] line 1. The present licenser. George Colman the younger, whose pedantic severity was out of all proportion to the freedom which in his earlier play-writing and verse-writing days he had allowed himself. In his evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, in an inquiry into the state of the drama in 1832, he admitted having refused to pass the term "angel," addressed by a lover to his lady, on the ground that "an angel was a heavenly body."
[Page 338,] line 3. Fawcett. This would be John Fawcett (1768-1837), famous in bluff parts. He was treasurer and trustee of the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund for many years.
[Page 338,] line 3. The five points. The Five Points of Doctrine, maintained by the Calvinists, were Original Sin, Predestination, Irresistible Grace, Particular Redemption and the Final Perseverance of the Saints.
[Page 338,] line 4. Dicky Suett. Richard Suett (1755-1805), the comedian of whom Lamb wrote so enthusiastically in "The Old Actors."
[Page 338,] line 7. Br——'s "Religio Dramatici." I imagine that John Braham, the tenor (1774?-1856), né Abraham, had put forth a manifesto stating that he had embraced the Christian faith; but I can get no information on the subject. See Lamb's other references to Braham in the Elia essay "Imperfect Sympathies."
[Page 338,] line 8 from foot. Dr. Watts. Dr. Isaac Watts' version of the Psalms, 1719, takes great liberties with the originals, evangelising them, omitting much, and even substituting "Britain" for "Israel."
[Page 338,] foot. St. Martin's ... St. Paul's, Covent Garden. The two parishes in which the chief theatres were situated.
[Page 339,] line 3. Two great bodies. The Covent Garden Company and the Drury Lane Company.
[Page 339,] line 7. Mr. Bengough ... Mr. Powell. Two useful actors in their day.