seen him in thîs part, and think little of it, I have nothing farther to say. It seems to me, as far as the mind alone is concerned, and leaving the body out of the question, fully equal to any thing of Mrs. Siddons's. But I hate such comparisons; and only make them on strong provocation.

Though I do not repent of what I have said in praise of certain actors, yet I wish I could retract what I have been obliged to say in reprobation of others. Public reputation is a lottery, in which there are blanks as well as prizes. The Stage is an arduous profession, requiring so many essential excellences and accidental advantages, that though it is an honour and a happiness to succeed in it, it is only a misfortune, and not a disgrace, to fail in it. Those who put themselves upon their trial, must, however, submit to the verdict; and the critic in general does little more than prevent a lingering death, by anticipating, or putting in immediate force, the sentence of the public. The victims of criticism, like the victims of the law, bear no good will to their executioners; and I confess I have often been heartily tired of so thankless an office. What I have said of any actor, has never arisen from private pique of any sort. Indeed the only person on the stage with whom I have ever had any personal intercourse, is Mr. Liston, and of him I have not spoken "with the malice of a friend." To Mr. Conway and Mr. Bartley my apologies are particularly due: I have accused the one of being tall, and the other of being fat. I have also said that Mr. Young plays not only like a scholar, but like " a master of scholars"; that Miss O'Neill shines more in tragedy than comedy; and that Mr. Mathews is an excellent mimic. I am sorry for these disclosures, which were extorted from me, but I cannot retract them. There is one observation which has been made, and which is true, that public censure hurts actors in a pecuniary point of view; but it has been forgotten, that public praise assists them in the same manner. Again, I never understood that

the applauded actor thought himself personally obliged to the newspaper critic; the latter was merely supposed to do his duty. Why then should the critic be held responsible to the actor whom he damns by virtue of his office? Besides, as the mimic caricatures absurdity off the Stage, why should not the critic sometimes caricature it on the Stage? The children of Momus should not hold themselves sacred from ridicule. Though the colours may be a little heightened, the outline may be correct; and truth may be conveyed, and the public taste improved, by an alliteration or a quibble that wounds the self-love of an individual. Authors must live as well as actors; and the insipid must at all events be avoided as that which the public abhors most.

I am not aware of any thing necessary to be added to this Preface, but to apologize for some repetitions to be found in the work; I mean some passages and criticisms that have been transferred to other publications, such as the account of The Beggar's Opera, Coriolanus, etc. In fact, I have come to this determination in my own mind, that a work is as good as manuscript, and is invested with all the same privileges, till it appears in a second edition—a rule which leaves me at liberty to make what use I please of what I have hitherto written, with the single exception of The Characters of Shakespeare's Plays.

April 24, 1818.

W. HAZLITT.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

THIS book-of which the full title was "A View of the English Stage; or, a Series of Dramatic Criticisms. By William Hazlitt. 'For I am nothing if not critical.' London: Printed for Robert Stodart, 81, Strand; Anderson and Chase, 40, West Smithfield; and Bell and Bradfute, Edinburgh. 1818”— '—was a reprint of articles which had appeared in The Morning Chronicle, The Champion, The Examiner, and The Times, at various dates from 1813 to 1817. The sale was small, and the copies unsold after three years were re-issued in 1821 by a different 'publisher with a new half-title and title-page inserted. The new halftitle was "Dramatic Criticisms," and the title-page bore the imprint. "London: John Warren,1 Old Bond-Street. MDCCCXXI.” Nothing else was altered in the volume-the same date remained at the end of the preface, and the same two books were advertised on the last page as "This Day are published."

The so-called "second edition"-" Criticisms and Dramatic Essays of the English Stage. By William Hazlitt. For I am nothing if not critical.' Second Edition. Edited by his Son. London: G. Routledge and Co., Soho Square. MDCCCLI ”- -was a selection of articles, more or less abbreviated, from the original book, together with extracts from the essays on "The Drama" in The London Magazine for 1820, and three papers from The Round Table.

1 John Warren was the publisher of Hazlitt's Table Talk; or, Original Essays, in the same year.

xxiv

A VIEW OF THE ENGLISH STAGE

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MR. KEAN'S SHYLOCK.

[Drury Lane] January 27, 1814.

R. KEAN (of whom report had spoken highly) last night made his appearance at Drury-Lane Theatre in the character of Shylock.' For voice, eye, action, and expression, no actor has come out for many years at all equal to him. The applause, from the first scene to the last, was general, loud, and uninterrupted. Indeed, the very first scene in which he comes on with Bassanio and Antonio,2 showed the master in his art, and at once decided the opinion of the audience. Perhaps it was the most perfect of any. Notwithstanding the complete success of Mr. Kean in the part of Shylock, we question whether he will not become a greater favourite in other parts. There was a lightness and vigour in his tread, a buoyancy and elasticity of spirit, a fire and animation, which would accord better with almost any other character than with the morose, sullen, inward, inveterate, inflexible malignity of Shylock. The

1 Edmund Kean was born in 1787. At the age of six he appeared at Drury Lane as a page, and while a mere boy he played subordinate parts at the Haymarket, but his first performances of leading characters were with a travelling company in the West of England (see Champion, March 13, 1814). His London début as a tragedian Wednesday, Jan. 26, 1814-(when Hazlitt says "there were about a hundred people in the pit "-Table Talk, p. 414) is described above.

2 Merchant of Venice, I, iii.

B