Another gentleman, whom the liberal audience chose to hiss, was Mr. Claremont, who had been before them for years, and was most useful to the theatre, being what is called a good study. He had played almost every thing, and could supply the place of a superior performer in cases of illness or emergency, without the awkwardness of reading the part, whilst his retentive memory enabled him to study any new part at the shortest possible notice. But the usual sphere of his acting was third-rate characters. A kind, and wellmeant commendation of Mrs. Siddons, that he was a good level speaker, made him excessively vain. Many are the stories told of his vanity. On returning from the country after the vacation, Mr. Harris, who really had a regard for him, for want of something to say, inquired, "Well! Claremont, what have you been playing in the country?" “Richard once, sir; and Hamlet twice." "What, twice! Mr. Claremont ?" was the manager's reply. Munden, walking once with his son in the streets of Margate, met Claremont, whom he accosted with the inquiry whether he came down there to act? "No, sir," said Claremont, "I came here to be amused, not to amuse!" King George the Third, who was fond of chatting with the actors, stopped Fawcett, walking with Claremont on the terrace of Windsor Castle; and eyeing Claremont through his glass, said, 66 Eh, Fawcett !eh! eh! who is that with you?" "Mr. Claremont, please your majesty." Claremont bowed to the ground. "Claremont !- Claremont !-oh! I recollect!-bad actor!-bad actor!" Claremont, who was a good-looking man, was a great lady-killer, and is reported to have done much execution in that pleasant warfare. When the O. P. row took place, some of the ruffians who figured in it, attempted to drive this respectable actor from the stage, by hissing him whenever he appeared. Mr. Harris, with laudable firmness, resisted the base attempt to deprive a deserving man of his bread. This really harmless gentleman remained for many years afterwards in the Covent-Garden company, and is, probably, still living. Munden, at this time, had one of those attacks of the gout, which afterwards became so frequent. His illness stopped Colman's farce of "We fly by night" during the progress of its representation. He was sufficiently recovered in April to play in Dibdin's musical romance of "The White Plume." After "The Birth-day," was performed at Covent Garden the Christmas pantomime of "Harlequin and Mother Goose." Who has not heard of the fame of Mother Goose (Simmons), and of Joe Grimaldi, the clown? All former pantomimes were eclipsed by this masterpiece of fun, as all former clowns were by Joe. It is impossible to describe what he did. A thousand masks would not portray the grotesque contortions of his countenance, and his humorous and lively action drew shouts of merriment both from "children who are young, and children who are old." "Mother Goose" proved a goose with golden eggs to the theatre. It was the joint composition of Tom Dibdin and Farley, and their memory deserves to be immortalised for hatching such a production. The predecessors of Grimaldi, as the clown in pantomimes, were his father, and Follett, who depended entirely on their feats of agility. Munden once played the clown during the indisposition of Follett, and endeavoured to make the interest rest upon humorous expression and knavish dexterity, which was more ably accomplished by Joe Grimaldi, who added to the perfection of these qualities the agile leaps and tumbling of his progenitor. The comedy of "The Birth-Day" seems to have been popular this season, as it was played again a few nights afterwards. Munden performed, also, Sir Bashful Constant, in Murphy's "Way to keep him"; upon which we find these remarks: "It has been questioned whether this drama is improved by the admission of this strange character; but that it is so, in the highest degree, none would doubt who had seen the Sir Bashful of Mr. Munden. A more rich and humorous piece of acting is not to be found in all his performances; and that is saying much." Munden being again attacked with gout, Mr. Liston played Polonius in his stead. Liston very properly endeavoured to restrain his wonderful powers of humour; but, in the attempt to look grave, his countenance was so irresistibly droll, that Mr. Kemble could hardly pronounce the injunction: "Good, my lord; will you see the players well bestowed?" March 10th, Morton brought forward his "Town and Country." Trot, which was intended for Munden, was, in consequence of his illness, played by Blanchard. Reuben Glenroy was an attempt to write another Penruddock for Mr. Kemble, but with far inferior ability. We learn from Mrs. Inchbald that Cumberland took the idea of "The Wheel of Fortune" from reading in a foreign newspaper the plot of "The Stranger." He conceived the notion of altering the character of the deceived husband into that of a disappointed lover, and by that means getting rid of the indelicacy of the Stranger's reconciliation with his adulterous wife. So skilfully has he effected the alteration, that, as Mrs. Inchbald remarks, the two plays may be performed on successive nights, and nobody, unaware of the fact, would suspect that one was borrowed from the other. If this was what Mr. Sheridan meant by plagiarism, it does not accord with his simile of "gypsies disfiguring other people's children to make them pass for their own." No doubt Mr. Cumberland, in sketching the character of Penruddock, had Kemble in his eye; and, never did that great actor-no, not even in the higher parts of Macbeth and Hamlet, appear to such advantage. His dignified demeanour displayed the qualities of a polished gentleman shining through the coarse garb of a rustic. His energy in the scenes with Young Woodville, and the faltering tone in which he uttered the remark, "You bear a strong resemblance to your mother;" the subdued tenderness of his manner towards Mrs. Woodville; his polite bow, after the classical compliment, "True, madam; but the sons of Cornelia did not disgrace their mother!" and the summoned firmness with which, when preparing for his last interview with Woodville, he delivered the words, "Such meetings should be private," never have been equaled and could not be surpassed. The part was played in succession by Mr. Cooke, Mr. Young, and the elder Kean; by the latter with indifferent success. But, as a coun* Young Woodville, by Charles Kemble, and Mrs. Woodville, by Mrs. Powell, were acted to perfection. # terpoise to this failure, Mr. Kean played Reuben Glenroy very finely; the latter part is, nevertheless, a poor copy of the former. The misanthropy of Penruddock arises from a natural cause; but the moodiness (for that seems the term) of Reuben Glenroy, can only be traced to envy of his elder brother. It has been observed of "The Terence of England," that in his two best plays, "The Wheel of Fortune," and "The West Indian," he portrays young ladies making love to the young gentlemen. April 3rd, Munden played in "The School for Reform," for the first time after his illness, and was warmly greeted by the audience. On the 10th, he appeared in "The Birth-day." Mr. Young, from the Manchester Theatre, was engaged in the summer season at the Haymarket, and came out in Hamlet. It is surprising that an actor, possessing even at that time such extracrdinary excellence, had not before reached the metropolis. His merit was at once appreciated and acknowledged. Mr. Young declined, after the Haymarket closed, engaging at Drury Lane, where Elliston was the indifferent representative of tragedy, and returned into the country, leaving an established reputation behind him. Munden played at the opening of the Manchester theatre, recently rebuilt, and under the management of his friend, Macready, who had taken a lease of it. Sept. 1807, Covent Garden opened, but without Mr. Cooke, who was missing. Munden performed Sir Francis Wronghead ("Provoked Husband") to Kemble's Lord Townley, Miss Brunton's Lady Townley, and Miss Bolton's Lady Grace. Both these ladies became peeresses in earnest; Miss Brunton espousing the Earl of Craven, and Miss Bolton, Lord Thurlow. Lady Craven (dowager) is aunt to that clever actress, Mrs. Yates. October 9th presented Mr. Richard Jones to a London audience in Goldfinch. Mr. Jones, though not equal to Lewis, was, perhaps, the nearest approach to him. He had more mercurial spirits, but less humour than Elliston. This gentleman has now quitted the stage. It will be a long time before an actor such as Lewis was will again be seen. He truly seemed to consider the audience as "the fourth wall of a room;" and ran upon the stage, tossing his hat and gloves upon the table, as much at ease as in his own drawing-room. The freedom of his movements formed a striking contrast to the stiff management of the limbs which some otherwise good actors can never overcome. Such was his extraordinary vivacity that it was rather dangerous to play with him in a part of excitement. In one scene he threw a chair at Munden, who was constantly on the stage with him, and narrowly escaped doing him an injury. On another occasion he forgot he was pretending to horsewhip, and laid the whip in earnest on his shoulders: but they were the best of friends, and acted together father and son, con amore. Like all first-rate actors, he played equally well to the last. He performed, as we have seen Mr. Smith did, youthful characters when on the verge of sixty; and his buoyancy of spirits kept up the delusion. He was, however, obliged to make up a little. He wore false teeth, false whiskers, and false calves. It was not an unusual thing to see a whisker, half loosened, sticking up in the air. As he was standing once by the side-scenes, a waggish actress employed herself in sticking pins into one of his false calves. When she had satisfied her whim, much to the amusement of the bye-standers, she tapped him on the shoulder, and said, "Why, Lewis, somebody has been making a pincushion of your leg!" Though the lady had been occupied some minutes in this pastime, Lewis affected to draw up his leg in agony, and swore he felt the pain. Mr. Lewis was, for many years, stage-manager at CoventGarden theatre, and was much respected by his fellow-performers, towards whom he was indulgent and courteous. He had a son, who played at Liverpool, and was engaged for a short time in London, and who strongly resembled him in person, and in his style of acting. In private life Mr. Lewis was an upright man, and polite gentleman. He acquired, as before stated, an ample fortune by his last speculation. March 10, 1808. Mr. Cooke, who had been in Appleby gaol for debt, made his bow again to a London audience as Sir Pertinax M'Sycophant, with the usual overwhelming applause. 12th, Munden played Launcelot Gobbo to his Shylock, and the house continued to overflow, in consequence of the reappearance of this favourite of the town. April 25th, he made a little free in Richard; but the audience, far from assigning the true cause, discovered in each lapse of memory a studied pause, and in every stagger a new point. April 21st, Mr. Kemble revived "The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” in which Munden played Launce, greatly to the satisfaction of the public, barring some gross allusions, which should have been expunged, and were properly hissed. The actor brought with him on the stage his Newfoundland dog, Cæsar, who also misbehaved himself in various ways. In the scene where the dog is roughly handled, the animal, not understanding making belief in such matters, seized his assailant by the leg. Our comedian had now a fit of the gout, which laid him up for the remainder of the season. This malady, though not the cause of his death, became his frequent companion ever after. He was attended, as a friend, by Dr. Pearson, Dr. Hooper, Sir Matthew Tierney, and Sir Charles Scudamore; but those eminent physicians could not eradicate the pre-disposition to this painful disorder. Once, at Liverpool, he took of his own accord, the Eau medicinale d'Husson. This violent remedy enabled him to rise from his bed, and return to town; but he suffered for his rashness by a confinement of several months, not occasioned by gout, but by an entire prostration of strength. The late Earl of Essex, with whom he was on friendly terms, and who was an equal sufferer, persuaded him to try Dr. Wilson's Tincture, and he derived benefit from it; but latterly, as the fits became less acute, he abstained from all gout medicines, and merely had recourse to quiet and repose. THE SNAIL. "Travelling by tardy stages, Snail, I greet thee-why so gloomy? Tell me where thy sorrow lies: That a naked slug would prize. Dost thou creep to herbage shady, Vainly toiling night and day, Sinbad made him drunk, and then he With thee, Sinbad,-honest Jack! While their less-designing daughters You may well suppose that I And he would not be denied. I (for ever doom'd to wander) L. |