no occasion to come into the theatre, they used to go into the pastry-cook's, in Russelcourt, and eat their custards, and hear him as well as if they had been in the orchestra, for he would make "the Welkin roar again." No one could doubt the goodness of his lungs, or accuse him of sparing them; but as to Orrery. What! you have found out that he bellows, have you? you have discovered that he roars. Upon my soul, David, you are right; he bellows like a bull; we used to call him Bull Mossop; Mossop, the bull: We had no better name for him. But then, David, his eye, is an eye of fire; and when he looks," he looks unutterable things ;" it is scarce necessary that he should speak, for his eye conveys every thing that he means; excepting your own eye, David; it is the brightest, the most expressive, most speaking eye, that ever beamed in a Garrick.-Why, my lord? with the utmost submission to your lordship; from whose accurate judgment and comprehensive understanding, I tremble to differ; does not your lordship think there's a-dull sort of a heaviness-a blanket-a kind film, á? -- Orrery. What! you have discovered that he is blind? he is as blind as a beetle; there is, indeed, an opacity, a stare, without sight; a kind of film, like that you describe. Egad, David, whatever his eye is, nothing escapes your's; but though I must acknowledge, he bellows like a bull, and is as blind as a beetle; yet, his memory, has that tenacity, that every thing adheres to it, that is once recieved-He does not forget a syllable. Garrick. Upon my honour, my lord, if his memory was what you describe in Ireland, he must have forgot to bring it with him to London, for here, the prompter, was obliged to repeat every sentence; and he could not retain a whole sentence, there was a necessity for splitting it, and giving it him in two parts. Orrery. What! you have found out, that his head runs out; when he was with us, Lady Orrery, used to call him Cullender Mossop-Mossop the cullender: The fellow could not remember a common distich; but notwithstanding, I must acknowledge, he is blind as a beetle; bellows like a bull; and cannot retain any thing more than a cullender; yet, his carriage is so easy; his air so gentleman-like; his deportment has so much fashion about it, that you perceive, at a glance, he had kept the best company, and no one who sees him, would ever conceive, that they were looking at a player; he has the port of nobility-he looks like one of us. Garrick. As to his port, my lord, I grant you, he is tall, and upright enough, but, with submission-the utmost submission, to your lordship's better judgment; did not you think there was a kind of an aukwardness—a rigidity—a vulgarity? We had fencing-masters, dancing-masters, but all would not do; he looked more like a taylor, than a gentleman. Orrery. What you have found out he's stiff By the lord, David, you are right; nothing escapes you; he is stiff stiff as a poker; I remember, we used to call him Poker Mossop; we had no better name for him in the country; but however, his body might want, as I must acknowledge it did, the graceful suavity of the antinour; his mind, ever formed of the most flexible materials; any advice, which you gave him, he would take; a hint was, I am persuaded, all that was necessary. Garrick. There, my lord, in this, I' must be bold enough to oppose you in the most pointed manner; for of all the obstinate, headstrong, unmanageable animals, I ever dealt with in all my life, he is the most untractable; the most stubborn; the most wrong-headed-I never knew one instance, where he followed any advice that I gave him, in any the smallest degree; if I recommended him to dress a character pluin, he came upon the stage like a gingerbread king; if I advised splendour in his appearance, he endeavoured at getting a quaker's dress, from the keeper of the wardrobe; and, in every thing else, had that most impenetrable— Orrery. So, you have discovered, that he is obstinate? Upon my soul, he is as obstinate as a pig; he has more of that animal's pertinacity than any man I ever knew in my life; but yet, David, with all his faults, he is-but I have no time to enter into the particulars-but, be what he will, you have engaged him; and I wish you may agree with each other. HISTORICAL ANECDOTE. It is well known, that the great Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, perished at the battle of Luizan, which he gained on the 16th of November, 1632, but nothing positive was known, as to the circumstances of his death; some pretended, that Cardinal Richlieu was the author of it; others, that he was assassinated by Duke Albert of Lauenbourgh, one of his generals, who was |
