be actors. The language is as elegant as the sentiments are generous. "Actors in England," he writes, "have always been looked upon as vagabonds and rogues by statute, unless they have been under the protection of our kings, or some of our English peers; yet in this last case I have been credibly informed that for great misdemeanours they have been sent to Whitehall, and whipped at the porter's lodge, and I have heard Joe Haines (a celebrated actor) more than once ingenuously own that he had been twice whipped there. If Cibber in the days of King James, or King Charles I., had dared to treat a Lord Chamberlain with half the insolence that he has lately done the present, his bones would have been as bloody as his head is raw."
A few years after this incident Cibber figured in Westminster Hall as the defendant in a chancery suit, and acquitted himself with unusual adroitness and ability. Steele's improvidence had reduced him to frequent pecuniary straits, and he had found it convenient to borrow various sums of money from his co-patentees. His applications occurring, however, at continually lessening intervals, it was resolved to refuse all further advance until existing accounts could be arranged. Steele conceived such grave displeasure at this, that he entirely neglected his duties at the theatre, and left his share of the work to be performed by the rest at their convenience. The remaining managers accordingly undertook his duties, and appropriated to themselves £1 13s. 4d. a day each, as compensation for their additional labour. This arrangement was acted upon during the space of three years when Steele's creditors interfered. His affairs by this time were completely in the hands of the lawyers, and at their instance he was induced to file a bill in chancery to contest the right of the managers to retain any portion of his share of the profits. The cause came on for
