NELSON 67 



great Nelson took place ; and I may here mention that 

 my father was the last person who shook hands with the 

 illustrious hero on English ground, having accompanied 

 him to the Sallyport, and held an umbrella over his head, 

 on his embarkation from Portsmouth, prior to the fatal 

 battle of Trafalgar. I had, with some friends of the 

 family, who had procured tickets, seen the body lie in 

 state at Whitehall, and afterwards stood upon one of the 

 sides of the arch of Temple Bar as the procession passed 

 under. 



I also frequented the theatres and other places of 

 amusement ; my father being intimate with the pro- 

 prietor of Covent Garden, and holding shares himself in 

 Drury Lane, I had many opportunities of witnessing the 

 performances of those celebrated artists, Cooke, J. Kemble, 

 and Mrs. Siddons, in, I may say, all their principal 

 characters. Their inimitable representations put all 

 other pretenders in the shade, while the dramatic hemi- 

 sphere was illumined by the splendour of their talents. 



I remember about this time to have met more than 

 once or twice the great George Frederick Cooke (for 

 great he was in his profession) at a dinner-party in 

 London, in company with my parents,^ and had an 

 opportunity of observing in private the most promi- 

 nent characteristics of that deservedly i3opular, though 

 somewhat eccentric, actor. In person he was inclined 

 to be tall and athletic (on the stage his figure was 

 majestic), with a countenance not handsome, at the same 

 time not unpleasing, for there was a good-natured smile 



^ See "Memoirs of George Frederick Cooke," by Dunlop, first 

 published in the United States. 



