It is said, that this play was written in six weeks—it is more surprising still, that it was written by a dying man!
Farquhar was a gentleman of elegant person and bewitching address, who, having experienced the vicissitudes of life, as a man of fashion, an actor, a captain in the army, an author, a lover, and a husband; and having encountered bitter disappointment in some of his adventures—though amply gratified by others—He, at the age of twenty-nine, sunk into a dejection of spirits and decline of health; and in this state, he wrote the present drama.—It had only been acted a night or two, when the author, in the midst of those honours, which he derived from its brilliant reception—died.
As a proof that Farquhar was perfectly sensible of his dangerous state, and that he regained cheerfulness as his end approached, the following anecdote is told:—
The famed actress, Mrs. Oldfield, performed the part of Mrs. Sullen, when the comedy was first produced; and being highly interested in its success, from the esteem she bore the author; when it drew near the last rehearsal, she desired Wilkes, the actor, to go to him, and represent—that she advised him to make some alteration in the catastrophe of the piece; for that she was apprehensive, the free manner in which he had bestowed the hand of Mrs. Sullen upon Archer, without first procuring a divorce from her husband, would offend great part of the audience. "Oh," replied Farquhar, gaily, when this message was delivered to him, "tell her, I wish she was married to me instead of Sullen; for then, without the trouble of a divorce, I would give her my bond, that she should be a widow within a few days."
In this allusion he was prophetic;—and the apparent joy, with which he expected his dissolution, may be accounted for on the supposition—that the profligate characters, which he has pourtrayed in "The Beaux Stratagem," were such as he had uniformly met with in the world;—and he was rejoiced to leave them all behind.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
| DRURY LANE. | COVENT GARDEN. | |
| Aimwell | Mr. Holland. | Mr. Brunton. |
| Sir Charles Freeman | Mr. Bartley. | Mr. Claremont. |
| Archer | Mr. Elliston. | Mr. Lewis. |
| Sullen | Mr. Powell. | Mr. Murray. |
| Foigard | Mr. Johnstone. | Mr. Rock. |
| Boniface | Mr. Palmer. | Mr. Davenport. |
| Gibbet | Mr. Wewitzer. | Mr. Emery. |
| Hounslow | Mr. Maddocks. | Mr. Atkins. |
| Bagshot | Mr. Webb. | Mr. Abbot. |
| Scrub | Mr. Bannister. | Mr. Munden. |
| Lady Bountiful | Mrs. Sparks. | Mrs. Emery. |
| Mrs. Sullen | Mrs. Jordan. | Mrs. Glover. |
| Dorinda | Miss Mellon. | Miss Brunton. |
| Cherry | Miss De Camp. | Mrs. Martyr. |
| Gipsey | Mrs. Scott. | Mrs. Beverly. |
| SCENE,—Litchfield. | ||