FAILURE AS ACTOR 85 



in a shop which, according to Woodward 1 , was little more than 

 a shed; from there he moved to Westminster, and it appears 

 that at the age of twenty-one he had a practice in Covent 

 Garden. He early experienced financial difficulties ; indeed, it 

 is stated that, at times, he was unable to provide himself with 

 the bare necessities of life. His marriage with a dowerless 

 maiden, Miss Travers, did not improve his prospects, and he 

 sought to add to his income by the utilization of his botanical 

 knowledge. He travelled over the country collecting plants, 

 which he dried, put up into sets with descriptions and sold by 

 subscription; also he arranged the collections and gardens of 

 the Duke of Richmond and Lord Petrie. Hill soon found that 

 Botany, from the monetary point of view, was unprofitable ; 

 he therefore decided to try his fortune on the stage, and appeared 

 at the Haymarket and Covent Garden. 



Woodward 2 gives a very amusing account of him in his new 

 profession. After giving examples to shew Hill's limitations, 

 he remarks : " There was a time at the celebrated Theatre of 

 May Fair he [Marr] represented Altamont, and the Great 

 Inspector [Hill] attempted Lothario ; and the polite Audience 

 of that Place all choruss'd and agreed with you, when you 

 dying, said, 'O Altamont ! thy Genius is the stronger.'... Can 

 I forget, great Sir, your acting Constant, in the Provok'd Wife, 

 and your innocent Rape of Mrs Woffington ; when, in a certain 

 Passage, where, at least, a seeming Manliness was necessary, 

 you handled her so awkwardly, that she joined the Audience in 

 laughing at you." 



Woodward's account may be accepted as being substantially 

 correct, for in many ways Hill shewed that he lacked the qualities 

 requisite for a successful career on the stage in those days. 



Having thus failed as an actor, Hill returned to the practice 

 of medicine and seemingly with more success, for in 1746 he was 

 serving as a regimental surgeon, a position doubtless not very 

 remunerative but helping to keep the wolf from the door. This 

 same year saw the publication of Theophrastus's treatise on 

 gems. In its new guise the value of the work was much 



1 A Letter from Henry Wood ward,... to Dr Hill... London, 1752. 



2 Loc. cit. 



