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V IE‘VS.
He was the first actor that imported the ludicrous peculiarities of Jonathan into England, for the
entertainment of his laughter-loving brothers and sisters. 'They were a species of humor perfectly
unique, and were relished with an epicurean gout. Their vraisemblance was unquestionable, and their
effect prodigious.
Few men said smarter things, or related a comical story with more superficial gravity. Innumerable
anecdotes are told of him.‘His first interview with Tate “’ilkinson, when the veteran casting up his
gooseberry eyes to Mathews’s tall, lank figure, (in prime twig to take a journey down a pump !)
exclaimed “ You won’t do for low comedy!”-and then “ Your mouth ’5 all on one side;” with
Mathews’s apt reply-(suiting the action to the word!) “ Is it? Now it’s all on t’ other!” which
instantly procured him from the humorist an engagement of a guinea a week ! Many were his tricks of
ventriloquism. His alarming the Brighton folks with cries of “ Murder!” from every room in a
house; his strange metamorphosis at his friend the pawnbroker’s, at whose house he had been dining,
to whom, with a hat lightly dashed over his brow, an eye wickedly winking, the mouth twisted, a
screw (alias, a tooth!) loosened, and shoulders upshruggedehe pledged, for twelve shillings, his (the
pawnbroker’s !) own spoon ; and his adventure as the mock ambassador, (as extravagantly ludicrous as
the delicious episode of the Russian Princess, great Rusty-Fusty, in O‘Keefe’s wild farce,) are among
the raciest of his frolics. I remember him at Covent Garden giving a fac-simile of Cooke in the entire
part of Sir Archy M‘Sarcasm, without making a single trip ;-and a true tale is told of him, that,
personating an ancient male eccentric, a family friend, he drank tea with his mother-(“ 0, wonderful
son, that can so astonish a mother ! ”)ewithout the old lady finding out the cheat !
His manly spirit was not to be put down by ignorant and illiberal clamour. A Mr. Mawworm, at
Sheflield, with sanctified garb and elongated visage,wheld him up to censure, and libelled his profes-
sion-he attacked the lank-haired, crop-cared Jack I’resbyter in his strong-hold, and quilted him soundly.
And when a few Yankies, on his second visit to America, attempted an opposition, in revenge for his
Vivid sketches of some of their absurdities, mark how a plain tale set them down l His judicious and
uncompromising address shamed the blackheads into silence, amidst a shout of applause !
0f the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund he was a liberal supporter. He knew the importance and
usefulness of his profession-that to make the vivid conceptions of the poet start into life; to give feature,
form, and motion to thoughts and words; and draw smiles and tears simultaneously from thousands
assembled to hail the rare union of these sister arts, is the triumph of the player:-that the highest
authorities have borne testimony to its moral influence upon society; and that it needed no vindication
on the score of intellectuality, unless the infinite variety of Garrick be a fable, and the transcendant
powers of Siddons and Kemble a chimera and a dream! He knew, too, its many and sad vicissitudes;
that the broad sunshine of public favor is a dazzling and dangerous light; that he, whose presence is
hailed as the signal for mirth-whose vivacity and whim seem to indicate all absence of disappointment
and sorrow, is too often a prey to those very evils he labors so successfully to dispel in others ;ethat,
with a shattered frame and a broken spirit, he is called to the exercise of physical and mental energies;
to be “ a fellow of infinite jest,” his “ occupation gone”-to crave endurance, where he once commanded
applause l-To see Hamlet dwindled to the “ lean and slippered Pantaloon”-to hear Falstaff whistle
his rich conceits in childish treble-and behold the awful Lear, too truly! a “ very foolish, fond old
nian, fourscore and upward,”-were a sorry sight! Better men, if they could not applaud, would pity
and be silent; but the million, if they could not shout, would play the serpent, and hiss! We have
lived too long not rightly to estimate the world’s gratitude, and the bitterness of its compassion.
The versatile talents of Mr. Mathews on the Fund’s anniversary festivals attracted a large company ;
and he was equally happy when appealing to his auditors in behalf of the “ poor player,” whose