With the players the trunkmaker was
naturally a favourite; they not only connived at his obstreperous
approbation, but cheerfully repaid such damage as his blows
occasioned. That he had saved many a play from condemnation, and
brought fame to many a performer, was agreed upon all hands. The
audience are described as looking abashed if they find themselves
betrayed into plaudits in which their friend in the upper gallery
takes no part; and the actors are said to regard such favours as mere
_brutum fulmen_ or empty noise, when unaccompanied by "the sound of
the oaken plant." Still, the trunkmaker had his enemies, who
insinuated that he could be bribed in the interest of a bad poet or a
vicious player; such surmises, however, the "Spectator" averred to be
wholly without foundation, upholding the justice of his strokes and
the reasonableness of his admonitions. "He does not deal about his
blows at random, but always hits the right nail upon the head. The
inexpressible force wherewith he lays them on sufficiently shows the
strength of his convictions. His zeal for a good author is indeed
outrageous, and breaks down every fence and partition, every board and
plank, that stands within the expression of his applause.
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