338 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



QSept. 



The Grecian Daughter ; but, on Mr. 

 Sheridan's suggestion, she adopted the 

 part of Isabella, in The Fatal Marriage. 



Of that character, in which she first 

 appeared on the 10th of October, 1782, 

 she gave twenty-two representations in 

 the course of the season. She also 

 played Euphrasia and Jane Shore, with 

 proportionate efl'ect ; and, so great was 

 her attraction, that she was indulged 

 with a benefit before Christmas. On 

 that occasion she performed Belviclera, in 

 Venice Preserved. Great part of the pit 

 was laid into boxes ; the presents made 

 for tickets, by the nobility and gentry, 

 were immense ; and Counsellors Piggott 

 and Fielding raised a subscription for 

 her, to the amount of 100 guineas, 

 amongst the gentlemen of the bar. Dur- 

 ing tne recess, she visited Ireland and 

 Scotland ; and on her return, in the 

 ensuing season, her first performance 

 was by the command of their Majesties. 

 At Edinburgh, in the next recess, she 

 received 1000 guineas for performing ten 

 nights ; and amongst numerous presents, 

 she received that of a magnificent silver 

 urn, inscribed with the words — " A Re- 

 ward to Merit." 



Mrs. Siddons was the means of intro- 

 ducing to a London audience her brothers 

 John and Stephen, and, at a later 

 period, Charles. She now added to her 

 stock of characters, Isabella, Measure for 

 Measure ; Mrs. Beverley, in The Game- 

 ster ; Constance, in King John ; Lady 

 Randolph, in Douglas; Sigismunda, &c. 

 Sir Joshua Reynolds painted her, as the 

 tragic muse, in 1784. Subsequently she 

 increased her list of characters, by Lady 

 Macbeth, Queen Katherine, Margaret of 

 Anjou, Mrs. Holler, and Mrs. Oakley. In 

 1787, her bi-other John became acting 

 manager of Drury-lane Theatre ; and, in 

 the spring of 1788, she appeared, for his 

 benefit, as Katherine, in Katherine and 

 Petruchio. In her thirty-fifth year 

 (1790) she played Juliet — ay, Shak- 

 .speare's divine Juliet ! Boaden expresses 

 an opinion, that had Garrick, " at her 

 first appearance in London, brought 

 her out in Juliet, the w'nning gentle- 

 ness of her first scenes, contrasting with 

 the ardent affection and speaking terrors 

 of the latter, must have established her 

 at once." 



Mrs. Siddons played Lady Macbeth to 

 her brother's Macbeth, on the opening of 

 New Drury, April 21, 1704. In 1801 

 her brother having acquired a share in 

 Coveut Garden Theatre, she transferred 

 her wonderful talents to that estabish- 

 ment. The old house having been de- 

 stroyed by fire, ]Mrs. Siddons opened 

 the new one, with Lady Macbeth, on the 



18th of September, 1809 ; but, in con- 

 sequence of the O. P. row — sixty-seven 

 nights of outrage — consequent on the 

 attempt to increase the prices of admis- 

 sion, her second night,, when she repeated 

 the character, was not till the 24th of 

 April, 1810. In the last season but one 

 of her appearance — that of 1810-11, she 

 went through nearly the whole range of 

 her characters. On the 29th of June, 

 1812, she took leave of the public in the 

 part of Lady Macbeth. Her nephew, 

 Mr. Horace Twiss, wrote an address 

 which she recited upon the occasion. 

 The following year, however, she again 

 appeared as Lady Macbeth, for the 

 benefit of her brother Charles; and also 

 played for the Theatrical Fund. In 

 1816 she appeared as Queen Katherine, 

 for her brother Charles's benefit ; and, 

 on the 8th of June, in the same year, 

 for the gratification of the Princess 

 Charlotte, whose illness unfortunately 

 prevented her from attending, she once 

 more personated Lady Macbeth. This, 

 if we except her public readings from 

 Shakspeare, at the Argyle Rooms, dur- 

 ing two seasons, must be regarded as 

 constituting the close of Mrs. Siddons's 

 professional lite. 



Mrs. Siddons lost her husband in 

 1802. She had four children, two daugh- 

 ters, and two sons. Her eldest son, 

 Henry, lessee of the Edinburgh theatre, 

 married the daughter of Mr. Murray, 

 the representative of an old Scotch fa- 

 mily^, whose baronetcy was lost, by at- 

 tainder, in the rebellion of 1745. He is 

 well remembered by the frecjuenters of 

 the Covent Garden and Haymarket 

 theatres, as one of the most chaste and 

 gentlemanly actors that ever trod the 

 stage. His son-in-law, an author as well 

 as actor of respectability, died in 1815. 

 After the death of her husband, Mrs. H. 

 Siddons, who possessed great talent as an 

 actress, held the lease of the Edinburgh 

 theatre, in conjunction with her brother, 

 until a year or two ago, when, through 

 illness, she was under the necessity of 

 retiring from public life. If we mistake 

 not she is since dead. Mrs. Siddons's 

 second son has a family, and is living in 

 India. Her younger daughter died in 

 1 798 ; the victim, as it is understood, of 

 an unrequited affection for the late Sir 

 Thomas Lawrence. With the society of 

 her eldest daughter, who remains un- 

 married, Mrs. Siddons was blessed, until 

 the final close of her existence, which 

 occurred at her residence in Upper Baker 

 Street, on the Btli of June. Some idea 

 of a public funeral was entertained ; but 

 Mr. Charles Kemble respectfully de- 

 clined the offer of attendance on the 



