ramatic as
in another field of English literature) is memorable as connecting
together two distinct periods in it, ventured on a bolder step in the
production of a quasi-dramatic entertainment "of declamation and music";
and in the following year he brought out with scenery and music a piece
which was afterwards in an enlarged form acted and printed as the first
part of his opera, _The Siege of Rhodes_. This entertainment he
afterwards removed from the private house where it had been produced to
the Cockpit, where he soon ventured upon the performance of regular
plays written by himself. Thus, under the cover of two sister arts,
whose aid was in the sequel to prove by no means altogether beneficial
to its progress, the English drama had boldly anticipated the
Restoration, and was no longer hiding its head when that much-desired
event was actually brought about. Soon after Charles II.'s entry into
London, two theatrical companies are known to have been acting in the
capital. For these companies patents were soon granted, under the names
of "the Duke (of York)'s" and "the King's Servants," to Davenant and one
of the brothers Killigrew respectively--the former from 1662 acting at
Lincoln's Inn Fields, then at Dorset Garden in Salisbury Court, the
latter from 1663 at the Theatre Royal near Drury Lane. These companies
were united from 1682, a royal licence being granted in 1695 to a rival
company which performed in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and which migrated to
Covent Garden in 1733. Meanwhile, Vanbrugh had in 1705 built the theatre
in the Haymarket; and a theatre in Goodman's Fields--afterwards rendered
famous by the first appearance of Garrick--led a fitful existence from
1729 to 1733. The act of 1737 deprived the crown of the power of
licensing any more theatres; so that the history of the English stage
for a long period was confined to a restricted area. The rule which
prevailed after the Restoration, that neither of the rival companies
should ever attempt a play produced by the other, operated beneficially
both upon the activity of dramatic authorship and upon the progress of
the art of acting, which was not exposed to the full effects of that
deplorable spirit of personal rivalry which too often leads even most
intelligent actors to attempt parts for which they have no special
qualification. There can be little doubt that the actor's art has rarely
flourished more in England than in the days of T. Betterton and his
contemp