MR. SHERIDAN KNOWLES-MR. GEORGE ROBINS. THERE are very few names more frequently in the mouths, or before the eye of the public, than the name of MR. MACREADY; and yet it would, perhaps, be difficult to point to a public man of whom less is known. Considering him a fit subject for one of my "Portraits"—and all will admit that the range of the histrionic profession, wide as that range is, does not contain a name which has equal claims to the distinction-considering, I say, Mr. Macready as a proper subject for one of my sketches, I turned my attention, as a matter of course, to the procuring of such information respecting him as should be at cate of the good health of its possessor; but latterly, Mr. Clowes's complexion has become pale and wan, while his hair has assumed a snowwhite colour, or is rapidly tending to it. Mr. Clowes, however, so far as my information goes, still enjoys good health and a robust constitution, for one who has attained, or is on the eve of attaining, the age of threescore. CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS-CONCLUDED. MR. MACREADY MR. GEORGE CRUIKSHANK THERE are very few names more frequently in the mouths, or before the eye of the public, than the name of MR. MACREADY; and yet it would, perhaps, be difficult to point to a public man of whom less is known. Considering him a fit subject for one of my "Portraits"—and all will admit that the range of the histrionic profession, wide as that range is, does not contain a name which has equal claims to the distinction-considering, I say, Mr. Macready as a proper subject for one of my sketches, I turned my attention, as a matter of course, to the procuring of such information respecting him as should be at once ample and accurate. I have, I have every reason to believe, at last succeeded in acquiring the knowledge of which I was in quest, but not without much greater difficulty than I have found in the great majority of similar cases. Mr. Macready's father was for many years the manager of various provincial theatres, and also an actor of considerable reputation. He acted on several occasions, in the course of his lengthened histrionic career, on the boards of our leading metropolitan theatres. He made his first appearance in the metropolis, as Hosier in the "Road to Ruin," and sustained the character to the entire approbation of the audience. For many years before his death, the elder Mr. Macready did not, so far as I have been able to ascertain, perform on the London boards, but confined himself to the provincial theatres. Eventually, I believe, he abandoned theatricals altogether. He was not only an actor of highly respectable talents, but was also the author of two or three dramatic pieces which acquired considerable popularity, and were repeatedly performed. The comedy of "The Bank Note," |