RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE STAGE. XI
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hough tragedy and comedy began now to lift uptheir heads, yet they were very imperfect in the dra-matic art, wnich appears from an excellent criticism,by Sir Philip Sidney, on the writers of that time. Yetthey seem to have had a disposition to do better, hadthey known how, as appears by the several efforts theyused to lick the lump into a shape : for some of theirpieces they adorned with dumb shews, some with cho-ruses, and some they introduced and explained by aninterlocutor. Yet, imperfect as they were, 'we madea far better progress at this time than our neighboursthe French : the Italians indeed, by early translationsof the old dramatic writers, had arrived to greater per-,fection ; but we were at least upon a footing with theother nations of Europe. But now, as it were all at once, (as it happened inFrance, though in a much later period,) the true dramareceivld birth and perfection from the creative geniusof Shakspeare, Fletcher, and Jonson, whose severalcharacters are so well known, that it would be super-fluous to say any more of them. ' Having thus traced the dramatic muse through allher characters and transformations, till she had ac-quired a reasonable figure, let us now return, and takea more particular view of the stage and the actors.The first company of players we have any account of,is from a patent granted, in 1574 , to James Burbage,and others, servants to the earl of Leicester. In 1578 ,the children of Paul’s appear to have been performersof dramatic entertainments. About twelve years after-wards the parish clerks of London are said to haveacted the mysteries at Skinner’s Well. Which ofthese two companies may have been the earliest, isnot certain ; but as the children of Paul’s are first men-iioned, we must in justice give the priority to them.It is certain, the mysteries and moralities were actedby these two societies many years before any other re-gular companies appeared ; and the children of Paul’scontinued to act long after tragedies and comediescame in vogue. It is believed, the next company Xll RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE STAGE,regularly established was, the children of the RoyalChapel, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s reign ;the direction of which was given to Mr. Richard Ed-wards before-mentioned: and some few years after-wards, as the subject of the stage became more ludi-crous, a company was formed under the denomina-tion of The Children of the Revels. The children ofthe chapel and of the revels became very famous;and all Lillie’s plays, and many of Jonson’s, andothers, were first acted by them. Nay, so great wastheir vogue and estimation, that the common players,as may be gathered from a scene in Hamlet, grew jea-lous of them. However, they served as an excellentnursery for the theatres; many, who afterwards be-came approved actors, being educated among them. It is surprising to consider what a number of play-houses were supported in London about this time.From the year 1570, to the year lO'-'f), when the play-house in White Friars was finished, no less than seven-teen had been built. The names of most of them maybe collected from the title-pages of old plays. Andas the theatres were so numerous, the companies ofplayers were in proportion. Besides the children ofthe chapel, and of the revels, we are told that QueenElizabeth, at the request of Sir Francis Walsingham,established in handsome salaries twelve of the principalplayers of that time, who went under the name of hermajesty’s comedians and servants. But, exclusive ofthese, many noblemen retained companies of players,who acted not only privately in their lords’ houses,but publicly under their licence and protection.Agreeable to this is the account which Stow gives us — “ Players in former times,” says he, “ were retainers“ to noblemen;; and none had the privilege to act“ plays but such. So, in queen Elizabeth's time, “ many of the nobility had servants and retainers, " who were players, and went about getting their“ livelihood that way. The Lord Admiral had play-“ ers, so had Lord Strange, that played in the city of“ London. And it was usual, on any gentleman’s“ complaint of them for indecent reflections in their v
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