--A letter in the
Providence (Rhode Island) Journal gives some account of the wife of Beast
Butler.
It says:
‘
"Some eighteen or twenty years ago a young actress, a Miss.
Hildreth, played for several evenings at the
Dorrance Street Theatre, in
Providence.
I happened to see her in the tragedy of Jane Shore.
Her part was a secondary one--that of the friend and confidant of Edward's beautiful favorite; but her conception of the character surprised me by its originality and its impressive truthfulness.
I felt that she had great dramatic talent, and often wondered that her name had so entirely disappeared from the stage.
In the spring of 1840, while visiting a friend in
Lowell, I found one morning, on returning from a walk, a card from
Mrs. Benjamin Butler, with an invitation to take tea with her the following evening.
I went with my host and hostess; no other guests were invited.
The name of
Mrs. Benjamin Butler had for me at that time no other significance than might have had the name of
Mrs. John Smith.--On our way to the house, my host, a Webster Whig, spoke of
Mr. Butler not too flatteringly as a successful lawyer, smart but unscrupulous, ready to take up the worst cases, and noted for always carrying his clients through.
On entering the parlors, I was surprised to find in the charming and graceful lady who received us the dramatic friend and confidant of Jane Shore, whose talent had so impressed me at the
Dorrance Street Theatre.
Mrs. Butler was a young lady of Dracutt, who, fascinated by the stage, and conscious of dramatic power, had obtained an engagement at one of the
Boston theatres, and who was for about two years earnestly devoted to her profession, when
Mr. Benjamin Butler proffered his heart and hand, and won her back to domestic life.
I found that she still loved the art, and prevailed on her to read to me some of her favorite passages in
Shakespeare.
She read, I remember, the prison scene in 'Measure for Measure' with a passionate pathos that made me half regret that the 'smart
Lowell lawyer' had won her away from
Melpomene and all her tragic glooms and splendors."
’
