r some months in the
country, he got her entered in the king's company of comedians the next
winter; and the public was obliged to him for the prettiest, but at the
same time, the worst actress in the kingdom.

[Though no name is given to this lady, there are circumstances
enough mentioned to fix on the celebrated Mrs. Barry, as the person
intended by the author. Mrs. Barry was introduced to the stage by
Lord Rochester, with whom she had an intrigue, the fruit of which
was a daughter, who lived to the age of thirteen years, and is often
mentioned in his collection of love-letters, printed in his works,
which were written to Mrs. Barry. On her first theatrical attempts,
so little hopes were entertained of her, that she was, as Cibber
declares, discharged the company at the end of the first year, among
others that were thought to be a useless expense to it. She was
well born; being daughter of Robert Barry, Esq., barrister at law; a
gentleman of an ancient family and good estate, who hurt his fortune
by his attachment to Charles I.; for whom he raised a regiment at
his own expense. Tony Aston, in his Supplement to Cibber's Apology,
says, she was woman to lady Shelton of Norfolk, who might have
belonged to the court. Curl, however, says, she was early taken
under the patronage of Lady Davenant. Both these accounts may be
true. The time of her appearance on the stage was probably not much
earlier that 1671; in which year she performed in Tom Essence, and
was, it may be conjectured, about the age of nineteen. Curl
mentions the great pains taken by Lord Rochester in instructing her;
which were repaid by the rapid progress she daily made in her
profession. She at last eclipsed all her competitors, and in the
part of Monimia established her reputation. From her performance in
this character, in that of Belvidera, and of Isabella, in the Fatal
Marriage, Downes says she acquired the name of the famous Mrs.
Barry, both at court and in the city. "Mrs. Barry," says Dryden, in
his Preface to Cleomenes, "always excellent, has in this tragedy
excelled herself, and gained a reputation beyond any woman I have
ever seen on the theatre." "In characters of greatness," says
Cibber, "Mrs. Barry had a presence of elevated dignity; her mien
and motion superb, and gracefully majestic; her voice full, clear,
and strong; so that no violence of passio