company were Messrs. Crane, Cleveland, Tuelch, Tomlinson, Durang, Biddle, King. Of the women was Miss Chea, whose realm was that of fine ladies; Miss Wainwright, chambermaid and rustic; Mrs. Pownall, once the celebrated singer, Miss Wrighten, grandmother of Mrs. Blake and the Placide family; Mrs. Marshall, who played boys' parts; Mrs. Williamson, Madame Gardie, dancer; Mrs. Allyn, Mrs. Crane, Mrs. Harman, and Mrs. Cleveland.

All of whom had the pleasure of giving pleasure to our first President.

Henry was the only actor in America who owned a carriage; it was large enough to hold himself and wife. They lived in Fulton Street, then called Fair Street, upon the side now occupied by the Bennett building; a gate in the rear yard opened into Theatre Alley. The drive was a short one to the theatre on John street. It was a one-horse affair drawn by a colored coachman. Mrs. Henry used to "make up" at home and drive to the play-house ready to "go on."

Fine actor, though, Henry was, his Othello, as Washington saw it, was of a comical make-up. To us who are accustomed to see the Eastern magnificence of Salvini, or the classical costume of Booth as the Moor, the rig of John Henry was a sight.

Think of it: He was six foot tall and wore the uniform of a British general officer, his face black, with a big wig of woolly hair, and this was the traditional Othello of the day.

The only theatrical notice in the newspapers of the inauguration is that in "The Gazette" of the United States in its weekly issue of May 2, 1789, says:

There was an excellent transparency also shown at the theatre and at the corner near the FlyMarket."

Thomas Wignell as Darby in "The Poor Soldier" was a great favorite with Washington, and after the inauguration he was to take his benefit. President Washington was to be present. Wignell called upon William Dunlap, the young dramatist, and subsequently first historian of the American Theatre, and asked him to write a special piece embracing the character of Darby. An interlude entitled "Darby's Return" was written. It recounted Darby's adventures in Europe and the United States and his return to Ireland, where he tells of all the sights he had seen.

It was a memorable sight for the audience. All eyes were turned towards the new President to

see how he would take to the new piece. Washing himself became interested as to how the play would develop. Darby tells all that befel him in New York at the adoption of the Federal Constitution and at the inauguration of the President.

The following lines which told of the change of government caused Washington to smile: "There, too, I saw some mighty pretty shows; A revolution without blood or blows; For, as I understood, the cunning elves. The people, all revolted for themselves." But as Wignell recited these lines, the President became serious:

"A man who fought to free the land from wo.
Like me,
had left his farm a soldiering to go.

But, having gained his point, he had, like me,
Return'd his own potatoe ground to see.
But there he could not rest. With one accord
He's called to be a kind of-not a lord-
I don't know what; he's not a great man sure,
For poor men love him just as he was poor:
They love him like a father or a brother,
As we poor Irishmen love one another."
Kathleen then asks a question, which seemed
to cause the President some uneasiness.

"How looked he, Darby? Was he short or tall?"

Washington's native modesty caused a slight flush to rise. Here in this public place, with all eyes upon him, he expected to hear one of those eulogiums he was obliged to hear so often. The personality of the answer was removed. Darby replied that he had missed seeing the Father of the Country by mistaking a man "all lace and glitter, botherum and shine," for him. Then it was that General Washington indulged in a hearty laugh.

Three performances a week were given-Monday, Wednesday and Friday-and those began at six o'clock. It was customary for the rich patrons of the theatre to send their servants to the theatre an hour or two before the play began, to reserve their seats for them. An old play-bill contains this notice:

"Ladies will please to send their servants to keep their places, at four o'clock."

The following new plays were brought out this season: "He Would be a Soldier.” “Choleric Man," "School for Soldiers," The Father Who's the Dupe," "Inkle and Yarico," "Dead Alive," Duplicity,' Miser," "Toy," "Baratana," "Prisoner-at-Large," "Critic," "Cheats of Scapin," "Half an Hour After Supper," 'Invasion Air Balloon," "Darby's Return."

Robert M. Barter.

THEATRICAL MANAGERS.

WHO AND WHAT ARE THEY?

THERE is nothing the stage requires to-day so much as artistically educated and directing brains in its administrative department, instead of the mere speculators, who almost invariably neglecting, if not absolutely pooh-poohing art, enter the arena of managership for the sole purpose of making money.

Now, I contend that a man of judgment may still keep an eye on the dollars, without outraging every sense of artistic effort, in the scramble to put before the public the coarse and vulgar entertainments which too often force themselves before the attention of the hungry patrons of amusements, by their flaunting announcements; under the delusion that the public will have no other. It is an insult to their good taste, for it is in evidence that they will patronize artistic and clever productions. Comedy, so-called, has degenerated, through the debased taste of this class of speculative managers, to little else than Buffoonery, or the art of tying up wit, in an entanglement of grotesque legs and the antics of the clown.

Is this the boast of the latter part of the 19th century, that men and women are so shallow in their intelligences that they cannot understand or appreciate true wit, and humor, the result of the higher attributes of intellectual training or quick, perceptive intuition? It cannot be. Again I say, it is a libel upon the body politic. Mankind is hungry for amusements. The more the business and routine of active life engages their attention, the more need there is that they should be amused. Their nervous forces need refreshment, as much as does their physical ones. They hunger for it. If you place before persons whose appetites desire food, a coarse meal they will eat, from necessity-but if you serve them with choice and delicious morsels, rendered doubly attractive by their artistic manipulation, how much more delightful will be their repast!

It is the same with amusement. Witness the delight experienced by all classes in witnessing an entertainment where artistic taste and adornment surrounds with judicious and appropriate selection, the efforts of truly great artists. They catch the inspiration of the wit, the sarcasm, the spiritual, the sentiment and the heroic with delight, and lend their aid, in impulsive,

enthusiastic and generous response and plaudits, to the efforts of the artistic performers.

This can be seen during every season, confirming the good that exists in the multitude, when an artist of merit steps out, somewhere, before them. It is a gross libel, I say again, to belittle public opinion with the imbecile rot, too often thrust into some of our best theatres, where by the lavish expenditure of money upon grotesque and sometimes humorous printing they arrest the attention of the multitude, who, having nothing else attractive before them, allow themselves thoughtlessly to be carried away, by the seductive advertising. By the way, in almost every instance of this kind of entertainment, the real merit of humor and so called Satire will be found in the pictures of the adverments-created no doubt, by the artist who designed and drew them--rather than the merits of the comedies (?) themselves.

I am led, during these remarks, naturally, to one theatre in New York City where real artistic taste is displayed, as in no other in Americawhere the selection of artists and the production of plays, betrays the master hand of a cultivated mind, who devotes his whole attention to doing the very best that can be done to command success, and has the good sense and courage to see mistakes which may arise, and to rectify them. No niggard he, who, should the selection made not justify its continuance, no matter what it costs, withdraws it, and gives his patrons assurance by his wisdom that he does not desire to force a play, in order to gratify his own personal opinion, or protect his pocket, to the distaste of his patrons.

Augustin Daly has done more to gratify public good taste than any other manager in America. In consequence of this honest artistic persistence in such a course of action, he possesses a clientele and following so numerous and eminently respectable that Daly's Theatre may be graded as a first-class paying and permanent institution, and no doubt it will continue, so long as Augustin Daly shall direct its course.

II. Wayne Ellis.

A YOUNG MAN WITH A MISSION.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 1.-Bobus Smith, fond of the play, was by chance taken to Alaska, and after a few years returned to 'Frisco endowed with a goodly share of pelf, which he was bent

on enjoying with old cronies. A decade in the city by the Golden Gate works surprising changes, and Bobus soon discovered that his oldtime friends were scattered to the winds, and the places formerly haunted by the "purfesh" were given o'er to the prosaic attendance of everyday good people. Wandering aimlessly by the old California Theatre one night soon after his arrival from the North, Bobus stepped into its spacious lobby, but no familiar face greeted his eye in the box office; but looking at the pictures on the lobby walls he felt for a moment that time had turned backwards, as he caught sight of the frank, hearty face of McCullough and the severe, ascetic features of Barrett as they appeared nearly twenty years ago, when they were the ardent and ambitious managers of the house. There were other old faces, too-Raymond, Harry Edwards, and the rest, over which Bobus lingered; but in his musings he was all the while conscious of the sound of a quick, nervous tread, to and fro on the pavement outside the theatre portals, and finally impelled by curiosity to see what manner of person it was pacing as though caged in narrow bounds, he beheld a pale and rather cadaverous-faced young man, clad in black attire, even to the gloves, the general effect being clerical in the extreme. The young man in black evidently had a mission, Bobus thought, for did he not keep watch on the theatre door, cast furtive looks at the box office as he passed and repassed the Bush St. Pillars, and narrowly scan everybody going into the theatre? The young man in black had altogether such a missionary look that Bobus was convinced that he was there on a self-imposed task to warn people against entering the gilded place of sin, but as yet could not screw up his courage to exhort them personally on the wickedness of the theatre. This conviction was deepened by seeing him the next night, wrapped in an overcoat for protection against the raw, foggy air, freshly blowing over Lone Mountain from the sea, pacing in front of the theatre as before, with his eye rivetted on the theatre door. This is a crank, this young man in black, with the pale face, said Bobus to himself, as he wended his way to the California Market, to one of the chop-houses there.

a trio of reputable actors to alternate as the murderous Thane. Going to the performance Bobus saw undeniable first-class stage effects, fairly level acting, while as the play progressed, finding himself interested in the new music, which was often felicitous in harmonizing with the general tone of the theatrical action, and learning by the play-bill that the author himself was conducting the musicians, Bobus, to get a good view of him, went around to the parquette doors, close to the footlights, and to his blank amazement beheld-the pale-faced young man in black, with a mission-Edgar S. Kelley! Sir Toby.

IMPERSONATORS OF WOMEN. THERE exists quite a strong and, undeniably,

very natural prejudice among a large class, against the enacting of feminine parts by men upon the stage. A man, ordinarily, does seem unsexed, and the performance may be vulgar in the artistic sense at least.

Still, it is not so many years ago that all the women rôles were taken by boys and men. Then the prejudice was against women appearing upon the stage at all. But with the growth and refinement of society, the advancement of women has taken place and she takes her proper position, according to her merit, in all walks of life.

There does not seem as strong a prejudice against seeing women in men's roles, and we think a woman as a page particularly charming. There is undoubtedly a sensuous delight in seeing a woman's shapely form in tights in close-fitting male habiliments. Whereas a man in female garb is apt to appear awkward and ungainly.

For some time after women took their proper place upon the stage, if feminine rôles were assumed by men or boys it was in burlesques, where awkwardness seemed not inappropriate, and was often assumed or exaggerated. Then the so-called female impersonators began to appear on the variety stage. Some of them were very clever and neat in their work, while others were rather coarse and vulgar

In my early recollections of the variety stage, two men stand out very prominently as particularly good in impersonations of this sortSheridan, formerly associated with Mack, and Neil Burgess. As a comic old Irish woman, Sheridan was inimitable. It was a clever portraiture and not essentially coarse or vulgar.

It must be nearly twenty years since I saw Neil Burgess for the first time. He appeared in one act farces, beginning or concluding a variety entertainment. Quite a clever sketch, entitled "My Mother in-Law," I remember especially. But a few seasons after Petroleum V. Nasby (D. R. Locke) dramatized the Widow Bedott Papers for him, and he made fame and fortune as the representative of that garrulous old lady. An impersonation of much the same type of character followed in his play called "Vim," which is the best play he has yet had for the display of his particular talents. His personations have been very artistic and quite free from vulgarity, and he has the extreme happy gift of being able to talk very rapidly, and at the same time be distinct in utterance.

"

These thoughts and reminiscences have come to me from visiting Proctor's Twenty-third Street Theatre, where I saw Mr. Burgess in his new play a few evenings since. "The County Fair" is not as good as Vim." But there are some points of excellence about it, and occasionally the touch of nature that makes an audience respond. That little bit of business where the house seeems to answer her appeal for help, for instance. The mechanical contrivance for the horse race is neat and effective. Burgess, as the voluble, kindhearted spinster, is entertaining. I must criticise one situation, though. It struck me as vulgar. His work has been free from it heretofore, and this is uncalled for and can well be cut. It is where he imitates the ballet dancer.

THE NORWEGIAN DRAMATIST-It is not easy to say whether or not Ibsen will be read in America. It is better that he should not be read than that there should be a " fad" about him. Americans are perhaps not apt to be much interested in a man who has written in praise of Julian the Apostate, and who has been trebly condemned as a realist, a pessimist, a socialist. But there is scarcely a man who can read Ibsen without feeling about him the roar and dark onward motion of life, without seeing dimly, as a traveller in a strange land sees from a mountain-top, new plains and rivers in the distance. There are few sincere souls who would not believe Ibsen sincere, and delight in the solemn emphasis which he gives to that which he believes true.-George Rice Carpenter, in the April Scribner's.

THE MONTH.

ROSINA VOKES, "CLOVER THE BRIGANDS", THE OOLAH.”

I THINK I echo thousands of hearts in the welcome of Rosina Vokes to New York again after a year's absence. She comes back to us never appearing better. In fact, I do not think I have seen her so happy, healthy and handsome in ten years past. She opened her season at Daly's with a revival of "A Game of Cards, "My Milliner's Bill,” and “ The Rough Diamond ;" and in spite of the fact that these pieces have been seen by everyone who is anybody, she was greeted every night by that fashionable audience that seems to have attached itself to Daly's Theatre scmething after the manner of bees around honey. On Thursday evening, May 9th, Miss Vokes made a complete change of bill, introducing two little plays quite new to New York. "The Old Musician" is a charming sketch, providing Mr. Felix Morris an admirable opportunity for his remarkable character acting. With two or three little inconsistencies remedied in the business of the play it would be quite complete.

There is, for instance, a moment when the starving musician is partaking of some food that has been ingeniously put before him. It is his daughter, who is his saving angel, although he does not know it. When she turns her back he quietly slips some food into the drawer of the table and the audience laughs. It is a little bit of claptrap that utterly destroys the pathos of the situation. Another instance of clumsy business is where Perceval says to Nina, at the very moment when the old musician discovers her to be his daughter, "And now you will marry me?" or something to that effect. It is a ridiculously commonplace sentiment in the midst of a pathetic situation where certain human joy would have deferred the expression.

In the play" My Lord in Livery," Miss Vokes reminds one strongly of her delicious character in Barbara in 'Bells of the Kitchen." It is a very bright little piece and charmingly acted by the company.

THERE is a snow scene in "Clover" that is

very suggestive of Maine woods at zero. But the opera chorus of girls, attired as soldiers, march in delicate silk slippers with high heels, and their apparrel generally is as thin as stage morality nowadays will warrant. So it is quite