"The matchless Mrs. Siddons," and sent her brother a ring containing her miniature set in diamonds.
Daly had gone over himself to engage her; and it was said she had refused all provincial offers in England for the sake of winning the hearts of the Irish critics. All seemed propitious, and the way prepared for the coming of the conquering heroine. Events, however, did not turn out as expected. There, where the vivacious, impudent, good-natured Peg Woffington, with her "bad" voice and swaggering way, became a popular idol, the queenly Siddons, with her imperious, tragic manner, extorted praise for her acting, no doubt, but never won their hearts. In spite of the Irish blood in her veins, she had no fellow-feeling for the people; and an antagonism sprang up between her and her Dublin audience from the first. She disliked the dirt, ostentation, insincerity, and frivolity of Irishmen, and refused to acknowledge their kind-heartedness and genuine artistic appreciation.
By her letters we can see the impression the country made on her. She started in the beginning of July, accompanied by a small party, which consisted of Brereton, her husband, and her sister. On the 14th she writes to her friend Whalley:—
"I thank you a thousand and a thousand times for
your letter; but you don't mention having heard from
me since you left England. We rejoice most sincerely
that you are arrived without any material accident,
without any dangerous ones I mean, for, to be sure,
some of them were very materially entertaining. Oh!
how I laugh whenever the drowsy adventure comes
across my imagination, for 'more was meant than
met the ear.' I am sure I would have given the
world to have seen my dear Mrs. Whalley upon
