CIBBER, CoLLEy, an eminent actor and dramatic writer, was born in London on the 6th of November, 1671, O. S. Ilis father, Gabriel Cibber, who was a sta tuary by profession, came from Holstein to England a little before the restoration, and immortalised himself by the two famous images of raying and melancholy Mad ness, placed on the piers of the great gate of Bethlehem hospital, and by the basso relievo upon the pedestal or the Monument.
Young Cibber was sent to the free school of Gran tham in Lincolnshire at the age of 11, and, after remain ing there seven years, he stood a candidate for admission into Westminster college. Being disappointed in these views, lie was anxious to be sent to one of the English universities, to be educated for the church ; but his fa ther having taken an active part under the Earl of De vonshire in the cause of the Prince of Orange, young CHART icpaired to the same standard, and continued for some time to practise the duties of a soldier.
As soon as he received his discharge, he became re markably fond of theatrical exhibitions, and, in the year 1689, he came upon the stage for a weekly salary of ten shillings. Neither his person nor his voice seemed well fitted for any great dramatic effort, and he was accord ingly employed for a considerable time in the lowest characters. When Queen Mary, however, ordered Con greve's Double Dealer to be acted, Mr Kynastown, who originally played the part of Lord Touchwood, was taken suddenly ill, and, upon the recommendation of Congreve, Cibber undertook the character at a very short notice. The ability with which Cibber performed his part, gain ed him the particular applause of Congreve, who recom mended him to an increase of salary from 15s. to 20s. per week. About this time, his father settled upon him an annuity of 20/. a year ; and in 1693 he married a Miss Shore, of whose beauty and accomplishments he had been very suddenly enamoured.
On the opening of Drury-lane theatre in 1695, he wrote an original prologue, which was admitted as the hest that had been offered ; but so low was his reputation as an actor, that it was accepted solely on the condition, that he should relinquish any claim to recite it himself.
Cibber gained great fame Ly his performance of Fon dlewifc, in the Old Bachelor, where he imitated Dogget, the original performer of the part, in the happiest and closest manner ; and his name was raised still higher by his first dramatic production, called Love's Last Shift, or the Fool of Fashion, which appeared in 1696, and which Lord Dorset, who was then lord chamberlain, pronounced to be the best play he had ever read. From this time Cibber rose with rapidity in the public estimation. His Woman's which appeared in 1697, was however ill received. His Xerxes, ‘vhich was brought out in 1699, was acted only one night ; and his Careless Husband, which appeared in 1704, though by no means a perfect play, has been much admired, and is reckoned his princi pal comedy.
In 1711, Cibber became joint manager and patentee of Drury-lane Theatre, along with Collier, Wilkes, and Dogget ; and, in 1717, he brought. forward his comedy
of the Xunjurors, which, being levelled against the jaco bite party, was acted for eighteen successive nights, and obtained for him from the king 200/. and the office of poet-laurct. In 1740, he published An Apology for the Lift of Mr Colley Obber, Comedian, with an Historical View of the Stage during his own time : a very lively and entertaining. work.• In 1745, when he was in his saven ty-fifth year, he acted with great spirit t'.e t,haracter of Pandulph, the pope's legate, in the. new tragedy written by himself, and entitled Papal Tyranny in the Reign of King John. The last of Libber's literary labours, was a work entitled Remarks on Middletoh's Life of Cicero, which was published in 1747, and which added nothing to his fame. Worn out with years, Cibber died sudden ly on the 12th December, 1757, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. His man-servant had talked with him at 6 o'clock in the morning, when he apparently enjoyed his usual health ; but, at 9 o'clock, he found he had ex pired, in the same position in which he had left him. Cib ber left behind him a son and a daughter, both of whom disgraced the memory of their father.
In his dramatic character, Cibber has drawn a very faithful picture of himself, which we shall in his own words: " I was vain enough to think," says he, 4, that I had more ways than one to come at applause, and that, in the variety of characters I acted, the chances to win it were the strongest on my side. That if the multitude were not in a roar to see me in Cardinal \Vol sey, I would be sure of them in Alderman Fondlewife. If they hated me in logo, in Sir Fopling they took me for a fine gentleman. If they were silent in Syphax, 110 Italian eunuch was more applauded than I when I sung in Sir Courtly. If the morals of sop were too grave for them, Justice Shallow was as simple and as merry an old rake as the wisest of our young ones could wish me ; and, though the terror and detestation raised by King Richard might be too severe a delight for them, yet the more gentle and modern vanities of a Poet Bayes, or the well bred vices of a Lord Fopling, were not at all more than their merry hearts or nicer morals could bear." Besides his two Letters to Pope, his Apology for his own Life, and his Remarks on Middleton's Life of Cice ro, Cibber wrote the following dramatic pieces: 1. Love's last Shift, 1697 ; 2. /roman's Wit, 1697 ; 3. Xerxes, 1699 ; 4. Love makes a Man, 1700 ; 5. King Richard the Third, 1700 ; 6. She would, and she would not, 1703 ; 7. Careless Husband, 1704 ; 8. Perolla and Izidora, 1706 ; 9. Schoolboy, 1707 ; 10. Comical Lovers, 1707 ; 11. Double Gallant, 1707 ; 12. Lady's last Stake, 1703 ; 13. Rival Fools, 1709 ; 14. Venus and Adonis, 1715; 15. Myrtillo, 1715; 16. Xonjuror, 1718; 17. Xi mena, 1719 ; 18. Rrlit•al, 1720 ; 19. Hob, or the Country IVake, 1720; 20. Cesar in Egypt, 1725 ; 21. Provoked Husband, 1727 ; 22. Rival Queens, 1729 ; 23. Love in a Riddle, 1729 ; 24. Damon and Philhda, 1729 ; 25. Papal Tyranny in the Reign of King John, 1745. (j)