Part 43 (1/2)
”The case is very clear,” cried the chair him; ”he is one of those connoisseurs who set up for taste, and value theenius, whoht to assist in their productions I will lay an even bet with any th of that slender interview, together with the opportunity of having seen your performance in manuscript, has already hinted to every company in which he is conversant, that you solicited his assistance in retouching the piece, which you have now offered to the public, and that he was pleased to favour you with his advice, but found you obstinately bigoted to your own opinion, in soes which have not met with the approbation of the town As for his caresses, there was nothing at all extraordinary in his behaviour By that tie, you will not be surprised to see a courtier's promise and perforly act as an auxiliary in your resentthened by the concurrence of all thedeferred till another sitting, the college proceeded to an exercise of hich was generally perforht, with a view to proenius The subject was occasionally chosen by the chaira from the conversation; and then the ball was tossed about, fro to the motions of the spirit
That the reader may have a just idea of this sport, and of the abilities of those who carried it on, I shall repeat the sallies of this evening, according to the order and succession in which they escaped One of thethat Mr Metaphor was absent, was told by the person who sat next to him, that the poet had foul weather at home, and could not stir abroad ”What!” said the president, interposing, with the signal upon his countenance, ”is he wind-bound, in port?”--”Wine-bound, I suppose,” cried another ”Hooped ine! a strange shead,” answered the fourth
”The hogshead will sooner get into him,” replied a fifth; ”it must be a tun or an ocean”--”No wonder then, if he should be overwhelmed,” said a sixth ”If he should,” cried a seventh, ”he will cast up when his gall breaks”--”Thatready to burst” ”No, no,” observed a ninth, ”he'll stick fast at the botto”--”And yet,” remarked a tenth, ”I have seen him in the clouds”--”Then was he cloudy, I suppose,” cried the eleventh
”So dark,” replied the other, ”that hiscould not be perceived”--”For all that,” said the twelfth, ”he is easily seen through”--”You talk,” answered the thirteenth, ”as if his head was lass”--”No, no,” cried the fourteenth, ”his head is made of more durable stuff; it will bend before it breaks”--”Yet I have seen it broken,” resumed the president ”Did you perceive any wit come out at the whole?” said another ”His wit,” replied the chairman, ”is too subtle to be perceived”
A third mouth was just open, when the exercise was suddenly interrupted by the dreadful cry of ”Fire!” which issued froe in confusion Everyhis exit, the door and passage were blocked up; each individual was pommelled by the person that happened to be behind him
This communication produced noise and exclamation; clouds of smoke rolled upwards into the apart no prospect of retreating by the door, opened one of the s, and fairly leaped into the street, where he found a crowd of people asse the flae followed his example, and happily acco to use the sa on the brink of descent, dubious of his own agility, and dreading the consequence of such a leap, when a chair happening to pass, he laid hold on the opportunity, and by an exertion of his e, which was irievous annoyance of the fare, which happened to be a certain effeminate beau, in full dress, on his way to a private asse the noise overhead, and feeling the shock of being overthrown at the saht that some whole tene crushed to pieces, uttered a scream, which the populace supposed to proceed from the mouth of a woman; and therefore went to his assistance, while the chair to his occasions, no sooner recollected themselves, than they ran in pursuit of their overthroho, being accustomed to escape fro in a trice, was not visible to any living soul, until he appeared next day on Tower-hill
The humane part of the mob, who bestirred themselves for the relief of the supposed lady, no sooner perceived their mistake in the appearance of the beau, who stared around hied into reat many unsavoury jokes upon his misfortune, which they now discovered no inclination to alleviate; and he found hi his situation, interposed in his behalf, and prevailed upon the chairhbourhood, to whoeous accident; for the fright operated so violently upon his nerves, that he was seized with a deliriu which period he was not neglected in point of aled, as appeared by the contents of his landlord's bill
Our adventurer having seen this unfortunate beau safely housed, returned to the scene of the other calamity, which, as it was no other than a foul chimney, soon yielded to the endeavours of the family, and was happily overco the neighbours, disturbing the college, and disordering the brain of a beau Eager to be acquainted with the particular constitutions of a society which seerees, Mr Pickle did not fail to appear at the next , when several petitions were laid before the board, in behalf of those members ere confined in the prisons of the Fleet, Marshalsea, and King's Bench
As those unhappy authors expected nothing froood offices, which did not concern the purse, the reat care and hurine had it in his power to manifest his importance to the community; for he happened to be acquainted with the creditor of one of the prisoners, and knew that gentle to his resentment at the behaviour of the debtor, who had lampooned him in print, because he refused to comply with a fresh demand, after he had lent hientle that the author was penitent, and disposed to make a reasonable submission, promised to employ his influence with the creditor towards an accommodation; and in a few days actually obtained his release
The social duties being discharged, the conversation took a general turn, and several new productions were freely criticised; those especially which belonged to authors ere either unconnected with, or unknown to the college Nor did the profession of stage-playing escape the cognizance of the asse sent weekly to each theatre, with a view ofremarks upon the perfor ere accordingly called upon to give in their report; and the play which they had revieas ”the Revenge”
”Mr Q--,” said the second censor, ”take him all in all, is certainly the most complete and unblee, notwithstanding the blind adoration which is paid to his rival
I went two nights ago, with an express design to criticise his action I could find no room for censure, but infinite subject for adreat, in Othello excellent, but in Zanga beyond all imitation Over and above the distinctness of pronunciation, the dignity of attitude, and expression of face, his gestures are so just and significant, that a ht, by seeing hi of every word he speaks! Sure nothing can beIsabella how Alonzo behaved, when he found the incendiary letter which he had dropped by the Moor's direction; and when, to crown his vengeance, he discovers himself to be the contriver of all the mischief that had happened, hethese four littleeyed the critic some minutes, ”I fancy,” said he, ”your praise must be ironical, because, in the very two situations you mention, I think I have seen that player outherod Herod, or, in other words, exceed all his other extravagances The intention of the author is, that the Moor should communicate to his confidant a piece of inforht to be repeated with an air of eagerness and satisfaction, not with the ridiculous griht, his action bore an inti this plain sentence:--
----He took it up: But scarce was it unfolded to his sight, When he, as if an arrow pierc'd his eye, Started, and tre the first tords, this egregious actor stoops down, and see to repeat what follows,a letter; when hethe eye, he darts his forefinger towards that organ, then recoils with great violence when the word 'started' is expressed; and when he coround,' he throws all his liinary paper from his hand The latter part of the description is carried on with the sahast awhile h or two, and puff'd theain
The player's countenance assuhs twice most piteously, as if he were on the point of suffocation, scrubs his forehead, and, bending his body, apes the action of snatching an object from the floor Nor is this dexterity of dumb-show omitted, when he concludes his imitation in these three lines:--
At first he look'd as if hefears, he crushed it thus, And thrust it, like an adder, in his bosom
”Here the judicious performer imitates the confusion and concern of Alonzo, see, from which they are immediately withdraith horror and precipitation then shutting his fist with a violent squeeze, as if he intended to make immediate application to Isabella's nose, he raitation of a thief taken in the ed to act to the eyes only of the audience, this ; but when he is at liberty to signify his ideas by language, nothing can be more trivial, forced, unnatural, and antic, than this muraces of action, without which the choicest sentiments, clothed in the most exquisite expression, would appear unanimated and insipid; but these are as different from this ridiculous burlesque, as is the demeanour of a Tully in the rostrue And, for the truth of what I allege, I appeal to the observation of any person who has considered the elegance of attitude and propriety of gesture, as they are universally acknowledged in the real characters of life Indeed, I have known a Gascon, whose liue: he neverhis head upon his hand; when he had occasion to talk of a horse, he always started up and trotted across the room, except when he was so situated that he could not stir without inco the co aloud If a dog happened to be the subject of his conversation, he wagged his tail, and grinned in a nificantbackwards with such natural imitation of his purpose, that everybody in the room firmly believed he had actually overshot hily Yet no man ever looked upon this virtuoso to be the standard of propriety in point of speaking and deportment For my own part, I confess the player in question would, by dint of these qualifications, ure in the character of Pantaloon's lacquey, in the entertainht acquire soe' into a pantoe, provided with a handful of flour, in order to beshast,' etc; and ht to illustrate the adder with a hideous hiss But let us now come to the other situation, in which this uish himself so much--I mean that same eclaircissement comprehended in 'Know then, 'twas--I' His manner, I own, may be altered since I was present at the representation of that performance; but certain I am, when I beheld him in that critical conjuncture, his behaviour appeared to ined he was visited by so for the space of two minutes, like a man suddenly struck with the palsy; and, after various distortions and side-shakings, as if he had got fleas in his doublet, heaved up froround”
This criticisreat veneration for the player in question; and his adentleman who sat next to hie, andGentleman is introduced to a Virtuoso of the first Order, and corine had professed hi the fruits of that occupation, except the little faht it high tiainst eed with soed himself to perform for the consideration of two hundred pounds The articles of agreeerness, rose early in the , went abroad with the bats in the evening, and appeared in the coffee-house, where he amused himself with the newspapers and conversation till nine o'clock; then he retired to his own apartht repast, betook hiht be able to unroost with the cock This sudden change froreed so ill with his disposition, that, for the first tiestion, which produced anxiety and dejection of spirits, and the nature of his situation began in some measure to discompose his brain; a discovery which he no soonerphysician, as a e of authors, at this time one of our hero's most inti considered his case, iht cause, namely, want of exercise; dissuaded hiradually familiarized to a sedentary life; advised him to enjoy his friend and his bottle in rees; and, above all things, to rise immediately after his first sleep, and exercise hi's walk In order to render this last part of the prescription the more palatable, the doctor promised to attend him in these early excursions, and even to introduce hiave a sort of public breakfasting to the e, and often employed his interest in behalf of those who properly cultivated his countenance and approbation