CHAPTER V. "I shall the effect of thy good lessons keep, THE academy of this gentleman was composed of an equal number of boarders and day scholars. Amongst both classes were the sons of noblemen, persons of influence and fortune, and also of those in a less elevated grade of life: in the latter class I place myself. Still there were no invidious distinctions allowed by the principal, or his highly gifted son, then his assistant, and since his respected successor. However rank and fortune might have influenced his conduct towards certain of his pupils in private, in the school-room all were deemed equal; all derived their due portion of care and instruction in their several classes, and merit alone formed the stepping stone to pre-eminence. Mr. White happily lived to see many of his pupils honouring, by their virtues and talents, some of the highest stations in society. More than a dozen of them have, from time to time, been distinguished members of the senate of the United Kingdom; while at the bar, amongst its other ornaments, he beheld one of his early favourites adorning the seat of justice, with all the grace and dignity which, from youth to mature age, has marked the splendid career of that truly estimable man and enlightened judge! The mitre, too, now rests on the head of more than one who imbibed, under his happy auspices, those principles of religion and virtue which prepared their way to the highest clerical honours and dignity. At this school I passed two of the happiest years of my life. It was the custom of our worthy principal to unite at his house, once or twice a week, a society of the most eminent literary and professional characters of that period, and to these delightful soirées a certain portion of his pupils were regularly invited. On those occasions I had an opportunity of mixing with all the talented persons of the day; amongst whom were John Kemble, the inimitable Siddons, Mrs. Lefanus, Mrs. Charles Sheridan, Mr. and Miss Edgeworth, General Valancy, and his fellow labourer in antiquarian research, Mr. Ledwich, Mr. Edward Tighe, then M. P. for County Wicklow, Captain Joseph Atkinson, wit, poet, painter, punster, and dramatist. Readings, recitations, and literary conversazione, formed the chief amusements of this sensible assembly: music formed but a slender portion of the treat, although it formed a part of the evening's entertainment. Our principal was himself considered the best reader of the British drama of his time; and his claims to that honourable distinction were not disputed, when accorded by such authority as the classic Kemble, the splendid Siddons, the energetic Barry, then Mrs. Crawford, and last, though not least, the first Mrs. Pope, formerly Miss Young, one of the most powerful and correct declaimers on the stage.* Mr. White had "One fair daughter, whom he loved passing well!" Amongst the youth committed to his care, there was one who, at an early age, had distinguished himself above all his compeers for superior talent in dramatic recitation, in which he bore off the first prize for several years. He was a youth of romantic turn of mind, and had studied our immortal bard with such assiduity, that he was called in the school "The Walking Shakspeare:" in fact, there was scarcely an incident which could occur amongst us, to which he would not apply an apt quotation, drawn from the inexhaustible store of that great master of human knowledge. So decidedly theatrical was the bent of his mind, that all his thoughts were directed to that one object. The young gentleman alluded to was Mr. James Magan. His father was a wealthy apothecary in a populous but unfashionable part of Dublin; but, nevertheless, in extensive practice as a visiting medical man amongst the higher order of citizens: few regular physicians derived greater emolument from the excrcise * Mrs. Pope was at that time performing with Mrs. Siddons on the Dublin stage, in those tragedies where the cast of characters in no way clashed, and it was a delightful treat to see their united talents brought forth in such parts as Alicia and Jane Shore, Queen Elizabeth and Rutland, &c. Mr. Pope, late of Drury Lane, who had formerly been an artist of some note, renounced the brush, and took to the buskin; he was, at that period, a remarkably handsome man, and his fine figure showed itself with striking effect in such characters as the Earl of Essex, Lord Hastings, Pierce, &c., and hardly less elegant or graceful when in the modern costume of Lord Townly, Beverly, &c. He found favour in the eyes of Miss Young, when in the zenith of her maiden popularity she divided the public favour with Mrs. Siddons. Mrs. Crawford, once Barry. After the marriage of this talented pair, they attracted brilliant audiences every night of their appearance on the Dublin boards, where Miss Young had always been received with enthusiastic favour. Mr. White having the entrée of the green room with all the familiarity of an old friend and occasional tutor, on congratulating Mrs. Pope on her happy union, jokingly inquired, how she liked matrimony? to which she answered, with great archness, "O! extremely well, my dear, kind master; you know I al. ways preferred Pope's Essay to Young's Night Thoughts;" this was the origi nal of that much hackneyed and variously quoted bon mot. of their profession. Amongst the latter, the most jealous, perhaps, of any order, as to the slightest innovation upon it, he could boast of many personal friends. The easiness of his circumstances enabled him to keep his chariot, a thing by no means uncommon in this country at any time, or, perhaps, in Dublin, at the present day; but at the period referred to, it was a luxury confined to some three or four of the third branch of the medical profession. Even the wig and gold-headed cane, fresh invasions on the rights of the diploma, were adopted without offence; no small proof of the estimation in which Dr. Magan, as his grateful patients dubbed him, was held by the legitimate sons of Esculapius. But this good man kept a bountiful table; and, as his invitations extended to the whole privileged body of medicine, he was always sure of a full board; and equally so, that for every card of invitation he dispensed, he should find three or four voluminous prescriptions on his counter. This was as it should be: Kill-and let kill! Neither the prospect of professional advancement in whatever line of life he might be led to adopt, nor the ample fortune which, if obedient to parental wishes, he would be sure to succeed to, could tempt young Magan to abandon his favourite project. To add to the romance, "He was in love, and pleased with ruin!" Between the daughter of his tutor, worthy the hand of a prince, and Magan, an early attachment existed, which the romantic character of the youth rather increased than subdued. When he left Grafton Street school for college, a mutual vow of fidelity was exchanged, which the lovely girl, on her part, too rigidly performed. Magan, after passing a year or two at Trinity, renouncing a parent's commands, his friends' entreaties, and his mistress's tears, was announced to appear on the boards of the Theatre Royal, Dublin, in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. "The part of Romeo by a Young Gentleman of this city: his first appearance on any stage." Although this proceeding was against the judgment and remonstrances of all his well-wishers, yet the circumstance of their young fellow-citizen throwing himself on public indulgence, attracted to the doors of the theatre, long before the usual hour of opening them, many hundreds more than the building could possibly contain; and the moment the anxious crowds were admitted, the house soon became full, even to an overflow. The "lads of Trinity," in their caps and gowns, to the number of some hundreds, bore down all opposition in procuring themselves places in boxes, pit, and slips; in short, wherever they could make their voices, or their hands be heard. To the fair sex, and to them alone, the slightest concession was accorded. The Irish ladies, as enthusiastic as their countrymen, were equally zealous and ardent in support of the young Romeo. Seated in the manager's box, secluded from public observation, sat the Irish Demosthenes, and his indescribably lovely daughter, to paint even a sketch of whom I should steal the magic pencil of the Wizard of the North, and scratch a copy of this our Rebecca; for, like the beautiful Jewess, she had a look that made its way to every heart. Sensibility sat enthroned on her dark Minerva-like brow, and in every gesture was dignity and love! With a palpitating heart she watched the moment of her betrothed's appearance; but that was greeted with such a tumult of applause, that many minutes elapsed before a word could be heard from the stage. Round after round, peal after peal, of thundering applause, which suspended the action of the play, followed Benvolio's words, "Good morrow, cousin," but when Romeo asks, with sadness, "Is the day so young?" the whole pit sent forth a shout of praise which reverberated from the lofty roof. The greater number of the audience in that part of the house were the élite of the critical circles of Dublin, in whose ears the well-remembered silver tones of their own unequalled Barry, retained their magic recollection; the similarity of sound was so powerfully strong, as to call forth the unpremeditated but universal expression of surprise and applause. Amidst this general shout of welcome, one faint yet piercing shriek might have been heard issuing from the manager's box: it was the outpouring of a heart too full to endure the storm of pain and pleasure which then assailed it. Her lover had passed the Rubicon. Friends, family, all were abandoned for his darling passion: he had launched his frail bark on the precarious tide of public favour, and must abide the voyage. The Juliet of real life sank into a fond father's arms, who then, for the first time, discovered how deeply the fate of his lovely daughter was interwoven with that of the erring debutant. Struggling against nature's claims, he determined to watch the first efforts of his pupil, and consigning his beloved child to the care of her brother and the manager, Mr. Daly, who, with his many faults, was, as well in manners as in birth, a gentleman, he turned all his attention to the business of the stage, and seemed to drink every liquid word that poured from the lips of his once and still beloved Magan, who brilliantly sustained, throughout the whole of the arduous part, the first favourable impression his early scenes created. The excitement after the fall of the curtain was so power ful as to delay the after-piece nearly an hour beyond the usual interval. The pit in groups were discussing the various excellences displayed by the Romeo of the night; while some of the "lads of Trinity" seeing their old master in the manager's box, with more warmth of heart than discretion, cheered him in such a marked manner, that being known as the tutor of young Romeo, he was, though with great violence to his feelings, for like most men of real worth, he was as modest as meritorious, obliged to acknowledge the triple round of general applause bestowed on his name, by respectfully bowing to their oft-repeated compliments. The next morning all the newspapers were filled with critiques on the performance of the previous night, each vying with the other in high-flown terms of panegyric, like every thing Irish; —the action, reading, speech, and manner of the Young Gentleman," were perfection all. 66 The tragedy was repeated with equal success; and on the third representation, the " Young Gentleman" was announced as "Mr. Middleton." After a season had passed, and local attachment, and its consequent partialities, had sobered down into mature judgment, Mr. Middleton, no longer James Magan, was pronounced on all sides to be an accomplished actor. He was that happy height for the stage, about five feet nine inches, slender in person and limb, but finely formed; graceful in action, harmonious in voice, correct even to precision in delivery, and possessing that easy deportment, which beyond all stage art showed him to have been the gentleman of the drawing-room all his life. Of his face nothing very favourable can be said; besides its natural inaptness for the expression of any of the stronger passions, a slight obliquity of vision in one eye deranged the quiet harmony which might otherwise have atoned for the absence of powerful expression. This defect was unperceived on a large stage by the aid of distance, paint, and pencil; but it is saying much for his intrinsic merit as an actor, that when he appeared at the comparatively small theatre of Cork, where, according to Garrick's observation, "the play-going people seemed to have been born good critics," Mr. Middleton's acting was greeted with the most unqualified applause. Success, in any pursuit of life, softens down many asperities. The father, flattered by the praises lavished on his son, who had obtained a good permanent engagement with an annual 5001. benefit, if he did not directly countenance, no longer opposed his claim to the hand of Miss White. Old Samuel, who had discernment enough to see that to oppose affection such as theirs, would be to destroy the peace of one, at least, of the parties, gave a reluctant consent to a union, fraught, as it af、 |