I say, I have seen him do all this in such a charming manner, that I am sure none of those I hint at will read this without giving him some sorrow for their abundant mirth, and one gush of tears for so many bursts of laughter. I wish it were any honour to the pleasant creature's memory, that my eyes are too much suffused to let me go on

Spectator, No. 468.]

[August 27, 1712.

No. 114. On the death of Peer, the Property Man; Revival of the Plotting Sisters.'

Cedat uti conviva satur.-HOR. Sat. i. I. 119.

Though men see every day people go to their long home, who are younger than themselves, they are not so apt to be alarmed at that, as at the decease of those who have lived longer 10 in their sight. They miss their acquaintance, and are surprised at the loss of an habitual object. This gave me so much concern for the death of Mr. William Peer of the theatre-royal, who was an actor at the Restoration, and took his theatrical degree with Betterton, Kynaston, and Harris. Though his station was humble, he performed it well; and the common comparison with the stage and human life, which has been so often made, may well be brought out upon this occasion. It is no matter, say the moralists, whether you act a prince or a beggar, the business is to do your part well. Mr. William Peer 20 distinguished himself particularly in two characters, which no man ever could touch but himself; one of them was the speaker of the prologue to the play, which is contrived in the tragedy of Hamlet, to awake the consciences of the guilty princes. Mr. William Peer spoke that preface to the play with such an air, as represented that he was an actor, and with such an inferior manner as only acting an actor, as made the others on the stage appear real great persons, and not representatives. This was a nicety in acting that none but the most subtle player could so much as conceive. I remember his speaking these words, in

which there is no great matter but in the right adjustment of the air of the speaker, with universal applause;

For us and for our tragedy,

Here stooping to your clemency,

We beg your hearing patiently.

Hamlet says very archly upon the pronouncing of it, 'Is this a prologue, or a posy of a ringn?' However, the speaking of it got Mr. Peer more reputation, than those who speak the length of a puritan's sermon every night will ever attain to. Besides o this, Mr. Peer got a great fame on another little occasion. He played the apothecary in Caius Marius", as it is called by Otway; but Romeo and Juliet, as originally in Shakspeare; it will be necessary to recite more out of the play than he spoke, to have a right conception of what Peer did in it. Marius, weary of

life, recollects means to be rid of it after this manner :

I do remember an apothecary

That dwelt about this rendezvous of death!
Meagre and very rueful were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.

When this spectre of poverty appeared, Marius addresses him thus:

I see thou art very poor,

Thou may'st do any thing, here's fifty drachmas,

Get me a draught of what will soonest free

A wretch from all his cares.

When the apothecary objects that it is unlawful, Marius urges,

Art thou so base and full of wretchedness
Yet fear'st to die! Famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression stareth in thy eyes,
Contempt and beggary hang on thy back;

The world is not thy friend, nor the world's laws;
The world affords no law to make thee rich;

Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.

Without all this quotation the reader could not have a just idea of the visage and manner which Peer assumed, when in the most lamentable tone imaginable he consents; and delivering the poison, like a man reduced to the drinking it himself, if he did not vend it, says to Marius,

My poverty, but not my will, consents;

Take this and drink it off, the work is done.

It was an odd excellence, and a very particular circumstance this of Peer's, that his whole action of life depended upon speaking five lines better than any man else in the world. But this eminence lying in so narrow a compass, the governors of the theatre observing his talents to lie in a certain knowledge of propriety, and his person admitting him to shine only in the two above parts, his sphere of action was enlarged by the addition of the post of property-man. This officer has always ready, in a place appointed for him behind the prompter, all such tools 10 and implements as are necessary in the play, and it is his business never to want billet-doux, poison, false money, thunderbolts, daggers, scrolls of parchment, wine, pomatum, truncheons, and wooden legs, ready at the call of the said prompter, according as his respective utensils were necessary for promoting what was to pass on the stage. The addition of this office, so important to the conduct of the whole affair of the stage, and the good economy observed by their present managers in punctual payments, made Mr. Peer's subsistence very comfortable. But it frequently happens, that men lose their virtue in 20 prosperity, who were shining characters in the contrary condition. Good fortune indeed had no effect on the mind, but very much on the body of Mr. Peer. For in the seventieth year of his age he grew fat, which rendered his figure unfit for the utterance of the five lines above-mentioned. He had now unfortunately lost the wan distress necessary for the countenance of the apothecary, and was too jolly to speak the prologue with the proper humility". It is thought this calamity went too near him. It did not a little contribute to the shortening his days; and, as there is no state of real happiness in this life, Mr. Peer was undone by his 30 success, and lost all by arriving at what is the end of all other men's pursuits, his ease.

I could not forbear enquiring into the effects Mr. Peer left behind him, but find there is no demand due to him from the house, but the following bill :

For hire of six case of pistols

A drum for Mrs. Bignall in the Pilgrim

A truss of straw for the madmen

Pomatum and vermilion to grease the face of the stuttering cook

For boarding a setting dog two days to follow Mr.

£ s. d.

This contemporary of mine, whom I have often rallied for the narrow compass of his singular perfections, is now at peace, and wants no further assistance from any man; but men of extensive genius, now living, still depend upon the good offices of the town.

I am therefore to remind my reader, that on this day, being the fifteenth of June, the Plotting Sisters" is to be acted for the benefit of the author, my old friend Mr. D'Urfey. This comedy was honoured with the presence of king Charles the Second three of its first five nights.

My friend has in this work shown himself a master, and made not only the characters of the play, but also the furniture of the house contribute to the main design. He has made excellent use of a table with a carpet, and the key of a closet. With these two implements, which would, perhaps, have been over20 looked by an ordinary writer, he contrives the most natural perplexities (allowing only the use of these household goods in poetry) that ever were represented on a stage. He has also made good advantage of the knowledge of the stage itself; for in the nick of being surprised, the lovers are let down and escape at a trap-door. In a word, any who have the curiosity to observe what pleased in the last generation, and does not go to a comedy with a resolution to be grave, will find this evening ample food for mirth. Johnson, who understands what he does as well as any man, exposes the impertinence of an old 30 fellow, who has lost his senses, still pursuing pleasures, with great mastery. The ingenious Mr. Pinkethman is a bashful rake, and is sheepish without having modesty with great success. Mr. Bullock succeeds Nokes in the part of Bubble, and in my opinion is not much below him: for he does excellently that sort of folly we call absurdity, which is the very contrary of wit, but, next to that, is of all things the properest to excite mirth. What is foolish is the object of pity; but absurdity often proceeds from an opinion of sufficiency, and consequently is an

honest occasion for laughter. These characters in this play cannot choose but make it a very pleasant entertainment, and the decorations of singing and dancing will more than repay the good-nature of those who make an honest man a visit of two merry hours to make his following year unpainful.

Guardian, No. 82.]

[June 15, 1713.