Note 1. On the 14th of February, 1741, Macklin established his
fame as an actor in the character of Shylock, in the Merchant of
Venice. Macklins performance of this character so forcibly
struck a gentleman in the pit that he, as it were involuntarily,
exclaimed, This is the Jew That Shakespeare drew! It has been
said that this gentleman was Mr. Pope, and that he meant his
panegyric on Macklin as a satire against Lord
Lansdowne.Biographia Dramatica, vol. i. part ii. p. 469. [back]