RECOLLECTIONS OF THE OLD ACTORS, &C. &C. 521 



he could obtain, such as it was, losing his employment of course 

 his salary for three years, besides the continual irritation and loss of 

 property. Such were the blessed effects of liberty in the British 

 theatre ! 



The next remarkable act of this extraordinary man was to bring 

 his own comedy, the " Man of the World," upon the stage in London, 

 for the first time, when he was more than fourscore years old. He 

 had produced it in Ireland, several years before, with much success 

 and great profit : for several years he never had printed or published 

 it, nor suffered a MS. copy of it to go out of his hands ; the consequence 

 was, that when acted it was admired, acquired reputation, and was 

 followed by the public, when it could be seen, for many years, to the 

 author's great emolument. That a man of his age should repeatedly 

 perform so arduous a character, besides his own farce of " Love-a-la- 

 Mode," so continually as he did, during its successful run, demon- 

 strates the wonderful strength of this remarkable man. When he had 

 almost, though not entirely, ceased to act, he still lived in society, in 

 convivial parties, where he was entertained as a wonder, as he certainly 

 was, contributing largely to amuse the society in which he moved. 

 On one occasion, when he was much more than one hundred years old, 

 I heard him make a long speech in a debating society, upon an his- 

 torical subject of much temporary interest ; it is true that he was 

 asked to do so, and prepared himself for the occasion, but still, that a 

 man of his age should command intellect enough to accomplish this, 

 is not the least wonderful part of the transaction. 



Henderson was the last eminent actor who sprang from the school 

 of Garrick : remarkable for the disadvantages he overcame before he 

 fixed himself in the station he deserved to hold, and the steadiness 

 with which he maintained himself in it while life remained. His 

 father died young, leaving his widow with two sons, and very little 

 to support them ; she did give them what was then thought a tolerable 

 school education, but it was difficult to contrive the means to establish 

 him in life. John Ireland, a remarkable man in those times, took. a 

 liking to Henderson, and received him into his house, with a view to 

 support his interest during his entrance into life; being himself inti- 

 mate with artists, literary men, and actors, and finding his young 

 friend partial to the stage, he did every thing practicable to promote his 

 views in that profession introduced him to Garrick, and other emi- 

 nent men of that time, and endeavoured to procure for him an en- 

 gagement under Garrick. In that he did not succeed, but Garrick gave 

 the youth a recommendation to Palmer, proprietor of the Bath theatre, 

 who engaged him at a low salary, and brought him out there with 

 advantage, and he became the favourite actor of the place. 



The most remarkable part of this transaction was, that Ireland, 

 Henderson's only friend, when he learned how the youth was engaged, 

 made a party of friends, filled one of the Bath stages, went to that 

 place, attended the theatre, and by their strenuous exertions contri- 

 buted greatly to his success. He continued the hero of that theatre, 

 till the elder Colman bought the Haymarket theatre of Foote, for an 

 annuity, which our Aristophanes politely relinquished, by dying out 

 of the way before the first quarter was due. Till then, the per- 



M.M. No. 95. 3 X 



