LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Class 
 
A . 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Reminiscences of a Fellow Player 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANCIS WILSON 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 LONDON 
 CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED 
 
 1906 
 
 [All rights reserved] 
 
Copyright, 1906, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 for the United States of America 
 
 Printed by The University Press 
 Cambridge, U.S.A. 
 

 To MY WIFE 
 
 220739 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Born, Philadelphia, Pa Feb. 20, 1829 
 
 Appeared in " black face " in imitation of T. D. 
 
 ("Jim Crow") Rice at Washington, D.C. . 1833 
 Acted in Mexico, a camp follower of the American 
 
 Army 1846 
 
 Married Margaret Clement Lockyer . . . . 1850 
 Joined Laura Keen's Theatre. Success as " Dr. 
 
 Pangloss" 1857 
 
 Winter Garden, success as "Caleb Plummer " 
 
 and "Salem Scudder " 1859 
 
 Adapted "Oliver Twist'* for the stage . . . 1860 
 
 Death of Mrs. Jefferson 1861 
 
 In Australia and England 1861-5 
 
 Olympic Theatre, New York, in revised and re- 
 written Rip Van Winkle 1 866 
 
 Married Sarah Isabel Warren, his cousin . . . 1 867 
 
 Named "The Little Church around the Corner" 1870 
 In London, "Rip Van Winkle," " Golightly," 
 
 " Hugh de Brass " 1875-7 
 
 Produced his amended version of " The Rivals," 
 
 Philadelphia 1 880 
 
 Published Autobiography 1889-90 
 
 Given the degree of M. A. by Yale University . 1892 
 
 Given the degree of M. A. by Harvard University 1 895 
 Presented with a loving-cup by the actors and 
 
 actresses of America l $95 
 
 All-Star Rivals " Tour 1896 
 
 Died at Palm Beach, Florida . . . April 23, 1905 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THOSE who seek the facts of his life, and 
 the standard and accepted estimates of 
 Jefferson's work and art, will find them in the 
 adequate pages of Mr. William Winter. 
 
 Those who would acquaint themselves with 
 the ineffable charm of his personality must linger 
 over the pages of the comedian's Autobiography, 
 a book to be mentioned only with Colley Gibber's 
 Apology, equal in interest, beyond it in charm. 
 
 The present writer has aimed merely to set 
 down the remembrances, mostly anecdotal, which 
 were his over a number of years in connection 
 with the subject of this sketch. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. FIRST ACQUAINTANCE i 
 
 II. CHARACTERISTICS ....... n 
 
 III. RIP VAN WINKLE ....... 24 
 
 IV. His RECREATIONS 46 
 
 V. JOSEPH JEFFERSON AS A LECTURER . 97 
 
 VI. THE AUTHOR 149 
 
 VII. " THE RIVALS " AND THE ALL-STAR 
 
 PERFORMANCES 182 
 
 VIII. CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 280 
 
 IX. CONCLUSION v 326 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 JOSEPH JEFFERSON Frontispiece 
 
 Photogravure from a Photograph 
 
 Joseph Jefferson and William Florence in "The 
 
 Rivals" . Facing page 8 
 
 Joseph Jefferson's Birthplace " 20 
 
 Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle (Old Age) " 24 
 
 Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle (Youth) . ' 36 
 
 Joseph Jefferson sketching " 46 
 
 Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Jefferson off for a Day's 
 
 Fishing . " 54 
 
 The Indefatigable Fisherman, Grover Cleveland -" 58 
 
 Buzzards Roost A Monotype by Jefferson . " 62 
 
 Joseph Jefferson and Judge Henry E. Rowland " 68 
 
 King of the Forest A Painting by Jefferson . 90 
 
 Portrait of Israels, by himself 94 
 
 Mr. Jefferson delivering an Address .... " 98 
 
 1812 " " 108 
 
 Crow's Nest, Jefferson's Home at Buzzards 
 
 Bay " 142 
 
 Mr. Jefferson planting the Jefferson Tree . . " 178 
 
 Joseph Jefferson as " Bob Acres " .... " 182 
 
 Mrs. John Drew as "Mrs. Malaprop " . . " 188 
 
 Francis Wilson as " David " " 196 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Joseph Jefferson and The Fanny Rice Baby Facing page 198 
 
 William H. Crane as Sir Anthony Absolute" " 200 
 
 Nat. C. Goodwin as "Sir Lucius O' Trigger" " 206 
 
 Julia Marlowe as " Lydia " " 212 
 
 Robert Taber as " Captain Absolute " ... " 216 
 
 E. M. Holland as " Fag" " 220 
 
 Joseph Holland as "Falkland" " 224 
 
 Fanny Rice as "Lucy " " 228 
 
 Flatboat on a Bayou of the Mississippi From 
 
 a Painting by Jefferson " 280 
 
 Imitation of Turner, by Joseph Jefferson . . " 306 
 Joseph Jefferson at Palm Beach, Fla., Sep- 
 tember 26, 1904 " 326 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, C. A. Walker, and C. B. Jefferson 
 
 on a Fishing Expedition ' 340 
 
 Mr. Jefferson on his Seventy-sixth Birthday . ' 344 
 
 The Grare of Jefferson at Sandwich, Mass. . " 346 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
I have devoted all my life to acting, and I stand 
 to-day in awe of its greatness. 
 
 My boys sometimes get discouraged, and I say to 
 them : " Go out and do something for somebody. Go 
 out and give something to any body , if it's only a pair 
 of woollen stockings to a poor old woman. It will take 
 you away from yourselves and make you happy /" 
 
 JOSEPH JEFFERSON. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 FIRST ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 I WAS never introduced to Joseph Jefferson ; 
 we just shook hands. To me his name 
 was the synonym for all that was highest 
 and best in our profession, and I had long won- 
 dered if I should ever come to know him. 
 
 I first saw him one Saturday afternoon, in 
 1870, as I can see him now, on the southwest 
 corner of Twenty-third Street and Sixth Avenue, 
 New York, eating Malaga grapes out of a paper 
 bag. In those days there was a fruit-stand on that 
 corner. He stood on the curbstone abstractedly 
 eating the grapes and watching the crowd file into 
 Booth's Theatre for the matinee performance of 
 " Rip Van Winkle," which was then in the midst 
 of an eight months* run. How I drank him in 
 and ate him up as he stood there and I re- 
 member how, boy-like, I brushed past him just 
 to be able to feel that I had come in contact 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 with him ! My action had not disturbed him, 
 for he did not turn toward me or make any 
 sign that he had heard my frightened words of 
 apology. This relieved me, for I was so scared 
 at my temerity that I should not have known 
 what to say or do. I followed him, at a re- 
 spectful distance, across the street, past the main 
 entrance of the theatre, to that mysterious portal, 
 the stage door, through which he vanished from 
 my admiring gaze. 
 
 Since that time I have had pleasure in watch- 
 ing people assemble to witness performances of 
 my own, but it has always recalled my first 
 glimpse of Joseph Jefferson and that paper bag 
 of Malaga grapes ! Once, in later years, as we 
 were passing that corner together, I told him of 
 the incident, placed him in the exact position in 
 which he had stood, and begged him to eat imag- 
 inary, grapes in an abstracted way, and together 
 we acted over the little comedy, the original of 
 which was so fraught with importance to me. 
 This amused him greatly, and as we passed up 
 the street he admonished me always to preserve 
 as much as possible the simplicity and buoyancy 
 of youth. 
 
FIRST ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 I had often been his auditor, but had never 
 had him as one of my own, so far as I know, 
 until November, 1889, at the old Globe Theatre 
 in Boston, when he commanded me to place a 
 box at the disposal of himself, Mrs. Malaprop 
 Drew, and Sir Lucius O'Florence for a perform- 
 ance of "The Oolah." It was an anxious 
 day for me, and I came upon the stage with my 
 voice full of quavers and my memory ready, as 
 " Acres " says, " to ooze out of the ends of my 
 fingers." I gathered myself with an effort, and 
 it was not long before I had the reassuring 
 pleasure of seeing Mr. Jefferson give way to a 
 hearty burst of laughter which but for. the back 
 of his chair must have upset his equilibrium, 
 while Mrs. Drew and Mr. Florence seemed to 
 be greatly enjoying themselves. On the instant 
 all nervousness vanished, and the performance 
 proceeded to the end with confidence and spirit, 
 " Rip Van Winkle " kissing his hand to me as 
 the curtain fell. 
 
 I had been corresponding with Mr. Jefferson 
 about his Autobiography, but newly begun in 
 the November " Century Magazine," and he had 
 promised to help with gifts of prints and letters 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 in the extra-illustrating of my own copy when the 
 Autobiography should be published in book form. 
 He asked me to come and see him, appointing 
 the business office of the Park Theatre, Boston, 
 as the place, and one o'clock as the hour. As I 
 entered, he sprang from his chair, and before any- 
 one could introduce us, he had grasped me by 
 the hand and thus was realized my youthful 
 dream of meeting Rip Van Jefferson. 
 
 The first thing about him to impress me, at 
 friendly close range, was the kindly, winsome, 
 and at the same time inquiring, penetrating ex- 
 pression of his face. My notes, made on the 
 same day, say that he was above rather than 
 below the middle size. He was thin, and his face 
 was much wrinkled, which is not to be wondered 
 at, for, as was said of his illustrious predecessor, 
 David Garrick, " no man's face has received 
 more wear and tear." This is true of all actors, 
 for " their faces have double the business of any 
 other man." 
 
 Mr. Jefferson's mixed gray and brown hair was 
 worn rather long, compared with the fashion of 
 the day (which resembles that of the convict 
 crop), and there was a plentiful wad of it on the 
 
 4 
 
FIRST ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 top of his, I should say, rather small head. The 
 hair was parted comparatively low down on the 
 left side, combed up over the front of the head, 
 and curved up toward a generous right ear. The 
 nose and chin were rather prominent, giving what 
 Mr. Jefferson himself has elsewhere humorously 
 described "as a classical contour, neither Greek 
 nor Roman, but of the pure Nut-cracker type." 
 As it impressed me, in that part just over the 
 eyes, denoting perception, the forehead was full, 
 broad, and especially prominent. The mouth 
 was exceptionally kind in expression, and his 
 speech, neither low nor high in tone, had great 
 clearness and remarkable carrying quality^ with a 
 tendency to the sh sound in the use of sibilants. 
 But the eye was the great feature of the face. 
 There was mildness, sweetness, frankness, fun, 
 jollity, and especially was there riveted attention 
 in it when he listened and no man to my 
 knowledge ever listened better ! Good health 
 shone out of his eyes and how they did shine ; 
 and what wonderful control he had of them, 
 giving them, as his long professional practice had 
 taught him, every shade of meaning and expres- 
 sion his fancy might care to depict. I noticed 
 
 5 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 an unusual white mark in one of his eyes/ due 
 no doubt to an operation for glaucoma, which 
 threatened, in 1872, to rob him entirely of sight, 
 -a calamity happily averted by the skill of 
 Dr. Reuling, of Baltimore. 
 
 I found him, as I knew he would be, keenly 
 alive to the humorous ; and the conversation did 
 not go far in any direction before it reminded 
 him of something laughable in the storehouse of 
 his vast experience. He dipped liberally and 
 narrated skilfully, employing voice, eyes, hands, 
 hair, and body. He was interested in some 
 prints I had brought with me of his grandfather 
 and other theatrical people of a past age, and he 
 gave me a minute history of each. An etching 
 of the father of William Warren, the comedian, 
 he declared to be a counterpart of the son, then 
 just dead. 
 
 In speaking of the great popularity of his con- 
 tribution to the " Century Magazine," his Auto- 
 biography, he replied, giving me an exceedingly 
 interesting account of the request to publish the 
 work. He had never before written anything for 
 publication, and was not aware that he had any 
 talent in that direction. When he began it, about 
 
 6 
 
FIRST ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 three years earlier, he did so haltingly at first, 
 but soon got into the swing of it, and as recol- 
 lections would come to him he would rise at 
 unseemly hours of the night to jot them down, 
 fearful that he might not be able to recall them 
 in the morning. 
 
 He told me how the " Century " at first wished 
 to publish only extracts from the work. This re- 
 quest was 'refused. With a quiet chuckle of 
 satisfaction he modestly added that since the 
 appearance of the first instalment he had been 
 requested to extend the story. 
 
 Here Mr. Florence joined the party, and then 
 began a little banter. Mr. Jefferson explained 
 that he was absent-minded at times, and told of 
 having written a letter to his wife the other night, 
 and not wishing to forget to post it he carried it 
 in his hand, got into a car, paid his fare on enter- 
 ing, and sat down. Later, the conductor, forget- 
 ting Mr. Jefferson had paid, touched him on the 
 shoulder, and held out his hand. Mr. Jefferson 
 abstractedly put the letter into the conductor's 
 hand, saying : 
 
 " Mail this for me, will you, please ? " 
 
 " I have n't time to mail your letters ! " yelled 
 
 7 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 the fare-taker, which brought Mr. Jefferson to 
 himself, when, of course, explanations and apolo- 
 gies followed. 
 
 The story was inimitably told, and caused much 
 laughter. 
 
 " Oh, that man Jefferson 's a funny creature," 
 said Florence. 
 
 " How do you know ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh, he makes me laugh," replied Florence. 
 Turning to Jefferson, he said : 
 
 " By the way, Joe, when I ask you at night [in 
 " The Rivals"] c What 's the matter with you/ and 
 you turn and say, in that God-forsaken way, c I 
 don't know what 's the matter with me/ I can't 
 help laughing to save my life. At that moment 
 there is n't a particle of Jefferson in you, nothing 
 that reminds me of your real self! " 
 
 This pleased Mr. Jefferson very much. He 
 seemed greatly to relish Florence's compliments. 
 He was susceptible to honest admiration. I have 
 often heard him declare since that he would not 
 give the snap of his finger for anybody who was 
 not. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson had written for me on one of 
 his photographs the eyes of which he thought 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON AND WILLIAM FLORENCE IN "THE RIVALS' 
 From a photograph by Falk 
 
FIRST ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 rather starey and I was trying to dry the ink 
 by waving the picture in the air. 
 
 " I fear I have written a round, bold hand, Sir 
 Lucius," quoted Mr. Jefferson, and then, turning 
 to Florence, he added : " By the way, Billy, 
 there 's a line in the c Rivals ' I never speak.'* 
 
 " There 's a lot in that piece, Joe, if you 'd 
 only study it ! " instantly retorted Florence. 
 
 Nobody enjoyed this more than Mr. Jefferson, 
 who was one of the few men capable of enjoying 
 a joke on himself. 
 
 " But I always give you the cues ! " comically 
 whined Jefferson. 
 
 " Yes," said Florence, " and the cues are about 
 all you do give me ! " 
 
 Mr. Jefferson told another cc absent-minded " 
 story. When in Washington, thirty years ago, 
 he had been introduced to Senator Stephen A. 
 Douglas and was invited to drink. On leaving 
 the place one of the party who accompanied Mr. 
 Jefferson asked if he knew what he had done. 
 
 "I can't imagine something dreadful, I'll 
 be bound ! What was it ? " 
 
 " Why, Douglas paid for those drinks with a 
 five-dollar piece and you pocketed the change ! " 
 
 9 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Mr. Jefferson told me that Mrs. Drew, who was 
 nine years his senior, was facetiously known in the 
 company as the " soubrette," while Mr. Florence 
 was called the "juvenile man." 
 
 He then spoke pleasantly of" Erminie," which 
 he had seen at the Casino, New York. He said 
 he had often played the character of " Caddy " ; 
 only, he added, it was known as "Jacques 
 Strop." 
 
 " I used to play it, Wilson, with an actor 
 named Browne Browne, with an <e* and a 
 very good actor he was too ; he played the other 
 thief. Billy," to Mr. Florence, " did you ever 
 know Browne ? " 
 
 "If I say c Which Browne?'" said Florence, 
 " you '11 say * Brown Stout/ I suppose ! " 
 
 At this trite sally there were groans and indig- 
 nant glances from all present. Florence, feeling 
 himself properly rebuked, meekly removed his 
 hat, bowed obsequiously, and with mock humility 
 crept out of the office, not a word having been 
 uttered from the time of his effort at wit until 
 his exit. 
 
 10 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 THE prime characteristic of Jefferson's 
 nature was his jiaturalness, and this 
 applies with equal truth to him as an 
 actor and as a man. Few have gone through so 
 much lionizing and become less vain. He had 
 a very proper and a very just estimate of him- 
 self and of his abilities, but, as he said, it was 
 little less than disgraceful for a man to carry him- 
 self as " I am Sir Oracle, and when I speak let 
 no man ope his lips." " And," he added, " the 
 actor who made this evident on the stage lacked 
 much that belonged to his art." 
 
 " Why, you dear, great man ! " said a most 
 sincere but very effusive woman to whom I had 
 introduced him at New Rochelle. 
 
 " Madam," he replied as gently as he could, 
 " you make me very uncomfortable." 
 
 " I have a horror," he said to me, " of being 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 as narrow in certain views of life as Carlyle or 
 Dr. Johnson, who thought their way in many 
 things was the only way, and that those who took 
 a contrary view were ignorantly, terribly wrong." 
 
 He was a believer in the specialist; he thought 
 the world and its manifold considerations too 
 great to be grasped by any one mind. 
 
 " I have great confidence in the fellow who 
 does some one thing better than anybody else. 
 I love Rembrandt for his portraits, Corot for his 
 landscapes, Rousseau and Dupre for their skies 
 and woods, Diaz and the Venetians for their 
 color, Millet for his masterly portrayal of the 
 peasant, Mauve, Israels, Neuhuys, each for the 
 skill of his specialty. The surgeon, the entomol- 
 ogist, the psychologist, the gymnast, and the chi- 
 ropodist are all to be admired for the perfection 
 to which they have brought their skill." 
 
 Nothing was too small for Jefferson to interest 
 himself in. His delicious sense of humor allowed 
 him to find great entertainment in matters that 
 other people would have passed by or thought 
 too trivial. Wax figures in a museum or dolls 
 in a window held conversation for his especial 
 delectation. He sometimes fancied them saying 
 
 12 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 to each other : " Look at that old fool taking up 
 his time staring and laughing at us. I wonder if 
 he thinks we have no feelings." Or : " Is n't 
 this a sloppy sort of day for dolls? Not even 
 fit to look out of the window ! " Or: " Hello, 
 Margery, who tore your skirt?" And so I have 
 heard him insist, laughingly, the figures would 
 talk for him. He was no unusual visitor to the 
 toy-stores throughout the country. 
 
 The fact of the whole matter, I suppose, is 
 that not only was he in love with children, their 
 ways, their na'ive manner of regarding things and 
 giving expression to their thoughts concerning 
 them, but that he was in love as well with what 
 gave them so much pleasure. As I think again 
 of it, I feel that the quaint humor of the man 
 had much to do with it all. 
 
 I met him one day in a great toy-store, and he 
 confessed that he visited the place three or four 
 times a year, not only to make purchases, but also 
 to see the children buy and hear their joyful ex- 
 pressions and exclamations. " I get a great deal 
 of fun out of it," he said. 
 
 " You seem to have had a full measure of en- 
 joyment in life, Sir Joseph," I said to him. 
 
 13 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 "Of course I have," he replied, "but I feel 
 that all this is nothing compared with what is to 
 come. This life is merely a rehearsal. I have 
 had more fortune, more happiness than falls to 
 the lot of most men, but they can c ring down on 
 me ' as soon as they please, only so there is no 
 delay, no lingering; let them give me a 'quick 
 curtain/ None of your slow fellows with long 
 protracted red-fire accompaniment." 
 
 " Ring down on you ! Why, surely you are 
 not tired of it all ? " I ventured. 
 
 "Oh no, not at all, not at all," he replied 
 quickly. " I shall be content to go on at this rate 
 for a great many years. I 'd like to fish until 
 I 'm ninety, and then I 'd like to paint a little 
 and act a little, but I want you to understand 
 that I 'm not afraid of what 's to come, and I do 
 not wish to degenerate into the lean and slippered 
 pantaloon. No, when the end comes, let it come 
 quickly ! " 
 
 It was not that he was " afraid of what 's to 
 come" ; his confidence in that was too great to be 
 at all fearful. It was that, seriously and humor- 
 ously, he saw no pressing necessity of making 
 any terrestrial change. His health was so fine, 
 
 14 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 his enjoyment of all things so keen, and every- 
 day so filled with the life beautiful of family, fame, 
 and fortune, that it is small wonder he rebelled 
 at any thought of separation from what was so 
 appeal ingly attractive. Tactless friends and 
 thoughtless critics jarred his sense of delicacy 
 with injudicious remarks and publications. Even 
 eight or ten years ago, he wrote : 
 
 "The newspaper criticisms on my acting of 
 late are very mournful in tone. They write, 
 c This may be the last time you will ever see 
 him ! ' c He must soon pass away ! * They 
 sound more like obituary notices than critiques. 
 I expect to see shortly, c None but the family are 
 invited no flowers, etc/ ' 
 
 He told me of being at table once where there 
 was a number of people. A lull in the conversa- 
 tion permitted an affected fellow to drawl at him : 
 
 cc Aw Mr. Jefferson aw when are you 
 aw going aw to retire from the stage ? " 
 
 To which he replied pointedly : 
 
 " I am only waiting for you to say the word ! " 
 
 He jested about such things, but they hurt 
 him. He loved his art ; he learned something new 
 about it every day, perhaps at every new per- 
 
 15 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 formance, and he strove with remarkable vitality 
 and rare delicacy to prove this increased knowl- 
 edge to his public. Naturally, he sought to 
 postpone as long as possible the time when he 
 must surrender the exercise of that in which he 
 had acquired such skill and had won so much 
 success. The breath of fame, as to others, was 
 dear to him. Naturally, too, he resented, even 
 though he resented it playfully, any intimation of 
 the approach of useless old age which he, care- 
 fully on the alert, had not yet detected. And 
 he was confident of being the first to note any 
 diminution of his powers, upon which he meant 
 instantly to withdraw from public life. Like 
 most happy men, he was regretfully conscious of 
 the swift going of time. 
 
 " How the summer has flown ! " he writes, 
 (in August, 1901). " I dig in the garden in the 
 morning and paint all of the afternoon. Time 
 slips away, and I have n't got half done that I 
 want to have behind me I am going on for 73. 
 God will soon make a sweet little angel of me, so 
 I must hurry up. Till then I am 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 J. JEFFERSON. 
 16 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 He took occasion to deny before the curtain 
 premature reports of his intention to withdraw 
 from the stage. He declared that, like a well- 
 bred dog, he meant to withdraw on the slightest 
 intimation of being kicked out. At the time of 
 one of these reports, a young newspaper man was 
 sent to ascertain if it were true or false. He was 
 told that Mr. Jefferson had gone to bed and 
 could not be interviewed. The young man was 
 insistent and sent a card to the actor's room 
 with this message, " Is there any truth in the 
 report that you are about to retire ? " 
 
 Back came the answer, " Mr. Jefferson has 
 retired." 
 
 On first visiting London I remember to have 
 been much impressed with those circular com- 
 memorative tablets let into the walls of certain 
 houses. I came quite by accident upon one that 
 thrilled me : 
 
 DAVID GARRICK LIVED HERE. 
 
 Later on I saw another inscription, equally 
 thrilling : 
 
 MRS. SIDDONS LIVED HERE. 
 
 17 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 At Stratford-on-Avon I found the chief interest 
 of the place centred about a player-playwright. 
 I knew that actors and dramatists had been Poets 
 Laureate of England, but so thick had been the 
 air of prejudice about me, I felt half convinced 
 that Jonson, Dryden, Colley Gibber, and Dave- 
 nant must have come to such an honor only after 
 some process of mental nullification. 
 
 At Venice my eyes bulged out in astonishment 
 at a life-size bronze statue to the comedian 
 Goldoni. "Can it be possible," said I to myself, 
 " that our village pastor is mistaken, and that all 
 hope of eternal salvation is not to be abandoned 
 by those who enter the portals of the player's 
 profession ? " I remembered then how, at home, 
 Jefferson, Murdoch, Booth, Barrett, Robson, 
 Crane, Mary Anderson, Charlotte Cushman, and 
 a host of others were loved and respected, and 
 I confessed to a feeling of distress that our 
 village pastor's predictions were to be unfulfilled 
 and that not unlikely I was to be deprived of 
 an ultimately exciting experience in the nether 
 world. 
 
 I could not remember that any statue or tablets 
 had been erected to actors and actresses in Amer- 
 
 if 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 ica, and, in the flush of my enthusiasm, I longed 
 to hasten home and dot all sorts of faades with 
 all sorts of tablets. 
 
 While on tour with the "All-Star Cast" of 
 "The Rivals " (1896), I spoke to Mr. Jeffer- 
 son about affixing a tablet to his birthplace, on 
 the southwest corner of Sixth and Spruce Streets, 
 Philadelphia. He modestly objected, saying that 
 it was an unusual thing to do while the subject of 
 such a memorial was still living. The matter was 
 dropped for the time, but later, at the suggestion 
 of my friend De Witt Miller, he, the late A. W. 
 Whelpley, of Cincinnati, and I put up a tablet 
 with this inscription : 
 
 JOSEPH JEFFERSON, THE ACTOR, 
 
 WAS BORN HERE 
 
 FEB. 20, 1829. 
 
 HERE'S YOUR GOOD HEALTH AND YOUR 
 FAMILY'S 
 
 MAY THEY LIVE LONG AND PROSPER. 
 
 On New Year's Day of the same year he wrote 
 me apropos of the tablet, 
 
 " So you would do it God forgive you ! " 
 I believe He has. 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 From the mention of Jefferson's birthplace, it 
 is an easy step to the subject of his first appear- 
 ance on the stage, which has been stated as being 
 now in one thing, now in another, and then again 
 in something else. Mr. Jefferson could not re- 
 call, nor was there any family tradition, in what 
 play he made his first appearance. He felt it to 
 be positive that, as a child in long clothes, he had 
 often been pressed into theatrical service. In 
 this connection he has written humorously of the 
 histrionic ambition of his mother with respect 
 to himself. 
 
 The following letter, a copy of which the 
 owner, Mr. John T. Loomis, of Washington, 
 has kindly presented me, naively sets forth the 
 earliest recollection of our " Rip " as to his first 
 appearance : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 18/66. 
 
 MY DEAR CoYLE, 1 As usual you have over- 
 whelmed me with compliments. The notice is 
 most charmingly written and praises me far be- 
 yond my desert. 
 
 1 John F. Coylc, of the "National Intelligencer, Wash- 
 ington, D. C. 
 
 20 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON'S BIRTHPLACE ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF 
 SIXTH AND SPRUCE STREETS, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 The memorial tablet was placed on the house by Francis Wilson, DeWitt 
 
 Miller, and A. W. Whelpley Mr. Wilson and H. H. 
 
 Furness, Jr., are standing in doorway 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 I have made a few cuts in the article, as you 
 kindly suggested that I should alter any mistakes it 
 might contain. I know that it is generally believed 
 that I was born in the Capital, but it is an error. 
 Philadelphia is my native city, so I have passed 
 my pen through the lines referring to my birth 
 and my having played Cora's Child with " eclat." 
 I certainly did enact the Peruvian infant, but as 
 the author has never made the child express his 
 opinion on any subject during the play, there 
 is but little opportunity afforded for giving 
 much " eclat " to the performance. The only 
 point I remember to have made was in the 
 last act. 
 
 J. R. Scott being the Rolla, you may readily 
 conceive that he was rather unsteady upon his legs 
 during the latter portion of the play, and as he 
 rushed, or rather staggered, upon the bridge and 
 lifted me on his shoulders, I found that Rolla 
 was even more elevated than myself. Feeling 
 the insecurity of my position, I made a grab for 
 the hair of the noble Peruvian, and in the strug- 
 gle pulled off his wig. You may judge of the 
 effect when I tell you that the top of Rolla' s head 
 was as bare as the bottom of Cora's baby. This, 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 therefore, was the only point I made with "a 
 claw." After that I had better close. . . . 
 
 Mr Jefferson recalled perfectly his first appear- 
 ance in black face, a miniature reproduction of 
 Jim Crow (T. D. Rice). 
 
 " Daddy " Rice, as he was familiarly called, 
 had seen young Jefferson's imitation and insisted 
 that the boy should appear at his benefit. The 
 six-foot minstrel dumped his pigmy imitator out 
 of a bag onto the stage, and the twain, beside 
 making a decided hit, were showered with coins, 
 twenty-four dollars of which were gathered 
 and promised to " young Joe." 
 
 On the margin of a copy of Mr. Jefferson's 
 Autobiography which he gave me, Mrs. John 
 Drew wrote that she was present at Rice's benefit 
 performance, and remembered well Mr. Jefferson's 
 appearance and mimicry of Rice, which was re- 
 ceived with uproarious laughter. 
 
 " Why do you wish me to write on the margin 
 of the book?" asked Mrs. Malaprop. 
 
 " Yes," interjected Bob Acres, " why have any- 
 body write on the margin or in any other part of 
 the book? You ask me to write something for 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 you in the Autobiography. I did write some- 
 thing in it ! By gracious, and by perseverance, I 
 wrote the whole book, and now you wish me to 
 write more. I '11 do it gladly, but why ? Why 
 do you wish me to deface the fair white 
 margins ? " 
 
 Thus driven to explain, the enthusiastic gath- 
 erer of autographic plunder said that the writing 
 would give the book distinction. That of the 
 thousands printed this particular copy by its in- 
 scription would be especially set apart. It would 
 be proof positive that this volume at least had 
 been in the hands of its author, and as well in 
 the hands of one of whom that author had most 
 graciously written. 
 
 There was a pause, during which Acres and 
 Mrs. Malaprop exchanged glances. 
 
 " Henceforth," said Jefferson, " I shall submit 
 to autographs and to book inscriptions with a 
 lighter heart." 
 
 "And so shall I," added Mrs. Drew. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 IN November, 1897, " Rip Van Winkle " was 
 given for the last time in Washington, 
 that is, for the last time that season,- and 
 Mr. Jefferson had not been seen there in the 
 character for a number of years. A vast crowd, 
 many of which could not obtain admission, turned 
 out to say farewell. All felt it might be the last 
 chance to greet the genial Rip. 
 
 I went down to see him before the perform- 
 ance, and we had the customary chat in the rear 
 of the box-office, when, as usual, we ranged over 
 divergent subjects. I thanked him for a letter he 
 had written me apropos of Eugene Field and the 
 latter' s poem " Little Button Eyes " which had 
 been dedicated to Jefferson. 
 
 " Was the letter what you wanted ? " 
 " Precisely, sir; you always do the right thing." 
 Deprecatingly, " I don't know about that." 
 24 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON AS "RIP VAN WINKLE" 
 From a photograph, Copyright 1905 by Charles A. Walker 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 "You always do the right thing/' I repeated. 
 
 " Well," he said modestly, " I believe I make 
 fewer mistakes than most men. I think I am 
 tactful rather than politic, the difference between 
 which is very great. We are politic when we 
 do something for ourselves, tactful when we do 
 something for others." 
 
 I mentioned having heard genius described as 
 tact and brains. 
 
 " Oh," he said, " that is too broad an assertion. 
 A better definition is that genius creates and tal- 
 ent reproduces." 
 
 Speaking of happiness, he remarked, " My boys 
 sometimes get discouraged, and I say to them, 
 c Go out and do something for somebody. Go 
 out and give something to anybody, if it 's only 
 a pair of woollen stockings to a poor old woman. 
 It will take you away from yourselves and make 
 you happy ! ' 
 
 To make those about him happy was the guid- 
 ing principle of Joseph Jefferson's social as well 
 as his professional life. He was very generous, 
 but few knew the extent of his charities. 
 
 While we were talking there in the box-office, 
 I saw a little boy peeping in at the door. I called 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 to him and asked him to shake hands with Mr. 
 Jefferson. The boy's mother followed, and was 
 elated to find her son chatting with Rip Van 
 Winkle. She explained that the boy's father 
 had told him all about Washington Irving's 
 "Rip of the Catskills " and had given him a 
 book on Christmas that he might read it for 
 himself. 
 
 " Now," said the mother, pointing to Mr. 
 Jefferson, " this is Rip ; he does n't look like a 
 man anybody would drive out into the moun- 
 tains, does he ? " 
 
 And while the little fellow pondered the matter, 
 Mr. Jefferson's sons and I begged Rip to dis- 
 card his ferocious aspect and assume a guileless 
 air, if he had it not, to please to look like 
 a man whom no one would dream of driving 
 out into a fearful storm. The most amiable of 
 men, he was never more amiable than that day. 
 He bubbled over with good-humor. Here, then, 
 was one cause of his great success all his attrac- 
 tive personal characteristics he carried over into 
 his dramatic portrayals, and by his delicate and 
 human delineation of the character of the sweet- 
 dispositioned Dutchman, by the rare skill of his 
 
 26 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 acting, he had become a classic along with the 
 works of Washington Irving, Dickens, and Cole- 
 man, to whose creatures of the brain Joseph 
 Jefferson has lent personality, a realization never 
 to be disassociated from him or from them. 
 
 Presently the mother returned in despair to tell 
 her boy she could not procure a seat, and he was not 
 to see the play after all. The boy's sobs attracted 
 Mr. Jefferson's attention, and with a " God bless 
 his little soul," both mother and son were con- 
 ducted to the stage, where they were to witness 
 the play from the wings. How she will tell 
 about it for all time, and how increasingly proud 
 the little boy will feel to have been so honored ! 
 
 We continued our conversation : Mr. Jeffer- 
 son thought Mrs. Siddons the greatest actress 
 the world had ever seen, because of the parts 
 she had played and in which she had so won- 
 derful a reputation, the wife and the mother. 
 "Anybody," he said, "can play the part of a 
 maid or those of a Camille order, with powdered 
 face and bare feet, and make people cry, but it 
 is to be remembered that in c Douglas,' when 
 Mrs. Siddons, just learning of the discovery of 
 
 her child, whom she supposed dead, asked so 
 
 27 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 impressively if he were alive, women in the 
 audience fainted." 
 
 He was so given to lauding the acting of the 
 present day that I was a little surprised to hear him 
 launch out suddenly and declare that Macready, 
 Kemble, and Mrs. Siddons were right with their 
 eloquent pauses, which were as effective as elo- 
 quent speeches. "The whole play passes so 
 swiftly," he said, " that unless you give the 
 minds of the auditors a chance to rest upon the 
 important themes and speeches of the play 
 time to receive the proper impression, as acid 
 upon copper there can be no effect or result. 
 I learn something about my art every night, and 
 have but recently verified the justice of the old- 
 time claim for eloquent pauses. Mrs. Siddons 
 was right when she said the secret of acting 
 was proper pauses. George Henry Lewes, who 
 knew more of acting than most critics, added 
 cleverly that one must pause without seeming 
 to do so and without making a wait." 
 
 He spoke of a certain actress who was advo- 
 cating great reformation in the conduct of the- 
 atrical business matters. Her ideas were, he 
 
 thought, absurd. He had told her that because 
 
 28 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 woman was placed on an equality with man here 
 in America, she now sought to make herself his 
 superior, but that this would never succeed, be- 
 cause women, he believed, had all other endow- 
 ments except the logical mind. 
 
 He spoke of his half-brother, " Charley " 
 Burke, for whom he had an undying affection 
 and respect. He told me that he owed more to 
 Burke than to any other person in this world 
 or the next. 
 
 " All the good things Burke did upon the stage 
 all that 1 can remember, I do," he declared. 
 " What would the world be if it were not for 
 the wisdom, the skill and example of those who 
 have preceded us ? " 
 
 Dr. A. W. Whelpley, a common friend, now 
 dead, an old theatre-goer, a man of fine critical 
 judgment and long experience in matters theatri- 
 cal, one who had often seen Burke act, told me 
 that Mr. Jefferson once said to him that the 
 memory of Burke was very precious to him. 
 
 " He was a better actor than I am," he 
 continued. 
 
 " I have heard you say so," replied Dr. 
 Whelpley, 
 
 29 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 "And was he a better actor than Jefferson?" 
 I demanded. 
 
 " No," said Dr. Whelpley, " better actors than 
 Joseph Jefferson have rarely been." 
 
 We spoke of " Rip Van Winkle " again, and 
 of its wonderful power to hold the affection of 
 audiences for generation after generation. 
 
 "It 's a sturdy old fellow," said Mr. Jefferson, 
 proudly, " built of the material that endures. 
 Do you know I believe it is still in its infancy, 
 and I don't care how long I am spared to play 
 in it!" 
 
 Once I wrote him of a play that had failed to 
 please, and remarked that I thought the public 
 liked its old favorites best. To this he made 
 answer as follows: 
 
 "You are quite right in saying the public likes 
 its old favorite plays. I wonder how c Rip Van 
 Winkle ' would do? It is forty years since I 
 first acted it, possibly the public has forgotten 
 it." 
 
 He told me of once acting Rip in Easton, 
 Pennsylvania. The curtain had just fallen on 
 the final act of the play, and he was making for 
 his dressing-room, when he was clapped familiarly 
 
 30 
 
R I P VAN WINKLE 
 
 on the back by a lout of a stage hand, who 
 bawled : 
 
 "Joe, you done well ! " 
 
 " Why, what did you say to him ? " I asked. 
 
 " I was astonished, of course, and then amused, 
 so I simply said : c Do you think so ? When we 
 are here again, come to see us.' And he replied, 
 c Bet your life I will/ " 
 
 I asked him if there were any truth in the story 
 of his going into a bank to cash a check, and on 
 being refused because of there being no one to 
 identify him, he leaned up against the counter 
 and, in the tones of Rip, exclaimed, " If my tog 
 Schneider vas here he vould recognize me ! " and 
 that instantly there were any number of people 
 eager to identify him ? 
 
 He laughed and said : 
 
 " No, it is not true, but it ought to be. It is 
 too good to be disproved. Oh, who is it," he 
 continued, " that rounds out all those stories, giv- 
 ing them a quip and snap which the original nar- 
 rator would have rejoiced to have thought of? " 
 
 " What have you in mind ? " I asked. 
 
 "Why, the Dog Schneider story and the one 
 about General Grant and myself." 
 
 31 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " Don't tell me that is n't true ! " 
 
 "Of course it is to a certain point, but 
 the most humorous part of it is not mine/' he 
 answered. 
 
 " Oh, then you did meet Grant? " 
 
 " Yes, and he spoke to me as we were going up 
 in the elevator of (I think he said) the Equitable 
 Building. He greeted me by name, and we ex- 
 changed a few commonplaces, and then he said he 
 did not believe I remembered him, and I had to 
 confess I did n't, whereupon he said : ' My name 
 is Grant.' General Grant ! You can imagine 
 how chagrined I felt on hearing the name, and I 
 immediately made matters worse by sputtering out 
 an apology and saying I was not accustomed to 
 seeing him with his hat on, which was equivalent 
 to admitting that I had only seen him when he 
 came to the theastre to see me! Nor did I im- 
 prove matters by asking him, in my confusion, 
 where he was living, which all the world except 
 myself knew was in New York ! The story 
 is all true as far as that, but some wit has won- 
 derfully improved it by adding that I turned to 
 Grant a few seconds later and said, l By the way, 
 General, where were you during the war?' Oh, 
 
 3* 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 but that's fine," he laughed, "and. it ought to be 
 
 true." 
 
 This recalls the story of General Sherman and 
 Mr. Jefferson. They had chatted pleasantly, 
 and Mr. Jefferson arose to go. 
 
 " I think you must have dropped this," said 
 Sherman, picking up some sheets of paper near 
 the chair in which Mr. Jefferson had been 
 sitting. 
 
 " My dear General," said Rip, " you have 
 saved my life ! " 
 
 " I am glad of that," replied Sherman, " but 
 is n't it a little careless of you to carry such 
 valuable papers around so loosely ? " 
 
 Mr. Jefferson laughed, and opening the packet 
 showed its contents. It was the manuscript 
 of the first chapter of the great comedian's 
 Autobiography. 
 
 It was while lying upon his back in the hay- 
 loft of a barn in Pennsylvania, whither one 
 summer he had gone from economical considera- 
 tions, that the first suggestion of Rip Van 
 Winkle came to him. He had been reading 
 " The Life and Letters of Washington Irving." 
 Always on the lookout for a great American 
 
 33 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 character suited to his purpose, one that he 
 hoped would bring him fame and fortune, the 
 mention of the name of Rip Van Winkle arrested 
 his attention. Great was his disappointment to 
 discover that the character of Rip did not speak 
 above a dozen lines, and that the sketch itself 
 presented few or no dramatic possibilities. There 
 were to follow this first suggestion of Rip Van 
 Winkle years of only moderate success from 
 various publics throughout the world. Through 
 all this his happy temperament bore him with 
 charming placidity. 
 
 By comparison with the version of " Rip Van 
 Winkle " made by Dion Boucicault (the changes 
 being largely the result of Jefferson's suggestions), 
 the earlier versions played by Thomas Flynn, 
 Charles B. Parsons, William Chapman, James H. 
 Hackett, Frederick Henry Yates, William Isher- 
 wood, Charles Burke (Jefferson's half-brother), 
 and even Jefferson himself, must indeed have 
 been much less effective. 
 
 Not in America but in England was first given 
 the " Rip Van Winkle " in the form in which 
 we Americans have come to know and revere our 
 Rip Van Jefferson. 
 
 34 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 For years he carried the play about with him 
 in its imperfect state. He was confident the 
 character was what he wanted and equally confi- 
 dent the play was not, as he himself tells us 
 in his Autobiography. He knew what it needed, 
 but, probably from too close association, he was 
 unable to supply it. 
 
 After a four years* sojourn in Australia he 
 reached London. There he met Dion Bouci- 
 cault, under whose management in New York in 
 1859 he had first played Caleb Plummer in 
 " k Dot," which was Boucicault's adaptation of 
 "The Cricket on the Hearth." 
 
 It was not until Dion Boucicault had touched 
 the play with the magic of his pen, supplying 
 a dramatic element which Jefferson had vainly 
 sought, and Jefferson had properly moulded 
 and idealized the meeting with the ghostly 
 crew of Hendrik Hudson, setting that meet- 
 ing aside as a separate act, that Joseph Jef- 
 ferson, along with the play of " Rip Van 
 Winkle," became inseverably woven into public 
 affection. 
 
 As an actor, Jefferson's skill and ingratiating 
 personality were long well known and respected. 
 
 35 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 As a young comedian, Washington Irving had 
 commended him, but the Joseph Jefferson whom 
 we of to-day knew and loved as a great actor, 
 came into existence with the Boucicault revised 
 version of " Rip Van Winkle " which Jefferson 
 brought back with him from England in 1866. 
 From that time forward, he was Rip and Rip 
 was he. It might be said that the play was an 
 incident, more or less important, in the life of 
 every other player who had performed it, but that, 
 comparatively speaking, it was Jefferson's whole 
 existence. After Boucicault revised it, doubtless 
 on lines suggested by Jefferson, it was never nec- 
 essary for Jefferson to play anything else. He 
 varied his performances, it is true, with Caleb 
 Plummer, Bob Acres, Dr. Pangloss, Dr. Ollapod, 
 and Golightly, but most of all he played Rip Van 
 Winkle, Boucicault's revised Rip Van Winkle, Jef- 
 ferson's own skilfully developed and revised ver- 
 sion of Boucicault's revision of Rip Van Winkle. 
 Ever a fertile actor in the upbuilding of a scene, a 
 genius in fact in this respect, much that Bouci- 
 cault did acted as a spur, a suggestion, to Jeffer- 
 son, who, as we are told on good authority, so 
 developed the play that Boucicault himself, ever 
 
 3* 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON AS "RIP VAN WINKLE 
 From a photograph, Copyright 1894 by B. J. Falk 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 sceptical of the play's worth, was astonished and 
 greatly impressed thereby. 
 
 I count it one of the privileges of my life to 
 have heard Joseph Jefferson with kindling eye 
 describe the September night in '65, when, at the 
 Adelphi Theatre in London, an American come- 
 dian in an American play, " Rip Van Winkle," 
 began a theatrical engagement which lasted for 
 one hundred and seventy nights. 
 
 Somehow, though different in many aspects, it 
 recalled the first London performance of " Shy- 
 lock " by Edmund Kean, when that unknown 
 genius flashed comet-like and with startling effect 
 across the English dramatic sky. 
 
 Jefferson could see indeed what the London 
 success meant for him, not only in England, but 
 in America, whither, after an absence of five 
 years, he wended his way, and where, in New 
 York just a year later, at the Olympic Theatre, 
 he gave his fellow countrymen an opportunity to 
 renew their acquaintanceship with that amiable 
 vagabond, Rip, in a perfected dramatic form. 
 
 He never tired of talking of " Rip Van Win- 
 kle " and he loved everything connected with it. 
 
 " Why should n't I ? " he would exclaim ; see 
 
 37 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 how much I owe to it ! " He was too modest 
 ever to obtrude the subject upon anyone, but he 
 never dodged it. It seemed to me that he was 
 grateful for any allusion to it or discussion of it. 
 Frequently he would close a letter with an 
 allusion to it, as : 
 
 " I will be in New York early in May, where 
 I hope to see you. In the meantime on the road 
 producing my latest novelty, Rip Van Winkle, 
 as I find the public still blind to my dramatic 
 defects." 
 
 He never lost an opportunity to come to its 
 defence or to the defence of the stage. 
 
 " I suppose you have read Mr. ZangwnTs 
 foolish attack on the stage," he writes, October 
 15, 1889, "and my own equally feeble response. 
 I don't think that either side is seriously hurt, so 
 c all *s well that Zangs well/ I see that some 
 gentleman in the c Herald ' of to-day states that 
 * the public must not take for gospel the word of 
 an actor who for fifty years has driven only two 
 war-horses/ As Mrs. Malaprop says : c What 
 insurance! He must mean me!' I certainly 
 may be an indifferent whip, but at least I have 
 selected a good team (< Rip ' and ' Bob '). They 
 
 38 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 speed fairly well in double harness, and in point 
 of endurance are equal to the public. 
 
 " Think of it ! What a triumph it is for artis- 
 tic duplicity to have deceived the public for fifty 
 years and, in view of my present health, I am 
 good, as King Henry says, c for much more 
 slaughter/ ' 
 
 As we talked, many subjects were suggested. 
 I wanted to know how he felt on being face to 
 face with the oldest English-speaking theatrical 
 public, and what he thought of the prospects 
 of success, how the actors behaved at rehearsals, 
 etc. 
 
 " The actors at first were inclined to be scep- 
 tical as to its chances for success," he said, " but 
 I was so much in earnest and had my subject so 
 well in hand that I soon won their respect, and 
 the few inclinations to cynical comment, guying, 
 or quizzing, which I detected, soon gave way to 
 hearty co-operation, and I was patronizingly called 
 by the older members of the company their 
 transatlantic kid/ and heartily welcomed to the 
 c sacred precincts of the Royal Adelphi.' ' 
 
 He was greatly concerned over a dispute be- 
 tween the manager of the Adelphi, Benjamin 
 
 39 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Webster, and Dion Boucicault, who so reflected 
 on Webster that that irascible gentleman on the 
 eve of the production refused to allow any play 
 in which Boucicault figured to be performed at 
 the Adelphi. Here was an unhappy state of 
 affairs, truly, and at a critical point in his dramatic 
 life, when he needed above all else tranquillity ! 
 However, the matter was amicably arranged and 
 the play given with great success. 
 
 What time he had to think calmly, between 
 rehearsals and the Boucicault-Webster trouble, 
 he had felt moderately sure of the outcome of the 
 play. He believed that Boucicault had supplied 
 the element of human interest which the previous 
 play lacked ; and, happily, his belief, his judg- 
 ment, was sustained. 
 
 Of his own achievement in the evolution of" Rip 
 Van Winkle," he was proudest of having sepa- 
 rated the supernatural from the human interest, 
 giving the spectral crew of Hendrik Hudson 
 (which in the previous versions of the play had 
 not only spoken but sung!) an act to themselves, 
 in which they were speechless, pantomimic, sol- 
 emn, and mystical. It was a stroke of real genius 
 by which the voice of Rip, in contradistinction 
 
 40 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 to the silence of the spectres, stood out in weird, 
 impressive relief. 
 
 Jefferson had great admiration for Boucicault' s 
 skill in all dramatic directions. He always gladly 
 voiced that admiration. " Dion Boucicault," I 
 once heard him say, " has been a most impor- 
 tant factor in my stage successes. Under him I 
 spoke my first serious line in any play, Caleb 
 Plummer in c The Cricket on the Hearth/ 
 and spoke it all wrong, as he soon told me. I 
 was the first to play his Salem Scudder in The 
 Octoroon/ and he added the human touch I 
 had so long sought in Rip Van Winkle." Con- 
 sidering all that he, Jefferson, had gone through 
 with the vagabond Rip, and the unshaken con- 
 fidence he had maintained in the ultimate success 
 of the bibulous hero of the Catskills, he confessed 
 to a tinge of regret that he could not have been 
 as clever as Boucicault, and himself supplied the 
 elements of human interest necessary to the play's 
 great success. 
 
 Who knows that he did not feel something of 
 resentment against the dramatic shades of Hen- 
 drik Hudson and his sailors, those shades which, 
 as we have seen, he had treated so considerately, 
 
 41 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 for not having whispered to him the secret of 
 the play's requirements? I wish I had thought 
 to ask him about it. I asked him about almost 
 everything else ! However, it would have been 
 futile ; they were nothing but spectres, and he 
 himself had forbidden them to speak. 
 
 Not everybody has been taken captive by 
 " Rip Van Winkle." I have seen it stated that, 
 admitting Mr. Jefferson's skill, the material out of 
 which he made his great reputation was unworthy. 
 This, I think, is quarrelling not so much with 
 Jefferson as with Washington Irving. It was 
 argued that Rip at best was but a drunken 
 sot who beggars his wife and children, prefer- 
 ring the company of his dog and the mountains 
 to his home and family. Strange material indeed, 
 it was said, out of which to form a hero ; and, 
 further, it was argued that the moral to be de- 
 duced from such a play was distinctly bad. Let 
 Dame Winkle but burst into tears, overcome by 
 her husband's selfishness and neglect, and sym- 
 pathy for Rip would be instantly destroyed, it 
 was urged. A clever actress told me that she 
 had once endeavored so to portray Dame Winkle, 
 
 but was halted in her tracks by Mr. Jefferson. 
 
 42 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 "You may be right/' he said to her, "from 
 your point of view, but I prefer it played the 
 other way." 
 
 Jefferson in his insistence was but carrying out 
 the clearly expressed intention of Irving, who 
 made Rip the victim of a shrew. The lazy, 
 good-natured, dissipated, henpecked Rip was 
 loved by everybody in the village of Falling 
 Water, the very dogs following him affection- 
 ately. The virago quality of Dame Van Winkle 
 arrayed even the townspeople of her own sex 
 against her. To laud her, then, at the expense 
 of Rip would seem to be a misconception of the 
 author's intention, a subversion of his ideas, and 
 something of a failure to appreciate his satire. 
 
 It should be unnecessary to say that nothing 
 in the story partakes more of satire than this 
 very subject of henpecking, which is here held 
 up so humorously for ridicule, a henpecking 
 ending in that outburst of pitiless scorn on the 
 part of Dame Van Winkle, who drives the 
 dazed and besotted Rip from the house to take 
 refuge in the storm-wrapped mountains. When 
 will anyone who has ever heard it forget Rip's 
 utterance of those memorable words : " Would 
 
 43 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 you drive me out like a dog ? " We all felt the 
 worthless scamp deserved punishment, but not a 
 heart failed to pulse sympathetically for what it 
 felt was the unjust extent of that punishment. 
 We knew what was to come, that the mountain 
 path lit only by the lightning flash, the weird, 
 gnome-like, speechless dwarfs, and those long 
 years of sleep which were to rob the poor fellow 
 of his young manhood, awaited Rip, who had 
 not even the company of Schneider to cheer him ; 
 and as the curtain fell, our silence, broken only 
 by our sobs, was our tribute to play and player. 
 
 Jefferson was, as he himself says, attracted to 
 the legend by its poetic quality, and he endeav- 
 ored to treat it in harmony with that feature. 
 The marvel is that out of so slight a sketch, pre- 
 senting so few dramatic possibilities, a play should 
 be constructed which for forty years should have 
 maintained an unbroken success. With all honor 
 to Irving for his exquisite fancy, and to Dion 
 Boucicault for his deft dramatic carpentry, it is 
 instantly conceded that the greatest factor in that 
 success was Joseph Jefferson. How did he ac- 
 complish this ? Aside from his genius as an actor, 
 chiefly, I think, by the sweetness and appealing 
 
 44 
 
RIP VAN WINKLE 
 
 quality of his own personality, with which in half a 
 century nothing comparable has adorned the stage. 
 
 This attractive spirituality he imparted to every- 
 thing he did in his home, in his social and pro- 
 fessional life. Together with a mind of more 
 than average quality, he had great delicacy of 
 judgment, a wonderful memory, and a long ex- 
 perience in a world-wide school. He was wise 
 enough to recognize the strength as well as the 
 limitations not only of his own power, but of the 
 requirements of his dramatic accessories. 
 
 He manoeuvred thoughtfully, patiently, and 
 adroitly for success, and having won it, he strug- 
 gled with equal force to maintain it. What man 
 need do more ? He did the thing for which 
 nature, environment, and education best fitted 
 him. He was neither a reformer nor an educa- 
 tionalist. He did not, need not, concern himself 
 with questions of aesthetic public import. He was 
 a player in the fullest acceptance of that word, 
 one who felt that the chief province of the theatre 
 is to entertain and only secondarily to instruct, 
 and as such a player, for nearly half a century, he 
 stood foremost in his profession. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 TOE JEFFERSON is up here, drawing the 
 I worst houses you ever saw." So wrote 
 John Sefton to his relative, Mr. Barton 
 Hill. But the houses which Jefferson was draw- 
 ing were on canvas. The comedians, Sefton and 
 Jefferson, were summer neighbors in Paradise 
 Valley, Pennsylvania, the valley in whose peace- 
 ful shades Jefferson first met the suggestion of 
 Rip as a possible character for himself. 
 
 A barn was to be removed, and Jefferson ob- 
 jected because he thought it too picturesque to 
 be destroyed ; but if it had to go, he declared 
 his intention of making a painting of it, and his 
 doing so gave the facetious " Jemmy Twitcher " 
 Sefton occasion for the jest. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson came honestly by his love of 
 painting, for his father and grandfather had been 
 
 artists with the brush as well as with the buskin. 
 
 4 6 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON SKETCHING IN THE ORANGE GROVE OF 
 
 CHARLES A. WALKER AT NEW IBERIA, LA. 
 From a photograph, Copyright 1905 by Charles A. Walker 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 u The Siege of Belgrade," a comic opera by 
 Cobb, was the first new production, in New 
 York, in 1796-97. For it Mr. Jefferson's grand- 
 father, Joseph Jefferson ist, painted the scenery, 
 and in it he played the character of Leopold. 
 Mr. Jefferson's father, Joseph Jefferson 2d, who, 
 like, his illustrious son, was born in Philadelphia, 
 was more manager than actor and more painter 
 than either. As a boy he studied architecture 
 and drawing, and he was also pupil to the scenic 
 artist, Robert Coyle, an Englishman of repute at 
 that period. 
 
 In describing the new theatre in Chicago, in 
 1839, wnen tne present Western metropolis had 
 but newly changed from an Indian village, Jef- 
 ferson, in his Autobiography, says, <c My father, 
 being a scenic artist himself, was disposed to be 
 critical " ; and then follows a humorous descrip- 
 tion of the colloquy between the elder Jefferson 
 and the resident scenic artist, but not more hu- 
 morous than Jefferson's own account of the new 
 drop-curtain with the " medallion of Shakespeare 
 suffering from a severe pain in his stomach." 
 
 On the death of his father at Mobile, Alabama, 
 young Jefferson and his sister were engaged by 
 
 47 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 the local manager to play children's parts, sing 
 comic duets, and appear in fancy dances. In 
 addition to this, he says, " I was to grind colors 
 in the paint room, ' assistant artist ' I was called 
 on the bills, and make myself generally useful, 
 for which services we were each to receive six 
 dollars per week/* 
 
 At thirteen years of age he was the chief sup- 
 port of a widowed mother whom misfortune had 
 reduced " from leading lady to landlady." In 
 reviewing the hardship of his early life, one can- 
 not but feel how much he deserved the success 
 which crowned his later years ; nor is it to be 
 wondered that, once achieving success, he never 
 jeopardized it by experimenting with new plays 
 so long as the old ones showed every evidence 
 of popular favor. In this rough school of ex- 
 perience, then, where he indeed made himself 
 "generally useful," Jefferson learned the art of 
 acting and something of the art of painting. Act- 
 ing was his profession, painting was his pastime. 
 He had great passion for both. When he acted 
 and especially when he did not, he painted. When 
 he did neither, he fished. He was an ardent 
 disciple of Izaak Walton. I have heard ex- 
 
HIS R E C R E AT IONS 
 
 President Cleveland, who was often Jefferson's 
 companion of the fly and rod, say he never saw 
 any man get greater joy out of the sport of fish- 
 ing than Joseph Jefferson, and that the mere 
 untangling of a line seemed a philosophical 
 pleasure to him. 
 
 Apropos of fishing, the story is told of a 
 woman approaching Jefferson, who, comfortably 
 clad and wearing an old sombrero, sat on the 
 wharf at Palm Beach, watching his line. The 
 good woman, mistaking him for a well-known 
 character whose business it was to supply bait, 
 asked, as she was directed : 
 
 " Are you Alligator Joe ? " 
 
 " I plead guilty to c Joe ' said Jefferson, 
 looking up at her quizzically, " but I deny the 
 'Alligator.'" 
 
 I give the following, as I wrote it down at 
 the time, bearing upon fishing and its often- 
 times accompanying complaint, rheumatism : 
 
 As a member of a committee of the Actors' 
 Fund, I was anxious to secure Jefferson to ap- 
 pear for the Fund Benefit, November 10 (1898). 
 Jefferson is now in New York, at the Fifth 
 Avenue Theatre, for six weeks playing " The 
 
 49 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Rivals.'* He writes me that he will not con- 
 sider the idea of producing " Rip Van Winkle " 
 at the benefit, being momentarily tired of play- 
 ing the character. I called, hoping to catch him 
 before the performance. The boys, his sons, 
 "Tom," "Joe" and "Charley," the latter his 
 business manager, had told me a story of the 
 interest felt in the " Governor," as Rip is 
 affectionately termed, by his new valet, Karl. 
 Such a man as Karl never was before or since. 
 His usefulness, versatility, skill, and attention 
 are extraordinary. The " Governor," it seems, 
 was fishing and received no nibbles and was be- 
 coming restive. The lynx-eyed Karl saw this, 
 and immediately set about to relieve the strain 
 of monotonous waiting. He stealthily threw 
 some small stones now on this and then on that 
 side of the line of the ardent angler, who, mis- 
 taking the plashing for fish, cast about in great 
 activity. " The boys " enjoyed this joke on the 
 " Governor," but for Karl's sake they refrained 
 from making it known to the victim. They 
 told it to me while I waited in the dressing- 
 room for the coming of the septuagenarian 
 Acres; and feeling certain of its reception, and 
 
 50 
 
HIS R E C R EAT IONS 
 
 to the astonishment of the boys, I told it to 
 Jefferson soon after his arrival. As I thought, 
 he relished it hugely. 
 
 "Why shouldn't he throw stones? " was his 
 exclamation ; " he would throw his life away for 
 me, then why not throw out a few pebbles ? I '11 
 plague him about it, though, to-night." 
 
 Then he went on to tell me about the faithful, 
 wonderful Karl, how he had been rubbing 
 Rip's leg for rheumatism, presumably caught 
 lying out o' nights in the Catskills, and how, 
 much to Karl's chagrin, he had declared the leg 
 was getting worse. 
 
 " But, Francis," said he, " I have an old- 
 fashioned remedy which will drive Karl to despair, 
 but will also drive away the rheumatism." 
 
 And fishing down into his old-fashioned, ca- 
 pacious trousers' pocket, he pulled up a huge 
 new potato. 
 
 "In three weeks this potato will be soft, but not 
 rotten, and " And then he went on to ex- 
 plain the various stages through which the potato 
 would pass until the cure was effected. 
 
 He could not decide what he should play at 
 the benefit, and the matter was postponed. A 
 
 51 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 day or two later I received the following from 
 him : 
 
 cc MY DEAR SIR FRANCIS JOSEPH I mean 
 NAPOLEON/ Can you run in here [Fifth Avenue 
 Theatre] this evening ? I will come at seven 
 thirty to talk over the Fund Benefit. If not, we 
 must try to meet some time in the early part of 
 next week. Thine, 
 
 BOB ACRES. 
 
 In strict obedience I went to the theatre at the 
 appointed time, and found Jefferson in a brown 
 padded Chinese smoking jacket. He was dozing 
 in his chair, while the all-useful Karl, feather in 
 hand, was sitting near by tickling the soles of his 
 feet. From previous knowledge, I knew this to 
 be a peculiar diversion of Jefferson's. He said, 
 in explanation, that it brought the blood from 
 his head and made him more comfortable. He 
 had sent for me to say that instead of " Lend me 
 Five Shillings " for the Fund Benefit, he would 
 play the challenge scene from " The Rivals." 
 He spoke of the Tolstoi dinner which he had 
 
 1 In allusion to " The Little Corporal " in which I was 
 appearing. 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 attended because he was afraid his friends, who 
 had been very kind to him in the way of invita- 
 tions, would think he attended dinners only when 
 given to himself; said he knew his speech would 
 please, because, after all the big guns had been 
 fired, his little pop of nonsense would be 
 relished. 
 
 " The literary chaps had come, some of them 
 a long distance, fully primed to tell all they knew 
 of the Russian novelist Tolstoi while I was 
 present to tell all I did n't know of the great man 
 of his powers of non-resistance to even his 
 mother-in-law. I told them a lot of nonsense 
 seriously." 
 
 " After the fashion of Artemus Ward ? " 
 
 " No, after the fashion of Jefferson^ which, as I 
 have told you, Ward adopted, and thanked me 
 for when I met him in London. If you have ever 
 seen the farce of c A Regular Fix ' it was that 
 Ward spoke of having seen me in at the Winter 
 Garden you will understand that it was that 
 kind of serious, earnest fun that made the piece 
 such a success." 
 
 " I saw the elder Sothern in it," I said. 
 
 " Yes, well, Sothern missed it altogether. He 
 
 53 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 was having fun with the old man in the piece, 
 whereas the chief character is really in a regular 
 fix, and his serious, honest efforts to disentangle 
 himself cause all the fun." 
 
 Jefferson was not much of a Nimrod. Almost 
 his entire leisure time was occupied by painting 
 and fishing. Most of his reading was on art or 
 kindred subjects, and he owned some valuable 
 books containing autograph letters, original etch- 
 ings, and drawings of distinguished painters. 
 That he was not a cc mighty hunter before the 
 Lord" is borne out by the following story told 
 me by the artist, E. W. Kemble, who visited him 
 in his Louisiana home, New Iberia. 
 
 " Suitably dressed in hunting costume, we had 
 gone out in a patent air-boat," said Mr. Kemble, 
 "in hopes of finding some sport on the wing. 
 Presently some birds came in view. I took 
 deliberate aim, and missed. Mr. Jefferson caught 
 up the gun, took equally deliberate aim, and 
 also missed. The attendant rowed us on in 
 profound silence. Presently Mr. Jefferson said 
 dryly : 
 
 " c I think I Ve had enough hunting for to-day/ 
 
 54 
 
MR. CLEVELAND AND MR. JEFFERSON OFF FOR A DAY'S 
 FISHING 
 
HIS R E C R EAT IONS 
 
 " I expressed myself as also quite satisfied and 
 we headed toward the shore, which we were lucky 
 to reach without being obliged to swim, for the 
 air-valve of the rubber boat had become uncon- 
 trollable and when we touched land we were 
 almost level with the water." 
 
 As is well known, former President Cleveland 
 and Jefferson were great friends and frequent 
 companions in fishing excursions. This mutual 
 preference for the same sport ripened the inti- 
 macy between them and brought both men much 
 happiness. Respect for the modesty of Mr. 
 Cleveland forbids the statement here of much 
 that Jefferson said of him. Mr. Cleveland's es- 
 timate of Jefferson has been given to the world. 
 In their fishing jaunts there were rules implied 
 and expressed. There was " the hour limit," for 
 example. The boat once anchored remained so, 
 no matter what fortune attended, for at least the 
 space of an hour. Conversation might always be 
 interrupted abruptly for good fishing, but under 
 no circumstances, it is related, could good fishing 
 be interrupted for conversation. 
 
 One of the best stories I ever heard in connec- 
 tion with Cleveland and Jefferson was that of a 
 
 55 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 visit the ex-President had paid between his two 
 administrations to the comedian at New Iberia, 
 Louisiana ; desiring to see an ante-bellum negro 
 cabin, Jefferson conducted him to one, a wretched 
 affair, inhabited by an old mammy who might 
 have been sixty or a hundred, for all one could 
 judge. The place was without any ornament ex- 
 cept a campaign lithograph picture of Cleveland. 
 
 " Mammy," said Jefferson, " whose picture is 
 that?" 
 
 " I doan' know fo' sho'," was the reply, " but 
 I think it 's John de BaptisV 
 
 I wrote to Mr. Cleveland and asked him if he 
 would kindly verify or disprove the story, and 
 received the following: 
 
 TAMWORTH, N. H., Aug. i, 1905. 
 . . . And now at last to come to the point of 
 your letter ; I have heard Mr. Jefferson tell the 
 story you mention, and so I think it not only 
 ought to be, but is, in the main, true. When I 
 read your letter last evening, I was a little uncer- 
 tain whether it was my picture the old negro had 
 or that of some other crafty politician. My wife, 
 who is always right against the world says 
 
 56 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 that she too heard the story from Mr. Jefferson's 
 lips and that the picture was mine. 
 
 I was not present when the picture was identi- 
 fied, was never in New Iberia or that neighbor- 
 hood with Mr. Jefferson, and have no relationship 
 with the incident, except such as may be derived 
 from my striking resemblance to John the 
 Baptist, which I have always perfectly well 
 known. 
 
 If you will eliminate the element of my per- 
 sonal presence, the story will be all right and you 
 are welcome to use it, and if you think my bodily 
 presence necessary to give juiciness to the story, 
 put me in but understand the lie must be 
 charged to your account, not mine. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 In thanking Mr. Cleveland, I wrote him that 
 I believed the story would print better if his 
 letter were given as an addendum, to do which I 
 respectfully solicited his permission. To this he 
 wrote, under date of August 10, 1905 : 
 
 ". . . I am quite willing to leave my John the 
 Baptist letter in your hands, and my reputation, 
 
 57 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 so far as it is included, to be dealt with as your 
 judgment and friendly care may dictate. I can 
 readily imagine the reminiscent revival of Jeffer- 
 soniana when you and the Commodore 1 and the 
 Senator 2 foregathered. I am wondering if I 
 could have made a contribution if I had been 
 present. The trouble with me is that among the 
 many things I remember, a majority of them 
 depend for their delightful value upon the pecu- 
 liar expression and manner of our dear friend, 
 as they transpired, and these, of course, cannot 
 be reproduced by anyone. I '11 give you an 
 instance. 
 
 " We were fishing for weakfish called by 
 the Buzzards Bay fishermen c Squeteague.' He 
 had a most exasperating habit of viciously jerking 
 a fish after he was fairly hooked and during his 
 struggling efforts to resist fatal persuasion boat- 
 wards. It looked to me like courting failure on 
 the part of the fisherman to indulge in these un- 
 necessary twitches. So on one occasion when he 
 had a fish hooked and was enlivening the fight by 
 terrific yanks, I said to him, ' What do you jerk 
 him that way for ? ' With an expression that 
 1 E. C. Benedict. a W. H. Crane. 
 
 58 
 
THE INDEFATIGABLE FISHERMAN GROVER CLEVELAND 
 From a photograph by John Finley, Esq. 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 comprises really all there is of the story, he 
 turned his face to me and said, c Because he 
 jerked me/ 
 
 " What a trivial thing this is to tell, and yet I 
 cannot recall anything that illustrates better the 
 quickness and drollery of his conceits." 
 
 That the true principles of democracy obtain 
 in America, as perhaps nowhere else, is illustrated 
 by the following incident told me by Mr. E. C. 
 Benedict : 
 
 " Ex-President Cleveland and Jefferson were 
 on the point of setting out to fish. Cleveland 
 was in the small boat beside the yacht c Oneida,' 
 impatiently awaiting the coming of Jefferson. 
 
 " c Are you going fishing or not ? ' called out 
 the despairing ex-President. 
 
 " With assumed boyish petulance Jefferson 
 looked over the vessel's rail at the man whose 
 countrymen had twice elected him to the presi- 
 dency, and said : 
 
 " c I do not mean to stir until I have finished 
 my story to the Commodore/ ' 
 
 Comedian William H. Crane, as one of a party 
 with Cleveland and Jefferson, recounts that the 
 preparations for departure being nearly complete, 
 
 59 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Jefferson set off on a discussion of telepathic in- 
 fluence. As he halted for a second, Mr. Cleve- 
 land interrupted with : 
 
 " That 's all right but where 's the bait ? " 
 
 Jefferson was an ardent lover of nature, and, as 
 in acting and in his appreciation of most things 
 in life, he was attracted chiefly by the graceful, 
 the peaceful, and the beautiful. The slow-winding 
 river, the brawling brook, the mountain torrent, 
 the tumbling cascade, the upland meadow, the 
 dilapidated barn, the sheltered mill with decaying 
 wheel with water trickling over near-by mossy 
 rocks, the oak, the birch, and beech trees appealed 
 to him most, were most expressive of his nature, 
 and these he selected for presentation on his own 
 canvases. 
 
 Other compositions such as the figure, genre 
 pictures, and animals, he essayed, but gave over, 
 because, as he said, he had not attempted them 
 early enough and it was not easy to teach an old 
 dog new tricks. With what boyish enthusiasm 
 he embraced the opportunity to take up the 
 brush and bear the palette may be seen from the 
 following, written in January, 1897: 
 
 " Think of it, I have been twelve weeks with- 
 60 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 out painting, so that I am filled to the brim with 
 mountains, trees, waterfalls, and f cut woods,' but 
 I shall be at it bright and early to-morrow, and 
 woe betide my dearest friend if he comes within 
 the circumference of my benevolent brush, for I 
 shall spatter him from head to heel. The weather 
 here is delightful. The roses are climbing over 
 our veranda, and my grandson is climbing over 
 my chair." 
 
 "I am working away at my painting, and hope 
 shortly to do some work that will be creditable in 
 the way of American landscape. The error of 
 our American artists consists in too servile imita- 
 tion of the foreign schools. ... I have myself 
 found much trouble in avoiding this, for now and 
 then suggestions of Corot and Daubigny kept 
 unconsciously intruding themselves from pure 
 admiration of their work. 
 
 " Nothing is so fatal to an artist as a tendency 
 to servile imitation. I hope I have got rid of this 
 bad, weak habit. No more French villages or 
 Dutch interiors for me there is material quite 
 enough in the mountains of the West, the water- 
 falls and forests of the East, and the swamps of the 
 South for American artists for all time to come. 
 
 61 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Do come to us, come and see me wield the brush 
 and paint out in a minute the work of days." 
 
 What he termed his more serious paintings he 
 did in Louisiana or Florida or in Massachusetts, 
 where he had winter and summer residences. He 
 became restless if long without a brush in his 
 hand, and when he travelled professionally he 
 carried an artist's outfit and daily applied him- 
 self with gleeful, almost feverish enthusiasm to 
 " monotyping. " If in the course of our pur- 
 suit we met in the same cities, as we did not 
 infrequently, I would generally receive some such 
 note as the following: 
 
 "We are going to do a little monotyping to- 
 day at 3 P. M. at the National Theatre. Per- 
 haps you'd like to see us at work. They'll tell 
 you at the box office where to find us." 
 
 Or: 
 
 "We are at it again in the front building of 
 the theatre. Come along, don't be late." 
 
 Or, in imitation of the call for a rehearsal : 
 
 "All the artists at Three." 
 
 I find many notes made of these occasions, but 
 one, with citations from others, will serve. 
 
 One afternoon I found him almost hid in a 
 62 
 

HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 many-colored calico apron, working away on 
 pieces of tin or zinc of various sizes. After the 
 All-Star " Rivals " trip he had a gigantic wash- 
 wringer made, and it was a conspicuous article 
 of furniture in his parlor at the various resting- 
 places throughout the country. It took him 
 only a few minutes to lay in a composition, 
 using fingers, palette knife, rags, and often a 
 brush the skilful use of the knife making the 
 birch tree which is especially characteristic of his 
 paintings. His initials, " J. J.," were put in last, 
 with a piece of leather. The tin containing the 
 painting and a piece of paper were rolled together 
 through the wringer, the paper receiving the 
 impression. Unexpected effects were thus pro- 
 duced, for the composition of the painting on the 
 tin before the rolling gave no true idea of what it 
 would be once pressed onto the paper. This is 
 one of its great attractions! This day he rolled 
 the tin through the wringer in conjunction with 
 the fluffy side of a piece of canton flannel, and the 
 velvety, leafy effect of the trees and moss-covered 
 rocks was excellent. It was the first effort on 
 canton flannel. 
 
 On one occasion he lunched with President 
 63 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 McKinley and his wife, and I twitted him on 
 his disloyalty to the Clevelands and said I meant 
 to inform them. I should tell them, too, that a 
 change of administration could make no difference 
 in my faithfulness beside which I had received 
 no invitation. As he sat there painting away, 
 smiling at my threat and chatter, with that vast 
 apron buttoned up close under his ears and his 
 patent leather shoes peeping out in comical contrast 
 below, unmindful of the attendant's injunction not 
 to drop the paint on his shoes or wipe his hands 
 on his huge bib, because the bib being thin the 
 paint went through to his trousers, he looked 
 for all the world like a big wrinkled-faced boy who 
 had gotten into some highly interesting mischief, 
 unmindful of the birching that might lie at the 
 end of it. 
 
 With a funny little pursing of the lips he told 
 me, between dabs with the brush or rag, that he 
 had just come back from " Mac's." 
 
 "Anything important said?" I asked. 
 
 " Nothing political, of course," he replied with 
 comic airiness. 
 
 " Of course not," I answered, imitating him, 
 " but was there anything said worth remember- 
 
 6 4 
 
HIS R E C R E ATI O N S 
 
 ing any gem of thought displayed not by the 
 President, of course, but by yourself?" 
 
 "No, no," he answered in his best Dr. Pan- 
 gloss manner ; " the conversation was general. I 
 did n't condescend to advise the President as to 
 the course he should pursue." 
 
 Later in the conversation he expressed pleasure 
 that a certain estimable young actress had made so 
 great a success in Barrie's " Little Minister." 
 
 From this began a discussion of the compara- 
 tive importance of success to men and women 
 on the stage. " Success," he said, "means much 
 to a man. It means even more to a woman. 
 The actress who has made a fortune is not be- 
 holden to some rascal of a husband, or to any 
 of the crowd of men who hang about actresses' 
 heels." 
 
 " Has n't a woman," I asked, cc possessing suf- 
 ficient ability to challenge the world's attention 
 enough judgment to guide her in an important 
 matter like a husband ? " 
 
 " Not necessarily," he said. " Women, like 
 music, are chiefly emotional, and an emotional 
 woman has little chance as against a clever, un- 
 scrupulous man." 
 
 65 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 On an occasion similar to this, I had called upon 
 him at New Orleans. After greeting me, he said : 
 
 " I don't give you my hand," presenting his 
 elbow to be shaken, " because it is so dirty." 
 
 Then I observed just how besmeared he was. 
 His face had a streak of green and yellow, and 
 his fingers were shining with all the colors of the 
 painter's palette. I declared him to be the neat- 
 est actor and the dirtiest painter I had ever seen, 
 and he laughingly acknowledged that it was pos- 
 sibly so. I asked him if it were true that he 
 would rather paint than act. He replied it most 
 emphatically was. I said I could scarcely credit 
 it, and that I believed if he were to reverse mat- 
 ters and were to act but a few weeks and paint for 
 a whole season, the preference would be the other 
 way. He answered that it might be so, but he 
 did love to paint. 
 
 At another time Mr. Jefferson spoke of " Nat" 
 Goodwin's imitations and their cleverness, par- 
 ticularly his singing of " Little Bo Peep " as 
 various actors would sing it, Irving, Booth, 
 Barrett, and finally Jefferson, stopping in the 
 middle and straying absent-mindedly from the 
 song to a discussion on art. 
 
 66 
 
H I S R ECRE ATI O NS 
 
 " How much I should like to see it ! I hear 
 his imitation of me in the awakening scene in 
 c Rip ' is cleverly ludicrous. As he yawns, he 
 glances up and says : c Gallery is a little off to- 
 night ! House about fifteen hundred, I should 
 think/ " 
 
 Then Mr. Jefferson laughed and added seri- 
 ously : 
 
 " He knows how much I like to play to a good 
 house." 
 
 In response to a remark of mine he said : 
 
 " There have been numerous players who have 
 infringed upon my rights as Rip. I interfered 
 with them but once. I had bought the right to 
 play c Ours/ and had transferred the privilege 
 gratis to a fellow actor for a Chicago engage- 
 ment. The piece failed, unfortunately, and the 
 actor had the temerity to play c Rip Van Winkle ' 
 a few days before my engagement in Chicago. I 
 sued him but dropped it. I have always felt 
 there was nothing in suing people for an infringe- 
 ment of this kind except the so-called f sweetness 
 of revenge/ and the man who has that finds he 
 grasps a pretty small lump of sugar." 
 
 He showed me a photograph of himself and 
 6 7 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 his friend Judge Howland. He thought both 
 likenesses excellent. I remarked that the pro- 
 jecting chin in the picture gave him a resemblance 
 to Voltaire. 
 
 " I thought so myself," he answered, " and 
 wondered if I were right.'' 
 
 " What would you do if you could n't paint ? " 
 I said to him, interested in his absorption in 
 the task. 
 
 " Die, I think," he replied. 
 
 There was some talk of his playing " The 
 Rivals " again next year. I asked him if he 
 intended to do so. 
 
 " It 's in abeyance, it never grows old if it is 
 well done," he answered, the naivete of which 
 amused me. 
 
 " What is the greatest mental pleasure you 
 have known? One that excited your feelings 
 most, and upon which you look back with the 
 keenest pleasure ? " 
 
 " I find that hard to answer," he mused. "There 
 are professional successes and domestic successes 
 (I have been very happy in this latter respect) that 
 are very dear to me. I have always been a very 
 contented man whatever happened, and I think 
 
 61 
 

 JOSEPH JEFFERSON AND JUDGE HENRY E. HOWLAND 
 From a photograph by Hollinger & Co., N. Y. 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 I have had good reason to be. On the whole, I 
 think the success of c Rip Van Winkle,' which 
 was an artistic as well as a commercial success, is 
 the greatest pleasure" I have ever known." 
 
 He painted awhile and then looked up and 
 said : 
 
 " Irving did n't like my idea of Macbeth, you 
 know." 
 
 " What is your idea concerning it ?" I asked. 
 
 " That Macbeth is a good man at the begin- 
 ning of the play. He is so wrapped about with 
 integrity that all the efforts of the witches not 
 one, but three are necessary to shake him. To 
 hold other than that Macbeth is a man of in- 
 tegrity in Act I is to hold that Macbeth is a 
 bloody murderer and that the play is a melo- 
 drama." Then, pausing to slant his head for a 
 view of the picture, he added : " All the plays of 
 Shakespeare illustrate some grand passion or 
 quality, Hamlet vacillation, Romeo and Juliet 
 love, Shylock revenge, Coriolanus autocracy, 
 Richard III ambition ; and of the grandest of 
 all subjects fate, which is the theme of 
 Macbeth Shakespeare was too big a man to 
 neglect to make the most. What greater subject 
 
 6 9 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 could there be than that of the responsibility 
 of human beings for their actions in this life ? 
 There the individual stands face to face with God 
 Himself. To find out what the characters are, 
 or mean, one has only to go to the soliloquies 
 of the poet. Mark how the characters of Richard 
 and Macbeth are contrasted in two soliloquies on 
 c blood,' the first while Richard was still Gloucester, 
 in c Henry VI ' : 
 
 ' Gloucester. See how my sword weeps for the poor king's 
 
 death ! 
 
 O, may such purple tears be alway shed 
 From those that wish the downfall of our house ! ' 
 
 ' Macbeth. Of all men else I have avoided thee : 
 But get thee back ; my soul is too much charged 
 With blood of thine already.* 
 
 The villain the ambitious villany of Richard 
 is here set forth in the one, and the conscience- 
 stricken man in the other." 
 
 Another pause for an oblique observation of 
 the canvas. 
 
 "I went with Winter to see Irving, and he 
 tried to draw me out on the subject, but after 
 a few remarks I declined to discuss it further, 
 
 7 o 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 because I thought it might seem presumptuous. 
 With Coquelin, Crane, or yourself on the subject 
 of comedy, yes ; but with Irving, on the subject 
 of tragedy, I thought it might be construed as 
 discourteous." 
 
 " What were the c few remarks' before you 
 discontinued the discussion ? " I asked him. 
 
 "Why, Irving thought Macbeth a villain 
 from the beginning, and I pointed out that for a 
 villain he made some very fine philosophical 
 speeches, as, c Life 's but a walking shadow, a 
 poor player that struts and frets his hour upon 
 the stage/ etc., etc." 
 
 " Surely Irving replied to that? " 
 
 " Oh yes; he said that Macbeth had many fine 
 speeches, but that they were intended to be 
 satirical." 
 
 " Satirical ? " 
 
 " Yes, satirical. I called his attention to the 
 fact that the speeches I quoted were spoken when 
 Macbeth was alone. A man does n't speak sa- 
 tirically to himself, that is, he doesn't deceive 
 himself. Yes," he said on reflection, " he may 
 do that, too, but he does n't do it intentionally. 
 Shakespeare always makes his characters reveal 
 
 71 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 their true selves when they soliloquize, as lago, 
 on the departure of Roderigo : 
 
 ' Thus do I ever make my fool my purse ; 
 For I mine own gain'd knowledge should profane, 
 If I would time expend with such a snipe.' " 
 
 " Did Irving reply ? " I interrogated. 
 
 "If he did I didn't hear him, and then I 
 turned the subject. In his address before the 
 College [Columbia] he did n't mention me by 
 name, but in referring to Macbeth he said he 
 could not conceive how certain American students 
 of Macbeth could so mistake the character. My 
 friends wished me to reply, but I declined, al- 
 though I knew he meant me." 
 
 " Why did you refrain ? " I ventured. 
 
 " Well, in the first place," he answered, " I am 
 not a student of Shakespeare. I have not even 
 read all his plays ; but what I have read I have 
 read analytically, and know as well as Mr. Irving 
 or Mr. Anybody Else. In the next place, my 
 defeat could not bring much glory to Irving, 
 who was contending on his own ground, while 
 victory for me would only bring humiliation to 
 Irving and discourteously weaken his credit be- 
 
 7* 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 fore the public. Perhaps some day I '11 write 
 out my views on the matter and publish them." 
 
 This time he was arrayed in a full set of blue 
 jeans and was painting away and answering my 
 questions. I was sitting at a table opposite writ- 
 ing down his responses. He went on with his 
 brush or feathers or fingers, until I had set down 
 the words and had launched forth with more 
 questions. He must have known I was taking 
 notes, for he said I must not print the Irving 
 discussion at least, not now. Sometimes I 
 read aloud what he said, and he corrected me if 
 I had mistaken him. Like Boswell, " I know 
 not how such whimsical ideas come into my head," 
 but I asked him the most disconnected things, 
 which often extracted a laugh from him and 
 always a reply. If the question startled him, he 
 would even put down his brushes and palette and 
 with fingers stiff with many-colored paints would 
 walk up and down the room, turning now and 
 then to me to emphasize some remark. 
 
 Bosweli-like, I asked him a variety of unrelated 
 questions about his daughters, his sons, whether 
 he meant to revive <c The Rivals," why he painted 
 with his fingers, why his hair kept so dark, how 
 
 73 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 long he had been playing " Rip Van Winkle," 
 and the like. 
 
 He told me about his daughters, one of whom, 
 Mrs. Farjeon, wife of the novelist, he had not 
 seen for twenty years. 
 
 " Farjeon does n't write any more, does he ? ' 
 I asked. 
 
 " Not now," he replied ; " his style has gone 
 out of fashion, I suppose. I am ashamed to say 
 I have never read but one or two of his books." 
 
 He painted with his ringers, pieces of rag, ends 
 of blotting paper, feathers, etc., to get the proper 
 effects. It must not be supposed he discarded 
 brushes ; they were used to lay in the colors. 
 When I had last seen him, in Washington, he was 
 making birch trees on the canvas with his palette 
 knife. This day the back-bone of a feather was 
 used. The soft part of the same article dipped 
 in paint and drawn across the picture, produced 
 the branches, limbs, and leaves. 
 
 " What 's the swiftest time in which you ever 
 painted a picture?" I asked. 
 
 " Two minutes." 
 
 What ! " 
 
 " Two minutes for Judge Howland at a 
 
 74 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 dinner recently. He passed me his card and 
 timed me." 
 
 "Here's a card," I said; "do let me witness 
 how quickly you can make one for me." 
 
 Some ink was spilled into the top of a soap- 
 dish for him, and with a piece of blotting paper 
 which I tore off the pad on his table, he in one 
 minute and a half produced a little picture which 
 he called "A Memory of the Catskills." 
 
 " Now sign your name," I said, " and say c done 
 in a minute and a half for Francis Wilson/ ' 
 
 " No ; that would be equivalent to saying, c I 
 did this in a minute and a half, see what a great 
 man I am ! ' 
 
 He wrote the title and his name and date, and 
 I added the time record. He was much pleased 
 with the picture, and as he examined it critically 
 he declared it to be " excellent." Then sitting 
 back in his chair, he said thoughtfully : 
 
 "Now, why can't I paint like that with the 
 brush ? " and then with great determination, " I 
 will, some day ! " And this man was seventy the 
 next February ! 
 
 He declared the picture had sky, mountains, 
 valleys, trees. 
 
 75 i 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 "And habitation," I ventured. 
 
 " Well," answered he, " that 's as one sees it. 
 That 's all there is to art ; the artist paints sug- 
 gestion and the spectator does all the rest." 
 
 He had finished and oiled his painting, "bring- 
 ing out the colors" he called it, and begun to 
 divest himself of his overalls and coat. He got 
 interested in the discussion of what a spectator 
 brings to a picture, when, giving a sudden twist, 
 the blue jeans trousers being down at his heels by 
 this time, he would have toppled over had I not 
 caught him. In attempting to help him off with 
 the pantaloons we became greatly entangled, clung 
 to each other, and laughed till we were weak. I 
 was convulsed to find that, in his abstraction and 
 impatience, he had, boylike, twisted the jeans 
 into almost undoable tangles. 
 
 I had brought him two of his Autobiographies 
 for his autograph. Friends of mine who were 
 not acquaintances of his often profited in this 
 way. His favorite quotation for inscriptions in 
 books was the Rip Van Winkle toast, " Here 's 
 your good health, and your family's ; may they 
 all live long and prosper." In one volume I 
 requested him to write something else. He 
 
 76 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 asked what he should write. I suggested that 
 he give expression to an idea about the fleet- 
 ing character of the actor's art, and of his own 
 hopes, as I had heard him express them, of being 
 remembered through his book of reminiscences. 
 He thought that would be egotistical. He 
 finally wrote : 
 
 "An actor cannot hope to live after he has 
 made his final exit an author may, but? " 
 
 J. JEFFERSON. 
 April 4, 1898. 
 
 The discussion of minstrelsy came up, and I 
 asked if he had had any other experience than 
 that of Jumping Jim Crow with T. D. Rice as 
 related in his Autobiography. 
 
 "Oh yes," he said gayly. "After my father 
 died, his partner, McKenzie, took full charge of 
 the company, and when minstrelsy became so 
 popular, the craze having been inaugurated by 
 Dumbleton, we all blacked up and did songs 
 and dances." 
 
 " c We all ' who were f we all ' ? " 
 
 " My half-brother, Charley Burke, James 
 Wright, who was afterwards prompter at Wai- 
 lack's Theatre, and myself," he answered. 
 
 77 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " Did the ladies cork their faces ? " 
 
 "Oh no." 
 
 " What songs did you sing ? " 
 
 " c Lucy Long,' ' Good-night, Ladies/ and all 
 the old melodies." 
 
 " Do you remember the words of any of 
 them ? " 
 
 " Yes ; one we used to do ran : (singing) 
 
 ' Sing, sing, darkies, sing ! 
 Don't you hear de banjo ring ? 
 Sing, sing, darkies, sing ! 
 Sing fo' de white folks, sing ! ' 
 
 During the delivery of the song he tossed his 
 head and hands and went through the " busi- 
 ness " much the same, I should say, as he did 
 it originally. He told me once that he never 
 forgot anything. 
 
 " 1 wish I could see Rip to-night," I said to 
 him. 
 
 " How long since you have seen it? " 
 
 " Two or three years," I replied. 
 
 " Where ? " he asked. 
 
 " At the Star Theatre in New York." 
 
 '* Two or three years ! Six or seven years ! " 
 
 he said. 
 
 78 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 " Is it possible that it is so long ago ? " 
 "Why, do you know," he remarked sadly, 
 " that c Billy ' Florence has been dead five or six 
 years?" 
 
 " Time has a way of dashing along " 
 " I should say it had, it just leaps with me," 
 he replied. " I am amazed when I reflect that it 
 is thirty-five years since I first played ' Rip Van 
 Winkle,' and thirty-five years before that I was 
 born." 
 
 Mr. Jefferson was not only an amateur painter 
 of merit, but he was a connoisseur of art as well. 
 He had a worthy collection of pictures which few 
 distinguished artists at home or from abroad have 
 failed to visit. He was especially interested in 
 the modern Dutch School, the rise of which he 
 predicted and in the canvases of which he in- 
 vested ultimately to his great profit. With 
 discriminating judgment he bought Marises, Is- 
 raels, Mauves, and Neuhuyses, when the pictures 
 of these now famous men were looked upon 
 almost as a joke or as the epitome of the so- 
 called " Molasses School of Art." A few weeks 
 before his death, when so weak he had to sit 
 down to examine the canvases, he added to his 
 
 79 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 collection examples of two or three of the com- 
 paratively unknown younger men of this same 
 school. All his life long he scented pictures 
 destined to become masterpieces as unerringly as 
 a retriever noses his game. Standing before the 
 gems of the Walters Collection in Baltimore, he 
 would point out "The Frosty Morning" by 
 Rousseau, a " Ville d'Avray " by Corot, a Diaz 
 here, a D'Aubigny there, as works he had seen 
 and loved long ago, and sadly declare he could 
 have secured them, when he was in Paris, for the 
 price of a song. 
 
 "And why didn't you? " I asked excitedly. 
 
 " I was too poor ! I was richer in judg- 
 ment than I was in purse," was the rueful 
 reply. 
 
 Narrow in nothing, much less in his art affili- 
 ations, he gathered from all schools. Of the 
 Englishmen great in painting he had examples 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Thomas Lawrence, 
 and Thomas Gainsborough. Of the elder Dutch 
 School he owned a Rembrandt; of the modern 
 Dutch, those I have mentioned and many others, 
 and all these were exquisite in quality and im- 
 portant in size. Beautiful pictures of Corot, Diaz, 
 
 so 
 
HIS R E C R EAT IONS 
 
 Monticelli, Van Marcke, Greuze, greeted him 
 daily from his walls. 
 
 The spirit and the poetry of the true artist 
 resided in the bosom of the many-sided, greatly 
 gifted man who dreamed and worked with youth- 
 ful ardor, attentively listening the while for the 
 voice of Nature to whisper her secrets of light 
 and shade and color to him. Now he would 
 be enthusiastic with the thought of a suggestion 
 of confidence from her, and now temporarily 
 dashed in spirit because that suggestion had 
 eluded him. He longed to conquer another 
 world, the world of the painter's art, the diffi- 
 culty and elusiveness of which fascinated him. 
 As an actor he could make his power of sugges- 
 tion felt to audiences which his skill and genius 
 had held captive for generations ; why, then, 
 could he not, as he had seen meaner spirits do 
 readily, set that suggestive, poetical quality upon 
 canvas ? At times he was elated with the convic- 
 tion that he had accomplished this, and he would 
 say: 
 
 " I did something worth while yesterday, it 
 came like a flash ; come and see it." 
 
 But before he could be reached he had painted 
 
 Si 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 it out, because the morning's judgment had dis- 
 dained it. He said that if Necessity is the mother 
 of Invention she is also the foster-mother of 
 Art. Joseph Jefferson had artistic temperament 
 and instinct, and might have become an artist of 
 no common powers if Necessity had forced him 
 to paint as she had forced him to act. How 
 skilfully he painted dramatic pictures we all 
 know. He began one and finished it every 
 evening, and he wanted to paint on canvas with 
 equal effectiveness and celerity. This he might 
 have accomplished had he devoted the same 
 time to the acquisition of the rudiments of the 
 art as he had to acting, and had done this under 
 equally skilful masters. When, as a connoisseur, 
 he stood before a picture and when he con- 
 ceived one which he sought to paint, he brought 
 a wealth of appreciation and temperamental in- 
 stinct to it, but if, as some think, he fell short 
 of great achievement in this art, it was be- 
 cause he had neglected its fundamental prin- 
 ciple, draughtsmanship. He either could not 
 or he would not draw from life, and therefore, 
 as it was thought, he had missed acquiring the 
 power to give deft expression to his imagery 
 
 82 
 
HIS R E C R E AT IONS 
 
 and poetic conceptions, which were as fair and 
 beautiful as ever painter possessed. Though he 
 painted landscape, he made no outdoor studies, 
 contending that the pictures of the brain were 
 best. In a word, he had been too much enam- 
 oured of paint, too little devoted to ,the pencil. 
 -He was in ardent sympathy with Nature, and his 
 heart grew big in the presence of her glories, the 
 impressions of which he strove to carry with him 
 to the studio and affix upon canvas. He felt 
 at times, I think, that his fame as an actor ob- 
 scured the appreciation of his ability as a painter, 
 and that sooner or later he would come out shin- 
 ingly from the eclipse. He cited Corot as 
 an example of a man whose recognition had 
 been delayed, and that not until fifty years of 
 age had a picture of the master been accepted 
 at the Salon. He loved the story of Corot, 
 when past fifty, regretting the sale of his first 
 picture, because it rendered his collection in- 
 complete. Through it all he saw something 
 of himself, and it encouraged him to hope and 
 labor on. If Corot reached fifty before he could 
 sell a picture, he felt that he himself might make 
 bold enough not only to exhibit but to sell at 
 
 83 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 seventy. He did both. His first exhibition 
 and sale was held in Washington. 1 
 
 The catalogue contains a likeness of Mr. Jef- 
 ferson, and the Introduction runs: 
 
 " It is with sincere pleasure we send this cata- 
 logue opening the Art Season to our patrons 
 and lovers of Art ; the more so for the reason that 
 to the majority it will be a surprise to meet an old 
 friend in an avocation of which only the initiated 
 few were aware. Joseph Jefferson, as a Painter, 
 has a subtile charm and poetry, which are inspired 
 in artists by qualities of heart and mind, and I am 
 certain nobody will see this charming Exhibition 
 without being delighted to have been brought 
 
 1 The sale catalogue, one of which he sent me, reads : 
 
 Fisher Gallery, 529 Fifteenth St. Exhibition of 16 Oil 
 Paintings by Joseph Jefferson. October 3oth to November 
 loth. From 10 o'clock to 5 P. M. (Admission by Card.) 
 Washington, D. C., 1899. 
 
 Underneath the ' Joseph Jefferson " of the above he face- 
 tiously wrote : One of the old Masters." 
 
 By designation the pictures are: I, Early Fall; 2, Forest 
 and Stream; 3, Solitude; 4, Rustic Bridge; 5, An Early 
 Frost ; 6, Mountain Torrent ; 7, Stony Brook ; 8, An Old 
 Beech Tree; 9, Wood Cart, in Winter; 10, The Copse; 
 II, The Old Mill; 12, The Canon; 13, The Mill Dam; 
 14, Little Falls; 15, On The Beach; 16, A Cool Spot. 
 
 84 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 into contact with the fascinating individuality of 
 the Painter himself." 
 
 I give an extract from the "Washington Times " 
 of October 29, 1899, which reviewed this exhibi- 
 tion at length : 
 
 " Many of these pictures are the work of but a 
 few hours, and were turned off at white heat, just 
 as Sargent produces his wonderful portraits. As 
 a consequence they possess a certain unity of feel- 
 ing, sentiment, and tone, which is very attractive. 
 There is, beyond the color and subjective matter, 
 something in the objective matter of these pictures 
 as well, which strongly suggests eighteenth-century 
 English art. There is also a distinctly picturesque 
 quality, often powerful and dramatic, which be- 
 tray long familiarity with theatrical scenery, and 
 the school is no mean one, for no class of painters 
 know so well as the scene-painters how to make 
 the most of opportunity and material. There are 
 in this collection typical old water-mills, cascades, 
 and shady dells. The pervading colors are rich 
 gray, greens, and the shadowy tones of wet, mossy 
 rocks and tree trunks, with somewhere on the 
 canvas a note of silvery gray and Delft blue. 
 There is, too, a wonderful richness and juicy 
 
 85 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 quality in the foliage, and the old buildings have 
 caught the green tones from the omnipresent 
 moisture, till every canvas sings in tune, and the 
 resulting note is something delicate and fine, that 
 remains long and pleasantly in one's memory. 
 These pictures are in every sense strong, mature, 
 and individual. They need no defence. To be 
 sure, there is not in them the minute observation 
 and drawing one looks for in Picknell or Bolton 
 Jones, but there is something more, that some- 
 thing without which we should never have heard 
 of Corot or George Inness. These pictures are 
 well-bred fancies begotten of great love and a 
 profound knowledge of Nature." l 
 
 1 A year and two months later, at the same place, Mr. Jef- 
 ferson had another and much larger exhibition of his pictures. 
 It included none of the examples of the previous collection. 
 The catalogue was more pretentious in every way than its 
 predecessor, being larger and illustrated with a portrait of him- 
 self, a sketch as he appeared in his studio at the easel, reproduc- 
 tions of some of the exhibited pictures, a reprint of an article, 
 "The Actor- Painter," from the "Boston Sunday Herald," 
 September 29, 1900, and a criticism of the paintings from 
 which an extract has been quoted. 
 
 The title-page ran : 
 
 Exhibition of 55 Oil Paintings, by Joseph Jefferson, at the 
 86 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 Mr. Jefferson had long been accustomed to the 
 comments of friends and acquaintances on his 
 efforts with the brush. He had been generous 
 in the presentation of his canvases, and examples 
 of his work hung in the Metropolitan Museum 
 and in various art galleries and clubs throughout 
 
 Fisher Galleries, 527-529 Fifteenth Street, from December 
 tenth to twenty-ninth, Washington, D. C., 1900. 
 
 The enumeration and titles of paintings in the catalogue were 
 arranged thus: I, Shady Nook; 2, Mount Washington; 3, 
 Duck's Retreat ; 4, The Bayou ; 5, Near the Everglades ; 
 6, Miller's Home; 7, The Willows; 8, Approaching Storm; 
 9, In the Adirondacks ; I o, Evening Glow ; 1 1 , After Trout ; 
 12, In the Mountains; 13, Night Effect ; 14, Moonrise ; 15, 
 Forest and Stream ; 16, After Bait ; 1 7, Dutch Windmill ; 1 8, 
 Australian Coast; 19, A Brook; 20, A Sunny Spot; 21, A 
 Wreck on Shore; 22, Early Fall; 23, Old Homestead; 24, 
 Frosty Morning; 25, Farmer's Retreat; 26, In the Rockies; 
 27, Peaceful Valley; 28, The Tugboat; 29, Brook in the 
 White Mountains; 30, The Broken Tree; 31, The Coming 
 Tide; 32 Deserted Farm; 33, Rocky Brook; 34, Coast off 
 New Zealand; 35, Storm in the Catskill ; 36, King of the 
 Forest; 37, On the Island of Naushon ; 38, The Mill in 
 Valley; 39, Massachusetts Bay; 40, Dove's Nest; 41, A 
 Dangerous Crossing ; 42, A Waterfall ; 43, Rustic Bridge ; 44, 
 A Street in St. Augustine; 45, Mill Brook; 46, Near the 
 Needles; 47, The Old Bridge; 48, Snow Drift; 49, The 
 Wreck; 50, A New England Farm ; 51, A Cataract ; 52, The 
 Old Road; 53, A Smoky City; 54, In the Moors; 55, Old 
 Road in Naushon. 
 
 87 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 the country, but he had never before exhibited 
 publicly, and public exhibition with public com- 
 ment which should bring him a general and pro- 
 fessional judgment was what he sought, albeit 
 with as much nervousness and concern as when 
 he faced an audience on the first night of a new 
 engagement, a nervousness which, to his last 
 performance, was enough to render him exceed- 
 ingly uncomfortable. 
 
 How pleased he was, then, with the reception 
 of what he termed " these bantlings of my soul " 
 may be gathered from the following : 
 
 PITTSBURGH, PA., Nov. 2, 1899. 
 
 You will see by the enclosed that I am no 
 longer an amateur, but a full-fledged, rising young 
 artist. [He was then within three months of 
 seventy-one.] 
 
 Since my late exhibition of paintings I feel 
 quite like a blushing debutante looking out for 
 " notices." They refresh and rejuvenate me 
 unlike the newspapers on my acting of late that 
 indulge in mournful expressions ... I have no 
 excuse to offer for sending you the enclosed [the 
 original criticism already quoted from the cata- 
 
 88 
 
HIS R E C R EAT IONS 
 
 logue of his exhibition] except my small new 
 departure and my great vanity. 
 
 OLYMPIC THEATRE, ST. Louis, Mo., 
 
 Nov. 2oth. 
 
 I find I have no other copy of the "Art 
 Criticism " that I sent you. Will you kindly 
 keep it for me ? 
 
 You see they have given up the calling of me 
 " an amateur," so I fancy I am now one of " the 
 old masters." 
 
 I wrote him that I was going to Washington, 
 and received the following: 
 
 FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, MADISON SQUARE, 
 
 NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 1900. 
 
 The exhibition of my paintings will be post- 
 poned till the 10 of Dec. 
 
 There are, however, some of them hung now, 
 and I enclose you a letter of introduction to Mr. 
 V. G. Fisher, who, I am sure, will be pleased to 
 give you a private view should you desire to see 
 them. 
 
 I desired very much indeed to see them. He 
 had presented me with an oil painting, " A Mem- 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 ory of the Kattskill," and he had given me, as 
 a souvenir of the " Heir at Law " performance, a 
 picture he painted in imitation of Turner which 
 hung on the wall of the drawing-room scene in 
 the play. When I reached Washington, I selected 
 " The King of the Forest " as the most repre- 
 sentative and most skilfully painted of any picture 
 I had yet seen of " the rising young artist," and 
 it passed speedily into my possession ; nor was I 
 greatly influenced in my purchase by the guileful 
 remark of the dealer that as a picture painted by 
 the hand of Shakespeare would now be of incal- 
 culable value, so, at no distant day, would be one 
 painted by the hand of Joseph Jefferson. 
 
 He learned speedily of my new possession 
 and telegraphed me : 
 
 " Congratulate you on having one of my best 
 pictures. Don't tell anybody what you paid." 
 
 To this I could not resist replying : 
 
 " I won't. Am as much ashamed of it as 
 you are." 
 
 We laughed over this when we met, and he 
 requested that I should say nothing of it to " the 
 boys," his sons, who are incorrigible wags. Such 
 exchange of pleasantries was frequent. 
 
 9 o 
 
I 
 
 1 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 Replying to the note apprising him of my ac- 
 quisition of " The King of the Forest," he wrote 
 a few days later : 
 
 " I am glad that you have this picture because 
 you tell me you like it. You say that c it speaks 
 to you/ This is the best test in a work of art. 
 . . . The King of the Forest is partly from 
 nature and partly from imagination I saw the 
 old fellow once on the bank of a trout stream 
 just at sunset. The glowing light as it came 
 through the weird and tangled limbs made a 
 strong impression on me, so the next day I 
 fixed my memory on the canvas." 
 
 Many of the pleasantest hours passed with 
 Mr. Jefferson were those spent in visiting picture 
 collections, public and private. An account of 
 one such visit as set down at the time, May 10, 
 1901, Boston, may serve, I think, as a fitting 
 close to the chapter. 
 
 " Francis," said Mr. Jefferson, as we jogged 
 along, " there are a lot of poor people to-day as 
 the result of not following Commodore Vander- 
 bilt's injunction : c Never to sell what you have n't 
 got or can't produce/ ' 
 
 This was apropos of the big flurry in the stock 
 91 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 market during which many fortunes had been 
 made in American securities and many lost in 
 American bucket shops. 
 
 Then he threw back his head and laughed, 
 and followed the motion with the explanation 
 that a man had asked him if he had been " hit " 
 by the " slump in stocks." 
 
 " Fancy living such a life as that ! " he said, 
 " never being able to lie down comfortably or get 
 a good night's rest for fear of being impoverished 
 in the morning. Fancy being glued to a stock- 
 ticker and not being able to get away ! No, sir, 
 none of that for me. I want to fish a little, paint 
 a little, and then act a little." 
 
 "Why, sir," I said to him, " so easily have 
 fortunes been made recently in Wall Street that 
 one might buy a pair of shoes down there on 
 Thursday and wake to find them a finely equipped 
 leather factory on Friday." 
 
 " Yes," he answered, " or buy a leather factory 
 and wake up to find it a pair of shoes ! " 
 
 " I have been laughing for days," he said, 
 " over 
 
 There was an old monk of Siberia 
 Whose days grew weary and wearier, 
 9* 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 With ah 1 of a yell 
 He broke through his cell 
 And eloped with the Lady Superior.' 
 
 So I tried my hand at it : 
 
 There was a small child of Peoria, 
 Who cried for Pitcher's Castoria! 
 
 The dear little dummy 
 
 Got a pain in her tummy ; 
 They buried her up at Astoria." 
 
 " But why dummy ' ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know, unless it be to rhyme 
 with c tummy/ ' Then, as we walked on a few 
 yards, he said : " No, no ! that won't do. I 
 must get another line for that." 
 
 Arrived at our destination, we were ushered in 
 among the artistic treasures of the place. Mr. 
 Jefferson apologized for being a few moments 
 behind time, because of being detained by an 
 interview with Helen Keller. 
 
 He then gave us a description of going through 
 a scene from " The Rivals " for Miss Keller's 
 benefit, she following him the while with her fin- 
 ger on his lips. She had not only understood 
 and repeated everything, but had explained that 
 " Acres " had leaned over and whispered to c< Sir 
 
 93 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Lucius " in the effort to get the right letter for 
 the beginning of one of the speeches. This he 
 thought extraordinary ascribing it to telepathy, 
 thought-transference, out of which, he felt sure, 
 wondrous things were to come. 
 
 About to leave the house, I suggested that we 
 make choice of some one picture which we should 
 carry off from those we had seen, that is, give 
 preference to some one painting we should be 
 glad to carry off. The hostess was much taken 
 with the idea. I selected the Dupre, and Jeffer- 
 son pronounced instantly for the Israels " Child 
 in a Dutch High-chair." This was a compli- 
 ment to his own taste, for he has owned, these 
 many years, a most important and beautiful 
 example of that artist. He has often told me 
 how he procured it, but he never told it better 
 or with more enthusiasm than this morning. 
 
 A certain picture dealer, it seems, whom he 
 visited one day, said he had a painting to show 
 him that would knock him off his feet. 
 
 " Gad, it did, too ! " said Jefferson, " for when 
 he pushed that Israels out under the light, I was 
 at once bitten with the desire for its possession. 
 I inquired the price. c Now/ he said, c I am 
 
 94 
 
PORTRAIT OF ISRAELS BY HIMSELF 
 (Presented to Dr. Frank Gunsaulus) 
 
HIS RECREATIONS 
 
 going to break your heart, it is sold/ Then 
 the following conversation came quickly : 
 
 " c Has the owner paid for it ? ' 
 
 " No/ 
 
 " c Is he over-much pleased with it ? ' 
 
 " ( Not especially/ 
 
 < tc What did he pay for it ? ' 
 
 " c So much/ 
 
 " c Do you suppose you could get it for me ? ' 
 
 'I could try/ 
 
 " c Do; if you succeed, I '11 give you five hun- 
 dred dollars for your trouble/ 
 
 " Well, he got it, and [with a delighted 
 chuckle] with a little bribery and corruption, so 
 did I. 
 
 " Without having examined the details of the 
 painting, I called it The Madonna of the Cot- 
 tage/ On removing the glass and the shadow- 
 box, I found, up in one corner of the painting, 
 in deep shadow, as a picture on the wall of the 
 cottage, the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, 
 showing that I had guessed the artist's inten- 
 tion. This was told to Israels, who confirmed 
 my thoughts as to the matter. I was greatly 
 pleased/' 
 
 95 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Then, as if he saw the picture before him, he 
 added : 
 
 "It is very beautiful. The young mother 
 with her first babe and, oh, the strength of the 
 hand and arm that support the child, and the 
 tenderness, lightness, and gentleness of the other 
 hand with which she is bathing her boy ! " 
 
 How true this is, those of us who have seen 
 the Israels are ready to declare, though perhaps 
 none of us has remarked, as had Mr. Jefferson, 
 the lightness and strength of the mother's hand. 
 
 Israels and Jefferson corresponded, but never 
 met. Jefferson sent the artist his " Autobiog- 
 raphy," and Israels returned the compliment by 
 sending Jefferson his book of travels, " Spain." 
 
 I had the distinction of being ambassador- 
 extraordinary to the artist Israels, bearing a 
 message of love from Joseph Jefferson, and I 
 returned bearing an affectionate greeting from the 
 master Dutch painter to the master American 
 actor. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 JOSEPH JEFFERSON AS A LECTURER 
 
 MR. JEFFERSON had unusual success 
 as a lecturer. On the platform his 
 sympathetic face and manner, his mag- 
 netism and rare sweetness of expression, his 
 earnestness and conciseness of utterance, together 
 with the enthusiasm for the subject he was treating 
 always the stage made him a most attractive 
 figure. He found himself in such demand as a 
 platform speaker that he determined upon a 
 professional lecturing tour ; but he soon grew 
 tired of a kind of work which allowed him far 
 less scope than the drama afforded, though it 
 interested him from the point of view of novelty. 
 He confessed that he felt better when he gave up 
 lecturing professionally, and that he had responded 
 to the call only through courtesy. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson lectured two or three times dur- 
 ing the Ail-Star " Rivals " trip ; but an account, 
 
 97 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 made by me at the time^ of his appearance at 
 Buffalo, New York, May 25, 1896, for the 
 Women's Union, at Union Hall, when his sub- 
 ject, as usual, was Dramatic Art, will serve chiefly 
 as an illustration of him as a platform speaker and 
 of his method as well as of his matter. 
 
 The chairman, Mrs. Frank Wade, said she 
 would reverse the usual order of things and 
 introduce the audience to Mr. Jefferson, and, 
 turning to the distinguished player, said: " Mr. 
 Jefferson, here are five hundred of your friends." 
 The women attired in bright spring raiment were 
 an animated and picturesque assembly, and Mr. 
 Jefferson, in the beginning, did not fail to com- 
 ment pleasantly upon the fact. He smiled upon 
 his audience, and took them at once into his con- 
 fidence by begging them not to be alarmed by 
 the papers he held in his hand ; they were only a 
 few notes to which he would occasionally refer - 
 for the audience were not to suppose that he 
 would pay them so poor a compliment as to 
 appear before them unprepared, trusting to such 
 meagre thoughts as would come to him on the 
 spur of the moment. He said : 
 
 " Preparation in my art is more necessary than 
 
ai < 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 in any other. The sculptor, for example, can 
 work with the clay, changing it many times before 
 it is perfect, until he puts his figure into mar- 
 ble ; the poet and the novelist may revise and 
 rewrite carefully before they finally publish their 
 work ; the painter can change and alter his handi- 
 work while it is under his hand until it reaches 
 perfection ; but an actor cannot rub out. His 
 only chance is to be as perfectly and entirely sure 
 as is possible beforehand, and once his presenta- 
 tion is made it is made forever. I could not, 
 after giving a poor presentation of a character, 
 say to my audience, c Ladies and gentlemen, 
 excuse me, I can do that much better, I '11 do it 
 again ! ' No, the actor cannot rub out. If he 
 disappoints his audience, he cannot go back." 
 
 Mr. Jefferson then related an incident that 
 laughably depicted how an elaborate preparation 
 made by himself and Mr. William Florence was 
 of no avail. The last night of an engagement in 
 New York in " The Rivals," Mr. Florence play- 
 ing Sir Lucius O'Trigger, it was expected that 
 there would be a recall after the final curtain had 
 fallen, and a number of pretty speeches was pre- 
 pared to be delivered by Mr. Florence and himself 
 
 99 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 in the most impromptu way. The play ended 
 and the curtain fell, but there was no recall ! 
 Mr. Jefferson added that this was during the 
 last engagement he and Mr. Florence played 
 together. 
 
 " No," continued Mr. Jefferson, " the actor 
 must not only produce, but in order to make the 
 greatest artistic effect he must reproduce each 
 time as if he had never produced before/' 
 
 Speaking of the difference between acting and 
 oratory : 
 
 " The actor and the orator must have good 
 voices, a clear articulation, easy gestures, and a 
 strong personality ; and just here there comes a 
 fork in the road. The orator must be impres- 
 sive, the actor impressionable. The orator must 
 speak only ; the actor must not only talk, but he 
 must listen and an actor who does not know 
 how to listen has half his art to learn and he 
 must also show what he is feeling as he listens. 
 The orator never has to listen. His art is 
 therefore so much the easier." 
 
 Speaking of genius and art, he said: 
 
 " Genius is delightful in itself, and art is the 
 handmaid of genius. Genius may dye the hues 
 
 100 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 of the rainbow, but art catches the tints and makes 
 them lasting." 
 
 Touching upon tragedy and comedy, Mr. 
 Jefferson described the print of David Garrick 
 standing between the goddesses of tragedy and 
 comedy, leaning toward the former but with his 
 arm thrown around the latter. 
 
 " Garrick was questioned as to his preference, 
 and replied that whether he were well or ill, in 
 high spirits or low, he was always equal to 
 tragedy, but comedy was a serious business ! " 
 
 As examples of the seriousness that some 
 phases of comedy require, Mr. Jefferson gave a 
 delightful reading of the Grave-digger in " Ham- 
 let," also some lines of Dogberry in " Much 
 Ado About Nothing." 
 
 Continuing, he said : 
 
 " Shakespeare wrote to illustrate some distinct 
 passion, and each play is an illustration of this 
 fact, c Othello' jealousy, 'Macbeth* supersti- 
 tion ; c Romeo and Juliet' illustrated the passion 
 of love, and this grand passion was frequently 
 portrayed in different ways by different actors. 
 Mrs. Siddons was called upon to decide between 
 David Garrick and Sprangur Barry, which was the 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 better Romeo, Garrick the passionate lover or 
 Barry the fascinating wooer. She had played 
 Juliet to them both. She said that when from 
 the balcony she listened to Garrick, she was 
 afraid that he would throw himself up at her feet, 
 but that when she heard Barry she felt as if she 
 must throw herself down at his." 
 
 At the conclusion of the lecture Mr. Jefferson 
 announced his willingness to be questioned by 
 the audience, and gave a humorous description 
 of a grave college professor once coming to the 
 edge of the stage and asking him if he did not 
 think the starring system a most pernicious one. 
 " Naturally I found that a most delicate sub- 
 ject to handle ; but I told him that once 1 had 
 msidered the starring system most pernicious, 
 but that my opinion had since changed, that 
 when I was in a stock company I looked upon 
 every star as a tyrant, but since I had become a 
 star, I regarded every stock actor as a con- 
 spirator ! Moreover I told him I was not re- 
 sponsible for the starring system, that it was 
 invented long before my time by the gentleman 
 
 1 Mrs. Siddons never played Juliet to Garrick* s Romeo. 
 The remark was attributed to a fashionable woman of the hour. 
 
 102 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 by the name of William Shakespeare. He wrote 
 all his plays for stars ; they are all written to 
 illustrate a passion around a central figure. 
 
 " The professor, however, wishing to oppose 
 me, said: c How about "Romeo and Juliet"?' 
 
 "'Well,' I replied, c " Romeo and Juliet" was 
 written to illustrate the passion of love, and how 
 can you illustrate the passion of love without hav- 
 ing at least two stars ? ' And now I am ready for 
 your questions." 
 
 The president of the Women's Union then 
 rose and said that the officers of the Union were 
 so often called upon for advice to young women 
 entering professions, she would ask Mr. Jefferson 
 his opinion of the stage as a career for women. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson replied : 
 
 " This is an oft repeated question not easily 
 answered. I cannot but be prejudiced in my 
 reply, for I am already four generations deep in 
 the dramatic profession. My great-grandfather, 
 my grandfather and grandmother, my father and 
 mother were all actors and actresses, and in the 
 face of this it is not likely I should say anything 
 against my calling. I dislike to defend my own 
 profession. I would much rather some minister 
 
 103 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 should do it while I defend his. My daughters 
 never showed any talent for the stage, but if they 
 had they should have acted side by side with their 
 father." The audience greeted this remark with 
 an especially hearty round of applause. 
 
 " Whether a woman should go on the stage 
 depends entirely upon her motive. If she wishes 
 to go on for amusement or to gratify her vanity, 
 I emphatically answer, c No ! ' but if she wishes 
 to earn a living or adopt the stage because she 
 has love and real talents for it, I say, c Yes ! ' 
 And the public should not be deprived of such. 
 I do not claim entire virtue and purity for the 
 stage no profession can claim that, for they 
 are all made up of humanity, good and bad, 
 but I am proud to number among my friends 
 a host of men and women in the profession 
 who are, I know, among the finest people in 
 the land." Pausing for a few seconds, he added 
 impressively: 
 
 " It depends upon the woman herself in any 
 calling whether her life is respectable or not." 
 
 The next question, a written one, was handed 
 up and proved to be : 
 
 " How long did you practise the waking-up 
 104. 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 scene in c Rip Van Winkle * before you were 
 properly awaked ? " 
 
 Mr. Jefferson could not answer this nobody 
 could but he good-naturedly related the inci- 
 dent of his trying on his Rip wig one Sunday 
 in London and rehearsing the waking-up scene 
 much to the amusement of a large crowd outside, 
 of whose inspection Mr. Jefferson was ignorant 
 until informed by an irate landlady ! 
 
 At the outset of his address Mr. Jefferson had 
 told his audience that his appearance that after- 
 noon was somewhat unusual. He was without 
 the customary stage paraphernalia, without his 
 customary accessories, and came before them 
 simply disguised as a gentleman. 
 
 This disguise consisted of a long black Prince 
 Albert coat, black waistcoat, which, after the 
 Southern fashion, was fastened by one or two but- 
 tons at the bottom only, or, mayhap, one at the 
 top and one at the bottom, disclosing peeps of a 
 rather loosely starched white shirt. Gray trousers, 
 patent leather shoes, and a turndown collar with a 
 red and black Windsor tie, completed his costume. 
 The tie gave him an artistic jauntiness, but scarcely 
 
 corresponded with the rest of his dress. 
 
 105 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 He had his subject well in hand, and he inspired 
 his audience with great confidence by his ease of 
 manner as well as by his simplicity and felicity of 
 speech. His loyalty to his profession was greatly 
 applauded, and the people seemed to listen with 
 breathless interest, and yet they were hushed in- 
 stantly even to greater stillness as he told of being 
 four generations deep in the dramatic profession. 
 Now they were laughing heartily again as he nar- 
 rated that the actor, unlike the author, sculptor, 
 or painter, cannot go back, cannot say : " Ladies 
 and gentlemen, I can do that better, I'll do it 
 over ! " His manner as much as his words told 
 his hearers how absurd such a proceeding would 
 be on the part of the actor, and, as usual, ham- 
 mered home the truth of the declaration. Once 
 or twice, with open hand back of his ear, declar- 
 ing his hearing not so good as it used to be, he 
 requested some weak-voiced auditor to put his 
 question " a little louder, please." 
 
 On April 28, 1897, Mr. Jefferson addressed 
 the students of the American Academy of Dra- 
 matic Arts. The occasion was interesting as 
 bringing him face to face with the apprentices, 
 the aspirants to fame in an art in which he had 
 
 i of 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 achieved and reflected such distinction. The 
 questions asked were more interesting than those 
 at Buffalo, and one at least especially so, as put- 
 ting the Dean of the Stage upon his mettle and 
 obliging him, as he felt, to defend his alteration of 
 Sheridan's "The Rivals." This, I think, was the 
 first time Mr. Jefferson had met the graduates of 
 a dramatic school. He was known to be scep- 
 tical with respect to such institution^. The only 
 tyros of the dramatic art he had encountered and 
 in whom he firmly believed were those of the 
 theatre proper. It will be seen how gracefully 
 he adapted himself to the circumstances. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson said : 
 
 " I have noticed to-day you are particularly en- 
 thusiastic, you are most liberal with your applause. 
 Possibly you were thinking about all that fine ap- 
 plause you are going to receive, and a fellow feel- 
 ing makes us all akin. I assure you that your 
 applause has done me good, but at the same 
 time given me stage fright." 
 
 Bronson Howard had introduced Jefferson, 
 who took advantage of the fact to say compli- 
 mentary things in return. Speaking of dram- 
 atists, he said: 
 
 107 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " The author of course can be very much in- 
 debted to the actor for the development of his 
 characters. I am told that on one occasion in 
 Paris I believe the first representation of * Ro- 
 land ' two characters were intended to be played 
 as serious. They came upon the stage and, find- 
 ing that they were not successful, immediately 
 turned them into comic characters, and the hit of 
 the play was tremendous. The author came to 
 these actors, and said he never could be too grate- 
 ful for what they had done. But what would the 
 actor be without the author ? Sometimes I sup- 
 pose the audience think we do the whole thing. 
 Once while I was watching Booth as Hamlet, a 
 gentleman sitting alongside of me remarked that 
 he could not see how Booth could get all those 
 things off out of his head." 
 
 He made an exact statement of his views as to 
 the instruction of beginners. " It is said, I be- 
 lieve, we cannot teach acting. Many members 
 of my profession insist upon that. They are 
 wrong. I do not say we can teach emotion ; 
 we cannot teach passion, wit, humor, or pathos. 
 Who would suppose you could teach painting 
 to one who was color blind, or modelling to one 
 
 10! 
 
From a photograph by Mrs. 
 Roland Nickerson 
 
 By courtesy of C. A.Walker, Esq. 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 who had no eye for form, or literary composition 
 to one who had no power of expressing himself 
 on paper ? Of course, one cannot be taught if 
 there is no ability; but art, as applied to our 
 profession, is most important. Art is the hand- 
 maid of genius, and only asks the small wage 
 of respectful attention as modest payment for 
 her services.' 1 He told the students that the 
 greatest things which occurred on the stage were 
 those that were not thought out, but happened ; 
 but he advised the most thorough preparation in 
 case they did not happen. 
 
 " Another important point for you to bear in 
 mind," he said to them, " is that your profession 
 is not only one of production but also one of re- 
 production. A writer does not write the same 
 book, a painter does not paint the same picture, 
 but you have to play the same part very often 
 night after night and yet play as if you never 
 had played it before, so that yours is the art of 
 reproduction as well as of production." 
 
 To the question "What do you consider the 
 most important qualification for success on the 
 stage ?" he replied: 
 
 " I should select three, sensibility, imagina- 
 109 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 tion, and industry : sensibility, that you may be 
 alive to your surroundings; imagination, that you 
 may weave that into a graceful and interesting 
 combination ; and industry, that you may lose 
 none of the precious moments that are given us 
 here for the development of that faculty/' 
 
 "In playing a legitimate part, ought one to 
 keep to the traditions or create a new treatment 
 of the role ? " was the next question. Jefferson 
 declared this was a " home thrust." 
 
 " It depends entirely upon the actor, and upon 
 how far he can come into the conditions required 
 by the author, and whether he may not possibly 
 be able to reach a better effect by bringing the 
 parts a little to him. This question would al- 
 most seem to allude to the alteration I made 
 of the traditional character of Acres. For many 
 years I had been playing from the traditional 
 standpoint. I did not believe I could represent 
 the character in that way so well as I could in an- 
 other, and I acted it in all sorts of ways until I 
 found out what I considered most effective. You 
 will be surprised when I tell you, and I will con- 
 fess it to you here to show you whether art is not 
 necessary, and to show you also that sometimes 
 
 110 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 the best things happen on the stage, and when 
 they happen, it is the duty of art to stick a pin 
 in the happening and see that it happens again. 
 I had played the part of Acres two hundred 
 times before I knew how to end the second act 
 always disappointed, always annoyed when the 
 curtain fell. No, it was not right ! And on one 
 occasion it happened, and it was right. So the 
 happening was better than all I could do, but art 
 came to the assistance, and said, c It must happen 
 again/ This is such a home thrust and seemed 
 almost intended to draw me out; so I want to 
 vindicate myself before you for the liberties I took 
 with Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In reading the 
 papers, of course the critical or hypercritical 
 dramatic critic said I had taken great liberties 
 with Sheridan, and lately, when Mr. Goodwin 
 played my version of it in Australia, he sent me 
 the criticism of several of the horrible ways in 
 which I had mutilated and defamed the sacred 
 Sheridan. Once, when overcome and borne down 
 by sorrow over the criticisms I had received, I 
 opened Doran's ' History of the Stage* and came 
 across this : c Richard Brinsley Sheridan,' said 
 Doran, c took Sir John Van Brugh's five-act 
 
JOSE-PH JEFFERSON 
 
 comedy of " The Relapse " and altered it to a 
 three-act comedy and called it " A Trip to Scar- 
 borough/* and Richard Sheridan, knowing he 
 would be rated by the critics for what he had 
 done, makes his excuse by having one of the 
 characters repeat the following lines : " It would 
 be a pity if some of the great works of our former 
 dramatists should become obsolete and retired 
 from the stage, when by a little pruning they 
 might be made interesting to the present genera- 
 tion until we can have writers who can give us 
 better work." I, therefore, ask no further vindi- 
 cation for what I did to Brinsley Sheridan than 
 his own confession of what he did for Sir John." 
 
 " How far should an actor be conscious of what 
 he is doing?" was the next interrogation. 
 
 The gist of his reply was that if you can pro- 
 duce a better effect by immersing yourself into 
 the character, it is better to produce it. This 
 matter of whether we should feel or not feel has 
 been gone over by Monsieur Coquelin and Mr. 
 Irving. One, he thought, believes we should feel 
 up to the point of real tears; the other, that we 
 should not feel at all. " It appears they are both 
 right and both wrong. It is a question whether 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 the one could produce the same effect as the 
 other, reversing their methods.'' 
 
 The preceding addresses were but a modifica- 
 tion of the one delivered by Mr. Jefferson at 
 Yale College, April 27, 1892. In November of 
 the same year Yale University conferred upon 
 the player the degree of M.A. In 1895 Har- 
 vard University gave the great comedian the 
 degree of M.A. Simpliciter. These were honors 
 of which not only Jefferson but all who loved 
 and respected him were proud. They served not 
 only to distinguish Jefferson, but also to indicate 
 as anachronistic whatever of religious intolerance 
 existed in the community with respect to his 
 profession. They were not conferred by these 
 two great universities as a recognition of Jeffer- 
 son's scholastic attainments, he had none, and 
 nobody knew that better than he, but as a 
 mark of appreciative distinction for his eminence 
 and power as a player and his worth as a man. 
 In a letter facetiously referring to these univer- 
 sity distinctions he called my attention to the fact 
 that M. A. was higher than B. A., arid that in 
 addressing him in future I was to remember 
 that, after the manner of " Dr. Pangloss," he was 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 now Joseph Jefferson, M. A., LL. D., and A. S. S. 
 
 This was an injunction which for once, at least, 
 in the superscription of an envelope, I kept in 
 mind. 
 
 In a copy of the Yale University address which 
 I sent him to sign, he wrote : 
 
 " You will see that I have taken the liberty 
 of writing in some lines that are not published 
 [the twenty lines following : " And every tin man 
 swears he was a tinker"]; so c they will away again 
 from me to you/ as the first grave-digger says." 
 
 Much of the Yale University address, or those 
 parts not before mentioned, together with the lines 
 Mr. Jefferson marked for insertion, are given 
 herewith. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson began with a humorous anec- 
 dote. 
 
 " In my present condition," he said, " I feel 
 that I strangely resemble the village boy of New 
 Hampshire. It was proposed that in this same 
 village a school-house should be erected. One 
 of the Solons, who had been perhaps the oldest 
 inhabitant, strongly opposed this barbarous intro- 
 duction, and in his own simple words said : c We 
 
 don't want no book larnin' in this place. I 'm 
 
 114 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 ag'in it, my wife 's ag'in it, and we '11 both vote 
 ag'in it, for 't ain't no account and takes a boy 
 from his nat'ral work and chores e'en a'most as 
 much as goin' fishin'. Why, there was a boy in 
 this village years ago, as likely a young fellow as 
 anybody ever stuck a knife into. What was his 
 name now ? Oh, Webster, yes, Dan'l Webster. 
 He was a peart, snappy boy, but he got it into 
 his head that he must have book larnin'. Well, 
 he went up to Boston, got his book larnin', and 
 nobody ever hearn tell on him again.' 
 
 "Now, though I resemble Daniel Webster 
 about as little in personal appearance as I do 
 intellectually, I still fancy that I may bear a 
 likeness to him in this one particular instance, 
 that after I have finished my discourse in the 
 presence of so much c book larnin',' nobody will 
 ever hear of me again." 
 
 He told them that in presenting himself 
 before them as an orator, he feared he risked 
 whatever reputation he might have gained as an 
 actor. The deep-laid plan, he said, to assault the 
 august body was concocted by Professor Weir, 
 whom he characterized as the anarchist in the mat- 
 ter, while he, Jefferson, was only the dynamite. 
 
 "5 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Speaking of players who have appeared on the 
 platform, he said: "Fanny Kemble and James 
 E. Murdoch are the only actors I can call to 
 mind who have succeeded as readers. These 
 exceptions are sufficiently limited to prove the 
 rule, and for the reason that the peculiar qualities 
 that are required in an actor are at variance with 
 those which are desirable for an orator. Of 
 course, there are some attributes that belong to 
 each : voice, gesture, a fine articulation, presence, 
 dignity, repose all of these are necessary to 
 both, but here is the great distinction : An orator 
 impresses his audience by what he says to them ; 
 an actor is often most effective when he shows 
 how he is impressed by what is said to him. No 
 one talks back to the orator ! He has it all to 
 himself." 
 
 Following with humorous illustrations, he 
 continued : 
 
 " I beg you will not for a moment think that I 
 disparage oratory. On the contrary, it is a glori- 
 ous gift. I only mean to draw the distinction 
 between the rostrum and the stage." 
 
 Speaking of acting and mimicry, he said : 
 
 "Acting has been called erroneously, I 
 
 116 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 think one of the mimic arts. I do not think 
 that good of any kind is displayed by mimicry. 
 It is generally conceded that imitators are seldom 
 fine actors, though they are usually great favorites 
 with the public/' 
 
 He illustrated this with the anecdote of the 
 elder Buckstone, the English comedian listening 
 impatiently to an imitation of himself. The 
 whole table was in a roar of merriment; every 
 one was in ecstasy except Buckstone, who looked 
 the picture of misery. 
 
 " ( Well, Mr. Buckstone/ exclaimed a wag who 
 was quietly enjoying the comedian's discomfiture, 
 c don't you think the imitation very fine ? ' 
 
 " c It may be/ he replied, c but I think I could 
 do it better myself/ 
 
 " Acting," Jefferson went on to state, " is more 
 a gift than an art. I have seen a child impress 
 an audience by its natural grace and magnetism. 
 The little creature was too young to know what 
 art meant, but it had the gift of acting. The 
 great value of art, when applied to the stage, 
 is that it enables the performer to reproduce 
 the gift, and so move his audience night after 
 night, even though he has acted the same charac- 
 
 117 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 ter a thousand times. In fact, we cannot act a 
 character too often if we do not lose interest in 
 it ; but when its constant repetition palls on the 
 actor, it will as surely weary his audience. When 
 you lose interest, stop acting." Here he cited 
 the story of Macready, who had fallen into a 
 perfunctory method of playing, being set right 
 again by the sage observation of Mrs. Warner 
 the actress. 
 
 " When I heard that story from Mr. Coul- 
 dock," Jefferson goes on to say, c< it struck me 
 with much force. I knew then that I had been 
 unconsciously falling into the same error, and I 
 felt that the fault would increase rather than 
 diminish with time if I could not hit upon some 
 method to check it. I began to listen to each 
 important question as though it had been given 
 me for the first time, turning the query over in 
 my mind and then answering it, even at times 
 hesitating as if for want of words to frame the 
 reply. I will admit that this is dangerous ground 
 and apt to render one slow and prosy. In fact, 
 I was accused, and I dare say quite justly, of 
 pausing too long. This, of course, was the other 
 
 extreme and had to be looked to, so that it became 
 
 isl 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 necessary that the pauses should, by the manner 
 and pantomime, be made sufficiently interesting 
 not to weary an audience. So I summed it up 
 somewhat after the advice of Mr. Lewes, to 
 take time without appearing to take time. The 
 value of repose he declared to be so great that it 
 was difficult to estimate it. c To do .nothing on 
 the stage seemed quite simple, but some people/ 
 he said, c never acquired this power.' ' 
 
 He cited his reply to the following question, 
 which had recently been asked him : 
 
 " Do you consider the stage in a better condi- 
 tion now than it was formerly, say from one to 
 two hundred years ago ? " 
 
 <c I replied that I thought the question was 
 leading me a long way back," he said, " and that 
 though I might with justice lay claim to a lengthy 
 dramatic experience, the date mentioned was rather 
 before my time. But if I am to reason from my 
 knowledge and engraft it on the history of the 
 past, I would unhesitatingly declare that the stage 
 is in a much better condition now than it ever was 
 before. The social and moral status of the whole 
 world has undoubtedly improved, and gone hand 
 in hand with scientific and material progress ; and 
 
 119 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 permit me to assure you that the stage in this re- 
 spect has not been idle, but that, to my knowl- 
 edge, it has in the march of improvement kept 
 pace foot by foot with every social advance. 
 
 " Even the coarse dramas of the olden time 
 were in keeping with the conditions of the social 
 and literary society that surrounded it. Those 
 plays that appealed to the lowest taste were not 
 only welcome, but demanded by the Court of 
 Charles. Old Pepys, who lived during this time, 
 says in his diary, ' I went last night to see a " Mid- 
 summer Night's Dream." It was a great waste 
 of time, and I hope I shall never again be con- 
 demned to see such a poor play. Ah, give me a 
 comedy of Ethelridge, and let us have no more 
 of this dull, vague Shakespeare/ It was not, there- 
 fore, that there were no good plays, but that the 
 vicious public wanted bad ones ; and while rakes 
 and unprincipled gallants and vile women were 
 the heroes and heroines of the stage, the plays of 
 Shakespeare had been written for a hundred years. 
 Such lovely creatures as Rosalind, Desdemona, 
 Beatrice, Ophelia, Imogen, Portia, and Juliet, to- 
 gether with their noble mates, Orlando, Benedick, 
 Hamlet, Romeo, and a host of pure and marvel- 
 
 120 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 lous creations, were moulding on the shelves, be- 
 cause the managers had suffered bankruptcy for 
 daring to produce them. Shakespeare says that 
 the actors are c the abstract and brief chronicles 
 of the times/ And so the people insisted that 
 the actors should give them an exhibition of the 
 licentious times rather than the splendid lesson 
 of Shakespeare. As the social world improved 
 in its tastes, the drama followed it, nay, in some 
 instances has led it.'* 
 
 Leading up skilfully to what he called the 
 "periodical attacks of a solemn question," he in- 
 troduced the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy, and 
 said that a female descendant of Bacon at one 
 time went so far as to try to break into the tomb 
 of Shakespeare with a crowbar, in hopes of find- 
 ing some manuscript that would reveal the fact 
 that her respected ancestor was the rightful heir 
 to the fame of which Shakespeare was supposed 
 to have robbed him. This he followed with his 
 own rhymed version of the matter : 
 
 " Respected member of the Bar and State, 
 In Law and Literature profoundly great, 
 As you have thrust at an immortal name. 
 I claim the right of parrying the same. 
 
 121 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 For though I 'm neither skilled in Law nor Science, 
 
 The gauntlet you 've thrown down in bold defiance 
 
 (Espousing Bacon's cause armed cap-a-pie), 
 
 I here take up to have a tilt with thee. 
 
 You pose before me as the great ' I am,' 
 
 And flourish forth that deadly cryptogram ; 
 
 That curious volume, mystic and misleading, 
 
 Co-jointly with your case of special pleading. 
 
 But I defy them both for good or ill, 
 
 And stand the champion of ' immortal Will.' 
 
 So shall my sword upon thine own impinge, 
 
 ' The croaking Raven bellows forth " Revenge.'" 
 
 The actor doth the Lawyer here oppose, 
 
 The sock and buskin for the woolsack goes. 
 
 Lay on, Macduff, 
 
 With all your legal stuff, 
 
 And damned be he 
 
 Who first cries, * Hold ! enough.' 
 Stay ! Ere we come to blows with main and might, 
 I beg to scan the ground on which we fight. 
 The question's this, if I am not mistaken, 
 Did Shakespeare or did Francis Bacon, 
 Inspired by genius and by learning too, 
 Compose the wondrous works we have in view 
 The scholar Bacon was a man of knowledge, 
 But inspiration is n't taught at college. 
 With all the varied gifts in Will's possession 
 The wondering world asks, ' What was his profession ? 
 He must have been a lawyer, says the lawyer ; 
 He surely was a sawyer, says the sawyer ; 
 The druggist says, of course, he was a chemist ; 
 
 122 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 The skilled mechanic dubs him a machinist ; 
 The thoughtful sage declares him but a thinker, 
 And every tinman swears he was a tinker. 
 And so he 's claimed by every trade a factor, 
 
 Pardon, gentlemen, he was an actor. 
 If Bacon wrote the plays, pray tell me then 
 Were all the lovely sonnets from his pen ? 
 Did Bacon then, himself a versifier, 
 Resign these charming lays and not aspire 
 To be the author ? put them on the shelf, 
 And only keep the bad ones for himself? 
 The argument against us most in vogue 
 Is this that William Shakespeare was a rogue, 
 His character assailed, his worth belied, 
 And every little foible magnified. 
 We know that William one night after dark 
 Went stealing deer in lonely Lucy Park. 
 We also know Lord Bacon oft was prone 
 To take another's money for his own. 
 Now come, deal fairly, tell me which is worse, 
 To poach a stag or steal another's purse ? 
 So, if good character's to be the test of it, 
 I think that William has the best of it. 
 If Shakespeare was so poor a piece of stuff, 
 How is it Bacon trusted him enough 
 To throw these valued treasures at his feet 
 And not so much as ask for a receipt ? 
 Such confidence is almost a monstrosity 
 And speaks of unexampled generosity. 
 Oh, liberal Francis, tell us why we find 
 Pope calling thee the 'meanest of mankind.' 
 123 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 But now to Shakespeare let us turn, I pray, 
 
 And hear what his companions have to say. 
 
 First, then, Ben Jonson, jealous of Will's wit, 
 
 Paid tribute when his epitaph he writ. 
 
 If other proofs are wanting than Rare Ben's, 
 
 We will consult forthwith a group of friends. 
 
 Awake ! Beaumont and Fletcher, Spenser, Rowe, 
 
 Arise ! and tell us, for you surely know: 
 
 Was, or was not, my client the great poet ? 
 
 And if he was n't don't you think you 'd know it ? 
 
 These his companions, brother playwrights mind, 
 
 Could they be hoodwinked ? Were they deaf or blind ? 
 
 I find it stated to our bard's discredit 
 
 And 't is the author of the Cryptogram who said it 
 
 That Shakespeare's tastes were vulgar and besotted, 
 
 And all his family have been allotted 
 
 To herd and consort with the low and squalid ; 
 
 But whence the proof to make this statement valid ? 
 
 They even say his daughter could not read ; 
 
 Of such a statement I can take no heed 
 
 Except to marvel at the logic of the slight : 
 
 So, if she could n't read he could n't write ? 
 
 Your proofs are too confusing, and as such 
 
 You 've only proved that you have proved too much. 
 
 The details of three hundred years ago 
 
 We can't accept, because we do not know. 
 
 The general facts we are prepared to swallow, 
 
 While unimportant trifles beat us hollow. 
 
 We know full well 
 
 That Nero was a sinner, 
 
 But we can't tell 
 
 What Nero had for dinner. 
 1*4 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 Just take my hand and come with me 
 To where once stood the famous mulberry tree. 
 Then on to Stratford Church, here take a peep 
 At where the fathers of the hamlet sleep.' 
 f They hold the place of honor for the dead, 
 The family of Shakespeare at the head. 
 Before the altar of this sacred place 
 They have been given burial and grace. 
 Your vague traditions are but a surmise : 
 The proof I offer is before your eyes. 
 
 " And oh, my comrades, brothers all in Art, 
 Permit me just one moment to depart 
 From this my subject, urging you some day 
 To seek this sacred spot and humbly pray 
 That Shakespeare's rage toward us will kindly soften, 
 Because, you know, we 've murdered him so often. 
 I ask this for myself, a poor comedian : 
 What should I do had I been a tragedian ? 
 
 "I could pile up a lot of other stuff, 
 But I have taxed your patience quite enough ; 
 In turning o'er the matter in my mind 
 This is the plain solution that I find : 
 
 " It surely is ' whoe'er the cap may fit,' 
 Conceded that these wondrous plays were writ. 
 So if my Shakespeare 's not the very same, 
 It must have been another by that name." 
 
 Besides being the scene of academic honors to 
 Mr. Jefferson, New Haven witnessed other inci- 
 
 125 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 dents in connection with him that are also worth 
 recording. Some time before the 1892 address 
 he had delivered a discourse to some students 
 and had begun upon the " question box." These 
 questions were often written upon slips of paper 
 and dropped into a box. After the lecture 
 proper, Mr. Jefferson, not having before seen the 
 slips, would read and answer what they contained. 
 On this particular occasion the following ques- 
 tion was propounded : " What contrast do you 
 draw between the drama of the present day and 
 the drama in the time of ^schylus ? " 
 
 Rip paused, smiled benevolently, and said 
 deliberately, thus augmenting the effect of his 
 final remark : 
 
 " I am aware that I am in the presence of a 
 learned body and I must confess that I am 
 asked to contrast the drama of the present day 
 with the drama in the time of a gentleman of 
 whom until this moment I have never heard." 
 
 This seemed an extraordinary admission for a 
 man like Jefferson to make, and the story, coming 
 as it did from apparently authentic sources, greatly 
 disturbed me. I wrote to Professor John F. 
 Weir, who introduced Jefferson on the occa- 
 
 126 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 sion mentioned, and my letter brought me this 
 reply : 
 
 "About the ^schylus jibe, the report of 
 it was not correct. Jefferson knew the c boys ' 
 would be likely to spring upon him, by im- 
 promptu questions, some little decoy to lure him 
 into deep waters, especially the Sophomores, and 
 he pretended not to have heard of c an actor by 
 the name/ and therefore could not speak from 
 personal acquaintance, etc., etc., etc. I can't 
 state it precisely, but to make it appear that he 
 had never heard of ^schylus was absurd. I 
 had warned him on the way to the hall to look 
 out for snags, as there were those who would 
 appreciate in their own way the chance of 
 questioning a c professor/ as he termed himself. 
 He greatly enjoyed these informal talks to 
 what he designates his f class/ in his visits to 
 Yale." 
 
 Evidently Jefferson took the hint from his 
 friend Professor Weir, and refused to be lured 
 into a technical discussion of the Greek drama. 
 
 The most casual reader of his Autobiography 
 knows that Jefferson could not be wholly igno- 
 rant of the subject. With three others, all 
 
 1*7 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " crowned with evergreen laurel wreaths," he 
 there tells us of being cast " for the unhappy 
 Chorus," in the Greek play of " Antigone " by 
 Sophocles, who was the great rival and contem- 
 porary of ^Ischylus. He speaks of it as " this 
 sublime tragedy of Antigone," and goes on to tell 
 us that " some forty years previous " to the time 
 in which he played in it, it had been freely trans- 
 lated and acted in Dublin at the Theatre Royal, 
 when the audience, at the close of the play, called 
 for the author. 
 
 Professor Thomas R. Lounsbury, of Yale, 
 who was present at the first of Jefferson's ad- 
 dresses to the students, writes me an account of 
 the veteran actor's nervously disturbed condition 
 on that occasion. This nervousness was no pose 
 of Jefferson's ; on the contrary, it was a painful 
 reality. He was thoroughly sincere in his reply 
 to the amateur who asked him for a cure for 
 stage scare. 
 
 " If you find one," blurted Jefferson, " I wish 
 you would let me have it ! " 
 
 Says Professor Lounsbury : " The first public 
 lecture that Jefferson ever delivered was given 
 here at the Yale Art School. One of the singu- 
 
 128 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 lar things connected with it was that he who 
 from his earliest years had been accustomed to 
 face audiences, was here almost overcome with 
 stage fright, as he himself confessed. I suppose 
 it was the fact of its being a new business, and 
 speaking from a new platform, that made it hard 
 for him to say what he wished. The audience 
 did not notice his embarrassment, at least particu- 
 larly, but he was very conscious of it himself. 
 Professor Weir, the head of the Art School, was 
 to introduce him. Before doing so he had to 
 give notice of the next lecture. It so happened 
 that it was to be delivered by Edmund Clarence 
 Stedman. But Stedman had been taken ill and 
 been ordered off by his physicians to the West 
 Indies, 1 think. It was therefore necessary to 
 defer his lecture to a date later than the one set 
 down, and notice was given that all who wished 
 to give up their tickets could receive their money 
 back. It naturally took up some time to make 
 these explanations, before introducing Jefferson. 
 The delay, however, was agreeable to the fright- 
 ened man. c I wished,' he told me after the 
 lecture, c that Weir would never get through. 
 I was never so much interested in Stedman in 
 
 129 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 my life, and was in hopes Weir would keep on 
 talking about him for the next two weeks/ ' 
 
 On his last appearance in New Haven he 
 played Dr. Pangloss, that transparent old fraud 
 of a tutor, in Coleman's " Heir at Law." 
 There was a number of undergraduates in the 
 audience. It was near the Christmas examina- 
 tions, a period, for no impenetrable reasons, 
 when most collegians are assiduously applying 
 themselves to their books. 
 
 The epilogue had been reached and, stepping 
 forward with characteristic blandness and jovial- 
 ity, Mr. Jefferson, as Dr. Pangloss, asked : 
 " Does anybody want a tutor ? " 
 
 The question was so pertinent to the moment 
 that the effect was electric, and the Yale boys 
 cheered again and again. After the curtain had 
 fallen they marched in a body to the hotel, 
 where Mr. Jefferson received and addressed 
 them. 
 
 A new theatre was to be inaugurated at Port- 
 land, Maine, September 14, 1 897, and the occasion 
 was one of festivity. This beautiful playhouse 
 was named in honor of Joseph Jefferson, who 
 
 came from Buzzards Bay to make the opening 
 
 130 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 address. I give the account of the matter as I 
 wrote it down at the time: 
 
 Mr. Jefferson seems quite as vigorous as I 
 have known him to be in the last five years, and 
 his mental keenness seems to have acquired a 
 finer edge. His hearing has grown somewhat 
 duller and he bemoans this, for it deprives him in 
 no small degree of the pleasure he got in going 
 to the theatre as an auditor. He joked about 
 it to-night, and said that while his deafness was 
 improving, he thought his hearing grew worse. 
 He was nervous over his prospective address to 
 the people of Portland accepting the courtesy 
 they had accorded him. The subject matter, he 
 said, was all right, but the words he chose to 
 express it did not suit him. Later in the even- 
 ing I mentioned this to Speaker Thomas B. 
 Reed, who was present. The speaker said that 
 Mr. Jefferson's speech was most effective, and 
 that Mr. Jefferson was entirely in error if he 
 supposed the contrary. From where he sat, in 
 the box on the left, he could both see and feel 
 the effect of Mr. Jefferson's words upon the 
 audience. There was no trace of nervousness 
 in Mr. Jefferson once he was before the audi- 
 
 131 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 ence. " Of course not," he said, when I spoke 
 to him about it ; "I am too old a bird for that ! " 
 I suggested that the opening strains to be heard 
 in the dedication of such a building to public use 
 should be "The Star-Spangled Banner," and it 
 was given. Then Mr. Jefferson and the gen- 
 tlemen who had been most prominent in the 
 theatre's building accompanied him upon the 
 stage. There was an address, and Mr. Jeffer- 
 son was then introduced. He contrasted very 
 graphically the difficulties and inconveniences of 
 stage life of former years, when he was often 
 obliged to play in barns, with the elegance and 
 comfort of such a place of amusement as they 
 were now met to dedicate. His appearance in 
 Portland had been infrequent, but he remem- 
 bered with great pleasure that some forty years 
 ago he had been given a dinner there, and that the 
 chairman on that occasion was a man for whom 
 he knew all Maine people had an affection, 
 the Hon. James G. Elaine. He afterwards told 
 me, at Mr. Wright's house, that Elaine recalled 
 the circumstance to him and recited a greater 
 part of the speech that he, Jefferson, had made 
 on that occasion. Further than this, as evidence 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 of the retentiveness of Elaine's memory, the great 
 Secretary had told Jefferson that he was a fre- 
 quenter of Burton's old theatre in New York, 
 and astonished Jefferson by repeating pages of 
 the plays and farces in the repertoire of Burton's 
 company. 
 
 Jefferson's mention of Blaine was received with 
 applause, of course, as was also the telling de- 
 livery of the account of the young lawyer of 
 Springfield, Illinois, who secured a remission of 
 the prohibitive theatrical license imposed upon 
 Jefferson's father long years ago, of how that 
 lawyer rose to prominence in his own State, and 
 how he occupied many offices of trust in the 
 nation, and that his name was Abraham Lincoln. 
 Jefferson was proudly fond of this story and told 
 it frequently. 
 
 Earlier, the manager, somewhat anxious for the 
 outcome of the evening, asked me what kind of ora- 
 tor Mr. Jefferson was, and seemed greatly relieved 
 when I informed him that Mr. Jefferson on such 
 occasions, as on all others, always struck twelve. 
 
 I repeated this to Mr. Jefferson before the 
 curtain rose, as he stood by me, bracing himself 
 with a slight stimulant. 
 
 133 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " Gad," he said, " I hope I '11 strike that high 
 to-night, for, to tell the truth, I am as nervous 
 as I can be." 
 
 " I know you are," I said. 
 
 "Of course you do," he replied, "you under- 
 stand the sense of responsibility." 
 
 At the collation given by Mr. Wright, when all 
 the guests but Jefferson, Speaker Reed, and the 
 writer had taken their departure, it was amusing, 
 during the call of the ladies and children for auto- 
 graph programs, to see the interest manifested by 
 both Jefferson and Reed. Jefferson wanted his 
 for his grandchildren ; Reed, his for his daughter 
 Kitty. Much fun was created by Jefferson's in- 
 ability to spell Miss Wright's given name 
 Eleanor and Mrs. Jefferson's nervous effort to 
 assist him only added to his confusion. Like 
 some other distinguished men, he had views of his 
 own on orthography. But he was never unfor- 
 givably weak in this particular, and " Pensil- 
 vanian " is the most violent deviation I have 
 known him to make in any of his letters to me, 
 and apparently he could see no sense in doubling 
 a consonant. 
 
 Speaker Reed convulsed us by narrating the 
 134 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 story of a dinner given him by an ostentatious 
 individual, who thought it would be effective to 
 begin the feast with prayer. Amid an impressive 
 silence he glanced down the table and, selecting 
 a serious-faced guest, requested him to invoke 
 the divine blessing. Rising to his feet and plac- 
 ing his hand fan-fashion back of his ear, the guest 
 replied : 
 
 " I know you 're talking to me because you 
 
 are making motions my way, but I 'm so d d 
 
 deaf I can't understand a word you say ! " 
 
 The dinner proceeded without grace ! 
 
 I was instrumental in having Mr. Jefferson 
 speak at the Chautauqua Assembly. With a 
 single exception, no actor had ever spoken there, 
 and I was anxious " Our Rip " should go. He 
 gave his lecture on " The Drama " there August 
 15, 1901. August 26, 1901, he writes: 
 
 "... I am glad I went to Chautauqua. It 
 was a novel and interesting experience thanks 
 to you. I cannot well send you the manuscript 
 of my Gabble, as it was c ad lib ' with the excep- 
 tion of a few old chestnuts friends of the 'Auld 
 Lang Syne* that never desert us. You know, 
 
 135 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 of course, that the most of the talk was devoted 
 to questions regarding the Stage, and I must say 
 that those propounded were among the most in- 
 teresting I have tried to answer. I was an hour 
 and a half on that huge platform confronted by 
 five thousand people. ..." 
 
 Of Mr. Jefferson's impression upon the 
 Chautauquans, Principal George E. Vincent wrote: 
 
 " Mr. Jefferson made a great c hit/ When I 
 tried to slip him into the amphitheatre quietly to 
 attend a lecture the night before his address, the 
 audience recognized him and cheered. We gave 
 him the Chautauqua salute at that time. 
 
 " Next day the amphitheatre was packed. Mr. 
 Jefferson charmed everyone by his simplicity, 
 kindliness, and humor. And he in turn was de- 
 lighted by his reception. He said it was the 
 finest audience he had ever appeared before, and 
 the largest." 
 
 Another friend, Mr. Leon H. Vincent, wrote : 
 
 " I heard Joseph Jefferson at Chautauqua last 
 Thursday. It was very interesting. He had an 
 immense audience (the Amphitheatre jammed to 
 the very edge); he told them he had never before 
 seen so big an audience. All his points were 
 
 136 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 received with rapturous enthusiasm. He forgot 
 twice and took his paper out of his pocket and 
 put on his eyeglasses in order to find out what 
 came next. It was the most naiVe thing imagi- 
 nable and pleased the audience hugely. No fee 
 was arranged for, but Jefferson was to have 
 $100 for expenses. The money was paid him, 
 and he immediately returned it ; and when I left, 
 Scott Brown was trying to make up his mind 
 how to get it back to him and persuade him to 
 keep it. Joseph Jefferson has seen many 
 audiences, but he will seldom look into such a 
 sea of faces as the Amphitheatre contained last 
 Thursday afternoon/' 
 
 He told the story of the boy and the gun. 
 This incident greatly pleased Rip. I have often 
 heard him narrate it with satisfaction : 
 
 " I was at a watering-place last winter, and a 
 gentleman sat opposite me* with his little ten- 
 year-old boy. He leaned over and whispered 
 to the boy, and the boy looked up in surprise, 
 and I knew what he was saying, that the gen- 
 tleman who sat opposite was the one whom he 
 had seen in < Rip Van Winkle/ The little boy 
 looked at me for a moment, and then said in the 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 most childish and frank manner, < Don't you re- 
 member that time when your gun fell apart ? * 
 That time, and it had fallen apart for thousands 
 of times ! I said : ( Your son has paid me the best 
 compliment I have ever had in my life, for if I 
 made him believe that was the first time that gun 
 had fallen apart, I did much better than I thought 
 I did/ " 
 
 The following questions were propounded to 
 Mr. Jefferson at the close of his Chautauqua 
 address, and answered by him : 
 
 " What hinders dramatic art, so beloved by a 
 few and so pleasing to all, from taking as general 
 a place as music has in the popular education of 
 youth ? " 
 
 u I get from that question, Why does not 
 dramatic art occupy the same place as music now 
 has in the popular education ? First, because 
 there is a popular prejudice against the stage ; 
 second, because it is quite as difficult to act as it 
 is to sing. However, it is the old prejudice that 
 has been against the stage from time immemorial, 
 and which to a certain extent still exists, and I 
 fancy ever will. I was talking with two Meth- 
 odist ministers before I came here, and they were 
 
 138 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 telling me that they had never beep to a theatre, 
 and I do not think it was rude in me to say I 
 thought it a great pity that they had not been. 
 It is impossible sometimes for a minister to visit the 
 theatre, because it puts him in an unpleasant posi- 
 tion with his congregation ; and, as a matter of 
 good taste, although he might desire to go, I 
 respect the minister who does not go to the 
 theatre, through sincerity, because he respects his 
 congregation. I cannot fail to think that the 
 dramas of Shakespeare, and even the plays of 
 Bulwer and Sheridan, are helpful. The finest 
 literature in the English language is in the dramas 
 of Shakespeare. It does seem to me that those 
 plays should be acted, and acted often, as a fine 
 education and entertainment. There are many 
 actors during the last year who have presented 
 f Romeo and Juliet/ f Hamlet/ c Henry V/ and 
 other Shakespearean plays. These have been 
 presented very well. I have had nothing to do 
 with them, and so I can afford to praise them." 
 
 " If you had your life to live over again, would 
 you choose the same profession ? " 
 
 " Most certainly I would. If I had not been 
 attached to my profession, I should not be acting 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 now, for I am still following my profession. I 
 have no present intention of retiring from the 
 stage. Of course I do not think an actor should 
 inflict his imbecility upon an audience, and as 
 soon as he finds his powers impaired, it is proper 
 that he should retire. I only hope I shall dis- 
 cover my falling off before the public does, and 
 then retire, like a well-bred dog, when he sees 
 preparation being made for kicking him out." 
 
 " Would you advise the young to attend the 
 theatre?" 
 
 " I would advise the young to attend the 
 theatre and see good plays that are educational. 
 Most of the plays of Shakespeare are historical, 
 and as produced nowadays you see not only the 
 scenery of the times, but the costumes of the 
 people, their manners, language, history ; so I 
 certainly would advise them to see plays of that 
 kind. A gentleman asked me a rather witty 
 question recently, if I did not think the proper 
 play now for the youth would be the one to which 
 a young girl could go and take her mother." 
 
 " When you are playing do you feel that you 
 yourself are the character, or is the character 
 apart from vou, and you merely imitating ? " 
 
 140 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 " It is a question whether an actor should feel 
 the character or should not. It depends upon 
 the peculiar temperament of the actor. A cele- 
 brated Englishman says we should feel the 
 character, a celebrated French authority says 
 he could not feel the emotion at all ; so there 
 you are. I have no doubt that that Englishman 
 could not act if he did not feel, and that that 
 Frenchman would be very inferior if he did feel ; 
 so it depends upon the temperament of the man. 
 You remember Shakespeare's advice to the 
 players in c Hamlet.' I understand he means 
 by that that no matter how you are overcome by 
 your emotions you must take care and maintain 
 coolness and clearness. For my own part, I like 
 to have the heart warm and the head cool." 
 
 " Does the theatre endeavor to stimulate the 
 higher emotions ? " 
 
 " It does, and it does not The best plays 
 do endeavor to stimulate the highest emotions. 
 Think of the great characters that have been 
 presented by Shakespeare and Bulwer. Think 
 of Romeo, Imogen, Desdemona, Portia, and I 
 could go on and on. But of course, if you go to 
 see some unfortunate production from France in 
 
 141 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 which domestic infelicity is made the ruling theme, 
 you see a play which does not appeal to our 
 highest emotions. The drama, like everything 
 else, has its gradation and its degradation. So, 
 in music, there are the great oratorios and the 
 common ragtime. Unfortunately, you have only 
 to tell the public that a play is not fit to be seen 
 to fill the theatre. A gentleman said to me the 
 other day, f Don't you think that play (giving 
 the title) ought not to be allowed to be played ? ' 
 I said, f Possibly, but how do you know ? ' 
 He was dumfounded, but said, ' Oh, I saw it.' 
 ' How often?' 'Only twice.' It was a play 
 to which possibly a young girl could go, but 
 could not take her mother ! " 
 
 Joseph Jefferson and Edwin Booth were great 
 friends. The tragedian frequently visited the 
 comedian at his home at Buzzards Bay. Those 
 who know this home of hospitality will recall two 
 art windows separated by the main entrance, 
 one window bearing the lifelike presentment of 
 William Warren as Touchstone, the other of Ed- 
 win Booth as Hamlet. It has been my privilege 
 to talk much with Booth of Jefferson and with 
 Jefferson of Booth. 
 
L CROW'S NEST, 1 ' JEFFERSON'S HOME AT BUZZARDS BAY 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 Jefferson often told me he had frankly declared 
 to others that though he was an actor he had 
 never read all of Shakespeare. 
 
 " How could I ? " he added ; " devotion to my 
 art and to painting prevented me." 
 
 He also said that Mr. Booth, on a recent visit 
 to him, had asserted, with much shame in his 
 voice, that he had never read a line of Dickens's. 
 
 " Then let me read you some of the sketches 
 of c Boz,' " said Jefferson. 
 
 " I sat down, and then and there/' added Jef- 
 ferson, " read him Bardell vs. Pickwick, and we 
 laughed and laughed for a long time over the 
 master's sketches." 
 
 The tribute paid by Jefferson to Booth, whom 
 he succeeded as President of The Players, is 
 copied from The Players' Club Book and closes 
 this chapter on Jefferson as a lecturer and orator : 
 
 " Founder's Night was rendered particularly 
 interesting by the presence of Mr. Jefferson, the 
 President, who for the first time, in the Club 
 House, spoke to his Fellow Players in his official 
 capacity. That portion of his remarks containing 
 his tribute to Mr. Booth is here presented : 
 
 " c Founder's Night should be of joy unshaded 
 143 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 by the slightest tinge of gloom. I know this, but 
 how can I speak to-night without a loving refer- 
 ence to the one whose gift we now hold, a 
 gift in which our children and theirs for many 
 generations will take pride, delight, and comfort. 
 
 " c It would be a twice-told tale to rehearse the 
 career of Edwin Booth. You are as familiar with 
 it as I am. But there are incidents in his early 
 life that may interest you and possibly that no 
 one but myself could tell you. 
 
 " An early remembrance of the stage brings 
 before me the figure of the elder Booth. When 
 I was but five years of age, I acted the Duke of 
 York to his Richard III. 
 
 " c You may think it strange that I remember 
 this circumstance ; but even a child as young as I 
 was could not have stood in the presence of this 
 superb and magnetic actor without being indelibly 
 impressed with the scene. His son, Edwin, was 
 just then born. We first met when he was a 
 handsome youth of sixteen. A lithe and graceful 
 figure, buoyant in spirits, and with the loveliest 
 eyes I ever looked upon. We were friends from 
 the first, and it is a comfort for me to know that 
 our friendship lasted nearly half a century, un- 
 
 144 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 broken by a single unpleasant act or word. His 
 early performances upon the stage did not give 
 much promise, and there were grave fears that he 
 had not inherited the genius of his father. But 
 after the death of that father young Booth's friends 
 and the public were suddenly startled by the news 
 from across the continent that a new star had 
 arisen, not in the East, but in the West, and was 
 wending its way homeward. 
 
 ccc ln 1853 I became the stage-manager for 
 Henry C. Jarrett in Baltimore. That gentleman 
 is a member of our Club and now stands before 
 me. He one day brought a young girl who had 
 been given to his care and placed her in mine, 
 a beautiful child, but fifteen years of age. Her 
 family, a most estimable one, had met with some 
 reverse, and she had decided to go upon the stage 
 to relieve them from the burden of her support 
 and possibly to contribute to the comfort of her 
 father. This loving duty she faithfully per- 
 formed. She lived in my family as the com- 
 panion of my wife for three years, and during 
 that time became one of the leading actresses of 
 the stage. One morning I said to her: "To- 
 morrow you are to rehearse Juliet to the Romeo 
 
 145 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 of our new and rising young tragedian." At this 
 distance I can scarcely say whether I had or had 
 not a premonition of the future, but I knew at 
 the conclusion of that rehearsal that Edwin Booth 
 and Mary Devlin would soon be man and wife ; 
 and so it came about, for at the end of the week 
 he came to me in the green-room, with his affianced 
 bride by the hand, and with a quaint smile they 
 fell upon their knees in a mock-heroic manner, 
 as though acting a scene in the play, and said, 
 " Father, your blessing"; to which I replied in 
 the same mock-heroic vein, extending my hands 
 like the old Friar, " Bless you, my children ! " 
 Shortly they were married. We know that his 
 life was filled with histrionic triumphs and 
 domestic bereavements. 
 
 " f May I not speak here of this gift of The 
 Players ? It is comparatively easy for those who 
 are rocked in a golden cradle and who at their 
 birth are endowed with great wealth to dispense 
 their bounty. I do not desire to disparage the 
 generosity of the rich. Those of our land have 
 done much good, are now freely dispensing their 
 wealth, and will continue to do so ; but we must 
 remember that the fortune of Edwin was not 
 
 146 
 
AS A LECTURER 
 
 inherited. The walls within which we stand, the 
 art, the library, and the comforts that surround 
 us, represent a life of toil and travel, sleepless 
 nights, tedious journeys, and weary work ; so that 
 when he bestowed upon us this Club it was not 
 his wealth only, but it was himself that he gave. 
 
 " c But a few years ago he was, though rich in 
 genius, poor in pocket. He had been wealthy, 
 and had seen the grand dramatic structure he had 
 reared taken from him and devastated. His re- 
 verse of fortune was from no fault of his own, but 
 from a confiding nature. When he again, by 
 arduous toil, accumulated wealth, one would have 
 supposed that the thoughts of his former reverses 
 would have startled him, and that he would have 
 clutched his newly acquired gold and garnered it 
 to himself, fearful lest another stroke of ill- 
 fortune should fall upon him. But instead of 
 making him a coward it gave him courage. 
 It did not warp his mind or steel his heart against 
 humanity. No sterility settled upon him. His 
 wrongs seemed to have fertilized his generosity, 
 and here we behold the fruit. 
 
 " c When the stranger comes here and asks us 
 for the monument of Edwin Booth, we can say, 
 
 '47 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " Look around you." For some time past he had 
 looked forward calmly to his dissolution. One 
 year ago to-night, in this room and at this very 
 hour, he said to me the memorable words : " They 
 drink to my health to-night, Joe. When they 
 meet again, it will be to my memory." 
 
 " c Two years ago last autumn we walked on 
 the sea-beach together, and with a strange and 
 prophetic kind of poetry he likened the scene 
 to his own failing health, the falling leaves, the 
 withered sea-weed, the dying grass upon the 
 shore, and the ebbing tide, that was fast receding 
 from us. He told me that he felt prepared to go, 
 that he had forgiven his enemies and could even 
 rejoice in their happiness. Surely this was a grand 
 condition in which to step from this world across 
 the threshold to the next ! ' " 
 
 148 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
 
 
 "IT SHALL not be remembered as an actor/' 
 said Jefferson to me one day, " much 
 longer than a lifetime of those who see 
 me play. After that I may be the subject of an 
 occasional anecdote, that 's all. If the memory 
 of me lives longer, it will be because of my book." 
 By " the book " he meant, of course, his Auto- 
 biography. This fleeting quality of his fame did 
 not grieve Jefferson. Indeed, he often congrat- 
 ulated himself on the immediate applause and 
 substantial reward he received, while the followers 
 of other arts, as letters, painting, and sculpture, 
 were obliged often to await the belated appreciation 
 of posterity. He instanced Pepys pooh-poohing 
 Shakespeare, Rembrandt starving, dying, and 
 buried no one knows where and the list might 
 be drawn out indefinitely. 
 
 " The evanescent triumphs," says Tuckerman, 
 
 " when compared with those of letters, painting, 
 
 149 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 and sculpture, have often been lamented. Gibber 
 is eloquently pathetic on the subject, and Camp- 
 bell has expressed the sentiment in a memorable 
 stanza. In one respect, however, the fragility of 
 histrionic renown is an advantage. No species 
 of enjoyment from art has been made the theme 
 of such glowing reminiscence. As if inspired by 
 the very consciousness that the merit they cele- 
 brated had no permanent memorial, intelligent 
 lovers of the drama describe in conversation and 
 literature the traits of favorite performers and the 
 effects they have produced, with a zest, acuteness, 
 and enthusiasm rarely awarded to the votaries of 
 other pursuits. What genial emphasis, even in 
 the traditional memory of Wilks* Sir Harry Wil- 
 dair, Barry's Jaffier, Quin's Falstaff, Henderson's 
 Sir Giles, Yates' Shakespeare's Fools, Macklin's 
 Shylock, Harry Woodworth's Captain Boabdil, 
 Cook's McSycophant, Siddons' Lady Macbeth, 
 and Kean's Othello ! Walpole, who was an epi- 
 curean in his dramatic as in his social tastes, sighed 
 for the incarnation in one prodigy of the voice of 
 Mrs. Cibber, the eye of Garrick, and the soul 
 of Mrs. Pritchard. In Gibber's eulogies upon 
 the tragic genius of Betterton, or the inimitable 
 
 150 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 drollery of Nokes, Hunt's genial memoirs of Jack 
 Bannister, Lamb's account of Munden's acting, 
 Campbell's tribute to Mrs. Siddons, and Barry 
 Cornwall's description of Kean's characters, 
 there is a relish and earnestness seldom devoted 
 to the limner and the bard, who, we feel, can 
 speak best for themselves to posterity." 
 
 To this " theme of glowing reminiscence " 
 Jefferson has added by the composition and pub- 
 lication of his own remembrances. This book, 
 
 * 
 
 "The Autobiography of Joseph Jefferson," is re- 
 markable for many qualities, but especially for " the 
 careless ease " with which it is written. As was 
 said, by the Spectator, of Gibber's "Apology" 
 (apology because it was an accounting of only a 
 fraction of Gibber's life), no " dullard " could have 
 composed such a work, and it shows Jefferson to 
 be much more than the average player who sees 
 little of interest aside from his profession. It 
 stamps him as a many-sided man, a gentle phi- 
 losopher, who, though travelling far afield, kept 
 his eyes open and imprinted upon his memory 
 much that it is well he afterwards recorded. What 
 he has said may not, as did the "Apology," 
 keep a Swift up all night, or make a Walpole 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 deem it worthy of immortality, but, as Mercutio 
 says, " 'Tis enough, 'twill serve," and serve ade- 
 quately, and it merits more than that patroniz- 
 ing remark of Dr. Johnson, " very entertaining," 
 which Gibber's book elicited from the " leviathan 
 of literature." Jefferson has carried much of the 
 charm of his personality into the work, a peculiar 
 charm for which one seeks in vain in the delight- 
 ful pages of his dramatic predecessor, the erst- 
 while patentee of Drury Lane and poet-laureate 
 of England. Carlyle has said that a well-written 
 life is almost as rare as a well-spent one. Jef- 
 ferson's life, whether guided by himself or set 
 down by his pen, meets this declaration. He 
 lived a full, rich, finely ordered life, and he wrote 
 full, rich, charming autobiography, albeit he 
 found it tedious at times to adhere to statistics. 
 He acknowledges himself " not quite sure as to 
 dates, and many incidents," he says, " come up 
 before me in a confused form, while a number are 
 traditional " ; but allowing for all this, he has 
 written one of the notable autobiographies of the 
 time, and to those especially interested in his art 
 and to many who are not he has given a book which, 
 once taken up, will rarely be laid aside unread. 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 It is a most unusual performance for a man 
 who until close upon his sixtieth year had written 
 nothing of an extended nature. William Dean 
 Ho wells and others are to be thanked for en- 
 couraging Jefferson to set down these reminis- 
 cences, many of which could not possibly have 
 been told by anyone other than Jefferson, cer- 
 tainly with anything approaching the authority or 
 exceeding just his own quaint manner of giving 
 them expression. 
 
 The son of a manager, he was, as he himself 
 declares, "almost born in the theatre," and he 
 had as playgrounds those two unusual accompani- 
 ments of boyhood, the stage and a graveyard. 
 Material enough here, one would think, to quicken 
 the youthful imagination ! He came swiftly into 
 recorded theatrical history, for in his " Records of 
 the New York Stage," Ireland sets down, Septem- 
 ber 30, 1837, an account of Master Joseph Jeffer- 
 son appearing in " A Celebrated Combat " with 
 Master Titus. Jefferson records that he remem- 
 bers the combat, and thinks Titus must also have 
 long remembered it, as Titus almost lost a big toe 
 in the conflict. He takes up the life of a strolling 
 player with his parents, and journeys through the 
 
 153 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Erie Canal to the West, amusing the captain of 
 the boat, " The Pioneer," with " a dismal comic 
 song entitled ' The Devil and Little Mike/ " It 
 had twenty-five stanzas, and the captain, even 
 before the song was half finished, expressed him- 
 self as satisfied. He goes on up through Lakes 
 Erie, Huron, and Michigan, and tells of Indians 
 paddling out in their canoes offering beadwork 
 and moccasins for sale. Always happy in de- 
 scriptive passages, he paints in glowing colors a 
 sunset over the lake. He reaches Chicago when 
 that city is little more than a camp, and tells of 
 acting in a porkhouse in Pekin, Illinois, and of his 
 mother's being interrupted in the singing of 
 " Home, Sweet Home," by the scratching and 
 squealing of pigs under the floor. At Memphis 
 his father is obliged to turn to sign-painting. 
 Matters brighten a little by the prospect of a per- 
 manent engagement at Mobile ; but two weeks 
 after their arrival, the father dies and the family 
 is close upon poverty. He has memories and an- 
 ecdotes here of James W. Wallack, Macready, 
 and the elder Booth, who acted in Mobile during 
 the season. 
 
 He goes by flatboat to New Orleans, play- 
 
 '4 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 ing en route, using the scenes as sails and fighting 
 stage broadsword combats to the amusement of 
 passing vessels. He acts at the St. Charles in 
 New Orleans ; and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, 
 Anna Cora Mowatt, and James H. Hackett, 
 father of James K., and once the great " Rip 
 Van Winkle " of his time and always a great 
 " Fal staff," are among the visiting "stars." 
 At the end of the season he goes up the Mis- 
 sissippi to St. Louis, and at this juncture tells 
 the uproariously humorous incident of his dis- 
 astrous effort, on a Fourth of July occasion, to 
 sing " The Star-Spangled Banner" and of the dual 
 sympathy he and his mother found in tears. 
 Not less humorous is the account of meeting 
 in Mexico with the old-time actor " Pudding " 
 Stanley, familiarly known as " Pud," now turned 
 ranger, and, in order to raise the tide in the 
 exchequer, of luring Stanley into a reappearance 
 with the tempting bait of Richard III. Then 
 comes the account of following the American 
 army into Mexico and, obliged to abandon their 
 Thespian efforts, of opening a coffee and cake 
 stand in a gambling establishment rejoicing in the 
 flamboyant title of The Grand Spanish Saloon ; 
 
 '55 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 it being understood between the proprietor, 
 Jefferson, and his partner, a fellow comedian 
 named Badger, that in the event of either Badger's 
 or Jefferson's being killed by a stray shot from 
 the hands of any of the attaches, the offending 
 party was to suffer immediate dismissal. Very 
 dainty is his account of cc Metta," his half-Spanish 
 sweetheart, with whom for lack of linguistic ac- 
 complishment he cannot communicate. 
 
 Back he goes to New Orleans, where he sees, 
 praises, and is jealous of the rising fame of John 
 E. Owens, resolving some day to equal that come- 
 dian. He crosses the Alleghanies in midwinter 
 by stage-coach, is almost frozen, and reaches Phil- 
 adelphia, where he is engaged by William E. 
 Burton, and meets his friend " Tom " Glessing, 
 the scene-painter, one of the strongest charac- 
 terizations in the book. Well drawn, indeed, is 
 his picture of the " professional borrower," and 
 striking as well as ludicrous are his description 
 and anecdotes of Burton. Nor does he fail in 
 appreciation of Burton's skill as a player, after 
 whose death Jefferson became the most con- 
 spicuous comedian in America. The quarrel of 
 Edgar Allan Poe and Burton is set forth, and an 
 
 156 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 account given of Burton's pretentious effort in 
 the production of the Greek play " Antigone," in 
 which, as has been mentioned, Jefferson was one 
 of the unhappy Chorus. He pays beautiful trib- 
 ute to his half-brother Charles Burke, and gives 
 an instructive view of the joint performances 
 of Burton and Burke. He becomes a country 
 manager, and is among the first persons in the 
 world to receive a telegram. He tells us of his 
 surprise that the world did not stand still when 
 his name first went out in big letters. He re- 
 turns swiftly to the stock as comedian-in-chief 
 to Foster, in Philadelphia, where the equestrian 
 drama was being given, and sings interminable 
 songs, for which he is hooted, while the car- 
 penters struggle to prepare the more important 
 scenes for the flight and chase of the horses in 
 Dick Turpin, Timour the Tartar, the Terror of 
 the Road, etc. He feels justified in declaring the 
 equestrian drama absurd, and that the horse and 
 the actor refuse to unite. 
 
 Being an cc old man of twenty-one," he now 
 decides to marry, and, " with beating heart and 
 a pair of tight-fitting boots," not forgetting his 
 lavender suit, he leads his bride to the altar, 
 
 157 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Barney Williams officiating as groomsman. He 
 hungers again for country management, and allies 
 himself with John Ellsler at Savannah and Macon. 
 During the managerial association Sir William 
 Don comes upon the stage and makes a chief 
 and graphic picture in the book, not more 
 graphic, though, than the cameo-like picture of 
 Julia Dean, who disappears soon after and in 
 outlining whom Jefferson is at his literary best. 
 This period of management is sufficiently suc- 
 cessful to permit the purchase of a watch which 
 subsequently stood the young comedian in good 
 stead in time of emergency. Back he goes to the 
 Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, as stock 
 comedian under the stage management of John 
 Gilbert, and here he first plays Dr. Ollapod in 
 Coleman's " Poor Gentleman," Bob Acres in 
 Sheridan's " Rivals," and Dr. Pangloss in Cole- 
 man's " Heir-at-Law." In the last-named John 
 Gilbert affords him material aid with the Greek 
 and Latin names. 
 
 In 1853 he becomes stage-manager for Henry 
 C. Jarrett at Baltimore, and plays Moses in a 
 " star " cast of " The School for Scandal," of 
 which the scholarly James E. Murdoch is the 
 
 158 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 hero in a program that includes J. W. Wallack, 
 the two Placides, Edwin Adams, the beautiful 
 Lizzie Weston, subsequently the wife of Charles 
 J. Mathews, and Mary Devlin, the first Mrs. 
 Edwin Booth. He was not in favor of all-star 
 performances, believing that actors who have 
 been central figures for years in entertainments 
 cannot adapt themselves readily to being grouped 
 with others in a dramatic picture. He revised 
 this judgment, as we shall see, later on. In 
 1854 he becomes stage-manager for John T. 
 Ford of Baltimore, and meets as stars Dion 
 Boucicault, Agnes Robertson, and Edwin For- 
 rest. Of this majestic, gifted, but irritable tra- 
 gedian he gives a convincing account, and in a 
 few pages carries him from the days of his triumph 
 to the grave. 
 
 Now comes Jefferson's first trip to Europe, 
 an economical one, in which all the "swell" 
 restaurants are ignored. He remarks upon the 
 devotion of the French to art and their un- 
 certain loyalty to government, instancing their 
 painting over the doors and arches of the public 
 buildings the motto of Liberty, Equality, and 
 Fraternity, and carving in stone the list of prices 
 
 159 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 to the theatres. In the gay French capital he 
 buys coveted articles of wardrobe for the stage. 
 
 In 1857, as Dr. Pangloss, at Laura Keene's 
 Theatre, comes his first appearance on the boards 
 of a Broadway playhouse, a most unusual thing in 
 those days for an American actor. Miss Keene's 
 merits are shown, as well as her bad judgment in 
 the selection of plays, giving too much con- 
 sideration to their literary merit. The extraordi- 
 nary circumstances attending the rise of the elder 
 Sothern are depicted, and as Asa Trenchard in 
 Tom Taylor's "Our American Cousin," Jeffer- 
 son considerably deepens the regard in which the 
 public holds him. This determines him to launch 
 out as a " star," which he does with " qualified 
 success," retreating to the Winter Garden as a 
 member of the company under William Stuart 
 and Dion Boucicault. Here he opens in " Caleb 
 Plummer," and notes entertainingly the speaking 
 of his first serious words on the stage. Mrs. 
 John Wood, Sara Stevens, and Agnes Robertson 
 are in the cast. Here, too, is first produced 
 "The Octoroon," in which Jefferson makes a 
 decided success as Salem Scudder. He descants 
 on the starring system, and notes Tyrone Power 
 
 160 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 as one of the first of these brilliant men to enjoy 
 the advantage of plays written to fit their especial 
 gifts. Jefferson begins to have thoughts of a play 
 for himself, one in which he can fully make 
 known his own powers, and then comes the 
 reading of the " Life and Letters of Wash- 
 ington Irving " and the suggestion of " Rip Van 
 Winkle." 
 
 Early in 1861 he loses his wife, and, putting 
 three of his children at school, leaves home with 
 his eldest son for California, going thence to Aus- 
 tralia, appearing in " Rip Van Winkle," " The 
 Octoroon," and cc Our American Cousin." His 
 description of the entrance into Sydney harbor, 
 the weird skeleton dance of the natives of the 
 interior, his acting of " The Ticket of Leave 
 Man" to an audience of convicts, and his en- 
 counter with the old shepherd and his dog 
 " Jack " near the blue-gum or eucalyptus forest, 
 are among the best things in the book. Most 
 convincing is his portraiture of Charles Kean, 
 as the old actor sat alone in St. Kilda's Park 
 frowning, staring, and mumbling his part. The 
 natives throw boomerangs for them as they sit 
 there, and later, Kean to his wife good-naturedly 
 
 i6z 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 makes Jefferson the butt of his pleasantry. From 
 Australia he visits South America, and here his 
 capable powers of description are again brought 
 into requisition in the verbal vignettes he makes of 
 the beautiful women of Lima, the religious drama, 
 and the French consul at Callao. Nor must we 
 for a moment overlook the forceful picture he 
 draws of his frigid reception at the house of an 
 English merchant, at Panama, in an enthusiastic 
 endeavor to do a courtesy to a Tasmanian ac- 
 quaintance. In London Boucicault supplies the 
 necessary dramatic element to " Rip Van Winkle," 
 the London debut takes place, and Jefferson's 
 name and fame are greatly enhanced. Here he 
 meets " Tom " Robertson and John Brougham, 
 is advised by Charles Reade, patted on the back 
 by Planche, and glared at through the fierce but 
 honest spectacles of Anthony Trollope, and here, 
 also, poor Artemus Ward figured in a brilliant 
 but brief career. Back to America home 
 he comes, to be received with acclamation. 
 
 He again marries, in December, 1867, and 
 after appearing in the larger cities forms a com- 
 pany in his own support for the smaller places, 
 and thus, with Charles Wyndham, which he 
 
 162 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 spells Windham, becomes one of the progenitors 
 of the " pernicious combination system," which 
 he defends. About this time he attends the 
 funeral of his friend George Holland and gives 
 the name to " The Little Church Around the 
 Corner." There are delightful pictures of Wil- 
 liam Warren, to whom he was related, and of 
 Charles Fechter. 
 
 He returns to Europe, revisits Paris and de- 
 scribes the acting at the Fran9ais, deprecating the 
 fault which the actors have of stepping outside 
 the dramatic picture by addressing speeches di- 
 rectly to the audience, a defect he failed to ob- 
 serve at the minor theatres. Back in London, 
 he renews his triumphs, and, in company with 
 Browning, Kingsley, and George Augustus Sala, 
 lunches at the Star and Garter, on the banks of 
 the historic Thames. Browning relates the inci- 
 dent of Longfellow wishing to pass his umbrella to 
 a bedrenched London cabman. Here he revels 
 in the pictures of the great English artists, as he 
 had in those of the great French artists. He 
 recounts the theft of the Duchess of Devon- 
 shire painting, which took place while he was in 
 London at this time. He plays in Scotland, 
 
 163 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 and goes thence to Ireland, where his success is 
 limited, and the manager suggests that he give 
 Rip a slight brogue. 
 
 In America again, he rearranges and produces 
 with eminent success Sheridan's " Rivals." He 
 justifies his alteration of this comedy. He shows 
 his enjoyment of Warren's humorously adverse 
 comment on the old comedy alteration. His 
 tribute to Warren is touching and beautiful. 
 There are letters here from John Howard Payne 
 and Washington Irving, recommending Mrs. A. 
 Drake, with whom Jefferson as a boy had acted, 
 and whom he declares to have been the leading 
 tragic actress of America before the advent of 
 Charlotte Cushman. At the time of writing 
 the Autobiography, many dead but few living 
 actors and actresses are mentioned directly by 
 name. Mr. Jefferson did not feel justified in 
 naming and estimating contemporary players. 
 
 A chapter is devoted to Jefferson's theory of 
 the art he represented, but all through the volume 
 may be found much matter bearing upon the 
 subject. What he has so sensibly and tersely set 
 forth here upon the art of acting is of great mo- 
 ment to all students of the drama and of infinite 
 
 64 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 credit to its author. It tells of high aims and 
 noble endeavor under circumstances of the most 
 adverse nature, crowned at last by appreciation and 
 success. These anecdotes have a juiciness and 
 flavor all their own, and come to one as gratefully 
 as a summer shower to a sun-parched lawn. 
 These portraits of a period in dramatic history 
 which is not too far removed seem cut in bv 
 an engraver accustomed all his life to the hand- 
 ling of the burin. What, for example, could be 
 finer than the picture drawn of Edwin Forrest, 
 the man, the actor, a Hercules in form, hand- 
 some of face, possessing a rich, beautiful voice, 
 under perfect control, which was capable of mov- 
 ing to tears or exultation a student with high 
 aims allied to a temper at once childish and 
 almost ungovernable " having," says Jefferson, 
 tc no power of recognizing the distinction between 
 a man who tries his best and fails and he who 
 fails because he does not try at all." 
 
 One can see, of course, that Jefferson has a 
 just pride in his intellectual strength, in his pro- 
 fessional achievements, and that he is not without 
 a full appreciation of his position and success, 
 but by no word does he exceed the limits of a 
 
 165 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 most becoming modesty. It is true, as Jefferson 
 said, " an actor cannot have his cake and eat it 
 too," that his reward is in the applause and 
 recognition of the present, and with that he must 
 be satisfied. For this reason must the exquisite 
 acting of Joseph Jefferson ultimately become 
 but a misty tradition; yet we shall still have his 
 "Autobiography" as an indestructible memorial 
 to the art he adored and to the art he adorned. 
 
 Jefferson was often called upon, publicly and 
 privately, for advice upon matters respecting the 
 stage. It was the penalty he paid for dramatic 
 ascendancy. It seemed to him that he was al- 
 ways being confronted unexpectedly by some foot- 
 passenger demanding the secret of his success. 
 " Your secret or your life ! " they seemed to say. 
 To all who were serious in their intentions, to 
 those whose motives were unimpugnable, he sac- 
 rificed himself and the valuable moments of his 
 life like a true gentleman, even postponing or 
 curtailing his " sacred nap " for the purpose. 
 To those who approached him from mere curi- 
 osity and they were numerous or whose am- 
 bitions were actuated by vanity or love of display, 
 he gave no encouragement whatever, and but 
 
 1 61 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 little time. However, I never knew him ttf" 
 be discourteous, and I have seen him when I 
 felt indignant that he did not administer a ver- 
 bal thrashing to some bore who was vulgarly ex- 
 ceeding all limits in an interview procured under 
 false pretences. He seemed to stand abashed, 
 not knowing what to say, in the presence of such 
 impudence, and then, with perhaps an ejacula- 
 tion of surprise and the remark that such things 
 are best when soonest forgotten, the matter was 
 apparently dismissed from his mind. 
 
 Students and lovers of the drama who are in- 
 terested in the opinions of its chief exponents on 
 the subject of their art, will not regret having 
 their attention directed to a series of interesting 
 letters published in December, 1892, by the 
 " North American Review." Modjeska, Maggie 
 Mitchell, Jefferson, Lawrence Barrett, John Mc- 
 Cullough, and William Warren contributed the 
 matter which made up the article entitled " Suc- 
 cess on the Stage.'* What Jefferson said is, by 
 permission of the editor of the magazine, given 
 herewith : 
 
 " It is asked, What are the qualifications that 
 one should possess to become a successful actor 
 
 167 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 or actress ? This is a difficult question to answer. 
 What would be the reply of a scientist if you 
 were to ask him what were the qualifications 
 necessary to become a successful astronomer or 
 a great naturalist ? I fancy I see the old gen- 
 tleman now. He removes his spectacles, and, 
 thoughtfully rubbing his nose, looks at the ques- 
 tioner as if he were a long way off. He says, 
 ' Well, really, I I - Dear me, will you just say 
 that over again ? ' You repeat the query. ' Well/ 
 he says, ' perhaps inborn ability may be of some 
 service ; and then, I should think that a great 
 love, even a passion, for such a calling might be 
 valuable ; but even these advantages, and a great 
 many more that I can't think of, will be of very 
 little use unless they are joined to earnestness and 
 industry/ 
 
 " Now I would say that, in addition tp these 
 qualities, to make a successful actor one must be 
 gifted with sensibility, imagination, and personal 
 magnetism. The art must be commenced at the 
 foundation, or the superstructure can scarcely 
 stand. The student should be content to enter 
 upon the lower walks of the profession ; and this 
 is his first stumbling-block, because the lower posi- 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 tions are erroneously considered to be degrading. 
 But to c carry a banner ' is necessary, and is cer- 
 tainly not degrading to a beginner in the art of 
 acting. All professions require that the student 
 shall master the drudgery of his calling. Before 
 the astronomer makes his great discoveries, he 
 must have learned arithmetic. The distinguished 
 savant has mastered the elements of his specialty. 
 The famous chemist tries the most simple experi- 
 ments, and has not hesitated to soil his hands in 
 the laboratory. This simple drudgery is the key 
 to the dramatic profession, yet the thought of it 
 affrights the tyro ; and how natural that it should 
 do so, for all the apparently degrading offices of 
 other occupations are performed in private ; but 
 on the stage the personal mortification has to be 
 borne in the full glare of the public, and, still 
 worse, in the presence sometimes of friends and 
 relations who have come expressly to see how 
 c our John ' will act his part. Poor John ! How 
 inwardly, for the first time, he wishes his friends 
 and relations were somewhere else! He had 
 rather the whole world had been there than that 
 small family party, who themselves are indignant 
 
 at the manager for giving their relative such a 
 
 169 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 little thing to do. And to think that this same 
 mortification has to be repeated night after night, 
 perhaps season after season ! Do you not recog- 
 nize other qualities that must now support him ? 
 Should he not have nerve and fortitude, and how 
 seldom these are coupled with sensibility and im- 
 agination ! By many failures he may learn to 
 succeed, and thus find out what not to do rather 
 than what to do. 
 
 " This, of course, is the darkest side of the 
 picture ; for, though the successes by persons 
 going upon the stage without experience have 
 been of rare occurrence, still we cannot deny that 
 there have been several exceptions to place 
 against the many failures. But how small is the 
 list ! If all the failures could be collected, the 
 line would stretch out to crack of doom/ 
 
 " But to return to the dramatic aspirant. We 
 all know the young man who calls after our early 
 dinner say about four o'clock, just as we are 
 going to take our sacred nap and craves our 
 confidence. He fears his family will offer very 
 serious objections to his entering the theatrical 
 profession, and, of course, for their sake as well 
 as his own, he could not think of holding a 
 
 170 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 subordinate position. It is true he has failed as 
 a hatter, and his success in upholstery did not 
 seem to place him in a position to be entirely 
 punctual in the payment of his board. But he 
 felt that he had that within him that could ac- 
 complish Hamlet. Such young persons should 
 remember that some of the greatest actors have 
 commenced by holding inferior positions. Many 
 have failed year after year, and been utterly 
 discouraged until some fortunate character has 
 brought out the latent strength within them. 
 
 " My remarks must necessarily be general, for 
 the value of any particular advice given to a 
 person depends much upon that person's nature, 
 his capabilities, and how far he has advanced. 
 
 " Some actors are inspirational and inventive ; 
 others, again, require everything to be clearly 
 mapped out, and a thorough plan of action ar- 
 ranged before they begin. The greatest excellence 
 is attained when the mechanism forms the ground- 
 work and base of the inspiration. If they go 
 hand in hand, a harmonious performance is sure 
 to be the result. 
 
 " If you are unsuccessful as a poet, a painter, an 
 
 architect, or even a mechanic, it is only your 
 
 171 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 work that has failed ; but with the actor it does 
 not end here : if he be condemned, it is himself 
 that has failed. Then, too, he is present, and is 
 the personal witness of the public's censure and 
 his own mortification. He cannot, like the 
 painter, rub out his work, or alter or improve it 
 before it goes to the exhibition. The bad effect 
 an actor has produced must stand against him. 
 How necessary, then, that a clear and effective 
 outline of his character should be sketched out 
 and fully arranged before he exposes himself to 
 this ordeal, or insults his audience by an unde- 
 fined jumble of ineffective work. 
 
 " The study of gesture and elocution, if taken 
 in homeopathic doses and with great care, may be 
 of service ; but great effects can only be pro- 
 duced by great feeling, and, if the feeling be true 
 and intense, the gesture and elocution must obey 
 it. It is safer, however, to study gesture and 
 elocution than to study nothing. Better be 
 pedantic and mechanical than indefinite and care- 
 less. The one at least shows a desire to please, 
 while the other is insulting to an audience, and I 
 don't believe that audiences ever forgive careless- 
 ness. Besides, elocution will at least assist one 
 
 17* 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 in articulation, and this important adjunct is too 
 often slighted on the stage. 
 
 " Look at an audience during a play, and you 
 will see that many are leaning forward, with an 
 expression on their faces as though they were 
 hopelessly seeking for information. They seem 
 careworn and unhappy. This despair occurs 
 generally in the earlier scenes, when the spec- 
 tators are not all in their seats, and attention is 
 difficult because of the noise of folding-chairs, 
 he rustle of Mr. Worth's silk dresses, the sud- 
 den desire to consult the play-bills to discover 
 what theatre royal has lately been robbed of its 
 artistic treasures, and, above all, the bobbing 
 about of the late lamented Duchess of Gains- 
 borough's irrepressible hat ; for, though we are 
 told that this graceful article forms a fine back- 
 ground to a lovely face, it is a bad foreground to 
 a comedy. Now, as these difficulties are un- 
 avoidable and will occur, the actor must show his 
 generalship and meet the foe. Instead, therefore, 
 of beginning work in a timid, inane, and in- 
 different way, he should use precision, strength, 
 articulation, and force, even beyond the require- 
 ments of the scene, in order that he may get the 
 
 173 
 
X. con: 
 
 thei 
 
 JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 confidence of the audience and, through this, 
 r attention. 
 
 " I have given no details here, because they 
 could not be stated in writing. The few gener- 
 alities that I have written are the result of my 
 experience, which, I daresay, will widely differ 
 from that of others who may write on the same 
 subject. 
 
 " To those who may wish to follow the theatrical 
 profession and who have an earnest desire beyond 
 the exhibition of their own vanity to study the 
 art of acting for its sake rather than for their 
 own, I should desire to give all the information 
 in my power ; but to those who, having nothing 
 else to do and who desire to go upon the stage 
 for amusement, I would give the same advice 
 that c Punch ' did to people about to marry, - 
 ' Don't: " 
 
 One point humorously and pathetically touched 
 upon by Jefferson in this article has never, to my 
 knowledge, been mentioned before by writers on 
 the subject, namely, the publicity which is un- 
 avoidably given to the crude, initial efforts of the 
 beginner on the stage, " while all the degrading 
 offices of other occupations are performed in 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 private." Not many people are so constituted as 
 to be insensible to ridicule, the actor with his emo- 
 tional nature less than others, and yet it is likely 
 fewer things in life are more provocative of laughter 
 than the first efforts of an actor. When, then, as 
 Jefferson remarks, these personal mortifications 
 are to be borne night after night, perhaps season 
 after season, not only " in the full glare of the 
 public," but, more galling still, in the patronizing, 
 often unsympathetic, presence of one's associates, 
 an adequate idea may be obtained of the heavy 
 ransom success demands of the votaries of the 
 stage. 
 
 Returning to Jefferson as an author, we ma] 
 note that in 1895 the text of the play of "Rip 
 Van Winkle " was published. The Introduction 
 which Jefferson wrote was mainly an enlargement 
 upon the same theme in his Autobiography. 
 
 In 1898 he also wrote the Introduction to a 
 publication of " The Cricket on the Hearth," by 
 Charles Dickens. He points out the story as 
 the exceptional work of its author which, when 
 arranged for the stage, proved satisfactory. He 
 mentions Dickens's rare talent as an amateur actor 
 
 175 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 as naturally making the great novelist ambitious 
 to succeed as a dramatist. The " theatrical style " 
 of declamation in Dickens's reading is described, 
 and Jefferson expresses satisfaction that Dickens 
 finally secured the tangible applause he coveted. 
 Jefferson did not say in this Introduction, as he 
 might, that few people realize that it was likely 
 only so prosaic a thing as a pain in the face that 
 kept Charles Dickens from becoming an actor. 
 For three years Dickens attended some theatre 
 almost every night, but always, when possible, the 
 one in which his idol, Charles Mathews, played. 
 For five or six hours a day at home or in the 
 fields, he practised " even such things," he says, 
 "as walking in and out and sitting down in a chair," 
 and he committed to memory a vast number of 
 theatrical parts. Writing to the manager of Co vent 
 Garden, a day was appointed when Dickens's capa- 
 bilities were to be tested. His sister Fanny was 
 in the secret, and was to accompany him on the 
 piano in songs to be sung in an " At Home " 
 entertainment a la Mathews. An inflammation 
 of the face obliged him to break the appointment, 
 and he wrote the manager that he would resume 
 his application next season. Soon after he made 
 
 176 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 some success in another direction, and, to quote 
 his own words : " I had a distinction in the world 
 of the newspaper which made me like it ; began 
 to write ; gradually left off turning my thoughts 
 that way [the stage], and never resumed the idea." 
 In the light of what Dickens has done there can 
 be no reason to regret. He has given the world 
 masterpieces of fiction that are for all time. As 
 an actor, granting him to have reached the merit 
 of a Garrick, his creations could have been but for 
 a generation. It is as futile to speculate upon 
 what Dickens might have been as an actor as it is 
 profitable to reflect upon what he became as an 
 author. No matter what the histrionic gain and 
 with increased knowledge of stage technique it is 
 possible Dickens might have touched the border- 
 land of Shakespearean creations and easily excelled 
 the master as an actor we could ill afford to lose 
 all the host of marvellous high-relief character 
 carvings from David Copperfield down or 
 up to that gentle spirit of self-abnegation, 
 Caleb Plummer, in the stage portrayal of which 
 Joseph Jefferson shone so illustriously. 
 
 Like many active-minded, active-moving men, 
 
 Jefferson was fond of variety in his labors as well 
 
 177 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 as in his amusements. When he was not acting, 
 painting, orating, or collecting art treasures, he 
 occasionally " scribbled,'* as he called it. The 
 lines, quoted in another chapter, on the Bacon- 
 Shakespeare controversy are an example. 
 
 No fitter ending to this chapter could be made 
 than by the addition of Jefferson's lines on Im- 
 mortality, in which he rose, in the opinion of 
 many, to an unusual height. It might be called 
 his "swan song," and, along with his Auto- 
 biography, will be quoted frequently when the 
 memory of his acting is but a tradition. Mr. 
 E. C. Benedict, to whom we are indebted for the 
 preservation of the lines, had the greatest diffi- 
 culty in procuring a copy of them from Jefferson, 
 and only succeeded after repeated written and 
 oral requests. On Jefferson's death they were 
 given publicity by Mr. Benedict, who also gave, 
 as follows, the way in which he first heard 
 them. 
 
 " One day last summer, when Mr. Jefferson 
 and Mr. Cleveland were taking luncheon on 
 board of the c Oneida,' in Buzzards Bay, the con- 
 versation drifted to the subject of a future life. 
 Mr. Jefferson expressed himself as very grateful 
 
 178 
 
MR. JEFFERSON PLANTING THE JEFFERSON TREE AT E. C. BENEDICT'S 
 INDIAN HARBOR HOME, CONN. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson's son Frank standing by 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 for having had more than his share of the joys of 
 this life, and as being prepared to meet at any 
 moment the common fate of all. He said he 
 had lately been c scribbling some doggerel ' on 
 the subject, and he recited his lines to us. I 
 asked him for a copy of them, which he said he 
 did not possess, but he promised to send me one. 
 In February I reminded him of his promise, and 
 received a signed copy of the verses, which he 
 entitled c Immortality.' It seems as though 
 these lines construct a beautiful bridge between 
 faith and reason." 
 
 IMMORTALITY 
 
 Two caterpillars crawling on a leaf 
 
 By some strange accident in contact came. 
 
 Their conversation, passing all belief, 
 
 Was that same argument, the very same, 
 
 That has been "proed and conned " from man to man, 
 
 Yea, ever since this wondrous world began. 
 
 The ugly creatures, 
 
 Deaf and dumb and blind, 
 
 Devoid of features 
 
 That adorn mankind, 
 
 Were vain enough, in dull and wordy strife, 
 To speculate upon a future life. 
 The first was optimistic, full of hope ; 
 The second, quite dyspeptic, seemed to mope. 
 179 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Said number one, "I 'm sure of our salvation." 
 Said number two, " I 'm sure of our damnation ; 
 Our ugly forms alone would seal our fates 
 And bar our entrance through the golden gates. 
 Suppose that death should take us unawares, 
 How could we climb the golden stairs ? 
 If maidens shun us as they pass us by, 
 Would angels bid us welcome in the sky ? 
 I wonder what great crimes we have committed 
 That leave us so forlorn and so unpitied. 
 Perhaps we Ve been ungrateful, unforgiving ; 
 'Tis plain to me that life 's not worth the living." 
 " Come, come, cheer up," the jovial worm replied, 
 " Let 's take a look upon the other side. 
 Suppose we cannot fly like moths or millers, 
 Are we to blame for being caterpillars? 
 Will that same God that doomed us crawl the earth, 
 A prey to every bird that 's given birth, 
 Forgive our captor as he eats and sings, 
 And damn poor us because we have not wings ? 
 If we can't skim the air like owl or bat, 
 A worm will turn ' for a* that.' " 
 They argued through the summer ; autumn nigh, 
 The ugly things composed themselves to die ; 
 And so to make their funeral quite complete, 
 Each wrapped him in his little winding-sheet. 
 The tangled web encompassed them full soon, 
 Each for his coffin made him a cocoon. 
 All through the winter's chilling blast they lay 
 Dead to the world, aye, dead as human clay. 
 i to 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 Lo, Spring comes forth with all her warmth and love ; 
 She brings sweet justice from the realms above ; 
 She breaks the chrysalis, she resurrects the dead; 
 Two butterflies ascend encircling her head. 
 And so this emblem shall forever be 
 A sign of immortality. 
 
 JOSEPH JEFFERSON. 
 
 181 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 "THE RIVALS" AND THE ALL-STAR 
 PERFORMANCES 
 
 SHERIDAN declared that "The Rivals" 
 was one of the worst plays in the language, 
 and he would give anything if he had not 
 written it. This declaration was made, however, 
 years after the production of the play, when 
 Sheridan had become great enough to look 
 down patronizingly upon the literary efforts of 
 his youth. 
 
 " The School for Scandal," which may be taken 
 as the highest expression of Sheridan's dramatic 
 genius, was also a youthful performance, both 
 plays being written before the author had attained 
 his twenty-sixth year. Richard Brinsley Butler 
 Sheridan, the future Member of Parliament and 
 Treasurer of the British Navy, had every reason 
 to be grateful to " The Rivals." Its success en- 
 abled him to avow his hitherto concealed marriage, 
 
 182 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 to extricate himself from desperate financial straits, 
 and restore himself to the good graces of his 
 father, the actor, " Tom " Sheridan, who had al- 
 most abandoned his college-bred son as a hope- 
 less scapegrace. The son was now propitiously 
 started upon that brilliant career in the course 
 of which he should become the friend of princes 
 and one of the most admired and popular men 
 of his time. 
 
 " The Rivals," owing to its length chiefly, and 
 to some dissatisfaction with the cast of characters, 
 was not at first a success. The reasons are clearly 
 set forth by Bernard, the actor, who, passing 
 through London, witnessed its initial performance. 
 " It was so intolerably long and so decidedly 
 opposed to the tastes of the day," he says, "as 
 to draw down a censure which convinced me, on 
 quitting the house^ that it would never succeed. 
 It must be remembered that this was the English 
 c age of sentiment ' and Kelly and Cumberland 
 had flooded the stage with immoral poems under 
 the title of comedies, which took their views 
 of life from the drawing-room exclusively and 
 colored their characters with a nauseous French 
 affectation. c The Rivals ' was an attempt to over- 
 
 183 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 throw this taste and to follow up the blow which 
 Goldsmith had given in c She Stoops to Con- 
 quer/ My recollection of the manner in which 
 the former was received bears me out in this 
 supposition. The audience on this occasion was 
 composed of two parties, those who supported 
 the prevailing taste and those who were indifferent 
 to it and liked nature. The consequence was 
 that Falkland and Julia (which Sheridan had 
 obviously introduced to conciliate the senti- 
 mentalists) were the characters most favorably 
 received; while Sir Anthony Absolute, Acres, 
 and Lydia were barely tolerated ; and Mrs. 
 Malaprop (as she deserved to be) was singled 
 out for peculiar vengeance. To this character 
 alone must be attributed the partial failure of the 
 play. She was denounced as a rank offence 
 against all probability (which in dramatic life is 
 possibility), as a thing without a parallel in soci- 
 ety, a monstrous absurdity which had originated 
 with the author." 
 
 The play was withdrawn, condensed, recast, 
 and then " in a few days " started on that voyage 
 of extraordinary favor which has endured until 
 the present day. Sheridan was grateful enough 
 
 184 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 at the time for its success, for in token of its 
 appreciation he adapted, in forty-eight hours it is 
 said, a two-act play called " St. Patrick's Day " 
 for the benefit of the comedian Clinch, who in 
 the recasting of the play had so successfully 
 impersonated Sir Lucius O' Trigger. 
 
 But who worries over the improbability of 
 Mrs. Malaprop with her fine " derangement of 
 epitaphs " and her " allegory on the banks of the 
 Nile/' or who cares whether or not she had a 
 prototype in Dogberry, to whom she cannot 
 hold a candle ? Who is disposed to quarrel with 
 the seeming inconsistency of the fire-eating coun- 
 try lout of an Acres with his new-fangled oaths 
 of " odds tabors and pipes," " odds minims and 
 crotchets," styled by him the " oath deferential " 
 or " sentimental swearing," or his declaration that 
 " damns have had their day," or who cares if 
 he bears favorable comparison with Sir Andrew 
 Aguecheek ? What matter is it if these fic- 
 tional characters in this gorgeous bit of dramatic 
 ebullition all, from Sir Anthony down to Fag 
 and David, talk with a brilliance of wit not to 
 be equalled by the most eloquent in real life ? 
 Does not the happy result justify it all? Is 
 
 1 8 5 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 not, as Sheridan asserts, " the scope and imme- 
 diate object of a play to please a mixed assembly 
 in representation?" And this "The Rivals" 
 has done. 
 
 In the selection of a contrasting picture, a 
 companion character to his Rip, Jefferson dis- 
 played a finely artistic sense. That this choice 
 fell upon a play upon which no royalty or author's 
 fee was to be paid was rather his good fortune 
 than his deliberate choice. 
 
 Winter's words are best. "In reviving c The 
 Rivals ' and appearing as Acres," he says, " he 
 afforded refreshment to the mind ; he lessened 
 the possibility of making Rip Van Winkle tedi- 
 ous; 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 the 
 public a new pleasure, a new picture in dramatic 
 art, and a new subject for study and thought." 
 
 He did more ; he excised all those stilted and 
 questionable passages, and at least one of the 
 parts, that of Julia, which Sheridan had regret- 
 fully inserted and retained as a conciliation to 
 the sentimentalists of the time. By allowable 
 
 186 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 and creditable rearrangement, combination, and 
 invention, he gave Acres an importance and a 
 quality hitherto unknown. 
 
 We laughed with Bob, as we had done be- 
 fore, but, through the grace of Jefferson's genius, 
 we also sympathized with him. The actor had 
 bent the character to fit his peculiar powers, and 
 this without injury to the form or detraction 
 from the wit of the comedy, and with the ad- 
 dition of an appealing attribute. Emulating the 
 example of that accomplished dramatic craftsman, 
 Dion Boucicault, he had condensed the play's 
 dramatic effects, infused new life, imparted a new 
 interest, and, like Boucicault, had exposed himself 
 to censure. As we have seen, he has defended 
 his course valiantly and wittily, but, considering 
 the returns that course gave us and the source 
 of the censure, Jefferson perhaps protested over- 
 much. The changes Jefferson made, though 
 somewhat more important, are precisely in line 
 with those which, circumstances permitting, all 
 intelligent actors, versed in the knowledge of their 
 craft, are constantly making. The character of 
 Acres admitted of the prominence into which he 
 thrust it, and such changes, especially with such 
 
 187 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 a protagonist, it seems not unreasonable to sup- 
 pose, Sheridan would have welcomed. 
 
 Jefferson's revised version of " The Rivals " 
 had a great success at its first performance, in 
 1880, at Mrs. John Drew's Arch Street Theatre, 
 Philadelphia, and, as we know, took its place 
 thereafter in Jefferson's repertoire as a worthy 
 companion piece to " Rip Van Winkle." I once 
 said to him : 
 
 *> " I have often seen you criticised adversely 
 for omitting certain lines of Sheridan from c The 
 Rivals.' Why do you do it ? " 
 
 " Because I cannot say them," he replied. 
 " Because many things were not only permissible 
 but demanded in Sheridan's time that would 
 insult the more refined taste of the audience of 
 to-day. For example, in ' The Rivals ' Sir Lucius 
 dictates the letter to Acres ; he says : c To pre- 
 vent the confusion that might arise from our 
 both addressing the same lady,' and Acres, ac- 
 cording to Sheridan, confuses the lines and writes, 
 speaking aloud, c From our both undressing the 
 same lady ' ! 
 
 " This was once spoken, but I took the liberty 
 of substituting something less offensive and con- 
 
 iSI 
 
, 
 
 > 1 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 densing the piece to the form in which it is, and 
 which I thought would make it more acceptable 
 to the tastes of the present time. No," he con- 
 tinued, " you ought to say nothing on the stage 
 you would not say in private. You would n't 
 insult your friends in private ; why should you 
 in public ? " 
 
 In the spring of 1895 a benefit performance 
 of " The Rivals " was given at the Fifth Avenue 
 Theatre for Jefferson's friend C. W. Couldock, 
 the veteran actor. Besides Jefferson, a number 
 of prominent actors were in the cast. From this 
 performance came the idea of forming an all- 
 star company to play the same comedy on tour 
 for a month. This was carried into effect, after 
 much trouble involving a great deal of negotia- 
 tion. The tour began May 4, 1896, at Spring- 
 field, Mass., and ended, after thirty performances, 
 May 30, 1896, in New York City. A special 
 train of Pullman cars housed the company and 
 bore it after performances to the various cities in 
 which it was to appear. The route was as fol- 
 lows: May 4th, Springfield; 5th, Hartford; 6th, 
 New Haven; yth, New York, matinee; yth, 
 Brooklyn, night; 8th, Philadelphia; 9th, Balti- 
 
 189 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 more, afternoon; 9th, Washington, night; nth, 
 Pittsburg; I2th, Louisville; ijth, Cincinnati, 
 matinee and night; I4th, St. Louis; I5th and 
 1 6th, Chicago, two nights and matinee; i8th, 
 Milwaukee; I9th, Indianapolis; 2oth, Grand 
 Rapids, Mich.; 2ist, Toledo, Ohio, afternoon; 
 2ist, Detroit, night; 22d, Columbus, Ohio; 
 2jd, Cleveland, Ohio; 25th, Buffalo; 26th, 
 Rochester ; 2yth, Syracuse, afternoon ; 2yth, 
 Utica, night ; 28th, Albany ; 29th, Boston, after- 
 noon ; 29th, Worcester, night; joth, New York. 
 After all business arrangements had been made 
 I wrote Mr. Jefferson about rehearsals, the cos- 
 tumes, etc., of David, and received the following 
 reply : 
 
 1319 ST. CHARLES AVE., NEW ORLEANS, LA., 
 Feb. 21, '96. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR FRANcis, 1 If as David you 
 were to dance before the Lord or go on an ille- 
 gitimate courting expedition after the Queen of 
 Sheba, I would suggest short skirts for the first 
 and an acrobatic get-up for the latter, but for my 
 old friend David in "The Rivals'* pumps, 
 
 1 My usual form of address to him was " My dear Sir 
 Joseph.' ' 
 
 190 
 
THE RIVALS 
 
 A COMEDY IN THREE ACTS. 
 BY RICHARD BRItfSLEY SHERIDAN 
 
 UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF 
 C. B. JEFFERSON AND JOSEPH BROOKS. 
 
 CAST OF CHARACTERS. 
 
 Sir Anthony Absolute, ... - William H Crane 
 Captain Absolute, ...--. Robert Taber 
 Falkland, ..* Joseph Holland 
 Acres, .------ Joseph Jefferson 
 Sir Lucius O'Trigger, - - - - Nat. C. Goodwin 
 
 Fag, E.M.Holland 
 
 David, ........ Francis Wilson 
 
 Mrs. Malaprop, Mrs. John Drew 
 
 Lydia Languish, .... - Julia Marlowe Taber 
 Lucy, Fanny Rice 
 
 SYNCPSIS OF SCENES* 
 
 ACT I. Scene IMrs. Malaprop's Reception Room. Scene 2 
 Captain Absolute's Bachelor Apartments. 
 
 ACT II. Scene 1 North Parade at Bath, showing Bath Abbey. 
 Scene 2 Mrs. Malaprop's Reception Room. Scene 3 Apartments 
 of Bob Acres. 
 
 ACT III. Scene 1 Mrs. Malaprop's Apartments. Scene 2 
 Hallway in JMEra. Malaprop's House. Scene 3 King's Meades Fields, 
 showing the City of Bath and Cathedral tn the distance. (The cele- 
 brated Dueling grounds. 
 
 Scenery by Walter Burridge. Construction by C. I*. Hagen. 
 Costumes by Herman. 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 white stockings, red plush breeches, long yellow 
 vest, white necktie with huge bow, and a long 
 old-fashioned square-cut livery. As for the wig, 
 that, as Sam Weller says, cc depends upon the 
 taste and fancy of the speller, my lord." I would 
 say a red or black close crop. But whatever color 
 you choose you are sure to paint the Town red. 
 
 A little later he wrote : 
 
 BOSTON, April 29, 1896. 
 
 * . . I find it will be quite out of the question 
 to rehearse in Springfield until Monday. If you 
 can get here Saturday morning or afternoon, I 
 can give you an hour or two at my hotel, the 
 Parker House. Your photo of David is ad- 
 mirable. You seem to have hit the spirit of 
 it. I predict great things for you ; but nous 
 verrons, as we say in Dutch. . . . 
 
 It was the honor more than the liberal emol- 
 ument of the thing which, at the end of a labori- 
 ous season, brought together such a company as 
 The Rivals organization. There was an aesthetic 
 flavor about the whole tour, a unanimity of feel- 
 ing that rendered it particularly delightful. Such 
 was the buoyancy of feeling that I am not sure 
 that the most inefficient of us did not feel him- 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 self quite competent to play the most impor- 
 tant part. However that may be, I do know 
 that nobody felt himself too big to play the small- 
 est part. I thought that a record of the incidents 
 and accidents (if any), and anecdotes of the trip 
 might prove interesting. I set them down imme- 
 diately, while the impressions were fresh. They 
 follow, with the exception of much which has 
 been used to illustrate previous chapters, and the 
 addition of a few which subsequent recollection 
 made possible. A great deal that I recorded was 
 never meant for publication, merely for my own 
 remembrance. However, I sent the manuscript 
 entire to Jefferson, who commended certain parts, 
 blue-pencilled and objected to others. He felt 
 sure that my eagerness to include all that had 
 been said and done had made me overlook the 
 ultimate effect that "the printed form, unaccom- 
 panied by cheerful manner and good feeling, would 
 have upon those concerned," and that he wanted 
 to be as frank with me as if I were at his elbow. 
 
 " My book," he writes a few days later, "gave 
 me my first experience. I told too much. Gilder 
 warned me. I would not hold back till I saw 
 
 it in cold type, then I cried ' Peccavi ! ' and saw 
 
 196 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 how right he was. I will read you some of 
 < The Rejected Addresses ' when we meet, so 
 that you can judge." 
 
 On Saturday, November yth, he writes : " I 
 will send you the Star Trip. I am still in my 
 original frame of mind regarding it. It puts you 
 in the light of a hero-worshipper and me on a 
 theatrical throne chair with an assumed air of 
 modesty, but slyly acquiescing in the praise. Of 
 course I have nothing more to say, and so leave 
 it for you to decide, except as to certain allusions. 
 Tho' I feel at liberty to chat about or criticise 
 an actor or actress in writing or in conversation, 
 to indorse the publication of harsh or censurable 
 remarks would place me justly in an unenviable 
 position." I wrote him that I cared more for 
 his good opinion than for the publication of 
 twenty journals, however frankly kept, and that 
 I had no idea that many of the things set down 
 would pass muster with him, but that I had let 
 them all stand for his pencil's slash or neglect, 
 and that the whole thing had been written subject 
 to his criticism and decision. In the journal 
 which follows no part, of course, to which Jef- 
 ferson objected is printed. 
 
 i 97 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 ALL-STAR RIVALS TOUR, SPRINGFIELD, MASS., 
 May 3, 1896. 
 
 Came up from New York with Mrs. Drew, 
 N. C. Goodwin, Edward Holland, Joseph Hol- 
 land, Fanny Rice, and Joseph Brooks. 
 
 On reaching Springfield drove to the Pullman 
 cars lying side-tracked by the river. Mr. Jeffer- 
 son, Julia Marlowe-Taber, and Robert Taber 
 were assembled in the drawing-room, dining- 
 room, morning-room Pullman car, and the greet- 
 ings over we sat down to dinner, which was 
 excellent as to food and service. Crane and his 
 wife are at the Massasoit House, the former in- 
 disposed with a dreadful cold and with strict 
 injunctions from the physician to speak only in 
 a whisper. This means torture to Crane, who is 
 exceedingly nervous in the slightest illness, and 
 imagines the day of judgment close at hand. 
 
 There is a large table at which we sit thus : 
 
 Julia 
 Goodwin. Marlowe-Taber. Taber. 
 
 O O 
 
 Jefferson. Q 
 
 Q Mrs. Drew. 
 
 O O O 
 
 Crane. Mrs. Crane. Wilson. 
 
 J 9 8 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON AND THE FANNY RICE (PURDY) BABY 
 
 Taken on the rear platform of the car carrying the 
 
 All-Star "Rivals" Company 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 There are smaller tables arranged thus : 
 
 Baby Grandma 
 
 Rice. Rice. J. Holland. 
 
 O O Q_ 
 
 Mrs. H. M. Pitt 
 
 Jefferson promises to be reminiscent, Mrs. 
 Drew dignified and corroborative, Goodwin, and 
 no doubt Crane, anecdotal, Fanny Rice maternal, 
 while the Tabers, Hollands, and I, though ven- 
 turing an occasional leading note, shall be gen- 
 erally content to play the appreciative listeners 
 who provoke the leaders to excel. To me the 
 sweetest member of the company is Fanny Rice's 
 baby. 
 
 Standing much in need of a general rehearsal, 
 it was decided to go through the play in the parlor 
 of the Massasoit House. Having arrived at the 
 hotel, we at once paid our respects to the Cranes, 
 
 1 Understudies. 
 199 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 where William was found the picture of de- 
 spair. We jibed him into better humor, and saw 
 him relax into his accustomed pleasantness of 
 expression. 
 
 The doctor being there with sprays and laryn- 
 goscopical implements, everybody, nearly, in 
 the company became affected with pharyngitis 
 or larynx failure, and underwent instant treat- 
 ment. The scene was wellnigh indescribable, 
 there being a general holiday atmosphere over 
 the whole proceeding. There were jokes and 
 shouts of laughter as each new patient took the 
 chair and swallowed quantities of ether, iodoform, 
 and cocaine. The nasal inhalator was passed 
 around, and dexterously adjusted and manipu- 
 lated. There were burlesque diagnoses of the 
 cases, some of which went pretty close to the 
 mark. Crane was declared to have corns on his 
 vocal cords, and Goodwin hypertrophy of the 
 theatrical septum. Cocaine was sprayed as hair- 
 oil, and Taber, whose pharynx was really con- 
 gested, was pronounced in perfect health. High 
 hats, sofa-pillows, Jefferson, and Mrs. Drew went 
 through a course of unusual spraying treatment. 
 Off in a corner of the room surreptitious glances 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 were being taken at the lines soon to be spoken 
 in the rehearsal apartment, and one exceedingly 
 nervous member knelt in reverence before an 
 open book of " The Rivals " in a frantic effort 
 to get a deeper impression of the lines he knew 
 perfectly weeks before. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson conducted the rehearsal with an 
 occasional valuable suggestion from Mrs. Drew, 
 who is very firm and alert at seventy-six. Re- 
 hearsing in a small room with all one's stellar 
 confreres huddled about one is a trying expe- 
 rience. There were blanched cheeks and profuse 
 perspiration, for which even the warmth of the 
 room did not fully account. In fact, a strong 
 case of stage fright developed all around. Mr. 
 Jefferson confessed himself nervous, not for him- 
 self, but for the people ! It did not occur to 
 anybody to be nervous for Mr. Jefferson. After 
 each one had gone through his scene, he would 
 heave a sigh of relief and escape into the hall. 
 I felt easier as I saw them drift out about the 
 time Acres and David were to appear, and, for 
 fear that they would return inopportunely, I 
 turned the key in the door, and obliged them to 
 knock repeatedly before gaining admittance. Mr. 
 
 201 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Jefferson, whose hearing is somewhat dull, did 
 not for a while take in the situation. 
 
 As the rehearsal progressed, it was plain that 
 anxiety to please and the newness of the situation 
 were having a marked effect upon the acting of 
 the people, Jefferson and Mrs. Drew being the 
 only ones to do themselves justice. 
 
 The Tabers and Crane have been rehearsing 
 all the week, but the Hollands, Fanny Rice, 
 and I are just beginning. Goodwin has once 
 played his role of Sir Lucius. 
 
 Thoroughly tired, nervously so, all reached 
 the car after rehearsal and sat down to refresh- 
 ments. The ladies have all disappeared, and 
 the men are swapping anecdotes and relating ex- 
 periences. Jefferson tells some funny things of 
 the elder Holland. What attention is paid the 
 talker ! How he responds to it, too ! At the 
 christening of Joe Holland, Jefferson standing as 
 godfather, and promising to bring Joe up in the 
 Protestant faith, a promise, he reminded Hol- 
 land, he had forgotten until to-night, the ladies 
 of the christening party were very much over- 
 come with the solemnity of the occasion, and 
 Jefferson was astonished to find that Holland 
 
 102 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 fere was much overcome as well. His head was 
 in his hands, and his body swayed with apparent 
 grief. Jefferson could not remember to have 
 seen his old friend so moved and, placing his 
 hand upon his shoulders, he spoke a few en- 
 couraging words. To his amazement Holland 
 gave him a punch with his elbow, and looked 
 up at him with a wink so wofully ridiculous that 
 it sent Jefferson from the church in a fit of only 
 half-concealed laughter, while Holland assumed 
 his attitude of emotion. 
 
 It was a rare treat to hear Jefferson and Mrs. 
 Drew talk over old times, old plays, and old 
 friends. They were in excellent mood this morn- 
 ing, and I confess being strongly tempted to take 
 out a pencil and make notes on the spot. I think 
 I never saw two people of the stage freer from 
 pretence and affectation. Actors and actresses, 
 particularly those of the " old school," are prone 
 to carry into private life something of the grand 
 manner they have been accustomed to assume 
 on the stage. But there is nothing of this in 
 Jefferson and Mrs. Drew. There is, on the 
 contrary, an alert, rather jaunty air of modernity 
 about Jefferson which I have often observed be- 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 fore. It would have been quite natural for Mrs. 
 Drew to carry into private life some of the 
 queenly airs of the grandes dames and heroines 
 of the drama, but I find no trace of it. There is 
 dignity a plenty ; and when she speaks, she does 
 so with an air of assured but never presumptuous 
 authority, as one who has been accustomed to 
 command. She has a deliciously keen sense of 
 the finest gradations of humor, and it is most 
 interesting to watch the peculiar expression about 
 the eyes and mouth, indicative of her thorough 
 grasp and enjoyment of a jest. As these two 
 royal representatives of the drama sat talking, 
 and I contrasted their simple, unaffected man- 
 ner, both of speech and action, with that of 
 some pretentious members of the players' pro- 
 fession, I was reminded of the remark of a gifted 
 artist who, when his attention was called to some 
 students whose long hair and conspicuous dress 
 obviously proclaimed their artistic ambitions, 
 said : " Oh, if they only knew that art does 
 not consist of that ! " 
 
 Mrs. Drew declared the elder Booth an " idio- 
 syncratic reader," that he thrust his views too 
 much upon an audience by undue emphasis upon 
 
 204 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 passages that reflected the reader s personal opin- 
 ion and bias. She gave as an example Lear's 
 lines about Cordelia : 
 
 " Her voice was ever soft and low y 
 An excellent thing in woman/' 
 
 the adjectives of which, she said, he unduly ex- 
 aggerated. This was confirmed by Mr. Jefferson, 
 who declared " Booth put too much individuality 
 into his readings." 
 
 We spoke of his (Jefferson's) Autobiography, 
 and he asked me what had most impressed me 
 in it. 
 
 " What an awful question to ask the man ! " 
 said Mrs. Drew. " Suppose he can't think of 
 anything ? " 
 
 But I thought of the descriptive power dis- 
 played, and which I believed unusual in a man 
 who had excelled in another field, and Mr. Jeffer- 
 son was visibly pleased at my comment. I went 
 on to say that possibly the two most dramatic 
 incidents in the book were his meeting with the 
 Australian shepherd and his dog " Schneider," 
 as I purposely misquoted, 
 
 "Jack," instantly corrected Jefferson, 
 
 - and the performance of " The Ticket-of- 
 
 205 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Leave Man " before an audience composed of 
 convicts ; but that nothing had amused me more 
 than his visit to the Chinese theatre, when he 
 had gazed into the fat and stolid countenance 
 of the Mongolian tragedian and wondered if he 
 had ever heard of Shakespeare. Jefferson smiled 
 as I recalled the scene, and Mrs. Drew congrat- 
 ulated him on his success as a fisher for com- 
 pliments. Mrs. Drew thought the account of 
 Jefferson carrying the letter from the tearful 
 father in South America to the unfiiial daughter 
 and her iceberg of a husband in Australia, together 
 with the frigidity of Jefferson's reception, one of 
 the best things in the book. Mr. Jefferson told 
 us that the father's name was Power, and that the 
 daughter was a niece of Lady B . 
 
 Dickens was mentioned, and Jefferson spoke 
 of William Warren's disappointment in Dickens 
 as a reader. Mrs. Drew had heard him read and 
 corroborated Warren's judgment. 
 
 " He characterized too much," she said, " by 
 acting all the voices, thus giving the imagination 
 no opportunity. There was no relief, no chance 
 for the imagination of the listener to play. The 
 reading became monotonous." 
 
 206 
 
GOODWIN, 
 as Sir Lucius O'Tngger 
 
 *tc 
 
THE ALL-STAR ' RIVALS" 
 
 " On a trip to San Francisco," said Jefferson, 
 " a number of favorable critiques of my per- 
 formances in Eastern cities was, for purposes of 
 advertisement, printed and circulated in the Oc- 
 cidental city. On my arrival I found Harry 
 Perry, an old-time actor, reading one of these 
 papers, and asked what he thought of it. 
 
 " Gad ! " said he, " but you must have improved 
 since I last saw you ! " 
 
 I asked Mr. Jefferson and Mrs. Drew how 
 much of their life they supposed had been given 
 over to written and oral advice to stage-struck men 
 and women and to their friendly interceders. Mrs. 
 Drew's eyes were instantly uplifted with an ex- 
 pression of despair, while Jefferson gave vent to a 
 prolonged whistle which was more significant than 
 describable. Much was said about the matter, the 
 gist of which was that such sacrificed time was the 
 penalty exacted of all people attaining positions of 
 prominence. Jefferson was prompt and uniformly 
 courteous in all such affairs ; dignified and helpful 
 to strangers, and humorously blunt to friends. 
 
 I give the following letter to the famous ag- 
 nostic, kindly loaned by Mrs. Ingersoll, as part 
 illustration of what has been said : 
 
 zo 7 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 BUZZARDS BAY, June I 2th, '90. 
 
 MY DEAR INGERSOLL, I regret there is no 
 opening in our company for your young friend. 
 If there were you may be assured that he would 
 have it for your sake. 
 
 English comedy, the only dish we have to 
 offer, seems to lose its flavor when not cooked up 
 by experienced actors. I might say antiquated, 
 for we belong not to the fossil but to the carbonic 
 era a lot of "lean and slippered pantaloons." 
 Some day, when chance offers, I shall be glad 
 to see Mr. Hazleton and advise him on the 
 
 matter. . . . 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 J. JEFFERSON. 
 
 I asked him if he had been much bothered 
 by people who wanted to name patent medi- 
 cines, games, cigars, etc., after him or his plays. 
 He answered : " I once received an appreciative 
 letter from a gentleman who had seen f Rip Van 
 Winkle/ and who declared with some show of 
 eloquence that he longed to present me with 
 some tangible evidence of his appreciation. His 
 name was Dunk, and he was a manufacturer, and 
 he would take pleasure in presenting me with 
 
 208 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 one of his beds. All that he would request was 
 that in the third act of c Rip Van Winkle/ after 
 rising from the sleep of twenty years, I should 
 say : c I 'd have had a better time if I had had 
 one of Dunk's patent spring beds ! ' 
 
 " First night " came at last, and with it as 
 nervous a crowd of Thespians gathered to play 
 " The Rivals " as one could well imagine. Those 
 who had rehearsed unfalteringly in the morn- 
 ing were the first to " dry up " in the evening. 
 There were no great lapses, nor yet any noticeable 
 embarrassments, the people being much too clever 
 and experienced for that, but Mr. Jefferson had 
 something of a task holding us all together. Sir 
 Lucius and Falkland, Jack Absolute and David, 
 came in for promptings that were timely and skil- 
 ful from Acres. These promptings were not to 
 be wondered at when it is remembered that be- 
 sides the peculiarity of the situation, in the num- 
 ber of years Mr. Jefferson has played the piece, 
 much new stage business and many very worthy 
 lines and phrases that greatly enrich the play, and 
 especially the part of Acres, have crept in, and, so 
 far as I could discover, exist only in the memory 
 
 209 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 of the man who headed not only this company 
 but the American theatrical profession. Speeches 
 that one studies as an entirety are broken in upon 
 by the clever sayings of Bob, and one is left for 
 the instant wholly disconcerted. The cleverness 
 and naturalness of the interpolations enlist at- 
 tention in the direction of Acres, all of which 
 naturally confuses until complete familiarity is 
 established. Then, too, to one who has himself 
 been for years the central figure of plays, it is 
 more or less embarrassing at first to find himself, 
 in stage slang, " feeding the situations " of another. 
 
 The audience gave the performance breathless 
 attention, and in their eagerness to hear every 
 word forgot to applaud. Jefferson remarked it, 
 but was scarcely at loss to account for it. As the 
 play progressed, however, the audience became 
 demonstrative and ultimately enthusiastic. At 
 the end of the second act there was an especially 
 hearty recall, and as the curtain rose and the ten 
 " stars" stood forth, there came a wave of tremen- 
 dous applause. Thereafter there were numerous 
 scene recalls and Jefferson made a speech. 
 
 All the players, except Mr. Jefferson and 
 Mrs. Drew, feel the irksorneness of the new 
 
 210 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 situation, while to the others the roles seem very 
 small compared to those each has been accus- 
 tomed to play. 
 
 Miss Marlowe confided to the writer that she 
 thought Lydia Languish " such a silly lady." 
 Goodwin was in despair over his role, which he 
 thought was far from good. The condition of 
 Crane's voice gave him real cause for complaint, 
 and though Taber did not say so, he looked as 
 if there were much too much of Jack Absolute 
 for the little credit he possesses. Nearly every 
 one has a word of discontent. It is, in fact, the 
 usual period of depressive reaction. All this will 
 have passed away with a few performances. 
 
 It would be difficult to find a more lovable 
 man than the "Governor," as Jefferson is called 
 by his sons and others. He is courteous, kindly, 
 considerate, able, affable, and felicitous. He has 
 a fund of anecdotes and is original in thought and 
 humorous in expression. His sense of right and 
 wrong is accurate and swift, and he is prompt 
 and fearless in the condemnation of the slightest 
 injustice. He is never stubborn in the main- 
 tenance of a position, and will yield gracefully 
 to well-taken points in opposition to his views. 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 There is a gentleness and sweetness in all he says 
 or does that readily endears him to people. 
 
 The subject of education came up. I asked 
 him in what degree the lack of it was any barrier 
 to the success of an actor. He thought that it 
 would discover the actor to the cultured portion 
 of his public, but would not greatly hinder his 
 success. Edmund Kean he believed to be an 
 illiterate man, but there was never any question 
 of his great ability after the London debut in 
 " Shylock." cc Education has nothing to do with 
 the expression of a passion," he said. 
 
 " Do you not believe that the profession of an 
 actor is perhaps the one most capable of utilizing 
 information of whatever nature ? In short, the 
 aptitude being given, that a man will succeed who 
 possesses the greatest educational advantages ? " 
 
 To this both Mr. Jefferson and Mrs. Drew an- 
 swered emphatically : " Yes, of course ! " Lydia 
 Languish then remarked naively that it was no 
 disadvantage to hold a hand full of graces. 
 
 Then came a discussion of Edwin Booth. 
 Jefferson thought him " superior in ' Hamlet/ 
 for which he was best fitted by nature and much 
 study." Mrs. Drew preferred him as Bertuccio 
 
y, yflUA MARLOWE TABER. 
 
 ^^fc^ Lyd ' a ^MiMr 
 
 s S ^^P 1 ^^^ 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS'* 
 
 in " The Fool's Revenge." Goodwin gave his 
 voice for Tarquin in " The Fall of Tarquin," in 
 which Jefferson thought " Edwin " was very fine ; 
 he also thought " Macbeth " the weakest per- 
 formance in Booth's repertory. "As young 
 men, but of vastly different types," declared 
 Jefferson, " Edwin Booth and Edwin Forrest 
 were very handsome men." 
 
 I asked Mrs. Drew to deny or affirm an often 
 told story about herself and Mr. " Mat" Snyder, 
 who was in her employ at the Arch Street 
 Theatre, Philadelphia. 
 
 MRS. DREW. Go on, I '11 answer. 
 
 "It is said that you did not desire to retain the 
 services of the gentleman in question for another 
 season, and that you informed him of your de- 
 cision by regretting that you and he were not 
 to be together the following year, and that Mr. 
 Snyder said : c Are you going to leave us, 
 Louisa?'" 
 
 There was some laughter at this, and when it 
 was quite done, Mrs. Drew replied : 
 
 "It is not true. If I had not desired to 
 re-engage the gentleman, it would not have been 
 necessary to address him at all." 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " That 's it," said Jefferson ; " we never say 
 the best things in any story " ; and here he re- 
 counted the General Grant story previously told. 
 
 As we rode down in the carriage from the 
 theatre at Hartford, the subject of music was 
 started, and Mr. Jefferson made a confession that 
 will hardly bring joy to the worshippers at the 
 throne of Wagner. He thought that quite the 
 cleverest thing " Bill " Nye ever said was : " My 
 friend Wagner's music is really much better than 
 it sounds." 
 
 He went on to tell that his daughter, who is 
 very fond of music, took him to hear " Lohen- 
 grin," and turning to him in the middle of the per- 
 formance, her face radiant with enjoyment, asked 
 him if he were not now glad she insisted upon 
 coming. " My dear child," he replied, " I wish 
 we had gone to ' Tony ' Pastor's ! " 
 
 " Music, Wilson, is not intellectual, it is emo- 
 tional. Here was a grand love story without a 
 single love lay in it ! It was not even emotional 
 to me ; it was simply mechanical ! " 
 
 " But, my dear Mr. Jefferson," I interjected, 
 "you will not deny that there may be some 
 emotion, some skill in Wagnerian music, which 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 nature has made it impossible for you to under- 
 stand or appreciate ? " 
 
 " Certainly not," he replied ; " there must be 
 great merit in it or it could not have lived and 
 interested as it does. Not to confess this would 
 be very narrow indeed, and I hope I am not that. 
 But Wagner is not for me. Its beauties to me 
 are as a sealed book.'* 
 
 We spoke of happiness. "Joy/* I said, 
 "is the god of our household. No one is 
 permitted to hang crape on the door of our 
 feelings." 
 
 " That 's the proper way/' he made answer. 
 " Happiness is the religion of our family. To 
 begin with, we take all the comic papers. No 
 one is permitted to read aloud, and he is begged 
 not to read even to himself, about the mangled 
 corpse of the father and the roasted bodies of 
 the babies, subjects with which the daily papers 
 disgustingly teem." 
 
 He spoke of once meeting Lawrence Barrett 
 standing on a street corner waiting for a car to 
 take him to the gymnasium. 
 
 " Going to exercise when you get there, I 
 suppose ? " said Jefferson. 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " Of course," Barrett replied. 
 
 "Why don't you walk?" Jefferson added. 
 " It 's better exercise, and it '11 save you the time 
 and trouble of going." 
 
 He thought it a great outrage to run an 
 underground railway through the graveyard of 
 the Boston Common, and argued from that the 
 advantages of cremation, to which he was not 
 averse. He drew a humorous picture of the 
 confusion that would take place about the Com- 
 mon when the Judgment Day Bugle blew. Some 
 bodies in collecting their limbs would be apt 
 to discover that they had two lefts and no right 
 leg. Another would apologize for the tardi- 
 ness of his arrival before the Seat of Justice 
 on the ground that he had a Subway running 
 through his spinal column ! 
 
 He thought it humorously impertinent in 
 certain wits to call a well-known Italian actor 
 " Macaroni," his son " Spaghetti," and his grand- 
 son " Vermicelli." The story was suggested by 
 somebody saying at dinner that he preferred 
 macaroni with shellac (tomato) sauce. He also 
 remembered, apropos of this, that the old-time 
 
 actor, when salaries were in arrears or from pure 
 
 216 
 
4 _i 
 
 ROBERT TABER. 
 
 as Captain Absolute ". 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 cussedness, would guy his speeches. In the play 
 of " The Stranger," the phrase " One last look, 
 and then, forget her ! " was frequently read " One 
 last look and then spaghetti ! " 
 
 It is believed that the theatrical profession 
 never contained greater quizzers or "guyers" 
 than Charles R. and Edwin Thorne. It was 
 related of them by our " Sir Lucius " that Charles 
 once engaged Edwin Thorne to play the <c mes- 
 senger " who brings the letter to Claude Melnotte 
 in Bulwer's " Lady of Lyons." Knowing Edwin's 
 propensity to pranks, Charles gave him the part 
 only on the solemn promise that nothing that 
 was not in the role should be said or done. The 
 scene runs : 
 
 SERVANT. A letter for Citizen Melnotte. 
 
 t 
 
 CLAUDE. A letter! from her perhaps who 
 sent thee ? 
 
 SERVANT. Why, Monsieur I mean Citizen 
 Beauseant Beauseant, who stops to dine at the 
 Golden Lion on his way to his chateau, etc., etc. 
 
 The following is what is said to have actually 
 occurred : 
 
 SERVANT. A letter for Mr. Belmont. 
 
 CLAUDE (under his breath). Damn your eyes, 
 217 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 what did I tell you? Do you want to ruin 
 everything ? (Aloud) What ! 
 
 SERVANT (doggedly). You heard what I said ! 
 
 CLAUDE (aside, with much meaning). I '11 give 
 it to you for this ! (Aloud) Who sent thee ? 
 
 SERVANT. Old Bansang ! 
 
 (Exit Servant, very abruptly pursued by Claude 
 in a murderous frame of mind.) 
 
 Charles pursued Edwin upstairs into his dress- 
 ing-room, where the latter securely barricaded him- 
 self. " Come out ! " yells Charles. " I won't ! " 
 replies Edwin, and then in an effeminate tone 
 he called through the keyhole: "And, Charley 
 whoever told you you could play Claude Mel- 
 notte told you a wicked, wicked story ! " 
 
 (Exit Charles in roars of laughter.) 
 
 <c In a previous season with c The Rivals,' ' 
 said Jefferson, " Maurice Barrymore, one of the 
 wittiest of men, was in the company. He ar- 
 ranged the Christmas presents for the members 
 of the cast. Among the gifts were peanuts to 
 Mrs. Drew, who abhors them, and to me a book 
 of ' The Rivals ' with every part cut out except 
 Bob Acres." Jefferson told this with gleeful 
 appreciation. 
 
 218 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 Professor Weir, of Yale, gave us a charm- 
 ing reception, at which there were beautiful 
 women and distinguished men. On leaving 
 the house, " Sir Lucius " Goodwin had hold 
 of "Acres" Jefferson's arm, while "David" 
 Wilson grasped that of " Sir Anthony " Crane. 
 We were all in formal attire, long black 
 coats, gloves, and tall hats, and the departure 
 from the scene of festivity was so much like a 
 funeral procession that " Sir Lucius " comically 
 increased the resemblance by taking off his hat 
 and saying solemnly to Jefferson, " He was a 
 good fellow ! " 
 
 Jefferson, thinking he referred to our host, said : 
 " Yes, he is a fine man ! " 
 
 " No," persisted " Sir Lucius," tearfully, re- 
 ferring to the suggestion inspired by the proces- 
 sion, " I mean the deceased." 
 
 The remark was so unexpected and so humor- 
 ously made that we could scarcely control our- 
 selves until out of sight of the house, when we 
 all gave way to a prolonged fit of laughter. 
 
 In the manuscript sent Jefferson, this was one 
 of the stories objected to ; but Professor Weir, 
 having a sense of humor and seeing no impro- 
 
 219 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 priety where indeed none was intended, consents 
 to the story's publication. 
 
 The performance at New Haven was remark- 
 ably smooth. The audience was one of the most 
 enthusiastic I have ever met. 
 
 Mrs, Drew thought the extreme heartiness of 
 the plaudits would likely spoil us for the rest 
 of the trip. Jefferson was sure the subsequent 
 enthusiasm would equal it, and it did. After the 
 performance we were entertained by Professors 
 Weir and Lounsbury at the Graduates' Club. 
 
 We Jefferson, Crane, Goodwin, and I - 
 were conducted to the " Crypt," sung to, and told 
 we were "jolly good fellows " and obliged to make 
 responses, which we did. Jefferson enjoyed the 
 speeches hugely, supporting himself against the 
 wall when laughing heartily. 
 
 Jefferson, Crane, and Goodwin went down to 
 New York by boat to-night. 
 
 The matinee performance at the American 
 Theatre, New York, was a clean-cut, fine repre- 
 sentation, with everybody on the qui vive before 
 an audience that was delightful to see, thrilling 
 to hear. 
 
 I heard some complaint that New York should 
 
 220 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 have been put off with a single performance and 
 that a matinee, while Brooklyn was given an 
 evening. When arrangements were being made, 
 no theatre had open time for the date intended 
 to be played. Jefferson deemed it prudent to 
 give but one performance. " It was better," he 
 said " to underrate than overrate." He widely 
 underrated. 
 
 The Brooklyn and Philadelphia engagements 
 were but a repetition of that of New York. It 
 was a grand sight in the Quaker City to see the 
 vast Academy of Music with its tiers of people 
 cheering on the efforts of the artists. Mr. Jeffer- 
 son made a speech in which he said he had com- 
 pressed the play into the shape he believed the 
 public of the present day would accept. He 
 spoke of the precocity of Sheridan, who had 
 written two of the greatest comedies of this 
 or any other age, "The Rivals" and "The 
 School for Scandal," and that too before he was 
 twenty-six years of age. He again justified his 
 amendments and alterations of " The Rivals." 
 
 Of acting, he said it was a great mistake for 
 the artist to attempt entirely to sink his individu- 
 ality in the parts he assumed. By so doing he 
 
JOSE P H JEFFERSON 
 
 was robbing the audience of that for which they 
 were looking, that for which they admired him. 
 One day I called his attention to the fact that in 
 his Autobiography he had condemned "star" 
 casts of plays. In a speech before the curtain 
 he spoke of having written that star casts were 
 usually failures ; and this he still maintained, be- 
 cause it was difficult for people who had become 
 accustomed to positions of prominence to adapt 
 themselves " to subordinate themselves " 
 were the exact words to the situations of the 
 play. He felt sure, however, that the audience 
 would agree with him that the present cast was a 
 gloriously exceptional instance. 
 
 Speaking with him about the extraordinary 
 advance in importance of the modern Dutch 
 painters in whom he was greatly interested, I 
 asked him to define the difference between those 
 two great Dutch masters, Israels and Neuhuys. 
 
 " I think Neuhuys," he said, " quite as good 
 an artist or workman as Israels, in fact, he is 
 even a better craftsman, but he lacks the spirit- 
 ual quality of Israels. It is as in acting, where, 
 while one man will play a part in a satisfactory 
 way, another will take the same role and by add- 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 ing a spiritual quality make it a wholly different 
 and more successful thing/' 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, his son "Willie," Charles A. 
 Walker, of Boston, and I visited the Walters 
 gallery in Baltimore. He stopped in an ad- 
 miring way before Rousseau's " L'Effet du 
 Givre," or, as he calls it, " Frosty Morning," 
 the sky effect of which is so superb, and said : " I 
 have seen it often before, but it never looked 
 so big (fine) to me as it does to-day." He said 
 further that Mr. Walters the elder had paid 
 $3 5,000 for it, and that Mr. Widener, of Phila- 
 delphia, had told him of his intention to bid 
 $j 5,000 for it if in his time the painting were 
 ever offered for sale. In such an event Jeffer- 
 son thought it would bring $100,000. Troyon's 
 " Cattle " he found to be " the quintessence of 
 fine art." He declared Decamps* " Suicide " to 
 be a great piece of art, notwithstanding the un- 
 pleasantness of the subject. The light effect 
 was especially fine. 
 
 He inveighed constantly against the dreadful, 
 the unpleasant in art, and said no man had a 
 right to poison the atmosphere of his home with 
 
 it. Yet, on questioning, I found his admiration 
 
 223 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 so great for the skill of this " Suicide " of De- 
 camps' that he would be willing to have it in 
 his home. 
 
 " You see," he said in explanation, " there is 
 nothing particularly unpleasant about the man 
 lying across the table from a short distance ; 
 from here it might be a rose." I did not quite 
 admit this, but it cannot be denied that the skill 
 is great. 
 
 Later he said : " Decamps does not horrify his 
 subject, he poetizes it. 
 
 " This poetry and mystery/' he continued, " I 
 try to give to ' Rip Van Winkle.' If Rip were 
 to yawn in Act II, the effect would be lost, for 
 a yawn would be expressive of a night's rest. 
 The mysteriousness in the play comes from hav- 
 ing no one speak but Rip in the scenes in the 
 
 mountains." 
 
 " The Coming Storm," by Daubigny, he called 
 one of the most "jewel" pictures he ever saw. 
 He begged me not to neglect to take a good look 
 at Fortuny's " Snake Charmer," one of the gems 
 of the collection. 
 
 De Neuville's cc In the Trenches," so worthily 
 placed in this great collection, was offered to Mr. 
 
 124 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 Jefferson in London twenty years ago for three 
 hundred dollars ; thousands could not buy it 
 to-day. This brought about Mr. Jefferson's char- 
 acterization of the difference between De Neu- 
 ville and Detaille. The latter he described as a 
 great artist, but no genius ; De Neuville, he said 
 was both a great artist and a great genius. 
 
 Millet's "Sheepfold" he thought one of the 
 world's greatest pictures. " Millet," he said, 
 " painted from within, that is, painted with his 
 soul ! The picture grows as one looks at it. So 
 penetrating is his poetry, so completely does soli- 
 tude invade the fancy, one forgets the painting is 
 but twenty inches wide, and soon believes it as 
 big as nature itself." 
 
 Jefferson drew our attention to the great sim- 
 plicity of the work, which, with the poetry of 
 the artist, he said, was the very bulwark of his 
 skill. 
 
 He made a contrast between Millet and Jules 
 Breton, describing the latter's composition and 
 figures as skilful but theatrical. 
 
 While viewing a Troyon, he remarked the dis- 
 tinction between art and realism, that they could 
 not live together. If they could, pinning real 
 
 225 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 wool on a painted sheep would be better than 
 Troyon's masterly reproduction of it. 
 
 " The distinction between De Neuville and De- 
 taille needs qualification, perhaps," he remarked. 
 " I don't know but Detaille is the better artist, as 
 far as his detail and drawing are concerned, but 
 it is on a flat surface and carries with it no such 
 
 rce or effect as the work of De Neuville. 
 
 " So it is on the stage, you get an actor who 
 has art and you get a player who is skilful but 
 cold ; but you get a fellow who has both genius 
 and art and you get skill and fire as well." 
 
 On Corot's death it was found he had painted 
 some eight hundred canvases. Jefferson said, 
 with a twinkle in his eye, that there were over 
 nine hundred in America alone ! 
 
 This brought about the discussion of fraudu- 
 lent pictures in America, the number of which 
 he declared to be enormous. " Ignorance and 
 vanity have much to do with the matter," said 
 Mr. Jefferson. " People who have no doubt 
 where they may buy the best coffee or the finest 
 raiment seem all at sea as to the whereabouts 
 of the most reputable dealers in art. Art is a 
 new thing to them, and they are too vain to 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 confess their ignorance of the subject. The 
 art shyster and he is everywhere sees this 
 and trades upon it." 
 
 " Have you never been bitten in your art 
 purchases ? " I asked. 
 
 " Of course I have," he said ; " and, like other 
 people, my vanity has kept me from speaking of 
 it. But I have learned my lesson and I have 
 long since dealt only with art establishments 
 of acknowledged reputation. Improved fortune 
 brings increased desire for the refinements of 
 life," he continued, " which seeks expression in 
 artistic surroundings, household adornment, and 
 the like. Now the newly rich fellow, throwing 
 aside all the sagacity he used in acquiring his 
 money, generally plumps himself into the arms 
 of the first glib-tongued art fraud he encounters 
 and allows himself to be unmercifully swindled." 
 
 cc How would you remedy this?" I asked. 
 
 " You can't wholly," he replied quickly. 
 
 " If you were called upon to give a rule for 
 the guidance of the beginner in art purchases, 
 what would it be ? " I queried. 
 
 " I 'd give two," was his reply. 
 
 "Which?" 
 
 227 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " First, never to buy pictures of the travel- 
 ling art vender." 
 
 " Never ? " 
 
 " Never ! " 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " Because I don't believe that the best estab- 
 lishments hawk their pictures all over the coun- 
 try, certainly not their finest pictures, which meet 
 with ready sale at home ; and the travelling art 
 dealer is generally a fraud." 
 
 " Generally ? " 
 
 " Generally ! " 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 "Second, never to buy pictures of any art 
 establishment whatever unless it has an estab- 
 lished reputation for honesty." 
 
 As we were walking into another part of the 
 gallery, I remarked that I thought most begin- 
 ners and modest buyers of pictures were fright- 
 ened away from the big art places by the general 
 sight of elegance, plate-glass windows, etc., which 
 they felt had to be paid for by customers. 
 
 "True," he said; "but who else is there to 
 pay for them ? If these places are reputable, is n't 
 it better to pay your part of these elegances and 
 
 228 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 get genuine art than pay money to a shyster and 
 get worse than nothing ?" 
 
 We had moved on to another picture. " Let 
 me call your attention/' he remarked, " to Corot's 
 treatment of this subject of St. Sebastian. All 
 the other paintings I have ever seen treat the 
 thing in a repulsive way. St. Sebastian is gener- 
 ally seen with an arrow in his vitals, another in 
 his eye, another in his heart, suffering frightful 
 agony; but Corot's treatment of him here is one 
 of relief. The soldiers have departed, the Saint's 
 wounds are being bathed, the last arrow extracted 
 from his arm, and there is a calm, a peacefulness 
 in the wounded man's face, and, indeed, about the 
 whole picture, that tells of the work of the big- 
 souled artist. It is not the Sodomite that is 
 depicted, but the Sermon on the Mount." 
 
 Pursing up his lips, folding his hands in front 
 of him in a characteristic way, and gazing about 
 at the great number of paintings Mr. Walters has 
 collected, he remarked : 
 
 " Charles Lamb said, c Happy is that man who 
 has but one painting and that a great one ! ' 
 The Chinese [Japanese ?] go even further than 
 this they have but one fine piece of art ware on 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 view in their houses, and there is much in it, be- 
 lieve me. I shall never buy more pictures than 
 the rooms of my house will hold. To do so is 
 to rob your house of its homeliness and give it the 
 barrenness of an art museum. Too many pictures 
 in a private collection is but to overfeed your 
 guests" ; and then with a knowing look he added, 
 " One can have constipation of the mind as 
 well as of the body ! " 
 
 As we were leaving the Walters collection, 
 we paused again for a final view of Rousseau's 
 " Frosty Morning." " Is n't it fine ! " he said. 
 " What a lesson ! True feeling comes from 
 within. Byron said, in acting : c Kean for fire, 
 Cooke for malignity, Kemble for dignity, but 
 Mrs. Siddons for soul. She was worth them 
 all ! ' So it is in the painting Rousseau for 
 soul, and he is worth them all ! " To this, in 
 the manuscript I sent him, he added : " No, this 
 is saying too much. The Barbizon fellows were 
 all equally great. It is the last one we look at 
 that seems the best." 
 
 Jefferson seemed never to tire. At Cincinnati, 
 coming back from the Rookwood Pottery, when 
 he had swiftly boarded an electric car, he expressed 
 
 230 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 his belief that he had not aged at all in the past 
 twenty-five years. His ambition knew not what 
 it was to flag, for he eagerly made arrangements 
 to come to Cincinnati and paint some pictures for 
 the pottery people. He believed it much in his 
 line of work, and even hinted that he could so 
 easily become interested in the art that he would 
 build a kiln of his own at Crow's Nest. 
 
 He purchased a number of pieces of the ware, 
 and selected the best examples particularly the 
 sheep and landscape subjects. While the artisan 
 was " throwing some clay into shape " on which 
 Jefferson was to scratch his name, places of birth 
 somehow, apropos of nothing, came up for dis- 
 cussion, and his eldest boy, Charles, stated that 
 he was born in Macon, Georgia. " Yes," says 
 Jefferson, instantly, " and we came near leaving 
 you there for board ! " 
 
 Jefferson referred to his chagrin at finding he 
 had not said a word in his Autobiography of his 
 old friend E. L. Davenport. As he wrote Fanny 
 Davenport, he was astounded to make the dis- 
 covery, and in apologizing to her verbally he 
 expressed the determination to devote a whole 
 chapter to her father when the book was revised 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 for another issue. He said it gave him great 
 joy, on the occasion of the presentation of the 
 loving cup 1 to him by the actors and actresses 
 of America, to pay a tribute to Davenport and 
 J. H. Stoddart. Stoddart and Fanny Davenport 
 were both compelled to rise from the audience 
 and bow acknowledgments, the latter on be- 
 half of her father. 
 
 The letter of apology has been sent me, on in- 
 quiry, by Fanny Davenport's sister, Mrs. William 
 Seymour. 
 
 ST. Louis, Mo., April 4th, 1894. 
 
 MY DEAR Miss DAVENPORT, Your justly 
 reproachful letter has just reached me, and I 
 assure you that my mortification at the gentle- 
 ness of your rebuke is all that your keenest 
 revenge could desire. 
 
 I cannot tell you how I regret that the omis- 
 sion of your father's name in my book should 
 have caused you any pain let me confess to 
 you that you are not the first that has noticed 
 its absence. I have been rated in harsher terms 
 than you have applied for this same neglect 
 
 * November 8, 1895, at the Garden Theatre, New York. 
 23* 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 truly I was in hopes that you would never read 
 my book. 
 
 I knew your father well I acted with him 
 we were the best of friends and I admired his 
 acting. He was an artist of the highest rank, and 
 in some characters he had no superior, if an equal. 
 
 When I return to New York I shall at once 
 apply to my publishers, that I may correct my 
 error in future editions. 
 
 I am not astonished at your surprise, and can 
 only wonder that it was expressed " more in sor- 
 row than in anger." 
 
 I know how you reverence your father's mem- 
 ory, and beg that you will forgive me. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 J. JEFFERSON. 
 
 At Cincinnati he paid himself an unintentional 
 compliment which made me smile. At Rook- 
 wood every piece of pottery his son Charles 
 picked out seemed to please him. In the even- 
 ing, as we paced the stage between scenes, dis- 
 cussing the day's events, I said : cc Charley has a 
 most accurate measure of your taste." " Oh, he 
 has splendid taste," he replied. <c He paints very 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 well, too, while he lacks in detail, his sky 
 and water are as good as mine." I smiled at 
 this. " Oh, don't make a mistake," he swiftly 
 replied. " Every man that is clever knows it. 
 Vanity does not consist in knowing you have 
 knowledge, but in parading it." He strutted 
 in a pompous way, and added, " See how clever 
 I am!" 
 
 Apropos of the loving cup given him by the 
 actors and actresses of America, he said he was 
 greatly delighted with it. He spoke affection- 
 ately of the incident of his grandson, four years 
 old, hiding in it when he (Jefferson) was brought 
 in to inspect it. He had been greatly surprised 
 to find the cup so much larger than he thought 
 from the model he had seen on the day of the 
 presentation. 
 
 As we were at supper, bowling along toward 
 St. Louis, he told us of a Western political orator 
 very much intoxicated, leaning his head upon his 
 (Jefferson's) shoulder, looking up maudlinly into 
 Rip's face and saying : " Joe, I Ve modelled my 
 life on yours." 
 
 " Sir Lucius," it appeared, was going to Aus- 
 tralia, where, among other things, he meant to 
 
 *34 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 play "The Rivals." Jefferson promised him a 
 prompt-book, as he (Jefferson) had arranged the 
 piece. Mrs. Drew inquired where he meant to 
 get such a prompt-book. " Write it, of course ! " 
 " Oh ! " said Mrs. Drew, significantly, " I won- 
 dered, for I knew you never had one of your 
 own ! " which much amused Jefferson. 
 
 He often watched those scenes of the play in 
 which he was not concerned, and his comments 
 thereon were most instructive. Standing by him, 
 I remarked upon the delicacy and cleverness 
 of Mrs. Drew's Mrs. Malaprop. " Oh, fine ! " 
 he said, with an admiring shake of the head. 
 " The reading of the letter and her ultimate dis- 
 covery that young Absolute wrote it, is the per- 
 fection of acting." Mrs. Malapropos "What 
 am I to thank you for the elegant compilation of 
 an old weather-beaten she-dragon hey ! " and 
 her indescribably droll expression as she utters, 
 "Oh, mercy! was it you that reflected on my 
 parts of speech ? " and the affected simplicity, 
 when mollified by Sir Anthony, with which she 
 says: "Well, Sir Anthony, since you desire it, 
 we will not anticipate the past," are indeed, as 
 Jefferson says, " the perfection of acting," such as 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 one reads of in the past, but seldom meets with 
 in the present. 
 
 How manly and handsome Taber is as "Jack" 
 Absolute ! No wonder Sir Henry Irving, who 
 saw the performance in New York, wished to 
 engage him for London. How beautiful and 
 earnestly pettish is Lydia on discovering there 
 is to be no elopement, and with what an artistic 
 grasp and swing with what a mien of ancient 
 chivalry Sir Anthony and Mrs. Malaprop 
 exeunt, strutting the minuet. How the audience 
 rise to it ! 
 
 " Pray, tell me how you came to write your 
 Autobiography ? " I asked him. " Certainly," he 
 said. " Come back where we won't interrupt 
 the scene. It was never intended," said he, " that 
 the Autobiography should see the light before 
 my death. It was intended as a legacy to my 
 children. I had begun it, and had gone far 
 enough to know that I had gotten hold of some 
 good things some of which I was telling one 
 day to William Dean Howells. f Have you never 
 written down any of these things ? ' he exclaimed, 
 and then I confessed I had. I had also spoken to 
 Richard Watson Gilder about it, and he asked the 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 privilege to publish it in case I changed my mind 
 as to making it a posthumous work. Shortly after, 
 I got a letter from the Harpers asking if I would 
 not consider a proposition from them for the 
 book's immediate appearance. I wrote them 
 that I felt myself compromised to another party, 
 but should let them know immediately if the 
 other party did not decide to negotiate. I then 
 had an interview with Mr. Gilder, with the result 
 that an offer, which I accepted, of $ 12,000 was 
 made for the work, $6,000 when the publication 
 was half through, and the other $6,000 when it 
 was finished. I was also to receive ten per cent 
 on each book sold. Gilder received the right to 
 print such portions in the c Century Magazine ' 
 as he deemed best." " Does the sale of the book 
 continue pretty good ? " "Oh yes not as good 
 as the first year, of course, but I had a letter re- 
 cently saying it was as good now as at any time 
 since the first year." 
 
 A pleasant incident on the train one day was the 
 round of applause given each individual as he en- 
 tered the dining-car from the other mummers as- 
 sembled. Mrs. Drew remarked that she could n't 
 understand how anybody could be late for dinner. 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Jefferson told a story, in his best Rip Van 
 Winkle dialect, of a Dutchman hailing a vessel 
 with : 
 
 "Vot for boad is dot?" 
 
 " Hel-ve tia," comes the answer. 
 
 "To hell mit yourself," goes back the angry 
 response. " You are a tarn fool ! " 
 
 For a long time Jefferson had not acted so 
 late in the season, and the heat enervated him 
 somewhat. Every possible attention was paid 
 to the comfort of the company, as was shown by 
 the presence of electric fans in the dressing-rooms 
 and on the cars, and there were even ice-cream, 
 cake, and punch at the back of the stage during 
 the performances. 
 
 Music and the drama coming up again for dis- 
 cussion, he said : " The advantage that the drama 
 has over music is that the drama is both emotional 
 and intellectual. Music is emotional only," 
 an opinion in which the trained musician, mind- 
 ful of Bach and Handel, will not coincide. 
 
 Contrasting two great novelists, he said : " I 
 know many unpleasant things about Dickens, 
 and people insist that Thackeray is a much greater 
 
 literary mind than Dickens, yet there is some- 
 
 138 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 thing about the writings of Dickens that holds 
 me faster than those of Thackeray. I suppose 
 I am all wrong, but that is my opinion." 
 
 When he played at a certain theatre, he was 
 much annoyed by the musical conductor, who 
 would turn his back to the stage and look out 
 over the audience from the conductor's chair. 
 " Now, you just try to act a play to indifference 
 of that kind! It's impossible! It kills every- 
 thing as dead as a door-nail." 
 
 Jefferson was liberal-minded toward the drama 
 of to-day. He thought the acting and actors of 
 the present time equal if not superior to those of 
 previous years. He said that all things progress, 
 and it is narrow and unreasonable to suppose that 
 such vital things as the drama and acting stand 
 still. " The best talent on the dramatic stage," 
 he said, " has come from the so-called variety or 
 vaudeville theatre. I could not get an engage- 
 ment at Wallack's at one time because I was 
 regarded as^tfre variety performer of my day." 
 
 Juli^Marlowe accidentally dropped a rose upon 
 the stage just before one of Mr. Jefferson's scenes. 
 As he came on the stage he caught sight of the 
 
 flower, and he picked it up so swiftly that I was 
 
 239 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 interested to know why. I asked him, later on. 
 " I could n't have acted with it there," he said. 
 " The eye is such a tyrant that it would have 
 constantly sought the unusual on the scene. My 
 attention would have been distracted and my 
 scene ruined." 
 
 I asked him if he recalled having written in 
 his Autobiography of a similar incident occurring 
 to the elder Booth during a performance of Sir 
 Giles Overreach in " A New Way to Pay Old 
 Debts." He recalled it perfectly, and added that 
 it was a feather and not a rose that Booth had 
 picked up. I wondered if he had thought of 
 the Booth incident when he had stooped for the 
 rose. He declared he had, and asked of what 
 use was intelligence if we did not take advantage 
 of the teachings of our predecessors. 
 
 Crane tells me he has been reading his next 
 season's play, "A Fool of Fortune," to Jefferson. 
 Throughout the perusal Jefferson's exclamations 
 of approval were most encouraging. The close 
 of the drama was sad, and when Crane had finished 
 there was a lengthy pause during which Jefferson 
 sat with his head resting on his hand, the same at- 
 titude he had maintained while Crane was reading. 
 
 240 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 fc Very good," he said finally. " But I don't 
 think people want to see you die. When they 
 go to see Irving they expect to see him die, and 
 
 when they go to see they hope he '11 die ; 
 
 but, William, I don't believe the public wishes to 
 see you expire." 
 
 I had been reading the recollections of a retired 
 actress and called Jefferson's attention to a para- 
 graph it contained, which I read him : 
 
 " I have written to show young girls that the 
 glitter of the stage is not all gold, to make them 
 realize how serious an undertaking it is to adopt 
 a life so full of hardships, humiliation, and even 
 dangers." He bristled at once. " I object to that 
 most emphatically," he said, " because it is stated 
 as if it were true alone of the theatrical profession. 
 The business of the shop-girl, the typewriter, the 
 governess, and the companion are fraught with 
 even greater dangers to young girls. The remark 
 is unfortunate, and should have been qualified. 
 
 "When I have been asked my advice about 
 going on the stage I have invariably answered, If 
 you are satisfied you are a great genius, or have 
 special histrionic gifts, or are going to adopt the 
 
 profession to earn a living, feeling yourself fitted 
 
 241 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 for it, yes ; but if you are going on the stage sim- 
 ply to show your vanity, no ! It is not the stage 
 that creates vanity, but vanity that creates a 
 longing for the stage. Here the distinction be- 
 tween vanity and admiration should be clearly 
 understood. Vanity is just the reverse of admi- 
 ration, the love of which is natural and whole- 
 some. Who is it that does n't like to be admired ? 
 What kind of a man or woman is it to whom 
 admiration is not welcome ? " 
 
 Jefferson thought that the unhappiness of 
 Mrs. Siddons's old age, quoted by the same 
 author, was . due less to " the overstimulating 
 atmosphere in which she had lived" than the 
 fact of her retirement, which robbed her of the 
 aim of her life, which rendered her incapable of 
 deeply interesting herself in anything else, and 
 which caused her on the night of her retirement 
 to sink dejectedly into a chair and exclaim : 
 " Then this is the end of all ! " 
 
 I read further in the aforementioned recollec- 
 tions, and he was greatly pleased, and pronounced 
 as "true" and "just" the authoress's declaration 
 that " only blind prejudice could regard the stage 
 
 and immorality as synonymous." 
 
 24* 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 " Do you agree with that enthusiast who says 
 the drama in its highest form is as great a spir- 
 itual force as religion ? " 
 
 "Certainly not!" he replied, "but it is its 
 intellectual compeer. It is a civilizing, refining 
 influence. They may say what they like of the 
 stage, but I shall always uphold it, and I shall 
 never give it up until I must. I tell my boys 
 this is the profession for them, and they must 
 never leave it if they have talent for it." 
 
 He thought there were times when everybody 
 was discontented with himself and his work, and 
 he explained that it was during one. of these pes- 
 simistic moods and he had occasion for many 
 such that Edwin Booth must have written the 
 " discontented paper " cited by the authoress pre- 
 viously quoted. In all his long intimacy with 
 Booth he did not remember his giving expres- 
 sion to any discontent with regard to his profes- 
 sion or with even the " glare and excitement " 
 of it. The glare and excitement Jefferson thinks 
 to be an essential part of the dramatic profession, 
 a profession which cannot be practised in an 
 attic or a back parlor, and as for " the dislike 
 
 of rehearsals in an atmosphere seldom penetrated 
 
 243 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 by the sun and air," to quote again from the 
 recollections I was reading him, he thought that, 
 too, a part of the exaction of the practice of the 
 art. " I don't like rehearsals any more than 
 others, because see how natural a failing is 
 vanity ! I don't get any applause for my 
 work; and applause is just as sweet to me as 
 to other normal beings." 
 
 We spoke of Eugene Field, and he laughingly 
 declared he thought him a little daft toward the 
 last. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " I asked. 
 
 "At New Orleans," he replied, " Field and I 
 ranged all through the curiosity shops, and the 
 man would buy dolls and such things." 
 
 I told him Field said he never saw a man like 
 Jefferson, that his eye was caught with all sorts 
 of gewgaws, and that he simply squandered 
 money on trifles. 
 
 " That 's it," he chuckled ; " one half the 
 world thinks the other half crazy." 
 
 Sir Henry Irving sent Jefferson, suitably en- 
 graved, the cane used by the first Sir Peter Teazle 
 " Cock-Salmon Farren " and Jefferson said 
 
 that it and the loving cup presented to him 
 
 244 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 should, on his death, go to the Players. I shook 
 hands with him on this, for, as one of the pro- 
 posers of the cup and the provider of the inscrip- 
 tion, I had always hoped the cup would ultimately 
 go to the Players. Once before, in talking over 
 the matter, Rip had said he thought it ought to 
 go there, but this assertion in the dressing-room 
 at Grand Rapids, Michigan, that it was his posi- 
 tive intention to will it to the Players, and that 
 his family agreed with him, quite determined the 
 matter. 
 
 " Have you written it down," I asked, " in 
 your c last will and testament ' ? " 
 
 " Not yet," he replied, " but I shall do so." 
 
 " I hope you won't neglect it." 
 
 "Oh, I sha'n't," he replied emphatically. 
 
 cc You know how many friends of yours there 
 are," I said to him, " who would be delighted to 
 have you leave them some trifling token of re- 
 membrance such as a quill pen, an old hat, a 
 pistol, Rip's gun or wig, a book, a feather, an old 
 paint brush, or anything that you regard as a 
 trifle, but which would be very precious to them. 
 I have told you how Laurence Hutton labored 
 for months with Edwin Booth," I continued, " to 
 
 245 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 get him to sign a list of such small presents to 
 his friends, and how Booth agreed that it was 
 the very thing, but, despite numerous proddings. 
 Booth never signed ? " 
 
 " Yes," he answered, " I can understand that a 
 man does n't care particularly about doing such 
 a thing. It looks too much, as Mrs. Siddons 
 said, like c the end of all/ " 
 
 " Well," I rejoined, " if you do make such a 
 list, and I hope you will, do not forget to leave 
 me Rip's hat." 
 
 " You 'd better be careful, my boy," he an- 
 swered, pointing his finger at me. " You may 
 go first!" 
 
 Yesterday was a gala day on the cars. Fanny 
 Rice Purdy's baby had a birthday. Everybody 
 interested himself. The table was prettily deco- 
 rated, and among the presents were pearl and gold 
 pins, a music box, mechanical toys of all kinds, 
 books, especially engraved glasses, and champagne 
 and kisses. The central feature of the table was 
 a birthday cake with two little white candles, the 
 tiny flames of which seemed to wave welcome and 
 congratulations. For a few seconds mother, child, 
 
 246 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 and grandmother stood astonished before the great 
 array ; then the mother beat a precipitate retreat to 
 her stateroom, there to have a good old-fashioned 
 cry. There was a choking up all around, and for 
 the moment conversation was impossible. 
 
 The demand we made on the financial resources 
 of the playgoers of Grand Rapids appears to have 
 been too great. For the first time during the tour 
 there were empty seats in the back rows of the 
 theatre. This led to some wag posting in the 
 usual place for such things the following : 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen of the All Star Co. 
 Are respectfully informed 
 that owing to the slump in 
 business at Grand Rapids, 
 the season will close in 
 New York City, Saturday, 
 
 May 3Oth, '96. 
 Kindly leave costumes with Willie." 
 
 It was decided to have a flashlight photograph 
 of the company, and Columbus, Ohio, was the 
 place and after the play the time to have it done. 
 We were obliged to wait until the audience had 
 left the theatre. We became restless, Jefferson 
 
 247 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 and Mrs. Drew especially so. Numerous jour- 
 neys to the curtain peephole showed the audience 
 still retreating slowly, as if loath to leave. 
 
 " Never," says Jefferson, " never again." 
 
 " Why, this is more tiring than a performance," 
 says Mrs. Drew. 
 
 Finally, as in football, " we lined up " for the 
 flashlight and the photograph. There was a 
 blinding glare, and then came in clear-cut tones 
 from Jefferson's irreverent but witty son Tom : 
 
 " Now wash up ! " 
 
 " Why," says Mrs. Drew, half earnestly, " he 
 talks to us as if we were minstrels." 
 
 Back again in the cars, off for Cleveland and 
 at our midnight repast, the subject of minstrels 
 came up. Jefferson said he thought he was one 
 of the first men to black his face after the appear- 
 ance and success of "Jim Crow" (T. D.) Rice. 
 
 " I suppose," said Mrs. Drew, " there are very 
 few men in this company who have not at one 
 time or another been associated with minstrel 
 performances." 
 
 " I played < Brudder Bones/ " said Mr. Jeffer- 
 son. " Everybody knows I was in the minstrel 
 
 business," Goodwin exclaimed. " Yes," I re- 
 
 248 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 marked, " because we were there together." 
 "Well," joined in Crane, "I was on the tam- 
 bourine end with Campbell's minstrels. 
 
 " I remember telling this at Lawrence Barrett's 
 house,- at Cohasset, where the rest of the party 
 consisted of Edwin Booth and Stuart Robson. 
 Booth then told how he and the comedian J. S. 
 Clarke were minstrels in their younger days, and 
 he followed this up by declaring that he used to 
 c pick a little on the banjo/ I laughed, and 
 Booth inquired the reason ; I added, c Oh, noth- 
 ing much ; only Booth and the banjo seemed 
 such an odd combination.' ' 
 
 Some of the spare time at night between scenes 
 and acts is devoted by Falkland and David to 
 pantomiming, in which Falkland, perhaps because 
 of deafness, has become an adept. Expressing 
 oneself without the use of words or the deaf and 
 dumb alphabet is no easy task, and is recom- 
 mended to aspirants to the stage as helpful. 
 
 There was a long chat at luncheon at Rochester 
 over various matters concerning the stage. Jef- 
 ferson said he knew of literary men who were 
 envious of the actor's present popularity. " It is 
 
 absurd," he declared, " for if the actor does not 
 
 249 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 get his credit here, where will he get it? The 
 c Old Fellow* [his customary way of alluding to 
 Shakespeare] expressed it when he said c the 
 poor player that struts and frets his hour on the 
 stage and then is heard no more/ Yes, sir, 
 there is nothing so Useless as a dead actor. Who 
 
 eaks now of Gus Adams, a contemporary of 
 Forrest ? An actor with genius and with art 
 to back it up who played the Romans, Brutus, 
 Lear, better, I think, than Forrest. Yet he is 
 not now even a tradition. Look at Burton, the 
 finest low comedian of his time, who lives only 
 in the memory of those who saw him act, but 
 who is as dead as dead can be in the memory of 
 the sons whose fathers saw him play. People 
 speak of Betterton, Garrick, Kean, and Mrs. Sid- 
 dons, and they mark milestones in the dramatic 
 pathway, for they lived at a time when literary 
 men wrote sympathetically of the stage, and so 
 their memories are kept alive ; but whom else do 
 people speak of? " 
 
 " Don't you think Edwin Booth will be more 
 than a tradition ? " I ventured. 
 
 " Probably he founded a great club which 
 
 will serve to keep his memory alive." 
 
 250 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 "Certainly the public will remember Joseph 
 Jefferson/' I said. 
 
 " Don't you believe it ! " replied Jefferson. 
 Then, after a thoughtful silence, he added : " Well, 
 yes, perhaps because of my book, which will 
 serve to rescue me from total oblivion. Irving 
 will be remembered because he was knighted, 
 Booth for the reason I have stated, Mary Anderson 
 because of her book, and I, perhaps, because of 
 mine. No, believe me, the painter, the sculptor, 
 the author all live in their works after death, but 
 there is nothing so useless as a dead actor. Act- 
 ing is a tradition. Actors must have their 
 reward now, in the applause of the public, or 
 never. If their names live, it will be because of 
 some extraneous circumstances." 
 
 Considering the hold the character of Rip Van 
 Winkle and his own ideal impersonation of it had 
 on the imagination and affection of the youth and 
 age of our country, I said it was easily conceiv- 
 able to me that one day a statue might be erected 
 by public subscription to Joseph Jefferson's mem- 
 ory. He laughed at this, and lowered his head. 
 Then, as if the idea, though startling, were not 
 repugnant, he said slowly and modestly : 
 
 251 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " It would be a great honor not merely for 
 me, but for Washington Irving/' 
 
 He told us of Laurence Hutton's once show- 
 ing him a manuscript of an article for a mag- 
 azine. He had asked Hutton when it was to 
 be published, and was told perhaps not for a 
 year. 
 
 " Just fancy," continued Jefferson, " waiting 
 that long for a round of applause." 
 
 He gave us a humorous account of once 
 meeting with the prize-fighter "Joe" Coburn 
 in a restaurant at St. Louis. Coburn swung 
 over to the table where Jefferson was sitting, 
 and said : 
 
 " I hear you and me 's rivals dis week ? " 
 " Yes," answered Jefferson, " but I am glad, 
 Mr. Coburn, it is not in the same ring." 
 
 After the matinee at Syracuse, I went to him 
 with a long countenance and asked him for an 
 explanation of his having sworn at me, under 
 his breath, on the stage. He took me quite 
 seriously, and laughingly denied having done 
 so; and, truth to tell, the assertion had no 
 foundation in fact, except as to some perfectly 
 proper exclamations of impatience and disgust 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 which Acres was making, sotto voce, at the 
 whining cowardice of David. Yet so keenly 
 does Jefferson feel the various emotions he is 
 depicting, that he not infrequently says things 
 half aloud on the stage which, if they were 
 heard, would greatly surprise his audiences. 
 
 For instance, nearly always, at the closing 
 of the second act in " The Rivals," where 
 Bob throws himself upon the lounge, over- 
 come by the thought of being a principal in 
 a duel, Jefferson, with back to audience and 
 with head rolling from side to side in pitiful 
 comic despair, exclaims : 
 
 " Oh, my God ! my God ! What a d d 
 
 fool I am!" 
 
 Apropos of these half-uttered and sometimes 
 fully expressed exclamations, reflexes of the 
 emotions of the character, Jefferson tells a 
 story of Macready, whom he parenthetically de- 
 scribed as all art and no genius. He said that 
 Macready would quarrel with his dresser, or 
 resort to any other petty means of putting him- 
 self into a condition to " fire up " as much as 
 possible for the requirements of his impassioned 
 scenes. Phelps, who played Macduff to Mac- 
 
 253 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 ready's Macbeth, was astounded one night to 
 find the Thane of Cawdor swearing at him un- 
 der his breath, and not understanding, waited 
 until the next night to make sure, and, there 
 being no doubt about the matter, swore back 
 like mad at the now actually enraged Macbeth. 
 Sotto voce they berated each other, sotto voce, 
 too, Macready was heard to say he would dis- 
 charge Macduff; and Phelps replied he would n't 
 think of continuing under the d d manage- 
 ment of Macbeth. Then the swords flashed fire 
 in their furious combat, while the audience, raised 
 to a pitch of excitement by the realism of the 
 scene, applauded wildly. On the fall of the 
 curtain Macready sprang to his feet, rushed up 
 to Phelps, and grasping him by both hands, 
 exclaimed : 
 
 " Thank you ! thank you, Mr. Phelps ! You 
 have been so kind to me to-night ! " 
 
 Less talented and morally weaker men in 
 Macready 's condition, Jefferson declared, would 
 have resorted to stimulants ; and he thought the 
 explanation of the reason why some actors drank 
 was that, conscious of their shortcomings, their 
 lack of power to reproduce their dramatic effects, 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 they sought stimulus in liquor to give them a 
 false courage to pass through the ordeal of their 
 shortcomings. 
 
 " In the drama," he continued, " without 
 the fire of genius, art is cold and calculating. 
 Without the power of art genius is uncontrolled 
 and unreproductive. In such a case genius is 
 still genius, flashing and magnificent, but fit- 
 ful and uncertain." 
 
 Sometimes as with everybody Mrs. Drew 
 missed a word during the play ; and it was very 
 interesting to see her supply either a synonym 
 or maybe a circumlocutory phrase, which she 
 did with much skill. In "The Rivals" she 
 should say to David, " You shall be our cohort.' 
 " Cohort " does n't always come to her, and she 
 waves her hand and exclaims, " You shall be 
 our our guide, philosopher ', and friend lead 
 the way." She has made so many clever inter- 
 polations into the role of Mrs. Malaprop that 
 it is puzzling at times to her, as to Jefferson, 
 to remember where Sheridan leaves off and Drew 
 and Jefferson begin. Giving the wrong letter to 
 Captain Absolute, and the silly confusion, mincing 
 prudery, and expressions of affected girlishness 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 attending its withdrawal, as she said, " There 's a 
 slight mistake," is only one of Mrs. Drew's skil- 
 ful introductions. She asked Mr. Jefferson if he 
 thought it permissible. 
 
 "I should think it was ! " he replied. "It is 
 precisely what Sheridan himself would have done 
 if he had thought of it." 
 
 In Utica, as Jefferson and I sat alone watch- 
 ing the sunset through the windows of the side- 
 tracked Pullman car, he became retrospective. 
 He talked at rather than to me, keeping his eyes 
 fastened all the while on the varying aspect of the 
 sky. He marvelled at the many changes he had 
 seen in his time and day. As if suggested by 
 the declining rays of the sun, he said he had seen 
 the complete evolution of manufactured light as 
 a means of dispelling darkness. He had grown 
 up with candles, when, floated on blocks of wood 
 in a trough of water, they had furnished the foot- 
 lights of the theatre. Then came fluid lamps, 
 and, as a wonderful advance, kerosene, which in 
 turn had given way to the brilliancy of gas, when 
 the acme of false illumination was thought to be at- 
 tained, and now, he said, "we have electricity, which 
 
 furnishes our light, rivalling the sun, drives our 
 
 256 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 engines, and the full uses and limitations of which 
 are still unknown." He had seen the tomato 
 evolve from an ornament to an edible, and had 
 watched sometimes the birth and always the early 
 efforts of such wonders as telegraphy, the sewing- 
 machine, the telephone, the printing-press, the 
 " ocean greyhound," the phonograph, the type- 
 writer, the bicycle, the automobile ; and, begin- 
 ning with the stage-coach, river-barge, and canal 
 as means of conveyance, he was now enjoying the 
 luxury of a Pullman car. 
 
 As we jogged along from the station to the 
 theatre, I asked : 
 
 " Is it possible to make a play that shall be at 
 one and the same time a good acting play and 
 good literature ? " 
 
 " Undoubtedly," he replied. 
 
 " Can you give me ten examples of plays, 
 except those of Shakespeare, that have the double 
 acquirement? " 
 
 " I can give you fifty," he rejoined. 
 
 "Ten will do," said I. 
 
 He instantly named the following: "Virgin- 
 ius," " The Hunchback," " The Wife," "William 
 Tell," " Richelieu," " Lady of Lyons," " New 
 
 357 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Way to Pay Old Debts," "Money," "The 
 Honeymoon," " School," " Caste," " Ours," 
 " Fazio," " Lovers Sacrifice," " The Wife's Se- 
 cret," " The Gamester," " Douglas," " Isabella," 
 "The Fatal Marriage," "She Stoops to Con- 
 quer," " The Rivals," " The School for Scandal," 
 and " London Assurance." 
 
 " But why did you say c except Shakespeare ' ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Because," I replied, " it was conceded, I be- 
 lieve, that Shakespeare's plays, or most of them, 
 were both good acting plays and good literature." 
 Is it necessary," I again ventured, " for a 
 play's success, that it should contain good 
 literature ? " 
 
 " Not at all," he answered emphatically. 
 
 " Are there not many examples of good plays 
 that have succeeded, and which, from a literary 
 point of view, were very slight ? " asked I. 
 
 " Very many indeed," he returned. " The 
 literature of a play must always be in abeyance 
 because the eye is a greater tyrant, is swifter than 
 the ear. What the eye conveys to the brain, 
 the brain will not consent to accept at second- 
 hand by the comparatively laggard ear." 
 
 258 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 " That is to say, actions speak louder than 
 words, even when the words are couched in fine 
 phrases." 
 
 ^ " Precisely," said he. " You may have all the 
 good literature you wish in a play if it does 
 not interfere with the play's action ; and at the 
 same time the absence of fine writing in a play 
 will not injure it if the story and construction 
 are right." 
 
 " But, surely," I asked, <c literary merit in a 
 good play will enhance its chance of success ? " 
 
 " Vastly, if it be subservient to the action," 
 he replied. "You may have a very good play 
 with very bad literature." 
 
 I asked him where it was that he had used the 
 phrase " Keep your heart warm and your head 
 cool when acting." 
 
 " It was in connection with the Coquel in- Irving 
 discussion," he answered. 
 
 " Who was right in that discussion ? " 
 
 " Both," said he. " One produced his effect 
 by remaining cool, and the other by losing him- 
 self in feelings of the character. They got what 
 they aimed at the effect -though by entirely 
 different methods. It is as absurd for one man 
 
 259 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 to say that his method of doing a thing is the 
 only way, as the claim that is set up that heaven 
 is to be reached only through a certain belief. 
 Now I tell you boys how I think a certain effect 
 may be made in acting. What if you can't do it 
 in that way ? Must the effect be lost ? Nonsense ! 
 Get it in another ! " 
 
 Of players who slighted their work he said : 
 " They are among actors what the sparrow is 
 among birds, destroying the songsters and 
 themselves giving no music." 
 
 Of certain actors who were always going to do 
 this and that, he avouched they merited Aubrey's 
 epitaph : 
 
 "He walked beneath the moon, 
 He slept beneath the sun, 
 He lived a life of going to do, 
 And died with nothing done." 
 
 Speaking of James E. Murdoch, he said: " In 
 comedy he had a fine sparkle, while in tragedy it 
 seemed to me there was no flash. Murdoch was 
 one of the most polished and scholarly actors 
 of the time. I am now only illustrating the dis- 
 tinction between art and genius as it applies to 
 acting." 
 
 260 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 He told me too of an actor in his father's 
 company who was constantly uncertain in his 
 lines, and of whom he said he would make a 
 good fencer, because he stuck so often. 
 
 Jefferson once went to see " Nat " Goodwin 
 play David Garrick and Golightly, the lat- 
 ter character in " Lend me Five Shillings," a 
 farce for a long time played only by Jefferson. 
 "After the performance," observed Goodwin, in 
 recounting the matter to us all at dinner, " Jeffer- 
 son came behind the scenes and said some com- 
 plimentary things." For the sake of a good 
 story, however, Goodwin twisted the conclusion 
 to the following : 
 
 " c Did you like it ? ' I asked him, referring 
 especially to Golightly. ' Of course I did ! ' 
 answered Jefferson. c But, Nat, I like mine 
 better ! ' " 
 
 After the laughing had died down, true to his 
 appreciation of a good thing, spontaneous or 
 evolved, Jefferson remarked quietly, " I wish I 
 had said that ! " 
 
 Someone had presented young cc Joe " Jefferson 
 with a rather skittish puppy. Discussion rose as 
 to the animal's breed. 
 
 261 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 "It's a cross between a sheep and a cow," 
 Crane averred. 
 
 " Oh," dryly remarked Mrs. Drew, " you can't 
 tell. Crane is such a flatterer." 
 
 Dogs were not much in favor at this particular 
 moment with Jefferson, whose afternoon nap had 
 been disturbed by the yelping of the Taber canine. 
 
 " I tell you what," proposed Jefferson, only 
 half humorously, " let 's have Joe's dog kill 
 Taber's dog and then kill // for killing Taber's 
 thus killing two dogs with one stone." 
 
 Jefferson's eldest son, Charles Burke Jefferson, 
 named for Charles Burke, Jefferson's beloved half- 
 brother, has been nearly all his life the business 
 man and financial adviser for his father. Actu- 
 ated, it is said, by the popular craze for spectac- 
 ular effects, he once proposed to give " Rip Van 
 Winkle " a new phase by introducing a real lake, 
 mountain waterfalls, and mechanical contrivances 
 for the disappearing gnomes, etc. He outlined 
 the scheme glowingly to his father and asked him 
 what he thought of it. 
 
 " I think," said Jefferson, " it is the biggest 
 piece of impudence I have heard in a long time." 
 
 At Worcester Jefferson was somewhat nervous 
 262 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 lest some of the people who had remained in 
 Boston after our matinee there should not arrive 
 in time for the evening's performance. He 
 drummed with his fingers against the car window, 
 and kept asking me if such a one had come, and 
 finally, being assured that all was right, he quieted 
 down and became very communicative. 
 
 " Do you know," he said, " there are many 
 absurdities in c Rip Van Winkle/ But the play 
 is such an effective one that people don't stop 
 to think about them. That 's it. On the stage 
 we must be effective even at the expense of 
 correctness." 
 
 I wanted to know what absurdities in the play 
 he had in mind, and he replied by asking me 
 if I had ever noticed that all the characters in 
 the drama spoke good English except 
 " There is no consistent reason why Rip should 
 speak broken English," he declared. I said I 
 had never even thought of it before. 
 
 " Of course ! " he replied, " the construction 
 and the interest are too effective to permit you to 
 notice it." He begged me therefore to bear in 
 mind that the fundamental principle of a good 
 play was effectiveness, and I assured him that he 
 
 263 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 had deeply impressed me with that fact. He ex- 
 pressed himself as pleased, "because," as he said, 
 with characteristic emphasis on the eminently 
 important word of a sentence, " it is worth it." 
 
 This whole 'conversation was distinctly typ- 
 ical of Jefferson, the confidence he possesses in 
 things of which by long experience he is sure; 
 the earnestness, but not assertiveness, of his 
 expression, both of words and countenance ; the 
 rush of images presented to his mind by the 
 slightest suggestion ; the swift second's pause he 
 takes before shaping his response, and, finally, 
 the quaint habit, fixed by years of professional 
 experience, of insisting upon the final, usually 
 humorous, word on the subject discussed. 
 
 I asked him if there were not many times of 
 rare elation during his performances of Caleb, 
 Acres, and especially of Rip, that stood out 
 in his memory. He acknowledged that there 
 were, and named his London performances of 
 " Rip Van Winkle," during which he had had 
 a number or" what he designated as "inspired 
 nights." He followed this with a series of 
 questions. 
 
 " Have you seen c Rip ' very often ? " 
 264 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 " Frequently." 
 
 "What impressed you most about it ? " 
 
 "Jefferson." 
 
 "The acting?" 
 
 " Yes ; of course ; the acting at first, but later 
 the play's development particularly. 1 ' 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " The development of so much from so little, 
 from the brief sketch of Washington Irving 
 to the rounded-out play, as we now know it, of 
 ' Rip Van Winkle/ " 
 
 " That 's it," he said ; " and it is to be remem- 
 bered that it was the stage which showed us the 
 possibilities of Irving's brief sketch, and c Rip Van 
 Winkle ' is only one of the millions of things the 
 truthful, beautiful, beneficent unfolding of which 
 the stage has shown us. Is it any wonder I love 
 and reverence it ? But don't forget I had the 
 advantages of time and affection for the work, and 
 anything may be accomplished with love and 
 time. Why, God bless my soul ! it is nearly 
 fifty years since I first produced the play in 
 Washington ! and even before that, when Burke 
 played it, I acted the role of the inn-keeper." 
 
 I remarked that his predecessors had had love 
 265 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 and, many of them, no doubt, plenty of time, but 
 that they had not made the play take hold of the 
 mind and heart of the people as he had done, or 
 the fact would have come down to us. 
 
 " Burke did," he replied quickly ; " his was a 
 fine, strong performance." I thought that very 
 loyal of him ; but much the best of the play, I 
 advanced, the weird, unspeaking gnomes, the 
 recognition scene between Rip and Meenie - 
 had all been added since Burke's time and by 
 Jefferson. 
 
 "And Boucicault," he added. " Don't forget 
 Boucicault. The children at the end of the first 
 act [as it was then, but it has since been made into 
 two acts] and the Rip and Meenie scene are 
 his, and mighty fine they are." 
 
 "As developed and played by Jefferson," I 
 ventured. 
 
 " Yes, I must be frank," he answered. " I added 
 to it, enlarged upon it," he acknowledged mod- 
 estly. " I am no fool about such things. Ideas 
 come, and I seize and apply them, but that idea 
 and that outline were Boucicault's." 
 
 "And keeping the spirit crew of Hendrick 
 Hudson silent and giving them an act to them- 
 
 266 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 selves, in which Rip so cleverly supplies them 
 with words, that was not Boucicault, was it ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 " No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he said sweetly ; 
 " that was Jefferson, and he is very, very proud 
 of it." 
 
 " Did you regard Boucicault as a great actor ? " 
 I asked him. 
 
 "No," he rejoined; "he lacked assurance, which 
 is a necessary ingredient. No actor can be a great 
 actor without confidence." He told me'that Bou- 
 cicault had made vast sums of money with plays, 
 adaptations, and acting, and that, on the word of 
 Henry C. Jarrett, Boucicault's income from these 
 sources and from stock investments had for a 
 brief time reached the significant sum of fifteen 
 thousand dollars a day. Boucicault, he asserted, 
 was as much at home in Wall as in Lombard 
 Street, and equally at his ease on the Bourse as 
 in either of the other places. 
 
 " When he had finished writing the recognition 
 scene between Rip and Meenie," Jefferson said, 
 " he read it to me, and, pausing, asked me if I 
 liked it. I assured him of my delight. 
 
 " c Do you recognize it ? ' he said. 
 267 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " c Why, no what do you mean ? * I asked. 
 
 < Why, it is the Lear and Cordelia scene re- 
 versed. In "King Lear" it is Cordelia who longs 
 for recognition ; here it is Rip the man 
 who seeks to be known/ and sure enough it was 
 true. He had made a very skilful rearrangement 
 of a familiar scene. 
 
 " Boucicault had a great memory and a marvel- 
 lous faculty for adaptation, but he would dabble 
 in stocks, where, it seems to me, every fellow is 
 scrambling for the other fellow's money. My 
 profession does not teach me that. I never 
 invest my money in anything I cannot see." 
 
 " I don't fully understand what you implied 
 by Boucicault having a good memory," I re- 
 marked. 
 
 " He remembered that I had had some success 
 in playing Yankee roles," answered Jefferson. 
 (< He remembered also that a certain actor made 
 a most effective Indian, and when he, Boucicault, 
 adapted Mayne Reid's novel of c The Quadroon ' 
 under the title of c The Octoroon/ he worked 
 these two characters into the piece and engaged 
 the other actor and me to play them. c The 
 
 Octoroon* was a great success and ran for a long 
 
 268 
 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 time. Boucicault's income from that alone must 
 have been large." He added that Boucicault's 
 performance of the Indian Wahnatee, in " The 
 Octoroon " was the best thing he ever did. 
 
 During an interval of the play one night, speak- 
 ing of the continuous performances at the vaude- 
 ville theatre, he said : " Shakespeare is for all 
 time, but c Tony ' Pastor and his fellow man- 
 agers are for all day/' 
 
 It was sought to tell him a card story, and 
 thought necessary to explain the game of draw 
 poker before beginning. 
 
 " Oh, I know the game," remarked Jefferson. 
 " It is where c twos ' beat c threes ' ! " 
 
 Speaking of the difficulty of making love 
 scenes natural on the stage, he said : 
 
 " The most beautiful and at the same time the 
 most natural love scene in the whole range of the 
 drama is the balcony scene in c Romeo and Juliet/ 
 Mark the cleverness of Shakespeare ! He knows 
 that men in love are fools, and so he makes 
 Romeo wish himself a glove upon Juliet's fair 
 hand that he might touch her cheek ; and when 
 Romeo shall die, Juliet wants him cut in little 
 stars to make the face of heaven so fine that all 
 
 269 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 the world shall be in love with night ! What a 
 useless thing a man in love is ! " 
 
 In the manuscript I sent him he added to the 
 above : " Don't suppose I decry love I 'm in 
 love myself." 
 
 He said that Boucicault had preferred Mary 
 Anderson to Julia Dean as Juliet, but that he 
 should decide in the latter's favor, a decision 
 which he declared was prejudiced, for Julia Dean 
 had been his first sweetheart. 
 
 I had a copy of " Cymbeline " bearing evidence 
 of once having been owned by Julia Dean. I 
 sent it to him with a letter. It came back to me 
 with the following, written on the interleaves of 
 the little book : 
 
 MY DEAR FRANCIS WILSON, Yes, this little 
 book must once have belonged to dear Julia 
 Dean, and, as you say, does awaken memories of 
 the olden time. This sweet girl and I fought our 
 early professional battles side by side. We were 
 in the ballet, front row, together. Happy 
 peasants and gypsies alternately Catholics and 
 Protestants, Whigs and Tories ready to change 
 
 our religion or political opinion for six dollars a 
 
 170 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 week. We led the choruses, too ; where we led 
 them God only knows, for the leader never did. 
 May we meet in another world where there are 
 
 no matinees and but few managers ! 
 
 J. JEFFERSON. 
 
 Jefferson ' expressed himself as glad and sorry 
 that our tour was so near its end, glad to be able 
 to begin his vacation, and sorry to end an asso- 
 ciation which had been such an unusual one and 
 so delightful socially and artistically. Speaking 
 of the cast, he said : " It is a very difficult thing 
 for an actor who has for years dominated a scene 
 to become as it were a piece of mosaic in a pic- 
 ture. All have done this most decidedly, and 
 it is much to everybody's credit, more to the 
 others' than mine, for I am simply doing over 
 in Acres what I have done before." 
 
 The subject of modern improvements coming 
 under discussion, Jefferson questioned whether 
 they were a benefit to mankind or not. That 
 the telephone and telegraph facilitated the trans- 
 action of business, he of course admitted. 
 
 "They have made competition so keen and 
 have so completely tied the man of business down 
 to his desk that he cannot leave it for much- 
 
 271 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 needed recreation. Why, I know men," he de- 
 clared, "who used to sit on my knee as boys, 
 who are now bald-headed, sick old men. c Why 
 don't you get your rod and gun ? ' I say to them. 
 ( Oh, I can't leave my business ! ' they cry. Of 
 course they can't the telephone and the tele- 
 graph would talk in their absence to their com- 
 petitors and the butter trade would be busted ! " 
 
 Speaking of libraries, he said : 
 
 " People sometimes wonder that I have no 
 great collection of books in fact, that I do not 
 read more. The answer is that I am a very busy 
 man, that I am not a consumer but a producer. 
 I cannot live in the city, because I should be too 
 often distracted from my work, if I could, I 
 should select Philadelphia, but I must be in 
 the country, where I can be alone to work as I 
 please, out in the open air with my palette and 
 my brushes. There I am a happy man." 
 
 I often found Mr. Jefferson in his stateroom 
 painting away for dear life on a piece of tin or 
 zinc about a foot and a half square, which, as has 
 been explained, was a part of his " monotyping " 
 outfit. The ministerial washwringer stood at his 
 side ready to perform its impressive part in the 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 union of tin and paper, the offspring of which 
 would be an infant prodigy of pictorial art. I 
 wondered that he could paint while the train was 
 in motion, but he declared the "jiggling" rather 
 helped the " leafy quality " of the picture. 
 
 Jefferson gave Crane and me a treat one day 
 by reading us Irwin Russell's poems, a collection 
 of negro dialect verses which Jefferson said would 
 one day rank high. The line 
 
 "If we are sinning we need the more your prayers," 
 
 he called Shakespearean. 
 
 We became so interested in the reading that we 
 did not at first notice the additional audience at my 
 stateroom door. There, in absorbed attention, 
 stood three of Jefferson's sons listening to their 
 father and enjoying his appreciative comments 
 on the poem. 
 
 My journal for May 29th says : 
 
 The tour has ended. We have shaken hands 
 all around ; inscribed final names on final pro- 
 grams and photographs ; told each other how 
 much we have enjoyed the social and professional 
 participation, how much we hope for another such 
 coalition, a hope, likely, never to be realized. 
 
 273 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Suggested, perhaps, by the presentation to Jeffer- 
 son of a cane once belonging to William Far- 
 ren, the great Sir Peter Teazle, " The School for 
 Scandal " is talked of for another Ail-Star Tour 
 next year or the year following, with Jefferson 
 as Sir Peter. The performances to-day and to- 
 night were as firm as any hitherto given on the 
 trip, with an added sparkle which was due to 
 the desire of all concerned to leave the best 
 possible impression. The waywardness and win- 
 someness of Lydia were strikingly apparent. The 
 piquancy and alertness of Lucy were never more 
 marked, while Mrs. Malaprop outdid herself in 
 the comic austerity with which she bade her niece 
 " illiterate this fellow quite from your memory." 
 
 Sir Anthony, with increased impressiveness, 
 stormed and relented, bridled and chuckled with 
 his dog of a son, Jack Absolute, who, handsome 
 and demurely obedient, stood the personification 
 of the ideal lover. What earnestness and con- 
 viction the two put into the lines : 
 
 "ABSOLUTE. Indeed, sir, I never was cooler 
 in my life. 
 
 "SiR ANTHONY. 'T is a confounded lie! I 
 know you are in a passion in your heart ; I know 
 
 274 
 
THE A L L-S TAR RIVALS " 
 
 you are, you hypocritical young dog ! But it 
 won't do." 
 
 And as Absolute started with some show of 
 anger to protest, how skilfully absurd appeared 
 the smothered rage of Sir Anthony as he said, 
 "Can't you be cool like me ? " With what droll 
 knowingness the two looked at each other when 
 Mrs. Malaprop expressed her sorrow that her 
 " affluence " over Lydia was so small. Sir Lucius, 
 with his jaunty air and brogue, seemed to be in 
 finer fettle than before as he bubbled out the 
 well-known lines which Jefferson was fond of 
 quoting, " It 's a very pretty quarrel as it stands." 
 There seemed also to be an unusual amount of 
 glibness and professional suavity in Fag, as he 
 declared to the inquiries of Absolute that he had 
 forgot the precise lie he had told Sir Anthony, 
 but that it might be depended upon that Sir 
 Anthony heard no truth from Fag. Jefferson 
 himself, as he has done all through the trip, 
 set the pace. He was swift, alert, exact. Such 
 an air of breezy fussiness as he brought with 
 him, as, with caped coat, whip, and conical hat, 
 he swept into Absolute's apartment and saluted 
 with " Ha, my dear friend, noble captain and 
 
 275 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 honest Jack, how do'st thou ? " He was, indeed, 
 the "eccentric planet" Absolute described him. 
 With what seeming unconscious cleverness he 
 baited the lovelorn Falkland, who fumed, fretted, 
 and raved in a manner that would have delighted 
 the sentimentalists of Sheridan's day ! Just the 
 very touch that seemed necessary to drive the 
 jealous lover to the verge of despair, Jefferson 
 blunderingly hit off with extraordinary accuracy. 
 How self-satisfied Acres seemed, how positively 
 joyous he was at the thought of his improve- 
 ment in urban ways when he lifted his hat and 
 exposed his hair done up in curl papers ! The 
 very knots of his hair, which he said he had 
 been so long in training, seemed to partake of 
 the comic determination of their owner, while 
 the explanation of his genteel method of swear- 
 ing was given with unusual bucolic confidence 
 of social progress. How drolly condescending 
 he appeared in his admission to the admiring 
 David that dress did make a difference ! How 
 eagerly, by facial expression only, he invited the 
 compliments of his clod of a servant, and with 
 what self-complacence he surveyed himself in 
 the mirror ! It seemed to me nothing could 
 
 276 
 
THE ALL-STAR "RIVALS" 
 
 be more ludicrous than his earnest manner of 
 insisting upon being in a rage when, in the scene 
 with Sir Lucius O 'Trigger, he feels a kind of 
 valor rising within him ; and with what refine- 
 ment and delicacy he did it all ! Such was the 
 mixture of comic cowardice in his determination 
 not to be afraid, as he listened to the whining 
 discouragements of David, that I felt like burst- 
 ing out laughing in his face. In all the realm 
 of comic situation, there is probably nothing 
 funnier than that of trying to persuade a coward 
 to fight a duel. Shakespeare gives us a taste 
 of it in " Twelfth Night," and the device has 
 been employed with unfailing success by dram- 
 atists of all times. Sheridan has used it with 
 telling effect in " The Rivals," and Jefferson de- 
 veloped and improved the opportunity to the 
 utmost. If ever a mock hero was perfectly 
 simulated, it was done by Jefferson in Acres. 
 The very barrel of the duelling pistol which he 
 carried on his arm seemed, like the owner, to 
 lose much of its dignity, and to be fearful lest 
 it might be obliged to fight. Besides many 
 others, Jefferson was master of two important 
 requirements of the stage, that of entering 
 
 277 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 and exiting, and his first appearance with Sir 
 Lucius in the last act of " The Rivals " was inde- 
 scribably droll. There was positively no mis- 
 taking the fact that Acres was scared through 
 and through. His insistence that there was no 
 merit in killing a man at a distance of less than 
 forty yards was especially effective to-night, pro- 
 voking the audience to hearty laughter. The 
 business-like bearing of Sir Lucius served only 
 to emphasize the cowardice of the tremulous 
 Acres. It seemed to me to be beyond the 
 power of a dramatist to conceive or if to con- 
 ceive, to describe the wealth of illustrative ac- 
 tion which Jefferson lavished effortlessly on the 
 episode of the duel in " The Rivals." It would 
 have necessitated a book at least double the size 
 of the play itself, merely to set forth the attitudes, 
 the play of countenance, the felicitous emphasis, 
 and inventive skill which Jefferson brought to 
 bear on the whole play, but especially upon this 
 particular scene. Few who have seen will ever 
 forget the hopelessly absurd expression and ap- 
 pearance of his Acres at the moment when Sir 
 Lucius, who has paced off the duelling distance, 
 turns to find Bob at his heels, instead of, as was 
 
 278 
 
THE A L L-S TAR "RIVALS" 
 
 expected, at the other end of the firing line, or 
 when Bob leans weakly against Sir Lucius, and in 
 reply to that gallant's question declares he does n't 
 know what is the matter with him, all of which 
 was Jefferson and no part of Sheridan. Jefferson 
 brushed the mildew of tradition from Acres, and 
 brought to the part a sympathy and delicacy it 
 never possessed nor yet was thought to possess. 
 He lent it all the charm of his personality, and 
 he will be regarded as the true exponent of the 
 character here in America, I believe, far beyond 
 the time which bounds the memory of those who 
 saw his impersonation. 
 
 Theatrical history sometimes repeats itself. 
 When Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Jefferson's 
 great-grandfather, was leaving Garrick's company, 
 the English Roscius tossed him his Abel Drug- 
 ger wig, saying, " Take that, my friend, and may 
 it bring you as much good as it has brought me." 
 To-night, after the curtain had fallen and The 
 All-Star "Rivals" Tour had ended, Jefferson 
 gave Goodwin his Acres wig, saying, " Take it, 
 Nat, and may it bring you success when you 
 play my old friend Bob." 
 
 279 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 T was Jefferson's custom to begin his seasons 
 early in the fall, and play until the weather 
 became threateningly cold, in the latter part 
 of November or the first part of December. He 
 then abandoned his tour and sought the balmier 
 clime of Louisiana or Florida, where he would 
 fish and paint until early spring, when he would 
 resume acting until summer weather gave indi- 
 cations of advancing. He played only about 
 eighteen or twenty weeks each year. To this 
 avoidance of the rigors of a Northern winter he 
 attributed his steady health and the prolonga- 
 tion of his life. He had a plantation on Orange 
 Island, in New Iberia, Louisiana, among the 
 Acadian settlements, and a home, " The Reefe," 
 at Palm Beach, Florida. His summers he spent 
 at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Here, over- 
 looking Buttermilk Bay, he built a beautiful 
 
 280 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 house which he called " Crow's Nest," and here 
 were his collection of valuable paintings, his chief 
 studio, his books, and all those things that endear 
 one to the place called Home. 
 
 April i, 1891, "Crow's Nest" was burned 
 down, and with it were destroyed many treasures 
 of art and many things of a personal nature dear 
 to their owner. Fortunately he had lent some 
 of his best paintings to an exhibition. Some time 
 after the fire, I found, on reaching Milwaukee 
 (April 17, 1893), that Jefferson was also to play 
 there. Acquainted with his habits, I went at once 
 to the theatre. It was barely seven o'clock in 
 the evening, the stage was set for the first act of 
 " Rip Van Winkle," and I found, as I expected, 
 Jefferson mousing about the stage, which was 
 dark and dismal enough. I took a seat while 
 he told me of the burning of his home. And 
 the quiet way in which he laughed at the thought 
 of the "natives" tugging away at heavy furniture, 
 while Corots, Diazes, Troyons, Daubignys, and 
 Mauves were threatened with destruction, spoke 
 volumes for his philosophy that could thus per- 
 mit him to smile in the face of such a loss. Per- 
 haps the most remarkable thing about it, though, 
 
 281 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 was the keen sense of the ridiculous shown. It 
 was altogether charming. 
 
 " I am glad we were away when it burned 
 down, because curiosity would have taken some of 
 us to the cellar where the explosion occurred, and, 
 like our poor cook, whom we had in our family 
 for years, we should probably have perished." 
 
 " Did I understand you were insured ? " 
 
 "Yes, for $67,000; but the paintings of my 
 father and mother are gone, and all the thou- 
 sand things I 've collected for years, all of 
 which were part of my history, any one of 
 which would excite pleasant recollections, all lost 
 to me forever." 
 
 " When I got your letter of sympathy," he 
 remarked, <c I said : Of all men, Wilson has lost 
 most by this conflagration in the way of auto- 
 graph letters, programs, and what not which I in- 
 tended to send him. When it was seen that the 
 LOUSC must go," he continued, " my Cape Cod 
 neighbors bethought them of saving the house- 
 hold goods and rushed for the piano, a rattle- 
 trap thing I had long thought of replacing. 
 They made for that because it was big and had 
 
 shiny legs, I suppose, and pulled it out on the 
 
 282 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 grass. Much less exertion would have saved 
 thousands of dollars worth of beautiful paintings. 
 Nevertheless, I appreciate their intention, and am 
 grateful for their efforts.'* 
 
 The barber came to shave him, a difficult 
 task, for Jefferson would talk and bob his head 
 about. Curiously enough, the hair on his temples 
 was shaved for the convenience of his wigs, but 
 this, owing to the way Jefferson wore his hair, 
 would not be noticed in private life except by the 
 keen observer. We talked until "overture call " 
 obliged me to beat a precipitate retreat. 
 
 The next year after its destruction, " Crow's 
 Nest " was rebuilt, and into its rebuilding went a 
 great deal of the Jefferson personality. The large, 
 uneven boulder stones of which the first story is 
 constructed, were refined, its owner thought, by 
 the contrast of the heavy plate-glass windows. 
 The second story of dark red brick, with frequent 
 regularly placed bricks with black-glazed ends and 
 the red-tiled roof, give the color which Jefferson's 
 eye always craved. The chimneys are of over- 
 burnt pieces of tile topped with a border of tall, 
 inverted, brownish-yellow, earthen seltzer bottles. 
 
 Instead of being either obtrusive or startling in 
 
 283 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 appearance, as this description might imply, the 
 chimneys are modest-looking and picturesque. 
 The verandas are broad and gracefully curved, 
 and the place given over wholly to generous 
 hospitality. 
 
 There Jefferson was as successful in playing 
 the part of country gentleman as in any part in 
 his professional life. His love of disputation 
 finally deprived him of the carver's privileges, 
 because family and guests were too frequently 
 obliged to submit to tantalizingly " long waits," 
 while with poised blade and fork he spun his 
 round, unvarnished tale. 
 
 He was greatly admired and respected by his 
 neighbors and worshipped by those in his employ. 
 He did not expect to find in his farm employees 
 all the cardinal virtues for twenty or thirty dollars 
 a month. He possessed the rare quality of not 
 seeing too much. Once, though, when he found 
 some notice must be taken of a dereliction, he 
 assumed an injured tone and said with much 
 dignity : 
 
 " Why, Jones, you are drunk ! " 
 
 " Oh, awful drunk ! " was the laborer's reply, 
 the frank and comic admission of which made 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 Jefferson, from suppressed laughter, incapable of 
 further rebuke. 
 
 Industry and faithfulness were qualities in his 
 farm help which Jefferson greatly admired. One 
 of these, a good worker but with no skill as a 
 gardener, desiring to come to New York, asked 
 for a recommendation. Jefferson was puzzled, 
 but finally wrote an open letter which complied 
 with the gardener's request, and yet protected not 
 only himself but any future employer. The 
 letter read : 
 
 To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The bearer 
 [naming him] has been employed on or about 
 my place at Buzzards Bay for several years. He 
 is a good man for anybody who wants just such 
 
 a man. 
 
 J. JEFFERSON. 
 
 It was to Crow's Nest I usually wrote Jeffer- 
 son, and from that place I received most letters 
 from him. About the time of the rebuilding of 
 the house I sent him for his signature a water- 
 color drawing of himself as Bob Acres, by Charles 
 A. Abbe. I give two letters from Jefferson con- 
 cerning it : 
 
 285 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 BUZZARDS BAY, MASS., Aug. 25, 1892. 
 MY DEAR FRANCIS WILSON, I do protest, 
 good master, that thy watertype hath not ap- 
 peared. I did even this very day (of all days in 
 the year) dispatch my trusty serving-man, one 
 John by name, a good man i' faith, too, and one 
 of many parts I say again, I did forthwith dis- 
 patch him to our master of the post who in turn 
 declareth on his nativity, look you, that neither 
 water- nor land-type hath passed his portal since 
 good Ben Harrison did appoint him to his trust. 
 Beshrew me if I would treat thee and thy good 
 work, both of which I hold in high esteem, after 
 such a scurvy fashion ; nay, more, I am honored 
 in thy request, for thy care will hand me down to 
 fame and goodly character so straightway send 
 me another portraiture and I will forthwith affix 
 my poor name thereunto. 
 
 Thine in good service, 
 
 J. JEFFERSON. 
 
 BUZZARDS BAY, MASS., Aug. 26, 1892. 
 MY DEAR SIR FRANCIS, Verily thy water- 
 type hath turned up. 
 
 There hath been a great coil and much ado 
 
 286 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 amongst my vassals, one of whom, after due 
 Christian torture, hath confessed that he, being 
 much enamoured of the face (as it was a sweet 
 reminder of mine own), did hide it in the Hen 
 House, where it did lay so long that it be a won- 
 der it did not either spoil or hatch. The varlet, 
 in compensation for this scurvy act, hath by my 
 decree been branded with the letters W. T. and 
 turned loose upon the King's Highway, bearing 
 an inscription about his throttle warning all true 
 men to give him neither scrip, bread, nor housing 
 under penalty of the Stocks. 
 
 I have signed and sealed the W. T. and dis- 
 patched it to thee to-day. 
 
 God speed thee on thy voyage, and return 
 thee in good time to make thy long and thy 
 
 short jumps. 
 
 Thine ever, 
 
 J. JEFFERSON, 
 
 M. A. & A. S. S. 
 
 I saw Jefferson for the last time in " Rip Van 
 Winkle," October 18, 1892, when he was play- 
 ing an engagement at the Star Theatre, Broadway 
 and Thirteenth Street, New York. The line of 
 ticket-buyers was so long that I decided to appeal 
 
 287 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 personally to the manager. I passed the gate and 
 found Theodore Moss and Jefferson in the room 
 adjoining the box-office. After the usual courte- 
 sies as to health and business, on my mentioning 
 California, he spoke of the delight of his recent 
 experience there, and said that he was going again 
 next season, and that he had, in fact, made ar- 
 rangements to do so, and those arrangements 
 included a week's idleness to be devoted to re- 
 visiting the Yosemite Valley. I thought then 
 that this foreboded no early retirement from active 
 duty of the man who was by general acclaim 
 the head and front of the dramatic world and 
 who stood so high in the affections of the public 
 and his profession. I was recommending him to 
 leave his climbing of the Glacier Point Trail until 
 the last day of his visit to the valley (a trail built 
 since Jefferson's visit twenty years before), as, 
 having done it recently, I believed that it was an 
 inspiring vantage-point from which to say fare- 
 well to the many glories of the Yosemite. He 
 interrupted me with : 
 
 " Oh dear, I could n't do any climbing ! I 
 tried it once and nearly disgraced myself. My 
 wife was in front and, as were all of us, on horse- 
 
 288 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 or mule-back. My mule seemed to be meditat- 
 ing a jump over the precipice at every step. As 
 he leaned farther and farther out, I grew more 
 unhappy and my head more uncertain. I didn't 
 like to be the first to cry c halt/ and you can imag- 
 ine what a relief it was to me when I heard my wife 
 say, c I can't ride any longer, I must get down/ 
 Slipping from my mule's back, I fairly screamed, 
 with an impressiveness the remembrance of which 
 makes me laugh even now, * Gentlemen, this lady 
 can go no farther.' ' 
 
 Among the many happy hours spent with Jef- 
 ferson in viewing pictures, I recall one which I 
 find set down under date of January 13, 1897. 
 We were in Boston : 
 
 Jefferson sent me a special delivery letter to- 
 day, asking me to meet him at the studio of a 
 common friend, and after, lunch with him at 
 Young's. He and his son Charles were there 
 when I arrived. The greeting was most cordial, 
 and together we looked over the Troyons, Diazes, 
 Mauves, and new pictures which are always on 
 hand. Mr. Jefferson seemed very well ; was active 
 and eloquent as usual. 1 think I have never 
 
 seen him to better advantage these seven years. 
 
 289 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 How it makes one wonder, and how one hopes 
 that one's threescore years and ten for Jefferson 
 will have reached that period in February may 
 be enjoyed in such excellent bodily health and 
 mental alertness as he unquestionably possesses ! 
 He was remarkably interesting to-day. The sub- 
 jects ranged from Shakespeare to " Tom " Rob- 
 ertson, from Botticelli to Corot, from John Hare 
 to Locke Richardson, and the aptly applied stories 
 and quotations came without a pause and with all 
 the old full measure of humor and appreciation. 
 What a benevolently apologetic glance he cast 
 toward his son as he was about to narrate an 
 anecdote or experience to point a moral or adorn 
 a tale, saying, " My children have to share all my 
 old stories ! " and then added laughingly, " Once 
 in a while, though, I tell a new one, and it always 
 makes a big hit with them! " He is an appre- 
 ciative listener, too. When the point comes, his 
 lovely face wrinkles to its utmost capacity, which 
 is saying much of one of such mobility of features, 
 the eyes shut, his head goes back, his mouth 
 opens, slightly displaying the plate which holds 
 the upper teeth, while his laugh is more a joy- 
 fully prolonged high-keyed cry than, as usual, a 
 
 290 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 series of short gasps. Suddenly his head will re- 
 sume its normal position, the lips will purse up, 
 and his eyes will take on a tender gleam, and he 
 will say, " Is n't that fine ? " and forward will go 
 his head on his chest in silent re-enjoyment of 
 what has been said. He was more reserved and 
 thoughtful at the studio. 
 
 He was at his mental and anecdotal best, though, 
 at luncheon. The example of Troyon he thought 
 most admirable. The big one which he had seen in 
 New York did not compare, he said, with the one 
 before us, which was in a comparatively sketchy 
 state. Here was the picture, he went on, as 
 the great master had laid it in with his first swift 
 touches. How well he must have known the 
 bovine anatomy to suggest it perfectly with the 
 initial passes of his brush ! For the connoisseur 
 every touch that Troyon might have added would 
 have taken away from the merit of the painting. 
 The picture in New York was evidently one that 
 Troyon had intended to be a masterpiece. He 
 had painted in his background, and it was perfect 
 in every detail. He had painted in his cattle, and 
 they were perfect in every detail. But when it 
 
 was all done there was something wrong ; the 
 
 291 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 cattle did not contrast well with the background, 
 and the background made no foil for the cattle, 
 and though the painting brought a large price, 
 Jefferson would not exchange it for the sketch 
 before us, which would command a comparatively 
 small sum. Talking of some other painters, he 
 said, they stage-managed very well, but that 
 Troyon did much the best acting. This Troyon? 
 he said, was not a commercial picture ; it was done 
 by an artist for the true artistic appreciation. 
 
 " Just look at it closely, Charley," said he to 
 his son ; cc see the broad, impressionistic sweeps 
 of the brush. Oh, the whole thing must have 
 been done in an hour, but think of the years it 
 took him to be able to do it in that time " ; and 
 then, the picture resting on the floor, he squats 
 down on the balls of his feet in the most agile 
 way, and with his thumb imitates the motion he 
 supposes Troyon made in the production of this 
 artistic group of cattle. 
 
 " And you see there are so few points of light ! " 
 he continued. " How the man could resist put- 
 ting some white here and here and here," em- 
 phasizing each adverb of place with a suggestive 
 
 and characteristic motion of the hand, " I can't 
 
 292 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 imagine. Of course I should have added the 
 light effects, and equally, of course, I should 
 have spoiled the whole thing. No," he repeated, 
 " every stroke Troyon added to this sketch would 
 have made it finishedly imperfect. Did you hear 
 what I said to Remington when he declared 
 that Troyon could n't draw ? " 
 
 " No, sir, but I should like to." 
 
 " c Can't draw, hey ? Well, if that 's the case, 
 I, for one, am very glad he cannot ! ' 
 
 I said that reminded me of Dr. Horace Howard 
 Furness's reply to a young man who asked if he 
 did not think it possible that Shakespeare had 
 often builded better than he knew, and if it were 
 not true that there were many things written by 
 Shakespeare the philosophy of which the great 
 dramatist himself could scarcely have dreamed. 
 
 " They are there, are they not, in Shake- 
 speare ? " said Dr. Furness. 
 
 " Yes," answered the inquiring youth. 
 
 " You see them, don't you ? " 
 
 " Yes," was the reply. 
 
 " Well, I should be loath to feel," Dr. Furness 
 said, " that I saw anything in Shakespeare's 
 works of which he himself was ignorant." 
 
 293 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 This seemed to be agreed upon as conclusive 
 except by Mr. Jefferson, whose face for a moment 
 wore an expression of doubt ; then he launched 
 out with : 
 
 " I should be inclined to agree with the young 
 man as against Dr. Furness. Unquestionably 
 Shakespeare, like all great poets, writers, thinkers, 
 artists, builded better than he knew. What 
 could he have known of the circulation of the 
 blood ? Yet he approaches wonderfully close to 
 a description of it when in c Hamlet ' he makes 
 the Ghost tell of the ' leprous distilment,' which 
 being poured into the ear 
 
 ' Holds such an enmity with blood of man 
 That swift as quicksilver it courses through 
 The natural gates and alleys of the body,' 
 
 which," Jefferson earnestly declared, "goes to 
 prove that he builded better than he knew. 
 
 " Take Corot for another instance. * What a 
 fine light that is coming through those trees!' said 
 an admiring connoisseur to Corot of a painting 
 the master was showing him. f Beautiful ! ' was 
 the reply, c I never noticed it before ! ' Never 
 observed before a fine light in his own painting ! 
 
 The man had builded better than he knew. 
 
 294 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 "See a little child rolling on the floor. It 
 can't be more graceful if it try. Perhaps not 
 even a Michael Angelo could depict on canvas 
 the unconscious grace of that childish action. 
 The child is building better than it knows. 
 That is what I always maintain. The best things 
 are not thought out ; they simply happen, on the 
 inspiration of the moment. These happenings 
 are flashes of genius. The power to catch a 
 photograph of these flashes and reproduce them 
 at will, as on the stage, is talent." 
 
 One of the party said that he had there out- 
 lined the distinction between genius and talent, to 
 which he agreed. 
 
 " Yes," he said, again making a professional 
 application of the whole thing, " and here 's the 
 distinction between the artist and the actor. The 
 artist is continually painting new pictures, but the 
 actor must not only paint over and over again 
 night after night the same emotions, but paint 
 them as if he had never felt them before." 
 
 I was somewhat surprised to learn that Jeffer- 
 son had offered for sale one of his Mauves a 
 cow grazing near the edge of a thicket a splen- 
 did example of the artist's work, the composition, 
 
 295 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 coloring, and quality of which are very fine. I 
 began to wonder if it were not in the purchase of 
 paintings, as it is sometimes in the purchase of 
 books, that the mere bargaining for them and 
 their acquisition are, after all, the most attractive 
 features in the transaction. Later, however, it 
 was explained that Jefferson had thirteen Mauves, 
 and that a promise given to Mrs. Jefferson not 
 to buy any more pictures this season was being 
 rigidly adhered to, but that nothing had been said 
 about an exchange of paintings! Sure enough, only 
 a few days later, three of Mr. Rip Van Jefferson's 
 new acquirements arrived at a Boston studio, as 
 the result of some sort of an exchange the par- 
 ticulars of which were not mentioned. It will be 
 interesting to know what Mrs. Jefferson will have 
 to say to this. Not unlikely it will end in hearty 
 laughter on renewed promises from Rip not to 
 drink another drop, or, rather, not to purchase 
 another painting this season ! 
 
 Among those who joined us at luncheon was 
 Mr. Charles Rolfe, whom Jefferson introduced as 
 his grandson-in-law. The novelty of this rela- 
 tionship highly amused the great comedian. All 
 
 being in readiness, Jefferson took his place at the 
 
 296 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 head of the table and proceeded to haggle the 
 duck. He appeared to do everything with it 
 except hold it down with his knee. Nobody 
 seemed disposed to mend matters for him by tell- 
 ing a story, and thus directing the attention away 
 from the mangling. On the contrary, everybody 
 gave him the most rigid attention, for no one 
 knew at what instant it might be necessary to re- 
 turn the duck. It was a shock to have one's 
 idol thus shattered, but the conviction was pain- 
 fully forced upon us that, however artistically 
 Jefferson might act, it was evident that as a carver 
 he had clay feet ! His Caleb Plummer might 
 provoke tears, but his carving could excite nothing 
 but laughter. He was reminded of Bill Nye's 
 declaration that in amateur carving the gravy 
 seldom matched the wall-paper, which merely 
 prolonged the agony of service while the laughter 
 lasted. 
 
 I was telling him how I came into possession 
 of a Rembrandt Peale painting which was among 
 a collection made by Peale for the Baltimore 
 Museum, and that to obtain this particular pic- 
 ture the late John E. Owens had bought the 
 whole gallery of paintings. The connoisseur 
 
 297 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Walters had, as Mrs. Owens declared, vainly im- 
 portuned her husband for its purchase. I ended 
 by saying that Mrs. Owens, to prevent its falling 
 into the hands of mere hawkers of canvases, had 
 sold it to me. 
 
 " Oh yes," says Jefferson, " I once owned that 
 Rembrandt Peale along with a lot of other paint- 
 ings and waxworks ! " and then he gave us a 
 humorous account of two fellow players named 
 Ehrig and Stein and himself who ran the Balti- 
 more Museum on shares, and that business was 
 so poor that even the wax figures seemed to hold 
 up their hands in protest at being put upon two- 
 thirds salaries. 
 
 On the way over to luncheon at Young's hotel 
 he gave me a full description of " Founder's 
 Night " ceremonies at The Players, where Judge 
 Olin's eloquent speech had given such good op- 
 portunities for responding. He said that after 
 his own little effort he had those present ask him 
 questions, a practice which he always greatly 
 enjoyed, because it afforded him chances for spon- 
 taneous replies. I asked him if he did not always 
 meet with about. the same inquiries. 
 
 "Yes," he replied, " about the same, but dif- 
 798 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 ferently garbed, which are : What is the difference 
 between acting and oratory ? Would you recom- 
 mend the stage as a profession for young women ? 
 Does not the frequent representation of a character 
 upon the stage result injuriously to the actor and 
 the representation ? What distinction and dif- 
 ference do you draw from the art of the actor and 
 that of the painter? But those at The Players' 
 gathering had come up in a new form : 
 
 " Should the actor dominate the character or 
 the character the actor ? " 
 
 " What reply did you make to that ? " I asked. 
 
 " I told them that it greatly depended upon 
 the man and upon the character, that the effect 
 desired to be reached was the main consideration, 
 and that, speaking for myself, if I could get it by 
 dominating the character, then I should certainly 
 dominate the character, but if I could only reach 
 it by subordinating myself to the character, then 
 I should surely subordinate myself, for the effect 
 I certainly would have." 
 
 We fell to discussing Locke Richardson's pub- 
 lished belief that Dame Quickly's " A' babbled of 
 green fields," with respect to Falstaff's demise, 
 
 meant that the old sinner, who had lost his voice 
 
 299 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 in the singing of psalms, and was, in the hour 
 of his dissolution, upon a bed of repentance, had 
 had the Twenty-third Psalm in his mind's eye : 
 
 " He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." 
 
 I was telling Mr. Jefferson how delighted Dr. 
 Furness had been with Richardson's solution of 
 the question, and of his writing Richardson that 
 had he (Dr. Furness) fallen upon such an ex- 
 planation he would have been as proud as forty 
 peacocks ; but that, apropos of the Richardson 
 solution, Dr. Furnivall had written Dr. Furness 
 that he thought the fields of which Falstaff 
 babbled were meant by Shakespeare to be fields 
 represented in a shield. 
 
 "I do not believe," said Jefferson, "that 
 Shakespeare meant more than to indicate that 
 Falstaff 's mind had been diverted by the serious- 
 ness of the situation, by his age, from warlike 
 thoughts to the calm consideration of pastoral 
 scenes, the beauties of nature, as of sky and trees 
 and green grass, and that he made a peaceful end 
 of it." 
 
 He marvelled at Shakespeare's knowledge of 
 unusual things and of his skill in giving them 
 
 300 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 matchless expression. He told, in exemplifica- 
 tion of this, of his own hostler's once calling him 
 out to the stables to see the " elf-locks " the 
 fairies had platted in the horse's mane. He ac- 
 cused the hostler of having twisted the hair into 
 regular plats as a hcax, but this was denied with 
 credible earnestness. As he viewed these " elf- 
 locks/' Jefferson was reminded of the lines in 
 " Romeo and Juliet" in which Mercutio says : 
 
 " This is that very Mab 
 That plats the manes of horses in the night, 
 
 Which once untangled much misfortune bodes." 
 
 Of Paganini, of Ole Bull, notwithstanding 
 they say the latter was no musician, of Corot and 
 Mauve, whom some accuse of not being academi- 
 cal draughtsmen, he said that they were men who 
 long ago learned the grammar of their art, made 
 new rules of their own, and played and painted 
 themselves into the affectionate remembrance of 
 all posterity, that, in other words, they were 
 men of genius. 
 
 He told me of having recently addressed the 
 Medical College at Baltimore. The students, he 
 
 said, were so enthusiastic that after the lecture 
 
 301 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 they had unhorsed his carnage and drawn him to 
 the hotel. He gave me a dialectic account of the 
 incident as he had overheard one darkey hostler 
 at the hotel narrate it to one of his companions. 
 
 " What 's all de row dis mawnin' in de street ? " 
 
 Did n't yah heah ? " 
 
 "No, wat was it?" 
 
 " Oh, only some dem students drawin' ole Joe 
 Jefferson aroun' in a hack .! " 
 
 After luncheon, standing in the lobby of the 
 hotel, I discovered that Mr. Jefferson was fear- 
 fully and wonderfully, albeit sanitarily, apparelled. 
 The weather being cold and his departure South 
 delayed by Mrs. Jefferson's indisposition, he had 
 furnished himself with a pair of thick woollen 
 golf stockings with enormous plaids. His son 
 Charles sportively drew up the leg of his father's 
 trousers and gave us an exhibition. In addition 
 to overshoes and his regular garments he wore a 
 padded maroon-colored smoking-jacket, which he 
 had almost forgotten to lay aside on entering the 
 dining-room. 
 
 September 5, 1897, I went over to Philadel- 
 phia with Jefferson to attend the funeral of Mrs. 
 
 301 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 John Drew, our own Mrs. Malaprop, who had 
 died at Larchmont, New York. 
 
 "I doubt," said Mr. Jefferson, after we had 
 with difficulty passed from the church through 
 the crowd on the way to the railway station, " if 
 the death of any lady in Philadelphia would 
 awaken such interest or draw together such a 
 number of people." 
 
 I remarked that Mrs. Drew's death was sudden. 
 
 " That is as it should be," he replied, " not to 
 know the time when we are just alive ; to be taken 
 off in the midst and pursuit of some great interest, 
 not when one stands tremblingly apprehensive of 
 the blow." 
 
 On my reminding him that Mrs. Drew's fore- 
 bears had been long-lived and that her mother 
 had lived to ninety or thereabouts, he said : 
 
 " Well, I don't wish to live to be ninety. I 
 have met one or two such, and they were pitiable 
 objects." 
 
 He kept excellent control of himself all through 
 the solemn service at the church. As the coffin 
 was borne past us up the aisle, I noted his bowed 
 head and trembling lip . 
 
 While on the way to New York, in the dis- 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 cussion of a theory of mentation, in which he 
 was greatly interested, by a disciple thereof, Elmer 
 Gates, he declared that this earth was not the 
 end of all, and that if he could bring himself to 
 think so he should curse the powers that made 
 him. 
 
 Professor Gates had declared, and Jefferson 
 was inclined to believe, that we were on the verge 
 of a discovery that would bridge all things human 
 and those that hitherto have been regarded as 
 supernatural. 
 
 Professor Gates had greatly interested Mr. 
 Jefferson by his experiments with an insect state 
 of existence that had but a single brain cell, and 
 had found the manifestation of this intelligence 
 in the training of the insect to go to a certain 
 place where it had been taught to expect a grain 
 of sugar, or a drop of sugared water. 
 
 " When we consider the millions of brain cells 
 the average individual possesses," he said, " this 
 knowledge of a creature of so low a state of ex- 
 istence as to possess but a single brain cell is 
 extremely interesting." 
 
 Reverting to the affairs of the stage, it was said 
 that the prospect of good times was very encour- 
 
 304 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 aging and that the theatres would be sure to profit 
 by it. " I can't comprehend what is meant by 
 that," he said, " for I seem always to be the most 
 successful when we are having periods of great 
 financial stringency. Last year [1896] was one 
 of my best seasons. It seems to make little 
 difference what the times may be ; if you give the 
 public something good, there will be no question 
 as to their going in great numbers to see it." 
 
 I asked him if he had ever found that the in- 
 terest in a certain point or expression in one 
 of his plays, expressions which had been pro- 
 vocative of laughter or applause, had suddenly 
 fallen off. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, I have," he rejoined. "I dis- 
 covered, after thirty-five years of playing c Rip 
 Van Winkle/ that I had been reading my lines, 
 in the last act, to Meenie in an exceedingly 
 ineffective way. The applause had disappeared 
 and I knew not why. I gave it much thought 
 and it worried me. Suddenly it flashed upon me 
 that I was picturing the situation as if Meenie 
 had not recognized me when, in fact, there was 
 nothing yet to lead to the belief that she might 
 not. I was anticipating the effect, and when it 
 
 35 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 came it was weak. I returned to my former 
 reading and the applause returned with it. I 
 was very happy over solving the matter." 
 
 " I always believed you were mistaken, Mr. 
 Jefferson," I said to him, "when you declared 
 that you have had more inspired moments in 
 painting than in acting and that you would be 
 content to give up acting and devote your time 
 to painting. I want to ask you bluntly, if you 
 were forced to choose between the two, which 
 you would select." 
 
 He looked out of the car window for some 
 little time, evidently revolving the question in 
 his mind. Finally he turned toward me with 
 a fine light in his eyes, and with a beautiful 
 smile said : 
 
 " Francis, I don't know. I love them both 
 so mucl 
 
 e was not able to do a thing at painting, he 
 said, if anyone were around ; it was only when he 
 was alone that he could find thoughts he deemed 
 worthy to be put on canvas. " But," he added, 
 with a twinkle in his eye, " if I like to be alone 
 when I paint, I have no objection to a great 
 
 many people when I act." 
 
 306 
 
5 1 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 Apropos of this, Frederic Remington, the 
 artist, told me of meeting with Jefferson once in 
 the South. 
 
 " What a beautiful bit of landscape ! " ex- 
 claimed Jefferson. 
 
 " Why don't you get your outfit and sit down 
 here with me and paint it? " Remington replied. 
 
 " No, no, no ! Not now/' said Jefferson. 
 
 "When are you going to paint it? " asked the 
 artist. 
 
 " Oh, sometime in the future, when I have 
 forgotten it," was the response. 
 
 To come back to our journey to New York, 
 Jefferson said he believed that he was making 
 now the worthiest efforts of his painting life, 
 and I found that he thought it not impossible 
 that examples of his work as a painter might 
 be sought in the future for some quality not 
 discerned or appreciated by connoisseurs of 
 to-day. 
 
 I asked him about some of the most exhil- 
 arating mental experiences he had ever met. 
 
 " One of them," he replied, " was answering 
 the questions put to me by the members of 
 The Union League Club, of New York, when 
 
 307 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 I lectured to them " ; and then apropos of politics 
 and parties, he added : " I have been a Democrat 
 or had Democratic tendencies all my life, but I 
 have come to the conclusion that the balance of 
 intelligence is with the Republican Party." 
 
 I spoke to him of Julia Dean's grave being un- 
 marked at Port Jervis, New York. He thanked 
 me, and expressed the intention of having a stone 
 properly inscribed and put over the grave of the 
 woman who, I remember him to have said, was 
 his first sweetheart. 1 
 
 He spoke again of the question box he has at 
 the close of most lectures, and gave me an elabo- 
 rate account of the power he had of throwing his 
 mind back in search of an anecdote with which 
 to round out his remarks upon any subject pro- 
 pounded. This is what he called a subjective 
 mind, which he said never failed him. He mar- 
 velled at the mind going in search of something 
 to point a moral or adorn a tale while it was still 
 answering the question put. 
 
 I told him I had seen it announced that he 
 was going to retire in 1898. He denied indig- 
 nantly that such was the case, and asked his son 
 
 1 Mr Jefferson carried out his intention. 
 308 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 Charles to see that proper contradiction was 
 made. He wished to die in harness, he declare 
 and to play as long as he was able satisfactorily 
 to portray the characters with which he was 
 identified. 
 
 I had seen him at New Orleans at a riding- 
 school laboring to learn to ride the bicycle, and 
 asked him if he had given it up. 
 
 " Yes," he said, " I did n't get enough out of 
 it ; and then, too, I thought it was not unlikely 
 I should fall and break a leg, and I said, c Old 
 gentleman, discretion is the better part of valor, 
 and a fall at your age would probably mean a 
 year in bed ' ; so I gave it up." 
 
 Reverting again to the subject of revising 
 plays to suit modern tastes, he thought a great 
 many of the classic dramas would bear rearrange- 
 ment. He instanced " Hamlet," which he thought 
 would be much better if the first appearance of 
 the Ghost were omitted. "If this were so," he 
 said, "when Marcellus, Bernardo, and Hamlet 
 appeared upon the platform, with the hope of 
 seeing the apparition, there could be no doubt 
 of the heightened interest of the audience, who, 
 having heard of the Ghost's appearance to 
 
 39 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Marcellus and Bernardo, would be more deeply 
 concerned." He had recommended this to a 
 young tragedian, Walker Whiteside, who had 
 tried it, and with satisfaction in the result. 
 
 He related a story of Burton, who, bemoaning 
 a poor house at Albany, was told he should have 
 timed his visit with the incoming of the canal- 
 boats. Next night, two belated people walked 
 down the aisle, and Burton, turning to the 
 actor who was playing with him, said audibly, 
 " There 's a boat in, by gad ! " 
 
 We had reached New York, and had gone 
 as far as Forty-second Street and Sixth Avenue, 
 by the elevated road. Looking over Bryant 
 Park, he said: 
 
 " I remember distinctly the Crystal Palace that 
 was built on the site of that square. But that 's 
 back beyond your time." 
 
 Under date of November 10, 1897, I find 
 the following record of happenings : 
 
 John Russell Young, the newly appointed 
 Librarian of Congress, having invited us to 
 visit and inspect under his guidance the Con- 
 gressional Library, Jefferson . and I found our- 
 selves in the beautiful place at eleven o'clock, 
 
 310 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 and with Mr. Young and one of the architects 
 began a tour of sight-seeing under most favor- 
 able circumstances. Jefferson was strong, in good 
 health and spirits, and, as usual, anecdotal. His 
 love of color led him to prefer the warmer rather 
 than the lighter schemes and frescos for decora- 
 tion. The pictures of Van Ingen he considered 
 the right tone to his taste. The main hall, with 
 its beautiful columns in white thrown out in great 
 relief by the richer, darker colors behind them, 
 he thought an artist's dream, a fairyland. 
 
 Going through the Maps and Charts Room, 
 he quite abashed Librarian Young by remarking, 
 " You and I were born in the same year, were 
 we not? " And seeing the look of astonishment 
 on Young's face, he quickly recovered himself 
 by apologizing and saying, " No, no, no ! I am 
 old enough to be your father ! " and hit upon 
 another and, I suspect, a fictitious person with 
 whom he was of the same age. Then immediately 
 afterwards, having gotten leeway, as it were, he 
 named George W. Childs and Murat Halstead 
 as the persons he had in mind. cc I have a great 
 advantage over you," he said to Mr. Young; 
 
 " at your age people are sensitive about it, while 
 
 311 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 at mine we are proud of it. But just think what 
 has come in since I was born : steam railways, 
 steamships, the telegraph, the sewing-machine, 
 gas, electric light, elevators, the telephone and 
 vitascope, and many more such." He begged 
 our guides not to apologize for the disorderly 
 condition of the newly occupied Maps and Charts 
 Room, which is quite complete, we were told, as 
 to maps of the United States. " I am glad of 
 that," said Mr. Jefferson, "for I understand the 
 map of Europe is not perfect." 
 
 He turned humorously to me as the names 
 of various great men were being pointed out 
 on the ceiling, and said : " I do not see the 
 name of an actor, do you ? " " Oh yes," said 
 Mr. Young, instantly, cc there is Shakespeare ! " 
 This greatly pleased Mr. Jefferson. "Well," 
 he returned, " the actor may not live much in 
 posterity, but he lives like the deuce in the 
 present ! " I remarked that this might be 
 very uncomplimentarily construed, which made 
 him laugh. He was reminded of what John L. 
 Sullivan, the pugilist, is reported to have said on 
 learning of the death of Edwin Booth : " An- 
 other one of us gone ! " The writer heard Edwin 
 
 312 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 Booth say, when told of Corbett having de- 
 feated Sullivan in the prize-ring, that he was 
 glad the championship belt remained in the 
 profession. 
 
 " People seem to forget that plays are never 
 produced exactly as written by the author," said 
 Mr. Jefferson. " Shakespeare must then have 
 corrected as well as directed his own plays with 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, so to speak, looking 
 over his shoulder and only too anxious to see 
 him trip. How readily he must have displayed 
 his ignorance and duplicity if the plays were 
 Bacon's instead of his own ! " 
 
 I reminded him of Professor John Fiske's argu- 
 ment that the style, a personal matter, wholly 
 unlike Bacon's, was the best internal evidence that 
 Shakespeare wrote the plays attributed to him. 
 That its being declared that Shakespeare could 
 not have written this or that play because it pos- 
 sessed knowledge on subjects with which Shake- 
 peare could not possibly have had any knowledge 
 from books, was absurd, because such knowledge 
 could have been gained, and likely was gained, 
 from oral communication, absorbed from the 
 conversation of the great minds of the period in 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 which he lived, such minds as Jonson, Beaumont, 
 Fletcher, Raleigh, Selden, Daniel Donne, the 
 Earls of Rochester and Dorset, Dekker and 
 Bacon, all of whom were associates of Shake- 
 speare at the Mermaid Tavern. 
 
 "Oh, it's absurd/' said Jefferson, "one might as 
 well attribute a Rembrandt painting to Van Dyke 
 and try to defy detection. But I still maintain 
 that these writers as well as these painters why, 
 I do it in my own puerile handling of the brush 
 and in my acting build better than they know. 
 They don't know all that is in what they say or 
 paint. It comes to me, to them, by inspiration, 
 and they write it and paint it as they are moved 
 to do, by a power they cannot explain." 
 
 Passing through another apartment, we found 
 a blind girl reading from raised-letter pages. As 
 we watched the girl, he said most sympathetically: 
 " And we complain if we have a poor house ! 
 
 We ought to have our d d heads knocked 
 
 off!" I found on inquiring that the girl was 
 reading a miscellaneous poetical selection. Her 
 fingers moved over the cardboard leaves with 
 great deftness. Jefferson asked me if I had ever 
 met Helen Keller, who had attained such marvel- 
 
 314 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 lous proficiency of speech. She was only sixteen, 
 he said, and talked like a Socrates. 
 
 " What did she say," I asked, " that gave you 
 such an impression ? " 
 
 " She talked of Emerson's opinion of Sweden- 
 borg, and then gave me her opinion of Emerson's 
 opinion, and it was quite as good as Emerson's," 
 he replied ; "all this, mind, with a voice not one 
 sound of which could she hear. She kept her 
 fingers on my lip to feel what I was saying. I 
 would say something and she would laugh. Then 
 I would ask her what I had said, and she would 
 repeat it word for word, except that, not being 
 exactly like our utterance, it sounded foreign. 
 She 's wonderful ! I have gone back to her after 
 an absence of six months, and the moment she 
 had touched my hand she said, ' Ah, Mr. Jeffer- 
 son ! ' Strangest thing of all, she speaks with a 
 foreign accent." 
 
 " A foreign accent, sir ? " 
 
 "Yes ; it may seem strange, but in the same in- 
 stitution they have colored pupils from the South 
 who have been taught to speak, and they do it 
 with a negro dialect." 
 
 " Why, can an accent be inherited ? " I asked 
 him. 315 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 " No, but vocal organs and personal peculiari- 
 ties may be/' he answered. 
 
 He was delighted with the inscriptions on the 
 walls of the Library, because he found in them no 
 narrow sectarianism. As he looked around at 
 the decorations, the staircase, and general mag- 
 nificence, he was reminded of a joke made by 
 an old minstrel, Frank Brower, of Philadel- 
 phia. The minstrels, he said, in the early days 
 were oftentimes illiterate but always very witty. 
 Brower and some companions had been invited 
 to a splendid repast at the palatial residence of an 
 admirer. As Brower, who came from the hum- 
 blest origin, looked about him, he exclaimed : 
 " Boys, this reminds me of home." Then turn- 
 ing apologetically to Mr. Young, Jefferson said 
 that he hoped to be excused for his occasional 
 levity. " I must have my little joke, or I cannot 
 exist," said this wonderful youngster of sixty- 
 eight, who hustles about like a boy and must be 
 occupied every minute of the day or he is un- 
 happy. He sleeps, I find, about ten hours a day. 
 Goes to bed at twelve, falling to sleep imme- 
 diately, and rises about 8 A. M. In the afternoon 
 his custom is to lie down about 5 P. M. and sleep 
 until 6.30 or 7 P. M. 316 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 In the Senatorial Reading Room the balconies 
 reminded Mr. Young of Romeo and Juliet, and 
 Jefferson told the story of Garrick and Spranger 
 Barry as rival Romeos. Jefferson thought it 
 splendid evidence of the greatness as well as the 
 elasticity of Shakespeare's writings that two men 
 of varied talents and personality, like Garrick and 
 Barry, should be able to give successful repre- 
 sentations of the same character, though in an 
 entirely different manner. 
 
 He was much taken with Blashfield's " Progress 
 of Knowledge," in the dome of the Library. The 
 " opalescent tints " pleased him, and he thought 
 it fine in composition and color. The pneumatic 
 system and the chain elevators for the delivery 
 of books greatly interested him. When a copy 
 of his Autobiography was thrown out to him in 
 a padded basket, he was astonished, and said he 
 wondered the machine didn't go further and say, 
 " Thank ye, ma'am." He also thought it flatter- 
 ing to have one's own book in such a library. In 
 the private apartments of the librarian some rare 
 books were shown. The sight of " The New Eng- 
 land Journal, 1827," made him exclaim, "Why, 
 here 's a book older than I am. I did n't think 
 
 317 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 it possible ! " He exhibited the proper deference 
 before the First Folio, 1623, of Shakespeare, and 
 laughed at one of the company who went on his 
 knees and crossed himself before it. Apropos 
 of Jefferson's saying that Mr. Young kept busy, 
 the librarian quoted some lines "by an obscure 
 Philadelphia poet": 
 
 " Until my work is done I cannot die, 
 And then I would not care to live." 
 
 Jefferson had him repeat them, he was so much 
 impressed by them. Later, when Mrs. Young 
 joined us, she informed me that her husband 
 meant them to be inscribed on his tomb. Some 
 Benjamin Franklin imprints being shown, Jef- 
 ferson eulogized the great printer, calling him 
 the practical philosopher, a man who could 
 draw lightning from the clouds and invent for his 
 wife a superior kind of washtub. The book in- 
 spection closed with some Revolutionary broad- 
 sides and a view of the first edition of Milton's 
 " Paradise Lost." 
 
 The day was beautiful, and occasionally Jef- 
 ferson's glance would wander from the artistic 
 magnificence within to the natural splendor with- 
 
 318 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 out. Once he turned to me and whispered : " I 
 have seen nothing so beautiful as the scene through 
 the window ! " 
 
 During the afternoon he painted away in the 
 impromptu studio he had hired for the purpose. 
 I joked him about the faux pas that had so con- 
 fused Librarian Young. He laughed over the 
 third party named, but affirmed the fact as to 
 Halstead and Childs. As he was laying in the 
 foliage of a picture, he said to me : 
 
 " What are the best and worst things you have 
 ever heard of the theatre? Take your time," 
 he said, as he saw me hesitate. " It 's worth 
 considering." 
 
 I said I thought "the best thing," perhaps^ 
 was contained in Schiller's remark respecting the 
 advantage of a standing theatre, that it would 
 have a great influence on the national temper and 
 mind, by helping the nation to agree in opinions 
 and inclinations. 
 
 " Why," he said, " did Schiller think the theatre 
 would have this influence ? " 
 
 " Because, he declared," I quoted, " the stage 
 commands all human knowledge, exhausts all 
 
 positions, illumines hearts, unites all classes, and 
 
 319 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 makes its way to the heart and understanding by 
 the most popular channels.'* 
 
 " That 's fine ! " he said glowingly. " I have 
 tried in my feeble way to give expression to simi- 
 lar thoughts on the subject, but, my ! how futile 
 it all seems after such a masterly setting forth as 
 that of Schiller ! " 
 
 I said Schiller also made use of an expres- 
 sion I had heard him employ frequently, that of 
 art's being the handmaid of genius or religion, 
 or something such. 
 
 " I suppose so," he said, " I suppose so ! No 
 doubt I got it from Schiller or some other fellow, 
 and that I have used it so often I think it 's my 
 own. None of us is too original. I do all the 
 good things I can remember either Burton or 
 Burke did, with just a touch, I hope, of my 
 own originality. Now, what 's the worst thing 
 you Ve heard ? " 
 
 I answered that it was likely the remark of 
 Augustine Birrell. As he asked me what it was, 
 I could see him bristling for the onslaught he 
 purposed to make. I told him Birrell had de- 
 clared that acting was not a worthy art. I was 
 disappointed in the way he received this. Instead 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 of launching out at once against the declaration, 
 he put down his palette and brushes and sat lost 
 in thought. Turning, after some seconds, he said 
 gravely : 
 
 " Is anything worth while ? What, perhaps, 
 does the best or worst any of us can do amount 
 to in this vast conglomeration of revolving worlds ? 
 On the other hand, is n't everything worth while ? 
 Is not the smallest thing of importance? Acting 
 not a worthy art ? Oh, my, I have devoted all 
 my life to it, and I stand to-day in awe of its 
 greatness ! " 
 
 I told him it^ had been derisively said of him 
 that he painted his face and exhibited himself for 
 money. 
 
 " The more credit to me for doing so," he 
 retorted spiritedly, " to entertain others. It is 
 noble to give pleasure, and humanity must be 
 pleased or it could not stand the world's trials." 
 
 I give the gist of our talk at Buffalo, March 4, 
 1898 : 
 
 Met Mr. Jefferson here to-day. He is look- 
 ing very well and said he felt so. Had been 
 in the open air all winter at New Orleans, Jack- 
 sonville, and Palm Beach. He spoke of the 
 
 321 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 nervousness incidental to facing an audience. He 
 declared that the feeling came from a sense of 
 responsibility, from the desire not to make a ret- 
 rograde movement in one's career, and that this 
 nervousness increased with years. He said he 
 had been given two dinners at New York and 
 had prepared two speeches, neither of which he 
 delivered, because incidents arose on each occa- 
 sion which gave him better subjects for impromptu 
 addresses. He dwelt upon the greater enjoyment 
 and effect of an impromptu speech as compared 
 with a cut and dried effort, but that he always 
 went prepared in case nothing should be suggested 
 by the speakers who preceded him. 
 
 He spoke about his home on Orange Island, 
 New Iberia, Louisiana, and told me of one of 
 the colored boys asking him if it were true that 
 he was an actor. 
 
 "What do you do in the theatre? " asked the 
 negro. 
 
 "That would be hard to describe," Jefferson 
 answered. 
 
 " Your son Tom he tell me you stand up and 
 Mrs. Jefson frow knives at you," said the darkey. 
 
 Jefferson replied that Tom was quite capable 
 of saying so. 3 za 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 cc One thing," went on the negro, " I know." 
 
 " What 's that ? " asked Jefferson. 
 
 " You doan ack in no circus." 
 
 " How do you know? " Jefferson said. 
 
 " Cuz," replied the negro, " I done see you get 
 on a horse ! " 
 
 Jefferson told me also of an extraordinary let- 
 ter written to him by one of his Acadian farm 
 hands. Later, I found he had sent it, or a copy 
 of it, to his friend E. C. Benedict, through whose 
 courtesy I am enabled to print it : 
 
 IBERIA PARISH, LOUISIANA. 
 
 MY DEAR MR. JEFSON, I spose you don't 
 like to hear from myself, but, sir, I am in a bad 
 way, sure. Your overseer he don't like me 
 mighty well and dats the reason wot I write to 
 you. Sometime the weder is bad and I cant get 
 cross de prairy fo to do my work on dat plantation 
 wot you hold yourself. Den he cuss me awful 
 bad befo all dose black nigger hans on de place. 
 I tink he bin writin you about me and dats why 
 I go fo writin bout himself. Now look fo your- 
 self no Christian man cant get cross de prary if 
 God make it rain fo whole week. No sir, ever 
 
 323 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 so much. I wish you write him fo not cuss me 
 befo dose black nigger hans. He say he goin to 
 send me away if I cant cross de prary in bad 
 wedder. You tink dat overseer is pretty good 
 man, yes. I dont tink him a fus rate man, no. 
 I wish you would come down here wen dat over- 
 seer aint roun I will show you some tings wot 
 you never cant see by God almighty, so please 
 sir dont let him send me away fo sure because 
 den wot will I do fo myself. Please rite dat 
 overseer to make me stay if I will and I dont 
 never forget your kiness. Some day dat overseer 
 is good kind of man but nex day I dont like to 
 see any man so bad. 
 
 I am, your good friend Saturday morning. 
 
 JAN LARUE. 
 
 P. S. You see I am in a bad way sure caus 
 my ole modder is dead for long time my father 
 she cant see out of both of his eyes. My wife 
 too is goin to have a young baby and you wouldnt 
 like to be that way yourself. 
 
 Another of these Acadians, Landry by name, 
 said to Jefferson's son : 
 
 "Joe, your fadder he play in show ? " 
 3*4 
 
CHARACTERISTIC DAYS 
 
 "Yes," said Joe. 
 
 " That Mr. Florenz man, he play too ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Cf Look, Joe, you watch dose two ole boys cut 
 up monkey shines, you learn some thing good, 
 sure ! " 
 
 325 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 CHARLES LAMB, writing of Munden, 
 says : " I have seen this gifted actor in 
 Sir Christopher Curry in ( Old Dorn- 
 ton * diffuse a glow of sentiment which has 
 made the pulse of a crowded theatre beat like 
 that of one man ; when he has come in aid of 
 the pulpit, doing good to the moral heart of a 
 people " ; and Talfourd says of him that " he 
 was in high farce where Kemble was in light 
 tragedy." 
 
 These words, spoken nearly a century ago of 
 the comedian Joseph Shepherd Munden apply 
 now with especial appropriateness to Jefferson. 
 His Acres, Pangloss, Ollapod, Golightly, and the 
 humorous phases of Rip and Caleb Plummer 
 were as fine in quality and effect as the best 
 serious efforts of his contemporaries. He was 
 in high farce what Edwin Booth was in high 
 
 316 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON AT PALM BEACH, FLA. 
 (September 26, 1904) 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 tragedy, and he was, moreover, indebted to no 
 particular man as a model. In those parts of 
 "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Cricket on the 
 Hearth " requiring pathos, Jefferson, like Mun- 
 den, not only kindled the feeling of sentiment 
 in the breasts of his auditors, but fanned it into 
 a flame that expanded and enveloped the hearts 
 of the multitude. With exquisite delicacy and 
 rare power he combined pathos with humor, and 
 in doing so towered head and shoulders above 
 any comedian of his time and generation. By the 
 forceful touch of his genius plays written for an- 
 other age took on a new and prolonged existence. 
 That which his predecessors had used with com- 
 paratively indifferent success became in his hands 
 the delight of two continents, and brought him 
 the attention and admiration of the ablest minds 
 of the day. 
 
 Not everybody admitted the existence of a 
 moral lesson in Irving's story, and these George 
 William Curtis silenced once and for all by de- 
 claring that " Rip Van Winkle" is a sermon, and, 
 if you will, also, it is a poem. Everybody knows 
 how much Jefferson added to the imaginative 
 
 quality of the play, not only by his superb acting, 
 
 327 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 but also by poetic additions and stage inventions. 
 Except for an occasional performance by amateurs 
 and professionals, Sheridan's brilliant comedy of 
 " The Rivals " lay dormant for years and, save 
 for library uses, must have soon disappeared al- 
 together. By judicious pruning away of a lot of 
 sentimental superfluity, much affected in a past 
 age, and by dexterous rearrangement, condensa- 
 tion, and skilful additions Jefferson saved this 
 play as a stage picture for a quarter of a century. 
 The delight his supporters found in it is sufficient 
 refutation of any captious criticism as to the van- 
 dal hand Jefferson was declared to have laid upon 
 this comedy of Bath manners, in which, in Gold- 
 smith's phrase, "all the little fishes talk like 
 whales." By the singularity of his treatment 
 such farces as " Lend Me Five Shillings " and 
 " A Regular Fix " become distinctive creations, 
 and his Mr. Golightly and Hugh de Brass 
 charmed the cultivated people of England and 
 America who had known of these little plays 
 only as vehicles to eke out a performance or as a 
 means of displaying the misconceptions of other 
 comedians. He was one of the first actors to 
 demonstrate the value of a dramatic conceit 
 
 328 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 compressed into a half-hour's performance instead 
 of being drawn out into a three-act attenuation. 
 This is only to say that he was an abler man than 
 most people of his calling, and that the world, ap- 
 preciating and applauding his ability, enriched him 
 financially and placed him as an artist in a class 
 by himself. 
 
 Jefferson has left us views on the art of acting 
 which are precisely in accord with those of his dis- 
 tinguished French fellow-player, Talma. " Act- 
 ing is a complete paradox," says this instructor of 
 a Bonaparte. " We must possess the power of 
 strong feeling, or we would never command and 
 carry with us the sympathy of a mixed audience 
 in a crowded theatre ; but we must, at the same 
 time, control our sensations on the stage, for their 
 indulgence would enfeeble execution." Jefferson 
 put it in the succincter phrase, already quoted, 
 "In acting we must keep our hearts warm and 
 our heads cool." This is the whole art of act- 
 ing in epitome. While this was his way of re- 
 garding the matter, he eagerly admitted it might 
 not be the only way, and that if the effect, which 
 is the desideratum in all acting, could be procured 
 by other means, he felt they should be unhesitat- 
 - 3*9 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 ingly adopted. "I have," he wrote, "discarded 
 many pet theories, and as I have grown older and 
 more experienced, have been taught, by my own 
 observations and the successful achievements of 
 others, that there is always room for reform." 
 Could anything be more modest or philosophical ? 
 In his beautiful tribute to Jefferson, Henry 
 Watterson has given us one incident which con- 
 vincingly verifies the truth of the comedian's 
 theory with respect to the portrayal of emotions 
 as well as of the application of that principle. 
 " On a certain occasion," says Watterson, " he 
 was playing Caleb Plummer. In the scene be- 
 tween the old toy-maker and his blind daughter, 
 when the father discovers the dreadful result of 
 his dissimulation at the very crucial moment, 
 there was an awkward hitch, and, the climax quite 
 thwarted, the curtain came down. 'Did you see 
 that ? ' he said, as he brushed by me, going to 
 his dressing-room. * No/ said I, following him ; 
 'what was it?' He turned, his eyes still wet, 
 and his voice choked. c I broke down/ said he, 
 'completely broke down. I turned away from 
 the audience to recover myself. But I could not, 
 and had the curtain rung.' The scene had been 
 
 33 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 spoiled because the actor had been overcome by 
 a sudden flood of real feeling, whereas he was to 
 render by his art the feeling of a fictitious char- 
 acter and so to communicate this to his audience. 
 Caleb's cue was tears, but not Jefferson's." Edwin 
 Booth, too, has told us that, once overcome by 
 too poignant a realization of the sorrows of 
 Bertuccio, in " The Fool's Revenge," he marred 
 the effect of his acting. 
 
 Jefferson loved brief and happy phrases.-^His 
 conversation abounded with epigrams, and his 
 wit, though keen and swift and bubbling and 
 sparkling, was never biting. Scattered through- 
 out his Autobiography in illustration of the themes 
 he treated, will be found many humorous and 
 pithy expressions, of which the following are but 
 random samples : 
 
 A man seldom regrets saying nothing. "" 
 
 The courage of being unconventional. 
 
 The great public is unbiassed by professional 
 jealousies. 
 
 Vagueness is not to be mistaken for suggestion. 
 
 Dramatic instinct is inherent throughout the 
 human family. 
 
 Acting is more a gift than an art. 
 
 33 1 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Cheap art is better than no art. 
 
 A first night's audience never represents the 
 general public. 
 
 Harmony is the most important element in a 
 work of art. 
 
 The methods by which actors arrive at great 
 effects vary with the nature of the actor. 
 
 The power of dramatic action overwhelms the 
 comparative impotency of dialogue. 
 
 Shakespeare is responsible for the starring 
 system. 
 
 Guying begins where ability leaves off. 
 
 Art is so sacred in Paris and its convention- 
 alities so firmly established [that] no change of 
 government could affect it. 
 
 Acting is not to be confounded with wardrobe. 
 
 If necessity is the mother of invention, she is 
 the foster mother of art. 
 
 The discordant scraping of a Chinese orchestra 
 is dreadful to us, but if it falls harmoniously on 
 the ears of a Chinaman, it is useless to recom- 
 mend Beethoven to him. 
 
 Art is the actors sweetheart. 
 
 Natural love, off the stage, is almost inva- 
 riably comic. It is serious business to the 
 
 33* 
 
C O N C L 4 U SIGN 
 
 lovers, and that is what makes it so delightful to 
 look at. 
 
 The tragedian has ever had an immeasurable 
 advantage over the comedian. The old tragedies, 
 especially Shakespeare's, contain one great charac- 
 ter on whom the play turns. In the comedies 
 the characters are formed in groups, and are gen- 
 erally so arranged that they may be in some 
 measure of equal value. 
 
 Happy are those who in the race for fame 
 advance steadily and by degrees ; shaking hands 
 with their competitors as they go by them, and 
 making honest room for them to pass should they 
 come up again. 
 
 We have been so long accustomed to the per- 
 fection of Jefferson's art that we are apt to forget 
 the struggle he had to acquire it. It was of slow 
 growth and of thoughtful, practical evolution. 
 Let the student be encouraged to learn that 
 Jefferson was long considered so imperfect an 
 artist that Wallack and Brougham refused to 
 permit him to appear at their theatre, then the 
 only so-called legitimate one on Broadway. He 
 had been, as we have seen, a stop-gap comedian 
 
 333 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 for the horse drama ; he had, as he told me, been 
 the burlesque actor of his day, playing in innum- 
 erable farces and musical burlesques revelling in 
 such titles as "The Tycoon," " Fra Diavalo," 
 " Beauty and the Beast/' " Ivanhoe," " The 
 Pearl of Chamouni," etc., in fact, going through 
 all that laborious and formative experience which 
 produced so many fine actors of the generation 
 barely gone by. It would seem strange to the 
 present-day theatre-goer to think of <c Rip Van 
 Winkle " given as a part, and perhaps not the 
 main part, of an evening's entertainment, yet such 
 must often have been the case in the early career 
 of Jefferson, before the play had been developed 
 into its ultimate condition. In common with 
 most actors, he had his periods of " magnificent 
 misinformation " as to correct costume. I once 
 heard Stuart Robson say to him that he had seen 
 a certain standard character played by a now cele- 
 brated comedian who, among other things, wore 
 such and such a costume with an incongruously 
 colored wig and a highly reddened nose. 
 
 " Surely not ! " was Jefferson's reply. " Who 
 could the man be ? " 
 
 " Joseph Jefferson ! " said Robson. 
 
 334 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 Jefferson did not come prominently into pub- 
 lic view, and then not as a "star," until 1857, 
 when at Laura Keene's theatre, in New York, he 
 appeared as Dr. Pangloss in Coleman's " Heir-. 
 at- Law." A leading journal in its critique of the 
 performance referred to him as " a nervous, 
 fidgety young man by the name of Jefferson." 
 He had still much to learn of the requirements 
 and refinements of his art, and even to endure 
 disappointment in his first venture as " star," be- 
 fore he was to stand in undisputed possession of 
 the position he coveted. 
 
 Making no distinction between personality and 
 emotions, I have heard it absurdly complained 
 " by ill-natured persons, some of them envious 
 actors," that Jefferson was the same in everything 
 from Rip to Golightly. Yes, it was the same 
 man, depicting different feelings, to be sure, 
 now of heart-touching pathos, now of laughter- 
 compelling humor, again of comic perplexity, 
 and now of bombast, but the same man, with all 
 the same personal peculiarities, the same skill, 
 and, heaven be thanked, the same charm. He 
 could not escape from himself, from individual 
 idiosyncrasies, no man can, and if he had been 
 
 335 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 able to do so, we should have received something 
 other than a Jefferson flavor, which might or 
 might not have appealed to us. Like Lamb, 
 whom he resembled in the gentleness of his na- 
 ture and mayhap in the quality of his humor, 
 Jefferson had (surprising to state !) mental, moral, 
 and physical predilections of his own, and we 
 should as consistently quarrel with the gentle 
 Elia for not writing like Coleridge or like 
 Southey or Macaulay, as with Jefferson for not 
 one evening playing like himself and another 
 evening like Charles Mathews or Burton or the 
 elder Booth. What should we say of a criticism 
 in art that expressed discontent with Michael 
 Angelo and Tintoretto because they differed in 
 artistic conception and expression from Bellini 
 and Raphael, or possibly from " the insipid Carlo 
 Dolci"? 
 
 In his attitude toward the so-called Theatrical 
 Trust, Jefferson was criticised as not having the 
 artistic interest of his profession at heart. This 
 subject, which assumed such gigantic proportions 
 in the minds of those most interested, developed, 
 among other things, into a serious conflict be- 
 tween manager and manager. It received much 
 
 33 6 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 attention but little sympathy from the public 
 at large, for whose fickle interest the details 
 proved too complicated. It is a question that will 
 solve itself, as all things having for their ob- 
 ject the monopolizing of an art are solved. 
 He spoke out plainly enough in the public 
 prints, and straddled the question. This he felt 
 was justified by a man who, recognizing himself 
 as near the close of his career, did not wish to 
 leave his family a legacy of embroilment. 
 
 To any one ill-informed and inconsiderate 
 enough to ask what Jefferson did for his pro- 
 fession, I know not half so well how to reply 
 as by again quoting Henry Watterson : " He 
 did in America quite as much as Sir Charles 
 Wyndham and Sir Henry [Irving] did in Eng- 
 land to elevate the personality, the social and 
 intellectual standing of the actor and the stage, 
 effecting in a lifetime a revolution in the attitude 
 of the people and the clergy of both countries 
 to the theatre and all things in it. This was 
 surely enough for one man in any craft or 
 country." 
 
 Jefferson's mind was of an exceedingly recep- 
 tive nature, and he was prone to credit all things 
 
 337 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 stated earnestly, especially when stated magnet- 
 ically. He seems never to have lost a certain 
 childish freshness of wonderment at things 
 strange, and, following Hamlet's injunction, he 
 therefore as a stranger gave them welcome. The 
 weird, imaginative, poetic quality that appealed 
 to him in " Rip Van Winkle " attracted him in 
 other fields. 
 
 In his religion he was a Swedenborgian, per- 
 haps, more than anything else. He was interested 
 in theosophy, telepathy, thought-transference, 
 and spiritualism. He said we ought not too 
 flippantly to ridicule or reject these matters, 
 which might well be a manifestation from the 
 Omnipotent, another channel of communication 
 from the Master to His flock. " God moves 
 in a mysterious way," he quoted, " His wonders 
 to perform." 
 
 In his early days he had suffered much from 
 religious intolerance, and this strengthened his 
 determination to be liberal in matters of creeds 
 and doctrines. The idea, as stated, that too 
 extreme a belief in spiritualism threatened at 
 one time to cloud his understanding is not for 
 a moment to be accepted. The controverting 
 
 338 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 argument to that is Jefferson's wonderfully saving 
 sense of humor. He said himself that his mind 
 was so constituted that the humorous trod swiftly 
 upon the heels of the serious. He knew he was 
 credulous, and joked about it, delighting to tell 
 stories that laughably illustrated his credulity. 
 He was amused at people's enjoyment of these 
 narratives, exposing what they might consider 
 his weakness, but he went on being credulous 
 just the same. He could not help it ; it was 
 an attractive, beautiful part of the man's opti- 
 mistic make-up. Like all such natures, he was 
 strongly inclined to accept the inexplicable as 
 the veracious. He did not hide in dark places 
 with his theories and credulousness. His friends 
 knew them, and he and they smiled over them. 
 Once, when ex-President Cleveland, William H. 
 Crane, and he were preparing for a fishing ex- 
 pedition, an enthusiastic expounder of occult 
 doctrines was holding forth. 
 
 " What do you say to that ? " triumphantly 
 exclaimed Jefferson, as some strange and inscru- 
 table happening was recounted. 
 
 "Wonderful ! " replied Mr. Cleveland. 
 
 Thus encouraged, the advocate launched a flow 
 
 339 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 of eloquence at the ex-President, who, checking 
 him, said : 
 
 "Tell it to Jefferson; he'll believe anything." 
 Sifted of all isms and ists, to do good was 
 Jefferson's religion, and the whole world the 
 place he selected, or perhaps the place for which 
 he was especially selected, to do it in. He be- 
 lieved in the soul's immortality, and that he 
 should see in another sphere those he had loved 
 and lost in this. He attributed the fact that in all 
 his years of travel he had never been in a railway 
 or a steamship accident, nor even seen one, to 
 the special guidance of God, and " with malice 
 towards none, with charity for all," he probably 
 came nearer than most people in this utilitarian 
 age to living what is called " the Christian life." 
 
 With his valued and long-time friend Charles 
 A. Walker and the Dutch artist, Albert Neuhuys, 
 I visited him at Buzzards Bay in the summer of 
 1904. He looked wan and frailer than usual, 
 and I found the family had despaired of his re- 
 covery from an illness of the previous season. I 
 did not feel much concern for his health, for I 
 had come to believe that, like Macbeth, he bore 
 
 " a charmed life," and that it was not unlikely he 
 
 340 
 
MR. JEFFERSON, C. A. WALKER, AND CHARLES BURKE 
 
 JEFFERSON ON ONE OF THEIR MANY FISHING 
 
 EXPEDITIONS 
 
 From a photograph, by courtesy of Mrs. Roland Nickerson 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 would make good his humorous threat of outliv- 
 ing me. He came to the station to greet us, and 
 he expressed delight at the courtesy paid in com- 
 ing so far to see him. Always a charming host, 
 he was especially so during this visit, modestly 
 showing the distinguished Dutch artist all the 
 natural and acquired treasures of his home. Ten- 
 der was his half-reluctant, half-anxious attitude in 
 exhibiting to the insistent Netherlander his studio 
 and canvases. I found some moments alone 
 with him, and we chatted over past and even pro- 
 spective matters. He took me to the studio. 
 As we passed through the garden, he pointed out 
 some lath supports made by himself to engirdle 
 his tomato vines. "The saddest thing in old 
 age," he said, " is the absence of expectation. 
 You no longer look forward to things. Now a 
 garden is all expectation " and here, the ridicu- 
 lous presenting itself to his mind, he said swiftly, 
 with his characteristic smile "and you often 
 get a lot you don't expect." Then resuming the 
 serious vein he continued: "Therefore I have 
 become a gardener. My boy, when you are past 
 seventy, don't forget to cultivate a garden. It is 
 all expectation." Dear'man, he had been a horti- 
 
 341 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 culturist all his life long ! And the flowers he 
 tended were woven into wreaths of smiles and 
 garlands of happiness for the multitude. 
 
 In September, 1904, he was again taken ill, 
 and his projected tour for the fall and spring was 
 abandoned. He remained at his home, " Crow's 
 Nest, Buzzards Bay, for a while, and then made 
 a brief trip to New York. He journeyed thence, 
 by easy stages, to his Florida residence, "The 
 Reefe," at Palm Beach. 
 
 In Washington, on his way South, he stopped 
 with his friend Dr. George Barrie. I was just 
 leaving that city as he arrived, and had only time 
 to pay him courtesy over the telephone. Once 
 in Florida, he alternately grew weaker and stronger, 
 and at one time high hopes were entertained 
 of his complete recovery. There was some 
 expression of his intention to return to active 
 professional duty. Soon, however, came his de- 
 termination, in the event of fully restored health, 
 never to play again. It is to be doubted whether 
 he had ever been called upon to make a more 
 difficult decision, one that affected him more 
 deeply. 
 
 Some faint idea may be gained, then, of the 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 love and veneration he bore his art, of the fas- 
 cination it had for him, when we view him here, 
 past threescore years and ten, ill, but with all 
 
 "That which should accompany old age, 
 As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, Jr 
 
 hesitating about abandoning his profession. 
 
 He took several days of silent consideration 
 of the matter, and quietly made his decision 
 known to friends and family. 
 
 " I shall never act again," he said. cc It will 
 seem strange to me at first to act no more, but I 
 shall soon get used to it. I now begin, what I 
 have looked forward to these many years my 
 long, long holiday, in which I shall uninterrupt- 
 edly enjoy nature in outdoor life, my painting, 
 my books, and pleasant companionship with wife, 
 children, and dear friends. I begin my holiday 
 at last." 
 
 I wrote him, expressing the hope that his 
 decision was not irrevocable, that he would con- 
 sent to take his farewell, in the metropolis, of 
 Rip, of Bob, and of Caleb. 
 
 I had in mind such an event as the glorious 
 exits of Kemble, Macready, Munden, and Lester 
 
 343 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 Wallack. He answered that it was impossible to 
 act upon the suggestion I offered, for reasons he 
 would explain when we met. He ended his letter 
 and his last earthly communication to me with : 
 " I am still a very sick man, but I am well enough 
 to wish you success in your new undertaking." 
 
 Jefferson's last appearance on any stage was 
 made, May 7, 1904, at Paterson, New Jersey, as 
 Caleb Plummer in Boucicault's stage adaptation 
 of Dickens's " The Cricket on the Hearth," and 
 Mr. Golightly in John Madison Morton's farce 
 of " Lend Me Five Shillings." " His dramatic 
 career," quoting William Winter, "accordingly 
 covered a period of seventy-one years. It has 
 been a blessing to the world, and has been 
 illustrious to the last." 
 
 Dr. Johnson declared that Garrick's death had 
 " eclipsed the gayety of nations and impoverished 
 the public stock of harmless pleasures," a flight 
 of rhetoric warranted by the intimacy and mutual 
 affection of the two men. Jefferson, of late 
 years, had not kept himself so much in the 
 public eye as formerly, playing but a limited 
 number of weeks each season, and in his increas- 
 ing years constantly suggesting the inevitable. 
 
 344 
 
MR. JEFFERSON ON HIS SEVENTY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY 
 
 (February 20, 1905) 
 
 From a photograph taken at Palm Beach, Fla. Probably the last 
 one taken of Jefferson 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 But if his death had occurred ten or fifteen 
 years ago, the grief at his loss would have been 
 more acute, and the remark of Johnson would 
 have been more nearly applicable to him than 
 to Garrick, for Jefferson was known and loved 
 in three continents, England, Australia, and 
 America. 
 
 To the riff-raff of society, the man about 
 town, the chronic first-nighter, ever on the look- 
 out for something new to whet a jaded appetite ; 
 to the thoughtless, frivolous, and shallow-pated, 
 Jefferson's art meant nothing, this to his honor. 
 It was in the minds and hearts of the intellectual 
 and refined, and in the souls of the " plain 
 people " that Jefferson was securely enthroned. 
 Women, remembering the happiness he had 
 afforded them and their children, affectionately 
 touched his coat as they brushed by him and 
 passed respectfully on, and men, standing before 
 his crape-draped photograph, exhibited in a pho- 
 tographer's window, raised their hats in token 
 of respect and affection. These were touching 
 tributes, indeed, to Jefferson the play actor, to 
 Jefferson the man, whom people honored them- 
 selves in honoring. 
 
 345 
 
JOSEPH JEFFERSON 
 
 I have always wished it might have been Jef- 
 ferson's lot to pass away upon the stage, not, 
 as his great-great-grandmother had done, in a 
 fit of laughter, nor as Edmund Kean had ended 
 his days of acting, when, sinking into his son's 
 arms, he exclaimed, " I am dying ; speak to 
 them for me ! " nor yet as Betterton or Peg 
 Woffington, who were forced by sudden illness 
 to close their careers, after which they lingered. 
 The passing of Jefferson, it always seemed to me, 
 would have been appropriately beautiful if, in the 
 sleep scene of " Rip Van Winkle," he had one 
 night never awaked. In the fervor of my imagi- 
 nation I could see the awe-filled audience filing 
 silently from the theatre, careful lest by some 
 inadvertency they might disturb the dreams of 
 Rip, now, indeed, at rest with the ages in an 
 eternal sleep. A gracious Providence selected 
 as the day of his going hence that on which 
 Shakespeare was born, that Shakespeare who 
 was Joseph Jefferson's Bible. 
 
 346 
 
THE GRAVE OF JEFFERSON AT SANDWICH, MASS. 
 Bas-relief by Charles A. Walker 
 
INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 ACRES, BOB, on Charles A. Abbe's 
 picture of Jefferson as, 286. 
 
 Adams, Edwin, 159. 
 
 Adams, Gus, Jefferson's opinion 
 of, 250. 
 
 Adams, Maude, 65. 
 
 Anderson, Mary, Jefferson's opin- 
 ion of, 251 ; as Juliet, 269, 
 270. 
 
 Autobiography, Jefferson's: how 
 he came to write it, 236-237; 
 brief extracts from, 331-333. 
 
 BARRETT, Lawrence, 167. 
 
 Barrie, J. M., his "Little Minis- 
 ter," 65. 
 
 Barrymore, Maurice, anecdote of, 
 218. 
 
 Benedict, E. C., publishes Jeffer- 
 son's lines on " Immortality," 
 178. 
 
 Booth, Edwin, Jefferson's friend, 
 142 ; Jefferson's opinion of, 
 142, 143-148, 250; Jefferson's 
 opinions of his roles, 212, 213; 
 Jefferson's opinion of his ap- 
 pearance as a young man, 213; 
 in minstrels, 249. 
 
 Boucicault, Dion, his version of 
 "Rip," 34; Jefferson's opinion 
 of, 41 ; Jefferson meets, 159; 
 Jefferson on his version of 
 " Rip," 266 ; on his acting, 267 ; 
 his income, 267 ; his memory, 
 268; Jefferson's opinion of his 
 
 performance in "The Octo- 
 roon," 269. 
 
 Brougham, John, Jefferson meets, 
 162. 
 
 Buckstone, J. B., anecdote of, 117. 
 
 Burke, " Charley," Jefferson's 
 opinion of, 29 ; Jefferson's 
 reminiscence of appearance 
 with, 77; Jefferson's tribute to, 
 in his Autobiography, 157; 
 Jefferson's opinion of his ' Rip," 
 266. 
 
 Burton, William E., engages Jef- 
 ferson, 156. 
 
 Byron, on actors and acting, 230. 
 
 " CALEB PLUMMER," Jefferson as, 
 35, 41, 160, 177. 
 
 Clarke, J. S., in minstrels, 249. 
 
 Cleveland, Ex-President Grover, 
 Jefferson's companion of the 
 fly and rod, 49; anecdotes of 
 Cleveland and Jefferson, 55, 56, 
 58, 59; letters to the author, 56, 
 57 ; on Mr. Benedict's yacht, 
 "Oneida," with Jefferson, 178. 
 
 Coburn, " Joe/' Jefferson's meet- 
 ing with, 252. 
 
 Coquelin, C., 112, 259. 
 
 Corot, Jefferson on, 1 2 ; Jeffer- 
 son's opinion of his painting of 
 " St. Sebastian," 229 ; Jefferson 
 on his work, 294, 301. 
 
 Couldock, C. W., 189. 
 
 Crane, W. IL, in All-Star Cast of 
 
 349 
 
INDEX 
 
 "The Rivals," 211; Jefferson's 
 
 opinion of his play, " A Fool 
 
 of Fortune," 240. 
 
 Curtis, G. W., 327. 
 
 DAUBIGNY, Jefferson's opinion 
 of his painting, "The Coming 
 Storm," 224. 
 
 Davenport, E. L., not mentioned 
 in Jefferson's " Autobiography," 
 231 ; tribute to, 232. 
 
 Davenport, Fanny, Jefferson's 
 apology for not mentioning her 
 father in his Autobiography, 
 231 ; Jefferson's letter of apol- 
 ogy, 232. 
 
 Dean, Julia, 158; Jefferson's first 
 sweetheart, 269 ; as Juliet, 269 ; 
 letter from Jefferson to the 
 author about, 270 ; grave at 
 Port Jervis, N. Y., 308. 
 
 Decamps, Jefferson's opinion of 
 his painting, " Suicide," 223; of 
 his work, 224. 
 
 De Neuville, Jefferson offered his 
 painting, " In the Trenches," 
 for $300, 224 ; opinion of his 
 work, 225 ; contrasts his work 
 with Detaille's, 226. 
 
 Detaill e, Jefferson contrasts his 
 work with De Neuville's, 226. 
 
 Devlin, Mary, 145-146, 159. 
 
 Diaz, Jefferson on, 12. 
 
 Dickens, Charles, Jefferson on, 
 
 irs- 1 ;;, 238. 
 
 Don, Sir William, 158. 
 
 Drake, Mrs. A., 164. 
 
 Drama, the, its advantage over 
 music, 238. 
 
 Drew, Mrs., 198; talks over old 
 times with Jefferson, 203; her 
 opinion of the elder Booth, 204 ; 
 corroborates William Warren's 
 disappointment in Dickens as a 
 reader, 206; anecdote of, 213; 
 
 Jefferson's opinion of her " Mrs. 
 Malaprop," 235; her interpola- 
 tion in the role of Mrs. Mala- 
 prop, 255 ; funeral of, 302-303. 
 Dupre, Jefferson on, 12. 
 
 ELLSLER, John, Jefferson allies 
 himself with, 158. 
 
 FALSTAFF, Jefferson on, 299-301. 
 
 Fechter, Charles, 163. 
 
 Field, Eugene, 24; Jefferson on, 
 244. 
 
 Florence, William, on Jefferson's 
 Acres, 8 ; as Sir Lucius O'Trig- 
 ger in " The Rivals," 99 ; last 
 appearance with Jefferson as 
 Sir Lucius O'Trigger, 100. 
 
 Ford, John T., Jefferson stage- 
 manager for, 1 59. 
 
 Forrest, Edwin, Jefferson meets, 
 I 59> Jefferson's description of, 
 165; Jefferson's opinion of his 
 appearance as a young man, 
 213. 
 
 Fortuny, Jefferson's opinion of 
 his painting, " The Snake 
 Charmer," 224. 
 
 Furness, Dr. Horace Howard, 
 3- 
 
 GARRICK, David, 4, 17, 101, 102. 
 Gilbert, John, Jefferson stock 
 
 comedian under, 158. 
 Gilder, R. W., 196, 236-237. 
 Glessing,"Tom," Jeff erson meets, 
 
 156. 
 Goodwin, " Nat," Jefferson's opin- 
 
 ion of his imitations, 66 ; in All- 
 
 Star Cast of "The Rivals," 
 
 2ii ; as "David Garrick" and 
 
 " Golightly," 261. 
 Grant, General Ulysses S., anec- 
 
 dote of, 31. 
 
 35 
 
INDEX 
 
 " HAMLET/' Jefferson on the play, 
 
 309-310. 
 Hill, Barton, 46. 
 Holland, George, 163. 
 Holland, J. J., Jefferson stands as 
 
 his godfather, 202. 
 Howard, Bronson, 107. 
 Howells, W. D., 153, 236. 
 Hutton, Laurence, 252. 
 
 INGERSOLL, Robert, letter from 
 Jefferson to, 208. 
 
 Irving, Sir Henry, disapproves of 
 Jefferson's idea of Macbeth, 69 ; 
 Jefferson sees Irving as Mac- 
 beth, 10 ; Jefferson discusses 
 Macbeth with Irving, 71 ; pre- 
 sents cane used by the first 
 Sir Peter Teazle to Jefferson, 
 244; Jefferson on, 251, 259. 
 
 Irving, Washington, 164, 252. 
 
 Israels, Jefferson on, 12, 94-96. 
 
 JARRETT, Henry C., Jefferson 
 stage-manager for, 158; on 
 Boucicault's income, 267. 
 
 Jefferson, Charles Burke, named 
 for "Joe," Jefferson's half- 
 brother, 262. 
 
 Jefferson, Joseph, Autobiography, 
 3, 6, 151 ; sense of humor, 12, 
 339; tablet on house he was 
 born in, 19 ; on happiness, 25 ; 
 first appearance, 20 ; his love of 
 the role he made famous, 37-38 ; 
 his recreations, 46; his grand- 
 father, Joseph Jefferson, ist, 
 47 ; his father, Joseph Jeffer- 
 son, 2d, 47 ; death of his father, 
 47 ; chief support of his mother 
 at thirteen, 48 ; his pastimes, 48 ; 
 his love of nature, 60; on art, 
 61, 62, 63 ; methods of painting, 
 62, 74-; opinion of success, 65 ; 
 on women, 65; art collection 
 
 of, So ; a connoisseur of art, 79- 
 8 1 ; as an artist, 82 ; first exhi- 
 bition of his paintings in Wash- 
 ington, 1899, 84, 85; second 
 exhibition in Washington, 86; 
 as a lecturer, 97 ; on acting and 
 oratory, 100 ; on genius and 
 art, 100 ; on the stage as a 
 career for women, 103-104 ; on 
 acting, 108-113, II 7> verses 
 on Shakespeare-Bacon contro- 
 versy, 121-125 > answers to ques- 
 tions after Chautauqua address, 
 138-142 ; the author, 149 ; first 
 appearances in " Poor Gentle- 
 man," " Rivals," and " Heir-at- 
 Law," 1 58 ; first appearance in 
 a Broadway theatre, 160; loses 
 his wife, 161 ; marries again, 
 162 ; lunches at Star and Garter 
 with Browning, Kingsley, and 
 G. A. Sala, 163 ; on " Success 
 on the Stage," 167-175; lines 
 on " Immortality," 178-181 ; 
 conducts rehearsal of All-Star 
 Cast in "The Rivals," 201 ; 
 talks over old times with Mrs. 
 Drew, 203; in Ail-Star Cast 
 of "The Rivals," 211 ; opinion 
 of the profession, 212 ; on music, 
 214; on happiness, 215; on 
 acting, 221-222 ; on modern 
 Dutch painters, 222 ; on art 
 223 ; on fraudulent pictures and 
 art in America, 226, 227 ; visit 
 to Rookwood Pottery, 231, 233; 
 on music and drama, 238, 239 ; 
 on the drama, 242, 243 ; as 
 " Brudder Bones," 248 ; on the 
 chances of his being remem- 
 bered, 251 ; some of his remi- 
 niscences, 256 ; on plays and 
 literature, 257-259; list of ten 
 plays other than Shakespeare's 
 he considered good literature, 
 
 35 1 
 
INDEX 
 
 257-258 ; on the All-Star Com- 
 pany in " The Rivals," 271; on 
 modern improvements, 27 1-272 ; 
 quotes Sir Lucius, 275-279; 
 burning of his home at Buzzards 
 Bay, 281-283; on tne distinc- 
 tion between artist and actor, 
 295 ; his disposition of the day, 
 316; letter from Jan Larue, 
 323 ; his acting, 326-328 ; G. W. 
 Curtis on his "Rip," 327-328; 
 Henry Watterson's tribute 
 to, 330; brief extracts from 
 Autobiography, 331-333 ; re- 
 ligion, 338; last appearance, 
 344- 
 
 KEAN, Mr. and Mrs. Charles, 
 Jefferson acts with, 155; Jeffer- 
 son's portraiture of, 161. 
 
 Kean, Edmund, Jefferson's opin- 
 ion of, 212. 
 
 Keller, Helen, Jefferson on, 314- 
 
 3*5 
 
 Kemble, Jefferson's opinion of, 
 
 28. 
 Kemble, E. W., story of hunting 
 
 excursion with Jefferson, 54. 
 Kemble, Fanny, as a reader, 116. 
 
 LAMB, Charles, 229; on Munden's 
 acting, 326. 
 
 Lewes, George Henry, Jeffer- 
 son's opinion of, 28, 119. 
 
 Longfellow, anecdote of, 163. 
 
 Lounsbury, Prof. Thomas R., on 
 Jefferson's first public lecture 
 at the Yale Art School, 128-131. 
 
 MACBETH, Jefferson's idea of, 69. 
 McCullough, John, 167. 
 Macready, Jefferson's opinion of, 
 
 28 ; anecdote of, 253. 
 Marlowe, Julia, in All-Star Cast 
 
 of " The Rivals," 211, 239. 
 
 Mauve, Jefferson on, 12, 301. 
 
 Millet, Jefferson on, 12; Jeffer- 
 son's opinion of his painting, 
 "The Sheepfold," 225; of his 
 work, 225. 
 
 Mitchell, Maggie, 167. 
 
 Modjeska, 167. 
 
 Mo watt, Anna Cora, Jefferson 
 acts with, 155. 
 
 Murdoch, James E., as a reader, 
 116; in "School for Scandal," 
 158 ; Jefferson's opinion of, 260. 
 
 NEUHUYS, Jefferson on, 12. 
 
 " OCTOROON, THE," Jefferson as 
 Salem Scudder in, 41, 160 ; Bou- 
 cicault's play, 268 ; Boucicault's 
 performance in, 269. 
 
 Ole Bull, Jefferson on, 301. 
 
 " Our American Cousin," Jeffer- 
 son as Asa Trenchard in, 160. 
 
 Owens, John E., Jefferson sees, 
 156, 297. 
 
 PAGANINI, Jefferson on, 301. 
 Payne, John Howard, 164. 
 Peale, Rembrandt, 297-298. 
 Pepys, his dislike of " Midsummer 
 
 Night's Dream," 120. 
 Power, Tyrone, 160. 
 
 READE, Charles, advises Jeffer- 
 son, 162. 
 
 Rembrandt, Jefferson's opinion 
 of, 12, 149. 
 
 Rice, Fanny, her baby's birthday, 
 246. 
 
 Rice, T. D., as " Jim Crow," 77, 
 248. 
 
 "Rip Van Winkle," Jefferson's 
 opinion of, 30 ; first suggestion 
 of, 33; various versions, 34; pop- 
 ular version by Dion Boucicault 
 performed first in England, 34 ; 
 
 35* 
 
INDEX 
 
 Jefferson's revision of Bouci- 
 cault's version, 36; Jefferson's 
 love of the role, 37, 38; com- 
 pany at first sceptical of its 
 success, 39 ; Jefferson in wak- 
 ing up scene, 104, 105; James 
 K. Hackett as, 155; Jefferson 
 produces, in Australia, 161 ; 
 dramatic element, 161 ; text of 
 play published, 175 ; Jeffer- 
 son on his presentation of the 
 character, 224 ; hold on the 
 public, 251 ; Jefferson on the 
 absurdities in, 263; Jefferson 
 on, 265-267 ; Jefferson on Burke 
 as, 266; Jefferson on Bouci- 
 cault's version of, 266. 
 
 "Rivals, The" (All-Star Cast), 
 1896, 19 ; last appearance to- 
 gether of Jefferson and Florence 
 in, 99-100 ; Jefferson defends his 
 alteration of, 107; Jefferson's 
 first appearance in, 1 58 ; Jeffer- 
 son reappears in, 164 ; All-Star 
 performance, 182 ; Sheridan's 
 opinion of, 182; history of the 
 play, 182-186; William Win- 
 ter's opinion of Jefferson as 
 Acres, 186; first performance 
 of Jefferson's revised version, 
 188 ; tour of Ail-Star Company 
 in, 189; letters of Jefferson re- 
 garding All-Star Cast, 190-197 ; 
 All-Star rehearsal, 199 ; first 
 appearance of All-Star Cast in, 
 209; flashlight photograph of 
 All-Star Company, 247-248; 
 Jefferson on the All-Star Com- 
 pany, in, 271 ; Wilson on the 
 All-Star Company in, 273-279. 
 
 Robertson, Agnes, Jefferson 
 meets, 159; in "Caleb Plum- 
 mer," 160. 
 
 Robertson, " Tom," Jefferson 
 meets, 162. 
 
 Robson, Stuart, anecdote of Jef- 
 ferson, 334. 
 
 " Romeo and Juliet," Jefferson on 
 balcony scene, 269. 
 
 Rousseau, Jefferson's opinion of, 
 12, 223, 230. 
 
 Russell, Irwin, Jefferson's opin- 
 ion of his poems, 273. 
 
 " SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL," Jeffer- 
 son appears in, 158. 
 
 Sefton, John, 46. 
 
 Shakespeare, Jefferson on, 69-73, 
 101-103, 258, 294 ; John Fiske 
 on the Bacon-Shakespeare con- 
 troversy, 313. 
 
 Sherman, General Wm. T., anec- 
 dote, 33. 
 
 Siddons, Mrs., Jefferson's opinion 
 of, 27 ; on unhappiness of her 
 old age, 242. 
 
 Sothern, E. A., 53. 
 
 Stevens, Sara, 160. 
 
 Stoddart, J. H., Jefferson's tribute 
 to, 232. 
 
 TABER, Robert, Jefferson's opin- 
 ion of his Jack Absolute, 236. 
 
 Talma, on acting, 329. 
 
 Thackeray, W. M., Jefferson on, 
 138- 
 
 Theatrical Trust, Jefferson's atti- 
 tude toward, 336. 
 
 Thome, Charles R. and Edwin, 
 anecdote of, 217, 218. 
 
 Trollope, Anthony, 162. 
 
 Troypn, Jefferson's opinion of his 
 painting, " Cattle," 223 ; of his 
 work, 225-226, 291-293. 
 
 WARD, Artemus, 53, 162. 
 
 Warren, William, 163 ; Jefferson's 
 enjoyment of his adverse com- 
 ment, 164 ; Jefferson's tribute 
 
 353 
 
INDEX 
 
 to, 164; on "Success on the 
 Stage," 167. 
 
 Watterson, Henry, 330, 337. 
 
 Weir, Professor, reception to All- 
 Star Cast, 219. 
 
 Weston, Lizzie, 159. 
 
 Winter, William, opinion of Jef- 
 ferson as Acres, 186. 
 
 Wood, Mrs. John, 160. 
 Wyndham, Charles, 162. 
 
 YOUNG, John Russell, 310, 311, 
 312, 318. 
 
 ZANGWILL, I., his attack on the 
 stage, 38. 
 
 354 
 
RETURN 
 
 TO ^ 
 
 MAIN CIRCULATION 
 
 ALL BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO RECALL 
 RENEW BOOKS BY CALLING 642-3405 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 LIBRARY USE ONL 
 
 MAY 26 1994 
 
 CIRCULATION DEP '. 
 
 FORM NO. DD6 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 
 BERKELEY, CA 94720 
 
U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 CDM77fl7fl73