With all this in favour of the “Careless Husband,” it is a curious fact that the play, if presented in its original form, would not be tolerated by the audiences of to-day.[A] The dialogue is often coarse and suggestive, although for the most part full of sparkle and mother wit, while the plot smacks of intrigue, lying and adultery.  But it is a fine work for all that; there is a delightful flavour about it, as of old wine, and we feel in reading each successive scene that we are uncorking a rare literary bottle of the vintage 1704.  How much of the vintage of 1898 will stand, equally well, the uncorking process if applied in a century or two from now?  How many plays in vogue at present will be read with pleasure at that distant period?  Will they be the gruesome affairs of Ibsen, still tainted with their putrid air of unhealthy mentality, or the clever performances of Henry Arthur Jones; the dramas of Bronson Howard or the farcical skits of Mr. Hoyt?

[Footnote A:  Were the “Careless Husband” adapted to suit the exacting requirements of nineteenth century modesty, its brilliancy would be gone.]

The “Careless Husband” has not been acted these many, many years, yet to all who treasure the historical memories of the stage it should be recalled with interest, for it was in this gay comedy that the ravishing Nance shone forth in all the silvery light of her resplendent genius.  Read the pages of the old play in unsympathetic mood and they may look musty and worm-eaten, but imagine Oldfield as the sprightly Lady Betty Modish, the elegant Wilks as Sir Charles Easy, and Cibber[A] himself in the empty-headed role of Lord Foppington, and, presto! everything is changed.  The yellow leaves are white and fresh, the words stand out clear and distinct, and it takes but a slight flight of fancy to hear the dingy auditorium of Drury Lane echoing and re-echoing with laughter.  For ’twas at Drury Lane that the comedy first saw the light, in December 1704, and this was the cast: 

  LORD MORELOVE ....  Mr. Powell. 
  LORD FOPPINGTON ....  Mr. Cibber. 
  SIR CHARLES EASY ....  Mr. Wilks. 
  LADY BETTY MODISE ....  Mrs. Oldfield. 
  LADY EASY ....  Mrs. Knight. 
  LADY GRAVEAIRS ....  Mrs. Moore. 
  MRS. EDGING ....  Mrs. Lucas.

[Footnote A:  Wilks had a singular talent in representing the graces of nature; Cibber the deformity in the affectation of them.—­STEELE.]

How the performance came about let Cibber explain.  The “Apologist” has been speaking of Oldfield’s success in Leonora, and he goes on to say: 

“Upon this unexpected sally, then, of the power and disposition of so unforseen an actress, it was that I again took up the first two acts of the ‘Careless Husband,’ which I had written the summer before, and had thrown aside in despair of having justice done to the character of Lady Betty Modish by any one woman then among us; Mrs. Verbruggen being now in a very declining state of health, and Mrs. Bracegirdle out of my reach and engag’d in another company:  But, as I have said, Mrs. Oldfield having thrown out such new proffers of a genius, I was no longer at a loss for support; my doubts were dispell’d and I had now a new call to finish it.”