MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER MATTHEWS. 



to the subject. The genuineness of the two first 

 duipters has been called in question. 



MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER, an ancient 

 English chronicler, was a Benedictine monk of the 

 abbey of Westminster, who lived in the fourteenth 

 century. He compiled a chronicle, commencing from 

 the creation, and extending to the year 1307, which 

 he entitled Flores Historiarum, whence he had the 

 name of Florilegus. This work chiefly relates to 

 English history, and is very freely transcribed from 

 Matthew Paris. It was published in London, 1567, 

 and at Frankfort, 1601. 



MATTHEWS, CHARLES, a celebrated comedian, 

 was born, in London, June 28, 1770, and at the age 

 of fourteen was bound apprentice to his father, James 

 Matthews, a bookseller in the Strand, who died in 

 1804. By reading plays he imbibed a strong parti- 

 ality for them, and his first performance was in a pri- 

 vate play. At length, he resolved to make the stage 

 his profession, and performed at Richmond and Can- 

 terbury. His father, from religious motives, was 

 averse to his son's playing, and, being informed that 

 he was at a certain town for that purpose, went there 

 with the determination of hissing him oft' the stage ; 

 but, on his return, he told his friend, that, though he 

 saw his name in large letters in the play-bills, and 

 was resolved to check his career, yet the people so 

 laughed at his performance, that he could not help 

 laughing himself; and they so applauded that he 

 was obliged to do the same. In 1803, he was en- 

 gaged at the Theatre Royal, Hay market, where he 

 appeared in Jabal, in the Jew, and Lingo, in the 

 Agreeable Surprise, Buskin, Old Wiggins, Sir Fret- 

 ful Plagiary, and other similar characters, with so 

 much applause that he soon came to be considered 

 one of the best mimics that ever appeared on the 

 stage, and, in 1804, was engaged at Drury-lane* 

 When that house was burned down, in 1809, the com- 

 pany performed at the Lyceum theatre, and Matthews 

 took the parts in which Bannister had hitherto ap- 

 peared. His success in Somno, in the Sleep-walker, 

 at the Haymarket theatre, ensured him an engage- 

 ment at Covent-garden theatre, where, however, he 

 remained only three seasons. In 1817, he played his 

 celebrated character of Multiple, in the Actor of all 

 Work, thirty nights, to full houses, in the London, 

 and afterwards with equal success, in the provincial 

 theatres. 



Feeling conscious that he possessed within himself, 

 individually, the power of attracting and entertaining 

 the public, he now joined with Mr Arnold, of the 

 Lyceum, in the establishment of a monodramatic 

 entertainment, called " Matthews at Home ;" Mr 

 Arnold finding the house, and Matthews furnishing 

 the amusement. Never, perhaps, did a project of 

 such a nature so decidedly succeed ; night after night, 

 and season after season, the theatre was thronged with 

 all the beauty, rank, fahion, and talents of the 

 metropolis. Nor was this to be wondered at. What- 

 ever merits Matthews possessed as an actor on the 

 stage, his qualities of description, imitation, and il- 

 lustration, off the stage, far transcended them ; in the 

 one he shared the talents and success of many, in the 

 other he stood alone and unrivalled. His was not the 

 mere mimicry of voice or manner ; he possessed a 

 peculiar power of copying the minds of the persons he 

 imitated ; and his greatest efforts were produced by 

 imagining conversations between men which had 

 never taken place, but in which he depicted with a 

 master hand their minds, characters, and disposi- 

 tions. This power, added to a copious store of anec- 

 dote, the" quickest possible perception of the ridicu- 

 lous, an unequalled talent for singing comic songs 

 of a species which he himself originated, in which 

 speaking is combined with singing, and his gentle- 



manly manners, naturally rendered him a popu- 

 lar member of private society. It was not surpris- 

 ing, therefore, that when the public were permit- 

 ted to participate in the gratification which had 

 been confined to his personal friends, they should 

 eagerly avail themselves of the opportunity of wit- 

 nessing an exhibition combining all the strength of 

 his various and varied resources. 



The names of his various entertainments were as 

 follows : 



1818. Mail Coach Adventures. 

 IHI9. Trip to Paris. 

 1820. Country Cousins. 



1821. Earth, Air, Fire, ond 



Water. 

 18-22. Youthful Days. 



After five years' success with these entertainments, 

 Mr Matthews went to America, and arrived on the 

 6th of September, 1822, at New York, where he was 

 extremely well received by the public. Being 

 libelled in the Philadelphia Gazette, he brought an 

 action, and was awarded 3000 crowns damages. He 

 returned to England in July, 1823; and on the 25th 

 of March following, produced his " Trip to America." 

 This, and his " Jonathan in England," acted the same 

 year in Mr Arnold's regular season, became the sub- 

 ject of much ill-natured remark here and across the 

 Atlantic. Mr Matthews published an exculpatory 

 letter in the " European Magazine." 



When Terry's intellect began to fail, Yates (who 

 owed his introduction to the stage to Matthews) ap- 

 plied to him ; and the consequence was, the name of 

 Matthews, instead of Terry, appeared as joint-man- 

 ager of the Adelphi theatre. They entered into a 

 partnership, the term of which expired just five days 

 after Matthews's death. By the agreement, when 

 either of them acted, he received ten pounds. There 

 Matthews subsequently gave his entertainments, there 

 he (in the dramatic season) performed ; his first ap- 

 pearance being on the 29th of September, 1828, in 

 " Wanted a Partner," and " My Absent Son." Lat- 

 terly, a coolness arose between him and Mr Yates, and 

 he declined acting there at all. 



We continue the list of his entertainments : 



1824. Trip to America. 1830. Comic Annual. 



1825. Memorandum Book. 1831. Comic Annual, Vol. 2. 



1826. Invitations. 1832. Comic Annual, Vol. 3. 



1827. (At Drury Lane.) 1833. Comic Annual, Vol. 4. 

 18i8. Home Circuit. 1834. Youthful Days, and 

 182U. Spring Meeting (with Yates). Home Circuit. 



It was affirmed that Mr Matthews would not dare 

 to cross the Atlantic again, after his vivid sketches 

 of our American brethren ; but he formed a juster 

 estimate of his powers and their good sense ; and in 

 1834, he paid America a second visit, and for the 

 first time gave his " At Home" in the United States. 

 He subsequently acted his round of theatrical charac- 

 ters; and was, as before, received with the greatest 

 applause. 



Circumstances, however, induced him to shorten 

 his stay in America, and he returned to England. 

 He became ill on the voyage, which was very stormy 

 and dangerous ; and when he reached Liverpool his 

 weakness was such that he was unable to quit the 

 town for some weeks. He then removed to the house 

 of a friend, near Daventry, where he seemed to rally; 

 but it was deemed advisable as speedily as possible 

 to remove him to the West of England, where, in 

 spite of the mildness of the air, and unremitting at- 

 tention, symptoms of a fatal disorder exhibited 

 themselves ; and after several weeks of protracted 

 suffering, on the 28th of June, 1835, being his 

 fifty-ninth birthday, he expired ; the immediate cause 

 of his death being water in the chest. 



As an actor, the rapidity with which Matthews 

 seized upon all prominent and eccentric points of 

 character, and the felicity with which he portrayed 

 them, were wonderful. His field of observation was 



