n could be too much for
her; and when distress or tenderness possessed her, she subsided
into the most affecting melody and softness. In the art of exciting
pity, she had a power beyond all the actresses I have yet seen, or
what your imagination can conceive. In scenes of anger, defiance,
or resentment, while she was impetuous and terrible, she poured out
the sentiment with an enchanting harmony; and it was this particular
excellence for which Dryden made her the above-recited compliment,
upon her acting Cassandra in his Cleomenes. She was the first
person whose merit was distinguished by the indulgence of having an
annual benefit play, which was granted to her alone in King James's
time, and which did not become common to others till the division of
this company, after the death of King William and Queen Mary."]

About this time Talbot returned from Ireland: he soon felt the absence
of Miss Hamilton, who was then in the country with a relation, whom
we shall mention hereafter. A remnant of his former tenderness still
subsisted in his heart, notwithstanding his absence, and the promises
he had given the Chevalier de Grammont at parting: he now therefore
endeavoured to banish her entirely from his thoughts, by fixing his
desires upon some other object; but he saw no one in the queen's new
court whom he thought worthy of his attention: Miss Boynton, however,
thought him worthy of hers. Her, person was slender and delicate, to
which a good complexion and large motionless eyes gave at a distance an
appearance of beauty, that vanished upon nearer inspection: she affected
to lisp, to languish, and to have two or three fainting-fits a day. The
first time that Talbot cast his eyes upon her she was seized with one
of these fits: he was told that she swooned away upon his account: he
believed it, was eager to afford her assistance; and ever after that
accident showed her some kindness, more with the intention of saving
her life, than to express any affection he felt for her. This seeming
tenderness was well received, and at first she was visibly affected by
it. Talbot was one of the tallest men in England, and in all appearance
one of the most robust; yet she showed sufficiently that she was willing
to expose the delicacy of her constitution, to whatever might happen,
in order to become his wife; which event perhaps might then have taken
place, as it did afterwards, had not the charms of the fai