CHARACTERS; 



261 



Hiffernan at once closed with the 

 proposal, as it offered a cheap and 

 ready manner of laying his friends 

 and acquaintances under fresh con- 

 tributions. The account was in- 

 stantly made out, a note of hand 

 drawn, and every thing ready to 

 accomplish the bargain but the 

 doctor's signature. 



It will be here necessary to state, 

 that it was amongst the peculiari- 

 ties of this very eccentrij man, 

 never to acquaint his most intimate 

 friend with the place of his lodging. 

 Whatever could be the motive, 

 whether pride or whim, let him be 

 drunk or sober, the secret, we be- 

 lieve, never once escaped him. In 

 signing his name, therefore, to this 

 note, the bookseller, very naturally, 

 desired him to put down his place 

 of abode. " I am to be heard of 

 at the Bedford coffee-house," re- 

 plied the doctor, " But, sir," says 

 the bookseller, " a cotfee-hou^e is 

 too loose a plfice to make a note 

 transferable, and therefore it will 

 be necessary to state where you 

 constantly reside." Hiffernan paused 

 for some time, and again repated, 

 " the Bedford cotfee-house." Be- 

 ing again told that this would not 

 do, he persisted in giv- g no other 

 addres'. The bookseller not ap- 

 proving of this, the bargain fell to 

 the ground, and the doctor walked 

 away in great dudgfon, reproba- 

 ting " the inquisitive impertinence 

 ol tradesmen." 



When Hiffernan refused accept- 

 ing credit tor six months for a num- 

 ber ol books, which he could very 

 welldispose of amongst his trieuds — 

 we can very well see the price he 

 set on keeping his lu Iglng a secret. 

 I'he sale of liie books would br; a 

 ready money traffic to him during 

 the timcj — the translation would 



likewise gain hira seme reputation; 

 — and as to the payment of his note, 

 that could be setded in his usiiai 

 way, viz. for some time by promises, 

 and at length by a frank acknow- 

 ledgment of total incapacity : — yet 

 all these advantages were foregone 

 sooner than " divulge the secrets of 

 his prison-house," — There he was 

 alike impenetrable to friend and 

 foe. 



The next thing of any conse* 

 querice that engaged our author's 

 attention, was a work called " Dra- 

 matic Genius" — which he dedicated 

 to Garrick, his friend and patron 

 through life. This work is divided 

 into fivf books. The first deline* 

 ates a plan of a permanent temple 

 to be erected to the memory of 

 Shakespeare, with suitable decora- 

 tions and inscriptions. The second 

 investigates the progress of the hu- 

 man mind in inventing the drama, 

 and conducting it to perfection ; 

 with a candid disquisition of the 

 rules laid down by critics. The 

 third exhibits a philosophical ana- 

 lysis of the pre-i'equisites of the art 

 of acting. The fourth displays the 

 criteria of dramatic genius in com- 

 position, and the beautiful and sub- 

 lime of acting ; and the fifth treats 

 of architeclure, painting, and other 

 art=, so far as they are accessary to 

 theatrical ix- presentation. 



'i'here is in this, as in most of 

 Hifternan's writings, 3 mixture of 

 science and absurdity. — He had not 

 taste sufficient to set oft'his learning, 

 and his fami'iar life was such as to 

 shut out all improvement. The 

 characters of the several plays of 

 Shakespeare given in this work are 

 in Latin as well as in English j and 

 as the doctor piqued himself on his 

 Lalinily, the reader will judge for 

 himself, what cxccUcflcehe possessed 

 S 3 in 



