512 Biographical Account 
her hands and eyes towards heaven, as 
if imploring mercy, then fall, as if 
expiring, at full length upon the floor ; 
at others, she would appear with all the 
frantic madness of Alicia, with dishe- 
velled hair, fixed eyes, and wild dis- 
‘traction in her aspect, seem to follow 
round the room, with ghastly stare, the 
“headless trunk” (so forcibly de- 
seribed by Rowe,) out of the door, in 
all the agony she had observed in 
Alicia. As she never uttered a word 
on these occasions, what passed in her 
mind could only be conjectured ; but, 
certaifi it is, she invariably drew tears 
from all who witnessed these self-cre- 
ated tragic scenes; and, what was most 
extraordinary, she never by any chance 
acted them twice alike, but always 
found a never-failing variety whenever 
the music induced her to exert her 
talents in a dramatic line. 
About two years after, when she was 
turned of six years of age, Mr. D. 
Corri, composer, having much influ- 
ence with Mr. Raymond, the then 
acting manager of Drury Lane theatre, 
he entered into a treaty with him to 
bring out a piece, wherein his own 
pupils only should perform; and, to 
one of their rehearsals, little Clara was 
invited, and, expressing herself much 
pleased with what she heard and saw 
the young ladies do, she was frequently 
solicited io be of their morning and 
evening parties: at length, she ex- 
pressed a wish to learn something, that 
she might recite at their next meeting 
at Mr. D. Corri’s in Percy-street. 
Accordingly, her elder sister taught 
her Jane Shore’s speech of ‘‘O! thou 
most righteous judge,” in which Miss 
O’Neill seemed to have made so strong 
an impression on her mind, and she re- 
peated it the next time thg, party met 
together at rehearsal, at which were 
present many persons of fashion and 
consequence, who all expressed great 
surprise and delight at the ease and 
propriety with which she delivered the 
text. 
From that time she became an ob- 
ject of attention ; anc, soon after, Mr. 
D. Corri waited on Mr. Fisher, solici- 
ting him to permit little Clara to join 
his juvenile party in their intended 
performances in Drury Lane theatre. 
The objections Mr. Fisher had to 
Clara’s appearing as an actress, at so 
early a period of life, were ultimately 
overruled; and the next difficulty to 
overcome, was, what piece was best 
suited to bring forth such youthful can- 
of Miss Clara Fisher. {Jan. 1, 
didates to advantage in. After much 
consultation on the subject, Garrick’s 
two-act romance of Lilliput was fixed 
upon; but, as the piece had no songs, 
as originally written, and all Mr. 
Corri’s pupils being only musical, Mr. 
Fisher (the father of little Clara) was 
requested to write appropriate songs 
for each of the characters, and e 
such additions as he should deem ne- 
cessary to shew forth all the talent of 
the juvenile party. To accomplish 
which, Mr. Fisher found it adviseable 
to write several additional characters, 
and an entire new last act; in which a 
masque was introduced, supposed to 
be given at the Lilliputian court by 
order of their king, in compliment to 
Gulliver. In this masque, the last act 
of Shakspeare’s Richard ITT., from the 
tent scene to the death of the tyrant, 
was artfully interwoven, in order to 
shew the talents of little Clara in the 
highest range of the drama. The 
music to the songs, duetts, glees, and 
chorusses, were composed by Mr. D. 
Corri; and the piece, thus altered, 
made its first appearance at Drury 
Lane theatre on the tenth day of 
December, 1817, under the stage-ma- 
nagement of Mr. H. E. Johnson, who 
had succeeded to that situation on the 
demise of Mr. Raymond. 
The piece was received throughout 
with the most flattering success; but 
the tumultuous applause and approba- 
tion bestowed on the delineation of 
King Richard III. by the little heroine 
of these memoirs, were as warm and 
enthusiastic as ever were heard within 
the walls of a theatre. Soon after the 
curtain fell, divested of Richard’s 
robes and attire, little Clara re-ap- 
peared, dressed in a white muslin 
frock; and, with infantine innocence, 
spoke the epilogue. 
Thunders of applause followed a 
simple and innocent appeal to the 
feelings of the audience from one so 
young and interesting in appearance, 
and the piece was given out for repe- 
ition with unanimous plaudits from 
every quarter of the house. For the 
first three nights Lilliput was done 
as an after-piece; for four following 
evenings as a middle piece ; and, asa 
proof of its great attraction, the last ten 
nights as a first piece,—and filling the 
theatre whenever it was announced, 
whether as first, second, or after-piece. 
As soon as it was known that Miss 
Clara Fisher’s engagement was termi- 
nated at Drury Lane, she was peeled 
or 
