598 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



didly confessed, through the re- 

 mainder of his life, whenever the 

 subject was agitated, that no cir- 

 cumstance, in the coui*se of his ma- 

 naffement, cave Iiim so much con- 

 cern, as tlie rejection of this plaj'. 

 By such repeated discouragement, 

 the ardour of Home was by no 

 means suppressed. Beingacquaint- 

 ed with the leading characters in 

 Scotland, a ready reception of his 

 play at Edini)uigU was secured. At 

 the first representation of Douglas, 

 in the theatre, inCanongate,on the 

 I'ttii of December 1756, Mr. Home, 

 and several of his clerical brethren 

 were present. Of this circumstance 

 the zealots of the day speedily got 

 notice. Tliat a clergyman should 

 write a plaj-, and that ministers of 

 the gospel should ivitness its per- 

 formance, were crimes unheard of 

 in tiie annals of the church. The 

 hue and cry of bigotry was imme- 

 diately raised. All tliat ignorance 

 could conceive, prejudice effect, or 

 malice invent, was tried to suppress 

 the play in its birth. It was violent- 

 ly decried as a production of im- 

 moral tendency, and furnishing, by 

 its catastrophe, an encouragement 

 to suicide. The clergy ordered a 

 pastoral admonition to be delivered 

 from their pulpits, on the sin and 

 danger of attending the theatre. 

 The author was summoned to ap 

 pear before the bar of the presby- 

 tery ; his friends were peremptorily 

 dragged before their tribunal, some 

 of them dismissed with censure, and 

 others suspended from their office. 

 While such was the state of affairs 

 in Scotland, Douglas having been 

 performed to crowded houses dur- 

 ing the greater part oi" the season, 

 and fully gratifying the most san- 

 guine hopes of the author, it was, 

 through the interest of David Hume, 



brought forward on the London 

 stage. Garrick having now disco- 

 vered his mistake, made unusual 

 exertions to introduce it to public 

 notice and approbation. Hume had, 

 shortly before its representation, 

 published four dissertations, and in- 

 scribed them to our author. In his 

 dedication he pronounced so flat- 

 tering a panegyric upon Mr. Home, 

 and bestowed such unqualified ap- 

 probation on his play, that the pub- 

 lic expectation was raised too high. 

 The consequence was, that the suc- 

 cess of Douglas was at first doubt- 

 ful in the metropolis. It soon, how- 

 ever, became a standard tragedy, 

 and maintains its ground on the 

 British stage to the present day. 

 The clamours of his enemies having 

 not yet subsided in Scotland, Mr. 

 Home, seeing no prospect of over- 

 coming their prejudices, preached 

 his farewell sermon to his congre- 

 gation, on the 5th of June 1757. 

 The discourse was so pathetic, that 

 it drew tears from most of his audi- 

 ence. To prevent further proceed- 

 ings in the church courts against 

 him, he gave in the resignation of his 

 charge to the presbytery of Had- 

 dington two days after. This body 

 continuedto persecute with peculiar 

 vehemence, Mr. Carlyle, one of Mr. 

 Home's most intimate friends, as 

 well for having accompanied him 

 to the theatre, as from its being ge- 

 nerally understood that he assisted 

 Home ill the composition of Doug- 

 las. Although our author himself 

 did not appear at the presbytery, he 

 was not negligent in defence of his 

 friend. He attended the meeting 

 of Synod, and supported his cause 

 with great firmness. In reply to 

 the virulent railings of a bigot, he 

 declared, that if there was any 

 fault, it lay not at the door of his 



friend. 



