"May 1. 1814.
"Dear Sir,
"If your present note is serious, and it really would be
inconvenient, there is an end of the matter; tear my draft, and go
on as usual: in that case, we will recur to our former basis. That
_I_ was perfectly _serious_, in wishing to suppress all future
publication, is true; but certainly not to interfere with the
convenience of others, and more particularly your own. Some day, I
will tell you the reason of this apparently strange resolution. At
present, it may be enough to say that I recall it at your
suggestion; and as it appears to have annoyed you, I lose no time
in saying so.
"Yours truly,
"B."
* * * * *
During my stay in town this year, we were almost daily together; and it
is in no spirit of flattery to the dead I say, that the more intimately
I became acquainted with his disposition and character, the more warmly
I felt disposed to take an interest in every thing that concerned him.
Not that, in the opportunities thus afforded me of observing more
closely his defects, I did not discover much to lament, and not a little
to condemn. But there was still, in the neighbourhood of even his worst
faults, some atoning good quality, which was always sure, if brought
kindly and with management into play, to neutralise their ill effects.
The very frankness, indeed, with which he avowed his errors seemed to
imply a confidence in his own power of redeeming them,--a consciousness
that he could afford to be sincere. There was also, in such entire
unreserve, a pledge that nothing worse remained behind; and the same
quality that laid open the blemishes of his nature gave security for its
honesty. "The cleanness and purity of one's mind," says Pope, "is never
better proved than in discovering its own faults, at first view; as when
a stream shows the dirt at its bottom, it shows also the transparency of
the water."
The theatre was, at this time, his favourite place of resort. We have
seen how enthusiastically he expresses himself on the subject of Mr.
Kean's acting, and it was frequently my good fortune, during this
season, to share in his enjoyment of it,--the orchestra being, more than
once, the place where, for a nearer view of the actor's countenance, we
took our station. For Kean's benefit, on the 25th of May, a large party
had been made by Lady J * *, to which we both belonged; but Lord Byron
having also taken a box for the occasion, so anxious was he to enjoy the
representation uninterrupted, that, by rather an unsocial arrangement,
only himself and I occupied his box during the play, while every other
in the house was crowded almost to suffocation; nor did we join the
remainder of our friends till supper. Between the two parties, however,
Mr. Kean had no reason to complain of a want of homage to his talents;
as Lord J * *, on that occasion, presented him with a hundred pound
share in the theatre; while Lord Byron sent him, next day, the sum of
fifty guineas[29]; and, not long after, on seeing him act some of his
favourite parts, made him presents of a handsome snuff-box and a costly
Turkish sword.
Such effect had the passionate energy of Kean's acting on his mind,
that, once, in seeing him play Sir Giles Overreach, he was so affected
as to be seized with a sort of convulsive fit; and we shall find him,
some years after, in Italy, when the representation of Alfieri's tragedy
of Mirra had agitated him in the same violent manner, comparing the two
instances as the only ones in his life when "any thing under reality"
had been able to move him so powerfully.
The following are a few of the notes which I received from him during
this visit to town.
[Footnote 29: To such lengths did he, at this time, carry his enthusiasm
for Kean, that when Miss O'Neil soon after appeared, and, by her
matchless representation of feminine tenderness, attracted all eyes and
hearts, he was not only a little jealous of her reputation, as
interfering with that of his favourite, but, in order to guard himself
against the risk of becoming a convert, refused to go to see her act. I
endeavoured sometimes to persuade him into witnessing, at least, one of
her performances; but his answer was, (punning upon Shakspeare's word,
"unanealed,") "No--I'm resolved to continue _un-Oneiled_."
To the great queen of all actresses, however, it will be seen, by the
following extract from one of his journals, he rendered due justice:--
"Of actors, Cooke was the most natural, Kemble the most
supernatural,--Kean the medium between the two. But Mrs. Siddons was
worth them all put together."--_Detached Thoughts_.]
* * * * *