SELECTIONS. MATHEWS-THE COMEDIAN.* (From Julian Young's Diary.) DURING Mathew's visit to us at the end of one so far justifying Mathews' theory of his October, 1833, one of the sons of the nobleman (at whose gate, almost, we lived) dined with us; and having an acute sense of fun, and thoroughly appreciating our guest's wit and humour, and learning from us that the star of his genius always began to rise when that of ordinary mortals set (viz. at bed-time), he used every night after to drop in about eleven o'clock, for the pleasure of enjoying our visitor's incomparable society. These Noctes Amportianæ, delightful as they were, and temperately as they were conducted (for potations were not required by way of stimulus), were very trying to me; for, about a week after our little party had broken up, the late hours to which I had been exposed, and the excess of laughter in which I had indulged, told upon me, and I fell ill. The night before Mathews left Amport, he told us that he was going to Oxford the next day to give two or three entertainments; and he implored my wife and myself so urgently to accompany him, that, in compassion to his anticipated dejection, we consented. As we were only some twenty-five miles from Oxford, I undertook to drive him there in my phaeton. When the noble lord already alluded to found that my wife and myself were going to Oxford with Mathews, he begged permission to accompany us. As I had one vacant seat, I was only too glad to have so agreeable an addition to our party; and on the following morning we set off From nine in the morning till six in the evening it poured with rain incessantly. Mathews sat in front with me; Mrs. Young and her noble companion behind. We started about twelve o'clock, and baited two hours on the road. Mathews besought me to get him into Oxford by six p.m., as he was engaged to meet a large party at the Rev. Mr. Rose's, of Lincoln College, at seven. It was a curious fact, and *From "A Memoir of Charles Mayne Young," Tragedian, with extracts from his Son's Journal. By Julian Charles Young, A.M. Published by Macmillan & Co., London and New York. invariable ill-luck, that, though Lord F. P— had merely a dreadnought on, my wife her or dinary cloak, and I a common greatcoat, Mathews, who was enveloped in waterproof wraps in addition to a greatcoat and cloak, was the only one of the party who was soaked through and through. Fearing that, on his arrival, he might be hurried, and in order to save himself the trouble of unpacking his portmanteau in undue haste, he had taken the precaution of wrapping up the clothes he would require for dinner in two towels. Boundless, therefore, was his disgust on unpinning his packet, which had lain at our feet, protected, as we thought, alike from wind and rain by the thick leathern apron over our knees, to discover that his dress coat and kerseymere pantaloons were saturated with wet, and that the pattern of his sprigged velvet vest had been transferred to his shirtfront. When, therefore, he entered our sittingroom at the Star Hotel, and observed the table laid for dinner, the clean cloth, the neatly-folded napkins, the glittering glass, and the blazing fire, he could not help contrasting our cosy condition with his own draggled plight, and began to reflect gloomily on the length of time his clothes would take to dry, and on the several disadvantages under which he would have to make his rapid toilet; till at last he vowed that Mr. Rose might go to Jericho, and all the heads of houses be drowned in the Red Sea, before he would desert us.' It was in vain that we expostulated with him on the indecency of such behaviour; in vain we depicted the cruel disappointment he would inflict on a gentleman who had paid him the compliment of asking the Vice-Chancellor and other men of University distinction to meet him. In vain we appealed to his self-interest, telling him that he would, by his rudeness, estrange his friend, and convert a patron into an enemy. The more we urged him to consider what he owed to others, the more obstinately he vowed he would not victimize himself for the sake of acquiring a reputation for good manners. Dine with us he would. As we were enjoying, with keen relish, our salmon and cucumber, the waiter entered, and thus addressed the culprit :-'Please, Sir, here's a messenger from Mr. Rose, of Lincoln, to say that his dinner is waiting for you.' 'My kind compliments to Mr. Rose, of Lincoln,' was his rejoinder; 'I am sorry I cannot dine with him, as I am obliged to share the fortunes of three friends who have been nearly drowned. I dine with them. Tell him I have not a dry rag to Cover my nakedness with, and that we are all our now steaming before the fire preparatory co going to bed to nurse.' Every instant I sat in fear and trembling hat we should either see the much-wronged gentleman in propriâ personâ, or have to receive a deputation from him, or else an angry note; but fortunately our threatening evening passed off without a storm; and as, after our meal, we drew together round the fire, and Mathews sipped his negus and lolled back in is armchair, his spirits rose, and 'Richard was himself again.' He had an inveterate propensity to keep late Tours; and was given to lie in bed till midday consequence. If he were disturbed earlier, he would say he had been woke in the middle of he night. It was as good as a servant's place was worth if she called him before twelve clock. Knowing all this, it was greatly to the Iversion of Lord F. P—, Mrs. Young, and yself, that, the morning after our arrival, one f the waiters told us there was a messenger his visage, emerged from the room, and, with clenched fist, asked his visitor-If he was weary of life?—if he desired to be ruthlessly murdered?' &c., &c. 'No, Sir.' 'Then how dare you disturb me at this unearthly hour?' (N.B. 9.30 a.m.) He then slammed the door violently to, in a state of wrath implacable, and bolted himself in. Once more the poor 'scout,' in undisguised trepidation, appealed to us for advice as to what he should do next, adding, that his master had enjoined him strictly, on on consideration, to return without an answer. Greedy of more fun still, we insisted on his attending, above everything, to his own master's instructions; and, disregarding Mathews' bluster, again to try his fortune, and not to leave it without receiving the answer required. With evident misgiving he again crept up to the dreaded bedroom, and after a free and frequent application of his knuckles to the panels of the door, finding he received no reply, he took heart, and hallooed through the keyhole-' I 'umbly ax your pardon, Sir, but Mr. Rose, of Lincoln, says he must have an answer.' The hero of my tale, exasperated beyond all bounds by this persecution, once more appear ed, in the same questionable attire as before, and, indifferent to the titters of the waiters and chambermaids who were flitting up and down the corridor, and unconscious that his friends were watching him, screamed out-' Confound Mr. Rose, of Lincoln, and all Mr. Rose, of Lincoln's, friends, and all Mr. Rose, of Lincoln's, messengers! Mr. Rose, of Lincoln, must have an answer, eh? Then let him get it by law. Does Mr. Rose, of Lincoln, think that I go to bed with a pen in my mouth, and ink in my ear, that I may be ready to answer, instantly, any note, Mr. Rose, of Lincoln, may choose to write to me?' Tom Mr. Rose, of Lincoln, waiting in the hall see Mathews. We desired him to be shown P, and then, pointing to Mathews' bedroom, hich was on the same floor with our sittingom, and well within our view, we advised him rap at his door and give him the note with which he was entrusted. In the spirit of mishief, and longing for a scene, we three enConced ourselves behind our own door, impaent to witness the result. The messenger at rst tapped humbly and hesitatingly. No anver. A second rap, and then a third, waxing Duder each time. As the patience of the mesEnger was giving way, a strange figure, clad in long night-shirt, with an extinguisher cotton ightcap on his head, and irrepressible fury in her husband. I never was more surprised than I forget whether we remained at Oxford more than two nights; but, having first ascertained that he made matters straight with Mr. Rose, we left with easy conscience. He did not return to Amport with us, but followed afterwards, in a day or two. After sleeping a night with us, he asked me if I would go with him to Salisbury on the morrow, where he was due for one night's entertainment. It was on our road across Salisbury Plain that the accident befell us which is told in Mrs. Mathews' memoirs of at reading, in the Morning Chronicle, two or three days afterwards, the particulars of our adventure. It seems that Mr. Hill, the original from whom John Poole took his Paul Pry, was sitting with Mrs. Mathews in Great Russell Street, when a letter from her husband was put into her hand. She begged permission to read it, and as, in doing so, she could not suppress a few ejaculations of surprise, he begged he might hear it. She was quite willing to gratify him, and, at his request, gave him permission to take it home and show it to his wife. On that understanding he was allowed to take it; but, instead of taking it home, he took it to the printer of the paper with which he was connected, and inserted it in its columns. As many may never have read it, I shall presume to give my own version of the accident, which is much fuller in its details than the one given in Mrs. Mathews' Life of her husband. | Before he left our house, I had promised Mathews, who could not bear being alone, to drive him to Salisbury, and keep him company while there. The distance from Amport to An-, dover was five miles; from Andover to Salisbury, by the road, eighteen; but across the intervening Plain, fully three miles shorter. Now although, under the pilotage of Lord W. and Lord George P———, I had ridden that way two | or three times, I had never driven it. To the rider nothing could be more delightful than the long unbroken surface of untrodden turf; though the tameness of the surrounding scenery, and the absence of landmarks to steer by, made the route rather a difficult one to find. Before starting, I had serious misgivings that the frequent intersection of deep waggon-ruts, of the existence of which I was quite aware, might put my charioteering powers to a severe test; but the prospect of a 'short cut' was a temptation not to be withstood. For the first two or three miles we got on capitally; but afterwards encountered such a succession of formidable inequalities in the ground, that Mathews got nervous, and my horses became excited. Out of consideration for his hip-joint, I advised him to alight and walk a few yards, till we had passed over the roughest part. This he was only too glad to do; while I, throwing the reins over the splashboard, went to the horses' heads, and, by voice and hand, endeavoured to coax them gently over the uneven ground. However, in descending a sharp dip in the ground, which was succeeded by a r as sudden, the pole sprung up, hit me a vide blow under the chin, and sent me spintor. the ground. On recovering my footing. I my carriage jolting and bumping along at rate of twenty miles an hour, rendering any ; of my overtaking it, for a long time to come, apparent impossibility. In utter dismay, i pealed to my friend for advice, but found bir but paralysed, and incapable of giving Good heavens, Julian!' he cried out, ``n bag of mine are, not merely all my clothes, three hundred sovereigns in gold, the fi four "At Homes," and all that I have withof my Autobiography. Run Run !' It was easy for him to say 'Run,' but moʻ easy for me to do so; for, owing to the eordinary velocity with which the panic-stri animals had darted off, and the undulati the land over which they had passed, they lost to sight in no time. The foremost difficulty which suggested its to me was how, even if I recovered my carr and horses, I was to find my disconsolate panion again; for, in consequence of the c plete circumnavigation of the hill which runaways had probably made, I knew I sh. find myself, before long, in a terra incoge As Mathews could not walk, I pointed to s miserable furze bushes, and told him to down under them, and not to stir till he saw. again. He squatted down most submissive while, in attestation of my good faith, anu, si the same time, that I might run the east 1 disencumbered myself of my great coat, flu:: to him, and left it in pawn till I should ret. and redeem it. Away I darted, and ran and -! till I could run no more; and I was about to fi myself on the grass to regain my wind, andro awhile, when I beheld in the distance, four riage-wheels in the air, and a pair of greys. i 1 tached from the vehicle, standing side by s as if in one stall, trembling in every limb, swe ing from every pore, and yet making no atter to stir. I felt re-nerved at this sight, parst my object, went up to my truant steeds. captured them without any show of resistance on their part. They were thoroughly bles They had been seen by a band of gipsies. e camped hard by, to charge a precipitous bankment which separated the Plain from the high road; but unable, from exhaustion. " surmount it, they thought better of it. turned e round, and, dashing down again into the valley, ran with such headlong fury against the stump of a blighted old pollard oak as to upset the phaeton, break the traces, snap the pole in twain, and scatter Mathews' precious treasures far and wide over the ground. My first anxiety was to rejoin their owner as quickly as possible; for it was then half-past three o'clock, and I knew that he had to reach Salisbury, dress, order and eat his dinner, and be on the stage by seven p.m. I went, therefore, up to the gipsies, described how the accident had occurred, told them of the dilemma in which I had left a lame gentleman a mile off, assured them that it was of the greatest importance that he should arrive in Salisbury by five o'clock, and begged them to spare somebody to lead one of the horses, while I rode the other in search of my friend. Seeing that they had a tent pitched in sight, I told them, with a frankness that most people would have deemed imprudent, that the contents of the carpet-bag confided to their care were very precious to the proprietor, and that, if they would be kind enough to set up the carriage on its wheels, and protect my property, the instant I reached Salisbury I would return in a post-chaise with ropes to take the fractured phaeton in tow, and reward them handsomely for their trouble. They undertook to carry out my wishes, while I, jumping on one of the horses (with all its traces and trappings, and breeching, and collar, and pad upon him), and followed by my esquire on foot with the other, gallopped off to look for him who, I was certain, was for once anything but at home' wherever he might be. In my feverish impatience to overtake my horses, I had forgotten to take notice of the ground I passed over; and as it was in a totally different direction from that I had been used Eo, it was no easy matter for me to retrace my oute. However, whichever way I went, my gipEy aide-de-camp had orders to keep me well in sight. For some twenty minutes, which appeared an hour, I whooped and hallooed at the Cop of my voice, directing it north, south, east, and west; but neither received answer nor beheld sign of living creature. Turn which way might, there was nothing before me but a wide expanse of dreary plain. The bray of a ackass, the bark of a watch-dog, the bleating of a stray sheep, even the quack of a duck, would have been as music in my ears. To contribute to my perplexity, the skies began to assume a leaden and lowering hue, and sleet and flakes of snow to fall. Our stipulated trysting-place, the furze bushes, could nowhere be seen for the projecting brow of table-land on which I was. They were at the base of the hill, and I was on the summit. As I sat bewildered on my horse, with my esquire behind me, I fancied I saw something stirring below me which resembled the fluttering of a corncrake's wings, though they certainly seemed unusually long and unsteady, and the wind appeared to have extraordinary power over them. I made for the object, and, as I did so, I found, to my ineffable relief, that it was no bird which I had seen, but a white silk handkerchief tied to a stick, and doing duty as a signal of distress. As I drew nearer to it, I saw my lost companion drop on his knees, and raise his hands to heaven in token of thanksgiving. No wonder. Had I not found him, he must have passed the livelong night in utter helplessness and solitude, and perhaps have fallen a victim to hunger, cold, and mental perturbation. When we met, I found Mathews almost speechless from agitation. He threw his arms around me, and was so extravagantly and comically demonstrative, that, in spite of all my sympathy for him, I could not refrain from laughter. I feared he would be offended with me; but was delighted to ascertain from his published letter that my ill-timed mirth was attributed to an 'hysterical affection.' As soon as I could persuade him to hearken to me, I told him there was not a moment to be lost, that we had three or four miles to go before we could reach the high-road, and that manage,we must, somehow or other, by hook or by crook, to get there in time to catch 'The Light Salisbury' coach, and reach his quarters at the White Hart by five p.m. On my further telling him that he must get on the horse from which I had dismounted, and that I would lead it for him, he said, 'My dear fellow, I never, in the prime of life, bestrode a barebacked horse; how then can I do so now, old and crippled as I am?' I said no more; but, making my gipsy follower stand at the horse's head, I went on all-fours by its side, and insisted on his stepping on my back, and holding by the horse's mane, while I gradually raised my self up, so as to enable him to fling his leg over the animal. It was a weary and an anxious walk for both of us. However, as luck would have it, we had no sooner sighted the chalky | road, than I saw my old acquaintance Matcham, driving 'The Light Salisbury' towards us. I gave both my horses to the gipsy to lead leisurely to Salisbury, while I mounted on the outside the coach with my sorely harrassed friend. He was in a most devout frame of mind, thanking God loudly and earnestly for His merciful deliverance from a miserable death, when a Dissenting minister behind him, learning from the coachman who he was, thought it a good opportunity for 'improving the occasion,' and preached to him in such bad taste, and with such utter want of consideration for his feelings, that Mathews, humbled as he was, could not brook it, and told him his mind. Until you opened upon me, I never felt more piously disposed in my life; but your harsh and ill-timed diatribe has made me feel quite wickedly. Hold your canting tongue, or you'll find me dangerous, Mr. Mawworm.' To finish my tale :-As soon as I had seen Mathews comfortably seated at his dinner, I called for a post-chaise, drove to the scene of action, and was rather mortified to find that the gipsy family had not touched the carriage, though I had begged them to set it up again upon its wheels. On remonstrating with them, they very civilly said, 'Why, you see, Sir, if, in moving it, anything had gone wrong with the carriage, owing to some injury you had not detected, or if anything were missing, you'd ha' been sure to suspect the poor gipsies: so, on second thoughts, we considered 'twould be better to leave it as they leaves a dead body before a hinquest-without moving or touching anything.' They then turned to with a will, in my presence, put the carriage on its legs again, helped me to cord it on to the hinder part of the post-chaise, and thrust inside Mathews' carpetbag and portmanteau, and a few articles for the night which I had put up for myself. I sprang into the chaise, wishing to get back and relieve Mathews' mind about his goods. I drew out my purse, and was going to take out money to give the gipsies, when one of them came up to me and said, 'Are you sure, Sir, that you have got everything belonging to you? Yes yes thank you.' The man smiled, and, by wa, og answer, thrust into my hand my oilskin, sponge bag, which had fallen out of my hat-box, which I had overlooked. Now, my gofe lows,' said I, 'what shall I give you? Yair serve something handsome, and you shall na » it. Will a couple of sovereigns satisfy voo No, Sir, no!' they all cried out. 'We wor have nothing. You've paid us enough. You ar trusted us, gipsies as we are! You've left v z property in our keeping, and never cast a 51picious glance at it, when you came back. see if we had been tampering with it." I pressed them over and over again to rece sider their determination, and consider my tee ings. Well, Sir, we will ask one favour you. Tell your friends that, whatever v. glass and crockery and brush-selling trar. may be, a real gipsy can be honest.' Mathews was so struck with the conduct these people, and so touched by it, that at :next Theatrical Fund dinner he took occasi to allude to it. It was a few days after our venture that I received the following ler from him, from Exeter, where he was playin 'Exeter, November 15, 1833 'MY VERY DEAR J. C. Y.-What ha't done? Did we not part friends? Did you : promise to write to me? Do you not ima I am anxious to hear how our adventure e ed? and how you were received at home a if I am forgiven for having allured you fr your fireside? Every morning at Weymout craned my neck after the postman, but not ings. There must be some reason for t most cruel and unnatural conduct; and kres it I will. I shall not repeat my proposal ab justice and honour as to damage. Verbum I am still stout upon the point. 'Pray write to me at Plymouth, if not to a knowledge this, yet to say you have receive quarter of mutton and a brace of pheasar which will be sent from hence by the subsc"; tion Exeter coach to Woodward's, Andov where the coach arrives on Monday mor at five o'clock. It will be franked all the *. 'I am happy to say Charles is arrived sa at home, in high health and spirits, delight with his trip; lighter in heart and pocket th when he went. My pictures are all warehouss safe under the same roof (Bazaar) where the |