Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-06-20
MRS. JORDAN.

MRS. JORDAN.
From late London publication, we cop,
| :he following vivid sketch Of the late celeLrat
ed Mrs. Jordan, who at the time of her dramat
ic glory, was the pride and admiration OF the
British metropolis. Mrs. Jordan, in her par
tic'llar line of business, had no superior, ant
her exit caused a chasm in the dramatic circle.
Of the day, which has not since been filled
She was equally distinguished for the correct
ness Of her private life, and dramatic excel.
lence; and what cannot be said Of every one
she had no enemies, attached to the profess
ion of which she was a brilliant ornament-a
shining star:
Certainly no lady in my time was ever so
decidedly marked out for comic delight. She
seemed as if expressly formed to dry up the
tears which tragedy mad SO long excited, and
balance the account between the dramatic Sis
ters, which Garrck alone entirely succeeded
to do IN his own single person; for, although
his friend Johnson preferred his comedy, yet
his Lear stood anapp cached III the records of
tragic excellence.
The mark of this great actress had been
made upon all the little caresses OF female ar
tiflce, that inspire confidence, becaust they
presume righteousness: all those sporting en-
Joyments of bounding youth, and whnn and
eccentriclty; things that are usually done
laughing, and pro, oke the laugh of unay oida-
bic sympathy. Her sphere of observation had ,
for the most part, been in the country, aud the
Country Girl, therefore, became her own, in its
innocence or its wanionness, its moodiness un-
der restraint, or its elastic movement when
free. Her Imagination teemed with the not ions
of such being, and the gesi ures with which
what she said was accompanied, spoke Ian
guage infinitely more expressive than words
the latter could give no more than the mean
ing Of her mind, the former interpreted for the
whole being. She did not rise to the point
where comedy attains the dignity Of moral
satire, but humour Was her own IN all its bound
less diversity.
OF her beautiful compact figure she had the
most captivating use; its spring, its wild activ-
ity, its quickness of turn. The redundant curls
of her hair, half showing and half conceaing
the archness of her physiognomy, added to
playfulness, which, even az she advanced in
life, could not seem otherwise than ma ural and
delightful But all this would have been mad
equate to her pre-eminence, without that be-
witching voice which blurted out y c tones of
as to render even coarseness pleasing, or flow
ed In the sprightly measures Of a Joy so exhIl-
arating as TO dispel duilness in an instant: she
crowned all this by laugh, SO rich and so pro-
voking, an expression oil face so brilliant, that
the sight of her was general signal for the
most unrestrained delight.
We know that all this was merely the imi-
tation of reality-her delight intst have been
not IN the parl but Its success--it could NJ most
amuse her, and the twentieth repe' ition of the
best written character must be matter of b,isi-
ness, and serious business too: yet there was
no languor to betray the constraint Of u pre-
sCribcd task; her vivacity always charac ctered
as fresh sparkling truth, and even life itself
seemed hardly to be so natural as her repre-
sensations.
Nor did her powers as an actress stop here;
for hough the accomplished woman of fashion
was not within her reach, and the heroine OF
tragedy was mere day dream Of her youth,
never to be realized, yet there was pow er OF
Tenderness about her, all but equal to her hi
larity. cannot say thai the exterior ndi Ted
much sensbity; U use the term in it's restrict
ed sense;) the charm was in an organ of
amazing sweetness, which, when (as in viola)
it found passage muscally constructed, pour
ed it upon the ear in strain of singular melo-
dy. AS to what may be called the grammati-
cal analysis Of passage, by which the con-
Of il is forcibly marked, the clause.
well detached from each other, and vet the
,choie meaning bound together---there was no
effort of the sort; the words streamed on FROM |
he beginning 10 the close--it was a land !
' flowing with milk and honey," and neither
had nor appeared To need the cultivation of
,rt. But delightiul as her voice was in speak |
ng. il showed its quality with rather increase |
If effect, when, as she frequently did, she in
reduced any ballad story, serious or comic, to
common air, unaccompanied by the band.
The effect Of these voluntaries cannot be de-
'cribed. nor did ever hear any thing like |
hem. She would begin often in one key, and
md in another; but every key unlocked tie av-
.nue to the heart.