The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland/Volume 4/Barton Booth
Barton Booth, Eſq;
It is but juſtice to the memory of this great actor to give him a place among the poets, if he had been leſs conſiderable in that province than he really was; for he appears early to have underſtood the Latin claſſics, and to have ſucceeded in occaſional pieces, and little odes, beyond many perſons of higher name in poetry.[1] Mr. Booth was deſcended from a very ancient, and honourable family, originally ſeated in the County Palatine of Lancaſter. His father, John Booth, eſq; was a man of great worth and honour; and though his fortune was not very conſiderable, he was extremely attentive to the education of his children, of whom Barton (the third) was born in 1681.
When about nine years of age, he was put under the tuition of the famous Dr. Buſby, head-maſter of Weſtminſter ſchool, under whom ſome of the ableſt men have been educated, that in the laſt and preſent age have done honour to the nation. The ſprightlineſs of Booth’s parts early recommended him to the notice of Dr. Buſby: he had a ſtrong paſſion for learning, and a peculiar turn for Latin poetry, and by ſtudying the beſt authors in it, he fixed many of the fineſt paſſages ſo firmly in his memory, that he was able to repeat them with ſuch propriety, and graceful action, with ſo fine a tone of voice, and peculiar emphaſis, that it was taken notice of by the whole ſchool.
In conſequence of this happy talent, when, according to the cuſtom of the ſchool, a Latin play was to be acted, a conſiderable part thereof was given to young Booth, who drew by the melody of his voice, and the gracefulneſs of his action, the applauſe of all the ſpectators, a circumſtance which firſt fired him with theatrical ambition, much againſt the inclination of his father, who intended him for the church, and was therefore careful of his education. This propenſion in our young Roſcius, recommended him ſtill more to the favour of Dr. Buſby, who beſtowed the moſt laviſh encomiums upon him: Buſby was himſelf a great admirer of theatrical elocution, and admirably fitted by nature for the ſtage; when he was young he obtained great applauſe in a part he performed in a play of Cartwright’s, and from that moment held theatrical accompliſhments in the higheſt eſteem.
When Booth had reached the age of eighteen, and the time approached when he was to have been ſent to the univerſity, he reſolved to run any riſk, rather than enter upon a courſe of life inconſiſtent with the livelineſs of his temper, and the natural bent of his inclinations. It happened that there was then in London one Mr. Aſhbury, who had been long maſter of a company at Dublin, with whom young Booth became acquainted, and finding that under his direction there was no danger of his getting a livelihood, he quitted all other views, ſtole away from ſchool, and went over to Ireland with Mr. Aſhbury in 1698.[2]
He very ſoon diſtinguiſhed himſelf on the ſtage at Dublin, where he had great natural advantages over moſt of his cotemporaries, eſpecially in tragedy; he had a grave countenance, a good perſon, an air of dignity, a melodious voice, and a very manly action. He ſpoke juſtly, his cadence was grateful to the ear, and his pronunciation was ſcholaſtically correct and proper. He ſo far inſinuated himſelf into the favour of Engliſh gentlemen in Ireland, and found his reputation growing to ſo great a heighth, that he returned home in 1701, to make a trial of his talents on the Britiſh ſtage. He accordingly applied to lord Fitzharding, of the bedchamber to Prince George of Denmark, and was by him recommended to Mr. Betterton, who took him under his care, and gave him all the aſſiſtance in his power, of which Mr. Booth greatly profited.
Never were a tutor and pupil better met; the one was capable of giving the beſt inſtructions in his own performance, and the other had a promptneſs of conception, a violent propenſity, and a great genius. The firſt part Booth performed in London was Maximus in Valentinian, a play of Beaumont and Fletcher’s originally, but altered, and brought upon the ſtage by the earl of Rocheſter. The reception he met with exceeded his warmeſt hopes, and the favour of the town had a happy effect upon him, in inſpiring him with a proper degree of confidence without vanity. The Ambitious Step-mother, a tragedy written by Mr. Rowe, in which that author has thrown out more fire, and heat of poetry, than in any other of his plays, was about this time introduced upon the ſtage; the part of Artaban was aſſigned to Booth, in which he raiſed his character to ſuch a heighth, as to be reckoned only ſecond to his great maſter.
In the year 1704 he married Miſs Barkham, daughter to Sir William Barkham of Norfolk, bart. who lived with him ſix years, and died without iſſue.
In the theatrical revolutions which happened in thoſe days, Mr. Booth, notwithſtanding his great capacity, and reputation with the town, had very little ſhare. He adhered conſtantly to Mr. Betterton, while he could be of any ſervice to him, and when his tutor retired from the management of the ſtage, he truſted to his merit, and the taſte of the public, in which he was never deceived.
Mr. Booth was particularly turned for tragedy, he never could bear thoſe parts which had not ſtrong paſſion to inſpire him; and Mr. Cibber obſerves, that he could not ſo well melt in the lover, as rage in the jealous huſband. Othello was his maſter-piece, but in all his parts he was often ſubject to a kind of indolence, which ſome people imagined he affected, to ſhew that even in his lazy fits he was ſuperior to every body upon the ſtage; as if ſecure of all beholders hearts, neglecting he could take them.[3] The late ingenious Mr. Whitingham, who perfectly underſtood theatrical excellence, and who was, beyond any man I ever knew, diſtinct, and accurate in his relations of things, often told me, that ſuch was the dignity of Booth’s appearance, ſuch his theatrical eaſe, and gracefulneſs, that had he only croſſed the ſtage without uttering a word, the houſe would be in a roar of applauſe.
We come now to that period of time, when Mr. Booth’s ſole merit raiſed him to the greateſt height, and procured for him that reward he had long deſerved. The tragedy of Cato, which had been written in the year 1703, or at leaſt four acts of it, was brought upon the ſtage in 1712, chiefly on a political principle; the part of Cato was given to Booth, for the managers were very well ſatisfied that nobody elſe could perform it. As party prejudice never ran higher than at that time, the excellency of the play was diſtinguiſhed by the ſurprizing conteſts between both factions, which ſhould applaud it moſt, ſo the merit of the actor received the ſame marks of approbation, both parties taking care to ſhew their ſatisfaction, by bellowing upon him moſt liberal preſents, the particulars of which are already inſerted in the life of Addiſon. The run of Cato being over at London, the managers thought fit to remove to Oxford in the ſummer, where the play met with ſo extraordinary a reception, that they were forced to open the doors at noon, and the houſe was quire full by one o’clock. The ſame reſpect was paid it for three days together, and though the univerſal applauſe it met with at London, ſurpaſſed any thing that had been remembered of that kind, yet the tribute of praiſe it received from this famous univerſity, ſurpaſſed even that. Booth, whoſe reputation was now at its heighth, took the advantage of it, and making his application to lord Bolingbroke, then at the head of the miniſtry, he procured a new licence, recalling all former ones, and Mr. Booth’s name was added to thoſe of Cibber, Dogget, and Wilks. Tho’ none of the managers had occaſion to be pleaſed with this act of juſtice done to Booth’s merit, at the expence of, what they deemed, their property, yet none of them carried their reſentment ſo high as Mr. Dogget, who abſolutely refuſed to accept of any conſideration for his ſhare in the ſcenes and clothes; this obſtinacy had however no other effect, than depriving him of his ſhare, which brought him in 1000 l. a year; though Mr. Cibber informs us, that this was only a pretence, and that the true reaſon of quitting the ſtage, was, his diſlike to another of the managers, whoſe humour was become inſupportable. This perſon we conjecture to have been Mr. Wilks, who, according to Cibber’s account, was capricious in his temper, though he had otherwiſe great merit as a player, and was a good man, morally conſidered; ſome inſtances of the generoſity and noble ſpirit of Wilks, are taken notice of in the life of Farquhar.
A few years after Mr. Booth roſe to the dignity of manager, he married the celebrated Miſs Santlowe, who, from her firſt appearance as an actreſs in the character of the Fair Quaker of Deal, to the time ſhe quitted the ſtage, had always received the ſtrongeſt marks of public applauſe, which were repeated when after a retreat of ſome years, ſhe appeared there again. By her prudence in managing the advantages that aroſe to her from her reputation as an actreſs, and her great diligence in her profeſſion, ſhe acquired a conſiderable fortune, which was very uſeful to Mr. Booth, who, from the natural turn of his temper, though he had a ſtrict regard to juſtice, was not much inclined to ſaving.
During the few years they lived together, there was the greateſt harmony between them, and after the death of Booth, his diſconſolate widow, who is yet alive, quitted the ſtage, and devoted herſelf entirely to a private courſe of life. By degrees the health of Mr. Booth began to decline, ſo that it was impoſſible for him to continue to act with ſo much diligence as uſual, but at whatever time he was able to return to the ſtage, the town demonſtrated their reſpect for him by crowding the houſe. Being attacked by a complication of diſtempers, he paid the debt to nature May 10, 1733. A copy of his Will was printed in the London Magazine for 1733, p. 126, in which we find he teſtified his eſteem for his wife, to whom he left all his fortune, for reaſons there aſſigned, which he declared amounted to no more than two thirds of what he had received from her on the day of marriage. His character as an actor, has been celebrated by the beſt judges, and was never queſtioned by any.
And here we cannot reſiſt the opportunity of ſhewing Mr. Booth in that full, and commanding light in which he is drawn by the late ingenious Aaron Hill, eſq; who had long experience in the affairs of the ſtage, and could well diſtingnuiſh the true merits of an actor. His words are,
‘Two advantages diſtinguiſhed him in the ſtrongeſt light from the reſt of his fraternity: he had learning to underſtand perfectly what it was his part to ſpeak, and judgment to know how far it agreed, or diſagreed with his character. Hence aroſe a peculiar grace, which was viſible to every ſpectator, though few were at the pains of examining into the cauſe of their pleaſure. He could ſoften, and ſlide over, with a kind of elegant negligence, the improprieties in the part he acted, while, on the contrary, he would dwell with energy upon the beauties, as if he exerted a latent ſpirit which had been kept back for ſuch an occaſion, that he might alarm, awaken, and tranſport in thoſe places only, where the dignity of his own good ſenſe could be ſupported by that of his author. A little reflexion upon this remarkable quality, will teach us to account for that manifeſt languor which has ſometimes been obſerved in his action, and which was generally, though I think falſly, imputed to the natural indolence of his temper. For the ſame reaſon, though in the cuſtomary round of his buſineſs, he would condeſcend to ſome parts in comedy; he ſeldom appeared in any of them with much advantage to his character. The paſſions which he found in comedy, were not ſtrong enough to excite his fire, and what ſeemed want of qualification, was only the abſence of impreſſion. He had a talent at diſcovering the paſſions where they lay hid in ſome celebrated parts, by the injudicious practice of other actors; when he had diſcovered, he ſoon grew able to expreſs them; and his ſecret of his obtaining this great leſſon of the theatre, was an adaption of his look to his voice, by which artful imitation of nature, the variations in the ſound of his words, gave propriety to every change in his countenance, ſo that it was Mr. Booth’s peculiar felicity to be heard and ſeen the ſame, whether as the pleaſed, the grieved, the pitying, the reproachful, or the angry. One would be almoſt tempted to borrow the aid of a very bold figure, and to expreſs this excellence more ſignificantly, beg permiſſion to affirm, that the blind might have ſeen him in his voice, and the deaf have heard him in his viſage. His geſture, or as it is commonly called his action, was but the reſult, and neceſſary conſequcnce of his dominion over his voice and countenance; for having by a concurrence of two ſuch cauſes, impreſſed his imagination with ſuch a ſtamp, and ſpirit of paſſion, he ever obeyed the impulſe by a kind of natural dependency, and relaxed, or braced ſucceſſively into all that fine expreſſiveneſs with which he painted what he ſpoke, without reſtraint, or affectation.’
But it was not only as a player that Mr. Booth excelled; he was a man of letters alſo, and an author in more languages than one. He had a taſte for poetry which we have obſerved diſcovered itſelf when he was very young, in tranſlations of ſome Odes of Horace; and in his riper years he wrote ſeveral ſongs, and other original poems, which did him honour. He was alſo the author of a maſque, or dramatic entertainment, called Dido and Æneas, which was very well received upon the ſtage, but which however did not excite him to produce any thing of the ſame kind afterwards. His maſter-piece was a Latin inſcription to the memory of a celebrated actor, Mr. William Smith, one of the greateſt men of his profeſſion, and of whom Mr. Booth always ſpoke in raptures. It is a misfortune that we can give no particular account of the perſon this excellent inſcription referred to, but it is probable he was of a good family, ſince he was a Barriſter at Law of Gray’s-Inn, before he quitted that profeſſion for the ſtage.
The inſcription is as follows,
Scenicus eximius
Regpante Carolo ſecundo:
Bettertono Coætaneus & Amicus,
Necnon propemodum Æqualis.
Haud ignobili ſtirpe oriundus,
Nec literarum rudis humaniorum.
Rem ſenicam
Per multos feliciter annos adminiſtravit;
Juſtoque moderamine & morum ſuavitate,
Omnium intra Theatrum
Obſervantiam, extra Theatrum Laudem,
Ubique benevolentiam & amorem ſibi conciliavit.
In Engliſh thus;
An excellent player
In the reign of Charles the Second;
The cotemporary, and friend of Betterton,
and almoſt his equal.
Deſcended of no ignoble family,
Nor deſtitute of polite learning.
The buſineſs of the ſtage
He for many years happily managed,
And by his juſt conduct, and ſweetneſs of manners
Obtained the reſpect of all within the theatre,
The applauſe of thoſe without,
And the good will, and love of all mankind.
- ↑ N. B. As Mr. Theophilus Cibber is publiſhing (in a work entirely undertaken by himſelf) The Lives, and Characters of all our Eminent Actors, and Actreſſes, from Shakeſpear, to the preſent time; he leaves to the other gentlemen, concerned in this collection, the accounts of ſome players who could not be omitten herein, as Poets.
- ↑ Hiſtory of the Engliſh ſtage.
- ↑ Dryden’s All for Love.