New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-09

all the world has conspired to forgive, so beau
tiful is she in the portraits OF Leiy ana so gcou
| and generous and kind-hearted does tradltiOn
make her. Yet the little woman could employ
| n biting and bitter sarcasm upon occasion.
| Macaulay, in his matchless description OF me
| death of Charles the Second, mentions that
the Merry Monarch, merry no longer, begged
his brother the Duke OF YORK, .? see 10 IL 1 ha
received from him within four years &6O,OOO;
| afterVard q pension of 10000 from the ex-
cise while $4,000 were added tor the support
of each son. She was incO1rlgibly thrlitless,
| and left little save debts when she died in her
| tbirty-fifth year, and was buried with funeral
sermon by Tennison. When think OF all the
public money which in those times the
actresses spent do not wonder at the opinion
| of the stRgc which pIick-eareu Plynne enteI'
tanned, and which Jeremy Collier set forth III
| his sour and "ShOrt View" There are good
many lords in England who do not care to tax
much about their great eat-grandmotheis,
married out of the theatres or worse nut VINO
! are inexpresslbly shocked because the Baroness
| Coutts wishes to espouse smart young Ame1l-
can, while that youth for some lnscrutaOle
reason is willing to marry her: Happy are
| the women" says dramatic historian, "WhO
| have no historics" Happy, say |, are those
| who are not much talked about while living.
| Another woman whom Margaret Godolphln
might have seen was Mrs. Aphra Behn VINO oe-
Mrs Bchn is the Astraea whom Pope charac
telizes as loosely treading the stage. she wrote
! also sundry novels of which it would not he
| pleasant particularly TO speak. But cannot
| help wishing that she bad given lis her auto
| biography No woman Of her time had seen
| mole or travelled further. Her father, by lame
! Johnson, took her to SuIlnam, where she saw
| the Indian prince OrOOnOkO, and made nm the
| hero of q novel, as Mr. Southern did OF
! tragedy. She came back to London to marry
| Mr.. Beln merchant there, of Dutch eXtrac-
| ton. She was sent 10y the lHng, Charles the
Second, who thought well OF her. TO- Antwerp,
| of
! biogiapher says: AS an ambassador or nPEO-
| tiator Of her sex could not take the usual means
| Of intelligence, OF mixing with tie 1nuitltudc
| and bustnS in the Cabals OF statesmen, she tell
| upOn another way, perhaps more etiicaclOus, OF
working by her eyes" Thele Is curious story
! of an old Scotch lady who remembered III her
| age of reading Mrs. Bclm's plays i'll her youth,
| and who asked Sir Walter TO procure them Tor
| her. lie did so with some miSGlNlngs, ana sent
! them to her. They were soon returned WIN
the message: Take back JOui bonny Mrs;
Behn! And yet remember hearing her read
aloud when | was young, in mixed company
of men and women, without blush !" SO do
times change ard notions OF propnely with
them. Mrs. Behn's dramatic works have lately
| been reprinted i'll England, in luxurious ana,
am happy to say, limited edition; Tor IL were
asked why they should not be consigned 10
Oblivion. Notwithstanding what one critic calls;
| "thel rather effective painting of the passions,
/ should he at a loss for an answer.
People who know nothing of Cooley Clbhcr
|
sarcasm of Pope will perhaps be surprised to
| find his Apology" one of the most charming
volumes of autobiography in the language. his
| historical view Of the stage or his own tlme
| does more than any other book with which am
| acquainted to preserve the personal character
! istics of the people of the theatre who were his
contemporaries. From gallery OF portraits
| the veIismlitude OF which one reefs lnStinc-
| lively, select that of Mrs. M0nttOrt, i'll the
part of Meanthd in Marriage A la mode"
Melanthd is, Cibber says "as finished an I'M.
pertinent as ever huttered in drawing-room..
| Her father has sent her letter by gallant
| recon mending him TO her good graces as an
| honorable lover. Now for Cibbers portrait
Here, one would think she might naturally
shew little of the sex's decent reserve, tho
never so slightly cOverd! No. SIR; not tlttie
| of 1t; modesty is the virtue of poor sOuld
| country gentlewOman she Is too much OF
court lady to be under 90 vulgar confusion
| she reads the letter, therefore, with careless,
dropping lip and an erected brow, hnmmlng lt
| hastily over as if she were impatient 20 Outgo
| her fathers commands by making complete
| conquest of him at once and that the letter
might not embarrass her attack, crack! she
crumbles it at once into her palm ana pours
upon HIM her whole artillery of airs, eyes, ana
motion dorm goes her dainty dtrthJ body 10 We
| ground as if she wre sinking undcr the i0Gd Of
| her Oun attractions 4; then launches into Hood
| OF fine language and compliments, still playing
her chest forward in fifty falls and risngs, like
q swan upon waving water; and TO complete
| her impatience, she is so rapidly fond OF her
| own wit, that she will not give her lover leave
| to praise it silent asserting bows ana vain en-
! deavors to speak are all the share OF the con-
veYsatIon he is admitted to, which. at least, he
is relieved fIom by her engagement to bali
score visits which she Sr'niS from HIM To
| make, with q promise to return III q twlnk-
| ljncn She must have been, indeed, charming
actress of whom so charming description
| could be written
| Old Colley did not have q good time with his
| children. His son TheOpmluS Is plllOiled f0I-
| in N
which have in them touch OF bitterness
| Theophilus is the The of whom everybody SAID
| that he was born to be hanged, but WHO
cheated all the prophets, Tor he was drowned III
the Irish Channel, the waters OF which never
closed over more finished and cOnsnmnE 30
| knave. The Laureates daughter ChaIl0t''
| had little better fortune. In the beginning sho
W3s tOmbOy at shooting, hunting, and riding.
She married Richard Clarke, an eminent td-
| der she went upon the stage, after separating
| from that performer upon the violin She quar-
relied with Fleetwood, the manager, who
| finally turned her of ; then she went slIolIIng
| about the country then, poor creature, she
wrote her "reminiscences; then she s0id
groceries in Long Acre. She opened pnppet
| show which failed. She was sent to jail tor
| debt Coming out, she set up as man, and
actually served noble gentleman as valet de
| chambIe." AS desperate resort, she went
into the business of making and selling
sausages, and finally became waiter at the
Kings Head Tavern in Marylebone Then she
died and that was the end OF the brilliant
| daughter of II clever father. Such are the
romances of the theatre and IsuppOSe that such
they have been since Thcspis. went from town
to town on his cart, Or since MS, the Master of
| Arts, wrote the Ryghtc pythe, pleasant and
merTie Coincide, intitulede, Gammer Gurton,. her
| Needle" What novel gives us more incredible
things than we find in the lives of the actresses
| the good the bad, and the not quite so bad I
| Think of Miss Simpson, daughter of Suffolk
farmer, running, fine looking, self-willed
girl, away from her rural home, meeting with
no end of adventures, marrying Mr. lncnbald.
of Drury Lane, turning out but al Indifferent
actress, left poor widow at twenty-five years