The theatre was one of Edward Barron's elegant
hobbies; he read plays, as became Enfield's son-in-law, with a good
discretion; he wrote plays for his family, in which Eliza Barron
used to shine in the chief parts; and later in life, after the
Norwich home was broken up, his little granddaughter would sit
behind him in a great armchair, and be introduced, with his stately
elocution, to the world of dramatic literature. From this, in a
direct line, we can deduce the charades at Claygate; and after
money came, in the Edinburgh days, that private theatre which took
up so much of Fleeming's energy and thought. The company - Mr. and
Mrs. R. O. Carter of Colwall, W. B. Hole, Captain Charles Douglas,
Mr. Kunz, Mr. Burnett, Professor Lewis Campbell, Mr. Charles
Baxter, and many more - made a charming society for themselves and
gave pleasure to their audience. Mr. Carter in Sir Toby Belch it
would be hard to beat. Mr. Hole in broad farce, or as the herald
in the TRACHINIAE, showed true stage talent. As for Mrs. Jenkin,
it was for her the rest of us existed and were forgiven; her powers
were an endless spring of pride and pleasure to her husband; he
spent hours hearing and schooling her in private; and when it came
to the performance, though there was perhaps no one in the audience
more critical, none was more moved than Fleeming.
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