The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

MEMOIRS OF MA THE WS, 2 Vols.
J3entley, London, 1838:
The most amusing portions of this work are the three or
four first chapters, which contain a memoir of Mather evs,
from his birth to the period of his first theatrical expi
ri-
meat, written by himself, in that. smart, whimsical st yle
Which characterized his "At Holm" sketchs at the
English Gsoera Flouse. We rea;ti this with great pleagure,
so complete a transcript is it cif the auto-biographer's very
Peculiar turn of mind ; and -regret much that he did not bye
long enough to finish it, for the fragmentary contitoraiion
by his wife, i but a angry Fel-formai-lee, being stuffed''
letters from Ireland of no earthly interest, and extracts
from the criticisms of the day, of Mathews' early pezfor-
Inances in Du blin raid the Em.dish provinces. Still, despite
these obvious. &Sects, the continuation will be sure to
Ramat, for abundance of characteristic anecdotes are scat-
tered througi.out it, not ,a few of which will be new to the
Majority of cur readers. We shall extract a few of these
at random, but first let us give Mathew's own piquant r
collections of the celebrated methodistical preacher -Awl
enaLheaver, ffttntingdon. The following is a passage from
It sermon which lie heard this fanatic deliver at a well. Known
tibernacle
" During the space of three years, my broth; en, I secretly
wished in my soul that God would favour ma with a chapel of
113' Own, bein g sick of the errors that were perpetually
broached by sot ne or other in St. Margaret's chapel where I
then preached.; yet I could not ask God for such a favour,
jPinking it was not to be brought about by one so very mean,
w, and poor a s myself. However, God sent a person un-
'mown to me to look at a certain spot, and afterwards took me
to look at it. God stirred up a wise man to offer to build a
chapel, and to manage the whole work without fee or reward.
'n(l drew the pa tttern in hi:s imagination while he was hearing
Me Preach a sermon. I then took the ground, and the clr.pel.
sprung up like a ?mushroom. I thought after such large proofs
of
„ ray prayers bring attended to, I would ask a few snore
-oours. My surtout coat was got very thin and bad, and the
'Weather at that time was very cold; and I felt it as I was
going to preach, and I prayed secrety for a coat. As soon
14 I delivered mar discourse, I desired a young man, to fetch
the
old great coat, in order to pit it on before I ',rent out of
(4 Warm Meetin" c!--house. When he cams back,lf. I he brought
rile a new one. r told him it was not mine ; tie said it was,
;Ini put it on, and it fitted very well. In oil° of the pockets
mere was a letter which informed me that my blessed Lord and
a ster had sent it me to wrap, my wortWress carcase in, during
the very severe winter. I ha.Zi thought:by my. continual begging
Lo many things of my inclu'igent A:Laster, should we;:ry him.
Y mock-modesty had no trly dr:prived me of this new great- ;
coat..

Of the eccentric preacher Rowland Hill, who has but
'WY drolleriesamongFrequently I have see-a bitr, wield, and poise in the air, and
hake s -
. the Bible at his congregation, till he has dropped it
"iiitong his thauditory. Thi, pulpit cushion was another play-
ing ; I have often ex?ected he would throw it at me, and I
Perfectly
recollect mal.ti'tig
44 exchanged look
A with some of my coin
the preparatory action. of a cricketer,
myself, to cat companions, youngsters..
eh it when he should hurl it from him with
enthusiasm.nd lifiwland Hill, who had the advantages of birth
4414inassociatior,, and a college education, should have proudly
of thetailucl }As station in contradistinction to the vulgar herd
los.) elect ; but he was as remarkable as the most unwashed
17t uneducated of the set, for the preaching-made-easy system.
i3:10..a11 mention one or two of his most extraordinary attempts
14 this line. On one occasion he said, " The love of our Lord,
brethren, is like a good large round of beef; you may cut it
7!tt come again." Again—" You all know how difficult it is
ti:atch a pig by the tail : you will find it equally so to catch
love of our Lord after backslidings !" I remember Row-
-1,1,1! Hill from my infancy. He was odd, flighty, absent
••••480„
s So inattentive was he to nicetayPin dress,-. that Ihave
ihe" him enter my father's house with one red slipper and one
e; the knees of his breeches untied, and the strings clang-
-I,::_luivn his legs."
ue autobiographers details of his early vagaries, when
Fr "!.°3 a poor strolling player ; of his evenings with George
e‘'erick Cooke ; and more especially of his introduction
uld Macklin—then a veteran of a hundred years of age
• and Tate Wilkinson, the eccentric manager of the York
?atre—are highly diverting, though they are too much
=1„L• ricatured, evidently for the purpose of making a hit.
e following, which is told with more simplicity, is as good
itriu
• anecdote of its sort as we have met with for some time.
be circumstance took place during one of Mathews's pro-
tri s to O Ireland :
‘" u • -
Itict„ ring this voyage an incident occurred worthy of rela.
NI". Talbot, one of the passengers, was a very preciseh pter-
ihni* and somewhat finikin in his manners. These c aracer-
•on es were not likely to recommend him to the rough sailors.
tboard. One morning, while pursuing his elaborate. toi-
rtittke, a noise on deck attracted his attention, and running up
tu-," his tooth-brush in his hand, he inquired the cause of such
u"
al sounds, which being explained, he remained looking.
b "at bad drawn him on deck, and resuming the action of
Ns is •
old -mg, which had been interrupted. One of the men, an
me, gruff sailor, looking askance at Talbot, with an eoxpresr-
Mf4:l,of ineffable astonishment in his face, inquired
athews, who stood at some distance from his friend, what
ls „
-cernpanion there was about? About ?' asked Mr. M.,
ot .
s,ll, lute comprehending the question,. his mouth
the,
'•
What is he at, with that thing in his mouth ? Oh,
bVed Mr. M., he is cleaning his teeth.' What, cleaning
el,,,tketh ?' thundered out the man, Well, its the first time I
t beard of such a d--d nasty trick as that Cleaning
or te,!th, the milksop !' and away he rolled, putting a pinch
Rive°oacco into his mouth. When an alarm was afterwards
nsithn of the ship's danger, the old sailor exclaimed aloud
that lag oath, I knew we should have no luck, when I saw
Lubber cleaning his teeth.'"
041."! that majestic actress Mrs. Siddons whom many of
hwl readers have seen, and all have heard of; Mr. Mathews
i this entertaining anecdote. The incident occurred
ehi,ell
she was performing Lady Macbeth—her grandest
ac",ter— aon the boards of provincial theatre :
to The evening was excessively hot, and Mrs. Siddons was
petnliePted by a torturing thirst to avail herself of the only available
df es Proposed to her at the moment. Her dresser, therefore,
i,,P,atched a boy in great haste to fetch a pnt of beer for Mrs.
m°ons, at the same time charging hint toi be quick, as she
Ult.:Lin a hurry for it. Meanwhile the play proceeded, and on
the "°Y's return with the frothed pitcher, he looked about for
Person who had sent him on his errand, and not seeing her
1),44,1.ed, Where is Mrs. Siddons?' The scene-shifter
,""ug to the stage where she was performing the sleeping
aye
of Lady Macbeth, replied, There she is 1' To the
*,r,r'se arid horror of all the performers the boy promptly
to-ta'ied on the stage close up to Mrs. Siddons, and with
pre unconsciousness of the impropriety he was co.mmir•cmg,
She
the porter-pot ! Her distress may be tir..agined.
witZ waved the boy away in her grand manner sr-tem' times
s,e",,uut. effect ; but at last the people- behind scenes sue-
toirieecid ionngetting hin?, off with the beer, part of which he
the stage
There are a few reminiscences of Sheridan in these
tililt„nes, but none of any interest, with the exception of
itti Tact, which Mathews ?elates on his own personal know-
nege, that the author of the " School for Scandal" was
thver at home with the actors, but always felt ill at ease in
the green-room. Moore, if we remember rightly, says just
tt: contrary. Of Theodore Hook—who is somewhat
tfilectedly styled " the youthful Theodore"
..—we have many
kverting particulars, chiefly with reference to his fondness
title Practical jokes. One of his letters, dated from Mauri-
-13, is introduced in the second volume, in, which he de-
tlbes himself playing the part of sentimenicalist, and weep-
wover the graves of Paul and Virginia ! Kook in tears!
Lull cannot fancy the phenomenon ! To heighten the
to esque of the scene, " the youthful Theodore" appears
have wept over the wrong gravel—but this is of no con-
luence, for one grave :is just as good as another for the
1) ," Poses of the pathet'Ac. We might gather many more
t"tlecdotes from these volumes, but space and time warn us
Wta h close
e ; enoughtlerefore to say that they will be read
, Pleasure, in spite of their numerous defects of style
arrangem ar,t, and of the somewhat lackadaisical
apeaUr:f tl'.o authoress (Mr. Mathews's widow), who in
doseribn "11 Waiter Scott, calls him a `c charming man ;"
v e es Lord Byron as a " beautiful man.;" Mr. Hook as
48 Y authful Theodore ;" end her own departed husband
u' e. very paragon of created beings !