[ [94] See note on page 120.
[ [95] Johnson (Life of Addison) terms this "the despicable cant of literary modesty."
[ [96] 14th April, 1713. See note on page 120.
[ [97] Mrs. Oldfield, Powell, Mills, Booth, Pinkethman, and Mrs. Porter, had their benefits before "Cato" was produced. "Cato" was then acted twenty times—April 14th to May 9th—that is, every evening except Monday in each week, as Cibber states. On Monday nights the benefits continued—being one night in the week instead of three. Johnson, Keen, and Mrs. Bicknell had their benefits during the run of "Cato," and on May 11th the regular benefit performances recommenced, Mrs. Rogers taking her benefit on that night.
[ [98] The Duke of Marlborough is the person pointed at.
[ [99] Theo. Cibber ("Life of Booth," p. 6) says that Booth in his early days as an actor became intimate with Lord Bolingbroke, and that this "was of eminent advantage to Mr. Booth,—when, on his great Success in the Part of Cato (of which he was the original Actor) my Lord's Interest (then Secretary of State) established him as a Manager of the Theatre."
[ [100] There are five Prologues by Dryden spoken at Oxford; one in 1674, and the others probably about 1681.
[ [101] James II.
[ [102] Obadiah Walker, born 1616, died 1699, is famous only for the change of religion to which Cibber's anecdote refers. Macaulay ("History," 1858, ii. 85-86) relates the story of his perversion, and in the same volume, page 283, refers to the incident here told by Cibber.
[ [103] 1713. The performance on 23rd June, 1713, was announced as the last that season, as the company were obliged to go immediately to Oxford.