* * * * *

_A Cruel Physiognomist._--Quin said of Macklin, "If God writes a
legible hand, that fellow is a villain." At another time, Quin had the
hardihood to say to Macklin himself, "Mr. Macklin, by the _lines_--I
beg your pardon, sir--by the _cordage_ of your face, you should
be hanged."

* * * * *

"_The Grand Pause._"--Macklin had three pauses in his acting--the
first, moderate; the second, twice as long; but his last, or "grand
pause," as he styled it, was so long, that the prompter, on one
occasion, thinking his memory failed, repeated the cue (as it is
technically called) several times, and at last so loud as to be heard by
the audience. At length Macklin rushed from the stage, and knocked him
down, exclaiming, "The fellow interrupted me in my grand pause!"

_John Gilpin_.--Henderson, the actor, in his public readings, first
brought into notice the humorous tale of John Gilpin, which he recited
with such spirit and comic effect that it drew public attention to the
poems of Cowper in general, which, excellent as they are, particularly
_The Task_, were but little known at the time, though they are now
justly in universal estimation.

* * * * *

_Bibb the Engraver._--Taylor relates: How Bibb supported himself,
having relinquished engraving, it would be difficult to conceive, if he
had not levied taxes upon all whom he knew, insomuch that, besides his