simile, except that it had no date, subsequently appeared. An alteration of the ‘Comedy of Errors,’ with the two Dromios presented as black men, on which he bestowed the well-merited title of ‘Oh, it's impossible!’ and which he had the grace to leave unprinted, was acted in York in the same year. On 15 April 1778, according to Tate Wilkinson, Kemble supported Mrs. Mason at York in ‘Zenobia.’ The performance was interrupted by the loud talking of a fashionable young lady; Kemble stopped, and declared his intention to wait until the conversation was finished. The audience approved of his conduct. The supporters of the lady, however, insisted on an apology, which Kemble refused. Attempts to interrupt future performances were made, but soon abandoned.
A scholar and a man of breeding, Kemble, besides somewhat overawing his fellows, had won social recognition and made friends wherever he had gone. He wrote prologues for the benefit of charitable institutions in York and at Leeds, where he appeared for the first time in ‘Hamlet.’ At this time he made the acquaintance of Mrs. Inchbald [q. v.] Upon the sudden death of her husband he wrote a blank-verse ode, following closely that of Collins to ‘Evening.’ He also wrote the Latin verses over Inchbald's grave. In Leeds, 24 June 1780, he gave at the theatre what he called an ‘Attic evening,’ consisting of a lecture on the ‘Art of Speaking in line parts, Sacred Eloquence, and Oratory of the Theatre,’ with illustrations from various authors, including himself. A second entertainment, with illustrations, differing in some respects, was given on 17 Aug., and in the beginning of 1781 a similar lecture was delivered in York. In various towns of the York circuit Kemble played leading characters in tragedy and in comedy with a steadily increasing reputation. Never sparing labour, he is said to have written out the part of Hamlet forty times. He generally improved on a first representation. Under Tate Wilkinson, who became temporarily the manager of the Edinburgh Theatre, Kemble made, in July 1781, as the Master in the ‘Toy Shop,’ his first appearance in Edinburgh. On 24 July he was Contrast in the ‘Lord of the Manor’ and Puff in the ‘Critic,’ and on the 30th Sir Giles Overreach. As Hamlet he made with great success, 2 Nov. 1781, his first appearance in Dublin, playing at Smock Alley Theatre under Daly. As Sir George Touchwood in the ‘Belle's Stratagem’ he lost ground, which he recovered in ‘Alexander the Great;’ and as Raymond in the ‘Count of Narbonne,’ a popular piece, extracted by Robert Jephson [q. v.] from Horace Walpole's ‘Castle of Otranto,’ he obtained a complete triumph. It was produced at both the Dublin houses, and Kemble's performance set the seal on his country reputation. Jephson introduced Kemble to his Dublin friends, including some of the nobility. Kemble went with Miss Younge to Cork, where he played before a less sympathetic public in ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Warren Hastings,’ and ‘Jaffier.’ Limerick was also visited. In Ireland he was seen in a large round of characters. Mrs. Crawford or Mrs. Inchbald usually supported him. Sometimes he played second to West Digges [q. v.], whose manner he was unjustly taxed with copying. In Cork he met Miss Phillips, subsequently Mrs. Crouch. Drawing his sword, he protected her against some young officers who waited in the theatre to escort the frightened and reluctant actress home. This conduct strengthened the report that he was about to marry her.
Kemble's first appearance in London took place at Drury Lane, 30 Sept. 1783, as Hamlet, causing some excitement and a keen polemic among the critics. He had not reached the maturity of his powers, but on the other hand his mannerisms and affectations, though already a subject of comment, were less pronounced than they subsequently became. His appearance and general gifts, including his voice, were in his favour. He wore classical drapery with unrivalled ease and elegance, and his features were both noble and expressive. Davies commended the pauses in his Hamlet, and Gilliland defended the performance all through. In his first season Kemble played Hamlet, Edward the Black Prince, Richard III, Sir Giles Overreach, Beverley, King John, Shylock, Alwin in the ‘Countess of Salisbury,’ Cato, Carlos in ‘Love makes a Man,’ and Jupiter in ‘Amphitryon.’ In the nineteen years during which he remained with the Drury Lane company, accompanying it in its enforced migration, he presented over 120 characters, including almost all the great parts in Shakespearean tragedy and not a few comic parts, in which he could have been seen to comparatively little advantage. That he effected some change, chiefly in the right direction, in his rendering of tragic parts, was conceded by his adversaries; and not a few of the readings in ‘Hamlet’ which were most contested have been retained by subsequent actors. Henderson was the rival most frequently opposed to him. The victory rested ultimately with Kemble. Kemble made the mistake of challenging, unnecessarily and somewhat insolently, the criticism of Woodfall in the ‘Morning Chronicle,’ and
