ith
that punishment hanging over her, the novice went on learning and
originating, until one day London woke up to find a new tragedienne
within its boundaries.

[Illustration: Mr. Mills, Mrs. Porter, Mr. Cibber.]

'Twas a tragedienne, be it added, who possessed no wonderful charm
of person. She was pleasing in figure and bearing, but her voice was
naturally harsh, her features did not shine forth loveliness, and when
the scene wherein she walked called neither for vehemence of feeling,
nor melting tenderness, her elocution became a monotonous cadence.[A]
Yet in moments of dramatic excitement, or in places where the deep
note of pathos had to be sounded, Porter played with a distinction
that either thrilled the spectator or reduced him to the verge of
tears. She threw cadence and monotony to the four winds of heaven,
or rather to the four corners of the stage, and spoke with the
earnestness of one inspired.

[Footnote A: Mrs. Porter was tall, fair, well-shaped, and easy and
dignified in action. But she was not handsome, and her voice had a
small degree of tremor. Moreover, she imitated, or, rather, faultily
exceeded, Mrs. Barry in the habit of prolonging and toning her
pronunciation, sometimes to a degree verging upon a chant; but
whether it was that the public ear was at that period accustomed to a
demi-chant, or that she threw off the defect in the heat of passion,
it is certain that her general judgment and genius, in the highest
bursts of tragedy, inspired enthusiasm in all around her, and that
she was thought to be alike mistress of the terrible and the
tender.--THOMAS CAMPBELL.]

As Queen Catherine Mrs. Porter was all mournful grace and dignity, as
Lady Macbeth she breathed of battle, murder and sudden death, and in
the role of Belvidera she showed yet another phase of her incomparable
art. "I remember Mrs. Porter, to whom nature had been so niggard in
voice and face, so great in many parts, as Lady Macbeth, Alicia in
'Jane Shore,' Hermione in the 'Distressed Mother,' and many parts of
the kind, that her great action, eloquence of look and gesture, moved
astonishment; and yet I have heard her declare she left the action
to the possession of the sentiments in the part she performed." Thus
wrote Chetwood, whose good fortune it was to see Oldfield, and Porter,
and a host of other famous players, not forgetting, in later days, the
wonderful Garrick himself.

Unlike several of her ilk, Mistress Porter could play