his children and inquired "Sont-ils par la même mère ?" "Yes," was the reply, "they are by the

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same mare, but I doubt whether they are by the same horse." At a dinner a young nobleman, famous for profanity, when called upon for a toast, gave" the Devil!" Certainly, we have no objection to any of your lordship's friends," replied Foote, coolly. Seeing written upon a pane of glass with a diamond the words, "My Lord D —— has the softest kissing lips in the world," he added underneath :

"Then as like as two chips

Are his head and his lips."

He could never forego his jest, however solemn the occasion. He had been to the funeral of Holland, the actor, whose father was a baker. "Poor fellow!" he said in the Bedford that evening, the tears scarcely dry upon his cheeks, "I have been to see him shoved into the family oven." He once observed of an actress, who was remarkably awkward with her arms, that she kept the Graces at arms' length.

Johnson said he considered that Foote surpassed every one he had ever heard in humorous narrative; and that although Garrick surpassed him in gaiety, delicacy, and elegance, Foote provoked much more laughter. A gentleman who had conceived a prejudice against him, related to Boswell his first

meeting with him at dinner. "Having no good opinion of the fellow," he said, "I was resolved not to be pleased. I went on eating my dinner pretty sullenly, affecting not to mind him. But the dog was so very comical, that I was obliged to lay down my knife and fork, throw myself back in my chair, and laugh it out. No, sir, he was irresistible."

It is strange that while all the other English humourists of the eighteenth century have received such ample appreciation, the plays of Foote should be so little read. To those who would form a perfect conception of the manners of a hundred years ago, his works are invaluable; there is not a folly, a vice, a sham of the time which they do not expose; they are frequently coarse, but so was the age, and a true mirror must reflect what is presented to it. But their coarseness is palliated by real wit and well-written dialogue; his characters, it is true, are too frequently caricatures founded on some physical deformity or eccentricity of manner, but they are usually typical, and their humour springs out of the absurdities common to all humanity; and if they display no very profound knowledge of the mainsprings of human nature, they are seldom unnatural, and are almost uniformly drawn with justness and vigour.

CHAPTER VIII.

A FAMOUS MIMIC.

His Parentage-An Interview with Garrick-Disappointed Hopes -Success in Dublin-An Indignant Manager-Garrick in a Fix -An Eccentric Lady-Rich and his Favourite Cat-An Extraordinary Monologue.

THERE

HERE is scarcely a more famous theatrical character of this period than Foote's pupil, associate, and brother mimic, TATE WILKINSON, upon whose Memoirs I have already drawn so freely.

He was born in 1739; his father, Dr. John Wilkinson, who was chaplain of the Savoy, and to Frederick, Prince of Wales, obtained a painful notoriety from an infringement of the New Marriage Act, for which he was condemned to fourteen years' transportation. Death, however, saved him from disgrace; and young Tate was thrown destitute upon the world. As a boy, like Foote, he had been famous among his parent's friends for imitations of actors, and he now became a hanger on at the theatres, and a pupil of Rich's. Woffington hearing that he was in the habit of mimicking her took a

great dislike to him, and made Rich promise he would not engage him in any capacity whatever. Ned Shuter, however, took compassion on the lad's forlorn condition, and let him play a small part for his benefit. A friend of his mother's obtained a letter of recommendation from Lord Mansfield to David Garrick, then one of the lessees of Drury Lane:— "I marched up and down Southampton Street three or four times before I dared rap at this great man's door," he writes, "as fearing instant dismission might follow, or what appeared to me almost as dreadful, if graciously admitted, how should I be able to move, walk, or speak before him ?" He is admitted to this august presence, and his picture of the more absurd side of Garrick's character is very amusing, though a little malicious.

"Mr. Garrick glanced his scrutinizing eye first at me, then at the letter, and so alternately; at last— 'Well, sir-hey-what, now you are a stage candidate? Well, sir, let me have a taste of your quality.' I, distilled almost to jelly with my fear, attempted a speech from Richard, and another from Essex, which he encouraged by observing I was so much frightened that he could not form any judgment of my abilities, but assured me it was not a bad omen, as fear was by no means a sign of want of merit, but often the contrary. We then chatted for a few minutes, and I felt myself more easy, and requested leave to repeat a few speeches in imitation of the then principal

AN INTERVIEW WITH GARRICK.

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stage representatives. Nay now,' says Garrick, 'sir, you must take care of this, for I used to call myself the first at this business.' I luckily began with an imitation of Foote. It is difficult here to determine whether Garrick hated or feared Foote the most sometimes the one, sometimes the other was predominant; but, from the attention of a few minutes, his looks brightened, the glow of his countenance was transfused to mine, and he eagerly desired a repetition of the same speech. I was animated, forgot Garrick was present, and spoke at perfect ease. Hey-now! Now-what-all,' says Garrick. How, really this-is-is (with his usual hesitation and repetition of words)-why-well— well-well. Do call on me again on Monday at eleven, and you may depend upon every assistance in my power.

At the end of the second interview he was engaged for the ensuing season at the modest salary of thirty shillings a week. His imagination ran riot, and he. never doubted but that in the autumn he would see his name in the newspapers in large capitals-" The part of OTHELLO, by a young gentleman!" Alas for his hopes! His opening part was the torch-bearer to Romeo, in the last act of "Romeo and Juliet," and his succeeding ones, gentlemen-in-waiting! His remuneration was equally disappointing, for the theatre being open only three nights in the week during the first month, reduced his salary to fifteen