1.] MR. SHERIDAN AND MR. DIGGES 23 private sentiments, and to enter, with all the spirit he is master of, into the character he represents ; and this is an indisputable claim which the public, in general, have upon him. But if an actor, in order to please a part of that public, should by an unusual emphasis, gesture or significant look, mark out a passage in his part (which at another juncture he would pass by lightly) as a party-stroke, he in that instance steps out of his feigned character into his natural one, than which nothing can be more insolent to the audience, or more calculated to bring disapprobation and disgrace not only upon himself, but on all his brethen."1 Just and wise as are these remarks, evincing Mr. Sheridan's perfect comprehension of an actor's position and duty, they were most obnoxious to Mr. Digges, who resented being lectured and made the unwilling recipient of good advice. Moreover, he bore the manager a grudge for seeming to doubt his word, and he watched for an opportunity to revenge himself. This occurred on the 2nd of March, 1754, when the same play was again performed. A call was made for a repetition of the following unpoetical lines, which had been frantically applauded before : "If, ye powers divine ! Ye mark the movements of this nether world, And bring them to account, crush, crush those vipers; Who singled out by the community To guard their rights, shall, for a grasp of ore Or paltry office, sell them to the foe." 1 "Memoirs of Mrs. Frances Sheridan," pp. 55, 56. Mr. Digges intimated that he was forbidden to speak the lines a second time, and a call arose for the Manager, who had left the theatre. After an interval, during which Mr. Sheridan did not return and apologize, a young man in the pit stood up and shouted-"God bless his Majesty King George!" The loyal sentiment, and preconcerted signal, having been heartily cheered as the watchword for action, the dissatisfied and patriotic audience proceeded to destroy the furniture and fittings of the theatre. An energetic attempt to burn it to the ground was frustrated through a mere accident. However, the conspirators had the satisfaction of reflecting, when enjoying their well-earned repose, that they had beggared Mr. Sheridan.1 While the work of destruction was in progress, Mrs. Sheridan remained at home fearing for her husband's life, her own condition at the time rendering any shock or anxiety very serious. The consequence was that a boy born soon afterwards, and named Sackville, did not long survive. How to support his family gave Mr. Sheridan great concern. had no lack of sympathy, and the Lord-Lieutenant rightly interpreted the feelings of the public when he offered Mr. Sheridan a pension of £300 by way He 1 Digges was proud of his share in the outrage. Thirty years later he had a benefit in Dublin, and then he chose the play of Mahomet. It was stated in the play-bill that "this was the play that had been the ruin of Mr. Sheridan in 1754." He took the part of Alcanor, and, after declaiming with intense energy the lines given above, he stopped for the applause, which, to the credit of the audience, was sensibly withheld. His malice had overreached itself. 1.] "APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC" 25 of compensation for his losses and in recognition of his services to the stage. He declined the pension, being the only one of his contemporaries who, by so doing, displayed a virtue which would have immortalized a Stoic. The reasons which he assigned for his refusal did him credit :-"Should I accept this pension," he said in substance, "I shall confirm all the calumnies to which I have been subjected, while if I do my utmost to retrieve my position, may hereafter regain public favour." I He let the theatre for two years and started for England, after issuing an "Appeal to the Public" wherein he wrote that he had expended nine thousand pounds in renovating and improving the Theatre Royal, that he was obliged to part with it for a time in most disadvantageous circumstances, and that the fruits of eight laborious years had been blasted in a night, adding-"He wakes as from a dream, and finds that the best and most vigorous of his years have been employed to no purpose. Persecuted by implacable enemies, abandoned by many pretended friends, who have given him up without so much as hearing what he had to say, and daily experiencing the blackest instances of ingratitude from persons most obliged to him, he must now look out for a new course of life, a new country, and new friends." His lot was assuredly hard and the treatment to which he had been subjected was alike cowardly and cruel. He deserved the thanks of his fellows; he received the return for which those who honestly serve them ought to be prepared. He had the satisfaction, however, of knowing that he had elevated the stage in Dublin, and there is no vainglory in the following narrative of his achievements :-" All ranks of people crowded to a theatre where the amusement was on a rational footing, and where they were assured of enjoying it without interruption. There have been sometimes more than thirty clergymen in the pit at a time, many of them Deans and Doctors of Divinity; though formerly none of that order had ever entered the doors, unless a few who skulked in the gallery disguised. Persons venerable for age, station, and character appeared frequently in the boxes and gave a sanction to the reformation. In a short space of time afterwards, many well-educated young men, and women of good characters, entered cheerfully into a profession wherein they were no longer liable to insults; insomuch that the Manager could boast, that during the space of a few years there were more gentlemen, who were such both by birth and a liberal education, upon his stage, than all the theatres in England had produced, from the time of Booth, Wilks and Cibber to that; as also a greater number of actresses, whose characters were entirely free from stain. At the time that he was obliged to quit the theatre, he was about to give a substantial proof to the world of the number of young gentlemen liberally trained who at that time belonged to his company, by playing one of the comedies of Terence in the original." 1 Gilbert's "History of the City of Dublin," vol. ii., pp. 86, 87, 92. The playhouse of which Mr. Sheridan was the Manager 1.] CHURCHILL ON MR. SHERIDAN 27 Mr. Sheridan acted at Covent Garden Theatre while in London. The Rev. Charles Churchill was the most critical among the playgoers of that time, the result being shown when he wrote this passage in the Rosciad: "Next follows Sheridan ;-a doubtful name, As yet unsettled in the rank of fame! Just his conceptions, natural and great, His feelings strong, his words enforced with weight; In vain the wonders of his skill are tried The two extremes appear like man and wife, His action's always strong, but sometimes such Why is the right leg, too, forbid to stir, But, spite of all defects, his glories rise, And art, by judgment formed, with Nature vies. was pulled down in 1815, and the Catholic church of St. Michael and St. John was erected on the site. The vaults in which the dead are now placed partly formed the pit of the theatre. |