[752] He said:—'Mrs. Clive was the best player I ever saw.' Boswell's Hebrides, post, v. 126. See ante, p. 7. She was for many years the neighbour and friend of Horace Walpole.

[753] She acted the heroine in Irene. Ante, i. 197. 'It is wonderful how little mind she had,' he once said. Ante, ii. 348. See Boswell's Hebrides, post, v. 126.

[754] See ante, iii. 183.

[755] See ante, iii. 184.

[756] 'Garrick's great distinction is his universality,' Johnson said. 'He can represent all modes of life, but that of an easy, fine-bred gentleman.' Boswell's Hebrides, post, v. 126. See ante, iii. 35. Horace Walpole wrote of Garrick in 1765 (Letters, iv. 335):—'Several actors have pleased me more, though I allow not in so many parts. Quin in Falstaff was as excellent as Garrick in Lear. Old Johnson far more natural in everything he attempted; Mrs. Porter surpassed him in passionate tragedy. Cibber and O'Brien were what Garrick could never reach, coxcombs and men of fashion. Mrs. Clive is at least as perfect in low comedy.'

[757] See ante, ii. 465.

[758] Mr. Kemble told Mr. Croker that 'Mrs. Siddons's pathos in the last scene of The Stranger quite overcame him, but he always endeavoured to restrain any impulses which might interfere with his previous study of his part.' Croker's Boswell, p. 742. Diderot, writing of the qualifications of a great actor, says:—'Je lui veux beaucoup de jugement; je le veux spectateur froid et tranquille de la nature humaine; qu'il ait par conséquent beaucoup de finesse, mais nulle sensibilité, ou, ce qui est la même chose, l'art de tout imiter, et une égale aptitude à toutes sortes de caractères et de rôles; s'il était sensible, il lui serait impossible de jouer dix fois de suite le même rôle avec la même chaleur et le même succès; très chaud à la première représentation, il serait épuisé et froid comme le marble à la troisième,' &c. Diderot's Works (ed. 1821), iii. 274. See Boswell's Hebrides, post, v. 46.

[759] My worthy friend, Mr. John Nichols, was present when Mr. Henderson, the actor, paid a visit to Dr. Johnson; and was received in a very courteous manner. See Gent. Mag. June, 1791.

I found among Dr. Johnson's papers, the following letter to him, from the celebrated Mrs. Bellamy [ante, i. 326]:—

'To DR. JOHNSON.