brief sojourn in London, Mrs. Inchbald, pays a visit to her domestic roof. The loving connection of the family with its truant member, seems to have been agreeably re-united, but it also appears, by the briefness of the visit, as if the runaway had been conscious that the bird who had willingly forsaken the nest, had no claims on its comforts or shelter at any after time. The vehicle which conveyed them to Stanningfield, from Bury, took them back to that town. Her mother however, accompanied them. Here, after remaining a few days, Mrs. Inchbald and her husband set off for Scotland, where an engagement awaited them in the company of manager Digges. Mr. During the period of their Scottish engagement, our heroine no doubt discovered that the life of an actress was one of uncertain comfort, and abounding in sacrifices. To the wandering tribe of Thespis, she had however, attached her fortunes, and the discomforts could not but be borne. During their stay in Scotland, a pretty regular correspondence appears to have been kept up between herself and the inmates of the farm-house at Stanningfield, shewing the parties were on the most intimate footing. A cloud however was hovering over their pretty steady fortunes, which was about to break, not only for their own affliction, but having the effect of alienating the affections of the parent from the daughter for some time. This untoward event happened through the following circumstances. Inchbald, having by some means offended an Edinburgh audience so highly as to cause a riot in the theatre, his engagement terminated, and he paid a visit to the continent, not however for the purpose of pleasure, but the strange one of commencing artist, and existing by exercising his talents in painting portraits. Some talent in the art he certainly did possess, but certainly not sufficient to procure patrons, or sitters. The conSequence of this was, that an application to Stanningfield, for pecuniary assistance in their difficulties, being rejected, most likely from inability to comply, Mr. Inchbald and his wife, were obliged to make a precipitate retreat from France, and so destitute was their condition upon their arrival at Brighton, that many days were spent without the animal necessaries of this life. Although there appears to have been occasional causes of dissatisfaction between Mrs. Inchbald and the family at Stanningfield, yet they endured but for a short time, and mutual good feeling returned. About the year 1777, pecuniary matters seem to have gone wrong at the family home, which gave our heroine much uneasiness, and she was frequently found in tears at the distresses of her mother and her "sister Dolly." It is also to be mentioned, as an honourable trait in the character of Mrs. Inchbald, that until the day of her mother's death, her purse, when fortune changed-scanty as it was even for her own wantswas always open to the necessities of her parent. Every member of her family was in the habit of feeling her generosity; and, although the only re-payment which she requiredgratitude-was seldom forthcoming, yet she was to the last a generous giver. At length, the death of her mother, which took place on the 6th of October, 1783, separated the link which bound her affections to the ancient roof tree of her early home and birth place. We are told that, with her brother, George Simpson, she paid a visit to Stanningfield, and after passing a couple of days with her family, and shedding tears at the grave of her mother, returned to London. The deprivation of her parent seems to have severed the connection between our heroine and her native village. She afterwards appears to have devoted herself to her studies, and diligently employed her time in preparation to shine before the world as an authoress. Nearly four years previously to this event, Mrs. Inchbald became a widow. The death of her husband was sudden, and appears to have caused her very considerable grief. The event took place on the 6th of June, 1799, when under an engagement with that never-failing refuge for destitute actors, Tate Wilkinson. Until the bereavement of her mother and husband, the life of Mrs Inchbald had solely been employed in attending her duties as an actress; and, although her "Simple Story" was in manuscript, yet circumstances seemed to render it improbable that it would ever be placed before the public. Indeed, the work lay in manuscript twenty years before it was given to the world, and was rejected by one publisher as not likely to suit the taste of readers, even after the authoress had attained no slight degree of popularity. The rise of this woman to eminence as a dramatist, affords a striking lesson to those who conceive that fame and fortune are only to be achieved by sudden efforts of genius. During her engagement in London, her abode was generally some humble lodging-frequently a garret. Here she read and wrote incessantly, seldom leaving her room, and frequently going without the common necessaries of life, even to fire and food. Seeing little or no society, she applied herself daily and nightly to her task, and produced those dramas which will continue the stock pieces of the English stage as long as the drama lasts. She also achieved her own independence; and, although her resources were frequently reduced by her generosity to members of her family, she, at her death, left several thousand pounds to be distributed among her friends. Mrs. Inchbald died at Kensington on the 1st of August, 1821, in the 69th year of her age, and lies buried in the churchyard of that place. ALDHAM COMMON. THE MARTYR STONE. "And now no trace is left Of the mild hearted champion, save this stone- WORDSWORTH. AT about the distance of three-quarters of a mile from the town of Hadleigh, near the road leading to Aldham Church, on a piece of ground called Aldham Common, stands a memorial of exceeding interest. Within a plain iron railing, is preserved, a rough unhewn stone, upon which is cut in rude letters and mispelt words, the following inscription; 1555, D. TAYLER IN DE FENDING THAT WAS GOOD, AT THIS PLAS LEFT HIS BLODE. This stone is commemorative of the death, or martyrdom, of Dr. Rowland Taylor, a conscientious protestant divine, who laid down his life for that faith he considered true, in opposition to the attempts on the part of the popish clergy to enforce the doctrines of papacy upon him individually, and to introduce them into his little flock of protesting christians. Dr. Rowland Taylor |