says an acute critic," with all the violent rapture of the return of an established favourite. She is about eighteen; her figure small, but very well formed; and a face (if we may use the expression) full of tongues. All her features are lit up with expression; and convey her thoughts before her tongue can utter them. The tones of her voice are very flexible and pleasing; her action is graceful; and she displayed so much ability on this occasion, that, while she remains at this theatre, it is hoped that we shall never more see the part played by Mrs. H. Johnston." Miss Booth added to her reputation by a variety of other parts; among them were, Little Pickle, Dolly Bull, in Fontainbleau, Annette, in The Maid and the Magpie, and, as Florio, in The Dog of Montargis; she displayed great powers in serious pantomime. She subsequently played at Drury Lane, the Olympic, Haymarket, &c., chiefly in the tragedies of humble life, and in romps, chambermaids, &c. She has latterly disappeared from the London boards, but until within a year or two was considered a star in the provinces; and she is said to have acquired a very handsome competence by her professional labours. KEELEY, (ROBERT,) was born in Grange Court, Carey Street, about the year 1794. On leaving school, he was apprenticed to Mr. Hansard, the printer, but a mania for the stage induced him, after three years' experience as a compositor, to relinquish all other pursuits. His first appearance on the stage was at the Surrey Theatre, where he undertook to sing The Bay of Biscay, for the benefit of a friend; but he was so alarmed at the sight of the audience, that he had scarcely got through two notes, before he ran off the stage. He then re-commenced printer, but in a short time gave up the business altogether; and in 1813, obtained an engagement at Richmond, and subsequently, at various provincial towns, but acquiring little applause, except at Lynn, where we find him a great favourite, in 1817. He afterwards divided the low comedy business, at the West London, with H. Beverley; and was next engaged by Elliston, at Olympic, where he was the original the Leporello, in Giovanni in London, and played this and other low comedy parts with great applause. In 1819, he removed to Drury Lane; but the engagement of Knight at the same theatre, prevented Keeley from coming before the public in parts of importance. In 1821, he appeared at the Adelphi, and added considerably to his reputation, by his performance of Jemmy Green, in Tom and Jerry. From Sadler's Wells, where he next played, he removed to Covent Garden, making his début there on the 26th of October, 1822, as Darby. He was well received, but did not completely establish himself until his personation of the Tailor, in Peake's farce of The Duel. Speaking of this farce, a magazine critic says, "No one understands the stage, or what is technically called, situation, so well as Mr. Peake. He shuffles Farren, Jones, Connor, Keeley, (a most amazing minor!) and Blanchard, together, with admirable sleight of hand, and turns them all up trumps. As for Keeley, he measures him for such a suit of clothes as no dramatic habit-maker ever before fitted him with. Keeley, in the Tailor, was the sublimity of impoverished manhood - the true ninth part of a man." From this time Mr. Keeley has continued a favourite, and, like Liston and Reeve, his mere appearance on the stage, is sufficient to create a roar of laughter. He is inferior, in most parts, to the two last-mentioned actors, but in characters where the expression of pusillanimous fear, stupid astonishment, or vulgar chuckling is required, he is, as far as his voice and features are concerned, wholly unrivalled. His performances in The Frozen Lake, The Sergeant's Wife, Jonathan in England, Frankenstein, Jemmy Green, Twas, I, The Bottle Imp, &c., &c. will fully exemplify these remarks. WEST, (Mrs.) is the daughter of a Mr. Cooke, and was born at Bath, on the 22nd of March, 1795. She is cousin to Mrs. Waylett, and from her, it is said, imbibed a predilection for the stage, where she made her début on the 22nd of May, 1810, in her native city, as Miss Hardcastle. She continued to play there with applause till the summer of 1812, when she joined the Cheltenham company, and soon after, at the recommendation of Mr. Charles Kemble, was engaged at Covent Garden, where she made her début, in the part of Desdemona. She was well received, and played, during the remainder of the season, several important characters, both in tragedy and comedy. In the following year, she returned to her native city, and married Mr. West, whom she preferred to two other gentlemen who were her suitors at the same time. On the 17th of September, 1818, she appeared at Drury Lane, and performed there for several seasons, the principal characters in tragedy and serious comedy, until she was superseded by Mrs. Bunn. Her best parts are, Cora, in Pizarro, Cordelia, Jane Shore, Juliet, Mrs. Haller, Lady Townley, Desdemona, &c. all of which she plays respectably, but none of them in a manner to entitle her to the appellation of a first-rate actress. BOOTH, (JUNIUS BRUTUS,) was born at St. Pancras, near London, on the 1st of May, 1796. He is the son of an attorney, and for some time studied the law; but abandoned this profession, as well as that of painting and sculpture, to which he subsequently applied himself, for theatrical pursuits. After provincializing for a year or two, he accompanied Mr. Penley to the Netherlands; and, whilst playing at Brussels (where his performance of Megrim was much admired), married a native of that town. In 1815, he obtained an engagement at Covent Garden, at £2 per week; and, on the 12th of February, 1817, played, at the same theatre, Richard the Third, with such decided success, that the manager offered him £5 per week, which Booth declined; and, soon after, concluded an agreement, at Drury Lane, for three years, at a salary of £8, £9, and £10 per week. He made his début as lago, to Kean's Othello, and was received with thunders of applause; and the announcement of his name, for the same part, the following evening, drew an overflowing house; "in some cases," it is said, "a guinea was offered for a single seat, and expectation was at its highest point." When the curtain drew up, however, Mr. Booth was not forthcoming, being unable to appear, as he stated in a note which Mr. Rae read to the audience, in consequence of ill health. The fact was, that Mr. Booth had entered into an engagement with the Covent Garden managers, upon their offering him the same terms as those upon which his services had been retained at Drury Lane, and a violent opposition to him was, in consequence, manifested, on his re-appearance at the former theatre. For four successive nights, he played Richard in dumb show; for the tumult was so great, that not a word could be heard from the stage. The clamour, at length, died gradually away, and with it much of the excitement that Mr. Booth's acting had, at first, produced. He drew but thin houses to witness his subsequent performances, and, on his benefit night, when he played Shylock and Jerry Sneak, the total receipts, it is said, amounted only to £67 10s. Mr. Booth next appeared at the Cobourg, and in the season of 1820, we find him again at Drury Lane, dividing the leading business with Wallack and Cooper. Soon after he went to America, but resumed his professional labours on the metropolitan boards, at Drury Lane, in October, 1825, where he was engaged for three nights. As an actor, Mr Booth is a decided copyist of Kean except in a few portions of the res pective characters of that great tragedian. Booth's tent scene, in Richard, for instance, is said to be a magnificen and original piece of acting; on the whole, he ranks, perhaps, in genius, next to Young, as a tragedian; though, for want of due cultivation of his ta lents, he is, in many respects, inferior to Wallack and Cooper. YATES, (FREDERICK), was born in London, on the 4th of February, 1797, and educated at the Charter House School. At the age of seventeen, he entered the Commissariat department, but soon after turned his thoughts to the stage, and obtained an engagement at Edinburgh, where he performed both in tragedy and comedy with applause. His first appearance, however, "on any stage," was at Boulogne, where he played Fustian, to the Sylvester Daggerwood of Mathews. In 1818, he made his débût at Covent Garden, in the part of Iago, but received only the applause merited by respectability; his representation of Falstaff, in April, 1819, was more successful. "In several passages," says a critic, "he discovered great genius, and was altogether very well received. His dress and look were particularly happy; his manner of bowing his acknowledgments for the repeated applause of the audience, was much relished. The scene in which he is detected in his lies, was very effective. His soliloquies were by no means his triumphs-they were laboriously executed. His laugh, although good, and much applauded, was violent rather than jovial-rather the determination to be boisterously jocular, than naturally gay. His scene with Percy was well executed; and the audience were so well satisfied with his performance, that Mr. Connor was obliged to come forward after the dropping of the curtain, and assure them that Mr. Yates would shortly appear before them again, both in tragedy and comedy." His next character of importance was Berthold, in Maturin's tragedy of Fredolpho, but the immediate condemnation of the piece, prevented Mr. Yates's repetition of his part, which is said to have been sustained by him in a very impressive manner. Soon after, he gave a favourable specimen of his comic powers, as Dick Mutable, in Mr. Beazley's farce of Cozening, or, Half an Hour in France. In 1822, he was engaged at Vauxhall, to give an entertainment, after the manner of Mathews, called Hasty Sketches, or Vauxhall Scenery; but on the very day of performance, he fell through a trap, whilst rehearsing, and broke his leg. In 1825, he took the Adelphi, in conjunction with Mr. Terry, and has himself continued at that theatre, both in the capacity of manager and actor, up to the present time. Mr. Yates is one of the most versatile performers on the stage, which may account, perhaps, for the fact of his having no decided forte. In tragedy, comedy, farce, and melodrame, he is occasionally capital, and always respectable. In burlesque he is excellent a little too broad, perhaps, and given to exaggeration, which is sometimes not less vulgar than ludiHe is a better buck than fop, and a better rake than either; indeed, his performance of the latter character crous. only wants refinement to render it unexceptionable. FOOTE, (MARIA,) was born at Plymouth, in June, 1798, and is the daughter of an officer in the army, said to be descended from the celebrated Samuel Foote. Previously to the birth of his daughter, he sold his commission, and became manager of the Plymouth Theatre, where, at the age of twelve, Miss Foote appeared in the character of Juliet. Her performance was considered wonderful for one so young, and in the following year she added to her reputation by the manner in which she played Susan Ashfield, Zorayda, Emily Worthington, &c. The secession of her father from the Plymouth Theatre, and his subsequent failure as an hotel keeper, at Exeter, brought Miss Foote to the metropolis, in 1814, and in the May of that year, she appeared at Covent Garden Theatre, as Amanthis, in The Child of Nature. Her reception was enthusiastic, and she was immediately engaged at a liberal salary; the characters which the managers assigned her, were not of first-rate importance, but Miss Foote's name in the bills seldom failed to draw a good house. In the summer of 1815, she was engaged at Cheltenham, where an offer from Colonel Berkeley to play at her benefit, led to a connexion with that gentleman, which was only dissolved, a few years ago, on her receiving an offer of marriage from Mr. Hayne, against whom she received £3,000 damages, on his failing to fulfil his engagement. Miss Foote has had two or three children by the colonel, who, if we may credit one of the lady's biographers, only gained her favours by a promise of marriage "the moment he could do so, without injuring the hope of his earldom." Miss Foote is a pleasing actress, but not equal to first-rate parts in any regular department. She plays Aladdin, and other male characters, with more delicacy, perhaps, than the generality of actresses; and her Maria Darlington. is, as far as the gentility of the part is concerned, superior to that of either Madame Vestris or Mrs. Waylett; but this is the only character in which she has attained anything like celebrity. BUNN, (MARGARET AGNES,) is the daughter of a biscuit-baker, in Mary-lebone, named Somerville, and was born at Lanark, on the 26th of October, 1799. She developed a taste for dramatic performances at a very early age, and when only sixteen, was introduced to Mr. Kinnaird and John Kemble, who did not then think her abilities sufficiently matured to engage her. About a year afterwards, however, she gave a specimen of her powers in the part of Belvidera, in Venice Preserved, before the Drury Lane committee, when Lord Byron at once recommended that her services should be secured. She accordingly made her début at the above theatre, on the 9th of May, 1816, as Imogine, in Bertram, in which she was so successful, that the managers gave her a liberal present for her performance, and then engaged her for three years, on very advantageous terms. In the following season, she re-appeared in Bertram, and began to study several other parts in which she was to perform with Kean. If we are to credit one of the lady's biographers, however, that gentleman declared he would not act with her, except in Bertram, on the ground that she" was too big for him." Be this as it may, the characters which she had commenced studying were all withheld from her, and she at length became so disgusted with her situation. as to request a surrender of her articles, which being granted, she obtained an engagement at Covent Garden. In the meantime, she had appeared at Cheltenham, Birmingham, and Bath; and, at the latter place, made an unprecedented impression on the town, by her performance of Bianca, in Milman's tragedy of Fazio, of which she was the original representative. She opened in the same part at Covent Garden, where it had been previously played by Miss O'Neill; but the Bianca of Miss Somerville was, by many, preferred to that of the former actress; and among other favourable notices of her performance, was the following: "Miss Somerville's Bianca is great, as it is singular; it is the effort of unconquerable powers of mind-of rare and astonishing capacity-with the assistance of the fullest bounty of nature. The situation to which her abilities have at length exalted her, is the highest and proudest station of histrionic ambition; and the means by which she has obtained it, most praiseworthy and honourable. This lady, as the only tragic heroine born in Scotland, is risen, as it appears, to redeem the histrionic character of her country's stage." Miss Somerville had not long been in the metropolis, before she gave her hand to Mr. Alfred Bunn, manager of the Birmingham Theatre. Under that name she has lost somewhat of the celebrity which attended her as Miss Somerville; but her Elvira, Lady Macbeth, Emma, in William Tell, and a few others of this cast are still superior to the performance of all other actresses in the same parts. TREE, (ELLEN,) was born in the year 1805, and first turned her attention to the stage, it is said, in consequence of the success of her sister, Maria. She appeared at Covent Garden in 1823, for her sister's benefit, as Olivia, in Twelfth Night, and gave promise of becoming a very interesting actress. After provincializing some time with her sister, playing the leading parts in comedy, at Bath and Birmingham with great success, she was engaged at Drury Lane, in 1827; during which season she performed Lady Teazle, Jane Shore, Albina Mandeville, &c.; but she ceased to draw after a night or two, and since that period, has much decreased in managerial estimation, though still a favourite with the public. END OF VOL. IV. Vizetelly, Branston and Co Fleet Street, London. GENERAL INDEX. THE NUMERAL INDICATES THE VOLUME; THE FIGURE, THE PAGE. Abercromby, Sir Ralph, ii. 84 MISCELLANEOUS. Amherst, Lord, ii 56 Askew, Anthony, iii. 544 Astell, Mary, iii. 512 Aston, Harvey, ii. 476 Atterbury, Bp. Rochester, i. 204 Babell, William, iv 543 |