Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 11.djvu/400

 taste for the stage. In January 1779 Colman matriculated at Christ Church. His life at Oxford was, by his own confession, irregular, and in the autumn of 1781 he was removed from Oxford and sent to complete his education at King's College, Aberdeen, whither he went in charge of the Haymarket treasurer, Jewell. Of the vicissitudes of this journey, of the routine of education in King's College, and of his life in Scotland, he gives in his ' Random Records ' an amusing account. While in Aberdeen he commenced to write, his first publication being 'The Man of the People,' a satire upon Fox. This he describes as a schoolboy tract. He also wrote a musical farce in two acts, 'The Female Dramatist,' which he sent to his father. This was anonymously produced at the Hay market on 16 Aug. 1782 for the benefit of Jewell, and was not printed nor again acted. 'Two to One,' a three-act musical comedy, also written in Aberdeen, was sent to London and accepted by the elder Colman. It was not acted, however, until 19 June 1784, when Colman, whose period of banishment was over, was present to witness its success. In a happy prologue by Colman the elder the author is spoken of as 'a chip of the old block.' The songs only of ' Two to One ' were printed, 8vo, 1784. The music was by Dr. Arnold. At the Haymarket the following pieces of Colman saw in succession the light : 'Turk and no Turk,' 9 July 1785; 'Inkle and Yarico,' a musical comedy taken from No. 11 of the 'Spectator,' 8vo, no date (1787), 4 Aug. 1787 ; ' Ways and Means, or a Trip to Dover,' 8vo, 1788, 10 July 1788 ; ' Battle of Hexham,' musical drama, three acts, 8vo, 1808, 11 Aug. 1789 ; ' Surrender of Calais,' musical drama in three acts, 8vo, 1808, 30 July 1791 ; 'Poor old Haymarket, or Two Sides of the Gutter,' 8vo, 1792, a prelude, 15 June 1792 ; 'Mountaineers,' from 'Don Quixote,' 8vo, 1795, 3 Aug. 1793 ; 'New Hay at the Old Market,' an occasional drama in one act, afterwards in a reduced form known as 'Sylvester Daggerwood,' 8vo, 1795, 9 June 1795 ; ' The Heir at Law,' 8vo, 1808, 15 July 1797, a five-act comedy, still retaining possession of the stage. During this period Colman the elder, who had been stricken with paralysis (1785), showed signs of mental derangement, and the management of the theatre devolved in 1789 upon his son. Like his father, Colman had been designed for the bar. He had chambers in King's Bench Walk and kept a few terms at Lincoln's Inn. His legal studies proceeded, however, no further. On 3 Oct. 1784 he married at Gretna Green Miss Clara Morris, an actress of small parts at the Haymarket. This marriage Colman kept a secret from his father, who disapproved of the connection. When it was at length revealed, the pair were again married, 10 Nov. 1788, at Chelsea Church. Colman meantime had begun a feud with the critics which lasted through his life. In his epilogue to 'Ways and Means,' spoken by Palmer in the character of a newspaper critic, he opened the battle with more spirit than judgment. Upon the death of his father in 1794 Colman purchased the Haymarket patent. 'The Iron Chest,' a three-act drama, taken from Godwin's 'Caleb Williams,' with music by Storace, Drury Lane, 12 March 1796, was the first play of Colman's produced elsewhere than at the Haymarket. Though it remains an acting play, and has supplied Kean and other tragedians with a favourite character, it was at first a failure. Colman attributed the responsibility of this to Kemble, the exponent of Sir Edward Mortimer. To the first published edition, accordingly, he affixed a petulant, abusive, and ill-natured preface, afterwards suppressed, which has rendered the edition a bibliographical rarity. 'Blue Beard, or Female Curiosity,' 8vo, 1798, a musical entertainment, was acted at Drury Lane (sixth time), 23 Jan. 1798, with signal success. 'Feudal Times, or the Banquet Gallery,' 8vo, 1799, a two-act drama, followed at Drury Lane, 19 Jan. 1799. 'Poor Gentleman,' 8vo, 1802, a comedy produced at Covent Garden, 11 Feb. 1801, was an essay in a higher line. 'John Bull, or an Englishman's Fireside,' comedy, 8vo, no date (1805), Covent Garden, 5 March 1803, set the seal on Colman's reputation, and is indeed his masterpiece. It was written under pressure for money and extracted act by act. Harris, the manager, refusing supplies till it was finished, Colman, it is said, 'wrote the fifth act in one night, on separate pieces of paper,' throwing them on the floor as he finished, whence they were picked up by Fawcett after Colman had gone to bed. Then followed ' Who wants a Guinea ? ' a three-act comedy, 8vo, 1805, 18 April 1805. 'We fly by Night, or Long Stories,' a farce with songs, 8vo, 1806, Covent Garden, 28 Jan. 1806. This piece was published under the name of Arthur Griflinhoofe, as were 'Review, or the Wags of Windsor,' a musical farce (Dublin, pirated edition, 12mo, 1801), London, 8vo, 1806 ; Haymarket (second time of performance), 2 Sept. 1800 ; 'Gay Deceivers, or More Laugh than Love,' taken from ' Les Evenements Imprevus ' of Hell, music by Gretry, 8vo, 1804, Haymarket, 22 Aug. 1804 ; 'Love laughs at Locksmiths,' from ' Une Folie ' by Bouilly, music by Méhul, 8vo, 1808, Haymarket, 25 July 1803. Colman had taken from 'Caleb Quotem and