868 



ESSAYS. 



benefactor. I had not gone far from the 

 h<>use. when I heard behind me the cry of 

 stop thief! but this only increased my des- 



Fatch; it would have been foolish to stop, as 

 knew the voice could not be levelled at me. 

 But hold, I think I passed those two months 

 at the rurate's without drinking: come, the 

 times are dry, and may this be rny poison if 

 ever I spent two more pious, stupid months, 

 in all my life. 



' Well, after travelling some days, whom 

 should I light upon but a company of stroll- 

 ing players. The moment I saw them at a 

 distance my heart warmed to them ; I had a 

 sort of natural love for every thing of the 

 vagabond order: they were employed in 

 settling their baggage, which had been over- 

 turned in a narrow way ; I offered my assist- 

 ance, which they accepted ; and we soon be- 

 came so well acquainted, that they took me 

 as a servant. This was a paradise to me; 

 they sung, danced, drank, eat, and travelled, 

 all at the same time. By the blood of the 

 Mirabels, I thought I had never lived till then; 

 I grew as merry as a grig, and laughed at 

 every word that was spoken. They liked 

 me as much as I liked them ; I was a very 

 good figure, as you see; and, though I was 

 poor, I was not modest. 



' I love a straggling life above all things in 

 the world ; sometimes good, sometimes bad ; 

 to be warm to-day, and cold to-morrow ; to 

 eat when one can get it, and drink when (the 

 tankard is out) it stands before me. We 

 arrived that evening at Tenderden, and took 

 a large room at the Grayhound ; where we | 

 resolved to exhibit Romeo and Juliet, with 

 the funeral procession, the grave and the 

 garden scene. Romeo was to be performed 

 by a gentleman from the Theatre-Royal 

 in Drury-lane ; Juliet, by a lady who had 

 never appeared on any stage before ; and I 

 was to s'mlHlie candles : all excellent in our 

 way. We had figures enough, but the diffi- 

 culty was to dress them. The same coat 

 that served Romeo, turned with the blue 

 lining outwards, served for his friend. Mer- 

 cutio : a largo piece of crape sufficed at once 

 for Juliet's petticoat and pall: a pestle and 

 mortar, from a neighbouring apothecary's, 

 answered all the purposes of a hell: and our 

 landlord's own family, wrapped in white 



I sheets, served to fill up the procession. In 

 | short, there were but three figures among us 

 that might be said to be dressed with any 

 propriety : I mean the nurse, the starved 

 apothecary, and myself. Our performance 

 gave universal satisfaction : the vt hole audi- 

 ence were enchanted with our powers, and 

 Tenderden is a town of taste. 



' There is one rule by which a strolli'ng- 

 player may be over secure of success; that 

 is, in our theatrical way of expressing it, to 

 make a great deal of the character. To 

 speak and act as in common life, is not play- 

 ing, nor is what people come to see: natural 

 speaking, like sweet wine, runs glibly over 

 the palate, and scarce leaves any taste be- 

 hind it; but being high in a part resembles 

 vinegar, which grates upon the taste, and one 

 feels it while he is drinking. To please the 

 town or country, the way is, to cry, wring, 

 cringe into attitudes, mark the emphasis, slap 

 the pockets, and labour like one in the falling 

 sickness: that is the way to work for applause, 

 that is the way to gain it. 



'As we received much reputation for our 

 skill on this first exhibition, it was but natu- 

 ral lor me to ascribe part of the success to 

 myself; I snuffed the cam! les : and lot me toll 

 you, that, without a candle-snufibr, the piece 

 would lose half its embellishments. In this 

 manner we continued a fortnight, and drew 

 tolerable houses; but the evening before our 

 intended departure, we gave out our very 

 best pioce, in which all our strength was to 

 be exerted. We had great expectations from 

 this, and even doubled our prices, when, be- 

 hold, one of the principal actors foil ill of a 

 violent fever. This was a stroke like thun- 

 der to our little company : they wore rest>lv- 

 ed to go, in a body, to scold the man for fall- 

 ing sick at so inconvenient a time, and that 

 too of a disorder that threatened to be ex- 

 pensive ; 1 seized the moment, arid offered to 

 act the part myself in his stead. The case 

 was desperate ; they accepted my offor ; and 

 I accordingly sat down, with the pnrt in my 

 bond and the tankard before me, (Sir. your 

 health,) and studied the character, which was 

 to be rehearsed the next day, and played 

 soon after. 



I found my memory excessively helped by 

 drinking: i learnt my part with astonishing 



