[16] Butler’s “Genuine Remains,” ii. 494.
[17] Rollo, King and no King, and The Maid’s Tragedy.
[18] We may listen to Pope:—S. “Rymer is a learned and strict critic!”—P. “Ay, that’s exactly his character. He is generally right, though rather too severe in his opinion of the particular plays he speaks of; and is, on the whole, one of the best critics we ever had.”—Spence’s “Anecdotes,” 172.
[19] “Edinburgh Review,” Sept. 1831.
[20] The fate of Rymer’s Tragedy has been illustrated by the inimitable humour of Addison in No. 592 of “The Spectator.” Describing different theatrical properties, he says—“They are provided with above a dozen showers of snow, which, as I am informed, are the plays of many unsuccessful poets artificially cut and shredded for that use. Mr. Rymer’s Edgar is to fall in snow at the next acting of King Lear, in order to heighten, or rather to alleviate, the distress of that unfortunate prince, and to serve by way of decoration to a piece which that great critic has written against.”
[21] On the play-bills of that day I find the modern dramas of Cato, The Conscious Lovers, and Cibber’s and Farquhar’s plays are simply announced, while the elder dramatists have accompanying epithets, which show the degree of their celebrity according, at least, to the director of the bills; and perhaps indicate the necessity he was under to remind the public, who were not familiar with the titles of these old plays. Thus appear “The Silent Woman, a Comedy by the famous Ben Jonson;” “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, written by the immortal Shakespeare;” “The Soldier’s Fortune, written by the late ingenious Mr. Otway.” Though Shakespeare bears away the prize among these epithetical allotments, I suspect that his immortality—here positively assigned to him—was owing to the honour of the recent edition by Rowe.
In 1741 the theatre seems to have recommended the dramas of Shakespeare for the variety of their historical subjects. On one of these bills Richard the Third is described as “containing the distresses of King Henry the Sixth; the murder of young King Edward the Fifth and his brother in the Tower; the landing of the Earl of Richmond, and the death of King Richard in the memorable battle of Bosworth, being the last that was fought between the Houses of York and Lancaster; with many other true historical passages.”
[22] “Tatler”—42.
[23] “Spectator”—39, 285.
[24] V. iv. 186.