Speed the Plough

Speed the Plough, by Thomas
Morton

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Title: Speed the Plough A Comedy, In Five Acts; As Performed At The
Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
Author: Thomas Morton
Release Date: September 29, 2006 [EBook #19407]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE PLOUGH ***

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[Illustration: SPEED THE PLOUGH
ASHFIELD--DICKENS AND DAISES! WHAT A GENTLEMAN

YOU WOU'D BE TO SHEW AT A FAIR!
ACT I SCENE II
PAINTED BY SINGLETON PUBLISH'D BY LONGMAN & CO.
ENGRAVED BY FITTLER
1806]

SPEED THE PLOUGH; A COMEDY, IN FIVE ACTS;
AS PERFORMED AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT
GARDEN.
BY THOMAS MORTON, ESQ.
PRINTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE MANAGERS
FROM THE PROMPT BOOK.
WITH REMARKS BY MRS. INCHBALD.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
SAVAGE AND EASINGWOOD, PRINTERS, LONDON.

REMARKS.
This comedy excites that sensation, which is the best security for the
success of a drama--curiosity. After the two first acts are over, and
pleasantly over, with the excellent drawn characters of Ashfield and his
wife, and the very just satire which arises from Sir Abel's propensity to
modern improvements--the acts that follow excite deep interest and
ardent expectation; both of which are so highly gratified at the

conclusion of the play, that, from the first night of its performance, it
has ranked among the best of the author's productions, and in the first
class of modern comedies.
The various characters of this play are admirably designed, but not so
happily finished as the author meant them to be--witness, Bob Handy,
who begins a self-conceited coxcomb, and ends a tragedy confidant.
But the good intentions of an author are acceptable: execution will not
always follow conception; and the last may often give as much
instruction, though not equal delight with the former: as an instance,
who does not see the folly of attempting to do every thing in Handy,
though he is more the shadow, than the substance of a character.
Notwithstanding there are some parts, not so good as others, in this
comedy, there is no one character superior to the rest, nor any one in
particular, which makes a forcible impression on the memory:--this
proves, (in consequence of the acknowledged merit of the play) the
fable to be a good one, and that a pleasing combination has been
studied and effected by the author, with infinite skill, however
incompetent to his own brilliant imagination.
The plot, and serious characters of this comedy, are said to be taken
from a play of Kotzebue's, called, "The Duke of Burgundy,"--if they
are, Mr. Morton's ingenuity of adapting them to our stage has been
equal to the merit he would have had in conceiving them; for that very
play called, "The Duke of Burgundy," by some verbal translator,--was
condemned or withdrawn at Covent Garden Theatre, not very long
before "Speed the Plough" was received with the highest marks of
admiration.
The characters of Sir Philip Blandford, his brother, and his nephew,
may have been imported from Germany, but surely, all the other
personages of the drama are of pure English growth.
The reception of this play, when first performed, and the high station it
still holds in the public opinion, should make criticism cautious of
attack--but as works of genuine art alone are held worthy of

investigation, and as all examinations tend to produce a degree of
censure, as well as of praise, "Speed the Plough" is not exempt from the
general lot of every favourite production.
An auditor will be much better pleased with this play, than a reader; for
though it is well written, and interspersed with many poetical passages,
an attentive peruser will find inconsistencies in the arrangement of the
plot and incidents, which an audience, absorbed in expectation of final
events, and hurried away by the charm of scenic interest, cannot easily
detect.
The most prominent of these blemishes are:--Miss Blandford falls in
love with a plough-boy at first-sight, which she certainly would not
have done, but that some preternatural agent whispered to her, he was a
young man of birth. But whether this magical information came from
the palpitation of her heart, or the quickness of her eye, she has not
said.--A reader will, however, gladly impute the cause of her sudden
passion to magic, rather than to the want of female refinement.
The daughter has not less decorum in love, than the father