1792. "Dido; A Tragedy*: as it was performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, with universal Applause. By Joseph Reed+, Author of the Register Office, Tom Jones," &c. &c. has since published "The Landscape, a Didactic Poem, in Three Books, addressed to Uvedale Price, Esq. 1794," 4to; "The Progress of Civil Society, 1796," 4to; and " An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste; an Answer to Mr. Burke, 1805," 8vo.; which sold so rapidly that a Third Edition was printed in 1806. It had been first per * 'The fate of this Tragedy is singular. formed, for the benefit of Mr. Holland, March 28, 1767, and twice afterwards; when it was each time received with applause, Mrs. Yates performing Dido, and Mr. Powell Æneas. It was intended to have been revived in the ensuing season; but, the Author and Manager disagreeing in some particulars, the copy was withdrawn.-It happened that I was in Bolt Court on the day when Mr. Henderson, the justly celebrated Actor, was first introduced to Dr. Johnson; and the conversation turning on Dramatic subjects, Henderson asked the Doctor's opinion of Dido and its Author." Sir," said Johnson, "I never did the man an injury; yet he would read his Tragedy to me." This ill-fated Play continued in MS. till 1792, when it passed through the press, under the superintendance of Mr. Joseph Ritson, with the names of T. and J. Egerton in the Title-page. -Mr. John Palmer revived the Tragedy, for his benefit, at Drury Lane, in the year 1797, under the title of The Queen of Carthage; the part of Dido being performed by Mrs. Siddons. In this state the Play remained, till January 14, 1808; when it was completed, by prefixing a short Advertisement [see the next Note], and adding some pages of "Variations from the Author's original MS. selected in 1792 by Mr. Ritson ;" who stated "that the Alterations were made by a Gentleman of the first eminence in the Literary World, to whom the Manuscript was submitted after the Author's death." The publication of the Tragedy was now formally announced to the Publick through the medium of Messrs. Longman and Co.; and some copies were actually sent to the warehouse of those respectable Booksellers, not many days before nearly the whole impression was consumed, by fire; after which the impressions thus accidentally preserved were all purchased by a Friend of the deceased Author. The following is a copy of an Advertisement written by Mr. Ritson in 1792: "Mr. Joseph Reed was the second son of John Reed, of Stockton, in the Bishoprick of Durham, rope-maker; and was born at that place in the month of March 1723. He followed his father's profession at Stockton till some time in "Discourses chiefly on the Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion. By John Sturges, LL. D. Chancellor of the Diocese of Winchester," 8vo. 1757, when he removed to London, and settled in Sun-Tavern Fields, where he continued in business till the time of his death, which happened on the 15th of August, 1787. "He still the moral path-way tried, Reason, and not the Priest, his guide : Pursuing good, from ill abstaining." St. Peter's Lodge. In 1750, he married Sarah, daughter of Mr. John Watson, of Stockton, flax-dresser, who died many years before him; and by whom he left issue John-Watson Reed, late of Ely-place, Holborn, attorney at law, who died Jan. 31, 1790; Shakespeare, who succeeded him in his business; and Sarah, who married Gilbert Wilson, and died his widow a few days before her brother. J. RITSON." A long sedentary course of life, with little exercise, brought on a disorder, which terminated Mr. Reed's life at the age of 64. He was buried in Bunhill Fields burying-ground; and his property, which was considerable, he left to be divided between his three surviving children in equal proportions. Mr. Reed's charac ter deserves a few words, if uprightness and integrity have any claim to the remembrance of mankind. In a life passed with so little variety, few opportunities present themselves for the display of heroic virtues, the bons mots of life, as Dr. Johnson justly called them; yet one instance did occur, which we shall relate. At the time Mr. Reed resided at Stockton, and when he was in no very affluent circumstances, a person who had acquired about 20001. in the sea-service thought proper to leave him the whole of his property. Mr. Reed, immediately on the death of the Testator, sent for the next of kin; and very generously and disinterestedly relinquished the whole of the bequest to them. He was possessed of considerable genius, and, had he mixed more with the world, would have made a better figure as a Dramatic Writer. He had no small portion of humour, and, as far as his observation reached, he painted with accuracy. The merit of invention would with great injustice be denied him. As a man, his character was very amiable; he was hospitable and generous, kind and affectionate to his relations, frank and open to his friends, charitable and humane to all. It was the intention of Mr. Ritson, if Death had not prevented him, to have edited an octavo volume of "Miscellanies by Joseph Reed;" of which the following were to have been the Contents: 1. "Madrigal and Trulletta, a Mock Tragedy." 2." The Register Office, a Farce." 3. The same, the second Edition. 4. "Tom Jones, a Comic Opera." 5. "Dido, a Tragedy." 6. "The Retort Courteous; or, A candid Appeal to the Publick, on "An Account of the Seals of the Kings, Royal Burghs, and Magnates of Scotland. By Thomas on the Conduct of Thomas Linley, Esq. Manager of Drury Lane Theatre, to the Author of Dido. Containing original Letters and just Remarks on the Manager's arbitrary and indefensible Rejection of that Tragedy,' 8vo. 7. "An Epitaph on the Earl of Chatham." 8. "St. Peter's Lodge, a serio-comic legendary Tale." 9. "A Rope's End for Hempen Monopolists." Besides the above Articles, Mr. Joseph Reed was the Author of " A Poem, in imitation of the Scottish Dialect, on the Death of Mr. Pope," printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for August 1744. "The Superannuated Gallant, a Farce, Newcastle, 1745." 12mo. "A British Philippic; inscribed to the Right Honourable Earl Granville. London, 1756," 4to. "A Sop in the Pan for a Physical Critic: in a Letter to Dr. Smollett, occasioned by a Criticism (in the Critical Review) on Madrigal and Trulletta. London, 1759," 8vo. A humourous account of his own Life, printed in the Universal Museum for 1764. "The Tradesman's Companion; or Tables, of Avoirdupois Weight, &c. London, 1762," 12mo. "The Impostors; or, a Cure for Credulity; a Farce;" acted for the benefit of Mr. Woodward, March 19, 1776, with an excellent Prologue; not printed. Several Tragedies, Comedies, and Farces, never acted or printed; and a few unpublished Poems. Some numbers of "The Monitor," a political paper, published in the Administration of the Earl of Bute. Letters, under the signature "Benedick," in Defence of Mr. Garrick, on the publication of Kenrick's "Love in the Suds," printed originally in the Morning Chronicle, and afterward added to the fifth edition of that Poem. (See Mr. Stephen Jones's much improved Edition of the "Biographia Dramatica.") Mr. John-Watson Reed, the son of Joseph, was a respectable Attorney, and a man of considerable learning. He was the intimate friend of Mr. Baynes, Author of the Archæological Epistle (see vol. VIII. p. 133); and, not long before his death, had undertaken to publish a curious Volume, from a MS. called by Mr. Strype "The Record of Pontefract," the earliest instance of the regular expences of a private family presented to the publick, and of which he possessed a copy, under the title of " Liber Hospicii Domini Thome Comitis Lancastrie, inceptus per Dominum Henricum de Leicestre à Crastino Sancti Michaelis Anno x11° usque Festum ejusdem Sancti Anno XII10 Regis Edwardi Secundi." Of this Work 16 quarto pages were actually printed; but, from the illness and death of Mr. Reed, it never proceeded beyond the state of a proof-sheet, of which I have a copy; and a specimen of it, the accompt of one week, may be seen in the "Illustrations of the Mauners and Expences of antient Times in England," 1797, p. ix. - "To persons who are curious after the manners and customs of former times," says Mr. Strype, "it may not be Astle, Esq. F. R. S. and F. S. A. one of the Curators of the British Museum, and Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London." Folio. be disagreeable to give the following account of the grand manner in which the antient wealthy Nobility of England lived heretofore. It is the amount of the disbursements of that great Nobleman, Thomas Earl of Lancaster, in his domestic expences for one whole year, made out by Henry Leicester, his cofferer, 1313; at which time silver was at one shilling and eight pence the ounce; so that twelve ounces made a pound sterling. His total expence, therefore, in that year amounted (in our money) to two and twenty thousand and seventy-eight pounds, seventeen shillings, and eight pence; whence it is evident that he must have had a prodigious estate; especially when we consider the great disparity between the prices of provisions at that time and now : . Charge of the pantry, buttery, and kitchin...... 3405 To 6 barrels of sturgeon.. To 6800 stock-fishes, so called, and for dried fishes of all sorts, as lings, haberdines, &c. S. ས。 104 17 6 180 17 0 19 0 41 6 7 To 1714 pounds of wax, vermillion, and turpentine 314 7 4 To 2319 pounds of tallow-candles for the household, and 1870 of lights for Paris candles, called perchers 31 14 3 To charge of the Earl's great horses and servants' wages To linen for the Earl and his Chaplains, and for To 129 dozen of parchment, and ink 486 4 3/1/2 460 15 0 To 7 furs of variable miniver, or powdered ermine, 7 hoods of purple, 395 furs of budge, for the liveries of Barons, Knights, and Clerks; 123 furs of lamb, bought at Christmas, for the Esquires 147 17 8 To 65 saffron-coloured cloths for the Barons and Knights in summer; 12 red cloths for the Clerks; 26 ray-cloths for the Esquires; 1 for the Officers; and 4 ray-cloths for carpets in the hall........ 345 13 8 Το "A Sketch of the Rights of Boys and Girls. By Launcelot Light, of Westminster School; and Lætitia Lookabout, of Queen's Square, Bloomsbury. Part the First*." 8vo. To 100 pieces of green silk for the Knights; 14 To 24 silver dishes; 24 saucers; 24 cups; 1 pair To divers Messengers about the Earl's business. 72 19 0 51 6 8 2 0 0 241 14 1/2 8 6 8 623 15 5 92 14 0 8 16 7 103 5 6 34 19 8 5 0 0 To several old debts paid this year. 88 16 02 The expences of the Countess at Pickering, in the pantry, buttery, kitchen, &c. 285 13 4 154 7 4 In wine, wax, spices, cloths, furs, &c. for the Total, .7957 13 4 *This is a playful Essay by a first-rate Scholar, who is elsewhere noticed in this Volume; but whose name I shall not bring forward on so trifling an occasion; though the jeu d'esprit was well timed, and ably executed." Paine's Rights of Man, and Miss Woolstonecraft's Rights of Woman, are here assailed with the light weapons of ridicule: Launcelot Light manfully asserts the rights of Boykind, and Lætitia Lookabout those of Girlkind. The irony is for some time well sustained: but the Author, losing sight of the characters which he has undertaken to personate, makes the boy at Westminster School, and the girl at Queen Square, as learned as himself. Launcelot not only talks of having perused Plato, Aristotle, and Bellendenus, but of having collated MSS. and acquired some knowledge of Philosophy; yet he is made to say, that two hours a day, for three days in a week, are very adequate to study. Miss Lætitia, though not quite so erudite, talks of her datum and her in limine. The subject afforded scope for much excellent irony; and there are |
