is saying a great deal." Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, Written by Himself (1807), I, 303.

Moore, Life of Sheridan, I, 245, gives a note from Garrick to Sheridan, dated May 11, 1777, containing these remarks: "A gentleman who is as mad as myself about ye School remark'd, that the characters upon the stage at ye falling of the screen stand too long before they speak; - I thought so too ye first night:- he said it was the same on ye 2nd, and was remark'd by others; tho' they should be astonish'd, and a little petrify'd, yet it may be carry'd to too great a length.”

ACT V. SCENE I

190 79 Rupees: Silver coins of India, valued at two shillings. 190 79 Pagodas: Gold coins of India, valued at eight shillings, so called since they had on the reverse side the figure of a pagoda.

190 82 Avadavats: Small singing-birds of India, having red and black plumage flecked with white, and red beaks. In a letter to her husband (1786), Mrs. Sheridan mentions "my avadavats." Sheridan wrote an “Elegy on the lamented death of an Avadavat," quoted by Fraser Rae, Sheridan, II, 121–2.

190 82 Indian Crackers: A correspondent in Notes and Queries (6th S. II, 199), September 4, 1880, in comment on Sheridan's text, writes: As well as I can recollect they did not make more or less noise in detonating than those usually supplied by pyrotechnists, but they differed from them in form and were tastefully got up with coloured paper."

195 78 A thrust in second: ("Seconde," also "segoon") A term in fencing for "a thrust, parry, or other movement downward toward the left."

195 93 Salt-Hill where He had been to see the Montem: It was formerly the custom for Eton school boys to go every third year on Whit-Tuesday to Salt-Hill, a hillock on the Bath road, and there exact contributions, called salt-money, from spectators or passers-by, to defray the university expenses of the senior scholar or school captain. (L. processus ad montem, going to the hill.)

199 234 Paragraphs about Mr. S——, Lady T——, and Sir P— See note on i, 1, 27 (p. 289).

ACT V. SCENE 3

203 84 A. B.'s at the Coffee-House: A reference to appointments made at the coffee-house with intentional concealment of name, much in

the present fashion of the use of initials in newspaper advertisements and personals. "It is customary to give one's address in an Advertisement, A. B. at a Coffee-house, or other place." British Theatre (Leipsic, 1828), p. 705, foot-note.

EPILOGUE

210 By George Colman: George Colman, the elder, proprietor of the Haymarket Theatre, author, among other plays, of Polly Honeycombe (1760), from which Dibdin claimed Sheridan took Lydia Languish.

210 5 Bayes: Bayes, a caricature of Dryden, was the principal character in The Rehearsal (1671), chiefly written by George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham. 'Bayes" here means " poet" or poet "or" dramatist," as in the Epilogue to Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer: The Bar-maid now for your protection prays,

Turns female barrister, and pleads for Bayes.

210 28 Loo: A favorite eighteenth-century game of cards. 210 28 Vole: Winning of all the tricks.

211 29 Seven's the main: A throw of the dice. In hazard, the caster "called his 'main,' by naming any number from five to nine, rattled the dice in the box, and threw them on the table. If the number of his main appeared he won his stake." Boulton, The Amusements of

Old London, I, 135.

211 30 Hot cockles: "Hot Cockles, from the French hautes-coquilles [a fanciful derivation], is a play in which one kneels, and covering his eyes lays his head in another's lap and guesses who struck him." Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 501.

211 32 Farewell the tranquil mind: This is a parody on Othello's soliloquy, iii, 3, 347-357:

O, now for ever

Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!
Farewell the plumed troop and the big wars

That make ambition virtue! O, farewell,

Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,

The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,

The royal banner and all quality,

Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war!
And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats
The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit,
Farewell! Othello's occupation's gone!

211 35 Drum: Fashionable card-party (cf. drum in kettledrum"). 211 36 Spadille: The ace of spades. Pam: The knave of clubs.

Basto: The ace of clubs. Pope's classic description of the game of ombre in The Rape of the Lock, Canto iii, introduces "Spadillio first, unconquerable lord,” “ Basto,” and “mighty Pam, that kings and queens

o'erthrew."

211 50 Life's great stage: "All the world's a stage," As You Like It, ii, 7, 139.

THE CRITIC

DEDICATION

215 Mrs. Greville: The mother of Mrs. Crewe to whom Sheridan dedicated The School for Scandal (see pp. 286-287). Mrs. Greville's interest in literary work is attested by the " poetical talent" of her Ode to Indifference, and by the following entry in 1792, in Madame d'Arblay's Diary (1842 ed. Diary and Letters of Madame d'Arblay, V, 322): "Mrs. Crewe obligingly promised us the loan, for reading, of a novel begun by her mother, Mrs. Greville, and left in her hands unfinished.”

PROLOGUE

217 By the Honourable Richard Fitzpatrick: Richard Fitzpatrick (1747-1813) is remembered chiefly as the intimate friend of Charles James Fox. The two friends lived in the same lodgings in Piccadilly, and had kindred tastes for society, gambling, literature, and the theatre. An earlier product of Fitzpatrick's pen was The Bath Picture; or a Slight Sketch of its Beauties (1772). Fitzpatrick had entered the army in 1765, and, though opposed to the war in America, served there in 1777. Subsequent to the appearance of The Critic he attained the rank of Lieutenant-General and the post of Secretary of War.

217 1 Sister Muses: Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy-"the tragic queen" (1. 7) — and Thalia, the Muse of Comedy-" her comic sister" (1. 11).

217 6 When Villiers criticised what Dryden writ: George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, in The Rehearsal (1761), burlesqued especially the tragedies of Dryden, then poet-laureate. For full discussion see Introduction, The Sources of the Critic, pp. lxxxvi-lxxxviii.

218 33 A slight remonstrance to the drama's queens: See Introduction, Burlesque and Parody of Contemporary Drama in The Critic, pp. ci-cvii.

218 43 E'en newspapers themselves defy: See Appendix, p. 327.

ACT I. SCENE 1

2181 Brutus to Lord North: Frederick North, second Earl of Guilford, better known as Lord North (1732-1792), became First Lord

1

of the Treasury in January, 1770. His attitude toward the American Colonies, especially in favoring the retention of the tea duty, helped to lead to The London newspapers contain many communications criticising his various public acts and policies. One of the Letters of Junius was addressed to Lord North.

war.

218 2 To the First L dash D of the A dash Y: "To the First Lord of the Admiralty." John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty during the American Revolution, was the target of ceaseless invective aimed at his notorious corruption. See Introduction, The Element of Actual History in The Critic, pp. cvii-cviii.

218 3 Genuine extract of a Letter from St. Kitt's: Byron, grandfather of the poet, was the English vice-admiral opposing the French fleet in the West Indies. He had been at St. Kitt's in July, 1779. In The London Chronicle, September 30-October 2, 1779, is an Extract of a Letter from St. Christopher's lately received." In the issue for October 7-9 is an "Extract of a Letter from Basseterre, St. Christopher's, dated July 27."

218 4 Coxheath Intelligence: At Coxheath, near Maidstone, had been assembled in July, 1779, a large encampment of militia in view of the threatened hostilities. The London Chronicle, October 14-16 and October 16-21, contains news items from the Camp at Coxheath." The Camp (1778), formerly attributed by some to Sheridan, is a “musical entertainment" whose scene is laid at the camp at Coxheath.

218 4 Sir Charles Hardy: He had been appointed Admiral of the Channel Fleet to succeed Keppel. (See Introduction, The Element of Actual History in The Critic, p. cviii.) Despite the fact that, with a fleet smaller than that of his adversaries, prudence counseled him not to assume the offensive, his conduct met with much hostile criticism. An extract from The Public Advertiser, October 25, 1779, runs: "We hear that Sir Charles Hardy, as soon as he returns from the bold Expedition of sailing up and down the English Channel, while the Enemy lie in Harbour, will be created' Earl of WHOLEBONES.'” One of the verses of a satirical poem in The Public Advertiser, October 15, runs:

Where is Sir Charles, and where his Fleet?

Safe anchor'd at Spithead,

Providing Plenty of fresh Meat;

- Enough to strike one dead.

218 7 The Morning Chronicle: This newspaper was well known for its theatrical news. William Woodfall, its theatrical critic, probably wrote the review of the first performance of The Rivals in the issue for January 18, 1775.

219 11 The Spanish Armada: The defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588) had especial significance at the time The Critic was produced. A contributor to Lloyd's Evening Post, September 29 -October 1, 1779, gives an account of The SPANISH ARMOURY, prefaced with this note: At a time when we are threatened with an Invasion from our inveterate Enemies, the following Account of the Trophies taken from the Spaniards, in 1588, at their grand Invasion, and now preserved in the Tower, I trust will be agreeable to many of your Readers." Viewed in the light of contemporary history, Sheridan's reason for choosing as a title The Spanish Armada is clearly expressed in Puff's opening speech in the second act: Therefore when history, and particularly the history of our own country, furnishes anything like a case in point to the time in which an author writes, if he knows his own interest, he'll take advantage of it — so, Sir, I call my tragedy The Spanish Armada." See Introduction, The Element of Actual History in The Critic, pp. cviii-cix, and many of the preceding notes to this scene.

219 22 To make yourself ridiculous by your passion for the theatre: For an account of the various foibles of Vaughan, supposed to be held up to ridicule in this and other speeches, see Introduction, Personal Caricature in The Critic, pp. xcviii-xcix.

219 29 Letters every day with Roman signatures: A few of the Roman signatures" to letters about current politics and history, taken at random from the London newspapers of 1779, are Coriolanus, Cincinnatus, Pacificus, Rusticus, Patrioticus.

219 39 Quidnunc: "Newsmonger"—literally (Quid and nunc), one who is continually asking, "What now?"

220 51 Mr. Fosbrook: A letter of Mrs. Tickell to her sister, Mrs. Sheridan, November 1785, describing a performance at Drury Lane, says: "I saw Mrs. Siddons after the play in Fosbrook's room.” Fraser Rae, Sheridan, II, 14.

220 63 Dorindas: Dorinda is the daughter of Lady Bountiful in Farquhar's comedy, The Beaux' Stratagem (1707).

220 63 Pollys: Polly Peachum is the heroine of Gay's famous“ ballad opera," The Beggar's Opera (1728). Those, however, of Sheridan's commentators who hold that Sheridan's Lydia Languish was the counterfeit presentment of Colman's Polly Honeycombe might consider this allusion proof of their theory.

220 66 Now that the manager has monopolized the Opera House: In the year before the production of The Critic a coalition between the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres had provided for an interchange of actors. An exceedingly caustic satire, directed primarily at Sheridan,