and aw the poleetical bonuses-till at length, Sir, I became a much wealthier Mon, than one half o' the golden calves I had been so long a boowing to-(he rises, Egerton rises too.) And was not that boowing to some purpose, Sir ?—Ha!

Egert. It was indeed, Sir.

Sir Pert. But are you convinced of the gude effects, and of the uteelity of boowing?

Egert. Thoroughly, Sir, thoroughly.

Sir Pert. Sir, it is infaleeble-but, Chairles, ah! while I was thus boowing and wriggling and making a princely fortune-ah! I met many heart sores, and disappointments, frai the want of leeterature, ailoquence, and other popular abeelities. Sir, guin I could hai but spoken i' the hoouse, I shou'd hai done the deed in half the time, boot the eenstant I opened my mouth there, they aw fell a laughing at me-aw whace deefeencies, Sir, I determined at any expence till hai supplied by the polished education of a Son, who, I hoped, wou'd yean day, raise the hoouse of Mac Sycophant till the highest pannicle of meeneesterial ambeetian.-This, Sir, is my plan, I hai done my part of it, nature has done hers-Ye are ailoquent, ye are popular-aw parties like ye—and noow, Sir, it only remains for ye to be directed-completion follows.

We have on record that Colley Cibber wrote his comedy, Love's Last Shift, in which he performed Sir Novelty Fashion, at so early an age, that the Duke of Dorset observed to him, "It is the best first play that any author in my memory has produced, and for a young fellow to show himself such an actor, and such a writer in one day is something extraordinary." We know too, that Congreve wrote that wonderful comedy, The Old Bachelor, before he was one-and-twenty years old, and composed it, as he afterwards stated, when replying to Jeremy Collier, "having little thoughts of the stage, but did it to amuse myself in a slow recovery from a fit of sickness." And remarkable as these instances are, they in no respect strike us as so extraordinary as that afforded by Macklinremodelling and rewriting his comedy, superintending its rehearsal, and performing its leading character, in his ninetyfirst year.

Some few weeks after the production of The Man of the World, Miss Macklin died, in the forty-eighth year of her age. Her death arose from white swelling, produced in the following manner. She frequently appeared in what was called "prièces de pantaloons," or "breeches parts," and for the purpose of giving a full, graceful, shape to the calf of the leg, it was her custom to buckle her garters extremely tight. This caused a congestion of the veins, and consequent swelling, which, from

delicacy, she concealed until beyond the power of surgical aid.

The success of the comedy, and Macklin's superior acting in it, proved that the old man was still valuable as a star, and Daly, the manager of the Theatre in Smock Alley, Dublin, engaged his services for a short period, and as this was his last visit to Dublin, we may remark that on the occasion of his first appearance in this engagement he played Shylock, and Sir Archy Macsarcasm; at his benefit he played Sir Archy, and Sir Pertinax Mac Sycophant. The house was crowded, the Lord Lieutenant attended-but amidst one of the most splendid assemblages ever gathered in an Irish Theatre, Macklin for the first time experienced the weakness of age; he became nervous, forgot his part, and they were forced to help him from the stage. He recovered, however, after some few days of quietude, and was enabled to return to London; but from this period August, 1785, we may date the decay of his powers. In January, 1788, he appeared at Coventgarden in Shylock, but his memory failed him in the second act. In the November of the same year he played Sir Pertinax Mac Sycophant, but forgot his part, and was obliged to retire. In February, 1789, he performed Shylock, and Sir Archy, with great power, and appeared for the last time upon the stage, on the 7th of May, 1789, as Shylock, for his own benefit. He played through the first act, but was not satisfied with himself, and stepping to the foot-lights, begged that Mr. Ryder might be permitted to finish the part.

Though retired fron the stage, he still loved to linger about the old haunts, and generally seated himself, three or four times during the week, in the front row of the pit. His few years of life, however, were embittered by the loss of his only son, who died at Macklin's house, in April, 1790. It had been Macklin's ambition to see this son take an honorable position in the world; he succeeded in obtaining for him an Indian appointment, and had him earnestly and warmly recommended to the notice and patronage of Warren Hastings. All efforts, however, seem to have been vain-he was a disappointment to the heart, and a drag upon the resources of his father to the last. It has been well observed, by Alexander Dumas, that the player lives only in the recollection of his cotemporaries, and that when they pass away, the memory of those hours in which he strutted and fretted upon the stage is lost for ever. It too often happens, however,

that he who made weary hours pass lightly, is left to linger out his years of retirement in penury and in pain-and so it was with Macklin. He, however, possessed the copyrights of his farce Love-a-la-Mode, and of his comedy The Man of the World, and it was suggested that he should publish them by subscription. Arthur Murphy was always willing to do a kindly act, and he undertook to edite the publication, which produced the large sum of £2,000; this money was invested in the purchase of an annuity of £200 for the life of Macklin, and, after his decease, of £75 for that of Mrs. Macklin.

For some few years from this period he continued in health sufficient to enable him to visit his old haunts; he had seen younger men die around him, and he delighted to recount all the events of his life, and to relate the various changes which he witnessed in the world about him. He had been the instructor in elocution of many eminent men, amongst others of Wedderburn, Lord Loughborough, whom he had taught in conjunction with Thomas Sheridan.* These, and others, were still his friends, able and willing to assist him. He lived at this period as he had for many years been accustomed; that is, he eat and drank those things only which he knew by experience would not be injurious. To his seventieth year it had been his habit to drink tea, porter, wine, and punch, and to eat fish, flesh, and fowl. He was moderate in his meals, and whenever he exceeded his usual quantity of wine-a bottle-he always took Anderson's Scotch Pill when going to bed. At seventy years of age he found that tea was unfit for him, and that meat caused his teeth to pain him, and he then began to use fish, stews, and jellies. He always slept upon a mattress, his head raised to a considerable height, and without curtains to the bedstead. For the last twenty years of his life he never undressed, except to change his linen, or for the purpose of

* We have already seen that Macklin was instructed in English pronunciation by a Welshman; and J. W. Croker remarks, in a note to Boswell's "Life of Johnson," referring to the fact that Wedderburn was taught by Sheridan and Macklin :-"This is an odd coincidence. A Scotchman who wishes to learn a pure English pronunciation, employs a preceptor who happens to be an Irishman, and afterwards another, likewise an Irishman,-and this Irish-taught Scot becomes, and mainly by his oratory, one of the chief ornaments of the English Senate, and the first subject of the British Empire." Lord Brougham, however, in his "Statesmen of The Reign of George III." observes that Lord Loughborough's "vernacular tones returned as his vigour was impaired in the decline of life."

having himself washed or rubbed with napkins dipped in warm brandy or gin. He endeavoured by all means to induce perspiration, but he was careful on these occasions to change his clothes, and when performing he frequently changed his shirt four times during the stage business. He was anxious to prolong his life, and even in his hundredth year he seldom spoke of death as near, because his mother, who had taken little care of her health, lived to the age of ninety-nine. During his theatrical life he wrote eight dramatic pieces, the first in 1746, the last in 1781. Of these only two, Love-a-la-Mode, and The Man of the World, were printed. He performed five hundred different characters.

The closing months of his life were made happy by the devoted attention of his wife, and he lingered on until Tuesday, the 11th day of July, 1797. That morning he arose at his usual hour but shortly afterwards retired to his bed, and lying down, exclaimed-" Let me go, Let me go"-and so expired. He died at his residence in Tavistock Row, and was buried in a new vault under the chancel of St. Paul's church, Coventgarden, where he lies with many of his brother actors, and beside Butler, Wycherly, Southerne, Sir Peter Lely, Dr. Arne, and Peter Pindar.

He was, at the period of his death, one hundred and seven years, two months, and ten days old, and the friendship of his acquaintances was exhibited to the last.-The funeral service was read over his grave by the Rev. Mr. Ambrose, a former pupil, who came from Oxford for the special purpose of paying this last tribute to his memory.

Of Macklin, as a tragic actor, we have, from his cotemporaries, the most convincing evidences of excellence. As a comedian his success in his parts is a sufficient proof of his ability, and in the varied round of his characters we can trace his gradual, but surely progressive, advance in his profession. Thus, in 1734, we find him playing Poins, in Henry the Fourth. In 1787, he plays Peachum, in The Beggars Opera, and Sir Hugh Evans, in The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the succeeding year we find him playing Lord Foppington, Old Mirabel, Fondlewife, Malvolio, Sir John Brute, Touchstone, and Iago. These prove his versatility and his genius, whilst his conduct in private life renders him, as a father, as a husband, and as a friend, entitled to our deep respect, and enables us to apply to him Johnson's words, spo

ken of old Thomas Sheridan-"Were mankind divided into two classes of good and bad, he would stand considerably within the rank of the former." He was an honest, truehearted man, and we may well claim him as our best and most natural actor. His fine figure added considerably to his success.

And now, having related the chief events in the life of Charles Macklin, we conclude this paper by recommending his plays, The Man of the World, and Love-a-la-Mode, to all who love genuine comedy and genial humor.

ART. IV. THE TAXATION OF IRELAND.

1. An Act for Granting to her Majesty Duties on Profits Arising from Property, Professions, Trades and Offices. Sixteenth and Seventeenth of Victoria. Chapter the Thirty-fourth. Royal Assent, June 28th, 1853.

2. Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. Vol. CXXV. 3rd and 4th volumes for the Session of 1852. Debates in the House of Commons on the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Financial Statement, and Proposition for Extending the Income Tax to Ireland,-April and May, 1853.

3. Financial Management of Ireland, and other Publications on Fiscal and Financial subjects. By Michael Staunton, Esq. Dublin: 1841.

4. Account of Ireland in 1773. By a late Chief Secretary of that Kingdom. London: 1773.

5. The Commercial Restraints of Ireland Considered. In a Series of Letters to a Noble Lord, Containing an Historical Account of the Affairs of that Kingdom, so far as they relate to this Subject. Dublin: William Hallhead. 1779. 6. Sketch of the Revenue and Finances of Ireland, with Abstracts of the Principal Heads of Receipts and Expenditure for Sixty years, and the Various Supplies since the Revolution. By R. V. Clarendon. London and Dublin: 1791.

To write upon the injustice done us in taxation matters must certainly seem a little like shutting the stable door after the steed is stolen,-now when the Income Tax is upon us, and