In depicting the career of William E. Burton as Actor, Author, and Manager, we are aware of the secondary value of his authorship, as compared with his dramatic achievements. Nevertheless, his pen was a ready and fertile one, and produced much that was meritorious, though belonging to an ephemeral order. His plays, however, continue in the list of present theatrical publications. Of his editorship it may be affirmed that his conduct of "The Gentleman's Magazine" and "Literary Souvenir" was marked by taste and discrimination; and nothing but unqualified praise can be bestowed upon his superintendence of the compilation of humorous literature known as Burton's "CyclopÆdia of Wit and Humor." It is by far the most complete repository of mirthful composition ever published in this country—or elsewhere, so far as we know,—and enjoys the peculiar advantage of being the only one in which the productions of American humor have any thing approaching an adequate representation. The selections throughout are indicative of great critical sagacity, and a keen perception and sympathetic appreciation, in the general arrangement, are everywhere suggested. As manager he certainly fulfilled all conditions, as we believe the relation of his successes in that sphere will sufficiently attest. But whatever his capacity in the vocations named, all is dwarfed by his transcendent powers as a comedian. He is remembered, and will be remembered, not as the author or manager, but as the great actor who swayed mankind with his supreme gift of humor. Many of the creations of his genius went away with him in death; and the traditions of his triumphs will long be distinguished in dramatic annals. Lastly, we have seen him a Shakespearian student and the possessor of a library perfectly glorious in its expression of devotion and homage to the great poet,—and linked with that proud association we leave his memory and his name.