Turk and no Turk_ (1785), a
musical comedy; _Inkle and Yarico_ (1787), an opera; _Ways and Means_
(1788); _The Iron Chest_ (1796), taken from William Godwin's _Adventures
of Caleb Williams_; _The Poor Gentleman_ (1802); _John Bull, or an
Englishman's Fireside_ (1803), his most successful piece; _The Heir at
Law_ (1808), which enriched the stage with one immortal character, "Dr
Pangloss," and numerous other pieces, many of them adapted from the
French.

The failing health of the elder Colman obliged him to relinquish the
management of the Haymarket theatre in 1789, when the younger George
succeeded him, at a yearly salary of L600. On the death of the father
the patent was continued to the son; but difficulties arose in his way,
he was involved in litigation with Thomas Harris, and was unable to pay
the expenses of the performances at the Haymarket. He was forced to take
sanctuary within the Rules of the King's Bench. Here he resided for many
years continuing to direct the affairs of his theatre. Released at last
through the kindness of George IV., who had appointed him exon of the
Yeomen of the Guard, a dignity disposed of by Colman to the highest
bidder, he was made examiner of plays by the duke of Montrose, then lord
chamberlain. This office, to the disgust of all contemporary dramatists,
to whose MSS. he was as illiberal as he was severe, he held till his
death. Although his own productions were open to charges of indecency
and profanity, he was so severe a censor of others that he would not
pass even such words as "heaven," "providence" or "angel." His comedies
are a curious mixture of genuine comic force and sentimentality. A
collection of them was published (1827) in Paris, with a life of the
author, by J. W. Lake.

Colman, whose witty conversation made him a favourite, was also the
author of a great deal of so-called humorous poetry (mostly coarse,
though much of it was popular)--_My Night Gown and Slippers_ (1797),
reprinted under the name of _Broad Grins_, in 1802; and _Poetical
Vagaries_ (1812). Some of his writings were published under the assumed
name of Arthur Griffinhood of Turnham Green. He died in Brompton,
London, on the 17th of October 1836. He had, as early as 1784,
contracted a runaway marriage with an actress, Clara Morris, to whose
brother David Morris, he eventually disposed of his share in the
Haymarket theatre. Many of the leading parts in his plays were written
especially for Mrs Gibbs (_nee_