seem to be vested in the Chamberlain for the
time being. Colman's evidence, it may be noted, is of no present
worth. He was appointed as a consequence of the old Licensing Act,
repealed in 1843.

The first Licenser of Plays sworn in after the passing of the
Licensing Act of 1737 was William Chetwynd, with a salary of L400
a-year. But this deputy of the Chamberlain was in his turn allowed a
deputy, and one Thomas Odell was appointed assistant examiner, with a
salary of L200 a-year. Strange to say, it was this Odell who had first
opened a theatre in Goodman's Fields, which, upon the complaint of the
civic authorities, who believed the drama to be a source of danger to
the London apprentices of the period, he had been compelled forthwith
to close. He applied to George II, for a royal license, but met with a
peremptory refusal. In 1731 he sold his property to one Giffard, who
rebuilt the theatre, and, dispensing with official permission,
performed stage plays between the intervals of a concert, until
producing Garrick, and obtaining extraordinary success by that
measure, he roused the jealousy of the authorities, and was compelled
to forego his undertaking.

The Licenser's power of prohibition was exercised very shortly after
his appointment, in the case of two tragedies: "Gustavus Vasa," by
Henry Brooke, and "Edward and Eleonora," by James Thomson. Political
allusions of an offensive kind were supposed to lurk somewhere in
these works. "Gustavus Vasa" was especially forbidden "on account of
some strokes of liberty which breathed through several parts of it."
On the Irish stage, however, over which the Chamberlain had no power,
the play was performed as "The Patriot;" while, by the publication of
"Gustavus Vasa," Mr. Brooke obtained L1000 or so from a public curious
as to the improprieties it was alleged to contain, and anxious to
protest against the oppressive conduct of the Licenser. In 1805, with
the permission of the Chamberlain, the play was produced at Covent
Garden, in order that Master Betty, the Young Roscius, might personate
the hero. But the youthful actor failed in the part, and the tragedy,
being found rather dull, was represented but once. At this time Mr.
Brooke had been dead some years. In a preface to his play he had
vouched for its purity, and denounced the conduct of the Licenser, as
opposed to the intention of the Legislature, Dr. Johnson assisting his
cause by the publication of an ironical pamphlet--