Page:Biographia Hibernica volume 2.djvu/447

 445 HENRY MOSSOP. This eminent actor was born in Ireland in 1729. His father was rector of Tuam, in the province of Con naught. Henry, as well as his father, was bred in Trinity College, Dublin, where he obtained his degree. His first appearance on the stage was at Smock Alley, November 28th, 1749, in the character of Zanga (Re venge), which he played three successive nights with uncommon applause. His next character was Richard; after which he quarrelled with the manager, went to London, and appeared at Drury Lane in the last cha racter with considerable success. He continued acting in London, and occasionally in Dublin, till the year 1761, when he became manager of Smock Alley, in opposition to Barry and Woodward. This contention, which led to the ruin of his rivals, completed his own, and after various turns of fortune, excluded from Drury Lane and Covent Garden Theatres, he died at Chelsea, November 1778, aged forty-three, in extreme poverty, having only one halfpenny in his possession at his decease. Mr. Garrick proposed to bury him at his own expense; but his uncle prevented that offer from taking place. This actor ex celled most in characters of ire, ambition, and regal tyranny. He had a strong and harmonious voice, which could rise from the lowest note to the highest pitch of sound, and was indeed one of the most comprehensive ever heard. Notwithstanding, in his accents there were frequent improprieties, as Churchill has remarked, and in tender passages, he was exceedingly aukward. He was censured by the critics for too much mechanism in his action and delivery :—the frequent resting of his left hand on his hip, with his right hand extended, was ludicrously compared to the handle and spout of a teapot, whilst others called him, “The distiller of syllables.” He was exceedingly vain of his abilities, and that vanity (as is generally the case) was accompanied with jealousy. He was offended that Garrick should play Richard after his