ever else they might have been they were humourists. Sir
Roger de Coverley, Tristram Shandy, Uncle Toby, Diedrich Knickerbocker,
Ichabod Crane--these and other creations of their genius stand forth
upon their pages to exemplify that aspect of their minds. But the
humourist of the pen may, personally, be no humourist at all. Addison's
character was austere. Irving, though sometimes gently playful, was
essentially grave and decorous.

Comical quality in the humorous man whom nature destines for the stage
must be personal. His coming brings with it a sense of comfort. His
presence warms the heart and cheers the mind. The sound of his voice,
"speaking oft," before he emerges upon the scene, will set the theatre
in a roar. This was notably true of Burton and of William Warren. The
glance, motion, carriage, manner, and the pause and stillness of such a
man, instil merriment. Cibber says that Robert Nokes had a palpable
simplicity of nature which was often as unaccountably diverting in his
common speech as on the stage, John E. Owens, describing the conduct of
a big bee in an empty molasses barrel, once threw a circle of his
hearers, of whom I was one, almost into convulsions of laughter. Artemas
Ward made people laugh the moment they beheld him, by his wooden
composure and indescribable sapience of demeanour. The lamented Daniel
E. Setchell, a comedian who would have been as famous as he was funny
had he but lived longer, presented a delightful example of spontaneous
humour. It is ludicrous to recall the simple gravity, not demure but
perfectly solemn, with which, on the deck of a Hudson River steamboat,
as we were passing West Point, he indicated to me the Kosciuszko
monument, saying briefly, "That's the place where Freedom shrieked." It
was the quality of his temperament that made his playfulness delicious.
Setchell was the mental descendant of Burton, as Burton was of Reeve and
as Reeve was of Liston. Actors illustrate a kind of heredity. Each
species is distinct and discernible. Lester Wallack maintained the
lineage of Charles Kemble, William Lewis, Elliston, and Mountfort--a
line in which John Drew has gained auspicious distinction. John
Gilbert's artistic ancestry could be traced back through Farren and
Munden to King and Quin, and perhaps still further, to Lowin and Kempe.

The comedian intrinsically comical, while in his characteristic quality
eccentric and dry, has been exemplified by Fawcett, Blisset, Finn, and
Bar