[337] It was not at Drury-lane, but at Covent Garden theatre, that it was acted. MALONE.
[338] Part First, Chap 4. BOSWELL. See ante ii. 225.
[339] Life of Richard Savage, by Dr. Johnson. BOSWELL.
[340] See ante, i. 387, and post, May 17, 1783.
[341] Sheridan joined the Literary Club in March, 1777. The Rivals and The Duenna were brought out in 1775; The Trip to Scarborough on Feb. 24, 1777, and The School for Scandal in the following May. Moore (Life of Sheridan, i. 168), speaking of The Duenna, says, 'The run of this opera has, I believe, no parallel in the annals of the drama. Sixty-three nights was the career of The Beggar's Opera; but The Duenna was acted no less than seventy-five times during the season.' The Trip to Scarborough was a failure. Johnson, therefore, doubtless referred to The Rivals and The Duenna.
[342] The date is wrongly given. Boswell says that he wrote again on June 23 (post, p. 120), and Johnson's letter of June 28 is in answer to both letters. The right date is perhaps June 9.
[343] See Boswell's Hebrides, under Nov. 11, 1773.
[344] See pp. 29, 30, of this volume. BOSWELL.
[345] Johnson, describing 'the fond intimacy' of Quin and Thomson, says (Works, viii. 374):—'The commencement of this benevolence is very honourable to Quin, who is reported to have delivered Thomson, then known to him only for his genius, from an arrest by a very considerable present; and its continuance is honourable to both, for friendship is not always the sequel of obligation.'
[346] See ante, ii. 63, and post, June 18, 1778.