at of his
author."

If some players of to-day will take a lesson by this description, the
judicious Booth need not have lived in vain. His soul, like that of
the late lamented John Brown, will go marching on.

CHAPTER XI

THE FADING OF A STAR

The life of Mistress Oldfield, like that of Barton Booth, was cast in
pleasant places. Yet the lady had her little agitations, and found
them, no doubt, rather an incentive to existence than otherwise. Take,
for instance, the excitement surrounding the production, during the
Drury Lane season of 1711-12, of Mrs. Centlivre's play, "The Perplexed
Lovers." To the lovely Nance was entrusted the duty of speaking the
epilogue thereto, wherein Prince Eugene (at that time on a visit to
England) and the Duke of Marlborough were lauded in the true spirit of
ancient flunkeyism. But the animosity which politics doth breed ran
high, and the first night of the performance went by without the
introduction of the eulogy. Some patriots objected to the sentiments
which it contained, and the managers were cautious. As for Oldfield,
she might have been cautious, too, and with reason, for she had
received letters threatening her with dire pains and penalties if she
spoke the offending words, but Anne stood ready to deliver them at
whatsoever time the patentees might name. So when the second night of
"The Perplexed Lovers" arrived, and a special licence from the Lord
Chamberlain had been secured, the actress came valiantly forward and
spoke the epilogue with success. Perhaps Eugene of Savoy thanked Mrs.
Oldfield--let us hope that he did--and it is at least certain that
after the withdrawal of the play his Highness sent Mrs. Centlivre an
elaborate gold snuff-box.[A]

[Footnote A: Speaking of the beau's outfit in the reign of Queen Anne,
Ashton says: "His snuff-box, too, was an object of his solicitude,
though, as the habit of taking snuff had but just come into vogue,
there were no collections of them, and no beau had ever dreamed of
criticizing a box, as did Lord Petersham, as, 'a nice Summer box.' ...
Those of the middle classes were chiefly of silver, or tortoise-shell,
or mother-of-pearl; sometimes of 'aggat' or with a 'Moco Stone' in
the lid. A beau would sometimes either have a looking-glass, or the
portrait of a lady inside the lid."]

And who was the gratified Centlivre? A masculine looking female with
a talent for play-writing, a tendency to appear in men's parts, and
last, but