summer), replid Foote, perfectly unabashed, " until I dress for the evening; and you see," producing the two pairs he had bought, "I am well provided." His next venture was in another profession.

Having frequently met Foote at the Bedford, and perceiving him to be a young man of wit and education, Macklin, who had then just opened his school of instruction, persuaded him to try his fortune upon the stage.

In 1720, a carpenter, named John Potter, built a small theatre in the Haymarket upon the site of the King's Head Inn. The cost of the building, with scenery and dresses, was about £1,500. It was opened in 1721 by Aaron Hill with a play of his own, on the subject of Henry V.; it was soon afterwards let to a Company of French Comedians, who were its first occupants, and for several years it was called "The New French Theatre." But gradually it came to be known as "the Little Theatre in the Haymarket." Henry Fielding opened it in 1734 with that terrible social and political satire, "Pasquin," the effects of which have already been alluded to. It was here Theophilus Cibber brought the deserters from Higmores Company; and it was here that Macklin held his training school, and that Samuel Foote made his first appearance upon any stage as Othello to his tutor's Iago. This certainly must have been a ludicrous performance; Macklin used to say, "the audience could scarce

HIS FIRST APPEARANCE UPON THE STAGE. 309

refrain from laughing, although Foote perfectly knew what the author meant." His next efforts, Lord Foppington, Cibber's great part, and Pierre in "Venice Preserved," were scarcely more fortunate. His appearance, alone, would have rendered him totally unsuitable for such characters: his stature was short and inclined to stoutness; his face was round, full, and flat; his nose broad and coarse; these faults however were partly redeemed by a pleasant mouth, and sparkling eyes full of humour.

After these fruitless efforts, he turned his attention to a more suitable line of character, although he occasionally essayed genteel comedy; and even as late as 1758 appeared for his benefit, at Drury Lane, as Shylock, with Kitty Clive for Portia; and neither of them intended it for burlesque! But, with that strange desire to be something we are not, and anything rather than what we are, which is a prominent feature of human discontent, nearly all our great comedians have started as aspirants to tragic honours. Foote, however, must have possessed some merits, although Davies pronounces him to have been despicable in all parts save those of his own writing, as we find him engaged, the winter after his Haymarket début, at Drury Lane, and playing such characters as Harry Wildair, in Farquhar's "Constant Couple," with Peg Woffington, the Sir Harry, in the piece-and Bayes, in "The Rehearsal." As we have before seen it was customary to imitate

the styles of the best-known actors in this part, but Foote carried the license still further; for not only did he mimic the peculiarities of actors, but those of statesmen, doctors, lawyers, or any persons whom the public would recognise or laugh at. It was the success of this performance that induced him, in 1747, to open the Haymarket Theatre with a piece of his own writing, entitled, "The Diversions of the Morning." The house was crammed. The "Diversions" consisted of the old imitations of Bayes, and some new ones. The Epilogue was a satirical mimicry of the frequenters of the Bedford. But a selection from Congreve's "Old Bachelor" got him into hot water. The theatre was not licensed, and the actors of the patent houses called upon the Westminster magistrates to interfere; so on the second night the constables entered and dispersed the audience.

But Foote was not to be so easily put down on the very next morning he issued another announcement in the General Advertiser :

"On Saturday afternoon, exactly at twelve o'clock, at the new theatre in the Haymarket, Mr. Foote begs the favour of his friends to come and drink a dish of chocolate with him; and 'tis hoped there will be a great deal of comedy and some joyous spirits; he will endeavour to make the Morning as Diverting as possible. Tickets to be had for this entertainment at George's Coffee Houses, Temple

"A DISH OF TEA."

311

Bar, without which no one will be admitted. N.B.-Sir Dilbury Diddle will be there, and Lady Betty Frisk has absolutely promised."

A crowded house was the result of this advertisement; curiosity was on tiptoe to know what it meant. Foote came forward, and, bowing to the audience, informed them that "as he was training some young performers for the stage, he would, with their permission, whilst chocolate was getting ready, proceed with his instructions before them." Under pretence of teaching these pupils, he again introduced his imitations. The authorities made no further attempt to interfere with him; and in a few weeks he altered the time of his entertainment from morning to evening, and the title from "Chocolate" to "Tea." To drink a dish of tea with Mr. Foote became the rage of the season. actors exclaimed that his mimicry would ruin them. Upon which the wit replied that in that case it would be his duty to provide another situation for each lady and gentleman who, instead of murdering blank verse, and assuming the characters of kings, queens, lords, and ladies, for which their abilities were far from being suitable, should be placed where their talents and behaviour could with more propriety be employed. Quin he appointed, on account of his deep voice and ponderous manner, to be a watchman; Delane, who had a whining delivery, was to be a beggar; Ryan, who was noted

The

for a shrill voice and monotonous tone, an itinerant razor-grinder; Peg Woffington, an orange girl, &c. Finding that every move they made against him only ended in defeat and further ridicule, the actors at length, in sheer despair, let him take his course unmolested. The year afterwards he appeared in a similar entertainment, which he cailed "An Auction of Pictures." New characters were introduced, -notably Sir Thomas de Veil, a Westminster justice; Mr. Cock, a celebrated auctioneer and the notorious Orator Henley. This piece, as well as a later one entitled "Taste," was a satire upon one of the fashionable manias of the day-the rage for antique coins, antique sculptures, old masters, old china, &c.—which rendered the auction room a morning lounge à la mode. None of the three entertainments at present enumerated were published. "The Knights," which followed "The Auction," was the first piece printed. To this comedy was added a "Cat Concert," as a burlesque upon the Italian opera; for which he engaged a man so celebrated for his imitations of the grimalkin race that he was called Cat-Harris. One morning, when he did not come to rehearsal, Foote sent Shuter to seek him; he lived in a court in the Minories, and the messenger, not being certain of the house, commenced a cat-solo. Presently a man thrust his head out of a window and answered in the same enchanting strain. "You are the fellow