Kitely's jealousy is inflamed by a set of rakes, who are pursuing their own pleasures, without any design to disturb his peace of mind. Wellbred, Dame Kitely's brother, embroils her and her husband by his account of Cobb's house; and thus, at the end of the fourth act, the business is wound up to a crisis, but how it is to end, cannot be foreseen. The several persons, having separate grounds of complaint, apply to a magistrate. They all meet before Justice Clement. Dame Kitely tells him, that Cobb's house is a place of ill fame; and that she went thither in quest of her husband. Did you find him there?" says the Justice. In that insant Kitely interposes,

saying, in a sharp eager tone, "I found her

"there." He who remembers how Garrick uttered those words, slapping his hand on the table, as if he made an important discovery,

must

must acknowledge, trifling as it may now be thought, that it was a genuine stroke of nature. Bobadil charges Downright with an assault, but the Justice is of opinion that the soldier, who tamely received a blow, met with his deserts. All mistakes between the parties are cleared up, and Kitely is cured of his jealousy.

Ir must be added, that a comedy, so completely acted, was hardly ever seen on the English stage. Garrick, Woodward in Bobadil, Yates, and Shuter, and indeed all the performers were so correct and natural, that the play drew crowded audiences, and kept possession of the stage during the manager's life. The prologue was written by William Whitehead, Esq. * with his usual neatness. * See the Appendix, No. VIII.

Α

A passage of it deserves to be inserted in this

place.

Boldly he wrote, and boldly told the age,
He dar'd not prostitute the useful stage;
But rather beg'd they would be pleas'd to see
From him such plays, as other plays should be;
Would learn from him to scorn a motley scene,
And leave their monsters to be pleas'd with men.

The doctrine expressed in the last line ought to be inculcated in the present age, for the consideration of the public at large, and our modern managers.

AN anecdote that occurred at this time, between Garrick and Dr. Hill, of famous memory, may be properly mentioned in this place. The Doctor, it is well known, was the author of a paper called The Inspector. He had, for reasons best known to himself, a strong

VOL. I.

P

strong antipathy to Garrick, and took every opportunity to detract from his merit. To do this effectually, he wrote a long elaborate essay, to prove that Barry was the greatest actor on the stage. In the same critical dissertation, he thought fit to mention that great actress, Mrs. Porter, but, by a mistake, he talked of her as dead, though she was then, at a very advanced age, living at Hempstead. Garrick availed himself of this blunder, and replied in the following epigram:

O thou profound, polite, wise, gay Inspector,
Chosen by thy gracious self our taste's director!
Who lay'st poor Porter, yet alive, in earth,
And giv'st to Barry matchless fame and worth,
Thy pen we all must reverence and dread,

Which kills the living, and revives the dead.

Though Barry, as Garrick always acknow

ledged

ledged with the greatest candour, was a most excellent performer, and though there was a strong combination at Covent-Garden, the revived play of Every Man in his Humour, continued to attract full houses for a number of nights.