New-York tribune., 1910-02-05

rivals IN his greenroom would poison
her. and, as as it happened, she took no
mains TO placate the opposition. Still he
WAS faithful to his inner conviction. and
doubtless IL he had remained at the
helm she would have sailed on to an
earlier triumph in London.
The new management let her so. She
returned to the provinces TO organize her
resources, beat out her style and seize
the commanding position which was
hers by divine right. How conclusiveiy
She owed her success TO an Unborn IN
spiration rather than to pedestrian
traning-thoug the latter played, of
course an important part in her de-
velopment- be inferred from her
account of the "artless preparations
with which she faced her first appear
ance as Lady Macbeth. The very char
acteristic passage which she wrote on
the subject runs as follows:
II was my custom to study my char-
acters at night. when all the domestic
on the night preceding that in which was
10 appear in this part for the frst ,i,ne, t1',
| shut myself up as usual. when al the the
family had retired. and commenced m. my
study of Lady Macbeth. AS the character
is very short I thought ] should soon ac-
complish 1t. Being then only twenty ysas go
of age | believed that little more was
necessary than to get the words 1iuo my
head for the necessity of discrimination,
Ii,,,e nf nv nfe had scarcely entered into
my ina ginston. But to proceed u VIZ
on with toiersble composure. In tIe h[ s.sn.e
an cen,s 10 The assassination scene. when
the horrors of tho scene rose 10 uesre
that made il Impossible for me to get
ind
hurried out Of the room In q paro51Stshm p5 tha
of terror Ny dress was of SIX ana tne
20 tn he'd seemed to my panic struck fancy
like the movement of spectre pursuing
me- At last ! reached my chaIhper' WIZ 1n3
7 found nv husband fast asleep: cl3pt
NJ, candlestirk down upon the table. with
out the power of putting the canoie ouL;
and I threw myself on my neu, VIM M.ta
daring to STAY even to take Off my ciotheS.
The story of her prodigious career is
lust so much unqualified testimony 10
her possession Of the temperament re-
f7ected in the foregoing confession. ohe
flung herself into her work with pas
sion, completely losing herself in the char-
acter assumed. 1t was not a very re-
markable character, that of the heroine
in lisa bella; or. the Fatal Marriage,
which served to reintroduce her to Lon
don. hut bv this time her powers were
under superb control. and, to use the old
phrase, she took the town by STORM
Young as she was, she made, IN some
sort. a formidable apparftion. IaH'
stately and exercising almost uncon-
sciously the grand style. she had into the
bargain that imperial beauty when VIII
not be gainsaid. Her glance alone was
magical It is said that ut made the
person on whom it was levelled almost
blink and drop their own eyes" Speak
ing long afterward of her composure
when in court circles. she remarked that
she had Frequently personated queens
The truth is that she did not need TO
mount the stage in order to cry; with
Cleopatra:
Give me my robe. put on my crown have
Immortal longings in me.
She moved always, as it were, in the
trappings Of a queen. 1t was not I'M
personation with her, but natural habit.
Sometimes indeed. her histrfonic sub
l.mities carried imperturbably into pri-
vate life. were ineffably amusing. sgd
new Smith has recorded how she
stabbed" the potatoes; one Of the best
stories dDOuL HtI ItIdlIc IicN SiAC 'NA N>tN
terror TO the soul of Bath tradesman
with her tremendous utterance of "Wili
Il wash?" and Scott loved to mimic the
manner in which she hurled a complaint
al one of his footmcn, making blank
verse out of it as she spoke, you've
brought me water, boy; asked for
beer" But there was nothing small
about Sarah SiddOns. nothing to suggest
pose or silly self-conceit. Her magnifi-
cent diction rang true, no matter what
the circumstances, and it is significant
that no one ever presumed upon the
episodes of action or speech which. as
preserved in print. look little absurd.
Her sense of humor sometimes failed
her. She had moments of arrogance.
and while she was not quite justly
called "stingy Siddons," neither was she
exactly the soul Of generosity. But, with
all her less ingratiating traits given their
full value, she nevertheless remains a
noble and an heroic figure. There is a
kind of fortnight simplicity and genu-
ineness about her, even in the most
familiar aspects. The butcher who
served Hayden told him once about her
Never was such woman for chops!
| have fed John Kemble, Charles
Kemble Stephen Kemble Madame Cata-
lani Morelsnd the painter. and yoh. sir.
Madame CataIani was a wonderful woman
for sweetbreads: but the Kcmble family
the gentlemen. sir-rump steaks and kid
news in general was their taste; but Mrs.
Sddons, sir, she liked chops
Whatever she did she did with zest.
whether she was playing Lady Macbeth
or sitting down to a dish of mutton
chops. If Mrs. Parsons has written
good book it is because she has realized
the splendid sincerity of her heroine, the
vital energy that made Mrs Siddons in
deed 'incompara ble,'' both as an actress
and Is woman.
IOFE LETTERS.