Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-02-16
From the San Francisco Chronicle
Dramatic Retrospect.
MISS MATILDA HERON.

u MISS MATILDA HERON.
We have frequently, during the last three
weeks, spoken OF the young lady whose name
is placed above; but the character of her adj
vent, her qualities career, and the sensation
she has produced among US, take the shape OF
an event above mere desultory treatment, and
worthy of deliberate reflection and review.
California is the placefor wonders. A mir
acle in itself, it communicates quickening
influence to everything great, and deyelopes
merit with the rapidity of magic.
California is the place for genius. Existing
under a condition altogether novel and pecu-
liar; filed with ratio of intelligence that dis
tances comparison; owning apopulaton whose
agitated lives have made them profound observ-
ers Of the passions, tits eminently qualified to
appreciate originality on the stage, to estab-
lish its own standard of excellence, and to
have that standard received and respected by
the world
California is the place where moral worth
and modest merit receive their proper estima-
ton Sick of license, Disguised with the reck-
less prologue Of a disordered opening, and tired
of mere meretricious glare, it eagerly encour-
ages all rectifying examples, and invites noble
emulation in the way Of conduct, by consecrat-
ing goodness.
Eureka California has had the fortune to
show all this within the last four weeks by the
discovery of new star; it has been its merit
to detect an unappreciated gem, and to bring
forward one who, we believe, is destined in her
chosen walk to be the foremost woman Of her
time.
Four weeks ago, Matilda Heron landed
quietly upon our shores, She was not only
unannounced, but it may be said, she was
without name; and, when chronicled among
the record of arrivals, was passed by as one
without any social or professional identity.
Since that time she has played twelve nights
in the test characters of the tragic drama; and,
utation which places her at the very pinnacle
of fame. The unknown stranger has become
the most prominent parsonage in her calling,
and, what is most striking, has established her
self in the very hearts OF the best portion of
the community. Never have we seen popu-
lar enthusiasm more fervid and unremitting
than what she has created. Night after night
her houses have not only been filled, but
crowded, and the ardent thousands who have
contributed to her applause seem to have been
governed by feeling of direct and active per-
sonal interest in her welfare. Genius alone can
excite such sentiment as this, and they who
win it have reason to thank Heaven, for they
are the favored of the gods
It may strike some who have not, seen Miss
Heron, and who have been arrested by the ar
dor which. has inspired her audiences in her
behalf, that all this is very strange, and they
may wonder how she got such footing in q
land which never heard her name. But there
is nothing so simple as the impulses of the
public heart, and the results which flow from
its sudden action are mysteries only to those
who have not heart enough to understand
them. Let us find the reason.
Miss Heron, a lady born and bred, gifted in
intellect, educated and accomplished, but reared
in strictlyreligious home, made her first efforts
after fame in the field of poetry and literature
| but, though successful to fair extent, the APP
plause which she received was not prompt and
palpable enough for her practical and ardent
| mind The stage presented the means by
| which she could challenge an immediate ex-
animation of her genius and, once imbued with
this idea, it became, as is the rule with all
strong natures, an inseparahe portion of the
machinery of her thought The circumstances
Of her family, thoes Of flial DEVOTION the dis
suasion Of friends, though all tenderly consid-
ered were inferior to what she felt to the pres
sure of her fate and, in despite Of herself, she
knew that the current of ambition on which she
had embarked must bear her onward to some
definite result beyond all power of resistance
came a student, and, by means of an independ-
ent fund of her own, devoted herself to three
years of laborious tuition under Mr.. Peter Rich
ings, in the private philosophy of the stage.
She made her first appearance in Philadel-
phia, two years ago, in the character of Blanca,
and gained the unqualified applause Of a full
| and critical audience. Indeed her whole en-.
| gagement was fulfilled with credit, but the dead
i weight of public doubt which attaches to de-
butdate, and the lack Of clap-trap and cap
ping which so often makes practised inferiori-
ty successful, prevented her from creating that
sensation which her merits deserved, and which
many who heard her, had they not been too
timid to embark their opinions, would have
been glad to express Another engagement
followed at the Washington theatre, where she
i performed the leading business under the man
agement of Mr.. Fleming. She next appeared
at Baltimore then at Boston; and finally per-
| formed prolonged one, as leading actress, at
the Bowery theatre in New York.
l All these engagements occupied, together,
about two years; but they were separated by
! long intervals of illness, the last one pros
| trating her for several months AT each Of
these periods her friends renewed their endea-
| vors to dissuade her from pursuing her profess
| sion, but her ambition seemed only to grow the
stronger from bodily affection; and, more clearly
L
than they, she saw that despite Of all will Of
her own, her future was fixed. The consum-
ing passion-the same which once governed
and sustained Siddons and an O'Neil--gave
her the power to resist; and, in order to grasp
period of length, during which she might be
free from importunity and give her destiny its
chance, she rose prematurely from her sick bed,
and, taking with her but female servant to
whom she was attached, placed herself under
the charge of MIR. George Lewis, as her the
atrical agent and, after two days prepa-
ration, set sail for California. Unfortunately,
Mr. Lewis died on the passage up from the
I Isthmus, and she landed here alone.
| Depressed by the loneliness of her condition.;
mistrusting the visitation as a rebuke for her
| hayward ambition, and discouraged by an ac-
emulation Of minor obstacles, which were too
| great for her mere woman's nature to with
stand, she sat down, and, to use her own
woman's language, had "a good long cry" and
| resolved to return home without trying her
fortune here) by the next steamer. But, while
| affairs were in this condition, her name at
nd tho attention., 1,,aror,,