"Betty, what are thou thinking about? don't you hear a double knock at No. 9? Who is it?'
"The first-floor lodger, ma'am.'
"Betty, Betty! I declare I must give you warning. Why don't you tell me what knock is at No. 54?'
"Why, Lord, ma'am, it is only the baker with pies.'
"Pies, Betty! what can they want with pies at 54?-they had pies yesterday.'
"Of this very point I have availed myself. Let me add that Paul Pry was never intended as the representative of any one individual, but a class. Like the melancholy of Jaques, he is 'compounded of many simples;' and I could mention five or six who were unconscious contributors to the character. That it should have been so often, though erroneously, supposed to have been drawn after some particular person, is, perhaps, complimentary to the general truth of the delinea
"With respect to the play, generally, I may say that it is original; it is original in structure, plot, character, and dialogue-such as they are. The only imitation I am aware of is to be found in part of the business in which Mrs. Subtle is engaged; whilst writing these scenes I had strongly in my recollections Le Vieux Célibataire. But, even the little I have adopted is considerably altered and modified by the necessity of adapting it to the exigencies of a different plot."
In the year 1825, Paul Pry, by which Mr. Poole is most extensively known, was produced at the Haymarket Theatre. Paul Pry was among the greatest theatrical hits of our time; and for his performance of the principal character, Mr. Liston received fifty and sixty pounds per week during two seasons, almost nightly to overflowing houses. This was Liston's finest impersonation; "the popularity of the piece was immense, and chiefly through the unequalled ease and skill with which he acted his part. His well-known countenance (or figure) was to be met with in every conceivable material-in plaster and clay, in china and butter, in the centre of pockethandkerchiefs, tobacconists' 'screw' paper, and in a variety of other ways, his unbounded success with the public was attested."(Memorials of Knightsbridge.)
In January, 1826, it was remarked in the Literary Chronicle: "It has not, we believe, been observed by any journalist, that the principal plot of this dramatic piece is borrowed from Le Vieux Célibataire, of Collin Harleville. Like Wither
ington, Dubriage is tyrannized over by two artful domestics, who have intercepted his nephew's letters. Mrs. Subtle is faithfully copied from the prototype in the original piece; and nearly all the minor details of this part of the drama are the same. We do not mention this from any wish to detract from Mr. Poole, who has so skilfully adapted the piece to our stage. The character of Paul Pry, which the author has engrafted on the French stock, and which he has with so much ability made to contribute to the dénouement of the plot, sufficiently rescues him from the imputation of being a mere copier or awkward plagiarist. There is, too, some originality, at least, in the idea of representing curiosity as a male rather than a female failing. We wish, however, that the author would marry his hero and give a pair of Prys; Paul would make an excellent husband, and his curiosity, great as it is, would never render him troublesome at home."
Among the other pieces contributed to the stage, "there were," says the Era Almanack, "produced at Covent Garden, A Short Reign and a Merry One, The Two Stages of Frederick the Great, The Scapegoat, A Nabob for an hour, and The Wife's Stratagem, altered from Shirley.
"At Drury Lane were brought out Simpson and Co., Intrigue, The Wealthy Widow, A Soldier's Courtship, Turning the Tables, and The Patrician and the Parvenu.
"The Haymarket received from Mr. Poole-Matchmaking, Married and Single, Tribulation, Paul Pry (already named), 'Twould Puzzle a Conjuror, 'Twixt the Cup and the Lip, Gudgeons and Sharks, and Lodgings for Single Gentlemen.
"This list includes some of our most popular stock pieces, and sufficiently indicates the high position held by Mr. Poole in modern dramatic authorship."
Mr. Poole died about two years since at his house in Kentish Town Road.
BARHAM, R. H. .--THE "IN-
GOLDSBY LEGENDS :"
Cento of things to laugh at,
194; Dr. Roberts, to, a pa-
rody, 200; History of the Le-
gends, 190; Lord Melville's
Trial, 199; Medley for a lady's
album, 203; Nonsense for al-
bums, 202; Old Woman
clothed in Gray, 192; Sermon
by Sheridan, 200; Row in an om-
nibus box, 203; "This is the
House that Josh burnt," 207.
CANNING, GEORGE :
Accomplishments, 12; Adding-
ton, "The Doctor," 5, 33, 35;
Always young, 33; Amphi-
tryon, 30; Anglesey's leg, 38;
Anti-Jacobin, 2, 17, 47, 48, 49,
52, 53; Biographia Literaria,
53; Birth and education, I;
Caroline, Queen, 32; Catholic
emancipation, 26; Characteris-
tics, 29; Chiswick House, 7;
Clifford Street Club, 4, 5;
Coleridge, S. T., 28; Court gos-
sip, 37; Death of, 7; De Vere;
or the Man of Independence, 31;
Diplomatists at home, 28;
"Doctor," the, 55; Duel be-
tween Lord Castlereagh and
Canning, 6; Ecclesiastical pro-
perty of France, 4; Edmonds,
Charles, and the Anti-Jacobin,
47; Epitaph on Canning's el-
dest son, io; Erskine and the
Friends of Freedom, 52; Fo-
reign affairs, 5; Fox, C. J., death
VOL. i.
of, 9; "Friend of Humanity
and Knifegrinder," 20; Game
of "Twenty Questions," 42-
46; George IV., illness of, 37,
Good Intentions, 54; Grattan
and Canning, 37; "Green
Bag" and Pandora's box, 33;
Hatherton, Lord, and the
Anti-Jacobin, 48; Haydon and
Dr. Mackay, 23; Holland,
Lady, and Canning, 9; Hyde
Abbey and Eton, I; Illness,
last, 7; Library, sale of, 15;
Literary Remains, 47; Liver-
pool, Earl of, 2; "Man at the
Helm," 46; Melbourne, Lord,
and the Anti-Jacobin, 49;
Melville, Lord, 6; Microcosm,
I, 17, 34; Mirabeau, his ora-
tory, 5; New Morality and
the Candid Friend, 50; New
Whig Guide, 56, 57; Nugent,
Lord, 34; Occasional Verses,
58; Oratory, 58, 59; Oxford,
Parliament, 3, 27; Pension
well applied, 32; Pilot that
weathered the Storm, 53; Pitt
and Burke, 4; Portrait Sketch,
13; Progress of Society, and
Loves of the Triangles, 24, 63;
"Queen of Hearts and Spades,'
17; Quizzing, 56; Rover, The,
51, 52; Sandwich Islands,
King and Queen of, 21; Seeking
for place, 28; Servant, his, 31,
Sheridan, 3; Sheridan, affec-
tion for, 36; Slavery of Greece,
40; Smith, Lord Carrington,
33; Songs by Rogeros, 19;
Statue at Westminster, 14;
Swearing, on, 35, 36; Tributes
to his genius, 10; Wit and
humour, 17; Wright and the
Anti-Jacobin, 47.
COBBETT, WILLIAM :
Birth and birth-place, 147;
Boyhood; Gardening, 148;
British Museum, 154, 155;
Bulwer, Sir H. L., his estimate,
158; Character of, 158; Death
of, 156; English character,
158; Farnham, scenery of, 148;
Gridiron sign, 153, 154;
Hone's Memoirs, 147; Mar-
riage in 1793, 151; Nicknames,
155; Parliament, 157; Peel's
bill, 154, 157; Pitt, Windham,
151; Register begun, 151; Sol-
dier in Nova Scotia, 150;
Tom Paine's bones, 151, 153.
COLERIDGE, SAMUEL TAYLOR :
Aids to Reflection, 89; Ancient
Mariner, 110; Biographia Li-
teraria,89, 120; Birth and ed-
ucation, 85; Broken Friend-
ships, 105; Byron, 124; Car-
lyle, 91; Christabel, 105; Cha-
racteristics of Shakspeare's
plays, 121; Cottle, the book-
seller, 86; Cottle Church, the,
112; Death of, 93; Early
poems, 86; Enlists as a dra-
goon, 86; Epitaphs, 94, 95;
Friend, 89; Gilmans, the, 90,
91, 92; Harangue, 90; Hart-
ley, his son, 118; Inner Tem-
ple Talk, 123; Irresolution,
112; "Job's Luck," 105; Kes-
wick, 88; Lamb, Charles, 91;
Light Dragoon, 114; Madame
de Staël, 126; Memorial, 126;
Morning Post and Courier,
89; Nether Stowey, 86, 87,
119; Odes, 110; Opium-eat-
ing, 105; Pantisocracy, 86, 88;
Phillips, Sir Richard, 90;
Poetic Faith, 88; Portrait by
De Quincy, Wordsworth, Car-
lyle, and Mackintosh, 87, 88;
Preaching, III; Shakspeare's
plays, characteristics of, 123;
Sonnet, 120; Statesman's Ma-
nual, 89; Table Talk, 95-105;
Watchman, the, 85; Wedg-
wood, 88.
CURRAN, J. P. :
Abernethy, 138; Anonymous
depreciation, 137; Birth, pa-
rentage, and education, 127;
Boyhood, by himself, 129, 130;
Brother of, 139; Called to
the Bar, 134; Colman,
George, the younger, 140;
Debating Society, 133; "De-
vil's Darning Needle," 143;
Duel with Bully Egan, 137;
Dumbfounded, 138; Emmet's
fate, 129; Fire and smoke,
145; First fee, 131; Gravity,
conceited, 144; King of Clubs,
133; Law Library, 133; Mas-
ter of the Rolls, 144; Personal
Anecdotes, 141, 142, 143, 145;
Phillips's, Charles, sketch by,
140; Quarrel with Fitzgibbon,
135; Red Tape, service of,
"DOCTOR, THE:"
Almanacks, 316; Amatory
poetry, 315; Ancestry, pride
of, 307; Appeal to the reader,
315; Approbation, courting,
322; Banter, friendly, 309;
Books, order in, 314; Bottled
ale, origin of, 320; Bunyan's
escapes, 315; Canning's wit,
323; Changes in life, 321;
Church, too late at, 319; Cot-
tle, Southey, and Coleridge,
323; English yeomanry, 298;
Father and son, 322; Friday,
unlucky, 301, 306; Home life,
the, 315; Immense trifling,
321; Legislation, iniquitous,
314; London in the last cen-
tury, 313; Love at church,
321; Love at Watering-places,
315; Pockets, utility of, 307;
Preaching to the poor, profit
and loss, 321; Respect, literal,
321; Robbery, nice, 317; Rul-
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