2.58 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



generally dying in the last act, he 

 draws a caricature scene of a man 

 being run through the body vvith a 

 spit by his landlady, on his incapa- 

 city of paying his reckoning ; and 

 that our readers may have an opi- 

 iiion of the vulgar extravagancy 

 "which our author has run into on 

 thisJ occasion, weshall present them 

 with the eonclnding lines: 



-Uph !" 



*' Here a general contraction of 

 the body, which as nothing vio- 

 lent can last long, is to be succeed- 

 ed by a gradual evolution of tiie 

 members, and the two following 

 lines are to be uttered in the firc- 

 ,well, endearing, melancholy tone : 



" Farewell, yc cauliflowers on llie proud 



tops 

 Of brimming tankards, 1 nevermore shall 



see — [a ]iiuisfj 

 Hard— Hard fates !" 



is to be spoken in a canine and 

 snappish mode, like " Darkness, 

 Darkness," in Richard the Third. 



" O surf , it was not so mm h 



Ti) mean to build a sconce." " ' 



Mournful reflection ! 



" But the heavensarejust !" 



Here he is to look wishfully and re- 

 pentanily towards heaven, then a 

 fctammer, " J — 1 — 1." 



As half of the List l--(0 has 

 reigned l(;ng enough J'or the other 

 vowels to take their turn) is pro- 

 nounced, he is to have the rattles 

 iu his throat, which are to he ac« 

 comp; niid by the wish abrupt, the 

 half screw, two kicks, and the top 

 supine, t-(]uivalent to the sailors 

 phrase ('' Good-night, Nicholas !"') 

 when they are going to the bot- 

 tom. 



What profit the publication of 

 these miscellanies might bring him 

 is uncertain ; if he depended en- 

 tirely on the public sale, we should 

 suppose very little; but Hifternan 

 had the art of getting olf his books 

 amongst his friends and acquaint- 

 ances by personal application, and 

 other modes of address not so very 

 creditable either to learning or de- 

 licacy. 



The line of authorship he took 

 up alter the publication of these 

 miscellanies was, any mode which 

 presented itself to gain a temporary 

 existence ; sometimes by writing a 

 pamphlet, and privately subscri- 

 bing it amongst his friends and ac- 

 quaintances, and sometimes by be- 

 coming the patron or defender of 

 some novice for the stage ; or some 

 artist who wanted to make his way 

 to public notice by puffing, or other 

 indirect means. It is said he had 

 several players and painters under 

 contribution for this purpose ; avid 

 as he was a man of some plausibiii- 

 •ty, and had a known intimacy with 

 Garrick, Foote, and many of the 

 literati, it is no wonder that he 

 sometimes gained proselytes. 



His grand place of rendezvous 

 was the cider-cellar. Maiden-lane : 

 a place he usually resorted to on 

 tho^e evenings, when, to use his 

 own expression, "hcwas not housed 

 for the night." Here it was he 

 plajed the part of patron or pre- 

 ceptor with some dexterity. If any 

 painter found his favourite word . 

 excluded a place in the Exhibition, •? 

 or wanted his piece pufted through 

 the papers, Hitlernan was " the 

 lord of infamy or praise." ii any 

 player took dudgeon at his mana- 

 ger or rival brother, our author's 

 pen was ready to defer.d him; and 

 if any person a:, a candidate for the 



stage. 



