304 



KEMBLE KEMPELEN. 



Hsrnin in 1745, from wliich period it has gradually 

 arisen to its present state, that of a well-built, gray, 

 ami populous place. It is delightfully seated on the 

 northern baiiK of the river Tweed, which is crossed 

 by a noble bridge of five arches, built upon the site 

 of a more ancient structure that was swept away by 

 a flood in 1798 ; there is also a bridge over the Tiviot, 

 which, running from the southward, forms a junction 

 with the Tweed, nearly opposite to the town. Al- 

 most at the southern termination of the principal 

 street, which runs parallel with the Tweed, is the 

 market-place, containing many handsome buildings 

 and shops ; and on the east side of it is a newly- 

 erected town-house, comprising the town-hall and 

 other public offices, with piazzas, and an arcade 

 underneath, for the convenience of the great con- 

 course of persons who resort to the high markets, of 

 wliich there are twelve in the year (exclusive of the 

 weekly marts), viz., two before, and one after the 

 Whitsuntide and Martinmas terms, for hiring- ser- 

 vants, and the other six in March and at the close of 

 autumn, chiefly for horses. This is often the seat of 

 the Caledonian hunt ; and the Kelso races are held 

 upon Cavertown Edge, a muir in the adjoining parish 

 of Eckford. The parish church, which is dedicated 

 to the virgin Mary, stands at the east end of the 

 venerable abbey, a conspicuous ornament to the 

 place ; there are also an elegant episcopal chapel, 

 burgher, anti-burgher, and relief meeting-houses, 

 thn-e benefit societies, a public dispensary, three 

 subscription libraries, containing valuable collections 

 of books, two public schools of some repute, one for 

 Latin, the other for English; with several minor 

 establishments for the instruction of youth, including 

 a school of industry, conducted on a plan most credit- 

 able to its originators. The inhabitants are mostly 

 employed in the manufacture of woollen cloth, linen, 

 stockings, shoes, leather, and in the dressing of sheep 

 and lamb skins, the latter business being carried on 

 to a considerable extent for the supply of the popu- 

 lous country, of which Kelso is the centre. Popula- 

 lation, in 1841, 5328. 



KEMBLE, JOHN PHILIP; one of the most 

 eminent tragedians of the British stage, was the 

 eldest son of Roger Kemble, manager of a company 

 of comedians at Prescot in Lancashire, in which 

 county he was born, February, 1757, and received 

 the rudiments of education at the Roman Catholic 

 seminary of Sedgeley park, Staffordshire. With the 

 view of qualifying him for one of the learned profes- 

 sions, he was afterwards placed by his father at the 

 college of Douay, where he early distinguished him- 

 self by his proficiency in elocution. On his return to 

 England, having completed his academical pursuits, 

 he entered immediately upon the profession of an 

 actor, for which he had long exhibited a decided pre- 

 dilection. At this period, he produced a tragedy on 

 the story of Belisarius, which was acted at Liverpool, 

 and printed a volume of Fugitive Pieces, in verse, 

 with which he was, however, so dissatisfied, that, on 

 the day after their publication, he destroyed every 

 copy he could recover. Mr Kemble appeared, for 

 the first time in London, on the Drury-lane boards, 

 September MO, 1783, in the part of Hamlet, and was 

 received with great applause. It was not, however, 

 till the retirement of Smith from the stage, in 1788, 

 that he took a decided lead in tragedy. He after- 

 wards obtained the management of Drury-lane 

 theatre, which he enjoyed with only a short interrup- 

 tion, till 1801. In 1794, he brought out a musical 

 entertainment of his own, entitled Lodoiska, which 

 had a great run, and has since been revived with 

 benefit to the theatre. In 1802, he visited the 

 continent, and having passed twelve months at Paris 

 and Madrid, returned to London, when he pur- 



chased a sixth sham in the Covert-garden theatre, 

 and became manager of that establishment. Mere 

 he continued his career with great success, till the 

 destruction of the theatre by fire in 1809. In 

 the autumn of the same year, the present edifice, 

 being constructed, opened with an increase of prices, 

 which, together with certain obnoxious arrange- 

 ments in regard to the private boxes, created, for a 

 series of nights, the disturbances known by the name 

 of the P riots. Mr Kemble took his farewell of 

 the stage July 23, 1817, on which occasion he was 

 complimented with a public dinner and other honour- 

 able tokens of esteem, and shortly after retired to 

 the continent, where lie died at Lausanne, in Swit- 

 zerland, February 26, 1823, of a paralytic attack, 

 after a few hours' illness. As an actor, Kemble was 

 distinguished for dignity, precision, and studious 

 preparation. His merits were differently appreciated, 

 but by all he was regarded as a highly gifted actor, 

 and the impression which he made in characters more 

 immediately adapted to his style of excellence, such 

 as Cato, Coriolanus, Hamlet, John, Jaques, Pen- 

 ruddock, was very great. His management both of 

 Drury-lane and Covent-garden theatres, but espe- 

 cially of the latter, was also marked by the exhibition 

 of much refined and accurate taste, in the rectification 

 of scenic decoration, and the adoption of appropriate, 

 costume, adding thereby both to the splendour and 

 illusion of the drama. The learning, elegant man- 

 ners, and accomplishments- of Mr Kemble introduced 

 him into the best company, by whom he was at 

 once courted and esteemed. See Boaden's Life of 

 Kemble. 



KEMPELEN, WOLFGANG, BARON VON, famous as 

 the inventor of the automaton chess-player, was a 

 nat ; .ve of Presburg in Hungary. He displayed much 

 talent, when young, as a mechanic ;. and, as early as 

 1769, he announced the completion of his automaton 

 or androides, which has since attracted so much 

 attention. In 1783, the chess- playing figure was 

 first exhibited at Paris ; and it afterwards made its 

 appearance in London, where it surprised and puzzled 

 those who witnessed its performance. Baron 

 Kempelen or his assistant was always present, to 

 direct, by some incomprehensible method, the 

 motions of the machine. It consists of a figure in a 

 Turkish dress, seated at a table, the top of which is 

 marked as a chess-board. The arm of the auto- 

 maton, by means of internal machinery, is capable of 

 executing about a dozen motions, which it appears 

 to perform spontaneously, so as to play a game at 

 chess with any visitor. While the movements are 

 taking place, the noise of a fly-wheel is heard ; and, 

 after a certain time, the machinery requires winding 

 up like a clock, before it can again be brought into 

 action. Various conjectures have been advanced as 

 to the means by which the action of this machine is 

 directed. The most probable of which is, that a 

 child or small man is concealed in a drawer under 

 the table which supports the chess-board. It is true 

 that the whole cavity beneath the table, as well as 

 the body of the figure, is opened and exhibited to 

 the spectators previously to the commencement of an 

 exhibition ; but as the inside of the automaton and 

 the space under the table are not shown at the same 

 time, an individual within might move from one 

 part to the other, so as to deceive those who witness 

 the performance. It is easy to conceive that, by 

 means of some audible signal, the evolutions of the 

 automaton may be directed. This very ingenious 

 man also constructed a speaking figure, of which he 

 published an account in a curious work, entitled 

 Le Mecanisme de la Parole, suivi de la Descrip- 

 tion d'une Machine parlante, et enrichi de 27 

 Planches (Vienne, 1791, 8vo ) also printed in Ger- 



