* * * * *
_Moody the Actor_ was an avaricious man. He once lent money to Mr.
Brereton, the actor; Brereton did not return it immediately, and Moody
waited with some degree of patience. At length, the first time Moody met
him, he looked earnestly at him, and vented a kind of noise between a
sigh and a groan. He repeated this interjection whenever he met
Brereton, who at length was so annoyed, that he put his hand in his
pocket and paid him. Moody took the money, and with a gentler aspect
said, "Did I ask you for it, Billy?"--Speaking of Sheridan, Moody once
said, "I have the highest respect for Mr. Sheridan; I honour his
talents, and would do anything to show my friendship for him, but take
his word."--_Taylor._
* * * * *
_A Cruel Physiognomist._--Quin said of Macklin, "If God writes a
legible hand, that fellow is a villain." At another time, Quin had the
hardihood to say to Macklin himself, "Mr. Macklin, by the _lines_--I
beg your pardon, sir--by the _cordage_ of your face, you should
be hanged."
* * * * *
"_The Grand Pause._"--Macklin had three pauses in his acting--the
first, moderate; the second, twice as long; but his last, or "grand
pause," as he styled it, was so long, that the prompter, on one
occasion, thinking his memory failed, repeated the cue (as it is
technically called) several times, and at last so loud as to be heard by
the audience. At length Macklin rushed from the stage, and knocked him
down, exclaiming, "The fellow interrupted me in my grand pause!"
_John Gilpin_.--Henderson, the actor, in his public readings, first
brought into notice the humorous tale of John Gilpin, which he recited
with such spirit and comic effect that it drew public attention to the
poems of Cowper in general, which, excellent as they are, particularly
_The Task_, were but little known at the time, though they are now
justly in universal estimation.
* * * * *
_Bibb the Engraver._--Taylor relates: How Bibb supported himself,
having relinquished engraving, it would be difficult to conceive, if he
had not levied taxes upon all whom he knew, insomuch that, besides his
title of Count, he acquired that of "Half-crown Bibb," by which
appellation he was generally distinguished; and according to a rough,
and, perhaps, fanciful estimate, he had borrowed at least 2,000_l._
in half-crowns. I remember to have met him on the day when the death of
Dr. Johnson was announced in the newspapers, and, expressing my regret
at the loss of so great a man, Bibb interrupted me, and spoke of him as
a man of no genius, whose mind contained nothing but the lumber of
learning. I was modestly beginning a panegyric upon the doctor, when he
again interrupted me with, "Oh! never mind, that old blockhead. Have you
such a thing as ninepence about you?" Luckily for him I had a little
more.
* * * * *
_Worst Leg_--Theophilus Cibber was by no means wanting in abilities
or humour. He had ill-formed legs; and having projected one of them in
company, which was noticed with a laugh, he offered to lay a wager that
there was a worse in company; and it being accepted, he put forward his
other leg, which was indeed more ill-shaped than the other.
* * * * *
_A Painter's Gratitude_.--Zoffani, the celebrated painter, who was
born at Frankfort, 1735, came to England, as a painter of small
portraits, when he was about the age of thirty years. He had the honour
to be employed by his Majesty, and painted portraits of the royal
family; and he was engaged by the Queen, to paint for her a view of the
Tribune of the Gallery of Florence. He was somewhat of a humorist; and
it is said of him, that whilst he was engaged painting in the Florentine
Gallery, the Emperor of Germany visited the Grand Duke; and coining up
to Zoffani, in the Gallery, was much pleased with his performance, and
asked him his name; and on hearing it, inquired what countryman he was,
when he answered, "An Englishman."--"Why," said the Emperor, "your name
is German!"--"True," returned the painter. "I was born in Germany, that
was accidental; _I call that my country where I have been
protected!_" He was a member of the Royal Academy, and died in 1808.