be called, had been proved
and perfected by Mr. Yates's being invited to take Mansfield in his way,
whenever he could, and by his promising to come; and he did come rather earlier
than had been expected, in consequence of the sudden breaking-up of a large
party assembled for gaiety at the house of another friend, which he had left
Weymouth to join. He came on the wings of disappointment, and with his head full
of acting, for it had been a theatrical party; and the play, in which he had
borne a part, was within two days of representation, when the sudden death of
one of the nearest connections of the family had destroyed the scheme and
dispersed the performers. To be so near happiness, so near fame, so near the
long paragraph in praise of the private theatricals at Ecclesford, the seat of
the Right Hon. Lord Ravenshaw, in Cornwall, which would of course have
immortalized the whole party for at least a twelvemonth! and being so near, to
lose it all, was an injury to be keenly felt, and Mr. Yates could talk of
nothing else. Ecclesford and its theatre, with its arrangements and dresses,
rehearsals and jokes, was his never-failing subject, and to boast of the past
his only consolation.
    Happily for him, a love of the theatre is so general, an itch for acting so
strong among young people, that he could hardly out-talk the interest of his
hearers. From the first casting of the parts, to the epilogue, it was all
bewitching, and there were few who did not wish to have been a party concerned,
or would have hesitated to try their skill. The play had been Lovers' Vows, and
Mr. Yates was to have been Count Cassel. »A trifling part,« said he, »and not at
all to my taste, and such a one as I certainly would not accept again; but I was
determined to make no difficulties. Lord Ravenshaw and the duke had appropriated
the only two characters worth playing before I reached Ecclesford; and though
Lord Ravenshaw offered to resign his to me, it was impossible to take it, you
know. I was sorry for him that he should have so mistaken his powers, for he was
no more equal to the Baron! A little man, with a weak voice, always hoarse after
the first ten minutes! It must have injured the piece materially; but I was
resolved to make no difficulties. Sir Henry thought the duke not equal to
Frederick, but that was because Sir Henry