John Gilbert as the nurse, made up
a very strong cast. Here, at the Howard Athenaeum in 1861, then under
the management of that talented actor (who, by the way, was the best
Hamlet I ever saw,) Edgar L. Davenport, Miss Cushman was announced
April 11, 1861, positively her last night in Boston, when Romeo and
Juliet was given with a remarkable cast. E. L. Davenport was the
Mercutio, John Gilbert the Friar, John McCullough, Tybalt, Frank
Hardenbergh, Prince Esculus, Dan Setchell, Peter, W. J. Le Moyne,
Capulet, Miss Josephine Orton (a very brilliant actress, and now the
wife of Benj. E. Woolf, of the _Saturday Evening Gazette_), Juliet,
Mrs. John Gilbert as the nurse (she had no superior in this role), and
Charlotte Cushman as Romeo, truly a fine array of talent, all of whom
have passed away with the exception of Miss Orton and Mr. Le Moyne.
This was Miss Cushman's last performance of Romeo in Boston. In the
spring of 1875, Miss Cushman played another farewell engagement, which
proved in truth a reality. It was at the Globe Theatre, and Saturday,
May 15, 1875, was announced as Miss Cushman's farewell to the stage.
Macbeth was the play, with Miss Cushman as Lady Macbeth. As an event
worth remembering, I give the complete cast:--

Macbeth D. W. Waller
Macduff G. B. Waldron
Banquo Chas. Fyffe
Malcolm Lin Harris
Duncan James Dunn
Physician C. Pierson
Drunken Porter E. Coleman
Rosse S. Clarke
Seyter G. Conner
Sergeant John Connor
Donaldbain Miss Wilkes
1st Witch E. Coleman
2d Witch Mrs. A. Hayes
3d Witch J. H. Connor
Gentlewoman Miss Athena

A most inefficient company, exceedingly weak in the masculine
department, while the actresses were barely tolerable. The highest
anticipations of a brilliant engagement had been indulged in by the
management, and bitter was their disappointment, and great the chagrin
of Miss Cushman to find that this "positively farewell engagement"
failed to create anything of a furore. The public had been so often
deceived by these announcements, that they failed to