Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 11.djvu/397

 opinion of Colman; Churchill, in his ' Rosciad' (1761), lines 65-6, speaking of the judge of art to be appointed, writes:

On Friday, 5 Dec. 1760, after 'Merope,' was produced at Drury Lane 'Polly Honeycombe,' a 'dramatic novel,' otherwise a farce, Colman's first dramatic attempt. It was well acted by Miss Pope, who acquired much reputation as the heroine, Yates, and King, and was a success. It was anonymous, and was ascribed to Garrick, who, however, in some lines he added to the prologue, denied the authorship. The secret was kept out of regard to Lord Bath until, on 12 Feb. 1761 (not 26th, as stated by Peake, the biographer of the Colmans), the conspicuous success of the 'Jealous Wife' rendered impossible the further concealment of Colman's dramatic proclivities. This comedy, derived in part from 'Tom Jones,' and acted by Garrick, Yates, Palmer, King, Moody, Mrs. Pritchard, and Mrs. Clive, was the most popular piece of its epoch. The 'St. James's Chronicle' was started by Bonnell Thornton, Garrick, and Colman. In this the fifteen numbers of 'The Genius ' by Colman were printed, 1761-2. On 6 March 1762 'The Musical Lady,' rejected as surplusage by Garrick from 'The Jealous Wife,' and converted into a two-act farce, was played at Drury Lane. During the Encaenia at Oxford (July 1763) in honour of the peace Colman published daily the not very brilliant satire entitled 'Terrse Filius,' in which, under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Folio, Newberry the publisher and his wife appear to be held up to ridicule. On 8 Oct. 1763 Colman gave at Drury Lane his alteration of 'Philaster,' in which Powell, soon to become a great favourite, made his first appearance on the stage. The alterations of Colman are in the main judicious. On 4 Nov. of the same year he produced at the same house 'The Deuce is in him,' a two-act comedy founded on two tales of Marmontel. Prattle in this piece, played by King, appears to have been the first of the so-called 'patter parts' in which, in days comparatively recent, Charles Mathews won much reputation. On 8 July 1764 the Earl of Bath died, leaving Colman an income of nine hundred guineas. His brother, General Pulteney, who came in for the bulk of the property, extended to Colman a protection scarcely less active than that of Lord Bath. A translation of the 'Comedies' of Terence, 4to, 1765, was received with signal favour, and did much to raise Colman in public estimation. It won enthusiastic praise from scholars of the day, and in subsequent times from Southey. To a translation of 'Plautus,' begun by Bonnell Thornton, Colman contributed one play, 'The Merchant.' In connection with Garrick Colman now wrote 'The Clandestine Marriage,' a highly successful comedy, played at Drury Lane on 20 Feb. 1766. The refusal of Garrick to take the part of Lord Ogleby, which was assigned to King, led to a temporary estrangement between the joint authors. 'The English Merchant,' a comedy founded on 'L'Ecossaise' of Voltaire, was given at Drury Lane on 21 Feb. 1767. It brought Colman, in subsequent years, a letter from Voltaire, behind the polite phraseology of which lurks more than a suspicion of satire. A step which converted into anger the coolness of Garrick, and influenced unfavourably in many ways the fortunes of Colman, was now taken. The death of his mother had led to an accession of fortune. With these and other means, in connection with Powell the actor, Harris, and Rutherford, he purchased Covent Garden Theatre. More serious than the annoyance of Garrick was the vexation of General Pulteney, who had always disapproved of Colman's theatrical tastes, and had offered him a seat in parliament and a provision if he would quit the stage and his connection with Miss Ford, the mother of the younger [q. v.], and Colman's subsequent wife. The refusal of Colman is held to have cost him a large estate, which had been willed to him. Since the death of John Rich in 1762, Beard, his son-in-law, had conducted Covent Garden, principally with musical entertainments. According to powers conferred on him by the will of Rich, Beard sold for the sum of 60,000l. the two patents granted by Charles II, the purchasers being Colman and his associates. The conduct of the stage was by agreement left to Colman. On 14 Sept. 1767 Covent Garden opened under Colman's management with 'The Rehearsal' and a prologue by Whitehead, in lieu of one refused on the ground of illness by Dr. Johnson. A few weeks later, on 26 Oct. 1767, General Pulteney died. Disputes among the four proprietors broke out at once, and a pamphlet warfare, in which others joined, was waged by Colman and Powell on the one side, against Harris and Rutherford on the other. So trivial and personal are the causes of quarrel that the pamphlets, though not wanting in wit, are unreadable to all except those who, in studying the history of the stage, are compelled to take them into account. Litigation was a natural result of these proceedings. Into this a new disputant, in the person of Macklin, entered as an opponent of Colman, with the result that