SIDDONS, Mrs. (whose maiden name was Sarah Kemble,) the greatest actress that ever trode the stage, was born at Brecon, in South Wales, on the 5th of July 1755. Roger Kemble, her father, was manager of a provincial company of players, and amongst this class of persons he seems to have held a highly respectable rank. Sarah, who was his eldest daughter, appeared very early on the stage, and went the usual round of juvenile characters without exciting much expectation. At the age of eighteen she married Mr Siddons, an actor in her father’s company, soon after which event she removed to Cheltenham, where she attracted some attention, and was recommended to Garrick. Her first appearance on the London boards was not successful, simply because she never had a proper part assigned her. Mrs. Siddons accordingly returned to the provinces much mortified; but the praises showered upon her by such audiences as those of York, Manchester, and Bath, induced the managers of Drury Lane to re-invite her to the metropolis. Her reappearance took place on the 10th of October 1782. The character which she chose was that of Isabella in “The Fatal Marriage.” The effect of that performance was extraordinary and unparalleled. It gave a shock of wonder and delight to the public mind, like the news of some great and unexpected victory. On that night, Mrs. Siddons at once took possession of the tragic throne, on which, for thirty years, she reigned without a rival. Some idea of the excitement which she created may be learned from the fact, that “the grave and reverend seignors” of the English bar presented her with a purse of one hundred guineas. During the season, Mrs. Siddons played Euphrasia, Jane Shore, Calista, and, for her two benefits, Belvidera and Zara. In all of these characters she greatly added to her fame; the public were astonished at the vastness of her powers, and tragedy became the fashion. In subsequent seasons she encreased her circle of characters, adding from shakespeare those of Lady Macbeth, Constance, Isabella, Queen Katherine, (the most chaste, beautiful, and perfect performance that ever drew a tear,) Rosalind, (not in her line, for she was altogether too stately and heroic for comedy,) Desdemona, Volumnia, Portia, Hermione, Imogene, and a few others. This list shows, that her range was surprising, but she was not equally excellent in all her parts. Her comedy never gave great satisfaction, although there was occasionally much to admire in it. When the metropolitan season closed, it was the custom of this, as it is of every great actor, to visit the principal cities of Ireland, Scotland, and the provinces of England. Every where she enchanted the lovers of the drama. She became a favourite with their majesties, and was in the habit of reading plays to them, an occupation of more honour than emolument. However, Mrs. Siddons. by her professional exertions, realized a for-[7:20:329] tune equal to her wishes, and retired from the stage in 1812. Her death took place on the 8th of June 1831, when she was in her 76th year.

The symmetry of this great actress’s person was most captivating. Her features were strongly marked, but finely harmonised; the flexibility of her countenance was extraordinary, yielding instantaneously to every, change of passion; her voice was plaintive, yet capable of firmness and exertion; her articulation was clear, penetrating, and distinct ;—above all, she was completely mistress of her powers, and possessed that high judgment which enabled her to display all her other qualifications to the greatest advantage. One of Mrs. Siddons’s highest, if not her very highest endowment, was the power of identifying herself with the character which she personated. The scenes in which she acted, were to her far from being a mere mimic show; so powerfully did her imagination conjure up the reality, that the tears which she shed were those of bitterness felt at the moment. From her frown of proud disdain and scorn, the very actors themselves shrank with something like terror. Her greatest characters were Katherine in Henry VIII., and Lady Macbeth, in which she manifested a dignity and a sensibility, a power and a pathos never equalled by any female performer. Lastly, Mrs. Siddons was truly an original; she copied no one, living or dead, but acted from nature and herself. In all the relations of life her conduct was most exemplary, “She was more than a woman of genius,” says the poet Campbell, who knew her well, “for the additional benevolence of her heart made her an honour to her sex, and to human nature.” (r. r. r. )