but in the bloom of what they promis'd. Before she had acted this part
I had so cold an expectation from her abilities, that she could scarce
prevail with me to rehearse with her the scenes she was chiefly
concerned in with Sir Courtly, which I then acted. However, we
ran them over with a mutual inadvertency of one another. I seem'd
careless, as concluding that any assistance I could give her would be
to little or no purpose; and she mutter'd out her words in a sort of
mifty manner at my low opinion of her. But when the play came to be
acted, she had just occasion to triumph over the error of my judgment,
by the (almost) amazement that her unexpected performance awak'd me
to; so forward and sudden a step into nature I had never seen; and
what made her performance more valuable was that I knew it all
proceeded from her own understanding, untaught and unassisted by any
one more experienced actor."

* * * * *

In the original text, Cibber, in pursuance of that old-fashioned
method of capitalising every third or fourth word without any
particular rhyme or reason, has spelled occasion with a big O. Well
he might, for it was, perhaps, the most important occasion in all the
eventful life of Oldfield. She would win many a more popular triumph
in days to come, but what were all of them compared to the honour of
having compelled the writer to admit that he had blundered.

"Though this part of Leonora in itself was of so little value, that
when she got more into esteem it was one of the several she gave away
to inferior actresses; yet it was the first (as I have observed) that
corrected my judgment of her, and confirmed me in a strong belief
that she could not fail in very little time of being what she was