In December he is in London, and entranced with the acting of Miss
O'Neil. He thinks that Brevoort, if he saw her, would infallibly fall in
love with this "divine perfection of a woman." He writes: "She is, to my
eyes, the most soul-subduing actress I ever saw; I do not mean from her
personal charms, which are great, but from the truth, force, and pathos
of her acting. I have never been so completely melted, moved, and
overcome at a theatre as by her performances . . . . Kean, the
prodigy, is to me insufferable. He is vulgar, full of trick, and a
complete mannerist. This is merely my opinion. He is cried up as a
second Garrick, as a reformer of the stage, etc. It may be so. He may
be right, and all the other actors wrong. This is certain: he is either
very good or very bad. I think decidedly the latter; and I find no
medium opinions concerning him. I am delighted with Young, who acts with
great judgment, discrimination, and feeling. I think him much the best
actor at present on the English stage . . . . In certain characters,
such as may be classed with Macbeth, I do not think that Cooper has his
equal in England. Young is the only actor I have seen who can compare
with him." Later, Irving somewhat modified his opinion of Kean.
He wrote to Brevoort: "Kean is a strange compound of merits and defects.
His excellence consists in sudden and brilliant touches, in vivid
exhibitions of passion and emotion. I do not think him a discriminating
actor, or critical either at understanding or delineating character;
but he produces effects which no other actor does."

In the summer of 1816, on his way from Liverpool to visit his sister's
family at Birmingham, Irving tarried for a few days at a country place
near Shrewsbury on the border of Wales, and while there encountered a
character whose portrait is cleverly painted. It is interesting to
compare this first sketch with the elaboration of it in the essay on "The
Angler" in the "Sketch-Book."