Page:Notable Irishwomen.djvu/47

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NOTABLE IRISHWOMEN.
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she appeared as Mrs. Euston in Mrs. Inchbald's comedy, "I'll tell you what." Mrs. Inchbald is now chiefly known as the author of the novel, " A Simple Story "; but her plays were tolerably successful at a time when a women dramatist was as rare as a white blackbird. We are told that the house was convulsed with bursts of laughter, and at other times dissolved in tears. There were some points of resemblance between Mrs. Euston of the play and Miss Farren in real life. They both had an aristocratic admirer. As time went on, Lord Derby's attentions were redoubled, eighteen long years had no power to change his constancy. He was often seen following Miss Farren from Drury Lane to her house in Green Street, Grosvenor Square, "puffing as he went for want of breath," while she hardly deigned to give him a smile. Her coldness and indifference only increased his warmth. Though past the age of romance he frequently burst into poetry, and some of his tributes to his fair enchantress have been preserved. We have "Lines by Lord Derby to Mr. Humphry on his portrait of Miss Farren," in which he says:—

"Pleas'd I behold the Fair, whose comic art,
 Th' unwearied eye of taste and judgment draws,
Who charms with native elegance the heart
 And claims the loudest thunder of applause."

Still more interesting are the lines addressed by