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Article MEMOIRS OF CHARLES MACKLIN, ← Page 3 of 8 →
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Memoirs Of Charles Macklin,
At this time be had a violent quarrel with Foote , who carried on a similar institution in the same neighbourhood . The controversy ran so high between these two great men , that their Rhetorical Seminaries at last descended into mere stages for personal attacks . Foote had obviously the advantage over Macklin in wit , humour , and knowledge ; but Macklin had astrong hold over his antagonist on the score of private character : for-Macklin affected austerity of morals , and
even a Roman simplicity of manners . Foote was an avowed libertine and profligate . When Macklin professed to make Foote the subject of the debate at his Oratorical Tribunal , he announced it in his bills by the name of the Black Ni ght . Upon one of these occasions , he told a story of Foote ' s having accepted a gentleman ' s invitation to accompany him
on a tour through France and Italy , and having contrived to secrete the gentleman ' s portmanteau , which was thought to have been lost on the road . According to Macklin ' s account , Foote then found a pretence to get rid of a companion he did not like , rambled to Paris by himself , and was detected bv che Gentleman whom he had robbed ,
who , on returning to Paris , saw his own deaths upon the . back of Foote . Macklin concluded by a whimsical parody of Hamlet ' s soliloquy , which , he said , Foote uttered when he was going to open the portmanteau—To steal , or not to steal , & c . Foote represented this story as the mere effusion of Macklin ' s
malignant invention ; ' but ( says he ) it-is Nature ' s fault , not his : for if the poor fellow had it in his power to be witty , I believe he would not have told lies . ' On one of the debates which Foote allotted to Macklin , he animadverted upon . a Latin Motto which the latter had fixed over his Tribunal . — ' I have often ( said Foote ) wondered where the devil
Macklin could p ick up even the few Latin words which the poor fellow sometimes drags in by the bead and shoulders . —I have it !—He was Footman to a Gentleman of Trinity College , Dublin , and was often sent by . his Master la pawn his Horace for their common dinner , and he used " to peep into the , book as he went along , and so got a few Latin words No ; upon reflection that could not be the way— for the fellow could not read ! ' .
This oratorical warfare , which never was an object of interest to the Public , was at length reduced to such miserable detraction and abuse , that the Town was wearied with the dispute . Empty benches drove each of the combatants to other resources , and Macklin looked for his chief support in the Ordinary which he had instituted in his Coffee-room ; but his provision was so coarse and niggardly , that it was wholly neglected .
It is a curious circumstance in the account of Foote and Macklin , that soon alter their public attack on each other , they were both sauntering along the Piazza in Covent-Garden with their respective friends . The Piazza , at that time , was lhe favourite morning lounge of tiie Actors , Wits , and Witlings . Macklin amused his acquaintance , M 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of Charles Macklin,
At this time be had a violent quarrel with Foote , who carried on a similar institution in the same neighbourhood . The controversy ran so high between these two great men , that their Rhetorical Seminaries at last descended into mere stages for personal attacks . Foote had obviously the advantage over Macklin in wit , humour , and knowledge ; but Macklin had astrong hold over his antagonist on the score of private character : for-Macklin affected austerity of morals , and
even a Roman simplicity of manners . Foote was an avowed libertine and profligate . When Macklin professed to make Foote the subject of the debate at his Oratorical Tribunal , he announced it in his bills by the name of the Black Ni ght . Upon one of these occasions , he told a story of Foote ' s having accepted a gentleman ' s invitation to accompany him
on a tour through France and Italy , and having contrived to secrete the gentleman ' s portmanteau , which was thought to have been lost on the road . According to Macklin ' s account , Foote then found a pretence to get rid of a companion he did not like , rambled to Paris by himself , and was detected bv che Gentleman whom he had robbed ,
who , on returning to Paris , saw his own deaths upon the . back of Foote . Macklin concluded by a whimsical parody of Hamlet ' s soliloquy , which , he said , Foote uttered when he was going to open the portmanteau—To steal , or not to steal , & c . Foote represented this story as the mere effusion of Macklin ' s
malignant invention ; ' but ( says he ) it-is Nature ' s fault , not his : for if the poor fellow had it in his power to be witty , I believe he would not have told lies . ' On one of the debates which Foote allotted to Macklin , he animadverted upon . a Latin Motto which the latter had fixed over his Tribunal . — ' I have often ( said Foote ) wondered where the devil
Macklin could p ick up even the few Latin words which the poor fellow sometimes drags in by the bead and shoulders . —I have it !—He was Footman to a Gentleman of Trinity College , Dublin , and was often sent by . his Master la pawn his Horace for their common dinner , and he used " to peep into the , book as he went along , and so got a few Latin words No ; upon reflection that could not be the way— for the fellow could not read ! ' .
This oratorical warfare , which never was an object of interest to the Public , was at length reduced to such miserable detraction and abuse , that the Town was wearied with the dispute . Empty benches drove each of the combatants to other resources , and Macklin looked for his chief support in the Ordinary which he had instituted in his Coffee-room ; but his provision was so coarse and niggardly , that it was wholly neglected .
It is a curious circumstance in the account of Foote and Macklin , that soon alter their public attack on each other , they were both sauntering along the Piazza in Covent-Garden with their respective friends . The Piazza , at that time , was lhe favourite morning lounge of tiie Actors , Wits , and Witlings . Macklin amused his acquaintance , M 2