AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

AN ACTRESS;

OR,

EIGHT YEARS ON THE STAGE.

BY

ANNA CORA MOWATT.

"Every family is a history in itself, and even a poem, to those who know how
to read its pages."

LAMARTINE.

ELEVENTH THOUSAND.

BOSTON:

TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS.

M DCCC LIV.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by

ANNA CORA MOWATT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

STEREOTYPED AT THE

BOSTON STERLTYPE FOUNDRY.

INTRODUCTION.

My autobiography, needs no preface. Its apology is a promise, made to one who had the best right to demand such a pledge, that before I retired from the profession I had adopted I would publish a record of my life's experiencesa promise now rendered sacred by

"The instinct

Which makes the honored memory of the dead
A trust with all the living."

If one struggling sister in the great human family, while listening to the history of my life, gain courage to meet and brave severest trials; if she learn to look upon them as blessings in disguise; if she be strengthened in the perform

ance of "daily duties," however "hardly paid;" if she be inspired with faith in the power imparted to a strong will, whose end is good, then I am amply rewarded for my labor.

RAVENSWOOD, NEW YORK,

December 7, 1853.

ANNA CORA MOWATT.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

My Father. Miranda Expedition. - My Mother. - Early Rec-

ollections. -La Castagne. - Description of La Castagne by

my Brother Charles. Jour de Vendange. St. Foy. Fu-

neral Solemnities of our Pets. - Les Compliments on the

Anniversary of our Parents' Birthdays. A first Effort.-

Othello in French. - My Début. Bourdeaux. Embarking

for New York. Sea Voyage.
Shipwreck. Loss of a

Brother. Description by my Brother Charles of Storm and

Wreck. Return to Havre. Second Sailing, and Arrival in

New York. School Days. Passion for Poetry. Juvenile

Doggerel. First Words of Praise. Boarding School.-

Dramatic Representations at Home. - Performance of Al-

zire. Early Prejudices against Theatres. - Bishop E-

-Fanny Kemble. - First Visit to the Park Theatre.

pressions. The Misses Wheatley,

CHAPTER II.

-n.

Im-

My eldest Sister. First Acquaintance with Mr. Mowatt.

Singular Impressions. Sudden Project of educating a Child

for a Wife. Madam Chegaray's School. Alzire. Attempt

at an Offer frustrated. The first Love Letter. A Refusal

and a Consent. My Father's Stipulations. A Wedding

Party without a Bride. Preparations for the Performance of

the Drama of the Mourning Bride. Effect of a Lover's Mel-

ancholy.- A Promise. The Confidant. - Novel Mode of

procuring and preparing a bridal Wardrobe. Adventures.

Refusal of three Clergymen to perform the Ceremony. — A

runaway Wedding. Rencontre with a Father. A Child

keeps a Secret.-A Farewell. Breaking the News.

Bride's Flower." The Pardon. - Bridal Celebration,.

CHAPTER III.

"The

Studies. Flatbush.- Purchase of Estate that had belonged

to General Giles. - Haunted House.-My Sister May. - Ŏur

juvenile Sports and Mode of Life. Number of Books read

and commented upon every Year. Shooting Excursions.

A first Sorrow. Death of our Mother. - Melrose. Sun-

day School. Fortune Teller of the Fair.- Pelayo.- Review-

ers Reviewed. Celebration of Seventeenth Birthday. - Bur-

lesque Concerts. - Tableaux. The Gypsy Wanderer.

dal Address. Ill Health. - Departure for Europe,.

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