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Article MEMOIRS OF CHARLES MACKLIN, ← Page 6 of 8 →
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Memoirs Of Charles Macklin,
He discovered the persons who had combined to drive him from the exercise of his profession , and brought an action against them for a conspiracy . The cause was tried at Westminster , before Lord Mansfield . The parties were clearly convicted ; but Macklin , before the punishment was awarded , begged to be heard . His request was granted b y the court , and he observed , that no little motive of private resentment had urged him to bring forward the affair in a Court of
Justice , but a regard to his profession , in order to rescue his fraternity from the attack of personal hostility , and to shew them , that while they conducted themselves properly in the public exercise of their talents , they were as much under the protection of the Law as any other class of the community . He concluded with expressing his wishthat no heavy pecuniary mulct might be inflicted the
, upon culprits , but that they might be permitted to take a certain number of tickets of the Theatre , to compensate for the expence and disappointment which they had occasioned . This conduct of Macklin made a strong impression on the minds of all present ; and the enli ghtened Sage upon the Bench expressed
himself in the following manner : — ' Mr . Macklin , I have often admired your talents upon the Stage ; but I think you never acted better than upon the present occasion . * We dwell upon this incident , because it produced a considerable change in the manners of the public ; and though Macklin effectually vindicated his own character , and asserted his own rights in this affair , it may be doubted whether it was not attended witn an injury to the profession which he intended
to serve . Before this event , there was a kind of popular justice that was always able to controul the power of a Manager . It was impossible for those in whose hands the government of the Theatre was vested to dismiss a favourite Performer without clue reason , or to allot any character unworthy of the abilities and reputation of the Actor or
Actress to whom such character might be assigned . It was also impossible for a Manager to keep a Performer in the back ground , and render him insignificant by non-employment . To say nothing of the tyranny to which female beauty might be exposed , if it should be virtuous enough to resist the persecuting gallantry of the Theatrical Monarch .
On all such occasions , a liberal Party started up , under the name of The Town , and compelled the Theatre to summary and signal justice . No such Party now ventures to appear , lest the Law should inflict its vengeance . The Public can now only give its judgment on the first nig ht of a new piece ; but the Manager , if the piece is the production of a friend whom he is determined to support , can thrust
it down the throats of the Public in defiance of criticism and common sense ; or appeal to the Law for protection against a conspiracy . It is also in the power of a Manager , if he has conceived any illwill against a favourite of the Public , to find a pretext for dismissing the object of his malevolence ; and the latter has no redress , but must endeavour to retain his situation by ignominious concessions and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of Charles Macklin,
He discovered the persons who had combined to drive him from the exercise of his profession , and brought an action against them for a conspiracy . The cause was tried at Westminster , before Lord Mansfield . The parties were clearly convicted ; but Macklin , before the punishment was awarded , begged to be heard . His request was granted b y the court , and he observed , that no little motive of private resentment had urged him to bring forward the affair in a Court of
Justice , but a regard to his profession , in order to rescue his fraternity from the attack of personal hostility , and to shew them , that while they conducted themselves properly in the public exercise of their talents , they were as much under the protection of the Law as any other class of the community . He concluded with expressing his wishthat no heavy pecuniary mulct might be inflicted the
, upon culprits , but that they might be permitted to take a certain number of tickets of the Theatre , to compensate for the expence and disappointment which they had occasioned . This conduct of Macklin made a strong impression on the minds of all present ; and the enli ghtened Sage upon the Bench expressed
himself in the following manner : — ' Mr . Macklin , I have often admired your talents upon the Stage ; but I think you never acted better than upon the present occasion . * We dwell upon this incident , because it produced a considerable change in the manners of the public ; and though Macklin effectually vindicated his own character , and asserted his own rights in this affair , it may be doubted whether it was not attended witn an injury to the profession which he intended
to serve . Before this event , there was a kind of popular justice that was always able to controul the power of a Manager . It was impossible for those in whose hands the government of the Theatre was vested to dismiss a favourite Performer without clue reason , or to allot any character unworthy of the abilities and reputation of the Actor or
Actress to whom such character might be assigned . It was also impossible for a Manager to keep a Performer in the back ground , and render him insignificant by non-employment . To say nothing of the tyranny to which female beauty might be exposed , if it should be virtuous enough to resist the persecuting gallantry of the Theatrical Monarch .
On all such occasions , a liberal Party started up , under the name of The Town , and compelled the Theatre to summary and signal justice . No such Party now ventures to appear , lest the Law should inflict its vengeance . The Public can now only give its judgment on the first nig ht of a new piece ; but the Manager , if the piece is the production of a friend whom he is determined to support , can thrust
it down the throats of the Public in defiance of criticism and common sense ; or appeal to the Law for protection against a conspiracy . It is also in the power of a Manager , if he has conceived any illwill against a favourite of the Public , to find a pretext for dismissing the object of his malevolence ; and the latter has no redress , but must endeavour to retain his situation by ignominious concessions and