nerant grizettes, who rifqued their liberty for love, were in all fenfes of a very perilous complexion. The fruits of this amour became very vifible, and the affiftance of the obftetric operators being neceffarily called in, the fecret could no longer be concealed. To this circumftance the malevolent afperfions, fo liberally, or rather illiberall throw out upon his Ip, at the time of his first marriage, certainly took rife: but to imagine that a woman who had it in her power to make him acknowledge her for his wife, and compel him to grant her a noble provifion for life, would put up with a bribe of a few hundred pounds for hufh-money, is fo very improbable, that we cannot dwell longer upon the fubject Soon after his p quitted the university, and appeared upon the horizon of gaiety in the metropolis, a whimfical adventure occurred that is ftill recent in the memory of many of the beau monde. One night, after the play, retiring with a favourite Dulcinea to the Shakespeare, he overheard in the adjoin. ing room a voice which was very familiar to him; and he had no fooner made this discovery, than he made another by the affittance of a peep hole, which is not unfrequent in taverns. He perceived a very intimate acquaintance, who was on the point of marrying a woman of confiderable fortune, and who had declared that the fhould be the only female that he would ever think of. This gentleman was Mr. O'L-ch, a native of Ireland, no lefs remarkable for his broad fhoulders and fair complexion, than for his uncommon propensity of letting bulls. A few evenings after, his p being in Company with this gentleman, Zachary M- -e, duke H n, and fome more stars of the firft fplendor, at the St. Alban's, be jocularly rallied Mr. O'Lch upon the detection he had made, and the firict fidelity he had preferved for his intended lady, at the fame time relating the manner in which he had made the discovery. Upon which O'L-ch cried out very vociferoufly, By Jafu, GEORGE, then you fhall for the future be called PEEPING TOM OF COVENTRY;" and indeed Mr. O'Lch's prediction has been literally fulfilled, for his I—p has ever since borne that title. His p foon after this entered upon his travels, and of course took the gay and volatile city of Paris in his way. Here he entered into all the spirit of Parifian amusements, and failed not to be fashionable enough to have an intrigue with an opera girl, who, as ufual, fleeced his 1- -p pretty handfomely. His eyes were foon opened, and he was convinced by a faithful valet that his purseftrings were greatly dilated not only to fupport Mademoiselle, but also a black mufqueteer, who figured in much splendor at his expence, and who was the cher ami of his miftrefs. No fooner had our hero received this intelligence than he discontinued his vifits, and after many repeated letters, he laconically replied, "Conscious of his rival's fuperior merit, he yielded his pretenfions and all her charms to him." Thus finding the was detected, the ceafed to importune him, and he foon after returned to England. At this period the celebrated. Mifs Gs were just arrived from Ireland, and were confidered as the greatest beauties that ever appeared here in public. Dand our hero was H very fenfibly ftruck with their charms, and constantly toasted them as divinities. One evening, being at the St. Alban's tavern, rather elevated with liquor, these ladies were, as ufual, toafted. The D-gave his charming Eliza in a half pint bumper of champaign; his p gave his goddefs in a pint bumper; the Dthen drank his mistress on his knees; his lp drank his favourite in the fame manner. By this time the champaign, with the liquor they had drank before, began to operate fo powerfully, that they were wound up to a pitch of phrenzy in the cause of their refpective miftreffes; and the D-, in the warmth of his proteftations, afked his 1p if he would do more for his flame? Any thing," replied his I—————p, Will you marry her," refumed the d- -e?"Yes," replied our hero, "if you will 39 66 marry yours." Agreed," rejoined his grace, 66 on the forfeiture of ten thousand pounds:" this condition was alfo affented to, and in this extraordinary manner was this two-fold fills. more extraordinary match produced. A fhort time only elapted between this adventure and the ladies making their appearance at court with their respective titles. It is faid that the late king, after complimenting her ladyfhip upon her nuptials, entered into general converfation, and afking her if the had been at all the public places, and feen all the curiofities that the metropolis afforded; the replied, "Yes, he had seen every thing that could be feen, except one, which fhe longed vaftly to fee." Upon which the king afked her what it was the so an xiously xiously defired to be a spectator of when her ladyship very innocently replied, "A CORONATION, and please your majefty." The king fmiled, and he laughed at this very uncommon conceit. Her ladyfhip did not long enjoy her unexpected elevated flation; whether from the violent perturbation of an inceffant round of pleasures, or from the delicate texture of her conftitution, which could not sustain all the fashionable exceffes incident to female vanity, fhe fell into a decline, which proved fatal to her. His lp, who fincerely loved her, greatly lamented her lofs, and was invifible at all public places for several months. Time, however, which annihilates all things, gradually diminished his grief, and in proportion as that fubfided, the fex again appeared amiable in his eyes, and at length another beautiful young lady, of a noble family, once more made him a captive, and he yielded on an ho nourable capitulation, to her charms. The lady who appears as the heroine of these Memoirs, accidentally fell in his way, and the relation of her story so greatly affected him, that he inftantly becane her patron and her friend. Mifs Wms is the daughter of a clergyman in Brecknockshire, where he lives upon the fcanty pittance of twenty pounds a year, with which he supports a family. As his income would not admit of giving his children a boarding-school education, he undertook the task himself, which con1tituted his chief employment. Being a man of fenfe and letters, he proved a very fkilful tutor, and his pupils reaped the benefit of his abilities. Our heroine was in the first class of his academy, and as the approached maturity, he was what might be pronounced a tolerable fcholar. But, notwithflanding her acquaintance with books, she was entirely ignorant of the world, the knowledge of which is a icience far more useful than any other for thole who are to live in it. Her figure was very agreeable, and her face remarkably handiome; to these attractions fhe added youth and vivacity. It was natuial for a girl of eighteen to begin to think of changing her fituation, especially as the pretent was far from being eligible. In her infancy the was incapable of forming any opinion of the penury that necellarily prevailed about her: but finding her wants increase with her years, fhe was very delirous of fupplying them by marriage. Having once entertained this defire, fhe was watching for a favourable opportunity of gratifying it, when in her opinion one offered beyond her ex pectation. A travelling doctor had taken up his refidence in her neighbourhood, and was introduced and graciously received in the family for having performed a cure upon one of Mifs W-ms's fifters, for which he would take no reward. He foon found means of faying very tender things to our heroine, which he accompanied with prefents of trinkets that were very acceptable to her. Finding he made fome impreffion, he began to enter upon a declaration of his paffion, and offered her his hand; but added, that as the time neceffary for the declaration of the banns would detain him too long at that place, if the would decamp with him, he would marry her the first opportunity. He had given her a very favourable idea of his wealth, by the confiderable fums he gained by his practice, which afforded her the perspective of a far more comfortable life than what the led. In a word, he prevailed, and the eloped with him. She accompanied him for fome months in a peregrination throughout feveral counties, but he always evaded making her his wife, under the pretext he had first fuggefted. At length they arrived at the metropolis, when he was pregnant. Here he depofited her in an obfcure lodging, where the lay in. He left her a few guineas to pay the neceffary expences of her fituation, and from that moment fhe never beheld him. He had travelled under a fictitious name, and her enquiries after him all proved fruitless. -P Being recovered from her temporary indifpofition, and all her money being exhausted, her landlady very civilly hinted to her it was time to depart. Thus destitute, she had recourse to the difpofal of the few cloaths fhe was poffeffed of, for a fubfiftence; and when his 1— met her upon one of the benches in the Park, the had then fafted for two days, and was meditating whether the fhould fubmit to ftarve to death, or put an immediate end to her existence. He beheld her difconfolate fituation, with a feeling heart, which fo juttly characterizes him, and which excited his curiofity to hear her story, when he relieved her prefent wants, and has ever fince fupplied her not only with the neceffaries but the conveniencies of life. The world is fo cenforious that it never lets any opportunity flip of pronouncing upon fuch connexions; but if we fuppofe that Mifs W-ms may, thro' gratitude, yield to thofe defires which her beauty muft create, the original cause of this correfpondence greatly extenuates any fuppofed fault, and proves that that his 1- -p has, in every fense, the natural feelings of a man, is indeed, as in most others, nicely emphatical; the fourth act particularly he fupports with a proper fpirit of diffimu Memoirs of the Life of Henry Moffop, Efq; lation, and all the feeming honefty of (Concluded from Page 67.) DURING the time which, he fop remained in London, he continued to draw numerous audiences, and encreased in both merit and esteem. But, alas! the natural haughtiness of his temper was augmented by every additional applaufe, till it made him uneafy to himfelf, and disgusting to others. In the midst of an established reputation for theatrical excellence, of a falary which would more than supply every want that nature could feel, or reason require to be gratified; and of a number of thofe who would have been friends to him, if he would have been a friend to himself, he left London and came to Ireland. In the year 1760 he commenced manager, the confequences of which are too well known to the inhabitants of this country to need any relation. A dangerous difeafe attacked him in the year 1771, which had indeed fome remiffion whilft he breathed the pure air of the South of France, but returned with redoubled force on his arrival in England; where he died on the 18th of laft December. We shall conclude the memoirs of this celebrated actor with his character, as drawn by Mr. Wilkes in the fecond edition of his General View of the Stage; published in London in the year 1760: "Mr. Moffop has been justly allowed great merit as a tragedian. He is a good cholar, and understands his author perfely well; but his voice (which is one of the best on the itage) he often ftrains to an unaccountable harshness; fo that, like a cremona fiddle in bad hands, it fends forth founds which it was never made to produce. With the difadvantages of being very near fighted, and left handed, yet he has fhewn great ex. cellence in many capital characters in tragedy. Zanga is faid to be this gentleman's mafterpiece: there is a gloom, a folemnity in it, which he happily fupports; and a spirit of revenge, which he conveys throughout this character with great propriety; fo that even Quin's warmeft admirers have given him the preference; and Colley Cibber told me, on feeing him the first night of his performing it, at Drury-lane Theatre, that he was much fuperior to the original (Mr. William Mills,) In the fpeaking of this part, he the Moor happily intermixes, in his manner of telling Alonzo the ftory of Leo "In the laft fcene of this play he is very matterly; his tranfition from low fatisfied revenge, in fervile flattery to a voice expreffive of "Born for your ufe, I live but to oblige you: "Know then-'twas I!" is ftrikingly marked. Indeed, he does uncommon juftice to the whole character, and truly merits the applause of his auditors. "Were he to take lefs pains, both in enunciation and action (particularly in Horatio, in the Fair Penitent) he would be much more pleafing; however, in the fcenes of advifing Califta, and fighting with Altamont, he fupports the character with great propriety. In Ofmyn, in the Mourning Bride, in the first act, wherein he is brought in prifoner, his countenance and comportment strongly indicated the paffions of his mind; and in his manner of replying to the king, who queftions him as to the reafon of his gloon.inefs, there was a judicious mixture of rage, grief, and contempt for the perfon by whom he was addreffed. Though tenderness is not his fork, in the scenes with Almeria, he had a fufficiency; and his confufion on being difcovered with her by Zara, was kept up with well marked propriety. Had he more weight, he would certainly excel in Pierre; however, through the whole character, he has great merit. I must except his manner of fpeaking thefe lines to Jaifier, when they are brought before the Senate: "Thefe hoary traitors, Jalier, call us Mr. Mr. Moffop pronounces those words as if he fufpected that his friend was a traitor, which the whole tenor of the part contradicts; and, befides, it is a mode of fpeaking, that throws a blemish on Pierre, greater than he ought to be loaden with Let us confider him as a man above fufpicion, and we fhall compaffionate him the more; befides, it is a fine contrast to fee an honett, unfufpecting Friend, with arms extended to embrace the man by whom he was betrayed; does it not enlarge our regard for the one, our contempt for the other? However, in the remainder of this fcene, he has juftly acquired much reputation. His refufal of life, and his reminding Jaffier (who implores forgivenefs, and begs him to live) of his falfhood, of the fervices he has done him, and the perfidy where with he repaid him. Here he fupports fo well the fentiment and fituation of Pierre, that to hear, and not to admire, as well as feel for his misfortunes, and not to defpife their author at the fame time, is impoffible. "It has been very juftly remarked that Mr. Moffop, in many characters in tragedy where fire is required, is very different; his fire being clouded with too much fmoke, his preparatives are tedious and, of course, muft lofe their proper effect; which is evinced by the gloomy Zanga, being his best character, and his not fucceeding in the fiery Bajazet. In the Character of Richard (the first part he performed in London) he has great merit in some scenes; but, from the former Obfervation, of his wanting a proper quickness in the two laft acts, they become heavy and tirefome to the audi ence. "From the few characters I have feen him attempt in comedy, I cannot think he will meet with fuccefs; for he has not as yet acquired that sprightly air, that familiar elocution, which is fo effential to it. Upon the whole he is a valuable performer, and from the quick improvement he has already made, we have rea fon to hope the blemishes which attend him now will wear off, and that we thall yet fee him a finished Actor." their villages, ftripped naked, bound hand and foot, and put into one of their cabbins. In this terrifying condition the remained ten days, the Savages fleeping round her by way of guard every night. On the 11th night, perceiving they were faft afleep, fhe difengaged one of her hands, and foon fetting herself at liberty from the ropes, went to the door, snatched up a hatchet, and flew the Savage who lay next her. She then, fpringing out of the cabbin, concealed herself in a hollow tree, which she had obferved the day before juft by it. The noife made by the dying perfon foon alarmed the other Savages, and all the young ones fet out in purfuit of her. Perceiving from the tree, that all of them directed their courfe the fame way, and that there was no Savage near her, fhe left her fanctuary, and, flying in an oppofite direction, ran into a forelt without being discovered. The fecond day after this happened, her footfteps were traced, and the was pursued with fuch expedition, that the perceived, on the third day, thofe who were in chase of her at her heels. Throwing herself immediately into a pond, which was near her; the dived among fome weeds, and could but just breathe above water without being detected: her blood-thirsty purfuers, therefore, after having made a moft diligent fearch after her, were forced to return, disappointed. Five-andthirty days did this poor creature continue her courfe through woods and defarts, with no other fuftenance than that which fhe could procure from roots and wild berries. On her coming to the river St. Lawrence, fhe made a kind of wicker raft with her own hands, and upon that raft paffed it. As fhe went by Trois Rivieres, without well knowing where he was, fhe beheld a canoe full of Savages; and fearing they might be Iriquois, he again ran into the woods; in them fhe remained till fun fet. Soon afterwards, continuing her flight, fhe faw Trois Rivieres. She was then difcovered by a party, whom the knew to be Hurons. When they approached her, fhe fquatted down behind a bush, telling them in a loud voice, that, as fhe was naked, he was not in a condition to be Remarkable Efcape of an Algonquin Wo. feen. They immediately threw her a A man. covering, and conducted her to the foot of Trois Rivieres, where the related her Female Algonquin being taken by the eventful ftory. The In I dare fay the noble Lord is perfectly well read, because the duty of his particular office requires he should be fo, in all our revenue laws; and in the policy which is to be collected out of them. Now, Sir, when he had read this act of American revenue, and a little recovered from his aftonishment, I fuppofe he made one ftep retrograde (it is but one) and looked at the act, which stands juft before in the Statute Book. The American revenue act is the forty-fifth chapter; the other to which I refer is the forty-fourth of the fame feffion. These two acts are both to the same purpose; both revenue acts; both taxing out of the kingdom; and both taxing British manufactures exported. As the 45th is an act for railing a revenue in America, the 44th is an act for railing a revenue in the Isle of Man. The two acts perfectly agree in all refpects, except one. the act for taxing the Isle of Man, the noble Lord will find (not, as in the American act, four or five articles) but almoft the whole body of British manufactures taxed from two and a half to fif teen per cent, and fome articles, fuch as that of fpirits, a great deal higher. You did not think it uncommercial to tax the whole mafs of your manufactures, and, let me add, your agriculture too; for, I now recollect, British corn is there alfo taxed up to ten per cent. and this too in the very head-quarters, the very citadel of fmuggling, the Ifle of Man. Now will the noble Lord condefcend to tell me why he repealed the taxes on your manufactures fent out to America, and not the taxes on the manufactures exported to the Ifle of Man? The principle was exactly the fame, the objects charged infinitely more extenfive, the duties March, 1775. The without comparison higher. Why? why, notwithstanding all his childish pretexts, because the taxes were quietly fubmitted to in the Isle of Man; and because they`` raised a flame in America. Your reafons were political, not commercial. repeal was made, as Lord Hillsborough's Letter well expreffes it, to regain" the confidence and affection of the Colonies, on which the glory and safety of the Britifh Empire depend." A wife and just motive furely if ever there was fuch. But the mifchief and difhonour is, that you have not done what you had given the colonies juft caufe to expect, when your minifters disclaimed the idea of taxing for a revenue. There is nothing fimple, nothing manly, nothing ingenuous, open, decifive, or fteady in the proceeding, with regard either to the continuance or repeal of the taxes. The whole has an air of littleness and fraud. The article of tea is flurred over in the Circular Letter, as it were by accident-nothing is faid of a refolution either to keep that tax, or to give it up. There is no fair dealing in any part of the transaction. If you mean to follow your true motive and your public faith, give up your tax on tea for railing a revenue, the principle of which has, in effect, been difclaimed in your name, and which produces no advantage; no, not a penny. Or, if you choose to go on with a poor pretence inftead of a folid reafon, and will fill adhere to yourcant of commerce, you have ten thousand times more firong commercial reasons for giving up this duty on tea, than for abandoning the five others that you have already renounced. The American confumption of teas is annually, I believe, worth 30,000l. at the leaf farthing. If you urge the American violence as a juftification of your perfeverance in enforcing this tax, you know that you can never answer this plain queftion-Why did you repeal the others given in the fame act, whilst the very fame violence fubfifted?—But you did not find the violence cease upon that conceffion.-No! because the conceffion was far fhort of fatisfying the principle which Lord Hillsborough had abjured; or even the pretence on which the repeal of the other taxes was announced, and becaufe, by enabling the East-India Company to open a thop for defeating the American refolution not to pay that specific tax, you manifeftly fhowed a hankering after the principle of the act which you formerly had renounced. Whatever road you take leads to a compliance with this Τ motion. |