Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 30.djvu/269

 fifth act of ‘Lear’ was also restored, and Kean played Lothair in ‘Adelgitha.’ On 6 March 1824 he played the Stranger. Shortly afterwards he started again for Paris and Switzerland, and on his return journey took what proved to be a farewell of Talma.

For some time the irregularities of Kean's life were the subject of much gossip. He had formed with Mrs. Cox, the wife of Robert Albion Cox, a banker, gold refiner, and alderman of the city of London, an intimacy which, after lasting some years, led to an action for criminal conversation, in which Kean was cast in 800l. damages. Kean was unwise enough, while the scandal was still fresh, to reappear, 24 Jan. 1825, at Drury Lane as Richard. His reception was boisterous in the extreme, and it was some weeks before peace was restored. On 17 Feb. he played Masaniello in a piece of the same name by Soane. This had some analogy with the case of Cox v. Kean, and, in spite of the actor's appearance on horseback in an elaborate costume, was a failure. Colley Grattan, who saw him frequently at this time in the lodgings he occupied, apart from his wife, in Regent Street, speaks of him as changed almost beyond recognition, with red nose, blotched cheeks, and bloodshot eyes. In Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Greenock his reception was turbulent. In Manchester, Dublin, and elsewhere his reception was favourable, but he resolved to return to America. At his benefit at Drury Lane, 17 July 1825, he played for one occasion only Frederick in ‘Of Age To-morrow.’ At Liverpool, where he was well received on his way to America, he spoke of himself as driven from England by the machinations of scoundrels.

On 14 Nov. 1825, at the Park Theatre, New York, Kean reappeared as Richard, and the scenes were no less tumultuous than were those to which in England he had become accustomed. After vainly attempting to speak, he published in the ‘New York National Advocate’ a letter in which he spoke of himself as no longer ‘an ambitious man, and the proud representative of Shakespeare's heroes,’ but pleaded for a shelter in which to close his professional and mortal career. Thus New York was appeased; but the rioting was renewed in Boston, where his life was in danger from missiles, and the houses of those by whom he was sheltered were attacked. Smuggled out of the city, he returned to New York. Other cities in the United States and Canada were visited, and while in Quebec he was elected a chief among the Hurons, an honour which he declared to be the proudest of his distinctions. He appears to have been at one portion of this visit locked up as a lunatic.

On 8 Jan. 1827 Kean reappeared at Drury Lane as Shylock, and all was forgiven. He was visibly failing, however, and when on 21 May 1827 he played Ben Nazir in Colley Grattan's ‘Ben Nazir the Saracen,’ he was unable to speak many consecutive words of his part. Grattan describes him at this period at the Hummums Hotel in Covent Garden, ‘sitting up in his bed, a buffalo skin wrapped around him, a huge hairy cap, decked with many-coloured feathers, on his head, a scalping-knife in his belt, and a tomahawk in his hand.’ Poor as his recklessness had rendered him, he gave Miss Smithson 50l. for her performance of Lady Anne to his Richard. At the same time he quarrelled with his son Charles. Kean now transferred his services to Covent Garden, where, as Shylock, he made his first appearance on 15 Oct. 1827. Here he remained for the season, playing no new part. In May 1828 he played Richard III at the Théâtre Français, Paris, under the patronage of the Duc d'Orléans. Some curiosity was excited, but no appreciation. His visit was, however, commemorated in ‘Kean, ou Désordre et Génie’ by Alexandre Dumas, produced in 1836 at the Porte Saint-Martin. Forgiving his son Charles, Kean appeared with him on 1 Oct. 1828 at Glasgow, playing Brutus in ‘Brutus, or the Fall of Tarquin,’ to his son's Titus. His delivery on his son's neck of the words ‘Pity thy wretched father’ stirred the audience greatly, and Kean whispered to his son, ‘We are doing the trick, Charlie.’ Returning to Covent Garden, he played on 15 Dec. 1828 Virginius in the play of Sheridan Knowles. His fits of illness had grown increasingly severe, and early in January 1829 his season terminated. Contrary to expectation he rallied, and played in Ireland in July. A dispute with the management of Covent Garden led to his reappearance on 2 Dec. 1829 at Drury Lane, where on 8 March 1830 he essayed his last new Shakspearean character, King Henry V, in which he broke down, apologising to the audience for an imperfect memory. He played two nights at the Surrey, and insulted the audience for preferring Thomas Cobham [q. v.] On 16 June 1830 he appeared practically for the first time at the Haymarket, and played four parts that season. Contemplating a third visit to America, he appeared at the Haymarket Opera House on 19 July 1830 in acts from five plays. The announcement that it was his farewell attracted a large audience. After a further retirement to Bute he reappeared at Drury Lane on 31 Jan. 1831.

Kean now took up his abode at the cottage adjoining the Richmond Theatre, where he occasionally acted. He took little sustenance