New-York tribune., 1879-02-25

her theatrical subjects and the general public, WIN
whom she was the object of almost afectlOha'e per
| sonal regard. She not great actress; she h'd
no natural versatility power OF adaptation; pu'
! her grace and beauty and innate sympathy WIN
! whatever is pure and true, and lovely, made her
| an admirable representative of the herones Wh"se
characteristics conceded with her own. Mrs. kenl-
bc's admiration and affection for her were qulle
unbounded The influence of her mature and we'll
| balanced character on the wayward, lmpetuouS
vouup girl was OF the most salutary nature Inc
picturesque poetic beauty of Edinburgh was P'!
petral source of the vclicst pleasure. her nn'si-
nation was touched with its great historic ana ro-
mantle interests, and ever after Edinburgh was
dearer to her with the one exception Of Rome tIah
all other places she ever saw.
| In Edinburgh Mrs Kemble became acquainted
with the brothers, George and Andrew Combe' OF
whom the former aftcrward married her cousin q
daughter of Mrs. Siddons. OF tho personal charac-
| ter of Combe-of his benevolence, disinterestod-
ness and goodwill to men-sbe speaks in the higil-
est terms but with his favOIlte hobby of phrenol-
| ogy which he regarded as the panacea for all the
evils of the world, she could make little hcadway.
She naiycy remarks that she was never able TO get
beyond a certain point, and that was tho defect OF
| the organ Of causality in her own brain, which
made her incapable of logical reasoning and pre-
| vented her from seeing the force OF the arguments
in favor OF the system. She feels bound 10 confess
moreover, that her cousin Cecilia Combe had quite
as much trouble with her household her ladys
maids we're quito as inefficient. her housemalds
quite as careless and her cooks quito as heIy-ten-
pcred and unsober as those "Of ordinary Chris
! tians," in spite of Mr. Combe's manipulation OF
! their bumps previous to engaging them.
| The college companions of Mrs. Kcmblc's brother
! John, tho distinguished Anglo Saxon plllologist,
who frequcntcd her fathers house. included Arthur
! IIalllm, Alfred TenuySon and his brothers. Fred
crck Maurice. John Sterling Richard Trench, W.
! VI. Thackcray, and others who have since attained
! an eminent rank in various departments OF English
/ letters. Alfred Tcnnyson had only just gathered
his earliest aurels. The premature death OF Arthur
! Hallam and the monument Of love raised TO his
memory by the genius Of Tonnyson raised him to a
prominence among his youthful mates, which, MIS-
| Kcnbe suQsoats his abilities, though of high
order might not havo won for him had he lived.
! As she remembers him. there was gontencss and
purity almost virginal in his voice, manner, and
| countenance; his forehead and eyes wore certain
heavenly light, if he were already in the society
Of angels OF this circle of remarkable yOnngmcn
John Sterling was the most striking and brilliant
| in his conversation. Ills whole look and manner
gave a wonderful impression Of latent vitality and
power. IIo was one of those persons IN whom
genius makes itself felt chiefly through the medium
| of personal intercourse.
In the Autumn of 1929 Mr.. Kemble'5 pccnniary
embarraSsments were brought to a crisis by the sale
of Convent Garden Theatre, of which he was joint
proprietor The young daughter, then in her TWEEN
| teth year. proposed to aid tho disastrous fortunes
! of the family by becoming goyerneSs. But 1t oc-
Cured to her parents that her talents might be
turned to hetter account by preparation for tho
! stage. Without informing her OF their intention
her mother day requested Ter 10 learn some part
and say il to her that she might form opinion of
her dramatic capacity. The part chosen was Shake
spearc's POrta. Having learned It by heart she re-
| cited the piece TO her mother, whose only comment
was " There is hardly enough passion III this part
| to test any tragic powcr wish you would study
Juliet for me-" Meantime Mr.. Kemble,who had been
absent on professional tour, returned to London
and the youthful juliet called to reCte her first
! lesson in tragedy in tho presence of her parents.
! The performance was listened to without remark.
few days after her father took her to the theatre
to try whether her voice was strong enough TO I'LL
the building She was at once seized with the spirit
of the scene. In tho dim twilight of the empty
theatre the power OF giving utterancc TO pathetic
! passion found ample scope. Her voice TcSOunded
! Though the vast dome, and completely carried
away by the inspiration OF the play, she acted juliet
as she never acted II again, with no visible Romeo,
and 10 audience to thwart the imagination. All old
friend of her fathers who had been invited to apr
| vate box to witness the performance was in rap
lures and 1oning NJ. Kembc at the end of the play
! insisted that she should be brought ont at once,
and would prove a great success. 90 And so three
weeks from that time" says the writer, " Was
| brought out and il was great success" Her
account of her frame of mind during this interval
is Characteristic and affords a curious study.
| Although she had acted during her preparation
for the stage with a frenzy Of passion and entire
seliforcctfuness her resolve 10 become an actress
was purely from sense of duty to her parents,
feeling that she was bound to help them by every
means in her power. The theatrical profession.
from the first, was dstasteful, though she took
pleasure in acting itself OF dramatic perS0natiOn.
! Every detail of her future vocation was TeDugnant.
| Nor was aversion ever diminished by custom. With
SO little fondness for her work. il is wonderful she
remarks, that she achieved any success i'll it at
! all. "The dramatic element inherent in my organ
| ization," she says, " must have been very power
full, to have enabled me without either study or
love for my profession, to do anything worth any.
thing in it,"
Mrs. kcmblcs first appearance upon the stage was
attended with a singular combination of excite
ment and apathy. With the exception of the
hearsals she pursued her accustomed routine of
occupation till the evening of the performance On
that day there rehearsal for fear of toomuch
fatigue. She spent the morning, as usual, in prac-
tSing the piano, walking in the inclosure Of St.
James's Park opposite the house. and reading the
chapters relating to St Peter and Jacob in Blunts
Scripture Characters book in which at that
time she was deeply interested. Her mother who
had left the stage for nearly twenty
years, determined to return to it for that
evening IN order to encourage the dcbu-
, tlntc in her great trial After the toilet was COM
pleted she was placed i'll a chair, with her satin
, ! train carefully laid over the hack of n where