nes, and is conspicuously presented by James Lewis. No one ever saw
him without laughter--and it is kindly laughter, with a warm heart
behind it. The moment he comes upon the stage an eager gladness diffuses
itself throughout the house. His refined quaintness and unconscious
drollery capture all hearts. His whimsical individuality never varies;
yet every character of the many that he has portrayed stands clearly
forth among its companions, a distinct, unique embodiment. The graceful
urbanity, the elaborate yet natural manner, the brisk vitality, the
humorous sapience of Sir Patrick Lundy--how completely and admirably he
expressed them! How distinct that fine old figure is in the remembrance
of all who saw it! But he has never played a part that he did not make
equally distinct. A painter might fill a gallery with odd,
characteristic creations by merely copying his compositions of
"make-up." The amiable professor in _A Night Off_, the senile Gunnion in
_The Squire_, Lissardo in _The Wonder_, Grumio in _The Shrew_--those and
many more he has made his own; while in the actor's province of making
comic characters really comical to others there is no artist who better
fulfils the sagacious, comprehensive injunction of Munden (imparted to a
youthful actor who spoke of being "natural" in order to amuse), "Nature
be d----d! Make the people laugh!" That, aside from all subtleties, is
not a bad test of the comic faculty, and that test has been met and
borne by the acting of James Lewis.

XXVIII.

A LEAF FROM MY JOURNAL.

[November 23, 1867.]

Thirty years hereafter many who are now active and honoured in dramatic
life will be at rest--their work concluded, their achievements a fading
tradition. But they will not be wholly forgotten. The same talisman of
memory that has preserved to our time the names and the deeds of the
actors of old will preserve to future times the names and the deeds that
are distinguished now in the mimic world of the stage. Legend, speaking
in the voice of the veteran devotee of the drama, will say, for example,
that of all the actors of this period there was no light comedian
comparable with Lester Wallack; that he could thoroughly identify
himself with character,--though it did not always please him to do so;
that his acting was so imaginative and so earnest as to make reality of
the most gossamer fiction; and that his vivacity--the essential element
and the crown of comedy-acting--was like th