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Article MEMOIRS OF THE LATE . DR. PAUL HIFFERNAN. ← Page 9 of 10 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of The Late . Dr. Paul Hiffernan.
The supposition lay , from the circumstances of his being often found coming out with clean shoes , & c . in that quarter , to be in one of the fcourts of Fleet-street , where lodgings are * not only cheap , but where there are a number of eating-houses , which afford an easy accommodation . His familiar day was spent as follows : He never turned out till about twelve o'clock at noon ; he then called at some friend ' s house
to enquire their health , & c . tell them the news of the morning , and put himself in a way of being asked to dinner . , If he failed in one he tried it in another , and so to a third and fourth ; if all failed he dined at an eating-house , and in the evening went to the Theatre , where he generally slept out the whole of the entertainment in the numberer ' s box , and then finished his evening at the cyder-cellar , Maiden-lane , or some ol the porter houses round Covent-Garden : at these last places he generally quartered upon some friend , who treated him , and where he could be for a time very entertaining . Towards the close of the ni ght he
got drunk , if he could , and then broke out the violence of his temper , abusing every body who differed with him in politics , relig ion , literature , & c . in the coarsest strains of Billingsgate . He did all this , however , with impunity , every body knew him , and every body laughed at him , and sometimes worked him up to this pitch of frenzy to exhibit him to strangers . When he spent the day at a friend's he generallput on a different
y kind of behaviour , mixing in the conversation with temper and observation , and sometimes enlivening it with anecdotes and remarks , either whimsical or judicious . His only want of respect here was his being subject to nod a little after dinner , which sometimes proceeded to a sound nap , and was often the cause of some ridiculous embarrassment , of which the following is an instance :
Previous to the exhibition of the comedy of " . 'Tis Well Its no Worse" ( since cut down to the farce of " The Pannel" ) , Bickerstaffe invited a few friends , of whom Hiffernan was one , to dine with him , and hear him read his play . After dinner the glass went cheerfully round for about half an hour , when the author began , and read to the end of the first act , the company making such observations on it as it suggested to their judgments . Hiffernan's only remark all this while
was , "Very well , by G—d ! very well , " till about the middle of the second act , when he began to nod , and in a little time afterwards to snore so loud that the author could scarcely be heard . Bickerstaffe felt a little embarrassed , but , raising his voice , went on . Hiffernan's tones , however , increased , till at last Goldsmith could hold no longer , but cried out , " Never mind the brute , Bick , go on ; so he would
have served Homer if he was here , and reading his own works . " Hiffernan , however , made his best excuse the next day , and which Goldsmith was ready enough to admit as such ; for when the latter asked him how he could behave in that manner , the other coolly replied , " Its my usual way , I never can resist sleeping at a pantomime . " Thus ends the little history of a man who had learning sufficient to fill many situations in life , and talents and observation , if joined but .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of The Late . Dr. Paul Hiffernan.
The supposition lay , from the circumstances of his being often found coming out with clean shoes , & c . in that quarter , to be in one of the fcourts of Fleet-street , where lodgings are * not only cheap , but where there are a number of eating-houses , which afford an easy accommodation . His familiar day was spent as follows : He never turned out till about twelve o'clock at noon ; he then called at some friend ' s house
to enquire their health , & c . tell them the news of the morning , and put himself in a way of being asked to dinner . , If he failed in one he tried it in another , and so to a third and fourth ; if all failed he dined at an eating-house , and in the evening went to the Theatre , where he generally slept out the whole of the entertainment in the numberer ' s box , and then finished his evening at the cyder-cellar , Maiden-lane , or some ol the porter houses round Covent-Garden : at these last places he generally quartered upon some friend , who treated him , and where he could be for a time very entertaining . Towards the close of the ni ght he
got drunk , if he could , and then broke out the violence of his temper , abusing every body who differed with him in politics , relig ion , literature , & c . in the coarsest strains of Billingsgate . He did all this , however , with impunity , every body knew him , and every body laughed at him , and sometimes worked him up to this pitch of frenzy to exhibit him to strangers . When he spent the day at a friend's he generallput on a different
y kind of behaviour , mixing in the conversation with temper and observation , and sometimes enlivening it with anecdotes and remarks , either whimsical or judicious . His only want of respect here was his being subject to nod a little after dinner , which sometimes proceeded to a sound nap , and was often the cause of some ridiculous embarrassment , of which the following is an instance :
Previous to the exhibition of the comedy of " . 'Tis Well Its no Worse" ( since cut down to the farce of " The Pannel" ) , Bickerstaffe invited a few friends , of whom Hiffernan was one , to dine with him , and hear him read his play . After dinner the glass went cheerfully round for about half an hour , when the author began , and read to the end of the first act , the company making such observations on it as it suggested to their judgments . Hiffernan's only remark all this while
was , "Very well , by G—d ! very well , " till about the middle of the second act , when he began to nod , and in a little time afterwards to snore so loud that the author could scarcely be heard . Bickerstaffe felt a little embarrassed , but , raising his voice , went on . Hiffernan's tones , however , increased , till at last Goldsmith could hold no longer , but cried out , " Never mind the brute , Bick , go on ; so he would
have served Homer if he was here , and reading his own works . " Hiffernan , however , made his best excuse the next day , and which Goldsmith was ready enough to admit as such ; for when the latter asked him how he could behave in that manner , the other coolly replied , " Its my usual way , I never can resist sleeping at a pantomime . " Thus ends the little history of a man who had learning sufficient to fill many situations in life , and talents and observation , if joined but .