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for him a good Parmesan cheese, and some Mortadellos; white and red wine of Italy; marble Florentine tables, with birds and flowers on them, &c.

The minister's health now began to decline, and in December, 1732, we find him residing at Pisa, and writing to his wife, who, on account of the climate of Italy not agreeing with her, mostly resided in England. In this letter to his dearest life" Colman complains of the cold weather, though he has one of the warmest and pleasantest little bedchambers-the sun coming in from fifteen in the morning till twenty-three hours at night; and in the next room is a chimney. He sends his love to his children, Caroline and George: they had each of them the honour of a royal godfather and godmother, as children of a British plenipotentiary, from whence they took their names.

Francis Colman appears to have had the same predilections for the theatre, as were so conspicuously displayed by his son, George Colman, the elder; and his grandson, George Colman, the younger. He produced the opera of Ariadne in Naxos, with which Senesino opened at Lincoln's Inn Fields' Theatre, in January, 1734; and he had already, in 1730, made the engagement with Senesino for his performance at the opera, under Handel's management, for the season of 1730-31. Among the engagements made by Colman was that of Senesino, for 1400 guineas: she sang four times in Scipio, the King and Queen being present at each performance.

In 1730, we find William Hoare, one of the first Royal Academicians, introduced to Colman at Genoa, by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams; when Hoare requited some civilities shown him by painting Colman's portrait; another portrait, in crayons, was painted by Rosalba, of Florence.

Colman must have been a very agreeable minister at Florence; for we find Pulteney thus writing to him in August, 1731:

Mrs. Pulteney has received a letter from the Duchess of Buckingham : it is filled with praises of you and Mrs. Colman, and gives a long account of all your civilities. Such a number of English as have lately passed through Florence must have been extremely expensive to you, but Don Carlos's future favour must make up all. I expect to hear of his being your chief favourite, for which reason I have sent you a silver tureen, if that be not nonsense, but it is as good sense as a silver inkhorn; in which I beg you will give Don Carlos the first olio he eats in Italy,

Colman lingered at Pisa till April, 1733, when death relieved him from further suffering. Mrs. Colman was present, and she writes to Mrs. Tyndall, at Florence, desiring that she will take all possible care of the child, and little Peace, the former being little George Colman, and the latter his eldest sister Caroline.

On her return to England, Mrs. Colman was allowed, by favour of the King, to reside during her long widowhood, until her death in 1767, in a house which stood near Rosamond's Pond, in the south-west corner of St. James's Park. The house is marked like a capital I in the plan of St. Margaret's Parish, in Strype's edition of Stow's London, 1720, vol. ii. book iv. p. 67. It has long since been pulled down, and the Pond was filled up in 1770.

The library of Francis Colman was sold to the celebrated Tom Osborne, the bookseller, in Gray's Inn.

GEORGE COLMAN AT WESTMINSTER SCHOOL.

On the demise of Francis Colman, the care of his son George was generously assumed by his aunt's husband, Pulteney, Earl of Bath, by whom he was sent to Westminster School. Here was then Cumberland, the dramatic writer; Dr. Nicholls was head-master, Dr. Johnson (afterwards Bishop of Worcester) second-master, and Vinney Bourne was usher of the fifth form; Pierson Lloyd, father of the poet, Robert Lloyd, was at the fourth. Cracherode, the munificent benefactor to the British Museum, was then in the head election, esteemed by all. At the head of the townboys was the Earl of Huntingdon; Warren Hastings, Colman, and Lloyd, were in the under-school; and Hinchliffe, Smith, and Vincent, then three boys at school together, afterwards rose to be severally head-masters of the school,-not by the decease of any one of them.

We shall have hereafter to say something of Colman's school associations, which, contrary to the usual fate of such friendships, were matured in after-life.

COLMAN'S FIRST VERSES.

Colman's first poetical production was some verses to his cousin, Lord Pulteney, son of the Earl of Bath: they were written in 1747, while Colman was at Westminster, and

appeared originally in the St. James's Magazine, conducted by Lloyd. These rhymes are somewhat Hudibrastic, commencing:

To you, my Lord, these lines I write,
Lest you forget poor Coley quite;
Who still is drudging in the college,

In slow pursuit of further knowledge.

Early in 1750, Colman had risen to be second boy in the school, and was about to be put in nomination for election as King's Scholar to Cambridge or Oxford; but on the sug gestion of Lord Bath, this was delayed for a year. His lordship, in a letter to "Dear Coley," urging this delay, writes thus encouragingly: "you may always depend upon me, provided you deserve my friendship; and to encourage you to study hard, and improve yourself by all manner of ways, wherever you shall be, I will tell you that I look upon you almost like a second son, and will never suffer you to want anything whilst it is in my power to procure it for you."

It was this letter which gave rise to the scandalous rumour that the Earl was Colman's father by his wife's sister, Mary Colman, the wife of Francis Colman: but this has been long disproved. Colman's mother, it would seem, lived not on the best terms with her sister the Countess, or the Earl; the reason is nowhere discoverable.

COLMAN AT OXFORD.

At the election in 1751, Colman was returned at the head of the list of Westminster scholars who were sent to Oxford, where he matriculated at Christ Church.

While at Oxford, Colman commenced essay-writing with "the Vision," printed as No. 90 of the Adventurer, (Sept. 15, 1753,) conducted by Dr. Hawkesworth. In the same year, Lord Bath wrote to Colman as to his future studies, telling him that he has entered him at Lincoln's Inn, and recommending him to keep Murray, the Solicitor-General, (afterwards Lord Chief-Justice Mansfield,) as the example to follow; but evidently showing his predilections for "playhouses" as a matter of much disquiet to his Lordship, in the coming vacation.

On Colman's return to Oxford, he started The Connoisseur, in conjunction with Bonnell Thornton.

COLMAN AND THE DRAMA.

Although Colman was admitted into Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar, he soon left it for dramatic pursuits. Lord Bath, however, continued to impress upon him the danger of "running after plays," and hoping that his increased revenue would enable him "to add a cotelet to his dinner, and a couple of oysters to his supper." About 1755, we find Colman, in the Law Student, thus depicting his own position:

Now Christ Church left, and fix'd at Lincoln's Inn,

Th' important studies of the law begin—

There are whom love of poesy has smit,

Who blind to interest, arrant dupes to wit,

Have wander'd devious in the pleasing road,

With attic flow'rs and classic wreaths bestrow'd.

In one of his letters, Jan. 20, 1755, Lord Bath writes:

Let me place Mr. Murray, the present Attorney-General, before your eyes; look stedfastly towards him, and see what a rapid progress he hath made towards wealth and great reputation. You have as good parts. When you are at Lincoln's Inn, I tell you beforehand, that I will have you closely watched, and be constantly informed how you employ your time. I must have no running to playhouses.

Colman, in his wanderings met another errant genius, in William Cowper, then a noviciate in the law, and settled in chambers in the Inner Temple, where Colman, Bonnell Thornton, and Lloyd were visitors, and induced Cowper to contribute to the Connoisseur.

Still more germane was Colman's introduction to Garrick, through a "genteel compliment," in a pamphlet which he published anonymously, asserting the wrongs of Theophilus Cibber and Macklin. Colman had already some weight as a critic, for his opinion of Murphy's farce of the Upholsterer induced Garrick to perform it early.

In March, 1758, Colman received the degree of Master of Arts, the fees of 20 guineas being paid by Lord Bath, who jocularly expected the same to be refunded, with interest, and hoped shortly to see him at Tunbridge Wells, where he and his Lady were eating venison and wheatears at every meal.

COLMAN ON THE CIRCUIT.

In 1759, Colman, when upon the Oxford Circuit, by his tact as an advocate, rescued two men from the extreme penalty of the law; to which Lord Bath thus alludes in a letter to "Dear Coley :"

At

I am glad to hear of your notable success at Oxford. You say you have got two guineas by saving two men from hanging: I wish you was to have two guineas a piece for every man in Oxford that deserves to be hanged, and then the University would be of some use to you. Worcester, I doubt you will get but little; but get acquainted with two or three roguish attorneys, and they will lay you in a stock of causes for next assizes, when you are to be no longer at my expense.

COLMAN'S EARLY VERSE.

Colman began with parody, in 1759, when he wrote Two Odes to Obscurity and to Oblivion, parodies on those of Mason and Gray. Walpole refers to this attack in a letter to Mason: "He [Mr. Payne Knight] tells a silly falsehood of Gray being terrified from writing by Lloyd's and Colman's trash that was squirted from the kennel against you both," &c.

Among Colman's early associates was Churchill, who, in his Rosciad, proposed Colman as a judge to decide on the pretensions of the candidates for the chair of Roscius-but he was thought too juvenile :

For Colman many; but the peevish tongue
Of prudent age found out that he was young.

COLMAN'S FIRST FARCE.

On Dec. 5, 1760, Colman's first attempt in farce was highly successful: it was Polly Honeycomb, a satire levelled at the ridiculous prevalence of novel-reading, the name being taken from that of the editor of the Royal Female MagazineCharles Honeycomb, esquire-probably one of Lloyd's unsuccessful schemes. Colman's name as the author did not transpire; nor was the Earl of Bath apprized of it till the great success of the Jealous Wife established the author's dramatic fame.

"THE JEALOUS WIFE.'

This, Colman's first and best play, was, when first submitted to Garrick, a strange hotch-potch; but he soon re

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