Page:Lives of Poets-Laureate.djvu/249

Rh He died in May, 1733, in the fifty-third year of his age, bequeathing all his property to his widow; a sum, however, considerably less than the portion she had brought to him on her marriage.

. The date of this actor's life or death is uncertain. He was hanging about Drury Lane at the time that Cibber was seeking employment there. On the death of Montfort, he succeeded him in his part of Alexander, and was so successful, that he assumed the appellation as a surname for some years. In person he was tall and well-made, with a slight malformation in his knees, which gave him a shambling gait. This defect, however, he turned to his advantage, and rendered positively becoming on the stage. His principal characters were Bajazet, Oronooko, Edgar in "King Lear," Artaxerxes in "The Ambitious Step-mother," Loveless in "The Relapse," Wilmore in "The Rover," Cassius, and others.

The acting of Verbruggen has been contrasted with that of Betterton as the realization of untutored nature in opposition to the perfection of art. However false such a description may be, yet it conveys a tolerably accurate idea of their respective styles. Two of the most exquisite pieces of acting ever beheld on the stage were Verbruggen and Betterton as Cassius and Brutus; and Verbruggen and Mrs. Bracegirdle as Wilmore and Helena in Mrs. Afra Behn's play of "The Rover." In the latter piece, Verbruggen's "untaught airs, and the smiling repartees" of Mrs. Bracegirdle, had an extraordinary effect upon the audience, who appeared in constant fear that the performers were in earnest, and that each moment they would quit the stage.

He married Mrs. Montfort, a beautiful woman, and a most accomplished actress.