While round the charms it shines.’
All which are as sensable as the fust passidge.”
Probably no serious literary production had ever before received such a severe castigation as was contained in this burlesque of criticism, mais c’est la ridicule qui tue. Bulwer was a vain, sensitive man, keenly alive to hostile criticism, and morbidly afraid of being laughed at.
He tried, by every means in his power, to suppress the printed copies of The Sea Captain, it is now very scarce, and a single copy has been sold for as much as ten pounds.
Many years later Lord Lytton remodelled the play, and under the new title of The Rightful Heir it was produced at the Lyceum Theatre, London, on October 3, 1868, but it was only moderately successful, and has never been since revived. The part of the hero, renamed Vyvian, was performed by Mr. Bandmann, an actor chiefly remarkable for his strong German accent, and for his great profusion of woolly-looking hair. The play was generally pronounced dreary and tedious, and the acting commonplace, with the one exception of the very fine impersonation of Sir Grey de Malpas by Mr. Hermann Vezin. A burlesque was inevitable, and seizing upon Mr. Bandmann’s personal peculiarity, it was christened The Frightful Hair; or, Who Shot the Dog? This was written by Mr. F. C. Burnand, and produced at the Haymarket Theatre, under the management of Mr. J. B. Buckstone, on December 26th, 1868, with the following strong cast:—
| Vyvian (with a tremendous wig), | Mr. Kendal. |
| Lord Beaufort | Miss. F. Gwynn. |
| Sir Grey de Malpas | Mr. Compton. |
| Wreckclyffe (a melodramatic scoundrel), | Mr. Coe. |
| Falkner | Mr. Weathersby. |
| Lady Montreville | Miss Ione Burke. |
| Eveline | Miss F. Wright. |
Those who saw this humorous production will not have forgotten the dry, quiet drollery of the late Mr. Compton, or the admirable manner in which Mr. Kendal mimicked Bandmann.
Another burlesque was written by Mr. H. T. Arden, entitled “The Right-Fall Heir; or, the Sea-rover and the Fall over,” but the printed copy does not mention when, or at what theatre, this burlesque was produced.
“The Very Last Days of Pompeii!” Being a complete Bulwer-sement of the classic drama, by R. Reece, was produced at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, on February 13th, 1872, with Miss Nelly Power, David James, and Thomas Thorne in the leading parts. This, of course, was founded on Lytton’s novel “The Last Days of Pompeii,” but contains no passages which can be quoted as parodies of the original.