As an actor Mr. Booth is without an equal.  His impersonations are marked by rare genius and by the most careful study.  His Hamlet is perhaps his most finished part, as his Richelieu is the most popular with the masses.  It has been said that his Hamlet is not Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and this may be true:  but it is so exquisite, so perfect, that whether it be the conception of Shakespeare or Edwin Booth, it is the most powerful, the most life-like counterfeit of “the melancholy Dane” ever seen on any stage, and leaves nothing to be desired.  His personation of the grim old cardinal, whose decrepit body is alone sustained by his indomitable will, is masterly, and we see before us, not Edwin Booth, the actor of to-day, but the crafty, unscrupulous, witty, determined prime minister of France, who bends kings and princes to his will.  It is absolutely life-like, and to those who have seen the portraits of the old cardinal in the museums of France, the accuracy with which Booth has counterfeited the personal appearance of Richelieu is positively startling.  The plays are so superbly set upon the stage that we lose sight of the little space they occupy, and seem to be gazing upon a real world.  His Richard has such a strong humanity in it, that it more than half vindicates the humpbacked tyrant’s memory, and the death scene of this play, as given by Booth, is simply appalling.

It is in vain, however, that we select special characters or attempt descriptions of them.  No one can truly understand Edwin Booth’s acting without seeing it.  He has studied his heroes so profoundly, analyzed their characters so subtly, and entered so heartily into sympathy with them, that he has, become able, by the aid of his wonderful genius, to entirely discard his own personality, and assume theirs at will.

Mr. Booth has steadily risen in power and finish as an actor, for his labors have been unceasing.  Great as his triumphs have been, he does not regard himself as freed from the necessity of study.  His studies have become more intelligent than in former years, but not the less faithful.  He has the true artist’s aspiration after the rarest perfection in his art, though to those of us without the charmed circle it is difficult to see how he can excel his present excellence.  Yet that he does so we have undoubted proof, for we see him rising higher in the admiration and esteem of the world every year, and each year we gather fresh laurels to twine around his brows.

He has steadily educated his audiences, and has elevated the standard of his art among his countrymen.  He has shown them what fine acting really is, and has taught them to enjoy it.  He has kept them true to the legitimate drama, and has done more than any other man to rescue the American stage from the insignificance with which it was threatened.  It speaks volumes for him as an actor and a manager, that when New York seemed wholly given up to ballet, burlesque, and opera bouffe, he was able to make the almost forgotten masterpieces of Shakespeare the most popular and most profitable dramatic ventures of the year.