Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1873-10-23
MMiseellaneons. q
England s three Great Actors.

The tradition of the wonderful pow.
ers of David Garrick, the principal
figure of the second theatrical era OF
renown, IS confirmed by the foremost
OF his contemporaries, by statesmen
and orators, poets aud historians,
dramatists and actors. His abilities
wrung acknowledgement from jealous
aud unfriendlv observers. Truth TO
tlngulshed him rs an actor, and in
these qualities hc has probably never
been cqnalled. Cumberland has shown
Us the sharp contrast between Garrick
ami the Old school Of actors. His
complete freedom from stage con-
tionalities was bcwildcring. Partridge,
! known To readers of Tom Jones"
thought that any one in similar cir
| cumstances would do as Garrick dld
| III Hamlet, and preferred the player OF
| the King, because he spoke all his
words distinctly, hall AS loud again as
the other An actor who performed
/ Banquo's murderer was surprised BY
/ Garrick's earnest, natural way of say
ing. There's blood upon Thy face"
! INTO putting his hand up, with the
| exclamation, is there, by God:" \
country nclghbor Of Peter Garrick,
about to visit London. took from him
"A letter 10 the famous actor; but
CHANGING To see him as Abel Drugger
| before presenting it, the unsopnlstlca-
! ted countrymau returned IL with the
excuse, "Wcl, Mr.. Garrick, though
he be your brother, he is one oil the
shabhlest, meanest, most pitltul hounds
| ever saw IN the whole course OF my
life Garrick went directly to Ma
ture's school instead of 10 that OF stage
tradition: thus a lunatic, who had
been crazed by dropping accidentally
child from window, was his model
for Lear's madness. Great mimetic
faculty, brilliant eyes, mobile features
Ga deaf and dumb artist declared that
Garrick's face was a language"
light and graceful figure, and pleas
ing and clear, though not very strong
voice, enabled him TO express his
conceptions in the most telling way.
His range of character was limited but
in single direction. DR.. johnson,
Horace Walpole, and the actor Mac
Kiln, all rather illnatured critics,
agree ia denying his capacity 10 repre-
sent the easy, hign-bred gentleman.
10 every other corner of the mimic
world his sceptre reached.
Mrs. Siddons played with Garrick
occasionally during his last season
(111j-16,) but her success was not
such as to give her Encouragement
ut Drury Lane, and she returned to the
provinces, where she remained, chiefly
At Bath. which supported the best
theatre out of London, until the autumn
of 1872. Then, at the age of twenty
seven, she reappeared in the capital,
and as Isabella, the innocent bigamist
Of Southerne's Fatal Marriage" call
cd forth such peals Of applause as She
had meyer heard before. This play
was always favorite with her, and
some years later singular incident
happened in connection with it. The
lady, then unmarried, who afterward
became the poet Byron's mother,
was So affected by the acting of Mrs.
Siddons that she had an attack of
mysteries. AM WAS carried out of the
theatre repeating Isabella's cry on
recognizing her first husband-"Oh,
my Biron my Biron!" Sobs, shrieks,
falnting accompanied this great ac-
tress's rendition of Jane Shore, Bel
videra, and some other characters.
When Crabb Robinson, then mere
youth, saw her in Fatal Curiosity"
he burst into a laugh which drew on
him the anger of the house, till it was
found to be hysterical. The audiences
of the olden time seem, however, to
have been more impressionable than
our own. A young girl fell dead from
agitation at seeing not very distin.
gulshed contemporary Of the Kembles
play Charles L. and several ladies
tainted when Mrs. Litchfeld played in
Monk Lewis's accumulation of hOr-
rors," 1.-The Captive" in 1903. When
Othello was first played at Hamburg
the consequences to several ladies in
the audience were les plus regrettables.
Similar mishaps were occasloned in
France by scene from q tragedy of
Eschylus, where the Furies pursue
Orestes. With every allowance for
the greater excitabiiity of the theatrical
public of lang syne, such incidents
show the great power of the performer,
and in Mrs. Siddon's case other
anecdotes confirm the inference. Ex-
perienced actors and actresses of
respectable rank were sometimes con-
fused by the force she threw into her
part. Her audiences we're 80 sobered
by her pathos Or awed by her sublimity,
that the best comic actors in farces
that used to excite unfailing merri-
ment, could not restore their spirits.
In a scene of the "MourDing Bride"
where lara surprises Osmyn and
Almeria, the expression Zara's resent.
ment seldom failed to raise laugh,
even when that character was in the
hands Of such powerful actresses a