ITS PERFORMANCE. 227 



merit might authorise or justify its intro- 

 duction on those boards, where my de- 

 parted friend had presided with so much 

 ecldt. 



On my calling at the theatre some little 

 time after, this hallucination was soon 

 dispersed by the reader, who returned it 

 with many fair speeches, first telling me 

 that Mr. Macready's lease had nearly ex- 

 pired, and at the same time stating that 

 they had another play with the same title. 



Thinking this a very strange coinci- 

 dence, I resolved upon publishing mine, 

 which I did by subscription, and it was 

 honoured with the names of the Lord 

 Lieutenant of the County, some of the 

 most distinguished members 'of the Uni- 

 versity, as well as nearly all the nobility 

 and gentry of the western division of 

 the county of Norfolk. It was performed 

 at both the Cambridge and Lynn theatres, 

 the good old Field-Marshal bespeaking 

 at one, and the popular member for West 



Q2 



