liifeandArtof dvuin Booth M L THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GIFT OF Robert Koshland '/iAYAY in the ' Life of an Actress' a play of Mr. Boucicault's, in which he appeared as Grimaldi. On Sept. 15 of the same year, the ' Relief of Lucknow ' was revived at Drury Lane, Mrs. Boucicault playing her old part, Jessie Brown j on Dec. 22 the play appeared at Astley's Westminster Theatre, the management of which Mr. Boucicault then assumed. At Astley's, too, she gave Jeanie Deans, in the 'Heart of Midlothian,' on Monday, Jan. 26, 1863. At the Princess's, March 22, 1865, Mr. and Mrs. Boucicault appeared in his delightful drama, ' Arrah-na-Pogue ' ; and at the Lyceum Theatre, Sept. 1 8, 1866, she acted Jane Learoyd in his * Long Strike.' They appeared at the Gaiety Theatre, London, on May 4, 1872, in 'Night and Morning,' an adaptation of ' La Joie Fait Peur,' and later the same season in various other of Mr. Boucicault's productions. In September, 1872, after an absence of twelve years from America, they appeared at Booth's Theatre, New York, in 'Arrah-na-Pogue,' and in October Mrs. Boucicault repeated her old triumphs as Jessie Brown. Thereafter they played elsewhere through- out the United States. Mr. Boucicault produced the ' Shaughraun ' at Wallack's Theatre, New York, Nov. 14, 1874, and acted in it himself. Returning to London, Mrs. Boucicault played the part of Moya, in the ' Shaughraun,' at Drury Lane, Sept. 4, 1875. In June, 1878, Mrs. Boucicault appeared in ' Love and Life,' a dramatization of one of Crabbe's ' Tales of MR- AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. 83 the Hall,' by Mr. Tom Taylor. She was again at Booth's Theatre, New York, in Feb., 1879, where she was seen as Eily O'Connor and others of her old favorite parts ; and she soon after quietly retired from the stage. Mr. Boucicault produced a five-act comedy called the ' Jilt,' in San Francisco, in the sum- mer of 1885, and took it to New York and to London in the following year. Mr. Boucicault is a playwright of exceeding dexter- ity and a comedian of consummate skill. His plays are so many as to be almost numberless ; they are farces, comedies, operas, burlesques, dramas and melodramas ; they are original, adapted from the French, and taken from novels ; they are sometimes very good, and sometimes very bad. The best of them may be divided into two groups : the Irish plays and the plays in which an attempt is made to continue the traditions and to fill the formulas of the so-called " old comedies." Of these latter, ' London Assur- ance ' is the best known, although it is no better than the ' Irish Heiress,' and not so good as * Old Heads and Young Hearts.' They have all a certain glitter- ing hardness, which has suggested the remark that they were the work of an old heart and a young head. The Irish plays, on the other hand, have a gentleness, a softness, a pathos, a humanity not seen in Mr. Boucicault's other work. These qualities are most abundant in ' Arrah-na-Pogue,' which is only a trifle broader and finer than the ' Colleen Bawn ' or the 1 Shaughraun.' As an actor Mr. Boucicault has con- fined himself to parts in his own plays, adroitly pre- pared for his own acting. Miss Agnes Robertson was a talented, a cultivated, 84 MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. and a most attractive actress : endearing herself to the generation of play-goers who knew her, and who loved her, by the womanly charm of her own individ- uality, ever present in all her personations, appealing to every heart before her. Her range of representa- tion was not extensive, but, within the limits of her powers, she was, in all ways, admirable as the artist, winning as the woman. It was this winsome woman- liness, shining softly and subtly out through every environment of costume and of character, which made an unconscious but imperative demand on all sympathies, and even called forth affection ; filling up our appreciation of and praise for the accom- plished actress. She seemed, on the scene, in every variety of part and of play, the ideal embodiment of innocence, artlessness, sweetness, simplicity ; moving with a grace, speaking with an intelligence, which took captive mind and heart, at once. In the juvenile comedy of her earliest days, and in boys' parts, she was bright and bewitching ; showing a mingled dash and delicacy most rare on the boards. In the com- monplace Protean personations, at one time so popular, she gave a bouncing Irish boy, a stolid German lad, a sprightly Scotch lassie, and all the rest ; each done daintily, each with its own proper patois , all graceful to look at. As the pert and pretty soubrette, she was charmingly coquettish, capricious, captivating. But in none of these, nor in similar light characters, did she seem to show real humor rarest gift of all to her sex, indeed ; it was in serious, and even sad, scenes, that she was more at home ; and her nature ap- peared more appropriately to lend itself, even then, to pathetic parts. Her sweetness, her susceptibility, MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. 85 her submission under suffering, her uncomplaining courage and unrepining resignation beneath unde- served persecution, her pretty, pathetic, girlish charm; all this formed her more fully than any actress I have known, for such parts as Dot, Eily O'Connor, Jeanie Deans, and made them, in her person, the most touch- ing of scenic assumptions. In these parts and in Smike as well, the wretched, starved, beaten, crushed creature, yet with a human heart, torn by tenderness and by thankfulness, she was wont to win the tribute of tears from unwonted and unwilling sources. Vivid as are these personations in my memory, I yet always see Agnes Robertson clad in the costume of Jessie Brown : the sweet and simple Scotch girl, patient, cheerful, heroic, loveable, moving quietly amid all the misery of besieged Lucknow. The Indian mutiny had, just then, fed us full of horrors ; so that all men were well attuned to the key-note of this poor play. This was taken from a story fresh from the field ; which told how a small English gar- rison, holding out to the last against sickness, starva- tion, the shots of encircling Sepoys, was saved, just at the end, by the English advance, the coming of which was perceived, at the critical instant of sur- render, by the quick ear of a Scotch servant-maid, who heard before any other, the far-away strains of the bag- pipes, leading the van of the friendly force of High- landers. I see Agnes Robertson, as I write in my mind's eye sitting silently in the centre of the beleaguered camp, amid worn women, wailing children, disheart- ened men ; the deep stillness of the scene, after all the foregoing action and turmoil : speaking plainly 86 MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. of something imminent : deadly or delightful, we do not know : only that it is near. The Scotch girl, listless and speechless, seems suddenly to listen ; starts slightly, bends her neck, her eye dilating, her hand half held up ; listening more and more intently, to what, we can not hear, nor those about her. More and more eager she grows ; she leaps to her feet, her frame fills and towers, her whole soul is in her eyes, her face flames gladly, madly ; with an exultant cry that thrills us, she tells them that safety and life have come at last ! Then, the shrill bag-pipes squeak, nearer, and nearer, the musketry rattles all around, the scurrying Sepoys swarm in before the hurrying High- land bayonets flashing all about, all is tumult, triumph, thanksgiving ; in the midst, rapt and radiant, stands Jessie rown y fixed fast forever in our fancy so. BENJAMIN ELLIS MARTIN. Among the reminiscences of the past twenty years few figures present themselves as more lovely, delicate and gifted than that of Agnes Robertson Mrs. Bouci- cault. She was a genre picture, so small, gentil, pretty and acceptable. I first remember her in Effie Deans, I think, a profoundly affecting and impressive bit of acting. Then in many pieces where she danced, sang, and performed variety parts. She had the prettiest of ballad voices, was always unaffected in the use of it. She never condescended to the trill or cadenza, but sang her song through serenely, and according to the text. A bird would not give his " native wood- notes wild " more charmingly than she did. Her Smike was a terribly tearful thing ; I never liked to AGNES R. BOUCICAULT. MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. 87 see it ; it haunted me ; but her Jessie Brown, in the ' Siege of Lucknow' (I am not sure about my names, but I remember the thing), was most beautiful. I see now the pretty little figure, the big foot and ankle, the delicate little head with a plaid shawl thrown over it, as weakened by starvation, the Scotch girl, with her second sight, and her preternaturally sharpened senses, hears the sound of the pibroch. Then comes up a very pretty piece in which she and Mr. Boucicault played beautifully, called ' Pauvrette.' The scene laid in Switzerland, the scenery beautiful. " The ava- lanche that thunderbolt of snow," was admirably managed. The young couple are snowed up for the winter, and the wild storm that raged was not greater than the excitement which prevailed in the hearts of the audience as to their probable fate. I believe it was supposed that they finally escaped. M. E. W. SHERWOOD, in the New York Times, July 4, 1875. We have heretofore alluded to the Miss Agnes Rob- ertson of long ago ; and now a memory steals in upon us of her de'but at Burton's, and of her enchanting performance in the Protean play of the ' Young Act- ress.' Of the half-dozen parts assumed, the Scotch lassie and the Irish lad still haunt us. The highland fling of the one, and the ' Widow Machree ' of the other, were charming to see and hear ; and, indeed, Miss Robertson was charming altogether. WM. L. KEESE : * Life of Burton,' /. 90. Then somewhere along here, I think in a summer season, comes a vision of Boucicault playing the * Vam- 88 MR, AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. pire,' a dreadful and weird thing, played with immor- tal genius. That great playwright would not have died unknown had he never done anything but flap his bat-like arms in that dream-disturbing piece. M. E. W. SHERWOOD, in the New York Times, Jan. 20, 1875. For himself, Mr. Boucicault selects the character of Myles-na-Coppaleen, the plebeian Irishman of scampish propensities, who alternates native shrewdness and pathos after a fashion familiar to those who are accus- tomed to the theatrical Hibernian. His consummate slyness, his dexterity at prevarication, and his evident enjoyment when he feels that he has baffled too curious an investigator, are admirably delineated, though he is less " rollicking " than most of the artists who have shown in Milesian character. The Times, London, Sept. n, 1860. Mr. Boucicault's portraiture of the, by turns, obse- quious, courteous, and indignant Grimaldi was in all respects a masterpiece of histrionic ability. What is technically called the " make-up " was complete ; and his manner throughout was true to the natural bearing of a man fallen into misfortune, but conscious of noble birth and noble feelings. He showed, too, some extraordinary powers. While teaching his pupil he has to point out to her how Rachel delivered a par- ticular speech and finds it necessary to resort to the original French. This feat he brilliantly accomplished. His nervous anxiety for his debutante's success on the provincial stage, and his passionate disappointment when he misses her from the next scene and learns the story of her abduction were both admirably delin- MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. 89 eated. These things place Mr. Boucicault in the front rank as an artist of versatile abilities and a com- prehensive mind. The Athenceum, London, March 8, 1862. It may be said that he reached the climax of his fame as an actor and dramatic author in 1860 with the production of the ' Colleen Bawn.' His merits as an actor were probably best exhibited in that play, and his later production, the ' Shaughraun.' Mr. Boucicault cannot be said to be entitled to the dis- tinction of being designated an original writer. His most popular plays are adaptations ; but no modern dramatic author has said better things on the stage than Mr. Boucicault in those plays. CHAS. EYRE PASCOE : the ' Dramatic List.' Bou- cicault. For example : the usual price received by Sheri- dan Knowles, Bulwer, and Talfourd at that time for their plays was ^500. I was a beginner in 1841, and received for my comedy ' London Assurance,' ^300. For that amount the manager bought the privilege of playing the work for his season. Three years later I offered a new play to a principal London theatre. The manager offered me ;ioo for it. In reply to my objection to the smallness of the sum he remarked, " I can go to Paris and select a first-class comedy ; having seen it performed, I feel certain of its effect. To get this comedy translated will cost me ^25. Why should I give you ^"300 or ^500 for your comedy of the success of which I cannot feel so assured ? " The argument was unanswerable and the 90 MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. result inevitable. I sold a work for ^100 that took me six months' hard work to compose, and accepted a commission to translate three French plays at ^50 apiece. This work afforded me child's play for a fortnight. Thus the English dramatist was obliged either to relinquish the stage altogether or to become a French copyist. DION BOUCICAULT, in the North American Review, September, 1877. Mr. Boucicault with his four hundred plays may be regarded as one of the most prolific writers in the whole history of literature. We know of no other pen that can approach his in this respect. There are plenty of playwrights who have written plenty of plays, unaccepted, and never likely to see the light of the foot-lights ; but all of Mr. Boucicault's four hundred plays have been " played," and abused, and derided, and played again. They have been received as standard, and are likely to be long lived ; while some of his characters are almost destined to be im- mortal. Jesse Rural, Dolly Spanker , and Lady Gay we venture to assert will live as long as Sir Anthony Absolute, Lady Teazle, or as Tony Lumpkin himself. As a producer of plays and not as a player, will Mr. Boucicault be remembered by posterity ; still Mr. Boucicault is by no means a poor player : his Grim- aldi in his own * Life of an Actress,' his Nana Sahib in * Jessie Brown,' his Bernard in ' Pauvrette,' his Spectre in the * Vampire,' his Counsel for the Defence in the ' Heart of Midlothian,' his Myles-na-Coppaleen in the * Colleen Bawn,' his Mantalini in * Smike,' and his Wah-no-tee in the ' Octoroon,' in other days, MR. AND MRb. DION BOUCICAULT. 91 were all strongly played ; while in these days his Daddy O'Dowd, his Kerry, and his Conn the Shaugh- raun are inimitable. In all of these late plays in which he has himself assumed the central and titular part, his object, he claims, has been to elevate the stage Irishman to something like nature, " to give a truthful stage portraiture of Irish life, manner, and character ; and to obliterate the gross caricature the public had received from the stage a caricature that had been mainly instrumental in forming a popular and very false impression of Irish nature." His Daddy O'Dowd we consider a beautiful bit of charac- ter acting, equal to his Kerry, which was saying very much for it, and fit to rank with Fisher's Triplet or Jefferson's Rip Van Winkle. LAURENCE HUTTON : * Plays and Players/ chap, xxv., p. 208-10. There has been no play since ' Rip Van Winkle ' which has excited so much interest as this, and no character which is a more distinct figure in the mind than the Shaughraun. He is an Irish good-for- nothing, a young vagabond who is as idle as Rip Van Winkle, and who loves the bottle not to Rip's excess and who by his nimble wit and laughing, careless courage serves to good purpose a pair of very amiable lovers. There are knaves and wretches in the play, and ladies and lovers, and soldiers and a priest and old crones. There is some kind of story, as there is in an opera, but you don't remember very well what it is. It is only a background for the Shaughraun to sparkle on. Some grave critic remarked that as a play it had faults ; it violated canons and laws, and wanted unity, 92 MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. and did many things which it seems plays ought not to do. There are two plots, or threads, or catastro- phes, and the mind, it appears, is distracted, and the whole thing could have been much be'tter. Ah ! had the painter only taken more pains ! But, on the other hand, Mr. Critic, there is not a dull word or a drag- ging scene in it. It moves from beginning to end, and it is pure picture and romance all the way. There are, indeed, those dreadful moral difficulties which we have been called upon to consider in 'Rip Van Winkle.' Here is a lazy good-for-nothing, who has no trade or profession, or even employment, who has been in jail for his tricks more than once, who carries a bottle in his pocket, and poaches and fishes at his will, and he carries with him our admiration and sympathy, and puts our minds into any mood but that of severity and reproof. He is simple and generous and sincere, and brave and faithful and affectionate, indeed, but he is a mere Shaughraun after all. Perhaps the only plea that can be urged in the defence is that the play leaves us more kindly and gentle. But if you return to the charge, and ask whether this might not have been done had the hero been a respectable and virtuous young man, keeping regular hours and reputable society, avoiding strong liquors and vagabondage, and devoted to an honest trade or a learned profession, the Easy Chair can only ask in return whether Hamlet might not have been a green-grocer. The charm and the defence of the ' Shaughraun ' are those of ' Rip Van Winkle ' they are its humanizing character and influence. Here is the spectacle of knavery brought to naught, of faith- ful love rewarded, and all by means of simplicity, gen- MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. 93 erosity, good-nature, and courage. Things are very perplexing if that is immoral. It is, in fact, a poem, a romance. The little drama is wrought, indeed, with all the consummate skill of the most experienced and accomplished of play-writers. The resources of the stage, machinery, surprises, whatever belongs to effect, are all brought most adroitly into play, and the spectator is compelled to admire the result of tact and experience in the construction of a drama. But it all deepens the romantic impression. The scene is Ireland, the story is one of love, the chief actor is an Irishman seen by the imagination ; and it is one of the felicitous touches of the skill with which the work is done that from time to time, when the spec- tator is most intent and his imagination is all aglow, there is a faint breath from the orchestra, a waft of wild, pathetic Irish melody, which fills the mind with vague sadness and sympathy, and the scene with a nameless pensive charm. This is the stroke of true humor the mingled smile and tear. But as you sit and watch and listen, you become more and more aware that the key-note of the whole play is very familiar, and even what the Easy Chair has already said may suggest the essential resem- blance, which gradually becomes fixed and absolute. Under a wholly different form, under circumstances entirely changed, in another time and country, and with a myriad divergences, the ' Shaughraun ' is our old friend * Rip Van Winkle.' It is recognized as readers of Browning recognize ' In a Spanish Clois- ter' in the dialect poetry. The motive of the two dramas is the same the winning vagabond. In the earlier play he is more indolent and dreamy, and the 94 MR. AND MRS. DION BOUCICAULT. human story naturally fades into a ghostly tale ; in the latter he is heroic and defined, and acts only within familiar and human conditions. As a study of the fine art of play-writing, you can easily fancy, as the performance proceeds, that an accomplished play- wright, pondering the great and true and permanent success of ' Rip Van Winkle,' may have set himself to pluck out the heart of its mystery, and to win the same victory upon another field. You can fancy him sitting unsuspected in the parquet on Jefferson's nights, intently poring upon that actor's persona- tion of the character that he has " created," studying it with a talent of infinite resource for the object in view, and gradually reproducing, under a wholly new and foreign form, the fascination of a spell that is peculiar to no country or clime, but inheres in human nature. It is doubtless a fancy only, but it holds with singular persistence. What is the Shaughraun but a jocund Irish Rip, or Rip but a Shaughraun of the Catskill ? GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, in Harper's Magazine, July, !87 5 . MR. J. S. CLARKE. Method with Clarke has ever been prime factor, And method made him an artistic actor. Gifted with skill to seize and to portray, He gives his fine mimetic power full sway. Thus finished pictures from his art arise, Which lure the mind as they have lured the eyes. A low comedian of that better school, That does not think a laugh bespeaks a fool. WILLIAM L. KEESE. MR. J. S. CLARKE. In the year 1850 the town of Belair, Maryland, was placarded with the following poster, although the townsfolk may not have derived the same pleasure and advantage from its perusal as the present reader ; the illiterate negro bill-sticker having posted every one upside down : GRAND DRAMATIC FESTIVAL AT THE COURT-HOUSE IN BELAIR, Saturday, Aug. 2. In compliance with the request of several gentlemen, MR. EDWIN BOOTH respectfully informs the inhabitants of Belair and vicinity, that he will give one entertainment as above, in conjunction with MR. J. S. CLARKE. The performance will consist of SHAKSPEREAN READINGS, ETC. PART FIRST. Selections from RICHARD III. Richard III Mr. E. Booth. Selections from MERCHANT OF VENICE. Shylock Mr. J. S. Clarke. 97 9 8 MR. J. S. CLARKE. The celebrated dagger scene from MACBETH. Macbeth Mr. E. Booth. Selections from Kotzebue's STRANGER. The Stranger Mr. J. S. Clark*. Hamlet's Soliloquy on Death .... Mr. E. Booth. Selections from Otway's tragedy of VENICE PRESERVED. Jaffier Mr. J. S. Clarke. Selections from RICHELIEU. Cardinal Richelieu Mr. E. Booth. The great Quarrel Scene from JULIUS CAESAR. Brutus . . . . t Mr. E. Booth. Cassius Mr. J. S. Clarke. PART SECOND. Yankee Stories, Etc. Mr. Clarke's peculiar illustration of "A Young Man's First Appearance as an Actor." Cards of Admission, 25 cents. Children under twelve, 12^ cents. Doors open at 7 o'clock. Performance to begin at 8. The two lads, for they were little more, who, burn- ing with dramatic ardor, had not only undertaken to present such a programme to a rural audience, unused to any entertainment of a higher order than a travel- ling circus or conjurer, but had also ridden fifty miles under an August sun to procure printed programmes and tickets in Baltimore, were destined both of them to make their mark in the dramatic record of their time. Of Edwin Booth, a worthier hand than mine has more worthily written. Mine be the congenial task to chronicle the capers of comedy. Comedy ? say you, MR. J. S. CLARKE. 99 with a programme like that confronting you. Yes, even so ; although if truth be told, John Sleeper Clarke, like many another heaven-sent son of Thalia, with his lineage stamped on every line of his mirth- provoking countenance, passed through a period of calf-love for the sterner muse. John Sleeper Clarke was born in Baltimore, Mary- land, on Sept. 3, 1833, of very recent English extraction. His grandfather, Stephen Clarke, was a London mer- chant, and his mother was a granddaughter of John King, who held an official position under the East India Company. His father died when he was three years old, and he was left to the care of his mother. Part, at least, of his education seems to have been received at the hands of a Mr. Kearney, an original sort of peda- gogue, who wrote all his own school books, and encouraged his pupils in their juvenile attempts at dramatic representation. On one occasion, Mrs. Clarke records that Edwin Booth and John S. Clarke, dressed in the white linen trousers and black jackets then in fashion, recited, or rather enacted, with appro- priate gestures, the quarrel scene of Brutus and Cassius. The elder Booth entered the crowded school-room unobserved, and, seating himself on the corner of a bench near the door, witnessed and enjoyed the performance. So that the Grand Dramatic Festi- val at Belair was in all probability by no means Mr. Clarke's first clutch at histrionic laurels. In compliance with his mother's wishes he was educated for the practice of the law, and even went so far as to enter the office of Elisha B. Sprague, of Balti- more, but finally abandoned Themis for Thespis in ioo MR. J. S. CLARKE. 1851, when, at the Howard Athenaeum, in Boston, he made his first appearance on the professional stage, as Frank Hardy in ' Paul Pry.' One cannot help wonder- ing with what feelings the future comedian regarded the performance of the Paul Pry of the evening ; and how much he may have unconsciously owed to him, when he made his own success in that part. His first regular engagement was at the old Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, where he appeared on Aug. 28, 1852, as Soto in a revival of Colley Gibber's play * She Wou'd and She Wou'd not/ In the following January he succeeded John Drew, the elder, as leading comedian of the theatre, which then had a position only comparable to that held by Wallack's in New York, a rapid rise indeed for a young man of twenty, with less than a year's experience of his craft. In 1854 he left Philadelphia, and returned to his native city, as first low comedian of the Front Street Theatre. " His benefit in the following autumn was one of the most memorable events in Baltimore." Thus early and securely had he established himself as a favorite. In Aug., 1855, he returned to Philadelphia, where he became leading comedian of the Arch Street Theatre, and so remained until June, 1858, when in partnership with Mr. William Wheatley, he assumed the reins of management for the first time. During this period he occasionally starred through the South with great success. In 1859 his connection with the Booth family, always friendly, was cemented by his marriage with Asia, daughter of Junius Brutus Booth and sister of Edwin. In 1861 he retired from the management of the Arch Street Theatre and took the great step in an MR. J. S. CLARKE. IOI actor's life his first appearance in the theatrical me- tropolis. He appeared at the New York Theatre and Metropolitan Opera House on May 15. It stood in Broadway opposite Bond Street, and on the site of the Metropolitan or Tripler Hall, originally erected for Jenny Lind's Concerts. Mr. Ireland records that his first part was Diggory in the ' Spectre Bridegroom,' and that he was received with hearty applause. " He was not merely a success, he was a revelation." Mr. George William Curtis wrote of him at the time in Harpers Weekly : " I consider Clarke by far the finest artist who has been seen on our boards since Rachel." The name of the theatre was subsequently changed to the Winter Garden ; and on Aug. 18, 1864, he undertook its management in partnership with William Stuart, and his brother-in law, Edwin Booth. " During the occupancy of the Winter Garden Theatre by Booth and Clarke, the latter usually acted there from the month of August until Christmas, Booth following and playing until Easter, Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams and other attractions filling the inter- vening time. John S. Clarke sold his interest to Booth, and retired finally from the management early in the year 1867, a few months before the bTulding was burned." During the season of 1864 and 1865 he appeared at this theatre among other parts as Dromio of Syracuse in the * Comedy of Errors,' and as Smash- ington in ' Somebody's Coat ' on Oct. 3 ; as Paul Patent in ' Love in Livery ' on Oct. 10 : as Paul Pry in the play of the same name on Oct. 24 ; as Bob Tyke in the ' School for Reform ' on Oct. 25 ; as Brown, the Broker, in ' My Neighbor's Wife ' on Oct. 31 ; in the four characters of Jack Sheppard, 102 MR. J. S. CLARKE. Toby Twinkle, Simon Purefoy and Timothy Brown on Nov. 5 ; as Jeremiah Beetle in the * Babes in the Wood ' on Nov. 10 ; as Bob Brier ly in the ' Ticket of Leave Man' on Nov. 12 ; in * Clarke in Russia' as General Jocco, as Jack Humphrey in Turning the Tables,' as Waddilove in ' To Parents and Guard- ians ' on Nov. 1 8 ; and as Peter Plumley in < Single Life,' and as Mr. Dove in Married Life,' on Nov- 21. During this same brilliant engagement he played Major de Boots in * Everybody's Friend,' one hundred nights, and he played Jack Sheppard and Toodles the same number of times. On the last night in ' His Jack Sheppard,' Paul Patent in * Love in Livery,' Simon Purefoy and Lord Sparkle in ' A Roland for an Oliver.' " In October, 1863, the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia was offered for sale. At such a preca- rious time, during a disastrous civil war, few men were willing to assume so great a risk ; but John S. Clarke and Edwin Booth conjointly ventured to make the pur. chase, feeling that they would be lucky to be able to pay for it entirely in thirteen years. This they did, however, in three ! In January, 1866, Booth and Clarke obtained the lease of the Boston Theatre at a rental of sixteen thousand dollars a year. Offers as high as twenty-six thousand dollars were made by other parties, but the directors preferred these two gentlemen, who managed now conjointly three first- class theatres in the three principal cities." It is not generally known that Mr. Clarke made a visit to London in 1862, under an engagement to Mr. Dion Boucicault to appear there, but for some unex- plained reason the comedian returned to his native MR. J. S. CLARKE. 103 land without having played. So that it was not until October, 1867, that he made his bow before a London audience. This was at the St. James's Theatre, in the character of Major Wellington de Boots, which he had already played over a thousand times in his native country, two hundred and fifty or more performances having been given in New York alone. His triumph was as instantaneous in the English as in the American metropolis ; in all probability no American actor ever won, or kept so enduringly, such a distinguished posi- tion on the English stage as Mr. Clarke. It is said that he visited England with his wife and family " on pleasure bent," and he had certainly no intention of remaining. His success, however, was so great that it would have been folly not to reap such a crop while the sun of public favor shone so brightly. In spite, therefore, of the fact that he had one American Theatre the Walnut Street, Philadelphia still on his hands, he settled down in London. Charles Dickens was delighted with him, and his voice was but one of thousands. In February, 1868, he played Salem Scudder in the ' Octoroon ' at the Princess's Theatre ; and then went on a tour through the English provinces, appearing with great success in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Birmingham, Dublin, Bel- fast, etc. His name was long associated with that of the Strand Theatre, in London, where he played Doctor Pangloss in the ' Heir-at-Law,' Ollapod in the ' Poor Gentleman,' Robert Tyke in the ' School of Reform,' and Babbing- ton Jones in ' Among the Breakers.' In all of these he achieved distinguished success, his Doctor Pangloss being always one of his most favorite characters ; but 104 MR. J. S. CLARKE. even this was effaced by his performance of Toadies, which was hailed with delight as his most perfect impersonation. It ran for two hundred nights on its first production at the Strand. On April 17, 1870, he reappeared in New York, and was welcomed with a perfect ovation. He played for forty-two nights, to enormous business, the receipts for the first week alone exceeding $10,000. He then visited Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Hartford, New Haven and Philadelphia, playing everywhere to crowded and delighted houses. In Philadelphia, where he had made his earliest triumphs, the welcome given to their old favorite was so enthusiastic, that although his engagement was for fifty nights, the or- chestra had to be removed to accommodate the num- bers that flocked to see him. The following year he returned to London for a summer season at the Strand Theatre, opening there on July 29, 1871, as Dr. Pan- gloss in the * Heir at Law,' which ran for one hundred and fifty nights. In December, he returned to America, and during this visit he and the late Edward Sothern played alternately, at two theatres in Philadelphia on the same evening. Mr. Clarke would begin his per- formance at the Arch Street Theatre with Dr. Pan- gloss and Mr. Sothern at the Walnut Street Theatre with Lord Dundreary. Then Mr. Sothern would skip to the Arch and personate Dundreary married, while Mr. Clarke, hurrying to the Walnut, would close the evening's programme with Toodles. During this time the prices were doubled, but notwithstanding that fact both theatres were crowded nightly for two weeks. MR. J. S. CLARKE. 105 On March 9, 1872, he again appeared at the Strand Theatre and played Ollapod in the ' Poor Gentleman ' for sixty nights, which he followed with Paul Pry for a few weeks in the summer. In 1872 he became manager of what was then the Charing Cross Theatre (now known as Toole's) in London, and opened it with the * Rivals,' giving his delicious performance of Bob Acres for the first time in London. The produc- tion was a great success both artistically and financially, and ran for one hundred and twenty-seven nights. It was followed by other of his favorite characters ; and he subsequently played with brilliant success through- out the English provinces. On April 4, 1874, he made another London success as Phineas Pettiphogge in H. J. Byron's * Thumbscrew,' at the Holborn Theatre. In the autumn of 1878, Mr. Clarke became lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, but did not act there himself, until April, 1879, when, in consequence of a failure, he appeared for a short time as Bob Acres and Toodles. On Sept. 25, he played Dr. Pangloss in the * Heir-at- Law,' and five days later his management concluded. His next appearance in London was again at the Haymarket for a short summer season, commencing Sept. 20, in 1880, zsDimple'vn. { Leap Year,' and Major Wellington de Boots. On Oct. 18, this gave place to the ' Rivals,' with Mr. Clarke as Acres. He spent part of 1 88 1 in America. The Strand Theatre, enlarged and redecorated, opened on Nov. 18, 1882, with the ' Heir-at-Law,' and a new burlesque by H. J. Byron and H. B. Farnie called ' Frolique,' in which Mr. Clarke played Pierre Coquil- lan. On Jan. 18, 1883, the * Comedy of Errors' was revived at this house, with Messrs. Clarke and Paul- 106 MR. J. S. CLARKE. ton as the two Dromtos, it was impossible to say which of the two was less like the other. It was not till April, 1885, that he re-appeared again at the same theatre, playing De Boots. On July n, he played a new part, Cousin Johnny in a comedy of the same name, by J. F. Nisbet and C. Masham Rae, also at the Strand. " The burden of the piece fell on his shoulders, but even his droll acting failed to galvanize the play into success." Then he appeared in a play by F. C. Bur- nand, ' Just in Time,' produced at the Avenue Theatre, Nov. 12, 1885, which was also a failure. These meteor-like visits to the London stage have been parts of an orbit of provincial starring, in which he has always been uniformly successful. His last ap- pearance in New York was during the year 1879, when he played Toodles, Major de Boots and Dr. Pangloss for a season at the Fifth Avenue Theatre. This brings the history of an unusually busy career " up to date " ; and with a keen feeling of gratitude for past enjoyment, we look forward to much more to come. Mr. Clarke is still at the zenith of his powers ; and though an ample fortune acquired in the exercise of his art may dispose him to " retired leisure," yet for such a performer there are ever new audiences, who clamor for his mirth-compelling presence. EDW. HAMILTON BELL. It is no mere assumption of external oddities that can produce two such personalities as Bob Tyke and Toodles. He has caught the spirit which colors every feature of his former remarkable personation MR. J. S. CLARKE. 107 which made Fechter describe him when he saw it as an English Frederic Lemaitre, and all the strange unctuous drollery of the latter. The plastic sensibility of mind which enables the player to become another being on the instant is a gift of nature, though it may be improved by study and practice. Mr. Clarke possesses an innate, pliant mobility that enables him momentarily to assume a certain condition of humanity. The elasticity of this faculty, his native humor and power of mimicry, the mimicry of character and modes of thought and feeling, not of personal peculiar- ities merely, and of the various forms and degrees of na- tural drollery have always given variety to his acting His forte is the imitation of humanity as seen in every-day life ; and everywhere in this wide range he seems to be at home. He endeavors to be natural by being the character he assumes ; and the secret of his great success we believe to be that he experiences for the time the emotions, comic or otherwise, which he depicts, and is for the moment the person he rep- resents. It has always seemed to us that in forming his personations he unfolded from the germ of the dramatist's idea a visible shape, clothed in the external attributes of some person who may have crossed his path, and whose image is recalled by some analogy of nature. We are confirmed in this notion by knowing that in creating such a real and original person as De Boots he did so by mimicking a real person whose manner accorded with the characteristics of the dram- atist's sketch ; and some of the best bits in * Toodles ' we know to have been taken from living subjects. His by-play in both these performances surpasses that of any comedian we have ever seen. He fills up the io8 MR. J. S. CLARKE. pauses of the dialogue by a number of trivial and unimportant actions, performed with so much ease and address that they seem habitual and unconsciously done, always tending to preserve the illusion of the scene or develop minor traits of character, and never appearing forced. Clarke rivets attention by what he does ; he does not invite notice to what he is about ; there is no note of preparation sounded, no intimation given to watch his movements, nor are they exagger- ated for effect at a distance. WILLIAM STUART, in Lippincotfs Magazine, Novem- ber, 1881. The purpose of the revival is obviously to furnish Mr. John S. Clarke, the American comedian, with a new part of strongly marked character. He plays Dr. Pangloss, and takes a view of that model tutor which is perfectly consistent with the text, and which affords occasion for the display of the broadest humor. According to Mr. Clarke, Pangloss is not a dry pedant, but a genial swindler with pedantic em- bellishments, who has the greatest difficulty in con- cealing the delight afforded by the triumphant suc- cess of his own dishonesty. An urbane man, too ! He chuckles inwardly at the cacology of his noble patron, but he corrects his mistakes with the utmost delicacy, rather suggesting than demanding an amendment, the embodied spirit of insinuation. On one occasion only is he thoroughly grave, and that is when he is compelled by Dick Dowlas to dance in the streets, and he sees in that dance the ruin of his pros- pects. The legs partially move, but the face is sad. The Times, London, Feb. 7, 1870. MR. J. S. CLARKE. 1^9 But of the twin Clarke J. S., what is to be said ? Such an emollient face, surely such rich enjoyment and fun, is seldom seen. The rapidity with which the changes are made, the return from boisterous laughter to instant gravity, in this he is unique. A favor- ite device of his is known to us all ; a sort of chuck- ling is going on, the unctuous face is rippling in waves of enjoyment, he is getting familiar, when some remark is made, an allusion to a wife of whom he is in awe, when, in a second, a livid terror fills his face. His eyes roll, his lips take an O shape, as if anxious to form words but cannot, his cheeks become red and distended, he seems hot with alarm. This change the play-goer will recall. His Major de Boots is full of such ; and there is nothing more diverting on the stage than the gravity of his face and tones, as he reads, or attempts to read, the letter at the end of the piece. PERCY FITZGERALD : The ' World behind the Scenes,'//. 118-9. On Thursday, June 27, 1872, at the Strand, he per- formed the part of Paul Pry in Poole's well-known comedy. During the several seasons Mr. Clarke has played in London he has taken up, one after the other, most of the leading characters of broad comedy. His representations, depending largely upon facial play, have a generic likeness, and it is rather by aid of such accessories as costume than by means of any special portrayal of character that the spectator dis- tinguishes one from the other. The impersonation of Paul Pry, the hero of Poole's well-known comedy, has much in common with his Dr. Ollapod and Dr. Pangloss. In absolute extravagance of drollery Mr. HO MR. J. S. CLARKE. Clarke approaches nearer Listen perhaps than any subsequent interpreter of the character first named. CHAS. EYRE PASCOE : The ' Dramatic List.' J. S. Clarke. Of his best known impersonations I can only say a few words in closing this sketch. His De Boots is one of the most delightful characterizations of a good- humored poltroon, whose soldierly swagger is at odds with his bantam-like person, feeble voice and satisfied pomp of manner. His Young Gosling is a rare piece of drollery, illustrating various stages of inebriety and a rich display of pusillanimity in carrying out the duel which he has provoked. His Babbington Jones is a skilful delineation of the character of a groom whose comical mishaps he accompanies with a capital change of feature and gesture. His Toadies is a masterly representation of a drunken countryman who tries to maintain his self-respect under the most discouraging and ridiculous surroundings. His Dr. Pangloss is a study true to nature and a work of art which has placed it on the same high plane as the efforts of the renowned comedians of the past in this character. His Dr. Ollapod and Bob Acres are distinguished for the same high order of acting, and that is the highest possible praise that could be given them Brooklyn Eagle, Nov. 15, 1885. Mr. Clarke's power as a comedian chiefly lies, and is shown to the best advantage, in characters which he has solely created. Take, for example, his rendition of Salem Scudder, Bob Tyke, Waddilove and De Boots, parts which, for his fame's sake and the public's enter- MR. J. S. CLARKE. m tainment, he plays less frequently than he should. The first of these impersonations is a pure creation of his genius, and the same remark will apply equally well to the last two, full of the finest conceptions, and played with such exquisite judgment and mean- ing as to place him among the first of living players. In that scene in the * Octoroon ' where he has the struggle for life with the brutal overseer, whose knife he has wrenched from his hand, and whom he is pressing to the earth with his knee fixed on his breast, he rises above the ruffian the very picture of retribu- tive justice. At first it seems right that he should kill the murderous scoundrel, and he tells him in those low, thrilling tones that he feels tempted to do it. " Then why don't you ? " asks the surly woman- whipper. Nothing can be finer, fuller of dignity and repressed power, than Salem Scudder's reply, which is so spoken as to seem the protest of all mankind against the Devil's code of law, the bowie-knife and pistol : " Because," he slowly, almost regretfully, says " because the spirit of civilization within me won't let me do it." And as he says it, the spectator can see that " the spirit of civilization " is having a tough struggle with that wandering Yankee for the slave-driver's blood ; but civilization conquers, and he removes his knee, letting the miscreant go. The whole scene is exquisitely rendered, and is worthy of the highest commendation. As Bob Tyke, another eccentric character, not strictly belonging to comedy, he displays throughout the same rarely beautiful traits of restrained power. But we are afraid that Mr. Clarke considers these characters beneath his care, and they are falling out of his repertoire ; yet MR. J. S. CLARKE. they are, as he plays them, portraits strong as a Titian drew. Atlantic Monthly, June, 1867. John S. Clarke is the heir in genius of Harry Wood- ward and John Emery, and more versatile and brilliant than either. WILLIAM WINTER: The ' Jeffersons,' /. 226. MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. Lustrous beacons of the stage In a fickle, feverish age ; Striving on with honest heart For the claims and aims of Art Twin stars circling year by year Radiant o'er a hemisphere ; Models of the good and pure ; May your influence long endure. THOMAS E. GARRETT. W. J. FLORENCE. MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. William Jermyn Florence, like so many of the stars of his profession, began to twinkle on the amateur stage. Born in Albany, N. Y., on July 26, 1831, he drifted to New York before he was fifteen years of age ; and while his days were spent in honest, prosaic toil for daily bread, his nights were devoted to tragedy, comedy, scene individable, and poem unlimited un- der the auspices of the Murdoch Dramatic Associa- tion of that city. He soon found his way upon the regular boards, and made his maiden bow to the public as Peter in the ' Stranger ' at the theatre at Richmond, Va., on December 6, 1849. In the spring of the fol- lowing year he became a member of the company at Niblo's Garden, under the management of Brougham and Chippendale, and as Hallagon, a small part in a drama by Brougham called ' Home,' first appeared as a professional actor in New York, May 13, 1850. At this house he was associated during the season with Mary Taylor, Mrs. Vernon, Mrs. John Sefton, Fanny Wallack, Charlotte Cushman, Burton, Brougham and Placide. When Mr. Brougham opened the Lyceum (afterward Wallack's Theatre, and the Broadway Theatre) on the corner of Broadway and Broome Street, New York, on December 23, 1850, Mr. Flor- ence appeared in an after-piece of absurdity, called the "5 n6 MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. ' Light Guard, or Woman's Rights ' ; and he made his first decided hit at this establishment on April 22, 1851, in the ' Row at the Lyceum,' where he appeared as a red-shirted fire-laddie of that period, and at once asserted himself as more than a mere utility man or second walking gentleman, and fit for better things than the commonplace parts that had hitherto been assigned to him. During the season following he was at the Broadway Theatre, New York (the original of that name, between Anthony, since Worth Street, and Pearl Street), opening on Aug. 30, 1852, as Lord Tinsel to the Julia of Julia Dean and the Master Walter of F. B. Conway, later supporting Forrest, Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams and Mrs. Mowatt. On Janu- ary i, 1853, he married Miss Malvina Pray, with whom he has since been so pleasantly and so profit- ably associated during a long and honorable dramatic career. Mr. and Mrs. Florence as the Irish Boy and Yankee Girl were first discovered in the dramatic horizon as a double star at the National Theatre, Chatham Street, New York, on June 13, 1853, where they met at once with the great success which followed them on their extensive tour throughout the United States. In 1856 they first appeared at Drury Lane, when Mrs. Florence, as a specimen of American Help, in the ' Yankee Housekeeper/ a new figure on the English stage, amused and entertained London au- diences for a season of fifty nights. Mr. Florence's first marked success in a more serious part was his Bob Brierly in the ' Ticket of Leave Man ' produced originally in America at the Winter Garden, New York, Nov. 30, 1863, Mrs. Florence playing Emily MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. H7 St. Evrcmonde. The drama, admirably presented in all its parts, created a sensation almost without pre- cedent in the United States, and ran for an hundred and twenty-five successive nights in New York, and for thousands of nights elsewhere throughout the coun- try. On Aug. 5, 1867, at the theatre on the corner of Broadway and Broome Street, Mr. Florence pro- duced Robertson's ' Caste ' first time in America an almost perfect play perfectly played. Mr. Florence as George D'Alroy was the ideal, honest, modest, manly soldier, who combined simple faith with Norman blood, and whose kind heart adorned his coronet ; while Mrs. Florence, with a delightful and conspicuous lack of that repose of manner which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere, was worth, as Polly Eccles, several hundred coats-of-arms. ' Caste ' was followed on September 28, 1868, and at the same house, by ' No Thoroughfare,' when Mr. Florence introduced Obenreizer to the American stage, in his hands a very clever piece of character acting, en- tirely unlike D'Alroy, Brierly, Captain Cuttle, Mose, or the Irish Emigrant, by which he had hitherto been so well known. Mrs. Florence did not appear in this drama. In 1875 Mr. Florence created Bardwell Slote in Mr. B. E. Woolf's ' Mighty Dollar,' an original char- acter, fresh, quaint, and entirely possible in real life, who is destined to walk down to posterity arm in arm with Rip Van Winkle, Joe Bunker, Solon Shingle, Davy Crocket, and Colonel Sellers, the typical stage American of the Nineteenth Century, Mr. Florence's most enduring character, by a large majority. As Mrs. General Gilflory in the ' Mighty Dollar,' Mrs. Florence was a fit mate for the m. o. o. (" man of I IS MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. honor ") with whom she was associated ; not destined to live so long, perhaps, as the member from the Cohosh district, but quite as delightful in her way. In September, 1883, Mr. Florence produced Geo. H. Jessop's * Our Govenor,' under the title of ' Facts,' at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Its name was changed the following season. Mr. Florence has been seen in many characters, and has been associated with supporting or sup- ported by some of the most prominent members of his profession on both sides the Atlantic. His name has appeared in bills by the side of Barrett, McCul- lough, Raymond, Burton, Brougham and Toole. He has played Trip to the Lady Teazle of Mrs. Catherine Sinclair (Forrest), Captain Cuttle to the Mr. Dombey of Henry Irving, Richmond and Laertes with the elder Booth, Titus and Lucullus with Edwin Forrest, and at the Academy of Music, New York, October 12, 1877, for the benefit of Edwin Adams, he played lago to the Othello of E. A. Sothern, the Desdemona of Lotta, and the Emilia of Mrs. John Drew. Mrs. Florence, a daughter of Samuel Pray, who lost his life by fire at the old Broadway Theatre, New York, was known as Miss Mavina, a dancer at the Vauxhall Garden, Bowery, and at Burton's and Wallack's Theatres, New York. She rarely appeared in speaking parts until she became Mrs. Florence, in 1853, although she is remembered as playing Little Pickle in the * Adopted Child,' at Pelby's Na- tional Theatre, Boston. The story of her career since her marriage has been told with that of her husband in the preceding pages. LAURENCE HUTTON. MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. 119 The curtain rose to a crowded house on a scene at rehearsal, after the manner of Sheridan's ' Critic ' ; the actors and actresses, in their ordinary street dresses, looking in every respect like the not more than ordinary men and women they really were, when paint and tinsel, sock and buskin, were discarded, dropping in casually like other ordinary mortals on business bent, to read and discuss Carlyle's new and wonderful production. It was the green-room proper of a theatre, with all the green-room accessories and surroundings, the scenes and incidents, concords and discords of a green-room gathering ; and was as heartily enjoyed by the Lyceum audience as would one of Wallack's famous Saturday night houses of the present, enjoy being invited to visit en masse that unknown and mysterious land contained behind the scenes, and to assist at Mr. Boucicault's reading of the ' Shaughraun ' to the assembled company for the first time. Mr. Dunn as Mr. Dunn, Tom the Call Boy as Tom, and Mrs. Vernon as Mrs. Vernon, were very natural of course and very funny. As it was Tom's first appearance before the curtain in any character, he was not a little excited, and his very evident con- sciousness was as amusing and refreshing as was the self-possession of the rest of the dramatis persona. The audience was thoroughly interested and amused at the realism of the performance, when, " Enter Mrs. B.," the scene changes, and the ' Row at the Lyceum ' begins. While she greets her friends, looks over her part, objects to her business, and lays her claims to something more in her line, a stout, middle-aged gentleman, seated in the middle of the pit, clothed in 120 MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. a Quakerish garb, who had hitherto quietly listened and laughed with the rest, rises suddenly in his place, with umbrella clasped firmly in both hands, and held up on a line with his nose, to the astonishment of the house, calmly and sedately addresses the stage and the house, in words to this effect : " That woman looks for all the world like Clementina ! Her voice is very like the form the same." And then, with emphasis : " It is ! it is ! my wife ! " at the same time leaving his seat in great excitement, he rushes toward the foot-lights, and cries wildly and loudly, " Come off that stage, thou miserable woman ! " The utmost confusion quickly reigned in the theatre. The audience, at first amused at the interruption, seeing that the Quaker gentleman was in earnest, soon took sides for or against him, and saluted him with all sorts of encouraging and discouraging cries as he fought his way toward the orchestra. " Who is he ? " "Who is she?" "Shame! shame!" "Put him out ! " " Go it, Broadbrim ! " " Sit down ! " " Police ! " Hootings, hissings, cat-calls, making the scene as tumultuous as can be well imagined. The boys in the gallery, delighted at the " Row," in which, from their distance, they could only participate vocally, Hailed him from out their youthful lore, With scraps of a slangy repertoire : " How are you, White Hat ? " " Put her through ! " " Your head's level ! " and " Bully for you ! " Called him " Daddy ! " begged he'd disclose The name of the tailor who made his clothes, and did all that boys in a gallery could do, to worse confound the confusion. Up in the third tier, in a corner near the stage, in MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. 12 1 prominent position, visible to all, was one particularly gallery and "gallus" boy, a fireman, red-shirted, soap-locked, with tilted tile, a pure specimen of the now obsolete b'hoy, Mose himself. He added greatly to the excitement of the scene, by the loud and per- sonal interest he seemed to take in the proceedings, and promised, in a vernacular now happily almost as obsolete as is the genus itself, to give the indignant husband a sound lamming if he ventured to lay a hand on that young 'oman ; volunteering, if the indignant husband would wait for him, to go down and do it then and there ; proceeding then and there to go down and do it ! At this stage of the proceedings, the dramatic per- formances of ' Green- Room Secrets ' were entirely stopped. The artists were utterly unable to proceed on account of the uproar in front. The ladies were frightened ; the gentlemen, addressing the house, and striving vainly to restore order, were quite powerless to proceed ; while Mrs. B , the innocent cause of all the trouble, evidently preparing for flight, was agitated and very nervous. All this time the irate husband was struggling to reach his wife, and fighting his way toward her. He finally climbed over the orchestra, the red-shirted defender of the young 'oman close behind him, when both were collared by a police- man or two, dragged upon the stage, made to face the house, the regulation stage semicircle was formed behind the footlights, and the epilogue was spoken, the audience beginning to recognize in the efficient policemen, the supes of the establishment ; in the fire- laddie of the soap-locks and tilted tile, Mr. W. J. Florence, a member of the company ; in the indig- 122 MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. nant husband, Mr. Brougham himself ; in the recov- ered wife, Mrs. Brougham ; and to realize that the * Row at the Lyceum ' was a premeditated and mag- nificent " sell." We may mention here in passing, that this peculiar part of the " rough," played by Mr. Florence, was his first decided success on the New York boards. It brought him much notoriety and applause, and en- couraged his adoption of the eccentric comedy and sensational parts he has made \\isforte, and in which he is so well known at present. Previous to this hit, we find him doing a general utility business, as second or third walking gentleman, chiefly in Brooklyn and the provinces, playing such parts as Witherton in * Paul Pry/ Valare in the ' Secret,' Langfordin ' My Precious Betsey,' Brockett in the * King and the Mimic,' Mr. Wickfield in ' David Copperfield,' Brandt in the < Soldier's Return,' Captain Cannon in the ' Dead Shot,' Frampton in the ' Nabob for an Hour,' and in other parts of similar kind. LAURENCE HUTTON : ' Plays and Players,' chap. 8. The Hon. Bardwell Slote, acted by Mr. Florence, is a personage not unlike, in his effect, certain of the caricatures delineated by Dickens. He is portly, grizzled, slightly bald, red nosed, bright-eyed, ad- dicted to black satin waistcoats and big bosom pins, voluble, shrewd, grasping, unprincipled, saturated with greed and with an odd kind of smirking humor, and very absurd : and he is presented as a politician, resi- dent in Washington, and engaged in trying to feather his nest by taking bribes for lobbying railway bills through Congress. This individual, as he is person- MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. 123 ated by Mr. Florence, is, assuredly, a valuable addi- tion to the comical figures of the stage. Mr. Florence's temperament is of the kind that tends to drollery, and he has entered with great vigor and zest into this con- ception. The performance is toned with burlesque, but this tone is necessary in dealing with a caricature. Mr. Florence exhibits artistic instinct in making Slote grotesque and amusing, without making him unsym- pathetic and contemptible. The habit of indulging in monologues after the manner of Unsworth, the negro minstrel, in those clever stump speeches which will be heard no more and the habit of preluding phrases by announcing their initials (as, k. k. the cruel cuss, and g. u. gone up), are superficial peculiarities, occa- sionally laughable. The deeper merit is identifica- tion of the actor with the character, and the discreet preservation of balance betwixt nature and extrava- gance. WILLIAM WINTER, in the New York Tribune, Sept. 22, 1875. Mrs. Florence was formerly popular as a danseuse (to which fact is doubtless owing the gracefulness of carriage so admired in her), and subsequently gained great applause by her impersonation of the ' Yankee Girl.' She shared the honors with her husband in their engagements, and her latest effort combined to secure the great popularity of the ' Mighty Dollar.' Mrs. Florence is indeed inimitable as Mrs. General Gilflory. Her impersonation of the good-natured widow, with a weakness for the French language, is replete with vivacity, while utterly devoid of coarseness. It is, in fact, the work of a consummate comedienne. , . . 124 MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. Her acting as Emily St. Evremonde in the * Ticket of Leave Man ' is as good in its way as is Mrs. Gilflory. In both cases it stamps her traits as unique as they are admirable. The^o/ York Graphic, Sept. 21, 1877. When the stage made its next snatch for another typical American it grasped a full-fledged member of the lower house engaged in feathering his own nest. Judge Bardwdl Slote is M. C. for the Cohosh district. He appears in a play called the * Mighty Dollar,' by Mr. B. E. Woolf. He is a good-natured, well-mean- ing, half-educated politician, with little knowledge and no principles. He is a fair specimen of those who take the stump before election, only to roll logs after it. The part is played by Mr. W. J. Florence with a richness of humorous caricature which almost redeems the inherent vulgarity of the character. The performance is pitched in a burlesque key, and in quiet burlesque informed with drollery Mr. Florence is ad- mirable. He acts the character with great zest, and in marvellous " make-up." The smirking, grasping, greedy, shrewd and yet simple politician has been endowed by the author of the play with certain super- ficial characteristics of which the actor makes the most. BRANDER MATTHEWS, in Scribner's Monthly, July, 1879. Mr. Florence's representation of the part is, indeed, wonderfully clever and amusing. His caricature in no respect oversteps the modesty of nature. It is a cari- cature, and is intended to be one, but it is not one of those violent and fantastic absurdities with which we are sometimes presented under like circumstances. It MR. AND MRS. FLORENCE. 125 is a careful study, founded throughout on fact and observation, and only a little overcolored to suit the dramatic medium in which it is presented. In any case it went home to the audience directly " p. d. q.," as Judge Slote himself puts it, " pretty d quick ! " A sympathy with American character, a delight in American eccentricities and forms of expression, has been rapidly growing among the English public of late, and Mr. Florence is certainly one of the ablest exponents of American human nature our stage has as yet seen. The Figaro, London, Sept. 2, 1880. Mr. Florence's presentation of the Hon. Bardwell Slote is a singularly fine piece of character acting. It develops in a kind of extravagance in parts, where, for instance, a pretence is made to sing, and it is marred by the too frequent repetition of a specie of conver- sational trick, which in itself is not unamusing, but which grows tedious when too frequently employed. Making allowance for these defects, it is a very ripe and effective piece of acting, and the character pre- sented, with its ineffable self-content and its cheery exposition of selfishness it is too ingenuous to strive to hide, is quite masterly. Though American as re- gards its surroundings, and certain manifestations, the character is true and recognizable. No difficulty whatever is experienced in estimating its truthfulness or appreciating its niceties. Mr. Florence is entitled to the honor of supplying the stage with a creation. The Athen