He wears a short robe of velvet,
trimmed with ermine, his white wig is disordered and his shirt-front
is much crumpled; but otherwise his white silk hose, lace ruffles,
high-heeled shoes and diamond buckles, are more appropriate to Sir
Peter Teazle than to King Lear. And as much may be said of his
closely-shaven face, the smooth surface of which is not disturbed by
the least vestige of a beard. Yet the King Lears of later times have
been all beard, or very nearly so. With regard to Garrick's appearance
in the part of Lusignan, Davies relates how, two days before his
death, the suffering actor, very wan and sallow of countenance, slow
and solemn of movement, was seen to wear a rich night-gown, like that
which he always wore in Lusignan, the venerable old king of Jerusalem;
he presented himself to the imagination of his friend as if he was
just ready to act that character.
Charles Mathews, the elder, no doubt possessed much of Garrick's power
of changing at will his facial aspect. At the theatre of course he
resorted to the usual methods of making-up for the part he played; but
the sudden transformations of which his "At Homes" largely consisted
were accomplished too rapidly to be much assisted by pencilling the
face, as were indeed the feats he sometimes accomplished in private
circles, for the entertainment of his friends.
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