diff options
Diffstat (limited to '43935-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 43935-0.txt | 4724 |
1 files changed, 4724 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/43935-0.txt b/43935-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b0f5eab --- /dev/null +++ b/43935-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4724 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43935 *** + + [Illustration: WILLIAM E. BURTON.] + + + WILLIAM E. BURTON + ACTOR, AUTHOR, AND MANAGER + + A SKETCH OF HIS CAREER + WITH + RECOLLECTIONS OF HIS PERFORMANCES + + BY + WILLIAM L. KEESE + + + _ILLUSTRATED_ + + + NEW YORK & LONDON + G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS + The Knickerbocker Press + 1885 + + + COPYRIGHT BY + G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS + 1885 + + + Press of + G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS + New York + + + + TO + THE DAUGHTERS OF WILLIAM E. BURTON + THE AUTHOR'S FRIENDS OF MANY YEARS, THIS MEMORIAL OF + THEIR DISTINGUISHED FATHER IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED + + + + + + PREFACE. + + +The present volume was prompted by the thought that no adequate account +of the late William E. Burton had been given to the public. During his +life no man was better known, and his death called forth a universal +expression of admiration for his genius and regret for his loss. In the +many obituary notices by the press some brief details of his career were +given; but the narrative was necessarily confined to the narrow limits +of a newspaper article. An actor so eminent--one of the greatest in his +line the stage has known,--whose name is identified with certain +delineations of character that died with him; whose renown stamped his +theatre with a celebrity distinct and remarkable; a Shakespearian +scholar, whose devotion to the poet, attested by the incomparable +library he amassed, was only equalled by his interpretation of the +master's spirit, surely is entitled to a more painstaking and a more +extended record. An endeavor is here made to supply such need; and in +the view taken of Burton as Actor, Author, and Manager, the relation is +from birth to death. + +In the preparation of this volume, the author owns his indebtedness to +Ireland's "Records of the New York Stage," Wood's "Personal +Recollections," Wemyss's "Theatrical Biography," Hutton's "Plays and +Players," Phelps's "Players of a Century," Clapp's "Record of the Boston +Stage," and Stone's "Theatrical Reminiscences." The writer also +gratefully acknowledges the assistance given him by members of Mr. +Burton's family, and their loan to him of old play-bills, engravings, +letters, etc. Mr. Matteson, of New York, may also be mentioned in +acknowledgment of friendly aid. + +The illustrations accompanying the memoir will be viewed with interest. +The frontispiece is from a daguerreotype, and has been chosen as a +faithful likeness of the comedian. The _Bob Acres_ is from a painting by +T. Sully, Jr.; the _Dr. Ollapod_ from a portrait by Henry Inman; the +_Captain Cuttle_ and _Aminadab Sleek_ from daguerreotypes; the _Timothy +Toodles_ from a photograph. All the above were family possessions. The +picture of the Chambers Street Theatre is from a water-color drawing in +the collection of Thomas J. McKee, Esq. + +Many shortcomings will doubtless be found in this book, and readers of +it who are old play-goers may think of many things the author has +missed. But we are told by Ruskin that there is "no purpose so great but +that slight actions may help it," and by Wordsworth that + +"Small service is true service while it lasts." + +DECEMBER, 1884. W. L. K. + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + WILLIAM E. BURTON _Frontispiece_ + + MR. BURTON AS BOB ACRES 10 + + MR. BURTON AS DR. OLLAPOD 24 + + PALMO'S OPERA-HOUSE, AFTERWARDS + BURTON'S THEATRE 34 + + MR. BURTON AS CAPTAIN CUTTLE 56 + + MR. BURTON AS TIMOTHY TOODLES 94 + + MR. BURTON AS AMINADAB SLEEK 154 + + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + WILLIAM E. BURTON, 1804-1834 3 + + WILLIAM E. BURTON, 1834-1848 8 + + BURTON IN NEW YORK, 1848-1856 33 + + BURTON IN NEW YORK, 1856-1860 100 + + LIST OF CHARACTERS 111 + + RECOLLECTIONS 121 + MR. BURTON IN FARCE 128 + MR. BURTON IN PARTS HE MADE + SPECIALLY FAMOUS 141 + MR. BURTON IN COMEDY AND + SHAKESPEARE 158 + + MR. BURTON'S LIBRARY 179 + + CONCLUSION 207 + + INDEX 213 + + + + + WILLIAM E. BURTON. + + 1804-1860. + + + "_He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it was his great + right to be so._"--SHAKESPEARE. + + + + + WILLIAM E. BURTON. + + 1804-1834. + + +WILLIAM EVANS BURTON, the son of William George Burton, an author of +some repute, was born in London, September 24, 1804, and died in New +York, February 10, 1860. His father was a printer, with a bent of mind +toward theology, and gave expression to his views in a work entitled +"Biblical Researches," published in the close of the last century. The +son was classically educated in St. Paul's School in London, an +institution where, before his day, Elliston and the elder Mathews were +instructed; and the father's design was to prepare him for the ministry. +The parent's death, however, summoned him from his studies, and, at the +age of eighteen, he assumed the direction of the printing-office, which +he managed for the maintenance of his mother. It may be observed that +one of the specialties of the elder Burton's business was the printing +of classical works, and the son's knowledge had often been of service in +the matter of proof-reading. From the printing-office he was led to the +experiment of editing a monthly magazine, thus early revealing an +inclination toward the profession of letters which never wholly deserted +him; fostered by sundry efforts of authorship in his native land, and +appearing subsequently, in this country, in his conduct of "The +Gentleman's Magazine" and "Literary Souvenir," and in the compilation +known as "Burton's Cyclopædia of Wit and Humor." + +The youthful experiment was not a substantial success, and did not long +continue; but his editorship brought him into connection with certain +members of the dramatic profession, and he was persuaded (we wonder if +persuasion were really needed!) to make a trial of his stage ability by +playing with a company of amateurs. His success in this venture +foreshadowed his destiny, and we find him in 1825 performing with a +provincial company on the Norwich, Sussex, and Kent circuits. + +We cannot help the indulgence, at this moment, of a playful fancy +regarding Burton's early efforts. Did he, in the exemplification of +tragedy, which he then aspired to, reveal by a single facial example the +dawning of a future _Toodle?_ Could imagination discover in the dagger +of _Macbeth_ the hook, and in the Thane himself the features, of _Ed'ard +Cuttle, Mariner of England?_ Did the thoughtful countenance of _Hamlet_ +suggest in any possible way the lugubriousness of an incipient _Sleek?_ +Did he make his Majesty George IV. laugh at Windsor, where, as tradition +has it, he played before the king at this stage of his career? We know +not; but the mask of Melpomene had been thrown aside when, after another +round of the provinces, with varying success, but gaining celebrity +through an unusually wide range of parts, he made his first appearance +in London in 1831, as _Wormwood_, in "The Lottery Ticket," a character +that became famous in his hands. This engagement was at the Pavilion +Theatre, and was a highly successful one. The great Liston, just twice +Burton's age, was then at the Haymarket, and we can imagine with what +emulous admiration the young comedian regarded the veteran actor. He +little dreamed that many of Liston's renowned characters would descend +to him by right of ability and comic power! In the following year (1832) +Liston retired from the Haymarket, "through a pique," as they say, and +Burton succeeded him; but the audiences retained too vivid a +recollection of Liston's performances, and the engagement was only +moderately successful. Recovering suddenly from his disaffection, Liston +returned to the Haymarket, and Burton in his turn retired, to once more +make the rounds of the provinces. But he bore with him one remembrance +in connection with the Haymarket that consoled him for many a +disappointment; and that was the thought of having played _Marall_ to +Edmund Kean's _Sir Giles Overreach_. The story runs that Mrs. +Glover,[1] a leading actress of the company, objected for some reason to +the _Marall_, and declared that she or Burton should be omitted in the +cast. Kean, despite irregularities, still retained a remnant of his old +sway, and he insisted on being supported by Burton. The result was that +Mrs. Glover was compelled to yield, and in due course _Marall_ appeared +before a full house, containing many celebrities of the day. It was at +this time, too, that a production of his pen--the play of "Ellen +Wareham,"[2]--enjoyed the unusual distinction of being performed at five +London theatres on the same evening. A year and a half went by in +efforts to enhance his reputation, and it may be said that his career +was not free from the vicissitudes that frequently attend dramatic +itineracy. But through it all he gained ground and advanced steadily in +his profession. He played almost every thing; his industry was +indefatigable, his will indomitable. The lamp of experience never waned; +and that knowledge gained from contact with the world and human nature, +was a preparation for events and emergencies in another scene and +another land. For now his thoughts were turned toward the United States, +and in 1834 he determined to cross the ocean, and to take the chance of +fortune and of fame. + + + [1] Dr. Doran, in his "Annals of the Stage," referring to Kean in + various parts, says: "Among these, _Sir Giles_ stands pre-eminent for + its perfectness, from the first words, 'Still cloistered up,' to the + last convulsive breath drawn by him in that famous _one_ scene of the + fifth act, in which, through his terrible intensity, he once made so + experienced an actress as Mrs. Glover faint away,--not at all out of + flattery, but from emotion." + + [2] First produced, May, 1833. + + + 1834-1848. + +Burton landed on our shores unheralded, to begin the twenty-five years +of the artistic career which holds so conspicuous a place in the annals +of dramatic achievement. He was not "brought over," and he came at his +own expense. He came, indeed, with the prestige of having written "Ellen +Wareham," and of having made a comic character[3] famous by fifty +consecutive representations; but he was simply announced as coming "from +the Pavilion Theatre, London," and he made his first appearance in +America at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, under the management +of Maywood & Co., on September 3, 1824, playing _Dr. Ollapod_, in +Colman's "Poor Gentleman," and _Wormwood_, in "The Lottery Ticket." +_Ollapod_ always remained one of Burton's most effective parts. The +portrait, on another page, of the comedian in that character is from an +engraving by J. Sartain of a picture painted from life by Henry Inman, +in 1840. + + [3] _Wormwood_, in "The Lottery Ticket." + +There lies before us a bill (elsewhere reproduced) of the above theatre, +dated Wednesday, September 10, 1834, being the fourth night of Burton's +first engagement in this country. The plays on the occasion were +Sheridan's comedy of "The Rivals" and the farce of "The Lottery +Ticket,"--which last seems to have met with great favor, as the bill +states it to be a repetition, owing to "numerous enquiries having been +made at the box-office"; thus beginning the train of similar "numerous +enquiries" with which, in the years to come, his own box-office became +familiar. Burton was the _Bob Acres_ of the comedy and _Wormwood_ in the +farce. Then at the age of thirty, we can believe that the comedian's +unfolding genius gave full promise of the delightful humor which clothed +his _Acres_ at a later day; and that in the _Wormwood_ of the farce he +afforded glimpses of that wealth of comic power which thereafter, and +for so long, he lavished for the amusement of the public. Miss Pelham +was the _Lydia Languish_ and Miss Elphinstone the _Julia_, English +actresses of no special distinction; but it is interesting to note that +Miss Elphinstone became the second wife of Sheridan Knowles, the author +of a celebrated and far more popular _Julia_ than the lady of "The +Rivals," and who appeared on the Philadelphia stage of that year. + +Something akin to his reception by the audiences at the Haymarket in +London, was for a time Burton's experience in Philadelphia. + + [Illustration: MR. BURTON AS BOB ACRES.] + +As the recollection of Liston by the London audience dwarfed the efforts +of the youthful aspirant, so the memory of Joseph Jefferson, senior, +(who played in the city as late as 1830,[4]) diluted the interest felt +in the new actor by the Philadelphia benches.[5] But the native force +and humorous capability of the comedian were destined to conquer +indifference; and, although the creative genius which informed his +subsequent delineations was yet to be made clearly manifest, he soon had +a secure footing; and a belief was strengthening in the public mind that +an actor of rare endowments and promise had come from the land of +Munden, Elliston, and Liston, and one who might, it was not too much to +say, worthily perpetuate the traditions of Jefferson. + + [4] He died in 1832. + + [5] So the memory of Burton in New York to-day may still be a warning + ofthe danger of inviting comparison. + +On the fifth night of his engagement (September 12, 1834) he played +_Timothy Quaint_, in "The Soldier's Daughter," and _Tristam Sappy_, in +the afterpiece of "Deaf as a Post," and so on through a round of +characters in comedy and farce--_Daffodil Twod_, among the latter, in +"The Ladies' Man"--written by himself--was a great favorite. And it may +here be said, in passing, that the farce, which previous to Burton's +advent had sunk into lethargy, revived under his touch and became a +vital point of attraction. He made a great hit as _Guy Goodluck_, in +"John Jones," in which part he sang a comic song--"A Chapter of +Accidents"--and the fact leads us to remark that very few of those who +saw the comedian in his ripe prime were aware of the musical talent he +exhibited in earlier years, and that he made a specialty of introducing +humorous ballads in his pieces, and sang them with marked effect. A +collection of such songs, entitled "Burton's Comic Songster," was +published in Philadelphia in 1850; and we were surprised, on looking it +over, at the quantity of mirthful verse he had written and sung. The +well-known ditty of "The Cork Leg," it may be mentioned, was written +expressly for him. + + [Illustration: Arch Street Theatre Poster] + +The engagement of Burton with Maywood & Co. lasted two years, and was +renewed for two more, during which period the comedian's powers greatly +developed, and displayed remarkable versatility and dramatic resource. +He widely extended his repertory, and was seen at the Arch and Chestnut +Street theatres in a variety of comedy rôles and in innumerable farces. +Among the many noted parts performed by him at various times we may +name: _Ollapod_, in "The Poor Gentleman"; _Doctor Pangloss_, in "The +Heir at Law"; _Farmer Ashfield_, in "Speed the Plough"; _Goldfinch_, in +"The Road to Ruin"; _Billy Lackaday_, in "Sweethearts and Wives"; _Tony +Lumpkin_, in "She Stoops to Conquer"; _Maw-worm_, in "The Hypocrite"; +_Sir Peter Teazle_ and _Sir Oliver Surface_, in "The School for +Scandal"; _Mr. Dove_ and _Mr. Coddle_, in "Married Life"; _Dogberry_ and +_Verges_, in "Much Ado About Nothing"; _Launcelot Gobbo_, in "The +Merchant of Venice"; _Bob Acres_, in "The Rivals";--the last-named +character he played on one occasion with the conjunction of the elder +Wallack as _Capt. Absolute_, Tyrone Power as _Sir Lucius O'Trigger_, and +Mr. Abbot (an actor celebrated in his day) as _Falkland_; truly a +striking distribution. A few of the farces out of the many were "The +Lottery Ticket," "Sketches in India," "The Mummy" (so famous in Chambers +Street), "No Song No Supper," "John Jones," "Deaf as a Post," "The +Ladies' Man," and a piece called "Cupid," which had won renown in +England through the acting of the famous John Reeve. + +Burton's growing popularity was substantially shown in the attendance at +his regular benefits. They were always bumpers, and occasions of warm +demonstrations of regard. He was always ready, too, with his sympathy +and support where the claims of a professional brother were in question. +William B. Wood, in his "Personal Recollections of the Stage," to which +work we are indebted for much useful information, refers to an +occurrence of the kind as follows: "I must apologize for the mention +here of a circumstance purely personal, which proved one of the most +gratifying events of my life. During the month of December, 1835, while +acting in Chestnut Street, Burton called me aside between the acts, and +with an expression of great pleasure, informed me that a meeting for the +purpose of giving me a grand benefit had just adjourned, after +completing the necessary arrangements. This was the first hint I ever +had of this intention. The object was at once carried into effect, and +on the 11th of January, 1836, I was honored by the presence of one of +the most brilliant audiences ever assembled.... The following +entertainment was offered: 'Three and Deuce,' two acts of 'Venice +Preserved,' 'John of Paris,' 'Antony's Orations,' and a new song, and +'How to die for Love.' I was favored in these pieces with the valuable +aid of Mr. Balls, Mr. J. Wallack, Mr. Abbot, Mrs. and Miss Watson, Mr. +Wemyss, and Mr. Burton." + +In the years while the comedian was advancing in his profession, and +acquiring that knowledge of the stage which distinguished his +subsequent management, his pen was not idle. He wrote several farces, +and contributed stories and sketches to the periodicals of the day. +These articles were widely read, and a collection of them was published +by Peterson at a later date, with the title, "Waggeries and Vagaries"--a +volume that has afforded entertainment to many readers of light +literature. The literary taste referred to at the beginning of this +narrative now sought indulgence, and in 1837 he started "The Gentleman's +Magazine," a monthly publication of original miscellany. Articles of his +own appeared in it from time to time, among others a graceful and +appreciative sketch of his friend, James Wallack. He continued the +editorship until July, 1839, when he associated Edgar A. Poe with him in +the control. + +To those who have paid any attention to the career of the gifted author +of "The Raven," as depicted by various pens in recent years, it need +scarcely be said that, though a man of genius, he was not without +frailties; and his warmest defenders will not deny that his life was +marred by many irregularities of conduct. He was appointed editor of the +magazine at a fixed salary, and the arrangement was such as to give him +leisure to contribute to other periodicals and to produce many of his +famous tales. "Happier now," says one of his biographers,[6] "than he +had been for years past, for his prospects seemed assured, his work +regular, interesting, and appreciated, his fame increasing, he writes to +one friend that he 'has quite overcome the dangerous besetment,' and to +another that he is 'a model of temperance and other virtues.'" For +nearly a year he remained with Burton; "but," continues the same +biographer, "so liable was he still to sudden relapses that the actor +was never with confidence able to leave the city. Returning on one +occasion after the regular day of publication, he found the number +unfinished, and his editor incapable of duty. He left remonstrances to +the morrow, prepared the 'copy' himself, and issued the magazine, and +then to his astonishment received a letter from his assistant, the tone +of which may be inferred from Burton's answer: 'I am sorry you have +thought it necessary to send me such a letter. Your troubles have given +a morbid tone to your feelings which it is your duty to discourage. I +myself have been as severely handled by the world as you can possibly +have been, but my sufferings have not tinged my mind with melancholy, +nor jaundiced my views of society. You must rouse your energies, and if +care assail you, conquer it. I will gladly overlook the past. I hope you +will as easily fulfil your pledges for the future. We shall agree very +well, though I cannot permit the magazine to be made a vehicle for that +sort of severity which you think is so "successful with the mob." I am +truly much less anxious about making a monthly "sensation" than I am +upon the point of fairness. You must, my dear sir, get rid of your +avowed ill-feelings toward your brother authors. You see I speak +plainly; I cannot do otherwise upon such a subject. You say the people +love havoc. I think they love justice.... But I wander from my +design. I accept your proposition to re-commence your interrupted +avocations upon the _Maga_. Let us meet as if we had not exchanged +letters. Use more exercise, write when feelings prompt, and be assured +of my friendship. You will soon regain a healthy activity of mind, and +laugh at your past vagaries,'" We think nothing can be clearer than that +Burton had good cause for fault-finding, and that he was more than +considerate and just in his frank expression of feeling. + + [6] Henry Curwen, "Sorrow and Song." London, 1875. + +We do not intend to pursue the ill-starred connection further. A more +glaring offence on Poe's part severed the relationship, and not long +thereafter the magazine was sold out to Graham and merged in his +"Casket," the consolidation ultimately to become "Graham's Magazine." + +"The Literary Souvenir," an annual published by Carey & Hart, was +edited by Burton in 1838 and 1840, and its pages contained many of his +entertaining sketches. He also contributed to the "Knickerbocker +Magazine" a series of theatrical papers styled "The Actor's Alloquy." +Occasional starring tours belong to the chronicle of these years, and +there lies before us a bill of the American Theatre, Walnut Street, +dated October 14, 1839, announcing "First night of the re-engagement of +Mr. Burton," and also that "His Excellency Martin Van Buren, President +of the United States, will honor the theatre with his presence." The +President must have been greatly amused, for not only did he see the +comedian as _Tom Tape_ and _Peeping Tom_, but he also saw him "dance +with Mrs. Hunt the Minuet de la Cour and Gavotte de Vestris." Burton was +fairly well known now throughout the Union--except in the town of +Napoleon, on the Mississippi River, where, if we may believe Mr. +Davidge, he found his Waterloo. The engagement had not been profitable, +and his only hope was by personally drumming for his benefit. So he +deposited a goodly number of tickets with the bartender at the hotel +where he was staying, with a polite request that he would use his best +endeavor to get rid of them. The benefit came off, and the attendance +was very flattering. After the play the comedian invited several friends +up to the bar, and there had the satisfaction of learning that the man +had managed to dispose of all the tickets entrusted to him. This was +very gratifying; but no offer of settlement being made, he ventured to +suggest that, as he was on the point of quitting the town, he would like +to have the pleasure of receiving the insignificant amount of +seventy-five cents for each piece of pasteboard deposited. Mr. Davidge +says it takes a great deal to astonish a barkeeper in Napoleon; but this +one was distanced. He surveyed Burton for a quarter of a minute, and +seeing not a muscle move in the comedian's expressive countenance, he +said: "Look here, Mr. Billy Burton, none of your infernal Northern +tricks here; it won't do, no way! You told me to get rid of them +tickets, and as I had promised I was bound to go straight through with +it--_and by thunder, I was obliged to stand drinks to every man to take +one!_" An audience may be uncultured if not lukewarm; and the +unimpressible community of Napoleon reminds us that the "Antigone" of +Sophocles was once produced under Burton's management, and, on loud and +repeated calls for the _author_, the comedian presented himself before +the foot-lights and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, it would give me the +greatest pleasure to introduce the author of the play; but, +unfortunately, he has been dead for more than twenty centuries, and I +shall have to throw myself upon your indulgence." + +Burton made his first appearance in New York October 31, 1837, at the +old National Theatre in Leonard Street--then under the management of the +elder Wallack--for the benefit of Samuel Woodworth, the poet, playing +_Guy Goodluck_, in "John Jones"; and his first appearance as a star was +made at the same theatre February 4, 1839, when he played _Billy +Lackaday_, in "Sweethearts and Wives," and _Guy Goodluck_. A +complimentary benefit was given to Mr. Wallack in the same year, when +Burton played _Sir Simon Slack_, in "Spring and Autumn." The opera of +"Amilie; or, The Love Test" was produced on the same occasion. If we +mistake not, he was connected with the management when the theatre was +destroyed by fire not long after. He also appeared at Niblo's Garden as +a star in this year, opening June 25th, and was seen in a round of +parts, including _Gregory Thimblewell_, _Euclid Facile_, _Ignatius +Polyglott_, and _Tobias Munns_, in his own farce of "Forty Winks." He +first appeared on the Park stage June 2, 1840, playing _Sir Timothy +Stilton_, in "Patrician and Parvenu," the occasion being a complimentary +benefit to Peter Richings; and in the same month acted at Niblo's +Garden. At his benefit (July 6th) he played _Brown_, in "Kill and Cure," +and _Fluid_ in "The Water Party." The participation of the Cushman +sisters in this entertainment greatly enhanced its interest and +attractiveness. In this year he fitted up Cooke's circus-building in +Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, calling it the National Theatre. He +gathered a fine company and was very prosperous. Charlotte and Susan +Cushman appeared there, and the sterling comedians Henry and Thomas +Placide were among the force. The fairy piece, "The Naiad Queen," was +there presented for the first time in the United States, and brought +wealth to the manager's coffers. A large amount of his earnings by this +enterprise he invested in Nick Biddle's United States Bank, and in the +downfall of that institution suffered severely. + + [Illustration: MR. BURTON AS DR. OLLAPOD.] + +In 1841, after a brief engagement at the Providence theatre, he returned +to New York, and leased the rebuilt theatre corner of Leonard and Church +streets, where his first appearance in New York had been made; brought +on his Philadelphia company, and there established himself. This was +April 13, 1841, and his first essay as manager in New York. He +transported all the beautiful scenery of "The Naiad Queen," and +reproduced the piece with gratifying success. But a dread fatality +seemed to attend this temple of the drama. As, while under Wallack's +management, it was destroyed by fire, so the same doom befell it under +Burton. In the height of prosperity the building was again consumed, and +with it the elaborate and splendid scenery of "The Naiad Queen." Of this +calamity, F. C. Wemyss, in his "Theatrical Biography," remarks: "On this +occasion a magnificent and extensive wardrobe, the property of Mr. +Burton, was consumed, together with his private wardrobe, manuscripts, +books, and other articles of considerable value. He was not insured to +the amount of a dollar. The citizens of New York expressed their +sympathy with the manager; and a complimentary benefit at the Park +placed a handsome sum at his disposal." Undaunted by a disaster which +would have utterly discouraged most men, Burton again sought +Philadelphia, and after starring for a brief season leased the Chestnut +Street Theatre for a fresh essay. There for a while he continued with +good fortune, until better prospects invited him to Arch Street, where +at last he located with a view to permanency. Meeting now with rich +success, he determined to extend his sphere of operation, and added in +turn to his lesseeship the Front Street Theatre, Baltimore, and the +theatre in Washington; so that in 1845-6 he was guiding the destinies of +three dramatic houses, distinguished for well-chosen companies and for +the admirable manner in which the plays were mounted and cast. But again +the fiat of destiny was written in words of flame. The Washington +theatre, for the first time in many years, was handsomely rewarding its +manager, when one night, during the performance, the scenery caught +fire, and the building was burnt to the ground. The Baltimore theatre +was continued; but the lion's share of attention was given to Arch +Street, and there for several years Burton enjoyed a flow of +prosperity; his fame increasing in public estimation; surprising and +delighting all by his wonderful acting, and by the knowledge, taste, and +liberality, with which he catered for his patrons. But New York was in +the manager's thoughts and seemed to beckon him Northward. Perhaps +Burton's prophetic gaze discerned in the great city a field that would +respond to careful tillage, and that the rapid growth of the metropolis +could not fail to give momentum to enterprise. Whatever the motive +spring, the step was taken, and in 1848 the building known as Palmo's +Opera-House became Burton's Theatre. + +In this brief survey of fourteen years, the absence of detail in many +instances will be pardoned, we hope, on a reflection of what it may +suggest. We are aware of the interest attaching to strength of +companies, citations of casts, and notes of special performance; and in +all theatrical histories such details should evoke the most careful +consideration. The Philadelphia record, however, is not always full and +clear on those points, as respects individual careers, even in one so +active and fruitful as our subject's; for, so far as we know, there is +no history of the stage of that city which pretends to do for its +dramatic life what Ireland has done for the New York stage--regarding +which monument of painstaking fidelity, William Winter, in the preface +to his recent admirable volume on "The Jeffersons," truly says: "Every +writer who touches upon the history of the drama in America must +acknowledge his obligation for guidance and aid to the thorough, +faithful and suggestive records made by the veteran historian, Joseph N. +Ireland. "Yet, in depicting the career of a great actor, many things are +rendered subordinate which in a history of the drama of any given period +would receive due prominence. That the career of Burton in Philadelphia +from 1834 to 1848 embraced much of its stage history during those years, +will, of course, be understood; and we shall be sorry if our readers, at +the same time, fail to discern the industry, sagacity, courage, and +varied powers--with which the actor, author, and manager, illustrated +those years--suggested by this recital. + +We now approach a period within the memory of many persons now living. +Some few octogenarians may survive who can recall Burton's performances +of over forty years ago; but they must be few indeed; and their +recollections cannot be otherwise than dim and uncertain. But the +achievements of Burton in Chambers Street; the unexampled popularity of +his theatre; the unequalled company he gathered there; the indisputable +creations of character that there originated; the birth of a revival of +Shakespeare, with a felicity of conception that revealed the +appreciative student, and with a beauty and minuteness of appointment +unprecedented at the time;--all this, through a decade of years, forms +an enchanting reminiscence vivid still in the retrospect of numberless +New Yorkers. It is not surprising that we of the city of New York forget +that the comedian so long belonged to Philadelphia. So brilliant was +his success in Chambers Street that all other theatres where he +flourished seem to be viewed by the reflected light of that; and we +think there will be no question that there were clustered his rarest +triumphs and there blossomed the flower of his fame. + + + + + BURTON'S THEATRE, + CHAMBERS STREET. + + _"There is the playhouse now, there must you sit."_ + --SHAKESPEARE. + + + + BURTON IN NEW YORK. + 1848-1856. + + +Palmo's Opera-House was built in 1842, and, according to Wemyss' +Chronology, was the sixteenth theatre erected in New York. It was built +by Ferdinand Palmo, and designed for the presentation of Italian opera. +To Palmo, it is said, belongs the honor of having first introduced that +department of music in the city. In 1844 he opened with "Lucia di +Lammermoor"; but the support given to his venture was not generous, +notwithstanding the fact that wealth and fashion still resided in +Warren, Murray, and Beekman streets. The time apparently was not ripe; +the experiment ended in financial ruin to Palmo, and the unfortunate man +never wholly recovered from the blow. The house passed into divers +hands, and was the scene of a variety of entertainments for two or +three years afterward. The writer remembers distinctly going there of an +afternoon, when a boy, to a circus entertainment. The place was at a low +ebb in point of popularity and attraction when the comedian fixed upon +it as his future professional home. He rearranged, fitted it up, and +adorned it, and called it BURTON'S THEATRE. + + [Illustration: Palmo's Opera-House, afterward Burton's Theatre. + (After a water-color drawing in the collection of Thomas J. + McKee, Esq.)] + +It had no doubt long been a dream of the manager to attain as nearly as +possible to perfection in the organization and direction of a +first-class theatre. His varied experience in Philadelphia and elsewhere +constantly suggested an administration composed of members equally +valuable in their respective lines, and forming an harmonious whole +under an efficient executive, as the best system of government for the +growth and development of dramatic art; and perhaps during his reign in +Chambers Street he came as near the realization of that dream as is +permitted to human aspiration. In confirmation of the foregoing, we +quote a passage from William B. Wood's Recollections, where, writing +in 1854 of the evils of the star system, he says: "Let me here remark, +that I am happy to see of late times--I mean within the last few +years--that the pernicious system of which I speak, by carrying itself +fairly out, and by so breaking up all sound stock companies, has finally +destroyed itself.... To that intelligent manager, Mr. Burton, the +first credit is due. He has been striving for a number of years in New +York, as he had been doing here in Philadelphia, to bring his theatre to +a proper system, based on the principles of common sense and experience. +With talents of his own equalled by few stars, he has preferred to +ascertain whether the public could not be better attracted by a good +stock company of combined talent, and every New Yorker knows with what +excellent effect he has labored. His success, I am happy to learn, has +amply confirmed his reputation for dramatic judgment." + +We may supplement this by a paragraph taken from Laurence Hutton's +entertaining volume of "Plays and Players." Describing in glowing terms +the production of Buckstone's comedy of "Leap Year," at Burton's, March +1, 1850, Mr. Hutton says: "That our readers may fully comprehend the +subject and period of which we write, it will be well to remind them, +perhaps, that the art of acting had arrived at such a point in Burton's +Theatre, that, to play a comedy well, was not enough. Every thing was so +well done, so perfect in every respect, mere excellence was so much a +matter of course, was so positive, on the Chambers Street boards, that +there was but little room for the comparative, and the superlative +itself was necessary to create a sensation." + +The Chambers Street Theatre opened July 10, 1848, with "Maidens, +Beware"; "Raising the Wind," and "The Irish Dragoon." These were +succeeded by "New York in Slices," "Dan Keyser de Bassoon," and "Lucy +Did Sham Amour." The work was slow at first, but the disappearance of +money was rapid. We have seen, however, that there was no limit to +Burton's energy and perseverance. He played in New York, Philadelphia, +and Baltimore, week after week; managed, in conjunction with John +Brougham, an engagement with Mr. W. C. Macready at Ford's Theatre, +Boston, October, 1848; was announced, on Macready's departure, to appear +himself; but the intention was unfulfilled, and so it chanced that he +never acted there until the last years of his life. He played for the +benefit of the widow and family of Edmund Simpson, at the Park Theatre, +December 7, 1848, in referring to which event Mr. Ireland says: "We +insert the entire bill to show the forgetfulness of self evinced by the +volunteers, and their willingness to assume any character to insure the +best result, there being no less than five gentlemen in the cast who had +played, and might justly have laid claim to the principal character of +the play." The play was "The School for Scandal," cast principally as +follows: + + SIR PETER TEAZLE Mr. HENRY PLACIDE. + SIR OLIVER SURFACE " WM. E. BURTON. + JOSEPH SURFACE " THOMAS BARRY. + CHARLES SURFACE " GEORGE BARRETT. + CRABTREE " W. R. BLAKE. + SIR BENJAMIN BACKBITE " PETER RICHINGS. + CARELESS " C. M. WALCOT. + SIR HARRY " H. HUNT. + MOSES " JOHN POVEY. + TRIP " DAWSON. + LADY TEAZLE Mrs. SHAW. + LADY SNEERWELL " JOHN GILBERT. + MRS. CANDOUR " WINSTANLEY. + MARIA Miss MARY TAYLOR. + +This deed of charity was followed by others for the same object on the +part of New York managers, and among them Burton contributed a night at +his own theatre, on the 5th of March ensuing, in which the full strength +of his company appeared. + +The burning of the Park Theatre in 1848 left Burton without a rival. The +Olympic was of the past; Forrest thundered at the Broadway; Wallack's +and Daly's were yet to be. It was not long before the public discovered +the genius that presided in Chambers Street, and recognized the unusual +excellence which characterized the performances. The location was +favorable for Brooklyn people, and from first to last the theatre +enjoyed a monopoly of their patronage. "For several years," says +Ireland, "Burton's Theatre was the resort of the most intelligent class +of pleasure-seekers, and there beauty, wit, and fashion, loved to +congregate, without the formality or etiquette of attire once deemed +necessary at the Park." Its fame was really phenomenal. Leaping +metropolitan bounds, it spread to distant states and neighborhoods, and +became, one might almost say, a familiar and welcome contribution to the +social and intellectual communion of the time. For a stranger to come to +New York in those days and omit to visit Burton's, would imply an +obtuseness so forlorn, or an indifference so stolid, that in the one +case he would be an object of compassion, and in the other a grave +offender of public sentiment. But in all probability he looked forward +during his journey city-ward to his evening in those halls of Momus; and +we may be certain that the + + "Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, + Nods, and becks, and wreathèd smiles" + +of that night lived in his memory for many a long day. + +It is not too much to say that this attraction was almost wholly due to +the extraordinary powers of Burton himself. True, his company embraced +the finest artists in their several lines of any stage in the country; +and it was well known to all lovers of refined drama that the Chambers +Street Theatre was the home of English comedy, and that any given play +could be there produced with a cast entirely adequate, and with a +perfection of detail ensuring to the auditor an artistic delight and a +representation of the highest class. But there are many who, while +appreciating the delineation of manners and character, seek amusement +pure and simple, and who believe that good digestion waits on hearty +laughter. To this large constituency Burton was the objective point, for +his humor and comic power were a perennial fountain of mirth. His +appearance, either discovered when the curtain rose, or entering from +the wing, was the signal for a ripple of merriment all over the house. +Every countenance brightened, the dullest face glowed with gleeful +expectancy. No actor, we believe--unless possibly Liston,--ever excelled +Burton in humorous facial expression. Tom Hood, in referring to certain +pastimes of a London evening, says in his felicitous rhyme: + + "Or in the small Olympic pit sit, split, + Laughing at Liston, while you quiz his phiz." + +Read the couplet thus: + + "Or in the _Chambers Street_ snug pit sit, split, + Laughing at _Burton_, while you quiz his phiz," + +and we have the nightly situation. It was a common circumstance for the +theatre to receive accessions toward the close of the performance, the +new-comers standing in line along the walls, drawn thither by the potent +magnet of the manager in the farce. Thus it was that, though the theatre +furnished constantly a rich feast of comedy, and was more widely known +than any other, still more celebrated was the great actor whose name it +bore; and it was the magic of that name that drew the people, and it was +he whom the people went to see. It seemed to make little difference what +the bills announced; Burton would play,--and that was enough. + +It was the privilege of the writer of these pages to have free access to +the Chambers Street Theatre, and to know personally its manager, and his +recollections are such as to induce him to believe that in no better way +can he perform his task of completing Mr. Burton's career than by +employing his own knowledge and recording the impressions he received. +In so doing, the opportunity afforded for special reference to members +of his company will be improved; and perhaps our retrospection may +arouse in other breasts a remembrance of past delight. + +Alluding to the comedian's first appearance in New York, October 31, +1837, Joseph N. Ireland, so often quoted, remarks: "The advent of Mr. +W. E. Burton, the most renowned comedian of recent days, demands more +than a passing notice. For nearly twenty years no other actor +monopolized so much of the public applause, and popular sentiment +universally assigned him a position in broad low comedy entirely +unrivalled on the American stage." It was a little over three years +between his arrival in America and his New York débût; about eleven +between that appearance and his lesseeship in Chambers Street; and +eleven more remain to be taken note of. Of these, eight belong to +Chambers Street, two to the uptown theatre, and one to starring +engagements in various cities--the last being in Hamilton, Canada, and +abruptly terminated by the malady of which he died. + + * * * * * + +The company at Chambers Street now demands our attention; and the wish +to suitably recognize the talents, and to chronicle, however simply, the +triumphs of that famous array, has constrained us to widen the scope of +our original design, and to extend somewhat our notices of certain +individual actors. We shall in nowise regret this; for in recalling past +delight it is a pleasure to dwell on those who caused it; and we may, +perchance, awaken thereby a happy thought of them in other hearts. The +departed years are full of memories, and the turning of a leaf may lay +bare a volume of reminiscence. It forms no part of our purpose, however, +to follow individual careers, and to trace their course on other boards +than those of the Chambers Street Theatre. Many of them, indeed, after +Burton removed uptown, and after his death, continued their successes +and won renown in other scenes and under other management; and our +readers may feel that but scant justice is done many meritorious names +familiar to the present generation, in confining mention of them to a +period when their talents and capabilities had not ripened to that +excellence which afterward gave them fame. But we are concerned with +them only as they figured as members of Burton's company, and as such +contributed richly to our fund of memory. They stand in the dramatic +Pantheon with their great chief; and in approaching that central and +dominant figure we pause to bend delighted gaze upon the admirable group +surrounding it. + +From 1848 to 1856 the following names were numbered on the muster-roll: +Henry Placide, Blake, Brougham, Lester, T. B. Johnston, Bland, Jordan, +Barrett, Dyott, Fisher, Thompson, Holland, C. W. Clarke, Norton, +Parsloe, Jr., Holman, Charles Mathews, Setchell, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. +Russell (now Mrs. Hoey), Mrs. Skerrett, Mrs. Rea, Miss Raymond, Mrs. +Hough, Mrs. Buckland, Miss Weston, Miss Devlin, Miss Malvina, Miss Agnes +Robertson, Fanny Wallack, Mary Taylor, Miss Chapman. This is by no means +intended as a complete enumeration--"but 't is enough, 't will serve." +Many names have been forgotten, and some remembered but omitted. It may +be of interest to note at this point the fortunes that awaited at least +five of the actresses above named--viz.: Mrs. Russell, Miss Weston, +Miss Devlin, Miss Malvina, Miss Agnes Robertson. + +Mrs. Russell, while at Burton's in 1849, and a great favorite, was +married to John Hoey of express fame, and shortly thereafter retired +from the stage, the manager doing the honors at her farewell, and +presenting her on the occasion with a valuable testimonial of his +regard. Long afterward Mrs. Hoey was induced by the elder Wallack to +forsake her retirement, and for many years was the leading lady at his +theatre, her refined manners, correct taste, and exquisite toilets, +exciting anew public esteem and admiration. She quitted the stage and +returned to private life in 1865. + +Miss Lizzie Weston, whose beauty, dramatic aptitude, and versatility, +won nightly plaudits, and whose performance was not without much that +was highly meritorious, signalized a career more or less checkered by +uniting her fortunes with those of the late Charles Mathews, during his +starring tour in 1858, and is now the widow of that famous actor. + +Miss Malvina, a sister of Mrs. Barney Williams, was a _danseuse_ at +Burton's,--for it was the fashion in the old days to beguile the lazy +time between the pieces with a Terpsichorean interlude; and we remember +but one instance of her appearance in any other character, and that was +a minor part in the farce of "A School for Tigers." She became Mrs. Wm. +J. Florence in 1853, and has since shared her husband's fortunes and +honors. Miss Agnes Robertson made her débût in New York at the Chambers +Street Theatre, October 22, 1853, as _Milly_ in "The Young Actress," and +has since been well known as the wife of Dion Boucicault. + +A more illustrious alliance--so soon to end in piteous sorrow--was the +portion of Mary Devlin. She was a minor actress at Burton's, but a woman +of rare and lovely character. So much so, that she won the heart of +Edwin Booth, and became his wife, and the idol of his home, till death +early called her from his side. It was in memory of this sweet and +gentle lady, that the poet Thomas William Parsons penned the following +exquisite stanzas: + + "What shall we do now, Mary being dead, + Or say, or write, that shall express the half? + What can we do but pillow that fair head + And let the spring-time write her epitaph? + + "As it will soon in snow-drop, violet, + Wind-flower, and columbine, and maiden's tear,-- + Each letter of that pretty alphabet + That spells in flowers the pageant of the year. + + "She was a maiden for a man to love, + She was a woman for a husband's life, + One that had learned to value far above + The name of Love the sacred name of Wife. + + "Her little life-dream, rounded so with sleep, + Had all there is of life--except gray hairs: + Hope, love, trust, passion, and devotion deep, + And that mysterious tie a Mother bears. + + "She hath fulfilled her promise and hath past: + Set her down gently at the iron door! + Eyes! look on that loved image for the last: + Now cover it in earth--her earth no more!" + +Let us now summon, as first in order, the name that heads the list of +the actors above given. Henry Placide enjoyed in public estimation +a fame worthy and well deserved. He was an actor of the old school, +and his conceptions were the fruit of appreciative and careful +study; his acting was a lucid and harmonious interpretation of his +author; and his elocution, clear and resonant, was the speech of a +scholar and a gentleman. The artistic sense was never forgotten in his +delineations, and his name on the bills was a guaranty of intellectual +pleasure. He was not broadly funny like Burton, or Holland; but those +who remember his _Sir Harcourt Courtley_, his _Jean Jacques François +Antoine Hypolite de Frisac_, in "Paris and London," and his _Clown_, +in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," will not deny that he was the owner +of a rich vein of eccentric humor, and that he worked his possession +effectually. He was an expert in the Gallic parts where the speech is a +struggle between French and English, and, indeed, since his departure +they, too, have vanished from the stage. But those who saw him as +_Haversac_, in "The Old Guard"; as _The Tutor_, in "To Parents and +Guardians"; or as _Monsieur Dufard_, in "The First Night," will bear +witness to his inimitable manner, and to his facile blending of the +grave and gay. We shall never forget how, in the last-named character +(_Mons. Dufard_), having engaged his daughter for a "first appearance," +and having declared his own ability to manage the drum in the orchestra +on the occasion, he, suddenly, during the mimic rehearsal, at an +allusion in the text to sunrise, stamped violently on the stage; and to +the startled manager's exclamation of "What's that!" serenely replied: +"Zat ees ze cannon vich announce ze brek of day--I play him on ze +big drum in ze night." In choleric old men Placide was unsurpassed. +All the touches that go toward the creation of a grim, irascible, +thwarted, bluff old gentleman, he commanded at will. His _Colonel +Hardy_, in "Paul Pry," for instance, what an example was that! I hear +him, now, at the close of the comedy, when things had drifted to a +happy anchorage--hear him saying in reply to the soothing remark: "Why, +Colonel, you've every thing your own way,"--"Yes, I know I have every +thing my own way; but ---- it, I hav'n't _my own way_ of having it!" +His repertory covered a wide range; and we retain vivid recollections +of his _Sir Peter Teazle_, his _Doctor Ollapod_, and his _Silky_; the +last in "The Road to Ruin," in which comedy, by the way, we remember +seeing Placide, Blake, Burton, Lester, Bland, and Mrs. Hughes; truly a +phenomenal cast. + +Such, briefly sketched, was the actor who constituted one of Burton's +strongest pillars. For some years he played at no other theatre in New +York. He gave enjoyment to thousands, and in dramatic annals his name +and achievements have distinguished and honorable record. As one of the +many who remain to own their debt of pleasure and instruction, the +present writer pays this tribute to the genius and memory of Henry +Placide.[7] + +[7] "When Edwin Forrest was in Europe on a visit, he was asked whom he +deemed the best American actor; he promptly and unequivocally replied: +'Henry Placide is unquestionably the best general actor on the American +boards, and I doubt whether his equal can be found in England.'"--HENRY +DICKINSON STONE'S "Theatrical Reminiscences." + +We now summon another name from the famous corps, for the purpose of +analysis, since we should be ill content with the cold respect of a +passing glance at an artist so celebrated as was William Rufus Blake. We +can recall no actor of the past, and we know of but one in the present, +comparable with Blake in certain lines of old men--certainly in the rôle +of tender pathos like _Old Dornton_, and in the portrayal of a sweetly +noble nature framed in venerable simplicity, as in _Jesse Rural_, he had +no equal; and it is simply truth to say that with him departed from the +stage that unique, all-affecting, wondrous embodiment of _Geoffrey +Dale_, in "The Last Man." + +The characteristics of Blake's power were a broad heartiness, suggestive +sentiment, and eloquent idealization. These traits informed respectively +the parts he essayed, and gave to each in turn rare flow of spirit, +richness of color, and poetic fervor. For the verbal expression of these +salient elements, he possessed a tuneful voice, which rose or fell as +the sway of feeling dictated, and his delivery was singularly felicitous +in tone and emphasis. Nor was he lacking in a humor at once subtle and +delicate, happily evinced in his acting of _Mr. Primrose_, in the +comedietta of "Bachelors' Torments." + +Those who saw Blake at the period of which we are writing, found it hard +to believe that the _Sir Anthony Absolute_ of aldermanic proportions +before them was once a slender young man and played light comedy! Yet so +it was. Very old play-goers will recollect the Chatham Garden theatre, +and perhaps some tenacious memory bears record of having seen Blake +there in the long ago; for there he first appeared to a New York +audience, in 1824, playing _Frederick_, in Colman's "Poor Gentleman." We +never saw him earlier than at Burton's, and then with added years had +come a rotundity of person which, however unobjectionable in the famous +impersonations of his prime, was not, it must be confessed, the ideal +physique of light comedy; so his _Frederick_ had long departed and his +_Sir Robert Bramble_ had appeared. + +The first time we saw Blake was in "The Road to Ruin," and the +impression he made has never been effaced. We were young, it is true, +and sentimental, and easily moved; but our heart tells us that the +effect would be the same could we see the actor in the play to-morrow. +We have read since of the extraordinary sensation produced by the great +Munden in the part of _Old Dornton_; but we have an abiding faith that +the acting of the famous Englishman would have been no revelation to +Blake; and we cannot, indeed, conceive of any added touch that would not +have impaired, rather than heightened, the latter's superb delineation. +But Blake's portrayal of the outraged, doting, fond, tender father, is, +like his _Jesse Rural_, so fresh in the memory of living persons, that +we feel it to be needless to descant upon its beauties. Few will forget +the years of his last and long engagement at Wallack's--a fitting crown +for a great artistic career. Blake played many parts and rarely touched +but to adorn. Even his _Malvolio_, had it not been for the advent of +Charles Fisher (who was born in yellow stockings and cross-gartered), +would have passed into history as a carefully conceived and highly +finished performance. Whenever we see Mr. John Gilbert we are reminded +of Blake. There is a grace of action, a courtliness of manner, +inseparable from Gilbert, which lends to all his efforts an elevating +charm, a feature Blake did not possess in like degree. But the two +actors belonged to the same school; their traditions will be much akin; +and neither loses in being spoken of in the same breath, and with the +same accent of admiration. + +Following Placide and Blake is the name of an actor better remembered +than either, and whose death is of comparatively recent date. We refer +to John Brougham, who for thirty years and more was one of New York's +prime favorites, and his name is associated with many of the drama's +brightest and worthiest triumphs. His inexhaustible flow of spirits, in +his best days, pervaded all his acting, and invested the most +unattractive part with an alluring charm, as many a prosaic spot in +nature becomes enchanted land by the music of falling waters. Add to +this exuberant vitality a rich endowment of mother wit; a bright +intelligence; keen sympathy and appreciation, and rare personal +magnetism, and you have before you "glorious John," whose hearty voice +it was always a pleasure to hear, and whose face, beaming with humor, +was always welcomed with delight. + + [Illustration: MR. BURTON AS CAPTAIN CUTTLE.] + +Brougham was Burton's stage manager in 1848, and his dramatization of +"Dombey and Son" was first produced in that year. The representation of +this play established the Chambers Street Theatre, drew attention to the +talents of the stock company, and put money into Burton's purse. If +theatres, like other things, succeed either by hook or crook, as the +saying is, surely it was by hook that the manager won fame and fortune, +for the digit of _Captain Cuttle_ held sway like a wizard's wand. The +temptation to dwell here on this renowned Burtonian impersonation is +hard to resist; but we must be patient and bide our time. + +Brougham played _Bunsby_ and _Bagstock_, investing the oracular +utterances of the tar, and the roughness and toughness and "devilish" +slyness of the _Major_, with a humor and spirit all his own. We laugh +outright as we think of that scene where _Cuttle_ is being rapidly +reduced to agony and despair by _Mrs. MacStinger_, and is rescued +therefrom by _Bunsby_, who, with a hoarse "Avast, my lass; avast!" +advances solemnly on the redoubtable female, and with a soothing gravity +ejects the entire _MacStinger_ family, following in the rear +himself--_Cuttle_ meanwhile gazing in speechless astonishment at the +unexpected succor, until the door is closed; and then, drawing an +immense breath, and turning toward the audience his inimitable face, +exclaims in a tone of profound respect and admiration: "There's wisdom!" + +It was a great treat to see Burton and Brougham together. The two actors +were so ready, so full of wit, so alive to each other's points and +by-play, that any fanciful interpolation of the text, or humorous +impromptu, by the one, was instantly responded to by the other; and the +house was often thrown into convulsions of merriment by these purely +unpremeditated sallies. This was notably the case in the afterpiece of +"An Unwarrantable Intrusion"--committed by Mr. Brougham upon Mr. +Burton--when in the tag the comedians suddenly assumed their own +persons, and, addressing each other by their proper names, engaged in a +droll colloquy respecting the dilemma of having nothing to say to +conclude the piece; and each suggesting in turn something that ought to +or might be said to an audience under such peculiar and distressing +circumstances,--the audience meanwhile in a state of hilarious +excitement, drinking in every sparkling jest and repartee, and wishing +the flow of humor would last forever. + +And here we are reminded of an incident not down in the bills, which +furnished an audience with an unlooked-for and affecting episode. It +occurred during the performance of Colman's comedy of "John Bull," +produced for the benefit of a favorite actor; Burton playing _Job +Thornberry_, and Brougham, who had volunteered for the occasion, +appearing in his capital rôle of _Dennis Brulgruddery_. Brougham was no +longer with Burton--an estrangement existed between them of which the +public was aware--and the conjunction of the two actors naturally +awakened a lively interest. It chances in the comedy that _Mary +Thornberry_ finds a refuge in her distress at the "Red Cow," and is +greatly befriended by _Dennis_. Her father, discovering her there, and +grateful for the service rendered, exclaims: "You have behaved like an +emperor to her. Give me your hand, landlord!" Now, in the play, the +reply of _Dennis_ is: "Behaved!--(_refusing his hand_)--Arrah, now, get +away with your blarney,"--but Brougham paused for a moment before +Burton's outstretched hand, and then, as if yielding to an impulse, +stretched forth his, and the two actors stood with clasped hands amidst +an outburst of applause that fairly shook the building. Of course they +were "called out" at the close, and Brougham, in the course of a +felicitous little speech, remarked--alluding, perhaps, to the success of +his Lyceum not being all he could wish--that he had "lately run off the +track"; to which Burton, in his turn, responded by saying: "Mr. Brougham +says he has 'run off the track.' Well, he _has_ run off the track; but +he hasn't burst his boiler yet!" At this speech the enthusiasm of the +audience knew no bounds; and indeed, with the exception of Mary Taylor's +farewell benefit, we can recall no theatrical occasion where more +genuine feeling was manifested. + +But to return to "Dombey and Son." Mrs. Brougham was the original +_Susan Nipper_, and played the part acceptably; but all previous +_Nippers_ suffered eclipse when Caroline Chapman appeared at a later +date, giving us a _Susan_ that seemed to have sprung full-_Nippered_ +from the head of Boz himself. Her inimitable acting and ring of +delivery were like a new light turned on the scene. Her flow of +spirit and alert movement, her independent air and saucy glance, her +not-to-be-put-down-under-any-circumstances manner,--all was freshness +and sparkle, and her presence was as welcome to the audience as a +summer shower to drooping wayside flowers. Miss Chapman was a great +acquisition to Burton's, and her bright individuality shone in all her +assumptions. Her line was the stage soubrette, a specialty which she +lifted entirely out of the commonplace and informed it with force and +distinction. It is a pleasure to place on record the memory of happy +hours that we owe to the performances of Caroline Chapman. + +The original _Toots_ was Oliver B. Raymond, whom we never saw. T. B. +Johnston was his successor, and as that admirable comedian never did any +thing unacceptably, his _Toots_ was a memorable effort; and had _Uriah +Heep_ not followed we should have been satisfied with his _Toots_; but +when "Copperfield" was produced and Johnston appeared as _Heep_, it +seemed as if he was born for that and nothing else. Now that we think of +it, it seems to us, as we recall Johnston, that nature had peculiarly +fitted him for the delineation of many of Dickens's characters. +Something in his spare figure, his grotesqueness of demeanor, his +whimsical aspect, his odd manner of speech, continually suggested a +flavor of Boz; and whether as _Toots_, or _Heep_, or _Newman Noggs_, he +seemed to have glided into his element, and was _en rapport_ with the +great novelist. + +We must not forget, in writing of "Dombey and Son," to note how much its +attraction was enhanced by the assumption, in 1849, of the part of +_Edith_ by Mrs. Josephine Russell (the present Mrs. Hoey). Laurence +Hutton, referring to the event in his volume of "Plays and Players," +says: "Up to the time of her assumption of the rôle, _Edith_, in +Brougham's version of the story, was comparatively a secondary part, and +one to which but little attention had been paid either by performer or +audience. Mrs. Russell, however, by her refined and elegant manner, +brought _Edith_ and herself into favor and prominence. She made of +_Edith_ more than Brougham himself ever imagined could be made; and +_Edith_ made her a reputation and a success on the New York stage, +which, until her honorable and much-to-be-regretted retirement, she ever +sustained.[8] + +[8] The first appearance of Mrs. Russell (whose maiden name was Shaw) +in Chambers Street was made September 3, 1849. + +We have dwelt thus on "Dombey and Son," because, in the first place, it +gained for the Chambers Street Theatre an enduring public regard, and +was no doubt the incentive to the after-production of dramatizations of +Dickens, which gave us Burton in _Micawber_, _Squeers_, _Mr. Bumble_, +and _Sam Weller_; and because in so celebrating it we pay a deserved +tribute to Brougham, from whose fertile brain and ready pen it came. We +may say, in this connection, that not only as actor, but as playwright +also, Brougham achieved fame and honor. Many of his comedies are well +known to the stage, and are included in the published drama; and as a +writer of burlesque we question whether any thing better or funnier than +his "Po-ca-hon-tas or the Gentle Savage" has ever been composed. Of one +thing we are certain: an incarnate pun-fiend presided over its creation. +This extravaganza, first acted at Wallack's Lyceum, took the town by +storm, and its bons-mots, local hits, and trenchant witticisms, were on +the lips of everybody. In structure, idea, and treatment of theme, it +was ludicrous to a degree. Who does not remember Brougham and the late +Charles Walcot in their respective parts of _Powhattan_ and _Captain +Smith_? + +It goes without saying that Brougham's Hibernian delineations were +perfect and to the manner born. Many an Irish farce we recall, during +his stay at Burton's, to which he gave a new lease of life; and we +congratulate ourselves that our memory holds record of having once seen +him as _Sir Lucius O'Trigger_, the only cast in our experience wherein +Sheridan's creation found a fitting representative. + +We now pause before an actor of illustrious lineage; of a name honored +in dramatic annals by encomiums bestowed only upon abilities of the +highest order; an actor who, conscious of his inheritance of genius, +worthily perpetuates the traditions of his house; and who is now, +despite the flight of time, the most engaging and accomplished comedian +known to the American stage. Our readers will need no further +introduction to Lester Wallack, the "Mr. Lester" of Burton's, where +first we saw him so many years ago. We recall the evening when we sat in +the cosy parquette, awaiting with eager interest the rising of the +curtain on Charles Dance's comic drama of "Delicate Ground," in which +Mr. Lester would make his "first appearance since his return from +England" (so the bill ran), in the character of _Citizen Sangfroid_. We +say eager interest, for we had heard much of Mr. Lester: that he was +graceful, handsome, _distingué_,--in fact, splendid generally; and our +expectancy was akin to that of the watching astronomer-- + + "When a new planet swims into his ken." + +At last the tinkle of the bell; the curtain rose, and enter Miss Mary +Taylor, the universal favorite, as _Pauline_. Her soliloquy closes with +the cue for _Sangfroid's_ entrance, and at the words, "Hush! my +husband!" a pause succeeded--and then from "door left" was protruded an +elegantly booted foot, and a moment later Lester stood before us, bowing +with characteristic ease and grace to the demonstrations of welcome. We +confess to an unconditional surrender on that occasion. The actual fact +was far beyond any expectation or hope. We thought we had never seen any +one quite so splendid; and _Sangfroid_ was forthwith invested with the +best and noblest elements that combine to elevate mankind. We endeavored +for many days afterward to conform our daily life to the general +teachings of _Sangfroid_; we imitated the gait and manner, the calm +aplomb of _Sangfroid_; the accent of _Sangfroid_ was impressed on all +our ordinary forms of speech; our conversation on whatever topic was +plentifully sprinkled with _Sangfroidisms_; in short, the whole tenor +of our existence was shaped and directed by _Sangfroid_ in the person of +Mr. Lester. We recovered in due course from our abject submission to the +spell of _Sangfroid_; but Lester continued to stretch forth the "sceptre +of fascination," and to his matchless grace and finish we owe many a +delightful recollection. + +Then in early manhood,[9] the unrestrained alertness and vivacity of +youth were his in bounteous measure. He was in the _Percy Ardent_ and +_Young Rapid_ period, and had not yet entered the corridor of years at +the far end of which lurked the _blasé_ figure of "My Awful Dad." We +remember him in so many parts which in all likelihood he never will play +again! There was _Rover_, in "Wild Oats," that buskined hero, with his +captivating nonchalance dashed with tragic fire; his tender conversion +of _Lady Amaranth_--played, be it said, with all proper demureness by +Miss Lizzie Weston; his triumph over _Ephraim Smooth_--one of Blake's +instances of versatility--in a scene rich with the spirit of frolic +abandon; and his humorous tilt with _Sir George Thunder_--a belligerent +sea-dog, played by Burton as he alone could play it--an episode replete +with comic power;--all these contributed to a performance which we +revelled in many and many a night; and the memory of it, now as we +write, draws near in a succession of vivid pictures. There was +_Tangent_, in "The Way to Get Married," a capital part in Lester's +hands, blending manly action and debonair grace with that easy +transition to airy farcical expression, a favorite and effective +dramatic habit of this actor, and given full play in that memorable +prison scene in the comedy, when, a victim to adverse circumstances, and +actually fettered, he makes felicitous use of his handkerchief to hide +his mortification and his chains from the eyes of the heroine during her +visit of sympathy. _Percy Ardent_, in "The West End," was another of +his characteristic assumptions in those days; so also were _Young +Rapid_, in "A Cure for the Heartache," and the _Hon. Tom Shuffleton_, in +"John Bull"; and, indeed, Burton's frequent revivals of the old comedies +would have been a difficult matter without Lester; for in every one of +them a light comedy part is distinctly drawn, and unquestionably the +rarest among all dramatic artists is the first-class light comedian. + + [9] Lester Wallack's first appearance in New York was made at the + Broadway Theatre, Sept. 27, 1847, as _Sir Charles Coldstream_ in "Used + Up." + +Let any one who thinks otherwise endeavor to recall the names of those +who have been or are famous in that special line, and he will be +surprised to find how few he can enumerate. One might suppose that all +young actors would naturally incline toward light comedy, and be +ambitious in that direction, since in that sphere are found the charm of +youth, the expression of lofty sentiment, the impulse to chivalrous +action, the opportunity for the display of graceful and manly +bearing,--not to mention the lover, whom, as Emerson declares, all the +world loves; and why then, one may ask, should there not be always a +plentiful crop of ripening light comedians? Alas, it is not enough to be +young, good-looking, intelligent, and of virtuous impulse, or even a +lover. Something more is needed, and we conceive it to be that gift of +nature, which study and practice develop into seeming perfect art, but +which neither study nor practice can create; the gift, let us say, of +perceiving instinctively the salient points of a character, and going +beyond the author in felicitous and suggestive expression of them. It is +easier, we think, to compass tragedy; easier to simulate age; easier to +be funny; than to be at once airy and gay, delicately humorous, and +engagingly manly. There are fewer light comedians born,--that is the +whole story; and where we find one actor like Lester Wallack, we meet +with plenty of every other specialty. This was made strikingly evident +by Burton's experiments in supplying Lester's place, when the latter +joined his father in the establishment of Wallack's Lyceum. Charles +Fisher was imported, and he for a season essayed to succeed Lester; but + + "The expectancy and rose of the fair state" + +he was not, and it was not long before the fiddle of _Triplet_ and the +yellow stockings of _Malvolio_ emancipated him from the bondage of light +comedy, revealed his true powers, and made us grateful to Burton for +introducing to New York one of the best eccentric comedians of the day. +Dyott, Norton, and even Holman, were severally thrown into the breach, +such was the strait in which the manager found himself; and it was not +until he secured George Jordan that equilibrium was restored to the +company. + +But to return. The versatility of Lester, so conspicuous throughout his +career, was early made apparent. We remember him as _Steerforth_, as +_Sir Andrew Aguecheek_, and _Captain Murphy Maguire_; and though in the +last he acted under the shadow of Brougham's rich impersonation, still +he was a delightful _Captain_. We saw him as the young lover, in "Paul +Pry"; as _Frederick_, in "The Poor Gentleman," and many more; besides +those parts, such as _Young Marlow_, _Charles Surface_, and _Captain +Absolute_, which need no reference, since they remain ripe and finished +conceptions in his present repertory. But of all his delineations of the +past, that which we linger on with the greatest pleasure, and which +affected us most, was his _Harry Dornton_, in "The Road to Ruin." From +the moment he appears beneath his father's window, importunate for +admittance, he awakens an interest and sympathy that follow him to the +end. The part abounds in touches of Lesterian hue and flavor: the scene +just mentioned; that wherein _Milford_ makes careless and heartless +allusion to _Old Dornton_, and is met by _Harry's_ eloquent and electric +rebuke; the scene with the _Widow Warren_, and with _Sophia_;--all are +charming; and we feel it to be no small tribute to hold in memory +Lester's _Harry_ side by side with the _Old Dornton_ of Blake. + +We have spoken of T. B. Johnston, and referred to famous parts of his, +particularly to the conception and execution of certain characters in +Dickens which undeniably he made his own; but we remember this actor in +other and sundry enjoyable delineations, of which brief mention may be +made. The odd aspect of Johnston, joined to his whimsical method, so in +keeping, as before remarked, with the creations of Boz, peculiarly +fitted him for the apt portrayal of those idiosyncrasies of nature and +temperament shadowed forth by characters in many of the old farces, in +which he often appeared, those pieces being quite the fashion in the +days of which we are writing. We may instance _Panels_, in "A School for +Tigers," as one of these; his part in "A Blighted Being" (the name quite +forgotten), was another; _Humphrey Dobbins_, in "The Poor Gentleman" +(that not a farce, however), was a capital portraiture, and an amusing +foil to Burton's _Sir Robert Bramble_; his _Miss Swithers_, in "A +Thousand Milliners," where he almost divided the honors with Burton as +_Madam Vandepants_;--these are a few of the many that come floating +back on the tide of recollection. + +Bland was a useful member of Burton's company, though we think his stay +was brief, and he contributes less to memory, as it chances, than many +others. We never regarded him as a great actor, though we have read of +his being thought the best _Jacques_ of his day, and very fine as _Sir +Thomas Clifford_. We never saw him in either, and have no recollection +of "The Hunchback" being produced at the Chambers Street Theatre. In +"The Honeymoon" Burton himself was the _Jacques_. We remember Bland very +well as _Sulky_, in "The Road to Ruin," and as _Ham_, in "David +Copperfield," and both efforts were creditable and contributed to the +general success--his share in the exciting and touching scenes between +_Old Dornton_ and himself, as _Sulky_, being admirably done. + +We are surprised that we remember so little interesting to record of +Jordan. Succeeding Lester, and deemed by many the peer of that +comedian, one might naturally suppose that his achievements would figure +largely in these reminiscences; but we can recall very few +impersonations of which we retain a vivid impression. We cannot concur +with that estimate of his powers which ranked him with Lester, yet we +cordially admit that he came nearer than any actor we know of. He was +very handsome, had a fine stage presence, and was agreeable in all that +he did. We recall his spirited performance of _Rover_; his _Kitely_, in +Ben Jonson's "Every Man in His Humor"; his _Ferdinand_, in "The +Tempest"; his _Lysander_, in "Midsummer Night's Dream"; and his _Captain +Hawksley_, in "Still Waters Run Deep," was superb and unequalled. It was +always a pleasure to see Jordan, and we owe to his acting many an hour +of enjoyment. + +George Barrett--or, "Gentleman George," as he was quite as well +known--was one of Burton's company for a short period, and with his name +are associated many pleasant memories. Among them we may mention with +delight his performance of _Sir Andrew Aguecheek_, a companion picture +to Fisher's _Malvolio_. His long body and attenuated "make up," his +piping voice, his fantastic manner, and absurd assumption of +acumen,--all contributed to an embodiment artistic and entertaining in +the highest degree. He also played _Flute_, the Bellows-Mender, in the +revival of "Midsummer Night's Dream"; and it seems but yesterday, so +vivid is the remembrance, that we saw him stalking about the stage, in +the guise of Ben Jonson's bombastic hero, _Captain Bobadil_. + +Old play-goers, if they remember nothing else of John Dyott, will +recollect his admirable reading--his distinct utterance--his fine +emphasis,--qualities specially noticeable in his Shakespearian +assumptions and in characters of a didactic cast; and which made +acceptable many a part he undertook, half redeeming it from deficiencies +consequent upon natural unfitness. It was such a pleasure to listen to +his delivery of the text, that you overlooked or pardoned inadequacy of +treatment in other respects. Necessarily his impersonations were of very +unequal merit. Certain phases of the character assumed might be justly +conceived and well executed; others manifestly lacking in the expression +of what was naturally suggested, or sufficiently obvious. We might cite +instances of this--_Claude Melnotte_ or _Alfred Evelyn_, for example; +but we prefer to think of him in his most agreeable aspects, which were +not conspicuous in light comedy, though that rôle, under the stress of +exigency, often fell to his lot. + +We pleasantly recall him as _Lieut. Worthington_, in "The Poor +Gentleman"; as _Peregrine_, in "John Bull"; as _Penruddoch_, in "The +Wheel of Fortune"; as _Duke Orsino_, in "Twelfth Night"; as _Master +Ford_, in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"; and others that might be +mentioned. He was a useful member of the Chambers Street company, acted +always with intelligence and spirit, and, though leaving no great name, +deserves remembrance as a finished reader and conscientious artist. + +Charles Fisher, well known to the present generation of play-goers as a +sterling comedian, came to Burton's after Lester's withdrawal, and, as +previously remarked, succeeded that actor as the exponent of light +comedy. We saw him in several characters of that order; but it must be +confessed that his efforts, however praiseworthy, were not such as to +induce a condition of complacency on the part of the management, with +regard to his capacity in that direction. But the whirligig of time, as +Shakespeare tells us, brings on its revenges; and in due course Mr. +Fisher had his, and a truly artistic one it was. + +It came about on the second revival of "Twelfth Night," and was achieved +in the part of _Malvolio_. In referring to Blake's assumption of this +character, we observed, in passing, that Fisher was born in yellow +stockings and cross-gartered--meaning to express the natural affinity +for Shakespeare's creation existing in the actor; and we believe there +will be no question among those who remember the impersonation, as to +the subtlety of conception, the felicity of portrayal, and fidelity to +detail, that so eminently distinguished it. From first to last it was a +masterpiece. His manner when he interrupts the orgies of _Sir Toby_, the +_Clown_, and _Aguecheek_, and during their maudlin mockery, was full of +rare suggestiveness; the great scene in the garden, where he falls into +the trap set by _Maria_, was one of the finest pieces of acting known to +our stage. The audience were as intent during its progress as if their +own lives and fortunes hung upon that enigmatic letter. When it comes +home to him at last that he indeed is the favored of _Olivia_, and he +gives full rein to his fancy respecting his future exaltation--how he +must bear himself, the lofty air he will assume, the consideration he +will extort,--he was inimitable. Already he is clothed in yellow +stockings and cross-gartered; and he smiles, as he struts, the smile +that his deceiver declares so becomes him. In the ensuing scene before +_Olivia_, where the stockings and smiles play so important a part, he +was equally fine; and if Fisher had played nothing else, his _Malvolio_ +would remain an interpretation of the highest class, and a glory of +dramatic art. The press, with one accord, united in its praise; and Mr. +Richard Grant White, whose ability to judge of Shakespearian +delineations was well known, confessed, in the columns of the _Courier +and Inquirer_ that he did not know where Mr. Fisher learned to play +_Malvolio_ so well. To say that we enjoyed what we have here endeavored +to recall, is to say but little. It is one of our most valued +memories--and we could not help thinking, when the lovely _Viola_ of the +late Miss Neilson was captivating all hearts, what a revelation it would +have been to her admiring audience had Fisher presented his picture of +_Malvolio_. + +In Burton's revival of the "Midsummer Night's Dream," Fisher was cast as +_Duke Theseus_; and in thinking of the part, that glorious passage +descriptive of the _Duke's_ hounds rings in our ears, as spoken with +glowing enthusiasm by the actor: + + "My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, + So flew'd, so sanded; and their heads are hung + With ears that sweep away the morning dew; + Crook-kneed, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls; + Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells, + Each under each. A cry more tunable + Was never holloa'd to, nor cheered with horn, + In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly: + Judge when you hear." + +In "The Tempest" also, as _Prospero_, Mr. Fisher appeared to advantage, +and swayed the destinies of the Enchanted Isle with dignity and effect. +_Triplet_, in "Masks and Faces," was another performance of Fisher's +that we might linger over in pleasant memory of its humor and pathos; a +performance, too, by the way, which brought to public view a new +accomplishment of the actor; namely, his acquaintance with the +violin,--an advantage that lent unusual force and brilliancy to the +capital scene where _Woffington_, having played Lady Bountiful to the +forlorn family, completes her conquest by calling for the fiddle and +dancing "Cover the Buckle." And with the tune in our ears, and a vision +of Fisher's elbow in deft movement, we take leave of the actor who gave +us in the past so many happy hours. + +An artist of quite another sort was Lysander Steele Thompson. He was an +importation of Burton's; and his specialty was the Yorkshireman of the +stage, a line in which he stood alone and unapproachable. Actors there +have been who played the same parts, and with a sufficient mastery of +the dialect to pass muster; but, compared with Thompson's, their +assumptions were like artificial flowers in a painted vase beside a +clump of spring violets in the dew of morning. The semblance was there; +but the delicious fragrance of nature's breath it was not theirs to +give. The native freshness and out-of-door breezy spirit were Thompson's +own and born with him. His engagement was followed by the production of +all the known plays in which there was a _Zekiel Homespun_, or a _Robin +Roughhead_. We saw him in them all: _Bob Tyke_, in "The School of +Reform"; _Zekiel Homespun_, in "The Heir-at-Law"; _Stephen Harrowby_, in +"The Poor Gentleman,"--and until the advent of Thompson, the _Harrowby_ +family had been omitted in Burton's version of the comedy;--_Robin +Roughhead_, in "A Ploughman Turned Lord"; _John Browdie_, in "Nicholas +Nickleby"; and _Giles_, in "The Miller's Maid"; in which last, indeed, +he acted under an inspiration that almost laid claim to genius itself; +and we see him now, in that high-wrought scene, where, as the defender +of virtue and innocence, he towers in superb wrath above the villain +_Gamekeeper_, who would tear from her home the person of _Susan +Fellows_. + +It goes without saying that his dialect was perfect, and all the +humorous phases--the touches of bewilderment and arch simplicity, the +quaint retort, the rollicking drollery, the innocence blent with +audacity,--all these traits and characteristics were so many gifts of +expression summoned and employed at will. We have seen many tragedians +and artists in melodrama; many "old men" and light comedians; many +funny men and eccentric actors, but we have seen one Yorkshireman +only--Lysander Thompson. + +He was not without vanity, however, and possibly aspired to other +dramatic walks than his famous specialty, if we may judge from a little +episode in his career at Burton's, which really makes too good a story +to be lost. Burton had in view the production of "The Merry Wives," in +order to act _Falstaff_; and in the distribution Thompson was asked to +make choice of a part. The story runs that, after due reflection, Mr. +Thompson answered that on the whole he would prefer to play _Sir John_. +The manager regarded him for a moment with a glance of wonder, and then: +"I'm ---- if you do; one _Falstaff_ is enough; you must choose again, +Thompson." And he chose the _Host of the Garter Inn_, and made a +palpable hit. + +The late Charles Mathews played a short engagement at Burton's; and we +remember his capital acting in "Little Toddlekins" and as _Young +Rapid_; but we need not dwell upon an actor whose stay was so fleeting, +whose celebrity was so extended, and whose Memoirs have so recently been +given to the public. + +George Holland, also departed, was for a brief period at the Chambers +Street Theatre, and we recall our enjoyment of his broad fun and facial +extravagance. We always felt, however, that--as his line was somewhat +akin to Burton's--he underwent a perilous ordeal in appearing on the +same stage with the great actor whose genius was so overshadowing. + +Messrs. Norton,[10] Holman, and Parsloe, Jr., were useful members of +the stock company, limited in range and ability; and we mention them as +painstaking actors, who always did their best, and aided materially in +the general success of the theatre. The name of young Parsloe is +included on account of his performance of _Puck_, which, owing to +natural cleverness and acrobatic aptitude, he succeeded, under Burton's +training, in making exceedingly effective and full of goblin action. + +[10] An amusing experience may be related apropos of Mr. Norton. Not +liking a part in which he was cast, he addressed the following letter +to the manager: + + "MR. BURTON, My Dear Sir:--It was not necessity which drove me to + America. I wished to travel, to see the country, and, after having + satisfied myself as to whether it pleased me, professionally or + otherwise, to arrange either to remain in it or return to England. + I consider myself greatly insulted by being cast for the part of + Scaley in 'Nicholas Nickleby.' To offer such an indignity to a + gentleman who has held a good position in the Olympic Theatre, + London, under the management of so great an actor as Mr. W. Farren, + where he has played Sir John Melville, Sir Lucius O'Trigger, Sir + Arthur Lascelles, etc., I consider a great insult, and positively + request you to take me out of the objectionable cast, and in future + to keep to the promise you made on engaging + + "Yours, W. H. NORTON." + +Shortly he received the following reply: + + "MY DEAR MR. NORTON:--When I engaged you I thought you were merely + an actor. I find that you are a gentleman on your travels, and I + have to apologize for detaining you. If you proceed, let me advise + you to visit Niagara about this time. Take a tour through Canada. + After that take your way through the country generally, not + forgetting the caves of Kentucky, and in mid-winter return to + Niagara, a splendid sight. But should you feel inclined to defer + your travels, W. E. Burton will be happy to retain your services + until the close of the season." + +"What could I do or say?" said Norton, relating the incident. "I +literally roared with laughter. He had beaten me completely. We adjusted +the difference, and I remained with him for two seasons." + +And now let us fancy ourselves sitting, as of old, in the parquette, the +curtain having risen on "The Serious Family." _Sleek_ reads his appeal, +and we hear a voice saying: "Those words give comfort to every fainting +and world-worn spirit, good Mr. Aminadab Sleek"--and we know that _Lady +Sowerby Creamly_ has spoken, and that Mrs. Hughes is before us. Of this +estimable lady and admirable actress, much more might be said than +present space will allow. Almost as familiar a figure as the manager +himself, for years she enacted those characters which were peculiarly +her forte, and was identified with all the success and shared all the +fame of the renowned theatre. We can recall no instance of her having +disappointed an audience; and though, in the course of her long service, +she may have assumed uncongenial parts, yet so intelligent was she, so +thorough, so conscientious, that, in spite of unsuitableness, her +performance was always acceptable and meritorious. _Lady Duberly_, in +"The Heir-at-Law," _Mrs. Malaprop_, in "The Rivals," _Lucretia McTab_, +in "The Poor Gentleman," were her accustomed line, and well indeed she +played them. _Widow Warren_, in "The Road to Ruin," _Mrs. Skewton_, in +"Dombey and Son," _Betsy Trotwood_, in "David Copperfied," were kindred +felicitous portraitures; and no one can think of Burton as _Sleek_ and +_Toodle_ without instantly associating Mrs. Hughes as _Lady Creamly_ and +_Mrs. Toodle_. How many times did they play those parts together! In all +those lighter pieces and farces Burton made so popular and famous, she +was his ally and strong support; and no history of the drama of that +period can be written without conspicuous mention of her name; nor can +the professional career and triumphs of Burton be recounted without +suggestion and remembrance of Mrs. Hughes. Their professional relation +was perfectly harmonious, and she was with him to the last. She went +with him from Chambers Street to the New Theatre, and when that was +given up accompanied him on all his starring tours, acting with him when +he appeared for the last time in New York, and when he acted for the +last time in his life at Hamilton, Canada. In a speech Burton once +made, he thus referred to their theatrical relations: "I have been her +father, her son, her uncle, her first husband, her second husband, and +her third husband, her friend, and her disconsolate widower, and I have +liked her better and better in each relation!" + +Even as far back as 1826 Mrs. Hughes was a great favorite. H. B. Phelps, +in his valuable work known as "Players of a Century," gives a notice of +the press she received for a benefit night at that period, which he says +is worth preserving as a model: "Mrs. Hughes takes her benefit at the +theatre to-night. It would be an insult to the generous enthusiasm of +her numerous admirers, to say another word on the subject." + +As it cannot fail to be of interest to readers of this volume, we copy +from Mr. Phelps's book a reply to a letter addressed by him to the Hon. +Charles Hughes, State Senator, asking information respecting Mrs. +Hughes's subsequent history. + + "DEAR SIR:--Mrs. Esther Hughes, formerly Mrs. Young, was my mother. + She died upon her farm, three miles from this village (Sandy Hill, + N. Y.), on the 15th of April, 1867, at the age of seventy-five, + from the effects of an accident (falling down stairs, caused by + vertigo). She had left the stage before the war, her last + engagement being a travelling tour with W. E. Burton, in the South + and North. She was acting in Albany as Mrs. Young when the war of + 1812 was declared, and I have often heard her speak of Solomon + Southwick and of John O. Cole, who was a boy in Southwick's office. + Her many years of theatrical life speak for themselves." + +We have heretofore alluded to the Miss Agnes Robertson of long ago; and +now a memory steals in upon us of her débût at Burton's, and of her +enchanting performance in the protean play of "The Young Actress." Of +the half dozen parts assumed, the Scotch lassie and the Irish lad still +haunt us. The highland fling of the one and the "Widow Machree" of the +other were charming to see and hear; and, indeed, Miss Robertson was +charming altogether. + +We could give a long list of actors and actresses who from year to year +were enrolled in the Chambers Street company, and whose efforts are +pleasantly remembered. We do not mean to slight them; but we must hasten +toward our appointed goal. One actress, however, a recognized favorite +in New York long before her engagement with Burton, which terminated +with her farewell to the stage, deserves more than a passing notice, for +the pleasure she gave was as pure and healthful as it was winsome and +bright. We refer to Miss Mary Taylor--"Our Mary,"--better known and +esteemed than any actress of her day, except Charlotte Cushman, that we +can recall. + +We shall not dwell upon any part of her career, nor examine her dramatic +capabilities. She never appeared without eliciting the warmest of +welcomes; and when we try to think of the many characters we saw her in, +we find ourselves remembering only how sweet and good she was. We were +present at her farewell benefit, and during the speech Mr. Burton made +for her the emotion throughout the house, at the thought of parting, +was as sincere as it was deep. She stood, visibly affected, in the midst +of her companions, and when the curtain fell there was a sigh, as if the +audience had lost a friend. + +We have endeavored in the foregoing to indicate the strength of the +Chambers Street company, and we think the reader cannot fail to be +impressed by the exhibit. The fact of such dramatic portraiture being +easy, seems to us a striking proof of its supreme excellence. The +majority of them were they living now might be comedy stars. When we +have Jefferson, Raymond, Fawcett Rowe, Stuart Robson, and Florence, +starring about the country, playing their one part hundreds of nights, +what shall we think of Burton, Placide, Blake, Brougham, Lester, +Johnston, and the rest, appearing together nightly in characters of +varied but equal dramatic power? There has been a great change since +then. The name of the places of amusement now is legion, and one bright +star in the heaven of scenic splendor consoles the public for the loss +of a concentration of wit and genius. As we recall for a moment all that +bright array, we are taken back through the maze of distance, and old +familiar forms arise; we see the glimmer of accustomed footlights; the +scene is alive with well-known faces; we even hear voices that we know; +we join in the old-time plaudits--and forget how many years have rolled +between! There is no retrospection without its tinge of sadness. "Never +to return" is the refrain of human memory. How beautifully Holmes +expresses it in "The Last Leaf": + + "The mossy marbles rest + On the lips that he has pressed, + In their bloom; + And the names he loved to hear, + Have been carved for many a year + On the tomb." + +The years of the Chambers Street Theatre were fruitful in dramatic +events. We have already mentioned "Dombey and Son," in 1848; and that +signal triumph was followed by "David Copperfield," "Oliver Twist," +"Nicholas Nickleby," and "The Pickwickians." The immortal _Toodles_ was +first seen October 2, 1848, and an account of that performance will be +found in our Recollections. It became later the custom of the management +to present "The Serious Family" and "The Toodles" every Tuesday and +Friday in each week, so great was the popularity of those pieces. People +came from all parts of the country to see them; parents brought their +families and relatives; and one middle-aged couple, a husband and wife, +never failed, for successive seasons, to occupy the same seats at every +representation. All the old comedies were given in due course, with that +perfection of cast to which we have alluded, and those pieces made +famous by Burton's acting--such as "The Breach of Promise," "Charles +XII.," "Happiest Day of my Life," "Paul Pry," "Family Jars," "Soldier's +Daughter," "Charles II.," "How to Make Home Happy," etc., (and which now +seem for ever lost,)--were a constant source of joyous pleasure. The +wisdom and good judgment of the manager were conspicuous in the nightly +programmes, and it may here be said that no theatrical caterer ever +excelled Burton in an acute perception of what was needful to meet the +public taste, and in providing the requisite entertainment. To wide +experience he added intuitive appreciation of stage effect, and his +extensive knowledge of the drama was seen in the disciplining of his +forces and in his sagacious distributions. It must not be forgotten that +as manager as well as actor Burton shone in the prosperity and fame of +his theatre; and it will not be when now we touch on the Shakespearian +revivals that lent such beauty, grace, and dignity to his stage, and +revealed the manager in the gracious aspect of a profound and reverent +student of the mighty dramatist. These revivals were the crowning +triumphs of Burton's management. The production of "A Midsummer Night's +Dream," "Twelfth Night," "The Tempest," "Winter's Tale," "The Merry +Wives of Windsor," marked an era in theatrical representation, for up +to that time no attempt had been made so ambitious; and the success that +attended the enterprise was in all respects richly deserved. "A +Midsummer Night's Dream," in particular, won universal admiration. The +fairy portion was so beautiful; the play before the duke so capital; +that Shakespeare's creation acted upon the public like a revelation, and +heart and mind felt the glow of a new sensation. The notices of the +press were so unqualified in their praise of "A Midsummer Night's +Dream," that they were gathered and issued in a pamphlet as a tribute to +the achievement. The effect of the succeeding revivals was similar in +kind, and the people marvelled at the resources of a management that on +so limited a stage could produce such wonderful results. And with these +plays of Shakespeare came the impersonations of _Nick Bottom_, _Sir Toby +Belch_, _Caliban_, _Autolycus_, and _Falstaff_--never to be forgotten by +those who witnessed them, and of which a more extended review is given +in our Recollections. It only needed Shakespeare to round the glory of +Chambers Street; after that there were no more worlds to conquer. + + [Illustration: MR. BURTON AS TIMOTHY TOODLE.] + +Following the years, we find a record of "As You Like It," produced for +the benefit of the American Dramatic Fund at the Astor Place +Opera-House, January 8, 1850, in which Burton appeared as _Touchstone_, +with a cast including Hamblin, Bland, Jordan, Chippendale, Chapman, Miss +Cushman, Mrs. Abbott, Mrs. Walcott, and Mrs. J. Gilbert. In the same +year he played a short engagement at the Chatham Theatre, and also +essayed to revive the old Olympic; but the division of attraction was of +brief duration. His home was in Chambers Street, and there, to borrow +from Lord Tennyson, the banner of Burton blew. The usual even tenor of +the theatre was varied by new accessions to the company, and by first +appearances, and other interesting events. The present Miss Maggie +Mitchell appeared June 2, 1851, as _Julia_, in "The Soldier's Daughter"; +but we cannot say positively that the occasion was her stage débût. May +3, 1852, was the farewell benefit of Mary Taylor, to which reference has +already been made. September 6th of the same year was the date of the +"Centenary Festival of the Introduction of the Drama into America," at +Castle Garden, and we find Burton figuring in the elaborate and +attractive programme as _Launcelot Gobbo_, in "The Merchant of Venice." +Miss Agnes Robertson made her New York débût October 22, 1853, and +November 23d of the same year witnessed the production of "The Fox +Hunt," an original comedy by Dion Boucicault, in which Burton appeared +as _William Link_. In 1854, that long baronet, Sir William Don, entered +upon the scene, and in the same year (December 18th) a benefit to Morris +Barnett occurred, on which occasion "The Serious Family" was given with +all the honors. Mr. H. A. Perry made his débût in 1856, playing +_Gossamer_, in "Laugh When You Can," and that actor was also seen as +_Leontes_, in "Winter's Tale." + +Every summer for several years, during the recess at Chambers Street, +Burton played engagements at Niblo's with a selection from his company, +and was seen at that resort in a round of his favorite characters. This +was a great boon to strangers visiting the city, and to those whose +circumstances kept them in town. It was some consolation to be moved to +mirth, and there never was any disaffection in Burton's summer +constituency. But the theatrical tide was setting uptown, and the rapid +growth of the city counselled a removal to more available neighborhoods; +and so, following the current, the manager bid farewell to the scene of +so many triumphs, and leased the building originally known as Tripler +Hall, calling it the Metropolitan, or, as stated by Ireland, "Burton's +New Theatre," where he opened September 8, 1856, with "The Rivals." + +The Chambers Street Theatre was opened July 10, 1848, and was closed +September 6, 1856. The eight years of its existence are replete with +fascinating dramatic history, and are a copious and important +contribution to the annals of the stage. It was the school of many an +actor who rose to fame, and the most famous actors of the time were seen +upon its boards. It was the birthplace of plays and characters never +excelled in their effect upon an audience, and its record is graced by a +noble and poetic celebration of Shakespeare's immortal works. And who +shall say how many hearts were lightened, and spirits cheered, by the +good genius of mirth that presided there? + + + 1856-1860. + +It goes without saying that the New Theatre, to those who had been +accustomed to the cosiness of Chambers Street, was not _Burton's_. The +home feeling so peculiar to the other house could not readily be +reproduced in the spacious auditorium of the Metropolitan. The +far-reaching stage seemed alien and unreal, and the lofty walls were +cold and unfamiliar. There were changes in the company, too; old +favorites were missing, and a kindred interest was not awakened by +new-comers. But the manager was there, and with wonted energy began the +campaign. The first season was prosperous, and many of the well-known +Chambers Street pieces were revived and given with effect. Daniel +Setchell made his appearance September 25, 1856, and grew rapidly in +public favor. This comedian at a later date essayed the part of +_Aminadab Sleek_; but, as Ireland observes, "Burton's _Sleek_ alone +filled the public mind," and the effort was not encouraged. The Irish +comedian, John Collins, was seen about this time, and in November Dion +Boucicault and wife opened an engagement. January 13, 1857, Burton +played _Dogberry_ for the first time in New York, and the same year (May +14th) Edwin Booth appeared at the New Theatre as _Richard III_. It was +in this year (October) that Burton was seen in Albany for the first +time, playing a round of his famous parts; and it is interesting to note +that the present Joe Jefferson, then at Laura Keene's, "during the +absence of Burton," to quote Ireland again, "was recognized as the best +low comedian in town." Burton also appeared in Boston for the first time +in 1857, opening in _Captain Cuttle_. His reception was so extraordinary +in warmth and enthusiasm that he lost control of himself and could not +speak for several minutes. This engagement was at the Boston Theatre, +and every night the house was crammed. He visited Boston again in 1858, +and with the same gratifying success. + +It is not impossible that these starring tours suggested to Burton a new +and prosperous field of activity, and perhaps some physical symptom +dictated relief from the strain and responsibility of management. From +whatever cause, after another season of varying fortune, the +Metropolitan was given up (1858), and he commenced a starring tour with +the highest success, "his name and fame," says Ireland, "being familiar +in every quarter of the Union, and more surely attractive than any other +theatrical magnet that could be presented." + + [Illustration: Mechanics Hall Poster] + +In conjunction with Mrs. Hughes and a few members of his former +company, he opened an engagement at Niblo's, July 4, 1859, playing to +crowded houses. His last appearance in New York was at the same theatre, +on the occasion of his benefit, October 15, 1859, playing _Toodle_ in +the afternoon, and _Mr. Sudden_, _Toby Tramp_, and _Micawber_ in the +evening, supported by Mrs. Hughes as _Mrs. Toodle_, _Mrs. Trapper_, and +_Betsy Trotwood_. "On the day and evening of his benefit," says Ireland, +"more than six hundred persons who had paid for tickets received their +money back from the box-office, not being able to obtain admission." + +On Saturday, December 3, 1859, Mr. Burton started for Hamilton, Canada, +to fulfil an engagement there and at Toronto. A terrible snow-storm was +met on the way; the train was blocked; and the delay and discomfort +consequent were almost unendurable. While recovering from the exposure +and fatigue, Mr. Burton wrote the following letter to his children, and +we are kindly permitted to make use of it in this volume. It will be +read with interest, not only for its feeling, but for its graphic vigor +of narration and humorous spirit. And we believe it was the last letter +he ever wrote. + + HAMILTON, CANADA; + _Sunday, December_ 4, 1859. + +MY DARLING CHILDREN: + +Here I am, in this provincial city of the Western wilderness, snowed up, +500 miles away from my dear home and my precious treasures. Such a day +and night as we had yesterday I hope never to go through again. You +remember how warm it was on Friday? positively hot; and on the next +morning the weather was cold as New Year's, but clear and brisk, and the +icy tone of the atmosphere seemed to agree with me. We reached Albany in +good order, and started at twelve on the long trip to the Suspension +Bridge, over 300 miles, with a light fall of snow, blown about in every +direction by a very low sort of a high wind. As we got on our way we +found the snow getting deeper, and the flats of the Mohawk River covered +with ice. We dined at Utica--a pretty fair meal, with cold plates and +Dutch waiters, who looked cold too. When we changed cars at Rochester +the wind blew ferociously, and the snow fell heavily, so much so that +some fears were expressed that a drift might form on some part of the +road and prevent our progress for a while. At the Suspension Bridge, at +half-past twelve in the night, I had to get out of the car and wade +ankle deep in snow to the open road beside the baggage-car, and pick out +and give checks for our wagon-load of trunks, seeing them safely +deposited in another car for transportation into Canada. I thought this +was a hard job, but it was nothing to what I had to do in Canada, and +really a pleasant little episode compared with my doings hereafter. We +crossed the Suspension Bridge within sight of the Falls of Niagara, but +we saw them not. The wind howled as we passed over that fearful gulf, +and drowned the roaring of the Falls and the rumbling of the rapids as +they boiled along some 170 feet below us. I confess that I rejoiced in +reaching _terra firma_, even on the cold, inhospitable land of Canada. +Well, we thought we were snugly housed for the balance of our journey, +some forty-four miles to Hamilton, where we intended to rest for the +night (at two in the morning) and pass a cheerful Canadian Sunday in our +own rooms looking at the snow, when we were roused from our seats: +"Change cars and re-check your baggage." Out we turned, bundles, bags, +shawls, top-coat, brandy bottle, cough mixture, papers, books, and +growls, leaving behind my old travelling cap, which I have had for +years, and is now gone for ever. When I got out I had to jump into a bed +of snow up to my knees, wade a quarter of a mile through the unbroken +whiteness to a stand of cars inhumanly situated far from the shelter of +the dépôt or the lee of any building whatever. There, in that snow, +without any feeling in my feet, the wild wind whistling no end of Verdi +overtures with ophicleide accompaniment in the snort of various engines, +I had to select my nine packages, see them weighed, have them checked, +wait while the numbers of the checks were written down, copied off for +me, and a receipt written for the payment imposed on me for extra +baggage. If I had not been so miserably perished with cold, I could have +felt some pity for the poor officials who had to do all this, not only +for me, but for some twenty others, and in the open air too. But it +seemed that I had all the baggage in the car. "Who owns 57,467?" "I do." +"Why, you have baggage enough for a dozen." And it was so. The nine +boxes looked like ninety in the confused atmosphere of steam and +drifting snow. "That's all right, sir." "Then why don't you put the +trunks in the baggage car?" "So we will when they have passed the +customs"!!!!!!! + +Yes, my darlings, at that hour, past midnight, in the open snow-storm, +with a wind that killed old _Cuttle's_ "What blew each indiwiddiwal hair +from off yer 'ed," in a blinding drift of frozen crystals biting each +feature and driving their minute but piercing angles into every pore, I +had to wait the presence and the pleasure of Victoria's excisemen, to +say whether my baggage might or might not pass duty free into her +infernal dominions. I had one cheerful and pleasant thought that filled +my bosom with religious delight while I waited. I remembered playing +_Harrop_ in the drama of "The Innkeeper's Daughter,"--he is an old +smuggler, and _shoots the exciseman_. I remembered that when I fired the +pistol and the victim dropped, I exclaimed "He's done for!" and the +audience laughed and applauded! Yes, the discriminating public applauded +me for killing that exciseman! Oh, was it to do again! How well I could +kill that Canadian gauger here, in the snow-storm, at midnight, on the +banks of the mad Niagara! Don't be alarmed, darlings. I didn't kill him. +He came at last, booted up to his middle, with a Canadian capote and +hood, and a leather belt buckled tightly around his waist. But, despite +his Canadian costume, the Cockney stuck out boldly all over him. He had +a roast-beef-and-porter look, red cheeks, and big English whiskers. +Again I had to go over my list, "great box, little box, bandbox, +bundle," to the potentate of the tariff. I gave him my honor as a +gentleman, etc., and then told him my profession, and, oh! my +loves--oh! my darling children--what is fame? _he had never heard of Mr. +Burton, the comedian!_ Of course, after that, you agree with me that he +ought to be killed at once, "without remorse or dread." And he had such +an aggravating smell of hot steak and brandy-and-water. Now, I suppose +you think that my _Ledger_ story of intense interest, describing the +agonies of a middle-aged (or more so) individual, is over. Not a bit of +it. The fifth act is to come. We were jogging along in the cars, slowly +crunching the hard snow on the rails, when we came gradually to a full +stop. Presently whisperings were heard, occasional and inquisitive male +passengers braved even the fury of the storm, and went abroad to see +what was the matter, and in a few minutes we learned that there was a +"break in the road." You will ask the meaning of the phrase--so did I, +without avail. Gradually the passengers withdrew from the car (we had +but one) and I was compelled to look for myself. There had been a +collision, or rather an overtaking, for a fast passenger train ran into +a freight train, and fearful work they made of it. I went back for Mrs. +Hughes and the bags, coats, and books. Heaven knows how we got along, in +such a fearful storm, knee-deep in snow and the track full of holes, +with a yawning gulf on each side. When at last we reached our place of +refuge, we found the car so high off the rail that it seemed impossible +to mount it. Some gentlemen helped Mrs. Hughes in, with such exertions +that I expected to see my dear old friend pulled into bits. Then your +poor father was left to his fate. I got up--don't ask me how, but when I +get home I'll climb into my bedroom window from the street, to show you +how I did it. We had with us in the car an admiring friend from Detroit, +who claimed relationship with me because his son married Niblo's niece. +Well, we mustered in the car, wet, weary, excited, and chilled to the +centre. Oh! my precious ones, didn't that brandy bottle come in well in +that scene? How I let them smell it, and only smell it! How I took a +drink and smacked my lips, and drank again, and didn't I win the heart +of old Niblo's brother's daughter's husband's father by giving him a big +drink? At last we started, slowly, backed into Hamilton at half-past +four in the morning, with snow two feet deep in the streets. Half an +hour's ride in a dilapidated article of the omnibus genus, and we were +dumped at a place a cad called the "Hanglo-American 'Otel," recommended +me by Miss Niblo's marital ancestor. A fire in my room, a quiet night's +rest, a good breakfast (first-class venison steak), and I feel quite +well. My feet were wet. My boots could hardly be pulled off, and in +revenge to-day they won't be pulled on. Now am I not a brave old papa +to carry a heart disease and a nervous cough through such scenes? + +We are now forty miles from Toronto, whither we proceed at nine in the +morning. I hear melancholy doings are prevalent at the place we are +bound to, and this deep snow will not make it any better. If business is +bad, I shall stay but one week, and go to Rochester for the second week. + +I am afraid our plants at Glen Cove were badly hurt by the cold spell +coming on so suddenly. I hope this weather has not increased your +coughs. My cough is still troublesome, but I am every way better. + +May the great God of goodness keep His blessing on all my children; may +they keep in health, and in the spirit of love with each other, is the +nightly prayer of + + Their affectionate father, + W. E. BURTON. + +The last appearance of the comedian on any stage was at Mechanics' Hall, +Hamilton, Canada, December 16, 1859. He played _Aminadab Sleek_ and +_Goodluck_ in "John Jones." He returned from the trip in an almost +exhausted condition, and, after lingering for nearly two months, +suffering greatly, died of enlargement of the heart, February 10, 1860. +Mr. Burton left a wife and three daughters, all of whom are living. His +remains were interred in Greenwood Cemetery. + + * * * * * + +The following is a list of parts acted by Mr. Burton, and though +probably there are many omissions, it fully justifies Ireland's +observation that his repertory was extended almost indefinitely, and +"carried into a range, where, if he was sometimes excelled by Placide +and Blake, his rivalry was such as to demand every effort on their part +to retain their generally acknowledged superiority." It may be mentioned +that the parts of _Aminadab Sleek_ and _Timothy Toodle_ were acted by +Burton respectively six hundred and six hundred and forty times. + + LIST OF CHARACTERS PERFORMED BY MR. BURTON. + + CHARACTERS. PLAYS. + + HOST, } + FALSTAFF,} in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." + DROMIO, in "The Comedy of Errors." + DR. OLLAPOD, } + SIR ROBERT BRAMBLE,} in "The Poor Gentleman." + MUNNS, in "Forty Winks." + JOB THORNBERRY, in "John Bull." + LAUNCELOT GOBBO, in "The Merchant of Venice." + HARROP, in "The Innkeeper's Daughter." + BOTTOM, in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." + CALIBAN, in "The Tempest." + SIR TOBY BELCH, in "Twelfth Night." + CAPT. CUTTLE, in "Dombey and Son." + TIMOTHY TOODLE, in "The Toodles." + AMINADAB SLEEK, in "The Serious Family." + VAN DUNDER, in "The Dutch Governor." + TRIPLET, in "Masks and Faces." + BOB ACRES, in "The Rivals." + DR. PANGLOSS,} + LORD DUBERLY,} in "The Heir-at-Law." + BILLY LACKADAY, in "Sweethearts and Wives." + PILLICODDY, in "Poor Pillicoddy." + TOBY TRAMP, in "The Mummy." + TONY LUMPKIN, in "She Stoops to Conquer." + CHAS. GOLDFINCH, in "The Road to Ruin." + JACQUES STROP, in "Robert Macaire." + SEPTIMUS PODDLE, in "Take That Girl Away." + JEM BAGGS, in "The Wandering Minstrel." + SLASHER, in "Slasher and Crasher." + JOHN UNIT, in "Self." + GREGORY THIMBERWELL, in "State Secrets." + BONNYCASTLE, in "The Two Bonnycastles." + JEREMIAH CLIP, in "The Widow's Victim." + DIMPLE, in "Leap Year." + MEGRIM, in "Blue Devils." + FELIX FUMER, in "The Laughing Hyena." + LA FLEUR, in "Animal Magnetism." + TOM RIPSTONE, in "Evil Genius." + TOM NODDY, in "Tom Noddy's Secret." + SNOBBINGTON, in "A Good Night's Rest." + PETTIBONE, in "A Kiss in the Dark." + PAUL PRY, in "Paul Pry." + JOE BAGS, in "Wanted 1000 Milliners." + SIR OLIVER SURFACE,} + SIR PETER TEAZLE, } in "The School for Scandal." + MEDDLE, in "London Assurance." + THOMAS TROT, in "Paris and London." + WORMWOOD, in "The Lottery Ticket." + WADDILOVE, in "To Parents and Guardians." + SQUEERS, in "Nicholas Nickleby." + MICAWBER, in "David Copperfield." + JOHN MILDMAY, in "Still Waters Run Deep." + SUDDEN, in "The Breach of Promise." + CALEB QUOTEM, in "The Review." + PEDRO, in "Cinderella." + SCHNAPPS, in "The Naiad Queen." + MR. BUMBLE, in "Oliver Twist." + PETER SPYK, in "The Loan of a Lover." + MOCK DUKE, in "The Honeymoon." + SIR WM. FONDLOVE, in "The Love Chase." + CODDLE,} + DOVE, } in "Married Life." + DOMINIE SAMPSON, in "Guy Mannering." + PETER, in "The Stranger." + MR. GILMAN, in "Happiest Day of My Life." + GRAVES, in "Money." + DUKE'S SERVANT, in "High Life Below Stairs." + SAM WELLER, in "Pickwick." + DON WHISKERANDOS, in "The Critic." + SIMPSON, in "Simpson & Co." + TOUCHSTONE, in "As You Like It." + TOM TAPE, in "Sketches in India." + TONY BAVARD, in "The French Spy." + SCRUB, in "Now-a-Days." + BROWN, in "Kill or Cure." + FLUID, in "The Water Party." + NICHOLAS RUE, in "Secrets Worth Knowing." + MR. FLARE, in "Such As It Is." + FREDERICK STORK, in "The Prince's Frolic." + MR. TWEEDLE, in "The Broken Heart." + GALOCHARD, in "The King's Gardener." + SNOWBALL, in "The Catspaw." + WAGGLES, in "Friend Waggles." + EUCLID FACILE, in "Twice Killed." + JENKINS, in "Gretna Green." + BULLFROG, in "The Rent Day." + BOX, in "Box and Cox." + MRS. MACBETH, in "Macbeth Travestie." + CHRISTOPHER STRAP, in "Pleasant Neighbors." + OLD RAPID, in "A Cure For the Heartache." + COL. DAMAS, in "The Lady of Lyons." + VERGES, } + DOGBERRY,} in "Much Ado About Nothing." + JOHN SMITH, in "Nature's Nobleman." + EPHRAIM JENKINSON, in "The Vicar of Wakefield." + MICHAEL, in "Love in Humble Life." + TETTERBY, in "The Haunted Man." + MR. MENNY, in "Socialism." + PIERRE DE LA ROCHE, in "The Midnight Watch." + SPHINX, in "The Sphinx." + TOM BOBOLINK, in "Temptation." + PICADILLY, in "Burton's New York Directory." + JUSTICE WOODCOCK, in "Love in a Village." + BILL, in "Peep From the Parlor Windows." + HARESFOOT, in "Life Among the Players." + NOGGS, in "The Mormons." + MARC ANTONY BAROWN, in "A Great Tragic Revival." + SIGNOR TOPAZ, in "Fascination." + VANDAM, in "Wall Street." + COL. ROCKET, in "Old Heads and Young Hearts." + VON FIEZENSPAN, in "The Slave Actress." + JONAS BLOT, in "The Poor Scholar." + EPAMINONDAS, in "Genevieve." + ANTHONY GAB, in "The Witch Wife." + BONUS, in "Laugh When You Can." + WILLIAM RUFUS, in "Helping Hands." + COL. GOLDIE, in "'Tis Ill Playing with Edged Tools." + BERRYMAN, in "False Pretences." + DICK, in "Ellen Wareham." + SUCKLING, in "Education." + SPATTERDASH, in "The Young Quaker." + BOB CLOVER, in "Married an Actress." + OLD REVEL, in "School for Grown Children." + GILES GRIZZLE, in "Stag Hall." + BALTHAZAR, in "Player's Plot." + WILLIAM LINK, in "The Fox-Hunt." + BLANQUET, in "The Lancers." + BRAINWORM, in "Every Man in His Humor." + MANUEL COGGS, in "Married by Force." + RATTAN, in "The Beehive." + GREGORY GRIZZLE, in "My Wife and Umbrella." + DELPH, in "Family Jars." + TEWBERRY, in "A Heart of Gold." + JUPITER, in "Apollo in New York." + COUNT VENTOSO, in "Pride Must Have a Fall." + DR. LACQUER, in "Our Set." + DE BONHOMME, in "A Nice Young Man." + SIR HIPPINGTON MIFF, in "Comfortable Lodgings." + MAXIMUS HOGSFLESH, in "Barbers at Court." + FRIGHT, in "Crimson Crimes." + INFANTE FURIBOND, in "Invisible Prince." + MR. GREENFINCH, in "Duel in the Dark." + TIMOTHY QUAINT, in "Soldier's Daughter." + SIR SIMON SLACK, in "Spring and Autumn." + PEEPING TOM, in "All at Coventry." + TRISTAM SAPPY, in "Deaf as a Post." + CODGER, in "You're Another." + TACTIC, in "My Fellow Clerk." + TONY NETTLETOP, in "Love in a Maze." + TOBIAS SHORTCUT, in "The Spitfire." + BOB TICKET, in "An Alarming Sacrifice." + JEREMY DIDDLER, in "Raising the Wind." + JACK HUMPHREYS, in "Turning the Tables." + MAW-WORM, in "The Hypocrite." + DAFFODIL TWOD, in "The Ladies' Man." + GOLIGHTLY, in "Lend Me Five Shillings." + CHRISTOPHER CROOKPATH, in "Upper Ten and Lower Twenty." + GHOST, in "Hamlet Travestie." + DIGGORY, in "The Spectre Bridegroom." + BENJAMIN BUZZARD, in "The Two Buzzards." + MARMADUKE MOUSER, in "Betsey Baker." + CRACK, in "The Turnpike Gate." + BILLY BLACK, in "100-Pound Note." + CAPT. COPP, in "Charles the Second." + MARALL, in "New Way to Pay Old Debts." + TOBIAS SHORTCUT, in "The Cockney." + PETER POPPLES, in "Man of Many Friends." + ADAM BROCK, in "Charles the Twelfth." + RICHARD PRIDE, in "Janet Pride." + POLONIUS, } + FIRST GRAVE-DIGGER, } in "Hamlet." + FIRST WITCH, in "Macbeth." + SIR GEORGE THUNDER, in "Wild Oats." + GUY GOODLUCK, in "John Jones." + MARPLOT, in "The Busybody." + JOE SEDLEY, in "Vanity Fair." + GIL, in "Giralda." + QUEEN BEE, in "St. Cupid." + DABCHICK, in "How to Make Home Happy." + SHADOWLY SOFTHEAD, in "Not So Bad As We Seem." + SMYTH, in "Mind Your Own Business." + SIR TIMOTHY STILTON, in "Patrician and Parvenu." + CARDINAL MAZARIN, in "Youthful Days of Louis XIV." + TWINKS, in "Mrs. Bunbury's Spoons." + + + + + RECOLLECTIONS + OF + MR. BURTON'S PERFORMANCES + + "_And now what rests but that we spend the time + With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows._" + --SHAKESPEARE. + + + + + RECOLLECTIONS. + + +When Burton opened in Chambers Street, he was forty-four years old, in +the prime of life, his powers mature and approaching culmination. Let us +endeavor to give a portrait of the comedian as he appeared at this time. +Above the medium height; rotund in form, yet not cumbersome; limbs well +proportioned; deep-chested, with harmonious breadth of shoulder; neck +short and robust; large and well-balanced head; the hair worn short +behind, longer in front, and brushed smartly toward the temples; face +clean-shaven; complexion bordering on the florid; full chin and cheeks; +eyes seemingly blue or gray, beneath brows not over heavy, and capable +of every conceivable expression; nose straight, and somewhat sharply +inclined; mouth large, the lips thin, and wearing in repose a smile +half playful, half trenchant. Such is the picture memory draws, the +likeness in some degree confirmed by engravings in our possession. +Outlined thus, and in his proper person, he seemed in general aspect to +blend the suave respectability of a bank president with the easy-going +air of an English country squire. We shall have occasion to refer in due +course to the marvellous changes that were possible to that face and +form, when the man became the actor and walked the stage with Momus, +with Dickens, and with Shakespeare. Prominent among his physical +attributes was a clear, strong voice, capable of a great variety of +intonations, and his delivery was such that no words of his were ever +lost in any part of the house. + +Before entering the wide field of our memories, we wish to offer some +observations respecting the comedian's mental equipment, and to consider +briefly the features of his unrivalled powers. We have no doubt but +that the classical education of his youth had much to do with his early +preference for the tragic muse. His mind, imbued with admiration for +classic form and color, was fed with divine images, which, while replete +with grace and beauty, bore still the impress of Greek austerity. He +inclined naturally, therefore, toward the conception of that which was +the predominating influence in his mental training. At the same time, +after eschewing his predilections for tragedy, he found that the classic +discipline had created a receptivity of mind in the highest degree +important to his future study; and that quickened apprehension proved of +inestimable value in his subsequent introduction to Shakespeare, the old +dramatists, and in all his intellectual excursions. + +Yielding to him, then, this vantage-ground of culture, let us glance at +the attributes of his genius, which entitle him, as we think, to the +claim made for him--namely, one of the greatest actors in his line the +stage has known. We need not specify that line further than to say that +it passes with the title of "low comedy"; but Burton's versatility was +so extraordinary, his repertory so extended, his conceptions so +forcible, that the theatric nomenclature seems insufficient to define +and measure the scope and range of his abilities. His impersonations, +especially those Shakespearian, were often of too high an order to be +classed under the accepted notion of low comedy. Let us style him an +expounder and representative of the Humor of the Drama in all its +aspects, and we shall come nearer to what he really was. For an +all-embracing perception of humor revealed itself perpetually in his +acting. As the imagination of Longfellow transformed to organ pipes the +musketry of the Springfield Arsenal, so would Burton change dull +inanities into vital and joyous images. This informing power, this +native faculty of rising superior to the part assumed, and investing it +with undreamed-of humorous interest, was an instinct of his genius, and +gave to all his embodiments an originality and a flavor peculiarly his +own. The character mattered not. It might be _Nick Bottom_ or _Paul +Pry_, _Cuttle_ or _Micawber_, _Doctor Ollapod_ or _Charles Goldfinch_, +_Sleek_ or _Toodle_. There was the complete identification, the +superlative realization of the author's meaning; but the felicitous +interpretation, the by-play, the way of saying a thing, the facial +expression--his own and no other man's,--the Burtonian touch and +treatment. In the extravagance of farcical abandon no one ever was funny +as he. In comic portraits like _Toby Tramp_ or _Jem Baggs_, he +absolutely exhaled mirth; and we cannot help thinking how perfectly +Hazlitt describes him in writing of Liston: "His farce is not +caricature; his drollery oozes out of his features, and trickles down +his face; his voice is a pitch-pipe for laughter." "We have seen +Burton," says Wemyss, "keep an audience in roars of inextinguishable +laughter, for minutes in succession, while an expression of ludicrous +bewilderment, of blank confusion, or pompous inflation, settled upon his +countenance." And this was penned by Wemyss at a time when _Cuttle_, +_Micawber_, _Sleek_, and _Toodle_ were yet to be. + +In thus indicating Burton's natural gifts, we must not lose sight of the +study and knowledge necessary to their development and to the +achievement of his fame. Let it not be supposed that his famous +delineations were so many intuitions, easily shaped and clothed by him +into substantial dramatic form. Easy, indeed, they might appear in the +handling--for it was characteristic of the great comedian never to seem +to entirely expend himself,--he always suggested a reserved force;--but +this facile rendering was attained at the expense of as much +intellectual attrition as Moore declared the melodious numbers of his +verse often cost him. + +The late Dr. John W. Francis relates a conversation with the famous +George Frederick Cooke, respecting the actor's impersonation of _Sir +Pertinax Macsycophant_, and in reply to the question, how he acquired so +profound a knowledge of the Scotch accentuation, Cooke said: "I studied +more than two and a half years in my own room, with repeated intercourse +with Scotch society, in order to master the Scottish dialect, before I +ventured to appear on the boards in Edinburgh, as _Sir Pertinax_, and +when I did, Sawney took me for a native. It was the hardest task I ever +undertook." How do we know how many years of thoughtful application the +comedian's masterpieces expressed? + +Mr. Burton was a student and man of the world as well as actor, and the +supremacy of his performances was due to his close and comprehensive +study of his author, his acquaintance with dramatic composition, his +artistic sense, his thorough knowledge of the stage, his varied +experience, his human insight,--the rest, like Dogberry's reading and +writing, came by nature. + +It is a habit with old play-goers, when over their cakes and ale, to +recall the "palmy days" of the drama, and to say: "Ah, you should have +seen ----; he was a great artist--none equal to him nowadays. Ah, the +stage has declined since the old time." We do not wholly believe in the +drama's decadence, but as we enter upon our Recollections we feel that +_there_ were our palmy days, and the years seem long between. +Twenty-four have passed since the comedian died, and there has been no +sign of a successor to the mask and mantle. And it may be twice--nay, +thrice twenty before the actor shall arise who will compel us to recall +the triumphs of Burton for the sake of comparison. + + + MR. BURTON IN FARCE. + +A man like Mr. Burton, endowed with keen humorous perception and the +mimetic faculty, competent to express easily and with unction every +phase of mirthful extravagance suggested by fancy and flow of spirit, +must occasionally yield to the imperious demands of his nature, and, +perforce, when so pressed, he opens the safety-valve of play and gives +escape to his excess of humor. + +In this connection, we are reminded of Sydney Smith, as an example of +humorous irrepressibility. Restraint seldom fettered the expression of +the witty suggestions of his fancy. It was as natural in him to be gay +and mirthful as it was to breathe. His humor welled from a perpetual +spring. It was like the profanity of the Scotchman who didn't swear at +any thing particular, but just stood in the middle of the road and +"swore at large." There is a story that the divine, arriving first at a +gathering of notables, was ushered into the drawing-room, which was hung +with mirrors on all sides. Seeing himself reflected at all points, he +looked around and observed: "Ah, a very respectable collection of +clergymen!" Now his only auditor was the servant; but the thought came +and was at once expressed. Of course, Sydney Smith could be serious when +he wished, as all know who are familiar with his life and works; but he +had his play-ground at Holland House and in kindred coteries, where his +buoyant spirit worked its own sweet will. When the clergyman of +lugubrious aspect called upon poor Tom Hood, the story goes that the +humorist could not help remarking: "My dear Sir, I'm afraid your +religion doesn't agree with you!"--and we are quite willing to believe +the story to be one of "Hood's Own," for it has all the flavor of the +author who gave us "Laughter from Year to Year." Instances might be +multiplied of this humorous self-abandonment; but we are growing +digressive. The train of reflection, however, leads us to the belief +that Burton's merry-making powers needed occasionally an avenue of +escape; and the safety-valve, in his case, was often found in the farces +his acting made so popular--those exhibitions of fun and drollery in +which, through the lens of memory, we now intend to view him. + +The farce, by the way, is a thing of the past. It may almost be said +that as a form of the acting drama, at least in America, it has been +passed to the limbo of disuse. Rarely, if ever, do our programmes +nowadays bear the old, familiar formula: "To conclude with the +laughable Farce of ----." We are no longer invited to laugh at the droll +situations and funny dialogues contained in the many pieces of +Buckstone, Mathews, and Morton; yet all will admit their efficacy to +beguile a lagging hour, and to smooth away the obtrusive wrinkle from +the proverbial brow of care. Such, certainly, was the power they exerted +in other days; and perhaps it is to be lamented that the frolic +atmosphere diffused by those comic productions is ours no more to make +merry and revel in. "Custom exacts, and who denies her sway?" remarks +Colman, the younger; and for many years the design of our managers, in +catering for the public, has comprehended the representation of one play +only for the performance of an evening; setting it elaborately, +bestowing upon it a wealth of scenic embellishment, and presenting it +generally with a due regard to strength and fitness of cast. Many of the +standard comedies have been thus illustrated--notably "The School for +Scandal" and "She Stoops to Conquer"; the comedies of Robertson--"Home," +"Caste," "School," "Ours,"--have been so rendered at Wallack's, and at +the same theatre that play of charming improbabilities, "Rosedale," has +enjoyed a periodic return. "Led Astray," acted so long at the Union +Square Theatre; Mr. Daly's many successful adaptations, and the Irish +dramas of Mr. Boucicault; "The Two Orphans"; "The Banker's Daughter"; +"Hazel Kirke";--all these, and more, are like examples. Mr. Jefferson's +"Rip Van Winkle" suffices for an evening; so also does Mr. Raymond's +_Col. Sellers_, and so also did Mr. Sothern's _Dundreary_. This new +departure may be a very good departure, for it gives us perfection in +the details of scenery and costume, and concentrates the managerial +resources in one splendid whole; and we may add, that a theatrical +system is to be commended when it permits the audience to get +comfortably home and to bed before midnight. But, all the same, if +Burton were living and acting, the farce would hold its own; and every +auditor would remain to the fall of the curtain, for the last glimpse of +that face, the last word and action of that comedian who held such sway +over the risibilities of mankind. + +If among our readers there should be any old play-goers, they cannot +fail to remember how often they dropped in for an hour's hilarity with +"The Wandering Minstrel," or "Poor Pillicoddy." For, as previously +stated, it was a circumstance by no means unusual to see fresh arrivals +lining the walls of the theatre, drawn thither by the potent magnet of +Burton in the farce. It was a matter of almost as much consequence to +know what afterpiece was on the bill as what comedy. Often, indeed, the +effect produced by Burton in some exceptionally droll part had become so +widely known, that to see him in it was the prime object of a visit to +the theatre; and if to the question--"What does Burton play to-night?" +the answer named _Toby Tramp_, _Madame Vanderpants_, or the like, it +was enough: "Let us go!" was the eager exclamation. + +What a piece of fun was _Toby Tramp_, in "The Mummy"! How many who are +living now will laugh as they recall the appearance of Burton in that +close-fitting garment, covered with hieroglyphics! The plot is simple +and easily told. _Toby_ is an itinerant player, needy and shabby, out at +elbow and out of money; and agrees for a cash consideration to personate +a mummy, already sold and promised to an old antiquarian. As we think of +the scene in which the bargain is concluded we remember how full of +stage strut and quotation Burton was, and how he embraced the +opportunity to present a specimen of _Toby's_ histrionic quality, +selecting the familiar soliloquy of _Richard_, and giving it as he +(_Toby_) declared Shakespeare ought always to be interpreted. He +commenced: + + "Now is the winter of our discontent"-- + +and with the words turned up his coat-collar, blew his fingers, +shivered, and was frozen generally. Continuing then: + + "Made glorious summer by this sun of York"-- + +he instantly thawed, threw open his coat, puffed, and from his brow +wiped the perspiration. And so he went through the whole. At the words +"Grim-visag'd war," a gloomy and malignant frown darkened his features, +which changed, as he pronounced "hath smooth'd his wrinkled front," to a +bland expression of peace;--and the climax was reached when at the +lines: + + "He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber, + To the lascivious pleasing of a lute"-- + +he executed a fantastic dance, thrumming the while an imaginary guitar. + +This burlesque, for aught we know, may have been an interpolation, a +contribution of Burton himself to the fund of merriment--one of the +instances, in fact, where he dropped the rein and let Momus have his +way. But however it came, the travesty created unbounded amusement, and +put the audience in the best possible humor; yet we feel how pointless +is our sketch to even suggest the facial power, the comic attitudes, the +air, the touches of drollery, born of the whole scene; and our readers +must summon their imagination to help our failure. + +The next scene is the antiquarian's museum, and the mummy is brought +in. After the necessary raptures consequent upon such a unique +possession, the professor withdraws and the stage is left alone. There +lies the mummy in his case, and a pause succeeds. The intent audience +observe a slight movement in the box. Slowly the head of Burton is +raised, and he glances warily around the room. Raising himself to +a sitting posture in the case, he turns toward the audience his +marvellous face, on which rests an expression of doleful humiliation. +We shall never forget how, finally, he rose to his feet, stepped out +of the case, walked abjectly to the foot-lights, looked his disguise +all over with intense concern, and then turned to the house--by this +time scarcely able to contain itself--and said, with the accent of +self-reproach and mortification--"I'm ---- if I'm not ashamed of myself!" + +Situations follow, affording full opportunity for the display of +Burton's humorous characteristics; but we need not pursue them in +detail. He frightens everybody as a mummy; makes love as a mummy; +devours the antiquarian's dinner; has his tragic bursts;-- in short, +leaves nothing to be desired on the part of those who paid their money +to laugh and be jolly with him. + +_Mad. Vanderpants_ was another uproarious creation, more laughable even, +in some ways, than "The Mummy." _Joe Baggs_ (Burton) is a lawyer's +clerk, and during the absence of his employer on a journey, arranges a +programme of deviltry for himself and comrade (T. B. Johnston). _Baggs_ +becomes _Mad. Vanderpants_, and his companion _Miss Smithers_, her +assistant, and they advertise for "A Thousand Milliners." Burton's +"make-up" was one of the most astonishing things we ever saw, and +Johnston's was by no means lacking in artistic finish. The milliners +arrive (that is a representation), and then ensues an hour of +unparalleled fun and frolic. The manner of Burton in sustaining the +character and in replying with complacent air to the numerous questions +asked by the deluded damsels, was so supremely ludicrous that we pause +in writing to laugh at the remembrance. Some work is wanted, and the +window shades are unceremoniously torn down and given to the milliners. +"What shall we do with it?" ask they. "Do?" replied Burton, with +imperturbable gravity, "Why, you can hemstitch it up one side, and +back-stitch it down the other--and then gusset it all around!" The fun +waxes fast and furious, when suddenly the employer returns. The +_dénouement_ can be imagined; we cannot describe it;--but those who +remember Burton's mimetic power, and his faculty to express abject +terror and kindred emotions, can well understand what a scene of +indescribable riotous humor it was. And we cannot omit, in referring to +this farce, to mention the admirable support given by the lamented Mrs. +Hughes, who, as one of the milliners, contributed largely to the general +success by her conscientious acting. + +How can we, in this allotted space, deal justly with our crowding +memories? What shall we say of _Jem Baggs_, in "The Wandering +Minstrel"?--that minstrel whose entrance on the stage was heralded by a +sounding strain certainly never before heard on sea or land, and whose +appearance, as he emerged from the wing, continuing still the dirge-like +air, was a signal for a gleeful burst all over the house. How paint his +introduction, under a mistaken identity, into musical society; the +situation that follows; his song of "All Around My Hat"; the comic +incidents that strew the too-fleeting hour of his career? + +How view him as _Pillicoddy_, awaiting with supreme anguish the "turning +up" of his wife's "first," through all the phases of ludicrous bravado +and comic despair? + +How depict him in "Turning the Tables"? or in "The Siamese Twins"? or in +"That Blessed Baby"? How see him as _Mr. Dabchick_, in "The Happiest Day +of My Life"? or as _Megrim_, in "Blue Devils," and ever so many more? + +And yet we ought to linger on each one; for we have never seen them +since, and it may be we may never see them again--certain is it that we +shall never see them so performed. And only for the sake of refreshing a +memory of something greater would we wish to behold them now. + +In concluding this imperfect tracing of recollection, we are conscious +of many deficiencies; one of these a few final words may supply. + +We have said nothing of the individualization of Burton's many +characters in farce. It is true that the native hue and flavor of the +comedian's humor were so strong, and his physique so pronounced, that he +himself was always more or less apparent in whatever guise; but it +would be a great mistake to suppose that in the parts above named there +was no essential difference, with respect to portraiture. There was a +difference, and it was clearly marked. Each was a picture by +itself--each a distinct characterization; and in the development the +author was often left so far behind that the actor became the creator. +But this loyalty to ideal perception denotes, as it seem to us, that +even in farcical abandon his delineations were shaped and governed by +his artistic sense. + + + MR. BURTON IN PARTS HE MADE SPECIALLY FAMOUS. + +The familiar picture of John Philip Kemble in the character of _Hamlet_, +standing at _Ophelia's_ grave, in sad retrospection over the skull of +Yorick, always impressed us as a revelation of the fact that an actor's +fame is bequeathed to posterity in the traditions of effect produced by +a few celebrated embodiments, and is forever associated with those +special triumphs. That Kemble was a supreme representative of the +impressive school, that he merited the glowing eulogium contained in +Campbell's eloquent verses, there will be no question; but when we think +of him or read of him, the figure of the Dane looms up in sombre +majesty, and we are haunted by the avenging spirit of Elsinore. + +The picture of Edmund Kean, as _Richard_, kneeling at the feet of _Lady +Anne_, with the words, "Take up the sword again, or take up me," upon +his lips, impresses us in the same way; and any thought of that great +tragedian conjures an attendant vision of the dark and aspiring +_Gloster_. + +When, in the years to come, the name of Jefferson is spoken, will not +imagination linger on _Rip Van Winkle's_ long slumber amid the +everlasting hills? and will not Sothern and Raymond appeal to a future +generation as _Dundreary_ of the glaring eye, and _Sellers_ of the +uplifted arm? And we have no doubt that Mr. Burton is, in the memory of +those now living who saw him, and will be to those who shall know him +from tradition and dramatic annals, the actor who was so inimitable as +_Captain Cuttle_, _Aminadab Sleek_, and _Timothy Toodles_. And no +wonder. The mere mention of them opens the flood-gate of recollection, +and we seem to hear far down the aisles of time the free, glad laughter +of delighted audiences. If, haply, in our memories hitherto we have +struck in some heart the chord of reminiscence, surely now we may hope +to prolong the strain. For, among the many who are still here to tell of +their nights at Burton's, few, perchance, will revert to _Bob Acres_ or +_Goldfinch_, _Nick Bottom_ or _Autolycus_; while all, at the comedian's +name, will at once summon the images of _Cuttle_, _Sleek_, and +_Toodles_. + +In view of the extraordinary popularity of these performances, we shall +treat now of certain parts made specially famous by Mr. Burton, and +present in another group a view of other and various characters in his +comedy repertory. + +A favorite part, and one which always delighted us, was that prince of +stage busybodies, _Paul Pry_. The character as Poole drew it affords +unusual scope for the exhibition of comic power, and in Burton's hands +its humorous possibilities were made the most of. The play was +frequently on the bills, and always drew a house that followed the +comedian through all his mirth-moving entanglements in a state of +hilarious enjoyment. The more we think of it, the more we are disposed +to class _Paul Pry_ as one of Burton's masterpieces, so rich was it in +certain phases of humor and so replete with droll suggestiveness. It may +not, perhaps, be generally known that Mr. Burton was the second comedian +who played the part in England, and it was a favorite of the renowned +Liston, whose impersonation of it won him fame and fortune. There is a +story to the effect that at the last rehearsal of the comedy, previous +to its presentation at the Haymarket, Liston was undecided as to his +costume; and while on the stage, still doubtful and uncertain, a +workman entered on some errand, wearing a large pair of Cossack +trousers, which, it being a wet day, he had tucked into his wellingtons. +The appearance of the trousers struck Liston, who adopted the idea; and +hence the origin of the dress peculiar to _Pry_. We remember very well +the general effect of Burton's "make-up"; can recall various details; +but the point of the trousers is not clear; so a better memory than ours +must determine whether or no Liston's notion was perpetuated by his +successor. + +We see Burton now, as he entered upon the scene at _Doubledot's_ inn +with: "Ha! how d' ye do, Doubledot?" and we hear him asking with +ingratiating audacity question after question, pausing for an answer +after each one, and in no wise put out at getting none,--"never miss any +thing for the want of asking, you know." Then his lingering departure, +and _Doubledot's_ fervent: "I've got rid of him at last, thank heaven!" +No, he returns. "I dropped one of my gloves" (looking about). +_Doubledot_ waxes impatient and speaks his mind. "Mr. Doubledot," said +Burton, swelling with insulted dignity, "I want my property; I want my +property, sir. When I came in here I had two gloves, and now--ah--that's +very odd; I've got it in my hand all this time!" (hasty exit). How +little it seems in the telling. The air of anxiety on returning, and the +eye-glass brought into play; the look of injured innocence, the +indignant assertion, and then the sudden collapse--cannot be reproduced +in words. + +The piece is full of diverting situations, but nothing was more natural +than that Burton should improve on and add to them. His bright instinct +kindled the dry fagots of a scene till they fairly crackled with +merriment. Certain "business," humorous amplification of dialogue, a +diffusion of comic incident, that we vividly recall, are not to be found +in the printed "Paul Pry"; and the conclusion of the second act, +especially, where the pistols are used with such ludicrous effect, all +that was Burton's own. The pistols lay on the table, left there by +_Col. Hardy_, and _Pry_ is alone. Burton took them up, one in each hand. +He regarded the weapons fixedly. Then, with solemn enunciation: "I never +fought a duel; but if I was called out," extending an arm, "I say if I +was called out"--bang! went one of the pistols, and down dropped Burton, +the picture of fright, when bang! went the other, and the curtain fell +on the comedian sitting in abject terror, a smoking pistol in each hand, +gazing in every direction for succor, and wildly ejaculating "Murder!" +Then, at the close of the play, when _Pry_ reminds _Col. Hardy_ that, +thanks to him (_Pry_), things, after all, have resulted to the +satisfaction of everybody, the _Colonel_ relaxes his sternness somewhat +and says: "Well, I will tolerate you; you shall dine with me to-day." +"Colonel," replied Burton, with airy condescension, "I'll dine with you +every day." + +It was a rare pleasure to see Placide and Burton in their respective +parts; and as once again we think of them the Chambers Street stage is +before us, and the garden scene; and we see _Col. Hardy_ place the +ladder against the wall, mount it and peer cautiously over, and then +hastily descend, saying: "I have him; there he is, crouching on the +ground with his eye at the key-hole"; see him quietly approach the gate, +suddenly open it, and once again as of old, Burton tumbles in, umbrella +and all, with "How are you, Colonel! I've just dropped in!" + +He will never more drop in for us, nor does it seem likely that in our +day another _Paul Pry_ will appear. The play may have been performed in +New York since the comedian's death, and we seem dimly to remember that +it was; but we have no recollection beyond the simple circumstance. We +feel sure, however, that public interest in it ceased with the departure +of its last great representative; and equally sure that in the memory of +those who saw it, Burton's _Paul Pry_ remains a famous creation of +delightful humor. + +What shall we say of _Captain Cuttle_? How many readers and lovers of +Dickens thronged the theatre in the old days to witness that wonderful +reproduction? and how many to whom Dickens was but a name were led by +the impersonation to study the pages of the great novelist? It is +certain that Burton by his sympathetic and admirable portrayal awakened +a fresh interest in the enchanting story, so potent to excite +intellectual pursuit is fine and sagacious interpretation. "Dombey and +Son" was one of the great triumphs of the Chambers Street Theatre, and +not to have seen it constituted an offence against public sentiment +utterly without palliation. That it was Charles Dickens dramatized by +John Brougham was enough of itself to claim respectful attention; and +when Burton added the crowning effect of his acting of _Cuttle_, then +indeed was the dramatic feast complete. Nothing could be clearer than +that the comedian had made careful and conscientious study of his +author, and nothing surer than that the portrait was conceived in an +appreciative and loving spirit. If those familiar with the character as +depicted by Dickens discerned at times certain felicitous touches in +Burton's delineation which suggested an originality of method and +treatment, the points were due, we think, to the genius of the novelist +acting upon the actor's imagination, and kindling it to the expression +of cognate verisimilitude. + +What a memory it is to linger on! How the form comes back, clad in the +white suit; the high collar, like a small sail, and the black silk +handkerchief with flaring ends loosely encircling it; the head bald at +top, a shining pathway between the bristling hair on each side; the +bushy eyebrows arching the reverential eyes; the knob-environed nose; +the waist-coat with buttons innumerable; the glazed hat under his left +arm; the hook gravely extended at the end of his right. "May we never +want a friend in need, or a bottle to give him! Overhaul the Proverbs of +Solomon, and when found make a note of," we hear him saying; and then we +follow him through those inimitable scenes which cannot be easily +forgotten by those who witnessed them. The scene where he cheers up +_Florence_, and makes such dexterous play with his hook, adjusting her +bonnet and manipulating the tea--and yet exhibiting a simple and natural +pathos with it all; where he sits in admiring contemplation of _Bunsby_, +while that oracular tar delivers his celebrated opinion respecting the +fate of the vessel, with the memorable addendum: "The bearings of this +observation lays in the application on it"; the scene with the +_MacStingers_, and the _Captain's_ despair; the timely intervention of +_Bunsby_; the despair changed to wondering awe; and then all the +suggestive by-play consequent upon his delivery by _Bunsby_ from the +impending _MacStinger_ vengeance;--all this, and much more than we can +describe, passes by like a panorama in memory. Burton's _Captain Cuttle_ +occupies a conspicuous place in the gallery of famous dramatic pictures, +and there it will long remain.[11] As we think of it in all the details +which made it so perfect an embodiment, it seems a pity that Dickens +himself never saw it. We can fancy that had he chanced to be in New York +when "Dombey and Son" was the theatrical sensation, and had dropped in +at Chambers Street, an auditor all unknown, he would have made his way +behind the scenes, and to Burton's dressing-room, and with both hands +would have grasped the comedian's hook and enthusiastically shaken it. + +[11] Ireland, in referring to certain qualities of Burton's acting, +says: "While in homely pathos, and the earnest expression of blunt, +uncultivated feeling, he has rarely been excelled. His grief at the +supposed death of Walter Gay, or poor Wally, as Captain Cuttle +affectionately called him, was one of the most touching bits of acting +ever witnessed, and has wrung tears from many an unwilling eye." + +"The Serious Family" and "The Toodles"! What memories of joyous, +laughing hours the names awaken! Never, we venture to say, were +playhouse audiences regaled with so surpassing a feast of mirth +as that spread by Burton in his performance of those renowned +specialities--_Aminadab Sleek_ and _Timothy Toodles_. No comedian, we +believe, of whom we have any record, excelled those efforts in variety +of mimetic effect, facial expression, and display of comic power. That +in them the extreme limit of humorous demonstration was reached, the +public generally acknowledged. The two plays had their regular nights, +and thousands flocked, week after week, to the banquet of jollity, +all unsatisfied, though again and again they had revelled there. No +greater contrast could be offered an audience than that presented by +the two pieces of acting. The sanctimonious and lugubrious _Sleek_; the +effusive and rubicund _Toodles_! Coming one after the other, in every +way so different, the instance of versatility made a deep impression, +and prompted a thought on the flexibility of human genius. We are +reminded at this moment of an incident which occurred one evening in +connection with "The Serious Family," which added an unexpected feature +to the entertainment. Burton did not appear in the first piece, and the +audience, eager for _Aminadab_, were glad when the orchestra ceased. +But the prompter's bell did not tinkle. After a pause the orchestra +played again, and again finished. Still no bell. Signs of impatience +began, and as the delay continued the hubbub increased. An attempt on +the part of the musicians to fill the gap was received with evident +displeasure. At last, when nearly half an hour had elapsed, the bell +sounded, and the curtain rose on the familiar group of _Sleek_, _Lady +Creamly_, and _Mrs. Torrens_. Applause broke out all over the house; +but with it were mingled a few ill-humored hisses. Burton left his +place at the table and came forward to the foot-lights. There he stood +in the well-known suit of pepper and salt, the straight gray hair +framing the solemn visage of _Sleek_. Then, in his own proper voice, +he explained the cause of the delay--a mishap of travel,--expressed +his regret, and begged the indulgence of the audience. A storm of +approval followed his speech, in the midst of which he resumed his +place, instantly assuming his character; and as the applause died +away another voice succeeded, the voice of _Sleek_, in nasal tone, +saying: "We appeal to the disciples of true benevolence, and the doers +of good deeds, without distinction of politics or party," etc. The +effect of the transition was irresistible; and the loss of time was +forgotten in the gain of a new delight. And now another story of "The +Serious Family" comes to mind, and it is too good to be lost. Playing +in Atlanta, Georgia, he found a wretched theatre, without appointments +or properties. At the conclusion of the overture the prompter ran to +Burton with the announcement that there was no bell to ring up the +curtain. "Good gracious, what a place! Here, my lad," he said to a +little fellow who acted as call-boy, "run out and get us a bell--any +thing will do--a cow bell, if you can't get any thing better." Away +went the boy, the orchestra vainly endeavoring to quiet the audience +with popular airs. Back came the boy, pale and breathless, gasping out: +"There ain't a bell in the whole town, sir!" + +"What's to be done now?" asked the prompter. + +"Shake the thunder!" No sooner said than done. Up went the curtain, and +"The Serious Family" commenced amidst the most terrific peal heard in +that theatre for many a year. + + [Illustration: MR. BURTON AS AMINADAB SLEEK.] + +It goes without saying that Burton's _Sleek_ and _Toodles_, especially +the latter, though founded on another's outlines, were so built upon and +humorously amplified, that in diverting dramatic effect they were +clearly his own creations, and owed their importance to the impress of +the actor's transforming power. When we read "The Serious Family" as +written by Morris Barnett, clever though it be, we see at once where the +author ends and the actor begins; and as for "The Toodles," it is +sufficient to say that the _Timothy Toodles_ of Burton was never dreamed +of by the playwright. + +How shall we describe to those who were born too late to witness them, +these famous performances of the great comedian? We feel that all +description must fail in giving any idea of the infinite variety and +scope of comic humor they exhibited. We might, indeed, for they are +vivid in remembrance, take our readers through the many scenes, and show +them _Sleek_, from the entrance of _Captain Maguire_, in the first act, +to Burton's enraged exit in the last; picturing, as we go, the +situations without parallel in droll device and mirth-moving +complication; show them _Toodles_, from his arraignment of _Mrs. +Toodles_ for her multifarious and preposterous bargains, not forgetting +the _door-plate_ of _Thompson_--_Thompson_ with a _p_--nor "he had a +brother,"--to his inimitable tipsy scene and the memorable soliloquy, +"That man reminds me";--but, however exhaustive the relation in words, +after all was said, we should still hopelessly leave the effect to be +guessed at with the help of imagination. + +We have thus endeavored to give impressions from memory of certain parts +in which Burton was specially famous; and they seem to us, on account of +their versatility and range of humorous spirit, to be conspicuous +examples of that varied power which led us to style the comedian an +expounder of the Humor of the Drama in all its aspects. If the sojourn +on earth of old Robert Burton was intended to give the world an "Anatomy +of Melancholy," surely the mission of the later Burton was to lay bare +the whole body of mirth. + + + MR. BURTON IN COMEDY AND SHAKESPEARE. + +As we think of the many parts in which it was our good fortune to +see Mr. Burton, we are led into a reflection on the surprising +versatility displayed by them; and we question whether the record +of any comedian embraces a repertory so extensive, so varied, and +so distinguished for general ability. The performances we are about +to recall, though exhibiting many humorous features in common, were +each a distinct conception; and the execution of each was a dramatic +portrait by itself, artistic in measure, faithful in delineation, and +felicitous in the expression of points of character. The Burtonian +element--in the shape of by-play, gesture, accent, facial device, +mimetic effect--was visible in the composition, as a matter of course, +contributing to the picture's expansion, deepening its tints and +emphasizing its characteristics,--added touches that were the actor's +stamp and sign-manual. We have cited _Sleek_ and _Toodles_ as strongly +contrasting parts, and so indeed they were; but we might easily adduce +instances of versatility quite as striking, and would do so were it not +more than likely that they will appear to our readers as our memories +progress. It is said that the celebrated William Farren used to style +himself a "cock salmon," the only fish of his kind in the market; and +if unique dramatic distinction lies in that piscatorial image, most +assuredly Mr. Burton was a cock salmon of the first water. + +We cannot hope to remember every thing we saw Mr. Burton play, yet we +think our recollection will embrace a fair array of those characters in +comedy and divers pieces which he alone in his generation seemed +adequately to fill, and which were such a boon of delight to the +audiences of long ago. + +There was his _Micawber_, in the dramatization of "David Copperfield," +which succeeded "Dombey and Son,"--equal to if not surpassing his +_Cuttle_; an inimitable reproduction of the novelist's creation, full of +humorous point, and sustained with an indescribable airy complacence and +bland assumption of resource, that made it a perfect treat to lovers of +Dickens; and those who saw "David Copperfield" may well rejoice, for +they hold in memory Burton's _Micawber_, Johnston's _Uriah Heep_, and +Mrs. Hughes' _Betsy Trotwood_! + +There was _Bumble_, the beadle, in "Oliver Twist," a very funny piece of +acting, and especially so in the well-known scene with _Mrs. Corney_, +where, in excess of tenderness, he tells her that "any cat, or kitten, +that could live with you ma'am, and _not_ be fond of its home, must be a +ass ma'am." And then when the matron is called away and the beadle +remains, his proceedings are described by Dickens thus: "Mr. Bumble's +conduct on being left to himself was rather inexplicable. He opened the +closet, counted the teaspoons, weighed the sugar-tongs, closely +inspected the silver milk-pot to ascertain that it was of the genuine +metal, and, having satisfied his curiosity on these points, put on his +cocked hat cornerwise, and danced with much gravity four distinct times +round the table. Having gone through this very extraordinary +performance, he took off the cocked hat again, and spreading himself +before the fire with his back toward it, seemed to be mentally engaged +in taking an exact inventory of the furniture." We deem it enough to say +that Mr. Burton's management of the foregoing "business" left nothing to +be desired. + +We may note, in the mention of "Oliver Twist," that _Nancy Sykes_ was +played by the late Fanny Wallack, with a fidelity of purpose and a +pathetic abandon that made it painful to witness. + +To continue with Dickens: there were _Squeers_ and _Sam Weller_, both +capital in their way--the last, however, lacking, as it seemed to us, in +true Wellerian flavor; but the _Squeers_ was marked by an appreciative +recognition of the schoolmaster's grim traits; and the scene at +_Dotheboys Hall_ was admirably given; Mrs. Hughes, as _Mrs. Squeers_, +"made up" to the life, and irresistible in her distribution of the +treacle. + +All these portraits from the pages of Dickens were so many meritorious +presentments of the novelist's creations, and would have won enduring +fame for an actor of smaller calibre; the truth is, in Mr. Burton's +case, that his _Bumble_, _Squeers_, and _Weller_ were but dimly seen, +owing to the greater glory of his _Cuttle_ and _Micawber_. + +We saw Mr. Burton as _Bob Acres_, in "The Rivals"; as _Tony Lumpkin_, in +"She Stoops to Conquer"; as _Goldfinch_, in "The Road to Ruin"; as +_Doctor Ollapod_, in "The Poor Gentleman"; as _Sir George Thunder_, in +"Wild Oats"; as _Job Thornberry_, in "John Bull"; as _Sir Oliver +Surface_, in "The School for Scandal"; as _Graves_, in Bulwer's "Money"; +as the _Mock Duke_, in "The Honeymoon"; as _Adam Brock_, in "Charles +XII."; as _Van Dunder_, in "The Dutch Governor"; as _John Smith_, in +"Nature's Nobleman"; as _Mr. Sudden_, in "The Breach of Promise"; as +_Thomas Trot_, in "Paris and London"; as _Don Ferolo Whiskerandos_, in +"The Critic" of Sheridan; as _Triplet_, in "Masks and Faces";--certainly +a gallery of dramatic portraits that would put to the test the highest +order of ability; and we feel bound to say that Burton passed the ordeal +well deserving the encomiums that were bestowed upon his efforts. It +would be too much to expect that all these delineations were even in +points of conception and execution; yet all were entitled to respectful +consideration, and many were masterpieces. We will endeavor to go +through them briefly, in remembrance of the happy hours we owe to their +joyous influence. + +The recent appearance of Jefferson as _Bob Acres_ has aroused a new +interest in the character, and from all accounts the performance was +more than equal to expectation, and has enhanced the reputation of the +comedian. We hope to have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Jefferson in due +time, and we fancy that his acting of _Acres_ would refresh somewhat our +recollection of Burton in the part. As it is, however, we cannot vouch +for a clear memory of Burton's _Acres_. We saw it but once, and then +early in life, when we were new to the theatre; and all we seem to +remember is that he was very funny with his curl papers, and his +"referential or allegorical swearing," and that the duel scene was very +amusing. It was the opinion of Hazlitt that Sheridan overdid the part, +and accordingly he goes on to say: "It calls for a greater effort of +animal spirits and a peculiar aptitude of genius in the actor to go +through with it, to humor the extravagance, and to seem to take a real +and cordial delight in caricaturing himself." This criticism is not +without force; but whatever may have been Burton's conception, we are +certain that a bright intelligence informed it, and that in the +portrayal a requisite display of "animal spirits" was not lacking. If, +among the audience that greeted Jefferson, there chanced to be any old +play-goers of tenacious memory who had seen Burton, let us hope that +they improved the occasion by pleasant reminiscence. + +_Tony Lumpkin_ was a very comic piece of acting, and made the people +laugh immoderately; but we confess that the character has little charm +for us. Burton used to sing the song of "The Three Jolly Pigeons" (in +the ale-house scene) with more expression than melody; but he threw into +it a great deal of frolic spirit and made it quite a feature. + +In our youthful days, when witnessing "The Road to Ruin," we knew very +well the moment when we should hear the voice of _Goldfinch_ outside; +and we remember his bustling entrance, in sporting frock, buff waiscoat, +and top boots, whip in hand, and his rattling flow of horse-talk; his +strut and his "that's your sort!" It is said that Lewis, of Covent +Garden, (the original _Goldfinch_,) "gave to that catch-phrase a variety +of intonation which made it always new and effective"; and Burton +certainly played upon it adroitly. His delivery of the text was full of +point and animation, and his articulation admirable. "Why, you are a +high fellow, Charles," says _Harry Dornton_. "To be sure!" replies +_Goldfinch_, "know the odds--hold four-in-hand--turn a corner in +style--reins in form--elbows square--wrist pliant--hayait!--drive the +Coventry stage twice a week all summer--pay for an inside place--mount +the box--tip the coachy a crown--beat the mail--come in full +speed--rattle down the gateway--take care of your heads!--never killed +but one woman and a child in all my life--that's your sort!" We hear +Burton's voice, we see his face and his gestures now! + +We were always fond of Colman's "Poor Gentleman," and we took great +delight in seeing Burton as _Doctor Ollapod_. As all know, the +character affords wide scope for diverting treatment. The incidents are +many and droll--and we think Burton turned every thing to the best +account. Henry Placide played the part more artistically; but it was not +possible for him to expound its humorous nature with the richness that +came easily to Burton. We never think of Colman's comedy without a +feeling of grateful pleasure; for its representation at various times +gave us Burton and Placide as _Ollapod_; Burton as _Sir Robert Bramble_; +Dyott, as _Worthington_; Mrs. Hughes as _Lucretia McTab_; and Johnston +as _Humphrey Dobbins_. + +We have referred in another place to _Sir George Thunder_ and _Job +Thornberry_; and we need not dwell upon them further than to say that +both gave glimpses of that versatile power to which we have alluded, and +both were full of the comedian's characteristic ability. + +We suppose that _Sir Oliver Surface_ would not be deemed a part exactly +in Mr. Burton's "line"; and yet, as we remember it, he invested the +character with a simple dignity, and played it with manly directness and +feeling. + +Our memory of _Mr. Graves_ and the _Mock Duke_ is dim and distant; but +if our readers desire another example of versatility, we commend the two +parts as furnishing a most conspicuous instance. + +We have never seen "Charles XII." and "The Dutch Governor" since we saw +Burton as _Adam Brock_ and _Van Dunder_; but we assure the play-goers of +to-day that the dramas were well worth seeing long ago when Liston +played in them, and equally so when his great successor appeared in them +at a later period. Burton rarely played _Adam Brock_, and we cannot +remember seeing it more than once, when it impressed us greatly. "The +Dutch Governor," on the contrary, was a favorite attraction at the +Chambers Street Theatre, and Burton's _Van Dunder_ was a rich feast of +mirthful enjoyment. + +Pardey's "Nature's Nobleman," purporting to be an American comedy, was +first produced at Burton's in 1851. The prologue, which was spoken by +the manager, contained these lines: + + "The drama languishes. Let us detect-- + Polonius-like--the cause of this defect! + 'Tis certain that the sprightliest tongue must fail + To win attention to an 'oft-told tale.' + We cannot, ever, with 'crook'd Richard' fight, + Or weep with Desdemona every night; + And even cloying is the luscious sack, + If we too often sip with 'burly Jack'; + Nor, every week, will people take the trouble + To witness Hecate's cauldron hiss and bubble; + Nor can we, as we have done, hope to draw + Still on the Rivals or the Heir-at-Law. + We've seen shy 'Jack' his father's anger rouse; + We've heard Lord Dowlas 'tutored' by his spouse. + Old English comedy should now give way; + It has, like Acres' 'dammes,' had its day. + Hang up bag wigs--our study now should be + The men and the moustachios that we see. + Let us some pictures of the time provide; + Let the pen practically be applied." + +Whether or no the comedy gave us "the men and the moustachios that we +see," or provided "some pictures of the time," we shall not pretend to +say;--one would think so, since Blake, Burton, Bland, Dyott, Mrs. +Hughes, Mary Taylor, Miss Weston, and Caroline Chapman were in the +cast,--but, at all events, it gave us Burton's _John Smith_, which was +well worth a journey to see. _John Smith_ is "gentleman" to the _Earl of +Leamington_ (Dyott), who is making an American tour. The _Earl_ gives +his attendant a two-months' holiday to enjoy himself; and _Smith_, +having dressed within an inch of his life, is taken for the _Earl_, and +yields to the temptation to pass himself off as such. Out of this +complication arise situations ludicrous in the extreme, through which +Burton moved, the dispenser of mirth without end. His "make-up," his +air, his self-sufficiency, his ignorance,--of which he is grotesquely +unconscious,--his blundering malapropos speeches, his frequent social +collapses and absurd attempts at recovery, his facial expression at +mental mishap and irresistible by-play consequent, his constant display +of mimetic power, his voice, look, manner,--all together made a picture +of varied humor, which kept the house in hearty laughter from his +entrance to the curtain's fall. + +_Mr. Sudden_, in Buckstone's "Breach of Promise," was still another of +those peculiar parts upon which Burton lavished his supreme gift of +humor; and we owe to its diverting exposition many a gladsome hour. + +Funny, too, beyond measure, were _Thomas Trot_ and _Don Whiskerandos_; +we see the first in the many comic incidents during the voyage from +Paris to London; and we see _Don Whiskerandos_ "quit this bustling +scene" by rolling himself with marvellous celerity out of sight in the +folds of the stage carpet. + +We have reached the end of our string, with the exception of _Triplet_, +and should love to linger in description on the blended humor and pathos +of the impersonation. Let it suffice that not even Mr. Fisher's +admirable presentment can dim the recollection of Burton's masterly +delineation. + +And now let us in our remaining space recall our memories of the +Shakespearian parts in which we saw the great actor. + +"A Midsummer-Night's Dream" was produced at Burton's in 1854, and the +manager played _Bottom_. We well remember with what delight the play was +received, and what a marked sensation was created by the scenery and +stage effect. The public wondered how so much could be presented on so +small a stage, and its accomplishment was a theme of general admiration. +The fairy element was made a beautiful feature, and the spirit of poetry +brooded over the whole production. The unanimity of the press in its +encomiums on the revival was remarkable; and no more emphatic +recognition of Burton's appreciation and knowledge of Shakespeare could +be given than was expressed in that approving accord. + +As we think of it now, it seems to us that Burton's idea of _Bottom_ was +the true one, and we enjoyed the performance immensely. It is very easy +to make the character a sort of buffoon; but nothing, of course, was +further than that notion from Burton's conception. Mr. Richard Grant +White gives, in his "Shakespeare's Scholar," an admirable analysis of +_Bottom's_ characteristics, and at the close remarks: "As Mr. Burton +renders the character, its traits are brought out with a delicate and +masterly hand; its humor is exquisite." We remember his acting in the +scene where the artisans meet for the distribution of parts in the play +to be given before the _Duke_;--how striking it was in sustained +individuality, and how finely exemplified was the potential vanity of +Bottom. With what ingrained assurance he exclaimed: "Let me play the +lion too; I will roar, that it will do any man's heart good to hear me; +I will roar, that I will make the duke say, _Let him roar again, let him +roar again!_" He was capital, too, in the scene of the rehearsal, and in +his translation; and the love scene with _Titania_ aroused lively +interest. What pleased us greatly was the vein of engaging raillery +which ran through his delivery of the speeches to the fairies, _Cobweb_, +_Peas-blossom_, and _Mustard-seed_. It goes without saying, that as +_Pyramus_ in the tragedy Burton created unbounded amusement, and +discharged the arduous part of the ill-starred lover with entire +satisfaction to everybody. + +_Sir Toby Belch_, in "Twelfth Night," was one of Burton's richest +performances, and we remember it with the greatest pleasure. It was +characterized by true Shakespearian spirit, and was acted with an +animation and unctuous humor quite impossible to describe. The scene of +the carousal wherein _Sir Toby_ and _Aguecheek_ are discovered; the +arrival of the Clown with his "How, now, my hearts? Did you never see +the picture of we three?" and _Belch's_ greeting of "Welcome, +ass,"--inaugurated an episode of extraordinary mirth, in which Burton +moved the absolute monarch of merriment. The duel scene and the scene in +the garden, when _Malvolio_ reads the letter, were full of the +comedian's diverting power; and we can recall no single instance of +humorous execution which more perfectly fulfilled all conditions. + +Burton played _Touchstone_ and _Dogberry_, as has been mentioned; but it +was never our good fortune to see him in either. We saw him as +_Caliban_, in "The Tempest"; as _Autolycus_, in "Winter's Tale"; and as +_Falstaff_, in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." His _Caliban_ we have tried +to forget rather than remember; it terrified us and made us dream bad +dreams; but for all that, we know that it was a surprising +impersonation. His _Autolycus_ was a model of oily roguery, and another +instance of that wondrous versatility of genius with which the comedian +was endowed. Very dim in memory is Burton's _Sir John Falstaff_. We +remember the scene in the Garter Inn, and the letters to the merry +wives, and, of course, the _dénouement_ of the clothes-basket, and the +frolic at Herne's Oak,--but we cannot go into detail; and we always +thought we should like Burton so much better in the _Falstaff_ of "Henry +IV." The mention of "Henry IV." reminds us that it was once produced at +the Chambers Street Theatre, when Hackett played _Sir John_ to Lester +Wallack's _Prince Hal_; and in order that nothing might be lacking in +honor to Shakespeare, Burton and Blake played the two _Carriers_ in +Scene I. of Act II. Fancy those two comedians with about twenty-five +lines only between them in a play of five acts! But they must have +covered themselves with glory. + +We have endeavored in this retrospect to furnish a view of the comedian +in a number of characters; and we think, however meagre our account, it +still forcibly indicates the scope and range of Burton's abilities, and +exhibits him in a wide scene of varied and striking dramatic power. We +have depicted him in farce, in comedy, and in Shakespearian +delineations; and it is not too much to say that generations will likely +pass ere his fellow shall appear. We have heard and read of attempts +being made by ambitious actors to revive his masterpieces, and that the +efforts were highly commendable. Perhaps they were-- + + "A substitute shines brightly as a king + Until a king be by." + + + + + MR. BURTON'S LIBRARY. + + "My library was dukedom large enough."--SHAKESPEARE. + + + + + MR. BURTON'S LIBRARY. + + +Mr. Burton resided at No. 174 Hudson Street, New York, and owned also a +beautiful country-seat at Glen Cove, Long Island, now the property of +Mr. S. L. M. Barlow. In a building adjoining his Hudson Street +residence, and connected therewith by a conservatory gallery, were +contained his magnificent library, treasures of art, and precious +relics. Scholars, actors, and men of art and letters were frequent +visitors there, and the owner took a laudable pride in displaying his +matchless collection. + +A very interesting story of the painter Elliot may be told in this +connection. He was often a visitor, and the striking resemblance between +the artist's head and the accepted bust of Shakespeare was a matter of +common observation. On one occasion, on being shown by Burton a choice +Shakespearian acquisition, he became intensely interested, and quietly +seated himself in a study-chair the better to examine the prize. +"Meantime," says our narrator, "Burton and myself were engaged in other +parts of the house, and at last we came back to the library. Burton +looked through the door, and placing one hand on his mouth, he put the +other on my chest, and thus held me back. I shall never forget his +singular look at the moment. There sat Elliot at the table, dressed in a +suit of plain black, his hand supporting his cheek, and his eyes intent +upon the book. The evening light from the ceiling fell softly upon his +high and delicately formed forehead; just over him was an exact copy of +the effigy which marks the great dramatist's grave. The resemblance, or +the hallucination, for the moment was complete, and Burton, with eyes +fairly dilating with admiration and astonishment, said: 'Shakespeare +living again! Was there ever such a resemblance?'" + +It has been thought appropriate to include in this volume a description +of the library, from the pen of James Wynne, M.D., who in 1860 published +an account of his visits to various private libraries in New York, and +Mr. Burton's was among the number. At the time of Mr. Burton's death the +collection was probably larger, Dr. Wynne's visit having been made at a +much earlier date than the publication of his volume. Every lover of +Shakespeare, we think, will thank us for enriching this book with a +description of that matchless library. + + + WM. E. BURTON'S LIBRARY. + +Mr. Burton's library contains nearly sixteen thousand volumes. Its +proprietor had constructed for its accommodation and preservation a +three-story fire-proof building, about thirty-five feet square, which is +isolated from all other buildings, and is connected with his residence +in Hudson Street by a conservatory gallery. The chief library room +occupies the upper floor of this building, and is about twenty-five +feet in height. Its ceiling presents a series of groined rafters, after +the old English style, in the centre of which rises a dome sky-light of +stained glass. The sides of the library are fitted up with thirty-six +oak bookcases of a Gothic pattern, which entirely surround it, and are +nine feet in height. The space between the ceiling and the bookcases is +filled with paintings, for the most part of large size, and said to be +of value. Specimens of armor and busts of distinguished authors decorate +appropriate compartments, and in a prominent niche at the head of the +apartment, stands a full-length statue of Shakespeare, executed by Thom, +in the same style as the Tam O'Shanter and Old Mortality groups of this +Scotch sculptor. + +The great speciality of the library is its Shakespeare collection; but +although very extensive and valuable, it by no means engrosses the +entire library, which contains a large number of valuable works in +several departments of literature. + +The number of lexicons and dictionaries is large, and among the latter +may be found all the rare old English works so valuable for reference. +Three bookcases are devoted to serials, which contain many of the +standard reviews and magazines. One case is appropriated to voyages and +travels, in which are found many valuable ones. In another are upward of +one hundred volumes of table-talk, and numerous works on the fine arts +and bibliography. One bookcase is devoted to choice works on America, +among which is Sebastian Munster's "Cosmographia Novum Orbis Regionum," +published in folio at Basle in 1537, which contains full notes of +Columbus, Vespucci, and other early voyagers. Another department +contains a curious catalogue of authorities relating to _Crime and +Punishment_; a liberal space is devoted to _Facetiæ_ another to American +Poetry, and also one to Natural and Moral Philosophy. The standard works +of Fiction, Biography, Theology, and the Drama are all represented. + +There is a fair collection of classical authors, many of which are of +Aldine and Elzevir editions. Among the rarities in this department is a +folio copy of _Plautus_, printed at Venice in 1518, and illustrated with +wood-cuts. The true name of this writer was T. Maccius Plautus. He was +of humble origin, and is supposed to have once been a slave. He lived at +Rome about one hundred and eighty years before the beginning of the +Christian era, and wrote a number of plays which obtained great +celebrity in the time of their author, and continued to be looked upon +as models of this species of composition for many centuries after his +decease. Twenty of his plays are extant, which are distinguished for the +purity of their style and the exquisite humor of their characters, +although Horace blames him for the coarseness of his wit. Gellius, who +held him in much esteem, says that he was distinguished for his poetry +upon the stage at the time that Cato was for his eloquence in the forum. +The first edition of his works was printed at Venice, in 1472, by +Merula. The edition of 1518, in this collection, is so rare as not to +be mentioned by Brunet, De Bure, or Michael Mattaire. There is also a +folio edition of Sallust, published at Venice in 1511, with wood-cuts; +an excellent copy of Statius, published at Venice in 1498; and a +translation from the Greek of Plutarch into Latin by Guarini, of Verona, +surnamed Veronese, who was the first of a family celebrated for their +literary attainments, and who is frequently confounded with Battista +Guarini, the author of "Il Pastor Fido." Guarini Veronese was the +grammarian of his day, and a strong advocate for the preservation of the +Greek language in its purity. He was an assiduous student, and spent +considerable time at Constantinople in copying the manuscripts of the +best models in Grecian literature. Accompanied by his precious freight, +he set sail for Italy, but was shipwrecked, and lost all of his +laboriously acquired treasure, which produced such an effect upon him as +to change his hair from a dark color to white in a single night. The +world is indebted to him for the first edition of the "Commentaries" of +Servius on Virgil, and likewise for the recovery of a number of +manuscript poems of Catullus, which he found mouldering and almost +obliterated in a garret. With the assistance of his father, he applied +himself to the task of deciphering them, and, with the exception of a +few verses, reproduced them entirely. + +The collection is well supplied with editions of Virgil. In addition to +Ogilby's folio, with Hollar and Fairthorne's plates, is a choice copy of +the illustrated edition in three folio volumes, and the very rare +_fac-simile_ Florentine edition of 1741 (_Ex cod. Mediceo Laurentiano_). +This edition is now so scarce that a copy was recently sold in London +for fifty pounds sterling. + +The collection also contains a copy of the Vatican edition of Terence, +in Latin and Italian, after the text of Heinsius, with numerous +illustrations of ancient masks, etc., published at Rome in two folio +volumes in 1767; an excellent copy of the best edition of Suetonius, +with commentaries by Baraldi, printed in Roman letter at Paris in 1512; +"Titi Livii," published at Nuremberg in folio, in 1514, in its original +wood binding; Livy's Roman History, published in 1600--the first English +edition; "Diogenes Laërtius de Vitis et Dogmatibus Philosophorum," +published at Amsterdam in 1692; a vellum black-letter copy of Eusebius, +of the rare Venetian edition of 1483; Boëtius, published in 1570; the +two original editions of the eminent critic, Justus Lipsius; the Antwerp +edition of Seneca, published in 1570; the same work in folio, in 1613; +and Stephen's edition of Sophocles, published in 1518, which is an +admirable specimen of Greek typography. + +Among the Italian poets is a copy of Dante, in folio, published in 1497, +with most remarkable cuts; and the "Commentaries" of Landino, the most +highly valued of all the old commentators upon this poet; also an +excellent large-paper copy of Tasso, in the original text, with +Morghen's exquisite line engravings, published in 1820, in two folio +volumes. + +Cervantes appears to have been quite a favorite with the possessor of +this library, who has the excellent Spanish edition of 1738, with Van +der Gucht's beautiful plates and many inserted illustrations, in four +volumes; the quarto edition, published at La Hayé, in 1746, containing +thirty-one plates from Coypel's designs; Smollett's quarto edition of +1755, in two volumes, with plates by Grignion after designs by Hayman; a +folio edition by Shelton, with many curious engravings, published in +1652, besides several modern editions. + +In the historical department is a fine edition of Montfaucon's works in +twenty folio volumes, including the "Monarchie Française"; the original +edition of Dugdale's works, including the "Monasticon" with the old +designs; Boissardus's "Romanæ Urbis Antiquitates," in three volumes, +folio; and a large number of the old Chroniclers, in their earliest and +rarest editions. Among these latter are two copies of the very scarce +"Polychronicon," by Raulph Higden, the monk of Chester: the one in +black-letter folio, printed in 1495, by Wynkyn de Worde, is wanting in +the last page; the other, printed in 1527 by Peter Traveris, and +ornamented with wood-cuts, is in perfect order. Both of these volumes +have marginal notes, probably in the handwriting of the day. + +The collection is particularly rich in copies of original editions of +old English poetry, among which are the works of Samuel Daniel, 1602; +Sandy's Ovid, published in 1626; Lucan, by Sir Arthur Gorges, published +in 1614, noticed in Colin Clout, and personified as Alcyon in Spenser's +"Daphnaida"; "Arte of Englysh Poesie," with a fine portrait of Queen +Elizabeth, published in 1589; Quarle's works; Harrington's translation +of "Orlando Furioso," folio, published in 1591, with plates in +compartments; Sir W. Davenant's poems, published in quarto in 1651, with +an original poem in the author's handwriting, never published; copies +of the editions of 1613 and 1648 of George Wither's poems, and Chapman's +"Seven Bookes of the Iliad of Homer," published in 1598. + +This latter writer, who was born in Kent, in England, in 1559, was one +of the coterie formed by Daniel, Marlowe, Spenser, Shakespeare, and +others, and lived upon terms of great good-fellowship with England's +greatest bard. He had no mean reputation as a dramatic writer, and was, +besides, highly respected as a gentleman. His social position appears to +have been an excellent one, and his urbanity of manner such as to endear +him to all his friends. His intimate association with Shakespeare seems +to establish the fact that in his own day the great poet occupied a +prominent place in society, and was as duly appreciated in his own time, +as Johnson and Pope in theirs. A monument was planned and erected over +the remains of Chapman by his personal friend, Inigo Jones, on the south +side of St. George's in the Fields; but in the changes which have +disturbed the repose of those who were consigned to their last +resting-place in that burial-ground, the monument has been destroyed. + +This department possesses the black-letter folios of Chaucer in 1542 +(the first complete edition), that of 1561, and that of 1598, all of +which are now quite scarce; the folio editions of Milton of 1692 and +1695, possessing the old but characteristic engravings, as well as the +quarto edition in two volumes, published at the expense of the Earl of +Bath; Touson's edition of 1751, with plates; a large-paper copy of the +edition of 1802, which contains Westall's plates; and Martin's edition +of 1826, enriched by twenty-four original and beautiful engravings; +likewise the first folio edition of Spenser's "Fairy Queen," published +in 1609, and Fairfax's Tasso, published in 1624. + +Besides the works already noticed, are Sylvester's "Du Bartus"; Warner's +"Albion and England," published in 1586; "all the works of John Taylor, +the water-poet, being sixty and three in number," published in folio in +1630. This is a very rare work, and is said to have been sold for eighty +guineas. A similar work to this is the "Shype of Fools of the Worlde," +translated from Brandt, and published in black-letter folio, with many +wood-cuts, in 1509. A perfect copy of this work is very rare. The one in +the present collection is wanting in the title-page and two last +leaves.[12] Its price in the catalogue Anglo-Poetica, is one hundred +guineas. The copy of Taylor, in the collection, is a fine large one, and +handsomely bound. The real value of these two last volumes, in a +literary point of view, is perhaps not great, but still from their +peculiar associations they are highly prized by _bibliophiles_. Southey +says: "There is nothing in John Taylor which deserves preservation for +its intrinsic merit alone, but in the collection of his pieces which I +have perused there is a great deal to illustrate the manners of his age. +If the water-poet had been in a higher grade of society, and bred to +some regular profession, he would probably have been a much less +distinguished person in his generation. No spoon could have suited his +mouth so well as the wooden one to which he was born. Fortunately he +came into the world at the right time, and lived at an age when kings +and queens condescended to notice his verses, and archbishops admitted +him to their tables, and mayors and corporations received him with civic +honors."[13] + + [12] In the British Museum, and the _Bibliothèque Impériale_ at Paris, + are perfect copies of this work. + + [13] Southey's "Uneducated Poets," p. 87. + +There is a department of curiosities in the shape of odd or rare books, +which is quite interesting: among the works are the singular history of +M. Ouflé; the "Encyclopædia of Man," printed in English after the manner +of Hebrew publications, beginning at the close of the volume and reading +to the left; "Anteros," by Baptista Fulgosius, in quarto, published in +1496. This work, "Contre l'Amour," is said to be of extraordinary +rarity. Likewise the "Zodiacke of Life," published in 1588; a curious +manuscript in not very good Latin, with illuminated letters, upon the +Lord's Prayer and the Creed, by Hen. Custas, dated 1614; Memorable +Accidents and Massacres in France, in folio, published in 1598; a +singular black-letter Edict of Emperor Charles V., published in 1521; a +very singular Siamese work on the laws of marriage; Petri Bembi, with a +frontispiece by Hans Holbein, published in 1518; "Libri Exemplorum," by +Ric Pafradius, published in 1481; the original edition of "The Rogue; +or, Life of De Alfarache Guzman," folio, published in 1634, translated +by James Mabbe, otherwise known as Don Diego Puedesur. + +There is also a copy of the "Opera Hrosvite Illustris Virginis," +published in Nuremberg in 1501, in folio, bound in old wooden covers +with brass clamps. This work, which contains some wood-engravings equal +to etchings, probably the work of Durer, is fully described by Mengerand +in his "Esprit des Journaux"; Pisoni's "Historia," with engravings of +birds, animals, and fishes, that would excite the surprise of the +naturalist of the present day; "Novus Marcellus Doctrina," published at +Venice in 1476, on large paper, with colored initials; a curious folio, +manuscript history of the "Starre Chamber"; and Lithgow's "Rare +Adventures and Painful Peregrinationes," published in 1632, interlined +with the author's manuscript emendations, and evidently intended for a +new edition. This work is rare--the copy owned by King Charles brought +£42 at Jadis's sale. + +The collection has a large number of old Bibles, many thousand biblical +illustrations, a large number of other illustrated works, and many books +and prints especially devoted to the Cromwellian era of English life. + +The Shakespeare department contains many separate editions of the works +of the immortal bard, each of which is distinguished by some +peculiarity. First among these stand the four folios published in 1623, +1632, 1664, and 1685, with a number of the original quartos of separate +plays, illustrated copies, some of which belonged to able scholars, and +are enriched by their manuscript notes. + +Mr. Burton sought to possess every work that alludes to the early +editions of Shakespeare, or which serves in any way to illustrate the +text. Among these are to be found many of the original tracts, the +scarce romances, the old histories, and the rare ballads, upon which he +founded his wonderful plays, or which are alluded to in the text. The +collection contains the book alluded to by the quaint and facetious +_Touchstone_, in "As You Like It," by which the gallants were said to +quarrel with the various degrees of proof,--"the retort courteous, the +countercheck quarrelsome, and the lie direct"; the "Book of Good +Manners," the "Book of Sonnets" mentioned in the "Merry Wives of +Windsor," the "Book of Compliments," and the "Hundred Merry Tales"; and +Montaigne, translated by Florio, who is supposed by some to be the +Holofernes in "Love's Labor's Lost"; the edition of Holinshed, so +freely used by Shakespeare in his historical plays, with the lines +quoted by him underscored with red ink. + +Among the collected editions of Shakespeare is the first quarto, in +seven volumes, edited by Pope, which, besides having the reputation of +being the least reliable of any edition of Shakespeare's works, is +defaced by an engraving of King James I. of England, which the +publishers sought to palm upon the public as the likeness of the great +dramatist. It is engraved by Vertue from an original painting in the +Harleian collection, and does not possess the slightest resemblance to +any of the various portraits of Shakespeare. + +The collection contains a large-paper copy of Hanmer's beautiful quarto +edition, published in 1744, with Gravelot's etchings, which is now quite +rare; also, the reprint of the same work, made in 1770, and a fine copy +of the quarto edition, known as Heath's, in six volumes, with proof +plates after Stothard; a beautiful and undoubtedly unique copy of the +Atlas folio edition in nine volumes, published by Boydell in 1802, +elegantly bound and tooled with great richness of design. This copy was +selected by Boydell, with great care, for Miss Mary Nicol, sister of +George Nicol, printer to the king, and a relative of Boydell. It +contains proof impressions of the engravings, and an extra volume of +original etchings. This work was purchased at the sale of the Stowe +library. The certificates of Nicol and the librarian of the Duke of +Buckingham, testifying to the value and rarity of this picked specimen +of typography and engraving, are bound in the first volume of the work. +The collection contains Mr. Boydell's own private portfolio, with the +original etchings, artist's proof, and proof before letter, of every +engraving, with the portraits, now so difficult to meet with, of the +large elephant folio plates, upward of one hundred in number. + +But the crowning glory is a folio copy of Shakespeare, illustrated by +the collector himself, with a prodigality of labor and expense that +places it far above any similar work ever attempted. The letter-press of +this great work is a choice specimen from Nicol's types, and each play +occupies a separate portfolio. These are accompanied by costly +engravings of landscapes, rare portraits, maps, elegantly colored plates +of costumes, and water-color drawings, executed by some of the best +artists of the day. Some of the plays have over two hundred folio +illustrations, each of which is beautifully inlaid or mounted, and many +of the engravings are very valuable. Some of the landscapes, selected +from the oldest cosmographies known, illustrating the various places +mentioned in the pages of Shakespeare, are exceedingly curious as well +as valuable. + +In the historical plays, when possible, every character is portrayed +from authoritative sources, as old tapestries, monumental brasses, or +illuminated works of the age in well-executed drawings or recognized +engravings. There are in this work a vast number of illustrations, in +addition to a very numerous collection of water-color drawings. In +addition to the thirty-seven plays, are two volumes devoted to +Shakespeare's life and times, one volume of portraits, one volume +devoted to distinguished Shakespearians, one to poems, and two to +disputed plays,--the whole embracing a series of forty-two folio +volumes, and forming, perhaps, the most remarkable and costly monument +in this shape ever attempted by a devout worshipper of the Bard of Avon. + +The volume devoted to Shakespeare's portraits was purchased by Mr. +Burton at the sale of a gentleman's library, who had spent many years in +making the collection, and includes various "effigies" unknown to many +laborious collectors. It contains upward of one hundred plates, for the +most part proofs. The value of this collection may be estimated by the +fact that a celebrated English collector recently offered its possessor +£60 for this single volume. + +In the reading-room, directly beneath the main library, are a number of +portfolios of prints illustrative of the plays of Shakespeare, of a +size too large to be included in the illustrated collection just +noticed. There is likewise another copy of Shakespeare based upon +Knight's pictorial royal octavo, copiously illustrated by the owner; but +although the prints are numerous, they are neither as costly nor as rare +as those contained in the large folio copy. + +Among the curiosities of the Shakespeare collection are a number of +copies of the disputed plays, printed during his lifetime, with the name +of Shakespeare as their author. It is remarkable, if these plays were +not at least revised by Shakespeare, that no record of a contradiction +of their authorship should be found. It is not improbable that many +plays written by others were given to Shakespeare to perform in his +capacity as a theatrical manager, requiring certain alterations in order +to adapt them to the use of the stage, which were arranged by his +cunning and skilful hand, and that these plays afterward found their way +into print with just sufficient of his emendations to allow his +authorship of them, in the carelessness in which he held his literary +fame, to pass uncontradicted by him. + +There is a copy of an old play of the period, with manuscript +annotations, and the name of Shakespeare written on the title-page. It +is either the veritable signature of the poet or an admirably imitated +forgery. Mr. Burton inclined to the opinion that the work once belonged +to Shakespeare, and that the signature is genuine. If so, it is probably +the only scrap of his handwriting on this continent. This work is not +included in the list given of Ireland's library, the contents of which +were brought into disrepute by the remarkable literary forgeries of the +son, but stands forth peculiar and unique, and furnishes much room for +curious speculation. + +These forgeries form a curious feature in the Shakespeare history of the +last century. They were executed by William Henry Ireland, the son of a +gentleman of much literary taste, and a devoted admirer of Shakespeare. +Young Ireland, who was apprenticed to an attorney, possessed the +dangerous faculty of imitating the handwriting of another person with +such perfection as to deceive the most careful critic. His occupation +led him much among old records, by which means he acquired a knowledge +of the phraseology used in them, and the general appearance imparted by +age to the paper and ink, all of which he was enabled to imitate very +closely. + +His father's reverence for Shakespeare induced him to endeavor to palm +off upon himself and friends, probably at first as a good joke, some +originals of the great poet. One of these was a declaration of his faith +in the Protestant church, which, when shown to Dr. Parr, drew from this +great scholar the observation that, although there were many fine things +in the church service, here was a man who distanced them all. + +Mr. Boaden, a gentleman of great taste, states that when he first saw +these papers he looked upon them with the purest delight, and touched +them with the greatest respect, as veritable and indisputable relics. A +number of gentlemen met at Mr. Ireland's house, and after carefully +inspecting the manuscripts, subscribed a paper vouching their +authenticity. Among these were Dr. Parr, Dr. Valpy, Pye, the +Poet-Laureate, Herbert Croft, and Boswell. It is said that when Boswell +approached to sign the paper he reverentially fell upon his knees, +thanked God that he had witnessed the discovery, and, in the language of +Simeon, exclaimed: "_Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, in pace_." + +It was now too late for young Ireland to retreat, if he ever intended to +have done so, and the discovery of the imposture remained for Malone and +Chalmers fully to develop. The disclosure is said to have brought the +elder Mr. Ireland in sorrow to his grave, and to have bestowed upon the +young scapegrace, who, either thoughtlessly, or with malice +aforethought, had embittered the last years of the life of a tender +parent, the epithet (which clung to him ever afterward) of "Shakespeare +Ireland." + +The contemporaries of Shakespeare are quite numerous. In the cases +devoted to the old English drama are the original and best editions of +Chapman, Marston, Heywood, Dekker, Greene, Rowley, Massinger, Ford, +Jonson, and Field. Besides the original quartos, the library contains +most of the collected editions of the old dramatists, and in this +department it is quite complete. + +Three book-cases are devoted to works pertaining to the history of the +stage, in every country and language, from the commencement of the art +to the present time, and scarcely a work relating to the history, +progress, or criticism of the stage can be named which is not to be +found in the collection. + +A full-length statue of Shakespeare in freestone, placed in a niche upon +the northern side of the room, and surrounded by carved tracery of a +Gothic design, has already been noticed. Upon the eastern side the +Stratford bust is placed on a bracket of the age of Elizabeth. The +celebrated antiquary, Cottingham, devoted his personal attention to this +work, and no other copy has been given to the world. This bust, the +bracket upon which it rests, a curious old drinking-vessel of stone with +a metal lid, all found in the garden of Shakespeare's house at New +Place, a well-carved head of a Nubian girl, and the key-stone of an +entrance arch of the theatre at Pompeii, were purchased by the owner of +the present collection at the extensive sale of the personal effects of +Mr. Cottingham. + +There is also a beautifully carved tea-caddy, made from the wood of +Shakespeare's mulberry-tree, which formerly belonged to Garrick, and a +small copy of Roubilliac's statue of Shakespeare, which is the first +specimen of china-ware executed at Chelsea, in England. This likewise +belonged to Garrick. There are likewise two drinking-cups with silver +rims, said to be made of the wood of a crab-tree under which Shakespeare +slept during his celebrated frolic, formerly in the possession of +Betterton. + + + + + CONCLUSION. + + +IN depicting the career of William E. Burton as Actor, Author, and +Manager, we are aware of the secondary value of his authorship, as +compared with his dramatic achievements. Nevertheless, his pen was a +ready and fertile one, and produced much that was meritorious, though +belonging to an ephemeral order. His plays, however, continue in the +list of present theatrical publications. Of his editorship it may be +affirmed that his conduct of "The Gentleman's Magazine" and "Literary +Souvenir" was marked by taste and discrimination; and nothing but +unqualified praise can be bestowed upon his superintendence of the +compilation of humorous literature known as Burton's "Cyclopædia of Wit +and Humor." It is by far the most complete repository of mirthful +composition ever published in this country--or elsewhere, so far as we +know,--and enjoys the peculiar advantage of being the only one in which +the productions of American humor have any thing approaching an adequate +representation. The selections throughout are indicative of great +critical sagacity, and a keen perception and sympathetic appreciation, +in the general arrangement, are everywhere suggested. As manager he +certainly fulfilled all conditions, as we believe the relation of his +successes in that sphere will sufficiently attest. But whatever his +capacity in the vocations named, all is dwarfed by his transcendent +powers as a comedian. He is remembered, and will be remembered, not as +the author or manager, but as the great actor who swayed mankind with +his supreme gift of humor. Many of the creations of his genius went away +with him in death; and the traditions of his triumphs will long be +distinguished in dramatic annals. Lastly, we have seen him a +Shakespearian student and the possessor of a library perfectly glorious +in its expression of devotion and homage to the great poet,--and linked +with that proud association we leave his memory and his name. + + + + + INDEX. + + + Abbot, Mr., 14, 15 + + Abbott, Mrs., 97 + + "A Chapter of Accidents," song, 12 + + Albany, N. Y., 90, 101 + + "All at Coventry," 116 + + American Theatre, Phila., 20 + + "Amilie; or, The Love Test," 23 + + "An Alarming Sacrifice," 116 + + "Animal Magnetism," 112 + + "Antigone," 22 + + "Antony's Orations," 15 + + "An Unwarrantable Intrusion," 58 + + "Apollo in New York," 115 + + Arch Street Theatre, Phila., 9, 13, 26 + + Astor Place Opera-House, 97 + + "As You Like It," 97, 113 + + Atlanta, Ga., 155 + + + "Bachelors' Torments," 53 + + Balls, Mr., 15 + + Baltimore, Md., 26, 37 + + "Banker's Daughter," the, 132 + + "Barbers at Court," 116 + + Barlow, S. L. M., 179 + + Barnett, Morris, 98, 156 + + Barrett, Geo., 38, 45; + extended mention, 75, 76 + + Barry, Thos., 38 + + "Beehive," the, 115 + + "Betsey Baker," 116 + + Biddle, Nicholas, 24 + + Blake, W. R., 38, 45, 51; + extended mention, 51-55; + mention, 68, 72, 78, 92, 111, 169, 175 + + Bland, Humphrey, 45, 51; + extended mention, 74, 97, 169 + + "Blighted Being," a, 73 + + "Blue Devils," 112, 140 + + Booth, Edwin, 47, 101 + + Boston, Mass., 37, 102 + + Boston Theatre, 102 + + Boucicault, Dion, 47, 98, 101, 132 + + "Box and Cox," 114 + + "Breach of Promise," the, 94, 113, 163, 171 + + Broadway Theatre, 38; 67, note + + "Broken Heart," the, 114 + + Brooklyn, N. Y., 39 + + Brougham, Jno., 37, 45; + extended mention, 55-64, 71, 92, 149 + + Brougham's Lyceum, 60 + + Brougham, Mrs., 60 + + Buckland, Mrs. Kate, 45 + + Buckstone, J. B., 36, 131 + + Burton's Company in Chambers Street; + extended review of particular players, 45-92 + + "Burton's N. Y. Directory," 114 + + Burton's New Theatre, 88, 99, 100, 101, 102 + + Burton, Robert, 158 + + Burton's Theatre, Chambers Street, 27, 29, 34, 36, 39, 40, 42, + 44, 47, 56, 63, 74, 85, 88, 93, 97, 99, 149, 168, 169, 172, 175 + + Burton, Wm. Evans, subject of memoir, mention, preface; + birth and parentage, education, 3; + edits a monthly magazine, amateur acting, 4; + adopts the profession, first appearance in London, 5; + succeeds Listen at Haymarket, plays with E. Kean, 6; + his play of "Ellen Wareham," 7; + progress and arrival in America, 8; + first appearance in America, 9; + portrait by Inman, 9; + his success in Philadelphia, 9 _et seq._; + his musical talent, 12; + development and versatility, 13; + popularity and benefits, 14; + busy with pen, 16; + starts "The Gentleman's Magazine," 16; + connection with E. A. Poe, 16, 17; + letter to Poe, 18; + literary ventures, 19, 20; + President Martin Van Buren an auditor, 20; + amusing experience at Napoleon, 20 _et seq._; + speech for the author of "Antigone," 22; + first appearance in New York, 22; + sundry appearances, 23; + opens National Theatre, Phila.; produces "Naiad Queen"; + at Providence; manager in New York, 24; + loss by fire, 25; + returns to Philadelphia, 26; + survey of career in Phila., 27 _et seq._; + opens Chambers St. Theatre, 36; + energy and perseverance, 37; + charitable benefits, 38; + popularity of theatre, 39; + his power of attraction, 40, 41; + encomium of Jos. N. Ireland, 42, 43; + extended mention of members of company, 45-92; + produces "Dombey and Son," 56; + pleasantries with Brougham, 58; + stage incident, 59; + surprised by Thompson, 84; + amusing correspondence with Norton, 85, note; + relations with Mrs. Hughes, 88; + his attributes as manager, 95; + Shakesperian revivals, 95, 96; + plays for Dramatic Fund and Centenary Festival, 97, 98; + plays at Niblo's, 99; + closes Chambers St. and opens New Theatre, 99; + progress, 100; + plays _Dogberry_, appears in Albany, 101; + in Boston, 102; + New Theatre closed, starring tour, 102; + last appearance in New York, 103; + engagement in Canada, and letter to his children, 103-110; + last appearance on any stage, and death, 110; + list of parts acted, 111-117; + personal appearance, 121; + mental equipment, 122, 123; + an expounder and representative of the humor of the drama, 124, 125; + his comic power mentioned by Wemyss, 125; + his performances in farce, 123: + "The Mummy," 134 _et seq._; + _Madame Vanderpants_, 137 _et seq._; + "The Wandering Minstrel," _Pillicoddy_, 139. + His specially famous parts: + _Paul Pry_, 144 _et seq._; + _Captain Cuttle_, 148 _et seq._; + Ireland's tribute to _Cuttle_ 151, note; + Aminadab Sleek, 152 _et seq._; + stage incident of "Serious Family," 153; + ushered in with thunder, 155; + _Timothy Toodles_, 156 _et seq._ + His performances in comedy, 158 _et seq._: + _Micawber_, 160; + _Mr. Bumble_, 161; + _Squeers_, _Sam Weller_, 162; + _Bob Acres_, 164; + _Tony Lumpkin_, _Chas. Goldfinch_, 165; + _Dr. Ollapod_, 166; + _Sir. Geo. Thunder_, _Job Thornberry_ (see 59 and 68), 167; + _Sir Oliver Surface_, 167; + _Mr. Graves_, _Mock Duke_, _Adam Brock_, _Van Dunder_, 168; + "Nature's Nobleman," 168; + _John Smith_, 170; + _Mr. Sudden_, _Thomas Trot_, _Don Whiskerandos_, _Triplet_, 171. + His performances in Shakespeare: + "A Midsummer-Night's Dream," 171; + _Bottom_, 172 _et seq._; + _Sir Toby Belch_, 174; + _Caliban_, _Autolycus_, _Falstaff_, 175; + one of the _Carriers_ in "Henry IV.," 176. + His residence and library; story of the painter, Elliot, 179; + description of library, 181 _et seq._ + + Burton, Wm. Geo., father of subject, 3, 4 + + "Busybody," the, 117 + + + Campbell, Thos., 142 + + Carey & Hart, 20 + + "Caste," 132 + + Castle Garden, 98 + + "Catspaw," the, 114 + + Chambers Street Theatre (see Burton's Theatre, Chambers St.) + + Chapman, Caroline, 45; + extended mention, 60, 61 + + Chapman, Mr., 97 + + "Charles II.," 94, 116 + + "Charles XII.," 94, 116, 163, 168 + + Chatham Garden Theatre, 53 + + Chatham Theatre, 97 + + Chestnut Street Theatre, 13, 15, 26 + + Chippendale, Mr., 97 + + "Cinderella," 113 + + Clapp, W. W., preface. + + Clarke, C. W., 45 + + "Cockney," the, 116 + + Cole, John O., 90 + + Collins, John, 101 + + Colman, Geo. (the Younger), 9, 131, 167 + + "Comedy of Errors," 111 + + "Comfortable Lodgings," 116 + + Cooke's Circus Building, Phila., 24 + + Cooke, Geo. Fred., 126 + + "Cork Leg," the, song, 12 + + Covent Garden Theatre, 166 + + "Crimson Crimes," 116 + + "Critic," the, 113, 163 + + "Cupid," 14 + + "Cure for the Heartache," a, 69, 114 + + Curwen, Henry, 17, note + + Cushman, Charlotte, 24, 91, 97 + + Cushman, Susan, 24 + + + Daly, Augustin, 132 + + Daly's Theatre, 38 + + Dance, Chas., 65 + + "Dan Keyser de Bassoon," 36 + + "David Copperfield," 61, 62, 74, 88, 93, 113, 160 + + Davidge, Wm., 20, 21 + + Dawson, Mr., 38 + + "Deaf as a Post," 11, 14, 116 + + "Delicate Ground," 65 + + Devlin, Mary, 45, 46, 47 + + Dickens, Charles, 62, 63, 73, 122, 149, 152, 161, 162 + + "Dombey and Son," extended mention, 56, 60, 62, 63, + 88, 93, 112, 149, 152, 160 + + Don, Sir Wm., 98 + + Doran, Dr., 7, note + + "Duel in the Dark," a, 116 + + "Dutch Governor," the, 112, 163, 168 + + Dyott, Jno., 45, 71; + extended mention, 76, 77, 167, 169 + + + Edinburgh, Scotland, 127 + + "Education," 115 + + "Ellen Wareham," 7, 8, 115 + + Elliot, C. L., painter, incident, 179, 180 + + Elliston, R. W., 3, 11 + + Elphinstone, Miss, 10 + + Emerson, R. W., 69 + + "Every Man in His Humor," 75, 115 + + "Evil Genius," 112 + + + "False Pretences," 115 + + "Family Jars," 94, 115 + + Farren, Wm., 85, 159 + + "Fascination," 115 + + "First Night," the, 49 + + Fisher, Chas., 45, 55, 70, 76; + extended mention, 78-82, 171 + + Florence, Mrs. W. J., 45, 46, 47 + + Florence, W. J., 92 + + Ford's Theatre, Boston, 37 + + Forrest, Edwin, 38, 51, note + + "Forty Winks," 23, 111 + + "Fox Hunt," the, 98, 115 + + Francis, Jno. W., 126 + + "French Spy," the, 114 + + "Friend Waggles," 114 + + Front Street Theatre, Baltimore, 26 + + + "Genevieve," 115 + + George IV. (king), 5 + + Gilbert, Mrs., 38, 97 + + Gilbert, John, 55 + + "Giralda," 117 + + Glen Gove, L. I., 179 + + Glover, Mrs., 7, note + + "Good Night's Rest," a, 113 + + "Great Tragic Revival," a, 115 + + "Gretna Green," 114 + + "Guy Mannering," 113 + + + Hackett, James, 175 + + Hamblin, Thos., 97 + + Hamilton, Canada, 43, 88, 103 + + "Hamlet," 117 + + "Hamlet Travestie," 116 + + "Happiest Day of my Life," the, 94, 113, 140 + + "Haunted Man," the, 114 + + Haymarket Theatre, London, 6, 10 + + "Hazel Kirke," 132 + + Hazlitt, Wm., 125, 164 + + "Heart of Gold," 115 + + "Heir-at-Law," 13, 82, 87, 112 + + "Helping Hands," 115 + + "Henry IV.," 175 + + "High Life Below Stairs," 113 + + Hoey, Mrs. (see Mrs. Russell) + + Hoey, John, 46 + + Holland, Geo., 45, 49, 85 + + Holland House, 129 + + Holman, Geo., 45, 71, 85 + + Holmes, O. W., 93 + + "Home," 132 + + "Honeymoon," the, 74, 113, 163 + + Hood, Thos., 41, 130 + + Hough, Mrs., 45 + + "How to Die for Love," 15 + + "How to Make Home Happy," 94, 117 + + Hughes, Hon. Chas., 88 + + Hughes, Mrs., 45, 51; + extended mention, 87, 90, 102, 103, 139, 160, 162, 167, 169 + + "Hunchback," the, 74 + + Hunt, H., 38 + + Hunt, Mrs., 20 + + Hutton, Lawrence, preface; + mention, 35, 36, 62 + + "Hypocrite," the, 13, 116 + + + "Ill Playing with Edged Tools," 'Tis, 115 + + "Innkeeper's Daughter," the, 112 + + Inman, Henry, painter, 9 + + "Invisible Prince," the, 116 + + Ireland, Jos. N., preface; + mention, 28, 37, 39, 42, 101, 102, 103, 111, 151, note + + "Irish Dragoon," the, 36 + + "Janet Pride," 116 + + Jefferson, Jos. (1st), 11 + + Jefferson, Jos. (3d), 92, 101, 132, 142, 164 + + "John Bull," 59, 69, 77, 112, 163 + + "John Jones," 12, 14, 22, 110, 117 + + "John of Paris," 15 + + Johnston, T. B., 45; + extended mention, 61, 73, 92, 160, 167 + + Jonson, Ben, 75, 76 + + Jordan, Geo., 45, 71; + extended mention, 74, 75, 97 + + + Kean, Edmund, 6, 7, note, 142 + + Kemble, J. P., 141 + + Kent, England, 5 + + "Kill and Cure," 23, 114 + + "King's Gardener," the, 114 + + "Kiss in the Dark," a, 113 + + Knowles, J. Sheridan, 10 + + + "Ladies' Man," the, 12, 14, 116 + + "Lady of Lyons," the, 114 + + "Lancers," the, 115 + + "Last Man," the, 52 + + "Laughing Hyena," the, 112 + + "Laugh When You Can," 98, 115 + + Laura Keene's Theatre, 101 + + "Leap Year," 36, 112 + + "Led Astray," 132 + + "Lend Me Five Shillings," 116 + + Leonard and Church Sts. Theatre, 24 + + Lester, J. W. (see Lester Wallack) + + Lewis, W. T., 166 + + Library, Mr. Burton's, 181 _et seq._ + + "Life Among the Players," 114 + + List of Characters, 111-117 + + Liston, J., 6, 11, 41, 125, 144, 168 + + "Little Toddlekins," 84 + + "Loan of a Lover," 113 + + London, England, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 17, note, 41 + + "London Assurance," 113 + + Longfellow, H. W., 124 + + "Lottery Ticket," the, 5, 8, note, 9, 14, 113 + + "Love Chase," the, 113 + + "Love in a Village," 114 + + "Love in Humble Life," 114 + + "Love in a Maze," 116 + + "Lucia di Lammermoor," 33 + + "Lucy Did Sham Amour," 36 + + + "Macbeth," 117 + + "Macbeth Travestie," 114 + + Macready, W. C., 37 + + "Maidens, Beware," 36 + + Malvina, Miss (see Mrs. W. J. Florence) + + "Man of Many Friends," 116 + + "Married an Actress," 115 + + "Married by Force," 115 + + "Married Life," 13, 113 + + "Masks and Faces," 81, 112, 163 + + Mathews, Chas. (elder), 3 + + Mathews, Chas. (younger), 45, 46, 84, 131 + + Maywood & Co. (managers), 9, 13 + + Mechanics Hall, Hamilton, Canada, 110 + + "Merchant of Venice," the, 13, 98, 112 + + "Merry Wives of Windsor," the, 77, 84, 95, 111, 175 + + Metropolitan Theatre (see Burton's New Theatre) + + "Midnight Watch," the, 114 + + "Midsummer-Night's Dream," a, 75, 76, 80, 95; + extended mention, 96, 112, 171 + + "Miller's Maid," the, 83 + + "Mind Your Own Business," 117 + + Mississippi River, 20 + + Mitchell, Maggie, 97 + + "Money," 113, 163 + + "Mormons," the, 115 + + Morton, J. M., 131 + + "Mrs. Bunbury's Spoons," 117 + + "Much Ado About Nothing," 13, 114 + + "Mummy," the, 14, 112; + extended mention, 134 _et seq._ + + Munden, J. W., 11, 54 + + "My Awful Dad," 67 + + "My Fellow Clerk," 116 + + "My Wife and Umbrella," 115 + + + "Naiad Queen," the, 24, 25, 113 + + Napoleon, town, 20, 21, 22 + + National Theatre, Leonard St., N. Y., 22, 23 + + National Theatre, Phila. (formerly Cooke's Circus), 24 + + "Nature's Nobleman," 114, 163; + extended mention, 168 _et seq._ + + Neilson, Adelaide, 80 + + "New Way to Pay Old Debts," a, 116 + + New York, 3, 11, note, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, + 42, 43, 47, 53, 55, 63, 67, 71, 88, 91, 98, 101, 103, 148, 152, 179 + + "New York in Slices," 36 + + Niblo's Garden, 23, 99, 103 + + "Nice Young Man," a, 115 + + "Nicholas Nickleby," 83, 85, 93, 113 + + Norton, W. H., 45, 71, 85; + correspondence with Burton, 85, note + + Norwich, England, 5 + + "No Song No Supper," 14 + + "Not So Bad As We Seem," 117 + + "Now-a-days," 114 + + + "Old Guard," the, 49 + + "Old Heads and Young Hearts," 115 + + "Oliver Twist" (play), 93, 113, 160, 161 + + Olympic Theatre, London, 41, 85 + + Olympic Theatre, N. Y., 38, 97 + + "One-Hundred-Pound Note," 116 + + "Ours," 132 + + "Our Set," 115 + + + Palmo, Ferdinand, 33 + + Palmo's Opera-House, 27, 33 + + Pardey, H. O., 168 + + "Paris and London," 49, 113, 163 + + Park Theatre, 23, 25, 37, 38, 39 + + Parsloe, C., Jr., 45, 85, 86 + + Parsons, Thos. Wm., poem of, 47, 48 + + "Patrician and Parvenu," 23, 117 + + "Paul Pry," 50, 72, 94, 113; + extended mention, 144 _et seq._ + + Pavilion Theatre, London, 6, 9 + + "Peep from the Parlor Windows," 114 + + Pelham, Miss, 10 + + Perry, H. A., 98 + + Phelps, H. B., preface, 89 + + Philadelphia, 9, 10, 11, 12, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 34, 35, 37 + + "Pickwickians," the, 94, 113 + + Placide, Henry, 24, 38, 45; + extended mention, 48 _et seq._, 51, note, 92, 111, 147, 167 + + Placide, Thomas, 24 + + "Player's Plot," 115 + + "Pleasant Neighbors," 114 + + "Ploughman Turned Lord," a, 83 + + "Pocahontas; or, The Gentle Savage," 64 + + Poe, E. A., 16, 19 + + Poole, John, 144 + + "Poor Gentleman," the, 9, 13, 53, 72, 73, 77, 82, 87, 111, 162, 166 + + "Poor Pillicoddy," 112 + + "Poor Scholar," the, 115 + + Povey, Jno., 38 + + Power, Tyrone, 14 + + "Pride Must Have a Fall," 115 + + "Prince's Frolic," the, 114 + + Providence Theatre, 24 + + + "Raising the Wind," 36, 116 + + Raymond, J. T., 92, 132, 142 + + Raymond, Miss, 45 + + Raymond, O. B., 61 + + Rea, Mrs., 45 + + Recollections of Burton's acting, 121-176 + + Reeve, John, 14 + + "Rent Day," the, 114 + + "Review," the, 113 + + Richings, Peter, 23, 38 + + "Rip Van Winkle," 132 + + "Rivals," the, 9, 10, 13, 87, 99, 112, 162 + + "Road to Ruin," the, 13, 51, 54, 72, 74, 88, 112, 162, 165 + + "Robert Macaire," 112 + + Robertson, Agnes, 45, 46, 47, 90, 98 + + Robertson, T. W., 132 + + Robson, Stuart, 92 + + "Rosedale," 132 + + Rowe, Fawcett, 92 + + Russell, Mrs. (_née_ Shaw; Mrs. Hoey), 45, 46; + extended mention, 62, 63, note + + + Sandy Hill, N. Y., 90 + + Sartain, J., engraver, 9 + + "School," 132 + + "School for Grown Children," 115 + + "School for Scandal," the, 13; + cast of, 37, 113, 132, 163 + + "School for Tigers," a, 47, 73 + + "School of Reform," the, 82 + + "Secrets Worth Knowing," 114 + + "Self," 112 + + "Serious Family," the, 86, 94, 98, 112; + extended mention, 152 _et seq._; + incident, 153; + story, 155, 156 + + Setchell, D., 45, 101 + + Shakespeare, 29, 78, 96, 97, 100, 122, 123, 134, 172, 179, 180, 181, 182 + + Shaw, Miss (see Mrs. Russell) + + Shaw, Mrs., 38 + + Sheridan, R. B., 9, 64, 164 + + "She Stoops to Conquer," 13, 112, 132, 162 + + "Siamese Twins," the, 140 + + "Simpson & Co.," 113 + + Simpson, Edmund, 37 + + Skerrett, Mrs., 45 + + "Sketches in India," 14, 113 + + "Slasher and Crasher," 112 + + "Slave Actress," the, 115 + + Smith, Sydney, 129 + + "Socialism," 114 + + "Soldier's Daughter," the, 11, 94, 97, 116 + + Sophocles, 22 + + Sothern, E. A., 132, 142 + + Southwick, S., 90 + + "Spectre Bridegroom," the, 116 + + "Speed the Plough," 13 + + "Sphinx," the, 114 + + "Spitfire," the, 116 + + "Spring and Autumn," 23, 116 + + "Stag Hall," 115 + + "State Secrets," 112 + + "St. Cupid," 117 + + "Still Waters Run Deep," 75, 113 + + Stone, H. D., preface, 51, note + + St. Paul's School, 3 + + "Stranger," the, 113 + + "Such As It Is," 114 + + Sussex, England, 5 + + "Sweethearts and Wives," 13, 23, 112 + + + "Take That Girl Away," 112 + + Taylor, Mary, 38, 45, 60, 66; + extended mention, 91, 98, 169 + + "Tempest," the, 75, 81, 95, 112, 175 + + "Temptation," 114 + + Tennyson, Lord, 97 + + "That Blessed Baby," 140 + + Theatres: + American, Phila., 20 + Arch Street, Phila., 9, 13, 26 + Astor Place Opera-House, 97 + Boston, 102 + Broadway, 38, 67, note + Brougham's Lyceum, N. Y., 60. + Burton's, Chambers St., 27, 29, 34, 36, 39, 40, 42, 44, 47, + 56, 63, 74, 85, 88, 93, 97, 99, 149, 168, 169, 172, 175 + Burton's New (Metropolitan), 88, 99, 100, 101, 102 + Castle Garden, 98 + Chatham, N. Y., 97 + Chatham Garden, N. Y., 53 + Chestnut Street, Phila., 13, 15, 26 + Cooke's Circus, Phila., 24 + Covent Garden, London, 166 + Ford's, Boston, 37 + Front St., Baltimore, 26 + Haymarket, London, 6 + Laura Keene's, 101 + Leonard and Church Sts., N. Y., 24 + Mechanics' Hall, Hamilton, Canada, 110 + National, Leonard St., N. Y., 22, 23 + National, Phila., 24 + Niblo's Garden, 23, 99, 103 + Olympic, London, 85 + Olympic, N. Y., 38, 97 + Palmo's Opera-House, 27, 33 + Park, N. Y., 23, 25, 37, 38, 39 + Pavilion, London, 6 + Providence, 24 + Tripler Hall, N. Y., 99 + Union Square, N. Y., 132 + Wallack's Lyceum, 64, 70 + Wallack's, 54, 132 + Washington, 26 + + "The Cork Leg," song, 12 + + Thompson, L. S., 45; + extended mention, 82-84 + + "Three and Deuce," 15 + + "Tom Noddy's Secret," 112 + + "Toodles," the, 94, 112, 152; + extended mention, 156 + + "To Parents and Guardians," 49, 113 + + Toronto, Canada, 103 + + Tripler Hall, N. Y., 99 + + "Turning the Tables," 116, 140 + + "Turnpike Gate," the, 116 + + "Twelfth Night," 49, 77, 78, 95, 112, 174 + + "Twice Killed," 114 + + "Two Bonnycastles," the, 112 + + "Two Buzzards," the, 116 + + "Two Orphans," the, 132 + + + Union Square Theatre, 132 + + United States Bank, 24 + + "Upper Ten and Lower Twenty," 116 + + "Used Up," 67, note. + + + Van Buren, Martin, President, 20 + + "Vanity Fair," 117 + + "Venice Preserved," 15 + + "Vicar of Wakefield," the, 114 + + + Walcot, C. M., 38, 64 + + Walcott, Mrs., 97 + + Wallack, Fanny, 45, 161 + + Wallack, J. W. (elder), 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 46 + + Wallack, Lester, 45, 51; + extended mention, 65 _et seq._, 67, note, 72, 74, 75, 78, 92, 175 + + Wallack's Lyceum, 64, 70 + + Wallack's Theatre, 54, 132 + + "Wall Street," 115 + + "Wandering Minstrel," the, 112, 133, 139 + + "Wanted, 1,000 Milliners," 113; + extended mention, 137 _et seq._ + + Washington Theatre, 26 + + "Water Party," the, 23, 114 + + Watson, Miss, 15 + + Watson, Mrs., 15 + + "Way to Get Married," the, 68 + + Wemyss, F. C., preface, 15, 25, 33, 125 + + "West End," the, 68 + + Weston, Lizzie, 45, 46, 68, 169 + + "Wheel of Fortune," the, 77 + + White, R. W., 80, 172 + + "Widow Machree," song, 90 + + "Widow's Victim," the, 112 + + "Wild Oats," 67, 117, 162 + + Williams, Mrs. Barney, 47 + + Windsor, England, 5 + + Winstanley, Mrs., 38 + + "Winter's Tale," 95, 98, 175 + + Winter, Wm., 28 + + "Witch Wife," the, 115 + + Wood, Wm. B., preface, 14, 34 + + Woodworth, Sam'l, poet, 22 + + Wynne, James, M.D., 181 + + + "Young Actress," the, 47, 90 + + Young, Mrs. (see Mrs. Hughes) + + "Young Quaker," the, 115 + + "You're Another," 116 + + "Youthful Days of Louis XIV.," 117 + + +Transcriber's Note + +Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained +except in obvious cases of typographical errors. + +Italics are shown thus _italic_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William E. Burton: Actor, Author, and +Manager, by William L. Keese + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43935 *** |