[460] they arrived in April, 1865, and made their first appearance there, at the Broadway Theatre, when it, together with the other theatres, was reopened, subsequent to the assassination of President Lincoln. In the opening pieces, “Henry VIII.,” and “The jealous wife,” Mrs. Kean played Queen Catherine and Mrs. Oakley. Majesty of mien, fervor of feeling, remarkable variety of intonation and of facial expression, accuracy of method, and charming vivacity betokened in those personations the gifted and cultured actress. She was seen, however, to be altogether unlike the Ellen Tree of former days, the slight, graceful, elegant, laughing lady, who had blazed upon the stage as the radiant Rosalind, and dazzled every eye with her beauty and her wit.
For beauty, wit,The final sojourn of the Keans in the United States lasted a year. On the 16th of April, 1866, at the Academy of Music, in New York, after having appeared in the chief theatres of the United States and Canada, they took a farewell benefit, playing in “Louis XI.,” and “The jealous wife.” There was a very great multitude present, and the occasion lingers in memory as one of the brightest and saddest in the record of the stage. The fine art of acting never received a more fervent, conscientious, and touching illustration than was afforded in this performance. Mr. Kean played with all the energy and fire of his nature, and, at the close of the representation of “Louis XI.,” made a most affecting farewell speech to the public. Mrs. Kean's part in “Louis XI.” was Martel, the peasant's wife. She was very genial and simple in it; and thus, even in a trifle, revealed the essential
High birth, vigor of bone, desert in service,
Love, friendship, charity, are subject all
To envious and calurninating time.
