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EDWIN BOOTH AT DELMONICO'S.

Pulpit, Stage and Bar Do Honor to the Renowned Tragedian.

186

A POEM BY WILLIAM WINTER

The Early Struggles and Home Life of a Great Actor Reviewed.

A farewell breakfast was given to Mr. Edwin Booth yesterday at Delmonico's. It was intended as a parting tribute to the great tragedian before his departure for Europe. One hundred and fifty gentlemen sat down a little after twelve o'clock and remained until half-past five. They were ranged at five tables in the large reception room up stairs. One of these tables was placed at the head of the hall running along ends of others. On one side of it, commanding a view of all the guests, was what Mr. Lawrence Barrett called the royalty of the stage. This included Mr. Lester Wallack, Mr. Jospeh Jefferson, Mr. Willian Warren, Mr. Lawrence Barrett and the guest of the occasion. Over Mr. Booth's head was placed a bust of himself, and over that hung a picture of Shakespeare. The room was profusely and tastefully decorated. Pictures of famous actors hung on the walls and handsome flags were here and there festooned about them. An oil painting of Mr. Booth rested on the front rails of the orchestra. The tables were elegantly decorated with large bouquets and appropriate designs in the usual ornamenting materials. When it was ascertained that all the gentlemen had arrives the band announced the opening of the proceedings and the friends of the renowned actor marches in couples to the banquet. It took over two hours to discuss the good things provided by Mr. Delmonico. Judge John R. Brady, who presided, then rose in the midst of the theatrical kings and spoke for a few minutes. He briefly alluded to the circumstance that brought them together, and then proposed the health, prosperity and happiness of Edwin Booth. The toast was received with much enthusiasm, hurrahing and waving of napkins. When the tumult has subsided, Mr. Booth stood up and returned thanks, assuring his friends of the gratitude he felt for the honor conferred upon him. He said he was only an indifferent speaker and that his habit had been to avoid attempt at such display, as he felt his inability to proceed successfully. He explained that he was confirmed in this reticence by the wife of a celebrated poet he had once heard counsel her husband to remain quiet, for the reason that he never opened his mouth but he made a fool of himself.
 
PULPIT AND STAGE.

The Rev. Robert Collier was called upon to say something on the subject of the theatre and the Church. "You want me to tell you what I know of the theatre?" he said. "Well, I go whenever I can, and I never go but I have a grand time. Sometimes they send me a private box and then I am the first man in the house. My wife and daughter often say they miss the best things because they have to take care of me. I give myself up entirely to it when I am at it and I assure you it does me a great deal of good. I never knew Mr. Booth until to-day. How should I know him? I am a minister and he is an actor. Well, when I was presented to him in that room out there this morning I could not help thinking, 'Is that young man the feeble, trembling, coughing old man I have so often seen coming down the stage with the weight of the world on his shoulders? Is that Richelieu? And so he was as I shook his hand, and Hamlet too, and Richard and Macbeth and Romeo and Petruchio and all the rest of them. Since we have been sitting here my mind has gone back to a time when I saw him the young lover, and how badly I felt for him when he got into that trouble with his sweetheart, which is about the first trouble we encounter in life. That was in Chicago in Mac-Vicker's theatre——that dear old 'Mac' whom we all love. Well, I had a grand time then. I have seen him frequently since, and I never see him but I have a grand time, to-day included. I call to mind that in Chicago there was a minister who had been saying hard things of the theatre for a long time, and he went to old 'Mac' one day and asked him for this theatre for some purpose. 'Mac' said:——'No; you cannot have it; I could not allow such bad acting as yours on my stage.'"

Mr. Collyer then paid a glowing tribute to the genius of Edwin Booth and was rapturously applauded. Mr. Lawrence Barrett followed. He said he had known Mr. Booth for many years and when he mentioned that fact he could not enlarge upon it. He had seen him rise through every rank in his profession until he now stood in the foremost. The elder Booth, his father, had left him the inheritance of a great name, but he had likewise left him an inheritance of labor. He pointed out that he was surrounded by actors in the third generation——the Jeffersons, the Wallacks, the Booths——but their illustrious inheritance did not take away from their necessity of work. He did not propose to defend the stage while he was talking of the actor. The stage needed no defence. It could take care of itself. 

Mr. William Winter then read the following original poem:——

GOODBY TO EDWIN BOOTH.

I.
His barque will fade, in mist and night,
Across the dim sea line,
And coldly on our aching sight
The solemn stars will shine——
All, all in mournful silence, save
For Ocean's distant roar,
Heard where the slow, regretful wave
Sobs on the lonely shore.

II.
But, O, while winged with love and prayer,
Our thoughts pursue his track,
What glowing sights the midnight air
Will proudly waft us back!
What golden words will flutter down
From many a peak of fame,
With awful shapes of old renown
That cluster round his name.

III
O'er storied Denmark's haunted ground
Will darkly drift again,
Dreamlike and vague, without a sound,
The spectre of the Dane;
And breaking hearts will be the wreath
For grief that knows no tera,
When shone on Cornwall's storm-swept heath
The blazing eyes of Lear!

IV.
Slow, mid the portents of the storm
And Fate's avenging powers,
Will moody Richard's haggard form
Pace through the twilight hours;
And, wildly hurtling o'er the sky,
The red star of Macbeth——
Torn from the central arch on high——
Go down in dusky death!

V.
But——best of all!——will softly rise
His form of manly grace,
The noble brow, the honest eyes,
The sweetly patient face,
The loving hears, the stately mind
That, conquering every ill.
Through seas of trouble, cast behind,
Was grandly steadfast still!

VI.
Though skies might gloom and tempest rave,
Though friends and hopes might fall,
His constant spirit, simply brave,
Would meet and suffer all;
Would calmly smile at Fortune's frown,
Supreme o'er gain or loss;
And he the worthiest wears the crown
That gently bore the cross.

VII.
Be blythe and bright thou jocund day
That golden England knows!
Bloom sweetly round the wanderer's way
Thou royal English rose!
And English hearts (no need to tell
How truth itself endures!)
This soul of manhood treasure well,
Our love commits to yours!

VIII.
Farewell, nor mist nor flying cloud
Nor night can ever dim
The wreath of honors, pure and proud,
Our hearts have twined for him!
But bells of memory still shall chime
And violets star the sod,
Till our last broken wave of time
Does on the shores of God!

THE AMERICAN THEATRE.

Mr. Lester Wallack was heartily welcomed.  He said he did not know that he had much to say on the subject of the American Theatre. It was more in his line to be doing for it than talking of it. He thought there was a fair illustration of that establishment in his vicinity and it looked as if it were pretty prosperous and flourishing. His friend Mr. Booth was going abroad. He hoped he would not continue himself while there to being a mere looker on in Venice, but would come out of his retirement and give the people across the Atlantic an idea of his ability, a taste of his quality. He thought it would be difficult to find a more fitting ambassador from the American Theatre than the one now going to the shores of Old England. He would represent it better than any other man in the whole range of that drams, for he is its head and front. No one can find fault with us, said Mr. Wallack, on the score of generosity. We have given them the best we had, and we may at least hope that they will be appreciative and grateful. It was only left, he thought, for his friends to wish him home soon again, and to assure him before he goes that his memory will remain warm in their hearts. Mr. Wallack made some touching allusions to his friend and brother actor, and ended with a desire for his safety and happiness; "for," he added, "the ship that shall carry him over the ocean, with all her wealth and multitude of life, will bear no more precious burden than Edwin Booth."

Mr. Andrew recited "Buck Fanshaw's Funeral" and related some incidents in his early life when he was an actor in the company of Mr. Booth. Mr. Whitelaw Reid replies for the press. The home life of Edwin Booth was delicately treated by Mr. Jefferson. He had sat at his. They had together watched the gentle kitten play with the ball of worsted and make off with it.  He had known him when a boy and had known his father also. Both had played under his management. He was then only twenty-one years of age, and he was not a success. He had never tried management since that time. Edwin Booth was in his home when he appeared to be outside of it——a man of studious habit, of quiet tastes, of simple life. He had a wide affection, deep sympathy and generous impulses. He was a true and faithful friend, and shed calm and peace all round him from a kindly and sweet disposition such as is rarely given to man.

OLD TIMES IN CALIFORNIA.

"He played Richard in San Francisco when he was only nineteen years of age, and I saw him to it," said the Rev. Dr. Ewer. "He as then engaged in the theatre there and only played "utility" parts. His father has just finished an engagement, and one or two persons, who thought they had seen something in the young man, urged him to try Richard. It was a terrible ordeal, a most risky undertaking. The audience there at that time was one of the most critical in the world and it was no easy task to please it. It was slow to applaud yet quick to give open expression to dissatisfaction or censure. Well, the night came and with it the young Richard. Through the whole of the first three acts the audience sat in the seats before him, cold, impassive, waiting, watching. His friends were anxious, listening eagerly to the test speeches, and then glancing at the house to see the effect. Fear stood trembling in their hearts and hope hanging on but it coattails. The fourth came and there was a ripple. The people were stirred at last. Then a burst came from them——round and full and free, and presently a roar, a mighty volume of applause. I tell you the hearts of his friends beat quick at that. The die was cast. He was a success. The ring of the old metal was there, but the trained ear could distinguish new tones and a music that would in the future charm the souls of thousands upon thousands. A discussion arose in the newspaper the next day. There were different opinions about the new Richard. One paper said he was a great Richard even then, and his life would prove it. So it has. The mantle of the father has fallen on the son. Did you ever hear what that mantle was made of? Red flannel. When the older Booth went home at night after the theatre he used to put on an old red flannel dressing gown and eat a bowl of gruel. The first time he saw Edwin act he put the old red cap on the young man's head and handed him the bowl saying, 'Here, eat your gruel.'

THE ATTENDANCE.

Mr. E. C. Stedman, the poet illustrated the poetry of the actors' life and Judge Charles P. Daly spoke on stage literature. The following named gentlemen were present:——

Lester Wallack, Lawrence Barrett, Joseph Jefferson, Cyrus W. Field, Whitelaw Reid, E. C. Stedman, Noah Brooks, A. M. Palmer, J. Q. A. Ward, Thomas Nast, S. R. Gifford, Constant Mayer, A. S. Sullivan, William C. Church, W. R. Floyd, P. T. Barnum, John F. Weir, Austin Flint, Judge Hilton, William Winter, Adam Badeau, Horace Porter, J. R. Osgood, William Warren, V. Botta, C. C. Hastings, Lucius Hart, John D. Townsend, Dr. J. M. Sims, J. H. Browne, Cyrus Butler, J. B. Houston, Dudley Buck, T. N. Otis, Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, Edgar Fawcett, J. B. Matthews, A. S. Jones, Dr. F. Barker, Samuel Shethar, John Elderken, C. Roberts, Jr.; C. Robinson, L. Hutton, J. M. Pierce, L. Clarke Davis, H. Randel, Dr. Ghislani Durant, H. Wilder Allen, William M. Connor, G. E. Montgomery, N. L. Cort, Judge Gedney, George Edgar, A. W. Sanford, George Earle Church, William Bispham, L. P. di Cesnola, E. A. Buck, Dr. C. Phelps, Commodore C. H. Baldwin, Charles Watrous, Joseph J. O'Donohue, D. D. Telford, George Shea, Albert Crane.