Havre. From that port a second departure was taken, and the family arrived in New York, where Anna received a most excellent education. Although the parents possessed no decided predilections for the stage, all the members had a taste and love of the stage, and private theatricals was the principal amusement of this very happy family, in which Anna took the lead, not only playing the heroines, but adapting pieces for the mimic stage. When Anna was but fourteen, Mr. Mowatt, a lawyer of wealth, became quite attached to her, and, after some years of attention, they were married, without the knowledge of her parents, who did not object to the match, but thought her youth a barrier to present marriage. Mrs. Mowatt subsequently visited Europe for the benefit of her health, accompanying a married sister, and while in Paris wrote a five-act play called the "Persian Slave," which was performed on her return home. Misfortune overtook her husband, and the fond wife resolved at once to exert herself for his advantage. She determined to give public readings. "For reasons," says an article in Howitt's Journal, published when Mrs. Mowatt appeared in England, "which every reader will perfectly appreciate, she felt she could not commence this new and public life in New York, where she had been known under circumstances so totally different: she therefore selected Boston, the most intellectual city of the Union, as the place of debut. Mrs. Mowatt's name was already known to the press, by a number of fugitive poems and tales contributed to magazines of the day, and she was warmly welcomed by the Boston public. The hall was filled to repletion, and when the delicate form of the debutante appeared on the platform, there was a murmur of surprise, that so fragile a bud had attempted so arduous a mission." Her first reading was given at the Masonic Temple, on Thursday evening, October 28, 1841. She carried with her the heart of every listener, for she exhibited the most beautiful moral spectacle of which human nature is capable, that of a wife turning her accomplishments to account, to relieve the necessities of her husband. Her youth and beauty, though sufficient of themselves to command attention, were lost sight of when she began to speak, and one had leisure only to regard the exquisite tones of her voice, as it gave utterance to her admirable conceptions of poetical genius. Her stay in this city was brief, but the judgment then pronounced upon her abilities was final, for having passed through the ordeal of Boston criticism, and met with approval, she fearlessly went forth to fascinate by the loveliness of her person, and to captivate by the genuineness of her talent. Mrs. Mowatt had been induced to enter upon this career, in the hopes of saving her husband's estate from being sold, but the anxiety and the labor self-imposed proved too much for her feeble frame, and she was for some time seriously ill, and the homestead she cherished was sold. On her recovery, her husband became the principal partner in the publishing business, and Mrs. Mowatt exerted the strength of her intellect to assist him. Under the name of Mrs. Helen Berkley, she wrote a series of very popular articles, and also brought out a novel called the Fortune Hunter, and collated and revised many books for her husband to publish, from which much money was made. Her husband was again unfortunate, when she turned her hand to another department of literature, and wrote Fashion," a five-act play, the intention of which was to satirize the life of the parvenues of America. It was brought out at the Park in New York, and was well received, though a difference of opinion was entertained as to its merits. Edgar A. Poe remarked that its general tone was adopted from the "School for Scandal," to which it bore just such an affinity as the shell of a locust to the locust that tenants it, 66 as the spectrum of a Congreve Rocket to the Congreve Rocket itself." It possessed considerable merit as a composition, and was played in several theatres in the Union. Mrs. Mowatt finally concluded to adopt the profession, and made her debut at the Park Theatre in the fall of 1845, as Pauline in the "Lady of Lyons," and from that moment to the present her success has been brilliant. "The great charm of her acting," remarked Poe at that time, "is its naturalness. She looks, speaks, and moves, with a well-controlled impulsiveness, as different as can be conceived from the customary rant and cant, the harsh conventionality of the stage." This is true of present style, which possesses in an eminent degree an ever varying freshness. She had made but little preparation for her new career. Mr. W. H. Crisp imparted to her some general ideas, but the rest was nature's dictation. She shortly after her debut came to Boston, and, as we have stated, appeared at the Howard Athenæum under the management of W. F. Johnson. To follow Mrs. Mowatt in her subsequent wanderings, would occupy more space than we can devote. Her tour at the South was a dramatic triumph, which a veteran might have been proud of; and in -- every city she left such a favorable impression, that her more recent visits have invariably attracted good houses, and rendered her, excepting Forrest, the most attractive star of the day. In 1847, Mrs. Mowatt brought out her most popular play of "Armand, or the Child of the People," which was produced in New York and Boston, just prior to her departure for Europe, which took place on the 1st of November from Boston. Her career in Europe was every way successful, and she gained not only the applause due to talent, but the friendship and esteem of many who bestowed their admiration upon one who was so justly entitled to it. She was accompanied by Mr. Edward Davenport, a Boston boy, who has reflected credit upon the city of his birth, by his theatrical success. Mrs. Mowatt, while in England, had the misfortune to lose her husband, and passed the early months of widowhood in retirement, and after an absence of four years returned to America, in improved health, once more to delight her friends, whose name is legion. Report now has it, that Mrs. Mowatt is shortly to be married to Mr. Ritchie, of Richmond, and will leave the stage. However much we might rejoice at this union, the public will regret it, for it removes from them an actress whose presence is ever welcome, and who had, when an accident befell her in the month of March, 1852, by being thrown from her horse in this city, an opportunity of knowing in what esteem she is held by our residents. CHAPTER XXXII. The Seguins in Norma. -First Production of that Piece. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean. Mr. Stark, Dyott, Mr. Murdoch, Miss Fanny Jones, Miss Mary Ann Lee. - The Seguins, and the "Bohemian Girl," etc. etc. WE have already noticed the career of the Seguins in our city from its commencement in November, 1838, to its de facto termination in 1847. Under the skilful management of Mrs. Seguin and her indefatigable exertions, the popularity acquired for English versions of Italian, French, and German opera by "The Woods," Mrs. Austin, Miss Hughes, Phillips, and other brilliant singers, remained intact, until mock turtle went out of fashion, as the genuine article became known by Marti's excellent company. The most successful and brilliant English opera season in this city after the days of "The Woods," commenced at the old Tabernacle, or Howard Athenæum, by grace of a lively imagination, on the 27th of October, 1845, when the since world famous opera "Norma" was for the first time performed here in English version. Seguin was the Oroveso; his wife, the Druid Priestess; Fraser, the Roman Proconsul; and Mrs. Maeder, the gentle Adalgisa. The opera took well, and was given five times to full houses. For the closing night of this brief engagement, selections were given from the "Bohemian Girl," "La Sonnambula," "Cinderella," "Fra Diavolo," "Amilie," "The Mountain Sylph," "Niobe," and "Guy Mannering." It |