Skip to main content

Full text of "Hours with the players"

See other formats 


'W::%\,';-  >•:/;  ::-.../--;:7.;^::. 


HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS 


BY  BUTTON   COOK 


AUTHOR  OF 


A  BOOK  OF  THE  PLAY,"  "ART  IN  ENGLAND,"  "PAUL  FOSTER'S  DAUGHTER, 
"LEO,"  "HOBSON'S  CHOICE,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


IN  TWO 


VOL. 


'OLUMES 
II. 


CHATTO   AND   WINDUS,   PICCADILLY 

1881 

[All  rights  reserved] 


SEEN  BY 
PRESERVATION 


DATE 


OCT211965     )| 


. 


OF 

101678 


C 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

I.    MR.  AND  MRS.  BADDELEY 


PAGE 
I 


.    "MARRIED  BENEATH  HER"    ...  ...  21 

\  / 

III.  Y<A  GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME  OF  BOOTH"      3 

IV.  MISS^MITHSON/   /  ... 
•    V.    "OLD  FARREN/./. 

VI.    MRS.  GLOV] 

VII.    "Sm  CHARLES  COLDSTRE/M" 
VIII. 

FELIX   ^.. 
X.     CARLES  KEAN 
XI.  'A  NOTE  ON  FE 


HOURS  WITH   THE    PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MR.    AND    MRS.    BADDELEY. 

THE  late  Mr.  Robert  Baddeley,  comedian,  gave  direc- 
tions in  his  will  that  the  interest  accruing  from  a  sum  of 
one  hundred  pounds  Three  per  Cent.  Consolidated  Bank 
Annuities" ^sJ^iHcS  be  expended  in  the  purchase  of  a 
Twetftfe^fce^vhie,  and  punch;  and  he  requested  the 
ladies  ancf  g^ttfternen  who  should  form  the  Drury  Lane 
company  for  thetmje  being  to  partake  of  those  creature 
comforts  in  the- grea\\  green-room  of  the  theatre  every 
recurring  Twelfth  Night.  In  the  earlier  part  of  his 
life  Mr.  Baddeley  had  followed  the  calling  of  a  cook 
and  confectioner ;  the  Drury  Lane  Twelfth-cake  may 
be  supposed,  therefore,  to  symbolize  his  connection  both 
with  plays  and  pastry.  But  a  higher  claim  to  fame  on 
Mr.  Baddeley's  part  arises  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
VOL.  n.  B 


HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


concerned  in  the  first  representation  of  "The  School  for 
Scandal ; "  he  was  indeed  the  original  performer  of 
Moses,  and  his  name  consequently  is  so  registered  in 
every  publication  of  Sheridan's  immortal  comedy.  It 
did  not  occur  to  the  actor,  perhaps,  that  the  play  would 
so  long  endure,  that  Moses  would  keep  his  place  upon 
the  stage  so  persistently.  In  any  case,  he  preferred  to 
be  remembered  by  means  of  his  cake.  Nor  did  Mr. 
Baddeley  ever  chance  to  think  that  in  the  years  to 
come  Drury  Lane  might  possess  no  regular  company  of 
comedians,  that  its  stage  might  be  occupied  wholly  by 
pantomimists  and  posturers,  and  that  Johnson's  famous 
prologue  might  be  prophetically  considered,  and  its 
fulfilment  seen  to  be  almost  literal : 

"  Perhaps  where  Lear  has  raved  and  Hamlet  died, 
On  flying  cars  new  sorcerers  may  ride  ; 
Perhaps  (for  who  can  guess  the  effects  of  chance  ?) 
Here  Hunt  may  box  or  Mahomet  may  dance." 

Even  more  deplorable  events,  still  more  beyond  the 
prospect  of  Mr.  Baddeley's  belief,  were  to  happen.  He 
could  not  possibly  have  dreamt  that  his  Twelfth-cake 
would  ever  fall  a  prey  to  foreign  invaders,  to  a  troop  of 
French  performers.  Yet  the  Twelfth  Night  of  1849  saw 
Drury  Lane  Theatre  converted  into  a  circus,  and  in  the 
possession  of  Franconi's  equestrian  company  from  the 
Paris  Cirque.  On  that  occasion  the  Twelfth-cake,  wine, 
and  punch  of  poor  Moses  must  have  been  forthcoming 


MR.   AND  MRS.   BADDELEY. 


for  the  benefit  of  a  troop  of  riders,  gymnasts,  and  clowns 
whom  the  fame  of  "  The  School  for  Scandal "  had  not 
reached,  and  to  whom  the  name  of  Robert  Baddeley 
was  altogether  unknown. 

Robert  Baddeley  was  born  about  1733.  Little 
enough  is  known  of  his  parentage  and  early  history ;  but 
he  was  bred  a  cook,  it  seems.  Possibly,  like  Betterton, 
he  was  the  son  of  a  cook.  For  some  time  he  officiated 
in  the  kitchen  of  Lord  North  ;  he  afterwards  entered 
the  service  of  Samuel  Foote.  It  may  be  that  he  acquired 
in  the  household  of  Foote  an  inclination  towards  the 
stage.  He  quitted  the  kitchen,  however,  to  fill  the 
situation  of  valet  de  chambre  to  a  gentleman  proceeding 
upon  what  used  to  be  called  "the  grand  tour."  Baddeley 
remained  absent  from  England  about  three  years,  ac- 
quiring some  knowledge  of  foreign  languages,  and,  as 
a  biographer  describes  it,  "sprinkling  his  mind  with  a 
number  of  bagatelle  accomplishments."  He  reappeared 
as  a  fine  gentleman  with  a  taste  for  the  pleasures  of 
the  town,  his  master's  generosity  enabling  him  to  figure 
at  the  theatres  and  other  public  places  of  resort.  In 
this  manner  he  met  with  a  Miss  Sophia  Snow,  the 
daughter  of  the  king's  Serjeant-trumpeter,  and  presently 
confessed  himself  deeply  enamoured  of  her.  The  lady, 
born  in  the  parish  of  St.  Margaret,  Westminster,  in  the 
year  1745,  had  received  a  very  genteel  education,  and 
was  possessed,  moreover,  as  her  biographer  states,  of 


HOURS   WITH  THE   PLAYERS. 


"  an  uncommon  degree  of  softness  and  delicacy  in  her 
features  and  person,  with  every  necessary  external  ac- 
complishment of  her  sex."  At  this  time  she  attracted 
the  attention  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  her,  and 
"  the  tenour  of  her  conduct  being  regulated  by  the 
strictest  decorum,  ensured  her  general  respect." 

Miss  Snow  received  musical  instruction  from  her 
father,  who  proved  himself  a  somewhat  severe  master  ; 
but  he  was  anxious  that  she  should  become  a  thorough 
mistress  of  the  harpsichord.  She  often  complained  to 
a  neighbour  of  the  tyranny  of  the  serjeant-trumpeter,  of 
the  hardships  she  was  compelled  to  endure  as  his  pupil. 
Now,  it  so  chanced  that  close  by  lodged  Mr.  Robert 
Baddeley,  who,  hearing  of  Miss  Snow's  distresses,  quickly 
proposed  to  her  a  means  of  escaping  from  them.  He 
threw  himself  at  her  feet,  and  avowed  his  love.  After 
an  obstinate  siege  of  three  weeks  Sophia  Snow  surren- 
dered, and,  eloping  from  home,  became  the  wife  of 
Robert  Baddeley.  This  was  in  the  year  1764. 

Meanwhile  Baddeley  had  become  an  actor,  making 
his  first  appearance  in  October,  1761,  at  the  Smoke 
Alley  r\  heatre,  Dublin,  under  Mossop's  management, 
as  Gomez  in  the  comedy  of  "  The  Spanish  Friar."  He 
also  undertook,  during  the  same  season,  such  characters 
as  Dr.  Caius,  Sir  Francis  Gripe,  Touchstone,  the  French- 
man in  "  Lethe,"  and  Honey  combe  in  the  farce  of  "  Polly 
Honeycombe."  He  seems  to  have  been  the  first  actor 


MR.    AND  MRS.   BADDELEY. 


who  specially  studied  what  are  known  as  "  broken  English 
parts,"  and  may  be  said  to  have  invented  for  himself  a 
special  "line  of  business."  An  early  historian  of  the 
Irish  stage  notes  of  Baddeley  that  he  imparted  a  peculiar 
manner  and  originality  to  "  Frenchmen,  Jews,  and  parts 
of  dry  cynical  humour."  His  success  in  Dublin  soon 
secured  him  an  engagement  at  Drury  Lane.  He  made 
his  first  appearance  there  on  the  20th  September,  1763, 
as  Polonius  to  the  Hamlet  of  Holland,  for  Garrick  had 
started  upon  his  long-projected  visit  to  the  Continent. 
The  other  characters  assumed  by  Baddeley  at  this  time 
were  the  Old  Captain  in  "  Philaster ; "  Alderman  Smug- 
gler in  "  The  Constant  Couple  ; "  Lockworth  in  the  farce 
of  "  Love  at  First  Sight,"  written  by  King,  the  actor  \ 
Flute  in  "  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream ; "  Sir  Philip 
Modelove  in  "  A  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife ; "  Dr.  Caius ; 
Aristander  in  "  The  Rival  Queens,"  etc.  Baddeley  soon 
introduced  his  wife  to  the  Drury  Lane  management. 
She  had  displayed  some  histrionic  ability,  and  without 
doubt  her  beauty  was  very  remarkable.  She  was  forth- 
with engaged  at  "a  decent  salary."  She  is  believed  to 
have  been  the  anonymous  actress  described  in  the  play- 
bills as  "  a  young  gentlewoman,"  who^appeared  as  Ophelia 
on  the  27th  September,  1764.  There  is  a  story,  however, 
that  in  consequence  of  the  sudden  illness  of  Mrs.  Gibber, 
Mrs.  Baddeley  made  her  first  essay  upon  the  stage  as 
Cordelia  to  the  Lear  of  Powell,  when  she  was  so  alarmed 


HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


at  the  aspect  of  the  Edgar  of  the  night  as  Mad  Tom 
that  she  screamed  and  fainted  away.  At  the  close  of  the 
season  "  The  Beggar's  Opera "  was  presented,  for  the 
joint  benefit  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baddeley,  the  husband 
personating  Filch,  and  the  wife  Polly.  Among  other 
characters  assumed  by  Baddeley  at  this  time  were  the 
Lord  Mayor  in  "Richard  III.;"  Razor  in  "The  Pro- 
voked Wife;"  Don  Lopez  in  "The  Wonder;"  and 
Petulant  in  "The  Way  of  the  World."  During  the 
summer  Mrs.  Baddeley  sang  songs  at  Vauxhall  and 
Ranelagh,  at  a  salary  of  twelve  guineas  per  week,  and 
was  received  with  great  applause. 

The  season  of  1765-6  saw  the  production  of  the 
famous  comedy  of  "  The  Clandestine  Marriage,"  Badde- 
ley's  Swiss  valet  Canton  supporting  admirably  the  Lord 
Ogleby  of  King.  In  later  years  Mrs.  Baddeley  used 
now  and  then  to  assume  the  character  of  the  heroine, 
Fanny  Sterling,  when  the  audience  were  much  amused 
to  hear  Baddeley,  as  Canton,  commending  Miss  Fanny's 
charms  to  his  master,  and  professing  to  find  that  great 
sympathy  existed  between  the  young  lady  and  his  lord- 
ship. "  The  youngest  is  delectable,"  observes  the  old 
beau,  as  he  takes  snuff.  "  Oh,  oui,  my  lor,  very  delect, 
inteed,"  says  the  valet;  "she  made  doux  yeux  at  you, 
my  lor."  In  a  later  scene  Lord  Ogleby  exclaims  :  "  Ah, 
la  petite  Fanchon.  She  is  the  thing,  isn't  she,  Canton  1 " 
"  Dere  is  very  good  sympatie  entre  vous  and  dat  young 


MR.  AND  MRS.  BADDELEY. 


lady,  mi  lor,"  replies  Canton.  For  it  was  within  public 
knowledge  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baddeley  had  quarrelled 
desperately  and  lived  apart ;  that  although  they  con- 
tinued to  be  members  of  the  Drury  Lane  company,  they 
exchanged  no  word  with  each  other  save  upon  the  stage, 
when  so  required  by  their  histrionic  duties.  King 
George  III.  and  his  consort  are  said  to  have  been 
highly  diverted  with  the  passages  in  the  comedy  that 
seemed  to  reflect  upon  the  private  disagreements  of  the 
Baddeleys.  "  This  effect  of  character  upon  the  feelings 
of  the  audience  caused  a  universal  laugh,  in  which  their 
majesties  heartily  joined,"  writes  a  biographer  of  the 
players.  Presently  the  actress  was  honoured  by  a 
message  from  the  king,  brought  by  the  royal  page,  Mr. 
Ramus,  desiring  her  to  give  sittings  to  Mr.  Zoffany,  the 
artist,  that  her  portrait  might  be  included  in  the  scene 
from  "  The  Clandestine  Marriage "  he  was  about  to 
paint  by  command  of  his  Majesty.  This  incident  greatly 
extended  the  fame  of  her  beauty  and  of  her  theatrical 
merit  "She  became  caressed,  adored,  and  followed 
by  the  first  persons  in  the  nation."  A  corrupt  society 
constituted  her  its  special  toast  and  supreme  idol.  She 
lived,  as  it  were,  in  a  poisoned  atmosphere  of  fulsome 
adulation  and  dishonest  compliment ;  the  pretended 
homage  of  the  rakes  and  profligates  of  the  town,  and 
the  devotion  they  professed  for  her,  were  but  insults  in 
the  slightest  disguise. 


8  HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

For  some  seasons,  however,  scandal  seems  not  to 
have  busied  itself  concerning  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baddeley ; 
there  was,  at  any  rate,  no  apparent  discord  between 
them.  In  the  year  1767,  upon  the  occasion  of  their 
joint  benefit,  "Othello"  was  presented,  when  Mr.  Badde- 
ley appeared  as  Roderigo,  and  his  wife  as  Desdemona. 
In  1768  the  benefit  was  for  Mrs.  Baddeley  only;  but 
her  husband  was  not  absent  from  the  stage.  He  repre- 
sented Papillon  in  "  The  Liar,"  to  the  Young  Wilding 
of  Palmer.  But  both  husband  and  wife  were  presently 
dismissed  the  theatre.  It  was  said  that  the  indiscreet 
conduct  of  Mrs.  Baddeley  had  offended  the  green-room, 
and  that  the  company  had  unanimously  required  her 
departure.  Moreover,  a  dissension  had  arisen  because 
Baddeley,  being  liable  for  her  debts,  had  insisted 
upon  receiving  his  wife's  salary.  Mr.  George  Garrick 
having  advocated  the  lady's  cause  with  injudicious 
warmth,  was  challenged  by  her  husband  to  fight  a  duel 
in  Hyde  Park.  But  although  swords  were  drawn  and 
crossed,  the  combat  terminated  comfortably  in  an  appro- 
priately theatrical  manner,  and  without  bloodshed.  A 
general  adjustment  of  difficulties  forthwith  ensued,  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baddeley  were  formally  reinstated  members 
of  the  Drury  Lane  company. 

From  this  time,  however,  the  lady's  appearance  upon 
the  scene  became  somewhat  intermittent,  and  for  about 
two  years  she  wholly  withdrew  herself  from  the  theatre  ; 


MR.   AND  MRS.   BADDELEY. 


but  she  presently  resumed  her  professional  duties,  and 
continued  upon  the  London  stage  until  1781.  She 
undertook  a  great  variety  of  characters,  and,  without 
doubt,  proved  herself  an  actress  of  distinction.  She 
played  Ophelia  to  Garrick's  Hamlet,  Baddeley  appearing 
as  Polonius.  She  was  Dame  Kiteley  in  1767,  when 
Garrick  personated  Kiteley,  and  Baddeley  Brainworm. 
She  was  Hero  to  Garrick's  Benedick,  and  Jessica  to 
King's  Shy  lock.  Among  her  other  Shakespearian  cha- 
racters were  Miranda,  Portia  in  "Julius  Caesar,"  Olivia 
in  "  Twelfth  Night,"  and  Celia  in  "  As  You  Like  It."  In 
tragedy  she  undertook  such  characters  as  Mrs.  Beverley 
in  "  The  Gamester,"  Leonora  in  "  The  Revenge,"  Statira 
in  "  Alexander  the  Great,"  and  Lady  Elizabeth  Gray  in 
"The  Earl  of  Warwick."  When,  in  1777,  Sheridan's 
"  Rivals  "  was  transferred  from  Covent  Garden  to  Drury 
Lane,  she  assumed  the  part  of  Julia,  while  Baddeley 
performed  Fag.  Sentimental  comedy  coming  into  fashion, 
she  was  applauded  as  the  original  representative  of 
Harriet  in  Mrs.  Griffith's  "  School  for  Rakes,"  and  of 
Miss  Marchmont  and  Miss  Willoughby  in  Hugh  Kelly's 
Comedies,  "  False  Delicacy  "  and  "A  Word  to  the  Wise." 
The  unpopularity  of  Kelly  at  this  time  for  political 
reasons,  and  because  of  his  scurrilous  poem  of  "Thespis," 
led  to  a  riot  that  threatened  the  destruction  of  the 
theatre,  and  lasted  two  evenings ;  even  the  actresses  who 
appeared  in  "  A  Word  to  the  Wise "  were  grossly  in- 


io  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

suited,  while  Mrs.  Baddeley,  we  read,  "  narrowly  escaped 
being  greatly  hurt  with  an  orange."  Mrs.  Baddeley  also 
appeared  as  the  Lady  in  "  Comus ; "  as  Maria  in  Bur- 
goyne's  "  Maid  of  the  Oaks ; "  as  Rosetta  and  Clarissa 
in  the  operas  of  "  Love  in  a  Village  "  and  "  Lionel  and 
Clarissa ;"  as  Patty  in  "  The  Maid  of  the  Mill ; "  PhUadel 
in  "King  Arthur;"  and  as  the  heroine  in  very  many 
after-pieces  and  farces.  She  was  further  of  service  to 
Garrick  when  he  transferred  his  Shakesperian  Jubilee 
from  Stratford-upon-Avon  to  the  stage  of  Drury  Lane. 
Her  theatrical  engagement  not  being  renewed  after  1781, 
she  appeared  as  a  singer  at  the  Eidophusicon,  a  dioramic 
exhibition  contrived  by  De  Loutherbourg  the  scene- 
painter,  and  presented  now  in  Exeter  'Change,  at  the 
Patagonian  Theatre,  and  now  in  Panton  Square.  After 
this,  she  was  seen  no  more  in  London,  but  proceeded  to 
Ireland  to  fulfil  a  promising  engagement. 

The  remarkable  beauty  of  Mrs.  Baddeley  had  ob- 
tained the  early  recognition  of  the  public,  and  was  long 
held  to  be  almost  a  matter  of  general  interest.  When 
in  1771  Foote  produced  his  comedy  of  "The  Maid  of 
Bath,"  at  the  Haymarket,  Mrs.  Baddeley,  by  desire  of 
the  manager,  occupied  a  prominent  position  in  a  box 
near  the  stage.  About  the  middle  of  the  play,  Foote, 
in  the  character  of  Flint,  descanting  upon  the  charms 
the  heroine,  who  had  her  prototype,  by-the-bye,  in  the 
lovely  Miss  Linley  of  Bath,  afterwards  known  as  Mrs. 


MR.   AND  MRS.   BADDELEY.  11 

Sheridan,  advanced  to  the  footlights  and  exclaimed  : 
"  Not  even  the  beauty  of  the  nine  Muses,  nor  even  of 
the  divine  Baddeley  herself,  who  is  sitting  here " 
(and  he  pointed  to  her  box),  "  could  exceed  that  of  the 
Maid  of  Bath  ! "  This  extravagance  is  said  to  have 
drawn  extraordinary  applause  from  all  parts  of  the  house. 
The  actor  was  encored,  and  even  called  upon  to  repeat 
the  words  three  times.  Mrs.  Baddeley  was  greatly  con- 
fused ;  she  felt  that  every  eye  was  upon  her.  She  rose 
from  her  seat  and  curtsied  to  the  audience,  ''and  it 
was  near  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  she  could  dis- 
continue her  obedience,  the  plaudits  lasting  so  long." 
Her  face  was  suffused  with  blushes,  which  remained 
apparent  the  whole  evening  \  for  Mrs.  Baddeley  was  not, 
we  are  assured,  "according  to  the  fashion  of  modern 
beauties,  made  up  by  art,  for  she  never  used  any  rouge 
but  on  the  stage."  She  was  accustomed  to  be  present 
at  "every  public  place  of  resort  frequented  by  the 
nobility  and  people  of  fashion,"  where  her  charms  of 
presence,  the  splendour  and  costliness  of  her  dresses, 
the  brilliance  of  her  jewels,  excited  the  liveliest  atten- 
tion. However,  upon  the  opening  of  the  Pantheon  for 
concerts,  etc.,  in  1772,  Mrs.  Baddeley  was  refused  ad- 
mission by  the  proprietors,  who  desired  to  be  without 
the  patronage  of  "  any  of  the  players,"  and  preferred  to 
depend  exclusively  upon  the  support  of  persons  of  quality 
and  good  repute.  The  lady's  friends  declared  they 


12  HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

would  secure  her  entrance  by  force  if  necessary.  Extra 
bodies  of  constables  were  in  attendance  to  preserve 
order,  but  some  fifty  noblemen  and  gentlemen  sur- 
rounded Mrs.  Baddeley's  sedan-chair  as  she  approached 
the  portico  of  the  building.  The  constables,  exhibiting 
their  staves,  and  lifting  their  hats,  stated  with  the  utmost 
civility  that  they  were  strictly  enjoined  to  admit  no 
players  to  the  Pantheon.  The  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
thereupon  drew  their  swords,  and  declared  they  would 
run  through  the  body  all  who  opposed  the  entrance  of 
Mrs.  Baddeley.  The  constables  could  but  yield  to 
superior  numbers;  thereupon,  with  their  swords  still 
unsheathed,  the  lady's  partisans,  having  secured  her 
admission,  declared  that  they  would  not  suffer  the 
entertainments  to  proceed  until  the  managers  had 
humbly  apologized  for  their  insulting  conduct.  They 
were  constrained  to  beg  the  pardon,  not  only  of  Mrs. 
Baddeley,  but  of  all  her  champions  individually,  and  to 
rescind  their  order  as  to  the  exclusion  of  the  players. 
Thereupon  Mrs.  Abington  (to  be  afterwards  famous  as 
Lady  Teazle],  who  had  been  quietly  waiting  to  learn  the 
issue  of  the  contest,  presented  herself  at  the  door  of  the 
Pantheon,  and  was  admitted  without  further  question 
as  to  character  or  calling. 

But  soon  debt  and  difficulties  of  various  kinds  beset 
the  beautiful  Mrs.  Baddeley.  Her  recklessness  and 
improvidence,  the  viciousness  of  her  life,  knew  no 


MR.   AND  MRS.   BADDELEY.  13 

bounds.  She  fled  hither  and  thither  to  escape  the 
bailiffs  ;  she  was  arrested  and  her  goods  seized  by  the 
sheriffs  again  and  again ;  she  was  carried  from  spunging- 
house  to  spimging-house.  No  longer  secure  of  her 
liberty  in  England,  she  sought  refuge  now  in  France, 
now  in  Ireland,  now  in  Scotland.  Her  beauty  waned ; 
her  health  gave  way ;  she  suffered  at  times  from  extreme 
poverty.  The  degradation  and  misery  of  her  later  years 
can  scarcely  be  described.  She  reappeared  upon  the 
stage  at  York  in  1783,  having  become  a  member  of  Yate 
Wilkinson's  company,  and  personated  Clarissa,  Polly, 
Rosetta,  Imogen,  and  other  of  her  more  admired  char- 
acters. But  she  now  made  excessive  demands  upon  the 
indulgence  of  her  audiences.  As  Wilkinson  writes  of  the 
performance  for  her  benefit  at  York  :  "  She  was  very 
lame,  and  to  make  that  worse  was  so  stupidly  intoxicated 
with  laudanum  that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  she 
finished  the  performance."  She  went  with  the  company 
to  Leeds,  "  but  what  with  illness,  laziness,  and  inebriety, 
I  was  never  certain  of  Mrs.  Baddeley's  performance 
from  one  night  to  another,  so  she  sank  into  neglect  and 
contempt."  In  reference  to  her  poverty,  Wilkinson 
relates  that,  although  she  received  "very  genteel  pay- 
ment "  from  him,  "  she  was  in  truth  reduced  to  beggary 
— not  worth  a  single  shilling."  He  adds  :  "  Her  friend 
and  companion,  a  Mrs.  Stell,  was  with  her,  who,  I  fancy, 
had  always  occasion  for  such  sums  as  the  unfortunate 


14  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

woman  received."  She  was  a  member  of  the  Edinburgh 
company  during  the  seasons  of  1783-4-5  ;  but  her 
health  failed  more  and  more,  and  whatever  the  terms  of 
her  engagement  may  have  been,  she  probably  appeared 
upon  the  stage  but  seldom.  She  seems,  indeed,  at  this 
time  to  have  subsisted  mainly  upon  the  charity  of  her 
playfellows.  "  The  kind  hearts  of  the  Edinburgh  com- 
pany, to  their  great  credit,  exhausted  their  own  little 
stock  to  prevent  her  absolutely  starving,  and  provided 
something  like  an  interment,  with  a  poor  coffin,  which, 
but  for  their  laudable  humanity,  she  must  have  wanted." 
She  died  in  July,  1786. 

The  Mrs.  Stell  of  whom  Wilkinson  makes  mention 
was,  of  course,  the  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Steele  who  in  1787 
published  the  scandalous  Memoirs,  in  six  volumes,  of 
the  unfortunate  Mrs.  Sophia  Baddeley,  of  Drury  Lane 
Theatre.  In  the  last  century  books  of  this  class  were 
only  too  numerous,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the 
Life  of  Mrs.  Baddeley  was  published  by  way  of  rivalling 
the  shameless  Autobiography  of  Mrs.  George  Anne 
Bellamy,  of  Covent  Garden  Theatre.  Mrs.  Steele  had 
acted  in  the  capacity  of  confidant  and  abigail,  or  what 
used  to  be  called  "  convenient  woman,"  to  Mrs.  Badde- 
ley, and  did  not  long  survive  the  appearance  of  her 
book.  The  newspapers  recorded  on  the  i4th  November, 
1787,  the  death,  at  the  Dolphin  Inn,  Bishopsgate,  "in 
the  most  extreme  agonies  and  distress,"  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 


MR.  AND  MRS.  BADDELEY.  15 

Steele,  "  lately  advertised  for  a  forgery  committed  on  a 
respectable  house  in  the  city,"  but  better  known  from 
her  having  published  the  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Baddeley.  It 
appears  that  the  woman,  absconding  from  the  officers  of 
justice,  had  taken  refuge  at  the  Dolphin,  her  real  name 
and  condition  being  unknown  to  the  landlord  and  his 
servants.  She  had  arrived  at  the  inn  about  a  fortnight 
before  in  a  shabby  old  chariot,  when  she  asked  to  be 
provided  with  a  lodging  and  a  nurse,  because  of  the 
infirm  state  of  her  health.  She  was  buried  in  Bishops- 
gate  churchyard,  "  in  a  manner  little  better  than  a 
common  pauper." 

Meanwhile  Baddeley  continued  to  serve  faithfully  the 
Drury  Lane  management,  usually  fulfilling  an  engage- 
ment during  the  summer  months  at  the  little  theatre  in 
the  Haymarket.  His  repertory  of  characters  was  some- 
what confined;  the  public  did  not  encourage  him  to 
enterprise  in  his  impersonations,  or  to  depart  much  from 
the  special  "  line  of  business  "  he  had  marked  out  for 
himself.  In  "The  Theatres,  a  Poetical  Dissection," 
published  in  1771,  the  actor  is  briefly  mentioned  : 

"  We  think  that  Baddeley  can  never  miss 
A  crouching  Frenchman  or  a  flattering  Swiss, 
Yet  for  all  else  his  talents  are  but  small,"  etc. 

Hugh  Kelly,  in  his  "  Thespis,"  while  referring  to  the 
wife  as 

"...  the  gentle  Baddeley,  whose  form 
Sweet  as  her  voice  can  never  fail  to  charm, 


1 6  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Whose  melting  strain  no  Arne's  eccentric  skill 
As  yet  has  tortured  into  modern  thrill,"  etc., 

thus  described  the  husband  : 

"In  foreign  footmen  Baddeley  alone 
Preserves  the  native  nasalness  of  tone, 
And  in  his  manner  strongly  shows  allied 
Their  genuine  turn  of  abjectness  and  pride. 
If  proofs  are  wanting  on  Canton  I  call, 
And  ask  the  general  sentiments  of  all. 
Here  then,  secure  of  competence  and  name, 
He  ought  to  rest  his  fortune  and  his  fame,"  etc. 

A  later  and  more  malicious  satirist,  Anthony  Pasquin, 
in  his  "  Children  of  Thespis,"  1792,  writes  of  Baddeley's 
'•  crab-apple  phiz,"  his  grim  front,  and  dissonant  voice, 
and  charges  him  with  being  "  turgid  and  rough,"  careless 
and  slovenly  : 

"  He  snarls  through  his  parts,  be  they  easy  or  hard, 
Like  a  mastiff  that's  chained  to  bay  thieves  from  a  yard. 
Though  none  the  misanthrope  can  copy  so  well, 
As  an  actor  he's  slovenly — candour  must  tell,"  etc. 

The  writer  concludes,  however  : 

"  His  enacting  coarse  Brain  worm's  a  noble  exertion, 
And  Polonius  and  Trinculo  feed  our  diversion." 

Nothing  being  said  of  his  skill  in  personating  foreigners. 
Michael  Kelly  relates  of  Baddeley  that  he  was 
"  a  worthy  man,"  although  he  was  often  called  "  Old 
Vinegar;"  but  this  was  after  a  character  he  sustained 
with  much  applause  in  the  farce  of  "  The  Son-in-Law," 
produced  at  the  Haymarket  in  1779.  He  had  a  habit 


MR.  AND  MRS.   BADDELEY.  17 

of  smacking  his  lips  when  speaking,  justifying  Charles 
Bannister's  jocular  remark :  "  My  dear  Baddeley,  every- 
body must  know  that  you  have  been  a  cook,  for  you 
always  seem  to  be  tasting  your  words."  Kelly  adds : 
"An  excellent  cook,  to  my  knowledge,  he  was,  and, 
moreover,  extremely  proud  of  his  skill  in  the  culinary 
art.  He  had  been  cook  to  Foote,  and  once  when  he 
was  acting  at  the  Hay  market,  of  which  Foote  was  the 
proprietor,  they  had  a  quarrel,  and  Baddeley  challenged 
him  to  fight  with  swords.  '  What !  fight ! '  cried  Foote. 
4  Oh,  the  dog  !  So  I  have  taken  the  spit  from  my 
kitchen  fire,  and  stuck  it  by  his  side,  and  now  the  fellow 
wants  to  stick  me  with  it ! ": 

Baddeley,  the  first  performer  of  Moses  in  "The 
School  for  Scandal,"  was  also  the  original  representative 
of  Lory  in  "A  Trip  to  Scarborough,"  in  Sheridan's 
adaptation  of  "  The  Relapse."  He  served  the  theatre 
by  undertaking  such  characters  as  Lord  Sands  in 
Henry  VIII.,"  Menenius  in  "  Coriolanus,"  and  one  of 
the  witches  in  "  Macbeth."  He  personated  Shake- 
speare's Welshman  Fluellen,  and  the  Welsh  Dr.  Druid 
in  Cumberland's  "Fashionable  Lover."  Other  of  his  parts 
were  Foote's  Vamp  and  Puff,  Steele's  Sir  Harry  Gubbin, 
Hardy  in  "  The  Belle's  Stratagem,"  Major  Oakley  in 
"  The  Jealous  Wife,"  Medium  in  " Inkle  and  Yarico," 
M.  Le  Medecin  in  "The  Anatomist,"  Captain  Irapan 
in  "  The  Lord  of  the  Manor,"  and  Catch-penny  in  "  The 

VOL.  II.  C 


i8  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Suicide."  In  Genest's  "  History  of  the  Stage"  is  con- 
tained a  list  of  upwards  of  eighty-five  characters  sup- 
ported by  Baddeley  during  his  professional  career  of 
six  and  thirty  years.  He  died  quite  suddenly  on  January 
20,  1794.  On  the  preceding  evening  he  had  been 
seized  with  a  fit  while  assuming  the  dress  of  his  old 
character  of  Moses.  He  was  carried  to  his  house  in 
Store  Street,  but  his  state  was  hopeless;  the  medical 
efforts  made  to  save  him  were  all  in  vain.  "  His  Swiss 
and  his  Jews,  his  Germans  and  his  Frenchmen,"  notes 
Boaden,  "  were  admirably  characteristic ;  they  were 
finely  generalized  and  played  from  actual  knowledge 
of  the  people,  not  from  a  casual  snatch  at  individual 
peculiarities." 

His  will  bore  date  April  23,  1792.  It  is  clear  that 
he  desired  to  stand  well  with  posterity,  and  that  he  felt 
he  had  been  slandered  in  his  lifetime,  notably  in  the 
Memoirs  of  his  wife.  He  desired  his  executors  to  re- 
publish  every  year  a  letter  he  had  printed  in  the 
General  Advertiser,  April  20,  1790,  "representing  his 
disagreement  with  his  UL happy  wife,  to  prevent  the 
world  from  looking  on  his  memory  in  the  villainous 
point  of  view  as  set  forth  in  certain  books,  pamphlets," 
etc.  He  desired  to  be  buried  in  the  churchyard  of 
St.  Paul's,  Covent  Garden.  He  left  rings  to  his  fellow- 
players  Charles  and  John  Bannister,  Wroughton,  and 
Dodd.  His  salary  could  never  have  been  large,  yet 


MR.   AND  MRS.  BADDELEY. 


he  had  saved  money  enough  to  purchase  a  small  free- 
hold   house   and    garden   at   Upper   Moulsey,    Surrey. 
This  little  property  he  bequeathed  in  remainder  to  the 
Society  established   for  the   relief  of  indigent  persons 
jlonging  to  Drury  Lane   Theatre,  as   an   asylum   for 
icayed  actors  and  actresses,  to  whom  small  pensions 
jre  to  be  allowed,  "  to  constitute  them  respectable  in 
eyes  of  their  neighbours  ; "  the  pensioners,  who  were 
wear  "a  regalia,"  being  further  required   to  spend 
nty  shillings  on  the  2oth  of  April  in  every  year,  in 
lonour  of  the  birth  of  the  founder,  and  especial  care 
jing  taken  to  have  the  words   "  Baddeley's  Asylum " 
iscribed  on  the  front  of  the  house.     The  famous  be- 
quest of  Twelfth-cake  and  wine  followed. 

Adolphus,  in  his  "  Life  of  John  Bannister,"  suggests 
it  the  devise  of  the  freehold  at  Moulsey  was  void  in 
LW  by  the  Statute  of  Mortmain,  and  that  the  property 
>r  want  of  heirs  escheated  to  the  crown.  Michael 
lelly,  however,  is  distinct  in  his  statement  that  the 
istees  of  Drury  Lane  Theatrical  Fund  became  duly 
jessed  of  the  estate,  and  thought  proper  to  sell  it. 
lelly  writes  in  1826  :  "It  has  been  purchased  by,  and 
now  in  the  possession  of,  my  friend  Mr.  Savory  of 
tond  Street,  at  whose  hospitable  table  I  have  many 
times  been  a  welcome  guest.  In  his  parlour  is  an  ex- 
llent  likeness  of  Baddeley  in  the  character  of  Moses 
'The  School  for  Scandal,'  painted  by  Zoffany;  and 


20  HOURS    WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

on  a  part  of  the  premises  are  the  boards  of  the  old 
Drury  Lane  stage,  on  which  the  immortal  Garrick  dis- 
played his  unrivalled  powers.  It  seems  no  unnatural 
coincidence  that  the  ci-devant  cook's  property  should 
have  found  a  savoury  purchaser."  Kelly's  Memoirs,  it 
may  be  added,  were  edited,  if  not  absolutely  written,  by 
Theodore  Hook. 


CHAPTER    II. 
"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER." 

the  novel  of  "  The  Virginians  "  is  contained  a  par- 
ticular account  of  the  loves  and  the  marriage  of  Lady 
Maria  Esmond,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Castlewood,  and 
!r.  Geoghegan,  or  Hagan  as  he  was  called  on  the  stage, 
le  handsome  young  actor  from  Dublin  who  greatly  dis- 
tinguished himself,  it  may  be  remembered,  as  the  King  of 
Bohemia  in  Mr.  George  Warrington's  famous  tragedy  of 
Carpezan."      "  The  grace  and  elegance  of  the  young 
ictor  Hagan  won  general  applause,"  we  are  told  :  her 
idyship  gaily  giving  "  The  King  of  Bohemia  ! "  as  her 
toast   at  the  jolly  supper  given  by  the  successful  dra- 
latist  after  the  curtain  had  fallen  at  Covent  Garden.     A 
foundation  of  fact  for  the  fiction  of  Lady  Maria's  adven- 
tures may  be  found  in  the  clandestine  union  of  Lady 
Susannah   Sarah   Louisa    Fox    Strangeways,    the   eldest 
daughter  of  the   Earl   of  Ilchester,   with   Mr.  William 
O'Brien,  comedian  of  the  Drury  Lane  company,  which 
occurred  in  the  year  1764,  and  apparently  much  dis- 


HOURS   WITH  THE   PLAYERS. 


turbed  polite  society.  Horace  Walpole  writes  to  Sir 
Horace  Mann,  on  the  9th  of  April :  "  A  melancholy 
affair  has  happened  to  Lord  Ilchester :  his  eldest 
daughter,  Lady  Susan,  a  very  pleasing  girl,  though  not 
handsome,  married  herself  two  days  ago  at  Covent 
Garden  Church  to  O'Brien,  a  handsome  young  actor. 
Lord  Ilchester  doated  on  her,  and  was  the  most  indul- 
gent of  fathers.  'Tis  a  cruel  blow."  A  few  days  later 
Walpole  writes  to  the  Earl  of  Hertford  of  Lord  Ilches- 
ter's  "sad  misfortune,"  supplying  further  particulars. 

The  affair  had  been  in  train  some  eighteen  months, 
it  seems.  The  lover  had  learned  to  counterfeit  the 
handwriting  of  Lady  Sarah  Bunbury,  and  thus  addressed 
his  lady  securely  enough  in  a  disguised  and  feminine- 
looking  hand.  The  unsuspecting  father  had  himself 
delivered  several  of  the  actor's  letters  to  Lady  Susan. 
The  family  learned  of  the  existence  of  the  intrigue  only 
a  week  before  the  catastrophe  occurred.  The  lovers 
were  wont  to  meet  at  the  house  of  Miss  Catherine  Read, 
a  clever  artist,  now  chiefly  remembered  by  her  charming 
portrait,  in  a  frilled  cap,  of  the  beautiful  Duchess  of 
Hamilton,  formerly  Miss  Gunning.  Lord  Cathcart  had 
called  upon  Miss  Read.  She  said  softly  to  him  :  "  My 
lord,  there  is  a  couple  in  the  next  room  that  I  am  sure 
ought  not  to  be  together ;  I  wish  your  lordship  would 
look  in."  He  looked  in,  closed  the  door  again,  and 
went  straightway  and  informed  Lord  Ilchester.  Lady 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER:'  23 

Susan,  questioned  by  her  father,  flung  herself  at  his  feet 
and  confessed  all.  She  promised,  however,  at  once  to 
terminate  her  engagement  with  her  lover  and  dismiss 
him,  if  one  last  interview  only  were  permitted  to  her,  that 
she  might  bid  adieu  to  him  for  ever.  "  You  will  be 
amazed,"  writes  Walpole  to  Lord  Hertford  ;  "  even  this 
was  granted.  The  parting  scene  happened  the  begin- 
ning of  the  week.  On  Friday  she  came  of  age,  and  on 
Saturday  morning,  instead  of  being  under  lock  and  key 
in  the  country,  walked  downstairs,  took  her  footman, 
said  she  was  going  to  breakfast  with  Lady  Sarah,  but 
would  call  at  Miss  Read's ;  in  the  street  pretended  to 
recollect  a  particular  cap  in  which  she  was  to  be  drawn, 
sent  the  footman  back  for  it,  whipped  into  a  hackney 
coach,  was  married  at  Covent  Garden  Church,  and  set 
out  for  Mr.  O'Brien's  villa  at  Dunstable.  .  .  .  Poor 
Lord  Ilchester  is  almost  distracted ;  indeed,  it  is  the 
completion  of  disgrace — even  a  footman  were  preferable. 
The  publicity  of  the  hero's  profession  perpetuates  the 
mortification.  ...  I  could  not  have  believed  Lady 
Susan  would  have  stooped  so  low.  She  may,  however, 
still  keep  good  company,  and  say  '  nos  numeri  sumus ' — 
Lady  Mary  Duncan,  Lady  Caroline  Adair,  Lady  Betty 
Gallini — the  shopkeepers  of  next  age  will  be  mighty  well 
born  ! "  Mr.  Walpole  had  been  already  scandalized  by 
the  condescension  of  these  ladies  in  their  marriages. 
Lady  Maria,  daughter  of  the  seventh  Earl  of  Thanet, 


HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


had  become  the  wife  of  Doctor  Duncan,  M.D.,  after- 
wards created  a  baronet.  Lady  Caroline,  daughter  of 
the  second  Earl  of  Albemarle,  had  married  Mr.  Adair, 
a  surgeon.  Lady  Betty,  or  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the 
third  Earl  of  Abingdon,  had  bestowed  her  hand  upon 
her  dancing-master,  Gallini,  afterwards  the  proprietor  of 
the  Hanover  Square  Rooms,  calling  himself  Sir  John 
Gallini,  the  foreign  order  of  the  Golden  Spur  having 
been  conferred  upon  him.  And  now  Lady  Susan  had 
married  an  actor  !  "  Even  a  footman  were  preferable," 
held  Walpole,  the  players  being  but  lightly  esteemed  in 
the  eighteenth  century.  So  Eoote's  Papillon,  in  "The 
Liar,"  narrating  his  experiences,  observes  :  "  As  to 
player — whatever  happened  to  me  I  was  determined  not 
to  bring  disgrace  upon  my  family ;  and  so  I  resolved  to 
turn  footman."  A  preference  for  a  footman  over  all 
mankind  was  presently  manifested  by  Lady  Henrietta 
Alicia  Wentworth,  the  youngest  sister  of  the  Marquis  of 
Rockingham.  In  1764  the  lady  became  the  wife  of  her 
own  footman,  John  William  Sturgeon.  She  was  twenty- 
seven,  and  possessed  little  beauty.  She  had,  however, 
as  Walpole  relates,  "  mixed  a  wonderful  degree  of  pru- 
dence with  her  potion,"  settling  "  a  single  hundred 
pounds  "  a  year  upon  her  husband  for  his  life,  entailing 
her  whole  fortune  upon  such  children  as  might  be  born 
of  the  marriage,  with  reversion  to  her  own  family,  and 
providing  that  in  case  of  the  separation  of  man  and  wife 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER?  25 

his  annuity  should  still  be  paid  to  him.  This  deed  of 
settlement,  drawn  by  her  own  hand,  she  sent  to  Lord 
Mansfield,  her  uncle  by  marriage,  and  constituted  him 
her  trustee.  His  lordship  pronounced  the  deed  to  be 
"  as  binding  as  any  lawyer  could  make  it."  Walpole 
wrote  to  Lord  Hertford,  informing  him  of  the  matter, 
and  demanding  :  "  Did  one  ever  hear  of  more  reflec- 
tion in  a  delirium?  Well,  but  hear  more.  She  has 
given  away  all  her  clothes,  nay,  and  her  '  ladyship '  says 
linen  gowns  are  properest  for  a  footman's  wife,  and  is 
gone  to  his  family  in  Ireland,  plain  Mrs.  Henrietta 
Sturgeon ! " 

Why  were  they  proud,  these  fine  gentlemen  of 
George  III.'s  period  ?  We  may  ask  with  Keats  :  "  Why 
in  the  name  of  glory  were  they  proud  ?  "  The  Walpoles 
were. Norfolk  squires  of  old  descent,  worthy  and  well-to- 
do,  but  not  otherwise  very  distinguished  until  Robert 
Walpole  entered  Parliament  as  member  for  Castle 
Rising,  to  become  in  time  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury, 
Knight  of  the  Garter,  and,  on  his  retirement  from  office, 
Earl  of  Oxford,  with  a  pension  of  four  thousand  pounds 
per  annum.  A  spurious  parentage  has  been  assigned  to 
the  superfine  Horace.  In  any  case  his  mother  was 
Catharine  Shorter,  the  daughter  of  John  Shorter,  Lord 
Mayor  of  London,  arbitrarily  appointed  by  the  king  in 
1688,  and  timber  merchant,  as  his  father  had  been 
before  him. 


26  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

"  Why  were  they  proud  ?     Because  red-lined  accounts 
Were  richer  than  the  songs  of  Grecian  years." 

The  founder  of  the  Fox  family  was  Stephen  Fox,  of 
obscure  origin,  who  as  a  youth  in  Charles  I.'s  time  had 
sung  in  the  choir  of  Salisbury  Cathedral,  and  won  the 
approval  of  good  Bishop  Duppa.  The  boy  afterwards 
entered  the  service  of  Lord  Percy,  retiring  with  him 
to  the  Continent  when  the  cause  of  royalty  in  Eng- 
land seemed  hopelessly  lost.  The  Restoration  brought 
Stephen  Fox  home  again.  He  was  knighted  in  1665, 
appointed  head  of  the  Board  of  Green  Cloth,  and  lived 
to  sit  in  Parliament,  member  for  the  city  which  had 
first  known  him  as  a  choir-boy.  At  the  age  of  seventy- 
six  he  took  for  his  second  wife  Margaret  Hope,  the 
daughter  of  a  Lincolnshire  clergyman.  Of  this  marriage 
was  born,  among  other  children,  Stephen,  who  in  1736, 
on  his  union  with  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Strangeways  Homer,  of  Mells  Park,  in  the  county  of 
Somerset,  added  the  name  of  Strangeways  to  his  own 
surname  of  Fox.  He  was  created  Baron  Ilchester  in 
1741,  and  Earl  of  Ilchester  in  1756.  After  all,  Mr. 
William  O'Brien,  who  eloped  with  this  nobleman's 
daughter  Susan  in  1764,  could  probably  boast  as  pure 
and  ancient  descent  as  either  his  lordship  or  his  lord- 
ship's compassionate  friend,  Horace  Walpole.  Mr. 
O'Brien  had  chiefly  sinned  in  that  he  was  an  actor. 
"  Even  a  footman  were  preferable.  The  publicity  of 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER."  27 

the  hero's  profession  perpetuates  the  mortification."  In 
the  peerages  recording  Lady  Susan's  marriage  with 
O'Brien  he  is  described  not  as  of  Drury  Lane  Theatre, 
comedian,  but  as  of  Stinsford,  Dorsetshire,  esquire. 
There  prevailed  a  disposition,  indeed,  to  suppress  as 
much  as  possible  Mr.  O'Brien's  connection  with  the 
stage,  or  to  represent  his  histrionic  career  as  a  sort  of 
adventurous  episode  in  the  life  of  a  young  gentleman 
of  birth  and  fortune.  In  the  "Biographia  Dramatica  " 
he  is  described  as  of  an  ancient  Catholic  family  :  certain 
of  his  kindred,  in  their  loyalty  to  James  II.,  after  the 
capitulation  of  Limerick  following  the  royal  fortunes 
into  France,  and  serving  as  officers  in  the  Irish  Brigade 
under  the  head  of  the  house  of  O'Brien,  Lord  Viscount 
Clare.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  O'Brien's  father 
had  gained  his  living  as  a  fencing-master,  and  that  the 
young  man  for  some  time  followed  the  paternal  calling. 

William  O'Brien  made  his  first  appearance  at  Drury 
Lane  in  1758  as  Brazen  in  "The  Recruiting  Officer" 
of  Farquhar.  Woodward,  an  admired  actor  of  eccentric 
characters,  had  deserted  London  for  Dublin.  Garrick 
was  thought  to  be  fortunate  in  at  once  securing  O'Brien 
as  Woodward's  substitute.  Tate  Wilkinson  and  Tom 
Davies  in  their  separate  accounts  of  the  stage  in 
Garrick's  time  are  each  careful  to  suppress  all  mention 
of  O'Brien  by  name.  Deference  was  paid  to  the  preju- 
dices of  the  Ilchester  family  and  others  by  treating  the 


28  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

actor    as    an   anonymous   person.      Davies,    describing 
Garrick  as  "never  without  resources,"  proceeds  to   re- 
late how  after  the  favourite  Woodward's  departure  "an 
accomplished  young  gentleman,  whose   family  connec- 
tions have  long  since,  to  the  great  regret  of  the  public, 
occasioned  his  total  separation  from  the  stage,  for  some 
years  acted  with  great  and  merited  applause  a  variety 
of  characters  in  genteel  life,  some  of  which  had  a  mixture 
of  gaiety  and  levity  and  a  peculiar  and  pleasing  vivacity. 
In  elegance  of  deportment  and  variety  of  graceful  action 
he  excelled  all  the  players  of  his  time."     Tate  Wilkinson 
writes  of  O'Brien  as  "an  intimate  friend,"  and  relates 
how  Garrick,  meeting  with  him  by  accident  during  the 
summer  vacation,  took  "  infinite  pains  "  with  the  young 
'man,  and  "formed  a  great  partiality  and  friendship  for 
him."     There  is  some  hint  of  his  former  occupation  in 
the  mention  of  the  "  swiftness,  ease,  grace,  and  superior 
elegance "   of  his   manner   of  drawing   his   sword :    his 
action  in  this  respect,  it  was  said,  "  threw  all  other  per- 
formers at  a  wonderful  distance."     "  He  had  more  ease," 
says  Wilkinson,  "than  any  old  or  young  actor  I  ever 
remember,"    and    he    proceeds    to   mention    that   Mr. 
Garrick  was  afterwards  much  indebted  for  the  applause 
he  received  in  Hamlet  in  the  fencing  scene  with  Laertes 
to  the  instructions  or  the  example  of  O'Brien  :  "  there 
'twas  visible  Mr.  Garrick's  pupil  was  the  master." 

The  second  character  essayed  by  O'Brien  was  Poly- 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER."  29 

dore  in  Otway's  tragedy,  "  The  Orphan."  "  Oh,  my  lord, 
my  Polydore  ! "  Lady  Maria  Esmond  is  said  to  have 
"bleated,"  and  forthwith  declaimed  certain  lines  from 
Poly  dore' s  speech  to  Monimia  : 

"  Oh  !  I  could  talk  to  thee  for  ever,  for  ever  thus 
Eternally  admiring — fix  and  gaze 
On  those  dear  eyes  ;  for  every  glance  they  send 
Darts  through  my  soul  and  fills  my  heart  with  rapture." 

Carpezan,  by-the-bye,  is  supposed  to  have  been  pre- 
sented in  1759  at  Covent  Garden,  Mr.  Hagan  being 
described  as  a  member  of  Mr.  Rich's  company. 

During  his  six  years'  stay  upon  the  stage  O'Brien 
sustained  a  long  list  of  characters  in  light  and  eccentric 
comedy  and  in  farce,  occasionally  undertaking  severer 
duties  in  tragedy.  He  represented  Farquhar's  Sir  Harry 
Wildair,  Congreve's  Tattle,  and  Gibber's  Lord  Fop- 
pington ;  Marplot  in  "The  Busybody,"  and  Don  Felix 
in  "The  Wonder;"  Squire  Richard  in  "The  Provoked 
Husband,"  and  Master  Johnny  in  "  The  Schoolboy."  In 
Shakesperian  plays  he  appeared  as  Laertes,  as  Lucio 
in  "  Measure  for  Measure."  as  Slender,  Guiderius  in 
"Cymbeline,"  Valentine  in  "The  Two  Gentlemen  of 
Verona,"  Sir  Andrew  Agi/echeek,  the  Prince  of  Wales  in 
"  King  Henry  IV.,  Part  I.,"  and  Mercutio.  The  "Dra- 
matic Censor"  of  1770  pronounces  O'Brien's  Mercutio  as 
inferior  only  to  Woodward's.  Among  the  characters  of 
which  O'Brien  was  the  original  representative  may  be 


30  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

mentioned  Lovel  in  "High  Life  Below  Stairs,"  Young 
Clackit  in  "  The  Guardian,"  and  Lord  Trinket  in  "  The 
Jealous  Wife;"  Beverley  in  "All  in  the  Wrong,"  Cleri- 
mont  in  "The  Old  Maid,"  Belmour  in  "The  School 
for  Lovers,"  and  Sir  Henry  Flutter  in  "  The  Discovery." 
"  Gibber  and  O'Brien,"  wrote  Walpole,  "  were  what 
Garrick  could  never  reach — coxcombs  and  men  of 
fashion."  In  the  "Rosciad,"  however,  O'Brien,  while 
said  to  be  "by  nature  formed  to  please,"  is  condemned 
as  a  mere  imitator  of  Woodward;  his  performance  of 
Master  Stephen  in  Ben  Jonson's  comedy  is  mentioned 
as  showing  "which  way  genius  grows;"  otherwise  it 
is  charged  against  him  that  he 

"  Self  quite  put  off,  affects,  with  too  much  art, 
To  put  on  Woodward  in  each  mangled  part  ; 
Adopts  his  shrug,  his  wink,  his  stare,  nay,  more — 
His  voice,  and  croaks  ;  for  Woodward  croaked  before. 
When  a  dull  copier  simple  grace  neglects, 
And  rests  his  imitation  in  defects, 
We  readily  forgive  ;  but  such  vile  arts 
Are  double  guilt  in  men  of  real  parts." 

In  the  satirical  pamphlet  of  the  time,  called  "  A 
Dialogue  in  the  Shades,"  Mrs.  Gibber  is  supposed  to 
inform  the  deceased  Mrs.  Woffington :  "  The  only  per- 
formers of  any  eminence  that  have  made  their  appear- 
ance since  your  departure  are  O'Brien  and  Powell ;  the 
first  was  a  very  promising,  comedian  in  Woodward's 
walk,  and  was  much  caressed  by  the  nobility ;  but  this 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER."  31 

apparent  good  fortune  was  his  ruin,  for  having  married 
a  young  lady  of  family  without  her  relations'  knowledge, 
he  was  obliged  to  transport  himself  to  America,  where 
he  is  now  doing  penance  for  his  redemption." 

O'Brien  did  not  appear  upon  the  stage  after  the  fact 
of  his  marriage  had  been  published.  In  the  case  of 
Lady  Maria  Esmond's  union  with  Mr.  Hagan  it  may 
be  remembered  that  "a  fine  gentleman's  riot"  was 
threatened  in  the  theatre.  Mr.  George  Warrington 
found  the  manager  Rich  "in  great  dudgeon."  The 
Macaronis  were  furious,  and  vowed  they  would  pelt  Mr. 
Hagan  and  have  him  cudgelled  afterwards.  Will  Esmond, 
at  Arthur's,  had  taken  his  oath  that  he  would  have  the 
actor's  ears.  Mr.  Rich  was  afraid  to  let  Hagan  appear 
again,  and,  meanwhile,  was  careful  to  stop  his  salary. 
In  the  end,  Hagan  left  the  stage,  led  an  exemplary  life, 
and  became  renowned  for  his  elegance  and  his  eloquence 
in  the  pulpit.  He  had,  it  seems,  kept  almost  all  his 
terms  at  Dublin  College ;  so  he  returned  there  to  enter 
holy  orders,  Lord  Castlewood  subsequently  obtaining 
for  him  an  ecclesiastical  appointment  in  Virginia.  Lady 
Maria  rneekiy  resigned  her  rank,  and  was  known  in  the 
colony  as  Mrs.  Hagan.  "  As  we  could  get  him  no 
employment  in  England,"  says  Mr.  Warrington,  "  we 
were  glad  to  ship  him  to  Virginia,  and  give  him  a 
colonial  pulpit-cushion  to  thump."  He  preached  sermons 
on  the  "  then  gloomy  state  of  affairs,"  and  he  read  plays 


32  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

to  Madame  Esmond,  among  them  Mr.  Warrington's  un- 
successful tragedy  of  "  Pocahontas,"  "  which  our  parson 
delivered  with  uncommon  energy  and  fire." 

Mr.  O'Brien  was  provided  for  with  greater  difficulty. 
He  had  not  Hagan's  opportunity  of  taking  orders  and 
entering  a  Protestant  pulpit.  As  Walpole  wrote  to 
Lord  Hertford  of  the  newly-married  couple :  "  Poor 
Lady  Susan  O'Brien  is  in  the  most  deplorable  situation, 
for  her  Adonis  (O'Brien)  is  a  Roman  Catholic,  and 
cannot  be  provided  for  out  of  his  calling.  Sir  Francis 
Delaval,  being  touched  by  her  calamity,  has  made  her 
a  present — of  what  do  you  think  ? — of  a  rich  gold  stuff  ! 
The  delightful  charity  !  O'Brien  comforts  himself,  and 
says  it  will  make  a  shining  passage  in  his  little  history." 
As  the  actor  was  not  allowed  to  earn  money  by  acting, 
however,  and  as  Lord  Ilchester  declined  to  assist  his 
son-in-law,  the  prospects  of  the  young  couple  seemed 
rather  hopeless.  Eventually  it  was  decided  that  the 
expense  of  maintaining  Lady  Susan  and  Mr.  O'Brien 
should  devolve  upon  the  public.  A  government  grant 
of  lands  was  obtained  for  them,  and  they  were  despatched 
to  America.  In  this  way  it  was  thought  the  young 
couple  would  be  fairly  disposed  of,  and  the  disgrace 
which  had  befallen  the  noble  family  of  the  Foxes  be  so 
effectually  hidden  that  in  time  it  might  really  be  for- 
gotten. "  O'Brien  and  Lady  Susan  are  to  be  transported 
to  the  Ohio,  and  have  a  grant  of  forty  thousand  acres," 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER."  33 

writes  Walpole  to  Lord  Hertford  in  August,  1764. 
Even  in  this  matter  of  the  grant  some  juggling  and 
jobbing  occurred  apparently;  for  Walpole  continues: 
"The  Duchess  of  Grafton  says  sixty  thousand  were 
bestowed ;  but  a  friend  of  yours,  and  a  relation  of  Lady 
Susan,  nibbled  away  twenty  thousand  for  a  Mr.  Upton." 
On  Christmas  Day,  1764,  Charles  Fox  is  able  to 
furnish  news  of  his  cousin  Lady  Susan  and  her  husband 
to  Sir  George  Macartney.  "  We  have  heard  from  Lady 
Susan  since  her  arrival  at  New  York.  I  do  not  think 
they  will  make  much  of  their  lands,  and  I  fear  it  will  be 
impossible  to  get  O'Brien  a  place."  Some  account  of 
the  emigrants  is  also  contained  in  a  book  published  at 
Harrisburg,  America,  in  1811,  and  entitled  "Memoirs 
of  a  Life  chiefly  passed  in  Pennsylvania  within  the  last 
Sixty  Years,"  etc.  Lady  Susan  and  her  husband  are 
described  as  the  inmates  of  a  lodging-house  in  Phila- 
delphia. Mr.  O'Brien  is  recognized  as  "a  man  of 
parts,"  and  mention  is  made  of  his  fame  as  a  performer 
of  fine  gentlemen,  his  easy  manner  of  treading  the  stage, 
his  swift  and  graceful  manner  of  drawing  his  sword, 
"which  Garrick  imitated,  but  could  not  equal,"  etc. 
The  writer  proceeds  :  "  Mr.  O'Brien  is  presented  to  my 
recollection  as  a  man  of  the  middle  height,  with  a 
symmetrical  form  rather  light  than  athletic.  His  wife, 
as  I  have  seen  it  mentioned,  obtained  for  him,  through 
the  interest  of  her  family,  a  post  in  America.  But  what 

VOL.  II.  D 


34  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

this  post  was  or  where  it  located  him  I  never  heard." 
The  appointment  secured  by  O'Brien  was  in  the  gift  of 
the  Board  of  Ordnance. 

Boswell  records  certain  of  Dr.  Johnson's  obser- 
vations, made  in  1775,  upon  "a  young  lady  who  had 
married  a  man  much  her  inferior  in  rank,"  and  Croker 
supposes  that  the  union  of  Lady  Susan  and  Mr.  O'Brien 
was  in  question;  but  Croker  errs  in  assigning  the 
marriage  to  the  year  1773  :  it  occurred,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  1764.  "Madam,"  said  Johnson  to  Mrs.  Thrale,"  we 
must  distinguish.  Were  I  a  man  of  rank,  I  would  not 
let  a  daughter  starve  who  had  made  a  mean  marriage ; 
but,  having  voluntarily  degraded  herself  from  the  station 
which  she  was  originally  entitled  to  hold,  I  would 
support  her  only  in  that  which  she  herself  had  chosen, 
and  would  not  put  her  on  a  level  with  my  other 
daughters.  You  are  to  consider,  madam,  that  it  is  our 
duty  to  maintain  the  subordination  of  civilized  society, 
and  when  there  is  a  gross  and  shameful  deviation  from 
rank,  it  should  be  punished  so  as  to  deter  others  from 
the  same  perversion." 

The  actor  and  his  wife  were  absent  from  England 
some  seven  or  eight  years.  They  returned  home 
without  the  permission  of  the  authorities.  Ordered  to 
resume  his  post,  O'Brien  refused  to  obey.  The  matter 
is  referred  to  in  the  "  Last  Journals  "  of  Horace  Walpole. 
"  O'Brien  received  orders,  among  the  rest,  to  return, 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER."  35 

but  he  refused.  Conway  declared  they  would  dismiss 
him.  Lord  and  Lady  Holland  interposed,  but  Conway 
was  firm,  and  he  turned  out  O'Brien." 

Actors  can  but  rarely  have  influenced  political  affairs. 
The  newspapers  in  1772,  however,  attributed  Fox's  resig- 
nation of  his  post,  as  one  of  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty, 
to  Lord  North's  refusal  to  bestow  upon  Mr.  O'Brien  "  a 
kind  of  sinecure,"  afterwards  given  to  one  Maclean,  and 
worth  ;£iooo  a  year.  Fox,  it  was  alleged,  demanded 
this  place  for  O'Brien  in  exchange  for  two  lucrative 
offices,  worth  about  ;£8oo  a  year,  enjoyed  by  the  actor 
abroad,  and  requiring  his  constant  absence  from  England. 
Lord  North  proposed  that,  with  the  consent  of  Maclean, 
O'Brien  should  be  appointed  his  deputy  ;  "  but  this  Fox 
received  with  contempt."  To  Lord  Ossory  Fox  wrote  : 
"  It  is  impossible  to  tell  you  the  real  reason  of  my  re- 
signing :  it  is  very  complicated."  For  some  years  Fox 
continued  in  violent  opposition  to  Lord  North. 

The  player  now  became  a  playwright,  the  managers 
receiving  his  efforts  with  unusual  cordiality.  The  night 
of  December  8,  1772,  saw  the  production  of  his  comedy 
of  "  The  Duel "  at  Drury  Lane,  and  of  his  two-act  farce 
of  "  Cross  Purposes  "  at  Covent  Garden.  A  dramatist 
has  rarely  enjoyed  such  a  double  chance  of  distinguishing 
himself.  "  The  Duel,"  an  adaptation  of  "  Le  Philosophe 
sans  le  Savoir,"  by  Sedaine,  failed  to  please,  however, 
although  supported  by  the  excellent  acting  of  Barry  and 


36  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Miss  Younge.  The  failure  was  ascribed  to  the  super-senti- 
mental scenes  which  the  adapter  had  introduced  at  the 
instance  of  certain  of  his  noble  connections,  who,  having 
spoiled  his  play,  made  him  pecuniary  compensation  for 
its  ill-success.  In  January,  1773,  Walpole  wrote  of  the 
play  to  the  Rev.  William  Mason  :  "  O'Brien's  '  Duel '  was 
damned  the  first  night.  I  saw  the  original  at  Paris  when 
it  was  first  acted,  and  though  excessively  touched  with  it, 
wondered  how  the  audience  came  to  have  sense  enough 
to  taste  it.  I  thought  then  it  would  not  have  succeeded 
here;  the  touches  are  so  simple,  and  delicate,  and  natural. 
Accordingly  it  did  not.  I  have  been  reading  the  transla- 
tion, and  cried  over  it  heartily."  Mr.  O'Brien  printed  his 
play  to  shame  the  playgoers  who  condemned  it.  "Cross 
Purposes,"  adapted  from  "  Les  Trois  Freres  Rivaux," 
by  Lafont,  was  received  with  cordial  applause,  the  actors 
Shuter  and  Quick  greatly  pleasing  the  audience.  O'Brien 
seems  to  have  made  no  further  contributions  to  dramatic 
literature. 

He  survived  until  1815.  In  the  "  Biographia  Dra- 
matica,"  1812,  he  is  described  as  "still  living  in  advanced 
age  in  Dorsetshire,  of  which  county  he  is  the  receiver- 
general."  The  Rev.  Mr.  Genest  recounts  that  he 
was  told  in  1803,  when  living  in  O'Brien's  neighbour- 
hood, that  he  desired  as  much  as  possible  to  "  sink  the 
player,"  and  to  "bury  in  oblivion  those  years  of  his  life 
which  were  the  most  worth  being  remembered — ashamed, 


"MARRIED  BENEATH  HER."  37 

perhaps,  of  a  profession  which  is  no  disgrace  to  any  one 
who  conducts  himself  respectably  in  it,  and  in  which  to 
succeed  is,  generally  speaking,  a  proof  of  good  natural 
abilities  and  a  diligent  application  of  them."  Lady 
Susan  survived  her  husband  some  twelve  years. 


38  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER  III. 


EARLY  in  the  year  1817,  Covent  Garden  Theatre  was 
the  scene  of  great  confusion  and  uproar— almost  of  riot, 
indeed.  "  A  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Booth " — so 
Hazlitt  describes  the  performer — had  essayed  the  part  of 
Richard  III.)  seeking  the  good  opinion  of  a  London 
audience,  after  having  won  considerable  applause  in  the 
provinces.  According  to  subsequent  announcements  in 
the  playbills,  Mr.  Booth's  Richard  "  met  with  a  success 
unprecedented  in  the  annals  of  histrionic  fame."  Never- 
theless the  managers  of  the  theatre  carefully  avoided 
backing  this  strongly  expressed  opinion.  They  declined 
to  pay  their  actor  more  than  two  pounds  per  week  for 
his  services — certainly  a  very  small  salary,  even  fifty 
years  ago,  for  a  player  of  any  pretence.  It  was  generally 
agreed  that  they  were  wrong,  "  either,"  as  Hazlitt  stated 
the  case,  "  in  puffing  the  new  actor  so  unmercifully,  or 
in  haggling  with  him  so  pitifully."  Forthwith  Mr.  Edmund 
Kean  intervened.  In  times  past  he  had  played  with 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."    39 

Mr.  Booth  in  the  country ;  he  was  now  the  most  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Drury  Lane  company.  He  took 
his  fellow-actor  by  the  hand,  and  obtained  for  him  an 
engagement  at  Drury  Lane,  upon  a  salary  of  ten  pounds 
per  week. 

Booth  had  played  Richard  at  Covent  Garden  on  the 
1 2th  and  i3th  of  February :  on  the  20th  he  appeared  at 
Drury  Lane  as  lago  to  the  Othello  of  Kean.  Two  nights 
afterwards,  however,  he  was  back  again  at  Covent 
Garden,  playing  Richard  III.  to  an  angry  house,  that 
hissed  and  hooted  him  persistently  and  vehemently. 
Scarcely  a  syllable  of  Shakespeare,  or  perhaps  we 
should  rather  say  of  Gibber,  could  be  heard.  There 
was,  indeed,  a  great  tumult.  The  enraged  public  would 
neither  listen  to  the  play  nor  to  the  apologies  attempted 
both  by  Booth  and  by  Fawcett,  the  stage-manager  of  the 
theatre.  It  must  be  observed  that  a  spirit  of  partisan- 
ship, of  a  kind  scarcely  intelligible  nowadays,  character- 
ized the  playgoers  of  that  period.  Men  espoused  the 
interests  of  Drury  Lane  or  Covent  Garden  with  the  heat 
and  acrimonious  zeal  they  displayed  in  political  contests. 
It  could,  in  truth,  matter  little  upon  which  stage  Mr. 
Booth  chose  to  strut  and  fret;  his  appearance  and  his 
disappearance  were  not  really  events  of  vital  importance. 
But  "  the  play  "  was  indeed  "  the  thing  "  just  then  ;  and 
Mr.  Booth's  conduct  was  considered  as  a  due  incentive 
to  excitement.  If  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  ad- 


40  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

minister  rebuke,  the  managers  who  had  influenced  his 
proceedings  might  justly  have  shared  the  odium 
devolving  upon  the  actor.  The  public,  however,  held 
Mr.  Booth  solely  accountable.  Upon  him  alone  they 
poured  forth  their  indignation. 

Of  course  the .  considerations  moving  "  the  poor 
player "  were  obvious  enough.  He  was  tempted  from 
Covent  Garden  by  the  promise  of  an  improved  salary. 
Then  misgivings  troubled  him  touching  his  professional 
prospects.  It  was  clear  to  him  that  there  was  danger  of 
his  being  shelved  at  Drury  Lane.  Had  Kean's  kindness 
been  of  a  cruel  sort  —  his  friendship  but  disguised 
enmity  ?  Was  he  aiding  a  comrade,  or  ridding  himself 
of  a  rival  ?  If  Mr.  Booth  was  permitted  to  play  at  all 
at  Drury  Lane,  it  must  needs  be  as  second  to  Mr.  Kean. 
At  Covent  Garden  there  was  less  fear  of  competition,  at 
any  rate.  Kemble  was  retiring  from  the  stage;  Mac- 
ready  was  but  a  novice.  Booth  might  be  recognized  as 
the  legitimate  rival  of  Kean — might,  perhaps,  surpass 
him  and  reign  supreme,  the  leading  actor  of  his  time. 
So  when  the  Covent  Garden  managers  upbraided  him 
for  leaving  them,  threatened  him  with  legal  proceedings, 
and  then  solicited  his  return  to  them  upon  a  larger 
salary  even  than  that  promised  him  at  Drury  Lane,  he 
hastened  back  to  the  stage  from  which  he  had  made  his 
first  bow  to  a  London  audience. 

For  some  nights  he  encountered  bitter  hostility.     He 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME    OF  BOOTH."    41 

published  an  appeal  to  the  public,  entreating  their  for- 
giveness for  what  he  was  willing  to  admit  had  been  grave 
misconduct  upon  his  part.  His  first  friends  were  slow  to 
pardon  him,  but  their  opposition  gradually  diminished. 
At  length  he  was  enabled  to  express  in  the  playbills  his 
heartfelt  gratitude  to  his  patrons  for  the  complete  pardon 
they  had  extended  to  him,  and  there  was  an  end  of  the 
Junius  Brutus  Booth  controversy. 

There  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  a  general  amnesty. 
The  actions  at  law,  that  had  been  commenced  by  the 
Drury  Lane  committee  against  the  actor,  and  against 
Harris,  the  manager  of  Covent  Garden,  were  abandoned. 
In  the  course  of  the  season,  Booth  undertook  a  variety 
of  characters :  Sir  Giles  Overreach ;  Rinaldo,  in  Di- 
mond's  "  Conquest  of  Taranto ; "  Fitzharding,  in 
Tobin's  "Curfew ; "  Sir  Edward  Mortimer,  in  "  The  Iron 
Chest ; "  Jerry  Sneak,  on  the  occasion  of  his  benefit ; 
and  lago  to  the  Othello  of  Young.  His  engagement 
was  prolonged  over  the  three  following  seasons.  His 
appearances,  however,  were  not  frequent.  He  played 
Gloster  in  "Jane  Shore,"  and  Lear  in  Nahum  Tate's 
adaptation  of  Shakespeare's  tragedy,  to  the  Edmund  of 
Macready  and  the  Edgar  of  Charles  Kemble.  His 
services  were  afterwards  transferred  to  Drury  Lane,  at 
which  theatre,  in  the  season  of  1820-21,  he  appeared  as 
Lear  and  lago  ;  as  Cassius,  to  the  Brutus  of  Wallack  ; 
as  Dumont,  in  "Jane  Shore;"  and  as  Opechancanough 


42  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

(tributary  to  the  Powhatan)  in  the  American  drama  of 
"  Pocahontas ;  or,  The  Indian  Princess."  He  was  not 
re-engaged  until  October,  1825,  when  he  played  for 
three  nights  only,  personating  Othello,  Richard  III.,  and 
Brutus,  in  Howard  Payne's  tragedy.  These  performances 
brought  to  a  close  the  career  in  England  of  "  the  gentle- 
man of  the  name  of  Booth."  He  quitted  the  country 
hastily,  to  avoid,  it  was  alleged,  the  consequences  of  an 
assault  committed  upon  a  noted  rope-dancer  of  that  day, 
styling  himself  II  Diavolo  Antonio.  Mr.  Booth  betook 
himself  to  the  West  Indies,  whence,  after  a  brief  sojourn, 
he  removed  to  the  United  States.  There  he  found  a 
home,  and  passed  the  rest  of  his  life  acquiring  fame  as 
an  actor  of  extraordinary  ability — even  of  rare  genius. 
He  was  born  in  London,  May  i,  1796.  He  died  at 
New  Orleans,  in  December,  1852.  He  was  the  father  of 
Edwin  Booth,  an  actor  of  distinction,  and  of  John 
Wilkes  Booth,  the  murderer  of  President  Lincoln. 

Was  this  Mr.  Junius  Brutus  Booth  undervalued  in 
England  ?  Regret  did  not  attend  his  departure  hence  ; 
he  was  not  missed.  He  occupies  but  a  very  subordinate 
position  in  the  list  of  British  actors.  His  name,  indeed, 
is  scarcely  remembered  amongst  us.  Opportunity  did 
not  fail  him,  although  allowance  may  have  to  be  made 
for  the  untoward  incident  of  his  first  engagement  in 
London.  He  was  entrusted  with  many  of  the  most 
important  characters  of  the  tragic  repertory,  and  several 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  SOOTH."    43 

new  characters  were  allotted  to  him.  The  position 
assigned  to  him  in  the  theatre  was  above  that  enjoyed  by 
his  fellow-actors  Macready  and  Charles  Kemble.  There 
is  no  evidence  of  hostility  in  the  criticisms  upon  his 
histrionic  efforts.  Hazlitt  writes  calmly  about  him, 
without  enthusiasm  in  his  favour,  still  with  every  desire 
to  encourage  the  actor.  But  to  Hazlitt,  and  the  public 
he  wrote  for,  Booth  was  from  first  to  last  little  more  than 
the  mere  imitator  of  Kean.  "  Almost  the  whole  of  his 
performance  was  an  exact  copy  or  parody  of  Mr.  Kean's 
manner  of  doing  the  same  part  \RuharcT\  ;  it  was  a 
complete,  but,  at  the  same  time,  a  successful  piece  of 
plagiarism.  We  do  not  think  this  kind  of  second-hand 
reputation  can  last  upon  the  London  boards  for  more 
than  a  character  or  two."  And  then  it  is  pointed  out 
that  the  best  passages  in  Mr.  Booth's  acting  were  those 
"in  which  he  now  and  then  took  leave  of  Mr.  Kean's 
decided  and  extreme  manner,  and  became  more  mild 
and  tractable,  .  .  .  seemed  to  yield  to  the  impulse  of  his 
own  feelings,  and  to  follow  the  natural  tones  and  cadence 
of  his  voice."  A  second  criticism,  by  Hazlitt,  deals  with 
Booth's  lago.  He  is  still  described  as  an  imitator ;  his 
performance  "a  very  close  and  spirited  repetition  of  Mr. 
Kean's  manner  of  doing  the  part."  And  the  critic  con- 
cludes :  "  We  suspect  that  Mr.  Booth  is  not  only  a 
professed  and  deliberate  imitator  of  Mr.  Kean,  but  that 
he  has  the  chameleon  quality  (we  do  not  mean  that  of 


44  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

living  upon  air,  as  the  Covent  Garden  managers  sup- 
posed, but)  of  reflecting  all  objects  that  come  in  contact 
with  him.  We  occasionally  caught  the  mellow  tones  of 
Mr.  Macready  rising  out  of  the  thorough-bass  of  Mr. 
Kean's  guttural  emphasis,  and  the  flaunting  degage  robe 
of  Mr.  Young's  oriental  manner  flying  off  from  the  tight 
vest  and  tunic  of  the  *  bony  prizer '  of  the  Drury  Lane 
company."  Hazlitt,  it  would  seem,  was  the  spokesman 
of  the  playgoers  of  his  time.  Booth  was  almost  unani- 
mously rated  then  as  an  actor  of  the  second  class,  of 
limited  capacity — an  imitator  of  Edmund  Kean. 

Macready,  in  his  memoirs,  makes  occasional  mention 
of  Booth,  but  avoids  all  recognition  of  his  merits  as  an 
actor.  Macready,  however,  was  slow  to  praise  his  play- 
fellows, and  even  judged  severely  his  own  performances. 
He  noted  that  "  Booth,  in  figure,  voice,  and  manner,  so 
closely  resembled  Kean,  that  he  might  have  been  taken 
for  his  twin-brother ;  "  and  then  follows  a  statement  that 
Booth,  in  the  last  scene  of  his  Sir  Giles  Overreach,  had 
resorted  to  a  manoeuvre  which  was  severely  commented 
upon.  "  One  of  the  attendants,  who  held  him,  was 
furnished  with  a  sponge  filled  with  blood  [rose-pink] 
which  he,  unseen  by  the  audience,  squeezed  into  his 
mouth,  to  convey  the  idea  of  his  having  burst  a  blood- 
vessel ! "  But  in  regard  to  these  early  accounts  of 
Booth,  one  fact  should  be  borne  steadily  in  mind — his 
extreme  youth.  He  was  little  more  than  twenty  when 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."    4$ 

he  first  set  foot  upon  the  stage  of  Covent  Garden.     It 
was  natural  enough  that  at  that  age  he  should  be  an 
imitator.     There  prevailed  among  the  young  actors  of 
the  time  a  sort  of  rage  for  imitating  Kean,  all  hoping 
that  such  theatrical  triumphs  as  he  had  obtained  might 
also  be  in  store  for  them.     In  Booth's  case,  the  inclina- 
tion  to  imitate  was  stimulated  by  the  circumstance  of 
physical  resemblance,  which,  if  less  close  than  Macready 
imagined,  was   yet  remarkable  enough.      "His  face  is 
adapted  to  tragic  characters,"  wrote  Hazlitt,  "and  his 
voice  wants  neither  strength  nor  musical  expression.  .  .  . 
He  has  two  voices :  one  his  own,   and  the  other  Mr. 
Kean's.     The  worst  parts  of  his  performance  were  those 
where  he  imitated  or  caricatured  Mr.  Kean's  hoarseness 
of  delivery  and  violence  of  action,  and  affected  an  energy 
without  seeming  to  feel  it."     His  voice  was,  no  doubt, 
superior  to  Kean's  in  clearness  and  music,  and  probably 
in  power  also.     He  was  of  Kean's  low  stature,  but  with 
nothing  of  his  gipsy  look.     He  was  of  pallid  complexion, 
blue-eyed,    dark-haired,    with    features    of   the    antique 
.Roman  pattern,  until  an  accident  grievously  marred  his 
facial  symmetry,  and  brought  about,  it  was  observed,  "  a 
singular  resemblance  to  the  portraits  of  Michael  Angelo." 
His  figure  was  like  Kean's  in  its  spareness  and  muscu- 
larity; his  neck  and  chest  were  "of  ample  but  symme- 
trical mould  j  his  step  and  movements  elastic,  assured, 
kingly." 


46  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

This  description  of  Booth  is  gathered  from  a  work 
entitled  "The  Tragedian,"  published  in  New  York  in 
1868 — less  a  biography  of  the  actor  than  a  collection  of 
essays  upon  his  histrionic  method — written  "  in  grateful 
testimony  to  the  rare  delights  his  personations  have 
afforded,  and  in  the  hope  of  giving  body  to  the  vision 
and  language  to  the  common  sentiment  of  his  appre- 
ciators."  The  author  is  Mr.  Thomas  R.  Gould,  a 
statuary  by  profession,  it  would  seem,  who  prefixes  to 
his  volume  a  photograph  of  a  marble  bust  he  had  sculp- 
tured of  Mr.  Booth.  This  portrait,  while  it  represents 
a  very  noble  head,  encourages  a  high  estimate  of  Mr. 
Gould's  artistic  skill.  And  it  may  here  be  added  that 
Mr.  Gould  writes  with  great  originality  and  force,  if  some- 
times, in  his  desire  to  impress,  he  allows  himself  to  be 
carried  beyond  the  bounds  of  good  taste,  and  by  a  certain 
extravagance  of  expression  dissuades  when  he  would 
attract,  and  prompts  the  doubts  he  is  most  anxious  to 
dispel.  It  is,  indeed,  hardly  possible  for  an  English 
reader  to  accept  Mr.  Gould's  valuation  of  Booth.  Mr. 
Gould  speaks  as  an  eye-witness,  and  his  acquaintance 
with  his  subject  is  not  for  a  moment  to  be  questioned. 
Few,  however,  can  ever  admit,  implicitly,  other  evidence 
than  their  own  in  regard  to  the  qualities  of  actors  and 
acting.  To  be  judged,  the  performer  must  be  seen  ;  the 
best  description  can  but  furnish  forth  the  most  shadowy 
idea  of  his  achievements ;  and  Mr.  Gould,  at  times,  so 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."    47 

deals  with  his  case  as  to  shock  credibility.  Not  content 
with  affirming  Booth  to  be  a  great  actor,  he  would  have 
him  regarded  as  "  the  greatest  of  all  actors."  He  con- 
tinues :  "  Two  names  alone,  in  the  history  of  the  stage, 
may  dispute  his  supremacy — David  Garrick  and  Ed- 
mund Kean."  Garrick  is  dismissed  from  consideration 
as  "a  tradition."  The  record  of  his  histrionic  power 
is  meagre.  He  was  hampered  by  conventionalism ;  he 
played  in  a  tie-wig  and  knee-breeches.  No  satisfactory 
analysis  of  his  method  has  reached  us.  He  was  best  in 
comedy ;  his  comic  parts  far  outnumber  his  tragic. 
Altogether  it  must  be  concluded  that  his  tragic  acting, 
although  a  rare  entertainment,  did  not  touch  the  deepest 
springs  of  feeling ;  it  was  rather  a  skill  than  an  inspira- 
tion. With  regard  to  Kean,  "nothing  could  be  farther 
from  the  truth"  than  to  suppose  that  it  was  upon  his 
acting  Booth  formed  his  style.  It  is  admitted  that  the 
two  actors  were  alike  in  height  and  figure.  "  In  tempera- 
ment, also,  there  was  a  partial  similarity — both  being 
distinguished  by  passionate  energy  and  by  daring  to  dis- 
place the  prescriptive  habits  of  the  stage  by  the  action 
and  the  tones  of  nature."  But  Kean  "  lacked  imagina- 
tion." Mr.  Gould  does  not  write  from  knowledge  of 
Kean  at  first  hand,  and  founds  his  view  of  him  upon 
Hazlitt's  "English  Stage."  Now  Booth,  it  is  asserted, 
possessed  imagination  "  of  a  subtle  kind,  and  in  magni- 
ficent measure.  It  lent  a  weird  expressiveness  to  his 


48  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

voice.  It  atmosphered  his  most  terrific  performances 
with  beauty.  Booth  took  up  Kean  at  his  best,  and 
carried  him  farther.  Booth  was  Kean,  plus  the  higher 
imagination."  The  impression  left  by  Kean  on  the 
minds  of  his  reviewers  and  biographers  records  his 
"  mighty  grasp  and  overwhelming  energy  in  partial 
scenes ; "  while  Booth  is  remembered  "  for  his  sustained 
and  all-related  conception  of  character."  Kean  took 
just  those  words  and  lines  and  points  and  passages  in 
the  character  he  was  to  represent  which  he  found  suited 
to  his  genius,  and  delivered  them  with  electric  force. 
"  His  method  was  limitary.  It  was  analytic  and  pas- 
sionate, not  in  the  highest  sense  intellectual  and  imagi- 
native." To  see  Booth  in  his  best  mood  was  not  like 
reading  Shakespeare  by  flashes  of  lightning,  "  in  which 
a  blinding  glare  alternates  with  the  fearful  suspense  of 
darkness  ;  but  rather  like  reading  him  by  the  sunlight  of 
a  summer's  day,  a  light  which  casts  deep  shadows,  gives 
play  to  glorious  harmonies  of  colour,  and  shows  all 
objects  in  vivid  light  and  true  relation." 

While  thus  according  to  Booth  the  gift  of  supreme 
histrionic  power,  however,  Mr.  Gould  would  not  imply 
that  his  performances  were  faultless.  He  may  have 
been  matched  by  others,  and  haply  surpassed  in  all 
secondary  histrionic  qualities,  with  the  exception  of 
voice ;  "  he  holding,  beyond  rivalry,  the  single,  con- 
trolling quality  of  a  penetrating,  kindling,  shaping  imagi- 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."    49 

nation."  He  was,  perhaps,  "  the  most  unequal  of  all 
great  actors."  To  casual  observers,  therefore,  he  often 
seemed  to  fall  short  of  his  great  reputation.  "  During 
the  forty  years,  save  one,  which  bounded  his  dramatic 
career,  Mr.  Booth's  habit  of  life,  both  on  the  farm  and 
on  the  stage,  was  exemplarily  temperate."  His  reverence 
for  the  sacredness  of  all  life  amounted  to  a  superstition. 
He  abstained  for  many  years,  on  principle,  from  the  use 
of  animal  food.  But  he  was  subject  to  an  extravagant 
and  erring  spirit  allied  to  madness,  which  sometimes 
induced  him  to  depart  from  the  theatre  at  the  very  time 
fixed  for  his  performance ;  whereupon  the  disappointed 
audience  not  unnaturally  explained  his  conduct  by 
ascribing  it  to  intoxication.  It  is  confessed,  indeed,  with 
grief  and  pity,  that  the  baser  charge  was  often  true,  and 
that  the  actor  sometimes  relieved,  "  by  means  question- 
able, pitiful,  pardonable,"  the  exhaustion  attendant  upon 
his  great  exertions.  Something  by  way  of  further  apology 
for  the  actor  might  have  been  urged  touching  the  habits 
of  intemperance  which  prevailed  generally  a  generation 
ago — it  was  not  only  the  actors  who  drank  deep  in  the 
days  of  Edmund  Kean. 

Famous  and  prosperous  as  Mr.  Booth  became  in 
America,  it  is  admitted  that  he  was  never  "  the  literary 
fashion."  He  arrived  in  the  States  unheralded,  unknown, 
unprovided  with  letters ;  he  was  obliged  to  introduce 
himself  to  the  manager  of  the  Richmond  Theatre,  to 

VOL.  II.  E 


50  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

secure  a  first  appearance  upon  the  American  stage.  He 
proceeded  to  Boston,  and  there  played  Octavian,  in 
"  The  Mountaineers,"  to  a  very  poor  house.  "  But  the 
fire  took;  and  the  next  day  the  town  was  ablaze  with 
interest  in  the  new  tragedian — an  interest  that  scarcely 
flagged  during  the  following  thirty  years."  It  was  his 
wont  to  avoid  listless  and  fashionable  audiences,  "  with 
the  blue  blood  sleeping  in  their  veins,"  and  to  play  at 
second-rate  theatres,  assured  of  that  fulness  and  hearti- 
ness of  popular  appreciation  which  he  found  infinitely 
preferable  to  the  "  cool  approval  of  scholars."  Certain 
eccentricities  he  has  been  credited  with,  although  of 
these  Mr.  Gould  says  no  word.  It  is  understood  that  he 
was  accustomed  to  play  Oroonoko  with  bare  feet,  insisting 
upon  the  absurdity  of  putting  shoes  upon  a  slave.  At 
Philadelphia  he  appeared  as  Richard,  mounted  on  a  real 
White  Surrey,  thus  reducing  the  tragedy  to  the  level  of  an 
"  equestrian  drama."  Some  minor  notes  of  his  histrionic 
method  are  worth  recording.  His  articulation  was  dis- 
tinct to  excess ;  he  was  accustomed  to  pronounce 
"  ocean  "  (in  Richard's  first  soliloquy)  as  a  word  of  three 
syllables.  His  "  hand  play,"  or  "  manual  eloquence,"  is 
described  as  singularly  beautiful.  Mr.  Gould,  referring 
to  his  performance  of  Sir  Edward  Mortimer  ("  The  Iron 
Chest ") — the  last  part  in  which  the  actor  ever  appeared 
— speaks  admiringly  of  the  motion  of  his  hands  "  to- 
wards those  heart-wounds — 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."     51 

*  Too  tender  e'en  for  tenderness  to  touch  ; ' 
the  creeping,  trembling  play  of  his  pale,  thin  fingers  over 
his  maddening  brain  •  and  his  action  when  describing 
the  assassination."  "  No  actor  we  have  ever  seen," 
writes  Mr.  Gould,  "  seemed  to  have  such  control  over  the 
vital  and  involuntary  functions.  He  would  tremble  from 
head  to  foot,  or  tremble  in  one  outstretched  arm  to  the 
finger-tips,  while  holding  it  in  the  firm  grasp  of  the  other 
hand.  .  .  .  The  veins  of  his  corded  and  magnificent 
neck  would  swell,  and  the  whole  throat  and  face  become 
suffused  with  crimson  in  a  moment  in  the  crisis  of  pas- 
sion, to  be  succeeded  on  the  ebb  of  feeling  by  an  ashy 
paleness.  To  throw  the  blood  into  the  face  is  a  com- 
paratively easy  feat  for  a  sanguine  man  by  simply  holding 
the  breath ;  but  for  a  man  of  pale  complexion  to  speak 
passionate  and  thrilling  words  pending  the  suffusion,  is 
quite  another  thing.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be 
observed  that  no  amount  of  merely  physical  exertion  or 
exercise  of  voice  could  bring  colour  into  that  pale,  proud, 
intellectual  face.  This  was  abundantly  shown  in  Shy  lock, 
in  Lear,  in  Hamlet,  where  the  passion  was  intense,  but 
where  the  face  continued  clear  and  pale.  ...  In  a  word, 
he  commanded  his  own  pulses,  as  well  as  the  pulses  of 
his  auditors,  with  despotic  ease." 

Mr.  Gould  devotes  a  distinct  essay  to  each  of  Booth's 
impersonations,  but  we  may  not  closely  follow  the 
author  throughout  his  critical  labours.  He  describes  the 


52  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

feats  and  accomplishments  of  his  favourite  actor  with 
much  minuteness,  finding  reason  for  applause  in  almost 
every  particular.  Yet  he  writes  so  vivaciously,  so  intelli- 
gently, and  withal  seems  to  be  so  thoroughly  in  earnest, 
that  his  book  rarely  ceases  to  be  interesting,  and,  indeed, 
instructive.  Hamlet,  we  learn,  was  Booth's  favourite 
part,  and  special  mention  is  made  of  a  performance  at 
the  Howard  Athenaeum,  Boston,  towards  the  close  of  the 
actor's  career.  The  nobility  of  his  profile  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  accidental  injuries  he  had  received; 
but  the  beauty  of  his  voice,  at  one  time  gravely  affected 
by  this  mischance,  was  now  completely  restored.  He 
wore  no  wig,  and  his  hair  had  turned  to  an  iron-grey 
hue ;  he  had  no  special  help  from  costume  or  scenery,  or 
from  his  fellow-players.  The  audience  was  fit  though 
few ;  but  "  it  was  a  noteworthy  fact,  however  it  might  be 
accounted  for,  that  Mr.  Booth  invariably  seemed  to  play 
better  to  a  thin  house."  And  never  did  the  soul  of 
Hamlet  shine  forth  more  clearly  "  with  its  own  peculiar, 
fitful,  far-reaching,  saddened,  and  supernatural  life,"  than 
on  this  particular  occasion.  We  do  not  find,  however,  that 
Mr.  Booth's  Hamlet  was  very  unlike  other  Hamlets, 
except  in  so  far  as  the  physical  .qualities  of  the  a^tor 
differed  from  those  of  other  representatives  of  the  part. 
Mr.  Gould  speaks  with  surprise  of  the  applause  awarded 
to  the  Hamlet  of  "  that  sensible  but  unimaginative  actor 
Macready,"  who,  in  one  scene  of  the  play,  "seemed  to 


"A    GENTLEMAN-  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH,"     53 

change  natures  with  Osric,  the  waterfly,  and  to  dance 
before  the  footlights,  flirting  a  white  handkerchief  over  his 
head."  Mr.  Rufus  Choate,  comparing  Kean  and  Booth 
in  Hamlet,  said,  v  This  man  (Booth)  has  finer  touches." 
A  strange  reading  may  be  noted.  Mr.  Booth  read  the 
line, "With  a  bare  bodkin  who  would  fardels  fear,"  as  we 
have  printed  it,  after  an  unpunctuated  fashion,  affirming 
that  "bodkin"  was  a  local  term  in  some  parts  of  Eng- 
land for  a  padded  yoke  to  support  burdens  on  either 
side  ;  and  that  a  "  bare  bodkin  "  was  a  yoke  without  the 
pad,  and  therefore  galling.  Mr.  Gould  observes  simply, 
"The  meaning  assigned  has,  we  believe,  escaped  the 
notice  of  all  lexicographers."  It  is  mentioned  that  in 
the  year  1831  Booth,  being  the  temporary  manager  of  a 
theatre  in  Baltimore,  supported  the  Hamlet  of  Mr.  Charles 
Kean  by  assuming  the  part  of  Lucianus,  or  "  the  second 
actor,"  whose  function  in  the  play  is  to  deliver  the  brief 
speech  beginning,  "Thoughts  black,  hands  apt,  drugs 
fit,"  etc.  Says  Mr.  Gould:  "In  Booth's  delivery  of 
these  fearful  lines,  each  word  dropped  poison.  The 
weird  music  of  his  voice,  and  the  stealthy  yet  decisive 
action,  made  this  brief  scene  the  memorable  event  of  the 
night" — which  is  not  saying  much  for  the  Hamlet  of  Mr. 
Charles  Kean. 

Booth's  conception  of  the  character  of  Shylock  was, 
it  seems,  influenced  by  "  the  Hebrew  blood  which,  from 
some  remote  ancestor,  mingled  in  the  current  of  his  life, 


54  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

was  evidently  traceable  in  his  features,  and,  haply, 
determined  the  family  name — Booth,  from  Beth,  Hebrew 
for  house  or  nest  of  birds."  Booth's  mind  was  deeply 
exercised  by  religious  problems,  by  obstinate  question- 
ings of  futurity  and  human  destiny.  "  He  passed  into 
all  religions  with  a  certain  humility  and  humanity,  and 
with  a  certain  Shakesperian  impartiality.  Among  Jews 
he  was  counted  a  Jew.  He  was  as  familiar  with  the 
Koran  as  with  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  named  a  child 
of  his  after  a  wife  of  Mahomet.  At  other  times,  and  in 
sympathy  with  his  favourite  poet,  Shelley,  he  delighted 
to  lose  himself  in  the  mysticism  of  the  faiths  of  India." 
It  was  Kean's  fancy,  the  reader  will  remember,  to  join  a 
tribe  of  Hurons,  to  wear  the  strange  dress,  including 
war-paint,  of  a  Red  Indian  chief,  and  to  assume  the 
striking  name  of  "  Alantenaida." 

The  last  scene  of  Booth's  Othello  is  described  as  "  full 
of  fate."  He  entered  with  an  Eastern  lamp,  lighted,  in 
one  hand,  and  a  drawn  scimitar  in  the  other.  "The 
oriental  subjective  mood  had  obtained  full  possession  of 
him.  The  supposed  '  proofs '  had  sunk  into  his  mind, 
and  resolved  themselves  into  a  fearful  unity  of  thought 
and  purpose.  .  .  .  The  expression  of  constrained  energy 
in  his  movements — the  large,  low-toned,  vibrant  rumina- 
tion of  his  voice,  sounding  like  thought  overhead — filled 
the  scene  with  an  atmosphere  at  once  oppressive  and 
fascinating."  When  he  spoke  of  "  the  very  error  of  the 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."     55 

moon,"  his  gesture  seemed  to  figure  the  faith  of  the 
Chaldean,  and  to  bring  the  moon  "  more  near  the  earth 
than  she  was  wont."  "  '  Roderigo  killed  ! '  (with  wonder), 
'  and  Cassio  killed  ! '  (glutting  the  words  in  his  throat)." 
The  lines  that  follow  he  delivered  with  burning  intensity. 
His  speech  over  his  dead  wife  seemed  the  ultimate  reach 
of  blended  grief  and  love  and  wild,  remorseful  passion 
of  which  the  human  voice  is  capable.  At  the  summons, 
"  Bring  him  away ! "  and  as  he  was  beginning  his  final 
speech,  he  took  a  silken  robe,  and  carelessly  threw  it 
over  his  shoulder ;  then  reached  for  his  turban,  possess- 
ing himself  of  a  dagger  he  had  concealed  therein.  He 
uttered  the  word  "  pearl,"  as  though  it  were  indeed  "  the 
immediate  jewel  of  his  soul,"  his  wife,  with  a  lingering 
fulness  and  tenderness  of  emphasis,  and  with  a  gesture 
as  if  in  the  act  of  throwing  it  away  he  cast  his  own  life 
from  him. 

Booth's  lago  was  not  as  Kean's,  "  a  gay,  light-hearted 
monster — a  careless,  cordial,  comfortable  villain ;  "  so 
Hazlitt  wrote  of  it.  Booth  gave  quite  another  version. 
His  conception  was  saturnine;  the  expression  of  it 
strangely  swift  and  brilliant.  "  He  showed  the  dense 
force,  the  stealth,  the  velvet-footed  grace  of  the  panther ; 
the  subtlety,  the  fascination,  the  rapid  stroke  of  the 
fanged  serpent.  His  performances  of  this  part  did  not 
vary  much.  Whatever  difference  might  be  discovered 
arose  from  the  greater  or  less  intensity  of  the  representa- 


56  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

tion."  He  came  on  the  stage  as  though  "  possessed  by 
his  most  splendid  devil."  The  voice  he  used  was  his 
"  most  sweet  and  audible,  deep-revolving  bass."  His 
delivery  of  the  text  was  a  masterpiece  of  colloquial  style. 
It  |had  all  the  abrupt  turns,  the  tones  of  nature,  the  un- 
expectedness, and  the  occasional  persuasive  force  which 
belong  to  the  best  conversation.  His  address  to  Othello 
had  "  a  fearful  symmetry  of  falsehood."  "  He  lied  so 
like  truth,  that  had  we  been  in  Othello's  place  we  felt  he 
would  have  deceived  us  too.  .  .  .  Yet  was  the  odious- 
ness  of  lago's  nature  lightened  and  carried  off  by  the 
grace  and  force  of  Booth's  representation." 

Kean's  Macbeth,  according  to  Hazlitt,  "  was  deficient 
in  the  poetry  of  the  character — he  did  not  look  like  a 
man  who  had  encountered  the  weird  sisters."  Booth's 
performance,  on  the  contrary,  was  "  constituted  by  ima- 
gination, kindled  and  swayed  by  supernatural  agencies." 
The  dagger-speech  was  given  "  in  volumed  whispers — it 
was  filled  with  fearful  shadows."  After  the  murder, 
when  Lady  Macbeth  was  gone  to  gild  the  faces  of  the 
grooms  with  Duncan's  blood,  and  Macbeth,  left  alone, 
hears  a  knocking  at  the  door,  and  delivers  the  lines 
beginning  "  Whence  is  that  knocking  ?  "  Booth  looked  at 
his  hands  with  starting  eyes  and  a  knotted  horror  in  his 
features,  the  while  he  wiped  one  hand  with  the  other 
from  him  with  intensest  loathing.  "  The  words  came 
like  the  weary  dash  on  reef  rocks,  and  as  over  sunken 


"A   GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."    57 

wrecks  and  drowned  men,  of  the  despairing  sea.  .  .  . 
He  launched  the  mysterious  power  of  his  voice,  like  the 
sudden  rising  of  a  mighty  wind  from  some  unknown 
source,  over  those  '  multitudinous  seas,'  and  they  swelled 
and  congregated  dim  and  vast  before  the  eye  of  the 
mind.  Then  came  the  amazing  word  '  incarnadine,'  each 
syllable  ringing  like  the  stroke  of  a  sword.  The  whole 
passage  was  of  unparalleled  grandeur  ;  and  in  tone,  look, 
action,  conveyed  the  impression  of  an  infinite  and  un- 
availing remorse." 

The  success  of  Booth's  Lear,  as  Mr.  Gould  is  enabled 
to  show,  dated  so  far  back  as  his  first  assumption  of  the 
part  at  Drury  Lane  in  1820.  "  We  have  seen  Mr.  Booth's 
Lear,  with  great  pleasure,"  writes  Hazlitt,  whom  Mr. 
Gould  cites  as  an  unwilling  witness,  for  he  went  on  to 
say,  "  Mr.  Kean's  is  a  greater  pleasure  to  come,  as  we 
anticipate."  Yet  when  Kean  did  play  the  part  he  dis- 
appointed his  admirer,  who  even  ventured  to  describe 
the  performance  as  a  failure.  Mr.  Gould  is  entitled  to 
infer  that  Hazlitt  preferred  the  Lear  of  Booth,  and,  seeing 
that  Booth's  performance  came  first  in  order  of  time,  the 
question  as  to  his  imitating  Kean,  "  a  question  first  put 
by  prejudice,  and  since  repeated  by  dulness,"  could  not 
be  raised  in  regard  to  King  Lear,  at  any  rate.  It  is 
suggested,  indeed,  that  danger  arose  lest  Kean  should 
be  charged  with  imitating  Booth,  and  was  thus  induced 
to  adopt  a  certain  perverse  reading,  which  Hazlitt  has 


58  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

duly  noted.  It  was  as  Lear,  at  the  National  Theatre, 
Boston,  in  1835,  that  Mr.  Gould  saw  Booth  for  the  first 
time.  "The  blue  eye,  the  white  beard,  the  nose  in 
profile,  keen  as  the  curve  of  a  falchion,  the  ringing  utter- 
ances of  the  names  '  Regan,'  '  Goneril,'  the  close  pent-up 
passion  striving  for  expression,  the  kingly  energy,  the 
affecting  recognition  of  Cordelia  in  the  last  act — made  a 
deep  impression  on  our  boyish  mind."  Mr.  Gould 
admits  that  he  witnessed  with  a  certain  pleasure  Mr. 
Macready's  scholastic  performance  of  Lear — but  it  did 
not  move  him  much.  "  It  was  marred  by  the  cold 
premeditation  which  marked  all  the  efforts  of  that  edu- 
cated gentleman.  Marvellous  as  was  the  imitation  of 
the  signs  of  passion,  we  felt  the  absence  of  the  pulse  of 
life.  He  was  the  intellectual  showman  of  the  character, 
not  the  character  itself.  He  never  got  inside.  Con- 
ception is  a  blessing  not  vouchsafed  to  actors  of  his 
school.  With  Booth,  the  case  was  different" — then 
follows  a  high-flown  account  of  the  achievement  of  Mr. 
Gould's  favourite  actor  in  the  part,  concluding  with — "  in 
a  word,  the  interior  life  of  Lear  came  forth,  and  shone 
in  the  focal  light  of  Mr.  Booth's  representation." 

Booth's  voice  was  a  "most  miraculous  organ;"  "it 
transcended  music ; "  it  was  guided  by  a  method  which 
defied  the  set  rules  of  elocution ;  it  brought  "  airs  from 
heaven  and  blasts  from  hell ;  "  but  it  was  marked  by  one 
significant  limitation — it  had  no  mirth — there  were  tones 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."    59 

of  light,  but  none  of  levity.  Yet,  now  and  then,  on  such 
occasions  as  his  benefit,  Mr.  Booth  appeared  in  farce,  as 
Jerry  Sneak  and  Geoffrey  Mujfincap.  But  his  farce  was 
simply  the  negation  of  his  tragedy.  "  The  sunny  blue 
eye,  the  genial  smile,  the  pleasantry  we  found  so  winning 
in  social  intercourse,  never  appeared  upon  the  stage." 
He  could  not  be  comic.  "  His  genius,  and  the  voice  it 
swayed,  were  solely  dedicated  to  tragedy."  Garrick 
danced;  Kean  danced  and  sang  exquisitely;  Booth 
could  neither  dance  nor  sing.  A  certain  comic  song  he 
did  attempt  at  times,  by  way  of  enlivening  his  perform- 
ance in  farce  ;  but  it  was  simply  "  a  grotesque  jingle, 
scorning  melody,  and  depending  for  its  success  on  odd 
turns  of  expression,  verbal  and  vocal."  He  was,  in  truth, 
to  Mr.  Gould's  thinking,  always  the  Tragedian.  Yet  was 
his  art  "  unremovably  coupled  to  nature."  The  term 
"  theatrical "  could  never  be  justly  applied  to  him. 
"  Nature  was  the  deep  source  of  his  power,  and  she 
imparted  her  own  perpetual  freshness  to  his  personations. 
We  could  not  tire  of  him  any  more  than  we  tire  of  her. 
His  art  was,  in  a  high  sense,  as  natural  as  the  bend  of 
Niagara,  as  the  poise  and  drift  of  summer  clouds,  the 
play  of  lightning,  the  play  of  children,  or  as  the  sea, 
storm-tossed,  sunlit,  moonlit,  or  brooded  in  mysterious 
calm — and  his  art  awakened  in  the  observer  correspond- 
ing emotions." 

Mr.  Gould's  book  is  altogether  a  curious  and  interest- 


60  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

ing  memorial  of  the  actor,  but  it  necessarily  is  an  incom- 
plete reply  to  the  question  touching  Booth's  histrionic 
merits.  To  Mr.  Gould  he  was  very  great  indeed ;  but 
how  far  is  that  conclusive  ?  The  honesty  of  Mr.  Gould's 
convictions  is  not  to  be  impugned  ;  his  book  abounds  in 
force  and  ingenuity;  but  is  his  judgment  to  be  trusted? 
It  is  possible  that  Booth,  an  imitator  in  his  youth, 
developed  originality  in  his  maturity,  and  really  deserved 
to  rank  at  last  among  the  great  actors  of  his  time,  as 
indeed  he  was  ranked  generally  in  America.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  conventionality  and  plagiarism  in  dramatic 
matters  were  less  likely  to  be  recognized  in  America  than 
in  this  country.  Actors  of  note  had  visited  the  States 
from  time  to  time  before  the  arrival  of  Booth  ;  but  the 
American  playgoers  were  scarcely  familiar  with  acting 
of  the  highest  class — were,  perhaps,  likely  to  be  content 
with  inferior  histrionic  displays.  In  any  case,  Mr.  Gould 
has  done  good  service  to  the  memory  of  Booth.  He  has 
placed  upon  record  the  high  estimation  in  which  the 
actor  was  held  by  the  American  public ;  for,  without 
doubt,  the  essayist  speaks  on  behalf  of  a  large  majority 
of  his  countrymen.  And  we  may  deduce  from  the  matter 
the  rather  commonplace  moral,  that  unanimity  of  opinion 
is  a  rare  thing,  in  regard  to  the  transactions  of  the  theatre 
not  less  than  in  relation  to  other  subjects.  Even  when 
jurymen  agree  upon  their  verdict,  it  must  be  understood 
that  oftentimes  there  has  been  real  sacrifice  of  preference 


"A    GENTLEMAN  OF  THE  NAME   OF  BOOTH."    6l 

or  conviction — some  yielding  to  coercion  for  the  sake  of 
concord,  quiet,  and  escape  from  the  box.  When  Kean 
said,  "  The  pit  rose  at  me,"  he  did  not  mean,  absolutely, 
that  none  of  the  audience  kept  their  seats.  Be  sure  there 
were  dissentients,  who  did  not  join  in  the  chorus  of 
enthusiastic  applause — who  sat  unmoved,  perhaps  un- 
satisfied, preferring  acting  of  another  kind  and  school  to 
that  exhibited  by  the  new  performer.  There  is  always  a 
minority — an  opposition.  As  the  proverb  tells  us,  the 
meat  of  one  is  the  poison  of  another.  So  a  man  may  be 
at  once  idolized  and  scorned — to  these  a  tragedian,  to 
those  a  buffoon  or  a  blockhead.  And  there  can  be  no 
distinct  right  or  wrong  in  such  matters. 


62  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MISS    SMITHSON. 

SOME  fifty  years  ago,  when  there  raged  in  Paris  furious 
war  between  Romanticists  and  Classicists,  the  arrival 
of  an  English  troop  of  actors  engaged  to  represent 
Shakesperian  plays  at  the  Odeon  Theatre  occasioned 
very  great  excitement.  The  new-comers  were  received 
with  enthusiasm  by  one  of  the  contending  factions, 
at  any  rate.  Shakespeare,  of  whom,  until  then,  the 
Parisian  public  knew  very  little  indeed,  was  warmly 
welcomed ;  not  so  much  because  he  was  Shakespeare, 
however,  but  in  that  he  was  accounted  a  Romanticist — a 
departed  leader  of  the  school  of  which  Victor  Hugo, 
Alexandre  Dumas,  and  Alfred  de  Vigny  were  recognized 
as  the  living  representatives  and  champions.  The  success 
of  Shakespeare  was  unquestionable ;  it  was  only  sur- 
passed by  the  curious  triumph  enjoyed  by  one  of  his 
interpreters.  This  was  not  Edmund  Kean,  nor  Mac- 
ready,  nor  Charles  Kemble ;  but  a  young  lady  of  rather 
small  fame  as  an  actress,  whose  appearances  upon  the 


MISS  SMITHSON.  63 


London  stage  had  been  ineffective  enough,  and  whose 
merits  generally  had  been  held  but  cheaply  in  her  own 
country.  For  a  time  "  la  belle  Smidson,"  as  they  called 
her,  was  the  absolute  idol  of  the  Parisians.  Mr.  Abbott, 
actor  and  manager,  who  had  brought  the  company  across 
the  Channel,  confessed  with  some  amazement  that  his 
"  walking  lady  "  had  proved  the  "  best  card  in  his  pack." 
"  Jamais  en  France  aucun  artiste  dramatique  n'emut,  ne 
ravit,  n'exalta  le  public  autant  qu'elle ;  jamais  dithy- 
rambes  de  la  presse  n'egalerent  ceux  que  les  journaux 
frangais  publierent  en  son  honneur."  So  wrote  concern- 
ing the  lady  Hector  Berlioz,  destined  at  a  later  period  to 
become  her  husband. 

Harriet — she  was  known  in  France  as  Henriette — 
Constance  Smithson  was  born  in  1800,  at  Ennis,  County 
Clare.  Her  parents  were  English,  William  Joseph 
Smithson,  her  father,  claiming  to  be  of  a  Gloucestershire 
family.  He  had  been  for  many  years  a  travelling 
manager  in  Ireland,  however,  the  theatres  on  the  Water- 
ford  and  Kilkenny  circuit  coming  in  turn  under  his 
direction.  His  health  failing  him,  he  urged  his  daughter, 
in  her  own  interest,  to  adopt  the  profession  of  the  stage. 
She  had  been  disinclined  to  take  this  step.  Strictly 
brought  up  under  the  eye  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Barrett,  of 
Ennis,  and  afterwards  at  Mrs.  Tounier's  school  at  Water- 
ford,  she  had  imbibed  no  theatrical  tastes ;  had,  indeed, 
it  is  said,  expressed  herself  "  averse  even  to  witnessing 


64  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

dramatic  exhibitions."  She  duly  overcame  her  scruples, 
however,  and  Lord  and  Lady  Castle-Coote  appearing 
as  her  friends  and  patrons,  she  readily  obtained  an 
engagement  from  Jones,  the  patentee  of  the  Dublin 
Theatre  Royal,  to  whom  John  Wilson  Croker  in  1806 
had  addressed  his  acrimonious  "  Familiar  Epistles." 
She  made  her  first  appearance  "  upon  any  stage  "  as 
Albina  Mandeville,  in  Reynolds' s  comedy  of  "  The  Will," 
a  character  originally  represented  by  Mrs.  Jordan.  Her 
success  was  considerable.  She  afterwards  played  Lady 
Teazle,  fulfilled  engagements  at  the  Belfast,  Cork,  and 
Limerick  theatres,  and  returned  to  Dublin  to  represent 
Cora,  Mrs.  Haller,  Yarico,  Lady  Contest,  etc.  In  1817 
she  came  to  England,  appearing  at  the  Birmingham 
Theatre,  then  under  the  management  of  Elliston.  In 
the  following  year  the  committee  managing  Drury  Lane 
Theatre  graciously  allowed  Miss  Smithson  "  to  see  what 
she  could  do ; "  and  accordingly,  as  Letitia  Hardy,  in 
"The  Belle's  Stratagem,"  she  made  her  first  curtsy  to  a 
London  audience.  The  theatre  was  in  a  most  embarrassed 
state ;  the  exchequer  was  empty,  the  managers  deeply 
involved  in  debt.  Nevertheless,  it  was  decided  that  no 
orders  should  be  issued;  the  new  actress  could  not 
provide  even  her  nearest  relatives  with  free  admissions. 
Poor  Mrs.  Smithson  paid  her  money  at  the  door  in  the 
customary  way,  although  she  came  to  witness  the  debut  of 
her  daughter. 


MISS  SMITHSON.  65 


It  cannot  be  said  that  Miss  Smithson's  first  efforts 
in  London  stirred  much  enthusiasm.     The  critics  were 
certainly  calm  on  the  subject.     It  was  noticed  that  the 
lady  was   tall,  well-formed,  handsome  of  countenance ; 
that  her  voice  was  rather  distinct  than  powerful ;  that 
her  style  of  singing  was  more  remarkable  for  humour 
than  sweetness  ;  that  she  rather  overacted   the  broadly 
comic  scenes,  which  nevertheless  she  "  conceived  and 
executed  with  spirit ;  "  and  that  in  the  minuet  de  la  cour 
"  her  fine  figure  and  graceful  movements  were  displayed 
to  advantage."     She  played  some  few  other  parts  in  the 
course  of  the  season :  Lady  Racket,  in  "  Three  Weeks 
after  Marriage  ; "  Eliza,  in  the  comedy  of  "  The  Jew ;  " 
and  Diana  Vernon,  in  Soane's  bungling  adaptation  of 
"  Rob   Roy,"    which   represents    Helen    Macgregor   as 
Rob's  mother,  not  his  wife,  and  destroys  her  suddenly  by 
a  flash  of  lightning,  so  that  no  obstacle  may  exist  to  the 
chieftain's  lawful  union  with  his  true  love  Diana  Vernon  ! 
Miss  Smithson's  success  had  not  been  great ;  still,  she 
had   not   failed.      She   was   engaged   for  the   following 
season,  when  the  theatre  opened  at  reduced  prices  under 
the  rather  inglorious  management  of  Stephen  Keinble. 
The  characters  she  sustained,  however,  were  of  an  inferior 
kind:  Julia,  in  "The  Way  to  get  Married;"  Mary,  in 
"  The  Innkeeper's  Daughter  ;  "  Eugenia,  in  a  melodrama 
called  "  Sigesmar  the  Switzer ; "  Lilian,  in  the  farce  of 
"  Wanted  a  Wife ;  "  and  Jella,  in  the  drama  of  "  The  Jew 
VOL.  n.  F 


66  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

of  Lubeck."  The  season  closed  prematurely,  and  Miss 
Smithson  returned  to  Dublin,  to  reappear  in  the  winter 
at  the  newly  opened  Coburg  Theatre,  known  in  later 
times  as  the  Victoria.  During  Elliston's  first  season  at 
Drury  Lane  Miss  Smithson  had  no  engagement,  but  she 
rejoined  the  company  in  1820,  appearing  as  Rosalie 
Sowers  in  the  comedy  of  "  Town  and  Country."  Among 
other  characters,  she  also  represented  Maria  in  "  The 
.Wild-goose  Chase,"  Rhoda  in  "Mother  and  Son," 
Lavinia  in  "  The  Spectre  Bridegroom,"  Adolphine  in 
"Monsieur  Tonson,"  and  for  her  benefit  Lydia  Languish 
in  "  The  Rivals,"  and  Ellen  in  the  Scottish  melodrama 
of  "  The  Falls  of  Clyde."  As  Ellen  she  seems  indeed 
for  the  first  time  to  have  impressed  her  audience.  The 
critic  of  the  Morning  Herald  assured  the  public  that 
Miss  Smithson's  performance  of  this  character  left  the 
imagination  nothing  to  desire.  Her  voice  was  described 
as  "  exquisitely  susceptible  of  those  tremulous  and 
thrilling  tones  which  give  to  the  expression  of  grief  and 
tenderness  an  irresistible  charm."  The  critic  continued  : 
"  Every  scene,  every  situation,  and  indeed  every  point, 
told  upon  the  audience  with  unerring  force  and  effect. 
The  talents  of  this  young  lady  are  not  even  yet  fully 
appreciated,  for  they  are  not  fully  developed.  We  should 
wish  to  see  her  in  some  of  those  characters  in  what  is 
called  youthful  tragedy,  where  the  graces  of  youth  are 
no  less  essential  than  talent  for  complete  illusion  and 


MISS  SMITHSON.  67 

identity  with  the  part."  In  the  following  season  Miss 
Smithson  was  entrusted  with  more  ambitious  duties.  She 
appeared  as  Lady  Anne,  Desdemona,  and  Constantia  to 
KJmund  Kean's  Richard,  Othello,  and  Sir  Pertinax, 
undertaking  also  the  less  important  characters  of  Geor- 
gia na  in  "  Folly  as  it  Flies,"  and  Lady  Rakewell  in 
"  Maid  or  Wife."  Her  further  advance  was  no  doubt 
rendered  difficult  because  of  the  positions  occupied  in 
the  theatre  by  Miss  Foote,  Miss  Kelly,  Mrs.  West,  Mrs. 
Bunn,  and  others.  The  company  was  strong ;  for  every 
prominent  character  there  seemed  several  candidates. 
In  the  season  of  1823-4,  Miss  Smithson  appeared  as 
Lady  Hotspur,  with  Wallack  as  Hotspur,  Dowton  as 
Falstaff,  and  Elliston  as  the  Prince  of  Wales.  She  played 
also  the  parts  of  Louisa  in  "  The  Dramatist,"  Isabella  in 
"  The  Wonder,"  Margaret  to  the  Sir  Giles  of  Kean, 
Miss  Wooburn  in  "  Every  One  has  his  Fault,"  and  Anne 
Bullen  in  a  revival  of  "  Henry  VIII.,"  with  Macready  as 
Wolsey,  and  Mrs.  Bunn  as  Queen  Katherine.  She  con- 
tinued a  member  of  the  company  during  the  three 
following  years.  But  she  seemed  to  be  subsiding  into 
the  condition  of  a  useful  and  respectable  actress,  from 
whom  distinguished  achievements  were  not  to  be 
expected.  A  critic  of  the  time,  while  extolling  the  lady's 
beauty,  alleged  that  "her  excellence  did  not  travel  far 
beyond  that  point."  He  complained  that  her  acting  had 
not  improved,  and  that  "  the  cold  precision  of  her  utter- 


68  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

ance  and  demeanour  was  entirely  at  variance  with 
nature."  She  was  assigned  characters  in  the  melodramas 
of  "  Therese,"  "  Valentine  and  Orson,"  "  Oberon,"  "  The 
Blind  Boy,"  "Turkish  Lovers,"  and  "Henri  Quatre." 
She  played  Blanche  in  "  King  John,"  and  "  The  Fatal 
Dowry,"  with  Macready  as  the  King  and  Romont.  She 
appeared  also  in  Colley  Grattan's  tragedy  of  "  Ben 
Nazir,"  upon  which  Kean's  broken  health  and  ignorance 
of  his  part  brought  complete  ruin.  She  was  probably 
seen  for  the  last  time  upon  the  English  stage  in  June, 
1827,  when,  on  the  occasion  of  her  benefit,  she  person- 
ated Helen  in  "The  Iron  Chest,"  with  Kean  as  Sir 
Edivard  Mortimer. 

If  London  was  apathetic  or  critical,  Paris  was  abun- 
dantly enthusiastic  about  Miss  Smithson.  At  Drury 
Lane  she  had  been  reproached  because  of  her  Irish 
accent :  this  was  not  observed  at  the  Odeon.  Indeed, 
the  distinct  articulateness  of  Irish  speech  may  have  been 
of  advantage  to  her  histrionic  efforts  in  Paris,  or  was  at 
any  rate  a  matter  of  indifference  to  auditors  who  pro- 
bably for  the  most  part  knew  little  of  the  English 
language,  and  were  content  to  admire  simply  the  actress's 
beauty  of  face  and  grace  of  movement.  A  lady  writes 
of  her :  "  Her  personal  appearance  had  been  so  much 
improved  by  the  judicious  selection  of  a  first-rate  modiste 
and  a  fashionable  corsetiere,  that  she  was  soon  converted 
into  one  of  the  most  splendid  women  in  Paris,  with  an 


MISS  SMITHSON.  69 


air  distingue  that  commanded  the  admiration  and  the 
tears  of  thousands.  ...  I  had  remembered  her  in 
Ireland  and  in  England,  but,  as  I  now  looked  at  her,  it 
struck  me  that  not  one  of  Ovid's  fabled  metamorphoses 
exceeded  Miss  Smithson's  real  Parisian  one."  Before 
appearing  in  Paris  she  had  played  for  some  nights  at  the 
little  theatre  of  Boulogne-sur-Mer,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  her  brother.  The  "  Honeymoon "  had  been 
produced,  and  the  favourite  melodrama  of  "  The  Falls 
of  Clyde."  She  had  sustained  the  character  of  Juliana, 
with  James  Wallack  as  the  Duke  Aranza. 

In  Paris  she  triumphed  as  Juliet,  as  Ophelia,  and  as 
Jane  Shore ;  she  secured,  indeed,  a  run  of  twenty-five 
nights  for  Rowe's  dismal  tragedy.  The  distresses  of  its 
heroine  were  clearly  intelligible  to  auditors  who  but 
imperfectly  understood  her  language.  Macready,  in 
reference  to  the  telling  effect  upon  theatrical  spectators 
of  an  exhibition  of  physical  suffering,  writes  in  1856  : 
"  Even  in  Paris,  where  Parisian  taste  was  purer  in 
dramatic  matters  than  (as  I  hear)  it  now  is,  I  recollect 
when  Miss  Smithson,  as  Jane  Shore,  uttered  the  line,  '  I 
have  not  tasted  food  these  three  long  days,'  a  deep 
murmur,  perfectly  audible,  ran  through  the  house — Oh, 
monDieu!"  In  regard  to  her  performance  of  Virginia 
in  Knowles's  tragedy  of  Virginius,"  a  French  critic 
wrote  :  "  On  m'a  dit  que  Miss  Smithson  a  ete  admirable 
au  moment  de  1'agonie  dans  la  lutte  de  1'honneur  centre 


70  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

1'amour  de  la  vie  :  je  n'en  ai  rien  vu ;  il  y  avait  dejh, 
quelques  instants  que  je  ne  pouvais  plus  regarder."  Her 
benefit  night  was  the  occasion  of  wonderful  excitement. 
The  house  overflowed ;  crowds  were  unable  to  obtain 
admission.  Charles  X.  presented  her  with  a  purse  of 
gold;  from  the  Duchesse  de  Berri  she  received  a  magnifi- 
cent vase  of  Sevres  china.  She  was  called  and  recalled 
before  the  curtain  ;  the  stage  was  quite  carpeted  with  the 
bouquets  and  wreaths  thrown  to  her  by  the  enthusiastic 
audience. 

Hector  Berlioz  has  recorded  in  his  Memoirs  the 
extraordinary  effect  upon  him  of  the  Shakespearian 
representations  at  the  Odeon,  and  the  appearance  of 
"  la  belle  Smidson "  as  Ophelia  and  Juliet.  In  these 
events  he  found  at  once  revelation  and  inspiration. 
"  Shakespeare,"  he  writes,  "  en  tombant  ainsi  sur  moi  a 
1'improviste  me  foudroya.  Son  eclair,  en  m'ouvrant  le 
ciel  de  1'art  avec  un  fracas  sublime,  m'en  illumina  les 
plus  lointaines  profondeurs.  Je  reconnus  la  vraie  gran- 
deur, la  vraie  beaute,  la  vraie  verite  dramatiques.  .  .  . 
Je  vis,  je  compris,  je  sentis  que  j'etais  vivant  et  qu'il 
fallait  me  lever  et  marcher."  But  the  shock  apparently 
had  been  too  great  for  him.  A  profound  melancholy 
took  possession  of  him.  He  fell  into  a  strangely  nervous 
condition.  He  could  not  work ;  he  could  not  rest;  sleep 
was  denied  him.  He  could  do  nothing  but  wander 
aimlessly  about  Paris  and  its  environs.  He  avoided 


MISS  SMITIISON.  71 


his  home;  his  old  tastes,  and  studies,  and  habits  of 
life  became  hateful  to  him.  When  from  sheer  exhaus- 
tion, after  long  periods  of  suffering,  he  was  permitted  to 
sleep,  it  seemed  as  though  he  could  not  waken  again  ; 
or  he  rather  swooned  than  slept  now  in  the  open  fields 
of  Ville-Juif  or  Sceaux;  now  in  the  snow,  upon  the 
banks  of  the  frozen  Seine,  near  Neuilly ;  and  now  upon 
one  of  the  marble  tables  of  the  Cafe*  du  Cardinal  at 
the  corner  of  the  Boulevards  des  Italiens  and  the  Rue 
Richelieu,  where  he  remained  motionless  for  five  hours 
together,  greatly  to  the  alarm  of  the  waiters,  who  dared 
not  approach  him  lest  they  should  find  him  a  corpse. 

All  this  time,  as  he  confesses,  he  did  not  know  a 
word  of  English.  He  contemplated  Shakespeare  only 
through  "les  brouillards  de  la  traduction  de  Letour- 
neur,"  and  was  conscious  of  the  severe  loss  he  suffered 
in  this  respect.  Some  satisfaction  he  found,  however 
"  Le  jeu  des  acteurs,  celui  de  1'actrice  surtout,  la  sue 
cession  des  scenes,  la  pantomime  et  1'accent  des  voix, 
signifiaient  pour  moi  davantage  et  m'impre'gnaient  des 
idees  et  des  passions  shakespeariennes  mille  fois  plus 
que  les  mots  de  ma  pale  et  infidele  traduction."  It  soon 
became  clear,  however,  that  if  he  loved  Shakespeare 
much,  he  loved  more  Miss  Smithson,  "  1'artiste  inspiree 
dont  tout  Paris  delirait."  Some  months  he  passed  in  a 
kind  of  "  abrutissement  desespere,"  dreaming  always 
of  the  poet  and  the  actress,  but  crushed  by  the  com- 


72  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

parison  of  her  brilliant  fame  with   his   own   miserable 
obscurity. 

Born  in  1803,  the  son  of  a  doctor,  Hector  Berlioz 
had  been  educated  for  the  medical  profession.     Greatly 
to  the  annoyance  of  his  parents,  however,  he  deserted 
medicine   for  music.      He   studied   composition   under 
Lesueur  and  Reicha,  of  the  Conservatoire.     His  father 
denied  him  all  pecuniary  assistance ;  he  was  reduced  to 
extreme  poverty.     He  dined  upon  dry  bread  and  prunes, 
raisins,  or  dates ;   daily  he  took   his  station  upon   the 
Pont   Neuf  at   the   foot   of  Henry   IV.'s   statue :    "  la, 
sans  penser  a  la  poule  au  pot  que  le  bon  roi  avait  revee 
pour  le  diner  du  dimanche  de  ses  paysans,  je  faisais  mon 
frugal  repas  en  regardant   au   loin   le  soleil  descendre 
derriere  le  mont  Valerien."     He  applied  for  a  situation 
in  the  orchestra   of  the  Theatre   des  Nouveautes  :   he 
could   play  the   flute.     But   there  was   no   vacancy  for 
a  flute-player,  so  he  entered  the  chorus  'at  a  monthly 
salary  of  fifty  francs.     He  gave  lessons ;  he  composed  a 
mass  which  was  duly  executed  at  the  churches  of  Saint 
Roch  and   Saint   Eustache  j    he  commenced   an  opera 
which  he  never  completed,  founded  upon  the  drama  of 
"  Beverley,  ou  le  Joueur,"  an  adaptation  of  the  English 
tragedy   of  "The   Gamester."     He   composed,    too,   a 
cantata,  "  Orphee  dechire   par    les   Bacchantes,"  which 
a  musical  committee,  consisting  of  Cherubini,  Pae'r,  Le- 
sueur, Berton,  Boieldieu,  and  Catel  declared  ineodcutablc* 


MISS  SMITHSON.  73 


He  wrote  musical  criticisms  in  "  La  Quotidienne "  and 
"La  Revue  Europeenne."  Certain  of  his  later  com- 
positions obtained  for  him  the  first  and  second  prizes  of 
the  Institute. 

As  yet,  however,  he  was  assuredly  little  known  to 
fame,  and  Miss  Smithson  might  well  be  excused  for  her 
ignorance  even  of  the  existence  of  her  passionate  adorer. 
His  love  did  not  dimmish;  if  for  a  time  he  emerged 
from  his  state  of  gloomy  inaction  and  wretched  de- 
spondency, it  was  only  to  plunge  into  it  anew.  He  was 
wholly  without  hope.  He  avoided  the  English  theatre  ; 
he  turned  away  his  eyes  as  he  passed  the  print-shops, 
lest  he  should  see  a  portrait  of  Miss  Smithson — her 
portraits  abounded  in  Paris  just  then.  Nevertheless, 
he  wrote  to  her  letter  after  letter.  No  reply  came  to 
him.  As  he  learnt  afterwards,  the  lady  had  been  rather 
frightened  by  the  fervour  of  his  expressions,  and  had 
instructed  her  maid  to  bring  her  no  more  of  his  letters. 
The  English  performances  were  drawing  to  a  close; 
Miss  Smithson's  last  nights  were  announced.  He  writes  : 
"Je  veux  lui  montrer,  dis-je,  que  moi  aussi  je  suis 
peintre ! "  For  the  benefit  of  the  French  actor  Huet, 
two  acts  of  "  Romeo  and  Juliet "  were  to  be  represented 
at  the  Opera  Comique.  Berlioz  applied  to  the  manager 
for  permission  to  add  to  the  programme  an  overture  of 
his  own  composition.  At  last,  then,  it  seemed  that  the 
worshipper  and  the  idol  were  to  be  brought  together. 


74  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

He  has  described  the  situation  :  "  Au  moment  oil  j'entrai, 
Romeo  eperdu  emportait  Juliette  dans  ses  bras.  Mon 
regard  tomba  involontairement  sur  le  groupe  shake- 
spearien.  Je  poussai  un  cri  et  m'enfuis  en  me  tordant 
les  mains.  Juliette  m'avait  apergu  et  entendu  .  .  .  je 
lui  fis  peur !  En  me  designant,  elle  pria  les  acteurs  qui 
etaient  en  scene  avec  elle  de  faire  attention  a  ce  gentle- 
man dont  les  yeux  ri  annon$aient  rien  de  bon"  To  the 
overture,  when  the  time  came  for  its  execution,  Miss 
Smithson  paid  no  heed  whatever.  It  was  to  her  a  thing 
of  the  slightest  consequence  ;  she  was  not  in  the  least 
curious  concerning  it  or  its  composer.  In  a  day  or  two 
she  was  quitting  Paris,  with  the  other  members  of  the 
company,  to  fulfil  an  engagement  at  Amsterdam.  By 
chance,  as  he  states,  Berlioz  had  taken  apartments  in 
the  Rue  Richelieu.  Miss  Smithson  had  been  living 
opposite,  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  Neuve  Saint  Marc. 
Mechanically  he  approached  his  window,  after  having 
been  for  many  hours  stretched  upon  his  bed  exhausted, 
wretched,  "brise,  mourant."  It  was  his  cruel  fate  to  see 
the  lady  enter  her  carriage  and  depart.  "  II  est  bien 
difficile,"  he  writes,  "  de  decrire  une  souffrance  pareille 
a  celle  que  je  ressentis ;  cet  arrachement  de  cceur,  cet 
isolement  affreux,  ces  milles  tortures  qui  circulent  dans 
les  veines  avec  un  sang  glace  de  de'gout  de  vivre  et 
cette  impossibility  de  mourir,"  etc.  For  a  time  he 
ceased  to  compose ;  his  intelligence  seemed  to  dimmish 


MISS  SMITHS  ON.  75 

as  his  sensibility  increased;  he  could  do  nothing  but 
suffer.  But  soon  Ulysses  began  to  console  himself  for 
the  departure  of  Calypso.  By  way  of  violent  distraction 
he  gives  way  to  an  extravagant  passion  for  a  certain 

Mdlle.  M .     He  writes  his  "Faust"  symphony,  his 

"  Tempest  "  fantasia,  his  "  Sardanapalus  "  cantata.  He 
gives  concerts,  he  travels  through  France  to  Italy,  he 
visits  Nice,  Florence,  Rome,  Naples.  Two  years  elapse 
before  he  is  again  to  see  or  to  hear  anything  of  Miss 
Smithson. 

The  English  players  meanwhile  had  fulfilled  engage- 
ments in  the  chief  towns  of  France.  They  had  per- 
formed at  Rouen  and  Havre,  reappearing  in  Paris  on 
their  way  to  Orleans,  Blois,  and  Bordeaux.  Miss  Smith- 
son  had  obtained  from  Mr.  Price,  the  manager  of  Drury 
Lane,  permission  to  defer  her  return  to  his  theatre  :  her 
success  in  France  had  been  so  prodigious.  But  it  was 
now  charged  against  the  lady  that  she  had  become  too 
conscious  of  her  own  merits  ;  that,  convinced  of  her 
powers  of  attraction,  she  demanded  of  Abbott,  the 
manager,  very  exorbitant  terms  for  her  services,  equal, 
it  was  said,  indeed,  to  the  combined  salaries  of  the 
whole  company.  Serious  disagreement  ensued ;  in  pro- 
vincial France  the  English  strollers  suffered  from  lack 
of  patronage.  It  became  at  last  necessary  to  disband 
the  company.  The  majority  of  the  actors,  in  a  some- 
what necessitous  condition,  made  their  way  back  to 


76  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

London  as  best  they  could.  Poor  Abbott  died  some 
years  afterwards  under  distressing  circumstances,  neg- 
lected and  forgotten,  in  America.  Miss  Smithson  re- 
turned to  Paris.  Confident  of  the  fidelity  of  her  friends 
and  devotees,  she  hoped  to  establish  there  a  permanent 
English  theatre.  It  was  the  moment  also  of  Berlioz's 
reappearance  in  Paris;  and,  moved  by  an  "impulsion 
secrete,"  he  had  secured  lodgings  in  the  house  No.  i, 
Rue  Neuve  Saint  Marc,  formerly  occupied  by  Miss 
Smithson.  He  found  himself  under  the  same  roof  with 
her.  He  had  been  wholly  without  tidings  of  her.  He 
did  not  know  whether  she  was  in  France  or  England, 
Scotland  or  America.  Was  not  this  curious  unforeseen 
meeting  an  argument  for  belief  in  magnetic  influences, 
secret  affinities,  "  entrainements  mysterieux  du  cceur  ?  " 
He  was  now  formally  presented  to  the  lady.  She  at- 
tended one  of  his  concerts,  at  which  was  performed 
his  monodrame  of  "  Lelio,"  the  second  part  of  the 
"  Episode  de  la  Vie  d'un  Artiste,"  Bocage  delivering, 
with  great  animation,  the  speeches  contrived  by  the 
composer  as  expressions  of  his  passion  for  the  actress. 
She  consented  to  become  his  wife,  notwithstanding  the 
remonstrances  both  of  her  own  family  and  of  his. 

Poor  Miss  Smithson  was  completely  ruined.  Her 
theatre  had  failed;  she  had  insufficiently  taken  into 
account  the  fickleness  and  the  frivolity  of  her  Parisian 
adorers.  Shakespeare  was  no  longer  a  novelty  in  Paris  j 


MISS  SMITHSON.  77 


he  had  helped  the  Romanticists  to  triumph  ;  they  needed 
him  no  more;  indeed,  he  was  rather  in  their  way,  his 
presence  provoking  inconvenient  comparisons.  The  old 
idols  have  to  be  broken  up  from  time  to  time  to  mac- 
adamize the  roads  along  which  new  objects  of  devotion 
are  to  pass  in  triumph.  "  La  belle  Smidson  "  played  to 
empty  benches  ;  the  receipts  fell  more  and  more ;  it 
became  necessary  to  close  the  theatre.  The  actress 
owed  more  than  she  could  pay ;  her  means  were  ex- 
hausted. Then  came  a  sad  accident.  Descending  from 
a  carriage  at  the  door  of  her  house,  she  slipped  suddenly, 
taking  a  false  step,  and  broke  her  leg  just  above  the 
ankle.  Two  passers-by  saved  her  from  falling  heavily 
upon  the  pavement,  and  carried  her  in  a  fainting  state 
to  her  apartments.  She  was  married  to  Hector  Berlioz 
in  the  summer  of  1833.  It  was  a  frugal  marriage 
enough.  The  lady  was  still  much  in  debt,  and  her 
professional  career  was  for  the  present  closed  by  reason 
of  her  accident.  "  De  mon  cote,"  wrote  the  gentleman, 
"j'avais  pour  tout  bien  trois  cents  francs  que  mon  ami 
Gonnet  m'avait  pretes,  et  j'etais  de  nouveau  brouille 
avec  mes  parents."  He  gallantly  adds  :  "  Mais  elle 
etait  a  moi ;  je  defiais  tout !" 

To  pay  the  bride's  debts,  a  special  representation 
took  place  at  the  The'atre-Italien.  The  French  players, 
to  do  them  justice,  had  shown  much  kindness  to  their 
unfortunate  English  sister.  Mdlle.  Mars  had  generously 


78  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

proffered  her  purse,  but  this  "  la  belle  Smidson "  was 
too  proud  to  accept.  Alexandre  Dumas'  famous  play  of 
"  Antony"  was  presented,  with  Firmin  and  Madame  Dor- 
val  in  the  chief  characters ;  the  fourth  act  of  "  Hamlet  " 
was  to  follow,  with  a  pianoforte  solo,  Weber's  "  Concert- 
Stuck,"  by  Liszt,  and  Berlioz's  "  Symphonic  Fantastique," 
his  "  Sardanapalus,"  and  overture  to  "Les  Francs-Juges." 
The  performance  produced  a  sum  of  7000  francs,  which 
still  left  many  serious  claims  upon  the  actress  unsatisfied. 
And  the  evening  had  its  disappointments.  Madame 
Dorval  had  packed  the  house  with  her  friends  to  secure 
herself  a  triumph  :  she  apprehended  a  formidable  party 
in  favour  of  the  English  actress.  "  Antony "  was  re- 
ceived with  enthusiasm ;  its  heroine  was  called  and 
recalled  before  the  curtain.  Poor  Madame  Berlioz  had 
been  less  prudent.  She  had  engaged  no  claque.  Her 
Ophelia  stirred  no  great  applause ;  she  was  not  called 
before  the  curtain.  She  had  scarcely  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  her  accident ;  she  had  lost  something  of 
her  old  grace  and  freedom  of  movement  After  kneeling, 
she  rose  with  some  difficulty,  "  en  s'appuyant  avec  la 
main  sur  le  planch er  du  theatre.  .  .  .  Ce  fut  pour  elle 
aussi  une  cruelle  decouverte.  .  .  .  Puis,  quand,  apres 
la  chute  de  la  toile,  elle  vit  que  le  public,  ce  public  dont 
elle  e'tait  1'idole  autrefois,  et  qui,  de  plus,  venait  de 
decerner  une  ovation  a  Madame  Dorval,  ne  la  rappelait 
pas  .  .  .  quel  affreux  creve-cceur !  Toutes  les  femmes 


MISS  SMITHSON.  79 


et  tous  les  artistes  le  comprendront.  Pauvre  Ophelia  ! 
ton  soleil  declinait  .  .  .  j'etais  desole."  Berlioz  was 
anxious  for  a  second  performance,  so  that  his  wife 
should  secure  "une  eclatante  revanche;"  but  English 
actors  to  support  her  could  not  be  found  in  Paris,  and 
it  was  felt  that  the  help  of  amateurs,  or  her  appearance 
in  fragments  of  scenes,  would  be  unavailing.  The 
actress  was  seen  no  more  upon  the  stage. 

Little  happiness  attended  her  marriage.  Berlioz 
shone  as  a  passionate  lover ;  in  the  tamer  character  of 
husband  he  was  much  less  admirable.  Then  they  were 
wretchedly  poor;  they  underwent,  indeed,  cruel  trials 
and  privations.  For  many  years  they  were  weighed 
down  by  the  load  of  debt  Miss  Smithson  had  incurred  *" 
in  her  luckless  theatrical  speculations.  Berlioz  had  no 
certain  income ;  he  depended  upon  the  returns  of  his 
concerts,  given  sometimes  upon  so  grand  a  scale  that  all 
possibility  of  profit  seemed  to  be  left  out  of  the  calculation. 
He  honestly  testifies  to  the  moral  support  he  received 
from  his  wife  on  these  occasions.  She  furthered  his 
enterprises  in  every  possible  way,  although  there  seemed 
always  likelihood  of  their  involving  the  household  in 
even  deeper  distress.  He  writes :  "  Mais  ma  femme 
elle-meme  m'y  encouragea  et  se  montra  des  ce  moment 
ce  qu'elle  a  toujours  ete,  ennemie  des  demi-mesures  et 
des  petits  moyens,  et  des  que  la  gloire  de  1'artiste  ou 
i'interet  de  1'art  sont  en  question,  brave  devant  la  gene 


8o  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

et  la  misere  jusqu'a  la  temerite."  Paganini  generously 
presented  him  with  20,000  francs.  From  the  Govern- 
ment he  received  some  3000  francs  for  a  requiem 
originally  designed  for  the  victims  of  July,  but  executed 
at  the  solemn  service  for  General  Damremont  and  other 
soldiers  of  France  who  had  fallen  under  the  walls  of 
Constantine.  By  his  visits  to  Germany  and  Russia  for 
the  performance  of  his  orchestral  compositions,  Berlioz 
profited  considerably. 

The  merits  and  qualities  of  Berlioz  as  a  composer 
cannot  here  be  conveniently  discussed.  In  some  sort 
he  was  a  musical  Haydon,  engaged  in  the  production  of 
works  of  important  design  and  dimensions,  which  his 
countrymen  did  not  prize,  but  rather  derided ;  and 
meantime  he  struggled  hard  and  valiantly  with  indigence 
and  other  trying  conditions.  He  had  Haydon's  acrimony 
in  debate ;  he  had  Haydon's  insolent  scorn  of  rivals 
and  opponents;  and  he  had  something  more  than 
Haydon's  literary  power,  considerable  as  that  was.  But 
Berlioz  wrote  with  great  acuteness  and  brilliancy ;  he 
had  all  a  French  critic's  wit,  fire,  fluency,  and,  it  must  be 
added,  recklessness.  He  founded  the  symphony-ode,  he 
was  a  great  conductor,  a  master  of  orchestral  effects, 
inventive  and  original,  if  oftentimes  vague,  uncouth,  and 
tedious ;  most  ingenious  as  to  new  combinations  of 
sound,  finding  occupation  for  more  and  more  instru- 
mentalists, for  ever  increasing  the  force  of  his  band,  and 


MISS  SMITHS  ON.  81 

thus  rendering  almost  impracticable  the  performance  of 
his  works  by  the  means  and  numbers  usually  available." 
He   dearly  loved    a    monster   orchestra.     Perhaps    his 
happiest  moment  was  when,  after  an  Industrial  Expo- 
sition in  Paris,  he  conducted  a    musical   festival  with 
upwards  of  a  thousand  executants.     Heine  might  well 
find  in  Berlioz's  music  something  primaeval  and  antedi- 
luvian, reminding    him   of  leviathans   and   mammoths, 
extinct  monsters  of  land  and  sea,  fabulous  beasts  and 
fishes,  and  recalling  Babylonian   wonders,   the  hanging 
gardens  of  Semiramis,  the  sculptures  of  Nineveh,   "  et 
les  audacieux  edifices   de    Mizraim  tels   que  nous   en 
voyons  sur  les  tableaux  de  1'Anglais  Martin."     In  France 
Berlioz  was  judged   to   be   deficient  as  a  melodist :  in 
truth,  melodies  are  not  absent  from  his  scores,  but  are 
so  cloaked  and  entangled  in  orchestral   trappings   and 
vestments   that  they  escape  unfelt  and  unappreciated. 
In  Germany  Berlioz  was  counted  among  the  transcen- 
dentalists,  arriving  a  little  too  soon,  however,  preceding 
Wagner,  and  preparing  a  harvest  of  honour  and  glory  for 
him  to  reap.      "For  my  part,"  wrote  Schumann  in  1838, 
"  I  understand  Berlioz  as  clearly  as  the  blue  sky  above 
me.  ...  I  think  there  is  really  a  new  time   in  music 
coming.      It  must  come.      Fifty  years  have  worked  great 
changes,  and  carried  us  on  a  good  deal  further."     On 
the  other  hand,  Berlioz  himself  declined  to  be  associated 
with  the  musicians  of  modern  Germany.     "  Je  n'ai  jamais 

VOL.  II.  G 


82  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

songe,"  he  writes,  "  ainsi  qu'on  1'a  si  follement  pretendu 
en  France,  a  faire  de  la  musique  sans  melodie.  Cette 
ecole  existe  maintenant  en  Allemagne  et  je  Fai  en 
horreur."  He  protested  that  he  had  always  been  careful 
to  introduce  "un  vrai  luxe  melodique"  in  all  his  com- 
positions. People  might  contest  the  worth  of  his 
melodies,  their  distinction,  novelty,  charm,  but  to  deny 
their  existence  was,  he  maintained,  bad  faith  or  inepti- 
tude. Further,  he  protested  that  the  dominant  qualities 
of  his  music  were  "  1'expression  passionnee,  1'ardeur 
interieure,  1'entrainement  rhythmique  et  1'imprevu." 

Some  few  of  Berlioz's  works  find  a  place  in  our 
orchestral  concerts,  but  the  composer  himself  is  little 
remembered  in  England.  He  was  here  in  1847,  con- 
ductor of  the  Drury  Lane  orchestra,  during  Jullien's  wild 
attempt  to  establish  English  opera  upon  an  extravagant 
scale,  with  a  fine  orchestra,  a  strong  chorus,  an  admirable 
company  of  singers — including  Mr.  Sims  Reeves,  Mr. 
Whitworth,  Mr.  Weiss,  Madame  Dorus-Gras,  Miss  Miran, 
and  Miss  Birch— but  without  a  repertory.  Berlioz 
estimated  the  nightly  expenses  at  10,000  francs.  The 
receipts  never  reached  this  amount.  The  end,  of  course, 
was  bankruptcy.  And  Berlioz  was  here  again  in  1853, 
when  an  Italian  version  of  his  opera  "  Benvenuto  Cellini " 
was  produced  under  his  direction  at  Covent  Garden,  to 
fail  ignominiously  as  it  had  failed  before  in  Paris,  and  as 
his  later  opera,  "  Les  Troyens,"  was  to  fail  afterwards  at 


MISS  SMITHSON.  83 


the  Lyrique.  Against  these  disasters,  however,  he  could 
count  the  successful  production  of  his  "  Beatrice  et 
Benedict,"  an  operatic  edition  of  "  Much  Ado  about 
Nothing,"  at  Weimar  and  Baden,  in  1862,  and  he  had  at 
all  times  to  console  him  the  fervent  admiration  of  his 
friend  the  Abbe  Liszt. 

Of  the  marriage  of  Hector  Berlioz  and  Miss  Smithson 
one  son  was  born,  Louis,  who  entered  the  navy,  serving 
in  the  Anglo-French  fleet  sent  to  the  Baltic  during  the 
war  with  Russia  in  1855,  but  who  pre-deceased  his  father 
some  years.  In  1840  the  husband  and  wife  separated 
by  mutual  consent,  if  it  can  be  said  that  the  lady  was  per- 
mitted any  choice  in  the  matter,  and  thenceforward  they 
lived  apart.  M.  Berlioz  speaks  "  quelques  mots  sur  les 
orages  de  mon  interieur."  His  wife,  he  alleges,  was 
absurdly  jealous,  and  on  that  account  opposed  his  pro- 
vincial tours  and  his  foreign  travels.  He  was  often 
obliged  in  consequence  to  keep  his  plans  secret,  to  steal 
from  his  house  with  his  clothes  and  music,  and  to  explain 
afterwards  by  letter  the  object  of  his  departure.  In  truth, 
they  had  a  wretched  life  together,  and  if  originally  the 
poor  lady's  distrust  of  her  lord  was  without  just  cause, 
this  did  not  continue  to  be  the  case.  M.  Berlioz  admits 
with  cynical  frankness,  "  Je  ne  partis  pas  seul;  j'avais 
une  compagne  de  voyage  qui,  depuis  lors,  m'a  suivi  dans 
mes  diverses  excursions.  A  force  d'avoir  e'te  accuse, 
torture'  de  mille  fagons,  et  toujours  injustement,  ne  trou- 


84  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

vant  plus  de  paix  ni  de  repos  chez  moi,  un  hasard  aidant, 
je  finis  par  prendre  les  benefices  d'une  position  dont  je 
n'avais  que  les  charges,  et  ma  vie  fut  completement 
changee."  At  the  same  time  he  had  the  courage  to 
profess  that  his  affection  for  his  wife  had  in  no  degree 
abated.  He  saw  her  frequently  after  their  separation  : 
she  was  even  the  dearer  to  him  because  of  the  infirm  state 
of  her  health.  For  the  last  four  years  of  her  life  she 
suffered  severely  from  a  paralytic  seizure,  which  deprived 
her  of  all  power  of  motion  and  of  speech.  A  simple  in- 
scription marked  her  resting-place  in  the  cemetery  of 
Montmartre — "  la  face  tournee  vers  le  nord,  vers  1'Angle- 
terre  qu'elle  ne  voulut  jamais  revoir  : " 

"  Henriette  Constance  Berlioz  Smithson,  nee  a  Ennis, 
en  Irlande,  morte  a  Montmartre,  le  3  Mars,  1854." 

Jules  Janin  wrote  of  her  in  the  Journal  des  Debats, 
kindly  mindful  of  what  so  many  had  forgotten,  the  exquisite 
grace  and  beauty  she  had  once  possessed,  the  enthusiasm 
she  had  roused,  her  triumphs  upon  the  stage.  "  Elles 
passent  si  vite  et  si  cruellement,  ces  divinites  de  la  fable  ! 
Us  sont  si  freles,  ces  freles  enfants  du  vieux  Shakespeare 
et  du  vieux  Corneille  !  .  .  .  Juliette  est  morte  .  .  .  Jetez 
des  fleurs  !  Jetez  des  fleurs  ! "  Her  husband  expressed, 
his  sorrow  eloquently,  lamenting  especially  his  wife's 
ruined  career,  her  accident,  and  the  disappointment  of 
her  hopes ;  her  compulsory  retirement  and  eclipsed  fame  ; 
the  triumph  of  her  imitators  and  inferiors.  Something 


MISS  SMITIISON.  85 


he  had  to  say,  too,  of  "nos  dechirements  interieurs;  son 
inextinguible  jalousie  devenue  fondee  \  notre  separation ; 
la  mort  de  tous  ses  parents :  Fe'loignement  force  de  son 
fils;  mes  frequents  et  longs  voyages;  sa  douleur  fiere 
d'etre  pour  moi  la  cause  de  de'penses  sous  lesquelles 
j'e'tais  toujours,  elle  ne  1'ignorait  pas,  pret  a  succomber; 
1'ide'e  fausse  qu'elle  avait  de  s'etre,  par  son  amour  pour  la 
France,  alie'ne  les  affections  du  public  anglais ;  son  cceur 
brise ;  sa  beaute  disparue  ;  sa  sante  detruite ;  ses  douleurs 
physiques  croissantes ;  la  perte  du  mouvement  et  de  la 
parole,  son  impossibilite  de  se  faire  comprendre  d'aucune 
fagon ;  sa  longue  perspective  de  la  mort  et  de  1'oubli." 
.  .  .  Poor  Madame  Berlioz  !  This  is  a  long  catalogue 
of  sorrows.  "  Destruction,  feux  et  tonnerres,  sang  et 
larmes,"  cries  her  husband,  "  mon  cerveau  se  crispe  dans 
mon  crane  en  songeant  a  ces  horreurs ! "  and  he  calls 
aloud  upon  Shakespeare  to  come  to  his  aid,  believing 
that  Shakespeare  alone  can  duly  comprehend  and  pity 
two  unhappy  artists :  "  s'aimant,  et  de'chires  1'un  par 
1'autre."  The  Abbe  Liszt  writes  to  him,  proffering  con- 
solations, but  rather  of  philosophy  than  of  the  Church  : 
"  Elle  t'inspira,  tu  1'as  aime'e,  tu  1'as  chante'e :  sa  tache 
e'tait  accomplie." 

Poor  Henriette  !  there  is  yet  one  more  glimpse  of 
her.  Not  even  in  the  grave  was  tranquillity  permitted 
her.  Some  two  years  later  Hector  Berlioz  married  again. 
"  Je  le  devais,"  he  wrote.  At  the  end  of  eight  years  his 


86  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

second  wife  died  suddenly  of  heart  disease.  He  became 
possessed  of  a  family  vault  in  the  larger  cemetery  of 
Montmartre,  and  it  was  thought  necessary  to  disinter  the 
remains  of  his  first  partner,  and  remove  them  to  the  new 
grave.  It  was  like  a  scene  in  "  Hamlet ; "  but  the  bones 
disturbed  were  those  of  Ophelia,  not  of  Yorick.  When 
the  widower  arrived  in  the  cemetery  the  gravedigger  was 
already  at  work.  The  grave  was  open;  the  coffin  of 
poor  Henriette,  hidden  for  ten  years,  was  again  exposed. 
It  was  whole;  but  the  lid  had  suffered  much  from  the 
damp.  M.  Berlioz  must  tell  the  tale  after  his  own  fashion. 
'-' Alors  1'ouvrier,  au  lieu  de  la  tirer  hors  de  terre,  arracha 
les  planches  pourries  qui  se  dechirent  avec  un  bruit 
hideux  en  laissant  voir  le  contenu  du  coffre.  Le  fos- 
soyeur  se  baissa,  prit  entre  ses  deux  mains  la  tete  deja 
detachee  du  tronc,  la  tete  sans  couronne  et  sans  cheveux, 
helas  !  et  decharnee,  de  \&poor  Ophelia,  et  la  deposa  dans 
une  biere  neuve  preparee  ad  hoc  sur  le  bord  de  la  fosse. 
Puis  se  baissant  une  seconde  fois,  il  souleva  a  grand'peine 
et  prit  entre  ses  bras  le  tronc  sans  tete  et  les  membres, 
formant  une  masse  noiratre  sur  laquelle  le  linceul  restait 
applique,  et  ressemblant  a  un  bloc  de  poix  enferme 
dans  un  sac  humid e  .  .  .  avec  un  son  mat  .  .  .  et  une 
odeur.  .  .  ."  But  enough  has  been  quoted. 

Berlioz  died  in  1869.  When  he  was  sixty-one  he 
sought  a  third  wife,  and  addressed  a  passionate  offer  of 
marriage  to  a  lady  five  or  six  years  his  senior,  whom  he 


MISS  SMITHSON.  87 

had  loved  in  his  boyhood,  or  even  his  infancy.  She  was 
now  a  widow,  the  mother  of  several  children,  if  not, 
indeed,  a  grandmother.  He  prints  in  his  "  Memoires  " 
her  letters  rejecting  his  proposals.  M.  Weckerlin  pro- 
nounces these  letters  of  this  "  dame  inconnue  "  "  chefs- 
d'oeuvre  de  style,  de  sentiment,  de  raison  et  de  conven- 
ance."  She  sent  her  portrait,  however,  to  her  inconsolable 
suitor,  to  remind  him  of  the  realities  of  the  present  and 
to  dispel  the  illusions  of  the  past. 


88  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER    V. 


"OLD    FARREN. 

EARLY  in  the  century,  a  Quarterly  Reviewer  described 
scornfully  the  technical  terms  employed  upon  the  French 
stage  to  denote  distinct  classes  of  impersonation.  It 
seemed  to  him  ridiculous  that  the  players  should  be 
known  as  Peres  Nobles,  Jeunes  Premiers,  Financiers, 
Comiques,  Utilites,  Meres,  Ingenues,  Duegnes,  or  Sou- 
brettes.  "Each  actor  and  actress,"  he  wrote,  "is 
obliged  to  make  a  selection  of  a  particular  role,  from 
which  they  are  forbidden  afterwards  to  depart :  .  .  . 
they  are  not  permitted  to  extravagate  into  another  walk. 
The  Pere  Noble  cannot  become  Comique,  whatever  be 
his  vocation  this  way ;  and  the  Ingenuite  must  not  look 
to  be  the  Jeune  Premiere,  whatever  ambition  she  may 
feel  for  playing  the  heroine.  ...  In  the  English  theatre 
all  this  foolery  would  be  impossible.  We  represent  not 
Jeunes  Premieres,  nor  Ingenuites,  but  men  and  women 
with  all  their  various  and  changeable  feelings,  humours, 
and  passions.  .  .  .  The  human  character  is  equable 


OLD  FARREN."  89 


and  unmixed  on  no  spot  of  the  globe  except  the  stage 
of  the  Theatre  Frangais  :  there  man  becomes  a  puppet, 
and  character  is  not  the  growth  of  nature,  but  of  certain 
learned  conventions  and  regulations."  In  conclusion, 
the  Reviewer  decided  "  this  rigorous  destination  of  parts  " 
to  be  "  at  once  a  cause,  a  consequence,  and  a  proof  of 
the  feebleness  of  the  French  drama." 

There  is  something  in  this  opinion  corresponding 
with  the  prejudice  of  the  English  footman  in  "  Zeluco," 
who  denounced  the  blue  uniforms  of  the  French  infantry, 
describing  them  as  of  "  foolish  appearance,"  and  "  fit 
only  for  the  blue  horse  or  the  artillery."  And  the 
Reviewer  is  at  fault  as  to  his  facts.  Like  technical 
terms  to  those  he  reprobates  as  "foolery"  have  long 
been  employed  in  the  English  theatre.  Our  actors  have 
their  "lines  of  business"  as  definitely  marked  out  as 
have  their  French  brethren.  Not  long  since  Mr.  Bou- 
cicault,  an  excellent  authority  upon  such  matters,  fully 
availed  himself  of  professional  titles  when  he  adjudged 
that  a  "  first-class  theatrical  company  should  consist  of : 
A  leading  man,  leading  juvenile  man,  heavy  man,  first 
old  man,  first  low  comedian,  walking  gentleman,  second 
old  man  and  utility,  second  low  comedian  and  character 
actor,  second  walking  gentleman  and  utility,  leading 
woman,  leading  juvenile  woman,  heavy  woman,  first  old 
woman,  first  chambermaid,  walking  lady,  second  old 
woman  and  utility,  second  chambermaid  and  character 


90  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

actress,  second  walking  lady  and  utility  walking  lady." 
What  a  list  for  the  Quarterly  Reviewer  !  And  it  is 
further  to  be  observed  that  our  players  are  rarely  dis- 
posed or  permitted  to  run  off  their  accustomed  "  lines  of 
business."  One  man  in  his  time  may,  as  the  poet  tells 
us,  play  many  parts ;  but  if  the  man  be  a  player,  the 
chances  are  that  the  parts  he  plays  will  closely  resemble 
each  other.  There  may  be  promotion  and  development, 
and  the  rising  actor  may  mount  from  small  to  important 
characters  ;  but  he  ascends  the  same  staircase,  so  to  say. 
The  light  comedian  of  twenty  is  usually  found  to  be  still 
a  light  comedian  at  seventy  :  the  Orlandos  of  the  stage 
rarely  become  its  old  Adams.  The  actresses  who  have 
personated  youthful  heroines  are  apt  to  disregard  the 
flight  of  time  and  the  burden  of  age,  and  to  the  last 
shrink  from  the  assumption  of  matronly  or  mature 
characters — Juliets  and  Ophelias,  as  a  rule,  declining  to 
expand  into  Nurses  or  Gertrudes.  And  the  actor  who 
in  his  youth  has  undertaken  systematically  to  portray 
senility  finds  himself  eventually  the  thing  he  had  merely 
affected  to  be :  nature  overtaking  his  art,  as  it  were, 
and  supplying  him  with  real  in  lieu  of  painted  wrinkles, 
and  bestowing  upon  him  absolutely  those  piping  tones 
he  had  once  but  pretended  to  possess. 

This  histrionic  conservatism  is  specially  illustrated  by 
the  career  of  the  late  William  Farren,  long  fondly  known 
as  "  Old  Farren  "  to  the  admiring  playgoers  of  his  time. 


OLD  FARREN."  91 


He  is  believed  to  have  made  his  first  appearance  upon 
the  stage  at  Plymouth  when  he  was  only  nineteen  years 
of  age  :  he  then  played  Lovegold,  the  hero  of  Fielding's 
comedy  of  "  The  Miser."  From  that  time  down  to  his 
final  retirement  from  his  profession  in  1855,  when  he 
appeared  for  the  last  time  as  Lord  Ogleby  in  a  scene 
from  "The  Clandestine  Marriage,"  the  actor  was  em- 
ployed in  personating  the  aged,  the  doting,  and  the 
decrepit.  From  the  point  of  view  of  his  public  he  had 
been  an  old  man  for  half  a  century. 

Born  about  1786,  the  son  of  a  tragedian  of  rather 
mediocre  ability,  William  Farren  was  educated  at  Dr. 
Barrow's  school  in  Soho.  An  actor's  children  usually 
incline  towards  the  paternal  profession.  Percy  Farren, 
the  elder  brother  of  William,  had  made  his  first  essay 
upon  the  stage  at  Weymouth  in  1803.  He  believed 
himself  a  light  comedian.  It  was  possibly  on  this  account 
that  William,  when  the  time  came  for  his  own  first  histri- 
onic efforts,  decided  he  would  play  old  men,  and  thus 
avoid  rivalry  with  his  brother,  lending  him,  indeed, 
useful  support  instead.  Of  Percy  it  is  enough  to  say 
that  he  achieved  little  fame  as  a  player,  although  as  a 
stage  manager,  both  in  London  and  Dublin,  he  subse- 
quently proved  himself  competent  enough.  William's 
success  upon  the  stage  was  from  the  first  quite  of  a 
triumphant  sort.  He  appeared  at  Dublin,  and  remained 
for  some  years  a  member  of  Mr.  Jones's  company  in  that 


92        HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

capital,  his  merits  attracting  the  attention  of  the  Lord 
Lieutenant,  the  Duke  of  Leinster,  who  strongly  recom- 
mended the  Drury  Lane  committee  to  engage  the  young 
actor  for  their  theatre.  Farren,  however,  had  always 
a  lively  sense  of  his  own  value;  already  he  had  declined 
an  invitation  from  the  Haymarket  management ;  he  now 
proposed  terms  to  the  Drury  Lane  committee  which 
they  deemed  excessive.  But  the  actor  was  in  no  hurry 
to  quit  his  many  staunch  friends  in  Dublin;  he  was  wont 
to  say  of  himself  at  a  later  period  that  he  was  the  only 
"  cock-salmon  "  in  the  market — the  nickname  of  "  cock- 
salmon"  clung  to  him  through  life — and  could  dictate 
his  own  price.  Presently  the  directors  yielded  :  they 
were  glad,  indeed,  to  offer  the  terms  they  had  before 
rejected.  To  their  great  mortification,  however,  they 
found  the  services  of  the  actor  had  been  meanwhile 
secured  by  Mr.  Harris,  the  manager  of  the  rival  theatre. 
Accordingly,  at  Covent  Garden,  on  the  loth  September, 
1818,  in  the  character  of  Sir  Peter  Teazle,  William  Farren 
made  his  first  appearance  upon  the  London  stage.  He 
was  assisted  by  \h.z  Joseph  Surface  of  Young,  the  Charles 
of  Charles  Kemble,  the  Sir  Oliver  of  Terry,  the  Crabtree 
of  Blanchard,  and  the  Sir  Benjamin  of  Liston.  Miss 
Brunton  played  Lady  Teazle;  Mrs.  Gibbs,  Mrs.  Candour; 
and  Miss  Foote,  Maria.  Farren  subsequently  appeared 
as  Lord  Ogleby,  as  Sir  Bashful  Constant  in  "  The  Way  to 
Keep  Him,"  as  Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  as  Don  Manuel  in 


OLD  FARREN: 


93 


"She  Would  and  She  Would  Not,"  Sir  Adam  Contest, 
Sir  Fretful  Plagiary,  Sir  Andrew)  Aguecheek,  Lord  Chalk- 
stone,  Hayes,  etc.  The  new  actor  "  drew  great  houses," 
says  Genest.  The  playbills  were  headed,  "  Paramount 
Success  of  Mr.  Farren."  He  remained  at  Covent  Garden 
some  ten  seasons,  appearing  at  the  Haymarket  during 
the  summer  months.  In  1828  he  transferred  his  ser- 
vices to  Drury  Lane,  but  this  step  involved  a  breach  of 
contract  and  a  lawsuit.  The  proprietors  of  Covent 
Garden  brought  an  action  against  the  offending  actor, 
and  recovered  damages  to  the  amount  of  ^£750. 

Farren  personated  in  turn  all  the  most  eminent 
elderly  gentlemen  of  standard  comedy  and  farce,  occa- 
sionally undertaking  characters  of  an  eccentric  kind  that 
stood  somewhat  removed  from  that  category.  Among 
his  Shakesperian  parts,  in  addition  to  his  Sir  Andrew 
Aguecheek,  were  Stephano,  Polonius,  one  of  the  Witches 
in  "  Macbeth,"  Dromio  of  Ephesus,  Shalloiv,  Malvolio, 
Slender,  Casca,  and  Dogberry.  He  obtained  great  ap- 
plause in  the  Marrall  of  Massinger,  and  the  Brainworm 
of  Ben  Jonson ;  he  played  Isaac  of  York,  Nicol  Jarvie, 
Sir  Henry  Lee,  and  Jonathan  Oldbuck  in  dramatic  edi- 
tions of  the  Waverley  Novels ;  on  his  benefit  nights  he 
accomplished  the  Mathews'  feat  of  personating  both  Puff 
and  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary,  or  he  even  presumed  to  wear  a 
woman's  skirts,  and  appeared  now  as  Miss  Harlow  in 
the  comedy  of  "The  Old  Maid,"  and  now  as  Meg 


94  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Merrilies  in  the  operatic  drama  of  "  Guy  Mannering." 
He  even  attempted  tragedy  upon  a  special  occasion,  and 
played  Shylock  to  a  dissatisfied  audience  at  Birmingham. 
He  portrayed  sundry  historic  characters,  such  as  Charles 
XII.  of  Siveden,  Oxenstiern,  Matthew  Hopkins,  Henry  IV. 
of  France,  Pope  Stxtus  V.,  and  Frederick  the  Great ;  in  one 
ingeniously  constructed  little  play  he  "  doubled,"  as  the 
actors  call  it,  the  parts  of  Frederick  and  Voltaire ;  he  was 
once  in  disgrace  with  the  Lord  Chamberlain  for  too 
closely  depicting  the  aspect  and  manner  of  Prince 
Talleyrand;  he  represented  Izaak  Walton  and  Old  Parr, 
Goldsmith's  Dr.  Primrose  and  Addison's  Sir  Roger  de 
Coverley.  He  became  a  member  of  Madame  Vestris's 
company  at  the  Olympic,  and  took  part  in  numberless 
dramatic  trifles,  one-act  comedies,  and  interludes  that 
are  now  forgotten  :  more  ambitious  performances  could 
not  then  be  presented  upon  the  stage  of  a  minor  theatre. 
From  his  preface  to  "The  Hunchback,"  it  may  be 
gathered  that  Sheridan  Knowles  had  particularly  de- 
signed the  part  of  Master  Walter  for  William  Farren ; 
regret  is  expressed  that  the  character  "  should  have  suf- 
fered from  the  loss  of  his  masterly  personation  of  the 
part,  for  masterly  it  assuredly  would  have  been."  It 
may  be  added  that  Farren  was  the  original  performer  of 
Lord  Skindeep  and  Old  Goldthumb  in  Douglas  Jerrold's 
comedies  "Bubbles  of  the  Day"  and  "Time  Works 
Wonders ; "  that  Mr.  Boucicault  contrived  for  him  Sir 


OLD  FARREN: 


95 


Harcourt  Courtly  in  "  London  Assurance,"  Jesse  Rural 
in  "  Old  Heads  and  Young  Hearts,"  and  sundry  other 
characters ;  that  he  took  part  in  Mrs.  Gore's  prize 
comedy  of  "  Quid  pro  Quo,"  in  various  original  plays  of 
pretence  by  Lovell,  Robert  Bell,  Sullivan,  and  others, 
and  in  many  minor  productions  adapted  from  the  French 
by  Poole,  Kenney,  Bunn,  Dance,  and  Planche,  to  name 
no  more.  Farren,  indeed,  pertained  alike  to  the  old 
stage  and  the  new.  He  triumphed  in  the  classical  Eng- 
lish comedies  of  the  last  century,  the  works  of  Sheridan, 
Congreve,  Murphy,  Farquhar,  Vanbrugh,  Goldsmith, 
Gibber,  Centlivre,  and  Colman ;  and  he  achieved 
curious  success  in  the  plays  of  his  own  time,  vying  with 
the  best  French  actors  in  his  creation  of  character,  his 
appreciation  of  detail,  the  minute  finish  of  his  perform- 
ance, his  taste  in  dress,  and  his  skill  in  the  art  of 
"  making  up."  His  stage  portraits  were  executed  with 
English  force  and  breadth,  and  yet  with  French  subtlety 
and  artistic  finesse.  He  sustained  in  English  adapta- 
tions many  of  the  characters  first  represented  by  Bonrfe', 
by  Samson,  and  by  Regnier  upon  the  French  stage ;  and 
it  may  be  said  that  he  could  well  afford  comparison 
with  those  distinguished  artists  even  in  the  parts  they 
claimed  to  have  made  their  own.  He  was  well  aware  of 
his  merits  in  this  respect.  Invited  to  witness  certain  of 
the  impersonations  of  Bouffe,  then  fulfilling  an  engage- 
ment at  the  St.  James's  Theatre,  Farren  replied  out  of 


96  HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

the  abundance  of  his  self-admiration  and  confidence  : 
"  No,  sir  ;  let  him  come  and  see  me  !  Let  Bouffe  come 
and  see  William  Farren  ! " 

Mr.  G.  H.  Lewes,  whose  "Actors  and  the  Art  of 
Acting"  contains  an  interesting  sketch  of  Farren,  de- 
scribes him  as  "  a  finished  actor — whom  nobody  cared 
about."  Admitting  that  "  during  the  memory  of  living 
men  no  English  actor  has  had  the  slightest  pretension  to 
rank  with  this  rare  and  accomplished  comedian;  "  ad- 
mitting that  "  everybody  applauded  him,  everybody 
admired  his  excellences,  everybody  was  glad  to  find  his 
name  on  the  bill ; "  Mr.  Lewes  asserts  that  "  no  one 
went  especially  to  see  him ;  in  theatrical  phrase,  *  he 
never  drew  a  house.' "  This  statement,  however,  must 
not  be  accepted  unconditionally.  It  is  clear  that  from 
an  early  period  of  his  career  Farren  was  a  most  attractive 
actor,  drawing  "  great  houses,"  as  Genest  records ;  he 
was  always  able  to  dictate  his  own  terms  to  his  managers, 
and  to  exact  from  them  most  liberal,  even  somewhat 
excessive,  rewards  for  his  services.  But  as  a  represen- 
tative of  old  age,  as  merely  one  of  the  constituents,  and 
not  the  most  important,  of  standard  comedy,  Farren 
could  not  hope  to  "star"  as  the  tragedians  starred  who 
carried  Hamlet,  Romeo,  and  Richard  about  with  them, 
in  such  wise  taking  by  storm  and  occupying  now  this 
stage  and  now  that.  The  "  sceptred  pall  "  of  Tragedy 
needs  few  bearers ;  but  Comedy  may  not  be  supported 


OLD  FARREN:1  97 


merely  by  one  performer  of  eminence  with  the  aid  of 
quatre  ou  cinq  poupees.  Farren's  proper  place  was  the 
one  he  so  long  occupied  on  the  London  stage  as  an 
important  member  of  a  strong  company.  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, as  Mr.  Lewes  suggests,  that  the  parts  represented 
by  Farren  "were  not  those  which  appeal  to  general 
sympathy."  The  choleric  guardians,  the  testy  fathers, 
the  jealous  husbands,  the  superannuated  fops  of  comedy, 
obtain  but  a  small  measure  of  commiseration  from  the 
audience — invite,  indeed,  rather  ridicule  than  respect. 
But  there  is  injustice  in  the  charge  against  Farren  that 
"  he  had  no  geniality,  he  had  no  gaiety,"  although  it 
may  be  true  that  he  was  less  possessed  of  these  qualities 
than  certain  of  his  contemporaries  with  whom  he  was 
often  compared,  but  who  could  scarcely  be  viewed  as  his 
rivals.  Macready,  in  his  "Reminiscences,"  noting  the 
engagement  of  Farren  at  Covent  Garden  in  1818 — "a 
powerful  addition  to  its  great  comic  strength" — describes 
him  as  "  an  actor  deservedly  admired  for  his  studious  cor- 
rectness and  the  passion  of  his  comedies,  though  eclipsed 
by  Munden  and  Dowton  in  the  rich  quality  of  humour." 
The  humour  of  Farren  was  genuine  enough,  but  it 
owned  a  certain  subacid  flavour;  he  could  thoroughly 
amuse  his  audience  by  the  drollery  of  his  movements, 
manner,  and  facial  expression,  the  while  he  was  careful 
not  to  deviate  from  truth  and  nature;  and  he  had  a 
curious  power  of  depicting  passion,  of  lashing  himself 

VOL.  II.  H 


9S  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

into  an  explosive  frenzy  that  never  failed  to  stir  the  house 
deeply,  to  rouse  the  heartiest  enthusiasm.  Of  pathos 
he  had  less  command,  though  certain  of  his  performances 
brought  tears  to  the  eyes  ;  but  he  was  pathetic  not  so 
much  of  his  own  motion  as  because  of  the  affecting 
situations  contrived  by  his  dramatists,  and  because  of 
the  picturesque  senility  he  had  power  to  assume,  his 
management  of  his  voice,  his  command  of  his  face.  He 
could  bear  himself  with  dignity  and  even  with  ele- 
gance ;  an  air  of  distinction  always  attended  him  ;  he 
seemed  altogether  instinct  with  the  true  spirit  of  high 
comedy.  Looking  back  five  and  thirty  years,  he  was,  as 
I  remember  him  at  sixty,  a  very  handsome  old  gentle- 
man, with  fine  clean-cut  features,  a  fresh  complexion, 
keen  clear  china-blue  eyes,  expressive  mobile  brows,  and 
what  Mr.  Lewes  describes  as  "a  wonderful  hanging 
under  lip,"  of  much  service  to  him  in  his  exhibitions  of 
character.  His  voice  was  firm  and  resonant ;  he  spoke 
after  the  staccato  manner  of  the  old  stage  ;  his  laugh  was 
very  pleasant.  He  dressed  perfectly,  avoiding  all  un- 
seemly youthfulness  of  clothing,  but  ever  "point-device"1 
in  his  elderly  accoutrements :  he  was  at  home  and 
comfortable  alike  in  the  broad  skirts,  the  huge  cuffs,  and 
the  flowered  waistcoats  of  the  times  of  Anne  and  the 
earlier  Georges,  as  in  the  bright-buttoned,  blue  swallow- 
tails of  the  Regency.  Heavy  perukes  or  light  bobwigs 
became  him  as  his  own  white  locks ;  a  pigtail  seemed* 


"OLD   FARREN."  99 

. ± 

an  appendage  natural  to  his  aspect;  coloured  watch- 
ribbons,  heavily  weighted  with  keys  and  seals,  swung 
appropriately  from  his  fob  ;  he  assumed  spectacles  or 
plied  his  double  glasses,  he  took  snuff  and  waved  his 
bandanna  with  admirable  deftness ;  he  was  always  a 
gentleman,  if  "  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school."  Polite 
age  had  never  a  more  adroit  and  complete  stage 
representative.  Altogether,  an  actor  so  gifted  and  ac- 
complished as  Farren  could  afford  to  be  less  successful 
than  Munden  in  setting  the  audience  roaring  by  the 
extravagance  of  his  drollery.  It  can  be  admitted,  too,  of 
Farren  that  he  had  not  Dowton's  air  of  natural  cheeriness 
and  benevolence,  nor  Blanchard's  whimsicality,  nor 
Fawcett's  rugged  fervour  of  manner,  nor  Liston's  farcical 
breadth. 

Contrasts  are  always  popular ;  and  the  early  success 
of  Farren  no  doubt  owed  something  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  really  so  young  while  affecting  to  be  so  old.  People 
were  not  soon  tired  of  marvelling  at  the  difference 
between  the  true  and  the  fictitious  age  of  the  performer. 
A  poetic  critic  in  1822,  after  reciting  that 

"Each  day's  experience  confirms  the  truth 
That  old  men,  ofttimes,  love  to  play  the  youth," 

proceeds  : 

"  But  rarely  do  we  find  the  young  delight 
In  casting  off  activity  and  might, 
To  play  the  dotard,  with  his  faltering  knee 
And  palsied  hand  and  shrill  loquacity  : 


ioo  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

To  bow  the  head,  and  bid  the  manly  throat 

Emit  a  tremulous  and  small  still  note, 

And  hide  the  lustre  of  a  fiery  eye 

With  the  pale  film  of  dull  senility. 

But  Farren  has  done  this,  so  chastely  true, 

That,  whilst  he  lives,  Lord  Ogleby  lives  too  ! 

His  would-be  youthful  gait,  his  sunken  chest, 

His  vacant  smile,  so  faithfully  exprest, 

His  hollow  cheek,  nay,  e'en  his  fingers,  show 

The  aged  man  and  antiquated  beau." 

The  actor's  versatility  is  also  insisted  upon  : 

"  Yet  he  to  passion's  topmost  heights  can  climb, 
Can  touch  the  heart  and  make  e'en  farce  sublime." 

Great  praise  is  awarded  to  his  performance  of  Love- 
gold  the  miser,  Sir  Peter  Teazle,  Frederick  the  Great, 
Item  in  the  comedy  of  "  The  Steward,"  and  Sir  Andrew 
Aguecheek.  Of  his  impersonation  of  the  Foolish  Knight 
it  is  written  : 

"In  sooth,  few  men  upon  the  stage  can  tickle  us 
With  such  a  sample  of  the  true  ridiculous  : 
His  antic  capers — his  affected  grace, 
His  braggart  words  and  pilchard-looking  face, 
Would  put  old  Care  and  all  his  imps  to  flight, 
And  call  forth  laughter  from  an  anchorite." 

Leigh  Hunt,  writing  in  1830,  confessed  that  in  many 
characters  Farren  had  "  fairly  conquered "  him ;  for 
"when  we  first  saw  him,"  the  critic  continues,  "we 
could  not  endure  the  assumption  of  age  by  a  young 
man,  precisely  because  we  relish  so  heartily  the  joyous- 
ness  of  youth  in  one  whom  we  know  to  be  old.  .  . 


"  OLD   FARREN"  101 


What  an  actor  he  will  be  when  he  grows  old  in  good 
earnest  if  we  only  remain  young-hearted  enough  to  be 
merry  with  him  ! "  Farren  was  at  this  time  about  forty- 
three,  however. 

Farren  was  assuredly  an  original  actor,  although 
unfriendly  critics  were  wont  to  aver  that  he  owed  much 
of  his  histrionic  method  to  the  example  of  an  old  and 
obscure  performer  at  one  time  appearing  upon  the  Irish 
stage,  one  Fullam,  of  whom  little  is  now  known.  Such 
a  charge,  however,  is  hardly  worth  serious  consideration. 
Angularity  of  movement  and  sharpness  of  intonation 
were,  it  seems,  common  to  both  players,  and  both 
employed  the  same  kind  of  grimace,  curiously  described 
as  "a  screwing  of  the  proboscis  partially  on  one  side 
and  partially  up."  Farren  impressed  his  own  strong 
individuality  upon  all  the  characters  he  represented,  and 
owned  certain  of  those  personal  habits  or  tricks  of 
manner  which  are  immediately  recognizable  and  always 
remembered  by  the  spectators,  and  from  which  no  great 
actor  has  ever  been  free.  A  critic  took  the  trouble  to 
interlard  a  speech  the  actor  was  required  to  deliver,  as 
Sir  Christopher  Curry  in  the  play  of  "Inkle  and  Yarico," 
with  notes  of  his  peculiarities  of  manner  :  "  Here  stands 
[a  pause,  and  a  nervous  shaking  of  the  head\  old  Curry 
[a  twitch  of  the  nose\  who  never  spoke  [more  shaking  of 
the  head]  to  a  scoundrel  \Jiere  an  extraordinary  elevation 
of  the  eyebrows  and  nostrils]  without  telling  him  [a  pause, 


102  HOURS   WITH   THE  PLAYERS. 

accompanied  by  a  kind  of  dissatisfied  snuffle\  what  he 
thought  of  him  !"  Mr.  George  Vandenhoff,  in  his 
"  Dramatic  Reminiscences,"  relates  that  Farren  had  a 
trick  of  monopolizing  attention  by  addressing  himself 
exclusively  to  the  audience,  fairly  fronting  them,  but 
exhibiting  only  his  profile  to  the  actors  engaged  with 
him  upon  the  scene.  Resolved  "  to  pay  the  old  stager 
in  his  own  coin,"  VandenhorT,  who  in  1840,  at  Covent 
Garden,  played  Lovewell  to  Farren's  Lord  Ogleby, 
punished  him  by  imitating  him,  and  the  two  actors  were 
thus  to  be  seen  ignoring  the  existence  of  each  other,  and, 
several  yards  apart,  speaking  alternately  to  the  house. 
The  dialogue  thus  independently  given,  notwithstanding 
Farren's  animation  of  manner,  fell  very  flat.  Farren, 
disappointed  and  perplexed,  grew  nervous  ;  he  began  to 
falter  in  the  words  of  his  part.  "As  his  irritability 
increased,  he  turned  towards  me  as  if  to  inquire  by  a 
look  what  was  the  meaning  of  the  insensibility  of  the 
audience."  He  became  aware  of  the  treachery  of  his 
young  playfellow.  "  I  heard  his  ominous  sniff  (a  trick 
he  had),  I  heard  his  gradually  approaching  step,  I  felt 
his  hand  upon  my  arm  as  he  turned  me  towards  him 
with  the  words  of  the  text,  which  seemed  peculiarly 
appropriate:  *  What's  the  matter,  Lovewell?  thou 
seemest  to  have  lost  thy  faculties ; '  and  for  the  rest  of 
the  scene  he  never  turned  away  from  me,  but,  as  a  gen- 
tleman should  do,  kept  his  eyes  on  the  person  to  whom 


OLD  FARREto."  103 


he  was  speaking.  I  did  the  same,  the  vraiscmblance  of 
the  scene  was  restored,  and  all  went  right.  .  .  .  He  never 
gave  me  his  side-front  after  that  night,  and  we  always 
got  on  very  well  together."  The  story  is  less  creditable 
to  Mr.  Vandenhoff,  however,  than  he  seems  to  imagine. 
He  overlooks  the  fact  that  he  had  seriously  .diminished 
the  entertainment  of  the  audience  ;  and  it  is  not  well 
for  raw  recruits  to  be  reading  lectures  to  veteran  soldiers. 
In  a  very  laudatory  review  that  appeared  in  the 
Times  upon  the  retirement  of  Farren  in  1855,  it  is  stated  : 
"  To  many  young  playgoers  our  praise  of  Mr.  Farren 
may  possibly  seem  overcharged ;  so  we  will  at  once 
anticipate  their  objections  by  declaring  that  no  frequenter 
of  theatres  of  less  than  eight  years'  standing  is  qualified 
to  utter  an  opinion  on  the  subject."  This  refers  to  1847 
or  so,  at  a  time  when  Farren  was  still  to  be  seen  to 
advantage.  I  had  opportunities  of  attending  his  per- 
formances during  what  may  be  called  his  last  years  of 
excellence ;  and  I  saw  him  afterwards  when  his  laurels 
had  become  unhappily  very  sere  and  yellow.  I  lay  no 
stress,  however,  upon  my  own  opinion  of  Farren's  sur- 
passing merits  as  an  actor.  I  was  at  the  time  a  very 
youthful  playgoer.  But  about  1845  J  saw  him  play  at 
the  Haymarket,  among  other  parts,  Sir  Peter  Teazle,  Sir 
Anthony  Absolute,  Dr.  Cantwell,  Old  Goldthumb,  Sir 
Marmaduke  Topple  in  Robert  Bell's  comedy  of  "Tem- 
per," Grandfather  Whitehead,  and  old  Foozle  in  "My 


104  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Wife's  Mother."  I  will  only  say  that  I  thought  his  act- 
ing most  consummate  and  convincing  in  its  fidelity  to 
nature,  its  humour,  force,  and  finish.  Looking  back 
upon  it  now,  after  a  long  lapse  of  years,  I  cannot  think 
my  early  judgment  was  at  fault.  It  was  that  rare  kind 
of  acting  that  compelled  the  spectator  absolutely  to  for- 
get that  it  was  acting.  His  Dr.  Cantivell,  I  remember, 
was  not  thought  to  be  one  of  his  successful  impersona- 
tions, and  no  doubt  it  lacked  the  vigour,  the  breadth, 
and  the  coarse  unction  of  the  ordinary  Cantivell  of  the 
theatre.  But  Farren's  Cantivell,  with  his  venerable  white 
locks  and  solemn  suit  of  black,  a  look  almost  of  the 
famous  John  Wesley,  a  sleek  meekness  of  demeanour 
and  an  air  of  superfine  piety,  was  a  more  likely  impostor 
to  obtain  a  footing  in  Sir  John  Lambert's  house  than  any 
Cantivell,  or  for  that  matter  any  Tartuffe,  that  I  have 
ever  seen.  First  his  terror  and  then  his  rage  at  his  final 
exposure  and  dismissal  from  the  scene  were  supremely 
rendered.  Farren  was  at  this  time  admirably  supported  : 
Keeley  was  his  Mawworm  ;  Mrs.  Nisbett  his  Charlotte 
and  Lady  Teazle ;  Mrs.  Seymour  was  young  Lady  Lam- 
bert;  Mrs.  Glover  played  old  Lady  Lambert,  Mrs.  Mala- 
prop,  Mrs.  Candour,  and  the  mother-in-law  with  whom 
old  Foozle  combats  in  "  My  Wife's  Mother."  His  Sir 
Marmaduke  Topple  was  an  admirable  sketch  of  an  old 
gentleman  whose  memory,  tenacious  of  remote  events, 
is  most  treacherous  as  to  the  present ;  he  recollects  fifty 


OLD   FARREN."  105 


years  much  more  accurately  than  five  minutes  ago.  But 
for  this  artistic  study,  the  play  was  poor  enough.  His 
Sir  Anthony  Absolute  was  delightfully  irascible,  his  Sir 
Peter  was  most  humorously  uxorious,  although  I  think 
that,  with  the  majority  of  Sir  Peter s,  he  was  apt  to 
exaggerate  the  age  of  the  character — who  is  only  required 
to  be  old  enough  to  be  her  ladyship's  father — not  her 
grandfather — still  less  her  great-grandfather.  But  this  is 
what  Leigh  Hunt  wrote  of  Farren's  Sir  Peter  in  1830, 
beginning  with  laudatory  mention  of  Dowton's  Sir 
Oliver:  "Dowton  was  the  Sir  Oliver,  as  of  old — excel- 
lent. We  cannot  fancy  a  better  Sir  Oliver.  Farren  was 
the  Sir  Peter — admirable.  We  cannot  fancy  a  better 
Sir  Peter.  We  saw  King  once  in  the  character.  He 
was  the  original,  and  performed  it  again  on  some  occa- 
sions (we  forget  what)  after  having  taken  leave  of  the 
stage.  But  either  he  was  no  longer  the  old  man  he,  was 
in  his  youth  (which  is  likely  enough),  or  he  was  not  to 
be  compared  with  Farren.  He  was  dry  and  insipid  to 
him.  Farren  makes  the  utmost  of  every  passage  without 
seeming  to  make  any  effort.  His  acting  in  the  French 
Milliner  part  of  that  most  admirable  scene  of  the  screen 
(one  of  the  most  perfect,  if  not  the  most  so,  in  all 
comedy)  was  wrought  up  to  a  climax  of  humour,  the 
excess  of  which  he  contrived,  wonderfully  well,  to  refer 
to  the  imbecility  of  age.  He  twittered  and  shook,  and 
gaped  and  giggled,  and  was  bent  double  with  an  absolute 


106  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

rapture  of  incapacity.  ...  It  is  one  of  the  best  and 
richest  pieces  of  comic  gusto  on  the  stage,  and  would 
alone  be  worth  going  to  see  the  play  for."  The  critic 
concludes  with  a  word  in  favour  of  another  of  the  per- 
formers :  "  We  do  not  remember  so  good  a  Joseph  Sur- 
face as  Mr.  Macready." 

There  seemed  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  public  that 
the  characters  represented  by  Farren  should  be  not 
merely  aged,  but  even  phenomenally  old.  In  "  Grand- 
father Whitehead,"  an  adaptation  from  the  French,  he 
personated  an  octogenarian,  and  greatly  affected  the 
audience  by  his  exhibition  of  patriarchal  distress  and 
infirmity.  In  "The  Legion  of  Honour,"  an  adaptation 
of  "  Le  Centenaire,"  he  played  the  part  of  Philippe  Gal- 
liar  d,  a  veteran  of  102,  whose  son,  grandson,  and  great- 
grandson,  represented  by  Messrs.  Dowton,  Listen,  and 
Bland  respectively,  also  figured  in  the  drama.  "  Mr. 
Farren's  old,  old  man  is  above  praise,"  wrote  Leigh 
Hunt.  "  The  lumpish  inability  of  his  legs,  the  spareness 
of  the  rest  of  his  body,  the  withered  inefficiency  of  his 
voice  and  face,  the  pardonable  self-love  and  little  de- 
ciding nods  of  head  retained  by  extreme  old  age,  and 
lastly,  the  almost  inaudible  but  on  that  account  highly 
real  and  touching  manner  in  which  he  sang  his  songs, 
are  all  admirable,  perhaps  a  little  too  much  so  for  the 
perfect  pleasure  of  the  beholders.  ...  In  passages  at 
least,  if  not  altogether,  his  performance  was  painfully 


OLD  FARREN."  107 


natural."  At  the  Hay  market  in  1843  Farren  represented 
the  prodigious  hero  of  Mark  Lemon's  drama  of  "Old 
Parr."  He  was  required  to  appear  of  the  age  of  120 
years  in  the  first  act  and  148  in  the  second.  The  story 
dealt  with  the  question  of  the  authenticity  of  a  certain 
will  proved  at  last  upon  the  evidence  of  the  fabulously 
old  man,  his  memory  corresponding  in  length  with  his 
years.  The  performance  was  pronounced  "masterly 
beyond  all  precedent,"  the  "  make-up "  a  marvellous 
piece  of  portrait-painting.  "  There  is  something  inex- 
pressibly touching,"  wrote  a  critic  of  the  time,  "  in  the 
delineation  of  the  palsied  hand,  the  fading  memory,  the 
querulousness  of  an  extreme  old  age."  The  play  enjoyed 
few  repetitions,  however,  its  course  being  suddenly  inter- 
rupted by  the  alarming  illness  of  the  chief  performer. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  new  drama,  the  newspapers 
recorded :  "  Mr.  Farren  was  observed  to  exhibit  an  un- 
usual tremor  of  manner,  and  to  sink  back  in  his  chair. 
It  was  discovered  that  he  had  been  attacked  with  a  fit 
and  was  unable  to  speak.  He  was  conveyed  to  his 
room,  and  medical  assistance  sent  for  :  his  right  side  and 
arm  proved  to  be  completely  stricken.  This  is  the  third 
attack  he  has  had  of  the  same  malady."  This  account, 
happily,  was  of  exaggerated  character.  It  was  some 
months,  however,  before  Farren  resumed  his  professional 
duties  ;  he  did  not  reappear  as  Old  Parr. 

In  1 848  he  undertook  the  management  of  the  Strand 


loS  HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Theatre,  relinquishing  that  establishment  for  the  newly 
built  Olympic  in  1851.  He  was  assisted  by  a  strong 
company,  which  included  Mrs.  Glover  and  Compton, 
Mrs.  Stirling  and  Leigh  Murray,  and  at  a  later  date  the 
famous  Robson.  He  produced  many  new  and  interesting 
dramas ;  he  played  through  a  long  list  of  his  most 
admired  characters ;  he  introduced  his  sons  Henry  and 
William  to  the  public.  It  was  understood,  however,  that 
as  a  manager  he  had  succeeded  but  indifferently ;  that 
the  large  fortune  acquired  by  his  exertions  as  an  actor 
had  suffered  somewhat  by  his  speculations  as  an  impre- 
sario. His  own  attractiveness  had  waned  seriously ;  his 
clear,  resonant,  staccato  articulation  had  failed  him;  it 
was  now  difficult  to  understand  what  he  said.  The 
public  dealt  gently  with  him,  remembering  how  great  and 
genuine  an  artist  he  had  proved  himself  in  the  past ;  but 
he  played  to  audiences  that  grew  steadily  thinner  and 
thinner.  It  was  hard ;  for  he  was  a  great  actor  still,  at 
heart;  he  continued  in  excellent  health  and  spirits,  a 
very  hale  and  hearty  old  man ;  he  dressed  with  his  old 
perfect  taste  and  skill;  his  command  of  movement, 
gesture,  and  facial  expression  was  what  it  had  ever  been, 
but  his  painful  infirmity  of  speech  could  not  be  concealed 
or  controlled.  Old  playgoers  spared  themselves  the  dis- 
appointment of  seeing  him  again ;  young  playgoers  could 
not  credit  that  he  had  ever  been  great.  I  saw  him  for 
the  last  time  in  1851,  I  think,  when  he  played  Lord 


OLD  FAR  REN."  109 


Duberly  in  "  The  Heir-at-Law."  He  seemed  to  be  act- 
ing admirably,  but  in  an  unknown  tongue.  Scarcely  an 
intelligible  word  could  be  picked  from  the  confused 
gabble  of  his  utterance.  He  continued  to  appear,  how- 
ever, from  time  to  time,  until  the  close  of  his  manage- 
ment of  the  Olympic,  on  the  22nd  September,  1853,  with 
a  performance  of  "The  Clandestine  Marriage."  He 
finally  took  leave  of  the  public  at  the  Haymarket  Theatre 
on  the  1 6th  July,  1855.  The  house  was  crowded  to  the 
ceiling.  All  the  leading  actors  of  the  time  lent  their 
services,  and  appeared  grouped  round  the  old  man. 
"  Miss  Helen  Faucit  gracefully  presented  the  veteran 
with  a  laurel  wreath,  and  Harley  flung  his  arms  about 
the  neck  of  his  old  stage  companion."  Mr.  Morley 
records  that  "  Mr.  Farren  was  unable  to  speak  his  own 
good-bye ;  all  had  to  be  felt,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be 
said." 

Farren  survived  this  leave-taking  six  years.  He  died 
on  the  24th  September,  1861,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 
Henry  Farren,  an  actor  of  great  confidence  and  vigour, 
but  curiously  lacking  in  grace  and  refinement,  pre- 
deceased his  father.  William  Farren,  the  younger, 
appearing  before  the  public  in  the  first  instance  as  a 
singer,  has  since  established  himself  in  general  opinion 
as  a  sound  and  intelligent  performer  :  he  has  even  ob- 
tained considerable  acceptance  in  certain  of  the  characters 
once  sustained  so  perfectly  by  his  sire. 


i io  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Alfred  Bunn,  who  had  been  Farren's  manager,  writes 
of  him  that,  "barring  the  question  of  pounds,  shillings, 
and  pence,  and  his  taking  you  by  the  button-hole  when- 
ever he  wants  to  convince  you  of  an  impossibility,  Farren 
is  a  gentlemanly  man  and  a  very  fine  actor."  With  Bunn 
it  was  a  grievance  that  his  actors  demanded  of  him  such 
large  salaries,  and  he  prints  the  articles  of  agreement  he 
entered  into  with  Farren  in  1835.  His  salary  was  fixed 
at  £$o  per  week,  but  it  rose  presently  to  double  that 
amount.  Sundry  of  the  conditions  were  very  favourable  to 
the  actor  :  his  salary  was  to  continue,,  although  the  theatre 
might  be  closed  on  Christmas  Day,  Christmas  Ever 
the  3oth  January,  and  Whitsun  Eve ;  he  was  to  have  his 
benefit  early,  and  a  choice  of  night,  on  paying  the 
charges,  .£210;  he  was  to  be  entitled  to  write  three 
double-box  and  three  double-gallery  orders  on  every 
night  of  dramatic  performance  ;  no  parts  were  to  be 
allotted  to  him  such  as  he  deemed  "unsuited  to  his 
talents  or  prejudicial  to  his  theatrical  reputation ;  "  of  the 
following  characters  none  were  to  be  performed  by  any 
other  performer  but  William  Farren,  except  in  case  of 
his  illness;  Don  Manuel,  Moneytrap,  Don  Caesar,  Sir 
Francis  Gripe,  Dogberry,  Old  Dornton,  Lord  Priory,  Sir 
Peter  Teazle,  Lord  Ogleby,  Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  Sir  Abel 
Handy,  and  Sir  Harry  Sycamore;  and  the  parties  to  the 
agreement  bound  themselves  to  its  performance  in  the 
sum  of  £  i  ooo  "as  agreed  and  liquidated  damages;" 


OLD  FARREN." 


Mr.  Bunn  being  careful  to  relate  how  the  actor  had  really 
incurred  this  penalty  upon  one  occasion  by  his  stealthily 
quitting  Drury  Lane,  and,  without  leave  first  asked  or 
obtained,  secretly  performing  for  a  benefit  at  Brighton. 
In  these  times,  however,  it  will  hardly  be  thought  that 
the  terms  exacted  by  Farren  were  exorbitant :  his  posi- 
tion was  unique ;  he  was,  as  he  said,  "  the  only  cock- 
salmon  in  the  market"  There  is  sound  proof  of  Farren's 
eminence  and  importance  in  Macready's  statement  of  his 
plan,  "practicable  and  promising,  if  only  Farren  could 
be  bound  down,"  for  establishing  the  drama  at  the 
Lyceum  "under  a  new  name  and  a  proprietary  of  per- 
formers, the  best  of  each  class  formed  into  a  supervising 
committee,  and  receiving,  over  and  above  their  salaries, 
shares  in  proportion  to  their  rank  of  salary  and  a  per- 
centage proportionate  to  their  respective  advances  of 
money,"  etc.  But  Farren  held  aloof,  and  the  scheme 
came  to  naught. 


U2  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

MRS.    GLOVER. 

AN  Irish  actor,  calling  himself  Thomas  Betterton,  and 
fancifully  claiming  kindred  with  the  famous  English 
tragedian  of  that  name,  had  for  many  years  strolled  the 
country  as  a  member  of  itinerant  companies,  figuring  now 
upon  this  provincial  stage,  now  upon  that.  His  real 
name  was  probably  Butterton ;  he  was  born  in  Dublin ; 
his  father  and  grandfather  had  filled  the  office  of  sexton 
to  St.  Andrew's  Church  in  that  city.  He  was  a  skilled 
player,  versatile,  possessed  of  unbounded  confidence  in 
himself;  he  was  prepared  to  shine  alike  in  light  comedy 
and  heavy  tragedy  \  he  was  an  accomplished  dancer ; 
and  he  was  the  father  of  an  Infant  Phenomenon.  Tate 
Wilkinson  has  related  how,  in  1786,  his  company  in 
York  was  joined  by  Mr.  Betterton  from  Edinburgh,  to 
play  the  characters  of  Archer,  Jaffier,  etc.  The  actor,  as 
Wilkinson  writes,  "  had  squandered  a  little  fortune  at 
Newry  and  other  towns  in  Ireland  ;  "  had  been  "  bred  a 
dancing-master,"  and  moved  "with  a  grace,"  his  person 


GLOVER.  113 


being  "  remarkably  genteel  and  elegantly  made ; "  he 
boasted  a  good  voice,  but  did  not  sufficiently  vary  or 
modulate  his  tones ;  he  had,  moreover,  "  a  rapid  study, 
and  many  strong  recommendations  for  the  stage."  At 
the  same  time,  it  was  charged  against  Mr.  Betterton  that 
he  was  over-fond  of  himself,  and  rated  his  own  abilities 
too  highly  •  that  his  habits  were  extravagant,  and  that  he 
always  schemed  and  laboured  "  to  manage  his  managers." 
With  Wilkinson  Mr.  Betterton  remained  some  years, 
however,  bringing  upon  the  stage  his  little  daughter, 
Miss  Julia  Betterton,  to  be  known  to  a  later  generation 
— and  to  become  famous,  indeed — as  MRS.  GLOVER,  the 
best  comic  actress  of  her  time. 

Julia  Betterton  was  born  at  Newry  on  the  8th  January, 
1779.  At  the  earliest  period  possible  she  was  pressed 
into  the  service  of  the  drama ;  she  stepped,  as  it  were, 
from  her  cradle  on  to  the  stage.  Almost  before  she 
could  stand  she  was  required  to  represent  Cupids  and 
Fairies.  Cordelia,  the  page,  in  the  tragedy  of  "The 
Orphan,"  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  "  speaking  part " 
she  essayed.  The  celebrated  Anne  Bracegirdle,  at  the 
early  age  of  six,  and  to  the  admiration  of  all  beholders, 
had  been  the  original  Cordelia,  a  character  described  as 
"  of  great  importance  to  the  play,  as  giving  greater  scope 
for  the  display  of  talent  than  any  other  juvenile  part." 
Little  Miss  Betterton  further  undertook  the  usual  duties 
of  what  may  be  called  the  infantile  repertory.  During  her 

VOL.  II.  I 


ii4  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

father's  engagement  with  Tate  Wilkinson  she  appeared 
as  the  Duke  of  York  to  the  Richard  III.  of  George 
Frederick  Cooke;  and  when,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
benefit,  that  eminent  tragedian  condescended  to  per- 
sonate Glumdalca,  the  Queen  of  the  Giants,  in  Fielding's 
burlesque  of  "  Tom  Thumb,"  the  clever  little  girl  Julia 
Betterton  was  chosen  to  play  the  hero  of  the  story.  So 
charmed  was  Cooke  with  the  spirited  performance  of  the 
tiny  actress,  that  he  lifted  her  in  his  arms,  we  are  told, 
and,  "  placing  her  upon  the  palm  of  his  hand,  held  her 
forth  to  receive  the  rapturous  applause  of  the  audience." 
The  drama  finds  occupation  for  players  of  all  ages. 
At  thirteen  Miss  Betterton  was  appearing  with  success 
as  the  hoydens  and  school-girls  of  comedy  and  farce ; 
she  was  still  in  her  teens  when  she  first  ventured  to 
personate  the  leading  heroines  of  tragedy.  Without 
doubt  she  had  been  carefully  instructed  by  her  father, 
who  showed  alacrity  too  in  receiving  and  applying  to  his 
own  uses  the  earnings  of  his  child.  She  had  never  six- 
pence "  to  call  her  own,"  as  people  said ;  it  was  Mr. 
Betterton's  custom  punctually  to  appropriate  the  hand- 
some salary  she  received  from  the  managers.  In  1795 
Miss  Betterton,  "  from  Liverpool,"  first  appeared  in  Bath, 
then  viewed  as  a  sort  of  dramatic  nursery,  the  favour 
obtained  there  being  accounted  a  sure  criterion  of  merit, 
and  a  foretaste  of  the  popularity  the  performer  might 
rely  upon  enjoying  in  London.  Her  first  character  was 


MRS.    CLOVER.  115 


Elwina  in  Hannah  More's  tragedy  of  "  Percy  " — in  part 
an  adaptation  from  the  French,  and  now  regarded  as  an 
inordinately  dull  production ;  but  from  its  first  perform- 
ance in  1777,  "Percy"  had  been  esteemed  as  a  poetic 
work  that  afforded  excellent  opportunities  to  the  players. 
That  Miss  Betterton  set  store  upon  her  performance  of 
Elwina  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  she  decided  to 
appear  in  that  character  when  the  time  came  for  her 
entrance  upon  the  London  stage.  It  was  even  thought 
worth  while  to  revive  "Percy"  in  1815  for  the  sake  of 
Miss  O'Neill's  Elwina^  Hazlitt  writing  upon  the  occa- 
sion :  "  We  shall  not  readily  forgive  Miss'  Hannah  More's 
heroine  Elwina  for  having  made  us  perceive,  what  we 
had  not  felt  before,  that  there  is  a  considerable  degree 
of  manner  and  monotony  in  Miss  O'Neill's  acting."  For 
Miss  Betterton's  benefit  at  Bath,  in  1795,  "Wild  Oats" 
was  produced,  when  she  played  Amaranth  to  the  Rover 
of  her  father  and  the  Sim  of  Elliston,  the  leading  actor 
of  the  theatre.  During  three  seasons  at  Bath  the  actress 
appeared  as  Desdemona,  Lady  Macbeth,  the  Queen  in 
"  Richard  III.,"  Bellario  in  "  Philaster,"  Ellen  in  "  A 
Cure  for  the  Heartache,"  Julia  in  "  The  Way  to  get 
Married,"  Marianne  in  "The  Dramatist,"  etc. 

The  fame  of  Miss  Betterton's  success  in  Bath  reached 
London,  and  Mr.  Harris,  the  Covent  Garden  manager, 
was  forthwith  moved  to  offer  her  an  engagement.  Pro- 
bably Mr.  Betterton  conducted  the  negotiation  on  his 


n6  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

child's  behalf,  for  there  was  considerable  haggling  over 
the  transaction.  Harris  offered  first  ;£io  and  then  ^12 
per  week,  protesting  that  no  performer  engaged  at  his 
theatre  was  in  receipt  of  a  higher  salary.  Mr.  Betterton, 
perceiving  the  manager's  eagerness,  was  in  no  haste  to 
arrive  at  an  agreement.  At  length  the  lady  was  secured 
to  the  London  stage  for  a  period  of  five  years  upon  a 
salary  beginning  at  ^15  a  week,  and  rising  to  ^"20  : 
terms  then  thought  to  be  liberal  even  to  extravagance. 
It  was  perhaps  a  condition  that  Mr.  Betterton  should 
also  be  employed.  He  was  no  longer  young,  it  is  true, 
but  he  was  still  a  serviceable  actor,  and  it  was  thought 
he  might  render  valuable  assistance  to  his  daughter. 
She  appeared  at  Covent  Garden  as  Elwina  on  the  i2th 
October,  1797.  A  few  nights  afterwards  her  father 
presented  himself  to  the  London  public  as  Castalio  in 
"The  Orphan."  A  little  later,  and  Mr.  and  Miss  Bet- 
terton were  seen  upon  the  stage  together  as  Belcour  and 
Charlotte  Rtisport  in  "The  West  Indian."  For  some 
seasons  Mr.  Betterton  continued  a  member  of  the 
Covent  Garden  company,  sustaining  characters  of  con- 
siderable importance.  Opportunity  was  even  found  to 
exhibit  his  skill  as  a  dancer  :  he  was  selected  by  Mrs. 
Abington  to  perform  with  her  the  mock  minuet  in 
"  High  Life  Below  Stairs,"  presented  on  the  occasion  of 
her  benefit  in  1798. 

The  success  of  the  new  Elwina  was  complete,  but 


MAS.    GLOVER. 


117 


there  were  difficulties  in  the  way  of  her  rapid  advance. 
The  Covent  Garden   company  was   so   numerous   that 
Miss   Betterton  was   only  occasionally  called   upon   to 
appear.     She  found  a  formidable  rival  in  Miss  Campion, 
known   also  as  Mrs.   Spencer   and  afterwards   as    Mrs. 
Pope  j  while  the  two  distinguished  actresses,  Mrs.  Craw- 
ford and  Mrs.  Abington,  had  been  persuaded  to  return 
to  the  stage  for  a  while  and  resume  the  chief  characters 
in  tragedy  and  comedy  respectively.    There  are  princesses 
whose  religious  convictions  are  kept  in  solution,  as  it 
were,  to  be  precipitated  when  the  particular  creed  pro- 
fessed by  the  prince  they  are  to  marry  has  been  clearly 
ascertained  :  in  like  manner  Miss  Betterton's  histrionic 
inclinations  were  for  some  time  held  suspended.     Pro- 
bably her  thoughts  and  wishes  in  the  first  instance  were 
bent  towards  tragedy,  but  she  had  been  duly  instructed 
how  to  bear  herself  satisfactorily  in  comedy.     Nature, 
too,  had  assuredly  qualified  her  the  more  for  success  as  a 
comic  actress.     Her  beauty  was  remarkable,  but  it  was 
not  of  a  severe  type.     Her  face  did  not  readily  lend 
itself  to   solemnity   of    expression;    her   features   were 
dainty  and  pretty  rather  than  regular ;   many  found  in 
her  looks  a  resemblance  to  the  brilliant  archness,  vivacity, 
and  piquancy  of  Mrs.  Abington.     There  were  no  tears  in 
Miss   Betterton's   voice,  and  anxiety  to  impress   often 
urged  her  towards  exaggerations   of  tone  and  gesture. 
Her  complexion  was  exquisitely  fair ;  her  luxuriant  hair 


Ji8  HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

was  very  dark  of  hue  ;  her  large  blue  eyes  were  shadowed 
by  the  longest  lashes ;  she  was  above  the  average  height, 
and  most  graceful  of  movement.  The  circumstances  in 
which  she  was  placed  more  and  more  impelled  her 
towards  comedy;  choice,  indeed,  was  hardly  permitted 
her  ;  and  time  may  be  said  to  have  definitively  settled  the 
matter.  As  the  years  passed,  the  lady's  form  acquired 
amplitude  and  substantiality,  until  it  assumed  quite  un- 
poetic  proportions;  her  prosperous  and  portly  air  was 
found  wholly  unsuited  to  characters  of  seriousness. 
Gradually  the  sceptred  pall  of  gorgeous  tragedy  may  be 
said  to  have  slipped  from  her  plump  shoulders. 

For  some  seasons  she  was  content,  however,  to  play 
such  parts,  lively  or  severe,  as  the  management  chose  to 
assign  her.  Her  third  character  in  London  was  Portia, 
in  "  The  Merchant  of  Venice."  Presently  Cumberland 
solicited  her  to  play  the  heroine  in  his  comedy  of  "False 
Impressions."  She  appeared,  too,  in  "  Curiosity,"  a  new 
drama  written,  as  the  playbills  alleged,  by  "the  late 
King  of  Sweden."  She  represented  Miranda  in  the 
"Busy  Body;"  Miss  Doritton  in  "Wives  as  they  Were 
and  Maids  as  they  Are;"  and  Lydia  Languish  in  "The 
Rivals."  Holcroft's  "Deserted  Daughter"  was  played 
on  her  first  benefit  night,  when  she  appeared  as  Joanna 
to  the  Mordant  of  her  father.  In  March,  1800,  when 
she  personated  Letitia  Hardy  in  "  The  Belle's  Strata- 
gem," the  advertisements  described  her  oddly  enough  as 


'MJRS.    GLOVEK.  119 


"  the  late  Miss  Betterton."  Two  months  afterwards,  on 
her  appearance  as  Miss  Walsingham  in  "  The  School  for 
Wives,"  she  was  for  the  first  time  announced  in  the  bills 
as  "  Mrs.  Glover,  late  Miss  Betterton." 

Her  marriage  brought  the  poor  lady  much  unhappi- 
•ness.  It  is  said  that  her  own  inclinings  and  sentiments 
in  the  matter  had  been  grossly  and  cruelly  disregarded  ; 
that  her  husband  had  been  forced  upon  her  by  her 
father,  whose  selfish  aims  had  determined  his  choice. 
Needy,  shifty,  unscrupulous,  Mr.  Betterton  overreached 
himself,  however.  He  believed  his  son-in-law  to  be  a 
man  of  fortune  ;  but  Mr.  Glover  was  rich  only  in  expec- 
tations which  were  not  destined  to  be  realized.  The 
husband  now  preyed  upon  the  wife  much  as  the  father 
had  preyed  upon  the  daughter ;  the  earnings  of  the 
actress  seemed  never  to  be  safely  her  own,  but  always  in 
danger  of  being  swept  into  the  pockets  of  others.  Her 
happiest  hours  were  probably  passed  upon  the  stage  in 
the  presence  of  the  public ;  for  there,  at  any  rate,  she 
could  forget  her  domestic  discords,  cares,  and  afflictions. 
In  the  private  relations  of  life  she  suffered  acutely,  the 
while  her  own  conduct  and  character  remained  unim- 
peached :  she  obtained,  indeed,  general  respect  for  her 
patience,  forbearance,  and  rectitude  under  very  trying 
conditions.  She  was  the  victim  of  repeated  scandals  and 
squabbles.  The  husband  who,  after  treating  her  shame- 
fully, had  finally  abandoned  her,  leaving  her  wholly  de- 


120  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

pendent  for  subsistence  upon  her  own  exertions,  was  now 
suing  the  treasurer  of  the  theatre  to  obtain  possession  of 
her  salary,  and  now,  as  a  certain  means  of  assailing  her 
purse,  endeavouring  to  tear  her  children  from  her,  way- 
laying them  in  the  street,  or  breaking  into  their  mother's 
house  to  gain  possession  of  them.  The  poor  actress 
underwent  a  long  course  of  persecution  of  this  kind. 

Of  Mr.  Betterton,  sorely  disappointed  in  the  results 
of  his  daughter's  marriage,  especially  in  their  relation  to 
his  own  fortunes,  little  more  need  be  said.  Lord  Byron 
reckons  among  the  distresses  he  endured  as  a  member  of 
the  Drury  Lane  committee  of  management  in  1815,  a 
visit  he  received  from  "Mrs.  Glover's  father,  an  Irish 
dancing-master  of  some  sixty  years,"  to  plead  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  appear  as  Archer  in  "  The  Beaux' 
Stratagem."  The  actor  presented  himself  "  dressed  in  silk 
stockings  on  a  frosty  morning,  to  show  his  legs,  which 
were  certainly  good  and  Irish  for  his  age,  and  had  been 
still  better."  Failing  to  secure  an  engagement  at  Drury 
Lane,  the  veteran  was  content  to  figure  at  Sadler's  Wells, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Howard  Payne.  Upon  that 
humble  stage  Mr.  Betterton  is  supposed  to  have  played 
for  the  last  time  probably  about  1821. 

Meantime  Mrs.  Glover  continued  to  serve  the  drama 
industriously.  Her  professional  career  extended  over  a 
period  of  some  sixty-five  years :  from  her  first  appearance 
at  Covent  Garden  in  1797  to  her  farewell  performance 


MKS.    GLOVER. 


121 


at  Drury  Lane  in  1850  she  occupied  a  distinguished 
position  upon  the  London  stage.  Histrionic  life  so 
prolonged  lias  been  permitted  to  few.  From  the  Cor- 
delias, the  Prince  Arthurs,  and  Tom  Thumbs  of  her 
childhood  she  proceeded  to  the  interesting  girlish 
heroines  of  theatrical  romance,  to  represent  presently 
the  vivacious  matrons,  the  buxom  widows,  and  spirited 
women  of  quality  who  stand  a  little  apart  from  the  main 
interest  of  the  drama,  and  to  subside  at  last  into  the  old 
ladies,  the  nurses,  the  dowagers  and  duennas,  the  useful 
background  figures  of  so  many  tragedies  and  comedies. 
She  was  not  of  those  actresses  who,  having  been  Juliets 
once,  would  be  Juliets  always.;  nor  did  she,  as  many  of 
our  players  do,  fall  into  the  mistake  of  deferring  too  long 
her  portrayal  of  elderly  characters.  It  has  been  remarked 
that  "no  class  of  performance  upon  the  stage  requires 
more  vigour  than  the  simulation  of  the  passions  and 
humours  of  age."  Mrs.  Glover  was  even  charged  with 
abandoning  prematurely  her  more  youthful  impersona- 
tions. A  critic  writing  in  1826,  while  expressing 
admiration  for  the  strength  of  mind  that  had  induced 
the  resolution  of  the  actress,  proposed  that  she  should 
postpone,  even  for  eight  or  nine  years,  her  representation 
of  "  the  old  women  of  the  stage."  It  must,  of  course,  be 
understood  that  in  the  theatre  age  is  a  conventional 
matter,  and  that  tragedy  and  comedy  have  varying 
prescriptions  on  the  subject.  An  actress,  from  the  point 


122  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

of  view  of  the  public,  may  still  preserve  a  reputation 
for  youth,  even  though  she  undertake  such  decidedly 
mature  characters  as  Volumnia  and  Hermione,  Lady 
Macbeth  and  Lady  Randolph,  Constance  and  Gertrude; 
but  if  she  once  presents  herself  as  Mrs.  Candour  and 
Mrs.  Malaprop,  Deborah  Dowlas  and  Dame  Ashfield, 
Jlfrs.  Heidelberg  and  the  Widow  Warren,  there  is  a 
general  agreement  that  both  on  and  off  the  stage  she  is 
really  stricken  in  years.  Without  doubt,  however,  Mrs. 
Glover  exercised  sound  judgment  when  she  decided 
that,  while  still  middle-aged  herself,  she  would  portray 
the  old  women  of  the  drama;  the  argument  of  her 
expanded  physical  proportions  asserting  itself  probably 
in  this  case  not  less  than  in  the  question  of  her 
abandonment  of  tragedy  for  comedy.  A  young  American 
artist — he  was  afterwards  famous  as  Charles  Robert 
Leslie,  R.A. — corresponding  with  his  family  in  Phila- 
delphia, described  the  production  of  Coleridge's  tragedy 
"  Remorse"  at  Drury  Lane  in  1813,  and  thus  wrote  of 
the  actress  who  represented  the  heroine  of  the  night : 
"  Mrs.  Glover  played  Alhadra  uncommonly  well.  .  .  . 
This  lady  has  not  a  tragic  voice,  and  very  far  from 
a  tragic  air.  She  was  dressed  well,  however,  and  is  a 
commanding  figure,  though  monstrously  fat." 

Born  the  year  of  Garrick's  death,  Mrs.  Glover  lived 
through  the  palmiest  days  of  the  Kembles,  and  witnessed 
the  rising  and  the  setting  now  of  George  Frederick 


MRS.    GLOVER.  123 


Cooke  and  now  of  Edmund  Kean.  When  in  1816 
Macready  made  his  first  appearance  in  London,  he 
found,  something  to  his  dismay,  that  in  support  of  his 
Orestes  "a  special  engagement  had  been  made  with 
Mrs.  Glover,  the  best  comic  actress  then  upon  the  stage, 
to  appear  as  the  weeping  widowed  Andromache"  She 
had  first  essayed  the  part  of  the  Nurse  in  "  Romeo  and 
Juliet"  in  1822,  when  her  daughter  Phillis  made  "her 
first  attempt  on  any  stage"  in  the  character  of  Julie 'f 
to  the  Borneo  of  Edmund  Kean  :  she  was  playing  Nurse 
again  in  1829,  when  Charles  Kean  was  the  Romeo,  and 
the  Juliet  Miss  F.  H.  Kelly.  She  had  appeared  as 
Mrs.  Ford  in  "  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  "  to  the 
Fahtaff  of  Cooke  and  the  Ford  of  John  Kemble ;  she 
had  personated  Violante  in  the  "Wonder"  to  Charles 
Kemble's  Don  Felix,  and  Tilburina  in  "  The  Critic  "  to 
Elliston's  Puff  and  Dowton's  Sir  Fretful.  She  was 
Lady  Allworth  to  Edmund  Kean's  Sir  Giles  Overreach, 
when  his  terrible  intensity  affected  her  so  powerfully  that 
she  fainted  away — "not  at  all  from  flattery,  but  from 
emotion."  Indeed,  Mrs.  Glover's  last  performances  in 
tragedy  were  in  support  of  Kean.  She  was  his  Lady 
Macbeth,  Volumnia,  Goneril,  Emilia;  the  Queen  to  his 
Richard,  the  Elvira  to  his  Rolla.  She  appeared  as 
Paulina  in  "  The  Winter's  Tale  "  to  Macready's  Leontcs 
in  1823;  she  was  the  original  Mrs.  Subtle  in  "Paul 
Pry''  in  1825.  On  one  of  her  benefit  nights  she  played 


124  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Hamlet ;  on  another  she  even  ventured  to  appear  as 
Fahtaff.  In  1821  she  had  been  playing  at  the  West 
London  Theatre,  known  to  these  times  as  the  Prince  of 
Wales's,  when  the  "CEdipus  Tyrannus"  of  Sophocles 
was  impudently  announced  to  be  represented,  "being 
its  first  appearance  these  2440  years."  The  play  was 
really  a  condensed  edition  of  the  tragedy,  "CEdipus, 
King  of  Thebes,"  by  Dryden  and  Lee.  A  critic  wrote  : 
"  Mrs.  Glover's  delineation  vtjocasta  was  truly  powerful, 
and  met  with  deserved  applause ;  but  we  have  seen  her 
to  greater  advantage  than  in  her  Grecian  costume." 
In  1831  Madame  Vestris  secured  the  services  of  Mrs. 
•Glover  for  the  Olympic  Theatre.  In  1837  Macready, 
entering  upon  the  management  of  Covent  Garden, 
records  in  his  diary  that  he  had  "  called  upon  Mrs. 
Glover  and  agreed  with  her  for  ^9  IQS."  The  actress 
continued  at  Covent  Garden  during  the  subsequent 
management  of  Madame  Vestris,  and  afterwards  joined 
the  company  of  Mr.  Webster  at  the  Haymarket, 
remaining  there  some  seasons,  and  presenting  the  best 
impersonations  of  her  later  period.  It  was  at  the 
Haymarket  she  originated  the  characters  of  the  Widow 
'Green  in  Sheridan  Knowles's  "Love  Chase,"  Lady 
Franklin  in  "  Money,"  and  Miss  Tucker  in  "  Time 
Works  Wonders,"  Douglas  Jerrold's  best  comedy.  She 
appeared,  too,  in  "  Quid  pro  Quo,"  Mrs.  Gore's  prize 
comedy;  in  "The  Maiden  Aunt"  by  Richard  Brinsley 


MRS.    GLOVER. 


125 


Knowles;  "The  School  for  Scheming,"  by  Mr.  Bouci- 
cault;  and  in  comedies  by  Robert  Bell,  Lovell,  and 
others. 

Hazlitt,  reviewing  Kean's  Richard,  found  occasion  to 
mention  the  Queen  of  Mrs.  Glover  as  too  turbulent  and 
vociferous ;  he  noted  at  another  time  the  "  very 
agreeable  frowns  "  of  her  Lady  Allworth,  and  especially 
admired  her  Lady  Amaranth,  in  "Wild  Oats,"  as  "an 
inimitable  piece  of  quiet  acting."  He  adds:  "The 
demureness  of  the  character,  which  takes  away  all 
temptation  to  be  boisterous,  leaves  the  justness  of  her 
conception  in  full  force  ;  and  the  simplicity  of  her  Quaker 
dress  is  most  agreeably  relieved  by  the  embonpoint  of  her 
person."  Of  her  Mrs.  Oakley,  in  "  The  Jealous  Wife," 
he  writes  less  favourably  :  "  She  represented  the  passions 
of  the  woman,  but  not  the  manner  of  the  fine  lady ; "  she 
was  apt  to  "  deluge  the  theatre  with  her  voice ; "  her 
style  of  acting  "  amounted  to  the  formidable ;  "  and  "  her 
expression  of  passion  was  too  hysterical,  and  habitually 
reminded  one  of  hartshorn  and  water."  In  the  course  of 
Leigh  Hunt's  dramatic  criticisms  notes  of  Mrs.  Glover's 
performances  frequently  occur.  In  1802  the  actress  had 
personated  Miss  Hardcastle,  but  in  1830  she  was  playing 
Mrs.  Hardcastle  in  "  She  Stoops  to  Conquer."  Leigh 
Hunt  pronounced  her  "  too  easy  and  pleasant-looking 
for  the  fidgety  Mrs.  Hardcastle ;  Mrs.  Davenport  might 
have  been  as  stout,  but  she  looked  in  less  joyous. 


126  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

condition,  and  then  she  dug  her  words  in  as  if  she 
were  sticking  pins."  A  little  later,  and  Mrs.  Glover 
is  performing  Mrs.  Malaprop :  she  had  played  Lydia 
Languish  in  1798,  and  Julia  in  1811  !  Leigh  Hunt 
writes :  "  Mrs.  Glover  we  think  a  very  good  Mrs. 
Malaprop,  even  though  we  have  seen  Miss  Pope  in  the 
character.  It  is  not  of  so  high  an  order  of  comedy  as 
that  lady's  ;  it  wants  her  perfection  of  old-gentlewomanly 
staidness,  and  so  wants  the  highest  relish  of  contrast  in 
its  malapropism  ;  but  for  a  picture  of  a  broader  sort,  fine 
and  flower-gowned  and  powdered,  it  is  very  good  indeed. 
If  Miss  Pope  looked  as  though  she  kept  the  jellies  and 
preserves,  Mrs.  Glover  looked  as  though  she  ate  them." 
Upon  a  performance  of  Mrs.  Glover  in  1831,  at  the 
Queen's  Theatre — for  the  little  house  in  Tottenham 
Street  now  bore  that  title — Leigh  Hunt  remarks  :  "  Mrs. 
Glover  plays  her  part  admirably  well.  We  really  think 
she  acts  better  and  better  the  older  she  grows ;  and  she 
is  young  enough  too,  in  spite  of  a  jovial  person,  to 
retain  a  countenance  the  good-humoured  freshness  of 
which  surprised  us  when  we  saw  it  the  other  evening 
among  the  spectators  at  one  of  the  large  theatres.  Mrs. 
Glover  is  still  a  good-looking  woman  on  the  stage,  and 
she  is  better  off.  Her  good  humour  must  be  the  secret 
of  her  good  looks." 

The  lady  had  a  quick  wit  of  her  own,  however,  and 
could   say   her   tart   things.       Mr.    Vandenhoff,    in    his 


MRS.    GLOVER. 


127 


*l  Dramatic  Reminiscences,"  describes  her  as  "  hearty- 
mannered,"  but  "  quick-tempered,  and  not  unfrequently 
indulging  in  strokes  of  sarcastic  bitterness,"  with  an  air 
" large,  autocratic,  oracular,"  and  "smacking  of  her 
profession."  The  same  authority  relates  a  conversation 
between  Mrs.  Glover  and  her  contemporaries,  Airs.  Orger 
and  Mrs.  Humby,  touching  the  marriage  of  Madame 
Vestris  and  Charles  Mathews.  "  They  say,"  remarked 
Mrs.  Humby,  with  a  quaint  air  of  assumed  simplicity, 
**  that  before  accepting  him  Vestris  made  a  full  confession 
of  all  the  indiscretions  of  her  life.  What  touching 
confidence  ! "  "  What  needless  trouble  !  "  said  Mrs. 
Orger.  "  What  a  wonderful  memory  ! "  exclaimed  Airs. 
Glover,  concluding  the  discussion  triumphantly.  She  is 
said  to  have  been  an  admirable  reader  and  reciter  of 
Shakespeare;  she  had  at  one  time  projected  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  school  for  youthful  players,  purposing 
to  preside  herself  over  certain  of  the  classes.  She  did 
not  live,  however,  to  carry  this  plan  into  execution. 

My  own  recollections  of  Mrs.  Glover  date  from  her 
performances  at  the  Hay  market  Theatre,  under  Mr. 
Webster's  management,  about  the  year  1845,  and  during 
subsequent  seasons.  I  had  opportunities  of  witnessing 
certain  of  her  more  famous  impersonations,  and  though 
I  may  not  pretend  to  estimate  these  critically,  for  I  was 
but  a  juvenile  playgoer,  I  may  yet  claim  to  remember 
them  very  distinctly.  One's  earlier  impressions  of 


128    p  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

theatrical  exhibitions  are  perhaps  the  more  ineffaceable  : 
it  is  the  first  play  much  rather  than  the  fiftieth,  or  the 
five  hundredth,  that  retains  its  place  in  the  mind.  Youth- 
ful memory  has  no  doubt  a  tendency  to  exaggerate  and 
overvalue;  but  I  do  not  think  my  retrospect  suffers 
appreciably  on  this  account,  for  my  view  of  Mrs.  Glover 
was  much  the  view  of  the  accepted  critics  of  the  time. 
As  I  remember  the  actress  then,  she  was  "  more  than 
common  tall,"  large  of  person,  but  to  no  unwieldy  extent, 
with  some  remains  of  beauty  in  regard  to  brightness  of 
eye  and  mobility  of  expression,  animated  of  movement, 
and  without  the  slightest  evidence  of  the  infirmities  of 
age.  She  had  abundant  energy  at  command,  and  her 
voice  was  strong,  clear,  and  resonant.  Her  histrionic 
method,  remarkable  for  its  force  and  breadth,  was  yet 
curiously  subtle  :  while  theatrically  most  effective,  it 
never  forfeited  its  exceeding  naturalness.  She  seemed 
always  admirably  unconscious  of  the  presence  of  her 
audience,  and  a  special  air  of  spontaneity  distinguished 
her  manner  upon  the  stage.  She  never  for  a  moment 
relaxed  her  hold  of  the  characters  she  assumed ;  when 
silent  her  looks  and  movements,  her  persistent  attention 
to  the  scene,  greatly  aided  the  representation ;  and  when 
speech  was  required  of  her,  the  ringing  distinctness  of 
her  tones,  her  prompt  and  voluble  utterance,  her  vivacity 
of  action,  told  irresistibly  upon  the  house.  It  was  difficult 
to  believe  that  she  was  simply  repeating  words  she  had 


MRS.    GLOVER.  129 


beforehand  learnt  by  heart ;  her  speeches  were  delivered 
in  so  lifelike  a  manner,  that  they  seemed  invariably  the 
natural  and  original  locutions  of  a  ready-witted  and 
sharp-tongued  woman.  She  was  especially  happy  in  the 
enunciation  of  those  "  asid-es  "  of  the  stage  which  admit 
the  audience  into  the  confidence  of  the  actors.  She 
imparted  an  epigrammatic  point  to  her  every  sentence. 
Altogether,  acting  more  vividly  quaint  and  humorous,  or 
more  -convincing  in  its  verisimilitude,  I  have  never  seen. 
The  time  had  passed  for  her  attempting  scenes  of  pathos 
or  of  serious  emotion ;  she  appeared  only  in  comedy. 
But  there  was  no  lack  of  variety  about  her  impersona- 
tions. Now  she  presented  herself  as  old  Lady  Lambert 
— the  Madame  Pernelle  of  Moliere — the  most  simple- 
minded,  sanctified  of  gentlewomen,  white-haired,  black- 
mittened,  rich  in  lace  lappets  and  edgings,  silken  skirts 
and  scarfs  of  sober  hues,  pearl,  or  dove,  or  lilac,  settling 
herself  comfortably  in  her  chair  beneath  the  shadow  of 
Mawworm's  screen  to  listen  like  the  devoutest  of  Little 
Bethelites  to  the  absurdest  of  canting  sermons.  Now 
she  was  seen  as  the  seemingly  genuine  Mrs.  Candour, 
patched  and  powdered,  hooped  and  sacqued  and  fur- 
belowed,  rustling  at  every  step,  a  breathless  gossip  alert 
for  tattle,  all  starts  and  surprises  and  affected  sympathy, 
with  a  malicious  subacid  tincturing  her  discourse  and 
lending  pungency  to  her  innuendoes.  And  then  as  the 
old  weather-beaten  "  she-dragon  "  Mrs.  Malaprop,  with 

VOL.  II.  K 


130  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

her  aspersed  parts  of  speech,  black-browed,  fiercely 
rouged,  formidable  of  presence,  peremptory  of  gesture, 
glaring  of  dress,  the  personification  of  coarse  vanity, 
vulgar  ignorance,  and  tyrannical  disposition,  yet  highly 
diverting  withal.  Nor  did  she  portray  less  successfully 
the  old  ladies  of  a  later  time — the  leading  character  in 
the  little  comedy  of  "  My  Wife's  Mother,"  for  instance — 
wearing  the  ample  black  satin  dress,  the  blonde  cap  with 
pink  ribbons,  the  lace  pelerine,  secured  by  a  cameo  brooch 
the  size  of  a  blister — the  fashions  of  five  and  thirty  years 
since.  And  how  inimitable  she  was  as  Douglas  Jerrold's 
Miss  Tucker,  the  peevish,  selfish,  soured  schoolmistress, 
ruined  by  the  elopement  of  her  boarders,  with  her  ceaseless 
whine  about  the  limited  rights  of  "  the  people  who  live 
in  other  people's  houses,"  full  of  pity  for  herself  and 
anxiety  about  her  own  personal  comforts,  her  prospects 
of  marriage  with  the  artful  Professor  Truffles,  her  new 
silk  dress,  and  the  lobster  to  be  brought  to  her  by  the 
London  carrier ! 

In  1849  Mrs.  Glover  accepted  an  engagement  to 
appear  upon  the  small  stage  of  the  Strand  Theatre,  of 
which  establishment  her  old  playfellow  Farren  had 
become  lessee  and  director,  and  to  sustain  for  the  last 
time  all  the  more  important  characters  in  her  repertory. 
It  is  clear  that  her  health  was  now  seriously  failing  her ; 
but,  excellent  actress  that  she  was,  she  contrived  success- 
fully to  conceal  her  weakened  state  from  the  audience. 


MRS.    GLOVER.  131 


She  seemed  as  alert  and  energetic,  as  bright  and 
humorous  as  ever,  and  by  turns  her  Mrs.  Heidelberg, 
Dame  Ashfield,  and  Widow  Green,  her  Mrs.  Temperance 
in  the  "  Country  Squire,"  her  Mrs.  Candour,  Mrs. 
Malaprop,  and  the  rest,  received  from  crowded  houses 
the  familiar  tribute  of  hearty  laughter  and  loudest 
applause.  Without  doubt,  however,  her  exertions  cost 
her  dearly.  She  appeared  for  the  last  time  at  the  Strand 
Theatre  on  June  8,  1850.  A  contemporary  critic  wrote 
of  her  closing  performances :  "  The  manner  in  which 
she  has  lately,  under  the  infirmities  of  age,  supported 
her  professional  position,  has  frequently  been  quoted  as 
a  marvel,  so  perfect  and  complete  has  been  the  continued 
possession  of  her  extraordinary  powers."  Her  farewell 
benefit  took  place  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre  on  the  follow- 
ing 1 2th  July,  under  the  express  patronage  of  the  Queen. 
It  was  understood  that  protracted  care  for  her  family  had 
drained  the  resources  of  the  actress ;  that,  in  spite  of  her 
long  and  seemingly  prosperous  career,  she  retired  upon 
very  limited  means.  Every  effort  was  made,  therefore, 
that  her  benefit  should  really  prove  "  a  bumper  at  part- 
ing." The  leading  players  of  the  time,  William  Farren, 
Charles  Mathews,  and  Madame  Vestris  prominent 
among  them,  volunteered  their  services.  The  play  was 
"  The  Rivals."  Poor  Mrs.  Glover  had  been  for  a  fort- 
night confined  to  her  bed,  painfully  ill ;  but  she  stirred 
herself  to  appear  upon  an  occasion  so  memorable,  and 


132  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

her  strong  will  triumphing  for  a  while  over  her  physical 
weakness,  she  repaired  to  the  theatre  and  duly  trod  the 
stage  once  more,  and  for  the  very  last  time,  in  her 
famous  character  of  Mrs.  Malaprop.  She  was  received 
with  the  utmost  enthusiasm ;  but  her  debility  increased 
distressingly  as  the  play  proceeded,  and  though  she 
completed  her  performance,  it  became  but  too  evident 
that  she  was  unequal  to  the  task  of  addressing  to  the 
public  the  few  sad,  fond  words  of  farewell  she  had 
designed  to  utter.  The  speech  was  dispensed  with, 
therefore ;  and,  the  comedy  concluded,  the  curtain  rose 
again,  to  discover  Mrs.  Glover  seated  on  a  chair, 
environed  by  her  professional  friends  and  associates. 
She  bowed  to  the  house  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of 
its  sympathy  and  applause ;  the  rest  was  silence.  The 
end  was,  indeed,  very  near.  She  was  carried  home  to 
die.  One  short  week  after  her  farewell  to  the  stage  the 
remains  of  the  famous  Mrs.  Glover  were  interred  in  the 
churchyard  of  St.  George's,  Bloomsbury.  The  place  her 
death  left  vacant  upon  the  stage  has  not  since  been 
supplied,  albeit  thirty  years  have  sped. 


(    133    ) 


CHAPTER  VII. 


OLD  playgoers  are  very  apt  to  be  wet-blankets  :  they 
employ  their  memories  of  the  past  as  a  means  of  op- 
pressing present  experiences;  they  insufficiently  allow 
for  tare  and  tret,  so  to  say,  in  regard  to  the  long  voyage 
from  youth  to  age  undergone  by  their  judicial  faculties 
and  their  powers  of  enjoyment.  Some  five  and  thirty 
years  ago,  I  remember,  it  was  usual  for  the  elders  of 
the  time  to  disparage  "Young  Mathews,"  as  they  de- 
scribed an  actor  I  was  beginning  to  know  and  greatly  to 
esteem — an  artist  whose  accomplishments  in  later  days 
became  the  theme  of  general  admiration.  But  in  the 
early  part  of  his  career  "Young  Mathews"  suffered 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  not  "  Old  Mathews,"  or  "  The 
Mathews,"  as  many  preferred  to  designate  him.  In  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  senior  playgoers  of  that  period, 
the  son  was  not  to  be  compared  with  his  father.  To 
my  thinking,  no  reason  existed  why  the  two  actors 
should  ever  have  been  collated  in  this  way,  or  pitted 


134  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

against  each  other.  Indeed,  had  they  not  borne  the 
same  name  and  been  sire  and  son,  comparison  could 
hardly  have  been  instituted  between  them.  Let  me 
admit  that  I  never  saw  the  elder  Mathews :  he  died  in 
1835,  and  scarcely  appeared  publicly  in  London  after 
1833.  But  clearly  he  was  almost  invariably,  as  his 
widow  relates,  an  actor  of  "old  men,  countrymen,  and 
quaint  low  comedy."  He  now  and  then  undertook 
whimsical  sprightly  characters,  originally  sustained  by 
Lewis,  such  as  Goldfinch  in  "  The  Road  to  Ruin,"  and 
Rover  in  "Wild  Oats."  His  Rover  was  "  very  bad,"  notes 
Genest  in  1816  :  "his  figure  and  manner  totally  dis- 
qualified him  for  his  part ; "  but  these  efforts  were 
departures  from  his  ordinary  "line  of  business"  as  an 
actor.  At  no  time  could  he  have  been  properly  de- 
scribed as  "a  light  comedian."  When  he  was  but 
twenty-eight  he  was  assigned  the  part  of  Sir  Peter  Teazle 
at  Drury  Lane ;  there  was  no  thought  of  his  appearing 
as  Charles  Surface.  In  "  John  Bull "  he  was  wont  to 
play,  not  Tom  Shuffleton,  but  Sir  Simon  Rochdale.  But 
to  the  younger  Mathews  such  characters  as  Charles  Sur- 
face and  Tom  Shuffleton  were  allotted  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  by  a  sort  of  natural  right.  He  did  not 
inherit  his  father's  repertory,  although  he  successfully 
emulated  the  paternal  feat  of  "  doubling  "  the  parts  of 
Puff  and  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary  in  "The  Critic:"  being 
probably  superior  to  his  senior  as  Puff  and  inferior  as 


"SIR   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  135 

Sir  Fretful.  But  he  never  appeared,  it  need  hardly  be 
said,  as  Mawworm,  as  Caleb  Quotem,  as  Caleb  Pipkin, 
as  Falstaff,  as  Don  Manuel,  as  Trinculo,  etc.,  characters 
in  which  the  elder  Mathews  won  very  great  applause. 
No  doubt  the  son  possessed  much  of  his  father's  skill 
as  a  mimic,  a  personator  or  illustrator  of  eccentric 
character, -a  singer  of  what  are  called  "patter"  songs — 
he  had  often  found  sympathetic  employment  in  con- 
triving and  arranging  the  "At  Homes"  of  the  elder 
comedian,  and  at  one  time,  with  the  assistance  of  his 
second  wife,  he  essayed  an  entertainment  very  much  of 
the  paternal  pattern.  The  histrionic  fame  of  Charles 
Mathews  the  Second,  however,  arose  from  gifts  and 
achievements  which  were  peculiarly  and  independently 
his  own.  His  success  was  of  a  personal  and  individual 
sort,  and  owed  little  or  nothing  to  preceding  exertions 
and  examples.  His  method  as  an  actor  was  not  founded 
upon  the  method  of  any  other  actor.  He  was  essentially 
a  light  comedian — the  lightest  of  light  comedians ;  but 
it  was  difficult  to  classify  his  art  in  relation  to  the  art  of 
others  or  to  established  technical  conventions.  He  was 
distinguished  for  an  extraordinary  vivacity,  an  airy  grace, 
an  alert  gaiety  that  exercised  over  his  audience  the  effect 
of  fascination.  Elegance  and  humour  so  curiously  com- 
bined can  hardly  have  been  seen  upon  the  stage  except 
in  this  instance.  No  doubt  there  was  always  risk  of 
awarding  admiration  not  so  much  to  the  art  of  the 


136  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

comedian  as  to  the  natural  endowments  of  the  man ; 
and  it  must  often  have  happened  that  Charles  Mathews 
was  applauded  for  being  something  which  he  could  not 
possibly  help  being.  At  the  same  time  it  must  not  be 
assumed  that  he  could  only  appear  in  his  own  character, 
or  that  his  efforts  upon  the  scene  lacked  variety.  Certain 
graces  of  manner  peculiar  to  himself  he  could  never 
wholly  discard;  but  his  power  of  representation  enabled 
him  to  exhibit  distinct  and  finished  portraits  of  person- 
ages so  very  different  as  Sir  Charles  Coldstream  and 
Sir  Hugh  Evans,  Lavater  and  Mr.  Affable  Hawk,  Slender 
and  Dazzle,  Young  Wilding  and  the  villanous  heroes  of 
"  The  Day  of  Reckoning"  and  "  Black  Sheep,"  to  name 
no  others.  (By  the  way,  I  may  proffer  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  the  elder  Mathews  could  have  successfully  re- 
presented any  of  these  characters.) 

On  the  27th  December,  1803,  Charles  Mathews, 
senior,  wrote  from  Liverpool  to  his  friend  John  Litch- 
field,  of  the  Council  Office  : — "  It  is  with  the  most 
exquisite  pleasure  I  inform  you  that  I  am  the  father  of 
a  fine  boy.  ...  I  am  happy  beyond  measure.  'Who 
would  not  be  a  father?'"  In  due  season  the  fine  boy 
was  christened  "  Charles,"  after  his  father,  and  "  James," 
after  his  grandfather  —  a  respectable  bookseller  in  the 
Strand,  holding  rigidly  Calvinisric  opinions.  It  was  de- 
cided forthwith  that  Charles  James  Mathews  should 
become  a  clergyman,  "  if  he  inclined  to  that  profession 


"SIR   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  137 

on  attaining  an  age  to  choose  for  himself" — an  important 
stipulation.     The  father  had  long  borne  among  certain 
of  his  friends  the  nickname  of  "Stick,"  because  of  the 
original  slenderness  of  his  form  and  the  stiffness  of  his 
mien.     As   a  consequence,  young   Charles   James  was 
soon   playfully  called  "  Twig ; "  while   upon   the   little 
rustic  cottage  at  Colney  Hatch,  in  which  he  passed  his 
earliest  years,  the  title  of  "Twig  Hall"  was  bestowed. 
"  The  Twig  was  slight,  and  drooped   in  London  air," 
writes   his    mother;   and   she    proceeds   to   relate   how 
Listen  the  comedian  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  "Twig 
Hall,"  and   Twig's   especial  favourite   as   a   playfellow. 
They  were  often  to  be  seen  earnestly  engaged  in  the 
game  of  "  hide  and  seek,"  Listen  flitting  from  gooseberry 
bush  to  gooseberry  bush,  and   the  tiny  child  toddling 
and  peering  after  him.     "  I  could  not  suppress  a  laugh," 
writes  Mrs,  Mathews,  "  when  I  saw  the  bigger  boy,  as  he 
crouched  down,  quite  unconscious  of  a  witness  of  his 
grave  amusement,  draw  out   his  snuff-box  and   take   a 
pinch    of    snuff   to    heighten    his    enjoyment."      Mrs. 
Mathews,  as  Miss  Jackson,  a  pupil  of  Michael  Kelly, 
had  at   the   beginning  of  the  century  "supported   the 
first  line  of  singing  "  in  the  theatrical  company  of  Tate 
Wilkinson  at  York. 

Charles  James  was  presently  placed  upon  the  foun- 
dation of  Merchant  Taylors'  School  by  Mr.  Silvester, 
afterwards  Sir  John  Silvester,  the  Recorder  of  London, 


138  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

a  valued  friend  of  the  family.  This  was  about  1813. 
He  boarded  with  the  Rev.  Thomas  Cherry,  the  head- 
master of  the  school,  an  arrangement  deemed  to  be  of 
marked  advantage  to  the  boy,  seeing  that  he  was  still 
intended  for  the  Church.  But  it  became  necessary,  his 
health  continuing  delicate,  and  confinement  in  the  heart 
of  London  affecting  him  injuriously,  to  place  him  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  Richardson,  whose  private  seminary,  in 
the  Clapham  Road,  already  contained  the  sons  of 
Charles  Kemble,  Young,  Terry,  and  Liston.  It  was 
about  1819  that  the  youth,  greatly  to  the  chagrin  of 
his  parents,  avowed  his  desire  to  become  an  architect. 
Instead  of  proceeding  to  one  of  the  universities,  there- 
fore, to  complete  his  education,  he  was  articled  for  four 
years  to  Pugin,  the  architect,  with  whom,  in  furtherance 
of  his  studies,  he  journeyed  to  Paris. 

Before  he  was  out  of  his  teens,  young  Mathews 
seems  to  have  distinguished  himself  as  an  amateur 
actor.  In  1822  he  appeared  at  the  English  Opera 
House,  the  performance  being  of  a  private  kind,  when 
he  presented  a  successful  imitation  of  Perlet,  the  famous 
French  comedian.  It  was  said,  indeed,  that  the  skill 
and  humour  he  displayed  upon  this  occasion  brought 
him  the  offer  of  an  engagement  from  the  manager  of  the 
French  plays  in  London.  In  1823  he  accompanied 
Lord  Blessington  to  Ireland,  and  afterwards  to  Naples. 
His  lordship  at  this  time  was  professing  to  be  a  liberal 


"SIR  CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  139 

patron  of  architecture;  but  a  projected  new  mansion  to 
be  built  upon  his  estate  of  Mountjoy  Forest,  in  the 
county  of  Tyrone,  with  Charles  Mathews  for  its  architect, 
lived  only  as  a  paper  edifice,  and  never  acquired  the  sub- 
stantiality of  stones  or  of  bricks.  It  was  during  his  two 
years'  residence  with  Lord  and  Lady  Blessington  at  the 
Palazzo  Belvedere,  Naples,  that  the  young  man,  feeling 
himself  affronted  by  certain  observations  of  Count 
d'Orsay,  sent  a  challenge  to  that  superb  nobleman ; 
for  in  those  days  the  duello  was  still  supposed  to  afford 
a  sort  of  solace  to  aggrieved  honour.  No  hostile  meeting 
took  place,  however :  upon  the  intervention  of  Lord 
Blessington,  the  Count  hastened  to  make  all  requisite 
apologies  to  the  ruffled  architect.  But  the  matter  was 
really  serious  while  it  lasted. 

After  two  years  more  or  less  assiduous  exercise  of 
his  profession  in  England  and  Wales,  varied  by  literary 
and  musical  essays  in  regard  to  his  father's  "At  Homes," 
and  the  composition  of  the  popular  song  of  "Jenny 
Jones,"  etc.,  Charles  Mathews,  with  his  friend  James 
d'Egville,  again  left  England  for  Italy,  still  bent  upon 
architectural  studies  and  improvement.  But  at  Florence 
he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  private  theatricals  given 
by  Lord  Normanby,  played  a  great  variety  of  characters, 
built  a  theatre  for  the  amateurs,  and  even  painted  a  drop- 
scene  for  it.  At  Venice  he  suffered  from  a  virulent  attack 
of  fever.  "  Charles  was  six  months  in  bed  at  Venice," 


140  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

writes  his  mother,  "  and  nearly  the  same  period  in  Eng- 
land." The  mercurial,  sprightly,  jaunty  young  gentleman 
doomed  to  nearly  a  year  of  bed !  The  Italian  doctors 
would  have  detained  him  still  longer  in  their  hands  \  told 
him,  indeed,  that  it  was  certain  death  for  him  to  attempt 
to  move.  He  resolved  that  he  would  die  on  the  road  if  it 
must  be  so,  but  that  he  would  assuredly  make  an  effort 
to  see  his  parents  and  his  home  once  more.  He  pur- 
chased a  travelling  carriage,  in  which  a  bed  was  con- 
structed, and,  attended  by  Nanini,  his  faithful  Italian 
servant,  successfully  accomplished  his  weary  journey  of 
fourteen  hundred  miles  in  nineteen  days.  His  father 
wrote  of  him  to  a  friend  :  "  Charles  has  returned,  the 
most  exaggerated  case  of  paralysis  upon  record — a  voice 
only  to  indicate  that  the  corpse  was  animated.  ...  An 
attached  gem  of  an  Italian  servant  brought  him  home 
like  a  portmanteau  or  any  other  piece  of  goods.  ...  It 
was  the  most  afflicting  sight  I  ever  experienced  to  see 
him  lifted  from  the  carriage.  The  only  evidence  of  the 
body  being  animate  was  the  sound  of  his  dear  voice 
offering  up  thanksgiving  to  God  for  having  granted  him 
strength  to  reach  home."  It  was  eight  months  before 
the  father,  writing  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Speidell,  was 
able  to  record  his  wonder  and  delight  at  the  complete 
recovery  of  the  invalid.  "  You  will  be  pleased  to  hear 
that  dear  Charles  surprised  his  mother  and  me  by 
meeting  or  rather  running  to  us  without  a  stick  ! " 


CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  141 


A  little  later,  and  Charles  Mathews  obtained  the 
appointment  of  district  surveyor.  This  is  how  Mr.  Cyrus 
Jay,  solicitor,  has  noted  the  event  in  his  volume  of 
Reminiscences  :  "  Once  when  a  young  man  I  attended 
the  Middlesex  Sessions,  Clerkenwell,  with  two  barristers. 
...  I  observed  that  something  was  going  to  take 
place  by  so  many  magistrates  being  present,  and  I  soon 
learnt  that  there  was  an  election  of  a  district  surveyor 
for  Hackney.  There  were  many  candidates,  and  among 
them  Mr.  Charles  Mathews.  It  was  a  very  pleasing 
sight  to  see  the  venerable  chairman  (Francis  Const,  Esq.  ) 
leave  the  bench  to  give  his  vote  at  a  quarter  to  four,  for 
the  poll  closed  at  four  o'clock  ;  but  something  astonished 
me  a  great  deal  more,  and  that  was  to  see  him  followed 
by  the  sixteen  police  magistrates,  who,  along  with  the 
venerable  chairman  whom  they  greatly  esteemed  and 
respected,  one  and  all  voted  for  Charles  Mathews,  which 
settled  the  contest,  and  Charles  Mathews  was  duly 
elected.  One  of  the  unsuccessful  candidates  said  to  me, 
'  He  will  not  hold  the  appointment  a  month,  for  he  can 
make  more  money  in  a  week  than  he  will  by  his  salary 
at  Hackney.'  And  so  it  eventually  turned  out,"  etc.  It 
was  of  the  district  of  Bow  and  Bethnal  Green,  not  of 
Hackney,  that  he  became  the  surveyor,  retaining  the 
appointment  for  some  six  years. 

It  was  not  until   the   yth  of  December,  1835,  that 
Charles  Mathews  made  his  first  appearance  on  the  stage 


142  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

as  an  actor  by  profession.  Meanwhile  he  had  contri- 
buted to  the  theatre  various  plays,  adaptations  from  the 
French,  "The  Wolf  and  the  Lamb,"  "The  Court  Jester," 
and  "  My  Wife's  Mother,"  among  them,  and  he  was 
credited  with  "  The  Black  Riband,"  described  as  one  of 
the  most  attractive  and  best-written  stories  in  Heath's 
"  Book  of  Beauty  "  for  1834.  Further,  he  had  figured  as 
an  amateur  actor  at  Woburn,  playing  Mr.  Simpson  in 
"Simpson  and  Co.,"  with  the  Duchess  of  Bedford  as 
Mrs.  Simpson,  and  for  a  while  had  undertaken  his  late 
father's  share  in  the  management  of  the  Adelphi  Theatre. 
An  erroneous  opinion  prevailed  that  he  had  only  waited 
for  his  father's  death  to  adopt  the  theatrical  profession, 
the  step  being  directly  opposed  to  the  parental  wishes. 
The  elder  Mathews  was  indeed  credited  with  a  declara- 
tion that  "  not  even  a  dog  of  his  should  set  foot  upon 
the  stage."  But  the  fact  was  that  for  some  time  before 
his  death  the  father  had  fully  recognized  his  son's  his- 
trionic skill  and  capacity,  had  perceived,  too,  the  slender- 
ness  of  his  chances  of  prospering  as  an  architect,  and 
had  recommended  him  to  become  an  actor  in  earnest. 
The  venture  was  made  at  last  with  some  suddenness, 
however.  He  appeared  at  the  Olympic  Theatre,  then 
under  the  management  of  Madame  Vestris,  after  little 
more  than  a  fortnight's  preparation,  as  George  Rattleton 
in  "The  Humpbacked  Lover,"  a  little  comedy  of 
French  origin,  which  he  had  specially  altered  to  suit  his 


"SIR   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  143 

own  purposes  ;  and  in  "The  Old  and  Young  Stager,"  a 
piece  written  for  the  occasion  by  Leman  Rede,  in  which 
Liston  also  took  part,  delaying,  it  was  said,  his  own 
farewell  of  the  stage  that  he  might  introduce  and  assist 
the  son  of  his  old  playfellow.  The  success  of  the 
new  actor  was  most  unquestionable.  "  His  entree  was 
hailed  with  thunders  of  applause,"  writes  a  critic  of  the 
time;  "his  father's  merits  were  not  forgotten,  and  his  own 
soon  caused  the  shouts  to  be  redoubled  till  the  roof 
rang."  As  George  Rattleton,  he  played  with  lively  ease, 
treading  the  stage  with  the  unembarrassed  confidence  of 
a  practised  actor,  speaking  and  looking  "  like  a  man  of 
sense  and  a  gentleman."  His  singing,  we  are  told,  was 
excellent,  being  aided  by  "  a  rapid  and  clear  enunciation 
— the  family  peculiarity."  In  the  second  play  he  seems 
to  have  carefully  reproduced  his  father's  manner.  "  Tim 
Topple,  the  Tiger,  a  character  of  the  broadest  farce,  soon 
told  us  whose  son  he  was.  We  recognized  in  a  moment 
the  comic  timber  out  of  which  he  was  hewed.  '  A  chip 
of  the  old  block,'  vociferated  a  hundred  glad  voices,"  etc. 
The  dialogue  was  of  the  punning  sort,  then  much  in 
favour.  "The  hits,  many  and  good,  were  conveyed  in 
stage-coach  phraseology,  with  an  occasional  sprinkling  of 
St.  Giles's  Greek,  but  applicable  to  the  stage  that  goes 
without  wheels,  past  and  present.  All  that  bore  refer- 
ence to  the  sun  which  had  for  ever  set,  and  that  which 
had  just  risen,  was  eagerly  seized  by  the  audience  and 


144  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

applauded  to  the  echo.  At  the  conclusion  the  call  for 
Mr.  Mathews  was  universal.  He  came  forward,  led 
most  cordially  by  the  glorious  l  old  stager '  who,  rich 
in  laurels  himself,  hailed  the  triumph  of  the  youthful  son 
of  his  friend."  Charles  Mathews  remained  a  member  of 
the  Olympic  company,  appearing  in  a  variety  of  plays, 
counting  among  them  his  own  farces  of  "The  Ring- 
doves," "  Why  did  you  die  ?  "  "  Truth,"  "  He  would  be 
an  Actor,"  etc.  He  won  much  applause  also  as  David 
Brown  in  Mr.  Planche's  "  Court  Favour,"  and  as  Cheru- 
bino  in  "  The  Two  Figaros,"  an  adaptation  of  a  comedy 
by  M.  Marteley,  first  played  at  the  Frangais  in  1794, 
reintroducing  the  characters  of  Beaumarchais  after  a 
supposed  lapse  of  sixteen  years.  Thus  Cherubino  appears 
as  a  colonel  of  dragoons,  and  the  Countess  Almaviva  is 
the  mother  of  a  marriageable  daughter.  At  this  time  the 
Olympic  was  only  licensed  for  the  performance  of  "  bur- 
lettas,"  and  could  not  lawfully  present  entertainments  of 
much  pretence.  A  critic  likened  the  theatre  to  "a  fashion- 
able confectioner's  shop,  where,  although  one  cannot  ab- 
solutely make  a  dinner,  one  may  enjoy  a  most  agreeable 
refection,  consisting  of  jellies,  cheese-cakes,  custards,  and 
such  trifles  light  as  air,  served  upon  the  best  Dresden 
china  in  the  most  elegant  style."  Madame  Vestris  was 
the  first  London  manager  who  sought,  with  the  aid  of 
choice  fittings  and  decorations,  to  give  the  stage  the 
refined  aspect  of  a  drawing-room. 


"SIK  CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  145 

On  the  2ist  March,   1838,  Charles  Mathews,  much 
to   the    consternation    of   his    friends,   was   married   to 
Madame  Vestris   at   the   Church  of  St.   Mary  Abbots, 
Kensington.      The   management   of  the    Olympic    was 
entrusted  to  the  friendly  hands  of  Mr.  Planche,  and  the 
newly  married  couple  crossed  the  Atlantic,  bent  upon  a 
theatrical  tour  through  the  United  States.      They  were 
not  well  received  in  America,  however :  their  adventure 
resulted,  indeed,  in  something  very  like  failure.     It  may 
have  been  that  their  histrionic  method  was  too  uncon- 
ventional, that  the  plays  in  which  they  appeared  were 
too  unsubstantial,  to  suit  the  somewhat  crude  tastes  of 
the  American  public ;   but  more  probably  there  was  a 
predisposition  to  view  coldly  an  actress  with  whose  fame 
scandal  had  been  very  busy,  and  whose  history  offered 
many  opportunities  for   reproach.      In  America  it  had 
been  usual  to   inquire   perhaps  too  curiously  into  the 
private   lives   of  the    artists    seeking    public    applause. 
Madame  Vestris  and  Charles  Mathews  returned  to  Eng- 
land,   disappointed  perhaps,    but    by    no    means    dis- 
heartened.    In  1839  they  entered  upon  the  management 
of  Covent  Garden    Theatre,  which    Macready  had  just 
vacated. 

Certainly  they  conducted  their  new  and  arduous 
enterprise  with  singular  spirit  and  liberality.  But  man- 
agement of  the  patent  theatres  in  those  days  was  almost 
a  sure  road  to  ruin  ;  lessee  after  lessee  had  retired  from 

VOL.  II.  L 


146  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

the  field  to  mourn  his  losses  in  private,  or  to  make 
public  his  misfortunes  in  the  Court  of  Bankruptcy.  The 
English  stage  was  not  in  favour  with  fashion ;  the  Court 
gave  little  countenance  save  to  Italian  operas  and 
French  plays.  For  three  seasons  Charles  Mathews  and 
Madame  Vestris  carried  on  the  contest  with  energy.  In 
a  parting  address  to  the  audience,  delivered  on  the  3oth 
April,  1842,  the  manager  described  the  experiences  of 
his  wife  and  himself  in  connection  with  Covent  Garden 
Theatre  :  "  My  partner  and  I  have  been  its  directors 
for  three  years,  during  which  time  we  have  endeavoured, 
at  much  personal  and  pecuniary  sacrifice,  to  sow  the 
seeds  of  that  solid  prosperity  which  we  hoped  would  one 
day  manifest  itself  in  permanent  satisfaction  to  you  and 
in  a  golden  harvest  to  ourselves ;  but,  alas  for  '  the  mu- 
tability of  human  affairs  ! '  our  first  season  was  merely 
sowing — our  second  little  more  than  hoeing — and  though 
the  third  has  been  growing,  we  must  leave  to  other 
hands  the  fourth,  which  might  have  been  our  mowing." 
Charles  Mathews,  involved  to  the  amount  of  ^30,000, 
sought  relief  in  the  Insolvent  Debtors'  Court,  and  ob- 
tained "  the  benefit  of  the  act."  The  theatre  had  been 
open  for  three  years  at  a  nightly  loss,  it  appeared,  of 
£22  during  the  first  season,  ^"10  in  the  second,  and 
£41  in  the  third  !  Yet  the  public  had  been  offered 
entertainments  of  special  excellence  and  great  variety. 
To  a  modern  impresario,  with  his  long  "  runs,"  his  un- 


"SfR   CHARLES   COLDSTREAM."  147 

changing  programme,  and  his  small  troop  of  players,  the 
proceedings  at  Covent  Garden  from  1839  to  1842  must 
seem  most  amazing.  The  company  was  of  great  strength ; 
the  lessee  and  his  wife  were  supported  by  William  Farren, 
Bartley,  George  Vandenhoff,  John  Cooper,  Walter  Lacy, 
F.  Matthews,  Granby,  Harley,  Meadows,  Wigan, 
Brougham,  Selby,  Bland,  and  W.  H.  Payne ;  by  Mrs. 
Nesbitt,  Mrs.  Glover,  Mrs.  W.  Lacy,  Miss  Cooper,  Mrs. 
Selby,  Mrs.  Brougham,  Mrs.  Bland ;  and  an  operatic 
company  that  included  Adelaide  Kemble,  and  Messrs. 
Harrison  Borrani,  Stretton,  Leffler,  etc.  Amongst  the 
new  plays  produced  were  Jerrold's  "Bubbles  of  the 
Day,"  Sheridan  Knowles's  "  Old  Maids,"  Leigh  Hunt's 
"  Legend  of  Florence,"  Mr.  Boucicault's  "  London  As- 
surance," and  a  second  comedy,  "The  Irish  Heiress," 
from  the  same  pen,  which  lived  but  for  two  nights ;  of 
farces,  ballets,  pantomimes,  and  spectacles,  there  was  no 
lack;  the  operas  of  "  Norma,"  "Elena  Uberti,"  "The 
Marriage  of  Figaro,"  and  "La  Sonnambula"  were  pre- 
sented, to  introduce  Miss  Kemble  to  an  English  audi- 
ence ;  and  the  following  plays  were  revived  with  liberal 
provision  of  appropriate  scenery  and  costumes  : — "Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor,"  "Midsummer  Night's  Dream," 
"  Love's  Labour's  Lost,"  "  Romeo  and  Juliet,"  "Comus," 
"  Rule  a  Wife  and  have  a  Wife,"  "  Wives  as  they  were 
and  Maids  as  they  are,"  "She  would  and  she  would 
not,"  "The  Clandestine  Marriage,"  "The  Critic," 


148  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

"Rivals,"  "School  for  Scandal,"  etc.,  etc.  It  may  be 
added,  that  for  six  nights  in  the  season  of  1832-40 
Charles  Kemble  returned  to  the  stage  by  royal  command, 
the  management  profiting  to  the  amount  of  ^1500. 

This  was  perhaps  the  most  ambitious  period  of 
Charles  Mathews's  histrionic  career.  He  was  at  this 
time,  indeed,  most  venturesome  in  regard  to  new  imper- 
sonations, and  greatly  extended  his  repertory  of  parts. 
He  stepped  from  burletta  into  legitimate  comedy,  repre- 
senting not  merely  the  heroes  of  Sheridan,  Charles  Sur- 
face and  Puff- — in  the  "  Rivals  "  he  was  content  to  play 
Fag — but  achieving  great  success  as  the  Slender  of 
Shakespeare  and  the  Michael  Perez  of  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher,  the  Atall  of  Gibber  and  the  Sir  Wilful  Wit- 
ivoud  of  Congreve.  After  the  disasters  at  Covent  Garden 
he  retreated  with  his  wife  to  Drury  Lane,  then  opening 
under  the  management  of  Macready.  But  here  diffi- 
culties arose  touching  a  proposal  to  reduce  the  salaries 
of  all  the  company ;  and  then  Madame  Vestris  felt  her- 
self unable  to  accept  the  character  of  Venus  in  a  revival 
of  Dryden's  "  King  Arthur,"  with  Purcell's  music.  In 
truth,  the  comedians  were  not  comfortable  under  the 
direction  of  the  tragedian.  Accordingly  they  quitted 
Macready,  to  be  received  with  open  arms  by  Mr.  Webster 
at  the  Haymarket 

The  interregnum  of  five  years  occurring  between  the 
closing  of  Covent  Garden  in  1842  and  the  opening 


"SIX   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  149 

of  the  Lyceum  under  the  management  of  Madame 
Vestris  in  1847  was  by  no  means  uneventful.  For  one 
thing  Charles  Mathews  had  again  to  petition  for  legal 
relief  in  regard  to  his  pecuniary  liabilities,  although  but 
eighteen  months  had  elapsed  since  he  left  the  Insolvent 
Court  "  as  free  as  air,  to  begin  the  world  a  new  man,"  as 
he  described  himself  in  a  public  address  to  his  creditors. 
For  he  took  the  world  into  his  confidence  :  he  was 
anxious  that  his  position  should  be  generally  understood. 
He  had,  it  appeared,  renewed  obligations  which  his  first 
insolvency  had  legally  cancelled ;  and  then  he  had  failed 
in  his  undertaking  to  pay  certain  instalments  out  of  the 
professional  earnings  of  himself  and  his  wife.  A  sum  of 
.£900  he  had  sent  up  to  London  from  the  provinces  on 
this  account ;  but,  as  he  avowed,  the  "  mouths  of  his  de- 
vourers  seemed  to  open  wider  and  wider  in  proportion  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  food  provided."  He  nevertheless 
expressed  a  hope  that  by  putting  aside  ^£1300  per  annum, 
to  be  paid  by  weekly  instalments  into  the  hands  of  a 
trustee,  he  might  satisfy  the  largest  portion  of  the  rapidly 
increasing  debt,  "  hourly  swelling  with  hideous  law  costs 
and  yawning  interest."  This  arrangement  was  defeated, 
however,  by  the  impatience  of  his  creditors,  who  con- 
tinued to  bring  actions  against  him,  to  thrust  him  into 
prison,  and  executions  into  his  house.  To  avoid  arrest 
and  to  fulfil  his  duties  to  the  public,  his  managers,  and 
his  creditors  themselves,  he  had  been,  as  he  said,  driven 


150  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

to  subterfuges  for  which  he  despised  himself,  in  order 
that  he  might  gain  entrance  to  and  exit  from  the  theatres 
at  which  he  had  been  engaged.  "In  short,"  he  con- 
cluded, "  for  a  year  and  a  half  have  I  been  harassed, 
censured,  sued,  arrested,  lectured,  and  drained  of  every 
farthing  I  could  muster,  earn,  or  borrow,  and  no  one 
debt  seems  materially  reduced  by  it;  interest  and  law 
will  swallow  up  everything.  ...  All  I  can  say  is,  I  have 
done  my  best ;  I  am  driven  from  my  home  and  my  pro- 
fession, to  neither  of  which  I  am  determined  will  I 
return  until  I  can  present  myself  before  the  public  freely 
and  independently  as  I  have  always  done." 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  actor  did  not  find 
his  difficulties  enduring  or  insupportable,  and  that  he 
duly  continued  his  professional  exertions.  For  some 
seasons  he  was  included  with  his  wife  in  the  company 
at  the  Haymarket  under  Mr.  Webster's  rule.  The  year 
1844  saw  the  production  of  the  prize  comedy  con- 
cerning which  much  excitement  prevailed  among  the 
theatrical  public.  Mr.  Webster  had  offered  a  prize  of 
^£500  for  the  best  comedy  that  should  be  sent  to  the 
Haymarket  Theatre,  a  committee  of  dramatists  and 
actors  being  appointed  to  examine  and  pronounce  judg- 
ment in  the  matter.  The  manager's  intentions  were  of 
the  best,  and  the  sum  named  was  held  to  be  a  handsome 
price  to  pay  for  an  original  five-act  comedy  in  those 
days.  Nearly  a  hundred  comedies  were  forwarded  to 


CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  151 


the  committee,  who  were  supposed  to  be  ignorant  of  the 
names  of  the  authors  tendering  their  works  for  examina- 
tion. The  prize  was  awarded  in  respect  of  a  comedy 
entitled  "  Quid  pro  Quo,  or,  the  Day  of  Dupes,"  which 
proved  to  be  written  by  Mrs.  Charles  Gore,  the  well- 
known  and  fashionable  novelist  of  that  date.  Possibly 
it  was  perceived  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mathews  that  greater 
expectation  had  been  raised  in  regard  to  the  prize 
comedy  than  its  representation  could  satisfy.  They 
prudently  declined  the  parts  of  Captain  Sippet,  a  weaker 
Dazzle,  and  Lady  Mary  Rivers,  a  more  vapid  Grace 
Harkaway,  which  the  committee  had  requested  them  to 
accept,  and  the  characters  were  therefore  sustained  by 
Mr.  Buckstone  and  Miss  Julia  Bennett.  "  Quid  pro  Quo  " 
was  condemned  by  the  audience  in  the  most  unequi- 
vocal fashion.  It  lingered,  however,  for  a  while  upon 
the  scene.  Mrs.  Nisbett  was  thought  to  be  delightful  as 
an  Eton  boy  Lord  Bellamont,  and  excellent  acting  was 
contributed  by  Mrs.  Glover,  by  Farren,  and  Strickland, 
and  Mrs.  Humby  ;  but  the  fact  of  the  failure  of  the  prize 
comedy  could  not  be  concealed  or  controverted.  Nor 
did  Mrs.  Gore  mend  matters  by  declaring  that  "  Quid 
pro  Quo  "  had  been  crushed  because  of  her  sex  by  the 
opposition  of  rival  dramatists  connected  with  the  press 
as  dramatic  critics,  who  had  previously  condemned  for  a 
like  reason  the  plays  of  Lady  Dacre,  Lady  Emmeline 
Wortley,  and  Joanna  Baillie.  In  truth,  "  Quid  pro  Quo  " 


152  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

failed  because  of  its  dulness  and  vulgarity  :  it  was  written 
apparently  in  emulation  of  "  London  Assurance,"  but  it 
exhibited  little  of  the  wit  or  the  skill  in  stage  artifice  of 
that  successful  work. 

In  1 844,  Charles  Mathews,  who  shone  so  often  as  the 
English  representative  of  parts  sustained  in  Paris  by 
Arnal,  Ravel,  Levassor,  and  Bouffe',  sauntered  into  the 
repertory  of  Frederic  Lemaitre,  and  ventured  to  appear 
at  the  Haymarket  in  an  adaptation  of  "  Don  Caesar  de 
Bazan."  As  the  hero  of  this  French  melodrama,  the 
English  comedian  certainly  furnished  warrant  for  the 
charge  so  often  brought  against  his  histrionic  method 
that  "  it  wanted  weight."  It  was  found  that  he  had  all 
Don  Caesar's  levity,  nothing  of  his  gravity.  But  in 
another  play  borrowed  from  the  French,  the  actor  ob- 
tained one  of  his  greatest  successes  :  his  Sir  Charles 
Coldstream  in  "Used  Up"  greatly  pleased  the  public, 
and  continued  for  many  years  to  be  one  of  his  most 
admired  impersonations.  Arnal  had  "  created  "  the  part, 
and  the  play  underwent  adaptation  at  other  theatres  as 
a  farce  for  the  low-comedy  purposes  of  Wright  and  Keeley. 
But  Mathews's  performance  owed  little  or  nothing  to 
Arnal ;  the  character  of  Sir  Charles  Coldstream,  the 
languid  English  dandy,  elegant  of  aspect  and  manner, 
superfine  of  dress,  sublimely  calm  of  speech,  corresponded 
only  in  regard  to  certain  of  his  adventures  with  the  hero 
of  "  L'Homme  Blase."  The  adaptation  had  been  made 


"SIX   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  153 

originally  by  Mr.  Boucicault,  who  had  given  in  the  title 
of  "Bored  to  Death;"  but  Mr.  Mathews  so  amended 
and  embroidered  it,  that  finally  he  claimed  it  as  his  own, 
at  the  risk  of  a  lawsuit  with  Mr.  Webster,  who  professed 
to  own  the  copyright  of  the  English  play.  But  it  was 
soon  manifest  that,  whoever  might  be  responsible  for  the 
adaptation  or  possessed  of  its  copyright,  there  was  but 
one  possible  Sir  Charles  Coldstream.  For  a  little  while 
Mr.  Webster  himself,  in  assertion  of  what  he  believed  to 
be  his  rights,  essayed  the  impersonation ;  but  the  public 
did  not  encourage  the  experiment.  Recognized  as  an 
excellent  actor,  it  was  also  felt  that  he  was  not  exhibiting 
himself  to  advantage  in  the  part  of  Sir  Charles  Cold- 
stream,  the  peculiar  possession  of  Charles  Mathews. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  Mr.  Boucicault  produced  his 
second  best  comedy,  "  Old  Heads  and  Young  Hearts," 
a  production,  however,  falling  far  short  of  the  merits  of 
"  London  Assurance,"  though  composed  of  similar  ingre- 
dients, and  finding  occupation  for  a  strong  company  of 
comedians,  including  the  original  representatives  of  Sir 
Harcourt  Courtly,  Grace  ffarkaway,  and  Dazzle — to 
name  no  more.  Recognized  as  only  a  poor  relation  of 
the  elder  work,  resembling  it  chiefly  in  regard  to  its 
worst  qualities,  "  Old  Heads  and  Young  Hearts  "  pleased 
for  a  season,  and  may  be  reckoned  as  of  very  superior 
worth  to  the  other  comedies  by  the  same  hand,  such  as 
"The  Irish  Heiress,"  "The  School  for  Scheming," 


154  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

"Alma  Mater,"  "Mr.  Peter  Piper,"  "Love  in  a  Maze," 
etc.,  which  enjoyed  no  long  life  upon  the  stage,  and  are 
now  little  remembered.  In  the  following  season  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Mathews  appeared  as  the  first  representatives 
of  Felix  Goldthumb  and  Bessie  Tulip  in  Douglas  Jerrold's 
"Time  works  Wonders" — his  best  and  most  successful 
comedy,  making  ample  amends  by  its  excess  of  wit  for 
any  deficiencies  of  dramatic  construction  and  interest. 
It  cannot  be  said,  however,  that  Jerrold  was  altogether 
successful  in  providing  Charles  Mathews  with  suitable 
characters  or  with  complete  opportunities  for  histrionic 
display.  The  actor  was  not  seen  at  his  best  either  as 
Captain  Smoke  in  "  Bubbles  of  the  Day,"  or  as  Felix 
Goldthumb,  who  is  less  connected  than  the  more  serious 
Clarence  Norman  with  the  interest  of  "  Time  works 
Wonders."  Jerrold  was  content  to  employ  Charles 
Mathews  merely  as  the  light  comedian  of  convention. 
But  he  was  much  more  than  this.  Throughout  his  career, 
indeed,  the  actor  might  reasonably  have  complained  of 
the  small  pains  taken  by  the  dramatists  to  supply  him 
with  suitable  parts — to  take  the  measure,  as  it  were,  of 
his  histrionic  capacity.  His  assumption  of  Dazzle,  even, 
had  been  something  of  an  accident :  the  character  had 
not  been  designed  for  him.  Dazzle  had  been  originally 
called  O*  Dazzle,  or  some  such  name — an  Irish  character, 
to  be  represented  by  Tyrone  Power,  probably. 

During  1846  and  the  following  year,  Charles  Mathews 


CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  155 


and  Madame  Vestris  fulfilled  engagements  at  the 
Princess's  and  other  theatres,  the  lady  taking  leave  of 
her  provincial  friends  before  the  opening  of  the  Lyceum 
under  her  management  in  October,  1847.  The  public 
often  amuses  itself  by  exaggerating  the  age  of  those 
prominently  before  it  :  in  the  general  judgment  Madame 
Vestris  was  much  older  than  she  was  in  truth,  and 
Charles  Mathews  was  often  spoken  of  as  though  he  had 
married  his  mother.  Bidding  adieu  to  the  Liverpool 
public  in  1847,  Madame  Vestris  frankly  referred  to  the 
matter.  "Believe  me,"  she  said,  "my  health  rather 
than  my  inclination  induces  this  apparently  sudden  step. 
Were  I,  indeed,  as  old  as  some  good  people  are  pleased 
to  fancy  me,  I  ought  to  have  retired  years  ago,  not  only 
from  the  mimic  scene,  but  from  the  scene  of  life  itself. 
The  truth  is,  that  I  have  been  long  before  the  public, 
thanks  to  the  kindness  of  the  public;  I  appeared  con- 
spicuously before  it  at  an  earlier  age  than  is  usual  ;  and 
I  am  not  yet,  I  venture  to  assert,  quite  superannuated." 
She  declined  to  reveal  publicly  her  exact  age,  however, 
claiming  the  privilege  of  her  sex;  and  she  concluded 
with  a  request  that  the  support  she  had  so  long  enjoyed 
might,  on  her  closing  her  country  accounts  and  her 
retirement  from  business  so  far,  be  extended  to  her 
"junior  partner."  "He  has  secured  for  himself  my 
good  will,  and  has,  I  trust,  entitled  himself  to  yours.  It 
is  he,  therefore,  who  will  in  future  undertake  the  travelling 


156  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

department."     It  was  not  supposed  at  this  time,  how- 
ever, that  he  would  ever  be  travelling  round  the  world. 

Born  in  1797,  Madame  Vestris  was  but  six  years 
older  than  her  husband.  As  she  had  said,  she  had  been 
long  before  the  public.  She  had  married  the  worthless 
Armand  Vestris  in  1813;  two  years  later  she  had  sung 
for  his  benefit  at  the  Italian  Opera  House  in  the  Hay- 
market,  in  Winter's  "  II  Ratto  di  Proserpina."  Her  first 
appearance  on  the  English  stage  was  in  1820,  at  Drury 
Lane,  when  she  played  Lilla  in  Cobb's  opera,  "The 
Siege  of  Belgrade."  Armand  Vestris  died  about  1825, 
but  husband  and  wife  had  lived  apart  since  1816.  When 
I  first  saw  the  lady  she  was  playing  Oberon  at  Covent 
Garden  in  a  most  poetically  ornate  revival  of  "  The  Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream,"  with  much  music  interpolated 
and  many  scenic  illusions.  I  was  a  child  in  the  dress 
circle  (there  were  no  stalls  then),  much  delighted  with 
the  play,  yet  looking  forward  to  the  pantomime  which 
was  to  follow,  and  which  took  liberties,  I  think,  with 
Horace  Walpole's  "  Castle  of  Otranto."  To  me  that 
representative  of  Oberon,  wearing  a  glittering  suit  of  fairy 
golden  armour  crowned  by  a  classic  casque  with  flowing 
plumes,  was  a  vision  of  beauty,  wondrously  graceful  of 
motion  and  musical  of  speech.  When  I  again  beheld 
Madame  Vestris  some  few  years  later,  it  was  with  more 
critical  eyes,  and  time,  as  I  judged,  had  meanwhile  dealt 
somewhat  harshly  with  her :  her  beauty  had  waned 


CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  157 


seriously.  She  should  hardly  have  essayed  the  part  of 
the  youthful  schoolgirl  Bessie  Tidip.  Her  looks  suffered, 
I  think,  from  the  excess  of  art  employed  to  preserve 
them,  just  as  the  age  of  a  building  is  sometimes 
revealed  by  the  freshness  of  the  materials  employed  in 
repairing  it.  She  had  never  possessed  the  regularity  of 
feature  and  repose  of  face  which  may  long  and  success- 
fully resist  the  insidious  unkindness  of  the  fleeting  years. 
Her  address  as  an  actress,  with  her  excellent  taste  in 
costume,  she  yet  retained,  of  course  ;  she  was,  as  ever, 
bright  of  glance,  lively  of  manner  ;  as  a  singer  she  could 
still  be  heard  with  pleasure,  and  she  gave  all  possible 
point  to  the  speeches  she  was  required  to  deliver  —  witty 
herself,  she  relished  the  wit  of  others;  no  actress  has 
ever  spoken  better  than  she  did  such  lines  of  pleasant 
facetiousness,  for  instance,  as  Mr.  Planche  was  wont  to 
include  in  his  fairy  extravaganzas.  But  she  did  not  look 
young;  indeed,  by  the  side  of  her  husband  she  looked 
almost  old.  But  then  he  bore  with  such  amazing 
sprightliness  his  burden  of  thirty-five  to  forty  years  ;  an 
adolescent  grace  and  buoyancy  remained  with  him  so 
long;  time  had  in  no  degree  rounded  his  shoulders  or 
out-curved  his  waistcoat  ;  he  was  always  youthfully 
slim  of  form  and  elastic  of  movement.  One  natural 
defalcation  art  easily  remedied.  His  hair  had  thinned 
early  in  life.  What  a  collection  of  auburn  and  flaxen 
wigs  he  must  have  possessed  !  He  first  revealed  publicly 


158  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

his  calvity,  converting  it  to  the  uses  of  his  art,  when  he 
first  played  Ajfable  Hawk  "with  his  own  bald  head,"  as 
people  said.  But  this  was  not  until  1850.  Certain 
earlier  of  his  performances  have  first  to  be  mentioned. 

During  his  engagements  at  the  Princess's  Theatre 
Charles  Mathews  played  many  new  parts,  although  his 
position  as  a  "star"  would  have  justified  his  confining 
himself  to  a  fixed  repertory.  The  manager  liked  to  vary 
his  programme,  and  dealt  largely  in  translations  from 
the  French,  hastily  written  and  cheaply  produced.  The 
company  did  not  lack  strength  :  numbered,  indeed,  many 
excellent  performers.  "  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor," 
in  recognition  of  the  success  obtained  with  it  at  Covent 
Garden,  was  revived :  Madame  Vestris  reappearing  as 
Mrs.  Page  to  the  Mrs.  Ford  of  Mrs.  Stirling,  the  Ford 
of  James  Wallack,  the  'Page  of  Mr.  Ryder,  the  Falstaff 
of  Granby,  etc.  Resigning  the  part  of  Slender  to 
Compton,  Charles  Mathews  now  undertook  the  cha- 
racter of  Sir  Hugh  Evans,  looking  quaintly  picturesque 
in  his  cassock  and  bands,  and  performing  with  admirable 
humour.  He  was  an  adept,  as  his  singing  of  "Jenny 
Jones"  had  proved,  in  delivering  English  after  the 
glib,  clipped,  tripping  Welsh  fashion.  This  was  the 
operatic  edition  of  the  comedy :  Ann  Page  and  Master 
Fenton  being  personated  by  singers,  and  the  action  every 
now  and  then  undergoing  suspension,  in  order  that 
Mrs.  Page  and  her  daughter  might  sing  "  I  know  a 


"SIX   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  159 

bank,"  or  that  Master  Fenton  might  introduce  "  Blow, 
thou  winter  wind."  The  songs;  by  various  composers, 
all  boasted  Shakespeare's  words,  derived  indiscriminately 
from  the  plays  and  the  poems,  their  appropriateness  in 
relation  to  the  positions  they  occupied  in  the  play  being 
very  little  considered.  Another  Covent  Garden  triumph 
—Mr.  Blanche's  fairy  play  of  "  Beauty  and  the  Beast  " — 
was  also  essayed  •  and  many  farces  and  small  comedies 
were  presented,  including  "  A  Sovereign  Remedy,"  "  A 
Curious  Case,"  "The  Barber  Bravo,"  and  "Love's 
Telegraph,"  an  adaptation  of  "  Le  Gant  et  1'Eventail," 
in  which  Charles  Mathews  found  congenial  occupation. 
About  this  time,  too,  he  first  undertook  an  exclusively 
serious  character.  He  appeared  as  Lovelace  in  a  version 
of  "  Clarissa  Harlowe,"  by  MM.  Dumanoir,  Clairville, 
and  Guillard,  an  adaptation,  of  course,  of  the  novel  of 
Richardson. 

I  may  speak  with  some  hesitation  of  a  play  which 
was  produced  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  and  which  I, 
a  schoolboy  critic,  saw  but  once.  As  I  remember  it, 
however,  it  was  a  sombre  work,  unlikely  to  gratify  an 
English  audience,  unsuited  to  our  stage.  Little  success 
attended  its  performance  here,  although,  I  believe,  it  had 
prospered  in  Paris.  But  French  critics  have  long  been 
wont  to  prize  exceedingly  the  writings  of  Richardson. 
Absorbed  by  regard  for  his  skill  as  a  narrator,  they  have 
overlooked,  or  have  not  been  capable  of  estimating,  the 


160  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

tediousness  and  diffuseness  of  his  literary  style.  "  Cla- 
rissa Harlowe  "  was  thus  found  to  be  a  name  to  conjure 
with  in  Paris.  The  play  owned  a  French  compactness 
of  construction.  In  the  first  act  Clarissa  was  seen 
oppressed  by  her  family.  Mr.  Ryder  played  her  father, 
I  think  j  Mr.  James  Vining  her  brother.  There  was 
much  preaching  on  the  subject  of  filial  disobedience ; 
the  characters  were  all  attired  in  Quaker  drabs  and 
greys ;  Clarissa  wept :  she  did  little  but  weep  from  the 
first  scene  to  the  last  of  the  drama,  as  she  endured 
the  didactic  efforts  and  exercises  of  her  relatives. 
The  second  act  was  more  lively,  in  Sir  Anthony  Abso- 
lute's sense  of  the  word;  indeed,  the  proceedings  of 
Lovelace  might  well  have  evoked  the  intervention  of  the 
Lord  Chamberlain  :  and  here,  too,  relief  was  afforded  by 
the  vivacity  of  a  rural  soubrette,  very  well  played  by  the 
late  Miss  Marshall.  The  last  act — the  English  play 
consisted  of  three  acts  only — was  chiefly  occupied  with 
the  sufferings,  the  sorrows,  and  the  death  of  Clarissa, 
personated  with  much  ingenuity  and  pathos  by  Mrs. 
Stirling,  if  I  rightly  remember.  As  Lovelace,  Charles 
Mathews  looked  very  handsome,  and  wore  well  his  bag 
wig  and  tasteful  court  dress,  carrying  himself  most 
gallantly.  His  aspect  and  mien  were  worthy  of  the 
Frangais.  But  at  all  times  he  was  wont  to  appear  at 
ease  in  costumes  of  fanciful  or  old-fashioned  device ;  he 
had  never  the  awkward,  inconvenienced  air  exhibited  by 


"SSX   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  161 

many  players  when  required  to  assume  unaccustomed 
clothes.  Still,  his  Lovelace  was  not  accounted  successful. 
He  took  great  pains  with  the  part,  played  with  unusual 
care,  was  calm  and  composed,  avoiding  levity  and 
flippancy,  and  fairly  exhibiting  the  unworthiness  of 
Lovelace,  but  failing  wholly  to  convey  the  passion  ani- 
mating him.  Something  the  performance  may  have 
gained  in  decorum  by  this  very  deficiency  on  the  part 
of  the  actor.  But  the  spectator  became  aware  of  the 
boundary  of  Charles  Mathews's  art  in  a  certain  direction : 
it  was  like  coming  suddenly  upon  the  ring  fence  confining 
an  estate.  It  was  manifest  that  as  a  stage-lover  Charles 
Mathews  could  not  shine ;  he  was  wholly  without 
fervour  or  earnestness ;  it  was  as  much  as  he  could  do 
to  be  commonly  serious  ;  he  could  only  woo  the  heroines 
of  the  theatre  after  the  tepid,  unreal,  insincere  fashion 
of  the  conventional  walking  gentleman  :  always  heedful 
during  his  most  ardent  speeches  to  keep  his  curls  and 
his  costume  unrumpled,  and  the  white  lining  of  his 
glossy  hat  well  turned  towards  the  pit.  It  was  very 
certain  that  he  could  not  adequately  represent  the 
Lovelace  of  Richardson.  At  the  time  this  was  of  the 
less  consequence,  seeing  that  Janin's  play  did  not  please, 
and  had  to  be  withdrawn  after  a  few  representations. 

Something  further  I  may  here,  perhaps,  be  permitted 
to  add  touching  the  aspect  and  costumes  of  the  actor. 
He  had  never  been  carried  away  by  what  was  once 

VOL.  II.  M 


1 62  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

called  "  the  moustache  movement."     He  entertained  an 
old  actor's  prejudices  on  the  subject,  holding  that  facial 
expression  was  in  such  wise  injuriously   affected.     He 
would    have   sympathized  with    Macready's    objections 
upon  one  of  his  Macduffs  appearing  "  with  a  pair  of  well- 
grown  moustaches."     When  it  seemed  to  him  that  such 
a  decoration  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the  character 
he  assumed,  Charles  Mathews  exercised  his  skill  as  an 
artist,  and,  with  a  camel's-hair  brush,  painted  a  moustache 
upon  his  upper  lip.     His  appearance  as  Lovelace  I  have 
mentioned;  but  I  may  add  that  he  was  not  less  picturesque 
and  elegant  of  presence  when  he  wore  a  Kneller  dress 
of  green  velvet  as  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  in  Blanche's 
'•'Court  Beauties;"  when  he  assumed  medieval  trunks 
and  hose  as  the  hero  of  "  The  Captain  of  the  Watch ; " 
or  what  may  be  called  the  French-Revolutionary  costume 
of  Lavater  and  some  other  characters.    But  he  was  chiefly 
seen  upon  the  stage  in  modern  dress ;  to  his  audiences 
he  was  usually  a  gentleman  of  their  own  period.     Mr. 
G.    H.   Lewes  has  written  of  him :    "  In   our  juvenile 
apprehensions    he    was     the    beau-ideal    of    elegance. 
We   studied   his   costumes   with   ardent  emotion.      We 
envied  him  his  tailor,  and  made  him  our  pattern  to  live 
and  to  die."      Thirty-five   years   ago  men   were   more 
superfine  of  dress  than  they  are  just  now.     There  were 
dandies   still   surviving,  and   D'Orsay  was   a   power  in 
the  world  of  fashion.     "Such  a  dress!"  writes  Haydon 


"SIX   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  163 

of  D'Orsay  in  1839 ;  "with  great-coat,  blue  satin  cravat, 
hair  oiled  and  curling,  hat  of  the  primest  curve  and 
purest  water,  gloves  scented  with  eau  de  Cologne,  or  eau 
de  jasmin,  primrose  in  tint,  skin  in  tightness,"  etc. 
Charles  Mathews  dressed  much  after  the  D'Orsay 
manner,  persisting  in  it  even  after  it  had  become  a  little 
old-fashioned.  He  long  delighted  in  frock  or  "  New- 
market cut "  coats,  olive  green  or  light  brown,  claret  or 
mulberry  colour,  with  lawn  wristbands  turned  back  over 
the  tight  cuffs ;  in  shawl-patterned  waistcoats  and  profuse 
satin  stocks  confined  by  jewelled  pins  linked  together  ;  in 
the  lightest  and  tightest  of  trousers,  cut  to  fit  the  boot 
like  a  gaiter  and  closely  strapped  beneath  the  instep. 
He  was  the  last  man,  I  think,  to  wear  trousers  of  this 
pattern  upon  the  stage,  although  the  late  Mr.  James 
Vining,  a  dandy  of  an  earlier  date,  may  have  rivalled 
him  in  the  matter.  It  almost  seemed  at  last  as  though 
there  were  a  conventional  costume  to  be  worn  by  light 
comedians  irrespective  of  the  fashion  prevalent  outside 
the  theatre.  But  no  doubt  it  was  hard  to  surrender 
D'Orsay  as  a  model,  to  turn  away  from  so  consummate 
an  arbiter  elegantiarum.  Even  Macready,  about  to 
personate  Alfred  Evelyn,  in  1840,  thought  it  well  to 
take  counsel  of  the  Count  concerning  "his  hatter,  the 
mode  of  keeping  accounts  at  the  clubs  at  play,  about 
servants,"  etc. 

The  Lyceum  opened  with  a  strong   company,   Mr. 


164  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

and  Mrs.  Mathews  being  assisted  by    Mrs.  and   Miss 
Fitzwilliam,  Mrs.  Yates,  Mrs.  Stirling,  and  Miss  Louisa 
Howard  •  Messrs.  Leigh  Murray,  Frank  Matthews,  Selby, 
Roxby,  John  Reeve,  junior,  Meadows,  Buckstone,  and 
Harley.     The  theatre  had  been  tastefully  and  elaborately 
re-decorated ;  certain  of  the  modelled  figures,  panels,  and 
medallions  have  survived  until  the  present  date.     A  new 
system  of   lighting  was   introduced,   and,   for  the  first 
time  in   an   English  theatre,    draperies   of   white    lace 
adorned  the  private    boxes.       The    scene-painter  was- 
Mr.  Beverley,  and  the  stage  appointments  soon  acquired 
fame  in  right  of  their  exceeding  beauty  and  originality. 
The   entertainments   were    of  the  pattern    which   had 
proved   so   successful  at  the   Olympic  under  Madame 
Vestris's  management,  with  increase  of  importance  and 
magnificence.     Little  advantage,  however,  was  taken  of 
the  Act  of  1844,  which  established  free   trade  in  the- 
atrical exhibitions,  and   permitted  the  representation  of 
the  legitimate  drama  upon  all  stages  alike.       Five-act 
comedies  were  eschewed  at  the  Lyceum,  nor  was  the 
slightest  encouragement  offered  to  native  authors.     The 
management  endured  for   some  nine   years  or  so,  but 
during  that  period  scarcely  an  original  work  was  pro- 
duced.       The     theatre     subsisted     upon     vaudevilles, 
comedies,  and  melodramas,  adapted  from  the  French, 
and  upon   a   series  of  extravaganzas   founded  by   Mr. 
Planche    upon    the    old    French    fairy    tales.       "The 


"SSX  CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  165 

Golden  Branch,"  "  King  Charming,"  "  The  King  of  the 
Peacocks,"  "  The  Islands  of  Jewels,"  "  The  Prince  of 
Happy  Land,"  "  The  Good  Woman  in  the  Wood,"  and 
"  Once  upon  a  Time  there  were  two  Kings,"  were  perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  of  these  productions,  which  gradu- 
ally degenerated  from  vehicles  of  pun  and  poetry,  song 
and  dance  and  Christmas  pleasantry,  into  mere  spectacles, 
brilliant  and  yet  barren.  Mr.  Planche  has  himself 
described  how  the  scene-painter  by  degrees  came  to 
take  the  dramatist's  place  in  the  theatre.  "  Year  after 
year  Mr.  Beverley's  powers  were  taxed  to  outdo  his 
former  outdoings.  The  last  scene  became  the  first  in 
the  estimation  of  the  management.  The  most  com- 
plicated machinery,  the  most  costly  materials,  were 
annually  put  into  requisition,  until  their  bacon  was  so 
buttered  it  was  impossible  to  save  it.  As  to  me,  I  was 
positively  painted  out.  Nothing  was  considered  brilliant 
but  the  last  scene.  Dutch  metal  was  in  the  ascendant." 
Mr.  Planche  fled  from  the  Lyceum  and  found  refuge 
again  at  the  Olympic.  Robson  was  playing  there, 
proving  himself  a  great  burlesque  actor,  and  something 
more — indeed,  a  very  great  deal  more. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Charles 
Mathews  allowed  himself  to  be  effaced  by  his  extrava- 
ganzas. He  rarely  took  part  in  these,  although  he  had 
won  fame  by  his  efforts  of  a  grotesque  sort  in  the  kindred 
plays  of  "  Riquet  with  the  Tuft "  and  "  The  Golden 


1 66  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Fleece."  At  one  time,  Madame  Vestris  being  ill,  he 
appeared  in  her  stead  as  King  Charming,  attired  splen- 
didly in  robes  of  pink  silk  and  a  head-dress  of  pearls, 
diamonds,  and  bird-of-Paradise  plumes,  in  imitation  of 
the  Nepaulese  ambassador,  a  celebrity  of  the  time. 
Upon  another  occasion  he  undertook  Mr.  Buckstone's 
duties,  and  assumed  the  character  of  Box  in  the  famous 
farce  of  "  Box  and  Cox."  But  in  burlesque  and  low 
comedy  he  was  not  usually  concerned,  and  the  farces  in 
which  he  appeared  were  always  of  a  certain  refinement, 
strongly  flavoured  with  comedy,  and  affording  him  artistic 
opportunities.  He  was  seen  at  his  best,  I  think,  during 
these  Lyceum  times.  He  was  in  excellent  health  and 
spirits,  and  his  histrionic  method,  with  all  its  gaiety  and 
sprightliness,  was  distinguished  by  a  steady  force  and 
incisiveness  which  it  lacked  somewhat  in  late  years.  He 
even  took  his  audience  by  surprise,  developing  unex- 
pected resources,  and  essaying  characters  of  an  unaccus- 
tomed sort.  He  shone  in  melodrama.  Mr.  Lewes  has 
described  his  performance  of  the  Count  D'Arental,  the 
villanous  hero  of  the  "  Day  of  Reckoning,"  an  adapta- 
tion by  Mr.  Planche  of  a  rather  commonplace  French 
melodrama,  owing  its  origin  to  the  popularity  of  M.  Sue's 
"  Mysteres  de  Paris."  Certain  of  the  dramatis  persona, 
indeed,  in  quest  of  adventure,  assume  blouses  and  visit 
a  tapis-franc,  avowedly  after  the  manner  of  the  Prince 
Rudolphe  of  that  once  famous  romance,  although  with- 


"SIR   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  167 

out  his  philanthropic  intentions.  The  Count  is  a  mon- 
ster of  perfidy  and  cruelty,  hardened  and  consummate, 
capable  of  any  crime.  Nevertheless  his  demeanour  is 
most  calm,  polite,  gentlemanly;  nothing  in  his  aspect 
reveals  his  really  shameless  and  corrupt  nature.  He  is 
as  unlike  the  conventional  villain  of  melodrama  as  could 
possibly  be.  A  bankrupt  rout,  he  treats  his  young,  rich, 
and  beautiful  wife  with  the  most  insulting  coldness  and 
neglect.  He  suspects  her  of  infidelity,  and  indeed  hopes 
that  she  may  prove  unfaithful :  in  such  wise  he  may  the 
better  *prey  upon  her  fortune,  which  meantime  is  pro- 
tected by  the  French  code.  The  lady's  distresses  are 
great,  and  she  seeks  some  consolation  at  the  hands  of 
a  devoted  but  platonic  admirer.  The  Count  simply 
threatens  to  shoot  her  friend  and  to  ruin  her  reputation  ; 
but  his  manner  is  still  scrupulously  polite.  He  listens 
calmly  to  her  appeals  and  protestations,  does  not  inter- 
rupt her  for  a  moment,  yet  never  swerves  from  his  resolve 
to  secure  her  fortune  or  to  slay  her  lover.  This  exhi- 
bition of  intense  and  complete  cruelty  proved  most 
effective  upon  the  scene.  It  may  be  added  that  the 
Count's  courage  is  unquestionable,  although  founded  as 
much  upon  scorn  of  his  fellows,  their  follies  and  weak- 
nesses, as  upon  his  own  strength  of  character  and  self- 
reliance.  When  in  the  tapis-franc  his  rank  is  discovered 
and  his  life  threatened,  he  is  not  discomposed  :  he  de- 
spises his  antagonists  too  much.  He  knows  that  his 


1 68  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

own  safety  and  their  good  opinion  can  be  bought  for  a 
dozen  of  wine.  When  the  final  duel  is  forced  upon  him, 
and  he  tries  to  take  an  unfair  advantage  of  his  adversary, 
he  is  not  influenced  by  a  cowardly  regard  for  his  own 
safety,  but  by  utter  contempt  for  his  plebeian  foe,  whom 
he  would  sweep  from  his  path  as  he  would  brush  away 
an  insect  that  troubled  him. 

The  play  is  of  an  unwholesome  kind,  with  a  disagree- 
ably opaque  moral  atmosphere ;  and  neither  upon  its 
first  representation  in  1851  nor  upon  its  revival  at  the 
Adelphi  in  1868  did  it  greatly  please  the  public.  But  it 
enhanced  considerably  the  histrionic  fame  of  Charles 
Mathews.  It  was  well  understood  that  the  actor  was 
curiously  deficient  in  tenderness ;  that  his  art,  however 
winning,  graceful,  vivacious,  and  humorous,  had  no  hold 
whatever  upon  the  serious  emotions  of  his  audience. 
Even  that  semblance  of  feeling  by  means  of  which  very 
obtuse  players,  given  a  pathetic  situation,  have  been  able 
to  move  their  public,  was  beyond  him.  He  could  not 
sound  a  pathetic  note  ever  so  gently.  When  in  the  little 
comedy  of  "  The  Bachelor  of  Arts,"  for  instance,  he  was 
required  but  to  exclaim  "  My  poor  father  ! "  and  to  hide 
his  face  in  his  handkerchief  as  the  drop-scene  fell,  the 
effect  was  almost  ludicrous  from  the  actor's  curious  in- 
ability to  portray  emotion  even  of  the  simplest  and 
slightest  kind.  As  Mr.  Lewes  has  noted,  not  only  were 
strong  displays  of  feelings — "  rage,  scorn,  pathos,  dignity, 


"SIR   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  169 

vindictiveness,  tenderness,  and  wild  mirth — all  beyond 
his  means,  but  he  could  not  even  laugh  with  animal 
heartiness;  he  sparkled,  he  never  exploded."  In  the 
Count  D'Arenlal,  as  in  some  other  characters,  what  may 
be  called  without  offence  the  heartlessness  of  the  actor 
was  turned  to  theatrical  account  and  made  to  serve 
tragic  uses.  His  levity  was  no  longer  harmless  and 
pleasant;  it  was  now  allied  to  villainy  and  infamous 
cruelty.  The  audience  did  not  much  relish,  perhaps, 
the  change  involved  in  this  experiment;  yet  it  had  its 
success  from  an  artistic  point  of  view  and  in  relation  to 
the  fame  of  the  actor. 

"  The  Day  of  Reckoning"  paved  the  way  for  "  The 
Chain  of  Events,"  produced  in  the  following  year — "  a 
drama  in  eight  acts,  occupying  the  whole  evening" — 
adapted  by  Mr.  Lewes  from  "  La  Dame  de  la  Halle,"  a 
French  play  of  prodigious  elaboration,  ingenuity,  and 
tediousness,  so  successful  in  Paris  that  its  performance 
at  several  London  theatres  seemed  a  managerial  neces- 
sity. I  retain  no  very  distinct  impressions  of  it,  but  I 
remember  that  it  was  most  liberally  equipped  with 
scenery  and  costumes,  with  a  very  vivid  effect  of  a  storm 
at  sea  and  shipwreck;  that  Miss  Laura  Keene,  after- 
wards very  favourably  known  in  America,  personated  the 
heroine ;  that  the  characters  wore  hair-powder,  and  that 
Charles  Mathews  played  a  cool  and  calculating  villain, 
who  in  the  last  scene  committed  suicide  by  leaping  from 


HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


the  balcony  of  a  gambling-house,  I  think  in  the  Palais 
Royal.  The  "  Chain  of  Events  "  enjoyed  many  repre. 
sentations,  although  the  stage  has  seen  nothing  of  it 
since  1852.  A  still  longer  play,  however,  presented  in 
1853  —  "A  Strange  History,  in  nine  chapters"  —  was  with- 
drawn after  a  few  performances.  For  this  production 
Mr.  Lewes,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Mathews,  was  also 
responsible.  It  had,  of  course,  a  French  origin,  and 
contained  many  wonderful  incidents  —  the  fall  of  an 
avalanche,  I  remember,  among  its  scenic  effects.  But 
"A  Strange  History"  oppressed,  because  of  its  strange- 
ness, its  prodigious  length,  and  the  numerous  complexi- 
ties of  its  plot.  It  was  relieved  of  an  act  or  two  ;  but 
the  public  refused  to  accept  it  upon  any  terms,  and,  with 
a  sigh,  for  it  had  cost  many  pains  and  much  money,  the 
management  abandoned  it  altogether  and  for  ever.  It 
made  way  for  "The  Lawyers,"  a  successful  version  of 
"  Les  Avocats." 

But  the  greatest  success  at  the  Lyceum  under  the 
rule  of  Charles  Mathews  was  probably  obtained  by  "The 
Game  of  Speculation,"  first  represented  in  October,  1851. 
This  version  of  "  Mercadet,"  Balzac's  posthumous 
comedy,  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Lewes,  then  assuming 
the  name  of  Slingsby  Lawrence,  "  in  less  than  thirteen 
hours,  and  produced  after  only  two  rehearsals,"  as  the 
preface  to  the  printed  play  informs  us.  "  Mercadet  " 
had  not  been  performed  in  Paris  exactly  as  its  author 


CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  171 


had  left  it.  The  five  acts  of  the  original  had  been 
reduced  to  three  ;  many  scenes  were  omitted  and  some 
transposed.  Mr.  Lewes  judiciously  followed  the  abridged 
acting  edition,  rendering  the  dialogue  in  spirited  English, 
and  tampering  in  no  respect  with  the  nature  of  the  plot. 
The  only  fault  to  be  found  with  his  adaptation  relates  to 
the  characteristic  names  bestowed  upon  the  dramatis 
persona:  Affable  Hawk,  Prospectus,  Earthworm,  Hard- 
corn,  Dimity,  etc.  This  was  pursuant  to  a  fashion  long 
enjoying  public  favour  and  boasting  the  authority  of  the 
best  writers  ;  but  injurious,  nevertheless,  to  the  illusions 
which  it  is  the  aim  of  fiction  to  produce,  and  imparting 
unreality  to  what  otherwise  would  appear  genuine  and 
natural  enough.  Sydney  Smith  rightly  condemned  what 
he  termed  "appellative  jocularity,"  as  savouring  of  vul- 
garity and  sinning  against  good  taste. 

The  original  Mercadet  was  Geoffroy,  I  think,  but  I 
never  saw  him,  and  I  am  without  information  as  to  his 
method  of  playing  the  part.  When  the  comedy  was 
transferred  to  the  The'atre  Frangais,  Got  appeared  as 
Mercadet.  In  the  course  of  the  visit  of  the  Comedie  to 
London  in  1871,  "Mercadet"  was  presented  at  our 
Opera  Comique  in  the  Strand,  and  our  playgoers  were 
provided  with  an  opportunity  of  comparing  the  imper- 
sonations of  two  most  accomplished  comedians.  Mr. 
Lewes  has  frankly  avowed  his  preference  for  the  per- 
formance of  Charles  Mathews.  But  in  regard  to  rival 


172  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

histrionic  portrayals  the  one  first  seen  is  likely  to  be  the 
one  more  admired.  The  player  who  has  pre-audience 
secures  our  vote  and  interest.  His  art  impresses  us  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  later  performer,  whose  merits  are 
tested  by  a  standard  not  of  his  choosing,  and  to  which 
he  may  reasonably  object.  The  Mercadet  of  Got  differed 
materially  from  the  Affable  Hawk  of  Charles  Mathews. 
The  one  succeeded  by  sheer  force  of  character,  the  other 
by  exquisite  charm  of  manner.  Got  represented  a  sort 
of  George  Hudson,  a  railway  king,  a  blunt  man  of  busi- 
ness, careless  of  dress,  homely  of  bearing,  rough  of 
speech.  He  rather  encouraged  his  creditors  to  dupe 
themselves  than  laboured  to  cajole  them ;  he  was  some- 
what ashamed  of  the  roguery  to  which  his  embarrass- 
ments had  driven  him,  and  in  his  own  home  appeared  as 
a  respectable  member  of  society,  an  affectionate  husband 
and  father.  He  was  thoroughly  in  earnest;  and  when 
he  threatened  to  drown  himself  in  the  Seine,  it  seemed 
certain  that  he  would  be  as  good  as  his  word.  The  per- 
formance was,  indeed,  much  heightened  by  the  actor's 
adroit  touches  of  pathos,  and  by  the  passionate  excite- 
ment of  his  surprise  and  joy  at  the  return  of  his  missing 
partner  and  the  redemption  of  his  name  from  discredit. 
As  Affable  Hawk,  Charles  Mathews  invested  debt  with  a 
sort  of  diplomatic  dignity.  He  carried  the  graces  of  the 
drawing-room  on  'Change.  His  creditors  were  con- 
strained to  yield  to  the  fascinations  of  address ;  wrath 


"SIX   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  173 

and  importunity  were  subdued  by  placidity  and  elegance. 
He  was  little  troubled  with  remorse ;  those  who  sought 
money  of  him  were  his  natural  enemies,  and  to  be  treated 
accordingly.     Under  such  conditions  trickery  was  allow- 
able, and  only  open  to  reproach  if  failure  attended  it, 
and  he  did  not  intend  to  fail.     He  hinted  at  suicide  in 
the  Thames,  but  no  one  took  the  hint.     A  conviction 
prevailed  that  if  ever  he  got  into  the  water  he  would 
promptly  get  out  again,  much  benefited  by  his  brief  im- 
mersion.    It  was  difficult  to  withhold  sympathy  from  the 
engaging  adventurer  who,  treating  debt  as  a  fine  art, 
bore  his   pecuniary  burthens  with  such  admirable  gal- 
lantry and  good  humour,  fighting  against  bankruptcy  so 
courageously,  and  by  superior  intelligence  and  address, 
helped   by   a  lucky  accident,  triumphing   at   last   over 
creditors  even  less  reputable  and  scrupulous  than  him- 
self.    The  actor  obtained  great  popularity  by  reason  of 
his   performance   of   Affable  Hawk.      The   "  Game  of 
Speculation"   underwent    revival   in   many   subsequent 
seasons ;  it  has  never  been  presented,  however,  without 
Charles  Mathews  for  its  hero.     It  was   last  played  in 
London  during  his  engagement  at  the  Gaiety  in  1873. 
Among  other  Lyceum  successes  may  be  counted  the 
comedies  and  farces  of  "  A  Nice  Firm,"  "  A  Bachelor  of 
Arts,"  "Serve  Him  Right,"  "A  Wonderful  Woman,"  "A 
Practical  Man,"  "An  Appeal  to  the  Public,"  "Aggra- 
vating Sam,"  "  Little  Toddlekins,"  "  Cool  as  a  Cucum- 
ber," etc. 


174  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

But  the  experiences  of  the  Lyceum  management 
were  not  wholly  of  a  prosperous  sort.  The  expenses 
were  very  great,  and  now  and  then  serious  disasters  befell 
the  enterprise.  The  strong  company  gradually  dispersed. 
Sometimes  the  band,  in  despair  at  the  non-payment  of 
their  salaries,  declined  to  enter  the  orchestra.  It  became 
notorious  that  the  manager  was  in  pecuniary  straits,  and 
he  was  charged  with  extravagant  habits.  Again  he  was 
constrained  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  law,  and  compound 
in  such  wise  with  his  creditors.  Performing  in  a  little 
comedy  called  "  My  Heart's  Idol,"  he  was  so  unfortunate 
as  to  receive  a  wound  in  the  hand  while  fighting  a  duel 
with  Mr.  George  Vining,  who  also  took  part  in  the  play. 
Forthwith  appeared  this  epigram  upon  Charles  Mathews's 
recent  accident : 

"  Poor  Charley's  misfortune  the  public  deplore, 

Metallic  advances  he  never  could  stand; 
The  tin  always  slipped  through  his  fingers  before, 

And  now  the  steel  goes  through  the  rest  of  his  hand  !  " 

It  was  said,  too,  that  his  own  embarrassments  had 
taught  him  how  to  play  Affable  Hawk.  Mr.  Lewes,  in 
reference  to  the  opinion  entertained  by  the  public  touch- 
ing the  actor,  has  recorded  the  utterance  of  an  elderly 
gentleman  in  the  boxes  of  the  Lyceum  after  the  fall  of 
the  curtain  upon  the  "  Game  of  Speculation  : "  "  And 
to  think  of  such  a  man  being  in  difficulties  !  There 
ought  to  be  a  public  subscription  got  up  to  pay  his 


"SJfi   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  175 

debts  ! "     He  attacked  the  press  in  regard  to  the  use  and 
abuse  of  "  orders,"  and  he  entered  into  a  literary  duel 
with  Mr.  Angus  Reach,  who,  as  the  critic  of  the  Morn- 
ing Chronicle,  had  ventured  to  censure  certain  of  the 
Lyceum    productions    and    representations.      In    1852 
Charles  Mathews  further  distinguished  himself  by  pub- 
lishing, in  French  and  English,  a  pamphlet  setting  forth 
the  condition  of  our  English  theatres,  and  demonstrating 
that  the  new  copyright  treaty  with   France  would  not 
improve  the  prospects  of  French  dramatists.    He  alleged 
that  in  the  year  1851,  out  of  263  plays  produced  upon 
the  French  stage,  but  eight  had  been  appropriated  by 
London  managers;    the  reason  being  that,  as   a   rule, 
French  plays  were  too  foolish  or  too  indecorous  to  suit 
English  theatres.     The  pamphlet  was  clever,  saucy,  and 
amusing ;  as  a  piece  of  reasoning  it  was  absurd.     Mr. 
Charles   Reade  justly  wrote   of    it:    "The   thing  that 
astonishes  me  is,  how  he  could  sit  down,  in  the  spring  of 
1852,  with  his  pockets  full  of  money  made  out  of  French 
skulls,  and  try  to  create  a  general  impression  that  their 
pieces   are    too   irrational   and  loose   to  be   played  in 
England,  either  with  or  without  that  alteration,  abridg- 
ment,   and   discolouration,   which   adapters   say  are   so 
difBcult,  and  inventors,  and  even   impartial  observers, 
know  to  be  so  easy — compared  with  invention." 

On  July  26,  1854,  Madame  Vestris  was  seen  upon 
the  stage  for  the  last  time.     She  appeared  on  the  occa- 


1 76  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

sion  of  her  husband's  benefit,  as  the  heroine  of  "  Sun- 
shine through  the  Clouds,"  a  version  of  Madame  de 
Girardin's  famous  "  La  Joie  fait  Peur."  Her  health  had 
been  failing  her  for  some  time,  and  she  had  been  able 
only  intermittently  to  take  part  in  the  Lyceum  represen- 
tations, employing  herself  chiefly  in  the  direction  of  the 
stage  and  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  the  costumes. 
In  these  departments  her  taste  and  skill  were  invaluable 
to  the  theatre.  She  died  on  August  8,  1856,  at  her 
residence,  Grove  Lodge,  Fulham.  She  left  behind  her 
pleasant  memories  of  her  attractions,  gifts,  and  accom- 
plishments as  actress  and  singer. 

The  Lyceum  management  at  an  end,  Charles 
Mathews  renounced  for  ever  the  cares  and  responsibili- 
ties of  an  impresario.  He  was  content  now  to  wander 
as  a  "star,"  now  to  attach  himself  for  a  while  to  a 
London  company.  For  some  seasons  he  served  under 
Mr.  E.  T.  Smith  at  Drury  Lane,  appearing  in  "  Married 
for  Money,"  an  amended  version  of  a  comedy  derived 
by  Poole  from  the  French,  and  parodying  the  "  Wizard 
of  the  North  "  in  an  occasional  piece  called  "  The  Great 
Gun  Trick  : "  even  executing  with  remarkable  neatness 
certain  sleight-of-hand  tricks  for  which  the  Wizard,  a 
North  Briton,  whose  real  name  was  Anderson,  had 
become  famous.  The  public  was  much  amused ;  but 
the  Wizard,  who  had  undertaken  the  management  of 
Covent  Garden,  scarcely  approved.  He  promptly  re- 


"SIR   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  177 

torted  by  producing  a  farce  with  the  polite  title  of 
"  Twenty  Minutes  with  an  Impudent  Puppy,"  Mr.  Leigh 
Murray  being  expressly  engaged  to  personate  Charles 
Mathews.  The  Strand  Theatre  ridiculed  the  contest  in 
a  farce,  boasting  the  Shakespearian  name  of  "  A  Plague 
on  both  your  Houses."  The  joke  and  the  conjuror's 
management  ended  seriously:  Covent  Garden  was  totally 
destroyed  by  fire  on  the  morning  of  March  6,  1856,  at 
the  close  of  a  very  riotous  and  vulgar  bal  masque  given 
for  Mr.  Anderson's  benefit. 

From  a  visit  to  America  Charles  Mathews  returned 
in  1858  with  his  second  wife,  an  actress  possessed  of 
personal  advantages  and  considerable  histrionic  ability, 
known  in  the  United  States  as  Mrs.  Davenport.  He 
reappeared  at  the  Haymarket  on  October  u,  and  was 
received  with  enthusiasm.  He  resumed  his  old  part  of 
Dazzle,  Mrs.  Mathews  making  her  debut  in  England  as 
Lady  Gay  Spanker,  and  forthwith  obtaining  the  good 
opinion  of  the  audience.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mathews  re- 
mained some  seasons  at  the  Haymarket  Theatre,  then 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  Buckstone.  They  ap- 
peared in  new  plays  called  "  Everybody's  Friend  "- 
since  known  as  "A  Widow  Hunt  "—"A  Tale  of  a  Coat," 
"The  Royal  Salute,"  "The  Overland  Mail,"  "The 
Contested  Election,"  "His  Excellency,"  etc.  In  1860 
they  accepted  an  engagement  at  Drury  Lane,  personating 
the  hero  and  heroine  of  "  The  Adventures  of  a  Billet- 
VOL.  n.  x 


1 78  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Doux,"  an  early  adaptation  of  "  Les  Pattes  de  Mouche  " 
of  Victorian  Sardou.  They  visited  the  provincial  theatres, 
and  later  years  found  them  fulfilling  engagements  now  at 
the  St.  James's,  now  at  the  Adelphi,  and  now  at  the 
Olympic.  In  1863  Charles  Mathews  played  at  the 
Varietes,  Paris,  in  a  French  version,  executed  by  himself, 
of  the  English  farce  of  "  Cool  as  a  Cucumber,"  and  in 
other  plays. 

Old  actors  usually  shun  new  parts;  but  Charles 
Mathews  did  not  shrink  from  histrionic  experiments, 
although  he  had  now  numbered  more  than  sixty  years. 
He  achieved  great  success  by  his  performance  of  Young 
Wilding,  in  a  revised  edition  of  Foote's  "  Liar "  at  the 
Olympic,  in  1867,  Mrs.  Mathews  lending  him  valuable 
assistance  as  the  heroine  of  the  comedy.  He  appeared, 
too,  as  Tangent  in  a  revival  of  Morton's  comedy,  "  The 
Way  to  Get  Married  " — but  the  work  proved  to  be  hope- 
lessly out  of  date — and  in  forgotten  comedies  of  French 
origin,  "  From  Grave  to  Gay,"  and  "  The  Woman  of 
the  World."  In  a  powerful  drama  called  "  Black  Sheep," 
founded  upon  Mr.  Edmund  Yates's  novel  of  the  same 
name,  his  energetic  impersonation  of  the  murderer, 
Stewart  Ronth,  stirred  memories  of  his  old  success  as 
the  Count  UArental  of  "  The  Day  of  Reckoning,"  and 
obtained  for  the  production  great  favour.  Early  in  1870, 
after  taking  the  chair  at  a  grand  dinner  given  in  his 
honour,  he  departed  to  fulfil  a  very  profitable  engagement 


"SSX  CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  179 

in  Australia  and  the  colonies.  On  October  7,  1872,  he 
reappeared  in  England,  at  the  Gaiety  Theatre,  playing 
his  old  parts  in  "The  Critic"  and  "A  Curious  Case." 
As  his  manager,  Mr.  Hollingshead,  has  recorded  :  "  His 
reception  was  the  most  enthusiastic  burst  of  feeling  I 
ever  witnessed  or  can  imagine ;  and  the  one  who  seemed 
the  least  moved  by  it  was  the  chief  actor."  He  played 
for  ten  weeks,  the  receipts  being  larger  than  the  theatre 
had  ever  known  before,  "amounting  to  nearly  ^"1000 
per  week,"  says  Mr.  Hollingshead.  He  was  re-engaged 
for  the  summer  of  1873,  and  in  the  winter  of  that  year 
he  appeared  for  a  night  or  two  as  Tom  Shuffleton  in 
"  John  Bull,"  in  combination  with  Mr.  Phelps,  Mr. 
Toole,  Mr.  Hermann  Vezin,  and  others.  He  fulfilled 
further  engagements  at  the  Gaiety  in  1874  and  1875, 
returning  there  in  1876,  after  playing  for  a  month  in 
Calcutta,  during  the  Prince  of  Wales's  visit  to  India. 
In  the  following  year  he  played  for  nine  weeks  at  the 
Opera  Comique  Theatre.  On  the  night  of  June  2,  1877, 
he  made  his  last  appearance  on  the  boards  of  a  London 
Theatre.  His  last  new  part  was  Mr.  Evergreen,  in  "  My 
Awful  Dad,"  a  farcical  play  he  had  contrived  for  himself 
out  of  foreign  materials.  Its  success  was  great,  and  it 
enjoyed  many  representations  both  in  London  and  the 
provinces. 

He  died  at  the  Queen's  Hotel,  Manchester,  on  June 
24,   1878,  of  bronchitis.     He  had  been  playing  but  a 


i8o  HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

fortnight  before,  at  Staleybridge,  but  his  strength  had 
declined — he  was  seventy-five — and  he  sank  under  the 
severity  of  his  malady.  To  the  last  he  had  acted  with 
an  ease  and  a  spirit  which  had  gone  far  to  compensate  for 
certain  physical  deficiencies  and  infirmities  which  would 
take  no  denial.  Time  had  not  galloped  with  him,  but  it 
had  not  stood  still  with  him.  He  was  youthfully  slight  of 
figure  to  the  last,  and  he  moved  about  the  scene  with 
his  old  graceful  restlessness  ;  but  his  voice  had  lost  tone, 
the  family  gift  of  clearness  of  articulation  was  failing 
him,  and  if  he  looked  younger  than  his  years  he  looked 
old,  nevertheless.  It  would  be  hard  to  charge  him, 
however,  with  the  veteran's  foible  of  lagging  superfluously 
upon  the  stage.  He  was  wont  to  say  that  his  profession 
kept  him  alive,  that  he  was  never  so  well  or  so  happy  as 
when  he  was  acting.  And  he  retained  to  the  end  power 
to  please  his  audiences ;  he  had  been  drawing  crowded 
houses  within  a  few  days  of  his  death;  the  managers 
still  offered  him  engagements ;  while,  in  addition  to  the 
army  of  old  playgoers  still  eager  to  applaud  him  and  the 
genuineness  of  his  art,  there  had  grown  up  a  new  public, 
curious  to  see  something  of  an  actor  whose  connection 
with  the  theatre  stretched  backward  to  a  remote  period, 
and  who  had  won  for  himself  so  large  a  share  of  public 
favour.  But  those  who  have  only  seen  Charles  Mathews 
at  seventy  or  so  must  not  deem  themselves  qualified  to 
pronounce  judgment  upon  his  merits.  He  was  then,  in 


"57A'   CHARLES  COLDSTREAM."  181 

truth,  but  the  shadow  of  what  he  had  been  at  forty,  fifty, 
or  even  sixty. 

I  will  not  employ  the  old  phrase,  always  hyperbolical, 
that  his  death  eclipsed  the  gaiety  of  nations.  But  I  am 
sure  that  very  many  felt  their  spirits  sadly  dashed  when 
tidings  came  of  the  passing  away  of  Charles  Mathews. 
He  had  figured  so  prominently  during  so  long  a  series  of 
years  in  their  theatrical  pleasures ;  he  had  contributed  so 
largely  to  the  harmless  entertainment  of  the  public.  The 
special  attractions  and  attributes  of  his  acting  had, 
indeed,  evoked  on  his  behalf  an  amount  of  personal 
sympathy  and  regard  such  as  few  actors  have  ever  known. 
I  do  not,  of  course,  rank  him  among  those  great  players 
of  the  past  whose  names  have  become  historical,  whose 
triumphs  have  been  achieved  on  poetic  and  heroic  heights 
towards  which  he  at  no  time  pretended  to  mount ;  but  he 
will  long  be  remembered,  I  venture  to  think,  as  an  artistic 
comedian,  singularly  gifted  and  accomplished,  comparable 
with  the  best  of  actors,  English  or  foreign,  of  his  class  ; 
original,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  no  earlier  per- 
former, and  leaving  no  successors — unique,  unrivalled, 
inimitable. 


182  HOURS  WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

CHARLOTTE     GUSH  MAN. 

THE  Pilgrim  Fathers  figure  in  American  pedigrees 
almost  as  frequently  and  persistently  as  Norman  William 
and  his  followers  appear  at  the  trunk  of  our  family  trees. 
Certainly,  the  Mayflower  must  have  carried  very  many 
heads  of  houses  across  the  Atlantic.  It  was  not  in  the 
Mayflower,  however,  but  in  the  Fortune,  a  smaller  vessel 
of  fifty-five  tons,  that  Robert  Cushman,  Nonconformist, 
the  founder  of  the  Cushman  family  in  America,  sailed 
from  England,  for  the  better  enjoyment  of  liberty  of 
conscience  and  freedom  of  religion.  In  the  seventh 
generation  from  Robert  Cushman  appeared  Elkanah 
Cushman,  who  took  to  wife  Mary  Eliza,  daughter  of 
Erasmus  Babbit,  jun.,  lawyer,  musician,  and  captain  in 
the  army.  Of  this  marriage  was  born  Charlotte  Saunders 
Cushman,  in  Richmond  Street,  Boston,  July  23rd,  1816, 
and  other  children. 

Charlotte  Cushman  says  of  herself :    "I  was  born 
a   torn-boy."      She  -had   a  passion   for  climbing  trees, 


CHARLOTTE   CUSHMAN.  183 

and  for  breaking  open  dolls'  heads.  She  could  not 
make  dolls'  clothes,  but  she  could  manufacture  their 
furniture — could  do  anything  with  tools.  "I  was  very 
destructive  to  toys  and  clothes,  tyrannical  to  brothers 
and  sister,  but  very  social,  and  a  great  favourite  with 
other  children.  Imitation  was  a  prevailing  trait."  The 
first  play  she  ever  saw  was  "  Coriolanus,"  with  Macready 
in  the  leading  part ;  her  second  play  was  "  The 
Gamester."  She  became  noted  in  her  school  for  her 
skill  in  reading  aloud.  Her  competitors  grumbled : 
"  No  wonder  she  can  read ;  she  goes  to  the  theatre  ! " 
Until  then  she  had  been  shy  and  reserved,  not  to  say 
stupid,  about  reading  aloud  in  school,  afraid  of  the 
sound  of  her  own  voice,  and  unwilling  to  trust  it ;  but 
acquaintance  with  the  theatre  loosened  her  tongue,  as 
she  describes  it,  and  gave  opportunity  and  expression 
to  a  faculty  which  became  the  ruling  passion  of  her  life. 
At  home,  as  a  child,  she  took  part  in  an  operetta  founded 
upon  the  story  of  "  Bluebeard,"  and  played  Selim,  the 
lover,  with  great  applause  in  a  large  attic  chamber  of  her 
father's  house  before  an  enthusiastic  audience  of  young 
people. 

Elkanah  Cushman  had  been  for  some  years  a 
successful  merchant,  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Topliffe 
and  Cushman,  Long  Wharf,  Boston.  But  failure  befell 
him,  "  attributable,"  writes  Charlotte  Cushman's  bio- 
grapher, Miss  Stebbins,  "  to  the  infidelity  of  those  whom 


1 84  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

he  trusted  as  supercargoes."  The  family  removed  from 
Boston  to  Charlestown.  Charlotte  was  placed  at  a 
public  school,  remaining  there  until  she  was  thirteen 
only.  Elkanah  Cushman  died,  leaving  his  widow  and 
five  children  with  very  slender  means.  Mrs.  Cushman 
opened  a  boarding-house  in  Boston,  and  struggled  hard 
to  ward  off  further  misfortune.  It  was  discovered  that 
Charlotte  possessed  a  noble  voice  of  almost  two 
registers — "a  full  contralto,  and  almost  a  full  soprano: 
but  the  low  voice  was  the  natural  one."  The  fortunes 
of  the  family  seemed  to  rest  upon  the  due  cultivation 
of  Charlotte's  voice,  and  upon  her  future  as  a  singer. 
"  My  mother,"  she  writes,  "  at  great  self-sacrifice  gave 
me  what  opportunities  for  instruction  she  could  obtain 
for  me  ;  and  then  my  father's  friend,  Mr.  R.  D.  Shepherd, 
of  Shepherdstown,  Virginia,  gave  me  two  years  of  the  best 
culture  that  could  be  obtained  in  Boston  at  that  time, 
under  John  Paddon,  an  English  organist  and  teacher  of 
singing."  When  the  English  singer,  Mrs.  Wood — better 
known,  perhaps,  as  Miss  Paton — visited  Boston  in  1835 
or  1836,  she  needed  the  support  of  a  contralto  voice. 
Charlotte  Cushman  was  sent  for,  and  rehearsed  duets 
with  Mrs.  Wood.  The  young  beginner  was  advised 
to  prepare  herself  for  the  operatic  stage ;  she  was 
assured  that  such  a  voice  would  "  lead  her  to  any 
height  of  fortune  she  coveted."  She  became  the 
articled  pupil  of  Mr.  Maeder,  the  husband  of  Clara 


CHARLOTTE   CUSHMAN.  185 

Fisher,  actress  and  vocalist,  and  the  musical  director 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wood.  Instructed  by  Maeder,  Miss 
Cushman  undertook  the  parts  of  the  Countess  in  "  The 
Marriage  of  Figaro,"  and  Lucy  Bertram  in  the  opera  of 
"  Guy  Mannering."  These  were  her  first  appearances 
upon  the  stage. 

Mrs.  Maeder's  voice  was  a  contralto  •  it  became 
necessary,  therefore,  to  assign  soprano  parts  to  Miss 
Cushman.  Undue  stress  was  thus  laid  upon  her  upper 
notes.  She  was  very  young,  and  she  felt  the  change 
of  climate  when  she  went  on  with"  the  Maeders  to 
New  Orleans.  It  is  likely  that  her  powers  as  a  singer 
had  been  tried  too  soon  and  too  severely ;  her  operatic 
career  was  brought  to  a  sudden  close.  Her  voice  failed 
her  ;  her  upper  notes  departed,  never  to  return ;  she  was 
left  with  a  weakened  and  limited  contralto  register. 
Alarmed  and  wretched,  she  sought  counsel  of  Mr. 
Caldwell,  the  manager  of  the  chief  New  Orleans  theatre. 
"  You  ought  to  be  an  actress,  and  not  a  singer,"  he  said, 
and  advised  her  to  take  lessons  of  Mr.  Barton,  his 
leading  tragedian.  Her  articles  of  apprenticeship  to 
Maeder  were  cancelled.  Soon  she  was  ready  to  appear 
as  Lady  Macbeth  on  the  occasion  of  Barton's  benefit. 
But  an  unexpected  difficulty  presented  itself.  She  had 
no  costume  for  the  part,  and  she  did  not  disclose  the 
fact  until  after  rehearsal  upon  the  day  before  the 
performance,  dreading  lest  some  other  actress,  better 


i86  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

provided  with  a  wardrobe,  should  be  summoned  to 
appear  in  her  stead.  The  manager  upon  her  behalf 
applied  for  assistance  to  the  tragedienne  of  the  French 
theatre.  "  I  was  a  tall,  thin,  lanky  girl  at  that  time, 
about  five  feet  six  inches  in  height.  The  Frenchwoman, 
Madame  Closel,  was  a  short  fat  person  of  not  more  than 
four  feet  ten  inches,  her  waist  full  twice  the  size  of  mine, 
with  a  very  large  bust ;  but  her  shape  did  not  prevent 
her  being  a  very  great  actress.  The  ludicrousness  ot 
her  clothes  being  made  to  fit  me,  struck  her  at  once. 
She  roared  with  laughter,  but  she  was  very  good-natured, 
saw  my  distress,  and  set  to  work  to  see  how  she  could 
help  it.  By  dint  of  piecing  out  the  skirt  of  one  dress,  it 
was  made  to  answer  for  an  underskirt,  and  then  another 
dress  was  taken  in  in  every  direction  to  do  duty  as  an 
overdress,  and  so  make  up  the  costume.  And  thus 
I  essayed  for  the  first  time  the  part  of  Lady  Macbeth, 
fortunately  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  audience,  the 
manager,  and  all  the  members  of  the  company." 

The  season  ended,  she  sailed  for  Philadelphia  on  her 
way  to  New  York.  Presently  she  had  entered  into 
a  three  years'  engagement  with  Mr.  Hamblin,  the 
manager  of  the  Bowery  Theatre,  at  a  salary  of  twenty- 
five  dollars  a  week  for  the  first  year,  thirty-five  for  the 
second  year,  and  forty-five  for  the  third.  Mr.  Hamblin 
had  received  excellent  accounts  of  the  actress  from  his 
friend  Mr.  Barton  of  New  Orleans,  and  had  heard  her 


CHARLOTTE   CUSHMAN.  187 

rehearse  scenes  from  "  Macbeth,"  "  Jane  Shore," 
"Venice  Preserved,"  "The  Stranger,"  etc.  To  enable 
her  to  obtain  a  suitable  wardrobe,  he  became  security 
for  her  with  his  tradespeople,  deducting  five  dollars 
a  week  from  her  salary  until  the  debt  was  satisfied. 
All  promised  well ;  independence  seemed  secured  at 
last.  Mrs.  Cushman  was  sent  for  from  Boston;  she 
gave  up  her  boarding-house  and  hastened  to  her 
daughter.  Miss  Cushman  writes:  "I  got  a  situation 
for  my  eldest  brother  in  a  store  in  New  York.  I  left 
my  only  sister  in  charge  of  a  half-sister  in  Boston,  and 
I  took  my  youngest  brother  with 'me."  But  rheumatic 
fever  seized  the  actress;  she  was  able  to  act  for  a  few 
nights  only,  and  her  dream  of  good  fortune  came  to 
a  disastrous  close.  "  The  Bowery  Theatre  was  burned 
to  the  ground,  with  all  my  wardrobe,  all  my  debt  upon 
it,  and  my  three  years'  contract  ending  in  smoke." 
Grievously  distressed,  but  not  disheartened,  with  her 
family  dependent  upon  her  exertions,  she  accepted  an 
engagement  at  the  principal  theatre  in  Albany,  where 
she  remained  five  months,  acting  all  the  leading  cha- 
racters. In  September,  1837,  she  entered  into  an  en- 
gagement, which  endured  for  three  years,  with  the 
manager  of  the  Park  Theatre,  New  York.  She  was 
required  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  "walking  lady"  and 
"general  utility,"  at  a  salary  of  twenty  dollars  a  week. 
During  this  period  of  her  career  she  performed  very 


1 88  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

many  characters,  and  toiled  assiduously  at  her  profession. 
It  was  then  the  custom  to  afford  the  public  a  great  variety 
of  performances,  to  change  the  plays  nightly,  and  to 
present  two  and  sometimes  three  plays  upon  the  same 
evening.  The  actors  were  for  ever  busy  studying  new 
parts,  and  when  they  were  not  performing  they  were 
rehearsing.  "  It  was  a  time  of  hard  work,"  writes  Miss 
Stebbins,  "of  ceaseless  activity,  and  of  hard-won  and 
scantily  accorded  appreciation."  Miss  Cushman  had  no 
choice  of  parts,  she  was  not  the  chief  actress  of  the  com- 
pany ;  she  sustained  without  question  all  the  characters 
the  management  assigned  to  her.  Her  appearance  as 
Meg  Merrilies — she  acquired  subsequently  great  favour 
by  her  performance  of  this  character — was  due  to  an 
incident — the  illness  of  Mrs.  Chippendale,  the  actress 
who  usually  supported  the  part.  It  was  in  the  year 
1840;  the  veteran  Braham  was  to  appear  as  Henry 
Bertram.  A  Meg  Merrilies  had  to  be  improvized.  The 
obscure  "  utility  "  actress  was  called  upon  to  take  Mrs. 
Chippendale's  place.  She  might  read  the  part  if  she 
could  not  commit  it  to  memory,  but  'personate  Meg 
Merrilies  after  some  sort  she  must.  She  had  never 
especially  noticed  the  part,  but  as  she  stood  at  the  side 
scene,  book  in  hand,  awaiting  her  moment  of  entrance, 
her  ear  caught  the  dialogue  going  on  upon  the  stage 
between  two  of  the  gipsies,  "  conveying  the  impression 
that  Meg  was  no  longer  to  be  feared  or  respected,  that 


CHARLOTTE   CUSHMAN.  189 

she  was  no  longer  in  her  right  mind."  This  furnished 
her  with  a  clue  to  the  character,  and  led  her  to  present 
it  upon  the  stage  as  the  weird  and  startling  figure  which 
afterwards  became  so  famous.  Of  course  the  first  per- 
formance was  but  a  sketch  of  her  later  portrayals  of  Meg 
Merrilies,  yet  she  had  made  a  profound  impression. 
"  I  had  not  thought  that  I  had  done  anything  remark- 
able," she  wrote,  "  and  when  a  knock  came  at  my  dress- 
ing-room door,  and  I  heard  Braham's  voice,  my  first 
thought  was :  '  Now  what  have  I  done  ?  He  is  surely 
displeased  with  me  about  something.'  Imagine  my 
gratification,  when  Mr.  Braham  said,  '  Miss  Cushman,  I 
have  come  to  thank  you  for  the  most  veritable  sensation 
I  have  experienced  for  a  long  time.  I  give  you  my  word 
when  I  saw  you  in  that  first  scene  I  felt  a  cold  chill  run 
all  over  me.  Where  have  you  learned  to  do  anything 
like  that?'" 

Miss  Cushman's  Meg  M err  Hies  was  not  perhaps  the 
Meg  Merrilies  of  Scott,  but  it  was  an  extraordinary 
instance  of  histrionic  art ;  startling  in  its  weird  power,  its 
picturesqueness  of  aspect,  and  in  a  certain  supernatural 
quality  that  seemed  attendant  upon  it.  There  was  some- 
thing unearthly  in  the  sudden  apparition  of  Meg  upon 
the  scene — she  had  entered  with  a  silent  spring  to  the 
centre  of  the  stage,  and  stood  motionless,  gazing  at 
Harry  Bertram,  one  bare  gaunt  arm  outstretched  to  him, 
the  other  bearing  a  withered  stick  or  bough  of  a  tree. 


HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


The  disguise  was  complete.  The  personality  of  the 
actress  was  not  to  be  detected.  An  artist  inquired  of 
the  actress  :  "  How  do  you  know  where  to  put  in  those 
shadows,  and  make  those  lines  which  so  accurately  give 
the  effect  of  age?"  "  I  don't  know,"  she  answered  ;  "  I 
only  feel  where  they  ought  to  come."  The  process  of  her 
make-up  was  likened  to  "  the  painting  of  a  face  by  an 
old  Dutch  master,  full  of  delicate  and  subtle  manipula- 
tions." Wild  locks  of  grey  hair  streamed  away  from  the 
parchment-hued,  worn,  and  withered  face;  upon  her 
head  she  wore  a  turban  of  twisted  rags,  "arranged  in 
vague  and  shadowy  semblance  to  a  crown  ;  her.  costume, 
seemingly  a  mass  of  incoherent  rags  and  tatters,  but  full 
of  method  and  meaning  —  a  bit  picked  up  here,  another 
there,  from  the  strangest  materials."  How  she  contrived 
to  assume  this  strange  dress  was  known  only  to  herself 
and  Sallie,  her  faithful  servant,  dresser,  and  assistant, 
during  the  whole  course  of  her  theatrical  career.  "  At 
times,"  writes  her  biographer,  "  with  so  much  wear  and 
tear,  some  part  of  the  costume  would  require  renewal. 
The  stockings,  for  example,  would  wear  out,  and  then  no 
end  of  trouble  would  come  in  preparing  another  pair, 
that  the  exact  tint  of  age  and  dirt  should  be  attained." 
This  she  accomplished  by  immersing  them  in  a  peculiar 
dye  of  her  own  concoction.  The  opera  ended  with  a 
dirge,  and  the  actress  was  thus  allowed  time  to  escape 
from  the  stage,  wash  the  paint  from  her  face,  abandon 


CHARLOTTE   CUSHMAN.  191 

her  head-dress  and  grey  locks,  and  appear  before  the 
curtain,  obedient  to  the  call  of  the  house,  in  her  own 
person,  with  a  pleasant,  smiling,  intelligent  face.  She 
had  a  woman's  desire,  perhaps,  that  the  audience  should 
not  depart  deeming  her  quite  so  uncomely  of  look  as  she 
had  pretended  to  be. 

During  her  visits  to  England,  Miss  Cushman  per- 
sonated Meg  Merrilies  more  often  than  any  other 
character.  In  America  she  was  also  famous  for  her 
performance  of  Nancy  in  a  melodrama  founded  upon 
"  Oliver  Twist ; "  but  this  part  she  did  not  bring  with  her 
across  the  Atlantic.  She  had  first  played  Nancy  during 
her  "general  utility"  days  at  the  Park  Theatre,  when 
the  energy  and  pathos  of  her  acting  powerfully  affected 
her  audience,  and  the  tradition  of  her  success  in  the  part 
long  "  lingered  in  the  memory  of  managers,  and  caused 
them  ever  and  anon,  as  their  business  interests  prompted, 
to  bring  great  pressure  to  bear  upon  her  for  a  reproduc- 
tion of  it."  Mr.  George  Vandenhoff  describes  Nancy  as 
Miss  Cushman's  " greatest  part;  fearfully  natural,  dread- 
fully intense,  horribly  real." 

In  the  winter  of  1842  Miss  Cushman  undertook  the 
management  of  the  Walnut  Street  Theatre,  Philadelphia, 
which  was  then  in  rather  a  fallen  state.  Under  her 
energetic  rule,  however,  the  establishment  recovered  its 
popularity.  "She  displayed  at  that  day,"  writes  Mr. 
George  Vandenhoff,  who  "  starred  "  at  the  Walnut  Street 


192  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Theatre  for  six  nights  to  small  audiences,  "  a  rude,  strong, 
uncultivated  talent.  It  was  not  till  after  she  had  seen 
and  acted  with  Mr.  Macready — which  she  did  the  next 
season — that  she  really  brought  artistic  study  and  finish 
to  her  performances."  Macready  arrived  at  New  York 
in  the  autumn  of  1843.  He  notes  :  "  The  Miss  Cush- 
man  who  acted  Lady  Macbeth  interested  me  much. 
She  has  to  learn  her  art,  but  she  showed  mind  and 
sympathy  with  me — a  novelty  so  refreshing  to  me  on  the 
stage."  She  discerned  the  opportunity  for  study  and  im- 
provement presented  by  Macready's  visit,  and  underwent 
the  fatigue  of  acting  on  alternate  nights  in  Philadelphia 
and  New  York  during  the  term  of  his  engagement  at  the 
Park  Theatre.  Her  own  success  was  very  great.  She 
wrote  to  her  mother  of  her  great  reception  ;  of  her  being 
called  out  after  the  play  j  of  the  "hats  and  handkerchiefs 
waved  to  me  ;  flowers  sent  to  me,"  etc.  In  October, 
1844,  she  sailed  for  England  in  the  packet-ship  Ga?rick 
She  had  little  money  with  her.  A  farewell  benefit  taken 
in  Boston,  her  native  city,  had  not  proved  very  pro- 
ductive, and  she  had  been  obliged  "  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  maintenance  of  her  family  during  her 
absence."  And,  with  characteristic  prudence,  she  left 
behind  her  a  certain  sum,  to  be  in  readiness  for  her,  in 
case  failure  in  England  should  drive  her  promptly  back 
to  America. 

No  engagement  in  London  had  been  offered  her,  but 


CHARLOTTE   CUSHMAN.  193 

she  received,  upon  her  arrival,  a  letter  fromMacready, 
proposing  that  she  should  join  a  company  then  being 
formed  to  give  representations  in  Paris.  She  thought  it 
prudent  to  decline  this  proposal,  however,  so  as  to  avoid 
entering  into  anything  like  rivalry  with  Miss  Helen 
Faucit,  the  leading  actress  of  the  troupe.  She  visited 
Paris  for  a  few  days,  but  only  to  sit  with  the  audience 
of  the  best  French  theatres.  She  returned  to  her  dull 
lodgings  in  Covent  Garden,  "awaiting  her  destiny." 
She  was  fond  in  after  years  of  referring  to  the  struggles 
and  poverty,  the  hopes  and  the  despair,  of  her  first 
sojourn  in  London.  Her  means  were  nearly  exhausted. 
Sally,  the  dresser,  used  to  relate  :  "  Miss  Cushman  lived 
on  a  mutton-chop  a  day,  and  I  always  bought  the  baker's 
dozen  of  muffins  for  the  sake  of  the  extra  one,  and  we 
ate  them  all,  no  matter  how  stale  they  were ;  and  we 
never  suffered  from  want  of  appetite  in  those  days." 
She  found  herself  reduced  to  her  last  sovereign,  when 
Mr.  Maddox,  the  manager  of  the  Princess's  Theatre, 
came  to  her  with  a  proposal.  The  watchful  Sally 
reported  that  he  had  been  walking  up  and  down  the 
street  for  some  time  early  in  the  morning,  too  early  for 
a  visit.  "  He  is  anxious,"  said  Miss  Cushman.  "  I  can 
make  my  own  terms."  He  wished  her  to  appear  with 
Forrest,  the  American  tragedian,  then  visiting  the 
London  stage  for  the  second  and  last  time.  She  sti- 
pulated that  she  should  have  her  opportunity  first,  and 
VOL.  n.  o 


194  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

*•'•  alone."      If  successful,  she  was  willing  to  appear  in 
support  of  Forrest.     So  it  was  agreed. 

If  Mr.  VandenhofFs  account  is  to  be  trusted,  Miss 
Cushman  had  previously  addressed  herself  to  Maddox, 
requesting  an  engagement.  This  he  had  declined, 
deeming  her  plainness  of  face  a  fatal  obstacle  to  her 
success  upon  the  stage.  But  after  an  interval,  employ- 
ment becoming  more  than  ever  necessary  to  her,  she 
returned  to  him,  armed  with  letters  from  persons  who 
were  likely  to  have  weight  with  him,  and  renewed  her 
application.  The  manager,  however,  remained  obdurate. 
"Repulsed,  but  not  conquered,  she  rose  to  depart;  but 
as  she  reached  the  door  she  turned  and  exclaimed :  '  I 
know  I  have  enemies  in  this  country;  but' — and  here 
she  cast  herself  on  her  knees,  raising  her  clenched  hand 
aloft — '  so  help  me  Heaven,  I'll  defeat  them  ! '  She 
uttered  this  with  the  energy  of  Lady  Macbeth,  and  the 
prophetic  spirit  of  Meg  Merrilies."  The  manager,  con- 
vinced of  the  force  of  her  manner,  at  any  rate,  at  once 
offered  her  an  engagement.  Her  first  appearance  upon 
the  English  stage  was  made  on  the  i4th  February,  1845  : 
she  assumed  the  character  of  Bianca,  in  Dean  Milman's 
rather  dull  tragedy  of  "  Fazio."  Her  triumph  was 
indisputable.  Her  intensity  and  vehemence  completely 
carried  away  the  house.  As  the  pit  rose  at  Kean's 
Shy  lock,  so  it  rose  at  Charlotte  Cushman's  Bianca.  She 
wrote  to  her  mother  in  America  :  "  All  my  successes  put 


CHARLOTTE   CUSIIMAN.  195 

together,  since  I  have  been  upon  the  stage,  would  not 
come  near  my  success  in  London."  The  critics  described, 
as  the  crowning  effort  of  her  performance,  the  energy 
and  pathos  and  abandonment  of  her  appeal  to  Aldabella, 
when  the  wife  sacrifices  her  pride,  and  sinks,  "huddled 
into  a  heap,"  at  the  feet  of  her  rival,  imploring  her  to 
save  the  life  of  Fazio.  Miss  Cushman,  speaking  of  her 
first  performance  in  London,  was  wont  to  relate  how  she 
was  so  completely  overcome,  not  only  by  the  excitement 
of  the  scene,  but  by  the  nervous  agitation  of  the 
occasion,  that  she  lost  for  the  moment  her  self-command, 
and  was  especially  grateful  for  the  long-continued 
applause  which  gave  her  time  to  recover  herself.  When 
she  slowly  rose  at  last  and  faced  the  house  again,  the 
spectacle  of  its  enthusiasm  thrilled  and  impressed  her  in 
a  manner  she  could  never  forget.  The  audience  were 
standing,  some  had  mounted  on  the  benches  ;  there  was 
wild  waving  of  hats  and  handkerchiefs,  a  storm  of 
cheering,  great  showering  of  bouquets. 

Her  second  character  in  London  was  Lady  Macbeth, 
to  the  Macbeth  of  Edwin  Forrest;  but  the  American 
actor  failed  to  please,  and  the  audience  gave  free 
expression  to  their  discontent.  Greatly  disgusted, 
Forrest  withdrew,  deluding  himself  with  the  belief  that 
he  was  the  victim  of  a  conspiracy.  Miss  Cushman's 
success  knew  no  abatement.  She  played  a  round  of 
parts,  assisted  by  James  Wallack,  Leigh  Murray,  and 


196  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Mrs.  Stirling,  appearing  now  as  Rosalind,  now  as  Juliana 
in  "The  Honeymoon,"  as  Mrs.  Haller,  as  Beatrice,  as 
Julia  in  "  The  Hunchback."  Her  second  season  was 
even  more  successful  than  her  first.  After  a  long 
provincial  tour  she  appeared  in  December,  1845,  as 
Romeo  at  the  Haymarket  Theatre,  then  under  the 
management  of  Mr.  Webster,  her  sister  Susan  assuming 
the  character  of  Juliet.  She  had  sent  for  her  family  to 
share  her  prosperity,  and  had  established  them  in  a 
furnished  house  at  Bayswater.  Miss  Cushman's  Romeo 
was  thus  described  at  the  time  by  the  late  Gilbert  a 
Beckett  in  a  versified  account  of  the  performance  : 

"What  figure  is  that  which  appears  on  the  scene? 
"Pis  Madame  Macready — Miss  Cushman,  I  mean. 
What  a  wondrous  resemblance  !  the  walk  on  the  toes, 
The  eloquent,  short,  intellectual  nose  ; 
The  bend  of  the  knee,  the  slight  sneer  of  the  lip, 
The  frown  on  the  forehead,  the  hand  on  the  hip. 
In  the  chin,  in  the  voice,  'tis  the  same  to  a  tittle, 
Miss  Cushman  is  Mister  Macready  in  little  ; 
The  lady  before  us  might  very  well  pass 
For  the  gentleman  viewed  the  wrong  way  of  the  glass. 
No  fault  with  the  striking  resemblance  we  find, 
'Tis  not  in  the  person  alone,  but  the  mind,"  etc.,  etc. 

This  likeness  to  Macready — a  likeness  which  applied 
not  merely  to  features  and  "  trick  of  face,"  but  also  to 
gait  and  gestures,  tone  of  voice  and  method  of  elocution 
— had  been  from  the  first  observed ;  and  no  doubt 
gained  force  when  the  actress  personated  a  male 


CHARLOTTE   CUSIIMAN. 


197 


character.  Macready  was  plain,  and  was  conscious  of 
his  plainness,  as  a  curious  entry  in  his  diary  for  1839 
testifies.  He  writes :  "  Read  a  very  strange  note  from 
some  woman,  threatening  to  destroy  herself  for  love  of 
me.  The  ugly  never  need  despair  after  this.  Answered 
it  shortly."  Very  shortly,  no  doubt.  Charlotte  Cushman 
owned  Macready's  depression  of  nose,  breadth  and 
prominence  of  brow,  and  protrusion  of  chin.  Hers  was 
certainly  a  plain  face ;  although  her  eyes — blue,  or  dark 
grey,  in  colour — were  large  and  luminous ;  her  hair  was 
abundant,  and  of  a  fine  chestnut  hue ;  her  complexion 
was  clear,  and  her  expression  strikingly  intelligent, 
mobile,  and  intense.  She  was  tall  of  stature,  angular  of 
form,  and  somewhat  masculine  in  the  boldness  and 
freedom  of  her  movements.  Her  success  as  Romeo  was 
very  great.  The  tragedy  was  played  for  eighty  nights. 
Her  performance  won  applause  even  from  those  most 
opposed  to  the  representation  of  Shakespeare's  hero  by  a 
woman.  For  a  time  her  intense  earnestness  of  speech 
and  manner,  the  passion  of  her  interviews  with  Juliet 
the  fury  of  her  combat  with  Tybalt,  the  despair  of  her 
closing  scenes,  bore  down  all  opposition,  silenced 
criticism,  and  excited  her  audience  to  an  extraordinary 
degree.  She  appeared  afterwards — but  not  in  London — 
as  Hamlet,  following  an  unfortunate  example  set  by  Mrs. 
Siddons ;  and  as  Ion  in  Talfourd's  tragedy  of  that  name. 
'In  America,  towards  the  close  of  her  career,  she 


HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


even  ventured  to  appear  as  Cardinal  Wolsey — obtaining 
great  applause  by  her  exertions  in  the  character,  and  the 
skill  and  force  of  her  impersonation.  But  histrionic 
feats  of  this  kind  trespass  against  good  taste,  do  violence 
to  the  intentions  of  the  dramatist,  and  are,  in  truth,  de- 
partures from  the  purpose  of  playing.  Miss  Cushman 
had  for  excuse — in  the  first  instance,  at  any  rate — her 
anxiety  to  forward  the  professional  interests  of  her  sister  ; 
who,  in  truth,  had  little  qualification  for  the  stage  apart 
from  her  good  looks  and  her  graces  of  manner.  The 
sisters  had  played  together  in  Philadelphia  in  "The 
Genoese" — a  drama  written  by  a  young  American — 
when,  to  give  support  and  encouragement  to  Susan  in 
her  personation  of  the  heroine,  Charlotte  undertook  the 
part  of  her  lover.  Their  success  prompted  them  to 
appear  in  "  Romeo  and  Juliet."  Other  plays,  in  which 
both  could  appear,  were  afterwards  selected — such,  for 
instance,  as  "  Twelfth  Night,"  in  which  Charlotte  played 
Viola  to  the  Olivia  of  Susan — so  that  the  engagement  of 
one  might  compel  the  engagement  of  the  other.  Susan, 
however,  quitted  the  stage  in  1847,  to  become  the  wife 
of  Dr.  Sheridan  Muspratt,  of  Liverpool. 

Charlotte  Cushman  called  few  new  plays  into  being. 
Dramas,  entitled  "Infatuation,"  by  James  Kenny,  1845, 
and  "Duchess  Elinour,"  by  the  late  H.  F.  Chorley, 
1854,  were  produced  for  her,  but  were  summarily  con- 
demned by  the  audience,  being  scarcely  permitted 


CHARLOTTE   C US II MAN.  199 

indeed  a  second  performance  in  either  case.  Otherwise, 
she  did  not  add  to  her  repertory.  For  many  years  she 
led  the  life  of  a  "star,"  fulfilling  brief  engagements 
here  and  there,  appearing  now  for  a  term  in  London, 
and  now  travelling  through  the  provinces,  playing  some 
half  a  dozen  characters  over  and  over  again.  Of  these 
Lady  Macbeth,  Queen  Katherine,  and  Meg  Merrilies  were 
perhaps  the  most  frequently  demanded.  Her  fame  and 
fortune  she  always  dated  from  the  immediate  recognition 
she  obtained  upon  her  first  performance  in  London. 
But  she  made  frequent  visits  to  America ;  indeed,  she 
crossed  the  Atlantic  "upwards  of  sixteen  times,"  says 
her  biographer.  In  1854  she  took  a  house  in  Bolton 
Row,  May  fair,  "  where  for  some  years  she  dispensed  the 
most  charming  and  genial  hospitality,"  and,  notably, 
entertained  Ristori  on  her  first  visit  to  England  in  1856. 
Several  winters  she  passed  in  Rome,  occupying  apart- 
ments in  the  Via  Gregoriana,  where  she  cordially  received 
a  host  of  friends  and  visitors  of  all  nations.  In  1859 
she  was  called  to  England  by  her  sister's  fatal  illness ; 
in  1866  she  was  again  summoned  to  England  to  attend 
the  death-bed  of  her  mother.  In  1860  she  was  playing 
in  all  the  chief  cities  of  America.  Three  years  later  she 
again  visited  America,  her  chief  object  being  to  act  for 
the  benefit  of  the  sanitary  commission,  and  aid  the  sick 
and  wounded  victims  of  the  civil  war.  During  the  late 
years  of  her  life  she  appeared  before  the  public  more 


200  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

as  a  dramatic  reader  than  as  an  actress.  There  were 
long  intervals  between  her  theatrical  engagements ;  she 
seemed  to  quit  her  profession  only  to  return  to  it  after 
an  interval  with  renewed  appetite,  and  she  incurred 
reproaches  because  of  the  frequency  of  her  farewells, 
and  the  doubt  that  prevailed  as  to  whether  her  "  last 
appearances  "  were  really  to  be  the  "  very  last."  Yet  it 
is  curious  to  note  that  at  a  very  early  period  in  her 
career  she  contemplated  its  termination;  in  the  first 
instance  because  of  the  disappointments  she  had  in- 
curred, and  afterwards  by  reason  of  her  great  good 
fortune.  "You  talk  of  quitting  the  profession  in  a  year," 
her  firm  friend  Colley  Grattan,  consul  and  novelist, 
writes  to  her  in  1842 ;  "  I  expect  to  see  you  stand  very 
high  indeed  in  it  by  that  time.  You  must  neither  write 
nor  think  nor  speak  in  the  mood  that  beset  you  three 
days  ago."  And  immediately  after  her  first  appearance 
in  London,  in  1845,  she  wrote  to  her  mother:  "I  have 
given  myself  five  years  more,  and  I  think  at  the  end 
of  that  time  I  will  have  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  retire 
upon.  That  will,  if  well  invested,  give  us  a  comfortable 
home  for  the  rest  of  our  lives,  and  a  quiet  corner  in 
some  respectable  graveyard."  It  was  not  until  1874, 
however,  that  she  took  final  leave  of  the  New  York 
stage,  amid  extraordinary  enthusiasm,  with  many  poetic 
and  other  ceremonies.  She  was  the  subject  of  addresses 
in  prose  and  verse.  Mr.  Bryant,  after  an  eloquent  speech, 


CHARLOTTE  CUSHMAN.  201 

tendered  her  a  laurel  wreath  bound  with  white  ribbon 
resting  upon  a  purple  velvet  cushion,  with  a  suitable 
inscription  embroidered  in  golden  letters;  a  torch- 
bearers'  procession  escorted  her  from  the  theatre  to  her 
hotel ;  she  was  serenaded  at  midnight,  and  in  her 
honour  Fifth  Avenue  blazed  with  fireworks.  After  this 
came  farewells  to  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  other  cities, 
and  to  these  succeeded  readings  all  over  the  country. 
It  is  to  be  said,  however,  that  incessant  work  had 
become  a  necessity  with  her ;  not  because  of  its  pecu- 
niary results,  but  as  a  means  of  obtaining  mental  relief,  or 
comparative  forgetfulness  for  a  season.  During  the  last 
five  or  six  years  of  her  life  she  was  afflicted  with  an 
incurable  and  agonizing  malady.  Vainly  she  sought  aid 
from  medicine,  from  the  German  baths,  from  surgical 
operations  under  the  advice  of  Sir  James  Simpson  and 
Sir  James  Paget.  She  possessed  originally  a  powerful 
constitution,  with  most  indomitable  courage ;  she  knew 
that  she  had  returned  to  her  native  land  to  die  there. 
But  she  resolved  to  contest  inch  by  inch  the  advance  of 
death,  and  to  make  what  remained  to  her  of  life  as 
useful  and  valuable  as  might  be,  both  to  herself  and  to 
others.  Under  most  painful  conditions  she  toiled  un- 
ceasingly, moving  rapidly  from  place  to  place,  and 
passing  days  and  nights  in  railway  journeys.  In  a  letter 
to  a  friend,  she  writes  :  "  I  do  get  so  dreadfully  depressed 
about  myself,  and  all  things  seem  so  hopeless  to  me  at 


202  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

those  times,  that  I  pray  God  to  take  me  quickly  at  any 
moment,  so  that  I  may  not  torture  those  I  love  by 
letting  them  see  my  pain.  But  when  the  dark  hour 
passes,  and  I  try  to  forget  by  constant  occupation  that 
I  have  such  a  load  near  my  heart,  then  it  is  not  so  bad." 
She  died  almost  painlessly  at  last  on  the  i8th  February, 
1876.  Even  so  late  as  the  3rd  February  she  had  been 
speaking  of  the  possibility  of  her  journeying  to  California 
to  give  a  long-promised  series  of  readings  there.  She 
was  buried  at  Mount  Auburn — she  had  expressed  her 
wishes  in  this  respect,  and  had  even  selected  her  pall- 
bearers, and  ordered  all  the  details  of  her  funeral — 
within  sight  of  her  "  dear  Boston,"  as  she  called  it, 
while  admitting  that  in  her  native  city  "they  never 
believed  in  me  so  much  as  they  did  elsewhere,"  and 
bestowed  but  niggard  patronage  upon  her  early  benefits. 
Boston,  however,  duly  honoured  the  later  years,  and 
cherishes  the  memory  of  the  actress.  The  house  in  which 
she  was  born  is  now  a  public  building  devoted  to  educa- 
tional purposes,  and  bears  the  name  of  "  The  Cushman 
School." 

Charlotte  Cushman  may  assuredly  be  accounted  an 
actress  of  genius  in  right  of  her  originality,  her  vivid 
power  of  depicting  emotion,  the  vehemence  and  intensity 
of  her  histrionic  manner.  Her  best  successes  were  ob- 
tained in  tragedy,  although  she  possessed  a  keen  sense 
of  humour,  and  could  deliver  the  witty  speeches  of 


CHARLOTTE   CUSIIMAN.  203 

Rosalind  or  of  Beatrice  with  excellent  point  and  effect. 
Her  Meg  Merrilics  will  probably  be  remembered  as  her 
most  impressive  achievement.  It  was  really,  as  she 
played  it,  a  character  of  her  own  invention ;  but,  in 
truth,  it  taxed  her  intellectual  resources  far  less  than 
her  Bianea,  her  Queen  Katherine,  or  her  Lady  Macbeth. 
Her  physical  peculiarities  no  doubt  limited  the  range  of 
her  efforts,  hindered  her  advance  as  an  actress,  or  urged 
her  towards  exceptional  impersonations.  Her  perform- 
ances lacked  femineity,  to  use  Coleridge's  word ;  but  in 
power  to  stir  an  audience,  to  touch  their  sympathies,  to 
kindle  their  enthusiasm,  and  compel  their  applause,  she 
takes  rank  among  the  finest  players.  It  only  remains  to 
add  that  Miss  Stebbins's  fervid  and  affecting  biography 
of  her  friend  admirably  demonstrates  that  the  woman 
was  not  less  estimable  than  the  actress ;  that  Charlotte 
Cushman  was  of  noble  character,  intellectual,  large  and 
tender-hearted,  of  exemplary  conduct  in  every  respect. 
The  simple,  direct  earnestness  of  her  manner  upon  the 
mimic  scene,  characterized  her  proceedings  in  real  life. 
She  was  at  once  the  slave  and  the  benefactress  of  her 
family ;  she  was  devotedly  fond  of  children ;  she  was 
of  liberal  and  generous  nature ;  she  was  happiest  when 
conferring  kindnesses  upon  others ;  her  career  abounded 
in  self-sacrifice.  She  pretended  to  few  accomplishments, 
to  little  cultivation  of  a  literary  sort;  but  she  could 
write,  as  Miss  Stebbins  proves,  excellent  letters,  now 


204  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

grave,  now  gay,  now  reflective,  now  descriptive,  always 
interesting,  and  altogether  remarkable  for  sound  sense, 
and  for  force  and  skill  of  expression.  Her  death  was 
regarded  in  America  almost  as  a  national  catastrophe. 
As  Miss  Stebbins  writes,  "  the  press  of  the  entire  country 
bore  witness  to  her  greatness,  and  laid  their  tributes 
upon  her  tomb." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

RACHEL    FELIX. 

FOR  some  years  there  figured  as  lessee  and  manager  of 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre  in  the  Haymarket,  one  M. 
Laporte,  a  French  actor  of  a  certain  distinction,  whose 
knowledge  of  the  English  tongue  had  even  enabled  him 
to  appear  with  credit  upon  the  London  stage.  At 
Drury  Lane,  in  1826,  he  had  impersonated  Sosia  in 
"Amphitryon,"  Wormwood  in  "The  Lottery  Ticket," 
La  Nippe  in  "The  Lord  of  the  Manor,"  Blaisot  in 
"The  Maid  and  the  Magpie,"  and  some  other 
characters.  M.  Laporte  underwent  in  full  the  cus- 
tomary trials  and  experiences  of  an  operatic  director 
in  England.  A  cloud  of  Chancery  suits  lowered  upon 
his  house ;  he  became  greatly  embarrassed ;  he  was 
arrested  for  debt,  and  incarcerated  in  the  Fleet — to 
encounter  there  by  chance  as  his  fellow-prisoner  Mr. 
Chambers,  an  earlier  manager  of  the  theatre.  He  filed 
his  petition,  was  relieved  of  his  liabilities,  and  duly 
passed  through  the  Court  of  Bankruptcy.  At  liberty 


/ 


206  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

again,  he  returned  to  the  cares  of  management,  which 
during  his  term  of  duress  had  been  undertaken  by  his 
father.  But  the  old  unfortunate  times  came  back  again, 
or  a  new  sea  of  troubles  seemed  to  rise  and  rage  about 
him.  His  expenses  were  enormous,  yet  his  receipts 
steadily  declined ;  he  quarrelled  desperately  with  his 
singers,  whose  demands  grew  more  and  more  exacting ; 
he  raised  his  prices,  he  shortened  his  seasons ;  his 
patrons  and  subscribers  were  loud  in  their  expressions 
of  discontent.  The  year  1841  was  the  last  of  M. 
Laporte's  management  of  the  opera;  it  was,  indeed, 
the  last  of  his  life.  In  the  autumn,  at  his  house  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine,  near  Corbeil,  he  expired  suddenly 
of  disease  of  the  heart,  leaving  his  executor,  solicitor, 
and  agent,  Mr.  Benjamin  Lumley,  to  succeed  him  as 
impresario.  The  year  1841  was  the  year,  too,  of  the 
famous  "Tamburini  Row,"  of  the  first  performance 
on  the  stage  of  Her  Majesty's  Theatre  of  French  plays 
alternately  with  Italian  operas,  and  of  M.  Laporte's 
resumption  of  his  old  profession,  and  reappearance  in 
characters  he  had  been  wont  long  since  to  sustain  in 
"  Les  Precieuses  Ridicules  "  and  "  Le  Depit  Amoureux." 
Moreover,  1841  was  the  year  of  the  first  introduction  to 
the  English  public  of  the  greatest  of  French  actresses — 
Mademoiselle  Rachel  Felix. 

Laporte  had  with  little  difficulty  secured  the  services 
of  the   lady  in  England  for  the  term  of  one   month. 


RACHEL  FELIX.  207 


There  had  been  subsidence  for  a  while  of  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  her  performances  during  some  three  years 
had  been  received  in  Paris.  Absence,  it  was  thought, 
would  make  the  hearts  of  her  critics  and  the  public 
grow  fonder.  No  pains  were  spared  to  accord  the 
actress  a  fervent  welcome  in  London.  Laporte  had 
introduced  certain  foreign  arts  of  management ;  he 
lavished  attentions  upon  the  press  with  a  view  to  the 
conciliation  of  critical  opinion,  and  he  laboured  hard 
to  force  the  public  judgment  by  means  of  fabricated 
applause.  A  chronicler  of  the  operatic  proceedings  of 
forty  years  back  writes  :  "  Men  and  women,  as  noto- 
riously hired  for  such  mystification  as  the  howlers  at  an 
Irish  funeral,  began  to  be  seen  in  known  places  every 
night,  obtruding  their  stationary  raptures,  which  were 
paid  for,  at  the  serviceable  times  and  places.  The 
extent  to  which  this  nuisance  grew  was  one,  among 
other  causes,  of  the  decay  of  the  old  Italian  opera,"  etc. 
It  was  decided  that  Rachel  should  make  her  first 
appearance  in  England  on  May  14,  as  Hermione  in  the 
"Andromaque"  of  Racine.  To  support  her  per- 
formance, certain  players  of  very  inferior  quality  had 
been  gathered  from  the  minor  stages  of  France.  At 
that  period  our  playgoing  public  boasted  little  acquaint- 
ance with  the  French  classical  drama.  It  was  not 
generally  known  in  Her  Majesty's  Theatre  that,  while 
Andromaque  appeared  in  the  first  act  of  the  tragedy, 


208  HOURS    WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

the  entrance  of  Hermione  was  deferred  to  the  second 
act.  So  the  audience  rose  with  one  accord,  in  their 
anxiety  to  greet  Mademoiselle  Rachel  in  Hermione,  and 
wasted  a  whirlwind  of  mistaken  applause  upon  the 
subordinate  actress  who  represented  Andromaque.  Poor 
Mademoiselle  Larcher  was  said  to  be  completely  over- 
come by  the  ardour  and  uproar  of  her  welcome :  she 
was  quite  unaccustomed  to  such  turbulent  expressions 
of  public  regard.  And,  as  a  result  of  this  misdirection 
-of  enthusiasm,  Rachel  was  allowed  to  steal  almost 
unnoticed  upon  the  scene :  but  the  faintest  plaudits 
attended  the  entrance  of  Hermione.  Of  course  the 
error  was  rectified  as  soon  as  possible.  The  genius 
of  the  actress  soon  made  itself  felt,  forced  its  way  to 
the  hearts  of  the  audience.  Her  eventual  success  was 
indeed  supreme.  "  The  new  idol,"  writes  a  biographer, 
"  was  hailed  with  fanatical  admiration."  On  each  night 
of  her  performance  the  theatre  was  crowded  to  excess. 
Fashion  flew  into  the  wildest  raptures  on  her  account : 
Rachel  became  the  rage.  Society,  asking  no  questions 
or  listening  to  no  answers,  threw  wide  open  its  arms 
and  the  doors  of  its  drawing-rooms.  The  actress  was 
received  everywhere.  She  was  invariably  accompanied 
by  her  father  and  her  elder  sister,  Sarah.  "Her 
unaffected  and  even  dignified  simplicity,"  we  are  told, 
"  her  modesty,  and  the  perfect  decorum  of  her  conduct, 
made  her  a  great  favourite  with  the  fastidious  English 


RACHEL  FELIX.  209 


aristocracy."  The  aunts  of  the  Queen  "condescended 
to  notice  her ; "  she  was  invited  to  perform  at  Windsor 
Castle;  was  presented  by  the  Duchess  of  Kent  to  her 
Majesty,  and  received  most  graciously.  She  appeared 
in  the  first  act  of  "Bajazet,"  the  third  act  of  "  Marie 
Stuart,"  and  the  fourth  act  of  "  Andromaque."  When 
she  seemed  to  suffer  from  cold,  the  Duchess  of  Kent 
removed  her  own  magnificent  yellow  Indian  shawl  and 
wrapped  it  round  the  actress.  The  Queen  presented 
her  with  a  costly  bracelet,  composed  of  entwined 
diamond-headed  serpents,  and  bearing  the  inscription, 
"  Victoria  to  Mademoiselle  Rachel."  Her  ever}7  move- 
ment was  chronicled  by  the  press.  A  slight  illness 
afflicted  her,  and  frequent  bulletins  were  issued,  in- 
forming the  public  concerning  her  state  of  health. 
Reappearing  upon  the  stage,  the  Queen  and  the  Queen 
Dowager  being  present,  she  was  greeted  and  con- 
gratulated as  though  she  had  escaped  from  the  tomb. 
She  took  leave  of  her  London  admirers  on  July  20, 
when  she  appeared  as  Camitte  in  the  "  Horace "  of 
Corneille.  "  Every  formula  of  praise  was  exhausted 
by  the  press  upon  this  occasion."  According  to  one 
report,  "her  triumph  had  even  extended  to  the  heart 
of  the  manager,  who  was  said  to  have  offered  her  his 
hand  !  "  This  was  probably  but  one  of  the  many  forms 
of  puffing  which  the  wily  Laporte  was  wont  to  employ. 
Rachel  reappeared  in  London  during  the  following 

VOL.   II.  P 


210  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

Season,  engaged  by  Mr.  Lumley,  the  new  director  of 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre.  She  brought  with  her  a  more 
efficient  company  of  performers,  including  the  accom- 
plished Mademoiselle  Rabut,  afterwards  known  as 
Madame  Fechter.  Her  success  was  still  brilliant,  if 
she  found  rival  candidates  for  the  favour  of  London 
in  the  famous  comedians  Bouffe  and  Dejazet.  More- 
over, Mr.  Lumley  is  careful  to  record  that  she  now 
owed  her  triumph  rather  to  the  good  will  of  the 
general  public  than  to  the  favour  of  the  high  and 
exclusive.  He  adds  that  his  own  relations  with  the 
actress  were  always  of  the  pleasantest,  and  that  the 
spirit  of  exaction  and  rapacity  she  was  so  often  charged 
with  was  never  obtruded  upon  her  English  manager. 
Between  1846  and  1853  Rachel  fulfilled  five  successive 
engagements  with  Mr.  Mitchell  at  the  St.  James's 
Theatre,  and  appeared  in  all  the  more  important 
characters  of  her  repertory.  It  could  not  be  concealed, 
however,  that  society  was  less  moved  towards  her  than 
in  1841.  The  drawing-rooms  were  no  longer  open  to 
her.  She  was  not  again  the  guest  of  the  sovereign  ; 
the  royal  duchesses  held  aloof.  It  is  fair  to  say  that 
in  this  matter  London  was  but  following  the  example 
of  Paris.  In  the  first  instance,  the  most  aristocratic 
salons  had  welcomed  her  entrance,  the  stateliest  ladies 
of  the  Faubourg  had  sought  her  out  to  caress  and  adore 
her,  the  most  distinguished  personages  in  France  had 


RACHEL  FELIX.  211 

paid  her  exceeding  Homage,  not  less  in  private  than 
in  public.  It  was  not  only  that  she  was  the  leading 
representative  of  an  intellectual  art :  she  was  an 
upholder  of  the  classic  drama  in  its  contest  with  the 
romantic;  she  had  restored  Racine  and  Corneille, 
after  long  years  of  neglect  and  exile,  to  their  legitimate 
home  on  the  boards  of  the  Frangais.  Moreover,  she 
was  charming  in  her  own  right,  because  of  her  graces 
of  aspect,  her  charming  repose  and  reserve  of  manner, 
the  readiness  of  her  wit,  the  sweetness  of  her  smile,  her 
desire  and  her  absolute  power  to  please.  Never,  it  was 
said,  did  a  new  stage  queen  present  herself  in  private 
life  with  such  instinctive  tact  as  she.  Her  friend 
Dr.  -Veron  writes  of  her  :  "  Son  esprit  vif  et  brillant, 
ses  reparties  promptes,  plaisantes,  jamais  blessantes, 
se  gardent  bien  cependant  de  se  trop  montrer  et  de 
prendre  trop  de  place;  jamais  je  ne  vis  tant  d'art 
cache  sous  une  simplicite  si  naive,  sous  une  reserve 
de  si  bon  gout."  But  the  actress  was  playing  a  part 
which  she  soon  found  to  be  wearisome  and  oppressive, 
and  which  she  at  length  completely  abandoned.  The 
honours  of  high  and  learned  society,  however  flattering, 
were  found  tiresome  enough  after  a  year  or  so.  She 
ceased  to  prize  the  social  position  to  which  she  had 
been  advanced.  She  could  not  be  for  ever  acting — 
leading  one  kind  of  private  life  to  please  the  salons, 
and  another  to  please  herself.  It  was  sufficient  if  she 


212  HOURS    WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

played  her  part  well  upon  the  stage.  Gradually  the 
miseries  of  her  early  life  became  publicly  known,  and 
then  there  oozed  out  scandals  touching  her  career  and 
her  character  away  from  the  theatre  and  the  drawing- 
rooms.  "  Her  grand  reserved  manner,  snatched  up  as 
a  dress,"  writes  one  of  her  critics,  "could  be  flung 
down  by  her  as  such  at  any  moment."  And  the  same 
authority  adds,  "  She  grew  up  to  be  a  grasping,  sensual, 
selfish  woman."  To  one  thing  only  was  she  true — not 
her  art,  for  of  that  she  was  willing  to  make  sacrifice  upon 
occasion,  and  for  due  consideration.  But  her  family  she 
served  with  a  curious  constancy ;  her  good  fortune  was 
ever  shared  with  them  ;  they  clung  together — father  and 
mother,  sisters  and  brother — with  strong  animal  affection, 
uniting  always  in  their  efforts  to  spoil  the  Egyptians  and 
to  make  money  by  whatever  means,  but  faithful  and 
tender  to  each  other  in  sickness,  in  sorrow,  and  in  death. 
When  Rachel  grasped,  as  grasp  she  did,  it  was  that  the 
Felix  family  might  profit  equally  with  herself. 

A  correspondence  exists  between  the  careers  of 
Rachel  and  of  Edmund  Kean,  while  their  methods 
of  acting  present  many  curious  points  of  resem- 
blance. Both  were  born  in  obscurity,  of  humble  origin, 
and  passed  through  a  childhood  of  suffering,  a  severe 
novitiate,  before  arriving  at  good  fortune.  The  actress, 
however,  triumphed  at  seventeen ;  Edmund  Kean  was 
twenty-seven  when  the  memorable  night  came  for  his 


RACHEL  FELIX.  213 

success   as  Shylock  at  Drury   Lane.     There   was   even 
likeness,  or  trace  of  likeness,  in  minor  respects,  such  as 
the  oriental  character  of  face,  slightness  of  form,  dark 
brilliancy  of  eye,  natural  grace  of  gesture,  and  hoarseness 
of  voice.     Against  each  alike  the  doors  of  comedy  were 
securely  closed ;  they  could  find  parts  to  play  only  in 
the  more  ruthless  and  passionate  of  tragedies.     As  Mr. 
G.    H.    Lewes    has   written :    "  Those  who   never   saw 
Edmund  Kean  may  form  a  very  good  conception  of  him 
if  they  have  seen  Rachel.     She  was  very  much  as  a 
woman  what  he  was  as  a  man.     If  he  was  a  lion,  she 
was   a  panther.  .  .  .  With   a  panther's  terrible  beauty 
and  undulating  grace  she  moved  and  stood,  glared  and 
sprang.  .  .  .  Her  range,  like  Kean's,  was  very  limited, 
but  her  expression  was  perfect  within  that  range.     Scorn, 
triumph,  rage,  lust,   and  merciless  malignity  she  could 
represent  in  symbols  of  irresistible  power ;   but  she  had 
little   tenderness,    no   womanly,    caressing   softness,   no 
gaiety,   no   heartiness.      She  was    so   graceful  and   so 
powerful  that  her  air  of  dignity  was  incomparable ;  but 
somehow  you  always  felt  in  her  presence  an  indefinite 
suggestion   of  latent   wickedness."     Few  new  parts  of 
lasting  worth  were  given  to  the  stage  by  either  Rachel 
or  Kean.     To  neither  was  a  prolonged  histrionic  career 
permitted :  Kean   died   at  forty-six ;   Rachel   at   thirty- 
seven.      Success  brought  to  both  maddening  and  dis- 
astrous influences ;  both  sought  diversion  in  irregularity, 


214  HOURS   WITH  7'HE  PLAYERS. 

disdained  the  restrictions  of  refined  society,  and  offended 
the  public  by  the  frequent  scandals  and  frailties  of  their 
lives  in  private — it  being  understood,  of  course,  that 
Kean  is  not  to  be  charged  with  Rachel's  avarice  and 
rapacity,  nor  Rachel  with  Kean's  vices  of  intemperance. 
Their  sins  were  alike  only  in  that  they  were  sins.  "  Que 
j'ai  besoin  de  m'encanailler  ! "  Rachel  would  exclaim  as 
she  quitted  the  salons.  In  a  like  spirit  Kean  hurried 
from  Lord  Byron's  dinner-table  to  take  the  chair  at  a 
pugilistic  supper ;  courted  rather  than  fell  into  evil  com- 
pany, accepted  tribute  indeed  most  willingly  of  the 
noble  and  intellectual,  who  heaped  rich  gifts  upon  him, 
the  while  he  scorned  or  feared  their  society. 

Those  who  would  find  excuse  for  Rachel's  trespasses 
must  look  to  the  corroding  misery  of  her  early  vagabond 
life — misery  of  which  it  has  been  said  that,  while  it 
pinched  and  withered  her  frame,  it  may  well  likewise 
have  starved,  contracted,  and  deadened  the  heart  within 
it.  Almost  she  was  trained  to  become  what  she  became. 
Conscious  to  her  finger-tips  of  her  own  genius,  and  yet  to 
feel  the  urgent  want  of  food  and  fuel  and  sufficiency  of 
clothing !  As  a  child  she  had  been  starved  alike  in 
body  and  mind — squalor  and  penury  had  schooled  her 
into  enmity  and  mutiny  against  society  and  its  prescrip- 
tions. She  was,  as  some  beautiful  creature  of  prey,  only 
treacherously  tame,  prompt  to  return  to  the  old  wild 
ways,  to  hunt  and  combat  for  the  means  of  livelihood,  to 


RACHEL  FELIX.  215 


turn  fiercely  against  and  to  rend  those  who  but  seemed 
to  block  the  pathway,  and  to  regard  all  around  as 
natural  foes  and  proper  victims.  The  opportunity  she 
yearned  for  was  so  long  denied  her,  seemed  at  times  so 
completely  past  kher  praying  for,  no  wonder  she  was 
sickened  and  soured  by  disappointment  and  deferred 
hope.  When  success  really  came,  it  found  her  unpre- 
pared to  bear  it  becomingly ;  her  nature  was  perverted, 
her  heart  was  warped  and  cramped ;  it  was  as  though 
some  cruel  poison  already  pervaded  her  system,  or  some 
rank  corruption,  mining  all  within,  infected  her  unseen. 

The  Parisians  adored  her  for  a  while.  She  was  irre- 
sistible ;  they  could  not  but  flock  to  her,  crowding  the 
theatre  every  night  she  played,  and  overwhelming  her 
with  applause.  She  made  them  her  slaves,  not  her 
friends.  They  revenged  upon  her  their  servitude  by 
reviling  her.  She  was  not  an  amiable  woman :  she  did 
not  conciliate.  She  knew  her  value,  and  at  last  she  was 
able  to  make  others  know  it :  she  exacted  it,  indeed,  to 
the  last  farthing.  She  was  unsympathetic,  hard,  cynical, 
avaricious,  sordid,  unscrupulous.  An  actress  of  unsur- 
passed genius,  she  soared  high  indeed  j  a  woman,  she 
grovelled  very  low.  It  is  the  Paris  manner,  perhaps,  to 
shatter  the  old  idols,  the  better  to  pave  the  roadways 
leading  to  newer  objects  of  worship.  Rachel  was 
savagely  satirized,  libelled,  and  lampooned.  The  grave 
had  scarcely  closed  over  her  when  scandalous  chronicles 


216  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

of  her  life,  reprints  of  her  least  eligible  letters,  all  kinds  or 
damaging  reports,  were  issuing  from  the  press,  and  efforts 
were  made  on  every  side  to  assail  her  memory  and  tear 
her  fame  to  tatters.  Yet  she  was  probably  the  greatest 
actress  France  has  ever  known. 

It  is  told  that  Rachel  Felix  was  born  on  March  24, 
1821,  at  Munf,  near  the  town  of  Aarau,  in  the  canton  of 
Aargau ;  the  burgomaster  of  the  district  simply  noting  in 
his  books  that  upon  the  day  stated,  at  the  little  village 
inn,  the  wife  of  a  poor  pedlar  had  given  birth  to  a  female 
child.  The  entry  included  no  mention  of  family  name 
or  religion,  and  otherwise  the  event  was  not  registered 
in  any  civil  or  religious  record.  The  father  and  mother 
were  Abraham  Felix,  a  Jew  born  in  Metz,  but  of  German 
origin,  and  Esther  Haya,  his  wife.  They  had  wandered 
about  the  Continent  during  many  years,  seeking  a  living 
and  scarcely  finding  it.  Several  children  were  born  to 
them  by  the  wayside,  as  it  were,  on  their  journeyings 
hither  and  thither;  Sarah  in  Germany,  Rebecca  in  Lyons, 
Dinah  in  Paris,  Rachel  in  Switzerland;  and  there  were 
other  infants  who  did  not  long  survive  their  birth,  suc- 
cumbing to  the  austerities  of  the  state  of  life  to  which 
they  had  been  called.  For  a  time,  perhaps  because  of 
their  numerous  progeny,  M.  and  Madame  Felix  settled 
in  Lyons.  Madame  Felix  opened  a  small  shop  and 
dealt  in  second-hand  clothes;  M.  Felix  gave  lessons  in 
German  to  the  very  few  pupils  he  could  obtain.  About 


RACHEL  FELIX.  217 


1830  the  family  moved  to  Paris.  They  were  still  miser- 
ably poor.  The  children  Sarah  and  Rachel,  usually 
carrying  a  smaller  child  in  their'arms  or  wheeling  it  with 
them  in  a  wooden  cart,  were  sent  into  the  streets  to  earn 
money  by  singing  at  the  doors  of  cafes  and  estaminets. 
A  musical  amateur,  one  M.  Morin,  noticed  the  girls, 
questioned  them,  interested  himself  about  them,  and 
finally  obtained  their  admission  into  the  Government 
School  of  Sacred  Music  in  the  Rue  Vaugirard.  Rachel's 
voice  did  not  promise  much,  however ;  as  she  confessed 
she  could  not  sing,  she  could  only  recite.  She  had 
received  but  the  scantiest  and  meanest  education;  she 
read  with  difficulty ;  she  was  teaching  herself  writing  by 
copying  the  manuscript  of  others.  Presently  she  was 
studying  elocution  under  M.  St.  Aulaire,  an  old  actor 
retired  from  the  Frangais,  who  took  pains  with  the  child, 
instructing  her  gratuitously  and  calling  her  "ma  petite 
diablesse."  The  performances  of  M.  St.  Aulaire's  pupil 
\vere  occasionally  witnessed  by  the  established  players, 
among  them  Monval  of  the  Gymnase  and  Samson  of  the 
Comedie.  Monval  approved  and  encouraged  the  young 
actress,  and  upon  the  recommendation  of  Samson  she 
entered  the  classes  of  the  Conservatoire,  over  which  he 
presided,  with  Michelot  and  Provost  as  his  co-professors. 
At  the  Conservatoire  Rachel  made  little  progress. 
All  her  efforts  failed  to  win  the  good  opinion  of  her 
preceptors.  In  despair,  she  resolved  to  abandon  alto- 


2iS  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

gather  the  institution,  its  classes  and  performances.  She 
felt  herself  neglected,  aggrieved,  insulted.  "  Tartuffe " 
had  been  announced  for  representation  by  the  pupils ;, 
she  had  been  assigned  the  mute  part  of  Flipote  the 
serving-maid,  who  simply  appears  upon  the  scene  in  the 
first  act  that  her  ears  may  be  soundly  boxed  by  Madame 
Pernellc !  To  this  humiliation  she  would  not  submit. 
She  hurried  to  her  old  friend  St.  Aulaire,  who  consulted 
Monval,  who  commended  her  to  his  manager,  M.  Poir- 
son.  She  entered  into  an  engagement  to  serve  the 
Gymnase  for  a  term  of  three  years  upon  a  salary  of  3000 
francs.  M.  Poirson  was  quick  to  perceive  that  she  was 
not  as  so  many  other  beginners  were;  that  there  was 
something  new  and  startling  about  the  young  actress. 
He  obtained  for  her  first  appearance,  from  M.  Paul 
Duport,  a  little  melodrama  in  two  acts.  It  was  called 
"La  Vendeenne,"  and  owed  its  more  striking  scenes  to 
"  The  Heart  of  Midlothian."  After  the  manner  of  Jeanie 
Deans,  Ge'nevieve,  the  heroine  of  the  play,  footsore 
and  travel-stained,  seeks  the  presence  of  the  Empress 
Josephine  to  implore  the  pardon  of  a  Vendean  peasant 
condemned  to  death  for  following  George  Cadoudal. 
"  La  Vendeenne,"  produced  on  April  24,  1837,  and 
received  with  great  applause,  was  played  on  sixty  succes- 
sive nights,  but  not  to  very  crowded  audiences.  The 
press  scarcely  noticed  the  new  actress.  The  critic  of  the 
Journal  des  Dibats,  however,  while  rashly  affirming  that 


RACHEL  FELIX.  219 

Rachel  was  not  a  phenomenon  and  would  never  be 
extolled  as  a  wonder,  carefully  noted  certain  of  the 
merits  and  characteristics  of  her  performance.  "She 
was  an  unskilled  child,  but  she  possessed  heart,  soul, 
intellect.  There  was  something  bold,  abrupt,  uncouth, 
about  her  aspect,  gait,  and  manner.  She  was  dressed 
simply  and  truthfully  in  the  coarse  woollen  gown  of  a 
peasant  girl ;  her  hands  were  red,  her  voice  was  harsh 
and  untrained,  but  powerful ;  she  acted  without  effort  or 
exaggeration ;  she  did  not  scream  or  gesticulate  unduly  ; 
she  seemed  to  perceive  intuitively  the  feeling  she  was 
required  to  express,  and  could  interest  the  audience 
greatly,  moving  them  to  tears.  She  was  not  pretty,  but 
she  pleased,"  etc.  Bouffe,  who  witnessed  this  represen- 
tation, observed,  "What  an  odd  little  girl!  Assuredly 
there  is  something  in  her.  Butcher  place  is  not  here." 
So  judged  Samson  also,  becoming  more  and  more  aware 
of  the  merits  of  his  former  pupil.  She  was  transferred  to 
the  Frangais  to  play  the  leading  characters  in  tragedy, 
at  a  salary  of  4000  francs  a  year.  M.  Poirson  did  not 
hesitate  to  cancel  her  agreement  with  him.  Indeed,  he 
had  been  troubled  with  thinking  how  he  could  employ 
his  new  actress.  She  was  not  an  ingenue  of  the  ordinary 
type ;  she  could  not  be  classed  among  soubrettes.  There 
were  no  parts  suited  to  her  in  the  light  comedies  of 
Scribe  and  his  compeers,  which  constituted  the  chief 
repertory  of  the  Gymnase. 


220  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

It  was  on  the  i2th  of  June,  1838,  that  Rachel,  as 
Camille  in  "  Horace,"  made  her  first  appearance  upon 
the  stage  of  the  Theatre  Frangais.  The  receipts  were 
but  750  francs;  it  was  an  unfashionable  period  of  the 
year ;  Paris  was  out  of  town ;  the  weather  was  most 
sultry.  There  were  many  Jews  in  the  house,  it  was  said, 
resolute  to  support  the  daughter  of  Israel,  and  her  success 
was  unequivocal;  nevertheless,  a  large  share  of  the 
applause  of  the  night  was  confessedly  carried  off  by  the 
veteran  Joanny,  who  played  Horace.  On  the  i6th  June 
Rachel  made  her  second  appearance,  personating  Emilie 
in  the  "Cinna"  of  Corneille.  The  receipts  fell  to  550 
francs.  She  repeated  her  performance  of  Camille  on  the 
23rd ;  the  receipts  were  only  300  francs  ! — the  poorest 
house,  perhaps,  she  ever  played  to  in  Paris.  She  after- 
wards appeared  as  Hermione  in  "  Andromaque,"  Amendide 
in  "Tancrede,"  Eriphile  in  "Iphigenie,"  Monime  in 
"  Mithridate,"  2&.&Roxane  in  "  Bajazet,"  the  receipts  now 
gradually  rising,  until  in  October,  when  she  played  Her- 
mione for  the  tenth  time,  6000  francs  were  taken  at  the 
doors,  an  equal  amount  being  received  in  November, 
when,  for  the  sixth  time,  she  appeared  as  Camille.  Paris 
was  now  at  her  feet.  In  1839,  called  upon  to  play  two 
or  three  times  per  week,  she  essayed  but  one  new  part, 
Esther  in  Racine's  tragedy  of  that  name.  The  public  was 
quite  content  that  she  should  assume  again  and  again 
the  characters  in  which  she  had  already  triumphed.  In 


RACHEL  FELIX.  221 

1840  she  added  to  her  list  of  impersonations  Laodie  and 
Pauline  in  Corneille's  "  Nicomede  "  and  "  Polyeucte," 
and  Marie  Stuart  in  Lebrun's  tragedy.  In  1841  she 
played  no  new  parts.  In  1842  she  first  appeared  as 
Chimene  in  "  Le  Cid,"  as  Ariane,  and  as  Fredegonde  in 
a  wretched  tragedy  by  Le  Mercier. 

Rachel  had  saved  the  Theatre  Frangais,  had  given 
back  to  the  stage  the  masterpieces  of  the  French  classical 
drama.  It  was  very  well  for  Thackeray  to  write  from 
Paris  in  1839  that  the  actress  had  "only  galvanized  the 
corpse,  not  revivified  it.  ...  Racine  will  never  come  to 
life  again  and  cause  audiences  to  weep  as  of  yore."  He 
predicted :  "  Ancient  French  tragedy,  red-heeled,  patched, 
and  beperiwigged,  lies  in  the  grave,  and  it  is  only  the 
ghost  of  it  that  the  fair  Jewess  has  raised."  But  it  was 
something  more  than  a  galvanized  animation  that  Rachel 
had  imparted  to  the  old  drama  of  France.  During  her 
career  of  twenty  years,  her  performances  of  Racine  and 
Corneille  filled  the  coffers  of  the  Frangais,  and  it  may  be 
traced  to  her  influence  and  example  that  the  classic  plays 
still  keep  their  place  upon  the  stage  and  stir  the  ambition 
of  the  players.  But  now  the  committee  of  the  Frangais 
had  to  reckon  with  their  leading  actress,  and  pay  the 
price  of  the  prosperity  she  had  brought  them.  They 
cancelled  her  engagement  and  offered  her  terms  such  as 
seemed  to  them  liberal  beyond  all  precedent.  But  the 
more  they  offered,  so  much  the  more  was  demanded. 


222  HOURS    WITH  TPIE  PLAYERS. 

In  the  first  instance,  the  actress  being  a  minor,  negotia- 
tions were  carried  on  with  her  father,  the  committee  de- 
nouncing in  the  bitterest  terms  the  avarice  and  rapacity 
of  M.  Felix.  But  when  Rachel  became  competent  to 
deal  on  her  own  behalf,  she  proved  herself  every  whit  as 
exacting  as  her  sire.  She  became  a  sorietaire  in  1843, 
entitled  to  one  of  the  twenty-four  shares  into  which  the 
profits  of  the  institution  were  divided.  She  was  rewarded, 
moreover,  with  a  salary  of  42,000  francs  per  annum;  and 
it  was  estimated  that  by  her  performances  during  her 
conge  of  three  or  four  months  every  year  she  earned  a 
further  annual  income  of  30,000  francs.  She  met  with 
extraordinary  success  upon  her  provincial  tours ;  enormous 
profits  resulted  from  her  repeated  visits  to  Holland  and 
Belgium,  Germany,  Russia,  and  England.  But,  from 
first  to  last,  Rachel's  connection  with  the  Francois  was 
an  incessant  quarrel.  She  was  capricious,  ungrateful, 
unscrupulous,  extortionate.  She  struggled  to  evade  her 
duties,  to  do  as  little  as  she  possibly  could  in  return  for 
the  large  sums  she  received  from  the  committee.  She 
pretended  to  be  too  ill  to  play  in  Paris,  the  while  she 
was  always  well  enough  to  hurry  away  and  obtain  great 
rewards  by  her  performances  in  the  provinces.  She  wore 
herself  out  by  her  endless  wanderings  hither  and  thither, 
her  continuous  efforts  upon  the  scene.  She  denied  her- 
self all  rest,  or  slept  in  a  travelling  carriage  to  save  time 
in  her  passage  from*  one  country  theatre  to  another. 


RACHEL  FELIX.  223 


Her  company  complained  that  they  fell  asleep  as  they 
acted,  her  engagements  denying  them  proper  oppor- 
tunities of  repose.  The  newspapers  at  one  time  set  forth 
the  acrimonious  letters  she  had  interchanged  with  the 
committee  of  the  Francais.  Finally  she  tended  her  resig- 
nation of  the  position  she  occupied  as  societaire ;  the 
committee  took  legal  proceedings  to  compel  her  to  return 
to  her  duties;  some  concessions  were  made  on  either 
side,  however,  and  a  reconciliation  was  patched  up. 

The  new  tragedies,  "Judith"  and  "  Cleopatre,"  written 
for  the  actress  by  Madame  de  Girardin,  failed  to  please ; 
nor  did  success  attend  the  production  of  M.  Remand's 
"  Catherine  II.,"  M.  Soumet's  "Jeanne  d'Arc,"  in  which, 
to  the  indignation  of  the  critics,  the  heroine  was  seen  at 
last  surrounded  by  real  flames  !  or  "  Le  Vieux  de  la 
Montagne "  of  M.  Latour  de  St.  Ybars.  With  better 
fortune  Rachel  appeared  in  the  same  author's  "Virginia," 
and  in  the  "  Lucrece  "  of  Ponsard.  Voltaire's  "  Oreste  " 
was  revived  for  her  in  1845  that  she  might  play  Electre. 
She  personated  Racine's  "Athalie"  in  1847,  assuming 
long  white  locks,  painting  furrows  on  her  face,  and  dis- 
guising herself  beyond  recognition,  in  her  determination 
to  seem  completely  the  character  she  had  undertaken. 
In  1848  she  played  Agrippine  in  the  "  Britannicus  "  of 
Racine,  and,  dressed  in  plain  white  muslin,  and  clasping 
the  tri-coloured  flag  to  her  heart,  she  delivered  the 
"  Marseillaise "  to  please  the  Revolutionists,  lending 


224  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

the  air  strange  meaning  and  passion  by  the  intensity  of 
her  manner,  as  she  half  chanted,  half  recited  the  words, 
her  voice  now  shrill  and  harsh,  now  deep,  hollow,  and 
reverberating — her  enraptured  auditors  likening  it  in 
effect  to  distant  thunder. 

To  the  dramatists  who  sought  to  supply  her  with 
new  parts  Rachel  was  the  occasion  of  much  chagrin  and 
perplexity.  After  accepting  Scribe's  "Adrienne  Le- 
couvreur"  she  rejected  it  absolutely,  only  to  resume  it 
eagerly,  however,  when  she  learnt  that  the  leading 
character  was  to  be  undertaken  by  Mademoiselle  Rose 
Cheri.  His  "Chandelier"  having  met  with  success,  Rachel 
applied  to  De  Musset  for  a  play.  She  was  offered,  it 
seems,  "  Les  Caprices  de  Marianne ; "  but  meantime  the 
poet's  "  Bettine "  failed,  and  the  actress  distrustfully 
turned  away  from  him.  An  undertaking  to  appear  in  the 
"  Medea  "  of  Legouve  landed  her  in  a  protracted  lawsuit. 
The  courts  condemned  her  in  damages  to  the  amount  of 
200  francs  for  every  day  she  delayed  playing  the  part  of 
Medea  after  the  date  fixed  upon  by  the  management  for 
the  commencement  of  the  rehearsals  of  the  tragedy.  She 
paid  nothing,  however,  for  the  management  failed  to  fix 
any  such  date.  M.  Legouve  was  only  avenged  in  the 
success  his  play  obtained,  in  a  translated  form,  at  the 
hands  of  Madame  Ristori.  In  lieu  of  "  Medea,"  Rachel 
produced  "  Rosemonde,"  a  tragedy  by  M.  Latour  de  St. 
Ybars,  which  failed  completely.  Other  plays  written  for 


RACHEL  FELIX.  225 


her  were  the  "  Valeria  "  of  MM.  Lecroix  and  Maquet,  in 
which  she  personated  two  characters  :  the  Empress  Mes- 
salina,  and  her  half-sister  Lysisca,  a  courtesan;  the 
"  Diane "  of  M.  Augier,  an  imitation  of  Victor  Hugo's 
"Marion  Delorme;"  "Lady  Tartuffe,"  a  comedy  by 
Madame  de  Girardin  ;  and  "  La  Czarine,"  by  M.  Scribe. 
She  appeared  also  in  certain  of  the  characters  originally 
contrived  for  Mademoiselle  Mars,  such  as  La  Tisbe  in 
Victor  Hugo's  "  Angelo  "  and  the  heroines  of  Dumas' 
"Mademoiselle  de  Belle-Isle"  and  of  "Louise  de 
Lignerolles"  by  MM.  Legouve  and  Dinaux. 

The  classical  drama  of  France  has  not  found  much 
favour  in  England.  We  are  all,  perhaps,  apt  to  think 
with  Thackeray  disrespectfully  of  the  "old  tragedies — 
well-nigh  dead,  and  full  time  too— in  which  half  a  dozen 
characters  appear,  and  shout  sonorous  Alexandrines 
for  half  a  dozen  hours ; "  or  we  are  disposed  to  agree 
with  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold,  that,  their  drama  being  fun- 
damentally insufficient  both  in  substance  and  in  form, 
the  French,  with  all  their  gifts,  have  not,  as  we  have,  an 
adequate  form  for  poetry  of  the  highest  class.  Those 
who  remember  Rachel,  however,  can  testify  that  she 
breathed  the  most  ardent  life  into  the  frigid  remains  of 
Racine  and  Corneille,  relumed  them  with  Promethean 
heat,  and  showed  them  to  be  instinct  with  the  truest  and 
intensest  passion.  When  she  occupied  the  scene,  there 
could  be  no  thought  of  the  old  artificial  times  of  hair- 

VOL.  II.  Q 


226  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

powder  and  rouge,  periwigs  and  patches,  in  connection 
with    the    characters    she    represented.       Pliedre    and 
Hermione,    Pauline    and     Camille,    interpreted    by    her 
genius,  became  as  real  and  natural,  warm  and  palpitating, 
as   Constance  or  Lady  Macbeth  could  have '  been  when 
played  by  Mrs.  Siddons,  or  z&  Juliet  when  impersonated 
by  Miss  O'Neill.      Before  Rachel  came,   it  had   been 
thought  that  the  new  romantic  drama  of  MM.  Hugo  and 
Dumas,  because  of  its  greater  truth  to  nature,  had  given 
the  coup  de  grace  to  the  old  classic  plays  ;  but  the  public, 
at  her  bidding,  turned  gladly  from  the  spasms  and  the 
rant    of    "  Angelo "    and    "  Angel  e,"    "Antony"    and 
"  Hernani,"  to  the  old-world  stories,  the  formal  tragedies 
of  the   seventeenth-century  poet-dramatists   of  France. 
The  actress  fairly  witched  her  public.     There  was  some- 
thing of  magic  in  her  very  presence  upon  the  scene. 
None  could  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  aspect  of  the 
slight,  pallid  woman,  who  seemed   to   gain  height   by 
reason   of   her   slenderness,   who   moved    towards    her 
audience  with  such  simple  natural  majesty,  who  wore 
and  conducted  her  fluent  classical  draperies  with  such 
admirable  and  perfect  grace.     It  was  as  though  she  had 
lived  always  so  attired  in  tunic,  peplum,  and  pallium — 
had  known  no  other  dress, — not  that  she  was  of  modern 
times  playing  at  antiquity.     The  physical  traditions  of 
her  race  found  expression  or  incarnation  in  her.     Her 
face  was  of  refined  Judaical  character,   the  thin  nose 


RACHEL  FELIX.  227 


slightly  curved,  the  lower  lip  a  trifle  full,  but  the  mouth 
exquisitely  shaped,  and  the  teeth  small,  white,  and 
even.  The  profuse  black-brown  hair  was  smoothed  and 
braided  from  the  broad,  low,  white,  somewhat  over- 
hanging brow,  beneath  which  in  shadow  the  keen  black 
eyes  flashed  out  their  lightnings,  or  glowed  luridly  like 
coals  at  a  red  heat.  Her  gestures  were  remarkable  for 
their  dignity  and  appropriateness ;  the  long,  slight  arms 
lent  themselves  surprisingly  to  gracefulness ;  the  beauti- 
fully formed  hands,  with  the  thin  tapering  fingers  and 
the  pink  filbert  nails,  seemed  always  tremblingly  on  the 
alert  to  add  significance  or  accent  to  her  speeches.  But 
there  was  eloquence  in  her  very  silence  and  complete 
repose.  She  could  relate  a  whole  history  by  her  changes 
of  facial  expression.  She  possessed  special  powers  of 
self-control ;  she  was  under  subjection  to  both  art  and 
nature  when  she  seemed  to  abandon  herself  the  most 
absolutely  to  the  whirlwind  of  her  passion.  There  were 
no  undue  excesses  of  posture,  movement,  or  tone.  Her 
attitudes,  it  was  once  said,  were  those  of  "  a  Pythoness 
cast  in  bronze."  Her  voice  thrilled  and  awed  at  its  first 
note,  it  was  so  strangely  deep,  so  solemnly  melodious, 
until,  stirred  by  passion  as  it  were,  it  became  thick  and 
husky  in  certain  of  its  tones ;  but  it  was  always  audible, 
articulate,  and  telling,  whether  sunk  to  a  whisper  or 
raised  clamorously.  Her  declamation  was  superb,  if,  as 
critics  reported,  there  had  been  decline  in  this  matter 


228  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

during  those  later  years  of  her  life  to  which  my  own 
acquaintance  with  Rachel's  acting  is  confined.     I  saw 
her  first  at  the  Frangais  in  1849,  an^  I  was  present  at 
her  last  performance  at  the  St.  James's  Theatre  in  1853, 
having    in   the   interval   witnessed    her    assumption   of 
certain  of  her  most  admired  characters.     And  it  may  be 
true,  too,  that,  still  resembling  Kean,  she  was  more  and 
more  disposed,  as  the  years  passed,  to  make  "  points  ; " 
to  slur  over  the  less  important  scenes,  and  reserve  her- 
self for  a  grand  outburst  or  a  vehement  climax,  sacrificing 
thus    many    of   the    subtler    graces,    refinements,   and 
graduations  of  elocution  for  which  she  had  once  been 
famous.     To  English  ears,  it  was  hardly  an  offence  that 
she  broke  up  the  sing-song  of  the  rhymed  tirades  of  the 
old  plays  and  gave  them  a  more  natural  sound,  regard- 
less of  the  traditional  methods  of  speech  of  Clairon,  Le 
Kain,  and  other  of  the  great  French  players  of  the  past. 
Less  success  than  had  been  looked  for  attended  Rachel's 
invasion   of  the  repertory   of   Mademoiselle   Mars,  an 
actress  so  idolized  by  the  Parisians  that  her  sixty  years 
and  great  portliness  of  form  were  not  thought  hindrances 
to  her  personation  of  the  youthful  heroines  of  modem 
comedy  and   drama.     But   Rachel's  fittest   occupation, 
and  her  greatest  triumphs,  were  found  in  the  classical 
poetic  plays.     She,  perhaps,  intellectualized  too  much 
the  creations  of  Hugo,  Dumas,  and  Scribe ;  gave  them 
excess  of  majesty.     Her  •histrionic  style  was  too  exalted 


RACHEL  FELIX.  229 


and  ideal  for  the  conventional  characters  of  the  drama 
of  her  own  time :  it  was  even  said  of  her  that  she  could 
not  speak  its  prose  properly  or  tolerably.  She  disliked 
the  hair-powder  necessary  to  Adricnne  Lccoircreitr  and 
Gabrielle  de  Belle-Isle,  although  her  beauty,  for  all  its 
severity,  did  not  lose  picturesqueness  in  the  costumes 
of  the  time  of  Louis  XV.  As  Gabrielle  she  was  more 
girlish  and  gentle,  pathetic  and  tender,  than  was  her 
wont,  while  the  signal  fervour  of  her  speech  addressed  to 
Richelieu,  beginning,  "Vous  mentez,  Monsieur  le  Due,'"' 
stirred  the  audience  to  the  most  excited  applause. 

Rachel  was  seen  upon  the  stage  for  the  last  time  at 
Charleston,  on  the  iyth  December,  1856.  She  played 
Adrienne  Lecouiveur.  She  had  been  tempted  to  America 
by  the  prospect  of  extravagant  profits.  It  had  been 
dinned  into  her  ears  that  Jenny  Lind,  by  thirty-eight 
performances  in  America,  had  realized  1,700,000  francs. 
Why  might  not  she,  Rachel,  receive  as  much?  And 
then,  she  was  eager  to  quit  Paris.  There  had  been 
strange  worship  there  of  Madame  Ristori,  even  in  the 
rejected  part  of  Medea!  But  already  Rachel's  health 
was  in  a  deplorable  state.  Her  constitution,  never  very 
strong,  had  suffered  severely  from  the  cruel  fatigues,  the 
incessant  exertions,  she  had  undergone.  It  may  be,  too, 
that  the  deprivations  and  sufferings  of  her  childhood  now 
made  themselves  felt  as  overdue  claims  that  could  be 
no  longer  denied  or  deferred.  She  forced  herself  to 


230  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS, 

play,  in  fulfilment  of  her  engagement,  but  she  was 
languid,  weak,  emaciated ;  she  coughed  incessantly,  her 
strength  was  gone ;  she  was  dying  slowly  but  certainly  of 
phthisis.  And  she  appeared  before  an  audience  that 
applauded  her,  it  is  true,  but  cared  nothing  for  Racine 
and  Corneille,  knew  little  of  the  French  language,  and 
were  urgent  that  she  should  sing  the  "  Marseillaise "  as 
she  had  sung  it  in  1848  !  It  was  forgotten,  or  it  was  not 
known  in  America,  that  the  actress  had  long  since 
renounced  revolutionary  sentiments  to  espouse  the  cause 
of  the  Second  Empire.  She  performed  all  her  more 
important  characters,  however,  at  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, and  Boston.  Nor  was  the  undertaking  com- 
mercially disappointing,  if  it  did  not  wholly  satisfy 
expectation.  She  returned  to  France  possessed  of  nearly 
300,000  francs  as  her  share  of  the  profits  of  her  forty-two 
performances  in  the  United  States ;  but  she  returned  to 
die.  The  winter  of  1856  she  passed  at  Cairo.  She 
returned  to  France  in  the  spring  of  1857,  but  her 
physicians  forbade  her  to  remain  long  in  Paris.  In 
September  she  moved  again  to  the  South,  finding  her 
last  retreat  in  the  villa  Sardou,  at  Cannet,  a  little  village 
in  the  environs  of  Cannes.  She  lingered  to  the  3rd 
January,  1858.  The  Theatre  Frangais  closed  its  doors 
when  news  arrived  of  her  death,  and  again  on  the  day  of 
her  funeral.  The  body  was  embalmed  and  brought  to 
Paris  for  interment  in  the  cemetery  of  Pere  la  Chaise, 


RACHEL  FELIX.  231 


the  obsequies  being  performed  in  accordance  with  the 
Jewish  rites.  The  most  eminent  of  the  authors  and 
actors  of  France  were  present,  and  funeral  orations  were 
delivered  by  MM.  Jules  Janin,  Bataille,  and  Auguste 
Maquet.  Victor  Hugo  was  in  exile,  or,  as  Janin 
announced,  the  author  of  "Angelo"  would  not  have 
withheld  the  tribute  of  his  eulogy  upon  the  sad  occasion. 
By  her  professional  exertions  Rachel  was  said  to  have 
amassed  a  sum  of  ^"100,000  sterling. 

Dr.  Veron,  who,  with  French  frankness,  wrote  of  the 
actress  in  her  lifetime,  doubted  whether  he  had  secured 
for  her  the  more  of  censure  or  of  esteem.  But  he  urged 
that  her  early  life  should  be  taken  into  account :  "  II  faut 
se  rappeler  d'ou  elle  est  partie,  ou  elle  est  arrive'e,  pour 
lui  tenir  compte  du  long  chemin  seme  de  ronces  et 
d'e'pines,  plein  de  pe'rils  et  d'abimes,  que  dans  son 
enfance  et  sa  premiere  jeunesse  elle  eut  a  parcourir 
presque  sans  guides,  sans  le  necessaire  et  sans  appui.  A 
cote  de  quelques  mauvais  sentiments  qu'elle  re'prime, 
restes  impurs  d'une  vie  errante  a  travers  d'e'paisses  brous- 
sailles  et  de  pernicieux  marais,  on  trouve  en  elle  de 
nobles  instincts,  le  sentiment  des  grandes  et  belles 
choses,  une  passion  ardente  pour  les  plaisirs  de  1'esprit, 
une  intelligence  superieure,  une  aimable  philosophic,  et 
toutes  les  seductions  d'une  elegance  et  d'une  distinction 
naturelles." 


232  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER   X. 

CHARLES   KEAN. 

THE  son  of  an  eminent  father  may  be  supposed  to  enter 
upon  the  race  for  fame  under  favourable  conditions ;  but 
he  carries,  assuredly,  a  heavy  weight.  He  must  submit 
to  invidious  comparisons ;  expectation  being  perhaps 
unfairly  raised  concerning  him,  disappointment  becomes 
unavoidable,  and  a  measure  even  of  disparagement 
ensues.  The  warmth  of  his  first  welcome  gradually 
abates,  and  he  finds  himself  painfully  exposed  to  the 
cold  blasts  of  criticism.  He  is  liable  to  censure  both 
for  being  like  and  unlike  his  progenitor.  In  the  one 
case  he  is  contemned  as  a  poor  copy  of  a  great  original ; 
in  the  other  it  is  charged  against  him  that  he  departs 
presumptuously  from  an  admirable  example.  It  is  hard 
for  him  to  please.  He  has  almost  to  wait  until  a  new 
generation  has  arisen  that  can  judge  him  without  refer- 
ence to  his  sire,  can  accept  him  for  himself  and  for  his 
own  merits,  and  not  because  of  his  pedigree,  the  accident 
of  his  birth,  and  the  excellence  of  his  predecessor. 


CHARLES  KEAN.  233 


In  a  speech  delivered  at  a  public  dinner  some  few 
years  after  his  first  hard-won  success  as  an  actor,  Charles 
Kean  described  pathetically  the  disadvantages  under 
which  he  had  laboured  at  the  outset  of  his  career. 
"  Thrown  before  the  public  by  untoward  circumstances 
at  the  early  age  of  sixteen  and  a  half,  encompassed  by 
many  difficulties,  friendless  and  untutored,  the  efforts  of 
my  boyhood  were  criticized  in  so  severe  and  spirit-crush- 
ing a  strain  as  almost  to  unnerve  my  energies  and  drive 
me  despairingly  from  the  stage.  The  indulgence  usually 
extended  to  novices  was  denied  to  me.  I  was  not  per- 
mitted to  cherish  the  hope  that  time  and  study  could 
ever  enable  me  to  correct  the  faults  of  youthful  inex- 
perience. The  very  resemblance  I  bore  my  late  father 
was  urged  against  me  as  an  offence,  and  condemned  as 
being  '  strange  and  unnatural.'  Sick  at  heart,  I  left  my 
home  and  sought  the  shores  of  America.  To  the 
generous  inhabitants  of  that  far  land  I  am  indebted  for 
the  first  ray  of  success  that  illumined  my  clouded  path." 

Charles  John  Kean  was  born  at  Waterford  on  January 
18,  1811,  when  his  father's  position  and  prospects  seemed 
hopeless  enough.  He  was  engaged  at  a  salary  of  five 
and  twenty  shillings  a  week,  the  leading  member  of  a 
company  playing  now  at  Swansea,  now  at  Carmarthen, 
now  at  Haverfordwest,  and  thence  crossing  to  Ire- 
land. He  figured  in  tragedy,  in  comedy;  he  sang,  he 
danced ;  he  was  accounted  "  one  of  the  best  harlequins 


234  HOURS.    WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

in  Wales  or  the  West  of  England,"  and  a  skilled  "getter- 
up  of  pantomimes ; "  he  was  stage  manager,  and  he 
taught  fencing.  With  all  these  advantages  and  accom- 
plishments, he  had  suffered  much  from  indigence  and 
even  the  pangs  of  hunger.  Three  years  later,  and 
Edmund  Kean  had  appeared  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre; 
the  pit  had  risen  at  him  ;  his  success  was  prodigious ; 
Fortune  showered  her  gifts  upon  him.  This  abrupt 
turning  of  the  tide,  this  sudden  bound  from  poverty  to 
wealth,  from  obscurity  to  fame,  proved  terribly  trying. 
What  wonder  that  the  poor  player,  who  had  endured  so 
heroically  the  buffets  of  Fortune,  sank  under  the  weight 
of  her  rewards  !  For  three  months  he  had  been  idle 
in  London,  earning  nothing,  waiting,  hoping,  watching, 
praying  for  his  opportunity  to  appear  at  Drury  Lane. 
He  had  no  money;  he  could  not  pay  the  rent  of  his 
humble  lodgings  in  Cecil  Street.  "  He  lived — he,  his 
wife  and  child — in  the  most  penurious  way,"  writes  his 
biographer ;  "  they  had  meat  once  a  week  if  possible" 
Help  from  the  pawnbroker  was  needed  to  obtain  for  him 
substantial  food  on  the  night  of  his  first  personation  of 
Shylock  in  London.  He  returned  home  after  that  trium- 
phant performance  wild  with  joy,  as  he  cried  to  his  poor, 
trembling  wife,  breaking  down  with  the  excess  of  her 
anxiety,  "  Oh,  Mary !  my  fortune  is  made :  you  shall 
ride  in  your  carriage!"  Presently  he  exclaimed,  "Oh, 
that  Howard  were  alive  now ! "  Howard  was  his  first- 


CHARLES  KEAN.  235 

born  son,  who  died  in  1813.  Then  the  little  child, 
Charles  Kean,  was  lifted  from  his  cradle,  as  though  to 
share  in  the  family  happiness,  and  to  be  kissed  by  his 
father  as  he  said,  "  Now,  my  boy,  you  shall  go  to  Eton  !" 
The  child  figures  curiously  in  these  early  scenes  of 
Edmund  Kean's  triumph.  Mr.  Whitbread,  one  of  the 
Drury  Lane  managers,  calls  to  express  his  sense  of  the 
actor's  services  to  the  theatre,  and  places  a  draft  for 
^£50  into  the  baby  hands  of  Charles  Kean.  The  actor's 
benefit  is  announced,  and  an  eye-witness  relates  that 
"money  was  lying  about  the  room  in  all  directions." 
Charles  Kean,  "  a  fine  little  boy,  with  rich  curling  hair, 
was  playing  with  some  score  of  guineas  on  the  floor; 
banknotes  were  in  heaps  on  the  mantelpiece,  table,  and 
sofa.  ...  I  think  the  receipts  of  that  benefit  amounted 
to  ^"1150."  Yet,  a  little  while  before,  the  actor  had 
lacked  pence  wherewith  to  buy  bread  ! 

On  the  eve  of  his  venture  at  Drury  Lane,  Kean  had 
exclaimed,  "  If  I  succeed,  I  think  I  shall  go  mad ! " 
There  was  more  of  truthful  prophecy  in  this  utterance 
than  he  was  conscious  of  at  the  time.  Mrs.  Kean  duly 
rode  in  her  carriage.  Charles  Kean,  after  preparatory 
courses  at  the  schools  of  Mr. Styles  of  Thames  Ditton 
and  Mr.  Polehampton  at  Worplesdon,  entered  Eton  as 
an  oppidan  in  June,  1824,  to  rise  to  the  upper  division, 
to  obtain  credit  by  his  Latin  verses,  and  to  distinguish 
himself  as  second  Captain  of  the  Long  Boats.  The 


236  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


further  career  of  Edmund  Kean  need  hardly  be  re- 
counted. His  fortune  came  and  went,  slipping  through 
his  fingers  into  the  mud.  He  had  received  princely 
rewards  :  he  squandered  them  like  a  boor  or  a  savage. 
Since  Garrick's  time,  no  actor  had  earned  so  much  in  so 
brief  a  period.  But  riotous  living  and  reckless  extrava- 
gance made  waste  alike  of  the  man  and  his  money. 
The  plea  of  absolute  insanity  seemed  the  only  explana- 
tion of  the  terrible  excesses  of  his  later  years.  He  was 
little  more  than  thirty-five  when  his  physical  powers 
showed  unmistakable  signs  of  premature  decay;  his 
mind  was  shattered,  his  memory  was  gone,  he  could 
learn  no  new  parts ;  his  means  were  exhausted,  he  was 
living  precariously  from  day  to  day  upon  the  earnings 
which  his  growing  infirmities  rendered  more  and  more 
uncertain. 

Charles  Kean  had  been  brought  up  to  believe  himself 
the  heir  to  a  prodigious  fortune.  He  desired  to  enter 
the  army ;  his  father  had  proposed  the  navy  as  a  prefer- 
able service ;  his  mother's  wish  was  that  he  should 
become  a  clergyman.  There  was  no  thought  of  his 
adopting  the  profession  of  the  stage.  But  in  1827  came 
an  offer  of  a  cadetship  in  the  East  India  Company's  ser- 
vice. Edmund  Kean  urged  peremptorily  that  his  son 
should  accept  this  offer,  and  prepare  to  quit  England 
forthwith.  Mrs.  Kean,  in  broken  health,  helpless,  de- 
jected, miserable,  implored  her  son  not  to  leave  her. 


CHARLES  KEAN.  237 

For  three  years  she  had  been  living  apart  from  her  hus- 
band because  of  his  dissoluteness,  violence,  and  vicious 
excesses.     Her  state  was  pitiable.     The  poor  allowance 
of  £200  a  year  which  he  had  agreed  to  pay  her  upon 
separating  himself  from  her,  Kean,  in  one  of  his  fits  of 
ungovernable  fury,  had  threatened  to  suspend.     It  was 
hard  for  the  Eton  boy  of  sixteen  to  decide  what  course 
he  should  adopt.     He  determined   at   length  upon  ac- 
cepting the  cadetship  if  his  father  would  secure  an  in- 
come of  ^"300  to  Mrs.  Kean  for  three  years.     "  I  will 
not  leave  her  sick  and  helpless,  as  she  now  is,"  said  the 
son,  "without  some  assurance  that  provision  has  been 
made  for  her  support."     But  if  he  had  the  will,  Kean 
had  no  longer  the  power  to  give  effect  to  such  a  pro- 
position.    He  lived  from  hand  to  mouth  ;  he  had  saved 
no  money ;  his  profligate  habits  absorbed  all  he  received. 
Charles  Kean  was  removed  from  Eton  and  left  to 
depend  entirely  upon  his  own  resources.    He  was  thrown, 
indeed,  penniless  upon  the  world.    Kean  lent  his  son  no 
further  assistance  —  even  to  the  amount  of  sixpence. 
What  was  the  boy  to  do  ?     Nor  had  he  only  his  own 
welfare  to  consider.     The  cruel,  crazy  husband  now  en- 
tirely withdrew  the  small  income  he  had  pledged  him- 
self to  pay  the  suffering  wife.     Mother  and  son  were 
absolutely  destitute.     No  wonder  the  boy  listened  to  a 
proposal  made  by  Mr.    Price,  the  American  lessee   of 
Drury  Lane  Theatre.     The  offer  seemed  to  drop  from 


238  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

the  clouds.  Charles  Kean  signed  an  engagement  for 
three  years  to  appear  upon  the  stage  in  certain  leading 
characters,  with  a  salary  of  ;£io  a  week  for  the  first  year, 
to  be  increased  to  £11  and  £12  during  the  second  and 
third  years,  should  success  attend  his  efforts.  He  was 
such  a  boy  at  the  time  that  there  was  discussion  whether 
he  should  be  announced  in  the  playbills  as  Master  Kean 
or  as  Mr.  Kean,  Junior. 

He  had  seen  his  father  act,  and  he  could  fence  well 
— he  had  been  taught  by  Angelo  at  Eton — otherwise  he 
knew  little  enough  of  the  player's  art.  No  word  of 
instruction  had  he  ever  received  from  Edmund  Kean. 
Once,  when  a  boy  of  twelve  or  so,  he  had  ventured  upon 
some  recitation  of  a  theatrical  sort  in  the  presence  of  his 
father,  who,  after  listening  moodily  for  some  time  with  a 
scowl  of  disapproval  upon  his  face,  said  at  last,  "  There 
— that  will  do.  Good-night.  It  is  time  to  go  to  bed. 
No  more — a — acting,  Charles  ! "  He  was  resolved,  he 
said,  to  be  the  first  and  last  tragedian  of  the  name  of 
Kean.  "  That  boy  will  be  an  actor,  if  he  tries ;  and  if  he 
should;'  he  cried  passionately,  "  I'll  cut  his  throat !"  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  he  meant  what  he  said.  Kean 
was  much  addicted  to  mountebank  exhibitions  and 
speeches. 

Charles  Kean  made  his  first  essay  as  an  actor  at 
Drury  Lane  on  the  ist  October,  1827,  when  he  per- 
sonated Young  Norval  in  the  tragedy  of  "  Douglas." 


'CHARLES  KEAN.  239 

Ho  was  so  new  to  the  stage  that  a  dress  rehearsal  had 
been  ordered  that  he  might  "face  the  lamps"  for  the 
first  time,  and  accustom  himself  to  his  theatrical  dress. 
The  house  was  filled  to  overflowing.  Young  Norval 
does  not  appear  until  the  opening  of  the  second  act, 
when  he  should  enter  after  the  retainers  of  Lord  Ran- 
dolph have  brought  forward  as  their  prisoner  Norval's 
faithless  servant,  "  the  trembling  coward  who  forsook  his 
master."  The  audience,  unfortunately,  over-anxious  to 
greet  the  new  tragedian  cordially,  wasted  their  enthu- 
siasm in  applauding  the  subordinate  representative  of 
the  servant,  mistaking  him  for  Charles  Kean,  who  thus 
encountered  but  a  half-hearted  and  uncomfortable  sort 
of  welcome.  Disconcerted  somewhat,  the  youth  re- 
covered himself  presently,  proceeding  with  his  part  and 
obtaining,  as  it  seemed,  the  approval  of  the  audience, 
who  rewarded  his  efforts  with  encouraging  cheers,  and 
called  him  before  the  curtain  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
tragedy.  It  was  clear  that  he  had  not  triumphed,  but  he 
had  not  absolutely  failed.  Edmund  Kean  was  not  pre- 
sent. A  friend  supplied  him  with  an  account  of  the 
performance.  It  was  the  cue  of  the  elder  Kean's  friends 
at  this  time  to  undervalue  his  son,  and  even  to  censure 
him  in  that  he  had  become  an  actor  in  opposition  to  the 
wishes  and  even  the  commands  of  his  father.  "  When 
Charles  first  came  on  the  stage,"  Edmund  Kean  was 
informed,  "he  trembled  exceedingly,  supported  himself 


240  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

on  his  sword,  and  appeared  to  have  much  ado  to  retain 
his  self-possession.  He  bowed  to  the  audience  several 
times  gracefully,  and  like  a  young  gentleman  of  educa- 
tion. He  regained  his  composure  wonderfully.  .  .  .  His 
voice  is  altogether  puerile,  his  appearance  that  of  a  well- 
made  genteel  youth  of  eighteen.  His  speech,  <  My  name 
is  Norval,'  he  hurried,  and  spoke  as  though  he  had  a  cold, 
or  were  pressing  his  finger  against  his  nose.  His  action 
on  the  whole  was  better  than  could  have  been  expected 
from  a  novice,  in  many  instances  graceful."  The  news- 
papers dealt  severely  with  the  young  actor.  No  allow- 
ance was  made  for  the  circumstances  in  which  his  effort 
was  made,  for  his  youth  and  inexperience.  No  word  of 
encouragement  was  offered  him,  nor  was  there  admission 
of  the  possibility  of  undeveloped  faculties.  The  school- 
boy attempt  was  judged  as  the  performance  of  a  mature 
and  practised  actor.  "  Not  simple  disapproval  or  quali- 
fied censure,  but  sentence  of  utter  incapacity,  stern, 
bitter,  crushing,  and  conclusive."  The  poor  lad  was 
nearly  heart-broken.  He  proposed  to  Mr.  Price  that 
his  engagement  should  be  cancelled.  But  the  American 
manager  gallantly  stood  by  the  youngest  member  of  his 
company,  counselled  perseverance  and  renewed  effort. 
"  Douglas  "  was  played  six  nights.  Charles  Kean  then 
appeared  as  Selim  in  "  Barbarossa,"  as  Frederick  in 
"  Lovers'  Vows,"  and  Lothair  in  "Monk"  Lewis's  for- 
gotten tragedy  of  "  Adelgitha."  He  earned  little  ap- 


CHARLES  KEAN.  241 

plause,  however,  and  played  to  dwindling  audiences. 
His  services  being  no  longer  needed  at  Drury  Lane,  the 
season  drawing  towards  its  close,  he  journeyed  to  Dublin, 
where,  in  April,  1828,  his  Young  Norval  met  with  a 
most  indulgent  reception.  From  Ireland,  after  some 
months'  stay,  he  passed  to  Scotland,  and,  while  fulfilling 
an  engagement  at  Glasgow,  effected  a  reconciliation  with 
his  father,  then  leading  a  secluded  life  in  the  house  he 
had  built  for  himself  in  the  Isle  of  Bute.  Edmund  Kean 
even  volunteered  to  play  for  his  son's  benefit,  and  they 
met  on  the  stage  for  the  first  time  in  the  Glasgow 
Theatre  on  the  ist  October,  1828 — the  anniversary,  as 
it  chanced,  of  Charles  Kean's  first  appearance  in 
London.  They  appeared  as  Brutus  and  Titus  in 
Howard  Payne's  tragedy  of  "Brutus."  In  the  last 
pathetic  scene,  when  Brutus,  overpowered  by  his  emo- 
tions, falls  upon  the  neck  of  Titus  with  an  agonized  cry 
of  "  Embrace  thy  wretched  father  ! "  the  audience,  we 
are  told,  after  sitting  for  some  time  suffused  in  tears, 
broke  forth  into  loud  and  prolonged  applause.  "  We're 
doing  the  trick,  Charley  !  "  whispered  Edmund  Kean  to 
his  son. 

In  December,  1828,  Charles  Kean  reappeared  at 
Drury  Lane,  personating  Romeo  for  the  first  time.  He 
was  improved,  it  was  held,  by  his  experiences  in  the 
provinces,  but  he  attracted  little  attention.  On  "  Boxing 
Night,"  1828,  by  way  of  prelude  to  the  indispensable 

VOL.  II.  R 


242  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

pantomime,  "  Lovers'  Vows  "  was  repeated,  when  Charles 
Kean's  Frederick  received  valuable  assistance  from  -the 
Amelia  Wildenheim  of  Miss  Ellen  Tree  —  the  future 
Mrs.  Charles  Kean  :  they  now  met  upon  the  stage  for 
the  first  time.  In  the  summer  Charles  Kean  appeared 
with  his  father  in  Cork  and  Dublin,  sustaining  the 
characters  of  Titus,  Bassanio,  Welborn,  lago,  Icilius,  and 
Macduff.  In  the  autumn  he  accepted  an  engagement  at 
the  Haymarket,  his  performance  of  Sir  Edward  Morti- 
mer in  "  The  Iron  Chest "  winning  hearty  applause  from 
the  audience  and  the  decided  approval  of  the  critical 
journals.  "  For  the  first  time,"  notes  his  biographer, 
"  he  felt  that  he  had  succeeded." 

In  1830  he  was  a  member  of  an  English  company 
visiting  Amsterdam.  The  expedition  proved  altogether 
unfortunate ;  the  manager,  a  needy  adventurer,  de- 
camped, leaving  his  players  in  a  sadly  poverty-stricken 
plight,  to  return  home  as  best  they  could.  During  the 
same  year  Charles  Kean  made  his  first  journey  to 
America,  where  he  met  with  the  most  fervent  of  wel- 
comes. He  was  absent  two  years  and  a  half,  returning 
to  England  early  in  1833,  to  fulfil  an  engagement  at 
Covent  Garden,  then  under  the  management  of  M. 
Laporte,  at  a  salary  of  ^30  per  week.  He  reappeared 
in  London  as  Sir  Edivard  Mortimer.  He  was  but 
coldly  received,  however,  and  played  to  thin  houses. 
Laporte,  a  shrewd  impresario,  then  bethought  him  of 


CHARLES  KEAN.  243 


engaging  Edmund  Kean,  and  presenting  father  and  son 
together  upon  the  stage  for  the  first  time  in  London. 
Accordingly,  "  Othello  "  was  announced  for  representa- 
tion on  the  25th  March,  1833,  with  Edmund  Kean  as 
Othello,  Charles  Kean  as  lago,  and  Miss  Ellen  Tree  as 
Dcsdemona.  This  was  Edmund  Kean's  last  appearance 
upon  the  stage.  He  was  now  the  merest  wreck  of 
what  he  had  been.  He  had  been  wretchedly  weak 
and  ill,  and  cold  and  shivering  all  day  long.  There 
had  been  no  rehearsal.  The  play  began.  He  was 
very  feeble;  he  could  scarcely  walk  across  the  stage. 
"  Charles  is  getting  on,"  he  observed  ;  "  he's  acting  very 
well ;  I  suppose  that's  because  he's  acting  with  me." 
Brandy  was  freely  administered  to  him,  but  his  strength 
was  fast  failing  him.  This  was  so  plain  to  those  upon 
the  stage,  that  a  servant  was  ^directed  to  air  another 
dress,  so  that  Mr.  Warde,  a  respectable  tragedian  of  the 
second  rank,  might  be  prepared  to  assume  the  character 
should  Kean  be  unable  to  complete  his  performance. 
Before  the  third  act  commenced  he  said  to  his  son, 
"Mind,  Charles,  that  you  keep  well  before  me  in  this  act 
I  don't  know  that  I  shall  be  able  to  kneel ;  but  if  I  do, 
be  sure  that  you  lift  me  up."  The  play  proceeded.  He 
delivered  the  famous  "  Farewell "  with  all  his  wonted 
pathos ;  but  when  he  attempted  the  outburst,  "  Villain, 
be  sure,"  etc.,  he  staggered  and  sank  into  his  son's  arms. 
His  acting  was  over  for  ever.  "  I  am  dying,  Charles ; 


244  HOURS   WITH  THE  PL  AVERS. 

speak  to  them  for  me,"  he  whispered ;  and  in  a  fainting 
state  he  was  borne  from  the  stage.  He  lingered  some 
three  weeks,  dying  at  Richmond  on  the  i5th  May,  1833. 
Charles  Kean  remained  at  Covent  Garden  until  the 
close  of  the  season,  winning  applause  in  his  first  original 
part,  Leonardo  Gonzaga,  in  Sheridan  Knowles's  success- 
ful play  of  "  The  Wife."  There  seemed  no  prospect  of 
a  renewal  of  his  engagement,  however ;  nor  was  he  to  be 
tempted  to  Drury  Lane  by  an  offer  of  ^15  per  week — 
half  the  salary  he  had  received  at  Covent  Garden;  It 
was  plain  to  him  that  there  was  as  yet  no  abiding-place 
for  him  upon  the  London  stage;  he  had  insufficiently 
impressed  the  public,  while  the  press  still  treated  him 
with  a  sort  of  scornful  reprehension.  But  the  provinces 
were  open  to  him ;  he  knew  that  he  could  obtain  profit- 
able engagements  enough  out  of  London.  "  I  will  not 
return,"  he  said  to  Mr.  Dunn,  the  Drury  Lane  treasurer, 
"until  I  can  command  my  own  terms — £s°  Per  night." 
"Then,  bid  farewell  to  London  for  ever,"  replied  Mr. 
Dunn,  "for  the  days  of  such  salaries  are  gone  for  ever." 
But  five  years  later  Charles  Kean,  in  his  own  carriage, 
was  driving  to  Drury  Lane,  engaged  for  a  stated  number 
of  performances,  upon  his  own  terms — ^50  per  night. 
He  played  Hamlet  twenty-one  times,  Richard  III.  seven- 
teen times,  and  Sir  Giles  Overreach  five  times,  and 
attracted  crowded  audiences.  During  his  absence  from 
London  he  had  earned  ,£20,000  by  his  provincial  en- 


CHARLES  KEAN.  245 


gagements.  He  had  visited  Hamburg  with  an  English 
company,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Barham  Livius,  one 
of  the  earliest  translators  of  Weber's  "  Der  Freischiitz ; " 
but  the  authorities  interfered,  prohibiting  the  perform- 
ances of  the  " foreign  intruders"  as  injurious  to  the 
exhibitions  of  native  talent.  In  1839  Charles  Kean 
fulfilled  his  second  engagement  in  America,  reappearing 
at  the  Haymarket  in  the  following  year.  He  was  married 
to  Miss  Ellen  Tree,  in  Dublin,  on  the  2Qth  January, 
1842.  The  fact  of  this  union  was  for  some  time  with- 
held from  the  public ;  and,  by  an  odd  chance,  the  bride 
and  bridegroom,  who  had  been  wedded  in  the  morning, 
appeared  at  night  upon  the  stage  in  the  comedy  of  "  The 
Honeymoon."  A  little  later,  and  they  were  supporting 
a  new  play  at  the  Haymarket — "  The  Rose  of  Arragon  " 
— one  of  the  least  attractive  works  of  Sheridan  Knowles. 
Miss  Ellen  Tree  had  made  her  first  appearance  upon 
the  stage  at  Co  vent  Garden  in  1823,  when  she  was 
scarcely  seventeen.  She  played  Olivia  in  "Twelfth 
Night,"  the  occasion  being  the  benefit  of  her  sister,  Miss 
M.  Tree,  who  represented  Viola. 

It  was  in  1850  that  Charles  Kean,  having  for  his 
partner  the  favourite  comedian  Robert  Keeley,  became 
lessee  of  the  Princess's  Theatre  in  Oxford  Street,  and 
first  undertook  the  cares  and  toils  of  management.  The 
preceding  years  had  been  occupied  with  protracted 
•engagements  in  America  and  the  provinces.  For  two 


246  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

seasons  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Kean  had  appeared  at 
the  Haymarket,  less  as  "  stars "  than  as  permanent 
members  of  a  strong  company,  content  to  play  such 
parts  as  the  management  might  assign  to  them.  They 
brought  with  them  Mr.  Lovell's  drama  of  "  The  Wife's 
Secret,"  which  had  enjoyed  many  representations  in 
America.  They  appeared  in  the  new  plays  of  "  Strath- 
more,"  by  Dr.  Marston ;  "The  Loving  Woman,"  by 
Mark  Lemon ;  "  Leap  Year,"  by  Mr.  Buckstone ;  and 
in  "  King  Rene's  Daughter,"  an  adaptation  from  the 
Danish  of  Henrik  Herz;  and  they  sustained  many  of 
their  accustomed  Shakesperian  characters.  Charles 
Kean  no  longer,  priced  his  performances  at  ^50  per 
night :  nevertheless,  as  an  actor,  he  had  risen  greatly  in 
general  estimation.  In  1848  he  had  been  selected  by 
the  Queen  to  conduct  the  dramatic  representations  at 
Windsor  Castle,  which  were  continued  annually  at  the 
Christmas  season  some  ten  years,  with  interruptions  in 
1850  owing  to  the  death  of  the  Queen  Dowager,  and  in 
1855  because  of  the  Crimean  War  and  the  national 
gloom  it  had  induced.  Early  in  1851  Macready  retired 
from  the  stage,  and  it  must  be  said  that  for  many  years 
the  admirers  and  private  friends  of  Macready  had  been 
among  the  most  hostile  of  Charles  Kean's  critics.  He 
was  now  to  be  viewed  as  in  some  sort  the  last  of  the 
"  legitimate "  tragedians ;  perhaps  he  was  also  to  be 
accounted  the  least  of  them.  He  had  survived  the 


CHARLES  KEAN; 


247 


wreck  of  the  patent  houses ;  he  was  almost  the  only 
representative  of  the  long  line  of  players  who  had  played 
"  leading  business,"  appeared  in  high  tragedy,  upon  the 
stages  of  Drury  Lane  .and  Covent  Garden.  The  one 
establishment  was  now  devoted  to  the  uses  of  Italian 
Opera;  the  other  had  sunk  to  the  level  of  a  minor 
theatre — had  been  turned  into  a  circus,  a  promenade 
concert  room.  The  Act  of  1843  had  absolutely 
abolished  the  theatrical  protective  system,  and  instituted 
free  trade  in  the  drama.  It  was  not  surprising,  perhaps, 
that  in  stage  politics  Charles  Kean  should  be  an  extreme 
Tory.  He  had  lived  to  see  the  swift  decline  of  that 
poetic  drama  and  that  school  of  heroic  acting  which  at 
the  outset  of  his  career  had  seemed  so  firmly  founded. 
He  could  not  believe  that  the  period  was  one  of  transi- 
tion only.  He  could  discover  no  hope  upon  the  horizon. 
To  his  thinking  the  drama  was  lost,  and  lost  for  ever. 
1  'The  change  is  going  on  every  night,"  he  said  before 
the  Parliamentary  Committee  on  Theatrical  Licences  in 
1866;  "we  are  going  deeper  into  the  mire."  There 
were  no  actors.  There  was  no  supply  of  young  actors. 
There  was  no  training  for  them,  no  possibility  of 
educating  them.  "Actors,"  he  said,  "cannot  spring 
into  experience  without  going  through  a  training.  In 
my  boyhood  we  never  considered  that  a  man  had  gone 
through  his  probation  until  he  had  been  on  the  stage 
for  seven  years ;  but  now  an  actor  plays  the  leading 


HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


parts  of  Shakespeare  before  he  has  been  on  the  stage 
two  years  ! "  He  had  forgotten,  apparently,  his  own 
boyish  attempts.  He  deprecated  the  licensing  of  more 
theatres ;  there  were  already  too  many.  "  If  you  go  on 
licensing  theatres,  you  will  drive  the  higher  class  of 
drama  off  the  stage — the  art  will  vanish."  He  held  that 
"the  greatest  blow  the  drama  ever  received  was  the 
doing  away  with  the  patent  theatres  :  from  this  it  had 
never  recovered,  and  never  would."  The  remedy — if 
the  state  of  things  really  needed  a  remedy — should  have 
been,  not  less,  but  more  patent  theatres,  in  correspond- 
ence with  the  increase  of  the  population. 

But  for  the  nullifying  of  the  patents  by  the  Act  of 
1843,  however,  Charles  Kean  could  not  have  played 
Shakespeare  at  the  Princess's  Theatre,  and  it  was  with 
every  disposition  to  make  the  best  of  the  position  of 
affairs  that  he  entered  upon  his  managerial  career.  "  We 
can't  now,"  he  said  at  the  time,  "  be  bound  by  the  old 
rules  and  keep  troubling  ourselves  about  what  John 
Kemble  didn't  like  or  Macready  wouldn't  do.  I've 
thrown  away  the  dignity  of  a  tragedian.  I'm  prepared 
now  to  undertake  any  part.  I'll  play  low  comedy  if 
need  be.  I  did  appear  as  a  footman  at  the  Haymarket 
only  a  little  time  ago."  This  was  in  the  comedy  of 
"  Leap  Year " — the  footman  proving  to  be  a  lover  in 
disguise,  however.  The  entertainments  of  the  Princess's 
were  therefore  various  enough,  and  Charles  Kean 


CHARLES  KEAN.  249 


advanced  further  towards  melodrama  than  he  had  ever 
ventured  in  his  earlier  years :  low  comedy  he  was  not 
really  required  to  undertake.  The  partnership  with  Mr. 
Keeley  did  not  long  endure,  although  the  firm  closed 
their  first  season  of  thirteen  months  with  a  net  profit  of 
^7000 :  it  was  the  year  of  the  first  Great  Exhibition  in 
Hyde  Park.  In  the  November  of  1851  the  Princess's 
Theatre  reopened  under  the  sole  direction  of  Charles 
Kean. 

New  plays  of  pretence  were  forthcoming  at  any  rate 
during  the  earlier  years  of  Charles  Kean's  management, 
before  he  devoted  himself  so  exclusively  to  his  richly 
embellished  revivals  of  Shakespeare.  At  the  Princess's 
were  first  produced  Douglas  Jerrold's  dramas  of  "St. 
Cupid"  and  "A  Heart  of  Gold,"  Dr.  Marston's  "Anne 
Blake,"  Mr.  Lovell's  "Trial  of  Love,"  Mr.  Slous's 
"  Templar,"  "  The  First  Printer,"  by  Mr.  Charles  Reade 
and  Tom  Taylor,  and  Mr.  Boucicault's  "Love  in  a 
Maze  j "  and  to  these  are  to  be  added  the  plays  of 
foreign  origin,  "  The  Duke's  Wager,"  a  version  of 
"Mademoiselle  de  Belle-Isle,"  "Louis  XL,"  "The 
Corsican  Brothers,"  "Pauline,"  "The  Courier  of  Lyons," 
"  Marco  Spada,"  "  Faust  and  Marguerite,"  etc.  It  is 
curious  that  out  of  this  list  certain  of  the  foreign  plays 
only  have  secured  any  hold  upon  the  English  stage,  or 
undergone  the  honour  of  reproduction.  A  revival  in 
1853  of  Lord  Byron's  "  Sardanapalus "  attracted  great 


250  HOURS   WITH  T.HE  PLAYERS. 

attention,  not  because  of  the  tragedy's  intrinsic  merits, 
but  in  that  Mr.  Layard's  excavations  and  discoveries  at 
Nineveh  had  been  ingeniously  turned  to  account  by  the 
stage-decorator.  A  spectacle  was  provided,  rich  in 
winged  bulls,  costumes,  armour  and  arms,  and  curiosities 
of  Assyrian  architecture,  such  as  Lord  Byron  assuredly 
had  not  dreamt  of.  Sardanapalus,  very  dusky  of  skin, 
and  wearing  a  long  and  elaborately  plaited  beard,  was 
personated  by  Charles  Kean,  Mrs.  Kean  appearing  as 
the  Ionian  Myrrha.  In  his  revivals  of  Shakespeare, 
Charles  Kean  had  for  his  predecessors  the  Kembles  and 
Macready,  if  he  had  to  deal  with  a  much  smaller  stage 
and  a  weaker  company  than  were  at  their  disposal.  But 
he  advanced  beyond  their  example.  He  was  so  far  true 
to  the  poet's  text  that,  while  condensing  it,  he  did  not 
garble  or  adulterate  it ;  but  he  made  it  more  and  more 
an  excuse  for  displaying  the  arts  of  the  scene-painter, 
the  costumier,  and  the  stage  -  machinist.  All  was 
admirably  contrived,  the  utmost  pains  being  taken  to 
secure  archaeological  correctness  and  to  content  anti- 
quarian critics.  But  the  play  seemed  sometimes  to  grow 
pale  and  faint  because  of  the  weighty  splendour  of  its 
adornments.  As  Macready  expressed  it,  "the  text 
allowed  to  be  spoken  was  more  like  a  running  com- 
mentary upon  the  spectacles  exhibited  than  the  scenic 
arrangements  an  illustration  of  the  text.  It  has,  how- 
ever, been  popular,"  he  added,  "  and  the  main  end 


CHARLES  KEAN.  251 


answered."  The  Shakesperian  plays  revived  at  the 
Princess's  Theatre  in  this  costly,  luxurious,  and  resplen- 
dent fashion,  were  "King  John,"  "Macbeth,"  "King 
Henry  VIIL,"  "The  Winter's  Tale,"  King  Lear,"  "A 
Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"  "  King  Richard  II.,"  "The 
Tempest,"  "The  Merchant  of  Venice,"  "Much  Ado 
about  Nothing,"  and  "  King  Henry  V."  "  Richard  III." 
was  also  produced,  but,  sad  to  relate,  in  deference  to  the 
memories  of  Garrick,  Kemble,  Cooke,  and  Edmund 
Kean,  the  text  was  Colley  Gibber's,  and  not  Shake- 
speare's ! 

These  revivals  succeeded  because  of  their  magnifi- 
cence as  spectacles  or  pageants,  yet  it  is  to  be  said  that 
with  them  Charles  Kean's  exertions  as  an  actor  were 
invariably  well  received;  he  found,  indeed,  much  and 
faithful  admiration ;  he  had  fairly  conquered  his  public. 
His  term  of  management  over,  he  was  enabled  to  figure 
again  prosperously  as  a  "  star,"  and  to  sustain  the  great 
Shakesperian  characters  upon  country  and  colonial  stages 
with  but  the  slightest  aid  from  the  scenic  artist  or  the 
stage  manager.  He  had  fought  hard  to  retrieve  the 
errors  of  what  may  be  called  his  first  histrionic  manner, 
and  to  subdue  the  prejudices  excited  against  him  by  his 
raw  and  boyish  efforts,  his  premature  appearance  upon 
the  stage.  By  dint  of  assiduous  and  wary  labour,  helped 
by  his  genuine  love  of  his  art,  he  had  become  a  skilled 
and  finished  actor.  He  had  persevered  with  himself 


252  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

not  less  than  with  his  audience.  He  forced  from  them 
their  applause,  having  first  forced  himself  to  deserve  it. 
And  he  worked  with  trying,  harsh,  ungrateful  materials. 
Nature  had  not  been  kind  to  him.  He  was  low  of 
stature,  and,  although  he  acquired  a  certain  grace  and 
dignity  of  bearing,  he  was  inelegant  of  form.  The  early 
description  of  him  as  one  who  "  spoke  as  though  he  had 
a  cold,  or  were  pressing  his  finger  against  his  nose," 
remained  true  to  the  last :  his  pronunciation  of  certain 
words  was  thus  affected,  and  something  of  ludicrousness 
or  caricature  seemed  often  to  haunt  his  elocution.  His 
voice  was  strong,  however ;  he  was  capable  of  feats  of 
rapid  enunciation,  and  he  could  indulge  at  times  in  a 
sort  of  passionate  vociferousness  that  was  highly  effective 
if  it  occasionally  degenerated  into  rant.  Lockhart, 
writing  in  1838,  commended  "the  sweet  melancholy" 
tones  of  the  actor's  voice ;  and,  while  admitting  he 
"would  never  declaim  like  Kemble,"  held  that  "his 
whisper  was  as  effective  as  ever  Mrs.  Siddons's  was." 
But  there  was  little  charm  in  Charles  Kean's  oratory ;  it 
lacked  musical  variety,  it  was  too  prosaic,  and  here  and 
there  was  marred  by  errors  of  emphasis  or  odd  jerks  and 
spasms  of  the  voice.  He  was  far  happier  in  his  delivery 
of  short  sentences,  sharp  questions,  or  stinging  replies. 
His  face,  plain  of  feature,  was  immobile  of  expression, 
although  his  heavy-lidded  eyes  were  bright  and  pene- 
trating. He  was  versed  in  all  stage  accomplishments, 


CHARLES  KEAN.  253 

was  adroit  of  attitude,  fenced  well,  gesticulated  with 
address,  making  good  use  of  his  small  and  shapely 
hands.  An  air  of  refinement  attended  him,  and  for  all  his 
lack  of  comeliness  he  always  wore  the  look  of  a  gentle- 
man. For  the  more  stately  of  Shakespeare's  heroes  he 
was  deficient  in  physical  attributes;  his  Othello  and 
Macbeth,  for  instance,  seemed  too  insignificant  of  pre- 
sence, although  in  Wolsey  and  Lear  he  fought  success- 
fully with  Nature  and  became  picturesque.  His  Hamlet 
was  admired  for  its  polish  and  carefulness ;  it  was  indeed 
a  thoroughly  thoughtful  and  artistic  performance,  while 
its  theatrical  efficiency  was  beyond  question.  As  Richard 
and  Shylock,  he  simply  followed  as  closely  as  he  could 
his  father's  interpretation  of  those  characters.  A  certain 
supreme  energy  and  chivalric  exaltation  of  manner 
always  carried  him  successfully  through  such  parts  as 
Hotspur  and  Henry  V.  In  comedy  he  was  often  excel- 
lent. The  habitual  sadness  of  his  face  lent  a  strong 
effect  to  his  smiles,  while  his  peculiarities  of  voice  could 
be  readily  turned  in  the  direction  of  drollery.  His 
Mr.  Ford  in  "  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,"  his  Duke 
Aranza,  Don  Felix,  and  Mr.  Oakley*  were  admirable  ex- 
amples of  comic  impersonation ;  his  Benedick,  although 
he  could  not  look  the  character,  was  full  of  humorous 
animation  and  intelligence.  Perhaps  the  main  secret  of 
his  success  lay  in  his  earnestness  of  manner  and  his 
incisiveness  of  delivery,  seconded  by  his  special  power  of 


254  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

self-control.  He  had  learnt  the  value  of  repose  in 
acting,  of  repressing  all  excitement  of  attitude  and 
gesture,  and  he  imported  into  modern  tragedy  a  sort  of 
drawing-room  air  little  known  upon  the  English  stage 
before  his  time.  In  this  wise  he  did  not  the  less,  but 
rather  the  more,  impress  his  audience.  There  was  at 
times  what  has  been  called  "  a  deadly  quiet "  about  his 
acting  which  exercised  a  curious  silencing  and  chilling 
influence  over  the  spectators ;  they  became  awed,  were 
set  shuddering,  and  remained  spell-bound,  they  scarcely 
knew  how  or  why.  It  was  particularly  in  plays  of  the 
French  school,  such  as  "  Pauline  "  and  "  The  Corsican 
Brothers,"  that  these  qualities  of  his  art  manifested  them- 
selves. At  the  same  time  he  never  sank  to  the  level  of 
conventional  melodrama,  but  rather  lifted  it  to  the  height 
of  tragedy.  He  might  appear  in  highly  coloured  situa- 
tions, but  he  betrayed  no  exaggeration  of  demeanour  ; 
his  bearing  was  still  subdued  and  self-contained.  His 
solemn  fixedness  of  facial  expression,  the  sorrow-laden 
monotony  of  his  voice — defects  in  certain  histrionic  cir- 
cumstances— were  of  advantage  in  the  effect  of  con- 
centration and  intensity  they  imparted  to  many  of  his 
performances.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  distinguish  him- 
self greatly  in  what  may  be  called  "  one-idea-ed  "  parts, 
of  which  his  Mr.  Ford  in  comedy  and  his  Louis  XI.  in 
tragedy  may  be  taken  as  examples.  His  claim  to  be 
remembered  as  an  actor  may  be  found  to  depend  upon 


CHARLES  KEAN.  255 

these  characteristics  or  peculiarities  of  his  professional 
method,  which,  being  individual  and  personal,  "  differen- 
tiate "  him  from  earlier  and  later  players. 

Charles  Kean's  management  of  the  Princess's  Theatre 
closed  in  1859.  In  the  July  of  that  year  a  banquet  was 
held  in  his  honour  at  St.  James's  Hall,  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle  of  that  day  presiding,  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  then 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  Lord  Palmerston's  ad- 
ministration, making  a  speech  upon  the  occasion.  Many 
eminent  personages  were  assembled,  including  certain  of 
the  actor's  contemporaries  at  Eton  College.  Mr.  Kean's 
later  years  were  devoted  to  the  fulfilment  of  various  en- 
gagements in  London  and  the  provinces,  America  and 
the  colonies.  But  he  did  not  extend  his  repertory,  he 
undertook  no  new  characters  ;  he  was  content  to  repeat 
again  and  again  the  performances  which  had  already 
secured  him  so  large  a  share  of  public  favour.  His 
"  grand  tour  "  was  on  a  scale  such  as  earlier  actors,  how- 
ever prone  to  stroll,  could  scarcely  have  contemplated, 
and  included  California  and  Australia.  It  may  be  said, 
indeed,  that,  aided  by  his  wife  and  a  small  company 
travelling  with  him,  he  played  in  every  part  of  the  ha- 
bitable globe  occupied  by  English-speaking  inhabitants 
and  possessed  of  a  stage  upon  which  players  could  pre- 
sent themselves. 

Charles  Kean  died,  after  a  brief  illness,  at  his  house 
in  London,  on  the  22nd  January,  1868. 


256  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 


CHAPTER  XL 

A   NOTE   ON    FECHTER. 

I  FIRST  saw  the  late  Charles  Fechter  in  Paris  a  long 
time  since,  when  Prince  Louis  Bonaparte  presided  over 
the  second  French  Republic  and  the  barrel-organs  were 
still  busy  grinding  out  "  Mourir  pour  la  Patrie  ;  "  when 
the  charming  Rose  Cheri  was  the  accepted  heroine 
of  sentimental  comedy,  and  the  incomparable  Rachel 
Felix  was  the  absolute  tragedy-queen  of  the  Theatre 
Frangais  ;  when  Lamartine's  "  Toussaint  L'Ouverture  " 
was  in  course  of  representation  at  the  Porte  St.  Martin, 
much  lamp-black  being  consumed  by  the  personators  of 
the  natives  of  St.  Domingo,  and  Melingue  was  strutting 
and  fretting  in  the  portentous  play  of  "  Urbain  Grandier" 
at  Alexander  Dumas'  Theatre  Historique;  when  Auriol 
was  a  famous  clown  and  Gavarni  the  most  admired  of 
caricaturists ;  and  when  a  good  many  of  us  were  "  young 
and  curly  "  who  are  now  old,  and  grey  or  bald,  as  the 
case  may  be.  Charles  Fechter  was  rather  to  be  re- 


A   NOTE   ON  FEC PITER.  257 

marked  for  his  good  looks  than  his  good  acting  in  those 
days.  He  played  at  the  Ambigu  Comique  parts  not 
very  taxing  to  the  intellect,  such  as  Phoebus,  in  an 
elaborate  acting-edition  of  "  Notre  Dame,"  and  Amcutry 
in  a  long  melodrama,  "  Les  Quatre  Fils  Aymon,"  familiar 
to  some  Englishmen  as  the  theme  of  one  of  Balfe's 
operas.  The  young  player  was  much  slimmer  of  figure 
than  he  became  in  later  times  ;  his  handsome  face — it 
had  always  an  English  look,  to  my  thinking — was  less 
fleshy ;  his  manner  was  very  bright  and  gay,  with  an  air 
of  romance  and  picturesqueness  about  it  peculiar  to  the 
man.  But  he  did  not  impress  the  public  very  deeply. 
It  was  not,  I  think,  until  1852,  when  he  appeared  as 
Armand  Duval  in  "  La  Dame  aux  Camelias,  to  the 
Marguerite  Gautier  of  Madame  Doche,  that  his  merits 
were  fairly  asserted  or  recognized.  The  facts  of  his 
theatrical  career  subsequently  have  been  often  recited, 
and  are  well  known.  He  became  famous  as  the  best 
stage-lover  of  his  time. 

It  chanced  that  he  was  born  in  England ;  but  English 
was  to  him  always  a  foreign  language,  and  the  feat  of 
his  success  upon  our  stage  has  hardly  received  its  meed 
of  applause.  Charles  Mathews  won  much  admiration 
by  his  performance  of  two  characters  in  French  before  a 
Parisian  audience,  but  the  effort  was  quite  of  an  exotic 
sort.  It  stirred  curiosity  and  amused,  and  there  was  an 
VOL.  n.  s 


258  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

end  of  it.  No  one  knew  better  than  Mathews  himself 
that  there  was  no  abiding-place  for  him  upon  French 
boards ;  he  was  there  merely  as  a  visitor,  liable  at  any 
moment  to  discover  that  he  was  outstaying  his  welcome. 
But  Charles  Fechter  firmly  established  himself  in 
England;  he  remained  here  for  nearly  ten  years.  He 
performed  a  long  list  of  characters,  he  became  a  London 
manager,  he  played  in  Shakespeare,  and  took  high  rank 
among  our  best  players.  The  English  public  greatly 
admired  him,  and  but  for  his  ambition  to  extend  his 
fame,  and  the  favour  awarded  him  in  America,  it  is 
probable  that  he  would  have  remained  among  us,  a 
leading,  esteemed,  and  prosperous  actor  to  the  last.  It 
is  true  that  he  always  spoke  English  with  a  strong 
foreign  accent,  and  that  he  was  never  able  to  deliver 
English  blank-verse  with  due  regard  to  its  rhythmical 
properties.  He  reduced  it  to  plain  prose.  And  these 
were  grave  defects.  But  with  every  actor  appearing  in 
the  poetic  or  heroic  drama  there  is  always  something 
the  audience  have  to  "  get  over,"  to  grow  accustomed 
to,  to  become  reconciled  with  and  to  forget.  It  may  be 
defect  of  face  or  of  figure,  tricks  of  manner,  faults  of 
gesture  and  deportment.  In  Fechter's  case,  his  accent, 
the  havoc  he  made  of  the  blank-verse,  and  a  certain 
"  throaty"  quality  of  voice,  had  to  be  forgiven  him.  In 
later  years,  too,  the  size  of  his  waist  had  to  be  over- 


A   NOTE   ON  FECHTER. 


259 


looked.  But,  discount  having  been  allowed  in  these 
respects,  Fechter's  acting  was  full  of  charm.  There  was 
a  French  redundancy  of  gesture,  no  doubt,  and  he  had 
;i  way  of  looking  not  immediately  towards  the  persons  he 
addressed,  but  at  some  imagined  point — a  yard,  perhaps, 
above  their  heads.  Presumably  he  thought  his  fine  eyes 
were  thus  seen  to  the  best  advantage.  But  he  suited  the 
action  to  the  word  with  singular  appropriateness;  he 
was  very  graceful  of  movement ;  he  never  relaxed  his 
grasp  of  the  character  he  represented ;  he  was  refined, 
fervent,  pathetic,  passionate.  He  appeared  with  success 
in  what  are  called  " coat-and-waistcoat "  plays;  but  he 
was  best  pleased,  I  think,  to  figure  in  dramas  permitting 
an  exhibition  of  his  taste  and  skill  in  costume.  He 
liked  a  romantic  story  with  a  chivalrous  hero  attired  in  a 
picturesque  dress.  Of  course  he  was  more  effective  in 
some  parts  than  in  others  ;  certain  of  Lemaitre's  charac- 
ters suited  him  very  indifferently,  and  his  Othello  won 
little  approval ;  but  his  success  was  great  as  Ruy  Bias, 
as  Henri  de  Lagardere,  as  Claude  Melnottc,  Obenreizer, 
Edgar  of  Ravenswood,  and  as  Hamlet.  His  term  of 
management  commenced  most  happily  with  "The  Duke's 
Motto,"  and  he  thrived  greatly  for  some  seasons  ;  but  he 
was  not  well  advised  in  his  choice  of  new  productions. 
"Bel  Demonio,"  "  The  King's  Butterfly,"  and  "The 
Watch- Cry"  were  but  poor  plays. 


260  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

He  was  very  inventive  in  the  matter  of  stage  business, 
and  desirous  always  of  substituting  new  business  for  old. 
He  professed  that  it  had  been  to  him  an  unceasing 
labour  of  love  for  twenty  years  to  reform  the  scenic 
representation  of  Shakespeare.  He  denounced  "  tra- 
dition" as  a  "worm-eaten  and  unwholesome  prison, 
where  dramatic  art  languishes  in  fetters,"  forgetting  that 
it  is  the  great  players  who  legislate  for  the  stage  in  this 
regard,  and  hand  it  down  its  traditions.  Did  he  not 
look  forward  to  his  own  innovations  becoming  in  time 
traditions?  Fechter's  Hamlet  will  long  be  reckoned 
by  playgoers  among  the  best  Hamlets  they  have  ever 
known.  I  have  seen  perhaps  a  score  of  Hamlets,  in- 
cluding the  Hamlets  of  Macready,  of  Charles  Kean.  of 
Emil  Devrient,  and  Salvini :  it  seems  to  me  that  Fechter's 
Hamlet  ranks  with  the  worthiest  of  these.  He  had 
special  physical  qualifications;  his  manner  was  natural 
and  charming.  As  Mr.  G.  H.  Lewes  wrote  at  the  time  : 
"  Fechter  is  lymphatic,  delicate,  handsome,  and  with  his 
long  flaxen  curls,  quivering,  sensitive  nostrils,  fine  eye, 
and  sympathetic  voice,  perfectly  represents  the  graceful 
Prince.  His  aspect  and  bearing  are  such  that  the  eye 
rests  on  him  with  delight ;  our  sympathies  are  completely 
secured,"  etc.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
failure  in  the  part  of  Hamlet  has  been  of  rare  occurrence, 
and  that  applause  has  been  carried  off  by  Hamlets  of 


A  NOTE   ON  FECIITER.  261 

but  meagre  histrionic  capacity.  Macready  pronounced 
as  the  result  of  his  experience  that  "  no  actor  possessed 
of  moderate  advantages  of  person,  occasional  animation, 
and  some  knowledge  of  stage  business,  can  entirely  fail 
in  the  part  of  Hamlet.  The  interest  of  the  story,  and  the 
rapid  succession  of  startling  situations  growing  out  of  it, 
compel  the  attention  of  the  spectator,  and  irresistibly 
engage  his  sympathy."  The  success  of  Fechter  in  Hamlet 
really  owed  little  to  his  innovations,  his  neglect  of  tra- 
ditions ;  although  a  certain  amused  curiosity  prevailed 
for  a  while  concerning  the  new  French  Hamlet  who  wore 
a  flaxen  wig.  I  will  not  venture  to  discuss  at  length  his 
new  views  and  readings,  his  new  stage  business,  but 
these  have  been  fully  placed  upon  record.  It  was  the 
firm  belief  of  Fechter's  Hamlet,  in  defiance  of  general 
opinion  to  the  contrary,  that  Queen  Gertrude  was 
Claudius's  accomplice  in  the  murder  of  her  husband. 
In  the  time  of  Fechter's  Hamlet  it  was  the  fashion  in 
Denmark  to  wear  a  medallion  portrait,  swinging  from  a 
gold  chain,  round  the  neck.  Fechter's  Hamlet  wore  thus 
a  portrait  of  his  father;  the  Queen  wore  a  portrait  of 
Claudius ;  Guildenstern  was  similarly  adorned.  Usually 
there  is  not  a  pin  to  choose  between  Rosencrantz  and 
Guildenstern  ;  the  unfortunate  gentlemen  are  alike  odious 
to  Hamlet,  and  they  are  slaughtered  off  the  stage,  at 
the  instigation  of  that  prince,  after  they  have  been  well 


262  HOURS   WITH  THE  PLAYERS. 

murdered  in  the  presence  of  the  house  by  their  histrionic 

representatives.     But  to  Fechter's  Hamlet  Rosencrantz 

was  less  hateful  than  Guildenstern  ;  Rosencrantz  wore  no 

portrait  round  his  neck.     When  Fechter's  Hamlet  spoke 

his  first  speech,  and  compared  the  late  king  to  Hyperion 

and  Claudius  to  a  satyr,  he  produced  and  gazed  fondly 

at  his  father's  picture;  when  he  mentioned   his  uncle's 

"picture  in  little"  he  illustrated  his  meaning  by  handling 

the    medallion   worn    by    Guildenstern ;    in   the   closet 

scene  he  placed   his    miniature    of   his  father  side  by 

side  with  his  mother's  miniature  of  Claudius ;  when  at 

the  close  of  their  interview  Gertrude  outstretched  her 

arm,  and  would  embrace  her  son,  he  held  up  sternly 

the  portrait  of  his  father ;  the  wretched  woman  recoiled 

and    staggered  from   the   stage ;    Hamlet    reverentially 

kissed  the  picture  as  he  murmured,   "  I  must  be  cruel," 

etc.     In  the  play-scene  Fechter's  Hamlet,  when  he  rose 

at  the  discomfiture  of  Claudius,  tore  the  leaves  from  the 

play-book  and  flung  them  in  the  air ;  in  the  scene  with 

Ophelia,  Fechter's   Hamlet  did   not  perceive   that  the 

King  was  watching  him ;  had  he  known  that  he  would 

have  been  so  convinced  of  his  uncle's  guilt,  that  the  play 

would  have  been  unnecessary.      In   the   fourth   act,  if 

Fechter's  Hamlet  had  not  been  well  guarded,  he  would 

have  killed  the  King  then  and  there.     In  the  last  scene 

a  gallery  ran  at  the  back  of  the  stage,  with  short  flights 


A  NOTE   ON  FECIITER.  2', ; 

of  stairs  on  either  side;  all  exits  and  entrances  were 
made  by  means  of  these  stairs.  Upon  the  confession  of 
Laertes,  the  King  endeavoured  to  escape  up  the  right- 
hand  staircase ;  Hamlet,  perceiving  this,  rushed  up  the 
left-hand  stairs,  and  encountering  Claudius  in  the  centre 
of  the  gallery,  there  despatched  him. 


THE   END. 


PRINTED   BY  WILLIAM  CLOWES   AND  SONS,   LIMITED.   LONDON   AND   IIKCCLES. 


Nov  ember t  1881. 


CHATTO  &  WINDUS'S 

LIST  OF  BOOKS. 

NE  W  FINE-AR  T  WORK.     Large  4to,  bound  in  buckram,  2u. 
Abdication,  The;  or,  Time  Tries  All. 

An  Historical  Drama.  By  W.  D.  SCOTT-MONCRIEFF.  With  Seven 
Etchings  by  JOHN  PETTIE,  R.A.,  W.  Q.  ORCHARDSON,  R.A.,  J.  MAC 
WHIRTER.  A.  R.  A.,  COLIN  HUNTER  ,  R.  MACBETH,  and  TOM  GRAHAM. 

Crown  8vo,  Coloured  Frontispiece  and  Illustrations,  cloth  gilt,  7*.  64. 

Advertising,  A  History  of. 

From  the  Earliest  Times.  Illustrated  by  Anecdotes,  Curious  Sped- 
mens,  and  Notices  of  Successful  Advertisers.  By  HENRY  SAMPSON. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  639  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Architectural  Styles,  A  Handbook  of. 

From  the  German  of  A.  ROSENGARTEN  by  W.  COLLETT-SANDARS. 
Crown  8vo,  with  Portrait  and  Facsimile,  cloth  extra,  ^s.  6d. 

Artemus  Ward's  Works : 

The  Works  of  CHARLES  FARRER  BROWNE,  better  known  as  ARTEMUS 
WARD.  With  Portrait,  Facsimile  of  Handwriting,  &c. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  75.  6d. 

Bankers,  A  Handbook  of  London; 

With  some  Account  of  their  Predecessors,  the  Early  Goldsmiths :  toge- 
ther  with  Lists  of  Bankers  from  1677  to  1876.  By  F.  G.  HILTON  PRICE. 

Bardsley  (Rev.  C.  W.),  Works  by : 

English    Surnames  :    Their  Sources  and  Significations.      By 
CHARLES  WAREING  BARDSLEY,  M.A.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d. 

Curiosities  of  Puritan   Nomenclature.      By   CHARLES  W. 

BARDSLKV.    Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  ys.  6d. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  Illustrated,  js.  6d. 

Bartholomew  Fair,  Memoirs  of. 

By  HENRY  MORLEY.    New  Edition,  with  One  Hundred  Illustrations. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


Imperial  4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  and  gilt  edges,  au.  per  volume. 

Beautiful  Pictures  by  British  Artists : 

A  Gathering  of  Favourites  from  our  Picture  Galleries.     In  Two  Series, 

The  FIRST  SERIES  including  Examples  by  WILKIE,  CONSTABLE, 

TURNER,  MULREADY,  LANDSEER,  MACLISE,  E.  M.  WARD,  FRITH, 

Sir  JOHN  GILBERT,  LESLIE,  ANSDELL,  MARCUS  STONE,  Sir  NOEL 

PATON,  FAED,  EYRE  CROWE,  GAVIN  O'NEIL,  and  MADOX  BROWN. 

The   SECOND  SERIES  containing  Pictures  by  ARMITAGE,  FAED, 

GOODALL,   HEMSLEY,  HORSLEY,   MARKS,  NICHOLLS,    Sir  NOEL 

PATON,    PICKERSGILL,    G,  SMITH,   MARCUS    STONE,    SOLOMON, 

STRAIGHT,  E.  M.  WARD,  and  WARREN. 

All  engraved  on  Steel  in  the  highest  style  of  Art.     Edited,  with 
Notices  of  the  Artists,  by  SYDNEY  ARMYTAGE,  M.A. 

"  This  book  is  well  got  up,  and  good  engravings  by  Jeens,  Lumb  Stocks,  and 
others,  bring  back  to  us  Royal  Academy  Exhibitions  of  past  years." — TIMES. 

Small  410,  green  and  gold,  6j.  6d. ;  gilt  edges,  ys.  6d. 

Bechstein's  As  Pretty  as  Seven, 

And  other  German  Stories.  Collected  by  LUDWIG  BECHSTEIN.  With 
Additional  Tales  by  the  Brothers  GRIMM,  and  too  Illustrations  by 

RlCHTER.  

One  Shilling  Monthly,  Illustrated. 

Belgravia  for  1882. 

A  New  Serial  Story,  entitled  "  All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men,' 
written  by  WALTER  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE,  Authors  of  "  Ready- 
Money  Mortiboy,"  &c;,  and  Illustrated  by  FRED.  BARNARD,  will  be 
begun  in  the  JANUARY  Number  of  BELGRAVIA  ;  this  Number  will 
contain  also  the  First  Chapters  of  a  New  Novel,  entitled  "  Th© 
Admiral's  Ward,"  by  Mrs.  ALEXANDER,  Author  of  "The 
Wooing  o't."  &c.  ;  and  the  first  of  a  series  of  Twelve  Papers,  entitled 
"  About  Yorkshire,"  by  KATHARINE  S.  MACQUOID,  illustrated  by 
T.  R.  MACQUOID. 

*,*  The  FORTY-FIFTH  Volume  of  BELGRAVIA,  elegantly  bound 
in  crimson  cloth,  full  gilt  side  and  back,  gilt  edges ,  price  7 s,6d.,  is  noi» 
ready, — Handsome  Cases  for  binding  volumes  can  be  had  at  zs.  each. 

Demy  8vo,  with  Illustrations,  is. 

Belgravia  Annual. 

With  Stories  by  WILKIE  COLLINS,  F.  W.  ROBINSON,  DUTTON  COOK, 
PERCY  FITZGERALD,  J.  ARBUTHNOT  WILSON,  HENRY  W.  LUCY 
D.  CHRISTIE  MURRAY,  JAMES  PAYN,  and  others.  \Nov.  10. 

Folio,. Jhalf-bound  boards,  India  Proofs,  aij. 

Blake  (William) : 

Etchings  from  his  Works.     By  W.  B.  SCOTT.    With  descriptive  Text. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Illustrations,  ?s.  6d. 

Boccaccio's  Decameron  ; 

or,  Ten  Days'  Entertainment.  Translated  into  English,  with  an  Intro- 
duction by  THOMAS  WRIGHT,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A.  With  Portrait, and 
STOTHARD'S  beautiful  Copperplates. 


CHATTO  &    WINDUS,   PICCADILLY. 


Demy  8vo,  Illustrated,  uniform  in  size  for  binding. 

Blackburn's  (Henry)  Art  Handbooks: 

Academy  Notes,  1875.     With  40  Illustrations.       is. 
Academy  Notes,  1876.     With  107  Illustrations,     is. 
Academy  Notes,  1877.    With  143  Illustrations,     is. 
Academy  Notes,  1878.    With  1 50  Illustrations,     is. 
Academy  Notes,  1879.    With  146  Illustrations,     is. 
Academy  Notes,  1880.    With  126  Illustrations,     u. 
Academy  Notes,  1881.     With  128  Illustrations,     is. 
Qrosvenor  Notes,  1878.  With  68  Illustrations.       is. 
Grosvenor  Notes,  1879.  With  60  Illustrations.       is. 
Grosvenor  Notes,  1880.  With  56  Illustrations.       is. 
G-rosvenor  Notes,  1881.  With  74  Illustrations.       is. 
Pictures  at  the  Paris  Exhibition,  1878.    80  Illustrations,    is. 
Pictures  at  South  Kensington.     With  70  Illustrations,     is. 
The  English  Pictures  at  the  National  Gallery.  1 14  Illusts.  i  s. 
The  Old  Masters  at  the  National  Gallery.  128 Illusts.    is.  6^. 
Academy  Notes,  1875-79.     Complete  in  One  Volume,  with 

nearly  600  Illustrations  in  Facsimile.     Demy  8vo,  cloth  limp,  6* . 

A  Complete  Illustrated  Catalogue  to  the  National,  Gallery. 

With  Notes  by  H.  BLACKBURN,  and  242  Illusts.  Demy  8vo,  cloth  limp,  3$. 

UNIFORM  WITH  "ACADEMY  NOTES." 

Hoyal  Scottish  Academy  Notes,  1878.  117  Illustrations,  is. 
Eoyal  Scottish  Academy  Notes,  1879.  125  Illustrations,  is. 
Royal  Scottish  Academy  Notes,  1880.  114  Illustrations,  is. 
Royal  Scottish  Academy  Notes,  1381.  104  Illustrations,  is. 
Glasgow  Institute  of  Fine  Arts  Notes,  1878.  95  Illusts.  is. 
Glasgow  Institute  of  Fine  Arts  Notes,  1879.  100  Illusts.  is. 
Glasgow  Institute  of  Fine  Arts  Notes,  1880.  120  Illusts.  is. 
Glasgow  Institute  of  Fine  Arts  Notes,  1881.  108  Illusts.  is. 
Walker  Art  Gallery  Notes,  Liverpool,  1878.  112  Illusts.  is. 
Walker  Art  Gallery  Notes,  Liverpool,  1879.  100  Illusts.  is. 
Walker  Art  Gallery  Notes,  Liverpool,  1880.  100  Illusts.  is. 
Royal  Manchester  Institution  Notes,  1878.  88  Illustrations,  is. 
Society  of  Artists  Notes,  Birmingham,  1878.  95  Illusts.  is. 
Children  of  the  Great  City.  By  F.  W.  LAWSON.  is. 

Bowers'  (G.)  Hunting  Sketches : 

Canters  in  Crampshire.    By  G.  BOWERS.     I.   Gallops  from 

Gorseborough.     II.  Scrambles  with  Scratch  Packs.      III.  Studies  with 
Stag  Hounds.     Oblong  4to,  half-bound  boards,  211. 

Leaves  from  a  Hunting  Journal.    By  G.  BOWERS.   Coloured  in 

facsimile  of  the  originals..   Oblong  4±o,  half- bound,  21 J. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  js.  6d. 

Brand's  Observations  on  Popular  Antiquities, 

chiefly  Illustrating  the  Origin  of  our  Vulgar  Customs,  Ceremonies,  and 
Superstitions.  With  the  Additions  of  Sir  HENRY  ELLIS.  An  entirely 
New  and  Revised  Edition,  with  fine  full-page  Illustrations. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


Bret  Harte,  Works  by : 

Bret  Harte's  Collected  Works.     Arranged  and  Revised  by  the 

Author.    Complete  in  Five  Vols.,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6j.  each. 

VoL     ,  I.  COMPLETE  POETICAL  AND  DRAMATIC  WORKS.  With  Steel  Plate 
Portrait,  and  an  Introduction  by  the  Author. 

Vol.     II.  EARLIER  PAPERS — LUCK  OF  ROARING  CAMP,  and  other  Sketches 
— BOHEMIAN  PAPERS — SPANISH  and  AMERICAN  LEGENDS. 

Vol.  III.  TALES  OF  THE  ARGONAUTS— EASTERN  SKETCHES. 

Vol.    IV.  GABRIEL  CONROY. 

Vol.      V.  STORIES — CONDENSED  NOVELS,  &c. 
The  Select  Works  of  Bret  Harte,  in  Prose  and  Poetry.    With 

Introductory  Essay  by  ].  M.   BELLEW,  Portrait  of  the  Author,  and  50 
Illustrations.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  -js.  6d. 

An  Heiress  of  Red  Dog,  and  other  Stories.   By  BRET  HARTE, 

Post  8vo,  illustrated  boards,  25.  \  cloth  limp,  zs.  6d. 

The  Twins  of  Table  Mountain.      By  BRET  HARTE.     Fcap. 

8vo,  picture  cover,  is. ;  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  3.1.  6d. 

The  Luck  of  Roaring  Camp,  and  other  Sketches.     By  BRET 

HARTE.     Post  8vo,  illustrated  boards,  zs. 

Jeff  Briggs's  Love  Story.    By  BRET  HARTE.   Fcap.  8vo,  picture 

cover,  is.  ;  cloth  extra,  zs.  6d. 
Small  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  full-page  Portraits,  45.  6d. 

Brewster's  (Sir  David)  Martyrs  of  Science. 

Small  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Astronomical  Plates,  4*.  6d. 

Brewster's  (Sir  D.)  More  Worlds  than  One, 

the  Creed  of  the  Philosopher  and  the  Hope  of  the  Christian. 

A  HANDSOME  GIFT-BOOK.— Small  410,   cloth  extra,  profusely 
Illustrated,  6s. 

Brushwood. 

By  T.   BUCHANAN  READ.    Illustrated  from  Designs  by  FREDERICK 
DIELMAN. 

THE  STOTHARD  BUN  VAN.— Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  ys.  6d. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

Edited  by  Rev.  T.    SCOTT.      With    17  beautiful  Steel   Plates    by 
STOTHARD,  engraved  by  GOODALL  ;  and  numerous  Woodcuts. 

Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d. 

Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy  : 

A  New  Edition,  complete,  corrected  and  enriched  by  Translations  of  the 
Classical  Extracts.  

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Illustrations,  <js.  6d. 

Byron's  Letters  and  Journals. 

With  Notices  of  his  Life.    By  THOMAS  MOORE.    A  Reprint  of  the 
Original  Edition,  newly  revised,  with  Twelve  full-page  Plates. 

Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  I4J. 

Campbell's  (Sir  GO  White  and  Black : 

Travels  in  the  Uni'ed  States.     By  Sir  GEORGE  CAMPBELL,  M.P. 


CHATTO  dr*    WIND  US,   PIC  C A  DILL}.  5 

Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Caravan  Route  (The)    between  Egypt  and 

Syria.    By  His  Imperial  and  Royal  Highness  the  ARCHDUKE  Luuwio 
SALVATOR  of  AUSTRIA.  With  23  full-page  Illustrations  by  the  Author. 

Post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  x*.  6d. 

Oarlyle  (Thomas)  On  the'  Choice  of  Books. 

With  a  Life  of  the  Author  by  R.  H.  SHEPHERD.     Entirely  New  ana 
Revised  Edition, 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d. 

Century  (A)  of  Dishonour  : 

A  Sketch  of  the  United  States  Government's  Dealings  with  some  of 
the  Indian  Tribes. 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Chap-Books.— A  History  of  the  Chap-Books 

of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  By  JOHN  ASHTON.  With  nearly  400 
Illustrations,  engraved  in  facsimile  of  the  originals.  [In  the  press. 

*#*  A  few  Large- Paper  copies  will  be  carefully  printed  on  hand-made 
paper,  for  which  early  application  should  be  made. 

Large  410,  half-bound,  profusely  Illustrated,  28^. 

Chatto  and  Jackson.— A  Treatise  on  Wood 

Engraving  :  Historical  and  Practical.  By  WILLIAM  ANDREW  CHATTO 
and  JOHN  JACKSON.  With  an  Additional  Chapter  by  HENRY  G. 
BOHN;  and  450  fine  Illustrations.  A  reprint  of  the  last  Revised  Edition. 

Small  4to,  cloth  gilt,  with  Coloured  Illustrations,  los.  6d. 

Chaucer  for  Children: 

A  Golden  Key.  By  Mrs.  H.  R.  HAWEIS.  With  Eight  Coloured 
Pictures  and  numerous  Woodcuts  by  the  Author. 

Demy  8vo,  cloth  limp,  zs.  6d. 

Chaucer  for  Schools. 

By  Mrs.  HAWEIS,  Author  of  "  Chaucer  for  Children." 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  limp,  with  Map  and  Illustrations,  2J.  6d. 

Cleopatra's  Needle: 

Its  Acquisition  and  Removal  to  England.     By  Sir  J.  E.  ALEXANDER. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  js.  &£ 

Colman's  Humorous  Works : 

"  Broad  Grins,"  "  My  Nightgown  and  Slippers,"  and  other  Humorous 
Works,  Prose  and  Poetical,  of  GEORGE  COLMABT.  With  Life  by  (J. 
B.  BUCKSTONE,  and  Frontispiece  by  HOGARTH. 


8  BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 

Demy  8vo,  cloth,  i6j. 

Dutt's  India,  Past  and  Present; 

with  Minor  Essays  on  Cognate  Subjects.    By  SHOSHEE  CHUNDES 
DUTT,  Rdi  Bahadoor. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  boards,  6s.  per  Volume. 

Early  English  Poets. 

Edited,  with  Introductions  and  Annotations,  by  Rev.  A.  B.  GROSART. 


1.  Fletcher's  (Giles,  B.D.)  Com- 

plete Poems :  Christ's  Victorie  in 
Heaven,  Christ's  Victorie  on  Earth 
Christ's  Triumph  over  Death,  anc 
Minor  Poems.  With  Memorial- In- 
troduction and  Notes.  One  Vol. 

2.  Da  vies'  (Sir  John)  Complete 


3.  Herrick's  (Robert)  Hesperi- 

des,  Noble  Numbers,  and  Complete 

jLACdvcn,  \_xuiiai  a  » iv-njut  \jn  u<u iii.   j          Collected  Poems.    With  Memorial- 
Christ's  Triumph  over  Death,  and  Introduction  and  Notes,  Steel  Por- 
trait,   Index    of  First    Lines,  and 
Glossarlal  Index,  &c.    Three  Vols. 

4.  Sidney's  (Sir  Philip)  Com- 


Poetical  Works,  including  Psalms  I.  j  plete  Poetical  Works,  Including  all 

to  L.  in  Verse,  and  other  hitherto  I  those  in  "Arcadia."    With  Portrait, 

Unpublished  MS S.,  for  the  first  time  j  Memorial- Introduction,    Essay    on 

Collected  and  Edited.     Memorial-  !  the  Poetry  of  Sidney,  and  Notes. 

Introduction  and  Notes.   Two  Vols.  '  Three  Vols. 

Imperial  8vo,  with  147  fine  Engravings,  half-morocco,  365. 

Early  Teutonic,  Italian,  and  French  Masters 

(The).     Translated  and  Edited  from  the  Dohme  Series,  by  A.  H. 
KEANE,  M.A.I.    With  numerous  Illustrations. 
"  Cannot  fail  to  be  of  the  utmost  use  to  students  q/  art  history" — TIMES. 

Crown  8v®,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Illustrations,  6s. 

Emanuel     On     Diamonds     and     Precious 

Stones  ;  their  History,  Value,  and  Properties  ;  with  Simple  Tests  for 
ascertaining  their  Reality.  By  HARRY  EMANUEL,  F.R.G.S.  With 
numerous  Illustrations,  Tinted  and  Plain. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  ys.  6d. 

Englishman's  House,  The : 

A  Practical  Guide  to  all  interested  in  Selecting  or  Building  a  House, 
with  full  Estimates  of  Cost,  Quantities,  &c.  By  C.  J.  RICHARDSON. 
Third  Edition.  With  nearly  600  Illustrations. 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  nearly  300  Illustrations,  ?s.  6d. 

Evolution,  Chapters  on; 

A  Popular  History  of  the  Darwinian  and  Allied  Theories  of  Develop- 
ment. By  ANDREW  WILSON,  Ph.D.,  F.R.S.  Edin.  &c.  [In  preparation. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Evolutionist  (The)  At  Large. 

By  GRANT  ALLEN. 

By  the  same  Author.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Vignettes  from  Nature. 

By  GRANT  ALLEN.  \Inpreparation. 


CHATTO    &    WINDUS,   PICCADILLY.  9 

Folio,  cloth  extra,  £i  us.  6d. 

Examples  of  Contemporary  Art. 

Etchings  from  Representative  Works  by  living  English  and  Foreign 
Artists.    Edited,  with  Critical  Notes,  by  J.  COMYNS  CARR. 
*'  //  would  not  be  easy  to  meet  with  a  more  sumptuous  t  and  at  the  same  time 
a  more  tasteful  and  instructive  drawing-room  &w£."— NONCONFORMIST. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  6s. 

Fairholt's  Tobacco : 

Its  History  and  Associations  ;  with  an  Account  of  the  Plant  and  its 
Manufacture,  and  its  Modes  of  Use  in  all  Ages  and  Countries.  By  F. 
W.  FAIRHOLT,  F.S.A.  With  Coloured  Frontispiece  and  upwards  of 
ico  Illustrations  by  the  Author. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d. 

Familiar  Allusions : 

A  Handbook  of  Miscellaneous  Information  ;  including  the  Names  of 
Celebrated  Statues,  Paintings,  Palaces,  Country  Seats,  Ruins, 
Churches,  Ships,  Streets,  Clubs,  Natural  Curiosities,  and  the  like. 
By  WILLIAM  A.  WHEELER,  Author  of  "  Noted  Names  of  Fiction ;  ' 
and  CHARLES  G.  WHEELER.  [/»  the  press. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  41.  6d. 

Faraday's  Chemical  History  of  a  Candle. 

Lectures  delivered  to  a  Juvenile  Audience.  A  New  Edition.  Edited 
by  W.  CROOKES,  F.C.S.  With  numerous  Illustrations. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  4*.  6d. 

Faraday's  Various  Forces  of  Nature. 

New  Edition.  Edited  by  W.  CROOKES,  F.C.S.  Numerous  Illustrations. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  "js.  6d. 

Finger-Ring  Lore: 

Historical,  Legendary,  and  Anecdotal.  By  WM.  JONES,  F.S.A.   With 
Hundreds  of  Illustrations  of  Curious  Rings  of  all  Ages  and  Countries. 
"  One  of  those  gossiping  books  which  are  as  full  of  amusement  as  of  instruc- 
tion"— ATHENAEUM. 

Gardening  Books: 

A  Year's  Work  in  Garden  and  Greenhouse :  Practical  Advice 

to  Amateur  Gardeners   as  to  the  Management  of  the  Flower,   Fruit,  and 
Frame  Garden.     By  GEORGE  GLENNY.    Post  Svo,  cloth  limp,  zs.  6d. 
Our  Kitchen  Garden  :  The  Plants  we  Grow,  and   How  we 
Cook  Them.     By  TOM  JERROLD,  Author  of  "The  Garden  that  Paid  the 
Rent,"  &c.    Post  Svo,  cloth  limp,  zs.  f>d. 

Household  Horticulture  :  A  Gossip  about  Flowers.     By  TOM 

and  JANE  JERROLD.     Illustrated.     Post  Svo,  cloth  limp,  2,r.  6d. 

My  Garden  Wild,  and  What  I  Grew  there.     By  FRANCIS 

GEORGE  HEATH.    Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  5.?. 


io  BOOKS  PUBLISHED   BY 

One  Shilling  Monthly. 

Gentleman's  Magazine  (The),  for  1882. 

The  JANUARY  Number  of  this  Periodical  will  contain  the  First  Chapters 
of  a  New  Serial  Story,  entitled  "  Dust,"  by  JULIAN  HAWTHORNE, 
Author  of  "Garth,"  &c.  "Science  Notes,"  by  W.  MATTIEU 
WILLIAMS,  F.R.A.S.,  will  also  be  continued  monthly. 

*V*  Now  ready,  the  Vohtmefor  JANUARY  to  JUNE,  1881,  cloth  extra, 
price  8j.  6d.;  and  Cases  for  binding,  price  zs.  each. 

Demy  8vo,  illuminated  cover,  is. 

Gentleman's  Annual,  The. 

Containing  Two  Complete  Novels.  [Nov.  15. 

THE  RUSKIN  GRIMM.— Square  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s.  6d. ; 
gilt  edges,  js.  6d. 

'German  Popular  Stories. 

Collected  by  the  Brothers  GRIMM,  and  Translated  by  EDGAR  TAYLOR. 

Edited  with  an  Introduction  by  JOHN  RUSKIN.    With  22  Illustrations 

after  the  inimitable  designs  of  GEORGE  CRUIKSHANK.    Both  Series 

Complete. 

"  The  illustrations  of  this  volume  .  .  .  are  of  quite  sterling  and  admirable 
•art,  of  a  class  precisely  parallel  in  elevation  to  the  character  of  tJte  tales  which 
they  illustrate;  and  the  original  etchings,  as  I  have  before  said  in  the  Appendix  to 
tny  '  Elements  of  Drawing,'  were  unrivalled  in  masterfulness  of  touch  since  Rem- 
brandt (in  some  qualities  of  delineation,  unrivalled  evenly  him).  .  .  .  To  make 
tomcwhat  enlarged  copies  of  them,  looking  at  them  through  a  magnifying  glass  t 
and  never  putting  two  lines  wJiere  CruiksJiank  has  put  only  one,  would  be  an  exer- 
cise in  decision  and  severe  drawing  which  would  leave  afterwards  little  to  be  learnt 
in  schools"— Extract  from  Introduction  by  JOHN  RUSKIN. 

Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  2s.  6d. 

Glenny's  A  Year's   Work  in  Garden   and 

Greenhouse  :  Practical  Advice  to  Amateur  Gardeners  as  to  the  Manage- 
ment of  the  Flower,  Fruit,  and  Frame  Garden.    By  GEORGE  GLENNY. 
"  A  great  deal  of  valuable  information,  conveyed  in  very  simple  language.   The 
amateur  need  not  wish  for  a  better  guide" — LEEDS  MERCURY. 

Crown  8ve,  cloth  gilt  and  gilt  edges,  js.  6d. 

Golden  Treasury  of  Thought,  The : 

An  ENCYCLOPAEDIA  OF  QUOTATIONS  from  Writers  of  all  Times  and 
Countries.  Selected  and  Edited  by  THEODORE  TAYLOR 

New  and  Cheaper  Edition,  demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  js.6d. 

Greeks  and  Romans,  The  Life  of  the, 

Described  from  Antique  Monuments.  By  ERNST  GUHL  and  W. 
KONER.  Translated  from  the  Third  German  Edition,  and  Edited  by 
Dr.  F.  HUEFFER.  With  545  Illustrations. 


CHATTO  (Sr*    WIND  US,   PICCADILLY. 


n 


Square  i6mo  (Tauchnitz  size), 

Qolden  Library,  The : 

Ballad  History  of  England.  By  \ 

W.  C.  BKNNBTT. 

Bayard  Taylor's  Diversions  of 

the  Echo  Club. 

Byron's  Don  Juan. 
Emerson's  Letters  and  Social 

Aims. 

Godwin's  (William)  Lives  of 

the  Necromancers. 

Holmes's     Autocrat     of     the 

Breakfast  Table.  With  an  Introduc- 
tion by  G.  A.  SALA. 

Holmes's    Professor     at    the 

Breakfast  Table. 

Hood's  Whims  and  Oddities. 

Complete.  With  all  the  original  Il- 
lustrations. 

Irving' s  (Washington)  Tales  of 

a  Traveller. 

Irving's  (Washington)  Tales  of 

the  Alhambra. 

Jesse's  (Edward)  Scenes  and 

Occupations  of  Country  Life. 

Lamb's  Essays  of  Elia.     Both 

Series  Complete  in  One  Vol. 

Leigh  Hunt's  Essays  :  A  Tale 

for  a  Chimney  Corner,  and  other 
Pieces.  With  Portrait,  and  Introduc- 
tion by  EDMUND  OLLIER. 


cloth  extra,  2J.  per  volume, 
Mallory's  (Sir  Thomas)  Mort 

d'Arthur  :  The  Stories  of  King  Arthur 
and  of  the  Knights  of   the   Round 
Table.    Edited  by  B.  MONTGOMERY 
RANKING. 
Pascal's  Provincial  Letters.    A 

New  Translation,  with  Historical  In- 
troduction and  Notes,  by  T.  M'CaiB, 
D.D. 

Pope's  Poetical  Works.     Com- 
plete. 
Rochefoucauld's  Maxims  and 

Moral  Reflections.  With  Notes,  and 
an  Introductory  Essay  by  SAINT  E- 
BEUVE. 

St.  Pierre's  Paul  and  Virginia, 

and  The  Indian  Cottage.  Edited, 
with  Life,  by  the  Rev.  E.  CLARKB. 

Shelley's    Early   Poems,    and 

Queen  Mab,   with  Essay  by  LEIGH 
HUNT. 
Shelley's  Later  Poems  :  Laon 

and  Cythna,  &c. 

Shelley's  Posthumous  Poems, 

the  Shelley  Papers,  &c. 

Shelley's  Prose  Works,  includ- 
ing A  Refutation  of  Deism,  Zastrozai 
St.  Irvyne,  &c. 

White's  Natural  History  of  Sel- 

borne.  Edited,  with  Additions,  by 
THOMAS  BROWN,  F.L.S. 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Illustrations,  4*.  6d. 

Quyot's  Earth  and  Man; 

or,  Physical  Geography  in  its  Relation  to  the  History  of  Mankind. 
With  Additions  by  Professors  AGASSIZ,  PIERCE,  and  GRAY  ;  xa  Maps 
and  Engravings  on  Steel,  some  Coloured,  and  copious  Index. 

Hake  (Dr.  Thomas  Gordon),  Poems  by : 

Maiden  Ecstasy.     Small  410,  cloth  extra,  $s. 
New  Symbols.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 
Legends  of  the  Morrow.    Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Medium  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Illustrations,  "js.  6d. 

Hairs  (Mrs.  S.  C.)  Sketches  of  Irish  Character. 

With  numerous  Illustrations  on  Steel  and  Wood  by  MACLISB,  GIL- 
BERT,  HARVEY,  and  G.  CRUIKSHANK. 

"  The  Irish  Sketches  of  this  lady  resemble  Miss  Mitford's  beautiful  English 
sketches  in  '  Our  Village,'  but  they  are  far  more  vigorous  and  picturesque  and 
bright" — BLACKWOOD'S  MAGAZINE. 


12  BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 

Haweis  (Mrs.),  Works  by : 

The  Art  of  Dress.     By  Mrs.  H.  R.  HAWEIS.    Illustrated  by  the 
Author.    Small  8vo,   illustrated  cover,  is. ;  cloth  limp,  is.  6d. 
"A  well-considered  attempt  to  apply  canons  of  good  taste  to  the  costumti 

of  ladies  of  our  time Mrs.  Haweis  writes  frankly  and  to  iht 

point,  she  does  not  mince  matters,  but  boldly  remonstrates  with  for  own  sex 
on  the  follies  they  indulge  in.    .     .    .     .     We  may  recommend  the  book  to  tht 
ladies  whom  it  concerns" — ATHEN^UM. 
The   Art  of  Beauty.    By  Mrs.  H.  R.  HAWEIS.    Square  8vo, 

cloth  extra,  gilt,  gilt  edges,  with  Coloured   Frontispiece  and   nearly    100 
Illustrations,  ioy.  6d. 

The  Art  of  Decoration.   By  Mrs.  H.  R.  HAWEIS.    Square  Svo, 

handsomely  bound  and  profusely  Illustrated,  los.  6d. 

%*  See  also  CHAUCER,^.  5  of  this  Catalogue. 

Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  5->. 

Heath  (P.  G.)— My  Garden  Wild, 

And  What  I  Grew  there.    By  FRANCIS  GEORGE  HEATH,  Author  of 
"The  Fern  World,"  &c. 

SPECIMENS  OF  MODERN  POE  TS.— Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Heptalogia  (The) ;    or,  The  Seven  against  Sense. 

A  Cap  with  Seven  Bells. 

"  The  merits  of  the  book  cannot  be  fairly  estimated  by  means  of  a  few  extracts  ; 
it  should  be  read  at  length  to  be  appreciated  properly,  and,  in  oiir  opinion,  its 
merits  entitle  it  to  be  very  widely  read  indeed" — ST.  JAMES'S  GAZETTE. 

Cr.  Svo,  bound  in  parchment,  8s. ;  Large-Paper  copies  (only  50  printed),  15*. 

Herbert.— The  Poems  of  Lord  Herbert  of 

Cherbury.    Edited,  with  an  Introduction,  by  J .  CHURTON  COLLINS. 
Complete  in  Four  Vols.,  demy  Svo,  cloth  extra,  I2J.  each. 

History  Of  Our  Own  Times,  from  the  Accession 
of  Queen  Victoria  to  the  General  Election  of  1880.  By  JUSTIN 
MCCARTHY,  M.P. 

"Criticism  is  disarmed  before  a  composition  which  provokes  little  but  approval. 
This  is  a  really  good  book  on  a  really  interesting  subject ',  and  words  piled  on  words 
could  say  no  mort  for  //."—SATURDAY  REVIEW. 

New  Work  by  the  Author  of  "A  HIS  TOR  YofOURO  WN  TIMES" 
Four  Vols.  demy  Svo,  cloth  extra,  i2s.  each. 

History  of  the  Four  Georges. 

By  JUSTIN  MCCARTHY,  M.P.  \In  preparation. 

Crown  Svo,  cloth  limp,  with  Illustrations,  zs.  6d. 

Holmes's  The  Science  of  Voice  Production 

and  Voice  Preservation  :  A  Popular  Manual  for  the  Use  of  Speakers 
and  Singers.    By  GORDON  HOLMES,  L.R.C.P.E. 


CHATTO  &    WIND  US,   PICCADILLY.  13 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  js.  6d. 

Hood's  (Thomas)  Choice  Works, 

In  Prose  and  Verse.    Including  the  CREAM  OF  THE  COMIC  ANNUALS. 
With  Life  of  the  Author,  Portrait,  and  Two  Hundred  Illustrations. 

w&y  ~~~££  Square  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  6s. 

Hood's  (Tom)  From  Nowhere  to  the  North 

Pole  :  A  Noah's  Arkaeological   Narrative.     With  25  Illustrations  by 
W.  BRUNTON  and  E.  C.  BARNES. 

"  The  amusing  letterpress  is  profusely  interspersed  with  the  jingling  rhymes 
which  children  love  and  learn  so  easily.  Messrs.  Brunton  and  Barnes  do  full 
justice  to  the  writer's  meaning,  and  a  pleasanter  result  of  the  harmonious  co* 
operation  of  author  and  artist  could  not  be  desired."—  TIMES. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  71.  6d. 

Hook's  (Theodore)  Choice  Humorous  Works, 

including  his  Ludicrous  Adventures,  Bons-mots,  Puns,  and  Hoaxes; 
With  a  new  Life  of  the  Author,  Portraits,  Facsimiles,  and  Illustrations. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js. 

Home's  Orion  : 

Epic  Poem  in  Three  Books.     By  RICHARD  HENGIST  HORNB. 
Vith  a  brief  Commentary  by  the  Author.   With  Photographic  Portrait 
m  a  Medallion  by  SUMMERS.    Tenth  Edition. 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d. 

Howell's  Conflicts  of  Capital  and    Labour 

Historically  and    Economically  considered.     Being    a    History   and 
Review  of  the  Trade  Unions  of  Great  Britain,  showing  their  Origin, 
Progress,  Constitution,  and  Objects,  in  their  Political,  Social,  Eco- 
nomical, and  Industrial  Aspects.     By  GEORGE  HOWELL. 
"  This  book  M  an  attempt,  and  on  the  whole  a  successful  attempt,  to  place  tht 
work  of  trade  unions  in  the  past,  and  their  objects  in  the  future  t  fairly  before  tht 
public  from  the  working  man  's  point  of  view"  —  PALL  MALL  GAZETTE. 


Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  I2J.  6d. 

Hueffer's  The  Troubadours: 

A  History  of  Provencal  Life  and  Literature  in  the  Middle  Ages.  By 
FRANCIS  HUEFFER.  _ 

Crown  8vo,  clotn  extra,  6s. 

Janvier.—  Practical  Keramics  for  Students. 

By  CATHERINE  A.  JANVIER. 

"  Will  be  found  a  tcsejul  hanibook  by  those  who  wish  to  try  the  manufacture 
>jr  decoration  of  pottery,  and  may  be  studied  by  all  who  desire  to  know  something 
.*/  M<r  ar*."—  MORNING  POST.  __ 

A  NEW  EDITION,  Revised  and  partly  Re-written,  with  several  Ne  w 
Chapters  and  Illustrations,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d. 

Jennings'  The  Rosicrucians  : 

Their  Rites  and  Mysteries.  With  Chapters  on  the  Ancient  Fire  and 
Serpent  Worshippers.  By  HARGRAVE  JENNINGS.  With  Five  iutt- 
page  Plates  and  upwards  of  300  Illustrations. 


14  BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 

Jerrold  (Tom),  Works  by: 

Household  Horticulture  :  A  Gossip  about  Flowers.     By  TOM 
and  JANE  JERROLD.  Illustrated.  Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  zs.6d. 

Our  Kitchen  Garden  :   The  Plants  we  Grow,  and  How  we  Cook 

Them.    By  TOM  JERROLD,  Author  of  "  The  Garden  that  Paid  the  Rent," 
&c.    Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  zs.  6d. 

*'  The  combination  of  hints  on  cookery  with  gardening  has  been  -very  cleverly 
carried  out,  and  the  result  is  an  interesting-  and  highly  instructive  little  -work. 
Mr.  Jerrold  is  correct  in  saying  that  English  people  do  not  make  half  the  use  of 
vegetables  they  might ;  and  by  showing  how  easily  they  can  be  grown,  and  so  obtained 
fresh,  he  is  doing  a  great  deal  to  make  them  more  popular." — DAILY  CHRONICLE. 

Two  Vols.  8vo,  with  52  Illustrations  and  Maps,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  145. 

Josephus,  The  Complete  Works  of. 

Translated  by  WHISTON.    Containing  both  "  The  Antiquities  of  the 
Jews  "  and  "  The  Wars  of  the  Jews." 

Small  8vo,  cloth,  full  gilt,  gilt  edges,  with  Illustrations,  6s. 

Kavanaghs1  Pearl  Fountain, 

And  other  Fairy  Stories.  By  BRIDGET  and  JULIA  KAVANAGH.  With 
Thirty  Illustrations  by  J.  MOYR  SMITH. 

"  Genuine  new  fairy  stories  of  the  old  type,  some  of  them  as  delightful  as  tht 

best  of  Grimm's  '  German  Popular  Stories?     ....     For  the  most  part  ths 

ttaries  are  downright,  thorough-going  fairy  stories  of  the  most  admirable  kind. 

.      .    .     Mr,  Moyr  Smith's  illustrations,  too,  are  admirable." — SPECTATOR. 

Square  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  6s. 

Knight  (The)  and  the  Dwarf. 

By  CHARLES  MILLS.  With  numerous  Illustrations  by  THOMAS- 
LINDSAY. 

Crown  8vo,  illustrated  boards,  with  numerous  Plates,  zs.  6d. 

Lace  (Old  Point),  and  How  to   Copy  and 

Imitate  it.  By  DAISY  WATERHOUSE  HAWKINS.  With  17  Illustra- 
tions by  the  Author. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Portraits,  js. 6d. 

Lamb's  Complete  Works, 

In  Prose  and  Verse,  reprinted  from  the  Original  Editions,  with  many 
Pieces  hitherto  unpublished.  Edited,  with  Notes  and  Introduction, 
by  R.  H.  SHEPHERD.  With  Two  Portraits  and  Facsimile  of  a  Page 
of  the  "  Essay  on  Roast  Pig." 

"A  complete  edition  of  Lamb's  writings,  in  prose  and  verse,  has  long  been 
wanted,  and  is  now  supplied.  The  editor  appears  to  have  taken  great  paint 
to  bring  together  Lamb* s  scattered  contributions,  and  his  collection  contains  a 
number  of  pieces  which  art  now  reprodwed  for  the  first  time  since  their  original 
appearance  in  various  old  periodicals." — SATURDAY  REVIEW. 


CHA7TO  dr-    WINDUS,   PICCADILLY.  15 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  IQJ.  6d. 

Lamb  (Mary  and  Charles) : 

Their  Poems,  Letters,  and  Remains.  With  Reminiscences  and  Notes 
by  W.  CAREW  HAZLITT.  With  HANCOCK'S  Portrait  of  the  Essayist, 
Facsimiles  of  the  Title-pages  of  the  rare  First  Editions  of  Lamb's  and 
Coleridge's  Works,  and  numerous  Illustrations. 

••  Very  many  passages  tvill  delight  those  fond  e>f  literary  trifles  ;  hardly  any 
portion  will  fail  in  interest  for  lovers  of  diaries  Lamb  and  his  sister"— STANDARD. 


Small  Svo,  cloth  extra,  55. 

Lamb's   Poetry   for   Children,  and  Prince 

Dorus.     Carefully  Reprinted  from  unique  copies. 

"  The  quaint  and  delightful  little  look,  over  the  recovery  of  -which  all  the  heartt 
<tf  his  lovers  are  yet  -warm  -with  rejoicing."  —  A.  C.  SWINBURNE. 

Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Lares  and  Penates; 

Or,  The  Background  of  Life.     By  FLORENCE  CADDY. 

"  The  whole  look  is  well  worth  reading,  for  it  is  full  of  practical  suggestions. 
....  We  Jiope  nobody  will  be  deterred  from  taking  up  a  book  which  teaches  a 
good  deal  about  sweetening  poor  lives  as  well  as  giving  grace  to  wealthy  ones."  — 
GRAPHIC. 

Crown  Svo,  cloth,  full  gilt,  6s. 

Leigh's  A  Town  Garland. 

By  HENRYS.  LEIGH,  Author  of  "Carols  of  Cockayne." 
"If  Mr.  Leigh's  verse  survive  to  a  future  generation  —  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  that  honour  should  not  be  accorded  production*  so  delicate,  so  finished,  and  so 
full  of  humour  —  their  author  will  probably  be  remembered  as  the  Poet  of  the 
Strand."— 


SECOND  EDITION.—  Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  6s. 

Leisure-Time  Studies,  chiefly  Biological. 

By  ANDREW  WILSON,  F.R.S.E.,  Lecturer  on  Zoology  and  Compara- 
tive  Anatomy  in  the  Edinburgh  Medical  School. 

"It  is  -well  when  we  can  take  up  the  work  of  a  really  qualified  investigator^ 
who  in  the  intervals  of  his  more  serious  prof  essional  labours  sets  himself  to  impart 
knowledge  in  such  a  simple  and  elementary  form  as  may  attract  and  instruct, 
•with  no  danger  of  misleading  the  tyro  in  natjiral  science.  Such  a  work  is  this 
little  volume,  made  up  of  essays  and  addresses  written  and  delivered  by  Dr. 
Andrew  Wilson,  lecturer  and  examiner  in  science  at  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  at 
leisure  intervals  in  a  busy  professional  life.  .  .  .  Dr.  Wilson  's  pages  teem  with 
matter  stimulating  to  a  healthy  love  of  science  and  a  reverence  for  the  trutht 
of  nature."—  SATURDAY  REVIEW. 

Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Life  in  London; 

or,  The  History  of  Jerry  Hawthorn  and  Corinthian  Tom.    With  the 
whole  of  CRUIKSHANK'S  Illustrations,  in  Colours,  after  the  Originals. 


16  BOOKS  PUBLISHED 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  dr. 

Lights  on  the  Way  : 

Some  Tales  within  a  Tale.  By  the  latej.  H.  ALEXANDER,  B.A. 
Edited,  with  an  Explanatory  Note,  by  H.  A.  PAGE,  Author  o$ 
"  Thoreau  :  A  Study." 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Longfellow's  Complete  Prose  Works. 

Including  "Outre  Mer,"  "Hyperion,"  "  Kavanagh,"  "The  Poets 
and  Poetry  of  Europe,"  and  "Driftwood."  With  Portrait  and  Illus- 
trations by  VALENTINE  BROMLEY. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Longfellow's  Poetical  Works. 

Carefully  Reprinted  from  the  Original  Editions.  With  numerous 
fine  Illustrations  on  Steel  and  Wood. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  5^. 

Lunatic  Asylum,  My  Experiences  in  a. 

By  a  SANE  PATIENT. 

"  The  story  is  clever  and  interesting^  sad  beyond  measure  though  the  svbjeci 
It.  There  is  no  personal  bitterness,  and  no  violence  or  anger.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  evidence  for  our  author's  madness  when  he  was  consigned  to  an 
asylum,  nothing  can  be  clearer  than  his  sanity  when  he  wrote  this  book  ;  it  it 
bright  ;  calm,  and  to  the  point.  "—SPECTATOR. 

Demy  8vo,  with  Fourteen  full-page  Plates,  cloth  boards,  i8j. 

Lusiad  (The)  of  Camoens. 

Translated  into  English  Spenserian  verse  by  ROBERT  FFRENCH  DuF-y, 
Knight  Commander  of  the  Portuguese  Royal  Order  of  Christ. 

Mallock's  (W.  H.)  Works  : 

Is  Life  Worth  Living?    By  WILLIAM  HURRELL  MALLOCK. 

New  Edition,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

"  This  deeply  interesting  volume  .....  It  is  the  most  powerful  vin- 
dication of  religion,  both  natural  and  revealed,  that  has  appeared  since  Bishop 
Butler  wrote,  and  is  much  more  useful  than  either  the  Analogy  or  the  Ser- 
mons of  that  great  divine,  as  a  refutation  of  the  peculiar  form  assumed  by 
the  infidelity  of  the  present  day  .....  Deeply  philosophical  as  the  booh 
is,  there  is  not  a  heavy  page  in  it.  The  writer  is  'possessed,'  so  to  speak, 
with  his  great  subject,  has  sounded  its  depths,  surveyed  it  in  all  its  extent^ 
and  brought  to  bear  on  it  all  the  resources  of  a  vivid,  rich,  and  impassioned 
style,  as  well  as  an  adequate  acquaintance  with  the  science,  the  philosophy  t 
and  the  literature  of  the  day."—  IRISH  DAILY  NEWS. 
The  New  Republic  ;  or,  Culture,  Faith,  and  Philosophy  in  an 

English  Country  House.  By  W.  H.  MALLOCK.  Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  2*.  6d. 

The  New  Paul  and  Virginia  ;  or,  Positivism  on  an  Island.     By 

W.  H.  MALLOCK.    Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  25.  6d. 

Poems.  By  W.  H.  MALLOCK.  Small  410,  bound  in  parchment,  8:r. 
A  Romance  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  By  W.  H.  MALLOCK  » 

Second  Edition,  with  a  Preface.     Two  Vols.,  crown  8vo,  213. 


CHATTO  &    WINDUS,   PICCADILLY.  17 

Macquoid  (Mrs.),  Works  by : 

In  the  Ardennes.      By  KATHARINE  S.  MACQUOID.      With 

50  fine  Illustrations  by  THOMAS  R.  MACQUOID.    Uniform  with  "  Pictures 
and  Legends."     Square  8vo,  cloth  extra,  ior.  6d. 

"  This  is  another  of  Mrs.  Macquoid's  pleasant  books  of  travel,  full  of  useful 
\  information,  of  picturesque  descriptions  of  scenery,  and  of  quaint  traditions 
respecting  the  various  monuments  and  ruins  which  she  encounters  in  her 
tour.  .  .  .  To  such  of  our  readers  as  are  already  thinking  about  the  year's 
holiday,  -we  strongly  recommend  the  perusal  of  Mrs.  Macquoid's  experience}. 
The  book  is  well  illustrated  by  Mr.  Thomas  R.  Macquoid." — GRAPHIC. 

Pictures  and  Legends  from  Normandy  and  Brittany.    By 

KATHARINE  S.  MACQUOID.    With  numerous  Illustrations  by  THOMAS  R. 
MACQUOID.    Square  8vo,  cloth  gilt,  los.  f>d. 

Through  Normandy.    By  KATHARINE  S.  MACQUOID.    With 

90  Illustrations  by  T.  R.  MACQUOID.     Square  8vo,  cloth  extra,  7*.  6d. 
' '  One  of  the  few  books  which  can  be  read  as  a  piece  of  literature,  whilst  at 
the  same  time  handy  in  the  knapsack." — BRITISH  QUARTERLY  REVIEW. 

Through  Brittany.     By  KATHARINE  S.  MACQUOID.      With 

numerous  Illustrations  by  T.  R.  MACQUOID.    Sq.  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d. 
"  The  pleasant  companionship  which  Mrs.  Macquoid  offers,  while  wander- 
ing from  one  point  of  interest  to  another,  seems  to  throw  a  renewed  charm 
around  each  oft-depicted  scene"— MORNING  POST. 

Mark  Twain's  Works : 

The  Choice  Works  of  Mark  Twain.     Revised  and  Corrected 

throughout  by  the  Author.    With  Life,  Portrait,  and  numerous  Illustra- 
tions.   Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  -js.  6d. 

The  Adventures  of  Tom  Sawyer.    By  MARK  TWAIN.     With 

ioo  Illustrations.  Small  8vo,  cloth  extra,  7*.  6d.    CHEAP  EDITION,  illustrated 
boards,  zs. 

A  Pleasure  Trip  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  :  The  Innocents 

Abroad,  and  The  New  Pilgrim's  Progress.    By  MARK  TWAIN.    Post  8vc> 
illustrated  boards,  zs. 

An  Idle  Excursion,  and  other  Sketches.    By  MARK  TWAIN. 

Post  8vo,  illustrated  boards,  zs. 

The  Prince  and  the  Pauper.     By  MARK  TWAIN.     With  nearly 

200  Illustrations.  Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  js.  6d.    Unilorm  with  *'  A  Tramp 
Abroad."  [/»  the  press. 

The  Innocents  Abroad ;  or,  The  New  Pilgrim's  Progress  : 
Being  some  Account  of  the  Steamship  "  Quaker  City's  "  Pleasure  Excursion 
to  Europe  and  the  Holy  Land,  with  descriptions  of  Countries,  Nations, 
Incidents,  and  Adventures,  as  they  appeared  to  the  Author.  With  234 
Illustrations.  By  MARK  TWAIN.  Crcwn  8vo,  cloth  extra,  7*.  6d.  Uniform, 
with  "  A  Tramp  Abroad." 

A  Tramp  Abroad.     By  MARK  TWAIN.    With  314  Illustrations. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  -js.  (>d. 

"  The  fun  and  tenderness  of  the  conception,  of  which  no  living  man  but 
Mark  Twain  is  capable,  its  grace  and  fantasy  and  slyness,  the  wonderful 
feeling  for  animals  that  is  manifest  in  every  line,  make  of  all  this  episode  of 
Jim  Baker  and  his  jays  a  piece  of  work  that  is  not  only  delightful  as  mere 
reading,  but  also  of  a  high  degree  of  merit  as  literature.  .  .  .  The  booJi  is 
full  of  good  things,  and  contains  passages  and  episodes  that  are  equal  to  tht 
funniest  of  those  that  have  gone  before" — ATHENAEUM 


i8 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  zs.  6d. 

Madre  Natura  v.  The  Moloch  of  Fashion. 

By  LUKE  LIMNER.    With  32  Illustrations  by  the  Author.    FOURTH 
•  EDITION,  revised  and  enlarged. 

Handsomely  printed  in  facsimile,  price  £r. 

Magna  Charta. 

An  exact  Facsimile  of  the  Original  Document  in  the  British  Museum, 
printed  on  fine  plate  paper,  nearly  3  feet  long  by  2  feet  wide,  with  the 
Anns  and  Seals  emblazoned  in  Gold  and  Colours. 


Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  2J.  6d.  per  volume. 


Mayfair  Library,  The 

The  New  Republic.    By  W.  H. 

MALLOCK. 
The  New  Paul  and  Virginia. 

By  W.  H.  MALLOCK. 

The  True  History  of  Joshua 

Davidson.    By  E.  LYNN  LINTON. 

Old  Stories  Re-told.  By  WALTER 

THORNBURY. 

Thoreau  :   His  Life  and  Aims. 

By  H.  A.  PAGE. 

By  Stream  and  Sea.  By  WIL- 
LIAM SENIOR. 

Jeuxd'Esprit  Edited  by  HENRY 
S.  LEIGH. 

Puniana.    By  the  Hon.  HUGH 

ROWLEY. 
More  Puniana.      By  the  Hon. 

HUGH  ROWLEY. 

Puck    on    Pegasus.      By    H. 

CHOLMONDELEY-PENNELL. 

The     Speeches     of     Charles 

Dickens. 

Muses  of  Mayfair.  Edited  by 
H.  CHOLMONDELEY-PENNELL. 

Gastronomy  as  a  Fine  Art,  By 
BRILLAT-SAVARIN. 

The  Philosophy  of  Hand- 
writing. By  DON  FELIX  DE  SALA- 
MANCA. 

Curiosities  of  Criticism.      By 

HENRY  J.  JENNINGS. 

Literary  Frivolities,   Fancies, 

Follies,  Frolics.    By  W.  T.  DOBSON. 

Pencil  and  Palette.  By  ROBERT 

KEMPT. 

Latter-Day  Lyrics.  Edited  by 
W.  DAVENPORT  ADAMS. 


Original  Plays  by  W.  S.  GIL- 

BERT.  FIRST  SERIES.  Containing: 
The  Wicked  World— Pygmalion  and 
Galatea  —  Charity  —  The  Princess— 
The  Palace  of  Truth— Trial  by  Jury. 

Original  Plays  by  W.  S.  GIL- 
BERT. SECOND  SERIES.  Containing: 
Broken  Hearts  —  Engaged  —  Sweet- 
hearts —  Dan'l  Druce  —  Gretchen — 
Tom  Cobb— The  Sorcerer— H. M.S. 
Pinafore — The  Pirates  of  Penzance. 

Carols  of  Cockayne.  By  HENRY 

S.  LEIGH. 

The  Book  of   Clerical  Anec- 
dotes.   By  JACOB  LARWOOD. 
The  Agony  Column  of  "The 

Times,"  from  1800  to  1870.  Edited, 
with  an  Introduction,  by  ALICE  CLAY. 

The    Cupboard    Papers.      By 

FIN-BEC. 
Pastimes    and    Players.      By 

ROBERT  MACGREGOR. 
Melancholy    Anatomised :     A 

Popular  Abridgment  of  "  Burton's 
Anatomy  of  Melancholy." 

Quips  and  Quiddities.   Selected 

by  W.  DAVENPORT  ADAMS. 

Leaves  from  a  Naturalist's 
Note-Book.  By  ANDREW  WILSON, 
F.R.S.E. 

The  Autocrat  of  the  Break- 
fast-Table. By  OLIVER  WENDELL 
HOLMES.  Illustrated  by  J.  GORDON 
THOMSON. 

Balzac's  "  Comedie  Humaine  " 

and  its  Author.  With  Translations 
by  H.  H.  WALKER. 


Other  Volumes  are  in  preparation^ 


CHATTO  <&-    WINDUS,   PICCADILLY.  19 

Small  8vo,  cloth  limp,  with  Illustrations,  zs.  6d. 

Miller's  Physiology  for  the  Young; 

Or,  The  House  of  Life  :  Human  Physiology,  with  its  Applications  to 
the  Preservation  of  Health.     For  use  in  Classes  and  Popular  Reading. 
With  numerous  Illustrations.    By  Mrs.  F.  FENWICK  MILLER. 
"An  admirable  introduction,  to  a  subject  which  all  who  value  health  and  enjoy 
lift  should  have  at  their  fingers'  etuts."-EcHO. 

Milton  (J.  L.)f  Works  by  : 

The  Hygiene  of  the  Skin.     A  Concise  Set  of  Rules  for  the 

Management  of  the  Skin  ;  with  Directions  for  Diet,  Wines,  Soaps,  Baths, 
&c.  By  J.  L.  MILTON,  Senior  Surgeon  to  St.  John's  Hospital.  Small 
8vo,  is.  j  cloth  extra,  is.  6d. 

The  Batn  in  Diseases  of  the  Skin.    Small  8vo,  is.;  cloth  extra, 


Square  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

North  Italian  Folk. 

By  Mrs.  COMYNS  CARR.    Illustrated  by  RANDOLPH  CALDECOTT. 

"  A  delightful  book,  of  a  kind  which  is  far  too  rare.      If  anyone  wants  to  really 
know  the  North  Italian  folk,  we  can  honestly  advise  hi 


int  to  omit  the  journey,  and 

Mrs.  Carr  is  a  real  gift. 
It  is  rarely  that  a  book  is  so  happily  illustrated"—  CONTEMPORARY  REVIEW. 


read  Mrs.  Carr's  pages  instead.   .  .  Description  with  Mrs.  Carr  is  a  real  gift. 
book 


NE  W    NO  VELS. 

A  NEW   NOVEL  BY  OUIDA. 

The  Title  of  which  will  shortly  be  announced.     3  vols.,  crown  ?vo. 
SOMETHING-  IN    THE    CITY. 

By  GEORGE  AUGUSTUS  SALA.    3  vols.  crown  8vo. 
GOD  AND  THE  MAN. 

By  ROBERT  BUCHANAN,  Author  of"  The  Shadow  of  the  Sword,"  £c.    3  vols. 

crown  8vo.     With  n  Illustrations  by  FRED.  BARNARD. 

THE  COMET  OF  A  SEASON. 

By  JUSTIN  MCCARTHY,   M.P.,  Author  of   "Miss  Misanthrope."     3  vols., 
crown  8vo. 

JOSEPH'S  COAT. 

By  DAVID  CHRISTIE  MURRAY,  Author  of   "A  Life's  Atonement,"  &c.     With 
12  Illustrations  by  FRED.  BARNARD. 

PRINCE  SARONI'S  WIFE,  and  other  Stories. 

By  JULIAN  HAWTHORNE.    3  vols.,  crown  8vo. 
A  HEART'S  PROBLEM. 

By  CHARLES  GIBBON,  Author  of  "  Robin  Gray,"  &c.    2  vols.  crown  8vo. 
THE  BRIDE'S  PASS. 

By  SARAH  TYTLER,  2  vols.,  crown  8vo. 


20 


BOORS  PUBLISHED  BY 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Vignette  Portraits,  price  dr.  per  Vol. 

Old  Dramatists,  The : 

Ben  Jonson's  Works. 


With  Notes,  Critical  and  Explanatory, 
and  a  Biographical  Memoir  by  WIL- 
LIAM GIFFORD.  Edited  by  Colonel 
•CUNNINGHAM.  Three  Vols. 

Chapman's  Works. 

Now  First  Collected.  Complete  in 
Three  Vols.  Vol.  I.  contains  the  Plays 
complete,  including  the  doubtful  ones; 
Vol.  II.  the  Poems  and  Minor  Trans- 
lations, with  an  Introductory  Essay 


by  ALGERNON  CHARLES  SWINBURNE. 
Vol.  III.  the  Translations  of  the  Iliad 
and  Odyssey. 

Marlowe's  Works. 

Including  his  Translations.  Edited, 
with  Notes  and  Introduction,  by  Col. 
CUNNINGHAM.  One  Vol. 

Massinger's  Plays. 

From  the  Text  of  WILLIAM  GIFFORD. 
With  the  addition  of  the  Tragedy  of 
"  Believe  as  you  List."  Edited  by 
Col.  CUNNINGHAM.  One  Vol. 


O'Shaughnessy  (Arthur)  Works  by : 


Songs  of  a  Worker. 

8vo,  cloth  extra,  7$.  6d. 

Music  and  Moonlight.    By  ARTHUR  O'SHAUGHNESSY. 

8vo,  cloth  extra,  7$.  6d. 

Lays  of  France.    By  ARTHUR  O'SHAUGHNESSY.     Crown  8vo, 

cloth  extra,  IQS.  6d. 


By  ARTHUR  O'SHAUGHNESSY.     Fcap. 

Fcap. 


Crown  8vo,  red  cloth  extra,  ST.  each. 

Ouida's  Novels.— Library  Edition. 

Held  in  Bondage. 

Strathmore. 

Chandos. 

Under  Two  Flags. 

Idalia. 

Cecil  Castlemaine. 

Tricotrin. 

Puck. 

Folle  Farine. 

Dog  of  Flanders. 

%*  Also  a  Cheap  Edition  of  all  but 
boards,  zs.  each. 


By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 
By  OUIDA. 

Pascarel.                    By  OUIDA. 
Two  Wooden  Shoes.  By  OUIDA. 
Signa.                         By  OUIDA. 
In  a  Winter  City.      By  OUIDA. 
Ariadne.                     By  OUIDA. 
Friendship.                By  OUIDA. 
Moths.                        By  OUIDA. 
Pipistrello.                 By  OUIDA. 
A  Village  Commune.  By  OUIDA. 

the  last  two,  post  8vo,  illustrated 


Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  is.  6d. 

Parliamentary  Procedure,  A  Popular  Hand- 
book of.    By  HENRY  W.  LUCY. 

Large  410,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  beautifully  Illustrated,  3U.  6d. 

Pastoral  Days ; 

Or,  Memories  of  a  New  England  Year.     By  W.  HAMILTON  GIBSON. 

With  76  Illustrations  in  the  highest  style  of  Wood  Engraving. 

"  The  vohnne  contains  a  prose  poem,  ivith  illustrations  in  the  shape  of  -wood 
engravings  more  beautiful  than  it  can  -well  enter  into  the  hearts  of  most  men  to 
conceive.  "—SCOTSMAN. 


CHATTO  6-    W INDUS,   PICCADILLY. 


21 


LIBRARY  EDITIONS,  mostly  Illustrated,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  35.  6d.  each. 


Piccadilly  Novels,  The. 


popular 
Maid,  Wife,  or  Widow?     By 

Mrs.  ALEXANDER. 

Ready-Money    Mortiboy.      By 
W.  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

My  Little  Girl.   By  W.  BESANT 

and  JAMES  RICE. 
The  Case  of  Mr.  Lucraft.     By 

W.  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
This   Son  of  Vulcan.    By  W.  : 

BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE, 
With  Harp  and  Crown.  By  W.  | 

BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
The  Golden  Butterfly.     By  W 

BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

By    Celia's   Arbour.      By    W.  | 

BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

The  Monks  of  Thelema.    By  j 

W.  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
'Twas  in  Trafalgar's  Bay.     By  ! 
W.  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

The  Seamy  Side.     By  WALTER 

BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

Antonina.  By  WILKIE  COLLINS,  j 
Basil.    By  WILKIE  COLLINS. 
Hide  and  Seek.    W.  COLLINS. 
The  Dead  Secret  W.  COLLINS. 
Queen  of  Hearts.  W.  COLLINS. 
My  Miscellanies.   W.  COLLINS. 
The  Woman    in  White.      By 

WILKIB  COLLINS. 

The  Moonstone.     W.  COLLINS. 
Man  and  Wife.    W.  COLLINS. 
Poor  Miss  Finch.  W.  COLLINS. 
Miss  or  Mrs.  ?  By  W.  COLLINS. 
The  New  Magdalen.  ByWiLKiE 

COLLINS. 

The  Frozen  Deep.  W.  COLLINS. 
The  Law  and  the  Lady.     By  ; 

WILKIE  COLLINS. 

The  Two  Destinies.  By  WILKIE 

COLLINS. 
The  Haunted  Hotel.  By  WILKIE 

COLLINS. 
The  Fallen  Leaves.  By  WILKIK 

COLLINS. 

Jezebel's  Daughter.  W.COLLINS. 
Deceivers  Ever.      By  Mrs.   H.  ' 
LOVETT  CAMERON. 


flje 

Juliet's  Guardian.  By  Mrs.  U. 
LOVETT  CAMERON. 

Felicia.  M.  BETHAM-EDWARDS. 
Olympia.  By  R.  E.  FRANCILLON. 
The  Capel  Girls.  By  EDWARD 

GARRETT. 

Robin  Gray.  CHARLES  GIBBON. 
For  Lack  of  Gold.  By  CHARLES 

GIBBON. 

In  Love  and  War.  By  CHARLES 

GIBBON. 

What  will  the  World  Say  ?  By 

CHARLES  GIBBON. 

For  the  King.  CHARLES  GIBBON. 
In  Honour  Bound.  By  CHARLES 
GIBBON. 

Queen   of  the    Meadow.      By 

CHARLES  GIBBON. 

In  Pastures  Green.  By  CHARLES 

GIBBON. 

Under  the  Greenwood    Tree. 

By  THOMAS  HARDY. 

Garth.  By  JULIAN  HAWTHORNE. 
EUice  Quentin.  By  JULIAN 

HAWTHORNE. 

Thornicroft's  Model.  By  Mrs. 
A,  W.  HUNT. 

Fated  to  be  Free.     By  JEAN 

INGELOW. 

Confidence.  HENRY  JAMES,  Jun. 
The  Queen  of  Connaught.    By 
HARRIETT  JAY. 

The  Dark  Colleen.  By  H.  JAY. 
Number  Seventeen.  By  HENRY 

KlNGSLEY. 

Oakshott  Castle.  H.  KINGSLEY. 
Patricia  Kemball.  By  E.  LYNN 

LlNTON. 

The  Atonement  of  Learn  Dun- 
das.  By  E.  LYNN  LINTON. 

The  World  Well  Lost.  By  E. 
LYNN  LINTON. 

Under  which  Lord?  By  E. 
LYNN  LINTON. 

With  a  Silken  Thread.     By  E. 

LYNN  LTNTON. 

The  Waterdale  Neighbourc. 
By  JUSTIN  MCCARTHY. 


22 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


PICCADILLY  NOVELS — continued. 
My   Enemy's   Daughter.       By 

JUSTIN  MCCARTHY. 

Linley  Rochford.      By  JUSTIN 
MCCARTHY. 

A  Fair  Saxon.    J.  MCCARTHY. 
Dear  Lady  Disdain.  By  JUSTIN 

MCCARTHY. 

Miss  Misanthrope.     By  JUSTIN 

MCCARTHY. 

Donna  Quixote.  J.  MCCARTHY. 
Quaker    Cousins.      By  AGNES 

MACDONELL. 

Lost  Rose.     By  KATHARINE  S, 

MACQUOID. 
The  Evil  Eye.     By  KATHARINE 

S.  MACQUOID. 
Open !  Sesame  !    By  FLORENCE 

MARRYAT. 

Written  in  Fire.    F.  MARRYAT. 
Touch  and  Go.     By  JEAN  MID- 

DLEMASS. 

A  Life's  Atonement.      By  D. 

CHRISTIE  MURRAY. 

Whiteladies.     Mrs.  OLIPHANT. 
The  Best  of   Husbands.      By 

JAMES  PAYN. 


Fallen  Fortunes.  JAMES  PAYN. 
Halves.     By  JAMES  PAYN. 
Walter's  Word.    JAMES  PAYN. 
What  He  Cost  Her.    J.  PAYN. 
Less  Black  than  we're  Painted. 

By  JAMES  PAYN. 

By  Proxy.     By  JAMES  PAYN. 
Under  One  Roof.  JAMES  PAYN, 
High  Spirits.     By  JAMES  PAYN. 
Her  Mother's  Darling.   By  Mrs. 

J.  H.  RlDDELL. 

Bound  to  the  Wheel.   By  JOHN 

SAUNDERS. 

Guy  Waterman.  J.  SAUNDERS. 
One  Against  the  World.     By 

JOHN  SAUNDERS. 
The    Lion    in  the  Path.      By 

JOHN  SAUNDERS. 

The  Way  We  Live  Now.     By 

ANTHONY  TROLLOPE. 
The  American  Senator.  By 

ANTHONY  TROLLOPE. 
Diamond  Cut  Diamond.  By 

T.  A.  TROLLOPS. 


NEW  VOLUMES  OF  "  THE 

Put  Yourself  in  his  Place.    By 

CHARLES  READE. 
A     Confidential    Agent.       By 

JAMES  PAYN.     With  12  Illustrations.    ! 

The  Violin-Player.  By  BERTHA   j 

THOMAS. 
Queen  Cophetua.      By  R.    E.    j 

FRANCILLON. 

The  Leaden  Casket.     By  Mrs. 
ALFRED  HUNT. 

Carlyon's  Year.     By  J.  PAYN. 
The  Ten  Years'  Tenant,   and 

other  Stones.     By  WALTER  BESANT 
and  JAMES  RICE. 

A  Child  of  Nature.  By  ROBERT 

BUCHANAN. 

Cressida.    By  BERTHA  THOMAS. 
From  Exile.     By  JAMES  PAYN.   I 


PICCADILLY  NOVELS." 

Sebastian  Strome.     By  JULIAN 

HAWTHORNE. 

The  Black  Robe.     By  WILKIE 

COLLINS. 
Archie  Lovell.    By  Mrs.  ANNIE 

EDWARDES. 

"My    Love!"     By    E.    LYNN 

LlNTON. 

Lost  Sir  Massingberd.  By  JAMES 

PAYN. 
The  Chaplain  of  the  Fleet.    By 

WALTER  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

Proud   Maisie.       By    BERTHA 

THOMAS. 
The  Two  Dreamers.     By  JOHN 

SAUNDERS. 

What  She  Came  through.     By 

SARAH  TYTLER. 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Planche.— Songs  and  Poems,  from  1819  to  1879. 

By  J.  R.  PLANCHE.     Edited,  with  an  Introduction,  by  his  Daughter, 
Mrs.  MACKARNESS. 


CU A 7 TO  <5r-    WINDUS,   PICCADILLY. 


Post  8vo,  illustrated  boards,  2J.  each. 

Popular  Novels,  Cheap  Editions  of. 

[WILKIK  COLLINS'  NOVELS  and  BKSANT  and  RICK'S  NOVELS  may  also  be  had  in 
cloth  limp  at  zs.  6d.   See,  too,  the  PICCADILLY  NOVELS,  for  Library  Editiont,] 


Confidences.    HAMILTON  AIDE. 
Carr  of  Carrlyon.     H.  AIDE. 
Maid,   Wife,  or  Widow?    By 

Mrs.  ALEXANDER. 

Ready-Money  Mortiboy,      By 
WALTER  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

With  Harp  and  Crown.     By 

WALTER  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE 
This  Son  of  Vulcan.     By  W. 

BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
My  Little  Girl.     By  the  same. 
The  Case  of  Mr.  Lucraft.     By 

WALTER  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
The  Golden  Butterfly.     By  W. 
BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 

By  Celia's  Arbour.  By  WALTER 

BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
The  Monks  of  Thelema.    By 

WALTER  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
'Twas  in  Trafalgar's  Bay.    By 

WALTER  BESANT  and  JAMES  RICE. 
Seamy  Side.  BESANT  and  RICE. 
Grantley  Grange.  By  SHELSLEY 

BEAUCHAMP. 

An  Heiress  of  Red  Dog.    By 

BRET  HARTE. 

The  Luck  of  Roaring  Camp. 

By  BRET   HARTE. 

Gabriel  Conroy.  BRET  HARTE. 
Surly  Tim.    By  F.E.  BURNETT. 
Deceivers  Ever.     By   Mrs.   L. 
CAMERON. 

Juliet's    Guardian.      By    Mrs. 

LOVETT  CAMERON. 

The  Cure  of  Souls.    By  MAC- 

LAREN  COBBAN. 

The    Bar     Sinister.        By   C. 
ALLSTON  COLLINS. 

Antonina.  By  WILKIE COLLINS. 
Basil.  By  WILKIE  COLLINS. 
Hids  and  Seek.  W.  COLLINS. 
The  Dead  Secret.  W.  COLLINS. 
Queen  of  Hearts.  W.  COLLINS. 
My  Miscellanies.  W.  COLLINS. 
Woman  in  White.  W.  COLLINS. 
The  Moonstone.  W.COLLINS. 


i  Man  and  Wife.    W.  COLLINS. 
!  Poor  Miss  Finch.  W.  COLLINS. 

Miss  or  Mrs.  P  W.  COLLINS. 
I  New  Magdalen.  W.  COLLINS. 
i  The  Frozen  Deep.  W.  COLLINS. 

Law  and  the  Lady.  W.COLLINS. 

Two  Destinies.  W.  COLLINS. 
j  Haunted. Hotel.  W.  COLLINS. 
j  Fallen  Leaves.  By  W.COLLINS. 

Leo.    By  BUTTON  COOK. 
!  A  Point  of  Honour.    By  Mrs. 
ANNIE  EDWARDES. 

ArchieLovell.  Mrs  A.  EDWARDES 

Felicia.  M.  BETHAM-EDWARDS. 
I  Roxy.  By  EDWARD  EGGLESTON. 

Polly.  By  PERCY  FITZGERALD. 
!  Bella  Donna.  P.  FITZGERALD. 

Never  Forgotten.  FITZGERALD. 

The  Second  Mrs.  Tillotson.  By 
PERCY  FITZGERALD. 

1  Seventy-FiveBrookeStreet.  By 

PERCY  FITZGERALD. 

Filthy  Lucre.     By  ALBANY  DS 

FONBLANQUE. 

j  Olympia.  By  R.  E.  FRANCILLON. 
!  The  Capel  Girls.     By  EDWARD 
GARRETT. 

!  Robin  Gray.  By  CHAS.  GIBBON. 

;  For  Lack  of  Gold.    C.  GIBBON. 

What  will  the  World  Say  ?  By 

CHARLES  GIBBON. 

In  Honour  Bound.  C.  GIBBON. 
The  Dead  Heart.  By  C.  GIBBON. 
In  Love  and  War.    C.  GIBBON. 
For  the  King.     By  C.  GIBBON. 
Queen  of  the  Meadow.      By 

CHARLES  GIBBON. 

Dick     Temple.       By     JAMES 

GREENWOOD. 
Every-day  Papers.  By  ANDREW 

HALLIDAY. 
Paul  Wynter's   Sacrifice.     By 

Lady  DUFFUS  HAKDY. 
Under  the  Greenwood   Tree. 

By  THOMAS  H.»RDY. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 


POPULAR  NOVELS— <:<?«/*««#/. 

Garth.  By  JULIAN  HAWTHORNE. 
Golden  Heart.  By  TOM  HOOD. 
TheHunchback  of  Notre  Dame. 

By  VICTOR  HUGO. 

Thornicroft's  Model.     By  Mrs. 
ALFRED  HUNT. 

Fated  to  be  Free.      By  JEAN 

INGHLOW. 

Confidence.  By  HENRY  JAMES, 

Jun. 

The  Queen  of  Connaught.    By 

HARRIETT  JAY. 

The  Dark  Colleen.  By  H.  JAY. 
Number  Seventeen.  ByliENKY 

KlNGSLEY. 

Oakshott  Castle.  H.KINGSLEY. 
Patricia  Kemball.  By  E.  LYNN 

LlNTON. 

LeamDundas.  E.LYNNLIXTON. 
The  World  Well  Lost.  By  E. 

LYNN  LINTON. 
Under  which  Lord  ?      By  E. 

LYNN  LINTON. 

The   Waterdale   Neighbours. 

By  JUSTIN  MCCARTHY. 
Dear  LadyDisdain.  By  the  same. 
My  Enemy's    Daughter.      By 

JUSTIN  MCCARTHY. 
A  Fair  Saxon.  J.  MCCARTHY. 
Linley  Rochford.  MCCARTHY. 
Miss  Misanthrope.  MCCARTHY. 
Donna  Quixote.  J.  MCCARTHY. 
The  Evil  Eye.  By  KATHARINE 

S.  MACQUOID. 

Lost  Rose.  K.  S.  MACQUOID. 
Open!  Sesame  1  By  FLORENCE 

MARRYAT. 
Harvest    of  Wild   Oats.      By 

FLORENCE  MARRYAT. 

A  Little  Stepson.  F.  MARRYAT. 
Fighting  the  Air.  F.  MARRYAT. 
Touch  and  Go.  By  JEAN 

MlDDLEMASS. 

Mr.  Dorillion.  J.  MIDDLEMASS. 
Whiteladies.  ByMrs.OLiPHANT. 
Held  in  Bondage.     By  OUIDA. 
Strathmore.     By  OUIDA. 
Chandos.    By  OUIDA. 
Under  Two  Flags.    By  OUIDA. 
Idalia.     By  OUIDA. 


Cecil  Castlemaine.    By  OUIDA. 
Tricotrin.    By  OUIDA. 
Puck.    By  OUIDA. 
Folle  Farine.    By  OUIDA. 
A  Dog  of  Flanders.  By  OUIDA. 
Pascarel.     By  OUIDA. 
Two  Little  Wooden  Shoes.  By 
Signa.    By  OUIDA.          [OUIDA. 
In  a  Winter  City.    By  OUIDA. 
Ariadne.    By  OUIDA. 
Friendship.     By  OUIDA. 
Moths.    By  OUIDA. 
Lost  Sir  Massingberd.  J.  PAYN. 
A  Perfect  Treasure.    J.  PAYN. 
Bentinck's  Tutor.   By  J.  PAYN. 
Murphy's  Master.  By  J.  PAYN. 
A  County  Family.    By  J.  PAYN. 
At  Her  Mercy.    By  J.  PAYN. 
AWoman'sVengeance.  J.  PAYN. 
Cecil's  Tryst.    By  JAMES  PAYN. 
The  Clyffards  of  Clyffe.  J.PAYN. 
Family  Scapegrace.    J.  PAYN. 
The  Foster  Brothers.  J.  PAYN. 
Found  Dead.     By  JAMES  PAYN. 
Gwendoline'sHarvest.  J.PAYN. 
Humorous  Stories.    J.  PAYN. 
Like  Father,  Like  Son.  J.PAYN. 
A  Marine  Residence.   J.  PAYN. 
Married  Beneath  Him.  J.PAYN. 
Mirk  Abbey.    By  JAMES  PAYN. 
Not  Wooed,  but  Won.  J.  PAYN. 
Two  Hundred  Pounds  Reward. 

By  JAMES  PAYN. 

Best  of  Husbands.  By  J.  PAYN. 
Walter's  Word.     By  J.  PAYN. 
Halves.    By  JAMES  PAYN. 
Fallen  Fortunes.    By  J.  PAYN, 
What  He  Cost  Her.    J.  PAYN. 
Less  Black  than  We're  Fainted. 

By  JAMES  PAYN. 

By  Proxy.    By  JAMES  PAYN. 
Under  One  Roof.    By  J.  PAYN. 
High  Spirits.    By  JAS.  PAYN. 
Paul  Ferroll. 

Why  P.Ferroll  Killed  his  Wife, 
The  Mystery  of  Marie  Roget 
By  EDGAR  A.  POH. 


CffATTO  &    WIND  US,   PICCADILLY.  25 

POPULAR  NOVELS  —  continued. 
Pat  Yourself  in  his  Place      By      Tales  for   the  Marines       By 

CHARLES  RBADK.  WALTER  THORNBURY. 

Her  Mother's  Darling.  By  Mrs.  The  Way  wo  Live  Now.      By 

J.  H.  RIDDKLL.  ANTHONY  TROLLOP*. 

O-aslight    and  Daylight.       By  The  American  Senator.    Ditto 

?£USwh~i  A-  -R   T  Diamond  Cut  Diamond.   Ditto. 

yJ°HN  '  A  Pleasure  Trip  in  Europe. 


The  Lion  in  the  Path.  By  JOHN        ;ab.ina-    By  Lady 
and  KATHKRINH  SAUNDERS.  Castaway.    By  EDMUND  YATES. 

A  Match  in  the  Dark.    By  A.      Forlorn  Hope.  EDMUND  YATES. 

SKETCHLEY.  Land  at  Last.     EDMUND  YATES. 

Fcap.  8vo,  picture  covers,  is.  each. 
Jeff  Briggs's  Love  Story.    By  BRET  HARTE. 
The  Twins  of  Table  Mountain.    By  BRET  HARTE. 
Mrs.  Gainsborough's  Diamonds.    By  JULIAN  HAWTHORNS. 
Kathleen  Mavourneen.  By  the  Author  of  "That  Lass  o'  Lowrie's." 
Lindsay's  Luck.     By  the  Author  of  "  That  Lass  o'  Lowrie's." 
Pretty  Polly  Pemberton.     By  Author  of  "  That  Lass  o'  Lowrie's." 
Trooping  with  Crows.    By  Mrs.  PIRKIS. 
The  Professor's  Wife.    By  LEONARD  GRAHAM.  _ 

Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Payn.—  Some  Private  Views. 

Being  Essays  contrib  ited  to  The  Nineteenth  Century  and  to  The 
Times.  By  JAMES  PAYN.  Author  of  "High  Spinis,"  "  By  Proxy." 
"  Lost  Sir  Massingberd,"  &c.  \Nf.trlv  ready. 

Two  Vols.  Svo,  cloth  extra,  with  Portraits,  IQJ.  6d. 

Plutarch's  Lives  of  Illustrious  Men. 

Translated  from  the  Greek,  with  Notes,  Critical  and  Historical,  and  a 
Life  of  Plutarch,  by  JOHN  and  WILLIAM  LANGHORNE.  __ 

Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  with  Portrait  and  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Poe's  Choice  Prose  and  Poetical  Works. 

With  BAUDELAIRE'S  "  Essay."  _ 
Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  ?s.  6d. 

Primitive  Manners  and  Customs. 

By  JAMES  A.  FARRER.  _ 
Small  Svo,  cloth  extra,  with  130  Illustrations,  3.1.  6d. 

Prince  of  Argolis,  The  : 

A  Story  of  the  Old  Greek  Fairy  Time.      By  J.  MOYR  SMITH. 
Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  js.  6d. 

Pursuivant  of  Arms,  The  ; 

or,  Heraldry  founded  upon  Facts.  By  J.  R.  PLANCHE,  Somerset 
Herald,  With  Coloured  Frontispiece  and  200  Illustrations. 


26  KOOA'S  PUBLISHED  BY 

Proctor's  (R.  A.)  Works : 

Easy  Star  Lessons.  With  Star  Maps  for  Every  Night  in  the 
Year,  Drawings  of  the  Constellations,  &c.  By  RICHAKD  A.  PROCTOR. 
Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6$. 

Familiar  Science  Studies.    By  RICHARD  A.  PROCTOR.    Crown 

8vo,  cloth  extra,  -js.  6d.  \_In  the  press , 

Saturn  and  its  System.     By  RICHARD  A.  PROCTOR.    New  and 

Revised  Edition,  demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  los.  f>d.  [/«  preparation. 

Myths  and  Marvels  of  Astronomy.     By  RICH.  A.  PROCTOR, 

Author  of  "  Other  Worlds  than  Ours."  &c.   Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Pleasant  Ways  in  Science.  By  R.  A.  PROCTOR.  Cr.8v0jcl.ex.6j. 
Rough  Ways  made  Smooth :  A  Series  of  Familiar  Essays  on 

Scientific  Subjects.     By  R.  A.  PROCTOR.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Our  Place  among  Infinities  :    A  Series  of  Essays  contrasting 

our  Little  Abode  in  Space  and  Time  with  the  Infinities  Around  us.     By 
RICHARD  A.  PROCTOR.     Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 
The  Expanse  of  Heaven  :  A  Series  of  Essays  on  the  Wonders 
of  the  Firmament.     By  RICHARD  A.  PROCTOR.    Crown  8vo,  cloth,  6s. 

Wages  and  Wants  of  Science  Workers.     By  RICHARD  A. 

PROCTOR.    Crown  8vo,  is.  6d. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  ys.  6d. 

Rabelais'  Works. 

Faithfully  Translated  from  the  French,  with  variorum  Notes,  and 
numerous  characteristic  Illustrations  by  GUSTAVE  DORE. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  gilt,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  and  a  beautifully 
executed  Chart  of  the  various  Spectra,  75.  6d. 

Rambosson's  Popular  Astronomy. 

RAMBOSSON,  Laureate  of  the  Institute  of  France.    Translated 
B.  PITMAN.    Profusely  Illustrated. 

Second  Edition,  Revised,  Crown  8vo,  1,200  pages,  half-roxburghe,  izs.  6d. 

Reader's  Handbook  (The)  of  Allusions,  Re- 
ferences, Plots,  and  Stories.    By  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brewer. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Richardson's   (Dr.)  A  Ministry  of  Health, 

and  other  Papers.    By  BENJAMIN  WARD  RICHARDSON,  M.D.,  &c. 

Rimmer  (Alfred),  Works  by : 

Our  Old  Country  Towns.      With  over  50  Illustrations.      By 

ALFRED  RIMMER.     Square  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  T.OS.  f>d. 

Rambles  Round  Eton  and  Harrow.     By  ALFRED  RIMMER. 

With  50  Illustrations  by  the  Author.     Square  8vo,  cloth  gilt,  IDS.  6d. 

About  England  with  Dickens.  With  Illustrations  by  ALFRED 
RIMMER  and  C.  A.  VANDERHOOF,  Sq.  8vo,  cloth  gilt,  T.OS.  6d.  [/«  the  press. 

Handsomely  printed,  price  51. 

Roll  of  Battle  Abbey,  The ; 

or,  A  List  of  the  Principal  Warriors  who  came  over  from  Normandy 
with  William  the  Conqueror,  and  Settled  in  this  Country,  A.D.  1066-7. 
With  the  principal  Arms  emblazoned  in  Gold  and  Colours. 


ByJ. 
byC. 


CHATTO  6-    WIND  US,   PICCADILLY.  27 


Two  Vols.,  large  410,  profusely  Illustrated,  half-morocco,  £3  16*. 

Rowlandson,  the  Caricaturist. 

A  Selection  from  his  Works,  with  Anecdotal  Descriptions  of  his  Famous 
Caricatures,  and  a  Sketch  of  his  Life,  Times,  and  Contemporaries. 
With  nearly  400  Illustrations,  mostly  in  Facsimile  of  the  Originals.  By 
JOSEPH  GREGO,  Author  of  "James  Gillray,  the  Caricaturist ;  his  Liie, 
Works,  and  Times." 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  profusely  Illustrated,  4*.  6d.  each. 

"  Secret  Out"  Series,  The. 

The  Pyrotechnist's  Treasury ;  (    Magician's  Own  Book  : 

or,    Complete  Art  of  Making    Fire-   i        Performances  with  Cups   and  Balls, 
works.    By  THOMAS  KENTISH.  With  Eggs,  Hats,  Handkerchiefs,  &c.    All 


numerous  Illustrations. 

The  Art  of  Amusing : 

A  Collection  of  Graceful  Arts,  Games, 
Tricks,  Puzzles,  and  Charades.  By 
FRANK  BBLLEW.  300  Illustrations. 

Hanky-Panky : 

Very  Easy  Tricks,  Very  Difficult 
Tricks,  White  Magic,  Sleight  of  Hand. 
Edited  by  W.H.CREMER.  200  Illusts. 

The  Merry  Circle : 


uggo,  mmm*mm   •^MMMAMetvuiM^   1X1*.       AiJ 

from  Actual  Experience.     Edited  by 
W.  H.  CREMER.     200  Illustrations. 
Magic  No  Mystery : 

Tricks  with  Cards,  Dice,  Balls,  &c., 
with  fully  descriptive  Directions  ;  the 
Art  of  Secret  Writing  ;  Training  of 
Performng  Animals,  &c.  Coloured 
Frontispiece  and  many  Illustrations. 

The  Secret  Out : 

One  Thousand  Tricks  with  Cards,  and 
other  Recreations  ;  with  Entertaining 


A  Book  of  New  Intellectual  Games  |  Experiments  in  Drawing-room  or 
and  Amusements.  By  CLARA  BBLLEW.  i  "White  Magic."  By  W.  H.  CRBMBR. 
Many  Illustrations.  300  Engravings. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  6s. 

Senior's  Travel  and  Trout  in  the  Antipodes. 

An  Angler's  Sketches  in  Tasmania  and  New  Zealand.    By  WILLIAM 
SENIOR  ("Red  Spinner"),  Author  of"  By  Stream  and  Sea." 

Shakespeare : 

Shakespeare,  The  First  Folio.    Mr.  WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE'S 

Comedies,  Histories,  and  Tragedies.  Published  according  to  the  true 
Originall  Copies.  London,  Printed  by  ISAAC  IAGGARD  and  ED.  BLOUNT, 
1623.— A  Reproduction  of  the  extremely  rare  original,  in  reduced  facsimile 
by  a  photographic  process— ensuring  the  strictest  accuracy  in  every  detail. 
Small  8vo,  half-Roxburghe,  75.  6d. 

Shakespeare,  The  Lansdowne.       Beautifully  printed   in   red 

and  black,  in  small  but  very  clear  type.  With  engraved  facsimile  cf 
DROESHOUT'S  Portrait.  Post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  7*.  6d, 

Shakespeare  for  Children:   Tales  from  Shakespeare.    By 

CHARLES  and  MARY  LAMB.  With  numerous  Illustrations,  coloured  and 
plain,  by  J.  MOYR  SMITH.  Crown  4to,  cloth  gilt,  ios.6d. 

Shakespeare  Music,  The  Handbook  of.    Being  an  Account 

350  Pieces  of  Music,  set  to  Words  taken  from  the  Plays  and  Poems  of 
Shakespeare,  the  compositions  ranging  from  the  Elizabethan  Age  to  the 
Present  Time.  By  ALFRED  ROFFE.  4*0,  half-Roxburghe,  7*. 

Shakespeare,  A  Study  of.      By  ALGERNON  CHARLES  SWIN. 

EURNE.    Crown  Svo,  cloth  extra,  3s. 


28  BOOKS   PUBLISHED  B\ 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  10  full-page  Tinted  Illustrations,  ys.  6d. 

Sheridan's  Complete  Works, 

with  Life  and  Anecdotes.  Including  his  Dramatic  Writings,  printed 
from  the  Original  Editions,  his  Works  in  Prose  and  Poetry,  Transla- 
tions, Speeches,  Jokes,  Puns,  &c.  ;  with  a  Collection  of  Sheridaniana. 


Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  100  Illustrations,  ys.  6d. 

Signboards : 

Their  History.    With  Anecdotes  of  Famous  Taverns  and  Remarkable 
Characters.      By  JACOB  LARWOOD  and  JOHN  CAMDEN  HOTTEN. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  6s.  6d. 

Slang  Dictionary,  The : 

Etymological,    Historical,   and    Anecdotal.       An  ENTIRELY  NEW 
EDITION  ,  revised  throughout,  and  considerably  Enlarged. 

Exquisitely  printed  in  miniature,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  zs.  6d. 

Smoker's  Text-Book,  The.  By  j.  HAMER,  F.R.S.L. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  5j. 

Spalding's  Elizabethan  Demonology : 

An  Essay  in  Illustration  of  the  Belief  in  the  Existence  of  Devils,  and 
the  Powers  possessed  by  them.     By  T.  ALFRED  SPALDING,  LL.B. 

Crown  4to,  uniform  with  "  Chaucer  for  Children,"  with  Coloured 
Illustrations,  cloth  gilt,  IQJ.  6d. 

Spenser  for  Children. 

ByM.  H.  TOWRY.     Illustrations  in  Colours  by  WALTER  J.  MORGAN. 
A  New  Edition,  small  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  $s. 

Staunton. — Laws  and  Practice  of  Chess ; 

Together  with  an  Analysis  of  the  Openings,  and  a  Treatise  on  End 
Games.  By  HOWARD  STAUNTON.  Edited  by  RORERT  B.  WORMALD. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gs. 

Stedman's  Victorian  Poets : 

Critical  Essays.     By  EDMUND  CLARENCE  STEDMAN.  

Post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  5.?. 

Stories  about  Number  Nip, 

The  Spirit  of  the  Giant  Mountains.  Retold  for  Children,  by  WALTER 
GRAHAME.    With  Illustrations  by  J.  MOYR  SMITH.  

Two  Vols.,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  2is, 

Stories  from  the  State  Papers, 

By  ALEX.  CHARLES  EWALD,  F.S.A.,  Author  of  "  The  Life  of  Prince 
Charles  Stuart,"  &c.    With  an  Autotype  Facsimile. 

Two  Vols.,  crown  8vo,  with  numerous  Portraits  and  Illustrations,  24^. 

Strahan.— Twenty  Years   of   a   Publisher's 

Life.    By  ALEXANDER  STRAHAN.  {In  the  press.. 


CHATTO  <Sr*    WINDUS,    PICCADILLY.  29 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  71.  6d. 

Strutt's  Sports  and  Pastimes  of  the  People 

of  England ;  including  the  Rural  and  Domestic  Recreations,  May 
Games,  Mummeries,  Shows,  Processions,  Pageants,  and  Pompous 
Spectacles,  from  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Present  Time.  With  140 
Illustrations.  Edited  by  WILLIAM  HONE. 

Crown  8vo,  with  a  Map  of  Suburban  London,  cloth  extra,  75.  6d. 

Suburban  Homes  (The)  of  London : 

A  Residential  Guide  to  Favourite  London  Localities,  their  Society, 
Celebrities,  and  Associations.  With  Notes  on  their  Rental,  Rates, 
and  House  Accommodation. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Swift's  Choice  Works, 

In  Prose  and  Verse.  With  Memoir,  Portrait,  and  Facsimiles  of  the 
Maps  in  the  Original  Edition  of  "Gulliver's  Travels." 

Swinburne's  Works : 

The  Queen  Mother  and  Rosa-      Bothwell : 

mond.    Fcap.  8vo,  5*.  A  Tragedy.    Crown  8vo,  iw.  6</. 

Atalanta  in  Calydon.  George  Chapman : 


Poems  and  Ballads. 

FIRST  SERIES.    Fcap.  8vo,  gs.     Also 
in  crown  8vo,  at  same  price. 

Poems  and  Ballads. 


Crown  8vo,  12*. 

Erechtheus  : 

A  Tragedy.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

Note  of  an  English  Republican 


SECOND  SERIES.    Fcap.  8vo,  9*.   Also  i  on  the  Muscovite  Crusade.    8vo,  x*. 

in  crown  8vo,  at  same  pnce.  |  A  Note  Qn  Charlotte   Bronle. 

Notes   on   "Poems  and  Bal-  i  Crown  8vo,  6s. 

lads."   8vo,  M.  '  A  Study  of  Shakespeare. 


William  Blake : 

A  Critical  Essay.      With  Facsimile 
Paintings.    Demy  8vo,  16*. 

Songs  before  Sunrise. 

Crown  8vo,  ior.  6d. 


Crown  8vo,  8s . 

Songs  of  the  Springtides.     Cr. 

8vo,  6s. 

Studies  in  Song. 

Crown  8vo,  js. 


MR.  SWINBURNE'S  NEW  DRAMA.— Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  Ps. 
Mary  Stuart :  A  Tragedy,  in  Five  Acts.      By  ALGERNON  CHARLES 

SWINBURNE. ['/«  the  press. 

Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  Illustrated,  sis. 

Sword,  The  Book  of  the : 

Being  a  History  of  the  Sword,  and  its  Use,  in  all  Times  and  in  all 
Countries.  By  Captain  RICHARD  BusffON.  With  numerous  Illustra- 
tions.  [/«  preparation. 

Medium  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  IUusu*iUons,  71.  6d. 

Syntax's  (Dr.)  Three  Tours, 

in  Search  of  the  Picturesque,  In  Search  of  Consolation,  and  in  Search 
of  a  Wife.  With  the  whole  of  ROWLANDSON'S  droll  page  Illuatra- 
ions,  in  Colours,  and  Life  of  the  Author  tgr  J.  C.  HOTTEN. 


30  BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 

Four  Vols.  small  8vo,  cloth  boards,  30.1. 

Taine's  History  of  English  Literature. 

Translated  by  HENRY  VAN  LAUN. 
*«*  Also  a  POPULAR  EDITION,  in  Two  Vols.  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  15*. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  gilt,  profusely  Illustrated,  6s. 

Tales  of  Old  Thule. 

Collected  and  Illustrated  by  J.  MOYR  SMITH. 

One  VoL  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  75.  6d. 

Taylor's  (Tom)  Historical  Dramas: 

"  Clancarty,"  "Jeanne  Dare,"  "  'Twixt  Axe  and  Crown,"  "The  Fool's 
Revenge,"  "  Arkwright's  Wife,"  "  Anne  Boleyn,"  "  Plot  and  Passion." 
***  The  Plays  may  also  be  had  separately,  at  Is.  each. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Coloured  Frontispiece  and  numerous 
Illustrations,  75.  6d. 

Thackerayana : 

Notes  and  Anecdotes.  Illustrated  by  a  profusion  of  Sketches  by 
WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY,  depicting  Humorous  Incidents 
in  his  School-life,  and  Favourite  Characters  in  the  books  of  his  every- 
day reading.  With  Hundreds  of  Wood  Engravings,  facsimiled  from 
Mr.  Thackeray's  Original  Drawings. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  edges,  with  Illustrations,  75.  6d. 

Thomson's  Seasons  and  Castle  of  Indolence. 

With  a  Biographical  and  Critical  Introduction  by  ALLAN  CUNNING- 
HAM, and  over  50  fine  Illustrations  on  Steel  and  Wood. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  75.  6d. 

Thornbury's  (Walter)  Haunted  London. 

A  New  Edition,  Edited  by  EDWARD  WALFORD,  M.A.,  with  numerous 
Illustrations  by  F.  W.  FAIRHOLT,  F.S.  A. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  ?s.  6d. 

Tinibs'  Clubs  and  Club  Life  in  London. 

With  Anecdotes  of  its  famous  Coffee-houses,  Hostelries,  and  Taverns, 
By  JOHN  TIMES,  F.S.A.  With  numerous  Illustrations. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  75.  6d. 

Timbs'  English  Eccentrics  and  Eccentrici- 
ties: Stories  of  Wealth  and  Fashion,  Delusions,  Impostures,  and 
Fanatic  Missions,  Strange  Sights  and  Sporting  Scenes,  Eccentric 
Artists,  Theatrical  Folks,  Men  of  Letters,  &c.  By  JOHN  TIMES, 
F.S.A.  With  nearly  50  Illustrations. 

Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  14*. 

Torrens'  The  Marquess  Wellesley, 

Architect  of  Empire.  An  Historic  Portrait.    Forming  Vol.  /.  of  PRO- 
CONSUL  and  TRIBUNE  :   WELLESLEY  and  O'CONNELL  :    Histori 
Portraits.    By  W.'M.  TORRENS,  M.P.     In  Two  Vols. 


CHATTO  &    WIND  US,    PICCADILLY.  31 

Demy  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  9*. 

Tunis :  the  Land  and  the  People. 

By  ERNST  VON  HESSE- WARTEGG.  With  many  fine  full-page  Illustra- 
tions. [In  the  press. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Coloured  Illustrations,  js.  Cd. 

Turner's  ( J.  M.  W.)  Life  and  Correspondence: 

Founded  upon  Letters  and  Papers  furnished  by  his  Friends  and  fellow- 
Academicians.  By  WALTER  THORNBURY.  A  New  Edition,  con- 
siderably Enlarged.  With  numerous  Illustrations  in  Colours,  facsimiled 
from  Turner's  original  Drawings. 

Two  Vols.,  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Map  and  Ground-Plans,  14*. 

Walcott's  Church  Work  and  Life  in  English 

Minsters ;   and  the  English    Student's  Monasticon.     By  the    Rev. 

MACKENZIE  E.  C.  WALCOTT,  B.D. 

Large  crown  8vo,  cloth  antique,  with  Illustrations,  js.  6d. 

Walton  and  Cotton's  Complete  Angler : 

or,  The  Contemplative  Man's  Recreation  :  being  a  Discourse  of  Rivers, 
Fishponds,  Fish  and  Fishing,  written  by  IZAAK  WALTON  ;  and  In- 
structions how  to  Angle  for  a  Trout  or  Grayling  in  a  clear  Stream,  by 
CHARLES  COTTON.  With  Original  Memoirs  and  Notes  by  Sir  HARRIS 
NICOLAS,  and  61  Copperplate  Illustrations. 
The  Twenty-second  Annual  Edition,  for  1881,  cloth,  full  gilt,  501. 

Walford's  County  Families  of  the  United 

Kingdom.  By  EDWARD  WALFORD,  M.  A.  Containing  Notices  of 
the  Descent,  Birth,  Marriage,  Education,  &c.,  of  more  than  12,000 
distinguished  Heads  of  Families,  their  Heirs  Apparent  or  Presumptive, 
the  Offices  they  hold  or  have  held,  their  Town  and  Country  Ad- 

dresses.  Clubs,  &c. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra.  3*.  6d.  per  volume". 

Wanderer's  Library,  The : 

Merrie  England  in  the  Olden    ]  Low-Life  Deeps.     An  Account 

Time.    By  GEORGE  DANIEL.    With     |       of  the  Strange  Fish  to  be  found  there. 
Illustrations  by  ROBT.  CRUIKSHANK.     |       By  JAMES  GREEN\YOOD. 
The  Old  Showmen  and  the  Old    i  Seven  Generations  of  Execu- 


London  Fairs.    By  THOMAS  FROST. 

The    Wilds    of   London.     By 

JAMES  GREENWOOD. 

TavernAnecdotes  and  Sayings ; 

Including  the  Origin  of  Signs,  and 
Reminiscences        connected        with 


tioners :  Memoirs  of  the  Sanson 
Family  (1688  to  1847).  Edited  by 
HENRY  SANSON. 

The  World  Behind  the  Scenes. 

By  PERCY  FITZGERALD. 

London  Characters.  By  HENRY 


Taverns,  Coffee  Houses,  Clubs,  &c.     j       MAYHEW.    Illustrated. 

By  CHARLES  HINDLEY.  With  Illusts.        The    Genial     Showman  :     Life 

CircUS  Life  and  CirCUS  Celebri-  and  Adventures  of  Artemus  Ward. 


ties.    By  THOMAS. FROST. 

The  Lives  of  the  Conjurers. 


By  E.  P.  KINGSTON.     Frontispiece. 
Wanderings  in  Patagonia  ;  or, 


By  THOMAS  FROST.  Life  among  the  Ostrich  Hunters.     By 

The  Life  and  Adventures   Of  a     I       JCLIUS  BEERBOHM.     Illustrated. 


Cheap  Jack.     By  One  of  the  Frater- 
nity.   Edited  by  CHARLES  HINDLEY. 
The  Story  of  the  London  Parks. 


Summer  Cruising  in  the  South 
Seas.  By  CHARLES  WARREN  STOD- 
DARD.  Illustrated  by  WALLIS  MAC- 


By  JACOB  LARWOOD.    With  Illusts.  KAY< 


32       BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CHATTO  &  WIND  VS. 
Carefully  printed  on  paper  to  imitate  the  Original,  22  in.  by  14  in.,  aj. 

Warrant  to  Execute  Charles  I. 

An  exact  Facsimile  of  this  important  Document,  with  the  Fifty-nine 
Signatures  of  the  Regicides,  and  corresponding  Seals. 

Beautifully  printed  on  paper  to  imitate  the  Original  MS.,  price  2J. 

Warrant  to  Execute  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

An  exact  Facsimile,  including  the  Signature  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  a 
Facsimile  of  the  Great  Seal. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  limp,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  45. 6d. 

Westropp's  Handbook  of  Pottery  and  Porce- 
lain ;  or,  History  of  those  Arts  from  the  Earliest  Period.  By  HODDER 
M.  WBSTROPP.  With  numerous  Illustrations,  and  a  List  of  Marks. 

Post  8vo,  cloth  limp,  zs.  6d. 

What  shall  my  Son  be  P 

Hints  for  Parents  on  the  Choice  of  a  Profession  or  Trade  for  their 

Sons.      By  FRANCIS  DAVENANT,  M.A. 

SEVENTH  EDITION.    Square  8vo,  u. 

Whistler  v.  Ruskin :  Art  and  Art  Critics. 

ByJ.  A.  MACNEILL  WHISTLER. 
A   VERY  HANDSOME   VOLUME.-  Large  410,  cloth  extra,  31^.  6d. 

White  Mountains  (The  Heart  of  the) : 

Their  Legend  and  Scenery.  By  SAMUEL  ADAMS  DRAKE.  With 
nearly  100  Illustrations  by  W.  HAMILTON  GIBSON,  Author  of 
"  Pastoral  Days."  [Nearly  ready. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  limp,  with  Illustrations,  2s.  6d. 

Williams'  A  Simple  Treatise  on  Heat. 

By  W.  MATTIEU  WILLIAMS,  F.R.A.S..  F.C.S.        

Small  8vo,  cloth  extra,  Illustrated,  dr. 

Wooing  (The)  of  the  Water- Witch : 

A  Northern  Oddity.  By  EVAN  DALDORNE.  Illust.byJ.  MOYR  SMITH. 
Crown  8vo,  half-bound,  I2J.  6d. 

Words,  Pacts,  and  Phrases : 

A  Dictionary  of  Curious,  Quaint,  and  Out-of-the-Way  Matters.  By 
ELIEZER  EDWARDS. 

Crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  with  Illustrations,  75.  6d. 

Wright's  Caricature  History  of  the  Georges. 

(The  House  of  Hanover.)  With  400  Pictures,  Caricatures,  Squibs, 
Broadsides,  Window  Pictures,  &c.  By  THOMAS  WRIGHT,  M.A..  F.S.A. 

Large  post  8vo,  cloth  extra,  gilt,  with  Illustrations,  73.  6d. 

Wright's  History  of  Caricature  and  of  the 

Grotesque  in  Art,  Literature,  Sculpture,  and  Painting.  By  THOMAS 
WRIGHT,  F.S.A,  Profusely  Illustrated  by  F.  W.  FAIRHOLT,  F.S.A. 

J.  OGDBN  AND  CO.,   PEINTKRS,   172,   ST.  JOHN  STREET,   B.C. 


-:'.    ,.-••;   fj%£        I       .   •     '      , 


PH 

2531 

062 

v.2 


Cook ,   Dutton 

Hours  with  the  players 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
CARDS  OR  SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 


UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY