Star.
London, England, 1823-08-28 00:00:00

GARRICK AND SIDDONS.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sin—Amongst the newspaper and other incorrect reports re-
cently given of the several engagements and salaries of the prin-
cipal performers in the time of (holism that which regards
Mts. Stuuoxs is in most respects so groundless, that it ought not
to rem do unrefuttd. A plain recital of a few facts will be suf-
ficient to remove any erroneous impression on this subject from
the public mind.
That neither the spherical junction of these two great lumi-
naries, GARRICK and SIDDONS, nor any excessive salary, cre-
ating a jealousy amongst the other actresses, was effected by
any mtdiation on the part of Mr. (now Lord) EasetNe,*will
appear front the following brief statement, corroborated by
the annexed correspondence, the original manuscripts of which
1 send you.
The late Earl of AYLESSURY having seen Mrs. Swum per-
form at Cheltenham, in the summer of 1773, forty-eight years
age spoke to GARRICK in such admiration of her theatrical ta-
lents Ts to excite his earnqt attention, who, therefore, without
loss of time, wrote to his friend Mr. BATE (now Sir HENRY BATE
DUDLEY), as follows :

" Hampton, July 31, 1775.

" DEAR BATE—If you pass by Cheltenham, in your way to
Worcester, I wish you would see an actress there, a Mrs. Sid-
dons. She has a desire, I hear, to try her fortune with us. If
she seems, in your eyes, worthy of being transplanted, pray de-
sire to know upon what conditions she would ma....e the trial,
and I will write to her the post after I have received your let-
ter. Pay our compliments to your Lady, and accept of our
warmest wiF,lies :or an agreeable journey and safe return to Lon-
don.—Your's, my dear Sir, most sincerely,
(Signed) " D. GARRICK.
" Addressed to the Rev. Mr. Bate."
Au immediate reply so fully confirmed the opinion of Lord
Av eeasu its, that a negotiation was entered into, and an engage-
:nom agreed upon betwt..,n Mr. BATE and Mr. Sitmoss for the
term of three years, at a weekly stipend of £6 to Mrs. S. and an
inferior one to Mr. S. during the Drury-Lane season, which ap-
pears to have been duly ratified from the subjoined letter :
" Hampton, August 1.5, 1775.
" Dear Bate—Ten thousand thanks for your very clear, agree-

• „
able, and friendly letter: it pleased me much, and whoever calls
it a jargon of unintelligible staff, should be knocked down if I
were near him. I must desire you to assure the Lady, with my
best compliments, that she may depend upon every reasonable
and friendly encouragement in my power : at y' same time, you
must intimate to y' husband, that he must be satisfy'd with the
state of life in which it has pleated Heaven to call her. You see
how much I think myself obliged to your kind offices, by
the flattering quotations I make from your own book. Y' ac-
count of the big belly alarms me !—when shall we be in shapes
again? How long does the Lady count? when will she be able
to appear ? Pray complete your good offices, and let me know
all we have to trust to. Should not you get some memorandum
signed by her aud her husband, and of which I will send a
he-simile copy to them, under a frank, if you will let me know
their address.

I laughed at the military stratagems of the Covent-Garden
Generals, whilst I had your genius to oppose them. If she has
merit (as I ant sure by your letter she must have), and will be
wholly govetned by me, I will make her theatrical fortune; if
any Lady begins to play us tricks, I will immediately play off
my masked battery of Seddon* against her. I should be glad to
know her cast of parts, or raehir what parts she has done, and
in what she likes herself best—those I would have mark'd, and
above all, my dear Farmer, let me know about what time she
may reckon to lye-in, that we may reckon accordingly upon her
appearance in Drury-Lane. I repeat this to you, because it is

of the utmost consequence.
" Pray let me bear from you again in answer to this. I
make no compliments or excuses to you for the trouble I give
you, because I feel by myself, that you take pleasure in obliging
nte.—l am, my dear Farmer, most sincerely your's,
(Signed) " 1). G ARRICK.
" Mrs. Ganick joins with me in every good wish for you and
your Lady.
" Rev. Mr. I3ate, Ilop-Pole, Worcester."

Prom the statement now, given, the early display is mani-
fested of that genius that progressively raised this celebrated
actress to unrivalled pre-eminence; for, from whatever cause,
at the close of her first engagement, she retired to the Theatre at
Bath, it was hut for a short season, to re-appear in the capital
in cloudless sple:•dour. Though Lord ERSKINE, we believe, had
no knowledge whatever of Mrs. SIDICIONS' first engagement, his
Lordship, and a few literary friends at the bar, had the merit of
rrincipally promoting her subsequent return to the London Stage.
1 remain, &c. A. B.

DEATH THROUGH EXCESSIVE DRINKING.--AII
In-
quisition wai taken yesterday evening, at the Ten
111-11 s, Church-street, Spitalfields, on view of the body
of Agnes Kindall, a woman between 50 and 60 years
sf age.
.It appeared that the deceased went to her
lodgings on Monday evening, in a state of intoxica-
tion, and went to bed. About an hour afterwards the
woman of the house went into her room to call her
as desired, and found her quite dead. Verdict—That'.
the deceased died from suffocation, produced by ex-
cessive drinking.
ANECUOTE.—When the late Earl of ST. VINCENT,
then Sir J. JERVIS, commanded in the West Indies,
in 179.1,, the sudden arrival of VICTOR HUGHES with
a considerable force from Fiance, and his recapture
of part of Guadaloupe, obliged the Admiral to return
in all hasty from St. Kitts to the former island, where
Itz lay for some time in sight, though not within
range of the French, waitintfor the collection of his
scattered ships. Various rumours and.surmises pre-
vailed for some days in the squadron; but dime were
put a stop to at once, by an Officer observing, that
the French might have the Assurance to try the Es-
' periment of passing the Boyne, but whilst the Veteran
had a Resource, he must be Irtesistibk, and Vengeance
would fall on them—thus playing on the name of
almost every ship on the station.