uch is it to be
lamented that no chronicle has been preserved of his various and most
extraordinary _jeux-d'esprit_. He has, moreover, left behind quite
enough of renown, could he lay claim to none other, to be found in
the following tribute from the pen of Lord Byron:--'I have met George
Colman occasionally, and thought him extremely pleasant and
convivial. Sheridan's humour, or rather wit, was always saturnine,
and sometimes savage; he never laughed (at least that I saw and I
have watched him), but Colman did. If I had to _choose_, and could
not have both at a time, I should say, let me begin the evening with
Sheridan, and finish it with Colman. Sheridan for dinner, Colman for
supper. Sheridan for claret or port, but Colman for everything, from
the madeira and champagne at dinner, the claret with a layer of port
between the glasses, up to the punch of the night, and down to the
grog or gin-and-water of daybreak. Sheridan was a grenadier company
of life-guards, but Colman a whole regiment--of light infantry, to be
sure, but still a regiment.'"

The sale of Colman's effects took place on the 29th of November, 1837;
among the pictures sold was the well-known portrait of George Colman the
elder, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which has been engraved; another by
Gainsborough, also engraved; a third in crayons, by Rosalba; and a fourth
by Zoffani, which formerly belonged to Garrick, a highly-finished
miniature of Shakspeare, by Ozias Humphrey, executed in 1784 (a copy of
which, made for the Duchess of Chandos, sold at her sale for 40 pounds);
some watercolour drawings, by Emery, Mrs. Terry, and others; some
engravings; more than 1,000 volumes of French and English books; and a
collection of miscellanies, including the MSS. of the elder Colman's most
admired productions, and several by George Colman the younger,--amounting
in all to twenty-six pieces. John Reeve bought largely of the books; but
before two months had elapsed Reeve himself was no more.

No. 23 Brompton Square is occupied by Mr. William Farren, who was for a
long period the unrivalled representative of old men upon the stage, {53}
and who took his farewell at the Haymarket Theatre in 1855; and No. 24,
between the years 1840 and 1843, was the residence of Mr. Payne Collier,
who has given to the public several editions of Shakspeare, and who has
been long distinguished by his profound knowledge of dr