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 3 1924 027 144 504 
 
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SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 A BIOGRAPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 T. EDGAR PEMBERTON 
 
 AUTHOR OF "a MEMOIR OF E. A. SOTHERN," 
 
 "the life and writings of T. W. ROBERTSON," 
 
 "JOHN HARE, COMEDIAN," "THE KEHDALS," 
 
 " ELLEN TERRY AND HER SISTERS," 
 
 "the LIFE OF BRET HARTE," ETC. ETC. 
 
 WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS 
 INCLUDING A PHOTOGRAVURE FRONTISPIECE 
 
 LONDON 
 HUTCHINSON AND CO. 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW 
 1904 
 
 > 
 
TO 
 
 MY FRIEND 
 
 MISS MARY MOORE 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED 
 
 AS A SLIGHT TOKEN 
 
 OF SINCERE 
 
 REGARD 
 
PREFACE 
 
 /^DDLY enough the greatest obstacle to the writing 
 
 of this brief and happily unfinished biography has 
 
 been its subject. Sir Charles Wyndham has more than 
 
 once been asked to write his autobiography, but he has 
 
 declined because, in the first place, he has a great horror 
 
 of anything that suggests to him self-advertisement, 
 
 and, in the second place, because he believes that an 
 
 account of his career would prove uninteresting to the 
 
 reader. In short, he holds that the life of an actor 
 
 qua actor is unattractive, and would say with David 
 
 Garrick — 
 
 " The painter dead, yet still he charms the eye ; 
 While England lives his name can never die. 
 But he who struts his hour upon the stage 
 Can scarce extend his fame for half an age ; 
 Nor pen nor pencil can the actor save ; 
 The art and artist share one common grave." 
 
 I hope that in the pages of this permitted biography 
 I shall persuade my old friend to believe that all this is 
 not true ; that there are thousands upon thousands who 
 are grateful to those who have instructed and amused 
 us on the stage, and thousands and thousands who will 
 come after us who, following in the footsteps of their 
 forefathers, will not let their honoured memories die. 
 
 T. EDGAR PEMBERTON. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. 
 
 The Overture 
 
 PAGE 
 I 
 
 II. 
 
 The Curtain Up 
 
 . . 36 
 
 III. 
 
 Chiefly Concerning "Brighton" 
 
 . . 76 
 
 IV. 
 
 Called to the Criterion 
 
 • 94 
 
 V. 
 
 Wild Oats Re-sown 
 
 . 142 
 
 VI. 
 
 Miss Mary Moore . 
 
 • 153 
 
 VII. 
 
 "David Garrick" . 
 
 . 161 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Later Days at the Criterion 
 
 . 215 
 
 IX. 
 
 America Revisited . 
 
 • 232 
 
 X. 
 
 Last Years at the Criterion 
 
 . 262 
 
 XI. 
 
 Wyndham's Theatre 
 
 283 
 
 XII. 
 
 The New Theatre . 
 
 • 297 
 
 XIII. 
 
 "The Picture of the Mind" 
 
 . 300 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Valedictory 
 
 • 344 
 
 Index 
 
 . . . . - 
 
 • 354 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham (photogravure) 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham at the age of eighteen 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham when Surgeon in U.S. Army 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham in ^rragh-na Pogue 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham in Idalia 
 
 Play-bill of Brighton 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham 
 
 From the portrait by Vernon Heath. 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham in Wild Oats 
 
 Miss Mary Moore . 
 
 Photo by Ellis and Walery. 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham as David Garrick 
 Photo by the Draycott Gallery. 
 
 Play-bill of David Garrick at Sandringham 
 
 ' Sir Charles Wyndham and Miss Mary Moore in David 
 Garrick 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham as David Garrick . 
 
 From the picture by J. Pettie, R.A. 
 
 Play-bill of David Garric\ at Windsor Castle 
 
 Miss Mary Moore . 
 
 Photo by the Draycott Gallery. 
 
 Miss Mary Moore in She Stoops to Conquer 
 
 The Actors' Benevolent Fund Testimonial 
 
 The Profession's Address 
 
 Miss Mary Moore in Rosemary 
 
 Opening Night at Wyndham's Theatre . 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 . Facing page 2 
 
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 20 
 
 »» 
 
 34 
 
 5J 
 
 42 
 
 ?» 
 
 104 
 
 yj 
 
 112 
 
 jj 
 
 144 
 
 • " 
 
 160 
 
 5» 
 
 168 
 
 J 
 
 180 
 
 a 
 
 184 
 
 >» 
 
 204 
 
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 210 
 
 )> 
 
 261 
 
 »s 
 
 262 
 
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 278 
 
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 280 
 
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 284 
 
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 296 
 
A BIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE OVERTURE 
 
 gIR CHARLES WYNDHAM was born at Liverpool 
 on March 23rd, 1837. His father was a doctor, and 
 from the very first made up his mind that his son should 
 follow the profession in which he had prospered. The 
 son has since declared that he fell in love with the stage 
 at a very early age, and used to revel in acting to him- 
 self before a looking-glass, his favourite role being 
 Othello, in which, in the absence of accessories of 
 "make-up," he used to wait till he could get his face 
 dirty before he enacted the dusky hero. When ten 
 years old he was sent to school at Sandgate, and, after 
 two years' preparatory work there, was promoted to 
 St. Andrews. Here his theatrical tastes were fostered, 
 for Major Playfair — the grandfather of Arthur Playfair, 
 the well-known comedian of to-day — had a private 
 theatre in his house and used to invite the boys to 
 
2 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 witness his productions. This induced the youthful 
 Charles to write marvellous melodramas, which, at 
 forbidden hours, he and the companions of his dormitory 
 used to act while candles lasted. Fortunately, or un- 
 fortunately, these proceedings became known to the 
 authorities, and the juvenile but stage-struck ringleader 
 was publicly reprimanded for attempts to mar the morals 
 of his schoolfellows. From St. Andrews this dangerous 
 young reprobate was sent to Germany, and there he 
 studied well at Norwied and Bonn. 
 
 At Norwied he underwent what he called a "dreamy" 
 experience — not an uncommon thing with imaginative 
 boys — and became a religious enthusiast. This is his 
 brief narrative of what happened : — 
 
 "Whilst I used to play with my companions I was 
 always much impressed by a long-legged, lanky-looking 
 fellow, with straight, long hair and long, ascetic face, who 
 used to walk up and down the playground with his eyes 
 on his boots, murmuring ever to himself. I got 
 fascinated by him, approached him and made his ac- 
 quaintance, and found he belonged to a well-known 
 Wesleyan family, and we organised a Church to reform 
 the boys. The masters lent us a room, and starting 
 with half a dozen enthusiasts, we ultimately collected 
 twenty-five well-meaning lads into our fold. When my 
 Wesleyan friend left I became head of the Church. In 
 the school was the son of a celebrated divine in London, 
 
 whom we shall call S , a wild scapegrace, whose 
 
 language was more ornate than pious. One day he 
 asked me to let him join the Church. I hesitated. I 
 told him I'd take a fortnight to decide. Meanwhile he 
 
By ^criniss 107-1 of Sir George Nci-'iics 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM AT THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN 
 
 FROM A MINIATURE 
 
 Facing; page 2 
 
THE OVERTURE 3 
 
 could join us as a probationary spirit, I was afraid, in 
 fact, that his conversion was too sudden, and he obtained 
 this concession from us because he said he was sure his 
 joining us would please his father. The next Sunday 
 
 S was present at our gathering. It was my turn to 
 
 preach, and I chose the text, ' Almost am I persuaded 
 to be a Christian.' My sermon was, of course, directed 
 to him. After the service was all over he thanked me, 
 said he understood and appreciated my reference to him, 
 both in text and sermon, and that his father would be 
 so pleased to hear I had prayed for him. He further 
 assured me he was a changed boy. I was delighted. 
 He grasped me by the hand and said he should like 
 to preach on the following Sunday ! I assured him that 
 only elders, the four or five first-comers, could preach, 
 and that he would have to wait till he was ordained. 
 He thought that on account of his parentage an excep- 
 tion ought to be made in his case. I could not hear of 
 it. ' Won't you let me preach ? ' ' No, it is against the 
 rules of our Church.' ' Do you mean it ? ' he asked. 
 
 • I do.' ' Then go to ! ' and he sent me to the 
 
 very place I was trying to save him from ! " 
 
 It was this Church episode that probably gave colour 
 to the rumour repeatedly circulated, that Charles 
 Wyndham was originally intended for the ministry of 
 the Church of England. 
 
 " I was suddenly called away from Germany. I rather 
 suspect because I was always writing to my parents 
 exhorting them to repent before they got burnt. It 
 was probably feared that if I remained and developed 
 more of this fervour of hysterical religion, they might 
 
4 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 get too much of a good thing on my return, to say 
 nothing of the parental hopes of my following a medical 
 career being shattered. So as a kind of corrective I was 
 sent to Paris to learn French and forget Wesleyism." 
 There he was occasionally able to indulge his taste for 
 the theatre. He laughingly recalls one night when, on 
 the Imperial August f^te, he went to the theatre, and on 
 his return found himself locked out of his school, and 
 wandered about the boulevards until six o'clock in the 
 morning, with only a sou in his pocket, which he 
 hazarded on a gingerbread roulette, and won the largest 
 piece, which sustained him on the Champs Elysees until 
 the hour, when he managed to get into the house. 
 Stealthily ascending the staircase that led to his bed- 
 room, he encountered the head-master, who, in blissful 
 ignorance of his escapade, condemned him for getting 
 up before the bell rang, and ordered him to bed till 
 he was sent for — a consummation most devoutly wished 
 by him ! 
 
 From Paris he went to King's College, London, and 
 then his medical studies (leavened, no doubt, with a 
 certain amount of theatre-going) commenced in good 
 earnest. These were completed at the College of 
 Surgeons and the Peter Street Anatomical School, 
 Dublin. In London he triumphantly passed his exam- 
 inations and gained his diplomas. 
 
 But the undying love of his art held him fast, and he 
 managed to do a little amateur acting. This was at the 
 tiny playhouse that then existed near to King's Cross, 
 which was known as the Cabinet Theatre. Here would- 
 be comedians and tragedians were wont to disport 
 
THE OVERTURE 5 
 
 themselves, paying for the privilege of treading the 
 boards. The principle is a bad one, but the little 
 establishment witnessed the tentative efforts of many 
 good actors. For instance, Henry Kemble, the grand- 
 son of Charles Kemble, and the popular actor of to-day, 
 recalls playing the First Gravedigger in Hamlet at the 
 Cabinet, and paying six shillings and sixpence for the 
 privilege. It was here that Charles Wyndham first met 
 William Blakeley, the delightfully quaint comedian with 
 whom he was destined to do so much good work at the 
 Criterion Theatre. But Wyndham's early anibition 
 was to play tragedy. He had been deeply impressed 
 by the leading Shakespearean performers of those days, 
 and longed to appear as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, 
 and Richard III. Happily for the public he ultimately 
 changed his views. 
 
 Some of his recent impersonations have indicated 
 that there is no reason why his first wishes should not 
 have been fulfilled, but whereas a score of actors may 
 give a good account of themselves in serious parts, those 
 who can be really perfect in light comedy are few and 
 far between. How rarely we meet with a Charles 
 Mathews, or an Edward Askew Sothern ! The last- 
 named actor was wont to say, and no doubt he was 
 right, that to act touch-and-go farce in a way that will 
 absolutely convince an audience is far more difficult 
 than to impress them with tragedy. Charles Wyndham, 
 on the other hand, enjoins all would-be actors to begin 
 in burlesque to learn rudimentary tragedy. He holds 
 it the best school for all serious acting. Some highly 
 gifted artists can be both serious and funny ; witness 
 
6 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Henry Irving, whose Jingle and Jeremy Diddler are as 
 fascinating as his Mathias and Louis XI. Charles 
 Wyndham has given ample proof that he can strike the 
 two notes, but his audiences were for many years unable 
 to spare him from parts in which, possibly against his 
 will, he has for a long period had no rival. In common 
 with the David Garrick he impersonates so well, he has 
 added to the gaiety of nations. 
 
 It will be understood that this early flirtation with the 
 alluring footlights of the Cabinet Theatre did not tend 
 to diminish his strong desire to abandon medicine and 
 surgery and devote himself to the art of acting, veritably 
 the Cinderella of the arts in the days of which I am 
 writing. He had, however, made a compact with his 
 father that if he gained his diplomas he was to be at 
 liberty to do as he pleased. Like most parents of that 
 period, the father had a strong dislike for the stage as a 
 profession, and greatly deplored his son's desire in that 
 direction. Possibly his arguments had some eflfect, for 
 in later years Charles Wyndham said — " I went on the 
 stage only because I felt I could not settle down to any 
 other career. The drama had entranced me. I fought 
 against it. I tried to resist my dramatic impulses. In 
 the old days, when I was a medical student at King's 
 College, I took some part in various plays, but then the 
 stage was much less attractive than it is now. The 
 actor had always to pose as the humble obedient servant 
 of the public, grateful to it for any favours it might 
 condescend to bestow upon him. He had to put his 
 hand next his heart, and bow and meekly thank it for 
 all patronage it might give him. I did not like this. 
 
THE OVERTURE 7 
 
 And it proved a rather strong deterrent to my ambition 
 for a time, so I went out to America and through the 
 Civil War, determined to shake off my love of the 
 stage." 
 
 How differently would the father have thought if he 
 could have foreseen that his apparently foolish, stage- 
 struck boy possessed the rare gift of a histrionic genius 
 that was to make him one of the greatest actors of an 
 era in which the stage has taken its proper place in the 
 world of art, and for that very reason was selected as a 
 well-graced and universally honoured recipient of the 
 accolade ! 
 
 There were several reasons why Charles Wyndham 
 went to America. He wanted to escape from the 
 "temptations of the English theatres ; he felt that he 
 could not settle down to the prosaic life of a family 
 practitioner ; he had a restless desire for adventure ; and 
 he was determined to earn his own living. 
 
 Thus it came about that in 1862 — and after some 
 fugitive appearances at the Royalty Theatre (where he 
 met Miss Ellen Terry, then standing on the brink of 
 her brilliant career), in such pieces as The Serious 
 Family, and the old version oi A Scrap of Paper — he 
 found himself in New York, at the time when the 
 terrible struggle between the Northern and Southern 
 States was raging. Of this very interesting incident in 
 his career I can speak in his own words. 
 
 '*I was bound for America, the land of freedom, 
 where equality was adored, favouritism abhorred, and 
 red tape abominated. I was going to New York in 
 quest of an army appointment as medical officer, eager 
 
8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 for adventure, proud of my resolve, and strengthened 
 by the certainty of its easy accomplishment. Success, 
 in fact, appeared so certain from all I had heard of the 
 country, that I was convinced that on my arrival there 
 I had only to hold up my little finger and every State in 
 the Union would rush at me with a commission. Any 
 doubt in the premises was too absurd for consideration. 
 Proffered letters of introduction were scornfully rejected. 
 I was going across, not for pleasure, but for work. 
 Why waste one single precious hour in polite triviality? 
 Why should my mind be disturbed by social tempta- 
 tions } The army was pining for its surgeon, and its 
 surgeon was pining for the army. Letters to influential 
 magnates in Washington, amongst them one to the 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Department, General 
 Banks, were sacrificed to the tempestuous ardour that 
 would brook no obstacle nor permit delay until the 
 first step was taken towards the goal. 
 
 " The first step was necessarily from terra firma to the 
 deck of a ship, and ever since marine heroes have held 
 an exalted eminence in my mind. The first few Atlantic 
 rollers played havoc with all my plans. My valuable 
 resolutions paled before inexorable Neptune and a basin, 
 and in the lulls of exhausted nature I began to ask my- 
 self for the first time what form my action would take 
 on landing. Not only was this the initial step towards 
 the goal, but it was the critical step from the parental 
 roof, undertaken in blind defiance to the pronounced 
 opinion of the family authorities in solemn conclave 
 assembled, and enforced by the very practical refusal to 
 vote any supplies to the enterprise. They decided that 
 
THE OVERTURE 9 
 
 if I really was going to carve out my own fortune, the 
 best thing for me to do was to supply my own knife. 
 In other words, I had to rely on my unaided efforts, 
 and after paying for my passage in the intermediate 
 cabin, I began life in the land of freedom with forty-fivfe 
 dollars in my pocket, no acquaintance and no letters to 
 assist me ; nothing but the knowledge which I had 
 picked up promiscuously on board to guide me in 
 shaping my course. According to this valuable informa- 
 tion, but two roads lay open to me : one led to a recruit- 
 ing office in New York, the other to the most fashion- 
 able hotel in Washington. ' In America, go to the 
 best, and to the very best,' my adviser said. ' Expensive,' 
 he warned me, * but wise ' — I should then meet everybody. 
 With forty-five dollars in my pocket the first of these 
 plans appealed the more strongly to my consideration. 
 My first days should be devoted to an attempt in New 
 York. An hour after landing found me in a recruiting 
 office on Broadway, where the officers were like trawlers 
 with their nets, catching by any means all the fish they 
 could get. 
 
 " ' Do you want a surgeon ? ' I asked, much as a dog- 
 fancier might have asked, ' Do you want a dog ? ' 
 
 " I was at once the Centre of an eager-looking crowd of 
 officials. * Did I rteally want to go into the army ? ' 
 * How old was I?' ' How long had I been in the 
 country ? ' ' Had I any friends here ? ' Nothing more 
 pertinent to the special nature of my question until one 
 queried, ' Could I mend arms } ' Here at last was 
 something practical, though perhaps a little quaint in 
 phraseology, • Could I mend arms ? ' This, of course. 
 
10 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 was the dry American humour of which I had heard so 
 much in England. The comprehensive brevity of it ! 
 Instead of * Can you reduce a dislocation ? ' ' Can you 
 treat a fracture or amputate a limb ? ' simply, ' Can you 
 mend arms ? ' Of course I could, and, anxious to attain 
 to their humorous level, replied, ' Any amount of them, 
 bring them along as fast as you like.' My answer 
 evidently impressed them, for I was told * they guessed 
 I would do.* 
 
 " ' Do you want to see my diplomas ? ' I inquired. 
 
 "'Oh no, we'll take your word for it.' Another 
 trait of American character. The mere possession of a 
 diploma doesn't prove the possession of ability. Of 
 course not. If you can mend arms, what does it matter 
 about the piece of parchment that says you may ? At 
 all events, in this short dialogue I had so far advanced 
 in my arrangements that, as soon as I stood once more 
 on Broadway, I felt myself every inch an American. But 
 two hours on land, and I had been all but appointed to 
 an important post ! Where was the sage wisdom of 
 family counsel now .'' Should I hurry back to my hotel 
 and read up for the coming " exam," or should I enjoy 
 a little relaxation, break into my forty-five dollars, and 
 go to a theatre ? I determined on the gallery of the 
 latter. 
 
 "That was the time when visitors would always be 
 recommended to visit Wallack's Theatre, and Wallack's 
 only ; so later on I found myself in that well-known 
 Temple of Art, sitting for the first time — though up in 
 the gallery — at the feet of that prince of light comedians, 
 Lester Wallack. He was playing Charles Surface, but 
 
THE OVERTURE ii 
 
 with all the dazzling abandon of a white Court wig, heavy 
 black moustache, and black mutton-chop whiskers. 
 Another insight into the charming freedom of American 
 customs. Why should actors any more than other 
 people be tied down to the conventional if they didn't 
 like the conventional .'' Lester Wallack in New York 
 could do no wrong. He chose to retain his moustache 
 and whiskers, and there was no one to say him nay. It 
 was all of a piece. I was in a whirl of delight ; every- 
 thing was new ; old-fashioned customs of the effete old 
 country were left draggling behind, and the honour of 
 my coming triumph was before me. I went to bed in 
 a waking dream of future glory. I woke in the morn- 
 ing already flushed with conquest. 
 
 " To the minute I was at the bureau. The stern form- 
 alities of an examination were already known to me, but 
 one day's existence in the new land of freedom had 
 taught me to expect a little less solemnity in the ordeal. 
 Still, even I was a little shocked at the rough-and-ready 
 procedure. From the general ofiices I was pushed into 
 another room, perfectly empty and not particularly clean, 
 but with the information that here I was to be examined. 
 My doubt was but momentary : the buoyant faith of 
 youth revealed to me again in this instance the great 
 simplicity of the American nature, ever dispensing with 
 even a semblance of ostentation, however momentous the 
 occasion. This comforting reflection over, the doctor 
 entered. 
 
 " ' What will be his first question ? * I ought to have 
 stayed at home and crammed last night, little dreaming 
 that, in another sense, I had been cramming all the 
 
12 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 evening in that gallery. I eyed him nervously as he sur- 
 veyed me with a sort of careless curiosity. I hung upon 
 his lips with painful waiting for the dreadful question. 
 
 " ' Strip ! ' was the solitary word that came from the 
 arbiter of my fate. I was a little taken aback, but 
 complied and submitted to an examination, the value 
 of which I was quite willing to recognise, in view of 
 my coming arduous duties on the field, but which still 
 was hardly the one I had been bristling for. The 
 instruction complied with, I waited for the next. Shall 
 I be sent up to Albany for my real examination ? I 
 began to think ; and if so, who is going to pay the 
 expenses ? For even with my youthful experience and 
 enthusiasm for everything American, I began to see 
 that forty-five dollars would not go far, even in a land 
 of freedom. I was interrupted in my reverie by a 
 remark of the doctor's that gave me great pleasure. 
 
 " ' You are going to do well here.* ' Really ? ' * Yes, 
 the Colonel has taken a great fancy to you ; you'll be 
 promoted in no time.' 
 
 " Delighted, I returned to the bureau. 
 
 " ' Well, it's all right,' said the chief recruiting officer 
 to me. ' You are passed.' 
 
 " ' What do you mean ? Don't you want to examine 
 me ? ' I asked. 
 
 " ' You've been examined once, what more do you 
 want ? And, by-the-by, the Colonel's taken a great 
 fancy to you. You're just the sort of young stuff he 
 likes to have about him. He was saying yesterday, 
 you'll soon go up. Here's your papers ; come and 
 sign them.' 
 
THE OVERTURE 13 
 
 " ' Is this for the post of surgeon ? ' I inquired. 
 
 "'Certainly.' 
 
 " 'And you want to know no more about me ? ' 
 
 " ' No, we know a fellow when we see him ; and I 
 just tell you, you're going up ; the Colonel's wonder- 
 fully taken with you. Sign your name ; the regiment 
 starts in a day or two. Hurry up ! We've a lot to do. 
 You're just in luck's way, you are. There's the place ; 
 sign there.' 
 
 " Stupefied with astonishment, I once more took up 
 the pen and was about to sign, when an idea flashed 
 into my mind, and I said, ' It's for the doctor of the 
 regiment, eh ? ' 
 
 " ' Doctor be d d ! It's for the sergeant ' (often 
 
 pronounced over there * sergent '). 
 
 " Here I instinctively acquired my first valuable lesson 
 in elocution, 'Take care of the consonants,' The 
 unsophisticated recruiting officer, in speaking of my 
 appointment, had slurred over the final ' t ' in ' ser- 
 geant,' and not till I had pinned him down did that 
 consonant come out as consonants always should, and 
 I came out too. 
 
 "All my castles had fallen down about my ears. Chop- 
 fallen, but not defeated, I packed for Washington. 
 
 " The next morning found me there, and once more, 
 with all my hopes renewed, my ambitions widened. 
 I was in the ' City of Magnificent Distances,' as they 
 called Washington ; in the famous, handsome Pennsyl- 
 vania Avenue, with its dazzling white Treasury building 
 closing up the one end, and its dazzling white Capitol 
 closing up the other, in the very midst of the excitement 
 
14 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and stir of military life ; troops hurrying from the railway 
 station through the city to the landing-stage and the 
 boats to take them to the front; gun-carriages lumber- 
 ing along, staff officers galloping eagerly up and down on 
 their various errands, and uniforms on the pavements as 
 thick as flies, a bewildering mass of colour and movement, 
 with the beautiful Potomac River with its long bridge, 
 ever crowded, leading to an amphitheatre of hills, green 
 with the growth of verdure, and coronated by the 
 historic, handsome white mansion, a residence of the 
 Confederate General Lee, and above all the deep blue 
 cloudless sky and the sun shining down his glory on 
 the scene. What a vision for the young stranger in the 
 gates, with brain in delirium and heart beating with 
 exaltation ! The swagger hotel I was, as per advice, 
 staying in — oh, my thirty-five dollars 1 — was so full 
 of Generals I could afford to turn up my nose at 
 Colonels, whilst to Majors I wouldn't have given a nod. 
 Already I was debating which tailor I should patronise, 
 and nothing but the fact that my thirty-five dollars 
 wouldn't be long even thirty-five prevented my using 
 the few hours of liberty still left to me and ordering 
 my uniform in advance. I felt myself already in the 
 army, unattached of course ; in fact, the regiment 
 I should join would be very much a matter of my own 
 choice. Every General I saw I buttonholed, asking his 
 advice, if not his Interest. The discovery that every 
 General courteously regretted his inability to further my 
 views did not discourage me. It was only as my stock 
 of Generals grew exhausted that my courage began to 
 waver ; numerous as they were, two days had used most 
 
THE OVERTURE 15 
 
 of them up, and like a Londoner who knocks two or 
 three times at the same door in a fog, I found myself 
 frequently tapping the same General. In sheer defence I 
 had to fall back on the Colonels. Alas ! with the same 
 result ! I discovered there was somehow an inexplicable 
 indifference on the part of both divisional and regimental 
 commanders to avail themselves of my valuable services, 
 and all asked for my letters of introduction. Applica- 
 tions in the legitimate channels were fruitless too. In 
 those early days commissions seemed to go as much by 
 political favour as by merit, and ' no stranger need 
 apply.' 
 
 " Undismayed at the barren result of my efforts, I 
 suddenly resolved on courting the mysterious influence 
 of Chance. Into her hands I was young enough blindly 
 to commit myself. Chance came to my assistance, but 
 in her own wayj not mine. In those days each American 
 hotel had a public room, open as much to non-residents 
 as to residents. It contained all the newspapers of the 
 day, and from morning to night this special room in my 
 hotel (Willard's) was packed by visitors, reading, chat- 
 ting, writing, coming and going. In the centre I seated 
 myself with my illustrated book on surgery lying osten- 
 tatiously on my knee, open at the most formidable- 
 looking woodcut in the collection. I estimated the 
 possibilities on the principle of 'The House that Jack 
 Built.' Somebody might pass, his eyes might catch the 
 woodcut, curiosity might be excited, questions asked, 
 interest inspired, influence vouchsafed, and my shoulders 
 decorated ! 
 
 " Two days I sat there. Crowds came in, crowds went 
 
i6 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 out, but no one evinced any curiosity about me. Every- 
 body was too occupied. Persistently I stuck to my seat 
 with my surgical monstrosity always on view, but the 
 whole idea seemed to be a wretched failure. Going 
 were my five-and-twenty dollars, and the only man to 
 whom I had taken an introduction was an Englishman, 
 who helped the dollars on their way by borrowing 
 a few of them and, by-the-by, forgetting to return 
 them. 
 
 " Towards the end of the second day I noticed, sitting 
 at the writing-table opposite me, an elderly gentleman, 
 whose features were strangely familiar. Statesman, 
 artist, author, or divine .'' I could not fix him in my 
 mind, but there was the face that had stared at me 
 from a hundred photographs. He must be a man of 
 eminence, the very man for me. Look at the autograph- 
 hunter edging up to the table and interrupting my 
 contemplated victim in his evidently important corre- 
 spondence with a wretched request for the writer's 
 autograph. Autograph fiends have no bowels of com- 
 passion, but what could he want with the old gentleman's 
 signature if the old gentleman was not a somebody ? 
 If I only had time to get to the bookstall and find out 
 who he is ! It is half an introduction to know a man's 
 name. No time ; he is about to move. Did you ever 
 as a boy hold the string of a trap-net and watch the 
 bird as he hops around the limits of the snare .'' If you 
 have ever felt the blood tingling in your veins on a cold 
 March day as you take a firmer grip of the line, dread- 
 ing to breathe lest you should startle your unconscious 
 prey, you will realise my excitement as I approached 
 
THE OVERTURE 17 
 
 my unknown celebrity with the firm determination to 
 catch him. 
 
 " He was courteous like the others, but too abrupt to 
 be a divine. He must be a Cabinet Minister ! Better 
 still ! No good, though. Whatever he was, he could 
 do nothing. * Deliver your letters of introduction,* 
 he said. ' Have none,' I replied. He grunted dis- 
 approval. Without introduction the public ear was 
 deaf. He was very sorry for me ; he could not advise 
 me, and he left the room. Failed again ! The shades 
 of evening were falling fast. My day's fruitless vigil 
 was over. I thought more than ever of my vanishing 
 fifteen dollars and the prospective commercial value of 
 my watch. My admiration of American institutions 
 was ebbing. Still, the morrow found me again at my 
 post. Hour after hour passed by, when suddenly my 
 elderly gentleman appeared, and from the corner of 
 my eye I saw him stop, catch sight of me, and, to my 
 infinite gratification, make straight for me ! ' Are you 
 not,* he asked, * the young gentleman who spoke to 
 me about a medical appointment yesterday ? * * I am,* 
 I replied. 'Well, I have been thinking a great deal 
 about you since. How was it you were so foolish as 
 to come to America without letters ? They are absolutely 
 indispensable here.' 
 
 " I explained to him that I was stupid enough to believe 
 America different from other countries, and the mere 
 fact of introductions being used in Europe stamped 
 them as superfluous here. I told him that a letter to 
 General Banks which had been offered to me I had even 
 refused to wait for, as it had to come from Paris, 
 c 
 
1 8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " * I know General Banks,' he replied ; ' I'll give you 
 a letter to him if you like, but I shall be bound to say I 
 know nothing about you,' 
 
 " * So long as I am able to get to him,* I said, ' I 
 should ask for nothing more.' And so my new friend 
 sat down at once to write the letter. 
 
 " What an irresistible power curiosity sometimes has — 
 though from my experience sometimes it hasn't ! Here 
 was I at last, gaining my desire, realising all my hopes 
 of attaining the goal of my ambition, checking the out- 
 ward flow of those five dollars, which once were five- 
 and-forty, with the prospect of a pleasant occupation, 
 and the innate satisfaction of proving to the family con- 
 clave the justice of all my anticipations, and yet the one 
 thought at that moment uppermost in my mind was that 
 at last I should learn who this elderly gentleman was. 
 The letter was finished and handed to me, as he bade 
 me good-bye and left me. It was short and business- 
 like. It merely said that I was a perfect stranger to the 
 writer, whom, passing through Washington, he had 
 casually met, but that he had conceived an interest in 
 me. He thought I was the kind of young man who 
 meant business, and that if General Banks could put me 
 in the way of getting what I wished, he wovJd esteem it 
 a personal favour. And there lay the signature before 
 me — P. T. Barnum ! That great showman's name, 
 familiar as it was in England, meant much more in 
 America, as I was soon to learn. He was popular, 
 respected, and, in his own way, influential. 
 
 " The next morning found me at headquarters, armed 
 with my letter. It was handed in. It passed me im- 
 
THE OVERTURE 19 
 
 mediately over the crowded anteroom of officers wait- 
 ing an audience into the presence of the great man 
 himself. It secured me a most cordial reception from 
 him, with the subsequent friendship of the General 
 and his family, which I valued ; an endorsement 
 of Mr. Barnum's letter, addressed to General Ham- 
 mond, the surgeon-general, who had formerly declined 
 any consideration of me, and finally, all I wanted. 
 Who says there is no such factor as 'Chance' in 
 life?" 
 
 I believe that most men who have undergone early 
 experiences distasteful to themselves are in later life 
 reticent in talking about them even to their most 
 intimate friends. I know from troubles of that nature 
 that I have been called upon to endure one tries to 
 banish them, after they have been lived down, from 
 one's own thoughts. I have learned to realise that it is 
 even a miserable thing to dream about them in one's 
 sleep. I think it is possible that some such reasons 
 influence Charles Wyndham when he recalls the part he 
 took in that gruesome American Civil War and make 
 him rather silent concerning it. It is easy to under- 
 stand that it must have been a terrible ordeal for a man 
 (and he was a very young man then) of his fanciful and 
 romantic temperament — a man who always loved to 
 look on the bright side of life, and was destined to 
 make the world all the merrier, and consequently all the 
 happier, for his genial presence in it — it must have been 
 terrible for such a man to participate in the grim horrors 
 of the ghastly battlefields, though maybe he found some 
 comfort in the knowledge that his medical ministrations 
 
20 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 did much to alleviate the agonies of the wounded and 
 lighten the last hours of the dying. 
 
 My dear friend the late Bret Harte, who was taking 
 his share of a loyal American's duty at the same time 
 (little dreaming that he and Charles Wyndham were to 
 meet and become staunch friends in the far-off London 
 days — when the one as author and the other as actor 
 had reached the topmost rung of the ladder of fame), 
 often used to tell me how the soldiers revered and loved 
 the army surgeons, and would have sacrificed their own 
 lives to protect them. It was with this knowledge in 
 view that he penned the half-comic, yet wholly pathetic 
 verses entitled 
 
 "HOW ARE YOU, SANITARY?" 
 
 " Down the picket-guarded lane 
 Rolled the comfort-laden wain, 
 Cheered by shouts that shook the plain. 
 Soldier-like and merry ; 
 Phrases such as camps may teach, 
 Sabre-cuts of Saxon speech, 
 Such as « Bully ! ' ' Them's the peach ! ' 
 ' Wade in. Sanitary ! ' 
 
 " Right and left the caissons drew. 
 As the car went lumbering through. 
 Quick succeeding in review 
 Squadrons military ; 
 Sunburnt men with beards of frieze. 
 Smooth-faced boys, and cries like these — 
 ' U.S. San Com.' ' That's the cheese ! ' 
 ' Pass in, Sanitary ! ' 
 
 " In such cheer it struggled on 
 Till the battle-front was won ; 
 Then the car, its journey done, 
 Lo ! was stationary ; 
 
By /fCi-iirissiou oj Si < 
 
 \ 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNIJHAM WHEN SURGEON I.\ THE UNITED STATES ARMY, 
 Ar,ED TWENTY-SEVEN 
 
 Facing' pri,^e 20 
 
THE OVERTURE 21 
 
 And where bullets whistling fly, 
 Came the sadder, fainter cry, 
 • Help us, brothers, ere we die — 
 Save us. Sanitary ! ' 
 
 " Such the work. The phantom flies. 
 Wrapped in battle-clouds that rise ; 
 But the brave — whose dying eyes. 
 Veiled and visionary. 
 See the jasper gates swing wide, 
 See the parted throng outside — 
 Hear the voice to those who ride ! 
 ' Pass in. Sanitary ! ' " 
 
 Probably Charles Wyndham was never so outspoken 
 with regard to these grim and painfully remembered 
 war experiences as he was on November nth, 1899, 
 when, speaking at a dinner given by the London 
 Eccentric Club, he made a forcible and nobly responded 
 to appeal on behalf of the English soldiers then fighting 
 against fearful odds in South Africa. He said : — 
 
 "There is one special reason for my sympathy with 
 the soldier. Some stray records may have reached 
 your ears of a time when, not with bayonet and rifle, 
 but with bandages, probes, and chloroform, I served with 
 the Federal forces during the longest and most bitter 
 conflict of modern days. Then I learned for the first 
 time, and at first hand, what war really means, war — 
 which if it does not make life worth the living, at least 
 makes death worth the dying ; whose sunlight is fame 
 and glory ; whose clouds are suffering and death in the 
 field — sorrow and want in the home — the home aban- 
 doned by the soldier at his country's call. Do you 
 know how our kinsmen cared for those their heroes had 
 
22 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 left behind them ? As you are doing now, with open 
 heart and purse ; as you are doing now, with growing 
 and growing generosity, till they reached the point I 
 hope we, too, may reach, of absolutely charging them- 
 selves with the present and future of every single home 
 of every single soldier who went out to fight on their 
 behalf. I had opportunities of watching the soldier 
 under every kind of circumstance, in fair weather and in 
 foul — now aflush with victory, now grimly patient 
 under reverse. I have heard his wild shout in the fury 
 of onset, and watched him set his teeth in the stern 
 quietude of desperate resistance. I have seen death 
 courted and victory wrested from despair, and I know, 
 from his own lips, that, if the last hour had to come, he 
 would be cheerful and ready to go, because all through 
 he had been sustained by the solace of the thought that, 
 come what would, those nearest and dearest to him 
 would never know suflFering or want. The dangers 
 that were then are the same now — isolation, interrupted 
 communications, exposure to the assault of an invisible 
 enemy, whether in the gloom of American forest, or 
 treacherous undulation of African veldt. And the 
 great lesson I learnt then we are learning now — the duty 
 of a nation to its brave defenders. When the war is 
 over, and the soldiers' brows are crowned with victorious 
 wreaths, let no brow be clouded with any shade of 
 anxiety beneath those victorious wreaths ! When the 
 time comes for the soldier's ' bruised arms to be hung 
 up for monuments,' let there be ready and waiting for 
 him an unencumbered home to hang them in ! " 
 
 This was at an ordinary annual gathering of members 
 
THE OVERTURE 23 
 
 at dinner, but so impressed were his audience with this 
 unexpected appeal, that they, there and then, before 
 ihey rose from the table, subscribed over £i,Joo, and 
 presented it to Sir Charles for the cause he pleaded, who 
 forwarded it to Lady Audrey BuUer, the president of 
 the Aldershot branch of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Fund, 
 
 Less than three months later, when the Eccentrics 
 gave a " send-ofF" supper to seven of their comrades 
 bound for the Transvaal, he returned to the same theme, 
 and speaking very warmly, and manifestly inspired by 
 the recollection of his own experiences, said : — 
 
 " Seven of those now volunteering for the war we are 
 proud to claim as fellow-members of this club, and it is 
 the health of those seven men, good and true, that it is 
 my privilege to propose. They are giving up, without 
 a murmur, lives of comfort and of care, of active careers 
 and profitable occupations, the devotion of those nearest 
 and dearest to them, the familiar welcome of the busy 
 mart, the cheery greeting of accustomed haunts, and 
 last, though not least, the sweet and simple society of 
 their fellow-Eccentrics ; and in exchange for these 
 abandoned gifts, what do they gladly and enthusiastically 
 accept ? Toil, privation, discomfort, sorrow, pain, and 
 — I will not fear to name what they do not fear to 
 face — the chance of death. And to all these they are 
 not moved by any of the incentives of the career of the 
 mere adventurer or soldier of fortune ; they are not 
 foreign mercenaries, like the imported colonels who 
 direct the strategy of the enemy and prostitute their 
 military talents for gold, and sell their swords and souls 
 for so much per month paid in advance. No, they go 
 
24 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 because English blood dances in their veins, English 
 steel leaps from their scabbards, and English cheers rise 
 from their lips when they hear the call of Mother 
 England's bugle, and, hearing, answer, ' Mother, we 
 are ready ! ' Nor must we forget — and it is another 
 point in their honour — what moment they choose to 
 buckle on their armour. When all goes well, victories 
 abound, and nothing remains but to deliver the coup de 
 grdce to the enemy — it may not be a particularly brave 
 thing to join. How different, however, is this situation ! 
 No sane man can deny its gravity, and it is now, with 
 disasters behind us and perils before us, that gallant 
 comrades leap into the breach, and devote themselves to 
 their Fatherland ! All honour to our soldiers seven ! 
 They are going out to help to change all this, to wipe 
 out the sorrows of the past and bring us the joys of the 
 future, and they will do it. Remember the darkest 
 hour is always nearest to the dawn ! In that Titanic 
 struggle between the North and South of America, the 
 North had to sustain heavier losses and greater defeats 
 at first than we have yet, and so have we in nearly all 
 our wars ; but surely and slowly the indomitable Anglo- 
 Saxon spirit built up a solid rampart of success ; and so 
 shall we now, in this war, despite bad news, if any, that 
 may arrive in the immediate future. The tide begins 
 to turn, the omens grow more favourable, but no omen 
 can be so cheering, no sign from heaven so inspiring, as 
 that high-born courage, that resourceful stoicism of the 
 Englishman in a tight place. From the bottom of your 
 hearts to the bottom of your glasses, I ask you to drink 
 the toast, and echo with a shout the words I tell our 
 
THE OVERTURE 25 
 
 friends. We drink not only to your health, but to your 
 safe return, and, come what may, to the eternal honour of 
 you, our seven brave fellow-members. Our hearts will 
 beat for joy when we hear — and we shall hear — of you 
 and your comrades marching from victory to victory 
 across the dreary veldt, over the stone-capped kopje, 
 till, with drums beating and colours flying, the British 
 legions thunder through the streets of the capital itself ; 
 and there — high on Pretoria's steeples — you will plant 
 that emblem of the truest independence of the world — 
 the grand old British flag, never, we trust, to be hauled 
 down again. Go, brothers, and God be with you. 
 
 " ' Our hearts, our hopes, are all with you ; 
 Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, and tears. 
 Our faith triumphant o'er our fears. 
 Are all with you, are all with you.' " 
 
 It is in this wise that Charles Wyndham from time 
 to time recalls the impressions that were made upon 
 him by his experiences on blood-stained American battle- 
 fields, and it is certain that without personal knowledge 
 no man could give utterance to such stirring speeches. 
 But while able to inspire others with military ardour, 
 warfare had no charms or illusions for him, and while 
 he did faithful, helpful work with bandages, splints, 
 scalpel, anaesthetics, and, above all, cheery words of 
 encouragement and consolation, the irresistible fairy 
 footlights were, siren-like, ever beckoning and calling 
 to him. In his military brigade there was no Orpheus 
 to drown their alluring voices as that magic singer did 
 for the crew of Jason and his good ship "Argo," and even 
 if it had been so, I fancy that, like Butes, the son of 
 
26 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Pandion, the fairest of all mortal men, he would have 
 said farewell to his comrades, crying to his sirens, " I 
 come, I come, to live and die with you, listening to 
 your song." 
 
 Be this as it may, the young brigade surgeon returned 
 to New York. Truly it has been said that war either 
 hardens or softens. It never leaves a man the same 
 as it found him. In his case it had softened, and he 
 yearned for the chastening influence of an artistic life. 
 Somehow managing to secure an engagement at a theatre, 
 he resigned from the army and made his first entry on 
 the boards with John Wilkes Booth, a member of a 
 famous theatrical family, and subsequently the mis- 
 guided and unhappy assassin of President Lincoln ; 
 but though he received encouragement from him and 
 other members of the company (wherever he went, and 
 at all periods of his life, Charles Wyndham has been 
 popular), he failed to do himself justice, and being, to 
 use his own expression, " dismissed for incompetency," 
 he returned to the army, and was ordered to New 
 Orleans, Port Hudson, and subsequently, on the frus- 
 trated invasion of Texas, to serve with his old patron, 
 General Banks, as Commander-in-Chief. This was the 
 spring of 1 864. In the following winter the old and un- 
 dying longing returned, and having been lucky enough to 
 obtain an engagement with Mrs. John "Wood's company, 
 he once more tempted fortune on the stage. Thus it 
 came about that at the Olympic Theatre, New York, he 
 was allotted a far more important part than he had 
 hitherto attempted. To this day he recalls how earnestly 
 he studied one of the distressingly long speeches in 
 
THE OVERTURE 2; 
 
 vogue in those days. It became an absolute torture 
 to him. It made his days miserable and his nights 
 sleepless. He thought more of the mere repetition 
 of the words than the author's meaning in them, and 
 it may be (though 1 never heard him say this) that they 
 had very little meaning. Anyway, when it came to the 
 point, this method of study proved to be disastrous. 
 The palpitating young actor's speech was all about a 
 lovely and equally young lady with whom he was 
 supposed to be desperately in love. Excusing himself 
 for untoward manifestations of his passion, his panegyric 
 commenced with " Drunk with enthusiasm, I " — and 
 so on to the end of an eloquent explanation. Un- 
 fortunately, after he had uttered the first word the 
 would-be comedian's memory forsook him. " Drunk," 
 he stammered, and then stood staring vacantly at an 
 audience fiiUed with what Charles Dickens once called 
 an unholy joy. No wonder that he was misunderstood, 
 and once more " dismissed for incompetency." 
 
 Then if he did not absolutely follow the example of 
 the despondent, love-crossed crusader — if he did not 
 actually 
 
 " Hang his harp on a willow tree," 
 
 he was certainly 
 
 " OfF to the wars again," 
 
 and he stayed amid the roar and clash of battle, prac- 
 tising his healing art, until that awful struggle between 
 North and South was nearly at an end. 
 
 How little he thought when, deeply mortified, and 
 this time quite conscious of failure, he was compelled to 
 resign his engagement with Mrs. John Wood, that the 
 
28 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 accomplished and delightful actress would in later years 
 play under his management at the London Criterion 
 Theatre, and esteem it a privilege to be associated with 
 his triumphs ! 
 
 Shakespeare, who knew and could give beautiful 
 expression to everything, tells us that — 
 
 " Wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes, 
 But presently prevent the ways to wail." 
 
 And Charles Wyndham at once began to think how 
 he could regain his lost ground in the stage-land that, in 
 spite of initial rebuffs, he had resolved to conquer. 
 
 He determined that his next venture should be in his 
 native country, and returning to England in 1865 with 
 a play from his own pen in his pocket, he found a home 
 for it and himself at the Theatre Royal, Manchester. 
 The piece was called Her Ladyship's Guardian, and was 
 avowedly an adaptation of a novel by Major Edward 
 Bruce Hamley entitled Lady Lee^s Widowhood." My 
 old friend W. H. Vernon, who was then a member of 
 the Manchester company and played in the piece, has 
 told me that it bore a striking resemblance to Rosedale, 
 a romantic drama in which John Lester Wallack had 
 made a marked success in America. It would appear 
 that this Rosedale had a great fascination for actors, for 
 after his phenomenal career as Lord Dundreary at the 
 Haymarket, E. A. Sothern appeared in a distinct 
 version of it by an anonymous writer (it was always 
 supposed that Sothern himself had a hand in it) 
 entitled A Wild Goose. 
 
 In this not very successful production Mrs. Kendal — 
 
THE OVERTURE 29 
 
 then Miss Madge Robertson — played the heroine. In 
 common with all clever women, she has a keen sense of 
 humour, and concerning A Wild Goose she once told me 
 an amusing little story. The plot demanded that 
 Sothern, who has not been inaptly described as a 
 " bundle of nerves," should in the last act shoot some- 
 one, and (carrying out the tradition of stage firearms) 
 his pistol on one fateful night failed to go oiF. Half 
 mad with dismay and mortification, Sothern rushed at 
 the lady who was to be his victim, and despatched her 
 with his penknife! 
 
 In the light of after events it is very interesting to 
 note that, long before they knew each other and became 
 firm friends — in the days before David Garrick^ in 
 which both were to win fame and fortune, was produced 
 — the two actors were in this Rosedale motive, a 
 blend of strong interest with light comedy, working on 
 the same lines — very difllicult lines — lines in which they 
 had few equals, and have never been excelled. 
 
 But to return to Manchester, Her Ladyship's Guardian, 
 and my friend W. H. Vernon's account of this very 
 interesting experiment. With himself and the enter- 
 prising actor-author, Charles Wyndham, the cast 
 included Miss Vining (who was " starred "), Clifford 
 Cooper and Mrs. Clifford Cooper (Miss Kemble), Fred 
 Everill (the admirable comedian who subsequently took 
 Henry Compton's vacant place — a difficult one to fill ! 
 —at the Haymarket), and Harry Thompson — a very 
 droll character actor. It will thus be seen that the bold 
 venture had every chance of the success that it 
 achieved, and supplemented by the good old farce, His 
 
30 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Last Legs, in which Charles Wyndham scored immensely 
 in the amusing character of O'Callaghan, the programme 
 was decidedly popular. So popular that even in those 
 days of ephemeral achievements it was thought well to 
 revive it, with practically the same cast, at the Queen's 
 Theatre, Dublin, during a short summer season. In 
 connection with this production, W. H. Vernon writes 
 me : — 
 
 "An incident occurred one night in which humour 
 was blended with danger. There were three of us on 
 the stage together — the actor who played the ' old man ' 
 of the piece, myself, and Miss Clara Dillon, the 
 daughter of Charles Dillon, the then well-known Shake- 
 spearean tragedian and universally popular hero of the 
 drama called Belphegor the Mountebank. Suddenly a 
 limelight in the flies went off with a terrific ' bang,* 
 leaving only a few lights burning in the front of the 
 house, and startling both audience and actors into a 
 condition of semi-panic. The actor who was playing 
 the ' old man ' and Miss Dillon rushed madly into the 
 street, which was close at hand, and made a sensationally 
 ludicrous effect on the passers-by ; as the gentleman was 
 in full fox-hunting fig, and the lady in an equally 
 effective stage costume. The audience also took fright 
 and a perilous stampede seemed imminent ; but luckily 
 we were able to pacify them, and after a brief stoppage of 
 the play we went to work again without any mischief 
 being done. We also appeared in some of the good 
 old farces — Wyndham in Trying it On, and I in Little 
 Toddlekins." 
 
 As we shall presently see, the character of Mr. 
 
THE OVERTURE 31 
 
 Walsingham Potts, in the first-named piece, subse- 
 quently became a favourite one with the clever young 
 author of Her Ladyship's Guardian. 
 
 What a pity it seems that some of these delightful 
 little one-act pieces, instinct with the memory of the 
 Keeleys, John Baldwin Buckstone, Henry Compton, 
 Charles Mathews, and the fun-inspired authors who 
 wrote for them, cannot be revived ! To the present 
 generation they would be novelties, and surely they are 
 far more diverting than most of the so-called comic 
 pieces that are represented on the stage of to-day. Un- 
 luckily for them, and those who would like to laugh at 
 them again, they are branded with those hopeless words 
 in the theatrical world, " old-fashioned." 
 
 I should like here to finish my friend Vernon's letter, 
 for it is one of the many proofs that born actors quickly 
 become good comrades, and are ever ready to give each 
 other a helping hand. 
 
 " Later on," he writes, " Charles Wyndham did me 
 a good turn, with Miss Herbert, of the St. James's 
 Theatre, with whom he was touring in the summer of a 
 subsequent season. They were acting the old comedies, 
 and he was the Charles Surface to the Joseph of Henry 
 Irving. He left Miss Herbert at Dublin to fulfil an 
 engagement with Miss Kate Terry, and very kindly 
 wrote me to Bristol that if I liked to take his place 
 he had arranged it for me. Of course, I was delighted 
 to accept the offer, for then it was a big jump for me 
 to join a London company, and accordingly I appeared 
 as Charles Surface at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, with 
 Miss Herbert as Lady Teazle, Miss Ada Cavendish 
 
32 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 as Lady Sneerwell, Mrs. Frank Mathews as Mrs. 
 Candour, Henry Irving as Joseph Surface {the best!), 
 Frank Mathews as Sir Peter Teazle, Gaston Mur- 
 ray as Sir Benjamin Backbite, and J. D. Stoyle as 
 Moses." 
 
 Truly a notable cast ! 
 
 In 1 890, in an address given to the Twentieth Century 
 Club at Chicago, Charles Wyndham, humorously and 
 somewhat fancifully alluding to his early experiences, 
 and modestly calling them " failures," went back to the 
 days when he was a medical student in Dublin, and 
 said : — 
 
 "Then came a moment — that solemn moment in 
 every man's life — when the petals of his heart open 
 to imbibe the sunshine of love. I met a young lady 
 only nineteen years of age who was not only young and 
 pretty, but she wore a widow's cap. Imagine the treble 
 attraction of youth, beauty, and a widow's cap ! and add 
 to this the interest that this young widow became a 
 widow on the afternoon of. her wedding day, and you 
 can realise what a halo of romance hung round her 
 head. I at once, for the first time in my life, began 
 to write poetry. It pleased her, and she was gracious 
 enough to accept my verses, and sweet enough to give 
 me promise of hope. I went to work to gain my 
 diplomas. At last the hour arrived when I sub- 
 mitted myself for my examination and gained my 
 diplomas. But I regret to say, so inconsistent is 
 human nature, that by that time I had forgotten all 
 about my widow, and she had married her brother- 
 in-law. 
 
THE OVERTURE 33 
 
 "But there I stood at that moment, a full-fledged 
 doctor, and on the strength of my diplomas, the only 
 possession I had in the world, I married a lady to whom 
 I had sworn love long before I met the widow. She 
 had a little money, I had none. No patient darkened 
 my door. In vain I wore stiff white neckties ; in vain 
 I prayed for a bald head and a slight rotundity of body 
 — things which I now look forward to with dread every 
 morning. It was weary waiting for the unattainable. 
 At last, however, came the writing on the wall. Going 
 down to my bank upon some matters of business, 
 I learned that I had overdrawn my balance. My bank- 
 ing account had died a calm and peaceful death, leaving 
 no trace behind. Out of the little remnant of my 
 possessions I retained sufficient money to leave behind 
 me while I came across to this country to try my 
 fortunes in the war. And now I timidly approach 
 another failure. When winter came, not wishing for 
 an inactive life, my thoughts turned once more to the 
 stage. In my old London amateur days there was 
 a little weekly journal which contained flattering 
 allusions to myself as an actor. One week the mantle 
 of Macready had fallen upon my shoulders ; another 
 I was to be the born successor to Charles Mathews ; a 
 third, a celebrated actor, Tyrone Power, was not in 
 it with me. They were all magnificent notices. I know 
 it, for I wrote them all myself. These notices I one 
 day sent out to the different managers in America, and 
 one man was so impressed by them that he lost np time 
 in inviting me to become a member of his company. 
 In a very few weeks' time he suggested my resignation. 
 
34 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 as being totally unfit for the stage. I resigned. 1 
 managed later to secure an engagement in New York 
 with Mrs. John Wood. In a painfully short space of 
 time Mrs. Wood, like her predecessor, suggested my 
 resignation. 
 
 " After one or two ineffectual attempts like these 
 I came to the conclusion that America was not suffi- 
 ciently advanced in art to appreciate me. I recrossed 
 the water and offered my valuable services to English 
 managers. One was so thoroughly impressed with my 
 own convictions that he entrusted to me an important 
 part, the part of Shaun, the Post, in Arrah-na Pogue. 
 I fear that the first evening had not advanced far when 
 he regretted his confidence, and one of the papers the 
 next morning had the bad taste to say that my brogue 
 was sufficient to justify a Fenian rising. Here was 
 another failure. You will thus see, ladies and gentle- 
 men, how the seas of adverse fate have gradually but 
 effectually sapped the confidence which would permit me 
 to address you." 
 
 In this, my opening chapter, I quote freely from this 
 speech, because I think it is always good to see how the 
 brave and cheerful spirit of a man who loves to get all 
 the sunshine he can out of his own life, and to shed as 
 much of it as is possible on the lives of his fellow- 
 creatures, can in after years recall, not only lightly, but 
 with a bright sense of fun, those early disappointments 
 that must at the time have seemed heartbreaking. Such 
 recollections gaily conjured up cheer the drooping hopes 
 of the despondent and act like an invigorating tonic to 
 those who have yet to win their spurs. 
 
By pcriiilsswii oj J. Russell and Sivi, P.ak.r Street , London, II'. 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM AS "SHAUN THE POsI' " IN "ARRAGII XA POGUE' 
 
 F.ii.ini,' page 34 
 
THE OVERTURE 35 
 
 In spite of so-called " failures," Charles Wyndham's 
 appearance in Her Ladyship's Guardian, and in other 
 pieces in the English provinces, sufficed to win him an 
 early call to the actor's Mecca — London. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CURTAIN UP 
 
 X-TOW true It is that faith is strong in the young 
 and hope stronger ! Fully endowed with these 
 stimulating aids to self-help, Charles Wyndham now 
 boldly sought an engagement at a West End London 
 theatre, secured one at the Royalty, and appeared there 
 on May 2ist, 1866, as Sir Arthur Lascelles, in Morton's 
 well-worn old play, All that Glitters is not Gold^ still 
 beloved by amateurs. During the season he was seen 
 in other pieces, but his most remarkable achievement 
 at the little Soho playhouse was his appearance, in 
 November, 1866, as Hatchett, in F. C. Burnand's pheno- 
 menally popular burlesque on Douglas Jerrold's well- 
 known nautical drama, Black-eyed Susan. The theatre 
 was then managed by the captivating Miss Patty Oliver. 
 She appeared in the title-role ; Miss Rosina Ranoe 
 was William ; James Danvers, Dame Hatley ; Miss 
 Fanny Heath, Gnatbrain ; Miss Nellie Bromley, Dolly 
 Mayflower ; and Fred Dewar, Captain Crosstree. Those 
 who are lucky enough to remember (I am glad to say 
 I am one of them) that delicious piece of fooling will 
 never forget it. 
 
 Compared with it, the " musical comedies " of to-day 
 
 36 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 37 
 
 form very dull entertainment. The piece did not 
 depend on gorgeous stage mounting or costly costumes, 
 but on the true spirit of travesty, brilliant dialogue, 
 genuine acting, and good singing. The audiences were 
 enthusiastic ; Miss Patty Oliver sang " Pretty See-usan, 
 don't say no " about a dozen times every night to 
 repeated encores ; and that excellent comedian, Fred 
 Dewar, was equally successful with his " Captain Cross- 
 tree is my Name," sung to the then extremely popular 
 air of " Champagne Charlie is my Name," although, be 
 it understood, the words were much smarter than those 
 of that inane music-hall ditty. 
 
 Of Charles Wyndham's performance in this pleasant 
 production Sir Francis C. Burnand, in his interesting 
 Records and Reminiscences^ says : " Charles Wyndham 
 was a wonderful dancer, and however nonsensical might 
 have been what he had to do, he was thoroughly in 
 earnest when doing it." 
 
 This, of course, is the right spirit in which to play 
 burlesque, but only the true artist can give proper effect 
 to it. It is as essential for a well-equipped actor to be 
 a good dancer as it is to be a good fencer ; and the fact 
 that the ex-army surgeon was ready when called upon 
 to disport himself in this branch of his profession is 
 ample proof that, in spite of his arduous occupation 
 and early stage rebuffs, he had found time to prepare 
 himself for the work of his heart. To become a good 
 ballroom dancer is not a very difficult thing ; to achieve 
 success as a stage dancer requires not only training, but 
 constant practice. 
 
 How little did author and actor think, in the 
 
38 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 November of 1866, that the day would come when they 
 would jointly receive their well-won honour of knight- 
 hood from the hand of King Edward VII. 1 
 
 I do not think it is generally known that the author, 
 encouraged no doubt by the fame of his merry little 
 piece, appeared in it himself (as Captain Crosstree) on a 
 short provincial tour. In this connection I venture to 
 interpolate an old and forgotten playbill. Mr. Alfred 
 Bishop, the Hatchett of the cast, has for years done 
 loyal work in the Wyndham successes ; Mr. Harry Cox, 
 the Dame Hatley, became a warm favourite at the 
 Strand Theatre ; and Miss Marie Longmore, the Susan, 
 took rank amongst the prettiest and brightest of bur- 
 lesque actresses. In " boys' " parts she was as good as 
 Miss Marie Wilton (now Lady Bancroft), and that is 
 high praise. 
 
 Truly an ample evening's entertainment ! An excel- 
 lent comedy, and two burlesques to follow ! It would 
 be enough to keep the slack playgoers of 1904 out of 
 the theatre ! Note, too, the comparative cheapness of 
 the prices even for a provincial theatre. But in these 
 days of bustle we want everything to be done in a hurry, 
 and while we do not mind paying heavily for them, we 
 want even our amusements to be compressed into the 
 shortest possible space of time. 
 
 That Sir Francis loved acting is well known to all 
 who have read his most interesting records of that 
 famous Cambridge amateur club of which he was the 
 founder. Of this touring experiment he says, " I found 
 (as at another time I did with 'readings') that it must be 
 one thing or the other — either go on the boards as actor 
 
NEW THEATRE ROYAL, BRIGHTON. 
 
 Sole Proprietor and Manner, Mr. H. Nvb Chart, authorised to perforin the 
 Pieces of the Dramatic Authors' Society, 
 
 This Evenii^, Friday, August 30th, 
 A COMPLIMENTARY BENEFIT to 
 , MR. F. C. BURNAND, 
 
 And last night but one of his appearance this season. 
 
 Notice. — This evening the doors will be open at half-past six, 
 and Performances commence at Seven precisely. 
 
 On Friday Evening, August 30th, 1867, 
 
 The Performance will commence with — for the Fifth time in Brighton- 
 
 JOHN Brougham's New and Popular Comedy of 
 
 PLAYING WITH FIRE. 
 
 Herbert Waverley 
 
 Doctor Savage 
 
 Uncle Timothy 
 
 Pinchbeck 
 
 James 
 
 Mrs. Doctor Savage 
 
 Mrs. Herbert Waverley 
 Perkins . 
 
 The Widow Crabsticke 
 Mary Anne 
 
 Mr. Lewis Nanton. 
 Mr. Dan Leeson. 
 Mr. H. Leigh. 
 Mr. Harry Cox. 
 Mr. Hathbrill. 
 Miss Nelly Rollason. 
 (Mrs. H. Nye Chart.) 
 Miss B. Adams. 
 Miss Hetty Tracby. 
 Mrs. H. Leigh. 
 Miss Walstein. 
 
 To be followed by the Burlesque in One Act, by F. C. Bdrnand, entitled — 
 
 PATIENT PENELOPE; 
 
 Or, the return OF ULYSSES. 
 
 Ulysses (commonly called the Crafty) . . . Mr. F. C. Burnand, 
 
 "In useful ait successrully refined ; 
 Art'ful in speech, in action, and in mind." 
 
 Eurymachus (one of Penelope's suitors, for this occasion 
 
 only) . . . ... Mrs. F. C. Bdrnand. 
 
 Medon (Penelope's servant) . ... Mr. Harry Cox. 
 
 Penelope (Wife to Ulysses) . ... Miss Rosina RAnoe. 
 
To conclude with F. C. Burnand's Burlesque, now acting 
 
 in London to crowded houses, entitled — 
 
 The latest Edition of 
 
 BLACK-EYED SUSAN; 
 
 Or, 
 
 "The Little Bill that was taken up." 
 
 Lord High Admiral 
 
 Captain Crosstree, R.N, (by the Author) 
 
 William (her original character) 
 
 Hatchett (a Deal Smuggler) . 
 
 Raker (an I-deal Smuggler) . 
 
 Doggrass (Susan's Uncle) 
 
 Gnatbrain 
 
 Admiral of the Blue 
 
 Admiral of the Yellow 
 
 Admiral of the White 
 
 Admiral of the Black 
 
 Shaun O'Ploughshare 
 
 Telegraph Clerk . 
 
 Susan 
 
 Dolly Mayflower . 
 
 Dame Hatley 
 
 Marines 
 
 Miss Kent, Miss Athersol, Miss A, 
 and Miss L. St. Clairb. 
 
 Mr. H. Leigh. 
 Mr. F. C. Burnand. 
 Miss Rosina Ranoe. 
 Mr. a. Bishop. 
 Miss B. Adams. 
 Mr. Silburne. 
 Miss Hetty Tracey. 
 Mr. Hatherill. 
 Mr. Attree. 
 Mr. Wynne. 
 Mr. Harland. 
 Mr. E. J. George. 
 Miss Walstein. 
 Miss Marie Longmore. 
 Miss Attrbe. 
 Mr. Harry Cox. 
 St. Claire, 
 
 Scene i. 
 
 Scene 2. 
 Scene 3. 
 
 Scene 4. 
 Scene 5. 
 
 The Downs of Deal. 
 
 (Being a View in which you'll see a deal of the Downs. ) 
 Interior of Dame Hatley's Cottage. 
 Exterior of the " Admiral Benbow" Tavern. 
 
 Double Hornpipe by William and Susan. 
 Telegraph Office. 
 On the Deck of H.M.S. Polly Phemus. 
 
 The Box-office open daily, from eleven till four, under the direction of 
 
 Mr. Wheeler, of whom Tickets and Places may be secured. 
 
 Stalls, S/-. Dress Circle, 4/-. Boxes, 2/6. Pit, 1/6. 
 
 Amphitheatre, i/-. Gallery, 6rf. 
 
 Second price as near nine o'clock as possible. 
 
 Orchestra Stalls, 3/-. Dress Circle, 2/6. Boxes, 1/6. Pit, l/-. 
 
 No half-price to Amphitheatre or Gallery. 
 
 Stage Manager, Mr. Dan Leeson. Treasurer, Mr. Thomas Chart. 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 41 
 
 and author, or stay off and be content with being author 
 and writer. If this hadn't been my decision, of course 
 I should have had to retire from the staff of Punchy as to 
 attend * in my place ' at the Cabinet Council dinners 
 every Wednesday, and yet be performing at the same 
 time in the provinces, would have been a tour de force 
 only to be accomplished by the historic bird of Sir 
 Boyle Roche that * could not be in more than tWo places 
 at once.' " 
 
 No doubt in the second Captain Crosstree of the 
 travesty we lost a good actor, but we have gained by the 
 untiring industry of a brilliant writer who has done 
 much to add to the gaiety of English-speaking nations. 
 
 The latest edition of Black-eyed Susan held its own at 
 the Royalty for quite two years, but long before the 
 piece had run its course Charles Wyndham, laudably 
 anxious to be recognised as a bona-fide comedian rather 
 than a clever performer in frivolous burlesque, sought, 
 and obtained, ianother engagement. 
 
 The stage doors of the leading London playhouses 
 were now open to him, and he had little difficulty in 
 installing himself as a member of Miss Herbert's excel- 
 lent company at the St. James's Theatre. His first 
 appearance on those boards was in April, 1867, in a 
 play founded by George Roberts (Robert Walters) on a 
 novel by "Ouida," and partly perhaps on Miss Edwards's 
 Half a Million of Money. It was called Idalia. Miss 
 Herbert (what a charming actress she was !) played the 
 title-role ; Henry Irving, Count Falcon ; F. Charles, 
 Victor Vane ; D. Stoyle, Volpone Vitello ; Gaston 
 Murray, Baron Lintz ; Charles Wyndham, Hugh Stone- 
 
42 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 leigh ; and Mrs. Frank Mathews, Madame Paravent. 
 Of this engagement, and the initial production of Idalia^ 
 Charles Wyndham writes, in a contribution to the 
 Philadelphia Clever Club, compiled by its respective 
 members : — 
 
 " Oh that first night ! In those days, by-the-by, 
 managers would insist on casting me for the virtuous 
 heroes, and Irving for the vicious ones, although our 
 proclivities in no way justified the selection. But what 
 a charming villain Irving was ! the only actor I have 
 ever seen who has been able to make villainy on the 
 stage appear, as it should appear, lovable. The opening 
 scene of Idalia was a rocky defile, in which I was 
 suddenly attacked by Irving and left for dead. The 
 stage-manager had outshone himself in the production 
 of a grandly impressive scene, in which the demands of 
 realism were observed by the introduction of a natural 
 waterfall, descending from the flies at the side, passing 
 under a massive bridge, and rushing wildly and obliquely 
 across the stage. It was certainly a gorgeous scene ; an 
 inspiring one, bound to elicit uproarious approval. 
 Well, on the first night it did, and during the rest of 
 the evening that waterfall was never forgotten. It was 
 supposed, as I have said, to dash under a massive bridge, 
 which, by-the-by, sloped down towards the footlights, 
 in full view of the audience ; but stage-managers pro- 
 pose and stage waterfalls dispose. It was its first 
 appearance on the boards, and, like most beginners, it 
 wanted to do too much ; it not only dashed under the 
 bridge, but it trickled over the bridge, and on its 
 passage across the stage it oozed from its proper 
 
Photo by London Stereoscopic Co. 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM IN OUIDA'S " IDALIA " 
 
 Facing page 4a 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 43 
 
 channel in several little independent rivulets down 
 towards the footlights. Wherever that inexperienced 
 water went it left the stage slippery. Thunders of 
 applause greeted the enthusiastic debutant, and all the 
 time the traitor was preparing for the annihilation of 
 his brother artists. Gracefully down the bridge came 
 F. Charles. He touched the slippery part of the 
 bridge, threw his arms out wildly, away went his cloak 
 in the torrent, and — well, he sat down. With dramatic 
 instinct in every nerve of his body, firmly entered, 
 half a minute afterwards, Henry Irving — ^looked about 
 him warily, then strode to the bridge till he also reached 
 the fatal spot, threw his arms wildly round, and — well, 
 he sat down. Need I say that the awe of the situation 
 was fading ? Now came my turn. Standing on a plat- 
 form behind the scene from the commencement, I had 
 seen what had happened to my two friends, so, stepping 
 gingerly upon the bridge, I arrived on the stage with- 
 out sitting down, had my encounter with the two 
 ruffians, escaped from them, had run wildly up the 
 bridge again to receive the shot from Count Falcon's 
 pistol, and had fallen, according to the stage-manager's in- 
 structions, a foot or so below the treacherous spot. On 
 came Idalia — she had heard the shot. * Ah ! a body on 
 the bridge ! ' She runs down, recognises me — ' Great 
 Heavens, 'tis he ! — rushes further down, reaches the 
 fatal place, away go her arms, and — well, she sat down, 
 the folds of her dress falling over me and completely 
 hiding me from the view of the audience. That was 
 the end of the act — it was a powerful one. We had all 
 done our level best, but the waterfall had scored the 
 
44 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 most, to the delighted amusement of a laughing 
 audience. 
 
 "The next scene was a simple drawing-room. The 
 waterfall had gone, thank Heaven, and we could rely 
 upon ourselves. The act began. It was interesting 
 and dramatic — a powerful scene between Miss Herbert 
 and Irving — accusation of murder, defiance, vengeance 
 for my death — all very startling ; sufficiently so to drive 
 for the time the slippery knave from everybody's mind. 
 A great scene, well acted and well received ; everything 
 going splendidly, and an effect in store bound to please 
 the audience. 
 
 " The hero is not dead, for he suddenly appears ; 
 appears as a hero always does, at the back of the stage ; 
 great applause at his resuscitation ; Miss Herbert backs 
 with joy and surprise right to the footlights, and I pre- 
 pare to rush towards her ; success is in our grasp ; the 
 audience is in splendid humour ; spite of all difficulties, 
 we have triumphed. Alas ! the vanity of human 
 hopes ! The waterfall was lying in wait for me. I told 
 you the scene was a drawing-room, but I did not tell 
 you that it was an Italian one, consequently that the 
 carpet covered only the centre of the stage. Across it 
 I madly rushed towards my faithful love. ' Idalia ! ' I 
 exclaimed, ' I never expected to see you again ! ' — 
 reached one of those rivulets that had trickled in exactly 
 the same direction that I was going — reached it un- 
 knowingly — slipped, and — well, I sat down. 
 
 " Never in the whole course of my life have I heard 
 such a roar as went up from the auditorium. 
 
 " Need I go on ? Need I tell you how in the next 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 45 
 
 scene, when she and I were supposed to be escaping 
 from the Austrian soldiery, those brave heroes came on, 
 and, as the first slipped over our general enemy, the 
 others came tumbling after ? How massive rocks were 
 knocked over by the fallen bodies, and how this act 
 terminated in convulsions on the part of the audience ? 
 Need I tell you that, in the last act, the actors had 
 become, through sheer helplessness, as demoralised as 
 the audience — that I assured my love, in a voice 
 smothered by laughter, that nothing would shake my 
 firmness of belief in her — that she chuckled out she 
 believed me — or that Irving came on to die in a white 
 shirt, a blood-red spot on his breast, and his face all 
 grins, dying the most facetious death actor ever died ? " 
 
 Charles Wyndham stayed with Miss Herbert through- 
 out that season, and in the summer of 1867 supported 
 Miss Kate Terry during her farewell appearances at 
 Manchester. That was a notable engagement. Than 
 Miss Terry no more popular actress ever graced the 
 stage. Her early retirement was the subject of general 
 regret, and it says much for the young actor that he was 
 able to do good service with her in such parts as Claudio, 
 Modus, Henri de Neuville, and Laertes. 
 
 In October, 1867, he was engaged by Alfred Wigan 
 for the opening of the Queen's Theatre in Long Acre. 
 The first attraction at the new playhouse was Charles 
 Reade's drama. The Double Marriage. This work had 
 been more than suggested by Macquets' French play, 
 Le Chateau Grantier, and when it had been rejected by 
 several London managers its impetuous adapter turned 
 it into the still well-known novel called White Lies. 
 
46 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Content with the success of this, Reade, who did not 
 like having his work refused, would possibly have 
 allowed his play to remain on the shelf, if his old friend 
 (and subsequent biographer) John Coleman had not 
 advised him to submit it to Alfred Wigan, who at once 
 accepted it, and engaged an excellent company to sup- 
 port him and Mrs, Wigan in the production. An 
 especial attraction was that Miss Ellen Terry, as popular 
 then as she is now, was engaged after a long absence 
 from the stage to appear in an important character, and 
 other parts were entrusted to Miss Fanny Addison, 
 Miss Henrietta Hodson (now Mrs. Labouchere), Charles 
 Wyndham, and Lionel Brough, who then, finally aban- 
 doning his useful career as a journalist, made his first 
 professional appearance on the London stage. 
 
 That he was an acquisition to it we happily know to 
 this day. Than Lionel Brough no better actor in his 
 own line of dramatic art ever trod the stage. As a 
 perfect impersonator of Shakespeare's comedy characters 
 his name will ever live. 
 
 Now when this play entitled The Double Marriage was 
 produced, Charles Reade neglected to mention that his 
 popular story, White Lies, on which the play was avowedly 
 founded, had been taken from a French source ; and 
 when astute critics noted this fact and gave publicity to 
 it, the irascible author was very angry. It seems strange 
 that so great a man as the author of that glorious 
 romance, The Cloister and the Hearth, should care to annex 
 another writer's story without acknowledgment ; but 
 Charles Reade lived in days when piracy from French 
 dramatists was regarded as quite an innocent recreation. 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 47 
 
 He must have been an odd man to deal with. Miss 
 Ellen Terry, who had much to do with him as author 
 and stage-manager, summed him up as " dear, lovable, 
 aggravating, childlike, crafty, gentle, obstinate, and 
 entirely delightful and interesting Charles Reade." 
 
 According to John Coleman, The Double Marriage was 
 another of those pieces that had to undergo half-comical, 
 half-pathetic, first-night troubles. Josephine, its heroine, 
 is supposed to have given birth to a child under cir- 
 cumstances which, although ultimately explained satis- 
 factorily, appear at the moment most compromising. 
 The child is discovered ; the unfortunate mother's 
 honour, happiness, her very life are at stake. In this 
 supreme moment her sister, a single young girl, the 
 incarnation of truth, purity, and innocence, comes 
 forward in the presence of her affianced husband and 
 her mother, and to save Josephine from shame, brands 
 herself with infamy. Taking the child in her arms, she 
 declares it to be her own. 
 
 " I can conceive," says Charles Reade's biographer, 
 " no dramatic situation in existence stronger than this. 
 To the well-grounded skill of Miss Ellen Terry was 
 entrusted this striking incident. This distinguished 
 actress had retired suddenly and unexpectedly from 
 dramatic life. Hence, when she emerged from her 
 retirement, her first appearance was looked forward to 
 with eager and unwonted interest. She was fully equal 
 to the occasion : her form dilated, her eyes sparkled 
 with fire, her voice trembled, as she exclaimed in tones 
 of passionate emotion, * / am its mother ! ' 
 
 "At this moment Reade told me that there burst 
 
48 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 forth a roar of derision which shook the building, and 
 a howl of savage laughter arose which he should never 
 forget if he lived to the age of old Parr. The curtain 
 fell amidst yells, and the piece was doomed then and 
 there. Indeed, it was only kept in the bill until some- 
 thing could be prepared to take its place." 
 
 Always loyal to his friend, the writer goes on to 
 suggest " that although the presence of that unfortunate 
 baby was fatal to The Double Marriage, at that very time 
 the old Prince of Wales's Theatre was being crowded 
 nightly with audiences which not only tolerated the 
 D'Alroy baby in the last act of Caste, but absolutely 
 shed tears over it. The critics who saw genius in the 
 one piece," he says, " could detect nothing but the 
 quintessence of absurdity in the other. The adage that 
 one man may steal a horse and ride off on his back in 
 triumph, while if the other looks over the hedge he is 
 dragged off to durance vile, was never more appositely 
 illustrated than on this occasion." 
 
 But surely the question is one of treatment ? Babies 
 are always dangerous elements in plays, and are far 
 more likely to provoke laughter than sympathy from 
 the curiously mixed audiences that will always be found 
 within the walls of a theatre. If they are "real, 
 live " babies, they are (poor little things !) apt to cry 
 at the wrong moments ; if they are dolls, they are 
 absurdities. 
 
 Tom Robertson — a husband and a father — in his 
 affections as tender as a woman, knew just how to handle 
 the pretty idea that he had conjured up for the solution 
 of the difficulties that beset Caste. The result was an 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 49 
 
 appeal to every human heart. The men and women 
 pf the workaday world who sat in the gallery under- 
 stood it as well as the titled and wealthy folk who 
 luxuriated in the stalls, and one of those unmistakable 
 thrills of sympathy went through the house that stamp 
 the enduring hall-mark of success on any play. 
 
 Charles Reade, a bachelor and a dealer in matter of 
 fact rather than sentiment, used that enfant terrible of 
 his imagination roughly, and at a crucial moment it 
 spurned him. But I think, as a rule, infants in arms 
 are no more popular behind the footlights than they 
 are in the auditorium. 
 
 Having given John Coleman's " front of the house " 
 description of this eventful night, I must now quote 
 Charles Wyndham's statement of what took place 
 behind the scenes and on the stage. He told it to me 
 in his own characteristic way somewhat as follows : — 
 
 " Act I. Miss Fanny Addison, Miss Ellen Terry, her 
 younger sister, and their mother are living in the 
 Chateau, and through the Revolution have been reduced 
 to the direst straits . . . Miss Addison has been en- 
 gaged to a young officer, myself, who has been reported 
 as killed at the seat of war, Egypt. An old General 
 (Alfred Wigan) is billeted on them for a time. He 
 realises their sad position, and being interested in them, 
 proposes to give them the protection of his name, and 
 what little there is of his purse. He proposes, merely 
 as a matter of form, for he is on his way in an hour to 
 the wars, to marry Miss Addison. Such a marriage 
 will free them from some political pressure, and as she 
 
50 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 has lost her lover, she, for the sake of mother and sister, 
 consents to the wedding, immediately after which he 
 goes to the war. Barely an hour after his departure I 
 turn up, almost dying. I have been kept a prisoner in 
 Egypt, with no means of communication. I am ill and 
 suffering, but have hastened to the Chateau, hearing of 
 the distress of the ladies, having after my escape to 
 France hurried here to give them the same political 
 support that the General has just given, by marrying 
 the girl of my heart. Then has the confession to be 
 made that only an hour ago she had been wedded to 
 the General, now off to the war. The news is crushing, 
 and I leave them with the determination, ill as I am, to 
 go to the war and (to use the author's words) seek a 
 soldier's grave. I am too ill, however, to go far ; I 
 fall into a swoon in the presence of the ladies. 
 
 "Act II. Great developments have taken place — and 
 a couple of years have passed. I have been tenderly 
 nursed by my friends, and on receipt of the news that 
 the General has been killed, I have married Miss 
 Addison and a child has been born to us. There is the 
 child in the cradle. The cradle of the child ! — and the 
 cradle of our disaster ! By stage directions everybody 
 is cooing over the baby and rocking its cradle. Now 
 comes a letter from the General from Egypt ; the 
 General alive and on his way to his wife ! Will follow 
 almost as soon as the letter arrives. Consternation ! 
 and once more, when the ladies anxiously ask themselves 
 what is to be done, I come to the rescue by announcing 
 that 1 would at once go back to the war and seek a 
 soldier's grave. We all leave the room, but not before 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 51 
 
 we've all had one more look at the " precious," and started 
 that cradle working again. No one needs to be present 
 to realise that this is a dangerous situation ; the room is 
 empty, all but the cradle, which is very assertively 
 rocking from side to side, and already the uncomfortable 
 titter is audible ; but when a friend of the General's 
 opens the centre door, puts his head in and whispers 
 mysteriously to the audience that * the General is coming 
 up the stairs — what a surprise there will be ! ' it can 
 easily be understood that that working cradle was going 
 to be very much indeed a surprise to the poor old 
 General, and the audience went into absolute con- 
 vulsions. From that point on everything was hilarious. 
 At the end of the third act I was again doomed to bear 
 a forlorn hope on the field of battle and again seek a 
 soldier's grave ; and it is not surprising that when in 
 the fourth act the old General tells his unhappy bride 
 that he knows all and has procured a dispensation (or 
 whatever it was) to cancel the marriage, and Miss 
 Addison has declared it was immaterial to her, since I 
 was dead (for I had been again reported to have secured 
 a soldier's death), and the General had burst forth with, 
 * No, he is not dead ! he lives ! ' the audience enjoyed a 
 final laugh, and assured Wigan that it was impossible ; I 
 couldn't be alive after all that." 
 
 Be that as it may, Charles Reade's mischievous stage 
 baby indirectly did a good turn to Charles Wyndham. 
 Full of good moments though the drama was, he could 
 hardly distinguish himself in The Double Marriage ; but 
 when that luckless venture was as speedily as possible 
 withdrawn to make way for a stopgap revival of Tom 
 
52 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Taylor's perennial Still Waters Run Deep,, opportunity 
 served him. The cast was an admirable one. Alfred 
 Wigan resumed his original character of the self-con- 
 tained John Mildmay ; Mrs. Alfred Wigan was the 
 Mrs. Sternhold ; and Miss Ellen Terry played to 
 admiration the by no means easy character of 
 Mrs. Mildmay. Charles Wyndham was the Captain 
 Hawkesley, and in the character of that well-drawn 
 rascal made a very palpable hit. How little he and his 
 colleagues then thought that he was destined to become 
 one of the very best of all John Mildmays in those 
 halcyon days that were as yet far beyond his reach \ So 
 successful was this production (and it was generally 
 admitted that the latest Captain Hawkesley had a great 
 deal to do with its popularity) that, although the play 
 was an old one, and the theatre a new and somewhat 
 out-of-the-way one, it ran for some three months. 
 
 In the December of the year the company was 
 strengthened by the engagement of Henry Irving, and, 
 by the light of these days, it is interesting to recall the 
 fact that in a revival of David Garrick's one-act excision 
 from the Taming of the Shrew, known as Katherine and 
 Petruchio, he and Miss Ellen Terry — destined to do sucL 
 world-famous Shakespearean work at the Lyceum 
 Theatre — played together for the first time. 
 
 Of this episode in her famous career Miss Terry has 
 recorded : — " From the first I noticed that Mr. Irving 
 worked more concentratedly than all the other actors 
 put together, and the most important lesson of my 
 working life I learnt from him, that to do one's work 
 well one must work continually, live a life of constant 
 
THE CURTAIN UP S3 
 
 self-denial for that purpose, and, in short, keep one's 
 nose upon the grindstone. It is a lesson one had 
 better learn early in stage life, I think, for the bright, 
 glorious, healthy career of an actor is but brief at the 
 best." 
 
 It is a lesson that Charles Wyndham had taken well 
 to heart, and I know that in those memorable days at 
 the Queen's Theatre Miss Terry had recognised its 
 meaning in him as well as in his lifelong friend, Henry 
 Irving. 
 
 But Henry Irving and Charles Wyndham had had an 
 earlier meeting than this. Speaking at the Actors' Asso- 
 ciation Meeting at the Lyceum Theatre on March 29th, 
 1898, the latter said : — 
 
 " Much depends for the prosperity of our association 
 on whom we elect as chairman ; and if our present chair- 
 man and the man we propose to re-elect require anyone 
 to vouch for him, I do not think that a better voucher, 
 in view of my long friendship with him, could be found 
 than myself. I fancy, looking around me in this theatre, 
 that I am the oldest friend he has, and I will yield to no 
 one in the strength of that friendship. I can remember 
 him from very, very early days — in fact, when he and I 
 have stood together waiting outside a manager's room 
 with the possible chance of a two pounds or three pounds 
 a week engagement. I remember the incident vividly, 
 because, whilst conversing with him upon things in 
 general and our engagement in particular, I stuck my 
 arm through the window-pane. I don't know whether 
 you are aware of it, but to stick your elbow through the 
 window-pane of a manager whilst you are trying to 
 
S4 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 worry an engagement out of him is considered a breach 
 of etiquette. I regret to say that on this occasion I had 
 not the money to pay for the damages, and such are the 
 remarkable coincidences of my life, Irving hadn't it 
 either. However, the manager came along, and happily 
 said it was of no consequence, and by comparison 
 with the object of our visit, Irving and I thought so too. 
 I mention this to prove to you the length of my ac- 
 quaintance and the intimate knowledge I have of it. 
 And I want to point out to you what all of you know, 
 but not to the same extent as myself, that during the 
 whole of his professional career the one great character- 
 istic of it has been the subordination of every interest to 
 the prosperity and dignity of our calling. Never did we 
 want a president so firm, so good, and with such a 
 reputation as we do this year, and, therefore, it is with 
 the greatest delight that I propose his re-election." 
 
 In the early days of 1868 everyone's favourite, J. L. 
 Toole, joined this admirable band of players, and ap- 
 peared for the first time as Michael Garner, in H. J. 
 Byron's charming domestic drama. Dearer than Life. 
 Recalling that engagement, the popular comedian en- 
 thusiastically says, " Michael Garner has always been a 
 favourite with my audiences. And what a support I 
 had 1 You don't get such a cast nowadays. Fancy, 
 Charles Wyndham, John Clayton, Lionel Brough, Miss 
 Henrietta Hodson, and Henry Irving 1 " 
 
 Of this wholesome, touching, yet withal humorous 
 production a leading critic wrote : " Long ago in Caleb 
 Plummer Mr. Toole proved that he not only possessed 
 the quaintest and most genial humour, but that, like 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 55 
 
 most genuine humorists, he had a large fund of pathos. 
 Nothing could have been more natural, more touching, 
 more effective, than his representation of Michael Garner, 
 the honest tradesman, the loving husband, the courage- 
 ous and self-sacrificing toiler. The character may be 
 rare, but that it is real was proved by the actor. Every 
 situation in the piece was made striking and successful 
 by Mr. Toole's thorough earnestness and his artistic 
 attention to detail. The second act bears a dangerous 
 resemblance to the second act of The Porter^s Knoty and 
 with any other actor it might have been a failure. But 
 Mr. Toole is thoroughly original, and the resemblance 
 of the piece to that in which the late Mr. Robson 
 achieved his greatest success only serves to show the 
 contrast between the styles of the two actors. In some 
 of the scenes he far excelled his impersonation of the old 
 toy-maker, great as that was. The finest points were in 
 the close of the second and the beginning of the third 
 acts. The intense grief of the father when his son's 
 guilt is revealed, the outburst of passionate affection 
 when he implores him to fly from justice, and the utter 
 despair which followed, were wonderfully realised. In 
 the garret scene Mr. Toole improved upon himself. 
 His delineation of the brave old man who could endure 
 starvation with a pleasant face, and could be cheerful 
 under the heaviest burden of misery, was only sur- 
 passed by the sudden exhibition of passion when, excited 
 by the drink which his worthless brother has brought 
 him, Michael flamed out into a denunciation of his son's 
 guilt. Again, on the conclusion of the drama, when the 
 old man's ready wit, inspired by unexpected good 
 
S6 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 fortune, obtained a fair opportunity, Mr. Toole con- 
 trived to mingle with consummate skill the humour and 
 pathos of the situation." 
 
 And apart from this — one of our genial comedian's 
 best impersonations — how well the piece was acted by 
 one and all concerned in it ! As the errant son — 
 Charley Warner — a very trying part to play, Charles 
 Wyndham was admirable ; and as his " raffish " friend, 
 Bob Gassitt, a most unpleasant character, Henry Irving 
 acted with scrupulous care and artistic taste, and, the two, 
 set far-sighted critics thinking that in them London 
 possessed actors likely to come to the front, though 
 they did not realise that as premier comedian and 
 tragedian of their day they would rank as the first 
 actor-knights. Nothing could exceed the power, leavened 
 with humour, of Lionel Brough as the disreputable, 
 drink-sodden Uncle Ben, and John Clayton, then on the 
 threshold of a bright but all too brief career, proved 
 himself of the right quality in a smaller part. And how 
 well the actors were supported by Mrs. Dyas, Miss 
 Everard, and Miss Henrietta Hodson ! I suppose by 
 the playgoers of to-day Dearer than Life woiold be voted 
 terribly dull and (that worst crime of all in stage plays !) 
 " old-fashioned," but I believe that those playgoers who, 
 in common with myself, can recall the happy evenings 
 on which it was played by that singularly perfect cast 
 would gladly see it again. 
 
 Except for the works of Ibsen, some of whose plays 
 are " domestic " to the probing point, and horribly sug- 
 gestive of the grim operating theatres of the hospital, 
 the taste for the quiet, homelike, yet withal humorous 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 57 
 
 productions of such writers as H. J. Byron and H. T. 
 Craven has died out. Its resuscitation would bode well 
 for the future of the English stage. 
 
 It was during the run of Dearer than Life that Toole 
 and Lionel Brough betook themselves to a photographer's 
 studio to be " taken " as the broken-down brothers 
 in the garret scene. Brough, wonderfully made-up, 
 wore the regulation workhouse costume, and Toole was 
 as shabby as an out-at-elbows, insolvent tradesman could 
 well be. The representative of Michael Garner was 
 always fond of a little practical joke, and while the 
 operator was at work on the negative he suggested to 
 his companion that they should take a stroll in their 
 realistic stage make-up in the adjacent West End square. 
 Toole soon stopped and knocked at the door of the 
 handsome mansion of a wealthy, purse-proud individual, 
 who, having sprung from nothing, was notoriously 
 ashamed of his less prosperous relations and anxious 
 to pose as the intimate friend of his aristocratic neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 The door was opened by a magnificently pompous, 
 powdered and plushed footman, who looked in dismay 
 on the disreputable intruders. 
 
 " Master in ? " asked Toole. 
 
 " No, he is not," said the indignant flunkey. 
 
 " Not in } " said Toole, with an air of disappointment, 
 which was also conveyed by the by-play of Brough. 
 "Well, when he comes home, young man, tell him as 
 his two brothers from the workhouse called to see 
 him." 
 
 With that they shuffled away. Whether the powdered 
 
58 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and plushed one, who evidently believed in the actor's 
 story, satisfied his outraged feelings by following the 
 example of Mr. WhifFers, the Bath footman immortalised 
 in the chronicles of the Pickwick Club, and who, it will 
 be remembered, " resigned " when he was asked to eat 
 cold meat, history deponeth not. It must be a terrible 
 thing for a self-respecting flunkey to feel that the man 
 from whom he receives a munificent salary, and at whose 
 (servants' hall) table he condescends to sit, should sink so 
 low in the social scale as to have two brothers in the 
 workhouse ! 
 
 On July 24th, 1868, another play from the prolific 
 pen of H. J. Byron — The Lancashire Lass — was pro- 
 duced at the Queen's Theatre. In this Charles Wynd- 
 ham acquitted himself bravely as the hero, Ned Clayton, 
 and in the cast were Henry Irving, Sam Emery, Lionel 
 Brough, John Clayton, Miss Henrietta Hodson, and 
 Miss Nelly Moore. The last-named fascinating actress 
 was at that time one of the greatest favourites on the 
 London stage. 
 
 It was in connection with this play that Charles 
 Dickens spoke with enthusiasm of "a young fellow 
 who sits at table and is bullied by Sam Emery ; his 
 name is Henry Irving, and if that young man does not 
 one day come out as a great actor I know nothing 
 of art." 
 
 Byron was a great believer in his Lancashire LaSs, 
 and a little later on played in it himself in provincial 
 towns. Two little anecdotes that came under my notice 
 when Jie brought his company to Birmingham are so 
 characteristic of his ready wit that I cannot refrain from 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 59 
 
 recalling them. At that time he was turning out bur- 
 lesques as quickly as he did comedies, and he wrote in 
 days when audiences delighted in the now despised pun. 
 His word-twistings may have been outrageous, but 
 they were ever harmlessly mirth-provoking, and they 
 used to make us roar with laughter. Even those who 
 would nowadays condemn them as " old-fashioned " 
 would have to admit their ingenuity. 
 
 Among those who supported him on this tour in The 
 Lancashire Lass^ and other plays from his own pen, was 
 that excellent comedian, Arthur Wood, who on one 
 occasion rejected a minor part that he had previously 
 accepted. When Byron heard this from the lips of the 
 irate stage manager he bottled up his feeling of annoy- 
 ance and said laconically, " Oh ! — I see ; — first Arthur 
 Wood — then Arthur wouldn't." 
 
 It was during his Birmingham week that, dining at 
 the house of one of our mutual friends, he was some- 
 what rallied on his partiality for the already moribund 
 pun, " Well," he said, " I want them for my burlesques, 
 and I have so trained myself to make them that I almost 
 see the pun before I write the word that I want it to 
 play upon. I don't suppose that anyone at this table 
 could give me a name or a word that I could not, 
 through long habit, twist into something." 
 
 One of the guests, who had never met him before, 
 thought to set him a poser by suggesting the name of 
 the famous Birmingham steel-pen maker, Gillott, a 
 name, by the way, that is properly pronounced with 
 a soft G instead of the hard and, in this case, incorrect 
 G so often used. 
 
6o SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Byron did not hesitate for a second. " What ! " he 
 said, with a quiet smile, and in the voice of a man who 
 felt he was being trifled with, " you don't mean to tell 
 me that it needs any agility to do that ? " He really 
 seemed pained that he had not been asked a more 
 difficult question. 
 
 In May, 1869, Charles Wyndham appeared at the 
 Queen's Theatre in an adaptation from the French of 
 Victorien Sardou entitled, Seraphine. His companions 
 in this were Hermann Vezin, George Rignold, Sam 
 Emery, Miss Herbert, Miss Henrietta Hodson, and 
 Miss Patti Josephs. 
 
 I write and think very lovingly of the happy evenings 
 I spent at that now half-forgotten Long Acre playhouse. 
 In those days I was quite a young playgoer, living for a 
 goodly portion of the year a rather lonely life in London 
 rooms in that Cecil Street which has been obliterated by 
 the Hotel Cecil, and my great delight was to watch my 
 favourite actors — foremost among them were Henry 
 Irving, Charles Wyndham, and Lionel Brough — in all 
 their impersonations, and that not once, but over and 
 over again. To spend an evening in their good com- 
 pany at the Queen's Theatre, and then to finish up with 
 a fried chop or a couple of grilled kidneys at Evans's 
 famous supper-rooms, or at the Albion, hard by historic 
 " Old Drury," was to me the height of bliss, and to my 
 intense joy it sometimes happened that in those mid- 
 night haunts I caught sight of the actors who had just 
 fascinated me on the stage. 
 
 How little 1 thought then that the whirligig of time 
 would throw me into such close touch with them all — 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 6i 
 
 that I should number them amongst my dear friends 
 and live to chronicle their doings ! 
 
 Primitive playgoing and supping it may have been, 
 and no doubt the immaculate young patrons of the 
 luxurious theatres of the twentieth century would be 
 intensely bored by it ; but I would far rather live one 
 of those simple evenings (when I certainly saw acting 
 at its best) over again than listen to all the gorgeously 
 staged, aimlessly jingling musical comedies of to-day 
 put together, and sup on the united efforts of the 
 eminent chefs of the Carlton and Savoy hotels. There 
 was an appeal to the emotions in the playhouse then 
 that seems to be either missing or not wanted in too 
 many of the Thespian temples of to-day. 
 
 Having firmly established a first-class reputation on 
 London boards, Charles Wyndham, with characteristic 
 courage and energy, bethought himself once more of 
 America, and, being anxious to efface the memory of 
 what he considered to be his " failures " in that country, 
 recrossed the Atlantic in the August of 1869, and in 
 September " opened," as the theatrical phrase has it, 
 at Wallack's Theatre, New York, as Charles Surface 
 in an important revival of The School for Scandal^ a part 
 in which he has remained for so many years without 
 a rival. 
 
 I wonder if many people realise what a very difficult 
 character this is to portray } Amateurs, bearded, 
 whiskered, or moustached — and sometimes all three — 
 forgetting or ignoring the mode of the period they are 
 supposed to be living in, content to put on an ill-fitting 
 white wig, with their own hair showing beneath the 
 
62 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 back of it, attack it boldly — and (if they have taken the 
 trouble to master the text, which they seldom do) 
 rattle through it as if it were slapdash farce. But this 
 is not the treatment which Charles Surface requires. In 
 manner, truly, he should appear to be as light as swans- 
 down, and yet he must really be as incisive as his sancti- 
 monious brother Joseph ; for the glorious lines of 
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, each one of them instinct 
 with meaning, must not be pattered through as if they 
 belonged to some ephemeral production which, hav- 
 ing served its purpose, is cast on one side and for- 
 gotten. 
 
 It is a rare gift to be able to convey with this 
 requisite buoyancy of manner the underlying affection, 
 strength, and even good-natured shrewdness of the 
 character ; but Charles Wyndham, having coupled 
 natural gifts to constant study, has always been able to 
 strike the balance to a nicety. Hence he is an ideal 
 Charles Surface, while as to his appearance he might 
 have stepped from a canvas of Sir Joshua Reynolds, a 
 George Romney, or a Thomas Gainsborough. If you 
 watch the methods of this admirable actor, you will find 
 that while apparently impulsive he is always minutely 
 careful. A short time ago my kind friend and near 
 neighbour, Madame de Navarro, the popular Mary 
 Anderson of a few years ago, and who (if she did not 
 love the sweet retirement of the old-world Worcester- 
 shire village lying snugly at the spur of those Cotswold 
 Hills, well known, well loved, and immortalised by 
 Shakespeare, in which she lives, too well to leave it) 
 might be the popular Mary Anderson of to-day, told 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 63 
 
 me this little anecdote of the great American comedian, 
 Joseph Jefferson : — 
 
 Jefferson in a certain scene of one of his most im- 
 portant parts wore gloves, and extracted a certain 
 amount of effective business from the manner in which, 
 while carrying on a conversation, he took them off. 
 "On nights when I was a little nervous," he said (in 
 common with all our best actors this past master of his 
 art confesses to nervousness), " I deliberately stripped 
 finger after finger, counting as I did so by those fingers 
 the words I had to say. But on occasions when I 
 became impassioned I tore off the whole glove at once 
 — though even in my moments of warmest enthusiasm 
 I never forgot the rules that my finger lessons had laid 
 down for me." That, I think, describes the precision 
 and consequently excellent effect of Charles Wyndham's 
 style of acting. Always impetuous, the gloves are 
 quickly made away with, but that accurate tick-tick of 
 the fingers is never forgotten. Method, and the culti- 
 vated genius that bears fruit, generally walk hand in 
 hand. 
 
 To return for a moment to our delightfully confident 
 friends the amateurs, and their extraordinary love for 
 appearing in the difficult costume plays in which they 
 cannot show to advantage, shall I ever forget a per- 
 formance of The School for Scandal which took place at 
 the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, more than thirty-five 
 years ago .? It was an ambitious effort. To give 
 glamour to the evening's entertainment poor Edward 
 Askew Sothern, then in the heyday of his success as 
 Lord Dundreary, was engaged to play Charles Surface, 
 
64 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and Mrs. Kendal, then Miss Madge Robertson and a 
 girl in her 'teens, was the Lady Teazle. Hers was an 
 ideal impersonation. Sweet to look upon, speaking 
 with the tender yet direct voice that playgoers long ago 
 learnt to love, acting with consummate grace added to 
 the traditions of the character taught her by her father, 
 she left nothing to be desired. Sothern, too, promised 
 to be a most admirable Charles Surface, but seeing his 
 opportunity among the easily gulled amateurs, he gave 
 full vein to his extraordinary propensity for practical 
 joking. 
 
 One by one as they came off the stage, after flounder- 
 ing through scenes that under any circumstances would 
 have been beyond their powers to depict, he took them 
 apart, told them that he had never seen such remarkable 
 acting (in one way that may have been true, but not 
 after the manner suggested by this arch-lover of mis- 
 chief), and offered one and all extravagant salaries — 
 " subject to manager J. B. Buckstone's approval — which 
 was a mere matter of form, my dear fellow" — to appear 
 with him next season at the Haymarket. " But," he 
 added, privately and confidentially to each one of them, 
 " I must beg of you to ' speak up ' a little more. No 
 doubt your friends in the stalls hear you, but we must 
 do our duty to the gallery sixpences as well as to those 
 who can indulge in expensive seats." 
 
 Now, to tell the truth, the amateurs, anxious to do 
 justice to the unaccustomed space of a large theatre, had 
 been too noisy. If it had not been so, Sothern would 
 never have conceived this jest. 
 
 Possibly cognisant of this fact, one of the flattered 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 65 
 
 amateurs said, " But, Mr. Sotheril, we are all speaking 
 as loudly as you and Miss Robertson do, and it's quite 
 evident from the way in which the gallery gods take 
 your points that you make yourselves heard." 
 
 " Yes," said Sothern very seriously, " but Miss 
 Robertson and I have stage training. We seem to be 
 speaking quietly and naturally, but, as a matter of fact, 
 we are much louder than any of you. When you come 
 to me at the Haymarket I will teach you the trick. In 
 the meantime I can only implore you to * speak up.' " 
 
 Thus encouraged by the most popular actor of his 
 day, the amateurs ** spoke up " to such an extent that in 
 the last act they were, by reason of their gallant exer- 
 tions, almost inaudible ; and at curtain-fall Sothern told 
 his hoarse friends, one by one, that admirably as he had 
 acted, he could not give him that engagement at the 
 Haymarket because of the lack of staying-power in his 
 voice. 
 
 Poor Mrs. Kendal ! She has often spoken to me of 
 that evening's perplexities. Her kindly heart prompted 
 her to do all in her power to assist the amateurs ; her 
 keen sense of humour kept her from being righteously 
 indignant with the errant Sothern. Happily, her win- 
 some impersonation of Lady Teazle carried the perform- 
 ance — in spite of all drawbacks — shoulder-high to 
 success. 
 
 Having easily won the hearts of New York audiences 
 by his irresistible impersonation of Charles Surface (it 
 remains as good to-day as it was then), Charles Wynd- 
 ham, who, like Macbeth, had now won " golden opinions 
 from all sorts of people," remained at Wallack's Theatre 
 
66 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 throughout that season, and in the May of 1870 he 
 started a tour on his own account in partnership with 
 Miss Louisa Moore, an excellent actress who had al- 
 ready made her name in London. 
 
 One of the attractions of this venture was his per- 
 formance of Jelicceur, in The Lancers, an adaptation of 
 the French Un Fils de Famille, better known perhaps to 
 English playgoers of to-day as The Queen's Shi/ling, and 
 with which in 1879 the Kendals and John Hare closed 
 the old Court Theatre in Sloane Square and opened 
 their famous career at the St. James's Theatre. 
 
 But of course there were many other pieces in the 
 brave little American touring company's repertory, and 
 I cull the following interesting .paragraph from the 
 Christmas number of the New Tork Dramatic Mirror of 
 1903. It appeared in an article called "The Chicago 
 Stage before the Fire." 
 
 " Among the attractions was the Wyndham Comedy 
 Company in the Robertson repertoire, of which Caste was 
 perhaps the most notable bill, with Charles Wyndham 
 as Hawtree, J. J. Fitzpatrick as George D'Alroy, Belvil 
 Ryan as Eccles, George Giddens as Sam Gerridge, 
 Louisa Moore ^ as Esther, Sydney Cowell as Polly, and 
 Mrs. Wright as the Marchioness." 
 
 Charles Wyndham opened in Chicago the first month 
 of the year of that city's destruction by fire, 1871. The 
 
 1 In the article it sdd "Mary Moore as Esther," a mistake which, 
 by the courtesy of the editor, I was permitted to set right. Miss Mary 
 Moore has taken part in all the latter-day Wyndham successes, but in 
 1870 she was a mere child. It is interesting to note how early George 
 Giddens served under the banner of his long-time London manager. 
 
THE CURTAIN UP (>1 
 
 only place he could get into was Crosby's Opera House, 
 a very magnificent building, almost as big as Drury 
 Lane, but not the very best area for light comedy. As 
 the audience was significantly small for the advent of the 
 stranger, the size of that audience and the size of the 
 house were out of all decent proportion. When Tues- 
 day arrived the Press were most unanimous in their 
 praises of both himself and his company. 
 
 Delighted, and even surprised at this, he concluded at 
 once that with such a unanimous chorus of praise they 
 were bound to have even that great house full that 
 night, but unfortunately there was no improvement in 
 the number of spectators. The actor-manager regarded 
 the matter philosophically, but was much distressed next 
 morning on taking up the papers to see in all of them 
 the expression of surprise and regret on the part of the 
 Press at the poverty of the attendance. He would 
 rather have " kept that quiet," so that Tuesday morn- 
 ing's wonderful notices should have had time to perco- 
 late through the artistic centres of Chicago, whereas the 
 publication of the news that the house was bad would 
 certainly prejudice the attendance on the Wednesday 
 night. He was quite right. Wednesday showed no 
 improvement on Tuesday, and he was annoyed beyond 
 measure on taking up the papers on Thursday to find a 
 repetition of their surprise and regret still more forcibly 
 emphasised to the Chicago public, and still unpleasantly 
 more to himself. Thursday night's attendance was just 
 the same, and Friday morning's press even more than 
 the same, for now they began to blame the public for 
 neglecting the attraction there was in the town. This 
 
68 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 unusual step, however, had no influence on Friday 
 night's house. The Chicago public were not to be 
 moved, but Charles Wyndham had this solatium in his 
 bitter disappointment and heavy pecuniary loss, that the 
 manager tried to persuade him on the Friday morning 
 to stay another week, as he was sure that this repeated 
 attack on the public by the Press would have its effect. 
 Alas ! he was due at St. Louis the following Monday ; 
 but a few hours after the manager had spoken to him a 
 strange coincidence occurred. He received a telegram 
 from the manager at St. Louis telling him that Mrs. 
 Oates, a lady star in America at that time, had lost one 
 of her weeks in St- Louis through the floods and conse- 
 quent breakdown of her train, and he very much 
 wished her to have her second week, and if he would 
 forego the next week he would give him the following 
 two in their place. As the week in question was Holy 
 Week, and the weeks following Easter and its successor, 
 in a Roman Catholic city, he was only too glad to 
 accept the change, and notified his Chicago manager 
 to that eff^ect. He quaked with fear when not even 
 a Saturday performance resulted in anything like a re- 
 munerative house. But a strange thing happened on 
 the Sunday morning. In the previous year the intrepid 
 Miss Lydia Thompson had publicly thrashed the pro- 
 prietor of the Chicago Times, and inasmuch as the 
 manager of the Crosby Opera House had sided with 
 Miss Thompson, the Chicago Times had, since that date, 
 during the whole twelve months refrained from even 
 mentioning the theatre or anybody connected with it. 
 It was a matter of great public talk during the whole of 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 69 
 
 that year, and the surprise of the Chicago public when, 
 on the Sunday morning, they found in the Chicago Times 
 a couple of columns of high praise, equal to that of the 
 other papers on the Wyndham Company's performances, 
 can be realised. It was due to this : the manager 
 happened to meet the editor of the paper quite accident- 
 ally on the Saturday, and under such psychological con- 
 ditions that they quietly made up their differences, with 
 the result that the editor had come on the Saturday 
 night and gone into line with all the rest of the Press. 
 This had a most wonderful effect for Charles Wyndham. 
 From Monday onwards the houses were very fine, till 
 towards the end of the week that vast theatre was 
 crammed to its utmost capacity, and on Saturday even- 
 ing he had every manager in Chicago waiting behind 
 the scenes for him begging him to come back in May. 
 The Crosby Opera House in the hot month of May was 
 out of the question to his mind, and to the surprise 
 of everybody he selected the very smallest theatre in 
 Chicago. A friend pointed to the enormous house of 
 that Saturday evening and said, " This is what you could 
 get, and yet you take the very smallest ! " His fore- 
 cast was right, however. He opened in May at the 
 Deerborn Street Theatre, and turned money away 
 for three months. Then he arranged to return to 
 his allegiance to the Crosby Opera House for the 
 autumn. 
 
 The owner was going to decorate it in the most 
 sumptuous manner possible. As a matter of fact, the 
 decorations cost sixteen thousand pounds. Charles 
 Wyndham was to open the theatre for a three months' 
 
70 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 season. Chicago never saw that beautiful opera house. 
 The night before it was to be opened was the night of 
 the Chicago fire, and this magnificent structure crumbled 
 and melted away in nine minutes, not leaving a single 
 brick or column standing on the ground. The pro- 
 prietor stood in front watching this terrible destruction, 
 and at the end of the nine minutes simply turned 
 round to one of his friends and ejaculated, " I would 
 not have minded the loss of the building if Chicago 
 had only seen it once ! " To Charles Wyndham the 
 effect was highly disastrous, in a degree as much so 
 as to the proprietor, for he had strengthened his 
 company with English representative actors — a very 
 fine organisation indeed — and found himself stranded 
 with obligations towards them for an entire season and 
 no theatre to put them into ! The only playhouses 
 that were unlet were " detrimentals," halls in the villages 
 and smallest of towns. He opened a Chicago theatre 
 a fortnight after the fire, but it was only a " fit-up " 
 in a large room in the German club — very sorry 
 accommodation for a first-class company, Chicago, how- 
 ever, was energetic. For example, the Chicago 'Tribune, 
 while their magnificent and costly building was being 
 burnt down, immediately sent over to an unburnt 
 district, bought an old discarded printing machine, 
 and actually — that very same afternoon — brought out 
 their paper as usual, reporting, hour by hour, the 
 progress of the fire. In the same spirit a gentleman 
 came to Charles Wyndham and asked him if he would 
 open a new regularly built theatre. When he asked 
 him when he thought he could get it ready, expecting 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 71 
 
 him to say in about nine months at least, he paralysed 
 him by telling him that it would be ready in a month. 
 He took him over to the site of it. There was a two- 
 storied house standing at that time, fully occupied! — 
 all the people in it carrying on their duties as usual. 
 He was ready within one week of the projected time, 
 and in five weeks Charles Wyndham opened a regularly 
 appointed theatre, the two-storied house having been 
 carted away to another street without taking anything 
 or anybody out of it. In order, however, to take up 
 this engagement he had to split his company up into 
 two, inasmuch as he had been engaged to play in 
 another town two hundred miles away ; so he used to 
 play in Chicago one evening and in the other town the 
 next, then back again to Chicago, and so on. He 
 thought he was meeting an adverse fate very well ; but 
 soon the two towns began to ask themselves where he 
 was really playing, and it led to such a correspondence 
 that he was at last obliged to amalgamate his two 
 companies as soon as he could and bear the loss during 
 the whole season, which he did. He was playing at 
 the time with one company at Detroit, while the other 
 half was playing in Savannah, under the management 
 of George Giddens. It took from Detroit to Savannah 
 four days and nights railway journey in those days, and 
 the first thing that confronted him on his arrival was 
 a bill poster with this extraordinary announcement : 
 "Last nights of the Wyndham Comedy Company by 
 general request." This, of course, was just a question 
 of a full stop being substituted for a comma. The 
 "general request" referred to the piece about to be 
 
72 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 played ; but George Giddens did not escape chaffing 
 for a long time for his unhappy period. 
 
 Speaking of American touring in the opening years 
 of the seventies, Charles Wyndham admits that he 
 learnt much, and saw many interesting things, but 
 found transatlantic audiences much less educated than 
 they are now. This was particularly so in the West, 
 where travelling, as we have seen, with his own com- 
 pany, he had some fairly hard experiences. The Far 
 Westerner of those days did not care to sup on the 
 refined comedies and more or less emotional plays 
 that formed his excellent repertory, but liked to have 
 everything very strongly emphasised and highly 
 coloured. Once he and his companions were acting 
 in a town in Ohio, which was then regarded as quite 
 a Western State. On the morning following the per- 
 formance the rowdies of the place mobbed the un- 
 fortunate members of the company in the street. 
 " Give us our money back ! " they shouted. " What ! 
 — do you call that acting } You just sit about in chairs 
 in the same kind of clothes as you go out in. Give 
 us our money back ! " 
 
 "The West," says the once distracted manager of 
 this venture, "had most decidedly to be educated up 
 to the point of appreciating the quiet comedy of 
 sentiment." 
 
 He never altered his methods, nor swerved from the 
 sound lines he had laid down for himself and his 
 followers, and it is satisfactory to know that whenever 
 he can find time to revisit his sometime recalcitrant 
 friends in the Far West, he is received with enthusiasm. 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 73 
 
 In addition to these irritations, the facilities and 
 comforts provided thirty-five years ago for travelling 
 actors in the States were by no means what they are 
 now. The journeys were much more fatiguing, and 
 in every way things theatrical were dealt with in 
 rougher fashion. 
 
 And although he had the perennial Caste in his 
 repertory, and did every justice to the finely conceived, 
 Thackeray-like character of Hawtree, he maintains that, 
 with the exception of this very play, there is no com- 
 parison between the plays that were then at his disposal 
 and those that are written and produced in these later 
 days. The dramatic work of the present time, he 
 declares, has infinitely more " brains " in it. It is not 
 merely that pieces are mounted better, though, of course, 
 no one would think now of producing them after 
 the somewhat meagre way in which many were staged 
 in the days when he first became an actor. Quite 
 apart from the setting, he thinks that the work of 
 our present playwrights is more thoroughly thought 
 out, that their characters are more consistent, and their 
 productions altogether better than they used to be. 
 
 In these days, when some excellent people would have 
 us believe that our stage is moribund by reason of a 
 lack of competent dramatists, it is satisfactory to know 
 that at least one notable actor- manager is able to take 
 this roseate view of things. 
 
 But these early experiences of our comedian, which I 
 have endeavoured to describe, have taught him to say 
 to the ever-growing army of stage aspirants, " Never 
 become an actor if you can help it. Never go on the 
 
74 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 stage unless you feel you must. If (he advises) it is the 
 lights and the music, and the applause and the publicity 
 that attract you, keep away ; for the lights will fade and 
 the music die out, and you will sink down to the con- 
 dition of a third-class player, wanted by no one. But, 
 on the other hand, if you feel that you must act, if you 
 find within yourself a deep purpose that impels you, if 
 you are ready for hard work, for disappointment, then 
 come and try. None should come but he or she who 
 cannot but come. It is easy enough to get on to the 
 stage after a way. If you have a good presence and 
 can speak well, then it is easy enough to get a part. 
 But that will not make you an actor. An actor, as I 
 understand it, is one who touches the emotions, the 
 hearts of his audiences. He is an artist who paints, 
 not on canvas, but on nerves. If he is to do anything 
 he must give himself to constant work to perfect him- 
 self in every detail of his art." 
 
 He is certain that the only way to avoid being stagey 
 is to practise constantly. When he was a young actor 
 he strove hard to be as natural as possible in his imper- 
 sonations, and to avoid all staginess he practised for 
 hours at a time before a looking-glass. Every emotion 
 was gone through again and over and over again, the 
 slightest bit of by-play rehearsed incessantly. According 
 to his ideas it is the only means by which anything really 
 good in the way of true acting can be done. Such were 
 the lessons imprinted on the mind of our actor-knight 
 during his early efforts to make a name for himself in 
 England and America. Having well won his spurs on 
 both sides of the Atlantic, he returned to England in 
 
THE CURTAIN UP 75 
 
 1872, full of keen desire to make full use of those 
 opportunities that were now well within his reach. 
 Those who have studied his consummate art will know 
 how the theories of his younger days became the 
 practice of his subsequent triumphant career. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 
 
 (]HARLES WYNDHAM'S first reappearance in 
 London was at his old home, the St. James's 
 Theatre, and there he had the heartiest of welcomes — 
 though the part allotted to him in Mr. Stephen Fiske's 
 comedy (produced on February 25th, 1873), entitled 
 Robert Rabagas, could not add much to his now well- 
 established reputation. 
 
 His next step was to accept an engagement to appear 
 during an English provincial tour as Geoffrey Dela- 
 mayn, the hero of the four-act drama by Wilkie Collins 
 called Man and Wife^ which had just been produced by 
 the Bancrofts with the greatest success at the then 
 famous little Prince of Wales's Theatre in Tottenham 
 Street. In connection with the first night of this piece 
 there hangs a tale that should be taken to heart by over- 
 confident young dramatists. In the interesting Bancroft 
 memoirs the popular actor-manager of bygone days tells 
 us how Wilkie Collins, the famous author of The 
 Woman in White, The Moonstone, and many more of the 
 most eagerly read novels of their day — Wilkie Collins, 
 who had already made his name as a playwright, not 
 only on his own account, but as collaborator with 
 
 76 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 77 
 
 Charles Dickens — passed almost all the evening in the 
 actor's dressing-room in a state of nervous terror pain- 
 ful to behold — though his sufferings were assuaged 
 occasionally by loud bursts of applause, which for- 
 tunately were just within earshot. Only for one brief 
 moment did he see the stage that night, until he 
 was summoned by the brilliant audience to show 
 himself, and to receive their plaudits at the end of 
 the play. 
 
 Here is one more proof that the cleverest of men — 
 ay, and the bravest of men — are often the most modest 
 and nervous of men. 
 
 Most of us remember that characteristic anecdote of 
 the " Iron " Duke of Wellington, whose attention was 
 called to a trembling, timorous-looking soldier marching 
 on to the battlefield. " Look at that coward ! " said his 
 companion contemptuously. " Pardon me," said the 
 Duke, " he's no coward. He knows his danger, but he 
 is facing it ! " 
 
 The country tour of Man and Wife was organised by 
 the Bancrofts, and they showed their usual discernment 
 in securing the services of Charles Wyndham for the 
 powerfully but curiously conceived character of Geoffrey 
 Delamayn, a part in which Charles Coghlan had made a 
 deep impression in London, Other members of the 
 touring company were the handsome Harry B. Conway, 
 then at the threshold of a career that promised to be, 
 and should have been, a triumphant one ; Charles 
 CoUette, the still deservedly popular comedian ; his wife. 
 Miss Blanche Wilton, the sister of the gifted lady who 
 was first known as Miss Marie Wilton, then as Mrs. 
 
78 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Bancroft, and now as Lady Bancroft ; and Miss Ada 
 Dyas, who, clever in all she did, made an admirable 
 Anne Silvester. 
 
 It was in the last-named part that the charming 
 American actress, Miss Clara Morris, made one of her 
 first great successes. At the time of the production in 
 New York she and her mother were very poor, and the 
 two depended entirely on the then scanty earnings of 
 the young artist. Imagine, then, the joy with which the 
 poor, nervous creature recorded : — 
 
 " At last, and late, far too late, the play ended in a 
 blaze of glory. The curtain was raised for final compli- 
 ments. All the actors in the play had been summoned. 
 We all stood in a line — a bowing, smiling, happy line 
 — facing a shouting, hat, handkerchief, or cane-waving 
 crowd of pleased, excited people. As I saw how many 
 eyes were turned my way, with a leap of the heart I re- 
 peated : * If you make a favourable impression, I will — 
 yes, I will double that salary.' " ' 
 
 Then, describing her midnight return to her dreary 
 lodgings, her anxious mother, and her pet dog, she 
 says : — 
 
 "At last I saw the lighted windows that told me 
 home was near. Then up the stairs, where there 
 bounded upon my breast the little black-and-tan bundle 
 of love and devotion called "Bertie," whose fervid 
 greetings made the removal of my hat so difllicult a 
 job that it was through the tangle of hat, veil, and 
 wriggling dog I cried at last : ' It's all right, Mumsey 
 
 * A promise made by her manager, Mr. Augustin Daly, which he no 
 doubt kept. 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 79 
 
 — ^a success ! Lots and lots of " calls," dear, and oh ! is 
 there anything to eat ? — / am so hungry ! ' " 
 
 " So while the new actress's name was floating over 
 many a dainty restaurant supper, its owner sat beneath 
 one gas-jet, between mother and pet, eating a large 
 piece of bread and a small piece of cheese ; and, thank- 
 ful for both, she talked to her small circle of admirers, 
 telling them all about it, and winding up supper and 
 talk with the declaration : ' Mother, I believe the hearts 
 are just the same, whether they beat against Western 
 ribs or Eastern ribs.*^ 
 
 " Then, supper over, I stumbled through my old-time 
 'Now I lay me,' and adding some blurred words of 
 gratitude (God must be so well used to sleepy thanks, 
 but very wide-awake entreaties !), I fell asleep, knowing 
 that through God's mercy and my own hard work I was 
 the first Western actress who had ever been accepted by 
 a New York audience ; and as I drowsed off, I mur- 
 mured to myself: 'And I'll leave the door open, 
 now that I have opened it — I'll leave it open for all 
 others.* " 
 
 I am induced to interpolate this touching little story, 
 because it gives one of those interesting peeps behind 
 the scenes that hypercritical and impatient first-night 
 audiences would do well to bear in mind when they 
 reflect (as in their calmer moments they must, I should 
 think, do) that their applause or its grim reverse may 
 make or mar the fortunes of the anxious and sometimes 
 needy artists who are doing their best under a very 
 
 1 Miss Clara Morris gained her early experiences in Western 
 America. 
 
8o SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 trying ordeal. It is, moreover, a true example of the 
 unselfish desire of our best actors and actresses to give, 
 in the moments of their own triumphs, a helping hand 
 to those who are endeavouring to toil after them 
 up the steep and often slippery ladder that leads to 
 fame. 
 
 In such beneficent work, as I shall presently show, 
 Charles Wyndham has ever been in the van of the 
 theatrical army. 
 
 Having by his admirable acting in the Wilkie Collins 
 play conquered the English provincial towns, he returned 
 to London, and once more rejoined the forces of the 
 little Royalty Theatre, which was then under the 
 management of his former Queen's Theatre comrade. 
 Miss Henrietta Hodson. 
 
 Opening there in October, 1873, he made a decided 
 hit as Rolando, in Tobin's once favourite comedy. The 
 Honeymoon. The cast was an excellent one. Miss 
 Henrietta Hodson played Juliana ; Miss Augusta 
 Wilton (another of Lady Bancroft's sisters), Zamora ; 
 Miss Maggie Brennan, Volante ; and John Clarke, one 
 of the best comedians of his day, and destined to do 
 notable work under Charles Wyndham's management, 
 the Jacques. I have called it the " once favourite " 
 comedy advisedly, for I fear if revived to-day, the poor 
 Honeymoon would have very short shrift. Of this pro- 
 duction of 1873 a very prominent critic, while praising 
 the acting, said : " This piece, which is a strange com- 
 bination of The Taming of the Shrew, Philaster, Rule a 
 Wife, and other well-known plays, is ingenious in the 
 manner in which the incidents are woven together, and 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 8i 
 
 excellent in language. Hearing its speeches, which are, 
 like tinsel, better for stage effect than gold, one is in- 
 clined to wonder it has been handed over entirely to 
 amateurs." 
 
 But as it was then, so it is now. A little later, the 
 Kendals, on the first provincial tour they took on their 
 own account, tried to galvanise the old play into life, 
 but it was a vain experiment, and except for the staunch 
 amateurs, who think that their all too obvious tinsel is 
 virgin gold. The Honeymoon would be forgotten. 
 
 If the critic whose words I have quoted had delved a 
 little deeper after the sources of The Honeymoon^ and all 
 plays founded on the same theme, he would, I think, 
 have found it in an old German legend which the learned 
 and excellent MM. Grimm incorporated in their in- 
 valuable tales of folk and fairy lore under the title of 
 KSnig Drosselbart. This came from Hesse, the Main, 
 and Paderborn. An English version of the Grimm 
 story, by Edgar Taylor, exists, and is called King Grizzle- 
 Beard. It is odd to think that the plot of our English 
 Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew was possibly " made 
 in Germany " ! 
 
 At the Royalty, in October, 1873, The Honeymoon was 
 followed by The Realm of Joy^ by F. Latour Tomline, a 
 name occasionally assumed by W. S. Gilbert. It was a 
 free-and-easy version of Le Roi Candaule, by MM. 
 Meilhac and Halevy, and was supposed to be a skit on 
 the objections which the examiner of plays had raised 
 against Gilbert's The Happy Landy which was in its turn 
 a burlesque on his own charming fairy-comedy, The 
 Wicked World. 
 
82 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Of this production my Honeymoon critic said : — 
 
 " Though a clever and amusing farce, the fun of which, 
 well kept up by Messrs. Clarke, Wyndham, Miss Bren- 
 nan, and Miss Wilton, told with the audience, the whole 
 at the conclusion missed fire. A promise of some fun 
 levelled at existing authorities excited public curiosity. 
 Our prudent censor had, however, with excessive 
 caution, cut out everything that could tickle the public 
 palate, and the audience, defrauded as it felt itself of a 
 promised amusement, when it had ceased to laugh com- 
 menced to hiss. There is a lesson in this for manage- 
 ments, if they are wise enough to take it, that is, not to 
 stimulate overmuch public appetite unless you are sure 
 of having wherewithal to satisfy it." 
 
 On this occasion "Latour Tomline" was certainly 
 hoist with his own petard, and that uncomfortable 
 examiner of plays was master of the situation. In 
 December, 1873, Charles Wyndham was able to fulfil a 
 very early ambition by appearing as Rover, in Wild Oats. 
 
 When he was quite young he had seen Samuel Phelps 
 play the breezy, apparently reckless, yet sound-hearted 
 character of O'Keefe's hero, and his soul yearned to 
 follow in his footsteps. 
 
 Of his zeal in this direction he says : " I made up my 
 mind to do it. I had ;^30, and meeting another young 
 fellow with a similar sum, we began to negotiate for the 
 Strand Theatre, then under the mariagement of Mr. 
 Payne. But our hopes were crushed, as a slight barrier 
 cropped up in the way of expenses. Payne wanted £60 
 a week rent and three months in advance " ; and so this 
 ambitious project fell through. 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 83 
 
 At the Royalty Theatre Charles Wyndham acquitted 
 himself bravely as Rover, little thinking that at the 
 then undreamt-of Criterion Theatre the part would 
 make a curious and important turning-point in his 
 career. 
 
 Just as Rover, the strolling player (an ancestor surely 
 of one Jingle of immortal memory ?), met Harry 
 Thunder in the first scene of Wild Oats in which he 
 appears, and the two genial but apparently badly assorted 
 boon-companions, but true friends, agree to separate at 
 the cross-roads, so did Charles Wyndham in due time, 
 and with the gallant Rover for his pilot, make a new 
 departure that, well as he had graced the character 
 before, became one of infinite value to the English 
 stage. 
 
 But as the old melodramatists were wont to say, 
 " more of this anon," 
 
 At this time a thing happened that for many years 
 decided the course of the actor's career. The fame of an 
 American play called Saratoga had reached England. It 
 was said to contain the best part for a light comedian 
 (a wonderful and intensified " Charles Mathews part ") 
 that had ever been written. Many English actors were 
 anxious to obtain the piece, foremost among them being 
 E. A. Sothern, who was, I remember, greatly disap- 
 pointed when he found it had been secured by Charles 
 Wyndham. 
 
 My kind friend Bronson Howard, the author of this 
 epoch-making production, has given me the following 
 interesting account of it : — 
 
 " Saratoga" he tells me, " was first produced in New 
 
84 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 York, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, then under the able 
 management of Augustin Daly, in the December of 
 1870. It was the first original play of its author, and 
 his first play in New York. Judged by the after 
 celebrity won by its actors, the original cast was one of 
 the most remarkable known in the history of the 
 . American stage, including as it did James Lewis, Daniel 
 Hawkins, William Davidge, Mrs. Gilbert, Miss Clara 
 Morris, Miss Fanny Davenport, Miss Kate Claxton, and 
 Miss Linda Dietz. A few of them were afterwards 
 well known in England as members of the admirable 
 Augustin Daly Company, and quaint James Lewis and 
 delightful Mrs. Gilbert became immense favourites with 
 English audiences ; but Miss Clara Morris and Miss 
 Fanny Davenport, who were among the most celebrated 
 American actresses of the first rank, have unfortunately 
 never visited this country. Miss Kate Claxton made 
 one of her greatest successes as the Blind Girl in The 
 Two Orphans, a part which she has played on and off 
 (and is still playing) in America during a period of 
 thirty-three years. Miss Linda Dietz will be remembered 
 as a charming actress who did excellent work with E. A. 
 Sothern." 
 
 Saratoga still holds American boards, both on tour 
 and in the stock companies scattered over the country. 
 Having been fortunate enough to secure certain rights 
 in it, Charles Wyndham played it in almost all parts of 
 the United States, and it was one of the items in his 
 repertory when his engagement was broken up at Chicago 
 by the great fire of 187 1. 
 
 Impressed by his success in his new venture, he then 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 85 
 
 divided his company ; sending one half on tour with 
 his usual round of pieces, and retaining Saratoga for 
 himself, and playing it continuously until his return to 
 England. 
 
 Certain features in the play were so peculiarly 
 American that it was thought well that for the "old 
 country" an English version of it should be made. 
 This task was entrusted to the late Frank Marshall : 
 Saratoga became Brighton^ and the piece was produced at 
 the old Court Theatre, Sloane Square (then under the 
 management of charming Miss Marie Litton), on May 
 25th, 1874. 
 
 The piece, and Charles Wyndham, made an instan- 
 taneous success. There was something delightfully new 
 and exhilarating in it. Charles Mathews, E. A. Sothern, 
 and one or two more had made us ache with laughter in 
 their light comedy characters in the good old one-act 
 farces of the Maddison Morton type, but it remained 
 for Bronson Howard and Charles Wyndham to show 
 that the spirit of the thing could be maintained 
 throughout three acts in a perfectly intelligible and quite 
 interesting play. Brighton was, in fact, the pioneer of 
 the three-act farces that have, ever since its signal 
 success, deluged the English stage. 
 
 Though ridiculous, the subject of the play had a 
 fascination of its own, and the apparently hopeless 
 difficulties of the breezy, light-hearted, but much too 
 susceptible hero had in them, thanks to the exquisitely 
 refined acting of Charles Wyndham, a certain curious 
 blend of pathos. Bob Sackett was the most reprehen- 
 sible of love-makers, and should have reproached 
 
86 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 himself for the scrapes in which he found himself ; but 
 owing to the clever touch and magnetism of the actor 
 his audiences liked him and wished him well. 
 
 Concerning the production at the Court Theatre an 
 eminent critic said : — 
 
 " In one of his fluent and now almost forgotten lyrics, 
 Tom Moore advances the convenient maxim that — 
 
 " ' When we are far from the lips that we lore, 
 
 We have but to make love to the lips that are near.' 
 
 " This teaching, we can scarcely call it a moral, is 
 supported by Brighton. Every woman of moderate 
 attractions whom the hero meets establishes a hold upon 
 his imagination and his heart, which prompts him 
 instantly to make proffer of his hand and his fortune. 
 Being young, good-looking, and rich, his advances are 
 seldom rejected. He becomes, accordingly, entangled 
 in a manner which leaves but little chance of escape. 
 When, obeying the imperative dictates of fashion, the 
 whole company of women go to Brighton at the same 
 time, and there meet the faithless lover, he has scarcely 
 a good time of it. Many comic situations arrive, and 
 much laughter is evoked. The hero is then let oiF 
 better than he deserves." 
 
 Yes, that is true — better than he deserves, but 
 during the three hours' traffic of the stage he has kept 
 us in such roars of wholesome, health-giving laughter, 
 that, being grateful to him, we learn to love him, and 
 rejoice in his good fortune. 
 
 Such was the success of Brighton, and, apart from the 
 excellence of the play, it was mainly due to the per- 
 sonality of Charles Wyndham. 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 87 
 
 But of his acting of an extremely difficult part the 
 originator of the play should be the best judge, and I 
 will again quote Bronson Howard. 
 
 " Charles Wyndham," he tells me, " emphasised one 
 idea, almost, I might say, created it — for while it was 
 inherent in the character the author had neglected it, 
 and almost destroyed it by a line or two. In Bob 
 Sackett he persisted in showing him as * never a flirt ' — 
 always intensely in earnest when expressing his love, 
 and always really sincere when thinking of each par- 
 ticular woman he is interested in. He is seriously and 
 honestly in love with one woman at a time, and only 
 one — the one he happens to be thinking of — and never 
 has the slightest Intention of trifling with her. This, 
 probably, is the greatest charm, as it is the greatest 
 novelty of Wyndham's Bob Sackett." 
 
 No doubt this is true. This intense earnestness, 
 sustained during the most comic situations, in which 
 the bachelor Blue-Beard " Bob " trembles on the edge of 
 perilous precipices, was the true art that made its way 
 home to the hearts of his audiences. 
 
 It is not often that a dramatist cares for his work 
 to be patched and altered by another hand, but 
 Bronson Howard speaks very generously of the part 
 Frank Marshall took in converting Saratoga into 
 Brighton. 
 
 " In the English version," he writes me, " much of 
 the dialogue was original with Mr. Marshall, and very 
 bright and telling it was, taking the place of talk which 
 belonged only to American life and manners. The 
 characters were but little changed, and though the piece 
 
88 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 was reduced from five to four acts, the general construc- 
 tion remained the same. An interesting thing about the 
 characters is this. The girls of the cast were suggested 
 to the author by Mrs. Lynn Linton's series of articles 
 called, The Girls of the Period, and when the play was 
 first presented in America, in 1870, were considered too 
 advanced and rapid for toleration on the stage. Indeed, 
 the play had been declined on these grounds by Mr. 
 Selwyn in Boston, and by the celebrated Laura Keene, 
 the great comidienne, then managing a theatre in Phila- 
 delphia. They both objected to the fastness of the 
 girls. Selwyn said that he would not allow such girls 
 on his stage ; and Laura Keene, while praising the 
 comedy, said she dare not produce it. She had just 
 been scored unmercifully by the critics for the rapid 
 girls in a previous piece, and they were mild compared 
 with those of Saratoga. It was on account of this 
 objection by Miss Keene that Augustin Daly accepted 
 the piece for New York. This will illustrate diflferences 
 between New York and its demure neighbours Boston 
 and Philadelphia — a difference almost as marked to this 
 day. But the most astounding contrast is this — and it 
 is one to make us think very actively : A few weeks 
 ago,^ when Saratoga was reproduced for a tour, the 
 girls seemed only mild reproductions of the average, 
 ordinary girl of this period — thirty-three years after ; 
 and the only modernising suggested to the author by 
 the anxious manager was, ' Put a little more ginger into 
 the girls.' How is this for the new woman of the 
 twentieth century in her teens ? What can a present- 
 
 ' This letter was written in the late months of 1903. 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 89 
 
 day Mrs. Lynn Linton say about ' The Girls of the 
 Period ? ' " 
 
 Truly during those thirty-three years our young ladies 
 — or, at least, some of them — have made very rapid and 
 much to be deplored advances. 
 
 Among those supporting Charles Wyndham in the 
 original production of Brighton at the Court Theatre 
 were Edgar Bruce, W. J. Hill, Alfred Bishop, Miss 
 Sylvia Hodson, Miss Rose Egan, and Miss De 
 Grey. 
 
 It is curious to read to-day, when poor, infinitely 
 droll W. J, Hill has long since passed away, the pro- 
 nouncement that "This young actor promises to be 
 one of the best low comedians our stage has recently 
 seen." Happily he lived long enough to amply fulfil 
 the prophecy. 
 
 Brighton ran for a year at the Court Theatre, and 
 during that period Charles Wyndham, not content with 
 the very arduous part of Bob Sackett, undertook the 
 management of a long series of dramatic performances 
 at the Crystal Palace, which became very justly cele- 
 brated on account of the excellence of the casts, which 
 were culled from the best players of every theatre in 
 London. 
 
 In this remarkable and very popular enterprise he 
 aimed at everything, and it may fairly be said that all 
 his efforts were crowned with success. 
 
 It would be impossible for me to give any list of this 
 voluminous series of performances, which extended over 
 some years, and, to the energetic manager, must have 
 entailed a vast amount of labour ; but I should like 
 
90 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 to recall one very pleasant afternoon on which he 
 revived T. W. Robertson's Progress. On the occa- 
 sion of its original production, on September i8th, 
 1869, at the Globe Theatre, the cast included such 
 capable actors as Henry Neville, John Billington, Charles 
 CoUette, John Clarke, Miss Lydia Foote, and Mrs. 
 Stephens ; the comedy (which was an adaptation of 
 Victorien Sardou's Les Ganaches) failed to achieve 
 prolonged popularity, and when I saw it at Sydenham 
 I could not help feeling what a pity it was that it had 
 so soon been forgotten. Certainly, in those days I had 
 never seen Charles Wyndham do anything so fine as his 
 rendering of Henry Neville's original character — John 
 Feme. At that time he was making the town roar 
 with laughter in rollicking farce, and people had begun 
 to associate him absolutely with that class of entertain- 
 ment. It was, therefore, a revelation to see his deeply 
 impressive impersonation of a difficult part, written on 
 strong dramatic lines. He was capitally supported, too, 
 by a company that included Harry Paulton, Edgar 
 Bruce, Henry Ashley, and Miss Eastlake. 
 
 In connection with Progress there is rather a droll 
 story. Robertson, who never forgave Buckstone's con- 
 temptuous refusal of Society, had, in the days of his well- 
 won fame, expressly written the Sardou adaptation for 
 him and the then somewhat mature Haymarket players. 
 " Good Lord ! " said Buckstone when he had read it, 
 " they're all old people in it." " Certainly," said 
 Robertson, who never could resist the retort that 
 came so readily to his quick tongue, " Fve written a play 
 for your company ! " This made the old comedian very 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 91 
 
 angry, and he would have nothing to do with Progress 
 at the Haymarket. 
 
 Of the Crystal Palace entertainments my kind friend 
 Miss Genevifcve Ward has told me the following 
 humorous and characteristic little incident. 
 
 In order to give her scope for her transcendent tragic 
 powers, Charles Wyndham boldly produced the rarely 
 seen Greek play, Antigone. In one of the scenes there 
 is a silent soldier who has some important " stage 
 business" with the heroine, and any awkwardness on 
 his part might prove fatal to her chances of success. As 
 he had nothing to say, this character had been allotted to 
 a mere " super," a man of no experience, and utterly 
 incapable of doing what was required of him. In despair 
 Miss Ward went to her manager and demanded an 
 "actor" for the part. No one was available. "But," 
 said Charles Wyndham, " though Greek tragedy is not 
 ray forte., I will try to be a classic myself for once, and 
 save the situation." And he did ! — though no one 
 knew that the Greek soldier's garb hid the personality 
 of breezy Bob Sackett. 
 
 Brighton ran its course at the Court Theatre, and was 
 then transferred to the St. James's Theatre. During his 
 engagement there Charles Wyndham appeared in other 
 parts, and, as the following interesting programme 
 shows, did not disdain to appear in farce. 
 
 Dear me ! how he used to make us all laugh as 
 Walsingham Potts ! Notwithstanding the strong at- 
 traction of the programme as a whole, hundreds of 
 people thronged the theatre at a late hour for the sake 
 of enjoying that perfect piece of fooling. I saw it 
 
ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. 
 
 Responsible Manager, Miss Litton. 
 
 This Evening, April 27th, 1875, at 8.1 J, 
 An entirely new and original Farcical Comedy, in Three Acts, entitled — 
 
 TOM COBB; 
 
 Or, FORTUNE'S TOY. 
 
 By W. S. Gilbert. 
 
 Colonel O. Fipp (An Irish adventurer) . 
 WWffle° I (Young Surgeons) 
 Matilda O. Fipp (the Colonel's Daughter) 
 Mr. Effingham 
 Mrs. Effingham 
 
 ■{ 
 
 Bulstrode Effingham 
 Caroline Effingham 
 Footman . 
 Biddy 
 
 ■ (A Romantic Family) 
 
 Mr. Clifford Cooper. 
 Mr. E. W. Royce. 
 Mr. Edgar Bruce. 
 Miss Edith Challis. 
 
 {Mr. De Verb. 
 Mrs. Chippendale 
 (first appearance sinceher 
 severe indisposition). 
 Mr. W. J. Hill. 
 Miss Litton. 
 Mr. Russell. 
 Miss E. Doyne. 
 
 Act L Sitting-room at Colonel O. Fipp's house. 
 Act II. Same as Act I. 
 Act III. At Mr. Effingham's. 
 Three months are supposed to elapse between each act. 
 Scenery by Mr. Walter Hann. 
 
 Preceded at 7. 30 by the Comedietta, by the late Wm. Brough — 
 A PHENOMENON IN A SMOCK FROCK. 
 
 Mr. Sowerberry 
 John Buttercup 
 Mr. Barker 
 James 
 Mrs. Barker 
 Betsy Chirrup 
 
 Mr. Clifford Cooper. 
 Mr. W. J. Hill. 
 Mr. E. S. Vincent. 
 Mr. E. a. Russell. 
 Miss Muriellb. 
 Miss Millie Cook. 
 
 To conclude with the Laughable Farce, in One Act, 
 TRYING IT ON! 
 
 Mr. Walsingham Potts 
 Mr. Jobstock 
 Mr. Tittlebat 
 Mrs. Jobstock 
 Fanny . 
 Lucy . 
 
 Mr. Charles Wyndham. 
 
 Mr. De Verb. 
 
 Mr. Charles Steyne. 
 
 Miss M. Davis. 
 
 Miss Rose Egan. 
 
 Miss E. Doyne. 
 
CHIEFLY CONCERNING BRIGHTON 93 
 
 several times, and always went home after it happy 
 and light-hearted. 
 
 In the June of 1875 he appeared in Brighton at the 
 Haymarket, and then took his El Dorado to Berlin, 
 where, by way of light holiday work, he acted in 
 German. Refreshed by this little experience, he returned 
 to England, and, as we shall see in our next chapter, 
 once more blithely bathed in Brighton waters. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 CALLED TO THE CRITERION 
 
 npO-DAY the opening of a new theatre in London 
 is a matter of frequent occurrence, but thirty 
 years ago it was an event sufficiently rare to create some 
 excitement ; and when it was announced that Messrs. 
 Spiers and Pond had built a new playhouse as an 
 adjunct to their handsome Criterion Restaurant in 
 Piccadilly, there was quite a flutter in the theatrical 
 world. There was about it, moreover, a decided 
 novelty. It was to be an underground theatre, into 
 which air had to be continually pumped to save both 
 actors and audiences from being asphyxiated. To be 
 able to dine luxuriously in the handsomely appointed 
 refectory, and then to descend into its vaults to witness 
 a bright entertainment in a cosy theatre, was, to the 
 youthful mind at least, an experience quite as sensa- 
 tional as that of a descent in the Diving Bell at the 
 old Polytechnic. 
 
 The new theatre occupied — and of course still occupies 
 — the site of an historic inn which had flourished since 
 the days of the Stuarts under the sign of " The White 
 Bear " ; and it was curious to reflect that where well- 
 appointed stage, stalls, pit, dress circle, ay, and even 
 
 94 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 95 
 
 gallery now stood (for the Criterion had a gallery in those 
 days) the " Bear's " stores of ardent spirits and choice 
 wines might once have been left to mature. "The 
 White Bear" had its own little record of artistic history. 
 In 1763 Benjamin West, the Quaker President of the 
 Royal Academy, had on his arrival from America {vid 
 Italy) slept beneath its hospitable roof; and it was 
 within its walls, early in 1771, that the talented Luke 
 Sullivan, the assistant of Hogarth, ended a distinguished, 
 if somewhat misguided career. Here, too, lodged John 
 Baptiste Chatelaine, an engraver and draughtsman 
 whose work is deemed worthy of preservation in the 
 British Museum. The two — the Irishman and the 
 Frenchman — became boon-companions, and they both 
 died in the old tavern which had been the scene of their 
 carousals in the same year. 
 
 The Criterion Theatre was opened on March 21st, 
 1874, under the joint management of H. J, Byron and 
 E. P. Kingston. Of Byron and his ready wit I have 
 said something in my preceding chapter ; his partner 
 in the new venture had become very well known as the 
 friend and associate of Artemus Ward, the famous 
 American humorist, and being as genial as his comrade 
 had made hosts of friends on his own account, and in the 
 theatrical world, in which he had had great experience, 
 was exceedingly popular. 
 
 Poor, gentle, kindly, and ever witty Artemus Ward ! 
 He even jested on his all too early death-bed. Tom 
 Robertson, the dramatist, who became his great friend 
 when he visited England, was with him during his 
 dying hours, and, hoping to give him some alleviation. 
 
96 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 poured out medicine in a glass and offered it to 
 him. 
 
 " My dear Tom," gasped the invalid, " I can't drink 
 that horrible stuff." 
 
 " Do," urged Robertson ; " it will give you relief, 
 my dear fellow. Do now ; take it for my sake. You 
 know I would do anything for you." 
 
 "Would you.?" said the patient sufferer, feebly 
 stretching out his cold hand to grasp his friend's for 
 nearly the last time. 
 
 " Of course I would ; you know I would," said 
 Robertson. 
 
 ''^Then drink it yourself," said the dying man, with 
 the glimmer of a smile on his worn features. 
 
 In an hour or so the cap and bells were laid aside. 
 Poor Yorick was at rest. " Alas ! poor Yorick." 
 
 Byron, too, joked to the bitter end. Charles Wynd- 
 ham used to visit him in his last days, when the poor 
 fellow was tortured with a consumptive cough, and has 
 related how heart-breaking it was to listen to him when 
 he persisted in trying to read his latest plays aloud. 
 His friends tried to show their sympathy by sending 
 him things that they thought would tempt an invalid's 
 palate. 
 
 At that time John Hare and W. H. Kendal were 
 in partnership at the St. James's Theatre, and one day 
 Charles Wyndham, paying one of his friendly calls 
 on poor Byron, found him with a fine hare lying by his 
 side;. " Hare has just sent it," said the sick man ; " it's 
 so big i thought Kendal was inside it." 
 
 The following is said to have been one of the last- 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 97 
 
 of his beloved word-twistings. A friend suggested that 
 as a remedy for his ailments he should try iodide of 
 potassium. " No," said Byron, who was rather tired 
 of such well-meant suggestions, " I'm not going to say I 
 'a died o' potassium ! " 
 
 But in 1874 Byron was well and at his best, and for 
 the opening of the new theatre provided an original 
 comedy from his own pen, entitled An American Lady^ 
 in which he cast himself for a leading part. Why a man 
 who was so busy at his desk that he could not keep 
 pace with his commissions should also choose to act no 
 one knew. His best friends, foremost amongst whom 
 was Tom Robertson, were opposed to the step, but 
 he would have his own will. Though he fired off his 
 own witticisms In a way that was irresistible, he never 
 was a particularly good actor, but there was a certain 
 charm in the gentlemanly ease with which he strolled 
 through his parts, and his appearance on the virgin 
 Criterion boards was quite acceptable. 
 
 The bright particular star, however, of An American 
 Lady was Mrs. John Wood, of whom we have already 
 heard in connection with Charles Wyndham's early 
 American experiments. She, of course, played the title- 
 part, and was well suited with a character adapted to her 
 inimitable comedy methods. For Mrs. John Wood was, 
 and happily still is, that extremely " rare bird," a perfect 
 feminine comedian. Then, to finish up with, there was 
 a delightful extravaganza by W. S. Gilbert, a veritable 
 " Bab Ballad " On the stage, as whimsical and as good as 
 the same author's The Fairy's Dilemma^ now, as I write, 
 running merrily at the Garrick Theatre. Truly, he has 
 
98 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 good cause to be proud of his long record of successes 
 in pieces in which he has never had a rival. The 1874 
 play, the thirty years* predecessor of his latest success, 
 was called Topsyturvedonij and was, of course, typical 
 of his quaint methods. 
 
 Making inquiries into this opening programme I dis- 
 covered some strange things. 
 
 The author of Topsyturvedom wrote me : — 
 
 " I am sorry to say that my mind is an absolute 
 blank as to the opening of the Criterion. I never saw 
 Topsyturvedom. If you happen to have a copy of it and 
 could lend it to me for a few hours, it might suggest 
 some reminiscences ; as it is, I don't even know what 
 the piece was about." 
 
 No one had a copy of it, but I well remember how 
 the one and only Bab Balladist depicted a tiny world 
 (truth to tell, it was a tiny stage), wherein everything 
 was the reverse of what it is in this : how men were 
 exalted for their follies and degraded for their virtues ; 
 how they walked on ceilings and looked up to floors ; 
 showed dislike when they wished to please, and used 
 courteous expressions when they chose to be insolent. 
 
 Then its author wrote me again : — 
 
 " I am very sorry that I can give you no definite 
 information as to the piece, but it has clean gone out of 
 ray mind. I only remember that the principal parts 
 were played by the late John Clarke and Miss Fanny 
 Holland, and that the piece was well played. I also 
 recollect that one of the scenes represented an inverted 
 drawing-room, with a carpet and chairs and table where 
 the ceiling is usually found, and that a large chandelier 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 99 
 
 protruded from what is usually the floor. How I 
 accounted for the characters walking on the supposed 
 ceiling of the room I don't recollect." 
 
 Then, concerning An American Lady, Mrs. John 
 Wood wrote to me : — 
 
 "What I seem best to remember about the opening 
 of the Criterion was having to leave the Queen's Theatre 
 and my dear friend Charles Reade, whose play, The 
 Wandering Heir, was then running, he having entrusted 
 me with the part of Philippa, which I created and loved. 
 I was not best pleased at having to leave, but my ser- 
 vices had been secured some time before Mr. Reade's 
 production, and after all, perhaps, it was as well I went 
 to open the Criterion, as it brought out from her 
 seclusion Miss Ellen Terry, who was selected as my 
 successor. I could not have been paid a greater com- 
 pliment. The piece at the Criterion as a piece was 
 a fair success. The acting part of it was a great one for 
 H. J. Byron, John Clarke, David Fisher, J. H. Barnes, 
 Mrs. Gaston Murray, and myself. I may truly say we 
 had an ovation. There was not much to remember 
 after that, except that a friend told me how some people 
 he had met at dinner on the Sunday following the pro- 
 duction were discussing the charming manner in which 
 the piece was put upon the stage, the loveliness of my 
 gowns, and some personal compliments on myself, when 
 one lady said, ' Oh yes, very lovely ; but who wouldn't 
 look lovely in such dresses .? ' This, I thought, was 
 rather a snub for me ! " 
 
 Verily Sir Fretful Plagiary's " good-natured friends " 
 are always with us, but Mrs. John Wood could well 
 
lOO SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 afford to laugh at such a silly remark. As every play- 
 goer knows, she not only acts, but looks to perfection 
 every part in which she appears. 
 
 Continuing, Mrs. Wood said : — 
 
 "The strange thing is that nowhere can the MS. of 
 An American Lady now be found. Poor Mrs. Byron 
 came to me at the old Court Theatre to ask if I had a 
 copy or knew anything about it. All I could tell her 
 was that the last time I saw the MS. was when Mr. 
 Byron and I played our one big scene for a benefit at 
 Drury Lane, and it seems it has never been seen or 
 heard of since ! She died soon after our meeting." 
 
 Now here was a curious thing. Two original and 
 successful plays, by two very notable dramatic authors, 
 utterly lost and forgotten ! I am afraid it was the case 
 with far too many plays of that era. They were not 
 then duplicated and triplicated by the typewriter, and 
 comparatively few found their way into the hands of the 
 printer. They only existed in manuscript — they 
 suffered in the hands of the prompter — and when the 
 run of the piece was over were mislaid and lost. It is 
 a great pity, for many of them would make interesting 
 reading in the light of to-day. 
 
 This attractive opening programme sufficed the Cri- 
 terion for some time, but later productions were, with 
 the exception of the charming comic opera, Les Pres 
 Saint-GervaiSj composed by M. Charles Lecocq, and 
 adapted to the English stage by Robert Reece, and 
 which held the stage for some time, not too successful. 
 The management, too, had changed hands, and its posi- 
 tion drooped into dilemma. 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION loi 
 
 In the meantime Charles Wyndham, ever touring 
 about with his successful Brighton^ was also in a state of 
 perplexity. He had made a great hit ; though he never 
 was a man to flatter himself, he ought to have known 
 that he was recognised — and deservedly recognised — as 
 a " star " actor, and that it would never do for him to 
 rejoin what were in those days still called the " stock " 
 companies. On the other hand, he wisely hesitated to 
 invest his capital in the costly and highly risky experi- 
 ment of taking a London theatre on his own account. 
 
 But the Fates were at work both for him and the 
 Criterion. 
 
 In the quickly waning days of 1875 he was playing 
 the popular Brighton at Brighton when his unexpected 
 chance came — but here he shall tell his own story of 
 what happened at a most critical moment of his career. 
 
 " In almost everybody's life," he told me in a letter 
 instinct with modesty, " there comes a time when a man 
 finds himself crossing a bridge without knowing what 
 new conditions are to face him on the other side. In 
 1875 (fancy!) I felt myself crossing. The psychical 
 moment had come when I stood and paused, unwilling 
 to go back, in doubt how to go forward. I had just 
 got a little beyond the " stock " position when managers 
 would be likely to expect I had views of advancing, and 
 therefore need not be approached about a stock engage- 
 ment, and at the same time had not reached a position 
 strong enough to suggest to managers to invite me to 
 the provinces to star. Those were not the days of 
 ' syndicates,' and the business of the theatre was con- 
 fined to theatrical people. I was beginning to get very 
 
I02 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 anxious. One morning (Thursday) I was sitting over 
 my breakfast when a telegram was brought to me. It 
 was from Tom Smale, long acting manager to Thomas 
 Thorne. * Would you care to go in with me in 
 management of a London theatre ? ' Whilst wondering 
 what he meant, which theatre, what conditions, a second 
 telegram arrived from a leading dramatic agent. ' Will 
 you actept the management of a London theatre ? ' — 
 and the minute after one from Henderson, the husband 
 of Lydia Thompson : ' Will you open here at Criterion 
 next Monday in Brighton and go in with me in manage- 
 ment .'' ' There was something more definite in this, 
 and I at once went to towh to see Henderson. It 
 seemed the Criterion Theatre, which had long been 
 very unlucky, and had grown to be considered an un- 
 lucky house, had suddenly closed the previous evening. 
 It had first Byron as manager, then D'Oyley Carte, then 
 Spiers and Pond themselves, and lastly M. Petri«, a 
 Frenchman, till the collapse came. It was easy to dis- 
 cover that the three telegrams related to the same 
 theatre. Spiers and Pond, most reluctant to have the 
 theatre shut up in this lamentable manner, had flown the 
 next morning to the dramatic agent, who had promptly 
 applied to me. Smale had heard of the collapse, and 
 also telegraphed to me on his own account. Both were 
 so reserved in their information that it is no wonder I 
 answered Henderson first, as he had given some par- 
 ticulars. He was a very prompt business man, and pro- 
 pounded his ideas at once. Spiers and Pond were 
 ready to give him the theatre rent free, provided he 
 could open the following Monday with some sound 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 103 
 
 attraction, so he telegraphed to me. I at once set to 
 work to engage my company, and to rehearse, and 
 managed to open with a revival of Brighton three days 
 after, for a month's run. Then Henderson produced a 
 burlesque which was not a success, and so proposed a 
 partnership to commence the following Easter." 
 
 Surely he was now convinced (in spite of his modesty) 
 that he was regarded as a star ! It was a daring under- 
 taking, for "next Monday's" programme at the Criterion 
 — the date was December 27th, 1875 — included not only 
 Brighton^ but that bright adaptation from the French La 
 Dibutante which had been made so popular by Alfred 
 Wigan under the title of The First Night. 
 
 Charles Wyndham at once found favour in his new 
 home — the home that he was to dominate so long and 
 so honourably. Once more his delightful Bob Sackett 
 was warmly welcomed in town, and in the very difficult 
 part of Achille Talma Dufard, in the second piece, he 
 won high prais^. During its course there was a Grand 
 Duo from The Huguenots^ in which he appeared as Raoul 
 to the Rose of Miss Annie Goodall. 
 
 Among the company on that memorable opening 
 night were Mr. Edgar Bruce (of whom I shall have 
 more to say presently) and Mr. Edward Righton. 
 
 The latter was an admirable comedian, whose name 
 well deserves record. In comedy, farce, and burlesque 
 he played many parts, and he played them all well. 
 Probably he reached perfection's point when he im- 
 personated the dear, tender-hearted, Dickens-loving old 
 bookseller in R. C. Carton's pretty comedy, Liberty Hall. 
 Lionel Brough also appeared in that admirably drawn 
 
I04 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 character, and he told me that he never played without 
 a tear in his eye and a sob in his voice. 
 
 Truly that first night at the Criterion was an historic 
 one, and I am glad to reproduce here a facsimile of the 
 programme. 
 
 Playgoers of a light-hearted turn of mind might well 
 have joined in the time-honoured chorus of " The 
 Chough and the Crow" — 
 
 " Up rouse ye, then, ray merry, merry men, 
 For 'tis our opening day." 
 
 As a matter of fact, I think thousands of them, 
 though they might not have put it quite in these 
 words, had the feeling in their hearts. Anyway, they 
 proved it by the loyal support they accorded Charles 
 Wyndham as the elected commander of the Light 
 Brigade of the London theatres. The fact is, the 
 London playhouses were rather dull at that time. The 
 old-style burlesques, which were really funny, and at 
 which we used to roar with laughter, had for some 
 regrettable reason died out, and nothing very mirthful 
 had taken their place. 
 
 The Adelphi was then, as it had been for many years, 
 the popular home of poor, despised old melodrama. 
 Alas ! I fear I must plead guilty to being one of those 
 degenerate playgoers who could take pleasure in seeing 
 virtue victorious and vice vanquished in the good old- 
 fashioned way. John Hare and the Kendals were at 
 the old Court Theatre, and in common with the 
 Bancrofts, who still lingered at the little Prince of 
 Wales's Theatre in Tottenham Street, were, according 
 to their wont, appearing in comedy of the highest type ; 
 
GBinBiin^Tmm 
 
 Proyrletops . ... .,- ... Mesara SPIERS and POND. 
 
 GREAT CHRISTMAS ATTRACTION. 
 
 The Managemeni hsTs great pleasure tn announcing that they have entered into an arrangement with 
 
 CHARLES WTNDHAH 
 
 FOR A LtttlTEO NUUBER OF NIGHTS, 
 
 Commencing on Bozitig-Night, Deoem<ber 27, 1875. 
 
 At 8.45, Praductian of the tiigblj SiiMMliil Comedy, hi Poor Aeu, hy PRANK UAKSHALL aiid BRpNSOM HOWARD. epUtled 
 
 BSIGBTOnf 
 
 The main Uicidents lahen from Bronsoa Howard's American Comtdy entlttad " Saratoga." 
 
 BobSacketl .. ... .. Mr CHARLJES WYNDHAM 
 
 Mr Carter .. ,.. Mr DE VERB 
 
 Fred Carter, his Son.~ .. ... ... ... Mr S AUSTIN 
 
 Mr Vanderpump .. .. ... Mr EDWARD RIGHTON 
 
 Jack Benedict ... .. .. ;. .. Mr EDGAR BRUCB 
 
 Sir Louis Park .. .. ... ... Mr HOWARD RUSSELL 
 
 Mr Columbus Drake — ... ... Mr E. N. HALLOWES 
 
 Isl Keeper .. .. ... .. .. ... Mr JOHNSON 
 
 Effie Reminglon ..: .. ... ... ... Miss ALICE DELLA 
 
 Mrs Alston .. .. ... .. Miss MARIE DE GREY 
 
 Mrs Vanderpump .. ... . .. ... .. Miss MARIA DALY 
 
 Virginia, her daughter .. ... ... ... Miss M. DAVIS 
 
 MrsCaiter ... ..■ .. .. .. Miss ROSE EGAN 
 
 Mary .. ■. ... .. .. Miss HILL 
 
 Act 1. THK INTERIOR OF THE AQUARIUM & FERNERY. 
 Acts. The Entrance Hall and Staircase of the Grand Hotel. 
 Act 3. . - PICNIC AT BRAMBER CASTLE. 
 
 Act 4. - THE MORNING ROOM AT THE HOTta.. 
 
 Prectilid ttl 7 30, with the Muiic«] Ablutdity or 
 
 TBE DBBirTASfTS. 
 
 Achllle Talma Dufard . Pnr .1, Aelor . «tt-CHAHL.ES WVNDHAM 
 
 Hyacftllh Parniaavs . ., ... ... ... jjr EDWAHD BIGHTON 
 
 Ttte Manager ... Ur HOWARD HUS^ELt. 
 
 ?I;SSS,"'i'»'StoFl,.,..n.l. »"SAi;sTlN Tto Call-boy ... " .Ma,.te?W BBUNTON 
 
 SSS.^^?/,?,?"" ""*"'' ° - Mr E.N. HALLOWES 
 
 5?il5l^ ■■ ■■ •■ • Miss ANNIE GOODALL 
 
 Arabella ... ... ... ... ,. Miss HOSE ECAM 
 
 Grand Duo from THE HUGUENOTS. 
 
 N'""' Mr CHARLES WYNDHAM Rose Miss ANNIE GOODALL 
 
 Pli«*Mr lKiw««l.l.ll th, |„iKip.l Ulirvin. Htti ilM llui.aei. ol U], Tliutri. .u. I. „ .i|w. il.ilj IrM M till 1. fand'r Ih. dircclion ,il Mr F J POTTBK. 
 
 „.,.,» J PRICES OF ADMISSION - Private Boxes, One to Three Guineas. 
 
 Stalls, 75. 6d. Dress Circle, 5s. Boxes, fSonnets alloweb), 4s. Pit, 2s. Ainohitheatre U 
 
 POORS OPEN AT 7. COMMEWCE AT 7 30. f"""""". "■ 
 
 S. FI8TH & ELLIS, " sloomsburr Steam Printing Works." 61 & 82. Uigd Str«at..W.C. 
 
106 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 at the Gaiety, J. L. Toole was at the head of an 
 admirable company, playing chiefly in domestic drama 
 and elaborate extravaganza ; with Sothern away, on one 
 of his prolonged American tours, the Haymarket sadly 
 lacked an attraction ; Drury Lane hovered between 
 spectacular drama and pantomime ; Henry Irving was 
 engrossed in his famous Shakespearean productions at 
 the Lyceum, and at the Olympic ever breezy, ever 
 buoyant, and always admirable Henry Neville was the 
 deservedly popular hero of the drama of romance. 
 The Folly (once called the Charing Cross, and later 
 so well and lovingly known as Toole's Theatre), the 
 Royalty, and the Strand were rather vainly endeavour- 
 ing to find bright entertainments as substitutes for the 
 old burlesques ; the Vaudeville was in the midst of the 
 prolonged run of H. J. Byron's Our Boys (a piece that 
 had been written for and refused by J. L. Toole, and 
 which made the fortunes of David James and Thomas 
 Thorne), and the St. James's was in a parlous state. 
 Clearly London wanted laughter, and laughter in a new 
 form ; and just at the right moment Charles Wyndham, 
 resisting his ever-present impulse to play serious parts, 
 wisely resolved to make the Criterion Theatre — for a 
 time at any rate — the home of the merry three-act 
 farce that in Brighton he had taught people to love. 
 
 It is curious to note the changes that have taken 
 place in London's stageland ever since the Boxing- 
 day of 1875. Though Charles Wyndham has deserted 
 it for other and more commodious playhouses of his 
 own building, the popular little — 1 should say, enlarged 
 — Criterion holds its own, but the Adelphi is devoted 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION lo; 
 
 to musical comedy ; the old Court Theatre, the Folly, 
 the old Gaiety (of John HoUingshead renown), the Globe, 
 the Olympic, the Prince of Wales's, so associated with 
 the memory of T, W. Robertson and his historic series 
 of what are now commonly called the "Caste" comedies, 
 have all vanished. Of course, other and very handsome 
 theatres have sprung up to take their places, but, I 
 suppose, old playgoers, who really had their heart in 
 the thing, who have hoarded their old playbills, and 
 still gloat over them as if they were choice engravings, 
 or even the most priceless gems of absolutely worthless 
 postage stamps, will ever linger longingly on the scenes 
 of their past enjoyment. And would they not belong 
 to an ungrateful world if it were not so ? 
 
 At the Criterion Brighton scored its customary success, 
 and seeing what a strong attraction he had in his new 
 ally, Alexander Henderson was only too glad to convert 
 an engagement into a partnership. But before he could 
 permit him to produce a new piece he was compelled, 
 under contract, to produce another invertebrate comic 
 opera — an adaptation of Le Roi Matapa of MM. 
 Clairville and Gastineau, entitled Piff Paff; or the 
 Magic Armoury. So Charles Wyndham went off to 
 Paris in search of novelties, returning with a clever 
 version of Le Prods Veraudieux (a very popular Parisian 
 play), by Clement Scott and Arthur Matthison (who 
 chose to figure in the bills as John Doe and Richard 
 Roe), entitled The Great Divorce Case. This was pro- 
 duced on April 15th, and met with immediate favour 
 from the public ; but to show that the older critics were 
 not yet quite reconciled to the new style of entertain- 
 
io8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 ment, I will quote the following summing up of the 
 piece from the pages of the Athenaum : — 
 
 " When it has been said that The Great Divorce Case 
 causes laughter, the best that can be advanced in its 
 favour is uttered. Its action is wholly preposterous and 
 impossible, and its characters belong entirely to the 
 region of farce. It is acted, however, with much 
 spirit by Messrs. Wyndham and Clarke, and proves 
 thoroughly diverting." 
 
 That was just it, it proved thoroughly diverting, and 
 Charles Wyndham proved himself right in his theory 
 that the playgoers of the period wanted diversion. And 
 so The Great Divorce Case ran merrily on until Novem- 
 ber, Charles Wyndham being admirably supported by a 
 company that included John Clarke, Edward Righton, 
 Herbert Standing, Miss Nelly Bromley, Miss Harriet 
 Coveney, Miss Emily Vining, Miss E. Duncan, Miss 
 E. Bruce, Miss Carruthers, Miss Eastlake, and Jennie 
 Weathersby. As, in 1876, the patrons of the drama 
 did not feel bound to have such late dinners as they do 
 to-day, or require the pick-me-up of a costly supper 
 after an early curtain-fall, they demanded a pretty full 
 programme, and so The Great Divorce Case was followed 
 by a merry piece of nonsense called Robin Hood; or The 
 Maid that was Arch and the Youth that was Archer^ 
 and a farce by Arthur Matthison entitled The Wall of 
 China. It will be seen that from the first Charles 
 Wyndham started with the wise policy of surrounding 
 himself with a company worthy of his steel instead of 
 making the great mistake — it is one that actor-managers 
 have often made — of engaging nonentities in order that 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 109 
 
 he might always be in the front of the picture. That 
 he should contrive as he did, by sheer hard work and 
 indomitable high spirits, and in spite of the rivalry he 
 had created for himself, to be always in that enviable 
 position is quite another matter. 
 
 One of his happiest selections was that of John 
 Clarke. Poor fellow ! in an accident he had broken a 
 leg, and, walking afterwards with a limp, was known as 
 " Lame Clarke." Those who remember him will recall 
 his almost saturnine humour, with the gleam of good 
 temper, a strong sense of fun, and the evidence of a 
 sound lieart piercing through it, just as the sun often 
 tries to shine through dark clouds. Tom Robertson 
 had fitted him to a nicety when he chose him for the 
 original Hugh Chalcot — apparently lazy and cynical, but 
 really chivalric — in his pretty comedy. Ours. 
 
 By some of my readers who do not remember the 
 early Criterion days it will be imagined what an invalu- 
 able foil his method was to the light, airy, gossamer, and 
 ever-captivating style of Charles Wyndham. When 
 these two were on the stage the audiences were always 
 in roars of laughter, and the more seriously they took 
 the ridiculous entanglements in which they found them- 
 selves involved, the louder the pleasant sounds of 
 merriment became. John Clarke married the charming 
 Teresa Furtardo, who in her day delighted us in bur- 
 lesque, comedy, and drama. He was greatly devoted 
 to her, and when she was engaged to play Esmeralda in 
 an English stage version of Victor Hugo's Notre Dame 
 at the Adelphi, he felt it his duty to present her with 
 the goat' associated with that captivating character. 
 
no SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Accordingly a " warranted perfectly docile " specimen of 
 the article was procured through a dealer in Leadenhall 
 market, and, proud of his purchase, Clarke had it put 
 in a four-wheel cab and, stepping in after it, conveyed it 
 to its new home. Unhappily the goat took an im- 
 mediate and intense dislike to the comedian, and, as the 
 miserably equipped four-wheeler jolted and rattled over 
 the uneven granite pavement that was in vogue in those 
 days, commenced a series of savage assaults upon him. 
 Now to be in conflict with a lively and wickedly inclined 
 goat within the close confines of a London " growler " 
 of the period of which I am writing was to be in a 
 position at once perilous and contemptible. For 
 obvious reasons — for by adopting that method of action 
 he would have exposed himself to a butting attack of a 
 most disagreeable nature — he could not put his head 
 out of the window to tell the self-absorbed and 
 apparently deaf driver to stop : there was no other 
 means of communication with him, and wayfarers who 
 recognised the popular actor only laughed. Thus it 
 came about that when he at last reached his beloved 
 Teresa, and made his presentation, he was in such an 
 absurdly dishevelled, not to say damaged condition, that 
 he was received, not with the sympathy that his gal- 
 lantry deserved, but with an outbreak of uncontrollable 
 laughter. Happily the goat took very kindly to its 
 sweet mistress — played its part well on the stage — and 
 henceforth was installed as a household pet. 
 
 But the creature never forgot its animosity to its 
 purchaser. At the back of the house in which Clarke 
 lived was a metropolitan apology for a garden, and in it 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION in 
 
 the goat, tethered to a stake, mainly lived. Within this 
 enclosure John Clarke, when studying a new part, loved 
 to stroll, and when in a moment of abstraction he got 
 within reach of the animal, he was attacked with a 
 malignity that was as vicious as it was absurd. Owing 
 to his lameness he was slow in his movements, a fact of 
 which the goat took effective advantage, and to see him 
 at such moments pinned to the ground, his face the 
 picture of despair, and his well-known serio-comic voice 
 calling out, " Teresa ! Teresa ! Help ! Help ! Teresa ! 
 Teresa I " and to note at the same time that dainty lady 
 trying to hasten to the rescue of her lord, but hardly 
 able to move for suppressed laughter, was to witness 
 one of the most comical of scenes. 
 
 As to the other actors engaged by Charles Wyndham 
 for his determined venture — of Edward Righton I have 
 already said a few words — Herbert Standing was an 
 admirable all-round actor, and Miss Nellie Bromley, 
 Miss Emily Duncan, Miss Emily Vining, and Miss 
 Edith Bruce among the brightest actresses of light parts 
 then on the London stage. Miss Harriet Coveney, 
 with her keen sense of fun, was always welcome ; and 
 Miss Eastlake, destined to do such good serious work with 
 Wilson Barrett, made her first appearance on the stage. 
 
 It is characteristic of Charles Wyndham that though, 
 in the days of 1 876, an adaptation of Le Prods Veraudieux 
 could be freely made by anyone taking a fancy to it, he 
 told the French authors he wished to pay them fees. 
 His reward for this piece of straightforwardness was 
 almost like that you read of in the old fairy stories, for 
 the appreciative dramatists insisted in impulsive French 
 
112 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 fashion that he should purchase the English rights in 
 their latest and greatest triumph, a play which was the 
 temporary excitement of Paris. At first he did not 
 want it, for he felt it too closely resembled The Great 
 Divorce Case; but his grateful friends across the 
 Channel were importunate, and at last he bought it for 
 the proverbial " old song." In course of time it became 
 The Pin^ Dominos, and was one of the greatest financial 
 successes of the Wyndham farcical-comedy days at the 
 Criterion. 
 
 The little Piccadilly playhouse was not remarkable 
 for its capacity for what is known as " elbow-room," and 
 as its new manager meant to be not only a hard-working 
 actor, but an indefatigable director of " affairs," he soon 
 devised an office for himself in close proximity to the 
 theatre, and yet not easy of access — a great point for 
 a busy man, who does not want to be interrupted in his 
 work by mere busybodies. 
 
 Following his own fancy, he had this fitted up like the 
 cabin of a yacht. Charles Dickens has in his own 
 fascinating way described the seaman-like lodgings of 
 Captain Cuttle in the strange little world of London's 
 dock-land ; and one remembers how at Portsmouth 
 Mr. Vincent Crummies found shelter within the 
 decidedly nautical residence of " one Bulph, a pilot, who 
 sported a boat-green door, with window-frames of the 
 same colour, and had the little finger of a drowned man 
 on his parlour mantelshelf, with other maritime and 
 nautical curiosities " ; but I do not think that even 
 the inimitable Boz could have pictured a perfectly 
 appointed sea-cabin in the heart of Piccadilly. 
 
Frofttjx. portrait by Mr. Vernon Heath 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Facing page 112 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 113 
 
 Yet there it was, and in it Charles Wyndham trans- 
 acted a very record of business. It was exactly like 
 a cabin — the cabin of a perfectly equipped yacht. The 
 shape of the walls suggested the modelling of the inner 
 sides of a ship — one expected the salt sea spray to dash 
 against the round, buU's-eye-like windows — and the lamps 
 swinging in their swivelled sockets uncannily reminded 
 bad sailors of weird nights spent in watching such lights 
 as they adjusted their balance to the rolling of a vessel 
 in troubled waters. And all the other appointments 
 were suggestive of life on the ocean wave. There, 
 surrounded by that great sea of London which is ever 
 kept moving by ceaseless currents of constantly changing 
 traffic, Charles Wyndham could hold his own, and steer 
 his course as he would, without any fear of being 
 boarded by visitors who had no right to intrude upon 
 his much-occupied time. 
 
 His next production was in November, 1876, when 
 he produced an adaptation by H. B. Farnie from the 
 French La 5 oa/(?, entitled Hot Water. This was a merry, 
 irresponsible piece, containing several diverting situa- 
 tions, especially one in which a lady, having to give 
 evidence in a court of law, was told to bare her hand for 
 the purpose of being sworn. This she did by very 
 deliberately unfastening one of those many-buttoned, 
 elongated gloves (much in vogue in those days), that 
 reach almost to the shoulder, and then slowly " un- 
 skinning " it (for it was a tight fit) from her shapely 
 arm. So excited became the court over this elaborate 
 process, that all the men, including learned counsel 
 and pompous judge, stood on tiptoe to witness it, 
 
114 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and even the audiences seemed to become Infected 
 by their excitement, for I know that on the nights on 
 which I saw the piece many men stood up as if in deep 
 sympathy with those on the stage. Never, I should 
 say, was so much laughter created within the walls of a 
 theatre by a mere piece of business that led to nothing, 
 and was almost ridiculously, but never unsuccessfully, 
 prolonged. 
 
 In his new part, which he played to perfection, 
 Charles Wyndham was again supported by John Clarke 
 and Edward Righton, and by Miss Fanny Josephs, 
 who now joined his forces. She was a great acquisition, 
 as those well know who can recall her refined acting 
 in the Robertson comedies in the early Bancroft days at 
 the old Prince of Wales's Theatre, 
 
 Hot Water was played in conjunction with a quaint 
 and very acceptable piece from the pen of W. S. Gilbert, 
 called On Bail, in which John Clarke, Miss Fanny Josephs, 
 and their associates won much favour. 
 
 The next production was destined to cause quite 
 a turmoil in stage-land. We have seen how Charles 
 Wyndham had secured the English rights in MM. 
 Hennequin and Delacour's great Parisian success, Les 
 Dominos Roses. For the English stage it contained (in 
 those days) some rather perilous situations, and much 
 depended on the tact and skill of the English adapter. 
 The delicate task of transferring it to our boards was 
 very wisely entrusted to the gifted pen of James Albery, 
 whose name with theatre-goers was then a household 
 word. 
 
 When, on June 4th, James Albery's comedy, ttvo 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 115 
 
 Rosesj was produced at the Vaudeville Theatre, and 
 Henry Irving, by his masterly impersonation of the 
 grandly conceived character of Digby Grant, in one 
 evening claimed his right to take rank among the very 
 best actors on the London stage, everyone thought that 
 the long-looked-for new master-dramatist, who from 
 time to time seemed coming, and yet never quite arrived, 
 had arisen. Never was there such a first night's triumph 
 for a playwright's first piece. 
 
 His work (which no doubt had known its days of 
 rejection) was in eager demand, and I remember that 
 when his companion picture. Two Thorns, was, a little 
 later on, produced at the St. James's, an enthusiastic and 
 prominent critic wrote that the comedy " could not have 
 been received with greater enthusiasm if it had been a 
 second School for Scandal and Mr. Albery a second 
 Sheridan." 
 
 Just at that time I met the happy young dramatist at 
 luncheon at the home of E. A. Sothern, which was then 
 at the picturesque " Cedars," in Wright's Lane, Ken- 
 sington, and listened with open eyes and watering mouth 
 (for I, too, wanted to write plays ; " everyone I know," 
 Sothern used to say, " either wants to write me a play 
 or sell me wine "), while princely terms were discussed 
 for a piece as good as Two Roses. 
 
 I recollect that Albery, who was in high spirits, told 
 me as we walked away together down the Kensington 
 High Street, he brimming over with new ideas, and 
 eager to be at his desk, that " there was no difficulty in 
 the matter. Not the least in the world." But some- 
 how that play was never written, or if written never 
 
ii6 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 produced, or at all events not by Sothern. Other 
 comedies from the new pen were seen from time to time 
 at various theatres, but though they were all cleverly 
 conceived and brightly written, they failed to achieve 
 prolonged popularity. Forgiven, produced at the Globe 
 Theatre by poor H. J. Montague, with a company that in- 
 cluded grand old Henry Compton of Haymarket renown, 
 was an excellent piece of work ; and I remember being 
 greatly struck with the originality and power of 'Tweedie's 
 Rights, brought out by David James and Thomas Thome 
 (they were splendidly fitted with parts) at the Vaude- 
 ville ; but, while Two Roses triumphantly holds its own 
 upon the stage, these, and other good things, are for- 
 gotten. 
 
 The fact is, James Albery was in the very difficult 
 position of a man who, having commenced his career 
 with one great and indisputable success, was always ex- 
 pected to repeat it, and this led both critics and play- 
 goers to judge him by a too high standard — the standard 
 which he himself had set up. 
 
 But whether his plays proved permanently attractive or 
 not, upon one point all were agreed, and it was that as a 
 writer of crisp, witty, and yet always natural dialogue he 
 had few equals, and, therefore, everyone felt that Sir 
 Charles Wyndham did a wise thing when he placed the 
 delicate Les Dominos Roses in his hands. 
 
 The adaptation was most adroitly done, the piece was 
 perfectly acted by Charles Wyndham and his well-drilled 
 company, and it was received with clamours of applause 
 from its first-night audience ; but there was unforeseen 
 trouble in store ! 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 117 
 
 It will be remembered that it was a three-act farce, 
 the incidents of which spring from the freak of two 
 wives who, to test their husbands, send them invitations 
 to a masked ball. No doubt the situations arising from 
 this groundwork were a little risky, and, if not well 
 handled, might have proved suggestive, but no harm 
 was intended, and certainly none was done. Concerning 
 it that admirable critic, Joseph Knight, said : " The 
 well-known defence which, according to Scott, Sterne 
 adopted when a Yorkshire lady told him his book was 
 not proper for female perusal, would probably be em- 
 ployed with more propriety by Mr. Albery to vindicate 
 his version of Les D aminos Roses of MM. Hennequin 
 and Delacour. If not exactly childlike in innocence, the 
 intrigue in The Pink Dominos has at least no absolute 
 wickedness. What is worst in it is of that kind which 
 Coleridge characterised when he said, ' We have only to 
 suppose society innocent, and then nine-tenths of this 
 sort of wit would be like a stone that falls in snow, 
 making no sound, because exciting no resistance.' The 
 English version is a capital instance of successful adapta- 
 tion. In some respects, indeed, it is better than the 
 original. The dialogue is wholly English, and brims 
 over with that kind of oddity of association in which 
 Mr. Albery is unequalled. The last act is a model of 
 construction." 
 
 On the whole, I think, the piece was well received by 
 the critics, and certainly no one could take exception to 
 the brilliant way in which it was acted by Charles Wynd- 
 ham, supported by a company that included Herbert 
 Standing, Henry Ashley, Augustus Harris, John Clarke, 
 
li8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Miss Eastlake, Miss Fanny Josephs, Miss Edith Bruce, 
 and Mile. Camille Clermont. But good old Edward 
 Leman Blanchard took exception to the production, and 
 caused a great flutter in the inquisitive, capacious, and 
 ever-receptive breast of Mrs, Grundy. Blanchard was a 
 critic of the old school. He dearly loved the English 
 stage, and hated the idea of its being made the scene of 
 Parisian misrule. He had been somewhat alarmed by 
 recent productions ; The Pink Dominos was the last straw 
 on the camel's back, and, amiable though he was, he 
 determined to break a butterfly upon the wheel. It 
 must be remembered, however, that to him the gaily 
 coloured butterfly had the forbidding appearance of a 
 death's-head moth. 
 
 At that time he and Clement Scott were the joint 
 dramatic critics of the Daily Telegraph, and as the pass- 
 ing of the first-night verdict on The Pink Dominos fell 
 into his hands, he had ample opportunity for making 
 public his honest convictions. 
 
 In his interesting diary, which, after his death, was 
 published under the editorship of Clement Scott and 
 Cecil Howard, there is this entry : " All evening 
 writing a notice of a Criterion piece by James Albery, 
 from the French, called The Pink Dominos, which is not 
 a comedy for the young to see" ; and to this is added an 
 editorial note, " This was one of the most severe notices 
 ever penned by E. L. Blanchard. It was universally 
 ascribed to Clement Scott, who was not present on the 
 occasion. The result of the brilliant attack on im- 
 proper French farces was that the theatre was crammed ! 
 — C. S." 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 119 
 
 Of course, it was not an " improper French farce," 
 but Mrs. Grundy read the alarming criticism, passed it 
 on to her friends, induced them to go with her to see 
 the naughty play, cackled about it, condemned it, and so 
 gave it bold advertisement. 
 
 In such matters as these we English are curiously 
 constituted. Speaking of us, the well-known and very 
 daring French actress Schneider used to say that her 
 acting was far more prononci in London than in Paris, 
 indeed, that a Parisian audience would not have stood 
 what delighted her English patrons. She knew their 
 taste, provided it was done by a French actress and in 
 the French tongue. 
 
 And so Mrs. Grundy, awakened by well-meaning 
 Blanchard, and ever on the alert for a novelty, drove 
 her willing and hungry herd to the pastures of the little 
 Piccadilly playhouse, and there they cropped herbage 
 that left no bad taste on any unsullied palate. But all 
 the time Mrs. Grundy professed to be very indignant. 
 Blanchard was one of the kindliest and most lovable of 
 men, and in condemning The Pink Domitios was no doubt 
 prompted by a good if mistaken motive. I wonder what 
 his pure mind would have thought of the horribly sug- 
 gestive plays of the Ibsen school, and some of our 
 prurient modern problem plays, which are certainly as 
 unclean in their way as the most reckless of Palais Royal 
 farces. Indeed, they are more pernicious, for in place of 
 what is meant for fun we get something that approaches 
 filth. 
 
 It was my good fortune to know Blanchard, and I 
 shall never forget the charm of his conversation. He 
 
120 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 was a perfect encyclopaedia of theatrical lore, and was 
 always ready to give information to those who were 
 genuinely interested in the subject. His carefully kept 
 diary shows the simplicity as well as the activity of the 
 man's life. Working hard all the year as playwright, 
 pantomime librettist, teller of stories, journalist, dramatic 
 critic, and what not, he would always wind up on 
 December 3 1 st with an entry to this effect : — 
 
 "Wife and I see the Old Year out and the New 
 Year in with a loving kiss and interchange of pleasant 
 greetings and New Year's gifts. The past year has 
 been one of continual work, with only two days' holi- 
 day ; but it has been brightened with much domestic 
 happiness, which I have to be deeply grateful for. Once 
 more I have to thank the Great Architect of the Uni- 
 verse for enabling me to enjoy more of earth than I 
 could ever have thought to do. 
 
 "Revenue for the year, ^^521 4.3. 6d." 
 
 Just as the Cratchits at their little Christmas feast 
 would not have dreamed of saying that their pudding 
 was a small pudding for a large party, so it never 
 seemed to occur to Blanchard that his " revenue " was a 
 somewhat pitiful one (and the year from which I have 
 quoted was quite a good one for him) for the quantity 
 and quality of the work done. 
 
 Such was the critic who inadvertently gave bold ad- 
 vertisement to The Pink Dominos. Dear old Blanchard ! 
 He possessed the strength of a man and the gentleness 
 of a woman ; he knew how to use both, and he was 
 beloved by all who were privileged to call him friend. 
 
 The situation at the Criterion was a somewhat pecu- 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 121 
 
 liar one, and I think it must have caused Charles Wynd- 
 ham some annoyance, for he would have been as 
 reluctant as Blanchard himself to offer the public any- 
 thing really obnoxious to good taste. But at the same 
 time he could not fail to see the humour of it. 
 
 In connection with it Sutherland Edwards told a droll 
 little story, which ran as follows : — 
 
 " ' Free list entirely suspended.' 
 
 "That notice was conspicuous in the lobby of the 
 Criterion Theatre, and Charles Wyndham was look- 
 ing at it with satisfaction writ large upon his counte- 
 nance when one fine morning I gave him friendly 
 greeting. 
 
 " ' Good business, eh ? ' I inquired. 
 
 " ' What do you think ? ' was the reply. 
 
 " ' Then I will wait,' I answered, with becoming 
 modesty. 
 
 " * Wait ? What for ? Want to bring somebody ? 
 Your wife ? Your daughter .'' ' asked the actor-manager, 
 who, when I had answered that he had guessed correctly, 
 added quite merrily, ' Now, infidel, I have thee on the 
 hip ! Bring them along ; but first look at this and 
 blush,' and he whipped from his waistcoat pocket a 
 newspaper cutting with, underlined, the words with 
 which I had concluded a long notice of The Pink Dominos. 
 They read as follows : * The piece is funny, uproariously 
 funny, but husbands desirous of seeing it will do well to 
 leave their wives and daughters at home ! ' 
 
 " The impropriety, Wyndham will tell you now, was 
 discovered only by nice men with nasty ideas — by 
 implication I was included — who have since swallowed 
 
122 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 a good deal of dramatic nastiness and have pronounced 
 it very much to their liking." 
 
 Truly the world is fairly full of humbugs, and among 
 them, I fear, are some dramatic critics. Anyway, 
 Sutherland Edwards, who was no mean authority on the 
 subject, seemed to think so. 
 
 In the original cast of the play we find the name of 
 Augustus Harris, subsequently to become the coura- 
 geous and successful manager of Drury Lane, a Sheriff 
 of London City, and, for his civic services, a recipient 
 of knighthood. Poor Augustus Harris ! He aimed 
 high, and he hit the mark, but it is to be feared that he 
 shortened his days by hard i^ork. Possibly in the 
 overcrowded days of his triumphs he looked back wist- 
 fully to the time when he was playing Harry Green- 
 lanes in The Pink Dominos. Another valuable addition 
 to the company was made by the engagement of Mr. 
 Henry Ashley, whose tactful impersonation of the 
 exceedingly difficult character of Joskyn Tubbs was as 
 good as anything in the production. 
 
 Charles Wyndham once told me an amusing story 
 associated with these days, of which I have already 
 spoken, when he conducted the theatrical entertain- 
 ments at the Crystal Palace, and in which Augustus 
 Harris was concerned. 
 
 His (Charles Wyndham's) direction of the stage 
 department caused at the time a good deal of favour- 
 able comment. It was based on exceptional casts of all 
 the classic plays, he having the opportunity offered him 
 by his brother managers of collecting all the most cele- 
 brated artists most adapted to the respective casts. By 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 123 
 
 a peculiar method of reasoning, the Crystal Palace 
 directors (composed of generals, doctors, and other pro- 
 fessional men) came to the conclusion that a manager 
 who could so successfully stage Shakespeare and 
 CEdipus could produce pantomimes at Christmas, so 
 determined that in future Charles Wyndham should 
 take that also out of their hands. In vain he protested 
 he knew nothing about pantomime ; the directors were 
 resolute, and not wishing in those early days of his 
 career to appear fastidious, he consented, with a heavy 
 heart, to the ordeal. Pantomimes are generally com- 
 menced nine months ahead, but it was not surprising 
 that August had arrived and Charles Wyndham was 
 still without a shred of preparation. One day in this 
 month he was accosted by a young man, anxious, he 
 said, to produce a pantomime. It was young Augustus 
 Harris, who chanced to have all his late father's talent 
 for this form of entertainment. An inspection of 
 Harris's plans soon convinced Charles Wyndham that 
 the young fellow was a genius on the path of glory, so 
 an arrangement was effected and Harris began his 
 scenery, dresses, music, and words at once, and relieved 
 Charles Wyndham not only of further anxiety, but 
 what is equally important, of any work. At least, so 
 Charles Wyndham thought, but he had not reckoned 
 with the directors. Their faith was in Wyndham, and 
 in Wyndham only. They pooh-poohed the young 
 fellow who they saw daily working his heart out at re- 
 hearsal. They appealed to Charles Wyndham to come 
 to the rescue, as they were sure everything was going 
 to pieces in the hands of the young man. So Charles 
 
124 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Wyndham, in the spirit of concession, consented to 
 come down and superintend, which simply meant that 
 he sat in a chair in the centre of the stage eating nuts. 
 At once the directors were pacified and convinced that 
 everything was now going a merveille. Poor Harris 
 resented this depreciation of himself very much, but 
 was philosopher enough to pocket the slight in view of 
 the fact that it was announced in the paper that 
 Augustus Harris fih was producing the entertainment. 
 He was working a pantomime as Charles Wyndham 
 was working then at Shakespeare, for kudos, not for 
 gain, and he hoped to see well-won praise in the papers. 
 Alas ! the papers were as little observant of him as the 
 directors. They pronounced the pantomime the greatest 
 success the Palace had seen, and all the marvellous 
 effects were put down to the work of the wonderful 
 Charles Wyndham. Poor Harris, reading the criti- 
 cisms, and listening to the lavish praise of Charles 
 Wyndham, was broken-hearted. After a week of it, he 
 proposed to write to the papers and contradict every- 
 thing. Charles Wyndham gave him full permission to 
 do so, but pointed out to him that he would not regain 
 lost ground that year, and might expose himself to 
 ridicule, at the same time reminding him that he 
 (Charles Wyndham) had no ambition for any reputation 
 in connection with the Christmas production, and 
 advising him to let him take his own turn a little later. 
 Further, he promised to make the announcement that 
 he had, in consequence of Augustus Harris's great 
 success, engaged him to produce the next pantomime, 
 and thus let the truth permeate more surely than it 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 125 
 
 would by any letters to the Press, which would be 
 accepted with reserve. Harris saw the result ; next 
 year he stood alone, and soon after opportunity afforded 
 him to take Drury Lane and commence there his 
 wonderful career. 
 
 But the public always supposed that Charles Wynd- 
 ham had been the successful producer of a pantomime ! 
 
 Piccadilly and its vicinity had not in The Pink Dominos 
 days arrived at a time when it was useless to open a 
 theatre until a fashionably late hour, and accordingly 
 the great attraction of the evening was preceded by The 
 Porter's Knot, with John Clarke in Robson's famous part 
 of Sampson Burr. 
 
 No successor to The Pink Dominos was required until 
 February, 1879, and then Charles Wyndham, who now 
 had sole control of the Criterion, produced Bronson 
 Howard's comedy, Truth, which under the title of 
 Hurricanes had made a great success in America. As 
 might have been expected from its author, it was a 
 charming piece of literary stagecraft, this time written 
 in the true sense of parody. 
 
 It was heralded by the lines — 
 
 " Truth crushed to earth shall rise again, 
 The eternal years of heaven are hers : 
 But Error, wounded, withers in pain, 
 And dies among his worshippers." 
 
 And those who can recall the piece which, while being 
 very amusing, distinctly conveyed a moral, will re- 
 member how excellent Charles Wyndham was as the 
 timid married man who, happily married to a charming 
 
126 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Quakeress, takes some young friends to a fancy-dress 
 ball, and being charged with suspected iniquity by an 
 interfering mother-in-law, aimlessly tries to explain his 
 conduct by a sei-ies of lies that, to the infinite mirth of 
 audiences, burst like so many rainbow-hued bubbles. 
 The piece was full of humorous complications, and in 
 it the much-perplexed hero was admirably supported by 
 the jovial W, J. Hill, Herbert Standing, Miss Mary 
 Rorke, Miss Emily Vining, and, above all, by that fine 
 actress, Mrs. Stephens, who as the exasperating mother- 
 in-law was supreme. 
 
 In his next production, Betsy^ F. C, Burnand's re- 
 markably clever adaptation of MM. Hennequin and 
 Najac's very " French, French " play, Bebi, Charles 
 Wyndham did not cast himself for a part, but, having 
 with great tact and judgment launched his new venture, 
 went off into the provinces (where he was ever welcome) 
 with his old love, Brighton^ eventually settling down 
 with it for a short season at the Olympic Theatre, 
 where he was supported, amongst others, by that droll 
 comedian, W. S. Penley, whose name will ever be 
 associated with The Private Secretary and Charlies Aunt. 
 So popular proved the vivacious Betsy that Charles 
 Wyndham was actually kept out of his own home until 
 November, 1880, when he appeared in Where s the Cat? 
 an amusing piece, freely adapted from the German, by 
 James Albery. In addition to many of our old friends, 
 an exceptionally strong cast included George Giddens, 
 Herbert Beerbohm Tree (then on the threshold of his 
 brilliant career), and Mrs. John Wood. 
 
 Once more it was acknowledged that as a light 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 127 
 
 comedian Charles Wyndham was unrivalled, and that 
 he could make any play go by sheer force of animal 
 spirits. The next piece on the list was Butterfly Fever, 
 brightly adapted from the French La PapiUone, by 
 James Mortimer. It was of the same light and spark- 
 ling brand, and had a fair run, but in December, 1881, 
 a bolder step was taken. 
 
 During the last months of what proved to be his 
 fatal illness, poor Sothern was studying with intense 
 interest and delight a new part that had been specially 
 written for him by W. S. Gilbert. I was often with 
 him at that time, and shall never forget how the feeble 
 invalid would, with a great eiFort, rouse himself to read 
 to me, with intense enthusiasm, and with the old merry 
 twinkle in his beautiful eyes, some passage in the play 
 that especially appealed to his quick sense of fun. 
 Evidently he pinned immense faith in Foggerty's Fairy, 
 and declared that his part in it would suit him to 
 perfection. Indeed, he inspired others to think the 
 same, and his friends rejoiced to see how sanguine he 
 was of a new and striking success when he was " well 
 enough to act again." 
 
 Alas ! that day never came, and he died with his 
 carefully marked copy of the piece in which he was 
 not permitted to appear by his bedside. 
 
 What more natural than the reversion of Foggerty's 
 Fairy passing into the hands of Charles Wyndham, 
 who had been Sothern's intimate comrade and friendly 
 rival, and who was now his acknowledged successor .? 
 The piece was as wild a story of whimsical extravagance 
 as even the author of the Bab Ballads ever conceived. 
 
128 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 To all endowed with a sense of humour it would make 
 fascinating reading, just as the libretti of the Savoy 
 operas make fascinating reading. 
 
 I was reading that carefully marked copy of which 
 I have spoken (after my dear friend's death it was given 
 to me) the other day — pictured how the part of Frederick 
 Foggerty would have fitted Sothern, just as it fitted 
 Charles Wyndham, like a glove — and for the life of 
 me could not see why, when the play was staged at 
 the Criterion, it failed to attract audiences. 
 
 Speaking of the production, Clement Scott said, 
 " It is quite certain that no living actor could do 
 more justice to the hero Foggerty than Mr. Charles 
 Wyndham, although in this instance his energy, his 
 boundless spirits, and his nervous force were destined 
 to meet with no reward. It often happens that an 
 actor plays better than he has ever done before in an 
 unsuccessful play, and this was unfortunately the case 
 with Mr. Wyndham and Foggertfs Fairy. 
 
 " If ever acting could save a play, Mr. Wyndham 
 would have done so in this instance ; but the scheme 
 was too elaborate, and the idea too hopelessly involved 
 for any ordinary audience. I was permitted to read 
 the play before it was produced, and I remembered 
 to have roared over it, sitting in an easy chair before 
 the fire, but I wondered anxiously at the time what the 
 fate of such a daring idea would be when exposed to 
 the glare of the theatre and handed over to the attc tion 
 of the spectator, who is not always * quick-witted.' " 
 
 No doubt there is much truth in this, as well as 
 in the opinion of another critic who said, " Mr. Gilbert's 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 129 
 
 muse has for once run away with him. His new play- 
 overshoots the mark. That it brims over with clever- 
 ness, that its dialogue sparkles with wit, and that its 
 plot is preposterous and whimsical, may be conceded. 
 The whole is, however, too extravagant, and perplexes 
 when it should amuse. So near excellence does it go, a 
 feeling of disappointment is experienced at our inability 
 to class it as a masterpiece." 
 
 As to the way in which it was rendered, let me once 
 more quote Clement Scott. 
 
 " The acting of Foggerty^s Fairy^' he wrote, " was 
 from first to last as admirable as could be found at the 
 Palais Royal or any Parisian theatre. There is no 
 comedy actress in Paris so good as Mrs. John Wood, or 
 possessing half her magnetic and original humour, and 
 it would be difficult to find better representatives of 
 their characters than Mr. George Giddens and Miss 
 Mary Rorke, who promises to be one of our best 
 actresses of mingled humour and pathos." 
 
 The interesting cast also included Mrs. Alfred Mel- 
 lon, Mr. Alfred Maltby — within his own limits an 
 excellent comedian — and quaint William Blakeley, who 
 had been one of Sothern's closest adherents. 
 
 Personally, I have always felt that Foggerty's Fairy 
 found its way into the Criterion bill at the wrong time. 
 Charles Wyndham had accustomed his audiences to seek 
 in him the rattle-brain hero of the three-act, irresponsible 
 farce, and certainly they could not wish for better enter- 
 tainment. The time was not yet ripe for the change 
 that I think was already longed for in his heart of hearts. 
 His " kind friends in front " wanted nothing subtle 
 
I30 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 from him. They were never tired of seeing the most 
 mercurial and exhilarating actor of his day lightly skim- 
 ming over thin ice, and keeping them in a continual 
 simmer of merriment. 
 
 I think my theory is proved by the chorus of applause 
 with which the revival of The Great Divorce Case was 
 now received. Here I shall again let my old friend 
 Clement Scott speak for me : — 
 
 " I have seldom," he wrote, " seen a farce so admir- 
 ably acted as The Great Divorce Case, at the Criterion, 
 by Mr. Charles Wyndham and his clever company. It 
 goes with one scream from end to end, and the audience 
 is honestly amused. Mr. Wyndham's appearance with 
 the dead dog, dishevelled and battered, and the mild 
 explanation, * I have had a little difference of opinion 
 with the dog,' is exquisitely ludicrous. Mrs. John 
 Wood has but a small part, but is inimitable in it. Mr. 
 Herbert Standing and Mr. Alfred Maltby are at their 
 best. Mr. Wyndham might successfully revive many 
 more of his Criterion farces." 
 
 That sums up the situation. However anxious the 
 actor might be to grapple with work that he held to 
 be of a higher class, he had to pay the penalty of his 
 own success. 
 
 And he did it with a right good will. Before saying 
 good-bye to my old friend Foggerty, I must relate a 
 little anecdote connected with its production. When he 
 is studying a new part Charles Wyndham loves to 
 ramble about the country roads in the vicinity of his 
 own home, repeating the words to himself, and thinking 
 out the business with which they were to be accompanied. 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 131 
 
 Now in the last act of Foggerty's Fairy the sorely 
 perplexed hero is supposed to be mad, and in a wild 
 scene he had to talk frantically about a murder of which 
 he is imagined to be guilty. This, of course, gave 
 plenty of scope for gesticulation and voice-play, and 
 finding himself alone in a solitary spot somewhere 
 between Hampstead and Highgate, he began to rehearse 
 aloud. Two farm labourers, screened from him by a 
 hedge, and unseen by him, looked at him and listened 
 to him in terrified dismay, and he was at the height 
 of his heroics when a stealthy policeman, who had 
 probably had his eye on this curious mumbling, mutter- 
 ing gentleman for some time, arrested him, whether 
 as a supposed-to-be-escaped lunatic, or as a murderer 
 making open confession of his crime, is not quite clear. 
 It was some time before he could induce the zealous 
 officer to believe in his identity, but he did so at last, 
 gave him some passes to the theatre, and all ended well. 
 The next novelty at the Criterion was Fourteen Days, 
 a three-act farcical comedy, very brightly adapted by 
 H. J. Byron from Un Voyage d'Agrimenty by MM. 
 Goudinet and Bisson. It was well constructed and 
 smartly written. Not even Mrs. Grundy could take 
 exception to the purity of its motive, and it was gener- 
 ally voted exceedingly amusing and an admirable piece 
 of its kind. It was brilliantly acted by a company now 
 perfectiy trained to this class of work, and in Peregrine 
 Porter Charles Wyndham found a part that suited his 
 earlier methods well. As a leading critic pointed out, 
 he showed us a real man in a state of perplexity, and his 
 shiftiness, his attempts to seize upon means of evasion, 
 
132 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and his preposterous explanations, were conceivable and 
 real. In short, while you laughed at him, you sym- 
 pathised with him, especially when he looked so pathet- 
 ically yet comically miserable in his prison dress. He 
 was excellently supported by a company that now in- 
 cluded Miss Mary Rorke, Miss Kate Rorke, Miss 
 Emily Vining, Herbert Standing, William Blakeley, 
 George Giddens, A. M. Dennison, and Lytton Sothern, 
 the eldest son of E. A. Sothern. 
 
 Poor Lytton Sothern ! What a handsome young 
 fellow he was, and what a capital actor of light comedy 
 parts ! His early death is still an unhealed sore in the 
 hearts of those who knew and loved him. Herbert 
 Standing gave an especially clever rendering of the 
 character of a gaol-governor endowed with aesthetic 
 tastes, for these were the days of Du Maurier's Posel- 
 thwaite and Maudle, the worship of the lily and the 
 peacock's feather, and the cult of blue china. 
 
 In the early spring of the same year we find Charles 
 Wyndham, ever ready to help others, appearing at a 
 recital given at the Marlborough Rooms by Miss Rose 
 Kenny, the clever daughter of the highly esteemed and 
 much lamented Charles Lamb Kenny. He acted 
 with that young lady in a scene from Sheridan Knowles* 
 good old play. The Hunchback^ and gave his hearers 
 premonition of the latent force within him, and the 
 change in his style that was to come. I can never 
 think of The Hunchback without recalling a story that 
 another Wyndham — Robert Wyndham, of Edinburgh 
 renown — told me. 
 
 In the days of his youth, when he was one of the 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 133 
 
 handsomest young actors on the stage, he was entrusted 
 with the character of Sir Thomas Clifford in a cast that 
 included the author as Master Walter. Conscientious 
 as he was, he endeavoured to grasp, not only his own 
 character, but the entire meaning of the play, and for 
 the very life of him he could not make out whether Sir 
 Thomas was a party to, or innocent of, the harmless 
 plot designed to bring out Julia in her true colours. In 
 his anxiety he went ^to the fountain-head and consulted 
 Sheridan Knowles himself. " Good gracious, my dear 
 fellow, / dont know ! " said the author of the play, and 
 the plot within the play — "wkai do you think about it 
 yourself? " 
 
 And to this day the point remains a mystery. 
 
 In 1883 the Criterion was condemned to underga 
 structural alterations, and, banished from his London 
 home, Charles Wyndham made a memorable tour in 
 America. London lamented his absence, and every 
 playgoer felt with Clement Scott when he wrote — 
 
 " It seems to me a great misfortune to the Criterion 
 Theatre that Mr. Charles Wyndham has been compelled 
 to give up temporarily the direction of this merry little 
 playhouse. For many a long year he has been the life 
 and soul of the place. From this I do not at all mean 
 to infer that the plays are one-part plays, or could exist 
 without an admirable company. But Mr. Wyndham 
 was the oil that greased the machinery." 
 
 But if London grieved, America rejoiced, and the 
 actor-manager's English friends were delighted to hear of 
 his distinguished and emphatic success on " the other 
 side." He opened with his company in Fourteen Days, 
 
134 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and this was followed up by Brighton, and all New York 
 crowded to see as good an actor in his time as the 
 Mother Country can turn out. He was considered 
 there, what he had been for years considered here, a 
 first-class comedian. 
 
 Among the actors who supported him one of the 
 most popular seems to have been quaint William 
 Blakeley, of whom I have already made brief mention. 
 He deserves, however, more than a passing word of 
 notice. His well-restrained but ever mirth-provoking 
 personality, his droll methods, and insidious yet always 
 comic voice, will always be remembered by those who 
 saw him on the stage. It is difficult to think of such a 
 hall-marked comedian being called upon to play the 
 part of an almost tragic character, and yet such an event 
 is within my recollection. In the earlier days of his 
 theatrical career William Blakeley had been a member 
 of the stock company at the old Theatre Royal, Bir- 
 mingham. At that historic playhouse it was the custom 
 on the Saturday nights of many years ago to play quite 
 a series of startling dramas of The Bottky Thirty Tears of 
 a Gambler's Life, and The Murder in the Red Bam type, 
 and the better they were known, the better the enthu- 
 siastic Birmingham pits and galleries liked them. 
 Blakeley's parts were always expected to be comic or 
 " character " ones, but on one occasion he was cast to 
 appear as a very serious old man in a drama of thrilling 
 interest. The action of the play demanded that he 
 should curse a wastrel son, and then, as the act-drop 
 descended fall dead upon the stage as the result of his 
 virtuous wrath and undue exertion. 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 135 
 
 At rehearsal Blakeley frankly told the stage manager 
 that he was not equal to this violent scene, that to 
 expire in agony was outside his range of business, and 
 that if he was to play the part at all the episode must be 
 cut out of it. 
 
 " Certainly not," said the manager, who was short- 
 handed, and found it difficult to cast his plays— "it's 
 one of the most telling things in the piece ; you'll do it 
 to perfection and make a name for yourself as an actor 
 who can play tragedy as well as comedy. We'll have 
 you out as King Lear before the season's over," 
 
 Blakeley held his own views on that subject, but as 
 he could not afford to throw up his engagement, he 
 walked away in his meekest manner to arrange a death- 
 scene of his own. If he had to die, he would at least 
 do it as comfortably as he could. 
 
 A friendly property man promised him his aid, and, 
 much to the stage manager's wrath, when it came to the 
 great death-scene, an apparently superfluous chair occu- 
 pied the centre of the stage. But he had not noticed it 
 until the curtain was up, and there was nothing to be 
 done. 
 
 In due course, and in his essentially comic voice, 
 Blakeley vehemently cursed his dissolute son, and then, 
 instead of taking full advantage of the situation — simu- 
 lating a fit, and with a heavy back-fall dying in intense 
 agony to the strains of soft music — seated himself in his 
 chair with his back to the audience, and as the act-drop 
 fell, seemed to be composing himself for a quiet nap. 
 
 The audience, knowing by heart every situation of 
 the piece, instantly took the humorous view of things, 
 
136 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and yelled with laughter, but the stage manager was 
 exceedingly wroth. 
 
 " Well," said Blakeley, in response to diatribes, and 
 in his mildest style, " you see, I did the best I could ; 
 but I thought you were wrong when you said I could 
 play tragedy. At the same time, to oblige you I'll 
 study King Lear, and 1 might do it for your benefit." 
 
 Never again during that Birmingham engagement was 
 Blakeley asked to play anything approaching a serious 
 character. He lived to act many parts, and he imper- 
 sonated them all conscientiously and well. I think the 
 most impressive thing I ever saw him do was his im- 
 personation of Fox Bromley, in Westland Marston's 
 comedy. The Favourite of Fortune, when Sothern first took 
 that piece on tour. This really was a marvellous piece 
 of character acting, richly droll, and yet what the Scotch 
 would call " uncanny." 
 
 Other members of his company on that American tour 
 were Miss Rose Saker, Miss Rose Norreys, Miss E. 
 Vining, and George Giddens. 
 
 Miss Norreys, who was a most charming actress, will 
 be well remembered as the original heroine of A. W. 
 Pinero's delightful comedy, Sweet Lavender. Her sadly 
 early death was deplored by thousands who had learned 
 to look for her winsome presence on the stage. During 
 Charles Wyndham's absence in America, and at other 
 times, plays were produced at the Criterion in which he 
 found no part for himself, but all bore evidence of his 
 mastery of all things connected with stage direction. 
 These included, among others, repeated revivals of 
 F. C. Burnand's brilliant adaptation from the French, 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 137 
 
 known far and wide as Betsy ; Flats., from the witty and 
 prolific pen of G. R. Sims ; and James Albery's clever 
 adaptations, Little Miss Muffit^ and Featherbrain ; but in 
 these pages I propose only to make special note of those 
 plays in which the indefatigable actor-manager appeared. 
 
 In April, 1884, he was again in Piccadilly, playing 
 Bob Sackett, in Brighton, as merrily as ever, and in a 
 theatre provided with new exits, and illuminated by 
 electricity — an immense improvement in that little 
 underground house to the gas that had hitherto sufficed ; 
 and in the November of the same year he was ready 
 with a new part. 
 
 This was Viscount Oldacre, in The Candidate, adapted 
 from Le Hiputi de Bombignac of M. Alexandre Bisson. 
 This was a striking success, and I cannot refrain from 
 recalling the outline of its plot. 
 
 Lord Oldacre, always endeavouring to fly from the 
 monotony of his own home, where he is bored to death 
 by a mother-in-law who dabbles in politics, sees an 
 excellent opportunity for a fortnight in town in a 
 request which is made to him to contest a vacancy in 
 Easthampton. He packs oflf his private secretary, Alaric 
 Baffin, to represent him in that township, while he packs 
 his portmanteau to revel in liberty for a few brief days. 
 But Baffin is a Radical of the reddest dye, while Lord 
 Oldacre is a blue-blooded Conservative. The luckless 
 Baffin arrives at Easthampton, determined to serve 
 his friend and master at the sacrifice of his own political 
 convictions. But alas ! he is met at the station by a 
 mob 10,000 strong, who ask him, with a howl, if he is 
 prepared to abolish the House of Lords, what sort 
 
138 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 of brick he likes best, and so on. He is hustled off to 
 address the raging multitude, forgets his master, and 
 pours the socialistic Baffin upon them. And Baffin, still 
 impersonating Lord Oldacre, wins the election. Mean- 
 while, the butterfly peer has his run in town, and 
 returns home at the appointed time, taking it for 
 granted he is at the bottom of the poll. Baffin is in- 
 visible, and he is at his wits' end what to say to the 
 inquiries of his household until the nervous secretary 
 appears. The explanation which ensues between the 
 two is by far the best thing in the play. Lord Oldacre's 
 expression of horror when he hears he has been elected 
 as a Radical, Mr. Baffin's grave air of deprecation, his 
 sketch of those terrible fellows at Easthampton, were 
 admirable bits of acting. "Advocate the preservation 
 of the peers with a water-butt close by ! — it was not 
 to be done for a moment," cried Baffin in reply to the 
 reproaches of the raging Oldacre. Mother-in-law and 
 wife see the horrible news in the papers, and discover 
 that the miserable Oldacre's portmanteau is labelled 
 "Euston." Driven to bay, the erratic peer defies his 
 mother-in-law, hurls (metaphorically) her politics at her 
 head, bids her go, and is taken back to the bosom of his 
 wife. Baffin is forgiven, and Lord Oldacre applies for 
 the Chiltern Hundreds. 
 
 As to the acting, I will quote the words of an eminent 
 critic, who said : — 
 
 " Mr. Wyndham, perhaps the first comedian on the 
 English stage, excelled himself as Lord Oldacre. He 
 has done nothing better and no one could do anything 
 so good ; for acting of this kind nothing better could 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 139 
 
 be found. An immediate contrast to him is Mr. George 
 GiddenSj an actor who has never been quite sufficiently 
 appreciated. His description of his visit to East- 
 hamptottj and his reception there, is one of the funniest 
 things heard on the stage for some time. Miss Rose 
 Saker is always bright and welcome. Miss Fanny 
 Coleman was well chosen for the acidulated mother-in- 
 law. Mr. Blakeley and Mr. Maltby cannot fail to be 
 funny. Mr. Gregory promises well as a light comedian ; 
 but amongst the ladies the gem of the performance was 
 Miss Kate Rorke." 
 
 Thus The Candidate at once took the town, and not 
 only had a long run, but seemed to have some of those 
 qualities, so rare in modern plays, of the evergreen. 
 Writing of its revival in 1894, William Archer said : — 
 
 " It amused us quite as much last Wednesday as it 
 did ten years ago, by reason of the inherent whimsicality 
 of its situations and the undiminished brilliancy of 
 Mr. Wyndham's performance. In irresponsible, irre- 
 pressible, light comedy he remains easily first." 
 
 It is curious to think nowadays that prior to its 
 production Charles Wyndham had little or no faith in 
 The Candidate. He anticipated a short run for it, and 
 hesitated for a considerable period before he ventured 
 upon its production ; but on the first night there came 
 such a spontaneous outburst of applause that he realised 
 that he had once more unearthed a treasure. 
 
 And this for a piece that was rehearsed and produced 
 within a period of ten days ! Surely, considering the 
 expectations of West End audiences, a phenomenal 
 undertaking. 
 
140 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 At first the name of the adapter of the successful 
 play was concealed, but it soon became known that the 
 lucky writer was Mr. Justin Huntley McCarthy. The 
 Candidate ran from November 22nd, 1884, to January 
 1 6th, 1886. 
 
 By this time Charles Wyndham was in a very 
 enviable position. He was at the head of a company 
 that, thanks to his example and training, was acknow- 
 ledged to be as good in light comedy and farcical pieces 
 as that of the far-famed Palais Royal, his personal 
 popularity was unbounded, and his pretty little play- 
 house was always full. There was certainly no need to 
 change his policy, and, indeed, it would seem a risky 
 thing to do so. Surely if any man had a right to feel 
 satisfied with the success he had made it was he ; and 
 yet, loving his art as he did, he felt that he ought to 
 aim at work of a more serious type. Ever since 
 Brighton had made its mark other actors and managers 
 had been busily at work with three-act farcical comedies, 
 and though they never came within reach of his excel- 
 lence, he had in a way taught his comrades of the stage 
 to play his own game. He now, as every true actor 
 should, desired to show them and the public that he 
 could draw tears as well as laughter. It was a bold step, 
 but he, honestly and rightly, believed it to be the wise 
 one to take, and in order to fulfil his artistic ambition 
 he was prepared to run the risk that it involved. 
 
 That it was a risk is beyond all doubt. The public, 
 as a whole, are not very sensible in such matters. If a 
 Royal Academician whose name was famous as a painter 
 of portraits suddenly exhibited a beautiful landscape, or 
 
CALLED TO THE CRITERION 141 
 
 if a writer of very serious books unexpectedly published 
 a light novel, thousands of self-appointed and self- 
 sufficient critics would be heard muttering such words 
 as " great mistake," " out of his line," and " why doesn't 
 the cobbler stick to his last ? " 
 
 Such was the ordeal that Charles Wyndham had to 
 undergo when he dropped the frivolity he had taught 
 people to delight in and without thought of cost devoted 
 himself to the higher-toned work that he loved. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 WILD OATS RE-SOWN 
 
 'T~*HE change — as changes often do — came about sud- 
 denly and in an unexpected way. Charles Wynd- 
 ham was rehearsing another farcical comedy, and had 
 got within two days of its advertised first night, when 
 he made up his mind that it could not be a success. 
 With characteristic frankness he announced that, having 
 no faith in the piece, he should withdraw it, and then he 
 had to make up his mind what to put in its place. A 
 revival of Brighton occurred to him, and then he be- 
 thought himself of his old love. Wild Oats. His desire 
 to appear once more as the dashing, reckless, yet sym- 
 pathetic Rover was strong upon him, and in a happy 
 moment he yielded to it. 
 
 As the production proved a turning-point in his 
 career, some notes concerning a play that is half for- 
 gotten by the present generation of theatre-goers seem 
 necessary in these pages. 
 
 Of its first production at Covent Garden in 1791 
 Mrs. Inchbald said of it and its poor blind author : — 
 
 " The present comedy is written by O'KeefFe, who saw 
 not the traces of his pen as he marked the paper ; whose 
 days pass away uncheered by the sun or any visible 
 object ; but whose mind supports with resignation his 
 
 142 
 
WILD OATS RE-SOWN 143 
 
 bitter calamity, and is enlightened with imagination, 
 whilst his eyes are shut in utter darkness. 
 
 " Were each close imitator of an author's style 
 punishable by law, like the perpetrator of other wrongs, 
 Mr. O'KeefFe might have been an independent, though 
 not a happy man ; for that source of a new kind of 
 mirth, termed by some exquisite nonsense, of which he 
 was the first discoverer, made the town so merry, that, 
 like good wine, he might have sold it at any price ; but 
 this rich juice of hilarity, polluted by the false spirit of 
 imitation, at length gave stupor to those whom the 
 beverage had before revived ; and the pure and the 
 adulterated became distasteful together." 
 
 Oddly enough, this looks as if Mrs. Inchbald had a 
 premonition of what might be crossing Charles Wynd- 
 ham's mind in 1886. 
 
 " The comedy," she continues, " is the only attempt 
 of the author to produce a drama above opera and 
 farce. His productions, in the latter species of writing, 
 are perfect compositions ; nothing of the kind can be 
 superior to his Agreeable Surprise and his Son-in-Law. 
 He has a number of other farces of little less attraction 
 — such as Peeping Tom. Another class after that, and 
 each possessing infinite fancy. Still success did not 
 follow all his productions ; a few years past he wrote 
 very frequently and sometimes too hastily. 
 
 "On the first night of representing any of those 
 whimsical dramas, amidst loud peals of laughter at the 
 comic dialogue or incidents, there was generally a most 
 affecting spectacle behind the curtain. O'Keeffe, stone- 
 blind (not an affliction of birth, but of late years), was led 
 
144 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 by his little son as a guide down to the stage-door, to the 
 lock of which he would anxiously place his ear to catch 
 the quickest information how his work was received ; 
 and when, unhappily, hisses from the audience would 
 sound louder than applause, in strong agitation he 
 would press his hands to each side of his head, as if he 
 had yet one sense too much. Then he would remain, 
 without sight or hearing, until some unexpected sally of 
 humour in his drama once more put the house in a good 
 temper, and they would begin to laugh and applaud ; 
 on which his son, rapid as lightning, would pull him by 
 the elbow, and cry out, * Now, father, listen again ! ' 
 Wild Oats would not disgrace an author of much higher 
 pretensions in dramatic writing than Mr. O'KeefFe. 
 There is a great pleasantry throughout the play, many 
 natural touches of simplicity, and some well-written 
 dialogues and sentiments. The plot is interesting, the 
 characters new, or at least in new situations, and the 
 whole forms an evening's entertainment for an auditor 
 of taste — such a one having, at the same time, in his 
 memory certain popular sentences from certain well- 
 known comedies and tragedies ; for without intimate 
 acquaintance with all the quotations made use of by the 
 hero of the piece, it must totally lose its effect, and its 
 hero appear like a madman.^ 
 
 " Perhaps no comedy, on the first night, was ever 
 more fortunate in a list of excellent comic actors to 
 represent the characters. 
 
 "Lewis, in Rover, fervid as usual, seemed so en- 
 
 1 Here Mrs. Inchbald was wrong. Rover was always popular, even 
 with those who did not quite understand his quotations. 
 
Photo by London Stereoscopic Company, Cheapside, E.C. 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM IN *' WILD OATS" 
 
 Facing page 144 
 
WILD OATS RE-SOWN 145 
 
 amoured of his stage exploits, that every spectator for- 
 gave him his folly for the bewitching ardour with which 
 he pursued it. In Ephraim, the Quaker, the spirit 
 moved Munden — as it always does — to act just as he 
 should do. Quick was on the London stage when this 
 piece was first performed, and though Sir George 
 Thunder was by no means a part best suited to his 
 abilities, yet Quick gave comic importance to all he 
 undertook. Thomas Blanchard, since dead, played the 
 little part of Sim with wondrous skill. Mrs. Pope (once 
 Miss Young) was excellent in Lady Amaranth. And 
 the silly Jane can never have so good a representative as 
 Mrs. Wells." 
 
 Rover, it will be remembered, is a travelling player, 
 who, greatly to the embarrassment of those with whom 
 he is conversing, interlards his conversation with scraps 
 from the various pieces in which he has performed. In 
 consequence of quoting from the Rehearsal the words, 
 " I am the bold Thunder," he is taken for Harry 
 Thunder, a son of Sir George Thunder, who has run 
 ^way from school to join some strolling actors. He is 
 dragged perforce to the house of Lady Amaranth, a fair 
 Quakeress, whose heart he wins. Very amusing com- 
 plications follow, and in the end Rover is made happy 
 with his bride ; Sir George discovering that Rover is 
 indeed not the son for whom he was in search, but 
 another son long lost and now happily recovered. 
 
 In spite of its apparent levity, the character of the 
 strolling player has in it the element of romance, and it 
 is no wonder that it proved attractive to an actor of 
 Charles Wyndham's temperament. 
 
146 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 As I have already hirjted in these pages, I always 
 associate the dialogue in Rover's opening scene with the 
 new departure at the Criterion. 
 
 For the moment I think of Bob Sackett as Rover, and 
 Charles Wyndham as Harry Thunder, their meeting at 
 the cross-roads, and the following talk between them : — 
 
 Harry. Our trunks are booked at the inn for the 
 Winchester coach. 
 
 Rover. "Ay, to foreign climates my old trunk I 
 bear." But I prefer walking to the car of Thespis. 
 
 Harry. Which is the way ? 
 
 Rover. Here. 
 
 Harry. Then I go there. [Pointing opposite. 
 
 Rover. Eh ? 
 
 Harry. My dear boy, on this spot, and at this moment, 
 we must part. 
 
 Rover. Part ? 
 
 Harry. Rover, you wish me well } 
 
 Rover. Well, and suppose so. Part, eh .? What 
 mystery and grand } What are you at ? Do you forget, 
 you, Midge, and I are engaged to Truncheon, the 
 manager, and that the bills are already up with our 
 names to-night to play at Winchester ? 
 
 Harry. Jack, you and I have often met on a stage 
 in assumed characters ; if it's your wish we should 
 ever meet again in our real ones, of sincere friends, 
 without asking whither I go, or my motives for 
 leaving you, when I walk up this road, do you turn 
 down that. 
 
 Rover. Joke ! 
 
 Harry. I'm serious. Good-bye ! 
 
WILD OATS RE-SOWN 147 
 
 Rover. If you repent your engagement with Trun- 
 cheon, I'll break off, too, and go with you wherever-^ — 
 
 \Takes him under his arm. 
 
 Harry. Attempt to follow me, and even our acquaint- 
 ance ends. 
 
 Rover. Eh ? 
 
 Harry. Don't think of my reasons, only that it must 
 be. 
 
 Rover. Have I done anything to Dick Buskin ?* 
 Leave me ! [Tarwj and puts his handkerchief to his eyes. 
 
 Harry. I am as much concerned as you to Good- 
 bye ! 
 
 Rover. I can't even bid him — I won't either — if any 
 cause could have given Farewell. 
 
 Harry. Bless my poor fellow ! Adieu ! \_Silently weeps. 
 
 '[Exeunt several ways. 
 
 Yes, I am convinced that it was not without emotion 
 that Charles Wyndham said an unconditional good-bye 
 to Bob Sackett, and set himself to exploit a new and 
 intricate stage-land. 
 
 But on the occasion of the production of fVild Oats in 
 the bijou home of farcical comedy Charles Wyndham 
 had not only the anxiety of his new venture on his 
 mind, but a great difficulty to surmount. The Cri- 
 terion Theatre in those days had no accommodation for 
 the admission of scenery. It had all to be carried in 
 pieces through the front of the house, taken over the 
 footlights, and then put together and completed. The 
 production of PFild Oats necessitated eleven changes of 
 scene, and therefore was pronounced by the stage- 
 ^ Dick Buskin was Harry Thunder's stage name. 
 
148 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 manager and the master carpenter to be almost an im- 
 possibility. Charles Wyndham, however, was deter- 
 mined to persevere, and all the staff entered into the 
 work with enthusiasm and did their best, with this 
 result, that the first promise of a scenic rehearsal was for 
 noon on the day of production. My readers need not 
 be told that, as a rule, a scenic rehearsal takes place a 
 week beforehand. The men worked all through the 
 previous night, and right through the day itself, Charles 
 Wyndham leaving the theatre about four in the morn- 
 ing and coming back at noon for the completion of the 
 preparations — but, alas ! he had to sit patiently for six 
 and a half hours in the stalls waiting for this rehearsal. 
 At half-past six in the evening it began, and it goes 
 without saying that the hour for opening the theatre 
 had arrived before he was a quarter through with it. 
 Pushing matters as quickly as he possibly could, he 
 determined to keep the doors shut till he was better 
 prepared. The result, however, after half an hour, was 
 a furious storm of protest among the crowd waiting to 
 go into the pit and gallery, which at last grew so violent 
 that he had to give permission for these two entrances 
 to be thrown open. In came the surging, angry crowd 
 of pitites and galleryites. There was no mistaking their 
 attitude. They were quite as stormy inside the theatre 
 as they had been outside, for to add to their discom- 
 fort it had been raining during the time they had been 
 kept there. In the midst of this tumult and noise 
 Charles Wyndham appeared before them, and told them 
 he was going to take them into his confidence before he 
 admitted the rest of the audience into the theatre. He 
 
WILD OATS RE-SOWN 149 
 
 explained to them that he had been trying to put an 
 elephant into a bandbox, and the difficulties were very 
 great, as they themselves would see when the piece 
 began. He asked them, in the event of any obstacles 
 or any delays, to stand by him. This appeal to the best 
 part of their nature was immediately successful. They 
 shouted that they would, and kept their word. The 
 drowsy carpenters worked hard also, and though only 
 half the scenes had been rehearsed, the performance 
 went with comparative smoothness, and the pit and 
 gallery cheered it into a lasting success. 
 
 Boxes, stalls, and dress circle were equally generous 
 with their applause, and the latest production of Wild 
 Oats was voted a complete success, not only by those 
 who knew the history of the play and understood its 
 merits, but by the great majority who had never seen it 
 before. It was beautifully staged, the tasteful scenery 
 and furniture accurately displaying the period of its 
 action, and the picturesque and equally accurate cos- 
 tumes greatly adding to the richness of the picture. 
 The programme is an historic one, and must be in- 
 cluded in these pages. 
 
 As we have seen, Mrs. Inchbald said of the first per- 
 formance of fVild Oats at Covent Garden in 1791 : — 
 
 " Perhaps no comedy, on a first night, was ever more 
 fortunate in a list of excellent comic actors to represent 
 the characters " ; and certainly the historian of the 
 modern stage is justified in using the same words in 
 connection with the production of the play at the 
 Criterion on May 29th, 1886. 
 
 It always seems a pity that O'Keefe's little son could 
 
THE CRITERION THEATRE. 
 
 Lessee and Manager, Mr. Charles Wyndham. 
 Every Evening, 
 The celebrated old Comedy, in Three Acts, 
 WILD OATS, 
 
 By John O'Keefb. 
 
 . Mr. Charles Wyndham. 
 . Mr. David James. 
 . Mr. Edward Righton. 
 . Mr. William Blakeley. 
 . Mr. Alfred Maltby. 
 . Mr. George Giddens. 
 . Mr. W. E. Gregory. 
 . Mr. W. Barron. 
 . Mr. a. Bernard. 
 . Mr. J. R. Sherman. 
 
 Mr. F. G. Darbiskirb. 
 . Mr. F. M. Stanley. 
 . Messrs. Emery, Percy, and Jones. 
 . Miss Ffolliott Paget. 
 . Miss May Scarlett. 
 . Miss Annie Hughes. 
 . Miss M. Kennedy. 
 . Miss Mary Moorb. 
 Tableau I. Drawing-room at Lady Amaranth's. 
 ,, 2. Road on the way to Winchester. 
 ,, 3. Parlour of the Sun Inn. 
 Act II. Tableau l. Drawing-room at Lady Amaranth's. 
 „ 2. Parlour of the Sun Inn. 
 ,, 3. Drawing-room at Lady Amaranth's. 
 Act III. Drawing-room at Lady Amaranth's. 
 N.B. — The tableau curtains will not be down longer than about half a minute 
 on each occasion. 
 
 Preceded at eight by the Comic Drama, in Two Acts, entitled — 
 BRAVE HEARTS, 
 By Arthur Matthison. 
 Marquis de Chateau Laroche . 
 Mr. Robins 
 Albert . 
 Tibbets . 
 Mrs. Sanderson 
 Dorine 
 
 Rover . 
 John Dory 
 Sir George Thunder 
 Ephraim Smooth 
 Lamp . 
 Sim 
 
 Harry Thunder 
 Banks . 
 
 Farmer Gammon 
 Trap . 
 Twitch 
 Landlord of the Sun Inn 
 Ruffians 
 Amelia 
 Rachel. 
 Jane . 
 Milkmaid 
 Lady Amaranth 
 Act I. 
 
 Mr. W. E. Gregory. 
 Mr. F. M. Stanley. 
 Mr. J. R. Sherman. 
 Mr. George Giddens. 
 Miss F. Paget. 
 Miss Annie Hughes. 
 
 The attention of the public is called to the fact that seats can be booked at the 
 Box Office at all hours during the day, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. 
 
 Private Boxes, £'i y., £z 2s., and ;^i lu. 6d. Stalls, 10/6. Dress Circle, 
 7/- and s/-. Family Circle, 3/-. Pit, 2/6. Gallery, i/-. 
 
 Doors open at J. 30. To commence at 8 o'clock. 
 
 The Spinet used in fVild Oats kindly lent for the occasion by Messrs. Kirkman 
 and Co., of Soho. 
 During the progress of the Comedy selections of old English music by the 
 orchestra, under the direction of Mr. H. Sangstbr. 
 
 New Scenery by Bruce Smith. 
 
WILD OATS R£-S0WN 151 
 
 not be waiting at the Piccadilly " stage door " to carry 
 to the poor blind author the glorious news of the 
 enthusiasm with which the revival of his almost century- 
 old work was received. 
 
 Truly it was an excellent cast ! 
 
 By the power and even pathos that he contrived to 
 mingle with the sprightliness of the volatile and versatile 
 Rover, Charles Wyndham astonished even his warmest 
 admirers, and no doubt they liked to see the ease with 
 which he bore himself in the picturesque costumes of 
 the eighteenth century. His personal victory was im- 
 mediately secured. Then Edward Righton was admir- 
 ably placed as the blustering Sir George Thunder, and 
 William Blakeley made a perfect oily study of the 
 sanctimonious hypocrite, Ephraim Smooth. As the 
 theatrical manager Camp, and as the rustic Sim, Mr. 
 Alfred Maltby and Mr. George Giddens were, in their 
 respective ways, equally good ; and as the old " sea-dog," 
 John Dory, David James made one of the great hits of 
 his very notable career. Truly it was said of him that 
 on this occasion he seemed imbued with all the spirit of 
 old comedy acting. There was a roguish geniality 
 about his portrayal of the old salt which was admirable. 
 He managed to sink his individuality, and, indeed, by 
 a wonderfully good " make up," to become, not David 
 James acting, but John Dory, bluff, honest, and hearty, 
 and never too boisterous. It was one of those things 
 calculated to leave a lasting impression on the minds of 
 all who were fortunate enough to witness it. Notwith- 
 standing Mrs. Inchbald's praise of the Silly Jane de- 
 picted by Mrs. Wells, I cannot believe that the part was 
 
tS2 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 ever better represented than by Miss Annie Hughes, 
 one of the brightest, best, prettiest, and daintiest of 
 English comedy actresses ; and the Lady Amaranth — 
 well, the Lady Amaranth was Miss Mary Moore, and 
 of her I have something to say in my next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 MISS MARY MOORE 
 
 "VT^ES, the Lady Amaranth of the cast was Miss Mary 
 Moore, and she at once revealed herself as one 
 of the most delightful and accomplished of English 
 actresses. The part is not an easy one to play, but 
 she endowed it with a peculiar charm and invested 
 it with a sympathy that were alike invaluable. Her 
 sweet face suggested all that is beautiful and pure in 
 woman, and her acting was at once captivating and 
 beyond criticism. In a single night she conquered 
 London playgoers, and took her position as one of 
 the leading artists of the West End stage. Attired in 
 simple Quaker costume, she was a picture to look upon, 
 and there was a natural sweetness and simplicity about 
 her acting well suited to the part. Truly did a critic 
 say, " Few of those who saw Miss Moore in this char- 
 acter will soon forget her musical intonation of a catch- 
 phrase, • my pleasant cousin,' given to Lady Amaranth." 
 For myself, I may say, I shall never forget it. 
 
 To London theatre-goers her triumph came as a 
 great surprise. She had been seen in a little piece 
 called Cupid in Camp, and in a small part in a three-act 
 farce entitled The Man with Three Wives, adapted from 
 
 IS3 
 
154 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the French 'Trots Femmes pour un Mart, by Charles Mar- 
 sham Rae. This came after the withdrawal of The Can- 
 didate, but Charles Wyndham did not take part in it. 
 
 Prior to these not very important appearances, Miss 
 Mary Moore's stage experiences had been few. When 
 only sixteen years of age she was married to James 
 Albery, who then seemed to be face to face with the 
 brightest of careers. As we have seen in these pages, 
 he had somewhat handicapped his own chances by the 
 extreme brilliance of his first success. Whenever his 
 name was associated with a new play, playgoers always 
 eagerly anticipated a second Two Roses, and were some- 
 what unreasonably irritated because they did not quite 
 get it. No doubt this was a trouble to him. His was 
 the artistic temperament : his sensitive nature, having 
 once tasted the exquisite delights of a unique success, 
 writhed under the idea of being written down a failure. 
 Of course, to say nothing of his other original work — 
 and some of it was remarkably good — his clever adapta- 
 tions at the Criterion Theatre bore witness to the fact 
 that he was anything but that. But he desired to excel 
 again in a comedy for which he would be solely respon- 
 sible — a comedy by the side of which even his own 
 Two Roses would pale and droop their heads ; and feel- 
 ing himself baffled in this difficult task, he fell ill, and 
 the pen that could achieve so much dropped from his 
 poor tired hand and was silent. 
 
 Thus the Albery household became sapped of its 
 resources. We all remember what good old Simon 
 Ingot of Robertson's creation said to David Garrick : 
 " Mr. Garrick, I wasn't always a rich man. ... I had 
 
MISS MARY MOORE 155 
 
 four hundred a year. At Bombay I married the 
 daughter of a lieutenant in the British army ; he was 
 of high family, but had no money ; plenty of blue 
 blood, but no cash. He gave his blessing, and his 
 daughter brought me a dower of virtue and obedience. 
 Well, his blessing, my wife's virtue and obedience, and 
 my four hundred a year, all added together, only made 
 four hundred a year. Still, we were happy, very happy, 
 but it wasn't to last long." 
 
 On similar lines thousands of young married couples 
 are happy, very happy, but when the four hundred a 
 year, or whatever it may be, is at vanishing point, it 
 is bad to look out upon the uncertain and, for the time 
 being, impenetrable darkness of the future. 
 
 In the days of Two Roses successful dramatists were 
 not so munificently rewarded as they are to-day, and 
 even if it had been so it is possible that poor, im- 
 petuous, vivacious, and sanguine James Albery would 
 not have been the man to make much provision for 
 the future. Be this as it may, the cost of his long and 
 serious illness, coupled with his enforced idleness, made 
 serious inroads upon his resources, and the time came 
 when the anxious young wife felt that for the sake of 
 husband and child she must turn breadwinner. 
 
 In her trouble she consulted her intimate friend, 
 Mrs. Bronson Howard (Charles Wyndham's sister), 
 and she very strongly advised her to tempt fortune 
 on the stage. In order to give her advice practical 
 value (how seldom that is done !) she used her influence 
 with her brother, with the result that in March, 1885, 
 " Miss Mary Moore " — it is the name by which she is 
 
156 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 known and popular with the public, and it is the name 
 that she will henceforth bear in these pages — was 
 engaged to play a small part in The Candidate with a 
 touring company that had been sent out to exploit the 
 great London success. 
 
 Charles Wyndham was not with this company, and 
 it must have been a sad experience for the young wife 
 to settle down to new work among strange people, and 
 to travel about from town to town after the somewhat 
 rough and comfortless touring company fashion. But 
 she had a brave spirit, and took comfort in the thought 
 that she was earning a much-needed salary. Possibly, 
 too, she plumed herself a little on finding out that she 
 had the ability to make her own way in the world. But 
 even in the modest position shte had attained she was 
 not to remain untroubled. 
 
 When the tour commenced she was given the under- 
 study of the inginue, with the promise that she should 
 play it in two or three weeks' time, when the actress 
 who was then impersonating it would return to London ; 
 but when five weeks had gone by, and this programme 
 was not carried out, she began to realise that she was 
 not drawing her weekly stipend because she really earned 
 it or was worth it, but inasmuch as, having listened to 
 his sister's appeal, Charles Wyndham had given her her 
 engagement and her salary out of sheer good nature. 
 The bare thought of this was horrible to her : her 
 pride was deeply wounded, and, heedless of time and 
 expense, she at once travelled to London to learn the 
 truth from her manager, and, if necessary, resign her 
 engagement. For, as she truly said to Charles 
 
MISS MARY MOORE 157 
 
 Wyndham, " Much as I appreciate your kindness, 
 your giving me a salary now will not help me to 
 earn a livelihood in the futute — it is work and experi- 
 ence 1 need." In that gracious, ever kindly and tact- 
 ful presence she found consolation, and, with a relieved 
 mind, returned to her work, and was given a part for 
 the rest of that tour. 
 
 In the October of that year Charles Wyndham 
 brought his London company to Liverpool to appear 
 with him in his famous impersonation of Viscount 
 Oldacre in that diverting play, and the actress who 
 had played Lady Oldacre being taken ill, Miss Moore 
 was sent for to take the part. Surprised at, and appre- 
 ciating her marked ability, he at once engaged her for 
 the Criterion. He had cast her for a good part in that 
 poor farcical comedy that never was played, and it was 
 while rehearsing it that it struck him that if he revived 
 fVild Oats she would make a charming Lady Amaranth. 
 
 Never was there happier thought. As we have seen, 
 a success as marked as it was unusual was made, and 
 from that day forth her name has prominently figured 
 in the Charles Wyndham playbills. Indeed, both in 
 town and in country, to say nothing of America, St. 
 Petersburg, and Berlin — where she played in the German 
 language — she has long been regarded as his bright 
 particular star companion. The long course of her 
 histrionic victories will be duly traced in this narrative, 
 but I must refer incidentally in this chapter to her sweet 
 rendering of the character of Ada Ingot in David Garrick. 
 
 When Sothern first appeared in Robertson's ever- 
 green comedy at the Haymarket, the Ada of the cast 
 
158 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 was pretty and clever Miss Nelly Moore, and when I 
 first saw Miss Mary Moore play the part at the Criterion 
 I could not help being struck, not only with the similarity 
 of the names, but the infinite charm and intense feminine 
 earnestness with which each actress contrived to invest 
 a character that might be — nay, sometimes has been — 
 easily overplayed and ruined. 
 
 I remember that as I walked home from the little 
 Piccadilly Theatre in the fogs of the November of 
 1886 I recalled some lines that, parodying Edgar Allan 
 Poe, witty Henry S. Leigh had written after a similar 
 evening at the Haymarket in the days of long ago. 
 They seem so appropriate to the new occasion that I 
 will quote them here. It should be explained that The 
 Castle of Andalusia was the title of a play in which poor 
 Nelly Moore had appeared at the Haymarket with 
 Buckstone, Henry Compton, Chippendale, William 
 Farren, and other members of a once famous company 
 in 1864. 
 
 CHATEAUX D'ESPAGNE 
 
 A REMINISCENCE OF " DAVID GARRICK " AND " THE CASTLE OF ANDALUSU " 
 
 " Once upon an evening weary, shortly after Lord Dundreary 
 With his quaint and curious humour set the town in such a roar, 
 With my shilling I stood rapping — only very gently tapping — 
 For the man in charge was napping — at the money-taker's door. 
 It was Mr. Buckstone's playhouse, where I linger'd at the door; 
 Paid half-price and nothing more. 
 
 " Most distinctly I remember — it was just about September — 
 Though it might have been in August, or it might have been 
 
 before, 
 Dreadfully I fear'd the morrow. Vainly had I sought to 
 
 borrow ; 
 
MISS MARY MOORE I59 
 
 For (I own it to my sorrow) I was miserably poor. 
 And the heart is heavy laden when one's miserably poor, 
 (I have been so once before). 
 
 " I was doubtful and uncertain, at the rising of the curtain, 
 If the piece would prove a novelty, or one I'd seen before ; 
 For a band of robbers drinking in a gloomy cave, and clinking 
 With their glasses on the table, I had witness'd o'er and o'er ; 
 Since the half-forgotten period of my innocence was o'er — 
 Twenty years ago or more. 
 
 " Presently my doubt grew stronger. I could stand the thing 
 no longer : 
 ' Miss,' I said, • or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore. 
 Pardon my apparent rudeness. Would you kindly have the 
 
 goodness 
 To inform me if this drama is from Gaul's enlighten'd shore ? ' 
 For I know that plays are often brought us from the Gallic 
 shore. 
 
 Adaptations — nothing more ! 
 
 " So I put the question lowly ; and my neighbour answer'd 
 slowly, 
 ' It's a British drama wholly, written quite in days of yore. 
 'Tis an Andalusian story of a castle old and hoary, 
 And the music is delicious, though the dialogue be poor ! ' 
 (And I could not help agreeing that the dialogue -was poor, 
 Very flat, and nothing more.) 
 
 " But at last a lady enter'd, and my interest grew centred 
 In her figure, and her features, and the costume that she 
 
 wore. 
 And the slightest sound she utter'd was like music ; so I 
 
 mutter'd 
 To my neighbour, ' Glance a minute at your playbill, I implore. 
 Who's that rare and radiant maiden? Tell, oh, tell me, I 
 implore.' 
 
 Quoth my neighbour, ' Nelly Moore.' 
 
i6o SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " Then I ask'd in quite a tremble — it was useless to dissemble — 
 ' Miss, or Madam, do not trifle with my feelings any more ; 
 Tell me who, then, was the maiden that appear'd so sorrow 
 
 laden 
 In the room of David Garrick, with a bust above the door ? ' 
 (With a bust of Julius Caesar up above the study door.) 
 
 Quoth my neighbour, ' Nelly Moore.' 
 
 " I've her photograph from Lacy's ; that delicious little face is 
 Smiling on me as I'm sitting (in a draught from yonder door), 
 And often in the nightfalls, when a precious little light falls 
 From the wretched tallow candles on my gloomy second-floor 
 (For I have not got the gas-light on my gloomy second-floor). 
 Comes an echo, ' Nelly Moore ! ' " 
 
 Change the name of " Nelly " to " Mary," and you 
 will see how the Criterion Ada Ingot took the town in 
 1886. Poor James Albery died in 1889, but he lived 
 to see his courageous wife one of the accepted celebrities 
 of the stage he so dearly loved, and for which he had 
 done so much admirable work. 
 
Photo by A l/red Ellis and Watery, SI, Baker Street, » '. 
 MISS MARY MOORE 
 
 Facing page i6o 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 DAVID GAR RICK 
 
 "tJAVING made such a marked success as Rover, 
 Charles Wyndham's next task was to find a worthy 
 successor to that admirably drawn and very interesting 
 character. It must, if possible, be something better, for 
 he felt he could not retrace the bold step he had taken 
 from the light farcical pieces in which he had excelled to 
 the high comedy that he loved. Sympathising with 
 him, his friends suggested that he should appear in 
 Sothern's favourite part of David Garrick, in T. W. 
 Robertson's charming comedy bearing that name. 
 Since poor Sothern's premature death in the January 
 of 1 88 1, the piece had not been seen in London, and 
 after a time, and with some reluctance, Charles Wyndham 
 began to listen to the voices of his charmers. With 
 some reluctance, because he felt it would be a very 
 difficult thing to follow such a popular actor as Sothern 
 in a part that he had made his own, and, I think, because 
 he had been his intimate friend, and he felt a little 
 delicacy in treading in his footsteps. He might have 
 dismissed that thought from his mind, for poor Sothern 
 used often to speak in open admiration of him and his 
 
 M l6i 
 
i62 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 stage work, and, I am certain, would gladly have named 
 him for his successor in a part that he dearly loved. 
 
 Of a comedy that has held the stage for more than 
 forty years, that is as popular to-day as when it was first 
 produced, and which is so closely identified with the 
 name and fame of Charles Wyndham, some special note 
 should surely be made in these pages. 
 
 Of its origin, the late Moy Thomas said : — - 
 " The play is an acknowledged version of De Meles- 
 ville's Sullivan, one of a long series of dramas turning 
 on the same idea, which was described by Th^ophile 
 Gautier as ' the everlasting story of Garrick, Talma, or 
 Kean curing some foolish girl of a passion for them 
 as actors by exhibiting themselves in private life under 
 the most repulsive conditions.' This description occurs 
 in a criticism by Gautier in 1 842 on a vaudeville called 
 Le Docteur Robin, which happens to be the original 
 of the little piece called Doctor Davy, in which Mr. 
 Hermann Vezin has won renown. Gautier further tells 
 us that this piece was based on a story by his friend and 
 comrade of the famous " Gilet-rouge " fraternity, Joseph 
 Bouchardy, and that seven or eight playwrights had 
 at that time already laid their hands upon it. We 
 have been at some pains to trace the story here referred 
 to, and have found it in a novelette, entitled Garrick 
 Midecin, published in Paris in an obscure evening 
 paper, called Le Monde Dramaiique, in April, 1836. 
 Somewhere about the same time M. Fournier produced 
 a one-act piece, called Tiridate, which is founded on the 
 same notion, the only difference being that in this 
 case it is not an actor, but an actress, who, at the sacrifice 
 
DAVID GARRICK 163 
 
 of dignity and personal inclinations, undertakes the 
 weaning process. It was in this piece that Mr. Charles 
 Reade found the substance of his novelette and play, 
 entitled Art^ wherein Mrs. Stirling has so often played 
 the part of the heroine, Mrs. Bracegirdle. Several 
 other versions of Tiridate hold the stage, thanks to 
 the energies of Mrs. John Wood, Miss Genevieve 
 Ward, and other impersonators of the heroine ; ^ and 
 traces, more or less distinct, of the dramatic idea of 
 Garrick Midecin are to be found in numerous modern 
 pieces. It has, we are aware, been said that Sullivan, 
 the direct original of David Garrick, was itself merely 
 a translation of a German play ; but in this there 
 is, we believe, some confusion of fact. The German 
 play referred to is probably Deinhardstein's Garrick in 
 Bristol. Of this piece we are not able, unfortunately, 
 to give any account ; but it is certain there is an 
 acknowledged translation of Melesville's Sullivan, by 
 the dramatist Edward Jermann, which is well known on 
 the German stage — a fact which would be hardly possible 
 if Sullivan had been only a Frenchman's version of a 
 German play." 
 
 Of what may be called the " English history " of 
 David Garrick I can, thanks to my early intimacy with 
 Robertson and Sothern, speak with authority, and, 
 inasmuch as it is a history that should make dramatists 
 and actors persevere, it is worth relating. 
 
 Never was there play which was so nearly condemned 
 
 1 My readers will, no doubt, remember how charmingly Miss Ellen 
 Terry played the part, in her case named after the famous Mistress Nance 
 Oldfield. 
 
i64 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 to oblivion, or, on its belated production, so nearly 
 doomed to shipwreck. In those sad days when Robert- 
 son, vainly attempting to get any hearing for that 
 original work of his that was destined to revolutionise 
 the English stage, had, in order to keep body and soul 
 together, to do any hack work that came in his way, he 
 somehow found out the nearly forgotten French Sullivan., 
 became engrossed in the subject, and out of it fashioned 
 David Garrick. The usual thing followed : no one 
 would look at it ; and being sorely in need of money, he 
 parted with it for an old song. 
 
 Sothern came from America to England, and, delighted 
 with his absolutely natural style of acting, Robertson 
 thirsted to supply him with a character to follow the 
 everlasting and inimitable Lord Dundreary. Sothern 
 on his side was only too anxious to find such a part ; 
 nervous actor and anxious dramatist met ; David Garrick 
 was discussed, and very soon half accepted. But, alas 
 for the poor but always proud author ! the piece was 
 held in bond by Lacy, the theatrical bookseller, for the 
 unattainable sum of ten pounds. Of course, to the 
 ever open-handed, open-hearted Sothern that little 
 trouble was of no consequence, and I can easily conjure 
 up the delicate tact with which he contrived to roll away 
 the little cloud. 
 
 And so it came about that Robertson read his play 
 to Buckstone (then the popular actor-manager of the 
 Haymarket Theatre, and one of the leading lights of the 
 London stage) and Sothern, with the most satisfactory 
 results. Sothern was delighted with the idea of playing 
 Garrick. Always anxious to appear in parts of an 
 
DAVID GARRICK 165 
 
 earnest type, he felt he could make an enormous success 
 out of the opportunities for serious acting that the 
 first and last acts afforded, and he was certain he would 
 do wonders with the now world-famous scene of 
 simulated intoxication. For his part Buckstone (far too 
 old for the character, but still an actor-manager) fancied 
 himself as Squire Chivy ; and when poor, delighted 
 Robertson went home he had a cheque for fifty pounds 
 in his pocket, with g6odly promises of royalties when- 
 ever the piece should be produced at the Haymarket 
 Theatre or elsewhere. 
 
 Sothern always confessed himself to be the most 
 nervous of actors, and in a new part he declared that he 
 was "not worth thirty shillings a week." For this 
 reason the piece, prior to its production in London, was 
 tried by him in the country, its first representation 
 being given at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, Birming- 
 ham, in the early days of April, 1864, He was sup- 
 ported by the stock company, Miss Edith Stuart being 
 the first Ada Ingot, and G. K. Maskell (a very ex- 
 cellent comedian) the original impersonator of Squire 
 Chivy. When, a week later, Sothern took the piece to 
 Liverpool, the latter part was admirably played by Lionel 
 Brough. This may well be imagined, for Brough was 
 the best Tony Lumpkin of his day, probably of any 
 day, and Robertson undoubtedly had Oliver Goldsmith's 
 redoubtable booby in view when he drew his portrait of 
 the unmannerly fox-hunting squire of the roystering 
 days of King George IIL 
 
 At the time of that fateful first night of David 
 Garricky Sothern was staying with my father. Usually 
 
i66 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 buoyant in his spirits and brilliant in his conversation, 
 he had been strangely silent during dinner, and I noticed 
 that he seemed to have no appetite. Never shall I 
 forget the dejected look with which, when the carriage 
 that was to take him to the theatre was announced, he 
 flung away his cigar and prepared to face his ordeal. 
 
 I had read that when he left his lodgings in Cecil 
 Street (my dear old Cecil Street of many memories !) to 
 appear for the first time as Shylock at Drury Lane, 
 Edmund Kean's parting words to his wife were : " I 
 wish I was going to be shot ! " and I nervously wondered 
 if Sothern felt like that. 
 
 As he passed through the hall he stopped before a 
 whip-rack, and selecting an old hunting-crop, asked if 
 he might borrow it, as he said it would be the very 
 thing for Garrick to carry in his hand when, in riding- 
 dress, he made his first entrance. 
 
 Years after it was my great pleasure to present that 
 hunting-crop to Charles Wyndham, and as Garrick he 
 uses it at the present time. 
 
 In the days of 1864 I was a mere schoolboy, but my 
 passion for the stage was already a source of good- 
 natured family ridicule, and I was permitted to go to 
 the theatre. Open-eared and open-eyed, I revelled in 
 the story of David Garrick and Ada Ingot as it was first 
 unfolded behind the footlights, and to my mind victory 
 had easily been won all along the line. Evidently the 
 packed and attentive audience thought so too, for there 
 was no moment of hesitancy in the enthusiastic applause 
 with which the piece, from the rise to the fall of the 
 curtain, was greeted. 
 
DAVID GARRICK 167 
 
 When we reached, home that night and waited awhile 
 for Sothern's return to supper, my father said joyously, 
 " Dear old Ned ! He'll be wild with happiness to-night, 
 for no doubt he has scored a brilliant triumph." Judge, 
 then, of our amazement when a very despondent "Ned" 
 entered the room, declaring that the play was a dis- 
 astrous failure, and expressing a determination to try, at 
 any cost, to get out of his engagement to appear in it 
 again. 
 
 Probably there had been little first-night hitches 
 behind the curtain of which the highly pleased audience 
 knew nothing — indeed, in after years Sothern told me 
 that it had been so — but there was absolutely no excuse 
 for his abject depression except the fact that he was 
 always, to use his own words, " a bundle of nerves " ; 
 and as his intimate friends knew, at times a great self- 
 tormentor. 
 
 What followed is a matter of stage history. On 
 April 30th, 1864, with Buckstone as Squire Chivy, 
 Chippendale as Simon Ingot, Mrs. Chippendale as Mrs. 
 Smith, and Miss Nelly Moore as Ada Ingot, he played 
 Garrick at the Haymarket Theatre, and made an in- 
 stantaneous and striking hit. He still persisted that he 
 had failed in his part, and that the piece was saved by 
 the exquisite acting of Miss Nelly Moore. He soon 
 found out, however, that he could play his new character 
 as often as he pleased, not only in London, but in all the 
 provincial cities and towns of England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland, to say nothing of America, where, in due course, 
 it enabled him to make another notable triumph. 
 
 No doubt, with him, the wonderful drunken scene, 
 
i68 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 clever in its conception and perfect In its detail, was the 
 great feature of the piece ; but though some critics took 
 exception to his acting in the love scenes with Ada 
 Ingot, he gained in them a vast multitude of admirers. 
 Generally willing to accept the verdict of the Press, 
 Sothern was always rather sensitive with regard to this 
 alleged defect in his performance, and I remember on 
 one occasion, when, on his benefit night in a provincial 
 town he made one of those little before-the-curtain 
 speeches for which he was famous, he said : — 
 
 "The local critics have suggested that my voice is 
 hardly suited to the gentle art of love-making. With 
 some compunction, and with my hand appropriately 
 placed on my heart, I should like to inform those gentle- 
 men that, following in private life that most agreeable 
 of pursuits, I unfortunately find that I get on as well as 
 most people, and sometimes faster than is absolutely desirable" 
 
 Poor Sothern ! He could always be humorous at 
 his own expense, and never more so than when he was 
 speaking the truth. 
 
 Among the notable list of Ada Ingots who supported 
 him, I can vividly recall Mrs. Kendal (then Miss Madge 
 Robertson) and Miss Ada Cavendish. 
 
 It is not generally known that Robertson, having 
 infinite faith in the story that he had adapted and 
 elaborated, wrote it not only in dramatic, but in narrative 
 form. Hoping to earn a little money from it as a 
 novelette, the poor fellow hawked this about among the 
 booksellers and publishers while his neglected play was 
 growing dusty on Lacy's heavily laden shelves ; but 
 until the comedy was triumphantly produced he could 
 
By permission of the Draycott Gallery^ late Barraud^ sdj, Ox/ord Street, London 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM AS "DAVID GARRICK " 
 
 Facing pa^e i6S 
 
DAVID GARRICK 169 
 
 find no home for his wandering manuscript. Then, of 
 course, it was quickly snapped up and published. I 
 fear that in this shape it never made much of a mark, 
 and in these days the interesting little volume is quite 
 a rarity. A copy of it, with its graceful dedication to 
 Sothern, dated March, 1865, is before me now. It 
 runs — 
 
 " My Dear Sothern, 
 
 "I dedicate this little book to you for reasons 
 which will be obvious to those readers who do me the 
 honour to peruse the Preface. Though the offering be 
 small, it is made with as much kindly feeling as if the 
 matter contained in this single volume were as weighty 
 and well arranged as the contents of a large dictionary. 
 " Accept it, then, my dear Sothern, with all its faults, 
 though they are neither few nor far between ; a circum- 
 stance which should not surprise you when you re- 
 member that it is the work of 
 
 " Your very sincere friend, 
 
 " The Author." 
 
 In the Preface, Robertson tells as follows the story of 
 the origin of the play, as far as it concerned him : — 
 
 " Having seen the drama of Sullivan acted by a 
 company of French comedians at the St. James's 
 Theatre I was struck by the compactness of the story, 
 its contrast of character, and its dramatic effect. Its 
 moral was good and wholesome, and the piece was 
 entirely free from that objectionable element which, 
 though acceptable to a French audience, is, happily, 
 exactly the reverse with an English one. I adapted 
 
I70 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Sullivan and christened it David Garrick for these 
 reasons. 
 
 " Garrick was a great actor ; he had been dead a 
 century, had no living descendants, and his name was 
 public property. He was much admired ; his im- 
 pressionability, versatility, and, above all, his wonderful 
 impersonation of drunkenness, marked him out as the 
 proper hero of the tale. 
 
 " The next step was to submit the drama to several 
 managers of theatres, and to several actors. Each and 
 all of these gentlemen declared that the piece — when 
 produced — would be a failure. For about seven years 
 the manuscript slumbered in a drawer, until in the 
 course of a casual conversation I happened to mention 
 the plot of the play to Mr. Sothern.^ He was struck 
 with it as I had been, in particular with the fact of 
 Garrick, who was so estimable a man in the private 
 relations of life, refusing to take advantage of the 
 affections of an heiress, and advising her to return to 
 her father. The admirable acting of Mr. Sothern, and 
 of the members of the Haymarket Company, made the 
 piece a success ; and its reception in town and country 
 has falsified the predictions of the managers and actors 
 to whom it had been previously submitted. 
 
 " Let me here say that, though the incidents of this 
 little book are not in accordance with biographical and 
 historical fact, they are not for that reason untrue. 
 They might have happened. The real, actual Mr. 
 David Garrick was not married until the year 1749. 
 
 J Robertson says nothing here concerning the fact that the poor play 
 had been " pawned " to Lacy for ten pounds. 
 
DAVID GARRICK 171 
 
 Whatever adventures may have occurred to him before 
 that time are a legitimate theme for speculation, and the 
 novelist may claim his privilege." 
 
 Robertson did not claim much, for he finishes his 
 story, which was written long before the play was 
 produced, very vaguely. It is true that it ends with 
 Alderman Ingot's (he is called Trawley in the book) 
 familiar lines — 
 
 " Mr. Garrick, will you do me the honour of accept- 
 ing my daughter's hand ? " — but the author, dismissing 
 romance rather mercilessly, adds : "Poetical justice 
 could not be awarded to the loves of Mr. David 
 Garrick and Miss Ada Trawley, as detailed in these 
 pages. They could not, with any regard to known and 
 undisputed facts, have been united. It has therefore 
 been thought better to let each reader finish the story as 
 he or she pleases. The cynical and sceptical may think 
 that Ada and David, when allowed to see each other 
 daily, grew weary ; that the gentleman found his inamo- 
 rata a spoiled, forward girl, and the lady discovered her 
 hero to be a mere vain player, who had no thought but 
 for himself, and of the shrugs and struts that procured 
 him applause at the theatre ; that mutual disgust set in, 
 and the lovers became unloving. The romantic may 
 suppose the marriage broken off by the interposition of 
 Lady Shendryn, and the lovers doomed to separation 
 and unmitigated woe ;^ and the sentimental may 
 imagine that Ada, warmed by the sun of Garrick's love, 
 
 1 Lady Shendryn appeared in the novel, but not in the play. The 
 name was evidently a favourite one with Robertson, for he used it in his 
 pretty comedy,- Ours. 
 
172 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 rallied, but that the dart had stricken too deeply, and 
 the actor had the unutterable anguish of soothing the 
 death-pillow of his promised bride. It is permitted us 
 all to fashion the clouds into the shapes most pleasing to 
 our mental vision." 
 
 It must be remembered that at the time he wrote 
 these lines poor Robertson, irritated almost beyond 
 endurance by rebuffs from managers, actors, and pub- 
 lishers, was in a very cynical mood. Had he composed 
 his undoubtedly clever story after, instead of before, 
 Sothern had made that great success in the long- 
 neglected David Garric^, he might have written in a 
 much happier mood. As it was, he said in his final 
 melancholy chapter : — 
 
 " There is nothing," says the proverb, " so successful 
 as * success.' But, then, success is only successful — it is 
 no more. A town taken, a victory of any sort won, a 
 triumph of any kind achieved — the hero, victor, or 
 gainer does not live happy ever after. He is still sus- 
 ceptible to catarrh, coughs, corns, east winds, rheuma- 
 tism, the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, 
 the pangs of despised love, and other of the million ills 
 to which flesh is heir and executor. But of all the com- 
 pensatory strokes of affliction that sting the successful 
 none are so terrible as those that strike to the heart, 
 centre, or bull's-eye, as it were, of their success. The 
 man who has toiled all his life to amass a gallery of 
 pictures, built his gallery, secured his masterpieces, and 
 is stricken blind ; the keen sportsman, who has dragged 
 through the drudgery of city life, that he might enjoy 
 the Country and the meet, and who, the means to the 
 
DAVID GARRICK 173 
 
 end attained, is made prisoner to his chamber for the 
 remainder of his life ; the duck who rears her shelled 
 brood, and conducts them, cackling, to the pond to see 
 them drown — feel a deeper pang than those who fardels 
 bear, and are habituated to their inconvenience and 
 burden." 
 
 It is to be feared that there is much truth in this — 
 truth which only those who strive hard to win worthily 
 in life's battle, who seem to onlookers to be successful, 
 but who are conscious in their own sensitive souls that 
 much — oh, so very much ! — is lacking, will appreciate. 
 
 I believe that those who are envied (and in some 
 cases hated) by others as being the most successful men 
 of their day — whether it be in politics, literature, art, or 
 any of the higher callings of life — often carry greater 
 disappointments in their heart of hearts than the great 
 crowd of nonentities who are content to sit as spectators 
 and allow these " successes " to cater for their welfare 
 and amusement. All they have to do is to criticise, and 
 that is so delightfully easy. 
 
 Possibly the happiest man in the world is he who has 
 no soul above some small business of which he has abso- 
 lute control, and who is conscious of the fact that year 
 by year his profits are increasing. He does not tell 
 others of his prosperity — no ! no !— he might be ex- 
 pected to be too generous, but he puts his good fortune 
 down to his own cleverness, and hugs himself in silent 
 contentment. He lives in a very little world, but for 
 him it is full of warmth and sunshine, for he feels he 
 can afFord to patronise his neighbours and lay down the 
 law to his wife and children. In short, instead of being 
 
174 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 a self-tormentor with heart and ambition set on some 
 worthy goal he may never reach, he is supremely 
 satisfied with himself, and is his own ideal. 
 
 Notwithstanding his own knowledge of life, and his 
 desire to deal justly, not only with history, but with 
 human nature, Robertson did well to let his stage 
 version of David Garrick have a happy ending. In 
 spite of pessimists who maintain that the truth, the 
 whole truth, and nothing but the truth, should, in 
 all its painful details, be told upon the stage, the large 
 majority of English playgoers still like to leave the 
 theatre feeling that at curtain-fall the hopes of the hero 
 and heroine who have engrossed their evening have 
 been realised. I know that the love scenes between 
 David Garrick and Ada Ingot, and the idea that the 
 loving, self-sacrificing pair are to be united, have 
 gladdened thousands and thousands of hearts. In com- 
 parison to this what matters a little departure from 
 historical accuracy, or a brief excursion into the realms 
 of romance ? 
 
 In Robertson's novel the names differ from those that 
 are so familiar in the playbills, and I expect that for this 
 Sothern, who was exceedingly fastidious in such matters, 
 was responsible. Thus Alderman Trawley becomes 
 Alderman Ingot, and Mr. Robert Raubreyne is trans- 
 formed into Squire Chivy. 
 
 Sothern played David Garrick with unfailing success 
 until the all too early end of his acting days. The last 
 time I saw him in the part was at the Birmingham 
 Theatre Royal not long before his health broke down, 
 and then an incident occurred that would have been 
 
DAVID GARRICK 17S 
 
 droll had it not been infinitely sad. He was my guest 
 at the time, and I, knowing him to be nervous, ill, 
 unhappy, and very disinclined to act, was for some time 
 fearful for him — but he played so well in the first and 
 second acts that I was reassured. The drunken scene, 
 with its alternating moments of wild humour and in- 
 tense pathos, never went better, and he was rewarded 
 with torrents of applause. But, in the last act, a strange 
 thing occurred. He had got to the beautiful speech in 
 which, addressing Ada, he says, " I know the world. I 
 might deceive myself, but I will never deceive you. 
 I must save you. I had a mother once, whom I loved 
 devotedly." He then, it will be remembered, goes on 
 to tell her, in touching words, how his mother became 
 broken-hearted because he insisted on being an actor, 
 and how success came to him too late to prove to her 
 that he was right in following the bent of his own 
 inclination. In his most serious voice he began, *' I 
 had a mother once," and then gazed with a troubled 
 look at his large audience. I saw at once what had 
 happened to him. Often as he had repeated them, he 
 had entirely forgotten his lines. The voice of the 
 prompter was heard, and I noticed that, with bent head, 
 the unfortunate Ada was trying to refresh his memory, 
 but all that he seemed able to do was to repeat the 
 words, " I had a mother once," and then, cutting the 
 whole heart out of his exquisite little speech, to conclude 
 with its final lines, " My mother was dead. Her tears 
 weigh upon me yet." Without, apparently, heeding 
 what had taken place (and honestly, I believe they did 
 not notice it), the audience rewarded him with a round 
 
176 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 of applause, and he went on to the end of the piece 
 with his usual success. Over his after-supper cigar that 
 night Sothern said to me — 
 
 " Did you notice an alteration in Garrick ? " 
 
 Anxious to spare his feelings, I answered that I 
 thought the piece had never gone better. 
 
 " But surely," he continued, " you saw an amend- 
 ment in the last act ? " 
 
 Thus cornered, I said, " Oh, you mean about Gar- 
 rick's story of his mother ? Yes, I did notice that. 
 But it did not matter — you know how the house 
 applauded." 
 
 " Yes," said Sothern, apparently in his happiest mood. 
 " It is the best cut ever made in a play. The audience 
 don't want to know anything about that old lady and 
 her ailments. She isn't in the piece, and nobody cares 
 about her. All they want Garrick to say is what I said 
 to-night, ' I had a mother once. My mother was dead. 
 Her tears weigh upon me yet.' That's common sense ; 
 that's human nature. Every man has had a mother 
 once ; almost every man's mother is dead ; and cer- 
 tainly every decent-minded man would like his mother's 
 tears to weigh upon him yet. That's all I'm going 
 to say in the future." 
 
 And with this Dundreary-like observation he sank 
 into his chair and smoked contentedly. 
 
 Dear, sunny-minded Sothern ; it was so like him to 
 make the best of everything ! The sorely perplexed Ada 
 Ingot of that evening was pretty Miss Julia Stewart, 
 the young actress who made such a notable success 
 at the Haymarket Theatre as the winsome " guid " 
 
DAVID GARRICK 177 
 
 Scotch lassie of W. S, Gilbert's whimsical comedy, 
 Engaged. 
 
 This was in the spring of 1879, and they were poor 
 Sothern's last appearances upon the boards on which he 
 had done some of his earliest work, and had learned to 
 love. Oddly enough, on the last night of the existence 
 of the old playhouse, whose history dated back to 1774, 
 Charles Wyndham gave a special performance of David 
 Garricky and made a most interesting valedictory speech. 
 This was in January, 1902, and I shall refer to it in a 
 later chapter. 
 
 When, in 1886, Charles Wyndham wisely regarded 
 his friends' advice and revived David Garrick at the 
 Criterion Theatre, he recognised the fact that within the 
 twenty-two years that had elapsed since its first produc- 
 tion criticism had progressed, and that though Sothern's 
 acting and personality had conquered all difficulties, 
 Robertson's play was not well constructed. Sothern, 
 for example, had to make his exit after the famous 
 drunken scene in the middle of an act, and if he was 
 compelled, as he generally was, to respond to a call, 
 he did it to the destruction of the scene and the despair 
 of his fellow-actors. And so without at all detracting 
 from, but rather adding to, the charm of the story, the 
 actor-manager of the Criterion had the play deftly 
 refashioned, and it was in a greatly improved piece 
 of stagecraft that he faced his delighted fir,st-night 
 audience. 
 
 I believe that for these slight but well-advised altera- 
 tions the services both of James Albery and Alfred 
 C. Calmour, the well-known dramatist and author of 
 
178 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 that charming dramatic idyll, The Amber Heart, in which 
 Miss Ellen Terry was wont to fascinate her audiences, 
 were called in. 
 
 David James was the Simon Ingot of the new cast 
 and played it to perfection. It is a good part, and that 
 master of old comedy, William Farren, who subse- 
 quently appeared in it, told me that it was a favourite 
 one with him. George Giddens, who gave an admirable 
 rendering of the character, was the Squire Chivy ; 
 William Blakeley the Smith ; and Miss Mary Moore 
 the Ada Ingot. 
 
 I do not think that in these pages I need dwell on an 
 impersonation that has engraven itself on the hearts of 
 almost a generation of playgoers, and is as popular to- 
 day as it was eighteen years ago. Charles Wyndham's 
 David Garrick will live in stage history, and it deserves 
 to do so, for in it humour and pathos, high spirits and 
 earnestness are blended with the skill of a consummate 
 artist. Such acting as this, appealing as it does to all 
 that is emotional and good in human nature, will surely, 
 surely live as long as the world goes round. 
 
 How well he was, and ever has been, supported by 
 Miss Mary Moore as Ada Ingot, he would be the first 
 to acknowledge. Hers was, and always has been, the 
 worthy companion picture of a great masterpiece. 
 Although he has never said so to me, I sometimes fancy 
 that his almost phenomenal triumph as Garrick (and it 
 is a triumph that should ensure the lasting success of 
 any actor) has sometimes, by very reason of its great- 
 ness, proved a little irksome to the ever-artistically 
 aspiring Charles Wyndham. If, while a new play is 
 
DAVID GARRICK 179 
 
 being rehearsed, David Garrick is announced as a con- 
 venient stopgap, the business at the box-office becomes 
 so brisk that the production of the novelty would be in- 
 definitely postponed unless the actor-manager had the 
 courage to break the run of a revival in the high tide of 
 renewed financial success. Just as Sothern used to 
 moan, " 1 don't want to be always Dundreary," so 
 Charles Wyndham may sometimes murmur to himself 
 (I don't know that he does), " Am I to be Garrick for 
 ever ? " 
 
 . But Charles Wyndham has done things with Robert- 
 son's once despised, dust-covered play undreamt of by 
 Sothern. The Prince of Wales (now our good King 
 Edward VII.) was so pleased with the revival of a piece 
 that had delighted him in Sothern's day that he " com- 
 manded" a performance of it at Sandringham. With 
 every demonstration of approval this took place on 
 January 7th, 1887, before H.R.H. the Prince of 
 Wales, H.R.H. the Princess of Wales and their distin- 
 guished Yuletide house-party. I reproduce a copy 
 of the programme connected with a most interesting 
 performance. 
 
 In the same year Charles Wyndham translated the play 
 into German, and in that language, and, with the ex- 
 ception of Miss Mary Moore, supported by a German 
 company, successfully carried out the bold experiment 
 of playing it in November, first at Liegnitz and then 
 at Berlin. But like most experiments, it seemed likely 
 at one time to prove a disappointment. Those trial 
 performances at Liegnitz were given, as far as Garrick 
 and Ada were concerned, with anxious hearts, and for 
 the following reason. 
 
i8o SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 The Berlin engagement was made in the summer, 
 simply on the reputation of a great London success ; but 
 when the German manager read the translation in the 
 autumn he took the strongest objection to its being 
 played. The fact is, that as a manuscript, David Garrick, 
 in its simplicity, does not read as a good play, and this 
 being his first season in management, he was so alarmed 
 at the possibilities of failure that he tried all sorts of in- 
 ducements to persuade Charles Wyndham to abandon the 
 engagement, and Charles Wyndham would have been very 
 pleased to do so, relying on the manager's experience of 
 German audiences, had the engagement not been widely 
 circulated in the English newspapers. It was impossible 
 for him, therefore, to withdraw. The manager, in his 
 prudence, felt then that his best policy would be to tell 
 everybody, critics included, that he feared he had made 
 a mistake, and that the piece, which he had taken simply 
 on its reputation, was not up to the level of German 
 requirements. When Charles Wyndham suggested to 
 him that it was very bad policy, seeing that he was 
 bound to go on with it, he confessed that he had done so 
 because that was his first season, and he wanted to pre- 
 serve his reputation as a wise one in his selections. 
 Manager and actor, however, were very friendly to- 
 gether, and at last the great night came. All the elite 
 of Berlin were there, including the British Ambassador 
 and all his staff. Mr. Wyndham's wife and their 
 daughter had accompanied the bold actor and Miss 
 Moore to Germany. They were among the first to be 
 seated in the house, and as his daughter understood 
 German, she was very much mortified to hear, in her 
 
SANDRINGHAM 
 
 FRIDAY EVENING. JANUARY 7th, 1887, 
 At Ten o'clock (Sandringham Time), 
 
 DAVID GARRICK 
 
 David Garrick -Mr. CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 ,:Simoa Ingnt Mr. DAVID JAMES 
 
 Squire Chivey .„ Mr, GEORGE GIDDENS 
 
 Smitb Mr. WILLIAM BLAKELEY 
 
 Brovvn „ Mt A. BERNARD 
 
 Jones Mr. J. R. SHERMAN 
 
 George (Garrick's Servant) Mr. W E. GREGORY 
 
 Groom Mr. F. G. DARBISHIRE 
 
 Thomas Mr. F. E.MERY 
 
 Mrs. Smith Miss FFOLLIOTT PAGET 
 
 Miss Araminta Brown Miss EMILY MILLER 
 
 Ada Ingot Miss MARY MOORE 
 
 The action takes place in Ingot's Drawing Room and 
 Garrick s Study. 
 
 GOD SAYS THe QUSecq 
 
182 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 neighbourhood, somebody telling a friend that they had 
 " come to see the English clowns." Such was the im- 
 pression given by the manager's forewarnings. As 
 David Garrick is rather a short play, the manager was 
 producing a new one-act German piece, to which he had 
 taken a great fancy, and to which he had given extra- 
 ordinary preliminary praise in all the newspapers. He 
 cast it with his leading lady and some of the best 
 members of his company. To the surprise of every- 
 body, and to the trepidation of the anxious Charles 
 Wyndham, the curtain fell on it with a pronounced con- 
 demnation of hisses and abuse. As the leading lady 
 came off he considerately asked her not to tell poor 
 nervous Miss Moore of this scene. Such was her spirit 
 of good comradeship that she ran up to Miss Moore's 
 room and told her that the audience were in splendid form 
 and humour, and most amiable, thus saving the debutante 
 from any sense of alarm. David Garrick had not been 
 playing more than eight minutes when its further pro- 
 gress was stopped by the audience recalling Miss Moore 
 on to the stage after her first exit, and from that 
 moment the piece went on triumphantly, Charles Wynd- 
 ham and Miss Moore being the recipients of an extra- 
 ordinary compliment at the end of the second act, when 
 the Press sent round an unanimous expression of con- 
 gratulation. At the end of the piece. Miss Moore, 
 Charles Wyndham, and his family were being enter- 
 tained at a supper at an hotel, about thirty people 
 sitting down, when the manager, who was being feasted 
 in the same building (probably in a spirit of anticipatory 
 condolence), begged permission to join the Wyndham 
 
DAVID GARRICK 183 
 
 circle for a little while, and before he sat down made an 
 eloquent speech, apologising for his adverse criticisms, 
 and acknowledging the great success in art which had 
 been achieved. Rather an amusing incident at that same 
 supper was Charles Wyndham pretending to forget what 
 he had to say in his German speech, and calling upon 
 Miss Moore to finish it for him, the point being that 
 she was very diffident with regard to her knowledge of 
 the German language, and would most probably be un- 
 equal to such an emergency. However, she got the 
 best of the joke by responding in a remarkably neat 
 and well-delivered little speech in excellent German. 
 The fact was that early in the day it had occurred 
 to her that she might possibly be mischievously tried 
 in this way, and, determining to be equal to the occa- 
 sion, had carefully prepared and studied a few tactful 
 sentences. 
 
 The success of David Garrick at Liegnitz ought to 
 have told that curiously constituted German manager 
 that his fears for Berlin were absolutely groundless. 
 Here are two translated criticisms of that interesting 
 first performance. 
 
 The Liegnitz Tagblatt of November nth said : — 
 "When a foreigner treads the boards of a German 
 theatre, and speaks his part in the German language, it 
 is a chance that, even in the event of success, we our- 
 selves find that a not very interesting experiment is the 
 outcome. With this idea we went last night to the 
 theatre, but we came away again with the impression of a 
 real art enjoyment, which we shall hold in our memory 
 for a long time. Mr. Wyndham and Miss Moore, from 
 
i84 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the Criterion Theatre, London, trod in Liegnitz for the 
 first time a German stage. 
 
 " Mr. Wyndham is not alone a good actor, he is an 
 eminent artist. Already in the first act his gait, gesture, 
 tone showed that we had a good actor before us, who 
 had his part thoroughly and clearly worked out, though 
 sometimes, in the speeches between Garrick and Ingot, 
 some effect was injured by the English accent of the 
 star. But in the second act, in which Garrick almost 
 exclusively dominates the stage, we were more deeply 
 and strongly affected through the power of the repre- 
 sentation. Garrick plays a drunkard because he has 
 given his word of honour to cure the passion of the girl 
 who loves him and whom he passionately adores. He 
 plays the jolly drunkard, the money-grabbing gambler, 
 the bully, to provoke the disgust of her at whose feet 
 he would like to fling himself. The tumult of feeling 
 which follows was played in a masterly style by Mr. 
 Wyndham. In the midst of the wild bustle sounded the 
 heart-breaking sigh from an anguished heart ; over the 
 convulsed face of the seeming drunkard stole the shadow 
 of deep pain ; and, with the restless, shifting eye, crept 
 the expression of the soul-agony as the figure of the 
 lover disappeared, and through the harsh tones of an 
 excited voice were heard the thrilling sounds of in- 
 describable misery. In such a performance we forget 
 the accent of the foreigner ; one would have understood 
 him and been affected by his by-play even if he had not 
 spoken at all. On the same high level stands the acting 
 of Mr. Wyndham in the third act, and the public 
 followed breathlessly what took place on the stage, and 
 broke out afterwards into immense applause. Seldom 
 
By pcrlinssion of tin Drayailt Galhiy. Int.' lUirraKit An, Ox/onl Strcl . L, u Ion 
 
 SIR CHARLES WVNUHAM AND MISS MARY MOORE IN IiAVID GAKKICK 
 
 I'acinL; pa>:e 184 
 
DAVID GARRICK 185 
 
 have we seen the Liegnitz audience^ which is generally 
 considered very cold, so enthusiastic. And they were 
 right. Mr. Wyndham is a great artist. Miss Moore, 
 who played the part of Ada Ingot, charms through 
 her tender, pure appearance — through her sweet face 
 with the large speaking eyes. She also is an actress of 
 considerable talent for the sentimental part ; she pos- 
 sesses very touching tones, but she has more difficulties 
 to master in the German language than her companion, 
 and cannot, therefore, show her art in the same manner. 
 Excellent was her expulsion of Garrick in Act ii., and 
 the expression of pain and doubt in the third act. She 
 also received well-merited applause." 
 
 The Liegnitz Zeitung of November nth said : — 
 "The play is no lustspiel, as described in the bills. 
 The piece is one of much art, and stage effect, and 
 should be called a comedy. The characterisation of 
 each part is strongly marked ; the action of the scenes 
 is quite in accordance with the rules of art, so that a 
 success of the comedy, even with poorer players, would 
 be assured. 
 
 " Mr. Wyndham, who, with the exception of a few 
 harsh expressions, speaks the German language in a 
 perfectly masterly manner, acted with rare accomplish- 
 ment. In bearing, gait, and gesture, and, above all, in 
 the tone of his voice, the representation of Garrick was 
 all in unity, from the first word up to the last joyous cry. 
 We saw the hot tears of a man — we heard the true 
 agony of a heart martyred to death and captivated, 
 excited and touched — we forgot that it was only a poetical 
 picture presented to us. The artist took us by storm, 
 as only a God-inspired genius can. The great drunken 
 
186 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 scene, in its completeness and wonderfully thought-out 
 detail, was a happy, exceptional work of art, which 
 showed us, in an unaffected manner, the inmost heart of 
 Garrick. Miss Moore, who has a lovely appearance, 
 took at once the hearts of her hearers prisoners. The 
 actress put into the part of Ada a wonderful charm ; 
 she moved us as the loving daughter in intercourse 
 with her father, and enchanted us when she joked and 
 laughed ; but, above all, she was great in the last grand 
 scene with Garrick, when she rose up in all her love. 
 Especially good was the by-play of the artist, which, 
 particularly in the drunken scene, was unsurpassable. 
 Nothing was to be seen of the usual theatrical gestures ; 
 it was all so natural, so artistically simple, that the 
 moderated method of the accomplished actress astonished 
 us. We left, last night, the theatre with the conscious- 
 ness of having experienced an enjoyment that can almost 
 be pronounced unprecedented, and we are sorry for 
 those who have not witnessed the same with us. The 
 stars earned almost exceptional applause and calls never 
 known here before." 
 
 Equal praise was accorded them in Berlin, and, hear- 
 ing of this great theatrical attraction, the Czar expressed 
 his strong desire to see David Garrick at St. Petersburg. 
 Accordingly Charles Wyndham and Miss Moore ex- 
 tended their travels to Russia, and appeared both at 
 St. Petersburg and Moscow, and at the former city were 
 on one occasion recalled before the curtain no less than 
 twelve times after the second act. 
 
 Their acting afforded so much pleasure to the Czar 
 that he presented Charles Wyndham with a handsome 
 
DAVID GARRICK 187 
 
 ring, and Miss Moore with an exquisite brooch, both 
 richly set with rubies and diamonds. 
 
 And thereby hangs a tale. 
 
 In the days when Sothern was in the best of high 
 spirits, and plying to the top of its bent his extra- 
 ordinary mania for practical joking, he subtly induced 
 Charles Wyndham to enter into one of his elaborately 
 prepared "sells," as he used to call them. Charles 
 Wyndham, it should be noted, although he possessed a 
 sense of humour equal to that of Sothern, was never 
 prepared to go as far as he did to attain his ends, 
 but was quite as successful in carrying out a harmless 
 jest. 
 
 Indeed, he had, as a rule, little sympathy in such 
 affairs, and when I told him I proposed to put the 
 following story into my book, he wrote me : — 
 
 ** My dear Pemberton, 
 
 "There is, when one views the matter in cold 
 blood, something apparently heartless in practical jokes, 
 and I am not sure that this one will prove interesting 
 from your readers' point of view. My memory awakens 
 as I recall it, and I cannot help laughing at all Sothern's 
 machinations, but I wonder a little whether others, not 
 familiar with him and his methods, will see fun in it. 
 Your stories about him are eminently funny, but they 
 would lose, I think, a little by the substitution of 
 printer's ink for your racy method of telling them. 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 " Charles Wyndham." 
 
 As it happened I was able to prove to him that in my 
 memoir of poor Sothern those practical joke stories had 
 
i88 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 proved remarkably popular with the public, and so he 
 left the matter in my hands, realising that the victim of 
 the joke — Edgar Bruce — had learnt to laugh at it long 
 before his all too early death. 
 
 I think my readers will be amused with it, and even 
 amazed at it, for in the oddest way it foreshadowed 
 Charles Wyndham's then undreamt-of Russian engage- 
 ment. It certainly was an elaborate joke, for it extended 
 over six weeks ; but this was nothing to Sothern, who 
 would have loved to extend it over six years if he could, 
 and, if he had been able to find them, in six hemi- 
 spheres. 
 
 What happened was this. In the spring of 1875 
 Charles Wyndham and Edgar Bruce were playing in the 
 perennial Brighton at the Standard Theatre, in Shore- 
 ditch — West End stars went there in those days — when, 
 one night, in response to a cordial invitation, they supped 
 with Sothern. At the bountifully spread table sat a 
 fine, handsome man, with a big black beard and foreign 
 appearance. Sothern rather incoherently introduced 
 
 him to the later comers as Count purposely, and 
 
 in accordance with his mischievous custom, so slurring 
 over the name that his hearers could not grasp it. 
 Thus it came about that the nearest approach to the 
 name that came from Sothern's lips was, to Edgar Bruce's 
 apprehension, " Count ShouvaloflT," who was at that 
 time Russian Ambassador in London. It was in the 
 nature of things that Sothern and Wyndham should 
 at once accept the situation, and immediately Sothern 
 began to tell Wyndham and Bruce that the Count had 
 been good enough to promise his influence with the 
 
DAVID GARRICK 189 
 
 Czar to procure an engagement for Sothern to play 
 Dundreary at St. Petersburg. The supposed Count, 
 quite alive to the necessity of the situation, confined his 
 observations to the monosyllables "Yes" and "No." 
 So when Wyndham said, "What a great opportunity 
 this is for Sothern ! " the only reply he extorted was, 
 "Yes" ; and. when Wyndham asked if there would be 
 any difficulty in getting him an engagement to play 
 Brighton in St. Petersburg, the answer was an emphatic 
 « No." 
 
 " With your Excellency's permission," said Wyndham, 
 " I will call at the Embassy to-morrow and arrange 
 details." 
 
 " Yes, yes," was the encouraging reply. 
 
 "You will go, Bruce."*" said Wyndham, turning to 
 his colleague. 
 
 " Certainly, my boy," said Bruce, " I shall be delighted. 
 I have always wanted to see Russia." 
 
 " Then that settles it," said Sothern ; " we will all go 
 together." 
 
 The distinguished Count, finding it difficult to sus- 
 tain his character, or else fearing artistically that this 
 was the right time to take his departure, rose and left 
 the room, bowed out eiFusively by Sothern, Wyndham, 
 and Bruce. 
 
 Now if the reader can realise the mental excitement 
 of Bruce at the great prospect before him, and is at all 
 familiar with the remarkable talent that Sothern pos- 
 sessed for practical joking, he can imagine what fun was 
 evolved in the next hour by Sothern and Wyndham with 
 Bruce, discussing the details of the trip. It ended at 
 
I90 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 last in an arrangement that Bruce was to give up acting 
 enti^rely, and become manager to Sothern and Wyndham, 
 with a view to his permanently settling down in St. 
 Petersburg as manager of all foreign attractions. 
 
 A programme extending over two or three years was 
 there and then drawn up, embracing visits to Russia of 
 every known actor in London, under Bruce's auspices, 
 this gentleman charging himself with drawing out the 
 whole details and submitting them within a week to 
 Sothern and Wyndham. With anybody else but a genius 
 like Sothern, this little passing joke would have ended 
 here, but not so with him ; he was in his element. 
 Nothing in life afforded him so much pleasure as was 
 offered him at this point ; therefore it was not surprising 
 that on the following evening, when Brighton was 
 proceeding at the Standard Theatre, a hansom cab 
 drove up and a large official letter with a coat-of-arms 
 was handed to Wyndham, the contents as follows : — 
 
 " Charles Wyndham, Esq. 
 
 « Sir, 
 
 " His Excellency desires your acceptance of the 
 accompanying ring as a souvenir of a very pleasant even- 
 ing he spent in your society. He would like much to 
 know what you think would be acceptable to Mr. Bruce. 
 
 "Yours, " 
 
 And here followed a good three-syllabled, unmistakable 
 Russian name. 
 
 Wyndham, apt pupil of his master, contented himself 
 with ejaculating the greatest surprise in the presence of 
 
DAVID GARRICK 191 
 
 Bruce (who was dressing in the same room with him), 
 and hastily put the letter in his pocket. The incident and 
 the bearing of Wyndham caused a momentary curiosity in 
 Bruce's mind, but it was evident to him that Wyndham 
 wanted to keep his own counsel, so no further questions 
 were asked. Half an hour later, however, Wyndham 
 asked Bruce casually what his idea of an acceptable 
 present would be. Bruce replied, " 1 don't know ; I 
 think a nice ring or a nice tie-pin ; but why ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing," answered Wyndham. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asked Bruce again. 
 
 " Nothing," said Wyndham ; " let us talk of something 
 else." And there the matter ended. 
 
 A night or two later these two were supping again 
 with Sothern and a few of his friends, with a view, after 
 everybody had gone, of discussing the Russian business. 
 This time Bruce's mind was so impregnated with the 
 idea that he could think of nothing else. It was natural 
 that previous to sitting down to table, the three, with 
 the great secret between them, should drift apart from 
 the rest of the company. 
 
 " Did you get your ring } " asked Sothern of Wynd- 
 ham in an audible confidential tone. 
 
 " Yes," said Wyndham, with comic indignation. 
 " What an absurd idea to send me such a magnificent 
 thing as that ! I cannot wear it." 
 
 " Yes, it was magnificent," said Sothern. " I saw it 
 before it was sent down to the theatre to you. I knew 
 he was going to do it, because he was so charmed with 
 you and Bruce." 
 
 « What's that .? " said Bruce, " what's that ? " 
 
192 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " What ? Didn't you see Wyndham's ring ? " in- 
 quired Sothern, 
 
 " Ring ? What ring ? I have heard nothing about a 
 ring." 
 
 " Oh," said Sothern, " His Excellency sent Wyndham 
 a magnificent diamond and ruby ring worth two hundred 
 and fifty guineas." 
 
 " Why didn't you show it to me ? " said Bruce to 
 Wyndham. 
 
 " Because I was ashamed of it," said Wyndham ; " the 
 idea of my parading a two hundred and fifty guinea ring 
 on my finger ! " 
 
 " You are a remarkable man," said Bruce ; " I only 
 wish I had the chance." 
 
 "Didn't you tell His Excellency what Bruce would 
 like ? " asked Sothern of Wyndham. 
 
 " No," said Wyndham ; " I merely thanked His 
 Excellency in a letter, and said, ' With regard to Bruce, 
 I decline to interfere in the matter.' " 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " said Bruce at once. 
 
 " Oh, nothing," said Wyndham ; " I thought it would 
 be bad taste on my part to say what you would like." 
 
 Sothern had at this point assumed a serio-comic ex- 
 pression, with which he regarded Wyndham, as much as 
 to say, " I am disappointed in this man " — then turning 
 to Bruce : " Never mind, old fellow, I will see about 
 it. You shan't be forgotten." 
 
 Then everybody sat down to supper, Wyndham sitting 
 on Sothern's right. Half-way through supper Sothern 
 whispered to Wyndham, " Have a quarrel." Instantly 
 Wyndham hammered his fist upon the table and declared 
 
DAVID GARRICK 193 
 
 he would stand it no longer ; got up, and walked to the 
 door. There was general consternation, and at the door 
 Wyndham turned to Bruce and said, " Are you coming 
 with me, or are you going to stay in this place ? " 
 
 " What's the matter, old man ? " said Bruce. 
 
 " No matter what's the matter ; you will have to 
 choose between here and Sothern, Russia and me." 
 
 Wyndham then walked out of the room, Bruce 
 following, begging to know what was the matter. 
 " Sufficient," said Wyndham, " that I tell you I never 
 wish to speak to Sothern again as long as I live." 
 
 "Nonsense, nonsense," said Bruce, "you must not 
 at such a critical time break up all our prospects. Come 
 back and make it up." 
 
 " No, no," said Wyndham, " I leave at once ; I shake 
 the dust off from this infernal house for ever." 
 
 "Wait a moment for me, then," said Bruce, and 
 rushed up to Sothern, who was still with his guests 
 at the table. 
 
 " Come down, come down, my dear fellow," he said, 
 and make it up with Wyndham. I don't know what 
 it's all about, but you two fellows must not quarrel." 
 
 Solemnly and with great feeling Sothern declared — 
 
 " It's impossible ; I never wish to see Wyndham 
 again." 
 
 Down rushed Bruce to the hall door to again try and 
 persuade Wyndham to return, but in vain ; up again 
 to Sothern with a like object and an equally fruitless 
 result, and finding all reconciliation impossible, he came 
 away with Wyndham, but not before he had elicited 
 from Sothern the cause of the quarrel. 
 
194 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " Charley," said Bruce, " Charley, you are in the 
 wrong ! It is through Sothern that we are going to 
 Russia, and you are ungracious enough to accuse him, 
 at the supper-table, of being jealous." 
 
 "Well," said Wyndham, "he accused me of having 
 crept into the scheme uninvited, and I could not permit 
 such an insult." 
 
 "But, my dear fellow, the idea of breaking off a big 
 affair like this for so little ! " 
 
 He walked home with Wyndham, entreating him to 
 make it up till three o'clock in the morning, when 
 Wyndham apparently gave way and told Bruce to draft 
 a copy of the kind of letter he would like written to 
 Sothern. The letter when finished and approved was 
 to this effect : — 
 
 " Dear Sothern, 
 
 " I am very sorry we have had any unpleasant- 
 ness to-night ; the fact of the matter was I came to 
 your supper in an irritable state of mind ; I had acted 
 Brighton at the Crystal Palace during the day and at 
 night at the theatre, and I suppose I was tired. Of 
 course, I am very much obliged to you for your assist- 
 ance over this Russian business, and I hope now that 
 bygones will be bygones. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, « Charles Wyndham. 
 
 " P. S.— Don't forget about Bruce's ring.— C. W," 
 
 Next night came down a hansom cab to the Standard 
 Theatre from the Haymarket, with a letter to Wyndham. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I accept your apology, and I never wish to see 
 your infernal face again. .« Sothern." 
 
DAVID GARRICK 195 
 
 Wyndham pitched the note over to Bruce, indignantly 
 saying, "There now, you see what you have done for 
 me. You have made me humiliate myself only to get 
 another insult ! Now, is it possible for me to go to 
 Russia with such a man as that ? " 
 
 "I cannot make it out," said Bruce. "I was with 
 Sothern at twelve o'clock to-day, and he told me it 
 would be all right. Never mind ; we shall meet him 
 to-night at Wallis McKay's reception, and there I will 
 settle the matter." 
 
 " No," said Wyndham, " I cannot go there to be 
 insulted by Sothern." 
 
 " My dear fellow," said Bruce, " you must. We must 
 not let such a grand thing as this Russian business come 
 to grief through a little quarrel." 
 
 " Well," said Wyndham, " I will tell you what we 
 will do ; you shall go first and take a letter from me. 
 If he wishes that we still be friends, let me know, and 
 I will come in a quarter of an hour afterwards ; if 
 otherwise, you must give me a signal and I will go 
 away, because it would never do for him and me to 
 be seen in the same room and not talking to each 
 other." 
 
 This was the letter that Wyndham handed to Bruce 
 for perusal : — 
 
 " Dear Sothern, 
 
 "I am very sorry for my share in the quarrel 
 last night, and I know you well enough to believe that 
 by this time you are equally sorry. It is quite true 
 that I did accuse you of being jealous of my going to 
 St. Petersburg also ; but you must not forget that you 
 
196 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 accused me of having crept into the affair. Now, had 
 you said that I had sneaked into it, or wriggled into it, 
 I should not have minded ; but when you said I crept 
 into it I felt hurt. Let bygones be bygones. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " Wyndham." 
 
 " The wording is very peculiar," said Bruce, " but it 
 will do." And he took it to Sothern. 
 
 Now, at the first blush, one would imagine only any- 
 one very simple would be the bearer of such a letter ; 
 but anybody who knew Bruce's excitable nature, and 
 can imagine how absorbed he had become in this 
 grand Russian scheme, would understand how, in 
 consideration of such grand results, these little ab- 
 surdities in the excitement of the moment would escape 
 his attention. 
 
 Wyndham arrived at Wallis McKay's reception. 
 Sothern had graciously notified Bruce that he would 
 receive Wyndham, and so these three worthies were 
 again brought together. To many who were there and 
 are still alive this will be an elucidation of Wyndham's 
 erratic conduct on that memorable occasion. 
 
 After a consultation together, Sothern impressed 
 upon his two friends the necessity of absolute silence 
 about the Russian business until the Czar's signature 
 had been obtained. 
 
 For the present, he explained, ShouvalofF was using all 
 his influence so that the invitation should come, as it 
 were, as a special favour from the Czar to him — " for if 
 it should be discovered," he was reported to have said, 
 
DAVID GARRICK 197 
 
 " that the whole thing had been planned over here for 
 our benefit, the Czar might be angry and tear up the 
 order for us to act ; therefore let me impress upon you 
 both to ke;ep your lips resolutely closed for the next two 
 or three weeks." Both pledged themselves to im- 
 penetrable silence, and immediately Wyndham walked 
 away and began buttonholing everybody he came 
 across, bewildering and astonishing them by questions 
 as to their opinion of the condition of the Russian 
 stage, the climate of Russia, whether the Czar liked 
 theatricals, and every conceivable question in connection 
 with the object in view. 
 
 Can the reader imagine the distress portrayed by that 
 consummate actor Sothern, as time after time he begged 
 Bruce to stop Wyndham talking about Russia } No 
 sooner would Wyndham buttonhole any guest than 
 Bruce would be at his side, pulling his sleeve and 
 begging him in the name of Heaven to be silent. 
 
 " Why should I be silent ? " Wyndham would reply. 
 "This gentleman does not understand that I have any 
 particular object in asking this question. Do you, 
 now ? " he would ask, turning to the guest. " The fact 
 of the matter is, we have a great plan in view, Sothern, 
 Bruce, and I. I cannot tell you anything about it, for 
 Sothern says it is necessary for us to keep it quiet. 
 But can you understand from anything I have said — 
 and I want you to reassure Bruce on the point — that 
 the great plan we three are arranging is in any way 
 connected with Russia ? " 
 
 " No, indeed," the guest would say, and wonder what 
 on earth was the matter with Wyndham, whether there 
 
198 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 was a passing touch of insanity, or whether Wallis 
 McKay's champagne had been too liberally handed 
 round. 
 
 " Don't worry me another time," Wyndham would 
 say to Bruce in a loud voice ; " tell Sothern to mind 
 his own business, I can keep a secret as well as he 
 can." 
 
 And again he would turn away and begin talking to 
 somebody about Russia. 
 
 " It is no use," said Bruce finally to Sothern. "Wynd- 
 ham has completely lost his head and I cannot hold him 
 back ! " 
 
 Sothern, of course, was in despair. " Dear, dear ! " 
 he would say. " Cannot you persuade him to go home ? 
 He is talking to everybody about Russia, and presently 
 everybody will talk, and we shall lose our chance." 
 
 No, Wyndham would not go, and he assured every- 
 body in a loud voice that no one would know that 
 Russia was uppermost in his mind. 
 
 " Well," said Sothern in another serious confidence 
 with Bruce, " it is a thousand pities that Wyndham is 
 in it with us at all. I cannot think why I ever per- 
 mitted him to come into it, for to tell you the truth, I 
 don't like Wyndham." 
 
 " Oh, he is all right," said Bruce. 
 
 " No, he is not," replied Sothern, " and I think it 
 best to warn you he is no friend of yours." 
 
 " Oh, nonsense," said Bruce, " I have known him a 
 great number of years." 
 
 " All the same, he is no friend of yours, and not a 
 sincere man." 
 
DAVID GARRICK 199 
 
 " What do you mean ? " inquired Bruce. 
 
 " Well, look here," said Sothern, " I don't want to 
 make any mischief, but I like you and I don't like 
 Wyndham ; therefore I will tell you all, but don't 
 mention it again, even to Wyndham. Ever since the 
 arrangement was made with His Excellency, Wyndham 
 has been striving might and main to get you out of the 
 business." 
 
 " Are you quite sure of that ? " said Bruce. 
 
 " Quite," said Sothern, " and I will tell you what— 
 he wants to introduce a cousin of his as manager of the 
 affair ; and if I can help it I am quite detetmined not to 
 have any of his family mixed up in it." 
 
 All this, it is needless to say, was conveyed to Wynd- 
 ham by Sothern a few minutes later. 
 
 For a day or two Bruce treated Wyndham with a 
 most profound reserve ; but at last he could bear it no 
 longer, and, taking advantage of a long " wait," when 
 they were both resting in their dressing-room, he put 
 his chair opposite to his companion's and placing his 
 hands on his knees, said, " Wyndham, I cannot keep it 
 any longer ! Sothern said I was not to mention a word 
 about it, but I must really know. Sothern says you are 
 trying to work me out of this Russian business, and 
 get a cousin of your own in as manager. Is it true ? " 
 
 " What ! " shouted Wyndham, jumping up in indig- 
 nation, " did Sothern tell you that ? The double-dyed 
 traitor ! The villainous humbug ! Now I will tell 
 you the truth, Brure. It is Sothern who is trying to 
 work you out of it against my will. He wants to get 
 Blackmore, the agent, into it, and I have put my foot 
 
2CX3 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 down most heavily against Blackmore. You go to him 
 to-morrow with this letter which I shall now write, and 
 make him read it before you, and let him dare say there 
 is a word of untruth in it ! " 
 
 This is the letter that Bruce took to Sothern on the 
 following morning : — 
 
 " Dear Sothern, 
 
 " I am surprised at your saying I wanted to work 
 Bruce out of the Russian business and get in my cousin. 
 All I said to you was, that as Bruce was no linguist, and 
 as my cousin was, it would be better for my cousin 
 to be associated with Bruce in the affair ; to travel with 
 him, to eat with him, and to sleep with him, so that 
 Bruce should never be at a loss. 
 « Yours, 
 
 " Charles Wyndham." 
 
 " Well," said Sothern the next morning, when he 
 read the letter, " there is some truth in what Wyndham 
 says ; but all the same, I don't trust Wyndham, and 
 I advise you to be on your guard against him, for I 
 swear he is no friend of yours." 
 
 All the time this was going on the "ring" fiction 
 was being actively worked. Sothern had enlisted the 
 assistance of his friend Captain Atkinson, and a letter 
 was written to Bruce saying that the Secretary to the 
 Russian Ambassador would call down at the theatre 
 to consult with him as to what would be most accept- 
 able to him in the form of a present, His Excellency 
 being most anxious to signalise the pleasure of the 
 introduction to him by consulting his taste as to the 
 form of the souvenir. 
 
DAVID GARRICK 201 
 
 Captain Atkinson used to call at the stage door, 
 timing his arrival so that the message to the effect that 
 " The Secretary to the Russian Ambassador desired 
 to see Mr. Edgar Bruce " was delivered just as that 
 gentleman was going to rush upon the stage for a long 
 scene. How vivaciously and rapidly Bruce used to act 
 that scene, and how Wyndham would purposely flag 
 in his part of it, introducing gags to prolong it and 
 exciting the impatience of his fellow-actor, can be easily 
 imagined ; also the disgust with which Bruce would 
 rush at the termination of the scene to the stage door 
 to find that the Secretary had left word with the hall^ 
 keeper that he was so sorry he had an important en- 
 gagement, and could not wait any longer, but would 
 call again in a few days. 
 
 The industry of Sothern was marvellous. He next 
 went to Streeter, the jeweller, took that gentleman 
 into his confidence, and secured a most gorgeous brace- 
 let on loan. He pressed into service a lady to wear it 
 at a supper which he gave to one or two friends, 
 naturally with Wyndham and Bruce present. Sothern 
 confided to Bruce that the bracelet was given by His 
 Excellency as a souvenir of the pleasure he had experi- 
 enced on being introduced to its wearer, which naturally 
 served to whet the devouring impatience of Bruce for 
 another call at the stage door by the Secretary to the 
 Russian Ambassador. 
 
 So engrossed had Bruce become in the whole affair 
 that some few weeks elapsed before it occurred to him 
 that he had never seen Wyndham's ring. 
 
 " You shall see it at once, my dear boy," said Wynd- 
 
202 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 ham ; " you shall see how ridiculous it was to give me 
 a present so magnificent that I cannot wear it. Come 
 home with me to-night and I will show it to you. No, 
 not to-night ; I am going out ; come home with me 
 to-morrow night." 
 
 To-morrow night Bruce was going out, but the third 
 night was fixed upon, to be again postponed. And so a 
 week dragged its length along, until Wyndham went to 
 Bruce, and in indignant tones commented upon the 
 humbugging disposition of Sothern. 
 
 " What do you mean .'' " said Bruce. 
 
 "Why, you remember he told me that that ring 
 of mine was worth two hundred and fifty guineas ; well, 
 seeing how impossible it was for me ever to wear it, 
 I determined this morning to sell it, and all I got for it 
 was ninety guineas ! " 
 
 " Good heavens ! " exclaimed Bruce, " what a dis- 
 satisfied man you are ! You are complaining of a 
 present which has only realised ninety guineas ! Why, 
 even then it must be a magnificent affair, and, hang it 1 
 I haven't had mine yet at all ! " 
 
 By this time every pore of the unsuspecting Bruce's 
 body had sucked in Russia, and at the Savage Club 
 everybody was asking what was the matter with him. 
 He would come and stand day after day, leaning against 
 the mantelpiece absorbed in thought, revolving all sorts 
 of plans and enterprises which had grown from the 
 nucleus of Sothern and Wyndham's visit to St. Peters- 
 burg. 
 
 If a " Savage " asked what he seemed so anxious 
 about he was told not to interrupt him, as he was 
 
DAVID GARRICK 205 
 
 concerned in a great thing which needed much thought, 
 and which would astonish London when it became 
 known. 
 
 Things had gone by this time as far as it was safe to 
 go, and now that light-hearted and excellent comedian, 
 Charles CoUette, appeared upon the scene, and was taken 
 into the confidence of the conspirators ; and two days 
 afterwards, from a little paragraph which he managed to 
 insert in the Brighton Gazette^ the news flew all over 
 England and Scotland that Sothern and Wyndham were 
 about to sign an engagement to play their respective parts 
 of Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin, and Bob 
 Sackett in Brighton in St. Petersburg, and that Mr. 
 Edgar Bruce was about to start in three weeks' time as 
 manager, to make the necessary arrangements. 
 
 This was apparently a great blow to Sothern and 
 Wyndham. They turned to Bruce furiously and accused 
 him of divulging the secret prematurely, and so destroy- 
 ing all chances of the Russian engagement. 
 
 It took the " Savages " nearly a week to convince 
 Bruce that he had been the victim of a prolonged 
 practical joke ; and it is due to him to say that, when 
 he had once realised the true position of affairs, he took 
 the jest as good-naturedly as could be. 
 
 But years afterwards sheer fancy was turned into solid 
 fact, and even the diamond and ruby ring was not left 
 out of the strange realisation of Sothern's elaborately 
 planned "sell." 
 
 It will, however, be easily understood that when 
 Charles Wyndham received an intimation that Imperial 
 gifts awaited Miss Moore and himself at the Russian 
 
204 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Embassy in London, he, remembering the part he had 
 taken in the Edgar Bruce affair, shook his head and 
 thought that now was his time to avoid being made the 
 victim of a practical joke. The story had gone the 
 rounds of the theatrical circle. J. L. Toole in those 
 days dearly loved a jest, and it was thought that he 
 was responsible for the recurring letters from the 
 Embassy. 
 
 To the point of rudeness the suspicious Charles 
 Wyndham declined to reply, and when at last he was 
 compelled to do so, and to his amazement found that 
 the Czar's presents were really awaiting him, no one 
 was more amused at his explanation than the Russian 
 Ambassador. 
 
 Although it may be anticipating events, 1 must 
 proceed with my David Garrick chapter. In America, 
 where Sothern had already appeared in it, the play 
 scored a second great success ; in the English provinces 
 it always drew packed audiences ; and as often as it 
 was revived in London it received an equally warm 
 welcome. 
 
 Speaking at the conclusion of one of these productions 
 at the theatre that bears his name, Charles Wyndham, 
 in response to loud calls from an audience that never 
 seemed tired of applauding, said : — 
 
 " In obedience to your command, I appear before 
 you, though I fear I am doing so under a misappre- 
 hension. I am very much in the position of a candidate 
 for a degree who, when requested by the examiners to 
 define a crab, said that a ' crab was a red fish that walked 
 backwards,' whereupon the examiners informed him *the 
 
By permission of Mr. Thos. McLean^ Ha^f}i-xrket 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM IN THE CHARACTER OF- " DAVID GARRICK" 
 FROM THE PICTURE BY MR. J. PETTIE, R.A. 
 
 Facing page 204 
 
DAVID GARRICK 205 
 
 crab was not a fish, it was not red, and it did not walk 
 backwards, but, with these exceptions, his definition was 
 accurate.' Nothing would excuse my responding to your 
 wishes to-night but for your belief that David Garrick 
 was being withdrawn, and that I, according to report, 
 was going away. The piece will not be withdrawn, 
 inasmuch as we appear in it again next Thursday after- 
 noon, and I am not going away. With these exceptions, 
 my addressing you may be justifiable. Anyway, I am 
 glad to take this opportunity of expressing my sincere 
 thanks for the manner in which you countenanced for 
 three months a revival — the eleventh revival in fourteen 
 years — which I put on in November for twelve nights 
 only. It speaks volumes for a play which has neither a 
 problem nor a shock in it, but only deals with the simple, 
 prosaic virtues of love and duty. Whether it is thanks 
 or congratulations that are due to you for this I must 
 n,ot stop to ask, but content myself/ with begging you 
 to receive both from a very grateful heart." 
 
 That Royalty did not tire of the play is amply proved 
 by the fact that in the November of 1 903 a " command " 
 performance of it was given at Windsor Castle. The 
 occasion was a most interesting one, and concerning it 
 " one who knew " said : " Among the brilliant spectacles 
 organised in honour of the visit of the King and Queen 
 of Italy to this country, the state performance of David 
 Garricky given at King Edward's command by Sir Charles 
 Wyndham in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle, 
 will assuredly hold a high place in the memories of all 
 privileged to be present. For weeks the event had 
 been the subject of much careful study and attention 
 
2o6 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 on the part of not only Sir Charles Wyndham himself, 
 but also of the principal members of the staff of the 
 New Theatre. The deep interest taken by the King in 
 the preparations has also been evinced by his personal 
 attendance at more than one scenic rehearsal. To Sir 
 Charles, by the way, the experience is by no means a 
 new one ; so far back as 1887 he had the honour of 
 appearing at Sandringham in David Garrick, at a birth- 
 day celebration arranged by the King, then, of course, 
 Prince of Wales. It is interesting to note that this 
 constituted the first representation of an important play 
 given in such circumstances since the death of the Prince 
 Consort. Again, in 1896, Sir Charles was commanded 
 to appear at Osborne, before Queen Victoria, in The 
 Squire of DameSy but unhappily the arrangements came 
 to a sad and untimely close, four days prior to the date 
 fixed, by reason of the death of Prince Henry of 
 Battenberg. 
 
 "And now, for the third time, Sir Charles is again 
 'commanded' to play before Royalty, thus establishing 
 a record. The brilliant circumstances under which he 
 did so to-night served further to confer upon the 
 function an importance of a quite exceptional and re- 
 markable description. 
 
 " It is characteristic of Sir Charles's desire to satisfy 
 himself personally that all arrangements had been dvdy 
 attended to, that at two o'clock this afternoon he arrived 
 at the Castle. Thither he had already been preceded by 
 his trusty lieutenant, Mr. Percy Hutchison, accompanied 
 by a little band of carpenters and scene-shifters. The 
 two following hours were given over to the necessary 
 
DAVID GARRICK 207 
 
 task of drilling the subordinates thoroughly in their 
 respective tasks, and assigning to each his particular 
 share in the evening's labours. On occasions of this 
 kind the Waterloo Chamber is swiftly converted into 
 the most charming and comfortable little theatre im- 
 aginable. The stage itself is of sufficient dimensions to 
 accommodate any modern comedy, boasting, as it does, 
 a breadth of fifty feet and a depth of twenty- five feet. 
 The proscenium opening is twenty-one feet across and 
 nineteen feet in height. The only real obstacle to the 
 handling of heavy scenery lies in the fact that there is 
 of course no dock, but in the case of a piece like David 
 Garrickj in which only one change takes place, this is 
 a matter of little consequence. A heavy rich curtain of 
 vivid red cloth separates the stage from the auditorium, 
 while between the spectators and the performers stretches 
 a wide space, in which the members of the orchestra are 
 accommodated. Just behind these runs a slight barrier, 
 topped with a parterre of flowers, the brilliant colouring 
 of which serves materially to heighten the general eflFect. 
 "The dazzling beauty of to-night's picture seems 
 almost to baffle description. As happened just a year ago, 
 on the occasion of the visit of the King and Queen of 
 Portugal, the body of the auditorium had been raised to 
 the level of the stage, the entire platform being draped 
 in red. From massive electroliers above, and from 
 hundreds of electric globes arranged round the walls, 
 flashed a thousand glittering rays upon the distinguished 
 company seated below. To the floral decorations some 
 reference, however slight and inadequate, must also be 
 made. Flanking the stage on both sides might be 
 
2o8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 discerned two nooks, exquisite in the exuberance and the 
 beauty of the foliage heaped up within them. A couple 
 of splendid palms towered to the full height of the 
 proscenium, while beneath lay a perfect garden of chrys- 
 anthemums, arum lilies, ferns, and marguerites, making 
 the air of the chamber sweet with their all-pervading 
 perfume. As a matter of fact, wherever flowers could 
 be disposed about the place the opportunity had been 
 taken the fullest advantage of, and as the eye ranged 
 over the scene it carried to the senses a curious and in- 
 expressible feeling of sheer delight. 
 
 " It may not be amiss to recall here that the first 
 occasion in recent times of the Waterloo Chamber 
 being turned to account as a theatre occurred in 1891, 
 when one of Mr. D'Oyley Carte's companies appeared 
 there in the Gilbert-Sullivan opera. The Gondoliers, Sir 
 Henry Irving also gave on its stage a performance of 
 Tennyson's Secret, and Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Hicks 
 (Miss EUaline Terriss) last year occupied the boards 
 with a representation of Mr. J. M. Barrie's duality 
 Street. But it may be questioned whether, in point 
 of brilliancy or of interest, to-night's ceremony has 
 ever been surpassed. David Garrick is a play which 
 has long since established itself as one of the most 
 highly prized of stage favourites, while Sir Charles 
 Wyndham's impersonation of Little Davy has for years 
 past been recognised as among the best and most com- 
 pletely satisfying of his many delightful achievements. 
 
 " A minor incident, by-the-by, threatened to mar the 
 enjoyment of a certain number of those invited to- 
 night. Late in the afternoon it was suddenly brought 
 
DAVID GARRICK 209 
 
 to Sir Charles's knowledge that although King Victor 
 Emmanuel and Queen Helena were thoroughly con- 
 versant with English, there were many belonging to 
 their suite to whom our language was practically un- 
 known. In their case, manifestly, the performance 
 might as well be given in dumb-show for all they would 
 be likely to understand of it. What was to be done in 
 the emergency .■' Luckily Sir Charles's ready wit saved 
 the situation. Calling for the assistance of a short- 
 hand writer, he proceeded to dictate a brief but clear 
 synopsis of the story of the play, which, after tran- 
 scription, was duly translated into Italian, to be dis- 
 tributed later among those members of the audience 
 to whom it might prove useful. Meanwhile all 
 needful arrangements were being made to provide 
 Sir Charles, Miss Mary Moore, and the remaining 
 members of the company, who had delayed their arrival 
 at the Castle until eight o'clock, with dressing-rooms in 
 the grand vestibule and entrance. How thoroughly, 
 indeed, the comfort of everyone concerned was cared 
 for by the authorities those who took part in the per- 
 formance are in the best possible position to testify. 
 
 "Waterloo Chamber, as the hands of the clock 
 pointed to ten, presented a singularly striking and 
 dazzling appearance, the greater part of the dis- 
 tinguished company being already seated. Had one 
 desired to furnish forth a picture representative of ' fair 
 women and brave men,' no more appropriate occasion 
 could well have been seized upon. Five minutes later 
 the near approach of the royal party was made manifest, 
 and all those present rising to their feet, the King, with 
 
210 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the Queen of Italy on his arm, was seen to enter from 
 the grand reception hall and to advance to his place in 
 the front row, the strains of the Italian National Anthem 
 meanwhile floating up from the orchestra. Closely 
 following their Majesties came King Victor Emmanuel, 
 escorting Queen Alexandra, and then, after the briefest 
 interval, the crimson curtains parted, revealing on the 
 stage Miss Mary Moore as Ada Ingot, and Mr. Alfred 
 Bishop as her opulent but commonplace father. To 
 speak of the performance of a piece so familiar in every 
 detail would obviously be an act of superfluity ; enough 
 that the artists, from Sir Charles Wyndham down to 
 the humblest member of his company, addressed them- 
 selves to their tasks with an ardour and a vigour worthy 
 of all praise." 
 
 A copy of the programme, which was beautifully 
 printed on white satin, is shown on the opposite page. 
 
 It is worthy of note that the experienced actors who 
 took the very subordinate and thankless parts of the 
 servants did so at their own earnest request. 
 
 Of what occurred behind the scenes, and her own 
 experience on that memorable night. Miss Mary Moore 
 gave me a very interesting account, which I must here 
 recall. 
 
 The actors had been told that the performance would 
 begin at ten minutes to ten, and that the Italian National 
 Anthem would be played just three minutes before the 
 curtain rose, discovering Miss Moore and Mr. Alfred 
 Bishop, who were both exceedingly nervous. 
 
 But when the National Anthem came to a conclusion, 
 and the curtain remained down, they began in their 
 
WINDSOR CASTLE, 
 
 THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 19th, 1903, 
 At Ten o'clock. 
 
 DAVID GARRICK 
 
 By T. W. ROBERTSON. 
 
 David Gairick SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Simon Ingot Mr. ALFRED BISHOP 
 
 Squire Chivey Mr. SYDNEY BROUGH 
 
 Smith Mr. HARRY PAULTON 
 
 Jones Mr. PERCY HUTCHISON 
 
 Brown Mr. REGINALD WALTER 
 
 George (Garrick's Servant) Mr. FRANK ATHERLEY 
 
 Thomas 1 „ f Mr. EILLE NORWOOD 
 
 William/ ^'°^°''' ^'''^''^ I Mr. LESLIE FABER 
 
 Groom -Mr. H. DUBERLEY 
 
 Mrs.Smith Miss EMILY VINING 
 
 Miss Araminta Brown Miss EXHEL MARRYATT 
 
 Ada Ingot Miss MARY MOORE 
 
 The action takes place in Ingot'i DraTlns Room and Garricl's Stud;. 
 
 0od Save tf)e fking. 
 
212 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 anxiety to fear something was amiss. Several minutes 
 passed, which seemed like ages to them, before the veil 
 was drawn and they were disclosed to the view of the 
 audience. This delay, they were afterwards told, was 
 due to the fact that the guests could not resume their 
 places until all the royalties were seated. 
 
 But when the play did begin it went from beginning 
 to end without an instant's hitch. " Sir Charles," said 
 Miss Moore, " appeared to me to give a very fine per- 
 formance " ; and then she added, with characteristic 
 modesty, " I cannot be so sure about myself, especially 
 in the first act, for, as you know, it is always such 
 nervous work beginning the piece." I know she had 
 no cause for misgivings. For the rest all went well. 
 Sydney Brough did full justice to the honoured name 
 he bears, and made a most acceptable Squire Chivy, 
 being neither too loud nor too subdued in a character 
 that requires delicate handling. It will be remembered 
 that his esteemed father, Lionel Brough, was one of the 
 first of the long line of Squire Chivys. Alfred Bishop, 
 of course, gave an admirable account of himself as 
 Simon Ingot, and Harry Paulton brought his quaint 
 comedy method to bear on a part hardly worthy of him. 
 But the fact is, all concerned in that production were 
 determined to make Charles Wyndham's first appear- 
 ance at Windsor a pronounced success. That they 
 materially helped to do so he would be the first to 
 own. 
 
 The scene from the stage struck Miss Moore as at 
 once one of the most gorgeous and most beautiful (the 
 word " gorgeous " does not always signify beauty) she 
 
DAVID GARRICK 213 
 
 had ever seen, and yet it was surpassed by the splendour 
 of the grand reception chamber to which, after the 
 supper that had been served to the players in the Guard 
 Chamber, she and Sir Charles were summoned. In this 
 beautiful room were all the guests assembled at one 
 end, and the two Kings and Queens, and all the other 
 royalties, at the other. 
 
 " Our own King and Queen," said Miss Moore, 
 "came forward most graciously to meet us, and ex- 
 pressed themselves more than pleased with the per- 
 formance ; in fact, they, and all the other royalties, who 
 also kindly addressed us, conveyed to us the impression 
 that the whole thing had been a success, and that they 
 had really enjoyed themselves. The signal for our dis- 
 missal from this brilliant scene came when the Italian 
 sovereigns retired for the night ; and we then returned 
 to our companions, who were still seated at the supper- 
 table." 
 
 In a short time he and Miss Mary Moore received 
 handsome presents from their Majesties the King and 
 Queen as souvenirs of this memorable performance of 
 David Garrick. His was a gold box, with la^pis lazuli lid, 
 and " E. R." in diamonds, on each side of His Majesty's 
 portrait, which is itself surrounded with pearls. Miss 
 Moore's was a brooch in the shape of a diamond and 
 enamel crown, crossed with pearl sceptres, and a 
 diamond and enamel rose beneath, with pendant diamond 
 star drop. 
 
 And now, for the moment, I take leaye of David 
 Garrick, though very likely he will crop up again in the 
 course of these pages. As I write these lines, in the 
 
214 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 June days of 1904, the piece is going as well as ever, at 
 the New Theatre, and Charles Wyndham and Miss 
 Mary Moore are winning as much applause in their 
 respective characters as they did when they first ap- 
 peared in them at the Criterion Theatre eighteen years 
 ago. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 
 
 AS a faithful stage historian I must record the fact 
 that, on July 19th, 1887, Charles Wyndham, ever 
 zealous in the cause of charity, appeared in a matinee 
 given at the Opera Comique, in aid of the " Buttercup 
 and Daisies Fund," established by Miss Edith Wood- 
 worth to give poor children a summer holiday in the 
 country. On that occasion the principal item on the 
 programme was The Ladies' Battle, and in it he played 
 the part of Gustave de Grignon. ^ The character of the 
 distracted man who posed to his mistress as a hero, and 
 really wanted to do deeds of valour, but who at heart 
 was as timid as a mouse, suited him well, and I have 
 often wondered why he never added the pretty comedy 
 to his repertory. In an interesting cast Miss Edith 
 Woodworth was the Countess d'Autreval, Miss Kate 
 Rorke the Leonie, Laurence Cautley the Henri de 
 Flavigneul, and E. S. Willard the Baron de Mont- 
 richard. 
 
 During occasional enforced absences from the Criterion 
 boards Charles Wyndham revived some of the best 
 comedies of the day, and always with the best of possible 
 casts. 
 
 21S 
 
2i6 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Indeed, his managerial motto has ever been, "The best 
 of procurable plays, the cream of available acting." 
 And so, under his control, throughout the ups and 
 downs of other playhouses, the well-piloted little 
 Criterion held its own. Certainly that little heart-of- 
 London ship's cabin of which I have spoken had not 
 been constructed for nothing ! Its skipper knew his 
 work. In later years a critic, writing of this in- 
 defatigable actor-manager's methods, said : — 
 
 " Every part becomes to him as important as if he 
 were appearing for the first time ; he reads it, studies it, 
 lives with it, until it becomes part of him. Every tone 
 of his voice has been thought out, every gesture has 
 been repeated — often before a large mirror — until when 
 the first night comes there is not a point which he has 
 not thought out. Taking such infinite pains on his own 
 account, he naturally infects all who act with him or are 
 under his management. Hence it comes about that he 
 carries on to perfection's point that natural school of 
 acting so successfully founded by the Bancrofts at the 
 old Prince of Wales's Theatre." 
 
 On his return to his Piccadilly home, in February, 
 1888, and his reappearance in David Garrick (like King 
 Charles's head in Mr. Dick's memorial, David Garrick 
 will crop up again !), it was said : " The reception 
 accorded to Mr. Charles Wyndham and Miss Mary 
 Moore at the Criterion must have satisfied them that, 
 during their absence, they had lost none of their hold on 
 the public ; their welcome was an enthusiastic one, and 
 the applause tremendous. Mr. Wyndham displayed 
 increased resources and emotional power as David 
 
By permission of the Draycott Gallery, late Barrattd, 263, Oxford Sh'cct, London 
 MISS MARY MOORE 
 
 Facirg page 216 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 217 
 
 Garrick, and Miss Mary Moore was as sympathetic 
 and graceful as hitherto as Ada Ingot. Evidences of 
 their travels and of the cordial reception they had met 
 with were to be seen in all parts of the house. A gold 
 and silver vase, a silver, laurel-leaved wreath, Russian 
 and German playbills, votive offerings innumerable, 
 with gold-lettered ribbons attached, showing from 
 whence they came, were to be seen in the corridors and 
 vestibules, but, despite these valued proofs of foreign 
 appreciation, the wanderers, at the close of the evening, 
 surely realised that, after all their triumphs, there was no 
 place like * home.' " 
 
 Having now thoroughly determined to devote a 
 portidn, at least, of his time to serious parts, Charles 
 Wyndham, in the January of 1 8 89, revived Tom Taylor's 
 perennial Still Waters Run Deep. In the character of 
 John Mildmay he gave a perfect idea of a shrewd man, 
 with a cool head and a warm heart, content to bide his 
 time till the proper moment arrived to assert himself, 
 and then proving equal to the occasion, and evincing 
 a deep and abiding affection for the woman to whom 
 he has given his love. Miss Mary Moore, looking 
 very lovely, fitly conveyed the impression of a weak, 
 loving nature that could be easily imposed upon by the 
 admiration of a romantic-looking, plausible admirer. 
 Mrs. Bernard Beere as Mrs. Sternhold, Herbert 
 Standing as Captain Hawkesley, George Giddens as 
 Dunbilk, and quaint old Blakeley in the almost historic 
 part of the fussy old Potter (played by many notable 
 comedians, but never so well, perhaps, as by John 
 Hare), completed an admirable cast. 
 
2i8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 In the July of 1889 the vane veered a little, and 
 Charles Wyndham once more elected to appear in what 
 seemed to his audiences a light part, but which was 
 really a very difficult one to play. This was the char- 
 acter of Sam Hedley, in F. C. Burnand's three-act 
 comedy, The Headless Man. In his interesting volumes 
 of Records and Reminiscences Sir Francis Burnand, as he 
 must now be called, gives the following interesting 
 account of this ingenious and diverting play : — 
 
 " I had hit upon a first-rate eccentric character. It 
 was originated in some papers I was then writing for 
 Punch. The idea for the hero of the comedy was * a 
 man with a method ' — a man who considered himself so 
 methodical that he was always lecturing others on the 
 advantages of his own system as compared with their 
 negligent way of doing business, while in reality there 
 never was such a muddle-headed person as this mono- 
 maniac. Three characters in three other different 
 pieces evidently started this idea. First the part of 
 Messiter, in A Nice Farm^ a piece (original, I believe) 
 by Tom Taylor ; secondly, Bayle Bernard's The Practical 
 Man (in both pieces I had played at Cambridge) ; 
 thirdly, a Mr. Somebody in a one-act piece, the name 
 of which I quite forget — nor do I think it was ever pub- 
 lished — a part wonderfully played by Charles Mathews 
 of a man whose brains went woolgathering, and who 
 could not be constant to one idea for three minutes at a 
 stretch.^ From acquaintance with these sprang the 
 
 ' I think Sir Francis must have been thinking of Mr. Gatherwool. 
 It was a favourite character with Charles Mathews, and in later years 
 W. H. Kendal successfully appeared in it. 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 219 
 
 notion of 'a man with a method,' triumphant in all his 
 errors, while hopelessly embroiling himself and every- 
 body who might come in contact with him in any affair 
 of more or less importance, I had decided he was to 
 be a solicitor ; that he was to be a married man ; and I 
 had a vague idea of various situations and a very clear 
 notion on the subject of dialogue and detail. But for 
 the life of me I could not invent a plot. The character 
 I had created was as the monster to Frankenstein. So 
 when George Rose ^ was staying with us at Hale Lodge 
 I asked him if he could provide me with a plot. This 
 he undertook to do most willingly. It began well ; it 
 offered the required opportunities ; but 1 felt it was 
 thin. However, we went to work, and I am bound to 
 say the work was play. Many a pleasant summer morn- 
 ing we passed in my study at Hale Lodge composing 
 this Headless Man, and always with a view to its per- 
 formance by Charles Mathews. When, however, it neared 
 completion, we expressed our doubts as to whether 
 Mathews, then over seventy years of age, speaking not 
 so distinctly as heretofore, but acting with all his own 
 verve and charm, and playing in one or two new pieces, 
 too, could really study this part. We were afraid, very 
 much afraid, that he could not. Unfortunately, as 
 George Rose had excited Charles Mathews' curiosity by 
 telling him a good deal about the piece, it seemed to me 
 that, at least, we were bound to show it to him. This 
 we did, and he professed himself ready to play the part 
 at the first opportunity. That opportunity never came, 
 and after the death of Charles Mathews we determined 
 
 1 The well-known Arthur Sketchley, the author of Mrs. Brown. 
 
220 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 that the next best person with whom to place it was 
 Sothern, who had not had such a ' character ' part since 
 the days of Dundreary. To him we confided it. Sothern 
 accepted it, said there was a lot to be done with it, and 
 kept it for a considerable time. However, what will 
 happen in the ' affairs of mice and men ' occurred here. 
 I quarrelled with Sothern, or, rather, Sothern quarrelled 
 with me, about no business affair whatever, but owing 
 to a view I took of his conduct in a certain matter that 
 really in no way concerned rae and about which I might, 
 without any loss of self-esteem, have been silent as far 
 as he personally was concerned, seeing that my know- 
 ledge of the affair only came to me second-hand. How- 
 ever, quixotically, I made a false step in refusing an 
 invitation to dinner from Sothern, and, quite unneces- 
 sarily, stated the reason in strong terms for such 
 refusal. The reply to this was the return of pur Head- 
 less Man, and then I realised that my partner, George 
 Rose, had suffered through me. 
 
 " It appeared subsequently, however, that Sothern 
 had retained his own private copy of the play, which, as 
 I learned long afterwards, he confided to Charles Wynd- 
 ham (then a rising light comedian, who, since the days 
 of Black-eyed Susan and his famous dance on Royalty 
 boards, had forsworn burlesque), telling Charles Wynd- 
 ham that he was at liberty to produce it, and pointing 
 out how it could be advantageously altered and 
 amended. Mistrusting the practical joker Sothern, 
 and the story with which the play was introduced to 
 him, Wyndham sagaciously kept it by him for some 
 time, until Sothern, moved by a good impulse, re- 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 221 
 
 quested him not to do anything with it, but, if he 
 fancied it, he was to communicate with the authors, 
 whose names he then for the first time revealed. I 
 liked Sothern very much ; he was most amusing, and 
 we had passed many a pleasant time together. I think 
 we both regretted the estrangement, and I say 'both' 
 advisedly, as one day going along Garrick Street I 
 suddenly encountered Sothern. My quarrel with him 
 had quite gone out of my memory, and that he had 
 momentarily forgotten the rupture of friendly relations 
 between us was evident from his advancing to me with 
 both his hands out, as I was approaching him in just 
 the same attitude, our faces beaming with pleasure at 
 the meeting. 
 
 " ' Hullo ! Sothern,' I exclaimed heartily. 
 
 " ' Hullo ! old fellow,' cried Sothern, with equal 
 heartiness. 
 
 " And then — a pause. The idea evidently struck us 
 both at the same instant—^' Why, we're not on speaking 
 terms ! ' 
 
 " And he turned aside and entered the Garrick Club, 
 laughing, I am positive, as / turned and went my way, 
 giving way to irrepressible mirth. The situation was one 
 of the best and truest comedy ; a real comedy ' comedy 
 of errors." And it was one which, oddly enough, existed 
 in the very piece written for Mathews, passed on to 
 him, and by him to Charles Wyndham, whose per- 
 formance of the principal character has been placed by 
 good critics as one of the most artistic creations in his 
 varied ripertoire. The lack of female interest in the 
 play has, I fancy, militated against its popularity, yet it 
 
222 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 went for six weeks or so with roars of laughter, and 
 was played to ' excellent business,' which suddenly 
 dropped, and then the piece dropped, too, having been 
 only occasionally revived as a stop-gap." 
 
 Except that, like all really clever men, he is modest. 
 Sir Francis might have gone much further than that, 
 for The Headless Man was a remarkably ingenious study 
 of character, and one which will never be forgotten by 
 those who saw its perfect delineation by Charles Wynd- 
 ham, and were capable of appreciating it. Possibly 
 it was rather too subtle for the great mass of frivolous 
 playgoers. 
 
 I know I shall never forget how gaily the most mer- 
 curial of modern comedians rattled through the part of 
 the absent-minded lawyer who, in the enforced absence 
 of his two senior partners, sees to the requirements of 
 all the clients who call ; how he dockets the various 
 documents that are entrusted to him after a fatal system 
 of his own, with the result that counsel's opinion on a 
 certain divorce case reaches a General, who imagines from 
 it that he has ground for action against his wife ; that he 
 sets a pair of lovers by the ears ; that he induces another 
 lady to believe that her betrothed is a bigamist ; that he 
 reveals the intended disposition of the property of a 
 charming widow (who thinks of entering into matrimony 
 a second time) to the very man she wishes to be kept in 
 ignorance ; and altogether contrives, with an apparent 
 show of the greatest intelligence, to get things into an 
 inconceivable mess. It was all very funny and very new, 
 but I fear its striking originality was hardly understood 
 by the lovers of the ordinary three-act farce. 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 223 
 
 Of the revival of the play in 1893 that searching 
 critic, William Archer, said : " In The Headless Man Mr, 
 Burnand has worked out in three acts that happy 
 thought — * Fancy, having to consult an idiot solicitor ! ' 
 which occurs, if 1 mistake not, somewhere in Happy 
 Thoughts. . . . The whole point of the piece lies in 
 the delightful inconsequences of Sam Hedley, and these 
 Mr. Wyndham delivers with a light-hearted conviction 
 which renders them quite irresistible. It is no deroga-^ 
 tion to Mr. Wyndham's more serious powers to say that 
 he remains easily first among the light comedians of the 
 day." 
 
 Of the original performance, in which, by the way, 
 Miss Mary Moore did not take part, merry " Mr. 
 Punch " wrote as follows : — 
 
 "A PUFF OF WYND-HAM. 
 
 " During the past week the ' many-headed ' have 
 crowded the Criterion, and have thus kept up the 
 average in capites lessened by Mr. Charles Wyndham as 
 the Headless Man. Certainly the popularity of the 
 manager of the subterranean theatre has not suffered by 
 his change of line. Excellent as he may be, and 
 undoubtedly is, as David Garrick and John Mildmay, no 
 one can touch him as Sam Hedley. There has been 
 nothing to approach it since Sothern was at his best in 
 Lord Dundreary. It is a great pity, therefore, that Mr. 
 Wyndham is bound for America, and consequently that 
 Londoners will have to wait until his transatlantic trip 
 is over before they can go in their hundreds and 
 thousands to see one of the most amusing pieces of 
 modern times. 
 
224 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " But perhaps, after all, the rel&che may have its 
 compensating advantages, as possibly when he does 
 return (' he will return, we know him well ') he may 
 be able to show us the play with an improved cast. 
 At the Criterion last week it was not altogether 
 satisfactory. Mr. George Giddens was decidedly good, 
 and Mr. W. Blakeley was — well, Mr. Blakeley — and 
 Miss F. Paget was the pick of the ladies. But 
 the rest ! No doubt, Mr. Standing, as standing 
 counsel for the firm (pun purely accidental — shall not 
 occur again) was ' conscientious,' and did what he could 
 with the part, which, however, did not seem to be much. 
 But, then, Mr. Standing is not a Leigh Murray. Again, 
 Mr. J. Anderson, in the role of Reginald Harcourt (a 
 dashing young officer, ready to elope at a moment's 
 notice and set the Lord Chancellor himself at defiance), 
 was more suggestive, from a military point of view, of 
 a quartermaster of East End volunteers than a captain 
 of the Royal Dragoons. The ladies, too, were not par- 
 ticularly good — in fact, they might have been better 
 if they had been, in fact, other ladies. Not that they 
 were to be called sticks, although unquestionably 
 numbering in their list a Forrest!^ But, after all, the 
 piece rested upon the shouders of Mr. Wyndham, who 
 carried it through with the greatest possible go and 
 animation. However, when Mr. Wyndham reappears, 
 it is to be hoped that the cast will be a little more 
 satisfactory. In the meanwhile the Headless Man has 
 everybody's good wishes for his success in America." 
 
 On his " first appearance on any stage " the Headless 
 1 The part of Mrs. Hedley was taken by Miss E. Forrest. 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 225 
 
 Man was warmly welcomed by an unusually brilliant 
 audience, and the cheaper parts of the house were 
 crowded. In these there were some malcontents, and, 
 on the fall of the curtain, one of them in the gallery ex- 
 pressed his disapproval very emphatically ; Mr. Wynd- 
 ham, in a little speech, addressed himself particularly to 
 him, calling on him specially to state his grievance. This 
 brought about considerable shouting and tumult, which, 
 according to at least one critic, " might certainly have 
 been avoided by a little more tact on the manager's 
 part." For the life of me I cannot agree with that 
 critic. To my mind there is nothing more disgraceful 
 in the doings of to-day than these constantly recurring 
 first-night disturbances at our best London theatres, and 
 I think that the manager who resolutely tries to put a 
 stop to them is worthy of the highest praise. Why 
 should he show " tact " by keeping silence in the face of 
 such an outrage ? It is very much like the " tact " that 
 induces a timid householder to feign sleep while a 
 burglar triumphantly walks off with his belongings. 
 The disgraceful people who hiss and howl, bellow and 
 " boo " at the first performance of a new play are just as 
 wantonly wicked as their ancestors who took joy in bull- 
 baiting and cock-fighting, the difference being that 
 instead of seeing the flesh of dumb creatures lacerated, 
 they tear at the heart-strings of human beings — nervous 
 actors, and, possibly, a still more anxious author. These 
 detestable people must know that the manager does 
 not want them to witness a play doomed to failure. He 
 has shown his faith in it by spending time and money 
 on its production, and if it does not answer his expecta- 
 Q 
 
226 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 tions, he is surely entitled to silent sympathy instead of 
 obscene obloquy. Years after the first production of 
 The Headless Man Charles Wyndham made a similar 
 protest against the " boos " of a disreputable handful of 
 first-night galleryites, and was again accused of want of 
 " tact." Again I say all honour to him for boldly trying 
 to put such things down. On this occasion a young 
 man was arrested by the police for creating a disturb- 
 ance. On his appearance before the magistrates it 
 turned out that he was a fledgling clerk, and his feeble 
 defence was — 
 
 " I did not like the play. I am very sorry." 
 Truly a nice censor of dramatic literature and histri- 
 onic art ! 
 
 Speaking of this occurrence, Charles Wyndham said : — 
 " Let me say at once that I do not object in the least 
 to the principle that an audience has as much right to 
 show its disapproval as to mark its applause. It will do 
 so, of course, in accordance with its nature and breed- 
 ing. But no person, however ill-bred he may be, can 
 claim that payment of admission to a theatre gives him 
 the right to terrify and distress other visitors. 
 
 " It must be remembered that there are nervous 
 women in the house. One lady in the stalls last night 
 was so upset that she had to be taken home. Others 
 were terrified. A manager must protect his audience 
 from that sort of thing, just as he must protect himself 
 from an organised attempt to wreck his play, whatever 
 its merits may be." 
 
 Surely if other managers would throw " tact " to the 
 winds, and stand shoulder to shoxilder with Charles 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 227 
 
 Wyndham, the voice of the blatant "booer" would be as 
 silent as that of the brutal bull-baiter. 
 
 I do not think that as a rule the general public have 
 any notion of the sufferings that players undergo on the 
 occasion of the first representation of a new play. I 
 have seen some of the leading actors and actresses of 
 our day almost prostrate with anxiety, and the late John 
 Clayton, who certainly did not look like a timorous 
 man, used to say that no success could ever compensate 
 him for the agony he Suffered on a first night. 
 
 And if practised actors endure these tortures, what 
 must be the anguish of the poor playwright who knows 
 that the fate of his work is trembling in the balance ? 
 Assuredly on such occasions he is better away from the 
 theatre than in it. Do you remember the advice that 
 was given to Thackeray's George Warrington when, in 
 the days of long ago, his ill-fated drama was being per- 
 formed and he lurked behind the scenes ? " For 
 Heaven's sake, Mr. Warrington, go and get a glass of 
 punch at the 'Bedford,' and don't frighten us all here by 
 your dismal countenance." Brave George Warrington ! 
 Even when he knew failure was in store for him, he 
 faced it like a man, taking his seat, according to the 
 custom of his days, upon the stage, whence he could 
 see the actors of his poor piece, and a portion of the 
 audience who condemned it ; and it was not until he was 
 in his home that his manly heart gave way and his bitter 
 disappointment found vent. 
 
 " My dearest Theo," he says, speaking of his anxious 
 wife, " when I went home looked so pale and white that 
 I saw from my dear creature's countenance that the 
 
22g SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 knowledge of my disaster had preceded my return. 
 Sampson, Cousin Hagan, and Lady Maria were to come 
 after the play, and congratulate the author, God wot ! 
 My friend, the gardener of Bedford House, had given 
 my wife his best flowers to decorate her little table. 
 There they were, the poor little painted standards — and 
 the battle lost ! I had borne the defeat well enough, 
 but as I looked at the sweet pale face of the wife across 
 the table, and those artless trophies of welcome which 
 she had set up for her hero, I confess my courage gave 
 way, and my heart felt a pang almost as keen as any that 
 has ever smitten it." 
 
 It is a pathetic little picture, but Thackeray thoroughly 
 understood human nature, and, even while he trusted 
 to his imagination, intuitively drew from the life. I 
 wonder if our hard-hearted, thick-skinned, leaden- 
 headed, foul-mouthed first-night play-wreckers of to-day 
 will ever realise that by their vulgar cruelty they inflict 
 pangs as acute as that felt by poor George Warrington 
 at one of the most anxious moments of his life ? 
 
 On August yth, 1889, Charles Wyndham brought his 
 season at the Criterion to a brilliant close with a one- 
 night revival of Wild Oats. As Rover he was once more 
 full of animation and gaiety, and yet gave that touch of 
 sentiment so necessary to the true impersonation of the 
 kind-hearted, honourable actor, generous to a fault, and 
 sad when he thinks of his nameless condition. Miss 
 Mary Moore was again a sweet Lady Amaranth, and the 
 remainder of the excellent cast was practically the same 
 as in 1886. 
 
 At the conclusion of the comedy, and after Miss 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 229 
 
 Mary Moore, Charles Wyndham, and his company had 
 been called and recalled, the actor-manager stepped 
 forward and spoke the following words of farewell : — 
 
 ** I stand before you burdened with a double duty — 
 to thank you and to say good-bye. These duties 
 appeal to me so differently. It is a pleasure to thank 
 you ; it is a great pain to say good-bye. So much do 
 I feel this that I am very much inclined to reverse the 
 natural sequence, and, like the little boy, swallow the 
 pill first, and finish up with the jam. As, however, I 
 am not playing The Headless Man, it may perhaps be 
 better if I keep to the natural order of things. In the 
 name of Miss Moore, the rest of my company, and my- 
 self, I beg to thank you for your generous and sym- 
 pathetic support during the season. The support which 
 has crowned that season has been far beyond my antici- 
 pations ; in fact, I feel inclined to call it, without strain- 
 ing that elastic modesty which is the natural aptitude of 
 every actor, success beyond its merits. When 1 com- 
 menced the season in January, I announced certain plays 
 for production. It is through your countenance that 
 I have been unable to fulfil the programme, and that I 
 had to push The Headless Man and Wild Oats into the 
 dog days, whilst The Road to Ruin^ is relegated into a 
 dim and distant future. If the reproving spirit of Hol- 
 croft is hovering over us, I beg to assure him most 
 reverentially that the postponement is no fault of mine, 
 but that it is yours. I consider it appropriate to close 
 the season with Wild Oats. Three years ago I stood in 
 
 1 Unluckily the contemplated revival was ultimately abandoned. 
 Charles Wyndham would have made a splendid Harry Dornton. 
 
230 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 this spot, and in this character apologised for the intro- 
 duction of sentiment for the first time in this house 
 under my management. The result, however, has been 
 so gratifying, your support has been so hearty and so 
 genial, that it is almost superfluous to say that sentiment 
 will never be banished again for long from the theatre. 
 How my transatlantic cousins will receive the innovation 
 I have yet to learn. They are warm friends of mine, 
 however, and I go hopeful. But perhaps they may 
 say to me, * We don't like your piece ; we don't think 
 much of your company ; and your sentiment we can't 
 stand.' However, as I said before, I hope this will not 
 be the case. After a few weeks of necessary rest, I in- 
 augurate my tour at Mr. Abbey's new theatre in Boston 
 in October. For five months I visit the different cities 
 in the States, each city once only, and hope to stand 
 before you again in April. Between this time and that 
 I shall be swayed by many conflicting emotions both on 
 land and sea. But amongst them, however happy they 
 may be, the great factor of my happiness will be the 
 anticipation of seeing you again. And now comes the 
 word which I have put off till the last. In the un- 
 certainty of life, and of all mundane aflfairs, good-bye 
 is always solemn and always painful. You have all seen 
 at the railway station devoted friends and loving relatives 
 separated in a moment by the departing train, and 
 friendship, love, and gratitude are alike symbolised in a 
 hearty grip of the hand. Ladies and gentlemen, kindly 
 imagine for a moment that this theatre is a railway 
 station ; that you are on the platform and we in our 
 carriage. The guard gives the signal for separation, 
 
LATER DAYS AT THE CRITERION 231 
 
 and we vanish from your sight ; please imagine that I 
 grasp you all by the hand and tender you an affection- 
 ate and grateful adieu." 
 
 It is in graceful words such as these that Charles 
 Wyndham has won his way into the hearts of his 
 audiences. • 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 AMERICA REVISITED 
 
 pROBABLY as he once more crossed the Adantic 
 Charles Wyndham carried with him a somewhat 
 anxious heart, and no doubt as he sat in his deck chair 
 he recalled memories of his former tours in the vast 
 territory of the United States. Undoubtedly he had 
 there undergone some strange theatrical experiences, 
 but they all pointed to the extreme favour in which he 
 was held by our American cousins. 
 
 Once he was timed to appear at a certain theatre — a 
 " provincial " theatre, as we should call it — at eight 
 o'clock. Unluckily there was a breakdown on the line, 
 and he and his company could not reach the playhouse 
 until half-past nine o'clock. Of course, they expected 
 to find it deserted, but it appeared that the eager 
 audience had waited quite patiently until nine o'clock, 
 when the manager had come forward with a telegram in 
 his hand, explained what had happened, and said that 
 " Mr. Wyndham and his company would shortly arrive." 
 Encouraged by the prospect of seeing their favourite 
 actor, the audience had endured another half-hour, and 
 then, feeling that the affair was hopeless, left the theatre. 
 As they came out Charles Wyndham met them, and, 
 
 232 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 233 
 
 notwithstanding the fatigue and misery of a tiring and 
 anxious journey, greeted them with a cheery " Hallo ! 
 Here we are ! Here we are again ! Go back ! We've 
 arrived I " And go back they did ; and in a marvel- 
 lously short time the curtain was up, and the play went 
 merrily to its belated conclusion. 
 
 Sufely no actor has had greater proof of personal 
 popularity. 
 
 On another occasion a train had been kept waiting 
 over four hours for him, and when at last they knew 
 who their tardy fellow-traveller was to be, the passengers 
 had not grumbled, or, as Charles Wyndham has put it, 
 " only grumbled on the right side." They merely 
 thought it " a bit rough on them " that they had not 
 been told " in time to go to the theatre," 
 
 Again, it had happened that he and his company had 
 to wait in some obscure place for twenty-four hours 
 before they could find a train that would lead them to 
 their next destination. The manager of the local theatre 
 came to him and pressed for a performance, at which the 
 "prominent citizens of the town would be present." 
 He consented, and as there was no time to display 
 posters, the entertainment was announced by " runners," 
 who, in more speedy fashion, answered the purpose of 
 our old English "criers." Charles Wyndham then 
 went to inspect the theatre — or rather hall — in which 
 the play was to be given, and was amazed to find that 
 the auditorium did not contain a single seat ! " Don't 
 you trouble about that," said the manager in reply to 
 his expostulation, " you'll find all the chairs there 
 to-night." 
 
234 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 And so he did, for in the evening the hall was full of 
 chairs and seats of all forms and sizes. Camp stools, 
 piano stools, three-legged stools, drawing-room, dining- 
 room, kitchen chairs — in short, anything and everything 
 on which one might sit down. He couldn't under- 
 stand it until he was informed that it was the rule of the 
 establishment that everyone who purchased a seat 
 should provide his own ! The place was packed — the 
 approaches to the theatre being crowded with con- 
 tingents of families entering the hall, followed by negro 
 servants carrying half a dozen chairs on their shoulders. 
 
 In 1883 he was playing in Syracuse, when, to his 
 surprise, the Mayor of Rochester was announced. 
 Invited into his sitting-room, he explained that it was 
 the intention of the Rochester branch of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic to give him a reception at 
 Rochester. He had come over specially to inform him 
 of this, because he thought it better that he should 
 know what he, the Mayor, was going to say. He gave 
 the heads of his remarks and apologised for the fact 
 that it would be absolutely necessary to refer to the 
 condition of Ireland in his speech, and expressed a hope 
 that Charles Wyndhara would prepare himself to make 
 a suitable reply. When Charles Wyndham arrived in 
 Rochester he was met by two Senators, who received 
 him formally at the station ; a little function which 
 allowed the company to get off before him in their 
 omnibus, with the effect that as his carriage with the 
 Senators drove up to the hotel, the last occupant of the 
 omnibus, one of the wardrobe ladies, was descending, 
 with an enormous bundle in front of her, to the tune of 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 235 
 
 " See the Conquering Hero Comes," played by the 
 military band. Charles Wyndham was escorted to the 
 grand hall of the hotel, where the Mayor and Council 
 were waiting to receive him, and the Mayor, who had 
 notified him at Syracuse that he was a very bad speaker 
 and would have to read from his notes, began, " Mr. 
 Wyndham, Sir" — and while he cast his eyes down for 
 the first lines of his speech, the military band outside, 
 by one of those unpleasant coincidences, struck up 
 Arthur Sullivan's " Pooh, pooh to you ! Pooh, pooh to 
 you ! " which rather disturbed the solemnity of the 
 occasion, which was only restored when two hundred 
 members of the Army of the Republic filed past Charles 
 Wyndham to shake him by the hand. 
 
 The speech concerning Ireland was disposed of very 
 curtly by the actor prophesying that all political diffi- 
 culties would be very soon settled. The English papers, 
 when the reports came over, congratulated England on 
 the fac^^that such an authority had made such a wise 
 forecast, as, of course, after that everything was bound 
 to come out all right. One single remark of a London 
 paper was to the effect that however good an actor 
 Charles Wyndham might be. Major Wyndham was 
 evidently very good at conducting a campaign. As a 
 matter of fact he had nothing whatever to do with it. 
 
 And now the question was, would, after an absence 
 of some years, all this good feeling remain .? Would 
 the kindly people who had so cordially welcomed him 
 as the prince of light comedians care for him in the 
 more serious parts that he now elected to play } In 
 
236 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 England he was always in touch with his audiences ; 
 possibly America had half forgotten him, or those who 
 remembered him would not like the change in his 
 methods. Besides, was he not going to follow Sothern, 
 a prime favourite on American boards, in the difficult 
 character of David Garrick, a part indelibly associated 
 with his well-remembered and dearly loved name ? In 
 short, would the verdict be the one he had suggested in 
 his farewell speech at the Criterion Theatre, " We don't 
 like your piece ; we don't think much of your company ; 
 and your sentiment we can't stand " ? 
 
 Of course, he could always fall back on his earlier 
 repertory, but it would be so humiliating to fail in his 
 higher aims. 
 
 If he thought of it, he might have taken some comfort 
 in the recollection of a story that a United States 
 Senator once told him of a candidate for congressional 
 honours who sought the influence and assistance of a 
 prominent Washington politician, and invaded him with 
 several of those nuisances to public men — letters of 
 introduction. After reading them the influential man 
 said, " Well, young man, on one condition I will do all 
 that I can to assist you, but you must promise me that, 
 if you do get into Congress, you won't steal." 
 
 The young man, ignorant of the application of these 
 words, fired up with a tremendous sense of independ- 
 ence, and proudly ahswered, " Sir, I go into Congress 
 unpledged^ or I don't go at all ! " 
 
 In the same way Charles Wyndham was unpledged, 
 but he was anxious to reconquer the New World in his 
 own way. Happily, all doubts were soon set at rest. 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 237 
 
 On October 14th, 1889, he "opened" Messrs. Abbey 
 and Schoeffel's handsome New Tremont Theatre at 
 Boston with David Garric^ and in every way scored 
 a success. 
 
 Summing up the event, a well-known Boston journal- 
 ist said : — 
 
 "It has taken Charles Wyndham six years to get 
 back to America, but the halo of glory that encircles his 
 latest appearance was worth the waiting. To be called 
 upon to open the newest theatre of Boston, and a theatre 
 that by its own substantial beauty, the excellence of its 
 engaged attractions, and the pronounced enterprise of 
 its managers, may well be placed among the first in the 
 country, ought to satisfy the heart of the most ambitious 
 Alexander of the Thespian world, and Mr. Wyndham, 
 certainly to all appearances last night, appeared most 
 contented with his position. He could hardly help 
 that, however. There before him in the auditorium of 
 the Tremont Theatre was a large audience, a fine 
 audience, and an enthusiastic audience. What more 
 could a player wish for .'' " 
 
 Indeed, he had good cause to be gratified. Before 
 playgoers who had remembered Sothern and that most 
 popular American actor, Lawrence Barrett, in the part, 
 and who had learned to associate him with the frivolities 
 of farce, he had made a deep and, as it proved to be, 
 a lasting impression in the high comedy and touching 
 sentiment of David Garrick. 
 
 The critics ungrudgingly recognised it. Said one of 
 them the next morning : — 
 
 " Wyndham looks the character to perfection. From 
 
238 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the moment of his entrance upon the scene — an entrance 
 marked, by the way, by hearty and long-continued 
 applause — he seemed to sink individuality in the por- 
 trayal. The gradation of feeling in Garrick was shown 
 with particular skill. At first the careless, amused 
 actor, curious only to see the outcome of a day's chance 
 adventure ; then the good-humoured seconding of the 
 old man's plot to * disillusionise ' his darling daughter ; 
 soon the awakening to the truth that Ada Ingot is the 
 young girl to whom he had acted with all his soul, and 
 whom he had already learned to love — these phases of 
 Garrick's character were set forth with an artist's touch. 
 There is amazing life and effect in the famous ' drunken 
 scene ' of the comedy, yet never for an instant can the 
 attentive auditor forget that Garrick is here playing his 
 most difficult and exacting part, that all his feverish and 
 reckless course is but simulation, though it be simula- 
 tion that can but deceive the girl and her father's guests. 
 Wyndham's Garrick is not great in one scene alone. 
 It is interesting and consistent from first to last, a 
 genuine character study, and not least effective in the 
 closing act, which Wyndham manages with consummate 
 skill." 
 
 Then Miss Mary Moore, who as Ada Ingot made 
 her anxious first appearance in America, was equally 
 successful. Of her the same critic wrote, " Her youth 
 and beauty and naturalness of manner certainly lend 
 themselves to the character of the romantic girl very 
 fitly. She commands the sympathy of the audience 
 in all her scenes, and made a very agreeable impres- 
 sion." 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 239 
 
 At the fall of the curtain, and after the managers 
 of the beautiful new playhouse had been summoned 
 to receive the congratulations of the audience, Charles 
 Wyndham, in response to a vociferous recall (for he 
 and his company had already acknowledged their cordial 
 reception), stepped to the footlights, and (I again quote 
 my critic) " with earnestness and apparently more desire 
 to express his feelings than make a witty address, said : — 
 
 " ' Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Abbey and Mr. 
 Schoeffel, with that rare and charming modesty which 
 distinguishes every theatrical manager and every good 
 actor,* have asked me to speak for them, and convey 
 their thanks from the bottom of their hearts for the 
 kind reception you have accorded them this evening. 
 It is also impossible for me to let the opportunity pass 
 without thanking you on my bwn behalf for the welcome 
 you have accorded my company and myself. When I 
 received Messrs. Abbey and Schoeffel's invitation to 
 inaugurate their season, I felt the honour so much that 
 within five minutes I asked for the fastest cable so that 
 I might send my reply. I recollect well the charming 
 six weeks I spent in this town six years ago ; they were 
 six of the happiest weeks in my whole career. When 
 I took leave of my friends at home I likened my theatre 
 to a railway station, with all my kind acquaintance stand- 
 ing on the platform to wish me God-speed. So now 
 I will take the liberty of likening this theatre to another 
 station at the opposite end of the line, with all of you 
 as my friends to bid me welcome. I assure you no 
 weary traveller has ever appreciated so warm a reception 
 1 This, of course, excited loud laughter. 
 
240 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 as I do this. My journey was a rough one. I had 
 ample opportunity to develop all the sentiment that lay 
 in me. In fact, nothing appeals so much to the inner 
 man as the rolling deep. But the deepest sentiment is 
 brought out by this meeting with friends again. For 
 my friends in the rear and for myself I thank you all 
 for your cordial greeting.' " 
 
 That engagement at Boston was indeed a brilliant 
 success. Not only was the New Tremont Theatre 
 continually crowded, but Charles Wyndham, Mrs. 
 Wyndham, and Miss Mary Moore became the courted 
 guests of society. Indeed, from the social point of 
 view, they were so much in demand that they found 
 great difficulty in keeping pace with the eager invita- 
 tions that were showered upon them. 
 
 And so it was everywhere. Throughout his tour the 
 triumphant Charles Wyndham was entertained and f^ted, 
 and in the course of many speeches and interviews related 
 those early American recollections of his of which I have 
 spoken, with that added spice of fun which a man who 
 has fought his fight and won it, and is, moreover, 
 endowed with the most invaluable of gifts, an honest 
 sense of genuine humour, can so beneficially rub in. 
 
 Perhaps there were some playgoers, as well as some 
 critics, who regretted his departure from the light 
 comedy parts in which he had no rival, and it was 
 certain that he was roundly applauded in The Candidate 
 and The Headless Man^ but he easily held his own in his 
 more serious parts, and so conquered all along the line. 
 
 Touring at the same time in America was the great 
 Italian tragedian, Salvini. All English playgoers who 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 241 
 
 were fortunate enough to see him will remember the 
 overwhelming impression he made here by his mar- 
 vellous impersonation of Othello. I confess that the 
 performance completely carried me away, and I never 
 tire of thinking it over in all its wonderful wealth of 
 detail. But to show how opinions may differ it is 
 interesting to note the following brief extracts. 
 Our veteran critic, Joseph Knight, said :— 
 "Signer Salvini's conception of Othello is what we 
 expect from a thoughtful, perceptive, and cultivated 
 man. Othello with him is a barbarian, whose instincts, 
 savage and passionate, are concealed behind a veneer of 
 civilisation so thick that he is himself scarcely conscious 
 he can be other than he appears. Friendly, loving, and 
 courteous, he can, as lago says — 
 
 " ' As tenderly be led by the nose 
 As asses are,' 
 
 " When the poison of jealousy ferments in the blood, 
 the strife between the animal nature and the civilising 
 influences of custom is long and sharp. In the end the 
 barbarian triumphs, the concluding scene, if not wholly 
 savage, exhibiting mere glimpses of those restraints 
 which in the third act, though sorely tested, remain 
 dominant. The picture is exact of a noble animal 
 turning piteously in the toils in which it has been 
 enmeshed, and finding its efforts at escape serve only 
 to render its position more desperate." 
 
 But when Salvini crossed the Atlantic, William 
 Winter, the doyert of American critics, and one of the 
 highest and most deservedly esteemed authorities on 
 all things connected with the theatre, wrote : — • 
 
242 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " He performed Othello — and he gave a radically 
 wrong performance. Half of it was grossly animal and 
 sensual, and the other half of it was hideously ferocious. 
 You cannot find that Moor in the pages of Shakespeare. 
 It was impossible to resist the power of Salvini's execu- 
 tive dramatic genius ; but his standard was radically 
 wrong for the English classic drama, and therefore it 
 was rightly opposed ; for if the physical method of 
 Salvini be correct, all the traditions of the English stage 
 are useless, and every student of Shakespeare, from 
 Coleridge to Dowden, has gone astray." 
 
 Probably from a strictly Shakespearean point of view 
 William Winter v^as right, but with thousands and 
 thousands of playgoers the new Othello made the same 
 profound sensation in America that he had done in 
 England, and was enthusiastically received. 
 
 Travelling about from city to city, the Italian trage- 
 dian and English comedian often met, and at least on 
 one interesting occasion were f^ted at the same time. 
 This was at the Twentieth Century Club, Chicago, on 
 January i8th, 1890, when they both gave excellent 
 addresses. 
 
 Signor Salvini spoke in Italian, but, according to one 
 of the guests, his eloquent gestures and delivery were 
 a treat to even those who did not understand the lan- 
 guage. 
 
 The response of Charles Wyndham was a most eloquent 
 one. He commenced by saying to the eager audience — 
 " I am deeply conscious of the honour you have con- 
 ferred upon me by your presence this afternoon, and it 
 is only a sense of gratitude that enables me to appear 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 243 
 
 in a character so foreign to my experience as that of 
 a speaker beside the oratorical water-bottle. I therefore 
 trust you will be gracious enough to make due allow- 
 ance for a first appearance. Need I say I am also 
 sensible of the honour Signor Salvini has paid me in his 
 complimentary remarks ? The fact that I am playing 
 David Garrick to-night makes me wish that I could 
 throw myself more completely into the character, and 
 that, availing myself of the privileges you have always 
 extended to your guests, I could have taken the liberty 
 of bringing with me my old friend Dr. Johnson. I 
 could then have braced myself to stand by his side, 
 whilst he assumed the responsibility of addressing you. 
 I could then have arranged with him to talk to you of 
 his appreciation of Chicago's wonderful growth, of the 
 picturesqueness of her lake, of the advisability of having 
 the world's fair here, and I might have got him, perhaps, 
 to introduce a few covert allusions to his friend's per- 
 formance at Mr. Vicker's Theatre this evening. When 
 I was invited it was suggested to me that I should make 
 you a short address, to last about three-quarters of an 
 hour. I have never been able to hold an audience, not 
 even on my own native heath — the stage — for more than 
 twenty minutes at a time, and here, with so much 
 beauty and intellect surrounding me, the whole modesty 
 of my nature revolts against occupying your time for 
 more than a quarter of an hour." 
 
 In accordance with the wish of his hearers he then 
 proceeded to give a most interesting and amusing 
 account of his early experiences, touching lightly on 
 most of the points mentioned in the early chapters of 
 
244 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 this book. Concerning the days when he first found 
 himself acknowledged as a member of the medical pro- 
 fession, he diverted his audience by telling them how 
 on the strength of his diploma, the only possession he 
 had in the world, he married. 
 
 No doubt he and Lady Wyndham often think of 
 these early and difficult days, and congratulate them- 
 selves on all that, thanks to his enterprise and deter- 
 mination, has happened since. Of course, natural genius 
 has had a great deal to do with his success, but that 
 much to be envied qualification, unless it is coupled 
 with hard work, is a very useless possession. 
 
 Later, the speaker dealt with the drama from a serious 
 point of view, and wound up by saying : — 
 
 " You will see, therefore, ladies and gentlemen, that 
 1 take a high view of the mission of my art, and, as 
 a matter of consequence, of the mission of the actor. 
 For please remember that although the actor is called 
 upon to represent the thoughts of others, it is he that 
 embodies those thoughts, that clothes them with flesh 
 and blood and nerves, that brings a pulsating reality 
 before you. The actor's art begins where the painter's 
 finishes. A painter, for instance, has a portrait to paint. 
 He poses his model, and his experienced eye seizes upon 
 traits of resemblance, fixes them upon the canvas by the 
 magic of his art, and there his work is done. Not so 
 with the actor. He first has had to study diligently 
 the spirit and intention of his author's words, and then 
 conveys them on to an ideal canvas, which is represented 
 by the conception of his part, by the dress of the char- 
 acter, and by the make-up of the man. So far he is on 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 245 
 
 all fours with the painter. But now the actor must 
 advance one step further. He has, up to the present, 
 the exterior of the character, not the character itself. 
 He must make that character speak with appropriate 
 voice, he must make it move with appropriate gestures, 
 he must make it think with appropriate expression — ^ 
 endow it with a soul." 
 
 How well it would be for the welfare of dramatic art 
 if all actors took this ideal view of their work ! 
 
 Much as Charles Wyndham admired the wonderful 
 art of Salvini, he could not quite agree with his views 
 as to the condition of the drama of yesterday and to- 
 day. For example, when the great Italian actor said 
 that the theatrical art is, after all, progressive, and that 
 the actors of to-day are, as a whole, rather more 
 capable than in the so-called palmy days of the stage, 
 he replied : — 
 
 " I should be very guarded in venturing to differ with 
 so high an authority on his art as Salvini. It may be 
 premature to announce it at this time, but my im- 
 pressions on this subject are just the reverse of those 
 expressed by the Italian tragedian. The stage has no 
 actual technique that can be handed down by the actor 
 to future generations, as the sculptor or artist can hand 
 down his work to become the heirloom and possession 
 of successors through all time. The art of the stage 
 can only vary with the varying emotions of man. Any 
 painter may to-day or to-morrow, by a single example 
 of a different treatment of texture, of atmosphere, of 
 complexion, bequeath a legacy to all who come after him 
 that will add to the illusion of his art ; but the actor 
 
246 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 cannot do this. The greatest work of our modern 
 stage has been to discard whatever of technique it 
 possessed, and to condemn it as ' traditional,' or ' con- 
 ventional.' In one sense this may be said to show 
 an advance, but that it lays any foundation upon which 
 to base a belief that the theatrical art is a progressive 
 one I cannot realise. Emotion cannot be stereotyped ; 
 the actor must make a fresh copy every time. To 
 criticise the actors of the ' palmy days ' is much too large 
 an order for me to accept at short notice. Further than 
 what I have already said I should not care to venture 
 just now." 
 
 To show how carefully he ponders over the staging of 
 his plays I think well to tell how, when questioned on 
 the subject, he said that in some scenes, according to his 
 view, elaborate stage pictures undoubtedly heighten the 
 effect by aiding to produce the required illusion ; but in 
 others the painter's and upholsterer's art, carried to an 
 extreme, undoubtedly work to the detriment of the 
 effect intended by the author, and which the actor is 
 trying to produce. 
 
 " I cannot," he continued, " illustrate my meaning 
 better than by referring to a sensational effect that in 
 this country has always been introduced into a particular 
 comedy, greatly to its detriment, as I think. I speak of 
 it with infinite respect, for its godfather was one of the 
 greatest stage-managers and one of the greatest artists 
 that America has produced and cherished. I allude to 
 the celebrated scene of the departure of the troops for 
 the Crimea, in Robertson's Ours. The story is, of 
 course, familiar to all playgoers. The hero is ordered 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 247 
 
 away on foreign service. The heroine and her friends 
 are supposed to be watching the troops marching past 
 their window. In England the author's conception was 
 simply that the march should be left entirely to the 
 imagination of the audience, while their attention should 
 be riveted entirely on the fact that the girl is losing 
 her lover. All the suggestion made of the march was 
 the dull, heavy tramp of soldiers outside, and the 
 cheering of the populace. By this means one was made 
 to realise that regiment after regiment was passing. 
 Now, the author's intention was simply to present the 
 effect of the departure of the troops on the characters 
 on the stage, and not to invite the audience to a military 
 review. I have rarely seen a stronger dramatic effect 
 than was produced in London by this illusion, the dull 
 tramp of the soldiers, the hoarse voice of command, the 
 excited shouts, and the emotions of the different char- 
 acters on the stage. Thus, while it appealed to the one 
 sense — hearing — it left the other sense — vision — free to 
 follow the imagination. 
 
 "Here- in America, however, I found the interest of 
 the story diverted from the characters to an attempt to 
 realise the actual march of an array of some few dozens 
 of soldiers, three or four abreast, past a window so close 
 to them that no pavement was possible. Most of us 
 have seen a regiment go by, and know how inadequate 
 are any resources of the stage to represent such a scene. 
 To my mind it speaks volumes for the interest of the 
 story that the effect was not destroyed by this intro- 
 duction of pageantry. I remember having a long and 
 serious chat with Mr. Wallack on the subject, in which I 
 
248 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 found it to be his conviction that it would be impossible 
 to bring the act to a successful close without this effect, 
 and that, indeed, the success of the comedy was largely 
 dependent upon this military display. I could not agree 
 with him, but probably I was wrong." 
 
 How right he was will be understood by all who have 
 made a real study of theatrical effect. Those who have 
 never given a thought to the matter, but who simply 
 look at and admire the stage pictures and illusions that 
 are provided for them, will, if they happen to read these 
 lines, learn something with regard to the intricacies of 
 stagecraft, and the amount of thought that is required 
 to make them fine out to the point of perfection. 
 
 It was during this visit to America that, in order to 
 protect himself from that terrible nuisance to celebrities, 
 the autograph hunter, he adopted the Right Hon. Joseph 
 Chamberlain's rule of only giving his sign manual to 
 people with whom he is personally acquainted. Accord- 
 ingly he had a little card printed to that effect, and 
 posted it to pestilent and persistent collectors who in 
 order to gratify their own selfish hobby do not in the 
 least degree mind the trouble they give to other and 
 more usefully occupied people. 
 
 Amongst many letters which assailed him on his 
 arrival was one in which the writer indulged in the most 
 fulsome compliments, somewhat to the effect that 
 America was prouder and better for his coming there, 
 that its stage would benefit by his art, — and much more 
 to the same effect, — until it wound up by saying that 
 these facts rendered the writer bold enough to ask for 
 his autograph. 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 249 
 
 In response to this, one of the little cards was 
 promptly sent — and as promptly came the reply — ■ 
 
 " Oh ! you never give your autograph except to 
 acquaintances ? And who the h — 11 are you ? " 
 
 Certainly a strong contrast between the two letters ! 
 
 Charles Wyndham has made unprofessional as well as 
 professional visits to America, and I here give, with his 
 permission, and in his own words, the story of one of 
 his transatlantic adventures. 
 
 " It was a strange experience that greeted me at the end 
 of my hurried rush to the West in the July of 1885, 
 when I found myself, immediately on my arrival, in the 
 presence of that modern inquisition, Judge Lynch. An 
 act had been perpetrated, which, in our settled com- 
 munities, was murder ; there, by the mere friction of 
 terms, it rose to a certain dignity as a vindication of the 
 law — Lynch Law. 
 
 " The scene was a novel one, and, to me, positively 
 startling, and in all the details of its history of a nature 
 to remain ever in my memory. 
 
 " I was attracted, the first morning on my arrival at 
 Lemarie City, by a crowd outside of a little undertaker's 
 shop ; and only too ready to welcome any ripple in 
 the monotony of life as ordered in the * Gem of the 
 Rockies,' I pressed forward to learn the cause of the ex- 
 citement. I was soon borne along by the crowd, and, 
 thanks to the glorious freedom of the Western citizen, 
 was shouldered through the doorway into the little shop, 
 past threatening-looking piles of planks, past two or 
 three empty coffins, upreared on end like sentry-boxes. 
 
2SO SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 which afforded profitable opening for the display of 
 modern wit ; past other planks, out of the little shop 
 into a small apartment at the back. 
 
 " Here the crowd was thicker, and the wit seemed 
 to grow brighter by attrition. And what a crowd ! A 
 mixture only to be found on a transcontinental route. 
 Here the light-complexioned Englishman, as personified 
 by Lord de Clifford and half a dozen brother sportsmen ; 
 there the swarthy Spaniard, by his side again a dandy of 
 Lamarie City, and he, in turn, elbowed by the be- 
 spattered cow-boys, redolent of the plains. 
 
 " In the centre of the room, under the light of a sky- 
 light, on some rude planks formed into a rude table by 
 a pair of trestles, lay the body of a man in the first flush 
 of strength and manhood. His age could not have 
 exceeded twenty-six or seven. A long, oval face, with 
 straight-cut features, surmounted by a shock of light 
 hair ; a tawny moustache and spare pointed beard of the 
 same colour shaded the lines of the mouth, but could 
 not rob the face of a wild, resolute look ; a handsome 
 face withal, even in the ghastly hue of death. 
 
 " The man wore the rough costume of a frontiersman 
 — not the inevitable red shirt ; in this instance it was 
 blue. In contrast with the dull fustian colour of the 
 trousers ; coat he had none, nor were the boots there. 
 His feet were bare, and the trousers were rolled half- 
 way up to show a bullet-wound In one of his legs. 
 The artistic horror of the picture was supplied by a rope, 
 neatly coiled up In sailor fashion and lying across his 
 breast, one end in a spliced noose round the dead man's 
 neck, the other grimly bearing witness to the finger- 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 251 
 
 marks where the lynchers had tailed on. Across the 
 coil lay a pair of powerful hands, the right one pierced 
 by a heavy bullet. 
 
 " ' What's all this about ? ' I inquired of one of the 
 bystanders. 
 
 " ' Lynched,' was my neighbour's reply, ' for walking 
 off with Fordice's sorrel mare without any invitation.' 
 
 " ' Who lynched him .? ' I asked. 
 
 " * Well, you see, it's kinder hard to say, 'cause the 
 boys had all wrapped their heads up in flour bags not to 
 catch cold. There's been a good many horses lately 
 found their way to Texas, and most men that had horses 
 had rather have the selling of them themselves. Then, 
 you see,' he added argumentatively, ' when the lawyers 
 get hold of these things you never know how they'll 
 turn out. So perhaps this was the neatest way of doing 
 the job.' 
 
 " * He was a thoroughbred, tho', was Si Partridge,' 
 said another bystander. 
 
 " I came away from this place, for I had over a forty 
 miles' ride to accomplish that day, and, bidding my new 
 acquaintances good-bye, I started off; but all through 
 that ride, over that mountainous, unfrequented country, 
 the dull scene of that morning was constantly before 
 me with painful vividness — the brutal jests of the cow- 
 boys and the stoic indifference of the crowd. 
 
 " I did not dream that I, personally, should be con- 
 nected, in however small a degree, with this tragical 
 event. 
 
 " On the slope of the Rockies, eight thousand feet 
 above the level of the sea, and nearly fifty miles from 
 
252 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the scene of the previous morn, I awoke prepared for a 
 ride over the ranche of my host. At the appointed 
 hour I stood ready for the mount which had been 
 placed at my disposal. 
 
 " ' You'll find her quiet enough, I guess,* said the 
 foreman as he was standing at the girths to get the 
 huge saddle down to the poor shrunken withers of a 
 big, raking, sorrel mare, with long, lean flanks and 
 jaded, lack-lustre eyes. * I'm sorry I can't find you 
 something better, but the party is a large one, and our 
 stock is mostly out. But you'll find her quiet enough. 
 A month ago I wouldn't have answered for her, but it'll 
 take more than a month now on this mountain grass to 
 make her what she was before Si Partridge got across 
 her.' 
 
 " ' You don't mean to say this is the horse Partridge 
 stole — the horse they lynched him for ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes, sir, that is the mare. Leastways, that is the 
 shadder of her, and that's the saddle, too, and that's the 
 barn he took her from. That's 'ow I spotted him. 
 Whoa, girl ! Yes, sir, fifteen hundred miles she carried 
 him before 'e found that halter round 'is neck.' 
 
 " And this was the very sorrel mare — the animal I was 
 about to ride ! Here stood the cause, for struggle as I 
 would, I could not disabuse my mind that, somehow or 
 other, the mare had been the responsible agent through- 
 out — the fate — the demon that had lured poor Partridge 
 to his doom. 
 
 " More to divert my thoughts from the morbid channel 
 they were running in than from any real curiosity — for 
 the drama in me was all in the denouement — I ques- 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 253 
 
 tioned my host as we rode along as to the earlier history 
 of the case. 
 
 " It seems thaf Partridge had long enjoyed an evil 
 reputation. From early days he had earned his claim 
 to rank among the ' bad lot.' Already there were one 
 or two he had marked, and had been marked by them 
 to ' shoot down at sight.' 
 
 " Arrested some two years before for some little defect, 
 he had been released through the insane but noble 
 sacrifice of a loving sister, whose devotion he rewarded 
 shortly after by levanting with her watch and any other 
 portable property he could lay his hands on. Since 
 then his life was unknown to honest men. He became 
 a wandering specimen of the wandering states and terri- 
 tories, turning up occasionally in his old haunts, and 
 disappearing again without any apparent aim or purpose. 
 This mode of life naturally gave him a very extended 
 knowledge of the geography of the country ; and how 
 many * strays ' had profited by that knowledge in their 
 long journey into Texas is, of course, a matter of sur- 
 mise. It was on one of these visitations lately that he 
 had claimed hospitality at the ranche of my host. He 
 was fed and lodged there for a night — for in that 
 country everyone is welcome to this — and then took his 
 leave. A night after, the sorrel mare disappeared ; but 
 as a saddle and bridle disappeared with her, it was 
 hardly possible to attribute the combination to the 
 mare's own cussedness. 
 
 " The ranche lies far from the line of trail, so it was 
 impossible to impute the mare's disappearance to any 
 fortuitous intentions of a tramp. Furthermore, the 
 
254 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 selection of a new saddle, kept in a particular stall in 
 one of the barns, seemed to argue very consistently 
 familiarity with the premises. Suspicion pointed to 
 Partridge ; the hue-and-cry was raised, and two deputed 
 sheriffs at once started in pursuit. 
 
 " Once on this scent, the chase was hotly urged, for in 
 the gloomy solitude of these mountains farther to the 
 south, popular repute has located a * horse-camp,' a 
 centre for the operations of these desperadoes, where 
 the stolen horses are gathered until a bunch of thirty or 
 forty warrants the journey into Texas. For miles 
 around the charmed circle of this camp pursuit becomes 
 impossible. In the dense pine forests, at every step, 
 the way is blocked by fallen timber — the decaying 
 trunks of bygone giants. Here, once the track is lost, 
 progress for man or beast is hopeless, and the fugitive, 
 versed in every double of the trail, can snap his fingers 
 with impunity at his pursuers. 
 
 " Partridge, it seems, however, was unable to reach 
 this spot — the sheriffs were too close upon him — for, 
 instead of following the trail, he turned abruptly to the 
 west and struck out for Utah, straight across half the 
 State of Colorado. This sudden change of plan served 
 his turn, and it was only in Utah that the sheriffs, 
 assisted by fresh mounts afforded as they passed along, 
 came up to him again. This time he turned short 
 round and made for the North Park — a second time 
 baffling his followers. And now, once again, was the 
 same ground covered as he tried to evade pursuit, and a 
 second time reached Utah in safety. 
 
 "Realise as I tried to realise, whilst bestriding that 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 255 
 
 poor, patient beast, this mad gallop against fate, this 
 wild chase day by day, night by night, through the 
 gloomy pine woods, the frowning canons, over the 
 snow-clad divides, across the roaring torrents — by sun- 
 light — by starlight across the smiling plains, the dreary 
 wastes of alkali — back and forth and back again, relent- 
 less avengers ever in the wake. One moment in some 
 mountain gulch the pursuing hoofs are heard ringing 
 out clearly in the night air, approaching, approaching 
 how quickly ! The dreadful agony of that moment 
 until the winged feet fly past, and the echoing sounds 
 fade slowly, slowly — oh, how slowly — down into the 
 deep mystery of the canon far ahead into the West. 
 Then the crouching figure, emerging from the shadow 
 of some great boulder, the quivering mare, the cruel 
 lunge of the spurs as she wheels round, and horse and 
 rider dashing back up the ravine are seen as a speck of 
 black against that cold streak of dawn that marks the 
 top of the divide. Remember, the distance between 
 these points is not less than three to four hundred 
 miles, and each time th€ desperado must have travelled 
 out of his way in order to avoid any settlements or 
 ranches along the route of his former journeys, where 
 his exploits would necessarily have been known ; and 
 then, think of the suffering of man and beast. 
 
 " To the end, he baffled, by his cunning, the sleuth- 
 hound of the law — -but Nemesis overtook him ! The 
 poor mare that had borne him so nobly was at last done 
 — dead beaten. He, on the last journey, traded her for 
 a horse, and so once more established a clue to his 
 whereabouts. It was no longer the officer of the law. 
 
256 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 armed with strength of authority, he had to fly from ; 
 it was a dilettante detective now — a little ranchman — 
 actuated by the reward offered, or by a sense of the 
 common danger — that clung to his heels ; a man with 
 fresh nerve, fresh horse, fresh strength ; and so again a 
 mad ride began. 
 
 " For two days the new hunter follows the trail, and on 
 the third, perhaps to his own dismay, he comes in sight 
 of his quarry. Had the arbiter, in any question of 
 supremacy, been between him and Partridge, the little 
 ranchman would in all probability have gone to the 
 ground ; but fatigue and fasting have demoralised the 
 fugitive. He no longer pauses to raise even a pistol. 
 Flight alone he thinks of, and from a man he could have 
 brushed from his path. It is all over. The sharp crack 
 of a pistol rings out in the still air, and the bullet 
 strikes Partridge on the wrist. Another, and another, 
 and a bullet goes crashing through Partridge's leg, and 
 his horse falls dead under him. 
 
 " One last flicker of the old fire is left to the wretched 
 man. Before his horse reaches the ground, he snatches 
 his pistol from his holster, and steadying himself upon 
 the horn of the big Mexican saddle, he prepares to 
 cover his assailant. The little ranchman's position is 
 a terrible one, for he has no more ammunition. 
 ' Hands up ! ' he cries, with a sudden inspiration, 
 pointing the empty barrel at Partridge. ' Hands up, 
 
 you , or I will finish you in your tracks ! ' The pistol 
 
 drops from the bleeding, miserable man, and the long 
 ride is done. 
 
 " Bound hand and foot, he was taken back by the 
 little ranchman to Lamarie, and there locked up. 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 257 
 
 " ' But how,' I inquired of my host, ' was he 
 lynched ? You say he was locked up.' 
 
 " ' So he was, but, you see, the boys began to think he 
 was not safe in Lamarie, so they prevailed on the 
 sheriff to take him down to Red Butte, twelve miles 
 east of Lamarie. The sheriff seemed to think so, too. 
 He knows the boys ' (with a knowing look). ' So at ten 
 o'clock at night Si is taken out of the lock-up, still 
 bound hand and foot, and placed into a buggy by the 
 side of the sheriff, who puts out at once for Red Butte. 
 Well, they only go to the bridge over the creek, three 
 miles out, when s,ix masked figures emerge from the 
 shadow of the fence. Two of them lay hold of the 
 team by the bridles, and the other four go up, re- 
 volvers in hands, to the sheriff, mildly suggesting that 
 it is not safe to be driving out so late — that he'd better 
 leave Si along with them, and drive back to Lamarie 
 just as fast as his team could carry him,' 
 
 « ' Well ? ' 
 
 •* • Well, there is not much arguing with four revolvers 
 when they look as if they mean business. So the 
 sheriff hands Si over, and jogs the team back to town.' 
 
 "'And Si?' 
 
 " ' Had grit to the last. Bound hand and foot, with 
 a bullet through his leg and one of his hands smashed, 
 he saw at once there was not a living show for him. 
 " Well, boys," he said, " I suppose it's all over ? " 
 " Yes," was the cold but emphatic reply. " Well, 
 good-bye, boys." " Good-bye," they answered, as they 
 put the necktie round him and whipped him up to the 
 cross-bar of Hutton's gate.' 
 s 
 
258 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " "And what became of the sheriff? ' 
 
 " ' He came to town, got some more of the boys, and 
 went back for the body.' 
 
 " But the bane of the sorrel mare clung even to the 
 little ranchman. Before I left the country he was in 
 a madhouse. The night after Partridge's death he was 
 awakened by the sound of a man climbing up to the 
 fanlight that surmounts every hotel door in America. 
 Alarming the inmates, every search was made for the 
 intruder, but in vain. The next night it was the same 
 — with a similar result. He grew uneasy ; he moved 
 to another hotel, but in vain. Now he knew what it 
 meant : he was marked ; the avenger was on his track. 
 He had been doomed by some of Si Partridge's gang ; 
 by night or day, no more rest for him ! The horror of 
 his situation, his impending fate, turned his brain, and 
 before a week had elapsed since his victim's death, he 
 was mad. 
 
 " I rode the mare for some miles that day — and then 
 changed mounts with my son. Mental anguish had 
 given place to physical agony. The poor mare changed 
 her feet every second lift, she was so stiff and sore. So 
 was I for days after ! " 
 
 Here is another little anecdote that belongs to 
 American experiences. 
 
 When Lord Lome was Governor-General of Canada, 
 Princess Louise and he once started out for a tour 
 through the southern States. They were travelling in 
 a special train along the same line on which Charles 
 Wyndham was travelling with his company in a special 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 259 
 
 carriage attached to an ordinary train. It was under- 
 stood that the royal train would catch up his and be 
 tacked on to it en route. The company were very much 
 interested in the crowds that they saw waiting at every 
 railway station. By the curiosity that their carriage 
 attracted it soon dawned upon them that the bystanders 
 were looking out for the Royalties. Their eyes were 
 generally directed towards Miss Mary Rorke, then the 
 handsome leading lady of Charles Wyndham's company. 
 The actors soon fell into the joke. There was an 
 eccentric light comedian known as Hamilton Astley, 
 a very airy young gentleman indeed, with a light flaxen 
 moustache, an eyeglass, and a fur coat. Whenever 
 Miss Rorke or Hamilton Astley addressed any of the 
 rest of the company, hats were immediately doffed. 
 Whenever they promenaded through the stations all the 
 men of the company followed uncovered, and the crowd 
 followed closely on their heels to get a view of the 
 Princess and the Governor-General, with the pleasant 
 result that when these two did actually pass through 
 about an hour later, there were no crowds to welcome 
 them at the stations, and they passed through unnoticed. 
 The Princess has often laughingly referred to this to 
 Charles Wyndham since, saying what a nice quiet 
 journey they had. 
 
 The 1889 tour — during the whole of which the 
 indefatigable Charles Wyndham actually directed the 
 affairs of the Criterion by cablegram ! — ended as 
 brilliantly as it had commenced, and the home welcome 
 of the triumphant little company was an enthusiastic 
 one . The following extracts from an " open letter " 
 
26o SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 addressed to its chief, and which appeared in a journal 
 which, I believe, no longer exists, voiced the general 
 view of London playgoers : — 
 
 "We all welcome you. For while St. Petersburg, 
 Moscow, and Berlin, on this side of the broad Atlantic, 
 have been surpassed by Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, 
 Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, and New York, on 
 the other side, in the heartiness of metropolitan wel- 
 comes, yet great London's welcome will find the heartiest 
 response in your British heart, and one dearer than any 
 echo in your cosmopolitan brain. 
 
 "Americans, doubtless, remind you how, as Union 
 Army Surgeon during their Civil War, you made 
 hundreds of homes happy by your skill and work of 
 restoration ; but Englishmen best remember how your 
 civil peace — not to say your dramatic pieces — has made 
 John Bull's homes happy. It is, perhaps, unfortunate 
 for the actor, that while he hears the impromptu applause 
 of his audience he cannot follow them to their homes 
 and there hear the well-thought-out plaudits at supper- 
 tables ; in chambers into which reminiscences of perfect 
 personations guide pleasant dreams ; or at breakfast- 
 tables, when the events of the happily passed evenings 
 alternate with toast and chocolate, or with the culinary 
 essays that 'bacon' — lord of a British breakfast -table 
 — inspires. The great actor may hazily hear of such 
 plaudits, but he cannot realise them. If he could realise 
 them he would have more satisfaction in his feelings as 
 regards his early struggles, his slavery of rehearsals, his 
 
AMERICA REVISITED 261 
 
 weary waitings, his evening banishments from social 
 enjoyments, and his frequent drafts upon brain and 
 general health when the inevitable curtain and crowded 
 theatre and call-boy demand sacrifices of time and pluck. 
 
 " Unfortunately only a moiety of your world-wide 
 audiences kiiow you as the gentleman of private life, 
 as the faithful friend, as an electric light at dinner-tables, 
 in drawing-'rooms, or as the social wit who depends not 
 upon the written words of authors or stereotyped cues, 
 as an essence of quiet but effective generosities, as the 
 practitioner of the eleventh commandment, 'Love thy 
 neighbour as thyself.' " 
 
 And now, in the late autumn of 1904, Charles 
 Wyndham is to commence another American tour, 
 opening, under the management of Daniel Frohman, 
 at the Lyceum Theatre, New York, in the perennial 
 David Garricky and with Miss Mary Moore in her 
 universally popular character of Ada Ingot. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 
 
 TT was in David Garrick that the travellers received 
 their welcome home, and the play might have had 
 another long run ; but on May loth Charles Wyndham 
 was ready with a long-contemplated revival of She Stoops 
 to Conquer. In this he appeared as Young Marlow to 
 the Hardcastle of William Blakeley, the Tony Lumpkin 
 of George Giddens, the Mrs. Hardcastle of Miss A. 
 Victor, and the Miss Hardcastle of Miss Mary Moore. 
 The last named was a most fascinating performance. 
 
 But somehow this production did not find favour 
 with a certain section of the critics, who declared that 
 Goldsmith's comedy was played in too farcical a vein. 
 Complaints were made as to the laughter created by 
 Young Marlow's hesitation and ultra-shyness ; it was 
 said that Blakeley, instead of being a sententious, well- 
 informed, and rather stately character, was a fatuous old 
 gentleman, who, having been made the butt of his 
 young visitor, becomes a laughing-stock, and that the 
 Tony Lumpkin of George Giddens was a mischievous, 
 rattle-pated youth, not by any means obtuse, but rather 
 cunning than otherwise, and notwithstanding his pot- 
 house companions, retaining the manners of a gentleman. 
 
 262 
 
By permission oj the Draycott Gallery, late Barraitd, 263, Oxford Street, London 
 
 MISS MARY MOORE AS " MISS HARDCASTLE " IN " SHE ST00P3 TO CONQUER" 
 
 Facing page 262 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 263 
 
 I confess that I find it difficult to follow such criti- 
 cism as this. If Hardcastle had not been a rather silly 
 old person, he would not have been so easily played 
 upon by his innocently impudent guests. Considering 
 his environment, it is impossible to think of Tony 
 Lumpkin without a spice of education and good breed- 
 ing ; and if Goldsmith did not mean audiences to laugh 
 at his comedy, what on earth did he mean ? 
 
 The year was a busy one at the Criterion. Charles 
 Wyndham and Miss Mary Moore scored greatly as 
 Citizen Sangfroid and Pauline, in Dance's evergreen 
 comedietta. Delicate Ground, and delighted audiences in 
 a very pretty comedy called Sowing and Reaping, by C. 
 Vernon, an author whose name was new at the time, 
 and who has not, I think, been heard of since. 
 
 Let me here mention that Charles Wyndham has 
 always been kind in encouraging young authors, though, 
 unfortunately, he rarely finds anything good in the bales 
 of manuscript submitted to him. 
 
 In this connection he has had, in common with his 
 brother managers, some strange experiences. On one 
 occasion he received a manuscript nine pages long and 
 typewritten. Each page would have taken less than a 
 minute to act, and so the piece would have lasted about 
 eight minutes ; but the letter that accompanied the work 
 offered to solve that difficulty. It ran as follows : — 
 
 " May I ask your consideration of this play ? I think 
 you will admit that it is very funny. It is, I know, 
 rather shorter than one-act plays usually are ; but I am a 
 prominent amateur actor of some long experience, and I 
 am convinced that if you will only let me play the part, 
 the audience won't mind how short the play is." 
 
264 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Poor, misguided aspirant to dramatic fame ! He 
 little knew the bitter irony of his concluding words ! 
 
 But the things that the unacted dramatist will do are 
 almost inconceivable. J. L. Toole once showed me a 
 letter in which a would-be author said : — 
 
 "Dear Sir, — I am in pecuniary difficulties, and 
 therefore I have written a play. Will you kindly send 
 me the usual fees at once, as I am being pressed. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, ,, g^^ -g^^ ., 
 
 It need hardly be said that the play was as hopeless 
 as its author's idea of a would-be playwright's im- 
 mediate remuneration. 
 
 Charles Wyndham has also been very good-natured 
 in placing his theatre at the disposal of authors anxious 
 to exploit their plays at afternoon performances, and 
 others wishful to give proof of their histrionic merits, 
 
 A friend once asked Charles Wyndham to exploit 
 a clever reciter, who, having won favour elsewhere, 
 was anxious to try his fortune in London. Charles 
 Wyndham at once arranged a socially representative 
 function, issuing cards, " Mr. Wyndham, At Home — 
 recital— tea afterwards on the stage — requests the 
 pleasure of your company," and so forth. Amongst 
 those invited was Mr. Gladstone, who cordially ac- 
 cepted. Society accepted, too. The day — a mid- July 
 day — proved intensely hot, and the theatre was crammed. 
 Charles Wyndham escorted Mr. Gladstone to his box. 
 " Won't you remain here with me .'' " asked Mr. 
 Gladstone. His host explained he had retained a box 
 immediately above Mr. Gladstone, so as to be free 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 265 
 
 to attend to business matters. The curtain rose upon 
 an already perspiring and almost expiring audience, and 
 the reciter advanced. 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen," he said, " I shall have the 
 honour of reciting to you ' Elaine,' by Alfred Tennyson." 
 " Elaine " on a blazing hot July day in a theatre packed ! 
 Charles Wyndham scented danger, and from his upper 
 box watched his guests. The reciter was good, but 
 inevitably wearisome to an audience listening for an 
 unduly long time to the monotony of a single voice 
 in a veritable Turkish bath. Visions of quietly retiring 
 to the open air rose to gasping guests, but Charles 
 Wyndham had to think of the reciter's feelings. If 
 anybody stirred Wyndham's body was half out of the 
 box, and Wyndham's eye was on the restive one. The 
 audience recognised they had accepted Wyndham's re- 
 cital and Wyndham's tea, so everybody felt constrained 
 to stay. The recital terminated, and Charles Wyndham 
 joined Mr. Gladstone. "Afraid you've had a trying 
 time with all this heat, Mr. Gladstone," he said. " Not 
 at all," was the reply, " I have had a charming afternoon. 
 I thank you for asking me, and now, quite refreshed, I 
 can run back to the House." Charles Wyndham was 
 elated. " Elaine " was a success after all ! He rushed 
 to the stage and found his guests waiting for him and 
 for tea. "What have we done to you," they cried, 
 " to give us ' Elaine ' on a day like this .■* Surely there 
 was something lighter to choose ? " " Lighter," retorted 
 their host, " that's the trouble with you Society people, 
 you're all so frivolous. I gave you a classic treat. Why, 
 Gladstone has just told me he had a delightful zhtvnoon." 
 
266 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " Of course he has," was the rejoinder, " for he was 
 asleep all the time." 
 
 It seems that directly Mr. Gladstone arrived he dropped 
 into a chair, and, with his head gracefully leaning on 
 his hand, composed himself for a quiet slumber, which 
 peacefully endured during the entire recitation. Charles 
 Wyndham at once realised how very cleverly the Right 
 Hon. Mr. Gladstone had scored off him. 
 
 On November 27th, 1890, Dion Boucicault's London 
 Assurance was revived, the characters for the first time 
 wearing the costumes of the period in which the comedy 
 was written. They were picturesque, and it was in- 
 teresting to see the frilled shirts and the tightly 
 strapped-down trousers affected by our forefathers. 
 Charles Wyndham was the Dazzle, Miss Mary Moore 
 the Grace Harkaway, and the admirable company with 
 the familiar old names was strengthened by the engage- 
 ment of William Farren for Sir Harcourt Courtley ; 
 Arthur Bourchier (who then made his first appearance on 
 Criterion boards) for Charles Courtley ; Cyril Maude 
 (so soon to make a deservedly great name for himself) 
 as Cool ; and Mrs. Bernard Beere for Lady Gay 
 Spanker. Is it heresy to say that to my mind London 
 Assurance is a very much overrated play ? 
 
 For my part I can never see it without thinking how 
 Charles Dickens said : — 
 
 " Shall I ever forget Vestris, in London Assurance, 
 bursting out with certain praises (they always elicited 
 three rounds) of a — of a country morning, I think it 
 was 1 The atrocity was perpetrated, I remember, on a 
 lawn before a villa. It was led up to by flower-pots. 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 267 
 
 The thing was as like any honest sympathy, or honest 
 English, as the rose-pink on a sweep's face on May-day 
 is to a beautiful complexion ; but Harley generally 
 appeared touched to the soul, and a man in the pit 
 always cried out, * Beau-ti-ful.' " 
 
 It may be necessary to explain to some of my readers 
 that Madame Vestris and Harley were the original 
 Grace Harkaway and Mark Meddle in Boucicault's 
 comedy, first produced at Covent Garden in 1841 — and 
 playgoers of to-day may recognise the fact that the same 
 artificial, but theatrically eflfective lines, make the same 
 impression upon an ordinary audience as they did in 
 those days of long ago. 
 
 The April of 1891 witnessed a very beautiful revival 
 of The School for Scandal. Charles Wyndham, uni- 
 versally acknowledged to be the best Charles Surface of 
 his day, had surrounded himself with a splendid cast. 
 William Farren repeated his fine rendering of Sir Peter 
 Teazle ; Arthur Bourchier was an excellent Joseph Sur- 
 face ; and Mrs. Bernard Beere was an effective Lady 
 Teazle. Other parts were admirably played by H. H. 
 Vincent, William Blakeley, Cyril Maude, George 
 Giddens, Sydney Valentine, and Miss M. A. Victor. 
 Miss Mary Moore played very sweetly in the decidedly 
 thankless part of Maria, and Miss EUaline Terriss 
 made one of her earliest appearances as the waiting- 
 maid. In December, 1891, Brighton was once more 
 revived, and Bob Sackett received his old and cordial 
 welcome ; but he had to make way on April 30th, 
 1892, for The Fringe of Society, a clever adaptation, 
 by an anonymous author, of the younger Dumas' 
 
268 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 much-discussed play, Le Demi-Monde. Charles Wynd- 
 ham's new part of Sir Charles Hartley, r.a., a some- 
 what middle-aged and blasS man of the world, suited 
 his later style well, and he played it with great effect, 
 alternating a light and pleasant touch with flashes 
 of really powerful acting and many moments of deep 
 feeling. This strong yet adroitly blended contrast of 
 light and shade in his acting has always been most 
 effective. In The Fringe of Society Miss Mary Moore 
 scored another great success, and other important char- 
 acters were taken by F. H. Vanderfelt, William Blake- 
 ley, Cyril Maude, Miss Carlotta Addison, Miss Ellis 
 Jeffreys, and Mrs. Langtry. 
 
 In May, at a series of matinees, a charming comedy, 
 by Isaac Henderson, entitled Agatha, was produced. 
 The cast was a remarkable one ; Charles Wyndham, 
 who was excellent as a shrewd but tender-hearted 
 American, being surrounded by Lewis Waller, Herbert 
 Waring, Charles Fulton, Laurence Caudey, Miss Wini- 
 fred Emery, Miss Rose Leclercq, Miss Olga Nethersole, 
 and Miss Mary Moore. In the following December, 
 under the altered tide of The Silent Battle, the play was 
 promoted to the evening bill. It was also toured in the 
 provinces with the old Criterion favourite. Miss East- 
 lake, in the leading lady's part, but for some unknown 
 reason it never achieved the popularity it deserved. 
 
 In the same year Charles Wyndham and Miss Mary 
 Moore appeared in one of S. Theyre Smith's com- 
 ediettas (how his name conjures up happy memories 
 of ^ Happy Pair, Uncle's Will, and A Case for Eviction!), 
 called Mrs. Hilary Regrets. 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 269 
 
 As the ship sails within sight of the coast of home 
 the passenger begins to lose interest in the voyage, for 
 there are no longer things to attract his attention in 
 seas that he has never seen before and may never see 
 again. So it is with a book like this. As it draws to 
 a conclusion readers will only want to be briefly 
 reminded of those recent achievements of Charles 
 Wyndham which are happily familiar to them as 
 household words. Therefore it is my task to touch 
 upon them lightly. 
 
 With this idea in view, I shall deal far less fully than 
 I ought to do with the group of plays — The Bauble Shop, 
 The Case of Rebellious Susan ^ The Physician^ and The Liars — 
 with which Henry Arthur Jones supplied the Criterion, 
 and which were produced respectively on January 26th, 
 1893, October 3rd, 1894, March 25th, 1897, and 
 October 6th, 1897. They were all good, and each of 
 them contained a part that suited Charles Wyndham 
 well. Whether as Viscount Clivebrook, the indiscreet 
 but sound-hearted Cabinet Minister of the first play ; 
 Sir Richard Cato, the high-minded Queen's Counsel of 
 the second ; Dr. Lewin Carey, the thoughtful, lovable, 
 well-contrasted central figure of the third ; or as Colonel 
 Christopher Deering in the fourth — he is alike excellent. 
 They are parts after his own heart— characters of cultured 
 men of the world, veneered with cynicism, yet giving 
 him scope for that subtle touch of tenderness that we 
 are now accustomed to associate with his acting, and 
 abundant opportunity for the display of the high comedy 
 of which he is an acknowledged master. 
 
 The Liars is, indeed, considered by many critics to be 
 
270 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the best comedy of its period, and on its revival at the 
 New Theatre in the June of the present year, 1904, 
 Mr. Punch (nbt given to overpraise) said : — 
 
 " Mr. Henry Arthur Jones's comedy of The Liars 
 deserves to be ranked among the classics of the Victorian 
 Era. Its freshness, which is that of an entire novelty, 
 is perfectly preserved by the admirable cast provided 
 for it by Sir Charles Wyndham. As good wine improves 
 with age, so do some good plays, and this one is an 
 example in point. Its weak feature, as occasionally 
 happens with our Henry Arthur, is the last act. Here 
 is our old friend the man hiding behind the curtain, 
 for which situation Henry Arthur has a deeply rooted 
 affection, as instanced in his latest comedy at the 
 Haymarket. 
 
 " Sir Charles Wyndham, as Colonel Sir Christopher 
 Deering, gives us the very best taste of his quality, 
 modulating his tone from grave to gay, from lively to 
 severe. The most difficult parts, viz. Edward Falkner, 
 gallant hero and seducer, Gilbert Nepean, the uncouth 
 husband, and his brother, George Nepean, the sus- 
 picious sneak, are admirably rendered, * with convic- 
 tion ' is the modern phrase, by Mr. Dennis Eadie, 
 Mr. Eille Norwood, and Mr. Bertram Steer. 
 
 "As the earnest noodle, Freddy Tatton, Mr. Sam 
 Sothern is delightful ; and Mr. A. Bishop absolutely 
 irresistible as the fussy, correct, and old-fashioned 
 husband of the accommodating Dolly Coke, so amusingly 
 rendered by Miss Sarah Brooke. 
 
 "The modern easy-going married woman, with the 
 whip-hand of her nervously weak spouse, is played to 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 271 
 
 the life by Miss Enid Spencer-Brunton ; and equally 
 good is Miss Cynthia Brooke, whose Beatrice Ebernoe 
 belongs to the modern school for scandal. As honest 
 and cheery Mrs. Crespin, Miss Lilian Waldegrave 
 seconds Sir Charles Wyndham in a rather trying scene 
 in the last act of the play. Miss Sybil Williams' slight 
 part of Lady Jessica's maid, Ferris, is given its full 
 importance in the scheme without being in the least 
 overdone. Miss Mary Moore has rarely had a better 
 part, nor a more trying one, except, perhaps, in The 
 Tyranny of TearSy than that of the t^te de linotte Lady 
 Jessica Nepean, where all the art consists in never once 
 gaining the sympathy of the audience for this amusing 
 and irritating character. 
 
 " The Liars should be in for another long run, as it is 
 one of the best acted and most amusing pieces now to be 
 seen in London." 
 
 And in each of the four pieces I have mentioned the 
 dramatist succeeded in finding parts exactly suited to the 
 ever winsome style of Miss Mary Moore (how delight- 
 ful she was as the Rebellious Susan !), and has enabled 
 other artists to add to their reputations. Nor must it 
 be forgotten how charmingly Miss Marion Terry acted 
 in The Physician. 
 
 Truly a bright array of feathers in the cap of Henry 
 Arthur Jones ! 
 
 In connection with the first production of The Liars, 
 Charles Wyndham once told me an amusing little story. 
 
 In the last act Miss Cynthia Brooke, as Beatrice, had 
 to enter the room where he was with the words, " Kit, 
 
2/2 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 I was dining out when your letter came, but I hurried 
 here as soon as I could." On entering her foot caught 
 something, and she fell flat on her face in the centre of 
 the stage. With the instinct of every actor to cover up 
 an accident of that kind by speaking at once, she, before 
 he could bend down to assist her, lifted up a very white, 
 distressed face, and towsled head of hair, and cried, 
 " Kit, I've been dining out ! " The audience saw at 
 once the mistake, with the absurdity of the words, and 
 roared with laughter, not only then, but all through the 
 act whenever he had to say effusively, "Only one 
 woman," as he had frequently to exclaim, nor had he 
 more control over himself than had the audience. 
 
 At about this time, or a little later, he and Miss 
 Moore had promised Lord and Lady Aberdeen to play 
 a comedietta at their house during a concert for some 
 charity benefit. When, however, they arrived they 
 found that the only platform was a large dinner-table on 
 which the singers stood, far too small to put chairs, a 
 sofa, a breakfast-table, and a writing-table on. Sir 
 Charles explained this to Lord Aberdeen, who was most 
 solicitous and regretful, offering to make a larger stage 
 by adding more tables. " You can't," said Sir Charles 
 Wyndham, " your platform is at the further end of the 
 room, which room has only one door, this one at this 
 end." 
 
 "We can easily carry the tables down to the other 
 end," replied Lord Aberdeen. 
 
 "Impossible!" was the reply. "Your room is 
 crowded, and you can't disturb your audience now. It's 
 too late." 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 273 
 
 " No, I suppose so," answered Lord Aberdeen. " Can 
 we do nothing ? " 
 
 " Nothing." 
 
 " No, I suppose not. I'm so sorry." 
 
 " It doesn't matter. You have a splendid concert." 
 
 " Oh, yes, a very fine concert." 
 
 "And you have your room full as it is." 
 
 " Yes, yes, quite full." 
 
 " You couldn't get any more in if you tried ? " 
 
 " No, we couldn't." (Lord Aberdeen in his solicitude 
 echoed everything Charles Wyndham said.) 
 
 " And I'm sure we shan't be missed." 
 
 " No, I'm sure you won't." 
 
 It was many months before Lord Aberdeen heard 
 from a mutual friend of his little mistake, when he was 
 profuse in his apologies, and he and Sir Charles Wynd- 
 ham often laugh at it still. 
 
 Between The Bauble Shop and The Case of Rebellious 
 Susan came an attractive adaptation, from the pen of 
 Lady Violet Greville, of Le Gendre de Mons. Poirier, 
 entitled jin Aristocratic Alliance. 
 
 Another dramatist whose name will live in these 
 Criterion annals is R. C. Carton. For his play, The 
 Home Secretary, Charles Brookfield, Lewis Waller, Sydney 
 Brough, and Miss Julia Neilson were engaged. Miss 
 Mary Moore had a part that suited her well, but as the 
 Right Hon. Duncan Trendel, M.P,, Charles Wyndham 
 had no great acting opportunities. In the same writer's 
 The Squire of Dames, an adaptation from UAmi des 
 Femmes of Dumas fits, he fared better, and the well- 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 drawn character of Mr. Kilroy was one after his own 
 heart. This was the play chosen for the "command" 
 performance before Her Majesty Queen Victoria at 
 Osborne, to which allusion has been made in a former 
 chapter — the performance that, in consequence of the 
 sad death of Prince Henry of Battenberg, had to be post- 
 poned at the last moment. It is interesting in these 
 pages to preserve a copy of the programme that never 
 was used. 
 
 OSBORNE, 
 
 Monday January 27th, 1896, at 9.30. 
 
 The Comedy in Four Acts, by R. C. Carton, entitled — 
 THE SQUIRE OF DAMES. 
 
 (Adapted from L'Ami des Femmes of Alex. DumasyJ/i.) 
 
 -Mr. Kilroy 
 
 Colonel Dennant 
 
 Sir Douglas Thornburn 
 
 Lord Eustace Chetland 
 
 Professor Dowle, f.r.s. 
 
 Baines 
 
 Servant 
 
 Mrs, Dowle 
 
 Elsie 
 
 Zoe Nuggetson 
 
 Adeline Dennant . 
 
 Acts I., II., and III. 
 Act IV. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wyndham. 
 Mr. Frank Fenton. 
 Mr. Bernard Gould. 
 Mr. H. De Lange. 
 Mr. Alfred Bishop. 
 Mr. R. Lister. 
 Mr. C. Terric. 
 Miss Granville. 
 Miss Beatrice Fbrrar. 
 Miss Fay Davis. 
 Miss Mary Moore. 
 
 Drawing-room at Mrs. Dennant's 
 Professor Dowle's Library. 
 
 Scenery by Walter Hann. 
 Stage Director . . . Mr. H. De Langb. 
 
 Manager . ... Mr. E. Harvey. 
 
 It will be seen that for The Squire of Dames Miss Fay 
 Davis was engaged. This was the first appearance of 
 that charming actress in an English comedy theatre. 
 
 On May ist, 1896, Charles Wyndham performed 
 wonders. He had now been the sole manager of the 
 Criterion Theatre for twenty years, and he resolved 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 
 
 275 
 
 to celebrate the event in no half-hearted way. On 
 behalf of the charity that he made up his mind to help 
 he asked his brother and sister artists to support him, 
 and they willingly placed their time and services at his 
 disposal. There was a performance at the Lyceum 
 Theatre in the afternoon, and at the Criterion Theatre 
 in the evening, and the interest of the event will be 
 judged from the following programmes, destined to 
 become historic. 
 
 The following was the bill of the Lyceum perform- 
 ance : — 
 
 The performance will commence at 1.30 with 
 
 A CLERICAL ERROR. 
 
 By Henry Arthur Jones. 
 
 Rev. Richard Capel . ... Mr. Wilson Barrett. 
 
 Dick Capel (his Nephew) . ... Mr. Edward Irwin. 
 
 Perry (the Butler) . ... Mr. Ambrose Manning. 
 
 Minnie Heritage . ... Miss Maud Jeffries. 
 
 Scqne — The Vicarage Parlour. 
 
 After which will be played the First Act of 
 
 
 MONEY. 
 
 
 
 By Lord Lytton. 
 
 
 Alfred Evelyn 
 
 • ... 
 
 Mr. Tree. 
 
 Sir John Vesey 
 
 
 Mr. W. Blakeley. 
 
 Sir Frederick Blount 
 
 . 
 
 Mr. Charles Hawtrey. 
 
 Captain Dudley Smooth (introduced into Act I.) . 
 
 Mr. Bancroft. 
 
 Graves . 
 
 
 Mr. Lionel Brough. 
 
 Lord Glossmore . 
 
 
 Mr. Herbert Waring. 
 
 Stout . 
 
 
 Mr. H. Kemble. 
 
 Sharp . 
 
 
 Mr. James Fernandez. 
 
 Sir John's Servant 
 
 
 Mr. Arthur Roberts. 
 
 Clara Douglas 
 
 
 Mrs. Tree. 
 
 Georgina Vesey 
 
 
 Miss Winifred Emery. 
 
 Servant 
 
 
 Miss C. Granville. 
 
 Lady Franklin . 
 
 
 Mrs. Bancroft. 
 
 Scene- 
 
 -Drawing-room at Sir John Vesey's. 
 
 
 Programme of Music. 
 
 I. Overture 
 
 "DerFreischutz" 
 
 . fVebtr. 
 
 2. Ballet Egyptien 
 
 . 
 
 Luigini. 
 
 3. Allegro 
 
 " Feramors " 
 
 RtMnstein 
 
 ^' I Slavonian Dances 
 
 Dvorak, 
 
276 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 The following ladies have kindly consented to sell pn^ammes at both the 
 performances : Miss Esm^ Beringer, Miss Vera Beringer, Miss Enid Spencer 
 Brunton, Miss Mabel Berry, Miss Fay Davis, Miss Hettie Dene, Miss Vane 
 Featherston, Miss Gwendolen Floyd, Miss Lily Hanbury, Miss Hilda Hanbory, 
 Miss Evelyn Millard, Miss Decima Moore, Miss Eva Moore, Miss Mona Oram, 
 Miss Kate Seymour, Miss Emily Brinsley Sheridan, Miss Minnie Terry, Miss 
 Doris Templeton. 
 
 The Costumes have been gratuitously supplied by Harkisons, Ltd., and 
 Messrs. L. and H. Nathan. The wigs by Mr. Fox and Mr. Clarkson. 
 
 To be followed by the last Three Acts of 
 
 THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL. 
 
 By Richard Brinsley Sheridan. 
 
 Sir Peter Teazle 
 
 Charles Surface 
 
 Joseph Surface 
 
 Sir Oliver Surface 
 
 Sir Benjamin Backbite . 
 
 Careless 
 
 Sir Harry Bumper (with song) 
 
 Crabtree 
 
 Moses 
 
 Snake 
 
 Trip 
 
 Sir Toby 
 
 Old Rowley 
 
 Joseph's Servant 
 
 Charles' Servants 
 
 . Mr. William Farren. 
 
 . Mr. Charles Wyndham. 
 
 . Mr. Forbes Robertson. 
 
 . Mr. H. H. Vincent. 
 
 . Mr. Cyril Maude. 
 
 . Mr. George Alexander. 
 
 . Mr. William Terriss. 
 
 . Mr. Tom Thorne. 
 
 . Mr. Edward Righton. 
 
 . Mr. Weedon Grossmith. 
 
 . Mr. Frederick Kerr. 
 
 . Mr. Arthdr Bodrchibr. 
 
 . Mr. Hermann Vezin. 
 
 . Mr. Edmund Maurice. 
 /Mr. G. Farquhar. 
 
 • \Mr. C. p. Little. 
 Mrs. Candour . ... Miss Rose Leclercq. 
 
 Lady Sneerwell . ... Miss Jessie Milward. 
 
 Maria . . ... Miss Mary Moore. 
 
 Maid . . ... Miss Ellalinb Terris. 
 
 Lady Teazle . . ... Mrs. Patrick Campbelu 
 
 Charles Surfaces Guests. — Messrs. Lewis Waller, George Giddbns, 
 Arthur Playfair, Yorke Stephens, Sydney Brough, Bernard Gould, 
 Frank Fenton, Murray Carson, J. L. Mackay, Allan Aynesworth, 
 D. S. James. 
 
 Act III., Scene I. Room at Sir Peter Teazle's. 
 
 Scenes 2 and 3. At Charles Sur&ce's. 
 Acts IV. and V. Joseph Surface's Study. 
 
 Hon. Acting Managers. — Messrs. Frederick Harrison, H. H. Morbll, 
 Fitzroy Gardiner, R. V. Shone, W. H. Griffiths, Neil Forsyth, 
 Horace Watson, J. Hurst, and E. Harvey. 
 
 Hon. Stage Managers. — Messrs. Edward Hastings, Robert Sootar, 
 Ian Robertson, Arthur Williams, Harry Nicholls, Chas. Cathcart, 
 and H. De Lange. 
 
 Hon. Musical Director. — Mr. Carl Ambruster. 
 
 Mr. Wyndham begs to tender his sincere thanks to the managers and artists 
 who h!ive so kindly co-operated with him on this occasion. 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION ^^^ 
 This is the programme of the Criterion perform- 
 
 ance 
 
 The performance to commence at 7, with J. T. Williams' Comedietta, 
 WHO'S TO WIN HIM? 
 
 Cyril Oashwood 
 
 Mr. Prattleton Primrose 
 
 Squire Brushleigh 
 
 Rose . 
 
 Sylvia 
 
 Minuetta 
 
 Musidora 
 
 Arabella 
 
 Mr. Sbymour Hicks. 
 Mr. Harry Nicholls. 
 Mr. J. L. Shine. 
 Miss Kate Rorke. 
 Miss Dorothea Baird. 
 Miss Annie Hughes. 
 Miss Maude Millett. 
 Miss Fay Davis. 
 
 Helen 
 Modus 
 
 After which a scene from 
 THE HUNCHBACK. 
 
 Miss Marion Terry. 
 Mr. Leonard Boyne. 
 
 To be followed by T. W. Robertson's Comedy in Three Acts, entitled 
 
 David Garrick . 
 Simon Ingot 
 Squire Chivy 
 
 Smith 
 
 Brown 
 
 Tones 
 
 Garrick's Servant 
 
 Ingot's Servant 
 
 Mrs. Smith 
 
 Miss Araminta Brown 
 
 Ada Ingot 
 
 DAVID GARRICK. 
 
 . Mr. Charles Wyndham. 
 . Mr. C. W. Somerset. 
 . Mr. E. Dagnall 
 
 (by special permission of Messrs. Howard and Loftus). 
 
 . Mr. W. Blakeley 
 (by special permission of Mr. Arthur Bourchier). 
 
 Mr. Alfred Maltby. 
 
 . Mr. E. W. Gardiner. 
 
 . Mr. J. H. Barnes. 
 
 . Mr. Kenneth Douglas. 
 
 . Miss E. Vining. 
 
 . Miss Emily Miller. 
 
 . Miss Mary Moore. 
 
 Acts I. and II. Drawing-room at Simon Ingot's. 
 
 Act III \ ^"^"^ ^" Drawing-room at Simon Ingot's. 
 ( Scene II. Garrick's Study. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen are requested not to leave their seats between the first 
 and second scenes of the third act, as the curtain will only be down for a minute or 
 two. 
 
278 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Concluding with the Second Act of 
 
 THE CRITIC. 
 By Richard Brinslby Shbridan. 
 Puff . . . ... Mr. George Grossmith. 
 
 Dangle . . ... Mr. C. P. Little. 
 
 Sneer . . ... Mr. Charles Cartwright. 
 
 Don Whiskerandos . ... Mr. E. J. Lonnen. 
 
 (by special permission of Messrs, Howard and Loftus). 
 
 . Mr. Edward Righton. 
 
 . Mr. John L. Shine. 
 
 . Mr. W. Blakeley. 
 
 . Mr. G. W. Anson. 
 
 . Mr. H. De Lange. 
 
 . Mr. Brandon Thomas 
 
 (by special permission of Mr. A. Chudleigh), 
 
 . Mr. Edmonds. 
 /Mr. Harry Paulton. 
 \Mr. Alfred Bishop. 
 
 Mr. Tom Thorne. 
 
 Miss Florence St. John. 
 
 Miss Decima Moore. 
 
 Miss Carlotta Addison. 
 
 Miss Sophie Larkin. 
 
 Earl of Leicester 
 Sir Walter Raleigh 
 Lord Burleigh . 
 Governor of Tilbury Fort 
 Master of the Horse 
 Sir Christopher Hatton 
 
 Prompter 
 
 Sentinels 
 
 Beefeater , 
 
 Tilburina 
 First Niece 
 Second Niece 
 Confidante 
 
 Honorary Acting Managers. — Messrs. Frederick Harrison, H. H. 
 
 MORELL, FiTZROY GARDINER, R. V. SHONE, W. H. GRIFFITHS, NeIL 
 
 Forsyth, Horace Watson, J. Hurst, and E. Harvey. 
 
 Honorary Stage Managers. — Messrs. Edward Hastings, Robert Soutar, 
 Ian Robertson, Arthur Williams, Harry Nicholls, Chas. Cathcart, 
 and H. De Lange. 
 
 Honorary Musical Director, — Mr. V. Hollander. 
 
 Box Office under the management of Mr. G. Mills. 
 
 Mr. Wyndham begs to tender his sincere thanks to the Managers and Artists 
 who have so kindly co-operated with him on this occasion. 
 
 But not content with all this, Charles Wyndham and 
 Mrs. Wyndham must needs complete the day by 
 entertaining their friends in the most princely style at 
 the Hotel Cecil. 
 
 Concerning this event, let me quote the words of a 
 leading critic, who said : " Let us consider what 
 Charles Wyndham did himself in this extraordinary day 
 of variety and impulse. It was a phenomenal feat, and 
 would tax the strength of the very strongest of his 
 

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 THE actors' benevolent FUND TESTIMONIAL TO SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Facing page 278 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 279 
 
 comrades. About three o'clock in the afternoon he 
 appeared as Charles Surface, in The School for Scandal^ 
 and played the part with exceptional grace and charm. 
 As everyone observed, he looked a picture, and ought 
 to have been born one hundred years before his time, 
 in order to show the modern youth how to walk, how 
 to move, and how to carry an air of distinction and 
 refinement to the stage. Then followed the presenta- 
 tion of a gold and enamel cigar-box with diamond 
 monogram, subscribed by Charles Wyndham's personal 
 and intimate friends, necessitating a new ceremony. 
 The speech to Charles Wyndham was delivered by 
 Mr. J. Comyns Carr with admirable taste, discretion, 
 and tact. Charles Wyndham's reply was very earnest, 
 very sincere, very heartfelt, and all who were assem- 
 bled at the Lyceum wondered how any man could 
 stand a further tax on his nervous organisation. But 
 Charles Wyndham was equal to the occasion. Having 
 skimmed the cream of The School for Scandal^ he pro- 
 ceeded at nightfall to play David Garrick with an 
 intensity, an earnestness, and a power that astonished 
 his admirers. Think of it ! Charles Surface and an 
 earnest speech full of feeling in the morning, David 
 Garrick and another speech at night ; and after that a 
 banquet at the Hotel Cecil, suggestive of more con- 
 gratulations and many more speeches ! It was a 
 ceremony that would have tried the nerves and energy 
 of the strongest man living, but Charles Wyndham was 
 equal to the occasion. He was never better in his life 
 than as Charles Surface ; he never spoke with such 
 grace and charm as when he faced Mr. Comyns Carr, 
 
28o SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and after all the exhaustion and excitement it may be 
 doubted if he ever played David Garrick so successfully." 
 
 It would be pleasant for me to dwell on that memor- 
 able evening at the Hotel Cecil, on the unbounded 
 hospitality of the host and hostess, on the eloquent 
 speech in which the Lord Chief Justice of England (the 
 deeply regretted Lord Russell of Killowen) proposed 
 the toast of the hero of the evening, and on the feeling 
 and equally eloquent way in which it was answered. But 
 land is in sight, and I must shorten sail. 
 
 The Lyceum performance was graced by the presence 
 of the late Duchess of Teck, and H.R.H. the Prince of 
 Wales (now King Edward VII.) was at the Criterion 
 Theatre in the evening. As a result of the entertain- 
 ments the handsome sum of ^^2,452 6s. /^d. (the actor- 
 manager paying all the expenses himself) was generously 
 handed over to the Actors' Benevolent Fund. 
 
 I have often thought that I should like to sum up 
 the total of the amounts that Charles Wyndham has 
 from time to time .bestowed upon charities, but it would 
 be a hopeless ta^k, as he would be the last person to 
 help me in the matter. 
 
 In connection with this famous May-day celebration 
 I must reproduce two addresses presented to Charles 
 Wyndham, the one by the representatives of the Actors' 
 Benevolent Fund, and the other by the profession 
 generally. 
 
 On May i6th, 1896, Charles Wyndham appeared in 
 one of the most charming of all his admirable productions 
 — Rosemary^ by Louis N. Parker and Murray Carson. 
 The portrait of Sir Jasper Thorndyke proved a worthy 
 
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 THE profession's ADDRESS TO SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Facing page 280 
 
LAST YEARS AT THE CRITERION 281 
 
 pendant to David Garrick, and it is another of those 
 characters that he can go on playing as long as he 
 pleases. The pretty comedy is so fresh in the public 
 memory, and will so certainly be often seen again, that 
 little need be said about it now. Its charm will never 
 be forgotten by those who have seen, and will see it. 
 
 The Jest, by the same authors, that after a consider- 
 able lapse of time succeeded it, was a sign that this 
 never-tiring actor, having conquered the realms of high 
 comedy, had resolved to rule in the realms of romance. 
 
 And here let it be carefully noted that the special 
 feature that has characterised the career of the zealous 
 Criterion manager is its kaleidoscopic variety. From 
 the breezy merriment of The Great Divorce Case to the 
 quiescent poetry, culminating in tragedy, of The Jest, is 
 a far cry, and as one glances through all the intermediate 
 stages, between farcical comedy and the pathos of 
 calamity, and thinks that out of the twenty-four years of 
 his government of the little Piccadilly playhouse the 
 Jirst eight only were devoted to farce, one wonders why 
 the Criterion is still thought by some to be the home of 
 the mere laughter-lover. After all, the reason is not 
 far to seek. By playing farce as probably no other man 
 has ever played it, that is to say, with as much earnest- 
 ness and care as if he were acting tragedy, Charles 
 Wyndham stamped his theatre with a hall-mark that 
 will never be effaced. The same ease and grace of 
 manner, the same faultless elocution, the same sincerity 
 of purpose and minute attention to detail that we find 
 in his graver work of to-day, elevated farcical comedy 
 into the realms of art. But we are very apt to forget 
 
282 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 that there were only eight years of Criterion farce, as 
 against fifteen devoted to more serious plays ! 
 
 In Mr. Haddon Chambers' clever comedy, The 
 Tryanny of Tears, he gave us an appetising taste of his 
 old quality, but on his farewell night at the Criterion he 
 returned to his sweet Rosemary, its Shakespearean motto 
 — " That's for remembrance " — affording a suitable text 
 for the evening. It was a delightful performance. Miss 
 Mary Moore was fascinating as ever in her early 
 Victorian curls and gowns ; Alfred Bishop and Miss 
 Carlotta Addison were perfect pictures, as well as 
 perfect character studies, as Captain and Mrs. Cruick- 
 shank ; and, in other parts, J. H. Barnes, James Welch, 
 Kenneth Douglas, Miss Emily Vining, and Miss Annie 
 Hughes shared in the acting honours. Of what Charles 
 Wyndham said and what he did on that interesting 
 evening record is made in another chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 WYNDHAM'S THEATRE 
 
 /^N November i6th, 1899, Charles Wyndham opened 
 the handsome new playhouse in the Charing Cross 
 Road to which he gave his own name. No doubt he 
 regretted leaving the little Criterion Theatre of many 
 happy memories, but with important undertakings in 
 view he must have felt the need of a larger home. 
 
 Concerning his first night in it I cannot do better than 
 quote a critic, who said : — 
 
 "Charles Wyndham has opened his new theatre in 
 Charing Cross Road in characteristic fashion. The 
 whole of the proceedings of the first night were devoted 
 to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families' Association. Mr. 
 Wyndham has himself been a fighting man. He served 
 first as surgeon and subsequently in the ranks during 
 the American War, and the cause for which he played 
 last night must have appealed deeply to him person- 
 ally. 
 
 " But the public will remember that the farewell per- 
 formance at the Criterion Theatre in July last was also 
 distinguished by the same spirit of generosity. Then 
 nearly ;^ 1,500 were handed over to the Prince of Wales's 
 Hospital Fund. 
 
 283 
 
284 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " Quite apart from this characteristic liberality, the 
 occasion of the opening of Wyndham's Theatre would 
 have been a memorable one. No actor at the present 
 time occupies a higher position in the esteem and affec- 
 tion of all classes than he whose name has been bestowed 
 on London's newest playhouse — a playhouse which, we 
 trust, will witness new triumphs, no less brilliant than 
 those which in the past have made the Criterion a 
 household word. Mr. Wyndham chose to make his 
 bow on his new stage in the guise of our old friend 
 David Garrick, but playgoers will eagerly look forward 
 to their favourite figuring in new characters. 
 
 "The commencement of any fresh enterprise must 
 always be fraught with some anxiety, but perhaps no 
 man has ever had cause for less than Mr. Wyndham. 
 * If I have found the road to your heart, if I still live 
 there," he said, addressing his audience in his farewell 
 speech on the Criterion stage, ' it can matter little what 
 house I occupy on that road. Twenty-three years of 
 devoted service to you I ask to be credited to my 
 account.' British playgoers are not unmindful of their 
 duties. Repayment will be made in full, and Wyndham's 
 Theatre will at once attain to the highest eminence of 
 popularity. Good luck, good health, and long days 
 attend on Charles Wyndham ! " 
 
 The year 1900 was a very busy one with Charles 
 Wyndham, but in the midst of his preparations for the 
 most ambitious dramatic undertaking of his career he 
 found time for other things, as witness the following 
 letters : — 
 
Photo l>y A Ifnd Ellis and Walery, ji, Baker Street, W. 
 
 MISS MARY MOORE IN "ROSEMARY" 
 
 Facing page 284 
 
WYNDHAM'S THEATRE 285 
 
 « SENIOR ACTOR-MANAGER. 
 
 " To the Editor of the ' Daily Telegraph: 
 
 " Sir, — Your reference to myself, together with such 
 distinction, at once pleasant and melancholy, as apper- 
 tains to the position of senior actof-manager of London, 
 excuses my intrusion on your space. You state that 
 my old friend Hare began management in 1875 and 
 I in 1876 ; consequently that 'I have lost the race by 
 the distance of a single lap.' I am not a sportsman, but, 
 to change the metaphor from pedestrianism to turf, 
 surely it is not true that a horse can fall out of one 
 race, and then, by running in the next, be declared 
 to have won the first ? The question of continuous 
 management cannot be overlooked. If it is, where shall 
 we get to ? We must really speak by the card, or 
 chronology will undo us. Since 1876 I have been in 
 continuous management. Mr. Hare has been free from 
 the cares of management for two or three years since he 
 began, once when he retired from the St. James's, and 
 once when he gave up the Garrick. Some of the papers 
 have been recently discussing who is really the senior, 
 and have lately decided that I have that honour. If 
 * date ' merely governs the matter, it will be neither 
 Irving nor Hare nor Wyndham. As a matter of ' date,' 
 I took up the reins of management for a short term in 
 the summer of 1868 at the Princess's Theatre, whose 
 manager, by-the-by, G. Vining, prudentially stipulated 
 the prepayment into his hands of every possible expense 
 each fortnight. There was only one. I produced 
 Nobody's Child, and felt very like one two weeks after. 
 That noble effort, however, does not count, for Bancroft 
 
286 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 began in '6 5. Nor can he by 'date' assume any dignity. 
 
 There is happily amongst us still a gentleman who was 
 
 an actor-manager for some years before that again — Mr, 
 
 Joseph Cave. My memory goes no further back than 
 
 that ; but if mere ' date ' is everything, possibly there is 
 
 living another actor-manager who precedes even him. 
 
 Mr. Hare managed, I fancy, in all twenty-two years, 
 
 Sir Henry Irving twenty-one. Sir Squire Bancroft 
 
 twenty, and in two months' time will be recorded the 
 
 twenty-fourth year of service by your obedient servant, 
 
 " Charles Wyndham. 
 
 " Wyndham's Theatre, Charing Cross Road, 
 "February loth, 1900." 
 
 To England the year 1900 was a very painful one, 
 for it witnessed much of the bitter period of our war 
 with South Africa. As fond of soldiers as poor T. W. 
 Robertson, he wrote this : — 
 
 "A PARALLEL. 
 
 " To the Editor of the 'Daily Tekgraph.' 
 
 "Sir,— I suppose it is presumption for an actor to 
 express an opinion on politics or military affairs, how- 
 ever much his heart may throb and yearn for the victory 
 of his countrymen. Some sapient detractors say so, 
 therefore I never do. I have, however, just read your 
 correspondent's letter, headed ' Mr. Kruger and his 
 Burghers,' and regard at first blush with great com- 
 placency the experiences of the Boer therein reported. 
 It is gratifying to read that ' our guns did such terrible 
 damage to the Boer entrenchments and sconces — rockets 
 and earth flying up into the air, and rolling down with 
 deadly effect on his countrymen — together with the 
 
WYNDHAM'S THEATRE 287 
 
 havoc caused by the lyddite shells, the fumes of which 
 sufFocated his friends.' Above all, it was gratifying to 
 read that the British to him were such surprisingly 
 great experts at shooting that his eyes were opened. 
 Finally, the fact that 2,000 horses have been placed 
 hors de combat must be a help to us. Still, there is a 
 wealth of wisdom in the American admonition, ' Go 
 slow.' I am reminded of an incident in my own in- 
 significant career, which makes me pause in my rejoic- 
 ing. It was during the American Civil War, when for 
 a part of that time I was attached in a very humble 
 capacity to a force organised for the invasion of Texas, 
 that land of milk and honey and horses, all most desir- 
 able luxuries to soldiers, never too generously sustained ; 
 and who ultimately in this case were reduced to stone- 
 like biscuits. They were stamped ' B. C.,' and so hard 
 were they that the soldiers irreverently declared that 
 they were thus marked because they must have been 
 baked before the days of Pontius Pilate, but that is a 
 digression. Well, we had several skirmishes, as the 
 army advanced through forests and across plains, and 
 we were always capturing prisoners and welcoming 
 deserters. The story they all told us was that our 
 triumph was assured, for alas ! the force against us was 
 so insignificant, the troops so dissatisfied, the supplies so 
 scanty, etc. Well, on we went, and at the end of three 
 weeks came the battle of the campaign, when the insig- 
 nificant force against us suddenly, and at their own 
 time, turned round, and by dint of strong arguments 
 persuaded us to return and leave our goods behind us. 
 I remember this latter fact painfully still, because I had 
 ordered a brand-new uniform to wear when entering 
 
288 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 captured cities. I was told it was the proper thing to 
 do, and I was young. I saw that uniform when it came 
 from the New Orleans tailor, and I have never seen it 
 since. We had two or three weeks' hard retreat after 
 that battle, with devils behind us, at the side of us — 
 and sometimes ahead of us ! It was a trying time, but 
 the most unpleasant experience was the night after this 
 decisive battle, when, pressed all of us into a narrow 
 road, we were hurrying back helter-skelter, with the 
 enemy's guns behind us. ' Make way, make way ! ' 
 shouted the ambulance drivers, as they galloped past 
 us with their cargoes of helpless wounded ; as if those 
 agonised shrieks of the poor stricken fellows, tossed 
 about on those springless vehicles, on that ill-made 
 rutty road, did not teach us how to sympathise. It may 
 have been that, weakened by a previous thirty hours' 
 fast and vigil, my scepticism proportionately strength- 
 ened, but I do remember that during that uncomfortable 
 night's march I began to wonder whether those prisoners 
 and deserters had been let loose on us purposely to lead 
 us into that fools' paradise. Now, when I read all your 
 stories from slim Boer prisoners and deserters, of 
 damage, shortness of supplies, and State disaffection, 
 I begin to wonder once again. 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " Charles Wyndham. 
 " Wyndham's Theatre, February i ith." 
 
 At this time everyone was talking of Cyrano de 
 Bergerac. Not only in France, but in England, Coquelin 
 and Sarah Bernhardt had made Edmond Rostand's 
 beautifully written play famous, and, to tell the truth, a 
 
WYNDHAM'S THEATRE 289 
 
 great number of English people who only half under- 
 stood it were raving about it. Amongst theatrical 
 gossips the great question was, Who was going to write 
 an English version of this noble work— who was going 
 to be the English Cyrano ? 
 
 In due course it was announced that Stuart Ogilvie 
 and Louis N. Parker had adapted the great play for 
 Charles Wyndham, and that this intrepid actor had 
 resolved to grapple with the most difficult task that had 
 fallen in the way of a modern actor. 
 
 To show the danger of the undertaking on English 
 boards, in the English tongue, it is only necessary to 
 glance at the two principal characters. 
 
 They have been thus described : — 
 
 " Cyrano de Bergerac, whose ugly nose embittered his 
 whole life, was a very real and very living personage, — 
 author, poet, and swashbuckler ; a lofty soul in a rugged 
 shell, fighting equally readily with his sword against 
 oppression and bullies, as with his pen and his ready 
 tongue against shams and hypocrisies. The only cause 
 he never defended was his own. Too doubtful of his 
 own merits, he let another win the woman he loved ; 
 and his poetical imaginings were annexed in his own 
 time, and after his death, by authors ever in search, then 
 as now, of other people's original ideas. His romance, 
 The Voyage to the Moon, of which such excellent use 
 is made in the third act of M. Rostand's play, was 
 imitated by Swift, and, unconsciously no doubt, by every 
 writer of modern journeys. Moli^re condescended to 
 transfer a whole scene of one of Cyrano's comedies 
 bodily into one of his own, and the world has gone on 
 shaking its sides at Cyrano's wit under Molifere's name. 
 
290 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " Roxane, the heroine of the play, belonged to the 
 Precleuses or Exquisites, whose high-flown sentiments 
 were satirised by Molifere in his Presieuses Ridicules. 
 They dabbled in mathematics, astronomy,and philosophy. 
 All that was natural was despised. The names given at 
 their birth were too commonplace, so they exchanged 
 them for others ; thus ' Madeline Robin ' became 
 ' Roxane.' Their conversation consisted for the most 
 part of the fantastic. Everything had to be embroid- 
 ered in a very filigree of verbiage. 
 
 " As for the Cadets of Gascony — those wild, cheery, 
 reckless, irresponsible beings — they formed such a con- 
 trast to the Precieuses that it almost seemed that they 
 were following unwittingly the laws of nature, and were 
 restoring the balance." 
 
 This is a description of Cyrano given, before his 
 entrance in the first act, by one of the characters : — 
 
 " A whirlwind fencer, a poet, swashbuckler, musician, 
 and weird withal ; whimsical, wild, grotesque, but, a 
 devil with his sword. Mark with what fierce disdain he 
 wears his cloak, and cocks it up behind him with that 
 sword like the defiant curve of a bantam's tail ; while 
 above a mighty ruff of Punch's cut he proudly airs his 
 nose, and by God's grace, my masters, what a nose is 
 this same nose ! When first you see that monstrous 
 snout, yo\i cry, ' No, no, this is too good a jest.' Then, 
 with a smile, you add, * He will take it oflf anon,' but 
 Mon seigneur de Bergerac never takes it off." 
 
 Now could there be anything so opposed to English 
 ideas as this ? In our country (I have often wondered 
 
WYNDHAM'S THEATRE 291 
 
 why) it is customary to think of a big nose (in itself a 
 misfortune) — in connection with a comic character. 
 Mr. Punch has a big nose, and that reprehensible old 
 gentleman, Mr. Ally Sloper, owes much of his popularity 
 to his unsightly proboscis. It seemed impossible that 
 the great mass of the British public who would trouble 
 themselves little about Rostand, Coquelin, or Bernhardt, 
 could be taught to associate such a disfigurement with 
 one who ought to figure in their eyes as a veritable hero 
 of romance. Again, it would be against their nature to 
 care for a heroine who declined to respond to such a 
 gallant lover because of a personal affliction. Take away 
 sympathy from hero and heroine, and what chance is 
 there for a play with the great majority of playgoers, 
 however beautiful its conception, however poetical its 
 development, may be ? 
 
 Before appearing in it in London, Charles Wyndham 
 produced Cyrano de Bergerac in the provinces.' In 
 Birmingham I carefully noted the tone of a packed and 
 deeply attentive audience. The perfection of his acting 
 (and there is no other word for it) elicited torrents of 
 applause, but the comments were all alike. Why did 
 Roxane (Miss Mary Moore seemed to aggravate her 
 selfishness by looking so sweet in the character) behave 
 so coldly to such a noble suitor .? and why, oh, why, did 
 their beloved Charles Wyndham, the ideal David Garrick 
 
 * It was during his visit to Dublin that a state performance of 
 "Cyrano" was called for and given, amidst a scene of extraordinary- 
 enthusiasm, before an audience that included the Duke and Duchess of 
 Connaught, the Lord Lieutenant and Countess Cadogan, and the 
 members of the Viceregal Court. 
 
292 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 of their dreams, destroy his ever-welcome appearance 
 with that hideous nose ? 
 
 The play, which was superbly staged, was very 
 cordially received in London, but it was not long-lived. 
 It was impossible that in this country it should be so. 
 But the effort was a heroic one, and Charles Wyndham 
 has every reason to feel proud of it. In some ways it 
 ranks as one of the greatest of his acting achievements. 
 June 1st, 1900, witnessed its final performance, and on 
 that occasion he said : " Ladies and gentlemen, let me, 
 in the name of all of us, thank you for your generous 
 enthusiasm to-night. I will not disguise from myself 
 the significance thereof — that we recognise, as we do, 
 with some degree of sadness, the fact that this is the 
 last night of " Cyrano " for the present. He has met 
 with a peculiar reception, and opinions have been divided 
 — numbers like the play, numbers do not. To the 
 former I extend my congratulations, to the latter my 
 sympathies. Both have reason on their side, according 
 to their respective opinions. I may tell you, in response 
 to your kind reception, that the play has not only had a 
 divided opinion about it, but a divided result. For 
 weeks, notwithstanding the very heavy expenses which 
 you will understand have been attached to this produc- 
 tion, the result has been a very gratifying profit till, at 
 the very moment when I expected that what we in our 
 profession call a boom had arrived, there came a slump. 
 Oddly enough, it came after the night we received the 
 news of the relief of Mafeking. It is very difficult for 
 managers to find a reason for what occurs in their 
 experience, but all that I can think of is that the time 
 
WYNDHAM'S THEATRE 293 
 
 was too exciting, the people were too full of emotion, 
 and, I am sorry to say, too full in many quarters with 
 sadness for so sad a play to live in the hearts of all. 
 I recognise this fact, and therefore withdraw the play 
 for a time, looking forward, with pleasure, I hope, on 
 your side as well as on ours, to reproducing it. With 
 your kind acceptance of that prospect I do not think I 
 can do better than close my remarks by repeating what 
 I have already said — to those who like the piece I 
 extend my congratulations, and to those who do not, 
 my sympathy." 
 
 Possibly it Was a disappointment, but, if so, from an 
 artistic point of view it was well worth its cost. 
 
 On October 9th Charles Wyndham produced Mrs. 
 Dane's Defence^ by Henry Arthur Jones, an admirable 
 piece of stagecraft, with a fine part for the actor ; but, 
 owing to its subject, not likely to become so universally 
 popular as some of its clever author's other works. 
 
 At this time the Criterion Theatre was being managed 
 (in partnership with Charles Wyndham) by Arthur 
 Bourchier, and while R. C. Carton's comedy, Lady Hunt- 
 worth's Experiment, was experiencing its successful run 
 the following amusing little incident took place. It will 
 be remembered that Lady Huntworth's adventure was 
 to go out as a cook, and that all the gentlemen of the 
 household in which she secured an engagement, quite 
 believing her to be a domestic servant, fell deeply in 
 love with her. 
 
 One evening during the run of this play, when a 
 revival of David GarrkJ^ was going on at Wyndham's 
 Theatre, Charles Wyndham had a letter from a well- 
 
294 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 known Canon, speaking in the very highest terms of the 
 performance the latter had just witnessed, and saying 
 that if more actors followed his good example in the 
 choice of their plays, there would not be so much said 
 of the evil influence of the stage on public morals ; but, 
 on the other hand, the stage would become an influence 
 for good, as far-reaching as the Church, the actor 
 preaching quite as good a sermon as the clergyman, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 Charles Wyndham sent this letter round to Arthur 
 Bourchier with a letter to the effect that he hoped it 
 would be a lesson to him not to act naughty plays in 
 which clergymen fell in love with their cooks, but to 
 try and reform, and follow his good example, so that in 
 time he, too, might get a letter of praise from the Church. 
 
 Arthur Bourchier wrote back to the messenger saying 
 that that Canon's letter of praise was no news to him — 
 he knew all about it beforehand, and was consulted 
 before it was written, and Charles Wyndham was chosen 
 because that worthy wily Canon had a daughter going 
 on the stage. He had asked Bourchier which was the 
 best actor-manager with whom to confide her, and 
 Bourchier had said, "'There is Irving, Tree, George 
 Alexander, and Wyndham. Now I think you could 
 not do better than to send her to Wyndham, as he is 
 always very Impressible, and I know he would do any- 
 thing in his power to promote the young lady's interests 
 — if she is nice. Write him a letter in praise of his 
 acting and management ; pile it on — he is very sus- 
 ceptible to flattery, like the rest of us.' So Wyndham 
 got the letter ? He will hear about the daughter in a 
 
WYNDHAM'S THEATRE 295 
 
 day or two. Mr. Bourchier is most anxious to know 
 the sequence of events." 
 
 Not to be outdone, Charles Wyndham wrote back in 
 reply to this : " No doubt the Canon has a daughter 
 going on the stage, and no doubt she is nice, which 
 would be half her reason for wishing to go on the stage ; 
 but before allowing her to do so her reverend father 
 has, first of all, made the most careful inquiries to find 
 out if the stage is as black as it is painted. He has 
 even been to a theatre ! Wyndham's. Has seen David 
 Garrick, and from a spiritual and moral point of view, 
 considers the influence of the stage as good as that of 
 the Church, and that Wyndham must certainly be an ex- 
 tremely nice man to act such a very nice piece — with such 
 nice pathos — everything nice, sugar and spice. So the 
 letter was written, not to Bourchier, who would have 
 given anything to have it — but to Wyndham." 
 
 The only novelty of 1901 was The Mummy and the 
 Humming Birdy by Isaac Henderson. The year 1902 
 contained a red-letter day not only in the career of 
 Charles Wyndham, but in the history of the English 
 stage. When our good King Edward VII. was crowned 
 it was found that amongst the Coronation honours the 
 name of our gifted and indefatigable actor-manager was 
 included. 
 
 Of course, his friends and admirers were delighted, 
 and, indeed, nothing could be more satisfactory. Sir 
 Henry Irving was deservedly the recipient of the first 
 actor's accolade, because he is not only the greatest living 
 representative of Shakespearean characters, but by the 
 beauty of his Lyceum productions has done so much to 
 
296 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 make our great national poet understood and revered. 
 On the other hand, Sir Charles Wyndham is un- 
 doubtedly the finest English comedian of our age. 
 
 How popular the honour conferred upon him was 
 with the members of his own profession will be proved 
 by the following little incident. At the time the 
 musical comedy, The Country Girly was running at Daly's 
 Theatre, and to the great delight of the audience Mr. 
 Rutland Barrington adroitly dropped these lines into 
 his " topical " song : — 
 
 " When we read in the list that's as long as our fist 
 
 All the titles that mark an occasion, 
 It's a sign of the age, that a man on the stage 
 
 Has successftJly made an invasion. 
 And no matter the roles — far apart as the poles 
 
 There was nothing this actor could frighten. 
 He is Garrick to-day, but he first made his way 
 
 To our hearts as Bob Sackett in Brighton. 
 
 'f Piece — many a piece — he's played In his management long. 
 And, in fact, such a lot that a Knighthood he's got 
 For amusing the natives of Bhong. 
 
 And he'll make a great stir in his new part of ' Sir,' 
 Will the popular Wyndham of Bhong." ^ 
 
 They were received with acclamation. 
 
 On May 12th, 1903, Charles Wyndham introduced 
 another author to the London stage, and with the 
 greatest success produced Hubert Henry Davies's 
 comedy, Mrs. Gorringe's Neck ace. It cannot be said that 
 the play contained a very striking part for him, but in a 
 comedy character Miss Mary Moore acted with con- 
 summate charm. 
 
 ^ A fictitious place belonging to the play. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 THE NEW THEATRE 
 
 /^N March i2th, 1903, before the production of Mrs. 
 Gorringe's Necklace at Wyndham's Theatre, Sir 
 Charles, ever anxious to dihib higher and higher, had 
 opened his beautiful New Theatre in St. Martin's Lane. 
 For an initial attraction he revived the ever-fragrant 
 Rosemary^ and once more the pretty play was received 
 with enthusiasm. As Sir Jasper Thorndyke and Dorothy 
 Cruickshank, he and Miss Mary Moore were again seen 
 at th6ir best ; Alfred Bishop was as admirable as ever as 
 Captain Cruickshank, r.n., a character that might have 
 stepped out of the pages of Smollett, and J. H. Barnes 
 was once more excellent as Professor Jogram. All the 
 other characters were in good hands, Harry Paulton, for 
 example, succeeding James Welch as the weather-beaten 
 post-boy, George Minifie. It was found that the piece 
 had lost none of its old charm, and it was surprising to 
 think that seven years had elapsed since its first pro- 
 duction. It is said that modern plays quickly fade and 
 become hopelessly old-fashioned, but Louis N. Parker 
 and Murray Carson's Rosemary has justified its title and 
 proved itself an evergreen. 
 
 At the fall of the last curtain. Sir Charles Wyndham 
 
 297 
 
298 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 spoke as follows : " In me you see an erring and ex- 
 travagant spirit. Don't misunderstand me — I mean 
 nothing more than Hamlet meant when he described his 
 uncle's ghost. Like that mysterious being, I seem to be 
 a wanderer by night. I have wandered from the Cri- 
 terion Theatre to Wyndham's, and again from Wynd- 
 ham's here. Once more I appear before you in a dual 
 role. As an actor in the character of your old friend 
 Sir Jasper Thorndyke ; as a man in the character of 
 another old friend of yours, the sturdy beggar. Three 
 and a half years ago, when the curtain was rising on the 
 first performance at Wyndham's, the curtain was also 
 rising on the grim South African tragedy in the theatre 
 of war. On that occasion I appealed to you on behalf 
 of the families of the rank and file of the army. Your 
 response was as magnificent as were the services that 
 subsequently earned it. Now, when the gates of Janus 
 have swung to on their ponderous hinges, when the 
 peacemaker is abroad, and the dogs of war are muzzled, 
 I have appealed to you on behalf of those whose birth 
 and breeding forbid them to cry out in the market- 
 place^ and whose dignity enforces silent suffering. How 
 great that suffering has been, and is, we know from 
 those best qualified to speak, except the sufferers them- 
 selves. For the officers' families have I now appealed, 
 and again your generous hearts have opened. In their 
 name and my own I tender you most grateful thanks." 
 
 By this performance the sum of nearly ;;^ 1,500 was 
 realised. 
 
 With this " Rosemary for Remembrance " I shall bid 
 good-bye to Sir Charles at his New Theatre. Of course, 
 
THE NEW THEATRE 299 
 
 it has witnessed the production of new plays and the 
 revival of old ones, but they are so fresh in the public 
 memory that they require no record in these pages. 
 
 I know that this is the briefest of brief chapters, and 
 hardly worthy of such a designation, and yet the scheme 
 of my book would be incomplete unless I gave the New 
 Theatre a niche of its own. 
 
 Playgoers recognise in it a house replete with com- 
 fort and taste, and yet rumour has it that Sir Charles 
 has something even more elaborate in store for them. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 "THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 
 
 A N old proverb tells us that " Speech is the picture of 
 the mind," and this volume would certainly be in- 
 complete without some account of Charles Wyndham's 
 many happy speeches, showing as they do the generous, 
 warm-hearted, earnest character of the man. It is 
 generally acknowledged that, whether it be at public 
 meetings or social gatherings, he, as a speaker, is with- 
 out a rival. Fluent and clear, happy in facial play, and 
 the very slight amount of gesture in which he indulges, 
 he can always keep an audience not only deeply in- 
 terested, but thoroughly entertained. It is a great gift, 
 and I doubt if he knows he possesses it. Certainly I 
 have never heard him acknowledge it, and I know that 
 he keeps no record of his achievements. It seems all 
 the more important, then, that some of them should, in 
 necessarily brief form, be preserved by one who appreci- 
 ates them. 
 
 Another old proverb sagely informs us that " Many 
 speak much who cannot speak well." Exactly the re- 
 verse may be said in the case of Charles Wyndham. He 
 speaks often, but he always speaks well. 
 
 This, I think, the following extracts will amply prove. 
 
 300 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 301 
 
 On February 12th, 1897, addressing the members of 
 the Playgoers' Club, he said : — 
 
 " You will readily understand how proud and grateful 
 I feel at having earned so much of your goodwill as to 
 be invited here to-night as an approved representative of 
 the drama, and to have the pleasing duty, as its am- 
 bassador, of returning thanks for the honour you have 
 conferred. At the same time, some of you may re- 
 member that, on a very recent occasion, I was deputed 
 at another gathering to respond for the same toast, and 
 my pride and gratification are not unalloyed with per- 
 plexity when I find myself so soon responding again. 
 On the last occasion I was supposed to be addressing the 
 players ; to-night I have the honour to stand before the 
 playgoers, so I must use another argument. None the 
 less is my task a pleasant one. The very name of 'play- 
 goer' is music to the ear of the player. "What the 
 valetudinarian is to the doctor, the litigant to the lawyer, 
 is the man who spends his evening seeing plays to the 
 man who spends his in introducing them. What if you 
 are reputed to be sometimes too severe in your judg- 
 ment, //«j Royaliste que le Rot, more critical than a critic ? 
 What if your individual opinions be as wide asunder as 
 the poles, or your brains as various as the hats that cover 
 them ? What if flabby Philistinism sleeps beneath the 
 billycock hat of one playgoer, and sturdy independence 
 beneath the white hat of another ? What if the one in- 
 furiated the distinguished dramatist, and the other ex- 
 cited the harmless necessary manager ?^ What if once 
 
 1 This is in reference to the first night of Tie Headless Man, when a 
 vulgar " booer," who wore a white hat, provoked Charles Wyndham 
 beyond endurance. 
 
302 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the white hat served as the red flag ? Shall it therefore 
 be crushed, or the spirit of freedom it symbolises ? No, 
 Eight years ago the wearer of the white hat waved it in 
 my face as a flag of liberty. He was within his rights. 
 To-night, I am told, he waves it as a flag of truce. I 
 accept, and never again, in my eyes, shall it be anything 
 but a flag of peace. But, gentlemen, whether you are 
 white-hatted, black-hatted, or no-hatted, the fact remains 
 that you are playgoers, not play-abstainers. That is 
 your position, and no man in mine can ask for more. 
 Now I approach a difficulty. You ask me to speak for 
 the drama — in fact, you ask me to advocate that which 
 needs no advocacy. As an institution it is coeval with 
 civilisation ; as an instinct it is part of human nature 
 itself. No period in the history of the human race, no 
 spot on the inhabited globe, can be discovered without 
 the drama in some form or other. It influences our 
 childish tastes, it nerves and strengthens our manhood, 
 and it soothes our declining years. Its power and its 
 influence have at last lifted it to its proper place. It has 
 risen beyond the need of argument. To attempt to 
 speak of it now would be as presumptuous as try to hold 
 a brief for humanity. Let us rather discuss its humble 
 ministers on my side of the curtain, or its faithful 
 votaries on yours. I prefer to speak of you. What 
 are you ? You are an organisation standing midway 
 between the sometimes crude, but always generous 
 public verdict, and a stereotyped formula of expert 
 criticism. Your object, I take it, is to go to the theatre 
 as earnest inquirers, neither in the spirit of the idolater 
 nor of the iconoclast ; your ambition to regulate the 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 303 
 
 undisciplined ardour of the one and thaw the glacial 
 scepticism of the other. ' Praise, praise, and nothing but 
 praise,* cried out to you the other day a distinguished 
 dramatist ;^ but he should have modified his claim. 
 Everything depends upon the nature and quality of the 
 praise. Deadly, I admit, is the spirit which denies. 
 Thence comes the atrophy of art. None the less deadly 
 is the anodyne of the spirit which affirms too readily ; 
 which sees without seeing ; approves without proving ; 
 and falls down before the Golden Calf which King 
 Demos has set up. But still lean always towards praise, 
 for it encourages ; give us as much of it as you con- 
 scientiously can. I know that Hamlet, in telling us to 
 beware of grieving the judicious, advises us to reject 
 the laugh of the unskilful. But what did Hamlet know 
 about it ? Hamlet ! Hamlet, an amateur, the very pro- 
 totype of amateurs, for he presumed, as amateurs some- 
 times will, to teach us professionals. A novice who, 
 after experimenting upon his friends, as all amateurs do, 
 grew so infatuated with their interested praise that he 
 actually began to calculate what he would be worth as a 
 professional. 'Would not this,' he asks his friend 
 Horatio, * get me a fellowship in a cry of players .■' ' and 
 a candid friend answers, * Half a share.' And then this 
 amateur, like most amateurs, puts his own estimate 
 on his services, and cries, ' A whole ! ' Hamlet ! who 
 always took the centre of the stage, and then talked 
 about * making the judicious grieve.' Why, such was 
 that man's impudence, that had he really gone upon the 
 stage, he would in a month have been an actor-manager ! 
 1 A. W, Pinero, 
 
304 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Think of it, Alexander ! Think of it, Hawtrey ! Think 
 of it, every absent actor-manager ! He would have be- 
 longed undeservedly to that charming fraternity which, 
 in its individual and collective capacity, stands the em- 
 bodiment of sweetness, meekness, humility, and self- 
 eiFacement ! Do not laugh at me, gentlemen. For 
 Heaven's sake, let us be serious over this. In the whole 
 course of my vast experience — and I have been a 
 manager longer than any English actor alive — I never 
 knew an actor-manager without those attributes domin- 
 ating every moment of his life. I think I observe a 
 note of derision in your response. Suppress it. Give 
 your courteous ear to my earnest tribute. No words 
 can depict the actor-manager more faithfully than those 
 of the poet, gentlemen, who knows him so well, and 
 says of him — 
 
 " ' He asks not for honour, wealth, or fame, not he ; 
 All these him pass, and by him pass unlamented. 
 Give him the moon, and he'll rest contented.' 
 
 "Yes, gentlemen, the moon. That is all the actor- 
 manager wants. And shall Hamlet, who wanted so 
 much that he went through five acts dissatisfied with 
 everything — shall he presume to tell us to be satisfied 
 only with the praise of what he thinks the judicious ? 
 Shakespeare did not tell you what answer we gave him. 
 I will. * The praise of the judicious, by all means ; but 
 we want as much of the other as we can honourably 
 get.' Yes, it is a conjunction we want ; a conjunction 
 of cool head and warm heart, and that is what you can 
 get us. I repudiate Hamlet's influence. I want yours. 
 Do you remember what Niebuhr, the historian, said to 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 305 
 
 his pupils ? ' You are my wings,' by which he meant 
 that their sympathy, their love, their constant devotion 
 sustained him. You and such as you, who leaven the 
 public taste by cultivated intelligence, are our wings 
 to-day. Need I say more to show you that your 
 responsibilities are as serious as ours ? In taking leave 
 of his readers at the close of his French Revolution^ 
 Carlyle uses these words : ' To thee I was but a voice, 
 yet was our relationship a kind of sacred one. Doubt 
 it not. Ill stands it with me if I have spoken falsely ; 
 thine it is to hear truly.' Every word of this fine 
 passage applies to you and to us. Ill stands it with 
 me if we have ' presented falsely ' ; ' thine it is to hear 
 truly.' 
 
 " Remember, the actor, if misappreciated here and 
 now, has no appeal to a higher tribunal. Your judg- 
 ment is final. Be sure it is just and merciful. The 
 actor cannot, like Bacon, proudly appeal from con- 
 temporary neglect to the verdict of future ages and 
 distant lands. No. He must be his own monument. 
 He can have no other. He must be enshrined, if 
 enshrined at all, in hearts as perishable as his own. 
 
 " In your lives some of you, I daresay, have known 
 some Darby and Joan who have loved and grown old 
 together, who perhaps in the past were by the world 
 neglected, misunderstood, and were thrown back upon 
 each other for mutual devotion. You have noticed 
 how closely, how touchingly their lives were inter- 
 twined the one with the other ; how, heart in heart, 
 they lived for each other ; and you feel that any gust 
 of calamity which extinguishes the one flame must put 
 
3o8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 glamour of the footlights, nor was it built up only on 
 his artistic presentments. His own personality must be 
 taken into account. What he was before the public he 
 was to his friends in private. Every heroic deed of his 
 upon the stage was just such as we could imagine him 
 performing off the boards — nay, as on more than one 
 occasion he did perform. It is impossible to conceive 
 a grander parallel between the artist and the man. He 
 lived a life as worthy and died a death as tragic as any 
 man he had represented on the stage. But we must not 
 dwell too long on mournful memories. When the 
 soldier escorts his dead comrade to the grave he plays 
 the funeral march, but when he turns his face back to 
 life's work and battle he plays the most inspiriting 
 music at his command. So it is our part with head 
 erect to face the storm and stress of life, emulating the 
 merits, not vainly lamenting the loss of our departed 
 friend. We must remember with satisfaction that the 
 boat which this house will cover will, whenever she goes 
 forth on her noble mission, immortalise the name and 
 vitalise the spirit of William Terriss far more effectively 
 than a mere appeal to the passer-by set in stately phrases 
 and sculptured in monumental marble. On her prow 
 should be inscribed those watchwords of his career — 
 Life, Vigour, Courage, and Devotion." 
 
 On November i6th, 1899, on the occasion of the 
 opening of Wyndham's Theatre, he was compelled to 
 thank the audience for its enthusiasm, and on the fall 
 of the curtain said that the music of those sweet voices 
 which greeted himself and his company on the last 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 309 
 
 night at the old theatre vibrated in the meftiory through 
 the fresher voices of encouragement heard in the new 
 house. For their generous and enthusiastic reception 
 the company had no words at their command, and un- 
 fortunate though they might be in that respect, he was 
 much more unfortunate, for he owed much more. On 
 both occasions the public had collaborated with him in 
 an important undertaking. On the last night at the 
 Criterion they helped to lighten the pain and smooth 
 the pillow of many a victim of disease. That night 
 they had assisted to cheer the families and help the 
 homes of those brave fellows whose bayonets had 
 flashed in the African sunlight, but whose lifeless eyes 
 would never look upon sunlight more. On the first 
 occasion they had raised the sum of ;;^ 1,500. He was 
 happy to state that as the result of the present evening's 
 performance they topped ^4,000. A great philosopher 
 once said that two things stirred his soul to the depths — 
 the stars above us and a sense of duty below. With 
 Leonids in the morning and a splendid tribute from 
 that audience in the evening, what a great time that philo- 
 sopher would have to-day ! Duty and home were the 
 main ideas of David Garrick — the play they had seen 
 that night. The soldier was nobly fulfilling his duty, 
 and that audience had just as nobly responded to the 
 cause of home — the homes of those brave fellows who 
 were fighting now for ours. With regard to his plan 
 of campaign for the future, he had only to say that he 
 had no plan of campaign at that house. Pledges were 
 as embarrassing to managers as to ministers. Plans 
 depended upon events, and events were uncertain. 
 
3IO SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 He could no more reveal the plan of campaign by 
 which he would reach their hearts than Sir Redvers 
 BuUer could reveal the plan by which he would reach 
 Pretoria. All they knew was that he would get there, 
 and in his smaller campaign, by the aid of the public's 
 kind sympathy, he hoped to get there also. 
 
 On March loth, 1899, addressing the members of 
 the Actors' Association, he said : — 
 
 " I am rejoiced to be once again with my brethren in 
 art, and to have the privilege of moving the adoption of 
 this Report. It is pleasant — very pleasant — to note the 
 continuing and growing prosperty of our Association. 
 How much all this is due to the indefatigable zeal and 
 energy of our secretary and officers I need not tell you. 
 I cannot resist the opportunity of expressing my own 
 feelings of admiration for their administrative powers 
 and unfailing attention to our interests. In our recent 
 struggle for a certain fund that shall be nameless, for 
 the obvious reason that it has now become absolutely 
 nameless, I came across a letter from one of the 
 aggrieved ones charging us with being a ' band of 
 theatrical Socialists.' The expression was intended as 
 a term of opprobrium. I ask you to accept it as a com- 
 pliment — as a graphic description of our raison efitre. 
 It is just what we ought to be — a ' band of theatrical 
 Socialists,' for what is the aim of an Association except 
 to be socialistic ? ' Each for all, and all for each,' that 
 should be our motto ; solidarity our guiding principle ; 
 the dignity and well-being of our profession as a whole 
 the goal of our endeavours. In this spirit of theatrical 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 31 1 
 
 Socialism I commend to those of our brethren who are 
 not yet members the serious advisability of joining and 
 helping us still further to advance our common interests. 
 For there is yet much more to be done. I hope one 
 day to have the honour of proposing another campaign 
 against an injustice still more crying than that from the 
 fight against which we have so victoriously emerged — 
 one that will require greater sacrifices than ever, but 
 which will confer a greater benefit upon the profession. 
 I read in a daily paper yesterday that I should have an 
 important announcement to make to you to-day. My 
 position in connection with this newspaper statement 
 reminds me very much of the story of a certain popular 
 light comedian who, some hundred years ago, was an 
 actor-manager. As an actor he was clever ; as a mana- 
 ger — well, it occurred to him once, when business at his 
 theatre in Bath was very dull, to advertise the appear- 
 ance of a combination, for one night only, of three most 
 potent dramatic stars. I am sorry to say that, as a 
 matter of fact, he had not engaged one of them. Well, 
 he had his house that night very full — full with an 
 expectant audience who soon began to manifest im- 
 patience at a delay, the cause of which must be intelli- 
 gible to you all. In those days a popular light comedian 
 had many privileges accorded to him by an indulgent 
 public, one of which was being impudent. So our light 
 comedian appeared before the curtain and expressed his 
 great regret that, owing to unavoidable circumstances, 
 the stars announced would not be able to appear, and 
 lifting his finger suddenly in deprecation of any possible 
 storm of indignation, he seriously added, ' But, ladies 
 
312 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 and gentlemen, I am not oblivious of my promise to 
 provide you with an unique entertainment, I will 
 discharge my obligation. In substitution for the absent 
 stars I have arranged for the orchestra to play 'God 
 save the King.' Now I do not exactly understand how 
 it got to be stated at this early stage I, or anyone, 
 should be qualified to give you any definite news. I 
 was certainly asked the nature of my interview with the 
 Attorney-General on Wednesday, and replied more by 
 a look, perhaps, than by words, that the bulk of that 
 interview was for the present confidential. Further, 
 that if I had anything to say, I should certainly say it to 
 you first, so that, for the present, no newspapers need 
 apply. I did not wish to convey more than that, and 
 indeed, I am afraid I can only meet your expectations 
 by asking you to sing ' God save the Attorney-General.' 
 Seriously, you can easily imagine that this inquiry is a 
 very difl5cult and delicate one. But Sir Richard Web- 
 ster is prosecuting it with all his accustomed vigour, 
 tact, and determination to arrive at the real justice and 
 equity of the case. Meanwhile, let us congratulate our- 
 selves on having done our duty. It was on our initia- 
 tive, and ours alone, that this property has been saved. 
 We had confronting us the opinions of the most eminent 
 legal experts, from Sir John Campbell downwards, all 
 absolutely opposed to our views and contentions. We 
 were conscious that we were fluttering the dovecot of 
 tradition, and arousing angry passions in various quarters. 
 But we persisted and persevered, and now have abso- 
 lutely and completely triumphed. It shows that in 
 England, at all events, a good cause, a good judge. 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 313 
 
 good advocacy — and we had all these — mean a good 
 win. I felt from the first, after examination of the sub- 
 ject, that we should win, and I am glad, for the sake of 
 my reputation as a prophet, that I told you you would 
 get your subscriptions back, I am equally glad, for the 
 sake of my reputation as a prophet, that I did not tell 
 you when. But never mind. The bread you cast 
 upon the waters will return before many days — not too 
 many, I hope, but just enough to teach you ' how poor 
 are those who have no patience.' There is, however, 
 one part of our conversation that the Attorney-General 
 does permit me to divulge, though, of course, not 
 in any ofEcial sense. He asked me whether I thought 
 it would not be possible for the different solid associa- 
 tions to amalgamate into one great institution. Some 
 of you may remember that two years ago, in this theatre, 
 1 advocated the same advice in the strongest language at 
 my command. I am convinced that we shall study 
 both our interests and our dignity if we bring all the 
 influence we as a body possess to bear on the accom- 
 plishment of such a scheme — to dispense with these 
 constant appeals from diflFerent associations — to dispense, 
 indeed, with begging altogether. This is not the 
 moment to discuss the question, but it is one which 
 is eminently for your consideration, whether we cannot 
 ultimately achieve amalgamation and self-imposed taxa- 
 tion. Do not let us forget that our material prosperity 
 has grown simultaneously with public appreciation of us 
 as a body, and when dignity and prosperity can go 
 hand in hand, what difficulty is there that we should not 
 insist on surmounting ? Once let us realise this in all 
 
314 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 its great significance, and any time, means, and labour 
 of mine to further the cause shall be heartily at your 
 disposal." 
 
 On his farewell performance at the Criterion Theatre, 
 in July, 1899, he thus addressed an enthusiastic and 
 distinguished audience : — 
 
 " Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, — What 
 your exuberant generosity means you will better under- 
 stand when I announce to you that this house, which 
 ordinarily holds only £110, to-night holds no less a sum 
 than ^1,474. I thank you sincerely for the compli- 
 ment you thus pay me. In looking round for the most 
 appropriate channel through which to repay some 
 portion, however small, of the debt of gratitude I owe 
 my public, I have chosen that charity which, in my 
 opinion, and, I believe, in yours, is by its widespread 
 application most closely intertwined with public and 
 private life, 'The Prince of Wales's Hospital Fund.' 
 Here I would like to read you a letter, one among very 
 many I have received, from an old friend and favourite 
 of yours : — 
 
 " ' Dear Charlie, — Like Paul Pry, I had intended to 
 just drop in at your last night at the Cri. Sqrry I am 
 not well enough, but enclose cheque (my mite) for a 
 gallery ticket. Hope I don't intrude. With love, 
 yours, J. L. Toole.' 
 
 " And now a word or two about myself. It is a grave 
 moment in the life of a man when he leaves the place 
 which has been his professional home for upwards of 
 twenty-three years. Grave, but not sad. Have we not 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 315 
 
 seen to-night in Rosemary a play dominated by the in- 
 spiring thought that remembrance of the past is not so 
 much a source of pain to repine against as a blessing 
 to be thankful for ? In this spirit of gratitude will you 
 let me first express my heartfelt acknowledgments to 
 all those who have on this side of the curtain worked 
 with me and for me during the past twenty-three years, 
 right up to to-night ? You will readily understand 
 why I place their goodwill even on a par with yours. 
 Though their point of view is different, their approval 
 is of no less moment. You watch the product, they 
 the process ; in the combats and rivalries of art it is the 
 direction of your thumb which settles the gladiator's 
 fate, but it is much to that gladiator to know that 
 whether the issue be victory or death, the hearts of 
 his fellows are, and always have been, with him. In 
 this light I shall not be accused, I hope, of invidious 
 selection, if out of the many names that arise to my 
 lips at this moment I single out three whose association 
 with me has extended over the longest period, all more 
 than fourteen years — a mere speck on the span of 
 eternity — but for poor humanity always fourteen solemn 
 years. One of these three has, alas ! quitted this stage 
 never to return, my dear old friend Blakeley. How 
 intimately associated he was with the fortunes of the 
 house you know, and you can guess how often of late 
 years, whilst casting a play, I have looked round, so to 
 speak, for Blakeley — and found him not — and how there 
 has been borne in on me the full significance and pathos 
 of those words in the play to-night, ' There was no 
 Hannah.' The next claiming my deepest recognition 
 
3i6 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 is that of a man happily still with us, and in the 
 plenitude and meridian of his powers, George Giddens, 
 whom I first found on a lawyer's office stool, and now 
 find one of London's best comedians, whose name will 
 ever be linked with this theatre, and, I hope, with mine. 
 Lastly, I desire, as you would all expect me to do, to 
 mention the lady who has played at this theatre without 
 a break since the time when, by your favour. Wild Oats 
 and David Garrick inaugurated that period during which 
 the theatre has achieved and maintained its highest 
 financial prosperity. I refer to my friend and my 
 family's friend ever since she was a little girl — Miss Mary 
 Moore. Not only by the exercise of her delicate art, 
 but in a thousand other ways, of which the public can 
 have no direct knowledge, my fellow-worker's zealous 
 services, keen instinct, and sound judgment have 
 materially contributed to the success of my manage- 
 ment. For these and innumerable other reasons, un- 
 named but unforgotten, sprigs of rosemary will always 
 be treasured in the mental pocket-book I reserve 
 especially for them. Another pocket-book, or rather 
 portmanteau, already bursting with its fragrant burden, 
 I keep for you on your side of the curtain. To my 
 mind you are all much older than you profess your- 
 selves to be, for in looking at your animated faces and 
 sympathetic eyes I see behind them, through my psycho- 
 logical Rontgen rays, not yourselves only, but the 
 audience of twenty-three years ago, and I recall with 
 gratitude how evening after evening your encourage- 
 ment first advanced and then sustained me. I conjure 
 up the old-fashioned roller curtain of those early days. 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 317 
 
 rising fraught with destiny on a new play, and at its 
 close the roller striking these boards with what seemed 
 to my anxious fancy to be either the sharp rap of 
 approbation or the dull thud of defeat. Thanks to 
 you, there never was defeat. Your untiring sympathy, 
 lavishly given — most lavishly when most needed — 
 drove failure out of the house. You know how they 
 say that every evening in Old Egypt the rays of the 
 sun had power to awake fugitive music from lips of 
 stone ; so every evening had the sunshine of your 
 sympathy power to awaken on our lips strains that 
 otherwise might never have found expression. Gone 
 are those nights, like ' the snows of yestqr year,' but 
 one charming thought clings round their memory and 
 endows them with perpetual fragrance, the thought of 
 your never-failing kindness* To this theatre, then, 
 wherever my footsteps may wander, will revert my 
 tenderest memories, and not only my tenderest memories, 
 but also my business solicitude, for although I shall not 
 be in the future its regular physical occupant, I am 
 happy to say I still remain its regular lessee and 
 manager. Thus, you see, I do not follow the adage 
 that it is better to be off with the old love before you 
 are on with the new ; I believe in being on with both, 
 and I shall treat them with equal fairness. The new 
 love shall have most of my companionship, the old 
 love most of my thoughts, and both all my devotion. 
 Neither shall one have cause to be jealous of the other. 
 What Stella and Vanessa were to Swift, my two loves 
 shall be to me. Nor need the old love at this present 
 separation fear permanent desertion. Let her console 
 
3i8 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 herself, 'On revient toujours a ses premieres amours.' 
 Indeed, nothing precludes me from acting at both 
 theatres every night except the absurd physical re- 
 strictions on human ubiquity which I should very 
 much like to see abolished. And now, with my Rose- 
 mary for remembrance in one hand, let me pick up 
 pansies for thoughts with the other. Thoughts move 
 forward as well as back, and I am thinking that, tiiough 
 the goodwill that has attached to me here has been as 
 much local as personal, I may reasonably hope that the 
 personal part may not be withdrawn, even though the 
 scene be shifted. If I have found the road to your 
 hearts, if I still live there, it can matter little what 
 house I occupy on that road. Twenty-three years of 
 devoted service to you I ask to be credited to my 
 account. As, on the railroad of life, I look out on 
 the landscape of the past, I see those twenty-three years 
 receding more and more swiftly, I think of the com- 
 panions of my journey ; I recall sadly the junctions 
 where some got off to travel on other lines ; and I think 
 more sadly still of those who disembarked, never to 
 travel on earthly road again. Then I turn with affection 
 and hope towards those who remain. With them, with 
 you, let me enter on the next stage of my journey. 
 The train is one that cannot stand still ; the guard one 
 that cannot be denied. For my part, I mean, in the 
 pursuit of my vocation, to travel as long as there's 
 steam to travel with. But not a mile can I go without 
 your consent. Give me that in the future as generously 
 as you have in the past, and I shall jog along, wearing 
 my Rosemary with invincible gaiety, knowihg all the 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 319 
 
 sweetness and none of the bitterness that lies in that 
 word — Remembrance." 
 
 The following is a speech delivered in the November 
 of 1899 to the Society calling themselves "The Argo- 
 nauts." 
 
 He said that when their kind invitation reached him, 
 he wrote to his son — who lives in the Wild West of 
 America — the news of the delicate compliment they 
 intended paying him. In his congratulations the son 
 asked his father to send him the history of the club. 
 The letter only arrived a day or two ago, and he stood 
 confronted with the remembrance that he was going to 
 dine with them without having mastered the question 
 in all its detail as to who and what they really were. 
 All of them could doubtless claim direct descent from 
 the original crew of the Argo. He had, therefore, in 
 the last few days steeped himself in argoiiautical lore. 
 Enterprising journals nowadays provided them with 
 encyclopaedias, dictionaries, and best books by the 
 hundred. These productions taught them all they 
 wanted to know, and a good deal they did not. They 
 took their instructions in doses and tabloids, and, what 
 was better, they could pay for it as well as assimilate it 
 by instalments ; but it was not to such sources of infor- 
 mation that he turned. He put that all on one side, 
 and went to the fountain-head — to the Burke of the 
 ancient gods, demigods, and heroes, the immortal work 
 of Lempriere. In his chaste and artless pages — so dear 
 to the youthful memory--he knew he should find the 
 whole truth about their forefathers — the unadulterated, 
 
320 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 unbowdlerised truth. He had already forgotten all 
 about their relatives' little affairs. There should be 
 nothing in what he said to bring the blush of shame to 
 the cheek of consanguinity. To begin with, there was 
 the good ship Argo herself, the first that ever sailed the 
 main ; then she was manned by good men and true — 
 taking them all round — in Jason and his companions. 
 The Golden Fleece, too — the object of their quest — was 
 a very good thing to get. " In fact," he said, " I 
 shrewdly suspect, though Lempriere is not explicit on 
 the matter, that the Argo was a racing yacht, Jason the 
 Sir Thomas Lipton of the day, and the Golden Fleece a 
 prototype of the Silver Cup. But there was one point 
 in Lempriere's history that struck me forcibly, signifi- 
 cant as it was of that intimate union which evidently 
 existed then as now between the Church and stage. 
 Lempriere tells us that the crew was composed of repre- 
 sentatives of the army, the navy, the legislature, and 
 two out of the learned professions. At least, I learn 
 that sons of Mars, Neptune, and Lycurgus were on 
 board, whilst they had no less a person than ^scu- 
 lapius as ship's doctor ; but true to the sailors' super- 
 stition, there was no clergyman, and so closely are the 
 two always associated, there was no actor either. The 
 only explanation I can suggest is the simple one that 
 they never seemed to have entertained anyone but 
 themselves. To-night you receive — and receive most 
 hospitably and generously — a member of the theatrical 
 profession. Whether your taste in this respect is better 
 or worse than your fathers, whether you are degenerates 
 or regenerates, I must ask others to decide. But there 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 321 
 
 was another omission from the crew of the Argo of far 
 wider and greater import. Would you believe it ? I 
 could not, but Lempriere vouches for the fact that there 
 was not a single woman on board. Surely, if you are 
 true to the traditions of your blood, there really ought 
 not to have been a lady here to-night, only a gathering 
 of men. We know it is the sweet function of woman 
 to remove by her sympathy the timidity which she first 
 inspires by her beauty. So, you see, I take heart of 
 grace, and already contemplate applying the legend to 
 my own case. On you the responsibility. You sug- 
 gested Lempriere ; Lempriere suggested the legend, and 
 the legend a parallel between the voyage of the Argo 
 and my own venture. On Thursday I, like Jason, am 
 about to launch a new ship. Like Jason, I am an 
 adventurer on an unplumbed and unfathomable ocean. 
 Mine is the ocean of popular opinion, an element that, 
 whatever one's past experience may be, is always uncer- 
 tain and unknown. Shallows on one coast, sunken 
 rocks on another. To-day a dead calm, paralysing 
 movement ; to-morrow a hurricane snapping your mast. 
 Yet with his trusty Argonauts to support him, Jason 
 surmounted all obstacles and won his Golden Fleece. 
 I, too, with this good company of Argonauts around 
 me, will hope to win mine. But not with such en- 
 chanted herbs and noxious spells, such as Jason used to 
 overcome the dragon that guarded his trophy, shall I 
 try to drug that genial dragon, the British public. My 
 means shall be legitimate. We are told that on the 
 coast of Brittany the fishermen, at sunset, fancy they 
 can hear, beneath the murmur of the waves, the silver 
 
322 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 chimes of cathedral bells, submerged for centuries, and 
 that this phantom music is very dear to their simple 
 hearts. So do I hope that, in the course of my new 
 managerial voyage, I may hearken to the pure and liquid 
 chimes of that perennial romance which 'rules the 
 present from the past ' ; and beneath the distracting 
 tides of impulse and noisy agitation there may be always 
 audible to me those eternal voices which, sounding in 
 sympathetic ears, no clamour or turmoil of the fleeting 
 moment can ever silence or subdue. By such means 
 will I venture out to sea to win — may I say retain ? — 
 these golden opinions, which to me are the Golden 
 Fleece in quest of which my course is set." 
 
 On a memorable afternoon, in the saloon of the 
 Lyceum Theatre and in the presence of a number of 
 actors, actresses, and others interested in the theatrical 
 profession, Sir Henry Irving presented Charles Wynd- 
 ham, on behalf of the Actors' Benevolent Fund, with an 
 illuminated address of thanks for his magnificent gift of 
 ;^2,452, being the proceeds of two testimonial perform- 
 ances by his brother managers and fellow-artists in 
 commemoration of his twenty years' management of the 
 Criterion Theatre. Sir Henry, in making the presenta- 
 tion, expressed the pleasure it gave him, remarking it 
 was a happy result they were celebrating, and a happy 
 episode in the life of any man. He almost regretted 
 that the gathering had not been made a public one, for 
 as Charles Wyndham by his splendid benevolence had 
 drawn into one harmonious and grateful whole the 
 feelings of the entire body of his comrades in art, so he 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 323 
 
 (Sir Henry) was sure that the public would have wished 
 to testify to him by their presence their heartfelt 
 appreciation of his charity and of his brotherly love. 
 
 Charles Wyndham, in reply, said : " I cannot tell 
 you how highly I value this generous recognition on 
 your part of what poor services I was enabled to render, 
 by the hearty and loyal support and assistance of my 
 brother and sister actors, to the fund, nor can I tell you 
 how much that pleasure is increased when 1 find that 
 the hand by which this touching and gracefully worded 
 address is presented to me is that of my old friend of so 
 many years ; my fellow-worker from the days of our 
 early manhood, at whose theatre half the celebration 
 took place, and whose absence from England our know- 
 ledge of him tells us alone prevented his association at 
 that, to me, most memorable occasion. My dear Sir 
 Henry, proud and gratified though you and your com- 
 mittee have made me, without affectation I question 
 whether I really deserve that which your generosity 
 conceived, for every man is a debtor — a permanent 
 debtor — to his profession or his trade, and just as the 
 sea repays to the earth in mist and vapour what it has 
 taken from it in rivers and streams, so when a man 
 contributes to the resources of his calling he is only 
 giving back in one form what he has taken from it in 
 another. There is no merit, therefore, in any act like 
 this. There is an obligation binding on us all alike, 
 great or small, to be ever conscious of the operation in 
 our profession of Nature's cruel ordinances, which deals 
 out to one man success, and to another the bitter meed of 
 disappointment. Whatever services I may have rendered 
 
324 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 to the fund, therefore, I look upon only as a duty for the 
 moment discharged, and for the moment over. This 
 reflection, however, does not prevent me from accepting 
 with affectionate gratitude this manifestation of your 
 goodwill towards me, enshrined as it is, too, in a record 
 which, believe me, as long as life lasts, will be treasured 
 among my dearest collections." 
 
 Addressing the members of the Stock Exchange at 
 that grim time when war was raging in South Africa, he 
 said : — 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House, — In the nervousness 
 incidental to a first appearance before a new audience, 
 I am afraid my mode of addressing you is a little like 
 the beginning of that sentence in the Queen's speech 
 which delicately introduces the question of finance. Not 
 inappropriately so after all, for it is on a question of 
 finance that I am myself about to speak. I am going to 
 appeal to this house with no less absolute confidence 
 than the Queen appeals to hers — in aid of those brave 
 fellows who, under African skies, are spending their 
 force, and on African veldts are shedding their blood, 
 and laying down their lives in the defence of the liberties 
 of Englishmen. Though this is no Queen's speech, I 
 am going to appeal for the homes of soldiers, without 
 whose love and loyalty the Queen — so far as her just and 
 righteous, but material power in the world is concerned — 
 would be no Queen. To your great kindness in offering 
 to make a special quotation for tickets on the inaugural 
 night of my new theatre, you add the personal compli- 
 ment of asking me to set the ball rolling. I will do so. 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 325 
 
 I will say to you — and in American parlance — I will say 
 ' right here ' that in that representation of David 
 Garrkk on the i6th you will not get anything like 
 value for the large sums I see will be forthcoming. With 
 the traditional generosity of your house dancing merrily 
 in my brain, I am sure I need add no greater incentive. 
 The less merit in the performance, .the more merit in 
 your bounty. Gentlemen, I ask you to make a market 
 for those tickets. No one understands the operation 
 better than yourselves. I ask you to manufacture a 
 gigantic boom for the homes of our soldiers. Whilst 
 war rages between bulls and Boers there will be no 
 contest in such an operation as this between bulls and 
 bears. There will be no bears in this case. There will, 
 I hope, be a little rigging, but no commissions, contangos, 
 or carry-overs. The securities, each duly and correctly 
 numbered, will be taken up, and every one of them will 
 be a gilt-edged security ; gilt-edged in the enduring 
 memory of a noble deed, by you well done. Gentlemen, 
 the hammer is ready ; the same, I believe, the other day 
 declared the default of Mr. Kruger. Be you ready with 
 your note-books and your cheque-books. The soldier 
 knows his duty to be to his country, and we know ours to 
 be to the home that soldier leaves behind him. He has 
 loyally complied with his bargains. We cannot too 
 liberally comply with ours. Thus you, he, and I will be 
 knit together in one solid body of unswerving devotion 
 to the flag that waves o'er us, the land that we love, and 
 our lady the Queen." 
 
 On January 4th, 1902, the footlights were turned 
 down for the last time at that time-honoured playhouse, 
 
326 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 The Old Theatre Royal, Birmingham. To do honour to 
 the occasion, Charles Wyndham brought his company 
 from London, and, after a performance of David 
 Garrick, thus addressed a crowded and deeply in- 
 terested audience : — 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen, the curtain has fallen for the 
 last time in this building. In the first working hours 
 of the first day in the working week these walls will 
 begin to crumble beneath the labourer's stroke. Each 
 brick in them is instinct with its own proud memory, 
 carrying hidden in its cells, burnt in with the sacred 
 fire of genius, every shade of tone and colour that has 
 played its fitful light upon these boards throughout that 
 brilliant era, the Victorian age. Each rafter, at the 
 touch of the magician's wand, would ring out again 
 with the passion of a Kemble, and a Siddons, and a 
 Kean— the elocution of Macready, the laughter of a 
 Nisbett, the gentle tenderness of a Faucit, the humour 
 of a Harley, Farren's dignity. Dundreary's problems, 
 and the art of all those who strove to keep the Drama's 
 torch alive. All these are passing now before us in 
 stately procession, giving back ghostly echoes of the 
 plaudits that greeted them in olden times ; plaudits 
 from now vanished hands and lips that are silent. 
 Well, though the Muse of this theatre, like other 
 charming ladies, once changed her name in early life, 
 though the poor thing was once burnt out of house and 
 home and had to build another, the fact remains that on 
 this spot she has lived and flourished since her birth on 
 that distant day when the British realms were rulejd by 
 George III., and the British stage by David Garrick. 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 327 
 
 I do not propose to go into a detailed history of your 
 theatre. That has had ample justice done to it by the 
 fluent pen of your fellow-townsman and ardent devotee 
 to the drama, Edgar Pemberton, whose absence from 
 our midst through ill health we all so much deplore, 
 (y/ voice : May we send him a message ? Mr. Wynd- 
 ham: Yes.^) Nor need we be sad and hug our 
 memories too closely. That is the privilege of senility, 
 whereas our Muse is in her prime. Though you and I 
 will never meet again beneath this roof, we must 
 remember that bricks and mortar are only the vesture 
 of a playhouse. Its real life is in the spirit that animates 
 it ; its identity is its continued existence on the same 
 site, graced by the same talents, inspired by the same 
 ideas, decorated by the same traditions. Stone walls do 
 not a prison make ; still less do they make a theatre. 
 Our Muse is not shuffling off this mortal coil. All she 
 desires is to shuffle off an old garment. She is merely 
 true to the instinct of her delightful sex, tiring of that 
 old dress and crying for a new one — and her loving, 
 doting mother, Mrs. Dornton, bows to her wish and 
 prepares to deck her daughter out in costume up to 
 date. In a few months you will see her exquisitely 
 robed in all her satins and her silks ; and if rumour 
 speak the truth, with lovely flowers and ferns crowning 
 the edifice of her lustrous tresses, which is my poetic 
 way of describing what the architect in brutal prose 
 
 1 This alluded to a little history of the theatre I had written for its 
 manageress, Mrs. Dornton, and which she g^ve away as a souvenir of the 
 eyening. In the kindest of letters Charles Wyndham sent me the 
 " message." 
 
328 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 will call ' a garden on the roof.' But I must be wary. 
 This new attraction, permission for which was granted 
 me in London, and which has been a luxury for twenty 
 years in America, is dependent upon your authorities. 
 Until they have given their decision, I must not 
 prophesy, lest, when I come back, you use my words 
 against me. I must be very cautious. In fact, I must 
 imitate the caution of that Scotch village, of which some 
 of you may have heard, and more, I hope, have not, 
 whose inhabitants, when they heard on an autumn 
 Sunday their pastor prophesy the early extinction of the 
 world, promptly countermanded their order for a winter 
 stock of coals. Understand me, it was not that they 
 were a close village ; it was not that they begrudged the, 
 under the circumstances, unnecessary expense for coal, 
 but that in their caution they feared that if the world 
 should really come to an end, with that winter stock of 
 coals on hand, the coals might be used against them. 
 So, remember, I only foreshadow the possibility of this 
 most desirable innovation, which may be presented to 
 you on the opening night, when, if circumstances 
 permit, I hope to be with you to congratulate you. 
 Then, barring the new garb, all will be as it has been. 
 In the skilful hands of Mrs. Dornton there will be 
 preserved that genius of management that has character- 
 ised her reign and that of her late husband, and of the 
 Mercer Simpsons before her, back to the days of the 
 incomparable Yates. The new theatre will have only 
 one formidable competitor — the record of the old — but 
 we believe its future will rival its past, and that this day 
 will be looked upon, not as the close of a career, but as 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 329 
 
 a stepping-stone to higher things, a new starting-point 
 on that journey, which has been, and ever will be, 
 onward and upward." 
 
 To the Members of the O. P. Club on October 13th, 
 1902, he said, alluding to his recent knighthood : — 
 
 " I am here in the proud position of your honoured 
 guest, because I happen to be the individual in whose 
 person the King has been pleased to dignify the theatrical 
 profession. I am for the time being the figurehead 
 of the good ship he has christened anew with the first 
 drops of his christening wine ; but I know full well 
 that it was the entire vessel, not the figurehead alone, 
 that the gracious act was intended to exalt. I do not 
 wish, therefore, to speak of myself, except, perhaps, to 
 thank your chairman for his graceful and sympathetic 
 reference to my career — those nine years of, managerially 
 speaking, youthful exuberance, and subsequent seven- 
 teen years of, managerially speaking, middle-aged 
 sobriety. Beyond this, I prefer to speak of the calling 
 to which I have the honour to belong. I do not think 
 that we actors will be taking ourselves too seriously if 
 we regard the favours conferred upon the stage by 
 Royal hands in the past seven years as having a very 
 deep significance. The throne and the stage have in all 
 periods of our history been united by a real bond. 
 Each has owed much to the other. The drama has 
 been the recording angel of the joys and sorrows, the 
 triumphs and tragedies of our sovereigns ; writing large 
 the story of their noble deeds, blotting out with its tears 
 the annals of their mistakes. On the other hand, the 
 
330 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 throne has supplied the stage with its noblest themes 
 and characters. Again, if we turn from plays to players, 
 we find the same close relations existing from all times ; 
 Kings and actors have been knit together by that double 
 tie which is of the essence of all true allegiance, generous 
 protection on the one side, passionate loyalty on the 
 other. Of our two great Queens, Elizabeth and Victoria, 
 the one shielded the stage from the tyranny of the city 
 magistrate and Puritan ; the other, when protection 
 was no longer needed, by her personal encouragement 
 and immediate presence, favoured and fostered all that 
 was worthiest in the theatrical output of the Victorian 
 Era. On the other hand, we find an unbroken record 
 of faithful service to the throne on the part of the 
 theatre. This bond, strong as it was, remained, until 
 recent years, wholly without public expression, and the 
 significance of the honours conferred lies in this, that 
 their bestowal marks the first outward and open recog- 
 nition by the Sovereign of the place the theatre holds 
 in the national life. Now, however, the actor has at 
 least officially become a member of the social order, and 
 has been deemed worthy of an honoured status in public 
 life> Estimate, then, you playgoers, the debt of gratitude 
 we players owe to the two great factors in this evolu- 
 tion — the Queen, dead, but immortal ; the King, the 
 greatest playgoer of you all, the primal authority in our 
 world of art. But without the support of you play- 
 goers, where are we ? We often read of actors ' resting,' 
 but imagine the whole of the theatrical profession 
 doomed by dearth of playgoers to perpetual rest — actors 
 condemned to inaction, or, what is worse, to acting 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 331 
 
 to one another. Think what that would mean ! Mutual 
 entertainment would beget mutual criticism, and that 
 would be a pretty pass. I remember in my old days, by 
 which I mean my young days, myself and a great friend 
 of mine — and a great favourite of yours — competing 
 for the same engagement at the hands of a provincial 
 manager. Neither of us got it. It was given to a third 
 party, a very inferior actor. You may laugh, but I re- 
 member my friend and myself converging quickly to 
 the combined decision that if ever there was a man who 
 failed either in form, feature, voice, bearing, intention, 
 or distinction suitable to the part, that fellow was the 
 man. Again, what would be the playgoer without the 
 player ? They are wedded to one another as securely 
 as that discontented married man felt who, tired of the 
 nuptial fetters, cried out : ' There are two conditions in 
 this world to shun if possible — death and marriage ; for 
 death lasts so long, and marriage lasts for ever,' Yes, 
 for ever and a day. I like that phrase, because it sounds 
 like adding on a matinee to eternity. For ever and 
 a day have you playgoers taken us players for better 
 or for worse. We, on our side, are bound to honour 
 and obey you ; you, on yours, to love and cherish us, 
 and endow us with all your worldly goods. We ask 
 no more. We expect no less. Mutually independent, 
 then, as we are, let us be worthy of each other. One 
 word more, and I have done. There are three great 
 factors in public opinion, and a public man, if he would 
 attain a really enduring place in the hearts of his fellows, 
 must satisfy each of them — the monarchical, the aristo- 
 cratic, and the democratic strands in that triple cord 
 
332 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 which binds us all together. Ladies and gentlemen, 
 I claim for myself this much, that I have as yet done 
 nothing to forfeit the regard of the three factors to 
 which I have referred." 
 
 At an Actors' Benevolent Fund meeting at which he 
 presided he observed that in thinking over what he 
 should say it occurred to him to ask for an account 
 of the subscriptions during the existence of this fund, 
 and he found to his sorrow that they were lower than in 
 the eighties, though the deficiency had been partly met 
 by dinners. The deficiency did not spring from the 
 subscriptions of the rank and file, which were increasing, 
 but from managerial defection ; and he wondered 
 whether it was not possible, by a little self-communing, 
 followed by still more necessary self-sacrifices all round, 
 to recover their position. When the fund was in- 
 augurated two healthy policies were adopted : that each 
 manager should contribute £100 annually, and that they 
 should make no appeal for outside help. They had, 
 unhappily, fallen from this high estate. The cause on 
 the part of the managers was apathy. This apathy was 
 not of heart, but of temperament. The qualities in 
 actors which evoked those manifestations of emotion, 
 that intense sensitiveness to the external and immediate, 
 were the very qualities which did not readily respond 
 to the demands of the abstract and the indefinite. 
 Assuredly, there was no lack of warm hearts among 
 them ; many and many an actor would share his last six- 
 pence with his friend ; yet many an actor would hesitate 
 to give much to supply, in some dim and distant future, 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 333 
 
 the possible wants of undesignated persons. The needs 
 of the moment moved them more easily than the claims 
 of abstract duty — a natural disposition, but one, for 
 charity's sake, to be fought against and conquered. 
 To justify managers contributing ;^ioo each, in the 
 face of an actor with ;^500 a year giving £% 2j., 
 all managers would have to enjoy an income of ;^25,ooo 
 a year. He must tell them, in the strictest confidence, 
 that all managers did not make ;^2 5,000 a year. But 
 he wanted to return to those happy days when all 
 managers annually contributed that hundred each ; and 
 it could be done at once if the members of the fund 
 would shame them into it by larger subscriptions ; when 
 they went hand in hand together, they would be 
 prosperous beyond their most sanguine hopes. They 
 were all members of one family, and each was a debtor 
 to his brother. Not alone to the more prosperous did 
 he speak ; he spoke to all. The very backbone of the 
 fund should be the little money from the many. As for 
 outside help, he still clung to the belief that the more 
 they relied upon themselves, the more they would 
 advance than if they relied upon others. As an art, 
 their calling stood well with the country. Let it be 
 their care that it stood equally well as a profession. 
 They were known to be self-respecting ; let them also be 
 known as self-supporting. 
 
 And at a dinner given on behalf of the same charity, 
 he said if any actor might properly preside at that 
 dinner, he might not unfairly do so, having regard to 
 his connection with the early history of the fund. 
 
334 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Having traced the origin and growth of the society, 
 he said that they heard much of the prosperity that 
 attended the votaries of the drama, but, alas ! there 
 were very few indeed who were even moderately free 
 from trouble about the present and anxiety about the 
 future ; whilst beyond them were thousands that simply 
 lived from hand to mouth. What wonder, then, that 
 when from the lower ranks of these came the many 
 cries for help, their resources began to fall below their 
 needs ? At the inception of the fund they had deter- 
 mined that no appeal should be made to outside help at 
 any time. Independence was to be their cry, and its 
 banner was waved above their heads for years till, 
 recognising the awful position and sad necessity, Henry 
 Irving, from the depths of a compassionate heart, 
 deserted the Independents, and taking this chair, in- 
 augurated this annual dinner. He confessed that if 
 any class of the community was justified in appealing 
 to outside support, the dramatic body might not un- 
 fairly do so. If they excepted the medical profession, 
 there was none which more readily lent an ear to ex- 
 ternal calls than their own. It could hardly, therefore, 
 be unbecoming in them — who by a free, lavish gift of 
 their time, brain-labour, and money had so often materi- 
 ally assisted public charity — to invite the public to 
 assist their own. In conclusion, he appealed to them 
 to lend a hand to those who had succumbed in the fight 
 of grim and deadly competition, over whose prostrate 
 and trampled forms the legions of the successful 
 thunder past in the insolence of triumph. They did 
 not appeal to them as loafers and tramps, who had never 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 335 
 
 done any honest work, or made any provision for their 
 derelicts. They appealed to them because, and only 
 because, the needs grew faster than the fund. He 
 trusted they would not withhold their gifts from those 
 who might never have even had the chance of being 
 provident. 
 
 On November 14th, 1902, at the Court Theatre, 
 Liverpool, Sir Charles Wyndham, in response to the 
 repeated calls of the audience, after the curtain had 
 finally fallen on the play, was induced to make a short 
 speech. He said : " There are very few of us who do 
 not from time to time find themselves compelled to 
 abandon a resolve, however advisable that resolve may 
 appear to be. For instance, in view of the crusade on 
 the part of the Press against speaking from the stage, 
 1 had resolved to listen to their behest and not speak 
 to-day. Yet I find myself standing before you and 
 talking. I liken my position to that of the bishop who, 
 anxious about his lungs, consulted a physician, and was 
 promptly warned to sojourn in the South of France. 
 He declared it was impossible with his many duties, and 
 that he had resolved to winter here, ' My lord,' said 
 the physician, * if you resolve to remain in England, in 
 less than two months your lordship will be in heaven.' 
 The bishop replied : ' You don't say so ; I will go to 
 the South of France at once.' 
 
 " So do I abandon for the present my vows of silence 
 in order to enjoy the warm and genial atmosphere of 
 gratitude. Basking under that sun I beg, in the name 
 of Miss Mary Moore, my company, and myself, to 
 thank you for your most generous reception." 
 
336 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 On April i8th, 1903, at a dinner given to eminent 
 actors at the Eccentric Club, he spoke as follows : — 
 
 " I now approach the toast of the evening, ' The 
 health of our guests, and the prosperity of the pro- 
 fession of which they are such shining, burning lights.' 
 Now, I am sure you observe that my position has 
 suddenly become an embarrassing one, if not Gilbertian, 
 for, after all, I myself have something to do with the 
 profession I am called upon to praise. In the first place, 
 you know I am at least a manager ; and in the second, 
 those of my friends whose intimacy is not strong 
 enough to justify the extremity of candour tell me I am 
 an actor, too. If, then, I lavish praise and adulation on 
 the stage, without reference to its representatives here 
 to-night, I lay myself open to a charge of self-praise. 
 On the other hand, if I limit my nice remarks to those 
 representatives only, where do I come in .'' Don't mis- 
 understand me. I ask no favour. I have been well 
 brought up. I was reared in that charming coterie of 
 modest men the world call actor-managers ; and I can 
 assure you that, all rumours to the contrary notwith- 
 standing, they — the actor -managers — are sometimes 
 ready to efface themselves, are sometimes willing to 
 forget their exalted station, and are even sometimes 
 prepared to recognise without prejudice that they are 
 mortal. That, however, is no reason why I should 
 praise my brethren and ignore myself. Why should I 
 leave myself out in the cold .'' Self-praise, I know, of 
 course, is no recommendation, but self-refrigeration is 
 decidedly unpleasant. The only way out of the 
 dilemma I see is that you all kindly forget who and 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 337 
 
 what I am, and I forget myself. We shall get one step 
 farther along the road to a pleasant understanding if 
 we * Eccentrics ' forget our guests and talk about our- 
 selves. Imagine that the * Eccentric ' in me, and not 
 the actor, is speaking to you to-night. I wish our guests 
 to see in me only one of ' the general playgoers.' A 
 bilious author once spoke of * that beast the general 
 reader.' If we are to speak of that beast the general 
 playgoer, let us utilise the words of the Rugby school- 
 boy, and say — at any rate, he's a just beast. Moreover, 
 a kind and gentle and patient beast — a tame and simple 
 beast. And there is the essence of the character of this 
 Club — simplicity. We are simple children here. Every 
 'Eccentric' whom I have the honour to represent to- 
 night is gifted with a freshness of mind, a simplicity of 
 interest, only achieved, as a rule, by that celebrated 
 young person — the unsophisticated boy or the un- 
 emancipated girl. None of us, for instance, regards the 
 play as the epilogue to the dinner or the prologue to 
 the supper. None of us stalks to his stall in the 
 middle of the act over prostrate and wounded toes. 
 On the contrary, we are always in time for the Easter 
 hymn. In fact, I commend to our guests — our noble 
 selves — as ideal playgoers — the real pillars of the stage, 
 and as ' Carrots ' says, * it is the likes of us that makes 
 the likes of them.' So, ladies and gentlemen of the 
 theatrical profession, welcome to the serene and sooth- 
 ing atmosphere of the Eccentric Club. Here, as in the 
 beautiful valley of Bhong, you will find ' peace, peace, 
 quiet and peace.' Whenever you are worried and 
 harassed by the professional critic, or the crank, or 
 
338 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 the State-appointed authority, or the self-appointed 
 adviser, come to this Club. Here be ears receptive to 
 the story of your woes — ample shirt-fronts on which to 
 repose your weary heads and stricken hearts. In this 
 simple-minded, whole-hearted community you will find 
 nothing but admiration for your work, sympathy with 
 your cares. No ' buts,' no ' ifs,' no faint praise. No 
 thunder from Olympus will stun your ears, only honey 
 from Hymettus to touch your lips, whilst incense from 
 flower-decked altars salutes your nostrils ; or if you 
 crave for burnt-offerings, there is here to-night in this 
 club many a bull and many a bear, and many a stag 
 ready to immolate himself in your honour. For we 
 love you all — we simple children — we cling to you. 
 We will go with you up the stern mountain heights of 
 the Ideal, or wander with you in lowly valleys of the 
 Real. We will climb with you to the very snow-line of 
 the classic, or dally with you in the warm — the some- 
 times too warm — atmosphere of the comic. We sit at 
 your feet gratefully as you pour into our little hands all 
 the fruits and flowers and riches of your art. Such 
 simple children are we here crying for the light ! What 
 produces that light we care not. Whether the lightning 
 flash of tragedy, the oil of unctuous comedy, or even 
 the gas of the gagger. We are catholics, too, in our 
 tastes, and without respect to persons. We sympathise, 
 for instance, with the perplexity of Forbes Robertson, 
 who to this day cannot reconcile the fact that the light 
 that succeeds is the light that failed. We are ready to 
 ' come into the garden, Maud,' and look for the unfore- 
 seen, or inhabit a desert island with Harry Irving, or 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 339 
 
 go to Italy in the summer with his distinguished father. 
 We are ready to become German youths with Alexander, 
 or share as willing captives in his well-won triumphs ; 
 and didn't we even go down with Tree to Hades last 
 year only to assist at his Resurrection this ? So, high 
 priests and priestesses of your art, in the name of this 
 Club I give you a hearty welcome. One and all of us 
 desire to testify, first to the pleasure which one and all 
 of you have given us many a time and oft in the 
 exercise of your delightful art, and next to the added 
 pleasure which you are giving us to-night as our 
 honoured guests and comrades." 
 
 With one more example of his eloquence I shall bring 
 this rather long chapter to a close. This is his speech 
 given at a meeting of the Actors' Church Union on 
 July 15th, 1904, when, responding to the Bishop of 
 Rochester, he said : — 
 
 "My Lord, — When it was first suggested that I should 
 speak at this present meeting, I expressed, as you are 
 aware, a desire to shrink from the honour. For one 
 thing, I felt myself somewhat unqualified for the rather 
 delicate undertaking ; for another, I was apprehensive 
 that my action might be misconstrued as a mere exalta- 
 tion of that Ego, which we are told is so dear to the 
 actor-manager's heart. Your lordship's kind letter, and 
 that of the Secretary to the Actors' Church Union, the 
 Rev. Donald Hole, allayed my apprehensions, and I felt 
 that I could, and if I could I ought to accept your in- 
 vitation, trusting that at this late stage of my career — 
 when all that I can do I have done, and when in the 
 
340 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 common order of things but a very few years of activity 
 are left to me — I might escape the criticisms of the 
 cynic. 
 
 " It is two years now since I became a member of the 
 Actors' Church Union, and I did so because, after a 
 careful examination, I became convinced that it repre- 
 sented a genuine and generous endeavour on the part of 
 many of the clergy to build a bridge across the gulf 
 which for so long has separated Church from stage. 
 From that distant time, when the i,oo8 ponderous 
 pages of Prynne's Histrio-Mastix appeared, to the present 
 day, when (in the Roman Catholic Church at least) a 
 priest is forbidden to go to the theatre, even as a specta- 
 tor, a division and antipathy between Church and stage 
 have existed. A most unnatural hostility ! the separa- 
 tion of a mother from her child. For, as we all know, 
 religion both in classical and Christian times gave birth 
 to the drama. This inveterate prejudice is now dying 
 out, but, like all prejudices, dies hard and slowly. 
 Depreciation is always more acceptable to imperfect 
 human nature than appreciation. 'Tout comprendre, 
 c'est tout pardonner ' ; but how rare is the intellectual 
 capacity, and how much rarer the moral determination 
 enabling one to 'understand everything'! Happily, our 
 two professions may now say that we are at least learn- 
 ing to understand one another. The clergy are begin- 
 ning to see that the theatrical profession has, like other 
 callings, its special qualities, and the defects of those 
 qualities ; but that, on the whole, It is neither better nor 
 worse than others ; that, though resenting condescension 
 or patronage, it responds rapidly and warmly to true 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 341 
 
 appreciation and sympathy. We, on the other hand, 
 feel this Union has reminded us how the condition of 
 the actor's life, when engaged, for instance, on provincial 
 toui-s, with its constant changes of abode, Sunday travel- 
 ling, and the like, are such as to make it difficult for him 
 to know the clergyman as his friend in the sense in 
 which the resident parishioner knows him, and we grate- 
 fully recognise that this organisation is an attempt to 
 make an especial provision for an especial need. Its 
 beneficial influence on the individual promises to be 
 great ; socially, too, it has important uses. There are, 
 for instance, many of us who find ourselves for six 
 months at a time wanderers on the face of the earth 
 (one of the onerous obligations of our calling), strangers 
 in strange lands, their circle of acquaintance limited to 
 the members of the company, who, as so often happens 
 in other pursuits, may or may not be congenial ; how 
 invaluable to these the opportunity of finding private 
 friends in each town, ready and willing to appreciate the 
 non-professional side of the artist's nature, and to get in 
 touch with his inner life and thought ! The clergy are 
 manifesting by this movement a sympathy with and an 
 interest in our calling. You appeal to us. I voice the 
 hearty response to that appeal which is forthcoming 
 from every serious-minded man or woman of my pro- 
 fession. We are more than glad to meet you half-way 
 in establishing a brotherhood between us. Many years 
 ago, while travelling professionally in America, where 
 distances from town to town are very great, involving 
 journeys lasting from Sunday afternoons to Monday 
 mornings, a leading lady of my company — happily still 
 
342 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 adorning the London stage at various theatres — was 
 accustomed on arrival to devote her mornings to early 
 matins, depriving herself of the rest necessary to fit her 
 for her evening's work. From town to town she bore 
 letters of introduction to some liberal-minded clergyman. 
 I once ventured to ask her whether she could not realise 
 that, inasmuch as the essence of religion was to teach a 
 faithful discharge of duty, she was conscientious in deny- 
 ing herself every Monday the rest which should have en- 
 abled her to give the best of her art in the evening to 
 the public, who had a right to expect it. She expressed 
 her regret, but maintained that her devotions must 
 stand above dll other considerations. Two day later, 
 however, she told me that henceforth Mondays should 
 be devoted to rest, giving as the reason for this change 
 of attitude that she had mentioned my protest to her 
 spiritual adviser, who had promptly replied, 'Mr. Wynd- 
 ham is right ; duty to your fellows is duty to God.'^ 
 I confess that I was surprised at such teaching 
 from such a quarter, but that was twenty-one years 
 ago, when the mists of night were between your 
 lordship's brotherhood and mine, and when I was 
 unable to see that this enlightened pastor was simply 
 anticipating, as an individual, the very attitude which 
 the Actors' Church Union a generation afterwards was 
 destined to assume as a body. To-day, after these 
 twenty-one years, the sun has mounted in the heavens, 
 scattering in his. royal progress the light of knowledge 
 and the warmth of loving-kindness throughout the black 
 
 1 I am in a position to know that this young actress was Miss Mary 
 Rorke. 
 
"THE PICTURE OF THE MIND" 343 
 
 and cold valleys of prejudice. It is to you, my lord, 
 and those associated with you, that we look, and we 
 know we shall not look in vain, for the successful 
 exercise of your self-imposed and noble efforts. This it 
 is — this earnest desire to promote the brotherhood 
 between the two communities so long estranged through 
 mutual misunderstandings — not any intention on the 
 part of either to patronise the other — which is the basis 
 of the Actors' Church Union. Of this fact I am assured 
 — indeed, were it not so I could not be here to-day. In 
 your lordship's letter to me you were good enough to 
 ask me for any word of suggestion as to what more can 
 be done, or what avoided. I can only reply that your 
 lordship is the architect of this bridge that is to unite 
 us. You know so much better than I how to build. 
 Our care and our delight it will be to help you in pro- 
 viding materials as sound as, thanks to you, the founda- 
 tions are already solid." 
 
 I have spoken of my chapter as a rather long one, but 
 I know it has been worth compiling, and I believe that 
 it will prove good reading. I have called it "The 
 Picture of the IVIind," and surely these speeches show 
 the character and aims of the man who delivered them 
 — his constant desire to be of service to his fellow- 
 creatures and to uphold the reputation and best interests 
 of the profession he adorns. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 VALEDICTORY 
 
 ALTHOUGH the voyage is at an end, there still 
 remain some ropes to be rolled up, and other affairs 
 to be adjusted before the little craft that I have en- 
 deaved to steer can be considered safely docked. If in 
 the course of these pages I have shown those who only 
 know Sir Charles Wyndham on the stage the real char- 
 acter of the man, his true love of his art, his ardent 
 determination to excel in it, and his bountiful generosity 
 to all who have commanded his sympathy, my object 
 has been fulfilled. Firm though his will is, it is always 
 kept well under control, and he has never allowed him- 
 self to miss a chance. In proof of this, I may narrate 
 the following little anecdote. 
 
 In the days of long ago, before the Criterion manage- 
 ment had been thought of, he was spending a holiday at 
 Thames Ditton with his friend and fellow-actor, Edgar 
 Bruce. They had planned a long and somewhat bold 
 canoeing expedition with Arundel for their destination, 
 and with the intention of proceeding thence to the sea. 
 One day at Weybridge they left the Thames after an 
 early lunch, working their way up a little tributary in 
 order to reach a canal that would take them to the river 
 
 344 
 
VALEDICTORY 345 
 
 on which they were to paddle to Littlehampton. They 
 started at one o'clock ; the stream was tortuous, often 
 very narrow, and sometimes so shallow that they had to 
 get out and push their canoes along the banks. They 
 worked on till past eight o'clock, when they came to a 
 mill, and, tired, hungry, and hot, they determined to 
 halt there, land, and seek an inn to rest in until the 
 morning. On inquiring where such an hostelry could 
 be found, they were told that " there was a very good 
 one at Weybridge." " But," they said, " we want one 
 near here." " Well," was the astounding reply, " Wey- 
 bridge is only two miles off." 
 
 And so it was. That deceptive little stream had led 
 them in and out, right and left, round and round, but 
 they had practically never left Weybridge. Disgusted, 
 they walked back to the inn where they had eaten their 
 midday meal, and there Charles Wyndham found a 
 telegram which had been sent to him first to his London 
 home, then to Thames Ditton, and thence to Weybridge 
 in the hope of catching him at lunch. It contained an 
 offer of an engagement to play Charles Surface at the 
 Crystal Palace within four days. At once the canoe, 
 and Arundel, and the sea went to the winds. The im- 
 pulsive actor immediately set out for Sydenham, played 
 Charles Surface, played the part again, and was offered 
 that management of the Crystal Palace plays to which I 
 have already alluded. 
 
 His capacity for work has always been enormous. 
 He was the inventor of the "flying matinee," and 
 became known as the Dick Turpin of the drama. Not 
 long ago, in little more than a fortnight, he, Miss Mary 
 
346 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Moore, and the other members of his company played 
 to crowded houses at consecutive matinees in no less 
 than thirteen distant towns and cities — namely, East- 
 bourne, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Bristol, Cheltenham, Brad- 
 ford, Harrogate, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, 
 Dublin, and Chester. What would the old actors have 
 thought of this ? 
 
 His kindness to young actors is unbounded, and 
 many of them owe their success to his generous en- 
 couragement. On this subject my friend Jerrold 
 Robertshaw has written me : — 
 
 " I was acting in Ben Greet's Shakespearean and Old 
 Comedy Company a few years ago on the West Pier, 
 Brighton. I had never had the pleasure of meeting Sir 
 Charles. One afternoon, during the performance of 
 Twelfth Nighty in which I was playing that well-known 
 bad part, Duke Orsino, the love-sick gentleman, the 
 word went the round of the company that ' Sir Charles 
 was in front.' I was sorry, as Orsino was not one of 
 my creditable exhibitions. During the same week I 
 played Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing. Miss 
 Mary Moore accompanied Sir Charles this time. Of 
 course, we all ' played up,' and, no doubt, overplayed 
 prodigiously. Sir Charles at the time was on the look- 
 out for people suitable for his production of Cyrano de 
 Bergerac. I had been four years on the stage, and, so 
 far, had not found a chance of appearing in London in 
 any good part. Sir Charles again honoured us when I 
 was playing Evelyn in Money. On Sunday morning he 
 accosted me on the parade, congratulated me, and said 
 he might have a part for me in his forthcoming pro- 
 
VALEDICTORY 347 
 
 duction. I think that was about the happiest moment 
 of my life. He promised to write me and make an 
 appointment. A month passed over, and I was slipping 
 back into my provincial groove again, when I found 
 myself in a fix. I was engaged to appear in David 
 Garrick on the Brighton West Pier when, to my dismay, 
 I found I could not procure a copy of the play for love 
 or money. I wrote to Sir Charles and threw myself on 
 his mercy. He took pity on me, sent for me, and most 
 generously gave me his own manuscript and parts ; and 
 so I took my company down to Brighton. To my 
 horror, on the Wednesday matin6e he appeared in front 
 with Miss Moore and a party of friends. After the 
 drunken scene he sent me his congratulations, and then 
 departed to play the same part in London. On the 
 following Monday, in response to a note, I again called 
 upon him. He then said many kind things, gave me 
 the part of De Guiche in Cyrano, and offered me what 
 at that time seemed to me a munificent salary. In 
 short, he treated me with the greatest consideration and 
 courtesy, so, naturally, he is to me not only the best of 
 actors, but the most benevolent of men. He has 
 backed his opinion of me since by giving me the 
 strongest recommendations to other actors. 
 
 " He has infinite tact, and knows how to draw the 
 best work out of every member of his company ; and 
 he never tries to overbalance a play by being selfish. 
 1 remember one little lesson he taught me in a few 
 words. After rehearsing the second act of Cyrano, he 
 drew me apart, and said, ' Don''t act so much in that 
 scene.' I said I was afraid of letting it down. He 
 
348 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 said, ' Oh, ao ! Your individuality is too strong for 
 that.' 
 
 " I never forgot that lesson. You see, he contrived 
 to attain his object, and made me confident and happy 
 at the same time. Another time, he said, 'You are 
 going to be very good in this part, but I want to make 
 you perfect. Don't use any gesture.^ It seems to me 
 that this is the right method when one wants to get 
 good work out of others. His speeches at the close 
 of the performance on nearly every night of our pro- 
 vincial tour were a marvel to me. The way in which 
 he clothed just the same ideas in a totally different dress 
 night after night, without ever being at a loss for a 
 word, and this after shedding tears in his death scene a 
 few minutes before, was wonderful." 
 
 Few men, I think, would, at a very busy and anxious 
 time, go so far out of the way to reassure a nervous 
 young recruit and make his position in a strange 
 atmosphere a pleasant one. Hundreds of actors could 
 bear testimony to the same effect. 
 
 The following letter he once wrote to a friend shows 
 how Sir Charles loves to look on the sunny side of 
 things, and how quick he is to sympathise with all his 
 fellow-creatures : — 
 
 " What an eccentric individual you are, collecting 
 stories of life's disappointments ! Well, anyway, your 
 collection is bound to be voluminous. Wouldn't you 
 employ your time to greater advantage by obtaining 
 records of cases in which human hopes had not been 
 disappointed ? As, however, you wish me to contribute 
 
VALEDICTORY 349 
 
 to your museum (for it will grow to a museum if you 
 persist in it), I give you what I think has been the 
 keenest instance of blighted expectations in my life. 
 I shall have to go back to the days of my early man- 
 hood. Before that happy period Fortune's pin-pricks 
 operate upon a heart as resilient as indiarubber ; after 
 it, through their frequency, upon a heart as hard as 
 iron. In neither case do they cause a lasting puncture. 
 " It was on the i st of January, 1 863, a fateful day, upon 
 which, by previous Presidential Proclamations, slavery 
 was abolished for ever in the United States. Like most 
 young Englishmen, I was a fervent abolitionist, and, 
 whatever underlying personal considerations may have 
 contributed to influence my actions, it was easy enough 
 then to persuade myself that the sole and sufficient 
 motive of my self-exile from the land of my birth was 
 the laudable ambition to participate, in however humble 
 a capacity, in the glorious crusade to vindicate the sacred 
 Rights of Man. Youth is so easily convinced of the 
 singleness of its aims. Anyway, there I was in the 
 army. Well, in our mess service was a slave — a run- 
 away slave from a neighbouring plantation. He was 
 about twenty-eight years of age, a good-looking, intelli- 
 gent, faithful, and willing servant — naturally a favourite 
 with us. As the proclaimed date drew nearer, I began 
 to wonder what he would do, and how he would feel 
 when Emancipation Day arrived. To our chaffing 
 questions he would answer nothing. He was never a 
 man of many words, and some of my comrades suggested 
 that he said nothing because he had nothing to say. I, 
 however, interpreted his silence in a sense more worthy 
 
3SO SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 of himself — more worthy of us. I was convinced that 
 his emotion was too strong and deep to vent itself in 
 vulgar speech. I pictured Freedom's first life-giving 
 zephyrs stirring his heart-strings and awakening their 
 long-frozen melodies. It was plain to me that he was 
 blind to everything but the coming dawn of the Great 
 Day — the day that was to turn him from a beast of 
 burden to a free man, from a chattel to a personality. 
 I fancied that the earliest stages of his transfiguration 
 were already visible, and that the very thought of his 
 nascent freedom had already endowed his eye with a 
 profounder glance, his feet with a firmer tread, and his 
 brow with a nobler presence. I grew profoundly inter- 
 ested in him, and watched him sympathetically day after 
 day. To me his silence was eminently speaking. Who 
 could possibly talk with such emotions overpowering him? 
 It would only be when Freedom arrived that the long 
 pent-up rivers of speech would burst their barriers and 
 overflow in floods of gratitude to the President, and, inci- 
 dentally perhaps to me, that President's faithful henchman. 
 Meanwhile, he daily discharged his duties mechanically 
 but faithfully, deaf to everything but the anticipated 
 clatter of the shackles falling from his feet. Well, at 
 last the Great Day arrived — as all great days will, and 
 small ones too, if you only give them time. Liberty 
 had dawned upon him that morning, and how would 
 Sambo receive its earliest rays ? I narrowly scanned his 
 features. He was discharging his duties as usual, with- 
 out a word of exultation, silent — always silent. He 
 waited on me patiently ; I waited impatiently on him. 
 In good time, I thought to myself, it will come. The 
 
VALEDICTORY 351 
 
 exuberant charms of the goddess of Liberty were 
 evidently too much for him all at once. Perhaps he was 
 coyly murmuring to himself, in reply to her advances, 
 ' This is so very sudden 1 ' Perhaps the glare and inrush 
 of the new light was blinding the eyes so long habituated 
 to the gloom of servitude. 1 thought of the mournful 
 'Dead Heart' of the Drama (its far more mournful 
 Dead Heads had at that time no meaning for us), I 
 recalled the Bastille prisoners praying in the early 
 moments of their liberty to be restored to their dun- 
 geons. I trembled for Sambo ; I even trembled for 
 Freedom herself. At last somebody ejaculated, ' Well, 
 Sambo, how do you feel ? What does it feel like to be 
 an emancipated nigger ? Speak up, Sambo.' I hung 
 on Sambo's lips. They opened slowly — not to shout a 
 paean of triumph, but only to grin. No thunder from 
 that sable Olympus ! No head thrown back in pride ; 
 no eye moistened with tears or inflamed with exultation ! 
 He simply went on grinning. Sambo had nothing to 
 record. In all your gruesome museum of blasted and 
 mummified hopes can you find any experience which 
 more positively and poignantly illustrates the destruction 
 of Youth's high ideals by the disgusting crudity of facts ? 
 A grim tragedy was being enacted, a war of Titanic 
 forces was being waged in the world's theatre with 
 nations for an audience ; thousands were lying in agony 
 from wounds ; thousands stiff and cold ; thousands 
 more were going to suffer in the next two years, and 
 thousands more to die — for this man's sake — and Sambo 
 only grinned vacantly on the first of January, eighteen 
 hundred and sixty-three ! " 
 
352 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 The following little anecdote has been sent to me by 
 a friend. I like to preserve it as it is whimsically 
 illustrative of his unvaryingly urbane and courteous 
 manner. 
 
 " Rather a characteristic and funny thing happened 
 the other day at the Carlton Restaurant. Sir Charles 
 was lunching with Sir Squire Bancroft, and a lady came 
 up to him and greeted him as an old acquaintance. Sir 
 Charles of course responding ; but she soon saw, or 
 thought she saw, that he did not know her, which was 
 really the case. Whereupon she said : ' I fear you do 
 not remember me,' which he of course very warmly 
 denied. And then she tried to help him further by 
 mentioning that her name was ' Mrs. Baker,' to which 
 he gave the usual smiling assent, as though he were well 
 aware of the fact, though in reality it conveyed nothing 
 to him. She then departed and left him and Sir Squire 
 to continue their lunch ; but when they were leaving 
 she approached him once again and said, ' I am sure you 
 do not know me, Sir Charles, but you remember our 
 
 mutual friend, Mr. , introduced us,' naming an old 
 
 friend whom Sir Charles knew very well. Sir Charles 
 at once became more effusive than ever, and declared he 
 remembered everything perfectly, which he did not, and, 
 to crown the matter, introduced her to Sir Squire 
 Bancroft as ' Mrs. Taylor,' being quite oblivious of the 
 fact that only a short time before she had told him her 
 name was ' Baker.' " 
 
 And now my task is at an end, I can only hope my 
 book may be read with as much interest as that with 
 
VALEDICTORY 353 
 
 which it has been written, and that some day it may 
 prove a useful record for the stage historian. 
 
 I trustj moreover, I have said enough to prove to 
 doubting actors that in the theatre some of us find, in 
 the words of the poet Campbell — 
 
 " The spell o'er hearts 
 
 Which only acting lends, 
 The youngest of the Sister Arts 
 Where all their beauty blends. 
 
 " For ill can Poetry express 
 
 FuU many a tone of thought sublime, 
 And Painting, mute and motionless, 
 Steals but a glance of time. 
 
 " But by the mighty Actor brought. 
 Illusion's perfect triumphs come ; 
 Verse ceases to be airy thought 
 And sculpture to be dumb." 
 
 THE END 
 
 2 A 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abbey and Schoeffel, 239 
 Aberdeen, Lord, 272, 273 
 Actors' Association Meeting, Sir 
 
 Charles' speech at, 53, 310 
 Actors' Benevolent Fund, 280, 322, 332 
 Actors' Church Union, Sir Charles 
 
 Wyndham's speech to the, 339 
 Addison, Miss Carlotta, 268, 282 
 Addison, Miss Fanny, 46, 49 
 Address of the theatrical profession 
 
 presented to Charles Wyndham, 322 
 Adelphi Theatre, the, 104, io6, 109 
 Agatha, 268 
 Albery, James, 114 et seqq., 126, 137, 
 
 IS4, 160, 177 
 Alexander, George, 294, 304 
 Alexandra, Queen, 179, 210, 213 
 Amber Heart, The, 178 
 American Civil War : Charles Wynd- 
 ham serves as Army Surgeon, 7 et 
 
 seqq., 260, 283, 286 
 American Lady, An, 97, 99 
 Anderson, J., 224 
 Anderson, Miss Mary (Mme. de 
 
 Navarro), 62 
 Antigone, 91 
 
 Archer, Mr. William, 139, 223 
 Argonauts, The, Charles Wyndham's 
 
 speech to, 319 
 Aristocratic Alliance, An, by Lady 
 
 Violet Greville, 273 
 Arragh-na-Pogite, Charles Wyndham 
 
 in, 34 
 Art, 163 
 
 Ashley, Henry, 90, 117, 122 
 Astley, Hamilton, 259 
 Autograph hunters, 248, 249 
 
 B 
 Bancroft, Lady (Miss Marie Wilton), 
 38. 77. 104 
 
 Bancroft, Sir Squire, 285, 286 
 
 Banks, General, 8, 17-19, 26 
 
 Barnes, J. H., 99, 282, 297 
 
 Barnum, P. T., 16-19 
 
 Barrett, Laurence, 236 
 
 Barrett, Wilson, III 
 
 Barrie's, J. M. , Quality Street, 208 
 
 Barrington, Rutland, 296 
 
 Bauble Shop, The, 269 
 
 Beere, Mrs. Bernard, 217, 266, 267 
 
 Belphegor the Mountebank, 30 
 
 Berlin, Charles Wyndham acts at, 92, 
 
 179 
 Bernard's, Bayle, The Practical Man, 
 
 218 
 Betsy, 126 
 Billington, John, 90 
 Birmingham Theatre Royal, 63 ; Charles 
 
 Wyndham's speech at the closing of, 
 
 326 
 Bishop, Alfred, 38, 89, 210, 270, 282, 
 
 297 
 Bisson, M. Alexandre, 131, 137 
 Black-eyed Susan, 36 et seqq. 
 Blakeley, William, 5, 129, 132, 134 et 
 
 «??■. 139. 151. 178, 217, 224, 262, 
 
 267, 268, 315 
 Blanchard, E. L., u8-20 
 Bonn, Charles Wyndham studies at, 2 
 Booth, John Wilkes, 26 
 Boston, 237 
 Boucicault's, Dion, London Assurance, 
 
 266 
 Bourchier, Arthur, 266, 267, 293, 294 
 Brave Hearts, 151 
 Brennan, Miss Maggie, 80, 82 
 Brighton, by Frank Marshall, 85 et 
 
 seqq., lOI etseqq., 134, 137, 142, 178, 
 
 267 
 Bromley, Miss Nellie, 36, 108, 1 1 1 
 Brooke, Miss Cynthia, 271 
 Brooke, Miss Sarah, 270 
 Brookfield, Charles, 273 
 
 354 
 
INDEX 
 
 3S5 
 
 Brough, Lionel, 46, 54, S7. 60, 103, 
 165, 212 
 
 Brough, Sydney, 212, 273 
 
 Brough, William, 93 [344 
 
 Bruce, Edgar, 89, 90, 103, 188 ei seqq., 
 
 Bruce, Miss Edith, 108, III, 118 
 
 Buckstone, J. B., 64, 90, 164, 167 
 
 BuUer, Lady Audrey, 23 
 
 BuUer, Sir Red vers, 310 
 
 Burnand, Sir F. C. : his Black-eyed 
 Susan, 36 ei seqq. , 220 ; his Betsy, 
 126, 137 ; Tke Headless Man, 218 
 et seqq. 
 
 "Buttercup and Daisies Fund," 215 
 
 Butterfly Fever, 127 
 
 Byron, H. J. : his Dearer than Life, 
 54 et seqq. , 57 ; his Tie Lancashire 
 ioj^, 58-60; opening of the Criterion 
 Theatre, 95 et seqq., 99; his An 
 American Lady, 97 ; Our Boys, 106; 
 Fourteen Days, 131 «^ seqq. 
 
 Byron, Mrs., 100 
 
 Cabinet Theatre, The, 4, 5, 6 
 
 Cadogan, Earl and Countess of, 291 
 
 Calmour, Alfred C, 177 
 
 Candidate, The, i-yjetseqq., 154, 156, 
 
 Carr, Mr. J. Comyns, 279 [246 
 
 Carruthers, Miss, 108 
 
 Carson, Murray, 280 
 
 Carte, D'Oyley, 102, 208 
 
 Carton's, R.C., Liberty Mall, 103; The 
 
 Home Secretary, 273 ; The Squire of 
 
 Dames, 206, 2Ti; Ladyffuntsworth's 
 
 Experiment, 293 
 Case of Rebellious Susan, The, 269 
 Caste, 48, 66, 73 
 Cautley, Laurence, 215, 268 
 Cave, Joseph, 286 
 Cavendish, Miss Ada, 31, 168 
 Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph, 248 
 Chambers, Haddon, The Tyranny of 
 
 Tears, 271, 282 
 Charles, F., 41 
 Chatelaine, J. B., 95 
 Chicago, 32, 67-75, 84 
 " Chicago Stage before the Fire," 66 
 " Chicago Times," 68, 69 
 " Chicago Tribune," 70 
 Chippendale, 167 
 Chippendale, Mrs., 167 
 Clairville, M., 107 
 Clarke, John, 80, 82, 90, 98, 99, 108, 109, 
 
 114, 117, 125 
 
 Claxton, Miss Kate, 84 
 
 Clayton, John, 54, 56, 58 
 
 Clerical Error, A, 2J^ 
 
 Clermont, Mile. Camille, 118 
 
 Clover Club, Philadelphia, Sir Charles 
 Wyndhara's contribution to, 42 
 
 Coghlan, Charles, 77 
 
 Coleman, John, 46, 47, 49 
 
 Coleman, Miss Fanny, 139 
 
 Collette, Charles, 77, 90, 203 
 
 CoUette, Mrs. (Miss Blanche Wilton), 77 
 
 Collins, Wilkie, 76, 80 
 
 Compton, Henry, 29, 116 
 
 Connauglit, Duke and Duchess of, 291 
 
 Conway, Harry B., 77 
 
 Cooper, Clifford, 29 
 
 Cooper, Mrs. (Miss Kemble), 29 
 
 Country Girl, The, 296 
 
 Court Theatre, 66, 85, 104, 107 
 
 Coveney, Miss Harriet, 108, iii 
 
 Covent Garden Theatre, 149 
 
 Cox, Harry, 38 
 
 Craven, H. T., 57 
 
 Criterion Restaurant, 94 
 
 Criterion Theatre, the, S, 28 ; the open- 
 ing of, 94 et seqq. ; Wild Oats at, 149 
 et seqq. ; later days at, 215 et seqq. ; 
 last years at, 262 et seqq. ; twenty 
 years of Charles Wyndham's manage- 
 ment, 275 ; Charles Wyndham's fare- 
 well speech, 284, 300, 314 
 
 Critic, The, by Sheridan, 278 
 
 Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, 67 
 
 Crystal Palace, 89, 91, 122, 345 
 
 Cupid in Camp, 153 
 
 Cyrano de Bergerac, 288 et seqq. 
 
 Daly, Augustin, 78, 84, 88 
 
 Dance's Delicate Ground, 263 
 
 Danvers, James, 36 
 
 Davenport, Miss Fanny, 84 
 
 "David Garrick" (T. W. Robertson's 
 novel), 168 et seqq. 
 
 David Garrick (T. W. Robertson's 
 play),6, 157, 161-214,277; its history 
 and origin, 161 et seqq. ; Sothern in 
 the play, 164 ; first produced at Bir- 
 mingham, 165 ; at the Haymarket, 
 167 ; revived by Charles Wyndham, 
 177 et seqq. ; at Sandringham and 
 Berlin, 179 et seqq. ; at Windsor 
 Castle, 205 ; in America, 237 ; re- 
 vived, 262, 284 
 
 Davidge, William, 84 
 
3S6 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Davies, Hubert Herbert, 296 
 
 Davis, Miss Fay, 274 
 
 Dibutarite, The, 103 
 
 Dearborn Street Theatre, Chicago, 69 
 
 De Grey, Miss, 89 
 
 Deinhardstein's Garrick in Bristol, 163 
 
 Delacour, M., 114 
 
 Delicate Ground, 263 
 
 De Melesville's Sullivan, 162-4 
 
 Dennison, A. M., 132 
 
 Detroit, 71 
 
 Dewar, Fred, 36 
 
 Dickens, Charles, 58, 77, 112, 266 
 
 Dietz, Miss Linda, 84 
 
 Dillon, Charles, 30 
 
 Dillon, Miss Clara, 30 
 
 Docteur Robin, Le, 162 
 
 Doctor Davy, 162 
 
 Dornton, Mrs., 327 
 
 Double Marriage, The, 45 
 
 Douglas, Kenneth, 282 
 
 Drury Lane Theatre, io5, 122, 166 
 
 Dublin, Peter Street Anatomical 
 
 School, 4 
 Dublin, Queen's Theatre, 30 
 Dublin, Theatre Royal, 31 
 Dumas iiis, Alexandre : Le Demi- 
 
 Monde, 268 ; IS Ami des Femmes, 273 
 Duncan, Miss E., 108, III 
 Dyas, Mrs., 56 
 I^as, Miss Ada, 7S 
 
 Eadie, Dermis, 270 
 Eastlake, Miss, 90, 108, III, 118, 26S 
 Eccentric Club, London, extracts from 
 Sir Charles Wyndham's speech at, 
 
 21-S. 336 
 Edward VH., King, 179, 205, 209, 
 
 213, 280, 29s, 329 
 Edwards's, Miss, "Half a Million of 
 
 Money," 41 
 Edwards, Sutherland, 121 
 Egan, Miss Rose, 89 
 Emery, Miss Winifred, 268 
 Emery, Sam, 60 
 Engaged, 1 77 
 Everard, Miss, 56 
 Everill, Fred, 29 
 
 Fairy s Dilemma, The, 97 
 Farnie, H. B., 113 
 Farren, William, 178, 266, 267 
 Featherbrain, 137 
 
 Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York, 84 
 First Night, The, 103 
 Fisher, David, 99 
 
 Fiske's, Stephen, Robert Rabagas, 76 
 Fitzpatrick, J. J., 66 
 Flats, 137 
 
 Foote, Miss Lydia, 90 
 Forgiven, 116 
 Forrest, Miss E., 224 
 Fournier, M., 162 
 Fourteen Days, 131 et seqq., 133 
 Fringe of Society, The, 267 
 Frohman, Daniel, 261 
 Fulton, Charles, 268 
 Furtardo, Teresa (afterwards Mrs. John 
 Clarke), 109 
 
 Gaiety Theatre, lo6, 107 
 
 Ganaches, Les, 90 
 
 Garrick, David, 162, 170 ; his Kathe- 
 rine and Petruchio, 52. For Robert- 
 son's play, see under David Garrick 
 
 Garrick in Bristol, 163 
 
 " Garrick Medicin," 162, 163 
 
 Garrick Theatre, The, 285 
 
 Gastineau, M., 107 
 
 Gautier, Theophile, 162 
 
 Giddens, George, 66, 71, 126, 129, 132, 
 I36> 139. 151. 178, 217, 224, 262, 
 267, 316 
 
 Gilbert, Mrs., 84 
 
 Gilbert, W. S. (F. Latour Tolmine) : 
 his plays, The Realm of Joy, The 
 Happy Land, and The Wicked World, 
 81 ; his Tom Cobb, 93 ; The Fairy's 
 Dilemma, 97 ; his Topsyturvedom, 
 98 ; Ws On Bail, 1 14 ; Foggertys 
 Fairy, 127 et seqq.; Etigaged, 177; 
 his The Gondoliers, 208 
 
 "Girls of the Period, The," 88, 89 
 
 Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E., 264, 265 
 
 Globe Theatre, 90, 107, 116 
 
 Goldsmith, Oliver, 262, 263 
 
 Goodall, Miss Annie, 103 
 
 Goudinet, M., 131 
 
 Great Divorce Case, The, 107 tt seqq. , 
 112, 130, 281 
 
 Gregory, Mr., 139 
 
 Greville, Lady Violet, 273 
 
 Grimm, M.M., 81 
 
 H 
 
 Hamley's, Major Edward Bruce, " Lady 
 Lee's Widowhood," 28 
 
INDEX 
 
 357 
 
 Hammond, General, 19 
 
 Hare, John, 66, 96, 104, 217, 285, 286 
 
 Harley, 267 
 
 Harris, Sir Augustus, 117, 122 
 
 Harte, Bret, 20 
 
 Hawkins, Daniel, 84 
 
 Hawtrey, Mr., 304 
 
 Haymarket Theatre, 28, 29, 64, 90, 92, 
 
 106, 116, 164, 176 
 Headless Man, The, 2iS ei seqq., 240 
 Heath, Miss Fanny, 36 
 Henderson, Alexander, 102, 107 
 Henderson, Isaac, 268, 295 
 Hennequin, M., 114, 126 
 Herbert, Miss, 31, 41-5, 60 
 Her Ladyship's Guardian, by Charles 
 
 Wyndham, produced at Theatre 
 
 Royal, Manchester, 28, 29, 35 
 Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour, 208 
 Hill, W. J., 89, 126 
 Hingston, E. P., 95 
 His Last Legs, 29 
 Hodson, Miss Henrietta. See Mrs. 
 
 Labouchere. 
 Hodson, Miss Sylvia, 89 
 Hogarth, Wm., 95 
 Holcroft's RockI to Ruin, 229 
 Hole, Rev. Donald, 339 
 Holland, Miss Fanny, 98 
 HoUingshead, John, 107 
 Home Secretary, The, 273 
 Honeymoon, The, 80-2 
 Hot Water, 113 
 
 Howard, Bronson, 83, 85, 87, 125. 
 Howard, Mrs. Bronson (Charles Wynd- 
 
 ham's sister), 155 
 Howard, Cecil, 118 
 Hughes, Miss Annie, 152, 282 
 Hugo, Victor, 109 
 Huguenots, The, 1 03 
 Hunchback, The, 132, 277 
 Hutchison, Percy, 206 
 
 Ibsen, 56 
 
 Idalia, 41-5 
 
 Inchbald, Mrs., 142 etseqf., 151 
 
 Irving, Sir Henry, 6, 31, 32, 41-3, 
 
 52-4, 56, 58, 60, 106, 115, 208, 
 
 285, 286, 294, 29s, 322 
 Italy, King and Queen of, 205, 209 
 
 James, David, 106, 116, 151, 178 
 Jefferson, Joseph, 63 
 
 Jeffreys, Miss Ellis, 268 
 
 Jermann, Edward, 163 
 
 Jerrold, Douglas, 36 
 
 /est. The, 281 
 
 Jones', Henry Arthur, The Liars, 269 
 
 etseqq. ; A Clerical Error, 2."] y, Mrs. 
 
 Dane's Defence, 293 
 Josephs, Miss Fanny, 114, 118 
 Josephs, Miss Patti, 60 
 
 K 
 
 Kean, Edmund, 162, 166 
 
 Keene, Laura, 88 
 
 ICemble, Charles, 5 
 
 Kemble, Henry, 5 
 
 Kemble, Miss. See Mrs. Clifford 
 
 Cooper 
 Kendal, Mrs. (Miss Madge Robertson), 
 
 29, 64-6, 104, 168 
 Kendal, W. H., 66, 96, 104, 218 
 Kenny, Miss Rose, 132 
 King's College, London, Charles 
 
 Wyndham at, 4, 6 
 Knight, Joseph, 117, 241 
 Knowles', Sheridan, The Hunchback, 
 
 132 
 
 Labouchere, Mrs. (Miss Henrietta 
 Hodson), 46, 54, 56, 58, 60, 80 
 
 Lacy, 164, 170 
 
 Ladies' Battle, The, 215 
 
 Lancashire Lass, The, 58, 59 
 
 Lancers, The, 66 
 
 Langtry, Mrs., 268 
 
 Leclercq.'Miss Rose, 268 
 
 Lecocq, M. Charles, 100 
 
 Lee, General, 14 
 
 Leigh, Henry S. , 158 
 
 Lewis, James, 84 
 
 Liars, The, 269 et seqq. 
 
 Liberty Hall, 103 
 
 Liegnitz, 179, 183 
 
 Linton, Mrs. Lynn, 88 
 
 Little Miss Muffit, 137 
 
 Little Toddlekins, 30 
 
 Litton, Miss, 85 
 
 Liverpool, birthplace of Sir Charles 
 Wyndham, i 
 
 Liverpool, Court Theatre, Sir Charles 
 Wyndham's speech at, 335 
 
 London Assurance, 266 
 
 Longmore, Miss Marie, 38 
 
 Lome, Marquis of, 258, 259 
 
 Louise, Princess, 258, 259 
 
358 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 " Lynch, Judge," 249 et seqq. 
 Lyceum Theatre, 106, 275 et seqq. 
 Lytton, Lord, 275 
 
 M 
 
 McCarthy, Justin Huntley, 140 
 
 McKay, Wallis, 195, 196 
 
 Maltby, Alfred, 129, 130, 139, 151 
 
 Man and Wife, 76-80 
 
 Man with Three Wives, The, 153 
 
 Manchester, Theatre Royal, C. Wynd- 
 ham at, 28 
 
 Marlborough Rooms, The, 132 
 
 Marshall, Frank, 85, 87 
 
 Maskell, G. K., 165 
 
 Mathews, Charles, 5, 218, 219 
 
 Mathews, Frank, 32 
 
 Mathews, Mrs. Frank, 32, 42 
 
 Matthison, Arthur, 107, 108, 150 
 
 Maude, Cyril, 266-8 
 
 Mellon, Mrs. Alfred, 129 
 
 Moli^re, 289 
 
 Money, by Lord Lytton, 275 
 
 Montague, H. J., 116 
 
 Moore, Miss Louisa, 66 
 
 Moore, Miss Mary, 66 ; in Wild Oats, 
 152 ; in Cupid in Camp and The 
 Man with Three Wives, 153 ; marries 
 James Albery, 154 ; in The Candi- 
 date, 156 ; in David Garrick, 157, 
 178 et seqq.; plays in German, 179 
 et seqq.; Henry S. Leigh's verses 
 quoted, 158-60 ; plays in David 
 Garrick at Windsor Castle, 209 ; in 
 revival of Wild Oats, 228 ; visits 
 America, 238; as Miss H'ardcastle, 
 262 ; in London Assurance, 264 ; in 
 The School for Scandal, 267 ; in The 
 Fringe of Society, Agatha, and Mrs. 
 Hilary Regrets, 268 ; in The Liars, 
 269 et seqq.; in The Tyranny of 
 Tears and The Case of Rebellious 
 Susan, 271 ; in The Home Secretary, 
 273 ; in Rosemary, 282 ; as Roxane, 
 291 ; at the New Theatre in Rose- 
 mary, 297 ; Mr. Wyndham's testi- 
 mony to, 316. 
 
 Moore, Miss Nelly, 58, 158-60, 167 
 
 Morris, Miss Clara, 78, 84 
 
 Mortimer, James, 127 
 
 Mrs. Dane's Defence, 293 
 
 Mrs. Gorringe's Necklace, 296 [295 
 
 Mummy and the Humming Bird, The, 
 
 Murray, Gaston, 32, 41 
 
 Murray, Mrs. Gaston, 99 
 
 N 
 Najac, M., 126 
 Neilson, Miss Julia, 273 
 Nethersole, Miss Olga, 268 
 Neville, Henry, 90, 106 
 New Orleans, Charles Wyndham at, 26 
 New Theatre, The, 297-9 
 New York, Charles Wyndham at, 7, 9, 
 
 26, 134 
 Nice Farm, A, 2tS 
 Nobody's Child, 285 
 Norreys, Miss Rose, 136 
 Norweid, Wyndham studies at, 2 
 Norwood, Eille, 270 
 Notre Dame, 109 
 
 O 
 
 Ogilvie Stuart, 289 
 
 O'Keefe's Wild Oats, 82, 142 et seqq. 
 
 Oliver, Miss Patty, 36 
 
 Olympic Theatre, lo(5, 107, 126 
 
 O.P. Club, Sir Charles Wyndham's 
 
 speech at, 329 
 Opera Comique Theatre, 215 
 Osborne, 274 
 
 Othello, I ; Salvini's, 240 et seqq. 
 "Ouida," 41 
 Our Boys, 106 
 Ours, 109, 171, 246 
 
 Paget, Miss F., 224 
 
 Paris, Charles Wyndham studies at, 4 ; 
 
 visit to, 107 
 Parker, Louis N., 280, 289, 297 
 Patient Penelope, 39 
 Paulton, Harry, 90, 212, 297 
 Payne, Mr., 82 
 Penley, W. S., 126 
 Petri, M., 102 
 Phelps, Samuel, 82 
 Phenomenon in a Smock Frock, A, 93 
 Physician, The, 269, 271 
 PiffPaff; or, the Magic Armoury, 107 
 Pinero, A. W., 136, 305 
 Pink Dominos, The, 112 et seqq. 
 Playfair, Arthur, i 
 Playfair, Major, i 
 Playgoers' Club, Sir Charles Wyndham's 
 
 speech at, 301 
 Playing with Fire, 39 
 Poe, Edgar Allan, 158 
 Porter's Knot, The, 55, 125 
 Port Hudson, Charles Wyndham at, 26 
 Portugal, King and Queen of, 207 
 
INDEX 
 
 359 
 
 Power, Tyrone, 33 
 
 Practical Man, The, 218 
 
 Fris, Saint-Gervais Les, 100 
 
 Prince of Wales's Hospital Fund, 283, 
 
 314 
 Prince of Wales's Theatre, Birmingham, 
 
 16s 
 Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, 48, 
 
 76, 104, 107 
 Princess's Theatre, 285 
 Progress, by T. W. Robertson, 90 
 " Punch," 218, 223, 291 
 
 Quality Street, 208 
 Queen's Shilling, The, 66 
 Queen's Theatre, Long Acre, 45 «< segq. , 
 60, 99 
 
 R 
 
 Rae, Charles Marsham, 154 
 
 Ranoe, Miss Rosina, 36 
 
 Reade, Charles, The Double Marriage, 
 45-51. "White Lies," 4S, The Wan- 
 dering Heir, 99; ^rt, 163 
 
 Reece, Robert, 100 
 
 Rehearsal, The, 145 
 
 Rignold, George, 60 
 
 Righton, Edward, 103, 108, iii, 114, 
 
 151 
 Road to Rum, The, 229 
 Robert Rabagas, 76 
 Roberts, George, Idalia, 41 
 Robertshaw, Jerrold, 346 
 Robertson, Miss Madge. See Mrs. 
 
 Kendal 
 Robertson, T. W., 48, 90, 95, 97, 107, 
 
 109. IS7> 161, 163 et segq., 169 et 
 
 seqq., 246 
 Robin Hood, 108 
 Robson, SS 
 
 Rochester, Bishop of, 339 
 Roi Candaule, Le, by MM. Meilhac 
 
 and Halevy, 81 
 Ronstand, M., 289 
 Rorke, Miss Kate, 132, 139, 215 
 Rorke, Miss Mary, 126, 129, 132, 259 
 Rose, George (Arthur Sketchley), 219 
 Rosedale, by J. L. Wallack, 28, 29 
 Rosemary, 280, 282, 315 
 Royal College of Surgeons, 4 
 Royalty Theatre, 7, 36, 80, 106 
 Russell of Killowen, Lord, 280 
 Ryan, Belvil, 66 
 
 St. Andrews, i 
 
 St. James's Theatre, 31, 41-66, 76, 96, 
 106, IIS, 285 
 
 St. Louis, 68 
 
 St. Petersburg, 186, 203 
 
 Saker, Miss Rose, 136, 139 
 
 Salvini, Signer, 240 et seqq. 
 
 Savannah, 71 
 
 Sandringham, 179 
 
 Sandgate, i 
 
 Saratoga, by Bronson Howard, 83-5 
 
 Sardou, Victorien, his Seraphine, 60, 
 90 
 
 School for Scandal, Charles Wyndham 
 in, 31,61-5, 267, 276 
 
 Scott, Clement, 107, 118, 128, 130, 133 
 
 Selwyn, Mr., 88 
 
 Seraphine, 60 
 
 Serious Family, The, 7 
 
 Shakespeare : Charles W3aidham's 
 youthful ambition to play in his 
 tragedies, 5 ; Henry Irving and 
 Miss Ellen Terry in Katherine and 
 Petruchio, 52 
 
 She Stoops to Conquer, 262 
 
 Silent Battle, The, 268 
 
 Sims, G. R., 137 
 
 Smale, Tom, 102 
 
 Smith's, S. Theyre, Mrs. Hilary Re- 
 grets, 268 
 
 Society, 90. 
 
 Soldiers' and Sailors' Families' Associa- 
 tion, 283 
 
 Soldiers' and Sailors' Fund, Sir Charles 
 Wyndham's speech for, at the Eccen- 
 tric Club, 23 
 
 Sothern, Edward Askew, 5, 28, 29, 
 63-5. 83, 84, 106, IIS, i27i 157, 
 161, 163 et seqq. ; 174 et seqq. ; 187 
 et seqq, ; 220 et seqq. ; 236 
 
 Sothern, Lytton 132 
 
 Sothern, Sam, 270 
 
 South African War, Sir Charles 
 Wyndham's letter on, 286 
 
 Sowing and Reaping, by C. Vernon, 
 263 
 
 Spencer-Brunton, Miss, 271 
 
 Spiers and Pond, 94, 102 
 
 Squire of Dames, 206, 273 
 
 Standard Theatre, Shoreditch, 188 
 
 Standing Herbert, 108, III, 117, 126, 
 130, 132, 217, 224 
 
 Stephens, Mrs., 90, 126 
 
 Stewart, Miss Julia, 176 
 
36o 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Still Waters Run Deep, 51, 52, 217 
 
 Steer, Bertram, 270 
 
 Stirling, Mrs., 163 
 
 Stock Exchange, Charles Wyndham's 
 
 speech to the members of the, 324 
 Stoyle, J. D., 32, 41 
 Strand Theatre, The, 82, 106 
 Stuart, Miss Edith, 165 
 Sullivan, Luke, 95 
 Sullivan, the original David Garrick, 
 
 162-4, 169 
 Surgeons, College of, 4 
 Sweet Lavender, 136 
 Syracuse, A reception at, 234 
 
 Talma, 162 
 
 Taylor's, Tom, Still Waters Sun Deep, 
 
 SI, 52, 217 ; his A Nice Farm, 218 
 Teck, The Duchess of, 280 
 " Telegraph, Daily," 118, 285, 286, 307 
 Tennyson's, Lord, Becket, 208 ; his 
 
 " Elaine," 264 
 Terriss, Miss Ellaline (Mrs. Seymour 
 
 Hicks), 267, 306 
 Terriss, William, Lifeboat Memorial, 
 
 Charles Wyndham's speech for, 306 
 Terry, Miss Ellen, 7, 46, 47, 49, 51-3, 
 
 99. 163. 178 
 Terry, Miss Kate, 31, 45 
 Terry, Miss Marion, 271 
 Texas, 26 
 
 Thackeray, W. M., 227 
 Thomas, Mog, 162 
 Thompson, Harry, 29 
 Thompson, Miss Lydia, 68, 102 
 Thorne, Thomas, 102, 106, 116 
 Tiridale, 162 
 
 Tolmine, F. Latour. See W. S. Gilbert 
 Tom Cobb, 93 
 
 Toole, J. L., 54-8, 106, 264, 314 
 Toole's Theatre (The FoUy, or the 
 
 Charing Cross), 106, 107 
 Topsyturvedom, 98 
 Tree, Herbert Beerbohm, 126, 294 
 Tremont Theatre, Boston, 237 
 Truth, 125 
 Trying It On, Charles Wyndham in, 
 
 30. 93 
 Tweedie's Rights, 116 
 
 Twentieth Century Club, Chicago, Sir 
 Charles Wyndham's speech at, 32, 242 
 Two Roses, 114-16, 154, 155 
 Two Thorns, 115 
 Tyranny of Tears, The, 271, 282 
 
 Valentine, Sydney, 267 
 
 Vanderfelt, F. H., 268 
 
 Vaudeville Theatre, 106, 115 
 
 Vernon, W. H., 28-31 
 
 Vestris, Mme., 267 
 
 Vezin, Hermann, 60, 162 
 
 Victor, Miss M. A., 262, 267 
 
 Victoria, Queen, 206, 274, 324 
 
 Vincent, H. H., 267 
 
 Vining, Miss Emily, 108, III, 126, 132, 
 
 136, 282 
 Vining, G., 285 
 
 W 
 
 Waldegrave, Miss Lilian, 271 
 
 Wales, Prince of (King Edward VII.), 
 179, 280 
 
 Wallack, John Lester, 10, 11, 28, 247, 
 
 Wallack's Theatre, 10, 61-5 
 
 Waller, Lewis, 268, 273 
 
 Wall of China, The, 108 
 
 Wandering Heir, The, 99 
 
 Ward, Artemus, 95 
 
 Ward, Miss Genevieve, 91, 163 
 
 Waring, Herbert, 268 
 
 Washington, 9, 13 
 
 Weathersby, Miss Jennie, 108 
 
 Welch, James, 282 
 
 Wellington, Duke of, 77 
 
 Wells, Mrs., 145, 151 
 
 Wesleyanism, 2 
 
 West, Benjamin, P.R.A., 95 
 
 Where's the Cat? 126 
 
 "White Bear, The," 94 
 
 " White Lies," 45, 46 
 
 Who's to Win Him ? 277 
 
 Wigan, Alfred, 45, 46, 49, 51, 103 
 
 Wigan, Mrs. Alfred, 51 
 
 Wild Goose, A, 28, 29 
 
 Wild Oats, 82, 142-52, 157, 228 
 
 Willard, E. S., 215 
 
 Williams, Miss Sybil, 271 
 
 Wilton, Miss Augusta, 80, 82 
 
 Wilton, Miss Blanche. See Mrs. 
 CoUette. 
 
 Wilton, Miss Marie. See Lady Bancroft 
 
 Windsor Castle, 205 
 
 Winter, William, 241 
 
 Wood, Arthur, 59 
 
 Wood, Mrs. John, 126, 163 ; Charles 
 Wyndham joins her theatrical com- 
 pany, 26, 27, 34 ; in An American 
 Lady, 97, 98 ; in Foggerty's Fairy, 
 129 ; in The Great Divorce Case, 130 
 
INDEX 
 
 361 
 
 Wood worth, Miss Edith, 215 
 Wyndham, Robert, of Edinburgh, 132 
 Wyndham's Theatre, 283 et seqq ; 
 Charles Wyndham's speech at the 
 opening of, 308 
 Wyndham, Sir Charles: his birth and 
 early love of acting, sent to school 
 at Sandgate and St. Andrews, i ; 
 early attempts at play- writing, studies 
 at Norwied and Bonn, his Wesleyan 
 friend, 2 ; preaches a sermon, leaves 
 Germany, 3 ; is sent to Paris, studies 
 medicine at King's College, London, 
 the College of Surgeons, and at 
 Dublin, the Cabinet Theatre, 4 ; 
 meets William Blakeley, is impressed 
 by Shakespearean tragedy, 5 ; comedy 
 his real mitier, his desire to become 
 an actor, 6 ; goes to America, after 
 appearing at the Royalty Theatre, 7 ; 
 as army surgeon during the Civil 
 War, 8 et seqq. ; meets P. T. Barnum, 
 id et seqq. ; speech on South African 
 War at Eccentric Club, 2,1 et seqq. ; 
 returns to New York, makes his first 
 entry as an actor with John Wilkes 
 Booth (the subsequent assassin of 
 President Lincoln), returns to the 
 army, is engaged by Mrs. John 
 Wood's Company, 26 ; dismissal, 27 ; 
 returns to England, finds a home for 
 his play, Her Ladyshifs Guardian, 
 and himself at the Theatre Royal, 
 Manchester, 28 ; in His Last Legs, 
 29, and Trying it On, 30 ; with Miss 
 Herbert in The School for Scandal, 
 Miss Kate Terry, 31 ; reminiscences 
 in his address to the Twentieth 
 Century Club, Chicago, 32 ; his 
 marriage, 33 ; in Arrah-na-Pogue as 
 Shaun, the Post, 34 ; plays at the 
 Royalty in All that Glitters is not 
 Gold, also in F. C. Burnand's Black- 
 eyed Susan, 36 ; Sir F. C. Burnand's 
 " Records and Reminiscences," 37 et 
 seqq. ; joins Miss Herbert's Company 
 at the St. James's Theatre and plays 
 in Idalia, 41 ; his recollections of the 
 play, 42-S ; engaged by Alfred Wigan 
 at the Queen's Theatre in The Double 
 Marriage, 45-51; in Still Waters 
 Run Deep, 5 1, 52 ; his association with 
 Henry Irving, 53 ; in Dearer than 
 Life — a notable cast — 54~7 > '" 
 The Lancashire Lass, 58, 59 ; in Sera- 
 
 phine, the author's recollections of 
 Charles Wyndham, 60 ; second visit 
 to America, "opens" at Wallack's 
 Theatre with The School for Scandal, 
 61-5 ; tours on his own account, with 
 Miss Louisa Moore, in The Lancers 
 and Caste, at Chicago, the disastrous 
 fire, 66-75 > returns to London, in 
 Robert Rabagas, at the St. James's 
 Theatre, provincial tour in Man and 
 Wife, 76-80 ; rejoins the forces at 
 the Royalty Theatre, The Honey- 
 moon, 80, 81 ; The Realm of Joy, 81 ; 
 in Wild Oats, 82 ; Saratoga, S3, 84 ; 
 Brighton, adapted from Saratoga and 
 presented at the Court Theatre, 85- 
 92 ; revival of Robertson's Progress, 
 90 ; Antigone, Charles Wyndham in 
 Greek tragedy, 91 ; Brighton at the 
 Haymarket and at Berlin, acting in 
 German, 92 ; his last visits to H. J. 
 Byron, 96 ; touring, Brighton at 
 Brighton, loi ; called to the Criterion 
 Theatre, 102 ; first night, Brighton 
 and The Debutante, 103 et seqq. ; 
 goes to Paris for plays, The Great 
 Divorce Case, 107 ; Pink Dominos, 
 his office at the Criterion, 112 ; Hot 
 Water, 113 ; Pink Dominos, 116 et 
 seqq. ; recollections of Sir Augustus 
 Harris, 122 et seqq.; Criterion plays : 
 Truth, 125; Where's the Cat? 126; 
 Butterfly fever and Poggertys Fairy, 
 127 et seqq. ; revival of The Great 
 Divorce Case, 130; Fourteen Days, 
 131 ; at the Marlborough Rooms in 
 a scene from The Hunchback, 132 ; 
 alterations at the Criterion, he revisits 
 America, and "opens" in Fourteen 
 Days, Brighton, etc., 133 et seqq.; 
 returns to the Criterion and produces 
 The Candidate, 138-41 ; revives 
 Wild Oats, 142-152; engages Miss 
 Mary Moore for Wild Oats, 152-157; 
 David Garrick revived, 161, 214; 
 performance at Sandringham, 179 ; 
 translates David Garrick into Ger- 
 man and plays it at Berlin, 180 ; at 
 St. Petersburg and Moscow, 186 ; 
 Charles Wyndham, Sothern, and 
 Edgar Bruce, practical joking, 188 
 et seqq.; at the Haymarket Theatre, 
 177; David Garrick at Windsor 
 Castle, 205 et seqq.; presents from 
 the King and Queen, 213, and the 
 
 2 B 
 
362' 
 
 SIR CHARLES WYNDHAM 
 
 Czar, 203; matinee for "Buttercup 
 and Dasies Fund," 215 ; revives Still 
 Waters Run Deep, 217 ; produces 
 The Headless Man, 218 et seqq. ; 
 farewell speech, 229 ; America re- 
 visited, 232 et seqq. ; cordial recep- 
 tion, 236 et seqq.; Signor Salvini, 
 242-5 ; autograph hunters, 248 ; 
 ' ' Lynched," 249 et seqq. ; a journey 
 with "Royalty," 258; returns to 
 England, David Garrick again. She 
 Stoops to Conquer, 262 ; produces 
 Delicate Ground and Sowing and 
 Reaping, 263 ; a reciter and Mr. 
 Gladstone, 264 ; London Assurance, 
 266, 267 ; The School for Scandal, 
 Brighton, and The Fringe of Society, 
 267 ; Agatha, The Silent Battle, and 
 Mrs. Hilary Regrets, 268, 269 ; The 
 Bauble Shop, Rebellious Susan, The 
 Physician, and The Liars, 269 et 
 seqq. ; produces The Home Secretary, 
 273 ; The Squire of Dames, at 
 Osborne, by command of Queen 
 Victoria, 273, 274 ; Lord Aberdeen, 
 272, 273 ; celebrates his twentieth 
 year at the Criterion Theatre, proceeds 
 devoted to the Prince of Wales's 
 Hospital Fund, 274 et seqq. ; The 
 School for Scandal, 279 ; proceeds 
 of performance at the Lyceum pre- 
 sented to the Actors' Benevolent 
 Fund, the Theatrical Profession's 
 address, 280 ; Rosemary, 280 ; The 
 Jest, 281 ; The Tyranny of Tears, 
 282 ; opens Wyndham's Theatre, 
 proceeds of first night devoted to 
 
 Soldiers' and Sailors' Families' As- 
 sociation, 283 ; David Garrick once 
 more, farewell speech at the Criterion, 
 284 ; ' ' Senior Actor-Manager," his 
 letter to the "Daily Telegraph," 
 285; "A Parallel," letter to the 
 "Daily Telegraph," 286; Cyrano 
 de Bergerac, 288 et seqq. ; Mrs, 
 Dane's Defence and Lady Hunts- 
 worth's Experiment, 293 ; the 
 Canon's letter, 294 ; The Mummy 
 and the Humming Bird, 295 ; 
 Charles Wyndham is knighted by 
 King Edward, 295 ; Mrs. Gorringe's 
 Necklace, 296 ; Sir Charles opens the 
 New Theatre with Rosemary, and 
 devotes the proceeds to the families 
 of offieers, 297-9. 
 
 Sir Charles' Speeches : at the Play- 
 goers' Club, 301 ; for the Wjlliam 
 Terriss Lifeboat Memorial, 306 ; on 
 the opening of Wyndham's Theatre, 
 308 ; to the Actors' Association, 310; 
 Farewell at the Criterion Theatre, 
 314; to the Argonauts, 319; at the 
 Lyceum Theatre, 322 ; to the 
 members of the Stock Exchange, 
 324; at the Old Theatre Royal, 
 Birmingham, 326 ; the members of 
 the O.P. Club, 329; at an Actors' 
 Benevolent Fund meeting, 332 ; at 
 the Court Theatre, Liverpool, 335 ; 
 at the Eccentric Club, 326 ; at the 
 Actors' Church Union, 339. 
 
 The "Flying Matinee," 34S; his 
 kindness to young actors, 346 ; 
 "Mrs. Baker," 352 
 
 PLYMOUTH 
 W. BRENDON AND SON, PRINTERS 
 
34, 35 & 36, PATERNOSTER ROW, 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 August, 1904. 
 
 Preliminary List of Messrs. 
 Hutchinson & Co/s New 
 Books for the Autumn, 1904 
 
 A beautifully illustrated and most important 
 Book on Burma 
 
 The Silken East 
 
 An exceptionally interesting and 
 very attractive presentation of a 
 picturesque country and people 
 
 By V. C. SCOTT O'CONNOR 
 
 In two vols., super royal 8vo, cloth richly gilt, with about 200 illustra- 
 tions mostly from Photographs taken by the Author, and with many 
 facsimiles in colour of original paintings by Mr. J. R. Middleton, 
 Mrs. Cuffe, and native artists, £2 2s. net. 
 
 The whole work is printed on fine art paper, and the illustrations 
 are made a great feature, being exquisite reproductions. The gorgeous- 
 ness of the country generally ; the beauty of its scenery, its marvellous 
 buildings, and its history, habits, customs, arts and industries are fully 
 portrayed by one who has studied them closely, and who writes of them 
 with authority. The beautiful coloured plates from magnificent paint- 
 ings and drawings and the wealth of photographs make these volumes 
 eminently suitable for presentation. 
 
An Authorized Biography of a Great Actor 
 
 Sir Charles Wyndham 
 
 A BIOGRAPHY 
 
 By T. EDGAR PEMBERTON 
 
 Author of " A Memoir of E. A. Sothern," "The Kendals," 
 "Ellen Terry and her Sisters," etc. 
 
 In demy 8vo, cloth gilt and gilt top, with a Photogravure Portrait, 
 and 16 other illustrations, I6s. net. 
 
 The fact that Sir Charles Wyndham has himself supplied the Author 
 with much information, and in many ways given his assistance in making 
 the biography complete and accurate, will considerably enhance its value. 
 Sir Charles's career has been an unusually interesting one, and the 
 work will cover his whole life, not the least interesting part of which 
 was the period of his service as a Surgeon with the Federal Army in 
 the American Civil War. The illustrations include some portraits of 
 Sir Charles from rare photographs, whilst other pictures have been 
 specially taken for the book. 
 
 The French Court during an intensely interesting Period 
 
 Louis XIV., In Court and Camp 
 
 By Lt.=Col. ANDREW C. P. HAGGARD, D.S.O. 
 
 Author of " Sidelights on the Court of France." 
 
 In demy 8vo, cloth gilt and gilt top, with a Photogravure and 19 other 
 Portraits, 16s. net. 
 
 Colonel Haggard's earlier volume, dealing principally with Henry of 
 Navarre and the Papal League, proved so successful that he was greatly 
 encouraged to undertake another volume, which is likely to prove even 
 more attractive. The battles, intrigues, amours, and persecutions of 
 "Louis the Great" are all described in the same popular style that 
 Col. Haggard used in his first volume. The portraits are exceptionally 
 interesting and well produced. 
 
A Charming Book by a Popular Writer 
 
 Sunny Sicily 
 
 By Mrs. ALEC TWEEDIE 
 
 Author of "Behind the Footlights," "Mexico as I saw it," etc. 
 
 In one large handsome demy 8vo volume, cloth, richly gilt and gilt top, 
 with about 100 illustrations, 1 8s. net 
 
 Every one who knows the delights of Sicily, and every one who 
 desires to know of an untried country offering unique attractions, will 
 welcome Mrs. Tweedie's bright and entertaining book. It is written 
 with her accustomed vivacity, and her impressions are reproduced so 
 •cleverly, that with the help of the many and varied illustrations the 
 reader is irresistibly carried along from page to page until the end is 
 reached. 
 
 Life Dramas of Royalties 
 
 The Romance of Royalty 
 
 By FITZGERALD MOLLOY 
 
 Author of " The Sailor King, William IV., his Court and his Subjects," 
 "The Queen's Comrade," " The Most Gorgeous Lady Blessington," &c. 
 
 In two vols., dem.y 8vo, cloth gilt and gilt top, with 2 Photogravure 
 and 18 other Portraits, 24s. net. 
 
 " Modern history has no chapters more surprising in their vicissi- 
 tudes, more entertaining in their revelations of human nature, than 
 those included in this work. Such swift transitions, strange adventures 
 and moving tragedies related of ordinary mortals, would give their 
 biographies a fascination that is raised to intensity when the persons 
 concerned are sovereign rulers. The dramas are written in a personal 
 and intimate manner intended to bring the ordinary fallible reader into 
 touch with those who, though filling the world's high places, were human 
 to the core." — Extract from Preface, 
 
A companion work to Sir Harry Jolinston's great book on 
 tlie Uganda Protectorate 
 
 Uganda and its Peoples 
 
 Notes on the Protectorate of Uganda, especially the Anthropolog^r 
 and Ethnology of its Indigenous Races 
 
 By J. F. CUNINQHAM, F.R.Q.S., F.Z.S. 
 
 With an introduction by Sir Harry Johnston, K.C.B. 
 
 In one large handsome volume , crown 4to, cloth gilt and gilt top, printed 
 on English art paper, with about 200 illustrations chiefly from Photo- 
 graphs taken by the Author, and including a Coloured Plate, Maps, &c., 
 
 24s. net. 
 
 The Author has spent many years in Uganda in an official position 
 and has made a special study of its peoples. The illustrations obtained 
 by the Author are unique, and add largely to the value of the work, 
 which will form an excellent companion volume to those written by 
 Sir Harry Johnston. 
 
 A New and Cheap Edition of 
 SIR HARRY JOHNSTON'S Great Work 
 
 The Uganda Protectorate 
 
 ITS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, BOTANY, ZOOLOGY, 
 ANTHROPOLOGY, LANGUAGES AND HISTORY. 
 
 By the Author of "Central Africa," and late Governor of the 
 Protectorate. 
 
 With an introductory chapter by the 
 Author bringing the work up to date 
 
 In two vols., crown 4to, cloth gilt, with 9 Maps by J. C. Bartholomew 
 
 and the Author, over 500 illustrations, reproduced from drawings 
 
 and photographs by the Author and others, and 48 full page coloured 
 
 plates from the Author^s paintings, 24s. net. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph says: " Sir Harry Johnston's great work. 
 .... Nothing has been spared to make this truly magnum, opus com- 
 plete in every particular. . . . This masterpiece of careful observation — 
 by far the best book of its kind dealing with any part of the Great 
 African Continent." 
 
A Delightful Book of Travel Pictures in Spain 
 
 Letters from Catalonia 
 
 By JOHN WALKEK 
 
 In two vols., demy 8vo, cloth gilt and gilt top, with a number of 
 illustrations including Coloured and other Plates from, original draw- 
 ings by Seymour Lucas, R.A., Frank Brangwyn, A.R.A., and native 
 artists, 24s. net. 
 
 This beautifully written book has a unique charm. It would make 
 a most acceptable present. The Author gives vivid impressions : he 
 paints warmly coloured word pictures ; he is able to shew what he saw 
 and takes the reader along with him. It is a book of delightful impres- 
 sions about a bit of Spain —the Spain which is practically unknown 
 ground to the ordinary English person. 
 
 A timely Book on one of the chief present topics of British 
 interest, supplying a real need 
 
 Thibet and the Thibetans 
 
 By F. QRENARD 
 
 In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, with Illustrations and with Coloured Map, 
 10s. 6d. net. 
 The Author was attached to a scientific mission which only a few 
 years since penetrated portions of Thibet almost inaccessible, great 
 difficulties and sufferings being experienced, and one of the principal 
 members of the mission being killed in a treacherous attack on the party. 
 It is the fullest, up-to-date description obtainable of the Country and its 
 inhabitants, its resources, manners and customs, religious administra- 
 tion and political organization, and it contains most instructive informa- 
 tion for those who are looking to the future possibilities of the Country 
 commercially and otherwise. 
 
 Twenty=sixth Annual Issue 
 
 The Year's Art, 1905 
 
 A Concise Epitome of all matters relating to painting and sculpture, 
 
 engraving and architecture, which have occurred in the United Kingdom 
 
 during the year 1904, together with information respecting the events 
 
 of the year 1904. 
 
 By A. C. R. CARTER 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth, about 500 pages of letterpress with illustrations, 
 
 3s. 6d. net 
 
A NEW VOLUME OF 
 
 THE WOBURN LIBRARY 
 
 Edited by His Grace the DUKE OF BEDFORD, K.Q. 
 
 President of the Zoological Society. 
 Each in crown 4to, handsome cloth gilt and gilt top, 12s, 6d. net. 
 
 British Salt-water Fishes 
 
 By F. Q. AFLALO, P.Z.S. 
 
 Author of " Sea Fish," etc. 
 
 ^Vith a Contribution by R. B. MARSTON, Editor of "The Fishing Gazette." 
 
 With 12 Coloured Plates representing 17 figures. 
 
 There is probably no greater practical authority on our British Salt- 
 Water Fishes in general than Mr. Aflalo ; the subject is a wide one but 
 it has been dealt with in a masterly way. 
 
 VOLUMES ALREADY ISSUED— 
 
 WILD FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE , by F. Edward Hulme 
 
 BRITISH MAMMALS, by Sir Harry Johnston 
 
 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES, by Sir Herbert Maxwell 
 
 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE, 
 
 by F. Edward Hulme 
 
 A New Edition of a Famous Napoleon Biograpliy 
 
 Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte 
 
 From the French of F. de Bourienne, Private Secretary to 
 
 Napoleon, Minister of State under the Directory, the 
 
 Consulate, the Empire, and the Revolution. 
 
 Newly edited, with Notes, and a Chronological Index, by 
 Edgar Sanderson, M.A. 
 
 Small 4to (7\ by 5J in.) 548pp., eloth gilt, gilt top, with a Photogravure 
 and S other Portraits on art paper, 5a. net. 
 
 "A work of high reputation." — Spectator. 
 
 6 
 
A NEW SERIES 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 The Great 
 
 Masterpieces of English Fiction 
 
 In a neat and handy foolscap 8vo form, and under the general title of 
 
 CLASSIC NOVELS 
 
 will be published the best of the Fiction Works of 
 
 FIELDING, SMOLLETT, GOLDSMITH 
 
 AND OTHER GREAT WRITERS. 
 
 Each Volume contains several Illustrations reproduced in exact 
 facsimile from the spirited etchings by GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. 
 
 400 to 350 pp., in cloth gilt. Is. 6d. net per Volume. 
 In limp leather, richly gilt and gilt top, 2s. 6d. net per Volume. 
 
 It is the aim of the publishers to make this new Series of Classic 
 Novels the handiest, the most readable, the cheapest, and most 
 attractive of any novels yet offered to the public. Each volume is 
 clearly and well printed from new type never before used, on special 
 thin opaque paper, and handsomely bound in cloth gilt, and in full 
 limp lambskin leather, richly gilt, gilt top. 
 
 The First Volumes in the Series will be 
 
 The Adventures of Roderick Random 
 
 By TOBIAS SMOLLETT 
 In One Volume. 
 
 The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling 
 
 By HENRY FIELDING 
 
 In Two Volumes. 
 
 The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker 
 
 By TOBIAS SMOLLETT 
 In One Volume 
 
 To be followed by 
 
 the adventures of JOSEPH ANDREWS .... Fielding 
 
 In One Volume. 
 THE history of AMELIA Fielding 
 
 In Two Volumes. 
 THE ADVENTURES OF PEREGRINE PICKLE . . . Smollett 
 
 In Two Volumes. 
 
A Popular Book on Botany for the general reader. 
 
 The Living Plant 
 
 IN LEAF, FLOWER AND FRUIT 
 
 By ALFRED ERNEST KNIQHT 
 
 Author of " Luminous Plants," &c. 
 
 AND 
 
 EDWARD STEP, F.L.S. 
 
 Author of " The Romance of Wild Flowers," &c. 
 
 With 432 pp. and 863 Illustrations, including 32 full-page Plates and -a 
 Frontispiece in colours from a drawing by Sir Harry Johnston. 
 
 In one handsome cr. 4to volume, cloth gilt, gilt edges, 12s. 6d. net ; 
 and in Half red Persian morocco, gilt edges, 14s. net. 
 
 This is the only work of its kind, viz. : a Simplified Study of 
 Botany for general readers, yet withal complete, accurate, and 
 trustworthy. There is no other work on Popular Botany so full, so 
 well supplied with Illustrations and so up-to-date. The authors 
 presuppose no knowledge on the subject on the part of their readers, 
 yet those who wish to grasp the leading principles of the science 
 will here find more than a superficial treatment, not less useful 
 because the dry bones of science have been enlivened by popular 
 treatment. 
 
 To insure the utmost accuracy, the work has been carefully 
 revised by Dr. A. B. Rendle. 
 
 A special word should be said about the Illustrations : these 
 have been made with definite relation to the text, and, in many 
 instances, the subjects have never been illustrated before. The 
 Photographs, printed separately on art paper, have been specially 
 selected from a very large collection made from every quarter, and 
 it may be truthfully said that modern photography is here seen in 
 its highest form. Briefly, this work is light to handle, light to read, 
 and pleasing to look at. 
 
 SOME PRESS OPINIONS 
 
 " The general reader could not find a more instructive and interesting work 
 on botany from his point cf view, nor the student a more helpful one from his." — 
 St. James's Gazette, August 20th, 7903. 
 
 " Those who would like to get an insight into the wonders of plant life without 
 having to wade through the hard names employed in ordinary botanical books, 
 should read ' The Living Plant,' by A. E. Knight and Edwin Step." — Christian 
 World. 
 
 '"It promises to" meet theHordinary wants of intelligent readers who wish to 
 know something of botany in general, but who would be deterred from venturing 
 on the usual scientific text books devoted to the subject of plant life." — Field. 
 
New Volumes of the very successful 
 Library of Standard Biographies 
 
 Each tn fcap 8vo, with Frontispiece Portrait, Appendix, Chronology, 
 Notes and full Index, printed from entirely new type on special paper , 
 
 350-400 pp. 
 
 In cloth gilt. Is. net. 
 
 In full limp lambskin, richly gilt and gilt top, 2s. net. 
 
 THE LIFE OF WELLINGTON 
 
 By W. H. MAXWELL 
 
 Edited and abridged by tlie Rev. L. T. Dodd. 
 
 THE EARLY LIFE OF GOETHE 
 
 (Boolis I. — IX. of tlie Autobiography) 
 Edited by W. von Knoblauch. 
 
 Volumes already issued. 
 
 THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON [Third Edition. 
 
 From the French of DE BOURRIENNE. 
 
 THE LIFE OF JOHN WESLEY [Second Edition. 
 
 By ROBERT SOUTHEY. 
 
 THE LIFE OF NELSON By ROBERT SOUTHEY. 
 
 THE LIFE OF GOLDSMITH By JOHN FORSTER. 
 
 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 With the addition of an Abridgement of GARED SPARK'S Continuation. 
 
 THE LIFE OF ROBERT BURNS By J. G. LOCKHART. 
 
 With the addition of Carlyle's " Essay on Burns." 
 Edited by J. M. Sloan, 
 
 THE LIFE OF THOMAS ARNOLD (Dr. Arnold, of Rugby) 
 
 By DEAN STANLEY. 
 
 Edited and Abridged by Arthur Reynolds, M.k. 
 
 THE LIFE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH By AGNES STRICKLAND. 
 Edited and Abridged by I. A. Taylor. 
 
 THE LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT 
 
 By J. Q. LOCKHART. 
 
 Edited and Abridged by J. M. Sloan 
 
 Volumes in preparation. 
 
 THE LIFE OF BYRON ... By Thomas Moore 
 THE LIFE OF COLUMBUS . . By Washington Irving. 
 
 GIBBON'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 ROUSSEAU'S CONFESSIONS 
 
 9 
 
THE GREATEST WORK ON 
 POULTRY EVER PROJECTED 
 
 Our Poultry 
 
 AND ALL ABOUT THEM 
 
 Their Varieties, Habits, Mating, Breeding, Selection and 
 Management for Pleasure and Profit 
 
 By HARRISON WEIR, F.R.H.S. 
 
 830 pp., with 586 Illustrations, comprising many Photographs 
 
 and over 250 reproductions of the Author's Original 
 
 Drawings, including 
 
 36 SUPERB COLOURED PLATES 
 
 In two large handsome volumes, demy 4to, cloth gilt, gilt edges, 14s. 
 each net. In half red Persian morocco, full gilt edges, 17s. each net. 
 
 EACH VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY 
 
 Mr. Harrison Weir's life-long experience as a breeder, exhibitor, 
 and judge of poultry entitles him to the foremost place as an 
 authority on the subject. His new book, " Our Poultry," is the 
 work of a practical man, whose labours as an artist and journalist 
 have received universal recognition, and it is no exaggeration to say 
 that his illustrations far surpass in beauty and fidelity any pictures 
 of poultry that have been published. As Landseer was the painter 
 of dogs so may Harrison Weir be said to be the painter of poultry, 
 and this work may certainly be called his magnum opus. 
 
 "As Mr. Weir has been keeping and slietching fowls for sixty years, if a day. 
 and exhibiting them for close on half a century, what this veteran poultry keeper, 
 poultry fancier, poultry judge and poultry artist does not know about the ways and 
 traits of cocks and hens must surely be past finding out." — County Gentleman. 
 
A Finely Illustrated Work now being published in Thirteen 
 Fortnightly Parts. Price 6d. net per part. 
 
 EACH PART CONTAINS BEAUTIFUL COLOURED PLATES 
 The complete volume will be published in October 
 
 Butterflies and Moths 
 
 OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 
 By F. EDWARD HULME, F.L.S., F.S.A. 
 
 Author of " Familiar Wild Flowers," " Wild Fruits of the Country-Side," etc. 
 
 With 35 full-page Plates beautifully reproduced in Colour from blocks 
 
 m,ade from the Author's drawings from life, representing 312 figures. 
 
 In crown 4to, handsome cloth gilt, 8s. 6d, net. 
 
 This magnificent work, written in a popular style for the general 
 reader, has the distinct advantage that it is illustrated by the Author 
 himself, and it may be at once said that his drawings are, with the text, 
 of most exceptional merit. Such life-like representations of the insects 
 dealt with have perhaps never before appeared, and, when complete, 
 the volume will certainly be one of the cheapest and most beautiful 
 books ever published. 
 
 Fourth and Popular Edition of Mrs. HUaH FRASER'S 
 superbly written and beautifully illustrated work 
 
 A Diplomatist's Wife in Japan 
 
 By the Author of " The Custom of the Country," " A Little Grey 
 Slieep," etc. 
 
 In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, with 220 Illustrations, 6s. net. 
 
 " A book that is a refreshment to read : instructive without visible 
 intention, charming throughout. She has a clear eye, a pleasant 
 humour and a mind extraordinarily fair and free from prejudice. Mrs. 
 Fraser's pictures of Japanese life are admirable." — Arthur Morrison 
 in the Morning Post. 
 
 "Calls rather for admiration than criticism : never before have the 
 more charming aspects of Japan been so attractively presented — a 
 perennial feast." — Athen^um. 
 
' The Living Animals of the World ' has already had a larger sale 
 than any Natural History ever published 
 
 The Living Animal s 
 
 OF THE WORLD 
 
 A POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 An interesting description of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Reptiles, 
 Insects, etc., with authentic anecdotes. 
 
 C. J. CORNISH (Editor), M.A., F.Z.S. 
 
 F. C. SELOUS 
 
 Sir HARRY JOHNSTON, G.C.H.G. 
 
 C. H. LANE, F.Z.S. 
 
 W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S. 
 
 H. A. BRYDEN 
 
 F. G. AFLALO, F.Z.S. 
 
 W. SAVILLE-KENT, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 
 
 W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S. 
 
 Sir HERBERT MAXWELL, F.R.S. 
 
 JOHN BICKERDYKE, H.A. 
 
 THEODORE WOOD, F.E.S. 
 
 Printed throu£:liout on tlie best English Art Paper. 
 
 With 1,210 Illustrations, including 25 Coloured Plates, from 
 Photographs. 
 
 In Two Volumes, demy 4to. 
 
 In handsome cloth gilt, gilt edges .... lOs. 6i. net per volume. 
 
 In half green French morocco, gilt edges . . lis. 6d. ,, ,, 
 
 In half red Persian morocco, gilt edges . 12s. 6d. ,, ,, 
 
 In full red Persian morocco, gilt edges . . 15s. ,, ,, 
 
 SOME PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 "The illustrations from life are wortli all the money." — Field. 
 
 "Without parallel. As a contribution to N.ATURAL History its value cannot 
 be overestimated." — Daily Mail. 
 
 "The best popular Natural History extant." — Scotsman. 
 
 " Likely to make all other popular Natural Histories obsolete." — Literary World. 
 
 "The reliance on photography for the illustrations is admirably justified by the 
 results." — Academy. 
 
 " One of the most remarkable works ever undertaken in Natural History." — 
 
 New York Herald 
 
Two magnificent companion volumes to "The Living Animals 
 of the World" 
 
 Animal Life 
 
 AND THE WORLD OF NATURE 
 
 The Work contains literary contributions by the leading 
 writers, including : — 
 
 LORD AVEBURY, F.R.S. 
 
 Sir HERBERT MAXWELL, F.R.S. 
 
 Sir HARRY JOHNSTON, G.C.M.G. 
 
 F. EDWARD HULME, F.L.S. 
 
 L. TREVOR BATTYE, F.L.S. 
 
 W. SA¥ILLE-KENT, F.L.S. 
 
 C. J. CORNISH, F.Z.S. 
 
 R. LYDEKKER, F.R.S. 
 
 Professor CUNNINGHAM, F.R.S. 
 
 WALTER KIDD, M.D., F.Z.S. 
 
 W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S. 
 
 FREO. ENOCH, F.Z.S. 
 
 Captain CAYLEY WEBSTER, F.Z.S. 
 
 St. MICHAEL PODMORE, M.A., F.Z.£ 
 
 In Two volumes, demy 4to, uniform in size with " The Living Animals 
 of the World," over 800 pp., with 1,326 Illustrations, including 26 
 Coloured Plates; the whole work being printed on fine art paper, bound 
 in handsome cloth gilt with gilt edges, 10s. 6d. net per vol. ; in half 
 green French morocco, lis. 6d. net per vol. ; and in half red Persian 
 morocco, 12s. 6d. net fer vol. 
 
 These volumes contain a wealth of interesting and instructive 
 articles and pictures, the latter being largely photographed from life, 
 on Natural History, including the domesticated animals, and make 
 excellent supplemental volumes to the popular volumes "The Living 
 Animals of the World." A very large number of the photographs were 
 taken specially for these volumes, and a feature has been made of 
 Notes at the Zoological Society, with illustrations, bringing the record 
 of the most interesting of the new additions down to date. There are 
 many animal anecdotes and all the articles are written in a popular 
 style, many of them forming a series on a subject. 
 
 13 
 
The two Standard Books on Golf and How to Play It 
 
 THIRD LARGE EDITION 
 
 TAYLOR ON GOLF 
 
 IMPRESSIONS, COMMENTS, AND HINTS 
 By J. H. TAYLOR 
 
 Three times Open Champion- 
 
 In large cr. 8vo, cloth gilt and gilt top, with 48 Illustrations on art 
 paper, from photographs, nearly all taken specially for the work, 6b. net. 
 
 "As an exponent of the game, Mr. J. H. Taylor is famous all over the world. A 
 verj^ thorough book, there is no branch of the game not touched upon." — Daily News. 
 
 "A notable addition to the literature of golf . Should find a place on the book- 
 shelves of every golfer." — Scotsman. 
 
 " May be safely recommended as the last word in all the phases of the fascinating 
 game." — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 '[This most excellent book. J. H. Taylor is litterateur as well as golf expert." 
 
 II As full of useful hints as an egg of meat." — Sportsman. — Field. 
 
 " Cannot fail to excite the greatest interest and be widely read. We have read 
 his book from cover to cover without finding a dull page. Altogether fascinating, a 
 book no golfer should be without." — Golf Illustrated. 
 
 "a mass of information, a worthy addition to the golfers' library." — Yorkshire 
 Post. 
 
 " We do not remember to have seen a more complete work on this popular pastime 
 than this by a writer than whom none has more right to speak on the subject." 
 — Graphic 
 
 "Taylor's book comes as a really welcome addition to those already written and 
 published." — Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. 
 
 For Lady Golfers 
 
 LADIES' GOLF 
 
 By MAY HEZLET 
 
 Open Ladies' Champion, 1899 and 1902, and Finalist in 1904. 
 Irish Ladies' Champion, 1899 and 1904. 
 
 In large cr. 8vo, cloth gilt and gilt top, with 32 Illustrations on art 
 paper, including Portraits of the best Lady Golfers, showing them in 
 the act of making their strokes, 6s. net. 
 
 "What Miss Hezlet does not know about golf is not worth knowing. A book 
 which every lady golfer ought to possess." — Ladies' Field. 
 
 "At once instructive and entertaining, deserving of much commendation." — 
 Queen. 
 
 ' ' Nothing likely to be of interest to the lady golfer seems to have been omitted ; a 
 book deserving of high praise." — Field, 
 
 " Of the greatest interest to all women golfers. No better exponent of ladies* golf 
 could be found." — Gentlewoman. 
 
 "Avery interesting and practical book. A vade mecuin for the game." — St. James's 
 
 " As clever as it is comprehensive." — Pall Mall Gazette. Gazette. 
 
 "The work has been admirably done; a contribution of notable interest." — 
 
 " Fills a distinct gap in the literature of the links." — Truth. The King. 
 
 "We cannot praise too highly this admirable work; we doubt whether this volume 
 has been surpassed by masculine writers on the subject." — Graphic. 
 
 " Replete with information. The tyro can find full instruction on all the branches 
 of the game, and feel confidence in the wisdom of the hints." — Golf Illustrated. 
 
 14 
 
Messrs. Hutchinson & Co/s 
 New Novels it. Autumn, 1904 
 
 Each in crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s, 
 
 By ANTHONY HOPE 
 
 Double Harness 
 
 By the Author of "The Prisoner of Zenda,'' etc. 
 
 As denoted by the title, "Marriage" is the theme of this popular 
 Author's latest novel. The story is an exceptionally full one, and con- 
 cerns itself with the doings of a number of married couples — some of 
 whom do not run well together — who form the circle in which a young 
 married couple, the principal characters of the story, are placed. It is 
 an altogether " human " and very real story, and it contains a number 
 of dramatic situations. It is certain to command a great deal of 
 attention. 
 
 By ALLEN RAINE 
 
 The Sin-Eater a tale of old wales 
 
 By the Author of "A Welsh Singer," "Torn Sails," "On the Wings 
 of the Wind," etc. 
 
 "Allen Raine" holds Wales as her own field, and so long as she 
 produces stories up to the standard of those already written by her, it 
 is hardly likely that she will have a serious rival. In her new story she 
 has made a departure from the period usually selected for her tales, and 
 deals with the romantic time when Wales lay bleeding in the throes of 
 her last struggle for independence. Into a beautiful story with a 
 picturesque setting the Author has woven some of the legends and tra- 
 ditions of Old Wales, and has depicted the manner and retained the 
 spirit of the age in which the theme of her story is laid. There is the 
 jingle of armour and glitter of steel, chivalry, love and patriotism 
 blended together in one of the purest and best romances of modern times. 
 
 15 
 
By WM. LE QUEUX 
 
 The Betrayer 
 
 By the Author of "The Gamblers," "The Under-Secretary," etc. 
 
 Mr. Le Queux's new novel contains as good a story as any he has 
 yet concocted : there is all the old skill in engrossing the readers' 
 attention in the working out of a capital plot, but beyond this the 
 greatest care has been taken in the writing of the book, and it is not too 
 much to say that it shows the author at his best. 
 
 By ADA CAMBRIDGE 
 
 Sisters 
 
 By the Author of "A Marriage Ceremony," "Fidelis," etc. 
 
 In this full length novel the Author is seen at her best. It is a 
 domestic novel in which character drawing is considered of the highest 
 importance, and it will appeal to all who appreciate sound and whole- 
 some fiction. 
 
 By JUDGE ROBERT GRANT 
 
 The Undercurrent 
 
 By the Author of "Unleavened Bread," etc. 
 
 When " Unleavened Bread" was published some time since there 
 was a chorus of praise from the Press of the remarkable cleverness of 
 the Author. Another book from him has been awaited with interest, 
 and it is with confidence that this new novel is now announced. It will 
 call for special notice, and will more than maintain the high reputation 
 earned by the Author with his first book. 
 
 By CORALIE STANTON & HEATH HOSKEN 
 
 Chance the Juggler 
 
 This novel has made a great sensation in serial form in a leading 
 paper. It is full of dramatic situations and is absorbingly interesting, 
 containing, as it does, an exciting plot, which is worked out in a breath- 
 less narrative. 
 
 16 
 
By ELLEN THORNEYCROFT FOWLER 
 and A. L. FELKIN 
 
 Kate of Kate Hall 
 
 By the Author of " A Double Thread," " The Farringdons," etc. 
 
 This novel written by the popular authoress in collaboration with 
 her husband will be found to be superior to anything she has done alone. 
 Mrs. Felkin is at her best in it as regards conversation, epigram, and 
 character drawing, but the book has been materially helped by the 
 knowledge and wisdom of a man's broader outlook on life, and the men 
 are made much more masculine. The book is a love story with an 
 ingenious plot of sustained interest, consummating in a very exciting 
 and surprising climax. Lady Kate is a most attractive heroine and her 
 mother is a real creation. Readers will sympathise with Lady Kate 
 in a sad dilemma, and be absorbingly interested in the gradual unfolding 
 and development of her character when she is brought face to face with 
 the realities of life. 
 
 By JEROME K. JEROME 
 
 Tommy & Co. 
 
 By the Author of " Paul Kelver," " Idle Thoughts of an Idle 
 Fellow," etc, 
 
 A story of an elderly man and his young protegee "Tommy," a 
 queer little waif who, notwithstanding her name, is a girl. The story is 
 full of the quiet humour which is such an attractive element in most of 
 Mr. Jerome's work. 
 
 By FRANKFORT MOORE 
 
 The White Causeway 
 
 By the Author of " I Forbid the Banns," " The Jessamy Bride," etc. 
 
 Some of the latest phases and fancies of Society are touched upon 
 in this new novel, and the plot will be found more exciting than in most 
 of Mr. Moore's stories of modern life — an element that borders on the 
 supernatural being introduced. It is written in the Author's happiest 
 vein and contains some of his most brilliant work, and the reader's 
 interest is not allowed to flag for a moment. The early scenes are laid 
 in Switzerland, the remainder in England. 
 
 17 
 
By TOM GALLON 
 
 Boden's Boy 
 
 By the Author of "Tatterley," "The Second Dandy Chater," etc. 
 
 Boden, who is not a gentleman, is made wealthy suddenly. He is 
 generous to the extreme, and many are the calls upon him, by male and 
 female. He secretly befriends and liberally assists a j'oung fellow who 
 is the " Boden's Boy" of the story. With such a beginning it will at 
 once be seen that Mr. Gallon's new story is one which he can deal with 
 in an inimitable way. It is the sort of story that — like " Tatterley " — 
 is most appreciated by his many readers. 
 
 By ELLEN A. SMITH 
 
 In Her Own Way 
 
 By the Author of "The FulHUing of the Law," etc. 
 
 This story, in which the man is wooed by the woman under circum- 
 stances which seem to her to justify it, is written with the same skill 
 and with the like power of character-drawing which was so noticeable 
 in the " Fulfilling of the Law." The two principal characters practically 
 fill the book, and the deepest interest will be felt in the woman who 
 braves and endures so much in her efforts to make restitution for the 
 offence of another, who was dear to her. 
 
 By CHARLES QARVICE 
 
 Love Decides 
 
 By the Author of " Just a Girl." 
 
 The novels of Mr. Garvice are becoming more popular every year, 
 and Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. are pleased to announce that they have 
 made arrangements for the publication of further stories by him to 
 follow the present book. In all his novels, Mr. Garvice shows his power 
 to interest a large body of readers. His plots are good : his characters 
 are not abnormal : they are people whose actions can be understood 
 and appreciated by an ordinary person. The novels are having an 
 immense circulation in America, although Mr. Garvice is an English 
 writer. 
 
 i8 
 
By "RITA" 
 
 The Silent Woman 
 
 By the Author of " Peg the Rake," " Souls,'' etc. 
 
 "Rita" is perhaps at her best when portraying the characters of 
 modern women, and her new novel affords her an opportunity of dis- 
 playing her powers in this direction to the greatest advantage. The 
 story is right up-to-date, and like "Souls" is calculated to arouse a 
 large public which is very concerned as to what sort of book " Rita's " 
 next will be. 
 
 By J. H. YOXALL, M.P. 
 
 Smalilou 
 
 By the Author of " Alain Tanger's Wife," etc. 
 
 Mr. Yoxall in "The Rommany Stone" gave evidence of his 
 acquaintance with gypsy life, and in "Smalilou" he supplies another 
 gypsy tale, dating it back to the picturesque period of the i8th century. 
 The heroine of the story, "Smalilou," who is first encountered as a 
 young girl among the gypsies, wins the reader's affection ; her story is 
 one of great sisterly love which brings no happiness, and it is depicted 
 with wonderful skill and sj rapathy. There are plots and counter-plots, 
 fine ladies, courtly men, rascals, exciting scenes, fighting, intrigues, 
 abductions, and other elements in this moving tale, but through all the 
 interest lies with Smalilou and the gypsy who for long she believed to 
 be her brother, and whose death ends the story of her own life. 
 
 By PHILIP PAYNE 
 
 The Duchess of Few Clothes 
 
 By the Author of "The Mills of Man," etc. 
 
 "The Mills of Man " has been generally recognised by the Press as 
 a fine book —the work of a most capable writer. He has now written a 
 story with an absolutely different set of characters and in a lighter vein. 
 It is quite unique as a representation of a phase of American life not 
 known to English readers. The Duchess is an employee in a large 
 American hotel, which is made the scene of most of the story, the char- 
 acters being the guests and the staff ; the inner life of the hotel is 
 cleverly depicted, and the Author has made the best possible use of his 
 very novel idea for a story. 
 
 19 
 
By ADELINE SERGEANT 
 
 Reparation 
 
 By the Author of "The Mistress of Quest," " The Idol Maker," etc. 
 
 Miss Sergeant can always be relied on for a good story. Her new 
 novel contains an e.'icellent love story developed from an interesting open- 
 ing in which Scarsdale, the son of a company promoter, kills in a duel, 
 young Carrington, the son of a man whom the promoter has ruined. 
 Under another name, Scarsdale accidently meets one of Carrington's 
 sisters, and as strangers they are attracted to each other. From this 
 point the story is worked out with Miss Sergeant's accustomed skill. 
 
 By WINIFRED CRISPE 
 
 Snares 
 
 By a New Writer. 
 
 This novel, by a new writer, is altogether out of the common, 
 curiously and undeniably interesting ; women will assuredly read it word 
 by word : there is much self-analysis in it, the story being told in the 
 first person by an unmarried woman who lives with Sir Nigel and Lady 
 Estcourt almost as a sister. Their relations are ideal until a famous 
 nerve specialist comes on the scene : then the influence of hypnotic 
 suggestion brings havoc, and the principal characters act and re-act on 
 one another until "divorce" becomes a question. The teller of the 
 story has many temptations and fights hard, and her thoughts and 
 feelings are depicted by one who must have been a close observer. 
 
 By EVELYN EVERETT=QREEN 
 
 Lady Marcia 
 
 By the Author of " Where There's a Will ,'' etc. 
 
 Miss Everett-Green is a practised writer. In her new novel the 
 story really begins with Marcia's marriage, more out of duty to her 
 father than for love of the man, about whom there is a mystery which 
 helps to keep husband and wife apart ; but there is a satisfactory ending 
 to a well told story, which is pleasing throughout, the character of the 
 man being attractively presented. 
 
NEW VOLUMES OF 
 
 Hutchinson's Select Novels 
 
 Each in crown 8vo, uniform binding, cloth, richly gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 By RICHARD WHITEINQ 
 
 THE YELLO\V VAN 
 
 By ELLEN THORNEYCROFT FOWLER 
 
 PLACE AND POWE R 
 
 By JEROME K. JEROME 
 
 PAUL KELVER 
 
 Already issued in this Series : — 
 
 THE CUCKOO IN THE NEST Mrs. Oliphant 
 
 A HOUSE IN BLOOMSBURY Mrs. Oliphant 
 
 THE VENGEANCE OF JAMES VANSITTART Mrs. J. H. Needell 
 
 THE HERITAGE OF LANGDALE Mrs. Alexander 
 
 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH Darley Dale 
 
 A SECOND LIFE Mrs. Alexander 
 
 A MARRIAGE CEREMONY Ada Cambridge 
 
 FIDELIS Ada Cambridge 
 
 THE MISTRESS OF QUEST Adeline Sergeant 
 
 ROGER VANBRUGH'S WIFE Adeline Sergeant 
 
 THE BANISHMENT OF JESSOP BLYTHE Joseph Hatton 
 
 A WELSH SINGER Allen Raine 
 
 THE STORY OF AN AFRICAN FARM Olive Schreiner 
 
 TATTERLEY 
 
 THE MIGHTY ATOM 
 
 THE IDOL-MAKER 
 
 GRIP 
 
 A STUMBLER IN WIDE SHOES 
 
 DR. LUTTRELL'S FIRST PATIENT 
 
 TORN SAILS 
 
 W^OMAN AND THE SHADOW 
 
 BY RIGHT OF SWORD 
 
 INTO THE HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES 
 
 AT THE CROSS ROADS 
 
 BY BERWEN BANKS 
 
 GARTHOWEN 
 
 MOLLIE'S PRINCE 
 
 A DASH FOR A THRONE 
 
 LIFE'S TRIVIAL ROUND 
 
 A DOUBLE THREAD 
 
 THE FARRINGDONS 
 
 A CORNER OF THE WEST 
 
 THE MINISTER OF STATE 
 
 THE ONE WHO LOOKED ON 
 
 MY LADY FRIVOL 
 
 THE LOVE OF RICHARD HERRICK 
 
 BABS THE IMPOSSIBLE 
 
 IN HIGH PLACES 
 
 A WELSH WITCH 
 
 21 
 
 Tom Gallon 
 Marie Corelli 
 Adeline Sergeant 
 B. L. Farjeon 
 
 E. Sutcliffe March 
 Rosa N. Carey 
 Allen Raine 
 Arabella Kenealy 
 A. W. Marchmont 
 
 F. F. Montrisor 
 F. F. Montr6sor 
 Allen Raine 
 Allen Raine 
 Rosa N. Carey 
 
 A. W. Marchmont 
 
 Rosa N. Carey 
 
 Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler 
 
 Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler 
 
 Edith Henrietta FoTvler 
 
 J. A. Steuartj 
 
 F. F. Montr^sor 
 
 Rosa N. Carey 
 
 Arabella Kenealy 
 
 Sarah Grand 
 
 M. E. Braddon 
 
 Allen Raine 
 
A UNIFORM AND CHEAPER EDITION 
 
 ROSA N. CAREY'S 
 
 POPULAR NOVELS 
 
 Each in crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 MOLLIE'S PRINCE 
 MY LADY FRIVOL 
 
 LIFE'S TRIVIAL ROUND 
 
 DR. LUTTRELL'S FIRST 
 PATIENT 
 
 As most of this very successful author's novels are now published 
 in a uniform binding at 3s. 6d., it has been decided to issue the 
 above popular books at the same price, and in a style which, as 
 regards binding and otherwise, will enable them to be placed side 
 by side with her other books. 
 
 A UNIFORM AND CHEAPER EDITION 
 
 OF 
 
 EMMA JANE WORBOISE'S 
 
 POPULAR NOVELS 
 
 Each in crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2S. 
 
 EVELYN'S STORY 
 THE LILLINGSTONES 
 SIR JULIAN'S WIFE 
 
 THE \WIFE'S TRIALS 
 CAMPION COURT 
 LOTTIE LONSDALE 
 
 " Mrs. Emma Jane Worboise's novels are decidedly of the stamp that will endure. 
 Every one of them has a merit peculiarly its own." — Western Mercury. 
 
 " There are no better books for the home circle than the books of Emma Jane 
 Worboise." — British Weekly. 
 
NEW VOLUMES OF 
 
 ''Rita's'' Uniform Novels 
 
 Each in crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6il, 
 
 Prince Charming 
 
 A FANTASTIC EPISODE IN COURT DRESS 
 
 OUUlb |-yj^ Edition 
 
 "A scathing attack on Modern Society." — Sunday Sun. 
 " 'Rita' is greatly daring. The Juvenal of Modern Society." — 
 Daily Mail. 
 
 " Charming, witty, and epigrammatic. A novel to be read." — 
 
 ScOTSiMAN. 
 
 " An exceedingly brilliant satire on the follies and vices of a certain 
 'set' ■' — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 " Bids fair to be one of her most popular novels, and one of the 
 most successful of the present publishing season." — Liverpool Post. 
 
 Uniform Volumes already issued : — 
 
 ADRIENNE 
 
 AN OLD ROGUE'S TRAGEDY 
 
 A WOMAN IN IT 
 
 A WOMAN OF SAMARIA 
 
 GOOD MRS. HYPOCRITE 
 
 GRETCHEN 
 KITTY THE RAG 
 PEG THE RAKE 
 PETTICOAT LOOSE 
 THE SINNER 
 
 Frankfort Moore's Popular Novels 
 
 Uniform Edition. 
 Each in crown 8t)o, cloth gilt, 3s, 6d. 
 
 PHYLLIS OF PHILISTIA THE MILLIONAIRES 
 
 ACCORDING TO PLATO WELL, AFTER ALL 
 
 23 
 
HUTCHINSON'S NEW 
 
 SIXPENNY NOVELS 
 
 
 Clearly and well printed from new 
 type on good paper. 
 
 By Berwen Banks 
 Of Royal Blood 
 The Crimson Sign 
 A Second Life 
 Found and Fettered 
 
 Allen Raine 
 
 Wm. Le Queux 
 
 Dr. S. R. Keightley 
 
 Mrs. Alexander 
 
 Dick Donovon 
 
 Augusta Evans Wilson 
 
 A Speckled Bird 
 
 The Second Opportunity 
 
 of Mr. Staplehurst w. Pett- Ridge 
 
 Sixpenny Novels (now ready) 
 
 My Lady Frivol 
 A Bride of Japan 
 From Clue to Capture 
 Great Porter Square 
 
 Grif 
 
 An Island Pearl 
 
 Rosa N. Carey 
 Carlton Dawe 
 Dick Donovan 
 B. L. Farjeon 
 
 24 
 
Sixpenny Novels 
 
 (NOW READY)— continued 
 
 Shadows in the Snow 
 
 The Farringdons 
 
 The Girl Behind the Keys 
 Peplow's Paper Chase 
 
 Chiifon's Marriage 
 
 Under the Great Seal 
 By Order of the Czar 
 
 The Filibusters 
 
 The Cavaliers 
 
 A Dash for a Throne 
 For Love or Crown 
 By Eight of Sword 
 
 Petticoat Loose 
 
 Peg the Rake 
 
 A Rising Star 
 
 The Gamblers 
 
 A Welsh Singer 
 
 Far Above Rubies 
 
 Babs the Impossible 
 
 Into the Highways and Hedges 
 
 The Jessamy Bride 
 
 The Under Secretary 
 
 Torn Sails 
 
 Garthowen 
 
 Good Mrs. Hypocrite 
 An Old Rogue's Tragedy .. 
 The Prey of the Gods 
 The Minister of State 
 
 No Intentions 
 
 I Forbid the Banns 
 
 One Fair Daughter 
 
 They Call It Love 
 
 25 
 
 B. L. Farjeon 
 EllenTliorneycroft Fowler 
 Tom Gallon 
 
 "Gyp" 
 Joseph Hatton 
 
 Cutcliffe Hyne 
 8. R. Keightley 
 A. W. Marchmont 
 
 "Rita" 
 
 D. Christie Murray 
 Wm. Le Queux 
 Allen Raine 
 Mrs. J. R. Riddell 
 Sarah Grand 
 F. F. Montr6sor 
 F. Frankfort Moore 
 Wm. Le Quex 
 Allen Raine 
 
 )j 
 "Rita" 
 
 jj 
 Florence Marryat 
 J. A. Steuart 
 Florence Marryat 
 F. Frankfort Moore 
 
Some Successful 6s. Novels 
 
 JUST PUBLISHED 
 
 By M. E. BRADDON 
 
 A Lost Eden 
 
 By the Author of "Lady Audley's Secret," etc. 
 
 " In this her latest book there is not the faintest sign of flagging power. It is 
 the old vigorous Miss Braddon we have known so long, the same admirable character 
 drawing, development of plot, and brilliant descriptive power, all illumined with the 
 old wholesome humour." — Sketch. 
 
 By B. L. FARJEON 
 
 The Amblers 
 
 By the Author of "Great Porter Square," "The Mesmerists," etc. 
 
 11 An admirably written romance, will be found extremely interesting." — Outlook. 
 "Not only arouses interest, but enlists sympathy as well. The book is excep- 
 tionally powerful throughout." — Glasgow Herald. 
 '' It is full of zest and enthusiasm." — Athen^um. 
 " It is fresh, true and pleasant, and makes good reading." — Academy. 
 
 By MAUD STEPNEY RAWSON 
 
 The Apprentice 
 
 By the Author of " A Lady of the Regency," &c. 
 "An admirable novel." — Athen^bum. "A fine story." — Academy. 
 " It would be difficult to rate it too highly."— Manchester Guardian. 
 "This engrossing tale." — Daily Mail. 
 
 By RICHARD PRYCE 
 
 1 n6 OUCCCSSOr By the Author of "Jezebel," &c. 
 
 Fourth Edition 
 
 "The idea is capital. Each character is full of Life and spirit. The writing 
 is often extren;iely witty, and the whole thing is one of the most readable novels 
 conceivable." — St, James's Gazette. 
 
 " The story should be read with a hearty interest by everyone who begins it." 
 
 — SCOTSfllAN. 
 
 "An exceedingly interesting story; his characters are clearly and incisively 
 drawn, and his dialogue is both witty and pointed." — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 By L. DOUQALL 
 
 The Earthly Purgatory 
 
 By the Author of " The Zeit-Geist, &c." 
 
 " Daringly original, interesting and sympathic." — Athen^uh. 
 " A remarliable novel." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 26 
 
NEW VOLUMES OF 
 
 The Famous 
 "Fifty-Two'' Library 
 
 Edited by ALFRED H. MILES 
 
 Each in large crown 8vo, cloth, richly gilt and gilt edges, with Illus 
 trations, Ss, 
 
 Over 300,000 copies of tliis Series liave already been sold 
 
 Fifty-two Stories of Grit & Character 
 
 FOR BOYS 
 
 By Q. Manville Penn, Alice P. Jaclcson, Albert Kinross, 
 H. Hervey, C. A. Stephens, Pranlc Scudamore & others 
 
 Fifty-two Stories of Grit & Character 
 
 FOR GIRLS 
 
 By E. T. Miller, Nellie Holderness, Alice P. Jackson, Nora 
 Ryeman, 5. Le Sotgille, Pauline Wesley & others 
 
 Fifty-two Stories of Wild Life 
 
 EAST AND WEST 
 
 By Captain Pordick, H. Hervey, C. A. Stephens, P. W. 
 Calkins, Howard Ashton, Charles P. Lummis & others 
 
 Already issued in this Series: — 
 
 1. Fifty- two Stories for Boys. 
 
 2. Fifty-two Stories for Girls. 
 
 3. Fifty-two More Stories for Boys. 
 
 4. Fifty-two More Stories for Girls. 
 
 5. Fifty-two Further Stories for Boys. 
 
 6. Fifty-two Further Stories for Girls. 
 
 7. Fifty-two Other Stories for Boys. 
 
 27 
 
The Famous "Fifty-Two" Library 
 
 continued, 
 
 8. Fifty-two Other Stories for Girls. 
 
 9. Fifty-two Fairy Tales. 
 
 10. Fifty-two Stories for Boyhood and Youth. 
 
 11. Fifty-two Stories for Girlhood and Youth. 
 
 12. Fifty-two Stories for Children. 
 
 13. Fifty-two Stories of Boy Life at Home and Abroad. 
 
 14. Fifty-two Stories of Girl Life at Home and Abroad. 
 
 15. Fifty-two Stories of Life and Adventure for Boys. 
 
 16. Fifty-two Stories of Life and Adventure for Girls. 
 
 17. Fifty-two Stories of the Indian Mutiny. 
 
 18. Fifty-two Stories of Pluck and Peril for Boys. 
 
 19. Fifty-two Stories of Pluck, Peril, and Romance for Girls. 
 
 20. Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy. 
 
 21. Fifty-two Stories of Duty and Daring for Boys. 
 
 22. Fifty-two Stories of Duty and Daring for Girls. 
 
 23. Fifty-two Stories of the British Army. 
 
 24. Fifty-two Holiday Stories for Boys. 
 
 25. Fifty-two Holiday Stories for Giris. 
 
 26. Fifty-two Sunday Stories for Boys and Girls. 
 
 27. Fifty-two Stories of Heroism in Life and Action for Boys. 
 
 28. Fifty-two Stories of Heroism in Life and Action for Girls. 
 
 29. Fifty-two Stories of the Wide, Wide World. 
 
 30. Fifty-two Stirring Stories for Boys. 
 
 31. Fifty-two Stirring Stories for Girls. 
 
 82. Fifty-two Stories of the British Empire. 
 
 33. Fifty-two Stories of Courage and Endeavour for Boys. 
 
 34. Fifty-two Stories of Courage and Endeavour for Girls. 
 
 35. Fifty-two Stories of Greater Britain. 
 
 36. Fifty-two Stories of the Brave and True for Boys. 
 
 37. Fifty-two Stories of the Brave and True for Girls. 
 
 38. Fifty-two Stories for the Little Ones. 
 
 39. Fifty-two Stories of School Life and After for Boys. 
 
 40. Fifty-two Stories of School Life and After for Girls. 
 
 41. Fifty-two Stories of Animal Life and Adventure. 
 
 42. Fifty-two Stories of Grit and Character for Boys. 
 
 43. Fifty-two Stories of Grit and Character for Girls. 
 
 44. Fifty-two Stories of Wild Life East and West. 
 
 28 
 
Books suitable for Presentation 
 
 A New Edition of a splendid Gift Book 
 
 Masters of Music their lives and work 
 
 By ANNA A. CHAPIN 
 
 Author of " The Story of the Rhinegolde." 
 
 In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 5s. Third Edition. With numerous 
 Portraits on plate paper. 
 Short biographies of great composers written in attractive style, a 
 special feature being that appended to each biography is a list of tlie 
 composer's most appreciable works. 
 
 A delightful Qift Book 
 
 One Thousand Poems for Children 
 
 A CHOICE OF THE BEST VERSES OLD AND NEW 
 
 Edited by ROGER INGPEN 
 
 In cr. 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. With Illustrations printed on plate paper. 
 
 *' An excellent present." — Daily Mail. 
 " A delightful gift book."— Spectator. 
 
 " The best all-round book that we have yet seen placed at the service of 
 Elocutionists." — School Board Chronicle. 
 
 Miles' Standard Elocutionist 
 
 Comprising an Essay on the Principles of Elocution, or Public 
 Speaking, and the Selection, Study and Delivery of Recitations. A popu- 
 lar Treatise on the Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene of the Vocal 
 Organs, by Lemnox Browne, F.R.C.S. — Chapter on the Art of Intro- 
 ducing Musical Accompaniments into Elocutionary Recitals by Clifford 
 Harrison, and upwards of Five Hundred Pieces, forming a Graduated 
 Series for Study, selected from the best Authors, by Alfred H. Miles. 
 
 Well bound in large cr. 8vo, 640 pp., half leather and gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Great Orations by great orators 
 
 Edited by ARNOLD KNIGHT 
 
 Part Author of " Parliament Past and Present." 
 
 A collection of notable portions of famous speeches by Statesmen,. 
 Jurists, Politicians and Divines. 
 
 In cr. 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 29 
 
Books suitable for Presentation (continued) 
 
 Fairy Tales of Other Lands 
 
 .Each in f'scap 4to, cloth richly gilt or silvered with gilt or silvered 
 edges, and with 80 to uo Illustrations by H. R. Millar, 6b. 
 
 THE GOLDEN FAIRY BOOK 
 
 By George Sand, Moritz Jokai, Alexander Dumas, 
 Xavier Marmier, and others 
 
 THE SILVER FAIRY BOOK 
 
 By Sarah Bernhardt, E. P. Larken, Emile de Qirardin, 
 Wilhelm Hauf, Louis de Gramont, and others 
 
 THE DIAMOND FAIRY BOOK 
 
 By Clemens Brentano, 5aint Juirs, Pauline 5chanz, 
 A. Godin, Z. Topelius, and others 
 
 THE RUBY FAIRY BOOK 
 
 By Jules Le Maitre, Flora Schmals, Luigi Capuani, 
 Daniel Riche, J. Wenzig, and others 
 
 By EVELYN EVERETT=GREEN 
 
 The Silver Axe 
 
 In large crown 8vo, handsome cloth gilt, bevelled boards and gilt edges, 
 with 8 full page Illustrations by Ida Lovering, Ss. 
 
 True Stories of Girl Heroines 
 
 In large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, bevelled boards and gilt top, with 16 
 Illustrations by E. F, Sherie, 5s. 
 
 30 
 
The Magazine de Luxe for Gentlewomen 
 
 THE LADY'S REALM 
 
 THE LEADING MAGAZINE FOR LADIES 
 
 Price 6d. Monthly 
 
 Many years have passed since the Lady's Realm first made its 
 appearance and at once took a foremost place in the Magazine World, 
 By keeping well abreast of the times, adopting all the latest methods 
 of reproduction of pictures, and securing the best makes of art paper, 
 the supremacy of the Magazine as an art production has been more 
 than maintained. Nor has the literary side of the Magazine been 
 neglected, most of the best known writers having contributed to its 
 pages, whilst every effort has been made to keep it in touch with all 
 matters of the moment interesting to ladies. The Magazine is full of 
 life and actuality, and it appeals more than any magazine published to 
 the well-bred woman. 
 
 la the November Number will commence 
 
 Stanley Weyman's 
 
 GREAT SERIAL STORY 
 
 It is one of this popular author's finest efforts, and has been specially 
 written for the Magazine. 
 
 AND 
 
 A unique Series of Articles 
 
 The Truth About Man 
 
 Which are sure to arouse discussion 
 
 A NEW VOLUME OF 
 
 THE LADY'S REALM 
 
 Containing many stories by popular Authors, and a wealth of interesting 
 articles with upwards of 600 Illustrations, 
 
 Will be ready in October. 
 
 In handsome cloth gilt and gilt edges, price 6s. 
 31 
 
A NEW VOLUME OF 
 
 THE ENGLISH 
 ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE 
 
 Containing many Stories and Ai<ticles of a popular character, 
 by the best writers, including a continuation of the Birth- 
 day Portrait Series, with Criticisms and Bibliographies. 
 
 Handsomely bound in cloth gilt, with hundreds of Illustrations, 
 
 6s. 
 
 The English Illustrated (price 6d. monthly) is among the 
 oldest of the illustrated magazines, and it has lately brought itself into 
 line with the best of the modern magazines. It appeals to all. 
 
 THE NEW PERIODICAL 
 
 ARTS AND CRAFTS 
 
 A Monthly Practical Magazine for the 
 Studio, the Workshop and the Home. 
 
 Beautifully printed on fine paper, with many Illustrations, and covered 
 with thick artistic paper, size 1 1 J x 9. Price Is. net. 
 
 With each Number several sheets of Working Studies and Designs 
 
 are given. 
 
 ' ' A new and attractive periodical covering a wide field. The 
 abundant illustrations seem to us of high quality." — Times. 
 
 " Its excellence as a practical instructor is manifest from beginning 
 to end." — Standard. 
 
 A Special List of Books suitable toe 
 Gifts and Prizes will be sent on lequest 
 
 A . Chris. Fowler, Printer, 28, Tenter Street, Moorfields, E.C.