Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macklin, Charles
MACKLIN, CHARLES (1697?–1797), actor, son of William McLaughlin, was born in the north of Ireland, between 1690 and 1697, most probably at the latter date. After William McLaughlin's death in 1704 his widow married Luke O'Meally, landlord of the Eagle Tavern, Werburgh Street, Dublin, and Charles was sent to a school at Island Bridge, near that city, kept by one Nicholson, a Scotsman, and to his experiences there he attributed the antipathy to Scotsmen which in life and writings he subsequently displayed. Originally a Roman catholic, he subsequently adopted protestantism. Macklin soon acquired a reputation as a mimic, and is said in amateur theatricals to have acted Monimia in the 'Orphans.' Running away from home, he lived for a time in London on money stolen from his mother, and became a servant in a public-house in the Borough frequented by mountebanks, the mistress of which is doubtfully said to have become his first wife. In 1713 he was a badgeman, scout, or 'skip,' at Trinity College, Dublin. Various adventures, all more or less apocryphal and contradictory, are ascribed to him before he arrived in Bristol, where— as author, actor, pantomimist, and factotum — he joined a strolling company, with which he is said to have made his first appearance as Richmond in ' Richard III,' According to Congreve, his most trustworthy biographer, he played Alcander in the 'Œdipus' of Dryden and Lee at Lincoln's Inn Theatre about 1725, and Sir Charles Freeman in Farquhar's 'Beaux' Stratagem ' at Lee and Harper's booth on the Bowling-green, Southward, 18 Feb. 1730. On 4 Dec. 1730 he played at Lincoln's Inn the small parts of Porer and Brazencourt in Fielding's 'Coffee-house Politician,' and on 31{Oct. 1733 made, under the name of Mechlin, as Brazen in the ' Recruiting Officer,' his first appearance at Drury Lane. His name at this period was variously spelt. Marplot, Cloaio in 'Love makes a Man,' Teague in the 'Committee,' Brass in the 'Confederacy,' Lord Lace in the 'Lottery,' the Marquis in the 'Country House,' and Lord Foppington in the 'Careless Husband,' were played during his first season, in which he was also, 15 Jan. 1783-4, the original Colonel Bluff in Fielding's 'Intriguing Chambermaid.' His engagement for these first-rate parts was due to the El between Highmore, the manager of Lane, and his principal actors, which had led the latter to secede and open the Haymarket for the season of 1733 [see Harper, John, d. 1742]. Highmore, thus deserted, collected what performers he could from the country theatres and elsewhere. Among these Macklin was conspicuous by the promise he exhibited. But early in 1734 Fleetwood succeeded to the management of Drury Lane, the seceding actors returned on 12 March, and Macklin, who found his best, parts taken from him, joined at the Haymarket the company of Fielding, in whose 'Don,' Quixote in England' he made, as Squire Badger, his first appearance at that house. Fleetwood, however, engaged him for the ensuing season, and as Poins he reappeared on 24 Sept. 1734 at Drury Lane, where, with a solitary migration to the Haymarket in 1744, he remained until 1748. But his uncontrollable temper led him to frequent difficulties there. In 1735 he caused the death of Thomas Hallam, a brother-actor, in the green-room of Drury Lane, in a pitiful quarrel concerning a wig which Macklin had worn in a farce called ' Trick for Trick,' and which Hallam had taken. Calling Hallam many opprobrious names, Macklin lunged at him with his stick, which entered the left eye of his adversary and killed him. Macklin stood his trial for murder, was found guilty of manslaughter, and apparently escaped without punishment, since ne shortly afterwards recommenced acting. Three years later he had a serious quarrel with Quin, whom, according to his own account, given late in life, he ' pummelled . . . damnably.' For this he was challenged by Quin, but seems to have shown the white feather, and ultimately apologised. With his manager Fleetwood he frequented White's, where he played heavily. He became security for White to the extent of 3,000/., and managed in a fashion, which speaks more for nis cleverness than his honesty, to transfer the responsibility on to Paul Whitehead the poet, wno consequently was imprisoned for some years. Macklin made the acquaintance of his fellow-actor, Garrick, before 1740, and until 1743 they were the best of friends, being, Macklin said, scarcely two days asunder. In 1742 Macklin, Garrick, and Mrs. Woffington tried the dangerous experiment of keeping house together in Bow treet. In 1743 a strike against the manage- ment of Fleetwood, then become bankrupt, was begun by Garrick, Macklin, Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Clive, and other actors [see Garrick, David]. The actors were practically routed. Garrick was re-engaged on advanced terms, and Macklin, who only joined in the strike at Garrick's request, but who was an object of special animosity on the part of Fleetwood, was made the scapegoat, and was dismissed. Garrick made some half-hearted offers of service, but a lifelong feud followed. Friends of Macklin hooted Garrick for a night or two, and the quarrel then degenerated into a war of pamphlets. Macklin on leaving Drury Lane began giving lessons in acting, an occupation he kept up till almost the close of his life, and with a company he had him- self trained opened the Haymarket in 1744. A feature in the Haymarket management was the first appearance of Samuel Foote [q. v.] as Othello, Macklin playing Iago. This ex- periment, to be succeeded by others of a similar nature, was interrupted within a few months by his re-engagement at Drury Lane.
Despite his recklessness and his quarrels, Macklin speedily became a mainstay of the company at Drury Lane, playing innumerable characters, principally comic. He made his reputation as a natural actor by his performance of Shylock, which remained his favourite character, and had greatly impressed the town, eliciting, it is said, Pope's often quoted but apocryphal distich,
This is the Jew
That Shakespeare drew.
He substituted Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice' for the 'Jew of Venice,' Lord Lansdowne's adaptation. Among the characters played by Macklin while at Drury Lane were Abel in the ' Committee,' Sancho in 'Love makes a Man,' Razor in the ' Provoked Wife,' Jerry Blackacre in the 'Plain Dealer,' Osric, Peachum, Jeremy, and afterwards Ben, in 'Love for Love,' Sir Hugh Evans, Lord Foppington in the 'Relapse,' Tattle, Trappanti, Beau Clinker, Old Mirabel, Sir Fopling Flutter, Sir William Belford in the 'Squire of Alsatia,' Trincalo in Dryden's 'Tempest,' Fondlewife, Sir Novelty Fashion, Malvolio, Shylock, Touchstone, Corvino in the 'Fox,'Sir Paul Plyant, Stephano in Shakespeare's ' Tempest,' Lucio in ' Measure for Measure,' and Muellen. While at the Haymarket he enacted Iajjo, Lovelace in the ' Relapse,' and the Ghost in 'Hamlet.' His original characters included, 26 Sept. 1734, Manly (Petruchio) in 'Cure for a Scold,' a ballad farce, founded by Worsdale on 'Taming the Shrew;' Snip in the ' Merry Cobler ' (sic), a continua- tion of Coffey's 'The Devil to Pay;' Captain Bragg (Thraso) in the ' Eunuch, or the Darby Captain,' a translation by Thomas Cooke [q. v.] from Terence ; the Drunken Man in Garrick's ' Lethe ; ' Zorobabel in ' Miss Lucy in Town,' Fielding's continuation of his 'Old Man taught Wisdom ; ' and Faddle in the ' Foundling' of Edward Moore.
Macklin's first dramatic production, 'King Henry VII, or the Popish Impostor,' 1746, 8vo, was played at DruryLane 18 Jan. 1746, the author appearing- as Huntley. This is a poor play on the subject of Perkin Warbeck, and was produced, according to the manuscript notes of Oldys to Langbaine, on the occasion of the Scottish rebellion. Macklin, after his wont, claimed to have written it in six weeks, in the intervals between acting, and said it was only revised in the course of rehearsals. He lost, deservedly, 20l. by its production. Quin prophesied for it and Macklin the merited failure which it experienced. 'A Will and no Will, or a Bone for the Lawyers,' an imprinted farce by Macklin, was played for his wife's benefit at Drury Lane, 23 April 1746, with 'a new prologue to be written and spoken by the pit,' whatever that may mean. The 'Suspicious Husband Criticised,' a satire by Macklin on Dr. Hoadly's 'Suspicious Husband,' the latest success at Covent Garden, was given by Macklin for his benefit, 24 March 1747. It was a failure, and was not printed. On the same occasion he played the Gravedigger to Barry's Hamlet. 'The Fortune Hunters, or the Widow Bewitched,' an unprinted farce, was acted a few times in 1748 (? 22 March).
Between 1748 and 1760 Macklin was in Dublin, where he and his wife were engaged by Sheridan at 800l. a year. A quarrel with Sheridan, with whom he took strange liberties, followed, and led to a lawsuit. On leaving Dublin Macklin migrated to Covent Garden, where with his wife he appeared on 24 Sept. 1760 as Lovegold in the 'Miser,' At Covent Garden he added to his repertory Mercutio, Polonius, Vellum in the 'Drummer,' Sir Olive Cockwood in 'She would and she would not,' Sir Barnaby Brittle in the 'Amorous Widow,' Lopez in the 'Mistake,' the Mad Englishman in the 'Pilgrim,' Renault in 'Venice Preserved,' and was the original Buck in Foote's 'Englishman in Paris.' He also produced 'Covent Garden Theatre, or Pasqum turned Drawcansir,' 8 April 1762, a dramatic satire, which failed to please.
On 20 Dec. 1763 a farewell benefit on his quitting the stage was given him at Drury Lane, on which occasion he played Sir Gilbert Wrangle in the 'Refusal' of Colley Cibber to the Lady Wrangle of his wife and the Charlotte of his daughter; he also appeared as Buck in the 'Englishman in Paris,' and recited a farewell prologue. Foote said that Garrick wrote the prologue in the hope that Macklin would be as good as his word, and so deliver him from a formidable rival. When regrets were uttered in the green-room at the loss of so admirable an actor, Foote said, 'You need not fear; he will first break in business, and then break his word,' a prophecy fully accomplished. He opened accordingly in March 1764, under the Piazza in Covent Garden, a tavern and coffee-house, a feature in the conduct of which was a three-shilling ordinary at four o'clock, over the service of which he presided. On 21 Nov. 1764 he also began, in Hart Street, Covent Garden, what was called the British Inquisition. The entertainment, which commenced at seven o'clock, consisted of a lecture by Macklin, followed by a debate. The first lecture was on 'Hamlet.' For a few nights this took the town. Foote seized the opportunity of burlesquing a notion which lent itself readily to ridicule, and is said to have more than once attended the lecture and perplexed the lecturer, setting him on one occasion, when the subject was 'memory,' which Macklin claimed to have highly trained, the task of repeating the famous nonsense lines concerning the baker's wife who went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf to make an apple-pie, &c. The management of the tavern was unsuccessful, and on 26 Jan. 1768 Macklin was a bankrupt. He paid subsequently all claims in full. In 1767 he was in Dublin with Spranger Barry and Woodward, but does not appear to have acted. On 12 Dec. 1769, at Drury Lane, he made, as Shylock, his 'first appearance for six years.' On this occasion he produced 'Love à la Mode,' 4to, 1798, a farce, owing something to the 'Lover' of Theophilus Cibber, in which he played Sir Archy McSarcasm, his daughter appearing as Charlotte. He received a portion of the profits of each performance instead of a regular salary. The dramatis personæ comprised an Irish officer, a Scottish baronet, a Jew broker, and an English squire, the Irishman being the only disinterested character. Despite some opposition it ultimately triumphed. It was a great advance upon any previous dramatic effort of Macklin. One act was printed in the 'Court Miscellany,' April 1766. The following season he went to Covent Garden, where he played, 28 Jan. 1761, Lord Belville, and Miss Macklin Angelica, in the first production of his own 'Married Libertine.' In Lord Belville Macklin was supposed to have ridiculed a well-known nobleman. His play accordingly met with much opposition, and ran with difficulty the nine nights necessary to secure the author his benefits. A description of the plot is given in Kirkman's 'Life of Macklin,' but the play remains unprinted. Mrs. Macklin having died about 1768, Macklin espoused, 10 Sept. 1769, Miss Elizabeth Jones of Chester. In 1761 and again in 1768 he was in Dublin, residing at the latter date in Drumcondra Lane, where he taught pupils. At Smock Alley Theatre he produced in 1763 his 'True-born Irishman,' in which he played Murrough O'Dogherty. Under the title of the 'Irish Fine Lady' this piece was given at Covent Garden, 28 Nov. 1767, and was damned. Macklin came forward and promised it should be withdrawn. Subsequently he owned that the audience was right in its verdict, and that he had forgotten that there was a 'geography in humour.' While in Dublin he played at both Smock Alley and Crow Street Theatres. No list of his characters is preserved, though Peachum in the 'Beggar's Opera ' and probably Shylock were among them. At Smock Alley he is said to have given an alteration by himself of ' Philaster.' Legal proceedings, a customary result of his engagements, were taken against Mossop, and resulted in a barren victory. The ' True-born Scotchman ' was given at Crow Street 7 Feb. 1766. This was a three-act piece, subsequently developed into the 'Man of the World.' Macklin doubtless played Sir Pertinax McSycophant. It was given again in Dublin in 1770, when Macklin was engaged at Capel Street Theatre, whence the company removed to Crow Street. So favourable was his reception that he meditated taking up his residence in Dublin. In 1772 he was back at Covent Garden, where he appeared 23 Oct. as Macbeth, which character he dressed, for the first time since the Restoration, in Scottish garb, instead of modern military costume as sanctioned by Garrick, who is said to have been moved to jealousy by Macklin's performance. This impersonation led to the most envenomed of Macklin's numerous quarrels. His assumption of a character belonging to Smith, during twenty years the mainstay of Covent Garden in tragedy, was the chief offence, while the press and public, accustomed to see him in comedy, refused to accept him in an heroic part, and treated him with scandalous injustice. A crisis was reached on 18 Nov., when Macklin, who came on as Shylock, was refused a hearing. Efforts to restrain the mob were vain, and ultimately the announcement that Macklin was discharged produced a roar of applause. Not until Colman the elder, the manager, came reluctantly forward to confirm the dismissal would the house be pacified. A demand, 'Is it your pleasure that Mr. Macklin be discharged?' met with a cry, apparently unanimous, of 'Yes,' and Colman said, 'He is discharged.' Macklin brought against the leaders of the riot an action, which was tried 14 May 1775, and Lord Mansfield awarded him 600l. and his expenses. Macklin, who conducted his case with much ability, forwent the sum, asking only that the defendants should take one hundred pounds' worth of tickets on three occasions: his own benefit and his daughter's, and for the proprietors of the theatre on the night of his reappearance. Mansfield expressed his admiration of this conduct, saying, 'You have met with great applause today: you never acted better.' On 18 May he reappeared at Covent Garden as Shylock and Sir Archy McSarcaam, and was well received. His appearances became now infrequent, though he added, with no gain to his reputation, Richard III to his acting parts, made occasional visits to Dublin, and conceived the idea of a trip to Scotland, which, however, was abandoned. On 10 May 1781 his ' Man of the World ' was played at Covent Garden, Macklin appearing as Sir Pertinax McSycophant. This piece, Macklin's masterpiece, and one of the best comedies of the century, had been refused a license by Capell, the sub-licenser, who declined to give up the play ; after remaining ten years in the licensers office it was only obtained through the application of some lawyers of eminence. Even then the title it originally bore of 'The True-born Scotchman' was prohibited. Some opposition was made on the first night, but the merits of the comedy, and Macklin's marvellous performance of Sir Pertinax McSycophant, triumphed over all difficulties, and the play obtained a brilliant and merited success. On 10 Jan. 1788 he broke down as Shylock, and apologised to the audience, claiming indulgence for his eighty-nine years. A similar incident occurred later in the year in Sir Pertinax. His last appearance was for his benefit, 7 May 1789, when he dressed for Shylock. Seeing Mrs. Pope, he asked her if she was playing that night. She answered that she was dressed for Portia. 'Ah, very true,' said Macklin, 'but who is to play Shylock?' He went on the stage, spoke a few lines of his part, then making an apology, quitted the stage for ever.
At the death in 1790 of his only son, John, who had spent Macklin's savings, the actor found himself all but penniless. With a view to assist him an edition of his two plays, 'Love in a Maze' and 'The Man of the World,' was edited by Murphy, and published by subscription. An amount sufficient to secure him an annuity of 200l. was obtained. He was now senile, and made frequent applications to the police magistrates on account of fancied wrongs, went constantly to the theatre, where a place was always assigned him, and died, Tuesday, 11 July 1797, at No. 4 Tavistock Row, Covent Garden. His remains are in a vault under the chancel of St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden, where there is a tablet to his memory.
Macklin's life is a record of perpetual quarrels. Wherever he went a plentiful growth of disputes and lawsuits was witnessed. To his was partly ascribable ; even his daughter and pupil, who predeceased him, quarrelled with him, and left her savings to others. Besides his violent temper and overbearing manners, Macklin seems to have had many unamiable and some disgraceful qualities. He was dogmatic, conceited, narrow-minded, and arrogant; Holcroft said that his delight in making others fear and admire him gave him an aversion for the society of those who were his superiors. Charles Lee Lewes [q. v.] writes: 'What Danton said of Marat may be applied to him, "He was volcanic, peevish, and unsociable,"' and adds: 'In his manners he was brutish; he was not to be softened into modesty either by sex or age. I have seen his levity make the matron blush; beauty and innocence were no safeguard against his rudeness,' O'Keeffe supplies a strangely different account, saying that 'he hated swearing, and discountenanced vulgar jests.'
As a dramatist he had high merit, and his stage-management was admirable. He anticipated Garrick in the reformation of the stage. His experiments in tragedy did him little credit as an actor, but he was a capable comedian, with an unequalled knowledge of his art. His voice was strong, clear, and resonant, and he had no vices of delivery and no stage tricks. He was robust in frame and his features were rugged and corrugated. He sought to be feared rather than loved, and in his lessons his pupils, many of them people of rank, were subjected to galling contempt. Shylock was his great part. He made the character so fearful in the trial scene that George II, discussing the means of cowing the House of Commons, is reported to have said to Walpole, 'What do you think of sending them to the theatre to see that Irishman play Shylock?', He had a sullen solemnity that suited the character, and in the stronger scenes a forcible and terrifying ferocity. John Bernard (1756–1828) (q. v.] classes it with the Lear of Garrick, the Falstaff of Henderson, the Pertinax of Cooke, and the Coriolanus of John Kemble. Peachum, Polonius, Scrub, Iago, Trappanti, Sir Paul Plyant, Sir Francis Wronghead, Sir Pertinax McSycophant, and Sir Archy McSarcasm were among his best characters. Churchill is less than just to Macklin in 'The Rosciad,' but praises his tuition.
Macklin's first wife (d. 1768?) was, according to Kirkman, a Mrs. Ann Grace, the widow of a Dublin hosier, and according to Cooke a Miss Grace Purvor. She was an excellent actress. Her Nurse in 'Romeo and Juliet' and her Hostess in 'King Henry V' were inimitable. Chetwood says: 'In my theatrical career of about thirty years I have not seen her equal in Widow Blackacre, Mrs. Day, Widow Lackit, Lady Plyant, Doris in "Æsop," Mrs. Amelet, Lady Wishfort.' She was the original Mrs. Subtle in Footers 'Englishman in Paris,' and died in the season of 1768-9. Maria Macklin (d. 1781), daughter of Macklin, was an actress of talent, and was highly trained, but had little histrionic genius. She made her first appearance as the Duke of York in 'Richard III,' at Drury Lane, probably 3 Jan. 1743, left the stage in 1777, after an operation rendered necessary by tight-gartering, and died in 1781. She played a large round of characters in tragedy and comedy, including Jane Shore, Monimia, Portia, Desdemona, Lady Anne in 'Richard III,' Lady Townley, Rosalind, Helena in 'All's Well that Ends Well,' Portia, Lady Betty Modish, &c, and was the original Ilyssus in 'Creusa,' Irene in 'Barbarossa,' Charlotte in 'Love a la Mode,' Clarissa in 'Lionel and Clarissa,' &c. Macklin's letters to her present the most pleasing aspect of his character. A benefit to Macklin's widow (his second wife) was given at Covent Garden, 17 June 1805.
A portrait by Opie of Macklin in his ninety-third year and another by De Wilde as Sir Pertinax McSycophant are in the Mathews collection in the Garrick Club. Engraved portraits of him are given in the various biographies.
In addition to the subscription edition of Macklin's two plays, 4to, 1793, an octavo edition of the same comedies and the 'True-born Irishman,' unmentioned by Lowndes, was issued, also by subscription, by William Jones, 86 Dame Street, Dublin. A burlesque prologue to Fielding's 'Wedding Day' is headed 'Writ and spoken by Mr. Macklin.' Mr. Austin Dobson assigns it to Macklin, but Mr. Frederick Lawrence, the biographer of Fielding, claims it for that author.