“After the play, Kemble came forward to address the audience. He appeared to suffer much from the feeling that it was for the last time. Whether this was real or affected I cannot say; but if acting, it was acting of a very superior kind. After he had retired, a crown of laurel and a scarf were thrown upon the stage. The manager was then called. He came forward, and promised to present them to Mr. Kemble.
“When the curtain drew up for the farce, which was ‘The Portrait of Cervantes,’ a part of the audience, intending it as a mark of respect to Mr. Kemble, called out, ‘No farce, no farce! off, off!’ &c. The others, who wished to see the farce, clapped and called, ‘Go on, go on!’ It was doubtful which party was the more numerous. At length Fawcett, the manager, again came forward to say that, if it were the wish of the audience that, out of respect to Mr. Kemble, the farce should not be acted, he would desire the curtain to be dropped. Some immediately cried out, ‘Yes; down with it!’ Others, ‘No; go on!’ The poor man did not know what to do. He again attempted to speak, but the noise was too great for him to be heard; so he retired, and the curtain fell. This satisfied but one party; the other became directly more clamorous. After a few minutes, the curtain was again drawn up, and the farce proceeded; but the noise was still kept up, and I was unable to hear a sentence all the night. I heard afterwards that Talma was at the theatre this night, and that he was much pleased with the enthusiasm of the audience. He said that the French talked a great deal about enthusiasm, but that they possessed much less than the English.”
He went to the House of Commons, and “heard the Lord Mayor, Lord Cochrane, and some others speak on the side of liberty.” The debate was on the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act[61]:—
“It is a pity that every good man is not also a learned and clever man. I was sorry to find that the Lord Mayor, whom I expected to be a first-rate speaker, was very deficient even in common grammar; but, nevertheless, such a man is of more service to the great cause of liberty than a hundred of your place-hunters, let their delivery be ever so elegant, and their grammar ever so correct.”
On June 30th he visited Chantrey’s studio:—
“I left the Gallery with very great regret, and I am sure that I was sincere when I told Mr. Whitwell [the friend who had introduced him] that to him I was obliged for the greatest gratification I ever received.”
The following evening he started for the Isle of Wight:—
“I left London at six in the evening for Southampton. The road lay through Brentford and Staines. Near to the latter place, in a field, I saw the place where King John signed ‘Magna Charta.’ The spot is marked by a sun-dial. I was glad to hear some of the passengers give it as their opinion that something of the kind was wanting now.
“As soon as it became light, we enjoyed most delightful views of a richly-wooded country. The trees in Hampshire are the largest I ever saw, and the country is almost covered with what we consider large woods. There is not a finer sight in the world than to be elevated above an extensive wood, and to see the trees extending as far as the eye can reach, till they become scarcely distinguishable from the sky.”