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diff --git a/43935-8.txt b/43935-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7a63c14..0000000 --- a/43935-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5118 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of William E. Burton: Actor, Author, and -Manager, by William L. Keese - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: William E. Burton: Actor, Author, and Manager - A Sketch of his Career with Recollections of his Performances - -Author: William L. Keese - -Release Date: October 11, 2013 [EBook #43935] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM E. BURTON *** - - - - -Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Les Galloway, cover image -from TIA and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - [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 THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM E. 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