In his lecture last evening on "Edwin Booth as an Actor," Mr. Copeland gave an interesting criticism of Booth's representation of some of his best characters. Mr. Copeland entered into the details of Booth's productions of Hamlet, Iago, Bertuccio, Richard III, King Lear, Shylock, and Richelieu, much more fully than it is possible to do here. He had himself seen Booth act in all the characters of which he spoke, and his criticism was therefore doubly valuable.

It would hardly be possible to say of any one of Booth's characters that it was his best, but it is safe to class under this head Iago, Hamlet and King Lear from Shakespeare, and Richelieu and Bertuccio from the other plays in which he acted. In each of these parts he showed his talent to the best advantage; and the fact that he could be so wonderfully successful in his representation of such widely different characters is perhaps the best testimony to the perfection to which he carried his art.

In person Booth was singularly good to look at. He was of middle height and more closely knit than most Americans, but his body, though so compact, was grace itself. Every muscle, every feature was under perfect control, and it was this that enabled him to be his best characters rather than to act them. His beauty was of a manly kind and showed the intellect which lay behind it; but his voice was perhaps his chief charm. He was a model for all speakers of English, and he gave Shakespeare's lines with as little effort as if they were his mother tongue. It is not pessimistic to say that they will never be given so again. All these, however, were qualities of the exterior. He would not have been the actor he was if he had not been able to get at the very soul of the character he was representing; and it was this wonderful ability which won his fame.

It was Booth who first made the American stage respectable. In the early days of his career the theatre was held in evil repute by many people of Boston; but none felt any hesitation about going to the plays in which he performed. To his acting as finely as he did and yet living the blameless life he led, is due a great deal of the position which actors now hold among us.