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EDWIN BOOTH
ated with his name. That he had not as
magnificent a physical basis for the part
as Salvini is to be conceded; but Mr.
Booth's Lear had been wrought into as
pure a triumph of mind and soul over
matter as the most idealistic critic could
wish to see. Without extravagance of ac-
tion or violence of voice, without extreme
effort, indeed, of any sort, the chaotic
vastness of Lear's nature, the cruel woe
sustained through the ingratitude of his
daughters, the fullness of his contrition
over his own follies and his rejection of
Cordelia, the moral splendors which illu-
minate the darkness of his insanity, and
the sweet anguish of his restoration to
clearness of mind and to gentleness of
thought, word, and deed, — all these were
grandly exhibited. The progress of mental
decay in the king was indicated with con-
summate skill, Booth's interpretation of
the whole of the third act being a lesson
to the profession in the art of picturesque
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