William E. Burton: Actor, Author, and Manager A Sketch of his Career with Recollections of his Performances

WILLIAM E. BURTON.

1804-1860.

"_He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it was his great right to be so._"--SHAKESPEARE.

WILLIAM E. BURTON.

1804-1834.

WILLIAM EVANS BURTON, the son of William George Burton, an author of some repute, was born in London, September 24, 1804, and died in New York, February 10, 1860. His father was a printer, with a bent of mind toward theology, and gave expression to his views in a work entitled "Biblical Researches," published in the close of the last century. The son was classically educated in St. Paul's School in London, an institution where, before his day, Elliston and the elder Mathews were instructed; and the father's design was to prepare him for the ministry. The parent's death, however, summoned him from his studies, and, at the age of eighteen, he assumed the direction of the printing-office, which he managed for the maintenance of his mother. It may be observed that one of the specialties of the elder Burton's business was the printing of classical works, and the son's knowledge had often been of service in the matter of proof-reading. From the printing-office he was led to the experiment of editing a monthly magazine, thus early revealing an inclination toward the profession of letters which never wholly deserted him; fostered by sundry efforts of authorship in his native land, and appearing subsequently, in this country, in his conduct of "The Gentleman's Magazine" and "Literary Souvenir," and in the compilation known as "Burton's Cyclopædia of Wit and Humor."

The youthful experiment was not a substantial success, and did not long continue; but his editorship brought him into connection with certain members of the dramatic profession, and he was persuaded (we wonder if persuasion were really needed!) to make a trial of his stage ability by playing with a company of amateurs. His success in this venture foreshadowed his destiny, and we find him in 1825 performing with a provincial company on the Norwich, Sussex, and Kent circuits.

We cannot help the indulgence, at this moment, of a playful fancy regarding Burton's early efforts. Did he, in the exemplification of tragedy, which he then aspired to, reveal by a single facial example the dawning of a future Toodle? Could imagination discover in the dagger of Macbeth the hook, and in the Thane himself the features, of Ed'ard Cuttle, Mariner of England? Did the thoughtful countenance of Hamlet suggest in any possible way the lugubriousness of an incipient Sleek? Did he make his Majesty George IV. laugh at Windsor, where, as tradition has it, he played before the king at this stage of his career? We know not; but the mask of Melpomene had been thrown aside when, after another round of the provinces, with varying success, but gaining celebrity through an unusually wide range of parts, he made his first appearance in London in 1831, as Wormwood, in "The Lottery Ticket," a character that became famous in his hands. This engagement was at the Pavilion Theatre, and was a highly successful one. The great Liston, just twice Burton's age, was then at the Haymarket, and we can imagine with what emulous admiration the young comedian regarded the veteran actor. He little dreamed that many of Liston's renowned characters would descend to him by right of ability and comic power! In the following year (1832) Liston retired from the Haymarket, "through a pique," as they say, and Burton succeeded him; but the audiences retained too vivid a recollection of Liston's performances, and the engagement was only moderately successful. Recovering suddenly from his disaffection, Liston returned to the Haymarket, and Burton in his turn retired, to once more make the rounds of the provinces. But he bore with him one remembrance in connection with the Haymarket that consoled him for many a disappointment; and that was the thought of having played Marall to Edmund Kean's Sir Giles Overreach. The story runs that Mrs. Glover,[1] a leading actress of the company, objected for some reason to the Marall, and declared that she or Burton should be omitted in the cast. Kean, despite irregularities, still retained a remnant of his old sway, and he insisted on being supported by Burton. The result was that Mrs. Glover was compelled to yield, and in due course Marall appeared before a full house, containing many celebrities of the day. It was at this time, too, that a production of his pen--the play of "Ellen Wareham,"[2]--enjoyed the unusual distinction of being performed at five London theatres on the same evening. A year and a half went by in efforts to enhance his reputation, and it may be said that his career was not free from the vicissitudes that frequently attend dramatic itineracy. But through it all he gained ground and advanced steadily in his profession. He played almost every thing; his industry was indefatigable, his will indomitable. The lamp of experience never waned; and that knowledge gained from contact with the world and human nature, was a preparation for events and emergencies in another scene and another land. For now his thoughts were turned toward the United States, and in 1834 he determined to cross the ocean, and to take the chance of fortune and of fame.

[1] Dr. Doran, in his "Annals of the Stage," referring to Kean in various parts, says: "Among these, Sir Giles stands pre-eminent for its perfectness, from the first words, 'Still cloistered up,' to the last convulsive breath drawn by him in that famous one scene of the fifth act, in which, through his terrible intensity, he once made so experienced an actress as Mrs. Glover faint away,--not at all out of flattery, but from emotion."

[2] First produced, May, 1833.

1834-1848.

Burton landed on our shores unheralded, to begin the twenty-five years of the artistic career which holds so conspicuous a place in the annals of dramatic achievement. He was not "brought over," and he came at his own expense. He came, indeed, with the prestige of having written "Ellen Wareham," and of having made a comic character[3] famous by fifty consecutive representations; but he was simply announced as coming "from the Pavilion Theatre, London," and he made his first appearance in America at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, under the management of Maywood & Co., on September 3, 1824, playing Dr. Ollapod, in Colman's "Poor Gentleman," and Wormwood, in "The Lottery Ticket." Ollapod always remained one of Burton's most effective parts. The portrait, on another page, of the comedian in that character is from an engraving by J. Sartain of a picture painted from life by Henry Inman, in 1840.

[3] Wormwood, in "The Lottery Ticket."

There lies before us a bill (elsewhere reproduced) of the above theatre, dated Wednesday, September 10, 1834, being the fourth night of Burton's first engagement in this country. The plays on the occasion were Sheridan's comedy of "The Rivals" and the farce of "The Lottery Ticket,"--which last seems to have met with great favor, as the bill states it to be a repetition, owing to "numerous enquiries having been made at the box-office"; thus beginning the train of similar "numerous enquiries" with which, in the years to come, his own box-office became familiar. Burton was the Bob Acres of the comedy and Wormwood in the farce. Then at the age of thirty, we can believe that the comedian's unfolding genius gave full promise of the delightful humor which clothed his Acres at a later day; and that in the Wormwood of the farce he afforded glimpses of that wealth of comic power which thereafter, and for so long, he lavished for the amusement of the public. Miss Pelham was the Lydia Languish and Miss Elphinstone the Julia, English actresses of no special distinction; but it is interesting to note that Miss Elphinstone became the second wife of Sheridan Knowles, the author of a celebrated and far more popular Julia than the lady of "The Rivals," and who appeared on the Philadelphia stage of that year.

Something akin to his reception by the audiences at the Haymarket in London, was for a time Burton's experience in Philadelphia.

As the recollection of Liston by the London audience dwarfed the efforts of the youthful aspirant, so the memory of Joseph Jefferson, senior, (who played in the city as late as 1830,[4]) diluted the interest felt in the new actor by the Philadelphia benches.[5] But the native force and humorous capability of the comedian were destined to conquer indifference; and, although the creative genius which informed his subsequent delineations was yet to be made clearly manifest, he soon had a secure footing; and a belief was strengthening in the public mind that an actor of rare endowments and promise had come from the land of Munden, Elliston, and Liston, and one who might, it was not too much to say, worthily perpetuate the traditions of Jefferson.

[4] He died in 1832.

[5] So the memory of Burton in New York to-day may still be a warning ofthe danger of inviting comparison.

On the fifth night of his engagement (September 12, 1834) he played Timothy Quaint, in "The Soldier's Daughter," and Tristam Sappy, in the afterpiece of "Deaf as a Post," and so on through a round of characters in comedy and farce--_Daffodil Twod_, among the latter, in "The Ladies' Man"--written by himself--was a great favorite. And it may here be said, in passing, that the farce, which previous to Burton's advent had sunk into lethargy, revived under his touch and became a vital point of attraction. He made a great hit as Guy Goodluck, in "John Jones," in which part he sang a comic song--"A Chapter of Accidents"--and the fact leads us to remark that very few of those who saw the comedian in his ripe prime were aware of the musical talent he exhibited in earlier years, and that he made a specialty of introducing humorous ballads in his pieces, and sang them with marked effect. A collection of such songs, entitled "Burton's Comic Songster," was published in Philadelphia in 1850; and we were surprised, on looking it over, at the quantity of mirthful verse he had written and sung. The well-known ditty of "The Cork Leg," it may be mentioned, was written expressly for him.

The engagement of Burton with Maywood & Co. lasted two years, and was renewed for two more, during which period the comedian's powers greatly developed, and displayed remarkable versatility and dramatic resource. He widely extended his repertory, and was seen at the Arch and Chestnut Street theatres in a variety of comedy rôles and in innumerable farces. Among the many noted parts performed by him at various times we may name: Ollapod, in "The Poor Gentleman"; Doctor Pangloss, in "The Heir at Law"; Farmer Ashfield, in "Speed the Plough"; Goldfinch, in "The Road to Ruin"; Billy Lackaday, in "Sweethearts and Wives"; Tony Lumpkin, in "She Stoops to Conquer"; Maw-worm, in "The Hypocrite"; Sir Peter Teazle and Sir Oliver Surface, in "The School for Scandal"; Mr. Dove and Mr. Coddle, in "Married Life"; Dogberry and Verges, in "Much Ado About Nothing"; Launcelot Gobbo, in "The Merchant of Venice"; Bob Acres, in "The Rivals";--the last-named character he played on one occasion with the conjunction of the elder Wallack as Capt. Absolute, Tyrone Power as Sir Lucius O'Trigger, and Mr. Abbot (an actor celebrated in his day) as Falkland; truly a striking distribution. A few of the farces out of the many were "The Lottery Ticket," "Sketches in India," "The Mummy" (so famous in Chambers Street), "No Song No Supper," "John Jones," "Deaf as a Post," "The Ladies' Man," and a piece called "Cupid," which had won renown in England through the acting of the famous John Reeve.