already been made?  Otherwise it is hardly creditable that she, one of Davenant’s actresses, had been previously attached to Killigrew’s company, and had in such wise chanced to play Desdemona in Vere Street.  There is no evidence of this whatever, nor can it be discovered that she appeared as Desdemona at any period of her career.  The Vere Street Desdemona, we repeat, must be looked for in Killigrew’s company, which commenced operations more than half a year before the rival theatre.  It is true that some time before the opening of this theatre Davenant had been the responsible manager in regard to certain performances at the Blackfriars Theatre and elsewhere; but there is no reason to suppose that actresses took part in these entertainments; it is known, indeed, that the feminine characters in the plays exhibited were sustained by the young actors of the company—­Kynaston, James Nokes, Angel, and William Betterton.  Altogether, Mrs. Betterton’s title to honour as the first English actress seems defective; and as much may be said of the pretensions of another actress, Mrs. Norris, although she has met with support from Tom Davies in his “Dramatic Miscellanies,” and from Curl in his “History of the Stage,” a very unworthy production.  Mrs. Norris was an actress of small note attached to Davenant’s company; she was the mother of Henry Norris, a popular comedian, surnamed “Jubilee Dicky,” from his performance of the part of Dicky in Farquhar’s “Constant Couple.”  Chetwood correctly describes her as “ONE of the first women that came on the stage as an actress.”  To her, as to Mrs. Betterton, the objection applies that she was a member of Davenant’s company—­not of Killigrew’s—­and therefore could not have appeared in Vere Street.  Moreover, she never attained such a position in her profession as would have entitled her to assume a part of the importance of Desdemona.

On the whole, the case of Mrs. Hughes seems to have the support of more probabilities than any other.  But even if it is to be accepted as a fact that she was in truth the first actress, there the matter remains.  Very little is known of the lady.  She lived in a world which kept scarcely any count of its proceedings—­which left no record behind to be used as evidence, either for or against it.  She was in her time the subject of talk enough, very likely; was admired for her beauty, possibly for her talents too; but hardly a written scrap concerning her has come down to us.  The ordinary historian of the time, impressed with a sense of the dignity of his task, did not concern himself with the players, and rated as insignificant and unworthy of his notice such matters as the pursuits, pastimes, tastes, manners, and customs of the people.  We know more of the manner of life in Charles II.’s time from the diarist Pepys than from all the writers of history put together.  Unfortunately, concerning Mrs. Hughes, even Pepys is silent.  It is known that in addition to the character of Desdemona, which