Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-12-29
The Burial of the Two Burned
Actors.
(From the New York letter Of the Washington
..Canital.rO

(From the New York letter of the Washington
'Capital")
"The "Little Church Round the Cor
ner'' is a quaint, low building, that has
more of the air of a country church about
it than is usual in our houses OF worship.
DR.. Houghton, the pastor, is a middle aged
gentleman with a nicely modulated voice
and The general appearance of refinement
and culture that are generally ~inseparable
from members of the Episcopal clergy. He
made no remarks on Sunday, and this was
eminently proper. There are few things
more unsatisfactory or more utterly OPP
posed to anything like consolation than to
listen to a number of sentences setting
forth in a deprecating Way the speakers
ignorance of the departed, or~of his spirit
ual condition infinitely more sensible to
90 as DIR. HougzxeH did'on Saturday-con-
fine. himself to- nose utterances which are
for all men and for all time.
The scene in the Little Church, at the
time that two ~coifius, covered with flowers
were borne up the aisle, followed by Law
renee Barrett, Mr.. Montague, and the 9TH
er pall-bearers, was deeply impressive. AT
every point one saw some face well known
to the public, but clothed now in real, uo5
mimic solsmnisy. Edwin Booths gloomy
countenance, lit by the restless fire Of dark
eyes, The is forever Hamlet;) John Gil
bert's quaint features Kate ClaXton's
pale face, with its twinkling hazel eyes
and shading of wavy auburn hair; the
countenance of Marie Gordon, MRS. John
Il. Raynond,) which David Neal chose for
what has become the ideal Mary Stuart-a
picture which, by the way, l saw the other
day in some publication over the title of
s'The Doge's Daughter )" Mrs. Wilkins
| rotund face, (alack a day !! she was q fa~
nous beauty in her time. was this same
La Frochard J Harry Beckett's close sha-
| ven face, which looks strange in a garb OF
melancholy; and the features of Mrs. Gil
bert. Ida Vernon, Emily Rigl, Geraldine
Mage, Roberta Norwood, Edward Bronott
| Charles Stevenson, and scores of others,
not forgetting the handsome face of A.
M. Palmer, one Of the managers of the IN
fortunate theater, wearing at this solemn
hour the impress of the mental torture
which he had undergone for days and
nights previous.
Before the chancel, which WAS a bed of
the most elaborate fJrai offerings, the cof.
fins were placed side by side. Then the
service began, and the audience listened
in turn to the juDilant duet with its trum-
pet-like obligato, LOUIS est Homo" in
which the tones of Nine. Pappenheim and
Miss Drasdil blended more perfectly per-
u5DS tEtIl Oily CfCl tldTO 0lilCC NiNoeOu.
casta diua, lifted up her celestial voice in
combination with the warm. pulsing tones
OF Lucca, before a vast audience in the
Academy to the 'Rest in the Lord, ,
phrased superbly by the rich voice of Dras
dill, and. most truly affecting of all, to the
"Angels even Bright and Fair" sung witt
the fearful tenderness and in the chaste
style it demands, by the most gifted of oui
church singers, Emma Thursby. When
the sympathetic strains, as pure in inter
probation as the seraphs they invoked died
away, there was a heavy fall, and a Woman
overcome by the emotions which the Sc
lection aroused, was lifted from the
floor by gentle hands. One figure among
the mourners attracted The attention
of all who knew Claude Burroughs
Scarcely more thar a week ago this
actor, dressed in the height of fashion
might haye been seen, any pleasant after
noon, on Broadway or the Avenue, in the
company of a young lady to whom he was
understood to be engag ID. She, too
was always attired in the extreme of ia
shion and in the picturesque dress which
it is the privilege and the pleasure of thu
elegantes of the period to array themselves
and looked half like some Vatican shep-
herdess who had stepped from some ORES
den bit in which she had been imprisoned
to seek her mate, like announcer Galathea
Her tete TOuSSe was crowned Dy q cOquettiSl
hat; her petite form was clothed in a dres!
that fitted to perfection, and her dainty
boots went tic-a-tac as she walked on b!
the side of her companion. Who would
have recognized in the suffering girl, veil
ed in crane and bowed down with grief a
the solemn services of Sunday, the ANNA
ted belle, all life and gayety, who was won
to turn all heads as she passed The watch
ers who SAT all Saturday night beside thu
cofins of Murdoch and Burroughs, as the,
lay in state in Irving Hall, opened in thu
wee sm a. hours the easket that contained
all that was left Of the latter, to place in i
some flowers from the tribute of the poo
bereaved father. And then some kint
soul, who knew the romance Of the dea(
actors life and remembered it, plicked
few violets from a simple cross that Dor
the words, "Dear Claude" and put tn
flowers gently with the poor disfguret
| body