Event Comment: [
Macklin dismissed after this night. See
the account in
The Genuine Arguments of the Council, with the Opinion of the Court of the King's Bench, &c., By a Citizen of
the World, (
London, 1774). Extracts in E. R.
Page, George Colman, the Elder (
New York, 1935). See notes for 23 and 30 Oct. and
the subsequent action in note for 20 Nov. He did not return until 18 May 1775. This night was aparently, except for #4 5s. which was not recorded on
the books of
the theatre until 18 June well after
the season closed. Macklin's suit in court against
the rioters was judged 24 Feb. 1775. A column and a half account of
the trial appeared in
the Public Advertiser, Saturday 13 May 1775, giving
the testimony of
the witnesses accused of starting
the riot,
the lawyers, and
the judge.
The accused were
Leigh,
Miles,
James,
Aldus, and
Clarke.
The first four were convicted of a conspiracy and a riot,
the last of a riot only. During
the Course of
the Business
Lord Mansfield took Occasion to observe, that
the Right of Hissing, and Applauding in a
theatre was an unalterable
Right, but
there was a wide Distinction between expressing
the natural Sensations of
the Mind as
they arose on what was seen and heard, and executing a pre-concerted Desagn, not only to hiss an Actor when he was playing a Part in which he was universally allowed to be excellent, but also to drive him from
the theatre, and effect his utter ruin." See also
William W. Appleton,
Charles Macklin, An Actors Life (
Cambridge, Mass., 1960), Chapter X.