In and About Drury Lane, and Other Papers Vol. 1 (of 2): Reprinted from the pages of the 'Temple Bar' MagazineDoran, Dr. (John)
General
In and About Drury Lane, and Other Papers Vol. 1 (of 2): Reprinted from the pages of the 'Temple Bar' Magazine
Doran, Dr. (John)
London (England) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century; Theater -- England -- London -- Anecdotes
The Young Roscius withdrew from the stage and entered Christ’s College,
Cambridge. He there enjoyed quiet study and luxurious seclusion.
Meanwhile that once boy with the flashing eyes, Edmund Kean, had got a
modest post at the Haymarket, where he played Rosencrantz to Mr. Rae’s
Hamlet. He had also struggled his way to Belfast, and had acted Osman
to Mrs. Siddons’ Zara. ‘He plays well, very well,’ said the lady: ‘but
there is too little of him to make a great actor.’ Edmund, too, had
married ‘Mary Chambers,’ at Stroud, and Mr. Beverley had turned the
young couple out of his company, ‘to teach them not to do it again!’
In 1812, ‘Mr. Betty,’ come to man’s estate, returned to the stage, at
Bath. A few months previously Mr. and Mrs. Kean were wandering from
town to town. In rooms, to which the public were invited by written
bills, in Kean’s hand, they recited scenes from plays and sang duets;
and _he_ trilled songs, spoke soliloquies, danced hornpipes, and gave
imitations!--and starved, and hoped--and would by no means despair.
Mr. Betty’s second career lasted from 1812 to 1824, when he made his
last bow at Southampton, as the Earl of Warwick. Within the above
period he acted at Covent Garden, in 1812 and 1813. He proved to be a
highly ‘respectable’ actor; but the phenomenon no longer existed. His
last performance in London was in June 1813, when he played ‘Richard
III.’ and ‘Tristram Fickle’ for his benefit. In the following January
Edmund Kean, three years his senior, took the town by storm in Shylock,
and made his conquest good by his incomparable Richard. The genius of
Mr. Betty left him with his youth. Edmund Kean drowned his genius in
wine and rioting before his manhood was matured. Forty-eight years
have elapsed since he was carried to his grave in Richmond churchyard.
Honoured and regretted, all that was mortal of the once highly-gifted
boy, who lived to be a venerable and much-loved old man, ‘fourscore
years and upwards,’ was borne to his last resting-place in the cemetery
at Highgate. _Requiescat in pace!_
_CHARLES YOUNG AND HIS TIMES._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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