LITERATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14686, 20 November 1909, Page 13

LITERATURE.

Special Reviews, and-Gleanings from Various Sources,

;an announcement. Subject to possible alteration, it i& prtfjsoswJ to touch upon tho following topics in "Literature" during the next four weeks:— tJaturday, November 27.—Tho Mark Lemon Centenary. Do Quincey's Jkatlt. Tho Early and Later KipSng. Saturday, December 4.—Gladstone the Great: I. The Pupil of l'ccl. The Destiny of Davidson. Saturday, December 11.—Gladstone tho Great: 11. A Consistent Churchman. Xhe Genius of Galton. Saturday, December 18,—Gladstone tho Great: 111. Student and Scholar. Man in tho Making: A Typical Trio. THE PASSINGOF A POET GEORGE ESSEX EVANS.

A week since a cable from Brisbane reported tho death, consequent upon an operation, at tho ago of 47, of George hsocx Evans in a Queensland hospital. Although not of Austra.U-,m -birth, the deceased poet has won an Australian reputation, and specimens of his work are to bo found in all tho Australian anthologies, 110 was horn in London on Juno 18, 1863, and was of Welsh descent, his father being John Evans, Q.C., M.l\ He was educated at llaverlord West, in Wales, and <it fit. Holier'*, in tho Channel Islands, and ho came out to Queensland when only 18 years of age. For 6omo time ho engaged in farming pursuits, but in 1883 he entered the service of the Queensland Government, and at length attained tho position of District Registrar at Tcowoomba—a. position which ho held right up to the time of his death. In 1893 and 1894, and again in 1897, he was joint editor of tho ambitious hut illfated Antipodean) and ho had the honour of winning for Queensland the 50-guinea, prize offered by tho Commonwealth Government for the odo to bo read at the inauguration ceremonies in IEOI. At (he time- of the South African war Mr Evans composed a number of stirring and patriotic -ballads, which wero published in fh o Qucenslandcr, to which jcunial he was a frequent oontriuutor. One of his most recent efforts, entitled " A Song by the Way," was published in the Lone Hand a few months back.

His first book of poems, entitled "The Repentance of Magdalen Dcspar and Other Poems,'' was published in London in 1891, and this was followed by " Won by a Skirt," published in Brisbane; " Luraino and Other Verses," published in Mellioiirno in 1898; and " Tho Sword of fain," published in Toowoomba. in 1905. Mr Henry Gyles Turner, in his "Gwral Sketch of Australian Literature," which forms tho first, chapter in, bis joint volume with Mr .Alexander Sutherland on "Tho Development ol Australian Literature," wiys of "Tho .Repentance of Magdalen Dcspar ": — This poem, written -in tho metro and with an occasional suggestion of "Locksley Hall," is it story of intenso power, tho passionate self-upbraiding of a. woman whoso overwioughf conscience drives her to suicide as tho expiation of her wrongdoing. Tho heroine of the story, a child >n ago and experience, is ■ married to a man of 50, with a very vague realisation of what marriago .means. The one child of the union that forms the rhiefest bond between them dies when three years old, and the in?no>olablo mother is .struck down by illness, and rages in fever and delirium, thenWeak and ill, at last I wakened from (hat dark and dismal night, But the world seemed changed around me, and the stinabino lost its light; I And tho springs of hope were withered and love's flame had ceased to burn, And 1 knew a power had left me that would never more return. Changed 1 was, my love 'grown colder, vivid fancies thronged my brain, Forms and faces hovered round me, and 1 turned from them in vain; And a madness -tilled my spirit, till I could not bear the place Haunted by the tender memory of ono little childish face Sd at last wo sold the station, left that wild and rugged shore— Changed the calm of Nature's fastness, for tho busy city's roar; For the years had made us wealthy, richer far than tho=c wo met, And I longed for some exoiteniont that would teach mo to forgot.

Uell I knew my beauty lingered as a theme on every tongue, And I learnt to levo the homage of tiro men who rojnd mo hung.. Till t.ho thirst for admiration at last bocamo a daily needAll f what misery in tho sowing of that single deadly seed.

Drinking of the wine cf flattery, till its fumes liAd turned my brain, Thinking only of tlio worship of tiro fools who thronged my train, Conquest but succeeded conquest, when all bowed beneath my spell, Till in all the pride and splendour of my vanity—l fell. Tlio weary years that follow, the tortures of remorse, the ghosts of days that aro past, and the blank hopelessness of tile future aro told with consummate power, and the closing scenes of the repentance should stir lite most rigid purist to pity. "John Eaeburn" is another strong poem in this volume. Amongst the lyrical pieces tlio "Lines on Longfellow," "Tlio Shepherd's Last Sleep," and the " Ode on the Australian Centenary " are admirable in their direct simplicity of construction and musical icadcncfc ... On the whole tlio hook is ;> genuine accession to colonial literature, with the true ring of poetic fancy melodiously expressed, liei-tram Stevens's " Anthology of Australian Verse'' contains four examples of George Essex Evans's imisc—" An Australian Symphony," " A Nocturne," '' A Pit.stoi-.il " taken from " Lorame and Other Vcifes," and "The Women of the West" taken from the Melbourne Argus. Wo must, content ourselves with quoting " A Nocturne " as a fair example of the poet's manner :-- Nom-i>xK. Like weary sea-birds spent, with flight And faltering, The slow hours heat, across Hie night On leaden wing. The wild bird knows where rest shall bo Soe'cr ho roam. • Heart of my heart! apart from thco 1 have no home. Afar from thee, yet not alone, llcart of my heart! Like somo soft haunting whisper blown From liea-ven tlion art, I hoar tlio magic music roll Its waves divine; The subtle fragrance to thy soul lias passed to mine. Nor dawn nor heaven my heart em know Save that which lies In lights and shades that ccuno and go Jn tin- soft oyes. Here in tlio night I dream the day By lore upborne, When thy sweet eyes shall shine and say " It is the morn." 'n the " Austialian .Birthday Book" Kcrtram Stevens includes soveral couplets ''"id stanza* from George Essex Evans's veifc-s. For instance, under date January 26, wc fir.<l: »e can face Ihe roughest weather H we only hold tosethcr. -Vv'ni, on June 23, these charming stanzas appear :_ Two violets tooking Paradise i, '-'~ ' ,llc '»wlves within her eyes; "'■r Up, :irc I . ostl . i Slw (Iotl) WMr A simbeair woven |„ l, cr hair, An«l ii lie fojim (lake of the sea. iler ci.c-k .„ :i | „,., k ~,K I \ Mmn hQ And like a reed ,t„. W wind sways, Jler slender hgurc glides along, beroiiely tall ;u ,.l fairly swcct Ju llMt,heßpr,ngti,loofherdavs. And 0. to mako inv life a sonAnd lay it at her feet. " =

Under dale October 15 is to be found the -following good advice, with which we conclude our quotations :— When the blood is up, 'tis a simple ■thing To charge whore the bonrhs and the bullets sing. Hut Jio is worthy n higher place Who fronts his foes wit.li a smiling face For tho noblest strife in our life to-day Is the humdrum fight in the humdrum way. ■ FAIR FANNY KEMBLE A DRAMATIC CENTENARY. By Constant Readeh.

Professor Wilton in his " Noctcs" under date November, 1832, causes Christopher North to exclaim -. " There iiro the three Fannies—Miss Fanny Kelly -a woman of original genius, line tarste. strong intellect, and exquisite sonsiequal to cither in power and pathos Miss Fanny Kemblo, also noble, like a, poetess as she is; and equal to either of them in all things, and m some superior to both is—our own Miss Fanny Januan equal to cither in power and pathos :md superior to both m grace, elcance, and beauty. The three are all as°muoh respected for their virtues in private life as they arc admired for their genius on the stage. And that lends a charm to their impersonations of such characters as Imogen, JJcsdcmona, Ophelia, and Cordelia, which is felt by every audience' and for the want of which no accomplishments can compensate." The fact that Frances Anne Kemble, afterwards Mrs Butler, but generally known as Fanny Kemhle, actress and writer, the daughter of Charles and Marie Therese Kemhle, was born in Newman street, Loudon, on November 27,- 1809, is leason sufficient for celebrating this dramatic centenary as of interest and import. For the name of Kemble conjures up menvoJ'ies of the great theatrical tradition of the past, a tradition which did so much to lift the profession out of the disrepute into which it had unhappily fallen until the actor's calling had becomo a, bye-word and a reproach. Leigh Hunt—who, by the way, had no particular faith in Fanny Kemble'B style of acting, nor, indeed, in that of any of the Kembles,—in-his "Autobiography," thus chronicles the change which came over the attitude of society towards tho, stage early in the nineteenth century.:—

Nobility, gentry, citizens, princesall were frequenters of the theatre, and oveli more or less acquainted personally with the performers. Mobility intermarried with them; princes conversed and lived with them. Sheridan and other members of Parliament weio managers as well as dramatists. It was Lords Derby, Craven, and Thurlow that sought wives on the stage. . . . If Mrs Jordan lived with the Duke of Clarence (William IV) a* his mistress, nobody doubts that sho was as faithful to him as a wife. His brother, the Prince of Wales (George 1V)„ besides his intimacy with Sheridan and the younger Coleman, and to say nothing of Mrs Kobinson, took a pleasure in conversing with Kemble, and was tnc personal patron of O'Kcefc and of Kelly. The Kcmbles, indeed, as Garrick had been, wore received everywhere among the truly best circles;

that is to say, where intelligence was combined with high breeding, for whatever difference of opinion may be entertained as to the amount of genius in the family, nobody who recollects them will dispute that they were a remarkable race—dignified and elegant in manners, with intellectual tendencies, and in point of aspect veiy like what has been called " God Almighty's nobility." Roger Kemble, who was born in 1721 and died in 1802, was the head of the Kemble family. Of his 12 children, eight attained maturity. These were— Sarah, afterwards Mrs Siddons; John Philip, tho chief founder of what is known as the Kemble school of acting, "a somewhat stilted and declamatory sciiool, the influence oi which, though fading, is still felt on the" stage," Charles Lamb happily styling it "the collective majesty of the whole Kemble family"; Stephen or George Stephen; Frances, afterwards Mrs Twiss; Elizabeth, afterwards Mrs W'hiteiock; Antic; Henry; and Charles. Charles, the youngest of the family, married Marie Therese, daughter of George de Camp, by whom he had three childrenFrances Anne (Fanny); John Mitchell Kemble, the friend of Tennyson and Fitzgerald, and one of the Cambridge Apostles; and Adelaide, afterwards Mrs Sartoris. Fanny was educated principally in France, and, when her father's management of C'ovent Garden Theatre was in extremis, she made her first appearance on the stage as Juliet, to her father's Mercutio and the Lady Capulet of her mother, who returned to'the stage after a long absence. The late Joseph Knight, in his sketch of Charles Kemble in the "Dictionary of National Urography," writes :—

On the death of Thomas Harris. J. P. Kemble made over to Charles Kemble his share m Covent Garden—a handsome, but, as it proved, ruinous present. His management, of Covent Garden hegaii ill 1822-3. Like most managers, ho was accused of sacrificing the higher drama to melodrama and spectacle. . . . At the beginning of the season 3829-30 affairs at Covent Garden were at the worst, distraint warrants for rates and taxes to the amount of between £1000 and £2000 were issued, and the theatre was in the possesion of bailiffs. A subscription, was got. up, and a performance .given at the King's Theatre for the benefit, of Covent Garden. On the opening night of the season (October 5, 1829) Kemble played for the first time Mereulio—perhaps* his greatest part. . . . The appearance of Miss tunny Kemble retrieved the position of the theatre, enabling it to pay off a dshl Of £13,000. For several consecutive seasons she was the mainstay of the theatre, and Kcmible was largeiv occupied in supporting her. In 1830. while living with his daughter in Great Bussell street, he assaulted Wostmacotl, the editor of tho Aige, for his comments upon her. He accompanied Miss Kemble to Brighton, Bristol, and other J,. n°f- Ho was ™ 1G52 t,,= original j Sir Thomas Clifford to her Julia in ' ; Tho Hunchback" of Sheridan Knoivies; and ou January 15 of that year tool; part in Hio opening dinner 'of ihe Garrick Club. On August 1, 1832, he sailed with his daughter for America, and on September 17 appeared in New York as Hamlet, Tho success of tlw pair, artistic and social, was very great, though Miss Kemblo hints that' their style was perhaps somewhat too tame for tho New York public. Philadelphia. Boston, ami other towns in the United States and Canada were visited. On •lm:e 7, 1854, the trip was concluded hv the marriage of Miss Kemble in Philadelphia to Mr Pierce Butler. Fanny Kemble's marriage with Picrco Butler, a Southern planter, pioved an unhappy union. A separation wiis arranged, followed in 1848 by a formal divorce." A yUar before the divorce Fannv Kemble reappeared on the stage at Manchester, and went back to London in May, 1818. After ii second short visit to America she commenced a series of Shakespearean readings in Willis's rooms. Following this, she crossed to America, and lived in retirement at Lennox, Massachusetts, under her maiden name. In 1868 sho took the platform as a, reader at Steinway Hall, New York, and hi 1873 she was living near Philadelphia. In 1677 she went to England, and died in London on January 15, 1893, being buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

Famiy Komblo is aid to have possessed a sparkling, saucy, and rather boisterous individuality, and she seems to have had a string of okicrly admirers of distinction.

Rogers, Macaulay, Sidney Smith,' and other .literary men gave licr incessant homage, and the memoirs of the early par.t of llio century are full of her. At the same time, there was consideralile iliffcrenco of opinion as to the merit of Fanny Kemhle's performances, both on the stage aifd platform. For instance-, F.dmur.d Yates, in his "Recollections and Experiences," writ??: " I saw Fanny Kemble as Julia in "l'ho Hunchback,' and, rightly or wrongly, conceived a dislike to her acting." But, seeing that Yates was not born till 1831, this must have been after Fanny Kemble,'? return to the Mage in 1847. and wlun she had |M«2(' her prime. W. E. Adams, in his " Memoirs of a. Social Atom," recalls the "Romeo and Juliet' at Covent Garden Theatre on a famous occasion in 1829, the occasion wh-cn Fanny Kemhle made Her debut as Juliet, and'so took tlis town l>v storm that title retrieved the. fortunes (if 'her father. Wemyss Rcid, in his "Life of Lord Houghton," says of Monckton .Millies: "Among the other friends with whom at this period he came into frequent contact were John Stuait Mill and the Kem.bles. whore son [J. M. Komble) was a fallow student at Trinity. Fanny Kemhle, the niece, of Mrs Siddons, was charming the town with her acting, and Milnes, like most, of the young men of his day, was filled with admiration for a, .(renins so firo and a. heart so pure and simple." And in letters written hv Monckton Milnes to his father, under date March and May, 1850, the following passages occur :—

Kemble has talked to me about his sister; if the season .goes on as it has begun tho whole debt of the theatre will be cleared off before the end. Is not this a. fine thing for n girl of 16 to do? lie told mo that ho had not heard from his family for a. long time, when one day, at .Munich, ho took up a newspaper, and read : " To-morrow Miss F. Kemblo will appear in 'Juliet.'" He described the impression as a cold sword run through his heart. Lady Cork has given me a dinner. Hallam and Gait (tho Scotch novelist), and Mr Listoi- (tho author of ''Granby"), and some blue ladies were the party, and some other litterateurs in (he evening. Fanny Kemblo was to have come, "lint was'tired with acting. Igo to Mrs K.'s fome evening this week. She told me her daughter had never scornod the least elated with her racccso till her father told her she had cleared him a debt of £11,000, and then she owned she was proud. She is not 18. '

111 1848 and for several subsequent years Fanny Kemhle gave frequent dramatic readings at Willis's Rooms, the St. James's Theatre, and elsewhere in London. George Henry Lewos. in his "Dramatic Essays," under da-to March 29, 1851, thus eulogistieally describes one of these Shakcspcaro readings :—

Such an intellectual delight! To those who really love Shakespcaro and haveany feitmg > for vriiat is highest in dramatic art there can be no performance half so fast-mating as these readings. Jiy means of changes of voice,

unforced yet marked, and sufficient

gesticulation to explain the text, aided by liiva cttir.r.eviia.ry of eyo and brow, Mrs Kemble brings beforo you the wholo scene, enacts every part, and moves you as the pity itdf would move you. One great charm in thesis leadings, and one which gives them such superiority over perfui mances, is that all tin minor parts assume their truo position, and produce the harmony which the poet designed. Everyoiw knows the exquisite beauty of romo of tiicra minor parts, and knows also the merciless mast-acre

of them on ihesta-gc. But in these readings the- dreadful misapprehension of meaning ami distortion of verso which understrappers inflict upon us are banished, and even the slightest parts are carefully given. With regard to her reading of til© greatest characters, some difference of opinion will naturally exist, but no one will dfny that her reading is thoughtful and striking. The versatility displayed in her rendering of the saucy child York, and the smooth hypocrisy oi Richard in their colloquy, was greatly applauded. I never enjoyed Khakcspeaic so much out of my own study. I have- heard Tieck read Shakespeare, and' Seydelmaim, the great tragedian; but although the former is" celebrated as the first of readers, and the latter was to my thinking one of the first of actors—although both of them read better than Mrs Kemble in tire strict sense of .the word,—yet for dramatic Kadiu.g—tbat is to say, for pivirnt von the effects of acting without the aids of the stage—l prefer Mrs Kemble.

Longfellow was completely under Fiimiy Kemble's spell. Thomas Wentworth Higyiiison, in las Jjfe 0 { ( ue poet.jefeiTin.g to "The Building of tiio Ship," sayx: "To tlioso who remember tho unequalled voice and dramatic power of .Mrs Kemblo it is easy to imagine the ciithusiusm with which her reading of the poem was received by ah audience of threa thousand." This, of course, refers to Fanny Kembk'.s reading a t Stoinway Hall, Xew York, in 1868. ~

The "Jliemour" of Tennyson, ivncVr (late July 29, 1871. contains the following entry from Mrs Tennyson's Journal:— ° Mrs Greville, Mrs Fanny Kcmblc, and Lord Houghton ca-ino to luncheon. Fanny Kemble road Shakespeare magnificently, with tears-streaming down her cheeks. She told us that when she was nearly drowned she did not recall the scenes of her former life, but " the tcr-

r-ible thing was that all liar life appeared as a Wank." As they drove away up the hill wo hoard hcr command Lord Houghton, in her tragic way: " Get down, my lord, from off the box, for ynu are. no inconsiderable weight." As foil to these eulogies 'of Fanny Kemble's readings, <t is interesting to compare an extract from Miss Ellen Terry's recently-published " Story of Lifc," prefacing it, however, with' another brief quotation from Tennyson's ".Memoir." Under date 1891, Hallam Tennyson write: " We talked about 'The Cup.' 'Irving,' my father said, 'did not represent the character of Synorax rightly. Irving made him a villain, not an epicurean.' Fanny Kemble's criticism was that he could not play an epicurean, and so he played a villain." Here is Ellen Terry's version. It is evident that there was no love lost between the two actresses :—

My father, who worshipped Maeready, put Irving above him because of Irving's originality. The old school was imt usually so generous. Fanny Kemble thought it necessary to writo as follows of one who had had his share of misfortune ami failure before he came into his kingdom and made her jealous, I suppose, for the dead kings among her kindred: — "I have seen some, of the accounts and critiques of Mr Irving's acting, and rather elaborate ones of his Hamlet, which, however, give me no distinct idea of his performance, and a, very hazy one indeed of the part itself as seen from the point of view of his critics. Edward Fitzgerald wrote me word that ho looked like my people, and sent me a photograph to'prove it, which I thought much more like 'Young' than my father or uncle. I have not seen a play of Shakespeare's acted I do not know when. I think 1 should find such an. exhibition extremely curious as well as interestine." Xow, shall I put on record what Henry Irving thought of Fanny Kemble!. If there is a touch of malice in undoing so. surely the passage that I have ipioted gives mo leave.

Haying lived with Hamlet nearly all his life, studied the part when he' was a clerk, dreamed of a day when he

might piny it, the young Henrv Irving favv that Mrs Butler, the famous Fanny Komblo, was going to give a reading of the play. His heart throbbed high with anticipation, for in these days iiuditiox was everything—the name of Komble a beacon and a star. Tlio studious young dork went to Iho reading, An attendant came on to the platform first, ami made trivial and ap> patently imtwcMsavy alterations'in the position of (ho Tending <l«k, A gl,vs of water and a book were placed on it,

After a. portentous wait, on swept a lady villi an orffiiordinarilv flashing eye, a masculine and muscular outside! Pounding the hook with terrific energy, as if she wished to knock the stuffing out of it, ehe annniineed in thrilling tones: —

"' Ham-a-leite,' By Will-y-am Slia-k-es-pe-aw." "I suppose this is all right " thought the young clerk, ii little dismayed at the fierce and sectional enunciation. Then the reader came to Act 1. Sc 2, which the old actor (to leave the Kemble reading for a minute) with hut a hazy notion of the text, u-;ed to begin: " Although of Hnmlel, our dear brother's death, The memory be—memory be—(What is (he colour?) green/' When Fanny Kemble came to this scene, the future Hamlet began to listen more intently. Gertrude: Let not thy mother lose her players, Ham-a-lette. Hamlet: I shall in all respects obey you madam (obviously with a fiery, Hashing eyo of hate upon the King). When lie heard this and more like it, Henry Irving exercised his independence of opinion and refused to accept Fanny Kemble's view of the gent u melancholy, and well-bred- I'rhico "} Denmark. He was a stickler for- n«dition, and always studied it, folio ilv -d it, sometimes to his own detriment, bui he was not influenced by the Kcmhlc Hamlet, except that for some wore the absurd John Philip veuthtr which he would have been mut ,: letter without. Let mo pray that I, rcprescrs ••»£ '"« old school, may never look on '-1'- new school with the patronising airs.°f." Fits'," and Fanny Kcm'bk 1 yish_l could (see the new school o- aetin.;; in Shakespeare. Shakespeare '--mst be kept up or we shall become *• tl'!''i ret* nation.

Henry told me this story of Fanny Kemble's reading without a spark of ill nature, but with many a gleam of humour.

From a literary standpoint-, Fanny Komble's chief claim to the gratitude of posterity consists in the fact tint eho drew from Edward Fitzgerald 85 of the most delightful letters which that most delightful writer has given to the world. At the fiame time Fanny Kcmblo's own contributions to literature—notably, "Tho Records of a Girlhood " (three volumes, 1878) and "Records of a Later Life" (three volumes, 1882), together with the "Further Records"—contain much interesting reading, although a't times of so outspoken, a nature as to give offence in come quarters. Mr A. C. Benson, in his "Life of Fitzgerald," remarks: — One of Fitzgerald's chief correspondents was Fanny Kemble, whom.he sincerely loved, though he confessed ho did not care for her acting. She was a lively, witty, vivacious woman, with a tender heart. She wrote in 1875 some reminiscences of Fitzgerald and others, which appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, but they were couched in so eulogistic a stylo that Fitzgerald felt bound to past* a piece of paper in his own copy over the passage which concerned himself. His letters to her, tender, fanciful, affectionate, are among tho best he wrote.

In a note in the volume of Fitzgerald letters to Fanny Kemble Mr W. Aldia Wright, by permission, prints the full text of the comment made by Fanny Kemble upon Fitzgerald, and omitted from the

" Records " at Fitzgerald's special request. Mr Wright says: "It wife Mrs Kemble wiio described Fitzgerald as ' an eccentric man of genius, who took moro pains to avoid fame than others do to seek it,' " and this description is fully borne out by the account she gave of him in the offending passage which follows: — Edward Fitzgerald has remained my friend till this day. His parents anil mine are dead. 'Of his brothers and waters I retain no knowledge, but with him I still keep up an affectionate, and, to me, most valuable and interesting correspondence. Ho was distinguished from the rest of the. family—and, indeed, from most people—by the possession of very rare and intellectual and

artistic gifts. A poet, a painter, a. musician, an admirable scholar and

writer, if he had not shunned notoriety as sedulously as most people seek it, he would have achieved a foremost place aiming tho eminent, men of his day, and left a. name second to that of very few of his _ contemporaries. His life was

spent in literary leisure or literary labours of love of singular excellence, which ho never cared to publish bevond the circle of his intimate friends. The kCitcrs addressed by Edward Fitzgerald to Fanny Keinble form an almost continuom scries from the middle of 1871 to within three weeks of his death in 1885. Scarcely lew interesting than her correspondence with Fitzgerald was Fanny Kembles friendship with Alfred Tennyson. She first nut the poet when visiting her brother John at Cambridge, and sha used lo declare: "Alfred Tennvson was our hero., the .great hero of our diiv." And she also speaks of him as having " the grandest head of any man whom slid has dapt eyes on." Tennyson, in his turn, held Fanny Kemblc to lie "' supreme in Juliet." The influence which Fanny Kemble wielded in society, together with the strength of her attachment for Tennyson, is seen in the fact that it was she who, at the suggestion of Mr Procter (Barry Cornwall), soKcild the Poet Lamcateship, vacant by the death of Shelley, for Alfred Tennyson, at a lime when his income had b:eii almost entirely swept away owing to the imprwkmt speculation of a friend. The correspondence which passed upon the subject was printed bv Canon Ravirelcy in his "Memories of the lennysons." The attempt was fruitless, for the Lnureatcship had already been promised to Wordsworth, at whose death it passed to Tennyson.

As fitting conclusion to these reminiscences of the literature and drama of 100 years ago, and also as illustrating Fannv Kcmble'* literary style, we quote from her writings a. description of "Rachel." It u, included In- Mr E. V. Lucas in his charming Anthology, "Her Infinite Variety,' there placed fide by side with Matthew Arnold'* impressive lints describing llw passing of the great French tragedy quesn :—

Everybody here is now raving about her. I have only sec-n her once on the stage, ami heard her declaim at Staf-

ford House, the morning of the concert for the Poles. Her appearance is very striking. She is of a verv good height'; too thin for tauity, but net for digniiy or grace—her want of chest and breadth, indeed, almost suggest a tendency to' pulmonary disease, coupled with her pallor and her youth (slio is only just 20). Her voice' is the most remarkable of her natural qualifications for her vocation, being the deepest and most sonorous voice 1 ever heard from :i woman's lips; it wants brilliancy, •variety, and tenderness; but it is like a fine, deep-toned bell, and expresses admirably the passions in the delineations of which she excels—scorn, hatred, revenge, vitriolic irony, concentrated rage, seething jealousy and a fierce lovo which seems in its excess allied to all the evil which sometimes sprLjs from that bitter-sweet, root.

1 shall n3ver forget tho first time I ever heard Mademoiselle Rachel speak. I was acting my old part of Julia in "Tho Hunchback" at Lady F,llesmere's. where the play was got up for an audience of her friends, and for her special gratification. The room was darkened with the exception of our staige. and I had no means of discriminating among my audience, which was, as became an assembly of such distinguished persons, decorously quiet and undemonstrative. But in duo of the scenes, where the foolish heroine, in the midst of her Vulgar triumph at the Earl of Rochedale's proposal, is suddenly overcome by the remorseful recollection of her lovo (or Clifford, nnd almost lets tho earl's loiter fall from her trembling hands, I heard a voice Mil of His link-ncss-aml a appeared io mo almost close to my tat—exclaiming in a tone, {.ho vibrating <feplli »[ which I shall r.:ver [or;el >." Ah bkn, Iks blcn!"

Mademoiselle liachd's face is very expressive and dramatically tine, though not absolutely beautiful." It is a long oval, with a head of classical and very graceful contour; the forehead rather narrow, and not very high; tho eyes small, dark, teen set, and terribly powerful; the brow straight, noble, and line in form, though not very flexible.