.

he was, had to the fame Part: And this very Difcouragement fo ftrongly affected him, that not long after, when feveral of us became Sharers with Swiney, Booth rather chose to rifque his Fortune, with the old Patentee in Drury-Lane, than come into our Intereft, where he saw he was like to meet with more of thofe Partialities. And yet, again, Booth himself, when he came to be a Menager, would fometimes fuffer his Judgment to be blinded by his Inclination to Actors, whom the Town feem'd to have but an indifferent Opinion of. This again, inclines me to ask another of my odd Questions, viz. Have we never seen the fame paffions govern a Court! How many white Saffs, and great Places do we find, in our Hiftories, have been laid at the Feet of a Monarch, because they chose not to give way to a Rival, in Power, or hold a fecond Place in his Favour? How many Whigs, and Tories have chang'd their Parties, when their good or bad Pretenfions have met with a Check to their higher Preferment ?

Thus, we fee, let the Degrees, and Rank of Men, be ever fo unequal, Nature throws out their Paffions from the fame Motives; 'tis not the Eminence, or Lowlinefs of either, that makes the one, when provok'd, more or less a reasonable Creature than the other: The Courtier, and the Comedian, when their Ambition is out of Humour, take juft the fame Measures to right themselves.

If this familiar Stile of talking fhould, in the Noftrils of Gravity, and Wisdom, fmell a little too much of the Prefumptuous, or the Pragmatical, I will, at leaft, defcend lower, in my Apology for it, by calling to my Affiftance the old, humble Proverb, viz. 'Tis an ill Bird that, &c. Why then should I debase my Profeffion, by fetting it in vulgar Lights, when I may fhew it to more favourable Advantages? And when I fpeak of our Errors, why may I not extenuate them by illuftrious Examples? or by not allowing them greater, than the greatest Men have been fubject to? Or why, indeed, may I not fuppofe, that a fenfible Reader will rather laugh, than look grave, at the Pomp of my Parallels?

Now, as I am tied down to the Veracity of an Hiftorian, whofe Facts cannot be fuppofed, like thofe in a Romance, to be in the Choice of the Author, to make them more marvellous, by Invention; if I fhould happen to fink into a little farther Infignificancy, let the fimple Truth of what I have farther to fay, be my Excufe for it. I am obliged, therefore, to make the Experiment, by fhewing you the Conduct of our Theatrical Miniftry in fuch Lights, as on various Occafions it appear'd in.

Though Wilks had more Industry, and Application, than any Actor I had ever known, yet we found it poffible that thofe neceffary Qualities might fometimes be so misconducted, as not only to make them ufelefs, but hurtful to our Common-wealth; for while he

was

was impatient to be foremost, in every thing, he frequently fhock'd the honeft Ambition of others, whofe Measures might have been more ferviceable, could his Jealoufy have given way to them. His own Regards for himself, therefore, were, to avoid a difagreeable Dispute with him, too often complied with: But this leaving his Diligence, to his own Conduct, made us, in fome Inftances, pay dearly for it: For Example; he would take as much, or more Pains in forwarding to the Stage, the Water-gruel Work of fome infipid Author, that happen'd rightly to make his Court to him, than he would for the best Play, wherein it was not his Fortune to be chofen for the best Character. So great was his Impatience to be employ'd, that I fcarce remember, in twenty Years, above one profitable Play, we could get to be reviv'd, wherein he found he was to make no confiderable Figure, independent of him: But the Tempest having done Wonders formerly, he could not form any Pretenfions, to let it lie longer dormant: However, his Coldness to it was fo vifible, that he took all Occafions to poftpone, and difcourage its Progrefs, by frequently taking up the morningStage with fomething more to his Mind. Having been myself particularly folicitous for the reviving this Play, Dogget (for this was before Booth came into the Menagement) confented that the extraordinary Decorations, and Habits, fhould be left to my Care, and Direction, as the fittest Perfon, whofe Temper could jofsle

through

through the petulant Oppofition, that he knew Wilks would be always offering to it, because he had but a middling Part in it, that of Ferdinand: Notwithstanding which, fo it happen'd, that the Success of it fhew'd (not to take from the Merit of Wilks) that it was poffible to have good Audiences, without his extraordinary Affistance. In the first fix Days of acting it, we paid all our conftant, and incidental Expence, and fhar'd each of us a hundred Pounds: The greatest Profit that in fo little a Time had yet been known within my Memory! But, alas! what was paltry Pelf, to Glory? That was the darling Paffion of Wilks's Heart! and not to advance in it, was, to fo jealous an Ambition, a painful Retreat, a mere Shade to his Laurels! and the common Benefit was but a poor Equivalent, to his want of particular Applaufe! To conclude, not Prince Lewis of Baden, though a Confederate General, with the Duke of Marlborough, was more inconfolable, upon the memorable Victory at Blenheim, at which he was not prefent, than our Theatrical Hero was, to fee any Action profperous, that he was not himself at the Head of. If this then was an Infirmity in Wilks, why may not my fhewing the fame Weakness in fo great a Man, mollify the Imputation, and keep his Memory in Coun

tenance.

This laudable Appetite for Fame, in Wilks, was not, however, to be fed, without that constant Labour, which only himself was able to

come

come up to He therefore bethought him of the means, to leffen the Fatigue, and at the fame time, to heighten his Reputation; which was by giving up now, and then, a Part to fome raw Actor, who he was fure would difgrace it, and confequently put the Audience in mind of his fuperior Performance: Among this fort of Indulgences to young Actors, he happen'd once to make a Mistake, that fet his Views in a clear Light. The beft Criticks, I believe, will allow, that in Shakespear's Macbeth, there are in the Part of Macduff two Scenes, the one of Terror, in the fecond Act; and the other of Compaffion, in the fourth, equal to any that dramatick Poetry has produc'd: Thefe Scenes Wilks had acted with Success, tho' far fhort of that happier Skill and Grace, which Monfort had formerly fhewn, in them. Such a Part, however, one might imagine would be one of the last, a good Actor would chufe to part with: But Wilks was of a different Opinion; for Macbeth was thrice as long, had more great Scenes of Action, and bore the Name of the Play: Now, to be a fecond in any Play, was what he did not much care for, and had been feldom us'd to: This Part of Macduff, therefore, he had given to one Williams, as yet no extraordinary, though a promifing Actor. Williams, in the Simplicity of his Heart, immediately told Booth, what a Favour Wilks had done him. Booth, as he. had Reason, thought Wilks had here carried his Indulgence, and his Authority, a little too

Hh

far;