A man that fortune's buffets and rewards
Had ta'en with equal thanks.
As he ripened, he became tinged with the old gentlemanly vice. He almost
made penury his hobby. Oxberry's widow asked him, after his retirement, to
play for her benefit: he said he could not, but that, if ever he performed
again, he would present her with 100_l_. It is related of him too, that a
friend asking him for a keepsake, he exchanged his old cotton umbrella for
his friend's silk one. Elliston and Munden were on good terms, though men
of very opposite habits. Munden had played twelve nights for Elliston at
Leamington. The manager had his wine, and the actor his brandy and water,
in the greenroom; before leaving the town, Munden sent for his bill at the
next tavern--14 glasses as many shillings. He asked Elliston to contribute
3_s_. which the manager refused to do, as Munden had drunk his wine; "but,"
retorted Munden, screwing his features up to the very point of exaction,
"Sip-pings, remember sip-pings," alluding to Elliston's occasional visits
to his glass, while he was playing his part. It is said too, though we
know not how truly, that Munden was once seen, walking to Kentish Town,
with four mackerel, suspended from his fingers by a twig, he having
purchased the fish at a low price in Clare-Market. But this is venial: for
a _string of fish_ is one of the parcels which John Wilkes said, a
gentleman may carry. Munden was a willing diner-out, and his conviviality
made him a welcome guest at any board. His hospitality at home was
unbounded; and above all, he has left an exemplary character for honesty
and integrity: he was one of those
Whose blood and judgment are so well comingled
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please.
Mr. Munden has left a widow, a son, and a daughter to share his
well-earned fortune.
[1] The recital of these circumstances induced O'Keefe to introduce the
incident in the part of Nipperkin, in _Springs of Laurel_, or "Rival
Soldiers_".
[2] Oxberry appeared on the stage for the last time, this night, as
Corporal Foss.
* * * * *