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Show 1 THE PASSING OF A GREAT ACTOR. ! Henry Irving and His Service to Dra- j matlc Art. i The recent death of Sir Henry Irv ing removed from the theater of active , life a man who wrought more offl- ciency than any other individual dur- Ing tho present generation to make j tKo stago of tho Anglo-Saxon world a great engine for educational progress a master-agency for culture and ar tistic intellectual education. Ho was an actor of marked ability, though far from being a man of transcendent histrionic his-trionic genius. Indeed, ho lacked the great Imaginative power that- marks the- highest order of genius. He was, in our judgment, incomparably Infer-lor Infer-lor to Edwin Booth nnd certain other of the master-spirits who have walked tho boards during tho past thirty years. In certain plays ho was distinctly dis-tinctly groat; in others his manner-Isms manner-Isms woro so conspicuous as to pre- vent the audience from losing sight m of tho play-actor In tho rolo assumed. While.howovor, ho lacked tho rich imagination im-agination that is tho crowning glory of tho groat poet, artist, musician or actor, ho brought to his work tho superb su-perb determination to excel and to be Worthy of a world's praiso which compels com-pels success, when, as was tho case in this instance, It, Is United with untiring un-tiring Industry. Henry Irving was indefatigable in his study and research. Ho was a tiro-less tiro-less worker, with ever a high ideal and aim to urge, him to tho heights in his art work. Moreover, ho possessed pos-sessed In a high degree tho artistic temperament. His life is one of those conspicuous, successes of our time that Ehould prove an inspiration to ambitious ambi-tious young men, for ho was in a high' and noble sense a sclf-mado man who roso by virtue of close and studious application, pcrseverence, industry and unremitting adhesion to a high and worthy ideal. His real name was John Henry Br'odribb. Ho was born In 1838 at Ktimtbn, Somerset. His family determined de-termined that ho should become a tradesman and secured him a position as a merchant's clerk whilo ho was still quite young. Henry, however, had other dreams. When a small boy he set bis heart on becoming an actor. ac-tor. His first appearance was at the' ago of twelve. Tho result was a dismal dis-mal failure, but nothing daunted, he persevered. Failure only mado .him more resolute. Ho did not permit himself him-self to bo cast down. Ho had set out to succeed, and succeed ho would. It was tho possession of this spirit that carried him along through many dark-days dark-days whan weaker natures would have succumbed. More than this, ho early set up a very high ideal which friends Imagined preposterous and unattainable. unattain-able. Not only would bo succeed, ho promised himself, but he would rise to tho head of tho profession. Ho would enact tho greatest roles and enact them worthily. Such was tho character char-acter and such tho purpose of young Henry. 'Jl was not until tho seventies of the last century, however, that ho scored a decided success In London. In "The Bplls," "Richelieu," "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Mac-beth," "Othello," "Richard III," "Lear" and other plays ho won a high degree of success. In 1878 ho became manager man-ager of tho Lyceum theater, and from that time on ho steadily roso by virtue of tho high character of his work and tho exceptional excellence of tho en-tiro en-tiro performances produced undo his management. It was tho dream of Henry Irving's 6 llfo to mako tho stago a noblo educational educa-tional agency. Ho strove to dignify J his profession and to compel men to rpspect the theater, by presenting I n o dramatic creations in a worthy 1 manner. Not only was his ropertoiro composed - chiefly of the masterpieces i of dramatic literature and plays that i had a distinct oducatlonnl value in cui-ivating cui-ivating an appreciation for tho bcrt n Hteraturo and otherwlso broaden-ng broaden-ng and deepening tho culturo ot hi auditors, but ho to a greater dojree han any other actor-manager of whom wo have, any knowledge, presented his plays with strict regard to the demands de-mands of historical verity. His scenery scen-ery was painted by capable and sometimes some-times eminent artists, and always so as to faithfully represent tho scenes which formed tho background of his plays. So also tho stage sotting and costumes were reproduced with the strictest referonco to the demands of history, thus making his performances educational In a high degree. In a time when cupidity and avnr-co avnr-co were tho master-passions of the coarse, materialistic managers who sought to mako money by the production produc-tion of risque plays and gorgeous spectacles wholly wanting In literary or real artistic value, and when the public tasto inclined to the frivolous and evanescent, Henry Irving, be it said to his eternal credit, held truo to tho highest standard of dramatic art and with eyes riveted on a noblo Ideal never swerved to the right or to the left in his effort to educate tho people to tho appreciation of tho best In dramatic dra-matic art an appreciation which would necessarily mako tho theater a positive agency for broad culturo. Ho deserved and will receive a high place among tho actors, tho promoters of a worthy dramatic art and the Indirect but potent educators of our time. ARENA. n |