dBooks desire

" Pollard, possessed of some means, withdrew to
his relatives in the country, and there ended his days peacefully.
Perkins and Sumner lodged humbly together in Clerkenwell, and were
interred in that parish. None of these unfortunate old actors lived to
see the re-opening of the theatres or the restoration of the monarchy.
But one actor is known to have sided with the Parliament and against
the King. He renounced the stage and took up the trade of a jeweller
in Aldermanbury. This was Swanston who had played Othello, and had
been described as "a brave roaring fellow, who would make the house
shake again." "One wretched actor only," Mr. Gifford writes, in the
introduction to his edition of Massinger, "deserted his sovereign."
But it may be questioned whether Swanston really merited this
reprehension. He was a Presbyterian, it seems, and remained true to
his political opinions, even though these now involved the abandonment
of his profession. If his brother-players fought for the King, they
fought no less for themselves, and for the theatre the Puritans had
suppressed.


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