Page:Republican Court by Rufus Griswold.djvu/251

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EIGHTY-NINE AND NINETY.

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capacities for art. A certain bishop of Worcester, declaring that he had greater delight in Bacon than in Shakspeare, was complimented on his addiction to philosophy, but confessed that the bacon he referred to was of no abstruse sort, and was purchasable by the flitch rather than by the folio; and there were in the days of Washington not a few clergymen boastful of excellent cooks, or ever ready to dine with approved epicures, to whose diseased perceptions that high feeding of the mind provided by the histrions was a soul-destroying poison; nor is it impossible — so inconsistent is human nature — that there were bishops too, in the same period, whose distinction it was that they were more skilful than the best instructed laymen in the composition of punches, while they would not have wandered with Thalia or Melpomene by Helicon even to have secured a monopoly of its inspiring waters.

The subject of licensing theatres had been before the legislature of Pennsylvania in 1785, and Robert Morris and General Anthony Wayne had successfully advocated their toleration. A theatre was opened in Philadelphia, and another soon after in New York, at which, on the evening of the sixth of April, 1786, was performed Royal Tyler's comedy, in five acts, called "The Contrast" — the first American play ever brought out by a company of regular comedians, Henry,^[1] Hallam, and Wignell, were the popular actors of that time, and they appear to have possessed decided and various abilities for their profession. On the seventh of September, 1789, the second native comedy, "The Father, or American Shan-

↑ Henry was the only actor in America who kept a carriage. It was in the form of a coach, but very small — large enough only to carry himself and his wife to the theatre. It was drawn by one horse, and driven by a black boy. Aware of the jealousy toward players, and that it would be said "He keeps a coach," he had caused to be painted on the doors, as coats of arms are painted, two crutches, in heraldic fashion, with the legend, "This or these." He suffered much from gout, and it is remembered that he said, "I put this marked motto and device on my carriage to prevent any impertinent observations on an actor keeping his coach: the wits would have taken care to forget that the actor could not walk."

[1] Henry was the only actor in America who kept a carriage. It was in the form of a coach, but very small — large enough only to carry himself and his wife to the theatre. It was drawn by one horse, and driven by a black boy. Aware of the jealousy toward players, and that it would be said "He keeps a coach," he had caused to be painted on the doors, as coats of arms are painted, two crutches, in heraldic fashion, with the legend, "This or these." He suffered much from gout, and it is remembered that he said, "I put this marked motto and device on my carriage to prevent any impertinent observations on an actor keeping his coach: the wits would have taken care to forget that the actor could not walk."

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