fication for the stage, came off like dirt from a
fine statue, taking away nothing from its symmetrical surface,
and leaving us only to wonder how the author himself should
have soiled it with such disfigurements. _Pierre_ is a miserable
conspirator, as Otway first painted him, impelled to treason by
his love of a courtesan and his jealousy of _Antonio_. But his
character, as it now comes forward, is a-mixture of patriotism and
excusable misanthropy. Even in the more modern prompt-books,
an improving curtailment has been introduced. Until the
middle of the last century, the ghosts of _Jaffier_ and _Pierre_ used
to come in upon the stage, haunting _Belvidera_ in her last agonies,
which, Heaven knows, require no aggravation from spectral
agency."

This tragedy is believed to have been originally acted about
the year 1682. "_Pierre and Jaffier_," says Jackson, in his
History of the Scottish Stage, "in the estimation of the theatrical
world, are equal in rank, and excel each other in representation
only, as the particular talents of the actor elevate or lessen, in
the idea of the spectator, the importance of whichever part he
assumes. I have seen Garrick and Barry alternately in both
parts, and the candid critic was doubtful where to bestow the
preference. Mr. Mossop, indeed, raised the character of _Pierre_
beyond all reach, and left any _Jaffier_ I ever saw with him at a
distance: out, had he attempted _Jqffier_, I am confident he would
with Barry in _Pierre_, have stood far behind."

Of this same Mossop in _Pierre_, Davies, the biographer of
Garrick, remarks:--

"His fine, full toned voice and strong expression of sentiment, gave
uncommon spirit to the warmth and passion of the character. In the
interview with the conspirators, in the third act, he threw a gallantry
into his action, as striking as it was unexpected. But he greatly
excelled in the vehement reproaches, which, in the fourth act, he poured,
with acrimony and force, on the treachery and cowardice of Jaffier.
The cadences of his voice were equally adapted to the loudest rage
and the most deep and solemn reflection, which he judiciously varied."
"Mr. Garrick," says Davies, "when fixed in the management of
Drury Lane, resigned _Pierre_, in which part his fire and spirit were not
equally supported by grandeur and dignity of person, for _Jaffier_, which
he acted with great and deserved approbation many years." The temporary
frenzy, with which _Jaffier_ is sei