Yet, while I welcome thee, and wish thee long, Thy policy to us, ah! dost thou lend? Flies thus, with gay prosperity-the friend?'-Vol. iv. pp. 204, 205: To the prose romance, as well as to that in verse, copious notes, which help to swell out the four volumes, are added by the editor -Mr Radcliffe. They exhibit a good deal of antiquarian research, and are well written, though here and there unnecessarily tinged with religious peculiarities. It is due to that gentleman to add, that if this publication has been extended beyond its just proportions, through mercenary motives, he, at least, can derive no profit from them. He states, in a note, that every part of the produce of the purchase-money of the copy-right will be paid, as it shall accrue to him, to some charitable institution in England.' ART. VII. The Life and Times of Frederick Reynolds. Written by himself. In 2 Vols. 8vo. 17. 8s. London. Colburn. 1826. 1 REYNOLDS was, for nearly forty years, the most indefatigable of all our writers for the theatre; he was, also, one of the most successful on the stage, and he was, altogether, the most moneymaking, his balance at the close amounting, as he feels happy in telling us,' to the sum of nineteen thousand pounds! To give the world the knowledge of the means by which such a phenomenon in stage finance was produced, would have justified any man in writing a history of himself. But, in addition to this more substantial matter, Reynolds had, in the "written traces of his brain," a vast variety of pleasant recollections, compatriot and personal, theatrical and ultra-theatrical, of which he "would have been the cruelest he alive to leave the world no copy," and he may be considered as the residuary legatee, and "only surviving representative" of the Miles Peter Andrewses, the Tophams, and other rambling, lively, farce-writing, green-room-dangling men of the last half century. Those recollections he has collected after, like Milton, "long thinking and beginning late," and given them to the public in two handsome octavo volumes. He is, unluckily for his taste, not above the ancient and much-ridiculed contrivance of finding an apology for his present authorship. Pope set these things down under the general head of "obliged by hunger, and request of friends." Reynolds has added to these natural and influential motives the singular one of a 'severe nervous disease. We doubt whether such a motive ever struck man before; and we are perfectly sure, that the time was when he would have thought it an invaluable hit for a farce. Another of the ancient absurdities, which no man would have turned to pleasanter ridicule, is his commencing his work with the commencement of his ancestry, and even this he urges upward, like an old chronicler, into the clouds of hypothesis. Having heard my grandfather say, that his grandfather was secretary to Thurloe, Cromwell's secretary!' On this hint their descendant speaks, and, by the more than poetic licence of a "perhaps" of uncommon dimensions, fabricates himself into the lineal descendant of a statesman and warrior. 6 'Perhaps this same Reynolds, joining the military to the literary profession, was the man who dispersed the rebels at Burford in Oxfordshire; and then, allied with Jones, defeated the Marquis of Ormond, at Rathmines, near Dublin. He afterwards led over six thousand men for a junction with Turenne, at the siege of Dunkirk; which they took, and delivered to Cromwell after a victory over the Spaniards, at the battle of the Dunes. May, therefore, the reader, for the honour of his hero, believe that this hero was my ancestor.'-p. 2. We pass over some pages of ancestry, and come closer to the biographer himself. His grandfather was an opulent merchant, living at Trowbridge, in Wilts. His house a curiosity,' and its master a 'curiosity;' a short man in a bushy bob-wig, with a little round hat (an offence for which, in that day, a man ran the risk of being shown about in a cage, or hung in effigy) and a full pompadour suit! He kept, however, a dull house; for, though he gave his grandsons a guinea a-day for living with him, none of them could endure to earn beyond the "third guinea," and he lived to be one hundred years old! Originality was obviously an inheri tance. The youngest son (my father) now remains to be mentioned. He was born in 1728. My grandfather having determined that neither of his sons should lead a life of indolence, articled him in early youth to Mr. Pickering, an eminent solicitor. When the term of his clerkship was expired, he entered into business on his own account. In course, at the commencement, his clients were not very numerons; but, aided as he was, by his father's influence, and supported by his money, and his own talents, they rapidly increased. What Johnson says of Savage may most appropriately be applied to him :-" He scarcely ever found a stranger whom he did not leave a friend." He was a thorough bon vivant, friendly, and liberal to excess: dotingly fond of society; of extraordinary humour, and vivacity in conversation; captivating in his manners, and handsome in his person.'-Vol. i. p. 4. This man married the daughter of a rich retired merchant with £5000, then a large dower, of which this thriving woer made the following business-like note, on the back of the marriage settlement: August 12, 1752, received the sum of £5000, being the consideration money for the purposes within mentioned." The solicitor made rapid way, his income was £3000 a-year, and he emerged into the "world" as it was then; he rented a large house in Lime-street, Fenchurch-street!' But he also bought a villa and estate, Southbarrow, near Bromley. Children and clients now came crowding upon him. After three sons the biographer appeared Nov. 1, 1764. In 1765 Reynolds had the curious fortune of having Wilkes for a client, and of being appointed country solicitor to Lord Chatham. He, at the same time, obtained several lucrative agencies; his income now amounting to the handsome sum of £5000 a-year. Politics were the foolery of the time, and the solicitor being a weak man, was of course a violent politician. 'When I reflect on the political principles I heard inculcated in my youth, it is strange that I did not burst from the egg-shell, a perfect democrat. My father was a member of the society for supporting the Bill of Rights, and numbered amongst his intimates not only Wilkes, but Sir Francis Blake Delaval, Sayre, Horne Tooke, Lord Montmorris, and several of the other members. Consequently, our house was a little nest of opposition, where radicals of the present day, might have heard the whigs of the last, daily and nightly predict the certain and immediate downfall of the nation, that still exists in increasing splendour.'-Vol.i. p. 9. The politician was now plunged into the full work of peril and expense belonging to such pursuits. 'Among the following year's events, I can only recollect that my father fought a colonel, and a common councilman: that he canvassed the electors of Nottingham, with a view to represent them in Parliament, but failed; and that he was made under sheriff of London, to his friend Sawbridge; in which office his political opinions then insured him a certain popularity.'-Vol. i. p. 10. Reynolds in his boyhood saw Mrs. Barry in Desdemona, with whose appearance he was ominously charmed; and saw Wilkes, whose forehead low and short, his nose shorter and lower, upper lip long and projecting, and sunken eyes squinting' unspeakably, terrified him to tears. Wilkes, however, took this with his usual ease, and made a speech on his power of overcoming first impressions. A note contains something more of this popular personage. Another time Wilkes said, "That he required a fortnight to talk away his face." But to have formed an opinion of him from his house, any person would have imagined that his own sentiments, with regard to his person, were very different, for it was all looking-glass. Not satisfied with large and small mirrors in every part of the room, the panels of the doors were lined with the same material: so that though, according to the wish of the philosopher of old, he had not a glass in his breast to inform others of his actions, he had surrounding him a sufficiency to repeat them to himself. ›› The house to which I allude was at Kensington Gore, where, to a party seldom exceeding three or four intimate friends, he used to give the most exquisite little dinners that can well be imagined. His custom was to have no more than one dish placed on the table at a time; by which means the succeeding course was always produced hot. He was always attended by female servants. Wilkes, imagining that his conversation was less liable to be repeated by them, than by the males: on what principle he acted, I cannot venture to determine; but perhaps, being so surrounded by mirrors, on that, of the old French proverb, "The mind of a woman is like a mirror, which receives every impression, but retains none."Vol. i. p. 20, 21. Garrick was at this period near his setting, and Reynolds was not of an age to comprehend the powers of this marvellous actor, but he was enraptured with his Hamlet, and fought his way into the house on the night of his taking leave. He here tells a tolerably characteristic story. The riot and struggle for places can scarcely be imagined, even from the above anecdote. Though a side box close to where we sat, was completely filled, we beheld the door burst open, and an Irish gentleman attempt to make entry, vi et armis-" Shut the door, box-keeper!" loudly cried some of the party-" there's room by the pow'rs!" cried the Irishman, and persisted in advancing. On this, a gentleman in the second row, rose, and exclaimed, "Turn out that blackguard!" Oh, and is that your mode, honey?" coolly retorted the Irishman ; come, come out, my dear, and give me satisfaction, or I'll pull your nose, faith, and shillaly you through the lobby!" 6 66 66 you coward, This public insult left the tenant in possession, no alternative; so he rushed out to accept the challenge; when, to the pit's general amusement, the Irishman jumped into his place, and having deliberately seated and adjusted himself, he turned round, and cried, "I'll talk to you after the play is over.' -Vol. i. pp. 90, 91. Sterne says of the Sentimental Traveller, that all kinds of interesting things contrive to fall in his way. A man who intends to write his own life, is generally as fortunate as the sentimentalist, and the choses frappantes of this bustling world contrive to put themselves remarkably in the way of the future anecdotist. Reynolds, who saw the departure of Garrick, thus witnessed the more striking last effort of that vigorous and imperious politician, Lord Chatham. 6 From the proximity of Westminster School to Westminster Hall, aud the two houses of Parliament, I became a lawyer and politician in the eggshell. I frequently attended the debates, and was, or rather imagined myself, a great admirer of Lord North, Fox, and Burke; and in Westminster Hall, of Lord Mansfield, Dunning, Thurlow, and Wedderburne. But, though young, and inexperienced, and dazzled by the sagacity, vigour, and eloquence of these gentlemen, I soon perceived that with great men a very little humour went a very great way; and often afterwards, when writing, the one great advantage of Westminster Hall over 09 used to Q theatres however futile their attempts, barriste barristers cannot beal hissed, and dramatists may bac. 176 $0.31 oa On the Duke of Richmond's motion, April the 7th, 1778, relative to the independence of America, Lord Chatham rose from his bed, and, in the midst of pain and debility, attended the house. By the kindness of the Duke of Bedford, I stood close to the venerable statesman, as he passed through the Peers' lobby; and I afterwards heard his speech during the debate. Never shall I forget the nervous and energetic tone in which he delivered the following passage: "I rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me, that I am still alive to lift my voice against the dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy. Pressed down, as I am, by infirmity, I am little able to assist my country in this most perilous conjuncture; but I never will consent, while I have sense and memory, to deprive the royal offspring of the House of Brunswick of their fairest inheritance." 'The Duke of Richmond having replied to his speech, Lord Chatham attempted to rise to answer him; but, after two or three unsuccessful efforts, he fainted and fell. There was but one feeling through the house, both parties rushed to his assistance: though, on the sudden accidental interruption of an ordinary orator's speech, the majority say, or seem to say, "for this relief, much thanks!"-Vol. i. pp. 112-114. In this close the dramatist breaks out, and Reynolds is himself again. A personage very remarkable in his early day for ability, and as remarkable in his later for eccentricity, is now introduced. 'About this period, one of our constant visitors was the Honourable Thomas Erskine, who had lately relinquished the army and the navy, for a new profession, the law. Little did I then think, that this young student, who resided in small lodgings at Hampstead, and openly avowed that he lived on cow beef, because he could not afford to purchase any of a superior quality,-dressed shabbily, expressed the greatest gratitude to Mr. Harris for occasional free admissions, and used boastingly to exclaim to my father, "Thank fortune, out of my own family I don't know a lord," little did I then think, that I should ever live to see this distressed personage in possession of a peerage, the seals, and the annual receipt of about fifteen thousand pounds. But want of income, that great professional stimulant, urged him into action; and aided by strong natural talents, and increasing industry, his consequent success, and rise, were so rapid, that I remember Murphy, the dramatic author, always calling him the "Balloon barrister." One of his first clients was Admiral Keppel, who, being brought to a court martial by Sir Hugh Palliser, and acquitted, presented his successful young advocate with a bank note of one thousand pounds. Mr. Erskine showed us this novel sight, and exclaimed, "Voila, the nonsuit of cow beef, my good friends!" 6 Soon after Lord George Gordon's trial, for whom, with Lord Kenyon, he was counsel, and where again there was a verdict of acquittal, he came with all his honours thick upon him," and passed three or four days with us at Southbarrow. Whether success had not increased his companionable qualities, or, from what cause I know not, but, though equally conciliating to my father and my mother, he, and the junior part of the family, got so completely to loggerheads, that, on the day of his departure, full of our supposed annoyances, Jack, Robert, and myself, waylaid him at the gate, pulled off our hats, waved them, and then huzzaed him. He turned round abruptly, stared, and haughtily demanded what we meant! |