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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 73506 ***

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+[Frontispiece: Marie Bancroft]

+

+

+

+

+

+  EMPTY CHAIRS

+

+

+  BY

+

+  SQUIRE BANCROFT

+

+

+

+  LONDON

+  JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

+  1925

+

+

+

+

+  FIRST EDITION ... _March_ 1925

+  _Reprinted_ ... April 1925

+

+

+

+  _Printed in Great Britain by

+  Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._

+

+

+

+

+  TO

+  MY SON

+

+

+

+

+PREFACE

+

+These pages are mainly concerned with men and women who, in days gone

+by, have done my wife and me the honour to sit at our table, and have

+now left us.  I think of their Empty Chairs from a warm corner of my

+heart: their friendship has brightened my life and stored my mind

+with rosemary.

+

+Having already written _Recollections_, I am bound to repeat myself,

+so let me plead forgiveness for the besetting sin of advanced years.

+

+My apology for the book is its last chapter.

+

+S. B.

+

+

+

+

+CONTENTS

+

+

+I. King Edward VII

+

+II. _Place aux Dames_

+

+III. The Church

+

+IV. The Law

+

+V. Painting: Sculpture: Music

+

+VI. Literature

+

+VII. More Men of Mark

+

+VIII. The Stage: I

+

+IX. The Stage: II

+

+X. One other Empty Chair

+

+

+

+

+{1}

+

+EMPTY CHAIRS

+

+

+

+I

+

+KING EDWARD VII

+

+"Blessed are the peacemakers"

+

+

+All who were born, as I was, in 1841 must count it an honour to have

+come into the world in the same year as King Edward the Peacemaker.

+And the honour appeals especially perhaps to one who owes many of his

+friends and much of his happiness to the stage, for the stage has

+never found among Royal heads a firmer friend than was the late King;

+his gracious words and acts went far to conquer a decaying prejudice.

+

+The first time that either my wife or I met or had speech with the

+Prince of Wales (as he was for many years) was so far back as in

+1868, when he, with the present Queen Alexandra, attended an early

+performance of one of Robertson's comedies during our managerial {2}

+career at the old Prince of Wales's Theatre (which he had graciously

+given his permission, through the Lord Chamberlain, to name after

+him).  On this occasion the Prince came for the first time behind the

+scenes, and honoured our little green-room with a visit.  His love of

+exactitude in all matters of costume enabled us then, I remember, to

+correct a slight error in a military uniform.

+

+His Royal Highness was accompanied by Frederic Leighton, then young

+and handsome, who ten years later was elected President of the Royal

+Academy; and by Carlo Pellegrini, whose caricatures, bearing the now

+historic signature "Ape," were then attracting both attention and

+admiration.  The celebrated "originals," I imagine, have now all

+passed away.  Lord Chaplin was the last survivor of the unpublished

+"set" which enrich the Marlborough Club.

+

+The weather was foggy, and during the performance became so dense

+that at the close the streets were dangerous.  The Royal carriages,

+after great difficulty, arrived safely, surrounded by a body of

+police, bearing torches, who escorted our visitors to Marlborough

+House.  In all the years of our management the Prince never came

+again without asking, upon his arrival, to be {3} informed at which

+interval it would be convenient for my wife to receive his visit to

+the green-room.

+

+[Sidenote: A domestic drama]

+

+One of these visits to our theatre caused, indirectly, the plot of a

+domestic drama.

+

+The Royal box was constructed by throwing two private boxes into one,

+and on a certain Friday night news reached the theatre that it was

+required by the Prince for the following evening.  This was before

+the days of telephones.  Both boxes had been taken--one at the

+theatre, the other at a librarian's in Bond Street--and nothing

+remained unlet but a small box on the top tier.  Not to disappoint

+the Prince of Wales, it was decided that every effort should be made

+to arrange matters.  The box which had been sold at the theatre was

+kindly given up by the purchaser, and a visit to Bond Street

+fortunately disclosed the name of the possessor of the other.  The

+gentleman was a stockbroker; so a messenger was at once sent to his

+office in the City, only to find that he had just gone.  After a

+great deal of difficulty our invincible messenger succeeded in

+learning his private address, where, on arrival, he was told that

+"Master went to Liverpool on business this morning, and won't be back

+till Monday."

+

+The door of a room leading from the hall {4} was opened at this

+moment, and a portly lady appeared upon the scene.

+

+"Went to Liverpool!" echoed the messenger.  "Nonsense!  He's going to

+the Prince of Wales's Theatre this evening."

+

+The lady now approached, and asked if she could be of any service.

+The messenger repeated his story and stated his errand.  The lady

+smiled blandly, and said that, if the small box on the upper tier

+were reserved, matters no doubt would be amicably arranged in the

+evening, and so that man went away rejoicing.

+

+At night, not long before the play began, the gentleman who had in

+vain been sought so urgently arrived in high spirits, accompanied by

+a lady, handsome but not portly.  When the circumstances were

+explained to him, he agreed to use the smaller, and upstairs box.

+

+There ended our share in the transaction; but hardly were the

+unfortunate man and his attractive companion left alone than the

+portly lady reached the theatre and asked to be shown to Box X.  She

+was conducted there; the door was opened.  Tableau!  What explanation

+was given as to the business trip to Liverpool we never knew, or

+whether the third act of this domestic drama was afterwards played at

+the Law Courts before "the President."

+

+{5}

+

+[Sidenote: Grave illness]

+

+It was in the winter of 1871 that the Prince fell seriously ill from

+typhoid fever.  The national excitement reached so high a pitch and

+the craving for the latest news of his condition grew so great, that

+the bulletins from Sandringham were read out in the theatres between

+the acts, and the National Anthem and "God Bless the Prince of Wales"

+were nightly played by the various orchestras.

+

+The Prince was hardly expected to survive from hour to hour, but when

+reassuring bulletins were issued I vividly remember the relief they

+caused.  The extraordinary manifestation of loyalty to the Throne and

+attachment to the Prince which this illness set ablaze culminated on

+the day of General Thanksgiving, when London was _en fête_, and Queen

+Victoria, with her convalescent son, went to the service held at St.

+Paul's.  My wife and I were fortunate in being invited by the Lord

+Chamberlain to represent the stage--young managers as we then

+were--at the Cathedral.  I shall never forget the effect when the

+great west door was thrown open and a loud voice announced "The

+Queen."  The imposing ceremony, the aspect of the building, with its

+splendid assemblage of people, have only since been equalled at the

+Jubilee Thanksgiving of 1887 in Westminster Abbey, at which we were

+{6} also present.  On the day which followed I remember being at the

+corner of Pall Mall and St. James's Street while the decorations were

+being taken down.  I said to a police constable: "You fellows must

+have had a long and very tiring day, yesterday."  "Yes, sir, we had,"

+the man replied, "and we'd willingly go through it all for her again

+to-morrow."

+

+I also recall an amusing incident which took place at that time in

+the grounds of Chelsea Hospital.  There was a parade of the old

+Pensioners, looking as if they had stepped from the canvas of

+Herkomer's "Last Muster."  The Prince and Princess of Wales, with

+other Royalties, including the Duchess of Teck, who was in a

+bath-chair, passed along the line, the Prince in his kindly way

+stopping now and then to say a pleasant word.  The breast of one old

+man was ablaze with medals--the Prince handled them and said: "You

+have indeed seen a deal of service, my man."  The old fellow drew

+himself up, saluted, and answered: "Yes, your wusshup!"  The Prince

+controlled his amusement at the new title and passed along, but, as

+she was drawn after him in her chair, the Duchess did not repress the

+merry laughter for which she was loved by all sorts of people.

+

+[Sidenote: Dinners to actors]

+

+Among my treasured memories is that of {7} the dinner given by the

+Prince at Marlborough House to the principal actors of London--one of

+the many acts by which he endeared himself to the theatrical

+profession.  On this occasion I was honoured by being placed on the

+right-hand of our host.  This was in 1882.  Without having realised

+it, I found that I had already been the senior manager in London for

+some years.  Thirty-eight were at table, the actors present being

+Henry Irving, J. L. Toole, John Hare, Charles Wyndham, Charles

+Coghlan, W. H. Kendal, John Clayton, David James, Arthur Cecil, Henry

+Neville, Lionel Brough, Hermann Vezin, George Grossmith the elder,

+and myself.  H. J. Byron was invited, but serious illness kept him

+away.  I am the only survivor of that happy company.  Of the guests

+invited to meet us, Lord Lincolnshire (then known to his intimates as

+"Charlie Carington") alone is with us still.  Lord Knollys, a

+charming guest, the trusted servant of three monarchs, and Sir

+Dighton Probyn, for so many years Queen Alexandra's devoted henchman,

+have both recently gone from us.

+

+The Prince gave a similar dinner a year or two later at the

+Marlborough Club, and also honoured the actors by accepting an

+invitation to dine with them at the Garrick.

+

+{8}

+

+During an interval in a performance of Robertson's comedy, _Ours_, at

+the Haymarket Theatre, I was conducting the Prince to the green-room,

+when, on crossing the stage, there was a congested condition of some

+scenery.  I turned to our master-carpenter, whose name chanced to be

+Oliver Wales, and said, "Which way, Wales?"  I realised the effect of

+the words by an amused look on the Prince's face.  My wife on that

+evening had taken her autograph book to the theatre to ask the Prince

+to add his name to it; he wrote at once, "Not '_Ours_,' but Yours

+sincerely, EDWARD P."

+

+My wife and I were naturally proud of the personal interest taken by

+King Edward in the farewell performance which we gave on our retiring

+from management in 1885.  The Prince (as he still then was) suggested

+the date, in order that with the Princess of Wales he might be

+present.  They were accompanied by the three young princesses.

+

+On November 9th, 1891, some of the leading actors, including Hare and

+myself--Irving was in America at the time--went to Sandringham as a

+deputation, to present H.R.H. on his fiftieth birthday with a cigar

+and cigarette box, in gold, with the feathers mounted in brilliants,

+the gift of members of the theatrical profession.  The Prince was

+greatly pleased with {9} what was really a handsome present, and, to

+my knowledge, he never missed an opportunity, when the box was placed

+by his order in front of him after dinner, to say what it was and who

+gave it.  On the occasion, after a happy luncheon, we were, as was

+customary, I was told, weighed in the hall, much to the annoyance of

+one of the party, who had a superstitious objection to the proceeding.

+

+[Sidenote: Alone in the storm]

+

+London was visited by violent blizzards in March 1892.  On an

+afternoon in that month I determined to go out and face one of the

+worst of them.  I dressed for the enterprise, and as the door of our

+house--then in Berkeley Square--was opened for me, a solitary

+pedestrian passed the portico, wearing a black Inverness cape and,

+with difficulty, holding up an umbrella.  In spite of the driving

+sleet and snow I could not help noticing a remarkable resemblance

+borne by the passer-by, who was walking towards Piccadilly, to the

+Prince of Wales.  I followed at short distance, and was more and more

+surprised by what I thought must be a striking "double."  At the

+corner of Hay Hill the pedestrian stopped, turned round, stared at me

+as I was slowly approaching, and after some hesitation trudged on

+down Berkeley Street.  By this time I felt certain it must be the

+Prince, so I crossed the road and {10} continued my walk by the side

+of the wall enclosing the gardens of Lord Lansdowne and the Duke of

+Devonshire.  As I reached the passage which divides them, the Prince

+again stopped and looked at me; he then crossed the slushy road with

+the evident intention of speaking.  I advanced towards him.  The

+Prince begged me to put on my hat and walked with me to the pavement

+I had left; he stood there and spoke of the recent death of the Duke

+of Clarence, of the grave illness of Prince Louis of Hesse, of the

+disastrous fire at Sandringham; since when, he said, according to an

+old superstition, he had known no luck, adding that he was starting

+that evening with the Princess for the south of France and a stay at

+Cap Martin, that meanwhile "he did not know what to do with himself,

+as they were so steeped in sorrow."  After some minutes I said that I

+must not keep him standing longer in such weather.  The Prince then

+shook me cordially by the hand, and said, very simply, "I am so glad

+to have had this talk with you."  He hesitated again as I left him,

+then turned back and passed out of my sight up Hay Hill.

+

+[Sidenote: Visiting the sick]

+

+On the evening of the same day it chanced that my wife and I had been

+invited to a musical party given by Lady Londesborough.  {11} We took

+our places in a row of chairs; a few minutes later the one next to

+mine was occupied by the then Lord Wharncliffe, whom, as Chairman of

+the Beefsteak Club and in other ways, I knew.  He turned to me and

+said: "Bancroft, if there is such a thing as a ghost, I saw one this

+afternoon, for as I was slithering down Hay Hill in a hansom, hanging

+on to the doors through the dangerous condition of the road, a man

+was walking on the pavement, so like the Prince of Wales, that I

+instinctively raised my hand to take off my hat, when I remembered

+that it could only be some amazing resemblance to the Prince, who

+never walks in the streets alone."  I was able to convince him that

+it had been no ghost.

+

+A few weeks afterwards I went to Monte Carlo.  On my arrival I heard

+that Arthur Sullivan was lying very ill at Eze.  I went to his villa

+on a broiling hot day, and was talking under the verandah with his

+devoted nephew, Herbert Sullivan, then a young fellow, when the sound

+of a carriage stopping at the gate was followed by the figure of a

+visitor walking up the garden path alone.  I saw at once it was the

+Prince of Wales, who, directly he came close to us, greeted me with

+the words: "Very different weather from when we last met."  The

+Prince, among other kind acts, {12} sent his own doctor to see the

+sufferer, who was too ill to be allowed to receive anyone.

+

+At that time I was much occupied by the readings of Charles Dickens's

+_Christmas Carol_, which I gave on behalf of hospitals.  A great

+stimulus to their success was one of the many acts of kindness which

+I have received from the then Prince of Wales.  Soon after I started

+them I had the good fortune to meet the Prince, by the invitation of

+the late Lord Burnham, at Hall Barn, where he was staying for a shoot

+extending over several days.  The Prince spoke to me warmly about the

+"Carol," and asked if I would like to give the reading at Sandringham

+at the coming Christmas-time, when the house would be full of guests.

+Needless to say, I could have wished for no greater help to any

+project that I had a part in.

+

+[Sidenote: At Sandringham]

+

+On my arrival at Sandringham I was met by Sir Dighton Probyn.  We

+were soon joined by my host, who took a personal interest in the

+preparations for my evening's work.  In the drawing-room, before

+dinner, I found among the "house-party" two old friends, Sir Charles

+du Plat and Sir Charles Hall.  On entering, the Princess of Wales

+paused to look round the room; she then left the Prince's arm,

+advanced towards me, and most graciously welcomed me.  {13} At the

+table, also, were the present King and Queen.  The audience for my

+reading was completed by invitations given to many friends and

+neighbours, the household, the tenants, and the servants--the

+ballroom being full.  The reading was accompanied by laughter and

+applause, a special tribute being paid to my impromptu description of

+the memorable turkey as "real Norfolk."  In the billiard-room, later

+in the evening, I had suitable opportunity to show the Prince the

+cigar-case which was given to me by Queen Victoria at Balmoral,

+saying that it was the first occasion on which I had carried it.  The

+Prince at once replied, suiting the action to the word, "Perhaps you

+would like me to be the first to take a cigar from it?"

+

+When in 1897 the late Marquess of Salisbury submitted to Queen

+Victoria that the honour of Knighthood should be conferred upon me,

+none of the many congratulations that my wife and I received were

+more charmingly or warmly expressed than those of the Prince of Wales.

+

+It was, however, at Marienbad, where King Edward went annually to

+take the waters, that he might be seen at his friendliest, free from

+the cares of his high estate and able, as the "Duke of Lancaster," to

+relax something of Royal {14} ceremony; but, however unbending, the

+King had great unconscious dignity.  Happy luncheons and pleasant

+dinners have I enjoyed in his company there, charmed by a perfect

+host, put entirely at ease by his geniality and constantly impressed

+by his wide knowledge and deep interest in the affairs of the world.

+Among fellow guests I may mention Pinero, Tree, and Hawtrey.

+

+The one exception to "Marienbad dress" was when the King gave a

+dinner on the fête-day of Francis Joseph, the old Emperor; then the

+card bore the words, "Evening dress and decorations."  I was honoured

+with an invitation, and that year had no tail-coat with me.  A

+soldier friend said if his decorations, for which he had telegraphed,

+did not arrive in time he would lend me his "tails."  After luncheon,

+however, I bolted up to the golf-course, hunted down Sir Edward

+Goschen's attaché, a charming tall fellow, and, knowing he would have

+to wear diplomatic uniform at the dinner, asked if he would lend me

+his ordinary evening coat.  On the night of the ceremony the guests

+were assembled waiting for the King, who went the round of the

+half-circle with a happy word in several languages to all.  His

+humorous salutation to me was, "A very becoming coat, Bancroft."

+

+{15}

+

+I recall an amusing incident told me by my neighbour at table, who

+was High Sheriff of his county.  At a ceremony which the King had

+journeyed from London to perform, a provincial Mayor, after being

+himself presented, nervously said: "May I present Your Majesty to the

+Mayoress?"  The King immediately replied: "Certainly; the Mayoress is

+generally presented to me, so it will be a novelty."

+

+[Sidenote: His love of precision]

+

+I have referred to King Edward's well-known love of exactitude in

+matters of etiquette and ceremony, and I remember a curious instance

+of this quality.  On one of the occasions when I was His Majesty's

+guest, a discussion arose about the period of some incident that had

+been mentioned in the course of conversation; one of the guests said

+that it took place early in the reign of Queen Victoria.

+

+"No," said our host, "you are mistaken; it happened towards the close

+of the reign of the late King."

+

+Not for a moment or two did those present realise that by "the late

+King" His Majesty was referring to King William IV, who, sure enough,

+was strictly "the late King," although full seventy years had passed

+since the "sailor King" sat on the throne of England, and he had {16}

+died before anyone then at the table was born.  I had occasion to

+notice also that King Edward was always punctilious to give his

+predecessors their Royal title.  Should anyone, for instance, allude

+to "the statue of Charles I" at Charing Cross, the King would be sure

+to reply with a reference to "the statue of King Charles I."

+

+In 1909, the year of the King's last visit to Marienbad, my memory

+for dates was appealed to at His Majesty's table with regard to the

+year of Lord Fisher's birth.  I answered that the great little

+"Jacky" was born in the same year as the King and, as it happened,

+myself.  This led to other names, all friends of our host, being

+similarly mentioned.  I told the King that I held the Royal vintage

+to be a good one.  He was both amused and interested, and wished the

+list of names to be made out for him, adding: "I must ask you all to

+dinner."

+

+[Sidenote: His end]

+

+Alas, too soon afterwards came his death--a national sorrow!  King

+Edward impressed the world by his conduct on the throne, which he

+filled greatly and with a great humanity from the hour he was called

+to it.  He was beloved by all sorts and conditions of men, who felt

+that when he died they had lost a great friend, the State a great

+servant, our country {17} a great King.  "The King is dead: long live

+the King."

+

+Of the present Prince of Wales it may be truly said, in the words of

+Shakespeare: "Thy noble grandfather doth live again in thee."

+

+

+

+

+{18}

+

+II

+

+PLACE AUX DAMES

+

+"For some we loved, the loveliest and the best"

+

+

+It is a long cry back to 1878, when we had Jenny Lind for our guest

+and we had the pleasure of hearing her sing; there cannot be many

+people living who have listened to a trill from the throat of the

+"Swedish Nightingale."  My wife and I first met her at Pontresina,

+where she was staying with her husband--"Little Otto," as we called

+Mr. Goldschmidt.  It is difficult to describe that gifted

+creature--plain in feature, insignificant in figure--until she opened

+her lips: then everything changed--she cast a spell round her and

+became idealised.

+

+[Sidenote: The black box]

+

+I remember, too, the humour with which the great lady told and acted

+an amusing incident that occurred on one of her travelling operatic

+tours when she appeared at a different place every evening.  This was

+not altogether lost; my wife reproduced it afterwards.  All the

+members of the company were seated in the train except the tenor, a

+funny-looking little {19} fat man who stammered painfully when

+speaking, but sang without a trace of his affliction.  Just on the

+point of starting he appeared in a state of excitement at the door of

+the great songstress's compartment, having discovered that a large

+black box which contained her wardrobe had been left behind.  He

+hurriedly opened the door and stammered violently: "Mad-ame,

+Mad-ame."  "Yes, yes."  The poor tenor got a step further: "The

+b-b-b-b--"  The bewildered lady cried, "What is it?  What's the

+matter?"  Still the afflicted tenor, stammering more and more, could

+only answer, "The b-b-b-----"  "Yes, yes, yes, but what is the

+b-b-b--, my dear fellow?"  The stammer nearly choked the wretched

+creature as he gasped, "The bl-bl-bl-bl----"  "Sing it, sing it, for

+mercy's sake, sing it!" cried the diva.  The tenor lapsed

+dramatically into recitative: "All, I fear, is lost!"  "Go on, go on.

+What's lost?"  "I fe-ar--is lost!"  "Go on, tell us, go on, what's

+lost?"  The wretched tenor struck an attitude as he sang, "The black

+box!"  "Yes, yes, what about it?"  The only answer was, "The black

+box!"  "What of it, man?" cried the poor lady in despair.  The tenor

+reached his highest note as he shrieked, "The black box has been

+for-got-t-en!"  Jenny Lind fell back in her corner and {20} muttered:

+"Great Heaven!  I shall have no clothes!"

+

+The whistle sounded, the tenor was hoisted into his compartment, and

+the train started.

+

+I recall another story of how when a great composer--I think it was

+Meyerbeer--died, a pushing musician sent a great musician the score

+of a funeral march, which he had written in honour of the illustrious

+man who had passed away, with the hope that it might be played at his

+burial, and asking for a candid opinion of its merits.  He was

+rebuffed by a judgment to the effect that things would have shaped

+better had he himself died and Meyerbeer undertaken to compose a

+funeral march.

+

+It is bewildering to contrast the modest fees earned in Jenny Lind's

+day, and by gifted creatures like Malibran, Grisi and Mario (the pair

+sang in large houses for about thirty guineas) with the fabulous

+figures reached by such artists as Melba, Caruso and Paderewski in

+recent times.

+

+There is a pretty medallion of Jenny Lind on the walls of Westminster

+Abbey, and I am glad that a statue has now been erected to her memory

+in the capital of her native land.

+

+Another glorious songstress, Adelina Patti, was our friend for many

+years.  She invited {21} us to stay at her Welsh castle, but we could

+not go.  She amassed wealth and also charmed the world longer than

+any of her rivals.  It has been truly said that the harp-strings

+slumber until touched by a magic hand: the echo of her wonderful

+voice still beats in human hearts, although its music has ended in

+the silence that waits for us all.

+

+[Sidenote: "Sarah"]

+

+In this little chapter--devoted to honoured women who have been our

+guests--mention must be made of one so famed as Sarah Bernhardt, the

+first actress to receive the Legion d'Honneur.  My wife and I met

+her, and sat by her side, at the Mansion House, the occasion being a

+luncheon given by the then Lord Mayor in 1879 to the members of the

+Comédie Française, which comprised a group of players no theatre then

+could equal or has ever equalled since.  I recall an amusing incident

+which occurred at the banquet concerning two busts--one of Nelson,

+the other of Wellington--which prominently adorned the room we were

+in, called the Long Parlour.  We were obliged to assure "the divine

+Sarah" and her angry comrades that the Lord Mayor meant no slight to

+them or to their country in not having the offending busts removed,

+and also had to defend his lordship for not wearing his robes and

+chain of office, and for being {22} unaccompanied by sword and mace

+bearers.  Incredible, but true.

+

+The finest piece of acting I ever saw from "Sarah" was at the

+_répétition générale_ in Paris of Sardou's play _Fédora_.  She rose

+to great heights, and held a brilliantly composed audience under a

+spell and in her grasp.  Among those present, I remember well, were

+Alexandre Dumas, Alphonse Daudet, and Georges Ohnet; Got and

+Coquelin; Blanche Pierson and Maria Legault.

+

+Edward Pigott, who was then the official Reader of Plays, wrote to me:

+

+"The English version of _Fédora_ is an admirable piece of literary

+workmanship.  It reads almost like an English original.  The part is

+all Sarah.  It is written exactly to her measure--that electric play

+of feature and gesture, that nervous intensity, that range of power

+and variety of accent, and sudden changefulness of mood, which belong

+to the feline instinct or temperament."

+

+Later on, when I saw that great actress--so soon to be a legend, a

+tradition--Eleanora Duse, play in _Fédora_ I learnt that Sardou and

+Sarah had left some things unthought of.

+

+Here is a little letter from the brilliant Frenchwoman:

+

+{23}

+

+"BIEN CHÈRE, MADAME,

+

+"Je vous remercie mille fois pour vos si belles roses et l'aimable

+lettre de Monsieur Bancroft.  Je suis très heureuse que vous ayez

+pris plaiser à m'entendre, et très touchée que deux artistes de votre

+valeur m'accordent du talent.

+

+"Veuillez me croire reconnaissante, et agréez, Madame, je vous prie,

+mes meilleurs sentiments.

+

+"SARAH BERNHARDT."

+

+

+Years afterwards, on the fiftieth anniversary of the great actress's

+first appearance on the stage, my wife was chosen to present a

+testimonial which had been prepared in her honour, in the presence of

+a remarkable gathering in which Monsieur Paul Cambon, the honoured

+French Ambassador to our Court for so many years, took a prominent

+part.

+

+These were some of her words:

+

+

+"Dear Madame Bernhardt, or, as you have so closely fastened yourself

+to our hearts 'with hoops of steel,' I hope you will allow me to say,

+dear Sarah.  My words will be brief, but they come from my heart--the

+heart of a comrade and friend.  Since my retirement no greater

+pleasure has befallen me than I feel at this moment, and when I was

+invited to perform {24} this delightful ceremony I was proud to be

+remembered and to be thought worthy to have the honour of presenting

+this tribute to your genius; an endorsement, as it were, of the force

+and value of the _Entente Cordiale_ which so happily unites our two

+great countries.  Your fame belongs to all the world--the homage of

+every land is yours.  Your name will live with those of Siddons,

+Rachel and Ristori.  You have shed lustre and glory on the beautiful

+art you have so long and nobly served and in which you reign supreme."

+

+

+The great woman took the opportunity to repeat her opinion given to a

+mutual friend, Hamilton Aidé, years before, of my wife's acting as

+Peg Woffington.

+

+[Sidenote: Aimée Desclée]

+

+But great as she was, unequalled in technique, wonderful in the range

+of her art, perfect in her command of every tone in her beautiful

+language, Sarah Bernhardt was never to my mind quite free from the

+blemish--it may be thought heresy to say so--of being something of a

+show-woman.  The drum was too big in her orchestra, while I always

+considered her to be surpassed in the reality of emotion and passion

+by one other woman I have seen upon the stage--Aimée Desclée.  No

+other serious actress, to my mind, took more absolute {25} possession

+of her audience.  I doubt if even Rachel could have eclipsed her.

+Her acting in _Froufrou_, her original part, was supreme.  The

+quarrel with her sister I can best describe as a whirlwind of

+dramatic art in its highest form, as was the pathos with which--when

+she had wrecked her life and gone away with her lover--she moaned:

+"_Une heure de colère, et voilà ou j'en suis._"  Only those who are

+now quite old can have seen Desclée.  Her fame was achieved in a few

+brief years, as she died in the flower of youth, being little more

+than thirty, if my memory serves me, in 1873.  When Sarah then was

+asked her opinion of Desclée's acting she answered, "Truth!"  She

+made no claim to beauty, but possessed more "magnetism"--I know no

+better word--unclouded by exaggeration than any of her rivals.  Had

+Desclée been spared to act for twenty years her name would have lived

+among the immortals.

+

+Alexandre Dumas thus wrote of her:

+

+

+"Nothing remains of what was once so dear.  Let us regret this great

+artist, but pity not her death.  She has won the rest for which she

+prayed.  Her best reward is death.  Of the details of her actual life

+I have told you nothing.  Where was she born?  How was she brought

+up?  Where did she first appear?  {26} What became of her?  What

+matters it at all?  A woman like her has no biography.  She touched

+our souls: and she is dead.  There is her history."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Réjane]

+

+Another Frenchwoman whose name and fame give her an honoured place

+among the great ones, was Réjane.  Our acquaintance began with a

+visit she paid us behind the scenes at the Haymarket when she was

+quite young.  My wife at the time was acting the part first played by

+Réjane in a play by Sardou, called _Odette_.

+

+She was never a guest at our table at home, but only when we met in

+France.  Her art was the embodiment of abiding charm in _Ma Cousine_,

+in _La Vierge Folle_, in _Madame Sans-Gêne_, and many another play.

+Paris loved her and she loved Paris.  How they must miss each other!

+

+She was proud of her Montmartre origin, where she passed a poor and

+hard-working youth, painting fans and teaching.  She told the company

+assembled to celebrate her nomination to the _Légion d'Honneur_, that

+it was at Montmartre she learnt her art and at Montmartre, in contact

+with lovers of the theatre, that she perfected it.

+

+I remember the days in London when her {27} carriage was drawn by a

+pair of Spanish mules and people would struggle for a glimpse of her

+fascinating, though not beautiful, face.  The last time I saw Réjane

+was at the Queen's Hall, during the War, when she recited Émile

+Cammaerts's poem, _Carillon_, to the music written for it by the

+composer, Edward Elgar, who conducted it himself.  All concerned

+seemed to be inspired and gave you out of themselves some minutes of

+ecstasy; just as Karsavina and Nijinsky did in _The Spectre of The

+Rose_ at Covent Garden, before the War.  These are things which are

+yours while memory lasts.

+

+[Sidenote: Modjeska]

+

+A dear friend and guest was the brilliant Helena Modjeska.  Like the

+distinguished actor, Fechter, she never quite mastered the

+difficulties of the English tongue, but again, as in the Frenchman,

+her foreign accent became a fascination.  She ran the great Sarah

+very close in _La Dame aux Camélias_.  Her performance was the more

+spiritual: she seemed to have sacrificed purity only through passion

+and was ever fighting for Divine forgiveness.  You almost had doubts

+if she could have so sinned, but none as to her salvation.  My wife

+could give a most dramatic imitation of their different treatments of

+the tragic end, when with difficulty the feeble, outstretched {28}

+hands reached a table-mirror and they looked upon their dying faces.

+It was hard to decide if the heart-rending, pitiful wail with which

+the one murmured, "How changed I am!" was surpassed by the terrifying

+awe which slowly spread over the emaciated face of the other.  Both

+were supreme moments in their beautiful art.

+

+I recall an incident at a dinner given by Madame Modjeska and her

+husband, when the subject of an unhappy break-up of what seemed a

+happy marriage through an unfortunate lapse on the husband's part

+became the topic.  The lady by my side said passionately: "That is an

+indiscretion, an outrage, a sin, call it what you will, I could never

+forgive--whoever the woman might be."  She paused for a moment and

+added: "With one exception--Ellen Terry.  Any man _ought_ to be

+forgiven."

+

+Let me say a word about an Irish girl born at Limerick but taken to

+America in her childhood; the delightful, alluring Ada Rehan.  She

+and Irving were our guests, both for the last time, together, I

+remember, and when they sat side by side.  No words of mine could

+compete with those I copy, written by one who had followed Ada

+Rehan's art in every phase:

+

+

+{29}

+

+"The secret of her allurement was elusive.  Among its elements were

+absolute sincerity, the manifest capability of imparting great

+happiness, triumphant personal beauty, touched and softened by a

+wistful and sympathetic sadness, and that controlling and compelling

+instinct, essentially feminine, which endows with vital import every

+experience of love, and creates a perfect illusion in scenes of

+fancied bliss or woe."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Gifted women]

+

+It has been a pleasant task to pay my tribute to brilliant artists of

+foreign birth; I do not wish to write of gifted women now before the

+public, but let me render homage to comrades of the stage in days

+gone by who were born in these isles, and who reigned in their

+kingdom with a splendour equal to the great of any land.  That

+mistress of her beautiful art, Madge Kendal; the incomparable Ellen

+Terry; the glorious and unique Mrs. John Wood; and Marie

+Bancroft--the salt of the art they adorned, who, in their bright

+springtime and their affluent summer, filled the scene: all as

+distinct from one another as Raphael from Rubens, as Watts from

+Whistler, yet each stamping the mark of her personality on every part

+she played, and of whom it might be said the deaf could hear them in

+their eloquent faces: the blind could see them {30} in their vibrant

+voices.  Deep is the debt which never can be paid for the cares they

+lightened, for the sorrows they soothed; they dragged creatures from

+the books wherein they were born, making them live, their hearts

+beating, their pulses throbbing, and enshrined their joyousness in

+many grateful memories.

+

+The mantle of the great must be of their own weaving; on other

+shoulders it is bound to be a misfit.

+

+It is pleasant to have one's views confirmed; the more so in the

+judgment of a distinguished American man of letters whose knowledge

+of people connected with the stage was remarkable.

+

+

+"Our age indeed has no Colley Cibber to describe their loveliness and

+celebrate their achievements; but surely if he were living at this

+hour, that courtly, characteristic, and sensuous writer--who saw so

+clearly and could portray so well the peculiarities of the feminine

+nature--would not deem the period of Marie Bancroft and Ellen Terry,

+of Clara Morris and Ada Rehan, of Sarah Bernhardt and Jane Hading,

+unworthy of his pen.  As often as fancy ranges over those bright

+names and others that are kindred with them--a glistering sisterhood

+of charms and talents--the regret must arise that no literary artist

+with just the {31} gallant spirit, the chivalry, the fine insight and

+the pictorial touch of old Cibber is extant to perpetuate their

+glory."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Ouida]

+

+I turn to another calling, and can say something of two distinguished

+women whose fame was earned as writers of fiction--Ouida (Louise de

+la Ramée) and Miss Braddon (Mrs. Maxwell).  They were much of an age,

+but their careers had no other resemblance; except in their enormous

+vogue and hold upon the public of their day.

+

+The name "Ouida" was a nursery corruption of Louisa.  She had an

+English mother and a French father, but lived chiefly in Italy.

+

+My wife and I first met her at the Langham Hotel, where she stayed

+when in London--as odd to look upon as she was pleasant to talk with.

+She had strange large eyes of a sort of dark blue and, in her white

+satin gown and sandalled shoes, was strangely reminiscent of

+mid-Victorian days.  She always wore white frocks in the summer time

+and, as I was told, black velvet in the winter months.

+

+We hoped Ouida might, as she earnestly wished, write a play for us,

+but she got no further than a title.  Of her novels, if I remember

+rightly, quite a fairly good play was {32} concocted from _Moths_.

+She had a great appreciation of my wife, both on and off the stage,

+and we valued her friendship.  There are few readers nowadays, I

+suppose, of _Under Two Flags_, _Puck_, or _Two Little Wooden Shoes_,

+which engrossed the public of her time.  She was proud of the fact

+that Bulwer Lytton read every book she wrote.

+

+As an instance of her "style," here is a description of a young

+Italian peasant girl:

+

+

+"The marigolds and the sunflowers had given her their ripe rich gold

+to tint her hair; the lupins had lent their azure for her eyes; the

+moss-rose buds had made her pretty mouth; the arum lilies had

+uncurled their softness for her skin; and the lime blossoms had given

+her their frank, fresh, innocent fragrance."

+

+

+Ouida would have had no vogue in these times.  She violently opposed

+female suffrage and expressed her view that "millions of ordinary

+women have as little of the sage in them as of the angel."

+

+As for the new woman, she wrote of her as "violating every law alike

+of common sense and of artistic fitness, and yet comes forward as a

+fit and proper person to make laws for others."  She was strong in

+her views that {33} the private lives of all artists are not fit

+objects of curiosity, and was firm in declining, in unedited

+language, to be interviewed.  Ouida was undoubtedly an eccentric,

+with a golden heart, and a passion for dogs.  She died in her beloved

+Italy, alas! in abject poverty, mainly due, I fear, to her

+unpractical nature and her uncurbed generosities.  No one is left to

+tell us what became of all the lovely things by which she was

+surrounded in her prosperous days at the Florentine Villa Farinola.

+I think she rests in peace.

+

+Not long before the end my wife received this letter from her:

+

+

+"DEAR THALIA,

+

+"I have been and am still very ill.  For two days I was near death.

+I should grieve to leave my dear dogs.  Their lives are too short in

+comparison with their devotion.  I got your long letter after some

+delay and fear many letters are lost between Italy and England.  I

+have seen a bag filled with the contents of pillar-boxes reposing in

+sweet solitude on the pavement of a deserted street in Florence!

+

+"I am so glad that you and your dear husband are well and happy....

+I wish I could come and see you all and the dear old country where

+its sons and daughters {34} are never content except when they are

+out of it.

+

+"Love to you and Sir Squire.  Believe me, always your and his admirer

+and friend.

+

+"OUIDA."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Miss Braddon]

+

+I was a young actor in the country, full sixty years ago, when a new

+novel appeared which made the writer of it--a girl in her

+twenties--famous throughout the land.  The book was _Lady Audley's

+Secret_.  The girl was Miss Braddon.  The fame of the new novel

+spread like wildfire and the rush for its three volumes--most novels

+were so published in those days--was extraordinary.

+

+From one of the old Strand Theatre burlesques I recall words like

+these: "Always a lady's secret I respect, save _Lady Audley's Secret_

+which that deep Mudie lets out and won't let people keep."

+

+Dickens and Thackeray were still alive and at work, as were George

+Eliot, Bulwer Lytton and Wilkie Collins.

+

+Miss Braddon's own share reached more than seventy novels in more

+than fifty years of work.  We knew her for many of those years, and

+loved her company, here in London, as in Switzerland and Italy.

+

+In a long railway journey we took together {35} from Lugano to

+Boulogne some anxiety arose as we neared the sea about what the

+"crossing" would be like.  I remember Mrs. Maxwell's amusement at my

+wife's saying: "I don't feel comfortable about it; the small boats

+and fishing-smacks in harbour are too polite to each other, with

+their little bows and curtseys.  I fear we shall find things more

+quarrelsome when we have crossed the bar."

+

+The famous novelist was an open-air woman, at home in a saddle, loved

+to follow the hounds, and was devoted to her dogs, her cats and her

+birds.  She adored Dickens, had great admiration for Balzac, and

+placed George Eliot on a lofty pedestal.  The way she did her work

+was the oddest thing in the world.  She huddled herself up in a

+little low chair, made a desk of her knees, and wrote for hours in

+that position.

+

+Happily, she bountifully bequeathed her power over the pen to her son

+"Willie," who has the affection of his troops of friends.

+

+I will close this chapter with a reference, full of kind thoughts and

+remembrances, to one of the most remarkable, as she was one of the

+most delightful, women my wife and I ever had the privilege to

+know--Lady Dorothy Nevill.  She was a great little lady--happy,

+blithesome, clever, and so gay.

+

+{36}

+

+At her Sunday luncheon parties in Charles Street, one met everybody

+worth knowing and heard pretty well everything worth listening to.

+There assembled folk of all opinions and of every class and

+calling--honey gathered from many a hive.

+

+[Sidenote: A great little lady]

+

+Few people could have had--and kept--three such different friends as

+Cobden, Disraeli and Chamberlain; but the little lady knew how to

+deal with contradictions.  Her sense of humour was as keen as a razor.

+

+Happily for us, Lady Dorothy loved a play and rejoiced in visits to

+our theatre.  She had a great affection for my wife.  Often and

+often, generally in the early winter evenings, she would dismiss her

+carriage at our door, walk upstairs to the second floor, and sit for

+hours with her.  When she left she declined all help or offer to be

+seen safely home, preferring to walk there in the dark, facing two

+crossings on her way, and this when she was more than eighty years of

+age.

+

+Her reminiscences, edited by her son, Ralph Nevill, are delightful

+reading, while the characteristic portrait painted of her in early

+life by Watts--so happily reproduced--will tell you what she looked

+like.  It helps you to feel that she uttered no ill of anyone.

+

+{37}

+

+Lady Dorothy once said to me: "One of the greatest treats I can now

+be given is to be taken by a strong young man to Piccadilly, there to

+be hoisted on to the top of a 'bus, and driven through the City to

+Whitechapel, with time to look in at the London Hospital on my way

+back."

+

+I repeat--a great little lady.

+

+

+

+

+{38}

+

+III

+

+THE CHURCH

+

+"There is, I know not how, in the minds of men, a certain presage, as

+it were, of a future existence; and this takes the deepest root, and

+is most discoverable in the greatest geniuses and most exalted

+souls."--CICERO.

+

+

+We have not been honoured with the friendship of distinguished

+members of the Church so intimately as to leave many empty chairs

+once filled by them, but I can write something in affectionate

+remembrance of a few.

+

+[Sidenote: J. M. Bellew]

+

+The first prominent clergyman whom we knew was that strange creature

+Bellew, first as the Reverend J. M. Bellew, when he preached at a

+church in Bloomsbury and drew large congregations, having previously

+enjoyed great popularity at St. Mark's, Hamilton Terrace.  He was

+gifted with an exceptionally fine voice and a striking appearance.  I

+never heard the death chapter from the Corinthians better read than

+by him--it was dramatic without being theatrical.  There was,

+however, a pitfall into which he used to stumble when he attacked the

+Commandments--in the Fifth {39} he thundered out the first three

+words "Honour thy father," then dropped his voice to its softest

+tones, quietly murmuring, "and thy mother."

+

+Later on, he became both friend and neighbour.

+

+I will repeat a story he told of another neighbour, a canon of the

+Church, who wore the most palpable of wigs, which took every shade of

+colour in the sunlight, but was blindly convinced in his own mind

+that no one shared his secret.  Bellew met this friend one morning as

+he was leaving his house, and suggested their proceeding together.

+"Delighted," said the owner of the many-coloured "jasey"; "I am going

+to Bond Street _to get my hair cut_."  The pretender went so far as

+to have various wigs of different lengths to aid the evident

+deception.

+

+In middle life Bellew appeared as a public reader and reciter here

+and in America, having left the Church of England, and become a

+devout Roman Catholic, in which faith he died.

+

+Henry White, the Chaplain of the Chapel Royal, Savoy, as it then was,

+was many a time a welcome Sunday guest, almost invariably punctual,

+though always begging to be forgiven should he not be.  His letters,

+carefully {40} sealed with the Savoy arms, were full of quotations,

+such as, "I cannot tell you how much I value the friendship you have

+allowed me to enjoy so long: 'my love's more richer than my tongue,'"

+while his interesting sermons were often described as "elegant

+extracts."  His reading of the Litany was peculiarly impressive.  The

+Baroness Burdett-Coutts was a frequent member of his restricted

+congregation.  I left an evening party in his company long years ago,

+when we walked together towards our different homes.  On the way I

+put a straight question to him on a sacred subject.  His answer was

+frank enough: "If it is in my power to be of use to you, or indeed to

+any man, it can only be from my pulpit."  He tried his utmost to

+persuade me to read the Lessons in the Chapel Royal.  I firmly

+declined, adding that if I consented I should ask to be allowed to

+select them.  "Even that," he said, "might be arranged."

+

+An old, and to us, dearly-loved friend who also enjoyed his Sunday

+visits, was the Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal, Canon Edgar Sheppard.

+Our hospitality was returned by him and Mrs. Sheppard at their quaint

+old home adjoining Marlborough House Chapel: and I also knew the

+Canon in his other home, {41} so picturesque, in the precincts of

+Windsor Castle.  One of his last public services was held for me when

+my sorrow came.  His friendship had so long been valued by my wife;

+the kindness shown to me then, as well as by his son, the present

+vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, dwells sacredly in my memory, and

+will be referred to in the final chapter of this book.

+

+[Sidenote: Archdeacon Wilberforce]

+

+Archdeacon Wilberforce--who belonged to the 1841 "Vintage"--was also

+our friend.  He drew large congregations to the church of St. John

+the Evangelist, Westminster--that odd-looking building which looks

+rather like an elephant sprawling on his back with his short legs in

+the air.  I recall an afternoon when we were the guests of Mrs.

+Wilberforce and himself in Dean's Yard; he took us aside and said

+they were asking some of their friends to linger when the party broke

+up, as they had a treat to follow.  We gladly did so, and were well

+repaid, being conducted to the Abbey by the Archdeacon, and seated in

+the choir.  Presently Sir Frederick Bridge--("Westminster Bridge

+")--another old friend who has left an empty chair--broke the

+silence--the tones of the organ swelled out--when, from by his side

+in the loft and out of sight, the wonderful voice of Clara Butt {42}

+sang "Abide with Me."  There are moments in life, and that was one,

+the remembrance of which can never fade; this we felt, as afterwards

+we went from the Abbey in the falling light.

+

+I recall an occasion when both Bishop Ellicott and Archdeacon

+Wilberforce were staying at Birchington.  The Bishop was gravely ill.

+We had known him in the Engadine and at the Bel Alp, and had also

+been to those musical parties in Great Cumberland Place, to which

+Mrs. Ellicott and all her family were so passionately and unceasingly

+devoted that they seemed to fill their lives.  The Bishop was always

+expected to be a listener.  My wife drove to the bungalow where the

+Bishop was, to ask after him, and, to her delight, was told he would

+like to see her.  She found the Archdeacon by his side, and as she

+approached his chair the Bishop was thanking him for "kind and

+comforting words," adding: "I hope, my dear friend, when it shall

+please God to take me, He will graciously grant me a little

+niche--and _not too near the music!_"

+

+The Archdeacon's love of animals is well known.  He adored his dogs,

+and at a garden-party showed us the graves of little lost friends by

+the Cloisters, dwelling in a {43} most interesting way on his belief

+in their after-life.  In support of this, I recall an incident told

+by my old comrade, John Hare, when he had a seaside home at

+Overstrand.  The Archdeacon visited him one day: and Hare, who was

+never without a dog, put a question to him.

+

+"Do you really believe, Archdeacon," he asked, "in a hereafter for

+our dogs?"

+

+"Indeed I do."

+

+"But do you mean that I shall meet my dog again?"

+

+"Undoubtedly--if you are good enough!"

+

+[Sidenote: Father Bernard Vaughan]

+

+A friend whom it was always a pleasure to welcome or to meet was

+Father Bernard Vaughan.  We became acquainted many years ago at

+Manchester, where my wife and I were acting.  He was then the rector

+of a church there, and would come and see us at our hotel, and tell

+us Lancashire stories.  From time to time he visited us in London,

+and later on at our seaside home.

+

+He never spoke a word to me on religious subjects, knowing, I

+suppose, that I did not chance to belong to the beautiful faith which

+he and his many brothers and sisters so devoutly served as priests

+and nuns, beginning with the eminent Cardinal.  Father Bernard

+Vaughan attracted crowded congregations, {44} drawn from all degrees

+of creed, to Farm Street, there to listen to his outspoken sermons on

+the Sins of Society.  They were both romantic and emotional, with

+sentences to the effect that unless England fed the fires of religion

+with the fuel of faith she might wake one day to the sound of a

+passing bell tolling her soul's death.

+

+The circumstances in which I first saw Dr. Boyd-Carpenter, then the

+Bishop of Ripon, were comical, although the scene of them was a place

+of worship.  I have a predilection for a good sermon, and at one

+period made a practice of hearing the best English preachers of the

+day, no matter what their particular aspect of the Faith might be.

+On a Saturday I read in _The Times_ that the Bishop of Ripon was to

+preach at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall; so I determined to go and

+listen.

+

+The Chapel Royal, Whitehall, exists no more, but at that time it

+occupied the first floor of the old banqueting hall (from one of the

+windows of which King Charles I stepped forth to his execution),

+since given over to the Royal United Services Institution.  The hall

+was not, from the clergy's point of view, well adapted to its sacred

+purpose, for there was no vestry, or, at any rate, no separate

+entrance for the officiating minister, who could only {45} enter the

+chapel by the staircase in the same way as the general public.

+

+[Sidenote: The verger's mistake]

+

+Presenting myself on a wintry morning, some time before the appointed

+hour, after fighting my way up the crowded staircase, I found the

+chapel already full, when the verger, catching sight of and

+recognising me, whispered that if I waited a moment he would find a

+seat for me among the front rows.  Just then I felt someone trying to

+push past me, and looking down saw a small and energetic figure, the

+head swathed in a large white muffler, eagerly struggling to make

+towards the altar.  The verger, prompt but polite, attempted to stop

+the vigorous little man.  "You really can't, sir; there isn't another

+empty place."

+

+What was the good man's surprise and confusion to receive the answer,

+in a telling stage whisper: "But I've come to preach!"

+

+The intruder was no other than the Bishop, then in the prime of life.

+When at last he reached the pulpit, he preached so fine a sermon that

+though my watch told me it lasted only five minutes short of an hour,

+it seemed to occupy less than the half of one.

+

+Another trenchant and dramatic sermon I recall was preached by

+Boyd-Carpenter in the Abbey soon after the death of Tennyson, {46}

+when the Bishop shattered an idea which had got abroad that the great

+poet had no faith in an after-life.  Who, I wonder, could have

+attributed such thoughts to the man who wrote: "I hope to meet my

+Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar"?  The only time I saw

+the Victorian Poet Laureate, a picturesque figure, was on board a

+Channel steamer.  He passed the time between Calais and Dover on the

+bridge, talking with the captain and smoking a short clay pipe.

+

+Acquaintance with the Bishop soon followed the episode at the Chapel

+Royal, and, I rejoice to add, warm friendship with my wife and myself

+both in London and at our seaside home, which lasted until his death.

+

+There is a story told of the Bishop--which may or may not be true--of

+his being rudely interrupted at a public meeting by the query if he

+believed Jonah was really swallowed by the whale.  The Bishop said

+that if he got to heaven he would try to find out.  The man in the

+crowd answered loudly: "But suppose he is not there?"  The Bishop at

+once replied: "Then you'll have to ask him."  For my own part, I have

+always thought that Jonah's condition was like that of a vulgar

+tourist--he travelled much and saw little.

+

+[Sidenote: Speaking and reading]

+

+I remember well a happy week-end passed {47} with the Bishop at his

+palace, and a delightful drive in the snow to Fountains Abbey.  It

+was then that he persuaded me to undertake the difficult task of

+saying something at a forthcoming Church Congress on "The Art of

+Speaking and Reading," and I devoted time and thought to so important

+a subject.

+

+I began by saying that it was customary for a clergyman to preface

+his sermon by a text from the Bible, but that I, as an actor, would

+begin my address with a quotation from Shakespeare to be found in the

+comedy of _Much Ado About Nothing_: "Happy are they that hear their

+detractions and can put them to mending."

+

+This text, if I may so call it, led to some remarks on the affinity

+between the words of Shakespeare and the pages of Holy Writ.  The

+same inspired truths so abound throughout them both as to prove that

+the poet was a student of the Scriptures.  There could be no firmer

+bond between Church and Stage; it must, for all time, be the

+strongest link, for both books are eternal.

+

+I called to mind the care and cost lavished upon choral services in

+our cathedrals, the pains taken to acquire the skill melodiously to

+chant the Litany: why were not the same labour, the like devotion

+bestowed upon the {48} teaching of young clergymen to speak audibly

+and to control a congregation?  One could not but be amazed at

+glaring instances of false emphasis in the dull recital of the Order

+for Morning Prayer: surely such a monument of learning and piety

+should be spared such treatment.

+

+I dared to add that I had heard the Bible read--now and then very

+beautifully, often very vilely.  That I had listened to such extracts

+as tell of the death of Absalom, of the death of Jezebel, of Daniel

+in the Den, of the Prodigal's Return, read as though the moving

+stories were little more dramatic than so many stale problems in

+Euclid; and had heard St. Paul's funeral chapter so droned as to make

+the hallowed bones of the Apostle who bequeathed it to humanity turn

+in their resting-place.  On the other hand, I had heard the same

+words read so truthfully by men who are living and men who are dead,

+as to be a lasting memory.

+

+[Sidenote: The actor and the bishop]

+

+It was natural on my part to draw attention to the resemblance which

+exists between the great preacher and the famous player, not only for

+the mighty sermons he can preach, but because, when his work is done,

+when he has for ever left the pulpit or the stage, the "divine spark"

+is extinguished; his voice, {49} his fascination, his originality,

+are soon but memories; while his renown too often rests upon the

+imperfect records of tradition.  The personality of John Knox must

+remain a mystery; the tragic tones of Sarah Siddons can be heard no

+more.  What would the young parson not give to hear Martin Luther

+preach?  What would I not give to see David Garrick act?  "Into the

+night go one and all."

+

+I reminded my listeners of the answer David Garrick gave to the

+bishop who asked him this question: "Can you tell me, sir, why it is

+that you players, who deal with romance, can yet profoundly move an

+audience, while we preachers, who deal with reality, fail to do so?"

+"Yes, my lord, I can.  It is because we players act fiction as if it

+were the truth; while you preachers too often speak of truth as

+though it were but fiction."

+

+Thackeray wrote: "There is an examiner of plays, and there ought to

+be an examiner of sermons."  I would go further, and urge that every

+curate should pass an examination in the art of preaching before he

+is allowed to mount a pulpit.  A bad preacher will empty a church

+more easily than a good preacher will fill one.  It was well said,

+also, by an eminent {50} minister in the Nonconformist Church, the

+late Dr. Parker:

+

+

+"To-day the man who would preach with true and lasting effect must be

+sincere, intelligent, and sympathetic--in a word, he must be a man, a

+teacher, a friend.  Preaching is the most impertinent of all

+impertinences if there is not behind it and round about it a sense of

+authority other and better than human."

+

+

+The best advice I can remember was once given by my wife, in a single

+sentence, to a public speaker who consulted her on the subject; she

+said simply: "Don't be afraid of opening your mouth, and don't forget

+that the roof of it is Nature's sounding-board."

+

+Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, as some may still recollect, was honoured with

+the personal friendship of the late Empress Frederick of Germany.  In

+connection with that unhappy lady, the eldest daughter of Queen

+Victoria, and our Princess Royal, he told me an interesting story,

+the point of which was to be proved tragically true in later years.

+

+The Bishop was summoned to Germany to give the Empress the

+consolations of religion in a grave illness.  The Prince of Wales,

+who had hastened to the bedside of his favourite {51} sister, in the

+kindness of his peace-loving heart was attempting to smooth over the

+notorious differences between the suffering lady and her son, the

+ex-Kaiser, who, as is well-known, had treated her with unfilial

+harshness.  But the Empress knew Wilhelm too well to hope for

+reconciliation.  She laid her hand on her brother's arm, saying sadly

+and earnestly: "Bertie, your country has no greater enemy than my

+son."

+

+[Sidenote: A Mohammedan legend]

+

+Among my papers I find a letter from Boyd-Carpenter, redeeming a

+promise which he had made over the dinner-table to look up for me a

+Mohammedan legend upon which he had preached a remarkable sermon:

+

+

+"When God made the earth it shook to and fro till He put the

+mountains on it to keep it firm.

+

+"Then the angels asked: 'O God, is there anything in Thy creation

+stronger than those mountains?'

+

+"And God replied: 'Iron is stronger than the mountains, for it breaks

+them.'

+

+"'And is there anything in Thy creation stronger than iron?'

+

+"'Yes, fire is stronger than iron, because it melts it.'

+

+"'Is there anything stronger than fire?'

+

+"'Yes, water, for it quenches fire.'

+

+"'Is there anything stronger than water?'

+

+{52}

+

+"'Yes, wind, for it puts water in motion.'

+

+"'O, our Sustainer, is there anything in Thy creation stronger than

+wind?'

+

+"'Yes, a good man giving alms: if he give with his right hand and

+conceal it from his left he overcomes all things.'"

+

+

+[Sidenote: The wrong train]

+

+I may here relate an unaccountable blunder I committed when on my way

+to do a little service for the Bishop at Bradford.  At that time

+there were two express trains to the North, one from Euston, the

+other from King's Cross; both started at 1.30.  Full of thought, I

+drove to Euston instead of to King's Cross.  When I asked for a

+ticket there was some delay; at last it was given to me with the name

+of my destination written upon it in ink.  I thought it strange that

+tickets for so important a place should be out of print, but took my

+seat in the train; and it was only when well beyond Rugby that I

+realised what I had done.  Eventually, after hurried, anxious talk

+with the authorities at Stafford, I got out at Stockport.  There, in

+great excitement, I ordered a special train and telegraphed home to

+allay anxiety.  Some difficulties about the special were overcome by

+earnest appeals to disregard cost, as I was prepared to pay anything

+demanded of me, for never in my life had I failed to keep an {53}

+appointment with the public, and should have been doubly distressed

+at breaking an engagement in which I was doing the work without any

+question of a fee.  Eventually I reached Bradford five minutes before

+the time fixed for the entertainment.  To add to my troubles, the

+confusion had driven out of my head the name of the hall where I was

+to appear.  Fortunately, one of the flymen on the station rank

+remembered it, and drove me quickly to its doors as the audience was

+pouring in.  After inquiry at an hotel hard by--the same hotel in

+which a few years later Irving stumbled in the hall and then fell

+dead--I found the Bishop.  He had telegraphed to London for the cause

+of my absence, and, receiving no explanation, had settled to fill my

+place by giving his lecture on Dante; but on my appearance he drove

+to the hall, asked for a short delay, explained the reason, and then

+returned to fetch me.  I dressed as if by magic, swallowed some soup,

+and, appearing on the platform only fifteen minutes late, was greeted

+with great warmth.  I had never felt so pleased to face my audience.

+

+The Bishop of Ripon, like myself, was born in the year 1841, and,

+like myself, was proud to belong to that fine "vintage."

+

+I am not likely to forget a dinner-party he {54} gave at his home in

+the Abbey Cloisters in 1916 to a select band of "75's," or

+"soixante-quinzes," as he called us.

+

+The company included the Bishop of Chichester (Dr. Ridgeway),

+Field-Marshal Lord Grenfell, Admiral Fisher, Lord Sanderson, Sir

+Frank Lascelles, Sir Walter Parratt, Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace and

+myself.  The late Lord Cromer was invited, but was prevented by

+illness from being present.  Our host had not only prepared for us a

+delightful evening, but had composed some appropriate verses for the

+occasion, of which each guest was presented with a copy.  This is how

+they ran:

+

+

+  "1841-1916

+

+  "The Fairies stood and watched the years

+    'Till forth came Forty-one,

+  The Fairies smiled and then they gave

+    Their kiss to Forty-one.

+  The vintage ripened well and good,

+  That year must ever famous be,

+  Because it brought forth you and me,

+    The men of Forty-one.

+

+  "The Fairies watch where kisses go

+    In hope that they survive;

+  Lo! great in arms by land[1] and sea[2]

+    Their sons in valour thrive;

+{55}

+  In Russian lore[3], in minstrelsy[4],

+  In mock[5] and true[6] diplomacy,

+  Till brave in toil they came to be

+    The men of Seventy-five.

+

+  "Great William said 'Ripeness is all,'

+    And we are Seventy-five,

+  Old dogs are more than lions dead,

+    And we are still alive!

+  We need not fear age or mischance,

+  In good we may and will advance,

+  Like _soixante-quinzes_ in war-tossed France

+    Our guns are good at Seventy-five."

+

+  [1] Lord Grenfell.

+  [2] Lord Fisher.

+  [3] Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace.

+  [4] Sir Walter Parratt.

+  [5] Sir Squire Bancroft.

+  [6] Sir Frank Lascelles.

+

+

+The good Bishop did not live to see the return of Peace which

+followed the triumphant victory of the _soixante-quinzes_ and their

+Allies.  In the month before the Armistice was declared, he was laid

+in his grave.  But he had not forgotten the happy gathering of 1916,

+as is proved by the following treasured letter, which I received from

+his son, Major Boyd-Carpenter:

+

+

+  "6 LITTLE CLOISTERS,

+      "WESTMINSTER,

+          "_October_ 26, 1918.

+

+"DEAR SIR SQUIRE BANCROFT,

+

+"Shortly before my father's death he asked that 'a message of

+greeting be sent to all the 77's.'  As you were one of those {56} who

+joined him at the gathering he always remembered with such pleasure,

+I am sending you this, his message.

+

+  "Believe me,

+      "Yours sincerely,

+          "A. BOYD-CARPENTER."

+

+

+More recently we lost another honoured friend in that remarkable and

+distinguished man, Dr. Wace, the Dean of Canterbury.  When we had a

+home by Folkestone he was often our guest, while we have enjoyed the

+hospitality of himself and Mrs. Wace at the Deanery.  Their kindness

+at all times to my wife is a happy remembrance.  The Dean loved a

+good story: he told many and was an appreciative listener.

+

+I always read the powerful letters which he wrote to _The Times_, and

+could not but admire the strenuous blows he dealt with dauntless

+courage on matters which were too profound for the likes of me.

+Shortly before his lamented death I met the Dean at the Athenæum and,

+during our talk, had more than one proof of the undiminished power of

+his great memory.

+

+[Sidenote: A disreputable trio]

+

+As an end to this chapter I quote the most startling words I ever

+heard from a pulpit, uttered by a prominent dignitary of the Church,

+{57} in referring to the first chapter of Genesis, which had been the

+lesson of the day: "Adam was a cad; Eve, I am afraid, was no better

+than she should be; and for my part, I have long since regarded the

+silent serpent as the most respectable of a disreputable trio."

+

+

+

+

+{58}

+

+IV

+

+THE LAW

+

+  "For pity is the virtue of the law,

+  And none but tyrants use it cruelly."

+

+

+There is a sort of affinity between the bar and the stage: actors are

+attached to lawyers because lawyers are attached to actors; at least

+that has been my experience--my wife and I were rich in their

+friendship from very early days.

+

+I have often thought there is a strong link between our callings.

+The feelings of the distinguished counsel when he goes into court,

+with all the anxious weight upon his mind, with all his grave

+responsibility, cannot be unlike the feelings of the great actor on a

+"first night," when his fame may be in peril.

+

+I was once, when a child, taken to the House of Lords by my

+grandfather; he pointed out to me the venerable Lord Brougham, who

+was sitting in judgment with other Law Lords.  I remember that he

+wore shepherd's plaid trousers, also his nose, the famous nose which

+{59} was immortalised by Dicky Doyle on the mask which is being

+dragged along the lower part of the title page of _Punch_.

+

+[Sidenote: Cockburn, L. C. J.]

+

+Lord Chief Justice Cockburn was the first great man we knew; our

+meeting was at dinner, when we were young, at the house of Henry

+Fothergill Chorley, a worshipper of Dickens and a prominent musical

+critic of those days; two of the guests were "Mamie" Dickens, the

+elder daughter of the great novelist, and Arthur Sullivan, then quite

+young and a protégé of our host.

+

+I have never forgotten the feeling of awe which came over me when the

+butler announced, "The Lord Chief Justice of England."  I always

+thought he looked less like a lawyer than an admiral, or the skipper

+of his own beloved yacht, the _Sybil_.  My wife had the good fortune

+to be placed next to the Lord Chief.  She had the gift of manners,

+and was at home in any surroundings.  He took a great fancy to her,

+and we enjoyed the charm of his friendship for about ten years, until

+the end of his career.  In those days I thought his was the most

+attractive male voice I ever listened to, whether on the Bench or in

+a room--even during the lengthy summing-up of the Tichborne trial it

+never grew monotonous--although I admit that, nowadays, the voices of

+Johnston {60} Forbes-Robertson and Henry Ainley could run it very

+close.

+

+Let me add that the two most attractive female voices I have listened

+to were owned by women widely apart in rank and station: one belonged

+to Queen Victoria, the other to my wife, and both voices were

+preserved unto old age.  It is pleasant to have this opinion

+confirmed by no less a person than Ellen Terry, who wrote of my wife

+"such a _very_ pretty voice--one of the most silvery voices I have

+ever heard from any woman except the late Queen Victoria, whose voice

+was like a silver stream flowing over golden stones."

+

+The Lord Chief was a perfect host, well described as having the

+vivacity of youth tempered by the wisdom of age.

+

+He also adored music: it was almost certain you would meet its

+professors at his house, and I recall memories of Madame Schumann,

+Joachim and Piatti.  During a short time when my wife was not acting,

+her delight was great at being taken by him to the _Monday Pops_.

+Among his other accomplishments was an intimate acquaintance with

+languages: his French was as near perfection as a foreigner could get

+to.

+

+[Sidenote: "Justice is blind"]

+

+On one occasion when we had asked Sir Alexander Cockburn to dine with

+us, my wife {61} took George Critchett, the eminent ophthalmic

+surgeon and father of our lost friend, Sir Anderson, to him, saying:

+"Let me present Mr. Critchett to you, Lord Chief; as Justice is said

+to be blind, you may find his services useful."  On another, in reply

+to a similar invitation, he wrote that he was just starting for

+Geneva to preside at the Alabama Conference, and wished that

+troublesome vessel had gone to the bottom of the sea the day she was

+launched.  Soon afterwards, at the close of our annual Swiss holiday,

+we passed through Geneva just at the time the Alabama claims were

+settled there, and paid our respects to the Lord Chief at the old

+Hôtel des Bergues, to the sound of guns firing and the glory of flags

+flying.

+

+This delightful friendship was broken suddenly.  It was in the year

+we opened our newly rebuilt Haymarket Theatre, which he greatly

+admired, that after presiding over an intricate case in Westminster

+Hall, the Lord Chief left the haunts of justice and the "law's delay"

+for the last time.  He dismissed his smart little brougham and walked

+home to Hertford Street.  During the night came a fatal attack of

+_angina pectoris_.

+

+When I was a struggling country actor in Liverpool, so far back as

+1864, I made the acquaintance of a struggling barrister on the {62}

+Northern Circuit.  His name was Charles Russell, and he, too, became

+Lord Chief Justice of England.  I enjoyed his friendship until his

+death.  His personality was both dominating and downright.  You could

+not be in a room with him and not be conscious of his presence.  No

+man more firmly said what he meant and meant what he said, while his

+Irish tongue was ever ready with the apt bright answer, as, for

+instance, when, asked the severest sentence for bigamy, he answered:

+"Two mothers-in-law!"  He was a relentless cross-examiner, and though

+sometimes a sharp antagonist was always a friend.  There was no

+littleness about him, and he had no use for a fool.

+

+[Sidenote: Russell, L. C. J.]

+

+When I started my hospital "readings," I made a point of avoiding any

+suggestion of "creed," and arranged two recitals on behalf of Jewish

+and Roman Catholic institutions: at the former the Chief Rabbi

+presided, at the latter Cardinal Vaughan promised to do so, but was

+prevented by sudden illness: his place was taken by the Lord Chief

+Justice.  Soon afterwards I was asked to serve a cause which was

+pronouncedly Protestant.  In talking over who was to be invited to

+preside, I found the committee very desirous that Lord Russell should

+be approached.  I pointed out that he, being a fervent Roman

+Catholic, {63} could hardly be expected to comply, adding that he had

+only quite recently presided at a "reading" of the same story which I

+had given for the benefit of Catholics.  The committee, however, said

+they could but be refused, and made their request.  Lord Russell

+replied that I had gone out of my way to help a charity of his Faith,

+and that he would gladly do the same for me.  The generous speech he

+made on the occasion was a warm tribute to the Reverend William

+Rogers--known widely as "Hang Theology Rogers."  I cherish the

+remembrance of many acts of kindness shown to me and mine by Lord

+Russell of Killowen, but not one of them touched me more than that I

+have just related.

+

+He was an ardent playgoer, with an intimate knowledge of Shakespeare,

+and rarely missed first nights, or when a play of one of his many

+friends was produced.  He loved a game--of cards or otherwise--and I

+have seen him at Monte Carlo writhe because his exalted position

+robbed him of the pleasure of a "flutter" at _trente-et-quarante_.

+He was a real sportsman and a member of the Jockey Club.

+

+I was greatly struck by a tribute the Lord Chief paid to an old

+guest, a host and true friend of mine for many years, the late Sir

+George Lewis.  It was at the close of the {64} Parnell trial, when he

+spoke to this effect: "The most remarkable attribute in George Lewis

+is not his great knowledge of the law, not his unrivalled skill in

+conducting difficult cases, not his wonderful tact, not his genius

+for compromise.  They are all beaten by his courage."

+

+At a banquet given to Irving on his return from one of his tours in

+the United States, I was seated next to Lord Russell, who, half-way

+through the dinner, suddenly said to me: "I have to propose Irving's

+health.  What shall I say?"  I replied that no one could answer the

+question so well as himself.  However, the Chief persisted, with that

+well-remembered, imperious manner of his, "Come, come, my friend, you

+must have done it often: tell me what I am to say."  I recalled an

+occasion when I had proposed Irving's health, and said that I spoke

+of him as possessing "the strength of a man, the sweetness of a

+woman, and the simplicity of a child."  Lord Russell turned to me

+with the question, "How about the wisdom of a serpent?  I could not

+have left that out."

+

+[Sidenote: Alverstone, L. C. J.]

+

+Lord Alverstone, so long known as "Dick" Webster, who succeeded

+Russell, was Attorney-General, Master of the Rolls, and Lord Chief

+Justice, all in the same year.  It was as Attorney-General that

+Webster dined with {65} me, and I paid a pleasant visit in his

+company to the Isle of Wight (which he represented in the House of

+Commons) to do him a small service.

+

+I have always understood that he was a great worker: one of the gang,

+like Francis Jeune and Rufus Isaacs, who could light a fire and brew

+tea at any ghastly hour a.m.

+

+Soon after he became Lord Chief, Alverstone presided at the Annual

+Dinner of the Actors' Benevolent Fund.  He made an eloquent appeal on

+its behalf and generously headed the list of subscriptions.  This was

+not the only instance of the real interest he took in the drama,

+being of great service when the old Covent Garden Theatre Fund came

+to an end.

+

+He was no mean athlete, and fond of all sports; also a capital

+singer--a conspicuous figure for many years in the choir of the

+church in the Kensington High Street.

+

+I have had the privilege to know, but not to act as their host, all

+the eminent lawyers who have held the office of Lord Chief Justice of

+England since the Cockburn days: Coleridge, Reading, Trevethin and

+Hewart.

+

+The late Lord Esher, Master of the Rolls, my wife and I had the

+pleasure to know well and to delight in his friendship and

+hospitality.  My acquaintance began when the Courts were {66} held in

+Westminster Hall, and I was foreman of a jury before "Mr. Justice

+Brett," in an interesting case, but troublesome to me, as it kept me

+from important rehearsals.

+

+In a New Year letter to my wife he addressed her as:

+

+

+"DEAR FRIEND,--You are a very perplexing person to write to.  If I

+say 'Dear old friend' it won't do in every sense: because, although

+you are an old friend, you are in looks and ways a young woman.  If I

+say 'Dear little friend,' it is a term of endearment--but you are a

+very great person.  However, I begin by wishing you both a very happy

+year.  If it is as prosperous as your goodness deserves I can wish

+you in that respect no more.  I cannot tell you how I chafed under

+not being able to see you in _Money_; but in the mornings I was in

+Court, and in the evenings did not venture out!  Vile old age!!  Lady

+Esher went to see you, and told me she had never seen anything more

+charming than you.  With that I stop.  My love to you both.  Believe

+me always a very true admirer and very truly yours."

+

+

+Of all the judges I have known I think the imposing presence of Lord

+Hannen on the Bench was second to none.  His dignity appealed to me

+enormously when, through the kindness {67} of the Bar, I attended

+some of the sittings of the Parnell Commission.  I remember my wife

+saying to him at our table, when he was President of the Divorce

+Court, that he seemed to her to pass too much of his life in

+separating united couples.  His answer was that he passed much more

+of it in wondering why the couples had ever wished to be joined

+together.

+

+[Sidenote: James of Hereford]

+

+I never knew much of Lord James of Hereford, but saw a good deal in

+early days of Mr. Henry James, a successful self-made barrister who

+had just taken silk, and was on the way to the great position he

+reached.

+

+He was one of a little coterie which included Lord Anglesey, ("P."),

+Millais, Merewether, Q.C., Hare, "Willie" Mathews, one or two others,

+and myself, who played, with great zest, an old-fashioned card

+game--four-handed cribbage.

+

+James was made Attorney-General, refused the Lord Chancellorship, and

+became a Peer.

+

+I remember his once saying: "Fame has no Present; Popularity no

+Future."

+

+One of our early legal friends was Baron Huddleston.  When we first

+met he was known as "the buck of the Bar," and always pleaded as

+Counsel in black kid gloves.  We owed to him and "Lady 'Di'" many

+happy visits in {68} delightful company to the Grange at Ascot.  He

+had his vanities, and gloried in being written and spoken of as "The

+Last of the Barons."

+

+I was dining with Arnold Morley, at one time Postmaster General,

+after Huddleston's funeral, when I "put my foot in it" more painfully

+than ever in my life.  The little company comprised: John Morley,

+Herbert Gardner, afterwards Lord Burghclere, Sir Charles Dilke,

+George Lewis, Henry Labouchere, and one other man whose name I

+forget.  During dinner Lewis said: "Oh!  Bancroft, I saw by an

+evening paper that you were among Huddleston's friends to-day, tell

+us about his cremation; what is it really like?"  Without thought I

+let myself go and replied that when the coffin disappeared from view

+Henry James (Lord James of Hereford) asked Sir Henry Thompson, the

+pioneer and President of the new movement, if we could see any more.

+Accompanied by Lord Falkland, we entered the inner compartment, so I

+described what we there saw, it being remembered that cremation was

+then in its infancy, adding that I revolted against the idea of

+consigning the remains of a loved one to such a fate.  As I spoke my

+eyes fell upon Sir Charles Dilke, and I was conscious that his late

+wife had been {69} so treated.  It did not need the leer on

+Labouchere's face to tell me so.

+

+[Sidenote: St. Helier and Holker]

+

+Lord St. Helier, who became President of the Divorce Court, was also

+a kind friend of long standing.  My wife and I first met him as

+Francis Jeune, when he was just foreshadowing his successful career,

+at the house of Lady St. Helier, Mrs. John Stanley then, and soon

+afterwards we passed them in a carriage on the St. Gothard

+Pass--before the days of its wonderful railway--when they were on

+their honeymoon.  He was a great authority on ritualistic and

+ecclesiastical law generally and always a tremendous worker.  He had

+charming manners and was never ruffled--not even when he committed a

+duchess to gaol.  We enjoyed their hospitality in London and at

+Arlington Manor.  I have only one little objection to offer--I cannot

+help a feeling of resentment against a judge, or, in fact, any

+barrister, having a moustache and beard.  It is not fair to the wig.

+

+A dear friend of far-away days was Lord Justice Holker ("Sleepy

+Jack").  I knew him first in my old Liverpool apprenticeship when he

+was leader of the Northern Circuit and its legal giants.  I saw him

+once at the Assizes there stop a case for some minutes after

+whispering to his clerk, who hurriedly left the court, {70} and

+returned with Holker's snuff-box, which had been left in the

+robing-room.

+

+Later on he had a place in Yorkshire where he had happy

+shooting-parties for his friends, but nothing would induce him to

+fire a gun himself.

+

+Another legal friend and welcome guest was Lord Justice Mathew, who

+told us a pretty story of his witty fellow-countryman, Father Healy.

+

+A young Englishwoman, who was his companion at a dinner party, asked

+him, as there was no mistletoe in Ireland, what the girls and boys

+did at Christmas-time without it.  "Ah, if it's kissing you mean,"

+the old priest answered, "they do it _under the_ rose!"

+

+Mathew had a witty tongue of his own.  No doubt, it will be

+remembered by his legal friends that at the time Herschell was Lord

+Chancellor, Arthur Cohen, a distinguished Q.C., quite looked to be

+appointed to a puisne judgeship, which he did not get.  When Mathew

+heard of Cohen's resentment, he expressed surprise that his learned

+friend expected anything else from Herschell but a Passover.

+

+[Sidenote: Serjeant Ballantine]

+

+I made acquaintance in my early professional days with Serjeant

+Ballantine, always a pleasant and amusing companion, with a {71}

+great love of the theatre.  Throughout his life he was very Bohemian

+in his tastes and habits.  I remember him first at Evans's, a

+music-hall of those days, in Covent Garden--it stood where

+prize-fights now take place at the National Sporting Club--where

+there was a noted choir of boys, and where "Paddy Green," the

+manager, squeezed hot potatoes from their jackets with his napkin for

+favoured guests.

+

+Ballantine devoted himself entirely to criminal cases.  He was a

+great cross-examiner, but he found his equal in Serjeant Parry, who

+had masterly power over a jury.  Another of his rivals was the

+distinguished advocate, Henry Hawkins, afterwards Lord Brampton, who

+was known to be as rich as Ballantine was poor.  In a robing-room on

+one occasion Ballantine asked Hawkins what he was going to do with

+all his money, adding that when he died he could not take it with

+him, and that even if he could he feared it would melt.

+

+Ballantine defended the impostor Arthur Orton, the "Claimant," in the

+first Tichborne trial and professed belief in the genuineness of that

+rascal.  Later he was retained for the defence of the Gaekwar of

+Baroda in India.  He received for his services the largest fee then

+{72} known, but he lost the bulk of it at Monte Carlo on his way home.

+

+When I became acquainted with Frank Lockwood he was a young actor at

+a seaside theatre.  He did not, in the judgment of his comrades, show

+much promise and wisely abandoned the stage as a career.  I next met

+him as a rising barrister at the house of the Kendals, with whom he

+was on terms of close friendship, as he soon became with my wife and

+me.

+

+Lockwood was a brilliant caricaturist.  His company was always a

+delight.  I remember an evening when he sat by me at dinner after he

+had fought many a hard battle, and I asked if he were offered a

+judgeship would he accept it.  In a moment he answered, no; he loved

+the fight too much.  Soon afterwards, however, he had changed his

+mind, longed for relief from the struggle and sighed for peace.  It

+was not to be.  His health suddenly broke down, his strength was

+failing, and he had to give in.

+

+Frank Lockwood was a popular leader at the Bar, a genial Member in

+the House, a perfect host, a welcome guest, a delightful companion, a

+staunch friend.

+

+[Sidenote: Montagu Williams]

+

+The career of Montagu Williams was the most varied of any man I have

+known.  Both {73} his father and his grandfather were barristers.

+After he left Eton, Montagu was for a time a schoolmaster; then

+fired, I suppose, by the outbreak of the Crimean War, he entered the

+Army.  After peace was declared he resigned his commission and became

+a member of a theatrical touring company with a well-known amateur of

+those days, Captain Disney Roebuck.  Next, on the advice, I believe,

+of his godfather, Montagu Chambers, he resolved to go to the Bar.

+During his studies he wrote for the Press, including Dickens's

+_Household Words_.  He also wrote plays, chiefly in collaboration

+with his old friend and school companion at Eton, Frank Burnand.  The

+best of them was _The Isle of St. Tropez_, a really good drama, in

+which Alfred Wigan played.

+

+From the time Montagu was called by the Inner Temple there were few

+important criminal cases in which he did not take a part--and very

+quickly a prominent one.  His great knowledge of every side of life

+and quick grasp of things resulted in a large practice, and he

+defended more scoundrels than any man of his day.  Later on, he was

+grievously afflicted by throat mischief, which ended in the saving of

+his life at the cost of his voice, through a serious operation; he

+could afterwards only speak in a whisper.  He was, however, {74}

+appointed a London police magistrate, in which work he again

+distinguished himself, and soon became known as "the poor man's beak."

+

+It was during the theatrical episode in his varied career that he

+came across, and married, Louise, a daughter of two prominent and

+respected early Victorian players, Mr. and Mrs. Keeley, whom I

+remember seeing act so long ago as 1851, the year of the Great

+Exhibition, when Robert Keeley was the partner of Charles Kean at the

+old Princess's Theatre.

+

+Louise Williams was gifted with a sweet voice and sang with charm.  I

+still seem to hear her exquisite rendering of Edgar Allan Poe's

+words, which I can trust my memory to recall:

+

+  "And neither the angels in Heaven above,

+  Nor the demons down under the sea,

+  Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

+  Of the beautiful Annabel Lee."

+

+

+I can recall no man who enjoyed more universal popularity than

+Douglas Straight; it began at Harrow and followed him throughout his

+life.  He never allowed his interests to become cramped: they

+embraced the law, politics, journalism, sport, the drama and society.

+He began as a journalist, was {75} Conservative M.P. for Shrewsbury,

+and had a successful career at the Bar, which ended in a judgeship of

+the High Court in India.

+

+He had great social gifts, nowhere better proved than by my friend

+Pett Ridge, who tells a story of his popularity with the fair sex,

+that twelve ladies agreed to give a dinner at a fashionable

+restaurant, the novelty on the occasion being that each of them was

+to be responsible for one male guest.  The whole dozen invited

+Douglas!

+

+[Sidenote: "Willie" Mathews]

+

+I lost a close and affectionate friend in Charles Mathews, the Public

+Prosecutor, whom I first knew in the sixties, when he was a little

+chap at Eton and wore a turn-down collar.  My next remembrance of him

+is as the "baby" member of the Garrick Club, where, from the date of

+his election, he was beloved.  In those days "Willie" Mathews was

+"devil" to Montagu Williams and working hard in his company and that

+of Douglas Straight at the criminal bar, the scene of many triumphs

+in his successful career.  He was _persona grata_ wherever he went,

+and in widely different circles, from Balmoral to Bohemia.

+

+Charles Gill was another old friend.  We saw more of him at his

+beloved Birchington than in London.  He was known in his Kentish home

+as "The Mayor"--so christened, I {76} think, by his neighbour, that

+modern Colossus who seems to be always striding between New York and

+Leicester Square, the successful and erratic Frederick Lonsdale.

+

+Gill was closely associated in early days with Straight and Mathews;

+later in his brilliant career there was scarcely a sensational

+criminal trial in which he did not play a leading part.

+

+A very wise member of his profession only lately said that were any

+friend of his in a difficulty that called for unerring judgment and

+delicacy of handling his best advice would be: "Consult Charles Gill."

+

+

+

+

+{77}

+

+V

+

+PAINTING: SCULPTURE: MUSIC

+

+"So famous, so excellent in Art."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Painting]

+

+It is many years since, as my wife and I were leaving the Savoy

+Theatre at the close of an afternoon performance of a Gilbert and

+Sullivan opera, we were shocked by a newsboy shouting "Death of Lord

+Leighton."  We made Frederic Leighton's acquaintance in the

+green-room of our theatre.  Soon afterwards we dined at his beautiful

+house in Kensington.  In its neighbourhood there was a nest of his

+comrades in art, including Val Prinsep, Luke Fildes and Marcus Stone.

+We were friends for years: he did me the honour to propose me at the

+Athenæum, but did not live to see me elected.  He was a remarkable

+and gifted man--an Admirable Crichton--painter, sculptor,

+linguist--as well as an eloquent, if a somewhat florid, speaker, and

+an admirable man of affairs, besides, as we actors say, having a

+perfect appearance for his part.  Was it not Thackeray who told him

+once that Millais {78} was the only man with a chance against him for

+the Presidency of the Royal Academy?

+

+His beautiful art was best illustrated in his early days, I always

+thought, by _The Slinger_ and the sculptured figure of an athlete

+struggling with a python.  I also remember well his life-like

+portrait of the famous explorer, Sir Richard Burton.

+

+[Sidenote: Millais]

+

+In many respects a total contrast to Leighton was the successor to

+his great office, John Everett Millais.  I was fortunate in his

+acquaintance at the Garrick Club when I was elected as a member

+fifty-six years ago.  Millais loved the club and cared but little for

+any other.

+

+Although looked upon as a Jerseyman, he chanced to be born at

+Southampton, and I remember being told by a man--who was for many

+years prompter under our management--that he had seen Millais, as a

+very small boy, sprawling upon the stage of the Southampton theatre

+and drawing with a piece of chalk things that had form and shape.

+

+I don't know when he first came into fame and astounded the world by

+the wonderful children of his brush and brain.  Beautiful things teem

+through the memory.  I see the little creature, on a church bench,

+listening to _The First Sermon_; a work of infinite pathos {79}

+called _The Blind Girl_; Walter Raleigh on the shingly shore,

+clutching his knees and absorbing the yarns of an old sea-dog; the

+two nuns digging a grave for a comrade in _The Vale of Rest_; those

+well-known masterpieces, _The Princes in the Tower_, _The Black

+Brunswicker_ and _The Order of Release_.  And then the gallery of

+portraits--Tennyson, Newman, Gladstone, Bright and the unfinished

+Disraeli.  Others also crowd upon remembrance: those of my comrades,

+Henry Irving and John Hare--not, in my judgment, among his best

+examples,--of Arthur Sullivan--one of the very best,--and the great

+surgeon, Henry Thompson, which, like the striking portrait of Mr.

+Wertheimer by Sargent, as you look at it, seems that it might speak.

+I see also the beautiful portraits of Mrs. Langtry and Mrs. Jopling

+Rowe, but, alas! not one of my wife.  I offered Millais a large sum

+to paint one of her for me, but he declined, for two reasons; he said

+that he could not bring himself to accept money from a brother

+artist, and that he should fail, as the face would change while his

+eyes turned even for a moment to the palette.  One word to recall his

+masterly landscapes, _Chill October_, and, if I remember their

+attractive titles, _The Fringe of the Moor_ and _The Sound of Many

+Waters_.  Never in any man's work was {80} refinement more closely

+merged with art.  I see a fine photograph of him daily, if in London,

+with an autograph in the corner, briefly accepting an invitation to

+dinner in these words: "I'm your man."  I looked down upon his

+handsome features, as he was fading away from life, and kissed him.

+

+[Sidenote: Poynter]

+

+Edward Poynter succeeded to the President's chair, which had only

+been occupied by Millais briefly.  It was during his reign that I had

+the honour at the Royal Academy Banquet to respond for the Drama: the

+toast had only once been proposed before, when Irving replied.  It

+was a difficult task, and the greatness of the audience impressed me

+with my own littleness.  Wisely, I am sure, I limited myself to five

+minutes only, and venture to give an extract from what I said:

+

+

+"I was not unmindful that the proposal of this toast at that great

+banquet was a mark of respect to the stage which could only make the

+stage the more respect itself.  I could not speak in that

+room--surrounded as I was by the rulers in that fairyland--without

+some attempt, however faint, to say that my admiration of the

+beautiful art, so splendidly illustrated year by year upon those

+walls, was as true as my love for the living pictures we players

+tried to paint.  Our pictures, alas!  {81} died early, for the

+greatest actor's work must be a passing triumph; it was not cut in

+marble, nor did it live on canvas, but could only owe its fame to

+written records and traditions.  Vast wealth might keep for us, and

+for the ages yet to come, the undying splendour of a Reynolds or a

+Millais, but no sum could buy one single echo of the voice of Sarah

+Siddons.  The drama was the most winning, fascinating, alluring thing

+that ever was conceived for the recreation of mankind.  As England

+could claim to be the parent of the drama in Europe, so could she

+claim to be the mother of the greatest dramatist the world had owned,

+whose mighty genius left all art in debt that never could be paid,

+and whose works alone would make the stage eternal."

+

+

+The pictures by Poynter which live clearest in my memory are his

+_Catapult_ and _Visit to Æsculapius_.  Concerning the latter work a

+story "went the rounds"--possibly as untrue as many another--that two

+beautiful sisters were as flattered by the eminent painter's wish to

+make drawings of their heads as they were horrified to find them

+reproduced upon bodies of well-known models in the nude.

+

+Poynter painted a portrait of himself for the Uffizi Gallery as

+Millais did.  There is an {82} admirable copy of this portrait in his

+beloved Garrick.

+

+I was never really intimate with Alma Tadema, although I knew him for

+many years, beginning with the time when he lived in Regent's Park.

+Owing to an explosion of gunpowder on the canal there, if my memory

+is accurate, his house was wrecked and he went to live in the Grove

+End Road, in a house formerly occupied by Tissot, a French artist,

+who had quite a vogue for a time.  Tadema translated the house into

+"a thing of beauty and a joy for ever," where he entertained a great

+artistic company, worthy to be surrounded by the _Roses of

+Heliogabalus_.

+

+I owe the following painful and remarkable story to my friend Aston

+Webb, lately President of the Royal Academy; it was told to him and

+others by Tadema.  A young woman, an American, the daughter of

+parents of wealth and position, was the cause of great anxiety to her

+father and mother, to her intimate friends, and to her doctor, on the

+score of health, which puzzled all concerned, and became a mystery

+which no one seemed able to unravel.  At last the doctor was driven

+to advise a year's absence from home and its surroundings by a trip

+to Europe, to be spent where and how the girl might wish, in the

+companionship of a {83} female friend--she had no sisters, and the

+parents could not leave their own country at the time.

+

+[Sidenote: Sargent]

+

+The patient went first to London and enjoyed her stay there.  During

+it, she conceived a strong wish to be painted by her eminent

+fellow-countryman, Sargent, the magician who reveals unknowingly what

+have been hidden mysteries.  The portrait when finished was highly

+thought of and presently despatched to the parents of the sitter,

+while she went her way to Switzerland and Italy.  The great artist's

+work delighted the father and mother.  An "at home" was arranged that

+their many friends might share their admiration.  All of this took

+place; among the invited guests being the friendly doctor who had

+been so puzzled by the condition of his patient.  I will come briefly

+to the sad sequel.  The doctor gazed at the portrait long and

+earnestly: he left the house perturbed and saddened.  On the

+following day he sought an interview with the father, told him that

+Sargent had revealed to him, beyond doubt, what he had failed to

+discover himself.  Put briefly, the poor girl afterwards died in a

+madhouse.  When Tadema had finished his story, Abbey, who was also

+present, quietly remarked: "All too true.  I could tell you the names

+of those concerned."

+

+{84}

+

+The painter who ran dear Millais close in my appreciation, and who

+has given me, if I bare my heart and tell the naked truth, greater

+pleasure than any other painter, was Orchardson; the fact that his

+work is so dramatic being, I suppose, the reason.  His two phases of

+the _Mariage de Convenance_ were gems.  I don't know whether Act I

+surpassed Act II, or if the verdict was the other way.  The glorious

+_Queen of the Swords_, _The Challenge_, _Hard Hit_, _The Young Duke_,

+_Napoleon in the Bellerophon_, _The First Cloud_, with their

+exquisite colourings, the secret of which never seems to have been

+divulged; and still one other, so delicate in conception, so perfect

+in its pathos, _Her Mother's Voice_.  What a story!  How simply told!

+

+Edwin Abbey was also a painter who appealed strongly to me; again,

+because he was dramatic.  His _Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and the

+Lady Anne_, I always looked upon with admiration.  The splendour of

+its colouring is lost to me, for I see it now only _en gravure_.  Nor

+can his _Hamlet_ and _King Lear_ be forgotten, while his decorative

+work was magnificent and will preserve his fame.  He had great charm

+as host and guest.

+

+I travel back to the far-off days when W. P. Frith, an old friend,

+was the popular Academician {85} of his time; his pictures of the

+_Derby Day_ and _Ramsgate Sands_ having to be "railed in" at the

+Annual Exhibition, which was then held in the National Gallery, to

+protect them from the crowd.

+

+Frith, I remember, was struck with the beauty of our production of

+the _School for Scandal_, which he highly praised.  In its acting and

+historical accuracy he said it was like the last edition of a grand

+book, the handsomest and the best.  He fell in love with the minuet,

+and said it took him back to the days of his great-grandmother.  The

+minuet, which was introduced at Lady Sneerwell's "rout," was the

+brilliant idea of my wife: it was danced by two couples in a crowded

+room of guests.  I have since seen it danced by a crowd to an

+otherwise empty stage.

+

+I look back with interest to pleasant times spent in the company of

+Hubert Herkomer, that "jack-of-all-trades and master of many."  His

+versatility was bewildering.  Tools of every kind and shape seemed to

+be playthings in his hands; he grasped them with firmness and used

+them with skill; painting, engraving, etching, and all sorts of metal

+work alike came easily to him; he played the piano and the zither,

+composed and wrote, and was, in a way, a pioneer of film work.  His

+shoals {86} of portraits were amazing, and his fame might rest

+enduringly upon his painting of _The Last Muster_.

+

+Briton Rivière was for many years our friend.  We met first in the

+Engadine.  He was, in my opinion, a great artist, and has crowded my

+memory with his works.  I think often of those speaking dogs in _The

+Vacant Chair_, _Sympathy_ and _Charity_, as I do of _Circe_ with the

+amorous pigs, and the majestic _Daniel_ facing the lions in their den.

+

+I have always understood that Rivière was within an ace of being

+elected President when Millais died.

+

+In early Bohemian days, Henry Stacey Marks, long before he had

+blossomed into a Royal Academician, was an amusing and pleasant

+friend.  Years afterwards I bought, at Christie's, the attractive

+panels of the _Seven Ages of Man_ which he had painted for Birket

+Foster.  They were well-beloved companions until a changed life came

+to me; they now adorn the walls of the Green Room Club.

+

+[Sidenote: Val and Marcus]

+

+Another R.A. and old friend was Val Prinsep, whose burly form looms

+from distant days, which his name recalls.  It is easy to believe

+that he was the original "Taffy" in George du Maurier's _Trilby_.  I

+have a remembrance of him in the sketch he made for his painting {87}

+_The Minuet_, which was inspired by our introduction of the dance

+into _The School for Scandal_, again in its turn reproduced in our

+act-drop at the Haymarket Theatre.  On his return to England after

+painting the Great Durbar, when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress

+of India, he gave my wife a handsome native bracelet, which, as a

+souvenir of her, I passed on a little while ago to Marie Löhr, who

+married Val's son, Anthony.

+

+"Val" left many dear friends behind him, with happy recollections of

+his worth.

+

+Recently another friend of long standing, Marcus Stone, left us.  He

+once told me an interesting incident of his childhood, a link with

+the past, when he was kissed by a very old and well-known man named

+Pickersgill, the engraver, who begged him, impressively, always to

+remember that he had been kissed by a man who once was kissed by Dr.

+Johnson.  It is odd to remember, in these days of petrol, that

+Johnson said there were few keener pleasures in life than being

+whirled along in a post-chaise, in the company of a pretty lady, at

+the average speed of ten miles an hour.

+

+Stone owed much to his early, almost boyish, friendship with Dickens,

+who engaged him to illustrate the book he was then writing, thereby

+made him known to eminent men, {88} and altogether helped his career

+greatly.  He was a good talker, and he read more books in a week than

+I do in a year: he also had what are called good looks and a

+distinguished bearing.  Was it not written of him:

+

+  "Marcus Apollo Belvedere Stone,

+  Stands there erect, in all his glory shone."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Sculpture]

+

+In the hope that I have not been tiresome, I will close my

+remembrances of Academicians with the names of two sculptors: one,

+whom we knew with some intimacy, was Edgar Boehm.  He chanced to be

+our guest on the evening when his baronetcy was "in his pocket," to

+be announced to his large circle of friends on the following morning.

+

+There was a beautiful work of his on the staircase landing of the

+house Millais built for himself in Kensington.  His fame rests

+chiefly, I suppose, on the statue of Carlyle, near to his Chelsea

+home; on the tomb of Dean Stanley; and the statue of Wellington at

+Hyde Park Corner, which replaced the old one, now at Aldershot, that

+I was taken as a child to see when it was erected--an earlier

+remembrance than that I retain of the Iron Duke's funeral.

+

+I always remember an evening as Boehm's guest, when a lady whom I had

+taken down to {89} dinner, in answer to an opinion I timidly

+expressed that it was just possible she might be on the verge of

+"spoiling" her two boys, who chanced to be at Eton with my son,

+turned upon me with the amazing question: "Do you think I can ever

+sufficiently apologise to them for my share in bringing them into

+this world?"

+

+[Sidenote: Boehm and Onslow Ford]

+

+Boehm's end was distressing.  He was a great Court favourite, and one

+afternoon, in his studio, told his man that he expected a visit from

+the Princess Louise, and that Her Royal Highness, with her lady, was

+to be conducted to the studio at once.  When taken there, on the door

+being opened, they found Boehm, who had sunk upon the floor from a

+sudden heart attack, unconscious and just breathing; he passed away

+in a few minutes.

+

+Onslow Ford, another friend of ours, was as well known for his

+personal charm as for the refinement of his work.  He was beloved by

+his brother Academicians, the features of several of whom he has

+immortalised in marble, and by a large circle of friends.  One of his

+best achievements is the seated figure of Henry Irving, now in the

+Guildhall Picture Gallery; while the Christopher Marlowe memorial at

+Canterbury, the Shelley memorial in University College, Oxford, and

+the great {90} statue of Gordon, mounted on a camel, at Chatham, will

+make his fame secure.

+

+Another sculptor whose friendship we enjoyed was the late Count

+Gleichen, who regarded his art as far more than a recreation; and his

+statue of King Alfred at Wantage is the work of no mere amateur.  We

+found it an interesting experience to sit to him for the two portrait

+busts which are now in the Garrick Club.  The sittings in his studio

+at St. James's Palace were often enlivened by visits from well-known

+people of many kinds, which I hope did not detract from the merit of

+the sculptor's work.

+

+I dare not try the patience of my readers by attempting at any length

+to write of that rebellious, capricious, tempestuous, and captivating

+genius "Jimmy" Whistler.

+

+After welcoming him as our amusing and interesting guest, my wife and

+I were bidden to one of his historic luncheons at the White House,

+which then stood quite alone in Chelsea by the river.  We had

+excellent company and ate buckwheat cakes, cooked by himself.

+

+His despotic value of himself was exalted and could not be excelled:

+nothing shook it.  The rapier and the bludgeon were alike his weapons

+of either attack or defence.

+

+I believe his portrait of Irving as King {91} Philip has varied in

+different markets from bids of a few pounds to some thousands.

+

+[Sidenote: "Punch"]

+

+Sir John Tenniel was an old friend and guest.  His remarkable

+connection with _Punch_ extended over fifty years.  During this

+marvellous record he contributed between two and three thousand

+cartoons to its pages.  The most famous of this vast collection was,

+perhaps, _Dropping the Pilot_, which showed Bismarck leaving the Ship

+of State, while his new chief, who was to wreck Europe, looked

+superciliously down on him.

+

+I was present at a banquet given in his honour upon his retirement.

+The company gathered was exceptional and was presided over by Mr.

+Balfour, as he then was.  When Tenniel rose to return his thanks, the

+demonstration was too much for the old man; he was unable to speak,

+and resumed his seat in tears.  As the chairman said at once, no

+expression of thanks could have been more eloquent.

+

+We knew George du Maurier for many years: I wish it had been more

+intimately.  After his early days in Paris and his familiarity with

+the Quartier Latin, his connection with _Punch_ began, ten years

+later than Tenniel's.  Soon afterwards he succeeded to Leach's

+prominent position and earned his world-wide {92} fame, which was not

+lessened by his novels, _Peter Ibbetson_ and _Trilby_.

+

+I should have loved to hear him say at one of the weekly _Punch_

+dinners, as the man who told me did: "Fellows will write to me as

+_de_ Maurier; I wish they'd give the devil his du."

+

+[Sidenote: Painting]

+

+One of du Maurier's closest friends was that fascinating man Canon

+Ainger, Master of the Temple, with whom I had only a slight

+acquaintance.  They met constantly, almost daily, in their beloved

+Hampstead, and indeed haunted its Heath: du Maurier was at home in

+Bohemia; Ainger had never stood upon its soil; while their widely

+separated religious views never hurt their friendship.  "A strange

+world, my masters."

+

+He loved the stage.  Would he had lived to see the position of its

+leader in England, to-day, achieved by his son Gerald!

+

+"Sammy," as Linley Sambourne was affectionately called by his

+intimates, will complete my trio of _Punch_ draughtsmen.

+

+He was an amusing little creature, always very horsey in get up.  I

+have his gift of the first drawing from his pencil which appeared in

+_Punch_, so long ago as 1867, when he was but twenty-two; it is a

+droll little sketch of George Honey as Eccles, John Hare as Sam

+Gerridge, {93} and myself as Captain Hawtree in _Caste_.  He told me

+that it was drawn from memory, after visits to the pit when

+Robertson's comedy was at the height of its first success.

+

+I recall an amusing incident which occurred at a fancy-dress ball,

+largely attended by the artistic and "Bohemian" world.  "Sammy"

+appeared, admirably appointed and dressed, as a little fat Dutchman.

+He was cheerily greeted by Gilbert, who ran against him with the

+words: "One Dutch of Sambourne makes the whole world grin."

+

+[Sidenote: Pellegrini]

+

+I must write a few lines in memory of the prince of caricaturists,

+Carlo Pellegrini.  We knew him throughout his career and always

+enjoyed his company.  On one evening when he gave it to us, on being

+announced, he kissed my wife's hand and uttered some compliment in

+Italian; she immediately, in a spirit of fun, rapidly recited an old

+and rather long "proverb" in his language, which she had learned by

+heart, as a child--it being her sole acquaintance with Italian--the

+little man's expression of amazement was a study.

+

+She played the same trick, with still greater effect, on the stage of

+the Scala Theatre at Milan which we went over with a party of

+friends, when Arthur Cecil asked her to address an imaginary audience.

+

+{94}

+

+[Sidenote: Music]

+

+I sat to Pellegrini once, when he began to paint portraits

+seriously--the idea was soon abandoned.--With regard to mine he

+wrote: "I have sent your _fac simile_ to the Grosvenor: I hope you

+will be well hanged."

+

+I saw the "Pelican"--as Pellegrini was called by his friends--in his

+last illness at his rooms in Mortimer Street.  Shortly before the

+peaceful end he said pathetically to his faithful servant:

+"Wil-li-am, put me on clean shirt--I die clean."

+

+I hardly regarded my old friend Leslie Ward as a caricaturist; his

+clever drawings were, to my mind, portraits--humorously, but gently,

+exaggerated.  They were mainly the result of sittings.  Pellegrini's

+work was produced from memory.

+

+Leslie Ward was the son of distinguished painters; his sister

+Beatrice shared their art, as I can testify by a valued possession, a

+very charming drawing of my wife.

+

+[Sidenote: Arthur Sullivan]

+

+The brilliant composer and musician, Arthur Sullivan, was our

+much-loved friend for thirty years.  We first knew him about the time

+he and W. S. Gilbert were made known to each other by Frederic Clay.

+His great career began, like many others, very simply, for he was one

+of the "Children of the Chapel Royal," as they are still called,

+before his more serious {95} studies began at the Royal Academy of

+Music and at Leipzig.  He returned with his music to _The Tempest_,

+to be followed by _The Light of the World_.

+

+His wonderful partnership with Gilbert has given joy to every land.

+It is said that the success of _H.M.S. Pinafore_ was so amazing in

+America that 100,000 barrel-organs were specially constructed to play

+nothing else.

+

+I recall a happy gathering of friends at Pontresina.  Sullivan was

+one of them, and his old mother was with him: his devotion to her

+revealed a beautiful side of his affectionate nature.

+

+A different meeting was when my wife and I met him one morning in the

+rooms at Monte Carlo.  It was settled that we should have lunch

+together at the Café de Paris, which they went away to order, leaving

+me, unfortunately, at my own request, to join them in a few minutes.

+When I did so, my face must have told the sad story of those few

+minutes, as Arthur called out, cheerily: "Come along, B; this way to

+the cemetery."

+

+He had a peculiarly entrancing personality: he lived a happy but not

+a long life, laden with honours.

+

+When I had the sad privilege of being one of the pall-bearers at his

+funeral I was as {96} impressed as I was pleased to see the blinds of

+the Athenæum drawn as we passed on our way to St. Paul's Cathedral,

+where, I have always understood, he was laid to rest by the wish of

+Queen Victoria.

+

+Music had to bear three heavy blows, dealt within a few days, when

+Charles Stanford, with his keen sense of humour, Walter Parratt, with

+his winning personality, and Frederick Bridge, with his ever-ready

+stories of killing fish, left us.  I knew them all, but Parratt was

+never my guest.  He had no London home.  We met pleasantly sometimes

+at the Athenæum, and my nearest link with him was that of having been

+born in the same year.  Bridge and I received our knighthoods

+together.  I have happy recollections of a stay at Harrogate when

+Stanford was also there.  Although he lived so many years in London,

+he seemed to me to have left Dublin only recently; but what lingers

+most firmly in my mind in regard to him, is the majestic march he

+composed for Irving when Tennyson's play _Becket_ was produced at the

+Lyceum.  The last time I listened to its strains was at his own

+funeral service in the Abbey.

+

+[Sidenote: Frederic Clay]

+

+The name of another old musical friend, Frederic Clay, must be

+remembered, for it was in his company that I met Gounod.  I {97}

+dined with Clay when he lived with his father, who was the friend of

+Lord Beaconsfield, and known as the finest whist-player in London.  I

+once saw the old gentleman in the cardroom of the Garrick, where he

+distinguished himself by revoking.

+

+Frederic Clay's career was checked by a long and distressing illness.

+His fame will live in the remembrance of his melodies: "She wandered

+down the Mountain Side," "The Sands of Dee," and, above all, by the

+ever-enduring "I'll sing thee songs of Araby."

+

+

+

+

+{98}

+

+VI

+

+LITERATURE

+

+"Think of the achievements of a great writer--a great poet--their

+works embrace the past, the present, and the future: their fame is

+for ever growing through the gifts they have made to the dead: the

+pleasure they have still the power to bestow upon the living: and the

+delight of bequeathing their wealth to unknown ages while their

+language lives."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Browning]

+

+The most prominent man of letters known to my wife and to me was

+Robert Browning, who looked as unlike the conventional idea of a poet

+as I resemble a sweep; his appearance seemed to me a better "make-up"

+for a family physician or legal adviser.

+

+Many years ago my wife and I were present at the wedding of an old

+friend's daughter and afterwards at the reception.  On entering the

+drawing-room, which had heavy blinds and was rather sombre, my wife

+mistook an elderly and bearded guest for the host, went behind him,

+turned his head round, and, as she thought, kissed her

+congratulations to the bride's father.  The recipient of the mistaken

+salute proved to be Browning, who avowed that {99} whenever and

+wherever he met my wife he was to be treated in the same way.  The

+ceremony was afterwards always gone through, and more than once in

+the open street.

+

+When he first dined with us he was made happy in finding a bottle of

+port by his hand, that he might help himself and not be offered other

+wines.  I remember a story he told us of Longfellow when he visited

+England.  The two poets were driving in a hansom, and a heavy shower

+suddenly came on.  Longfellow insisted upon thrusting his umbrella

+through the trap in the roof of the cab that the driver might protect

+himself from the rain, which he did.

+

+At a dinner given at the old Star and Garter, Richmond, Browning met

+my wife on the terrace with an impromptu, hurriedly scrawled on a

+menu, which I may give imperfectly:

+

+  "Her advent was not hailed with shouts,

+  Nor banners, garlands, cymbals, drums;

+  The trees breathed gently sighs of love,

+  And whispered softly, 'Hush! she comes!'"

+

+

+In the last letter my wife received from him he wrote: "I heartily

+wish I had been privileged to begin feeling twenty years ago what I

+feel now, and I shall make what amends are in my power, by feeling so

+as long as I live."

+

+{100}

+

+I was in the Abbey on the cheerless, foggy, December day, when

+Browning joined the "Poets" in their "Corner."

+

+I had the honour of enjoying the friendship of that distinguished man

+of letters, Monckton Milnes, afterwards Lord Houghton.  He once told

+me a story worth repeating.  He was in search of a piece of

+furniture.  On entering a dealer's shop in Wardour Street, he caught

+sight of the portrait of an admiral, apparently of the last century,

+and of this he asked the price.  "Ten pounds," was the answer.  Lord

+Houghton offered five; the dealer was obdurate.  The article wanted

+was sought for, found and bargained for.  On going away Lord Houghton

+returned to the price of the admiral's portrait.  At last the dealer

+said: "Well, my lord, and to your lordship only, seven pound ten";

+but his customer would not go beyond his offer of a fiver, and there

+was an end of the matter.

+

+Soon afterwards, visiting a neighbour in Yorkshire, Lord Houghton

+recognised the portrait of the admiral hanging in the dining-room,

+and said: "Hallo! who's that?  What have you got there?  Something

+new?"  "Yes," replied the friend; "he was a well-known admiral in his

+day--fought with Nelson--good bit of work too--recently bequeathed to

+us-- {101} an ancestor of my wife's."  "Ah, was he?" said Lord

+Houghton.  "Six weeks ago he was within two pound ten of becoming one

+of mine!"

+

+[Sidenote: Henry James]

+

+Once, at a dinner party we gave, a scrupulously clean-shaven guest

+was announced, whose name neither host nor hostess had caught.  He

+shook hands gaily with us both, and as he moved away to another

+couple, whom he evidently knew, I gathered from the expression of my

+wife's face that she, like myself, had no idea of his identity.  A

+bachelor friend who was next announced, after speaking familiarly

+with the puzzling stranger, came back to me and said, happily in the

+hearing of my wife: "Do you like Henry James's appearance better with

+or without his beard?"  The mystery was solved.  That sort of

+transformation seems hardly fair.

+

+I beg to be forgiven if I quote a few words from Henry James, written

+in _The Middle Years_: "How can I think of the 'run' of the more

+successful of Mr. Robertson's comedies at the 'dear little old'

+Prince of Wales's Theatre, by Tottenham Court Road, as anything less

+than one of the wonders of our age?"

+

+Some ten years ago, James became a British subject--many people, I

+dare say, have thought him to have always been one--and in return

+{102} England rightly bestowed upon him the Order of Merit.

+

+Even at the end, when telling a friend of the pain he suffered in his

+fatal illness, he was gay, and said of death, that he felt the

+distinguished thing had come to him at last.  Much the same thought

+doubtless crossed the mind of Charles Frohman, the theatrical

+manager, when he went down on board the _Lusitania_.  He turned to

+his companion with the words, borrowed from _Peter Pan_: "Now for the

+great adventure."  Courage is expressed in many wonderful ways.

+

+I have mentioned my first meeting at the elder Boucicault's with

+Charles Reade, author of _The Cloister and the Hearth_.  As a man of

+letters, his name is entitled to be enrolled among the giants of his

+day.  Friendship with him began at the Garrick Club, where I have

+seen him at a whist table with Anthony Trollope and Charles Lever,

+playing in the same rubber.  It ripened rapidly when we produced

+_Masks and Faces_, over which my wife and I had many a fight in

+getting him to agree to some important changes we wished to make.  We

+won the day, and the old book was done with for all time.  I will

+quote from a superb description, written with the insight of a gifted

+woman, Ellen Terry: "Dear, {103} kind, unjust, generous, cautious,

+impulsive, passionate, gentle Charles Reade! who combined so many

+qualities, far asunder as the poles.  He was placid and turbulent,

+yet always majestic.  He was inexplicable and entirely lovable--a

+stupid old dear, and as wise as Solomon!  He seemed guileless, and

+yet had moments of suspicion and craftiness worthy of the serpent."

+

+[Sidenote: Wilkie Collins]

+

+Wilkie Collins was another Victorian novelist of high repute, whose

+books would give great pleasure to modern readers if they sampled

+_The Woman in White_, _Armadale_, or _The Moonstone_, and left

+themselves in debt to such creations as Count Fosco, Margaret

+Vanstone, Mercy Merrick, and many more.  We knew him well, and sided

+with his view of the well-known unfortunate episode in the early

+history of the Garrick Club which resulted in the expulsion of Edmund

+Yates, through his youthful indiscretion in writing of Thackeray in a

+way that so great a giant could have afforded to ignore.

+

+At the most, he might have called for an apology--which was offered

+but declined.  "Wilkie" stood by Dickens in the defence of Yates, and

+they resigned their membership together.

+

+For years Collins was a confirmed opium {104} taker and a slave to

+the drug.  He once left the Engadine, in its primitive days, and

+found himself, to his horror, without any.  He and an intimate

+friend, who happily spoke German like a native, were travelling

+together: they represented themselves to be doctors and so obtained

+from chemists at Coire, and afterwards at Basle, the maximum supply

+the Swiss law allowed, and so reached Paris without the catastrophe

+Collins described in alarming words.

+

+At my table, Wilkie Collins, George Critchett, who had left general

+practice and become an eye specialist, and Sir William Fergusson, the

+eminent Victorian surgeon, were present together.  Critchett told Sir

+William that Collins had confided to him what was the dose of

+laudanum he then took every night, and had his permission to ask Sir

+William if it was not more than enough to prevent any ordinary person

+from awaking.  Fergusson replied that the dose of opium named would

+suffice to kill the twelve men who sat round the table.

+

+[Sidenote: T. W. Robertson]

+

+It is impossible for me not to recall, however briefly, from the

+shadowy past the name of T. W. Robertson, whose empty chair was left

+vacant more than fifty years ago.  He was the first of my friends to

+speak and write to me as {105} "B."  There are few to whom the

+once-famous name of Tom Robertson now has full meaning, although his

+comedies made so deep a mark in their day and so largely influenced

+the future of the stage.  Time has not lessened my remembrance of the

+charm with which he read his comedies; a melody sung sweetly in the

+long-ago.  My wife was always very proud that he dedicated to her the

+best of them, his masterpiece, _Caste_.

+

+I look back with sorrow at the small reward he received from them,

+and the brief time he enjoyed their fame.  The fees paid to dramatic

+authors were miserably poor in those days, although we advanced them

+materially, added to which, there was no copyright for foreign

+authors in America.  Expert shorthand writers were cunningly

+scattered in different parts of our theatre on successive nights,

+until the text of Robertson's principal comedies was completely taken

+down, and they were played throughout the United States without a

+dollar being sent to the author.  No wonder that Robertson was

+sarcastic and bitter.

+

+The unusual compliment of closing our theatre when he died was, I

+fear, but a small set-off against the pain he must have endured

+before he once said to me: "My dear B, I have often dined on my pipe."

+

+{106}

+

+[Sidenote: Edmund Yates]

+

+Edmund Yates was an old friend.  He knew my wife in her girlhood, and

+I first met him at Epsom on the historic day, in 1867, that Hermit

+won the Derby in a snowstorm.  My mention of that incident reminds me

+that, years afterwards, at a public sale, among effects which had

+belonged to Mr. Baird--known on the turf as "Mr. Abingdon"--I came

+across a letter-case made from the coat of Hermit, and so inscribed

+on a silver shield.  I bought it, that I might have the pleasure of

+giving it, on the thirtieth anniversary of the race, to Mr. Henry

+Chaplin, as he then was, the great horse's owner.  Yates at that time

+held a position in the General Post Office and told me, soon

+afterwards, that he made an early marriage upon a small income and

+was handicapped for many a long year by a domestic calamity--the

+birth of three sons in eleven months.

+

+Yates was an admirable after-dinner speaker and story-teller, a power

+which doubtless owed something to inheritance, both his parents

+having held prominent positions on the stage.  At one dinner party,

+Edmund Yates, Dion Boucicault and George Augustus Sala, all being

+present, were asked in turn if they regretted and repented of any

+"backslidings" they had to answer for.  Boucicault at once {107} said

+he was sorry for his sins; Sala admitted that he hoped some day to be

+sorry; Yates, after a pause, smote the table and muttered "No."  He

+was a fierce fighter.

+

+A mutual friend was rather severely caricatured in _Vanity Fair_.  I

+asked Yates what he thought the original would say about it.  "Say,

+my dear B.?  He'll _say_ he thinks it delightful, but will go

+upstairs to his bedroom, lock the door, and rub his head in the

+hearthrug."  When his trouble came, as it did soon afterwards, I

+wonder what his own conduct was.

+

+His tragic end was connected with the revival of a comedy in which my

+wife appeared for her old friend John Hare, at the Garrick Theatre.

+Yates was seated in the centre of the stalls, and throughout my

+wife's performance had laughed and applauded heartily.  At its close,

+when she was loudly called for by the audience, he gave her his last

+smile, turned to his neighbour and said: "The old brigade, the old

+brigade--it will take a deal to beat it!"  He stooped for his hat,

+fell forward in a fit, and never recovered consciousness.  "How oft

+when men are at the point of death have they been merry!"

+

+[Sidenote: W. S. Gilbert]

+

+I made the acquaintance of W. S. Gilbert during the year I spent in

+Liverpool; he had just been "called" and was a briefless barrister

+{108} on the Northern Circuit.  Having failed to become attached to

+the staff of Punch, he was already a contributor to a comic journal

+called _Fun_, in which his _Bab Ballads_ first appeared.  Soon

+afterwards he began to write for the theatre.  _The Palace of Truth_

+and _Pygmalion and Galatea_ both had great success at the old

+Haymarket; the latter was perhaps a starting point in the brilliant

+career of Madge Robertson (Mrs. Kendal).

+

+He will, of course, be best remembered through the enduring success

+of the comic operas he wrote in conjunction with Arthur Sullivan, the

+most memorable of artistic partnerships.

+

+What humorous things he was constantly uttering!  I will endeavour to

+repeat one or two which may not have been heard.  When the beautiful

+Scala Theatre was built on the site of our old Prince of Wales's, my

+wife was appropriately invited to perform the opening ceremony.  At

+the end of the pretty speech she made, Gilbert joined her on the

+stage, and said he had been to the back of the dress circle, where he

+heard every word of it; adding that the voice was as beautiful as

+ever and that, if she continued to take pains and work hard, she

+might be sure of having a great career _behind_ her.

+

+Talking with a Mr. Such Granville, who was {109} on the stage and

+said to Gilbert: "My name is Such, but I act as Granville," he at

+once replied: "I wish your name were Granville and you'd act as such."

+

+A young lady who was always known as "Nelia" was about to be married.

+Gilbert was congratulating her, adding that her Christian name would

+join charmingly with her forthcoming surname; the girl then told him

+that her first name was really "Cornelia."  Gilbert at once replied:

+"Oh, I see, you've cut your corn."

+

+Once, in my presence, Gilbert was being questioned by an ardent

+playgoer as to one of his serious plays, and was finally asked how it

+ended; its author immediately answered that it had ended in a

+fortnight.

+

+On another occasion I arrived at the Garrick Club on foot as Gilbert

+drove up in a hansom: when he alighted he handed the driver

+half-a-crown.  The cabman asked, "What's this?"  Answer: "It's your

+fare."  Cabman: "This ain't my fare."  Gilbert took back the

+half-crown, saying: "I beg your pardon, I made a mistake, there's

+your fare"--as he gave the man a florin.  Tableau.

+

+Someone remarked to him what an extraordinary title Henry Arthur

+Jones had given a new play of his.  Gilbert asked: "What is {110}

+it?"  _The Princess's Nose_.  Gilbert hoped it would "run."

+

+The fashion of the "hobble skirt" was being discussed in Gilbert's

+presence, who said that it reminded him of the boards outside a

+prospering theatre--"standing room only."

+

+In long past days what was called a shilling subscription was got up

+by the _Daily Telegraph_ as a testimonial to W. G. Grace.  At one

+time there was a fine cricket ground known as Prince's, which was a

+rival to the Oval and Lord's, and stood upon the land now occupied by

+Pont Street and Lennox Gardens.  At an afternoon party the question

+of the testimonial was being discussed, and a young girl asked

+Gilbert if Grace was anything besides a great cricketer.  The

+brilliant tongue at once replied: "Oh, yes, my dear, he is lord of

+Lord's and the only ruler of Prince's."

+

+As a rule I have been careful in the choice of guests and successful

+in seating them to ensure good companionship, for what you put on the

+chairs is quite as important as what you place on the table, but let

+me confess to a terrible blunder when I invited Gilbert and Burnand

+to the same dinner.  At an early stage of it, when all was going

+well, a loud-voiced guest said: "Tell me, Mr. Burnand, do you ever

+receive for _Punch_ good jokes and things {111} from outsiders?"

+This was not long after he had been elected to the editor's chair,

+and Burnand replied, cheerfully: "Oh, often."  Gilbert sharply

+grunted from the opposite side of the table, over his knife and fork:

+"They never appear!"  The rest was silence.  This is the true version

+of an otherwise much-told tale.

+

+[Sidenote: Editors of "Punch"]

+

+The allusion to _Punch_ reminds me that I can readily tell how many

+weeks old I am, as we were born in the same year; and not many people

+now can say they have known all its editors: Mark Lemon--when he was

+old and I was young, Shirley Brooks--who was my proposer at the

+Garrick Club, Tom Taylor, Frank Burnand and Owen Seaman.  What

+pleasure they have given, and how incomplete the week would be

+without the charm of Mr. Punch's infinite pen and pencil!

+

+Burnand's humour was different from Gilbert's: he excelled as a

+punster.  From his earliest days he was devoted to the theatre and

+founded the A.D.C. at Cambridge.  He wrote with marvellous rapidity.

+When he saw _Diplomacy_, in the height of the play's original

+success, he left the theatre, sat up through the night, began and

+finished a most amusing travesty, which he called _Diplunacy_.

+

+Years ago my son was at Ramsgate, reading for an examination in the

+law.  He met {112} Burnand, who asked what he had been doing.  George

+told him that he had been on the Goodwins with his "coach."  Burnand

+replied that he had no idea you could drive there!

+

+He told me once that, in spite of every kind of exercise, he was a

+slave to liver--a livery servant.  One of the best of his many smart

+things was said when he was recovering from a serious illness.  A

+journalist friend paid him a sympathetic visit, and said: "Your

+condition has been so grave that my editor asked me to write an

+obituary notice of you, adding that he wished it to be generous and

+that I must give you a column."  Burnand at once exclaimed: "A

+column!  Why, that's all they gave Nelson."

+

+My first meeting with Oscar Wilde was at Oxford.  He had recently

+"come down," but was visiting a friend there.  His appearance

+suggested to me that he might have prompted Disraeli to write these

+words, they seemed so accurately to apply to the once spoiled

+darling: "The affectations of youth should be viewed leniently; every

+man has a right to be conceited until he is successful."

+

+I think the best plays from his pen were _Lady Windermere's Fan_ and

+_The Importance of Being Earnest_.

+

+He was talking with us about one of his comedies, just produced, when

+my wife {113} remarked that the leading situation rather reminded her

+of the great scene in a play by Scribe, to which Wilde unblushingly

+replied: "Taken bodily from it, dear lady.  Why not?  Nobody reads

+nowadays."

+

+He once congratulated us when we wrote some account of ourselves, on

+and off the stage, on not having waited, as most people do, until

+they have lost all memory.

+

+[Sidenote: Robert Marshall]

+

+One of many heavy blows I have naturally had to bear during my

+fifty-six years' membership of the Garrick Club was through the loss

+of Robert Marshall.  His was a strange career.  The last man to

+imagine who could claim the honour of rising from the ranks, through

+failing to pass an examination, to be a captain in the army.  He had

+left it before we met, but was always smart and soldierly in

+appearance.

+

+He wrote some charming plays, with a distinctive quality of their

+own.  I recall especially _A Royal Family_, _His Excellency the

+Governor_, _The Second in Command_, and _The Duke of Killiecrankie_.

+What pleasant evenings they gave us!  When he was stricken and his

+friends knew that his lease of life was not to be renewed, he was

+lying in a nursing home close to Portland Place.  A man who loved him

+was sitting by his bed-side one afternoon when Marshall's quick ear

+caught the sound of {114} approaching military music.  It was the

+band of the Horse Guards on the way from Albany Street barracks to a

+Royal function.  He started up in bed and with a far-off look in his

+eyes, his mind having travelled back to his soldier days, listened

+for the last time to the trumpets and the drums: as their sound died

+away he fell back on his pillow in a flood of tears.

+

+[Sidenote: Henry Lucy]

+

+Henry Lucy--Toby, M.P.--was an old and amusing friend; we often

+enjoyed the pleasant parties to which Lady Lucy invited us, and they

+were our guests in London and frequently at Underlea, when they lived

+hard-by, at Hythe.  Perhaps the greatest of the many surprises I have

+had was the discovery that instead of the poor journalist he was

+thought to be, he left a quarter of a million.  How so vast a fortune

+was accumulated has remained a mystery to me, fostered by the fact

+that during the War they discharged their servants as a duty, and ran

+their cottage themselves, with the simple help of one old woman and

+then only once in a week.  However his wealth was achieved, it was

+hardly by such means as those of a brother journalist, a wily Scot,

+who, when he was seen coming out of a telegraph office by a friend,

+who knew his penurious ways and asked: "Surely, Mac, you've not been

+wasting your money in sending {115} telegrams?" replied: "Not I, mon,

+I've only been giving my fountain pen a drink!"

+

+Lucy was an odd looking little creature, with his hair standing

+straight up, reminding me of some strange bird that might have

+escaped from the zoo.  I remember his telling me once that, when

+dining with Lord Rothschild, he arrived late, jumped from a hansom,

+ran up the steps, flung his Inverness cape into the arms of a

+footman, but, as he passed his hand through his hair, was stopped

+from entering the dining-room by a stately butler, who told him,

+pointing to a door, that he would find brushes in his lordship's

+dressing-room.

+

+On the occasion of one of his visits to us, the talk turned upon

+Forbes-Robertson's acting in _The Passing of the Third Floor Back_.

+Lucy told my wife that he had not yet seen the play, but much wished

+to do so, and would she tell him the story.  To the amazement of

+those who heard her, she gave the most perfect and dramatic

+illustration I have ever listened to--if I may use the expression,

+she seemed to be inspired.  We sat spell-bound as the various

+incidents were unfolded and brought to a wonderful climax.  After a

+pause, Lucy rose from his chair, took her hand, and said: "Good-bye,

+my dear; there is no need for me to see the play."

+

+

+

+

+{116}

+

+VII

+

+MORE MEN OF MARK

+

+"Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?"

+

+

+For the egotism which is bound to occur in a book of this sort it is

+useless to offer excuses or apology; it must have its sway.

+

+My wife one day on returning from an afternoon party, to which I was

+unable to go, in answer to my question: "Who were there?" humorously

+replied: "Oh, ladies and other dukes."  The phrase came to

+stay--being often used by us.  In writing further of departed

+guests--"Shadows of the things that have been"--it will constantly be

+on my tongue.

+

+[Sidenote: Prince Francis of Teck]

+

+I enjoyed the acquaintanceship of Prince Francis of Teck, who was

+certainly a man of mark, at a social club as well as at the Middlesex

+Hospital, of which he was the energetic chairman.  Having been a

+member of the weekly board for more than thirty years, I ought to

+know something of the value of his services and devotion to the

+welfare of that institution.  {117} My wife first met the Prince in

+the Engadine, long before he was our guest; in fact, when he was a

+boy on a visit to St. Moritz, in the company of his mother, the

+Duchess of Teck, his sister, Queen Mary, and other members of his

+family.

+

+The Prince was a good soldier, and bore himself well, with an air of

+command.  He served with distinction in Egypt and South Africa.

+

+He died at forty, or thereabouts.  I saw him in the Welbeck Street

+nursing home before he succumbed to that enemy, even of the robust,

+pneumonia, and was one of the deputation from the hospital bidden to

+Windsor, where he was buried.

+

+I now find myself up against a duke.  There is no need to dwell at

+any length on the name of his late Grace of Beaufort, beyond saying

+that he was a great lover of the stage and gave us his friendship.

+(I mean the grandfather of the present Duke.)

+

+When it became known that my wife and I had decided to abandon the

+old Prince of Wales's Theatre, and had a lease of the Haymarket, a

+movement was set on foot, in which the Duke took a prominent part, to

+present us with a "testimonial."  That sort of thing was always

+obnoxious to me; and, happily, {118} the intention came to my ears in

+time for me to bring it to a prompt end.

+

+Referring to our farewell night at the Haymarket Theatre, later on,

+the Duke wrote to my wife:

+

+

+"Do you know, I feel it to be too melancholy an occasion to assist

+at.  I should hate it all the time.  Some day, when you both play for

+a benefit or a charity, I hope to be there to welcome you.  Let me

+say how very much I regret your determination to retire from

+management.  What a loss I feel it, and how sure I am the general

+public share that feeling."

+

+

+Another duke!--but merely a viscount when he sat at our

+table--Viscount Macduff, a close friend of Horace Farquhar, whose

+name reminds me of his amusing brother Gilbert, generally known as

+"Gillie" Farquhar.  Gillie, when it was rumoured that he intended to

+go on the stage, was angrily sent for by Horace, his elder and

+prosperous brother, who loudly expostulated on such a step being

+taken, but learned from Gillie that he was quite in earnest.  Horace

+then thundered: "Of course you will take some other name.  What do

+you mean to call yourself?"  Gillie quietly replied: "I have thought

+of calling myself Mr. _Horace_ Farquhar!"

+

+When we first knew Macduff we were neighbours, {119} and constantly

+saw him lead his father, the old and infirm Earl of Fife, into the

+garden of Cavendish Square, where tea was taken across the road to

+them.

+

+I was invited to dine at No. 4 one Sunday evening, but had to be

+elsewhere with my wife, so asked leave to join the party later, as I

+knew it would not be an early one.  When I entered the room a young

+man was standing in the middle, giving an imitation of myself.  When

+he had finished I was made acquainted with Herbert Tree.

+

+[Sidenote: Lord Londesborough]

+

+Lord Londesborough, the first earl, was also a keen playgoer.  For

+years he and Lady Londesborough showed us thoughtful kindness.  Our

+theatre did not seem to be complete if they were not present on a

+"first night."

+

+With reference to the farewell performance of _Caste_, which had an

+added interest from Hare's coming to us, from his own theatre, to

+play his original part, Lord Londesborough wrote: "The demonstration

+was most thoroughly well deserved, for there is no one to whom the

+stage, and therefore the country, owes more than to you and to Mrs.

+Bancroft.  It is always satisfactory when the public shows its

+appreciation of those who do their work, and make their mark, without

+beat of drum and flourish of trumpets."

+

+{120}

+

+He was a great "whip" and a prominent member of the Coaching Club.  I

+was of his joyous party to the Derby for a number of years, until his

+sight failed him through an accident while shooting; and I remember

+his telling my wife, in the later years of his life, that the

+remaining eye was saved by a consultation held at Lord's between C.

+I. Thornton, W. G. Grace and myself.  I was fond of cricket in those

+days, and became a member of the M.C.C. before it was necessary to be

+proposed in boyhood.

+

+On one occasion I drove with our kind friend to Ascot.  While seated

+in a prominent position on the front of his coach, helping a group of

+gorgeously-dressed ladies to lobster salad, I felt someone touching

+my toe; on looking down I saw a well-known "nigger," who for years

+frequented the race-courses.  He held up his tambourine to me and

+called out, with a grin: "Now, Mr. B, don't forget the perfession!"

+

+These Men of Mark who gave me the joy of their friendship are more

+numerous than I had looked for, and the names of those left to me

+must not be dwelt upon.  I cannot ignore, however, the delightful and

+unique dinners enjoyed in Whitehall with the late Lord Onslow, when

+Members from both {121} Houses streamed in and sat, informally, at

+separate tables, reinforced by men prominent in other walks of life.

+As an example, I once was placed in the company of the Archbishop of

+Canterbury and Mr. Balfour, as he then was.  Onslow was a delightful

+host and a delightful guest.  I have never forgotten his saying to me

+that very few men, even eminent men, had any idea who their

+great-grandfathers were.

+

+[Sidenote: Lord Rowton]

+

+Few more attractive men have graced a table than Lord Rowton: we knew

+him first as Montagu Corry.  Later on he became a next door

+neighbour: our No. was 18, his 17.  In his courtly way he said to my

+wife we ought to change houses, so that he might address her as

+"sweet seventeen," and not as his "dear neighbour."  It is, to my

+pen, difficult to describe his pervasive charm, which I am sure was

+as manifest in simple homes as at Balmoral.  He always appeared to be

+gay, never boisterous, and his devotion to his great chief, Disraeli,

+must have been priceless.

+

+I was told by an eminent authority for many years at the bar, my

+friend Sir Edward Clarke, that in his early days he "read" in

+chambers where "Monty" Corry was his companion.  The career of my

+informant speaks for his diligence; and he assured me that Corry

+{122} chiefly passed his time in making rhymes on the names which

+appeared in _The Times_ of the day in the column restricted to the

+announcements of "hatches," "matches" and "despatches"!

+

+Two other things about this dear man occur to me.  He told me, after

+the great fancy-dress ball given at Devonshire House on a State

+event, that he was at the head of the staircase when Irving arrived,

+and was struck with the impression that the actor alone of all the

+distinguished crowd wore his robes (he went as a cardinal) as if they

+were his daily garb, and not obviously hired from a costumier's

+store, or made for the occasion.

+

+My last remembrance of Rowton is on leaving a club with him one night

+to walk home; he suddenly stood still on the way and, after a pause,

+said, as if dreaming of secrets under mental lock and key: "I seem to

+have passed the whole of my life in holding my tongue."

+

+[Sidenote: "Jacky" Fisher]

+

+At the hospitable board of mutual friends we first met Sir John and

+Lady Fisher, as they then were.  The great Admiral took my wife down

+to dinner, and from that evening was her good friend and mine.

+Others at the table, I remember, were the scientist Lord Kelvin and

+Canon Ainger, the Master of the Temple.  {123} Fisher accepted an

+invitation to dine with me in these words: "On the 25th, with

+pleasure.  Yours till hell freezes, J. F."  His bad language was

+really only a not very bad habit--his bark was infinitely worse than

+his bite; in fact, he was a deeply religious man, as a beautiful

+letter he wrote to my wife when Lady Fisher died would testify.  He

+knew much of the Bible, and quotations from it were as often on his

+lips as were his stock phrases.  A friend of mine told me that he was

+once as astounded to hear the old Sea Lord preach a sermon in the

+Duke of Hamilton's private chapel as he was by its excellence.

+Whenever he caught sight of me, no matter where, Lord Fisher would

+call out, cheerily, "How's the vintage?"

+

+When Queen Alexandra shared King Edward's throne, Lord Fisher paid

+Her Majesty a pretty compliment when offering his congratulations on

+her sixtieth birthday.  "Have you seen, Ma'am," he asked, "the paper

+which says: 'Her Majesty is sixty years old to-day; may she live till

+she looks it!'  The words were his own, but he thought it would

+please the Queen more to believe that the compliment had been paid to

+her publicly.  Soon afterwards, the Queen cut out from an illustrated

+catalogue the figure of a little girl, stuck on the top of it a

+portrait of her own head, and {124} wrote underneath it: "May she

+live till she looks it!" and sent it to Lord Fisher.

+

+This reminds me of a compliment that I will dare to mention, paid to

+me by Alfred Sutro on my eightieth birthday, when he ended a charming

+letter with these words: "But then, my dear B, you are not really

+eighty, you are only forty for the second time."

+

+We did not know that dandy of the Senior Service, Lord Alcester,

+until he had retired upon his laurels and left the planks of an

+ironclad for the pavement of St. James's Street, of which his

+lavender kid gloves seemed to be a daily part, and had earned for him

+his gorgeous nickname, the "Swell of the Ocean."

+

+It was as Beauchamp Seymour that he so ably served his country, the

+height of his career being the brilliant success of his bombardment

+of Alexandria, which gave him his Peerage, and doubtless paved the

+way to our occupation of Egypt.  It is interesting to know that two

+of his captains at the time were named John Fisher and Charles

+Beresford.

+

+The first Admiral Sir Edward Inglefield was our neighbour fifty years

+ago, and many a nautical salute have we exchanged "over the garden

+wall."  As a "handy man" I never met his equal.  If a pane of glass

+in house or conservatory was broken he replaced it; if {125} the

+kitchen clock stopped he soon made it go again; if a chimney took to

+smoking it soon gave up the habit through his means.

+

+On the other hand, Lady Inglefield used to say that the punctuality

+with which she heard our wheels at night, when we returned from work,

+regulated her movements.

+

+[Sidenote: Sheridan's Granddaughter]

+

+At a garden party given by them we met the celebrated Mrs. Norton,

+the granddaughter of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, famous alike for her

+poetry and novels, and for her unhappy relations with her mean and

+cruel husband.  She was still a beautiful woman in the sixties, and

+it was easy to believe that she was the granddaughter of the lovely

+Elizabeth Linley.  Time had then all but obliterated the old and

+untrue scandal that she had sold to _The Times_ the news of Peel's

+conversion to Free Trade, and his intention to get the Corn Laws

+repealed.  George Meredith's novel, _Diana of the Crossways_, had

+(though wholly against the author's will) done something to revive

+the false report that, for her own financial ends, Caroline Norton

+had wormed the secret out of Sidney Herbert; the truth being that

+Delane had been told it by Lord Aberdeen himself, who intended him to

+publish it.

+

+On one occasion, when Sir Edward was in command of one of our fleets,

+he condemned {126} a man to receive so many strokes from the lash,

+and was on deck to see the sentence carried out.  When the delinquent

+approached he made certain signs known to Freemasons.  "Oh," said the

+Admiral, "a Mason, eh?  Well, I doubt if you're better at that job

+than as a seaman.  Go down and take your punishment."

+

+[Sidenote: Garnet Wolseley]

+

+Having written of Lord Fisher, a great sailor, I will now turn my

+attention to a great soldier, whom we first knew, fifty years ago, as

+Sir Garnet Wolseley.  We became friends and later on were neighbours.

+

+To my regret, I only had a club acquaintance with Lord Roberts, who

+was too true a gentleman ever to murmur: "I told you so--why did you

+not listen to me?"  The same with Lord Kitchener; we only knew him as

+a fellow-guest at other people's tables.  It was a Frenchman who

+wrote this tribute on his sad end, which staggered the country:

+"Great England's valiant soldier needed a nobler tomb than a hole in

+the ground, and he had the noblest of all tombs.  God ordered his

+funeral; the waves sang his requiem; the organ-pipes were rocky

+cliffs; his pall was the black sky, foam the flowers, and the

+lightning his funeral torches."

+

+Wolseley was, I repeat, a great soldier.  One of those leaders whom

+men will follow--even {127} unto death.  These words were written

+before the powerful biography written by two friends of mine, Sir

+Frederick Maurice and Sir George Arthur, was published.  I think he

+saw service even before the Crimean War, where, as little more than a

+boy, he became Captain, and was almost cut to pieces by bullets.

+Then came Lucknow and service in many lands.  He was a

+Lieutenant-Colonel when twenty-six; and throughout his long career

+honours of all kinds poured on him.  He became Commander-in-Chief,

+but was not destined to have realised the wish expressed to my

+wife--"I hope I shall never die in a bed."  There was something about

+him, about that slight cheerful figure, and that glowing face, that

+outspoken talk, that was very helpful and strengthening: he seemed in

+some way to shed happiness round him.

+

+Among the accumulated correspondence we found waiting after a holiday

+in 1882 was a cheery letter from Wolseley, postmark Alexandria,

+August 18th, in which he wrote: "The 'army' keeps arriving daily, and

+I hope very soon to be in a position to bring Mr. Arabi to book."

+The realisation of this prophecy, and the curious incident of an

+atmospheric phenomenon caused by the comet of that year, prompted

+some verses, that were sent to the hero of the achievement and thus

+{128} acknowledged from the War Office: "I am very glad Bancroft

+induced you to send me your lines on Tel-el-Kebir, for I like them

+extremely.  The word-painting is admirable, and the whole incident is

+told most feelingly and well.  I shall put the little poem away among

+my treasures.  Many, many thanks for it."  I wonder where it is now.

+He was a shockingly bad speller--double pp's and double ll's were

+sure to be found where they were not wanted.

+

+[Sidenote: A rebuff]

+

+I was told of a terrible rebuff Wolseley brought upon himself on an

+occasion when he took Madame Melba down to dinner, not having, most

+unfortunately, caught her name when presented.  He neglected her at

+table and devoted himself to a charming lady on his other side, whom

+he knew well.  After a time he asked--as was rather his habit--too

+loudly, "Who is my other neighbour?"  "Surely you know Madame Melba,"

+was the answer.  "Only heard of her: never met her before: did not

+catch her name: when I brought her down she conveyed nothing to me."

+At last he turned to the great songstress and addressed some casual

+remark to her.  Melba quietly asked: "To whom am I speaking?"  He

+answered: "General Wolseley," and received the reply: "I am afraid

+the name conveys {129} nothing to me."  I hope Dame Nellie Melba will

+forgive me for repeating the story.

+

+Writing of Wolseley reminds me of another, his comrade, Sir Redvers

+Buller, for years, with Lady Audrey, our friend and neighbour.

+Buller was a man of unflinching courage and dogged bravery: it was

+said that he had won his Victoria Cross three times over.

+

+He invited me to join a congratulatory dinner party to be given by

+him, at a military club, in honour of Wolseley having been made a

+Field-Marshal.  All the guests turned up except Wolseley, who had

+received a late summons from Windsor, commanding him to dine at the

+Castle, as Her Majesty wished to present the _bâton_ to him in person

+on that very evening.

+

+A long spell of years has passed since my wife and I were guests at

+what was then Thomas's Hotel, in Berkeley Square, now converted into

+flats, and met Evelyn Wood when he was about thirty, having already

+won the V.C. in the Indian Mutiny, after beginning his adventurous

+career as a midshipman and being wounded in the Crimea.  We lost

+sight of him for a long while, and he must have become a

+Field-Marshal when he dined with us, as he often did, until

+increasing deafness made him cautious of accepting such invitations.

+He amused us once by {130} threatening to recite the Lord's Prayer in

+an alarming number of languages if provoked.

+

+Another Field-Marshal and V.C. whom we knew was the hero of

+Ladysmith, Sir George White.  I met him first on board a P. & O.

+steamer when he was Governor of Gibraltar.  We walked many a mile

+together on the deck of the _Arabia_.  Both he and Lady White were

+very kind to me when I landed from his launch for a short stay on the

+Rock, and enabled me to be present at a memorial service for the Duke

+of Cambridge.  When his own time came White was Governor of Chelsea

+Hospital.  His body was taken across London, for burial in his native

+Ireland, to such a tribute of affection and regard from his comrades

+and the people as is rarely given.

+

+I first knew the popular old soldier and father of the charming Lady

+Burnham and Lady Somerleyton, Sir Henry de Bathe, in the early days

+of my membership of the Garrick, and was so struck by his appearance

+that I did my best to suggest it in a part I played soon

+afterwards--I suppose with a measure of success, for when I stepped

+upon the stage Lady de Bathe (now the Dowager, still, happily, strong

+and well), who was seated in the stalls, exclaimed audibly, "Why,

+it's Henry!"

+

+My wife was so impressed by a dramatic {131} story the old general

+told of his Crimean days, that she often repeated it.

+

+[Sidenote: A convict from Eton]

+

+One evening, in the severe winter time, it was de Bathe's duty to

+direct the clearing of the dead and wounded after a deadly encounter

+with the enemy, the brunt of which had been borne by men drawn from

+the French convict settlements, who were thrust into the hottest

+places when trying work had to be done.  The searching party came

+across one poor fellow who was grievously wounded but still alive: de

+Bathe had him placed upon a stretcher, lifted his head, and poured

+brandy into the soldier's mouth.  The man took his hand and pressed

+it, murmuring in English, "Thank you, de Bathe."  Thunderstruck, he

+stooped down and asked how a Frenchman knew his name and could also

+speak such perfect English.  The wounded man smiled and whispered,

+"Eton!" as he fainted; de Bathe accompanied the stretcher to the

+French lines, saying that he would return as soon as his duty would

+allow him.  He did so, but the man was dead; de Bathe lifted the

+sheet from his face and gazed upon it earnestly without recognising

+the lost creature, once his school companion, then known only as a

+French convict with a fictitious name.

+

+I remember being once so fortunate, when {132} the old general dined

+with me, as to place him between Sir William Howard Russell, the war

+correspondent, and Dion Boucicault, the dramatist, and to learn that

+all three of them in boyhood's days had been at the same school

+together in Dublin.

+

+Lord Rathmore--better remembered and thought of by me as David

+Plunket--was a fascinating creature.  What otherwise could he be with

+such youthfulness, brightness, wit--such qualities as earned for him

+the friendship of the sphinx-like Disraeli?

+

+Our acquaintance with him began many years ago at Homburg, where we

+had a happy time, and continued until 1915, when, with his company

+and that of other pleasant people, my wife and I passed a holiday at

+the old Queen Hotel, on The Stray, at Harrogate.  He was a delightful

+guest, an arresting personality at any table, and one of the most

+gifted orators--I can use no smaller word--I have listened to; his

+highly polished sentences being rendered even more attractive by his

+sometimes pronounced stammer, which often added charm to his

+brilliant flow of language.  David Plunket's many friends at his

+favourite club, the Garrick, where he was beloved, missed him greatly

+and mourned his loss.

+

+Lord Glenesk, always a great supporter of {133} the drama, gave us

+his friendship for many years.  As Sir Algernon Borthwick, he was, to

+our great delight, at Balmoral when we were commanded by the late

+Queen to act there.  From his house in Piccadilly, we saw both joyful

+and mournful processions.  In a letter to my wife he wrote: "You were

+the first to teach the school of Nature, and not only by your own

+bright impersonations, but also by your influence over all those with

+whom you were brought in contact, to prove that English art is second

+to none."

+

+Acquaintance with the first Lord Ashbourne, so long Lord Chancellor

+of Ireland, began years ago in the Engadine, and I recall happy times

+spent there and by the Lake of Como in his excellent company.

+

+[Sidenote: Edward Carson]

+

+We were dining with him one evening when my wife asked who was a

+young man at the farther end of the table.  "Oh," said her host, "his

+name is Carson.  He is a fellow-countryman of mine, who has just been

+called to the English Bar, where he means to practise."  "And where

+he will go far, if I am any judge of a face," was my wife's reply.

+Lord Ashbourne brought the "young Irishman" to her afterwards, and so

+an affectionate and enduring friendship with the brilliant advocate,

+the valiant patriot, Lord Carson, had its birth.

+

+{134}

+

+I was one of four who made up a table with Lord Ashbourne--who was

+gay and amusing--to play bridge at the Athenæum on the day before he

+was stricken.

+

+I first met Edward Lawson, afterwards Lord Burnham, on the morning of

+my wedding day, which chanced to be his birthday.  My wife had made

+his acquaintance before, as also that of his sage old father, who

+founded the fortunes of the great newspaper, of which three

+generations have now been justly proud.

+

+I gratefully remember that it is to the senior of the trio the stage

+owes much of its present recognition by the press.  To digress for a

+moment, it was well that Clement Scott, young and enthusiastic, was

+given his head, and for a long while--years, in fact--his virile pen

+was devoted to the service of the drama.

+

+Lord Burnham continued in his father's footsteps, as, in his turn,

+his own son has done.  I remember hearing Burnham say, when asked if

+there was any particular advantage in being very rich: "Only one; you

+can afford to be robbed."

+

+I was indebted to his constant kindness and hospitality, especially

+at Hall Barn, for little short of fifty years, until the war broke

+his splendid spirit and claimed him as its victim.

+

+Of my friend since his boyhood, the present {135} Viscount, I will

+only say, although I can hardly believe it, that I have given him a

+sovereign when he went back to Eton!

+

+[Sidenote: Alfred Lyttelton]

+

+My first acquaintance with Alfred Lyttelton was as a spectator at

+Lord's, in the field, and in the courts.  Before I knew him I had the

+privilege of two well-remembered talks with Miss Laura Tennant, whose

+beauty and charm left a lasting impression.  His career, political

+and otherwise, is too well known to need a word from me.  The

+widespread popularity he enjoyed began early.  He was captain of both

+his school and university elevens, and held the tennis championship

+without a break for many years.

+

+A personal note I can strike with this most lovable man is through

+going with him in Paris to see one of the earliest performances of

+_Cyrano_ by Coquelin.  He also did me the honour to take the place of

+Sir Henry Thompson as my seconder at the Athenæum.

+

+Alfred Lyttelton was spared the agonies of the Great War and the

+bewildering sense of uncertainty as to what will result from it in

+this much-altered world.  On the day he was buried, in July, 1913,

+the Oxford and Cambridge match was being played at Lord's.  At the

+solemn hour the game was stopped, and the great assemblage stood

+uncovered as they {136} thought of him.  Later, on the same day, Mr.

+Asquith said of him in the House of Commons that he, perhaps of all

+men of this generation, came nearest to the ideal of manhood which

+every English father would like to see his son aspire to and attain.

+

+It is among my happy memories to have been many times the guest of

+that prince of hosts, Sir Henry Thompson, extending over twenty

+years.  No dinner parties were more justly celebrated than the

+"octaves," generally eight guests and himself, he arranged with so

+much thought and knowledge.

+

+He was an exceptional, an extraordinary, man, in addition to his

+skill as a great surgeon.  He had talent as a painter, had pictures

+hung in both the Academy and the Salon; he wrote novels, and his

+knowledge of old Nanking china, of which he owned a fine collection,

+was that of an expert; and he was founder and president of the

+Cremation Society.  He introduced me to motoring, when it was in its

+infancy.  He was an enthusiast in astronomy, having a private

+observatory erected by himself.  He gave a valuable book on this

+subject to my wife with the inscription: "Homage from an Astronomer

+to a Star of the First Magnitude."

+

+[Sidenote: Public servants]

+

+Other names crowd my mind: Sir Frank {137} Lascelles, so long our

+Ambassador in Berlin, and Sir Rivers Wilson, also a distinguished

+public servant--delightful hosts, delightful guests--both great

+gentlemen, and both devoted to cards as an amusement.  The former

+cursed them (never his partner) when they persistently went against

+him; the latter caressed them, however badly they treated him.

+

+Of Schomberg McDonnell, known better to his big circle of friends as

+"Pom," I recall one personal incident.  He was the first to

+congratulate me on my knighthood, through being at the time Lord

+Salisbury's private secretary, a post which he had the courage to

+give up to take his part in the South African War, where he did good

+service with the C.I.V., and was rewarded on his return by being

+reinstated.  He again served his country in the Great War and died

+from his wounds, beloved and regretted.

+

+I must in these names include that of a friend of many years, Sir

+Thomas Sutherland, so long the chairman of the P. & O. Company.  To

+the kindness of his invitations to be a guest on trial trips of ships

+of that great fleet I owe the happiest "week-ends," in wonderful

+company, I have ever spent.

+

+"Mr. Alfred," as Alfred de Rothschild was generally spoken of, was

+once our guest; {138} we were often his in Seamore Place.  I was

+invited to join a week-end party, when I might have seen the wonders

+of his country home, with its circus and performing animals, but I

+could not go.  Being delicate and of a highly nervous temperament, he

+must have been a mine of wealth to members of the medical profession.

+He was a great lover and patron of the theatre.  I remember a

+peculiar incident concerning him when we revived Robertson's comedy

+_School_ at the Haymarket.  Sometimes for several nights running,

+sometimes twice in a week, he took a large stage box, occupied it for

+not more than half an hour, sat alone to see the second act of the

+comedy, and then went.

+

+[Sidenote: Burton and Stanley]

+

+The two famous travellers and explorers, Burton and Stanley, were old

+friends of ours.  I couple their names because it so chanced that we

+saw the most of them, and more intimately, together with Lady Burton

+and Lady Stanley, in hotels--one in Switzerland, the other in

+Italy--when we were all holiday making.

+

+Burton's early career was that of a wild, untamed gipsy spirit.  His

+childhood was passed in France and Italy, when his mastery of tongues

+began.  At Oxford he acquired Arabic, having turned his back on Latin

+and {139} Greek.  He told me that, eventually, he conquered well over

+thirty languages--I forget the exact number--as well as made progress

+towards interpreting what he called the speech of monkeys.  We first

+met him at the table of a dear friend, Dr. George Bird, who asked how

+he felt when he had killed a man.  Burton replied that the doctor

+ought to know, as he had done it oftener.

+

+Stanley's fame was chiefly established by his "finding" of

+Livingstone, when he was only about thirty, the search having

+occupied eight months.

+

+Of the two, Burton was the easier to get on with, being full of talk

+and anecdotes.  Stanley was reserved, and it often took my wife some

+time to draw from him stories, full of interest, about the King of

+Uganda and other persons, and incidents of his courageous travels.

+

+[Sidenote: Labouchere]

+

+Our acquaintance with Henry Labouchere dates back to the time when he

+built the Queen's Theatre in Long Acre, where St. Martin's Hall

+formerly stood, and of which his wife was the manageress.  Henrietta

+Hodson was a clever actress, whom, in the early days of the old

+Prince of Wales's Theatre, we introduced to London.  She afterwards

+played Esther Eccles in _Caste_ with the first complete company which

+toured the provinces.

+

+{140}

+

+Labouchere's varied career, after he left Eton and Cambridge, began

+in diplomacy.  Among many similar stories I have heard of him in

+those days, is one of a pompous visitor who, calling at the embassy

+in Washington, and not liking the look of so youthful an attaché,

+said abruptly: "Can I see your boss?" Labouchere calmly replied:

+"With pleasure, if you'll tell me to what part of my person you

+refer."

+

+After giving up diplomacy he entered Parliament; at one time

+represented Northampton with Bradlaugh.  I think it was then he

+became known as "Labby," and a sort of licensed clown.  He was also

+prominently associated with journalism.  His "Letters of a Besieged

+Resident," sent over from Paris by balloons, were so sensational as

+to increase the circulation of a daily paper by more than double.

+

+We knew him best on the Lake of Como, at Cadenabbia, a place he

+loved, which my wife said ought really to be renamed Cade_labbya_.  I

+remember his suddenly turning to her one morning and saying that he

+would rather be deformed than unnoticed.

+

+On the night that our Haymarket career commenced London was

+fog-bound.  The density lasted for days, being unique in its horrors,

+as records of the time can tell.  {141} Labouchere was at the theatre

+and emerged with the rest of the audience into dreadful gloom.  This

+is the story of his reaching home.  He ran heavily against a man, who

+asked him in what direction he wanted to go.  Labouchere replied,

+"Queen Anne's Gate."  The questioner said that he also was going that

+way, in fact, that he lived hard by, and would take him there safely

+if he chose to go with him.  Labouchere had some fears as to being

+trapped, but decided to risk it and be wary.  The two plodded along

+together arm-in-arm; they met with one or two minor difficulties; but

+presently the cheerful stranger, who evidently was of humble station,

+stood still in the pitch darkness and said: "Here we are; what's your

+number?"  Labouchere told him, and his companion answered: "Then we

+must cross the road."  They did so, the man groped about a door with

+his fingers and said: "That's your house; you're all right now; try

+your latchkey."

+

+Labouchere, before rewarding his friendly guide, in amazement asked

+how he had found his way so accurately on such a night.  The simple

+answer was: "I'm blind!"

+

+He ended his days at his villa in Italy.  When I read his name in the

+Honours List as Privy Councillor, I sent him a telegram: {142}

+"Labouchere, Florence.  Congratulations.  Bancroft."  His reply was

+to the effect that I had puzzled him dreadfully, as he had no idea to

+what I referred until he received _The Times_ on the following day.

+

+Oscar Browning--or shall I say "O.B."?--was an odd-looking creature.

+We made his acquaintance in our haunt for many years, the Engadine,

+when my wife christened him "The Wicked Monk."  For my part, I never

+felt quite certain how much of him was "Jekyll" and how little there

+was of "Hyde."

+

+Some time afterwards he sent word to me at the theatre that he was in

+the stalls and would like to introduce me to a young friend who was

+his companion.  I arranged that he should do so at the end of the

+play, when they were brought behind the scenes, and O.B. made me

+known to Mr. George Curzon, who had recently left Eton, and whose

+friendship, if I may use the word, I claim the privilege of having

+since enjoyed, in the great position to which Browning had no doubt

+foreseen that his pupil would attain.  Our last meeting was when Lord

+Curzon presided at the dinner given to another old friend of mine, T.

+P. O'Connor, with a charm only equalled, in my experience, on

+somewhat similar occasions by Lord Rosebery and Lord Balfour.

+

+{143}

+

+[Sidenote: Comyns Carr]

+

+I think it was when I first met Comyns Carr--"Joe"--early in the

+seventies, that I heard him rebuke a pushing young man as "a

+pantaloon without his maturity and a clown without his colour"--the

+sort of thing that he fired off throughout his life, as if he were a

+well-charged satirical machine-gun.

+

+He had been called to the Bar, but was then on the eve of his

+marriage with the attractive Miss Strettell, the daughter of a

+delightful old clergyman whom I knew as the chaplain at St. Moritz.

+Carr did not stick to his first choice of a profession, which I

+always regarded as a pity, but drifted into journalism instead.  He

+was, in his day, attached to many newspapers.  Then, fostered by his

+love and knowledge of art, came a long career when Sir Coutts

+Lindsay, our old friend and guest, reigned at the Grosvenor Gallery,

+with Carr as Director.  It was famous for Sunday afternoon parties,

+which were unique.  The robes of Royalty rubbed against the skirts of

+Bohemia.  "Ladies and other dukes" were plentiful, as were the

+followers of every art, and all were happy.  Then he wrote plays;

+next managed a theatre.

+

+I often think he was right when he said to me: "My dear B, the first

+duty of wine is to be red."  Most of the witty things he uttered

+{144} have no doubt appeared in print; perhaps the following gem has

+not.  An old and well-known friend, who dyed his hair and beard so

+unnatural a black that even the raven's wing had no chance against

+it, was lunching, on a hot day, in the revealing sun's rays, with

+some club friends, of whom one was Comyns Carr, and presenting a sad

+picture of the struggle between the ravages of time and the

+appliances of art.  He left the table early, and his departure was

+followed by remarks.  "How dreadful--what a pity!"  "Can't somebody

+advise something?"  Some one turned to Carr, who had remained silent,

+and asked him what he thought.  Joe replied that of all his friends

+and acquaintances the old fellow was the only one who really was as

+black as he was painted.

+

+Carr's gift of eloquence was naturally sought at public banquets,

+where his speeches took high rank.  But was it not, after all, the

+old story of "a rolling stone" which left him best remembered by his

+brilliant tongue?

+

+[Sidenote: Cecil Clay]

+

+I could go on writing of other Men of Mark to whom I have had the

+good fortune to play the host, and tell again of the great goodness

+shown to followers of the stage by members of the healing art, and by

+lights in the law; but let me bring this chapter to its close by a

+reference to Cecil Clay, who wrote _A Pantomime {145} Rehearsal_ and,

+with those who acted his amusing play, gave the old generation much

+pleasure.  He was beloved in every circle that he moved in, and I

+never heard an unkind word pass his lips or saw an unkind look upon

+his face.  He went so far once as to reproach a fellow-member of one

+of his many clubs who swore at the matches because they would not

+strike.  "My dear fellow, don't be angry; pray remember they are the

+only things in the country that don't!"

+

+I have asked Owen Seaman to allow me to reprint some lines which

+appeared in _Punch_, written, I feel sure, by the pen of Charles

+Graves.

+

+  "Athlete and wit, whose genial tongue

+  Cheered and refreshed but never stung:

+  Creator, to our endless joy,

+  Of priceless _Arthur Pomeroy_.

+  Light lie the earth above his head

+  Who lightened many a heart of lead;

+  Courteous and chivalrous and gay,

+  In very truth no common Clay."

+

+

+[Sidenote: The Sickles tragedy]

+

+I have alluded to an early visit to New York, when I was a lad of

+seventeen.  During my stay what was known as "The Sickles Tragedy"

+occurred in Washington; the details of which have lingered in my mind

+ever since.  Many years afterwards my wife {146} and I were at an

+evening party given by the Dion Boucicaults to a handsome and

+distinguished-looking American, with one leg and a crutch; the other

+leg he had lost, valiantly, on the field of Gettysburg.  His name was

+Daniel Sickles.  My interest was at once aroused.  He was, or had

+been, United States Minister to Spain, being no less eminent in

+diplomacy and the civil service than as a volunteer soldier and

+general.  At one time the tragedy of his life might have robbed his

+country of his great abilities.  He had married, some six years

+before, a beautiful girl of sixteen, Italian by origin, and they were

+living in Washington, where Sickles held a Government appointment,

+when he learned from an anonymous letter that his young wife was

+false to him, clandestinely meeting at a certain house hired from an

+old negro woman by her lover, named Philip Barton Key, a widower

+nearly twice her age, a Government lawyer, and the son of the author

+of "The Star-Spangled Banner."  Sickles had the house watched, and

+found that the news was true.  Charged with the offence, his wife

+confessed all, and explained the system of signals by which, from an

+upper window, she and Key, watching through an opera-glass from his

+club, arranged their meetings.  Sickles demanded her wedding-ring,

+told {147} her to leave his house and return to her parents.  Soon

+afterwards, looking out of his window, he saw the seducer walking

+towards the house and make a signal with his handkerchief.  He went

+out, and coming up with Key at the street-corner, accused him to his

+face and shot him.  Key attempted to defend himself, but Sickles

+fired twice more, and then, while Key was on the ground and still

+breathing, put his revolver to his own head.  Twice it missed fire.

+Sickles then walked away and gave himself up to the police.  The case

+aroused intense excitement, not only in America but in England.  The

+trial lasted some weeks, and so strong was public opinion in the

+prisoner's favour that he was acquitted, and set free to do his

+country services in the future.  I have been told that, in years

+after, husband and wife came together again.  It is certain that all

+through the affair, Sickles treated her with the greatest

+consideration, even allowing her to keep their eldest child, who,

+grown into a beautiful girl, was present with her father when we met

+at the Boucicaults' and who soon afterwards was our guest.

+

+Of the distinguished Americans who have been sent to our country as

+Ambassadors from their own land I have met Mr. Lowell, Mr. Phelps,

+Mr. Bayard, Mr. Choate, Mr. Page, and {148} Mr. Davis.  It is a

+privilege to have known such men; a greater privilege, in the case of

+Mr. Choate, to have been his host.  I don't know whether a charming

+little story has been in print before--very likely it has--but I can

+answer for its exactitude as I now tell it, and where the incident

+occurred.

+

+On one of his visits to us the subject was started--I think by Bishop

+Boyd-Carpenter--of changing one's identity.  My wife turned to her

+chief guest and said: "Tell us, Your Excellency, who you would rather

+be if you were not Mr. Choate."  The Ambassador, slightly rising from

+his chair, bowed across the table to his wife, who was at my side,

+and at once replied: "Mrs. Choate's second husband."

+

+

+

+

+{149}

+

+VIII

+

+THE STAGE

+

+"Of all amusements the theatre is the most profitable, for there we

+see important actions when we cannot act importantly

+ourselves."--MARTIN LUTHER.

+

+

+I

+

+When I was nineteen I ran away from home to become an actor, and have

+been stage-struck ever since.

+

+[Sidenote: Charles Mathews]

+

+Of eminent Victorian leaders of my calling the first to be our guest,

+in very far-away days, was the accomplished Charles Mathews, the most

+conspicuous comedian of his time.  The memory of childhood's

+play-going days tells me that I once saw Madame Vestris, his first

+wife, a beautiful and accomplished woman, in one of Planche's

+extravaganzas called _The King of the Peacocks_, at the Lyceum

+Theatre.  I first met Charles Mathews in 1863, as a star in the

+theatrical firmament when I was a struggling young actor in Dublin,

+where I had the great advantage of playing with him in a round of his

+favourite comedies for a whole {150} month; during which I hope I

+learnt something from his delightful personality of the beautiful art

+of acting.

+

+Among other accomplishments, he was an amusing after-dinner speaker.

+When presiding at a theatrical charity banquet, with his own charm of

+manner, he began: "Douglas Jerrold once said to me that he did not

+despair of living to see the day when I should be trudging up Ludgate

+Hill, with an umbrella under my arm, to invest my funds in the Bank

+of England.  I am sorry to say that the great humorist did not live

+to see that vision realised.  The only step I have advanced towards

+it is, that I have bought the umbrella."

+

+When Mathews left England for a tour in Australia, a banquet was

+given in his honour at which he presided; himself proposing the toast

+of his own health in these words:

+

+

+"The most important task assigned to me has now to be fulfilled, and

+I rise to propose what is called the toast of the evening with a

+mixture of pleasure and trepidation.  I was going to say that I was

+placed in a novel but unprecedented position, by being asked to

+occupy the chair.  But it is not so.  There is nothing new in saying

+that there is nothing new.  In _The Times_ of October 3rd, 1798,

+there is an advertisement of a dinner given to Mr. Fox {151} on the

+anniversary of his first election for Westminster: 'The Hon. Charles

+James Fox in the chair.'  Here is a great precedent; and what was

+done by Charles James Fox in 1798 is only imitated in 1870 by Charles

+James Mathews.  I venture to assert that a fitter man than myself to

+propose the health of our guest could not be found; for I venture to

+affirm that there is no man so well acquainted with the merits and

+demerits of that gifted individual as I am.  I have been on intimate

+terms with him from his earliest youth.  I have watched over his

+progress from childhood, have shared in his joys and griefs, and I

+assert boldly that there is not a man on earth for whom I entertain

+so sincere a regard and affection.  Nor do I go too far in stating

+that he has an equal affection for me.  He has come to me for advice

+in the most embarrassing circumstances, and what is still more

+remarkable, has always taken my advice in preference to that of any

+one else."

+

+

+Needless to say the speech was interrupted at every point by

+laughter.  Here is a characteristic letter I received from him during

+a winter which he was passing at Nice:

+

+

+"It is hard to be obliged to come indoors on such a heavenly day to

+write a letter, and you will no doubt think it harder to be {152}

+obliged to read it.  But friendship calls, and I sacrifice myself

+upon its altar.  Do thou likewise.

+

+"A very nice fellow has written a comedy.  ('O Lord!' I hear you

+say.)  All I ask of you is to read it, have the parts copied out and

+produce it, playing the principal part yourself--nothing more.  Your

+new piece, of course, will not run more than two or three years, and

+then you will have this ready to fall back upon.  The human mind

+naturally looks forward, and managers cannot make their arrangements

+too soon.  If by any unforeseen and improbable chance you may not

+fancy the piece (such things have happened), please drop me a sweet

+little note, so charmingly worded that the unhappy author may swallow

+the gilded pill without difficulty.  There is something in the

+piece--or I would not inflict it upon you.  If well dressed, and

+carefully put upon the stage, it _might_ be effective.

+

+"This is what is called writing just _one line_.  You will of course

+say it 'wants cutting,' like the piece.  So I will cut it--short.

+

+"On reading this rigmarole, I find I have only used the word 'piece'

+four times.  When you give my letter to the copyist, you can make the

+following alterations: For 'piece' (No. 1) read 'play.'  For 'piece'

+(No. 2) read 'production.' For 'piece' (No. 3) read 'work.'  For

+'piece' (No. 4) read 'comedy.'"

+

+

+{153}

+

+[Sidenote: "Our Boys"]

+

+As an instance of his good judgment, on the first night of Byron's

+comedy, _Our Boys_, which had a phenomenal run, I was in the billiard

+room of the Garrick Club; a group of men came in who said they had

+been to see a new comedy at the Vaudeville Theatre.  Various opinions

+were expressed, several present thinking the comedy would only have a

+moderate run, when Mathews, who was playing pool, said, quietly: "I

+don't agree with you fellows.  I was there, and haven't laughed so

+heartily for a long while.  Byron this time--he doesn't always--has

+taken his goods to exactly the right shop.  That play is sure to run."

+

+Charles Mathews was originally an architect of considerable skill and

+promise.  Although he did not go upon the stage until he was thirty,

+he became one of the most beloved of the public's favourites.

+Mathews was distinctly an actor of manners: it was beyond his range

+to portray emotion.  Later on, Charles Wyndham, at one time in his

+career, had some of his attributes, and so, very strongly, had

+Kendal.  Nowadays, the actor who at times recalls him to me in the

+delicacy and refinement of his comedy is Gerald du Maurier.

+

+Pictorially, Charles Mathews lives again in {154} the interesting

+series of stage portraits on the walls of the Garrick Club with which

+I was first familiar on the staircases when he lived in Pelham

+Crescent and Belgrave Road.

+

+In a defence of himself and the view he took of his art, he once

+said: "It has been urged against me that I always play the same

+characters in the same way, and that ten years hence I should play

+the parts exactly as I play them now; this I take as a great

+compliment.  It is a precision which has been aimed at by the models

+of my profession, which I am proud to follow, and shows, at least,

+that my acting, such as it is, is the result of art, and study, and

+not of mere accident."

+

+[Sidenote: Charles Fechter]

+

+I can also take the reader back to another link with the past and

+tell him briefly something of Charles Fechter, also of Victorian

+fame, whose name opens up a mine of memories.  In our early married

+days we lived in St. John's Wood; Fechter was our neighbour and once

+our guest.  I regard him as the finest actor of the romantic drama I

+have ever seen.  The eye, the voice, the grace--all so needed--were

+at his command.  He was the original of the lover in _La Dame aux

+Camélias_.  I was present at his début in London, so long ago as

+1860, when, as Ruy Blas, he forsook the French for the English stage,

+and I saw his first {155} performance of _The Corsican Brothers_, in

+which play he also acted originally in Paris.  This was at the old

+Princess's Theatre in Oxford Street, which, a decade earlier, had

+been the scene of the Charles Kean Shakespearean revivals, most of

+which I saw in my 'teens.  They were a great advance scenically on

+all that had been done by Macready, while their splendours and

+pageantry were in turn eclipsed first by Irving and afterwards by

+Tree; but genius has no part in plastering treacle on jam.

+

+So vivid is my remembrance of Fechter's acting in _Hamlet_, which

+took the town by storm, that I can describe and illustrate much of it

+after a lapse of more than fifty years.  He made the Prince a

+fair-haired, almost flaxen, Dane.  Dickens said: "No innovation was

+ever accepted with so much favour by so many intellectuals as

+Fechter's Hamlet."

+

+Quite recently I came across the impressions of Clement Scott, for

+many years one of the most prominent of our dramatic critics.  He

+wrote: "Let me candidly own that I never quite understood _Hamlet_

+until I saw Fechter play the Prince of Denmark.  Phelps and Charles

+Kean impressed me with the play, but with Fechter, I loved the play,

+and was charmed as well as fascinated by the player."  He {156}

+afterwards failed as Othello, while his performance of Iago was a

+triumph.  It is a coincidence that Fechter should have received

+valuable help during his reign at the Lyceum from Kate Terry, whose

+younger sister, Ellen, in a similar position, did so much for Irving

+in the same theatre later on.

+

+Fechter died in America in 1879.  His last years were sad.  But a

+decade or so before, the idol of the playgoing public, the compeer of

+all distinguished in the arts, the welcome guest of Charles Dickens

+at Gad's Hill, he died beyond the seas neglected, friendless, almost

+forgotten.  Few actors at their zenith have held greater sway; few

+could compare with him in romantic parts; fewer still could claim to

+have stirred two nations of playgoers in different tongues; but such

+is the fleeting nature of our work, so faint the record of it left

+behind, that one might ask how many now can speak of Fechter as he

+really was, how few will even know his name?  "Out, out, brief

+candle!"  His talent was not confined to the stage, as a spirited

+bust of himself, his own work, now in the Garrick Club, will show.

+

+[Sidenote: Salvini]

+

+Later on, there came the eminent Italian actor, Salvini, whose visit

+to this country in 1875 may still be remembered by a dwindling few.

+He was the greatest tragedian I have {157} seen--he was never a tenor

+trying to sing a bass song.  On the stage the Italians, to my mind,

+have the advantage over other actors in being beyond question the

+finest pantomimists in the world--they can say so much without

+speaking.  Those two great actresses, Ristori and Duse, made masterly

+use of this gift.

+

+At an afternoon performance of _Othello_ by Salvini, specially given

+at Drury Lane Theatre to the leading representatives of the English

+Stage, who chiefly composed the vast assemblage, I was present.

+Salvini's superbly delivered address to the Senate at once convinced

+the remarkable audience that no ordinary actor was before them--so

+calm, so dignified, so motionless--broken only by the portrayal of

+love as he caught sight of Desdemona entering on the scene.  No

+ovation that I have taken part in equalled in enthusiasm the

+reception from his up-standing comrades at the close of the third

+act.  His death scene I took exception to as being too shocking, too

+realistic, too like an animal dying in the shambles or on a

+battle-field.  There I thought the Italian was surpassed by the

+Irishman, G. V. Brooke, the only actor I have seen who shared

+Salvini's natural gifts of voice and bearing, and who, but for his

+unfortunate intemperate habits, might have achieved lasting {158}

+fame upon the stage.  His death in _Othello_ seemed to me as poetic

+in conception as it was pathetic in execution.  Acting, although not

+speaking, the closing words, "Killing myself, to die upon a kiss," he

+staggered towards the bed, dying as he clutched the heavy curtains of

+it, which, giving way, fell upon his prostrate body as a kind of

+pall, disclosing, at the same time, the dead form of Desdemona.  I

+agree with the great Frenchman who said: "Even when it assassinates,

+even when it strangles, tragedy remembers that it wears the crown and

+carries a sceptre."

+

+In a little letter to my wife, Salvini wrote:

+

+

+"CHÈRE MADAME,--Que vous êtes aimable!  Je tiendrai votre joli cadeau

+comme un doux souvenir de votre sincère amitié.  Ce sera un précieux

+talisman qui suivra le reste de ma carrière artistique, et qui, je

+suis sûr, m'apportera du bonheur."

+

+

+[Sidenote: The perfect Hamlet]

+

+In a conversation I had with Salvini, he modestly said his

+nationality and Southern blood made it comparatively easy for him to

+play the jealous Moor, while they stood in his way when he attempted

+the part of the Northern moody Dane, to which his robust physique was

+not suited.  Salvini's performance, however, of _Hamlet_ has left me

+{159} memories almost as keen as those bequeathed by Fechter.  In his

+arrangement of the play he acted the long speech of his father's

+ghost.  You only heard, and hardly saw the Phantom.  His scene with

+his mother was very fine: his management of the foils in the fight

+with Laertes as superb as it was original: his death the most

+touching I can recall: it was the "Kiss me, Hardy" of Nelson; he felt

+for Horatio's head and drew it down to his face as the spirit fled.

+To make a perfect Hamlet I should weld together ever to be remembered

+portions from the performances of Fechter, Salvini, Irving and

+Forbes-Robertson.

+

+It is interesting to read what Macready, the greatest of the

+Victorian classic actors, said of this complex, fascinating character:

+

+

+"It seems to me as if only now at fifty-one years of age, I

+thoroughly see and appreciate the artistic power of Shakespeare in

+this great human phenomenon: nor do any of the critics, Goethe,

+Schlegel, or Coleridge, present to me, in their elaborate remarks,

+the exquisite artistical effects which I see in this work, as long

+meditation, like long straining after light, gives the minutest

+portion of its excellence to my view."

+

+

+From my childhood I have always looked {160} upon Macready as the

+head of my craft, and regarded him with the reverence a young curate

+would feel, I suppose, towards the Archbishop of Canterbury.

+

+I regret that I never saw Macready act.  I was not ten years old when

+he left the stage.  I had the pleasure, long afterwards, to know his

+son, Jonathan, a clever surgeon, whose son, Major Macready, I now

+know; and I rejoice in the friendship of the tragedian's youngest

+child, General Sir Nevil Macready, whom I first saw at his father's

+funeral, when he was lifted from a mourning coach--a little fellow of

+about ten.

+

+My wife was the last stage link with Macready.  At one of the

+farewell performances he gave when he retired she appeared as the

+child apparition in _Macbeth_.

+

+I am wandering from my departed guests, but may mention that in my

+boyhood I saw much of that fine actor, Samuel Phelps, who had so wide

+a range and to whom no character seemed to come amiss.  I have always

+felt, however, that he was a disciple of Macready, to whom

+undoubtedly he owed much, and whom he followed as Richelieu, Werner

+and Virginius.

+

+I may just say that, in my early career, I have acted with Phelps, as

+well as with Charles Kean and G. V. Brooke, and it may surprise {161}

+young actors of to-day to know that, in my provincial novitiate of

+four years and three months, I played no fewer than three hundred and

+forty-six different parts, with the advantage of repeating many of

+the Shakespearean characters with different leading actors.

+

+[Sidenote: A tribute from Got]

+

+I met and knew the great French comedian Edmond Got, for many years

+doyen of the _Comédie française_, in the far-off days of the Commune.

+The chief members of the troupe were here in exile for many months,

+when it was a privilege to entertain them.  It was strange to learn

+that Got had served in the French cavalry before he went upon the

+stage.  I append a gracious letter I received from him:

+

+

+"Je veux vous remercier de la gracieuse hospitalité que vous avez

+bien voulu nous offrir, et vous prier de mettre aux pieds de Mme.

+Bancroft l'hommage de mon respect et de ma très sincère admiration.

+

+"Quant à vous, monsieur, vous avez montré ce que peut obtenir de ses

+artistes un habile administrateur, doublé d'un parfait comédien,

+c'est-à-dire un ensemble que je souhaiterais rencontrer sur beaucoup

+de scènes parisiennes, et quelquefois sur la nôtre."

+

+

+Two often welcomed guests were the brothers Coquelin, _ainé_ and

+_cadet_.  The elder was a great actor, the younger a good actor and a

+{162} brilliant _diseur_.  Coquelin, as well as his distinguished

+comrade, Mounet-Sully, also his eminent compatriot, Clemenceau,

+belonged to "The Vintage."

+

+[Sidenote: Coquelin]

+

+My friendship for Coquelin was one of many years.  No stage-struck

+youth perhaps was more unlikely to succeed; but his teacher at the

+Conservatoire--the great Regnier--always argued that to make a really

+fine actor a man should have to fight against some physical drawback.

+

+Coquelin was the most outspoken admirer of my wife's acting.  He

+said: "her splendid vitality was contagious: her winning magnetism

+would fill the largest stage."  If my saying so does not detract from

+this praise, I may add that he showered encomiums in a Parisian

+journal on my performance in _The Dead Heart_, when I acted with

+Irving.  He once wrote to me:

+

+

+"CHER BANCROFT,--Vous avez un excellent théâtre que vous dirigez en

+maître--et en maître artiste--que pouvez-vous désirer de plus?  Ah,

+cette fois-ci, Bravo, et sans restriction.  Cet orchestre qu'on ne

+voit pas, cette rampe presque imperceptible, cette absence du manteau

+d'Arlequin, ce cadre contournant la scène!  Le spectateur est devant

+un tableau dont les personnages parlent et agissent.  C'est {163}

+parfait pour l'illusion et pour le plaisir artistique.  Votre

+ami,--C. COQUELIN."

+

+

+I have a valued souvenir of him in his autographed portrait as Cyrano.

+

+In his home his gaiety was delightful, while his love for his simple

+old mother was enshrined in his heart as it would seem always to be

+in that of a good Frenchman.

+

+The farewell words of Jules Claretie, the accomplished director of

+the _Théâtre français_, spoken by his grave, were indeed a tribute:

+"Coquelin was more than a stage king, he was a king of the stage, and

+has left a luminous trail in the heaven of art."

+

+I was one of the group of English actors who went to Paris with our

+sculptured offering to his genius which is enshrined in the historic

+foyer, where, at a luncheon, I had the temerity to make a short

+speech in indifferent French, urged to do so by Madame Bartet, a

+brilliant actress, who helped me to frame some of its sentences.

+

+And his poor brother.  It is painful to think of _cadet's_ bright

+nature being quenched by incurable melancholia: distressing indeed to

+imagine what his sufferings must have been before the evening when,

+in the middle of the play, he rushed through the stage door, clad

+{164} as an abbé, to be seen no more at his beloved _Comédie

+française_.  In an amusing account published in a leading Paris paper

+of a visit to see Robertson's comedy, _School_, he wrote:

+

+

+"Les décors sont executés de main de maître.  C'est le triomphe de

+l'exactitude.  Les comédiens sont excellents.  M. Bancroft joue dans

+la pièce un rôle de grand gommeux à monocle, et rien n'égale son

+élégance et sa stupidité.  Madame Bancroft joue la pensionnaire gaie:

+cette petite femme est un mélange d'Alphonsine et de Chaumont--gaie,

+pimpante, mordante et d'une adresse! ... C'est la _great attraction_

+du Théâtre de Haymarket.

+

+"Après je reviens rapidement en cab ("hansom") à mon hôtel, et je me

+demande en chemin pourquoi les cabs vont si vite?  C'est tout simple;

+les cabs vont très vite parce que les cochers les poussent derrière."

+

+

+No less an authority than David Garrick once said to an ambitious

+stage aspirant who sought his advice, that he might humbug the public

+in tragedy, but warned him not to try to do so in comedy, for that

+was a serious thing.  This opinion was borne out by Voltaire, who, in

+his anxiety not to imperil the success he had achieved in tragedy,

+when he wrote his first comedy did so anonymously.

+

+{165}

+

+[Sidenote: Joseph Jefferson]

+

+Having pleasant memories of two distinguished American actors--one a

+comedian, the other a tragedian--I will follow the high opinion held

+by the great Englishman of Thalia's children, and write first of

+Joseph Jefferson, incomparably the finest actor who has come to us

+from America, and who in his day made a powerful impression and won

+enduring fame by his performance of _Rip Van Winkle_ and his new

+rendering of Bob Acres in _The Rivals_, which he admitted was not

+free from liberties with Sheridan.  I can think of no actor who has

+been more beloved by audiences in his native land.  I must, of

+course, use that expression, although his grandfather, or perhaps

+great-grandfather, was British, and an actor under David Garrick.  He

+was, as it were, cradled on the stage.

+

+Jefferson might also have made fame and money by his brush.  His work

+was worthily hung upon the walls of the Royal Academy.  I cherish two

+of his paintings: one, a gift to my wife in remembrance of a happy

+day we all spent together on the Thames, a charming example of one of

+its many backwaters near Cookham; the other--a purchase--of

+Shakespeare's church at Stratford-on-Avon--both reminiscent of Corot.

+The former always suggests to me the misty Hebrides and an {166}

+appropriate background for the "Island that liked to be visited," in

+Barrie's _Mary Rose_.

+

+Gazing, I remember, at the old Maidenhead bridge at sunset, Jefferson

+murmured: "What a lovely place is this England of yours!  How I

+should just like to lift it in my arms and carry it right away."

+

+When Edwin Booth, the American tragedian, came over to play in

+London, Millais gave him a dinner, and invited the leading players of

+the day to make his acquaintance.  He was a fine actor; especially

+so, I thought, in _The Fool's Revenge_ and _Richelieu_.  When he drew

+the "awful circle" round the shrinking form of the young heroine and

+said to the villain of the play: "Set but a foot within that holy

+ground and on thy head--yea, though it wore a crown--I launch the

+curse of Rome!" you felt you were in the presence of high dramatic

+art.  The performance at the Lyceum Theatre, in which he and Irving

+alternated the parts of _Othello_ and _Iago_, created great interest.

+Booth was the better Othello; Irving the more attractive and less

+conventional Iago.

+

+Booth would now and then dine with us on a Sunday evening--to help

+him bear a sorrow which is, at such times, the actor's lot, and which

+an extract from a letter to a close friend will best explain:

+

+

+{167}

+

+"I am tired in body and brain.  The poor girl is passing away from

+us.  For weeks she has been failing rapidly; and the doctors tell me

+that she is dying.  You can imagine my condition: acting at random

+every evening, and nursing a half-insane, dying wife all day, and all

+night too, for that matter.  I am scarce sane myself.  I scribble

+this in haste at two in the morning, for I know not when I will have

+a chance to write sensibly again."

+

+

+The room in which Edwin Booth died--which I have visited--at the

+Players' Club in Grammercy Park, New York, founded by himself, and

+where he had been so beloved, was left untouched after he had passed

+away, and, I understand, so remains.

+

+When I was a lad of seventeen I went for a trip to New York, and

+during my stay I chanced to see Edward Askew Sothern--to give him his

+full name--play his world-renowned character, _Lord Dundreary_, for

+the first time in his life.  Some years later, when we met upon the

+stage, I gave him my copy of the original playbill, which, of course,

+had great interest for him.  The eccentric nobleman drew all

+playgoers for years in England as well as in America.  At the time I

+mention I saw Sothern and Jefferson act together in a round of old

+English comedies.  As young men they {168} made giant successes in

+individual parts--_Dundreary_ and _Rip Van Winkle_--the one a

+masterpiece of caricature, the other a veritable old Dutch master.

+

+Another of Sothern's chief parts, in those days, was _David Garrick_,

+of which he was the original representative, long before the play was

+taken over and prominently associated with the career of Charles

+Wyndham.

+

+Sothern was always kind to me, whether in my early days in the

+provinces or afterwards in town.  He was my guest at the first

+dinner-party I had the courage to give.  Among those who sat with him

+were Dion Boucicault, W. S. Gilbert, W. R. McConnell and Tom Hood.  I

+was a young host, not having struck twenty-six.  He was a fearless

+rider and hunting man.  Once, after he had met with a bad accident,

+following the staghounds, I went to see him at his charming old

+house, called The Cedars, in Kensington, and found his bed placed in

+the middle of the room.  The house, when I last saw it, had become a

+home for cripples.

+

+Sothern was the king of practical-jokers and would stop at nothing in

+the way of thought, time or money, to carry out his wild projects.  A

+poor game at its best, I have often thought in mature age; a selfish

+form of innings.

+

+He was an intense admirer of my wife's art.  {169} Only after he had

+passed away did it come to my knowledge that in some stage

+experiences, published in America, with the title _Birds of a

+Feather_, he gave his judgment of her.

+

+

+"Among the actresses I should certainly place Mrs. Bancroft and Mrs.

+Kendal in the foremost rank, their specialities being high comedy.

+Mrs. Bancroft I consider the best actress on the English stage; in

+fact, I might say on any stage."

+

+

+Sam Sothern, so long a pleasant actor on our stage, is dead, so his

+father's name and fame are now successfully held by his son, Edward,

+in America.

+

+[Sidenote: Dion Boucicault]

+

+One of the most remarkable of Victorians in stage-land was Dion

+Boucicault, father of my life-long little friend, "Dot," the

+accomplished husband of Irene Vanbrugh.  Boucicault produced his

+first comedy, _London Assurance_--a brilliant one in its day--about

+the date of my birth, when he himself was not more than twenty-one.

+He was a colossal worker as author, actor, and producer until 1890; a

+career as distinguished as it was lengthy.  His delightful Irish

+plays, _The Colleen Bawn_, _Arrah-na-Pogue_ and _The Shaughraun_,

+were among the joys of my youth.  I first met Boucicault {170} at

+Birmingham, where I was specially engaged to act his own part, the

+counsel for the defence in his drama _The Trial of Effie Deans_.  I

+learnt much from him at the one rehearsal he travelled from London to

+attend.  When about half way through the trial scene he took me aside

+and told me I was wrong in my treatment of the part, adding: "Let me

+rehearse the rest of the scene for you, and I am sure you will grasp

+my own idea of it directly."  I saw at once how right he was, how

+wrong I had been.  The result was a considerable success for me.  In

+the early days of our managerial career we produced a comedy of his,

+_How She Loves Him_--clever, but not one of the best.  A situation at

+the end of an act became very muddled, after being tried at rehearsal

+in several ways.  An idea struck me, which was a distinct

+improvement, but I hardly dared to interfere with so great an

+autocrat, kind as he had always been.  At last, in despair, I

+suggested to Boucicault that his original ending of the act was more

+effective than that he had changed it to.  He said: "What was that?"

+I then boldly explained my own idea as if it were his.  No doubt he

+saw through the strategy, but merely said: "Perhaps you're right,"

+and rewarded my shrewdness by adopting the suggestion.

+

+{171}

+

+When, years afterwards, I asked his consent to my making some

+alterations in _London Assurance_ and combining the fourth and fifth

+acts, he replied from Chicago: "Your shape of _London Assurance_ will

+be, like all you have done, unexceptionable, and I wish I could be

+there to taste your brew."

+

+[Sidenote: Rest and rust]

+

+Later on, when my wife was taking only a small part in some of our

+plays, he wrote:

+

+

+"MY DEAR FRIEND,--Will you feel offended with an old soldier if he

+intrudes on your plan of battle by a remark?

+

+"Why are the Bancrofts taking a back seat in their own theatre; they

+efface themselves!  Who made the establishment? with whom is it

+wholly identified? of what materials is it built?  There--it's out!

+

+"Tell Marie, with my love, that there is nothing so destructive as

+_rest_ if persisted in; you must alter the vowel--it becomes _rust_,

+and eats into life.  Hers is too precious to let her fool it away;

+she is looking splendid, and as fresh as a pat of butter.  Why don't

+you get up a version of _The Country Girl_?  Let her play Hoyden and

+you play Lord Foppington."

+

+

+Boucicault was a perfect host, a brilliant talker and sympathetic

+listener.  I first dined with him, when a young man, in the

+delightful {172} company, I remember well, of Charles Reade, J. M.

+Bellew and Edmund Yates.  On the menu was printed: "The wine will be

+tabled.  Every man his own butler.  Smiles and self-help."  And there

+was cognac of 1803 from the cellars of Napoleon III.  I had many

+years of unbroken friendship with Boucicault.  His final words to me

+were in a letter from America, following on an illness:

+

+

+"I doubt whether I shall cross the ocean again.  I am rusticating at

+Washington, having recovered some strength, and am waiting to know if

+my lease of life is out, or is to be renewed for another term.  I

+have had notice to quit, but am arguing the point ('just like you,' I

+think I hear you say), and nothing yet is settled between Nature and

+me."

+

+

+He was a hard worker, and said his epitaph should be: "Dion

+Boucicault; his first holiday."

+

+Where shall my pen wander next?

+

+[Sidenote: Montague and Coghlan]

+

+I can revive memories in the old--and tell a little to the young--of

+actors who became prominent as members of our companies at different

+times.  Let me try to do so.  First, there was Harry Montague.

+Without being an actor of high rank, he had a great value as a _jeune

+premier_.  He was what I heard an American describe as "so easy to

+look at."  His charm {173} of manner made him a special favourite

+everywhere, and he was the original matinee idol.  When in his

+company he had the gift of making you believe that he had thought but

+of you since your last parting, and, when he said "good-bye," that

+you would remain in his memory until you met again.

+

+He was in America, acting in _Diplomacy_, when he died suddenly; as

+young in years as he always seemed in heart; for he was but midway

+between thirty and forty, that age upon the border-land when one has

+to own to being no more young, while resenting for a little while

+that ambiguous epithet, "middle-aged."

+

+Charles Coghlan was an actor of a higher grade; gifted, cultivated

+and able: his acting as Alfred Evelyn and Charles Surface in our

+elaborate revivals of _Money_ and _The School for Scandal_ was of the

+highest character.  It may be interesting to note that when he first

+joined our company his salary was £9 a week; during his last

+engagement we paid him £60, which would be doubled now.  I asked him

+once to accompany me on a short holiday abroad, and found him a

+delightful companion.  This was soon after the siege of Paris, when

+many of the terrible stains left on the fair city's face were sadly

+visible.

+

+{174}

+

+Coghlan often lived outside London, at places like Elstree and

+Kingsbury, generally in picturesque old houses.  My wife and I rode

+out to one of them to luncheon.  For a time he drove a rather

+ramshackle four-in-hand, and, naturally, was in constant financial

+trouble.  He ended his career rather recklessly in America, at

+Galveston, and his body was washed out to sea from the catacombs by a

+flood.  It was afterwards recovered and reburied.

+

+The father of the happily present Dion and Donald Calthrop, a

+connection of Lord Alverstone, John Clayton (Calthrop) was also a

+fine actor.  His performance in _All for Her_ was of a high order,

+and he did some admirable work with Irving at the Lyceum.  I also

+recall a remarkable piece of acting on his part in a play, adapted

+from the French, in which he appeared as a father whose brain was

+turned by his having accidentally shot his little son.  Under our

+flag, he only acted in _Diplomacy_ and _Caste_.  He was then growing

+fat, and never knew of a strong wish I had to revive the _Merry Wives

+of Windsor_, with himself as Falstaff.  He was otherwise engaged,

+unfortunately.  This was when that brilliant actress Mrs. John Wood

+was with us, to play with my wife the two Merry Wives, supported by

+myself as the jealous Mr. Ford--I always found the portrayal {175} of

+jealousy very amusing--and a troupe of able and suitable comedians.

+

+Clayton gave remarkable performances in the joyous comedies by Pinero

+at the Court Theatre.  He died young.

+

+[Sidenote: Arthur Cecil]

+

+Arthur Cecil comes next to my mind: an amiable gentleman and

+companion.  It was I who, when he was "wobbling," as he did on every

+subject, induced him to go on the professional stage.  He seemed to

+me to pass a large slice of his life in the effort--or want of

+effort--to make up his mind on trivial things, and so wasted at least

+one half of it.

+

+At the dress rehearsal of _Diplomacy_--in which he gave a fine

+performance of Baron Stein--he appeared with a totally different

+make-up in each act.  They were all clever and appropriate, but we,

+not he, had to decide for him which was to be finally adopted.  He

+was very devoted to what Sir James Barrie christened "Little Mary."

+On one occasion, after dining at the Garrick Club, before his

+evening's work, having finished his meal with a double helping of

+orange tart, he was leaving the coffee-room, when he saw a friend

+seated near the door just beginning his dinner.  Cecil sat down

+opposite to him for a few minutes to exchange greetings; he became so

+restless and agitated at the sight of a dish of stewed eels that at

+last he dug {176} a fork into a mouthful, saying, "I must," and so

+wound up his meal.  There are several similar stories extant, equally

+amazing, equally true.

+

+[Sidenote: Henry Kemble]

+

+Our old and staunch friend, Henry Kemble, a descendant of the

+illustrious stage family whose name he bore, was for years a valued

+member of our company; a capable but restricted actor, from his

+peculiarity of diction.  My wife christened him "The Beetle," owing

+to a large brown Inverness cape he wore at night.  Many are the

+amusing stories told of him.  He fought the income tax strenuously,

+and on one occasion, being brought to bay, told the collector that he

+belonged to a precarious profession, and begged that Her Majesty

+might be asked not to look upon him as a source of income!

+

+Kemble was well up in Shakespeare, and had a greater knowledge of the

+Bible than any actor I have known, except one.

+

+This reminds me of a visit paid, at his instigation, on a New Year's

+Eve, in the company of his close friend, Arthur Cecil, to a midnight

+service held in one of the big churches.  They entered reverently,

+just before the hour, and were about to kneel, when a verger touched

+Kemble on the shoulder and said: "I beg your pardon, gentlemen, but

+this is a service being held for fallen women."

+

+{177}

+

+Kemble suddenly made up his mind to retire from the stage and end his

+days in Jersey, not in a cloistered cathedral city, as he said would

+be the case.  He, unfortunately, invested his savings in an annuity,

+as he only lived a few months after doing so.  He came to see my

+wife, to whom he was much attached, to say good-bye, and brought her

+some fine Waterford glass as a farewell gift.  When fatally ill, his

+last words were written to her on a telegraph form: "All over, dear,

+dear Lady B.  Blessings on you all.  Beetle."  The doctor who

+attended him transcribed the words, and sent my wife the

+tremblingly-written farewell he had penned himself--a touching and

+kind act.

+

+Another friend and comrade of those days was the humorous Charles

+Brookfield, son of Canon Brookfield, a distinguished preacher.  My

+wife and I gave the young undergraduate what was practically his

+first engagement, and he remained a popular member of our company

+during the whole of our career at the Haymarket.  Several of his

+performances showed marked ability, notably in Sardou's play,

+_Odette_, and Pinero's comedy, _Lords and Commons_.  Many amusing

+stories are attributed to him.  Against the accuracy of one of them I

+must rebel.  It ran in this way: That at a time when Charles Wyndham

+was appearing {178} in his favourite part of David Garrick, for a

+run, he was sitting in the club named after the great actor, just

+under one of his several portraits there, when Brookfield went up to

+Wyndham and said: "It really seems quite surprising, you grow more

+like Garrick every day."  Wyndham gave a delighted smile; when

+Brookfield continued, in his peculiar cynical way: "Yes, every day,

+but less like him every night."  A good story; but, unfortunately,

+Brookfield was never a member of the Garrick Club.

+

+[Sidenote: Charles Brookfield]

+

+I think it was Brookfield who, when a friend asked his advice, saying

+that a member of a club they frequented having called him a "mangy

+ass," whether he should appeal to the committee or consult a

+solicitor, quietly told him he thought it a case for a vet to decide.

+

+He wrote various amusing comedies, and, later on, was appointed by

+the Lord Chamberlain to be joint examiner of plays.

+

+Brookfield had his serious side, and wrote us the following letter,

+affectionately signed, when we retired from management:

+

+

+"The sadness I feel at the prospect of never again working under your

+management is far too genuine for me to endeavour to convey it {179}

+by any conventional expressions of regret.  Although I have always

+appreciated your unvarying goodness to me, it is only by the

+depression of spirits and general apathy which I now experience, that

+I recognise how much my enjoyment of my profession was affected by

+the kind auspices under which I had the good fortune to practise it."

+

+

+

+

+{180}

+

+IX

+

+THE STAGE

+

+II

+

+"Pity it is that the animated graces of the player can live no longer

+than the instant breath and motion that presents them, or at best can

+but faintly glimmer through the memory of a few surviving spectators."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Henry Irving]

+

+I will now write of the man who was for many years the chief of the

+English stage, Henry Irving.  He was a born leader and had the

+magnetism which compels the affection of his comrades; he knew that

+to be well served meant first to be well beloved.  Although denied

+the advantages of early education, Irving had the learning which

+colleges may fail to teach; and in his later years would have graced,

+in manner and in aspect, any position in life.  This personal

+attribute came to him gradually, when, as it were, he had recreated

+himself.  Truth to tell, in the early part of his career he had none

+of it.  In those distant days there was a strong smack of the country

+actor in his appearance, and a suggestion of a {181} type

+immortalised by Dickens in Mr. Lenville and Mr. Folair.

+

+We soon became friends and remained so throughout his remarkable

+career--the most remarkable in many respects that ever befell an

+actor.  He told me an interesting incident of his early life.  He was

+engaged, in the summer of 1867, to act in Paris.  The enterprise

+proved a failure.  The little troupe of players was disbanded and

+returned to London, with the exception of Irving, who, finding

+himself abroad for the first time, lingered in the bright city for a

+couple of months.  He lived in a garret on a few francs a day, and

+paid nightly visits to the cheap parts of the theatre.  Although he

+had no knowledge of the language, he was all the while studying the

+art of acting in its different grades and kinds.

+

+When, in later years, he entertained in his princely fashion eminent

+foreign artists, in answer to compliments showered upon him in

+French, he would, without the slightest affectation--a failing from

+which he was free--answer simply: "I am sure all you are saying is

+very kind, but I don't understand a word of it."

+

+Soon after his success as Digby Grant in James Albery's comedy, _Two

+Roses_, shortly before what proved to be the turning-point in his

+career--his becoming a member of the {182} Lyceum company, then under

+the Bateman management--I had occasion to see a well-known dramatic

+agent, who, as I was leaving his office, said: "Oh, by the way, would

+Henry Irving be of use to you next season?  I have reason to believe

+he would welcome such a change."  The question was startling.  I

+replied that I should be delighted, but feared it would be difficult,

+as Hare, Coghlan and myself would be in his way.  How possible it is

+that a different answer might have influenced future events in

+theatre-land!  Then came his memorable performance in _The Bells_,

+which gave him fame in a single night, followed by other early

+triumphs, _Charles the First_ and _Hamlet_.

+

+I once saw Irving on horseback, cantering in the Row on a Sunday

+afternoon: it was a singular experience.  His companion was George

+Critchett, who gave up his practice one day in the week to hunt

+instead, and who was as much at home on a horse as Irving was plainly

+uncomfortable.

+

+Later on, Irving was speaking to me of the success of one of our

+plays.  I answered that in my belief the same could be achieved at

+the Lyceum (the theatre was not yet under his own management), if

+money were freely and wisely spent.  But wide is the difference {183}

+between spending and wasting.  While the disasters which darkened his

+brilliant reign were sometimes, it must be conceded, the result of

+errors of judgment in the choice of plays, had he been in partnership

+with a capable comrade, to whose guidance he would sometimes have

+submitted, he might have realised a fortune, instead of allowing

+several to pass like water through his hands.  As an artistic asset,

+Irving was often wasted and thrown away.

+

+Let me turn for a moment from the stage side of this extraordinary

+man.

+

+[Sidenote: A toy theatre]

+

+In the gloaming of a Christmas Day, full forty years ago, my wife and

+I were sitting alone, when, to our amazement, Irving was announced.

+It was a bolt from the blue.  After a pleasant talk, we asked him who

+was to have the pleasure of giving him his pudding and mince-pie.  He

+answered that he should be all alone in Grafton Street with his dog.

+We told him that ourselves and our son George, then a small boy,

+comprised our party, and begged him to join us.  Irving gladly said

+he would.  At the time he was acting in _The Corsican Brothers_, of

+which famous melodrama Master George had his own version in his

+little model theatre, with an elaborate scene of the duel in the

+snow, represented by masses of salt smuggled from the kitchen; and

+this, {184} with managerial pride, he told Irving he would act before

+him after dinner.  To an audience of three the performance was

+solemnly gone through, being subjected to the criticisms, seriously

+pronounced and respectfully received, of the great man.  I seem to

+hear his voice crying out: "Light not strong enough on the prompt

+side, my boy."  For years a broken blade of one of the rapiers used

+in the duel at the Lyceum, given to him by Irving, was among the

+boy's proud possessions.  I daresay he has it still.  A memorable

+Christmas evening!

+

+The idea occurred to me to give a supper to Irving before his first

+visit to America in 1883, and to let it have a distinctive character

+by inviting none but actors.  Feeling that nowhere could be it so

+appropriately given as in the Garrick Club, I wrote to my

+fellow-members of the Committee to ask if, in the special

+circumstances, it might take place in the dining-room.  Greatly to my

+delight, my request was granted, with the remark, that it was "an

+honour to the Club."  The attractive room, so suitable for the

+purpose, its walls being lined with the portraits of those whose

+names recall all that is famous in the great past of our stage, was

+arranged to accommodate a party of a hundred, of whom there are but

+very few {185} survivors.  A humorous drawing of a supposed wind-up

+to the supper--Irving, Toole and myself staggering home,

+arm-in-arm--was among the early successes of Phil May.  He made two

+copies of it.  One of the three belonged to King Edward, which I

+afterwards saw at Sandringham, the others are owned by Pinero and

+myself.

+

+In acknowledgment of a little present I sent Irving at this time he

+wrote:

+

+

+"I shall wear your gift--and a rare one it is--as I wear you, the

+giver, in my heart.  My regard for you is not a fading one.  In this

+world there is not too much fair friendship, is there?  And I hope it

+is a gratification to you--it is to me, old friend--to know that we

+can count alike upon a friend in sorrow and in gladness."

+

+

+[Sidenote: "The Dead Heart"]

+

+When Irving contemplated a production of _The Dead Heart_, he

+flattered me by saying that unless I appeared with him as the Abbé

+Latour he would not carry out the idea.  I was then free from

+management, and tried to persuade him to let me undertake the part as

+a labour of love, but he would not listen.  After a long

+talk--neither of us, I remember it all so well, looking at the other,

+but each gazing separately at different angles into Bond Street {186}

+from the windows of the rooms he so long occupied at the corner of

+Grafton Street--he said that I must content him by being specially

+engaged, on terms which soon were settled.

+

+It was a strange experience to re-enter a theatre to serve instead of

+to govern; and in one where the policy was so different.  My wife and

+I had so often been content to choose plays without regard to

+ourselves: the policy of the Lyceum was upon another plane.  _The

+Dead Heart_ is a story of the French Revolution, on the lines of _A

+Tale of Two Cities_.  The best scene in the play was between Irving

+and myself, in which we fought a duel to the death.  A clever drawing

+of the scene--I regret failing to secure it when it was sold at

+Christie's--was made by Bernard Partridge.  From all I have heard

+said of it, the fight must have been well done--real, brief, and

+determined.  It was a grim business, in the sombre moonlit room, and

+forcibly gave the impression that one of the two combatants would not

+leave it alive.  I confess that I had not the courage of Terriss, who

+found himself in a similar position with Irving when they fought a

+duel in _The Corsican Brothers_, and boldly attacked his chief by

+suggesting that a little of the limelight might fall on his side of

+the stage, as Nature was impartial.

+

+{187}

+

+[Sidenote: A tribute from Irving]

+

+One night during the hundred and sixty on which _The Dead Heart_ was

+acted, when we had acknowledged the applause which followed the duel,

+Irving put his arm round me as we walked up the stage together, and

+said: "What a big name you might have made for yourself had you never

+come across those Robertson plays!  What a pity, for your own sake;

+for no actor can be remembered long who does not appear in the

+classical drama."

+

+I fear egotism is getting the better of me.  Irving once said:

+

+

+"One point must strike all in connection with Bancroft's

+career--before he left the Haymarket, at the age of forty-four, he

+was the senior theatrical manager of London.  In conjunction with

+that gifted lady who was the genius of English comedy, he popularised

+a system of management which has dominated our stage ever since, and

+the principle of which may be described as the harmony of realism and

+art."

+

+

+It is to be much regretted that no really satisfactory portrait of

+Irving exists.  The one painted by Millais, and given by him to the

+Garrick Club in 1884, is a beautiful work of art, but, to my mind,

+somewhat effeminate in its {188} beauty.  A portrait by Sargent,

+painted when Irving was fifty, and exhibited at the Royal Academy in

+1888, was amazingly clever, but a somewhat painful likeness.  The

+great painter showed something in the great actor--as he so often

+does in his sitters--which his gifted and searching eyes could not

+help seeing, and which, once having been shown, you cannot afterwards

+help seeing always.  Irving hated the portrait, and when it was taken

+from the walls of the Academy it was never seen again.  I heard

+Irving, at my table, tell Sir Edward Poynter that he hid it away in a

+garret, and when he left the old Grafton Street chambers, his

+solitary home for many years, he hacked the canvas to shreds with a

+knife.  What a treasure lost!

+

+Irving's hospitality was unbounded.  At one of his many parties I

+recollect his saying to Frank Lockwood, when he was

+Solicitor-General: "The fortunate actor is the actor who works hard."

+He then pointed across the table to me, and added: "Look at that

+fellow, and remember what hard work meant in his case.  'B' is the

+only actor since Garrick who made a fortune purely by management of

+his own theatre--I mean without the aid of provincial tours and

+visits to America."  After a pause he continued: "But he has paid the

+{189} penalty of leaving his best work as an actor undone."

+

+[Sidenote: Knighthood]

+

+It will ever be remembered that Henry Irving was the first actor to

+receive from his Sovereign the honour of State recognition: so

+placing his calling on a level with the rest, no more to be looked at

+askance, but recognised as leading to a share of the distinctions

+enjoyed by his fellow-men.

+

+For a year or more before the end it was manifest to those who loved

+him that the sword had worn out the scabbard--it hung so listlessly

+by his side.  This I strongly realised the last time he sat at our

+table, and was struck by his plaintive manner to my wife and to me.

+He then had a flat in Stratton Street, and left us at midnight,

+saying that he must be home before the lift ceased running or he

+would have to be carried upstairs.

+

+In affectionate remembrance I close my tribute to Henry Irving.  His

+remarkable career has taken its place in the history of his country,

+for he was one of the leaders of men who earned the privilege, given

+to but few, to become the property of the world.

+

+It may also be truly said of Irving, as of one of the most

+distinguished of his predecessors: "He who has done a single thing

+that others never forget, and feel ennobled whenever they {190} think

+of, need not regret his having been, and may throw aside this fleshly

+coil like any other worn-out part, grateful and contented."

+

+Although I knew and loved them from their boyhood, I find it

+difficult to write of Irving's sons, being, as they were, so

+overpowered by the dominant personality of the father.

+

+[Sidenote: "H.B." and Laurence]

+

+They both went to Marlborough.  "H.B." afterwards to New College,

+Oxford.  Laurence left school for Paris, to perfect his knowledge of

+French, his ambition and inclination being the diplomatic service.

+He then passed some three years in Russia, acquiring mastery of the

+difficult language.  Unhappily, his wished-for career had to be

+abandoned for want of the imperative funds.  "H.B." was called to the

+Bar, but lacked the necessary patience, and so abandoned a

+profession, as was thought by many competent judges, in which he was

+eminently qualified to take a high position; while his "hobby" until

+the end was criminology, and he wrote remarkable books on that

+fascinating subject.

+

+Both sons drifted on to the stage.  Before that step was taken I had

+seen "H.B." at Oxford give a striking performance, for one so young,

+of _King John_.

+

+Later on, I had no wish to see him act a long round of his father's

+old parts.

+

+{191}

+

+Towards the end of the War he left his work at the Savoy Theatre and

+devoted himself to hard work in the Intelligence Department at the

+Admiralty, which proved to be a great strain upon him.  We met

+frequently at that time, by appointment, at the Athenæum, hard by,

+and had luncheon together, as he did with his close friend, E. V.

+Lucas.  It was manifest then that his fatal illness had begun.

+

+Laurence was a more frequent guest of ours than Harry, especially at

+Christmas time, having no children to command his presence at home;

+he was not so trammelled on the stage as his brother; it was easier

+for him to escape from perpetual reminders.  The performances I

+remember best on his part are his high-class acting in _Typhoon_ and

+the admirable drawing of a character he played in _The Incubus_, who

+is, in point of fact, his mistress and has become sadly in the way.

+My wife and I saw the play together from a stage box, and were much

+amused at the end of it by a conversation between what we took to be

+a young married couple in the stalls, just beneath us.

+

+The girl said: "Good play, isn't it?"  The man answered: "Capital.

+I've only one fault to find with it."  "What's that?"  "Title."

+"Title, why it's a perfect title."  The man: "Rotten title--it's

+nothing about an incubus." {192} The girl: "It's all about an

+incubus."  The man: "The thing was never once mentioned."  The girl,

+in amazement: "What is an incubus?"  The man: "Why, one of those

+things in which they hatch chickens."

+

+The sons died at an age that is not closed to hope and promise, which

+now must be handed on to another generation--Laurence and Elizabeth,

+the children of Harry Irving, both gifted with good looks and charm.

+The boy distinguished himself during the War in the Air Force and now

+shows promise as a painter.  My love descends to them.

+

+[Sidenote: J. L. Toole]

+

+Extremes meet; they always do and always will.  The closest friend

+Henry Irving had was J. L. Toole.  The strong affection between the

+two men, which lasted until the end, began when Toole was making a

+name on the stage in Edinburgh and Irving only a beginner.  The

+famous comedian belonged, as it were, to "the City," and was educated

+at the City of London School.  He was a close second to Sothern in

+inventing practical jokes, generally harmless, and would take as

+infinite pains to carry them through.  I remember a silly story he

+loved to tell, how, after a bad baccarat night at Aix-les-Bains, he

+went to the bank to draw money on his letter of credit.  Tapping at

+the _guichet_, he inquired of the clerk in feeble, {193} broken

+English how much the bank would advance upon a gold-headed cane which

+he carried.  As might be expected, the little window was slammed in

+his face.  Nothing daunted, Toole made his way to the market-place

+hard by, and bought from various stalls some small fish, a bunch of

+carrots, and a child's toy; he then returned to the bank and arranged

+his purchases on the counter, with the addition of his watch, a

+half-franc piece and a penknife.  When all was ready he again tapped

+at the window, and, in a tremulous voice, implored the clerk to

+accept these offerings in pledge for the small sum needed to save him

+from starvation.  The clerk indignantly requested Toole to leave the

+establishment, explaining, in the best English at his command, that

+the bank only made advances upon letters of credit.  At the

+last-named word Toole broke into smiles, and, producing his letter of

+credit, handed it to the astonished clerk, with the explanation that

+he would have offered it at first had he thought the bank cared about

+it, but the porter at his hotel had emphatically told him the bankers

+of Aix preferred fish.

+

+Toole was never the same after the painful death of his son: he

+became more and more a slave to "late hours," but was still a

+delightful, {194} buoyant companion, beloved by his comrades and

+friends.

+

+Wilson Barrett was a good actor of the robust type.  He had an

+adventurous career: sometimes high on the wave of success, at others

+deep down in the trough of the sea of failure, but always strictly

+honourable.  At the old Princess's Theatre, in Oxford Street, he made

+large sums by good dramas like _The Silver King_ and _The Lights of

+London_, and lost them through the failures of ambitious efforts,

+which included a youthful _Hamlet_, to be wiped out in turn by the

+enormous success of _The Sign of the Cross_, a religious drama that

+appealed to a large public which rarely entered theatres.  The play

+provoked Bernard Shaw to say that Wilson Barrett could always bring

+down the house with a hymn, and had so evident a desire to personate

+the Messiah that we might depend upon seeing him crucified yet.

+

+[Sidenote: William Terriss]

+

+A restless, untamable spirit was born in William Terriss.  He tried

+various callings before settling down to the one for which he was so

+eminently fitted.  He embarked in the mercantile marine, but the

+craze only lasted a fortnight.  Then came tea-planting in China.  The

+next experiment was made in medicine, to be followed by an attack

+upon engineering.  {195} He then positively bluffed me into giving

+him an engagement, and made his appearance on the stage.  Suddenly he

+decided to go sheep farming in the Falkland Islands.  He made an

+early marriage, and his beloved Ellaline was born there.  Of course

+he soon came back; returned to and left the stage again; next to

+Kentucky to try horse-breeding.  Another failure brought him to his

+senses.  Five years after he had first adopted the stage he was an

+actor in earnest and became one of its greatest favourites.

+

+His career was chiefly identified with the Lyceum and the Adelphi;

+but he first became prominent by his acting as Thornhill in _Olivia_,

+under Hare's management at the Court Theatre.  His bright, breezy

+nature was a tonic, and, like his daughter and her husband, Seymour

+Hicks, he carried sunshine about with him and shed it on all he met.

+He was as brave as a lion and as graceful as a panther.

+

+Alas! one Saturday evening the town was horrified as the tragic news

+quickly spread that Terriss had been fatally stabbed by a malignant

+madman as he was entering the Adelphi Theatre to prepare for his

+evening's work.  At his funeral there was an extraordinary

+manifestation of public sympathy.

+

+Lionel Monckton told me a curious story of {196} how when he reached

+home he found that a clock which Terriss gave him had stopped at the

+hour of the murder.

+

+However briefly, I must record grateful thanks for past enjoyment

+given us by Corney Grain, as great a master in his branch of art as

+that friend of my youth, John Parry.  His odd name was often wrongly

+thought to be assumed, as was that of a dramatist of those days,

+Stirling Coyne, who rejoiced in the nickname of "Filthy Lucre."

+

+I always remember the stifled laughter of my wife and Corney Grain,

+who was present with ourselves at a dinner party, when a

+distinguished foreigner, accredited by Spain to the Court of St.

+James, was announced by a nervous manservant as the "Spanish

+Ham..."--a long pause being followed by a trembling sotto

+voce--"bassador."

+

+[Sidenote: "Gee Gee" and "Wee Gee"]

+

+George Grossmith, the elder--"Gee Gee"--is of course best remembered

+by his long connection with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.  To

+their great success he contributed a share of which he was justly

+proud.  After he left the Savoy Theatre he toured as an entertainer,

+with excellent financial results, both here and from two visits to

+the United States.  When he returned for the second time, I remember

+his saying to me, in his funny, {197} plaintive way: "Do you know, my

+dear 'B,' things are really very sad.  The first time I came back

+from America I found myself spoken of as 'Weedon Grossmith's

+brother,' and now, after my second visit, I am only 'George

+Grossmith's father.'"

+

+I have always looked upon Weedon Grossmith--"Wee Gee"--as an

+admirable actor, and his death as bringing a personal loss, having

+valued his friendship and his company.  On the stage I best remember

+him in Pinero's comedies, _The Cabinet Minister_ and _The Amazons_,

+in _A Pantomime Rehearsal_, and, towards the end of his career, in a

+remarkable performance of a demented odd creature, who believed

+himself to be the great Napoleon.  My wife was so impressed by the

+acting that she wrote to our little friend about it in a way which

+delighted him beyond words.  Weedon was educated as a painter, and

+became an exhibitor at the Academy and other galleries.  I have two

+charming examples from his brush, which I bought at Christie's.

+

+The Great War dealt severe blows to the stage, many a young life of

+promise being taken.  The toll was heavy; but they are honoured

+always by their comrades and remembered for their valour, as are

+those who served so bravely and survived.  During those {198}

+terrible years the stage also lost E. S. Willard, Lewis Waller,

+Herbert Tree, William Kendal and George Alexander--all men in the

+front rank; every one hard to replace.

+

+I associate Willard with his success in _The Silver King_, and

+afterwards in Henry Arthur Jones's plays, _The Middleman_ and

+_Judah_.  In these he had a prosperous career through the United

+States--as in the part in which I best remember him--the old man in

+Barrie's comedy, _The Professor's Love Story_, a charming piece of

+artistic work.  He owed a modest fortune to the appreciation he met

+with in America.

+

+Willard had an ambition to build a theatre at the top of Lower Regent

+Street, where the County Fire Office, so long a London landmark,

+stood; but, granting the site to have been available, it had no

+depth: the theatre could only have been erected on a part of the

+Regent Palace Hotel, and reached by burrowing under the road--so far

+as my architectural knowledge serves me.  With the demolition of the

+County Fire Office the last fragment of the old colonnade

+disappeared, which, I remember, in my boyhood extended on both sides

+of the Quadrant from the Circus to Vigo Street.

+

+Early retirement from management prevented intimacy with several

+prominent actors, who otherwise might have been associated {199} with

+our work.  For instance, Lewis Waller was only once our guest, as

+things happened.  Of his acting, my wife and I were among the warm

+admirers.  The first play in which he commanded our attention was

+_The Profligate_, which Pinero wrote for Hare when his management of

+the Garrick Theatre began.  One recalls with admiration his acting as

+Hotspur, Brutus, Faulconbridge, and King Henry V.

+

+I am sorry I did not know him better, or see more of him.  He was a

+great loss to the stage he loved.

+

+[Sidenote: Too many windows]

+

+It was, naturally, a satisfaction to my wife, as to me, when Herbert

+Tree became our successor at the Haymarket.  We felt the future of

+the theatre to be secure for a while, and that its traditions would

+be worthily maintained.  He did all sorts of good work there, ranging

+from _Hamlet_ and _Henry V_ to _The Dancing Girl_ and _Trilby_, until

+he was responsible for building its beautiful opposite neighbour, the

+present His Majesty's Theatre, where he migrated.  During its

+erection I was walking one day on the opposite side with Comyns Carr,

+who asked me what I thought of it.  He seemed to be greatly amused by

+my answer: "Too many windows to clean."

+

+Good fortune continued to smile upon the smaller house under the

+joint management of {200} Frederick Harrison and Cyril Maude.  Much

+of its deserved success was due, in those days, to the art of

+Winifred Emery, which was then approaching its best, before cruel

+disease came in the plenitude of her powers and robbed her of that

+very front position which is reached by so few, and which I think she

+would surely have attained in her maturity.

+

+Herbert Tree was for many years a power and an authority upon our

+stage: he rendered its alluring profession great service.  I still

+trust in the hope that successors may be found with something of his

+splendid courage, his boundless imagination, to follow in his firmest

+footsteps and leave as memorable marks.

+

+In private life he was an amusing creature, a delightful companion, a

+perfect host.  It was once said of him, not altogether without truth,

+that he walked in a dream, talked in a dream, ate in a dream, drank

+in a dream, smoked in a dream, and acted in a dream.

+

+He had enormous energy in starting things, but less strength in

+carrying his ideas through: he grew tired quickly through his love of

+change.

+

+I will end with a comic note, for which I am indebted to Pinero.  It

+so happened that the names of Arthur Pinero and Herbert Tree were

+announced for knighthood in the same Honours {201} List.  A man who

+was an old friend of both wrote a letter of felicitation to each of

+them; but unfortunately he put his letters into the wrong envelopes.

+The one Pinero received was as follows: "My dear Tree.  Hearty

+congratulations.  You ought to have had it long ago.  But why

+Pinero?"  The distinguished dramatist sent this letter to the

+distinguished actor with the necessary explanation, and in return had

+from him the note intended for himself.  This was it: "My dear

+Pinero.  Hearty congratulations.  You ought to have had it long ago.

+But why Tree?"

+

+[Sidenote: The Kendals]

+

+"Will" Kendal, until he "passed into the night," chanced to be my

+oldest theatrical friend.  We first met at Birmingham, in our early

+struggling days, and not again until he had planted his feet firmly

+at the Haymarket.  Mrs. Kendal I knew in the following year, when we

+acted together in the country.  She was Madge Robertson then, and a

+"flapper" of fifteen, already foreshadowing her brilliant future.

+After the Kendals married, my wife and I had the great advantage of

+their services in our company for two seasons.  When, later on, their

+successful partnership with Hare came to an end, they travelled much

+in America, where they became special favourites and amassed a large

+fortune.

+

+{202}

+

+Kendal was an actor in the foremost rank, being trained by some years

+of hard work in the provincial "stock companies," as we of the "old

+brigade" all were.  There were certain parts he played to perfection.

+I never saw his equal as Captain Absolute in _The Rivals_, young

+Marlow in _She Stoops to Conquer_, and Charles Courtly in _London

+Assurance_.

+

+It must be full five and forty years since George Alexander called

+upon my wife one Sunday afternoon with a letter of introduction from

+our dear friend, Sir Morell Mackenzie.  We were sorry, for all our

+sakes, that we could only offer him encouragement.  He had much in

+his favour; was acting with a travelling company in the Robertson

+comedies, and warmly recommended for a London engagement, which he

+soon received from Irving at the Lyceum.  Many pleasant tributes from

+Ellen Terry were paid to him during his stay there, and he rendered

+yeoman service to his chief.  Alexander's long and successful

+management of the St. James's Theatre was beyond reproach, and for

+years gave stability to the stage and good repute to those who worked

+with him.  He was a staunch friend to English dramatists and produced

+plays written by Arthur Pinero, Henry Arthur Jones, Alfred Sutro,

+Anthony Hope, Claude Carton, Haddon Chambers, Louis {203} Parker,

+Stephen Phillips, Oscar Wilde, and Henry James: a worthy record.

+

+[Sidenote: "Mrs. Tanqueray"]

+

+The finest feather in Alexander's managerial cap--his _panache_--was

+the production of Pinero's great play, _The Second Mrs. Tanqueray_.

+He alone had the courage--a quality most essential in theatrical

+enterprise--to risk what thirty years ago was a dangerous

+undertaking, the truth and humanity of the play, which has kept it

+vigorously alive, being at the time of its production lost sight of

+in the sensation caused by the selection of such a daring scheme and

+subject for the stage.  That fears existed for the success of the

+play on that score may now excite wonder in the minds of the present

+advanced generation.

+

+The part of Paula has been a vehicle for the widely differing genius

+and conceptions of so many eminent actresses--Mrs. Patrick Campbell,

+Duse, Jane Hading, Mrs. Kendal, Miss Gladys Cooper, and numerous

+other distinguished foreigners--that special interest attaches to the

+curious incidents surrounding the first production of the play and

+the original casting of the heroine.

+

+The play was in the first instance offered to Hare, who very

+decidedly refused it.  On Hare's rejection, it was offered to

+Alexander, who, though greatly impressed by its strength, {204} also,

+but reluctantly, declined it.  Pinero then proposed to Alexander that

+he should do the play at a _matinée_, without being asked for any

+author's fee.  This proposal was agreed to; and the play was

+announced for a series of morning performances.  It happened,

+however, that Alexander's forthcoming production was _Liberty Hall_,

+a comedy written by Claude Carton, who, not unnaturally, represented

+to Alexander that the performances of _The Second Mrs. Tanqueray_ in

+the afternoons might militate against the success of the regular

+evening bill.  (An odd little coincidence is that one of the

+characters in _Liberty Hall_ was originally named Tanqueray--a name

+which Carton, out of consideration for Pinero, changed to Harringay.)

+Alexander thereupon undertook that, if Pinero would release him from

+his agreement to give morning performances of _The Second Mrs.

+Tanqueray_, he would at the earliest opportunity put the play into

+the evening bill.  In these circumstances the play was produced

+towards the end of the season of 1893.

+

+[Sidenote: The first Paula]

+

+In the ordinary course the original Paula would have been Winifred

+Emery, but the expected arrival of one of her daughters robbed her of

+the chance.  The choice at the time was very limited, actresses of

+prominence all being engaged.  It happened, however, {205} that at

+the Adelphi a young and handsome lady of no long stage experience,

+named Mrs. Patrick Campbell, was acting in a drama by G. R. Sims.

+There were doubts whether the methods of an actress who had graduated

+at the Adelphi were suitable to the St. James's, but Pinero suggested

+to Alexander that they should see what impression she produced upon

+them in a talk with her in a room.  The interview took place, and

+after it Pinero told Alexander that, if she would act on the stage as

+she talked in his office, he felt pretty sure that she was the woman

+for the part.  But her engagement was dependent on her release by the

+management of the Adelphi.  Word promptly came that this was refused,

+and once more the author of the play and the manager of the St.

+James's were up to their necks in difficulties.  Pinero then proposed

+to Alexander that he should wind up the matter by engaging Miss

+Elizabeth Robins, who had lately made a striking success in Ibsen's

+_Hedda Gabler_, and he proceeded to do so.

+

+As was the custom then, the date and hour were fixed for the author

+to read his play to the actors and actresses who were to represent

+it.  Alexander was engaged to have luncheon that day in Portland

+Place, and Pinero arranged to call for him on his way to the theatre.

+As {206} he drove up in a hansom, Alexander came out of the house in

+a state of great excitement, crying out: "We can get Mrs. Campbell!"

+

+It appeared that he had only just heard from her that, thanks to

+pressure put upon them by G. R. Sims, the managers of the Adelphi had

+consented to release her.  On reaching the St. James's Theatre,

+Pinero said to Alexander: "Look here; this is your job.  I will go

+for a walk in St. James's Park and come back in half an hour to read

+my play either to Miss Robins or Mrs. Campbell, as it may turn out."

+

+Alexander went to his room, rang the bell, asked if Miss Robins had

+arrived, and on learning that she was in the theatre requested her to

+come and see him.  She soon entered, holding the book of the play.

+Alexander told her that an unexpected condition of things had arisen.

+He would put his cards on the table.  Did Miss Robins know that the

+part of Paula had been first offered to Mrs. Campbell, who, in fact,

+had been engaged to play it?  He was answered: "Yes."  Alexander then

+said: "She has been set free, and is in the theatre.  What am I to

+do?"

+

+Pointing to the book in her hand, Miss Robins replied: "Mr.

+Alexander, this is the chance of my life.  It is also the chance of

+{207} Mrs. Campbell's life.  She is a friend of mine, and I will not

+take the chance from her."

+

+It was, in my opinion, a great mistake on Alexander's part to add the

+cares of the London County Council to the management of an important

+theatre.  The strain, I have no doubt, shortened his life, which was

+of great service to his calling.

+

+[Sidenote: Sir Frank Benson]

+

+"Alec" was always my good friend; and when he summoned a meeting of

+the leading actors and managers in 1916, the year the Shakespearean

+Tercentenary was to be celebrated at Drury Lane Theatre, he put the

+matter so strongly to those assembled that there was no gainsaying

+his suggestion that I should there and then be invited to speak the

+address on the occasion if, as he hoped, I would undertake the task.

+It was no mean effort, and I am afraid that egotism is again fast

+getting the better of me and urging me to print the result of my

+labour.  My excuse is that the event had national importance: a

+dramatic episode being the knighthood conferred by the King on Frank

+Benson, who had given the best years of his life to spreading the

+love of Shakespeare throughout the land.

+

+Here is the address:

+

+

+"I am proud, indeed, that it was thought {208} fitting by my comrades

+to give me the unsought honour, on this great day, of addressing you

+on their behalf.  I thank them for the privilege with all my heart,

+and promise to bear in mind the wise counsel of Polonius, 'brevity is

+the soul of wit!'  I can only speak from my point of view.  There are

+debts which can never be paid in full; there is homage which never

+can be amply rendered; there is love no tongue can truly tell.  All

+these are Shakespeare's.  As every tribute must fall short of what is

+really due, I resolved to speak my own words--the best in my power to

+frame--rather than be but the echo of an abler brain.

+

+"In my early days in theatreland, with the audacity of youth, I acted

+many characters in Shakespeare's plays and then laid some budding

+leaves of a modest chaplet at the shrine of the master whose works

+have made the stage eternal.  Now, in my old age, I rejoice in the

+remembrance that I have been what William Shakespeare was--an actor.

+With a boundless prodigality he has enriched this England which

+claims his birth--the dear land he loved so deeply and called:

+

+  'This fortress built by Nature for herself,

+  This precious stone set in the silver sea.'

+

+

+"We owe to Shakespeare the most alluring, the most entrancing

+creations in our mother-tongue.  How much poorer should we be if we

+lacked the imperishable charm of those {209} Princesses of the

+drama--Juliet, Rosalind, Ophelia, Beatrice, Viola, Miranda, Portia,

+Imogen, Desdemona, and Cordelia.  They are not withered by age, nor

+stricken by decay.  The Angel of Death passes them by.  They are

+celestial and immortal.  What joy that mighty pen must have given for

+three hundred years to the gifted women who have portrayed those

+matchless heroines.

+

+"As Shakespeare is 'for all time,' so is he for all men the 'guide,

+philosopher, and friend.'  From whom can even monarchs surer look for

+majesty?  Who so inspires the statesman with true patriotism?  Who so

+teaches the gentleman his conduct; the preacher simple piety; the

+soldier chivalry and courage?  Who gives the poet nobler themes; the

+painter loftier models; the lover sweeter idols; a son such sound

+advice?  Who so plainly tells the player of his faults? and by whom

+is youth so upheld by hope, or declining years so soothed with

+consolation?

+

+"I remember well a visit I paid upon a dusky evening to Westminster

+Abbey.  As I walked beneath its stately roof, to the sounds of the

+organ, twilight shadows were cast down the sacred aisles.  It seemed

+easy under such influence to believe the legend that, while writing

+the awful scene between Hamlet and his father's ghost, Shakespeare

+passed a long night alone within those hallowed walls.  In the fading

+light I looked upon the monument {210} in Poets' Corner and read the

+lines from _The Tempest_ as they are inscribed there:

+

+  'The cloudcapt towers, the gorgeous palaces,

+  The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

+  Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;

+  And like the baseless Fabric of a Vision

+  Leave not a wrack behind.'

+

+What grandeur, what pathos, are in the words; but we will not believe

+them--at least not of him.  The lustre--the undying

+lustre--Shakespeare's transcendent genius has shed upon the world

+marches down the ages undimmed by time."

+

+

+I lately came across a tribute to Shakespeare which provoked alike my

+admiration and surprise: the author being that brilliant wit and

+humorist, Douglas Jerrold.  These are his words:

+

+

+"The great magician who has left immortal company for the spirit of

+man in his weary journey through this briary world--has bequeathed

+scenes of immortal loveliness for the human fancy to delight

+in--founts of eternal truth for the lip of man to drink, and

+drink--and for all time to be renovated with every draught."

+

+

+[Sidenote: Charles Wyndham]

+

+Of that accomplished and delightful comedian, Charles Wyndham, there

+are bright thoughts of the happiness he gave to playgoers {211}

+during an exceptionally prolonged career.  Its only blemish, indeed,

+was its length, when the inevitable decay, which at last declines to

+be warded off, became manifest towards the end.

+

+His early successes were made at the Criterion Theatre, in plays of

+an amusing and frivolous kind, such as _The Great Divorce Case_,

+_Pink Dominoes_ and _Betsy_.  These were followed by far better work,

+of a higher kind, and the production of those admirable comedies by

+Henry Arthur Jones, _The Case of Rebellious Susan_ and _The Liars_.

+

+I confess to having thought, had I remained longer on the stage, how

+happy I should have been to have played some types of those

+delightful, helpful, elderly men, who often make life pleasanter to

+the young, and were so perfectly acted by Wyndham.

+

+He retained his youthful appearance until late in life: the

+preservation of his "figure" was amazing, and he remained a good

+walker to the end, but never carried a cane.

+

+To recall a peculiarity of his hard working days, I have frequently

+known him stop at a post office and scrawl a hurried letter or send a

+telegram to himself, as a reminder of something important that he had

+to remember or to do.

+

+The memory of Charles Wyndham should {212} always be held in high

+regard for his unbounded generosity and devoted service to the

+Actors' Benevolent Fund.  It was a pleasure and a privilege to me to

+propose that Lady Wyndham should be chosen to follow in his footsteps

+as its president.

+

+Charles Hawtrey was a very old friend.  We knew him first at his

+father's well-known preparatory school for Eton, where I sent my son.

+The next phase came soon afterwards, when he confided to us his wish

+to go upon the stage; a wish my wife and I at once encouraged.  This

+appeared a little before we commenced our Haymarket career with a

+revival of Lord Lytton's comedy, _Money_.  We said he could appear as

+a young member in the club scene, with a few lines to speak.  Hawtrey

+enthusiastically accepted the offer.  Unfortunately, an illness

+prevented its fulfilment, or he would have been the companion of Fred

+Terry in making his first appearance on that eventful evening.

+

+Our paths in life, both on and off the stage, were much asunder, but

+we were always the best of friends, and I remember with pleasure a

+strong wish he expressed, during one of our meetings at Marienbad,

+when a scheme was on foot to build a theatre for him in the

+Haymarket, that he might christen it "The Bancroft." {213} My wife

+and I were sorry when the scheme fell through.

+

+He leaves the happiest memories to his shoals of friends--from the

+early days, of _The Private Secretary_; the middle stage, of _Lord

+and Lady Algy_ and _The Man from Blankley's_; to end, with the gay

+maturity of _Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure_,--and laughter all the

+way.

+

+Charles Hawtrey was the actor I have alluded to who had the widest

+knowledge of the Bible of any layman I have known.

+

+[Sidenote: John Hare]

+

+My intimate and affectionate relations, both private and

+professional, with John Hare make me a little shy of writing about

+him with the warmth his long and brilliant career upon the stage

+deserves.  I was his oldest professional friend, having been a member

+of the company he first joined.  In the following year my wife

+offered him an engagement, and for ten years he was prominent among

+the attractive company of the old Prince of Wales's Theatre.  No

+young actor was, perhaps, so fortunate as himself, appearing as he

+did in three such successive and distinctive character parts as Lord

+Ptarmigant, the sleepy old Peer in _Society_, Prince Perovsky, the

+courtly Russian diplomat in _Ours_, and Sam Gerridge, the humble

+gasfitter in _Caste_.  The delicacy and finish of Hare's {214} acting

+was of great service to the Robertson comedies, in all of which he

+appeared.

+

+When he left us it was to enter into friendly managerial rivalry.  I

+applauded the step as a wise one on his part; but, after so many

+years of close intimacy, I felt the wrench.  From that moment the

+dressing-room he and I had shared knew me no more, and I found a

+lonely corner on another floor.

+

+And a friendly rivalry it was.  If we had our _Diplomacy_, he had his

+_Olivia_, a delightful play, in which Ellen Terry made so conspicuous

+a success and Terriss laid the firm foundation of his fine career.

+My sole disappointment in connection with this beautiful production

+was that Hare had not plucked up the courage to attack the part of

+the dear old Vicar himself.

+

+It is not for me to dwell upon his career, which was always to the

+credit of his calling, or enumerate his successes, only naming

+Pinero's brilliant works, _The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith_ and _The Gay

+Lord Quex_.  In the first of them Mrs. Patrick Campbell clinched her

+previous triumph; in the second Irene Vanbrugh seized the opportunity

+of rushing to the front, where she has remained ever since.

+

+On an occasion when Hare proposed my health in distinguished company,

+it was pleasant {215} to listen to words which were too flattering to

+allow of their repetition.

+

+[Sidenote: Meissonier of our stage]

+

+I am inclined to say that Hare's best and most complete individual

+work was his delightful portrait of old Benjamin Goldfinch in _A Pair

+of Spectacles_, a performance which gave us something of the

+simplicity and benevolence of the immortal Samuel Pickwick.  I think

+of Hare, in all he did, as the Meissonier of our stage.

+

+

+

+

+{216}

+

+X

+

+ONE OTHER EMPTY CHAIR

+

+  "If we really love those whom we lose,

+  We never really lose those whom we love."

+

+

+The time has come for me to offer my apology for this book.  In my

+lonely, but not unhappy, old age, the most void of all the Empty

+Chairs which now surround me is the one so long filled by my partner

+for more than fifty years.

+

+Let me begin by saying that the foundation of our fortunes was due,

+solely, to her courage in gallantly deciding that danger was

+preferable to dullness, and in producing _Society_, the first of the

+Robertson comedies, against adverse advice and the fact that the

+manuscript had been "turned down" by the leading London managers of

+the day.  It may be that the brave decision was also pleasant to her

+because at the time our mutual attachment was steadily ripening, and,

+although the part she was willing to take was not prominent, the

+character which would fall to my lot was a good one and likely to

+advance my position, if I played it well.

+

+{217}

+

+[Sidenote: The return to Nature]

+

+To the exceptional and startling success upon production of

+Robertson's five delicate little comedies, and to the

+frequently-recurring revivals of them, we owed much.  They appeared

+just when they were wanted to revive interest in the drama.  Nature

+was Robertson's goddess, and he looked upon the bright young manager

+as the high-priestess of the natural school of acting.

+

+When the prolific fountain ceased, through the early and untimely

+death of Robertson, the choice of plays until the end of our career

+was left to me.  I was honoured and helped by implicit confidence in

+my judgment; no word of rebuke passed her lips for a mistake, no word

+of praise was withheld when it was thought merited.  No spark of

+professional jealousy was born to her; she always loved to act with

+the ablest and best equipped of her comrades.  She had no place for

+the more sordid side of life, and was as free from extravagance as

+she was indifferent about money.  Her life from childhood was passed

+in the service of the public until I thought the time had come for it

+to be less strenuous.

+

+It may be that for the early withdrawal from triumphant scenes of the

+great gifts of so famous an actress I was to blame--if blame there

+was.  I plead excuse in a painful {218} remembrance of pitiful words,

+written by a powerful pen, on lingering too long upon the stage;

+words which drew the sad picture of a much-loved servant of the

+public clinging to the faded chaplet won as its idol in earlier days;

+of clutching at the withered trophy after the time had come for its

+graceful surrender to youth and promise, and before the admiration

+once so showered upon her should be replaced by

+indulgence--indulgence to be followed by compassion, compassion in

+its turn by indifference.  Indulgence--compassion--indifference.  The

+mere utterance of such words causes one pain.  Twilight in art--as in

+nature--must be mournful: surely a sweeter picture is the splendid

+sinking of an early autumnal sun.

+

+It will mean happiness to me to lay a few flowers at her feet,

+gathered in the gardens of those who knew and loved her.  So I have

+asked three dear friends, a man of letters, a dramatist, and an

+actor, to help me in that task.

+

+[Sidenote: Macready and the child]

+

+The first tribute is from the pen of W. L. Courtney:

+

+

+"MY DEAR B,--

+

+"I gladly avail myself of the opportunity you give me to pay a

+tribute to the memory of Lady Bancroft.

+

+"She herself has told us the sort of impression she made on those

+around her when she was {219} a child; and because that early verdict

+passed on her is singularly prescient, it is worth recalling.

+Macready is the first witness.  Marie Wilton--to use her maiden name,

+which was soon to be famous on the stage--acted the parts of the boy

+Fleance and the apparition of a child in the caldron scene to

+Macready's Macbeth at the close of his career, and was invited by the

+great actor to visit him in his room.  'Well,' he said, 'I suppose

+you hope to be a great actress some day.  And what do you intend to

+play?'  The answer came at once: 'Lady Macbeth.'  'Oh, is that all!

+Well, I like your ambition.  You are a strange little thing and have

+such curious eyes.  But you must change them before you play Lady

+Macbeth, or you will make your audience laugh instead of cry.'  The

+story shows that Macready had quickly noticed two things about the

+child.  Her eyes, which were not so much curious as unusual and

+always alive, were laughing, merry, twinkling eyes, the eyes of one

+who would never allow her outlook on the world to be other than

+genial and good; who could bear misfortune with as much courage as

+good fortune.  He had noticed also what was almost the first thing

+that the spectator observed about Marie Bancroft's performance in

+almost every one of her parts, and that was the inscrutable fashion

+in which she at once established the best relations with her

+audience.  It was in its way a little bit of {220} magic, the secret

+of which she retained.  The effect was irresistible.  She came down

+to the footlights, or stayed where she was, without movement, and

+instantly flashes of mutual goodwill passed between her and the

+audience, even before the musical tones of her voice were heard.

+Sometimes, as with an actress like Eleonora Duse, time has to elapse

+while she is, so to speak, making herself at home.  Marie Bancroft

+had undoubtedly what I have called a little bit of magic.  Whatever

+the part that she was to play, there was always the comfortable

+feeling when she was on the stage that everything was going well, and

+that success was practically assured.  In the series of her parts in

+the Robertsonian drama she was, of course, helped by the author's

+knowledge of her and of her temperament; but whether she was a

+schoolgirl or supposed to be grown up; whether the part belonged to

+the upper or the lower levels of society: in every case sympathy was

+instantly linking her with the eager and attentive house.  She no

+sooner came than she saw what was wanted, and she conquered with what

+seemed consummate ease and economy of effort.  I have never seen an

+actress who more rapidly and easily made her presence known on the

+stage as a gracious, winsome, affectionate creature, filled with

+human kindness, and always ready to believe the best of people and of

+things.

+

+[Sidenote: Dickens and the girl]

+

+"And so the judgment of Charles Dickens is {221} established as

+surely as that of Macready.  'I really wish,' said Dickens in a

+letter to John Forster, 'I really wish you would go to see _The Maid

+and the Magpie_ burlesque at the Strand Theatre.  There is the

+strangest thing in it that I have ever seen on the stage.  The boy

+Pippo, by Miss Marie Wilton, while it is astonishingly impudent--must

+be or it could not be done at all--is so stupendously like a boy and

+unlike a woman that it is perfectly free from offence.  I have never

+seen such a curious thing; the manner, the appearance, the levity,

+impulse and spirits of it are so exactly like a boy that you cannot

+see anything like her sex in association with it.  I call her the

+cleverest girl I have ever seen on the stage in my time, and the most

+original.'  That is, of course, a tribute to her cleverness, which

+made her the best of burlesque actresses.  If Macready's judgment

+refers to the seriousness of her ambition, Charles Dickens calls

+attention to her extraordinary versatility, her power of identifying

+herself with any part she assumed, and the rapidity with which she

+comprehended all that was implicit in it.  Of the burlesques of those

+days Marie Wilton was the acknowledged queen, inspiring the whole of

+the silly or serious business with her inimitable gaiety and amazing

+ability.

+

+"The more general the sympathy an actress possesses with human

+nature, the wider will be her interpretation of a part.  We talk

+{222} about building up a character.  It is only saying in other

+words that the primary duty of the heroine in a play is to make us

+understand, not only what she is in the play, but what she might be

+under other conditions.  The extraordinary thing about Marie

+Bancroft, when she left burlesque for modern comedy, is that from the

+first she interpreted the character she was representing in the

+largest, most sympathetic manner, as having an inner nature or

+temperament of much more subtle value than came out in the actual

+presentation.  Superficially, the characters of Polly Eccles and

+Naomi Tighe--both great favourites with Marie Bancroft--can be easily

+described.  They are bright, garrulous, happy creatures, full of fun,

+quick in tongue, responsive to humour, and always amusing to watch.

+But as we left the theatre, after seeing her act them, we were aware

+that they are something more.  Behind the drolleries of Naomi Tighe

+beats an extremely warm heart, a genuine comradeship, and an especial

+love, of course, of her dear friend, Bella.  But in Polly Eccles

+there was still more.  I was always surprised to think that Marie

+Bancroft should have preferred the schoolgirl Naomi to the

+high-hearted, devoted friend who was Polly Eccles, in whom we have

+touches of a fuller personality than could be found either in Naomi

+or in Mary Netley of _Ours_.

+

+[Sidenote: The fulfilment]

+

+"These, however, were, after all, the earlier {223} creations in

+comedy of an artist destined to do much finer work.  Her full powers

+were proved later on, especially in Peg Woffington.  The picture

+showed traces of the same handiwork; and indeed the audience would

+never have been satisfied if Marie Bancroft had not set her

+unmistakeable seal on this character as on others.  There was

+something in the pathos of the main situation, however; something,

+too, in the exquisite sympathy between Peg and Triplet, which touched

+the very source of tears.  What we saw here was the fulfilment of a

+promise discerned in her earlier creations, an admirable example of

+the many-sided presentment of a character, so that it becomes

+something of daily experience.  The humorous eyes, the sensitive

+mouth, the face ever ready to suggest laughter and fun, the

+attractive little touches of temperament and feeling--those had come

+together to form a beautiful presentment of a gracious and

+affectionate being, who could help others in their distress, because

+she herself had come through deep waters.

+

+"There is one point which it would be wrong to pass over without

+comment.  There is sometimes talk of jealousy between artists.  Of

+the spirit of emulation, the spirit of ambition, the desire to do the

+best possible under the given conditions--of these, which are part

+and parcel of a noble nature, Marie Bancroft had her full share.  But

+it was always noticed that {224} she had no touch of professional

+jealousy.  She often sank her own importance as an actress,

+cheerfully taking a small part.  Both she and you had made up your

+minds not to allow consideration of your own parts to bias your

+judgment in the refusal or acceptance of plays.  You judged the plays

+on their merits--not on the ground that parts in them would or would

+not suit either of you.  With the utmost readiness Marie Bancroft

+played second parts to Madame Modjeska, to Mrs. John Wood, to Mrs.

+Patrick Campbell, as well as to Mrs. Kendal and to Ellen Terry.

+Self-abnegation of this kind is sufficiently rare to be worthy of

+comment.  Its value, is, of course, obvious.  Without it some of your

+most successful productions would never have been given.

+

+"Many critics, especially young ones, are inclined to decry the value

+of Robertson's plays; but the fact remains that, with those comedies

+as your material, Marie Bancroft and you initiated a revolution in

+English drama.  In those plays she rejoiced in characters exactly

+suited to her genius, characters to which she could give all her

+laughter and sense of fun, in creating personalities which will

+always live in the memories of those who saw them.  She not only

+acted; she possessed that constructive instinct which enabled her to

+pass judgment on and vastly to improve the comedies submitted to her.

+Of this, there is no better example than what happened with {225}

+Charles Reade's play, _Masks and Faces_, when Reade, moved to tears

+by her performance of the ending which at one rehearsal she

+substituted for that which he had written, very wisely gave way to

+the superior imaginative perception of Marie Bancroft, the actress of

+Peg Woffington.

+

+[Sidenote: Personality]

+

+"In final retrospect, we come back to the 'curious eyes' and the

+laughter-provoking face which Macready discovered.  In all arts we

+have to recognise the personal element, which makes the work of one

+man so different from that of another.  We do not mistake the

+inimitable touch of a Millais or confuse it with that of a Sargent.

+We do not read a page of Henry James and imagine that it could have

+been written by George Meredith.  In the same way an actor portraying

+a character puts into it so much of himself that we contrast his

+representation with that of another actor--quite as good, perhaps,

+but of a different quality.  This element of personality is called

+'style,' and it is by style that an artist lives and betrays his or

+her idiosyncrasy.  And no one had a more appealing style than Marie

+Bancroft, who could do with our hearts what she pleased.  The roguish

+eyes, the inimitable smile, the sense of humour, the joy of

+living--all those were hers; and it was by some wonderful combination

+of all dramatic gifts that she won her complete and perfect triumph.

+Those (alas! now how few) who in old days {226} sat spellbound, as

+they saw her winning the palms of victory in many a famous play, will

+confess with unbounded gratitude how much of happy memory they owe to

+the grace, the skill, the charm, the sympathy of Marie Bancroft.

+

+  "Yours sincerely,

+        "W. L. COURTNEY."

+

+

+The second tribute is from Arthur Pinero:

+

+

+"MY DEAR B.,

+

+"It is my firm belief that the most ardent and persistent lover of

+the drama, after a long life of playgoing, and when the footlights

+illuminating his own private and personal drama are beginning to burn

+low, can, if he be honest with himself, count his red-letter nights

+in the theatre, at a liberal estimate, on the fingers of both hands.

+Such is the case with me at any rate.  Many distinguished and moving

+performances, memorable in their way, have I witnessed; but the real,

+unmistakeable red-letter nights--heart and brain clutching--how few!

+Some premieres at the old Lyceum, under the management of the

+Batemans and, subsequently, of Irving himself, two or three

+representations at the Théâtre Français--notably Mounet Sully's

+acting, as it was thirty years ago, in _Œdipe Roi_--Duse's

+earliest appearance in England in _La Dame aux {227} Camélias_; to

+recall these things gives one a catch in the breath--these and the

+first time I saw Marie Wilton as 'Polly Eccles.'

+

+[Sidenote: A red-letter night]

+

+"This particular red-letter night happened at the Standard Theatre in

+Shoreditch in, I think, August, 1873.  (You, in whose honour a

+University should create the degree of Master of Dates, so curious,

+so infallible--occasionally, to the ladies, so disconcerting--is your

+memory, will correct me if I am wrong as to the month or year.)  The

+company of the dainty little Prince of Wales's Theatre had carried

+their delicate art to that not too salubrious quarter of the town,

+and were delighting the East-enders in Robertson's _Caste_.  Nowadays

+it is the critical habit to sniff at Robertson and his simple, humane

+comedies; but the work of a writer for the stage should be judged in

+relation to the period which produced it, and, so judged, Robertson

+was a man of vision and courage.  There is no dramatist now writing,

+'advanced' or otherwise, who is not in a measure indebted to

+Robertson.  But how lucky he was in the people who interpreted him!

+Take _Caste_, for instance.  Lydia Foote--her appealing 'Esther

+Eccles' was approached in later years only by Olga Brandon in a

+revival of the piece at the Criterion--the highly capable Mrs. Leigh

+Murray, the unctuous Honey, John Hare, most refined of miniaturists,

+the fascinating Coghlan--who had succeeded Frederick Younge, whom I

+never {228} saw, as 'George D'Alroy'---yourself as 'Hawtree'--a

+monumental picture of Swelldom, unequalled, in its combination of

+grotesqueness and good breeding, by any stage Swell of my time--even

+Sothern's 'Dundreary' couldn't touch your 'Hawtree'--and, above and

+beyond you all, the glorious actress who used to figure in the

+playbills as 'Miss Marie Wilton (Mrs. Bancroft),' and was to become

+Lady Bancroft; what a wonderful--what an unmatchable--troupe!

+

+[Sidenote: "Enter Polly"]

+

+"That red-letter night in unsavoury Shoreditch!  Outside the theatre,

+the thick air of a warm evening, presently to be fouled by the fumes

+of the naphtha lamps of the gutter tradesmen; the incessant bawling

+of those gentry; the garish display of cheap wares in the

+shop-windows; the jostling and shoving of the loiterers on the

+pavement; and the sensation of complete happiness, almost choking in

+its intensity, because one was going to the play!  And the fight for

+a front seat in the pit; the contentment, after a terrific struggle

+resulting in a torn jacket and the limpest of shirt-collars, at

+finding oneself in possession of about eight inches of bare board;

+and the settling down to enjoy the blended odours, peculiar to the

+popular theatre of that day, of gas and stale orange-peel, than which

+no more agreeable smell could greet the nostrils of a stage-struck

+youth!  Then the tuning-up by the orchestra--joyful discord--and the

+unheeded playing of a {229} 'selection'; and then the rising of the

+curtain, the sudden hush of voices, and lo! there is the poor, shabby

+room on the ground-floor of the lodging-house in Stangate!  George

+appears, followed by Hawtree; they talk, and I wonder that their talk

+should be so different from the talk I had heard in other plays; then

+comes 'Papa Eccles,' who 'can tell a real gentleman with half a sov';

+then, when Papa, the half-sovereign in his dirty fist, has shuffled

+away to meet a friend round the corner, Esther steals in; and

+then--oh, then!--'Enter Polly, D.R.H.,' as the stage direction says,

+and in a moment the audience is enraptured by the brightest,

+freshest, sweetest little woman that ever gladdened ears and eyes in

+or out of a playhouse!

+

+"Those, my dear B., who can remember Lady Bancroft in the plenitude

+of her powers, the fulness of her witchery, are--I speak

+feelingly--rapidly growing fewer and fewer; and it is with the aim, I

+suppose, of conveying an impression of what she was at the time I

+mention, and for at least a decade afterwards, to the theatre-lovers

+of to-day--who saw her, if they saw her at all, when age had begun to

+weigh upon her--and to the theatre-lovers of the future, that you are

+inviting two or three men, old enough so to remember her, and who yet

+linger more or less actively on the scene, to contribute to your

+forthcoming book.  Phew!  A pretty difficult task, unless one employs

+{230} language which in modern slang I understand is called 'mushy.'

+In the first place, of course, she knew her business to her

+finger-tips.  That a practitioner of any of the arts should have

+known his or her business is frequently remarked in disparagement.

+Great artists, however, will take care to include a knowledge of

+their business--i.e. of the tricks of their trade--among other

+accomplishments, one of the latter being the faculty for hiding those

+tricks from the public.  Lady Bancroft knew her business--and other

+people's; that is, though a born comedian, she could, if her physique

+had allowed of it, have 'gone on,' in theatrical phrase, for Lady

+Macbeth, or Juliet, or Ophelia, and have triumphed.  (In fact,

+occasionally, she did 'go on' for parts for which she was hardly

+physically suited, and perhaps it was a pity she didn't do so

+oftener.  She would have been forgiven.)  And her experience,

+commencing in babyhood, and her innate cleverness, had taught her

+how, while keeping strictly within the picture-frame, to button-hole,

+as it were, each individual member of the audience.  The man on the

+farthest bench of the topmost gallery, as well as the man in the

+stalls, was flattered by her skill into believing that she was acting

+specially for him.  I myself have watched her act from the sixpenny

+gallery of a large theatre--that same Standard in Shoreditch, the pit

+being beyond my means for a second visit--and felt that she was so

+{231} near to me that by stretching out my hand I could have grasped

+hers.  As for her laugh, I won't--I daren't--attempt to describe it,

+because I should have to say that at one moment it was like the trill

+of a singing-bird, at another that it seemed not to be the music of

+her throat, but to bubble up from her very soul; and that, though

+gospel-truth, would be too terribly mushy.  Nor her speaking-voice,

+because, again, I should have to say that it had something of the

+quality of the note of the purest of silver bells; nor her eyes,

+because in mirth they twinkled--thrice-hackneyed simile!--like twin

+stars, and in expressing sorrow resembled the little rain-pools when

+the sun has come out after a summer shower; and to say anything of

+the sort, while it would be equally true, would also be mushy to an

+insupportable degree.  But I will say, because it is just a trifle

+less trite and banal, and because to do her justice it ought to be

+said, that the secret and source of her genius lay not in her

+artistry--which was consummate--but in _herself_.  She was a fine,

+warm-hearted creature, and her acting was a reflection of the glow of

+her innermost nature.

+

+[Sidenote: The secret of genius]

+

+"Patches of shadow becloud every career, however brilliant.  The

+tragedy of Lady Bancroft's career was that after Robertson's death no

+dramatist arose who could, or would, provide her with material worthy

+of her talent.  For years, therefore, she retained her hold {232}

+upon the public mainly by her 'Polly' in _Caste_, 'Naomi Tighe' in

+_School_, and 'Mary Netley' in _Ours_.  From time to time she acted

+in new pieces by other authors, which lacked the attraction of

+Robertson at his best; and then, after giving us a captivating Lady

+Teazle, and delighting us in revivals of some other old comedies, in

+order to extend the repertory of the theatre she gallantly

+subordinated herself, when policy demanded it, to playing parts of

+minor importance.  Towards the end, spurred by a surviving ambition

+into trying to make bricks without straw--and it must be confessed

+that she made sounder bricks without straw than did many an actress

+who was supplied with stacks of that commodity--she took to applying

+her ready wit to 'writing up' the tiny parts she was condemned to

+play, until at last her rare appearances became not so much those of

+an actress engaged in impersonating a character as of a charming lady

+determined at all costs to be amusing.

+

+"But she had done enough long before then to win a place in stage

+history with the most illustrious of the comic actresses of the past.

+Margaret Woffington, Kitty Clive, Frances Abington and Dorothea

+Jordan had a legitimate successor in Marie Wilton.

+

+"Thank you for letting me join in your tribute to her.

+

+"Devotedly yours, till my chair is empty,

+

+"ARTHUR PINERO."

+

+

+{233}

+

+[Sidenote: Truth to nature]

+

+The third tribute is from Johnston Forbes-Robertson:

+

+

+"MY DEAR B,

+

+"It is a great privilege to comply with your wish.  It was in 1878

+that I first met Lady Bancroft.  She was then about to retire for a

+holiday from the part of Zicka in _Diplomacy_.  A year later I had

+the good fortune to meet her on the stage when you engaged me to act

+in _Ours_.  In the following year I moved with the celebrated company

+from the Prince of Wales's to the Haymarket Theatre, which had been

+transformed by you into the most beautiful theatre in London.  Here I

+was cast for a part in _School_: hence it is my proud boast that I

+acted with Marie Bancroft in her prime, and was in personal touch

+with Mary Netley and Naomi Tighe!

+

+"Alas! it is not in me to convey to the present generation the powers

+of this incomparable actress.  The winsomeness, the cajolery, the

+sprightly vivacity, the joyousness, and the tenderness of it all!

+Every note could she play upon, and never was any note forced.  The

+means by which she attained these varied and subtle emotions were not

+to be traced.  All appeared so simple, so illusive, that it came home

+to one as being absolutely true to nature.  She was complete mistress

+of all the resources of her art, and yet those resources were never

+laid bare, never discoverable {234} by the onlooker.  Every movement

+was simple, direct and natural; every intonation and inflection true;

+every word that fell from her lips clean cut and distinct.  No matter

+how rapidly a passage was delivered, she was heard even to the

+farthest seat of the largest theatre.

+

+"Polly Eccles!  Why, the very thought of the name makes my face

+pucker with smiles, and it must be bordering on fifty years ago when

+first she bewitched me in the part!  Yes, 'bewitching Marie Wilton'

+was a phrase common amongst us in those days, and in truth the

+witchery was there in full measure, and to overflowing.

+

+"Still in my mind is the beautiful farewell to her on the day when

+her mortal remains were laid to rest.  I was very proud at finding

+myself one of the four intimate friends chosen to pay their last

+respects at her burial; and when, towards the close of the memorial

+service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields which immediately followed it,

+that inspired man delivered the farewell address (quite the most

+beautiful of the many I have heard), I was shaken with a deep emotion

+even to tears.

+

+  "Ever your affectionate friend,

+      "J. FORBES-ROBERTSON."

+

+

+I will restrict myself to writing of her in one play only, and will

+choose W. S. Gilbert's dramatic contrast _Sweethearts_--which, by the

+way, I had the good fortune to name.

+

+{235}

+

+[Sidenote: "Sweethearts"]

+

+No play of its length has ever excited more attention than

+_Sweethearts_.  Pages could be filled with the chorus of praise which

+swelled from the press.  One leading critic wrote that Gilbert had

+determined to test talent by a most difficult stage exercise; and

+that my wife had been able to prove the studied grace and polished

+elegance of her dramatic scholarship.  From the subject set to her,

+called _Sweethearts_, she produced the poem of "Jenny."  The success

+of the creation was complete.  No striking or unusually clever

+writing, no wit, or epigram, or quaint expression of words, no

+telling scene, or passionate speech, taken separately or in

+combination, could account for the impression made by the actress.

+The audience was fascinated by the detail of the portrait, as

+charming in youth as it was beautiful in age.

+

+An accomplished judge of acting, well acquainted with the European

+stage, after our retirement from management, said of my wife: "In my

+humble opinion, the gem of her repertoire is _Sweethearts_, next to

+that, _Masks and Faces_ and _Caste_."  Ellen Terry has written that

+her performance in _Sweethearts_ was unapproachable.

+

+More perfect acting, I venture to say, has not been seen upon our

+stage.  The _ars celare {236} artem_ was at its highest and best;

+there were tones and touches, hints and suggestions, which were

+marvellous in the wealth of meaning they conveyed.  Of her acting,

+indeed, it might be said, as one of our old poets proclaimed of the

+face of his mistress:

+

+  "'Tis like the milky way i' the sky,

+  A meeting of gentle lights without a name!"

+

+

+I have seen all the finest acting available to me in the last seventy

+years--since my boyhood--and still delight in the enjoyment of the

+stage.  I can summon noble phantoms from the past, and dwell gladly

+upon the experiences of more recent days.  After searching thought,

+the most critical remembrance, I can recall no acting more perfect,

+in my judgment, than my wife's performances in _Sweethearts_.  The

+creatures of the different acts were, from the first line to the

+last, absolutely distinct, but equally complete; the one, a portrait

+of impetuous girlhood, the other of calm maturity.  There was not,

+throughout, one movement of the body, one tone of the voice, one look

+on the speaking face, to change or amend.  There was nothing, it

+seemed to me, that could in any way be bettered.  There shone

+throughout those gleams of genius which in all art are priceless.

+

+{237}

+

+[Sidenote: In peace and war]

+

+The parts she played upon the stage were the sweet romance of life,

+but she was ever ready to face its stern realities; and I was proud

+of her record in the Great War.  In spite of advanced years and

+broken health, she lived through it, with brief absences only, and

+without a murmur, on the shore of the sea, with all its alarms and

+risks; but, then, I have always known her to be brave, even when her

+life was in danger.  She was unsparing in hospitality--I recall an

+occasion when she had the pleasant company of General Sir Arthur

+Sloggett and Edward Knoblock, who were hung up with their men for the

+night at Folkestone--and untiring in organising and leading in

+amusements, helped by her interest in those who were spared, and

+those who were maimed and wounded, and by the remembrance of those

+who rest in the grave-fields of Flanders and France, or lie deep down

+under the sea.

+

+By her own written request, the hour and place of her funeral were

+kept secret, and were only known to immediate members of her family

+and four friends who were chosen to represent the calling she had

+loved and served.  These four friends were Arthur Pinero, Johnston

+Forbes-Robertson, Arthur Chudleigh and Gerald du Maurier.

+

+The funeral was conducted by her friend and {238} mine, the Reverend

+W. H. Elliott, the Vicar of Holy Trinity, Folkestone, who delivered

+the Address at the Memorial Service which, immediately afterwards,

+was held at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields by Canon Edgar

+Sheppard.

+

+[Sidenote: The spirit of the artist]

+

+This was the address to which Forbes-Robertson refers in his tribute;

+and I ask the reader, as a favour to myself, not to pass it by.

+

+

+"We have come together to remember before God one who, having played

+her part bravely and earnestly in this scene that men call life, is

+now hidden from us by the curtain that men call death.  We do so in

+the sure and certain hope that what we know of life here is only the

+First Act in a great eternal drama, of the which the end is not yet.

+So often we feel, as one by one our friends depart in this mystery of

+death, that the curtain has fallen upon a tale that is only half

+told, its problems unsolved, its meaning undisclosed, its virtues

+unrewarded.  But the play is not done.  We wait as Christians for the

+hour when, at the sounding of celestial trumpets, this great curtain

+shall uproll once again and reveal to our amazed eyes that last

+tremendous scene, in which all things shall be made new.  Such is

+death.  It is a pause--that is all--and one that does but make more

+wonderful the music of an endless life.

+

+"I shall not do more than remind you of {239} those many gifts which

+Lady Bancroft possessed, which the years in their passing seemed to

+leave almost untouched, which she offered so freely for the public

+good.  After all, the work and significance of any life depend not so

+much upon its natural endowment as upon the spirit in which that

+endowment is accepted and used.  It is the spirit of the artist that

+matters, and it is of this in the lifetime of Lady Bancroft that you

+are thinking, I know, at this hour.  Without that eager generous

+spirit her influence could never have been what it was.  I have heard

+her say more than once that in her youth she was not a very apt pupil

+in the use of the voice, and indeed that she made very little effort

+in regard to it, until one day her mother bade her think of the poor

+man who, tired out with his day's work, spent a hard-earned sixpence

+to see the play, and then went away disappointed, because he could

+not hear.  From that moment everything for her was changed.  And the

+thought of that man at the back of the gallery--what she could do for

+him, to make him forget his cares and have his part in the sunshine

+and merriment of life, to take away the frown and to win the

+smile--was for her, I believe, the true motive and the abiding

+inspiration of her art.  Such a task, one cannot but think, is very

+much according to the mind of Him who gives the wayside flower a robe

+that Solomon might envy, that we may see it and be glad.  And there

+are few {240} things, I imagine, that bring so much comfort at the

+last, when the time has come to retreat from the active work of the

+world, and to reflect quietly in the gathering dusk upon what has

+been and what is yet to be, as the thought that one has done

+something to make others happy, that now and again one has managed to

+light a lamp or to kindle a fire in a cold and darksome room, that

+one has done what one could in one's own way to share the burdens of

+humanity and to minister to its need.

+

+"I need scarcely say that one of the secrets of such a work as this

+is a heart which, in spite of all that time and circumstance can do,

+keeps young.  The first test of all art is sincerity.  It is

+impossible, I should suppose, to be in any true sense an interpreter

+of emotions that one has ceased to feel.  To represent in any way the

+vivacity, the buoyancy, the gaiety that belong to youth, its

+irrepressible humour, its unquenchable hope, is a task that the years

+make difficult enough for us all.  To attempt it successfully is only

+for those who in themselves have never yet grown old.  Lady Bancroft

+was a lover of young life.  She was beloved by all young people who

+knew her.  And one felt in talking to her that, as her voice had kept

+its magic, so her nature had preserved within a tired body something

+of its youth.

+

+[Sidenote: The secret of success]

+

+"The world saw little of her during these latter years.  She lived

+her life in quiet places, among the trees and flowers in which she

+{241} delighted, within sight and sound of the ever-changing sea.

+During these spring months her thoughts had dwelt much on that other

+world and the mysteries that await us there.  She spoke of it often,

+and expressed to me more than once what seemed rather a curious

+wish--curious because one so rarely meets it--to sit at a table with

+learned divines, as she called them, and to hear them discuss

+together the great matters of God and man, life and death, things

+present and things to come.  She had a most intense desire to know

+better that Power that holds us and shapes our ends.  She wanted to

+see His work more plainly that she might adore Him more perfectly.

+She longed to discern His will that she might do it with a ready

+heart.  And, as she talked of all this, deep reverence and great

+wistfulness came into her voice.  She wished so much to understand.

+Well, she has passed through the Valley now.  She has climbed above

+the mists that hang so closely around human life.  She has come out

+into the light--the light that never was on sea or land--before which

+all the shadows flee away.

+

+"So we think of her, so we give thanks for her to-day.  Men differ

+much in their ideas of success.  For myself, there is one definition

+that I like very much: 'He has achieved success who has lived long,

+laughed often, and loved much; who has gained the respect of

+intelligent men and the affection of little children; who has filled

+his niche and {242} accomplished his task; who has left the world a

+little better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy or by a

+perfect poem or by a saintly soul; who was looking always for the

+best in others, and was trying always to give the best he had.' So

+much of that is true of her whom we commemorate.  And we follow her

+now with our earnest prayers into that state of life into which it

+has pleased God to call her."

+

+

+After the end many treasured letters came to me about her.  One was

+written by the Queen, and sent to me by hand; my wife for many years

+had been given the honour of writing direct to Her Majesty.

+

+From all the letters I will only quote a few words written by a

+friend:

+

+

+"Your loss is indeed great, and the world is poorer by the loss of a

+brilliant personality.  Nobody has ever given greater pleasure to

+thousands and thousands than she did.  Let me tell you a little

+incident.  The first time you and Lady Bancroft came to us in

+Belgrave Square was one day when my mother was alive; she died forty

+years ago, so you will not recollect it.  At the time she was very

+ill, very depressed, and scarcely ever smiled.  After you and your

+wife left, my mother turned to me and said: 'What a wonderful woman!

+She has made my sad heart like a bright garden.'"

+

+{243}

+

+[Sidenote: "Mary's Place"]

+

+I will end by telling of an episode which occurred on the day the old

+Prince of Wales's Theatre was launched on its eventful career, which,

+as it happily chanced, was a success from start to finish.  The

+incidents may have interest for the superstitious and afford

+amusement to the sceptic.  My wife's mother was too nervous to attend

+the first performance, and a married daughter took her for a country

+drive to distract her anxious thoughts.  They followed the road

+leading to Willesden, then quite rural.  All kinds of subjects were

+begun, to no purpose; the mother's mind was in the little theatre.

+"Mary"--my wife was christened Marie, but Mrs. Wilton called her

+Mary--"has always been so fortunate; she seems to have lived a

+charmed life, but her luck may desert her now, and I am always

+wondering and dreaming, Emma, what may be the end of this brave but

+dangerous enterprise."  As the words left the mother's lips a corner

+in the road was reached, and suddenly their eyes encountered a little

+block of stone with an inscription upon it let into the wall of a row

+of humble houses facing them.  The inscription was: "Mary's Place,

+Fortune Gate."  It seemed like an answer, a prophecy, and it

+comforted Mrs. Wilton's anxious wonderings.

+

+{244}

+

+Later on, we often drove in that direction, to look at what became

+known to us as "The Stone of Destiny," and when, more than twenty

+years afterwards, the story appeared in print, we received a letter

+informing us that the little row was about to be pulled down to make

+room for larger and better houses to be built in their place.  The

+letter came from one interested in the property--a Mr. Bennett--who

+kindly asked if we would accept the "talisman"; and he afterwards

+left it at our door.  The stone was taken by us from one home to

+another; it is now let into the wall of the mausoleum I built for my

+wife in Brompton Cemetery, where all that is left of her in this

+world is at rest and where there is room for me.

+

+

+

+

+{245}

+

+INDEX

+

+NDX Abbey, Edwin, pictures, 84

+

+Actors' Benevolent Fund, 65, 212

+

+Adelphi Theatre, 195

+

+Aidé, Hamilton, 24

+

+Ainger, Canon, Master of the Temple, 92, 122

+

+Ainley, Henry, 60

+

+Alabama Conference, 61

+

+Albery, James, _Two Roses_, 181

+

+Alcester, Lord, nickname, 124; bombardment of Alexandria, 124

+

+Alexander, George, 198; manager of St. James's Theatre, 202

+

+Alexandra, H.M. Queen, 1; at Sandringham, 12; compliment from Lord

+Fisher, 123

+

+Alexandria, bombardment of, 124

+

+Alfred, King, statue of, 90

+

+Alverstone, Lord, Lord Chief Justice, 64, 174; interest in the drama,

+65

+

+Anglesey, Lord, 67

+

+_Arabia_, the, 130

+

+Arthur, Sir George, biography of Lord Wolseley, 127

+

+Ascot, 120

+

+Ashbourne, Lord, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 133

+

+Asquith, Rt. Hon. H. H., 136

+

+

+

+Balfour, Earl, 91, 121

+

+Ballantine, Serjeant, 70; criminal cases, 71

+

+Bancroft, George, 112, 183

+

+Bancroft, Marie, Lady, character of her acting, 29, 30, 162, 169;

+testimonial to Sarah Bernhardt, 23; letter from Ouida, 33; voice, 60;

+letter from Lord Esher, 66; recites in Italian, 93; opens the Scala

+Theatre, 108; description of _The Passing of the Third Floor Back_,

+115; character, 217; tribute from W. L. Courtney, 218-226; from A.

+Pinero, 226-232; from Sir J. Forbes-Robertson, 233; acting in

+_Sweethearts_, 234-236; work in the War, 237; funeral 237.  _See_

+Wilton

+

+Bancroft, Sir Squire, date of his birth, 1; attends the Thanksgiving

+Service at St. Paul's, 5; at Marlborough House, 7; presentation to

+King Edward VII, 8; meeting with him, 9; at Monte Carlo, 11; readings

+for hospitals, 12, 62; at Sandringham, 12; knighthood conferred, 13;

+at Marienbad, 14, 16; predilection for a good sermon, 44; "The Art of

+Speaking and Reading," 47-50; journey to Bradford, 52; views on

+cremation, 68; member of the Garrick Club, 78; speech at the Royal

+Academy Banquet, 80; portrait, 94; retires from the Haymarket

+Theatre, 118,178; member of the M.C.C., 120; compliment on his age,

+124; entertains Sir H. Irving, 183-185; address at the Tercentenary

+of Shakespeare, 207-210

+

+Barrett, Wilson, 194; _The Sign of the Cross_, 194

+

+Barrie, Sir James M., _The Professor's Love Story_, 198

+

+Bartet, Madame, 163

+

+Bathe, Sir Henry de, 130

+

+Bathe, Lady de, 130

+

+Bayard, T. F., 147

+

+Beaconsfield, Earl of, 97

+

+Beaufort, Duke of, 117

+

+Bellew, Rev. J. M., 38, 172

+

+Bennett, Mr., 244

+

+Benson, Sir Frank, knighthood conferred, 207

+

+Beresford, Lord Charles, 124

+

+Bernhardt, Sarah, 21, 30; acting of _Fedora_, 22; letter from, 23;

+testimonial to, 23; character of her acting, 24

+

+Birchington, 75

+

+Bird, Dr. George, 139

+

+Boehm, Sir Edgar, statues, 88; death, 89

+

+Booth, Edwin, character of his acting, 166; letter from, 167

+

+Borthwick Sir Algernon, 133.  _See_ Glenesk

+

+Boucicault, Dion, 106, 132, 146, 168; _London Assurance_, 169, 171;

+Irish plays, 169; _The Trial of Effie Deans_, 170; _How She Loves

+Him_, 170; letters from 171, 172; epitaph, 172

+

+Boyd-Carpenter, A., letter from, 55

+

+Boyd-Carpenter, Dr., Bishop of Ripon, 44; sermons, 45, 51; story of,

+46; friendship with the Empress Frederick, 50; date of his birth, 53;

+entertains the "75's," 54; verses, 54; death, 55

+

+Braddon, Miss, 31; _Lady Audley's Secret_, 34; number of her novels,

+34; method of working, 35.  _See_ Maxwell Bradford, 53

+

+Brampton, Lord, 71.  _See_ Hawkins

+

+Bridge, Sir Frederick, 41, 96

+

+Brompton Cemetery, 244

+

+Brooke, G. V., 157, 160

+

+Brookfield, Canon, 177

+

+Brookfield, Charles, 177; stories of, 177; joint Examiner of Plays,

+178; letter from, 178

+

+Brooks, Shirley, editor of _Punch_, 111

+

+Brough, Lionel, 7

+

+Brougham, Lord, 58

+

+Browning, Oscar, 142

+

+Browning, Robert, 98

+

+Buller, General Sir Redvers, 129

+

+Buller, Lady Audrey, 129

+

+Burdett-Coutts, Baroness, 40

+

+Burghclere, Lord, 68.  _See_ Gardner

+

+Burnand, Sir Frank C., 73, 110; editor of _Punch_, 111; humour, 111

+

+Burnham, Lord, 12, 134.  _See_ Lawson

+

+Burnham, Lady, 130

+

+Burton, Lady, 138

+

+Burton, Sir Richard, 138; portrait of, 78

+

+Butt, Clara, 41

+

+Byron, H. J., 7; _Our Boys_, 153

+

+

+

+Cadenabbia, 140

+

+Calthrop, Dion, 174

+

+Calthrop, Donald, 174

+

+Calthrop, John Clayton, character of his acting, 174.  _See_ Clayton

+

+Cambon, M. Paul, 33

+

+Cambridge, H.R.H. Duke of, memorial service, 130

+

+Campbell, Mrs. Patrick, 203, 205, 214

+

+Carlyle, Thomas, statue of, 88

+

+Carr, Comyns, 143; Director of Grosvenor Gallery, 143; witty sayings,

+144

+

+Carson, Lord, 133

+

+Carton, Claude, 202; _Liberty Hall_, 204

+

+Caruso, Signor, 20

+

+Cecil, Arthur, 7, 93; story of, 175

+

+Chambers, Haddon, 202

+

+Chambers, Montagu, 73

+

+Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 44

+

+Chaplin, Lord, 2, 106

+

+Charles I, King, 16

+

+Chelsea Hospital, parade of old pensioners, 6

+

+Choate, J. H., 147; story of, 148

+

+Chorley, Henry Fothergill, 59

+

+Chudleigh, Arthur, at the funeral of Lady Bancroft, 237

+

+Cibber, Colley, 30

+

+Clarence, H.R.H. Duke of, death, 10

+

+Claretie, Jules, director of the _Théâtre français_, 163

+

+Clarke, Sir Edward, 121

+

+Clay, Cecil, _A Pantomime Rehearsal_, 144, 197

+

+Clay, Frederic, 94, 96

+

+Clayton, John, 7; character of his acting, 174.  _See_ Calthrop

+Clemenceau, M., 162

+

+Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice, 59; voice, 59; knowledge of languages,

+60; president of the Alabama Conference, 61; death, 61

+

+Coghlan, Charles, 7; character of his acting, 173; death, 174

+

+Cohen, Arthur, 70

+

+Collins, Wilkie, 34, 103

+

+Cooper, Miss Gladys, 203

+

+Coquelin, Alexandre, 161, 163

+

+Coquelin, Constant, 22, 161; _Cyrano_, 135; letter from, 162; tribute

+to, 163

+

+Corry, Montagu, 121.  _See_ Rowton

+

+_Corsican Brothers, The_, 155, 183, 186

+

+County Fire Office, demolition, 198

+

+Court Theatre, 195

+

+Courtney, W. L., tribute to the memory of Lady Bancroft, 218-226

+

+Coyne, Stirling, 196

+

+Critchett, Sir Anderson, 61

+

+Critchett, George, 104, 182

+

+Criterion Theatre, 211

+

+Cromer, Earl of, 54

+

+Curzon, George, Marquess, 142

+

+

+

+Daudet, Alphonse, 22

+

+Davis, Mr., 148

+

+_Dead Heart, The_, 162, 186-187

+

+Derby, the, 106, 120

+

+Desclée, Aimée, 24; character of her acting, 25; death, 25

+

+Devonshire House, fancy-dress ball at, 122

+

+Dickens, Charles, 34, 35, 156; _Christmas Carols_, 12; _Household

+Words_, 73; opinion of Marie Wilton's acting, 221

+

+Dickens, "Mamie," 59

+

+Dilke, Sir Charles, 68

+

+_Diplomacy_, 111, 173, 175, 214, 233

+

+Doyle, Dicky, 59

+

+Drury Lane Theatre, 157, 207

+

+Dumas, Alexandre, 22, 25

+

+Duse, Eleanora, 22, 167, 203, 220

+

+

+

+Edward VII, H.M. King, date of his birth, 1; at the Prince of Wales's

+Theatre, 2; illness, 5; attends a Thanksgiving Service, 5; at Chelsea

+Hospital, 6; entertains actors, 7; stories of, 8-11, 13-16; presented

+with a cigar box, 8; acts of kindness, 11; at Marienbad, 13, 16;

+characteristics, 14-16; death, 16

+

+Elgar, Edward, 27

+

+Eliot, George, 34, 35

+

+Ellicott, Bishop, story of, 42

+

+Ellicott, Mrs., 42

+

+Elliott, Rev. W. H., address at the Memorial Service to Lady

+Bancroft, 238-242

+

+Emery, Winifred, 200, 204

+

+Esher, Lord, Master of the Rolls, 65; letter to Lady Bancroft, 63

+

+Esher, Lady, 66

+

+Eze, 11

+

+

+

+Falkland, Lord, 68

+

+Farquhar, Gilbert, 118

+

+Farquhar, Horace, 118

+

+Fechter, Charles, character of his acting, 154-156; death, 156; bust,

+156

+

+Fergusson, Sir William, 104

+

+Fife, Earl of, 119

+

+Fildes, Luke, 77

+

+Fisher, Viscount, 54, 122; date of his birth, 16; religious views,

+123; compliment to Queen Alexandra, 123

+

+Fisher, Lady, 122

+

+Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston, 60; tribute to the memory of Lady

+Bancroft, 233; at her funeral, 237

+

+Ford, Onslow, 89

+

+Fountains Abbey, 47

+

+Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, 14

+

+Frederick, Empress, illness, 50; relations with her son, 61

+

+Frith, W. P., 84; pictures, 85

+

+Frohman, Charles, 102

+

+_Fun_, 108

+

+

+

+Gardner, Herbert, 68.  _See_ Burghclere

+

+Garrick Club, 78, 102, 103, 154, 156, 184

+

+Garrick, David, 164

+

+Garrick Theatre, 107, 199

+

+Gemmaert, Émile, _Carillon_, 27

+

+Geneva, 61

+

+George V, H.M. King, 17; at Sandringham, 13

+

+Gilbert, Sir W. S., 94, 107, 168; _Bab Ballads_, 108; plays, 108;

+comic operas, 108; humorous sayings, 108-111; _Sweethearts_, 234-236

+

+Gill, Charles, 75

+

+Gleichen, Count, 90

+

+Glenesk, Lord, 132.  _See_ Borthwick

+

+Goldschmidt, Otto, 18

+

+Gordon, General, statue of, 90

+

+Goschen, Sir Edward, 14

+

+Got, Edmond, 22, 161; letter from, 161

+

+Gounod, 96

+

+Grace, W. G., 120; testimonial to, 110

+

+Grain, Corney, 196

+

+Granville, Such, 108

+

+Graves, Charles, lines from, 146

+

+Green, Paddy, 71

+

+Grenfell, Field-Marshal Lord, 54

+

+Grisi, Madame, 20

+

+Grossmith, George, 7, 196

+

+Grossmith, Weedon, 197

+

+

+

+Hading, Jane, 30, 203

+

+Hall, Sir Charles, at Sandringham, 12

+

+Hannen, Lord, 66; President of the Divorce Court, 67

+

+Hare, Sir John, 7, 8, 43, 67, 107, 119, 213; portrait, 79; character

+of his acting, 213-215

+

+Harrison, Frederick, 200

+

+Hawkins, Henry, 71.  _See_ Brampton

+

+Hawtrey, Sir Charles, 14, 212

+

+Haymarket Theatre, 8, 117, 199

+

+Healy, Father, story of, 70

+

+Herkomer, Sir Hubert, 85; _The Last Muster_, 6, 86

+

+Herschell, Baron, Lord Chancellor, 70

+

+Hesse, Prince Louis of, illness, 10

+

+Hicks, Seymour, 195

+

+His Majesty's Theatre, 199

+

+Hodson, Henrietta (Mrs. Labouchere), 139

+

+Holker, Lord Justice, 69

+

+Hood, Tom, 168

+

+Hope, Anthony, 202

+

+Houghton, Lord, 100.  _See_ Milnes

+

+Huddleston, Baron, 67; funeral, 68

+

+

+

+Ibsen, H., _Hedda Gabler_, 205

+

+_Incubus, The_, 191

+

+Inglefield, Admiral Sir Edward, 124

+

+Inglefield, Lady, 125

+

+Irving, Elizabeth, 192

+

+Irving, Sir Henry, 7, 180; banquet to, 64; portraits, 79, 90, 187,

+188; statue, 89; at a fancy-dress ball, 122; in Paris, 181; acting in

+_The Bells_, 182; entertained at the Garrick Club, 184; gift from Sir

+S. Bancroft, 187; spends Christmas Day with him, 183; hospitality,

+188; tribute to, 189; sons, 190

+

+Irving, H. B., 190

+

+Irving, Laurence, 190; character of his acting, 191

+

+Irving, Laurence (son of H. B. Irving), 192

+

+Isaacs, Sir Rufus, 65

+

+

+

+James, David, 7

+

+James, Henry, 101, 203; Order of Merit conferred, 102; death, 102

+

+James, Lord, of Hereford, 67, 68

+

+Jefferson, Joseph, character of his acting, 165; pictures, 165

+

+Jerrold, Douglas, 160; tribute to Shakespeare, 210

+

+Jeune, Francis, 65, 69.  _See_ St. Helier

+

+Joachim, J., 60

+

+Johnson, Dr., 87

+

+Jones, Henry Arthur, 109, 202; plays, 198; comedies, 211

+

+

+

+Karsavina, 27

+

+Kean, Charles, 74, 156, 160

+

+Keeley, Louise, marriage, 74.  _See_ Williams

+

+Keeley, Mrs., 74

+

+Keeley, Robert, 74

+

+Kelvin, Lord, 122

+

+Kemble, Henry, stories of, 176; death, 177

+

+Kendal, Madge, 29, 108, 201, 203.  _See_ Robertson

+

+Kendal, William, 7, 153, 198, 201; character of his acting, 202

+

+Key, Philip Barton, 146

+

+Kitchener, Field-Marshal Earl, 126; tribute to, 126

+

+Knobloch, Edward, 237

+

+Knollys, Lord, 7

+

+

+

+Labouchere, Henry, 68, 139; stories of, 140; "Letters of a Besieged

+Resident," 140; Privy Councillor, 141

+

+Langtry, Mrs. portrait, 79

+

+Lascelles, Sir Frank, 54, 55; Ambassador in Berlin, 137

+

+Lawson, Edward, 134.  _See_ Burnham

+

+Legault, Maria, 22

+

+Leighton, Lord, President of the Royal Academy, 2; death, 77;

+remarkable gifts, 77; _The Slinger_, 78

+

+Lemon, Mark, editor of _Punch_, 111

+

+Lever, Charles, 102

+

+Lewis, Sir George, 63, 68; tribute to, 64

+

+Lincolnshire, Lord, 7

+

+Lind, Jenny, 18; story of, 18-20; medallion, 20

+

+Lindsay, Sir Coutts, President of the Grosvenor Gallery, 143

+

+Linley, Elizabeth, 125

+

+Lockwood, Sir Frank, 72, 188

+

+Löhr, Marie, 87

+

+Londesborough, Lord, 119; member of the Coaching Club, 120

+

+Londesborough, Lady, 10, 119

+

+London, blizzard, 9; fog, 140

+

+Longfellow, Henry W., story of, 99

+

+Lonsdale, Frederick, 76

+

+_Lord Dundreary_, 167

+

+Lowell, J. R., 147

+

+Lucas, E. V., 191

+

+Lucy, Sir Henry, 114; appearance, 115

+

+Lucy, Lady, 114

+

+Lyceum Theatre, 149, 166, 182

+

+Lyttelton, Hon. Alfred, 135

+

+Lytton, Bulwer, 32, 34; _Money_, 66, 173, 212

+

+

+

+Macduff, Viscount, 118

+

+Mackenzie, Sir Morell, 202

+

+Macready, General Sir Nevil, 160

+

+Macready, Jonathan, 160

+

+Macready, Major, 160

+

+Macready, W. C., opinion of Salvini's acting, 159; of Marie Wilton's,

+219

+

+Malibran, Maria, 20

+

+Marienbad, 13, 16

+

+Mario, G., 20

+

+Marks, Henry Stacey, 86

+

+Marlborough Club, 7

+

+Marlborough House, dinner at, 7

+

+Marshall, Robert, plays, 113

+

+Mary, H.M. Queen, 117, 242; at Sandringham, 13

+

+Mathew, Lord Justice, 70

+

+Mathews, Charles, Public Prosecutor, 75

+

+Mathews, Charles, 149; speech at a banquet, 150; letter from, 151;

+opinion of _Our Boys_, 153; character of his acting, 153

+

+Mathews, William, 67, 75

+

+Maude, Cyril, 200

+

+Maurice, Sir Frederick, biography of Lord Wolseley, 127

+

+Maurier, George du, Trilby, 86, 92; drawings in Punch, 91

+

+Maurier, Sir Gerald du, 153; at the funeral of Lady Bancroft, 237

+

+Maxwell, Mrs., 31.  _See_ Braddon

+

+Maxwell, W. B., 35

+

+May, Phil, 185

+

+McConnell, W. R., 168

+

+McDonnell, Schomberg or "Pom," 137

+

+Melba, Dame Nellie, 20; story of, 128

+

+Meredith, George, _Diana of the Crossways_, 125

+

+Merewether, Mr., 67

+

+Meyerbeer, G., 20

+

+Millais, Sir John Everett, 67; President of the Royal Academy, 78;

+pictures, 78, 79; portraits, 79, 187; landscapes, 79

+

+Milnes, Monckton, 100.  _See_ Houghton

+

+Modjeska, Helena, character of her acting, 27

+

+Mohammedan legend, sermon on, 51

+

+Monckton, Lionel, 195

+

+Montague, Henry, character of his acting, 172; death, 173

+

+Monte Carlo, 11, 90

+

+Morley, Rt. Hon. Arnold, Postmaster-General, 68

+

+Morley, Viscount, 68

+

+Morris, Clara, 30

+

+Mounet-Sully, M., 162

+

+

+

+Nevill, Lady Dorothy, 35; reminiscences, 36

+

+Nevill, Ralph, 36

+

+Neville, Henry, 7

+

+Nijinsky, 27

+

+Norton, Mrs., 125

+

+

+

+O'Connor, Rt. Hon. T. P., 142

+

+Ohnet, Georges, 22

+

+_Olivia_, 214

+

+Onslow, Lord, 120

+

+Orchardson, Sir W. Q., pictures, 84

+

+Orton, Arthur, claimant in the Tichborne trial, 71

+

+"Ouida," 31; novels, 32; views on female suffrage, 32; letter from,

+33.  _See_ Ramée

+

+Oxford and Cambridge cricket match, 135

+

+

+

+Paderewski, I. J., 20

+

+Page, Dr. W. H., 147

+

+Paris, siege of, 173

+

+Parker, Dr. Joseph, 50

+

+Parker, Louis N., 203

+

+Parnell Commission, 67

+

+Parratt, Sir Walter, 54, 55, 96

+

+Parry, John, 196

+

+Parry, Serjeant, 71

+

+Partridge, Bernard, 186

+

+_Passing of the Third Floor Back, The_, 115

+

+Patti, Adelina, 20

+

+Peel, Sir Robert, conversion to Free Trade, 125

+

+Pellegrini, Carlo, caricatures, 2, 93; death, 94

+

+Phelps, Mr., 147

+

+Phelps, Samuel, 155, 160

+

+Phillips, Stephen, 203

+

+Piatti, 60

+

+Pickersgill, the engraver, 87

+

+Pierson, Blanche, 22

+

+Pigott, Edward, Reader of Plays, 22

+

+Pinero, Sir Arthur W., 14, 202; _Lords and Commons_, 177; _The

+Profligate_, 199; knighthood conferred, 200; _The Second Mrs.

+Tanqueray_, 203-207; _The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith_, 214; _The Gay

+Lord Quex_, 214; tribute to the memory of Lady Bancroft, 226-232; at

+her funeral, 237

+

+Planché, J. R., _The King of the Peacocks_, 149

+

+Plat, Sir Charles du, at Sandringham, 12

+

+Plunket, David, 132.  _See_ Rathmore

+

+Poe, Edgar Allan, lines from, 74

+

+Pontresina, 95

+

+Poynter, Sir Edward, 188; President of the Royal Academy, 80;

+pictures, 81

+

+Prince of Wales's Theatre, 2, 101, 117, 213, 227, 243

+

+Prince's, 110

+

+Princess's Theatre, 194

+

+Prinsep, Anthony, 87

+

+Prinsep, Val, 77, 86

+

+Probyn, Sir Dighton, 7, 12

+

+_Punch_, 59, 91, 110, 145; editors, 111

+

+

+

+Queen's Theatre, 139

+

+

+

+Ramée, Louise de la, 31.  _See_ Ouida

+

+Rathmore, Lord, 132. _See_ Plunket

+

+Reade, Charles, 172; _The Cloister and the Hearth_, 102;

+characteristics, 103; _Masks and Faces_, 225

+

+Regnier, M., 162

+

+Rehan, Ada, 28, 30

+

+Réjane, Madame, character of her acting, 26

+

+Ridge, W. Pett, 75

+

+Ridgeway, Dr., Bishop of Chichester, 54

+

+Ristori, Madame, 157

+

+Rivière, Briton, pictures, 86

+

+Roberts, Field-Marshal Earl, 126

+

+Robertson, Madge, 108, 201.  _See_ Kendal

+

+Robertson, T. W., 104; comedies, 1, 101, 105, 217, 224, 227; _Ours_,

+8, 222, 233; _Caste_, 105, 119, 139, 227; _School_, 138, 164, 233;

+_Society_, 216; death, 217

+

+Robins, Elizabeth, 205

+

+Roebuck, Captain Disney, 73

+

+Rogers, Rev. William, 63

+

+Rothschild, Alfred de, 137

+

+Rowe, Mrs. Jopling, portrait, 79

+

+Rowton, Lord, 121.  _See_ Corry

+

+Russell, Charles, Lord Chief Justice, personality, 62; tribute to Sir

+G. Lewis, 63; story of, 64

+

+Russell, Sir William Howard, 132

+

+

+

+St. Helier, Lord, President of the Divorce Court, 69

+

+St. Helier, Lady, 69

+

+St. James's Theatre, 202

+

+St. Paul's Cathedral, Thanksgiving Service, 5

+

+Sala, George Augustus, 106

+

+Salvini, T., character of his acting, 156-159; letter from, 158

+

+Sambourne, Linley, drawings in _Punch_, 92

+

+Sanderson, Lord, 64

+

+Sandringham, 8, 12; fire at, 10

+

+Sardou, V., _Fédora_, 22; _Odette_, 26, 177

+

+Sargent, J. S., portraits, 79, 83, 188

+

+Savoy Theatre, 77, 196

+

+Scala Theatre, 108

+

+_School for Scandal_, 85, 87, 173

+

+Schumann, Madame, 60

+

+Scott, Clement, 134, 155

+

+Seaman, Sir Owen, editor of _Punch_, 111

+

+Seymour, Admiral Sir Beauchamp, 124.  _See_ Alcester

+

+Shakespeare, W., _Hamlet_, 155, 158; _Othello_, 157, 166; _Macbeth_,

+160; _Merry Wives of Windsor_, 174; Tercentenary, 207; address,

+207-210; tribute to, 208

+

+Shaw, Bernard, 194

+

+Sheppard, Canon Edgar, 40, 238

+

+Sheppard, Mrs., 40

+

+Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 125; _School for Scandal_, 85, 87, 173;

+_The Rivals_, 165

+

+"Sickles Tragedy, The," at Washington, 145-147

+

+Sims, G. R., 205

+

+Sloggett, General Sir Arthur, 237

+

+Somerleyton, Lady, 130

+

+Sothern, Edward Askew, 167; accident, 168; practical jokes, 168;

+_Birds of a Feather_, 169

+

+Sothern, Sam, 169

+

+Stanford, Charles, 96

+

+Stanley, Dean, tomb, 88

+

+Stanley, Sir H. M., 138

+

+Stanley, Lady, 138

+

+Stanley, Mrs. John, 69.  _See_ St. Helier

+

+Stone, Marcus, 77, 87

+

+Straight, Sir Douglas, 74; popularity, 75

+

+Strettell, Miss, 143

+

+Sullivan, Herbert, 11

+

+Sullivan, Sir Arthur, 59, 94, 108; illness, 11; portrait, 79;

+personality, 95; funeral, 95

+

+Sutherland, Sir Thomas, Chairman of the P. & O. Co., 137

+

+Sutro, Alfred, 202; compliment to Sir S. Bancroft, 124

+

+

+

+Tadema, Alma, 82

+

+Taylor, Tom, editor of _Punch_, 111

+

+Teck, Duchess of, 6, 117

+

+Teck, Prince Francis of, 116; death, 117

+

+Tennant, Laura, 135

+

+Tenniel, Sir John, cartoons in _Punch_, 91

+

+Tennyson, Lord, death, 45; _Becket_, 96

+

+Terriss, William, 214; career, 194; stabbed, 195

+

+Terry, Ellen, 28, 29, 30, 60, 156, 202, 214, 235; on the

+characteristics of Charles Reade, 102

+

+Terry, Fred, 212

+

+Terry, Kate, 156

+

+Thackeray, W. M., 34, 103; _Vanity Fair_, 107

+

+Thompson, Sir Henry, 68, 135, 136; portrait, 79

+

+Thornton, C. I., 120

+

+Tichborne trial, 59, 71

+

+Toole, J. L., 7; story of, 192

+

+Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm, 14, 119, 198; manager of the Haymarket,

+199; characteristics, 200; knighthood conferred, 200

+

+Trollope, Anthony, 102

+

+

+

+Vanbrugh, Irene, 169, 214

+

+Vaudeville Theatre, 153

+

+Vaughan, Father Bernard, 43

+

+Vestris, Madame, 149

+

+Vezin, Hermann, 7

+

+Victoria, H.M. Queen, attends a Thanksgiving Service, 5; Jubilee, 5;

+gift to Sir S. Bancroft, 13; voice, 60; Empress of India, 87

+

+

+

+Wace, Dr., Dean of Canterbury, 66

+

+Wace, Mrs., 56

+

+Wales, Oliver, 8

+

+Wallace, Sir Donald Mackenzie, 54, 55

+

+Waller, Lewis, 198, 199

+

+Ward, Barbara, 94

+

+Ward, Leslie, 94

+

+Washington, "The Sickles Tragedy" at, 145

+

+Webb, Sir Aston, President of the Royal Academy, 82

+

+Webster, Richard, 64.  _See_ Alverstone

+

+Wellington, Duke of, statue, 88

+

+Wertheimer, Mr., portrait, 79

+

+Westminster Abbey, Jubilee Thanksgiving, 5

+

+Wharncliffe, Lord, 11

+

+Whistler, James McNeill, 90

+

+White, Field-Marshal Sir George, Governor of Gibraltar, 130

+

+White, Lady, 130

+

+White, Rev. Henry, Chaplain of the Chapel Royal, 39

+

+Wigan, Alfred, 73

+

+Wilberforce, Archdeacon, 41; love of animals, 42

+

+Wilberforce, Mrs., 41

+

+Wilde, Oscar, 203; plays, 112

+

+Willard, E. S., 198

+

+William II, ex-German Emperor, treatment of his mother, 51

+

+William IV, King, 15

+

+Williams, Louise, 74.  _See_ Keeley

+

+Williams, Montagu, 72; career, 73; _The Isle of St. Tropez_, 73;

+criminal cases, 73; marriage, 74

+

+Wilson, Sir Rivers, 137

+

+Wilton, Marie, 219.  _See_ Bancroft

+

+Wilton, Mrs., story of, 243

+

+Wolseley, Field-Marshal Viscount, 126; career, 127; story of, 128

+

+Wood, Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn, 129

+

+Wood, Mrs. John, 29, 174

+

+Wyndham, Sir Charles, 7, 153, 177, 210; character of his acting, 211;

+President of the Actors' Benevolent Fund, 212

+

+Wyndham, Lady, 212

+

+

+

+Yates, Edmund, 103, 106, 172; death, 107 ENDX

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 73506 ***

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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Empty Chairs, by Squire Bancroft

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+<body>

+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 73506 ***</div>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="capcenter">

+<a id="img-front"></a>

+<br>

+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt="Marie Bancroft">

+<br>

+Marie Bancroft

+</p>

+<h1>

+<br><br>

+  EMPTY CHAIRS<br>

+</h1>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  BY<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="t2">

+  SQUIRE BANCROFT<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  LONDON<br>

+  JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.<br>

+  1925<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t4">

+  FIRST EDITION ... <i>March</i> 1925<br>

+  <i>Reprinted</i> ... April 1925<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t4">

+  <i>Printed in Great Britain by<br>

+  Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.</i><br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  TO<br>

+  MY SON<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+PREFACE

+</p>

+

+<p>

+These pages are mainly concerned with men

+and women who, in days gone by, have done

+my wife and me the honour to sit at our table,

+and have now left us.  I think of their Empty

+Chairs from a warm corner of my heart: their

+friendship has brightened my life and stored

+my mind with rosemary.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Having already written <i>Recollections</i>, I am

+bound to repeat myself, so let me plead

+forgiveness for the besetting sin of advanced

+years.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My apology for the book is its last chapter.

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+S. B.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3b">

+CONTENTS

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+I. <a href="#chap01">King Edward VII</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+II. <a href="#chap02"><i>Place aux Dames</i></a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+III. <a href="#chap03">The Church</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+IV. <a href="#chap04">The Law</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+V. <a href="#chap05">Painting: Sculpture: Music</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+VI. <a href="#chap06">Literature</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+VII. <a href="#chap07">More Men of Mark</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+VIII. <a href="#chap08">The Stage: I</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+IX. <a href="#chap09">The Stage: II</a>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+X. <a href="#chap10">One other Empty Chair</a>

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap01"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P1"></a>1}</span></p>

+

+<p class="t2">

+EMPTY CHAIRS

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<h3>

+I

+<br><br>

+KING EDWARD VII

+</h3>

+

+<p class="t3">

+"Blessed are the peacemakers"

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+All who were born, as I was, in 1841 must

+count it an honour to have come into the world

+in the same year as King Edward the

+Peacemaker.  And the honour appeals especially

+perhaps to one who owes many of his friends

+and much of his happiness to the stage, for

+the stage has never found among Royal heads

+a firmer friend than was the late King; his

+gracious words and acts went far to conquer

+a decaying prejudice.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The first time that either my wife or I met

+or had speech with the Prince of Wales (as

+he was for many years) was so far back as in

+1868, when he, with the present Queen

+Alexandra, attended an early performance of one

+of Robertson's comedies during our managerial

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P2"></a>2}</span>

+career at the old Prince of Wales's Theatre

+(which he had graciously given his permission,

+through the Lord Chamberlain, to name after

+him).  On this occasion the Prince came for

+the first time behind the scenes, and honoured

+our little green-room with a visit.  His love

+of exactitude in all matters of costume enabled

+us then, I remember, to correct a slight error

+in a military uniform.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His Royal Highness was accompanied by

+Frederic Leighton, then young and handsome,

+who ten years later was elected President of

+the Royal Academy; and by Carlo Pellegrini,

+whose caricatures, bearing the now historic

+signature "Ape," were then attracting

+both attention and admiration.  The

+celebrated "originals," I imagine, have now all

+passed away.  Lord Chaplin was the last

+survivor of the unpublished "set" which

+enrich the Marlborough Club.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The weather was foggy, and during the

+performance became so dense that at the close

+the streets were dangerous.  The Royal

+carriages, after great difficulty, arrived safely,

+surrounded by a body of police, bearing

+torches, who escorted our visitors to

+Marlborough House.  In all the years of our

+management the Prince never came again

+without asking, upon his arrival, to be

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P3"></a>3}</span>

+informed at which interval it would be

+convenient for my wife to receive his visit to the

+green-room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A domestic drama

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One of these visits to our theatre caused,

+indirectly, the plot of a domestic drama.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Royal box was constructed by throwing

+two private boxes into one, and on a certain

+Friday night news reached the theatre that it

+was required by the Prince for the following

+evening.  This was before the days of

+telephones.  Both boxes had been taken&mdash;one at

+the theatre, the other at a librarian's in Bond

+Street&mdash;and nothing remained unlet but a

+small box on the top tier.  Not to disappoint

+the Prince of Wales, it was decided that every

+effort should be made to arrange matters.  The

+box which had been sold at the theatre was

+kindly given up by the purchaser, and a visit

+to Bond Street fortunately disclosed the name

+of the possessor of the other.  The gentleman

+was a stockbroker; so a messenger was at

+once sent to his office in the City, only to find

+that he had just gone.  After a great deal of

+difficulty our invincible messenger succeeded

+in learning his private address, where, on

+arrival, he was told that "Master went to

+Liverpool on business this morning, and won't

+be back till Monday."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The door of a room leading from the hall

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P4"></a>4}</span>

+was opened at this moment, and a portly lady

+appeared upon the scene.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Went to Liverpool!" echoed the messenger.

+"Nonsense!  He's going to the Prince

+of Wales's Theatre this evening."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The lady now approached, and asked if she

+could be of any service.  The messenger

+repeated his story and stated his errand.  The

+lady smiled blandly, and said that, if the small

+box on the upper tier were reserved, matters

+no doubt would be amicably arranged in the

+evening, and so that man went away rejoicing.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At night, not long before the play began, the

+gentleman who had in vain been sought so

+urgently arrived in high spirits, accompanied

+by a lady, handsome but not portly.  When

+the circumstances were explained to him, he

+agreed to use the smaller, and upstairs box.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There ended our share in the transaction;

+but hardly were the unfortunate man and his

+attractive companion left alone than the portly

+lady reached the theatre and asked to be

+shown to Box X.  She was conducted there;

+the door was opened.  Tableau!  What

+explanation was given as to the business trip to

+Liverpool we never knew, or whether the

+third act of this domestic drama was

+afterwards played at the Law Courts before "the

+President."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P5"></a>5}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Grave illness

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was in the winter of 1871 that the Prince

+fell seriously ill from typhoid fever.  The

+national excitement reached so high a pitch

+and the craving for the latest news of his

+condition grew so great, that the bulletins

+from Sandringham were read out in the theatres

+between the acts, and the National Anthem

+and "God Bless the Prince of Wales" were

+nightly played by the various orchestras.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Prince was hardly expected to survive

+from hour to hour, but when reassuring

+bulletins were issued I vividly remember the

+relief they caused.  The extraordinary

+manifestation of loyalty to the Throne and

+attachment to the Prince which this illness set ablaze

+culminated on the day of General Thanksgiving,

+when London was <i>en fête</i>, and Queen

+Victoria, with her convalescent son, went to

+the service held at St. Paul's.  My wife and I

+were fortunate in being invited by the Lord

+Chamberlain to represent the stage&mdash;young

+managers as we then were&mdash;at the Cathedral.

+I shall never forget the effect when the great

+west door was thrown open and a loud voice

+announced "The Queen."  The imposing

+ceremony, the aspect of the building, with its

+splendid assemblage of people, have only since

+been equalled at the Jubilee Thanksgiving of

+1887 in Westminster Abbey, at which we were

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P6"></a>6}</span>

+also present.  On the day which followed I

+remember being at the corner of Pall Mall and

+St. James's Street while the decorations were

+being taken down.  I said to a police constable:

+"You fellows must have had a long and very

+tiring day, yesterday."  "Yes, sir, we had,"

+the man replied, "and we'd willingly go through

+it all for her again to-morrow."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I also recall an amusing incident which took

+place at that time in the grounds of Chelsea

+Hospital.  There was a parade of the old

+Pensioners, looking as if they had stepped from

+the canvas of Herkomer's "Last Muster."  The

+Prince and Princess of Wales, with other Royalties,

+including the Duchess of Teck, who was in

+a bath-chair, passed along the line, the Prince

+in his kindly way stopping now and then to say

+a pleasant word.  The breast of one old man

+was ablaze with medals&mdash;the Prince handled

+them and said: "You have indeed seen a deal

+of service, my man."  The old fellow drew

+himself up, saluted, and answered: "Yes,

+your wusshup!"  The Prince controlled his

+amusement at the new title and passed

+along, but, as she was drawn after him in

+her chair, the Duchess did not repress the

+merry laughter for which she was loved by all

+sorts of people.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Dinners to actors

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Among my treasured memories is that of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P7"></a>7}</span>

+the dinner given by the Prince at Marlborough

+House to the principal actors of London&mdash;one

+of the many acts by which he endeared himself

+to the theatrical profession.  On this occasion

+I was honoured by being placed on the right-hand

+of our host.  This was in 1882.  Without

+having realised it, I found that I had already

+been the senior manager in London for some

+years.  Thirty-eight were at table, the actors

+present being Henry Irving, J. L. Toole, John

+Hare, Charles Wyndham, Charles Coghlan,

+W. H. Kendal, John Clayton, David James,

+Arthur Cecil, Henry Neville, Lionel Brough,

+Hermann Vezin, George Grossmith the elder,

+and myself.  H. J. Byron was invited, but

+serious illness kept him away.  I am the only

+survivor of that happy company.  Of the

+guests invited to meet us, Lord Lincolnshire

+(then known to his intimates as "Charlie

+Carington") alone is with us still.  Lord

+Knollys, a charming guest, the trusted

+servant of three monarchs, and Sir Dighton

+Probyn, for so many years Queen Alexandra's

+devoted henchman, have both recently gone

+from us.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Prince gave a similar dinner a year or

+two later at the Marlborough Club, and also

+honoured the actors by accepting an invitation

+to dine with them at the Garrick.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P8"></a>8}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+During an interval in a performance of

+Robertson's comedy, <i>Ours</i>, at the Haymarket

+Theatre, I was conducting the Prince to the

+green-room, when, on crossing the stage, there

+was a congested condition of some scenery.

+I turned to our master-carpenter, whose name

+chanced to be Oliver Wales, and said, "Which

+way, Wales?"  I realised the effect of the

+words by an amused look on the Prince's face.

+My wife on that evening had taken her autograph

+book to the theatre to ask the Prince to

+add his name to it; he wrote at once, "Not

+'<i>Ours</i>,' but Yours sincerely, EDWARD P."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My wife and I were naturally proud of the

+personal interest taken by King Edward in the

+farewell performance which we gave on our

+retiring from management in 1885.  The Prince

+(as he still then was) suggested the date, in

+order that with the Princess of Wales he might

+be present.  They were accompanied by the

+three young princesses.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On November 9th, 1891, some of the leading

+actors, including Hare and myself&mdash;Irving was

+in America at the time&mdash;went to Sandringham

+as a deputation, to present H.R.H. on his

+fiftieth birthday with a cigar and cigarette box,

+in gold, with the feathers mounted in brilliants,

+the gift of members of the theatrical

+profession.  The Prince was greatly pleased with

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P9"></a>9}</span>

+what was really a handsome present, and, to

+my knowledge, he never missed an opportunity,

+when the box was placed by his order in front

+of him after dinner, to say what it was and

+who gave it.  On the occasion, after a happy

+luncheon, we were, as was customary, I was

+told, weighed in the hall, much to the

+annoyance of one of the party, who had a

+superstitious objection to the proceeding.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Alone in the storm

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+London was visited by violent blizzards in

+March 1892.  On an afternoon in that month

+I determined to go out and face one of the

+worst of them.  I dressed for the enterprise,

+and as the door of our house&mdash;then in Berkeley

+Square&mdash;was opened for me, a solitary

+pedestrian passed the portico, wearing a black

+Inverness cape and, with difficulty, holding up an

+umbrella.  In spite of the driving sleet and

+snow I could not help noticing a remarkable

+resemblance borne by the passer-by, who was

+walking towards Piccadilly, to the Prince of

+Wales.  I followed at short distance, and was

+more and more surprised by what I thought

+must be a striking "double."  At the corner

+of Hay Hill the pedestrian stopped, turned

+round, stared at me as I was slowly approaching,

+and after some hesitation trudged on down

+Berkeley Street.  By this time I felt certain

+it must be the Prince, so I crossed the road and

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P10"></a>10}</span>

+continued my walk by the side of the wall

+enclosing the gardens of Lord Lansdowne and

+the Duke of Devonshire.  As I reached the

+passage which divides them, the Prince again

+stopped and looked at me; he then crossed

+the slushy road with the evident intention of

+speaking.  I advanced towards him.  The

+Prince begged me to put on my hat and walked

+with me to the pavement I had left; he stood

+there and spoke of the recent death of the

+Duke of Clarence, of the grave illness of

+Prince Louis of Hesse, of the disastrous fire

+at Sandringham; since when, he said, according

+to an old superstition, he had known no

+luck, adding that he was starting that evening

+with the Princess for the south of France and

+a stay at Cap Martin, that meanwhile "he did

+not know what to do with himself, as they

+were so steeped in sorrow."  After some

+minutes I said that I must not keep him

+standing longer in such weather.  The Prince then

+shook me cordially by the hand, and said, very

+simply, "I am so glad to have had this talk

+with you."  He hesitated again as I left him,

+then turned back and passed out of my sight

+up Hay Hill.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Visiting the sick

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On the evening of the same day it chanced

+that my wife and I had been invited to a

+musical party given by Lady Londesborough.

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P11"></a>11}</span>

+We took our places in a row of chairs; a few

+minutes later the one next to mine was

+occupied by the then Lord Wharncliffe, whom, as

+Chairman of the Beefsteak Club and in other

+ways, I knew.  He turned to me and said:

+"Bancroft, if there is such a thing as a ghost,

+I saw one this afternoon, for as I was slithering

+down Hay Hill in a hansom, hanging on to

+the doors through the dangerous condition of

+the road, a man was walking on the pavement,

+so like the Prince of Wales, that I instinctively

+raised my hand to take off my hat, when I

+remembered that it could only be some amazing

+resemblance to the Prince, who never walks in

+the streets alone."  I was able to convince

+him that it had been no ghost.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A few weeks afterwards I went to Monte

+Carlo.  On my arrival I heard that Arthur

+Sullivan was lying very ill at Eze.  I went to

+his villa on a broiling hot day, and was talking

+under the verandah with his devoted nephew,

+Herbert Sullivan, then a young fellow, when

+the sound of a carriage stopping at the gate

+was followed by the figure of a visitor walking

+up the garden path alone.  I saw at once it

+was the Prince of Wales, who, directly he came

+close to us, greeted me with the words:

+"Very different weather from when we last

+met."  The Prince, among other kind acts,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P12"></a>12}</span>

+sent his own doctor to see the sufferer, who was

+too ill to be allowed to receive anyone.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At that time I was much occupied by the

+readings of Charles Dickens's <i>Christmas Carol</i>,

+which I gave on behalf of hospitals.  A great

+stimulus to their success was one of the many

+acts of kindness which I have received from the

+then Prince of Wales.  Soon after I started

+them I had the good fortune to meet the

+Prince, by the invitation of the late Lord

+Burnham, at Hall Barn, where he was staying

+for a shoot extending over several days.  The

+Prince spoke to me warmly about the "Carol,"

+and asked if I would like to give the reading

+at Sandringham at the coming Christmas-time,

+when the house would be full of guests.

+Needless to say, I could have wished for no

+greater help to any project that I had a

+part in.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+At Sandringham

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On my arrival at Sandringham I was met

+by Sir Dighton Probyn.  We were soon joined

+by my host, who took a personal interest in the

+preparations for my evening's work.  In the

+drawing-room, before dinner, I found among

+the "house-party" two old friends, Sir Charles

+du Plat and Sir Charles Hall.  On entering, the

+Princess of Wales paused to look round the

+room; she then left the Prince's arm, advanced

+towards me, and most graciously welcomed me.

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P13"></a>13}</span>

+At the table, also, were the present King and

+Queen.  The audience for my reading was

+completed by invitations given to many friends

+and neighbours, the household, the tenants,

+and the servants&mdash;the ballroom being full.

+The reading was accompanied by laughter and

+applause, a special tribute being paid to my

+impromptu description of the memorable turkey

+as "real Norfolk."  In the billiard-room, later

+in the evening, I had suitable opportunity

+to show the Prince the cigar-case which was

+given to me by Queen Victoria at Balmoral,

+saying that it was the first occasion on which

+I had carried it.  The Prince at once replied,

+suiting the action to the word, "Perhaps you

+would like me to be the first to take a cigar

+from it?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When in 1897 the late Marquess of Salisbury

+submitted to Queen Victoria that the honour

+of Knighthood should be conferred upon me,

+none of the many congratulations that my

+wife and I received were more charmingly or

+warmly expressed than those of the Prince of

+Wales.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was, however, at Marienbad, where King

+Edward went annually to take the waters, that

+he might be seen at his friendliest, free from the

+cares of his high estate and able, as the "Duke

+of Lancaster," to relax something of Royal

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P14"></a>14}</span>

+ceremony; but, however unbending, the King

+had great unconscious dignity.  Happy

+luncheons and pleasant dinners have I enjoyed in

+his company there, charmed by a perfect host,

+put entirely at ease by his geniality and

+constantly impressed by his wide knowledge and

+deep interest in the affairs of the world.

+Among fellow guests I may mention Pinero,

+Tree, and Hawtrey.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The one exception to "Marienbad dress"

+was when the King gave a dinner on the

+fête-day of Francis Joseph, the old Emperor; then

+the card bore the words, "Evening dress and

+decorations."  I was honoured with an

+invitation, and that year had no tail-coat with

+me.  A soldier friend said if his decorations,

+for which he had telegraphed, did not arrive

+in time he would lend me his "tails."  After

+luncheon, however, I bolted up to the

+golf-course, hunted down Sir Edward Goschen's

+attaché, a charming tall fellow, and, knowing

+he would have to wear diplomatic uniform at

+the dinner, asked if he would lend me his

+ordinary evening coat.  On the night of the

+ceremony the guests were assembled waiting

+for the King, who went the round of the

+half-circle with a happy word in several languages

+to all.  His humorous salutation to me was,

+"A very becoming coat, Bancroft."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P15"></a>15}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I recall an amusing incident told me by my

+neighbour at table, who was High Sheriff of

+his county.  At a ceremony which the King

+had journeyed from London to perform, a

+provincial Mayor, after being himself

+presented, nervously said: "May I present Your

+Majesty to the Mayoress?"  The King

+immediately replied: "Certainly; the Mayoress

+is generally presented to me, so it will be a

+novelty."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+His love of precision

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have referred to King Edward's well-known

+love of exactitude in matters of

+etiquette and ceremony, and I remember a

+curious instance of this quality.  On one

+of the occasions when I was His Majesty's

+guest, a discussion arose about the period of

+some incident that had been mentioned in the

+course of conversation; one of the guests said

+that it took place early in the reign of Queen

+Victoria.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"No," said our host, "you are mistaken; it

+happened towards the close of the reign of the

+late King."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Not for a moment or two did those present

+realise that by "the late King" His Majesty

+was referring to King William IV, who, sure

+enough, was strictly "the late King," although

+full seventy years had passed since the "sailor

+King" sat on the throne of England, and he had

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P16"></a>16}</span>

+died before anyone then at the table was

+born.  I had occasion to notice also that King

+Edward was always punctilious to give his

+predecessors their Royal title.  Should anyone,

+for instance, allude to "the statue of Charles I"

+at Charing Cross, the King would be sure to

+reply with a reference to "the statue of King

+Charles I."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In 1909, the year of the King's last visit to

+Marienbad, my memory for dates was appealed

+to at His Majesty's table with regard to the

+year of Lord Fisher's birth.  I answered that

+the great little "Jacky" was born in the same

+year as the King and, as it happened, myself.

+This led to other names, all friends of our host,

+being similarly mentioned.  I told the King

+that I held the Royal vintage to be a good

+one.  He was both amused and interested,

+and wished the list of names to be made out

+for him, adding: "I must ask you all to

+dinner."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+His end

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Alas, too soon afterwards came his death&mdash;a

+national sorrow!  King Edward impressed

+the world by his conduct on the throne, which

+he filled greatly and with a great humanity

+from the hour he was called to it.  He was

+beloved by all sorts and conditions of men, who

+felt that when he died they had lost a great

+friend, the State a great servant, our country

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P17"></a>17}</span>

+a great King.  "The King is dead: long live

+the King."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Of the present Prince of Wales it may be

+truly said, in the words of Shakespeare:

+"Thy noble grandfather doth live again in

+thee."

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap02"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P18"></a>18}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+II

+<br><br>

+PLACE AUX DAMES

+</h3>

+

+<p class="t3">

+"For some we loved, the loveliest and the best"

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+It is a long cry back to 1878, when we had

+Jenny Lind for our guest and we had the pleasure

+of hearing her sing; there cannot be many

+people living who have listened to a trill from

+the throat of the "Swedish Nightingale."  My

+wife and I first met her at Pontresina, where

+she was staying with her husband&mdash;"Little

+Otto," as we called Mr. Goldschmidt.  It is

+difficult to describe that gifted creature&mdash;plain

+in feature, insignificant in figure&mdash;until she

+opened her lips: then everything changed&mdash;she

+cast a spell round her and became idealised.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The black box

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I remember, too, the humour with which the

+great lady told and acted an amusing incident

+that occurred on one of her travelling operatic

+tours when she appeared at a different place

+every evening.  This was not altogether lost;

+my wife reproduced it afterwards.  All the

+members of the company were seated in the

+train except the tenor, a funny-looking little

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P19"></a>19}</span>

+fat man who stammered painfully when speaking,

+but sang without a trace of his affliction.

+Just on the point of starting he appeared in a

+state of excitement at the door of the great

+songstress's compartment, having discovered

+that a large black box which contained her

+wardrobe had been left behind.  He hurriedly

+opened the door and stammered violently:

+"Mad-ame, Mad-ame."  "Yes, yes."  The

+poor tenor got a step further: "The b-b-b-b&mdash;"  The

+bewildered lady cried, "What is it?

+What's the matter?"  Still the afflicted tenor,

+stammering more and more, could only answer,

+"The b-b-b&mdash;&mdash;-"  "Yes, yes, yes, but what is

+the b-b-b&mdash;, my dear fellow?"  The stammer

+nearly choked the wretched creature as he

+gasped, "The bl-bl-bl-bl&mdash;&mdash;"  "Sing it, sing it,

+for mercy's sake, sing it!" cried the diva.  The

+tenor lapsed dramatically into recitative: "All,

+I fear, is lost!"  "Go on, go on.  What's

+lost?"  "I fe-ar&mdash;is lost!"  "Go on, tell us,

+go on, what's lost?"  The wretched tenor

+struck an attitude as he sang, "The black

+box!"  "Yes, yes, what about it?"  The

+only answer was, "The black box!"  "What

+of it, man?" cried the poor lady in despair.

+The tenor reached his highest note as he

+shrieked, "The black box has been

+for-got-t-en!"  Jenny Lind fell back in her corner and

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P20"></a>20}</span>

+muttered: "Great Heaven!  I shall have no

+clothes!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The whistle sounded, the tenor was hoisted

+into his compartment, and the train started.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I recall another story of how when a great

+composer&mdash;I think it was Meyerbeer&mdash;died, a

+pushing musician sent a great musician

+the score of a funeral march, which he had

+written in honour of the illustrious man who

+had passed away, with the hope that it might

+be played at his burial, and asking for a candid

+opinion of its merits.  He was rebuffed by a

+judgment to the effect that things would

+have shaped better had he himself died and

+Meyerbeer undertaken to compose a funeral

+march.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is bewildering to contrast the modest fees

+earned in Jenny Lind's day, and by gifted

+creatures like Malibran, Grisi and Mario (the

+pair sang in large houses for about thirty

+guineas) with the fabulous figures reached by

+such artists as Melba, Caruso and Paderewski

+in recent times.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There is a pretty medallion of Jenny Lind

+on the walls of Westminster Abbey, and I am

+glad that a statue has now been erected to her

+memory in the capital of her native land.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another glorious songstress, Adelina Patti,

+was our friend for many years.  She invited

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P21"></a>21}</span>

+us to stay at her Welsh castle, but we could not

+go.  She amassed wealth and also charmed the

+world longer than any of her rivals.  It has

+been truly said that the harp-strings slumber

+until touched by a magic hand: the echo of

+her wonderful voice still beats in human hearts,

+although its music has ended in the silence that

+waits for us all.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Sarah"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In this little chapter&mdash;devoted to honoured

+women who have been our guests&mdash;mention

+must be made of one so famed as Sarah Bernhardt,

+the first actress to receive the Legion

+d'Honneur.  My wife and I met her, and sat

+by her side, at the Mansion House, the

+occasion being a luncheon given by the then Lord

+Mayor in 1879 to the members of the Comédie

+Française, which comprised a group of players

+no theatre then could equal or has ever equalled

+since.  I recall an amusing incident which

+occurred at the banquet concerning two busts&mdash;one

+of Nelson, the other of Wellington&mdash;which

+prominently adorned the room we were in,

+called the Long Parlour.  We were obliged

+to assure "the divine Sarah" and her angry

+comrades that the Lord Mayor meant no slight

+to them or to their country in not having the

+offending busts removed, and also had to

+defend his lordship for not wearing his robes

+and chain of office, and for being

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P22"></a>22}</span>

+unaccompanied by sword and mace bearers.  Incredible,

+but true.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The finest piece of acting I ever saw from

+"Sarah" was at the <i>répétition générale</i> in Paris

+of Sardou's play <i>Fédora</i>.  She rose to great

+heights, and held a brilliantly composed

+audience under a spell and in her grasp.  Among

+those present, I remember well, were Alexandre

+Dumas, Alphonse Daudet, and Georges Ohnet;

+Got and Coquelin; Blanche Pierson and Maria

+Legault.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Edward Pigott, who was then the official

+Reader of Plays, wrote to me:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"The English version of <i>Fédora</i> is an

+admirable piece of literary workmanship.  It

+reads almost like an English original.  The

+part is all Sarah.  It is written exactly to her

+measure&mdash;that electric play of feature and

+gesture, that nervous intensity, that range

+of power and variety of accent, and sudden

+changefulness of mood, which belong to the

+feline instinct or temperament."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on, when I saw that great actress&mdash;so

+soon to be a legend, a tradition&mdash;Eleanora

+Duse, play in <i>Fédora</i> I learnt that Sardou

+and Sarah had left some things unthought

+of.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Here is a little letter from the brilliant

+Frenchwoman:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P23"></a>23}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"BIEN CHÈRE, MADAME,

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Je vous remercie mille fois pour vos si

+belles roses et l'aimable lettre de Monsieur

+Bancroft.  Je suis très heureuse que vous ayez

+pris plaiser à m'entendre, et très touchée que

+deux artistes de votre valeur m'accordent du

+talent.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Veuillez me croire reconnaissante, et agréez,

+Madame, je vous prie, mes meilleurs sentiments.

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"SARAH BERNHARDT."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Years afterwards, on the fiftieth anniversary

+of the great actress's first appearance

+on the stage, my wife was chosen to

+present a testimonial which had been prepared

+in her honour, in the presence of a remarkable

+gathering in which Monsieur Paul

+Cambon, the honoured French Ambassador

+to our Court for so many years, took a

+prominent part.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+These were some of her words:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Dear Madame Bernhardt, or, as you have

+so closely fastened yourself to our hearts 'with

+hoops of steel,' I hope you will allow me to say,

+dear Sarah.  My words will be brief, but they

+come from my heart&mdash;the heart of a comrade

+and friend.  Since my retirement no greater

+pleasure has befallen me than I feel at this

+moment, and when I was invited to perform

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P24"></a>24}</span>

+this delightful ceremony I was proud to be

+remembered and to be thought worthy to

+have the honour of presenting this tribute to

+your genius; an endorsement, as it were, of

+the force and value of the <i>Entente Cordiale</i>

+which so happily unites our two great

+countries.  Your fame belongs to all the

+world&mdash;the homage of every land is yours.

+Your name will live with those of Siddons,

+Rachel and Ristori.  You have shed lustre

+and glory on the beautiful art you have so

+long and nobly served and in which you reign

+supreme."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+The great woman took the opportunity to

+repeat her opinion given to a mutual friend,

+Hamilton Aidé, years before, of my wife's

+acting as Peg Woffington.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Aimée Desclée

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+But great as she was, unequalled in technique,

+wonderful in the range of her art, perfect in

+her command of every tone in her beautiful

+language, Sarah Bernhardt was never to my

+mind quite free from the blemish&mdash;it may be

+thought heresy to say so&mdash;of being something

+of a show-woman.  The drum was too big

+in her orchestra, while I always considered

+her to be surpassed in the reality of emotion

+and passion by one other woman I have seen

+upon the stage&mdash;Aimée Desclée.  No other

+serious actress, to my mind, took more absolute

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P25"></a>25}</span>

+possession of her audience.  I doubt if even

+Rachel could have eclipsed her.  Her acting

+in <i>Froufrou</i>, her original part, was supreme.

+The quarrel with her sister I can best describe

+as a whirlwind of dramatic art in its highest

+form, as was the pathos with which&mdash;when

+she had wrecked her life and gone away with

+her lover&mdash;she moaned: "<i>Une heure de colère,

+et voilà ou j'en suis.</i>"  Only those who are

+now quite old can have seen Desclée.  Her

+fame was achieved in a few brief years, as she

+died in the flower of youth, being little more

+than thirty, if my memory serves me, in 1873.

+When Sarah then was asked her opinion of

+Desclée's acting she answered, "Truth!"  She

+made no claim to beauty, but possessed more

+"magnetism"&mdash;I know no better word&mdash;unclouded

+by exaggeration than any of her rivals.

+Had Desclée been spared to act for twenty

+years her name would have lived among the

+immortals.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Alexandre Dumas thus wrote of her:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Nothing remains of what was once so dear.

+Let us regret this great artist, but pity not her

+death.  She has won the rest for which she

+prayed.  Her best reward is death.  Of the

+details of her actual life I have told you

+nothing.  Where was she born?  How was

+she brought up?  Where did she first appear?

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P26"></a>26}</span>

+What became of her?  What matters it at all?

+A woman like her has no biography.  She

+touched our souls: and she is dead.  There is

+her history."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Réjane

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another Frenchwoman whose name and

+fame give her an honoured place among the

+great ones, was Réjane.  Our acquaintance

+began with a visit she paid us behind the

+scenes at the Haymarket when she was quite

+young.  My wife at the time was acting the

+part first played by Réjane in a play by Sardou,

+called <i>Odette</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She was never a guest at our table at home,

+but only when we met in France.  Her art

+was the embodiment of abiding charm in

+<i>Ma Cousine</i>, in <i>La Vierge Folle</i>, in <i>Madame

+Sans-Gêne</i>, and many another play.  Paris

+loved her and she loved Paris.  How they

+must miss each other!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She was proud of her Montmartre origin,

+where she passed a poor and hard-working

+youth, painting fans and teaching.  She told

+the company assembled to celebrate her

+nomination to the <i>Légion d'Honneur</i>, that it

+was at Montmartre she learnt her art and

+at Montmartre, in contact with lovers of the

+theatre, that she perfected it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I remember the days in London when her

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P27"></a>27}</span>

+carriage was drawn by a pair of Spanish mules

+and people would struggle for a glimpse of her

+fascinating, though not beautiful, face.  The

+last time I saw Réjane was at the Queen's

+Hall, during the War, when she recited Émile

+Cammaerts's poem, <i>Carillon</i>, to the music

+written for it by the composer, Edward Elgar,

+who conducted it himself.  All concerned

+seemed to be inspired and gave you out of

+themselves some minutes of ecstasy; just as

+Karsavina and Nijinsky did in <i>The Spectre of

+The Rose</i> at Covent Garden, before the War.

+These are things which are yours while memory

+lasts.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Modjeska

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A dear friend and guest was the brilliant

+Helena Modjeska.  Like the distinguished

+actor, Fechter, she never quite mastered the

+difficulties of the English tongue, but again,

+as in the Frenchman, her foreign accent

+became a fascination.  She ran the great Sarah

+very close in <i>La Dame aux Camélias</i>.  Her

+performance was the more spiritual: she

+seemed to have sacrificed purity only through

+passion and was ever fighting for Divine

+forgiveness.  You almost had doubts if she could

+have so sinned, but none as to her salvation.

+My wife could give a most dramatic imitation

+of their different treatments of the tragic end,

+when with difficulty the feeble, outstretched

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P28"></a>28}</span>

+hands reached a table-mirror and they looked

+upon their dying faces.  It was hard to decide

+if the heart-rending, pitiful wail with which

+the one murmured, "How changed I am!"

+was surpassed by the terrifying awe which

+slowly spread over the emaciated face of the

+other.  Both were supreme moments in their

+beautiful art.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I recall an incident at a dinner given by

+Madame Modjeska and her husband, when

+the subject of an unhappy break-up of what

+seemed a happy marriage through an unfortunate

+lapse on the husband's part became the

+topic.  The lady by my side said passionately:

+"That is an indiscretion, an outrage, a sin,

+call it what you will, I could never

+forgive&mdash;whoever the woman might be."  She paused

+for a moment and added: "With one

+exception&mdash;Ellen Terry.  Any man <i>ought</i> to be

+forgiven."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Let me say a word about an Irish girl born

+at Limerick but taken to America in her

+childhood; the delightful, alluring Ada Rehan.

+She and Irving were our guests, both for the

+last time, together, I remember, and when

+they sat side by side.  No words of mine could

+compete with those I copy, written by one

+who had followed Ada Rehan's art in every

+phase:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P29"></a>29}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"The secret of her allurement was elusive.

+Among its elements were absolute sincerity,

+the manifest capability of imparting great

+happiness, triumphant personal beauty, touched

+and softened by a wistful and sympathetic

+sadness, and that controlling and compelling

+instinct, essentially feminine, which endows with

+vital import every experience of love, and

+creates a perfect illusion in scenes of fancied

+bliss or woe."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Gifted women

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It has been a pleasant task to pay my tribute

+to brilliant artists of foreign birth; I do not

+wish to write of gifted women now before the

+public, but let me render homage to comrades

+of the stage in days gone by who were born in

+these isles, and who reigned in their kingdom

+with a splendour equal to the great of any

+land.  That mistress of her beautiful art,

+Madge Kendal; the incomparable Ellen Terry;

+the glorious and unique Mrs. John Wood;

+and Marie Bancroft&mdash;the salt of the art they

+adorned, who, in their bright springtime and

+their affluent summer, filled the scene: all

+as distinct from one another as Raphael from

+Rubens, as Watts from Whistler, yet each

+stamping the mark of her personality on

+every part she played, and of whom it might

+be said the deaf could hear them in their

+eloquent faces: the blind could see them

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P30"></a>30}</span>

+in their vibrant voices.  Deep is the debt

+which never can be paid for the cares they

+lightened, for the sorrows they soothed; they

+dragged creatures from the books wherein

+they were born, making them live, their

+hearts beating, their pulses throbbing, and

+enshrined their joyousness in many grateful

+memories.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The mantle of the great must be of their

+own weaving; on other shoulders it is bound

+to be a misfit.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is pleasant to have one's views confirmed;

+the more so in the judgment of a distinguished

+American man of letters whose knowledge of

+people connected with the stage was remarkable.

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Our age indeed has no Colley Cibber to

+describe their loveliness and celebrate their

+achievements; but surely if he were living at

+this hour, that courtly, characteristic, and

+sensuous writer&mdash;who saw so clearly and could

+portray so well the peculiarities of the feminine

+nature&mdash;would not deem the period of Marie

+Bancroft and Ellen Terry, of Clara Morris and

+Ada Rehan, of Sarah Bernhardt and Jane

+Hading, unworthy of his pen.  As often as

+fancy ranges over those bright names and

+others that are kindred with them&mdash;a glistering

+sisterhood of charms and talents&mdash;the regret

+must arise that no literary artist with just the

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P31"></a>31}</span>

+gallant spirit, the chivalry, the fine insight

+and the pictorial touch of old Cibber is extant

+to perpetuate their glory."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Ouida

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I turn to another calling, and can say

+something of two distinguished women whose fame

+was earned as writers of fiction&mdash;Ouida (Louise

+de la Ramée) and Miss Braddon (Mrs. Maxwell).

+They were much of an age, but their careers

+had no other resemblance; except in their

+enormous vogue and hold upon the public of

+their day.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The name "Ouida" was a nursery corruption

+of Louisa.  She had an English mother

+and a French father, but lived chiefly in

+Italy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My wife and I first met her at the Langham

+Hotel, where she stayed when in London&mdash;as

+odd to look upon as she was pleasant to talk

+with.  She had strange large eyes of a sort of

+dark blue and, in her white satin gown and

+sandalled shoes, was strangely reminiscent of

+mid-Victorian days.  She always wore white

+frocks in the summer time and, as I was told,

+black velvet in the winter months.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+We hoped Ouida might, as she earnestly

+wished, write a play for us, but she got no

+further than a title.  Of her novels, if I

+remember rightly, quite a fairly good play was

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P32"></a>32}</span>

+concocted from <i>Moths</i>.  She had a great

+appreciation of my wife, both on and off the

+stage, and we valued her friendship.  There

+are few readers nowadays, I suppose, of <i>Under

+Two Flags</i>, <i>Puck</i>, or <i>Two Little Wooden Shoes</i>,

+which engrossed the public of her time.  She

+was proud of the fact that Bulwer Lytton

+read every book she wrote.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As an instance of her "style," here is a

+description of a young Italian peasant girl:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"The marigolds and the sunflowers had

+given her their ripe rich gold to tint her hair;

+the lupins had lent their azure for her eyes;

+the moss-rose buds had made her pretty mouth;

+the arum lilies had uncurled their softness

+for her skin; and the lime blossoms had given

+her their frank, fresh, innocent fragrance."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Ouida would have had no vogue in these

+times.  She violently opposed female suffrage

+and expressed her view that "millions of

+ordinary women have as little of the sage in

+them as of the angel."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As for the new woman, she wrote of her as

+"violating every law alike of common sense

+and of artistic fitness, and yet comes forward

+as a fit and proper person to make laws for

+others."  She was strong in her views that

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P33"></a>33}</span>

+the private lives of all artists are not fit objects

+of curiosity, and was firm in declining, in

+unedited language, to be interviewed.  Ouida

+was undoubtedly an eccentric, with a golden

+heart, and a passion for dogs.  She died in

+her beloved Italy, alas! in abject poverty,

+mainly due, I fear, to her unpractical nature

+and her uncurbed generosities.  No one is

+left to tell us what became of all the lovely

+things by which she was surrounded in her

+prosperous days at the Florentine Villa

+Farinola.  I think she rests in peace.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Not long before the end my wife received

+this letter from her:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"DEAR THALIA,

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"I have been and am still very ill.

+For two days I was near death.  I should

+grieve to leave my dear dogs.  Their lives are

+too short in comparison with their devotion.

+I got your long letter after some delay and fear

+many letters are lost between Italy and

+England.  I have seen a bag filled with the

+contents of pillar-boxes reposing in sweet

+solitude on the pavement of a deserted street

+in Florence!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"I am so glad that you and your dear

+husband are well and happy....  I wish I

+could come and see you all and the dear

+old country where its sons and daughters

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P34"></a>34}</span>

+are never content except when they are out

+of it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Love to you and Sir Squire.  Believe me,

+always your and his admirer and friend.

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"OUIDA."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Miss Braddon

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was a young actor in the country, full

+sixty years ago, when a new novel appeared

+which made the writer of it&mdash;a girl in her

+twenties&mdash;famous throughout the land.  The

+book was <i>Lady Audley's Secret</i>.  The girl was

+Miss Braddon.  The fame of the new novel

+spread like wildfire and the rush for its three

+volumes&mdash;most novels were so published in

+those days&mdash;was extraordinary.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+From one of the old Strand Theatre

+burlesques I recall words like these: "Always

+a lady's secret I respect, save <i>Lady Audley's

+Secret</i> which that deep Mudie lets out and

+won't let people keep."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Dickens and Thackeray were still alive and

+at work, as were George Eliot, Bulwer Lytton

+and Wilkie Collins.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Miss Braddon's own share reached more

+than seventy novels in more than fifty years

+of work.  We knew her for many of those

+years, and loved her company, here in London,

+as in Switzerland and Italy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In a long railway journey we took together

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P35"></a>35}</span>

+from Lugano to Boulogne some anxiety arose

+as we neared the sea about what the "crossing"

+would be like.  I remember Mrs. Maxwell's

+amusement at my wife's saying: "I don't feel

+comfortable about it; the small boats and

+fishing-smacks in harbour are too polite to

+each other, with their little bows and curtseys.

+I fear we shall find things more quarrelsome

+when we have crossed the bar."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The famous novelist was an open-air woman,

+at home in a saddle, loved to follow the hounds,

+and was devoted to her dogs, her cats and her

+birds.  She adored Dickens, had great

+admiration for Balzac, and placed George Eliot on a

+lofty pedestal.  The way she did her work

+was the oddest thing in the world.  She

+huddled herself up in a little low chair, made a

+desk of her knees, and wrote for hours in that

+position.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Happily, she bountifully bequeathed her

+power over the pen to her son "Willie," who

+has the affection of his troops of friends.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I will close this chapter with a reference,

+full of kind thoughts and remembrances, to

+one of the most remarkable, as she was one

+of the most delightful, women my wife and I

+ever had the privilege to know&mdash;Lady Dorothy

+Nevill.  She was a great little lady&mdash;happy,

+blithesome, clever, and so gay.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P36"></a>36}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At her Sunday luncheon parties in Charles

+Street, one met everybody worth knowing

+and heard pretty well everything worth listening

+to.  There assembled folk of all opinions

+and of every class and calling&mdash;honey gathered

+from many a hive.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A great little lady

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Few people could have had&mdash;and kept&mdash;three

+such different friends as Cobden, Disraeli

+and Chamberlain; but the little lady knew

+how to deal with contradictions.  Her sense

+of humour was as keen as a razor.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Happily for us, Lady Dorothy loved a

+play and rejoiced in visits to our theatre.

+She had a great affection for my wife.  Often

+and often, generally in the early winter

+evenings, she would dismiss her carriage at

+our door, walk upstairs to the second floor,

+and sit for hours with her.  When she left

+she declined all help or offer to be seen

+safely home, preferring to walk there in the

+dark, facing two crossings on her way, and

+this when she was more than eighty years

+of age.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Her reminiscences, edited by her son, Ralph

+Nevill, are delightful reading, while the

+characteristic portrait painted of her in early life

+by Watts&mdash;so happily reproduced&mdash;will tell

+you what she looked like.  It helps you to

+feel that she uttered no ill of anyone.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P37"></a>37}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lady Dorothy once said to me: "One of

+the greatest treats I can now be given is to be

+taken by a strong young man to Piccadilly,

+there to be hoisted on to the top of a 'bus, and

+driven through the City to Whitechapel, with

+time to look in at the London Hospital on my

+way back."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I repeat&mdash;a great little lady.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap03"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P38"></a>38}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+III

+<br><br>

+THE CHURCH

+</h3>

+

+<p class="intro">

+"There is, I know not how, in the minds of men, a certain

+presage, as it were, of a future existence; and this takes the

+deepest root, and is most discoverable in the greatest geniuses

+and most exalted souls."&mdash;CICERO.

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+We have not been honoured with the friendship

+of distinguished members of the Church

+so intimately as to leave many empty chairs

+once filled by them, but I can write something

+in affectionate remembrance of a few.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+J. M. Bellew

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The first prominent clergyman whom we

+knew was that strange creature Bellew, first

+as the Reverend J. M. Bellew, when he preached

+at a church in Bloomsbury and drew large

+congregations, having previously enjoyed great

+popularity at St. Mark's, Hamilton Terrace.

+He was gifted with an exceptionally fine voice

+and a striking appearance.  I never heard the

+death chapter from the Corinthians better

+read than by him&mdash;it was dramatic without

+being theatrical.  There was, however, a

+pitfall into which he used to stumble when he

+attacked the Commandments&mdash;in the Fifth

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P39"></a>39}</span>

+he thundered out the first three words "Honour

+thy father," then dropped his voice to its

+softest tones, quietly murmuring, "and thy

+mother."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on, he became both friend and

+neighbour.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I will repeat a story he told of another

+neighbour, a canon of the Church, who wore

+the most palpable of wigs, which took every

+shade of colour in the sunlight, but was blindly

+convinced in his own mind that no one shared

+his secret.  Bellew met this friend one morning

+as he was leaving his house, and suggested

+their proceeding together.  "Delighted," said

+the owner of the many-coloured "jasey"; "I

+am going to Bond Street <i>to get my hair cut</i>."  The

+pretender went so far as to have various

+wigs of different lengths to aid the evident

+deception.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In middle life Bellew appeared as a public

+reader and reciter here and in America, having

+left the Church of England, and become a

+devout Roman Catholic, in which faith he

+died.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Henry White, the Chaplain of the Chapel

+Royal, Savoy, as it then was, was many a time

+a welcome Sunday guest, almost invariably

+punctual, though always begging to be forgiven

+should he not be.  His letters, carefully

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P40"></a>40}</span>

+sealed with the Savoy arms, were full of

+quotations, such as, "I cannot tell you how

+much I value the friendship you have allowed

+me to enjoy so long: 'my love's more richer

+than my tongue,'" while his interesting

+sermons were often described as "elegant

+extracts."  His reading of the Litany was

+peculiarly impressive.  The Baroness Burdett-Coutts

+was a frequent member of his restricted

+congregation.  I left an evening party in his

+company long years ago, when we walked

+together towards our different homes.  On

+the way I put a straight question to him

+on a sacred subject.  His answer was frank

+enough: "If it is in my power to be of use

+to you, or indeed to any man, it can only be

+from my pulpit."  He tried his utmost to

+persuade me to read the Lessons in the Chapel

+Royal.  I firmly declined, adding that if I

+consented I should ask to be allowed to select

+them.  "Even that," he said, "might be

+arranged."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+An old, and to us, dearly-loved friend who

+also enjoyed his Sunday visits, was the

+Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal, Canon Edgar

+Sheppard.  Our hospitality was returned by

+him and Mrs. Sheppard at their quaint old

+home adjoining Marlborough House Chapel:

+and I also knew the Canon in his other home,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P41"></a>41}</span>

+so picturesque, in the precincts of Windsor

+Castle.  One of his last public services was

+held for me when my sorrow came.  His friendship

+had so long been valued by my wife; the

+kindness shown to me then, as well as by his

+son, the present vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields,

+dwells sacredly in my memory, and

+will be referred to in the final chapter of this

+book.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Archdeacon Wilberforce

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Archdeacon Wilberforce&mdash;who belonged to

+the 1841 "Vintage"&mdash;was also our friend.

+He drew large congregations to the church of

+St. John the Evangelist, Westminster&mdash;that

+odd-looking building which looks rather like

+an elephant sprawling on his back with his

+short legs in the air.  I recall an afternoon

+when we were the guests of Mrs. Wilberforce

+and himself in Dean's Yard; he took us aside

+and said they were asking some of their

+friends to linger when the party broke up,

+as they had a treat to follow.  We gladly did

+so, and were well repaid, being conducted to

+the Abbey by the Archdeacon, and seated in

+the choir.  Presently Sir Frederick

+Bridge&mdash;("Westminster Bridge ")&mdash;another old friend

+who has left an empty chair&mdash;broke the

+silence&mdash;the tones of the organ swelled

+out&mdash;when, from by his side in the loft and out

+of sight, the wonderful voice of Clara Butt

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P42"></a>42}</span>

+sang "Abide with Me."  There are moments

+in life, and that was one, the remembrance

+of which can never fade; this we felt, as

+afterwards we went from the Abbey in the

+falling light.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I recall an occasion when both Bishop

+Ellicott and Archdeacon Wilberforce were

+staying at Birchington.  The Bishop was gravely

+ill.  We had known him in the Engadine and

+at the Bel Alp, and had also been to those

+musical parties in Great Cumberland Place,

+to which Mrs. Ellicott and all her family were

+so passionately and unceasingly devoted that

+they seemed to fill their lives.  The Bishop

+was always expected to be a listener.  My

+wife drove to the bungalow where the

+Bishop was, to ask after him, and, to her

+delight, was told he would like to see her.

+She found the Archdeacon by his side, and as

+she approached his chair the Bishop was

+thanking him for "kind and comforting

+words," adding: "I hope, my dear friend,

+when it shall please God to take me, He will

+graciously grant me a little niche&mdash;and <i>not

+too near the music!</i>"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Archdeacon's love of animals is well

+known.  He adored his dogs, and at a

+garden-party showed us the graves of little

+lost friends by the Cloisters, dwelling in a

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P43"></a>43}</span>

+most interesting way on his belief in their

+after-life.  In support of this, I recall an

+incident told by my old comrade, John Hare,

+when he had a seaside home at Overstrand.

+The Archdeacon visited him one day: and

+Hare, who was never without a dog, put a

+question to him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Do you really believe, Archdeacon," he

+asked, "in a hereafter for our dogs?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Indeed I do."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"But do you mean that I shall meet my

+dog again?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Undoubtedly&mdash;if you are good enough!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Father Bernard Vaughan

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A friend whom it was always a pleasure to

+welcome or to meet was Father Bernard

+Vaughan.  We became acquainted many years

+ago at Manchester, where my wife and I were

+acting.  He was then the rector of a church

+there, and would come and see us at our hotel,

+and tell us Lancashire stories.  From time

+to time he visited us in London, and later on

+at our seaside home.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He never spoke a word to me on religious

+subjects, knowing, I suppose, that I did not

+chance to belong to the beautiful faith which

+he and his many brothers and sisters so

+devoutly served as priests and nuns, beginning

+with the eminent Cardinal.  Father Bernard

+Vaughan attracted crowded congregations,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P44"></a>44}</span>

+drawn from all degrees of creed, to Farm

+Street, there to listen to his outspoken sermons

+on the Sins of Society.  They were both romantic

+and emotional, with sentences to the effect

+that unless England fed the fires of religion

+with the fuel of faith she might wake one day

+to the sound of a passing bell tolling her soul's

+death.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The circumstances in which I first saw

+Dr. Boyd-Carpenter, then the Bishop of Ripon,

+were comical, although the scene of them was

+a place of worship.  I have a predilection for

+a good sermon, and at one period made a

+practice of hearing the best English preachers of

+the day, no matter what their particular aspect

+of the Faith might be.  On a Saturday I read

+in <i>The Times</i> that the Bishop of Ripon was

+to preach at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall;

+so I determined to go and listen.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Chapel Royal, Whitehall, exists no

+more, but at that time it occupied the first

+floor of the old banqueting hall (from one of

+the windows of which King Charles I stepped

+forth to his execution), since given over to the

+Royal United Services Institution.  The hall

+was not, from the clergy's point of view, well

+adapted to its sacred purpose, for there was

+no vestry, or, at any rate, no separate entrance

+for the officiating minister, who could only

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P45"></a>45}</span>

+enter the chapel by the staircase in the same

+way as the general public.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The verger's mistake

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Presenting myself on a wintry morning,

+some time before the appointed hour, after

+fighting my way up the crowded staircase,

+I found the chapel already full, when the

+verger, catching sight of and recognising me,

+whispered that if I waited a moment he would

+find a seat for me among the front rows.  Just

+then I felt someone trying to push past me,

+and looking down saw a small and energetic

+figure, the head swathed in a large white

+muffler, eagerly struggling to make towards

+the altar.  The verger, prompt but polite,

+attempted to stop the vigorous little man.

+"You really can't, sir; there isn't another

+empty place."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+What was the good man's surprise and confusion

+to receive the answer, in a telling stage

+whisper: "But I've come to preach!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The intruder was no other than the Bishop,

+then in the prime of life.  When at last he

+reached the pulpit, he preached so fine a

+sermon that though my watch told me it

+lasted only five minutes short of an hour, it

+seemed to occupy less than the half of one.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another trenchant and dramatic sermon I

+recall was preached by Boyd-Carpenter in

+the Abbey soon after the death of Tennyson,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P46"></a>46}</span>

+when the Bishop shattered an idea which had

+got abroad that the great poet had no faith

+in an after-life.  Who, I wonder, could have

+attributed such thoughts to the man who

+wrote: "I hope to meet my Pilot face to face

+when I have crossed the bar"?  The only

+time I saw the Victorian Poet Laureate, a

+picturesque figure, was on board a Channel

+steamer.  He passed the time between Calais

+and Dover on the bridge, talking with the

+captain and smoking a short clay pipe.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Acquaintance with the Bishop soon followed

+the episode at the Chapel Royal, and, I rejoice

+to add, warm friendship with my wife and

+myself both in London and at our seaside

+home, which lasted until his death.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There is a story told of the Bishop&mdash;which

+may or may not be true&mdash;of his being rudely

+interrupted at a public meeting by the query

+if he believed Jonah was really swallowed by

+the whale.  The Bishop said that if he got to

+heaven he would try to find out.  The man

+in the crowd answered loudly: "But suppose

+he is not there?"  The Bishop at once replied:

+"Then you'll have to ask him."  For my own

+part, I have always thought that Jonah's

+condition was like that of a vulgar

+tourist&mdash;he travelled much and saw little.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Speaking and reading

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I remember well a happy week-end passed

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P47"></a>47}</span>

+with the Bishop at his palace, and a delightful

+drive in the snow to Fountains Abbey.  It was

+then that he persuaded me to undertake the

+difficult task of saying something at a

+forthcoming Church Congress on "The Art of

+Speaking and Reading," and I devoted time

+and thought to so important a subject.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I began by saying that it was customary for

+a clergyman to preface his sermon by a text

+from the Bible, but that I, as an actor, would

+begin my address with a quotation from

+Shakespeare to be found in the comedy of <i>Much

+Ado About Nothing</i>: "Happy are they that

+hear their detractions and can put them to

+mending."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This text, if I may so call it, led to some

+remarks on the affinity between the words of

+Shakespeare and the pages of Holy Writ.  The

+same inspired truths so abound throughout

+them both as to prove that the poet was a

+student of the Scriptures.  There could be

+no firmer bond between Church and Stage; it

+must, for all time, be the strongest link, for

+both books are eternal.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I called to mind the care and cost lavished

+upon choral services in our cathedrals, the

+pains taken to acquire the skill melodiously to

+chant the Litany: why were not the same

+labour, the like devotion bestowed upon the

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P48"></a>48}</span>

+teaching of young clergymen to speak audibly

+and to control a congregation?  One could not

+but be amazed at glaring instances of false

+emphasis in the dull recital of the Order for

+Morning Prayer: surely such a monument of

+learning and piety should be spared such

+treatment.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I dared to add that I had heard the Bible

+read&mdash;now and then very beautifully, often

+very vilely.  That I had listened to such

+extracts as tell of the death of Absalom, of the

+death of Jezebel, of Daniel in the Den, of the

+Prodigal's Return, read as though the moving

+stories were little more dramatic than so many

+stale problems in Euclid; and had heard

+St. Paul's funeral chapter so droned as to make the

+hallowed bones of the Apostle who bequeathed

+it to humanity turn in their resting-place.  On

+the other hand, I had heard the same words

+read so truthfully by men who are living

+and men who are dead, as to be a lasting

+memory.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The actor and the bishop

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was natural on my part to draw attention

+to the resemblance which exists between the

+great preacher and the famous player, not only

+for the mighty sermons he can preach, but

+because, when his work is done, when he has

+for ever left the pulpit or the stage, the

+"divine spark" is extinguished; his voice,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P49"></a>49}</span>

+his fascination, his originality, are soon but

+memories; while his renown too often rests

+upon the imperfect records of tradition.  The

+personality of John Knox must remain a

+mystery; the tragic tones of Sarah Siddons

+can be heard no more.  What would the

+young parson not give to hear Martin Luther

+preach?  What would I not give to see

+David Garrick act?  "Into the night go one

+and all."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I reminded my listeners of the answer David

+Garrick gave to the bishop who asked him

+this question: "Can you tell me, sir, why it

+is that you players, who deal with romance,

+can yet profoundly move an audience, while

+we preachers, who deal with reality, fail

+to do so?"  "Yes, my lord, I can.  It is

+because we players act fiction as if it

+were the truth; while you preachers too

+often speak of truth as though it were but

+fiction."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Thackeray wrote: "There is an examiner

+of plays, and there ought to be an examiner

+of sermons."  I would go further, and urge

+that every curate should pass an examination

+in the art of preaching before he is allowed to

+mount a pulpit.  A bad preacher will empty

+a church more easily than a good preacher will

+fill one.  It was well said, also, by an eminent

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P50"></a>50}</span>

+minister in the Nonconformist Church, the late

+Dr. Parker:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"To-day the man who would preach with

+true and lasting effect must be sincere,

+intelligent, and sympathetic&mdash;in a word, he must

+be a man, a teacher, a friend.  Preaching is

+the most impertinent of all impertinences if

+there is not behind it and round about it a

+sense of authority other and better than

+human."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+The best advice I can remember was once

+given by my wife, in a single sentence, to a

+public speaker who consulted her on the

+subject; she said simply: "Don't be afraid

+of opening your mouth, and don't forget that

+the roof of it is Nature's sounding-board."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, as some may still

+recollect, was honoured with the personal

+friendship of the late Empress Frederick of

+Germany.  In connection with that unhappy

+lady, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria,

+and our Princess Royal, he told me an interesting

+story, the point of which was to be proved

+tragically true in later years.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Bishop was summoned to Germany to

+give the Empress the consolations of religion

+in a grave illness.  The Prince of Wales, who

+had hastened to the bedside of his favourite

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P51"></a>51}</span>

+sister, in the kindness of his peace-loving heart

+was attempting to smooth over the notorious

+differences between the suffering lady and her

+son, the ex-Kaiser, who, as is well-known, had

+treated her with unfilial harshness.  But the

+Empress knew Wilhelm too well to hope for

+reconciliation.  She laid her hand on her

+brother's arm, saying sadly and earnestly:

+"Bertie, your country has no greater enemy

+than my son."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A Mohammedan legend

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Among my papers I find a letter from

+Boyd-Carpenter, redeeming a promise which he had

+made over the dinner-table to look up for me

+a Mohammedan legend upon which he had

+preached a remarkable sermon:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"When God made the earth it shook to and

+fro till He put the mountains on it to keep it

+firm.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Then the angels asked: 'O God, is there

+anything in Thy creation stronger than those

+mountains?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"And God replied: 'Iron is stronger than

+the mountains, for it breaks them.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'And is there anything in Thy creation

+stronger than iron?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'Yes, fire is stronger than iron, because it

+melts it.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'Is there anything stronger than fire?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'Yes, water, for it quenches fire.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'Is there anything stronger than water?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P52"></a>52}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'Yes, wind, for it puts water in motion.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'O, our Sustainer, is there anything in Thy

+creation stronger than wind?'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"'Yes, a good man giving alms: if he give

+with his right hand and conceal it from his

+left he overcomes all things.'"

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The wrong train

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I may here relate an unaccountable blunder

+I committed when on my way to do a little

+service for the Bishop at Bradford.  At that

+time there were two express trains to the North,

+one from Euston, the other from King's Cross;

+both started at 1.30.  Full of thought, I drove

+to Euston instead of to King's Cross.  When

+I asked for a ticket there was some delay; at

+last it was given to me with the name of my

+destination written upon it in ink.  I thought

+it strange that tickets for so important a place

+should be out of print, but took my seat in

+the train; and it was only when well beyond

+Rugby that I realised what I had done.

+Eventually, after hurried, anxious talk with the

+authorities at Stafford, I got out at Stockport.

+There, in great excitement, I ordered a special

+train and telegraphed home to allay anxiety.

+Some difficulties about the special were

+overcome by earnest appeals to disregard cost, as I

+was prepared to pay anything demanded of

+me, for never in my life had I failed to keep an

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P53"></a>53}</span>

+appointment with the public, and should have

+been doubly distressed at breaking an

+engagement in which I was doing the work without

+any question of a fee.  Eventually I reached

+Bradford five minutes before the time fixed

+for the entertainment.  To add to my troubles,

+the confusion had driven out of my head the

+name of the hall where I was to appear.

+Fortunately, one of the flymen on the station

+rank remembered it, and drove me quickly

+to its doors as the audience was pouring in.

+After inquiry at an hotel hard by&mdash;the same

+hotel in which a few years later Irving stumbled

+in the hall and then fell dead&mdash;I found the

+Bishop.  He had telegraphed to London for

+the cause of my absence, and, receiving no

+explanation, had settled to fill my place by

+giving his lecture on Dante; but on my

+appearance he drove to the hall, asked for a short

+delay, explained the reason, and then returned

+to fetch me.  I dressed as if by magic, swallowed

+some soup, and, appearing on the platform

+only fifteen minutes late, was greeted with great

+warmth.  I had never felt so pleased to face

+my audience.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Bishop of Ripon, like myself, was born

+in the year 1841, and, like myself, was proud to

+belong to that fine "vintage."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I am not likely to forget a dinner-party he

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P54"></a>54}</span>

+gave at his home in the Abbey Cloisters in 1916

+to a select band of "75's," or "soixante-quinzes,"

+as he called us.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The company included the Bishop of Chichester

+(Dr. Ridgeway), Field-Marshal Lord

+Grenfell, Admiral Fisher, Lord Sanderson, Sir

+Frank Lascelles, Sir Walter Parratt, Sir Donald

+Mackenzie Wallace and myself.  The late Lord

+Cromer was invited, but was prevented by

+illness from being present.  Our host had not

+only prepared for us a delightful evening, but

+had composed some appropriate verses for the

+occasion, of which each guest was presented

+with a copy.  This is how they ran:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  "1841-1916<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "The Fairies stood and watched the years<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'Till forth came Forty-one,<br>

+  The Fairies smiled and then they gave<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Their kiss to Forty-one.<br>

+  The vintage ripened well and good,<br>

+  That year must ever famous be,<br>

+  Because it brought forth you and me,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The men of Forty-one.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "The Fairies watch where kisses go<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In hope that they survive;<br>

+  Lo! great in arms by land[1] and sea[2]<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Their sons in valour thrive;<br>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P55"></a>55}</span>

+  In Russian lore[3], in minstrelsy[4],<br>

+  In mock[5] and true[6] diplomacy,<br>

+  Till brave in toil they came to be<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The men of Seventy-five.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "Great William said 'Ripeness is all,'<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And we are Seventy-five,<br>

+  Old dogs are more than lions dead,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And we are still alive!<br>

+  We need not fear age or mischance,<br>

+  In good we may and will advance,<br>

+  Like <i>soixante-quinzes</i> in war-tossed France<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Our guns are good at Seventy-five."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent" style="font-size: 90%">

+  [1] Lord Grenfell.<br>

+  [2] Lord Fisher.<br>

+  [3] Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace.<br>

+  [4] Sir Walter Parratt.<br>

+  [5] Sir Squire Bancroft.<br>

+  [6] Sir Frank Lascelles.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+The good Bishop did not live to see the

+return of Peace which followed the triumphant

+victory of the <i>soixante-quinzes</i> and their

+Allies.  In the month before the Armistice

+was declared, he was laid in his grave.  But

+he had not forgotten the happy gathering of

+1916, as is proved by the following treasured

+letter, which I received from his son, Major

+Boyd-Carpenter:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+  "6 LITTLE CLOISTERS,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"WESTMINSTER,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"<i>October</i> 26, 1918.<br>

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"DEAR SIR SQUIRE BANCROFT,

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Shortly before my father's death he

+asked that 'a message of greeting be sent to

+all the 77's.'  As you were one of those

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P56"></a>56}</span>

+who joined him at the gathering he always

+remembered with such pleasure, I am sending

+you this, his message.

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+  "Believe me,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Yours sincerely,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"A. BOYD-CARPENTER."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+More recently we lost another honoured

+friend in that remarkable and distinguished

+man, Dr. Wace, the Dean of Canterbury.

+When we had a home by Folkestone he was

+often our guest, while we have enjoyed the

+hospitality of himself and Mrs. Wace at the

+Deanery.  Their kindness at all times to my

+wife is a happy remembrance.  The Dean

+loved a good story: he told many and was an

+appreciative listener.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I always read the powerful letters which he

+wrote to <i>The Times</i>, and could not but admire

+the strenuous blows he dealt with dauntless

+courage on matters which were too profound

+for the likes of me.  Shortly before his lamented

+death I met the Dean at the Athenæum

+and, during our talk, had more than one

+proof of the undiminished power of his great

+memory.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A disreputable trio

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As an end to this chapter I quote the most

+startling words I ever heard from a pulpit,

+uttered by a prominent dignitary of the Church,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P57"></a>57}</span>

+in referring to the first chapter of Genesis, which

+had been the lesson of the day: "Adam was a

+cad; Eve, I am afraid, was no better than she

+should be; and for my part, I have long since

+regarded the silent serpent as the most

+respectable of a disreputable trio."

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap04"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P58"></a>58}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+IV

+<br><br>

+THE LAW

+</h3>

+

+<p class="t3">

+  "For pity is the virtue of the law,<br>

+  And none but tyrants use it cruelly."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+There is a sort of affinity between the bar

+and the stage: actors are attached to lawyers

+because lawyers are attached to actors; at

+least that has been my experience&mdash;my wife

+and I were rich in their friendship from very

+early days.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have often thought there is a strong link

+between our callings.  The feelings of the

+distinguished counsel when he goes into court,

+with all the anxious weight upon his mind,

+with all his grave responsibility, cannot be

+unlike the feelings of the great actor on a "first

+night," when his fame may be in peril.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was once, when a child, taken to the House

+of Lords by my grandfather; he pointed out

+to me the venerable Lord Brougham, who was

+sitting in judgment with other Law Lords.  I

+remember that he wore shepherd's plaid

+trousers, also his nose, the famous nose which

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P59"></a>59}</span>

+was immortalised by Dicky Doyle on the mask

+which is being dragged along the lower part

+of the title page of <i>Punch</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Cockburn, L. C. J.

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lord Chief Justice Cockburn was the first

+great man we knew; our meeting was at

+dinner, when we were young, at the house of

+Henry Fothergill Chorley, a worshipper of

+Dickens and a prominent musical critic of

+those days; two of the guests were "Mamie"

+Dickens, the elder daughter of the great

+novelist, and Arthur Sullivan, then quite young

+and a protégé of our host.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have never forgotten the feeling of awe

+which came over me when the butler announced,

+"The Lord Chief Justice of England."  I

+always thought he looked less like a lawyer

+than an admiral, or the skipper of his own

+beloved yacht, the <i>Sybil</i>.  My wife had the

+good fortune to be placed next to the Lord

+Chief.  She had the gift of manners, and was at

+home in any surroundings.  He took a great

+fancy to her, and we enjoyed the charm of his

+friendship for about ten years, until the end

+of his career.  In those days I thought his was

+the most attractive male voice I ever listened

+to, whether on the Bench or in a room&mdash;even

+during the lengthy summing-up of the Tichborne

+trial it never grew monotonous&mdash;although I

+admit that, nowadays, the voices of Johnston

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P60"></a>60}</span>

+Forbes-Robertson and Henry Ainley could run

+it very close.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Let me add that the two most attractive

+female voices I have listened to were owned by

+women widely apart in rank and station: one

+belonged to Queen Victoria, the other to my

+wife, and both voices were preserved unto old

+age.  It is pleasant to have this opinion

+confirmed by no less a person than Ellen Terry,

+who wrote of my wife "such a <i>very</i> pretty

+voice&mdash;one of the most silvery voices I have

+ever heard from any woman except the late

+Queen Victoria, whose voice was like a silver

+stream flowing over golden stones."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Lord Chief was a perfect host, well

+described as having the vivacity of youth

+tempered by the wisdom of age.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He also adored music: it was almost certain

+you would meet its professors at his house, and

+I recall memories of Madame Schumann, Joachim

+and Piatti.  During a short time when my

+wife was not acting, her delight was great at

+being taken by him to the <i>Monday Pops</i>.

+Among his other accomplishments was an

+intimate acquaintance with languages: his

+French was as near perfection as a foreigner

+could get to.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Justice is blind"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On one occasion when we had asked Sir

+Alexander Cockburn to dine with us, my wife

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P61"></a>61}</span>

+took George Critchett, the eminent ophthalmic

+surgeon and father of our lost friend, Sir

+Anderson, to him, saying: "Let me present

+Mr. Critchett to you, Lord Chief; as Justice is said

+to be blind, you may find his services useful."  On

+another, in reply to a similar invitation, he

+wrote that he was just starting for Geneva to

+preside at the Alabama Conference, and wished

+that troublesome vessel had gone to the bottom

+of the sea the day she was launched.  Soon

+afterwards, at the close of our annual Swiss

+holiday, we passed through Geneva just at

+the time the Alabama claims were settled there,

+and paid our respects to the Lord Chief at the

+old Hôtel des Bergues, to the sound of guns

+firing and the glory of flags flying.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This delightful friendship was broken suddenly.

+It was in the year we opened our newly

+rebuilt Haymarket Theatre, which he greatly

+admired, that after presiding over an intricate

+case in Westminster Hall, the Lord Chief left

+the haunts of justice and the "law's delay"

+for the last time.  He dismissed his smart little

+brougham and walked home to Hertford Street.

+During the night came a fatal attack of <i>angina

+pectoris</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When I was a struggling country actor in

+Liverpool, so far back as 1864, I made the

+acquaintance of a struggling barrister on the

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P62"></a>62}</span>

+Northern Circuit.  His name was Charles

+Russell, and he, too, became Lord Chief Justice of

+England.  I enjoyed his friendship until his

+death.  His personality was both dominating

+and downright.  You could not be in a room

+with him and not be conscious of his presence.

+No man more firmly said what he meant and

+meant what he said, while his Irish tongue was

+ever ready with the apt bright answer, as, for

+instance, when, asked the severest sentence for

+bigamy, he answered: "Two mothers-in-law!"  He

+was a relentless cross-examiner, and though

+sometimes a sharp antagonist was always a

+friend.  There was no littleness about him, and

+he had no use for a fool.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Russell, L. C. J.

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When I started my hospital "readings," I

+made a point of avoiding any suggestion of

+"creed," and arranged two recitals on behalf

+of Jewish and Roman Catholic institutions:

+at the former the Chief Rabbi presided, at the

+latter Cardinal Vaughan promised to do so,

+but was prevented by sudden illness: his

+place was taken by the Lord Chief Justice.

+Soon afterwards I was asked to serve a cause

+which was pronouncedly Protestant.  In talking

+over who was to be invited to preside, I

+found the committee very desirous that Lord

+Russell should be approached.  I pointed out

+that he, being a fervent Roman Catholic,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P63"></a>63}</span>

+could hardly be expected to comply, adding

+that he had only quite recently presided at a

+"reading" of the same story which I had

+given for the benefit of Catholics.  The

+committee, however, said they could but be

+refused, and made their request.  Lord Russell

+replied that I had gone out of my way to help a

+charity of his Faith, and that he would gladly

+do the same for me.  The generous speech he

+made on the occasion was a warm tribute to

+the Reverend William Rogers&mdash;known widely

+as "Hang Theology Rogers."  I cherish

+the remembrance of many acts of kindness

+shown to me and mine by Lord Russell of

+Killowen, but not one of them touched me

+more than that I have just related.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was an ardent playgoer, with an intimate

+knowledge of Shakespeare, and rarely missed

+first nights, or when a play of one of his many

+friends was produced.  He loved a game&mdash;of

+cards or otherwise&mdash;and I have seen him at

+Monte Carlo writhe because his exalted position

+robbed him of the pleasure of a "flutter" at

+<i>trente-et-quarante</i>.  He was a real sportsman

+and a member of the Jockey Club.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was greatly struck by a tribute the Lord

+Chief paid to an old guest, a host and true

+friend of mine for many years, the late Sir

+George Lewis.  It was at the close of the

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P64"></a>64}</span>

+Parnell trial, when he spoke to this effect:

+"The most remarkable attribute in George

+Lewis is not his great knowledge of the law, not

+his unrivalled skill in conducting difficult cases,

+not his wonderful tact, not his genius for

+compromise.  They are all beaten by his courage."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At a banquet given to Irving on his return

+from one of his tours in the United States, I

+was seated next to Lord Russell, who, half-way

+through the dinner, suddenly said to me: "I

+have to propose Irving's health.  What shall

+I say?"  I replied that no one could answer

+the question so well as himself.  However, the

+Chief persisted, with that well-remembered,

+imperious manner of his, "Come, come, my

+friend, you must have done it often: tell me

+what I am to say."  I recalled an occasion

+when I had proposed Irving's health, and said

+that I spoke of him as possessing "the strength

+of a man, the sweetness of a woman, and the

+simplicity of a child."  Lord Russell turned

+to me with the question, "How about the

+wisdom of a serpent?  I could not have left

+that out."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Alverstone, L. C. J.

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lord Alverstone, so long known as "Dick"

+Webster, who succeeded Russell, was Attorney-General,

+Master of the Rolls, and Lord Chief

+Justice, all in the same year.  It was as

+Attorney-General that Webster dined with

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P65"></a>65}</span>

+me, and I paid a pleasant visit in his company

+to the Isle of Wight (which he represented in

+the House of Commons) to do him a small

+service.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have always understood that he was a

+great worker: one of the gang, like Francis

+Jeune and Rufus Isaacs, who could light a

+fire and brew tea at any ghastly hour a.m.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Soon after he became Lord Chief, Alverstone

+presided at the Annual Dinner of the Actors'

+Benevolent Fund.  He made an eloquent

+appeal on its behalf and generously headed the

+list of subscriptions.  This was not the only

+instance of the real interest he took in the

+drama, being of great service when the old

+Covent Garden Theatre Fund came to an end.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was no mean athlete, and fond of all

+sports; also a capital singer&mdash;a conspicuous

+figure for many years in the choir of the church

+in the Kensington High Street.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have had the privilege to know, but not

+to act as their host, all the eminent lawyers

+who have held the office of Lord Chief Justice

+of England since the Cockburn days: Coleridge,

+Reading, Trevethin and Hewart.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The late Lord Esher, Master of the Rolls,

+my wife and I had the pleasure to know well

+and to delight in his friendship and hospitality.

+My acquaintance began when the Courts were

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P66"></a>66}</span>

+held in Westminster Hall, and I was foreman

+of a jury before "Mr. Justice Brett," in an

+interesting case, but troublesome to me, as

+it kept me from important rehearsals.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In a New Year letter to my wife he addressed

+her as:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"DEAR FRIEND,&mdash;You are a very perplexing

+person to write to.  If I say 'Dear old friend'

+it won't do in every sense: because, although

+you are an old friend, you are in looks and

+ways a young woman.  If I say 'Dear little

+friend,' it is a term of endearment&mdash;but you

+are a very great person.  However, I begin

+by wishing you both a very happy year.  If

+it is as prosperous as your goodness deserves

+I can wish you in that respect no more.  I

+cannot tell you how I chafed under not being

+able to see you in <i>Money</i>; but in the mornings

+I was in Court, and in the evenings did not

+venture out!  Vile old age!!  Lady Esher

+went to see you, and told me she had never

+seen anything more charming than you.  With

+that I stop.  My love to you both.  Believe

+me always a very true admirer and very truly

+yours."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Of all the judges I have known I think the

+imposing presence of Lord Hannen on the

+Bench was second to none.  His dignity appealed

+to me enormously when, through the kindness

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P67"></a>67}</span>

+of the Bar, I attended some of the sittings of

+the Parnell Commission.  I remember my

+wife saying to him at our table, when he was

+President of the Divorce Court, that he

+seemed to her to pass too much of his life in

+separating united couples.  His answer was

+that he passed much more of it in wondering

+why the couples had ever wished to be joined

+together.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+James of Hereford

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I never knew much of Lord James of Hereford,

+but saw a good deal in early days of Mr. Henry

+James, a successful self-made barrister

+who had just taken silk, and was on the way

+to the great position he reached.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was one of a little coterie which included

+Lord Anglesey, ("P."), Millais, Merewether,

+Q.C., Hare, "Willie" Mathews, one or two

+others, and myself, who played, with great

+zest, an old-fashioned card game&mdash;four-handed cribbage.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+James was made Attorney-General, refused

+the Lord Chancellorship, and became a Peer.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I remember his once saying: "Fame has

+no Present; Popularity no Future."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One of our early legal friends was Baron

+Huddleston.  When we first met he was known

+as "the buck of the Bar," and always pleaded

+as Counsel in black kid gloves.  We owed to

+him and "Lady 'Di'" many happy visits in

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P68"></a>68}</span>

+delightful company to the Grange at Ascot.

+He had his vanities, and gloried in being

+written and spoken of as "The Last of the

+Barons."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was dining with Arnold Morley, at one

+time Postmaster General, after Huddleston's

+funeral, when I "put my foot in it" more

+painfully than ever in my life.  The little

+company comprised: John Morley, Herbert

+Gardner, afterwards Lord Burghclere, Sir

+Charles Dilke, George Lewis, Henry

+Labouchere, and one other man whose name I

+forget.  During dinner Lewis said: "Oh!

+Bancroft, I saw by an evening paper that you

+were among Huddleston's friends to-day, tell

+us about his cremation; what is it really

+like?"  Without thought I let myself go and replied

+that when the coffin disappeared from view

+Henry James (Lord James of Hereford) asked

+Sir Henry Thompson, the pioneer and President

+of the new movement, if we could see any

+more.  Accompanied by Lord Falkland, we

+entered the inner compartment, so I described

+what we there saw, it being remembered that

+cremation was then in its infancy, adding that

+I revolted against the idea of consigning the

+remains of a loved one to such a fate.  As I

+spoke my eyes fell upon Sir Charles Dilke,

+and I was conscious that his late wife had been

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P69"></a>69}</span>

+so treated.  It did not need the leer on

+Labouchere's face to tell me so.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+St. Helier and Holker

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lord St. Helier, who became President of

+the Divorce Court, was also a kind friend of

+long standing.  My wife and I first met him

+as Francis Jeune, when he was just foreshadowing

+his successful career, at the house of Lady

+St. Helier, Mrs. John Stanley then, and soon

+afterwards we passed them in a carriage on

+the St. Gothard Pass&mdash;before the days of its

+wonderful railway&mdash;when they were on their

+honeymoon.  He was a great authority on

+ritualistic and ecclesiastical law generally and

+always a tremendous worker.  He had charming

+manners and was never ruffled&mdash;not even

+when he committed a duchess to gaol.  We

+enjoyed their hospitality in London and at

+Arlington Manor.  I have only one little

+objection to offer&mdash;I cannot help a feeling of

+resentment against a judge, or, in fact, any

+barrister, having a moustache and beard.  It

+is not fair to the wig.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A dear friend of far-away days was Lord

+Justice Holker ("Sleepy Jack").  I knew him

+first in my old Liverpool apprenticeship when

+he was leader of the Northern Circuit and its

+legal giants.  I saw him once at the Assizes

+there stop a case for some minutes after whispering

+to his clerk, who hurriedly left the court,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P70"></a>70}</span>

+and returned with Holker's snuff-box, which

+had been left in the robing-room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on he had a place in Yorkshire where

+he had happy shooting-parties for his friends,

+but nothing would induce him to fire a gun

+himself.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another legal friend and welcome guest

+was Lord Justice Mathew, who told us a pretty

+story of his witty fellow-countryman, Father

+Healy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A young Englishwoman, who was his companion

+at a dinner party, asked him, as there

+was no mistletoe in Ireland, what the girls

+and boys did at Christmas-time without it.

+"Ah, if it's kissing you mean," the old priest

+answered, "they do it <i>under the</i> rose!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Mathew had a witty tongue of his own.

+No doubt, it will be remembered by his legal

+friends that at the time Herschell was Lord

+Chancellor, Arthur Cohen, a distinguished

+Q.C., quite looked to be appointed to a puisne

+judgeship, which he did not get.  When

+Mathew heard of Cohen's resentment, he

+expressed surprise that his learned friend

+expected anything else from Herschell but a

+Passover.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Serjeant Ballantine

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I made acquaintance in my early professional

+days with Serjeant Ballantine, always

+a pleasant and amusing companion, with a

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P71"></a>71}</span>

+great love of the theatre.  Throughout his

+life he was very Bohemian in his tastes and

+habits.  I remember him first at Evans's,

+a music-hall of those days, in Covent Garden&mdash;it

+stood where prize-fights now take place at

+the National Sporting Club&mdash;where there was

+a noted choir of boys, and where "Paddy

+Green," the manager, squeezed hot potatoes

+from their jackets with his napkin for favoured

+guests.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Ballantine devoted himself entirely to

+criminal cases.  He was a great cross-examiner,

+but he found his equal in Serjeant Parry, who

+had masterly power over a jury.  Another of

+his rivals was the distinguished advocate,

+Henry Hawkins, afterwards Lord Brampton,

+who was known to be as rich as Ballantine

+was poor.  In a robing-room on one

+occasion Ballantine asked Hawkins what he

+was going to do with all his money, adding

+that when he died he could not take it with

+him, and that even if he could he feared it

+would melt.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Ballantine defended the impostor Arthur

+Orton, the "Claimant," in the first Tichborne

+trial and professed belief in the genuineness

+of that rascal.  Later he was retained for the

+defence of the Gaekwar of Baroda in India.

+He received for his services the largest fee then

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P72"></a>72}</span>

+known, but he lost the bulk of it at Monte

+Carlo on his way home.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When I became acquainted with Frank

+Lockwood he was a young actor at a seaside

+theatre.  He did not, in the judgment of his

+comrades, show much promise and wisely

+abandoned the stage as a career.  I next

+met him as a rising barrister at the house

+of the Kendals, with whom he was on terms

+of close friendship, as he soon became with

+my wife and me.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lockwood was a brilliant caricaturist.  His

+company was always a delight.  I remember

+an evening when he sat by me at dinner after

+he had fought many a hard battle, and I asked

+if he were offered a judgeship would he accept

+it.  In a moment he answered, no; he loved

+the fight too much.  Soon afterwards, however,

+he had changed his mind, longed for relief

+from the struggle and sighed for peace.  It

+was not to be.  His health suddenly broke

+down, his strength was failing, and he had to

+give in.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Frank Lockwood was a popular leader at

+the Bar, a genial Member in the House, a perfect

+host, a welcome guest, a delightful companion,

+a staunch friend.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Montagu Williams

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The career of Montagu Williams was the

+most varied of any man I have known.  Both

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P73"></a>73}</span>

+his father and his grandfather were barristers.

+After he left Eton, Montagu was for a time a

+schoolmaster; then fired, I suppose, by the

+outbreak of the Crimean War, he entered the

+Army.  After peace was declared he resigned

+his commission and became a member of a

+theatrical touring company with a well-known

+amateur of those days, Captain Disney

+Roebuck.  Next, on the advice, I believe, of his

+godfather, Montagu Chambers, he resolved to

+go to the Bar.  During his studies he wrote

+for the Press, including Dickens's <i>Household

+Words</i>.  He also wrote plays, chiefly in

+collaboration with his old friend and school

+companion at Eton, Frank Burnand.  The best of

+them was <i>The Isle of St. Tropez</i>, a really good

+drama, in which Alfred Wigan played.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+From the time Montagu was called by the

+Inner Temple there were few important criminal

+cases in which he did not take a part&mdash;and

+very quickly a prominent one.  His great

+knowledge of every side of life and quick grasp

+of things resulted in a large practice, and he

+defended more scoundrels than any man of

+his day.  Later on, he was grievously afflicted

+by throat mischief, which ended in the saving

+of his life at the cost of his voice, through a

+serious operation; he could afterwards only

+speak in a whisper.  He was, however,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P74"></a>74}</span>

+appointed a London police magistrate, in which

+work he again distinguished himself, and soon

+became known as "the poor man's beak."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was during the theatrical episode in his

+varied career that he came across, and married,

+Louise, a daughter of two prominent and

+respected early Victorian players, Mr. and

+Mrs. Keeley, whom I remember seeing act so

+long ago as 1851, the year of the Great

+Exhibition, when Robert Keeley was the

+partner of Charles Kean at the old Princess's

+Theatre.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Louise Williams was gifted with a sweet

+voice and sang with charm.  I still seem to

+hear her exquisite rendering of Edgar Allan

+Poe's words, which I can trust my memory

+to recall:

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "And neither the angels in Heaven above,<br>

+  Nor the demons down under the sea,<br>

+  Can ever dissever my soul from the soul<br>

+  Of the beautiful Annabel Lee."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+I can recall no man who enjoyed more

+universal popularity than Douglas Straight;

+it began at Harrow and followed him throughout

+his life.  He never allowed his interests

+to become cramped: they embraced the law,

+politics, journalism, sport, the drama and

+society.  He began as a journalist, was

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P75"></a>75}</span>

+Conservative M.P. for Shrewsbury, and had a

+successful career at the Bar, which ended in a

+judgeship of the High Court in India.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He had great social gifts, nowhere better

+proved than by my friend Pett Ridge, who tells

+a story of his popularity with the fair sex,

+that twelve ladies agreed to give a dinner at a

+fashionable restaurant, the novelty on the

+occasion being that each of them was to be

+responsible for one male guest.  The whole

+dozen invited Douglas!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Willie" Mathews

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I lost a close and affectionate friend in

+Charles Mathews, the Public Prosecutor, whom

+I first knew in the sixties, when he was a little

+chap at Eton and wore a turn-down collar.

+My next remembrance of him is as the "baby"

+member of the Garrick Club, where, from the

+date of his election, he was beloved.  In those

+days "Willie" Mathews was "devil" to

+Montagu Williams and working hard in his

+company and that of Douglas Straight at the

+criminal bar, the scene of many triumphs

+in his successful career.  He was <i>persona grata</i>

+wherever he went, and in widely different

+circles, from Balmoral to Bohemia.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Charles Gill was another old friend.  We

+saw more of him at his beloved Birchington

+than in London.  He was known in his Kentish

+home as "The Mayor"&mdash;so christened, I

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P76"></a>76}</span>

+think, by his neighbour, that modern Colossus

+who seems to be always striding between New

+York and Leicester Square, the successful and

+erratic Frederick Lonsdale.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Gill was closely associated in early days with

+Straight and Mathews; later in his brilliant

+career there was scarcely a sensational criminal

+trial in which he did not play a leading part.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A very wise member of his profession only

+lately said that were any friend of his in a

+difficulty that called for unerring judgment

+and delicacy of handling his best advice would

+be: "Consult Charles Gill."

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap05"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P77"></a>77}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+V

+<br><br>

+PAINTING: SCULPTURE: MUSIC

+</h3>

+

+<p class="t3">

+"So famous, so excellent in Art."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Painting

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is many years since, as my wife and I were

+leaving the Savoy Theatre at the close of an

+afternoon performance of a Gilbert and

+Sullivan opera, we were shocked by a newsboy

+shouting "Death of Lord Leighton."  We

+made Frederic Leighton's acquaintance in the

+green-room of our theatre.  Soon afterwards

+we dined at his beautiful house in Kensington.

+In its neighbourhood there was a nest of his

+comrades in art, including Val Prinsep, Luke

+Fildes and Marcus Stone.  We were friends

+for years: he did me the honour to propose

+me at the Athenæum, but did not live to

+see me elected.  He was a remarkable and

+gifted man&mdash;an Admirable Crichton&mdash;painter,

+sculptor, linguist&mdash;as well as an eloquent, if a

+somewhat florid, speaker, and an admirable

+man of affairs, besides, as we actors say, having

+a perfect appearance for his part.  Was it

+not Thackeray who told him once that Millais

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P78"></a>78}</span>

+was the only man with a chance against him

+for the Presidency of the Royal Academy?

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His beautiful art was best illustrated in his

+early days, I always thought, by <i>The Slinger</i>

+and the sculptured figure of an athlete

+struggling with a python.  I also remember

+well his life-like portrait of the famous explorer,

+Sir Richard Burton.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Millais

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In many respects a total contrast to Leighton

+was the successor to his great office, John

+Everett Millais.  I was fortunate in his

+acquaintance at the Garrick Club when I

+was elected as a member fifty-six years ago.

+Millais loved the club and cared but little

+for any other.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Although looked upon as a Jerseyman, he

+chanced to be born at Southampton, and I

+remember being told by a man&mdash;who was for

+many years prompter under our management&mdash;that

+he had seen Millais, as a very small boy,

+sprawling upon the stage of the Southampton

+theatre and drawing with a piece of chalk

+things that had form and shape.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I don't know when he first came into fame

+and astounded the world by the wonderful

+children of his brush and brain.  Beautiful

+things teem through the memory.  I see the

+little creature, on a church bench, listening to

+<i>The First Sermon</i>; a work of infinite pathos

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P79"></a>79}</span>

+called <i>The Blind Girl</i>; Walter Raleigh on the

+shingly shore, clutching his knees and absorbing

+the yarns of an old sea-dog; the two nuns

+digging a grave for a comrade in <i>The Vale

+of Rest</i>; those well-known masterpieces, <i>The

+Princes in the Tower</i>, <i>The Black Brunswicker</i>

+and <i>The Order of Release</i>.  And then the gallery

+of portraits&mdash;Tennyson, Newman, Gladstone,

+Bright and the unfinished Disraeli.  Others

+also crowd upon remembrance: those of my

+comrades, Henry Irving and John Hare&mdash;not,

+in my judgment, among his best examples,&mdash;of

+Arthur Sullivan&mdash;one of the very best,&mdash;and

+the great surgeon, Henry Thompson, which,

+like the striking portrait of Mr. Wertheimer by

+Sargent, as you look at it, seems that it might

+speak.  I see also the beautiful portraits of

+Mrs. Langtry and Mrs. Jopling Rowe, but,

+alas! not one of my wife.  I offered Millais a

+large sum to paint one of her for me, but he

+declined, for two reasons; he said that he

+could not bring himself to accept money from

+a brother artist, and that he should fail, as the

+face would change while his eyes turned even

+for a moment to the palette.  One word to

+recall his masterly landscapes, <i>Chill October</i>,

+and, if I remember their attractive titles,

+<i>The Fringe of the Moor</i> and <i>The Sound of Many

+Waters</i>.  Never in any man's work was

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P80"></a>80}</span>

+refinement more closely merged with art.  I see

+a fine photograph of him daily, if in London,

+with an autograph in the corner, briefly

+accepting an invitation to dinner in these words:

+"I'm your man."  I looked down upon his

+handsome features, as he was fading away from

+life, and kissed him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Poynter

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Edward Poynter succeeded to the President's

+chair, which had only been occupied by

+Millais briefly.  It was during his reign that I

+had the honour at the Royal Academy Banquet

+to respond for the Drama: the toast had only

+once been proposed before, when Irving replied.

+It was a difficult task, and the greatness of the

+audience impressed me with my own littleness.

+Wisely, I am sure, I limited myself to five

+minutes only, and venture to give an extract

+from what I said:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"I was not unmindful that the proposal of

+this toast at that great banquet was a mark of

+respect to the stage which could only make the

+stage the more respect itself.  I could not

+speak in that room&mdash;surrounded as I was by

+the rulers in that fairyland&mdash;without some

+attempt, however faint, to say that my

+admiration of the beautiful art, so splendidly

+illustrated year by year upon those walls, was as

+true as my love for the living pictures we

+players tried to paint.  Our pictures, alas!

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P81"></a>81}</span>

+died early, for the greatest actor's work must

+be a passing triumph; it was not cut in marble,

+nor did it live on canvas, but could only owe

+its fame to written records and traditions.

+Vast wealth might keep for us, and for the

+ages yet to come, the undying splendour of

+a Reynolds or a Millais, but no sum could

+buy one single echo of the voice of Sarah

+Siddons.  The drama was the most winning,

+fascinating, alluring thing that ever was

+conceived for the recreation of mankind.  As

+England could claim to be the parent of the

+drama in Europe, so could she claim to be

+the mother of the greatest dramatist the

+world had owned, whose mighty genius left

+all art in debt that never could be paid, and

+whose works alone would make the stage

+eternal."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+The pictures by Poynter which live clearest

+in my memory are his <i>Catapult</i> and <i>Visit

+to Æsculapius</i>.  Concerning the latter work

+a story "went the rounds"&mdash;possibly as

+untrue as many another&mdash;that two beautiful

+sisters were as flattered by the eminent

+painter's wish to make drawings of their

+heads as they were horrified to find them

+reproduced upon bodies of well-known models

+in the nude.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Poynter painted a portrait of himself for

+the Uffizi Gallery as Millais did.  There is an

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P82"></a>82}</span>

+admirable copy of this portrait in his beloved

+Garrick.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was never really intimate with Alma

+Tadema, although I knew him for many years,

+beginning with the time when he lived in

+Regent's Park.  Owing to an explosion of

+gunpowder on the canal there, if my memory is

+accurate, his house was wrecked and he went

+to live in the Grove End Road, in a house

+formerly occupied by Tissot, a French artist,

+who had quite a vogue for a time.  Tadema

+translated the house into "a thing of beauty

+and a joy for ever," where he entertained a

+great artistic company, worthy to be surrounded

+by the <i>Roses of Heliogabalus</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I owe the following painful and remarkable

+story to my friend Aston Webb, lately President

+of the Royal Academy; it was told to him

+and others by Tadema.  A young woman, an

+American, the daughter of parents of wealth

+and position, was the cause of great anxiety to

+her father and mother, to her intimate friends,

+and to her doctor, on the score of health, which

+puzzled all concerned, and became a mystery

+which no one seemed able to unravel.  At

+last the doctor was driven to advise a year's

+absence from home and its surroundings by a

+trip to Europe, to be spent where and how the

+girl might wish, in the companionship of a

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P83"></a>83}</span>

+female friend&mdash;she had no sisters, and the

+parents could not leave their own country at

+the time.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Sargent

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The patient went first to London and enjoyed

+her stay there.  During it, she conceived

+a strong wish to be painted by her eminent

+fellow-countryman, Sargent, the magician who

+reveals unknowingly what have been hidden

+mysteries.  The portrait when finished was

+highly thought of and presently despatched

+to the parents of the sitter, while she went her

+way to Switzerland and Italy.  The great

+artist's work delighted the father and mother.

+An "at home" was arranged that their many

+friends might share their admiration.  All of

+this took place; among the invited guests

+being the friendly doctor who had been so

+puzzled by the condition of his patient.  I

+will come briefly to the sad sequel.  The

+doctor gazed at the portrait long and earnestly:

+he left the house perturbed and saddened.  On

+the following day he sought an interview with

+the father, told him that Sargent had revealed

+to him, beyond doubt, what he had failed to

+discover himself.  Put briefly, the poor girl

+afterwards died in a madhouse.  When Tadema

+had finished his story, Abbey, who was also

+present, quietly remarked: "All too true.  I

+could tell you the names of those concerned."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P84"></a>84}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The painter who ran dear Millais close in my

+appreciation, and who has given me, if I bare

+my heart and tell the naked truth, greater

+pleasure than any other painter, was Orchardson;

+the fact that his work is so dramatic

+being, I suppose, the reason.  His two phases

+of the <i>Mariage de Convenance</i> were gems.  I

+don't know whether Act I surpassed Act II,

+or if the verdict was the other way.  The

+glorious <i>Queen of the Swords</i>, <i>The Challenge</i>,

+<i>Hard Hit</i>, <i>The Young Duke</i>, <i>Napoleon in the

+Bellerophon</i>, <i>The First Cloud</i>, with their

+exquisite colourings, the secret of which never

+seems to have been divulged; and still one

+other, so delicate in conception, so perfect

+in its pathos, <i>Her Mother's Voice</i>.  What a

+story!  How simply told!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Edwin Abbey was also a painter who appealed

+strongly to me; again, because he was

+dramatic.  His <i>Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and

+the Lady Anne</i>, I always looked upon with

+admiration.  The splendour of its colouring is

+lost to me, for I see it now only <i>en gravure</i>.

+Nor can his <i>Hamlet</i> and <i>King Lear</i> be forgotten,

+while his decorative work was magnificent and

+will preserve his fame.  He had great charm

+as host and guest.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I travel back to the far-off days when W. P. Frith,

+an old friend, was the popular Academician

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P85"></a>85}</span>

+of his time; his pictures of the <i>Derby

+Day</i> and <i>Ramsgate Sands</i> having to be "railed

+in" at the Annual Exhibition, which was then

+held in the National Gallery, to protect them

+from the crowd.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Frith, I remember, was struck with the

+beauty of our production of the <i>School for

+Scandal</i>, which he highly praised.  In its

+acting and historical accuracy he said it was

+like the last edition of a grand book, the

+handsomest and the best.  He fell in love with the

+minuet, and said it took him back to the days

+of his great-grandmother.  The minuet, which

+was introduced at Lady Sneerwell's "rout,"

+was the brilliant idea of my wife: it was

+danced by two couples in a crowded room of

+guests.  I have since seen it danced by a crowd

+to an otherwise empty stage.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I look back with interest to pleasant times

+spent in the company of Hubert Herkomer,

+that "jack-of-all-trades and master of many."  His

+versatility was bewildering.  Tools of every

+kind and shape seemed to be playthings in

+his hands; he grasped them with firmness

+and used them with skill; painting, engraving,

+etching, and all sorts of metal work alike

+came easily to him; he played the piano and

+the zither, composed and wrote, and was, in

+a way, a pioneer of film work.  His shoals

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P86"></a>86}</span>

+of portraits were amazing, and his fame might

+rest enduringly upon his painting of <i>The Last

+Muster</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Briton Rivière was for many years our

+friend.  We met first in the Engadine.  He

+was, in my opinion, a great artist, and has

+crowded my memory with his works.  I think

+often of those speaking dogs in <i>The Vacant

+Chair</i>, <i>Sympathy</i> and <i>Charity</i>, as I do of <i>Circe</i>

+with the amorous pigs, and the majestic

+<i>Daniel</i> facing the lions in their den.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have always understood that Rivière was

+within an ace of being elected President when

+Millais died.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In early Bohemian days, Henry Stacey

+Marks, long before he had blossomed into a

+Royal Academician, was an amusing and

+pleasant friend.  Years afterwards I bought,

+at Christie's, the attractive panels of the <i>Seven

+Ages of Man</i> which he had painted for Birket

+Foster.  They were well-beloved companions

+until a changed life came to me; they now

+adorn the walls of the Green Room Club.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Val and Marcus

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another R.A. and old friend was Val Prinsep,

+whose burly form looms from distant days,

+which his name recalls.  It is easy to believe

+that he was the original "Taffy" in George

+du Maurier's <i>Trilby</i>.  I have a remembrance

+of him in the sketch he made for his painting

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P87"></a>87}</span>

+<i>The Minuet</i>, which was inspired by our

+introduction of the dance into <i>The School for Scandal</i>,

+again in its turn reproduced in our act-drop

+at the Haymarket Theatre.  On his return to

+England after painting the Great Durbar,

+when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress

+of India, he gave my wife a handsome native

+bracelet, which, as a souvenir of her, I passed

+on a little while ago to Marie Löhr, who married

+Val's son, Anthony.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Val" left many dear friends behind him,

+with happy recollections of his worth.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Recently another friend of long standing,

+Marcus Stone, left us.  He once told me an

+interesting incident of his childhood, a link

+with the past, when he was kissed by a very

+old and well-known man named Pickersgill,

+the engraver, who begged him, impressively,

+always to remember that he had been kissed

+by a man who once was kissed by Dr. Johnson.

+It is odd to remember, in these days of petrol,

+that Johnson said there were few keener

+pleasures in life than being whirled along in

+a post-chaise, in the company of a pretty lady,

+at the average speed of ten miles an hour.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Stone owed much to his early, almost

+boyish, friendship with Dickens, who engaged

+him to illustrate the book he was then writing,

+thereby made him known to eminent men,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P88"></a>88}</span>

+and altogether helped his career greatly.  He

+was a good talker, and he read more books in

+a week than I do in a year: he also had what

+are called good looks and a distinguished

+bearing.  Was it not written of him:

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "Marcus Apollo Belvedere Stone,<br>

+  Stands there erect, in all his glory shone."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Sculpture

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the hope that I have not been tiresome,

+I will close my remembrances of Academicians

+with the names of two sculptors: one, whom

+we knew with some intimacy, was Edgar

+Boehm.  He chanced to be our guest on the

+evening when his baronetcy was "in his

+pocket," to be announced to his large circle

+of friends on the following morning.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+There was a beautiful work of his on the

+staircase landing of the house Millais built for

+himself in Kensington.  His fame rests chiefly,

+I suppose, on the statue of Carlyle, near to his

+Chelsea home; on the tomb of Dean Stanley;

+and the statue of Wellington at Hyde Park

+Corner, which replaced the old one, now at

+Aldershot, that I was taken as a child to see

+when it was erected&mdash;an earlier remembrance

+than that I retain of the Iron Duke's funeral.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I always remember an evening as Boehm's

+guest, when a lady whom I had taken down to

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P89"></a>89}</span>

+dinner, in answer to an opinion I timidly

+expressed that it was just possible she might

+be on the verge of "spoiling" her two boys,

+who chanced to be at Eton with my son,

+turned upon me with the amazing question:

+"Do you think I can ever sufficiently

+apologise to them for my share in bringing them

+into this world?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Boehm and Onslow Ford

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Boehm's end was distressing.  He was a

+great Court favourite, and one afternoon, in

+his studio, told his man that he expected

+a visit from the Princess Louise, and that Her

+Royal Highness, with her lady, was to be

+conducted to the studio at once.  When taken

+there, on the door being opened, they found

+Boehm, who had sunk upon the floor from a

+sudden heart attack, unconscious and just

+breathing; he passed away in a few minutes.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Onslow Ford, another friend of ours, was as

+well known for his personal charm as for the

+refinement of his work.  He was beloved by

+his brother Academicians, the features of

+several of whom he has immortalised in

+marble, and by a large circle of friends.  One

+of his best achievements is the seated figure

+of Henry Irving, now in the Guildhall Picture

+Gallery; while the Christopher Marlowe

+memorial at Canterbury, the Shelley memorial

+in University College, Oxford, and the great

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P90"></a>90}</span>

+statue of Gordon, mounted on a camel, at

+Chatham, will make his fame secure.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another sculptor whose friendship we enjoyed

+was the late Count Gleichen, who regarded

+his art as far more than a recreation; and

+his statue of King Alfred at Wantage is the

+work of no mere amateur.  We found it an

+interesting experience to sit to him for the two

+portrait busts which are now in the Garrick

+Club.  The sittings in his studio at St. James's

+Palace were often enlivened by visits from

+well-known people of many kinds, which I

+hope did not detract from the merit of the

+sculptor's work.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I dare not try the patience of my readers

+by attempting at any length to write of that

+rebellious, capricious, tempestuous, and

+captivating genius "Jimmy" Whistler.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+After welcoming him as our amusing and

+interesting guest, my wife and I were bidden

+to one of his historic luncheons at the White

+House, which then stood quite alone in Chelsea

+by the river.  We had excellent company and

+ate buckwheat cakes, cooked by himself.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His despotic value of himself was exalted

+and could not be excelled: nothing shook it.

+The rapier and the bludgeon were alike his

+weapons of either attack or defence.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I believe his portrait of Irving as King

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P91"></a>91}</span>

+Philip has varied in different markets from

+bids of a few pounds to some thousands.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Punch"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Sir John Tenniel was an old friend and

+guest.  His remarkable connection with <i>Punch</i>

+extended over fifty years.  During this

+marvellous record he contributed between two and

+three thousand cartoons to its pages.  The

+most famous of this vast collection was,

+perhaps, <i>Dropping the Pilot</i>, which showed

+Bismarck leaving the Ship of State, while his new

+chief, who was to wreck Europe, looked

+superciliously down on him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was present at a banquet given in his

+honour upon his retirement.  The company

+gathered was exceptional and was presided

+over by Mr. Balfour, as he then was.  When

+Tenniel rose to return his thanks, the

+demonstration was too much for the old man; he

+was unable to speak, and resumed his seat

+in tears.  As the chairman said at once, no

+expression of thanks could have been more

+eloquent.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+We knew George du Maurier for many

+years: I wish it had been more intimately.

+After his early days in Paris and his familiarity

+with the Quartier Latin, his connection with

+<i>Punch</i> began, ten years later than Tenniel's.

+Soon afterwards he succeeded to Leach's

+prominent position and earned his world-wide

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P92"></a>92}</span>

+fame, which was not lessened by his novels,

+<i>Peter Ibbetson</i> and <i>Trilby</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I should have loved to hear him say at one

+of the weekly <i>Punch</i> dinners, as the man who

+told me did: "Fellows will write to me as

+<i>de</i> Maurier; I wish they'd give the devil his

+du."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Painting

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One of du Maurier's closest friends was that

+fascinating man Canon Ainger, Master of the

+Temple, with whom I had only a slight acquaintance.

+They met constantly, almost daily, in

+their beloved Hampstead, and indeed haunted

+its Heath: du Maurier was at home in Bohemia;

+Ainger had never stood upon its soil; while

+their widely separated religious views never

+hurt their friendship.  "A strange world, my

+masters."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He loved the stage.  Would he had lived

+to see the position of its leader in England,

+to-day, achieved by his son Gerald!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Sammy," as Linley Sambourne was

+affectionately called by his intimates, will

+complete my trio of <i>Punch</i> draughtsmen.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was an amusing little creature, always

+very horsey in get up.  I have his gift of the

+first drawing from his pencil which appeared

+in <i>Punch</i>, so long ago as 1867, when he was but

+twenty-two; it is a droll little sketch of George

+Honey as Eccles, John Hare as Sam Gerridge,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P93"></a>93}</span>

+and myself as Captain Hawtree in <i>Caste</i>.  He

+told me that it was drawn from memory, after

+visits to the pit when Robertson's comedy

+was at the height of its first success.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I recall an amusing incident which occurred

+at a fancy-dress ball, largely attended by the

+artistic and "Bohemian" world.  "Sammy"

+appeared, admirably appointed and dressed,

+as a little fat Dutchman.  He was cheerily

+greeted by Gilbert, who ran against him with

+the words: "One Dutch of Sambourne makes

+the whole world grin."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Pellegrini

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I must write a few lines in memory of the

+prince of caricaturists, Carlo Pellegrini.  We

+knew him throughout his career and always

+enjoyed his company.  On one evening when

+he gave it to us, on being announced, he kissed

+my wife's hand and uttered some compliment

+in Italian; she immediately, in a spirit of fun,

+rapidly recited an old and rather long

+"proverb" in his language, which she had learned

+by heart, as a child&mdash;it being her sole acquaintance

+with Italian&mdash;the little man's expression

+of amazement was a study.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+She played the same trick, with still greater

+effect, on the stage of the Scala Theatre at

+Milan which we went over with a party of

+friends, when Arthur Cecil asked her to

+address an imaginary audience.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P94"></a>94}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Music

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I sat to Pellegrini once, when he began to

+paint portraits seriously&mdash;the idea was soon

+abandoned.&mdash;With regard to mine he wrote:

+"I have sent your <i>fac simile</i> to the Grosvenor:

+I hope you will be well hanged."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I saw the "Pelican"&mdash;as Pellegrini was

+called by his friends&mdash;in his last illness at

+his rooms in Mortimer Street.  Shortly before

+the peaceful end he said pathetically to his

+faithful servant: "Wil-li-am, put me on clean

+shirt&mdash;I die clean."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I hardly regarded my old friend Leslie Ward

+as a caricaturist; his clever drawings were, to

+my mind, portraits&mdash;humorously, but gently,

+exaggerated.  They were mainly the result of

+sittings.  Pellegrini's work was produced from

+memory.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Leslie Ward was the son of distinguished

+painters; his sister Beatrice shared their art,

+as I can testify by a valued possession, a very

+charming drawing of my wife.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Arthur Sullivan

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The brilliant composer and musician, Arthur

+Sullivan, was our much-loved friend for thirty

+years.  We first knew him about the time he

+and W. S. Gilbert were made known to each

+other by Frederic Clay.  His great career

+began, like many others, very simply, for he

+was one of the "Children of the Chapel Royal,"

+as they are still called, before his more serious

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P95"></a>95}</span>

+studies began at the Royal Academy of Music

+and at Leipzig.  He returned with his music

+to <i>The Tempest</i>, to be followed by <i>The Light of

+the World</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His wonderful partnership with Gilbert has

+given joy to every land.  It is said that the

+success of <i>H.M.S. Pinafore</i> was so amazing

+in America that 100,000 barrel-organs were

+specially constructed to play nothing else.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I recall a happy gathering of friends at

+Pontresina.  Sullivan was one of them, and his

+old mother was with him: his devotion to

+her revealed a beautiful side of his affectionate

+nature.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A different meeting was when my wife and

+I met him one morning in the rooms at Monte

+Carlo.  It was settled that we should have lunch

+together at the Café de Paris, which they went

+away to order, leaving me, unfortunately, at

+my own request, to join them in a few minutes.

+When I did so, my face must have told the

+sad story of those few minutes, as Arthur

+called out, cheerily: "Come along, B; this

+way to the cemetery."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He had a peculiarly entrancing personality:

+he lived a happy but not a long life, laden with

+honours.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When I had the sad privilege of being one

+of the pall-bearers at his funeral I was as

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P96"></a>96}</span>

+impressed as I was pleased to see the blinds of

+the Athenæum drawn as we passed on our way

+to St. Paul's Cathedral, where, I have always

+understood, he was laid to rest by the wish of

+Queen Victoria.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Music had to bear three heavy blows, dealt

+within a few days, when Charles Stanford, with

+his keen sense of humour, Walter Parratt, with

+his winning personality, and Frederick Bridge,

+with his ever-ready stories of killing fish, left

+us.  I knew them all, but Parratt was never

+my guest.  He had no London home.  We met

+pleasantly sometimes at the Athenæum, and

+my nearest link with him was that of having

+been born in the same year.  Bridge and I

+received our knighthoods together.  I have

+happy recollections of a stay at Harrogate

+when Stanford was also there.  Although he

+lived so many years in London, he seemed to

+me to have left Dublin only recently; but

+what lingers most firmly in my mind in regard

+to him, is the majestic march he composed for

+Irving when Tennyson's play <i>Becket</i> was

+produced at the Lyceum.  The last time I listened

+to its strains was at his own funeral service in

+the Abbey.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Frederic Clay

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The name of another old musical friend,

+Frederic Clay, must be remembered, for it

+was in his company that I met Gounod.  I

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P97"></a>97}</span>

+dined with Clay when he lived with his father,

+who was the friend of Lord Beaconsfield, and

+known as the finest whist-player in London.  I

+once saw the old gentleman in the cardroom of

+the Garrick, where he distinguished himself by

+revoking.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Frederic Clay's career was checked by a long

+and distressing illness.  His fame will live in

+the remembrance of his melodies: "She

+wandered down the Mountain Side," "The Sands

+of Dee," and, above all, by the ever-enduring

+"I'll sing thee songs of Araby."

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap06"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P98"></a>98}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+VI

+<br><br>

+LITERATURE

+</h3>

+

+<p class="intro">

+"Think of the achievements of a great writer&mdash;a great

+poet&mdash;their works embrace the past, the present, and the

+future: their fame is for ever growing through the gifts they

+have made to the dead: the pleasure they have still the

+power to bestow upon the living: and the delight of bequeathing

+their wealth to unknown ages while their language lives."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Browning

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The most prominent man of letters known to

+my wife and to me was Robert Browning, who

+looked as unlike the conventional idea of a

+poet as I resemble a sweep; his appearance

+seemed to me a better "make-up" for a

+family physician or legal adviser.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Many years ago my wife and I were present

+at the wedding of an old friend's daughter and

+afterwards at the reception.  On entering the

+drawing-room, which had heavy blinds and

+was rather sombre, my wife mistook an elderly

+and bearded guest for the host, went behind

+him, turned his head round, and, as she

+thought, kissed her congratulations to the

+bride's father.  The recipient of the mistaken

+salute proved to be Browning, who avowed that

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P99"></a>99}</span>

+whenever and wherever he met my wife he

+was to be treated in the same way.  The

+ceremony was afterwards always gone through,

+and more than once in the open street.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When he first dined with us he was made

+happy in finding a bottle of port by his hand,

+that he might help himself and not be offered

+other wines.  I remember a story he told us of

+Longfellow when he visited England.  The two

+poets were driving in a hansom, and a heavy

+shower suddenly came on.  Longfellow

+insisted upon thrusting his umbrella through

+the trap in the roof of the cab that the

+driver might protect himself from the rain,

+which he did.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At a dinner given at the old Star and Garter,

+Richmond, Browning met my wife on the

+terrace with an impromptu, hurriedly scrawled

+on a menu, which I may give imperfectly:

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "Her advent was not hailed with shouts,<br>

+  Nor banners, garlands, cymbals, drums;<br>

+  The trees breathed gently sighs of love,<br>

+  And whispered softly, 'Hush! she comes!'"<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+In the last letter my wife received from him

+he wrote: "I heartily wish I had been privileged

+to begin feeling twenty years ago what I

+feel now, and I shall make what amends are in

+my power, by feeling so as long as I live."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P100"></a>100}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was in the Abbey on the cheerless, foggy,

+December day, when Browning joined the

+"Poets" in their "Corner."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I had the honour of enjoying the friendship

+of that distinguished man of letters, Monckton

+Milnes, afterwards Lord Houghton.  He once

+told me a story worth repeating.  He was in

+search of a piece of furniture.  On entering

+a dealer's shop in Wardour Street, he caught

+sight of the portrait of an admiral, apparently

+of the last century, and of this he asked the

+price.  "Ten pounds," was the answer.  Lord

+Houghton offered five; the dealer was

+obdurate.  The article wanted was sought for,

+found and bargained for.  On going away Lord

+Houghton returned to the price of the admiral's

+portrait.  At last the dealer said: "Well, my

+lord, and to your lordship only, seven pound

+ten"; but his customer would not go beyond

+his offer of a fiver, and there was an end of the

+matter.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Soon afterwards, visiting a neighbour in

+Yorkshire, Lord Houghton recognised the portrait

+of the admiral hanging in the dining-room,

+and said: "Hallo! who's that?  What have

+you got there?  Something new?"  "Yes,"

+replied the friend; "he was a well-known

+admiral in his day&mdash;fought with Nelson&mdash;good

+bit of work too&mdash;recently bequeathed to us&mdash;

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P101"></a>101}</span>

+an ancestor of my wife's."  "Ah, was he?"

+said Lord Houghton.  "Six weeks ago he was

+within two pound ten of becoming one of

+mine!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Henry James

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Once, at a dinner party we gave, a scrupulously

+clean-shaven guest was announced, whose

+name neither host nor hostess had caught.  He

+shook hands gaily with us both, and as he

+moved away to another couple, whom he

+evidently knew, I gathered from the expression

+of my wife's face that she, like myself, had no

+idea of his identity.  A bachelor friend who was

+next announced, after speaking familiarly with

+the puzzling stranger, came back to me and

+said, happily in the hearing of my wife: "Do

+you like Henry James's appearance better with

+or without his beard?"  The mystery was

+solved.  That sort of transformation seems

+hardly fair.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I beg to be forgiven if I quote a few words

+from Henry James, written in <i>The Middle Years</i>:

+"How can I think of the 'run' of the more

+successful of Mr. Robertson's comedies at the

+'dear little old' Prince of Wales's Theatre, by

+Tottenham Court Road, as anything less than

+one of the wonders of our age?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Some ten years ago, James became a British

+subject&mdash;many people, I dare say, have thought

+him to have always been one&mdash;and in return

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P102"></a>102}</span>

+England rightly bestowed upon him the Order

+of Merit.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Even at the end, when telling a friend of

+the pain he suffered in his fatal illness, he was

+gay, and said of death, that he felt the

+distinguished thing had come to him at last.

+Much the same thought doubtless crossed the

+mind of Charles Frohman, the theatrical

+manager, when he went down on board the

+<i>Lusitania</i>.  He turned to his companion with

+the words, borrowed from <i>Peter Pan</i>: "Now

+for the great adventure."  Courage is

+expressed in many wonderful ways.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have mentioned my first meeting at the

+elder Boucicault's with Charles Reade, author

+of <i>The Cloister and the Hearth</i>.  As a man of

+letters, his name is entitled to be enrolled

+among the giants of his day.  Friendship with

+him began at the Garrick Club, where I have

+seen him at a whist table with Anthony

+Trollope and Charles Lever, playing in the

+same rubber.  It ripened rapidly when we

+produced <i>Masks and Faces</i>, over which my

+wife and I had many a fight in getting him to

+agree to some important changes we wished to

+make.  We won the day, and the old book was

+done with for all time.  I will quote from a

+superb description, written with the insight

+of a gifted woman, Ellen Terry: "Dear,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P103"></a>103}</span>

+kind, unjust, generous, cautious, impulsive,

+passionate, gentle Charles Reade! who

+combined so many qualities, far asunder as the

+poles.  He was placid and turbulent, yet

+always majestic.  He was inexplicable and

+entirely lovable&mdash;a stupid old dear, and as

+wise as Solomon!  He seemed guileless, and

+yet had moments of suspicion and craftiness

+worthy of the serpent."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Wilkie Collins

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Wilkie Collins was another Victorian novelist

+of high repute, whose books would give great

+pleasure to modern readers if they sampled

+<i>The Woman in White</i>, <i>Armadale</i>, or <i>The

+Moonstone</i>, and left themselves in debt to such

+creations as Count Fosco, Margaret Vanstone,

+Mercy Merrick, and many more.  We knew

+him well, and sided with his view of the

+well-known unfortunate episode in the early history

+of the Garrick Club which resulted in the

+expulsion of Edmund Yates, through his

+youthful indiscretion in writing of Thackeray

+in a way that so great a giant could have

+afforded to ignore.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At the most, he might have called for an

+apology&mdash;which was offered but declined.

+"Wilkie" stood by Dickens in the defence of

+Yates, and they resigned their membership

+together.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For years Collins was a confirmed opium

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P104"></a>104}</span>

+taker and a slave to the drug.  He once left

+the Engadine, in its primitive days, and found

+himself, to his horror, without any.  He and an

+intimate friend, who happily spoke German

+like a native, were travelling together: they

+represented themselves to be doctors and so

+obtained from chemists at Coire, and

+afterwards at Basle, the maximum supply the

+Swiss law allowed, and so reached Paris

+without the catastrophe Collins described in

+alarming words.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At my table, Wilkie Collins, George Critchett,

+who had left general practice and become an

+eye specialist, and Sir William Fergusson, the

+eminent Victorian surgeon, were present

+together.  Critchett told Sir William that

+Collins had confided to him what was the dose

+of laudanum he then took every night, and

+had his permission to ask Sir William if it

+was not more than enough to prevent any

+ordinary person from awaking.  Fergusson

+replied that the dose of opium named would

+suffice to kill the twelve men who sat round

+the table.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+T. W. Robertson

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is impossible for me not to recall, however

+briefly, from the shadowy past the name of

+T. W. Robertson, whose empty chair was left

+vacant more than fifty years ago.  He was the

+first of my friends to speak and write to me as

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P105"></a>105}</span>

+"B."  There are few to whom the once-famous

+name of Tom Robertson now has full

+meaning, although his comedies made so deep

+a mark in their day and so largely influenced

+the future of the stage.  Time has not

+lessened my remembrance of the charm with

+which he read his comedies; a melody sung

+sweetly in the long-ago.  My wife was always

+very proud that he dedicated to her the best

+of them, his masterpiece, <i>Caste</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I look back with sorrow at the small reward

+he received from them, and the brief time he

+enjoyed their fame.  The fees paid to dramatic

+authors were miserably poor in those days,

+although we advanced them materially, added

+to which, there was no copyright for foreign

+authors in America.  Expert shorthand writers

+were cunningly scattered in different parts of

+our theatre on successive nights, until the text

+of Robertson's principal comedies was

+completely taken down, and they were played

+throughout the United States without a dollar

+being sent to the author.  No wonder that

+Robertson was sarcastic and bitter.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The unusual compliment of closing our

+theatre when he died was, I fear, but a small

+set-off against the pain he must have endured

+before he once said to me: "My dear B, I

+have often dined on my pipe."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P106"></a>106}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Edmund Yates

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Edmund Yates was an old friend.  He knew

+my wife in her girlhood, and I first met him

+at Epsom on the historic day, in 1867, that

+Hermit won the Derby in a snowstorm.  My

+mention of that incident reminds me that,

+years afterwards, at a public sale, among

+effects which had belonged to Mr. Baird&mdash;known

+on the turf as "Mr. Abingdon"&mdash;I

+came across a letter-case made from the coat

+of Hermit, and so inscribed on a silver shield.

+I bought it, that I might have the pleasure of

+giving it, on the thirtieth anniversary of the

+race, to Mr. Henry Chaplin, as he then was,

+the great horse's owner.  Yates at that time

+held a position in the General Post Office and

+told me, soon afterwards, that he made an

+early marriage upon a small income and was

+handicapped for many a long year by a

+domestic calamity&mdash;the birth of three sons

+in eleven months.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Yates was an admirable after-dinner speaker

+and story-teller, a power which doubtless owed

+something to inheritance, both his parents

+having held prominent positions on the stage.

+At one dinner party, Edmund Yates, Dion

+Boucicault and George Augustus Sala, all

+being present, were asked in turn if they

+regretted and repented of any "backslidings"

+they had to answer for.  Boucicault at once

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P107"></a>107}</span>

+said he was sorry for his sins; Sala admitted

+that he hoped some day to be sorry; Yates,

+after a pause, smote the table and muttered

+"No."  He was a fierce fighter.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A mutual friend was rather severely caricatured

+in <i>Vanity Fair</i>.  I asked Yates what he

+thought the original would say about it.

+"Say, my dear B.?  He'll <i>say</i> he thinks it

+delightful, but will go upstairs to his bedroom,

+lock the door, and rub his head in the

+hearthrug."  When his trouble came, as it did soon

+afterwards, I wonder what his own conduct was.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His tragic end was connected with the

+revival of a comedy in which my wife appeared

+for her old friend John Hare, at the Garrick

+Theatre.  Yates was seated in the centre of

+the stalls, and throughout my wife's

+performance had laughed and applauded heartily.

+At its close, when she was loudly called for

+by the audience, he gave her his last smile,

+turned to his neighbour and said: "The old

+brigade, the old brigade&mdash;it will take a deal

+to beat it!"  He stooped for his hat, fell forward

+in a fit, and never recovered consciousness.

+"How oft when men are at the point of death

+have they been merry!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+W. S. Gilbert

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I made the acquaintance of W. S. Gilbert

+during the year I spent in Liverpool; he had

+just been "called" and was a briefless barrister

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P108"></a>108}</span>

+on the Northern Circuit.  Having failed to

+become attached to the staff of Punch, he was

+already a contributor to a comic journal called

+<i>Fun</i>, in which his <i>Bab Ballads</i> first appeared.

+Soon afterwards he began to write for the

+theatre.  <i>The Palace of Truth</i> and <i>Pygmalion

+and Galatea</i> both had great success at the old

+Haymarket; the latter was perhaps a starting

+point in the brilliant career of Madge Robertson

+(Mrs. Kendal).

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He will, of course, be best remembered

+through the enduring success of the comic operas

+he wrote in conjunction with Arthur Sullivan,

+the most memorable of artistic partnerships.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+What humorous things he was constantly

+uttering!  I will endeavour to repeat one or

+two which may not have been heard.  When

+the beautiful Scala Theatre was built on the

+site of our old Prince of Wales's, my wife was

+appropriately invited to perform the opening

+ceremony.  At the end of the pretty speech

+she made, Gilbert joined her on the stage, and

+said he had been to the back of the dress

+circle, where he heard every word of it;

+adding that the voice was as beautiful as ever

+and that, if she continued to take pains and

+work hard, she might be sure of having a great

+career <i>behind</i> her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Talking with a Mr. Such Granville, who was

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P109"></a>109}</span>

+on the stage and said to Gilbert: "My name

+is Such, but I act as Granville," he at once

+replied: "I wish your name were Granville

+and you'd act as such."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A young lady who was always known as

+"Nelia" was about to be married.  Gilbert

+was congratulating her, adding that her

+Christian name would join charmingly with

+her forthcoming surname; the girl then told

+him that her first name was really "Cornelia."  Gilbert

+at once replied: "Oh, I see, you've

+cut your corn."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Once, in my presence, Gilbert was being

+questioned by an ardent playgoer as to one of

+his serious plays, and was finally asked how it

+ended; its author immediately answered that

+it had ended in a fortnight.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On another occasion I arrived at the Garrick

+Club on foot as Gilbert drove up in a hansom:

+when he alighted he handed the driver

+half-a-crown.  The cabman asked, "What's

+this?"  Answer: "It's your fare."  Cabman: "This

+ain't my fare."  Gilbert took back the

+half-crown, saying: "I beg your pardon, I made a

+mistake, there's your fare"&mdash;as he gave the

+man a florin.  Tableau.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Someone remarked to him what an extraordinary

+title Henry Arthur Jones had given

+a new play of his.  Gilbert asked: "What is

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P110"></a>110}</span>

+it?"  <i>The Princess's Nose</i>.  Gilbert hoped it

+would "run."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The fashion of the "hobble skirt" was being

+discussed in Gilbert's presence, who said that

+it reminded him of the boards outside a

+prospering theatre&mdash;"standing room only."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In long past days what was called a shilling

+subscription was got up by the <i>Daily Telegraph</i>

+as a testimonial to W. G. Grace.  At one

+time there was a fine cricket ground known

+as Prince's, which was a rival to the Oval

+and Lord's, and stood upon the land now

+occupied by Pont Street and Lennox Gardens.

+At an afternoon party the question of the

+testimonial was being discussed, and a young girl

+asked Gilbert if Grace was anything besides a

+great cricketer.  The brilliant tongue at once

+replied: "Oh, yes, my dear, he is lord of

+Lord's and the only ruler of Prince's."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As a rule I have been careful in the choice

+of guests and successful in seating them to

+ensure good companionship, for what you put

+on the chairs is quite as important as what you

+place on the table, but let me confess to a

+terrible blunder when I invited Gilbert and

+Burnand to the same dinner.  At an early stage

+of it, when all was going well, a loud-voiced

+guest said: "Tell me, Mr. Burnand, do you

+ever receive for <i>Punch</i> good jokes and things

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P111"></a>111}</span>

+from outsiders?"  This was not long after he

+had been elected to the editor's chair, and

+Burnand replied, cheerfully: "Oh, often."  Gilbert

+sharply grunted from the opposite side

+of the table, over his knife and fork: "They

+never appear!"  The rest was silence.  This is

+the true version of an otherwise much-told tale.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Editors of "Punch"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The allusion to <i>Punch</i> reminds me that I can

+readily tell how many weeks old I am, as we

+were born in the same year; and not many

+people now can say they have known all its

+editors: Mark Lemon&mdash;when he was old and

+I was young, Shirley Brooks&mdash;who was my

+proposer at the Garrick Club, Tom Taylor,

+Frank Burnand and Owen Seaman.  What

+pleasure they have given, and how incomplete

+the week would be without the charm of

+Mr. Punch's infinite pen and pencil!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Burnand's humour was different from

+Gilbert's: he excelled as a punster.  From his

+earliest days he was devoted to the theatre

+and founded the A.D.C. at Cambridge.  He

+wrote with marvellous rapidity.  When he

+saw <i>Diplomacy</i>, in the height of the play's

+original success, he left the theatre, sat up

+through the night, began and finished a most

+amusing travesty, which he called <i>Diplunacy</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Years ago my son was at Ramsgate, reading

+for an examination in the law.  He met

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P112"></a>112}</span>

+Burnand, who asked what he had been doing.

+George told him that he had been on the

+Goodwins with his "coach."  Burnand replied

+that he had no idea you could drive there!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He told me once that, in spite of every kind

+of exercise, he was a slave to liver&mdash;a livery

+servant.  One of the best of his many smart

+things was said when he was recovering from

+a serious illness.  A journalist friend paid him a

+sympathetic visit, and said: "Your condition

+has been so grave that my editor asked me to

+write an obituary notice of you, adding that he

+wished it to be generous and that I must give

+you a column."  Burnand at once exclaimed:

+"A column!  Why, that's all they gave Nelson."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My first meeting with Oscar Wilde was at

+Oxford.  He had recently "come down," but

+was visiting a friend there.  His appearance

+suggested to me that he might have prompted

+Disraeli to write these words, they seemed so

+accurately to apply to the once spoiled darling:

+"The affectations of youth should be viewed

+leniently; every man has a right to be

+conceited until he is successful."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I think the best plays from his pen were

+<i>Lady Windermere's Fan</i> and <i>The Importance

+of Being Earnest</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was talking with us about one of his

+comedies, just produced, when my wife

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P113"></a>113}</span>

+remarked that the leading situation rather

+reminded her of the great scene in a play by

+Scribe, to which Wilde unblushingly replied:

+"Taken bodily from it, dear lady.  Why not?

+Nobody reads nowadays."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He once congratulated us when we wrote

+some account of ourselves, on and off the stage,

+on not having waited, as most people do, until

+they have lost all memory.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Robert Marshall

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One of many heavy blows I have naturally

+had to bear during my fifty-six years' membership

+of the Garrick Club was through the loss of

+Robert Marshall.  His was a strange career.

+The last man to imagine who could claim the

+honour of rising from the ranks, through

+failing to pass an examination, to be a captain in

+the army.  He had left it before we met, but

+was always smart and soldierly in appearance.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He wrote some charming plays, with a distinctive

+quality of their own.  I recall especially

+<i>A Royal Family</i>, <i>His Excellency the Governor</i>,

+<i>The Second in Command</i>, and <i>The Duke of

+Killiecrankie</i>.  What pleasant evenings they

+gave us!  When he was stricken and his friends

+knew that his lease of life was not to be

+renewed, he was lying in a nursing home close

+to Portland Place.  A man who loved him was

+sitting by his bed-side one afternoon when

+Marshall's quick ear caught the sound of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P114"></a>114}</span>

+approaching military music.  It was the band

+of the Horse Guards on the way from Albany

+Street barracks to a Royal function.  He

+started up in bed and with a far-off look in his

+eyes, his mind having travelled back to his

+soldier days, listened for the last time to the

+trumpets and the drums: as their sound died

+away he fell back on his pillow in a flood of tears.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Henry Lucy

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Henry Lucy&mdash;Toby, M.P.&mdash;was an old and

+amusing friend; we often enjoyed the pleasant

+parties to which Lady Lucy invited us, and

+they were our guests in London and frequently

+at Underlea, when they lived hard-by, at

+Hythe.  Perhaps the greatest of the many

+surprises I have had was the discovery that

+instead of the poor journalist he was thought

+to be, he left a quarter of a million.  How so

+vast a fortune was accumulated has remained

+a mystery to me, fostered by the fact that

+during the War they discharged their servants

+as a duty, and ran their cottage themselves,

+with the simple help of one old woman and

+then only once in a week.  However his

+wealth was achieved, it was hardly by such

+means as those of a brother journalist, a wily

+Scot, who, when he was seen coming out of a

+telegraph office by a friend, who knew his

+penurious ways and asked: "Surely, Mac,

+you've not been wasting your money in sending

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P115"></a>115}</span>

+telegrams?" replied: "Not I, mon, I've only

+been giving my fountain pen a drink!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lucy was an odd looking little creature,

+with his hair standing straight up, reminding

+me of some strange bird that might have

+escaped from the zoo.  I remember his telling

+me once that, when dining with Lord

+Rothschild, he arrived late, jumped from a hansom,

+ran up the steps, flung his Inverness cape into

+the arms of a footman, but, as he passed his

+hand through his hair, was stopped from

+entering the dining-room by a stately butler, who

+told him, pointing to a door, that he would

+find brushes in his lordship's dressing-room.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On the occasion of one of his visits to us,

+the talk turned upon Forbes-Robertson's

+acting in <i>The Passing of the Third Floor Back</i>.

+Lucy told my wife that he had not yet seen

+the play, but much wished to do so, and would

+she tell him the story.  To the amazement of

+those who heard her, she gave the most perfect

+and dramatic illustration I have ever listened

+to&mdash;if I may use the expression, she seemed to

+be inspired.  We sat spell-bound as the various

+incidents were unfolded and brought to a

+wonderful climax.  After a pause, Lucy rose

+from his chair, took her hand, and said:

+"Good-bye, my dear; there is no need for

+me to see the play."

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap07"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P116"></a>116}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+VII

+<br><br>

+MORE MEN OF MARK

+</h3>

+

+<p class="t3">

+"Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?"

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+For the egotism which is bound to occur in a

+book of this sort it is useless to offer excuses

+or apology; it must have its sway.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My wife one day on returning from an afternoon

+party, to which I was unable to go, in

+answer to my question: "Who were there?"

+humorously replied: "Oh, ladies and other

+dukes."  The phrase came to stay&mdash;being

+often used by us.  In writing further of

+departed guests&mdash;"Shadows of the things that

+have been"&mdash;it will constantly be on my

+tongue.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Prince Francis of Teck

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I enjoyed the acquaintanceship of Prince

+Francis of Teck, who was certainly a man of

+mark, at a social club as well as at the Middlesex

+Hospital, of which he was the energetic

+chairman.  Having been a member of the weekly

+board for more than thirty years, I ought to

+know something of the value of his services

+and devotion to the welfare of that institution.

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P117"></a>117}</span>

+My wife first met the Prince in the Engadine,

+long before he was our guest; in fact, when

+he was a boy on a visit to St. Moritz, in the

+company of his mother, the Duchess of Teck,

+his sister, Queen Mary, and other members of

+his family.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Prince was a good soldier, and bore

+himself well, with an air of command.  He

+served with distinction in Egypt and South

+Africa.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He died at forty, or thereabouts.  I saw him

+in the Welbeck Street nursing home before

+he succumbed to that enemy, even of the

+robust, pneumonia, and was one of the

+deputation from the hospital bidden to Windsor,

+where he was buried.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I now find myself up against a duke.  There

+is no need to dwell at any length on the name

+of his late Grace of Beaufort, beyond saying

+that he was a great lover of the stage and gave

+us his friendship.  (I mean the grandfather of

+the present Duke.)

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When it became known that my wife and

+I had decided to abandon the old Prince of

+Wales's Theatre, and had a lease of the

+Haymarket, a movement was set on foot, in which

+the Duke took a prominent part, to present

+us with a "testimonial."  That sort of thing

+was always obnoxious to me; and, happily,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P118"></a>118}</span>

+the intention came to my ears in time for me

+to bring it to a prompt end.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Referring to our farewell night at the

+Haymarket Theatre, later on, the Duke wrote to

+my wife:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Do you know, I feel it to be too melancholy

+an occasion to assist at.  I should hate it

+all the time.  Some day, when you both play for

+a benefit or a charity, I hope to be there to

+welcome you.  Let me say how very much I

+regret your determination to retire from

+management.  What a loss I feel it, and how sure

+I am the general public share that feeling."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Another duke!&mdash;but merely a viscount

+when he sat at our table&mdash;Viscount Macduff, a

+close friend of Horace Farquhar, whose name

+reminds me of his amusing brother Gilbert,

+generally known as "Gillie" Farquhar.  Gillie,

+when it was rumoured that he intended to

+go on the stage, was angrily sent for by Horace,

+his elder and prosperous brother, who loudly

+expostulated on such a step being taken,

+but learned from Gillie that he was quite in

+earnest.  Horace then thundered: "Of course

+you will take some other name.  What do

+you mean to call yourself?"  Gillie quietly

+replied: "I have thought of calling myself

+Mr. <i>Horace</i> Farquhar!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When we first knew Macduff we were neighbours,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P119"></a>119}</span>

+and constantly saw him lead his father,

+the old and infirm Earl of Fife, into the garden

+of Cavendish Square, where tea was taken

+across the road to them.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was invited to dine at No. 4 one Sunday

+evening, but had to be elsewhere with my wife,

+so asked leave to join the party later, as I

+knew it would not be an early one.  When I

+entered the room a young man was standing

+in the middle, giving an imitation of myself.

+When he had finished I was made acquainted

+with Herbert Tree.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Lord Londesborough

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lord Londesborough, the first earl, was also

+a keen playgoer.  For years he and Lady

+Londesborough showed us thoughtful kindness.

+Our theatre did not seem to be complete if

+they were not present on a "first night."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+With reference to the farewell performance

+of <i>Caste</i>, which had an added interest from

+Hare's coming to us, from his own theatre,

+to play his original part, Lord Londesborough

+wrote: "The demonstration was most thoroughly

+well deserved, for there is no one to

+whom the stage, and therefore the country,

+owes more than to you and to Mrs. Bancroft.

+It is always satisfactory when the public shows

+its appreciation of those who do their work,

+and make their mark, without beat of drum

+and flourish of trumpets."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P120"></a>120}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was a great "whip" and a prominent

+member of the Coaching Club.  I was of his

+joyous party to the Derby for a number of

+years, until his sight failed him through an

+accident while shooting; and I remember his

+telling my wife, in the later years of his life,

+that the remaining eye was saved by a

+consultation held at Lord's between C. I. Thornton,

+W. G. Grace and myself.  I was fond of

+cricket in those days, and became a member

+of the M.C.C. before it was necessary to be

+proposed in boyhood.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On one occasion I drove with our kind friend

+to Ascot.  While seated in a prominent position

+on the front of his coach, helping a group of

+gorgeously-dressed ladies to lobster salad, I

+felt someone touching my toe; on looking

+down I saw a well-known "nigger," who for

+years frequented the race-courses.  He held up

+his tambourine to me and called out, with a

+grin: "Now, Mr. B, don't forget the perfession!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+These Men of Mark who gave me the joy

+of their friendship are more numerous than

+I had looked for, and the names of those left

+to me must not be dwelt upon.  I cannot

+ignore, however, the delightful and unique

+dinners enjoyed in Whitehall with the late

+Lord Onslow, when Members from both

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P121"></a>121}</span>

+Houses streamed in and sat, informally, at

+separate tables, reinforced by men prominent

+in other walks of life.  As an example, I once

+was placed in the company of the Archbishop

+of Canterbury and Mr. Balfour, as he then

+was.  Onslow was a delightful host and a

+delightful guest.  I have never forgotten his

+saying to me that very few men, even eminent

+men, had any idea who their great-grandfathers

+were.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Lord Rowton

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Few more attractive men have graced a

+table than Lord Rowton: we knew him first

+as Montagu Corry.  Later on he became a

+next door neighbour: our No. was 18, his 17.

+In his courtly way he said to my wife we ought

+to change houses, so that he might address her

+as "sweet seventeen," and not as his "dear

+neighbour."  It is, to my pen, difficult to

+describe his pervasive charm, which I am sure

+was as manifest in simple homes as at

+Balmoral.  He always appeared to be gay, never

+boisterous, and his devotion to his great chief,

+Disraeli, must have been priceless.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was told by an eminent authority for many

+years at the bar, my friend Sir Edward Clarke,

+that in his early days he "read" in chambers

+where "Monty" Corry was his companion.

+The career of my informant speaks for his

+diligence; and he assured me that Corry

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P122"></a>122}</span>

+chiefly passed his time in making rhymes on

+the names which appeared in <i>The Times</i> of

+the day in the column restricted to the

+announcements of "hatches," "matches" and

+"despatches"!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Two other things about this dear man occur

+to me.  He told me, after the great

+fancy-dress ball given at Devonshire House on a

+State event, that he was at the head of the

+staircase when Irving arrived, and was struck

+with the impression that the actor alone of

+all the distinguished crowd wore his robes (he

+went as a cardinal) as if they were his daily

+garb, and not obviously hired from a costumier's

+store, or made for the occasion.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My last remembrance of Rowton is on

+leaving a club with him one night to walk

+home; he suddenly stood still on the way and,

+after a pause, said, as if dreaming of secrets

+under mental lock and key: "I seem to have

+passed the whole of my life in holding my

+tongue."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Jacky" Fisher

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At the hospitable board of mutual friends we

+first met Sir John and Lady Fisher, as they

+then were.  The great Admiral took my wife

+down to dinner, and from that evening was her

+good friend and mine.  Others at the table,

+I remember, were the scientist Lord Kelvin

+and Canon Ainger, the Master of the Temple.

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P123"></a>123}</span>

+Fisher accepted an invitation to dine with me

+in these words: "On the 25th, with pleasure.

+Yours till hell freezes, J. F."  His bad

+language was really only a not very bad habit&mdash;his

+bark was infinitely worse than his bite; in

+fact, he was a deeply religious man, as a

+beautiful letter he wrote to my wife when Lady

+Fisher died would testify.  He knew much of

+the Bible, and quotations from it were as often

+on his lips as were his stock phrases.  A friend

+of mine told me that he was once as astounded

+to hear the old Sea Lord preach a sermon in

+the Duke of Hamilton's private chapel as he

+was by its excellence.  Whenever he caught

+sight of me, no matter where, Lord Fisher

+would call out, cheerily, "How's the vintage?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Queen Alexandra shared King Edward's

+throne, Lord Fisher paid Her Majesty

+a pretty compliment when offering his

+congratulations on her sixtieth birthday.  "Have

+you seen, Ma'am," he asked, "the paper which

+says: 'Her Majesty is sixty years old to-day;

+may she live till she looks it!'  The words

+were his own, but he thought it would please

+the Queen more to believe that the compliment

+had been paid to her publicly.  Soon afterwards,

+the Queen cut out from an illustrated

+catalogue the figure of a little girl, stuck on

+the top of it a portrait of her own head, and

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P124"></a>124}</span>

+wrote underneath it: "May she live till she

+looks it!" and sent it to Lord Fisher.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This reminds me of a compliment that I

+will dare to mention, paid to me by Alfred

+Sutro on my eightieth birthday, when he ended

+a charming letter with these words: "But

+then, my dear B, you are not really eighty,

+you are only forty for the second time."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+We did not know that dandy of the Senior

+Service, Lord Alcester, until he had retired

+upon his laurels and left the planks of an

+ironclad for the pavement of St. James's

+Street, of which his lavender kid gloves seemed

+to be a daily part, and had earned for him his

+gorgeous nickname, the "Swell of the Ocean."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was as Beauchamp Seymour that he so

+ably served his country, the height of his

+career being the brilliant success of his

+bombardment of Alexandria, which gave him his

+Peerage, and doubtless paved the way to our

+occupation of Egypt.  It is interesting to

+know that two of his captains at the time were

+named John Fisher and Charles Beresford.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The first Admiral Sir Edward Inglefield

+was our neighbour fifty years ago, and many a

+nautical salute have we exchanged "over the

+garden wall."  As a "handy man" I never

+met his equal.  If a pane of glass in house

+or conservatory was broken he replaced it; if

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P125"></a>125}</span>

+the kitchen clock stopped he soon made it go

+again; if a chimney took to smoking it soon

+gave up the habit through his means.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On the other hand, Lady Inglefield used to

+say that the punctuality with which she heard

+our wheels at night, when we returned from

+work, regulated her movements.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Sheridan's Granddaughter

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At a garden party given by them we met

+the celebrated Mrs. Norton, the granddaughter

+of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, famous alike

+for her poetry and novels, and for her unhappy

+relations with her mean and cruel husband.

+She was still a beautiful woman in the sixties,

+and it was easy to believe that she was the

+granddaughter of the lovely Elizabeth Linley.

+Time had then all but obliterated the old and

+untrue scandal that she had sold to <i>The Times</i>

+the news of Peel's conversion to Free Trade,

+and his intention to get the Corn Laws repealed.

+George Meredith's novel, <i>Diana of the Crossways</i>,

+had (though wholly against the author's

+will) done something to revive the false report

+that, for her own financial ends, Caroline

+Norton had wormed the secret out of Sidney

+Herbert; the truth being that Delane had been

+told it by Lord Aberdeen himself, who intended

+him to publish it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On one occasion, when Sir Edward was in

+command of one of our fleets, he condemned

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P126"></a>126}</span>

+a man to receive so many strokes from the

+lash, and was on deck to see the sentence

+carried out.  When the delinquent approached

+he made certain signs known to Freemasons.

+"Oh," said the Admiral, "a Mason, eh?  Well,

+I doubt if you're better at that job than as a

+seaman.  Go down and take your punishment."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Garnet Wolseley

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Having written of Lord Fisher, a great

+sailor, I will now turn my attention to a great

+soldier, whom we first knew, fifty years ago,

+as Sir Garnet Wolseley.  We became friends

+and later on were neighbours.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+To my regret, I only had a club acquaintance

+with Lord Roberts, who was too true a gentleman

+ever to murmur: "I told you so&mdash;why

+did you not listen to me?"  The same with

+Lord Kitchener; we only knew him as a

+fellow-guest at other people's tables.  It was a

+Frenchman who wrote this tribute on his sad

+end, which staggered the country: "Great

+England's valiant soldier needed a nobler

+tomb than a hole in the ground, and he had

+the noblest of all tombs.  God ordered his

+funeral; the waves sang his requiem; the

+organ-pipes were rocky cliffs; his pall was the

+black sky, foam the flowers, and the lightning

+his funeral torches."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Wolseley was, I repeat, a great soldier.  One

+of those leaders whom men will follow&mdash;even

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P127"></a>127}</span>

+unto death.  These words were written before

+the powerful biography written by two friends

+of mine, Sir Frederick Maurice and Sir George

+Arthur, was published.  I think he saw service

+even before the Crimean War, where, as little

+more than a boy, he became Captain, and was

+almost cut to pieces by bullets.  Then came

+Lucknow and service in many lands.  He was

+a Lieutenant-Colonel when twenty-six; and

+throughout his long career honours of all

+kinds poured on him.  He became Commander-in-Chief,

+but was not destined to have realised

+the wish expressed to my wife&mdash;"I hope I

+shall never die in a bed."  There was something

+about him, about that slight cheerful figure,

+and that glowing face, that outspoken talk, that

+was very helpful and strengthening: he seemed

+in some way to shed happiness round him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Among the accumulated correspondence we

+found waiting after a holiday in 1882 was a

+cheery letter from Wolseley, postmark

+Alexandria, August 18th, in which he wrote:

+"The 'army' keeps arriving daily, and I

+hope very soon to be in a position to bring

+Mr. Arabi to book."  The realisation of this

+prophecy, and the curious incident of an

+atmospheric phenomenon caused by the comet

+of that year, prompted some verses, that were

+sent to the hero of the achievement and thus

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P128"></a>128}</span>

+acknowledged from the War Office: "I am

+very glad Bancroft induced you to send me

+your lines on Tel-el-Kebir, for I like them

+extremely.  The word-painting is admirable,

+and the whole incident is told most feelingly

+and well.  I shall put the little poem away

+among my treasures.  Many, many thanks for

+it."  I wonder where it is now.  He was a

+shockingly bad speller&mdash;double pp's and double

+ll's were sure to be found where they were not

+wanted.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A rebuff

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was told of a terrible rebuff Wolseley

+brought upon himself on an occasion when he

+took Madame Melba down to dinner, not

+having, most unfortunately, caught her name

+when presented.  He neglected her at table

+and devoted himself to a charming lady on his

+other side, whom he knew well.  After a time

+he asked&mdash;as was rather his habit&mdash;too loudly,

+"Who is my other neighbour?"  "Surely

+you know Madame Melba," was the answer.

+"Only heard of her: never met her before:

+did not catch her name: when I brought her

+down she conveyed nothing to me."  At last

+he turned to the great songstress and addressed

+some casual remark to her.  Melba quietly

+asked: "To whom am I speaking?"  He

+answered: "General Wolseley," and received

+the reply: "I am afraid the name conveys

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P129"></a>129}</span>

+nothing to me."  I hope Dame Nellie Melba

+will forgive me for repeating the story.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Writing of Wolseley reminds me of another,

+his comrade, Sir Redvers Buller, for years,

+with Lady Audrey, our friend and neighbour.

+Buller was a man of unflinching courage and

+dogged bravery: it was said that he had won

+his Victoria Cross three times over.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He invited me to join a congratulatory

+dinner party to be given by him, at a military

+club, in honour of Wolseley having been made a

+Field-Marshal.  All the guests turned up except

+Wolseley, who had received a late summons

+from Windsor, commanding him to dine at the

+Castle, as Her Majesty wished to present the

+<i>bâton</i> to him in person on that very evening.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A long spell of years has passed since my

+wife and I were guests at what was then

+Thomas's Hotel, in Berkeley Square, now

+converted into flats, and met Evelyn Wood

+when he was about thirty, having already

+won the V.C. in the Indian Mutiny, after

+beginning his adventurous career as a

+midshipman and being wounded in the Crimea.

+We lost sight of him for a long while, and he

+must have become a Field-Marshal when he

+dined with us, as he often did, until increasing

+deafness made him cautious of accepting such

+invitations.  He amused us once by

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P130"></a>130}</span>

+threatening to recite the Lord's Prayer in an alarming

+number of languages if provoked.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another Field-Marshal and V.C. whom we

+knew was the hero of Ladysmith, Sir George

+White.  I met him first on board a P. &amp;

+O. steamer when he was Governor of Gibraltar.

+We walked many a mile together on the deck of

+the <i>Arabia</i>.  Both he and Lady White were

+very kind to me when I landed from his

+launch for a short stay on the Rock, and

+enabled me to be present at a memorial service

+for the Duke of Cambridge.  When his own

+time came White was Governor of Chelsea

+Hospital.  His body was taken across London,

+for burial in his native Ireland, to such a tribute

+of affection and regard from his comrades and

+the people as is rarely given.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I first knew the popular old soldier and father

+of the charming Lady Burnham and Lady

+Somerleyton, Sir Henry de Bathe, in the early

+days of my membership of the Garrick, and

+was so struck by his appearance that I did my

+best to suggest it in a part I played soon

+afterwards&mdash;I suppose with a measure of success,

+for when I stepped upon the stage Lady de

+Bathe (now the Dowager, still, happily, strong

+and well), who was seated in the stalls,

+exclaimed audibly, "Why, it's Henry!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My wife was so impressed by a dramatic

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P131"></a>131}</span>

+story the old general told of his Crimean days,

+that she often repeated it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A convict from Eton

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One evening, in the severe winter time, it

+was de Bathe's duty to direct the clearing

+of the dead and wounded after a deadly

+encounter with the enemy, the brunt of which

+had been borne by men drawn from the French

+convict settlements, who were thrust into the

+hottest places when trying work had to be

+done.  The searching party came across one

+poor fellow who was grievously wounded but

+still alive: de Bathe had him placed upon a

+stretcher, lifted his head, and poured brandy

+into the soldier's mouth.  The man took his

+hand and pressed it, murmuring in English,

+"Thank you, de Bathe."  Thunderstruck, he

+stooped down and asked how a Frenchman

+knew his name and could also speak such

+perfect English.  The wounded man smiled and

+whispered, "Eton!" as he fainted; de Bathe

+accompanied the stretcher to the French lines,

+saying that he would return as soon as his

+duty would allow him.  He did so, but the

+man was dead; de Bathe lifted the sheet

+from his face and gazed upon it earnestly

+without recognising the lost creature, once his

+school companion, then known only as a

+French convict with a fictitious name.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I remember being once so fortunate, when

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P132"></a>132}</span>

+the old general dined with me, as to place

+him between Sir William Howard Russell, the

+war correspondent, and Dion Boucicault, the

+dramatist, and to learn that all three of them

+in boyhood's days had been at the same school

+together in Dublin.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lord Rathmore&mdash;better remembered and

+thought of by me as David Plunket&mdash;was a

+fascinating creature.  What otherwise could

+he be with such youthfulness, brightness,

+wit&mdash;such qualities as earned for him the

+friendship of the sphinx-like Disraeli?

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Our acquaintance with him began many

+years ago at Homburg, where we had a happy

+time, and continued until 1915, when, with his

+company and that of other pleasant people, my

+wife and I passed a holiday at the old Queen

+Hotel, on The Stray, at Harrogate.  He was

+a delightful guest, an arresting personality

+at any table, and one of the most gifted

+orators&mdash;I can use no smaller word&mdash;I have

+listened to; his highly polished sentences

+being rendered even more attractive by his

+sometimes pronounced stammer, which often

+added charm to his brilliant flow of language.

+David Plunket's many friends at his favourite

+club, the Garrick, where he was beloved,

+missed him greatly and mourned his loss.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lord Glenesk, always a great supporter of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P133"></a>133}</span>

+the drama, gave us his friendship for many

+years.  As Sir Algernon Borthwick, he was,

+to our great delight, at Balmoral when we

+were commanded by the late Queen to act

+there.  From his house in Piccadilly, we saw

+both joyful and mournful processions.  In a

+letter to my wife he wrote: "You were the

+first to teach the school of Nature, and not

+only by your own bright impersonations, but

+also by your influence over all those with whom

+you were brought in contact, to prove that

+English art is second to none."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Acquaintance with the first Lord Ashbourne,

+so long Lord Chancellor of Ireland, began years

+ago in the Engadine, and I recall happy times

+spent there and by the Lake of Como in his

+excellent company.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Edward Carson

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+We were dining with him one evening when

+my wife asked who was a young man at the

+farther end of the table.  "Oh," said her host,

+"his name is Carson.  He is a fellow-countryman

+of mine, who has just been called to the

+English Bar, where he means to practise."  "And

+where he will go far, if I am any judge of

+a face," was my wife's reply.  Lord Ashbourne

+brought the "young Irishman" to her afterwards,

+and so an affectionate and enduring

+friendship with the brilliant advocate, the

+valiant patriot, Lord Carson, had its birth.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P134"></a>134}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was one of four who made up a table with

+Lord Ashbourne&mdash;who was gay and amusing&mdash;to

+play bridge at the Athenæum on the day

+before he was stricken.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I first met Edward Lawson, afterwards

+Lord Burnham, on the morning of my wedding

+day, which chanced to be his birthday.  My

+wife had made his acquaintance before, as

+also that of his sage old father, who founded

+the fortunes of the great newspaper, of which

+three generations have now been justly proud.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I gratefully remember that it is to the

+senior of the trio the stage owes much of its

+present recognition by the press.  To digress

+for a moment, it was well that Clement Scott,

+young and enthusiastic, was given his head,

+and for a long while&mdash;years, in fact&mdash;his virile

+pen was devoted to the service of the drama.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lord Burnham continued in his father's

+footsteps, as, in his turn, his own son has done.

+I remember hearing Burnham say, when asked

+if there was any particular advantage in being

+very rich: "Only one; you can afford to be

+robbed."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was indebted to his constant kindness and

+hospitality, especially at Hall Barn, for little

+short of fifty years, until the war broke his

+splendid spirit and claimed him as its victim.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Of my friend since his boyhood, the present

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P135"></a>135}</span>

+Viscount, I will only say, although I can hardly

+believe it, that I have given him a sovereign

+when he went back to Eton!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Alfred Lyttelton

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My first acquaintance with Alfred Lyttelton

+was as a spectator at Lord's, in the field, and

+in the courts.  Before I knew him I had the

+privilege of two well-remembered talks with

+Miss Laura Tennant, whose beauty and charm

+left a lasting impression.  His career, political

+and otherwise, is too well known to need a

+word from me.  The widespread popularity he

+enjoyed began early.  He was captain of both

+his school and university elevens, and held

+the tennis championship without a break for

+many years.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A personal note I can strike with this most

+lovable man is through going with him in

+Paris to see one of the earliest performances

+of <i>Cyrano</i> by Coquelin.  He also did me the

+honour to take the place of Sir Henry Thompson

+as my seconder at the Athenæum.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Alfred Lyttelton was spared the agonies of

+the Great War and the bewildering sense of

+uncertainty as to what will result from it in

+this much-altered world.  On the day he was

+buried, in July, 1913, the Oxford and

+Cambridge match was being played at Lord's.

+At the solemn hour the game was stopped, and

+the great assemblage stood uncovered as they

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P136"></a>136}</span>

+thought of him.  Later, on the same day,

+Mr. Asquith said of him in the House of

+Commons that he, perhaps of all men of this

+generation, came nearest to the ideal of

+manhood which every English father would like

+to see his son aspire to and attain.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is among my happy memories to have

+been many times the guest of that prince of

+hosts, Sir Henry Thompson, extending over

+twenty years.  No dinner parties were more

+justly celebrated than the "octaves," generally

+eight guests and himself, he arranged with so

+much thought and knowledge.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was an exceptional, an extraordinary,

+man, in addition to his skill as a great surgeon.

+He had talent as a painter, had pictures hung

+in both the Academy and the Salon; he

+wrote novels, and his knowledge of old Nanking

+china, of which he owned a fine collection,

+was that of an expert; and he was founder and

+president of the Cremation Society.  He

+introduced me to motoring, when it was in its

+infancy.  He was an enthusiast in astronomy,

+having a private observatory erected by

+himself.  He gave a valuable book on this subject

+to my wife with the inscription: "Homage

+from an Astronomer to a Star of the First

+Magnitude."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Public servants

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Other names crowd my mind: Sir Frank

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P137"></a>137}</span>

+Lascelles, so long our Ambassador in Berlin,

+and Sir Rivers Wilson, also a distinguished

+public servant&mdash;delightful hosts, delightful

+guests&mdash;both great gentlemen, and both

+devoted to cards as an amusement.  The

+former cursed them (never his partner) when

+they persistently went against him; the latter

+caressed them, however badly they treated him.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Of Schomberg McDonnell, known better to

+his big circle of friends as "Pom," I recall one

+personal incident.  He was the first to

+congratulate me on my knighthood, through being

+at the time Lord Salisbury's private secretary,

+a post which he had the courage to give up to

+take his part in the South African War, where

+he did good service with the C.I.V., and was

+rewarded on his return by being reinstated.

+He again served his country in the Great War

+and died from his wounds, beloved and

+regretted.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I must in these names include that of a

+friend of many years, Sir Thomas Sutherland,

+so long the chairman of the P. &amp; O. Company.

+To the kindness of his invitations to be a guest

+on trial trips of ships of that great fleet I owe

+the happiest "week-ends," in wonderful

+company, I have ever spent.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Mr. Alfred," as Alfred de Rothschild was

+generally spoken of, was once our guest;

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P138"></a>138}</span>

+we were often his in Seamore Place.  I was

+invited to join a week-end party, when I

+might have seen the wonders of his country

+home, with its circus and performing animals,

+but I could not go.  Being delicate and of a

+highly nervous temperament, he must have

+been a mine of wealth to members of the

+medical profession.  He was a great lover and

+patron of the theatre.  I remember a peculiar

+incident concerning him when we revived

+Robertson's comedy <i>School</i> at the Haymarket.

+Sometimes for several nights running,

+sometimes twice in a week, he took a large stage

+box, occupied it for not more than half an

+hour, sat alone to see the second act of the

+comedy, and then went.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Burton and Stanley

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The two famous travellers and explorers,

+Burton and Stanley, were old friends of ours.

+I couple their names because it so chanced

+that we saw the most of them, and more

+intimately, together with Lady Burton and

+Lady Stanley, in hotels&mdash;one in Switzerland,

+the other in Italy&mdash;when we were all holiday

+making.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Burton's early career was that of a wild,

+untamed gipsy spirit.  His childhood was

+passed in France and Italy, when his mastery

+of tongues began.  At Oxford he acquired

+Arabic, having turned his back on Latin and

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P139"></a>139}</span>

+Greek.  He told me that, eventually, he

+conquered well over thirty languages&mdash;I forget

+the exact number&mdash;as well as made progress

+towards interpreting what he called the speech

+of monkeys.  We first met him at the table of a

+dear friend, Dr. George Bird, who asked how

+he felt when he had killed a man.  Burton

+replied that the doctor ought to know, as he

+had done it oftener.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Stanley's fame was chiefly established by

+his "finding" of Livingstone, when he was

+only about thirty, the search having occupied

+eight months.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Of the two, Burton was the easier to get on

+with, being full of talk and anecdotes.  Stanley

+was reserved, and it often took my wife some

+time to draw from him stories, full of interest,

+about the King of Uganda and other persons,

+and incidents of his courageous travels.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Labouchere

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Our acquaintance with Henry Labouchere

+dates back to the time when he built the

+Queen's Theatre in Long Acre, where St. Martin's

+Hall formerly stood, and of which his

+wife was the manageress.  Henrietta Hodson

+was a clever actress, whom, in the early days

+of the old Prince of Wales's Theatre, we

+introduced to London.  She afterwards played

+Esther Eccles in <i>Caste</i> with the first complete

+company which toured the provinces.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P140"></a>140}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Labouchere's varied career, after he left Eton

+and Cambridge, began in diplomacy.  Among

+many similar stories I have heard of him in

+those days, is one of a pompous visitor who,

+calling at the embassy in Washington, and not

+liking the look of so youthful an attaché, said

+abruptly: "Can I see your boss?" Labouchere

+calmly replied: "With pleasure, if you'll tell

+me to what part of my person you refer."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+After giving up diplomacy he entered

+Parliament; at one time represented

+Northampton with Bradlaugh.  I think it was then

+he became known as "Labby," and a sort of

+licensed clown.  He was also prominently

+associated with journalism.  His "Letters of

+a Besieged Resident," sent over from Paris by

+balloons, were so sensational as to increase the

+circulation of a daily paper by more than

+double.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+We knew him best on the Lake of Como,

+at Cadenabbia, a place he loved, which my

+wife said ought really to be renamed

+Cade<i>labbya</i>.  I remember his suddenly turning to

+her one morning and saying that he would

+rather be deformed than unnoticed.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On the night that our Haymarket career

+commenced London was fog-bound.  The

+density lasted for days, being unique in its

+horrors, as records of the time can tell.

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P141"></a>141}</span>

+Labouchere was at the theatre and emerged

+with the rest of the audience into dreadful

+gloom.  This is the story of his reaching home.

+He ran heavily against a man, who asked him

+in what direction he wanted to go.  Labouchere

+replied, "Queen Anne's Gate."  The questioner

+said that he also was going that way,

+in fact, that he lived hard by, and would take

+him there safely if he chose to go with him.

+Labouchere had some fears as to being trapped,

+but decided to risk it and be wary.  The two

+plodded along together arm-in-arm; they met

+with one or two minor difficulties; but

+presently the cheerful stranger, who evidently

+was of humble station, stood still in the pitch

+darkness and said: "Here we are; what's

+your number?"  Labouchere told him, and

+his companion answered: "Then we must

+cross the road."  They did so, the man groped

+about a door with his fingers and said: "That's

+your house; you're all right now; try your

+latchkey."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Labouchere, before rewarding his friendly

+guide, in amazement asked how he had found

+his way so accurately on such a night.  The

+simple answer was: "I'm blind!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He ended his days at his villa in Italy.  When

+I read his name in the Honours List as Privy

+Councillor, I sent him a telegram:

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P142"></a>142}</span>

+"Labouchere, Florence.  Congratulations.

+Bancroft."  His reply was to the effect that I had puzzled

+him dreadfully, as he had no idea to what I

+referred until he received <i>The Times</i> on the

+following day.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Oscar Browning&mdash;or shall I say "O.B."?&mdash;was

+an odd-looking creature.  We made his

+acquaintance in our haunt for many years, the

+Engadine, when my wife christened him "The

+Wicked Monk."  For my part, I never felt

+quite certain how much of him was "Jekyll"

+and how little there was of "Hyde."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Some time afterwards he sent word to me at

+the theatre that he was in the stalls and would

+like to introduce me to a young friend who was

+his companion.  I arranged that he should do

+so at the end of the play, when they were

+brought behind the scenes, and O.B. made me

+known to Mr. George Curzon, who had recently

+left Eton, and whose friendship, if I may use

+the word, I claim the privilege of having since

+enjoyed, in the great position to which Browning

+had no doubt foreseen that his pupil would

+attain.  Our last meeting was when Lord Curzon

+presided at the dinner given to another old

+friend of mine, T. P. O'Connor, with a charm

+only equalled, in my experience, on somewhat

+similar occasions by Lord Rosebery and Lord

+Balfour.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P143"></a>143}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Comyns Carr

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I think it was when I first met Comyns

+Carr&mdash;"Joe"&mdash;early in the seventies, that I heard

+him rebuke a pushing young man as "a

+pantaloon without his maturity and a clown

+without his colour"&mdash;the sort of thing that

+he fired off throughout his life, as if he were

+a well-charged satirical machine-gun.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He had been called to the Bar, but was then

+on the eve of his marriage with the attractive

+Miss Strettell, the daughter of a delightful old

+clergyman whom I knew as the chaplain at

+St. Moritz.  Carr did not stick to his first

+choice of a profession, which I always regarded

+as a pity, but drifted into journalism instead.

+He was, in his day, attached to many newspapers.

+Then, fostered by his love and knowledge

+of art, came a long career when Sir

+Coutts Lindsay, our old friend and guest,

+reigned at the Grosvenor Gallery, with Carr

+as Director.  It was famous for Sunday

+afternoon parties, which were unique.  The robes

+of Royalty rubbed against the skirts of

+Bohemia.  "Ladies and other dukes" were

+plentiful, as were the followers of every art,

+and all were happy.  Then he wrote plays;

+next managed a theatre.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I often think he was right when he said to

+me: "My dear B, the first duty of wine is to

+be red."  Most of the witty things he uttered

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P144"></a>144}</span>

+have no doubt appeared in print; perhaps the

+following gem has not.  An old and well-known

+friend, who dyed his hair and beard so

+unnatural a black that even the raven's wing

+had no chance against it, was lunching, on a hot

+day, in the revealing sun's rays, with some

+club friends, of whom one was Comyns Carr,

+and presenting a sad picture of the struggle

+between the ravages of time and the appliances

+of art.  He left the table early, and his departure

+was followed by remarks.  "How dreadful&mdash;what

+a pity!"  "Can't somebody advise

+something?"  Some one turned to Carr, who

+had remained silent, and asked him what he

+thought.  Joe replied that of all his friends

+and acquaintances the old fellow was the only

+one who really was as black as he was painted.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Carr's gift of eloquence was naturally sought

+at public banquets, where his speeches took

+high rank.  But was it not, after all, the old

+story of "a rolling stone" which left him

+best remembered by his brilliant tongue?

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Cecil Clay

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I could go on writing of other Men of Mark

+to whom I have had the good fortune to play

+the host, and tell again of the great goodness

+shown to followers of the stage by members of

+the healing art, and by lights in the law; but

+let me bring this chapter to its close by a

+reference to Cecil Clay, who wrote <i>A Pantomime

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P145"></a>145}</span>

+Rehearsal</i> and, with those who acted his

+amusing play, gave the old generation much

+pleasure.  He was beloved in every circle that

+he moved in, and I never heard an unkind

+word pass his lips or saw an unkind look upon

+his face.  He went so far once as to reproach

+a fellow-member of one of his many clubs who

+swore at the matches because they would not

+strike.  "My dear fellow, don't be angry;

+pray remember they are the only things in the

+country that don't!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have asked Owen Seaman to allow me to

+reprint some lines which appeared in <i>Punch</i>,

+written, I feel sure, by the pen of Charles

+Graves.

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "Athlete and wit, whose genial tongue<br>

+  Cheered and refreshed but never stung:<br>

+  Creator, to our endless joy,<br>

+  Of priceless <i>Arthur Pomeroy</i>.<br>

+  Light lie the earth above his head<br>

+  Who lightened many a heart of lead;<br>

+  Courteous and chivalrous and gay,<br>

+  In very truth no common Clay."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The Sickles tragedy

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have alluded to an early visit to New York,

+when I was a lad of seventeen.  During my

+stay what was known as "The Sickles

+Tragedy" occurred in Washington; the

+details of which have lingered in my mind

+ever since.  Many years afterwards my wife

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P146"></a>146}</span>

+and I were at an evening party given by the

+Dion Boucicaults to a handsome and

+distinguished-looking American, with one leg

+and a crutch; the other leg he had lost,

+valiantly, on the field of Gettysburg.  His

+name was Daniel Sickles.  My interest was at

+once aroused.  He was, or had been, United

+States Minister to Spain, being no less eminent

+in diplomacy and the civil service than as a

+volunteer soldier and general.  At one time

+the tragedy of his life might have robbed his

+country of his great abilities.  He had married,

+some six years before, a beautiful girl of sixteen,

+Italian by origin, and they were living in

+Washington, where Sickles held a Government

+appointment, when he learned from an

+anonymous letter that his young wife was

+false to him, clandestinely meeting at a

+certain house hired from an old negro woman by

+her lover, named Philip Barton Key, a widower

+nearly twice her age, a Government lawyer, and

+the son of the author of "The Star-Spangled

+Banner."  Sickles had the house watched, and

+found that the news was true.  Charged with

+the offence, his wife confessed all, and explained

+the system of signals by which, from an upper

+window, she and Key, watching through an

+opera-glass from his club, arranged their

+meetings.  Sickles demanded her wedding-ring, told

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P147"></a>147}</span>

+her to leave his house and return to her parents.

+Soon afterwards, looking out of his window,

+he saw the seducer walking towards the house

+and make a signal with his handkerchief.  He

+went out, and coming up with Key at the

+street-corner, accused him to his face and shot

+him.  Key attempted to defend himself, but

+Sickles fired twice more, and then, while Key

+was on the ground and still breathing, put

+his revolver to his own head.  Twice it missed

+fire.  Sickles then walked away and gave himself

+up to the police.  The case aroused intense

+excitement, not only in America but in

+England.  The trial lasted some weeks, and so

+strong was public opinion in the prisoner's

+favour that he was acquitted, and set free to

+do his country services in the future.  I have

+been told that, in years after, husband and

+wife came together again.  It is certain that

+all through the affair, Sickles treated her with

+the greatest consideration, even allowing her

+to keep their eldest child, who, grown into a

+beautiful girl, was present with her father

+when we met at the Boucicaults' and who soon

+afterwards was our guest.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Of the distinguished Americans who have

+been sent to our country as Ambassadors from

+their own land I have met Mr. Lowell, Mr. Phelps,

+Mr. Bayard, Mr. Choate, Mr. Page, and

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P148"></a>148}</span>

+Mr. Davis.  It is a privilege to have known

+such men; a greater privilege, in the case of

+Mr. Choate, to have been his host.  I don't

+know whether a charming little story has been

+in print before&mdash;very likely it has&mdash;but I can

+answer for its exactitude as I now tell it, and

+where the incident occurred.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On one of his visits to us the subject was

+started&mdash;I think by Bishop Boyd-Carpenter&mdash;of

+changing one's identity.  My wife turned

+to her chief guest and said: "Tell us, Your

+Excellency, who you would rather be if you

+were not Mr. Choate."  The Ambassador,

+slightly rising from his chair, bowed across the

+table to his wife, who was at my side, and at

+once replied: "Mrs. Choate's second husband."

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap08"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P149"></a>149}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+VIII

+<br><br>

+THE STAGE

+</h3>

+

+<p class="intro">

+"Of all amusements the theatre is the most profitable,

+for there we see important actions when we cannot act

+importantly ourselves."&mdash;MARTIN LUTHER.

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="t3">

+I

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When I was nineteen I ran away from home

+to become an actor, and have been

+stage-struck ever since.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Charles Mathews

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Of eminent Victorian leaders of my calling

+the first to be our guest, in very far-away days,

+was the accomplished Charles Mathews, the

+most conspicuous comedian of his time.  The

+memory of childhood's play-going days tells

+me that I once saw Madame Vestris, his first

+wife, a beautiful and accomplished woman, in

+one of Planche's extravaganzas called <i>The

+King of the Peacocks</i>, at the Lyceum Theatre.

+I first met Charles Mathews in 1863, as a star

+in the theatrical firmament when I was a

+struggling young actor in Dublin, where I had

+the great advantage of playing with him in a

+round of his favourite comedies for a whole

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P150"></a>150}</span>

+month; during which I hope I learnt something

+from his delightful personality of the

+beautiful art of acting.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Among other accomplishments, he was an

+amusing after-dinner speaker.  When presiding

+at a theatrical charity banquet, with his

+own charm of manner, he began: "Douglas

+Jerrold once said to me that he did not despair

+of living to see the day when I should be

+trudging up Ludgate Hill, with an umbrella

+under my arm, to invest my funds in the Bank

+of England.  I am sorry to say that the great

+humorist did not live to see that vision

+realised.  The only step I have advanced

+towards it is, that I have bought the umbrella."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Mathews left England for a tour in

+Australia, a banquet was given in his honour

+at which he presided; himself proposing the

+toast of his own health in these words:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"The most important task assigned to me has

+now to be fulfilled, and I rise to propose what

+is called the toast of the evening with a

+mixture of pleasure and trepidation.  I was going

+to say that I was placed in a novel but

+unprecedented position, by being asked to occupy

+the chair.  But it is not so.  There is nothing

+new in saying that there is nothing new.  In

+<i>The Times</i> of October 3rd, 1798, there is an

+advertisement of a dinner given to Mr. Fox

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P151"></a>151}</span>

+on the anniversary of his first election for

+Westminster: 'The Hon. Charles James Fox

+in the chair.'  Here is a great precedent;

+and what was done by Charles James Fox in

+1798 is only imitated in 1870 by Charles James

+Mathews.  I venture to assert that a fitter

+man than myself to propose the health of our

+guest could not be found; for I venture to

+affirm that there is no man so well acquainted

+with the merits and demerits of that gifted

+individual as I am.  I have been on intimate

+terms with him from his earliest youth.  I

+have watched over his progress from childhood,

+have shared in his joys and griefs, and I

+assert boldly that there is not a man on earth

+for whom I entertain so sincere a regard and

+affection.  Nor do I go too far in stating that

+he has an equal affection for me.  He has

+come to me for advice in the most embarrassing

+circumstances, and what is still more

+remarkable, has always taken my advice in

+preference to that of any one else."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Needless to say the speech was interrupted

+at every point by laughter.  Here is a

+characteristic letter I received from him during a

+winter which he was passing at Nice:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"It is hard to be obliged to come indoors

+on such a heavenly day to write a letter,

+and you will no doubt think it harder to be

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P152"></a>152}</span>

+obliged to read it.  But friendship calls,

+and I sacrifice myself upon its altar.  Do

+thou likewise.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"A very nice fellow has written a comedy.

+('O Lord!' I hear you say.)  All I ask of

+you is to read it, have the parts copied out

+and produce it, playing the principal part

+yourself&mdash;nothing more.  Your new piece, of

+course, will not run more than two or three

+years, and then you will have this ready to

+fall back upon.  The human mind naturally

+looks forward, and managers cannot make

+their arrangements too soon.  If by any

+unforeseen and improbable chance you may not

+fancy the piece (such things have happened),

+please drop me a sweet little note, so

+charmingly worded that the unhappy author may

+swallow the gilded pill without difficulty.

+There is something in the piece&mdash;or I would

+not inflict it upon you.  If well dressed, and

+carefully put upon the stage, it <i>might</i> be

+effective.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"This is what is called writing just <i>one line</i>.

+You will of course say it 'wants cutting,'

+like the piece.  So I will cut it&mdash;short.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"On reading this rigmarole, I find I have

+only used the word 'piece' four times.  When

+you give my letter to the copyist, you can

+make the following alterations: For 'piece'

+(No. 1) read 'play.'  For 'piece' (No. 2)

+read 'production.' For 'piece' (No. 3)

+read 'work.'  For 'piece' (No. 4) read

+'comedy.'"

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P153"></a>153}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Our Boys"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As an instance of his good judgment, on

+the first night of Byron's comedy, <i>Our Boys</i>,

+which had a phenomenal run, I was in the

+billiard room of the Garrick Club; a group of

+men came in who said they had been to see a

+new comedy at the Vaudeville Theatre.  Various

+opinions were expressed, several present

+thinking the comedy would only have a

+moderate run, when Mathews, who was playing

+pool, said, quietly: "I don't agree with you

+fellows.  I was there, and haven't laughed so

+heartily for a long while.  Byron this time&mdash;he

+doesn't always&mdash;has taken his goods to

+exactly the right shop.  That play is sure to

+run."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Charles Mathews was originally an architect

+of considerable skill and promise.  Although

+he did not go upon the stage until he was

+thirty, he became one of the most beloved of

+the public's favourites.  Mathews was

+distinctly an actor of manners: it was beyond

+his range to portray emotion.  Later on,

+Charles Wyndham, at one time in his career,

+had some of his attributes, and so, very

+strongly, had Kendal.  Nowadays, the actor

+who at times recalls him to me in the delicacy

+and refinement of his comedy is Gerald du

+Maurier.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Pictorially, Charles Mathews lives again in

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P154"></a>154}</span>

+the interesting series of stage portraits on the

+walls of the Garrick Club with which I was

+first familiar on the staircases when he lived

+in Pelham Crescent and Belgrave Road.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In a defence of himself and the view he took

+of his art, he once said: "It has been urged

+against me that I always play the same

+characters in the same way, and that ten years

+hence I should play the parts exactly as I play

+them now; this I take as a great compliment.

+It is a precision which has been aimed at by

+the models of my profession, which I am proud

+to follow, and shows, at least, that my acting,

+such as it is, is the result of art, and study,

+and not of mere accident."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Charles Fechter

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I can also take the reader back to another

+link with the past and tell him briefly something

+of Charles Fechter, also of Victorian fame,

+whose name opens up a mine of memories.  In

+our early married days we lived in St. John's

+Wood; Fechter was our neighbour and once

+our guest.  I regard him as the finest actor of

+the romantic drama I have ever seen.  The

+eye, the voice, the grace&mdash;all so needed&mdash;were

+at his command.  He was the original of the

+lover in <i>La Dame aux Camélias</i>.  I was

+present at his début in London, so long ago as

+1860, when, as Ruy Blas, he forsook the French

+for the English stage, and I saw his first

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P155"></a>155}</span>

+performance of <i>The Corsican Brothers</i>, in which

+play he also acted originally in Paris.  This

+was at the old Princess's Theatre in Oxford

+Street, which, a decade earlier, had been the

+scene of the Charles Kean Shakespearean

+revivals, most of which I saw in my 'teens.

+They were a great advance scenically on all that

+had been done by Macready, while their

+splendours and pageantry were in turn eclipsed

+first by Irving and afterwards by Tree; but

+genius has no part in plastering treacle on

+jam.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+So vivid is my remembrance of Fechter's

+acting in <i>Hamlet</i>, which took the town by

+storm, that I can describe and illustrate much

+of it after a lapse of more than fifty years.  He

+made the Prince a fair-haired, almost flaxen,

+Dane.  Dickens said: "No innovation was

+ever accepted with so much favour by so

+many intellectuals as Fechter's Hamlet."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Quite recently I came across the impressions

+of Clement Scott, for many years one of the

+most prominent of our dramatic critics.  He

+wrote: "Let me candidly own that I never

+quite understood <i>Hamlet</i> until I saw Fechter

+play the Prince of Denmark.  Phelps and

+Charles Kean impressed me with the play, but

+with Fechter, I loved the play, and was charmed

+as well as fascinated by the player."  He

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P156"></a>156}</span>

+afterwards failed as Othello, while his

+performance of Iago was a triumph.  It is a

+coincidence that Fechter should have received

+valuable help during his reign at the Lyceum

+from Kate Terry, whose younger sister, Ellen,

+in a similar position, did so much for Irving

+in the same theatre later on.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Fechter died in America in 1879.  His last

+years were sad.  But a decade or so before,

+the idol of the playgoing public, the compeer

+of all distinguished in the arts, the welcome

+guest of Charles Dickens at Gad's Hill, he

+died beyond the seas neglected, friendless,

+almost forgotten.  Few actors at their zenith

+have held greater sway; few could compare

+with him in romantic parts; fewer still could

+claim to have stirred two nations of playgoers

+in different tongues; but such is the fleeting

+nature of our work, so faint the record of it

+left behind, that one might ask how many now

+can speak of Fechter as he really was, how few

+will even know his name?  "Out, out, brief

+candle!"  His talent was not confined to

+the stage, as a spirited bust of himself, his

+own work, now in the Garrick Club, will show.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Salvini

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on, there came the eminent Italian

+actor, Salvini, whose visit to this country in

+1875 may still be remembered by a dwindling

+few.  He was the greatest tragedian I have

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P157"></a>157}</span>

+seen&mdash;he was never a tenor trying to sing a

+bass song.  On the stage the Italians, to my

+mind, have the advantage over other actors in

+being beyond question the finest pantomimists

+in the world&mdash;they can say so much without

+speaking.  Those two great actresses, Ristori

+and Duse, made masterly use of this gift.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At an afternoon performance of <i>Othello</i> by

+Salvini, specially given at Drury Lane Theatre

+to the leading representatives of the English

+Stage, who chiefly composed the vast

+assemblage, I was present.  Salvini's superbly

+delivered address to the Senate at once

+convinced the remarkable audience that no

+ordinary actor was before them&mdash;so calm, so

+dignified, so motionless&mdash;broken only by the

+portrayal of love as he caught sight of

+Desdemona entering on the scene.  No ovation that

+I have taken part in equalled in enthusiasm

+the reception from his up-standing comrades

+at the close of the third act.  His death scene

+I took exception to as being too shocking, too

+realistic, too like an animal dying in the

+shambles or on a battle-field.  There I thought

+the Italian was surpassed by the Irishman,

+G. V. Brooke, the only actor I have seen who

+shared Salvini's natural gifts of voice and

+bearing, and who, but for his unfortunate

+intemperate habits, might have achieved lasting

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P158"></a>158}</span>

+fame upon the stage.  His death in <i>Othello</i>

+seemed to me as poetic in conception as it

+was pathetic in execution.  Acting, although

+not speaking, the closing words, "Killing

+myself, to die upon a kiss," he staggered

+towards the bed, dying as he clutched the

+heavy curtains of it, which, giving way, fell

+upon his prostrate body as a kind of pall,

+disclosing, at the same time, the dead form of

+Desdemona.  I agree with the great Frenchman

+who said: "Even when it assassinates,

+even when it strangles, tragedy remembers

+that it wears the crown and carries a sceptre."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In a little letter to my wife, Salvini wrote:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"CHÈRE MADAME,&mdash;Que vous êtes aimable!

+Je tiendrai votre joli cadeau comme un doux

+souvenir de votre sincère amitié.  Ce sera un

+précieux talisman qui suivra le reste de ma

+carrière artistique, et qui, je suis sûr,

+m'apportera du bonheur."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The perfect Hamlet

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In a conversation I had with Salvini, he

+modestly said his nationality and Southern

+blood made it comparatively easy for him to

+play the jealous Moor, while they stood in his

+way when he attempted the part of the

+Northern moody Dane, to which his robust

+physique was not suited.  Salvini's

+performance, however, of <i>Hamlet</i> has left me

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P159"></a>159}</span>

+memories almost as keen as those bequeathed

+by Fechter.  In his arrangement of the play

+he acted the long speech of his father's ghost.

+You only heard, and hardly saw the Phantom.

+His scene with his mother was very fine: his

+management of the foils in the fight with

+Laertes as superb as it was original: his

+death the most touching I can recall: it was

+the "Kiss me, Hardy" of Nelson; he felt for

+Horatio's head and drew it down to his face

+as the spirit fled.  To make a perfect Hamlet

+I should weld together ever to be remembered

+portions from the performances of Fechter,

+Salvini, Irving and Forbes-Robertson.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is interesting to read what Macready, the

+greatest of the Victorian classic actors, said of

+this complex, fascinating character:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"It seems to me as if only now at fifty-one

+years of age, I thoroughly see and appreciate

+the artistic power of Shakespeare in this great

+human phenomenon: nor do any of the

+critics, Goethe, Schlegel, or Coleridge, present

+to me, in their elaborate remarks, the exquisite

+artistical effects which I see in this work, as

+long meditation, like long straining after light,

+gives the minutest portion of its excellence to

+my view."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+From my childhood I have always looked

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P160"></a>160}</span>

+upon Macready as the head of my craft, and

+regarded him with the reverence a young curate

+would feel, I suppose, towards the Archbishop

+of Canterbury.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I regret that I never saw Macready act.  I

+was not ten years old when he left the stage.

+I had the pleasure, long afterwards, to know

+his son, Jonathan, a clever surgeon, whose son,

+Major Macready, I now know; and I rejoice in

+the friendship of the tragedian's youngest

+child, General Sir Nevil Macready, whom I

+first saw at his father's funeral, when he was

+lifted from a mourning coach&mdash;a little fellow

+of about ten.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My wife was the last stage link with

+Macready.  At one of the farewell performances

+he gave when he retired she appeared as the

+child apparition in <i>Macbeth</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I am wandering from my departed guests,

+but may mention that in my boyhood I saw

+much of that fine actor, Samuel Phelps, who

+had so wide a range and to whom no character

+seemed to come amiss.  I have always felt,

+however, that he was a disciple of Macready, to

+whom undoubtedly he owed much, and whom

+he followed as Richelieu, Werner and Virginius.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I may just say that, in my early career, I have

+acted with Phelps, as well as with Charles

+Kean and G. V. Brooke, and it may surprise

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P161"></a>161}</span>

+young actors of to-day to know that, in my

+provincial novitiate of four years and three

+months, I played no fewer than three hundred

+and forty-six different parts, with the

+advantage of repeating many of the Shakespearean

+characters with different leading actors.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A tribute from Got

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I met and knew the great French comedian

+Edmond Got, for many years doyen of the

+<i>Comédie française</i>, in the far-off days of the

+Commune.  The chief members of the troupe

+were here in exile for many months, when it

+was a privilege to entertain them.  It was

+strange to learn that Got had served in the

+French cavalry before he went upon the stage.

+I append a gracious letter I received from him:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Je veux vous remercier de la gracieuse

+hospitalité que vous avez bien voulu nous

+offrir, et vous prier de mettre aux pieds de

+Mme. Bancroft l'hommage de mon respect et de

+ma très sincère admiration.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Quant à vous, monsieur, vous avez montré

+ce que peut obtenir de ses artistes un habile

+administrateur, doublé d'un parfait comédien,

+c'est-à-dire un ensemble que je souhaiterais

+rencontrer sur beaucoup de scènes parisiennes,

+et quelquefois sur la nôtre."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Two often welcomed guests were the brothers

+Coquelin, <i>ainé</i> and <i>cadet</i>.  The elder was a

+great actor, the younger a good actor and a

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P162"></a>162}</span>

+brilliant <i>diseur</i>.  Coquelin, as well as his

+distinguished comrade, Mounet-Sully, also his

+eminent compatriot, Clemenceau, belonged to

+"The Vintage."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Coquelin

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My friendship for Coquelin was one of many

+years.  No stage-struck youth perhaps was

+more unlikely to succeed; but his teacher at

+the Conservatoire&mdash;the great Regnier&mdash;always

+argued that to make a really fine actor a man

+should have to fight against some physical

+drawback.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Coquelin was the most outspoken admirer of

+my wife's acting.  He said: "her splendid

+vitality was contagious: her winning

+magnetism would fill the largest stage."  If my

+saying so does not detract from this praise, I

+may add that he showered encomiums in a

+Parisian journal on my performance in <i>The

+Dead Heart</i>, when I acted with Irving.  He

+once wrote to me:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"CHER BANCROFT,&mdash;Vous avez un excellent

+théâtre que vous dirigez en maître&mdash;et en

+maître artiste&mdash;que pouvez-vous désirer de

+plus?  Ah, cette fois-ci, Bravo, et sans

+restriction.  Cet orchestre qu'on ne voit pas,

+cette rampe presque imperceptible, cette absence

+du manteau d'Arlequin, ce cadre contournant

+la scène!  Le spectateur est devant un tableau

+dont les personnages parlent et agissent.  C'est

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P163"></a>163}</span>

+parfait pour l'illusion et pour le plaisir artistique.

+Votre ami,&mdash;C. COQUELIN."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+I have a valued souvenir of him in his

+autographed portrait as Cyrano.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In his home his gaiety was delightful, while

+his love for his simple old mother was enshrined

+in his heart as it would seem always to be in

+that of a good Frenchman.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The farewell words of Jules Claretie, the

+accomplished director of the <i>Théâtre français</i>,

+spoken by his grave, were indeed a tribute:

+"Coquelin was more than a stage king, he

+was a king of the stage, and has left a luminous

+trail in the heaven of art."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I was one of the group of English actors

+who went to Paris with our sculptured offering

+to his genius which is enshrined in the historic

+foyer, where, at a luncheon, I had the temerity

+to make a short speech in indifferent French,

+urged to do so by Madame Bartet, a brilliant

+actress, who helped me to frame some of its

+sentences.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+And his poor brother.  It is painful to think

+of <i>cadet's</i> bright nature being quenched by

+incurable melancholia: distressing indeed to

+imagine what his sufferings must have been

+before the evening when, in the middle of the

+play, he rushed through the stage door, clad

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P164"></a>164}</span>

+as an abbé, to be seen no more at his beloved

+<i>Comédie française</i>.  In an amusing account

+published in a leading Paris paper of a visit to

+see Robertson's comedy, <i>School</i>, he wrote:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Les décors sont executés de main de

+maître.  C'est le triomphe de l'exactitude.

+Les comédiens sont excellents.  M. Bancroft

+joue dans la pièce un rôle de grand gommeux

+à monocle, et rien n'égale son élégance et sa

+stupidité.  Madame Bancroft joue la

+pensionnaire gaie: cette petite femme est un

+mélange d'Alphonsine et de Chaumont&mdash;gaie,

+pimpante, mordante et d'une adresse! ... C'est

+la <i>great attraction</i> du Théâtre de Haymarket.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Après je reviens rapidement en cab

+("hansom") à mon hôtel, et je me demande

+en chemin pourquoi les cabs vont si vite?

+C'est tout simple; les cabs vont très vite parce

+que les cochers les poussent derrière."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+No less an authority than David Garrick

+once said to an ambitious stage aspirant who

+sought his advice, that he might humbug the

+public in tragedy, but warned him not to try

+to do so in comedy, for that was a serious thing.

+This opinion was borne out by Voltaire, who,

+in his anxiety not to imperil the success he had

+achieved in tragedy, when he wrote his first

+comedy did so anonymously.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P165"></a>165}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Joseph Jefferson

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Having pleasant memories of two distinguished

+American actors&mdash;one a comedian,

+the other a tragedian&mdash;I will follow the high

+opinion held by the great Englishman of

+Thalia's children, and write first of Joseph

+Jefferson, incomparably the finest actor who has

+come to us from America, and who in his day

+made a powerful impression and won enduring

+fame by his performance of <i>Rip Van Winkle</i>

+and his new rendering of Bob Acres in <i>The

+Rivals</i>, which he admitted was not free from

+liberties with Sheridan.  I can think of no

+actor who has been more beloved by audiences

+in his native land.  I must, of course, use that

+expression, although his grandfather, or perhaps

+great-grandfather, was British, and an actor

+under David Garrick.  He was, as it were,

+cradled on the stage.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Jefferson might also have made fame and

+money by his brush.  His work was worthily

+hung upon the walls of the Royal Academy.

+I cherish two of his paintings: one, a gift to

+my wife in remembrance of a happy day we all

+spent together on the Thames, a charming

+example of one of its many backwaters near

+Cookham; the other&mdash;a purchase&mdash;of

+Shakespeare's church at Stratford-on-Avon&mdash;both

+reminiscent of Corot.  The former always

+suggests to me the misty Hebrides and an

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P166"></a>166}</span>

+appropriate background for the "Island that

+liked to be visited," in Barrie's <i>Mary Rose</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Gazing, I remember, at the old Maidenhead

+bridge at sunset, Jefferson murmured: "What

+a lovely place is this England of yours!  How

+I should just like to lift it in my arms and

+carry it right away."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Edwin Booth, the American tragedian,

+came over to play in London, Millais gave him

+a dinner, and invited the leading players of the

+day to make his acquaintance.  He was a fine

+actor; especially so, I thought, in <i>The Fool's

+Revenge</i> and <i>Richelieu</i>.  When he drew the

+"awful circle" round the shrinking form of the

+young heroine and said to the villain of the

+play: "Set but a foot within that holy

+ground and on thy head&mdash;yea, though it wore

+a crown&mdash;I launch the curse of Rome!" you

+felt you were in the presence of high dramatic

+art.  The performance at the Lyceum Theatre,

+in which he and Irving alternated the parts of

+<i>Othello</i> and <i>Iago</i>, created great interest.  Booth

+was the better Othello; Irving the more

+attractive and less conventional Iago.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Booth would now and then dine with us on

+a Sunday evening&mdash;to help him bear a sorrow

+which is, at such times, the actor's lot, and

+which an extract from a letter to a close

+friend will best explain:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P167"></a>167}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"I am tired in body and brain.  The poor

+girl is passing away from us.  For weeks she

+has been failing rapidly; and the doctors

+tell me that she is dying.  You can imagine

+my condition: acting at random every evening,

+and nursing a half-insane, dying wife all day,

+and all night too, for that matter.  I am scarce

+sane myself.  I scribble this in haste at two

+in the morning, for I know not when I will have

+a chance to write sensibly again."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+The room in which Edwin Booth died&mdash;which

+I have visited&mdash;at the Players' Club in

+Grammercy Park, New York, founded by

+himself, and where he had been so beloved, was

+left untouched after he had passed away, and,

+I understand, so remains.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When I was a lad of seventeen I went for

+a trip to New York, and during my stay I

+chanced to see Edward Askew Sothern&mdash;to

+give him his full name&mdash;play his world-renowned

+character, <i>Lord Dundreary</i>, for the

+first time in his life.  Some years later, when we

+met upon the stage, I gave him my copy of

+the original playbill, which, of course, had great

+interest for him.  The eccentric nobleman drew

+all playgoers for years in England as well as

+in America.  At the time I mention I saw

+Sothern and Jefferson act together in a round

+of old English comedies.  As young men they

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P168"></a>168}</span>

+made giant successes in individual

+parts&mdash;<i>Dundreary</i> and <i>Rip Van Winkle</i>&mdash;the one

+a masterpiece of caricature, the other a

+veritable old Dutch master.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another of Sothern's chief parts, in those

+days, was <i>David Garrick</i>, of which he was the

+original representative, long before the play

+was taken over and prominently associated

+with the career of Charles Wyndham.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Sothern was always kind to me, whether in

+my early days in the provinces or afterwards

+in town.  He was my guest at the first

+dinner-party I had the courage to give.  Among those

+who sat with him were Dion Boucicault,

+W. S. Gilbert, W. R. McConnell and Tom Hood.  I

+was a young host, not having struck twenty-six.

+He was a fearless rider and hunting man.

+Once, after he had met with a bad accident,

+following the staghounds, I went to see him at

+his charming old house, called The Cedars, in

+Kensington, and found his bed placed in the

+middle of the room.  The house, when I last

+saw it, had become a home for cripples.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Sothern was the king of practical-jokers and

+would stop at nothing in the way of thought,

+time or money, to carry out his wild projects.

+A poor game at its best, I have often thought

+in mature age; a selfish form of innings.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was an intense admirer of my wife's art.

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P169"></a>169}</span>

+Only after he had passed away did it come to

+my knowledge that in some stage experiences,

+published in America, with the title <i>Birds of

+a Feather</i>, he gave his judgment of her.

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Among the actresses I should certainly

+place Mrs. Bancroft and Mrs. Kendal in the

+foremost rank, their specialities being high

+comedy.  Mrs. Bancroft I consider the best

+actress on the English stage; in fact, I might

+say on any stage."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Sam Sothern, so long a pleasant actor on

+our stage, is dead, so his father's name and

+fame are now successfully held by his son,

+Edward, in America.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Dion Boucicault

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One of the most remarkable of Victorians in

+stage-land was Dion Boucicault, father of

+my life-long little friend, "Dot," the

+accomplished husband of Irene Vanbrugh.

+Boucicault produced his first comedy, <i>London

+Assurance</i>&mdash;a brilliant one in its day&mdash;about the

+date of my birth, when he himself was not more

+than twenty-one.  He was a colossal worker

+as author, actor, and producer until 1890; a

+career as distinguished as it was lengthy.  His

+delightful Irish plays, <i>The Colleen Bawn</i>,

+<i>Arrah-na-Pogue</i> and <i>The Shaughraun</i>, were among

+the joys of my youth.  I first met Boucicault

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P170"></a>170}</span>

+at Birmingham, where I was specially engaged

+to act his own part, the counsel for the defence

+in his drama <i>The Trial of Effie Deans</i>.  I

+learnt much from him at the one rehearsal

+he travelled from London to attend.  When

+about half way through the trial scene he took

+me aside and told me I was wrong in my

+treatment of the part, adding: "Let me rehearse

+the rest of the scene for you, and I am sure

+you will grasp my own idea of it directly."  I

+saw at once how right he was, how wrong I

+had been.  The result was a considerable

+success for me.  In the early days of our

+managerial career we produced a comedy of his,

+<i>How She Loves Him</i>&mdash;clever, but not one of the

+best.  A situation at the end of an act became

+very muddled, after being tried at rehearsal

+in several ways.  An idea struck me, which

+was a distinct improvement, but I hardly

+dared to interfere with so great an autocrat,

+kind as he had always been.  At last, in

+despair, I suggested to Boucicault that his

+original ending of the act was more effective

+than that he had changed it to.  He said:

+"What was that?"  I then boldly explained

+my own idea as if it were his.  No doubt he

+saw through the strategy, but merely said:

+"Perhaps you're right," and rewarded my

+shrewdness by adopting the suggestion.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P171"></a>171}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When, years afterwards, I asked his consent

+to my making some alterations in <i>London

+Assurance</i> and combining the fourth and fifth

+acts, he replied from Chicago: "Your shape of

+<i>London Assurance</i> will be, like all you have

+done, unexceptionable, and I wish I could be

+there to taste your brew."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Rest and rust

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on, when my wife was taking only a

+small part in some of our plays, he wrote:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"MY DEAR FRIEND,&mdash;Will you feel offended

+with an old soldier if he intrudes on your

+plan of battle by a remark?

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Why are the Bancrofts taking a back

+seat in their own theatre; they efface

+themselves!  Who made the establishment? with

+whom is it wholly identified? of what materials

+is it built?  There&mdash;it's out!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Tell Marie, with my love, that there is

+nothing so destructive as <i>rest</i> if persisted in;

+you must alter the vowel&mdash;it becomes <i>rust</i>,

+and eats into life.  Hers is too precious to let

+her fool it away; she is looking splendid,

+and as fresh as a pat of butter.  Why don't

+you get up a version of <i>The Country Girl</i>?

+Let her play Hoyden and you play Lord

+Foppington."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+Boucicault was a perfect host, a brilliant

+talker and sympathetic listener.  I first dined

+with him, when a young man, in the delightful

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P172"></a>172}</span>

+company, I remember well, of Charles Reade,

+J. M. Bellew and Edmund Yates.  On the

+menu was printed: "The wine will be tabled.

+Every man his own butler.  Smiles and

+self-help."  And there was cognac of 1803 from the

+cellars of Napoleon III.  I had many years of

+unbroken friendship with Boucicault.  His final

+words to me were in a letter from America,

+following on an illness:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"I doubt whether I shall cross the ocean

+again.  I am rusticating at Washington, having

+recovered some strength, and am waiting to

+know if my lease of life is out, or is to be

+renewed for another term.  I have had notice

+to quit, but am arguing the point ('just like

+you,' I think I hear you say), and nothing yet

+is settled between Nature and me."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+He was a hard worker, and said his epitaph

+should be: "Dion Boucicault; his first holiday."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Where shall my pen wander next?

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Montague and Coghlan

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I can revive memories in the old&mdash;and tell

+a little to the young&mdash;of actors who became

+prominent as members of our companies at

+different times.  Let me try to do so.  First,

+there was Harry Montague.  Without being

+an actor of high rank, he had a great value as a

+<i>jeune premier</i>.  He was what I heard an American

+describe as "so easy to look at."  His charm

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P173"></a>173}</span>

+of manner made him a special favourite

+everywhere, and he was the original matinee idol.

+When in his company he had the gift of making

+you believe that he had thought but of you

+since your last parting, and, when he said

+"good-bye," that you would remain in his

+memory until you met again.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He was in America, acting in <i>Diplomacy</i>,

+when he died suddenly; as young in years as

+he always seemed in heart; for he was but

+midway between thirty and forty, that age

+upon the border-land when one has to own

+to being no more young, while resenting for

+a little while that ambiguous epithet, "middle-aged."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Charles Coghlan was an actor of a higher

+grade; gifted, cultivated and able: his acting

+as Alfred Evelyn and Charles Surface in our

+elaborate revivals of <i>Money</i> and <i>The School for

+Scandal</i> was of the highest character.  It

+may be interesting to note that when he first

+joined our company his salary was £9 a week;

+during his last engagement we paid him £60,

+which would be doubled now.  I asked him once

+to accompany me on a short holiday abroad,

+and found him a delightful companion.  This

+was soon after the siege of Paris, when many of

+the terrible stains left on the fair city's face

+were sadly visible.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P174"></a>174}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Coghlan often lived outside London, at

+places like Elstree and Kingsbury, generally

+in picturesque old houses.  My wife and I rode

+out to one of them to luncheon.  For a time he

+drove a rather ramshackle four-in-hand, and,

+naturally, was in constant financial trouble.  He

+ended his career rather recklessly in America,

+at Galveston, and his body was washed out

+to sea from the catacombs by a flood.  It

+was afterwards recovered and reburied.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The father of the happily present Dion and

+Donald Calthrop, a connection of Lord Alverstone,

+John Clayton (Calthrop) was also a fine

+actor.  His performance in <i>All for Her</i> was of

+a high order, and he did some admirable work

+with Irving at the Lyceum.  I also recall a

+remarkable piece of acting on his part in a play,

+adapted from the French, in which he appeared

+as a father whose brain was turned by his

+having accidentally shot his little son.  Under

+our flag, he only acted in <i>Diplomacy</i> and <i>Caste</i>.

+He was then growing fat, and never knew of a

+strong wish I had to revive the <i>Merry Wives of

+Windsor</i>, with himself as Falstaff.  He was

+otherwise engaged, unfortunately.  This was

+when that brilliant actress Mrs. John Wood

+was with us, to play with my wife the two

+Merry Wives, supported by myself as the

+jealous Mr. Ford&mdash;I always found the portrayal

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P175"></a>175}</span>

+of jealousy very amusing&mdash;and a troupe of

+able and suitable comedians.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Clayton gave remarkable performances in

+the joyous comedies by Pinero at the Court

+Theatre.  He died young.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Arthur Cecil

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Arthur Cecil comes next to my mind: an

+amiable gentleman and companion.  It was

+I who, when he was "wobbling," as he did

+on every subject, induced him to go on the

+professional stage.  He seemed to me to pass

+a large slice of his life in the effort&mdash;or want of

+effort&mdash;to make up his mind on trivial things,

+and so wasted at least one half of it.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+At the dress rehearsal of <i>Diplomacy</i>&mdash;in

+which he gave a fine performance of Baron

+Stein&mdash;he appeared with a totally different

+make-up in each act.  They were all clever and

+appropriate, but we, not he, had to decide for

+him which was to be finally adopted.  He was

+very devoted to what Sir James Barrie christened

+"Little Mary."  On one occasion, after

+dining at the Garrick Club, before his evening's

+work, having finished his meal with a double

+helping of orange tart, he was leaving the

+coffee-room, when he saw a friend seated near the door

+just beginning his dinner.  Cecil sat down

+opposite to him for a few minutes to exchange

+greetings; he became so restless and agitated at

+the sight of a dish of stewed eels that at last he dug

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P176"></a>176}</span>

+a fork into a mouthful, saying, "I must," and

+so wound up his meal.  There are several similar

+stories extant, equally amazing, equally true.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Henry Kemble

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Our old and staunch friend, Henry Kemble,

+a descendant of the illustrious stage family

+whose name he bore, was for years a valued

+member of our company; a capable but

+restricted actor, from his peculiarity of diction.

+My wife christened him "The Beetle," owing

+to a large brown Inverness cape he wore at

+night.  Many are the amusing stories told of

+him.  He fought the income tax strenuously,

+and on one occasion, being brought to bay,

+told the collector that he belonged to a

+precarious profession, and begged that Her

+Majesty might be asked not to look upon him

+as a source of income!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Kemble was well up in Shakespeare, and had

+a greater knowledge of the Bible than any

+actor I have known, except one.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This reminds me of a visit paid, at his

+instigation, on a New Year's Eve, in the

+company of his close friend, Arthur Cecil, to a

+midnight service held in one of the big churches.

+They entered reverently, just before the hour,

+and were about to kneel, when a verger touched

+Kemble on the shoulder and said: "I beg

+your pardon, gentlemen, but this is a service

+being held for fallen women."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P177"></a>177}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Kemble suddenly made up his mind to retire

+from the stage and end his days in Jersey, not

+in a cloistered cathedral city, as he said would

+be the case.  He, unfortunately, invested his

+savings in an annuity, as he only lived a few

+months after doing so.  He came to see my

+wife, to whom he was much attached, to say

+good-bye, and brought her some fine Waterford

+glass as a farewell gift.  When fatally ill, his

+last words were written to her on a telegraph

+form: "All over, dear, dear Lady B.  Blessings

+on you all.  Beetle."  The doctor who attended

+him transcribed the words, and sent my wife

+the tremblingly-written farewell he had penned

+himself&mdash;a touching and kind act.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Another friend and comrade of those days

+was the humorous Charles Brookfield, son of

+Canon Brookfield, a distinguished preacher.

+My wife and I gave the young undergraduate

+what was practically his first engagement,

+and he remained a popular member of our

+company during the whole of our career at

+the Haymarket.  Several of his performances

+showed marked ability, notably in Sardou's

+play, <i>Odette</i>, and Pinero's comedy, <i>Lords and

+Commons</i>.  Many amusing stories are attributed

+to him.  Against the accuracy of one of

+them I must rebel.  It ran in this way: That at

+a time when Charles Wyndham was appearing

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P178"></a>178}</span>

+in his favourite part of David Garrick, for a

+run, he was sitting in the club named after the

+great actor, just under one of his several

+portraits there, when Brookfield went up to

+Wyndham and said: "It really seems quite

+surprising, you grow more like Garrick every

+day."  Wyndham gave a delighted smile;

+when Brookfield continued, in his peculiar

+cynical way: "Yes, every day, but less like

+him every night."  A good story; but,

+unfortunately, Brookfield was never a member

+of the Garrick Club.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Charles Brookfield

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I think it was Brookfield who, when a friend

+asked his advice, saying that a member of a

+club they frequented having called him a

+"mangy ass," whether he should appeal to

+the committee or consult a solicitor, quietly

+told him he thought it a case for a vet to

+decide.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He wrote various amusing comedies, and,

+later on, was appointed by the Lord

+Chamberlain to be joint examiner of plays.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Brookfield had his serious side, and wrote

+us the following letter, affectionately signed,

+when we retired from management:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"The sadness I feel at the prospect of never

+again working under your management is far

+too genuine for me to endeavour to convey it

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P179"></a>179}</span>

+by any conventional expressions of regret.

+Although I have always appreciated your

+unvarying goodness to me, it is only by the

+depression of spirits and general apathy which

+I now experience, that I recognise how much

+my enjoyment of my profession was affected

+by the kind auspices under which I had the

+good fortune to practise it."

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap09"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P180"></a>180}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+IX

+<br><br>

+THE STAGE

+</h3>

+

+<p class="t3">

+II

+</p>

+

+<p class="intro">

+"Pity it is that the animated graces of the player can live

+no longer than the instant breath and motion that presents

+them, or at best can but faintly glimmer through the memory

+of a few surviving spectators."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Henry Irving

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I will now write of the man who was for many

+years the chief of the English stage, Henry

+Irving.  He was a born leader and had the

+magnetism which compels the affection of his

+comrades; he knew that to be well served

+meant first to be well beloved.  Although

+denied the advantages of early education,

+Irving had the learning which colleges may

+fail to teach; and in his later years would have

+graced, in manner and in aspect, any position

+in life.  This personal attribute came to him

+gradually, when, as it were, he had recreated

+himself.  Truth to tell, in the early part of

+his career he had none of it.  In those distant

+days there was a strong smack of the country

+actor in his appearance, and a suggestion of a

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P181"></a>181}</span>

+type immortalised by Dickens in Mr. Lenville

+and Mr. Folair.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+We soon became friends and remained so

+throughout his remarkable career&mdash;the most

+remarkable in many respects that ever befell

+an actor.  He told me an interesting incident

+of his early life.  He was engaged, in the

+summer of 1867, to act in Paris.  The enterprise

+proved a failure.  The little troupe of players

+was disbanded and returned to London, with

+the exception of Irving, who, finding himself

+abroad for the first time, lingered in the bright

+city for a couple of months.  He lived in a

+garret on a few francs a day, and paid nightly

+visits to the cheap parts of the theatre.

+Although he had no knowledge of the language,

+he was all the while studying the art of acting

+in its different grades and kinds.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When, in later years, he entertained in his

+princely fashion eminent foreign artists, in

+answer to compliments showered upon him in

+French, he would, without the slightest

+affectation&mdash;a failing from which he was free&mdash;answer

+simply: "I am sure all you are saying is very

+kind, but I don't understand a word of it."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Soon after his success as Digby Grant in

+James Albery's comedy, <i>Two Roses</i>, shortly

+before what proved to be the turning-point

+in his career&mdash;his becoming a member of the

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P182"></a>182}</span>

+Lyceum company, then under the Bateman

+management&mdash;I had occasion to see a well-known

+dramatic agent, who, as I was leaving

+his office, said: "Oh, by the way, would Henry

+Irving be of use to you next season?  I have

+reason to believe he would welcome such a

+change."  The question was startling.  I replied

+that I should be delighted, but feared it would

+be difficult, as Hare, Coghlan and myself

+would be in his way.  How possible it is

+that a different answer might have influenced

+future events in theatre-land!  Then came his

+memorable performance in <i>The Bells</i>, which

+gave him fame in a single night, followed by

+other early triumphs, <i>Charles the First</i> and

+<i>Hamlet</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I once saw Irving on horseback, cantering

+in the Row on a Sunday afternoon: it was a

+singular experience.  His companion was

+George Critchett, who gave up his practice

+one day in the week to hunt instead, and

+who was as much at home on a horse as Irving

+was plainly uncomfortable.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on, Irving was speaking to me of the

+success of one of our plays.  I answered that in

+my belief the same could be achieved at the

+Lyceum (the theatre was not yet under his

+own management), if money were freely and

+wisely spent.  But wide is the difference

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P183"></a>183}</span>

+between spending and wasting.  While the disasters

+which darkened his brilliant reign were

+sometimes, it must be conceded, the result of errors

+of judgment in the choice of plays, had he

+been in partnership with a capable comrade,

+to whose guidance he would sometimes have

+submitted, he might have realised a fortune,

+instead of allowing several to pass like water

+through his hands.  As an artistic asset, Irving

+was often wasted and thrown away.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Let me turn for a moment from the stage

+side of this extraordinary man.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A toy theatre

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the gloaming of a Christmas Day, full

+forty years ago, my wife and I were sitting

+alone, when, to our amazement, Irving was

+announced.  It was a bolt from the blue.

+After a pleasant talk, we asked him who was

+to have the pleasure of giving him his pudding

+and mince-pie.  He answered that he should

+be all alone in Grafton Street with his dog.

+We told him that ourselves and our son George,

+then a small boy, comprised our party, and

+begged him to join us.  Irving gladly said he

+would.  At the time he was acting in <i>The

+Corsican Brothers</i>, of which famous melodrama

+Master George had his own version in his little

+model theatre, with an elaborate scene of the

+duel in the snow, represented by masses of

+salt smuggled from the kitchen; and this,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P184"></a>184}</span>

+with managerial pride, he told Irving he would

+act before him after dinner.  To an audience

+of three the performance was solemnly gone

+through, being subjected to the criticisms,

+seriously pronounced and respectfully received,

+of the great man.  I seem to hear his voice

+crying out: "Light not strong enough on the

+prompt side, my boy."  For years a broken

+blade of one of the rapiers used in the duel at

+the Lyceum, given to him by Irving, was

+among the boy's proud possessions.  I daresay

+he has it still.  A memorable Christmas

+evening!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The idea occurred to me to give a supper to

+Irving before his first visit to America in 1883,

+and to let it have a distinctive character by

+inviting none but actors.  Feeling that nowhere

+could be it so appropriately given as in the

+Garrick Club, I wrote to my fellow-members of

+the Committee to ask if, in the special

+circumstances, it might take place in the dining-room.

+Greatly to my delight, my request was granted,

+with the remark, that it was "an honour to

+the Club."  The attractive room, so suitable

+for the purpose, its walls being lined with

+the portraits of those whose names recall all

+that is famous in the great past of our stage,

+was arranged to accommodate a party of a

+hundred, of whom there are but very few

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P185"></a>185}</span>

+survivors.  A humorous drawing of a supposed

+wind-up to the supper&mdash;Irving, Toole and

+myself staggering home, arm-in-arm&mdash;was

+among the early successes of Phil May.  He

+made two copies of it.  One of the three

+belonged to King Edward, which I afterwards

+saw at Sandringham, the others are owned by

+Pinero and myself.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In acknowledgment of a little present I sent

+Irving at this time he wrote:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"I shall wear your gift&mdash;and a rare one it

+is&mdash;as I wear you, the giver, in my heart.  My

+regard for you is not a fading one.  In this

+world there is not too much fair friendship,

+is there?  And I hope it is a gratification to

+you&mdash;it is to me, old friend&mdash;to know that we

+can count alike upon a friend in sorrow and

+in gladness."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"The Dead Heart"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When Irving contemplated a production of

+<i>The Dead Heart</i>, he flattered me by saying

+that unless I appeared with him as the Abbé

+Latour he would not carry out the idea.  I

+was then free from management, and tried

+to persuade him to let me undertake the part

+as a labour of love, but he would not listen.

+After a long talk&mdash;neither of us, I remember it

+all so well, looking at the other, but each gazing

+separately at different angles into Bond Street

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P186"></a>186}</span>

+from the windows of the rooms he so long

+occupied at the corner of Grafton Street&mdash;he

+said that I must content him by being specially

+engaged, on terms which soon were settled.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was a strange experience to re-enter a

+theatre to serve instead of to govern; and in

+one where the policy was so different.  My

+wife and I had so often been content to choose

+plays without regard to ourselves: the policy

+of the Lyceum was upon another plane.  <i>The

+Dead Heart</i> is a story of the French Revolution,

+on the lines of <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i>.  The best

+scene in the play was between Irving and

+myself, in which we fought a duel to the death.

+A clever drawing of the scene&mdash;I regret failing

+to secure it when it was sold at Christie's&mdash;was

+made by Bernard Partridge.  From all I

+have heard said of it, the fight must have been

+well done&mdash;real, brief, and determined.  It

+was a grim business, in the sombre moonlit

+room, and forcibly gave the impression that

+one of the two combatants would not leave it

+alive.  I confess that I had not the courage of

+Terriss, who found himself in a similar position

+with Irving when they fought a duel in <i>The

+Corsican Brothers</i>, and boldly attacked his

+chief by suggesting that a little of the limelight

+might fall on his side of the stage, as Nature

+was impartial.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P187"></a>187}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A tribute from Irving

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+One night during the hundred and sixty on

+which <i>The Dead Heart</i> was acted, when we had

+acknowledged the applause which followed the

+duel, Irving put his arm round me as we

+walked up the stage together, and said:

+"What a big name you might have made for

+yourself had you never come across those

+Robertson plays!  What a pity, for your

+own sake; for no actor can be remembered

+long who does not appear in the classical

+drama."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I fear egotism is getting the better of me.

+Irving once said:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"One point must strike all in connection

+with Bancroft's career&mdash;before he left the

+Haymarket, at the age of forty-four, he was

+the senior theatrical manager of London.  In

+conjunction with that gifted lady who was the

+genius of English comedy, he popularised a

+system of management which has dominated our

+stage ever since, and the principle of which

+may be described as the harmony of realism

+and art."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+It is to be much regretted that no really

+satisfactory portrait of Irving exists.  The one

+painted by Millais, and given by him to the

+Garrick Club in 1884, is a beautiful work of art,

+but, to my mind, somewhat effeminate in its

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P188"></a>188}</span>

+beauty.  A portrait by Sargent, painted when

+Irving was fifty, and exhibited at the Royal

+Academy in 1888, was amazingly clever, but

+a somewhat painful likeness.  The great painter

+showed something in the great actor&mdash;as he

+so often does in his sitters&mdash;which his gifted

+and searching eyes could not help seeing, and

+which, once having been shown, you cannot

+afterwards help seeing always.  Irving hated

+the portrait, and when it was taken from the

+walls of the Academy it was never seen again.

+I heard Irving, at my table, tell Sir Edward

+Poynter that he hid it away in a garret, and

+when he left the old Grafton Street chambers,

+his solitary home for many years, he hacked

+the canvas to shreds with a knife.  What a

+treasure lost!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Irving's hospitality was unbounded.  At one

+of his many parties I recollect his saying to

+Frank Lockwood, when he was Solicitor-General:

+"The fortunate actor is the actor

+who works hard."  He then pointed across the

+table to me, and added: "Look at that fellow,

+and remember what hard work meant in his

+case.  'B' is the only actor since Garrick who

+made a fortune purely by management of his

+own theatre&mdash;I mean without the aid of

+provincial tours and visits to America."  After

+a pause he continued: "But he has paid the

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P189"></a>189}</span>

+penalty of leaving his best work as an actor

+undone."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Knighthood

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It will ever be remembered that Henry

+Irving was the first actor to receive from his

+Sovereign the honour of State recognition: so

+placing his calling on a level with the rest, no

+more to be looked at askance, but recognised as

+leading to a share of the distinctions enjoyed

+by his fellow-men.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+For a year or more before the end it was

+manifest to those who loved him that the sword

+had worn out the scabbard&mdash;it hung so listlessly

+by his side.  This I strongly realised the last

+time he sat at our table, and was struck by his

+plaintive manner to my wife and to me.  He

+then had a flat in Stratton Street, and left us at

+midnight, saying that he must be home before

+the lift ceased running or he would have to be

+carried upstairs.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In affectionate remembrance I close my

+tribute to Henry Irving.  His remarkable

+career has taken its place in the history of his

+country, for he was one of the leaders of men

+who earned the privilege, given to but few,

+to become the property of the world.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It may also be truly said of Irving, as of one

+of the most distinguished of his predecessors:

+"He who has done a single thing that others

+never forget, and feel ennobled whenever they

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P190"></a>190}</span>

+think of, need not regret his having been, and

+may throw aside this fleshly coil like any other

+worn-out part, grateful and contented."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Although I knew and loved them from their

+boyhood, I find it difficult to write of Irving's

+sons, being, as they were, so overpowered by

+the dominant personality of the father.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"H.B." and Laurence

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+They both went to Marlborough.  "H.B."

+afterwards to New College, Oxford.  Laurence

+left school for Paris, to perfect his knowledge

+of French, his ambition and inclination being

+the diplomatic service.  He then passed some

+three years in Russia, acquiring mastery of the

+difficult language.  Unhappily, his wished-for

+career had to be abandoned for want of the

+imperative funds.  "H.B." was called to the

+Bar, but lacked the necessary patience, and so

+abandoned a profession, as was thought by

+many competent judges, in which he was

+eminently qualified to take a high position;

+while his "hobby" until the end was criminology,

+and he wrote remarkable books on that

+fascinating subject.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Both sons drifted on to the stage.  Before

+that step was taken I had seen "H.B." at

+Oxford give a striking performance, for one

+so young, of <i>King John</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on, I had no wish to see him act a long

+round of his father's old parts.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P191"></a>191}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Towards the end of the War he left his work

+at the Savoy Theatre and devoted himself to

+hard work in the Intelligence Department at

+the Admiralty, which proved to be a great

+strain upon him.  We met frequently at that

+time, by appointment, at the Athenæum, hard

+by, and had luncheon together, as he did with

+his close friend, E. V. Lucas.  It was manifest

+then that his fatal illness had begun.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Laurence was a more frequent guest of ours

+than Harry, especially at Christmas time,

+having no children to command his presence at

+home; he was not so trammelled on the stage

+as his brother; it was easier for him to escape

+from perpetual reminders.  The performances I

+remember best on his part are his high-class

+acting in <i>Typhoon</i> and the admirable drawing

+of a character he played in <i>The Incubus</i>, who is,

+in point of fact, his mistress and has become

+sadly in the way.  My wife and I saw the play

+together from a stage box, and were much

+amused at the end of it by a conversation

+between what we took to be a young married

+couple in the stalls, just beneath us.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The girl said: "Good play, isn't it?"  The

+man answered: "Capital.  I've only one fault

+to find with it."  "What's that?"  "Title."  "Title,

+why it's a perfect title."  The man:

+"Rotten title&mdash;it's nothing about an incubus."

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P192"></a>192}</span>

+The girl: "It's all about an incubus."  The

+man: "The thing was never once mentioned."  The

+girl, in amazement: "What is an

+incubus?"  The man: "Why, one of those

+things in which they hatch chickens."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The sons died at an age that is not closed

+to hope and promise, which now must be

+handed on to another generation&mdash;Laurence

+and Elizabeth, the children of Harry Irving,

+both gifted with good looks and charm.  The

+boy distinguished himself during the War in

+the Air Force and now shows promise as a

+painter.  My love descends to them.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+J. L. Toole

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Extremes meet; they always do and always

+will.  The closest friend Henry Irving had was

+J. L. Toole.  The strong affection between the

+two men, which lasted until the end, began

+when Toole was making a name on the stage

+in Edinburgh and Irving only a beginner.  The

+famous comedian belonged, as it were, to "the

+City," and was educated at the City of London

+School.  He was a close second to Sothern in

+inventing practical jokes, generally harmless,

+and would take as infinite pains to carry them

+through.  I remember a silly story he loved

+to tell, how, after a bad baccarat night at

+Aix-les-Bains, he went to the bank to draw

+money on his letter of credit.  Tapping at the

+<i>guichet</i>, he inquired of the clerk in feeble,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P193"></a>193}</span>

+broken English how much the bank would

+advance upon a gold-headed cane which he

+carried.  As might be expected, the little

+window was slammed in his face.  Nothing

+daunted, Toole made his way to the market-place

+hard by, and bought from various stalls

+some small fish, a bunch of carrots, and a

+child's toy; he then returned to the bank and

+arranged his purchases on the counter, with

+the addition of his watch, a half-franc piece and

+a penknife.  When all was ready he again

+tapped at the window, and, in a tremulous

+voice, implored the clerk to accept these

+offerings in pledge for the small sum needed to

+save him from starvation.  The clerk indignantly

+requested Toole to leave the establishment,

+explaining, in the best English at his

+command, that the bank only made advances

+upon letters of credit.  At the last-named

+word Toole broke into smiles, and, producing

+his letter of credit, handed it to the astonished

+clerk, with the explanation that he would have

+offered it at first had he thought the bank cared

+about it, but the porter at his hotel had

+emphatically told him the bankers of Aix

+preferred fish.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Toole was never the same after the painful

+death of his son: he became more and more

+a slave to "late hours," but was still a delightful,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P194"></a>194}</span>

+buoyant companion, beloved by his

+comrades and friends.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Wilson Barrett was a good actor of the

+robust type.  He had an adventurous career:

+sometimes high on the wave of success, at

+others deep down in the trough of the sea of

+failure, but always strictly honourable.  At

+the old Princess's Theatre, in Oxford Street, he

+made large sums by good dramas like <i>The

+Silver King</i> and <i>The Lights of London</i>, and lost

+them through the failures of ambitious efforts,

+which included a youthful <i>Hamlet</i>, to be wiped

+out in turn by the enormous success of <i>The

+Sign of the Cross</i>, a religious drama that

+appealed to a large public which rarely

+entered theatres.  The play provoked Bernard

+Shaw to say that Wilson Barrett could always

+bring down the house with a hymn, and had

+so evident a desire to personate the Messiah

+that we might depend upon seeing him

+crucified yet.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+William Terriss

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+A restless, untamable spirit was born in

+William Terriss.  He tried various callings

+before settling down to the one for which he

+was so eminently fitted.  He embarked in the

+mercantile marine, but the craze only lasted

+a fortnight.  Then came tea-planting in China.

+The next experiment was made in medicine, to

+be followed by an attack upon engineering.

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P195"></a>195}</span>

+He then positively bluffed me into giving him

+an engagement, and made his appearance on

+the stage.  Suddenly he decided to go sheep

+farming in the Falkland Islands.  He made an

+early marriage, and his beloved Ellaline was

+born there.  Of course he soon came back;

+returned to and left the stage again; next to

+Kentucky to try horse-breeding.  Another

+failure brought him to his senses.  Five years

+after he had first adopted the stage he was an

+actor in earnest and became one of its greatest

+favourites.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His career was chiefly identified with the

+Lyceum and the Adelphi; but he first became

+prominent by his acting as Thornhill in

+<i>Olivia</i>, under Hare's management at the Court

+Theatre.  His bright, breezy nature was a

+tonic, and, like his daughter and her husband,

+Seymour Hicks, he carried sunshine about with

+him and shed it on all he met.  He was as

+brave as a lion and as graceful as a panther.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Alas! one Saturday evening the town was

+horrified as the tragic news quickly spread that

+Terriss had been fatally stabbed by a malignant

+madman as he was entering the Adelphi

+Theatre to prepare for his evening's work.  At

+his funeral there was an extraordinary

+manifestation of public sympathy.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Lionel Monckton told me a curious story of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P196"></a>196}</span>

+how when he reached home he found that a

+clock which Terriss gave him had stopped at

+the hour of the murder.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+However briefly, I must record grateful

+thanks for past enjoyment given us by Corney

+Grain, as great a master in his branch of art

+as that friend of my youth, John Parry.  His

+odd name was often wrongly thought to be

+assumed, as was that of a dramatist of those

+days, Stirling Coyne, who rejoiced in the

+nickname of "Filthy Lucre."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I always remember the stifled laughter of

+my wife and Corney Grain, who was present

+with ourselves at a dinner party, when a

+distinguished foreigner, accredited by Spain

+to the Court of St. James, was announced

+by a nervous manservant as the "Spanish

+Ham..."&mdash;a long pause being followed

+by a trembling sotto voce&mdash;"bassador."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Gee Gee" and "Wee Gee"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+George Grossmith, the elder&mdash;"Gee Gee"&mdash;is

+of course best remembered by his long

+connection with the Gilbert and Sullivan

+operas.  To their great success he contributed

+a share of which he was justly proud.  After

+he left the Savoy Theatre he toured as an

+entertainer, with excellent financial results,

+both here and from two visits to the United

+States.  When he returned for the second time,

+I remember his saying to me, in his funny,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P197"></a>197}</span>

+plaintive way: "Do you know, my dear

+'B,' things are really very sad.  The first

+time I came back from America I found myself

+spoken of as 'Weedon Grossmith's brother,'

+and now, after my second visit, I am only

+'George Grossmith's father.'"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I have always looked upon Weedon

+Grossmith&mdash;"Wee Gee"&mdash;as an admirable actor,

+and his death as bringing a personal loss,

+having valued his friendship and his company.

+On the stage I best remember him in Pinero's

+comedies, <i>The Cabinet Minister</i> and <i>The

+Amazons</i>, in <i>A Pantomime Rehearsal</i>, and,

+towards the end of his career, in a remarkable

+performance of a demented odd creature, who

+believed himself to be the great Napoleon.  My

+wife was so impressed by the acting that she

+wrote to our little friend about it in a way

+which delighted him beyond words.  Weedon

+was educated as a painter, and became an

+exhibitor at the Academy and other galleries.

+I have two charming examples from his brush,

+which I bought at Christie's.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The Great War dealt severe blows to the

+stage, many a young life of promise being

+taken.  The toll was heavy; but they are

+honoured always by their comrades and remembered

+for their valour, as are those who served

+so bravely and survived.  During those

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P198"></a>198}</span>

+terrible years the stage also lost E. S. Willard,

+Lewis Waller, Herbert Tree, William Kendal

+and George Alexander&mdash;all men in the front

+rank; every one hard to replace.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I associate Willard with his success in <i>The

+Silver King</i>, and afterwards in Henry Arthur

+Jones's plays, <i>The Middleman</i> and <i>Judah</i>.

+In these he had a prosperous career through the

+United States&mdash;as in the part in which I best

+remember him&mdash;the old man in Barrie's comedy,

+<i>The Professor's Love Story</i>, a charming piece

+of artistic work.  He owed a modest fortune

+to the appreciation he met with in America.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Willard had an ambition to build a theatre

+at the top of Lower Regent Street, where the

+County Fire Office, so long a London landmark,

+stood; but, granting the site to have been

+available, it had no depth: the theatre could

+only have been erected on a part of the Regent

+Palace Hotel, and reached by burrowing under

+the road&mdash;so far as my architectural knowledge

+serves me.  With the demolition of the County

+Fire Office the last fragment of the old colonnade

+disappeared, which, I remember, in my boyhood

+extended on both sides of the Quadrant from

+the Circus to Vigo Street.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Early retirement from management prevented

+intimacy with several prominent actors,

+who otherwise might have been associated

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P199"></a>199}</span>

+with our work.  For instance, Lewis Waller

+was only once our guest, as things happened.

+Of his acting, my wife and I were among the

+warm admirers.  The first play in which he

+commanded our attention was <i>The Profligate</i>,

+which Pinero wrote for Hare when his

+management of the Garrick Theatre began.  One

+recalls with admiration his acting as Hotspur,

+Brutus, Faulconbridge, and King Henry V.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I am sorry I did not know him better, or

+see more of him.  He was a great loss to the

+stage he loved.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Too many windows

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was, naturally, a satisfaction to my wife,

+as to me, when Herbert Tree became our

+successor at the Haymarket.  We felt the future

+of the theatre to be secure for a while, and that

+its traditions would be worthily maintained.

+He did all sorts of good work there, ranging

+from <i>Hamlet</i> and <i>Henry V</i> to <i>The Dancing

+Girl</i> and <i>Trilby</i>, until he was responsible for

+building its beautiful opposite neighbour, the

+present His Majesty's Theatre, where he

+migrated.  During its erection I was walking

+one day on the opposite side with Comyns

+Carr, who asked me what I thought of it.  He

+seemed to be greatly amused by my answer:

+"Too many windows to clean."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Good fortune continued to smile upon the

+smaller house under the joint management of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P200"></a>200}</span>

+Frederick Harrison and Cyril Maude.  Much

+of its deserved success was due, in those days,

+to the art of Winifred Emery, which was then

+approaching its best, before cruel disease came

+in the plenitude of her powers and robbed her

+of that very front position which is reached by

+so few, and which I think she would surely

+have attained in her maturity.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Herbert Tree was for many years a power

+and an authority upon our stage: he rendered

+its alluring profession great service.  I still

+trust in the hope that successors may be found

+with something of his splendid courage, his

+boundless imagination, to follow in his firmest

+footsteps and leave as memorable marks.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In private life he was an amusing creature,

+a delightful companion, a perfect host.  It

+was once said of him, not altogether without

+truth, that he walked in a dream, talked in a

+dream, ate in a dream, drank in a dream,

+smoked in a dream, and acted in a dream.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He had enormous energy in starting things,

+but less strength in carrying his ideas through:

+he grew tired quickly through his love of

+change.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I will end with a comic note, for which I am

+indebted to Pinero.  It so happened that the

+names of Arthur Pinero and Herbert Tree were

+announced for knighthood in the same Honours

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P201"></a>201}</span>

+List.  A man who was an old friend of both

+wrote a letter of felicitation to each of them;

+but unfortunately he put his letters into the

+wrong envelopes.  The one Pinero received

+was as follows: "My dear Tree.  Hearty

+congratulations.  You ought to have had it long

+ago.  But why Pinero?"  The distinguished

+dramatist sent this letter to the distinguished

+actor with the necessary explanation, and in

+return had from him the note intended for

+himself.  This was it: "My dear Pinero.

+Hearty congratulations.  You ought to have

+had it long ago.  But why Tree?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The Kendals

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Will" Kendal, until he "passed into the

+night," chanced to be my oldest theatrical

+friend.  We first met at Birmingham, in our

+early struggling days, and not again until he

+had planted his feet firmly at the Haymarket.

+Mrs. Kendal I knew in the following year,

+when we acted together in the country.  She

+was Madge Robertson then, and a "flapper"

+of fifteen, already foreshadowing her brilliant

+future.  After the Kendals married, my wife

+and I had the great advantage of their services

+in our company for two seasons.  When,

+later on, their successful partnership with

+Hare came to an end, they travelled much in

+America, where they became special favourites

+and amassed a large fortune.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P202"></a>202}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Kendal was an actor in the foremost rank,

+being trained by some years of hard work in

+the provincial "stock companies," as we of

+the "old brigade" all were.  There were

+certain parts he played to perfection.  I never

+saw his equal as Captain Absolute in <i>The

+Rivals</i>, young Marlow in <i>She Stoops to Conquer</i>,

+and Charles Courtly in <i>London Assurance</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It must be full five and forty years since

+George Alexander called upon my wife one

+Sunday afternoon with a letter of introduction

+from our dear friend, Sir Morell Mackenzie.

+We were sorry, for all our sakes, that we could

+only offer him encouragement.  He had much

+in his favour; was acting with a travelling

+company in the Robertson comedies, and

+warmly recommended for a London engagement,

+which he soon received from Irving at the

+Lyceum.  Many pleasant tributes from Ellen

+Terry were paid to him during his stay there,

+and he rendered yeoman service to his chief.

+Alexander's long and successful management

+of the St. James's Theatre was beyond reproach,

+and for years gave stability to the stage and

+good repute to those who worked with him.

+He was a staunch friend to English dramatists

+and produced plays written by Arthur Pinero,

+Henry Arthur Jones, Alfred Sutro, Anthony

+Hope, Claude Carton, Haddon Chambers, Louis

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P203"></a>203}</span>

+Parker, Stephen Phillips, Oscar Wilde, and

+Henry James: a worthy record.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Mrs. Tanqueray"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The finest feather in Alexander's managerial

+cap&mdash;his <i>panache</i>&mdash;was the production of

+Pinero's great play, <i>The Second Mrs. Tanqueray</i>.

+He alone had the courage&mdash;a quality most

+essential in theatrical enterprise&mdash;to risk what

+thirty years ago was a dangerous undertaking,

+the truth and humanity of the play, which has

+kept it vigorously alive, being at the time of

+its production lost sight of in the sensation

+caused by the selection of such a daring scheme

+and subject for the stage.  That fears existed

+for the success of the play on that score may

+now excite wonder in the minds of the present

+advanced generation.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The part of Paula has been a vehicle for the

+widely differing genius and conceptions of so

+many eminent actresses&mdash;Mrs. Patrick

+Campbell, Duse, Jane Hading, Mrs. Kendal, Miss

+Gladys Cooper, and numerous other

+distinguished foreigners&mdash;that special interest

+attaches to the curious incidents surrounding

+the first production of the play and the

+original casting of the heroine.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The play was in the first instance offered

+to Hare, who very decidedly refused it.  On

+Hare's rejection, it was offered to Alexander,

+who, though greatly impressed by its strength,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P204"></a>204}</span>

+also, but reluctantly, declined it.  Pinero

+then proposed to Alexander that he should do

+the play at a <i>matinée</i>, without being asked for

+any author's fee.  This proposal was agreed

+to; and the play was announced for a series

+of morning performances.  It happened, however,

+that Alexander's forthcoming production

+was <i>Liberty Hall</i>, a comedy written by Claude

+Carton, who, not unnaturally, represented to

+Alexander that the performances of <i>The Second

+Mrs. Tanqueray</i> in the afternoons might militate

+against the success of the regular evening bill.

+(An odd little coincidence is that one of the

+characters in <i>Liberty Hall</i> was originally named

+Tanqueray&mdash;a name which Carton, out of

+consideration for Pinero, changed to Harringay.)

+Alexander thereupon undertook that, if Pinero

+would release him from his agreement to give

+morning performances of <i>The Second Mrs. Tanqueray</i>,

+he would at the earliest opportunity

+put the play into the evening bill.  In these

+circumstances the play was produced towards

+the end of the season of 1893.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The first Paula

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+In the ordinary course the original Paula

+would have been Winifred Emery, but the

+expected arrival of one of her daughters

+robbed her of the chance.  The choice at the

+time was very limited, actresses of prominence

+all being engaged.  It happened, however,

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P205"></a>205}</span>

+that at the Adelphi a young and handsome

+lady of no long stage experience, named

+Mrs. Patrick Campbell, was acting in a drama by

+G. R. Sims.  There were doubts whether the

+methods of an actress who had graduated at

+the Adelphi were suitable to the St. James's,

+but Pinero suggested to Alexander that they

+should see what impression she produced upon

+them in a talk with her in a room.  The

+interview took place, and after it Pinero told

+Alexander that, if she would act on the stage

+as she talked in his office, he felt pretty sure

+that she was the woman for the part.  But

+her engagement was dependent on her release

+by the management of the Adelphi.  Word

+promptly came that this was refused, and once

+more the author of the play and the manager

+of the St. James's were up to their necks in

+difficulties.  Pinero then proposed to Alexander

+that he should wind up the matter by engaging

+Miss Elizabeth Robins, who had lately made

+a striking success in Ibsen's <i>Hedda Gabler</i>, and

+he proceeded to do so.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+As was the custom then, the date and hour

+were fixed for the author to read his play to

+the actors and actresses who were to represent

+it.  Alexander was engaged to have luncheon

+that day in Portland Place, and Pinero arranged

+to call for him on his way to the theatre.  As

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P206"></a>206}</span>

+he drove up in a hansom, Alexander came out

+of the house in a state of great excitement,

+crying out: "We can get Mrs. Campbell!"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It appeared that he had only just heard from

+her that, thanks to pressure put upon them by

+G. R. Sims, the managers of the Adelphi had

+consented to release her.  On reaching the

+St. James's Theatre, Pinero said to Alexander:

+"Look here; this is your job.  I will go for

+a walk in St. James's Park and come back in

+half an hour to read my play either to Miss

+Robins or Mrs. Campbell, as it may turn

+out."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Alexander went to his room, rang the bell,

+asked if Miss Robins had arrived, and on

+learning that she was in the theatre requested

+her to come and see him.  She soon entered,

+holding the book of the play.  Alexander told

+her that an unexpected condition of things

+had arisen.  He would put his cards on the

+table.  Did Miss Robins know that the part of

+Paula had been first offered to Mrs. Campbell,

+who, in fact, had been engaged to play it?

+He was answered: "Yes."  Alexander then

+said: "She has been set free, and is in the

+theatre.  What am I to do?"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Pointing to the book in her hand, Miss

+Robins replied: "Mr. Alexander, this is the

+chance of my life.  It is also the chance of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P207"></a>207}</span>

+Mrs. Campbell's life.  She is a friend of mine,

+and I will not take the chance from her."

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It was, in my opinion, a great mistake on

+Alexander's part to add the cares of the London

+County Council to the management of an

+important theatre.  The strain, I have no

+doubt, shortened his life, which was of great

+service to his calling.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Sir Frank Benson

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Alec" was always my good friend; and

+when he summoned a meeting of the leading

+actors and managers in 1916, the year the

+Shakespearean Tercentenary was to be

+celebrated at Drury Lane Theatre, he put the

+matter so strongly to those assembled that

+there was no gainsaying his suggestion that

+I should there and then be invited to speak the

+address on the occasion if, as he hoped, I

+would undertake the task.  It was no mean

+effort, and I am afraid that egotism is again

+fast getting the better of me and urging me to

+print the result of my labour.  My excuse is

+that the event had national importance: a

+dramatic episode being the knighthood

+conferred by the King on Frank Benson, who had

+given the best years of his life to spreading the

+love of Shakespeare throughout the land.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Here is the address:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"I am proud, indeed, that it was thought

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P208"></a>208}</span>

+fitting by my comrades to give me the unsought

+honour, on this great day, of addressing you

+on their behalf.  I thank them for the privilege

+with all my heart, and promise to bear in mind

+the wise counsel of Polonius, 'brevity is the

+soul of wit!'  I can only speak from my point

+of view.  There are debts which can never be

+paid in full; there is homage which never can

+be amply rendered; there is love no tongue

+can truly tell.  All these are Shakespeare's.

+As every tribute must fall short of what is

+really due, I resolved to speak my own words&mdash;the

+best in my power to frame&mdash;rather than

+be but the echo of an abler brain.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"In my early days in theatreland, with the

+audacity of youth, I acted many characters in

+Shakespeare's plays and then laid some budding

+leaves of a modest chaplet at the shrine of the

+master whose works have made the stage

+eternal.  Now, in my old age, I rejoice in the

+remembrance that I have been what William

+Shakespeare was&mdash;an actor.  With a boundless

+prodigality he has enriched this England which

+claims his birth&mdash;the dear land he loved so

+deeply and called:

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  'This fortress built by Nature for herself,<br>

+  This precious stone set in the silver sea.'<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"We owe to Shakespeare the most alluring,

+the most entrancing creations in our

+mother-tongue.  How much poorer should we be if

+we lacked the imperishable charm of those

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P209"></a>209}</span>

+Princesses of the drama&mdash;Juliet, Rosalind,

+Ophelia, Beatrice, Viola, Miranda, Portia,

+Imogen, Desdemona, and Cordelia.  They are

+not withered by age, nor stricken by decay.

+The Angel of Death passes them by.  They

+are celestial and immortal.  What joy that

+mighty pen must have given for three hundred

+years to the gifted women who have portrayed

+those matchless heroines.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"As Shakespeare is 'for all time,' so is he

+for all men the 'guide, philosopher, and

+friend.'  From whom can even monarchs surer

+look for majesty?  Who so inspires the statesman

+with true patriotism?  Who so teaches the

+gentleman his conduct; the preacher simple

+piety; the soldier chivalry and courage?  Who

+gives the poet nobler themes; the painter

+loftier models; the lover sweeter idols; a son

+such sound advice?  Who so plainly tells the

+player of his faults? and by whom is youth so

+upheld by hope, or declining years so soothed

+with consolation?

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"I remember well a visit I paid upon a

+dusky evening to Westminster Abbey.  As I

+walked beneath its stately roof, to the sounds

+of the organ, twilight shadows were cast down

+the sacred aisles.  It seemed easy under such

+influence to believe the legend that, while

+writing the awful scene between Hamlet and

+his father's ghost, Shakespeare passed a long

+night alone within those hallowed walls.  In

+the fading light I looked upon the monument

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P210"></a>210}</span>

+in Poets' Corner and read the lines from <i>The

+Tempest</i> as they are inscribed there:

+</p>

+

+<p>

+  'The cloudcapt towers, the gorgeous palaces,<br>

+  The solemn temples, the great globe itself,<br>

+  Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;<br>

+  And like the baseless Fabric of a Vision<br>

+  Leave not a wrack behind.'<br>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+What grandeur, what pathos, are in the words;

+but we will not believe them&mdash;at least not of

+him.  The lustre&mdash;the undying lustre&mdash;Shakespeare's

+transcendent genius has shed upon the

+world marches down the ages undimmed by

+time."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+I lately came across a tribute to Shakespeare

+which provoked alike my admiration and

+surprise: the author being that brilliant wit

+and humorist, Douglas Jerrold.  These are

+his words:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"The great magician who has left immortal

+company for the spirit of man in his weary

+journey through this briary world&mdash;has

+bequeathed scenes of immortal loveliness for

+the human fancy to delight in&mdash;founts of

+eternal truth for the lip of man to drink, and

+drink&mdash;and for all time to be renovated with

+every draught."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Charles Wyndham

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Of that accomplished and delightful

+comedian, Charles Wyndham, there are bright

+thoughts of the happiness he gave to playgoers

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P211"></a>211}</span>

+during an exceptionally prolonged career.  Its

+only blemish, indeed, was its length, when the

+inevitable decay, which at last declines to be

+warded off, became manifest towards the end.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+His early successes were made at the

+Criterion Theatre, in plays of an amusing and

+frivolous kind, such as <i>The Great Divorce Case</i>,

+<i>Pink Dominoes</i> and <i>Betsy</i>.  These were followed

+by far better work, of a higher kind, and the

+production of those admirable comedies by

+Henry Arthur Jones, <i>The Case of Rebellious

+Susan</i> and <i>The Liars</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I confess to having thought, had I remained

+longer on the stage, how happy I should have

+been to have played some types of those

+delightful, helpful, elderly men, who often make

+life pleasanter to the young, and were so

+perfectly acted by Wyndham.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He retained his youthful appearance until

+late in life: the preservation of his "figure"

+was amazing, and he remained a good walker

+to the end, but never carried a cane.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+To recall a peculiarity of his hard working

+days, I have frequently known him stop at a

+post office and scrawl a hurried letter or send

+a telegram to himself, as a reminder of

+something important that he had to remember or

+to do.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The memory of Charles Wyndham should

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P212"></a>212}</span>

+always be held in high regard for his unbounded

+generosity and devoted service to the Actors'

+Benevolent Fund.  It was a pleasure and a

+privilege to me to propose that Lady Wyndham

+should be chosen to follow in his footsteps as

+its president.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Charles Hawtrey was a very old friend.  We

+knew him first at his father's well-known

+preparatory school for Eton, where I sent my son.

+The next phase came soon afterwards, when

+he confided to us his wish to go upon the stage;

+a wish my wife and I at once encouraged.

+This appeared a little before we commenced our

+Haymarket career with a revival of Lord

+Lytton's comedy, <i>Money</i>.  We said he could

+appear as a young member in the club scene,

+with a few lines to speak.  Hawtrey enthusiastically

+accepted the offer.  Unfortunately, an

+illness prevented its fulfilment, or he would

+have been the companion of Fred Terry in

+making his first appearance on that eventful

+evening.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Our paths in life, both on and off the stage,

+were much asunder, but we were always the

+best of friends, and I remember with pleasure

+a strong wish he expressed, during one of our

+meetings at Marienbad, when a scheme was on

+foot to build a theatre for him in the Haymarket,

+that he might christen it "The Bancroft."

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P213"></a>213}</span>

+My wife and I were sorry when the scheme fell

+through.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+He leaves the happiest memories to his

+shoals of friends&mdash;from the early days, of <i>The

+Private Secretary</i>; the middle stage, of <i>Lord

+and Lady Algy</i> and <i>The Man from Blankley's</i>;

+to end, with the gay maturity of <i>Ambrose

+Applejohn's Adventure</i>,&mdash;and laughter all the

+way.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Charles Hawtrey was the actor I have

+alluded to who had the widest knowledge of

+the Bible of any layman I have known.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+John Hare

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+My intimate and affectionate relations, both

+private and professional, with John Hare make

+me a little shy of writing about him with the

+warmth his long and brilliant career upon the

+stage deserves.  I was his oldest professional

+friend, having been a member of the company

+he first joined.  In the following year my wife

+offered him an engagement, and for ten years

+he was prominent among the attractive company

+of the old Prince of Wales's Theatre.  No

+young actor was, perhaps, so fortunate as

+himself, appearing as he did in three such successive

+and distinctive character parts as Lord Ptarmigant,

+the sleepy old Peer in <i>Society</i>, Prince

+Perovsky, the courtly Russian diplomat in

+<i>Ours</i>, and Sam Gerridge, the humble gasfitter

+in <i>Caste</i>.  The delicacy and finish of Hare's

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P214"></a>214}</span>

+acting was of great service to the Robertson

+comedies, in all of which he appeared.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When he left us it was to enter into friendly

+managerial rivalry.  I applauded the step as

+a wise one on his part; but, after so many

+years of close intimacy, I felt the wrench.

+From that moment the dressing-room he and

+I had shared knew me no more, and I found a

+lonely corner on another floor.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+And a friendly rivalry it was.  If we had our

+<i>Diplomacy</i>, he had his <i>Olivia</i>, a delightful play,

+in which Ellen Terry made so conspicuous a

+success and Terriss laid the firm foundation

+of his fine career.  My sole disappointment in

+connection with this beautiful production was

+that Hare had not plucked up the courage

+to attack the part of the dear old Vicar

+himself.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It is not for me to dwell upon his career,

+which was always to the credit of his calling,

+or enumerate his successes, only naming

+Pinero's brilliant works, <i>The Notorious

+Mrs. Ebbsmith</i> and <i>The Gay Lord Quex</i>.  In the first

+of them Mrs. Patrick Campbell clinched her

+previous triumph; in the second Irene Vanbrugh

+seized the opportunity of rushing to the

+front, where she has remained ever since.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+On an occasion when Hare proposed my

+health in distinguished company, it was pleasant

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P215"></a>215}</span>

+to listen to words which were too flattering to

+allow of their repetition.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Meissonier of our stage

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I am inclined to say that Hare's best and

+most complete individual work was his delightful

+portrait of old Benjamin Goldfinch in <i>A

+Pair of Spectacles</i>, a performance which gave

+us something of the simplicity and benevolence

+of the immortal Samuel Pickwick.  I think

+of Hare, in all he did, as the Meissonier of our

+stage.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap10"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P216"></a>216}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+X

+<br><br>

+ONE OTHER EMPTY CHAIR

+</h3>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "If we really love those whom we lose,<br>

+  We never really lose those whom we love."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+The time has come for me to offer my apology

+for this book.  In my lonely, but not unhappy,

+old age, the most void of all the Empty Chairs

+which now surround me is the one so long

+filled by my partner for more than fifty years.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Let me begin by saying that the foundation

+of our fortunes was due, solely, to her courage

+in gallantly deciding that danger was preferable

+to dullness, and in producing <i>Society</i>, the

+first of the Robertson comedies, against adverse

+advice and the fact that the manuscript had

+been "turned down" by the leading London

+managers of the day.  It may be that the brave

+decision was also pleasant to her because at

+the time our mutual attachment was steadily

+ripening, and, although the part she was willing

+to take was not prominent, the character which

+would fall to my lot was a good one and likely to

+advance my position, if I played it well.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P217"></a>217}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The return to Nature

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+To the exceptional and startling success

+upon production of Robertson's five delicate

+little comedies, and to the frequently-recurring

+revivals of them, we owed much.  They

+appeared just when they were wanted to revive

+interest in the drama.  Nature was Robertson's

+goddess, and he looked upon the bright young

+manager as the high-priestess of the natural

+school of acting.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+When the prolific fountain ceased, through

+the early and untimely death of Robertson, the

+choice of plays until the end of our career was

+left to me.  I was honoured and helped by

+implicit confidence in my judgment; no word

+of rebuke passed her lips for a mistake, no

+word of praise was withheld when it was

+thought merited.  No spark of professional

+jealousy was born to her; she always loved to

+act with the ablest and best equipped of her

+comrades.  She had no place for the more

+sordid side of life, and was as free from

+extravagance as she was indifferent about money.

+Her life from childhood was passed in the

+service of the public until I thought the time

+had come for it to be less strenuous.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It may be that for the early withdrawal from

+triumphant scenes of the great gifts of so

+famous an actress I was to blame&mdash;if blame

+there was.  I plead excuse in a painful

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P218"></a>218}</span>

+remembrance of pitiful words, written by a

+powerful pen, on lingering too long upon the

+stage; words which drew the sad picture of a

+much-loved servant of the public clinging to

+the faded chaplet won as its idol in earlier

+days; of clutching at the withered trophy after

+the time had come for its graceful surrender

+to youth and promise, and before the admiration

+once so showered upon her should be

+replaced by indulgence&mdash;indulgence to be

+followed by compassion, compassion in its turn

+by indifference.  Indulgence&mdash;compassion&mdash;indifference.

+The mere utterance of such words

+causes one pain.  Twilight in art&mdash;as in

+nature&mdash;must be mournful: surely a sweeter picture is

+the splendid sinking of an early autumnal sun.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+It will mean happiness to me to lay a few

+flowers at her feet, gathered in the gardens of

+those who knew and loved her.  So I have

+asked three dear friends, a man of letters, a

+dramatist, and an actor, to help me in that task.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Macready and the child

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The first tribute is from the pen of W. L. Courtney:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"MY DEAR B,&mdash;

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"I gladly avail myself of the opportunity

+you give me to pay a tribute to the memory

+of Lady Bancroft.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"She herself has told us the sort of impression

+she made on those around her when she was

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P219"></a>219}</span>

+a child; and because that early verdict

+passed on her is singularly prescient, it is

+worth recalling.  Macready is the first witness.

+Marie Wilton&mdash;to use her maiden name, which

+was soon to be famous on the stage&mdash;acted the

+parts of the boy Fleance and the apparition

+of a child in the caldron scene to Macready's

+Macbeth at the close of his career, and was

+invited by the great actor to visit him in his

+room.  'Well,' he said, 'I suppose you hope

+to be a great actress some day.  And what do

+you intend to play?'  The answer came at

+once: 'Lady Macbeth.'  'Oh, is that all!

+Well, I like your ambition.  You are a strange

+little thing and have such curious eyes.  But

+you must change them before you play Lady

+Macbeth, or you will make your audience

+laugh instead of cry.'  The story shows that

+Macready had quickly noticed two things about

+the child.  Her eyes, which were not so much

+curious as unusual and always alive, were

+laughing, merry, twinkling eyes, the eyes of

+one who would never allow her outlook on the

+world to be other than genial and good; who

+could bear misfortune with as much courage

+as good fortune.  He had noticed also what

+was almost the first thing that the spectator

+observed about Marie Bancroft's performance

+in almost every one of her parts, and that

+was the inscrutable fashion in which she at

+once established the best relations with her

+audience.  It was in its way a little bit of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P220"></a>220}</span>

+magic, the secret of which she retained.  The

+effect was irresistible.  She came down to the

+footlights, or stayed where she was, without

+movement, and instantly flashes of mutual

+goodwill passed between her and the audience,

+even before the musical tones of her voice

+were heard.  Sometimes, as with an actress

+like Eleonora Duse, time has to elapse while

+she is, so to speak, making herself at home.

+Marie Bancroft had undoubtedly what I have

+called a little bit of magic.  Whatever the part

+that she was to play, there was always the

+comfortable feeling when she was on the stage

+that everything was going well, and that

+success was practically assured.  In the series

+of her parts in the Robertsonian drama she

+was, of course, helped by the author's

+knowledge of her and of her temperament; but

+whether she was a schoolgirl or supposed to

+be grown up; whether the part belonged to the

+upper or the lower levels of society: in every

+case sympathy was instantly linking her with

+the eager and attentive house.  She no sooner

+came than she saw what was wanted, and she

+conquered with what seemed consummate ease

+and economy of effort.  I have never seen

+an actress who more rapidly and easily made

+her presence known on the stage as a gracious,

+winsome, affectionate creature, filled with

+human kindness, and always ready to believe

+the best of people and of things.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Dickens and the girl

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"And so the judgment of Charles Dickens is

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P221"></a>221}</span>

+established as surely as that of Macready.  'I

+really wish,' said Dickens in a letter to John

+Forster, 'I really wish you would go to see

+<i>The Maid and the Magpie</i> burlesque at the

+Strand Theatre.  There is the strangest thing

+in it that I have ever seen on the stage.  The

+boy Pippo, by Miss Marie Wilton, while it is

+astonishingly impudent&mdash;must be or it could

+not be done at all&mdash;is so stupendously like a

+boy and unlike a woman that it is perfectly

+free from offence.  I have never seen such a

+curious thing; the manner, the appearance,

+the levity, impulse and spirits of it are so exactly

+like a boy that you cannot see anything like

+her sex in association with it.  I call her the

+cleverest girl I have ever seen on the stage in

+my time, and the most original.'  That is, of

+course, a tribute to her cleverness, which made

+her the best of burlesque actresses.  If

+Macready's judgment refers to the seriousness of

+her ambition, Charles Dickens calls attention

+to her extraordinary versatility, her power of

+identifying herself with any part she assumed,

+and the rapidity with which she comprehended

+all that was implicit in it.  Of the burlesques

+of those days Marie Wilton was the acknowledged

+queen, inspiring the whole of the silly

+or serious business with her inimitable gaiety

+and amazing ability.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"The more general the sympathy an actress

+possesses with human nature, the wider will

+be her interpretation of a part.  We talk

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P222"></a>222}</span>

+about building up a character.  It is only

+saying in other words that the primary duty

+of the heroine in a play is to make us

+understand, not only what she is in the play, but

+what she might be under other conditions.

+The extraordinary thing about Marie Bancroft,

+when she left burlesque for modern comedy,

+is that from the first she interpreted the

+character she was representing in the largest,

+most sympathetic manner, as having an inner

+nature or temperament of much more subtle

+value than came out in the actual presentation.

+Superficially, the characters of Polly Eccles

+and Naomi Tighe&mdash;both great favourites with

+Marie Bancroft&mdash;can be easily described.  They

+are bright, garrulous, happy creatures, full of

+fun, quick in tongue, responsive to humour,

+and always amusing to watch.  But as we left

+the theatre, after seeing her act them, we were

+aware that they are something more.  Behind

+the drolleries of Naomi Tighe beats an extremely

+warm heart, a genuine comradeship, and an

+especial love, of course, of her dear friend,

+Bella.  But in Polly Eccles there was still

+more.  I was always surprised to think that

+Marie Bancroft should have preferred the

+schoolgirl Naomi to the high-hearted, devoted

+friend who was Polly Eccles, in whom we have

+touches of a fuller personality than could be

+found either in Naomi or in Mary Netley of

+<i>Ours</i>.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The fulfilment

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"These, however, were, after all, the earlier

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P223"></a>223}</span>

+creations in comedy of an artist destined to do

+much finer work.  Her full powers were

+proved later on, especially in Peg Woffington.

+The picture showed traces of the same handiwork;

+and indeed the audience would never

+have been satisfied if Marie Bancroft had not

+set her unmistakeable seal on this character as

+on others.  There was something in the pathos

+of the main situation, however; something, too,

+in the exquisite sympathy between Peg and

+Triplet, which touched the very source of

+tears.  What we saw here was the fulfilment

+of a promise discerned in her earlier creations,

+an admirable example of the many-sided

+presentment of a character, so that it becomes

+something of daily experience.  The humorous

+eyes, the sensitive mouth, the face ever ready

+to suggest laughter and fun, the attractive

+little touches of temperament and feeling&mdash;those

+had come together to form a beautiful

+presentment of a gracious and affectionate

+being, who could help others in their distress,

+because she herself had come through deep

+waters.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"There is one point which it would be wrong

+to pass over without comment.  There is

+sometimes talk of jealousy between artists.

+Of the spirit of emulation, the spirit of ambition,

+the desire to do the best possible under the

+given conditions&mdash;of these, which are part and

+parcel of a noble nature, Marie Bancroft had

+her full share.  But it was always noticed that

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P224"></a>224}</span>

+she had no touch of professional jealousy.  She

+often sank her own importance as an actress,

+cheerfully taking a small part.  Both she and

+you had made up your minds not to allow

+consideration of your own parts to bias your

+judgment in the refusal or acceptance of plays.

+You judged the plays on their merits&mdash;not on

+the ground that parts in them would or would

+not suit either of you.  With the utmost

+readiness Marie Bancroft played second parts

+to Madame Modjeska, to Mrs. John Wood, to

+Mrs. Patrick Campbell, as well as to

+Mrs. Kendal and to Ellen Terry.  Self-abnegation

+of this kind is sufficiently rare to be worthy

+of comment.  Its value, is, of course, obvious.

+Without it some of your most successful

+productions would never have been given.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Many critics, especially young ones, are

+inclined to decry the value of Robertson's

+plays; but the fact remains that, with those

+comedies as your material, Marie Bancroft and

+you initiated a revolution in English drama.

+In those plays she rejoiced in characters

+exactly suited to her genius, characters to

+which she could give all her laughter and sense

+of fun, in creating personalities which will

+always live in the memories of those who saw

+them.  She not only acted; she possessed

+that constructive instinct which enabled her

+to pass judgment on and vastly to improve

+the comedies submitted to her.  Of this, there

+is no better example than what happened with

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P225"></a>225}</span>

+Charles Reade's play, <i>Masks and Faces</i>, when

+Reade, moved to tears by her performance of

+the ending which at one rehearsal she

+substituted for that which he had written, very

+wisely gave way to the superior imaginative

+perception of Marie Bancroft, the actress of

+Peg Woffington.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Personality

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"In final retrospect, we come back to the

+'curious eyes' and the laughter-provoking

+face which Macready discovered.  In all arts

+we have to recognise the personal element,

+which makes the work of one man so different

+from that of another.  We do not mistake the

+inimitable touch of a Millais or confuse it with

+that of a Sargent.  We do not read a page of

+Henry James and imagine that it could have

+been written by George Meredith.  In the

+same way an actor portraying a character

+puts into it so much of himself that we contrast

+his representation with that of another

+actor&mdash;quite as good, perhaps, but of a different

+quality.  This element of personality is called

+'style,' and it is by style that an artist lives

+and betrays his or her idiosyncrasy.  And no

+one had a more appealing style than Marie

+Bancroft, who could do with our hearts what

+she pleased.  The roguish eyes, the inimitable

+smile, the sense of humour, the joy of

+living&mdash;all those were hers; and it was by some

+wonderful combination of all dramatic gifts

+that she won her complete and perfect triumph.

+Those (alas! now how few) who in old days

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P226"></a>226}</span>

+sat spellbound, as they saw her winning the

+palms of victory in many a famous play, will

+confess with unbounded gratitude how much

+of happy memory they owe to the grace, the

+skill, the charm, the sympathy of Marie

+Bancroft.

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+  "Yours sincerely,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"W. L. COURTNEY."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+The second tribute is from Arthur Pinero:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"MY DEAR B.,

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"It is my firm belief that the most

+ardent and persistent lover of the drama, after

+a long life of playgoing, and when the

+footlights illuminating his own private and

+personal drama are beginning to burn low, can,

+if he be honest with himself, count his red-letter

+nights in the theatre, at a liberal estimate,

+on the fingers of both hands.  Such is the case

+with me at any rate.  Many distinguished and

+moving performances, memorable in their way,

+have I witnessed; but the real, unmistakeable

+red-letter nights&mdash;heart and brain clutching&mdash;how

+few!  Some premieres at the old Lyceum,

+under the management of the Batemans and,

+subsequently, of Irving himself, two or three

+representations at the Théâtre Français&mdash;notably

+Mounet Sully's acting, as it was

+thirty years ago, in <i>Œdipe Roi</i>&mdash;Duse's earliest

+appearance in England in <i>La Dame aux

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P227"></a>227}</span>

+Camélias</i>; to recall these things gives one a

+catch in the breath&mdash;these and the first time

+I saw Marie Wilton as 'Polly Eccles.'

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+A red-letter night

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"This particular red-letter night happened

+at the Standard Theatre in Shoreditch in, I

+think, August, 1873.  (You, in whose honour

+a University should create the degree of

+Master of Dates, so curious, so infallible&mdash;occasionally,

+to the ladies, so disconcerting&mdash;is

+your memory, will correct me if I am wrong

+as to the month or year.)  The company of

+the dainty little Prince of Wales's Theatre had

+carried their delicate art to that not too

+salubrious quarter of the town, and were delighting

+the East-enders in Robertson's <i>Caste</i>.  Nowadays

+it is the critical habit to sniff at Robertson

+and his simple, humane comedies; but the

+work of a writer for the stage should be judged

+in relation to the period which produced it,

+and, so judged, Robertson was a man of vision

+and courage.  There is no dramatist now

+writing, 'advanced' or otherwise, who is not

+in a measure indebted to Robertson.  But how

+lucky he was in the people who interpreted

+him!  Take <i>Caste</i>, for instance.  Lydia

+Foote&mdash;her appealing 'Esther Eccles' was

+approached in later years only by Olga Brandon

+in a revival of the piece at the Criterion&mdash;the

+highly capable Mrs. Leigh Murray, the

+unctuous Honey, John Hare, most refined of

+miniaturists, the fascinating Coghlan&mdash;who had

+succeeded Frederick Younge, whom I never

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P228"></a>228}</span>

+saw, as 'George D'Alroy'&mdash;-yourself as

+'Hawtree'&mdash;a monumental picture of Swelldom,

+unequalled, in its combination of grotesqueness

+and good breeding, by any stage Swell of my

+time&mdash;even Sothern's 'Dundreary' couldn't

+touch your 'Hawtree'&mdash;and, above and beyond

+you all, the glorious actress who used to figure

+in the playbills as 'Miss Marie Wilton

+(Mrs. Bancroft),' and was to become Lady Bancroft;

+what a wonderful&mdash;what an unmatchable&mdash;troupe!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Enter Polly"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"That red-letter night in unsavoury Shoreditch!

+Outside the theatre, the thick air of

+a warm evening, presently to be fouled by the

+fumes of the naphtha lamps of the gutter

+tradesmen; the incessant bawling of those

+gentry; the garish display of cheap wares

+in the shop-windows; the jostling and shoving

+of the loiterers on the pavement; and the

+sensation of complete happiness, almost choking

+in its intensity, because one was going to

+the play!  And the fight for a front seat in the

+pit; the contentment, after a terrific struggle

+resulting in a torn jacket and the limpest of

+shirt-collars, at finding oneself in possession of about

+eight inches of bare board; and the settling

+down to enjoy the blended odours, peculiar to

+the popular theatre of that day, of gas and stale

+orange-peel, than which no more agreeable

+smell could greet the nostrils of a stage-struck

+youth!  Then the tuning-up by the orchestra&mdash;joyful

+discord&mdash;and the unheeded playing of a

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P229"></a>229}</span>

+'selection'; and then the rising of the curtain,

+the sudden hush of voices, and lo! there

+is the poor, shabby room on the ground-floor

+of the lodging-house in Stangate!  George

+appears, followed by Hawtree; they talk, and

+I wonder that their talk should be so different

+from the talk I had heard in other plays; then

+comes 'Papa Eccles,' who 'can tell a real

+gentleman with half a sov'; then, when Papa,

+the half-sovereign in his dirty fist, has shuffled

+away to meet a friend round the corner,

+Esther steals in; and then&mdash;oh, then!&mdash;'Enter

+Polly, D.R.H.,' as the stage direction

+says, and in a moment the audience is

+enraptured by the brightest, freshest, sweetest

+little woman that ever gladdened ears and

+eyes in or out of a playhouse!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Those, my dear B., who can remember

+Lady Bancroft in the plenitude of her powers,

+the fulness of her witchery, are&mdash;I speak

+feelingly&mdash;rapidly growing fewer and fewer;

+and it is with the aim, I suppose, of conveying

+an impression of what she was at the time I

+mention, and for at least a decade afterwards,

+to the theatre-lovers of to-day&mdash;who saw her,

+if they saw her at all, when age had begun

+to weigh upon her&mdash;and to the theatre-lovers

+of the future, that you are inviting two or three

+men, old enough so to remember her, and who

+yet linger more or less actively on the scene, to

+contribute to your forthcoming book.  Phew!

+A pretty difficult task, unless one employs

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P230"></a>230}</span>

+language which in modern slang I understand

+is called 'mushy.'  In the first place, of course,

+she knew her business to her finger-tips.  That

+a practitioner of any of the arts should have

+known his or her business is frequently

+remarked in disparagement.  Great artists,

+however, will take care to include a knowledge of

+their business&mdash;i.e. of the tricks of their

+trade&mdash;among other accomplishments, one of the

+latter being the faculty for hiding those tricks

+from the public.  Lady Bancroft knew her

+business&mdash;and other people's; that is, though

+a born comedian, she could, if her physique

+had allowed of it, have 'gone on,' in theatrical

+phrase, for Lady Macbeth, or Juliet, or Ophelia,

+and have triumphed.  (In fact, occasionally,

+she did 'go on' for parts for which she was

+hardly physically suited, and perhaps it was a

+pity she didn't do so oftener.  She would have

+been forgiven.)  And her experience,

+commencing in babyhood, and her innate

+cleverness, had taught her how, while keeping

+strictly within the picture-frame, to button-hole,

+as it were, each individual member of

+the audience.  The man on the farthest bench

+of the topmost gallery, as well as the man in

+the stalls, was flattered by her skill into

+believing that she was acting specially for him.  I

+myself have watched her act from the sixpenny

+gallery of a large theatre&mdash;that same Standard

+in Shoreditch, the pit being beyond my means

+for a second visit&mdash;and felt that she was so

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P231"></a>231}</span>

+near to me that by stretching out my hand I

+could have grasped hers.  As for her laugh, I

+won't&mdash;I daren't&mdash;attempt to describe it,

+because I should have to say that at one moment

+it was like the trill of a singing-bird, at another

+that it seemed not to be the music of her throat,

+but to bubble up from her very soul; and that,

+though gospel-truth, would be too terribly

+mushy.  Nor her speaking-voice, because,

+again, I should have to say that it had something

+of the quality of the note of the purest

+of silver bells; nor her eyes, because in mirth

+they twinkled&mdash;thrice-hackneyed simile!&mdash;like

+twin stars, and in expressing sorrow resembled

+the little rain-pools when the sun has come

+out after a summer shower; and to say

+anything of the sort, while it would be equally

+true, would also be mushy to an insupportable

+degree.  But I will say, because it is just a

+trifle less trite and banal, and because to do

+her justice it ought to be said, that the secret

+and source of her genius lay not in her

+artistry&mdash;which was consummate&mdash;but in <i>herself</i>.  She

+was a fine, warm-hearted creature, and her

+acting was a reflection of the glow of her

+innermost nature.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The secret of genius

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Patches of shadow becloud every career,

+however brilliant.  The tragedy of Lady

+Bancroft's career was that after Robertson's death

+no dramatist arose who could, or would, provide

+her with material worthy of her talent.

+For years, therefore, she retained her hold

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P232"></a>232}</span>

+upon the public mainly by her 'Polly' in

+<i>Caste</i>, 'Naomi Tighe' in <i>School</i>, and 'Mary

+Netley' in <i>Ours</i>.  From time to time she acted

+in new pieces by other authors, which lacked

+the attraction of Robertson at his best; and

+then, after giving us a captivating Lady

+Teazle, and delighting us in revivals of some

+other old comedies, in order to extend the

+repertory of the theatre she gallantly

+subordinated herself, when policy demanded it,

+to playing parts of minor importance.  Towards

+the end, spurred by a surviving ambition into

+trying to make bricks without straw&mdash;and it

+must be confessed that she made sounder

+bricks without straw than did many an actress

+who was supplied with stacks of that commodity&mdash;she

+took to applying her ready wit to 'writing

+up' the tiny parts she was condemned to play,

+until at last her rare appearances became not

+so much those of an actress engaged in

+impersonating a character as of a charming lady

+determined at all costs to be amusing.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"But she had done enough long before then

+to win a place in stage history with the most

+illustrious of the comic actresses of the past.

+Margaret Woffington, Kitty Clive, Frances

+Abington and Dorothea Jordan had a legitimate

+successor in Marie Wilton.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Thank you for letting me join in your

+tribute to her.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Devotedly yours, till my chair is empty,

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"ARTHUR PINERO."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P233"></a>233}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+Truth to nature

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The third tribute is from Johnston

+Forbes-Robertson:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+"MY DEAR B,

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"It is a great privilege to comply with

+your wish.  It was in 1878 that I first met

+Lady Bancroft.  She was then about to retire

+for a holiday from the part of Zicka in

+<i>Diplomacy</i>.  A year later I had the good fortune to

+meet her on the stage when you engaged me

+to act in <i>Ours</i>.  In the following year I moved

+with the celebrated company from the Prince of

+Wales's to the Haymarket Theatre, which had

+been transformed by you into the most

+beautiful theatre in London.  Here I was cast for

+a part in <i>School</i>: hence it is my proud boast

+that I acted with Marie Bancroft in her prime,

+and was in personal touch with Mary Netley

+and Naomi Tighe!

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Alas! it is not in me to convey to the

+present generation the powers of this incomparable

+actress.  The winsomeness, the cajolery,

+the sprightly vivacity, the joyousness,

+and the tenderness of it all!  Every note

+could she play upon, and never was any note

+forced.  The means by which she attained these

+varied and subtle emotions were not to be

+traced.  All appeared so simple, so illusive,

+that it came home to one as being absolutely

+true to nature.  She was complete mistress of

+all the resources of her art, and yet those

+resources were never laid bare, never discoverable

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P234"></a>234}</span>

+by the onlooker.  Every movement was

+simple, direct and natural; every intonation

+and inflection true; every word that fell from

+her lips clean cut and distinct.  No matter how

+rapidly a passage was delivered, she was heard

+even to the farthest seat of the largest theatre.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Polly Eccles!  Why, the very thought of

+the name makes my face pucker with smiles,

+and it must be bordering on fifty years ago

+when first she bewitched me in the part!

+Yes, 'bewitching Marie Wilton' was a phrase

+common amongst us in those days, and in

+truth the witchery was there in full measure,

+and to overflowing.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"Still in my mind is the beautiful farewell

+to her on the day when her mortal remains

+were laid to rest.  I was very proud at finding

+myself one of the four intimate friends chosen

+to pay their last respects at her burial; and

+when, towards the close of the memorial service

+at St. Martin-in-the-Fields which immediately

+followed it, that inspired man delivered the

+farewell address (quite the most beautiful

+of the many I have heard), I was shaken with

+a deep emotion even to tears.

+</p>

+

+<p class="noindent">

+  "Ever your affectionate friend,<br>

+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"J. FORBES-ROBERTSON."<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+I will restrict myself to writing of her in one

+play only, and will choose W. S. Gilbert's

+dramatic contrast <i>Sweethearts</i>&mdash;which, by the

+way, I had the good fortune to name.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P235"></a>235}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Sweethearts"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+No play of its length has ever excited more

+attention than <i>Sweethearts</i>.  Pages could be

+filled with the chorus of praise which swelled

+from the press.  One leading critic wrote that

+Gilbert had determined to test talent by a most

+difficult stage exercise; and that my wife

+had been able to prove the studied grace and

+polished elegance of her dramatic scholarship.

+From the subject set to her, called <i>Sweethearts</i>,

+she produced the poem of "Jenny."  The

+success of the creation was complete.  No

+striking or unusually clever writing, no wit, or

+epigram, or quaint expression of words, no

+telling scene, or passionate speech, taken

+separately or in combination, could account

+for the impression made by the actress.  The

+audience was fascinated by the detail of the

+portrait, as charming in youth as it was

+beautiful in age.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+An accomplished judge of acting, well

+acquainted with the European stage, after our

+retirement from management, said of my wife:

+"In my humble opinion, the gem of her

+repertoire is <i>Sweethearts</i>, next to that, <i>Masks and

+Faces</i> and <i>Caste</i>."  Ellen Terry has written

+that her performance in <i>Sweethearts</i> was

+unapproachable.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+More perfect acting, I venture to say, has

+not been seen upon our stage.  The <i>ars celare

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P236"></a>236}</span>

+artem</i> was at its highest and best; there were

+tones and touches, hints and suggestions,

+which were marvellous in the wealth of

+meaning they conveyed.  Of her acting, indeed, it

+might be said, as one of our old poets

+proclaimed of the face of his mistress:

+</p>

+

+<p class="poem">

+  "'Tis like the milky way i' the sky,<br>

+  A meeting of gentle lights without a name!"<br>

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+I have seen all the finest acting available to

+me in the last seventy years&mdash;since my

+boyhood&mdash;and still delight in the enjoyment of the

+stage.  I can summon noble phantoms from

+the past, and dwell gladly upon the experiences

+of more recent days.  After searching thought,

+the most critical remembrance, I can recall

+no acting more perfect, in my judgment, than

+my wife's performances in <i>Sweethearts</i>.  The

+creatures of the different acts were, from

+the first line to the last, absolutely distinct,

+but equally complete; the one, a portrait of

+impetuous girlhood, the other of calm maturity.

+There was not, throughout, one movement of

+the body, one tone of the voice, one look on

+the speaking face, to change or amend.  There

+was nothing, it seemed to me, that could in

+any way be bettered.  There shone throughout

+those gleams of genius which in all art are

+priceless.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P237"></a>237}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+In peace and war

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The parts she played upon the stage were the

+sweet romance of life, but she was ever ready

+to face its stern realities; and I was proud of

+her record in the Great War.  In spite of

+advanced years and broken health, she lived

+through it, with brief absences only, and

+without a murmur, on the shore of the sea, with all

+its alarms and risks; but, then, I have always

+known her to be brave, even when her life

+was in danger.  She was unsparing in

+hospitality&mdash;I recall an occasion when she had the

+pleasant company of General Sir Arthur

+Sloggett and Edward Knoblock, who were hung

+up with their men for the night at Folkestone&mdash;and

+untiring in organising and leading in

+amusements, helped by her interest in those

+who were spared, and those who were maimed

+and wounded, and by the remembrance of

+those who rest in the grave-fields of Flanders

+and France, or lie deep down under the sea.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+By her own written request, the hour and

+place of her funeral were kept secret, and were

+only known to immediate members of her

+family and four friends who were chosen to

+represent the calling she had loved and served.

+These four friends were Arthur Pinero,

+Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Arthur Chudleigh and

+Gerald du Maurier.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+The funeral was conducted by her friend and

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P238"></a>238}</span>

+mine, the Reverend W. H. Elliott, the Vicar

+of Holy Trinity, Folkestone, who delivered the

+Address at the Memorial Service which,

+immediately afterwards, was held at the Church

+of St. Martin-in-the-Fields by Canon Edgar

+Sheppard.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The spirit of the artist

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+This was the address to which Forbes-Robertson

+refers in his tribute; and I ask the

+reader, as a favour to myself, not to pass it by.

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"We have come together to remember before

+God one who, having played her part bravely

+and earnestly in this scene that men call life,

+is now hidden from us by the curtain that men

+call death.  We do so in the sure and certain

+hope that what we know of life here is only

+the First Act in a great eternal drama, of the

+which the end is not yet.  So often we feel, as

+one by one our friends depart in this mystery

+of death, that the curtain has fallen upon a tale

+that is only half told, its problems unsolved,

+its meaning undisclosed, its virtues unrewarded.

+But the play is not done.  We wait as Christians

+for the hour when, at the sounding of

+celestial trumpets, this great curtain shall uproll

+once again and reveal to our amazed eyes that

+last tremendous scene, in which all things shall

+be made new.  Such is death.  It is a pause&mdash;that

+is all&mdash;and one that does but make more

+wonderful the music of an endless life.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"I shall not do more than remind you of

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P239"></a>239}</span>

+those many gifts which Lady Bancroft possessed,

+which the years in their passing seemed

+to leave almost untouched, which she offered

+so freely for the public good.  After all, the

+work and significance of any life depend not

+so much upon its natural endowment as upon

+the spirit in which that endowment is accepted

+and used.  It is the spirit of the artist that

+matters, and it is of this in the lifetime of Lady

+Bancroft that you are thinking, I know, at

+this hour.  Without that eager generous spirit

+her influence could never have been what it was.

+I have heard her say more than once that in

+her youth she was not a very apt pupil in the

+use of the voice, and indeed that she made very

+little effort in regard to it, until one day her

+mother bade her think of the poor man who,

+tired out with his day's work, spent a

+hard-earned sixpence to see the play, and then went

+away disappointed, because he could not hear.

+From that moment everything for her was

+changed.  And the thought of that man at

+the back of the gallery&mdash;what she could do

+for him, to make him forget his cares and have

+his part in the sunshine and merriment of life,

+to take away the frown and to win the smile&mdash;was

+for her, I believe, the true motive and the

+abiding inspiration of her art.  Such a task,

+one cannot but think, is very much according

+to the mind of Him who gives the wayside

+flower a robe that Solomon might envy, that

+we may see it and be glad.  And there are few

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P240"></a>240}</span>

+things, I imagine, that bring so much comfort

+at the last, when the time has come to retreat

+from the active work of the world, and to

+reflect quietly in the gathering dusk upon what

+has been and what is yet to be, as the thought

+that one has done something to make others

+happy, that now and again one has managed

+to light a lamp or to kindle a fire in a cold and

+darksome room, that one has done what one

+could in one's own way to share the burdens

+of humanity and to minister to its need.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"I need scarcely say that one of the secrets

+of such a work as this is a heart which, in

+spite of all that time and circumstance can

+do, keeps young.  The first test of all art is

+sincerity.  It is impossible, I should suppose,

+to be in any true sense an interpreter of emotions

+that one has ceased to feel.  To represent

+in any way the vivacity, the buoyancy, the

+gaiety that belong to youth, its irrepressible

+humour, its unquenchable hope, is a task that

+the years make difficult enough for us all.  To

+attempt it successfully is only for those who

+in themselves have never yet grown old.  Lady

+Bancroft was a lover of young life.  She was

+beloved by all young people who knew her.

+And one felt in talking to her that, as her voice

+had kept its magic, so her nature had preserved

+within a tired body something of its youth.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+The secret of success

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"The world saw little of her during these

+latter years.  She lived her life in quiet places,

+among the trees and flowers in which she

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P241"></a>241}</span>

+delighted, within sight and sound of the

+ever-changing sea.  During these spring months her

+thoughts had dwelt much on that other world

+and the mysteries that await us there.  She

+spoke of it often, and expressed to me more than

+once what seemed rather a curious wish&mdash;curious

+because one so rarely meets it&mdash;to sit at

+a table with learned divines, as she called them,

+and to hear them discuss together the great

+matters of God and man, life and death, things

+present and things to come.  She had a most

+intense desire to know better that Power that

+holds us and shapes our ends.  She wanted to

+see His work more plainly that she might adore

+Him more perfectly.  She longed to discern

+His will that she might do it with a ready heart.

+And, as she talked of all this, deep reverence

+and great wistfulness came into her voice.

+She wished so much to understand.  Well, she

+has passed through the Valley now.  She has

+climbed above the mists that hang so closely

+around human life.  She has come out into

+the light&mdash;the light that never was on sea or

+land&mdash;before which all the shadows flee away.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+"So we think of her, so we give thanks for

+her to-day.  Men differ much in their ideas of

+success.  For myself, there is one definition

+that I like very much: 'He has achieved

+success who has lived long, laughed often, and

+loved much; who has gained the respect of

+intelligent men and the affection of little

+children; who has filled his niche and

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P242"></a>242}</span>

+accomplished his task; who has left the world a little

+better than he found it, whether by an improved

+poppy or by a perfect poem or by a saintly

+soul; who was looking always for the best in

+others, and was trying always to give the best

+he had.' So much of that is true of her whom

+we commemorate.  And we follow her now

+with our earnest prayers into that state of

+life into which it has pleased God to call her."

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+After the end many treasured letters came

+to me about her.  One was written by the

+Queen, and sent to me by hand; my wife for

+many years had been given the honour of

+writing direct to Her Majesty.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+From all the letters I will only quote a few

+words written by a friend:

+</p>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p>

+"Your loss is indeed great, and the world is

+poorer by the loss of a brilliant personality.

+Nobody has ever given greater pleasure to

+thousands and thousands than she did.  Let

+me tell you a little incident.  The first time

+you and Lady Bancroft came to us in Belgrave

+Square was one day when my mother was alive;

+she died forty years ago, so you will not

+recollect it.  At the time she was very ill, very

+depressed, and scarcely ever smiled.  After

+you and your wife left, my mother turned to

+me and said: 'What a wonderful woman!

+She has made my sad heart like a bright

+garden.'"

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P243"></a>243}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="sidenote">

+"Mary's Place"

+</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+I will end by telling of an episode which

+occurred on the day the old Prince of Wales's

+Theatre was launched on its eventful career,

+which, as it happily chanced, was a success

+from start to finish.  The incidents may have

+interest for the superstitious and afford

+amusement to the sceptic.  My wife's mother was

+too nervous to attend the first performance,

+and a married daughter took her for a country

+drive to distract her anxious thoughts.  They

+followed the road leading to Willesden, then

+quite rural.  All kinds of subjects were begun,

+to no purpose; the mother's mind was in

+the little theatre.  "Mary"&mdash;my wife was

+christened Marie, but Mrs. Wilton called her

+Mary&mdash;"has always been so fortunate; she

+seems to have lived a charmed life, but her

+luck may desert her now, and I am always

+wondering and dreaming, Emma, what may

+be the end of this brave but dangerous

+enterprise."  As the words left the mother's lips

+a corner in the road was reached, and suddenly

+their eyes encountered a little block of stone

+with an inscription upon it let into the wall of

+a row of humble houses facing them.  The

+inscription was: "Mary's Place, Fortune

+Gate."  It seemed like an answer, a prophecy,

+and it comforted Mrs. Wilton's anxious

+wonderings.

+</p>

+

+<p>

+<span class="pagenum">{<a id="P244"></a>244}</span>

+</p>

+

+<p>

+Later on, we often drove in that direction,

+to look at what became known to us as "The

+Stone of Destiny," and when, more than

+twenty years afterwards, the story appeared in

+print, we received a letter informing us that

+the little row was about to be pulled down to

+make room for larger and better houses to be

+built in their place.  The letter came from one

+interested in the property&mdash;a Mr. Bennett&mdash;who

+kindly asked if we would accept the "talisman";

+and he afterwards left it at our door.

+The stone was taken by us from one home to

+another; it is now let into the wall of the

+mausoleum I built for my wife in Brompton

+Cemetery, where all that is left of her in this

+world is at rest and where there is room

+for me.

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br></p>

+

+<p><a id="chap11"></a></p>

+

+<p><span class="pagenum">{<a id="P245"></a>245}</span></p>

+

+<h3>

+INDEX

+</h3>

+

+<p><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Abbey, Edwin, pictures, <a href="#P84">84</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Actors' Benevolent Fund, <a href="#P65">65</a>, 

+<a href="#P212">212</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Adelphi Theatre, <a href="#P195">195</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Aidé, Hamilton, <a href="#P24">24</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ainger, Canon, Master of the 

+Temple, <a href="#P92">92</a>, <a href="#P122">122</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ainley, Henry, <a href="#P60">60</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Alabama Conference, <a href="#P61">61</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Albery, James, <i>Two Roses</i>, <a href="#P181">181</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Alcester, Lord, nickname, <a href="#P124">124</a>; 

+bombardment of Alexandria, 

+<a href="#P124">124</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Alexander, George, <a href="#P198">198</a>; manager 

+of St. James's Theatre, 

+<a href="#P202">202</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Alexandra, H.M. Queen, <a href="#P1">1</a>; 

+at Sandringham, <a href="#P12">12</a>; 

+compliment from Lord Fisher, 

+<a href="#P123">123</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Alexandria, bombardment of, 

+<a href="#P124">124</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Alfred, King, statue of, <a href="#P90">90</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Alverstone, Lord, Lord Chief 

+Justice, <a href="#P64">64</a>, <a href="#P174">174</a>; interest in 

+the drama, <a href="#P65">65</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Anglesey, Lord, <a href="#P67">67</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Arabia</i>, the, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Arthur, Sir George, biography 

+of Lord Wolseley, <a href="#P127">127</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ascot, <a href="#P120">120</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ashbourne, Lord, Lord 

+Chancellor of Ireland, <a href="#P133">133</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Asquith, Rt. Hon. H. H., <a href="#P136">136</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Balfour, Earl, <a href="#P91">91</a>, <a href="#P121">121</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ballantine, Serjeant, <a href="#P70">70</a>; 

+criminal cases, <a href="#P71">71</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bancroft, George, <a href="#P112">112</a>, <a href="#P183">183</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bancroft, Marie, Lady, character 

+of her acting, <a href="#P29">29</a>, <a href="#P30">30</a>, <a href="#P162">162</a>, <a href="#P169">169</a>; 

+testimonial to Sarah 

+Bernhardt, <a href="#P23">23</a>; letter from Ouida, 

+<a href="#P33">33</a>; voice, <a href="#P60">60</a>; letter from 

+Lord Esher, <a href="#P66">66</a>; recites in 

+Italian, <a href="#P93">93</a>; opens the Scala 

+Theatre, <a href="#P108">108</a>; description of 

+<i>The Passing of the Third 

+Floor Back</i>, <a href="#P115">115</a>; character, 

+<a href="#P217">217</a>; tribute from 

+W. L. Courtney, <a href="#P218">218-226</a>; from 

+A. Pinero, <a href="#P226">226-232</a>; from Sir 

+J. Forbes-Robertson, <a href="#P233">233</a>; 

+acting in <i>Sweethearts</i>, <a href="#P234">234-236</a>; 

+work in the War, <a href="#P237">237</a>; funeral 

+<a href="#P237">237</a>. <i>See</i> Wilton

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bancroft, Sir Squire, date of his 

+birth, <a href="#P1">1</a>; attends the Thanksgiving 

+Service at St. Paul's, <a href="#P5">5</a>; 

+at Marlborough House, <a href="#P7">7</a>; 

+presentation to King Edward 

+VII, <a href="#P8">8</a>; meeting with him, <a href="#P9">9</a>; 

+at Monte Carlo, <a href="#P11">11</a>; readings 

+for hospitals, <a href="#P12">12</a>, <a href="#P62">62</a>; at 

+Sandringham, <a href="#P12">12</a>; knighthood 

+conferred, <a href="#P13">13</a>; at Marienbad, 

+<a href="#P14">14</a>, <a href="#P16">16</a>; predilection for 

+a good sermon, <a href="#P44">44</a>; "The 

+Art of Speaking and Reading," 

+<a href="#P47">47-50</a>; journey to Bradford, 

+<a href="#P52">52</a>; views on cremation, <a href="#P68">68</a>; 

+member of the Garrick Club, 

+<a href="#P78">78</a>; speech at the Royal 

+Academy Banquet, <a href="#P80">80</a>; portrait, 

+<a href="#P94">94</a>; retires from the 

+Haymarket Theatre, 118,178; 

+member of the M.C.C., <a href="#P120">120</a>; 

+compliment on his age, <a href="#P124">124</a>; 

+entertains Sir H. Irving, <a href="#P183">183-185</a>; 

+address at the Tercentenary 

+of Shakespeare, 

+<a href="#P207">207-210</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Barrett, Wilson, <a href="#P194">194</a>; <i>The Sign 

+of the Cross</i>, <a href="#P194">194</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Barrie, Sir James M., <i>The 

+Professor's Love Story</i>, <a href="#P198">198</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bartet, Madame, <a href="#P163">163</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bathe, Sir Henry de, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bathe, Lady de, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bayard, T. F., <a href="#P147">147</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Beaconsfield, Earl of, <a href="#P97">97</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Beaufort, Duke of, <a href="#P117">117</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bellew, Rev. J. M., <a href="#P38">38</a>, <a href="#P172">172</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bennett, Mr., <a href="#P244">244</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Benson, Sir Frank, knighthood 

+conferred, <a href="#P207">207</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Beresford, Lord Charles, <a href="#P124">124</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bernhardt, Sarah, <a href="#P21">21</a>, <a href="#P30">30</a>; acting 

+of <i>Fedora</i>, <a href="#P22">22</a>; letter from, 

+<a href="#P23">23</a>; testimonial to, <a href="#P23">23</a>; 

+character of her acting, <a href="#P24">24</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Birchington, <a href="#P75">75</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bird, Dr. George, <a href="#P139">139</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Boehm, Sir Edgar, statues, <a href="#P88">88</a>; 

+death, <a href="#P89">89</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Booth, Edwin, character of his 

+acting, <a href="#P166">166</a>; letter from, <a href="#P167">167</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Borthwick Sir Algernon, <a href="#P133">133</a>. 

+<i>See</i> Glenesk 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Boucicault, Dion, <a href="#P106">106</a>, <a href="#P132">132</a>, <a href="#P146">146</a>, 

+<a href="#P168">168</a>; <i>London Assurance</i>, <a href="#P169">169</a>, 

+<a href="#P171">171</a>; Irish plays, <a href="#P169">169</a>; <i>The 

+Trial of Effie Deans</i>, <a href="#P170">170</a>; 

+<i>How She Loves Him</i>, <a href="#P170">170</a>; 

+letters from <a href="#P171">171</a>, <a href="#P172">172</a>; epitaph, <a href="#P172">172</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Boyd-Carpenter, A., letter 

+from, <a href="#P55">55</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Boyd-Carpenter, Dr., Bishop of 

+Ripon, <a href="#P44">44</a>; sermons, <a href="#P45">45</a>, <a href="#P51">51</a>; 

+story of, <a href="#P46">46</a>; friendship with 

+the Empress Frederick, <a href="#P50">50</a>; 

+date of his birth, <a href="#P53">53</a>; entertains 

+the "75's," <a href="#P54">54</a>; verses, 

+<a href="#P54">54</a>; death, <a href="#P55">55</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Braddon, Miss, <a href="#P31">31</a>; <i>Lady 

+Audley's Secret</i>, <a href="#P34">34</a>; number 

+of her novels, <a href="#P34">34</a>; method 

+of working, <a href="#P35">35</a>. <i>See</i> Maxwell 

+Bradford, <a href="#P53">53</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brampton, Lord, <a href="#P71">71</a>. <i>See</i> Hawkins 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Bridge, Sir Frederick, <a href="#P41">41</a>, <a href="#P96">96</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brompton Cemetery, <a href="#P244">244</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brooke, G. V., <a href="#P157">157</a>, <a href="#P160">160</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brookfield, Canon, <a href="#P177">177</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brookfield, Charles, <a href="#P177">177</a>; stories 

+of, <a href="#P177">177</a>; joint Examiner of 

+Plays, <a href="#P178">178</a>; letter from, <a href="#P178">178</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brooks, Shirley, editor of 

+<i>Punch</i>, <a href="#P111">111</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brough, Lionel, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Brougham, Lord, <a href="#P58">58</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Browning, Oscar, <a href="#P142">142</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Browning, Robert, <a href="#P98">98</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Buller, General Sir Redvers, 

+<a href="#P129">129</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Buller, Lady Audrey, <a href="#P129">129</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Burdett-Coutts, Baroness, <a href="#P40">40</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Burghclere, Lord, <a href="#P68">68</a>. <i>See</i> 

+Gardner 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Burnand, Sir Frank C., <a href="#P73">73</a>, <a href="#P110">110</a>; 

+editor of <i>Punch</i>, <a href="#P111">111</a>; humour, 

+<a href="#P111">111</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Burnham, Lord, <a href="#P12">12</a>, <a href="#P134">134</a>. <i>See</i> 

+Lawson 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Burnham, Lady, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Burton, Lady, <a href="#P138">138</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Burton, Sir Richard, <a href="#P138">138</a>; 

+portrait of, <a href="#P78">78</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Butt, Clara, <a href="#P41">41</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Byron, H. J., <a href="#P7">7</a>; <i>Our Boys</i>, <a href="#P153">153</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cadenabbia, <a href="#P140">140</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Calthrop, Dion, <a href="#P174">174</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Calthrop, Donald, <a href="#P174">174</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Calthrop, John Clayton, character 

+of his acting, <a href="#P174">174</a>. <i>See</i> 

+Clayton 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cambon, M. Paul, <a href="#P33">33</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cambridge, H.R.H. Duke of, 

+memorial service, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Campbell, Mrs. Patrick, <a href="#P203">203</a>, 

+<a href="#P205">205</a>, <a href="#P214">214</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Carlyle, Thomas, statue of, <a href="#P88">88</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Carr, Comyns, <a href="#P143">143</a>; Director of 

+Grosvenor Gallery, <a href="#P143">143</a>; witty 

+sayings, <a href="#P144">144</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Carson, Lord, <a href="#P133">133</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Carton, Claude, <a href="#P202">202</a>; <i>Liberty 

+Hall</i>, <a href="#P204">204</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Caruso, Signor, <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cecil, Arthur, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P93">93</a>; story of, 

+<a href="#P175">175</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Chambers, Haddon, <a href="#P202">202</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Chambers, Montagu, <a href="#P73">73</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Chapel Royal, Whitehall, <a href="#P44">44</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Chaplin, Lord, <a href="#P2">2</a>, <a href="#P106">106</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Charles I, King, <a href="#P16">16</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Chelsea Hospital, parade of old 

+pensioners, <a href="#P6">6</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Choate, J. H., <a href="#P147">147</a>; story of, <a href="#P148">148</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Chorley, Henry Fothergill, <a href="#P59">59</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Chudleigh, Arthur, at the funeral 

+of Lady Bancroft, <a href="#P237">237</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cibber, Colley, <a href="#P30">30</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Clarence, H.R.H. Duke of, 

+death, <a href="#P10">10</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Claretie, Jules, director of the 

+<i>Théâtre français</i>, <a href="#P163">163</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Clarke, Sir Edward, <a href="#P121">121</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Clay, Cecil, <i>A Pantomime 

+Rehearsal</i>, <a href="#P144">144</a>, <a href="#P197">197</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Clay, Frederic, <a href="#P94">94</a>, <a href="#P96">96</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Clayton, John, <a href="#P7">7</a>; character of 

+his acting, <a href="#P174">174</a>. <i>See</i> Calthrop 

+Clemenceau, M., <a href="#P162">162</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice, 

+<a href="#P59">59</a>; voice, <a href="#P59">59</a>; knowledge of 

+languages, <a href="#P60">60</a>; president of 

+the Alabama Conference, <a href="#P61">61</a>; 

+death, <a href="#P61">61</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Coghlan, Charles, <a href="#P7">7</a>; character 

+of his acting, <a href="#P173">173</a>; death, <a href="#P174">174</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cohen, Arthur, <a href="#P70">70</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Collins, Wilkie, <a href="#P34">34</a>, <a href="#P103">103</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cooper, Miss Gladys, <a href="#P203">203</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Coquelin, Alexandre, <a href="#P161">161</a>, <a href="#P163">163</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Coquelin, Constant, <a href="#P22">22</a>, <a href="#P161">161</a>; 

+<i>Cyrano</i>, <a href="#P135">135</a>; letter from, 

+<a href="#P162">162</a>; tribute to, <a href="#P163">163</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Corry, Montagu, <a href="#P121">121</a>. <i>See</i> Rowton 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Corsican Brothers, The</i>, <a href="#P155">155</a>, <a href="#P183">183</a>, 

+<a href="#P186">186</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+County Fire Office, demolition, 

+<a href="#P198">198</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Court Theatre, <a href="#P195">195</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Courtney, W. L., tribute to the 

+memory of Lady Bancroft, 

+<a href="#P218">218-226</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Coyne, Stirling, <a href="#P196">196</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Critchett, Sir Anderson, <a href="#P61">61</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Critchett, George, <a href="#P104">104</a>, <a href="#P182">182</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Criterion Theatre, <a href="#P211">211</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Cromer, Earl of, <a href="#P54">54</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Curzon, George, Marquess, <a href="#P142">142</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Daudet, Alphonse, <a href="#P22">22</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Davis, Mr., <a href="#P148">148</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Dead Heart, The</i>, <a href="#P162">162</a>, <a href="#P186">186-187</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Derby, the, <a href="#P106">106</a>, <a href="#P120">120</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Desclée, Aimée, <a href="#P24">24</a>; character 

+of her acting, <a href="#P25">25</a>; death, <a href="#P25">25</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Devonshire House, fancy-dress 

+ball at, <a href="#P122">122</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Dickens, Charles, <a href="#P34">34</a>, <a href="#P35">35</a>, <a href="#P156">156</a>; 

+<i>Christmas Carols</i>, <a href="#P12">12</a>; <i>Household 

+Words</i>, <a href="#P73">73</a>; opinion of 

+Marie Wilton's acting, <a href="#P221">221</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Dickens, "Mamie," <a href="#P59">59</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Dilke, Sir Charles, <a href="#P68">68</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Diplomacy</i>, <a href="#P111">111</a>, <a href="#P173">173</a>, <a href="#P175">175</a>, <a href="#P214">214</a>, 

+<a href="#P233">233</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Doyle, Dicky, <a href="#P59">59</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Drury Lane Theatre, <a href="#P157">157</a>, <a href="#P207">207</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Dumas, Alexandre, <a href="#P22">22</a>, <a href="#P25">25</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Duse, Eleanora, <a href="#P22">22</a>, <a href="#P167">167</a>, <a href="#P203">203</a>, 

+<a href="#P220">220</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Edward VII, H.M. King, date 

+of his birth, <a href="#P1">1</a>; at the Prince 

+of Wales's Theatre, <a href="#P2">2</a>; illness, 

+<a href="#P5">5</a>; attends a Thanksgiving 

+Service, <a href="#P5">5</a>; at Chelsea 

+Hospital, <a href="#P6">6</a>; entertains actors, <a href="#P7">7</a>; 

+stories of, <a href="#P8">8-11</a>, <a href="#P13">13-16</a>; 

+presented with a cigar box, <a href="#P8">8</a>; 

+acts of kindness, <a href="#P11">11</a>; at 

+Marienbad, <a href="#P13">13</a>, <a href="#P16">16</a>; 

+characteristics, <a href="#P14">14-16</a>; death, <a href="#P16">16</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Elgar, Edward, <a href="#P27">27</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Eliot, George, <a href="#P34">34</a>, <a href="#P35">35</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ellicott, Bishop, story of, <a href="#P42">42</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ellicott, Mrs., <a href="#P42">42</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Elliott, Rev. W. H., address at 

+the Memorial Service to Lady 

+Bancroft, <a href="#P238">238-242</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Emery, Winifred, <a href="#P200">200</a>, <a href="#P204">204</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Esher, Lord, Master of the Rolls, 

+<a href="#P65">65</a>; letter to Lady Bancroft, 

+<a href="#P63">63</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Esher, Lady, <a href="#P66">66</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Eze, <a href="#P11">11</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Falkland, Lord, <a href="#P68">68</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Farquhar, Gilbert, <a href="#P118">118</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Farquhar, Horace, <a href="#P118">118</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Fechter, Charles, character of 

+his acting, <a href="#P154">154-156</a>; death, 

+<a href="#P156">156</a>; bust, <a href="#P156">156</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Fergusson, Sir William, <a href="#P104">104</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Fife, Earl of, <a href="#P119">119</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Fildes, Luke, <a href="#P77">77</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Fisher, Viscount, <a href="#P54">54</a>, <a href="#P122">122</a>; date 

+of his birth, <a href="#P16">16</a>; religious 

+views, <a href="#P123">123</a>; compliment to 

+Queen Alexandra, <a href="#P123">123</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Fisher, Lady, <a href="#P122">122</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston, 

+<a href="#P60">60</a>; tribute to the memory of 

+Lady Bancroft, <a href="#P233">233</a>; at her 

+funeral, <a href="#P237">237</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ford, Onslow, <a href="#P89">89</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Fountains Abbey, <a href="#P47">47</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Francis Joseph, Emperor of 

+Austria, <a href="#P14">14</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Frederick, Empress, illness, <a href="#P50">50</a>; 

+relations with her son, <a href="#P61">61</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Frith, W. P., <a href="#P84">84</a>; pictures, <a href="#P85">85</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Frohman, Charles, <a href="#P102">102</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Fun</i>, <a href="#P108">108</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Gardner, Herbert, <a href="#P68">68</a>. <i>See</i> 

+Burghclere 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Garrick Club, <a href="#P78">78</a>, <a href="#P102">102</a>, <a href="#P103">103</a>, <a href="#P154">154</a>, 

+<a href="#P156">156</a>, <a href="#P184">184</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Garrick, David, <a href="#P164">164</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Garrick Theatre, <a href="#P107">107</a>, <a href="#P199">199</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Gemmaert, Émile, <i>Carillon</i>, <a href="#P27">27</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Geneva, <a href="#P61">61</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+George V, H.M. King, <a href="#P17">17</a>; at 

+Sandringham, <a href="#P13">13</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Gilbert, Sir W. S., <a href="#P94">94</a>, <a href="#P107">107</a>, <a href="#P168">168</a>; 

+<i>Bab Ballads</i>, <a href="#P108">108</a>; plays, <a href="#P108">108</a>; 

+comic operas, <a href="#P108">108</a>; humorous 

+sayings, <a href="#P108">108-111</a>; <i>Sweethearts</i>, <a href="#P234">234-236</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Gill, Charles, <a href="#P75">75</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Gleichen, Count, <a href="#P90">90</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Glenesk, Lord, <a href="#P132">132</a>. <i>See</i> Borthwick 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Goldschmidt, Otto, <a href="#P18">18</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Gordon, General, statue of, <a href="#P90">90</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Goschen, Sir Edward, <a href="#P14">14</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Got, Edmond, <a href="#P22">22</a>, <a href="#P161">161</a>; letter 

+from, <a href="#P161">161</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Gounod, <a href="#P96">96</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Grace, W. G., <a href="#P120">120</a>; testimonial 

+to, <a href="#P110">110</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Grain, Corney, <a href="#P196">196</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Granville, Such, <a href="#P108">108</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Graves, Charles, lines from, <a href="#P146">146</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Green, Paddy, <a href="#P71">71</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Grenfell, Field-Marshal Lord, <a href="#P54">54</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Grisi, Madame, <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Grossmith, George, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P196">196</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Grossmith, Weedon, <a href="#P197">197</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hading, Jane, <a href="#P30">30</a>, <a href="#P203">203</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hall, Sir Charles, at Sandringham, <a href="#P12">12</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hannen, Lord, <a href="#P66">66</a>; President 

+of the Divorce Court, <a href="#P67">67</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hare, Sir John, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P8">8</a>, <a href="#P43">43</a>, <a href="#P67">67</a>, <a href="#P107">107</a>, 

+<a href="#P119">119</a>, <a href="#P213">213</a>; portrait, <a href="#P79">79</a>; character 

+of his acting, <a href="#P213">213-215</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Harrison, Frederick, <a href="#P200">200</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hawkins, Henry, <a href="#P71">71</a>. <i>See</i> Brampton 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hawtrey, Sir Charles, <a href="#P14">14</a>, <a href="#P212">212</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Haymarket Theatre, <a href="#P8">8</a>, <a href="#P117">117</a>, <a href="#P199">199</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Healy, Father, story of, <a href="#P70">70</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Herkomer, Sir Hubert, <a href="#P85">85</a>; <i>The 

+Last Muster</i>, <a href="#P6">6</a>, <a href="#P86">86</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Herschell, Baron, Lord Chancellor, <a href="#P70">70</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hesse, Prince Louis of, illness, 

+<a href="#P10">10</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hicks, Seymour, <a href="#P195">195</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+His Majesty's Theatre, <a href="#P199">199</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hodson, Henrietta (Mrs. Labouchere), <a href="#P139">139</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Holker, Lord Justice, <a href="#P69">69</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hood, Tom, <a href="#P168">168</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Hope, Anthony, <a href="#P202">202</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Houghton, Lord, <a href="#P100">100</a>. <i>See</i> Milnes 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Huddleston, Baron, <a href="#P67">67</a>; funeral, 

+<a href="#P68">68</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ibsen, H., <i>Hedda Gabler</i>, <a href="#P205">205</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Incubus, The</i>, <a href="#P191">191</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Inglefield, Admiral Sir Edward, 

+<a href="#P124">124</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Inglefield, Lady, <a href="#P125">125</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Irving, Elizabeth, <a href="#P192">192</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Irving, Sir Henry, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P180">180</a>; 

+banquet to, <a href="#P64">64</a>; portraits, <a href="#P79">79</a>, 

+<a href="#P90">90</a>, <a href="#P187">187</a>, <a href="#P188">188</a>; statue, <a href="#P89">89</a>; at 

+a fancy-dress ball, <a href="#P122">122</a>; in 

+Paris, <a href="#P181">181</a>; acting in <i>The 

+Bells</i>, <a href="#P182">182</a>; entertained at the 

+Garrick Club, <a href="#P184">184</a>; gift from 

+Sir S. Bancroft, <a href="#P187">187</a>; spends 

+Christmas Day with him, 

+<a href="#P183">183</a>; hospitality, <a href="#P188">188</a>; 

+tribute to, <a href="#P189">189</a>; sons, <a href="#P190">190</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Irving, H. B., <a href="#P190">190</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Irving, Laurence, <a href="#P190">190</a>; 

+character of his acting, <a href="#P191">191</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Irving, Laurence (son of H. B. Irving), <a href="#P192">192</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Isaacs, Sir Rufus, <a href="#P65">65</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+James, David, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+James, Henry, <a href="#P101">101</a>, <a href="#P203">203</a>; Order 

+of Merit conferred, <a href="#P102">102</a>; death, 

+<a href="#P102">102</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+James, Lord, of Hereford, <a href="#P67">67</a>, <a href="#P68">68</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Jefferson, Joseph, character of 

+his acting, <a href="#P165">165</a>; pictures, <a href="#P165">165</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Jerrold, Douglas, <a href="#P160">160</a>; tribute 

+to Shakespeare, <a href="#P210">210</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Jeune, Francis, <a href="#P65">65</a>, <a href="#P69">69</a>. <i>See</i> St. Helier 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Joachim, J., <a href="#P60">60</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Johnson, Dr., <a href="#P87">87</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Jones, Henry Arthur, <a href="#P109">109</a>, <a href="#P202">202</a>; 

+plays, <a href="#P198">198</a>; comedies, <a href="#P211">211</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Karsavina, <a href="#P27">27</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Kean, Charles, <a href="#P74">74</a>, <a href="#P156">156</a>, <a href="#P160">160</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Keeley, Louise, marriage, <a href="#P74">74</a>. 

+<i>See</i> Williams 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Keeley, Mrs., <a href="#P74">74</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Keeley, Robert, <a href="#P74">74</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Kelvin, Lord, <a href="#P122">122</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Kemble, Henry, stories of, <a href="#P176">176</a>; 

+death, <a href="#P177">177</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Kendal, Madge, <a href="#P29">29</a>, <a href="#P108">108</a>, <a href="#P201">201</a>, 

+<a href="#P203">203</a>. <i>See</i> Robertson 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Kendal, William, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P153">153</a>, <a href="#P198">198</a>, 

+<a href="#P201">201</a>; character of his acting, 

+<a href="#P202">202</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Key, Philip Barton, <a href="#P146">146</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Kitchener, Field-Marshal Earl, 

+<a href="#P126">126</a>; tribute to, <a href="#P126">126</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Knobloch, Edward, <a href="#P237">237</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Knollys, Lord, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Labouchere, Henry, <a href="#P68">68</a>, <a href="#P139">139</a>; 

+stories of, <a href="#P140">140</a>; "Letters of 

+a Besieged Resident," <a href="#P140">140</a>; 

+Privy Councillor, <a href="#P141">141</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Langtry, Mrs. portrait, <a href="#P79">79</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lascelles, Sir Frank, <a href="#P54">54</a>, <a href="#P55">55</a>; 

+Ambassador in Berlin, <a href="#P137">137</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lawson, Edward, <a href="#P134">134</a>. <i>See</i> Burnham 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Legault, Maria, <a href="#P22">22</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Leighton, Lord, President of 

+the Royal Academy, <a href="#P2">2</a>; 

+death, <a href="#P77">77</a>; remarkable gifts, 

+<a href="#P77">77</a>; <i>The Slinger</i>, <a href="#P78">78</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lemon, Mark, editor of <i>Punch</i>, 

+<a href="#P111">111</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lever, Charles, <a href="#P102">102</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lewis, Sir George, <a href="#P63">63</a>, <a href="#P68">68</a>; 

+tribute to, <a href="#P64">64</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lincolnshire, Lord, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lind, Jenny, <a href="#P18">18</a>; story of, 

+<a href="#P18">18-20</a>; medallion, <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lindsay, Sir Coutts, President 

+of the Grosvenor Gallery, 

+<a href="#P143">143</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Linley, Elizabeth, <a href="#P125">125</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lockwood, Sir Frank, <a href="#P72">72</a>, <a href="#P188">188</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Löhr, Marie, <a href="#P87">87</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Londesborough, Lord, <a href="#P119">119</a>; 

+member of the Coaching 

+Club, <a href="#P120">120</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Londesborough, Lady, <a href="#P10">10</a>, <a href="#P119">119</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+London, blizzard, <a href="#P9">9</a>; fog, <a href="#P140">140</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Longfellow, Henry W., story 

+of, <a href="#P99">99</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lonsdale, Frederick, <a href="#P76">76</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Lord Dundreary</i>, <a href="#P167">167</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lowell, J. R., <a href="#P147">147</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lucas, E. V., <a href="#P191">191</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lucy, Sir Henry, <a href="#P114">114</a>; appearance, <a href="#P115">115</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lucy, Lady, <a href="#P114">114</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lyceum Theatre, <a href="#P149">149</a>, <a href="#P166">166</a>, <a href="#P182">182</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lyttelton, Hon. Alfred, <a href="#P135">135</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Lytton, Bulwer, <a href="#P32">32</a>, <a href="#P34">34</a>; <i>Money</i>, 

+<a href="#P66">66</a>, <a href="#P173">173</a>, <a href="#P212">212</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Macduff, Viscount, <a href="#P118">118</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mackenzie, Sir Morell, <a href="#P202">202</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Macready, General Sir Nevil, 

+<a href="#P160">160</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Macready, Jonathan, <a href="#P160">160</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Macready, Major, <a href="#P160">160</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Macready, W. C., opinion of 

+Salvini's acting, <a href="#P159">159</a>; of Marie 

+Wilton's, <a href="#P219">219</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Malibran, Maria, <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Marienbad, <a href="#P13">13</a>, <a href="#P16">16</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mario, G., <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Marks, Henry Stacey, <a href="#P86">86</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Marlborough Club, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Marlborough House, dinner at, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Marshall, Robert, plays, <a href="#P113">113</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mary, H.M. Queen, <a href="#P117">117</a>, <a href="#P242">242</a>; 

+at Sandringham, <a href="#P13">13</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mathew, Lord Justice, <a href="#P70">70</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mathews, Charles, Public 

+Prosecutor, <a href="#P75">75</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mathews, Charles, <a href="#P149">149</a>; speech 

+at a banquet, <a href="#P150">150</a>; letter 

+from, <a href="#P151">151</a>; opinion of <i>Our 

+Boys</i>, <a href="#P153">153</a>; character of his 

+acting, <a href="#P153">153</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mathews, William, <a href="#P67">67</a>, <a href="#P75">75</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Maude, Cyril, <a href="#P200">200</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Maurice, Sir Frederick, biography 

+of Lord Wolseley, <a href="#P127">127</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Maurier, George du, Trilby, <a href="#P86">86</a>, 

+<a href="#P92">92</a>; drawings in Punch, <a href="#P91">91</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Maurier, Sir Gerald du, <a href="#P153">153</a>; 

+at the funeral of Lady Bancroft, <a href="#P237">237</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Maxwell, Mrs., <a href="#P31">31</a>. <i>See</i> Braddon 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Maxwell, W. B., <a href="#P35">35</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+May, Phil, <a href="#P185">185</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+McConnell, W. R., <a href="#P168">168</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+McDonnell, Schomberg or 

+"Pom," <a href="#P137">137</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Melba, Dame Nellie, <a href="#P20">20</a>; story 

+of, <a href="#P128">128</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Meredith, George, <i>Diana of the 

+Crossways</i>, <a href="#P125">125</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Merewether, Mr., <a href="#P67">67</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Meyerbeer, G., <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Millais, Sir John Everett, <a href="#P67">67</a>; 

+President of the Royal 

+Academy, <a href="#P78">78</a>; pictures, <a href="#P78">78</a>, 

+<a href="#P79">79</a>; portraits, <a href="#P79">79</a>, <a href="#P187">187</a>; landscapes, <a href="#P79">79</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Milnes, Monckton, <a href="#P100">100</a>. <i>See</i> 

+Houghton 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Modjeska, Helena, character of 

+her acting, <a href="#P27">27</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mohammedan legend, sermon 

+on, <a href="#P51">51</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Monckton, Lionel, <a href="#P195">195</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Montague, Henry, character of 

+his acting, <a href="#P172">172</a>; death, <a href="#P173">173</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Monte Carlo, <a href="#P11">11</a>, <a href="#P90">90</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Morley, Rt. Hon. Arnold, 

+Postmaster-General, <a href="#P68">68</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Morley, Viscount, <a href="#P68">68</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Morris, Clara, <a href="#P30">30</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Mounet-Sully, M., <a href="#P162">162</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Nevill, Lady Dorothy, <a href="#P35">35</a>; 

+reminiscences, <a href="#P36">36</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Nevill, Ralph, <a href="#P36">36</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Neville, Henry, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Nijinsky, <a href="#P27">27</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Norton, Mrs., <a href="#P125">125</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+O'Connor, Rt. Hon. T. P., <a href="#P142">142</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ohnet, Georges, <a href="#P22">22</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Olivia</i>, <a href="#P214">214</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Onslow, Lord, <a href="#P120">120</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Orchardson, Sir W. Q., pictures, 

+<a href="#P84">84</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Orton, Arthur, claimant in the 

+Tichborne trial, <a href="#P71">71</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+"Ouida," <a href="#P31">31</a>; novels, <a href="#P32">32</a>; 

+views on female suffrage, <a href="#P32">32</a>; 

+letter from, <a href="#P33">33</a>. <i>See</i> Ramée 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Oxford and Cambridge cricket 

+match, <a href="#P135">135</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Paderewski, I. J., <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Page, Dr. W. H., <a href="#P147">147</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Paris, siege of, <a href="#P173">173</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Parker, Dr. Joseph, <a href="#P50">50</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Parker, Louis N., <a href="#P203">203</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Parnell Commission, <a href="#P67">67</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Parratt, Sir Walter, <a href="#P54">54</a>, <a href="#P55">55</a>, <a href="#P96">96</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Parry, John, <a href="#P196">196</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Parry, Serjeant, <a href="#P71">71</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Partridge, Bernard, <a href="#P186">186</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Passing of the Third Floor Back, 

+The</i>, <a href="#P115">115</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Patti, Adelina, <a href="#P20">20</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Peel, Sir Robert, conversion to 

+Free Trade, <a href="#P125">125</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Pellegrini, Carlo, caricatures, <a href="#P2">2</a>, 

+<a href="#P93">93</a>; death, <a href="#P94">94</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Phelps, Mr., <a href="#P147">147</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Phelps, Samuel, <a href="#P155">155</a>, <a href="#P160">160</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Phillips, Stephen, <a href="#P203">203</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Piatti, <a href="#P60">60</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Pickersgill, the engraver, <a href="#P87">87</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Pierson, Blanche, <a href="#P22">22</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Pigott, Edward, Reader of 

+Plays, <a href="#P22">22</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Pinero, Sir Arthur W., <a href="#P14">14</a>, <a href="#P202">202</a>; 

+<i>Lords and Commons</i>, <a href="#P177">177</a>; 

+<i>The Profligate</i>, <a href="#P199">199</a>; 

+knighthood conferred, <a href="#P200">200</a>; <i>The 

+Second Mrs. Tanqueray</i>, 

+<a href="#P203">203-207</a>; <i>The Notorious 

+Mrs. Ebbsmith</i>, <a href="#P214">214</a>; <i>The Gay Lord 

+Quex</i>, <a href="#P214">214</a>; tribute to the 

+memory of Lady Bancroft, 

+<a href="#P226">226-232</a>; at her funeral, <a href="#P237">237</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Planché, J. R., <i>The King of the 

+Peacocks</i>, <a href="#P149">149</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Plat, Sir Charles du, at Sandringham, <a href="#P12">12</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Plunket, David, <a href="#P132">132</a>. <i>See</i> Rathmore 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Poe, Edgar Allan, lines from, <a href="#P74">74</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Pontresina, <a href="#P95">95</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Poynter, Sir Edward, <a href="#P188">188</a>; 

+President of the Royal Academy, 

+<a href="#P80">80</a>; pictures, <a href="#P81">81</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Prince of Wales's Theatre, <a href="#P2">2</a>, <a href="#P101">101</a>, 

+<a href="#P117">117</a>, <a href="#P213">213</a>, <a href="#P227">227</a>, <a href="#P243">243</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Prince's, <a href="#P110">110</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Princess's Theatre, <a href="#P194">194</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Prinsep, Anthony, <a href="#P87">87</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Prinsep, Val, <a href="#P77">77</a>, <a href="#P86">86</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Probyn, Sir Dighton, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P12">12</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>Punch</i>, <a href="#P59">59</a>, <a href="#P91">91</a>, <a href="#P110">110</a>, <a href="#P145">145</a>; editors, 

+<a href="#P111">111</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Queen's Theatre, <a href="#P139">139</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ramée, Louise de la, <a href="#P31">31</a>. <i>See</i> 

+Ouida 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Rathmore, Lord, <a href="#P132">132</a>. <i>See</i> Plunket 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Reade, Charles, <a href="#P172">172</a>; <i>The 

+Cloister and the Hearth</i>, <a href="#P102">102</a>; 

+characteristics, <a href="#P103">103</a>; <i>Masks 

+and Faces</i>, <a href="#P225">225</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Regnier, M., <a href="#P162">162</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Rehan, Ada, <a href="#P28">28</a>, <a href="#P30">30</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Réjane, Madame, character of 

+her acting, <a href="#P26">26</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ridge, W. Pett, <a href="#P75">75</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ridgeway, Dr., Bishop of 

+Chichester, <a href="#P54">54</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ristori, Madame, <a href="#P157">157</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Rivière, Briton, pictures, <a href="#P86">86</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Roberts, Field-Marshal Earl, <a href="#P126">126</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Robertson, Madge, <a href="#P108">108</a>, <a href="#P201">201</a>. <i>See</i> 

+Kendal 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Robertson, T. W., <a href="#P104">104</a>; 

+comedies, <a href="#P1">1</a>, <a href="#P101">101</a>, <a href="#P105">105</a>, <a href="#P217">217</a>, <a href="#P224">224</a>, 

+<a href="#P227">227</a>; <i>Ours</i>, <a href="#P8">8</a>, <a href="#P222">222</a>, <a href="#P233">233</a>; 

+<i>Caste</i>, <a href="#P105">105</a>, <a href="#P119">119</a>, <a href="#P139">139</a>, <a href="#P227">227</a>; 

+<i>School</i>, <a href="#P138">138</a>, <a href="#P164">164</a>, <a href="#P233">233</a>; <i>Society</i>, 

+<a href="#P216">216</a>; death, <a href="#P217">217</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Robins, Elizabeth, <a href="#P205">205</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Roebuck, Captain Disney, <a href="#P73">73</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Rogers, Rev. William, <a href="#P63">63</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Rothschild, Alfred de, <a href="#P137">137</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Rowe, Mrs. Jopling, portrait, <a href="#P79">79</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Rowton, Lord, <a href="#P121">121</a>. <i>See</i> Corry 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Russell, Charles, Lord Chief 

+Justice, personality, <a href="#P62">62</a>; 

+tribute to Sir G. Lewis, <a href="#P63">63</a>; 

+story of, <a href="#P64">64</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Russell, Sir William Howard, 

+<a href="#P132">132</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+St. Helier, Lord, President of 

+the Divorce Court, <a href="#P69">69</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+St. Helier, Lady, <a href="#P69">69</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+St. James's Theatre, <a href="#P202">202</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+St. Paul's Cathedral, Thanksgiving Service, <a href="#P5">5</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sala, George Augustus, <a href="#P106">106</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Salvini, T., character of his 

+acting, <a href="#P156">156-159</a>; letter from, 

+<a href="#P158">158</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sambourne, Linley, drawings in 

+<i>Punch</i>, <a href="#P92">92</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sanderson, Lord, <a href="#P64">64</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sandringham, <a href="#P8">8</a>, <a href="#P12">12</a>; fire at, <a href="#P10">10</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sardou, V., <i>Fédora</i>, <a href="#P22">22</a>; <i>Odette</i>, 

+<a href="#P26">26</a>, <a href="#P177">177</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sargent, J. S., portraits, <a href="#P79">79</a>, <a href="#P83">83</a>, 

+<a href="#P188">188</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Savoy Theatre, <a href="#P77">77</a>, <a href="#P196">196</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Scala Theatre, <a href="#P108">108</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+<i>School for Scandal</i>, <a href="#P85">85</a>, <a href="#P87">87</a>, <a href="#P173">173</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Schumann, Madame, <a href="#P60">60</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Scott, Clement, <a href="#P134">134</a>, <a href="#P155">155</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Seaman, Sir Owen, editor of 

+<i>Punch</i>, <a href="#P111">111</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Seymour, Admiral Sir Beauchamp, 

+<a href="#P124">124</a>. <i>See</i> Alcester 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Shakespeare, W., <i>Hamlet</i>, <a href="#P155">155</a>, 

+<a href="#P158">158</a>; <i>Othello</i>, <a href="#P157">157</a>, <a href="#P166">166</a>; 

+<i>Macbeth</i>, <a href="#P160">160</a>; <i>Merry Wives 

+of Windsor</i>, <a href="#P174">174</a>; Tercentenary, 

+<a href="#P207">207</a>; address, <a href="#P207">207-210</a>; 

+tribute to, <a href="#P208">208</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Shaw, Bernard, <a href="#P194">194</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sheppard, Canon Edgar, <a href="#P40">40</a>, <a href="#P238">238</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sheppard, Mrs., <a href="#P40">40</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 

+<a href="#P125">125</a>; <i>School for Scandal</i>, 

+<a href="#P85">85</a>, <a href="#P87">87</a>, <a href="#P173">173</a>; <i>The Rivals</i>, <a href="#P165">165</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+"Sickles Tragedy, The," at 

+Washington, <a href="#P145">145-147</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sims, G. R., <a href="#P205">205</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sloggett, General Sir Arthur, 

+<a href="#P237">237</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Somerleyton, Lady, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sothern, Edward Askew, <a href="#P167">167</a>; 

+accident, <a href="#P168">168</a>; practical 

+jokes, <a href="#P168">168</a>; <i>Birds of a Feather</i>, 

+<a href="#P169">169</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sothern, Sam, <a href="#P169">169</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Stanford, Charles, <a href="#P96">96</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Stanley, Dean, tomb, <a href="#P88">88</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Stanley, Sir H. M., <a href="#P138">138</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Stanley, Lady, <a href="#P138">138</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Stanley, Mrs. John, <a href="#P69">69</a>. <i>See</i> St. Helier 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Stone, Marcus, <a href="#P77">77</a>, <a href="#P87">87</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Straight, Sir Douglas, <a href="#P74">74</a>; popularity, <a href="#P75">75</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Strettell, Miss, <a href="#P143">143</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sullivan, Herbert, <a href="#P11">11</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sullivan, Sir Arthur, <a href="#P59">59</a>, <a href="#P94">94</a>, 

+<a href="#P108">108</a>; illness, <a href="#P11">11</a>; portrait, <a href="#P79">79</a>; 

+personality, <a href="#P95">95</a>; funeral, <a href="#P95">95</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sutherland, Sir Thomas, Chairman 

+of the P. & O. Co., <a href="#P137">137</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Sutro, Alfred, <a href="#P202">202</a>; compliment 

+to Sir S. Bancroft, <a href="#P124">124</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Tadema, Alma, <a href="#P82">82</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Taylor, Tom, editor of <i>Punch</i>, 

+<a href="#P111">111</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Teck, Duchess of, <a href="#P6">6</a>, <a href="#P117">117</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Teck, Prince Francis of, <a href="#P116">116</a>; 

+death, <a href="#P117">117</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Tennant, Laura, <a href="#P135">135</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Tenniel, Sir John, cartoons in 

+<i>Punch</i>, <a href="#P91">91</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Tennyson, Lord, death, <a href="#P45">45</a>; 

+<i>Becket</i>, <a href="#P96">96</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Terriss, William, <a href="#P214">214</a>; career, 

+<a href="#P194">194</a>; stabbed, <a href="#P195">195</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Terry, Ellen, <a href="#P28">28</a>, <a href="#P29">29</a>, <a href="#P30">30</a>, <a href="#P60">60</a>, <a href="#P156">156</a>, 

+<a href="#P202">202</a>, <a href="#P214">214</a>, <a href="#P235">235</a>; on the characteristics 

+of Charles Reade, <a href="#P102">102</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Terry, Fred, <a href="#P212">212</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Terry, Kate, <a href="#P156">156</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Thackeray, W. M., <a href="#P34">34</a>, <a href="#P103">103</a>; 

+<i>Vanity Fair</i>, <a href="#P107">107</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Thompson, Sir Henry, <a href="#P68">68</a>, <a href="#P135">135</a>, 

+<a href="#P136">136</a>; portrait, <a href="#P79">79</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Thornton, C. I., <a href="#P120">120</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Tichborne trial, <a href="#P59">59</a>, <a href="#P71">71</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Toole, J. L., <a href="#P7">7</a>; story of, <a href="#P192">192</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm, 

+<a href="#P14">14</a>, <a href="#P119">119</a>, <a href="#P198">198</a>; manager of the 

+Haymarket, <a href="#P199">199</a>; characteristics, 

+<a href="#P200">200</a>; knighthood 

+conferred, <a href="#P200">200</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Trollope, Anthony, <a href="#P102">102</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Vanbrugh, Irene, <a href="#P169">169</a>, <a href="#P214">214</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Vaudeville Theatre, <a href="#P153">153</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Vaughan, Father Bernard, <a href="#P43">43</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Vestris, Madame, <a href="#P149">149</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Vezin, Hermann, <a href="#P7">7</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Victoria, H.M. Queen, attends a 

+Thanksgiving Service, <a href="#P5">5</a>; 

+Jubilee, <a href="#P5">5</a>; gift to Sir 

+S. Bancroft, <a href="#P13">13</a>; voice, <a href="#P60">60</a>; 

+Empress of India, <a href="#P87">87</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wace, Dr., Dean of Canterbury, 

+<a href="#P66">66</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wace, Mrs., <a href="#P56">56</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wales, Oliver, <a href="#P8">8</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wallace, Sir Donald Mackenzie, 

+<a href="#P54">54</a>, <a href="#P55">55</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Waller, Lewis, <a href="#P198">198</a>, <a href="#P199">199</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ward, Barbara, <a href="#P94">94</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Ward, Leslie, <a href="#P94">94</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Washington, "The Sickles 

+Tragedy" at, <a href="#P145">145</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Webb, Sir Aston, President of 

+the Royal Academy, <a href="#P82">82</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Webster, Richard, <a href="#P64">64</a>. <i>See</i> Alverstone 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wellington, Duke of, statue, <a href="#P88">88</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wertheimer, Mr., portrait, <a href="#P79">79</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Westminster Abbey, Jubilee 

+Thanksgiving, <a href="#P5">5</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wharncliffe, Lord, <a href="#P11">11</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Whistler, James McNeill, <a href="#P90">90</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+White, Field-Marshal Sir George, 

+Governor of Gibraltar, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+White, Lady, <a href="#P130">130</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+White, Rev. Henry, Chaplain 

+of the Chapel Royal, <a href="#P39">39</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wigan, Alfred, <a href="#P73">73</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wilberforce, Archdeacon, <a href="#P41">41</a>; 

+love of animals, <a href="#P42">42</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wilberforce, Mrs., <a href="#P41">41</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wilde, Oscar, <a href="#P203">203</a>; plays, <a href="#P112">112</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Willard, E. S., <a href="#P198">198</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+William II, ex-German Emperor, 

+treatment of his mother, <a href="#P51">51</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+William IV, King, <a href="#P15">15</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Williams, Louise, <a href="#P74">74</a>. <i>See</i> Keeley 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Williams, Montagu, <a href="#P72">72</a>; career, 

+<a href="#P73">73</a>; <i>The Isle of St. Tropez</i>, 

+<a href="#P73">73</a>; criminal cases, <a href="#P73">73</a>; marriage, <a href="#P74">74</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wilson, Sir Rivers, <a href="#P137">137</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wilton, Marie, <a href="#P219">219</a>. <i>See</i> Bancroft

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wilton, Mrs., story of, <a href="#P243">243</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wolseley, Field-Marshal 

+Viscount, <a href="#P126">126</a>; career, <a href="#P127">127</a>; 

+story of, <a href="#P128">128</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wood, Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn, 

+<a href="#P129">129</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wood, Mrs. John, <a href="#P29">29</a>, <a href="#P174">174</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wyndham, Sir Charles, <a href="#P7">7</a>, <a href="#P153">153</a>, 

+<a href="#P177">177</a>, <a href="#P210">210</a>; character of his 

+acting, <a href="#P211">211</a>; President of the 

+Actors' Benevolent Fund, <a href="#P212">212</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Wyndham, Lady, <a href="#P212">212</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br></p>

+

+<p class="index">

+Yates, Edmund, <a href="#P103">103</a>, <a href="#P106">106</a>, <a href="#P172">172</a>; 

+death, <a href="#P107">107</a> 

+</p>

+

+<p><br><br><br><br></p>

+

+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 73506 ***</div>

+</body>

+

+</html>

+

+

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