New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-03
Author OF "BOX AND cox"
DYING A ." POOR BROTHER OF THE CHAhlE"-
HOUSE,
London, December ~.

something indescribably touching ana niou'nin
in the latter He had given so much Oh ''usn'''
10 the world, yet was himself DOOMED " u'i'e
mechanically He had so greNty added to the
social Joys of the world, yet was himself S"i'",S
rpcluse For years. while thousands weie u",iS
or nightly laughing at his delicious huih"r' "e
sat alone, silent and sad. amid the SHADOWS oi
AGE and peniry He was forsaken by fortune am
forgotten by the world. IL was indeed, only wheh
a kindly friend discovered" him IN the near.
of this dark capital, and made public an appear
in his behalf, that the general populace knew
that the author OF Box and Cox stiil h'eu
among them, though apart from them.
II was as Poor Brother of the Char'erhoue
that the dramatist spent his declining years IL
was not a cheerful life Few visitors ever climbed
those dingy fights Of stone steps that led 10 his
almost equally dngy FOODS. Those VINO diu
found him. at eighty years. a tall and slender ana
still handsome man. There was some resemblance
in his face to Thackeray, and also in his manner.
50 genial, haf-whimscal, was IL. III you looked
out of the window you saw the gray quad
range and the poor little Int OF turt-
not on inspiring prospect If you looked ABOUT
the room you saw no Injuries ana not many
comforts The walls bore a few faded water
colors The furniture was old and worn oh
the little table was canary in a cage, ~ lS
owner was in cage All was cold and dim ana
cheerless never enliyened by even an echo OF
the hearty laughter that was being roused else
where by the products of his brain aud pen.
Yet. 10 his eye. how WIS the old room Peopieu
with Ghosts Of the companions Of former years
4 whole generation Of paywrigh's' dead anu
buried. haunted it, There were Tom Taylor. and
Mark Lemon. and Douglass Jerrold there were
the elder Ivtton and Knowles. and blackstone;
nd blanche.
ney the Dances and the Broughs. There were
many more. now scarcely remembered but gen
Grafton or two ago the popular idols OF the Day
Among these. John Madison Morton was doom
compani,n and a peer. And when the paybilIs
ON the hoardings announced "a new farce ny
Madison Morton there an outburst OF JOY
Gus anticipation that the most successful OF theih
might have envied-but did not. for no one couiu
ever bcerudge Morton anything.
One speaks Of him - the author Of Box ana
Coxr Had he written nothing else his fame
would have been immortal: in England. at any
rate For half a century that farce has been
easily the foremost on the British stage. There
il scarcely an English-spcakng low comedian III
the world who has not played one OF It's par'e'
There il not a theatre in these Islands wher |"
has not been seen and rapturousiy applauosn u!
crowded audiences There is not an amateur
of IL, rcpertory There is not boys school where
the closing entertainment of the winter term do'S
not present il a. the choicest feature on the pro-
pramme There is no farce in dramatic literature
that is so sure of entire success, whenever ana
wherever il may he revived upon the s'dg' 10
this one very often is.
YET this was not his only work, nor his only
successful work The catalogue OF his plays IN
Guiding comedies, farces and pantommes, COM
pri>es more than l2j. Fully hundred OF these
were produced with success. y doz,A. perhaps
score. Of them had great runs. almost rVa'ihS
the popularity of Box and Cox itself. And ID
view of this, one not unnaturaliy asks how IL
came TO pase that old overlook him in actual
penury. To-day, if man he the author OF dozen
or twenty successful plays he is almost sure
20 be accumulating a handsome fortune tlat
should insure him against possible want, unless
he he inexcusably improvident Assuredly, how
ever. Madison Morton was no spcndthrft. Il
never spent great deal OF money he once re-
marked, because, you see. never had a great
deal
IL was true Authors in those days did not re-
ceive the profits they do now And he was COM
PEELED a. sell his copyrights absolutely So what
ever profits have accrued from fifty years sue
ccsSful run Of lis plays and they must have been
enormous have gone into the pockets OF the man
ayers while the author, the actual creator of all
this wealth, was dependent on charity. Ii Is an
impressive object-eSson in copyright. Here WAS
man living for years In poverty. while Others were
receiving fortunes from his works Well. there
are of course those who will say il his own
fault at least that one else was 10 be blamed
lie sold his plays and got his price for them.
What more could lie ask But that does not cover
the whole case. by any means il was not his
price il was the managers price. which the author
might accept or not a. he pleased. Only, If he did
not accept. he would get nothing at all Prac-
ticaly therefore. he was forced 10 accept II
Just as an author to-day, for example. In com
PEELED 20 accept the publishers terms for his
book. or 20 without anything
John Madison Morton never in all his life asked
for a benefit performance. even What was done for
his comfort in the list TWO or three years OF his life
was done 10y his friends without his asking al
most, perhaps. against his will. He never
murmurcd nor complained Of the poverty and
hdmili'tion Thar were hi, lot 1T is a little dull
here time hangs rather heavily" WAS the NEST
he ever said. Perhaps he never fully realized
the bitter injustice OF it all But the myriads
who have had and who still have the sunshine
of mirth in their lives because Of the labor 81
his brain should realize il. Ii might Ice well
az the end of the next performance OF " Box aud
CoN,' when the audience is still cOnvulscd with
hearty and wholesome merTlmont u let down
u drop-curtain. which should be painted
picture OF the author-a solitary. white haired
old man, into whose life for many years no sun
shine of mirh had come, dying the death OF a
torsaken pauper, Poor Brother Of the Charter.
house"