Fanny Kemble

“ An excellent critic of our own day has said, that "poetical [59] enthusiasm is the rarest faculty among players:" if so, it cannot be too highly valued. Fanny Kemble possessed this rare faculty; and in it, a power that could not be taught, or analysed, or feigned, or put on and off with her tragic drapery;—it pervaded all she was called upon to do. It was this which in the Grecian Daughter made her look and step so like a young Muse ”

“ Fanny Kemble had a sparkling, saucy, and rather boisterous individuality, and seems to have had a string of elderly admirers of distinction. Rogers, Macaulay, Sidney Smith, and other literary men of the epoch gave her incessant homage, and memoirs of the early part of the century are full of her. Eighty-five letters addressed to her by Edward Fitzgerald between 1871 and 1883 were printed in 'Temple Bar,' and with the addition of nineteen letters were issued separately in 1895. ”

“ Milman, Mrs., 184. Milman's "Fazio," 323, 331; his pleasure at Fanny Kemble's rendering of Bianca in "Fazio," 334, 341, 390; to review "Francis I." in Quarterly Review, simultaneously with its appearance on the stage, 502. Milton, 36, 273; compared with Byron, 331; Channing's essay on, 337; Mrs. Siddons' admiration for, 416. Miranda, 252, 269. Mitchell, charge of all Fanny Kemble's readings in America, 224. Mitford, Mary Russell, 45; "Inez de Castro," 323; negotiations with management of Covent Garden about "Inez de Castro," 354; "Our Village," 416. ”

“ Its very form forbids our separating the author from the work—the opinions and sentiments, from the individual who utters them. The idea of both exist in an indivisible amalgamation. Nor we fear, will it be possible for nine-tenths of her readers to weigh a single expression of Fanny Kemble the authoress, unmingled with the idea of Fanny Kemble the actress, the star—the "observed of all observers." Hence this Journal will have an effect probably far beyond the anticipations of its writer. It will not only be looked upon as the test of Mrs. Butler's ability as an author ”

“ Fanny Kemble told me the part she had played with most pleasure to herself, was Camiola, in Massinger’s “Maid of Honour.” It was an exquisite impersonation, but the play itself ineffective and not successful, because of the weak and worthless character of the hero. ”

“ I am in a great hurry, dear, and have written you an inordinately stupid letter; never mind, the next shall be inconceivably amusing. Just now my head is stuffed full of amber-colored cashmere and white satin. My mother begs to be kindly remembered to Mrs. Kemble. Always affectionately yours,
F. A. K.
My determination to soften the character of Camiola is another indication of my imperfect comprehension of my business as an actress, which was not to reform but to represent certain personages. ”

“ On 13 May 1844 he gave at Willis's Rooms a series of readings from Shakespeare, which were repeated the following year. Deafness had been growing upon him, and became in his later years almost total. He died on Sunday, 12 Nov. 1854. His son, John Mitchell Kemble [q. v.] , and his younger daughter, Adelaide [q. v.] , who married Mr. Sartoris, are separately noticed. The second daughter Frances Anne, better known as Fanny Kemble, an authoress of repute, is still alive.
Kemble played a greater range of parts than any actor except Garrick, and in his later years occupied a foremost position. ”

“ Harlow, 327; picture of Mrs. Siddons in "Queen Katharine," 459. Harris, Charles Kemble shaking hands with, 414. Harris, Mr., inclined to come to some accommodation with Charles Kemble, 463. Hatchford, Fanny Kemble and Lady Ellesmere at, 375. Hatfield House, "Isaure" acted at, 382, 394; old lady burned to death in, 497. Hathaway, Anne, 182. Hatherton, Lady, 216. "Haunted Tower, The," 500. Haydon's "Bonaparte at St. Helena," Fanny Kemble's verses on, 441. Hayter, George, 487. Hayter, John, his sketches of Fanny Kemble as Juliet, 128, 235; portrait of Henry Kemble, 197 ”

“ Fanny.
29, King Street, Tuesday, 8th.
Yesterday I had plenty of questions to answer in my letter to you; to-day I have not one.... My beloved friend, I know that if your power to serve me equalled your desire to do so, I should be borne in the arms of angels, "lest at any time I struck my foot against a stone." But do not, my dearest Harriet, let your love for me forget that faith without which we could neither bear our own trials nor the trials of those we love. "In the great hand of God we all stand," and are fitly cared for by Him, our Father. ”

“ Savoy, Louisa of, 509. Schiller, 169; "Mary Stuart," 312. "School for Scandal," incident of Miss Farren and Lord Derby in, 452; at Southampton, 454, 487, 498; in New York, 543. Schlegel's "Dramatic Lectures," 486 Scotland, regalia of, 261. Scotsman, The, 158. Scott, Anne, 260. Scott, Walter, 3, 36, 58, 87, 108, 142,157; "Border Minstrelsy," 160, 166; criticisms on Fanny Kemble's acting, 260; anecdote of Scottish regalia, 261; opinion of Fanny Kemble as compared with Mrs. Siddons, 262; incident at Abbotsford, 263, 444; caution in regard to Waverley Novels, 488, 521, 527; death, 557. ”

“ We go every night to see Fanny Ellsler; only think what an extraordinary effort of dissipation for me, who hardly ever stir abroad of an evening, and who had almost as much forgotten the inside of a theatre as Falstaff had the inside of a church! My admiration for her grows rather than diminishes, though she is a better actress even than dancer, which I think speaks in favor of her intellect. ”

“ H—— S—— off for Ireland, 519; farewell to Covent Garden, 520; off for Edinburgh, June 29, 1832, 521; off for America, 522; beginning of acquaintance with Liston the surgeon, 524; acting in "Francis I," first time, 525; Lawrence's the best picture made of Fanny Kemble, 535; ancient vs. modern cavaliers, 527; last day in Edinburgh for two years, 528; from Liverpool to Manchester, 530; first sight of New York, 533; beginning work in New York with Bianca, 536; getting fat, 552; success in America, 560; picture of Fanny Kemble taken to Allegheny Mountains, 569; "fitting" American audiences, 569 ”

“ I think sweeping those fine dramas clean is a good work that cannot be enough commended. What treasures we possess and make no use of, while we go on acting "Gamesters" and "Grecian Daughters," and such poor stuff! But I have no time for ecstasies or exclamations. Yours ever most truly,
F. A. Kemble.
I have said that hardly any new part was ever assigned to me that I did not receive with a rueful sense of inability to what I called "do anything with it." Julia in "The Hunchback," and Camiola in "The Maid of Honor," were among the few exceptions to this preparatory attack of despondency ”

“ On Monday, I act Fazio; Wednesday, we dine at Lady Macdonald's; Thursday, I act Mrs. Haller; and Saturday, Beatrice again. I have not an idea what will be done for my benefit; we are all devising and proposing. I myself want them to bring out Massinger's "Maid of Honor;" I think it beautiful.
Now, dear H——, I must leave off, and sign my tickets. We all send our loves to you: my mother tells me not to let you forget her; she says she is afraid you class her with Mrs. John Kemble. If ever there were two dissimilar human beings, it is those two. ”

“ The marriage with Mark Kelly was not happy, and in 1795 the husband, having incurred heavy debts by extravagance, deserted his wife, who thenceforward was left to her own resources. Fanny Kelly was taught gratuitously until her own earnings enabled her to secure higher instruction. At the age of seven she made her first appearance, under John Kemble's management, on the boards of Drury Lane Theatre, in her uncle Michael Kelly's opera of ‘Bluebeard,’ on 16 Jan. ”

“ Fanny.
May 20th, 1844.
No, my dearest Hal, the day is never long, but always short, even when I rise before six.... I have a vivid consciousness of an increased perception of the minor goods of existence, in the midst of its greatest evils, and things that till now have been mere enjoyments to me now appear to me in the light of positive blessings.
My delight in everything beautiful increases daily, and I now count and appreciate the innumerable alleviations that life has in every twenty-four hours, even in its seasons of severest trial. ”

“ They learned and acted their parts, devised and executed, with small means and great industry, their dresses; made pies and puddings, and patched and darned, in the morning, and by dint of paste and rouge became heroines in the evening; and withal were well-conducted, good young things, full of the irrepressible spirits of [20] their age, and turning alike their hard home work and light stage labor into fun. Fanny had inherited the beauty of her father's family, which in her most lovely countenance had a character of childlike simplicity and serene sweetness that made it almost angelic. ”

“ Why, I've seen the perspiration roll down his face like water when he played Pierre! You didn't [545] see Mr. Kemble put himself to half such pains!" Which reminds me of the Frenchwoman's commendation to her neighbor of a performance of Dupré, the great Paris tenor of his day: "Ah! ce pauvre cher M. Dupré! ce brave homme! quel mal il se donne pour chanter cela! Regardez donc, madame, il est tout en sueur!" But this order of criticism, of course, may be met with anywhere ”

“ I am ever as ever yours,
Fanny.
Manchester, Friday, 26th.
Dear Hal,
My throat has given me no more trouble since my first night's acting. I have a pertinacious cough, and a tremendous cold in my head, which are nuisances; but I am free from irritation in the throat, and have found hitherto, in my performances, my voice stronger, instead of weaker, than it was.... I am better than I was last week, and have no doubt I shall acquire strength as I go on, as my first start in this dismal work did not quite break me down. ”

“ Sontag, appearance with Malibran in "Romeo and Juliet," 201, 202. Sotheby ("the poet") , 350; "Darnley," 370; comments on Fanny Kemble's beauty, 370. Southampton, 271, 416, 451. Spain, 293. Spaniards, John Kemble delivered to the, 336. Spanish expedition, 326. Spanish revolution, 335, 336, 356, 359, 478; Torrijos and his friends shot, 479. Spedding, James, 183. Spenser, poetry of, 358. Spurzheim, his philosophy of phrenology, 151; death in Boston, 558. Stafford, 92, 113, 297. St. Albans, Duke of, marriage, 392. St. Albans, Duchess of, Miss Mellon and Mrs. Coutts, 391. St. Anne's Hill, 418. St. ”

“ Fanny.
My dearest Hal,
I expect to be with the Combes for some few days at least, and do not feel altogether as happy as usual in the anticipation of their intercourse.
I think I have observed growing, as it were, upon them, with regard to certain subjects, a sort of general attitude of antagonism, which strikes me painfully.
All fanaticisms are bad, and the fanaticism of scepticism as bad or perhaps worse than most others, because it wounds more severely the prejudices of others than it can be wounded by them, professing, as it does, to have none to wound. ”

“ God bless you, my dear Harriet. Good-bye.
I am ever, as ever yours,
Fanny.
Frascati, Wednesday, September 2nd, 1846.
My dearest Harriet,
... I think that the women who have contemplated any equality between the sexes have almost all been unmarried, for while the father disposes of the children whom he maintains, and which thus endows him with the power of supreme torture, what mother's heart is proof against the tightening of that screw? At any rate, what number of women is ever likely to be found so organized or so principled as to resist the pressure of this tremendous power? ”

“ Harriet S—— I reckon among my friends for both worlds."
God bless you, my dear Hal. Give dear Dorothy my love.
Ever yours,
Fanny.
Manchester, Tuesday, 23d.
A thousand thanks, my dear Lady Dacre, for all your kind inquiries about, and sympathy in, my concerns. I am going on prosperously. The theatre is quite full when I play, in spite of the very bad weather, and I think my employer can afford to pay me, without grudging, my nightly salary.
I think you are right in saying I am my own best critic; my mother being gone, I believe I really am so. ”

“ Dacre, Lady, 341, 344; her accomplishments, 345; her play of "Isaure," 382; her play "Wednesday Morning," 390, 393: in trouble about "Wednesday Morning," 394; objections to language in "The Star of Seville," 423, 498, 504. Dall, Aunt (see Kemble, Adelaide) . Dance, Miss, 35. Dante, "The Intellect of Love," 391; "Devils boiled in pitch," 437; Biagio's Preface to, 448. "Darnley," 370. Daru's "History of Venice," 466, 471, 506, 513. Davenport, Mrs., the Nurse in "Romeo and Juliet," 219, 305. Davy, Sir Humphry, 461, 498. Dawkins, Major, 362; [594] desire for a good picture of Fanny Kemble, 366. ”

“ By the by, it was when asked to give his opinion of the comparative merits of Clairon and Dumesnil, that Garrick said, "Mdlle. Clairon was the greatest actress of the age, but that for Mdlle. Dumesnil he was not aware that he had seen her, but only Phedre, Rodogund, and Hermione, when she did them." After the play the audience clamored for my father. He thought that "l'envie leur en passerait;" and not being in a very good humor, he declined appearing. The uproar went on, the overture to the farce was inaudible, and the curtain drew up amid the deafening shouts of "Kemble! ”

“ Baillie, Miss Joanna, writes the part of "Jane de Montfort" especially for Mrs. Siddons, 349. Ballantyne, Scott's notes to, 260; his unfavorable criticisms of Fanny Kemble, 262, 265. Baltimore, appearance of, 560; beauty of its women, 562. Balzac, "Scenes of Parisian Life," 72, 93. Bannisters, 271, 451, 454. Barham, his comical poem on "Henri Trois," 484; critique of "Katharine of Cleves," 493. Baring, Mr. and Lady Harriet, 302. Bartley, timidity about success of "The Hunchback," 377; hearing Knowles read "The Hunchback," 390; plan for a new theatrical speculation in Covent Garden, 553 ”