Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 35.djvu/187

Macklin Quin prophesied for it and Macklin the merited failure which it experienced. 'A Will and no Will, or a Bone for the Lawyers,' an imprinted farce by Macklin, was played for his wife's benefit at Drury Lane, 23 April 1746, with 'a new prologue to be written and spoken by the pit,' whatever that may mean. The 'Suspicious Husband Criticised,' a satire by Macklin on Dr. Hoadly's 'Suspicious Husband,' the latest success at Covent Garden, was given by Macklin for his benefit, 24 March 1747. It was a failure, and was not printed. On the same occasion he played the Gravedigger to Barry's Hamlet. 'The Fortune Hunters, or the Widow Bewitched,' an unprinted farce, was acted a few times in 1748 (? 22 March).

Between 1748 and 1760 Macklin was in Dublin, where he and his wife were engaged by Sheridan at 800l. a year. A quarrel with Sheridan, with whom he took strange liberties, followed, and led to a lawsuit. On leaving Dublin Macklin migrated to Covent Garden, where with his wife he appeared on 24 Sept. 1760 as Lovegold in the 'Miser,' At Covent Garden he added to his repertory Mercutio, Polonius, Vellum in the 'Drummer,' Sir Olive Cockwood in 'She would and she would not,' Sir Barnaby Brittle in the 'Amorous Widow,' Lopez in the 'Mistake,' the Mad Englishman in the 'Pilgrim,' Renault in 'Venice Preserved,' and was the original Buck in Foote's 'Englishman in Paris.' He also produced 'Covent Garden Theatre, or Pasqum turned Drawcansir,' 8 April 1762, a dramatic satire, which failed to please.

On 20 Dec. 1763 a farewell benefit on his quitting the stage was given him at Drury Lane, on which occasion he played Sir Gilbert Wrangle in the 'Refusal' of Colley Cibber to the Lady Wrangle of his wife and the Charlotte of his daughter; he also appeared as Buck in the 'Englishman in Paris,' and recited a farewell prologue. Foote said that Garrick wrote the prologue in the hope that Macklin would be as good as his word, and so deliver him from a formidable rival. When regrets were uttered in the green-room at the loss of so admirable an actor, Foote said, 'You need not fear; he will first break in business, and then break his word,' a prophecy fully accomplished. He opened accordingly in March 1764, under the Piazza in Covent Garden, a tavern and coffee-house, a feature in the conduct of which was a three-shilling ordinary at four o'clock, over the service of which he presided. On 21 Nov. 1764 he also began, in Hart Street, Covent Garden, what was called the British Inquisition. The entertainment, which commenced at seven o'clock, consisted of a lecture by Macklin, followed by a debate. The first lecture was on 'Hamlet.' For a few nights this took the town. Foote seized the opportunity of burlesquing a notion which lent itself readily to ridicule, and is said to have more than once attended the lecture and perplexed the lecturer, setting him on one occasion, when the subject was 'memory,' which Macklin claimed to have highly trained, the task of repeating the famous nonsense lines concerning the baker's wife who went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to make an apple-pie, &c. The management of the tavern was unsuccessful, and on 26 Jan. 1768 Macklin was a bankrupt. He paid subsequently all claims in full. In 1767 he was in Dublin with Spranger Barry and Woodward, but does not appear to have acted. On 12 Dec. 1769, at Drury Lane, he made, as Shylock, his 'first appearance for six years.' On this occasion he produced 'Love à la Mode,' 4to, 1798, a farce, owing something to the 'Lover' of Theophilus Cibber, in which he played Sir Archy McSarcasm, his daughter appearing as Charlotte. He received a portion of the profits of each performance instead of a regular salary. The dramatis personæ comprised an Irish officer, a Scottish baronet, a Jew broker, and an English squire, the Irishman being the only disinterested character. Despite some opposition it ultimately triumphed. It was a great advance upon any previous dramatic effort of Macklin. One act was printed in the 'Court Miscellany,' April 1766. The following season he went to Covent Garden, where he played, 28 Jan. 1761, Lord Belville, and Miss Macklin Angelica, in the first production of his own 'Married Libertine.' In Lord Belville Macklin was supposed to have ridiculed a well-known nobleman. His play accordingly met with much opposition, and ran with difficulty the nine nights necessary to secure the author his benefits. A description of the plot is given in Kirkman's 'Life of Macklin,' but the play remains unprinted. Mrs. Macklin having died about 1768, Macklin espoused, 10 Sept. 1769, Miss Elizabeth Jones of Chester. In 1761 and again in 1768 he was in Dublin, residing at the latter date in Drumcondra Lane, where he taught pupils. At Smock Alley Theatre he produced in 1763 his 'True-born Irishman,' in which he played Murrough O'Dogherty. Under the title of the 'Irish Fine Lady' this piece was given at Covent Garden, 28 Nov. 1767, and was damned. Macklin came forward and promised it should be withdrawn. Subsequently he owned that the audience was right in its verdict, and