tercourfe of the ingenious few. Of this cuftom he was refolved to avail himself ;-but it was just as a hypocrite avails himself of religion, by oftentation and impofture-for he herded conftantly with wits, and was, in letters, a profeffed tartuffe to all. He had a hackneyed kind of metaphorical, theatrical, tinfelled phrafeology, made out of tags and ends, quotations and imitations of our English poets, and, indeed, from the Greek and Latin authors, as often as his memory ferved him with the fcraps and mottos it had quaintly picked up; for he knew no book of antiquity, nor, indeed, of modern note,Prior, La Fontaine, Swift's poetry, and a few more of that kind, excepted; these he constantly imitated, plundered, disguised, and frittered into occafional prologues, epilogues, and complimentary poems upon parrots, lapdogs, monkeys, birds, growing wits, patrons, and ladies. But what he most excelled in, was, in writing epigrams and fhort poems in praife of himself and his producions, and in defamation of a rival actor, or of any of thofe poor people of the ftage whom he wished to be unpopular. With fuch fhreds and patches he constantly fed the daily papers, the reviews, and magazines. Each of his affociate wits had a peculiar quaint nefs of phrafe and greeting: fuch as-"My fprig of Parnaffus, let me pour my incense !” He laboured for private efteem, but always in vain! Fear, envy, and avarice were feen even in deeds that appeared convivial, Ddd benevolent, and liberal. He was a maker of profeffions, but a flave to interest. He was honoured as an actor, hated as a man, and defpifed as an author. He ever made friendship a footstool to his intereft and ambition. The two men that he was moft obliged to, he always hated and feared. He ruined the one, and planned the deftruction of the other. He could have no lafting intimacy with any body. He was totally void of any kind of addrefs to men or women in any rank or circumftance of life, that the judicious, and thofe who had thought of that art, called genteel or well bred. His art in acting confifted in inceffantly pawing and hauling the characters about with whom he was concerned in the fcene ;-and when he did not paw or haul the character,he stalked between them and the audience, and that generally when they were speaking the most important and interefting paffage in the fcene, which demanded in propriety a strict attention. When he spoke himself, he pulled about the character he spoke to, and fqueezed his hat, hung forward, and stood almost upon one foot, with no part of the other to the ground but the toe of it. His whole action when he made love in tragedy or in comedy, when he was familiar with his friend, when he was in anger, forrow, rage, confifted in fqueezing his hat, thumping his breaft, ftrutting up and down the stage, and pawing the characters that he acted with. In private life, had this man been interdicted the ufe of mimicry,of fimulation, and diffimulation, he would have appeared, what in reality he was, a fuperficial infignificant man. But with the help of thofe arts, he was entertaining and appeared fagacious, learned, good-natured, modeft, and friendly to thofe who had no dealings with him;-but to thofe who had, he was known to the very heart; for his attachment to intereft in dealings made him as obvious as if nature had made a window to his heart. Our actions are the only true teftimonics of our probity. Our intimates, and thofe with whom we chufe to retire and live in private, furnish the best proof of the ftrength or weaknefs, riches or poverty of the mind. The paltry actions of this man are well known; his intimates I need not defcribe. The tree is known by its fruit. An ancient philofopher, fpeak ing of Envy, characterises it very finely, by faying, it is of that perverfe, unfociable, selfish nature, that, were it abfolute, it would rather forego the indifpenfable influence of the fun, than participate the bleffing with mankind. This difeription of Envy may feem to fome men to be exaggerated and hyperbolical; but those who have observed this pasfion in its extremes, in the commerce of the world, or as Milton has characterifed it in his "Paradife Loft," will find it to be naturally juft. A ftronger inftance of its influence fure never was known than in the perfon we have now under confideration; for, not fatished with endeavour ing to deftroy the fame of every contemporary actor, he attacked even that of the actresses, and fuc-ceeded. Nor was the traducement of the living fame of male and female, of every age and rank upon the ftage, fufficient to gorge the maw of Envy: it flew to the dead! and infidiously broke open the hallowed tombs of Betterton, Booth, Wilks, and other honoured fpirits, Nature's favourite children, who had been fostered and protected by art, applaufe, and time; and, when living, whom Envy's felf allowed to be Nature's darling fons, and Art's perfect pupils yet thefe very fpirits would he flily bring upon the carpet: mimic, though he never faw them; tell anecdotes of them, and traduce their immortal fame,by stigmatifing them as mannerists, and denominating them as perfons who spoke in recitative. Thus would he ferve them up to ignorant people, who believed and wondered; and to dependants and flatterers, who retailed the libellous anecdotes, invectives, and quaint conceits, and concluded that the art was never known but by the narrator, who, with an apparent modefty, and a concealed impudence, made himfelf the hero of the historical criticism. His mind was bufied upon the external and partial looks, tones, gaits, and motion of individuals in their ordinary habits. Of the paffions, their degrees and kinds, and of their influence upon organs, and their impreffions upon the body, he knew but very little, very little indeed! His mind and knowledge were, like the his body, little, pert, acute, quick, weak, easily shocked, and worn down, fubtle, plaufible. By this external partial imitation of individuals he continually exercifed his mind and body. This wretched buffoonery comprised his knowledge, his humour, his learning, conversation, wisdom, virtue, elegance, breeding, and his companionable qualities. His mimicry, both off the ftage and on it, ferved him instead of figure, grace, character, manners, and a perfect imitation of general nature, as it paffes through human life in every character, age, rank, and station. He introduced fleep into Lear, fhowed how the body dreams in Richard. He alfo introduced fleep into Sir John Brute; and for many minutes, to the extravagant fatisfaction of the audience, cut the faces of an ideot, a lunatic, a ftupor; fo expert was he in all the trick of the face, which the good people acknowledged as an imitation of a drunken man falling asleep. Whenever a manager fets up his own power, tafte, or avarice, against the power, judgment, or entertainment of the people, he forfeits every right to their favour; nay he merits their contempt and refentment. Garrick never obliged the public in any one article during the time of his management; on the contrary he took every step by which he could erect himself into a tyrant, to crush the fpirit and genius of merit both in actors and authors; to corrupt the public tafte; to fill his own coffers; and to make his own judgment the standard of every fpecies of dramatic merit. His wit always wanted ftrength, his defcriptions humour, his manner pleafantry, his conduct integrity, his difpofition good nature, and his deportment decency. CHARACTER OF MRS. SIDDONS. UT of the houfe I allowed myself but one amufement, but that one was, in effect, all; it was feeing and hearing Mrs. Siddons in a new and molt effecting character, that of Mrs. Haller, in "The Stranger ;" and in a character of long and eftablished preeminence, that of Ifabella, in "The Fatal Marriage." Of this moft admirable actress I can fay nothing that approaches to a description of her excellen cies. Her figure, countenance, Her action is fo juft and fo exquifitely graceful and dignified, her elocution fo wonderfully fine, and her power of giving its full force to every noble and generous fentiment fo unrivalled by any performer whom I have ever feen on the theatre, -and I have feen those who have been moft juftly and univerfally admired. There are in her acting, as in Garrick's, no vacuities, nor any thing out of the character to parade herself to the audience: if filent and immoveable, her filence is more eloquent than language, and her fufpended action Speaks the character and fullness of the foul. On Sunday the 27th, we faw her at her own houfe; and it was truly charming to fee one of the most admired women upon earth amusing herself as a mother, but with fifter-like familiarity, with her two daughters, who greatly refemble her, one of them particularly, and converfing with out vanity,-indeed, fhe is above it, without pride. She fpeaks with the most eafy and graceful propriety on whatever fubjects arife, You would have been charmed to hear her mention Hereford, and the furrounding country, where she spent part of her childhood and firft youth. I believe you will find it mentioned by Mrs. Morgan that Brecknock has had the honor of giving birth to Mrs. Siddons. On our inquiry, fhe mentioned it herfelf as being the place where fhe was born. If any perfon really knows herself, and neither overrates or undervalues her pow ers, Mrs. Siddons appears to be that perfon; and fhe fpeaks ac cordingiy with fimplicity and franknefs, not affecting to difavow, nor oftentatious in the difplay of them. I ought to mention that she has the utmost fimplicity, a fimplicity the most dignified and graceful, in her drefs; alike whether at home or on the ftage; even in Ifabella, in a dress of nuptial ceremony, this was ftrikingly obfervable. Gold, or a profufion of filver, in the ornaments of drefs, fhe leaves to others: jewels and colours are not fuffered to degrade the fublime unity of effect, or to challenge an admiration which, were fhe to wear them, would appear, even to the admirers of embellishment, frivoloufly wafted on these compari tively infignificant decorations.— She is her own ornament: and is too fublimely beautiful,in form, countenance, character, and expreffion, to fubmit to make her felf fine. Her forehead, her eye, her nofe, all her features have the decifivc character of a great mind, of an amiable and noble heart. Indeed fhe more refembles the ideal beauty of poffible nature, than what one should expect actually to have feen. The filver tone of her voice, full,folemn,but wonderfully sweet, preferves diftinctness in the higheft exertions, and remains unloft in the lowest articulations. Some idea of her action and attitudes might be drawn from the finest ftatues and paintings. Of the expreffion of her countenance no adequate reprefentation can be formed. I was led to think, for I had never feen her till now, that fhe was only formed for the great and awful character. For thefe, indeed, she has every endowment, both from nature and a cultivation of her powers, the most at tentive and unremitted, which genius, animated by refpect for an admiring public, could fuggeft to her, and enforced too by the confcioufnefs fhe muft feel of the fublimity of the object of her exertions, the just reprefentation of ideas, and characters the moft exalted; but he has not lefs command over the more amiable affections, those of pure and exalted benevolence: of the delicacy of wounded honor; of the agonizing tenderness of maternal fear; of the fweet complacency of an heart occupied with nature, and the contemplation of its author, and of its pleasures in its du ties; nor lefs of the deeply pathet ic expreffion of fettled grief, of the chaste enthusiasm of love. It is true, that love when represented by her, appears a paffion as elevated as glory itself. Her fondness is noble, and her very forrows and despair imprefs with refpect, and awe, and veneration. It would be a great lofs to be deprived of her tranfcendently fine action; but I think I should prefer merely to hear her read to feeing the finest play acted by the beft of otherperformers. In the character of lady Randolph, in our favorite "Douglas" in "The Grecian Daughter," "The Roman Father," or the Volu:nnia of Shakespeare, fhe who was born to perfonify the pureft of the highest affections must be unimaginably great. |