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[[clipping]] GIFFORD.
I.
THE CLOSED STUDIO.
This was a magician's cell:
Beauty's self obeyed his spell!
When the air was gloom without,
Grace and Color played about
Yonder easel. Many a sprite,
Golden-winged with heaven's light,
Let the upper skies go drear,
Spreading his rare plumage here.

Skyward now,--alas the day!--
See the truant Ariels play!
Cloud and air with light they fill,
Wandering at idle will,
Nor (with half their tasks undone)
Stay to mourn the master gone.
Only in this hollow room,
Now the stillness and the gloom.

II.
OF WINTER NIGHTS.
When the long nights return, and find us met
Where he was wont to meet us, and the flame
On the deep hearth-stone gladdens as of old,
And there is cheer, as ever in that place,
How shall our utmost nearing close the gap
Known, but till then scarcemeasured? Or what light
Of cheer for us, his gracious presence gone,
His speech delayed, till none shall fail to miss
That halting voice, yet sure, speaking, it seemed
The one apt word? For well the painter knew
Art's alchemy and law; her nobleness
Was in his soul, her wisdom in his speech,
And loyalty was housed in that true heart,
Gentle yet strong, and yielding not one whit
Of right or purpose. Now, not more afar
The light of last year's Yule-fire than the smile
Of Gifford, nor more irreclaimable.
Its vapor mingled with the wintry air.
EDMUND C. STEDMAN. [[/clipping]]

[[clipping]] LONDON CRITICS ON BOOTH.
A FAVORABLE JUDGMENT ON THE WHOLE--MR. BOOTH INVITED TO GERMANY.
LONDON, NOV. 7, 1880.
Mr. Booth has been invited to appear in Germany.
Commenting on Mr. Booth's performance as Hamlet at the Princess's Theatre last evening, The Times says:
The performance was eminently interesting and successful. Mr. Booth was master of his resources, and gave a thoroughly intelligible and consistent reading of his part. He departs less than we are accustomed to from the text, and is so much the more acceptable. The part is carried out with scholarly attention to detail. is delineation has the effect, though sometimes spoiled by exuberance of gesture, of being beautifully musical and distinct. His expression of fear at the first appearance of the Ghost offered rather a bad augury in the beginning. His acting here was labored and tricky, but as he proceeded Booth quite dispelled apprehensions. The wit of the part was effectively brought out, and the dry conceits, which have become as familiar as household words, seemed novel from the way in which they were uttered. Booth had a very warm reception and was enthusiastically applauded by the whole house.
THE PERFORMANCE "ESSENTIALLY REFINED."
The Daily News says:
No popular favorite on our stage could have enjoyed a more cordial reception. Though there were some slight tokens of opposition from some parts of the house, yet on the whole, the welcome was extremely enthusiastic. His countenance is striking and expressive. His features are quick to indicate fleeting shades of thought or feeling. His movements are remarkably graceful, and his gestures and tones are always appropriate. His performance is not any new conception. In the play scene he falls somewhat short of the excitement of the situation. His struggle with Laeries is merely ordinary. Nearly all the depth of pathos while he is dying in the arms of Horatio is sacrificed in his restless movements. Altogether, Mr. Booth's impersonation does not leave the impression of a great performance, though it is essentially refined. [[/clipping]]

[[clipping]] "COLD AND CLASSICAL TO A FAULT."
The Daily Telegraph says:
Mr. Booth was received with a cordiality that occasionally rose to genuine enthusiasm. There was an important representative audience to welcome him as a student of tried excellence. Though we are occasionally disposed to doubt the absorbing influence of Mr. Booth's performance, yet he made such an impression that every new part in which he plays cannot fail to absorb attention. The naturally ideal Hamlet seems, however, to have been omitted from the programme. Although the audience was fascinated by Mr. Booth's clear, measured delivery, the performance was academical and correct to a fault. It is toward the close of the farewell to Ophelia that there are, for the first time, evidence of a human, natural Hamlet. Mr. Booth's manner wants sympathy, ideality, and persuasion. Mr. Booth made the lest effect in the play scene. The performance was cold and classical to a fault. In the churchyard scene Mr. Booth revived wonderfully, and interested the audience at a late hour, but the fencing and death scenes were singularly ill-managed and ineffective. He did not lose his hold on the audience, however, during the entire performance.

"A THOUGHTFUL SCHOLAR."
The Observer says:
Momentary satisfaction alternates with disappointment throughout the whole of Booth's performance. A soliloquy which begins with a promise of natural effect ends in mere rhetorical display. A clever piece of new or unusual business dies away in measured obedience to the artificial mannerisms of conventional tragedy. Booth is at his best in the highly difficult interview with Ophelia; at his worst where anything like ease or humor is required. The general impression we received from the performance is that he belongs to the large class of uninspired actors who have learned their lesson carefully. It is only just to admit that there are certain interesting details of his performance and reading, the merit of which cannot here be worthily discussed. His rendering of several of the most important passages is that of a thoughtful scholar cramped by tradition.

"RESPECT RATHER THAN ADMIRATION."
The Standard says:
Mr. Booth's performance was a disappointment. It awakened respect rather than admiration. His Hamlet is an intellectual study of considerable merit. He himself is a practised actor, but throughout there is something wanting, and the sympathy of the audience is untouched. He is over-emphatic in speech and gesture. He does not soliloquize, but recites a set speech. In some parts Mr. Booth gives proof of having made a comprehensive and independent study of the character. In the scene with Ophelia his tenderness is touching. 

THE EARLIER SCENES GOOD.
THe Post says:
Mr. Booth's personal gifts are favorable to the physical representation of Hamlet. To his affection for Ophelia he gives very tender expression, but the vehemence and celerity of his performance rob it of its pensive philosophy and meditative grace. The earlier scenes of the play were good, but after those Mr. Booth no longer acted with continuous skill and spirit. The play was languid, but Booth rallied brightly in the last scene, and his fine fencing was universally admired. The performance bears invariable evidence of conscientious study and frequent proofs of true passion, but Mr. Booth is apt to fall into artificial grooves that prevent proper development of his power.

Wednesday Nov. 17 1880.
At work in my studio all day still painting on the picture of Gertrude. I dont seem able to leave it. My poor Mother looks troubled and worried with the daily anxieties. I have had a touch of a sad feeling today. I wonder if it is coming back to me again. An editorial in the Tribune today will be very encouraging to Calvert for it emphatically recommends his site for the Worlds Fair at Port Morris. Worse to Jeannette. A letter from Butter asking me to be present Saturday at the proving of Giffords will.
Thursday 18"
Painted all day still on the picture of Gerturde having begun another on a lighter key. When I came over to dinner Maurice told me that the old cat, which we have had for eighteen years, my other says, had died very suddenly in a sort of fit. I was relieved that the poor old thing had gone for she looked so thin and wretched and we were obligged to make her stay out side at night where she had a box with her kitten which was growing fairly and was very bright and pretty. We were talking of her at the dinner table Maurice stepped to the back door and exclaimed, the kitten is dead too, and sure enough, there the poor little thing lay stretched out dead. It soon transpired that Essie had laid