letter, by unquestionably establishing herself the first actress on the British stage.
In the Grecian Daughter they shone with unrivalled lustre, the feeble and affecting part of Evander being well adapted to the venerable figure and fine pathos of this declining great actor, and the filial piety and towering spirit of the Grecian daughter could not have been more happily displayed in all their force than by Mrs. Barry.
Many characters could be mentioned, in which they swayed, at pleasure, the feelings of their audience, and bade sighs and tears alternate rise and flow. Amongst others, Jaffier and Belvidera, in Venice Preserved; but
obscure; as, since her return to London, she had resided in the house of a relative, a most amiable and respectable lady (her husband, a man eminent in the medical line), in Queen Street, Westminster, who rendered her every attention the nearest connection could have afforded. A few days previous to the last moments of this great actress, she requested her remains to be deposited near those of Mr. Barry, and in as private a manner as possible. Her last wish was strictly attended to, for, after being placed in a leaden coffin, they were conveyed to Westminster Abbey in a hearse decorated with all the mournful ornaments usual upon such occasions. A coach likewise attended, containing the clergyman, physician, apothecary, and her executor, the only surviving son of her brother, the late W. Street, Esq. of Bath.
Thus was obscured for ever one of the brightest planets in the theatric hemisphere; and thus died a woman who united talent with virtue, and the most shining abilities to the most extensive goodness of heart.
It would be a difficult task to mention any station in existence which presents so many strange vicissitudes as that of an actress, who frequently experiences in real life all the varieties of situation which her profession calls upon her to exhibit on the stage; and it often lamentably happens, that, at the close of her career, her woes are not fictitious. The youthful days of this individual were illumined by the sunshine of universal admiration. Lovely herself, both in face and figure, she could not fail to excite the love of others. A few years of professional exertion placed her on the pinnacle of theatric fame, both as a disciple of Thalia and Melpomene; and her bright bark was floating with the tide that "leadeth on to fortune," when an unfortunate marriage blasted all her hopes, and clouded a prospect seemingly destined remain to bright for ever.
It is, however, to be hoped that the judicious and candid, whilst contemplating with delight upon the pleasure her almost unrivalled talents have afforded them, will bury in oblivion those failings to which human nature is ever liable.
