[Illustration:  JEFFERSON, AS RIP VAN WINKLE.]

CHAPTER XXXVI.

JOSEPH JEFFERSON.

The subject of this sketch is one of a race of actors.  His great-grandfather was a contemporary of some of the brightest ornaments of the English stage, and was himself a famous actor and the intimate friend of Garrick, Sam Foote, and Barr.  He was a man of amiable and winning disposition, and was strikingly handsome in person.  He occupies a prominent place in the history of the English stage, and is said to have been, socially, one of the most brilliant men of his day.  He died in 1807.  In 1795 his son came to America.  Of him, Dunlap, in his “History of the American Stage,” says, referring to him, in February, 1797:  “He was then a youth, but even then an artist.  Of a small and light figure, well formed, with a singular physiognomy, a nose perfectly Grecian, and blue eyes full of laughter, he had the faculty of exciting mirth to as great a degree by power of feature, although handsome, as any ugly-featured low comedian ever seen.”  F.C.  Wemyss has said of him at a later day:  “Mr. Joseph Jefferson was an actor formed in Nature’s merriest mood—­a genuine son of Momus.  There was a vein of rich humor running through all he did, which forced you to laugh despite of yourself.  He discarded grimace as unworthy of him, although no actor ever possessed a greater command over the muscles of his own face, or the faces of his audience, compelling you to laugh or cry at his pleasure.  His excellent personation of old men acquired for him, before he had reached the meridian of life, the title of ‘Old Jefferson.’  The astonishment of strangers at seeing a good-looking young man pointed out on the street as Old Jefferson, whom they had seen the night previous at the theater tottering apparently on the verge of existence, was the greatest compliment that could be paid to the talent of the actor.  His versatility was astonishing—­light comedy, old men, pantomime, low comedy, and occasionally juvenile tragedy.  Educated in the very best school for acquiring knowledge in his profession, ...  Jefferson was an adept in all the trickery of the stage, which, when it suited his purpose, he could turn to excellent account....  In his social relations, he was what a gentleman should be—­a kind husband, an affectionate father, a warm friend, and a truly honest man.”  The second Jefferson enjoyed a brilliant career of thirty-six years in this country, and died in 1832, during an engagement at the theater at Harrisburg, which was then managed by his son.  This son, named Joseph, after his father, was born in Philadelphia in 1804, and died at the age of thirty-eight.  He was not so famous as an actor as his father or grandfather, but like them passed his life on the stage.  He had a decided talent for painting, and was partially educated as an artist, but he never accomplished any thing with his pencil.  He was a man of most amiable disposition, and was possessed of scores of warm and devoted friends; but he was a poor business manager, and was always more or less involved in pecuniary troubles.  He married Mrs. Burke, the famous vocalist, and mother of Burke, the comedian.