^ A \^^ ]^ LA }tA/^ LIFE AND ART OF JOSEPH JEFFERSON «^ J^><^ ,XJ JOSEPH JEFFERSON IN 18©4. With, his Grax-Ldson. WARREN JEEEERSON. LIFE AND ART OF JOSEPH JEFFERSON TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS ANCESTRY AND OF THE JEFFERSON FAMILY OF ACTORS BY WILLIAM WINTER O that I had a title good enough to keep his name company ! " — Shakespeare MACMILLAN AND CO. AND LONDON 1894 All rights reserved Copyright, 1893, By MACMILLAN AND CO. Nortoool) ^rtas: J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith. Boston, Mass., U.S.A. LIBRARY .UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA TO Solju ILaixircnce Eoolc THE REPRESENTATIVE COMEDIAN OF ENGLAND IN THE PRESENT GENERATION I DEDICATE THIS MEMORIAL OF Joscpf) Seffcrson THE REPRESENTATIVE COMEDIAN OF AMERICA IN THE SAME PERIOD THUS UNITING IN AN HUMBLE TRIBUTE OF LOVE AND HONOUR MEN LONG SINCE UNITED IN PERSONAL AFFECTION AND PUBLIC ESTEEM WILLIAM WINTER February 20, 1894 PREFACE About fo-urtccn years ago, at the kind suggestion of my thoughtful friend Laurence Hutton, I wrote an account of tJie Jefferson Family of Actoj's, ivhich zvas pub- lished in 1 88 1, under the name of The Jcffersons, as one of the American Actor Scries, projected and super- vised by him. TJie present Memoir is a complete revision of that biography. The story has been rectified, aug- mented, re-arra7iged, and in part re-zvritten, — so that this work is, practically, nezv. It certaiftly is more ample and 77tore authentic than its predecessor, and therefore more zvortJiy of its interesting subject and of the public favour. In the composition of it I have drawn tipon my dramatic writings in the Nezv York Tribune, since 1865, and in other publications, notably my Brief Chronicles. The beauty and greatness of the dramatic art and the possible dignity and utility of the stage are better kjioivn and imderstood now than they were in former times, and I have assumed that the achievements of an exceptionally talented family of actors may be deemed zvorthy of com- memoration. The Jefferson family has been upon the stage, continuously, for five generations, and in this nar- rative an effort has been made to trace its history along one unbroken line, throughout that time. TJie English historic period traversed by this biography begins zvith the reign of George the Second, in 1727. The American viii PREFACE period extends from 1 794 to the present day. The first Jefferson had his career in England^ in the time of Gar- rick. The second zaas famous in the days of the old Chestnut Street theatre, in Philadelphia. The thii-d did not attain to eminence. The fourth is the Rip Van Winkle and the Acres of contemporary renown, xvJiose sons are also on the stage. Other members of the race have been distinguished actors, and their names and deeds are recorded in this cJironicle. The Garrick period has been so fully described by many writers that, in recount- ing what is know7i of the first Jefferson, I have preferred not to linger upon it. Select quotation from old chron- icles has, hozvever, been deemed essential, as a basis of authority. The career of the second Jefferson recalls the storied days of the CJiestnut Street theatre, — an institu- tion which has not been surpassed, if ever it zvas equalled, in the history of the American stage, for dignity, iritel- lectual resource, stateliness of cJiaracter, arid opulence of association. Ample materials exist, no doubt, in the manu- script journals of the elder Warren, for a minute account of that theatre and its dramatic luminaries ; but they are not accessible. The third Jefferson, his sister Elizabeth, his wife, and his stepson, Charles S. T. Burke, are com- memorated in this book, and mention is herein made of all the known scions of the Jefferson race. The design has been to portray this family in its relation to the times tJirough ivJiich it has moved, and thus to make an aiitJien- tic basis for the researches and illustrative embellishmerits of future inquirers. Attention has been chiefly given to the career of the fourtJi Jefferson, and to his impersona- tion of Rip Van Winkle, — an artistic achievement which has fascinated the public mind for thirty years. No single PREFACE ix dramatic performajice of our time, ijideed, — not Edwin Boot/is Hamlet, nor Ristori's Queen ElizabetJi, 7ior Les- ter Wallack' s Don Felix, nor Marie SeebacJi s Margai^et, nor Charles Kean s Louis, nor Adelaide Neilson s Juliet, nor Henry Irving s MatJiias, nor Ada Rehan's Rosalind, — has had more extensive popularity, or has in a greater degree stimulated contemporary thought Jipon the influ- ence of the stage. The ivish to Jionour it will be recog- nised iti these pages, although the pozver may be missed. Every writer upon the history of the drama in America must acknowledge his obligation for guidance to the thorough, faitJifd, and suggestive Records made by the veteran historian, Joseph N. h'eland. Li the composition of this biography reference has frequently been made to that work. Other authorities, likewise, have been co7i- sulted, and they are duly mentioned. I have profited by the personal recollections of several members of t lie Jeffer- son fatnily, and by useful suggestions of friendly cor- respondents, — among wJiom should be named Thomas J. McKee of New York, L. Clarke Davis aiid George P. Philes of Philadelphia, and my old, Jionourcd, and la- mented friend, the late John T. Ford of Baltimore — by zvhose sudden death I am admonisJied that the number of persons to zuhom any ivritings of -mine can appeal zmth the confident expectation of sympathy is growing smaller every day. " Like clouds that rake the mountain summits, Or waves that own no curbing hand. How fast has brother followed brothej' From sunshine to the sunless land I " w. w. March 25, 1894, " In giving an account of the stage a good story may sometimes be admitted on slender authority, but where matters of fact are concerned the history of the stage ought to be written with the same accuracy as the history of England." — GenesT. " The longest life is too short for the almost endless study of the actor. Barton Booth. " A name Noble and brave as aught of consular On Roman marbles'' — BYRON. " First, noble friend. Let me embrace thine age ; whose honour cannot Be measured or confined." — SHAKESPEARE. ' Noble he was, contemning all things tnean, His truth unquestioned and his soul serene. Shame knew him not, he dreaded no disgrace. Truth, simple truth, was written in his face; Yet, while the serious thought his soul approv'd. Cheerful he seem'd and gentleness he lov'd ; To bliss domestic he his heart resign'd. And with the firmest had the fondest mind. Were others joyful, he looked smiling on, And gave allowance where he needed none. Good he refused with future ill to buy, Nor knew a Joy that caused reflection's sigh. A friend to virtue, his unclouded breast No envy stung, no Jealousy distress' d; Yet far was he from stoic pride remov'd, — He felt humanely, and he warmly lov'd'' — CrabBE. " He is insensibly subdued To settled quiet : he is one by whom All effort seems forgotten ; one to whom Long patience hath such mild composure given That patience now doth seem a thing of which He hath no need'' ' He is retired as noontide dew. Or fountain in a noon-day grove ; And you must love him, ere to you He luill seetn -worthy of your love'' — Wordsworth. We are a queen (or long have dr earned so) , certain The daughter of a /5/>^." — SHAKESPEARE. " Upon my word, thou art a very odd fellow, and I like thy hutnour ex- tremely" — Fielding. " With all the fortunate have not. With gentle voice and brow. — Alive, we would have changed his lot — We would not change it tiow." — Matthew Arnold. " If he come not, then the play is marred." — SHAKESPEARE. " It is difficult to render eve?i ordinary justice to living merit, without incur- ring the suspicion of being ififluenced by partiality, or by motives of a less hon- ourable nature. Yet, as what I shall say of this gentleman, whose friendship I have enjoyed for many years, and still possess in unabated cordiality, will be supported by all who are acquainted with him, I am under no apprehension of suffering by the suggestions of malice." — JOHN TAYLOR. / marvel hoiv Nature could ever find space For so mafiy strange contrasts in one hutnan face : There's thought and no thought, and there's paleness and bloom, And bustle and sluggishness, pleasure and glooin . There's weakness and strength, both redundant and vain ; Such strength as, if ever affliction atid pain Could pierce through a temper that's soft to disease. Would be rational peace, — a philosopher's ease. ' There's indifference, alike when he fails or succeeds. And attention full ten ti7nes as much as there needs ; Pride where there's no envy, there's so much of joy ; And mildness, and spirit both forward and coy. ' There's freedom, and sometimes a diffident stare. Of shame, scarcely seeming to know that she's there : The: e's virtue, the title it surely may claim. Vet wants heaven knows what to be worthy the name. ' This picture from nature may seem to depart. Yet the Man would at once run away 'cuifh your heart : And I for five centuries right gladly ivould be Such an odd, such a kind, happy creature as he." — Wordsworth. ^ CONTENTS PAGE I. Thomas Jefferson. 1728-1807 i II. Joseph Jefferson, i 774-1 832 47 III. Elizabeth Jefferson. iSio-1890 124 IV. Joseph Jefferson. 1 804-1 S42 131 V. Charles Burke. 1822-1S54 142 VI. Joseph Jefferson. 1829- 153 VII. Rip Van Winkle 203 VIII. Acres 211 IX. Caleb Plummer and Mr. Golightly 223 X. Dr. Pangloss and The Heir at Law 227 XI. Some of Jefferson's Contemporaries 233 XII. Stage Art 272 Memorials 291 Our Stage in Its Palmy Days 293 Mr. H 296 William Warren 298 Ilackett in England 303 Notable Early Casts of Rip \'an Winkle 305 Jefferson as a Lecturer 309 Chronolog}' of the Life of Jefferson 312 Index 315 xiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Joseph Jefferson in 1894 Frontispiece From a photograph by Falk. Facing page David Garrick 8 Old Plymouth Theatre 20 Mrs. Abington 28 Thomas Jefferson 36 John Hodgkinson 60 Joseph Jefferson, Sr., and Mr. Blissett 120 As Dr. Smug/ace and Dr. Dablancour in The Budget of Blunders. Park Street in 1830 128 Joseph Jefferson 168 At the age of twenty-eight. Jefferson Family Group at Hohokus, N. J 186 Jefferson Family Group at Orange Island, La. . . . 192 Rip van Winkle 204 From a photograph by Sarony. Jefferson and Florence in The Rivals 218 From a photograph by Falk. Caleb Plummer 226 Rip van Winkle 272 From a photograph by Sarony. William Warren 298 XV LIFE OF JEFFERSON THOMAS JEFFERSON 1728-1807 HOMAS JEFFERSON, the founder of the Jefferson Family of Actors, was the son of an EngHsh farmer, and was born at, or near, Ripon, Yorkshire, England, about the year 1728, — in the beginning of the reign of George the Second. Little is known of his parents, or of his childhood, and stories of him that have sur- vived are meagre and contradictory. One person, how- ever, who had seen him, lived to our time, dying in 1869, and gave an account of the beginning of his stage career. That person was Mr. Drinkwater Mead- ows,^ a respected actor, who saw Thomas Jefferson, at Ripon, in 1806, a feeble old man, sitting by the 1 Mr. D?:inkwater Meadows, long a useful and esteemed comedian on the London stage, made his first appearance in London, at Covent Gar- den, in September, 1821, acting Scrub, in The Beaux' Stratagem. He was the original Fathom in The Hunchback (1832). His last appearance on the London stage was made at the Princess's theatre, in 1S62, and he then retired from the profession. He occupied, for a time, the office of Secretary of the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund, discharging its duties with probity and courtesy. He died at his residence, Prairie Cottage, Barnes, on Saturday, June 5, 1869, at about the age of eighty. A I 2 LIFE OF JEFFERSON fireside, ill with gout, and tended by his relatives. Mr. Meadows was at Ripon, on a visit to one of the aged actor's sons, Frank Jefferson, a lieutenant aboard a royal yacht in Virginia Water, at Windsor ; and from him he learned something of old Thomas Jeffer- son's life, which he lived to relate to Thomas Jefferson's great-grandson, whom he saw upon the stage as Rip Van Winkle, and personally met, in London, in 1865. According to the narrative of Mr. Meadows, Thomas Jefferson, when young, was a wild lad, dashing and gay, and capable of any intrepidity. His person was handsome, his bearing free and graceful, his intelli- gence superior, his temperament merry ; he was a frolic- some companion, a capital equestrian, and a general favourite. A time presently came when his skill in horsemanship, his good spirits, and his excellent faculty for singing a comic song were the means, if not of making his fortune, at least of prescribing his career. The rebellion of 1745, for Charles Edward Stuart, appears to have been a motive to his prosperity. A dispatch was to be conveyed from Ripon, or perhaps from neighbouring York, to London, and young Thomas Jefferson — who could ride well, and whose thriving father could mount him on a thoroughbred steed, for the journey — was chosen to be its bearer. He under- took the task, and he accomplished it, — through what perils it were idle to conjecture; but an equestrian trip of two hundred and twenty miles, through wild parts of the kingdom, what with bad roads and highwaymen, was a serious business ; ^ and it may be supposed that 1 " In 1707 it took, in summer one day, in winter nearly two days, to travel from London to Oxford, forty-six miles." — Haydn^s Dictionary. The LIFE OF JEFFERSON 3 Thomas Jefferson was a man well satisfied with himself and with fortune, when at length his mission had been fulfilled, and he was taking his rest at a London inn. He had arrived just in time to grasp the extended hand of a singular good-fortune. On that night David Gar- rick, the wonder and delight of London, was feasting with a party of friends at that inn ; and presently to the merry circle of Roscius in the parlour, a laughing servant brought word of the jovial young fellow from the country, who was singing songs and telling stories to the less select revellers in the tap-room. A proposi- tion to invite this pleasant rustic, for a frolic over his bumpkin humour, met with the favour of Garrick's com- panions, and so it chanced that Thomas Jefferson was asked to sit at the table of David Garrick. Fancy dwells pleasurably on the ensuing scene of festal triumph for the sparkling country lad. He charmed his fas- tidious acquaintances of the parlour as much as he had charmed his careless comrades of the tap ; and the fancy that Garrick took for him, on that night, was destined not only to ripen into a lasting friendship, but to mark out his pathway in life. He returned no more. ride from Ripon to London, in 1746, could not have been made in less than five summer days. — " In the year 1 763 the roads were so bad at par- ticular seasons of the year that they wete, for want of proper forming, almost impassable; and it has been known, in the winter, to have been eight or ten days' journey from York to London." — Tate Wilkinson's Memoirs, Vol. III., p. 142. — Travel was not the expeditious business, in old times, that it is now. In the spring of 1623 Prince Charles, afterward Charles I. of England, being then at Madrid, to woo the Infanta of Spain, apprised his father, James I., that he had come safely from London to Madrid " in less than sixteen days." See Howel's Familiar Letters, Book I., Letter xv, 4 LIFE OF JEFFERSON for a long time, to Ripon ; but, with Garrick's advice and aid, he adopted the stage, and was embarked in professional occupation. There is a romantic air about that narrative which, possibly, implies a fiction ; but such is the story, as trans- mitted by Mr. Meadows, and so it remains. Another account says that Jefferson was educated for the bar, and began the practice of law ; but soon, by accident, discarded that profession, for the stage. According to this tale, he chanced one day to stroll into a barn in the neighbourhood of Ripon, where some wandering players had undertaken to enact Farquhar's comedy of TJic Beaitx Stratagem, and there and then volunteered his services, in place of an actor suddenly disabled by ill- ness, to perform Archer. His offer was accepted. He had previously acted the part at a private theatrical club, and his success in it was so cheering that he determined to renounce the law and adopt the theatre. This legend furthermore states that Garrick, when accosted by the new-comer, promptly bestowed upon him an engagement, together with his personal friendship, and that Jefferson subsequently for a term of years shared the honours of the stage with its chieftain. The student of theatrical history, however, without reference to the comparative sterility of existing records of Jefferson's career, remem- bering what is authentically recorded of Garrick's tem- perament and habits, will prefer to accept the more rational and pleasing story related on the authority of the veteran of Covent Garden. Jefferson, it is certain, never at any time in his pro- fessional career divided honours with his great leader. The earliest record of his appearance at Drury Lane LIFE OF JEFFERSON 5 assigns it to October 24, 1753, when he performed Vain- love in The Old Bachelor. He acted Horatio, and also King Claudius, to Garrick's Hamlet ; the Duke of Buck- ingham, to Garrick's Richard the Third ; Paris, to Gar- rick's Romeo ; Colonel Britton, to Garrick's Don Felix ; and the Duke of Gloster, to Garrick's John Shore ; and this showing indicates his place in Garrick's company. He was "a well-graced actor"; he gained and held a good rank, when rank was hard to gain ; and he possessed Garrick's regard more fully than probably he would have done had he ever been, or seemed to be, a rival to that illustrious but not always magnanimous genius. Jeffer- son seems to have been early captivated by the idea of theatrical management in the provincial towns, and he may have left Garrick's company either as a strolling player, or with this vocation in view. There is an anec- dote, treasured by his descendants, that when he sought that great actor to say good-bye, Garrick, who had just ended a performance of Abel Drugger, in Ben Jonson's comedy of The Alchemist, took off his wig, after exchang- ing words of farewell, and threw it to him, saying, "Take that, my friend, and may it bring you as much good as it has brought me." This relic survived for a long time ; was brought to America by Joseph Jefferson, in 1795, passed into the possession of the next Joseph Jefferson, father of our Rip Van Winkle, and ultimately was destroyed, together with other articles of stage ward- robe, which had been entrusted by the latter to the care of Joseph Cowell,^ the comedian, in a fire that burnt down the St. Charles theatre, New Orleans, in 1842. ^ Joseph Leathley Cowell was bom at Kent, England, August 7, 1792, and passed his youth at Torquay, where he saw Nelson, of whom 6 LIFE OF JEFFERSON There is another version of Thomas Jefferson's exodus from Ripon, the details of which are sanctioned by sev- eral authorities. This account states that when a youth he was, for a short time, employed by an attorney in Yorkshire, presumably at Ripon, and that he went to London as an adventurous fugitive. The attorney had ordered him to prepare for a journey up to the capital, and this, to the gay lad, was a joyful prospect ; but, to his disappointment and mortification, he was presently apprised that the plan had been changed, and that the attorney himself would make the trip. Young Jefferson, not to be thus defeated, thereupon determined to go to London on his own account. A fortunate chance seemed to favour his flight. A fine charger had been bought, in the neighbourhood of Ripon, for a military magnate named General Fawkes, and Jefferson got permission to ride the horse to London. Thus provided, he bent he can find nothing better to say than that he was " a mean-looking little man, but very kind and agreeable to children." Cowell made his first appearance on the stage, at Plymouth, in 1 812, as Belcour, in Cum- berland's comedy of The West Indian. He afterwards was on the York circuit, — Tate Wilkinson's old ground, — and eventually he became a member of the company at Drury Lane. In 1821 he came to America, under engagement to Stephen Price, for the New York Park theatre, and he remained in this country till 1844, when he returned to England. He was in New York in 1850, and appeared at the Aster Place opera house; and on April 23, 1856, at the old Broadway theatre, he took a farewell benefit and left the stage. His autobiography, entitled Thirty Years among the Players, was published by Messrs. Harper and Brothers, in 1844. He went back to England with his grand-daughter, Kate Bateman, and died in London, November 14, 1S63, in his seventy-second year. He was popular as Crack, in The Ttcrnpike Gate, — a musical piece, by T. Knight, first acted at Covent Garden, in 1799, — and his portrait, in that character, painted by Neagle, is one of the illustrations of Wemyss's Acting American Theatre. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 7 his course toward the capital, arriving there in January, 1746 or 1747. In the spring of 1747 he was an inmate of the Tilt-yard coffee-house, when that building chanced to be blown up with gunpowder, — a large quantity of which had been served to certain soldiers who were to guard that old reprobate, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, on his way to Tower Hill.^ Several persons were killed by that explosion, but Jefferson was saved by the fortunate intervention of a falling timber, which protected him from being crushed. A little later he happened to attend a performance at Drury Lane, where he saw the fascinating Peg Woffington, as Ruth, in Sir Robert Howard's comedy of The Committee ; whereupon his fancy was so captivated that he could think of nothing but the stage, and he determined to devote himself thereafter entirely to its pursuit. Thomas Jefferson's professional career was various and devious, but in general it was successful, and it seems to have been attended with happiness. He was a theatrical manager at Richmond, Exeter, Lewes, and Plymouth ; he frequently made strolling expeditions, and he acted at Drury Lane, intermittently, from about 1750 to 1776. Soon after his first meeting with Gar- rick, he appeared at the Haymarket, London, as Horatio, in The Fair Penitent. The exact date of that meeting is unknown. Garrick made his great hit^ in London, ^ Lovat, born in 1667, perished beneath the axe, on March 20, 1747. The other noted Scotch lords who suffered death in the cause of the Pre- tender — Balmerino and Kilmarnock — were beheaded earlier, August 18, 1746. The axe and block that were used in those executions are shown at the Tower. 2 David Garrick, i 716-1779. — In John Bernard's Retrospections of the Stage, Vol. II., chap. 6, mention is made of a spectator of the first 8 LIFE OK JEFl'ERSON at Goodman's Fields theatre, when he was twenty-five years old, on October 19, 1741, afterwards went to Dub- lin, and then was engaged by Fleetwood, for Drury Lane, where he remained till 1745. In that year he was again in Ireland, acting with Thomas Sheridan, father of the famous Richard Brinsley, in the theatre in Smock alley. But in 1746 he was acting, under the manage- ment of Rich, at Covent Garden, and it was not till the winter of 1747 that he became the manager of Drury Lane. Jefferson's meeting with him occurred in 1746 or 1747. It is likely that, through Garrick's influence, Jefferson was early attached to the stage. He may at first have gone on a country circuit, and afterwards joined the Drury Lane company, when Garrick had become its manager, quitting that theatre at a later time to manage for his own benefit in the provinces, fie must soon have learned, as others did, that it was appearance of Garrick in London. That was Philip Lewis, uncle of the English comedian, William T. Lewis. " He was the only man of my acquaintance," says Bernard, "who remembered the debut of Garrick; and it was . . . when sitting at my table, with Charles Bannister and Merry, he uttered an impromptu I have since heard attributed to others : — " ' I saw him rising in the east, In all his energetic glows; I saw him sinking in the west In greater splendour than he rose.'" Hannah More [i 745-1833], certainly a shrewd observer, came up to London, from her home at Bristol, to see Garrick's farewell performance, 1776, and after her return she wrote these words: " I pity those who have not seen him. Posterity will never be able to form the slightest idea of his perfection. The more I see him, the more I admire. I have seen him within these three weeks take leave of Benedick, Sir John Brute, Kitely, Abel Drugger, Archer, and Leon. It seems to me as if I was assisting at the obsequies of the different poets." ■^^ ■ ^^^ %'^ ^''^■^^^^^1 ^^Hk^'^ 1 fl^^^H ^^^^^/Hm^^J ^^^^^^^^^HB'it ^ ^n^ jii i^B ^^^^HH^p Hvv j^^M 1 DAVID OARKICK. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 9 well-nigh impossible, in that epoch, for any actor to win a pre-eminent success, at the British capital, in face of the overwhelming ascendency which Garrick then maintained. A reprint of the Drury Lane play-bill, which, follow- ing the authority of Genest, appears to assign Jefferson's first appearance at that theatre, under Garrick's man- agement, to October 24, 1753, will here be appropriate. It is a reduced fac-simile from an original. Almost every name in it is distinguished in theatrical history. Mrs. Pritchard was Dr. Johnson's " inspired idiot," — the great Lady Macbeth of the eighteenth century, prior to Mrs. Yates and Mrs. Siddons. Foote was "the English Aristophanes." Woodward — superb as Mer- cutio and fine as Touchstone — was deemed the model of every grace. Palmer and Blakes are complimented even by the exigent Churchill — in TJie Rosciad. Yates was the original Sir Oliver Surface, and died in 1796, in his 97th year. Mrs. Davies was the lovely wife of Thomas Davies, the actor, author, and bookseller, the man who introduced Boswell to Dr. Johnson ; and it is sad to think that, being left a widow, she fell into mis- fortune and died in an almshouse. Miss Macklin was Maria, daughter of Charles Macklin (1690-1797), the first great Shylock of the stage. William Havard, a conscientious actor and an estimable man, was the author of several successful plays, — one of them on Charles the First, — and he rests in Covent Garden Church, com- memorated by an epitaph from the pen of Garrick. 10 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Theatre Royal in Dnny-Lane, This prefent Wedne/day, being ;he 24th of Oflober, 1 I Will be Revived a COMEDY, call'd The OLD BATCHELOR. ^ Fondlewife by Mr. FOOTE, Bellmour by Mr. PALMER, Sharper by Mr. H A V A R D , Vainlove by Mr. JEFFERSON, Heartwell by Mr. BERRY, Sir Joseph Witiol Mr. WOODWARD, Noll Bliiffe by Mr. YATES, Setter by Mr. B LAKES, Belinda by Mifs HAUGHTON, Araminta by Mrs. DAVIE 8, Sylvia by Mrs. COWPER, Lucy by Mrs. BEN NET, Lmtitia by Mrs. PRITCHARD. In Act III. a DANCE proper to the Play, by Monf. GERARD, and Mad. LUSSANT. To which will be added a COMEDY in Two Acts, call'd The EngHfhman in PARIS. -^ Buck by Mr. FOOTE, Lucinda by Mifs MAC KLIN, {Being' the Third Time of her appearing upon that Stage.) With a New Occafional PROLOGUE, and the Original EPILOGUE. Boxes ss. Pit 3s. First Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery is. Places for the Boxes to be had of Mr. VARNEY, at the Stage- door of the Theatre. t No Per/ons to be admitted behind the Scenes, nor any Money to be returned after the Curtain is drawn up. I'ivat REX. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 11 A period of about twelve years of itinerant acting and perhaps of desultory theatrical management, after Jeffer- son's arrival in London, is accordingly to be supposed. In 1758 he went to Ireland, and in 1760 he was a mem- ber of the Crow Street theatre, acting with a company which included Barry, Dexter, Foote, Heaphy, Macklin, Mossop, Sowden, Vernon, Walker, Woodward, Mrs. Dancer, Mrs. Fitzhenry, and Mrs. Kennedy. In that year, or a little later, he left Dublin, in order to assume the management of the Plymouth theatre, with which his name was afterward long associated. In 1764, still holding the Plymouth house, he joined with Mrs. Pitt, in the direction of a theatre at Exeter, and in 1765, conjointly with Josiah Foote, a tradesman of that town, he purchased Mrs. Pitt's interest in that property and renewed the lease; but in 1767 he sold his share of the estate to his partner, Foote, and after that time he con- centrated his attention upon the care of the Plymouth theatre. He managed, indeed, at one or two other places, and he appeared at Drury Lane, — his name being occa- sionally found in the casts of plays that were presented there, during the period from 1753 to 1776. But he never appeared in that theatre after Garrick left it — June 10, 1776; and after Garrick's death, January 20, 1779, when that resplendent career, of thirty-five years, was ended, he seems never to have cared again to associate himself with London theatrical life. He was now about fifty years of age, with his children grow- ing up around him, and his circumstances had assumed a character such as naturally restricted him to the safe fields of unadventurous industry. The rank of Thomas Jefferson among the actors of 12 LIFE OF JEFFERSON his time was with the best, — setting aside the names of Garrick, Barry, Henderson,^ and Mossop as excep- tional, and far above their comrades. The dramatic period was a storied one, and only a man of fine talent could have held a conspicuous position in the shining group of players which then adorned the British stage. Theatrical powers and enterprises in those days were more closely concentrated than they have been since, except, perhaps, in the best period of the Chestnut and the Park, in America, and were subjected to a more exacting attention, on the part of the public, than they receive, or, generally, are calculated to inspire, at present. The stock companies were few, and they were composed of performers who, for the most part, in the vastly extended theatrical area, and the vastly increased de- mand and remuneration for theatrical entertainments, would now be "stars." Jefferson's repute, if not sur- passingly high, like that of Garrick, was, nevertheless, that of sterling merit. He ranked with Barry in comedy, — excelling Mossop, Sheridan, and Reddish, — but he was not half so good as Barry in tragedy. His tragedy, ^ "Henderson (i 747-1 7S5) was the legitimate successor to Gar- rick's throne, — the only attendant genius that could wear his mantle. Though it is difficult to compare the others, owing to the peculiarities of their paths, Powell was best in the Romans and fathers; Holland, in the ardent spirits of lovers and champions, the Hotspurs and Chamonts; and Jefferson in the kings and tyrants. Of the four, Powell and Reddish were the cleverest. But Reddish was differently situated; he lived in Garrick's time, and was one of the many stars, in that Augustan era of acting, whose radiance was absorbed in the great luminary's. Powell, Holland, and Jefferson wer€ all in the same predicament : Mossop, Barry, and Sheridan were the only ones who rose into notice from a collision with the Roscius; but even their memories are fading." — John Bernard's Retrospections oj the Stage, Vol. I., p. 15. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 13 however, was accounted equal with that of Macklin, the first great Shylock of the British stage ; and he must have been important, if he could hold his rank against that competitor. The TJicspian Dictionary (1805), recording, perhaps, the testimony of a contemporary, says that he " possessed a pleasing countenance, strong expression and compass of voice, and was excellent in declamatory parts." His abilities, obviously, were con- siderable, and they must have been versatile, for the chronicles show that he was sometimes accepted as a substitute for Garrick ; that he was even thought to resemble him in appearance ; and that he was accounted a competent actor throughout a wide range of parts. An indication of the professional rank of Thomas Jef- ferson, and also of that of his first wife. Miss May, is given in a Scale of Merits of the Performers on the Dublin stage, made about 1 760-1 763. This document was pub- lished in the London CJironicle, Vol. XV., and is quoted in Malcolm's Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London, during the Eighteenth Century, Vol. II., p. 247. Men. Mr. Barry . " Mossop " Sheridan " Macklin " Sowdon " Dexter " T. Barry " Ryder . " Stamper " Sparks " Jefferson " Heaphy " Reddish " Walker " Glover " Mahon Tragedy. Comedy. . 20 ... 10 • 15 . 8 6 6 15 • 13 12 . 10 12 . 10 8 . 6 12 12 12 8 . 10 . 6 8 . 6 8 8 • 4 • 4 8 6 Women. .Mrs. Dancer . " Fitzhenry " Abington " 'Hamilton " Kennedy " Keif . . " Barry " Jefferson " Ambrose " Mahon . " Roach " Parsons . Tragedy. 14 . 14 . o . lO . Comedy. 16 6 18 12 10 10 10 8 8 6 6 6 14 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Thomas Jefferson was twice married. His first wife, Miss May, was the daughter of a member of the British Navy, and, according to Gilliland's Dra7)iatic Mirror y he agreed, in marrying her, to forfeit ^^500 to her father, in case she should ever appear upon .the stage. That was at Lewes, where Jefferson acted for two seasons, under the name of Burton, in the dramatic company of a man- ager named Williams. A number of the ladies of that place, on a subsequent occasion, wished that Mrs. Jef- ferson should appear in a dramatic performance, and, finding Mr. May's bond an obstacle to their desire, they succeeded in persuading him to cancel it. Mrs. Jeffer- son thereupon acted Lady Charlotte, in Sir Richard Steele's comedy of The Funeral (1702). "The ladies," says the Mirror, " provided the females of the company with dresses for the piece, and it was played three nights, each person's share amounting to six guineas." The first appearance of Mrs. Jefferson on the London stage was made at Drury Lane, October 6, 1753, as Anne Bullen. Mrs. Jefferson was a beautiful woman, and of a lovely disposition, and that part of the married life of Thomas Jefferson which was passed in her society was happy. She bore two sons, — John and Joseph. The former became a clergyman of the established church, and went as a missionary to some part of Asia, where he was presently slain by persons who opposed him in religious opinion. In Ryley's Itijiei'ant (1808), men- tion is made of John Jefferson, a son of Thomas, who, it is said, " was very tall, very slim, very sallow, and a very poor actor" ; and it is further stated that he was of a religious turn of mind, and was called " The Parson." LIFE OF JEFFERSON 15 That may have been the pious John. The latter son, Joseph, became an actor, and, after a brief career in England, emigrated to America, and established the family in this country. The mother of those boys, whenever named in old theatrical chronicles, is named not merely with honour and affection, but with evident wonder that so much beauty could coexist with so much goodness. Even her death bore witness to the sunshine of her nature ; for she died of laughter. Davies, in his Life of Garrick, records the incident, and describes the heroine : — " Britannia was represented by Mrs. Jefferson, the most complete figure, in beauty of countenance and symmetry of form, I ever beheld. This good woman — for she was as virtuous as fair — was so unaf- fected and simple in her behaviour that she knew not her power of charming. Her beautiful figure and majestic step, in the character of Anne Bullen, drew the admiration of all who saw her. She was very tall, and had she been happy in ability to represent characters of consequence, she would have been an excellent partner in tragedy for Mr. Barry. In the vicissitudes of itinerant acting she had been often reduced, from the small number of players in the company she belonged to, to disguise her lovely form and to assume parts very unsuitable to so delicate a creature. When she was asked what characters she excelled in most, she innocently replied, '■ Old men in comedy,' — meaning such parts as Fondlewife, in The Old Bach- elor, and Sir Jealous Traffic, in The Busybody. She died suddenly at Plymouth, as she was looking at a dance that was practising for the night's representation. In the midst of a hearty laugh she was seized with a sudden pain, and expired in the arms of Mr. Moody,^ who happened to stand by, and saved her from falling on the ground." ^ John Moody. — He established a theatre in the island of Jamaica, in 1745, and was thus the means of introducing the acted drama into America. He was considered exceptionally fine as the Irishman Teague, in The Committee. In the print of The Immortality of Garrick he is represented as Adam. 16 LIFE OF JFFFERSON That is said to have occurred on July i8, 1766. It is a tradition in the Jefferson family that the proximate cause of the catastrophe was a rehearsal of Dicky Gos- sip, by Edward Shutcr. That comedian, the original representative of Mr. Hardcastle, in SJie Stoops to Con- quer, and of Sir Anthony Absolute, in The Rivals, was thought by Garrick to be the greatest comic genius of his time. " I remember him," says John Taylor, {Records of My Life)^ "as Justice Woodcock, Scrub, Peachum, and Sir Francis Gripe. ... His acting was a compound of truth, simplicity, and luxuriant humour. Never was an actor more popular than Shuter." " He was more bewildered in his brain by wishing to acquire imaginary grace, than by all his drinking," says Tate Wilkinson; "like Mawworm, he believed he had a call." Shuter, a devout Methodist, was also a fine Fal.staff. The part of Britannia, mentioned by Davies as allotted to Mrs. Jefferson, occurs in a masque by David Mallet, first produced at Drury Lane in 1755. The music was composed by Dr. Arne (17 10-1778). A prologue to the piece, written by Mallet and Garrick, and spoken by the latter, made a hit, by presenting a tipsy sailor reading a play-bill, with allusions to war with the French. Mrs. Jefferson is mentioned by Genest as having played Mrs. Fainall, in Congrcve's comedy of The Way of the World (1700), at Drury Lane, on March 15, 1774, for the benefit of Mrs. Abington. Her attributes and rank as an actress may be inferred from those facts. Her death is said by one authority to have occurred in 1766; by another, in 1768. The birth of Joseph Jefferson is assigned to 1774 or 1776. It is known that he had a step-mother ; one cause of his leaving home LIFE OF JEFFERSON 17 and emigrating to America, indeed, was his dissatisfac- tion with his father's second marriage ; and there is no record that Thomas Jefferson was married more than twice. It is not questioned that the mirth-making race of Jefferson has descended from the lovely lady who died of laughter on the Plymouth stage ; but either the date of her death or that of Joseph Jefferson's birth has been incorrectly stated. The true date of her death, probably, is 1776. One account says that Joseph Jef- ferson was born literally upon the stage, and that his mother died shortly afterward. It is a coincidence, bearing on the question of descent, that the Jefferson of our day, Rip Van Winkle, suffers agony at the base of the brain, from inordinate laughter. Tate Wilkinson, 1 in his agreeable Mevioirs (1790), a work containing several allusions to Thomas Jefferson, pays a tribute to the first Mrs. Jefferson, when referring to the Exeter episode of Jefferson's career as a manager : — "Early in December, 1764, I set off for Exeter, where Mr. Jefferson, my old friend and acquaintance in Dublin and London, was then become the manager, and everything then promised most flatteringly that he would soon make a fortune. But the substance is often changed for a shadow, nor are managers' gains so easily amassed as the public can gather it for them. His invitation had double allurement : first, novelty, which was ever prevalent ; and next, to see so pleasant and friendly a man as he had ever proved to me. I joined him and his new troop. Mr. Jefferson was at that time endeavouring — not without encouragement — to bring that theatre into a regular and established reputation. He had engaged Mr. Reddish 2 and many other good performers. Mrs. 1 Tate Wilkinson was born on October 27, 1739, and he died on December i, 1803. 2 Samuel Reddish. — He was born in 1740, became insane in 1779, B 18 T.TFE OF JKI FKRSON Jefferson, his first wife, was then living. She had one of the best dispositions that ever harboured in a human breast ; and, more extraordinary, joined to that meekness, she was one of the most elegant women ever beheld." Jefferson's second wife was Miss Wood, sister to a public singer of that name, then distinguished in Lon- don. She was a worthy lady, thougli apparently less amiable than her predecessor, and though unpropitious toward her step-son. She did not attempt the stage. The children of that imion were two sons, Frank and George, and two daughters, Frances and Elizabeth. Frank has been mentioned, as at one time an officer of a royal yacht in Virginia Water, at Windsor. George became an actor, and a respectably good one ; and he also displayed talent as a painter. It is said that a titled lady, resident near Ripon, established in her house a gallery of his works, and bought everything that he painted, — binding him not to sell his produc- tions to any other person. Elizabeth died in youth. F"rances was married to Mr. Samuel Butler,^ manager of the Harrowgate, Beverly, and Richmond theatres, Yorkshire ; and in after time was known upon the and died in 1785, in an asylum at York. John Taylor, who saw and knew him, records that he chiefly distinguished himself in the Shakespeare characters of Edgar, Posthumus, and Henry the Sixth. 1 In St. Mary's Church at Beverly, Yorkshire, is a tablet bearing this inscription : — " IN .MEMORY OF SAMUEL BUTLER. ' A poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.' Obt. June 15, 1812. Mt. 6j." LIFE OF JEFFERSON 19 stage, both as manager and actress. F. C. Wemyss, when a youth of eighteen, joined Mrs. Butler's dramatic company (April 12, 18 15) at Kendal, in Westmoreland; and he records in his Theatrical Biography^ that he there was introduced by the lady to George Jefferson, her brother, who was stage manager. That branch of the Jefferson family, however, contributed nothing of great importance to the stage. Reference, though, should be made to the professional career of Samuel W. Butler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Butler above mentioned, and grandson of Thomas Jefferson. That actor appeared at the Bowery theatre. New York, on December 14, 1831, as Coriolanus, and subsequently he played Virginius, and other parts. On November 4, 1 84 1, he came forward at the Park theatre, as Hamlet, and on November 9, he acted Walder, in IValder, the Avenger. Ireland says that, although " handsome in person, graceful in action, and correct in elocution, he still lacked the inspiration necessary to rank him as an artist of the first class." His wife, who accompanied him in America, surpassed him in public favour, — acting Louisa, in The Dead Shot, and also Gil Bias. Mr. and Mrs. Butler returned to England. Samuel William Butler died on July 17, 1845, aged forty-one, and was buried in Ardwick cemetery, Manchester. Charles Swain wrote his epitaph, which is here tran- scribed from a v^aluable collection of Curious Epitaphs, made by the learned antiquary, William Andrews, of Hull, England, and published in 1884. Mr. Andrews mentions a sketch of the life of Butler, written by Mr. John Evans and printed in Papers of the Manchester Literary Club, in 1877. This is the epitaph : — 20 LIFE OF JEFFERSON " Here rest the mortal remains of Samuel William Butler, Tra- gedian. In him the stage lost a highly-gifted and accomplished actor, on whose tongue the noblest creations of the poet found truthful utterance. After long and severe suffering he departed this life the 17th day of July in the year of our Lord, 1845. Aged 41 years. " Whence this ambition, whence this proud desire, This love of fame, this longing to aspire? To gather laurels in their greenest bloom, To honour life and sanctify the tomb ? 'Tis the Divinity that never dies, Which prompts the soul of genius still to rise. Though fades the laurel leaf by leaf away. The soul hath prescience of a fadeless day ; And God's eternal promise, like a star, From faded hopes still points to hopes afar ; Where weary hearts for consolation trust, And bliss immortal quickens from the dust. On this great hope the painter, actor, bard. And all who ever strove for fame's reward, Must rest at last ; and all that earth have trod Still need the grace of a forgiving God." Thomas Jefferson had a long career. He was on the stage from about 1746 to almost the day of his death, in 1807, — a period of sixty years. At first a rover, he saw many parts of the British kingdom, and became a favourite in the theatrical circles of many communities. He then settled into the groove of theatrical manage- ment, and there he remained till the last. His most prosperous days were those that he passed at Plym- outh, where he was established by chance. He had been asked to become the manager of the Plymouth theatre, for a salary and one-third of the profits, and he agreed, — on condition that the interior of the theatre should be renovated. This was promised, and he there- LIFE OF JEFFERSON 21 upon sent forward carpenters and painters, from the theatre at DubHn, where (about 1760) he happened to be acting, to do the work. Before those artisans reached Plymouth, the owner of the theatre, Mr. Kerby, had died ; nevertheless they were permitted, by his representative, to proceed in their task, Jefferson soon followed, with his theatrical company, but on arriving was astonished to learn that the building materials used by his me- chanics had been supplied on the credit of his name, which was well known and highly respected, and that he now already owed ^£261 to the tradespeople of the town. The heir-at-law refused to assume that debt, or undertake any responsibility in the matter ; and, thus hampered, Jefferson determined to secure a lease of the theatre, — buying its scenery and wardrobe, — and to make Plymouth his permanent residence. That project was fulfilled. He remained sole proprietor till 1770, when he sold one-third interest to Mr. Foote, of Exe- ter, with whom, in the mean time, he had been asso- ciated in the ownership of the Exeter theatre, and another third to Mr. Wolfe, of Pynn. This partnership lasted till 1784, when, upon the death of Foote, Jefferson inherited half his share, and Wolfe the other half, in trust. Three years later, in the winter of 1787, John Bernard ^ purchased from Jefferson a third interest in 1 John Bernard. — This actor, famous in his day for the perfection of his dry humour and finished manners, and equally excellent in the lines of acting typified by Lord Ogleby and Dashwould, was born at Portsmouth, England, in 1756. He went on the stage in 1774, and left it in 1820. After a time of provincial tribulation, he succeeded in winning a good rank on the London stage, and was long a favourite at Covent Garden. Wignell engaged him to come to Philadelphia in 1797, and he was there connected with the Chestnut Street theatre until 1803, when he removed to Boston, 22 LIFE OF JEFFERSON the Plymouth theatre, for ^1^400, and thereafter Jeffer- son, Bernard, and Wolfe were partners in its manage- ment, till the season of 1795-96, when Bernard sold his share, apparently to another Mr. Foote, and emigrated to America. Jefferson, a sufferer from gout, had be- come infirm, — so that he had to be helped in and out from house to theatre, — and after Bernard's departure he did not long retain his Plymouth property, but sold it for the consideration of an annual benefit, clear of expenses, as long as he should live. That contract was fulfilled, and the veteran received a testimonial each year till his death.^ He derived support, also, as an annuitant, from the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund, of which he had long been a member. His last days, notwithstanding illness and trouble, were marked by cheerful resignation. He was an entertaining compan- ion, and was always in good spirits. His last appear- ance on the stage was made in Aaron Hill's tragedy of Zarci, as the aged, dying monarch, Lusignan, a character that he represented, seated in a chair. Wood mentions where he remained three years. In 1807 he appeared at the New York Park, and he was last seen in New York in 1813 at the Commonwealth theatre, corner of Broadway and White street. He returned to England, and died in London, November 29, 1828, aged seventy-two. His Reh'o- spections of the Stage, edited by his son, William Bayle Bernard, is a charming book, and one of the best contributions that have been made to the history of the English stage. He left papers, also, from which his son compiled and edited Early Days of the American Stage, first pub- lished in Tallis's Dramatic Magazine (December, 1850, et seq.'). Bayle Bernard died in London, August 9, 1875. He was the author of many plays, notably of two versions of Rip Van Witikle. 1 "Jefferson's benefit (at Plymouth) is always- well and fashionably attended, and we are happy to add the last two years have been particularly lucrative." — GiUiland's Dramatic Mirror. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 23 that incident, in his Personal Recollections, and refers to an acquaintance of his, who witnessed the ceremony of Jefferson's final retirement. (The tragedy of Zara, pro- duced at Drury Lane in 1736, was borrowed from Vol- taire's Zaiir.) At the time of his death, which speedily followed his farewell, Jefferson was at Ripon, on a visit to his daughter Frances, Mrs. Samuel Butler, and it was there that he was seen by Drinkwater Meadows. His residence in Plymouth was a house adjoining the theatre. A view of those premises occurs in James Winston's Theatric Tourist, and Winston directs atten- tion to the comedian's bedroom window, which is visible in that print. It was in this theatre that the first Mrs. Jefferson died ; and it was in this house, no doubt, that Joseph Jefferson was born, — the actor who first made the name conspicuous in American theatrical history. The old Plymouth theatre, — a queer little two-story building, having two small doors and seven small win- dows, — was burnt down in 1863. In Bernard's first season with Jefferson (1787) at Plymouth, the dramatic company, he says, was "more select than numerous. Jefferson, in the old men, serious and comic, was a host. Wolfe, my other partner, was a respectable actor, and Mrs. Bernard and myself were established favourites, from the metropolis. Among the corps was a Mr. Prigmore," — who afterwards came to America. The same writer describes, in a sprightly strain, the average audience with which the actors at the Plymouth theatre were favoured : — " Sailors in general, I believe, are very fond of play-houses. This may be partly because they find their ships w^ork-houses, and partly because the former are the readiest places of amusement they can 24 LIFE OF JEFFERSON visit when ashore. I remember, on my first trip to Plymouth, I was rather startled at observing the effect which acting took on them, as also their mode of conducting themselves during a performance. It was a common occurrence, when no officers were present, for a tar in the gallery, who observed a messmate in the pit that he wished to address, to sling himself over and descend by the pillars, treading on every stray finger and bill in his way. When his communication was over, and before an officer could seize him, up again he went like a cat, and was speedily anchored alongside of ' Bet, sweet Blos- som.' The pit they called the hold ; the gallery, up aloft, or the main-top landing ; the boxes, the cabin ; and the stage, the quarter- deck. Every General and gentleman they saluted as a skipper; every soldier was a jolly, or lobster; and the varieties of old and young men who were not in command they collectively designated swabs. Jefterson, being the eldest, was a Rear-Admiral, and I was a Commodore." The merry temperament of Jefferson and the drifting kind of Hfe that he led, in common with his comrades of the sock, are suggested in this anecdote, from the same book : — "On arriving at Plymouth (1791) I found, to my great surprise, the company collected, but no preparations for the opening of the theatre. Wolfe and Jefferson were away, on one of their temporary schemes, and their precise point of destination I could not ascertain, till Jefferson came over from the little town of Lostwithiel, bringing with him the pleasing intelligence that the result of the speculation had placed all our scenery and wardrobe in jeopardy.^ I agreed to 1 The cost of conducting a theatre, however, was much less, in old days, than it is now, because the salaries paid to actors were smaller. About 1680 the highest salary paid to an actor was six shillings and threepence a day. About 1773 the total payment, for a week, at Drury Lane, amounted to about £s^3- I" ^75° Q"'" ^^^^ P^>^ ;i^iooo a year, by Rich, at Covent Garden, — the highest salary given to any actor on the English stage, up to that time. Dunlap states his total expenses, at the Park theatre, New York, in the season of 1798-99, at less than $1200 a week. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 25 go back with him and play for his benefit, taking with me our singer, a very pleasant fellow, of the name of West. " On crossing the ferry we bought a quantity of prawns, which we agreed to reserve for a snack at an inn, where Jefferson said there was some of the finest ale in the country. West and myself, how- ever, could not resist our propensities towards a dozen of the prawns, which, lying at the top, happened to be the largest, in the manner of pottled strawberries, to cover a hundred small ones. Coming to a hill. West and I jumped out of the coach, leaving Jeff"erson to take care of the fish. We had just reached the summit when we heard a great bawling behind us, and looking round perceived the coach standing still at the foot of the ascent, and Jefferson leaning out of the window and waving his hand. Imagining some accident had happened, down we both ran, at our utmost speed, and inquired the matter. Jeff"erson held up the handkerchief of diminutive prawns to our view, and replied, ' I wished to know if you wouldn't like a few of the large ones.' There was so much pleasantry in this reproof that we could only look in each other's face, laugh, and toil up the hill again." Ryley's Itinerant^ gives pleasant glimpses of Thomas Jefferson : — " Tom Blanchard came to play a few nights, and with him Jeffer- son of Exeter. During their stay we received an invitation to per- form The School for Scandal and An Agreeable Surprise, at Torr Abbey, on some grand public occasion which now slips my memory. Three chaises conveyed the major part of the company. Jefferson rode his own horse, and I walked, with my dogs and gun. During the journey, we thought of nothing but British hospitality and good cheer. Rich wines and fat venison were descanted upon, with epi- curean volubility : when, behold, we were shown into a cold, com- fortless servants' hall, with a stone floor. Jefferson, who was a 1 Samuel William Ryley, born 1755, died 1837. Author of a musi- cal farce, called The Civilian, or Partner turned Footman (1792), a comic opera on the subject of Smollett's novel of Roderick Random (1793), and a monologue entertainment entitled A'ew Brooms, which contains several songs. His Itinerant, or Genuine Memoirs of an Actor, was published in 1808. 26 LIFE OF JEFFERSON martyr to the gout, looked around him with disgust ; and when the servant unfeelingly inquired whether we cliose any dinner, he replied : ' Tell your master, friend, that after his death he had better have a bad epitaph than the players' ill report while he lives.' So saying he remounted his horse, and left us to do the play as well as we could without him. This rebuke had a good effect, for the butler soon made his appearance, with an apology, and the players received courteous entertainment during their stay at Torr Abbey." One of the anecdotes told by Ryley, has been illus- trated with an etching by Cruickshank, published in The Humourist : — " The last night of Jefferson's engagement, he played Hamlet, for his own benefit ; and Tom Blanchard, ever accommodating, agreed to double Guildenstern with the Grave-Digger. When Hamlet called for' the recorders,' Blanchard, who delighted in a joke, instead of a flute brought on a bassoon, used in the orchestra. Jefferson, after composing his countenance, which the sight of this instrument had considerably discomposed, went on with the scene : — ' H. Will you play upon this pipe .'' ' G. My lord, I cannot. *//. I pray you. * G. Believe me, I cannot. *■ H. I do beseech you. ' G. Well, my lord, since you are so very pressing, I will do my best.' " Tom, who was a good musician, immediately struck up Lady Coventry's Minuet, and went through the whole strain, — which fin- ished the scene ; for Hamlet had not another word to say for him- self." Bernard speaks of Benjamin Haydon, father of the painter, as a resident of Plymouth, in the days of his management with Jefferson, and as his friend and agent. The elder Haydon was in the habit of meeting Jefferson and Wolfe, for consultation with them on the business of the theatre, and regularly communicating with Ber- LIFE OF JEFFERSON 27 nard, in London. When Bernard lived at Plymouth, he often dined with Haydon, and he tells this story of the boy who afterwards became so distinguished as an artist : — " His son, the present artist of celebrity, a spirited, intelligent little fellow about ten years of age, used to listen to my songs, and laugh heartily at my jokes, whenever I dined at his father's. One evening I was playing Sharp, in The Lying Valet, when he and my friend Benjamin were in the stage-box ; and, on my repeating the words, ' I have had nothing to eat, since last Monday was a fortnight,' little Haydon exclaimed, in a tone audible to the whole house, ' What a whopper ! Why, you dined at my father's house this afternoon.' It was on this occasion, I believe, Mr. B. R. Haydon ^ first attracted the notice of the public." The memory of Thomas Jefferson is associated by Victor {Secret History of the Green- Room) with that of the brilliant actress, Frances Abington. That siren seems to have had many worshippers, and she remained, to the end of her days, a fascinating woman. She was born m London, in 1737, and died there, in Pall Mall, in March, 181 5, and was buried in St. James's, Piccadilly. A life-like glimpse of her is given by John Taylor, in his Records of my Life, p. 230 ; and another by Henry Crabb Robinson, in his Rejniuiscenccs, p. 214. Her maiden name was P'rances Barton. She married a musician named Abington. Her first appearance was made at the London Haymarket, in 1755, as Miranda, in The Busybody, and her last public appearance occurred on April 12, 1799. She was accounted a great Beatrice, ^ Benjamin Robert Haydon, born in 17S6, committed suicide in 1846. His grave is in old Paddington churchyard, London, a little way from that of Sarah Siddons. 7'he Lying J'alet, mentioned by Bernard, is a comedy by David Garrick, first produced in 1741, at Goodman's I'lelds theatre. 28 LIFE OF JEFFERSON in MiicJi Ado, and she was the original Lady Teazle, in The School for Scandal, — a part that she made a fine lady, with no trace of rustic origin. Garrick referred to her as a " most worthless creature, as silly as she is false and treacherous." Robinson's picture of her is more agreeable : — "June i6, 1811. — Dined at Sergeant Rough's, and met the once celebrated Mrs. Abington. From her present appearance one can hardly suppose she could ever have been otherwise than plain. She herself laughed at her snub-nose ; but she is erect, has a large, blue, expressive e3'e, and an agreeable voice. She spoke of her retire- ment from the stage as occasioned by the vexations of a theatrical life. She said she should have gone mad, if she had not quitted her profession. She has lost all her professional feelings, and when she goes to the theatre can laugh and cry like a child ; but the trouble is too great, and she does not often go. " It is so much a thing of course that a retired actor should be a laudator temporis acti, that I felt unwilling to draw from her any opinion of her successors. Mrs. Siddons, however, she praised, though not with the warmth of a genuine admirer. She said : ' Early in life Mrs. Siddons was anxious to succeed in comedy, and played Rosalind before I retired.' In speaking of the modern declamation and the too elaborate emphasis given to insignificant words, she said, ' That was brought in by them ' (the Kembles) . She spoke with admiration of the Covent Garden horses, and I have no doubt that her praise was meant to have the effect of satire. " Of all the present (181 1) actors Murray most resembles Garrick. She spoke of Barry with great warmth. He was a nightingale. Such a voice was never heard. He confined himself to characters of great tenderness and sweetness, such as Romeo. She admitted the infinite superiority of Garrick, in genius. His excellence lay in the bursts and quick transitions of passion, and in the variety and universality of his genius. Mrs. Abington would not have led me to suppose she had been on the stage, by either her manner or the substance of her conversation. She speaks with the ease of a per- '-/'■ -^ ■NiT, \ >h tvlRS. ABINGTON. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 29 son used to good society, rather than with tlie assurance of one whose business it was to imitate that ease." The Covent Garden horses, mentioned by Mrs. Abing- ton, were a number of steeds exhibited at that theatre, in 1811, in processions, in Blue Beard and The Forty Thieves. Sheridan referred to them in this couplet : — " How arts improve in this degenerate age ! Peers mount tlie box, and horses tread the stage ! " Thomas Jefferson's life seems to have been simple, industrious, and kindly. Although he was well known, he never filled a place of great prominence in the public eye or in the records of his time. The man was, obvi- ously, more than the actor. To us, as his figure glim- mers forth in the dim retrospect of the vanishing past, he is far less remarkable for what he achieved than for the associations that cluster around his name, and for what we are enabled to perceive of those charming- characteristics v/hich have survived in his living de- scendants. It was a romantic period through which Thomas Jefferson lived. It was a time, in theatrical annals, of varied and brilliant activity. The old story of Garrick's dethronement of the classic style of acting makes its background. The great Newton, in science, and Betterton and Elizabeth Barry, in art, had but lately died, when Jefferson was born. Congreve was still alive. Gibber, with the courtly graces of the age of Queen Anne, was just passing from the scene, while Ouin,^ 1 James Quin, 1693-1766. — The great Falstaff of the eighteenth cen- tury, and a man of sturdy intellect, imperious character, and caustic wit. He was huried in Bath .Vbbey, wliere the visitor may see his epitaph, written by Garrick. " I can only njcomnientl a man who wants to see a 30 LIFE OF JEFFERSON with his Roman dignity and pompous declamation, was soon to follow. Fielding was writing his novels, and Sheridan his comedies. It was the time, in acting, of Garrick, Barry, Henderson, Woodward, Macklin, Foote, Weston, Mossop, Shuter, King, Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Gibber, Mrs. Woffington, and Mrs. Yates. It was the time, in poetry, of Gowper, Grabbe, Gray, Goldsmith, and Robert Burns. Burke and Fox and Pitt were tread- ing the stately heights of oratory, and the terrible Earl of Ghatham was swaying the rod of empire. To Thomas Jefferson must have come, as news of the passing day, the thrilling martial story of Glive's exploits in India, and the strange and startling tale of Washington's auda- cious and successful rebellion in America. He might have heard of the glorious death of Wolfe, upon the Plains of Abraham, and his gaze may have followed the funeral cortege that bore that young hero to his grave in Greenwich church. He could have noted, as an incident of the hour, the suicide of Thomas Ghatterton, in Brook street, Holborn. He possibly saw, in West- minster Hall, the historic pageant of the trial of Warren character perfectly played to see Quin in Fulstaff." — Foote. " His senti- ments, though hid under the rough manner he had assumed, would have done honour to Cato." — George Anne Bellamy. One of his intimates was James Thomson, the poet, who wrote of him, in The Castle of Indo- lence, Canto I., stanza 67 : — " Here whilom lagged the Esopus of the age: But called by fame, in soul ypricked deep, A noble pride restored him to the stage. And roused him like a giant from "his sleep. Even from his slumbers wc advantage reap: With double force the enlivened scene he wakes, Vet quits not nature's bounds. He knows to keep Each due decorum. Now the heart he shakes, And now with well-urged sense the enlighten'd judgment takes." LIFE OF JEFFERSON 31 Hastings, and, in Westminster Abbey, the grief of a nation over the burial of David Garrick, and afterwards of Samuel Johnson. Some of the greatest men of the eighteenth century witnessed his acting, in the theatres of London and Dublin. Living from 1728 until 1807, he could have seen, as contemporary publications, the later writings of Pope and the earlier writings of Words- worth and Sir Walter Scott. He lasted until close upon the regency of George the Fourth, and passed away just as the accumulated force of Goethe and Niebuhr and the new powers of Coleridge, Byron, and Shelley were opening a great era in human thought. It cannot be otherwise than instructive to muse upon the experi- ence of a man before whose vision such memorable scenes and persons arose, and into whose life so much was crowded of impressive spectacle and admonitive fortune. One of the clearest impressions derived from the story of Thomas Jefferson's life is the impression of his docile amiability and droll humour. A manly, in- dependent spirit, a gentle disposition, and an invet- erate love of fun seem to have been the principal attributes of his character, and those attributes have marked his race. The apostles of heredity are some- what overfond of telling us about transmitted evil. It is a comfort occasionally to remember that good also can be inherited. Jefferson was scrupulously honest, but he had no economy. The will of the facetious Weston,^ 1 Thomas Weston, i 727-1776, was a son of the chief cook to George the Second. After a wild, roving youth, he became an actor. He was in Garrick's company, at Drury Lane, and he was with Foote, at the old Haymarket. His excellence was shown in Scrub, Drugger, and Jerry 32 LIFE OF JEFFERSON that droll comedian, who almost rivalled Garrick in Abel Drugger, and for whom Foote wrote the character of Jerry Sneak, contains this clause: ^^ Item. I having played under the management of Mr. Jefferson, at Richmond, and received from him every politeness; I therefore leave him all my stock of prudence, it being the only good quality I think he stands in need of." " I acted Bayes, at Exeter," says Tate Wilkinson, "and spoke a speech or two in the manner of old Andrew Brice, a printer of that city, and an eccentric genius. It struck the whole audience like electricity. Mr. Jefferson, who performed Johnson, was so taken by surprise that he could not proceed for laughter." Elsewhere in Wilkinson's Memoirs (Vol. III., p. 193) the reader sees Jefferson, in the full tide of innocent, sportive mischief, demurely chaffing the pompous and truculent Henry Mossop, — a man of great ability, but one who lacked the sense of humour, and therefore vi^as the easy prey of the joker. Both were members, at that time, of the Smock Alley theatre, in Dublin : — "Jefferson, who loved a little mischief, said to Mossop one day, ' Sir, I was last night at Crow Street, where Wilkinson, in Tragedy h-la-Mode and in Bayes. had taken very great liberties indeed,' and added that the audience were ill-natured enough to be highly enter- tained ; on which Mossop snuffed the air, put his hand on his sword, and, turning upon his heel, replied. 'Yes, sir; hw\. he only takes 7nc off a little,' and made his angry departure. After which Jefferson never again renewed the subject ; but was astonished, after his repeated and open threats of vengeance, he had not acted more Sneak. He seems, personally, to have been a compound of Charles Surface and Dick Svviveller. He was merry, comic, improvident, and too fond of the bottle for his own good. An interesting sketch of him is given in John Gait's Lives of the Players^ Vol. I., p. 232. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 33 consistently. And after the said Jefferson's telling me that circum- stance I never heard more of Mr. Mossop's sword, pistol, or anger." Mossop had previously, in a comic interview with Wilkinson, in the street, threatened him with violence. "'Sir,' .said Mossop,^ ' you are going to play in Crow Street theatre with Barry, sir, and, sir, I will run you through the body, sir, if you take the liberty to attempt my manner, by any mimicry on the stage. You must promise me, sir, on your honour, you will not dare attempt it. If you break that promise, sir, you cannot live ; and you, Mr. Wil-kin- son, must die, as you must meet me the next day, and I shall kill you, sir.' I told him it was impossible to comply with that his mandate." A reference to Thomas Jefferson, showing how near, for the second time, he came to a sudden, accidental death, occurs in a sketch of Theophilus Gibber, pub- lished in the Biographia Dramatica. Theophilus, the profligate son of the poet laureate, Colley Gibber, was drowned, in 1758, aged fifty-five, on a voyage from England to Ireland. In recording that catastrophe, the Biographia makes allusion to Jefferson : — "• Mr. Gibber embarked at Parkgate, together with Mr. Maddox, the celebrated wire-dancer, who had also been engaged as an auxil- iary to the same theatre,- on board the Dublin trader, some time in the month of October; but the high winds which are frequent at that time of the year in St. George's channel, and which are fatal to many vessels in the passage from this kingdom to Ireland, proved particularly so to this. The vessel was driven to the coast of Scot- land, where it was cast away, every soul in it (and the passengers were extremely numerous) perishing in the waves, and the ship 1 Mossop (1729-1773) died in London, in great penury, — which, however, he kept a secret, — and was buried in or near Chelsea church. I tried, in 1885, to find his grave, but without success. It is unmarked. 2 Those performers were on their way to join the Theatre Royal in Smock alley, Dublin, managed by Thomas Sheridan, who needed recruits, as he had been much pressed, in that year, 1758, by the opposition of the new theatre in Crow street. Indeed, it ruined him there. c 34 LIFE OF JEFFERSON itself so entirely lost tliat scarcely any vestige of it remained, to indicate where it had been wrecked, excepting a box containing books and papers which were known to be Mr. Gibber's, and which were cast up, on the western coast of Scotland. [So said Mr. I?aker,' but this was a mistake; for we have since found that in this ship, in which Theoph. Gibber, Maddox, and others perished, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson, Mr. Arthur and family, Mrs. Chambers, and some others were passengers, and, by leaping into a small boat, were saved."'] A peculiarity in Thomas Jefferson's character, and a singular incident in his experience, are thus stated by his grand-daughter, Elizabeth Jefferson, in a letter to the present biographer: — " My grandfather had a great aversion to litigation and lawyers. I remember having been told of an instance of this. He had paid a large sum of money to a creditor, but had mislaid the receipt ; and it happened that in time this same bill was again presented for payment. He explained and protested, but his creditor was posi- tive, and finally my grandfather was sent to jail. My father volun- tarily went there, along with him, to take care of him, and for a whole year they endured imprisonment. At last the missing receipt was found, and their prison doors were opened. My grandfather was now urged to bring an action for damages, and, doubtless, he might have recovered a large sum ; but his invincible repugnance to litigation restrained him, and he resolutely refused to proceed, being content with his liberty and with the contrite apology offered by his hard creditor. My f;ither's devotion to him was never forgotten ; nor — by his step-mother — was it ever forgiven." Thomas Jefferson died at Ripon, January 24, 1807. Contemporary records of the event offer a strong con- trast to the kind of chronicle which is made, in modern journals, of the death of a notable man. The Goitlc- 1 David Erskine Baker, who projected and began the Riographia^ bringing the record to 1764. Isaac Reed, F.A.S., subsequently continued this useful chronicle to 1782, and Stephen JoNES brought it onward to 1811. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 35 man s Magazine, for March, 1807, presents, for example, the subjoined obituary notice : — " Died. — At Ripon, County of York, while on a visit to a daugh- ter, Mr. Jefferson, comedian, — the friend, contemporary, and exact prototype of the immortal Garrick. He had resided many years at Plymouth ; and as often as his age and infirmities permitted, he appeared on that stage, in characters adapted to lameness and decay, and performed them admirably, particularly at his last bene- fit, when he personated Lusignan and Lord Chalkstone. We know not whether Mr. Hull or Mr. Jefferson was the father of the British stage ; they were both of nearly an equal standing. To the The- atrical Fund,^ of which the former is founder and treasurer, the latter owed the chief support of his old age." 1 The Theatrical Fund of London was instituted at Covent Garden, December 22, 1765, and confirmed by act of Parliament in 1766. The plan of it was suggested by George Mattocks, and was carried into prac- tical effect by Thomas Hull. In the churchyard of St. Margaret's, near the north porch of Westminster Abbey, could once be read, on a grave- stone, this inscription, — the lines by John Taylor: — ■ " Also to the Memory of Thomas Hull, Esq., Late of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, who departed this life April 22, 1808, In the ygth year of his age. " Hull, long respected in the scenic art, On this world's stage sustained a virtuous part; And some memorial of his zeal to shew For his loved Art, and shelter age from woe. Founded that noble Fund which guards his name. Embalmed by Gratitude, enshrined by Fame." At Chingford in Essex, within the precincts of a most interesting old church, now in ruins, I one clay came upon a weather-beaten tombstone, l)earing this inscription : — " In memory of Mr. John Jefferson, late of this parish, who departed this life January 27, 1794, in the 71st year of his age. Also of Mrs. Mary Jefferson, wife of the above. June 2, 1775. Aged 48. Tom Jefferson. 1804. 81." These may have l)een relatives of old Thomas Jefferson. It seemed worth while to copy the records. 36 LTFE OF JEFFERSON A passing reference to the same bereavement is made in the Annua! Register, for 1807 : — "Mr. Jefferson was on a visit to a daughter, who is settled in Yorkshire, when death closed the last scenes of this honest, pleasant, much esteemed man." These notices of the life of Thomas Jefferson cannot better be embellished than with the suggestive reflec- tions made by Mr. James Smith, of Melbourne, a diligent and appreciative student of theatrical history, and one of the most sprightly and ingenious writers of the Australian world : — '• What times to have lived in," that moralist exclaims, "and what men and women to have known ! He saw Old Drury in the height of its glory, and Garrick in the zenith of his renown. He flirted with Kitty Clive, and supped with Fanny Abington. He listened to the silver tones of Spranger Barry, and was melted by the pathos of Susanna Gibber. He chuckled at the sight of Sam Foote mimicking everybody, and of Tate Wilkinson mimicking Sam Foote. He saw the curtain rise before an audience that included Lord Ghancellor Gamden and Lord Ghief Justice IMansfiekl, William Hogarth and Gharles Ghurchill, Edmund Burke and Edward Gibbon. He heard Goldsmith's child-like laugh and Dr. Johnson's gruff applause. He saw the courtly .sarcasm sparkle in Horace Walpole's eyes, and the jest quivering on Selwyn's lip. He recognised the quaint figure of Sir Joshua Reynolds in the boxes, and the brilliant, homely face of Thomas Gainsborough in the pit. And, above all, he trod the same stage with the English Roscius, and was privi- leged to watch every movement of that marvellous face. This was, indeed, an uncommon and a happy fate! What pleasant hours he must have spent with Garrick, at Hampton, and what a fund of anecdote he must have accumulated, with which, in his age, to charm his cronies at Plymouth! He had .seen King carry the town by storm as Lord Ogleby in The Clandestine Marriage, and Garrick take his farewell of the stage. He could recall the airy flutter of Dodd ; the rollicking Irish humour of iMoody; the well-bred ea.se THOMAS .1 ]<. I- h' K K' -S< ) X LIFE OF JEFFERSON 37 of Palmer ; the eloquent by-play of Parsons ; the versatility of Ban- nister; the strong, melodious voice of Holland; the ardour of Powell ; the whimsical drollery of Reddish ; Mossop's harmonious delivery, and Macklin's rumbling growl. He had seen the Abing- tons, the Baddeleys, the Gibbers, the Clives, and the whole splendid phalanx of the Garrick dynasty, pass from the scene ; and he had lived to view the rise of the Kembles, and to hear the thrilling accents of Mrs. Siddons, and the sweet, bubbling laugh of Dora Jordan. Wliat reminiscences might have been written by Thomas Jefferson ! " Dramatic art is not the assumption of disguises, but the idealised exposition of nature and the poetic inter- pretation of character, by means of action. Human capacity in that art — as experience and observation have amply shown — is sharply limited ; for, in acting, everything centres in the personality of the individual. The best success of the best actor is gained in only a few characters, and those such as comprise, however intermingled with other ingredients, attributes sympa- thetic with his own. Thomas Jefferson acted parts of every description, from the Bleeding Soldier up to Mac- beth, and from Katherine's music-master up to Hamlet. In the course of the twenty-five years during which, at intervals, he performed in Drury Lane, he presented about sixty characters. In all of them he was efficient ; in some of them he was excellent ; in no one of them did he make an impression that has endured. Garrick is remembered as Don Felix and King Lear ; Kemble, as Coriolanus and Penruddock ; Edmund Kean, as The Stranger, Sir Edward Mortimer, and Othello ; Cooke, as Sir Giles Overreach ; Junius Brutus Booth, as Richard the Third ; Macready, as Macbeth ; Forrest, as Damon ; Edwin Booth, as Hamlet and Richelieu ; Henry Irving, 38 LIFE OF JEFFERSON as Mathias in TJie Bells, Becket, Lear, Hamlet, Louis, and Dr. Primrose : but of Thomas Jefferson, the mem- ory is simply that of a clever, versatile actor, who followed the natural style of Garrick, excelled in the representation of kings and tyrants, and loved his joke. Some of the parts that he played, together with the titles of the plays in which they occur, and with occa- sional comment, are named in this catalogue. REPERTORY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON A. Aubrey, in The Fashionable Lover. Comedy. By Richard Cum- berland. Drury Lane, 1772. B. Balance, in 77/1? Recruiting Officer, — one of the fine comedies of Farquhar. Drury Lane, 1705. The scene is Shrewsbury. Far- quhar was once a recruiting officer, and he is thought to have drawn his own character in that of Captain Plume. His Justice Balance was designed as a compliment to Mr. Berkely, then recorder of Shrewsbury ; and Sylvia was drawn from Mr. Berkely's daughter. Jefferson acted Balance, on occasions of his benefit, in 1775 and 1776. Belford, and also Baldwin, in The Fatal Marriage, or The Innocent Adultery. Tragedy. By Thomas Southerne. 1694. Altered by Garrick, and called Isabella, or 'The Fatal Marriage. Drury Lane. Blandford, in The Royal Slave. Tragi-comedy. By William Cartwright, 1639. First acted in 1636, at O.xford, before Charles the First. Buckingham, in Cibber's alteration of Shakespeare's tragedy of Richard the Third. Drury Lane, 1700. C. Chalkstone, in Garrick's farce of Lethe, first produced at Drury Lane, in 1748. It had been presented three years earlier, in a LIFE OF JEFFERSON 39 different form, at Goodman's Fields theatre, under the title of ^■Esop in the Shades. Garrick was the original Lord Chalkstone. Cubla, in Zingis. Tragedy. By Alexander Dow. Diairy Lane, 1769. Captain Worthy, in Thie Fair Quaker, or The Huuwurs of the Navy. Comedy. By Charles Shadwell, 17 10. Altered by Captain Edward Thompson. Drury Lane, 1773. Carlos, in The Revenge. Tragedy. By Dr. Edward Young, author of Night Thoughts. Drury Lane, 1721. Careless, in The Covimittee, or The Faithful Irishtnan. Comedy. By Sir Robert Howard. 1665. Careless, in TJie Double Gallant, or The Sick Lady^s Cure. Comedy. By Colley Cibber. Haymarket, 1707. Colonel Britton, in The Wonder. Comedy. By Susanna Centlivre. Drury Lane, 1713-14. Colonel Rivers, in False Delicacy. Comedy. By Hugh Kelly. Drury Lane, 1768. Jefferson acted this part for his benefit, in 1773. Colonel Lambert, in The Hypocrite. An alteration of Gibber's play of The Nonjuror, 17 18, which, in turn, was based on Moliere's Tartuffe, made by Isaac Bickerstaff, 1768. The chief part in The Nonjuror is Dr. Wolf, a priest, who pretends to be an English churchman. In The Hypocrite Mawworm is the principal part, and that was acted, with great ability, by Thonias Weston. Drury Lane. Cleomenes, in Florizel and Perdita. Pastoral Drama, in three acts, altered from Shakespeare's lovely comedy of A VVi)iter''s Tale, by Garrick, and produced at Drury Lane, in 1756. Clytus, in Alexander the Great. Altered from Nathaniel Lee's tragedy of The Rival Queens, or The Death of Alexander the Great. Theatre Royal, 1677. Produced at both Covent Garden and Drury Lane, 1770. Roxana and Statira are in that play. Revived at Drury Lane, 1795. The author, a brilliant genius, died, at thirty- five, in 1 69 1 or 1692, shortly after being released from Bedlam. Dolabella, in All for Love, or The World Well Lost. That is the tragedy in which Dryden imitated Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, and which he said was the only one of his plays that 40 LIFE OF JEFFERSON he had written for himself. Theatre Royal, 1678. Dr. Johnson remarks of this play that the author, " by admitting the romantic omnipotence of love, has recommended as laudable and worthy of imitation that conduct which, through all ages, the good have cen- sured as vicious, and the bad despised as foolish." Don Frederick, and also Don John, in The Chances. Comedy. By Beaumont and Fletcher, 1647. Altered by the Duke of Buck- ingham, 1682. Altered by Garrick, 1773, who acted Don John. Drury Lane. Dunelm, in Athelstan. Tragedy. By Dr. John Browne, once Bishop of Carlisle. Drury Lane, 1756. Earl of Devon, in Alfred. Tragedy. By David Mallet. Altered by Garrick. Drury Lane, 1773. Emperor of Germany, in The Heroine of the Cave. Tragedy. Begun by Henry Jones, and finished by Paul Hififernan. Acted, for the benefit of Samuel Reddish, March 19, 1774. Friar John, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This part is usually omitted: it was, however, restored by Irving (1882). Fairfield, in The Mati of the Mill. 1765. A burlesque opera, written by " Signor Squallini," in satire of The Maid of the Mill, by Isaac Bickerstaff, — a comic opera, on the subject of Samuel Richardson's novel of Pamela. Covent Garden, 1765. G. Gloster, in Jane Shore. Tragedy. By Nicholas Rowe. Drury Lane, 1713. Mrs. Siddons told Dean Milman that one line in Rowe's tragedy of Jane Shore was the most effective she ever uttered : " 'Twas he — 'twas Hastings." In 1772 Mrs. Canning — mother of the statesman, George Can- ning (1770-1827), then a child of two years — made her first appearance on the stage, acting Jane Shore in that piece. Garrick acted Shore. An allusion to that incident occurs in Bernard's Retrospections, Vol. L, p. 13 : — f I i LIFE OF JEFFERSON 41 " At Drury Lane I remember seeing Ja7ie Shore, on the evening that Mrs. Canning, the widow of an eminent counsellor, made her debut, as the heroine. She was patronised by numerous persons of distinction, and the house was very favourable towards her. But, independently of the personal interest which attended her attempt, Mrs. Canning put forth claims upon the approbation of the critical. One thing, however, must be admitted; she was wonderfully well supported. Garrick was the Hastings, and Reddish (her future husband), the Dumont. I little thought as I sat in the pit that night, an ardent boy of sixteen, that I then beheld the lady who was destined, at some fifteen years' distance, to become the leading feature in a company of my own ; nor that in the Gloster of the night, — admirably acted by Jefferson, — I beheld my partner in that management. (Plymouth.) " Goodwin, in The Brothers. Tragedy. By Dr. Edward Young, author of Night Thoughts. Drury Lane, 1753. Gratiano, in Shakespeare's comedy of The Merchant of Venice. Heartfree, in The Provoked Wife. Comedy. By Sir John Van- brugh. Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1697. Quin was distinguished in it, as Sir John Brute. Horatio, in The Fair Penitent. Tragedy. By Nicholas Rowe. Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1703. I. AND J. lachimo and also Cloten, in Shakespeare's Cymbeline, altered by Garrick, 1761. Jarvis, in The Gamester. Comedy. By Susanna Centlivre. Lin- coln's Inn Fields, 1705 ; Drury Lane, 1758. There is an earlier play, with this title, by James Shirley (1637), which was altered by Garrick, and brought out at Drury Lane, in 1758 ; and there is a later one, by Edward Moore (1753), in which Mrs. Siddons acted Mrs. Beverley, and John Palmer was great as Stukeley. Moore died in 1757, and his grave is in the burial-ground which was given to London by Archbishop Tenison, in what was once called High street, Lambeth. Johnson, in The Rehearsal. This capital comedy, by George Vil- liers, second Duke of Buckingham (1627, 1688), was produced at the Theatre Royal, in 1672, and in after years it afiforded to Garrick, in the character of Bayes, originally Bilboa, an opportunity, which he brilliantly improved, for satirical imitation of the noted actors of the time. The Rehearsal, as is well known, suggested to Sheridan the admirably humourous farce of The Critic. 42 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Jaques, in Shakespeare''s comedy of As Vok Like It. Kathel, in The Fatal Discovery. Dmry Lane, 1769. A tragedy by the Rev. John Home, author o{ Douglas — so amusingly described by Thackeray {The Firgiuians, chap. 11). Mr. Home was so un- popular, on political grounds, at the time of the production of this tragedy, that, when the fact of its authorship became known, the malcontents threatened to burn the theatre, if the piece was not withdrawn ; and Garrick, accordingly, withdrew it, after the twelfth night. King Claudius, in Hamlet., — the Dane being acted by Garrick. Leonato, in Shakespeare's comedy of Much Ado About Nothing. Littlestock, in The Gamesters, a comedy by Garrick, 1758, altered from The Gamester, by James Shirley. Lord Morelove, in The Careless Husband. Theatre Royal, 1705. This is Colley Gibber's most polished comedy, and by some judges is considered his best. Lady Betty Modish occurs in it, — in which part Mrs. Oldfield " excellently acted an agreeably gay woman of quality, a little too conscious of her natural attractions." Lord More- love is her devoted lover. Lord Trinket, in The Jealous Wife. Comedy, by George Col- man. Drury Lane, 1761. Lovemore, in The Way to Keep Him., a three-act comedy by Arthur Murphy. Drury Lane, 1760. Jefferson acted this for his benefit, in 1771. Lyon, in The Reprisal, or The Tars of Old England. Farce. By Tobias Smollett, the novelist. Drury Lane, 1757. Garrick had rejected a play by that author, entitled The Regicide, and Smollett had subsequently satirised him, as Brayer, in Mr. Melopyn's story, in Roderick Random. Garrick's acceptance of the poor farce of The Reprisal was, therefore, viewed as an act either of magnanim- ity or prudence. Mathusius, in 'Tamanthes. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 43 Megistus, in Zcnobia. Tragedy. By Arthur Murphy. Drury Lane, 1768. Adapted from the French of Crebillon. M\rd.ht\,in The Way of the World. Comedy. By WilHam Con- greve. Drury Lane, 1700. Jefferson acted this part for the benefit of Mrs. Abington. Mercury, in AmpJiytrion. This piece is from the Latin, of Plautus. It was adapted by MoUere, and afterwards by Dryden. An altera- tion of Dryden's piece, made by Dr. Hawkesworth, at Garrick's request, was produced at Drury Lane, in 1756. Music-master, in Shakespeare's comedy of The Taining of the Shreiv. Myrtle, in The Corsican Lovers. Orsino, in Shakespeare's comedy of Twelfth Night. Oswald, in King Arthur. Palamede, in The Frenchified Lady Never in Paris. Comedy. By Henry Dell. Covent Garden, 1757. Based on plays by Dryden and Cibber. s. Sir Tan Tivy, in The Male Coquette, or Seventeen Hiindred Fifty- seven. Farce. By Garrick. Drury Lane, 1757. SifFredi, in Tancred and Sigisinnnda. Tragedy. By James Thomson, author of The Seasons. The plot of this piece is found in Gil Bias. Drury Lane, 1745. Sunderland, in The Note of Hand, or A Trip to Newmarket. Farce. By Richard Cumberland. Drury Lane, 1774. Sir Epicure Mammon, in The Alchemist. This piece was an alter- ation of Ben Jonson's comedy. Ganick acted Abel Drugger, and was famously good in the character. A fine painting of Ganick as Abel Drugger is in the club-house of the Players, — presented to that institution by Joseph Jefferson (1890). Garrick's performance of Abel Drugger was so good that an infatuated young lady, who had begun matrimonial negotiations with him, became disgusted and abandoned her project ; while a gentleman from Lichfield, who had brought from Garrick's brother a letter of introduction to the 44 LIFE OF JEFFERSON great actor, would not deliver it, after seeing that impersonation, — so great was his contempt for the person he then saw. Garrick's acting of the part is described as follows, by a contem- porary observer, Mr. Lichtenberg, who wrote some account of what lie saw as a traveller in England, and whose observations were trans- lated by Tom Taylor : — " Abel Drugger's first appearance would disconcert the muscular economy of the wisest. His attitude, his dread of offending the doctor, his saying noth- ing, his gradual stealing in further and further, his impatience to be introduced, his joy to his friend Face, are imitable by none. When he first opens his mouth, the features of his face seem, as it were, to drop upon his tongue ; it is all cau- tion, — it is timorous, stammering, and inexpressible. When he stands under the conjuror, to have his features examined, his teeth, his beard, his little finger, his awkward simplicity, and his concern, mixed with hope, and fear, and joy, and avarice, and good nature, are beyond painting." T. Truenian, in The Twin Rivals. Comedy. By George Farquhar. Drury Lane, 1703. Tullius Hostilius, in The Roman Father. Drury Lane, 1750. Tragedy, by William Whitehead, who succeeded Gibber, as Poet- Laureate, in 1757. It is based on the Roman story of the Horatii and the Curiatii, treated in Les Horaces, by Corneille, and made im- mortal by Rachel. V. Velasco, in Alonzo. Tragedy by the Rev. John Home. Drury Lane, 1773. Vainlove, in The Old Bachelor. Comedy. By William Congreve (his first piece). Theatre Royal, 1693. Thomas Jefferson's character developed itself along a conventional line. He had, indeed, the boldness to adopt the stage, — against which, in his time and for many years afterward, the respectable British parent is found protesting with severity and contempt. But when he did that he was an adventurous lad, with no position to lose, and the vocation of the actor no doubt LIFE OF JEFFERSON 45 consorted as well with his necessities as with his humour and talents. It does not appear that there was either moral courage or mental prescience in the choice. He was a bold, high-spirited youth. He was fascinated by the playhouse, and he drifted into acting as a source of pleasure and a means of advancement. When thus embarked, he soon sobered to the practical English view of duty, and thereafter he ambled calmly in the beaten track. Through what is known of his intellectual life, the inquirer discerns no impulse of posi- tive originality, no exercise of creative power. His style as an actor was based on that of Garrick, and he could not have had a better model ; but he was scarcely more than a shadow of his great original. He took the parts as they came, and he applied to their illustration dramatic instinct of a fine quality and dramatic facul- ties of a good order. But he struck out no individual path. He resembled Garrick, as Davenport resembled Macready, or as Setchell resembled Burton : he was of the Garrick school, and that was all. His influence on the stage was not the influence of genius ; he did not come to destroy, but to fulfil, the tradition which he found. That he followed the lead of Garrick, and not of Ouin, was significant rather of temperament than of deliberate choice : brilliancy and warmth allured him more than scholarship and formality : but, had he been attracted to the school of Ouin rather than to that of Garrick, he still would have remained a disciple. His services to the stage, accordingly, were those of an able and generous man, working by conventional methods in a traditional groove. He sustained at a high level the dignity of his profession, and he was the more scrupu- 46 LIFE OF JEFFERSON lously careful of the integrity of the theatre because sensitive to the reproach under which it laboured. While he did not reject Archer, Careless, Woodall, Belmour, Scandal, and kindred shining scamps of old English comedy, he, evidently, was the kind of man who must have acted them, not from sympathy with vice, not from immoral intent, but because experience had shown them to be useful, and because they were in possession of the stage. He played them as he played everything else, — as he played Jaques, and Horatio, and Orsino, and as, had he lived in our day, he would have played, with equal impartiality. Master Walter and Joseph Surface, Ludovico and Adrastus, Alfred Evelyn and Captain Bland. He was a thorough actor ; he helped to build up the British stage : he held, to the end of a long life, the esteem of the public ; and he left to history and to his descendants an interesting and honourable name. II JOSEPH JEFFERSON 1 774-1 832 Joseph Jefferson, the second of the Jefferson Family of Actors, and one of the most honourably distinguished performers that have graced the theatre, was born at Plymouth, England, in 1774. His education was con- ducted with care, and he received, under the guidance of his parents, a thorough training for the stage. While yet a lad he acted in the Plymouth theatre, — after Bernard had become associated with his father and with Mr. Wolfe in its management. His youth, so far as can be judged from the little that is known of it, was commendable for patience, industry, and filial devotion. He appears to have matured early, and to have been capable of far-sighted views and the steady pursuit of a definite purpose in life. He did not find his home comfortable after his father's second marriage, and also he sympathised with the republican drift of feeling, which, at that disturbed period, — between the revolt of the British colonies in America and the French Revo- lution, — was, to a slight extent, rife in England. Those causes of discontent impelled him to emigrate to Amer- ica. The opportunity was afforded by C. S. Powell, of Boston, who had come to England, in 1793, to enlist 47 48 LIFE OF JEFFERSON actors for the new theatre in that city. Powell agreed to pay the passage money, and a salary of $17 a week. Jefferson came over in 1795, and from that time his lot was cast with the people of this land. He never re- turned to England. His American career lasted thirty- seven years, and he deserved and received every mark of honour that the respect and affection of the commu- nity could bestow upon genius and virtue. His char- acter was impressive, and at the same time winning. His life was pure. His professional exertions were well directed, and for a long time his name retained a brilliant prestige. Domestic afflictions and waning popularity, indeed, overshadowed his latter days ; but, when we remember this, we must also remember that the fifth act of life's drama cannot be otherwise than sad, and that this actor, before it came, had enjoyed, in ample abundance, the sunshine of prosperity. The advent of Joseph Jefferson in America is asso- ciated with the infancy of the Republic and with an early period in the history of the American stage. In coming upon' this incident, accordingly, the observer's thought is prompted to dwell for a moment upon the beginning of the theatre in this country. The acted drama came into America by way of the island of Jamaica, and the pioneer, if not the actual founder, of the American stage was the Irish comedian, John Moody, originally a barber, who, about the year 1745, came over from England to Jamaica, where, after a pre- liminary experiment with amateurs, he presently estab- lished a theatre, which he conducted with prosperity for four years. Moody had been an unsuccessful aspirant in tragedy, but subsequently he became distinguished LIFE OF JEFFERSON 49 as a comedian. On his return to London, in 1749, he was employed in Garrick's company at Drury Lane, and he then leased his theatrical property at Jamaica to a theatrical company headed by David Douglas and inclusive of Mr. Daniels, Miss Hamilton, Mr. Kershaw, Mr. Morris, and Mr. Smith. Those successors to Moody came across the Atlantic in 175 1. It was a year of destructive hurricanes in Jamaica, yet the adven- turous actors prospered there ; and soon the news of their prosperity, finding its way back to England, stimu- lated other active spirits to follow in their track. So far the drama had not yet made a genuine lodgement upon the mainland. Such spirits were the more will- ing to venture because goaded by the spur of neces- sity. Garrick, who had defeated and overwhelmed the elocutionists in acting, was in complete possession of the dramatic field in London, and, for a time, no theatri- cal enterprise or aspirant could withstand the sweep of his extraordinary power. Among other competitors who went down in the struggle was William Hallam, who had succeeded Garrick at Goodman's Fields theatre, but who could make no headway against the new dramatic chieftain, and who, therefore, in 1750, retired from the contest, a bankrupt and ^5000 in debt. The creditors of Hallam, however, being satisfied with his conduct, discharged him from debtj and presented to him the wardrobe and properties of the theatre. He was then enabled to begin business anew ; but, despairing of prosperity at home, and allured by tidings of theatrical success abroad, he determined to begin it in America. He collected a dramatic company, and setting sail from Bristol, aboard the Charming Sally, on May 17, 1752, 50 LIFE OF JEFFERSON landed at Yorktown, Va., in June of that year. The Governor of the Province was Dinwiddie. Hallam's company, led by himself and his wife, included his two sons, Lewis and Adam, and his daughter, Miss Hallam. The other members of it were Mr. Adcock, Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Malone, Miss Palmer, Mr. and Mrs. Rigsby, Mr. Singleton, and Mr. Wynell. Hallam, proceeding to Williamsburg, obtained for his theatre a building in the outskirts of the town. It stood, indeed, so near to the woods that whenever he wished to have pigeons for his repast, the manager could, and often did, without leaving his doorstep, shoot them on the tree-tops. There, on September 5, 1752, occurred the first dramatic performance on the conti- nent of America, given by a regular company at a regu- lar theatre.! The plays performed were Shakespeare's comedy of TJie Merchcmt of Venice and Garrick's farce of Lethe. Lewis Hallam, the second, afterwards highly distinguished in American dramatic life, making his first appearance in that representation, totally failed from stage fright. The Hallam Family will always be named with respect in American theatrical history. The name is first asso- ^ One authority declares, however, that the first regular theatre erected in America was at Annapolis, Md., — a neat brick building tastefully built, which would contain about five hundred persons, — and that a per- formance was given there on July 13, 1752, the first in our history of which any record has been found. The plays there acted were The Beaux' Stratagevt and The Virgin Unmasked. The company included Mr. Wynell and Mr. Herbert, probably members of Hallam's company, who had repaired thither from Williamsburg. The prices charged were : boxes, ten shillings (§2.50); pit, seven shillings and sixpence ($1.87); gallery, five shillings ($1.25). LIFE OF JEFFERSON 51 ciated with a melancholy incident in the life of Charles Macklin, who, in 1735, accidentally killed Thomas Hal- lam, of the Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre, London, by thrusting a walking-cane into his eye, Thomas Hallam was an actor, and so was his brother Adam ; and three sons of the latter, William, Lewis, and George, adopted the same profession ; a fourth son entered the navy and rose to the rank of admiral. William Hallam came over to America in 1752 and established the family here ; but this adventurer remained only a little while in the American field; for, shortly after 1754, he sold his business to his brother Lewis, and returned to Eng- land. Lewis Hallam remained here, and so far pros- pered in management that for a time he was the leader of the American stage. He had been the principal low comedian at Goodman's Fields theatre ; his wife — a rela- tive of Rich, of Covent Garden, and a woman of great beauty and talent — had been leading lady there ; and both were experienced performers. They brought to America three of their children, a daughter and two sons, Lewis and Adam, but left their fourth child, an- other daughter, in the care of relatives in England. The immigrant daughter, then fifteen years old, at first played juvenile ladies, and in time she rose to a position of some prominence ; but she did not become a remark- able figure on the stage, and in 1774 she returned to England, and so vanished from the chronicle. The younger sister, who had remained here, went on the stage and became the celebrated Mrs. Mattocks. Lewis Hallam, the second, notwithstanding his disastrous first appearance, at Williamsburg, rose to eminence and had a brilliant career. He was the first theatrical manager 52 LIFE OF JEFFERSON in New York after the Revolution, swaying, in associa- tion with John Henry and Thomas Wignell, the fort- unes of the John Street theatre. Lewis Hallam, the first, his father, did not long survive his American expe- dition. He succeeded, however, in carrying forward the work that William Hallam had planned, — in plant- ing the dramatic standard upon this continent ; for, in the face of many and serious obstacles, he opened theatres in Williamsburg, Yorktown, Annapolis, New York, and Philadelphia. But, after all his efforts, he did not find himself adequately rewarded, and eventually he withdrew to the island of Jamaica, and there, in 1756, he died. His widow presently became the wife of John Moody's theatrical successor in the West Indies, David Douglas ; and, as Mrs. Douglas, she was the most distinguished actress of her time in the western world. Douglas removed from Jamaica to New York in 1758, and opened theatres in that city and in Philadelphia, Newport, Perth-Amboy, Charleston, and Albany ; and throughout the extensive circuit thus indicated he reigned in affluence until the storm-clouds of the Revo- lution began to gather, and all the arts and graces of peace were submerged by the flowing tide of war. Mrs. Douglas died at Philadelphia in 1773, and soon after that calamity her husband abandoned the American dramatic field, and returned to Jamaica, where he be- came a magistrate, and so ended his days. His step- son, Lewis Hallam, had accompanied him, and so had Thomas Wignell, who was Lewis Hallam's second cousin : indeed, all the actors in the colonies, finding their occupation gone, were obliged to seek other places or new pursuits, and many of them went to LIFE OF JEFFERSON 53 Jamaica : but when the war was ended Lewis Hallam returned to New York, and, in association with John Henry, re-opened and established, in 1785, the John Street theatre, an institution which, during the next thirteen years, with some changes of management, led the American stage. Charles Stuart Powell,^ under contract to whom Jef- ferson came to America, was the first manager of the Boston theatre, in Federal street, which he opened on February 3, 1794; but sixteen months of bad business sufficed to make him a bankrupt, and on June 19, 1795, he closed his season and left the theatre ; so that Jefferson, when he reached Boston, found the house in strange hands, and ascertained that his services were not wanted. The new manager, however, had engaged the company of Hodgkinson and Hallam, from the John Street theatre, New York, which acted at the Boston theatre, from November 2, 1795, till January 20, 1796 ; and with those players Jefferson seems to have formed an early alliance. There is a tradition that Hodgkinson and Hallam, before their return to New York, on this occasion, gave performances at a few in- termediate towns, and that Jefferson, who had accepted employment with them as scene-painter, on condition that he might have one night for a trial appearance, acted La Gloire, in Colman's play of The StLvreiider of Calais, at one of those places, and made so brilliant a hit that Hodgkinson at once engaged him for the John Street theatre. But the authentic record of his first ^ C. S. Powell, the Boston manager, died in Halifax, in 18 10. Swelling Powell, his brother, also a manager, died in Boston, April 8, 1 82 1, aged sixty-three. 54 LIFE OF JEFFERSON important appearance ^ in America assigns it to that theatre, in New York, on February lo, 1796, when he came forward as Squire Richard, in TJie Provoked Hus- band. That was the opening night of the season, and Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson, Mr. and Mrs, Joseph Tyler, and Mrs. Brett, — all from England, — were also then seen for the first time in the American capital. Wil- liam Dunlap, the manager, saw that performance, and in his Histojy of the American Theatre, made this men- tion of Jefferson : — "He was then a youth, but even then an artist. Of a small and light figure, well formed, with a singular physiognomy, a nose perfectly Grecian, and blue eyes full of laughter, he had the faculty of exciting mirth to as great a degree, by power of feature, although handsome, as any ugly-featured low comedian ever seen. The 1 Jefferson in Boston. — Reference to the advertisements in the Columbian Centinel (1795) elicits the information that, on December 21, in that year, Macbeth was acted at the Federal, with " Mr. Jefferson " as one of the witches; that, on December 23, The Tempest \V2& given, with " Mr. Jefferson" in a minor character; and that on December 28, for the benefit of M. de Blois, " Mr. Jefferson " appeared, and sang the comic song of "John Bull's a Bumpkin." The minor character acted by Jef- ferson in The Tempest was Mustachio, a sailor mate. That part is one of several interpolations, made by Dryden and Davenant, in their version of Shakespeare's comedy, acted at Dorset Gardens, and published in 1670. Dorinda, a sister to Miranda, Sycorax, a sister to Caliban, and Hippolito, a youth who has never seen a woman, are among the persons introduced. That piece was long in use, but ultimately it gave place to John Philip Kemble's adaptations, made in 1789 and 1806. Garrick made an opera of The Tempest ; so did Sheridan; and there is a rhymed version of it by Thomas Dibdin. Mr. W. W. Clapp [1826-1891], whose careful and thorough record, The Boston Stage, covering the period from 1749 to 1853, is of permanent value to theatrical inquirers, apprised me that no particular mention of the name of Jefferson occurs in any of the papers that he consulted in making his chronicle of that time; while the only Jeffersons mentioned in his book are of the fourth generation. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 55 Squire Richard of Mr. Jefferson made a strong impression on the writer. His Sadi, in The Mountaineers, a stronger; and, strange to say, his Verges, in Much Ado About Nothing, a yet stronger." Among the references to Jefferson's career in New York is an anecdote told by Dunlap respecting the attempt of Mr. J. D. Miller, a young baker, to play Clement, in The Deserted Daughter : — "Miller's debut is connected with the admirable acting of Jeffer- son, in the character of Item, the attorney, whose clerk Miller represented. Worked up to a phrensy of feigned passion, Jefferson, a small-sized man, seized Miller by the breast, and, while uttering the language of rage, shook him violently. Miller, not aware that he was to be treated so roughly, was at first astonished ; but as Jefferson continued shaking, and the audience laughing, the young baker's blood boiled, and, calling on his physical energies, he seized the comedian with an Herculean grasp, and violently threw him off. Certainly Miller never played with so much spirit or nature on any subsequent occasion. "This may remind the reader of John Kemble's regret at the death of Suett,^ the low comedian, who played Weasel to Kemble's Penruddock. The lament of the tragedian is characteristic, as told by Kelly : ' My dear Mic, Penruddock has lost a powerful ally in Suett. Sir, I have acted the part with many Weasels, and good ones too, but none of them could work up my passions to the pitch Suett did. He had a comic, impertinent way of thrusting his head into my face, which called forth all my irritable sensations. The effect upon me was irresistible.' Such was the effect of Jefferson's shaking upon Miller, and Jefferson found the Yankee's arm equally irresistible." 1 Richard Suett died in 1805, at a ripe age. The date of his birth is not recorded. He was a native of London. He first acted in London in 1 781, as Ralph, in The Maid of the Mill. He became a favourite at York. Anecdotes of him may be found in Bernard's Retrospections. Charles Lamb says that " Shakespeare foresaw him when he framed his fools and jesters." Penruddock occurs in the comedy of The Wheel of Fortune, by Richard Cumberland; acted at Drury Lane in 1795. 56 LIFE OF JEFFERSON The John Street theatre — first opened on December 7, 1767, and finally closed on January 13, 1798 — was the precursor of the Park. Jefferson was associated with it for nearly two years, and when it closed he transferred his services to "The New Theatre," as the Park was at first styled, which was opened on January 29, 1798, under Dunlap's management. He received a salary of $23 a week, which, in the next season, was increased to $25. Hallam and Cooper, in the same company, received $25 each. The highest salary in Dunlap's list was $'^7, paid to Mrs. Oldmixon. The manager's main-stay, in tragedy, was Cooper, and in low comedy, Jefferson. On his arrival in New York, Jefferson had found a lodging in the house of Mrs. Fortune, in John street, adjoining the theatre. That lady, whose ashes, together with those of her husband, rest in the churchyard of St. Paul's, at the corner of Broadway and Vesey street, New York, was the widow of a Scotch merchant, and she had two daughters, who were residing with her at this time. One of those girls, Euphemia, soon became the wife of Jefferson. The other, Esther, about eleven years later married William Warren, — being his second wife, — and in that way the families of Jefferson and Warren, both highly distinguished on our stage, were allied. Warren, ^ born at Bath, England, in 1767, had ^ William Warren, after the wreck of his fortunes at the Chestnut Street theatre, rapidly declined in strength and spirits, and soon died. His death occurred at Baltimore on October 19, 1832. His age was sixty- five. Five of his children became members of the stage : I. Hester, first Mrs. Willis, afterwards Mrs. Proctor, died in Boston, Mass., in 1842. II. Anna, who became the wife of the celebrated comedian, Danford Marble, and died in Cincinnati, March 11, 1872. III. Emma, first Mrs. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 57 acted under the management of Thomas Jefferson ; and now, arriving in America in 1796, he was destined to become the brother-in-law of Joseph Jefferson, the son of his former manager. Warren's son, Wilham Warren, born of this marriage, in 1812, was long a favourite and much honoured and beloved in Boston. Mrs. Jefferson made her first appearance on the stage, December 22, 1800, at the Park, as Louisa Dudley, in The West Indian. She was then twenty-four years old. She subsequently went, with her husband, to Philadelphia, Price, afterwards Mrs. Hanchett, died in New York, in May, 1879. IV. Mary Ann, who married John B. Rice, afterward mayor of Chicago, one of the most honoured and beloved of men. She retired from the stage in 1856. V. William Warren. He was born at his father's resi- dence, No. 12 (now, 1894, No. 712), Sanson street, Philadelphia, on November 17, 1812. He made his first appearance on the stage, at the Arch Street theatre, in his native city, in 1832, acting young Norval, in Home's tragedy of Douglas. He subsequently led a roving theatrical life in the West, till at length he settled in Buffalo, where he became a favourite comedian, at Rice's Eagle theatre. From Buffalo he went to Boston, — making his first appearance there, as Sir Lucius O'Trigger, in The Rivals, on October 5, 1846, at the Howard Athenseum, under the management of James H. Hackett. In that theatre he acted for twenty weeks, but in August, 1847, ^^ joined the Boston Museum, and with that house he was associated until nearly the end of his life. He acted almost all the chief parts, of their day, in the lines of low and eccentric comedy and old men. The finest Touchstone on the stage of his period, — grave, quaint, and sadly thoughtful behind the smile and the jest, — an admirable Polonius, great in Sir Peter Teazle, and of powers that ranged easily from Caleb Plummer to Eccles, and were adequate to both extremes of comic eccen- tricity and melting pathos, Warren presented a shining exemplification of high and versatile abilities worthily used, and brilliant laurels modestly worn. He had a long career, crowned with prosperity and honour. He died at No. 2 Bulfinch Place, Boston, September 21, 1888, and was buried at Mount Auburn. Another of the elder Warren's children was Henry Warren, — a theatrical manager, in Buffalo and elsewhere, but not an actor. He died at Chicago, on February 21, 1894, aged eighty. 58 LIFE OF JEFFERSON where she was long an ornament to the theatre and society. She died in January, 1831, aged fifty-six. Jefferson's career at the Park extended through five regular seasons, ending in the spring of 1803. One of his hits was made as Peter, in The Stranger, which was performed for the first time in America in December, 1798. Dunlap had obtained a sketch of the plot, together with a portion of the dialogue of Kotzebue's play,^ then successful in London, as adapted and re- written by Sheridan, for Drury Lane ; and he promptly wrote a piece, upon the basis of those materials, telling no one but Cooper his secret. The work was produced anonymously, with the following cast : — The Stranger Mr. Cooper. Francis Mr. John Martin. Baron Steinfort Mr. Giles L. Barrett. Solomon Mr. William Bates. Peter Mr. Jefferson. Mrs. Haller Mrs. Barrett. Chambermaid Mrs. Seymour. Baroness Steinfort Mrs. Hallam. Cooper produced a great effect ; Mrs. Barrett was powerful and touching ; Martin was correct ; and Bates and Jefferson pleased the lovers of farce, — "for such," says Dunlap, " the comic portion of the play literally 1 AuGusTE Frederick Ferdinand von Kotzebue, 1761-1819. — " One of his plays, The Stranger, I have seen acted in German, English, Spanish, French, and, I believe also, Italian. He was the pensioner of Prussia, Austria, and Russia. The odium produced by this circumstance, and the imputation of being a spy, are assigned as the cause of his assassi- nation, by a student of Jena. He was living (at Weimar, 1801), like Goethe, in a large house and in style. I drank tea with him, and found him a lively little man with small black eyes." — A'eminiscences of Henry Crabb Robinson, Vol. L, p. 74. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 59 was." The Stranger insured the success of the season, and the manager was so much pleased that he imme- diately learned the German language, and thereupon opened upon the Park stage a sluice of the sentiment of Kotzebue. The actors sneered at it as "wretched Dutch stuff," and well they might ; yet, for a time, it was almost as epidemic as the yellow fever, which in those days devastated, at intervals, the whole Atlantic coast. Many other low-comedy parts and old men fell to Jefferson during his five years at the Park. He played them in the most conscientious and thorough man- ner. Among his characters were Kudrin, in Count Benyowski ; the Fool, in The Italian Father ; John, in False Shame ; and Michelli, in Holcroft's Tale of Mys- tery. As La Fleur, in Dunlap's opera of Stci-ne' s Maria, a singing part, he was especially brilliant. Mrs. Old- mixon. Miss Westray, Mrs. Seymour, Cooper, Tyler, young Hallam, and John Hogg ^ were in the cast. The ladies were singers, but only Jefferson and Tyler among the males could sing. Another of his admirable de- lineations was that of Jack Bowline, the Boatswain, in an adaptation from Kotzebue, blessed with the engag- ing title of Fraternal Discord? Hodgkinson, who had 1 John Hogg, 1770-1813, a native of London, made his first appear- ance in New York, at the John Street theatre, in 1796. His grave is in Trinity churchyard, near the front porch. His son obtained a change of name, from Hogg to Biddle; and his grandson, George Edgar Biddle, has been pleasantly known on the contemporary stage, as George Edgar, in the characters of Othello and King Lear. 2 Some of the old-fashioned, once popular, but now faded and forgotten melodramas bore wonderful titles. Sol Smith produced a piece entitled 7'he Hunter of the Alps, or The Runaway Horse that Threw His Rider in 60 LIFE OF JEFFERSON joined the Park company in the autumn of 1799, acted Captain Bertram, a gouty mariner, and was accounted wonderfully fine. The two comedians seem to have been well matched, but Hodgkinson was the better of the two. "Jefferson's excellence," writes Dunlap, "was great, but not to be put in competition with Hodgkin- son's, even in low comedy." John Hodgkinson seems to have been the prince of actors, in that period. He was born at Manchester, England, in 1767, being the son of an inn-keeper, named Meadowcraft. In youth he was bound an apprentice to a trade ; but he ran away from home, adopted the name of Hodgkinson, and went on the stage, and his prodigious talents soon raised him to a position of importance. He was early joined to Mrs. Munden, whom it is said he alienated from the famous comedian, Joseph Shepherd Munden (1758-1832), and subsequently to Miss Brett, of the Bath theatre, whom, however, he did not wed till after they had come to America, — in September, 1792. Hallam's partner, Henry, found them at the Bath the- atre, and engaged them for this country. Hodgkinson's first American appearance was made in Philadelphia, as Belcour, in The West Indian, and on January 28, 1793, he acted at the John Street theatre. New York, as Vapid, in The Dramatist, — that comedy, by Frederic Reynolds, first given in 1789 at Covent Garden, which the Forest of Savoy. That, probably, was William Dimond's play, The Hunter of the Alps, — presented at the London Haymarket in 1 804, — embellished with an extended title, for the provincial market. There is in print a play called The Lottely Man of the Ocean, which was acted with the supplementary title of The Night before the Bridal, with the Terrors of the Yellow Admiral and the Perils of the Battle and the Breeze. Melo- drama was introduced upon the English stage in 1793, by Thomas Holcroft. JOHN HODGKINSON. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 61 has been called the precursor of "the numerous family by which genteel and sprightly comedians have been converted into speaking harlequins." He was one of the managers of the John Street theatre, from 1794 to 1798, and he acted in the principal cities along the Atlantic seaboard, from Boston to Charleston, and was everywhere a favourite. He died suddenly, of yellow fever, near Washington, on September 12, 1805, aged thirty-eight. Hodgkinson's life was sullied by wrong actions, and his last hours were very wretched. " He was in continual agitation," we are told, "from pain and excessive terror of death, and presented the most horrid spectacle that the mind can imagine. He was, as soon as dead, wrapped in a blanket and carried to the burying-field by negroes." So, prematurely and miserably, a great light was put out. Bernard, in his Early Days of the American Stage, pays a tribute to the memory of that great actor, as follows : — "When I associate Hodgkinson with Garrick and Henderson (the first of whom I had often seen, and the latter had played with), I afford some ground for thinking he possessed no common claims. . . . Hodgkinson was a wonder. In the whole range of the living drama there was no variety of character he could not perceive and embody, from a Richard or a Hamlet down to a Shelty or a Sharp. To the abundant mind of Shakespeare his own turned as a moon that could catch and reflect a large amount of its radiance ; and if, like his great precursors, it seemed to have less of the poetic element than of the riches of humour, this was owing to association, which, in the midst of his tragic passions, would intrude other images. An exclusive tragedian will always seem greater by virtue of his specialty, by the singleness of impressions which are simply poetic. Hodgkinson had one gift that enlarged his variety beyond all competition ; he was also a singer, and could charm you in a burletta, after thrilling you 62 LIFE OF JEFFERSON in a play : so that througli every form of the drama he was qualified to pass. ... I doubt if such a number and such greatness of requi- sites were ever before united in one mortal man. Nor were his physical powers inferior to his mental ; he was tall and well-propor- tioned, though inclining to be corpulent, with a face of great mobility, tliat showed the minutest change of feeling, whilst his voice, full and rie.xible, could only be likened to an instnunent that his passions played upon at pleasure." In the summer seasons of 1800 and 1801, while the Park theatre remained closed, Jefferson and his wife acted at Joseph Corr^'s Mount Vernon Gardens, situated on the spot which is now the northwest corner of Leonard street and Broadway. That theatre was opened July 9, 1800, with Miss in Her Teens, or The Medley of Lovers, and Jefferson acted Captain Flash. In the regular seasons at the Park, which rarely opened before the middle of October, Jefferson's professional associates were Mr. and Mrs. Hodgkinson, Mr. and Mrs. Hallam, Mr. and Mrs. John Hogg, Mr. and Mrs. S. Powell, Mr. and Mrs. J. Har- per, Mr. Tyler, Mr. Fox, Mr. Martin, Lewis Hallam, Jr., Mr. Crosby, Mrs. Melmoth, Mrs. and Miss Brett, Miss Harding, and Miss Hogg. There, and afterwards at the Chestnut, he ranked with the best of his competitors ; and in looking back to those days of the stage, it should be remembered that at some seasons it would happen that every man in the company was a classical scholar. Jefferson's conspicuous hits, even at an early age, appear to have been made in old men ; and an anecdote which he related attests his success. A sympathetic lady called at the John Street theatre, with a subscrip- tion list, to entreat the managers "to withdraw that poor old Mr. Jefferson from the stage." She said she had LIFE OF JEFFERSON 63 seen him play Item, in The Steward} — a wonderful performance, — and she thought it would be only a Christian charity to remove such an aged person from public life, and to provide for him. She had headed her list with a liberal gift, and she was now on her way to get additional subscribers, in order to provide a respec- table home for the infirm actor. Cooper,^ who chanced to be present, told her, in reply, that such a scheme had been considered, and that the manager would gladly co- operate in any charitable effort to relieve the hardships of the aged Jefferson's condition. Just then Jefferson entered the room, and Cooper straightway introduced him to the lady, calling her his "kind friend and pro- tector, who had charitably undertaken to find him a home." Her amazement at seeing a slender, handsome young fellow instead of a senile mummy, was excessive. She stammered out a word of explanation, and tore her subscription paper in pieces ; and the scene ended in a laugh. The year 1803 was a crisis in Jefferson's life. Theatri- cal enterprise at that time was about equally divided ^ An alteration of The Deserted Daughter. Comedy. By Thomas Hol- croft. Covent Garden, 1795. Jefferson acted Grime as well as Item, in that piece. 2 Thomas Cooper, one of the best and most admired tragedians of his time, was born at Harrow, near London, in 1776-77. He was educated under the care of William Godwin, the philosopher who figures in the life of Shelley, and he was befriended by Holcroft. He early adojited the stage (1792), but for some time was unsuccessful. He came to America in 1796. He received and used the middle name of Abthorpe, to distinguish him from another Cooper. He was the original Damon in America, and was deemed great in that character and in Virginius. He was famous also as Hamlet, Mark Antony, and Leon. He died at Bristol, Pa., April 21, 1849, and his grave is at that place. 64 LIFE OF JEFFERSON between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. The Chestnut Street theatre, Philadelphia — which city had only in 1800 ceased to be the capital of the Republic — held the lead. The Park theatre, in New York, under Dunlap's management, was second ; while the Federal Street theatre, in Boston, — rebuilt after the fire of 1798, and now managed by Snelling Powell, brother of C. S. Powell, — was, for the first time, successful. On the New York stage Jefferson must have found himself as much overshadowed by Hodgkinson, who came and went like a comet, as his father had been, on the Lon- don stage, by Garrick. The opportunity of a new field now came to him, and, apparently, came at just the right time. Mrs. Wignell, left a widow by the sudden death of the great manager, was obliged, in the spring of 1803, to assume the direction of the Chestnut Street theatre, and a proposal was made to Jefferson to join the com- pany there, taking the place of John Bernard, who had repaired to Boston. At first he hesitated, being reluc- tant to leave a community where he had been much admired, and where he possessed many friends ; and also, perhaps, — for he was a man of extreme modesty, — apprehensive of being compared, to some disadvantage, with his accomplished predecessor. In the end he accepted the Philadelphia engagement, for his wife as well as himself : and, after a summer season of about two months, passed at Albany,^ he finally left the New York 1 Jefferson in Albany. — Mr. H. P. Phelps, in his compendious and useful record of the Albany stage, entitled Players of a Century, notes that Jefferson was with Dunlap's company from the New York Park theatre, which acted in that city, in the Thespian Hotel, in 1803, the season lasting from August 22 till October 27. He reappeared in Albany, June 9, 1829, acting Dr. Ollapod and Dicky Gossip; but then he was in his decadence. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 65 stage. He was seen at the old Park, though, as a visitor, in the spring of 1806, when he acted, with splendid abil- ity, the favourite characters of Jacob Gawky, Jeremy Diddler, Bobby Pendragon, Dr. Lenitive, Toby All- spice, and Ralph ; and he came again in 1824, when, on August 5, at the Chatham Garden theatre, he took his farewell of the metropolis, acting Sir Benjamin Dove, in TJie Brothers, and Sancho, in Lovers Quarrels. The story of his life, after the year 1803, is the story of his association with the Chestnut Street theatre. Mrs. Wignell was the famous actress first known in London as Anne Brunton. That beautiful and brilliant woman, born at Bristol, England, in 1770, had made a hit at Covent Garden, October 17, 1785, before she was sixteen years old, and she was accounted the greatest tragic genius among women, since Mrs. Siddons. In 1792 she became the wife of Robert Merry, author of the Delia Crusca verse, to which Mrs. Hannah Cowley, as Anna Matilda, had replied in congenial fustian, and which was excoriated by William Gifford, in his satires of TJie Baviad and McEviad. Mr. and Mrs. Merry came to America in 1796, the lady being then in her twenty- seventh year, under engagement to "Wignell, for the Philadelphia theatre. It is mentioned that the ship in which they sailed made the voyage to New York in twenty-one days. Wignell himself was a passenger by her, and so was the comedian Warren, whom also he had engaged. All those persons, surely, would have been amazed could they have foreseen the incidents of a not very remote future. Merry died in 1798, at Bal- timore, and on January i, 1803, his widow married Wignell. He, in turn, died suddenly, seven weeks after £ 66 LIFE OF JEFFERSON their marriage, and on August 15, 1806, the widow married Warren. She had a bright career on the American stage, and was greatly admired and esteemed. Her death occurred at Alexandria, Va., June 28, 1808, and her tomb is a conspicuous object in the Episcopal churchyard of that place.^ Her sister, Louisa Brunton, who was seen on the London stage in 1785 as Juliet, became the Countess of Craven. When Jefferson joined the Chestnut Street theatre, the dramatic company was the strongest in America, and one of the best ever formed. Warren and Reinagle were directors, — the former of affairs in general, the latter of the department of music. William B. Wood, who had been to England for recruits, was the stage- manager. The company comprised Francis Blissett, J. H. Cain, Downie, John Durang, Gilbert Fox, William Francis, Hardinge, Joseph Jefferson, L'Estrange, C. Melbourne, Louis J. Mestayer, Owen 1 In the Dramatic Censor department of The Mirror of Taste, March, 1810, was published an elegiac poem on Mrs. Warren, closing with the subjoined lines : — " Although no civic aim was there, Yet not in vain that voice was given. Which, often as it bless'd the air, Inform'd us what was heard in heaven. " Sure, when renew'd thy powers shall rise, To hymn before th' empyreal throne, Angels shall start, in wild surprise. To hear a note so like their own." This is suggestive of Dr. Johnson's couplet, — " Sleep, undisturbed, within this peaceful shrine, Till angels wake thee with a note like thine " ; and also, perhaps, of Dr. Johnson's remark on epitaphs: "The writer of an epitaph should not be considered as saying nothing but what is strictly true. Allowance must be made for some degree of exaggerated praise. In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath." LIFE OF JEFFERSON 67 Morris, William Twaits, Luke Usher, William Warren, Warrell, William B. Wood, Mrs. Downie, Mrs. Durang, Mrs. Francis, Miss Hunt, Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Oldmixon, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Snowden, Mrs. Solomon, Mrs. Wood (late Miss Juliana Westray), and Mrs. Wig- nell. The union of powers thus indicated, for comedy acting, was extraordinary. The weight, dignity, and rich humour, with which Warren could invest such characters as Old Dornton and Sir Robert Bramble made him easily supreme in that line. He held the leadership, also, in the hne of Falstaff and Sir Toby Belch. Blissett's fastidious taste, neat execution, and beautiful polish, made him perfection, in parts of the Dr. Caius and Bagatelle order, which he presented as delicate miniatures. Francis (i 757-1 826), a superior representative of comedy old men, was finely adapted for such boisterous characters as Sir Sampson Legend and Sir Anthony Absolute. Jefferson, conscientious, thorough, and brilliant, ranged from Mercutio to Domi- nie Sampson, from Touchstone to Dogberry, and from Farmer Ashfield to Mawworm, and was a consummate artist in all. Wood was the Doricourt and Don Felix. And Twaits, a wonderful young man, brimful of genius, seemed formed by nature for all such characters as Dr. Pangloss, Lingo, Tony Lumpkin, and Goldfinch. Dunlap observes that Twaits was an admirable oppo- site to Jefferson, and his description of that prodigy sharpens his apt remark : — " Short and thin, yet appearing broad ; muscular, yet meagre ; a large head, with stift", stubborn, carroty hair ; long, colourless face ; prominent hooked nose ; projecting, large, hazel eyes ; thin lips ; and a large mouth, which could be twisted into a variety of expres- 68 LIFE OF JEFFERSON sion, and which, combining with his other features, eminently served the purpose of the comic muse, — such was the physiognomy of William Twaits." William Tvvaits, born April 25, 1781, at Birmingham, England, died in New York, August 22, 18 14, of con- sumption, precipitated by his convivial habits. Twaits married Mrs. Villiers (Miss Eliza Westray), and he was manager of the Richmond theatre at the time of the fire that destroyed it, — and with it at least seventy-one lives, — December 26, 181 1.^ The mother of Rip Van Winkle Jefferson, who received instruction from him, and often acted with him, spoke with enthusiasm of his brilliant mental qualities and the fine texture of his dra- matic art. A three-quarter length painting of Twaits as Dr. Pangloss long existed among the possessions of the Jefferson family, but ultimately it disappeared. Another remarkable figure in that group was Francis Rlissett, one of the most charming actors of that delight- ful dramatic period. Blissett was born in London, about the year 1773, and spent his early days at Bath. His father was a favourite comic actor, and the son early ex- hibited dramatic talent. He was taught music, and at first destined to that pursuit ; but, at the age of eighteen, he made such a successful dramatic essay, — appearing ^ The Richmond theatre was so built that persons in the boxes could not escape from them except by a long, winding passage, and a small, angular staircase. The catastrophe was awful. Many accomplished and beautiful women were among the victims. The governor of Virginia (George \V. Smith) and other leading citizens perished. The public mind was everywhere deeply affected. The citizens of Richmond wore mourning for thirty days, and amusements of every kind were prohibited by law, for a period of four months. See the Mirror of Taste, for Decem- ber, i8u. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 69 as Dr. Last, on the occasion of his father's benefit, — that it was thought best to devote him to the stage. He came to America in 1793, and joined Wignell's company, at the Chestnut, and with that company he was associated for twenty-eight years. In 1821, having, upon the death of his father, come into possession of a considerable inheritance, he withdrew from public life and established his residence in the island of Guernsey, where he died, in 1848, aged seventy-five. He was a thoughtful man, of melancholy temperament and reserved demeanour, fond of books and of music, and a skilful player of the violin. His style of acting was marked by exquisite delicacy and finish. He preferred to act little parts and make them perfect, rather than to exercise his powers upon those of magnitude. His humour was dry and quaint. He could speak with a capital Irish brogue, or with a French or a German accent. He was excellent as Dr. Caius, the Mock Duke, in The Honeymoon, the Clown, in As Yo7i Like It, Crabtree, David, in The Rivals, Crack, Verges, Dr. Dablancour, Sheepface, Dennis Brulgrud- dery, and the First Gravedigger. He was averse to society, seldom spoke, and was observed to be usually melancholy in manner. It is said he was born out of wedlock, and that this misfortune bred in him an habitual reserve. He was benevolent, but by stealth, and shunned ostentation. He cultivated but few friend- ships, yet was greatly respected and liked. No character of the group is more interesting than that of Blissett. Among authentic sources of information respecting the life of Jefferson after he settled in Philadelphia are William B. Wood's Personal Recollections of the Stage, and Francis Courtney Wemyss's Theatrical Biography. 70 LIFE OF JEFFERSON The former volume, published in 1855, in its author's seventy-sixth year, covers, discursively, the period from 1797 to 1846, in Philadelphia theatrical history; the latter, published in 1848, in its author's fifty-first year, traverses, in part, the same ground, from 1822 to 1841, though, in the main, it is Wemyss's autobiography, beginning in 1797 and ending in 1846. Those writers were associated for several years. Wood, who had long been employed in Wignell's company, became stage- manager of the. Chestnut in 1806, and a partner with Warren in the management in 1809. Wemyss was engaged for the Chestnut company, by Wood, in 1822, and after Wood had retired he became the stage-manager under Warren, in 1827. To both writers, accordingly, the affairs of the theatre were well known. They were not harmonious spirits, as their respective memoirs show ; but they concur, with reference to Jefferson, in admiration for his character and for his great abilities as an actor. Jefferson's first appearance under Mrs. Wignell's man- agement was made as Don Manuel, in Cibber's comedy of She Wo7ild and She Wo7ild Not. He was seen at Baltimore 1 as well as at Philadelphia, "at once estab- lishing," says Wood, " a reputation which neither time nor age could impair." During the season of 1808 he acted ten times, as Sir Oliver Surface, Charles Surface, and Crabtree. His personation of Sir Peter Teazle was 1 The managers of the Chestnut had a theatrical circuit which included Baltimore and Washington, and they were accustomed to make regular, periodical visits to those cities. Cowell, in his Thirty Yeais, makes a characteristic jibe, in referring to this fact : " Baltimore had for years been visited by Warren and Wood, with the same jog-trot company and the same old pieces, till they had actually taught the audience to stay away." The allusion is to a later period. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 71 highly approved, but it appears to have been accounted inferior to that of Warren, — probably because it excelled in quaintness and sentiment, rather than in the more appreciable qualities of uxorious excess and rubicund humour. In 1810-11 the performance for his benefit, at Baltimore, yielded $1403; in 1814, $1221; in 1815, ^1618; in 1 8 16, ^1009; in 1822, ^697. "The starring system," Wood says, "now began to show its baleful effects on the actors, whose benefits, after a season of extreme labour, uniformly failed." In the season of 181 5-16, The Ethiop and Zenibiica ^ were among the pieces presented at the Chestnut, and Wood records that — " Much of their success was owing to the taste and skill of JeflFer- son, in the construction of intricate stage machinery, of which, on many occasions, he proved himself a perfect master, not unfrequently improving materially the English models. These valuable services were wholly gratuitous, all remuneration being uniformly declined. He felt himself amply repaid for the exercise of his varied talent by the prosperity of the establishment of which for twenty-five years he continued the pride and ornament. . . . The Woodmaii's Hut," with an effective conflagration scene designed by Jefferson, produced several houses of $700 each. . . . Holcroft's admirable comedy of The Man of Ten Thousand was revived for Jefferson's benefit, with unusual effect, to $1009." The first Philadelphia performance of Charles Lamb's farce of Mr. H. was given at the Chestnut Street thea- tre on Febiuary 19, 18 12, with Wood as Mr. H., and Mrs. Jefferson, the grandmother of our Rip Van Winkle, as Melesinda. Lamb's farce was originally presented on December 10, 1806, at Drury Lane, with Elliston as ^ Zembuca, a melodrama, by Isaac Pocock, was first produced on March 27, 1815, at Covent Garden. Emery and Liston were in the first cast. 2 The IVoodman's Hut, melodrama, by Samuel James Arnold, son of Dr. Arnold, the musician. First produced at Drury Lane, April 12, 181 4. 72 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Mr. H. and Miss Mellon as Melesinda, and it was hissed, — the author participating in the sibilation.^ It is, nevertheless, a droll composition, and it has long been valued as one of the curiosities of the theatre. The first American edition of it was published in Philadelphia, in 1813, — that, indeed, being the first production of Lamb's printed in this country. That edition is exceedingly- scarce. A copy of it was recently (1894) bought by an admirer of Lamb, who paid $25 for it, and who said he had been searching for it more than ten years. The following is a fac-simile of the title-page, and to that are appended, as dramatic curiosities, the cast with which it was acted at the Chestnut, and the official advertise- ment of its production : — 1 On the next day Lamb wrote to Wordsworth : " Mr. H. came out last night, and failed. I had my fears : the subject was not substantial enough. John Bull must have solider fare than a letter. We are pretty stout about it ; have had plenty of condoling friends ; but after all we had rather it should have succeeded. You will see the prologue in most of the morning papers. It was received with such shouts as I never witnessed to a prologue. How hard ! — a thing I did merely as a task, because it was wanted, and set no great store by; and Mr. H.! ! The number of friends we had in the house — my brother and I being in public offices, etc. — was astonishing, but they yielded at length to a few hisses. A hundred hisses (damn the word, I write it like kisses — how different !), a hundred hisses outweigh a thousand claps. The former come more directly from the heart. Well, 'tis withdrawn, and there is an end." — The hissing is thus described : "By this time I had become acquainted with Charles Lamb and his sister ; for I went with them to the first performance of Mr. H. at Covent Garden. . . . The prologue was very well received. Indeed, it could not fail, being one of the very best in our language. But on the disclos- ure of the name [Mr. Hogsflesh], the squeamishness of the vulgar taste in the pit showed itself by hisses; and I recollect that Lamb joined, and was probably the loudest hisser in the house. The damning of this play be- longs to the literary history of the day, as its author to the literary mag- nates of his age." — Henry Crabb Robinson, A'eminiscences, chap. x. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 73 [The First American Edition of Chas. Lamb's FARCE.] MR. H. OR, BEWARE A BAD NAME. A FARCE IN TWO ACTS. [Anonymous.] As performed at the PHILADELPHIA THEATRE. PHILADELPHIA : Published by M. CAREY, 122 MARKET STREET. A. Fagan, Printer. 1813. \^m.o pp, 36. 74 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DRAMATIS PERSONS. MEN. Mr. H. Mr. Wood. Mr. Belvil . Barret. Landlord Pry Blisset. ist Gentleman Spiller. 2d Gentleman Downie David . Harris. Jonathan Durang Waiters, Mess rs. F. Durang, Lucas, J 3nes, &c. WOMEN. Melesinda . Mrs Jefferson Old Lady Simpson. I St Lady Blisset. 2d Lady Seymour. 3d Lady . Miss White. 4tH Lady Mrs Bray. 5 th Lady . Miss Pettit. Betty, maid t Me lesina 'a . M rs Francis. SCENE — Bath. [Copy right secured according to act of Congress.] LIFE OF JEFFERSON 75 [From The Aurora, Philadelphia, January 5, 1812.] NEW THEATRE, Mr. JEFFERSON'S BENEFIT. THIS EVENING, {^Monday:\ February 17. [181 2.] Will be presented, (not acted here these seven years) an Historical Play, interspersed with Songs, called THE HERO OF THE NORTH. Founded on the Life of Gustavus Vasa, the Swedish Hero. Written by Mr. Dimond yunr. End of the Play — the comic song of " The Tidy One," by Mr. Jefferson. Alt Epilogue on Jealousy, by Mrs. Twaits. " Hoiv to A^ail ^Em," a comic song by Mr. Jefferson. To which will be added a Comic Opera (never performed here) called THE COMET; Or, He Would Be An Astronomer. Written by the late Wm. Milne, Esq. On Wednesday, (not acted here these 5 years) the celebrated play of THE CURFEW — or. The Norman Barons, with (^for the First Time) the new Farce of Mr. H; OR, BEWARE A BAD NAME, for the Benefit of Mrs. Wood. 76 LIFE OF JEFFERSON [The Aurora, Philadelphia, Monday, February 17, 1812.] NEW THEATRE. Mrs. WOOD'S BENEFIT. Wednesday Evening, February 19. [1812.] Will be presented, (not acted here these five years) a celebrated Comedy, in 5 acts, called THE CURFEW; OR, THE NORMAN BARONS. Written by the late John Tobin, author of the Honey-Moon, perforfued at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, with the most unbounded applause. NORMANS. Hugh de Tracey, a Baron Mr. Calbraith. Robert, his son Mr. Jefferson. Walter, toller of the Curfew Mr. Blissett. Matilda, the Baron's wife Mrs. Twaits. Florence, his daughter Mrs. Mason. DANES. Fitzharding, leader of a banditti Mr. Duff. (^His second appearance here.) To which will be added, a New Farce, iit 2 acts, never acted here, (performed in London and N. York, with great applause.) CALLED Mr. H; OR, BEWARE A BAD NAME. Mr. H , . , Mr. Wood. Mr. Belville Mr. Barrett. Landlord Pry Mr. Blissett. Melesinda Mrs. Jefferson. ■ On Friday [Saturday], a Comedy (translated from the French) called Three & Deuce, with (by desire) the Bridal Ring. For the Benefit of JMrs. Tivaits. " Mr. H." was performed " for the 2d time here, by desire of many ladies and gentlemen," for the Benefit of Mrs. Twaits, which occurred Saturday evening (not on Friday as previously announced), February 22, 1812. 11 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 77 One of the Chestnut casts of TJie School for Scandal shows the great strength of its company : — Sir Peter Teazle Warren. Sir Oliver Surface Francis. Charles Surface Wood. Joseph Surface H. Wallack. Sir Benjamin Backbite .... Johnson. Crabtree Jefferson. Rowley Hathwell. Moses T. Burke. Careless Darley. Trip John Jefferson. Snake Greene. • Lady Teazle Mrs. Wood. Lady Sneerwell Mrs. Lafolle. Mrs. Candour Mrs. Francis. Maria Mrs. H. Wallack. Maid Mrs. Greene. This is given according to Wood's record. That of Werayss also gives it, assigning Sir Benjamin Backbite to Thomas Jefferson. Sol Smith, in his Theatrical Management in the West and South for TJiirty Years, mentions a memorable Chestnut cast, which he saw in 1823. "I witnessed that night," he says, "the performance of TJie Fortress^ and A Roland for an Oliver. The afterpiece was a rich treat to me. How could it be otherwise, with such a cast as the following : — Sir Mark Chase Warren. Fixture Jefferson. Alfred Highflyer Wemyss. Selbourne Darley. Maria Mrs. Darley. Mrs. Selbourne Mrs. Wood. Mrs. Fixture Mrs. Jefferson." 1 The Fortress is a musical drama, Ijy Theodore Edward Hook, first acted at the Haymarket, London, in 1807. 78 LIFE OF JEFFERSON The company engaged at the Chestnut, for the season that opened on December 4, 1826, with TJie Stranger, included : — Bisnall. Joseph L. Cowell. John Darley. William Forrest. Garner. John Hallam. Hamilton Hosack. Lewis J. Heyl. James Howard. Joseph Jefferson. John Jefferson. William Jones. Klett. Meer. Murray. Parker. Charles S. Porter. George Singleton. William Warren. William B. Wood. F. C. Wemyss. Charles Webb. J. Wheatley. N. M. Ludlow, in his Dramatic Life as I Foiind It, published in 1880, glances thus at the character of Jefferson's acting : — "While in Philadelphia, in 1826, 1 had the pleasure of beholding a performance of 'Old Jefferson,' as he was then called. ... I had seen him in New York when I was a youth of seventeen, early in the year 18 12, when Wood and Jefferson came to New York to per- form, while Cooper and others went from New York to Philadelphia for a like purpose. I was delighted with Jefferson when I saw him then, as a boy. I was not less so when 1 now beheld him with pro- Mrs. Anderson. Mrs. Cowell. Mrs. Darley. Mrs. Greene. Miss Hathwell. Mrs. Joseph Jefferson. Mrs. John Jefferson. Mrs. Meer. Mrs. Murray. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 79 fessional eyes and some experience. The comedy that I saw played in Philadelphia was by Frederic Pillon, and entitled He Would be a Soldier^ with the following cast of characters : Sir Oliver Oldstock, Warren ; Captain Crevett, George Barrett, for many years well known as a genteel comedian ; Caleb, JeflFerson ; Charlotte, the beautiful Mrs. Barrett. All are now dead. In Jefferson's acting there was a perfection of delineation I have seldom, if ever, seen in any other comedian of his line of character ; not the least attempt at exagger- ation to obtain applause, but a naturalness and truthfulness that secured it, without the appearance of any extraordinary efforts from him. The nearest approach to his style is that of his grandson, of the same name." Macready came to act at the Chestnut in the season of 1826-27, and on the day of his arrival was entertained at dinner by the manager, Wood, — Jefferson being one of the guests. The next morning a rehearsal of Macbeth occurred, and Jefferson, who was lame with gout, appeared with a cane. That was an infraction of a well-known rule, but it was understood in the company that Jefferson was ill, and therefore the breach of stage etiquette was not regarded. The comedian was to enact the First Witch. Macready, — a very tyrannical and passionate man, with a talent for profanity seldom equalled, — observed the cane, and, with his customary arrogance, determined to assert himself. "Tell that person," he said, "to put down his cane." The prompter, thus commanded, delivered his message. "Tell Mr. Macready," said Jefferson, "that I shall not act with him during his engagement " ; and he left the stage. " Mr. Macready had a right," he after- wards remarked, "to object to the carrying of a cane at rehearsal ; but it was obvious to me that this was not his point. He chose to disregard the fact that we had 80 LIFE OF JEFFERSON met as social equals, and to omit the civility of a word of inquiry, which would have procured immediate expla- nation. His purpose was to overbear and humiliate me, so as to discipline and subjugate the rest of the company. It was a rude exercise of authority, and its manner was impertinent." It is recorded of Joseph Jefferson and Euphemia Fortune, whom he wedded, that they were born on the same day of the same month and year, — one in Eng- land, the other in America. Their marriage proved fortunate and happy. They were blessed with nine children (Cowell erroneously says thirteen), and the death of the husband followed that of the wife, within eighteen months. All their children, with two exceptions, adopted the stage. One died in in- fancy. The following is a record of those descend- ants : — 1 . Thomas, the eldest son, went on the stage in his fourteenth year, rose to a good position, and died, in 1824, at the age of twenty-seven. He was never married. 2. Joseph, 1804- 1842. He was the father of Rip Van Winkle Jefferson. His career is made the subject of a separate chapter. 3. John was accounted the most brilliant of this family. He was remarkably handsome and athletic. He received a careful education, and he displayed astonishing talents. Had he lived, and continued to improve, he would have become a great actor ; but he was prematurely broken down by conviviality, and he died, sud- denly, at Lancaster, Pa., in 1831, aged twenty-three. 4. Euphemia, her father's favourite daughter, was correct and pleasing on the stage, and a most estimable woman. She married William Anderson, — described by Ludlow as "a good actor in heavy characters, tragedy villains, and the like,'" — but he was an unworthy person, and he embittered her life. Her marriage was a grief to her father. She was a member of the dramatic com- LIFE OF JEFFERSON 81 pany at the New York Park theatre in 1816, and of the Chestnut Street theatre, Philadelphia, in 1817. "Mrs. Anderson, late Miss Jefferson," says Wood, in his Personal Recollections , " was now added to the company, and shortly reached a high place in public favour." She died in 1831, leaving two daughters, Jane and Eliza- beth. — Jane Anderson, born in February, 1822, appeared at the Franklin theatre. New York, August 15, 1836, as Sally Giggle, in Catching an Heiress. She had a bright career on the stage, begin- ning in 1829, and she was a superior representative of old women. She became Mrs. Greenbury C. Germon, and was long a resident of Baltimore. She retired from professional life in 1889-90. Miss Effie Germon, born at Augusta, Ga., on June 13, 1840, and long a sparkling soubrette of Wallack's theatre, is her daughter, and thus a descendant of Thomas Jefferson. The father, G. C. Germon, the original Uncle Tom, in Uncle Tori's Cabin, died at Chicago, in April, 1854, aged thirty-eight. — Elizabeth Anderson began at the Franklin theatre, August i, 1836, as Mrs. Nicelj^, and she also had a good theatrical career. She was married in 1837, to Jacob W. Thoman, and subsequently, as' Mrs. Thoman, she became a favourite in Boston. She accompanied Thoman to California, Vv'here she obtained a divorce from him ; and afterwards she again married, becoming Mrs. C. Saunders. Both Jane and Elizabeth Anderson had played, as early as 1 831, in the theatre at Washington, managed by their uncle Joseph. Elizabeth, although very young, acted old women. She was at the Walnut Street theatre, Philadel- phia, in 1835. — William Anderson, the father of those girls, after a career of painful irregularity, ending in indigence, died, in 1869, at a hospital in Philadelphia. Cowell remarks that Jemmy Bland"s answer, — when adrift in the words, — to the question, "Who is this Coriolanus ? " exactly describes Anderson : " Why, he's a fel- low who is always going about grumbling, and making everybody uncomfortable." 5. Hester became Mrs. Ale:cander Mackenzie, first wife of the actor and manager of that name, once prominent in the West. Mackenzie was a cousin to Joseph Neal, author of Charcoal Sketches. Mrs. Mackenzie began to act in 183 1, and attained to a good rank as a general actress. She died at Nashville, Tenn., February 3, 1845, much lamented. 82 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 6. Elizabeth. Mrs. Chapman-Richardson-Fisher. A bril- liant and popular actress at the New York Park, in its great days. Her story is told in a separate chapter. 7. Mary Anne. She became the wife of David In ersoll, a tragedian, of great promise, who died at St. Louis in 1837, aged twenty-five. She subsequently married James S. Wright, for many years prompter at Wallack's theatre. She was a member of the Bowery theatre company, New York, in 1834, and she was a favour- ite in theatres on the western circuit. James S. Wright died, in New York, June 27, 1893, aged 79. Mrs. Wright is still living (1894). 8. Jane is remembered as a lovable girl, devoted to her family. She never went on the stage, but died, aged seventeen, in 1831. Lives that do not imprint themselves on the passing age are lost so quickly and so irretrievably that it seems as if they never had existed. There is something for- lorn in the few slight and scattered memorials that remain of those persons ; all of them at one time auspi- cious, and actuated, no doubt, by a high ambition. Thomas Jefferson, as a lad, appeared at the Park theatre, New York, on May 27, 1803, as the Boy, in The Children in the Wood, — a drama by Thomas Morton, the music by Dr. Arnold, first acted at the London Haymarket, in 1793, and made memorable by the great success of John Bannister as Walter, — and he was seen at the Chestnut, Philadelphia, January i, 1806, as Cupid, in the pantomime of Cinderella, his father playing Pedro and his mother Thisbe ; but his first important effort was made on October 7, 181 1, in his fifteenth year. The play was The Merry Wives of Windsor. Warren acted Falstaff ; Jefferson, Sir Hugh Evans ; Blissett, Dr. Caius ; Mackenzie, Ford ; and young Thomas Jefferson came on as Master Slender. The result was recorded by a contemporary writer, LIFE OF JEFFERSON 83 S. C. Carpenter, the dramatic censor of TJie Mirror of Taste (Vol. IV., p. 297) : — " The chief novelty of the night, and on many accounts a most pleasing one, was Mr. Jefferson's eldest son, in Master Slender. ... A fine boy, and the son of one of the greatest favourites of the people of Philadelphia. . . . There was no blind, undistinguishing enthusiasm exhibited on the occasion. . . . The audience chose rather to reserve their praise till it would do the youth substantial credit, by being bestowed only on desert ; and in the full truth of severe criticism we declare that of the loud applause bestowed upon the boy there was not a plaudit which he did not deserve. From this juvenile specimen we are disposed to believe that he inherits the fine natural talents of his father." In 1817 the three brothers, Thomas, Joseph, and John, acted together, in Valentine and Orson. In 1821 James H. Caldwell (1793- 1863), the pioneer theatrical manager in the South and West, — next after " old man- Drake," ^ as the actors commonly called him, and like- wise after the veteran Ludlow, — had a good dramatic company, at Petersburg, Va., which included (according to James Rees, Dramatic Authors, p. 58) Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Benton, Mr. Cafferty, Mr. Gray, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, Mr. and Mrs. Hutton, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Lud- low, Miss Eliza Placide, Mr. and Mrs. Russell, Mr. Scholes, Miss Tilden, and Mr. West. Miss Eliza Placide, sister to Henry and Thomas Placide, became Mrs. Mann and mother of Alice Placide Mann. The Mr. Jefferson, no doubt, was Thomas. In 1825, at Washington, the elder Joseph Jefferson and his son John acted in Cherry and Fair Star, which was set in 1 Samuel Drake, i 772-1847, was the only manager in the West, as late as 1816. He made his first appearance on the American stage, in 1809, at the Federal Street theatre, Boston, 84 LIFE OF JEFFERSON scenery painted by the younger Joseph. Bombastes Furioso was hkevvise presented, the elder Jefferson acting Bombastes, and both John and Joseph co-operat- ing as actors in the performance. Joseph, our Jeffer- son's father, was then regarded as mainly a scenic artist. The untimely death of Thomas Jefferson was caused by an accident on the stage, when he was doing a service for a brother actor. That was the vocalist and comedian John Darley (i 780-1 858), father of the artist Felix O. C. Darley, both of whose parents were ornaments of the early American theatre ; his mother being Miss Ellen Westray. John Darley was playing Paul, in the opera of Paul and Virginia, and, not wishing to make the leap from the rock, he asked young Jefferson to make it for him. The youth, who was playing the slave Alhambra, acceded to his request, plunged from the scenic preci- pice, and in so doing broke a blood-vessel in his lungs. That injury resulted in consumption, and, after a linger- ing illness, he died in Philadelphia on September 16, 1824. "He had been afflicted for some time," said a writer in the National Intelligencer (September 21), " with a pulmonary complaint, which he bore with forti- tude. His end was calm and resigned. ... His friends valued him ; their regret is mingled with the tears of his family ; and his remembrance is drawn on a tablet whence passing occurrences cannot easily efface it." Hester Jefferson, Mrs. Mackenzie, seems to have possessed the same patient, submissive nature. A Nashville journal, recording her death, says that "she bore a severe illness with Christian serenity," and that she was "a lady graced by many accomplishments, but LIFE OF JEFFERSON 85 still more by virtues which conciliated the esteem and affection of all who knew her." "There are many friends of her late father," adds that obituary tribute, "and of his family, in different parts of the Union, to whom this brief notice will recall many affecting asso- ciations. It will be a solace to them to know that she passed to the portals of the tomb in the full and joyous assurance of a blessed immortality." The Chestnut Street theatre, established by Thomas Wignell, in 1792-94, stood in Chestnut street, next to the west corner of Sixth street, and was the pride of Philadelphia. In April, 1820, it was burnt down, and the accumulations of the finest dramatic temple in America were lost. It was rebuilt and reopened, but it never recovered its former glory.^ A change in the public taste as to theatrical matters was maturing at about that time, and players who had long been favourites, were losing their hold upon popularity, in the gradual waning of the generation to which they belonged. Jefferson, a continual sufferer from hereditary gout, had begun somewhat to decline, alike in personal strength 1 An article in the New York Clipper, 1893, descriptive of the veteran actor John Roland Reed, 1808 , records that about 1824 "Mr. Reed contracted to light the three principal theatres in Philadelphia, — the Chestnut, under the management of Wood & Warren; the Arch, under the management of ' the three Bills,' William Forrest, brother of Edwin Forrest, William Duffy, and William Jones; and the Walnut, under the management of Wemyss. The lamps were made in acorn shape, the foot- lights representing one hundred and fifty lamps. All were filled with oil. When a dark scene was necessary, at a signal from the stage-manager the lights were lowered under the stage. Around the boxes there were chandeliers, presenting three lamps on three prongs. When severe cold weather came, the oil would freeze, and the lights would go out. Then Mr. Reed had to go around with hot irons and thaw the oil." 86 LIFE OF JEFFERSON and popular favour. During the season of 1821, Jeffer- son, Francis, Wheatley, and others of the Chestnut com- pany, were ill almost one-third of the time, and could not appear. In the season of 1823-24, at Baltimore, Jefferson was ill nine nights, and did not act. The final scenes of his life's drama were ushered in by those warnings of decay. Wood refers to unfriendly machina- tions against himself, which presently parted him from Warren, who was thus left alone in the management, in 1826; and thereafter the business grew worse and ever worse, the receipts falling as low as $()d>, $90, ^61.50, and even ^20.75 a night, till at last Warren left the theatre, utterly ruined, in 1829. " Jefferson''s last benefit," writes Wood, " took place on December 23, 1829, and, being suddenly announced, failed to attract his old admirers to the house. He was now infirm and in ill spirits, from domestic distresses, as well as the breaking up of the old manage- ment, and the gloomy professional prospects which that event placed before him. The play, A School for Grown Children, had originally failed here, being remarkably local, and proved a singularly bad choice." That was a comedy by Morton, which Burton once gave in New York, under the name of Begone Dull Care. Similar testimony is borne by Wemyss : — "Jefferson, whose benefit was announced with the new play of A School for Grown Children., could scarcely muster enough to pay the expenses, and resolved to leave the theatre. The manager, hav- ing demanded and received the full amount of his nightly charge on such occasions, offered him but half his income, at the treasury on Saturday. This was a blow the favourite comedian could not brook. The success of Sloman, an actor so greatly his inferior, had irritated him both with his manager and the audience. But what must have been the apathy of the public towards dramatic representation, when LIFE OF JEFFERSON 87 such a man, whose reputation shed lustre on the theatre to which he was attached, was permitted to leave the city of Philadelphia, with scarcely an inquiry as to his whereabouts ; two-thirds of the audience ignorant of his departure! The last time he acted in Philadelphia was for my benefit, kindly studying the part of Sir Bashful Constant, in The Way to Keep Hiin^ which he played admirably." Cowell's Thirty Years, a useful though censorious book, contains a kindred reference to the last days and the character of Jefferson. Covvell was the father of Samuel Cowell, a once popular actor and comic singer, and of Sydney Frances Cowell, who, as Mrs. Hezekiah L. Bateman, became known as a dramatic author, and as the mother of "the Bateman children," Kate, Ellen, and Virginia. Cowell succeeded Wood, as stage man- ager of the Chestnut, and it is to that period he refers (Vol. II., chapter 8), when writing of Jefferson : — "Jefferson was the low comedian, and had been for more than five and twenty years. Of course he was a most overwhelming favourite, though at this time drops of pity for fast-coming signs of age and infirmity began to be freely sprinkled with the approbation long habit more than enthusiasm now elicited. . . . Literally born on the stage, he brought with him to this country the experience of age with all the energy of youth, and in the then infant state of the drama, his superior talent, adorned by his most exemplary private deportment, gave him lasting claims to the respect and gratitude, both of the profession and its admirers. And, perhaps, on some such imaginary reed he placed too much dependence ; for the whole range of the drama cannot, probably, furnish a more painful yet per- fect example of the mutability of theatrical popularity than Joseph Jefferson. ^ The Way to Keep Him. Comedy, by Arthur Murphy: Drury Lane, 1761. "Sir Bashful Constant is a gentleman who, though passionately fond of his wife, yet from a fear of l^eing laughed at by the gay world, for uxoriousness, is perpetually assuming the tyrant, and treating her, at least before company, with great unkindness." 88 LIFE OF JEFFERSON " When Warren left the management, younger, not better, actors were brought in competition with the veteran, and the same audience that had actually grown up laughing at him alone, as if they had been mistaken in his talent all this time, suddenly turned their smiles on foreign faces ; and, to place their changed opinion past a doubt, his benefits, which had never produced less than twelve or fourteen hundred dollars, and often sixteen, fell down to less than three. Wounded in pride, and ill prepared in pocket for this sudden reverse of favour and fortune, he bade adieu forever to Philadelphia. With the aid of his wife and children he formed a travelling company, and wandered through the smaller towns of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, making Washington his headquarters.^ Kindly received and respected everywhere, his old age might still have passed in calm contentment, but that ' one woe did tread upon another's heel, so fast they followed.' His daughter, Mrs. Anderson, and his youngest, Jane, died in quick succession, after torturing hope with long and lingering disease. His son-in-law. Chapman, was thrown from a horse, and the week following was in his grave. His son John, an excellent actor, performed for his father's benefit, at Lan- caster, Pa., was well and happy, went home, fell in a fit, and was dead. And last, not least, to be named in this sad list, the wife of his youth, the mother of his thirteen [error : he had but nine] chil- dren, the sharer of his joys and sorrows for six and thirty years, was ' torn from out his heart." " To Wood the inquirer is indebted for an account of the closing days and the death of Jefferson, containing discriminative observations on his character. Though not a sympathetic man, Wood has no word for Jeffer- son, except of profound respect and cordial kindness. 1 The comedian had long been accustomed to make periodical trips to Washington, and he knew his ground, therefore, on going into exile. "Washington city," says the same writer [ Thirty Kfarj, Vol. IL, chapter lo], " could then (1827) boast of only a very small theatre, in a very out-of-the- way situation, and used by Warren and Wood as a sort of summer retreat for their company, where the disciples of Izaak Walton, with old Jefferson at their head, could indulge their lishing propensities." LIFE OF JEFFERSON 89 "At an early age Jefferson anticipated the inheritance of his father's complaint, gout, and vainly endeavoured, by a life of the severest care and regimen, to escape its assaults. For many years the attacks were slight, but with increasing age they increased also, and at length became so frequent and violent as to undermine his health and spirits. The decline of Warren's fortunes greatly dis- tressed him. His associates of thirty years were disappearing from his side, and he retired suddenly from a stage of which for a quarter of a century he had been the delight, ornament, and boast. ... I unexpectedly met him, subsequently, at Washington. He was en- gaged, along with John Jefferson, Dwyer, Mills, and Brown, in a tem- porary establishment, the manager of which had invited Mrs. Wood and myself to a short star engagement. The company was suffi- ciently strong to present a few plays creditably, but could not have afforded either a suitable recompense or scene for his remarkable and finished powers. On our final night at Washington, Jefferson roused himself to an effort which astonished us. Though now grown old and dispirited, and with a theatre very different from the one which had formerly inspired his efforts, his performance of Sir Peter Teazle in The School for Scandal, and of Drugget, in Three M'eeks After Marriage, was nearly equal to his finest and early efforts. This was the last time we ever met. I understood, that, after this, he became engaged with a company at the town of Harrisburg. Pa., and appeared occasionally. . . . Many and severe domestic afflic- tions were added to his bodily sufferings, and, worn out with physical and mental distress, he there closed his pure and blameless life. . . . Nobody of just feelings could know Jefferson as long and intimately as I knew him, and have any estrangement with him, about anything ; for he was a man at once just, discreet, unassuming, and amiable. . . . Studious and secluded in his habits, and surrounded by a numerous family, he had neither the wish nor leisure for general society. A few select friends and the care of his children occupied the hours hardly snatched from his professional duties. He felt an unconquer- able dislike to the degradation of being exhibited as the merry-maker of a dinner party,^ and sometimes offended by his perseverance on ^ This was also true of his contemporary and associate, Francis Blissett, and the same trait has shown itself in the character of Joseph Jefferson, his gramlson. 90 LIFE OF JKFFERSON this point. He was frequently heard to observe that for any dinner entertainments there were plenty of amateur amusers to be found, without exhausting the spirits and powers of actors who felt them- selves pledged to reserve their best professional efforts for the public who sustained them. To an e.\cellent ear for music, he added no inconsiderable pretensions as a painter and machinist. Incapable alike of feeling or inspiring enmity, he passed nearly thirty years of theatrical life in harmony and comfort. It is painful to contrast those with the misfortunes of his later years." Among contemporary opinions of Jefferson, that of John P. Kennedy, the novelist, author of Horse-shoe Robinson, etc., is significant: — " He played everything that was comic, and always made people laugh until the tears came in their eyes. ... I don't believe he ever saw the world doing anything else. Whomsoever he looked at laughed. . . . When he was about to enter, he would pronounce the first words of his part, to herald his appearance, and instantly the whole audience set up a shout. It was only the sound of his voice. He had a patent right to shake the world's diaphragm, which seemed to be infallible. When he acted, families all went together, old and young. Smiles were on every face ; the town was happy." " In low or eccentric comedy," says Ireland, " he has rarely been equalled ; yet his success in other lines was very great." "In the days of Salmagundi, in the days when the leaders of intellect and of society were frequenters of our theatres," said the poet N. P. Willis, " flourished Jefferson ; and there are some yet living who will speak to us with all the fondness of early recollec- tions, connected with the freshness of life, of one who now lies mouldering beneath the sod." Those tributes are examples of the general testimony of his time, with reference to Joseph Jefferson. He was a man of original mind, studious habits, fine tem- perament, natural dignity, and great charm of charac- ter, and his life was free from contention, acrimony, and reproach. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 91 An instructive description of Jefferson as an actor is given by Wemyss : — " Joseph Jefferson was an actor formed in nature's merriest mood. .... There was a vein of ricli humour running through all he did, which forced you to laugh, despite of yourself He discarded gri- mace as unworthy of him, although no actor possessed a greater command over the muscles of his own face, or the faces of his audi- ence, — compelling you to laugh or cry, at his pleasure. His excel- lent personation of old men acquired for him, before he had reached the meridian of life, the title of ' Old Jefferson.' The astonishment of strangers, at seeing a good-looking young man pointed out in the street as Jefferson, whom they had seen the night previous at the theatre, tottering apparently on the verge of existence, was the greatest compliment which could be paid to the talent of the actor. His versatility was astonishing — light comedy, old men, panto- mime, and occasionally juvenile tragedy. Educated in the very best school for acquiring knowledge in his profession, . . . Jeffer- son was an adept in all the trickery of the stage, which, when it suited his purpose, he could turn to excellent account. He was the reigning favourite of the Philadelphia theatre for a longer period than any other actor ever attached to the city, and left it with a reputation all might envy. In his social relations he was the model of what a gentleman should be, — a kind husband, an affectionate father, a warm friend, and a truly honest man." A tribute to Jefferson and to his associate Francis, occurs in James Fennell's Apology for the Life of an Actor, pp. 418, 419 : — " My next excursion was to Alexandria, where I completed my engagements under the direction of Messrs. Francis and Jefferson. I cannot reflect on the conduct of these gentlemen without compar- ing it with my own : nothing has impeached their characters during their residence in the United States, but much has occurred to exalt them. No instability has marked their dispositions; with steady industry, perseverance, and prudence, they have attached themselves closely to the profession they had chosen and the city which was originally their promised land, and in which they are now (1S13) in 92 LIFE OF JEFFERSON happy possession of competency and respect ; — the one, the friend and protector of the orphan ; the other, the father of a numerous family, under the guardianship of himself and his amiable consort, well educated and well instructed. Neither one nor the other entered this new world (they will pardon the remark) with the advantages I possessed, nor has either of them received a fourth part of the sum of money that I have, from the patronage of Americans. What, then, has made them rich ? Prudence. What has reduced my state ? Imprudence. Jefferson ! the amiable father of an amiable offspring ; Francis ! the protector of the unprotected, permit me to offer you, poor as it is, my homage." Fennell seems to have been the Micavvber of actors, long before the character was created. He was born in London, December ii, 1766; made his appearance on the American stage in 1794; and was excellent in the tragic parts of Zanga and Glenalvon. He lived a wild life, and wrote an account of it ; and he died in Phila- delphia, a pitiable imbecile, in 18 16. A Philadelphia writer, whose name is unknown, gives this glimpse of the personal appearance of Jefferson : — " He was scarcely of medium height, not corpulent, elderly, with clear and searching eyes, a rather large and pointed nose, and an agreeable general expression. But never was a human face more plastic. His natural recognition of each personage in the mimic scene, his interest in all that was addressed to him, the plan or purpose of what he had to say, his coaxing, quizzing, wheedling, domineering, and grotesque effects, were all complete, without the utterance of words ; yet it was said that in these particulars he never twice rendered a scene in precisely the same manner. In singing, his voice was a rich baritone, and in speech it was naturally the same. He was so perfect an artist that, although always faithful to his author, he could, by voice or face or gesture, make a point at every exit." Edwin Forrest, who had known Jefferson and was familiar with his acting, spoke of him with earnest ad- miration : — LIFE OF JEFFERSON 93 "One morning ... he began relating to Cakes . . . his recol- lections of old Joseph Jefferson, the great comedian. He told how, when a boy, he had visited that beautiful and gifted old man ; what poverty and what purity and high morality were in his household ; how he had educated his children ; and how at last he had died among strangers, heart-broken by ingratitude. He told how he had seen him play Dogberry, in a way that out-topped all compari- son ; how at a later time he had again seen him play the part of the Fool, in Lear, so as to set up an idol in the memory of the beholders, for he insinuated into the words such wonderful contrasts of the greatness and misery and mystery of life, with the seeming ignorant and innocent simplicity of the comments on them, that comedy became wiser and stronger than tragedy. — His listener afterwards said, 'We two were alone. Never had I seen him so deeply and so loftily stirred in his very soul as he was then, about Jefferson. His eulogy had more moral dignity and intense religious feeling than any sermon I ever heard from the pulpit.' " — Life of Ediviii Forrest. By William Rounseville Alger, Vol. H., pp. 827-28. Jefferson resided for many years at No. 10 Powell street, Philadelphia. The house is still standing, but a change in the enumeration of the houses in that street has made it number 510. In company with Rip Van Winkle Jefferson I visited that house, in September, 1880. Upon Jefferson's saying that his grandfather once lived there, the occupants courteously invited us to enter, and we passed a little time in the rooms on the second floor, which the comedian remembered as asso- ciated with his ancestor; and he recalled having been held up, at the front window, a child in his grandfather's arms, to watch the heavy raindrops pattering in the pools of water in the street below, — which drops the old gen- tleman told him were silver pieces, and said he should presently go and get them. That anecdote, told then and there, seemed very suggestive of the kind, playful nature always ascribed to "old Jefferson." 94 LIFE OF JEFFERSON There was a strong personal resemblance between President Jefferson and the comedian, and this indica- tion confirmed their belief that they had sprung from the same origin. They were friendly acquaintances and occasionally met ; but the actor, who shrunk with hon- ourable pride from even the appearance of courting the favour of the great, was always shy of accepting the attentions of the President. A book had appeared, written by an Englishman, in which it was asserted, in a spirit of ridicule, that the President of the United States, while in the morning he would write state papers and attend to the affairs of the nation, could at night be seen at the theatre, with a red wig on his head, bowing responsive to the applause that he got while making the people laugh, in a farce. That was suffi- ciently childish satire, and it is not to be supposed that any person seriously regarded it. Yet it was not wholly without effect on the sensitive mind of the comedian. He entertained a profound respect for the republican ideas of his adopted country, and for the exalted office of its chief magistrate ; and this, conjoined with the self-respecting dignity of his character, made him ex- tremely punctilious as to all social intercourse outside of his own class and rank. The President and himself were not able to trace their relationship, but both believed it to exist, although the ancestry of the former was Welsh, while that of the latter was English. The actor, however, said that his gratification in their alli- ance would be marred if the matter were made known, as an avowal of it might be misunderstood. President Jefferson presented to the actor a court-dress, as a mark of his respect and admiration. This was highly valued LIFE OF JEFFERSON 95 by the recipient, and was left by him to his son Joseph, who also inherited Garrick's Abel Drugger wig. Those relics formed part of the wardrobe entrusted to Joseph Cowell, and by him stored in the St. Charles theatre, New Orleans, which was burnt, with its contents, on Sunday night, March 13, 1842. One of the biographers of President Jefferson de- scribes that remarkable man in language which might equally well apply to the great actor who was his con- temporary : — " He was a tender husband and father, a mild master, a warm friend, and a delightful host. His knowledge of life, extensive travels, and long familiarity with great events and distinguished men rendered his conversation highly attractive to social visitors. His scientific acquisitions and the deep interest which he took in all branches of natural history made his society equally agreeable to men of learning. Many such visited him, and were impressed as deeply by his general knowledge as they were by the courtesy of his demeanour." Jefferson was buried in the grounds of the Episcopal church at Harrisburg, at the rear of the building ; and there, in 1843, -^ memorial stone was placed over him, by Judge Gibson ^ and Judge Rogers, of the Supreme 1 John Bannister Gibson was distinguished as a jurist of high ability. He was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1780, being the son of Lieu- tenant-Coloiicl Gibson, who was killed in battle with the savage Indians, in St. Clair's expedition against them, in 1 791. He was admitted to the bar in 1803, and subsequently was several times elected to the State legis- lature. In 1813 he was appointed presiding Judge of one of the judicial districts of Pennsylvania, and in 181 6 he became Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of that State. In 1827 he became Chief Justice, succeeding Judge Tilghman. He was deprived of his seat in 1851, when a change in the Constitution of Pennsylvania made the judiciary an elective institution. He was, however, elected an Associate Justice in the same year. He died 96 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Court of Pennsylvania. The inscription upon it, written by Judge Gibson, is as follows : — BENEATH THIS MARBLE ARE DEPOSITED THE ASHES OF JOSEPH JEFFERSON: AX ACTOR WHOSE UNRIVALLED POWERS TOOK IN THE WHOLE RANGE OF COMIC CHARACTER, FROM PATHOS TO SOUL-SHAKING MIRTH. HIS COLOURING OF THE PART WAS THAT OF NATURE, — WARM, PURE, AND FRESH ; BUT OF NATURE ENRICHED WITH THE FINEST CONCEPTIONS OF GENIUS. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE CHESTNUT STREET THEATRE, PHILADELPHIA, IN ITS MOST HIGH AND PALMY DAYS, AND THE COMPEER OF COOPER, WOOD, WARREN, FRANCIS, AND A LONG LIST OF WORTHIES WHO, LIKE HIMSELF, ARE REMEMBERED WITH ADMIRATION AND PRAISE. HE WAS A NATIVE OF ENGLAND. WITH AN UNBLEMISHED REPUTATION AS A MAN, HE CLOSED A CAREER OF PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS, IN CALA.MITY AND AFFLICTION, AT THIS PLACE, IN THE YEAR l832. " / knew him, Horatio : a fellow of infinite jest ; of most excellent fancy T in Philadelphia in 1853, having been eminent on the bench for forty years. An eloquent eulogy on him was delivered by Chief Justice Jere- miah Black, which may be found in the seventh volume of Harris's Penn- sylvania State Reports, LIFE OF JEFFERSON 97 There is an authentic tradition that the clergyman who read the burial service over the remains of Jeffer- son, knowing that he had been an actor, and disapprov- ing of that circumstance, altered the text of the ritual, substituting the phrase "this man" for "our deceased brother,'' in the solemn passage beginning " Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his wise providence, to take out of this world the soul of our deceased brother, we therefore commit his body to the ground — earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." That proceeding, which was observed at the time, and which can only be viewed as an act of bigotry, done with intent to cast a sort of ecclesiastical indignity upon the dead, has been remembered by the descendants of the noble and blame- less person whose dust was thus disparaged. The present Joseph Jefferson, whose spotless character and beneficent life are their own sufficient praise, is not a member of the church. It is by acts like that, with which its history has often been sullied, that the church has suffered the alienation of many true hearts. After nearly forty years, the remains of Joseph Jeffer- son were removed from the Episcopal churchyard to the Harrisburg cem.etery, and again laid in the earth. The same stone that marked their first sepulchre, marks their final place of rest. This disturbance of them was com- pelled, through the conversion of a part of the church- yard into a building plot. In the absence of the pres- ent Jefferson, the removal to a temporary sepulchre was effected by Attorney-General Benjamin F. Brewster and Senator Cameron, of Pennsylvania ; but on returning from Europe, Jefferson personally supervised the final burial. 98 LIFE OF JEFFERSON It is my privilege to present a compendium of Per- sonal Recollections of Joseph Jefferson, given to me by his daughter, Elizabeth Jefferson, — Mrs. Chapman-Richardson-Fisher. These recollections were written at my request, in 1869-70. They came to me in the form of rough memoranda, the manuscript being entitled Notes from McDiory, and they were found to need revision. Accordingly, with their respected writer's consent, I carefully pruned, condensed, and paraphrased her narrative, preserving her facts, strictly adhering to the spirit of her statements, and, where- ever possible, using her words. A sketch of Elizabeth Jefferson's life is given in a separate chapter of this biography. Her reminiscences are appended : — "My father was genial and social, but reserved in manner. He never allowed theatrical matters to be discussed in his presence ; not from dislike of his profession, but because his life was so entirely wrapt up in it that he needed relief from reference to the subject of his constant study and thought. " Hodgkinson was most liberal to my father in professional busi- ness, and in a very little time after they came together gave up to him the low-comedy parts. This soon made him a leading feature of the John Street theatre, and a great favourite with the public. One night, when it chanced that his first child was very ill, he had gone to the theatre much depressed, though not apprehensive of bereavement. While dressing himself for a farce, he received news that his child was dead. The love of children was a naling passion with my father, and to lose his own and (then) only one, was an overwhelming grief. Hodgkinson went before the curtain to state the reason of the delay that had been caused by this news, and to beg of the audience to allow another farce to be substituted for the one announced ; but the whole house rose, and, with a cry of 'No farce!' left the theatre. This was an unusual compli- ment. •• Considerations ut economy were among the reasons that induced LIFE OF JEFFERSON 99 my father to remove from New York to Philadelphia, where his name became a household word. No man ever held more esteem and affection than followed him. His wife lived but in him ; his children idolised him ; his servants worshipped him ; his nature was one that inspired not only respect but love ; his fondness for children was extreme, and I have seen our parlour at home filled with little ones, — children of neighbours, whose names even he did not know, — but they flocked around him as if he were something more than mor- tal, and he never tired of amusing them. A great tease he was to them, — but they preferred to be teased by him rather than petted by others. " There was a simplicity in our household that I have seldom met with since. In affairs of business my father would often take us all into his council. One instance of this, which is singular and amus- ing, I particularly recall. A neighbour of ours was in the habit of lending money at interest, — a proceeding which we had been taught to regard as almost as bad as robbery, — and a merchant of Phila- delphia, who was in need of money, had come to him to borrow it. The usurer chanced to be insufficiently supplied, and he mentioned this exigency to my father, saying that a certain very high rate of interest could be obtained upon a loan. My father answered that he would consider the proposition, and communicate his decision on the morrow. He then called a family council and apprised us of his opportunity to profit by usury. He dwelt long and earnestly on the merchant's distress. We all exclaimed in horror against the idea. I vividly remember the impression I received that he was about to become a Shylock, and that he might be tempted to end by cutting a pound of flesh from the breast of the impoverished debtor. But we kept our father from that shocking crime, which, of course, he had not dreamed of an intention to commit, and blessed him that he was not a Shylock. His waggish way of enforcing a moral lesson was to be realised afterward, in memory. I do not suppose that there ever was a man who lived more entirely ' unspotted from the world.' " In matters relative to the stage he was scrupulously careful and thorough. His wigs were, with a few exceptions, invented and made by himself. He hit upon the idea of a wig that should be practicable, — the hair upon it rising at fright. He had undertaken 100 LIFE OF JEFFERSON a part in a piece entitled The Fanner,'^ but not being particularly struck by it, he set about the study of what could be done to strengthen it. It was then that he hit upon the expedient of mak- ing the wig do what the part could not, and he was richly repaid by the laughter of the audience. I was present, and I remember hear- ing the people around me saying, 'Now look at Jefferson's wig,' in a certain scene of the piece ; and, indeed, this comic wig saved the play. " His varied talent was turned to every line of acting, except tragedy. On one occasion Mrs. Wood,'- the leading lady of the Chestnut Street theatre, wife of the manager, William B. Wood, was joking with him, saying that he had mistaken his calling, and that his line was tragedy, and she persuaded him to play for his benefit Old Norval, in John Home's tragedy oi Douglas . I have heard him declare that he really intended to act that part seriously, but he said that the audience had been so accustomed to laughing whenever he appeared that they would not accept him soberly, and when he made his entrance in this tragic character, he was greeted with a shriek of laughter. He tried to be solemn, but it was of no use. The spectators had determined to laugh at Jefferson, and laugh they did. Mrs. Wood always said that he did something on the sly to provoke the laughter, but he would not acknowledge this. I suspect him, though, — for his sentimental acting, as it occasionally occurred in comedy, was touching and beautiful. " After my father's death, when I was alone in New York, I was requested to give permission for the removal of his remains from Harrisburg to Philadelphia, where it was said a monument should be erected to his memory. But, knowing what sorrow he had suf- fered at the neglect he received in Philadelphia, towards the end of his career, and knowing also his aversion to all disturbance of the grave, I refused to sanction this proceeding. His ideas were peculiar as to death. When I wished him to see my mother, after she was (lead, he would not be persuaded. ' How can you ask me,' he said, 1 The Farmer. A musical farce, in two acts. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1787. 2 " January 30th, 1804. Married by the Rev. Dr. Abercrombie; Mr. W. B. Wood, to Miss Juliana Westray, both of this (the Chestnut) thea- tre." — Wood's Personal Recollections, page loi. I LIFE OF JEFFERSON 101 ■ to turn with disgust from a face whicli for so many years has been my pride and my pleasure?' And until a year before his death he never saw a corpse. The first and only dead face he ever looked on was that of his son John. His wish was to be buried in a village churchyard, with no stone to mark the place. But this, it seems, could not be, for two of his old friends, judges of Pennsylvania, erected a stone at his head, in Harrisburg, where he died. " I never but once saw my father out of temper : and, indeed, he could not have borne to be so ; his naturally equable temper was essen- tial to his health. During Mr. Wemyss's ^ stage management of the Chestnut Street theatre (1827-30), that gentleman went abroad to try to engage a company that, in fact, was not wanted. Among other importations that' he brought back was Mr. John Sloman, a comic singer, together with his wife, as stars. Mr. Sloman was a good comic singer, but as an actor was execrable. In my father's con- tract with the theatre it was expressly stipulated, and had been so for years, that all plays or farces in which he was desired to appear should be sent to him, so that he might choose his part. This arrangement seemed to hurt the self-love of some of the actors ; but, as it was a rule, Mr. Wemyss did not attempt to break it. Nevertheless, after Mr. Sloman had made a hit with his comic sing- ing, Mr. Wemyss harboured the idea that the American public would also accept him as an actor ; and so all the new pieces that came from England that season were given to Sloman, on the pretext that he was a new star, and that they were his property. My father made no protest, feeling sure that neither Mr. Wemyss nor Mr. Sloman could depose him from his place in the public regard. On an occasion of Mr. Warren's benefit, Sloman volunteered his ser- vices, and my father was to act in a new farce. I was in the green- 1 Francis Courtney Wemyss (1797-1859), author of a TheatHcnl Biography. In chap. xiii. of that work Mr. Wemyss refers to this sub- ject as follows : " We proceeded as usual to Baltimore for the spring season, and while there I was taken one morning by surprise, by an offer from Mr. Warren to accept the acting and stage management of the theatres under his direction; to cross the Atlantic, and recruit his dramatic company by engaging new faces from England. . . . I therefore, on May 6, 1827, made an engagement for three years with Mr. Warren. . . . On June 20, 1 sailed from Philadelphia." 102 LIFE OF JEFFERSON room that day, and I never shall forget my father's face when he saw the announcement. This proclaimed, first, a five-act tragedy ; then six successive songs by Sloman ; then a farce for Sloman ; and finally his own feature, The Illustrioics Stranger ?■ Mr. Wemyss hap- pened to enter the room at this moment. My father said to him, 'Good morning, sir ; that bill must be changed.' 'Why, Mr. Jeffer- son,' he replied, ' it is impossible : we could not have new bills printed by night.' ' I don't care what you do,' answered my father ; ' I want the order of those pieces changed. I have spent time and thought upon my part, and, damn it, sir, I won't have it wasted.' The man- ager's face was a picture. An oath from the lips of Jefferson fright- ened us all ; but his farce was placed immediately after the tragedy, and I remember that it was a success. I never heard my father use a profane word, except on that occasion. " The Chestnut Street theatre was now declining in prosperity. Mr. Warren, my uncle, was soon declared insolvent. This new company, which his stage-manager, Mr. Wemyss, had engaged, was to have raised the theatre to the pinnacle of success ; but it proved, as sensible observers had feared, the ruin of the house. '^ My father's benefit, always good before this, now turned out a fail- ure. Edwin Forrest, then the rising star, chanced to be acting at the Walnut. On my father's benefit night the opposition managers had put up Forrest's name for a benefit, and the young favourite proved the success. While we were sitting that day at dinner, a letter was brought from Forrest, stating that the writer had not been aware of the employment of his name to oppose that of the elder actor, and that he hoped the blame might be laid where it was due ; and he offered to give my father a night, whenever he might choose to name the time, to prove his respect and apprecia- tion. My father deemed the young actor somewhat presumptuous, in taking so much for granted ; but a few hours sufficed to teach him the bitter lesson of waning popularity. On the night of that last benefit in Philadelphia, he made up his mind to leave that city and never return to it. 1 The Illustrious Stranger, or Married and Buried. Musical farce. By James Kenney. Drury Lane, 1827. - The instructions to engage this company emanated from Mr. Warren, of whose plans Mr. Wemyss was the executor, not the originator. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 103 "At a later time, when my father was acting and managing in Washington, Forrest came there as a star, and he then actually refused one night's emolument. He had said that he would play one night for Jefferson, and he insisted on keeping his word. The money was sent after him, when this was discovered, but he returned it, and positively refused to receive it. Efforts were made, from time to time, to induce my father to return to Philadelphia. For- rest's brother, at the Walnut, made him a most liberal offer, with- out conditions. Wemyss also came, offering anything. But this was in vain. The heart and the pride of the actor had been wounded to death. He never went back, and he soon died. "Of all my father's children the most talented was John. He was the pride of our family. A classical scholar, proficient also in modern languages, a clever artist, an accomplished musician, a good caricaturist, an excellent actor, he was one of the most talented men of his day. Playing seconds to my father, he had caught his thor- oughness of style, without becoming a servile imitator. He was a good singer and a graceful dancer. He possessed every attribute essential to an actor. But his attractive disposition and his brilliant talents soon gave him an exacting and perilous popularity. Gay company, and the dissipation that it caused, injured his health, though to the last he never was known to fail in professional duty. The last performance he ever gave was in Lancaster, Pa. When my father left Philadelphia, John, who had acted both at the Chestnut and Walnut, resolved to turn manager, and, for some time after that, he managed theatres at Washington and Baltimore, mak- ing summer trips to Harrisburg, Lancaster, Pottsville, and other places. It was while we were playing at Lancaster that John died. The pieces that night were The School for Scandal and The Poor Soldier. Part of the cast of the former was as follows : — Sir Peter Teazle Joseph Jefferson, Sr. Sir Oliver Surface John Jefferson. Rowley Joseph Jefferson, Jr. Lady Teazle Mrs. S. Chapman (Elizabeth Jefferson). Mrs. Candour Mrs. Joseph Jefferson, Jr. Lady Sneervvell . ..... Miss Anderson. Maria Miss Jefferson. " The Miss Anderson was Jane (afterwards Mrs. Germon), the eld- est daughter of my sister Euphemia ; the Miss Jefferson was my sis- 104 LIFE OF JEFFERSON ter Mary Anne (afterwards Mrs. Wright) ; Mrs. S. Chapman was ni)'- self ; so this was indeed a theatrical family party. In mounting the stone steps of the hotel, on our return from the performance, my brother John slipped on a bit of orange peel, and fell heavily, strik- ing his head, and fracturing his skull. He was taken up insensible, and he never spoke again. My father never rallied from the shock of that calamity. In this son his chief hopes had been centred. He believed that John was destined to great honour and fame, and that he would keep the name of Jefferson distinguished upon the stage. After this my father refused to act in any of the plays in which John had been accustomed to act with him, and in less than a year he, too, went to his rest. "My nephew, Joseph Jefferson (Rip Van Winkle), bears a striking resemblance to my father. He was a wonderfully preco- cious child : all who remember his childhood say this. When little more than two years old he gave an imitation of Fletcher,^ the ^ John Fletcher, said to have been born in that part of London's historic fortress called the Bloody Tower, appeared at the London Adelphi in 1831, showing the Venetian statues; came to America; appeared at Boston, November 28, 1831, — at the Bowery theatre, New York, December 13, 1831, and at the Walnut Street theatre, Philadelphia, January 5, 1832. Joseph Jetferson (Rip Van Winkle) was born in Philadelphia, February 20, 1829, and consequently was less than three years old when Fletcher first performed in that city. It must have been his own mother who ob- served his precocious endeavours and who made the statue dress for him, — because Elizabeth Jefferson's mother died in January, 1831. The lad was very early taken on the stage, at the theatre in Washington, as Cora's Child, in Pizarro, — that being his beginning in the profession ; but his first regular appearance, in a speaking part, was made at the age of four, 1833, when he was carried on as little Jim Crow, by Thomas D. Rice, at Washington. He then danced and sang. His appearance in the statues preceded his appearance as little Jim Crow. A passing glimpse of that juvenile statue episode is given in an article that was published in the New York Times, June 5, 1881, descriptive of an interview with the aged actor Edmon S. Conner, then 72 years old, since dead : — " Mr. Conner recalls a circumstance regarding Joseph Jefferson. He says that the great comedian was a remarkably small child at the age of seven (?), being hardly larger than other children at three, but that he was beaiuifully formed. A man named Fletcher LIFE OF JEFFERSON 105 statue man, and it was indeed an astonishing feat. My mother clianced to notice the child, in a corner of the room, trying this experiment, and she called him to her side, and found that he had got all the " business " of the statues, though he could not have pro- nounced the name of one of them. She made him a dress similar to that worn by Fletcher, and he actually gave these imitations upon the stage when only three years old. Rice came to Washington to sing his Jim Crow songs, and little Joe caught them up directly, and, in his baby voice, sung the songs, although he could not correctly pronounce the words that he sung. His taste for drawing and painting showed itself at an early age. My father could not keep his drawing-box away from the boy. Joe was in his fourth year when my father died. The old gentleman idolised him. I remember his almost daily salutation would be, ' Joe, where 's my paint ? ' 'It's gone,' said the child. ' Yes, sir, I know it's gone; but where ? where ? ' ' Him lost,' was Joe's reply. ' Yes, sir, I know it 's lost and gone ; but how and where ? ' The boy would look up, roguishly, and say, ' Him hook um ' ; and then his grand- father would prophesy what a great artist that child would one day become, and say that he was ' the greatest boy in the world,' and let him destroy any amount of anything he chose. The inheritance of talent was never more clearly shown than in the case of the present Joseph Jefferson : his habits, his tastes, his acting, — all he is and does seems just a repetition of his grandfather." The professional life of Joseph Jefferson exemplified a wide versatility of shining intellectual power and great and zealous artistic labour. The specification of some of the parts that he acted will supply an eloquent testi- had then just introduced into this country living tableaux representing renowned statu- ary of the Old World. They had created a great sensation. During a certain summer season Mr. Conner, with others, was in Wilmington, Del. One of the most attractive features of their entertainments was that furnished by little Joe, who, in white fleshings, white wig, and chalked face, was placed upon a small round table, and gave imitations of Fletcher's statuary, — 'The Discobolus,' ' Ajax Defying the Lightning,' etc. He was hardly longer than the legs of the table, but so admirably he struck the attitudes, and so perfectly proportioned was he, that the audiences were charmed with the graceful, lovely boy." 106 LIFE OF JEFFERSON monial to the force and brilliancy of his talents and to his studious energy. He appeared in more than two hundred characters, and the list is by no means com- plete. It is by records of this kind, carefully examined and considered, that the judicious observer is able to gauge the actors of the past,^ and, at the same time, by remarking the changes which occur in the public taste, to trace the dramatic movement from age to age, and thus to sharpen his perception and broaden his grasp of the march of civilised society : for the accepted drama of a nation is always a significant sign of the condition of its people. Subjoined is a partial REPERTORY OF JOSEPH JEFFERSON Adonis, alias Joe the Shepherd, in Poor Vulcan^ or Gods itpon Earth. Burlesque. By Charles Dibdin. Covent Garden, 1778. Alibi, in The Toy, or The Lie of the Day. Comedy. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1789. 1 The old theatrical chronicler, Downes, in a note to his Rosciits Angli- canus, edition of 1789, p. 63, says, of Betterton : — " Nothing shows the richness of this actor's genius so much as the variety of different characters that he represented. The first tragedian of the age acting the solemn coxcomb would appear surprising to us had we not seen Mr. Garrick perform Sir Anthony Bran- ville, in The Discovery. The accomplished actor is master of the whole business in his profession, and no one excepting Mr. Garrick performed such a number of different char- acters as Betterton." The veteran Macklin presented one hundred and sixty-five characters. The actor who has played the greatest number of parts, however, is Henry Irving, — who, between the time of his first appearance on the regular stage, September 29, 1856, at Sunderland, and that of his departure from Edinburgh, for the Princess's theatre, London, September 13, 1859, played four hundred and twenty-eight parts. [See Biographical Sketch of Henry Irving. By Austin Brereton. 1884.] Since 1859 the list of parts played by Irving must have been largely extended. Henderson played one hun- dred and fifteen paits. 1 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 107 Acres, in The Rivals. Comedy. By Richard Brinsley Sheri- dan. Covent Garden, 1775. Apollo Belvi, and also Buskin, in Killing No Murder. P'arce. By Theodore Hook. Haymarket, 1809. The elder Mathews was the original Buskin. B. Bluntly, in Next Door Neighbours. Comedy. By Elizabeth Inchbald. Haymarket, 1791. Bombastes Furioso, in the burlesque tragic opera of that name. Bobby Pendragon, in Which Is the Man? Comedy. By Mrs. Hannah Cowley. Covent Garden, 1783. '^\ofik.,m. Where is Hef Farce. By William Dunlap. 1801. Bras de Fer, in Tekeli, or The Siege of Montgatz. Melodrama. By Theodore Edward Hook. Music by the elder Hook. Drury Lane, November 24, 1806. Bribon, in Columbus. Cloten, in Shakespeare's tragedy of Cymbeline. Cloddy, in The Mysteries of the Castle. By Miles Peter Andrews. Covent Garden, 1795. Count Cassell, in Lover''s Vows. Drama. Adapted from Kotze- bue by William Dunlap. New York Park, 1799. Clown, in Harleqiiin'^s Vagaries. — There are, of course, many old plays implicating the Italian masques. The Biographia Draniatica mentions no less than sixty, relative to Harlequin. Charles, in Know Your Own Mind. Comedy. By Arthur Murphy. Covent Garden, 1777. The character of Dashwould, in this piece, was intended to portray Foote, the actor and dramatist. Conrad, in The Stranger'^s Birthday., a sequel to Kotzebue\s play of The Stranger. Carlos, in The Man of Fortitude. Drama, 1797. Alleged author, Hodgkinson ; but Dunlap claimed the piece as his, under the name of The Knighfs Adventure, and said that Hodgkinson made use of his manuscript. Carlos, in The Blind Boy. An alteration, made by Dunlap, of Kotzebue's Tlie Epigram. 108 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Cadi, in // Bondocaiii. Comic Opera. By Thomas Dibdin, 1 80 1. Music by Boieldieu. Afterwards played as The Caliph of Bagdad. Colin, in The Irish Mimic, or Blunders at BrigJiton. Musical Farce. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1795. Captain Copp, in Charles the Second. Comedy. By John Howard Payne. Caleb, in He Would Be a Soldier. Comedy. By Frederick Pillon. Covent Garden, 1786. Captain Flash, in Miss in Her Teens. Farce. By David Garrick. Covent Garden, 1747. Don Ferolo Whiskerandos, in TJie Critic. Farce. By Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Drury Lane, 1779. Diego, in The Virgin of the Sun. Drama. Translated from Kotzebue. Jefferson also acted, later, Orozembo, in Pizarro, or The Death of Rolla, — another version of the same piece. Dogberry, and also Verges, in Shakespeare's comedy of Much Ado About Nothing. Davy, in Bon Ton. Farce. By David Garrick. Drury Lane, 1775- Dickey Gossip, in My Grandmother . Farce. By Prince Hoare. Drury Lane, 1796. Dorilas, in The Whims of Galatea, or The Power of Love. Jeffer- son painted the scenery for this piece, at the John Street theatre, New York, March, 1796. Don Yincentlo, in A Bold Stroke for a Husband. Comedy. By Mrs. Hannah Cowley. Covent Garden, 1783. David Mowbray, in Tirst Love, or The French Emigrant. Com- edy. Drury Lane, 1795. Dora Jordan was admirably good as Sabina Rosni. The part was acted in America by Mrs. Hodg- kinson. Drugget, in Three Weeks After Marriage. Comedy. By Arthur Murphy. Covent Garden, 1776. Don Manuel, in She Would and She Would Not. Comedy. By Colley Cibber. Drury Lane, 1703. Doctor Last, in 'The Devil upon Two Sticks. Comedy. By LIFE OF JEFFERSON 109 Samuel Foote. Haymarket, 1768. The original Doctor Last was Weston. Foote acted the Devil. Dromio of Syracuse, in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. Cowell was the other Dromio. Dubois, in The Abbe de L'Epee, or Deaf and Diiiitb. 1801. Don Guzman, in The Follies of a Day. Comedy. By Thomas Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1785. Adapted from La Folle Joiiniee, by Beaumarchais. Dominique, in the opera of Paul and Virginia. By James Cobb. Music by Mazzinghi and Reeve. Covent Garden, 1800. Dr. Smugface, in A Budget of Blunders. Farce. By Prince Hoare. Covent Garden, 18 10. Jefferson, in Dr. Smugface, wore a false nose, skilfully made of wax, which increased the comicality of his aspect in that irascible character. Dr. Lenitive, in The Prise, or 2-5-3-8. Dominie Sampson, in Guy Mantiering. Musical Play, on Sir Walter Scott's novel. By Daniel Terry. Covent Garden. 1816. Dr. Petitqueue, in The Toothache. Farce. By John Bray. Edward, in The Haiiiited Tower. Comic Opera. By James Cobb. Drury Lane, 1789. Endless, in The Young Quaker. Comedy. I'y John O'Keefe. Haymarket, 1783. Ennui, in Tlie Dramatist. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden. 1789. Ephraim. in The school for Prejudice. Comedy. By Thomas Dibdin. Covent Garden, 1801. An enlargement of its author's previous comedy of Liberal Opinions. Frank, in Half an Hour After Supper. Haymarket, 1789. Farmer Ashfield, in Speed the Plough. Comedy. By Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1800. Ireland cites a critical opinion on Jefferson's personation of Farmer Ashfield, which is suggestively descriptive of his quality and style : — " No man possessed such happy requisites for exhibiting this character in the true colours of nature as Mr. Jefferson. In the rustic deportment and dia- 110 LIFE OF JEFFERSON lect, in the artless effusions of benignity and undisguised truth, and in those masterly strokes of pathos and simplicity with which the author has finished the inimitable picture, Mr. Jefferson showed uniform excellence; and as, in the hu- morous parts, his comic powers produced their customary effect, so, in the serious overflowings of the honest farmer's nature, the mellow, deep, impressive tones of the actor's voice vibrated to the heart, and produced the most intense and exquisite sensations." — Mirror of Taste, Vol. I., p. 75. YtYvtii,\i\ The Horse and the Widow. Farce. Altered from the German of Kotzebue, by Thomas Dibdin. Covent Garden, 1799. Fool, in The Italian Father. Drama. By William Dunlap. Park, 1799. Frank Oatland, in A Cure for the Heartache. Comedy. By Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1797. This was among Jeffer- son's best performances. Francis, in Shakespeare's King Henry IV. First Witch, in Macbeth. Fixture, in A Roland for an Oliver. Comedy, 18 19. Gregory Gubbin, in The Battle of Hexham. Drama. By George Colman. Jr. Music by Dr. Arnold. Haymarket, 1789. Story of Margaret, Queen to Henry VI., befriended by a bandit. Grime, in The Deserted Daughter. Comedy. By Thomas Hol- croft. Covent Garden, 1795. This piece was sometimes acted under the name of The Steward. Item, in this, was also one of Jefferson's characters. Gregory, in The Mock Doctor, or The Dumb Lady Cured. ^ Farce. By Henry Fieldmg. Drury Lane, 1732. ^ That piece was taken from Le Medecin 7nalgre Lui, by Moliere, — originally named Le Fagotier. The story is that the wife of a wood-cutter, in order to be revenged on her husband for his ill treatment of her, told two strangers that he was a learned physician, who would not, however, give his medical knowledge and care, until he had been soundly thrashed; whereupon they compelled him first to attempt the cure of a girl who had been feigning dumbness in order to avoid an obnoxious marriage, and next to assist in an elopement. The situations had previously been used, in Love's Contrivance (1703), by Susanna Centlivre, and The Dumb Lady (1672), by John Lacy. The subject has been treated in an opera by LIFE OF JEFFERSON 111 j Guillot, in Richard Cocur de Lion. Historical Play. By Gen. John Burgoyne. Drury Lane, 1786. ^ Gil Bias, in pantomime play of Gil Bias. Hans Molkin, in The Wild Goose Chase. Translated by Dunlap. Herbert, in The Man of Ten Thousand. Comedy. By Thomas Holcroft. Drury Lane, 1796. Hurry, in The Maid of the Oaks. Farce. By Gen. John Bur- goyne. Drury Lane, 1774. Covent Garden, with Mrs. Abington in it, 1782. The author was the British commander who capitu- lated to General Gates, at Saratoga, in 1777, — prompting Sheridan's couplet : — " Burgoyne defeated — oh, ye Fates, Could not this Samson carry Gates ! " Humphrey Grizzle, and also Frank, in The Three and the Deuce. Comedy. By Prince Hoare. Haymarket, 1795. This piece is sug- gestive of both the Comedy of Errors and She Stoops to Conquer. Gounod, produced at the Theatre Lyrique, Paris, January 15, 1S58, and at the Princess's theatre, London, early in 1865. It is recorded that David Garrick, before he decided to adopt the dra- matic profession, chose The Mock Doctor, to test his powers. The particu- lars are given as follows : — " The place was the room over St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell. . . . The time was soon after Garrick's friend and tutor, Samuel Johnson, had formed a close intimacy with Cave, the printer and publisher of the Gctiilejuaii^s Magazine, and while Garrick was still in the wine trade, with his brother Peter, and secretly meditating a withdrawal from it, in order to adopt the congenial, but, in the opinion of his friends, the disreputable, call- ing of an actor. The audience was composed, first of Cave himself, who, though not a man given to mirth, or with an idea beyond his printing presses, had been tickled by Johnson's description of his young townsman's powers. . . . Then there was the burly lexicographer, — in those days very shabby and seedy indeed, but proudly battling his way in the world. . . . Several of Cave's literary handicraftsmen were, doubtless, among the audience: Webb, the enigma writer, Derrick, the pen-cutter, and ' Tobacco' Browne, whose serious poetry even the religious Johnson himself confessed he was unable to read with patience. The actors who assisted Garrick were some of Cave's journeymen printers, who had, for the time, laid aside their composing sticks, and read or recited the parts allotted to thern, as best they could. Garrick played the involuntary physician Gregory, as Fielding renamed him; and we have all read how Johnson, in his later years, return- ing from the Mitre, or the Cheshire Cheese, with Boswell, in the early morning, would grasp the street-post by Temple Gate, and send forth a peal of laughter, which echoed and re-echoed through the silent streets, as he recalled the irresistible humour of his clever iriend little Davy." 112 LIFE OF JEFFERSON The comic effect is obtained by means of complications arising out of the bewildering resemblance between three brothers, — each being mistaken for another, and all displayed at cross purposes with the rest of the characters. Frank is a rustic, of the Zekiel Homespun stripe. Humphrey Grizzle is an opinionated, cranky, eccentric old servant, whose perplexity affords much amusement. The three brothers, — Percival, Peregrine, and Pertinax Single, — who "raise the Deuce " by being alike in appearance but diverse in character and conduct, are acted by one and the same person. I. Ibrahim, in Blue Beard, or Female Curiosity. Musical Extrava- ganza. By George Colman, Jr. Drury Lane, 1798. J- Jasper Lunge, in A Good Spec — Land in the Moon. Farce. 1797. Jacob Gawky, in A Chapter of Accidents. Comedy. By Miss Sophia Lee. Haymarket, 1780. Jaques. and also Rolando, in The Honeymoon. Comedy. By John Tobin. Drury Lane, 1805. Jeremy Diddler, in Raising the Wind. Farce. By James Ken- ney. Covent Garden, 1803. Lewis was the original Jeremy. — " Diddler has been attempted by many celebrated comedians, but by none so successfully as by Jefferson, who exhibits the various dispositions of Jeremy with admirable effect.'' — The Thespian Monitor. John Lump, in The Review, or The Wags of Windsor. Musical Farce. By George Colman, Jr. Haymarket, 1808. Jargon, in The Bulse of Diamonds, or What is She? [By Dr. Doddrell ?J John, in The Wheel of Truth. Farce. By James Fennell, the actor. New York Park, 1803. Job Thornbury, in fohn Bull. Comedy. By George Colman, Jr. Covent Garden, 1805. Jack Stocks, in The Lottery. Farce. By Henry Fielding. Drury Lane, 1731- Justice Greedy, in A New Way to Pay Old Debts. Comedy. By Philip Massinger. Acted at the Phoenix in Drury Lane, 1633. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 113 John, in False Shame. Drama. Adapted from the German, by Dunlap. Jack Meggott, in The Suspicions Husband. Comedy. By Dr. Benjamin Hoadly. Covent Garden, 1747. Garrick was famously good, in this piece, as Ranger. George the Second sent the author one hundred pounds, as a compliment. Jack Arable, in Speculation. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1795. James, in Bourville Castle. Musical Drama. By Rev. John Blair Linn. 1797. Jack Bowline, and also Captain Bertram, in Fraternal Discord. Drama. Adapted from the German of Kotzebue, by Dunlap. John Street theatre, 1800. Jack Acorn, in Colwnbia''s Daughters. Drama. By Mrs. Susanna Rowson, author of The Female Patriot., Slaves in Algiers, Charlotte Temple, Americans in England, and other pieces. 1800. Jew, in Self-immolation, or Family Distress. Drama. Adapted from Kotzebue, by Dunlap. Kourakim, in The Captive of Spilsberg. Drama. By Prince Hoare. Drury Lane, 1799. Kit Cosey, in Town and Country. By Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1807. Y^\!idinvi,'\'a Count Benyowski. Drama. By Dunlap. Park, 1799. Louis, in The Robbery. Drama. By Monvel. Translated by William Dunlap. Lackbrain, in Life. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1801. Lord Listless, in The East Indian. Comedy. By M. G. Lewis. Drury Lane, 1799. Launcelqt Gobbo, in The Merchant of Venice. Lord Grizzle, in The Life and Death of Tom Thumb, the Great. Burlesque. 1785. La Fleur, in Sterne s Maria, or The Vintage. Opera. By Dunlap. Music by Pellesier. 1799. H 114 IJFE OF JEFFERSON Leopold, in The Siege of Belgrade. Comic opera. By James Cobb. Music by Stephen Storace. Jefferson painted scenery for this piece. Lieutenant, in The Archers, or The Mountaineers of Switzerland. Opera. By Dunlap. Called, also. William Tell, or 'The Archers. La Gloire, in 'The Surrender of Calais. Play. By George Col- man, Jr. Haymarket, 1791. Based on a French novel. Lord Dartford, in The Fair Fugitive, or He Forgot Himself. This was The Fair Fugitives., a musical extravaganza, by Miss Anna Maria Porter. Music by Dr. Busby. Acted at Covent Garden, 1803. Lord Foppington, in 'The Relapse. Comedy. By Sir John Van- brugh. Drury Lane, 1708. Altered, and named 'The Country Heiress. hodowick, in Adi'lmorn, The Outlaw. Drama. ByM. G.Lewis. Drury Lane, 1801. La Fleur, in Animal Magnetism. Farce. By Elizabeth Inch- bald. Covent Garden, 1788. Of French origin. Michael, in The Adopted Child. Musical piece. By Samuel Birch. Drury Lane, 1795- Mem no, in Abcellino. Drama. By Dunlap, from the German of Zsokke. Motley, in The Castle Spectre. Drama. By Matthew Gregory Lewis. Drury Lane, 1798. — "A story has been told that about the end of the season (this piece having proved very successful), Mr. Sheridan and the author had a dispute in the green-room ; when the latter offered, in confirmation of his arguments, to bet all the money which The Castle Spectre had brought, that he was right. ' No,' said Sheridan : ' I cannot afford to bet all it has brought ; but ril tell you what Pll do — I'll bet you all it is worth.'" — Diogra- phia Dramatica. Mercutio, and also Peter, in Romeo and Juliet. The former part Jefferson acted, for the first time, at the Chestnut Street theatre, Philadelphia, in the season of 1815-16. Matthew Mug, in A House to Be Sold. Musical piece. By James Cobb. Music by Kelly. Drury Lane, 1802. Altered and enlarged from a French piece, entitled Maison a Vendre. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 115 Michelli, in A Tale of Mystery. Melodrama. By Thomas Hol- croft. Covent Garden, 1802. Jefferson also acted Francisco, in this piece. Mawworm, in The Hypocrite. Comedy. By Isaac Bickerstaff. Drury Lane, 1768. An alteration of Gibber's The Nonjuror. Mendoza, in The Duenna. Comic opera. By R. B. Sheridan. Covent Garden, 1775. Muley Hassan, in Fiesco. Drama. From the German of Schiller. 1796, 1798. Marshal Ingelheim, in The Harper's Daughter, or Love and Ambition. Called, also, The Minister. Drama. Adapted by M. G. Lewis, from Love and Intrigue, by Schiller. Nicholas Rue, in Secrets Worth Knoiviitg. Comedy. By Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1798. Nicholas, in TJie Follies of Fashion. Comedy. By Leonard McNally. Original title. Fashionable Levities. Covent Garden, 1785. Nipperkin, in The Sprigs of Laurel. Comic Opera. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1793. Afterwards acted under the title of The Rival Soldiers. Osman, in The Two Misers. Farce. By Kane O'Hara. Covent Garden, 1775. Officer, in The Independence of America. Pantomime. 1796. Old Rapid, in A Cure for the Heartache. Comedy. By Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1797. P. Polonius, and Osric, in Hamlet. — "Jefferson was the best Polonius that ever trod the American stage. No other actor ever succeeded so well in combining the courtier and the gentleman with the humourist. He gave elegance and dignity to the character." — Old N. V. Spirit of the Times. Plainwell, in A Quarter of an Hour Before Dinner. Farce. By Rev. John Rose. Haymarket, 1788. 116 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Peter, in The Strani^cr. Dunlap's version of Kotzebue's drama. Pero, in The Spanish Castle^ or The Knight of Guadalquivir. Musical Drama. By William Dunlap. Music by Hewitt. 1800. Papillion. in The Liar. Comedy. By Samuel Foote. Covent Garden, 1762. Paulo, in The Italian Monk. Drama. By James Boaden. 1797. Founded on Mrs. Radcliffe's novel of that name. Precipe Rebate, in Retaliation. Farce. By Leonard McNally. Covent Garden, 1782. Peter Postobit, in Folly as It Flies. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1802. Pedro, in Cinderella. Pantomime. Philosopher, in The Merry Girl, or The Two Philosophers. Q- Quillet, in Hear Both Sides. Comedy. By Thomas Holcroft. Drury Lane, 1803. Robert, in The Prisoner. Musical Piece. By John Rose. 1792. Realize, in The Will. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Drury Lane, 1797. Ralph, in Lock and Key. Musical Farce. By Prince Hoare. Covent Garden. 1796-97. Roderigo, in Othello. Robert Grange, in Delays and Blunders. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1803. Sir William Howe, in Bunker Hill, or The Death of Warren. Drama. By John D. Burke. 1797. Samuel, in The Indiatis in England, or The Nabob of Mysore. Drama. Adapted from Kotzebue, by Dunlap. Stephano, in Shakespeare's comedy of The Tempest. Soleby, in The School for Soldiers. Play, from the French, by Dunlap. Sambo, in Laugh When You Can. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1 799. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 117 Sir Matthew Maxim, in Five Thousand a Year. Comedy. By Thomas Dibdin. Covent Garden, 1799. Sir Shenkin, in J-'oiitainebleau, or Our Way in France. Comic Opera. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1784. The sub-title given to that piece when it was acted in America was yo/in Bull in Paris. The part of Sir Shenkin Ap Griffin was subsequently changed by the author to Squire Tally ho. Septimus, in The Doldrum. Farce. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1796. Sir Samuel Sheepy, in The School for Arrogance. Comedy. By Thomas Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1791. Sir Stately Perfect, in The N'atural Daughter. Comedy. By Dunlap. 1799. New York Park theatre. Stephen, in Every Man in His Humour. Comedy. By Ben Jonson. 1598. Sir Peter Curious, in The Telegraph. Comedy. By John Dent. Covent Garden, 1795. Silky, in The Road to Ruin. Comedy. By Thomas Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1792. Sancho, in Love Makes a Man., or The Fop's Fortune. Comedy. By Colley Gibber. Drury Lane, 1701. Sir Adam Contest, in The IVeddim^ Day, Comedy. By Eliza- beth Inchbald. Drury Lane, 1794. Sadi, the Moor, in The Mountaineers, or Love and Madness. Play. By George Colman, Jr. Haymarket, 1795. Based on the episode of Cardenio, in Don Quixote. — '-Jefferson as Sadi was universally admired and applauded. The music of the piece he is perfectly acquainted with, and his manner of delivering the duets, in conjunction with Mrs. Wilmot's ' notes, in Agnes, communicated the highest gratification and delight." — Thespian Monitor, Decem- ber 16, 1809. 1 Mrs. Wilmot, originally Miss Webb, was first known as Mrs. Mar- shall. She came from England in 1792, with Marshall, and both were speedily accepted as favourites. Mrs. Marshall was reputed the best chambermaid actress of her time. " A pretty little woman," says Dunlap, " and a most charming actress, in the Tickles and romps of the drama." She was much admired by Washington. She returned to England, left Marshall, wedded Wilmot, came back to America, and here died. 118 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Sir Harry Harmless, in /V/ Tell You What. Comedy. By Elizabeth Inchbalcl. Haymarket, 1785-86. Colman named this piece. Sir David Daw, in The Wheel of Fortune. Comedy. By Rich- ard Cumberland. Drury Lane, 1795. Sebastian, in The Midnight Hour. Comedy. By Elizabeth Inch- bald. Covent Garden, 1788. From the French of M. Damaniant. Squire Richard, in The Provoked Husband, or A yourncy to London. Comedy. By Colley Cibber. Drury Lane, 1728. Sampson Rawbold, in TJie Iron Chest. Tragedy. By George Colman, Jr. Drury Lane, 1796. Stave, in The Shipwreck. Comic Opera. By S. J. Arnold. Drury Lane, 1796. Solus, in Every One Has His Fault. Comedy. By Elizabeth Inchbald. Covent Garden, 1793. A fine portrait of Jefferson, as Solus, appears in the Wemyss collection of theatrical portraits. Sir Benjamin Dove, in The Brothers. Comedy. By Richard Cumberland. Covent Garden, 1769. Sharpset, in The Votary of Wealth. Comedy. By J. G. Hol- man. Covent Garden, 1799. Sir Robert Bramble, and also Dr. Ollapod, in The Poor Gentle- man. Comedy. By George Colman, Jr. Covent Garden, 1802. Sir Peter Teazle, Sir Oliver Surface, Charles Surface, Crabtree, and Moses, in The School for Scandal. By Richard Brinsley Sheridan. First acted. May 8, 1777, at Drury Lane. Sheepface, in The Village Lawyer. Farce. From the French. 1795- Sir Hugh Evans, in Sliakespeare's The Merry IVives of Windsor. Sir Owen Ap Griffith, in The Welsh Girl. Vaudeville. Scaramouch, in Don Juan. Toby, in The Wandering few, or Lflve''s Masquerade. Comedy. By Andrew Franklin. Drury Lane, 1797. Toby Allspice, in The Way to Get Married. Comedy. By Thomas Morton. Covent Garden, 1796. Tom Seymour, in P^ortune's Fool. Comedy. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, 1796. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 119 Tom Holton, in Tell Truth and S/iatne the Devil. Comedy. By Dunlap. John Street theatre, New York, 1797. Reduced to one act, and played at Covent Garden, London, May 18, 1799, for benefit of Mrs. Johnson. Touchstone, Adam, Le Beau, and William, in As Voti Like ft. Toby Thatch, in The London Hermit, or Rambles in Dorset- shire. Comedy. By John O'Keefe. Haymarket, 1793. Tagg, in The Spoiled Child. Farce. Drury Lane, 1790. At- tributed to Isaac Bickerstaff. Tallboy, in The Spanish Barber. Musical Farce. By George Colman, Sr. Haymarket. 1777. Tristram Fickle, in 77ie Weathercock. Farce. By J. T. Ailing- ham. Drury Lane, 1806. — "Jefferson's Tristram, lively, active, and productive of real merriment." — Lhespian Monitor, December 13, 1809. Tim Tartlet, in The First Floor. Farce. By James Cobb. Drury Lane, 1787. Tom Starch, in The Wise Man of the Fast. Play. By Elizabeth Inchbald. Adapted from Kotzebue. Covent Garden, 1799. Thomas, in The Good Neighbor. Farce. Timothy Quaint, in The Soldier'' s Daughter. Comedy. By Andrew Cherry. Drury Lane, 1804. Edwin Forrest, in his youth, often acted Malfort, in this piece. The Soldier's Daughter was revived in Boston, at the Globe theatre, in June, 1872, but it did not please the public. Varland, in The West Indian. Comedy. By Richard Cumber- land. Drury Lane, 1771. Williams, in He''s Much to Blaine. Comedy. By Thomas Holcroft. Covent Garden, 1798. William, in the opera of Rosina. By Mrs. Brooke. Covent Garden, 1783. Bible story of Boaz and Ruth. Witzki, in Zorinski. Drama. By Thomas Morton. Hay- market, 1795. 120 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Yonr\g Sc\\?iYientc\\.,u\ The Force of Calniniiy. Drama. Adapted from the German, by Dunlap. Young Clackett, in The Guardian. Comedy. By David Gar- rick. Drury Lane, 1759, '^772>- Based on La Pupille., by M. Fagan. Zekiel Homespun, in The Heir at Law. Comedy. By George Colman, Jr. Haymarket, 1797. Born in 1774, five years before the death of Garrick, and dying in 1832, one year before the birth of Edwin Booth, Joseph Jefferson's Hfetime covered much of the period of the Kembles and Edmund Kean, in England, and of Dunlap, Wignell, Warren, Wood, and others who aided to build the foundations of the stage in Amer- ica. He saw the rise and fall of Hodgkinson and of Fennell, and the advent of Cooper, Junius Brutus Booth, Maywood, Conway, Hamblin, and Forrest. He acted in the same company with the beautiful Anne Brunton and the wonderful Mary Duff.^ He made his advent in 1 Mary A. D. Duff, 1794-185 7. — She was, probably, the greatest tragic actress that ever trod our stage. It was to her that the poet Moore re- ferred, in his lovely song, " While gazing on the moon's light." She was born in London; married John R. Duff, of the Dublin stage; came with him to America in 1810; and in subsequent years had a career of astonish- ing brilliancy, — darkened, however, by much misfortune. She died, of cancer, at No. 36 West Ninth street, New York, and is buried in Green- wood (lot 8999, grave 805). Her life has been affectionately written by Ireland. Ludlow describes her as " refined, yet powerful; not boisterous, yet forcible; graceful in all her motions, and dignified without stiffness." She had lived a Catholic all her days, but she became a Methodist toward the last, after her marriage \^ith Mr. J. G. Sevier, of New Orleans. Her death and burial were obscure, and for many years her fate remained un- known, — some of her relatives being averse to the association of her name with the stage, and desirous of leaving the subject in oblivion. She was a (K ;< 0) -0 d b D h 5 7) (J) ■P M a J -a ffl ;: ffl ^ » S ■p Q c 3 M a :z 3 3 D 3 fcfl E 50 Q < LIFE OF JEFFERSON 121 the second term of the presidency of Washington, when the American Republic consisted of only sixteen States and contained a population of barely four millions,^ and, living through the terms of Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, he died in the first term of Andrew Jackson. It was a courtly period in American history, and Joseph Jefferson was one of its most conspicuous ornaments. He differed materially from his father, not in worJ;h or honour, but in important personal attributes and in the general character of his life. He was less sturdy, less bluff, less genial and com- panionable, less a man of the world, and more a studious recluse. His temperament was more delicate, his nat- ure more reticent, his mind more ambitious, his faculties more nimble and more brilliant ; and his life seems to have been carefully planned and rigidly governed. He saw at an early age both the direction of his talents and the goal of his desires ; and thereafter, in a spirit of simple self-devotion, he moved forward to the attainment of high and honourable ends. He was essentially a virtuous person, acting always from the monitions of principle, never from the promptings of impulse or the fickle whims of expediency or of social custom. His consideration for others was an exact regard for their rights and a tender sympathy with their feelings. He was unselfish, devoid of conceit and affectation, and he loved the dramatic art more than he loved himself. His wish was to live the life of a good man and to win the good woman as well as a great actress. See my Shadows of the Stage, Vol. II. ^ In 1790 the population of those States was 3,929,214. The city of New York, as late as 1807, contained scarcely more than 80,000 persons. 122 LIFE OF JEFFERSON success of a great comedian, and that wish was nobly accompHshed. For business enterprise he had but httle either of taste or talent, and his mental constitution was such as required that personal advancement should be the result of personal desert and worthy achievement. His ambition was to grasp success itself, and not to grasp merely its emoluments, and he would have been made miserable by honour and wealth that he had not merited. That fine nature, fjowing into all his works and ways, inspired his acting with lovely and winning attributes, — those indefinable charms which far tran- scend words and actions, in the expression of the soul. His lack, if such it may be deemed, was one that is nat- ural and usual in a comedian, — a lack of passion. No deadly conflict could ever have raged upon the theatre of that serene spirit ; no pall of tempest could ever have lowered over its pure, pellucid depths. He felt no wounds but those that strike the heart. His private life was lived in the affections ; his public life in that realm of dramatic art which requires, exclusively, ob- servation mingled with invention, eccentricity tempered by fancy, and humour touched with tenderness. As an actor his superiority appears to have consisted in his ex- traordinary thoroughness and felicity of treatment. His genius did not overwhelm, but it always delighted and satisfied. His contemporaries universally commended him as a natural actor. His artifice, accordingly, must have been perfect, and must have been employed with consummate skill ; for no actor ever yet produced the effect of nature by being perfectly natural. He pos- sessed, in ample variety, the rich treasures of wise and safe tradition, but he used those treasures with the bold- LIFE OF JEFFERSON 123 ness of an original mind ; and therefore he left upon his age the impression, not of a copyist, but a creator. His artistic ancestors, if conjecture be not idle, were Robert Wilks (1670-1732) and Thomas Dogget (obiit 172 1). He had the deep feeling, the delicacy, the versatility and the dash of Wilks, and he had more than Dogget's glowing humour and consistent and polished art. " I can only copy nature from the originals before me," said Sir Godfrey Kneller, to Dogget ; " but you can vary them at pleasure, and yet preserve the likeness." That was likewise true of Jefferson ; and there can be no tes- timonial more explanatory of his charm, or more signifi- cant of his exalted powers and achievements, alike in the conservation, the improvement, and the transmission of the best tradition of comedy-acting on the English stage, than the eloquent fact that the actors, who are habitually severe censors of each other, — actors like Hodgkinson, Cooper, Kean, and Forrest, — heartily, and with one accord, pronounced him the finest comedian of the ao:e in which he lived. Ill ELIZABETH JEFFERSON 1 8 10-1890 Elizabeth Jefferson, whose recollections have been incorporated in my sketch of her father, was born in Philadelphia, about the year 1810, and in the spring of 1827, when seventeen years of age, was presented at the Chestnut Street theatre as Rosina, in The Spanish Bar- ber} She had a lovely voice, and had been carefully instructed and trained in music ; but her timidity and inexperience, on the first night, marred her efforts, and her attempt was accounted a failure. Cowell, who pre- ceded Wemyss in the stage management of the Chest- nut, when Warren and Wood dissolved their partner- ship, in 1826, had the superintendence of the effort, and he has left this record of it, in his Thirty Years, Vol, IL, p. 9: — "During this season, 1826-27, I had the gratification of intro- ducing two of the 'fairest of creation,' as candidates for histrionic fame — a daughter of old Warren, and a daughter of old Jefferson. They were cousins, and about the same age. Hetty Warren had decidedly the best of the race for favour at the start, but Elizabeth 1 The Spanish Ba7-ber. Comedy, with songs, by George Colman. Irlaymarket, 1777. Taken from Le Barbiere de Seville, by P. A. C. de Beaumarchais. 124 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 125 Jefferson soon shot ahead, and maintained a decided superiority. Poor girls ! They were both born and educated in affluence, and both lived to see their parents sink to the grave in comparative poverty. Hetty married a big man named Willis, — a very talented musician, — much against the will of her doting father ; and, like most arrangements of the kind, it proved a sorry one. Elizabeth became the wife of Sam Chapman, in 1828. He was a very worthy fellow, with both tact and talent in his favour, and her lot promised unbounded happiness." Wemyss, who saw Elizabeth Jefferson's first appear- ance, gives concurrent testimony, in his Theatrical Biog- raphy, chap. 13: — " For the benefit of Mr. Jefferson, whose name was sure to fill the house, his daughter, Miss E. Jefferson, made her first appear- ance upon any stage as Rosina, in The SpanisJi Barber. If Miss Warren was the best debutante I had ever seen, Miss Jefferson was decidedly the worst. She spoke so low, and so corajDletely lost all self-possession, that, had it not been for her father, she would scarcely have escaped derision. The only redeeming point was her song of A71 Old Man would be Wooing, in which she was feebly encored. From such an unfavourable beginning little was to be expected. But, in the race commenced between Miss Warren and herself, although distanced in the first attempt, she soon outstripped her rival, in her future career, rising step by step, until she became, as Mrs. S. Chapman, the leading actress of the American stage, in the Park theatre of New York." After a dull beginning Miss Jefferson put forth her powers with augmented resolution, and, — at the Chest- nut, and in those wandering theatrical expeditions with which her renowned father closed his professional career, — she soon acquired the experience essential to her success. Thus equipped, she came forward at the Park theatre, New York, on September i, 1834, as Ophelia, and there was accepted as an actress of the finest powers. She had in the mean time been married, 126 LIFE Oi' JEFFERSON in Philadelphia, to Samuel Chapman, a young and clever actor, who seems to have been a favourite with "old Jefferson"; but he had died ^ shortly after their marriage, and she was now a widow. The bills an- nounced her as Mrs. S. Chapman. The stock company in which she took her place included T. H. Blakeley, John H. Clarke, John Fisher, H. B. Harrison, Henry S. Hayden, John Jones, W. H. Latham, John Kemble Mason, Gilbert Nexsen, Henry Placide, Thomas Placide, T. Povey, Henry Russell, Peter Richings, William Wheatley, Mrs. Archer, Mrs. Durie, the lovely Mrs. Gurner, Mrs. Harrison, the Misses Turnbull, Mrs. Vernon, and Mrs. Wheatley. James William Wallack acted Hamlet, to open the season, and in its course Sheridan Knowles appeared, in a round of his own characters. Mrs. Chapman's success was uncommonly brilliant. " No actress who ever preceded or followed her on the Park stage," says Ireland, "excelled her in general ability, and she was the last stock actress attached to the establishment fully competent to sustain equally well the leading characters in the most opposite walks of the drama. Devoid of stage trickery, artless, unaffected, and perfectly true to nature, not beautiful in feature, but with a coun- 1 Samuel Chapman. — " The Reading mail stage, with nine male passengers and the driver, was stopped by three foot-pads, a few miles from Philadelphia, in the middle of the night. . . . Chapman, who was extremely clever at dramatising local matters, took a ride out to the scene of the robbery, the better to regulate the action of a piece he was pre- paring on the subject, was thrown from his horse, and slightly grazed his shoulder. He had to wear, that night, a suit of brass armour, and, the weather being excessively hot, he wore it next his skin, which increased the excoriation, and it was supposed the verdigris had poisoned the wound. At any rate, he died, in a week after the accident. . . ." — Cowell's Thirty Years, Vol. II., chap. 9. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 127 tenance beaming with beauty of expression, in whatever character cast, she always succeeded in throwing a pecuhar charm around it, and in making herself admired and appreciated. Her performance of Julia, in The Hunchback, first stamped her reputation as an artist of the highest rank. Her engagement was a continued triumph, and her retirement from the stage, in the spring of 1835, on her marriage with Mr. Richardson, a source of deep and earnest regret." The marriage was contracted with Mr. Augustus Richardson, of Baltimore. Cowell mentions him, as " a clever young printer," whom he met, in company with Junius Brutus Booth, at Annapolis, in 1829. Mr. Richardson, like his matrimonial predecessor, died sud- denly, in consequence of an accident ; and his widow, returning to the stage, was again seen at the Park. She subsequently went into the South, joining her brother Joseph and other relatives and connections. After her brother's death, in 1842, she managed for a time the theatre at Mobile ; and at that place, in 1849, she was married to Charles J. B. Fisher, — brother to the famous vocalist, Clara Fisher, — whose death, in 1859, aged fifty-four, left her again a widow. Those bereave- ments were not her worst afflictions. One of her sons was murdered in New Orleans, and another, Vernon, became insane from a fall, and, after lingering for many years in lunacy, expired in an asylum. Her own death was stated, in Brown's History of tJic Anicricaii Stage, p. 310, to have occurred in 1853, but that was an error. A strong will, an intrepid spirit, and a magnificent constitution, sustained her, in patience and steadfast industry, to a great age. For many years she was a teacher of music ; and one of her daughters, — Clara Fisher, named after her distinguished relative, now 128 LIFE OF JEFFERSON (1894) Mrs. Maecler, — was favourably known as a vocalist. Charles J. B. Fisher's first appearance on the stage was made at the Mobile theatre, in 1842, as Dazzle, in London Assurance. The musical style of Elizabeth Jefferson was based on that of the beautiful Garcia,^ whom she saw at the New York Park theatre in the season of 1825, having been sent from Philadelphia to observe and study that incomparable model. When only eleven years old she was elected an honorary member of the Musical Fund Society, of Philadelphia. John Sinclair, the vocalist, father of Catherine Sinclair, who became the wife of Edwin Forrest, repeatedly designated her the best singer in America, and more than once offered her a star posi- tion in his musical company. Had she devoted herself exclusively to either the lyric or dramatic stage, and re- sisted the allurements of ideal domesticity, she might have reached the greatest eminence. Before she came to the Park theatre, Henry J. Finn, the comedian, had assured Edmund Simpson, the manager, that she was beyond rivalry as a comedy actress ; and Finn had offered her the leading business, on her own terms, at the St. Charles theatre. New Orleans. Tyrone Power had also spoken of her, with unstinted admiration. Edwin Forrest, in 1 SiGNORiNA Maria Felicit£ Garcia. — Born in 180S. Made her first appearance in 1823, at Covent Garden. Appeared at the Park theatre, New York, November 29, 1825, as Rosina. Was married on March 23, 1826, to Eugene Malibran. Made her last appearance in America, Octo- ber 28, 1827, at the Bowery theatre, New York, as the Princess of Navarre, in yohn of Paris. Went to Europe and had great success as Mme. Mah- bran. Obtained a divorce from her husband and married the violinist De Beriot. Died September 17, 1836, at Manchester, England, in her twenty- eighth year, and is there buried. She was a wonder of genius and beauty. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 129 whose support she had acted, at Washington, declared her to be the best tragic actress on the stage. " She is the best Lady Macbeth we have," he said, " and the only Pauline." Somebody asked Simpson how he had happened to hear of her as an actress. " I have heard of nobody else for two years," he answered. During the Park engagement of Sheridan Knowles, she acted in all the plays produced for him, — TJie HiincJiback, William. Tell, Virginiiis, TJie Wife, etc., — and the famous author was fascinated with her loveliness and her genius. Ever afterward, in writing to her from England, he addressed her as Lady Julia Rochdale, and signed his letters, "Your father, Walter." It was as JuHa that she made her first hit at the Park ; and her popularity there was so great that every omission of her name from the bill would cause a serious fall in the receipts. Yet she was only a member of the stock com- pany, receiving a salary of $30 a week ; and the receipts from her farewell benefit performance were only ^882. Elizabeth Jefferson (she acted as Mrs. Chapman in 1834, and as Mrs. Richardson in 1835 and 1837) was the original representative in America of several important characters in modern comedy, vaudeville, and burlesque- A few of those parts may be named : — Bess .... in The Beggar of Bethnal Green Eliza .... The Dumb Belle. Gabrielle . . . Tom Noddy's Secret. Gertrude . . . The Loan of a Lover. Julia .... The Hunchback. Lydia .... The Love Chase. Lissette Gerstein The Swiss Cottage. Marianne . . The Wife. Oliver Twist Oliver Twist. 130 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Pauline ... in . The Lady of Lyons. Perseus ... " . The Deep, Deep Sea. Smike ... " . Nicholas Nickleby. Her repertory also included, aside from more conspicu- ous characters : — The Somnambulist. Cinderella. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Man and Wife, or More Secrets than One. The Widow's Victim. Of Age To-morrow. The Pet of the Petticoats. My Wife's Mother. Married Life. Married Lovers. The Broken Sword. The Barber. Secret Service. The Knight of the Golden Fleece. Amina . . . ir Cinderella . Esmeralda . . " Helen Worret . " Jenny ..." Maria ..." Mimi .... " Mrs. Budd . . " Mrs. Lynx . . " Mme. de Manville " Myrtello ..." Rosina ..." Therese ..." Vettoria ..." A complete list of her embodiments would fill several pages. Her range extended from Little Pickle to Lady Macbeth, and in all that she attempted she was excel- lent. Time makes sad havoc with beauty and popularity. In those bright days of the old Park theatre when Elizabeth Jefferson walked abroad, her footsteps were followed by the admiring glances of hundreds of wor- shippers. There came a time when her slight and faded figure, clad in the sable garments of grief, would flit by unnoticed in the crowd. She passed some time, toward the close of her life, at St. John, Newfoundland, where she gave instruction in music. She died, at No. 139 West 20th street. New York, on November 18, 1890, closing in poverty and oblivion a career most sadly admonitive of the evanescence of human happi- ness, worldly fortune, and theatrical renown. IV JOSEPH JEFFERSON 1 804-1 842 Joseph Jeffersox, the father of our Rip Van Winkle, lived an uneventful life, the story of which naturally takes the form of a tribute to beauty and worth of char- acter rather than a narrative of achievements that con- cern the world. Joseph Jefferson, the third of the Jeffer- son Family of Actors, was born at Philadelphia, in 1804, and in that city he received his education and grew to manhood. While a boy he did not evince a taste for the stage, but preferred the study of architecture and drawing ; and that he pursued diligently and with suc- cess. In those branches, and also in painting, he was instructed by Robert Coyle,i ^^ English scenic artist, of repute at that period. There is no positive record of his first appearance upon the stage, but it is remembered that he sometimes played such parts as the First Mur- derer, in MacbetJi, while yet a youth. His name appears in the playbills of the Chestnut Street theatre as early as 1 8 14, and it is known that when finally he had adopted 1 Robert Coyle was killed by an accidental fall from a wagon, his horse having suddenly started in fright. A performance for the benefit of his widow occurred at the Bowery theatre, New York, August 22, 1827. 131 132 LIFE OF JEFFERSON the dramatic profession, he made himself a good actor in the line of old men. In 1824, he was a member of the dramatic company of the Chatham Garden theatre, New York, under the management of Henry Barriere. That company comprised Andrew J. Allen, George H. Bar- rett, Thomas Burke, John M. Collins, C. Durang, Thomas Kilner, who was stage-manager, Henry George More- land, William Oliff, once prompter at the old Park thea- tre, W. Robertson, Alexander Simpson, Spiller, Somerville, John Augustus Stone, — who after- ward wrote Metamom, for Edwin Forrest, — Henry Wallack, Williamson, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Burke, Mrs. P. M. Clark, Mrs. Durang, Mrs. Entwistle (who had been Mrs. Mason and who became Mrs. Crooke), Miss Henry, afterward famous as the beautiful Mrs. Barrett, Mrs. Kilner, Miss Oliff, Mrs. Spiller, Mrs. H. Wallack, Mrs. Walstein, and Mrs. Caroline Placide War- ing,i widow of Leigh Waring, and afterwards the wife of William Rufus Blake. The theatre was opened for its third season on May 17, 1824, with The Soldier's Daughter and Raising the Wind, and the casts of the night set Jefferson's name against the characters of Woodley and Fainwould. His acting, on that and sub- sequent occasions, was thought to give a promise of excellence. He did not long remain in New York, but went back to Philadelphia ; and there, and in Washing- ton, Baltimore, and the adjacent region, he fulfilled dis- 1 Ann D. Waring, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leigh Waring, became the wife of James W. Wallack, Jr., son of Henry Wallack, and by the mar- riage of Blake to Mrs. Waring, James W. Wallack, Jr., became Blake's step-son-in-law, — a relationship between those actors which was ever the cause of some mirth. Ann D. Waring's first husband was William Sefton. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 133 cursively his theatrical duties. In 1826, at the age of twenty-two, he was married to Mrs. Thomas Burke, whom he had first met at the Chatham Garden theatre, and who was eight years his senior. That was a love- match, and the marriage proved exceptionally happy and fortunate. After his father left Philadelphia, in the season of 1829-30, he managed for him, in Washington, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and other cities, and he remained with him till the end. During the season of 1831-32 he directed the theatre in Washington. During the seasons of 1835-37 he was connected, successively, with the Franklin theatre, at No. 175 Chatham street, New York, and with Niblo's Garden. At the Franklin he was scene-painter as well as actor. Mobb the Ontlazv, or Jemmy Twiteher in France, a version of Robert Macaire, was given there, on May 2, 1836, with new scenery painted by him. On May 25, he acted King Arthur, in the travestie of Tom Thumb. On June i, The Hunchback was performed, for his benefit, with his sister Elizabeth as Julia, and with his wife in the bill, for a song. The latter had been absent about ten years from the New York stage, and it was observed that her voice and person had been impaired by time. On March I, 1837, Jefferson took another benefit, the bill compris- ing The Lady of the Lake, The Forty Thieves, and a vaudeville entitled The Welsh Girl, in the latter of which pieces he represented Sir Owen Ap Griffith. Mrs. Jef- ferson appeared as Blanche of Devon, and as Morgiana. Charles Burke, her son, then a lad of fifteen, took part in the exercises, singing a song entitled The Beantifnl Boy. The fourth Jefferson, Rip Van Winkle, then eight years old, was present at that performance. For a few 134 LIFE OF JEFFERSON weeks during the summer of 1837 Jefferson and John Sefton managed a vaudeville company at Niblo's Garden, and produced musical farces. Miss Jane Anderson, Miss De Bar (first wife of J. B. Booth, Jr.), Mrs. Bailey, Alexina Fisher (afterward Mrs. Lewis Baker), Mrs. Gur- ner, Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Henry, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Maeder (Clara Fisher), Mrs. Richardson, and Mrs. Watts appeared in that company, as also did T. Bishop, William Edwin, William Henry, Joseph Jefferson, W. H. Latham, Lewellen, Cramer Plumer, John Sefton, Edward Thayer, Jacob Thoman, J. W. Wallack, Jr., and P. Wil- liams. The season ended on September 16, 1837, and that proved Jefferson's farewell of the New York stage. He proceeded with his family to Chicago, there joining his brother-in-law, Alexander Mackenzie ; and the rest of his career — made up of wandering and vicissitude — was accomplished in the West and South, in a primi- tive period of the American theatre. He seldom met with prosperity, but he possessed the Mark Tapley tem- perament, and his spirits always rose when his fortunes were at the worst. He was manager, actor, scene-painter, stage-carpenter, — anything and everything connected with the art and business of the stage. He understood it all, and in every relation that he sustained toward it he was faithful, thorough, and adequate to his duties. The dramatic chronicles give but little attention to his proceedings ; yet they bear invariable testimony to his personal charm, winning simplicity, and intellectual and moral worth. His trials were bravely met ; his hard- ships were patiently borne ; and, to the end, he laboured in steadfast cheerfulness and hope, making good use of his talents and opportunities, and never repining at his lot. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 135 " The father of our Rip Van Winkle " — so, in a letter to me, wrote the veteran manager, John T. Ford — "was one of the most lovable men that ever lived. He acted occasionally, painted almost constantly, and when he had a theatre, as sometimes happened, he managed his business with that careless amiability, almost amount- ing to weakness, that was inseparable from his nature. Once, when he was managing in Washington, he was so poor that, wanting Edwin Forrest to act there, he had to walk to Baltimore, forty miles, and did so, to solicit him. He enjoyed life, in a dreamy way, and his only anxiety was for his children." Another kindly picture of him is afforded by his sis- ter Elizabeth, who wrote to me as follows : — " My brother Joe was a gentle, good man, true and kind in every relation of life. He was very like his father, — so much so that, in the play of TJie Exile} when the latter had to dance in domino, Joe would often, to save his father the trouble, put on the dress and dance the quadrille, and no spectator could tell the difference, or was aware of the change of persons. He was fond of his fireside, serene in adversity, humble in prosperity, affectionate in tempera- ment, and beloved by all who knew him. Painting was his great passion. He became a very good actor in old men. He was an inveterate quiz. I have seen him, — when he was manager as well as actor, — after making a mistake on the stage, fix his composed and solemn gaze magisterially upon some one of the supers, till the poor fellow came really to think that the blunder had been made by himself, and trembled lest he might be discharged. Joe marrie^4 Mrs. Burke, who was a great singer. No voice that I ever heard could compare with hers, except, possibly, that of Parepa. My father feared that, as Joe was so much younger than his wife, the match might not turn out well ; but there never was a happier marriage. Indeed, it could not be otherwise; for Joe was all sun- shine, and she loved him, and that says all." Jefferson was not self-assertive, and, apparently, one reason why he did not take a high rank in the public 1 The Exile, or The Desert of Siberia. Musical Play, in three acts. By Frederic Reynolds. Covent Garden, November lo, 1818. 136 LIFE OF JEFFERSON estimation was that he did not care to make the essen- tial effort. His philosophic, drifting, serene disposition is aptly illustrated in this incident. An old friend of his, hearing that he had met with great misfortune in business, and, in fact, become bankrupt, called at his dwelling to cheer him, and was told by Mrs. Jeffer- son that her husband had gone fishing. He expressed surprise, and, with some vague apprehension that all might not be well, went to the river in search of him. The object of his solicitude was soon found, sitting composedly in a shady nook on the bank of the Schuyl- kill, humming a tune, and sketching the ruins of a mill on the shore. Cordial greetings having been exchanged, the sympathetic visitor could not conceal his aston- ishment that a crushing trouble should be accepted so cheerfully. "Not at all," said Jefferson; "I have lost everything, and I am so poor now that I really cannot afford to let anything worry me." A few of the characters that were acted by the third Jefferson are specified here : — Admiral Franklin, in Sweethearts and Wives. Baron Vanclerbushel, in The Sentinel. Baptisto, in The Htinter of the Alps. Crabtree, in The School for Scandal. Dogberry, in Much Ado Abont Nothing. First Grave-digger, in Hamlet. Gratiano, in The Merchant of Venice. John Bull, in Colnian's comedy of John Bull. King Arthur, in To)n Thumb. M. de Villecour, in Promotion, or The General's Hat. Mr. Coddle, in Married Life. Memno, in Abcellino. Naudin, in Tom A/'oddy^s Secret. Norfolk, in Gibber's version of Shakespeare's Richard the Third. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 137 Polonius. In the unconsciously humorous sapience and half- senile prolixity of that part he must have been exceptionally excellent. Raff, in The ConqKcriug Ga>ne. Reef, in A)nbrose Givinett. Melodrama. By Douglas Jerrold. Sentinel, in Pizarro. Sentinel, in The Wandering Boys. By M. M. Noah. Sir Robert Bramble, in The Pom- Getitleinan. Spinoza, in Venice Preserved. Tragedy. By Thomas Otway. 1682. It is interesting to consider that Garrick placed the plays of Otway next to those of Shakespeare, as to dramatic qualities. Stanon, in The Blind Boy. By William Dunlap. Altered from Kotzebue. Tapwell, in A New Way to Pay Old Debts. Witch, in Macbeth. Abcsllino was a conspicuous example of the " wretched Dutch stuff" that Dunlap's actors despised. In later days, at the Chatham Garden theatre, it gave occasion for a facetious exploit by Jefferson and his comrades, to the discomfiture of Andrew Jackson Allen (1776- 1853), who was the guy of the company. That per- former was a maker of ornaments, of gold and silver leather, for stage dresses ; and it was he who once as- tonished Edwin Forrest by the inquiry, " I should like to know what in your Richard the Third would amount to, without my spangles .-' " Allen was partial to the play of Abielliiifl, and he chose it for his benefit. One situation in it presents all its persons on the scene, and at a certain moment they are to exclaim, " Where is Abaellino .'' " But Jefferson's sportive plan had ar- ranged that the company, at this supreme moment, should stand immovable and speechless. Abasllino, his head darkly muffled in his cloak, for a while awaited the cue. At last he was heard to mutter, several times, " Somebody say, ' Where's Abxllino ! ' " There was no 138 LIFE OF JEFFERSON response, and the house was already in a titter. The dilemma was finally broken by Allen himself, who loudly cried out, " If you want to know where's Abael- lino, here he is," — and threw off his disguise, amid general laughter. In Cowell's Thirty Years there is a glimpse of Jeffer- son's last days. Cowell had repaired to Mobile, after the burning of the St. Charles theatre, New Orleans, in 1842, and he refers to the theatre which he there joined, — a property at the corner of Royal and St. Michael streets, owned by James H. Caldwell, leased in that year to Messrs. E. De Vendel and Dumas, and managed for them by Charles J. B. Fisher, brother to Clara Fisher, the once famous singer, now Mrs. Maeder. Cowell says : — " Charles Fisher, being very desirous of proving his friendship for the Jefferson family, engaged all the immediate descendants of ' the old man ' now alive, and as many of the collateral branches as were in want of situations. Mrs. Richardson had been in Mobile the season before, and therefore she was the nucleus around whom were clustered her two sisters and their husbands, Messrs. Mackenzie and Wright, her brother Joseph and his two very clever children, and her niece Mrs. Germon and husband. The company, in conse- quence, was literally a family, with the exception of James Thorne and myself, Mrs. Stewart, Morton, and Mr. and Mrs. Hodges: so that when poor Joe Jefferson died the theatre had to be closed two nights ; for without the assistance of the chief mourners we could not make a performance." ^ 1 " Old Joe Cowell was an envious man, who looked on the actions of his fellow-men with an eye of sarcasm, and was ready at all times to pick a flaw in, and to turn to ridicule, their best efforts." — Ludlow's Dramatic Life, p. 528. That is found to be true in reading Cowell's book, for the spirit of the writer shines through his words. Nevertheless, he affords an occasional detail that is of advantage to this picture of the past. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 139 Jefferson's death occurred, suddenly, at Mobile, Ala., at midnight on Thursday, November 24, 1842. He died of yellow fever, and his remains were buried the next day. His grave is in Magnolia Cemetery, at Mobile (Square number 6, Lot number 32), and it is marked by a white marble headstone, inscribed with his name, the date of his death, and the number of his years. He was only thirty-eight. The stone to com- memorate him was erected in 1867, by his son Joseph, and at the same time a wooden grave-mark, which had originally designated the spot (the sole tribute that poverty then permitted filial reverence to offer), was brought away by him and buried in the earth, at his home in Hohokus, N.J., — an estate that has since passed out of his possession. The subjoined reflections upon the death of Jefferson were published, at the time, in the Mobile Adver- tiser: — "Joseph Jefferson was the second son and the namesake of that distinguished comedian so many years the pride and ornament of the Chestnut Street theatre in Philadelphia, whose unblemished private life was a moral sanction for his public reputation ; and never did the unostentatious virtues of a father more purely descend upon his offspring than in the person of the deceased. He was an actor of great talent, and an artist of unquestioned e.\cellence. Though living in the public world, it was not there that his true merit was seen ; and one wlio has known him many years, in every relation of life, may be permitted to say that, as a son, a brother, a father, a husband, and a friend he has left none purer to lament his death or attest his virtues. Guileless as a child, he passed through life in perfect charity to all mankind, and never, by his nearest and dearest, was he known to utter an unkind word or entertain an illib- eral opinion. . . . His blameless nature was as free from a thouglit or act of dishonour as the diamond is free from alloy." 140 LIFE OF JEFFERSON A portrait of Joseph Jefferson appears in the Autobiography of his son, our Rip Van Winkle, pub- lished in 1889-90. A silhouette likeness of him and of his wife is also extant. A water-colour portrait of him, made by a Philadelphia artist, named Wood, was long in existence. It was in a circular frame, marked with masonic emblems. It disappeared, with other possessions of the family, in a western city, about 1840-42. Jefferson was an uncommonly hand- some man, self-contained, placid, and singularly interest- ing. With the person, manners, and serene and gentle temperament of an Addison, the actor was an inveter- ate wag. That ideal is the clearest image of him that lives in memory, and various anecdotes are told, to give it proof. On an occasion, at the Washington theatre, the play of Tekcli was presented, under Jefferson's man- agement, with a melodramatic actor named Dan Reed as the hero. Reed was a large man, tall and formidable, wore a tremendous wtg of black hair, and spoke in tones of thunder. On that occasion he was drunk ; so that, when the first curtain fell, Jefferson thought it best to withdraw him from the performance. There was a stage- struck tailor in the theatre, the keeper of the wardrobe, a little man with a small round head, entirely bald. That person, seeing his opportunity, offered himself as a substitute for the stalwart and vociferous Reed, — and the occasion instantly became one that Jefferson could not resist. He seized Reed's wig, put it on the bald head of the tailor, and, without a word of explanation to the audience, sent him on. The business requires that Tekeli shall be brought upon the scene, in act second, upon a litter, and that he presently shall declare his LIFE OF JEFFERSON 141 identity. The little tailor rose to the occasion, assum- ing a fine attitude, and squeaking, in a thin, shrill voice, " Hi ham Teakaylee ! " At the same instant the great shaggy wig dropped from his pate, and revealed that ohject, hairless, and shining like a soap-bubble, while a deep voice from the gallery, improving the ensuing moment of startled silence, clearly ejaculated, "Great Gosh, what a head ! " The audience shrieked with laughter. Jefferson's enjoyment of the scene would, naturally, have been profound. He kept a grave exte- rior, but he was ever willing to gild the dulness and drudgery of life with innocent merriment. The jocose element was commingled in him with pensive gravity and gentleness. His character had the calm beauty of an autumn landscape, of wooded hills and browning meadows, when the sun is going down : but his achieve- ment as an actor was colourless, and he exerted no appreciable influence upon the stage. 1 V CHARLES BURKE 1822-1854 It is the testimony of judicious observers who remem- ber Charles Burke, that he was pre-eminently a man of genius in the dramatic art ; but his life was so brief, his health so delicate, his temperament so dream-like and (hifting, and his experience so sad, that he neither made a rightfully ample impression upon his own period, nor left an adequate memory to ours. Charles Saint Thomas Burke, deriving the name of Saint from his god-father, and that of Thomas from his mother, was the son of Thomas Burke and his wife, Cornelia Frances Thomas, and was born in Philadelphia, March 27, 1822. When three years old he was introduced upon the stage, being utilised in a line of infantile parts, according to the custom of theatrical families in those days ; and from that time he was devoted to a theatrical career. As a lad he was exceedingly apt and intelligent. He saw, and, although very young at the time, he could in some measure appreciate, the acting of the second Jefferson, and of John and Thomas Jefferson, his connections, — not to speak of other worthies of the Chestnut Street theatre, — and in that good school he was carefully 142 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 143 trained. In the summer of 1836, when in his fifteenth year, he appeared at the National theatre, New York, as the Prince of Wales, in Richard the Third. The elder Booth was acting Gloster. Later in the season Burke was seen as Prince John, in Henry the Fourth, and as Irus in Ion, — the former play having been produced for J. H. Hackett, as Falstaff, and the latter for George Jones, subsequently known as Count Joannes. Burke also occasionally sang in public, and he was esteemed clever in comic vocalism. Long before that time his mother had married Joseph Jefferson (they were wedded in 1826), and when, at the end of 1837, his step-father removed from New York into the West, Burke went with the rest of the family ; and he shared the vicissi- tudes and hardships of the wandering life which ensued, — at first in the dramatic company formed by Jefferson and his brother-in-law Alexander Mackenzie, and after- wards with Sol. Smith and others. He was not seen again in New York till 1847, when, on July 19, he appeared at the Bowery theatre, acting Ebenezer Calf, in Ole Bull, and Dickory, in The Spectre Bridegroom. There he remained about a year, and he established himself as a local favourite. In the summer of 1848 he joined his friend, Frank S. Chanfrau,^ at the New Na- ^ Francis S. Chankkau, one of the most versatile and brilliant actors of his time, was horn in New York, on February 22, 1S24. His father was a French sailor; his mother an American, a native of West Chester county, N.Y. In boyhood he learned the trade of a ship carpenter. He early drifted to the stage, and I have heard him say that he profited much by the training that he received at the hands of Mitchell, at the old Olympic theatre. That house was No. 444 Broadway, and it was first opened on September 13, 1837, ''>' Henry F. Wiilard and William Rufus Blake. It subsequently passed to William Mitchell (179S-1856), who 144 LIFE OF JEFFERSON tional theatre, formerly the Chatham, which was opened on August 14, in that year, with Burke as acting- manager ; and with that house he was associated, inter- mittently, for two or three seasons. There is a record of his having appeared at Burton's theatre, in the spring of 1849, ^s Billy Bowbell, in The Illustrious Stranger: but Burton was jealous of him, as a possible rival in popularity, and subsequently used effective influence to exclude him from the theatres of the West Side ; so that Burke was banished to the Bowery, and ever since has commonly been named, not, as he should be, with Twaits, Blissett, Warren, Jefferson, Finn, Burton, and Blake, but with comedians of the somewhat less intel- lectual quality of Barnes, Gates, Sefton, and Hadaway. conducted it from December 9, 1839, until March 9, 1850. Chanfrau was for some time a member of Mitchell's company, — an organisation which, first and last, included some of the most sparkling and choice dramatic spirits of the age. Among them were Benedict De Bar, James Dunn, Augustus Fenno, George Holland, John Nickinson, Charles Walcot the elder, Mary Gannon, the bewitching Mary Taylor, the beautiful Mrs. George Loder, Mrs. H. C. Timm, and Mrs. Watts, afterward Mrs. John Sefton. Chanfrau made an extraordinary hit, at the Olympic, on February 15, 1848, as Mose, the fireman, in A Glance at New York, by B. A. Baker, — a paraphrase of Tovi and Jerry. Chanfrau told me that the first per- formance was not auspicious, and that the play was repeatetl only because of Mitchell's rule that every piece produced at his theatre should be acted at least twice. On the second night the success was prodigious, and shortly afterward Chanfrau was acting Mose, nightly, at two theatres, the Chatham as well as the Olympic, — the run lasting over three months, at both houses. On July 23, 1858, he married Miss Henrietta Baker, daughter of Mrs. Alexina Fisher Baker. He had a long and prosperous career. He died, suddenly, at Taylor's Hotel, Jersey City, on October 2, 1884, and was buried in the cemetery of the West End Methodist church, at Long Branch, N.J. There also rest the ashes of those esteemed actors, William R. Floyd, who died on November 25, 1880, aged 48, and George Ryer, who died on April 26, 1882, aged 74. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 145 I The last three years of Burke's life were mainly spent in professional travel. Ludlow saw him in St. Louis, in his latter days, and Edwin Booth and David Ander- son entertained him at their ranch in California in 1852-53. He worked hard, and found favour and made • friends ; but he met with scant prosperity, and he suf- ^' fered from failing health and waning spirits. His last '■ appearance on the stage was made where his professional life began, — at the Chestnut Street theatre, Philadel- phia, on February 11, 1854; and the last character that he personated was Ichabod Crane, in Mnrrell, the Land Pirate. He was twice wedded, but left no children. Both his marriages were unfortunate. His first wife, Margaret Murcoyne, a native of Philadelphia, born in 1 81 8, died in that city, in 1849. ^is second wife, Mrs. Sutherland, survived him, but has since passed away. Both those ladies were on the stage. The latter was the mother of lone Sutherland, who adopted her step- father's name, and, as lone Burke, had a brief theatrical career, ^.mostly at Laura Keene's theatre and at Wal- lack's, — terminating in marriage ; after which she found a home in England. Charles Burke died in the old Florence Hotel, corner of Broadway and Walker street, New York, November 10, 1854, in the thirty-third year of his age, and was buried in the same grave with his mother, in Ronaldson's cemetery, at Philadelphia. He died in the arms of his brother, Joseph Jefferson, and his last words were, " I am going to our mother." The testimonials that exist to the loveliness of Burke's character and to the strength and versatility of his genius, are touched equally with affection and tender regret. 146 LIFE OF JEFFERSON "He grew up," said Elizabeth Jefferson, "to be one of the best actors we ever had. As a boy he was full of promise ; and when, after fifteen years, I saw him act, in Mobile, I was struck with what seemed to me a revival of the old time. A more talented and kind-hearted man than Charles Burke never lived." His old comrade, Frank S. Chanfrau, wrote to me in the same strain : " Burke was a great actor and a true man. One cannot say too much of his talents and his worth. He could do many things in acting, and was wonderful in all that he did." In person Burke was tall, slender, and extraordinarily thin ; and his long, emaciated figure — agile, supple, and graceful — seemed made for comic contortions and grotesque attitudes. His countenance was capable of great variety of expression, ranging from ludicrous eccentricity to pensive sadness, and he had it under such complete control that it responded, instantly and exactly, to every changing impulse of his mind and feel- ings ; so that he had a new face for every part that he played. The boys of the Bowery pit firmly believed him to be the original of the long-legged figure in the comic almanac. " I knew Charles Burke well, in my early manhood," — so said the lamented John T. Ford, writing to me on February 26, 1894, only sixteen days before his death, — "and saw him act, last, on April i, 1850 (.-'), under singular circumstances. He was then comedian of the Richmond theatre,^ and a very great favourite. Very 1 Burke filled an engagement at the Richmond, Va., theatre, with Chippendale and John Sefton, in 1849, and acted Mose. On December 17, 1852, he received a benefit, at the Arch Street theatre, Philadelphia, LIFE OF JEFFERSON 147 homely in the face. Much like his father in person, and his mother in artistic endowment." In the course of thirty years many parts were acted by Charles Burke, of which a few may serve to indicate his artistic attributes and affinities : — REPERTORY OF CHARLES BURKE Acres, in The Rivals. Billy Bowbell, in The Illustrious Stranger. Baillie Nicol Jarvie, in Rob Roy. Billy Lackaday, in Sweethearts and Wives. Caleb Scrimmage, in Jonathan Bradford, or The Roadside Murder. Clever, in Woman''s Wit. Acted under the name of Slander. By Sheridan Knowles. Clod Meddlenot, in The Lady of the Lions. Burlesque. Captain Tobin, in The Mysteries and Miseries of New York. By H. P. Grattan. Based on a story by '• Ned Buntline" (E. C. Z. Judson). Cloten, in Cymbeline. Caleb Plummer, in The Cricket on the Hearth. Dromio of Syracuse, in The Comedy of Errors. Deuteronomy Dutiful, in The Vermont Wool Dealer. Darby, in The Poor Soldier. Comic Opera. By John O'Keefe. Covent Garden, 1793. Dickory, in The Spectre Bridegroom. Farce. By W. T. Mon- crieff. Drury Lane, 1821. Dr. Ollapod, in The Poor Gentleman. Ebenezer Calf, in Ole Bull. F"arce. Thomas T. Hemphill being then the manager, and was seen in Nip Van IVitikle, Murrell the Laud Pirate, and The Idiot Witness. In 1852 he applied to J. W. Wallack for an engagement, and was refused. Burke received ^2655 for six nights in San Francisco, in 1852-53. His second wife, Mrs. Sutherland, had been divorced from A. B. Sutherland, an actor, who subsequently was allied with the handsome, talented, and eccentric Charlotte Crampton. 148 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Ensi/i. He has acted other parts, but has not steadily pursued the art. 2. Margaret Jane Jefferson. — Born at New York, July 4, 1853. She never was on the stage. She is the wife of Benjamin L. Farjeon, the distinguished English novelist, to whom she was married, in London, in June. 1877. 3. Frances Florence Jefferson. — Born at Baltimore, Md., July 9, 1855 ; died there, December 12, 1855. 4. Joseph Jefferson, Jr. — Born at Richmond, Va., in Sep- tembe"-, 1856; died there, in 1857. 5. Thomas Jefferson. — Born in New York, in 1857. In boy- hood he attended school in London, and afterward, in Paris. Having adopted the stage, he made his first regular professional ap- pearance, at Edinburgh, in the character of Coccles, in Rip Van ll'itikle, in 1877, acting in his father's theatrical company. He was engaged at Wallack's theatre, New York, for the part of Anatole, in A Scrap of Paper, appearing on January 5, 1880, and he again played the same part there, March 28, 1881. When his father re- vived The Rivals, September 13, 1880, at the Arch Street theatre. Philadelphia, he was cast for Fag, and in that mercurial type of bland mendacity and good-natured assurance he made a pleasing impression. On August 21, 1879, at Hohokus, N.J.. Thomas Jefferson was married to Miss Eugenia Paul. 6. Josephine Duff Jkffi:rson. — Born at New York, November 10, 1859. She never was on the stage. N 194 LIFE OF JEFFERSON The second marriage of Jefferson occurred on Decem- ber 20, 1867, at Chicago, wlien he was wedded to Miss Sarah Isabel Warren, a daughter of his father's cousin, Henry Warren (died 1894), brother of William Warren, the once famous comedian. The children of his second marriage are : — 1. Joseph Wakrkx Jefferson. — Born at New York, July 6, 1869. Married, June 13, 1891, to Blanche Beatrice Bender. Has adopted the stage and is a member of his father's company (1894). 2. Hexry Jefferson. — Born at Chicago, 111. Died, at London, England, November 5, 1875. Buried at Cypress Hills, Long Island, N.Y. 3. William Winter Jefferson. — Born in Bedford House, Tavistock Square, London, April 29, 1876, and christened, on June 27, the same year, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, — the Shake- speare church, — at Stratford-on-Avon. Is on the stage. 4. Fr.vnk Jefferson. — Born at New York, September 12, 1885. The fourth Jefferson, resembling his grandfather in this as in some other particulars, has shown remarkable versatility in the dramatic art, not only by the wealth of contrasted attributes lavished by him upon Rip Van Winkle, which he has made an epitome of human nature and representative experience, but by the number and variety of the parts that he has acted. More than a hundred of them are recorded here, and in many of them his acting has been so fine that he would have been recognised as a rare and admirable comedian, even though he had not acted Rip at all. It is either ignorance or injustice, accordingly, that — with the intention of disparagement — designates him as " a one-part actor." Yet certainly he has gained his place mainly by acting one part, and that fact has been LIFE OF JEFFERSON 195 noticed by various observers, in various moods. " I am glad to see you making your fortune, Jefferson," said Charles Mathews, " but I don't like to see you doing it with one part and a carpet bag." Mathews was obliged to play many parts, and therefore to travel with many boxes of wardrobe ; whereas the blue shirt, the old, rusty leather jacket, the red-brown breeches, the stained leggings, the old shoes, the torn red and white silk handkerchief, the tattered old hat, the guns and bottle, and the two wigs for Rip can be carried in a single box. The comment of Mathews, however, was meant to glance at the " one-part " policy, and Jefferson's reply to that ebullition was alike significant and good-humoured. " It is perhaps better," he said, " to play one part in different ways than to play many parts all in one way." That sentence explains his artistic victory. A few of Jefferson's characters are designated here: — REPERTORY OF JOSEPH JEFFERSON [Rip Van Winkle.] A. Acres, in The Rivals. Andrew, the Savoyard, in Isabel. Asa Trenchard, in Our American Cousin. Domestic drama. By Tom Taylor. Laura Keene's theatre, New York, 1858. Beppo, in Fra Diavolo. Burlesque. By H. J. Byron. Box, and also Co.x, in Box and Co.x: Farce. By J. iM. Morton. London, Haymarket, 1847. Jefferson was the original Cox, in America, and Burton the original Box — at the Arch Street theatre. Philadelphia, in 1848. 196 LIFE OK JEFFERSON Bob Trickett, in .hi Alarvihig Sacrifice. Jefferson's first wife played Susan Sweetapple. Bob Brierly, in T/ie Ticket-of- Leave Man. Drama. By Tom Taylor. 1863. Bob, in Old Heads and Young Hearts. Comedy. By Dion Boucicault. Bobtail, in Bobtail and Wagtail. C. T. Item, and also The Tycoon, in The Tycoon., or Young America in Japan. Burlesque. By William Brough. Adapted by F"itz-James O'Brien and Joseph Jefferson. Olympic, New York, i860. Caleb Plummer, in Dot, or The Cricket on the Hearth. Drama. By Dion Boucicault. Based on Christmas story by Charles Dickens. Crabtree, Moses, and Trip, in The School for Scandal. Caleb Quotem, and also John Lump, in The Review, or The Wags of Windsor. Farce. By George Colman, Jr. Haymarket. Authorised edition, 1808. Fawcett was the original Caleb (2uotem. Junius Brutus Booth sometimes acted John Lump, and Jefferson acted with him as Caleb. D. Dr. Botherby, in An Unequal Match. Comedy. By Tom Taylor. Dard, in White Lies. Drama. By Cyril Turner. Based on novel, of French origin, by Cliarles Reade. Dick, in Paddy the Piper. Drama. Hy James Pilgrim. New National theatre, New York, October 6, 1850. Dr. Smugface, in A Budget of Blunders. Farce. By Prince Moare. Covent Garden, 18 10. Dr. Pangloss, in The Heir at Law. 'Dz.r\,\n John Bull. Comedy. By George Colman, Jr. Covent Garden, 1805. Donaldbain, Malcolm, and each of the Three Witches, in Mac- beth. Dickory, in The Spectre Bridegroom. Dr. Ollapod, and also Stephen Harrowby, in The Poor Gentleman. Dogberry, and also Verges, in Much Ado About Nothing. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 197 Figaro, in The Barber of Seville. Fixture, in A Roland for an Oliver. Fainwould, in Raising the Wind. Farce. By James Kenney, Covent Garden, 1803. Francis, in Slaakespeare's Henry the Fourth. Gloss, in Doublefaced People. Comedy. By H. Courtney. Granby Gag, in fenny Lind. Goldfinch, in The Road to Rtiin. Comedy. By Thomas Hol- croft. Covent Garden, 1792. Hans Morritz, in Somebody Else. Hugh Chalcote, in C>///-j. Comedy. By Thomas W. Robertson. Isaac, in Lucille. J- Joe Wadd, in The Hope of the Family. James, in Blue Devils. John Quill, in Beauty and the Beast. Joshua Butterby, in Victims. Comedy. By Tom Taylor. Jaques Strop, in Robert Macairc. Joe Meggs, in The Parish Clerk. Drama. By Dion Boucicault. Acted at Manchester, England. Contains one excellent scene. Has not been acted in America. Kaserac, in Aladdin. La Fleur, in Animal Magnetism. Farce. By Elizabeth Inch- bald. Covent Garden, 1788. Lord Mayor, Catesby, Oxford, the Prince of Wales, ami the Duke of York, in Gibber's version of Shakespeare's Richard the third. 198 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Mr. Woodcock, in Woodcock's Little Game. Mr. Gilman, in The Happiest Day of My Life. Mr. Timid, in The Dead Shot. Mazeppa, in the burlesque oi Mazeppa. By H. J. Byron. Mr. Fluffy, in Mother and Child. Mr. Brown, in the farce oi My N'eighboiir's Wife. Mr. Lullaby, in A Conjugal Lesson. Mr. Golightly, in Lend Me Five Shillings. Newman Noggs, in Nicholas Nickleby. Drama. By Dion Bou- cicault. Based on the novel by Dickens. Niken, in The Carpenter of Rouen. Old Phil Stapleton. in Old PhiVs Birthday. Oliver Dobbs, in Agnes de Vere. Oswald, in Kitig Lear. Osric, and also the Two Clowns, or Grave-diggers, in Hamlet. Pierre Rough, in The Husband of an Hour. Drama. By Edmund Falconer. Pierrot, in Linda, The Pearl of Chamouni. Prop, in N'o Song no Supper. Pan, in Midas. Burlesque. By Kane O'Hara. Covent Garden, 1 764-1 77 1. Pillicoddy, in Poor Pillicoddy. Farce. By J. IVL Morton. Peter, and also Paris, in Romeo and Juliet. Peter, in The Stranger. R. Robin, in The Waterman, or The First of August. Ballad opera. By Charles Dibdin. Haymarket, 1774. Roderigo, in Othello. Rip Van Winkle, in the romantic and domestic drama of that name. Old version by Charles Burke. 1849. New one by Dion Boucicault. Adelphi, London, 1865. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 199 S. Septimus, in My Son Diana. Salem Scudder, in T/ie Octoroon. Drama. By Dion Boucicault. Based on novel by Captain iMayne Reid. Winter Garden, New- York, 1859. Slasher, in Slasher and Crasher. Farce. By J. i\I. Morton. Sheepface, in The Village Lawyer. Farce. 1795. Simon, in Ihe Rendezvous . Sir Brian, in fvanhoe. Burlesque. By the Brough Brothers. Sampson Rawbold, in The Iron Chest. Tragedy. By George Colman. Jr. Drury Lane, 1796. Music by Storace. Kemble was the original Sir Edward Mortimer. The piece was based on Wil- liam Godwin's novel of Caleb Williavis, and may be contrasted with that tale, for an illustration of the difference between narrative and dramatic writing. Slender, in The Merry Wives of Windsor. The Steward, in The Child of the Regiment. Tracy Coach, in Baby. Toby Twinkle, in All that Glitters is not Gold. The Infant Furibond, in The Invisible Prince. The Sentinel, in Pizarro. Tony Lumpkin, in She Stoops to Conquer. Comedy. Bv Oliver Goldsmitli. Covent Garden, 1773. Tobias Shortcut, in The Spitfire. Farce. By J. i\L Morton. Covent Garden, 1838. Touchstone, in As You Like It. Wyndham, in TJic Handso/ne Husband. Whiskerandos, in The Critic. Yonkers. in Chantooiii the Third. Burlesque. By Dion Bouci- cault. Winter Garden, New York, 1859. In Joseph Jeffcnson, — fourth of the line, famous as Rip Van Winkle, and destined to be lont^ remembered 200 LIFE OF JEFFERSON by that name in dramatic history — there is an obvious union of the salient qualities of his ancestors. The rustic luxuriance, manly vigour, and careless and adven- turous disposition of the first Jefferson, the refined intellect, delicate sensibility, dry humour, and gentle tenderness of the second, and the amiable, philosophic, and drifting temperament of the third reappear in this descendant. But more than either of his ancestors, and more than most of his contemporaries, the pres- ent Jefferson is an originator in the art of acting. The comedians of the Kurbage and Betterton periods were rich in humour, and a few of them possessed superb artistic faculty in its display ; but the inquirer will read many volumes of theatrical history, and traverse a wide field of time, before he will come upon a great representative of human nature in the realm that is signified by Touchstone, or Jaques, or the Fool, in King Lear. Wilks, certainly, must have been a great comedian. He had serious power, too, and tenderness, and his artistic method was studiously thorough ; but it was in gay parts that he was best, — in Sir Harry Wildair and the wooing scene of Henry the Fifth. The comedians of the Garrick period, aside from its illustrious chieftain, made but little ad- vance upon those of the Restoration. The parts that were simply humorous continued to be the parts that were acted best. Even Garrick mostly kept his pathos for his tragedy : it was the glittering splendour of vitality that dazzled, in his Don Felix, and it was the various and wonderful comic eccentricity that delighted, in his Abel Drugger. The growth of comedy-acting, nevertheless, took the direction of the heart. King, the LIFE OF JEFFERSON 201 first Sir Peter Teazle, had at least a ray of pathetic warmth. Holcroft and the younger Colman, breaking away from the influence of Congreve and W}'cherley, set the example of writing in a vein that elicited the humanity no less than the humour of the comedians. The influence of tragic genius, like that of Barry, Henderson, Mrs. Crawford, and Mrs. Siddons, lent its aid to foster the development of its sister art. Munden, Dowton, and kindred spirits came upon the scene ; and it was soon proved, and felt, and recognised that humour is all the more humour when it makes the tear of pity glisten through the smile of pleasure. From that day to this the stage in England and America has presented an unbroken line of comedians, who — possessed of diversified humour, ranging from that of Rabelais to that of Sterne — have also possessed the generous warmth of Steele, the quaint kindliness of Lamb, the pitying gentle- ness of Hood, and the sad-eyed charity of Thackeray. From that day the art of comedy-acting has been allied to a purpose that aimed higher than to make the world laugh. In the second Jefferson that growth attained to a splendid maturity, and pathos and humour were per- fectly blended. It remained that a rare form of genius should irradiate mirth and tenderness with the light of poetic imagination. The fulfilment came with Jeffer- son in Rip Van Winkle. Most other comctlians suggest their prototypes in the past. Burton, Bass, Florence, Owens, and Setchell are names that point to a fine lin- eage, calling up the shades of Wright, Reeve, Suett, Listen, Nokes, Kempe, and Lowin. The elder and the younger Warren, Hackett, Davidge, Parselle, and Le Moyne were descendants of Ouin. The honoured 202 LIFE OF JEFFERSON name of John Gilbert was long since written with those of Webster, Farren, and Munden ; and to that family belonged the courtly Placide, the polished and com- manding Sedley, the versatile and gentle Charles Fisher, and the hearty, robust, and human Mark Smith. Sothern, that prince of elegant caricature and soul of whimsical fun, was of the line of Foote, Tate Wilkin- son, Finn, and Mathews; while in many attributes John T. Raymond and George Fawcett Rowe were of the same lineage. James Lewis suggests the spontaneity of Weston, the versatile humour of Estcourt, and the finish of Blissett. Lester Wallack, the most picturesque figure of a famous race, was in the brilliant comedy group of Mountfort, Elliston, Lewis, and Charles Kem- ble ; while John S. Clarke is the heir, in comic eccen- tricity, of Woodward and John Emery. But Joseph Jefferson is unlike them all, — as distinct as Charles Lamb among essayists, or George Darlcy among lyrical poets. No actor of the past prefigured him, — unless, perhaps, it was John Bannister, — and no name, in the teeming annals of modern art, has shone with a more tranquil lustre, or can be more confidently committed to the esteem of posterity. VII RIP VAN WINKLE Every reader of Washington Irving knows the story of Rip Van Winkle's adventure on the Catskill Moun- tains, — that dehghtful, romantic idyl, in which char- acter, humour, and fancy are so delicately blended. Under the spell of Jefferson's acting the spectator was transported into the past, and made to see, as with bodily eyes, the orderly Dutch civilisation as it crept up the borders of the Hudson: the quaint vil- lages ; the stout Hollanders, with their pipes and schnapps ; the loves and troubles of an elder genera- tion. It is a calmer life than ours ; yet the same ele- ments compose it. Here is a mean and cruel schemer making a heedless man his victim, and thriving on the weakness that he well knows how to betray. Here is parental love, tried, as it often is, by sad cares ; and here the love of young and hopeful hearts, blooming amid flowers, sunshine, music, and happiness. Rip Van Winkle never seemed so lovable as in the form of this great actor, standing in poetic relief against the background of actual life. Jefferson has made him our familiar friend. We see that Rip is a dreamer, fond of his bottle and his ease, but — beneath all his rags and tatters, of character as well as raiment — essen- 204 LIFE OF JEFFERSON tially good. We understand why the children love him, why the dogs run after him with joy, and why the jolly boys at the tavern welcome his song and story and genial companionship. He has wasted his fortune and impoverished his wife and child, and we know that he is much to blame. He knows it too ; and his talk with the children shows how keenly he feels the consequence of a weakness which yet he is unable to discard. It is in those minute touches that Jefferson denoted his sym- pathetic study of human nature ; his intuitive percep- tion, looking quite through the hearts and thoughts of men. The observer saw this in the struggle of Rip's long-submerged but only dormant spirit of manliness, when his wife turns him from their home, in night and storm and abandoned degradation. Still more vividly was it shown in his pathetic bewilderment, — his touch- ing embodiment of the anguish of lonely age bowed down by sorrow and doubt, — when he comes back from his sleep of twenty years. His disclosure of himself to his daughter marked the climax of pathos, and every heart was melted by those imploring looks of mute sus- pense, those broken accents of love that almost fears an utterance. Perhaps the perfection of Jefferson's acting was seen in the weird interview with the ghosts. That situation is one of the best ever devised for the stage; and the actor devised it. Midnight, on the highest peak of the Catskill, dimly lighted by the moon. No one speaks but Rip. The ghosts cluster around him. The grim shade of Hudson proffers a cup of drink to the mortal intruder, already dazed by supernatural surround- ings. Rip, almost shuddering in the awful silence, pledges the ghosts in their liquor. Then, suddenly the KIF" VAN WINKLE From a pVlotop;rc-iph by S>Qronv. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 205 spell is broken ; the moon is lost in struggling clouds ; the spectres glide away and slowly vanish ; and Rip Van Winkle, with the drowsy, piteous murmur, " Don't leave me, boys," falls into his mystic sleep. The idle, dram-drinking Dutch spendthrift — so per- fectly reproduced, yet so exalted by ideal treatment — is not an heroic figure, and cannot be said to possess an exemplary significance, either in himself or his experi- ence. Yet his temperament has the fine fibre that everybody loves, and everybody, accordingly, has a good feeling for him, although nobody may have a good word for his way of life. All observers know that order of man. He is generally poor. He never did a bad action in all his life. He is continually cheering the weak and lowly. He always wears a smile, — the reflex of a gentle heart. Ambition does not trouble him. His wants are few. He has no care, except when, now and then, he feels that he may have wasted time and talent, or when the sorrow of others falls darkly on his heart. This, however, is rare ; for at most times he is " bright as light and clear as wind." Nature has established with him a kind of kindred that she allows with only a chosen few. In him Shakespeare's rosy ideal is suggested : — " Suppose Lhe singing birds musicians ; The grass whereon thou tread'st, the presence strew'd ; The flowers fair ladies ; and tli y steps, no more Than a deHghtful measure, or a dance." Nobody would dream of setting up Jefferson's Rip as a model, but everybody is glad that he exists. Most persons are so full of care and trouble, so weighed down with the sense of duty, so anxious to regulate the 206 LIFE OF JEFFERSON world, that contact with a nature which is careless of the stress and din of toil, dwells in an atmosphere of sunshine idleness, and is the embodiment of careless mirth, brings a positive relief. This is the feeling that Jefferson's acting inspired. The halo of genius was all around it. Sincerity, humour, pathos, imagination, — the glamour of wild flowers and woodland brooks, slumber- ous, slow-drifting summer-clouds, and soft music heard upon the waters, in star-lit nights of June, — those are the springs of the actor's art. There are a hundred beauties of method in it which satisfy the judgment and fascinate the sense of symmetry ; but underlying those beauties there is a magical sweetness of temperament, a delicate blending of emotion, gentleness, quaintness, and dream-like repose, which awakens the most affec- tionate sympathy. Art could not supply that subtle, potent charm. It is the divine fire. In his embodiment of Rip Van Winkle Jefferson delineates an individual character, through successive stages of growth, till the story of a life is completely told. If the student of acting would appreciate the fine- ness and force of the dramatic art that is displayed in the work, let him consider the complexity and depth of the effect, as contrasted with the simplicity of the means that are used to produce it. The sense of beauty is satisfied, because the object that it apprehends is beau- tiful. The heart is deeply and surely touched, for the simple and sufficient reason that the character and expe- rience revealed to it are lovely and pathetic. For Rip Van Winkle's goodness exists as an oak exists, and is not dependent on principle, precept, or purpose. How- ever he may drift, he cannot drift away from human LIFE OF JEFFERSON 207 affection. Weakness was never punished with more sorrowful misfortune than his. Dear to us for what he is, he becomes dearer still for what he suffers, and, in the acting of Jefferson, for the manner in which he suf- fers it. That manner, arising out of complete identifi- cation with the part, informed by intuitive and liberal knowledge of human nature, and guided by an unerring instinct of taste, is unfettered, graceful, free from ef- fort ; and it shows with delicate precision the gradual, natural changes of the character, as wrought by the pressure of experience. Its result is the winning em- bodiment of a rare type of human nature and mystical experience, embellished by the hues of romance and exalted by the atmosphere of poetry ; and no person of imagination and sensibility can see it without being charmed by its humour, thrilled by its spiritual beauty, and, beneath the spell of its humanity, made deeply conscious that life is worthless, however its ambition may be rewarded, unless it is hallowed by love. There will be, as there have been, many performers of Rip Van Winkle ; there is but one Jefferson. For him it was reserved to idealise the subject ; to elevate a prosaic type of good-natured indolence into an emblem of poetical freedom ; to construct and translate, in the world of fact, the Arcadian vagabond of the world of dreams. In the presence of his fascinating embodiment of that droll, gentle, drifting human creature, — to whom trees and brooks and flowers are familiar companions, to whom spirits appear, and for whom the mysterious voices of the lonely midnight forest have a meaning and a charm, — the observer feels that poetry is no longer restricted to canvas and marble, but walks forth 208 LIFE OF JEFFERSON crystallised in a human form, spangled with the diamond light of morning, mysterious with spiritual intimations, lovely with rustic freedom, and fragrant with the in- cense of the woods. Jefferson's acting is an education as well as a delight. It especially teaches the imperative importance, in dra- matic art, of a thorough and perfect plan, which yet, by freshness of spirit and spontaneity of execution, shall be made to seem free and careless. Jefferson's embodiment of Rip has been prominently before the public for thirty years, yet it is not hackneyed, and it does not grow tiresome. The secret of its vitality is its poetry. A thriftless, commonplace sot, as drawn by Washington Irving, becomes a poetic vagabond, as transfigured and embodied by the actor ; and the dig- nity of his artistic work is augmented rather than diminished from the fact that he plays in a drama throughout which the expedient of inebriety, as a motive of action, is exaggerated. Boucicault, working under explicit information as to Jefferson's views and wishes with reference to the part, certainly improved the old piece ; but, as certainly, the scheme to show the sunny sweetness and indolent temperament of Rip is clumsily planned, while the text is devoid of literary excellence and intellectual character, — attributes which, though not dramatic, are desirable. The actor is im- mensely superior to the play, and may indeed be said to make it. The obvious goodness of his heart, the deep sincerity of his moral purpose, the potential force of his sense of beauty, the supremacy in him of what Voltaire was the first to call the "faculty of taste," the incessant charm of his temperament, — those are the LIFE OF JEFFERSON 209 means, ruled and guided by clear vision and strong will, and made to animate an artistic figure possessing both symmetry and luxuriant wildness, that make the great- ness of Jefferson's embodiment of Rip. He has created a character that everybody will continue to love, not- withstanding weakness of nature and indolent conduct. Jefferson never had the purpose to extol improvidence or extenuate the wrong and misery of inebriety. The opportunity that he discerned and has brilliantly im- proved was that of showing a lovely nature, set free from the shackles of conventionality and circumscribed with picturesque, romantic surroundings, during a mo- mentous experience of spiritual life, and of the muta- bility of the world. The obvious defects in the structure are an undue emphasis upon the bottle, as poor Rip's failing, and an undue exaggeration of the virago quality in Gretchen. It would be easy, taking the prosy tone of the temperance lecturer, to look at Jefferson's design as a matter of fact and not of poetry, and, by dwelling on the impediments of his subject rather than the spirit of his art and the beauty of his execution, to set his beautiful and elevating achievement in a degraded and degrading light. But, fortunately, the heart has its logic as well as the head, and all observers are not with- out imagination. The heart and imagination of our age know what Jefferson means in Rip, and have ac- cepted him, therefore, into the sanctuary of affection. The world does not love Rip Van Winkle because of his faults, but in spite of them. Underneath his defects the human nature is sound and bright ; and it is out of this interior beauty that the charm of Jefferson's personation arises. The conduct of Rip Van Winkle is o 210 LIFE OF JEFFERSON the result of his character, not of his drams. At the sacrifice of comicality, here and there, the element of inebriety might be left out of his experience and he would still act in the same way, and possess the same fascination. The drink is only an expedient, to involve the hero in domestic strife and open the way for his ghostly adventure and his pathetic resuscitation. The machinery is clumsy ; but that does not invalidate either the beauty of the character or the supernatural thrill and mortal anguish of the experience. Those elements make the soul of this great work, which, while it capti- vates the heart, also enthralls the imagination, — lifting us above the storms of life, its sorrows, its losses, and its fret, till we rest at last on Nature's bosom, children once more, and once more happy. VIII ACRES In 1880 Jefferson complied with a desire, which had been generally felt and frequently expressed, that he should appear in some other part than Rip Van Winkle. He had not tired of that character any more than the public had tired of it ; but he felt the mental need of a change, and he recognised the claim of a new genera- tion of playgoers upon that versatility of art and those resources of faculty and humour which had given en- joyment to theatrical audiences of an earlier time, and laid the basis of his professional renown. He was not unwilling to correct a mistaken impression, current to some extent, that he was only a one-part actor. In former days, before he adopted Rip Van Winkle, Jeffer- son acted many parts ; and early in his career he was recognised, by the dramatic profession and by the more discerning part of the public, as an actor of much versa- tility. His personations of Asa Trenchard, Caleb Plum- mer. Dr. Pangloss, Dr. Ollapod, Salem Scudder, Mr. Golightly, Mr. Lullaby, Newman Noggs, Goldfinch, Bob Brierly, the burlesque Mazeppa, Dickory, and Tobias Shortcut delighted old playgoers, and by them were remembered only to be admired and extolled. But after his return from England, in 1866, he seldom 212 I.IKE OV JEFFERSON acted anything but Rip Van Winkle, so that the public conception of him as a general actor had grown dim, or altogether faded. In reviving T/ie Rivals, and appear- ing as Acres, he afforded refreshment to his mind ; he lessened the possibility of making Rip Van Winkle tedious ; he satisfied a craving for novelty on the part of his admirers ; he revived a just sense of the breadth of his scope as a comedian ; and, keeping pace with modern taste, he gave his public a new pleasure, a new picture in dramatic art, and a new subject for study and thought. The professional career of Jefferson has been marked, all along its course, by wisdom. He came to the capi- tal at the right time, and in the right way. He early applied to the old comedies the right, because the pure and poetic, method of treatment. He could look far ahead for the results of his labour and devotion, and he made fidelity to the highest ideal of art the first object of his life. He understood perfectly well the nature of the structure that he was rearing, and he never trusted anything to chance. It was he who caused the production of Our American Cousin, at Laura Keene's theatre, in New York, October i8, 1858, and so made one of the best dramatic successes of which there is a record. He had the foresight to select, while yet a young man, the character in which his powers were destined to find their amplest expression, — the character of Rip Van Winkle; and for that he conceived an ideal and devised a treatment so original, poetic, and lovely, so unlike and so superior to the man in Washington Irving's sketch and to the em- bodiment of previous actors, that lie may be said to LIFE OF JEFFERSON 213 have created the part. He left America and visited Australia at a favourable period for such an expedition, and with a practical view to subsequent success upon the London stage. He sagaciously resorted to Dion Boucicault, in London, when he deemed it essential that a new play should be built upon the basis of the old one, and he furnished to that practical dramatist a general outline of the piece, the drift of the central character, and the great situation in the second act of Rip Van Winkle as it now stands, — -a dramatic idea which of itself would suffice to prove him a man of genius. He returned home opportunely, after his ex- traordinary success in Great Britain ; and the fame and fortune he has since acquired, the affection with which his renown is cherished, and the joyous admira- tion with which his name is spoken throughout Amer- ica amply indicate that his conduct of the artist-life, since then, has been no less prudent and right than kindly, modest, gentle, and sincere. It is not caprice which shapes such a career as that of Jefferson, nor is it accident that has crowned it with the laurels of honour. The sagacity of the comedian was shown in the choice he made of a piece and a character to contrast with Rip Van Winkle. Of all the old comedies. The Rivals is obviously the best that this actor could have selected, with a view of making his particular part in the per- formance the apex of the entertainment. The piece is one that has not become antiquated. Its picture of life and manners is as modern and as vital as it is clear, richly coloured, humorous, and brilliant. The spirit of it, moreover, is human, kindly, and pure. There is no 214 LIKE OF JEFI-ERSON • taint of indelicacy in the plot, — no blur of licentious- ness, such as smirches the mirror of its great companion- piece. The School for Scandal, — and in the style there is but little of that elaborate, brittle wit which some- times seems to impart to Sheridan's writings a tire- some glitter of artifice. The play is genial, sprightly, and droll ; it has interest of story, alert movement, and substantial and well-contrasted characters ; and its theme, incidents, and atmosphere are suited to Jeffer- son's simple artistic method. He obtained in his choice of it a means of expression by which he could seize and hold the sympathy of the spectator, all the while that he was scattering over him the flowers of mirth, and waking in his heart the echoes of happy laughter. It would be hard to find another comedy equally sparkling with life, delightful in colour, and merry and gentle in influence, in which a single, and that a comic, character, — one of a group, yet drawn and kept in harmony with its surroundings, — could thus be made tributary to the idiosyncrasies of an actor, and thus elevated into shining prominence, without injury to its form or to the symmetry of the play. After seeing TJie Rivals, as Jefferson presented it, the spectator felt a great kindness for the old piece, and had the conviction that, in Jefferson's performance of Acres, he had seen a slight character made fascinating by drollery of spirit, sincerity of feeling, and grace of expression.^ 1 The several parts were dressed in a correct and sumptuous manner, though with sonic intentional inaccuracy as to powdered hair. The repre- sentation was marked by clearness of outline, brilliancy of colour, and iiarmony of effect. The characters in The A'iva/s, when Jefferson first LIFE OF JEFFERSON 215 When The Rivals was first produced (1775), it had to be cut, in a ruthless manner, before it could be made to succeed.^ The author, then but twenty-three years old, produced his adaptation of it, September 15, 1880, at the Arch Street theatre, Philadelphia, were cast as follows : — Acres Mr. Jefferson. Sir Anthony Absolute Frederick Robinson. Captain Absolute Maurice Barrymore. Sir Lucius O'Trigger Charles Waverley.* Falkland Henry F. Taylor. Fag Thomas Jefferson. David James Galloway. Mrs. Malaprop Mrs. John Drew. Lydia Languish Rosa Rand. Lucy Adine Stephens. Jefferson produced The Rivals and personated Acres, at the Union Square theatre, New York, on September 12, 1881. That was his first presentation of the subject in New York, subsequent to the Philadelphia revival. The cast of characters then was : — Acres Mr. Jefferson. Sir Anthony Absolute Frederick Robinson. Captain Absolute Mark Pendleton. Sir Lucius O'Trigger Charles Waverley. Falkland ... Henry F. Taylor. Fag Thomas Jefferson. David James Galloway. Mrs. Malaprop Mrs. John Drew. Lydia Languish Rose Wood. Lucy Eugenia Paul. ^ The partial failure of The Rivals, when first acted, was due in part to its inordinate length, and in part to its incompatibility with the taste then prevalent, which preferred sentimental inlays, harmonious with the manners of the time. Falkland and Julia were approveil, but Mrs. Malaprop, being a humorous caricature, was condemned. An interesting reference to this subject is made by Bernard (^Retrospections^ Vol. I., p. 86), who saw * Charles Waverley was a conscientious actor and notable for refinement. His per- ception of character was keen, and in parts of a demure or playful order he could be very agreeably droll. He was a man of steadfast principles and amiable disposition, and was modest and sympathetic. He died, in London, in August, 1883. 216 LIKE OF JEFFERSON had written it with exuberant spirits, and it contained substance enough for several plays rather than one. Jefferson did not hesitate to cut it still further, and slightly to change its sequence of action, and here and there, in the character of Acres, to deepen traits that the author has only outlined, to add new business, — always, however, in harmony with the original conception, — and to give, by occasional new lines, an added emphasis and prolongation to the humorous strokes of Sheridan. Those parts of plays which are not essential may well be spared, unless they can be done perfectly well. The last of the four great soliloquies of Hamlet is invariably omitted ; and no one of Shakespeare's plays is ever acted exactly as it stands, because there are lines that cannot be spoken, and because the necessity of certain other lines is obviated by the resources of modern stage scenery. The author of TJie Rivals would, probably, have been the first to favour any change that might improve its effect, — for, as stated by Moore, on the authority of Lady Cork, he " always said that The Rivals was one of the worst plays in the language, and he would give anything if he had not written it." Jefferson gave the comedy in three acts, — the first curtain falling upon the exit of Sir Anthony Absolute, after his choleric scene with his son ; the second upon the exit of Acres, at the words, "Tell him I kill a man a week"; and the third upon the close of the piece, with a tag that the actor added. The character of Julia was omitted and that of Falk- the performance, and who declares that the ascription of the partial failure to the inefficient acting of Lee, as Sir Lucius O'Trigger, was unjust and ungenerous. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 217 land considerably reduced. Those parts are only- pleasant when acted by players of the first class, such as can no longer be led to undertake them, (Mrs. Siddons once played Sheridan's Julia, but a walking lady would hardly accept it now.) The loose lines, as well as what Moore called the "false finery and second-rate ornament," were shorn away. Two of the scenes of Acres were blended into one, so that the vain and timorous squire's truculence, when writing the challenge, might be made the more comical by imme- diate contrast with his dismay and gradually growing cowardice, as he begins to realise its possible conse- quences. In other respects there was no change. Jefferson's felicity in light parts, whether of comedy, burlesque, or farce, resides in his application to them of an intense earnestness of spirit and a poetic treatment,^ — by which is meant a treatment that interprets, illus- trates, and elevates the character. In that way he embodied Acres. The first of the three scenes in which he appeared was that of the call which is made by Acres at the lodging of Captain Absolute, where he meets Falkland; the second, that of his reception of Sir Lucius O'Trigger, at his own chambers, when he writes the challenge to the mythical Beverley, is frightened by the ^ In 1871, on the occasion of the Holland Benefit, in New York, Jeffer- son charmed a great audience with his representation of Mr. Golightly; and that exquisite work he gave later (1877), in London, on the occasion of a benefit to the impoverished and dying veteran, Henry Compton, when his success was such that John S. Clarke immediately proposed to him a season of farce at the Haymarket, — a season devoted to Mr. llulightly and Hugh de Brass, — in which, while the treasury neither gained nor lost, fastidious critics of the British capital enjoyed a kind of acting which they conceded to be kindred with the best upon the light comedy stage of Paris. 21S LIFE OF JEFFERSON terror of his bumpkin servant, David, and, at last, with rueful reluctance, entrusts the warlike missive to Cap- tain Absolute; and the third, that of the frustrated meeting in King's Mead meadows, when, in the extrem- ity of fear, his " valour oozes out at the tips of his fingers," and the snarl that young Absolute has woven is happily disentangled. The variety that he evoked from those scenes was little less than wonderful. At first it seemed as if he had overladen the character with meaning and lifted it too far. But, when the work was studied, it was seen that the actor had only taken the justifiable and admirable license of deepening the lines and tints of the author, and of endearing the character by infusing into it an amiable and lovable personality. That this was not clearly intended by Sheridan would not invalidate its propriety. The part admits of it, and is better for it ; and this certainly would have been intended had it been thought of, — for it makes the play doubly interesting and potential. That Acres becomes a striking figure in the group, and a vigorous motive in the action, is only because he is thus vitalised. If the other parts were animated by an equal genius in the performance of them, it would be seen that he has no undue prominence. Jefferson considered that a country squire need not necessarily reek of the ale-house and the stables ; that Acres is neither the noisy and coarse Tony Lumpkin nor the "horsey" Goldfinch; that he is not less kindly because vain and vapid ; that he has tender ties of home, and a background of innocent, domestic life ; that his head is completely turned by contact with town fashions ; that there may be a kind of artlessness JEFKKK'^SOiNl A.1SID FLORENCE IN THE RIVALS Erori^ li ptiotograph t)y FalVc. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 219 in his ridiculous assumption of rakish airs ; that there is something a little pitiable in his bombast ; that he is a good fellow, at heart ; and that his sufferings in the predicament of the duel are genuine, intense, and quite as doleful as they are comic. All this ap- peared in the personation. You were impressed at once by the winning appearance and temperament, and Acres got your friendship, and was a welcome presence, laugh at him though you might. Jefferson introduced a comic blunder with which to take him out of the first scene with Absolute, and also some characteristic comic business for him, before a mirror, when Sir Lucius, coming upon him unawares, finds him practis- ing bows and studying deportment. He did not seem contemptible in those situations ; he only seemed ab- surdly comical. He communicated to every spectator his joy in the success of his curl-papers ; and no one, even amidst uncontrollable laughter, thought of his pen- ning of his challenge as otherwise than a proceeding of serious import. He was made a winning human being, with an experience of action and suffering ; and sympa- thy with him, on his battle-field, would have been really painful but that the spectators were in the secret. The spirit of Jefferson's impersonation was humanity and sweet good nature, while the traits that he especially emphasised were ludicrous vanity and comic trepida- tion. He left no moment unfilled with action, when he was on the scene, and all his by-play was made tribu- tary to the expression of those traits. One of his deft touches was the trifling with Captain Absolute's gold-laced hat, and — obviously to the eye — consider- ing whether it would be suitable to himself. Nothing 220 LIFE OF JEFFERSON could be more humorous than the mixture of assurance, uneasy levity, and dubious apprehension, at the mo- ment when the challenge has at last and irrevocably found its way into Captain Absolute's pocket. The rueful face, then, was a study for a painter, and only a portrait could do it justice. The mirth of the duel scene it is impossible to convey. It must be supreme art indeed which can arouse, at the same instant, as this did, an almost tender solicitude and inextinguishable lauo:hter. The little introductions of a word or two here and there in the text, made at this point by the come- dian, were very happy. To make Acres say that he does not care " how little the risk is" was an inspiration ; and his sudden and joyous greeting, " How are you, Falkland.-*" — with the relief that it implies, and the momentary return of the airy swagger, — was a stroke of genius. The test to which, in his success, a comedian proves equal was suggested, in all its clear and cold severity, by that extraordinary work. No tragic actor is ever so rigidly judged ; or, in the nature of the case, ever can be. It may be as difficult to act well in tragedy as in comedy ; but it is always easier to produce successful effect by tragedy than by comedy ; and tragedy can often be made to disguise imperfect acting. The spectator of a tragedy soon becomes excited, sympa- thetic, and responsive, under the stress of the tragic subject itself, and out of his own imagination and feeling he will often supply the charm, and perfect the illusion, which it may happen that the tragedian can neither exert nor create. The comedian, on the contrary, derives no such aid from his subject or from i LIFE OF JEFFERSON 221 his audience. The spectator of a comedy is placid : he does not laugh until something laughable occurs, and he casts no glamour of emotion or fancy around the artist before him. The expedient known as "mugging" may, indeed, beguile a vulgar taste into the mood of laughter; but with "the judicious" it never will supply the humour that is essential in comedy, nor obtain acceptance as a substitute for art in acting. Further- more, the composition of a piece of comedy-acting is a mosaic, — made of many details, tints, and tones, — whereas an embodiment in tragedy may be achieved with large, imposing strokes, and masses of colour. Never was a truer word spoken than that of Garrick, when he said that comedy is serious business. It may not be so noble to act Don Felix as to act Hamlet ; but, in art, it is more difficult to make a great effect with the former than with the latter. Jefferson ex- pended rare intellectual force and exuberant humour upon the fabric of Acres, and in that respect, while giving much pleasure, taught a valuable lesson. Mrs. Drew treated in the same earnest spirit the character of Mrs. Malaprop. The dressing was appro- priately rich, and in suitable taste ; the manner de- corous and stately ; the personality formidable ; the deportment elaborate and pretentious, as it should be ; the delivery of the text exquisite in its accuracy and finish, and in its unconscious grace, — the word being always matched by the right mood, and not a single blunder, in what that eccentric character calls her "orthodoxy," made in any spirit but that of fervent con- viction. Merely to hear her say, " He has enveloped the plot to me, and he will give you the perpendiculars," 222 LIFE OF JEFFERSON was to apprehend the character in a single sentence. Her illustrative stage business with the letter, — giv- ing to Absolute, by mistake, one of the love-letters of O'Trigger, instead of the intercepted epistle of Bever- ley, and then hastily reclaiming it, — was done with a bridling simper and an antique blush that were irre- sistible. The pervasive excellence of the work was intense sincerity, and that redeemed the extravagance of the character and the farcical quality of its text. For the first time it seemed as if Mrs. Malaprop might exist. The part was finely acted, in earlier days, by Mrs. Vernon ; but Mrs. Drew made it rational. Frederick Robinson, as Sir Anthony Absolute, was admirable for choler, captivating warmth of humour, and clever management of the dubious, pausing moments of suspicion, in Captain Absolute's hoodwinking scene with his father. Thomas Jefferson was a gay and effective figure, as Fag, and he made his satirical exit with skill and effect, worthy of a comedian. Jefferson's pre- sentment of The Rivals showed what thoroughness and sincerity can accomplish in the ministry of art. Never to slight anything, but to go to the depth and height of the subject, and bring out all its meaning and all its beauty, — that was the suggested moral of his splendid success with one of the everyday plays of the theatre. The wild flower that grows by the wayside, if you but nurture it aright, will reward your care a hundredfold in loveliness and bloom. IX CALEB PLUMMER AND MR. GOLIGHTLY In the characters of Caleb Plummer and Mr. Golightly Jefferson touched, in his true and delicate manner, the springs of tears and laughter. There are, indeed, re- sources in the comedian's nature upon which neither of them makes any demand. His deep sympathy with whatever is weird, romantic, and picturesque remained unaffected by those characters. His sense of spiritual sublimity was not awakened. His imagination rested. Yet it would be difficult to select two parts more com- modious or more apt for the exhibition of his humanity and his humour. In Caleb Plummer, an infirm old man, oppressed with poverty but sustained by inherent patience and good- ness, the attribute to be exemplified is the possible unselfishness of human nature, under serio-comic condi- tions. In Mr. Golightly, — which the comedian made a gem of comedy in a setting of farce, — the spirit is that of joyous animal mirthfulncss shining through comic perplexity. Jefferson's acting has always been remark- able for tenderness of heart, which no man can convey who does not possess it, and for the spontaneous droll- ery, the condition of being an amusing person, which comes by nature, and which cannot be taught. His 223 224 LIFE OF JEFFERSON investiture with the individuahty of that character was "a property of easiness." He has often attained to a loftier height than is reached in those works. His crowning excellence as a comedian is, that he can sus- tain himself in the realm of the ideal, — that he does not stop at being a photographic copyist of the eccen- tric, the rustic, the ludicrous, and the grotesque in human life. His scene with the ghosts, in Rip Van Winkle, his night-talk in the empty schoolhouse of TJic Parish Clerk, his letter-scene with Mary Meredith, in Our American Cousin, each, in a different way, exempli- fied the power of the actor, when feeding the heart from the fountain of the imagination, to sublimate human feeling and to create and personify a splendid ideal. The level upon which, however, he more habitu- ally treads is that of humanity, in its laughable, mournful admixture of weakness, suffering, patience, amiability, despondency, hope, and endeavour. Simple, tender, pensive, bright, and droll, the comedian assumes with perfect readiness the guise of a nature kindred with his own. And, after all, nothing is more clearly proved, by all that is known of actors, than the truth that an actor makes his most substantial success in a character that implicates his essential individuality. He may display mechanical versatility in a hundred types, but into that type he will pour the golden life-blood of his heart. Jefferson's achievements, which are those of the imagi- nation, have not, perhaps, been appreciated as such, except by a few persons. His Rip Van Winkle, to most observers, is a young man merrily tipsy and an old man wretchedly desolate ; and it makes them laugh and cry, — and there is an end of the matter. They do LIFE OF JEFFERSON 225 not consider that Rip, when confronting the beings of another world, — the spectres that encircle him on the lonely mountain top and in the depth and mystery of the night, — is in a position analogous to that which in Hmnlct is awful beyond expression. They are aware, indeed, that the illusion is sustained ; but they take no thought of the profound, exalted, tremulous, poetic sen- sibility which sustains it. Jefferson's achievements of the heart are much more obvious, and those and his humour have always been understood. In that way, doubtless, his memory will live, in the years to come. Many of his admirers have long regarded his Caleb Plummer as the best of his embodiments. The right method of estimating the full stature of an actor is to deduce it, not from one of his works, but from all of them. The performance of Caleb Plummer was a touching exemplification of dramatic art applied to the expression of simple tenderness ; but it revealed only one phase of the actor's strength. Caleb Plummer is a more pathetic person to think about than to see. You cannot read his story without tears. But the moment the actor makes him visible he runs the risk of ab- surdity or of tediousness in the result ; for he must make the personality amusing, and he must make the self-sacrifice beautiful. The audience must be made to laugh at him, — and to love him while they laugh. Jeffer- son's sincerity was not more obvious than his consum- mate skill. He lived in the character. He never lapsed out of the feeling of it. He kept, with nature's precis- ion, the woful face and the forlorn, blighted figure, — a being sequent on years of penury. He sustained, in a vein of irresistible pathos, the artificial, jocular man- p 226 LIFE OF JEFFERSON ner. It was easy to see that the whole of that nature and experience was developed by him from within, — that in the infirmity and the grief of the heroic old man it was the heart that trembled, and not merely the fin- gers. And yet, behind the spontaneousness of identi- fication, the actor must have kept his mind and nerves in repose and control. There was not a false tone, a wrong- gesture, an excess, or any flaw of form in the work, and it held its audience in eager suspense. A tragedian may sometimes reach that effect with his subject; a comedian never reaches it except with his soul. Jefferson gave a neat theatrical version of TJie Cricket on the Heart/i, in three acts, using the text of Dickens, and braiding deftly together the affairs of Dot and John Perrybingle, Caleb Plummer and blind Bertha, the returned sailor-boy, old gruff Tackleton and Tilly Slowboy. In the second act occurs the pious decep- tion of Bertha, and the old man makes merry, with his quavering song, — an effect produced with sweet and touching quaintness by Jefferson. In the third act the righteous deceit of Caleb is confessed, with a pathos certainly equal to that of the recognition scene of Rip Van Winkle, long peerless among scenes of domestic tenderness upon the stage. The farce of Lend Me Five Shillings is notable for unflagging vivacity of incident and language. Jefferson as Golightly presented a good fellow, of vivacious man- ners, beset with little troubles, through which he makes his way with mirtli and grace, alternating with a most comical denotement of serio-comic perplexity. CAIvEB F'LUN^IvIEK. X DR. PANGLOSS AND THE HEIR AT LAW One of the peculiarities of Jefferson as a comedian is that he thinks in an original way and strikes out for himself new pathways and new methods. The char- acter of Rip Van Winkle had been presented by several good actors before he assumed it, but it never became a representative character — comprehensive of many con- trasted elements of human nature and human experi- ence — until it was refashioned and newly embodied by him ; and the reason of his surpassing success with it is that he treated it in a poetical and not in a literal manner. The character of Acres, in The Rivals, had always been treated as a low-comedy character, until Jefferson, in his memorable revival of that comedy at the Arch Street theatre, Philadelphia, in 1880, embodied it in such a way as to make it rueful, sweet, and sympa- thetic to the feelings, as well as quaint, ludicrous, and effective to the sense of comic humour. Censors of the acted drama said, indeed, that he took an unjustifiable liberty with the old piece : William Warren, the veteran comedian, playfully remarked that he was giving T/ic Rivals " with Sheridan thirty miles away " : yet it was found that the character of Acres would bear that con- struction, and that the practical result was a more effec- 227 228 LIFE OF JEFFERSON tive performance of the part than had before been seen, — because for the first time the auditor was made to sympathise with Acres in his serious perplexity and well-grounded apprehension, as well as to laugh at his ridiculous bravado and comic cowardice. Here, then, was an independent intellect operating in an original manner, refreshing an old and almost worn-out stage figure, and commending it to the practical appreciation of the living age. Lester Wallack, re-enforced with the great prestige of his father's name, and potential with his own brilliant ability and reputation and his capital stock company, could, toward the last of his career, accomplish nothing with the old comedies ; and, seeing himself gradually deserted by the public, he withdrew from the field. Jefferson has kept The Rivals steadily in his working repertory, and everywhere has had prac- tical success in the presentation of it. The new time cares not for the conventional methods of the old. Whoever would succeed with an old stock comedy must suffuse it with the alert, nimble, sparkling spirit of the life of to-day, must brush away from it the moss and lichen of the past, and so must make it appreciable by the mood if not actually applicable to the experience of the passing hour. That is what Jefferson has done for TJie Rivals, and for Colman's still more recondite comedy of The Heir at Law. Old playgoers, familiar with this comedy, know how far removed it is from the knowledge and from the prob- able liking of the present day. Its ground-plan, indeed, would always be effective, — a plan that had frequently been used before Colman used it, and has repeatedly been used since. That plan comprehends the investi- LIFE OF JEFFERSON 229 ture of a low character with the state and embellish- ments of high social life, and the deduction therefrom of incongruities that are comical. Shakespeare employed that device in Christopher Sly. Burton's performance of the Parvenu was a modern example of it. But that well-approved expedient of humour was not handled by Colman with exceptional brilliancy, and, aside from its felicitous equivoke, the piece is not one of robust merit. Sentimental comedy had not entirely gone out of fashion in England when this play was written, and Colman — harsh satirist though he was, and of the rough school of Peter Pindar — deemed it still essential to temper his satire with a little of the current popular sentiment. The impoverished young lady who is an orphan, and who is attended in her poverty by one faithful old ser- vant, finds, accordingly, a place in the piece, and is at once the occasion and the vehicle of amiable platitudes. Nor is her devoted lover omitted from the scene, — the rightful heir to the estate and title that have fallen to the old tallow-chandler, who will be permitted to enjoy them, in the company of his absurd wife and his cox- combical son, for only a few ridiculous days. Caroline Dormer and the Irish Kendricks and Henry Moreland and Mr. Steadfast are wooden persons that long had served the English stage before Colman again enlisted them. But the humour of TJic Heir at Laiv is genuine, and it far exceeds the conventional sentiment, while the situations are neatly made, and frequently are droll, and the drawing of the characters is equally true and bold. This much might always have been said of it ; and, in- deed, average modern critical ojiinion, reverential of time, commonly refers with particular respect to this 230 LIFE OF JEFFERSON piece and to many of its kindred, althou,L;h the custom of going to see them would lapse altogether, if it were not for the occasional rejuvenating influence that is exercised upon them by living genius. TJic Heir at Law was first acted on July 15, 1797, at the Haymarket theatre, London, and there is a certain significance in the fact that it still lingers upon the stage when now almost a hundred years have passed away. The original cast is a strong one, and the performance must have been excellent. Dr. Pangloss was played by Fawcett ; Daniel Dowlas, alias Lord Duberly, by Suett ; Dick Dowlas, by Palmer ; Zekiel Homespun, by Mun- den ; Henry Moreland, by Charles Kemble ; Steadfast, by J. Aikin ; Kenrick, by Johnstone ; Cicely Home- spun, by Mrs. Gibbs ; Deborah Dowlas, alias Lady Duberly, by Mrs. Davenport ; and Caroline Dormer, by Miss De Camp. Almost every name in that cast is a famous one. On its first production the piece was acted twenty-eight times, and on December 12, the same year, it was revived at Covent Garden, with Quick as Daniel Dowlas, Knight as Dick, and Munden, Fawcett, John- stone, Mrs. Gibbs, and Mrs. Davenport in their original characters. After that it seems to have been neglected ; but it came again on May 2, 1808, at Drury Lane, and the chief features of the cast were once more remark- able. Dr. Pangloss was acted by Bannister ; Dowlas, by the elder Mathews ; Dick, by Russell ; Zekiel, by De Camp ; Cicely, by the fascinating Dora Jordan ; old Deborah, by Mrs. Sparks ; and Caroline Dormer, by Mrs. H. Siddons. On P^ebruary 6, 1823, the piece was done at Drury Lane, with Harley as Dr. Pangloss, Lis- ten as Dowlas, S. Penley as Dick Dowlas, Knight as LIFE OF JEFFERSON 231 Zekiel, and Mrs. H. Hughes as Cicely. The Heir at Law was introduced upon the American stage at the old Park theatre, New York, on April 24, 1799, and it has remained a fixture, although not often produced with a great cast. Dunlap opened the season of 1799- 1800 with it, November 18, 1799, at the Park, on which occasion Zekiel Homespun was acted by the present Joseph Jefferson's grandfather, Dr. Pangloss was as- sumed by the brilliant John Hodgkinson, and Cicely by his wife, while old Dowlas was taken by the elder Hal- lam, and Henry Moreland by the younger. That excel- lent annalist, Ireland, has preserved a notable cast with which the comedy was performed at the Richmond Hill theatre, New York, on July 6, 1832 : Dr. Pangloss, Hilson ; old Dowlas, John Barnes ; Zekiel, Thomas Placide ; Dick Dowlas, Clarke ; Kenrick, Greene ; Deborah, Mrs. Walstein ; Caroline, Miss Smith ; Cicely, Mrs. Hilson. In later times. Burton, John Brougham, John E. Owens, William Warren and John S. Clarke have gained particular distinction as Dr. Pangloss. Jefferson acted Dr. Pangloss for the first time in New York on August 31, 1857, at Laura Keene's theatre, making a decisive hit. Jefferson has applied to Dr. Pangloss the same subtle method of interpretation that he applied to Acres.^ The part was obviously intended as a harsh and bitter satire upon a class of unworthy persons numerous in Colman's time, — impostcrs in religion and morality, and more pretentious than sound in scholarship, — who, as parsons or as tutors, were willing, for a consideration, ^ For further consideration of Jefferson as Dr. Paiij^loss, see my Shadows of the Stage, Vol. I, 232 LIFE OF JEFFERSON to become the companions of wealthy vice. Dr. Pan- gloss possesses a smattering of learning, a little Latin, less Greek, a shrewd perception of character, and abun- dant knowledge of the fashionable world. He is not, however, burdened with moral principle or refinement of character. He will serve Lord Duberly for one salary and Lady Duberly for another, and the Hon. Mr. Dowlas for a third, knowing all the while that they are at cross-purposes, and meaning to be true to neither, but absolutely and entirely to serve his own interest. The quality that chiefly stamps him in the printed page is waggish alacrity. On the stage he has usually been depicted as a fantastical comicality, ludicrous but unreal. It was enough if he got the response of laughter. Jef- ferson, making him exceedingly comical, made him also human, natural, probable, real, and even established him in a kindly regard. You not only laughed at Dr. Pan- gloss, you liked him. He did not impress you as a rogue. He was never mischiev^ous, never unamiable. He was a scholar who has had hard times ; he meant to do well by all those absurd people who employed him ; and his light heart, gay disposition, and jocular humour seemed to endear him to all the characters with whom he came into contact, and they endeared him to his audience. XI SOME OF JEFFERSON'S CONTEMPORARIES A COMPREHENSIVE view of Jefferson's period should include certain parallel careers with which his own has been associated. One of the most important of them was that of Sothern, whose eminence as Lord Dundreary was at one time very high, and whose name assuredly will live in the history of the stage. Edward Askew Sothern was born at No. i Parliament street, Liverpool, England, April i, 1826. His father was a rich colliery proprietor and ship-owner. The family consisted of nine children. Edward was the seventh, and the only member of the family that adopted the stage. His parents had died before he made choice of that profession. He was educated under the charge of a private tutor, the Rev. Dr. Redhead, rector of a church in Cheshire. Reverses of fortune which befell his father, and then the death of his parents, broke up the family and dissipated his prospects, and this led to his adoption of the stage. He was then, in 1854, a medical student in London ; but he was conscious of a strong predilection for the drama, and presently he con- sorted with amateurs who paid for the privilege of play- ing at the King's Cross theatre, and so he embarked on his career. His first regular engagement was at a theatre in Guernsey, and the first salary he ever received 233 234 LIFE OF JEFFERSON was fifteen shillings a week. The characters in which he there began his career were the Ghost, Laertes, and the Second Actor in Hamlet. To facilitate his proceed- ings in those three parts, which, of course, required change of dress, he wrote three slips, for identification, and pinned one on each wig. A sportive individual changed them, and the consequent mixing up of Laertes with the scenes allotted to the Ghost produced a re- markable effect, and the young actor was thereupon discharged for incapacity. He then visited the theatres of Plymouth, Weymouth, Wolverhampton, and Birming- ham, and finally emigrated to America. In 1862 he appeared at the National theatre, Hay- market Square, Boston, as Dr. Pangloss in TIic Heir at Lazv, and met with a failure. His stage name then was Douglas Stuart, and this he continued to use till, in 1856, by the advice of the veteran J. W. Wallack, he discarded it and took his own. The first performance that he gave under his own name was in the character of Wilson Mayne, in Lester Wallack's comedy of First Inipressiojis, produced at Wallack's theatre, September 17, 1856. From Boston he removed — after his failure, which he had the sense to recognise and accept — to Barnum's Museum, in New York, 1853, where he took a utility engagement to play all sorts of parts and to appear twice every day. That was a rough school, but a good one, and he rapidly improved under the discipline of industry. Those were the times to which Artemus Ward referred, when he commended the actors as " a hard-working class of people " — visible every morning, "with their tin dinner-cans in their hands," on the way to the scene of their toil. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 235 While at Barnum's Museum, Sothern made so good an impression that he attracted the notice of E. A. Mar- shall of the Broadway theatre, who presently engaged him to play light comedy and juvenile business at Washington. After a few months in the capital, he joined Laura Keene, at the Charles Street theatre, Bal- timore, and thence he went to Wallack's, in New York, then in Broadway, near the corner of Broome street. His first appearance there was made as Lord Charles Roebuck, in Old Heads mid Young Hearts, September 9, 1854, and there he remained four years, acting various parts, — walking gentlemen, heavies, and broad low comedy. In December, 1857, he was selected for Ar- mand Duval, to the Camille of Matilda Heron, and from that time he steadily moved upward in professional rank. In the next year he joined Laura Keene's theatre, — afterwards the Olympic, destroyed August 10, 1880, — acting juvenile and comedy business. When Our American- Cousin was brought out there, October 18, 1858, Laura Keene asked Sothern to try and do some- thing with a "fourth-class dyed-up old man," who had about seventeen lines to speak. The actor assented, on condition that he might be permitted to try an experi- ment. That was the beginning of his success in Lord Dundreary. " I do and say nothing in Dundreary," Sothern once wrote, "that I have not known to be, in some form or another, done and said in society since I was five years old."^ 1 The subjoined statement was made by Sothern, in one of the news- papers, with reference to his design and method in his acting: — " In Dundreary I desired to illustrate the drawling, imbecile dandy. That required the rewriting and large extension of a part originally of but a few lines. I have tried to make the type of character ridiculous, and to minister to innocent amusement in so I 236 LIFE OF JEFFERSON In 1861 he went to the Haymarket theatre, London, appearing November 1 1 as Lord Dundreary, and from that time onward his career was one of almost unvary- ing prosperity. In July, 1867, he acted in Paris, but was not much commended there. He became a favourite at the London Haymarket, where he fulfilled many en- gagements, and at one time he was associated with its management. He there brought out Aunt's Advice, adapted by himself from the French; and he there ap- peared as David Garrick, 1864; Frank Jocelyn, in The VVomaji ill Mauve, 1865; Hon. Sam Slingsby ; Marquis Victor de Tourville, in A Hero of Romance ; Colonel John White, in Home ; Hugh de Brass ; Charles Chuckles, in An English Gentleman ; Sidney Spoonbill, in A Hor- nefs Nest, and Fitzaltamont, in The Crushed Tragedian. Those, together with Frank Annerly, in TJie Favourite of Fortune, Mulcraft, Chuckfield, and Laylot, in Barwise' s doing; but more has happened than I at first expected. I have found the character a vehicle for many hits, conceits, and odd jumbles and devices, and I have had to vary the lines repeatedly, preserving only the characteristics and the central purpose. That pur- pose is intellectual, and only incidentally comical. Every speech in Dundreary is a hit at himself or at social follies. The secret of wit, which is surprise, is cultivated in the putting of things, and the purpose of satire is served by the effect of the scheme, events, and lines on the audience. There is a large superficial but sympathetic class who are mainly interested in the story; for them I bring the character to success and happiness both through and in spite of his seeming blunders. But I have them very little in mind in acting. I think of the most intellectual persons I can presume to be present and play to them. They see the inner purpose. The general effect lifts the rest. " The purpose I have in The Crushed Tragedian is to portray and extinguish the much too serious and eminently ridiculous heavy striders and posers of the stage. It is not a caricature. In some parts of the English provinces, as we call the regions out of London, and in parts of America remote from great cities, the play has been taken as a serious one. They have thought The Crushed was like many actors they were used to seeing, though perhaps a very bad case himself; but they have paid me the compliment of taking me to be as poor and misplaced a person in my profession as the one I was try- ing to portray. My make-up in that play had no reference to George Jones, The Count Joannes. I acted the part over lOO nights before I ever saw him. I never modified my manner or make-up after I saw him, and never thought of him before I saw him. The resemblance was in the type. He and not I was responsible for that." LIFE OF JEFFERSON 237 Book and TJie Burranipooter, Harry Vivian, in A Lesson for Life, and Robert Devlin, in A Wild Goose, were his characters. But his chief works were Lord Dundreary and David Garrick. These called into play his wonder- ful skill in caricature and his slender powers in senti- ment, together with his genuine earnestness and fine artistic method. After passing about ten years in England, Sothern returned to America in 1871. His farewell benefit at the Haymarket occurred on October 5, that year, and on October 23 he came forward as Dundreary, at Niblo's. In the fall of 1872 he played a long engage- ment at Wallack's theatre, — November 11, 1872, to May, 1873, a period of twenty-nine weeks. His first appearance in America as David Garrick was made on February 10, 1873. The following summer he visited California, returning to Wallack's in the autumn. On August 15, 1874, he sailed for England, but he was again in New York two years later, and filled a fine engagement at the Fifth Avenue. In the autumn of 1877 he took an active part in organising and conduct- ing benefits for his much-loved friend and comrade Edwin Adams, —himself giving performances in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, — and no one who was associated with him in that enterprise (as I was) will forget the persistent energy, patient kindness, and whole- hearted, unselfish zeal with which he laboured for his dying comrade, or the honest pride and joy that he felt in the success of the project. The performance in New York occurred on October 12, at the Academy, when Sothern appeared as Othello, with W. J. Florence as lago, Mrs. John Drew as Emilia, and Miss Lotta as 238 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Desdemona, in the third act of the tragedy, and, con- trary to the public expectation, gave a performance of the Moor which was just in design and good in method. Mrs. Adams received $9381. In the same year he was seen in a round of parts at the Park theatre ; and at later as well as earlier times he made prosperous starring tours of the United States and Canada. During the summer of 1879 ^^^ passed several weeks on the Resti- gouche River, near Quebec, in company with the Duke of Beaufort, Sir John Rae Reid, W. J. Florence, Col. E. A. Buck, and other friends. The Duke is the sole survivor (1894) of that merry company. Sothern's last engagements in New York were filled at the Park theatre and the Grand Opera House, in September and December, 1879, and his last appearance was made on December 27, 1879, '^^ ^^^ latter house. The acting of Sothern formed a subject of attractive and singular study. He was a thorough artist in every word and action. He laboured over his characters with a microscope. He was perpetually studying, — perpet- ually on the watch for peculiarities of character and of its expression, whether in himself or others. He was a master of the realm of whim, — as true and fine, within his especial field of dramatic art, as even Laurence Sterne in the wider field of creative literature. He committed to memory all the parts in every play that he acted, and he laboured to make each part complemen- tary of the others, and thus to produce a perfect mosaic picture of human nature in social life. His particular aptitude was for comedy, and that of a whimsical character. His sentiment, though truly felt, was far less free in expression, and indeed had a forced, unnatural LIFE OF JEFFERSON 239 effect. He read many books and was fond of the hard work of thinking, which most persons shun. He wrote well, though slowly and but little ; yet each of his characters owed something to his own invention. Dundreary was almost entirely his own ; and he wrote in Robertson's comedy of Home the best part of the love scenes. He wrote a portion also of a comedy called Trade, which, in later years, has been acted by his son, E. H. Sothern, under the name of TJie Highest Bidder. He had studied the acting of Rachel, whom he ranked above all other actresses. His nature was deeper in human tenderness than it seemed to be in the eyes of most persons. He could be selfish, icy, and stern ; but it usually was when confronted with selfishness in others. At the same time it is to be admitted that he grew cynical in his ideas of human nature as he grew older, and as he bitterly realised and condemned his own faults and saw how little there is in the world of absolutely unselfish goodness. Yet he was by nature of an affectionate, kindly disposition, and he honoured integrity wherever found. The senti- ments that David Garrick utters to Ada Ingot, in the last scene of the comedy, were those in which he truly believed. His habitual mood, however, was one of levity, and he was apt to prove fickle in his superficial friendships. He loved and trusted but few persons. It suited his humour to jest and to seek excitement and distraction; first because his temperament naturally bloomed in a frolic atmosphere, and then because he wished to suppress melancholy feelings and a gloomy proneness to self-reproach and saddening introspection. In his domestic life he was unfortunate ; and he lived 240 LIFE OF JFFFERSON to learn — as all must do who depart away from inno- cence — that the wrong that is done to the affections can never be righted on earth. Outwardly he was the gayest of the gay : at heart he was an unhappy man, and he suffered much. But he fulfilled his work and his destiny — which was his character. He made the world laugh. He exemplified anew, for artists and thinkers, the beauty of thorough artistic mechanism. He impressed the men of his time with a profound and abiding sense of the power of intellectual purpose. And he left to his friends the remembrance of a strange, quaint, sweet comrade, at whose presence the sunshine sparkled and the flowers bloomed, and life became a holiday of careless pleasure. He died at No. i Vere street, London, January 20, 1881, and was buried in the cemetery at Southampton. Laura Keene, with whom Jefferson was conspicu- ously associated in the production of Our Avicrican Cousin, was of English origin, and was born in 1820. At an early age she acted, under the management of Madame Vestris, at the London Olympic theatre, where she attracted attention and esteem for various efforts in light comedy. One of her most pleasing personations was Pauline in The Lady of Lyons. In 1852 she was engaged by J. W. Wallack for his new theatre, then just opened, near the corner of Broome street and Broadway, New York ; and on October 20, that year, she made her first American appearance, acting Albina Mandeville, in The Will. Her success was immediate and decided. She soon left Wallack's theatre, though, and took to strolling as a star. In 1854 she visited San Francisco, and, in company with Edwin Booth, LIFE OF JEFFERSON 241 D. C. Anderson, and others, made a trip to Australia. In November, 1855, she was again in New York, and managed the Metropolitan theatre, afterwards called the Winter Garden, styling it the Varieties. A little later she took the management of the Olympic, which was then newly built, in Broadway, on the east side, between Bleecker and Houston streets, and she opened it on November 18, 1856, with As Vou Like It. That house, known as Laura Keene's theatre, she continued to direct for four or five years, but with dubious judgment and variable success. At times its fortunes sank to a low ebb. At one of those times Our American Cousin was brought out, and Jefferson made a great hit, and averted disaster, by his per- formance of Asa Trenchard. In i860 Miss Keene became the wife of Mr. John Lutz, with whom she had been for some time associated. One of her last ventures at Laura Keene's theatre was a spectacle play, called The Seven Sisters, by Thomas Blades de Walden, which was considered rubbish, but which ran, from November 26, i860, one hundred and sixty-nine nights. For a long time after leaving that theatre Miss Keene was inconspicuous in theatrical life, but it was vaguely known that she was roaming the country with a travelling company. She was acting at Ford's theatre, Washington, on April 14, 1865, in Our American Co?isin, at the time of the dreadful and afflicting tragedy which bereaved the Republic of Abraham Lincoln. In 1870 she united with William Creswick in the production of a piece called Nobody s Child, at the Fourteenth Street theatre, but her presence upon the stage was not pro- pitious to the success of that effort, and it was speedily Q 242 LIFE OF JEFFERSON discontinued. Her latest success in New York was obtained in Boucicault's drama of Hunted Dozvii, which she produced at the theatre in Broadway known for a while as Lina Edwin's, and ultimately burnt down. Her last New York engagement was played at Wood's Museum. In person Miss Keene was slender and graceful. She had an aquiline face, delicate features, dark eyes, and a musical voice. She was lovely to see, in statuesque characters and attitudes. She often dressed in white garments, and she seemed to enjoy heightening as much as possible the effect of the spiritual attribute in her personal appearance. She had a swift, gliding motion, and a strange trick, in the expression of feeling, of continually winking both her eyes. As an actress, she was best in the utterance of despairing delirium. Moments of woe and of pathetic recklessness com- mended themselves to her temperament. One of her most successful performances was that of Marco in The Marble Heart. She was very good as Becky Sharp, in Vanity Fair. At the highest she was a clever actress of brilliant comedy ; but she wasted her talents, and came at last to be only an experimenter in the hydraulic emotional school. She died of consumption, at Mont- clair, N.J., on November 4, 1873, in her fifty-fourth year. To old playgoers her death was a mournful reminder of the flight of time and the rapid extinction of their favourites. In the prime of her beauty and talent, she enjoyed almost boundless favour with the public, but she outlived her popularity and sunk into comparative oblivion ; so that the news of her death scarcely caused a ripple of feeling, outside of a narrow LIFE OF JEFFERSON 243 circle of professional contemporaries and theatrical fol- lowers. The moral of her experience was not wholly the evanescence of popularity. Public life may be mutable, but solidity of character and talents well used upon the stage do not fail to win for their possessor a place of permanence, at least in the memory of the passing generation. Neither was possessed by Laura Keene, and hence her contemporaries scarcely heeded the sound of her passing bell. Another conspicuous career, contemporary with that of Jefferson, was that of Raymond, a comedian with whom Jefferson sometimes acted, and whose friendship he possessed to the last. John T. Raymond, long and widely distinguished as Colonel Sellers, was born at Buffalo, N.Y., on April 5, 1836, and died at Evansville, Ind;, on April 10, 1887, having just entered on his fifty-first year. His family name was O'Brien. He received a common-school education, together with some training in mercantile pursuits ; but at the age of seven- teen he ran away from home to go upon the stage. " I knew no more about the theatre then," he once said, "than I did about the moon." His first appearance was made on June 27, 1853, at a theatre in Rochester, N.Y., under the management of Carr and Henry Warren, and he came forward in the part of Lopez in The Honeymoon. He was almost paralysed with stage fright on that occasion, and as the condition of Lopez is mostly that of comic vacuity, he made an accidental hit in the part ; but on the following night, when he undertook to play one of the soldiers in MacbctJi, his inexperience was painfully revealed. From Rochester he went to Philadelphia, where he appeared as Timothy 244 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Quaint, in TJic Soldier s Daughter, on September 20, 1854. A little later he was engaged by John E. Owens for the Charles Street theatre, Baltimore, and for several seasons after that he was employed on the circuit of the Southern theatres, acting in Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans. Raymond first became known in New York in 1861, when he appeared at Laura Keene's theatre, as the successor to Jefferson, in low comedy and character parts. He acted Asa Trenchard in Otir American Cousin at that time. On July i, 1867, he appeared in London, at the Haymarket theatre, acting that part in association with Sothern, and in company with that famous actor he subsequently visited Paris and acted there, and likewise made a tour of the British provincial theatres. In the autumn of 1868 he reappeared in New York, playing Toby Twinkle in All that Glitters is not Gold. A little later he went to San Francisco, where, on January 18, 1869, he made his first appearance at the California theatre, acting Graves in Bulwer's comedy of Money. There he remained for several seasons, steadily advancing in public favour and appreciation. He was, in fact, a great favourite in California, but being am- bitious to extend the field of his activity and conquest, he presently left the stock company, returned to the eastern seaboard, and, after various efforts, at length made a conspicuous and brilliant hit in the character of Colonel Sellers, in a play based on Mark Twain's story of The Gilded Age. That piece was brought out at the Park theatre, Broadway and Twenty-second street, which was burned down in the fall of 1882. With that char- acter Raymond made himself known throughout the LIFE OF JEFFERSON 245 Republic and Canada, and in that part he appeared, but not with success, before the pubHc of London in 1880. For several seasons Colonel Sellers prospered abun- dantly, but after a time it began to grow hackneyed, and Raymond was constrained to seek a new character. He played at Wallack's theatre as Ichabod Crane, in a drama by George Fawcett Rowe, on the basis of Washington Irving's story of IVo/fcrfs Roost, and this is justly remembered as one of the most quaint, humorous, and touching performances that have graced the comedy stage in our time. After that he travelled every season with more or less success throughout the country, vary- ing his performances of Colonel Sellers with such parts as the old shoemaker, in My Son; the politician, in D. D. Lloyd's For Congress ; and Montague Joliffe, in Pinero's In Chancery. In 1886 he played in the prin- cipal cities of the Union in Pinero's amusing farce of The Magistrate. His professional career extended over a period of thirty-two years, and in the course of that time he acted all the parts that usually fall to the lot of a low comedian. He was seen in Acres, Asa Trenchard, Dickory, Goldfinch, Lullaby, Ollapod, Pangloss, Pillicoddy, Roderigo, Salem Scudder, Toby Twinkle, Tony Lumpkin, Toodle, and many kindred characters. By nature and by purpose he was a thought- ful comedian, — one who desired to identify himself with important eccentric characters in rational drama ; but his excessive animal spirits and a certain grotesque ex- travagance in his temperament and manner affected the public more directly and powerfully than anything that he did as a dramatic artist. " When I remain in the picture," he said to me, " the public will not accept me, 246 LIFE OF JEFFERSON but the moment I get out upon the frame they seem to be delighted." For this reason Raymond usually got "out upon the frame." His humour was rich and jocund. He had a peculiar and exceptional command over the composure of his countenance. He could deceive an observer by the sapient gravity of his visage, and he exerted his facial faculty with extraordinary comic effect. He was possessed of consummate audacity in the per- petration of practical jokes. His mood was eager, san- guine, and hopeful, and it sometimes painted the future in rosy hues ; but he was subject to melancholy, which he carefully concealed. He was impetuous in temper but affectionate in disposition, and his private life was marked by acts of kindness and generosity. As an actor he gave innocent pleasure to thousands of people, and lightened for many hearts the weary burden of care. His professional lineage is that of such ancestors as Foote, Finn and Sothern, though to some extent he lacked the artistic finish of those renowned models, Raymond was twice married, his first wife being Marie E. Gordon, an actress known upon the stage since 1864, now dead. They were legally separated. His second wife was the daughter of Miss Rose Eytinge, long a prominent and successful actress. At the time of his second marriage, the comedian obtained legal authority for the change of his name from John O'Brien to John T. Raymond. A most interesting comedian, one of Jefferson's prom- inent contemporaries, and one of his prized and honoured friends, was Mark Smith. That actor was the son of the veteran Sol Smith (1801-1869), and was born at New Orleans on January 27, 1829. He played juvenile LIFE OF JEFFERSON 247 characters at his father's theatre while yet a boy. At fifteen he went to sea, but he soon grew weary of marine toil, and in 1849 he formally adopted the profession of the stage, and that he followed all his days. On March 18, 1862, he appeared at Wallack's theatre, New York, as Sir William Fondlove, in TJie Love Chase, and made a brilliant hit, and from that time onward he maintained a high professional rank, and had the cordial esteem of the public. In 1863 he was associated with the English actress Emily Thome in performances of musical bur- lesque at the Winter Garden. In 1866 he was a partner with Lewis Baker in the management of the New York theatre. In 1869 he was a member of Edwin Booth's company, at Booth's theatre, and later he was connected with the St. James theatre in London, and with Albert M. Palmer's Union Square theatre, New York. He died suddenly in Paris, France, on August 11, 1884, and his remains were sent home and buried in the Belle- fontaine cemetery, at St. Louis. Mark Smith was a man of unique individuality and large intellectual resources. He had developed slowly and thoroughly, — though not yet entirely, — and had steadily risen, and was fitted still to rise, in an art-growth that never paused. He was a student and a thinker. He aimed high, and he was content with nothing less than superlative excellence. He possessed by nature both the actor's faculty and the literary spirit. An atmosphere of art surrounded him as naturally as foliage surrounds a tree. No one could be, even temporarily, his companion without perceiving in him an innate and profound love for letters; a rare and subtle apprehen- sion of the beauty and the significance of artistic forms ; 2^S LIFE OF JEFFERSON an ample and exact knowledge of many books ; keen intuition combined with wide store of wise observation upon human nature ; and the spontaneous delight alike of the child and the philosopher in things that make human life radiant and lovely. Those faculties and qualities he had done much to cultivate. The in- fluence that radiated from his character was singularly charming. It was the sympathetic force of a thoroughly honest nature, good, tender, cheerful, responsive to virtue and simplicity, and exalted and made picturesque and zestful by the thrill of imaginative and aspiring intellect. Mark Smith was not the kind of good man whose worth is tedious and stupefying, — and therein may injure virtue almost as much as if he were a profli- gate. In him the every-day virtues grew brilliant, — taking on a rosy grace from the piquant loveliness of his character, — and his comrades not only rested on his perfect probity, but found continual delight and com- fort in his presence. No one could see him act without being, in quite an equal degree, conscious of this personal charm. The attribute of winning goodness that endeared him in private life was the attribute that shone through his acting and endeared him upon the stage. As an actor, he was the Cheeryble Brothers rolled into one, — and that one was endowed with a commanding intellect and polished taste as well as with helpful and lovable benig- nity. When Mark Smith was upon the scene, — as Squire Broadlands, or April, or Harmony, or Col. Damas, or Sir Oliver Surface, — the spectator involuntarily felt that every ray of manly worth, joyous serenity, and human feeling that flashed through the character had its native LIFE OF JEFFERSON 249 source in the heart of the man himself. This was the attractive power of his heart ; and the attention which he thus captivated his versatile mimetic talents and his fortunate personal characteristics never failed to repay. It would be almost impossible to name an actor so thoroughly satisfactory as Mark Smith was, in many sorts of character. His range of Shakespearian parts included Polonius, Friar Lawrence, Kent, Brabantio, Duncan, Hecate, Casca, Autolycus, the Host of the Gartar, the Duke of Venice, Adam, Dromio, Shallow, Verges, Sir Toby Belch, Bardolph, and Dogberry. He did not play them all equally well, but in each one of them he was an artist ; and outside of Shakespeare, his range touched at one extreme Sir Peter Teazle and at the other Diggory and Powhatan. One of the most complete pieces of acting that have adorned our stage was his impersonation of the vain, amorous, rickety, polished old coxcomb, Sir William Fondlove, in which he made his first appearance at Wallack's theatre, on March 17, 1862. Another characteristic and charming work was his Doctor Desmerets in TJie Romance of a Poor Young Man. Old Rapid, Hardcastle, Sir John Vesey, Stout, Haversac, De Blossiere, in Henriette, Lord Plantagenet, Solomon, Bob Tyke, Mr. Ironsides, Lord Duberley, and many more testified to his versatile abilities, and afforded channels of observation through which might be traced the peculiarities of his mind and the springs of his art. Whatever defects there were in his acting arose from over-correctness and inflexibility. He was a formal actor, and sometimes he was hard and dry. But that was a good defect, since it arose out of his profound 250 LIFE OF JEFFERSON desire and scrupulous care, first of all, to be true ; and it was a defect he was outgrowing, and would inevitably have outgrown, with the acquisition of perfect mastery of himself and of the methods of his art. Those who saw his stately, sweet, and tender personation of Jaques Fauvel, at the Union Square theatre, saw clearly enough how much the angular precision and set utterance of earlier days had faded away, and how richly his nature was developing in the direction of flexible and free humour and pathos. It is easy to go astray in attempt- ing to define a human being and to indicate the results of circumstance likely to flow out of the tendencies of a character ; but there is no doubt that Mark Smith was richly endowed, and there seems reason to say that if he had lived to complete his experience he would have become one of the great actors of his time. His fidelity to nature was as accurate as a reverent intention could make it. He was a graphic delineator. He was a rosy and jolly and yet a human and refined humourist. He possessed unusual natural dignity of mind ; so that, while he respected the real worth of old models, he thought for himself and struck out a pathway of his own. His human sympathies were comprehensive and warm. He had a remarkably keen intuitive perception of the shades of character, and, as his Country Squire alone was suffi- cient to prove, he had the delicate and trained capacity to make them seen and felt. That hard, genial, stub- born, yielding, eccentric, simple, bluff, hospitable, per- emptory English gentleman has no representative on the American stage now that Mark Smith is gone. If any actor known to this country could have put Sir Roger de Coverley into the theatre, and made him as LIFE OF JEFFERSON 251 fine and as lovable there as he is in the pages of Addi- son, Mark Smith was the man. This points to his quality and his rank, and explains the affectionate re- membrance in which he is held. He belonged to the school of actors that Munden made distinctive, and that Burton, Blake, Gilbert, and Warren illustrated so well. He was not as droll as Blake, nor did he possess as juicy a humour ; but in serious moments he resembled him ; and as to severe accuracy of form, he often sur- passed him. The breadth of his scope is indicated in the number and variety of parts that he could adequately play. The field of art in which he stood alone is that which Eng:- lish literature has peopled with characters representa- tive of ambient, large-hearted hospitality, tinged with sentiment and eccentricity. His imagination took de- light in images of good-cheer and scenes of kindness. The prattle of children and the soft laughter of young lovers sounded in his mind and gladdened it. He was at home on the green lawn of the ancient manor-house, under the immemorial elms, crowning the feast with welcome, amid the blessings of music and sunshine, and fragrant summer wind, with, over all, a hazy, tran- quil air of restful antiquity and gentle romance. So he has passed into the region of storied memories and taken his place forever, — the noblest type our stage has presented of the pure and simple country gentleman ! Scott and Irving would have loved that healthful nature, and honoured it and anchored by it, amidst the shams and fevers of a weary world. Primrose and the Village Preacher lived again in him, — with other man- ners, indeed, and wearing another garb, and fettered and 252 LIFE OF JEFFERSON veiled ; but the same in soul. He adorned the stage ; he comforted and benefited his fellowmen ; he won an affection and left an ideal that will not die ; and he rests after an honest, useful, stainless life. At a meeting of the friends of Mark Smith, held at Booth's theatre, on September i, 1884, A. Oakey Hall presiding, arrangement was made for a performance for the benefit of his widow and children, — which subse- quently occurred, — and the following resolutions, written by me, were adopted : — Whereas, In the wisdom and love of God, — which, whether it bless us or whether it afflict, we but dimly understand and can never fathom, — our beloved friend and comrade, Mark Smith, has been taken from the life of this world into the life that is eternal ; and Whereas, We, his friends, members of the stage and the press, amidst our personal sorrow under a bitter bereavement 'and affliction, are mindful that, in the death of Mark Smith, the pro- fession which he adorned, and this community, which he so often charmed and benefited, have sustained a loss so grievous and extraordinary that some formal commemoration of it ought to be made ; therefore, be it Resolved, That while we bow in humble reverence before the awful will of heaven, — striving to keep in mind the belief that all things are ordered for the best, — we yet deplore, in this death, the loss of one of the best and dearest of our fraternity, in the removal of whom from the scenes of his usefulness and from our companion- ship we feel the pangs of a calamitous and overwhelming affliction. That we remember Mark Smith as one who wore with purity and honour the noble name of gentleman ; whose character was lovely in its simplicity and modest worth ; whose life was virtuous ; whose mind was well stored ; whose talents were unusual and brilliant, and were always used for good and never for evil ; and who did his duty faithfully, thoroughly, and cheerfully, under every condition. That, when we recall Mark Smith as an actor, we think of one who loved his profession with all his heart, and served it with LIFE OF JEFFERSON 253 all his strength ; whose versatility and thoroughness were extraor- dinary ; who enriched the stage with many delightful personations of humorous and eccentric character; and who was especially noble and impressive in parts emblematic of manly worth, human senti- ment, rosy and jolly humour, and the graces of domestic life. That, equally in his profession and his private walks and ways, Mark Smith illustrated integrity of principle that never swerved, and gentleness of life that never tired, — setting an example of honour and goodness, and leaving, now that he is dead, the memory of a character and a career that were founded on justice and kind- ness and hallowed by virtue, humanity, charity, and good fellowship. That we deeply sympathise with the afflicted widow, children, and relatives of the deceased actor, — commending them to seek comfort, as we do, in the thought of his goodness, and of the universal esteem in which he was held and in which he is remem- bered, and to rest with patient trust upon the Divine will. George Holland, still another of Jefferson's com- rades, was born in London, England, on December 6, 1 791. His father was a tradesman. The boy was first sent to preparatory schools in Lambeth, and afterwards to a boarding-school, kept by an eccentric scholar, Dr. Diipree, at Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire. He did not prove a devoted student. He was more remarkable for his pranks than for his proficiency in learning. But he became distinguished as a cricket-player, and he laitl the foundation of good health by abundant indulgence in that sport. At Dr. Dupree's school he passed two years, at the end of which time he was taken home by his father and set at work in the silk and ribbon warehouse of Hill & Newcombe, Wood street, Cheap- side, London. Prior to going thither, though, he enjoyed a vacation of six weeks and had his first experience of the stage. Astley's amphitheatre existed then, and was conducted by Grossman, Smith & Davis. 254 LIFE OF JEFFERSON One of those managers, Smith, happened to be a friend of the Holland family, and by him young George was frequently taken to the rehearsals. Les Ombres CJiinois was the name of the entertainment, — a show consisting of pasteboard figures of men and animals, worked with wires, behind an illuminated screen. An incidental dialogue was delivered, corre- spondent to the action of those dummies. That exhi- bition so delighted the boy that he made an imitation of it, and so good a one that it made a hit in the home circle. With the silk mercers young Holland passed six months, selling silk and ribbons and silk hats, the latter articles having then only just come into fashion. Not liking that pursuit, he next procured work in a banking house in Cornhill. His post was that of an out-of-door clerk, and his duty required him to walk ten miles a day. This made an invalid of him and laid him up for two months. After that he passed six months in a bill-broker's office and acquired acquaint- ance with the volatile art of "kite-flying." Then came another illness, on recovering from which he found himself a wanderer in London. Accident now brought him into association with the once famous Newman, who established Ncivjuan s Echo, — a cheap sheet, pre- senting an epitome of the advertisements of "wants" and " situations " originally published in the expen- sive newspapers of the day. Reading was costly in those days, and poor men could get the news only by dropping into an alehouse and paying for the privilege of taking a turn at the paper. This was the cheapest way. Ncivinans Echo placed a certain class of information, gleaned from all the current journals, LIFE OF JEFFERSON 255 within everybody's reach. So good an idea could not fail at the start. Holland worked at it with equal fidelity and energy, and Newman soon grew rich. Then he speculated with his money and was ruined, and the EcJio ceased to be heard. Once more at leisure, and waiting for something to turn up, young George now devoted some time to the art of fencing. This he learned from his brother, who was under the tuition of Professor Roland, then a distinguished practitioner with the sword. At the age of nineteen George was apprenticed to Thomas Davison, at Whitefriars, to learn the trade of a printer ; and in a somewhat vain pursuit of skill in that vocation the unfledged actor spent two years. While the boy did not perfect himself as a printer, he gained positive distinction in sparring and rowing. He was a member of a boat-club ; he could — and frequently did — row from London Bridge to Richmond and back again, twenty miles each way ; he frequented the Free and Easy, and learned and sang comic songs therein ; he made the illustrious acquaintance of Tom Cribb, Molineaux, Tom Belcher, Dutch Sam, Iky Solomons, and other champions and bruisers ; and he was him- self known in that peculiar society as "the Comic Chattering Cove." Thus early did those vigorous animal spirits and that overwhelming propensity to fun find vent, which afterward, for so many years, gave brightness to the stage and pleasure to multitudes of its supporters. Young Holland's way of life, how- ever, did not prove salutary to the printing business, and when twenty-one years of age he was fortunate enough to get his indentures cancelled, and thereafter 256 LIFE OF JEFFERSON he followed a natural and independent course, which is the only sure road to genuine success. His wan- derings first took him to Liverpool. There he found no employment, but had a sharp experience of poverty. l'>om Liverpool he took passage for Dublin, where he found his father's old friend, Smith, of Astley's am- phitheatre, — now riding-master at the Castle School, a noted institution of the Irish capital. By Smith he was kindly received, and under his direction he made himself useful in the riding-school, and became proficient as a rider and a manager of horses. The evenings he passed at the Crow Street theatre. This equestrian and dramatic period of his life was brief, as he now became a commercial traveller, in the employ- ment of Nunn & Co., dealers in thread-lace. For two years George Holland drove a mercer's cart through Ireland ; and in every town he was successful and popular. One can readily imagine that, as a wit on the box and a songster in the tavern parlour, he would have a great success ; for good humour is a greater conqueror in the battle of life than Ccesar in the battle of nations. In 1816, Holland, at the age of twenty-five, was set up in business for himself, to sell bobbinet-lace, manufactured in Nottingham. His shop was in Crow street, Dublin, near the Crow Street theatre, and immediately opposite to a favourite haunt of jolly boys, called Peter Kearney's Inn. To that resort George frequently repaired, and there he made many theatrical acquaintances. The bobbinet-lace busi- ness lasted six months, when George settled his affairs, took down his sign, and returned to England, — to embark on that theatrical current which continued. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 257 through many vicissitudes of fortune, to the end of his days. George Holland was fifty-three years an actor. More than half a century of entrances and exits ! The first engagement that Holland secured was made with Samuel Russell, familiarly known as "Jerry Sneak Russell," the stage-manager for Robert William Elliston, — that Elliston, the Magnificent, for whom, as Charles Lamb wrote, "the Pauline Muses weep." The engagement was to last six weeks, till the close of the season at the London Olympic. Elliston then offered Holland an engagement at the Birmingham theatre, to begin six weeks later. That interval the actor, now regularly embarked, spent in travelling, on foot, from London to Birmingham, in company with a friendly Lanville, or Folair, and exhibiting Lcs Ojnbrcs Chinois at towns on the way. This enterprise, carried on in frolic, beguiled the tedium of the journey, and ended in a good supper. Arrived at Birmingham, Holland found Elliston grandly forgetful of the promised en- gagement, but ultimately he succeeded in getting a post in the great manager's company, with a salary of fifteen shillings a week. On May 19, 1817, the theatre opened with Bertram and TJic Broken Sivord. Hol- land was cast as one of the monks in the former play, and as the Baron in the latter. With the monk he prospered well ; but, having permitted a couple of brother actors to " make up " his face and head for the Baron, — which they did with a pantaloon wig and all the colours at hand, — he went on in the second piece an object of such absurdity that he was literally laughed and hooted from the stage. A dark Baron would have answered every purpose ; but a red, white, and blue R 2SS LIFE OF JEFFERSON one was too much for the British public. For a long time after that adventure the unlucky comedian was known as " 13aron Holland." For many days — so great was his mortification — he kept away from the theatre, having, indeed, set up a school for teaching fencing and boxing. So at length the old sports be- came useful auxiliaries in the serious labour of life. At last Holland had an explanation with Elliston, was reinstated in the company, and was made prompter. Brunton was then the stage-manager of the Birming- ham theatre, — the father of the afterwards famous Miss Brunton, who finally became the Countess of Craven, and of that other Miss Brunton, Anne, who married in succession, Merry, Wignell, and Warren, and was once the chief actress of the American stage. While Holland was prompter, Macready came to the Birmingham theatre, and played Rob Roy. Other stars came also, and among them Vincent de Camp, with whom he formed an acquaintance that was destined to be of much value to him. Holland was now offered an engagement at the theatre in Newcastle-on-Tyne, accepting which he went to London, and thence pro- ceeded to Newcastle by a sailing vessel, that being the cheapest route. On that voyage he met Miss Povey, afterwards Mrs. Knight, and Junius Brutus Booth, together with other theatrical performers, bound to the same place. With Booth he formed a friendship which lasted all the days of the latter actor's life, and which the comedian always cherished in tender recol- lection. After finishing his engagement at Newcastle, Holland went to Manchester, with Usher, and there played as Harlequin. That was in 1819, the year of LIFE OF JEFFERSON 259 certain local disturbances known and remembered as the Peterloo riots. In December of that year Holland returned to Newcastle, which thenceforward, during five seasons, he made his home. The season in those times began in December and ended in May. During the summer Holland travelled, acting wherever occasion offered. While he was acting at the Newcastle theatre, in one of his annual engagements, his fondness for practical jokes and deviltry of all sorts — frequently illustrated in mischievous adventures — brought a tem- porary disaster upon him ; for, snipping at his nose one night, with a large pair of shears, for the amuse- ment of an enlightened public, he cut that useful organ very nearly into two pieces. It was well mended, though, and the wound left no visible scar. Holland's exceedingly natural acting on this occasion, nobody in front knowing what ailed him, was the subject of universal commendation, particularly from the manager, who sent an urgent request that the comedian would nightly repeat his spirited and remarkable performance. In the season of 1825-26 Holland was engaged at the London Haymarket theatre, under the manage- ment of T. P. Cooke. At a later period he fulfilled an engagement at the Surrey theatre. But his English career was now drawing to a close. At Christmas, 1826, Junius Brutus Booth, then stage-manager of the Chatham Street theatre. New York, sent a letter offer- ing him an American engagement. That epistle — in the earnest, simple style characteristic of all the writings of the great tragedian — gives interesting details with reference to the condition of the New York stage in 1826, when Edwin Forrest was a rising young actor, 260 LIFE OF JEFFERSON and Lester and J. W. Wullack, Jr., were boys, and Joseph Jefferson and lulwin Booth were yet unborn. (It is reprinted among the memorials in this volume, see p. 293.) Holland did not at once come over, but the allurement proved strong, and in the following year he accepted an engagement at the Bowery theatre. It was in August, 1827, in the ship Columbia^ that he sailed for New York. The Bowery theatre, then called the New York theatre, was an important institution in the dramatic world when Holland came to America, and his appear- ance there, on September 12, 1827, naturally attracted attention. He acted in A Day After the Fair, then a favourite farce, and made a decided hit. It was a long time, though, before the comedian settled into a permanent position. For years after he arrived in America he led the nomadic life of his tribe. I trace him to the Tremont theatre, in Boston, then managed by Pelby. Afterwards he played at the Federal Street theatre, in the same city, — long a favourite shrine of the dramatic muse, but now gone. Then he returned to New York, and established his residence at Yorkville. Then he performed at Albany. On January 21, 1829, he made his first appearance at New Orleans, in the Pearl Street theatre, afterwards called the Academy of Music. In the same year he acted at Louisville, Cincinnati, Natchez, Vicksburg, Montgomery, Mobile, Philadelphia, Boston, Salem, and Providence. This record shows how an actor was obliged to flit about in old times, and how hard he had to work ; for travel- ling was not then what it is now, nor could the country boast such theatres anywhere as now adorn it in almost LIFE OF JEFFERSON 261 every city. On September 30, 1829, Holland took a benefit at the Bowery theatre, New York. Immedi- ately afterwards I trace him on another expedition, this time in company with Mr. and Mrs. Blake, with T. A. Cooper as manager, — and a powerful combination it was, and a jovial time they must have had. In June, 1830, the comedian occupied what was known as Holland's Cottage, at Yorkville, N.Y. That was a snug suburban inn and one that enjoyed much favour. Holland, indeed, was always a popular man, and if his business capacity had kept pace with his profes- sional success he would have gained a fortune. That success never waited on his efforts. As a worker he began, and to the last he lived in harness and ready to do his best. Leaving the Yorkville cottage in the fall of 183 1, he once more went out with Cooper. That season of roving began on October 10, in that year, and lasted till April 10, 1832. Hamblin and John Henry Barton accompanied the party, and they played at Augusta, Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans. Holland's portion of the entertainment was entitled Whims of a Comedian. It was a medley and included feats of ventriloquism, for which this actor was celebrated. "The whole of this performance," said the programme, " will be recited, acted, sung, and gesticu- lated by Mr. Holland alone." The bill of the play con- tained eight distinct features, and the price of admission was fixed at $1, which was a high price in those days. From New Orleans the party went up the Missis- sippi, and so to Pittsburg, where Holland's engagement terminated. He then went to Cincinnati and to Louis- ville, and, in association with N. I\I. Ludlow, gave enter- 262 LIFE OP^ JEFFERSON tainments in the principal towns of Kentucky and Tennessee. Subsequently, combining forces with Mr. and Mrs. Knight, he visited Nashville, and gave per- formances during one week, which were successful. This was in the cholera season of 1832, and here, as afterwards at New Orleans, the performances given by Holland exerted a cheering and reassuring influence over the public mind, inclined as it was to panic, in the presence of the baleful disease. In 1834 Holland was associated with old Sol Smith in the management of the theatre at Montgomery, Ala. Allusion is made to this fact on p. 103 of Sol Smith's Theatrical Management: "The season in Montgomery this year (1834) commenced on the i6th of January. The cele- brated George Holland joined me in the management, and the firm was Smith & Holland. . . . My business connection with George Holland was a very pleasant one. We parted at the close of the season with mutual good feelings." Jane Placide and George H. Barrett were members of the company at the Montgomery theatre. Holland went back to New Orleans on leaving Sol Smith, and was there made secretary of the New Orleans Gas-light and Banking Company. Not long afterward he accepted the post of private secretary to J. H. Caldwell, and treasurer of the St. Charles theatre. That was in the season of 1835-36, which began on November 30, 1835, with Miss Cush- man as the star. She played Patrick, in T/ie Poor Soldier, Helen Macgregor, in Rob Roy, Peter Wilkins, Lady Macbeth, and other characters. During the same season Mr. and Mrs. Keeley, J. W. Wallack, C. K. Mason, Finn, A. A. Adams, and Madame Celeste LIFE OF JEFFERSON 263 filled engagements at the St. Charles, and with all those theatric luminaries Holland had friendly re- lations in his capacity as treasurer. An opera troupe, including Adelaide Pedratti, G. B. Montressor, Antonio de Rosa, and others, came on Sunday, March 6, 1836, and again on December 4. In the mean time Holland had been very ill, so ill, indeed, that he was not ex- pected to recover, but a trip to Havana restored him to health, and after six months in that lovely island he came back with renewed vigour to his labours at the St. Charles. The Jcivess, after fifteen months of preparation, was produced with success on December 25, 1837, ^^id the season closed on April 29, 1838. During the following season performances were given there by Forrest, Booth, J. R. Scott, Finn, J. M. Field, Farren, Sam. Cowell, Ellen Tree, Celeste, and Josephine Clifton. Those details suggest what the theatre was, in old days, in the matter of acting, and they also suggest the associations into which George Holland was thrown, — -associations whereby, when old, he was a " mine of memories." On one of the bills of the St. Charles appeared these notices, which may indicate what were the manners of the time, among theatre-going people : " It is particularly requested that dogs will not be brought to the theatre, as they Cannot be admitted. Peanuts are proscribed." In the sea- son of 1840 Fanny Ellsler appeared at the St. Charles, engaged for $1000 a night, and a benefit, on which latter occasion she was to have all the receipts except $500. Those terms were made by Holland, in the absence of Caldwell, to secure the great attraction and keep it out of the rival theatre. On the first night the 264 LIFE OF JEFFERSON receipts were $3446.50, and for the ten nights of Fanny EUsler's engagement the average receipts were $2597.35. The benefit brought in $3760. Holland paid to the great dancer $10,000 for the ten performances; $3260 for her benefit; and $1192 for half benefit to Avalini and Silvani, her companions, — in all, $14,453. Yet this enterprise was a thorough success to the theatre. On March 13, 1842, the St. Charles theatre was burned, and so ended Holland's connection with the most pros- perous establishment in which he had ever been en- gaged. Caldwell, the manager, survived his losses, and was a wealthy man to the last, dying in New York in the autumn of 1863. After the St. Charles had been destroyed, Holland made a trip with Dr. Lardner, who gave a series of lectures and illustrated them with pictures. The party visited Mobile, Natchez, Vicksburg, Jacksonville, Nash- ville, St. Louis (at which place they found Gentleman George H. Barrett keeping a restaurant), Louisville, Cin- cinnati, and Buffalo. From the latter place to Troy, Holland sailed in a canal-boat. Arrived in New York, he found his old acquaintance, Mitchell, engaged in the management of the Olympic theatre. He had known Mitchell since the year 18 18, when both were members of De Camp's theatrical company at Newcastle. By Mitchell he was engaged, and in the Olympic com- pany he remained, constantly acting and always a pub- lic favourite, from 1843 to 1849. His first appearance at the Olympic was made on September 4, 1843, i^i A Day After the Fah' and The Bill of Fare. In the summer of 1844 he acted, with Mitchell's company, at Niblo's, as Lobwitz, in TJic Child of the Regiment, Hassarac in LIFE OF JEFFERSON 265 Open Sesame, and divers other characters. In 1849 Holland accepted an engagement at the Varieties theatre, New Orleans, and there, says Sol Smith, "he enjoyed a popularity never perhaps achieved by any other actor in that city." Thomas Placide was then the manager of the Varieties. In 1853 Holland was a member of Burton's company, in New York. On August 10, that year, on the occasion of the opening of the theatre, he acted Sunnyside, in A Capital Match, and Thomas, in The Secret. In the mean time, Wallack's theatre, at first called Wallack's Lyceum, had been opened, on September 8, 1852; and in the third season Holland was added to the company, ap- pearing on September 12, 1855, as Chubb, in John Brougham's Game of Love. With Wallack's he re- mained connected — seceding only once, which was in the panic days of 1857, when he joined Christy's Min- strels — until the end of the season of 1867-68. His last engagement was made with Augustin Daly, and in the season of 1869-70 he acted several times at the Fifth Avenue theatre. His last professional ap- pearance was made there on January 12, 1870, as the Reporter, in Miss Olive Logan's farcical comedy of Surf. Subsequently, on May 16, on the occasion of his benefit, the veteran appeared before the curtain, not having taken part in the presentation (the play was Froii- Frou), and made a brief but touching speech, con- sisting of three words, "God bless you!" He died, at 309 Third avenue. New York, on Tuesday, Decem- ber 20, 1870. His death had been expected for a long time. During many months he clung to life by the slenderest thread. When at last, about five o'clock 266 LIFE OF JEFFERSON in the morning of December 20, he fell into his final sleep, he sunk away so calmly that his friends who surrounded him were unaware of his decease. He was eighty years old. The most of his long life was passed in active industry. His last days were much oppressed by the suffering incidental to infirmity. He bore those trials well, however, and flashes of his characteristic drollery and delightful humour often enlivened the gloom of the closing scenes. The refusal of a promi- nent clergyman of New York to allow Holland's funeral in his church, for the reason that he had been an actor, coupled with a mention of a "little church around the corner," prompted Jefferson's exclamation, " God bless the little church around the corner," and made that the church of the actors, for all time. Holland was buried from the church of the Transfiguration, in Twenty-ninth street. New York, the Rev. George H. Houghton reading the service. Performances for the benefit of his widow and children, given at the instance and mainly under the care of the present writer, produced a fund of $13,608.41. Holland's life was full of strange vicissitudes ; but it was animated by honest principle and characterised by faithful labour and spotless integrity. Holland was a good man. He attained a high rank in his profession, largely by reason of his skill as an artist, but more largely by reason of his natural endowments. He was a humourist of the eccentric order. To the comedian is accorded the happy privilege of casting the roses of mirth on the pathway of his fellowmen, making glad their hearts with cheerful and kindly feeling and light- ing up their faces with the sunshine of innocent pleas- 4 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 267 ure. In the exercise of that privilege George Holland added in no inconsiderable degree to the sum of human happiness. He honoured his vocation. He respected himself. He performed his duty. This is no slight victory, in a world of strife, vicissitude, care, and pain ; but it is the rightful reward of goodness, devoted labour, and genuine talent. It is the crown of honour, and that veteran actor wore it with equal right and grace. One of Jefferson's special friends, and one whose name occupies a conspicuous place in the annals of the American stage, was John T. Ford, long the leader of theatrical management in the Southern States of the American Union. He was not an actor, but as the friend and companion of actors throughout the genera- tion now closed or closing, and as one of Jefferson's comrades from the first, he should be commemorated in this chronicle. John T. Ford was born in Baltimore, Md., April i6, 1829, and his youth was trained in the public schools of that city. It is remembered that he was a pupil at Grammar School No. 6, in Ross street, now Druid Hill avenue, and that William R. Creery, now dead, was his teacher, a gentleman and a scholar, who afterward be- came superintendent of the Baltimore public schools, and, to the last, enjoyed honour in that community. Successful men owe much to their good teachers, and the name of such a teacher should not be forgotten. While yet in his teens, the youthful Ford was employed by his uncle, William Greanor, a prosperous tobacco merchant of Richmond, Va. ; but the boy did not like that business, and he relinquished it and went into the 268 LIFE OF JEFFERSON book trade. That, too, was presently abandoned, and in 185 1, having returned to Baltimore, he became the agent for the Nightingale Serenaders, a minstrel troupe organised by George Kunkel. With that he travelled during several seasons, visiting all the cities between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence river and the Gulf of Mexico. At that time, also, he wrote, as correspondent of TJic Baltimore Clipper. In 1854-55 Ford became manager of the Holliday Street theatre, Baltimore, — a house with which, fifty years before, his maternal grandmother had been associated, when Warren and Wood first managed it, — and that field of labour he continued to cultivate for more than twenty years. Louisa Pyne, Adelina Patti, Edwin For- rest, Charles Kean, and many other artists were there presented, under his management. Rachel was en- gaged by him to act there, but when the time arrived she was too ill to appear. Jefferson, Edwin Adams, and John McCullough won early successes in the old Holliday Street theatre, and many new plays — by George H. Miles, Edward Spencer, Clifton W. Tayleure, Annie Ford, and other distinctively Southern authors — were originally produced there. In 1871 Ford built the Grand Opera House, Baltimore, and there his atten- tion and labour were centred, though not to the neglect of many important outlying enterprises. Baltimore was always Ford's home, and in that city he filled many offices of trust and honour. He served as acting mayor of Baltimore, member and president of the city council, president of the Union Railroad Company, many times foreman of the grand jury in both the state and county courts, president of a land association, director of the LIFE OF JEFFERSON 269 Maryland Penitentiary, and president of the Society for providing Free Summer Excursions and Food for the Poor. Every year he gave a performance in aid of the latter association, and the proceeds each year exceeded $2000. Ford always had the esteem and affection of his neighbours, as a just, generous, public-spirited man. Ford's first theatrical venture in Washington was undertaken in 1854, and from that time he conducted dramatic enterprises in that city. He built three thea- tres in Washington, — two in Tenth street, and one at the corner of Ninth street and Louisiana avenue, named Ford's Opera House. His first theatre in Tenth street was burned down, and on the site of it he built the house known as P"ord's theatre, and associated with one of the most terrible and afflicting tragedies of modern times. At the time of the murder of Lincoln, P'ord and his brother Henry were for thirty-nine days detained in the Capitol prison ; but, having been fully exonerated, they were released. The theatre was seized by the United States government, and an order was issued prohibiting forever its use as a place of amusement. Ford received from the National Treasury $100,000 in payment for the building. It was used for public offices, and in 1893 it fell and killed many persons. After his twenty years of theatrical management in Washington. The EvcntJig- Star, a leading journal of the Capitol, described Ford's business proceedings there as having been marked by " rare integrity, indomitable will, and great sagacity." Previous to the establishment of his theatre in Wash- ington, Ford had often visited the city as an itinerant 270 LIFE OF JEFFERSON manager, and at a very early time in his theatrical career he had broken ground for enterprises along the Southern circuit. As long ago as 1857 he was associ- ated with the management of the theatre in Richmond, Va., and had Joseph Jefferson for stage-manager and Edwin Adams for leading man. John Wilkes Booth was a member of his company at that theatre in 1858. For nearly thirty years Ford furnished the Southern people with theatrical exhibitions. Edwin Booth, Joseph Jefferson, Charlotte Cushman, Madame Janauschek, Madame Modjeska, Mary Anderson, and many other celebrated actors travelled through the South under his guidance. In 1878 he assumed the management of the Broad Street theatre, Philadelphia, owned by John S. Clarke, the comedian. The place had been thought unfortunate. Heavy losses had been incurred there by previous managers. The season of 1878-79 was, generally, bad; but Ford prospered, and the engagements of Booth, Jefferson, the Hess English Opera Company, and finally the Pinafore carried him buoyantly through the year. Ford's pro- duction of Pinafore was the earliest, after that of Montgomery Field at the Boston Museum. Attentive care was bestowed upon its musical requirements, and Ford was the first manager in America to offer com- pensation to the authors of the piece. Their pleasant memory of that proceeding doubtless prompted Gil- bert and Sullivan, in coming to America with a new opera, to entrust their business interests to his hands, whereupon he leased the Fifth Avenue theatre. New York, and there produced Tlie Pirates of Petizance, in the season of 1879-80. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 271 The death of Ben de Bar, August 28, 1877, left Ford the oldest living- manager in America. For thirty years the entire line of theatres on the Southern circuit, from Baltimore to New Orleans, was largely subject to his administration of affairs. He wielded a greater power than was possessed by either Caldwell or de Bar. He was the last of the former generation of theatrical directors, — the Hodgkinsons, Hallams, Warrens, Woods, and Barrys of long ago. Ford was married when young, and he reared a family of eleven children. The sudden death, in 1878, of his daughter Annie, a lovely and talented lady, was a heavy affliction. His children, educated in close association with the theatre, are an honour and credit to their parents and their vocation. His son, Charles E. Ford, worthily succeeded to his father's dramatic enterprises. Beginning business life with scarcely a dollar. Ford lived to control some of the wealthiest interests of his State, and where he once worked for a pittance built houses costing half a million. Baltimore was never accounted a good theatrical city, its inhabi- tants being largely engrossed with social pleasures and home life ; yet there Ford reared and sustained the stage, as one of the first and best of contemporary insti- tutions. He long resided in a fine mansion, in the northwest part of his native city, overlooking the town, the forest, and the distant bay ; and there, surrounded by books and friends, he viewed serenely the results of a well-spent life and the advance of an honourable, peaceful age. He died suddenly on March 14, 1S94, and was buried at Greenmount. XII STAGE ART Jefferson is an actor in whom the romantic ardour of devotion to the dramatic art has never languished. Youth is gone, but neither its enthusiasm, its faith, nor its fire. He still embodies Rip Van Winkle with a sincerity as intense and with an artistic execution as thorough and as fresh as if the part were new, and as if he were playing it for the first time. The spontaneous drollery ; the wildwood freedom ; the endearing gentle- ness ; the piquant, quizzical sapience ; the unconscious humour; the pathetic blending of forlorn, wistful patience with awe-stricken apprehension ; the dazed, submissive, drifting surrender to the current of Fate ; and the appar- ently careless but clear-cut and beautiful method, — all those attributes, that bewitched the community long ago, remain unchanged, and have lost no particle of their charm. The details of those familiar attractions — the discomfiture of craft by simplicity, the expulsion from a desolated home, the flight into the night and the tempest, the aged wanderer's return, the recognition between father and daughter — are matters of general knowledge. Irradiated as they long have been by the genius of Jefferson, they could not be forgotten. It is forty years since he played the part for the first time ; 272 RIP VAN WINKLE Krorr:i ijl pl^otograph Toy Sarony. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 273 and although at the outset his performance was viewed with indifference, it is now recognised throughout the world as a great achievement. Most persons who have seen Jefferson as Rip would probably name that achieve- ment as essentially the most natural piece of acting ever presented within their ob'^ervation. In its effect it is natural ; in its method, in the process by which it is wrought, it is absolutely artificial. In that method — not forgetting the soul within that method — will be found the secret of its power ; in the art with which genius transfigures and interprets actual life ; and in that, furthermore, dwells the secret of all good acting. If you would produce the effect of nature, in dramatic art, you must not be natural ; you must be artificial, but you must seem to be natural. The same step, the same gesture, the same tone of voice, the same force of facial expression that you involuntarily use in the proceedings of actual, every-day life will not, upon the stage, prove adequate. They may indicate your meaning, but they will not convey it. Their result will be tame, narrow, and insufficient. Your step must be lengthened ; your tone must be elevated ; your facial muscles must be allowed a freer play ; the sound with which you in- tend to produce the effect of a sigh must leave your lips as a sob. The actor who is exactly natural in his demeanour and speech upon the stage — who acts and speaks precisely as he would act and speak in a room — wearies his audience, because he falls short of his object and is indefinite and commonplace. Jefferson, as Rip, has to present, among other aspects of human nature, a temperament that, to some extent, is swayed by an in- firmity, — the appetite for intoxicant liquor. That, in 274 LIFE OF JEFFERSON actual life, is offensive ; but that, as shown by Jefferson, when it reaches his auditors reaches them only as the token or suggestion of an amiable weakness ; and that weakness, and not the symptom of it, is the spring of the whole character and action. The hiccough with which Rip looks in at the window of the cottage where the offended Gretchen is waiting for him, is not the obnoxious hiccough of a sot, but the playful hiccough of an artist who is only suggesting a sot. The effect is natural. The process is artificial. Jefferson constantly addresses the imagination, and he uses imagination with which to address it. In actual life the garments worn by Rip would be soiled. In Jefferson's artistic scheme the studied shabbiness and carefully selected tatters are scrupulously clean ; and they are made not only harmo- nious in colour, — and thus so pleasing to the eye that they attract no especial attention, — but accordant with the sweet drollery and listless, indolent, drifting spirit of the character. No idea could easily be suggested more incongruous with probability, more unnatural and fantastic, than the idea of a tipsy vagabond encircled by a ring of Dutch ghosts, on the top of a mountain, in the middle of the night ; but when Jefferson — by the deep feeling and affluent imagination with which he fills the scene, and by the vigilant, firm, unerring, technical skill with which he controls his forces and guides them to effect — has made that idea a living fact, no spectator of the weird, thrilling, pathetic picture ever thinks of it as unnatural. The illusion is perfect, and it is perfectly maintained. All along its line the character of Rip — the impossible hero of an impossible experience — is so essentially unnatural that if it were impersonated in the LIP"E OF JEFFERSON 275 literal manner of nature it would produce the effect of whirling extravagance. Jefferson, pouring his soul into an ideal of which he is himself the creator, — -an ideal which does not exist either in Washington Irving' s story, or Charles Burke's play, or Dion Boucicault's adaptation of Burke, — and treating that idea in a poetic spirit, as to every fibre, tone, hue, motion, and attitude, has made Rip as natural as if we had personally partici- pated in his aimless and wandering life. So potent, indeed, is the poetic art of the actor that the dog Schneider, who is never shown, possesses, all the same, a positive existence in our thoughts. The principal truth denoted by Jefferson's acting, therefore, is the necessity of clear perception of what is meant by "nature." The heights are reached only when inspira- tion is guided by intellectual purpose and used with ar- tistic skill. Shakespeare, with his incomparable felicity, has crystallised this principle into diamond light : — "• Over that art, Which you say adds to nature, is an art Which nature makes." The same law should decide the question of correct- ness in the staging and dressing of plays. Correctness is essential, but it can be carried too far. Cardinal Wolsey had only one good eye, — a peculiarity that is thought to account for the fact that he was always painted in profile ; but the stage representative of Car- dinal Wolsey could scarcely be expected to extinguish an optic for the sake of perfecting his resemblance to that historical person. It would be natural and correct for Queen Katherine to resort to her pocket-handker- chief. Few ladies have been furnished with better 276 LIFE OF JEFFERSON reason for tears. But if that deposed and afflicted monarch were to sound a bugle note in the vision scene of King Hciiry VIII. it is obvious that the illusion would be destroyed. If the pla}'s of MachetJi and Lear were to be dressed in strict accordance with the custom of their respective periods, some of the persons in them would appear in skins, — chiefly their own. There is no wisdom in an over-scrupulous fidelity to fact. When Henry Irving accomplished his beautiful production of Charles the First, which opens with a scene at Hampton Court, showing the artificial lakes girded with superb trees, as they are at present, one sapient observer prom})tly advised him, by post, that he had made a serious mistake, because there were no trees at Hamp- ton in Charles's time. No such consideration is of the least importance. Upon the stage, where the story of a life or of a long historic period must be told in two or three hours, the essential result is effect. To that must be sacrificed correctness and all that is ordinarily meant by "nature." The actor will not make his audience cry, if he unrestrictedly cries himself. He will not make his audience feel, if his own feeling escapes from his control. Munden's answer to the youthful aspirant who had an- nounced his purpose to be "natural" in comedy was peremptory, but sensible : " Nature be damned ! You make your audience laugh!" Garrick, when playing King Lear, would walk up the stage, while waiting for the applause to subside after one of his tempestuous outbursts in that character, and with a grimace and a chuckle, whispering to the Fool, — played by Austin, — would say, "Joe, this is stage feeling." Yet Garrick had a command over the emotions of his auditors such LIFE OF JEFFERSON 277 as no other actor has surpassed, and few have ever equalled. Mrs. Siddons, when playing Constance, wept over Prince Arthur to such an extent that his collar was wet with her tears ; yet when she rushed from the stage, in the full tide of overwhelming anguish, as Constance or Belvidera or Mrs. Beverley, she would walk placidly to the green-room, taking snuff with the utmost com- posure. Once, addressing an associate who was per- forming with her, in TJic Deserter, she gravely added, after praising his performance : " But, Kelly, you feel too much. If you feel so strongly you will never make an actor." One of Talma's best effects in acting was obtained by his use of a cry of anguish which he had first uttered on suddenly hearing of his mother's death, — and which he had immediately committed to memory, Edmund Kean gave a certain sob, when he said, "Othello's occupation's gone," which was irresistibly affecting, until he fell into the custom of using it too often. "They have found me out," he said, on one occasion, when it was hissed. Mrs. Mowatt records that once when she was acting Mrs. Haller, with Mr. Moorhouse as the Stranger, in the most pathetic passage of that play, the audience being in tears, the afflicted Stran- ger murmured in her ear, "They are sending round umbrellas." The most comical wink I ever saw was bestowed upon me, as an auditor on the front seat, by that great actor Edwin Booth, who, in the terrible char- acter of Richard III., was standing upon the stage and just about to interrupt the funeral procession of King Henry VI. Those illustrations indicate the first princi- ple of dramatic art, — absolute self-command. Those players were not insincere. Mrs. Siddons was not less 27S LIFE OF JEFFERSON in earnest because she did not allow herself to be swept away by her feelings. There never was a greater artist. "Cooke," said Lord Byron, "was the most natural actor, Kemble the most supernatural, Kean the medium be- tween the two ; but Mrs. Siddons was worth them all put together." In dramatic writing the primal necessity is the same. The first things to be considered are action and effect. Dion Boucicault — who was not remarkable as a writer, and who, as an actor, was technical, mechanical, and imitative — possessed a rare and fine talent for compo- sition essentially dramatic. His little play of Kerry is an alteration and rearrangement of a well-known French comedy, Le Joic Fait Pcur, and his performance of Kerry was an Irish copy of an embodiment that he saw given by a good French comedian. His fine drama of Daddy O'Doiud was deduced from the much older play of The Porter s Knot, and his performance as O'Dowd was an Irish copy of Benjamin Webster. His excellent impersonation of the Shaughraun — by which he was best known and by which, probably, he will be best remembered — was an Irish copy of Jefferson's Rip Van Winkle, in the youthful part of it. If Bouci- cault had not known the one — originated and suggested to him by Jefferson — he would not have thought of the other. There is abundant discrepancy between the two figures, but the spirit and the dramatic purpose are the same in both. Boucicault almost always knew a good thing when he saw it, and his insti-nct as to dramatic effect was inerrant. In his play of The Octoroon, — based on one of the stories of Captain Mayne Reid, — the action is so copious and so incessant that the piece LIFE OF JEFFERSON 279 may be said actually to lack the relief of sufficient words. It was in that piece that the daguerreotype was first used as a dramatic expedient. It is left for a moment exposed in a lonely place, and in that moment it catches the visage of a murderer in the very act of his crime, — a picture to be subsequently used with fatal, irresistible effect. No one who ever saw that piece will forget the sudden parting of the cane-brake in the swamp, the swift appearance of the avenging Indian, his momentary pause, and then his stealthy, implacable, terrible exit, upon the track of the assassin. In his play of Jessie Brown, — which illustrates that fictitious story, wholly a newspaper invention, about the Scotch girl who heard afar off, and before any one else could hear it, the slogan of the Macgregor, at the Relief of Lucknow, — there is a wonderful dramatic moment, and it is a moment entirely without words. It is the moment when the suspicious Nana Sahib, impassive but malignant and sinister, pauses watchfully beside the captive Jessie, who is sitting upon the floor, upon a bit of carpet that covers the hole through which the English soldiers are presently to make their entrance. Those soldiers have mined a passage beneath the palace, and the desired relief is close at hand. The least symptom of discom- posure on the part of the girl would now be fatal. She sits there, upon the brink of the deadliest peril, and as she sways her body gently to and fro, she softly sings the melody of the Bine Bells of Scotland, while the fateful eyes of the impacable Indian gaze on her in mute deliberation and reptile menace. The suspense of that situation cannot be conveyed in words, — it must be felt. That is true drama. Another illustration of it 280 LIFE OF JEFFERSON would be found in Boucicault's play of Belle Lamar. That piece opens with a moonlit, rustic scene on the banks of the Potomac. A Federal soldier is pacing up and down in the silence, — a sentry at his post. Pres- ently, thinking perhaps of his sweetheart at home, he breaks into song, and then he is again silent. In the stillness that follows, high, clear, vibrant, the voice of an unseen Confederate sentinel, across the river, peals out the silver melody of Maryland, My Maryland, while the Federal picket stops on his beat and listens. In that effect was instantly crystallised the whole idea of opposition and contrast in the Civil War. It was, in a modified form, an application of Shakespeare's thought, in the prelude to Act IV. of Henry V. : — " Now entertain conjecture of a time When creeping murmur and the poring dark Fills the wide vessel of the universe. From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night. The hum of either army stilly sounds, That the fixed sentinels almost receive The secret whispers of each other's watch. Fire answers fire : and through their paly flames Each battle sees the other's umber'd face. Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs, Piercing the night's dull ear ; and from the tents The armourers, accomplishing the knights, With busy hammers closing rivets up. Give dreadful note of preparation." In another of Boucicault's plays. The Lojig Strike, — which was based on a novel by Mrs. Gaskell, — there is a remarkably felicitous illustration of the dramatic prin- ciple. A benevolent but crusty old bachelor lawyer, LIFE OF JEFFERSON 281 Mr. Moneypenny, — beautifully acted by James H. Stod- dart,^ — is disturbed at his evening fireside by the visita- tion of a poor girl, who has been waiting at his door for some hours in the cold, who seems very wretched, and who will not go away. For a brief time he is resolute, and he will not allow her to come in. But he cannot compose himself and, after much grumbling, he permits her approach. The girl is in great trouble. Her sweet- heart is accused of murder. He is innocent. The tes- 1 James H. Stoddart, a native of Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, was born October 21, 1827. His father was an actor, and for twenty-five years was associated with the Theatre Royal at Glasgow, under the management of John Henry Alexander. In that theatre Stoddart began his career, while yet a boy, — going on as page, peasant, juvenile lord, or other such subsidiary person, receiving one shilling a night when he had a speaking part, and sixpence a night when he was not required to speak. He did not, however, long remain there, but, in association with a younger brother, formed a company at Aberdeen, and thence wandered for a time through the north of Scotland. At Aberdeen, in November, 1848, he played Hamlet. He was subsequently associated with theatres in York- shire, and thence he went to Liverpool, and in 1854 he came to America. His first appearance was announced at Burton's theatre, September 6, 1854, as Sir Anthony Absolute, but he appeared at Wallack's, September 7, as Sowerberry, in A Phenomenon in a Smock Frock. He has been associated with Laura Keene's theatre, the Olympic, the Winter Garden, the Union Square, the Madison Square, and Palmer's theatre. In a letter about his early days Stoddart wrote (December 3, 1892) as follows: — " Alexander in the course of his seasons played a great many patriotic Scotch dramas in which my oldest brother and myself were often opposed to each other in deadly strife. We were quite celebrated for our combats, two up and two down sort of thing. He being the older, always killed me, but even in defeat I came off with the honours, for when I was stabbed I used to pause for a moment, make myself quite rigid, and then fall back- wards; it always got a recognition, and I obtained quite a reputation for my back falls: so much so that my brother wanted to be the defeated party, but I would not have it. My brother and I were together in Glasgow for many winters, wandering through the smaller places in the north of Scotland the other portion of the year. The dear lad is long since dead. I still look back to the wanderings of my boyhood life as the happiest of all my theatrical career." 282 LIFE OF JEFFERSON timony of one man, and that only, can save his life. The man is a sailor, on board of a ship that has just sailed from Liverpool. If that sailor can be recalled, the girl's lover can be vindicated and rescued. The old lawyer becomes interested. There is, he explains, one chance. The telegraph from Liverpool may stop that ship at the mouth of the Mersey. That chance shall be taken. The scene changes to the office of the telegraph. The old man and the girl enter, among others, and the lawyer offers his dispatch. The clerk declines it. The station at the Heads, he declares, has long been closed for the night. The dispatch of a message would be useless. The lawyer pleads. The operator, at first impatient, then more considerate, finally assents to his request. He will signal the seaside station. This he proceeds to do. There is no response. The office is about to close. All the people are gone, except the operator, the lawyer, and the girl. There is a moment of dead and despairing silence. Li that moment, suddenly, — vibrating through the stillness with a quick, sharp, decisive sound that makes every heart leap with joy, — comes the click of the telegraph, answering from the coast. The operator is by chance still there ; the message can be sent, and the ship can be stopped. What follows is, of course, happiness. No other effect in any of Boucicault's plays is commensurate with that of the telegraph, and it would be hard to find any other effect so dramatic in any mod- ern play. It applies to domestic drama the principle so superbly denoted by Shakespeare in the knocking at the gate in MachetJi. It is not pretended that excellence in the drama is dependent upon mechanical devices. The stage-carpen- LIFE OF JEFFERSON 283 ter cannot take the place of the dramatist. It is only meant that there is a dramatic way of telling a story, and that the narrative way — which is the way natural to most writers — does not produce a dramatic effect. If everything could be put into words there would be no need of the stage, and the occupation of the actor would be gone. Dramatic art supplies an element that nothing else can give. You can read and enjoy Hamlet in your library; but you will enjoy it much more if, having read it, you see it rightly acted. Consider, for example, the startling significance of the first line in that tragedy. In Hamlet the ghost of a king, who has been murdered, haunts the castle of Elsinore. That ghost is supposed to have been seen before the piece opens. The time is midnight; the place, a platform in the castle. A sentinel, Francisco, is alone, on guard. We do not know that he has seen the spectre. We do not know that he has heard of it. His fellow-soldiers, Bernardo and Marcellus, however, have seen it, and they may have whispered of it. There is an influence about the place, an atmosphere, — a brooding, ominous, stealthy, sinister dread. Francisco feels that influence. The night is cold. There is no light but that of stars, and there is no sound but that of the moaning- wind. Suddenly something like a footstep startles the sentry, and his quick challenge is the first line of the play, — "Who's there.?" In those two words Shakespeare strikes the key-note of his tragedy. The whole opening colloquy is thrilled with "supernatural soliciting." It is Bernardo who approaches, who has seen the ghost, and who has no mind to be left alone. " Have you had quiet guard .? " he says ; and, later, — 284 LIFE OF JEFFERSON " If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.'*'' The full effect of that scene can only be communicated by interpretation. The moment is an awful one. Words cannot express it. Action, and that only, can awaken the awe and terror that it ought to inspire. That is stage art. In the production of Ttvelfth Night, as that was accomplished at Daly's theatre, in the season of 1892- 93, — a production of extraordinary beauty, in which Miss Ada Rehan attained to the summit of excellence as a poetic actress, presenting the beautiful character of Viola, — there was a striking illustration of the dramatic method, as contrasted with that of words. The scene is Olivia's garden. The time is evening. Viola, dis- guised as the minstrel, Cesario, having received an intimation that perhaps her brother, Sebastian, has not been drowned, has spoken her joyous soliloquy upon that auspicious thought, and has sunk into a seat, in meditation. The moon is rising over the distant sea, and in the fancied freshness of the balmy rising breeze you can almost hear the ripple of the leaves. The love- lorn Orsino enters, with many musicians, and they sing a serenade, beneath the windows of Olivia's palace. The proud beauty comes forth upon her balcony, and, parting her veil, looks down upon Viola, — whom she loves, supposing her to be a man. Meantime, Orsino is gazing up at Olivia, whom he worships ; while Viola is gazing on Orsino, whom she adores. Not a word is needed. The garden is all in moonlight ; the delicious music flows on; and over that picture — entirely dra- LIFE OF JEFFERSON 285 matic, crystallising into one diamond point the whole meaning of the comedy — the curtain slowly falls. It will be observed that these expedients of dramatic treatment derive their force from their harmony with the purpose of the play. One of the most touching and beautiful effects that I ever saw accomplished in acting was accomplished by Charles Dillon, an actor almost forgotten now, who came to America many years ago (1866), and represented, among other characters, Belphe- gor, in The Moimtebank. Belphegor is a strolling player, a good fellow, very poor, who has married a girl of good family, whom he loves to idolatry. It is his wife's birthday. He wishes to signalise it, and he has saved a few bits of money and bought a shawl. On this day his wife — persuaded by her wealthy relatives, and because her little daughter is starved — leaves in their lodging a letter of farewell for her husband, and goes away. The room is empty. Dillon came into that room, eager, exultant, bringing his gift, and guarding it as if it were the treasure of the world. He was in ecstasy at being able to offer that little token of love and remembrance. He found the letter and read it : his figure drooped ; the whole man seemed to collapse ; the light faded out of his face ; he said nothing, but, as he walked feebly up the room, the shawl, or mantle, dropped from his arm, unrolling itself as it fell, and was negligently trodden under his feet. It is impossible to express the pathos of that simple action. There was the touch of genius in it, that captures every heart. ^ 1 Poor Dillon had the infirmity of drink, and his life was in a great degree wasted. He was born in 1819, and he began as an actor in Rich- ardson's Show. He fell dead in the street, at Harwick, England, in 1881. 286 LIFE OF JEFFERSON A companion effect to that was wrought by Jefferson, in a play by Boucicault, called The Pai'ish Clerk, — never acted in America, but presented by Jefferson, many years ago, at Manchester, England. The Parish Clerk is a gentle, generous young fellow, a teacher in an English village school. He loves a girl of the village, and he wishes to ask her to become his wife ; but the local Doctor — who also loves that beautiful girl, and who wishes to get his rival out of the way — apprises the Parish Clerk that his health is broken, and that he will, probably, die within a year. The poor teacher, believing this, and knowing his health to be frail, de- termines that it would be wrong for him to ask the girl to share his lot, and decides that he must remain silent and go away. Then comes a scene intrinsically dra- matic and of great value. The time is night. The stage displays the rough and simple interior of a rustic school-house. Through a large window at the back the moonlight streams in upon the scrawled and notched benches, the ink-stained forms, the school-master's desk, the coarse floor, and the common walls. The room is vacant. Soon the figure of the teacher, visible through the window, appears in the road, outside. He comes to the door, unlocks it, enters, and takes his place at the desk. He has come there to take his last look at the room, and to say his farewell words to the children whom he loves. Those children are present only in his fancy. He calls them, one by one ; he speaks of their i)ranks and mischief, their toys and their play, their studies and their future ; he bids them good-bye ; he breaks down, sobbing, and rushes away into the night ; and over his exit the curtain falls. There are LIFE OF JEFFERSON 2S7 but two or three lines in the text for the Parish Clerk to speak. Jefferson said whatever he happened to think of and to feel. It was not essential to be coherent. There was the situation for the actor, and there was the actor to fill it. No narrative, no literary style, no language. But there was the dramatic presentment of character and life, under ideal conditions ; and the audience was overwhelmed by it. The same cause will always produce the same effect. The play of Rip Van Winkle, as interpreted by Jefferson, contains that same dramatic quality ; and it produces, accordingly, the same potent result. The province of stage art is not to interpret and glorify the artist, ministering to his vanity and ending in the barren commodity of human admiration, but to spiritualise and ennoble the auditor. That province it fulfils by the communication of beauty and power. The true artist cares not for either censure or praise. His object is expression, and in the pursuit of that object he obeys an impulse as deep as the centre of the world. He is the minister of beauty and power, and precisely in proportion to his fidelity is the value of his utterance to others. The songs of Burns are precious to our hearts forever, not because they are the expression of the poet, but because they are the expression of our- selves. The emotion of Gray's immortal Elegy is ele- mental in the human soul, and hence that superb and supreme utterance of it is the fulfilment of our desire. Those artists and others of their kindred have spoken for us, fully and finally, and in a manner far beyond our faculties of speech, the feeling that we should like to have uttered for ourselves. When you reail Words- 2S8 LIFE OF JEFFERSON worth's great Ode on Immortality the mists are dispersed from your mind, and you hear, in the temple of your soul, the voice not only of serene spiritual hope but of exultant conviction. While I listened to the funeral sermon on General Grant, in Westminster Abbey, I was unmoved ; but when, at the close of that discourse, the glorious strains of Handel's Dead AlarcJi burst forth from the great organ and soared beneath the fretted vault of that sublime cathedral, my spirit seemed borne away to heaven, and all that I could feel or dream of glory was expressed. The great composer, the artist in music, had fulfilled his mission. Emerson, in his large, fine manner, has designated the poet as "a man without an impediment." It is a definition that covers all the arts, — for they are sisters and inseparable, — and it is because so many spirits are imprisoned in silence that the vocal spirit is so gratefully and gladly heard. The poet Holmes has said this, in words of tender grace : — " A few can touch the magic string, And noisy fame is glad to win them : Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them! " As with the arts of poetry and music, so also is it with the art of acting, — the art not simply of imitating human nature and human life, but of transfiguring and interpreting them in forms of beauty and power. The actor who presents himself merely from the impulse of personal vanity, and whose quest is merely the admira- tion of others, is like a painter who offers a gilded frame instead of a picture. He brings no message. He has nothing to communicate. Like a bubble he floats and LIFE OF JEFFERSON 289 glistens, and like a bubble he disappears. Rut the actor of authentic genius, the actor who is faithful all his days to the service of ideal beauty, comes upon our lives as a joy and a comfort, and lives in our memories as a perpetual benediction. " The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more.'' I MEMORIALS I MEMORIALS OUR STAGE IN ITS PALMY DAYS Upon the state of the stage in America, early in the nine- teenth century, — viewing it as an institution existing broadcast and only prosperous at special places, and making allowance for the eccentricity of the writer, — some useful light is thrown by a letter which was addressed by Junius Brutus Booth, father of Edwin Booth, to the comedian George Holland, in 1826. A copy of that manuscript was given to me by Holland, in 1870, and by me was first published, in July of that year. J. B. BOOTH TO GEORGE HOLLAND. New York, Xmas Eve, 1826. but direct y'r letter to the Theatre Baltimore U States. My Dear Sir : Messrs. Wallack and Freeman, a few days since, shewed me your letter, with the inclosure sent last winter to you at Sheffield. It is requisite that I inform you Theatricals are not in so flourishing a condition in this Country as they were some two years ago. There are four Theatres in this City each endeavoring to ruin the others, by foul means as well as fair. The reduction of the prices of admission has proved (as I always anticipated from the first suggestion of such a foolish plan) nearly ruinous to the Managers. The Pul)lick here often witness a Performance in every respect equal to what is presented at the Theatres Royal D. L. and C. G. for these prices. Half a Dollar to the Boxes and a quarter do. to the Pit and Gallery ! The Chatham Theatre of which I am tlic Stage-Manager, at these low prices [holds] one thousand Dollars. — Acting is sold too cheap to the Fublick and the result will be a general theatrical l)ankruptcy. Tragedians are in abundance — Macready — Conway — Hamblin Forrest (now No. i) Cooper, Wallack — Maywood and self with divers 293 294 LIFE OV JEFFERSON others now invest New-York, But it won't do; a diversion to the south must be made — or to Jail three-fourths of the Great men and Managers must go. Now Sir, I will deal fairly with you. If you will pledge yourself to me for three years, and sacredly promise that no inducement which may be held out by the unprincipled and daring speculators which abound in this country shall cause you to leave me, I will, for ten months in each year, give you thirty dollars per week, and an annual benefit which you shall divide with me. Beyond this sum I would not venture, the privilege of your name for Benefits Extra to be allowed me — and I should expect the terms on which you would be engaged to remain secret from all but ourselves. Mind this — whether you play in my Theatres or elsewhere in the U States, I should look for implicit and faithful performance of your duty toward me or my colleagues ! In case I should require you to travel, when in the United States, which is most probable, I will defray all the charges of conveyance for you and your luggage — your living would not be included either by land or water — Boarding (three meals a day,) and your Bed room, may be had in very respectable houses here & in Baltimore at from four to six dollars per week — " Lodgings to let " are very scarce and expensive, and the customs of this country, in this respect, are essen- tially different to those of the English. The M. S. and music of Paul Pry, with Faustus's music Do. and Book of the Pilot, the M. S. and Do. of a piece played some few years back at Sadlers Wells, call'd " the Gheber or the Fire Worshippers," two or three of Liston's new pieces I should advise you to bring. And particularly the Gheber, for me. The Mogul Tale here is out of print. In the Exeter Theatre last January were two actresses that I should like to engage. Miss P (not the Miss P. formerly of Drury Lane) and Miss H. If you will inquire after them — I will thank you. To each of these ladies a salary of fifteen dollars a week I can venture offering — 15 dollars are upward of three Guineas and Benefit annually. Now, Sir, I have offered to you and those Ladies as much as I can in honesty afford to give, their travelling expenses to and from Theatres in the United States (not including board) I should defray, as I told you respecting your own — and the use of their names for benefits on Stock nights. — Your line of business would be exclusively jowrj. For the ladies I would not make this guaranty — The greatest actress in the World I may say is now in this city (Mrs. D ) and several very talented women — besides I would endeavor to make such arrangements for Miss P and Miss H as would not be very repugnant to their ambition. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 295 The reason Mrs. D does not go to London is my strenuous advice to her against it. — The passages from Europe I should expect repaid to me out of the salaries, by weekly deductions of three dollars each. The captain of the ship would call upon the parties or you might write to them on his visit to you. Everything on board will be furnished that is requisite for comfort, and the expenses I will settle for here previous to starting. Mind the ship you would come over in is one expressly bargained for, and will bring you where I shall (if living) be ready to welcome you — Let me recomend you to Economy — see what a number of our breth- ren are reduced to Indigence by their obstinate Vanity — I have here Mr. D who was once in London the rival of Elliston, and is now a better actor — approaching the age of sixty, and not a dollar put by for a rainy day — too proud to accept a salary of twenty dollars per week in a regular engagement — he stars and starves. Many have been deceived and misled in their calculations in coming to this country — some have cut their throats &c from disappointment — Mrs. Romer (once of the Surrey) Mrs. Alsop Mr. Entwistle — Kirby the Clown — are all on the felo de se list — with others I now forget — The temptations to Drunkenness here are too common and too power- ful for many weak beings who construe the approval of a boisterous circle of intoxicated fools as the climax of everything desirable in their profes- sion — What do they find it, when a weakened shattered fraim, with loss of memory and often reason, are the results — The hangers on — drop astern — and the poor wreck drives down the Gulf despised or pitied, and totally deserted. If you choose accepting my offer — get for me those ladies. Sims can perhaps tell you where they are, and I will on the first occasion send for you and them., with the articles of agreement to be signed in London and legally ratified on your arrival in America — recollect this — the Passages in Summer, owing to the calms are longer in performing, but they are much safer, and the Newfoundland Bank is an ugly place to cross in Winter, though it is often done, yet still it is a great risk. The Crisis which left London Docks, last January, with all her passen- gers, after being out for 68 days, and being spoken to on the banks by another vessel — is not yet come or will she ever — The icebergs no doubt struck her, as they have many — and the last farewell was echoed by the waves. — Write to me soon and glean the information I ask for — The letter bag for United States vessels, from London, is kept at tlie North American Coffee House near the Bank of England. Yours truly, Booth. 296 LIFE OF JEFFERSON MR. H Notice of the First Performance of Charles Lamb's Farce, Mr. H, at Drury Lane Theatre, London. December lo, 1806. Mr. H. Under this singular title a farce was produced on this evening, preceded by an excellent prologue. ... It is a farce of very broad humour, and ipite sui generis. The decision, though ultimately unfavourable, should not discourage the writer, who, as we understand, is a gentleman in the India house. The whole turns upon a man's dislike to his own name, and after numerous whimsical embarrassments, occasioned by his persisting to call himself Mr. H., with his servants, the lady to whom he is attached, and in public company, he inadvertently discovers that his name is Hogsflesh. The house was convulsed with laughter through the whole of the first act. In the second the incidents increased in extravagance, and, a few coarse expressions occurring, those who came to laugh, and had laughed most immoderately, exercised their remaining privilege, less grateful to an author's feelings, and the curtain dropped amidst so much disapprobation that the piece was withdrawn by the writer, after having been a second time announced in the bills. — The Monthly Mirror, Vol. XXII., p. 420, London, 1806. Lamb's Prologue to his farce of Mr. H. Spoken by Elliston. If we have sinn'd in paring clown a name, All civil well-bred authors do the same. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 297 Survey the columns of our daily writers — You'll find that some initials are great fighters : — How fierce the shock, how fatal is the jar, When Ensign W. meets Lieutenant R., With two stout seconds, just of their own gizzard, Cross Captain X. and rough old General Izzard ! Letter to letter spread the dire alarms. Till half the alphabet is up in arms. Nor with less lustre have initials shone. To grace the gentler annals of Crim — Con., Where the dispensers of the public lash, Soft penance give — a letter and a dash — . Where vice, reduced in size, shrinks to a failing, And loses half its grossness by curtailing. Faux-pas are told in such a modest way — " The affair of Colonel B. with Mrs. A." You must excuse them — for what is there, say, Which such a pliant vowel must not grant To such a very pressing consonant ! Or who poetic justice dares dispute When, mildly melting at a lover's suite, The wife's a Liquid — her good man, a Mute! Even in the homelier scenes of honest life. The coarse-spun intercourse of man and wife, Initials, I arn told, have taken place Of deary, spouse, and that old-fashioned race : And Cabbage, ask'd by brother Snip to tea, Replies, "I'll come — but it don't rest with me — " I always leaves them things to Mrs. C ." O should this mincing fashion ever spread From names of living heroes to the dead, , How would ambition sigh and hang her head. As each lov'd syllable should melt away. Her Alexander turn'd into great A. A single C her Cajsar to express — Her Scipio shorten'd to a Roman S — And, nick'd and dock'd to these new modes of speech, Great Hannibal himself a Mr. II 298 LIFE OF JEFFERSON WILLIAM WARREN 1S12-1888 My chronicles of the Jefferson Family of Actors, when, in another form, they were first published (1881), were dedicated to the comedian William Warren, now dead and gone. That dedication, together with Warren's letter accepting it, may appropriately be preserved in this place. 2r})ts iilcmorial of tljc Scffrrsons IS DEDICATED BY ITS AUTHOR TO THEIR FAMOUS KINSMAN WILLIAM WARRExN, ACTOR, SCHOLAR, AND COMRADE, WHOSE QUAINT AND TENDER GENIUS IN DRAMATIC ART HAS GIVEN HAPPINESS TO THOUSANDS, AND WHOSE EXALTED VIRTUES AND GENTLE LIFE HAVE MADE HIM AN EXAMPLE AND AN HONOUR TO THE STAGE AND THE COMMUNITY. "Augusta, Maine, May 31, 1881. " My Dear Winter : Your kind letter came to me last night, at Bangor. I do accept, with my best thanks, the proffered courtesy of the dedication of your coming book, the Biography of the Jefferson Family of Actors. Wishing you every success, in that, and all things. Believe me, ever yours, William Warren." WILL-IA.M WAKREX. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 299 Some account of Warren has been given in this book (see pages 56, 57). On October 27, 1882, the comedian com- jjleted his fiftieth year upon the stage. Commemorative per- formances were given at the Boston Museum, on Saturday afternoon and evening, October 28. Warren played Dr. Pangloss in the afternoon and Sir Peter Teazle at night ; and after the public ceremonials were ended a party of his friends waited upon him, at his lodgings. No. 2 Bulfinch place, and conveyed to him a loving-cup, made of silver and gold, bearing this inscription : — TO WILLIAM WARREN, ON THE COMPLETION OF HIS FIFTIETH YEAR UPON THE STAGE, OCT. 27, 1882. FROM JOSEPH JEFFERSON JOHN McCULLOUGH EDWIN BOOTH LAWRENCE BARRETT MARY ANDERSON The committee having charge of this gift comprised James R. Osgood, Nathan Appleton, F. G. Vinton, R. M. Field, T. R. Sullivan, and the writer of this biography, who spoke as follows : SPEECH AND POEM BY WILLIAM WINTER. It is our desire that the ceremonial to which we now ask your attention, while it possesses all the earnestness appropriate to a manifestation of affectionate friendship, shall not be em- barrassed by even the slightest tinge of painful formality. For this reason we have sought you in your home, instead of accost- ing you upon the stage, amid the festivities of this brilliant and auspicious day. Your friends in Boston (which is equivalent to 300 LIFE OF JEFFERSON saying Boston itself) have had a golden opportunity, and have improved it in a glorious manner, of expressing their personal good-will, their esteem for your character, their appreciation of your achievements, and their just and natural pride in your renown. It is no common triumph to have gained such a reputation as yours, in such a city as Boston. But the fame of your genius and the knowledge of your deeds and virtues are not confined to the city of your residence. A great actor belongs to the nation and to the age. In every theatre in the United States, and at thousands of hearthstones, alike in your own country and in the lovely motherland beyond the sea, — where your line was so honourably and famously founded, — your name, to-night, has been spoken with tender respect and unaffected homage. In order that you may be reminded of this, and may be cheered, not alone with present plaudits, but with happy remembrance of the absent friends who are thinking of you now, I have been commissioned by five of the leading members of your profession, — Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Booth, Mary Anderson, Lawrence Barrett, and John McCullough, — to come into your presence and, in their names and with fer- vent assurance of their affection and sympathy, to beg your acceptance of this loving-cup, which is their gift. It is less bright than their friendship ; it is less permanent than their sense of your worth and their esteem for your virtues. Accept it, with all that it denotes, of joy in the triumph of the actor and of pride in the gentle, loving, blameless character and life of the man. Roses have ever been esteemed the pledges and emblems of faithful love. In the name of your absent friends, in the name of the thousands whom in time past you have delighted and cheered, in the name of your comrades of the Boston Museum, with whom you have been so long and so pleasantly associated, and finally, in the name of the friends now clustered around you in affection and glndness, I cast these roses before you ; LIFE OF JEFFERSON 301 and I am bold enough, — presuming on your patience, and remembering the many years through which we have been friends, — to add my personal tribute, in the lines which I now read. Red globes of autumn strew the sod, The bannered woods wear crimson shields, The aster and the golden-rod Deck all the fields. No clarion blast, at morning blown, Should greet the way-worn veteran here. Nor roll of drum nor trumpet-tone Assail his ear. No jewelled ensigns now should smite, With jarring flash, down emerald steeps, Where sweetly in the sunset light The valley sleeps. No bolder ray should bathe this bower Than when, above the ghmmering stream, The crescent moon, in twilight's hour, First sheds her beam. No ruder note should break the thrall, That love and peace and honour weave, Than some lone wild-bird's gentle call. At summer eve. But here should float the voice of song — Like evening winds in autumn leaves, Sweet with the balm they waft along From golden sheaves. The sacred past should feel its spell, And here should murmur, soft and low. The voices that he loved so well, — Long, long ago. The vanished scenes should give to tliis The cherished forms of other days, And rosy lips that felt his kiss Breathe out his praise. 302 LIFE OF JEFFERSON The comrades of his young renown Should proudly throng around him now, When falls the spotless laurel crown Upon his brow. Not in their clamorous shouts who make The noonday pomp of glory's lord Does the true soul of manhood take Its high reward. But when from all the glimmering years Beneath the moonlight of the past The strong and tender spirit hears " Well done," at last; When love looks forth from heavenly eyes, And heavenly voices make acclaim, And all his deeds of kindness rise To bless his name; When all that has been sweetly blends With all that is, and both revere The life so lovely in its ends, So pure, so dear; Then leaps indeed the golden flame Of blissful pride to rapture's brim — The fire that sacramental fame Has lit for him ! For him who, lord of joy and woe, Through half a century's snow-w hite years Has gently ruled, in humour's glow. The fount of tears. True, simple, earnest, patient, kind, Through griefs that many a weaker will Had stricken dead, his noble mind Was constant still. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 303 Sweet, tender, playful, thoughtful, droll, His gentle genius still has made Mirth's perfect sunshine in the soul. And pity's shade. With amaranths of eternal spring Be all his life's calm evening drest, While summer winds around him sing The songs of rest ! And thou, O Memory, strange and dread, That stand'st on heaven's ascending slope. Lay softly on his reverend head The wreath of hope ! So softly, — when the port he wins, To which life's happiest breezes blow, — That where earth ends and heaven begins He shall not know. HACKETT IN ENGLAND Jefferson's most popular predecessor in the character of Rip Van Winkle was James H. Hackett. Mention has been made of his visit to England in 1832. He returned to America in the summer of 1833. A memento of that English visit — being also an illustrative document of a distant time — may not be deemed inappropriate here. This is one of the Hackett playbills of 1832-33, and it is a curiosity : — TlIEATKK ROVAL, CoVENT GARDEN. To-morrow, THURSDAY, March 14. 18.1:1, (.3()th time) the Drama of NELL GWYNNE The Scetienj painted by .Vr. (!IUi:\i:. Mr. T. (IIUEVK, ATr. IP. GRIEVE, and asaiatiints. Kinj; Charles the Second, Mr. JONES, Sir C. Barkeley. Mr. FOKESTEK Cliarles Hart, 1 Mnnaqpr^ of the King's ITieatre, f .Mr. DUHISKP, Major Mohuu, )" ' Dninj-Lanf, 16(57, XMv. I'KMKINS. Betterton {Manager of the Duke's Theatre, Lincohi's-Inn) Mr. 1>I1>L)EAR 304 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Joe Haines {late of Dniry-Lane) Mr. MEADOWS, Counsellor Crowsfoot, Mr. BLANCHARD, Stockfish, Mr. F. MATTHEWS Nell Gwynne, Miss TAYLOR, Orange Moll, Mr. KEELEY Mrs. Snowdrop, Mrs. DALY. Scenery painted for this Piece— KXTERIOR OF DRURY LANE THEATRE in the TIME OP CHARLES II. LOBBY LEADING TO THE PIT OF DRURY-LANE THEATRE. INTERIOR OF THE MITRE TAVERN. PROSCENIUM, AND ROYAL BOX AT DRURY LANE. i'reparatory to " The Prologue by 3Irs. Ellen Gwynne^in a broad-brimmed Hat and Waist Belt.'''' (Vide Dryden's Conquest of Granada.) After which, (4th time) A NEW FARCE, called The KENTUCKIAN ; Or, A Trip to New York. Col. Nimrod Wildfire, (« Kentuckian) Mr. H A C K E T T, ( Performed by him ivith universal applause throuffhotit the UnitedStates of America) . Freeman, (a Neio York Merchant) Mr. F. MATTHEWS, Percival, {an English Merchant) Mr. DURUSET, Jenkins, {under the assumed name of Lord Granby) Mr. FORESTER, Csesar, {a Free Black Waiter at the Hotel) Mr. TURNOUR, Tradesman, Mr PAYNE, Countryman, Mr ADDISON, Servant, Mr HEATH Mrs. Luminary {a Tourist and Speculator) Mrs. GIBBS, Mrs. Freeman, Mrs. VINING, Caroline, Miss LEE, Mary, Mrs. DALY, Waiting Woman, Mrs. BROWN To conchide with the Opera of FRA-DIAVOLO: Or, THE INN OF TEBBAGINA With the Whole of the MUSIC, composed by Auber, Arranged and adapted to the EiigUsh stage by M. ItOINO LACY. Fra-Diavolo {A\s,s;a.\?,G(\. ?is the Marquis of San Carlo) Mr. WILSOX, Lord Allcash, Mr. DURUSET, Lorenzo, {Captain of Carbiniers) Mr. I. BENNETT, Matteo, Mr. MORLEY, Beppo, Mr. G. STANSBURY, Giacomo, Mr. RANSFORD. Francesco, Mr. CHICKINI, First Carbinier, Mr. MEARS, Second Carbinier, Mr. HENRY, Third Carbinier, Mr. IRWIN, Lady Allcash, Miss INVERARITY. Zerlina, {Matteo'' s Daughter) Miss E. ROMER. In Act III. AN INCIDENTAL BALLET, in which Mons. A. ALBERT, and Mad. PKOCHE GIUBIL,EI will appear. PLACES for the BOXES to be had of :Mr. NOTTKlt, at the BoxOftice, Il.art-Strect, from 'I'en till Four. OPERA GLASSES lent in the Theatre, by Mr. HUDSON, 28, Henrietta-street, Cavendish-square. LIFE OF JEFFERSON 305 REPUTATION ; or the State Secret, having been again received with the most entliusiastic applause, will be repeated on Saturday and Tuesday next. Hugo Istein, Mr. CHARLES KEAN. MR. HACKETT continuing to be honoured with raptui'ous approbation in the character of Colonel Nimrod Wildfire, and the whole performance having been received with incessant bursts of laughter and applause, The New Farce of The KENTUCKIAN or A Trip to New York, will be repeated To-3Iorroiv, Saturday, and Monday next. On Friday, (Last Night but Four) the hig-hly popular New Dramatic (!)ratorio, called The Israelites in Egypt; or, the Passage of the Red Sea. Moses, Mr. H. PHILLIPS, Aaron, Mr. WILSON, Pharaoh, Mr. E. SEGUIN, Amenophis, Mr. WOOD, Siuaide, Miss SHIREEFF, Annai, Mrs. WOOD. On Saturday, (7th time) REPUTATION, or the State Secret. After which, the New Farce of The Kentuckian, or A Trip to New York. With The WATERMAN. Tom Tug, Mr. H. PHILLIPS. On Monday, the Play of The HUNCHBACK. With (tith time) The New Farce of The Kentuckian, or A Trip to New York. To conclude with the Grand Ballet of MASANIELLO. Printed by W. EETNOLDS, 9, Exeter-street, Strand. NOTABLE EARLY CASTS OF RIP VAN WINKLE The Kerr version of Rip Van lVi?ikle was presented at the Walnut Street theatre, Philadelphia, on October 30, 1829, with this announcement and cast: — " Positively for the last time, a new melodrama, founded on Washington Irving's celebrated tale of Rip Van IVinkle, or the Demons of the Catskill Afouniains. CHARACTERS IN ACT I. Derrick Van SIous . . Mr. Porter Swag de Grain .... Mr. Wells Herman (his son) . . . Mr. Read Knickerbocker . Mr. J. Jefferson Rory Van Clump . . . Mr. Greene Nicholas Vedder . . Mr. (J.) Sefton Clausen Mr. James ( Messrs. Garson, Thompson, Bloom, Miller, lames, Dancers of the Mountain { i„„„^ wt^u;..^^ ^^a t„i,„,. ( Jones, Williams, and Johnson. Gustaffe (aged 7) . . Miss Anderson Lowenna (aged 5) . . Miss Eberle Rip Van Winkle Mr. W. B. Chapman Dame Van Winkle Mrs. B. Stickney Grubba Miss Hafhwell 306 LIFE OF JEFFERSON CHARACTERS IN ACT II. Allemaine (Grand Judge) Mr. James Herman .... Mr. Greenwood [probably this should be Read] Van Knickerbocker Mr. J. Jefferson Nicholas Vedder . . . Mr. Sefton Gustaffe .... Mr. Greenwood Rip Van Winkle Mr. W. B. Chapman Lowenna .... Mi3S Chapman Jacintha Miss Hathwell Alice (now Mrs. Van 1 Mrs. S. Chap- Knickerbocker) ( man The J. Jefferson was the father of the present Rip. Miss Anderson was Jane, now Mrs. G. C. Germon. A letter to me from that venerable lady, dated Baltimore, April 29, 1894, says : " I was the child. My sister Elizabeth, now Mrs. Saunders, did not go upon the stage till some time after, although older than myself. I played all the children that season, 1829-30, and then joined my mother, in Baltimore, playing the Duke of York, with the elder Booth, in Richard the Third.''' The characters in Rip Van Winkle, when it was acted for the first time at the Park theatre. New York, on April 22, 1830, were cast thus: — Rip Van Winkle . . Mr. Hackett Knickerbocker . . . Mr. Placide Nicholas Vedder Mr. Chapman, Sr. Von Slous Mr. Blakeley Herman Mr. Richings Dame Van Winkle . Mrs. Wheatley Alice Mrs. Hackett Lowenna Mrs. Wallack Hackett brought out the old version of Rip Van Winkle at the Bowery theatre. New York, on August 10, 1830, when he was joint manager of that house with T. S. Hamblin, casting the parts as follows : — Rip Mr. Hackett Knickerbocker . . . Mr. Roberts Nicholas Vedder . . Mr. C. Green Herman Mr. Lindsley Derrick Van Slous . . . Mr. Wray Dame Van Winkle . Mrs. W. Jones Alice Mrs. Hackett Lowenna Miss Waring A bill of the Park theatre, for April 15, 1831, makes this announcement : — "To conclude with the popular melodrama of ^Pz/ Van Winkle, or the Legend of the Catskill Mountains, altered by Mr. Hackett from a piece LIFE OF JEFFERSON 307 written and produced in London, and founded on Washington Irving's well-known tale of that name." CHARACTERS IN ACT I. Derrick Van Slous Herman (his son) Knickerbocker . Nicholas Vedder Rory Van Clump I Claussen Mr. Hayden Mr. Blakeley Mr. Nexsen , Mr. Richings Mr. WoodhuU , . Mr. Povey Swag de Grain .... Mr. Collet Rip Van Winkle . . Mr. Hackett Gustaffe(aged 7) MissEmmaWheatley Lowenna (aged 5) Miss Julia Turnbull Dame Van Winkle . Mrs. Wheadey Alice Mrs. Hackett CHARACTERS IN ACT II. Allemaine (Grand) ,, ^ „„ . ^ J- Mr. F. Wheatley Herman Mr. Nexsen Van Knickerbocker . Mr. Richings Nicholas Vedder . . Mr. WoodhuU Gustaffe .... Mr. T. Placide Rip Van Winkle . . Mr. Hackett Alice (now Mrs. Van "1 ,, ^^ , ,..,,,, } Mrs. Hackett Knickerbocker) . J Lowenna Mrs. Wallack Jacintha Mrs. Durie A version of Rip Van Winkle by John H. Hewitt was presented at the Front Street theatre, Baltimore, in 1833, with this cast : — ACTS I. AND II. Rip Van Winkle (aged 35) . . . . ' ^ . William Isherwood Brom Dutcher (aged 35) C. Durang Peter Vanderdonk (aged 23) — Lear Derrick Van Brummel (aged 30) Joseph Jefferson Rip Van W' inkle, Jr. (aged 8) Master Rogers Nicholas Vedder J. Stickney Capt. Hendrick Hutson } ^^^^^,^-^^ gpooks .••••- ^^'^"^'" Hans Dundervelt . ) .... — Lawson Dame Van Winkle (aged 30) Mrs. Anderson Judith Van Winkle (aged 6) ACT III, Rip Van Winkle (aged 55) William Isherwood Brom Dutcher (aged 55) C. Durang Peter Vanderdonk (aged 43) ■ . . . — Lear General Van Brummel (aged 50) Joseph Jefferson Capt. Van Winkle (aged 28) — Greenwood 308 LIFE OF JEFFERSON Jonathan Doolittle Judith (aged 26) Capt. Hutson and Spooks A. Byrnes Mrs. Durang The Joseph Jefferson in this cast was the father of our Rip. Mr. Hewitt, in a letter written at Baltimore, May 18, 1887, says : — " My adaptation differed from all others that I have since witnessed. I introduced Captain Hutson and his elfin crew upon the stage, and gave them excellent exercise in their game of bowls amid sheet-iron thunder, rosin lightning, and weird music. Their chorus, led by Mr. Garner, then a well-known Baltimore vocalist, was descriptive of the noisy game. The managers, not being able to raise a chorus of dwarfs, were compelled to substitute a ship's crew of jolly jack-tars, picked up in the neighbour- hood of Fell's Point." Flynn, the original performer of the part, played Rip Van Winkle at the Richmond Hill theatre. New York, on July 29, 1833- On September 4, 1833, when Mr. Hackett, at the Park theatre, presented the drama, as altered and improved for him, in London, by Bayle Bernard, the characters were cast as follows : — Rip Van Winkle (ist appearance since return from Europe) . Mr. Hackett District Judge . . . Mr. Blakeley Perseverance Peashell . Mr. Povey Dame Van Winkle . Mrs. Wheatley Alice Mrs. Wallack Gertrude Miss Rae Derrick Van Tassell . . Mr. Clarke Nicholas Vedder . Mr. John Fisher Brom Van Brunt . . Mr. Harrison Herman Mr. Keppell Arthur Mr. Rae The cast subjoined is from a for October 16, 1834: — ACT I. bill of the Park theatre, Rip Van Winkle . . Mr. Hackett Derrick Van Tassell . . Mr. Clarke Nicholas Vedder . . Mr. Blakeley Brom Van Brunt . Mr. John Fisher Rory Von Clump . . Mr. Russell Hendrick Hudson . . Mr. Hayden Richard Juet Mr. Harvey Dame Van Winkle . Mrs. Wheatley Alice Mrs. Gurner LIFE OF JEFFERSON 309 ACT II. Mr. Hackett Mr. Bancker Rip Van Winkle Young Rip . . Herman Van 1 ,, ,,. ,,., ^, V Mr. Wm. Wheatley Tassell Abram Higginbottom | ^^^ ^.^^^^ (late Van Brunt) J -" Bradford (probably I ^j^,j._pj^^.^^ Gustaffe) . . J Perseverance Peashell . Mr. Povey Hiram Mr. Collett Ebenezer Mr. Russell District Judge . . . Mr. Blakeley Dame Higginbottom . Mrs. Gurner (formerly Alice Van Winkle) Gertrude Miss Turnbuli J?tp Van Winkle was announced at the New National or New Chatham theatre, New York, January 7, 1850, with this cast : — Rip Van Winkle . Mr. Charles Burke Knickerbocker . . . Mr. Jefferson (the Rip of our day) Nicholas Vedder . , Mr. J. Herbert Herman Mr. Crocker Van Slous . . . Mr. C. W. Taylor Ganderkin Mr. Seymour Dame Van Winkle . . Mrs. Muzzy Alice Mrs. Sutherland Lovvenna . . . Mrs. H. Isherwood On September 27, 1855, an opera on the subject of Rip Vati Winkle, — the music by George Bristow, the words by J. H. Wainwright, — was produced by the Pyne and Harrison Opera company, and it was much Uked and admired. The parts were cast thus : — Rip Van Winkle . . Mr. Stretton Gardinier Mr. Harrison Villecour .... Mr. Horncastle Nicholas Vedder . . . Mr. Hayes Van Brummell . ., . Mr. Setchell Dame Van Winkle . Miss S. Pyne Alice Miss L. Pyne JEFFERSON AS A LECTURER On April 27, 1892, Jefferson appeared for the first time as a lecturer. The place was the Art Gallery of Yale University, at New Haven. The subject was Dramatic Art. The present biographer was in the audience, and subsequently wrote the following dispatch, which was printed in the New York Tribune the next morning : — 310 LIFE OF JEFFERSON * When the popularity of Sir Walter Scott as a poet began to be affected by the sudden advent of Byron with Childe Harold, the Wizard of the North waved his wand in another direction and presently produced the Waverley Novels. It is good to have resources. Jefferson, in his delivery of his dis- course on acting, made it evident that, if he were to leave the stage, he would still have at his command the influences of the lyceum. He spoke for more than an hour, in a fluent and sparkling strain of clear comment on the art that he represents, always wise and often humorous, — giving evi- dence of the versatility of his mind, while affording conclusive illustration of the importance of his profession. The manner of his discourse can be but faintly noted in descriptive words. His instinct as to effect guides and sustains him equally as a speaker and an actor. The foreground of his speech was chiefly composed of comic anecdote, — apt, pungent, and effective. When he reached the more serious portion of his address, the geniality of the actor gave unconscious emphasis to every truth he uttered. His distinction between oratory and acting was incisively made, and every auditor must have appreciated the subtle discrimination as to the relative value of tragedy and comedy, viewed with regard to the question of difficulty. How much may be achieved by a glance, or by an inflection of the voice, was no less potently shown than deftly urged. In response to questions that were asked, after his lecture had ended, he dwelt instructively upon the position of the actor, who must at once please at least three orders of the public intelligence, and whose dilemma is that he can neither be too refined for one class, nor too crude for another, nor too unconventional for a third. Much instruction was imparted by Jefferson, and still more of suggestion was given, — and all with the simplicity which is the crowning grace of his art. No surrounding could have been desired of a more felicitous char- acter than was provided in the Art Gallery of Yale, hung with LIFE OF JEFFERSON 311 portraits of old renown ; nor could a more learned or a lovelier audience be anywhere assembled than was provided by New Haven on this occasion. The incident is not without a special significance. Neither theatre nor actor was permitted in Connecticut until within about fifty years. Jefferson was intro- duced ■ to his audience by President Dwight, of Yale, and a speech in his honour, spoken by Prof. John Weir, was heartily cheered. The ancient social prejudice against the stage is melting away ; more and more the learned and the thoughtful classes of society feel its potency and realise the importance of guiding it aright, and of utilising for the public benefit its subtle, comprehensive, far-reaching influence. The practical example and the monitions of such men as Jefferson stimulate that tendency and help to neutralise the base influence of the speculators and triflers, whose unrestricted exertions would soon bring it into irre- trievable disgrace. From Jefferson's doctrine that acting is more a gift than an art, many listeners might be disposed to dissent ; but the capacity for any art is a gift, and that, prob- ably, is all that he intended to maintain. The true actor is born, not made ; yet, on the other hand, if he have not art, he is a natural force wasted. No actor ever gave a more decisive proof than Jefferson himself afforded of the power that genius derives from command of the resources of art. He closed his discourse with some playful verses, in satire of Ignatius Donnelly's crazy theory ^ that Shakespeare's works were written by Francis Bacon.' 1 Every reader who happens to be specially interested in the question of Shakespeare's authorship of his works should read the refutation of Donnellfs Cryptogram, written by Rev. A. Nicholson, of St. Alban's church, Leamington, and published under the title of No Cipher in Shakespeare. It completely destroys, upon mathematical grounds, the whole structure of Donnelly's argument. A reply was attempted by Donnelly, but it was so effectually answered by Mr. Nicholson that the cryptogram has been a laughing-stock ever since. There never was the 312 LIFE OF JEFFERSON CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF JEFFERSON 1829 . . . Joseph Jefferson born, February 20, in Philadelphia. 1833 . .-. Made his first appearance on the stage, at the theatre in Washington, with Thomas D. Rice, as Jim Crow. 1837 • • • Acted at the Franklin theatre, New York. 1838 . . . Was removed to Chicago. 1846 . . . Acted at Matamoras, Mexico. 1849 . . . September 10. Appeared in New York, at Chanfrau's New National theatre, as Jack Rackbottle. 1850 . . . May 19. Married to Margaret Clements Lockyer, who died on February 18, 1861. Appeared at Mitchell's Olympic. Acted in the South with John Ellsler. 1856 . . . Made voyage to Europe. Joined Laura Keene's theatre, New York. 1857 . . . August 31. At Laura Keene's theatre made a hit as Dr. Pangloss. 1858 . . . October 18. First time of Our American Cousin, at Laura Keene's theatre. Jefferson won distinction as Asa Trenchard. Piece ran till March 25, 1859. 1 86 1 . . . Appeared for the first time in San Francisco, July 8. November 5. Sailed for Australia, where he passed four years. 1865 . . . Appeared as Rip Van Winkle at the Adelphi theatre, London, September 4. 1866 . . . September 3. Reappeared in America, at the Olympic theatre, New York, as Rip. 1S67 . . . December 20. Was married to Sarah Isabel Warren. least reason to suppose that Shakespeare did not write the works ascribed to him, or that Francis Bacon was concerned with them in any way. Donnelly's pernicious defamation of the dead, — for his book casts a blight of obloquy as well upon Bacon as upon Shakespeare, — could affect only the ignorant, the credulous, and the mean. Most scholars have naturally viewed it with contempt. It is, however, pleasant to know that, in a scientific point of view, that fabric of folly has been completely demolished. I LIFE OF JEFFERSON 313 1869 . . . Appeared at Booth's theatre, New York, as Rip, August 2. Bought Orange Island, Iberia, La., and estate at Hohokus, NJ. 1870 . . . Appeared at Booth's theatre, as Rip, August 15, and acted that part till February 7, 1871. 1 871 . . . January 20. Acted for benefit of George Holland's family. 1872 . . . Cured of glaucoma by surgical operation. 1873 . . . January i. Reappearance at Ford's theatre, Baltimore. July 9. Sailed for England. September i. Reappeared at Booth's theatre, New York, as Rip. 1875 . . . Acted at the Princess's theatre, London, from November i, 1875, to April 29, 1876, as Rip. 1877 . . . Midsummer engagement with J. S. Clarke, at the London Haymarket theatre, in farces. October 28. Reappeared at Booth's theatre, New York, as Rip, under management of Augustin Daly. 1878 . . . Revisited California. 1880 . . . Produced The Rivals, at the Arch Street theatre, Philadelphia, and made a hit as Acres. 1889 . . . Established, at Buzzard's Bay, his home, called Crow's Nest. 1891 . . . April I. Crow's Nest was burnt down. It has been rebuilt. 1892 . . . April 27. Made his first appearance as a lecturer, at Yale University, delivering address on acting. Received degree of LL.D. from Yale. 1893 • • • March i. Delivered discourse on the Drama, at Carnegie Music Hall, New York, for the benefit of the Kindergarten Association. Elected President of The Players, succeeding Edwin Booth. Jefferson's Autobiography, originally published [1889-1890] in the Century Magazine^ fills a handsome volume,, of about 500 pages, from the press of the Century Company. Its characteristics are those of its writer, — originality, simplicity, gentleness, humour, and charm. A dis- quisition upon that book may be found in my Shadows of the Stage, Vol. I., Chapter vii., together with essays on Jefferson's Acting. f I INDEX. Abington, Frances, 27 ; described by Henry Crabb Robinson, 28. Acting in comedy and tragedy com- pared, 220. Action and effect in dramatic writing, 278. Allen, Andrew J., 137. Andrews, William, 19. Barry, 12, 30. Bateman, Kate, 171. Bernard, John, 21, 23, 64. Blissett, Francis, 67, 68. Boucicault, Dion, his version of Rip Van Winkle, 180; talent for dra- matic composition, 278. Bowery theatre, 19. Brett, Miss, 60. Brunton, Anne, 65. Brunton, Louisa, 66. Burke, Charles, described by Elizabeth Jefferson, 146; described by Frank S. Chanfrau, 146 ; his parentage, 142, 157; manager of the Museum, Brooklyn, 152; personal appearance of, 146; professional career of, 143- 14s ; repertory of, 147 ; version of Rip Van IVinile by, 149. Burke, Mrs. Thomas, described by Elizabeth Jefferson, 135 ; described by Ireland, 155; described by Lud- low, 156 ; her marriage, 157 ; her parentage, 155. Butler, Samuel, 18. Butler, Samuel W., described by Ire- land, 19; epitaph by Charles Swain, Caleb Plummer, as impersonated by Jefferson, 223. Chanfrau, Francis S., 143, 146, 152. Chapman, Samuel, 126. Chatham Garden theatre, 132. Chestnut Street theatre, Philadelphia, 64, 85, 124, 131-145. Clarke, John S., 149, 1S9, 270. Colman's Heir at Laio, 227 ; first acted in London, 230. Contemporaries of Jefferson, 233. Cooper, Thomas, 56, 58, 59, 63. Cowell, Joseph, 5, 124, 138. Coyle, Robert, 131. Crow Street theatre, Dublin, 11. Covent Garden, 8. Cushman, Charlotte, 170. Daly, Augustin, 284. Davies, Mrs., 9. Davies, Thomas, 9. Dillon, Charles, 285. Douglas, David, 49, 52, Douglas, Mrs., 52. Drake, Samuel, 83. Dramatic art in composition, illustrated in Boucicault's The Octoroon, 279 ; in his Relle Lamar, 280; in his The Long Strike, 281. Dramatic method supplies an element not to be given bywords, 283 ; as in the opening scenes of Hamlet, 283 ; or of Twelfth Night, 284. Drew, Mrs.John.as Mrs. Malaprop, 222, Drury Lane theatre, 49. Drury Lane, Thomas Jefferson's ap- pearances with Garrick in, 5,7, 8. 315 316 INDEX. Duff, Mary A. D., 120. Dunlap, William, 54. Federal Street theatre, 64. Feeling in acting, 276; illustrated by anecdotes of Mrs. Siddons, 277 ; of Edmund Kean, 277. Fenncll, James, his life, 92; his tribute to Jefferson and Francis, gi. Fidelity to fact in acting undesir- able, 273. Finn, Henry J., 161. First dramatic performance in Amer- ica, 50. Fisher, Charles J. B., 138. Fletcher, John, 104. Foote, Samuel, 11. Ford, John T., describes Charles Burke, 146 ; describes Joseph Jeffer- son, 2d, 135 ; first theatrical venture in Washington, 269; professional career of, in Baltimore, 268 ; in Philadelphia, 270; through the South, 270. Ford's theatre, seized by United States government, 269. Fortune, Esther, 56. Fortune, Euphemia, 56; her marriage to Joseph Jefferson, ist, 80. Forrest, Edwin, 92, 102. Fraser, Simon, Lord Lovat, 7. Garcia, Maria Felicite, 128. Garrick, David, and Thomas Jefferson compared, 45 ; their first meeting, 3, 8 ; manager of Drury Lane, 8, 49. Gibson, John B., 95; his epitaph on Joseph Jefferson, ist, 96. Goodman's Fields theatre, 9, 49, 51. Hackett, James H., 178 ; in England, 303- Hallam, Lewis, 51. Hallam, Thomas, 51. Hallam, William, 49, 51. Havard, William, 9. Haydon, Benjamin, 26. Haydon, Benjamin R., 27. Haymarket theatre, 7, 27. Henderson, 12. Heron, Matilda, 170. Hodgkinson, John, and Hallam, 53; described by Bernard, 61 ; described by Elizabeth Jefferson, 98 ; his pro- fessional career, 60, 61. Holland, George, 253 ; vocations prior to going on the stage, 254 ; close of his life, in New York, 266; first en- gagement, 257 ; his English career, 257; invited to America by Junius Brutus Booth, 259, 293 ; personal character, 266; wanderings in the United States, 260. Irving, Washington, 184. Jefferson, Charles Burke, 193. Jefferson, Cornelia, 157. Jefferson, Elizabeth (Mrs. Chapman- Richardson-Fisher), 82; marriage with Mr. Chapman, 126; with Mr. Richardson, 127 ; with Mr. Fisher, 127; described by Wemyss, 125; family bereavements, 127; first ap- pearance at the Chestnut Street theatre, 124; her success described by Ireland, 126; her repertory, 129 ; the close of her life, 130. Jefferson, Euphemia (Mrs. Ander- son), 80. Jefferson, Frances (Mrs. Butler), 28. Jefferson, Frances Florence, 193. Jefferson, Frank, son of Joseph Jeffer- son, 3d, 194. Jefferson, Frank, son of Thomas Jef- ferson, 2, 18. Jefferson, George, 18. Jefferson, Henry, 194. Jefferson, Hester (Mrs. Mackenzie), 81, 84. Jefferson, Jane, 82. Jefferson, John, son of Thomas Jeffer- son, 14. Jefferson, John, son of Joseph Jeffer- son, ist, 80; described by his sister Elizabeth, 103. Jefferson, Joseph, ist, 23, 47, 57; ad- vent in America, 48; and Francis, I INDEX. 317 91 ; anecdote illustrating his power in old men's parts, 62; as an actor, described by Wemyss, 91 ; at Park theatre, 58 ; his character described by Cowell, 87 ; described by Dunlap, 54 ; his closing days, 89 ; his epitaph by Judge Gibson, 96 ; his last benefit, 86 ; Kennedy's opinion of, 90 ; in Albany, 64 ; personal characteristics, 121 ; recollections of, by his daughter Elizabeth, 98 ; repertory of, 59, 106; under Mrs. Wignell's management, 70. Jefferson, Joseph, 2d, 80 ; described by Elizabeth Jefferson, 135 ; described by John T. Ford, 135 ; his birth- place in Philadelphia, 131 ; his children, 157; his death, 139; his marriage with Mrs. Thomas Burke, 133, 156 ; his repertory, 136 ; mem- ber of the dramatic company of the Chatham Garden theatre, 132. Jefferson, Joseph, 3d, 104; acting in Australia, 172 ; as a lecturer, 309 ; as Acres in The Rivals, 2X13^ ; as Caleb Plummer, 223 ; as Dr. Pan- gloss, 229; as Mr. Golightly, 223; at Booth's theatre, 186, 188, 189; at Ford's Opera House, Baltimore, 188 ; at McVicker's theatre in Chicago, 186; at the New National theatre, 165 ; at the Olympic theatre in 1866 and 1867, 183; chronology of the life of, 312 ; experiences as a strolling player, 163 ; his birthplace, 158 ; his business sagacity, 212 ; his California season, 172; his changes in the text of The Rivals, 216 ; his children, 193; his first presentation of Asa Trenchard, 168 ; his imper- sonation of the character of Rip Van Winkle, 203 ; his Louisiana home, 191 ; his marriage with Miss Lock- yer, 194; his marriage with Miss Warren, 194; his maternal ancestry, 153; his place among his associates, 202; his repertory, 195; his trium- phant success in the character of Rip, on the night of his first appear- ance in London, 182; later parts, 190 ; personal characteristics, 20c ; under Burton's management, 170; under Miss Keene's management, 168. Jefferson, Joseph, 4th, 193. Jefferson, Joseph Warren, 194. Jefferson, Josephine Duff, 193. Jefferson, Margaret Jane, 193. Jefferson, Thomas, founder of the Jefferson family, i ; as Horatio at the Haymarket, 7; his exodus from Ripon to London, 6; his first ap- pearance on the stage, 9; his first meeting with Garrick, 3, 8 ; his pro- fessional rank, 12, 13 ; last appear- ance on the stage, 22 ; personal appearance described by Drink- water Meadows, 2; personal char- acteristics, 31, 44; repertory of, 38; theatrical manager, 7, 11, 17; with Garrick at Drury Lane, 5. Jefferson, Mary Anne (Mrs. Ingersoll- Wright), 82. Jefferson, Thomas, son of Joseph Jef- ferson, ist, 80, 82, 84. Jefferson, Thomas, son of Joseph Jef- ferson, 3d, 193. Jefferson, Mrs. Thomas (Miss May), 14; Davies's account of her death, 15 ; described by Wilkinson, 17. Jefferson, Mrs. Thomas (Miss Wood), 18. Jefferson, William Winter, 194. John Street theatre, 52, 53, 56, 60. Keene, Laura, 167; as manager of her theatre, 241 ; early engagements, 240; personal appearance, 242; pro- fessional career, 241. Kennedy, John P., 90. Knowles, Sheridan, 129. Kotzebue, A. F. F. von, 58. Lamb's farce of Mr. H. acted by the Jeffersons in Philadelphia, 71 ; no- tice of first performance of, 296; prologue to, 296. ;i8 INDEX. Lockyer, Margaret Clements (Mrs. Joseph Jefferson), 192. Lovat, Lord, 7. Ludlow, N. M., his description of J. Jefferson's acting, 78. Mackenzie, Alexander, 143. Macklin, Charles, 9, 13, 30, 51. Macklin, Maria, 9. Macready, at the Chestnut Street theatre, 79. Mattocks, Mrs., 51. Meadows, Drinkwater, i, 23. Memorials, 293. Merry, Robert, 65. Miller, J. D., 55. Moody, John, 15, 48. Mossop, Henry, 12, 30, 32. Mount Vernon Gardens, 62. Munden, Mrs., 60. Palmer, 9. Park theatre, 19, 56, 64. Placide, Alexander, 155. Powell, C. S., 47. Power, Tyrone, 128. Pritchard, Mrs., 9, 30. Quin, James, 29, 45. Raymond, John T., professional career, 243 ; as Colonel Sellers, 245 ; per- sonal character, 245. Reddish, Samuel, 17. Rehan, Ada, 284. Rice, Thomas D., 159. Rip Van Winkle, the story of, 174 ; first play on the subject, 175 ; the char- acter of Rip Van Winkle, 203 ; Bernard's versions, 178 ; Burke's version, 179; Hewitt's version, 178; the version used by Parsons, 177 ; by Chapman, 177 ; by Hackett, 178 ; notable early casts of, 305 ; Bouci- cault's revision, 180. Robinson, Frederick C. P., as Sir An- thony Absolute, 222. Ryley, Samuel W., 25. Self-control in acting, 276; illustrated by anecdotes of Mrs. Siddons, Kean, and others, 277. Sheridan, Thomas, 8, 12. Shuter, Edward, 16. Simmonds, James, 172. Sinclair, John, 128. Sloman, John, loi. Smith, Mark, 246 ; personal character, 247; professional career, 247 ; reso- lutions passed at the time of his death, 232 ; scope and quality of his acting, 248. Smock Alley theatre, Dublin, 8, 32. Sothern, Edward A., 168 ; his parent- age, 233 ; his adventures before emigrating to America, 233 ; early appearances in Boston and New York, 234; under Laura Keene's management, 235 ; his success as Lord Dundreary, 236 ; his repertory, 236; at the Haymarket, London, 236; his return to America and last engagements, 237 ; his art, 238 ; his personal character, 239. Stage art, 272 ; its province, 287 ; com- pared with the arts of poetry and music, 288. Stage, the, in its palmy da3's, 293. Stoddart, James H., 281. Suett, Richard, 55. Thomas, M., 153 ; his escape from St. Domingo, 154; his death, 158. Thomas, Cornelia Frances, her mar- riage with Thomas Burke, 155 ; de- scribed by Ludlow, 156 ; her death, 157. Tilt-yard coffee-house, 7. Tower Hill, 7. Twaits, William, 68. Wallack, James W., 170. Waring, Ann D., 132. Warren, Hetty, 124. Warren, William, 56, 57, 188, 298. Webb, Miss (Mrs. Marshall- Wilmot), 117. INDEX. 319 Wemyss, Francis Courtne)', 70, loi. Westray, Juliana (Mrs. Wood), 100. Wignell, Mrs., 65. Wilmot, Mrs., 117. Willcinson, Tate, 17, 32. Winter Garden, 171. Wolfe, 21, 47. Woffington, Mrs., 7, 30. Wood, William B., 70. Yates, 9. Yates, Mrs., 30. The Works of Mr. William Winter. THE LIFE AND ART OF EDWIN BOOTH. Crown 8vo. Cloth. Gilt top. $2.25. Uniform with '■'The Life and Art of Joseph Jefferson.'" IVith Por- traits in Character and Other Illustrations. Also an Edition in Cloth, i8mo. 75 cents. Uniform with the i8mo. edition of Mr. IVinter's tVorks. IVith a Portrait. " Mr. Winter's book, aside from tlie great interest of its subject proper, and without considering its beauties of style and richness of material, is valuable for the many fine glimpses it gives of Booth's contemporaries in this country and in England. Nor are these glimpses confined to the theatrical life. Many of the most distinguished artists, literary men and women, editors, statesmen, and scholars were his friends, and delighted in his company. The frontispiece of the book is a striking full-length portrait of Booth." — '^/le Independent. MACMILLAN & CO., 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND. With numerous full-page and vignette illustrations and a photogravure portrait of the author by Arthur Jule Goodman. i2mo. Full gilt, ornamental cover. $2.00. Also without illustrations in the Uniform Edition of Mr. Winter's Works. i8mo. Cloth. Gilt top. 75 cents. " Mr. Winter's sympathy with English antiquity is profound ; he writes reverently, meditatively, and eloquently. As an interpreter of the thoughts and' feelings of Americans who approach historic and literary England with intelligent appreciation of what it all stands for to them, he is delightful, wise, and impressive." — New York Times. " In the graceful English of which Mr. Winter is a master, he discourses as only a poet could, and surely as Shakespeare himself would have desired, on Stratford-on-Avon and its environs — the most satisfactory account of the place we recall — and on the kindred topic, ' The Shrines of Warwickshire." Other chapters describe with the same enthusiasm and delicate appreciation the old churches and literary shrines of London, Westminster Abbey, Canterbury, Stoke-Pogis, Windsor, and other historic places. Every lover of Shakespeare should own, or at least read, the book." — Art Amateur. " He offers something more than guidance to the American traveller. He is a convincing and eloquent interpreter of the august memories and venerable sanctities of the old country." — Saturday Review. " Enthusiastic and yet keenly critical notes and comments on English life and scenery." — Scotsman. " The book is delightful reading. ... It is a delicious view of England which this poet takes. 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" For those who are unable to visit the scenes, and have to be content with seeing through the eyes of others, a better description would be diffi- cult to find ; and to those who propose to visit the districts no more useful, informing, and pleasant companion could be recommended." — Glasgow Herald. " Mr. Winter, whether he writes in simple prose or tuneful verse, is always poetical, and it is one of his chief characteristics, as it is his great- est charmas a writer, that he not only perceives the poetic beauty of the scenes he visits, but that he makes his readers perceive it. There are more golden than gray days in this book, for Mr. Winter's thought is like to an Eldorado in its natural opulence of wealth ; it is always bright, warm, glowing with color, rich in feeling. . . . 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