Records of my life / By the late John Taylor, esq. Complete in one volume.

  • John Taylor
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Records of my life / By the late John Taylor, esq. Complete in one volume. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    56/474 (page 50)
    MR. STEPHEN KEMBLE. 131 which prevented what he said from being at first distinctly under¬ stood. It is mentioned to the honour of Ross, that when “ The Rosciad* was first published, and he was told it was a severe attack upon the whole community of actors, himself among the number, he imme¬ diately said, in the words of Cato:— 411 should have blush’d if Cato’s house had stood Secure, and flourish’d in a civil war.” Mr. Stephen Kemble was an actor of considerable merit, and only precluded from representing the first heroic characters by his extra¬ ordinary bulk. He was a remarkably handsome man. He had been apprenticed to a surgeon in some provincial town, but his devotion to the stage induced him to resign his profession. He had a strong sense of humour in private life, and related anecdotes, particularly of the theatrical kind, with admirable effect. He also possessed poetical talents, which appear to advantage in a large octavo volume published by subscription. Iiis skill in recitation was so well known, that he was generally requested in company to indulge them with some pas¬ sage, which he chiefly repeated from Shakspeare. He was so fat that he required no stuffing to appear in Falstaff, which character he supported with a flowing manly humour, and, I may venture to say, with a critical knowledge of his author. All characters of an open, blunt nature, and requiring a vehement expression of justice and in¬ tegrity, particularly those exemplifying an honest indignation against vice, he delivered in so forcible a manner as to show obviously that he was developing his own feelings and character. This manner was very successfully displayed in his representation of the Governor, in the opera of “ Inkle and Yarico.” He had experienced all the vicissitudes of a theatrical life in pro¬ vincial theatres, if they may be so styled, but by prudence, good conduct, and the general respect in which his character and talents were held, he surmounted all difficulties, and was able to leave a competency to his widow. Indeed, his wife had essentially con¬ tributed to the improvement of his fortune. She had acquired a well-merited reputation for her talents as an actress at Covent Garden Theatre, under her maiden name of Miss Satchell. Mr. Stephen Kemble made his first appearance at the same thea- I tre, in the character of Othello. Though stout in person, he was not I then of a size that precluded him from performing any of the higher i order of characters. He was soon attracted by the person and I talents of Miss Satchell, and they were married. Their conjugal ! state was marked by mutual attachment, as I had abundant oppor- I tunities of knowing, for I married one of her sisters, who was ad- i mired by all who knew her for her personal beauty and the excellent i qualities of her mind. All who had been acquainted with her deeply a sympathized with me when I had the misery of losing her, about