Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 12.djvu/90

 den Theatre, 20 Sept. 1808, he went with the Covent Garden Company, 26 Oct. 1808, to the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, and 3 Dec. to the Haymarket. He attempted to act during the period of the O.P. Riots, commencing September 1809. On 5 June as Falstaff in ‘Henry IV, Part I.,’ he played for the last time in London. In Liverpool, whither he proceeded, he met Thomas Cooper, known as the American Roscius, who offered him an engagement for America of 12,000 dollars and three benefits for forty nights, with the option of renewing the engagement annually for three years. This Cooke accepted. So besotted, however, was his condition, and so under the control was he of men who preyed upon him, that he had to be smuggled away in a manner that belongs rather to a romantic abduction of a heroine than a transaction with a man of fifty-four years. Many accusations, apparently unjust, of having inveigled away Cooke while drunk were brought against Cooper. Cooke embarked at Liverpool 4 Oct. 1810 on board the Columbia. The vessel was almost unprovided with stimulants. What was on board was soon drunk, and Cooke, after a considerable period of enforced abstinence, arrived in New York, 16 Nov. 1810, in better condition than he had been for years. His first appearance in New York took place 21 Nov. 1810 as Richard. The house was crowded to the roof, and his reception was triumphant. His successive performances were enthusiastically followed. He had lost, however, the habit of self-restraint, and on his third appearance he was intoxicated. He visited the principal American cities of the north, an object of mingled admiration and pity, obtaining in his cups indulgence for the most distressing acts of insolence. On 19 July he married his third wife, Mrs. Behn, who remained with him until his death, which took place in New York, in the Mechanic Hall, 26 Sept. 1811, of dropsy, resulting from his irregular life. He acted for the last time in Providence, Rhode Island. On 27 Sept. 1811 his body was placed, in the presence of a large assemblage, in the burying-ground of St. Paul's Church. Upon his visit to America, 1820–1, Kean, who regarded Cooke as the greatest of actors, had the body removed to another spot in the same cemetery and reburied, erecting a monument in honour of Cooke's genius. During the transmission he abstracted one of the toe bones, which he kept as a relic, compelling all visitors to worship it until Mrs. Kean, in disgust, threw it away (see Life of Kean, by Bryan Waller Proctor, 1835, ii. 196 et seq.) Cooke had a fine person, though his arms were short, a noble presence, and an intelligent and animated face. His voice was grating, and he had a habit of pitching it high. His position is in the highest rank of his art. He left behind him a diary, which is very fragmentary, and deals principally with his opinions on literary, dramatic, or political subjects. Abundant extracts from this are included in the ‘Memoirs of Cooke,’ by Dunlap, 2 vols. 8vo, 1813. Portions of it were written while in confinement for debt. Its recommencement is always a sign of attempted reformation. In his drunken moments Cooke boasted of having been the son of an officer, born in Dublin barracks, and having himself served as an ensign in the American war. He pointed out in America the scenes of his own exploits. He also claimed to have been a midshipman. There is more than one hiatus in his life, and it is possible he was a soldier and probable he was a cabin boy. Shortly before his death he stated gravely that he was born in Westminster. The information he supplies is to be received with little credit. Though very quarrelsome, Cooke was burdened with no superfluous courage. Many stories are told of his manner of addressing the public. One which has been frequently repeated, to the effect that when speaking to the Liverpool public which had hissed him he told them there was not a brick in their houses that was not cemented by the blood of a slave, is not too trustworthy. If ever delivered the speech appears at least not to have been impromptu. Cooke, who commenced in London as a rival to Kemble, acted with him and Mrs. Siddons from the season 1803–4 to the end of his London performances. He created at Covent Garden a few original characters, Orsino in ‘Monk’ Lewis's ‘Alfonso,’ 15 Jan. 1802; a character unnamed in ‘Word of Honour,’ attributed to Skeffington, 26 May 1802; Peregrine in the younger Colman's ‘John Bull,’ 5 March 1803; Sandy MacTab in ‘Three per Cents.,’ by Reynolds 12 Nov. 1803; a character in Holman's ‘Love gives the Alarm,’ 23 Feb. 1804; Lord Avondale in Morton's ‘School of Reform,’ 15 Jan. 1805; Lavensforth in ‘To Marry or Not to Marry,’ by Mrs. Inchbald, 16 Feb. 1805; Prince of Altenberg in Dimond's ‘Adrian and Orrila,’ 15 Nov. 1806; and Colonel Vortex in ‘Match-making,’ ascribed to Mrs. C. Kemble, 24 May 1808. No less than seven portraits of Cooke by different artists are in the Garrick Club. Five of them are in characters.

