Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 52.djvu/207

 the interjection, “Oh!” is sweetly moving and reaches to the heart. Her madness in Belvidera is terribly affecting. The many accidents of spectators falling into fainting fits in the time of her acting bear testimony to the effects of her exertions’ (Dramatic Miscellanies, iii. 248–9). The actors on the stage engaged for farce could not easily recover their spirits after seeing her in tragedy. It was at this time she was taken to see Johnson, who paid her many compliments, and talked long with her concerning her predecessors on the stage. The highest honour he did her was whenm in Reynolds's picture of her as the ‘Tragic Muse,’ ‘he wrote his name upon the hem of her garment. “I would not lose,” he said, “the honour this opportunity offered to me for my name going down to posterity on the hem of your garment”’ (, Reynolds, i. 246). He said to Dr. Glover that she was a prodigious fine woman. Asked if she was not finer on the stage when adorned by art, he replied: ‘Sir, on the stage art does not adorn; nature adorns her there, and art glorifies her’ (Memoirs of Charles Lee Lewes, i. 114). Mrs. Piozzi said that ‘the Earl [of Errol], dressed in his robes at the coronation, and Mrs. Siddons, in the character of Murphy's Euphrasia, were the noblest specimens of the human race’ she ever saw.

The selection of Isabella for her appearance was due to the elder Sheridan, her own choice having fallen on Euphrasia. She gives in her ‘Memoranda’ a striking account of her anxieties during her rehearsals, in undergoing which she was supported by her father. The verdict of press and public was enthusiastic, and the performance was repeated eight times. Her next part was Euphrasia in the ‘Grecian Daughter,’ and revealed a new aspect of her powers. Public interest reached its highest point. People breakfasted near the playhouse, so as to be first to take their chance of seats; young barristers subscribed for her a purse of a hundred guineas. Euphrasia was played on 30 Oct. and Jane Shore on 8 Nov. On the 16th she was the original Mrs. Montague in the ‘Fatal Interview,’ assigned to Hull. The piece was coldly received, and Mrs. Siddons, unable to vitalise the character she assumed, lost ground. Sheridan accordingly, perceiving the fact, ‘damned the play in order to save the actress.’ Calista in the ‘Fair Penitent’ followed on the 29th, and on 14 Dec., for her benefit, she played Belvidera. This was one of her greatest parts, and her acting in the mad scene went ‘beyond the conception of those who did not see it.’ The receipts this night were over 800l. Her salary was advanced from 5l. to 20l. a week, and her two sisters were engaged. Frances Kemble made her first appearance in London as Alicia on 6 Jan. 1783, and Elizabeth Kemble made a second appearance as Portia on 1 March. Both were retained for some seasons, though neither showed much talent. Mrs. Siddons, for a second benefit, on 18 March played Zara in the ‘Mourning Bride.’ Recognition and presents from aristocratic patrons rained upon her, and she was, on the command of the queen, appointed reader to the royal princesses. During the season, one of the most prosperous Drury Lane had ever known, she played Isabella twenty-four times, the Grecian Daughter eleven times, Jane Shore thirteen times, Mrs. Montague thrice, Calista fourteen times, Belvidera thirteen times, and Zara twice.

The whole town was at her feet, the only discordant note in the chorus of praise being as yet inaudible. On 3 Nov., however, Horace Walpole, having seen her twice in Isabella, wrote to the Countess of Ossory: ‘She pleased me beyond my expectation, but not up to the admiration of the ton.’ He held her anything rather than the best actress he had seen, and continued: ‘She is a good figure, handsome enough, though neither nose nor chin according to the Greek standard, beyond which both advance a good deal. Her hair is either red or she has no objection to its being thought so, and had used red powder. Her voice is clear and good; but I thought she did not vary its modulations enough. … Her action is proper, but with little variety; when without motion, her arms are not genteel’ (Letters, ed. Cunningham, 1891, viii. 295). Subsequently he liked her better, and was ultimately in her train. He credited her with being modest and sensible, and refusing large dinners in order to be with her children. In each character she assumed new virtues were found in the actress. At the close of the season she visited Liverpool, Dublin, and Cork. Her first appearance in Dublin was made in Isabella on 21 June 1783 at the Smock Alley Theatre. Her engagement was for twelve nights, she taking half the receipts, and, probably, as this was elsewhere her practice, a free benefit.

Her reappearance in London took place by royal command as Isabella in Garrick's version of the ‘Fatal Marriage.’ Her brother, John Philip Kemble [q. v.], was now a member of the company. On 3 Nov. 1783 she essayed her first Shakespearean character in London, Isabella in ‘Measure for Measure.’ To her London repertory she added during the season Mrs. Beverley in the ‘Gamester,’