Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/49

 S I D S I D 33 were made known by them to Garrick, who sent his deputy to Cheltenham to report regarding her abilities, the result being that she was engaged to appear at Drury Lane at a salary of 5 a week. Owing to inexperience as well as other circumstances, her first appearances as Portia and in other parts were unfortunate, and when, after playing with success in Birmingham, she was about to return to town she received a note from the manager of Drury Lane stating that her services would not be required. Thus, in her own words, " banished from Drury Lane as a worthless candidate for fame and fortune," she again in the beginning of 1777 went "on the circuit" in the provinces. After a very successful engagement at Bath from 1778 to 1782, she again accepted an offer from Drury Lane, when her appearance in Southern's Isabella was one continued tri- umph, only equalled in the history of the English stage by that of Garrick's first night at Drury Lane in 1741 and that of Edmund Kean's in 1814. In her earlier years it was in scenes of a tender and melting character that she exercised the strongest sway over an audience ; but in the performance of Lady Macbeth, in which she appeared February 1785, it was the grandeur of her exhibition of the more terrible passions as related to one awful purpose that held them spellbound. In Lady Macbeth she found the highest and best scope for her gifts. It fitted her as no other character did, and as perhaps it will never fit another actress. Her extraordinary and peculiar physical endowments tall and striking figure, brilliant beauty, powerfully expressive eyes, and solemn dignity of demean- our enabled her to confer a weird majesty on the character which inexpressibly heightened the tragic awe surround- ing her fate. After Lady Macbeth she played Desderaona, Rosalind, and Ophelia, all with great success ; but it was in Queen Catherine which she first played on her brother's spectacular revival of Henry VIII. in 1788 that she dis- covered a part almost as well adapted to her peculiar powers as that of Lady Macbeth. In her early life she had attempted comedy, but her gifts in this respect were very limited. It was of course inevitable that comparisons should be made between her and her only compeer Rachel, who undoubtedly excelled her in intensity and the por- trayal of fierce passion, but was a less finished artist and lacked Mrs Siddons's dignity and pathos. Though Mrs Siddons's minute and systematic study perhaps gave a cer- tain amount of stiffness to her representations, it conferred on them a symmetry and proportion to which Rachel never attained. Mrs Siddons formally retired from the stage 29th June 1812, but occasionally appeared on special occasions even when advanced in years. In private life she enjoyed the friendship and respect of a wide circle, including many of the most eminent persons of her time. She died at London on 8th June 1831. See Thomas Campbell, Life of Mrs Siddons (2 vols., 1834) ; Fitz- gerald, The Kembles (3 vols., 1871); and Frances Ann Kemble, Records of a Girlhood (3 vols., 1878). SIDI-BEL-ABBES, chief town of an arrondissement in the department of Oran, Algeria, lies 48 miles by rail to the south of that town, at an elevation of 1552 feet above sea-level, on the right bank of the Mekeri*a (afterwards the Sig), and surrounded by a plain which is dominated by the escarpments of Mount Tessala. The town, encircled by a crenellated and bastioned wall with a fosse, is traversed from east to west and from north to south by two wide streets shaded by plane trees ; the gates are four in number, named from Oran, Daia, Mascara, and Tlemcen respectively. There are numerous fountains fed from the Mekerra. The civil and military quarters of the town are quite distinct from one another. The population of Si di-bel- Abbes in 1881 was 13,298, or, including the commune, 16,840; the Spanish considerably preponderates over the French element. The town, which is of quite recent origin, de- rives its name from a chapel, near which a redoubt was constructed by General Bedeau in 1843. The surrounding country is healthy, fertile, and populous. SIDMOUTH, VISCOUNT. See ADDINGTON, HENRY. SIDNEY, or SYDNEY, ALGERNON (1622-1683), was the second son of Robert, second earl of Leicester, and of Dorothy Percy, daughter of Henry, earl of Northumber- land, and was born at Penshurst, Kent, in 1622. As a boy he showed much talent, which was carefully trained under his father's eye. In 1632 with his elder brother he accompanied his father on his mission as ambassador ex- traordinary to Christian IV. of Denmark, whom he saw at Rendsburg. In May 1636 Sidney went with his father to Paris, where he became a general favourite, and from there to Rome. In October 1641 he was given a troop in his father's regiment in Ireland, of which his brother, Lord Lisle, was in command. In August 1643 the brothers returned to England. At Chester their horses were taken by the Royalists, whereupon they again put out to sea and landed at Liverpool. Here they were detained by the Parliamentary commissioners, and by them sent up to London for safe custody. Whether this was intended by Sidney or no, it is certain that from this time he ardently attached himself to the Parliamentary cause. On 10th May 1644 he was made captain of horse in Manchester's army, under the Eastern Association. He was shortly afterwards made lieutenant -colonel, and charged at the head of his regiment at Marston Moor (2d July), where he was wounded and rescued with difficulty. On 2d April 1645 he was given the command of a cavalry regiment in Cromwell's division of Fairfax's army, was appointed governor of Chichester on 10th May, and in December was returned to parliament for Cardiff. In July 1646 his regiment was ordered to Ireland, and he was made lieutenant-general of horse in that kingdom and governor of Dublin. Leaving London on 1st February 1647, Sidney arrived at Cork on the 22d. He was soon (8th April), however, recalled by a resolution of the House passed through the interest of Lord Inchiquin. On 7th May he received the thanks of the House of Commons. On 13th October 1648 he was made lieutenant of Dover castle, of which he had previously been appointed governor. He was at this time identified with the Independents as op- posed to the Presbyterian party. He was nominated one of the commissioners to try Charles I., but took no part in the trial, retiring to Penshurst until sentence was pro- nounced. That Sidney approved of the trial, though not of the sentence, there can, however, be little doubt, for in Copenhagen he publicly and vigorously expressed his con- currence. On 15th May 1649 he was a member of the committee for settling the succession and for regulating the election of future parliaments. Sidney lost the gover- norship of Dover, however, in March 1651, in consequence, apparently, of a quarrel with his officers. He then went to The Hague, where he quarrelled with Lord Oxford at play, and a duel was only prevented by their friends. He re- turned to England in the autumn, and henceforward took an active share in parliamentary work. On 25th November Sidney was elected on the council of state and was evi- dently greatly considered. In the usurpation of Cromwell, however, he utterly refused all concurrence, nor would he leave his place in parliament except by force when Crom- well dispersed it on 19th April 1653. He immediately retired to Penshurst, where he was concerned chiefly with family affairs. In 1654 he again went to The Hague, and there became closely acquainted with De Witt. On his return he kept entirely aloof from public affairs, and it is to this period that the Essay on Love is ascribed. Upon the restoration of the Long Parliament, 7th May XXII. 5