William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries
Ch. IV. 1793
Thomas Abthorpe Cooper to William Godwin, 13 July 1793
“Winchester, July 13, ’93.
“You say in your last letter that you are obliged to
adopt my mode of correspondence. I agree with you that your mode would be far
preferable; but from my situation, it is impossible to adopt it.
“Since about June 10th we have travelled from
Portsmouth to Chichester; from thence, after ten days, back to Portsmouth, and
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having stayed there four days, have taken our
departure for Winchester, where we have now been about a fortnight, and our
managers think of dissolving the company till we play at Southampton, which
will be at the end of this month. In all our journeys we bear our own expenses,
and they have allowed nothing extra for our continual removings. We are paid
only nightly. In this town our salary is only 4s. a-night. This last week we
have only played once, so that we are going to receive this morning a shilling
a-head; and if we are not dismissed till Southampton, there is no probability
of our playing more than once in that town, which I suppose will be upwards of
a fortnight. From the above circumstances you may conclude that we are all
chop-fallen. It is your maxim that a little wholesome adversity is a very good
thing for a young man to encounter, so that I trust you will give me credit for
a little wisdom: that a few of the dregs of folly are purged away by the
purifying physic of bread and water. You may expect, if we are dismissed, to
see me in London in a few days, towards the latter end of next week. So much
for that subject. Mr Quicke was with us
at Chichester, and the four days at Portsmouth. He is a very pleasant man in
company, and very familiar. We expect Incledon at Southampton, and I believe Holman, but of him I am not certain.
“I received a day or two ago a very strange letter from
my sister about her situation. A kind of despondency runs throughout it. Has
she written to you in the same style lately? I returned a pretty sharp answer
immediately, which I hope will cure her of her disorder, whatever it is. You
have never informed me anything of your affairs—how your book sells, whether
you like your way of living, &c.
“Write to me as soon as convenient; but observe that I
shall perhaps not be here long. I am in perfect health, as I hope this will
find you.
Joseph George Holman (1764-1817)
English comic actor and playwright who emigrated to the United States in 1812.
Charles Incledon (1763-1826)
English actor and singer; made his London stage debut at Covent Garden in 1790; performed
in the first performance of Haydn's
Creation (1800).
John Quick (1748-1831)
English comic actor who performed at Covent Garden; he retired in 1813.
