tonous
profligacy of nearly all the characters introduced into those plays
was calculated to encourage the most artificial style of acting--it
was something, I say, to be thankful for, that at such a time,
Betterton, and one or two other actors, could infuse life into
the noblest creations of Shakespeare. Owing, more especially, to
Betterton's great powers, the tragedy of _Hamlet_ held its own in
popularity, even against such witty productions as _Love for Love_. It
was also fortunate that the same actor who could draw tears as Hamlet,
was equally at home in the feigned madness of that amusing rake
Valentine, or in the somewhat coarse humor of Sir John Brute. By
charming the public in what were the popular novelties of the day, he
was able to command their support when he sought it for a nobler
form of Drama. He married an actress, Mrs. Saunderson, who was only
inferior in her art to her husband. Their married life seems to
have been one of perfect happiness. When one hears so much of the
profligacy of actors and actresses, and that they are all such a
very wicked lot, it is pleasant to think of this couple, in an age
proverbial for its immorality, in a city where the highest in rank set
an example of shameless licence, living their quiet, pure, artistic
life, respected and beloved by all that knew them.

Betterton had few physical advantages. If we are to believe Antony
Aston, one of his contemporaries, he had "a short, thick neck, stooped
in the shoulders, and had fat, short arms, which he rarely lifted
higher than his stomach. His left hand frequently lodged in his
breast, between his coat and waistcoat, while with his right hand he
prepared his speech." Yet the same critic is obliged to confess that,
at seventy years of age, a younger man might have _personated_ but
could not have _acted_, Hamlet better. He calls his voice "low and
grumbling," but confesses that he had such power over it that he could
enforce attention even from fops and orange-girls. I dare say you
all know how Steele and Addison admired his acting, and how
enthusiastically they spoke of it in _The Tatler_. The latter writes
eloquently of the wonderful agony of jealousy and the tenderness
of love which he showed in _Othello_, and of the immense effect he
produced in _Hamlet_.

Betterton, like all really great men, was a hard worker. Pepys says
of him, "Betterton is a very sober, serious man, and studious, and
humble, following of his studies; an