Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Companion to the play-house, or, An historical account of all the dramatic writers (and their works) that have appeared in Great Britain and Ireland, from the commencement of our theatrical exhibitions, down to the present year 1764 > Volume 2

B O
1729, and aHefted, but unjuftly,
to be written by Shakefpeare. — la
this Piece he was prevailed en to
accept a Part on the fifth Night
of it's Performance, which he
continued to a£t till the twelfth,
■which was the laft Tin-.e of his
theatrical Appearance, altho' he
did not die till the loth of May
1733, when having been attack-
ed by a Complication of Difor-
ders, he paid the laft Debt to
Nature, leaving behind him no
IfTue, but. only a difconfolate
Widow, who immediately quitted
the Stage, devoting herfelf en-
tirely to a private Life, and who
is I believe ftill living.— A Copy
of his Will may be feen in the
London Magazine for 1733, P*
J26, in which he ftrongly tefti-
fies his Efteem for this amiable
Wofiaan, and affigns his Reafons
for bequeathing her the whole of
his Fortune, which he acknow-
ledges not to be more than two
thirds of what he received from
iier on the Day of Marriage.
RiE Charaffei- as a Writer lins
rci been tfcahlifhed by any
Wciks of great Importance, yet
he was undoubtedly a Man of
confiderable Erudition, of good
ClafHcal Knowledge, and though
what he has written are trivial in
Point of Bulk and Extent, yet
they are far from being fo in Point
of Mferit.-— — He has left behind
him only one dramatic Piece,
"U'hich, tho' fuccc^ful, was his
only Attempt in that V/ay. — It
js entitled,
13 I D o ar.d 12. N E A s. A
Mafque.
With Refpeft to bis Abilities
as an A£lor, there is furely no
great Occalion to expatiate on
them, as they have never yet been
call'd in Queftion ; the Applaufe
of the Public bore Witnefs to
them in his Life Time j the
B O
ComrKcndations of hi-sCctempo-
raries have handed them down to
Poftc'ity. — — His Excellency lay
wholly in Tragedy, not being a-
ble to endure fuch Parts as had
not ftrcng Paflion to infpire him.
— And even in this Walk Dig-
nity, rather than Complacency,
Rage rather than Tcnderncfs
feemed to be his ^afte. For a
more particular Idea of him how-
ever I fhall recommend to my
Readers the Defcription Mr. Cib~
bcr has given of him in his Apo-
logy, and the admirable Charac-
ter drawn of him by that excel-
lent Judge in dramatic Perfec-
tion, Aaron Hill., Efqj in a poli-
tical Paper publifhed by him,
called the Prompter^ which, tho'
too long for our inferting in this
Place,, may be feen at length in
Theoph. Gibbers Litres of the Poets,
and in Cbetwood's Hilary of the
Stage. — His Charadler as a Man
w'as adorned with many amiable
Qualities, among which a perfe^
Goodnefs of Heart, the Bafis of
every Virtue was rcrharkably
conipicuousi He was a gay,
lively, chearful Companion, y*:t
humble and diffident of his own
Abilities, by which Means he
acquir'd the Love and Efteem of
every one ; and fo particularly was
he diftinguifhed and carefied, and
his Company fought by the great,
that as Chcttoood lelatss of him,
akho' he kept no Equipage of
his own, not one Noblem.an in
the Kingdom had fo many Sets
of Horfes at Command as he had.
— For at the Time that the Pa-
tentees, jealous of his Merit,
and apprehenfive of his Influence
with the Minifiry, in order to
prevent his Application to his
Friends at Court, which was then
kept at PFindforf took Care to
give him conflant Employment-
in Londonf by giving out every
Night