The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-07

father THAT Dds uaN prospects were fa1r
f0r 1i beast reputable position poo tne
profession. Thencsforth DE made poo great
objections to my acting occasionally with
hin. although De never gave me
Instructions professional advice or
encouragement lu amy form
Dc had. doubtless resolved 90
make noe work my way uuaided. and
. though his seeming Indifference was pain
ful 20 me-, 10 compelled me % exercise nay
callow wits. Il made me think And for
this be has ever had mv dearest graft
tude. During my constant attendance on
him In the theater he forbade my quitting
] his dressing room, where he supposed my
f school lessons were studied. But the Idle
/ boy ignoring Lindley Murray and such
/ small deer, seldom seeing the actors
/ listened at the keyhole 10 the garblcd
| text of the mighty drama.ists as given in
the acting versions of the plays BY this
means, at an early age my memory be-
came stored with the words Of all the
parts of every play in which my father
I performed"
A VISIT To CALIFORNIA.
A brief experience in Baltimore. I'M
I eventful and comparatively unsuccessful,
preluded the departure for California
from which so many results important TO
Edwin Booths subsequent career were
to flow The Booths sailed in 1852, crossed
the isthmus, and appeared at San Fran
cisco soon after their arrival.
The time for this visit was ill-chOsen
Financial depression had succeeded the
early marvellous prosperity Of the Golden
state, and the drama, despite a fine com
pany of actors was languishing with the
other industries of the Pacific coast.
A few performances at San Francisco,
some appearances in Sacramento,
given to poor audiences, and un-
remunerative both to actor and man
ager, make up the result of the only visit
Of the elder Booth to the far west Re
turning home alone and believing fully in
the future prosperity of California. he
left his two sOns-Junius Brutus and Ed
win-behind him. The usual vicissitudes
of the actor in those pioneer days were
experienced by Edwin Booth-unpaid
services in the cities sad and trying
wanderings in the mountains, where the
surroundings were of the rudest, the
audiences the most indulgent, sickness,
want, cold, hunger-these were the early
discipline of the sensitive and
gifted child Of genius During this
time the news of his fathers
death reached him, bringing home
to his heart the first great sorrow it had
ever known. Now filling a subordinate
place in stock company at mere pit
lance, now pushed prematurely forward
Gus. he iOurneYed hither and thither,
reaching even as far as Australia, where
his welcome was most cordial; then to
the Sandwich Islands, with a king for his
patron, and so once more back TO the land
Of gold, where, in happy hour he yielded
ready ear to that voice which had been
for years calling him to the scenes of his
fathers glory, and where his crown was
waiting for him.
HIS RETURN TO BALTIMORE,
His first appearance after his return
was made in Baltimore as "Richard ILL.,"
under the management OF John T. Ford
Later, while playing in Richmond under
the management of Joseph Jefferson, he
met with the lady who became afterward
his wife, the lovely and accomplished
Mary Devlin, then a member of Mr.. jeff
ersOns personal and dramatic family; and
at length, in the spring of 1857, he made
his bow as star in Boston, the city where
he had made his first essay as an actor
and where his fathers memory was still
cherished. Opening as Sir Giles Over
reach" he was completely successful
He followed this auspiciOus beginning
with round of characters in which he
sustained the reputation he had already
gained.
On May 4, 1857, he made his bow before
a New York audience as Richard III at
INC AACtAOpOAAAsAAA LllC0LEIs ALTHOUGH
Booth had but recently returned to the
east, rumor had brought the story of his
fame and success. and the stock company
of the theater awaited eagerly for his APP
pearance at rehearsal. The scene will
long live in the memory of those who
We're present. A slight, pale youth with
black flowing hair, soft brown eyes
full of tenderness and gentle timidity,
a manner mixed with shyness and
Crtfof ba fop1r
air OF conquest or self-assertion, and gave
his directions with grace and courtesy
which have never left him. He had been
heralded by his managers as the "hope of
the living drama greatly to his dismay,
but his instantaneous success almost
satisfied such eXtraVagant eulOgy, and
while curiosity had brought many to see
the son of him who had been their whilom
idol, they remained to pay tribute to an
effort which was original and spontane-
Gus.
He arrived at an oppOrtune moment
Forrest was beginning to lose his grasp
upon the scepter which he had held so
long. Age and infrmity were showing
their effect upon his once perfect frame,
while his style was derided by a new
generation of theater-goers The elder
Wallack was playing his farewell engage
ment, Davenport was wasting his fine
talents in undignihed versatility, and
place was already made for a man who
had original and creative power. Pursu-
ing for the next few years the career of a
wondering player, with frequent returns
to New York and new additions to his re-
pertory, Edwin Booth was acquiring new
experience and valuable confidence in his
powers.
Mr.. Booth was married in 1860 to Miss
Devlin. In 1861 he visited London, hav-
ing made an ill-considered and hasty
agreement with manager there which
forced him to come out at a comedy the
alter, the Haymarket, in a part unsuited
for first appearance, although one of
his best performances-"S hylock." He
paid too little attention to the importance
of his London engagement, and it was
only as it neared his close, when he salts
fed the people by his magnetic perform
ance of "Richelieu,n that he awOke to the
magnitude of the event. He was obliged
to quit the scene of his success at the mo-
ment of his arrival.
Returning 10 his own country he found
the land agonized in the thrCes of civil
war. During this first visit to England
his only child, Edwina, was born His
home on his return he made at Dorchester
Mass. Here he left his young wife
whom he never saw again, to so to his
New York engagement in February. 1868
His wlfe's death was bitter atiliction
which drove him to an increased labor in
his art as some poor solace for an ir-