Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 52.djvu/209

 a term to describe her motion) from side to side, swelling with the triumph of her son. Such was the intoxication of joy which flashed from her eye and lit up her whole face that the effect was irresistible. She seemed to me to reap all the glory of that procession to herself. I could not take my eye from her.’

In the following season (1789–90) she retired from Drury Lane, partly on account of ill-health, partly because of the difficulty of getting money from Sheridan, who, besides leaving salaries unpaid, took the receipts from benefits. She acted a few times in the country. In this period also she practised modelling, to which she had always a disposition. In the summer of 1790 she was in France and the Netherlands. A great reception was accorded her on her return, but she was seldom seen. In 1791–2 she played the Queen in ‘Richard II’ and Mrs. Oakly, and for her benefit recited Collins's ‘Ode to the Passions.’ On 12 March 1793 she was the original Ariadne in Murphy's ‘Rival Sisters.’ No new part was essayed in 1793–4. On 28 Oct. 1794 she was the first Countess Orsina in ‘Emilia Galotti,’ a translation from Lessing, and, 21 March 1795, Elgiva in Madame d'Arblay's ‘Edwey and Elgiva.’ She also played Horatia in the ‘Roman Father,’ Palmira in ‘Mahomet,’ and Emmeline in ‘Edgar and Emmeline.’ Almeyda in Miss Lee's ‘Almeyda, Queen of Granada,’ 14 April 1796, belongs to the following season, in which she was seen as Roxana, the Queen in ‘Hamlet,’ and Julia in ‘Such Things were.’ Vitellia in Jephson's ‘Conspiracy’ (‘La Clemenza di Tito’) was seen on 15 Nov. 1796, and in the same season she appeared as Eleonora in ‘Edward and Eleonora,’ Millwood in the ‘London Merchant,’ Athanais in ‘Theodosius,’ Arpasia, Queen of Carthage, Agnes in ‘Fatal Curiosity,’ and Emily in ‘Deuce is in him.’ Julia in the ‘Rivals’ preceded her appearance, 24 March 1798, as the original Mrs. Haller in the ‘Stranger.’ This was one of her great parts, though it was reasonably objected that no man would have dared to take a liberty with so important a creature. She played Mrs. Haller twenty-six times during this season. That of 1798–9 saw her in four original parts: Miranda in ‘Aurelio and Miranda,’ a version by Boaden of ‘Monk’ Lewis's ‘Monk,’ 29 Dec. 1798; the Countess of Montval in the ‘Castle of Montval’ of her friend and correspondent, Dr. Whalley, 23 April 1799; a part in the ‘Trials of the Heart,’ 24 April, a piece unprinted and not acted again, and Elvira in ‘Pizarro,’ 24 May. Over the production of Dr. Whalley's piece she had been much exercised. She did her best, and succeeded in saving it from failure. Elvira, in Sheridan's adaptation from Kotzebue, was at first distasteful to Mrs. Siddons. It proved in the end one of her best characters, and has been described as the only capital part among the characters of which she was the original exponent. On 25 Jan. 1800 she was the first Adelaide in Pye's ‘Adelaide,’ in which she did not score, and on 29 April, Jane in Joanna Baillie's ‘De Montfort.’ On 13 Dec. she was Helena in Godwin's ‘Antonio, or the Soldier's Return,’ and, 25 April 1801, Agnes, Countess of Tortona, in Sotheby's ‘Julian and Agnes.’ This was her last original part. In 1801–2 she added to her repertory Hermione in the ‘Winter's Tale,’ and in the following season she was not engaged. At the close of the customary tour she appeared for the first time at Covent Garden, under Harris, with her brother John as acting manager, and taking a share in the profits, playing on 27 Sept. 1806 Isabella. She took no new part, and in the following season, that of the Master Betty craze, was only seen about twice. She remained at Covent Garden until her retirement from the stage. On 29 June 1812, for her benefit, she took her practical farewell of the stage, as Lady Macbeth. After the sleep-walking scene the curtain was dropped, and the performance ended. After changing her dress she came forward and recited an address by her nephew, Horace Twiss. Subsequently she gave private readings at Windsor Castle before royalty, and probably in the Argyll Rooms. Strongly urged to return to the stage, a regular committee having been formed for the purpose of persuading her, she had the good sense to refuse.

Her subsequent incidental appearances were as follows: on 25 May 1813, for the Theatrical Fund, she played Mrs. Beverley; on 22 June 1813, for the Theatrical Fund, Lady Randolph; on 11 June 1813, at Covent Garden, Lady Macbeth, for the benefit of her brother Charles. After the death of her son, Henry Siddons [q. v.], she acted in Edinburgh ten times for the benefit of his children, appearing, 18 Nov. 1815, as Lady Macbeth, and being also seen in Lady Randolph, Queen Katharine, Constance, and Mrs. Beverley. On 31 May 1816, at Covent Garden, she played Queen Katharine for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kemble; on 8 and 22 June, Lady Macbeth by the express desire of the Princess Charlotte; on the 29th, Queen Katharine, for the Theatrical Fund; on 5 June 1817, Lady Macbeth, for C. Kemble's benefit; and on 9 June 1819, Lady Randolph, for that of