21Editors and printers of news-papers, well known to the public for their impartiality in regard toRoscius.
NOTES.
22A recent instance of this must not pass unnoticed. In the Public Advertiser appeared lately the following quaint panegyric, suggested probably toRosciushimself by his brotherGeorgethe attorney.NatureagainstG——}Notice of Process.Dame Nature against G—— now by meHer action brings, and thus she grounds her plea."I never made a man but stillYou acted like that man at will;Yet ever must I hope in vainTo make a man like you again."Hence ruin'd totally by you,She brings her suit, &c. &c.B. Solicitor for the Plaintiff.In reply to this notice, it is said, thedefendant's pleawould have appeared in the same paper; but the cause was obliged to be removed bycertiorarito another court; when it appeared thus:NatureagainstG——}Defendant's Plea.For G—— I without a fee'Gainst Nature thus put in his plea."To make a man, like me, of art,Is not, 'tis true, dame Nature's part;I own that Scrub, fool, knave I've play'dWith more success than all my trade;But prove it, plaintiff, if you can,That e'er I acted like a man."Of this we boldly make denial.——Join issue, and proceed to trial.A. Attorney for the Defendant.
In reply to this notice, it is said, thedefendant's pleawould have appeared in the same paper; but the cause was obliged to be removed bycertiorarito another court; when it appeared thus:
IMITATIONS.
NOTES.
23The famousThomas a Becket, feigned by the poets to have been drown'd, when, being half-seas over, in claret, he endeavoured to return to land: on which occasion a wicked wit of the town made the following epitaph for his tomb.Here liesThat shuffling, shambling, shrugging, shrinking shrimp,Tom Becket, Mammon's most industrious imp!
24A customary method it seems, ofNyky's expressing his admiration of the acting of the immortalRoscius.
25News-papers so called, in whichRosciusis not a sharer, and hath not yet come up to the price of their silence.
NOTES.
26George Alexander Stevensthe lecturer, not the Macaroni editor of Shakespeare.
27What formidable rivals to the immortalRoscius? Harlequin, Scaramouch, Chimney-sweeper, Bass-viol, Astrologer, Child, Statue and Parrot! ButRosciushaving received a formal challenge from Mr. Punch and his merry family, a pitch'd-battle, for which great preparations are now making, will be fought between them next winter; when there is no doubt but the triumphantRosciuswill, even at their own weapons, rout them all. There is the less reason to fear this, as he hath already exceeded even Mr.—— 's activity in King Richard. It is but three or four years ago since this mock-monarch died so tamely that he was hissed off the stage; on which occasion the following epigram appeared in the papers.Roscius redivivus.George! did'nt I hear the critics hiss,When I was dead?—"Yes, brother, yes,You did not die in high rant."Nay, if they think a dying kingLike Harlequin convuls'd, should spring,Let —— be hence their tyrant.
NOTES.
Roscius, however, hath chang'd his mind, and acquired new elastic powers; in so much that the following complimentary verses appeared on the agility, which he lately displayed in the performance of that character.
28A Briton blunt, bred to plain mathematics,Who hates French b—gres, and Italian pathics.
29The plaintiveRosciusseems here to have an eye to the following lines:The wits who drink water, and suck sugar-candy,Impute the strong spirit ofKenrickto brandy.They are not so much out: the matter in short isHe sipsaqua-vitæand spitsaqua-fortis.Public Adv.
30This multifarious genius pretends to have discovered the Perpetual motion, but it must be a mere pretence; as he is weak enough to think the public ought to reward him for his discovery, and offers to disclose it on the simple terms of no purchase no pay.
IMITATIONS.
NOTES.
31Falstaff's Wedding, a play written in imitation of Shakespeare; at first rejected, as unfit for the theatre, on account of having so many of Shakespeare's known characters in it; tho' the manager himself afterwards brought on a pageant, in which were almost all Shakespeare's known characters; when finding it difficult to make any of them speak with propriety, he contented himself with instructing them to bite their thumbs, screw up their mouths, and make faces at each other, to the great edification of the audience.—This play indeed was afterwards performed, and tho' received with the most confirmed and general applause, has however never since been acted, either for the author's emolument or the entertainment of the publick.
32Another comedy, nearly under the same predicament with respect to the town: having been performed but once since its first run, tho' received with similar approbation; the manager in the mean while having brought on, and repeatedly acted, the performances of his favourite play-wrights, to almost empty houses: and yetRosciushath all the while pretended to have the highest opinion of the talents, and the greatest regard for the interest of the writer.—— The manager claims a legal right, indeed, as patentee, to perform what plays he pleases; but tho' the play-house and patent be his property, he has no liberal right to make, at pleasure, a property of the players, the poets and the publick!
IMITATIONS.
IMITATIONS.
NOTES.
33Unnatural monsters, familiar only with the poets.
NOTES.
34Nykywas employed byRosciusto correct the Plain-dealer of Wycherly; which he accordingly attempted, and inscribed the attempt to his patron, "as a tribute ofaffectionand esteem for his many shining andamiablequalities." "The licentiousness of Wycherly's muse," says this modern corrector, "rendered her shocking to us, with all her charms: or, in other words, we could allow no charms in a tainted beauty, who brought contagion along with her." Of the play of the Plain-dealer, in particular, he intimates that it had been long excluded the theatre; because, to the honour of the present age, it was immoral and indecent: that on a close examination, he found in it excessive obscenity; that the character of Manly was rough even to outrageous brutality; and that he thought it necessary to work the whole materials up again, with a mixture of alloy agreeable to the rules of modern refinement!See Preface to B—— ff's Plain-dealer.What a champion for decency and delicacy, morality and humanity! What improvement may not sterling wit receive from the mixture of such alloy! What an idea may we not hence acquire of modern refinement!
NOTES.
35A character thus admirably depicted by Wycherly, in the scene between Manly and Plausible.Manly.I have more of the mastiff than the spaniel in me, I own it: I cannot fawn, and fetch and carry; neither will I ever practise that servile complaisance, which some people pique themselves on being masters of.—— I will not whisper my contempt or hatred; call a man fool or knave by signs and mouths, over his shoulder; while I have him in my arms: I will not, as you do——Plausible.As I do! Heaven defend me! upon my honour! I never attempted to abuse or lessen any one in my life.Manly.What! you were afraid?Plausible.No: but seriously I hate to do a rude thing. No, faith, I speak well of all mankind.Manly.I thought so: but know that this is the worst sort of detraction, for it takes away the reputation of the few good men in the world by making all alike! Now I speak ill of many men, because they deserve it.
APPENDIX.
Certain circumstances, to which the author of the foregoing piece was an utter stranger, having happened about the time of its publication, and given rise to rumours equally false and foreign to the party; it appears that Roscius, or some of his friends, was pleased to insert the following queries in the Morning Chronicle of July 2d.
"Candour presents her compliments to Mr.——, she begs his pardon,—— to Dr.——Kenrick, and desires to ask him a few simple questions; to which, if he be thePlain-dealerhe pretends, he will give a plain and direct answer.QueryI. Whether you are not the author of the eclogue, entitled,Love in the Suds, as well as of the letter prefixed to it?II. Whether you did not mean, though you have artfully evaded the law, by affecting the translation of a classical cento, to throw out the most scandalous insinuations against the character of Roscius?III. Whether you were not likewise the author of an infamous, anonymous paragraph in a public paper; for which that paper is under a just prosecution?IV. Whether you have not openly acknowledged notwithstanding, that you really entertained a very different opinion of Roscius?V. Whether any cause of dispute, that might subsist between you and Roscius, can authorize so cruel, so unmanly an attack?VI. Whether the brother of Roscius did not personally wait on you to require, in his name, the satisfaction of a gentleman, which you refused him?CANDOUR."
"Candour presents her compliments to Mr.——, she begs his pardon,—— to Dr.——Kenrick, and desires to ask him a few simple questions; to which, if he be thePlain-dealerhe pretends, he will give a plain and direct answer.
QueryI. Whether you are not the author of the eclogue, entitled,Love in the Suds, as well as of the letter prefixed to it?
II. Whether you did not mean, though you have artfully evaded the law, by affecting the translation of a classical cento, to throw out the most scandalous insinuations against the character of Roscius?
III. Whether you were not likewise the author of an infamous, anonymous paragraph in a public paper; for which that paper is under a just prosecution?
IV. Whether you have not openly acknowledged notwithstanding, that you really entertained a very different opinion of Roscius?
V. Whether any cause of dispute, that might subsist between you and Roscius, can authorize so cruel, so unmanly an attack?
VI. Whether the brother of Roscius did not personally wait on you to require, in his name, the satisfaction of a gentleman, which you refused him?
CANDOUR."
To these queries, the author judged it expedient to make the following reply in the same paper of July 4th.
ToCANDOUR.
Madam,"Though I think your signature a misnomer, to shew that I a no stranger to the name and quality you assume, I shall not stand on the punctilio of your being ananonymousquerist; but answer your several questions explicitly.I. I am the author of the eclogue you mention.II. I did not mean to throw out themostscandalous insinuations on the character of Roscius, nor any insinuationmorescandalous than his conduct. How far that has been so, he knows best, and is left to make the application.III. Aninfamousparagraph Icannotwrite; and ananonymousone Iwill notwrite, to prejudice my greatest enemy. As to that in question, I have not, to this hour, even seen it.CalumnyIdetest; but I thinkviceshould be exposed toinfamy, nor have I so muchfalse delicacyas to conceive, it should be treated withtendernessin proportion as it isabominable.IV. I have not acknowledged that I entertain avery differentopinion of Roscius; on the contrary, I declare, that I entertain avery indifferentopinion of him.V. As to the cause of our dispute, I should be very ready to submit it to the publick, were I egotist enough to think it deserved their attention.VI. The brother of Rosciusdid personally waiton me, to desire I would meet "him, the said Roscius, who would bring a friend with him; I being at liberty to do the same;" but as nothing of time, place, or weapon was mentioned, I did not look on this message as a challenge; nor well could I, as I never heard of requiringgentleman's satisfactionbyletter of attorney, and the professed end of our meetingturned merely on a matter of business.—It is possible, indeed, the messenger, otherwise instructed, mightimagineit such, especially as, it seems, his head has teemed with nothing but challenges and duels, since his magnanimous monomachy with one of his brother Roscius's candle-snuffers.—That Roscius himself, however, did not mean to send me a challenge, is plain, from his solliciting afterwards by letter, a conference in the presence only of a common friend to both: a request that would have been complied with, had not he thought proper, in a most ungentleman-like manner, to make a confidant, in the meantime, of a booby of a bookseller, who had the folly and impudence to declare that he would, onhis[Roscius's] account,take an opportunityto domesome desperate mischief.—Lest I should be yet supposed, from the purport of this last query, to have any fear of a personal encounter with the doughty Roscius, I require only that it may be on an equal footing. I am neither so extravagantly fond of life, nor think myself so consequential in it, as to fear the end of it from such an antagonist; nor, to say the truth, should I have any qualms of conscience, if nothing less will satisfy him, about putting an end to so insignificant a being as his: but, as "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," it is but right to provide against a mishap. Roscius has a large fortune, and little or no family to leave it to: I have a large family, and little or no fortune to leave it. Let Roscius but previously settleonly halfhis estate on my heirs, on condition thathedeprives them of a protector, and I will meet him to-morrow, and engage at his own weapons, not only him, but his brother George into the bargain.36And now, MadamCandour, give me leave to askyoua question or two, in my turn.Qu.I. Whether, from many gross instances of misbehaviour,Rosciushath not long had sufficient reason to suspect the detestable character ofNyky?II. Whether, therefore, granting Roscius to be himselfimmaculate, he is excusable for his notorious partialities to such a character?III. Whether he has any right to complain of unjust severity, in being ludicrously reproached with such partialities, by a writer, whom he hath treated, even in favour of that very wretch, with disrespect, with insolence, with injustice.W. KENRICK."
Madam,
"Though I think your signature a misnomer, to shew that I a no stranger to the name and quality you assume, I shall not stand on the punctilio of your being ananonymousquerist; but answer your several questions explicitly.
I. I am the author of the eclogue you mention.
II. I did not mean to throw out themostscandalous insinuations on the character of Roscius, nor any insinuationmorescandalous than his conduct. How far that has been so, he knows best, and is left to make the application.
III. Aninfamousparagraph Icannotwrite; and ananonymousone Iwill notwrite, to prejudice my greatest enemy. As to that in question, I have not, to this hour, even seen it.CalumnyIdetest; but I thinkviceshould be exposed toinfamy, nor have I so muchfalse delicacyas to conceive, it should be treated withtendernessin proportion as it isabominable.
IV. I have not acknowledged that I entertain avery differentopinion of Roscius; on the contrary, I declare, that I entertain avery indifferentopinion of him.
V. As to the cause of our dispute, I should be very ready to submit it to the publick, were I egotist enough to think it deserved their attention.
VI. The brother of Rosciusdid personally waiton me, to desire I would meet "him, the said Roscius, who would bring a friend with him; I being at liberty to do the same;" but as nothing of time, place, or weapon was mentioned, I did not look on this message as a challenge; nor well could I, as I never heard of requiringgentleman's satisfactionbyletter of attorney, and the professed end of our meetingturned merely on a matter of business.—It is possible, indeed, the messenger, otherwise instructed, mightimagineit such, especially as, it seems, his head has teemed with nothing but challenges and duels, since his magnanimous monomachy with one of his brother Roscius's candle-snuffers.—That Roscius himself, however, did not mean to send me a challenge, is plain, from his solliciting afterwards by letter, a conference in the presence only of a common friend to both: a request that would have been complied with, had not he thought proper, in a most ungentleman-like manner, to make a confidant, in the meantime, of a booby of a bookseller, who had the folly and impudence to declare that he would, onhis[Roscius's] account,take an opportunityto domesome desperate mischief.—Lest I should be yet supposed, from the purport of this last query, to have any fear of a personal encounter with the doughty Roscius, I require only that it may be on an equal footing. I am neither so extravagantly fond of life, nor think myself so consequential in it, as to fear the end of it from such an antagonist; nor, to say the truth, should I have any qualms of conscience, if nothing less will satisfy him, about putting an end to so insignificant a being as his: but, as "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," it is but right to provide against a mishap. Roscius has a large fortune, and little or no family to leave it to: I have a large family, and little or no fortune to leave it. Let Roscius but previously settleonly halfhis estate on my heirs, on condition thathedeprives them of a protector, and I will meet him to-morrow, and engage at his own weapons, not only him, but his brother George into the bargain.36
And now, MadamCandour, give me leave to askyoua question or two, in my turn.
Qu.I. Whether, from many gross instances of misbehaviour,Rosciushath not long had sufficient reason to suspect the detestable character ofNyky?
II. Whether, therefore, granting Roscius to be himselfimmaculate, he is excusable for his notorious partialities to such a character?
III. Whether he has any right to complain of unjust severity, in being ludicrously reproached with such partialities, by a writer, whom he hath treated, even in favour of that very wretch, with disrespect, with insolence, with injustice.
W. KENRICK."
36The above pleasantry being misconstrued by some of Roscius's friends to the disadvantage of the author, the latter thought himself under the necessity of seriously acquainting the former, of his being ready, as he is, at any time, to give him such satisfaction as a gentleman, who supposes himself injured, has a right to require.
Instead ofcandidlyreplying, however, to the above three queries, a very difficult task, indeed, to Roscius, he caused the Court of King's Bench to be moved for a rule to shew cause, why leave should not be given him to file an information against the author for a libel: which being granted of course, the same was exultingly announced in the following paragraphs inserted in all the news-papers:
"Yesterday morning Mr. Dunning made a motion in the Court of King's Bench, for a rule to shew cause why an information should not be laid against the author of Love in the Suds. When the court was pleased to grant a rule for the first day of next term. The poem was read in court by the Clerk of the Crown, and afforded no small diversion when it came to that part which reflects upon a certain Chief Justice, who was present all the time.
"Besides Mr. Wallace and Mr. Dunning, who are employed by great actor, in his prosecution of some detestable charges which have been lately urged withas much folly as wickednessagainst his character, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Mansfield are also engaged, and the cause now becomes a matter of much expectation with the publick."
To these paragraphs the author judged it necessary to make the following reply, in the above-mentioned Morning Chronicle; almost all the rest of the news-papers, by the indefatigable industryand powerful influence of Roscius, a proprietor in most of them, being shut against him.
TheAuthorofLovein theSudsto thePrinterof theMorning Chronicle.
SIR,"In reprehending others you should ever be cautious of falling into the error you condemn. In yesterday's paper you indirectly charge me, among others, with having "urged a detestable charge with as much folly as wickedness against a certain great actor."—What other people have done I know not, nor does it concern me; but I may safely defy all the Lawyers in Westminster-Hall fairly to deduce such a charge as you hint at from the eclogue in question. In this respect it is certainly as innocent as the great actor's Jubilee Ode! But granting it otherwise with any one else, how can you take upon you to say that such a charge is urgedfoolishly and wickedly? Canyouknow it to be false or groundless? And if not, on what grounds do you charge the accusers withfollyandwickedness?Why does not theCandourof the great actor, reply to the Queries put to him in your paper of Saturday last? But no; unable to justify himself at the bar of the publick, he flies for refuge to the quirks and quibbles of Westminster-Hall; and even this at the latter end of a term, in order to deceive the town into a notion that the court will countenance his prosecution. Why was not his motion made sooner, that cause might have been shewn in time, and the futility of it made immediately evident? Believe me, Sir, before an end is put to this business, the publick will be better enabled to judge on which side thefollyandwickednesslies, than you appear to do at present.I am,yours, &c.W. K.
SIR,
"In reprehending others you should ever be cautious of falling into the error you condemn. In yesterday's paper you indirectly charge me, among others, with having "urged a detestable charge with as much folly as wickedness against a certain great actor."—What other people have done I know not, nor does it concern me; but I may safely defy all the Lawyers in Westminster-Hall fairly to deduce such a charge as you hint at from the eclogue in question. In this respect it is certainly as innocent as the great actor's Jubilee Ode! But granting it otherwise with any one else, how can you take upon you to say that such a charge is urgedfoolishly and wickedly? Canyouknow it to be false or groundless? And if not, on what grounds do you charge the accusers withfollyandwickedness?Why does not theCandourof the great actor, reply to the Queries put to him in your paper of Saturday last? But no; unable to justify himself at the bar of the publick, he flies for refuge to the quirks and quibbles of Westminster-Hall; and even this at the latter end of a term, in order to deceive the town into a notion that the court will countenance his prosecution. Why was not his motion made sooner, that cause might have been shewn in time, and the futility of it made immediately evident? Believe me, Sir, before an end is put to this business, the publick will be better enabled to judge on which side thefollyandwickednesslies, than you appear to do at present.
I am,yours, &c.W. K.
FINIS.
Shortly will be published,
A
LETTER
TO
DAVID GARRICK, Esq.
OCCASIONED
By his moving the Court of King's Bench, for Leave to file an Information against the Author ofLove in the Suds, or the Lamentation of Roscius for the Loss of his Nyky.—— In which the real Purport of that Performance, with the Motives for its publication will be explained and justified.
BY THE AUTHOR.