1900] A GRACIOUS ACT 285 in a performance of "Twelfth Night" given by her college. He replied immediately, in his own hand : "DEAR MADAM, "CINCINNATI. "If to-morrow at one o'clock would be a convenient hour for you, I should be charmed to see you and your daughter, should you be able to call upon me here. "HENRY IRVING. "10th April, 1900." And he devoted more than an hour of his time to giving the young lady, Miss Elizabeth Dexter, invaluable advice as to the impersonation of the character of Viola's love-sick steward; and I recall with especial delight that on the day of his arrival in Washington, 25th December, 1899, he sent me a cablegram of good wishes for Christmas. CHAPTER XVII. June, 1900-March, 1903. A dinner at the Savoy-Brief London season-A record benefit— Provincial Tours-"Coriolanus "-" Welcome Home" dinner at the Criterion-Irving and music-A humorous speech-Letters to Sir A. C. Mackenzie-Reads "Becket" at Winchester-Makes his will-Seventh American tour-Its great success-Gives the Trask lecture at Princeton University—“ Shakespeare and Bacon "-"Faust" again in London— Farewell to the Lyceum for ever-The Lyceum shareholders and Irving's position-A brilliant night at the Lyceum-Irving breaks his holiday in order to attend the Coronation of Edward VII.-Autumn and spring tours. THE return of Henry Irving from America in 1900 was celebrated by a dinner on Saturday, 9th June, at the Savoy Hotel, the more notable of the hundred guests assembling to do him honour including the Lord Chief Justice of England (Lord Russell of Killowen), the Earl of Chesterfield, the Earl of Donoughmore, the Earl of Kilmorey, the Earl of Craven, Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, and the American Ambassador, the Hon. Joseph Choate. On the following Saturday, the 16th, the Lyceum re-opened with "Olivia". The season was an extremely short one. "Olivia" was followed by "Waterloo" and "The Bells," "Nance Oldfield" and "The Lyons Mail," and, on the last night, 28th July, the programme consisted of the third act of "Robespierre," "Nance Oldfield," "Waterloo," and the trial scene from "The Merchant of Venice". Later on, while he was resting-at Crowborough, Sussex -a hurricane which caused great devastation to the town of Galveston, Texas, enabled him to do a signal act of kindness. It only needed the bare suggestion from a man who was wellknown in his day, the late "Colonel" Tom Ochiltree, and 1900] A RECORD BENEFIT 287 Irving instantly adopted the idea of a benefit for the sufferers. He telegraphed for me, and, in the course of an after-dinner chat, the plans were made. Mr. Arthur Collins instantly put Drury Lane Theatre at Irving's disposal, and all the artists in London proffered their services. I did the preliminary work before Irving's return to town, and, when he arrived in Stratton Street from his holiday, all the details were in order. In all my association with him, nothing was more delightful, in its way, than this. The majority of benefit performances are made troublesome by committees, each member of which wants to have his own way. We dispensed with such a cumbersome thing, and, consequently, we had no trouble. There was only one possible loop-hole for anxiety, and Irving anticipated, and disposed of, it at the outset. "The great difficulty with these entertainments," he said to me at Crowborough, "is that no one wants to be either at the beginning or the end. They all want to be in the middle of the programme. Now we may as well settle that difficulty at once 'I will open the ball and I will close it!"" Accordingly, on the afternoon of 16th October, Irving began the performance by reciting "The Dream of Eugene Aram" and he had arranged to close it by playing Corporal Brewster. But two other actors, who were also sure of their public, showed their common sense, and the last item on the programme was a scene from "Still Waters Run Deep," played by Charles Wyndham and Mr. Lewis Waller, Irving, in "A Story of Waterloo," immediately preceding them. In two respects, the benefit constituted a record-it was organised and given within three weeks, and the working expenses were covered by sixty pounds, the sum of £1265 being sent to the Mayor of Galveston. Six days after the benefit, Irving began an autumn tour at Manchester, from which city he sent me a letter beginning "Closed, and triumphantly!" which was more than compensation for my own share in the affair, quite apart from the pleasure of the association. The tour in question occupied nine weeks, and embraced Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle-on Tyne, Sheffield, Leeds, and Brighton, where it concluded on 22nd December, 1900. After a brief vacation, which was largely devoted to preparations for the revival of "Coriolanus," another tour began on 4th February, 1901, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol, Bradford, and Birmingham being visited for one week each, the tour concluding on 23rd March, thus allowing three weeks only for the final preparations of "Coriolanus". Irving's thirteenth, and last, Shakespearean character at the Lyceum was Coriolanus. The revival took place on 15th April, 1901. It signalised his return to the theatre after an absence of nearly nine months. As readers of this book are aware, he had contemplated the production as far back as the year 1882 when he had employed Mr. (as he then was) Alma Tadema for the designing of the scenery and costumes. This artist was responsible for the designs in 1901, and the music for the revival was composed by Sir A. C. Mackenzie. Irving, in short, had not lost the art of stage-production, but his own personality was as unsuited for the part of Coriolanus as was that of Miss Ellen Terry to Volumnia. There were one or two admirable passages in Irving's impersonation. In the second act, for instance, the contempt which he infused into the line, "Well, mildly be it—mildly," was remarkable in its concentration. In the last act, the scene where Coriolanus is in disguise, outside Aufidius's house, was a fine example of the profound melancholy which was so marked a feature, when it was necessary, of Irving's acting. But he was not the Roman soldier of tradition any more than Miss Terry was the Roman matron. The handling of the stage-crowds was magnificent. "Coriolanus" is not the kind of play which could be expected to have a long run, and the thirty-six consecutive performances at the Lyceum, small by comparison with Irving's other Shakespearean revivals, constitute a record for the tragedy. As soon as "Coriolanus" was launched, a dinner was given, in celebration of Irving's return to the Lyceum, at the Criterion Restaurant. It took the form of a special compliment from the O. P. Club, and was called the LONDON AGAIN 289 1901] "Welcome Home' dinner to Sir Henry Irving and Miss Ellen Terry". It took place on Sunday, 28th April, and was largely attended. Robespierre, "Madame SansGêne," "Waterloo" and "The Bells," "The Lyons Mail," ACT I., SCENE I. Rome-the Forum; SCENE 2. A Room "Louis XI.," "The Merchant of Venice," and "Charles the First," were revived during the season, which was brought to a close on 20th July with the thirty-seventh performance of "Coriolanus". Henry Irving's appreciation of music is brought to mind. VOL. II. 19 |