THE MIDNIGHT SUPPER 25

first went there in company with Adam Wallace Thaxter, a well-known and widely popular Bostonian of long ago, the dramatic critic of "The Saturday Evening Gazette," to pay my respects to Mrs. Farren, who was acting at the Museum in such plays as "Fazio" and "Lucrezia Borgia," and who (forgotten now) was for a time the queen of many hearts,-mine included. The supper at that house, after the play, was one of the charming features for its inhabitants, -with Warren, wearing a long, loose linen coat over his evening dress, at the head of the table, enlivening the feast with his kindly humor. The actor was in his element then,— the rare, delightful being who combines spontaneous piquancy with intrinsic goodness, geniality with wit, perfect simplicity with superior mental powers, and possesses that fine art of conversation which consists in making others talk well and, instinctively, knowing when to listen and when to speak. Jefferson, Wallack, Davenport, Adams, Couldock, Florence, Rowe, Clarke, Fechter, and many other lights of the Stage were often seated at that festal board,

and great was the mirth which prevailed there; but we have no "Noctes Ambrosianæ," and it has all gone up the chimney.

BIOGRAPHICAL PARTICULARS.

Warren was born at No. 12 (now 712) Sansom Street, Philadelphia, on November 27, 1812. His parents destined him to mercantile occupation, but his father (the first William Warren, highly distinguished as an actor and long prominent as a manager) became unfortunate and poor, and, dying, left his widow and children in poverty. Friends thereupon organized, for the benefit of Mrs. Warren, a theatrical performance, which occurred at the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, on October 27, 1832, and on that occasion William Warren, then in his twentieth year, made his first appearance on the stage, acting Young Norval, in the Rev. John Home's tragedy of "Douglas,"-at that time an exceedingly popular play. His acting was esteemed remarkably good, and he was encouraged to discard the occupation of clerk and to adopt the profession of the Stage.

EXPERIENCE

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For several years thereafter he led the life of a roving actor, obtaining employment wherever he could find it, but ultimately he settled in Buffalo, where he became the favorite comedian of the day, at the Eagle Theatre, managed by John Rice, afterward Mayor of Chicago. There he remained till 1846, when he removed to Boston, appearing as Billy Lackaday, in "Sweethearts and Wives," October 5 that year, at the Howard Athenæum, under the management of James H. Hackett, once widely celebrated for his splendid personation of Falstaff. At the Howard he acted for twenty weeks, but in August, 1847, he joined the stock company of the Boston Museum, and with that house he was associated, except for one season, until nearly the end of his life. He died, of disease of the brain, at his Bulfinch Place lodging, which had long been his home and very dear to him, on September 21, 1888, and was buried at Mount Auburn.

as

Among "actors of the old school," they are called,-sometimes in that spirit of derisive contempt which springs from ignorance

and levity, there was a sentiment of profound respect, not to say reverence, for the art of acting, such as is not prevalent among actors of the present day. It is known, for example, of the first Joseph Jefferson (1774-1832), renowned on the old Philadelphia Stage (he was the grandfather of the Joseph Jefferson-18291905-eminent in our time), that, holding his profession in the highest esteem, he maintained, as to acting, such a dignified reserve that no conversation about theatrical matters was permitted in his family circle. He was a great actor, and he pursued his calling with a conscientious zeal and a severity of decorum befitting the most serious duty and the most influential social station. Much the same austerity was characteristic of that fine comedian and noble gentleman John Gilbert, to whom acting was a learned profession and the Stage not less sacred than the Pulpit.

"AN OLD SCHOOL ACTOR."

William Warren also was an "actor of the old school," a typical figure, representative

POPULAR AND VERSATILE

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of all that was most admirable in the Theatre of the Past and exemplary of all that is most essential in the Theatre of the Present. He was reticent, dignified, courteously formal in social intercourse, faithful to every duty, and scrupulously correct in the conduct of life, and there was in his acting a peculiar charm of personality, a union of intellect, temperament, character, humor, taste, and seemingly spontaneous art, which made it exceedingly delightful. In my young days in Boston (and I believe the public attitude never changed toward him), everybody knew Warren as an actor, and everybody loved him. His professional career extended through a period of nearly fifty-one years, ending on May 12, 1883, when, at the Boston Museum, he made his last appearance, acting Eccles, in the fine comedy of "Caste." In the course of those years he acted all the current parts of importance in the lines of old men, low comedy, and eccentric comedy, and also many parts in farce. His repertory was rich in parts of the Shakespearean drama. He was the best Touchstone of his professional