ket-ship Garrick. She
had little money with her. A farewell benefit taken in Boston, her
native city, had not proved very productive, and she had been obliged
"to make arrangements for the maintenance of her family during her
absence." And with characteristic prudence she left behind her a
certain sum, to be in readiness for her, in case failure in England
should drive her promptly back to America.

No engagement in London had been offered her; but she received, upon
her arrival, a letter from Macready, proposing that she should join a
company then being formed to give representations in Paris. She
thought it prudent to decline this proposal, however, so as to avoid
entering into anything like rivalry with Miss Helen Faucit, the
leading actress of the troupe. She visited Paris for a few days, but
only to sit with the audience of the best French theatres. She
returned to her dull lodgings in Covent Garden, "awaiting her
destiny." She was fond, in after years, of referring to the struggles
and poverty, the hopes and the despair, of her first sojourn in
London. Her means were nearly exhausted. Sally, the dresser, used to
relate: "Miss Cushman lived on a mutton-chop a day, and I always
bought the baker's dozen of muffins for the sake of the extra one, and
we ate them all, no matter how stale they were, and we never suffered
from want of appetite in those days." She found herself reduced to her
last sovereign, when Mr. Maddox, the manager of the Princess's
Theatre, came to her with a proposal. The watchful Sally reported that
he had been walking up and down the street for some time early in the
morning, too early for a visit. "He is anxious," said Miss Cushman. "I
can make my own terms." He wished her to appear with Forrest, the
American tragedian, then visiting the London stage for the second and
last time. She stipulated that she should have her opportunity first,
and "alone." If successful, she was willing to appear in support of
Forrest. So it was agreed.

Her first appearance upon the English stage was made on February 14,
1845; she assumed the character of Bianca, in Dean Milman's rather
dull tragedy of "Fazio." Her triumph was indisputable. Her intensity
and vehemence completely carried away the house. As the pit rose at
Kean's Shylock, so it rose at Charlotte Cushman's Bianca. She wrote to
her mother in America: "All my success put together, since I have been
upon the stage, would not come near my success in London