New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-20
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
.vn,s LIFE OF MRS. DUFF.

good & Go.
ti,not designed that the volumes OF tue ", NV
90, Actor Series shall stand IN aspe'h'l oiu'i'
ran ,,I;scd in the order in which they happen 10
arrive from their writers, ana c"ch '"'u n N'o
',a.o IN itself Edwin Forrest. the JeiiersohS' INC
-. "a the Younger Booth. and Charlotte Crsh-
o,, oro comrlemors:ed in the four biographies
-, have already appeared. The NTH DOOM
,sh,o, will lie published within few days Is MI
Iose,h y. Ireand's " Life of Mary Dun. IL oe"'S
with an important subject, and Mr. lreianu mas
dana his task with patient care and in thougnlui
reverent spirit. ,
rha name of this wnter-so well anu
widely known as the author OF the hec"iu' v
tbe New.York Stagc'-is a guarantee OIL "'ou ,,.
and fitness of theatrical detail lie mas -
~ro,6cotions for such work He knows the hisVoiS
his iracment is sound, his taste severe
onl his stvle simple In the present instance n0 ''
t.or ;,s,s.d of writing an exclusively peiso""i
.mol aud ANALYSIS of his heroine, 10 Suggest
.s,oss !, the dramatic art, and TO reproduce
49,, identity l,y rejecting throughout MS phS0'
a. immersion that she made upon INC ''"'o
tbroueh which sue lived. more plc'oi'"i "D
looueut narrative, containing more OF PERSONA 'o'
,;,oonv and less quotation from the Old newspapers
might perhaps have better pleased inc eo"0'"'
reader. Mr. Ireland frequently saw MIS- D"l' uPon
the stage and therefore lie might nave spun" o.
from
a. the opinions of other contemporaries Dut hc
,ofo-,od 10 offer an unembellished chronicle
a.. stats the facts with but little comment and III
horocteristic spirt of reticence and modeSty, 10
,;o1 the critical precedence to those old lourhniS
in which Mrs Duifs performances were hrS' u's
orssc1 at a time when they were us real 10 tncii
nnblic as those of Mary Anderson and Ellen Jerry
are to the public Of to-day
Mrs Dnff whose maiden name was Mary DYKE
roc born In London in 1874, and dled IN new
york in 1857 Her father was an Enellshhdl' III
,bc service Of the East India Company anu iio "''
abroad while she yet child. she was ono "
three sisters all of whom adopted the PfolesS'on ~
.ho stace-malIng their first appearance IN leo'
at the Dublin Theatre-and all oil whom were IT,
,rorlabe for beauty of person and winning s"ec'
,nss Of nature Sho early received an offer oil mar
80 from, the poet Moore who had acted with her
=; a bope6t performance and whose lyrics contain
mora than one allusOn to this Object OF MS ioNo
He WAS thirteOne years old at this timej lDe
offer was declined and the poet subseque ntly Weu-
dea her sister Elizabeth. Mary, meantime hau
i,nbta1 her troth to John r. Duff, an actor OF the
nnblin Theatre and TO him she was lhafr'cu III
her sixteenth year. They Immediately came 10
America. Mr. Duff's drst appearance III thIS couh
,v was made on November > 1910, at the Feueral
S,reot Theatre Boston, but his wife did not appear
90 .JIe, Her public career-mnutely traced by
A. IreIopd-Iosted from this time till the spring Of
1sae when il came to an end in the city OF New
orloons She was on the stage little less thah
thirty years
Mr., Ireland has made bis way through prodi-
cious mass of newspaper records, extracting every
Dont That he deems essential to the exposition oil
Mrs. Du0-s professional experience The reader Is
thus enabled to follow her progress year ny wear
Her growth at first, seems to have been SLOW ouV
she soon bounded into distinction, ana III inc
course of a few years became the most eminent anu
admired actress upon the American stage. Boston
was her stronghold; but for five years from Isl 10
1917. she was a member of the great Philadelphia
comnanv of Messrs Warren and Wood, and there
AMI on the New-York stage. she likewise conquered
an illnstrions place In 1898 she accompanied her
husband to London and acted at Drury Lane as
Jsabelia-with Macready az BTOn. Young cooper
and Wallack were in the cast. aud the Ch"d was
played by Miss Lane, now Mrs john Drew. MI
and Mrs Duff soon returned 20 America. aud never
aftervard left these shores. III 1881 MI Dun dled.
He had been for some time in poor health, and De
had declined in professional populanty-whie fls
wife at first viewed as his inferior III ability hao
surpassed and ec!psel him. Yet at his best. he
was An actor whom some writers of bis day were
inclined 70 rank with the renOw ned George FRED
ericl, Cooke Mr. ireland mentions 29Z parts that
were PLAYED by him,-among which are H0"ter
Bened;ck The Stranger, Young RdPd, DoHco"rL
Mcgrim. U'ertsr and Robinson Crasoe. lie was IN
fact one of the thorough going, old-SchoOl actors
who could play every line OF dramatic business
His wife had the same sort OF proficiency. MT
Ireland names 22l characters that she personated
the list still remaining incomplete. She was
especially famous IN Isabella {" The Fatal Mar
y.ageD, Jane Shore Mrs Halter, Mrs. Bereriey,
Hrmione. Sqtira, Belriderd. Juliet, fOrtia 1atha'
Nory Stuart and LAZY Macbeth. After her nus
hands death Mrs Dun had hard struggle with
poyerty-as she was the mother of ten children, and
no acting though of the best order was poorly paid
IN those days. Mr.. Ireland states fact that is
signally illustrative of this point In S26 i'll New
York Nj and Mrs Duff received jointly, during ten
weeks a salary of only 500 week, together win
the net proceeds of one benefit. How different,
beexelaims. the emolunents of the profession at
the present time. when artists can demand ana
receiye for their services five hundred or a
,bonsand dollars a nghtw 1t might also he said
that there is contrast Of another kind between the
DAYS Of Mrs Duff and those OF Jumbo. Some OF
tho artists" who can oltsin these great payments
nowadays are scarcely able to do more Than siruIn
a banjo or whistle through Jews harp. 1t was
dramatic art that thought of once it is enter.
taiDment that is thought of now, by the general
public.
About the year ls3G Mrs. Diff was married to
Mir j. G.; Seaver; and Mr.. Ireland says that there
Is no record of her having been on the stage later
than May 80. 1888. She lived with her new hus-
band in New Orleans, renowned the stage, left thu
Catholic faith and became Methodist; and for
many years her life was devoted to works of pety
and beneyOence. II appears that she ultimately
became unhappy in this marriage. Her last years
were passed in such absolute obscurity that nobody
knew either what had become of Mrs. Duff" OF
where she lived or whether indeed she was living,
OF where she died. or where she was bured-till as
late as the year 1874. That she had disappeared