Price does not seem to have acted after May, 1665, when the theatres closed for the Plague, for his name is never mentioned by Downes after the theatres re-opened in November, 1666, after the Plague and Fire.
[ [159] "Sir Solomon; or, the Cautious Coxcomb," by John Caryll.
[ [160] By Otway.
[ [161] By Shadwell.
[ [162] "Rest" is a term used in tennis, and seems to have meant a quick and continued returning of the ball from one player to the other—what is in lawn tennis called a "rally."
Cibber uses the word in his "Careless Husband," act iv. sc. 1.
"Lady Betty [to Lord Morelove]. Nay, my lord, there's no standing against two of you.
Lord Foppington. No, faith, that's odds at tennis, my lord: not but if your ladyship pleases, I'll endeavour to keep your back-hand a little; though upon my soul you may safely set me up at the line: for, knock me down, if ever I saw a rest of wit better played, than that last, in my life."
In the only dictionary in which I have found this word "Rest," it is given as "A match, a game;" but, as I think I have shown, this is a defective explanation. I may add that, since writing the above, I have been favoured with the opinion of Mr. Julian Marshall, the distinguished authority on tennis, who confirms my view.
[ [163] By Durfey.