40 |
If any gifted men have been insensible to the beauties of Shakespeare, Mr. Harness was not among their number. On the contrary, he was a devoted student of the writings of the great dramatist, and ever found that the deeper that mine was worked, the richer was the ore which was brought to light. In such feelings of admiration he coincided with the views of some of the most eminent and learned divines, especially with those of Dr. Sortin and Bishop Warburton.* “Shakespeare,” writes Mr. Harness, “was not only habitually conversant with the chronicles of his country, but had also deeply imbibed the Scriptures.”
History teaches that theatrical representations originally partook of a ceremonial character. They
* He edited Shakespeare’s works. |
RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE DRAMA. | 41 |
Notwithstanding a long obscuration in the latter age of Greece and Rome, the drama never entirely lost its instructive and ethical character; and we find the Latin church availing itself of it in the early part of the Middle Ages, for the representation of the most solemn scenes in our Saviour’s sufferings.
42 | THE ENGLISH DRAMA. |
Those who have studied the transformations of religion, or, as I should better say, the steps by which false systems have changed into the true, will admit that ancient customs have been very often retained, although their signification has been entirely altered.* The cause of the revival in this case may have been the general recognition of the influence of dramatic action and impersonation; but we may safely affirm that had the uses of the stage been polluted, it would never have been brought into connection with the Christian Church.
Our modern plays long retained a religious character, and even in later years were used as a vehicle for moral instruction. In tracing the rise and progress of the English Drama, we cannot do better than quote Mr. Harness’s own words:—
“It is impossible for any art to have attained a more rapid growth than was attained by the art of dramatic writing in this country. The people had indeed been long accustomed to a species of exhibition called ‘miracles’ or ‘mysteries,’ founded
* Many instances of adaptation will probably occur to the reader. In the Early Church, we find a great attempt made to encumber Christianity with Jewish ceremonies. The Romanists adopted those of the surrounding Pagans. A remarkable continuance of the sanctity of a locality is traceable at Le Puy; in the floor of the cathedral lies the table-stone of a druidical dolmen; in the walls are fragments of a Roman Temple; it is now Roman Catholic, and, we roust hope, will some day be Protestant. |
MYSTERIES AND MORALITIES. | 43 |
“About that time the attention of the public began to be more generally directed to the stage, and it throve admirably beneath the cheerful beams of popularity. The theatrical performances which
* Mr. Harness here adds a note to the effect that the most ancient collection of this kind—the Chester mysteries—were not written by Ralph Higden, as supposed by Warton, Malone and others; but by an earlier Ecclesiastic of Chester, named Randall, and that they were first enacted between 1268 and 1276. In the Harl. MSS., we read: “Exhibited at Chester in 1327, at the expense of the Trading Companies of the City: The ‘Fall of Lucifer,’ by the Tanners; ‘Abraham, Melchisedeck, and Lot,’ by the Barbers; the ‘Puri- |
44 | THEATRES IN LONDON. |
fication,’ by the Blacksmiths; the ‘Temptation,’ by the Butchers; ‘The Last Supper,’ by the Bakers; the ‘Descent into Hell,’ by the Cooks; the ‘Resurrection,’ by the Skinners; the ‘Ascension,” by the Tailors,’ &c.” We know not at how early a date these plays were acted in the Latin Church. They were continued in Cornwall after they had lost the support of the clergy. |
ENTHUSIASM FOR SHAKESPEARE. | 45 |
Mr. Harness yielded to few in his enthusiasm for Shakespeare. He was wont to say that his plays contained almost
everything. In his early years, inspired with youthful ardour, he made a pilgrimage to the
birthplace of the great poet, and although he started with the intention of staying there only
four days, he ended by remaining five weeks. He was charmed with the place, and spent his time
most enjoyably in exploring the beauties of the country, and in visiting the spots hallowed by
the dramatist’s memory. He told me that at the close of one long summer day, after
returning from a walk to Anne Hathaway’s cottage, he
took out his volume of Shakespeare, which was his constant companion, and
opening it at “King John,” became
completely absorbed in the tragic story. Time flew by rapidly and unheeded, until warned by his
waning lamp, he started up and found that it was past midnight. He went to the window; the stars
were shining brightly in the clear sky and shedding their thin light over the old gabled houses
and lofty elm trees; the night was breezeless, and all was shrouded in
46 | HARNESS'S EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE. |
“The midnight bell
Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth
Sound ‘one’ unto the drowsy race of night.”*
|
Mr. Harness found the inscription on Shakespeare’s monument in a very imperfect condition. He had it restored at his own expense. Above the epitaph by Ben Jonson is the line:—
“Judicio Pylium, genio Socratem, arte Maronem,” |
His Edition of Shakespeare was published by Mr. Harness immediately after his appointment to St.
* Act iii.; Scene 3. |
BIOGRAPHY OF SHAKESPEARE. | 47 |
* Mr. Harness’s Edition of Shakespeare was published in 1825, in 8 vols. octavo; a second edition, with plates, appeared in 1830; and a third, with 40 plates by Heath, in 1833. In the latter year also he published an edition in Imperial 4to, one volume, with 100 of Boydell’s plates; and a one volume edition in Royal octavo was published in 1836, and again in 1840 and 1842; the last reprint being for the American market. The edition of 1840 is still sometimes to be met with; its only illustration is a very fine engraving of the Chandos portrait. |
48 | SHAKESPEARE'S DISPOSITION. |
“WILL SHAKESPEARE!” | 49 |
“Shakespeare’s first employment in connexion with the theatre in London presents us with a characteristic picture of the times. He was to receive the horses of those who rode to the performance, and was to hold them until the end of the performance. He became, we are told, such a favourite in this office that every one, when he alighted, called out, ‘Will Shakespeare!’ and he soon was in such demand that he hired young men
* (Note by Mr. Harness.) “There can be no doubt that Justice Shallow was designed as the representative of the Knight. If the traditional authority of this fact were not quite satisfactory, the description of his coat of arms in the first scene of ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor,’ which is, with very slight deviation, that of the Lucys, would be sufficient to direct us to the original of the portrait.” |
50 | “WILL SHAKESPEARE!” |
“But however inferior,” he continues, “was the situation which Shakespeare first occupied, his talents were not long buried in obscurity. He rapidly rose to the first station in the theatre, and by the power of his genius raised our national dramatic poetry, then in its infancy, to the highest state of perfection which it is perhaps capable of reaching.”
Speaking of the characters played by Shakespeare, Mr. Harness draws the
following conclusions:—“It would appear that the class of characters to which the
histrionic exertions of Shakespeare were confined was that of elderly
persons—parts rather of declamation than of passion. With a countenance which, if any of
his pictures is a genuine resemblance of him, we may adduce that one as our authority for
esteeming capable of every variety of expression; with a knowledge of the art which rendered
him fit to be the teacher of the first actors of his day, and to instruct Joseph Taylor in the character of ‘Hamlet,’ and John
Lowine in that of ‘King Henry the Eighth;’ with
such admirable qualifications for pre-eminence, we must infer that nothing but some personal
defect could have reduced
PERSONAL INFIRMITY. | 51 |
‘So I made lame by Fortune’s dearest
spite.’ |
‘Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt.’
|
52 | IMPERFECT STATE OF HIS WRITINGS. |
These observations are interesting when we remember the writer’s experience in his own infirmity.
Mr. Harness was accustomed to say that all that Shakespeare wrote was good, but that many passages were attributed to him which were not authentic. He explains his views on the corruptions of the text in the following words:
“If Shakespeare still appears to
us the first of poets, it is in spite of every possible disadvantage to which his own sublime
contempt of applause had exposed his fame, from the ignorance, the avarice, or the
officiousness of his early editors. To these causes it is to be ascribed that the writings of
Shakespeare have come down to us in a state more imperfect than those
of any other author of his time, and requiring every exertion of critical skill to illustrate
and amend them. That so little should be known with certainty of the history of his life was
the natural consequence of the events which immediately followed his dissolution. It is
IMPERFECT STATE OF HIS WRITINGS. | 53 |
“After the Restoration these severe restrictions were relaxed; and, as
is universally the case, the counter-action was correspondent to the action. The nation
suddenly exchanged the rigid austerity of Puritanism for the extreme of pro-
54 | PURITY OF HIS SENTIMENTS. |
TEMPORARY OBSCURATION. | 55 |
56 | EARLY THEATRES. |
The following sketch by Mr. Harness of the manner in which the performances of the theatre were conducted, affords an interesting picture of the times: he was always fond of characteristic details:
“The ‘Globe’ and the playhouse in ‘Blackfriars’ were the property of the company to which Shakespeare was himself attached, and by whom all his productions were exhibited. The ‘Globe’ appears to have been a wooden building, of a considerable size, hexagonal without and circular within; it was thatched in part, but a large portion of the roof was open to the weather. This was the company’s Summer theatre, and the plays were acted by daylight. At the ‘Blackfriars,’ on the contrary, which was the Winter theatre, the top was entirely closed, and the performances were exhibited by candlelight. In every other respect the economy and usages of the houses appear to have been the same, and to have resembled those of every other contemporary theatre.
“With respect to the interior arrangements there were very few points
of difference between our modern theatres and those of the days of Shakespeare. The terms of admission indeed were considerably cheaper; to the
boxes the entrance was a shilling; to the pit and galleries only sixpence; sixpence also was
the price paid for stools upon the
EARLY THEATRES. | 57 |
58 | USE OF SCENERY. |
CAST BY THE KEMBLES. | 59 |
It must be remembered that, in the days in which Mr. Harness wrote, the legitimate drama had not yet been superseded by extravagant and ephemeral representations. A charge of pedantry might have been brought against the stage with more justice than one of frivolity. The theatres, of which there were but two, were not places for idleness and dissipation, but for study and intellectual enjoyment. There were then no stalls; nor did the pit offer that cheap rate of accommodation which has tempted managers to introduce performances of a broad and tawdry character. Moreover, the lovers of Shakespeare could then have their taste gratified to an extent which has since been impossible. The works of the great dramatist were rightly represented by the combined talent of the Kemble family. Under them, the stage became a source of high moral, as well as artistic, instruction. Never, since the days of classic Attica had the drama
* This opinion is confirmed by the ancient stage directions. In the folio Shakespeare, of 1623, we read ‘Enter Brutus, in his orchard;’ ‘Enter Timon, in the woods;’ ‘Enter Timon, from his cave.’ |
60 | CAST BY THE KEMBLES. |
“Incessu patuit dea.”
|
Campbell speaks of “her lofty beauty, her graceful
walk and gesture.” And when we add to this the charm of her flexible and expressive voice,
we cannot be suprised at the admiration she awakened. Few who saw her ever forgot her. Crabbe Robinson used to say that he prided himself on three
things; he had been intimate with Göthe, he had made
a walking tour with Wordsworth, and he had seen Mrs. Siddons. Mr. Harness
could not
MRS. SIDDONS. | 61 |
Mr. Harness related the following anecdote in which the conduct of the great actress was very
* A part in “The Fair Penitent” for which she was celebrated. |
62 | MRS. SIDDONS. |
The enthusiasm for the stage which prevailed at that day can scarcely be understood at present. As there were no numbered seats in the pit, those who entered first took the best places. The performance commenced at six o’clock, and as early as two in the afternoon the play-goers began to collect outside the theatre. Two old gentlemen in Mr. Harness’s recollection were especially conspicuous from always posting themselves early against the doors. As they had to wait several hours, and found the time hang heavily, they adopted the good idea of bringing a portable chess-
* This incident is said, by Crabbe Robinson, to have occurred at Mr. Sotheby’s; but there was some confusion in his mind on the subject. It was related to him by Mr. Harness. |
DRAMATIC CRITICISM. | 63 |
Mr. Harness objected much to the over-inquisitive spirit which some critics have evinced in the study of Shakespeare. In a review in the Quarterly of “Hunter on the ‘Tempest,’” in which he blames the writer for his persistent endeavours to define the localities mentioned in that play; he writes as follows:—
“The island was called into existence by a far more potent magician
than even Prospero; and ‘like the baseless fabric of
a vision ‘melted’ into thin air,’ leaving ‘no rack behind,’ with
a deep and solemn sound of funeral music, on the 23rd April, 1616, the day when that mighty
master died. After the departure of Prospero and Miranda, it was never visited again by any human creature. The
unearthly inhabitants possessed it altogether till the hour of its dissolution. They were then
variously dispersed. Caliban, clinging to one of the
largest logs which Ferdinand had so industriously piled
up, but which had never been ‘burnt,’ was floated on it in safety to the coast of
Algiers. Ariel, with all his subtle company, the
‘elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,’ clapping
64 | DRAMATIC CRITICISM. |
THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. | 65 |
Macready lost, as he said, £2,000 a year owing to an article written by Mr. Harness in the Quarterly. So much weight had his critiques with the public of the day.
The following letters are interesting as giving an account of the Kembles’ visit to America:—
“Do not imagine that I have any intention of letting you
forget me, my dear Mr. Harness, or that I mean to
delegate to newspapers, and such like unsatisfactory channels of information, the task
of keeping my recollection alive with you. I certainly have suffered a tolerably long
interval to escape since the writing of my first epistle; but that it did not follow
from thence that I never meant to write to you again, this is
proof. If I were to ask you all the questions I should like answered with regard to
things in general, and particularly in my poor dear little country, I might fill my
letter with one huge note of interrogation, and leave you to answer all that is
‘being, doing and suffering’ in England; but I rather think some
66 | THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. |
“We are all in excellent health, except that my father is lame and cross, D—— sleepy and cross, and I purely cross, and nothing else. With regard to my father’s lameness, he caught it—or, rather, it caught him—by the calf of the leg, in the act of springing off the stage after me, in Benedick. ‘Tis an accident of no great importance—a sprain or fracture of one or two of the smaller fibres in the leg, which makes him go a little haltingly just now, but is not likely to inconvenience him long. As for all the other ailments, that is the crossness, ‘tis owing to a bitter bleak east wind, which is the only air that blows in Boston, and keeps us all in a state of misanthropy and universal dissatisfaction. Perhaps, under these circumstances, I had better have deferred writing to you; but, had I waited till the wind changed its quarter, I must have waited till we returned to New York; for Boston is the abiding place of the east wind.
“Our houses, wherever we go, are very fine; our business most
successful. The people and places vie with each other in kindness and civility to us;
and as for me, I am so praised, so admired, so
THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. | 67 |
“Boston is a Yankee town, which I daresay is as much as you
know about it; but, Sir, ‘tis moreover the wealthiest town in the Union;
‘tis, Sir, the most belles-letterish and blue town in the Union; ‘tis, Sir,
the most aristocratic town in the Union, and decidedly bears the greatest resemblance to
an English town of any I have seen. The country round it, too, is more like a bit of the
old land than anything I have yet seen; and, though some of the wild romantic scenery
round Philadelphia enchanted me very much, the white clean cottages, the blossoming
apple-trees and flowering garden-plots of the villages round this place have recalled
England more vividly, and given me more pleasure
68 | THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. |
“We act every night here but Saturday. I grumble dreadfully at
this hard work—not because it tires me, but because I am idle and like two
holidays in a week. However, when I consider that every night lost is a large sum of
money lost (for our profits are very great) I am willing to give up my laziness, so long
as the work is not too much either for my father or myself. I take an amazing quantity
of exercise on horseback; ‘tis meat and drink and sleep to me, and affords me,
moreover, the best opportunity of seeing the country, which one never does well in a
carriage; and ‘tis quite entertaining to see how, before I have been a fortnight
in a place, all the women are getting into riding-skirts and up upon horses. I have
received ever so many thanks for the improved health of the ladies here who, since my
arrival, are all horseback-
THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. | 69 |
“I have acted several new parts since I have been in this new world; Katherine, the Shrew, which I do pretty well, Bizarre, which I also do pretty well, but particularly the dancing—Violante in ‘The Wonder,’ which I do worse than anything that can be seen, and Mary Copp in ‘Charles the Second,’ which I do very fairly well, leaving out the singing. Bianca seems to be my favourite part with the public, in tragedy, and Julia in the ‘Hunchback,’ in comedy. I hear Knowles has written another play with a magnificent woman’s part. Of course we shall have it out here before long; I am curious to see it.
“I have seen Washington
Irving several times since I have been in this country. He is idolized
here, and talks of settling himself in some little sunny nook on the Hudson—that
broadest, brightest river in the world. He is very delightful, a most happy, cheerful,
benevolent, simple person. His absence of seventeen years from this country has produced
changes in it which seem to fill him with amazement and admiration. And, indeed,
‘tis a most marvellous country! It stands unparalleled under every aspect in which
it can be considered, and presents one of the most interesting and extraordinary
subjects of contemplation that the eye of
70 | THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. |
THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. | 71 |
“Bless my soul, I didn’t mean to be cross* to you, because that’s an infliction! Don’t you wish that you and I wrote better hands? Pray, dear Mr. Harness, if you have time to spare, write to me again; it pleases me to hear from England, and it pleases me to hear from you.
“When I left England I promised I would write to you, and I am ashamed that I have so long neglected to redeem my promise; but I rely upon your good-nature to excuse me, although I confess
* The last page of the letter is crossed. |
72 | THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. |
“So much for the leaders in your profession. For those in
mine, you are almost as well acquainted with their merits as I am. Mr. Booth, as well as Mr.
Hamblin, you must have seen in England; and Mr. Forrest you will probably see, for report says he is to visit London.
He is in person of Herculean proportions, fitter, in appear-
THE KEMBLES IN AMERICA. | 73 |
“We hope to find you and your dear sister at home when we reach London. We did intend to sail from New York on the 16th of June, but for the advantages of a superior ship and a more agreeable captain, we have been induced to postpone our departure until the 24th of June: so pray look out for the arrival of the ‘United States’ commanded by Captain Holdritch. How happy Fanny’s friends will be to see her once more before she is married, won’t they? The legitimate drama will have another chance, I hope, of resuscitation; and we shall both at least take leave of the British stage in a manner worthy of the house of Kemble!
“God bless you! give my affectionate regard to your dear sister; and believe me, my very dear friend, unalterably yours,
74 | CHARLES KEAN. |
“Fanny has told you of the irreparable loss we have sustained by the death of her aunt. May all our deaths be as peaceful and as happy!”
Mr. Harness took little interest in the drama of the present day. Low comedy and scenic effects were his aversion; and he was wont to say that acting was now a debased art. He still knew a few of the elder members of the histrionic profession, and especially Charles Kean, for whom he had a great personal regard. He remarked how much he had done to raise the social character of the stage, and was deeply affected when he was sent for to attend his friend in his last hours. He had an equal esteem for Mrs. Kean. Referring to her kindness and good-nature, he said that she took great interest in the little children who came to act in the pantomimes, and that she used to teach them their Catechism between the pieces, thus endeavouring to compensate for their loss of regular instruction. Mr. Harness’s schools, like many others in London, suffered much from the withdrawal of little pupils in the Winter. On first entering his schools at Knightsbridge, after the Christmas holidays, he inquired why the attendance was so small? “Because, Sir,” replied the teacher, “so many of the children are gone to be angels!”
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