volence to his fame? But not to give more weight
to this imaginary circumstance than it may bear, the fact was, that on
our first day of acting it, our house was in a manner invested, and
entrance demanded by twelve a clock at noon, and before one it was not
wide enough for many who came too late for places. The same crowds
continued for three days together (an uncommon curiosity in that
place) and the death of Cato triumphed over the injuries of Caesar
everywhere. To conclude, our reception at Oxford, whatever our merit
might be, exceeded our expectation."

The ladies and gentlemen of Drury Lane posted away from Oxford in a
blaze of glory. They had actually behaved themselves, these despised
mummers, and their contribution towards the repairing of a church was
almost sufficient to bring them within the pale of holiness. "At our
taking leave," writes Colley, jubilantly, "we had the thanks of the
vice-Chancellor for the decency and order observ'd by our whole
society, an honour which had not always been paid upon the same
occasions; for at the act in King William's time I remember some
pranks of a different nature had been complain'd of. Our receipts had
not only enabled us (as I have observ'd) to double the pay of every
actor, but to afford out of them towards the repair of St. Mary's
Church the contribution of fifty pounds. Besides which, each of the
three managers had to his respective share, clear of all charges, one
hundred and fifty more for his one and twenty days' labour, which
being added to his thirteen hundred and fifty shared in the winter
preceding, amounted in the whole to fifteen hundred, the greatest sum
ever known to have been shared in one year to that time. And to the
honour of our auditors here and elsewhere be it spoken, all this was
rais'd without the aid of those barbarous entertainments with which,
some few years after (upon the re-establishment of two contending
companies) we were forc'd to disgrace the stage to support it"

The success of "Cato" proved as brilliant in a literary as in a
dramatic sense. The play was translated into several languages, not
forgetting the Latin, and even Voltaire was pleased, in after years,
to come down from his critical throne and honour Mr. Addison's verses
with his praise.[A] "The first English writer," he said, "who composed
a regular tragedy and infused a spirit of elegance through every part
of it was the illustrious Mr. Addison." Poor Shakespeare!

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