The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 5, May 1810
History
The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 5, May 1810
Drama -- Periodicals; Theater -- Periodicals
Whiteley went much
further than Moncey--for the effusions of his spleen or his humour were
sometimes too coarse and indelicate to bear public repetition, though
they still remain the topic of conversation with all who knew him, and
supply an inexhaustible fund of mirth to all who remember him.
In this extraordinary personage Hodgkinson found the warmest, most
benevolent friend; and, what may appear strange, a most valuable
instructor. Himself always appearing wrong, and speaking like one
cracked, he never failed to set right all those who were guided by his
advice; and, while his tongue ran riot as if he were drunk or mad, his
conduct was governed by sound sense and prudence. If ever any thing
hobby-horsical or pedantic crept into the conversation of Hodgkinson, it
was his fondness for describing this worthy oddity.
He had heard Whiteley's character described in a variety of quarters,
and went to him expecting to be ridiculed, blackguarded, and patronised.
Nor was he disappointed. Under his auspices, H. grew up, acquired
professional knowledge, and, considering his age, much fame. A whole
number of this work would not contain the anecdotes which, in his
cheerful moments, Hodgkinson has related to this writer, of Whiteley's
worth and eccentricities; but the humour and oddity of them were of a
kind not only too coarse for general perusal, but so dependant for
effect upon the manner of telling them, that it would be idle to relate
them here. Their first meeting, however, and the conversation on that
occasion may be hazarded. A gentleman of the name of Mills, an old
friend of W's and much in his good graces, introduced our youth to him,
having previously obtained his consent to see the lad, and consider what
line of business he was fit for. "You must not," said this mutual
friend, "take ill any thing that Whiteley says to you. He is a kind of
privileged person--_says_ what he pleases to every one, and _does_ all
the good he can. But this I can tell you, that if he treats you
ceremoniously (for no man can be more perfectly the gentleman when he
pleases) you have no chance with him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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