he proceeded to Swansey, where he stayed about a year, very much dissatisfied with the diminution of his salary; for he had, in his letters, treated his contributors so insolently, that most of them withdrew their subscriptions. Here he finished his tragedy, and resolved to return with it to London, which was strenuously opposed by his great and constant friend Mr. Pope; who proposed that Savage should put this play into the hands of Mr. Thomson and Mr. Mallet, in order that they might fit it for the stage. This kind and prudent scheme was rejected by Savage with the utmost contempt. He declared he would not submit his works to anyone's correction; and that he would no longer be kept in leading-strings. Accordingly he soon returned to Bristol in his way to London; but at Bristol meeting with a repetition of the same kind treatment he had before found there, he was tempted to make a second stay in that opulent city for some time. Here he was again not only caressed and treated, but the sum of 301. was raised for him, with which it had been happy if he had immediately departed for London; but he never considered that a frequent repetition of such kindness was not to be expected, and that it was possible to tire out the generosity of his Bristol friends, as he had before tired his friends everywhere else. In short, he remained here till his company was no longer welcome. His visits in every family were too often repeated; his wit had lost its novelty, and his irregular behaviour grew troublesome. Necessity came upon him before he was aware; his money was spent, his clothes were worn out, his appearance was shabby, and his presence was disgustful at every table. He stayed, in the midst of poverty, hunger, and contempt, till the mistress of a coffee-house, to whom he owed about 81., arrested him for the debt. He remained for some time, at a great expense, in the house of the sheriff's officer, in hopes of procuring bail; which expense he was enabled to defray by a present of five guineas from Mr. Nash at Bath. No bail, however, was to be found; so that poor Savage was at last lodged in Newgate, a prison so named, in Bristol.

But it was the fortune of this extraordinary mortal always to find more friends than he deserved. The keeper of the prison took compassion on him, and greatly softened the rigours of his confinement by every kind of indulgence; he

supported him at his own table, gave him a commodious room to himself, allowed him to stand at the door of the gaol, and even frequently took him into the fields for the benefit of the air and exercise; so that, in reality, Savage endured fewer hardships in this place than he had usually suffered during the greater part of his life.

Here he wrote the satire entitled, "London and Bristol Compared;" and in it he abused the inhabitants of the latter with such a spirit of resentment, that the reader would imagine he had never received any other than the most injurious treatment in that city.

He was seized with a disorder which at first was not suspected to be dangerous; but, growing daily more languid and dejected, at last a fever seized him, and he expired on the 1st of August, 1743, in the forty-sixth year of his age.

In 1725 we have a glimpse of a little picture-the veteran poet Southern, who had lingered on past his contemporaries, venturing to bring out a comedy called "Money, the Mistress." Says Victor:

I happened to be behind the scenes the first night of this comedy at Covent Garden, and was very sorry to find that the audience did not take the age, as well as the great merit of this author, into their consideration, and quietly dismiss this last weak effort to please them. When they were hissing dreadfully in the fifth act, Mr. Rich, who was standing by Mr. Southern, asked him if he heard what the audience were doing? His answer was, "No, sir, I am very deaf."

Mr. Oldys remembered Mr. Southern as "a grave and venerable old gentleman. He lived near Covent Garden, and used often to frequent the evening prayers there, always neat and decently dressed, commonly in black, with his silver sword and silver locks." Yet this was the author of the pathetic "Oronooko," and of the terrible " Fatal Marriage "-performed in the old days when William the Third was king.

Southern was born and educated in Dublin, and was one of the soldier dramatists, having served under the Duke of York, and becoming captain. He was evidently a shrewd business

like man, to whom dramatic writers are under serious obligation, as he was the first to methodise and put on a sound basis the question of authors' profits. For his "Spartan Fame," played brilliantly in 1719, by Booth, Wilks, and Cibber, he received from the booksellers 150l., then considered to be an immense sum. It is curious that in our day this taste for reading a play has departed, but it seems to have been the result of the monopoly, as all could not attend the theatres. Mr. Dryden once took occasion to ask him how much he got by one of his plays, to which he answered that he was really ashamed to inform him. "But Mr. Dryden being a little importunate to know, he plainly told him that by his last play he cleared 7007.; which appeared astonishing to Dryden, as he himself had never been able to acquire more than 1007. by his most successful pieces. The secret is, Southern was not beneath the drudgery of solicitation, and often sold his tickets at a very high price, by making applications to persons of distinction."

A few items as to authors' prices may be welcome. Cibber, for his play of "The Nonjuror," received a hundred guineas. For a fairly successful tragedy in the last century the booksellers gave from 50l. to 80l. Dryden produced twenty-seven plays in twenty-five years, and received about 251. for each piece, and 701. for his benefit-a miserable dole. Indeed, the dreadful series of hack-writers, and their struggles, would make up a tale of suffering and troubles that seems incredible. Had Goldsmith lived he would probably have sunk into the most abject misery, and have been overwhelmed. A writer with such poetical talent, sunk in debt to the amount of 2000l., his brains mortgaged far in advance, could never have worked himself free. A long list of such unhappy dramatists could be made out-Bickerstaff, Dibdin, Evane, etc. Kit Smart is a type who superadded to his sorrows that of going mad and being confined in an asylum, where he wrote strange verses or poetry.

IN the history of every theatre there have always been some eminently successful pieces, the production of which has brought not only prosperity but reputation. These occasions are unhappily few, but in certain instances they have been remarkable beyond the occasion, as endowing the stage with a permanent treasure. Among these may be counted the production of Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer," Sheridan's "Rivals" and "The School for Scandal;" in a far lower degree, though quite as successful, "The Lady of Lyons;" which may be considered the great "stock-pieces" of our stage. Perhaps, however, the greatest success of last century on its production that is, making due allowance for the surrounding conditions-was "The Beggar's Opera."*

The history of this piece is interesting and curious in every point of view, from the authors concerned, the wit displayed, and the fortunes of the actors.

Various "hands" were concerned in it. "Gay," says

It is curious that Boswell should have collected materials for a regular work on the subject, but he was not able to carry out his plan.

Mr. Pope, "was inclined to try at such a thing for some time, but afterwards thought it would be better to write a comedy on the same plan. This was what gave rise to 'The Beggar's Opera.' He began on it; and when first he mentioned it to Swift, the doctor did not like the project. As he carried it on, he showed what he wrote to both of us, and we, now and then, gave a correction, or a word or two of advice, but it was wholly of his own writing. When it was done, neither of us thought it would succeed. We showed it to Congreve, who, after reading it over, said, 'It would either take greatly, or be damned confoundedly.'"

"At Schomberg House, Pall Mall, was first concocted. the dramatic scheme of this famous opera. It was originally proposed to Swift to name it the 'Newgate Opera.' Swift delighted to quote his Devonshire pastorals, they being very characteristic of low rustic life, and congenial to his taste. Under the influence of such notions, he proposed to Gay to bestow his thoughts upon writing 'A Newgate Pastoral,' adding, 'And I will, sub rosa, afford you my best assistance.' This scheme was talked over at Queensberry House, and Gay commenced it, but it was soon dropped. Another scheme -that for 'The Beggar's Opera'— was approved, and written forthwith, under the auspices of the duchess, and performed at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, under the immediate influence of her grace, who, to induce the manager, Rich, to bring it upon his stage, agreed to indemnify him all the expenses he might incur, provided that the daring speculation should fail. The offer had first been proposed to Fleetwood and his partners, at Drury Lane Theatre, but it was at once rejected by them as a piece that would not be tolerated by a public audience."

To this opera (says Kirkman, who must have had it from Macklin) there was no music originally intended to accompany

VOL. II.

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