g moments, and the cries of the people for
medical aid to accomplish his eternal exit. Then, when in his last throes
his bonnet fell, it was miraculous to see the defunct arise, and after he
had spread a nice handkerchief on the stage, and there deposited his
head-dress, free from impurity, philosophically resume his dead condition;
but it was not yet over, for the exigent audience, not content "that when
the man were dead, why there an end," insisted on a repetition of the awful
scene, which the highly flattered corpse executed three several times to
the gratification of the cruel and torment-loving assembly.

Coates, too, was destined to participate somewhat in the celebrated fete in
honour of the Bourbons in 1811. Having no opportunity of learning in the
West Indies the propriety of being presented at court, ere he could be upon
a more intimate footing with the prince, he was less astonished than
delighted at the reception of an invitation on that occasion to Carlton
house. What was the fame acquired by his cockleshell curricle, (by the
way, the very neatest thing seen in London before or since;) his scenic
reputation; all the applause attending the perfection of histrionic art;
the flatteries of Billy Finch, (a sort of kidnapper of juvenile actors and
actresses, of the O. P. and P. S. in Russell-court;) the sanction of a
Petersham; the intimacy of a Barrymore; even the polite endurance of a
Skeffington to this! To be classed with the proud, the noble, and the
great. It seemed a natural query, whether the Bourbon's name were not a
pretext for his own introduction to royalty, under circumstances of
unprecedented splendour and magnificence. It must have been so. What
cogitations respecting dress, and air, and port, and bearing! What
torturing of the confounded lanky locks, to make them but revolve ever so
little! then the rich cut velvet--the diamond buttons--ay, every one was
composed of brilliants! The night arrived: ushered by well-rigged watchmen
to clear the way, the honoured sedan bore its precious burthen to the
palace, and the glittering load was deposited in the royal vestibule
itself. Alas! what confusion, horror, and dismay were there, when the
ticket was pronounced a forgery! All that the considerate politeness of a
Bloomfield or a Turner might effect was done to alleviate the fatal
disappointment. The case was even reported instanter to the prince himself;
but etiquette was amongst the other "restrictions" i