Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

a full dose of the doleful, while in situations where, as Murphy observes,

Young gentlefolks are apt to fall;

though of this, with respect to Miss Hallam, there was no danger. Prepared by an excellent education, and inspired by a true dramatic genius, she seemed, according to the opinion of the critics, born at once to attract and to fix the attention of the town. Under these happy auspices, and with this promising prospect, at the age of fifteen, she commenced tragic actress, and began, at Coventgarden, her theatrical career, in the arduous part of Juliet. We think her aunt, Mrs. Barrington, performed Lady Capulet, and, consequently, introduced the young debutante upon the stage.

The good nature of a metropolitan audience always secures a favourable reception to a lovely girl in so interesting a situation; but of this indulgence Miss Hallam had, in the course of the evening, little occasion to avail herself: she performed the difficult part intrusted to her in a manner that would have done credit to the most experienced actress, and, consequently, elicited concomitant applause.

The manager was too wise to suffer the genius of this young favourite to lie dormant; he, on the contrary, promoted its expansion in the various classes of the drama, tragic, comic, and operatic; though we must observe, that the two latter seem, by her having resigned the former, to have been, of late years, considered by herself as peculiarly her forte. Perhaps the observation which Dr. Johnson makes with respect to Shakspeare, as a writer, will, in some degree, apply to Mrs. Mattocks as an actress:-" Her tra"gedy, excellent as it was, seemed to be ART; her comedy to be "NATURE."

In the operas, she was, as an actress, so much superior to Miss Brent, that we have always entertained an idea that she was a much better singer, at least when she followed her in the same parts-Polly, in the Beggar's Opera; Rosetta, in Love in a Village; Patty, in the Maid of the Mill, &c.: for instance, she was a hundred times more fascinating, as the feelings of the audience, except that part of it termed connoisseurs, who seldom have any feelings at all, fully evinced.

At different periods, Miss Hallam performed in Artaxerxes the three important characters, Artaxerxes, Mandane, and Arbaces.

B

In the part of Polly, she was so truly excellent, that Mr. Rich observed, Gay might burst the cerement of his sepulchre to hear her.

Her performance of Bertha, in The Royal Merchant; or, The Beggar's Bush, was distinguished by a circumstance which showed her taste and judgment. The scene of this piece is in Flanders: Bertha appears as the niece to Vandunk, the governor of Bruges, a character which she dressed exactly in the style of Reuben's wife (Helena Forman), as she appears in a celebrated picture by that artist.

The Flemish female costume, though common in England during the reigns of the Stuarts, was, at this period, entirely unknown on the English stage; therefore the effect of the revival of the Vandyke dress, as it is termed, by the ladies, who have since adopted it, may be better conceived than it can be described.

In the part of Diana, the Florentine maiden, in the comedy of All's Well that Ends Well, we recollect that the simplicity yet peculiar smartness of the dress of Miss Hallam was loudly applauded on her first entrance; while the excellence of her acting contributed to keep the audience in good humour during the exhibition of a piece which was performed under very trying circumstances, it being the first after the opening of the theatre, which had been shut several days, in order to repair the devastation occasioned by the almost insane outrages of a set of well dressed savages, in February, 1763.

In the season of 1764, was produced a very singular species of entertainment, intended to ridicule the operatic taste then too prevalent: this was the English burletta of Midas,* in which Miss Hallam performed the part of Nysa, and, by her exquisite humour, greatly contributed to exalt the piece to that height of celebrity which it afterwards so justly attained. Counsellor C- a gentleman whose genius, erudition, and talents, as a lawyer, would have borne him to the very acme of his profession, had not his unfortunate speculations in the new buildings, Dean's-yard, Westminster, depressed his spirits and paralysed his exertions, was so charmed

This was played as a first piece, it being then in three acts: it was afterwards reduced to two, and derived, in our opinions, much advantage from compression.

with the performance of Miss Hallam, that he always called her "his little Nysa."*

We now resume our memoir, from the regular thread of which we have a little digressed, and open this part of it with a dramatic piece, intitled, "The Trip to Scotland," which, in the year 1765,

* His son, it appears, followed his example; for when he was a boy at Westminster school, as Mrs. Mattocks, from the intimacy that prevailed in their families, knew that the young gentlemen were much in the habit of making feasts after they had retired to their rooms for the night, she sent to Master C. a large Norfolk turkey, and an enormous chain of sausages, as a petit soupe, or nocturnal bonne bouche; in consequence of which she, the next day, received from him the following verses, of the merit of which, considering the age of the poet, we think so highly that we gladly avail ourselves of the present opportunity to insert them.

VERSES,

Written by SC, Esq. when he was a youth of fourteen years of age, in return for a Norfolk turkey and sausages, sent by Mrs. Mattocks to him when at Westminster School.

The goddesses oncé, as the old poets tells us,

Took delight in intriguing with us pretty fellows.
To make matters easy, Jove always conferr'd

On each, as a courier, her favourite bird.

When the peacock was seen, with his plumage erected,

A message from Juno was surely expected.
When Venus would write to her lover Anchises,
By the dove she despatch'd her celestial advices.
Nay, Pallas (though reckon'd too sober for flirting)
Was sure of a nodding grave owl at her curtain;
'Twas whisper'd, however, that she had her spark,
Else why should her messenger fly in the dark?
Be it known, that of late an intrigue is begun
Betwixt me and dear Nysa, the goddess of fun;
And Nysa, lest mortals should think her absurd,
Has follow'd the fashion, and sent me her bird.
'Tis true that she sent nor owl, peacock, nor dove,
But her turkey has taught me the language of love.
The messenger came, and my fancy did hit,.
Not sparkling with plumage, but truss'd for the spit:
On each side did the gizzard and liver appear,
And a link of fine sausages brought up the rear.
O follow, dear goddess! this excellent rule,
(I learn'd it from Horace this morning at school)
That love, without eating and drinking, grows cool.
So whene'er at a school-boy you level your dart,
The way through the stomach's the way to the heart.

was performed by Mr. George Mattocks and Miss Hallam, both of the theatre royal, Covent-garden, for their own benefit. The wags, upon this occasion, said, that Apollo had shown his taste in running away with Nysa, instead of pursuing Daphne.

Mr. Mattocks, with a very handsome person, possessed also an excellent voice; he played the principal characters in all the English operas, which formed a species of dramatic amusement that had a prodigious run in those times: he was, therefore, deservedly a favourite of the public.

This young couple, the year after their marriage, were engaged at the Liverpool theatre, which was then under the management of Mr. Gibson, an actor whom, in many of his characters, Gloster, in King Lear, for instance, we thought excellent; though he was said to retain more the manner of the OLD SCHOOL than any one at that time on the stage. But it was not merely on the stage that he displayed his excellence: his integrity in private life was firmly established; his benevolence, in proportion to his means, was extensive; consequently he was extremely loved and esteemed.

Mrs. Mattocks, at this time not more than one-and-twenty, was most admirably calculated to become the favourite of a town at once commercial and critical. Animated, elegant, and fascinating, her histrionic and vocal powers were soon drawn forth in tragedy, comedy, opera, and farce. She acted better than any one that had ever been seen there. She sung enchantingly, and, consequently, her success was unbounded.

The metropolitan fashions had not, at this period, taken such rapid strides from the center to the extremities of the island, as they have been used to do in more modern times; therefore the various dresses of Mrs. Mattocks, after they had passed the ordeal of the female critics in the theatre, and been there displayed to the admiration of every one, were frequently sent for by the principal ladies of Liverpool, for paraphernalian patterns; and so much was she the object of attraction that, in her evening walks, she was surrounded with admirers; so it may easily be believed that the fame of this London phenomenon soon expanded, till it reached Manchester, where she was solicited to sing once a week at the concert, which was performed every Thursday evening.

For these vocal exertions her agreement was ten guineas per night and a clear benefit. This sum was, by the lower order of the people at Manchester, thought so enormous, at that time, for

merely singing a few songs, that the market-place, which faced the inn where she resided, used to be crowded with spectators, who waited to gape and stare at " th' woman that did get ten guineas a "noight for zinging of zongs."

Mr. Gibson died at Liverpool, about the year 1771, very generally lamented. He left his property, in which was included a patent for the theatre, to a lady of the name of Bennet, whom we remember at Covent-garden theatre an actress of some eminence, in the characters of antiquated abigails and modern chambermaids, Patch, Foible, Inis, also Lady Loverule, &c., where she was a kind of co-rival to Mrs. Pitt.

A new theatre had, before the death of Mr. Gibson, been built at Liverpool, of which it appeared that many speculators wished to purchase the lease and patent, and, in consequence, made various applications to Mrs. Bennet for this purpose; but to these she with great propriety replied, "That all Mr. Gibson had possessed had "been derived from the inhabitants of Liverpool; that to them she "felt the highest sense of obligation for the ease and comfort which "attended her declining years; therefore, she would never part with "the patent to any one that would not promise to engage Mrs. "Mattocks to perform, as she knew that it would be an article "in the agreement more acceptable to the town than any other "which she had the power to stipulate."

In consequence of this determination of Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Mattocks and Mr. Younger purchased the patent betwixt them.'

This accession of her husband, to the joint management of the theatre, gave to Mrs. Mattocks her choice and full range of parts: her situation, it is probable, produced a still greater expansion of her genius, for we know that her success was unbounded. But it was not only on the stage that she shone with unrivalled lustre; her strong understanding, her talents, and the elegance of her manners, endeared her to a large circle of polished society, by whom she was equally loved and esteemed.

Under these happy auspices, it is natural to imagine that the doors of Fortune's temple were thrown open to her, and that, secure from future storms, she had only to enter, and enjoy the happiness which seemed to court her acceptance. Yet how soon was the cup of prosperity dashed from her lips! The patent, which she had fondly, and indeed rationally, hoped would have been the VOL. III.

2 X

« ÎnapoiContinuă »