in 1690. Indeed there
exist letters of his to his daughter, dated so far back as 1750, stating
his incapacity to chew solid food, and deploring the necessity of living
upon spoon-meat, on account of the loss of his teeth. From circumstances
which the writer of this remembers to have heard from Mr. Hodgkinson, he
suspected that the age of that gentleman was underrated; and therefore
took some pains to collect the best information respecting it. The
result of his inquiry has justified his suspicion. There are in America
several persons who remember Hodgkinson at different periods of his
theatrical life, from whose united opinions it appears most likely that
he was born in 1765. If this estimate be correct (it cannot be far from
it) it must have been early in the year 1781 when he took his flight
from Manchester, and reached the city of Bristol.

He stopped at a wagon-house in Broad-mead, and was, by the wagoner,
introduced to the landlord, who soon showed, by the conduct of himself
and his family, that he was taught to consider our hero as a curiosity.
They treated him with exemplary kindness, however. The landlord, though
a rough homespun man, bred up in low life, manifested, not only
tenderness and humanity, but a degree of delicacy that could not have
been expected. A grown up young man, a son of his, the very evening he
arrived, took the liberty, upon the wagoner's report, of asking our
adventurer to sing him a song, for which the father reprimanded him, and
turning to John, said "Doant thee, doant thee sing for noabody, unless
thee likest it. If dost, thee'll have enow to do, I can tell thee." This
was one of the little incidents of his life upon which he was accustomed
to advert with pleasure; and often has he, with much good humour,
contrasted it with the rude and indelicate conduct of persons of great
pride and importance. No man that ever lived required less entreaty to
oblige his convivial friends with his charming singing. Of the families
where he was treated with friendship and free hospitality he delighted
to promote the happiness, and to them his song flowed cheerfully: but he
clearly distinguished from those, and has more than once, in the
confidence of friendship, spoken with feeling and considerable asperity,
of the indelicate conduct of some who, aspiring higher, ought to have
known better. "It is indeed," said he to the writer of this, "a trial
which few tempers could stand, but which I have often been o