MR. ARNOLD'S EXPLANATION op HIS CONNEXION WITH THE LATE CIIIR
LES MATHEWS.
IN reviewing* the first and second volumes of Mrs. MATnEws's Memoirs of her husband, we remarked on what appeared a general suplawsion" as regarded his pecuniary ;Inks, and on the ob- scurity of the account of his connexion with Mr. An:6;CM]). 110 11:11TatiVe," wi 011.SerVed, "sit Ms eneogement with A roold for the At Homes' is equally obscure in its causes mid its terms. We are told that Mitt is made a 110 ally dials suit /VOUS har:.■1111 With A1'110111; hint OW he did so. (further than the general one of dis.eitisfaction with the London managers,) or what income be was to receive, is kept behind. It is credible enough that Arnold imposed upen Alathews's ciireleseless in business, and took eth ant age of his necessities hut if all be true that Mrs. Mathews states, and
Mire is nothing mou . tell, we coeceive a Court of Equity would hare set aside the first engagement, as eombig under the head of ' corrupt, unjust, de- ceitfid, or catching- hargains."This subjcet should he looked to in the next volume, if Mrs. Mathews wishes to have her biography rank as a work of Credit."
Our conjectural qualification turned out correct in both its points. All is not true that Airs. ALernows stated, and there was some- thing more to tell. Having, on Mrs. AIATunws's representations. Ventured a reflection upon Air. Alt xot.o's possible conduct, we are bound to say that he not only disproves the charges Mrs. MATnEws wrongly brought against him, but appears to have conducted himself throughout the business with perfect openness and uprightness. Fully to understand the merits of' the case, the reader should hear in mint!, what Mr. AtesoLD omits to observe, that the peculiar fame of AIATnEws was created by the "At Homes." Betbre ISIS, he was regarded as an tilde comedian, in the first rank perhaps, but Dot the first ; and accident, his excitable temperament, or the sober character of his pertbrmances, had induced the London managers to " shelt"' him. One of the last prot'essional injutits an actor can receive, is seldom borne by any of them, we should plagine, with much patient resignation ; and it can easily be be- teved that the nervous constitution of MATnEws brought on a * Spectator, No. ; 2:2d December 1535. considerable degree of anger and excitement against the managers. Mr. ARNOLD dined with him in this state of mind, at the house of Mr. AIonats, proprietor of the Haymarket Theatre, in the year 1816 ; and he gives this account of Trie ORiGIN or TilE "AT nomrs."
"Some other theatrical gentlemen," says Arr. AnNoLn iu a statement written soon after the dispute occurred, but now first published, "were of the party ; who left the house shortly after dinner in pursuance of their avoea- tions, and Ale Alorris, Mr. Mathews, and mvself were left toeether. As we still sipped our %vine, Mr. Malleevs inveighed with mach bitterness on his theatrical situation, and the neglect of proprietors ; and after a time, in order to change the suliject, 1 told hint that though I had heard many of his imita- tions. I had heard still more from others of his dramatic store of The German and his Wife,' but which I had never NVitlICo11. 011 this he expressed hiS readiness to eive it with the permission of our host ; which permission, as may be supposed, readily accorded. We retired above stairs. Mr. Mathews de- mantled the use of the adjoining room, which happened luckily to be a bed- room, as best adapted to his personations thc lights were extinguished, and Mr. 31. withdrew to the scene of his operations. On a signal te*reed 011. Nve entered the room in darkness, and the (what shall I call it ;) auricular exhibi- tions commenced. We had groped our Ivey to a corner to which I was guided by Mr. Morris, who of course understood the locality of the place; and daring, I think, three-quarters of an hour, I was riveted to the spot by vocal and other illusions, which I think were never equalled. even b■ the first appearance of the phantasmagoria, which filled the town with amazement and the little Ly- ceum Theatre nightly with people for months, under the auspices of Air. Phd- lipstall. To attempt to describe this scene of mimic magic, Ivoulil lie like the effort to embody thought, and to give to 'airy nothhig a local habitation and name.' All I need say to you, who have doubtless witnessed this trial of skill, is, that I was bewildered with astonishment ; and when we returned to our drawing-room and re-lighted our candles, I regarded the man who had produced these illusions as a being of another order. I saw at once, in a far greater degree than I had seen before, the surprising powers he possessed of commandiug the attention of an audience. I saw at a glance the cause of that restless spirit which would not allow him to remain satisfied trith a semi-obscure mediocrity, and, M short, the scope of that towering genius which coulut not brook the trammels of regular and limited exhibitions. In complimenting him, there- fore, if the natural expression of surprise and admiratioa could be called com.- Ohnent, on the matchless illusions we had just witnessed, I did not refrain from expressing my surprise that, with all his avowol feelings of discontent, disappointment, and disgust in the regular theatesi, it had never entered his head to • set up for himself,' and after the manner of George Saville Carey, Alexander Stevens, and Charles Dibdin, to take the field alone, and boldly and at once to face a London audience. For this he declared himself utterly unfit and incomp.eent ' he had no head for businessonul hated trouble.' He could. not see the possibility of his succeedine in such an effort, and wound up his dissent to this proposition by saying that, such were his annoyances iii the London theatres—suck was his determination not to remain in them, where whatever talent he possessed was actually shc/fed—that as all he aspired to was a moderate competency, he would cheerfully sell himself to any man as an ‘ahsolute, downright store,' for five years, provided such person could secure to him an :infinity of 500/. for his lite. At this I. own I laughed heartily, and said. ' My dear Sir, you could not live upon that income.' He replied that he was the best judge of that: ' that ' a very humble cottage and a pony- chaise were all that were necessary to his happiness ;' and strenuously re- peated his resolution to sign and seal, at an hour's notice, any agreement that could secure to him this independence. I then argued the point with him ; re. minded him that he had a wife to provide for aml a child to educate and ad- vance in the world—in short, that to he enabled to live with cornmon decency, and to insure his life in a competent sum fbr the benefit of his wife and son. he coulIl not, with his habits. With the most rigid economy, effect those objects under 800/. per annum. This he still contended; and at last, on his reiterating what I could not lint understand as a sort of proposition to myself, I told him, if he was really serions, (as he again solemnly assured me he was,) I would oinsider the subject, make the necessary calculations, end see him again in it few days. Ile then—which in Fact gave me the first real impression that he was serious— enjoined the strictest .cerecy ; in the propriety of which our friend. Morris joined ; and so we parted."
The result of this interview was a variety of negotiations and calculations, continued during eighteen months ; which ended in MATnEws engaging himself to ARNoLD for seven years, at 1,0001. per annum mid an annuity of the sante sum for the remainder of his life. That the negotiation was at first secret, Mr. Aallot.o ad- mits ; but it was so at the desire of AIATItEws—lest, as Mr. AR. Nom, supposed, if the filet got wind it might injure hint with the other managers. That it was concealed from Mrs. AIATnEws and all their friends, as the lady alleges, Mr. ARNOLD emphatically denies. Mrs. AIATHEws herself was made acquainted with it at an early stage of the business, by Mr. ARNOLD'S Licsire ; discussed the matter with him, corresponded with him upon it, expressed her anxiety for its arrangement, and accompanied her husband and Mr. ARNOLD in a post-chaise to the house of one of ALernEws's trustees to settle the terms of the agreement with AlArnEws's lawyer. The trustees or course were acquainted with the negotia- tion, and Mr. ARNOLD justly infers with its terms—one of them having altered the draft deed. So ihr from ivTnEws having had no prothssional tnt nd, as his with asserts, the deed was revised by his own lawyer. Under such a series of investigations, it is pus- slide that ALernEws might, as the biography states, not "feel the necessity of inspectiog the document offered to his scrutiny, but rashly and hastily affixed his name to it ; " but the implication of ignorance of its contents altogether foils. Mr. Aaxoen, however, says, that to the best of his belief the deed was read over (the usual mode) in the presence of all the subscribing parties, trustees as well as principals.
Besides defending himself from the charge of entrapping her husband into a secret and fraudulent engagement, Mr. Aallot.n re- matks upon the violent and womanly terms Mrs. 31ATIIEWS uses— as " fettered slave," " our future master," " selling himself ;" and he also aims at showing that the terms of the engagement were not only fair but liberal. Taking rather a larger view than Alr. ARNOLD, this may be conceded too. At the period in question, the "starring system " had not begun, nor the modern high salaries. ;Ions KENIBLE, for a limited number of nights, had received some thirty pounds a week ; but we believe (for we are not profound in these matters) that twenty pounds a week was the highest salary paid to any actor for the season ; and this sum ARNOLD secured to MarnEws throughout the year, and for his life after the seven years' service. As for the actor having "sold himself," it is properly oh- served that every actor who engages with a manager undertakes not to perform for other people without consent ; and some of the lady's representations as to the stringency of the agreement are -disproved by the production of its clauses. Mr. ARNOLD adds— though he gives no details of his calculation—that the expenses of the theatre, &e., with MATHEWS'S salary, would involve a total outlay of 3,500/. a year ; and until the successful result justified his theatrical acumen, his friends considered he had entered into a rash speculation. His solicitor advised him, with "friendly anxiety, not to enter into so wild and visionary a project ;" his counsel, Mr. DUVAL, "sent for him expressly to point out the im- policy of the engagement ;" and MATHEWS himself, when he took up the pen to sign the deed, exclaimed, "And now, gentlemen, do you not think Mr. Arnold a madman?"
The upshot of the whole was, that when the speculation suc-
ceeded so triumphantly, MATHEWS virtually refused to perform ; friends interfered ; meetings were held; and, after the usual dis- cussions on similar occasions, the deed was cancelled, and a new agreement for seven years entered into, by which the profits of the "At Homes" were divided between the two parties—the usual terms MATHEWS made with country managers, and which he renewed with ARNOLD in 1826. Whatever may be thought of the discrimi- nation of the manager and the ill luck of MArnews, his conduct upon this occasion seems to show that he had the player's incapa- city of taking a large view of moral right ; and it might shake the judgment we pronounced upon his high integrity. Mr. ARNOLD, however, appears to attribute his conduct to the advice of friends; and he speaks of "reproaclnes, invectives, or more covert stings, or the scorpion lash of ridicule at home." With such family jars we have nothing to do ; and upon Mrs. Msrliews's misrepresenta- tions as a biographer it is unnecessary to comment.
A good part of this publication of Forgotten Facts consists of
-documents, entire or in extract, supported by the signatures of MOMS. MORRIS, BEAZLY, PEKE, and Mrs. MATHEWS. These are interwoven by Mr. ARNOLD'S commentary; which, though clear enough, is not very well arranged, and is somewhat wordy, with many touches about it of the "'F. R. "—that is, Theatre Royal. But, besides its use as eliciting truth, and fully narrating the par- ticulars of an important event in theatrical history, it also contains incidentally some characteristic touches of MATHEWS. Here is one.
MENTAL QUICKNESS OF MATIIEWS.
" Of Mr. M. I always thought and spoke as one possessing a quickness of
perception which enabred him to 4 catch the idea' before it was well uttered, and endowed with a grasp of intellect which seized the full hearing of any pro- position laid before him with a prompt acumen which rendered explanation almost useless. I appeal to Mr. James Smith, Mr. Poole, Mr. Peake, and Mr. Moncrieff, the gentlemen who wrote and put together the greater part of his entertainments, whether I.have exaggerated these qualities, and whether he did not seize with surprising rapidity on every sketch proposed to him, and identify himself, as it were, as if by intuition, with every new char acter and idea suggested to him ? They can speak also to the keen and critical tact with which he selected or rejected characters, sentiments, and even words, which might be agreeable or offensive to the public ; and, in short, whether he was a Dian so wilfully blind, or so dull of apprehension, as to 'sell himself as an ab-
solute slave for seven years,' without duly considering the obligations into which he ivas entering, and the duties he was undertaking to perform ?"
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