The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb Volume IV Part 97

Still have the will without the power to execute, As unfear'd Eunuchs meditate a rape.

This simile, which one reviewer fell upon with some violence, was not reprinted.

Mr. Thomas Hutchinson, writing in The Athenceum, December 28, 1901, remarks: "The truth is that in Lamb's imitations of the elder writers 'anachronistic improprieties' (as Thomas Warton would say) are exceedingly rare. In _John Woodvil_ it would not, I think, be easy to discover more than two: _caprice_, which, in the sense of 'a capricious disposition,' seems to belong to the eighteenth century, and _anecdotes_ (i.e., 'secret Court history'), which, in its English form at least, probably does not occur much before 1686."

This note is already too long, or I should like to say something of the reception of _John Woodvil_, which was not cordial. The _Annual Review_ was particularly severe, and the _Edinburgh_ caustic.

Page 109. "THE WITCH."

In the _Works_, 1818, this dramatic sketch followed _John Woodvil_.

Lamb sent "The Witch" to Robert Lloyd in November, 1798 (see _Charles Lamb and the Lloyds_, page 91), in a version differing widely from that of the _Works_ here given. The speakers are Sir Walter Woodvil's steward and Margaret. The princ.i.p.al variation is this, after the curse:--

_Margaret_. A terrible curse!

_Old Steward_. O Lady! such bad things are said of that old woman, You would be loth to hear them!

Namely, that the milk she gave was sour, And the babe, who suck'd her, shrivell'd like a mandrake, And things besides, with a bigger horror in them, Almost, I think, unlawful to be told!

In the penultimate line "The mystery of G.o.d" was "Creation's beauteous workmanship."

Page 202. "MR. H----."

Lamb composed this farce in the winter 1805-1806. Writing to Hazlitt on February 19, 1806, he says: "Have taken a room at 3s. a week to be in between 5 and 8 at night, to avoid my _nocturnal_ alias _knock-eternal_ visitors. The first-fruits of my retirement has been a farce which goes to manager tomorrow." Mary Lamb, writing to Sarah Stoddart at about the same time, says: "Charles is gone [to the lodging] to finish the farce, and I am to hear it read this night. I am so uneasy between my hopes and fears of how I shall like it, that I do not know what I am doing." The next day or so, February 21, she says that she liked the farce "very much, and cannot help having great hopes of its success"--stating that she has carried it to Mr. Wroughton at Drury Lane.

The reply came on June n, 1806, saying that the farce was accepted, subject to a few alterations, and would be produced in due course (see Lamb's letter to Wordsworth, written in "wantonness of triumph," of June 26). Mary Lamb, writing to Sarah Stoddart, probably in October, 1806, says that

Charles took an emendated copy of his farce to Mr. Wroughton, the Manager, yesterday. Mr. Wroughton was very friendly to him, and expressed high approbation of the farce; but there are two, he tells him, to come out before it.... We are pretty well, and in fresh hopes about this farce.

Lamb tells Manning about it, on December 5, adding after an outline of the plot:--"That's the idea--how flat it is here--but how whimsical in the farce!" Later he says: "I shall get 200 from the theatre if 'Mr.

H----' has a good run, and, I hope, 100 for the copyright. Nothing if it fails; and there never was a more ticklish thing. The whole depends on the manner in which the name is brought out, which I value myself on, as a _chef-d'oeuvre_." And a little later still: "N.B. If my little thing don't succeed, I shall easily survive."

"Mr. H----" was produced on December 10, 1806. The play-bill for the night ran thus:--

Theatre Royal, Drury-Lane This present Wednesday, December 10, 1806 Their Majesties Servants will act the Operatic Drama of The Travellers; Or, Music's Fascination [&c. &c.]

After which will be produced (Never Acted) a new Farce, in Two acts, called, Mr. H---- The Characters by Mr. Elliston Mr. Wewitzer, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Penley, Mr. Purser Mr. Carles, Mr. Cooke, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Placide, Mr. Webb Miss Mellon, Mrs. Sparks Miss Tidswell, Mrs. Harlowe Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Maddocks, Miss Sanders The Prologue to be spoken by Mr. Elliston [&c., &c.]

According to Mrs. Baron-Wilson's _Memoirs of (Miss Mellon) Harriet, d.u.c.h.ess of St. Albans_, Lamb was allowed to cast "Mr.

H----" himself. Miss Mellon played the heroine.

The Lambs sat near the orchestra with Hazlitt and Crabb Robinson, and the house was well salted with friendly clerks from the East India House and the South-Sea House. The prologue went capitally; and all was well with the play until the name of Hogsflesh was p.r.o.nounced. Then disapproval set in in a storm of hisses, in which, Crabb Robinson tells us, Lamb joined heartily, standing on his seat to do so.

In a report of the first night of "Mr. H----" in _Monthly Literary Recreations_ for December, 1806, we read that on the secret of the name being made public "all interest vanished, the audience were disgusted, and the farce went on to its very conclusion almost unheard, amidst the contending clamours of 'Silence,' 'Hear! hear!' and 'Off! off! off!'"

Writing to Wordsworth on the next day Lamb told the story:--"Mr. H---- came out last night and failed. I had many fears; the subject was not substantial enough. John Bull must have solider fare than a _Letter_. We are pretty stout about it, have had plenty of condoling friends, but after all, we had rather it should have succeeded. You will see the Prologue in most of the Morning Papers. It was received with such shouts as I never witness'd to a Prologue. It was attempted to be encored. How hard! a thing I did merely as a task, because it was wanted--and set no great store by; and Mr. H.!! The quant.i.ty of friends we had in the house my brother and I being in Public Offices &c. was astonishing--but they yielded at length to a few hisses--"a hundred hisses--d.a.m.n the word, I write it like kisses--how different--a hundred hisses outweigh 1000 claps. The former come more directly from the Heart. Well, 'tis withdrawn and there is an end. Better Luck to us."

Writing to Sarah Stoddart, Lamb put the case thus:--"Mary is a little cut at the ill success of 'Mr. H.,' which came out last night, and _failed_. I know you'll be sorry, but never mind. We are determined not to be cast down. I am going to leave off tobacco, and then we must thrive. A smoking man must write smoky farces." Thereafter Lamb's att.i.tude to "Mr. H----" was always one of humorous resignation.

Lamb should have chosen a better, by which I mean a worse, name than Hogsflesh. As a matter of fact a great number of persons had become quite accustomed to the asperities of Hogsflesh, not only from the famous cricketer of that name, one of the pioneers of the game, but also from the innkeeper at Worthing. Indeed an old rhyme current at the end of the eighteenth century antic.i.p.ated some of Lamb's humour, for the two princ.i.p.al landlords of Worthing, which was just then beginning to be a fashionable resort, were named Hogsflesh and Bacon, leading to the quatrain:--

Brighton is a pretty street, Worthing is much taken; If you can't get any other meat There's Hogsflesh and Bacon.

The Drury Lane authorities do not seem to have considered the failure as absolute as did Lamb, for on the next day--December 11--the bills announced:--

*** The New Farce of Mr. H----, performed for the first time last night, was received by an overflowing audience with universal applause, and will be repeated for the second time to-morrow.

But the next evening's bill--December 12, 1806--stated that "The New Farce of Mr. H---- is withdrawn at the request of the author."

"Mr. H----" did not then disappear altogether from the stage. A correspondent of _Notes and Queries_, May 26, 1855, remembered seeing it at Philadelphia when he was a boy. The last scene, he says, particularly amused the audience. And in William B. Wood's _Personal Recollections of the Stage_, 1855, it is recorded of the Philadelphia Theatre, of which he was manager, that in 1812, "Charles Lamb's excellent farce of 'Mr.

H----' met with extraordinary success, and was played an unusual number of nights." Lamb, however, did not profit thereby.

The little play was published in Philadelphia in 1813 under the t.i.tle _Mr. H----, or Beware a Bad Name. A farce in two acts, as performed at the Philadelphia Theatre_--Lamb's name not figuring in any way in connection with it.

In England "Mr. H----" was not revived until 1885, when, as a curiosity, it was played by the Dramatic Students' Society. The performance was held at the Gaiety on October 27, 1885, the prologue being spoken by a gentleman made up to resemble Lamb. At the Cheadle Town Hall on October 19 and 20, 1910, "Mr. H----" was given again, with the difference that the secret of the name was disclosed from the start.

In _Notes and Queries_, August 3, 1889, the following amusing play-bill was printed, contributed by Mr. Bertram Dobell:--

Theatre Royal, English Opera House, Strand.

Particularly Private.

This present FRIDAY, April 26, 1822, Will be presented a FARCE called Mr. H....

(_N.B. This piece was d.a.m.ned at Drury Lane Theatre._) [Caste follows.]

Previous to which a PROLOGUE will be spoken by Mrs. EDWIN.

After the Farce (for the first Time in this country, and now performing with immense success in Paris) A French _Pet.i.te Comedie_, called Le Comedien D'Etampes.

(N.B. _This piece was never acted in London, and may very probably be d.a.m.ned HERE_.) [Caste follows.]

Immediately after which A LOVER'S CONFESSION, in the shape of a SONG, by M. EMILE (From the Theatre de la Poste St. Martin, at Paris.) To conclude with a _Pathetic Drama_, in One Act, called The Sorrows of Werther.

(N.B. This Piece was d.a.m.ned at Covent Garden Theatre.) [Caste follows.]

Brothers and Sisters of Charlotte, by six Cherubims got for the occasion.

Orchestra.

Leader of the Band, Mr. Knight, Conductor, Mr. E. Knight.

Piano Forte, Mr. Knight, Jun. Harpsichord, Master Knight (that was).

Clavecin, by the Father of the Knights, to come.

Vivat Rex! No Money returned (because none will be taken).

_On account of the above surprising Novelty, not an_ ORDER _can possibly be admitted:_-- _But it is requested, that if such a thing finds its way into the front of the house_, IT WILL BE KEPT.

Doors open at Half past Six, begin at Half past Seven precisely.

The Entrance for all parts of the House at the Private Box Door in Exeter Street.

Lowndes, Printer, Marquis Court, Drury Lane, London.

Mr. Dobell wonders if Lamb had any knowledge of this performance, and he suggests that possibly he had a hand in the bill. Certainly the interpolations concerning d.a.m.nation are in his manner.

I add a few notes:--