A few memories

252 A FEW MEMORIES
in great spirits. Booth sat quietly listening, his large dark eyes sparkling with amusement. Occasionally he was fired to rise and act some comic* incident in his own inimitable manner. What a happy party we were!—like a lot of children out of school. And they, the two bright lights of all these meetings, are now gone. " Where be their gambols now? their songs? their flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar ?" The rare place they occupied in the affection of their friends, and in the heart of the public, can never again be filled. It has been said by a well-known manager that " Shakespeare spells ruin." Observation and experience have taught me the contrary. When he is well treated, Shakespeare never fails to draw the public. The repertoire of Booth and Barrett consisted principally of the master's plays, and their financial as well as artistic success was very great. At the same time, in the same city, I was playing "The Winter's Tale" to all the houses could hold. Irving can always fill his theatre with the great bard's plays. Salvini's most signal triumphs in America, England, and on the Continent have been in "Othello"; and I have never seen the Theatre Fran9ais so constantly crowded as during the run of " Hamlet." InLIN. Mr. FULLER MELLISH.