"[3]
[3] Macready, on the occasion of his taking a benefit,
invariably refused to receive any payment in excess of the
ordinary charges for admission to the theatre, and was wont,
with a polite note of thanks, to return the balance to those
who, as he judged, had overpaid him for their tickets.
The system of actors' benefits having thus become thoroughly
established, was soon extended and made applicable to other purposes,
for the most part of a charitable kind. Thus, in 1711, a benefit
performance was given in aid of Mrs. Betterton, the widow of the late
famous tragedian, who had herself been an actress, but had for some
time ceased to appear on the stage owing to age and other infirmities.
The "Tatler," after an account of Betterton's funeral, describes
feelingly the situation of his widow: "The mention I have here made of
Mr. Betterton, for whom I had, as long as I have known anything, a
very great esteem and gratitude, for the pleasure he gave me, can do
him no good; but it may possibly be of service to the unhappy woman he
has left behind him, to have it known that this great tragedian was
never in a scene half so moving as the circumstances of his affairs
created at his departure.
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