Poetical Works by Charles Churchill Part 3

But, though prescription's force we disallow, Nor to antiquity submissive bow; 940 Though we deny imaginary grace, Founded on accidents of time and place, Yet real worth of every growth shall bear Due praise; nor must we, Quin, forget thee there.

His words bore sterling weight; nervous and strong, In manly tides of sense they roll'd along: Happy in art, he chiefly had pretence To keep up numbers, yet not forfeit sense; No actor ever greater heights could reach In all the labour'd artifice of speech. 950 Speech! is that all? And shall an actor found An universal fame on partial ground?

Parrots themselves speak properly by rote, And, in six months, my dog shall howl by note.

I laugh at those who, when the stage they tread, Neglect the heart, to compliment the head; With strict propriety their cares confined To weigh out words, while pa.s.sion halts behind: To syllable-dissectors they appeal, Allow them accent, cadence,--fools may feel; 960 But, spite of all the criticising elves, Those who would make us feel, must feel themselves.

His eyes, in gloomy socket taught to roll, Proclaim'd the sullen 'habit of his soul:'

Heavy and phlegmatic he trod the stage, Too proud for tenderness, too dull for rage.

When Hector's lovely widow s.h.i.+nes in tears, Or Rowe's[75] gay rake dependent virtue jeers, With the same cast of features he is seen To chide the libertine, and court the queen. 970 From the tame scene, which without pa.s.sion flows, With just desert his reputation rose; Nor less he pleased, when, on some surly plan, He was, at once, the actor and the man.

In Brute[76] he shone unequall'd: all agree Garrick's not half so great a Brute as he.

When Cato's labour'd scenes are brought to view, With equal praise the actor labour'd too; For still you'll find, trace pa.s.sions to their root, Small difference 'twixt the Stoic and the Brute. 980 In fancied scenes, as in life's real plan, He could not, for a moment, sink the man.

In whate'er cast his character was laid, Self still, like oil, upon the surface play'd.

Nature, in spite of all his skill, crept in: Horatio, Dorax,[77] Falstaff,--still 'twas Quin.

Next follows Sheridan.[78] A doubtful name, As yet unsettled in the rank of fame: This, fondly lavish in his praises grown, Gives him all merit; that allows him none; 990 Between them both, we'll steer the middle course, Nor, loving praise, rob Judgment of her force.

Just his conceptions, natural and great, His feelings strong, his words enforced with weight.

Was speech-famed Quin himself to hear him speak, Envy would drive the colour from his cheek; But step-dame Nature, n.i.g.g.ard of her grace, Denied the social powers of voice and face.

Fix'd in one frame of features, glare of eye, Pa.s.sions, like chaos, in confusion lie; 1000 In vain the wonders of his skill are tried To form distinctions Nature hath denied.

His voice no touch of harmony admits, Irregularly deep, and shrill by fits.

The two extremes appear like man and wife, Coupled together for the sake of strife.

His action's always strong, but sometimes such, That candour must declare he acts too much.

Why must impatience fall three paces back?

Why paces three return to the attack? 1010 Why is the right leg, too, forbid to stir, Unless in motion semicircular?

Why must the hero with the Nailor[79] vie, And hurl the close-clench'd fist at nose or eye?

In Royal John, with Philip angry grown, I thought he would have knock'd poor Davies down.

Inhuman tyrant! was it not a shame To fright a king so harmless and so tame?

But, spite of all defects, his glories rise, And art, by judgment form'd, with nature vies. 1020 Behold him sound the depth of Hubert's[80] soul, Whilst in his own contending pa.s.sions roll; View the whole scene, with critic judgment scan, And then deny him merit, if you can.

Where he falls short, 'tis Nature's fault alone; Where he succeeds, the merit's all his own.

Last Garrick[81] came. Behind him throng a train Of snarling critics, ignorant as vain.

One finds out--He's of stature somewhat low-- Your hero always should be tall, you know; 1030 True natural greatness all consists in height.

Produce your voucher, Critic.--Serjeant Kite.[82]

Another can't forgive the paltry arts By which he makes his way to shallow hearts; Mere pieces of finesse, traps for applause-- 'Avaunt! unnatural start, affected pause!'

For me, by Nature form'd to judge with phlegm, I can't acquit by wholesale, nor condemn.

The best things carried to excess are wrong; The start may be too frequent, pause too long: 1040 But, only used in proper time and place, Severest judgment must allow them grace.

If bunglers, form'd on Imitation's plan, Just in the way that monkeys mimic man, Their copied scene with mangled arts disgrace, And pause and start with the same vacant face, We join the critic laugh; those tricks we scorn Which spoil the scenes they mean them to adorn.

But when, from Nature's pure and genuine source, These strokes of acting flow with generous force, 1050 When in the features all the soul's portray'd, And pa.s.sions, such as Garrick's, are display'd, To me they seem from quickest feelings caught-- Each start is nature, and each pause is thought.

When reason yields to pa.s.sion's wild alarms, And the whole state of man is up in arms, What but a critic could condemn the player For pausing here, when cool sense pauses there?

Whilst, working from the heart, the fire I trace, And mark it strongly flaming to the face; 1060 Whilst in each sound I hear the very man, I can't catch words, and pity those who can.

Let wits, like spiders, from the tortured brain Fine-draw the critic-web with curious pain; The G.o.ds,--a kindness I with thanks must pay,-- Have form'd me of a coa.r.s.er kind of clay; Not stung with envy, nor with spleen diseased, A poor dull creature, still with Nature pleased: Hence to thy praises, Garrick, I agree, And, pleased with Nature, must be pleased with thee. 1070 Now might I tell how silence reign'd throughout, And deep attention hush'd the rabble rout; How every claimant, tortured with desire, Was pale as ashes, or as red as fire; But loose to fame, the Muse more simply acts, Rejects all flourish, and relates mere facts.

The judges, as the several parties came, With temper heard, with judgment weigh'd each claim; And, in their sentence happily agreed, In name of both, great Shakspeare thus decreed:-- 1080 If manly sense, if Nature link'd with Art; If thorough knowledge of the human heart; If powers of acting vast and unconfined; If fewest faults with greatest beauties join'd; If strong expression, and strange powers which lie Within the magic circle of the eye; If feelings which few hearts like his can know, And which no face so well as his can show, Deserve the preference--Garrick! take the chair; Nor quit it--till thou place an equal there. 1090

Footnotes:

[1] 'The Rosciad:' for occasion, &c., see Life.

[2] 'Roscius:' Quintus Roscius, a native of Gaul, and the most celebrated comedian of antiquity. [3] 'Clive:' Robert Lord Clive. See Macaulay's paper on him.

[4] 'Shuter:' Edward Shuter, a comic actor, who, after various theatrical vicissitudes, died a zealous methodist and disciple of George Whitefield, in 1776.

[5] 'Yates:' Richard Yates, another low actor of the period.

[6] 'Foote:' Samuel Foote, the once well-known farcical writer, (now chiefly remembered from Boswell's Life of Johnson), opened the Old House in the Haymarket, and, in order to overrule the opposition of the magistrates, announced his entertainments as 'Mr Foote's giving tea to his friends.'

[7] 'Wilkinson:' Wilkinson, the shadow of Foote, was the proprietor of Sadler's Wells Theatre.

[8] 'Palmer:' John Palmer, a favourite actor in genteel comedy, who married Miss Pritchard, daughter of the celebrated actress of that name.

[9] 'Barry:' Spranger Barry, an actor of first-rate eminence and tall of size. Barry was a compet.i.tor of Garrick. Every one remembers the lines in a poem comparing the two--

'To Barry we give loud applause; To Garrick only tears.'

[10] 'Coan:' John Coan, a dwarf, showed himself, like another Tom Thumb, for sixpence a-head.

[11] 'Ackman:' Ackman ranked as one of the lowest comic actors of his time.

[12] 'Sterne:' the celebrated Laurence Sterne.

[13] 'Franklin:' Dr Thomas Franklin, the translator of Sophocles, Phalaris, and Lucian, and the author of a volume of sermons; all forgotten.

[14] 'Colman:' Colman, the elder, translator of Terence, and author of many clever comedies.

[15] 'Murphy:' Arthur Murphy, Esq., a native of Ireland. See Boswell's Life of Johnson. Churchill hated Murphy on account of his politics. He was in the pay of the Court.

[16] 'Northern race:' Wedderburn, afterwards Lord Loughborough, and Earl Rosslyn, a patron of Murphy, and a bitter enemy of Wilkes.

[17] 'Proteus Hill:' Sir John Hill, a celebrated character of that day, of incredible industry and versatility, a botanist, apothecary, translator, actor, dramatic author, natural historian, mult.i.tudinous compiler, libeller, and, _intus et in cute_, a quack and c.o.xcomb. See Boswell's account of the interview between the King and Dr Johnson, for a somewhat modified estimate of Hill.

[18] 'Woodward:' Woodward the comedian had a paper war with Hill.

[19] 'Fools:' the person here meant was a Mr Fitzpatrick, a bitter enemy of Garrick's, and who originated riots in the theatre on the subject of half-price.

[20] 'A youth:' Robert Lloyd, the friend and imitator of Churchill--an ingenious but improvident person, who died of grief at his friend's death, in 1764.

[21] 'Foster:' Sir Michael Foster, one of the puisne judges of the Court of King's Bench.

[22] 'Ode:' alluding to Mason's Ode to Memory.

[23] 'Havard:' William Havard, an amiable man, but mediocre actor, of the period.

[24] 'Davies:' Thomas Davies, a bookseller, actor, and author. See Boswell.

[25] 'Holland:' Holland, a pupil and imitator of Mr Garrick.

[26] 'King:' Thomas King, a voluble and pert but clever actor.

[27] 'Yates:' Yates had a habit of repeating his words twice or thrice over, such as 'Hark you, hark you.'

[28] 'Tom Errand:' Tom Errand and Clincher, two well-known dramatic characters--a Clown and a c.o.xcomb.

[29] 'Woodward:' Henry Woodward, comic actor of much power of face.