Sheridan Knowles continued to write for the stage until 1845, when he was drawn wholly from the theatre by a religious enthusiasm that caused him, in 1851, to essay the breaking of a lance with Cardinal Wiseman on the subject of Transubstantiation. Sir Robert Peel gave ease to his latter days by a pension of £200 a year from the Civil List, which he had honourably earned by a career as dramatist, in which he sought to appeal only to the higher sense of literature, and to draw enjoyment from the purest source. Of his plays time two comedies [1] here given are all that have kept their place upon the stage. As one of the most earnest dramatic writers of the present century he is entitled to a little corner in our memory. Worse work of the past has lasted longer than the plays of Sheridan Knowles are likely to last through the future.
H. M.
THE HUNCHBACK.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
(AS ORIGINALLY PERFORMED AT COVENT GARDEN IN 1832.)
| Julia | Miss F. Kemble. |
| Helen | Miss Taylor. |
| Master Walter | Mr. J. S. Knowles. |
| Sir Thomas Clifford | Mr. C. Kemble. |
| Lord Tinsel | Mr. Wrench. |
| Master Wilford | Mr. J. Mason. |
| Modus | Mr. Abbott. |
| Master Heartwell | Mr. Evans. |
| Gaylove | Mr. Henry. |
| Fathom | Mr. Meadows. |
| Thomas | Mr. Barnes. |
| Stephen | Mr. Payne. |
| Williams | Mr. Irwin. |
| Simpson | Mr. Brady. |
| Waiter | Mr. Heath. |
| Holdwell | Mr. Bender. |
| Servants |
Mr. J. Cooper. Mr. Lollett. |
ACT I.
SCENE I.—A Tavern.
On one side Sir Thomas Clifford, at a table, with wine before him; on the other, Master Wilford, Gaylove, Holdwell, and Simpson, likewise taking wine.
Wilf. Your wine, sirs! your wine! You do not justice to mine host of the Three Tuns, nor credit to yourselves; I swear the beverage is good! It is as palatable poison as you will purchase within a mile round Ludgate! Drink, gentlemen; make free. You know I am a man of expectations; and hold my money as light as the purse in which I carry it.