CHAPTER V THE ENTERTAINING OBSERVATIONS OF THE FIRST CHARLES MATHEWS CHARLES MATHEWS, SR., who came to New York for the first time in 1822, was frightened nearly out of his wits, Dr. John W. Francis 1 tells us, by discovering that he had arrived just as the city was in the grip of one of its periodic attacks of yellow fever. There had been a great deal of joking in England over Mathews's determination to see what an American trip could do in the way of recouping his recent financial losses, and the comedian's friends had entertained themselves by quoting to him Doctor Johnson's opinion on the subject of the country across the sea: Is not America worth seeing?" "Yes, sir," replied Johnson," but not worth going to see." None the less, Mathews decided to make the trip, and, as we read his letters home, we are very glad that he had the courage of his desires. No more lively descriptions of certain phases of life here may anywhere be found. From Hoboken, New Jersey, he sent back his first letter to his wife (on September 6, 1822), in which he announced his safe arrival " after a most delightful passage of thirty-five days." 1 In his "Old New York." New York was in no mood for him just then, however, nor he for it; so Baltimore was quickly sought, the visitor being kept in ignorance that that place, too, was undergoing the scourge. Here, none the less, Mathews made his début on the American stage, Monday, September 23, 1822, the vehicle chosen being his "Trip to Paris." His success was immediate. When he gave his song, "London now is out of Town," to the music of the American national air, he received instant proof that he had "made a hit." They roared and screeched," he wrote his wife, "as if they had never heard anything comical before; and I don't think they have been glutted in that way. I discovered the never-to-be-mistaken token of pocket handkerchiefs crammed into the mouths of many of the pitt-ites. I had only to hold up my crooked finger when I wanted them to laugh, and they obeyed my call. I was most agreeably surprised, indeed, at finding them an audience of infinitely more intelligence and quickness than I had expected. Bartley had shrugged his shoulders at the idea of their taking the jokes. One of the London papers said I should be lost here; . . . but the neatest and best points were never better appreciated, even in London; and I am quite certain, from the effects, that the French language is generally much more understood here than in England." None the less, there were a good many people in Baltimore at this time who would not go to the theatre, as Mathews soon found out. Consequently, it was ar ranged that when he made his return trip to the city, he should take the Assembly Rooms; "for there are persons who will not go into a theatre but would not object to a room, I am told." He bore away a very large sum for those days, from Baltimore. "My benefit," he wrote home, "produced one thousand dollars - a greater house by one hundred dollars than Cooke or Kean had. This has satisfied me of the actual enthusiasm of the Americans towards me.' "where the Washington was the next city visited, greatest house ever known before was $380. I had $550 and crowds went away. I played a second night and, under peculiar disadvantages, got $350; a very small theatre. My next (letter) will give you an account of a splash, for of New York I am most sanguine.' It was, indeed, a "splash!" Mathews's manager, Price, had the good sense to see that New York must be broken gently to the peculiar humour of this "star," and so insisted that he appear first in "the regular drama." Thus, it was as Goldfinch, in "The Road to Ruin," that England's greatest comedian first dawned upon a New York audience. Let us follow his own sprightly account of the occasion. Nothing could be more brilliant and decisive than my success. I opened to the greatest stock house ever known, - much greater than that of Cooke or Kean. Nearly 1800 dollars! My reception was more than rapturous; I never recollect anything more joyous in my life. They infused me with fun; I was in tip-top spirits and the songs were hailed with shouts. The Tonson |