this time Miss O'Neill became the talk of the town, and the theatre was crowded to the doors.
In Moore's Life of Byron we find it recorded that to such lengths did Byron carry his enthusiasm for Kean that "when Miss O'Neill appeared, and by her matchless representations of feminine tenderness attracted all eyes and hearts., he was not only a little jealous of her reputation as interfering with that of his favourite, but in order to guard himself from the risk of becoming a convert, refused to go and see her act. Moore endeavoured to persuade him into witnessing one, at least, of her performances, but his answer was, punning upon Shakespeare's word, "unanneal'd," "No, I am resolved to continue un-o'neiled." (A shockingly bad pun, certainly.)
Moore relates that when travelling in the coach he mentioned to a lady who sat next to him that he had heard Miss O'Neill sing one song lately. She asked, "Was it one of Moore's Irish Melodies?" "Yes." "Which of them?" "One that I believe is called 'Love's Young Dream.'" Moore adds. "I did not avow myself, though we were alone the greater part of the way."
Jane Austen records in one of her letters, "We were all to the play last night, to see Miss O'Neill in Isabella. I took two pocket handkerchiefs, but had little occasion for either. She is an elegant creature, however."
