Remarks on Barbarossa, Elizabeth Inchbald

introduction / essay / literary criticism / book part /
Orig. pub.

Elizabeth InchbaldREMARKS [on Barbarossa].¹
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It is a painful task to record the calamities which befall the human race. The wants, the difficulties, the vicissitudes of pain and sorrow, in an author's life are proverbial: but the unhappy author of this Tragedy, in the fate to which he was destined, renders the ills of all other poets comparatively small—he became a suicide.²

Dr. John Brown was born at Rothbury, in the county of Northumberland, in 1715. His father was a native of Scotland, and Curate of Rothbury; and afterwards collated to a vicarage in Cumberland.³ Here his son received his earliest education, and was then sent to St. John's College, Cambridge.⁴

Mr. Brown gained high reputation in the University, and made choice of divinity for his profession. His first preferment was to a minor canonry and lectureship at Carlisle, where he remained in obscurity till the rebellion in the year 1745, when he united the valour of the soldier to the piety of the ecclesiastic, and entering the army a volunteer, acted with distinguished bravery at the siege of Carlisle Castle. He was now presented to the living of Moreland, in Westmoreland.⁵

On the death of Pope, Mr. Brown first appeared as an author, by publishing his Essay on Satire, ad-b 2[Page 4]dressed to Dr. Warburton, by whose interest Lord Hardwicke bestowed on him the living of Great Horkesley, in Essex.⁶ He now took his degree of Doctor.

In 1755 this Tragedy was produced, and with success. The year following a second tragedy, called "Athelstan," appeared, by the same author; but with a less kind reception.⁷

Dr. Brown now published his most celebrated work, "An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times:" and the next year was presented to a vicarage in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.⁸ He was also appointed one of the Chaplains in Ordinary to the King.⁹ Here his clerical preferments rested; which is supposed to have wounded his ambitious mind.

Some coolness having taken place between Dr. Brown and the two great patrons upon whom all his hopes of advancement in the church depended, (Hardwicke and Warburton,) the Doctor accepted an invitation from the Empress of Russia, to superintend a grand design she had formed of extending civilization throughout her vast empire. He prepared for his journey—but, perchance, some lingering affection to his native land—some irresistible horror at the prospect before him, might depress or agitate his spirits to that insanity, which instigated him to prefer an ignominious death, to a life of misery.¹⁰

It is well for the literary reputation of this Author, that he produced other works besides dramas. The Tragedy of Barbarossa does not confer much honour upon a man of his extensive learning and imputed [Page 5]abilities. He has evidently borrowed from various dramatic productions his fable, and also the best of his characters, at least their corporeal parts; for the spirit of those personages is left behind.¹¹

Garrick, in Achmet, and Mossop, in the tyrant, are supposed to have contributed to the success of this play, by their skill In acting, as much as the Author did himself, by his art of writing.¹² It appears, that Garrick had more anxiety than usual upon such occasions, that "Barbarossa" should be a favourite with the town; for he wrote both the Prologue and Epilogue, and even delivered the first himself. His civility was not, however, repaid by the Author's gratitude; for, having made an allusion in his Epilogue to the old jest, an author's poverty and hunger, Dr. Brown thought such misfortunes degrading to a clergyman; and chose to be considered in the quality of a modern, rather than a primitive minister of the gospel.¹³

This is the drama, in which Master Betty made his first appearance on a London stage.¹⁴ Curiosity to see him, was equalled by admiration on beholding him. His beauty and grace were like that of a seraph.

Of his genuine talents as an actor, no greater number of persons can perhaps judge, than can estimate the true value of a painting—and they are few indeed.

To argue the question upon matter of fact, rather than on the disputed claims of correct taste, which every party conceive they possess—these are the facts: A great majority of the audience thought young Betty a complete tragedian—yet he failed in that power over b 3[Page 6]their hearts, which ought to have ended the argument in demonstration.

Bursts of laughter were excited from the audience in divers parts of this Tragedy on his first appearance, which could not have occurred from any adventitious burlesque or ludicrous event whatever, had the minds of the auditors been once inwrapt, and not left vacant, for the quick reception of every trait of ridicule.¹⁵

Notes

1. "Remarks." Barbarossa; A Tragedy, In Five Acts; By Dr. Brown. As Performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. Printed Under the Authority of the Managers From the Prompt Book. With Remarks by Mrs. Inchbald. London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster Row, pp. 3-6. The British Theatre; or, A Collection of Plays, Which Are Acted At the Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and Haymarket. Printed Under the Authority of the Managers from the Prompt Books. With Biographical and Critical Remarks, by Mrs. Inchbald. In Twenty-Five Volumes. Vol. XV. Barbarossa. Way to Keep Him. All in the Wrong. Grecian Daughter. Know Your Own Mind. London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster Row. 1808. The first performance of this play was staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on December 23rd, 1755. Laura DeWitt and Mary A. Waters edited this essay for The Criticism Archive. Back

2. Brown cut his own throat on September 23rd, 1766. Although the reason for Brown's suicide has been debated, it is generally acknowledged that he suffered regular fits of melancholy through much of his life. Back

3. Brown was born in the market town and civil parish of Rothbury in northeast England in 1715. Brown's father, Reverend John Brown, was a Scottish Anglican parson. Reverend John Brown was offered the position of vicar and moved his family to the market town Wigton in the county Cumberland in northwest England shortly after Brown's birth. Back

4. Brown received his early education at the Wigton Grammar School before being admitted to St. John's College at Cambridge in 1732. Brown received his B.A. in 1735, his M.A. in 1739, and his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1755. Back

5. In 1737, Brown was appointed minor canon and lecturer at the Cathedral Church of Carlisle, a cathedral city in northwest England. In the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, rebels laid siege to Carlisle, and Brown volunteered himself as a soldier in Carlisle's defense. Brown was one of two clergymen who volunteered to ascend the cathedral each day to track the movements of the rebel forces. Inchbald appears mistaken about his next appointment—he seems never to have held a position in Westmoreland, but following the Jacobite Rebellion, he was appointed as chaplain to the new bishop of Carlisle in 1747. Back

6. In 1745, Brown published An Essay on Satire Occasion'd by the Death of Mr Pope, which gained him the friendship of William Warburton, who Brown flatters in the essay. Through Warburton, Brown gained the acquaintance of Philip Yorke, the Earl of Hardwicke, who presented Brown with the living of Great Horkesley in east England. Back

7. Barbarossa was extremely successful, initially running for fifteen performances. Brown's next play, Athelstan, was first staged in 1756 and was only performed nine times that whole year. Back

8. Brown published his most famous work, An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times, in two volumes between 1757 and 1758. This bitter satire critiqued the "effeminacy" of the British nation and aesthetic. In 1760, Brown was made vicar of St. Nicholas Church in Newcastle upon Tyne in northeast England. Back

9. Toward the end of his life, Brown served as a Chaplain in Ordinary—a member of the royal family's clergy who served the monarch on a monthly rotation— to King George III. Back

10. In 1765, Brown was consulted by one of Catherine the Great's advisors regarding the scheme of education she wished to implement throughout her lands. The following year, Brown was invited to St. Petersburg and offered £1,000 to cover his expenses, which he accepted. In August of 1766, Brown had a change of heart and returned the money, refusing the appointment. By this point he had fallen out with Warburton and Yorke and became increasingly depressed and unstable. It was a month later that Brown killed himself. Back

11. In his The Companion to the Play-House (1764), David Erskine Baker claims that the design of the play was borrowed from Voltaire's Merope (1743), while some of the character archetypes were borrowed from William Congreve's The Mourning Bride (1697). Back

12. In the original cast, David Garrick assumed the role of Achmet, the disguised benevolent young Selim who comes to Algiers following Barbarossa's murder of his father, the sultan Selim. Henry Mossop was the first actor to assume the role of Barbarossa. Back

13. It is thought that Garrick accepted the play for production at Drury Lane in hopes that it would serve as a much-needed revenue bolster. As such, he was highly motivated for the play to be a commercial success, hence his contributions of the prologue and epilogue. Two lines from the epilogue read: "save the Fellow's Play— / Let the poor Devil eat,—allow him that," referring to the author. Back

14. William Betty assumed the role of Achmet at Covent Garden on December 1st, 1804, at the age of thirteen; this was his debut on a London stage. Chaos broke out and people were trampled as the theatre was flooded with eager fans of the child sensation. It is likely the theatre would have been overrun had constables not been present. Back

15. It is unclear where Inchbald drew the notion of the audience laughing at Betty's performance, as scholarship generally agrees that his performance as Achmet was incredibly well-received. Back