whatever ability he had was slow in ripening, and he had to rehearse for fourteen days the part of francis in the ‘stranger’ before he could be allowed to essay it. mrs. robinson taylor, the manager of the nottingham circuit, whom he married, coached him carefully and brought out such ability as he possessed. he then joined in york the company of tate wilkinson, whose praise he obtained, and proceeded to edinburgh, where with complete success he played othello, gossamer, job thornberry, and jeremy diddler.