Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-06-05
Anecdote of tho Elder Booth.
IFrom the Providence Journal.l

lr rom bne efroVlu6nceJ Ournhl.I
Js 1t was our fortune to see much of the
elder Booth, from the first time he came to
Providence to his last appearance here,
on the stage and off the stage. in all
moods and under all circumstances, and
the distance Of time but confirms our
judgment that he possessed altogether
more great qualities, physical and men
tai, for a perfect actor, than any man we
+ ever saw. The elder Kean and Cooke
we do not remember. @s 80
Mr.. Booths career was the widest,
most erratic and perhaps the most
unfortunate Of any great tragedian that
ever lived. From the time that he
burst like meteor upon the London
public, when Kean, in the zenith of his
power, was crowding Old Drury to its
utmost capacity, and when Booth, at
lCovent Garden, was beginning to divide
the palm with him, to the day of his
death, he was a doomed man. Your read
ers will remember how he was suborn-
o ed to the Green Room of Drury Lane,
and under undue excitement cajoled into
signing a contract to play an engage
ment of second parts to Kean, which
proved his ruin. Kean who never
knew remorse, and had in him no "rot-
ten spot of penitence," pricked to the
quick by his rising rival, made this ia
miliar expression which used to be cur
rent in the mouths of old actors, in my
early days 81 II be damned if don't
shelf him." And shelf him he did, most
effectually, in London. The newspaper
T controversy growing out of the transac-
fion between Booth and Kean, exceeds
8 in interest and malignity everything we
remember respecting actors. Booth
soon left for the continent where some
L of the strangest scenes of his life were
enacted. shall never forget his ac-
count of meeting with Byron. He was
SO. entirely modest and unconscious of
self, that you felt the truth of everything
he said when speaking Of occasions like
5 this in his personal history, which, how
ever, he could rarely be prevailed upon
to do. sagl--l zisa-- as+a.
From Europe he went to the Western
Islands, and after remaining some time,
came to America, and made his first ap-
pearance as Richard, in Richmond, Va,
before one of the most cultivated and
appreciative audiences that ever assem-
I bied iriiour country The success of his
effort exceeded, by far. everything ever
witnessed in the capital Of the Old Do
minion, both in degree and kind.
It is. said that in the passage where
Richard, leaning upon the shoulder of
Buckingham, is trying to tempt him
ito the murder of the Princess, and,
pointing to the stage floor, says-'Cous-
In, of late, l have had two spiders
crawling on my startled hopes. / would
have some one tread upon them"-such
was the effect produced that two young
girls near the stage sprang to their feet,
Tinterrupting, for a moment, the perform
ance by their criesof fear, believing they
really saw these spiders. 81 -eIA9
All your readers know the history of
the great genius after that. In miser-
able bFawl his nose was broken, the
finest Grecian race of modern times dis
figured and the most perfect human voice
forever cracked and ruined. And thus
heawanderedsabout for a quarter of
century, now, ana then dazzling the world
by the brilliancy of Of his genius, which
Had not lost all its original lustre, max
ing his last essay in California, and
finally in '5s. away from his home in the
West, yielding up his great troubled
'aspiritwith thisrequest to his companion:
"Pray for me.noo A word, more, if I have
not already, tired your readers beyond
endurancs.oiI once passed an entire
evening" with Booth behind the
scenes, and in his dressing room,
while he was enacting Sir Giles
Overreach, in Westminster street, in
bourscity. i had been many times before
in rear Of the stage, here and in Boston,
but this exceeded in interest anything
of the kind |. ever witnessed. Booth
was in excellent condition che was nae
fou, hut just had plenty. ~ Between
thu acts. i spent 1.-The time with
him In bis dressing room, and when