The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle

Chapter LV

242 The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle degree, that in the temerity of his passion, he uttered the epithet impertinent scoundrel; which was no sooner pronounced than the Caledonian made manual application to his nose,17 and leaping out of the coach, stood waiting for him on the plain; while he (the physician) made feeble efforts to join him, being easily retained by the other soldier; and Pallet, dreading the consequence in which he himself might be involved, bellowed aloud for prevention. Our hero endeavoured to quiet the commotion, by representing to the Scot, that he had already taken satisfaction for the injury he had received; and telling the doctor , that he had deserved the chastisement which was inflicted upon him: but the of- ficer (encouraged perhaps by the confusion of his antagonist) insisted upon his asking pardon for what he had said; and the doctor, believing himself under the protection of his friend Pickle, far from agreeing to such concession, breathed nothing but defiance and revenge: so that the chevalier, in order to prevent mischief, put the soldier under arrest, and sent him to his lodgings, under the care of the other French gentleman and his own companion; they being also accompanied by Mr. Jolter, who having formerly seen all the curiosities of Lisle, willingly surrendered his place to the physician. chapter lv. Pickle engages with a knight of Malta, in a conversation upon the English stage, which is followed by a dissertation on the theatres of the ancients, by the doctor. The rest of the company proceeded to the arsenal, which having viewed, together with some remarkable churches, they, in their return, went to the comedy,1 and saw the Cid of Corneille tolerably well represented.2 In consequence of this entertainment , the discourse at supper turned upon dramatic performances; and all the objections of Mons. de Scudery to the piece they had seen acted,3 together with the decision of the French academy, were canvassed and discussed. The knight was a man of letters and taste, and particularly well acquainted with the state of the English stage; so that when the painter boldly pronounced sentence against the French manner of acting, on the strength of having frequented a Covent-Garden club of criticks,4 and been often admitted by virtue of an order,5 into the pit; a comparison immediately ensued, not between the authors, but the actors of both nations, to whom the chevalier and Peregrine were no strangers. Our hero, like a good Englishman, made no scruple of giving the preference to the performers of his own country, who, he alledged, obeyed the genuine impulses of nature, in exhibiting the passions of the human mind; and entered so warmly into the spirit of their several parts, that they often fancied themselves the very heroes they represented. Whereas, the action of the Parisian players, even in their Volume Two, Chapter LV 243 most interesting characters, was generally such an extravagance in voice and gesture, as is no where to be observed but on the stage. To illustrate this assertion, he availed himself of his talent, and mimicked the manner and voice of all the principal performers , male and female, belonging to the French comedy; to the admiration of the chevalier , who having complimented him upon this surprising modulation, begged leave to dissent in some particulars from the opinion he had avowed. “That you have good actors in England, (said he) it would be unjust and absurd in me to deny; your theatre is adorned by one woman,6 whose sensibility and sweetness of voice is such as I have never observed on any other stage; she has, besides, an elegance of person and expression of features, that wonderfully adapt her for the most engaging characters of your best plays; and I must freely own that I have been as highly delighted, and as deeply affected, by a Monimia and Belvidera7 at London as ever I was by a Cornelia and Cleopatra8 at Paris. You can, moreover, boast of several comic actors who are perfect masters of buffoonery and grimace; though, to be free with you, I think, in these quali fications you are excelled by the players of Amsterdam:9 neither are you destitute of those, who, with a good deal of cultivation, might acquire some degree of excellence in the representation of tragic characters: but I shall never cease to wonder that the English, who are certainly a sensible and discerning people should be...