LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD 
 
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 FROM ORIGINAL MATERIAL DERIVED FROM HER FAMILY 
 AND FRIENDS 
 
 BY 
 
 ZADEL BARNES GUSTAFSON 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT 
 
 81 
 
 i«^SIol 
 
 
 BOSTON 
 JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY 
 
 1882 
 

 Copyright, 1881, 
 By JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 Jranfelin $rraa: 
 
 RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 
 BOSTON. 
 
GENEVIEVE. 
 
 (A SONG.) 
 
 Hail to thee, and farewell, 
 
 Beautiful Genevieve ! 
 Oh, kind for thee be wind and wave, 
 Thou daughter of the Free and Brave ! 
 Godspeed of English heart and hand 
 Goes with thee to thy native land. 
 
 Farewell, 
 
 Beautiful Genevieve ! 
 
 Hail to thee, and farewell ! 
 
 Speeding so fast away. 
 Let not Columbia, eager now 
 To bind her laurels on thy brow, 
 Make thee forget that English hearts 
 First crowned and throned thee Queen of Arts 
 
 And Hearts, 
 
 Beautiful Genevieve ! 
 
 All hail, and welcome home ! 
 
 Over dividing seas 
 Returning, when the snows are past, 
 Queen Flower with flowers and spring at last. 
 Not more victorious than true, 
 Artist and woman crowned in you ! 
 
 Welcome, 
 
 Beautiful Genevieve ! 
 
 Words by Mrs. Z. B. Gustafson. The music, by the favorite 
 English balladist Miss Elizabeth Philp, is given on the following 
 pages. 
 
Genevieve, 
 
 Words by ZADEL B. GUSTAFSON. 
 Recitative. 
 
 Music by E. PHILP. 
 
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GENEVIEVE — A SONG. 
 
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 GENEVIEVE — A SONG. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IF a book interests me, I always feel I would like to 
 know how it came to be written ; and, on the sup- 
 position that this is a common feeling, have prepared 
 the following little preface for those who may find this 
 book interesting. 
 
 During a visit to the city of Providence, R.I., in the 
 autumn of 1878, I was present at one of the sessions 
 of a women's club, then presided over by Mrs. Eliza- 
 beth Churchill, — a truly noble woman, who has since 
 "ceased from her labors," leaving in many grateful 
 hearts a memory sweet with the eternal fragrance of 
 good deeds. As we were talking together at the close 
 of the meeting, she said earnestly, — 
 
 " There is one very kind thing you can do for me 
 if you will. You can help my friend Genevieve Ward, 
 who has recently arrived in this country. She is an 
 actress of great talent and admirable training, who has 
 had an unjustly long and hard struggle for the recog- 
 
 ix 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 nition which was her due from the start. By dint of 
 genius, invincible courage, and devoted study, she has 
 at last won grand dramatic triumphs in England and 
 France ; but this is not enough. She is an American, 
 and she wants to be appreciated in her native land. 
 She has ardent personal friends here ; but the large 
 appreciation of the American public, which such an 
 artist needs and superlatively deserves, is slow in com- 
 ing to her." 
 
 "What would you like to have me do? " I asked. 
 
 " I wish you would call on her, and hear her play 
 when she comes to Boston in the spring ; and, if the 
 impression she makes on you justifies what I have said, 
 I wish you would write an article about her, — not a bit 
 of newspaper gossip, she receives enough of those, but 
 a careful, critical, and appreciative paper, — and get it 
 published in an influential quarter. Such a paper 
 would not only do her a great deal of good, but be 
 a favor to the fairer-minded portion of the public, who 
 only need to have their attention called to a palpable 
 injustice, to rectify it." 
 
 In the spring of 1879, when Miss Ward came to 
 Boston, I called on her, and saw her play. Person- 
 ally, she impressed me as a lady of pure character and 
 charming presence ; as an artist, she moved me, both 
 to admiration and emotion, more than any woman I 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 had ever seen on the stage, not even excepting Miss 
 Cushman. The few biographical notes taken very 
 hastily viva voce during her short stay in Boston con- 
 vinced me, on examination, that her story was matter 
 for a book, rather than an article. 
 
 Before communicating this second thought to any 
 one, what was my astonishment to read in the literary 
 announcements of "The Boston Saturday Gazette," 
 that I was writing a book on Miss Genevieve Ward ! 
 As "The Gazette " was never known to make a mis- 
 take, I was determined not to be the first to convict 
 it of human frailty. I wrote to Miss Ward in London 
 for more materials, not then divulging my book plan, 
 being uncertain that a publisher would undertake it — 
 they don't always take a good thing ! 
 
 Miss Ward wrote back in July, 1879 : ■ — 
 
 " I have not had a moment to call my own. We have moved 
 from Paris to London, and furnished our new home. I have 
 taken the Lyceum for the period of Mr. Irving's absence, to 
 produce my new play ' Zillah,' by Palgrave Simpson, formed a 
 company, commenced rehearsals, and generally started every 
 thing. I open the 2d of August, and up to that time can't pos- 
 sibly sit down quietly to give you all the details I must gather 
 together. Mother is delighted with your message, and will take 
 great pleasure in doing all in her power." 
 
 Miss Ward had expected to return to the United 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 States in the fall of 1879; but this plan had been 
 given up. Meantime I had proposed the book to 
 Mr. J. R. Osgood, and he had accepted it. 
 
 I wrote her that my project had expanded from an 
 article to a book, and asked for the amplest materials 
 at her command. 
 
 In March, 1880, she replied from Edinburgh, — 
 
 " You are a worker yourself, and know how one work often 
 crowds out another : I therefore feel certain that you do not 
 attribute my silence to neglect, or want of appreciation for your 
 kind and noble labors in my behalf ; but, as I was not to return 
 home this year, I thought you would postpone the publication 
 of your work on G. W. until my return to America should be 
 decided, when it would have an additional interest. I find I 
 have not brought with me to Edinburgh all the material I sup- 
 posed, but I send you what I have on hand. . . . ' Ziliah ' was 
 such a failure, I withdrew it after four nights, putting in its 
 place Victor Hugo's ' Lucrezia Borgia ' as arranged for me by 
 Mr. William Young. This was only until I had prepared an- 
 other play which I had not yet secured. I also did ' Meg Mer- 
 rilies.' I spent my days reading plays, and at last concluded 
 on trying ' Forget Me Not,' a play which had been for seven 
 years on the author's hands, being refused by all the leading 
 actresses of England. I produced it with only a week to study 
 and rehearse it, and playing ' Lucrezia ' every night. 
 
 " I never played a part on such short notice, and had no time 
 to analyze it. It was entirely an inspiration. The play made 
 a hit; but we could not test its drawing capacities, for I could 
 only have the theatre two weeks. I then took it to the prov- 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 inces on a very successful tour, and opened the Prince of Wales 
 Theatre, under Mr. Bruce's management, with it on the 22d of 
 February, just six months from its first production. The first 
 two weeks it was uncertain whether it would draw, notwith- 
 standing the encomiums of the press : then it took a start, and 
 the houses have been crammed ; many times, ladies and gen- 
 tlemen in full dress. being obliged to go up into the amphi- 
 theatre, and they did so rather than not see it. The best test, 
 however, is that the same people come over and over again, 
 and like it better each time. 
 
 " The Prince of Wales came twice in two weeks ; and as he 
 is considered the best judge of the drama in England, and says 
 there is no acting like mine off the French stage, I have become 
 the * rage.' They are very generous here ; my being an Ameri- 
 can is no drawback. In fact, when the Prince of Wales asked 
 me if I was not French, and I told him I was an American, he 
 replied, ' I have always thought the American ladies the clever- 
 est in the world/ — a pretty compliment to American women. 
 I herewith send a few items jotted down by mother. I have 
 perfect faith in you, womanarily and literarily, as I prove. As 
 all the biographical sketches of me hitherto published have been 
 a great mixture of truth and error, I will see that yours is well 
 circulated as authentic I never wrote so much about myself 
 before, and never shall again ; for I will always refer my friends 
 in future to your complete and comprehensive work." 
 
 The "few items jotted down by mother" showed 
 me that Mrs. Ward's memory was my mine : therefore 
 I deferred writing the present biography until this 
 summer of 1881, when, during the latter part of June 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 and early in July, we were all in London together, and 
 I received from the Wards the necessary materials, 
 abundant and rich, but in an unavoidably chaotic state, 
 which I have taken conscientious pains to reduce to 
 accuracy and symmetry ; and, whatever other defects 
 may be found, I believe that no error of import to fact 
 or feeling will be discovered. 
 
 It goes without saying, that perspective and certain 
 other qualities and elements characteristic of posthu- 
 mous biography — obviously much the easiest to write 
 — are not, and ought not to be, apparent in the present 
 work. Mrs. Ward furnished me, as I had foreseen 
 she would, some of the most interesting details from 
 a well-trained and well-stored memory. From the 
 masses of letters addressed by eminent men and 
 women of many lands to Miss Ward, to which I have 
 had access, I have been guided in my selection less 
 by the distinguished position of the writers, than by 
 the capacity to add by illustration or elucidation to 
 the value of the subject matter. It has not been pos- 
 sible to insert more than a small proportion of letters, 
 nearly all of which would interest the general reader, 
 and which form a correspondence, as to source and 
 character, of which any one might be proud to have 
 been the recipient. 
 
 If this book inspires any talent with the patience 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 and courage of the profound discipline Art exacts of 
 every votary whom she crowns, and if it pleases its 
 gifted subject and her friends, — a term which must 
 ultimately apply to all lovers of pure art splendidly 
 exemplified, — I shall be well recompensed for a difri- 
 
 ZADEL BARNES GUSTAFSON. 
 London, Aug. 27, 1881. 
 
1 Dear Madame Gustafson, — It is with the greatest pleas- 
 ure that I hear you intend writing the biography of my friend 
 Miss Ward. Such a work cannot fail to greatly interest the 
 general public and especially all lovers of art. 
 
 Nature has endowed Miss Ward with precious gifts for the 
 stage. She interested me from the first moment of our ac- 
 quaintance ; and I was glad to have the pleasure of evincing 
 my sympathy by taking part, together with my illustrious friend 
 Frezzolini, in a concert given by Miss Ward in a salon of the 
 Hotel de Louvre in Paris. 
 
 She was then a lyric artist: and, though possessing much 
 merit, my impression was, that she excelled rather in dramatic 
 power ; and when in London, in 1873, she informed me of her 
 intention to devote herself to dramatic art, I encouraged her in 
 every way in my power, aiding her with my advice and in- 
 struction. 
 
 In December of the same year, when I met her again in 
 Manchester, on hearing her declaim selections from different 
 tragedies, I was convinced that I had not been mistaken in 
 thinking a brilliant career awaited her on the English stage ; 
 and, although I have never had the pleasure of assisting at one 
 of her representations, the success she has since obtained in 
 England, France, and America, and the unanimous applause 
 accorded her by the press, have proved to me that my pre- 
 visions have been fully realized. She has met the just reward 
 for her persevering devotion to her profession. Hoping that 
 I may soon have the pleasure of reading your work, believe me, 
 dear madame, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 ADELAIDE RISTORI (DEL GRILLO). 
 
 St. Moritz-Bad, Aug. 28, 1881. 
 Hof-St. Moritz. 
 
 1 This letter is given just as it was written in English by Madame Ristori. 
 
"I can conceive of few things more stimulating to a woman, than 
 
 a gifted mother." 
 
 Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 (COUNTESS DE GUERBEL.) 
 
 I. 
 
 AMONG the "seven hundred and ten distin- 
 guished persons, each bearing but one name, 
 who accompanied William the Conqueror from Nor- 
 mandy to the conquest of England in 1066," was Baron 
 Leigh; and in the still-preserved record of their 
 names is mentioned that of- " Ward, one of the noble 
 captains, this being the earliest date in which the name 
 is found in English history." 
 
 From that period to the present, the Wards and 
 Leighs have intermarried. 
 
 John Leigh came with his brother to America from 
 Bruton Street, London, in 1634. 
 
 Gov. Morton's memorial, in recording the arrivals 
 from the Old Country, speaks of these Leigh brothers 
 as the younger sons of the Earl of Marlborough. The 
 king had portioned them off with grants of land. The 
 son of John Leigh was sent back in due course of 
 time to England, to be educated, and entered Queen 
 Anne's navy. The descendants of the Bru ton-street 
 
 3 
 
4 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Leighs settled on the eastern shores of Maryland, and 
 agreed with the Goodenoughs and the Woodhouses — 
 being all stanch republicans — to change their names 
 respectively to those of Lee, Woodis, and Goodenow ; 
 names now so widely and favorably known in the 
 United States, synonymes of enterprise, prosperity, and 
 clean repute. The royalist branch of the Leigh family 
 remained good Tories, retained the original spelling of 
 their name, and moved to Nova Scotia. 
 
 One of the family, a wealthy bachelor named 
 Horatio Nelson Ward, went to Europe about thirty 
 years ago, and spent about fifteen years, and from ten 
 to twelve thousand pounds, in seeking out the gene- 
 alogy of his family. He succeeded in tracing them 
 back to the year 700, in Denmark, where the name 
 is still found spelled Wart, and meaning, both in Dan- 
 ish and in German, as in English, — to guard. 
 
 Both the Wards and the Leighs have been people 
 of most honorable repute, long-lived, and a notable 
 proportion of them have from generation to generation 
 filled acceptably positions of responsibility and public 
 trust. Besides the long list of families whose names 
 and records are matters of both English and American 
 pride, with whom the Wards have from time to time 
 intermarried, they have continued, as already stated, to 
 intermarry with the Lees in both countries, and the 
 same names have been handed down in the families ; 
 William having been usually the name of the head of 
 the family of Ward, and John the name of the head 
 of the Lee family. 
 
 Only those who have seen the volume entitled "The 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 5 
 
 Ward Family," ' issued in 185 1, by Andrew Henshaw 
 Ward, A.M., member of the New-England Historic- 
 Genealogical Society, know what an interesting and 
 proud family-tree it reveals, with branches bearing 
 many of the best-known and best-loved English and 
 American names. 
 
 Mrs. Lucy Leigh Ward, 2 daughter of Gideon Lee, 
 formerly mayor of New- York City, widow of the late 
 Col. Samuel Ward, and mother of the beautiful and 
 gifted tragedienne who is the subject of the present 
 biography, is the most remarkable living member of 
 this family, and one of the most remarkable represen- 
 tative women of modern times. 
 
 " I am accused of being very proud of my old 
 family," she said to me, one day of this present sum- 
 mer of 1 88 1 ; "and Judge Wayne once reminded me 
 that I was the ninth generation of the Lees born in 
 the State of Massachusetts, and that in Austria ten 
 generations make a noble. But it isn't nobilities, 
 titles, lordships, patrimonies, coats-of-arms, and blue 
 blood, that I care for ; but when you can trace a family 
 back for hundreds of years, and find them, from gen- 
 eration to generation, men and women of splendid 
 bodies and magnificent souls, as the Wards and Lees 
 are to this day, I take it as good proof they have lived 
 after God's own plan ; and I am proud of that sort of 
 nobility ; and I think, too, that 'the family names of 
 such people ought to be spared from public burlesque. 
 When Mr. Browne was here in London, a letter ap- 
 
 1 Published by Samuel G. Drake. See Appendix. 
 
 2 Ever since ascertaining that Leigh was the original spelling of her maiden 
 name, Mrs. Ward has adopted that form. 
 
6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 peared in 'The Times/ asking for the correct pro- 
 nunciation of Artemas. I replied in the same journal 
 that I was probably the best authority on the subject, 
 as there had been several Artemas Wards in my family, 
 and we gave the accent to the first syllable. I took 
 care to add that I regretted extremely that Mr. Browne 
 should have chosen the time-honored name of Major- 
 Gen. Artemas Ward of the Revolution as a subject for 
 derision and laughter. Mr. Browne called on me im- 
 mediately, and in a very gentlemanly manner expressed 
 his great surprise at the fact I had mentioned, and his 
 regret that in ignorance of it he should have wounded 
 family feeling, and begged leave to incorporate the fact 
 in his then forthcoming book." 
 
 Mrs. Ward's mother, who died when Lucy was a 
 baby, was Laura Bufnngton, who lived in Worthing- 
 ton, Mass., and. who was a lineal descendant of old 
 Jonathan Edwards of Northampton, Mass. It will 
 be remembered that keenness, strength, and sterling 
 moral quality marked the " long-favored " and un- 
 beautiful Edwards face. One day, when Mrs. Ward 
 was little Lucy Lee, one of the Edwards family came 
 to her father's on a visit. Noticing the little girl, 
 caught probably in the first instance by the twinkling 
 glances of the direct and penetrating eyes, — eyes that 
 care, experience, and age are powerless to dim, — he 
 asked, — 
 
 "Whose child is this?" and, laying his hand on her 
 head, he upturned her face for the sort of scrutiny to 
 which the shyest and most individual souls of chil- 
 dren are always being unwarrantably subjected. She 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 7 
 
 gave him look for look, and never forgot the pathetic 
 fellowship that came into his face as he released her, 
 and said, " That's an Edwards child ! " 
 
 She was a prodigy from her birth ; interpreting life 
 from the first with an originality, and understanding it 
 with a passion, that belong neither to childhood nor 
 age, but to genius. Her instinct for shams and shal- 
 lownesses drew blood, like Ithuriel's spear, wherever the 
 lie lay hid. And, though this faculty has kept the 
 circle of intimate friendship thin enough for the freest 
 and happiest grouping of the few who have truly 
 known her, it has not withheld her from entertaining 
 and re-invigorating the social circles of many lands, 
 which her own gifts, and her daughter's beauty, tal- 
 ents, and unique career, have gathered around them. 
 
 Major Buffington, a descendant of Lady Burlington, 
 and the grandfather, on the mother's side, of Mrs. 
 Ward, was one of the historic figures of her earliest 
 memories. Lady Buffington used laughingly to call 
 George Washington a " great rascal," relating a little 
 incident somewhat subversive of the popular tradition 
 of the little hatchet. 
 
 The Mount Vernon and Buffington estates adjoined ; 
 and, according to Lady Buffington, when George 
 Washington builded the wall between them, he made 
 it lap over on her property, thus sparing every inch of 
 his own. 
 
 Major Buffington, who served through the whole of 
 the Revolution, is reputed to have been the strongest 
 man in the army, very handsome, and so tall and well- 
 proportioned as to carry gracefully his weight of two 
 
8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 hundred and ninety pounds. His hair when combed 
 out reached to his ankles ; and his Polish servant, who 
 took great pride in it, braided and looped it in an 
 elegant cue. Mrs. Ward distinctly remembers, in 
 proof of his fabulous physical powers, seeing him on 
 one occasion go into a stable, lay his hand on a horse, 
 and push it over flat upon the ground ; and at another 
 time, when a horse was running away with a buggy, 
 Major Buffington sprang forward, and catching hold 
 of the back of the wagon stopped the animal by main 
 force after a few paces. To Lucy Lee, then not five 
 years old, he seemed as veritable a giant as any that 
 Jack the Giant-killer ever slew. At the close of the 
 Revolution he moved with his family from Virginia to 
 Massachusetts, where he settled on top of a moun- 
 tain near Worthington, and devoted his remaining en- 
 ergies to his horses, which had always been a great 
 passion with him ; a feeling shared by the whole fam- 
 ily, who ride, drive, and manage horses admirably. In 
 1815 he was offered a generalship, but declined on 
 account of his sufferings from epilepsy, which had al- 
 ready paled his naturally jet-black eyes to blue. 
 
 "Some thirty years ago," said Mrs. Ward, in a re- 
 cent letter to a friend, "just as I was going aboard the 
 steamer for Europe, a man addressed me, asking if I 
 was a» descendant of Major Buffington. The govern- 
 ment of Florida had sent to know, there being a tract 
 of land belonging to him in that State, probably given 
 to him for his services in the Revolution. I sent this 
 man to my lawyer, who, however, paid no attention 
 to it. I believe there is an island and a stream in the 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 9 
 
 West named Buffington for him : I have no papers, 
 however, on these or kindred matters, as my step- 
 mother and I were not friends. She had been my 
 nursery-governess ; and she never gave me any thing 
 after my father's death, which took place when I was 
 abroad and very ill." 
 
 All Mrs. Ward's early recollections are of such men 
 as Clay, Webster, the Waynes, Gen. Jackson, Gov. 
 Clinton ; all friends of her father's, whom she there- 
 fore saw constantly, and to whom she was a never- 
 palling astonishment, the best of little bons camarades, 
 a fresh-hearted child-sage, never to be driven, bought, 
 or coaxed from the most courageously truthful 
 dealings. 
 
 Gov. Clinton, who could not get warm at his own 
 fireside, used often to take his meals with the Lees ; 
 and on one of these occasions, in the course of a 
 conversation she was too young to understand, Lucy 
 heard her father suddenly exclaim, — 
 
 " If you do that, you'll cut the throat of the United 
 States ! " 
 
 The child slipped away, and tremblingly thought up- 
 on this announcement. It seemed to her too frightful 
 to be spoken of, and she was carefully silent though 
 vividly remembering it. At last, when she had become 
 a " grown-up," she asked her father about it ; and he 
 explained that Gov. Clinton had wished to be made 
 governor a second' time, which, as it could not be 
 done without giving a free vote, was a process tant- 
 amount, in Gideon Lee's mind, to putting the knife to 
 the throat of the Republic. 
 
10 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Thomas Cooper, the famous elocutionist of Kem- 
 ble's time, whose powerful " Coriolanus " and "Julius 
 Caesar " were the models for the English stage of those 
 days, used to visit her father in New York, and took 
 great interest in the marvellous child. He would 
 place her on the table in front of him, and repeat long 
 declamatory passages, which she would recite after 
 him with scarcely the loss of a word, imitating his 
 gesture and accent to a nicety. Her rich voice seemed 
 a miracle in a body so small ; but wonder at this was 
 merged in wonder at the memorizing faculty, and at 
 the passionate fidelity of the imitation which fascinated 
 Tom Cooper, and made these scenes great treats to 
 them all ; and it was emphatically prophesied that she 
 would grow up to be one of the greatest wonders of 
 the world. When barely old enough to hold a pencil 
 she made little drawings, and painted miniatures on 
 rice-paper, with a sense of color and a notion of man- 
 agement that would have been striking in a much older 
 artist ; and her improvisations in both music and verse 
 were surprisingly graceful and touching. 
 
 But, with all her gifts and her quickness, little Lucy 
 was very plain, and was constantly hearing this fact 
 affirmed and deplored, not always as kindly as in Jona- 
 than Edwards's compassionate eyes. This crushed her. 
 Everybody was kind to her, and of admiration she 
 had enough to have turned dozens of heads of another 
 sort than hers ; but she did not feel herself loved. 
 To those who know her in these days of her wrinkles 
 and gray hairs, it seems impossible that she should not 
 have been loved in her childhood, if only for the light 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. II 
 
 and quenchless youth of the eyes and smile which 
 make plainness and old age in her so lovely ; but the 
 correctness of such a child's instinct can hardly be 
 questioned. She craved for love, always missing it. 
 She carried herself calmly, with the seeming careless- 
 ness of her years ; but she left people for dumb ani- 
 mals. Horses, dogs, cows, birds, were her intimates. 
 She fed them, caressed them ; and they listened to all 
 her confidences, and loved her, each after its kind. 
 Birds, particularly, were very dear and tame to her ; 
 and she has never tasted their flesh. 
 
 With little notion of the use or value of money, she 
 reaped all the advantages of being an heiress. She 
 became an excellent pianist, played both the harp and 
 guitar, sang, painted, and wrote melodious verse and 
 graphic prose with great facility. 
 
 The identity of Mrs. Ward used sometimes to be 
 confounded with that of Medora Grimes, wife of 
 Samuel Ward the lobbyist, for the latter was also very 
 talented. But, unlike Gideon Lee's bright daughters, 
 Medora was a beauty ; and by this point of difference 
 the two brilliant Mesdames Ward were distinguished 
 from one another. 
 
 But it was as a conversationalist that Mrs. Ward, nee 
 Lucy Lee, outshone all other talkers, maintaining the 
 nicest harmony between the thoughtful, weighty, and 
 witty elements of conversation ; so that her supremacy 
 in this fine art — the most royal and perhaps most 
 exacting of all the arts — was conceded without envy 
 or question That she was a perfect hostess, follows 
 without saying. An eclectic number of the political, 
 
12 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 literary, and musical celebrities of the time gathered 
 around her, loath to lose a word from her lips ; and 
 Daniel Webster, Calhoun, Clay, and Tom Corwin used 
 to be moved to tears .in listening to her singing of 
 "The Irish Emigrant," accompanied by the guitar. 
 For her singing was also something wonderful. It is 
 said that her voice had a compass of four full octaves ; 
 from the middle register ascending it was a fine, soft 
 soprano, and below it was a full, strong tenor. 
 
 She studied song in Italy, when her daughter Gene- 
 vieve was a baby; and no less an authority than 
 Madame Garcia, mother of Madame Malibran, said 
 that Mrs. Ward's voice was precisely that of Madame 
 Malibran, only it had greater compass; that their 
 necks were formed and set alike, with a peculiarity 
 which she thought would be observable in all great 
 singers. Mrs. Ward's teacher in singing was Signor 
 Marchelini, a one-legged Italian of great talent and 
 taste, who was also the prison-friend of Silvio Pellico, 
 whose history is so well known. 
 
 Once when a guest at the house of Catalini, in Italy, 
 Mrs. Ward was asked to sing, and, in complying, se- 
 lected a tenor part. Her singing was quickly inter- 
 rupted by Madame Catalini's exclamation, — 
 
 " No ! I cannot believe it ! It cannot be you who 
 are singing : it is a man's voice ! " and she placed 
 her own mouth to that of the young singer to feel if the 
 notes were really breathed from that quarter. Being 
 by this process at last convinced, she exclaimed, with 
 delight and amazement, " But there must be something 
 wrong here ! This is not human ! " 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 3 
 
 She took no lessons in painting, except a few in 
 landscape from an Englishman, and afterward of Miss 
 Viardot in Paris ; but she had the benefit of Sir William 
 Newton's advice in London, and in Paris, in miniature, 
 the counsels of the celebrated M. Isabey, miniature- 
 painter of the court of Napoleon the Great. 
 
 Mrs. Ward's Friday receptions in Paris were at- 
 tended by the chief writers and artists of the day. 
 Musset and Balzac were there ; the great painter Ver- 
 net came, and David d' Angers; but M. Isabey was 
 one of the most interesting of her guests. Imagine a 
 gentleman dressed in the style of the French court 
 during the period when Napoleon affected the richest 
 display for his satellites, — a man over eighty years 
 old, yet with a young and flashing eye, and a most 
 polished bearing, — and you have M. Isabey in Mrs. 
 Ward's Parisian salon. He frankly admired her work ; 
 and when she applied to him for the address of Ma- 
 dame Mirbel, one of his best pupils, that she might 
 take lessons of her, he begged her not to run the risk 
 of injuring her style, " already combining all that was 
 most finished and precious in miniature, by taking 
 lessons of any one then in Paris." 
 
 Since I have seen some of Mrs. Ward's work, I can 
 appreciate the justice of such praise. Her miniature 
 on ivory of Madame Elizabeth, Louis XVI. 's nobly 
 famous "Angel of the Prison" sister, is beautifully 
 worthy of its subject ; and her last picture, represent- 
 ing her daughter Genevieve at the age of eight, painted 
 this summer of 1881, with hand and eye of threescore 
 years and ten, is not only one of the fairest ideals of 
 
14 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 childish innocence and aspiration I have ever seen, 
 but as a piece of work is so delicately fine, it appears 
 rather to have been breathed than brushed upon 
 canvas. 
 
 One day M. Isabey escorted Mrs. Ward to see the 
 famous "Battle of the Alma," while in process of 
 painting. She looked at the Due d'Aumale on horse- 
 back, and at the figure of the woman kneeling on the 
 ground in front of him, for some time, with scant 
 comment. 
 
 " Well, well, well ! " eagerly exclaimed M. Isabey, 
 when they had come out, "how do you like it?" 
 
 "Dear friend, I like it very much — all but the 
 drawing of the woman." 
 
 " Why ! What do you mean ? What is wrong with 
 her?" 
 
 "Did you really notice nothing?" said Mrs. Ward. 
 " Did you not see that the woman is kneeling on the 
 ground, while the duke is on horseback, yet her head 
 comes up to the top of the horse's back ; and if she 
 should rise, she would, while on the ground, be as tall 
 as the duke on horseback?" 
 
 M. Isabey, who was personally interested in the 
 artist, heard her in consternation : — 
 
 " But if this is so, dear madame, we must go back : 
 we must tell him ; it must be fixed." 
 
 " But we cannot go back, now we have come away." 
 
 " Yes, we can," persisted M. Isabey : " you can make 
 an excuse. You have lost — yes, you have lost your 
 handkerchief," taking and crunching it in his hand : 
 " I will drop it, and you shall find it." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 5 
 
 So they played this friendly little trick ; and, to his 
 dismay, M. Isabey found that Mrs. Ward was right, 
 and when they again came out said he must devise 
 some way for getting the artist's attention to such a 
 terrible blunder. 
 
 " But I don't think the dear old gentleman found 
 the right time, and the courage, at the same moment," 
 said Mrs. Ward to me ; " for the picture with the im- 
 possible woman hangs in* the palace at Versailles to 
 this day." 
 
 During the regime of Louis Philippe, Mrs. Ward 
 enjoyed the friendship of the Marquise de Beaufort, 
 whose son was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Orleans. 
 She frequently accompanied the marquise to court, 
 and to the " intimes soirees." The marquise was a 
 great favorite with the royal family, who constantly sent 
 her gifts of fruits and flowers, which she made haste to 
 share with Mrs. Ward. They met daily ; and the mar- 
 quise, always interested in every thing American, was 
 eager to taste every American dish which Mrs. Ward, 
 who added to her other gifts that of being a true chef 
 de cuisine, had prepared for the novel delectation of 
 her kind French friend. 
 
 When Mrs. Ward was in Italy, Hiram Powers — who 
 was much impressed with her talents — told her that 
 he thought she had even greater genius for modelling 
 than painting, and she moulded for some time in his 
 studio ; and when they parted, the great sculptor gave 
 her the instruments with which Miss Genevieve Ward 
 is now modelling. 
 
A MADAME WARD. 
 
 Vous qui reunissez tant de talents divers, 
 Et dont le coeur unit l'Amerique et la France, 
 Permettez-moi de dire aujourd'hui dans ces vers, 
 Que vous aimez surtout a calmer la souffrance ! 
 Lorsque Paris etait en proie a des pervers, 
 Que la bombe ecrasait la vieillesse et l'enfance; 
 Quand le froid et le faim accroissaient nos revers, 
 Qu'il nous restait a peine un rayon d'esperance, — 
 Alors, n'ecoutant plus que votre charite, 
 Votre courage ardent, conduit par la bonte, 
 Dans bien des coeurs francais gravait votre memoire. 
 Parmi nous votre bon nom sera souvent cite ; 
 On cherit vos talents ; mais c'est l'humanite, 
 Qui saura mieux encore consacrer votre gloire. 
 
 Charles Boissiere. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 9 
 
 II. 
 
 Mrs. Ward's extensive travels have made the whole 
 world her home, and herself a cosmopolitan thoroughly 
 familiar with the manners and customs, and with the 
 languages even to the dialects, of very diverse peoples ; 
 and over a long period the columns of both home and 
 foreign journals have sparkled with her apt descriptions 
 of the scenes and people of her journeyings ; and the 
 energy with which she has devoted her ready mimetic 
 and other gifts — for she has been one of the clever- 
 est of comediennes — to social or beneficiary service 
 everywhere, has been equalled only by the esteem in 
 which the greatest have held her talents and her rare 
 critical powers. 
 
 From the striking episodes of her eventful life I 
 have selected certain incidents of the siege of Paris, 
 not only because they afford good illustration of those 
 salient traits which have less defined her own life, than 
 wonderfully guided and guarded her daughter's career 
 to its present proud eminence, but because they are 
 of international interest, and have not hitherto been 
 generally made known. 
 
 When the Franco-Prussian war was declared, Mrs. 
 Ward was staying in Paris with her son Albert Lee 
 
20 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Ward. Mr. Ward was a young man of unusual ca- 
 pacity, gifted with good sense of the very first order, 
 a handsome person, and elegant manners ; and his ac- 
 quirements, especially in political science and in the 
 mastery of languages, had already gained him position 
 in the diplomatic service in the city of Bristol, England, 
 as American vice-consul and Austrian vice-consul ; and 
 for a time as consul-general for Portugal, on account 
 of the death of their own consul-general, in which 
 position he gave such satisfaction to the Portuguese 
 government that they wished to retain him in their 
 office, but could not on account of his alien birth. He 
 served also as consul pro tern at Cairo, at the time of 
 Butler's ejection. When the siege of Paris was immi- 
 nent, Mr. Ward gave up his position in a bank for that 
 of secretary to the American Legation ; his linguistic 
 abilities making his services of the most vital impor- 
 tance to Mr. Washburne, then the American minister 
 to France, who was not conversant with the modern 
 languages. 
 
 The mother and son, previous to the opening of 
 hostilities, had talked over the matter of staying or 
 departing from the troubled capital, and had concluded 
 to remain in the hope of being of use to the wounded 
 in case of battles, and perhaps of other humane as- 
 sistance. 
 
 One Sunday morning, early in those agitated days, 
 Mrs. Ward, who had lain awake all night on gentle 
 thoughts intent, rose and went to her son's room, and 
 roused him with these words, — 
 
 " Suppose we organize an ambulance. Let us go 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 21 
 
 up to Dr. Evans, and see if he will let us have his tools 
 and things to begin with." 
 
 Dr. Thomas Evans was an American dentist, then 
 residing in Paris, and the owner of tents and other 
 appurtenances for sanitary purposes. When the 
 Wards' ambulance-plan was laid before him, he at 
 once begged to be admitted into it. 
 
 " Let's unite," said he. " I'll give you a room in my 
 apartments in the Rue de la Paix, and we will form 
 an ambulance ; and Mrs. Ward will have charge of the 
 ladies' sanitary committee, and appeal for funds." 
 
 Upon this followed a ladies' meeting, at which Dr. 
 Evans presided. Mrs. Ward nominated Mrs. Dr. 
 Evans for the presidency of the ladies' sanitary com- 
 mittee ; but, as this lady was just about quitting Paris, 
 Mrs. Ward next named Mrs. Anson Burlingame ; Mrs. 
 Burlingame, however, was also about to leave Paris, 
 and proposed that Mrs. Ward, who. had initiated the 
 noble measure, should be made president, and at once 
 subscribed with other ladies large sums in support of 
 the project. In a speech, Dr. Evans as chairman 
 declared Mrs. Ward president of the ladies' sanitary 
 committee. 
 
 Mrs. Parnell, wife of the Irish agitator, her two 
 daughters, and two other English ladies, joined Mrs. 
 Ward heartily in the labors of getting up the ambu- 
 lance : lint and bandages were rapidly made ready, 
 and all went on smoothly. Dr. Sims of New York, 
 Dr. May of Baltimore, and some other young Ameri- 
 can physicians, assisted the ladies in their enterprise. 
 Dr. Evans, and his secretary Dr. Crane, Mr. Albert 
 
22 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Lee Ward (whom Dr. Evans appointed secretary of the 
 ambulance commission), and Dr. Lamson, one of the 
 American clergy, formed the gentlemen's committee ; 
 but, as with this number they had no quorum, Mr. 
 Ward proposed, at one of their meetings, that Dr. Sims 
 should be added to their committee. To everybody's 
 astonishment, Dr. Evans sprang up and exclaimed, — 
 
 " No ! /won't have him on ! " 
 
 Dr. Sims remained tranquil until the meeting was 
 over, then walking up to Dr. Evans, and asking, " What 
 do you mean by saying such a thing?" struck Dr. 
 Evans coolly across the mouth with open palm. 
 
 Dr. Evans immediately sat down in the nearest chair, 
 and in a crouching attitude, with his hands lifted, dep- 
 recatingly cried out several times, — 
 
 " Oh, don't hurt me ! don't hurt me ! " 
 
 " Why don't you pick up a chair, and go for him, 
 instead of whimpering like that?" cried Mr. Ward. 
 
 " He knocked me down," replied Evans, still cow- 
 ering. 
 
 " No, that's not true," said Mr. Ward. 
 
 Meantime the noise of the altercation had reached 
 the ladies' department ; and Mrs. Ward, Dr. May of 
 Baltimore, Miss Parnell, and the other English ladies, 
 rushed across the passage into the gentlemen's com- 
 mittee-rooms. 
 
 Mr. Ward was standing with his hands on Dr. Sims's 
 shoulders, as in friendly restraint. Dr. Crane had hold 
 of Dr. Evans, from whose nose a few drops of blood 
 trickled. The moment his mother appeared, Mr. 
 Ward turned to her and the other ladies, and led them 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 23 
 
 from the room, saying, " Mother, this is no place for 
 you." 
 
 The next morning when Mrs. Ward came to resume 
 her duties in the ladies' committee-room, she found 
 the door locked, and was informed that a Mrs. Conk- 
 ling had been placed in charge by order of Dr. Evans. 
 
 Wishing to reach some understanding with Dr. 
 Evans as to the abrupt and peremptory alteration of 
 affairs, she returned in the afternoon of the same day, 
 and was told Dr. Evans had left town ; but, seeing his 
 carriage waiting at a little distance, she concluded to 
 wait also, and after some time the absent doctor came 
 down-stairs. 
 
 Mrs. Ward asked him at once for an explanation of 
 the proceedings ; to which he replied, that he could 
 not give it then, as he was just leaving for Dieppe. 
 He was looking well, showing no traces whatever of 
 the fray of the previous day, and Mrs. Ward congratu- 
 lated him pointedly to that effect. The very next step 
 in the matter, however, was the prosecution of Dr. 
 Sims by Dr. Evans, damages being set at five thousand 
 francs ; and all the members of both committees were 
 summoned to court. 
 
 Dr. Evans testified that he had been severely injured 
 physically by the assault of Dr. Sims, and had lost a 
 great deal of money also, in consequence of being 
 unable to attend to his business. 
 
 Dr. Crane denied that he was Dr. Evans's secretary, 
 or had received any salary from him, and then cor- 
 roborated precisely the testimony of Dr. Evans as to 
 the injuries the latter had received in body and purse. 
 
24 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Dr. May stated that he had just arrived from Dieppe ; 
 that, on the day succeeding that of the alleged assault, 
 Dr. Evans had arrived at Dieppe perfectly well, and 
 had eaten dinner there like every one else at table 
 d'hote. 
 
 Mrs. Ward testified that she had seen Dr. Evans the 
 next day after the encounter ; that he was looking just 
 as usual, and had received her congratulations on the 
 fact. 
 
 Dr. Sims gave his testimony in accordance with that 
 of Mrs. Ward and Dr. May. . He apologized hand- 
 somely to the court for having disturbed the laws of a 
 country he so profoundly esteemed ; and, not being 
 familiar with the French language, he made everybody 
 laugh by adding, "I only gave him a sifflet" (whistle), 
 meaning to have said soufflet (light blow) . 
 
 The decision of the court was given morally on the 
 side of the defendant; the damages being placed at 
 three hundred francs, the lowest legal limit. 
 
 As the party were going out of court, Dr. Evans 
 shook his fist in Mrs. Ward's face, declaring he would 
 have her up for libel. A New-Orleans lawyer who had 
 been much interested in the case happened to be close 
 behind them, and pulled out his note-book, exclaiming, 
 "What's that! what's that!" upon which Dr. Evans 
 disappeared. 
 
 At this period Dr. Evans was in communication with 
 the Queen of Prussia, and had shown to the ambu- 
 lance a letter the queen had written to him ; and he 
 was commonly spoken of as the back-stair friend of 
 Louis Napoleon, which seems to afford some indica- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 2$ 
 
 tion of the reason why, when he soon after went to 
 England, he was not permitted to return to Paris while 
 the siege lasted. 
 
 It is now reported that he denies that there ever 
 was a ladies' sanitary committee. But the foregoing 
 account can be verified, having been taken from the 
 minutes of the ladies' sanitary committee. 
 
 After this suit, and just before Dr. Evans left for 
 England, two English gentlemen arrived in Paris with 
 two thousand pounds they were intending to give to 
 the American ambulance. On talking with Dr. Evans, 
 and finding that he wished to be considered the only 
 person concerned with the ambulance, and to have his 
 name printed on every thing, even to the pill-boxes 
 and straps and toggery of the wagons, ,these English- 
 men promptly handed over the money to the French 
 sanitary committee at the Palais de V Industrie, which 
 Dr. Sims, Dr. May, and the other physicians had 
 joined. 
 
 When the battle of Sedan was thought to be immi- 
 nent, Dr. Sims came to Mrs. Ward, and said they were 
 organizing an ambulance to go out to Sedan, and 
 asked if she would be willing to take part in a beg- 
 ging march from the Palais de V Industrie to the rail- 
 way-station. This procession, conceded to have been 
 the handsomest ever seen in time of war, was formed 
 as follows. First, in double file, came the servants of 
 the ambulance in bright uniform, under the command 
 of the tall and handsome Count Serrurier, vice-presi- 
 dent of the Societe Francaise de Secours aux Blesses, 
 an officer who rendered eminent services during the 
 
26 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 war. Next came the military band, followed by three 
 ladies ; Mrs. Carr and Miss Carrie Sims (both daugh- 
 ters of Dr. Sims) and Mrs. Ward. The Sims ladies 
 declined to carry the English flag, preferring to carry 
 the French and American banners. To settle this 
 point, Mrs. Ward heartily volunteered to be the bearer 
 of the "grandmother's blanket," as the English flag 
 used jocularly to be called to distinguish it from the 
 "grandmother's gridiron," the stars and stripes. 
 
 Mr. Ward walked beside his mother, then nearly 
 sixty years old, to help her bear the really heavy stand- 
 ard. Another gentleman walked on the other side 
 of the three ladies to hold out the contribution-bags. 
 Then came the body of physicians, followed by the 
 new and resplendent ambulance -wagon and the led 
 horses. A thick crowd closed in upon the rear of the 
 procession, following it all the way. 
 
 On seeing this bright and sturdy phalanx pass up 
 the boulevards, with the three ladies marching in the 
 midst, bearing the flags of England, America, and 
 France, the people, officers, and soldiers formed a 
 dense hedge on either side, and gave them military 
 salutes. Fired with sympathy in the noble purpose of 
 the march, they threw off their caps in the greatest 
 enthusiasm, crying all along the line, " God bless you ! 
 God bless you ! O you dear, brave women ! " 
 
 About fifteen thousand • francs were taken in this 
 march. 
 
 Later, when the American ambulance was about 
 breaking up for want of funds, Mr. Ward called a 
 meeting of the few Americans then in Paris, stated the 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 2/ 
 
 situation, pledged every franc he himself possessed to 
 the maintenance of the enterprise in the name of 
 American honor, and even vouched for Dr. Evans 
 that the latter would, when permitted to return to 
 Paris, refund all sums so expended ; which Dr. Evans 
 subsequently did. 
 
 Mr. Ward's action re-animated popular interest in 
 the project. Contributions poured in : Hon. Stuart 
 Wortley loaned twenty-five thousand francs to Mr. 
 Ward for it ; and old Mr. Boucicault of the Bon Mar- 
 che gave Mrs. Ward five hundred francs, and any arti- 
 cle she might require for the ambulance. 
 
 Such were the means by which the American ambu- 
 lance was saved to do great and humane service. Of 
 the situation of the besieged, Mrs. Ward wrote to a 
 friend : — 
 
 " At last we were shut up in the siege. Hams were selling 
 at two hundred francs, and every thing else in proportion. We 
 had at the start plenty of tea, and some dried beans and canned 
 cranberries ; but they didn't last long. Then the arrondissement 
 gave us a card on which we were allotted a certain amount of 
 horse-meat for my son, self, and servant. She would go about 
 ten a.m., and return about four p.m., with the few ounces be- 
 longing to us; having been obliged to wait all that time for her 
 turn to come in the long line of applicants. 
 
 "At last our allowance was a piece of horse-meat three 
 inches square for all three of us, for three days. 
 
 " This was indeed starvation portions. My son was fre- 
 quently invited to partake of the meagre fare of the generals, 
 most of whom he knew officially ; and once Gen. de Maussion, 
 hearing him say he had some salt pork, begged a piece in ex- 
 change for a piece of mutton. . . . Once Gen. Appert, knowing 
 that Albert was ill, sent him in from outside the walls a piece 
 
28 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 of tenderloin, the soldiers having caught a stray bullock. Mrs. 
 Appert had received some little birds caught in Paris. Mr. 
 Hoskier, of Brown Brothers, a brother of Mrs. Appert, sent us 
 some wood ; and it was a curious sight to see the Marquis de 
 Jouffroy making charcoal in an iron pot, for we had no means 
 of cooking except with charcoal. 
 
 "We had charge of several horses and carriages; but for 
 this care, the horses would have been seized for food. Well, 
 when the wood came from Mr. Hoskier, I put some of it in one 
 of the carriages. It was elegantly lined with blue satin, but I 
 did not once think of that when I was laying in the wood. 
 
 " Only the day before, Dr. Gordon had come running eagerly 
 up the stairs with a present for me. 
 
 " Some friend had given to him and his coadjutor, Sir James 
 Innes, M.D., two ordinary smoked herring. They had kept 
 one for themselves, and here was Dr. Gordon with the other. 
 
 "Dividing my herring, and taking my place on the blue 
 satin along with the wood, I drove to the house of a friend who 
 lay in bed weak for want of food, and without fire. She had 
 four grown-up sons. I sent up-stairs for them, that they might 
 come down and carry up the wood ; for, had I left it for a 
 moment, it would have been stolen. 
 
 " I called the four youths to me, and made them promise not 
 to touch the fish I had brought, and then went up stairs with 
 the half-herring to their mother. All this may seem laughable 
 now ; but no one laughed then. . . . 
 
 " During the armistice Dr. Gordon got hold of a piece of 
 white bread and butter, and gave it to me. The butter I ate 
 as if it had been an apple, being quite out of carbon of my 
 own by that time. ... I made tea every day ; and Dr. Gordon, 
 and Hon. Lewis Wingfield, who was attached to the ambu- 
 lance, and was exceedingly attentive and of great service 
 during the operations, and Sir James Innes, and any other 
 friends who chose, were welcome to a cup when they came 
 in. It was also during the armistice, that Col. Stuart Wortley 
 gave me several hundred bonds for food he brought over for 
 me to distribute among the poor. Albert ate the meat of the 
 horse, mule, donkey, kangaroo, and elephant. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 2 9 
 
 "The elephant-steak was pink, like the inside of a conch- 
 shell, and the flesh of the finest fibre ; and Dr. Gordon and 
 Albert found it excellent. Dogs were two prices : Newfound- 
 lands were six francs a pound, and small dogs three francs. 
 Two rats ran into our apartment. The man from the court- 
 yard came and killed them, and begged them of us for food. 
 Rats were then selling for two francs apiece. Yet some people 
 have asserted there was plenty of food in Paris. 
 
 " Count Messay asked us to dine on mutton, as he had se- 
 cured a leg. The odor was certainly that of mutton, but the 
 leg was the leg of the Newfoundland dog ! 
 
 " The Marquis de Jouffroy executed one of the most difficult 
 feats of the war. He knew every tree and rock between Paris 
 and Versailles, where his aunt lived. He slipped out of Paris, 
 unseen, and reached Versailles on foot ; took a bushel-basket, 
 filled it with white bread, butter, and chicken, and crept back 
 into Paris, with this heavy basket on his shoulder, unnoticed 
 and unhurt. His escape — for the Germans threw an electric 
 light all the time around Paris — is a marvel to himself and 
 his friends to this day. The contents of his basket he divided 
 between his aunt, the Countess D , and me." 
 
 Mr. Albert Lee Ward's labors during the siege were 
 very exacting, occupying from eighteen to twenty 
 hours out of the twenty-four. Three, four, or five 
 times a week, he carried the despatch-bag to Versailles ; 
 leaving at four in the morning during the severe win- 
 ter, and being, during the cold and lonesome journey, 
 always under fire from both French and German ram- 
 part guns and shells. 
 
 One day, just at daylight, as Mr. Ward was starting 
 out with the despatches, he halted at a tavern on the 
 road for a glass of water. A bomb-shell struck the 
 house, and covered him with plaster and dirt. His 
 horse ran away with him, and was only brought up 
 
30 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 by the barricade at the Pont de Sevres. He was the 
 only American incurring personal danger during the 
 siege, except from the bomb-shells thrown into the 
 city, to which, of course, all were exposed. 
 
 Mornings and evenings he was at the ambulance, 
 receiving and helping the wounded. 
 
 He was deputed by Mr. Washburne to release the 
 Germans from the prisons ; and, in discharging this 
 commission, Mr. Ward took many poor but respectable 
 German women who had been shut up with culprits 
 of all kinds, — and many of them had lain in these 
 holes a month without change of linen, — and himself 
 procured the necessaries for them, and placed them 
 in convents. 
 
 Among his numerous duties, were those of interpret- 
 ing between Mr. Washburne and all foreign officials, 
 and of translating Mr. Washburne's speeches and pub- 
 lic addresses viva voce into French. As one of the 
 three directors of the American ambulance, Mr. Ward 
 had frequent communication with the chief officers of 
 the Societe de Secours aux Blesses, and, through his 
 friendly relations with them, was able to obtain many 
 facilities and favors. For example, one day when Mr. 
 Washburne had returned to the Legation, after having 
 made unsuccessful application for passes, Mr. Ward 
 asked permission to go and see what he could do, and 
 soon came back with the desired papers. A gentle- 
 man at about this time told Mrs. Ward that he had 
 been all the morning engaged in translating German 
 lettters for the Legation, and that these letters all 
 breathed the warmest gratitude to Mr. Ward for his 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 3 I 
 
 varied and untiring kindness ; and, by those most con- 
 versant with things in the beleaguered city, he came to 
 be spoken of as " the man of the siege." 
 
 At the time of the revolt in October, Mr. Ward 
 accompanied Mr. Washburne, incog., to the Hotel de 
 Ville, where they would probably have lost their lives 
 but for Mr. Ward's presence of mind. A great tumult 
 arose just as they were coming out ; and the sentinels, 
 hearing the cry of " Spies ! " crossed their guns to pre- 
 vent their exit. Mr. Ward sprang forward, and throw- 
 ing up the guns, cried in a firm loud voice, — 
 
 " Attention pour son excellence ! " and they were 
 instantly permitted to pass. 
 
 While the son was thus engaged, the mother was 
 performing noble works of compassion and mercy, 
 regardless of difficulty or fatigue, and though already 
 greatly weakened by want of proper food. After 
 Labouchere had so inconsiderately written to "The 
 London Daily News," that the London journals could 
 be read at any time lying on the tables of the United 
 States Legation, and Bismarck had sent in his em- 
 bargo that they must thereafter be withheld from 
 everybody except Mr. Washburne, Mrs. Ward never- 
 theless succeeded more than once in procuring the 
 advertising sheet of "The Times," and copied long 
 columns of messages inserted in the hope of their 
 reaching the eyes of friends and relatives in the be- 
 sieged city. These messages expressed the tenderest 
 solicitude and affection, and pleaded for some good 
 word or sign in return, if such could by any possibility 
 be rendered. Having copied these, Mrs. Ward took 
 
32 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 them herself to the persons and places indicated. 
 Many were addressed to the poorer classes ; and she 
 dragged herself up five and six flights of stairs to raise 
 these loving souls from despair to joy. They hugged 
 her knees, kissed the hem of her dress, and begged 
 her name, that they might bear it in their most ardent 
 prayers to God, while the tears rolled down the 
 wrinkled faces of the old, and the pale, hollow cheeks 
 of the young. She did not give her name, but told 
 them she was the " carrier-pigeon ; " and often since 
 then she has been accosted on the street with the 
 sudden cry : — 
 
 " Ah, dear madame, it is you. You are the ' carrier- 
 pigeon : ' may God forever bless you ! " 
 
 One young man whom she thus visited had been 
 married but little over three months when the siege 
 separated him from his wife ; since when, six months 
 had supervened without his having the least knowledge 
 of her. 
 
 When Mrs. Ward began to read that a son had been 
 born to him, and that both mother and babe were 
 doing well, his joy was something beyond description. 
 He stretched forth his hands, turned pale as death, 
 then burst into a ringing laugh, sobbing all the while 
 in deep gasps, "Thank God ! thank God ! " 
 
 One very old woman sprang forward with the mo- 
 tion of a girl, and clasped Mrs. Ward to her bosom 
 when she heard that her husband was alive and well. 
 And M. Virot, husband of the famous modiste, was so 
 happy at hearing of his wife's welfare, that he pressed 
 a donation upon Mrs. Ward for the ambulance. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 33 
 
 There are many Americans who will remember 
 "old Mother Busque," whose neat little milk-shop in 
 the Rue Michaudiere was an American institution in 
 Paris. She was a pale, thin woman, of exceeding 
 kindness of heart. She served her customers with 
 delicious coffee, and chops cooked as only Mother 
 Busque knew how to cook them. Some Americans 
 who were interested sent home for receipts for ginger- 
 bread, pumpkin-pie, mince-pie, molasses- candy, etc., 
 by which receipts Mother Busque soon turned out the 
 real American dishes : her buckwheat-cakes were a 
 marvel, and her shop became the great eating-place 
 for every thing American. 
 
 To the poor and the hungry, especially if they were 
 Americans, she gave not only of her wares, but such 
 sums as she could spare besides. 
 
 She and her nephew suffered much during the siege. 
 Mrs. Ward, who knew her well and appreciated her, 
 did what she could to make those dark days lighter ; 
 and carried her a few beans or a potato now and then, 
 from her own terribly small store, in the hope of keep- 
 ing her alive. One day, having just come into pos- 
 session of a little bit of cheese, Mrs. Ward hastened 
 around to Mother Busque, crying out as she entered, — - 
 
 " I've got something nice for you, mammy ! " 
 
 The nephew in silence pointed to an inner door ; 
 and within lay poor kind Mother Busque, quite dead 
 from starvation. Soon after, on a cold morning, Mrs. 
 Ward in a private carriage, Mr. Huntington the jour- 
 nalist, Mr. Albert Lee Ward, and Mother Busque's 
 nephew followed the poor hearse to the Montmartre 
 
34 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 cemetery, where the body of this truly good woman 
 was laid to rest. 
 
 I have seen the little card sent by Mr. Albert Ward 
 during the siege, to his anxious father and sister Gene- 
 vieve then in America, dated "Paris, Jan. 27, 1871," 
 and marked No. 75. It read, — 
 
 Beloved Ones, — Mother and self quite well. No shells 
 have yet reached our domicile, and not likely to. 
 Your loving son and brother, 
 
 Al. 
 
 and was sent "par ballon nionte" borne in the little 
 wind -car out and over Paris; and, singularly enough, 
 bears its three distinct postmarks, of Paris, Jan. 2 7 ; 
 of London, Feb. 3 j and of New York, Feb. 1 7. 
 
 Mrs. Ward called on Mrs. Appert one morning, and 
 found Gen. Appert, Prince Bibesco, and other gentle- 
 men at breakfast, to whom Gen. Appert said as she 
 came in, — 
 
 "Gentlemen, we know we have two true friends 
 among the Americans, Mrs. and Mr. Ward ; and I am 
 to tell you " (turning to Mrs. Ward), " from Gen. Tro- 
 chu, that you are to have the decoration of the Legion 
 of Honor, and Prince Bibesco is charged with the 
 order." 
 
 Count Clermont Tonerre, Chef du Cabinet du Mi- 
 nistere de la Guerre, said he wished Mr. Ward to have 
 the cross ; and counselled him to write for it, which 
 Mr. Ward declined to do. 
 
 La Societe des Secours aux Blesses sent Mrs. Ward 
 and Mr. Ward a bronze cross with a white ribbon em- 
 broidered with a red cross, also a letter attesting their 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 35 
 
 great services; and in 1872 the poet Charles Bois- 
 siere, president of the Societe" Philotechnique, wrote 
 the sonnet to Mrs. Ward, which is prefixed to the 
 present section of this work. As Gen. Hoffman, in his 
 able and picturesque account of the siege of Paris, 1 
 seems not to have known that Mrs. Ward and her son 
 were the initiators of the American ambulance enter- 
 prise, were faithful and efficient workers from first to 
 last in its interests, and finally its saviours from total 
 collapse ; and seems also to be wholly uninformed of 
 Mrs. Ward's unselfish and courageous labors for the 
 relief of the distressed, as well as of the important 
 services, both official and voluntary, rendered by Mr. 
 Ward during the siege, and to which he sacrificed his 
 health beyond any hope of full recovery ; and as in 
 Dr. Evans's work on the American Ambulance at the 
 Siege of Paris, — a work voluminous enough to accom- 
 
 1 In examining Gen. Hoffman's account of the American Legation's con- 
 duct of affairs during the siege of Paris, I have been painfully surprised to 
 find grounds for the assertion I have heard from more than one direction, that 
 the American Legation was a fruitful source of information to the Germans at 
 Versailles. Notably on p. 205 of" Camp, Court, and Siege," Gen. Hoffman 
 lightly recounts, that, when at the German outposts, " I met here a young 
 American, who was living not far from Versailles, and who was known to 
 Count Bismarck. I gave him a couple of morning papers. That evening 
 ■ he dined with Bismarck, and offered to sell him the papers for a quart botde 
 of champagne for the big one, and a pint bottle for the little one. Bismarck 
 offered a quart bottle for both; but my American indignantly rejected the 
 terms. So Bismarck accepted his, and paid the bottle and a half. I record 
 this as the only diplomatic triumph ever scored against Bismarck." 
 
 At the time and on the very occasion when the Secretary of the United 
 States Legation gave these " morning papers " to Bismarck's friend, as he thus 
 publicly avows, the people permitted to leave the besieged city were signing, 
 by order of Minister Washburne, a paper which forbade the passing of letters, 
 newspapers, or information of any sort, over the lines, under heavy military 
 penalty. 
 
2,6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 modate full particulars, — there is, so far as I could 
 discover in a necessarily rapid but sincere survey, no 
 mention whatever of Mrs. Ward, and only a merely 
 nominal one of Mr. Ward, — it will, I am sure, be ad- 
 mitted that the pages of this little volume are a fitting 
 place to make good so striking a deficiency. 
 
 The Wards live when in London at Corda Lodge, 
 10 Cavendish Road, St. John's Wood, N. W. Like 
 countless other English cottages, Corda Lodge is of 
 plain and simple construction ; but the arrangements 
 and effects which depend upon the occupant have 
 made it a home of art and comfort. Quiet, informal 
 habits ; simple furniture ; a few gems among plenty of 
 good pictures ; music, books, a painting in process 
 under the mother's hand, a bust being retouched by 
 the daughter ; political and literary miscellany on the 
 table of the son ; two wonderfully clever and pretty 
 little dogs ; a parrot in the garden that never squawks, 
 but whistles and soliloquizes musically, as becomes a 
 bird of artistic associations ; a maid with velvety dark 
 Italian eyes, who comes and goes like a picture carried 
 by some one else ; a French porter, with hair so duc- 
 tile-flat he would have been the despair of Traddles, 
 who is exceedingly courteous to his superiors, but is 
 overheard indulging in the Flintwinchian propensity 
 of running up and generally dosing the hapless cook 
 in the most vindictive manner ; the sound of laughter, 
 merry and hearty mingling of voices in the chambers 
 talking back and forth, and from the drawing-room 
 below ; and, as you enter, a welcome of that frank and 
 instant sort, such as only the thoroughbred cosmopoli- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 37 
 
 tan knows how to make you feel, — these are the 
 spirit and ensemble of Corda Lodge ; named Corda for 
 Mrs. Cordelia Sanford, a very dear friend of Miss 
 Ward's, and wife of Col. Milton H. Sanford, the gen- 
 tleman who first started the notion of taking over 
 American horses to England, to compete in English 
 races, which recently resulted in the brilliant victory 
 won for the American turf by Iroquois. 
 
 One very warm day of June, 188 1, I was sitting in 
 the drawing-room of Corda Lodge, talking with Miss 
 Genevieve Ward, when I heard a step, light and quick 
 like that of a little girl, coming down the stairs and to 
 the drawing-room door, and looked up to see an old 
 lady come into the room. She stooped slightly, and 
 her hair was gray; but her motion was that of the 
 freshest youth and unsapped life, and her dark eyes, 
 not large but deep, had the mingled flash and twinkle 
 which we usually see only in the eyes of childhood. 
 She had on her bonnet to go out walking, and lingered 
 only for a few words. But the impression made upon 
 me in those first brief moments, of a nature in which 
 a certain stern Puritan fibre runs like a stem through a 
 moral braid of benignity, energy, and quick broad 
 human warmth, — and all these sparkled over with 
 spontaneous humor, — has deepened with every meet- 
 ing and conversation, in which I find the charm and 
 depth that was reputed of her conversational powers 
 in her youth. 
 
 "If," said the tragedienne to me one day, "if, in- 
 stead of being left in her youth to drift with her own 
 rich impulses, confused by the multiplicity of her own 
 
38 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 gifts, my mother had received but half the wise care 
 and training she has given me, she could have splen- 
 didly distanced all competitors in any one of the great 
 departments of art or literature." 
 
 It is little wonder that her family and intimate 
 friends admire and revere Mrs. Ward as they do ; for 
 a heart more young, and a purpose more robust, never 
 in the form of age more calmly smiled at time. Her 
 eye is the quickest to see any thing yet undone for the 
 good or the comfort of those around her, her hand 
 the readiest in the doing of tender and homelike 
 things, and her step the lightest footfall heard in 
 Corda Lodge. 
 
SONG OF THE SERF.* 
 
 I know a lofty lady, 
 
 And she is wondrous fair : 
 She hath wrought my soul to music 
 
 As the leaves are wrought by air ; 
 And, like the air that wakes 
 
 The foliage into play, 
 She feels no thrill of all she makes 
 
 When she has passed away. 
 
 I know a lofty lady 
 
 Who seldom looks on me, 
 Or, when she smiles, her smile is like 
 
 The moon's upon the sea. 
 As proudly and serene 
 
 She shines from her domain, 
 Till my spirit heaves beneath her mien, 
 
 And floods my aching brain. 
 
 I know a lofty lady ; 
 
 But I would not wake her scorn 
 By telling all the love I bear. 
 
 For I am lowly born, — 
 So low, and she so high ; 
 
 And the space between us spread 
 Makes me but as the weeds that lie 
 
 Beneath her stately tread. 
 
 1 Written to Miss Genevieve Ward, during her visit to Florence, by 
 Buchanan Read. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 4 1 
 
 III. 
 
 ONE of the plainest of babies was the little Gene- 
 vieve Ward, born on the 2 7th of the blustering 
 month of March, on Broadway, New York. She was 
 a very dark and thin little creature, with a wide mouth, 
 wrinkled skin, heavy pencilled eyebrows, and thick 
 black hair. 
 
 But a few months wrought a great change, and she 
 was being carried about from house to house to be 
 admired ; and it was the same in Havana, whither 
 Mrs. Ward went when Genevieve was nearly two years 
 old. 
 
 Sister Teresa, one of the eighteen nuns of the con- 
 vent of the Barefooted Carmelites of Santa Teresa, — 
 the richest cloister in Spanish dominions, — was an 
 old friend of Mrs. Ward's; and, the fame of baby 
 Genevieve's beauty having reached the convent, Sister 
 Teresa begged to be permitted to show the child to 
 the sisters. So Genevieve and her little brother Rob- 
 ert were placed, like flowers in a basket, in the turn- 
 wheel chair of the convent, swung within its walls, and 
 received with tender welcome by the gentle nuns. 
 
 Captivated by the fair skin and Oriental eyes of the 
 children, who were exceedingly unlike, and by their 
 
42 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 fearless smiles and prattling graces, the nuns, after 
 having baptized them in the chapel, — giving to Gene- 
 vieve the name of Lucia Genoveva Teresa, — made 
 them presents of rosaries of pearls and gold ; and with 
 these around their necks the tiny convent guests were 
 returned to the wicked world, " saved," as the sisters 
 said, " and sure of everlasting joy ! " 
 
 The famous cantatrice Madame Damoreau-Cinti, 
 then in Cuba, was rehearsing one afternoon in her 
 own apartments. Coming to a pause, she was sur- 
 prised to hear her strains repeated by a sweet childish 
 voice in an adjoining room. This continued until the 
 cantatrice, pleased and curious, crossed the passage, 
 and, entering Mrs. Ward's apartments, saw a three year 
 old baby seated in the middle of a bed, with an im- 
 passioned expression on her fair little face, and her 
 mouth still round and open with the last notes. 
 
 This pretty episode led to an acquaintance. 
 
 "If this goes on," said Madame Damoreau to Mrs. 
 Ward, " bring her to me by and by, and I will teach 
 her with pleasure." 
 
 When Genevieve had completed her second year, 
 Mrs. Ward took her to Italy ; and from that time until 
 she was fifteen, they travelled back and forth from 
 place to place, from Texas — where her father owned 
 a great deal of land since lost in the war — to St. 
 Petersburg. Her earliest recollections are of Paris, 
 Rome, and Texas. The scent of a certain white flower 
 with a yellow centre (narcissus ?) always brings back 
 to her the very look of the Texan prairies where they 
 grew. In her fifth and sixth years she was part of the 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 43 
 
 time in Texas, studying the piano under a German 
 master, and riding horses, for which she inherited all 
 the family love, and no accident or danger has ever 
 made her fear or distrust them. One day she was 
 riding in company with her father's cousin, Col. George 
 Ward, a West Point officer. Away they went over 
 the Texan prairies, Genevieve on the back of a fiery 
 little mustang. All went well, till they turned home- 
 ward ; but her horse had the habit, as soon as it saw 
 the stable, of running for it, leaping, hit or miss, over 
 gate, fence, or any obstacle between. 
 
 Fortunately the child was thrown just in time t<z 
 escape being crushed against the heavy beam of the 
 low stable -doorway as the horse went plunging through 
 it to his manger. Genevieve was badly hit in the 
 breast, and picked up insensible ; but in the very 
 moment of returning consciousness she besought her 
 cousin to say nothing of the adventure to her parents, 
 as she "liked the little beast too well" to give up rid- 
 ing him. 
 
 It was owing to these early sojourns in different 
 countries, flitting from Paris to Italy, from Italy to 
 Cuba, and thence to Paris again, that Genevieve 
 acquired, when so young, not only a knowledge of 
 the French, English, Italian, and Spanish tongues, but 
 an accent in each faultless even in the ears of natives. 
 
 Their old family nurse, Madame Cecile Grisel, a 
 Swiss by birth, accompanied them in all their journey- 
 ings. She was a large and powerful woman, a Gitana 
 in person and habits, with something of the nature of 
 Torfrida in her proud independence and uncurbed 
 
44 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 yet reticent temper. She seemed of no particular 
 nationality, but compounded of all ; spoke no language 
 exactly, but used an indescribable melange of variable 
 patois everywhere understood by the body of the peo- 
 ple. She was their cook, nurse, courier, interpreter, 
 confidante, and friend, faithful and capable in all, and, 
 in their defence from all forms of imposition, equal to 
 a regiment of Cossacks. 
 
 Another faithful servant was Madame Giguit, the 
 widow of a French physician. She lived in the family 
 of Mrs. Ward's grandfather, Major Buffington, then 
 with her mother, Laura Buffington Lee, and lastly with 
 Mrs. Ward, — a sufficient indication of the nobility of 
 the service she rendered. 
 
 During one of Mrs. Ward's visits to Italy, Genevieve, 
 then nine years old, was singing Norma by herself in a 
 garden in Rome. An artist in a neighboring studio, 
 attracted by the voice, came to his window, and was 
 surprised to see only a little girl picking violets. After 
 looking at her a few moments, he asked, " Will you let 
 me paint you as a little angel?" Genevieve shook 
 her head promptly in disapproval ; but, giving him a 
 second look, she added hesitatingly, "Yes, you may — 
 if you won't put any wings on my back : they 'are so 
 ugly except on birds." 
 
 He made full-length paintings of her, twice. Her 
 conversation, showing, as it always did, a quaint blend- 
 ing of direct, almost abrupt, good sense, and sensitive 
 artistic instinct, tempted him to ask her all sorts of 
 questions, for the sake of her answers ; and once, when 
 he asked her if she would have him for her husband 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 45 
 
 when she grew up, he was plumply rejected in these 
 candid words, — 
 
 " Oh, no, indeed ! You'll be old and wrinkled then, 
 and I like only beautiful people ! " 
 
 This gentleman was the late talented Marquis of 
 Northampton, then Lord Compton. She was at this 
 time making great progress on the piano, under the 
 tuition of the organist of St. Peter's. 
 
 At the age of thirteen, when she was visiting in New 
 York with her mother, she was introduced to Mme. 
 Sontag. The famous songstress looked at the little 
 girl with an expression of reverence. 
 
 " Mein Gott in Himmel/" she cried, bending over 
 her caressingly, " how beautiful you are ! Will you let 
 me kiss you, my child? " 
 
 Genevieve sang to her; and she took at once a 
 warm interest in her future as a singer, advised her as 
 to the right steps and methods, and wrote to Rossini 
 about her; so that when Genevieve in her fifteenth 
 year, and again in Italy, went to Florence to see this 
 great maestro, he was so pleased with her beauty, and 
 her noble voice, unformed though it was, he took 
 her musical education under his protection, procured 
 her lessons under Ronzi, then director of the opera in 
 Florence, and at a later date, that he might watch 
 over her progress, he arranged for her to sing to him 
 twice a week, and named her Rossini's " piccola 
 consolazione." 
 
 In her sixteenth year Genevieve Ward had grown 
 into a maturity and beauty of the most striking kind, 
 as the bust made of her at this period by Joel T. Hart 
 
46 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 testifies : no one would naturally suppose it represented 
 the features or expression of a woman under twenty- 
 five. 
 
 One day when accompanying her mother on a little 
 journey in the South of Italy, they received much 
 attention from a gentleman, a short time their travel- 
 ling companion, whom they soon after met again in 
 Nice, where Miss Ward was as much admired and 
 sought for her fine voice, graceful manners, and un- 
 usual linguistic accomplishments, as for her beauty; 
 and where he was cordially received by society as the 
 young Russian nobleman, Constantine de Guerbel, 
 bearer, it was reported, of important Russian de- 
 spatches, and, beyond question, one of the handsomest 
 men in Europe. 
 
 He was exceedingly clever, and had the art of 
 impressing himself upon others to precisely the effect 
 and degree that he wished. 
 
 He hovered around the beautiful American girl, 
 paying to her and to her mother the most delicate 
 and winning tribute. It was impossible that he should 
 not please ; and he soon made an offer of marriage, by 
 letter. Mrs. Ward consulted with her friends ; and it 
 was decided that letters of investigation should be 
 addressed to Gov. Seymour (of Connecticut), a dis- 
 tant connection of the Wards, who was then United- 
 States minister to Russia. 
 
 The replies came that Count and Captain Constan- 
 tine de Guerbel was a most accomplished member of 
 an old Russian family, influential with the Czar, an offi- 
 cer of the Czarina's guards, and that no unfavorable 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 47 
 
 rumors were connected with his name. Meantime 
 de Guerbel was ardently pressing his suit ; and, shortly 
 after the arrival of these fair accounts from Russia, 
 they were married in the American fashion, by civil 
 contract before the consul with witnesses, Constantine 
 especially desiring it out of compliment, as he said, 
 to the nationality of his charming bride. 
 
 As there was no Greek Church, either in Nice or 
 Turin, the ceremony which alone could make their 
 marriage binding with him could not be solemnized ; 
 and Constantine, with every apparent eagerness, agreed 
 that they should all hasten to Paris, where the Greek 
 ceremony could be performed, and his happiness com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Genevieve was too inexperienced to feel any dis- 
 turbing suspicion of her brilliant and devoted lover : 
 but Mrs. Ward was already tortured with doubts ; she 
 had received private intimation that the young Russian 
 needed looking after. 
 
 She sought an interview with the Russian ambas- 
 sador at Turin; but by mistake she was directed to 
 the German ambassador, who, on hearing her account 
 of the affair, assured her that there must be something 
 wrong about the young man, as he could not marry 
 without first having obtained the consent of his supe- 
 rior officer, and without the observance of certain other 
 formalities. 
 
 Hastening back to the hotel, Mrs. Ward confronted 
 de Guerbel with indignant reproaches. He faced the 
 matter at first with some hardihood, but when Mrs. 
 Ward stopped him with the words, — 
 
48 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 "It's too late for all this. I know you now, and 
 you shall never see my daughter again ! " he fell into 
 a rage, and treated her rudely. 
 
 After this, he avoided Mrs. Ward, but made every 
 opportunity for interviews with Genevieve, and, while 
 expressing great readiness to be bound by the Greek 
 Church rites, endeavored to persuade her that she was 
 quite sufficiently his wife to go away with him until 
 that formality could be observed. Fortunately Gene- 
 vieve trusted absolutely in her mother, and, though 
 tenderly loving the man to whom she was half-married, 
 would consent to no step not first approved by her. 
 
 Foiled by this happy confidence between mother 
 and child, but not in the least abashed, de Guerbel 
 visited the same German ambassador — then acting for 
 the Russian government — who had warned Mrs. Ward 
 of the doubtfulness of the young Russian's proceed- 
 ings, and in a few moments had so successfully exerted 
 his marvellous personal fascinations that the ambas- 
 sador became his admiring advocate, and was for the 
 time quite turned from his sympathy with the Wards. 
 And this magic spell was exercised in spite of the 
 ambassador's certain knowledge that some of de 
 Guerbel's pretensions were baseless, nota"bly that of 
 his being intrusted with special despatches ; for, had 
 this been true, the ambassador must have been offi- 
 cially notified of it. 
 
 With matters in this unsatisfactory state, the two 
 parties set out for Paris. Mrs. Ward, on the truthful 
 plea that water travel made her very ill, insisted on 
 going by land ; de Guerbel was equally resolute for a 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 49 
 
 trip by water. The mother and daughter reached 
 Paris first, where they again met with the cantatrice 
 Madame Damoreau, whose singing had been so pret- 
 tily imitated by the baby Genevieve, in Cuba. 
 
 She recalled her promise, and at once received the 
 young girl into her class in the Conservatoire ; but, 
 the system being necessarily adapted to a medium 
 grade of talent, requiring years for the completion of 
 its course, Genevieve retired from the class to proceed 
 more rapidly as Mine. Damoreau's private pupil. 
 
 Meantime came the season of Lent, during which 
 the Greek Church ceremony could not be performed ; 
 and with it the tardy bridegroom, delayed, as he said, 
 by adverse winds and opposing currents. 
 
 De Guerbel behaved, however, with so much amia- 
 bility, and with such an inimitable assumption of being 
 the aggrieved party, that everybody was quite won 
 over to his side, and even Mrs. Ward was influenced, 
 against her well-founded objections, to receive him 
 with something like a return of favor; of all which 
 effect he availed himself to try again, and as vainly as 
 before, to induce Genevieve to go away with him 
 secretly. 
 
 Mrs. Ward's youngest son, Robert, the same who 
 was baptized with Genevieve by the Carmelite nuns in 
 the Cuban convent, was staying with his mother and 
 sister in Paris, and used to be even more with the fas- 
 cinating Russian at his hotel than with Mrs. Ward and 
 Genevieve at theirs ; for de Guerbel had done all in 
 his power to attach the handsome and enthusiastic 
 boy to his interests. So it happened that Robert Ward 
 
5<D GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 was with de Guerbel in his bedroom one morning, 
 when an officer entered, and arrested him as he lay in 
 bed, — for some offence to the Czar, as it was after- 
 ward rumored ; large quantities of blank passports were 
 found in his possession, and he was put beyond the 
 frontier. 
 
 Some months of total ignorance as to de Guerbel's 
 whereabouts or movements passed away. Genevieve's 
 spirits, and even her health, had suffered from the 
 strain of a position so anomalous and painful. 
 
 While this was the situation in Paris, an old friend 
 of the Wards, M. de Bois le Comte, late French min- 
 ister to Washington, arrived in Italy on a visit to his 
 daughter, the wife of M. de Soulange, charge d ' affaires 
 at Naples. One day, when walking out, M. de _ Bois 
 le Comte met the Countess Schakoshkine, wife of the 
 Russian ambassador, who, after the usual words of 
 greeting, exclaimed, — 
 
 " Wish me joy, for my daughter is going to make a 
 great marriage." 
 
 " Indeed ! to whom? " 
 
 "To Lieut.de Guerbel." 
 
 "Which one?" cried M. de Bois le Comte, elec- 
 trified. 
 
 " To Constantine, of course ; the handsomest and 
 noblest young man in the courts of Europe." 
 
 "But Constantine ! why, he is already married ! " 
 
 "Oh, nothing of the kind," said the countess indig- 
 nantly. "We know all about that trumped-up story." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," persisted de Bois le Comte, 
 very gravely ; " but I, myself, put the young girl — she 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 5 I 
 
 was Miss Genevieve Ward — into the train, to go to 
 Russia, to look into her husband's affairs." 
 
 " It cannot be ! " murmured the countess, pale, and 
 deeply disturbed ; " it must be some American trick." 
 
 He assured her that it was indeed true, and that the 
 young lady had actually gone with her mother to Rus- 
 sia, to ask the Czar to have the marriage made null 
 and void. 
 
 Countess Schakoshkine hurried to her husband with 
 these terrible tidings ; but, before the latter could reach 
 either the police or Constantine, that dazzling scape- 
 grace was far away in his yacht, leaving a hundred 
 thousand francs of debts behind him. 
 
 His personal gifts had served him well; he had 
 enjoyed the admiration and the confidence of the 
 cleverest and best ; he had been entertained by the 
 royal family : but the esclandre was complete ; and 
 another young American girl, lovely and trusting, to 
 whom he had engaged himself in Nice, lay dying for 
 his sake, of a broken heart, in the midst of prepara- 
 tions for her wedding with him. 
 
 This at Nice and Naples ; while in Paris, after due 
 waiting, by the advice of our London and Paris minis- 
 ters, both friends of Mrs. Ward, and of Baron Brun- 
 now, Genevieve, with her mother and brother, had 
 actually set out for Russia in the bitter midwinter cold, 
 to seek justice at the hands of the autocrat. 
 
 Papers, letters, and other documents concerning 
 the case had been previously intrusted to a member of 
 our legation, on his representation that he could use 
 them advantageously in seeking Gov. Seymour's and 
 
52 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the Czar's interest in Genevieve's claims. Wishing to 
 take these papers to Russia with them, they asked for 
 them back, and were refused ; but when Gen. John A. 
 Dix arrived in Paris, his concise message to the gen- 
 tleman brought back the papers at once. 
 
 Being by this partial marriage with de Guerbel put 
 in the singular position of being neither an American 
 nor Russian, Genevieve could not obtain a pasGport 
 from either the American or Russian legations ; and 
 the" difficulty was overcome by her going on her 
 brother Robert's passport, he having been made bearer 
 of despatches for the purpose. 
 
 The journey was not only attended with great dis- 
 comfort, but with various kinds of danger. From 
 Konigsberg to Riga they travelled in the intense cold 
 in open boxes on runners, from which they had to 
 change every two hours, so that they barely began to 
 get warm in one of these boxes, before it was neces- 
 sary to step out into the snow, and climb into another. 
 On the second day after leaving Riga, where they had 
 obtained a carriage, they encountered a long train of 
 sledges laden with iron bars from the immense foun- 
 deries of Russia. By Russian law a private convey- 
 ance has the right of way. 
 
 The driver of the first sledge was not on hand : 
 Mrs. Ward's coachman therefore touched the horses 
 with his whip to turn them aside. They reared and 
 backed, and the heavily laden sledge was upset. The 
 serf driver heard the hubbub, and, running up just in 
 time to witness the disaster, flew at Robert Ward, 
 flourishing his whip. Other peasants ran up, and, 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 53 
 
 joining with the sledge- driver, upset the carriage of 
 the Wards. Robert helped up the coachman, and 
 drew a revolver. At this truly critical moment the 
 sergeant of cavalry in command of the sledge-train 
 galloped forward, and cut down the serf driver, and 
 assisted the ladies out of the upset vehicle. The most 
 abject submission, instantly on the sergeant's appear- 
 ance, fell upon the group of peasants, who fairly tum- 
 bled over each other in their eagerness to set the 
 carriage straight and assist the Wards into it. 
 
 On reaching St. Petersburg they were most kindly 
 received at the American embassy by Minister Sey- 
 mour, who already knew not only from themselves, but 
 from Baron Brunnow and the London and Paris min- 
 isters, of the conduct of de Guerbel. After consulta- 
 tion, Minister Seymour advised their remaining quiet 
 at the embassy as his guests, and not at once petition- 
 ing the Czar. Meantime balls, receptions, and parties 
 should be prepared for Genevieve's introduction to the 
 society of the Russian capital, where her youth, beauty, 
 genius, and noble accomplishments would create for 
 her a public as well as personal sentiment, of great 
 advantage when her real purpose in visiting the city 
 should be developed. 
 
 But in the very beginning of this programme a grave 
 difficulty arose. 
 
 On hearing the name of Madame Constantine de 
 Guerbel, the chief of police, Gen. Dubbelt, declared 
 there was no such person, and that the lady who had 
 ventured to assume that name must leave Russ.'a 
 within three days. 
 
54 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 All was consternation at the embassy ; but then, as 
 always when wisdom, skill, and instant executive power 
 were needed, the mother came forward. Well in- 
 formed in political affairs, this brave and keen-witted 
 woman knew that Russia, at that date, did not need 
 any more trouble on her hands. 
 
 "Come with me," she said to Minister Seymour: 
 "I have something to say to the chief of police." 
 
 Minister Seymour went with her, and presented her 
 to Gen. Dubbelt as being with her daughter under his 
 protection. Gen. Dubbelt listened to Mrs. Ward's 
 statement without credence, reiterating that • they must 
 leave Russia immediately. Seymour looked exceed- 
 ingly distressed, feeling that the time was too short for 
 any hopeful action or decision. 
 
 "Then," said Mrs. Ward, looking full at Gen. Dub- 
 belt, " it is time for me to say, that, since the simple 
 plea of an unprotected stranger does not avail, I must 
 assure you that this is not what you think. It is a 
 national, an international, affair. My daughter is of 
 an old American family, and has both friends and rela- 
 tives in positions of influence with our government, 
 who will not be inactive in her behalf. According to 
 American law, she is Madame Constantine de Guerbel, 
 and has an undoubted right to visit St. Petersburg 
 under that name." 
 
 The dignity and gravity of Mrs. Ward's words and 
 manner impressed Gen. Dubbelt ; and he made answer, 
 after a few moments' thoughtful silence, that he would 
 think it all over, and see what could be done ; and 
 permission was soon received for Madame Constantine 
 de Guerbel to remain at the embassy. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 55 
 
 Soon after, Gen. Sabouroff, brother of the grand 
 chamberlain, gave a grand ball at which Madame de 
 Guerbel appeared. Count Kamaroffski, own cousin 
 of Constantine de Guerbel, was present ; and, pointing 
 her out among the dancers, said to a friend, — 
 
 "There is a most wonderful girl here to-night, 
 beautiful and fresh as a damask rose. Where can she 
 have come from? Who can she be?" 
 
 The friend, who was informed, replied with a 
 smile, — " Do you not know ? She is Madame Con- 
 stantine de Guerbel ! " 
 
 " What do you tell me ! " cried Kamaroffski, " but 
 Kostia's x not married?" and he hurried away from 
 the scene in search of Gen. Daniel de Guerbel, the 
 elder brother of Constantine, to whom, when he had 
 found him, he excitedly exclaimed, — 
 
 "Well, have you heard the latest sensation? Kos- 
 tia's wife — his wife — a most beautiful young Ameri- 
 can girl, is at Sabouroff s ball, turning everybody's 
 head ! " 
 
 " Pshaw ! That's only the hundredth story of the 
 kind ! " But the next day Gen. Daniel de Guerbel 
 called at the embassy to inquire into the startling 
 rumors. 
 
 Minister Seymour received 4iim, and told him the 
 whole story, and presented him to Mrs. Ward and her 
 daughter. Gen. de Guerbel behaved admirably, ex- 
 pressing to Genevieve his regret that she should have 
 ever met his scapegrace brother, at the same time 
 acknowledging her as his sister-in-law in a very grace- 
 ful manner. 
 
 1 Kostia, familiar diminutive of Constantine. 
 
56 GENEVIEVE WARD, 
 
 He did not, however, conceal his hope, that, since 
 it was evident she could neither love nor wish to live 
 with Constantine, she might, for the sake of protect- 
 ing an old and noble family from public scandal, be 
 induced to forego her original design in coming to 
 Russia. She would certainly receive brilliant offers, 
 and could make a marriage equal to the highest 
 ambition. 
 
 But Madame de Guerbel could not consider things 
 in this light. She explained to him that she was a wife 
 in American law ; that she and her mother had been 
 abused and maligned by Constantine in the most 
 active, ingenious, and unscrupulous ways. He had 
 everywhere used, and was still using, his irresistible 
 personal fascinations to destroy their claims to consid- 
 eration. He had avowed that the story of the American 
 marriage ceremony was a pure fabrication ; that Mrs. 
 Ward was not even Genevieve's mother, but a clever 
 woman of equivocal social standing, who had secured 
 control of the young girl's fate in order to rise to rank 
 and wealth by means of her great beauty ; and that, 
 with this in view, they had planned the bold scheme 
 of the St. Petersburg visit. Thus Gen. de Guerbel 
 could see that it was not only for the sake of having 
 her marriage sanctioned by the Greek Church cere- 
 mony that they had come, but because nothing short 
 of that could successfully refute calumnies so artfully 
 and ably disseminated. 
 
 The dignity and courage of the young girl charmed 
 Gen. Daniel de Guerbel, who from that moment for- 
 bore to press any consideration touching the feelings 
 
. GENEVIEVE WARD. $J 
 
 of his family, and treated Madame de Guerbel and her 
 mother with unvarying kindness and distinction. On 
 one occasion during a grand fete at Pavloffski, the 
 summer residence of the Czar, Madame de Guerbel, 
 leaning on the arm of her brother-in-law Gen. Daniel 
 de Guerbel, passed along the principal promenade in 
 front of the Grand Duke Constantine's party. The 
 grand duchess called the general aside, and asked with 
 much interest, — 
 
 " Who is that beautiful girl with you ? " 
 
 To which he replied so that Genevieve could hear 
 it, " My brother Constantine's wife." 
 
 The de Guerbels were originally" a noble Swiss 
 family, who went over from Switzerland to Peter the 
 Great ; the first of the family being an admiral. Con- 
 stantine's father was a general aide-de-camp to the 
 late Czar, his uncle Prince Koudascheff was court 
 chamberlain, and he himself an officer in the late 
 Czarina's guards. His mother, the Princess Kouda- 
 scheff, was the most beautiful woman at the court of* 
 Nicholas, where the whole family were in high favor. 
 
 It will be seen that patience, courage, and never- 
 failing tact were necessary to the situation in which 
 the Wards were placed, in a strange land with a pur- 
 pose certain to be felt as at variance with its strictest 
 social precedents and prejudices ; and, had these qual- 
 ities not been possessed in a remarkable degree by 
 every one concerned, the sequel must have been very 
 different. 
 
 The weeks flew by. Madame de Guerbel pursued 
 her musical studies with Rubini's nephew. Rubini 
 
58 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Gallinari; her voice, her lovely manners, her exqui- 
 sitely tasteful simplicity of dress, and the romantic 
 mystery in which she was involved, made the lovely 
 young American the talk of the capital ; but, so far as 
 her real object was concerned, things seemed painfully 
 at a stand-still, when suddenly the court minister, Count 
 Adlerberg, called on the American minister. 
 
 When he was announced, Gov. Seymour with agita- 
 tion said quickly to Mrs. Ward, — 
 
 " Now is your chance. Lay the whole matter 
 before him." 
 
 Count Adlerberg listened to them with attention and 
 apparent interest, but said nothing to sensibly relieve 
 their suspense in having taken the initiative step on 
 which so much must depend. But on a Saturday 
 soon after Count Adlerberg's visit, an aide-de-camp 
 was ushered in at the embassy, who approached Mrs. 
 Ward, and asked, — 
 
 "When can Madame Constantine de Guerbel re- 
 ceive Prince Dolgorouki?" 
 
 Mrs. Ward observed a change in Minister Seymour's 
 face : she pointed to her daughter, — 
 
 "That is Madame de Guerbel." 
 
 Genevieve, instantly conscious by the manner of the 
 others that the moment was one of great import in her 
 affairs, cleverly replied, — 
 
 " Prince Dolgorouki's hour shall be mine." 
 
 As soon as the aide-de-camp was gone they both 
 said in a breath to Gov. Seymour, — 
 
 " We saw how your face changed. What does this 
 mean?" 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 59 
 
 " It means that something must indeed be transpir- 
 ing in your affairs ; for Prince Dolgorouki is a very 
 great personage, the nearest to the Czar, and such a 
 thing as his coming here to call on a private individ- 
 ual was never before heard of." 
 
 On the next Wednesday, as they sat around the 
 table, Prince Dolgorouki came in. He was a beauti- 
 ful old man. He walked up to Madame de Guerbel, 
 who had become exceedingly pale, and, laying his 
 hand kindly on her head, said, — 
 
 "Well, my little girl, tell me all about it." 
 
 They had just received a letter from M. de Bois le 
 Comte, describing Constantine's conduct in Naples, 
 his false engagements to the dying American girl, and 
 to the daughter of Countess Schakoshkine, and of his 
 flight and debts. 
 
 " You know of M. de Bois le Comte," said Madame 
 de Guerbel, handing the letter to Prince Dolgorouki. 
 "Will you read this?" 
 
 "Yes, he's a sad good-for-nothing," said Prince 
 Dolgorouki, after reading 'and returning the letter; 
 " and I'm very sorry you ever met him, my little girl ; 
 but what is it, the Czar asks, that you now wish to have 
 done ? " 
 
 "Tell the good Czar," said Madame de Guerbel, 
 with much emotion, " that I wish to have my marriage 
 sanctioned by the Greek Church, so that as a true 
 marriage I may contest it, and obtain a * divorce, and 
 be honorably free from this man." 
 
 "Well," replied the Prince, smiling very kindly on 
 
 1 All this is in Russian archives. 
 
60 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 her, " I will tell the Czar exactly what you say, and 
 we'll see ; in the mean time have courage." 
 
 Their suspense was now the greater for the hopes 
 of success they could not but feel from Prince Dolgo- 
 rouki's visit. In a few days he came again, and told 
 them that the Czar had said it was not in his power, 
 as head of the Church, to recognize the marriage as it 
 now stood, nor in his power to dissolve it ; but if she 
 desired it he would send out a special ukase for Con- 
 stantine's return to Russia, and insist on the perform- 
 ance of the Greek ceremony. 
 
 Madame de Guerbel expressed the deepest gratitude 
 for the Czar's kindness. 
 
 "But when this is done," she added, "I wish it 
 understood that I will never live with Count de Guer- 
 bel. He has endeavored to degrade us in everybody's 
 eyes ; and I cannot indorse his calumnies by living 
 with him. Will you tell this to the Czar? " 
 
 Without making any direct reply to this burst of 
 feeling, Prince Dolgorouki explained to them that 
 their next step, in the Czar's opinion, was to go to 
 Warsaw, and there await his majesty's further direc- 
 tions ; and then bade them a kind farewell. 
 
 As according to Russian law she would be under 
 obligation to live with her husband for two years 
 before seeking a divorce, the Czar's silence relative to 
 her determination to leave Count de Guerbel at the 
 altar immediately after the ceremony gave her painful 
 uncertainty as to the final result of all their trouble. 
 
 They lived opposite one side of the palace; and, 
 knowing that the Czar and Czarina were about to 
 leave the city, the anxious girl said, — 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 6 1 
 
 " Let's get up early, mother : we may see the de- 
 parture." 
 
 So, looking from their windows early in the morn- 
 ing, they saw the royal family in an open barouche, 
 and the Czar leaning forward to arrange his son's 
 necktie. 
 
 At the same moment, as if recollecting that he was 
 near the American embassy, he looked up and saw 
 Genevieve and her mother at their window. He 
 smiled, and waved his hand to them in friendly recog- 
 uition. 
 
 This little omen quieted their fears. " It's all right, 
 I know it, I feel it," they said to each other, and made 
 ready for their journey to Warsaw. 
 
 It has been said that Miss Ward gained admission 
 to the Czar, and, throwing herself at his feet, implored 
 him to see her honor vindicated by the Greek Church 
 sanction of her union with de Guerbel. With the ex- 
 ception of the occasion just mentioned, Miss Ward 
 never saw the Czar but once, and that was soon after 
 their arrival in St. Petersburg. They went out walking 
 together, accompanied by their dogs, a King Charles 
 and a Blenheim spaniel. Having heard absurd stories 
 that Russians were hereditary dog-thieves to a man, 
 they were anxious at the notice their pets seemed to 
 attract, particularly at that of a Russian officer driving 
 in a droshky without ornaments or trappings. The 
 horse was jet black, and very handsome ; and the har- 
 ness as well as the dress of the officer, though simple, 
 were elegant. This officer looked at them in such a 
 way. as he drove by, they were quite sure the dogs 
 were the cause of his observation. 
 
62 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Three times they met this droshky, and the last time 
 the officer bowed and smiled from out his muffling 
 furs. 
 
 Puzzled and annoyed, they acknowledged his salu- 
 tation reservedly, but seeing an officer who stood near 
 them uncover with great reverence to the inmate of the 
 droshky, and observing also that several ladies of high 
 position made haste to throw up their * veils as he ap- 
 proached, they made inquiry, and, to their confusion, 
 found it was the Czar himself whom they had been 
 regarding as a probable dog-thief ! 
 
 On arriving in Warsaw, the Wards found that Prince 
 Gortschakoff, brother of the present vice-chancellor, 
 had received full orders from the Czar, and a special 
 ukase had been sent to each Russian ambassador for 
 the apprehension of Constantine de Guerbel. 
 
 Meantime a new complication arose in Paris. Mad- 
 ame de Guerbel's father, Col. Ward, had reached that 
 city on his way to them. Soon after being shown to 
 his apartment, he was waited upon by Constantine de 
 Guerbel, who, first expressing in the most graceful 
 terms his joy at meeting the honored father of his 
 beautiful wife, assured him that it was all a misunder- 
 standing, he had been basely misrepresented, and de- 
 clared himself ready and eager to do any thing a father 
 could ask to prove the sincerity of his assertions, — 
 provided only that Col. Ward would telegraph for 
 Madame de Guerbel to return to Paris, which Col. 
 Ward, quite convinced by and delighted with his son- 
 in-law, forthwith promised to do. 
 
 1 In Russia the poor people kneel, wherever they may be, when the Czar 
 appears; and the nobility make profound obeisance, ladies raising their veils. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 63 
 
 The very next day Baron Brunnow arrived in Paris, 
 and, calling also on Col. Ward, speedily learned the 
 clever trick of Constantine, and enlightened Col. Ward 
 as to the true character of his fascinating son-in-law. 
 Yet so great had been the impression made by him 
 upon Col. Ward, he was still inclined to think some 
 explanation possible ; and, though when a member of 
 the Russian embassy served the imperial ukase upon 
 de Guerbel, he raged, and cursed the Czar and Russia 
 and every thing and body else with violent impartiality, 
 he had the power to induce Col. Ward to fulfil his 
 promise of the previous day, and telegraph to his wife 
 and daughter to come to Paris. 
 
 The response signed by Mrs. Ward and Genevieve 
 came as follows : — 
 
 " We have passed our word to the Czar : let Constantine 
 obey the Czar also." 
 
 Three times Col. Ward was induced to telegraph, 
 but Mrs. Ward held firm. Then Constantine begged 
 Col. Ward to go to Warsaw and see Prince Gortscha- 
 koff, and find out if it were the imperial intention to 
 punish Constantine in any way if he obeyed the ukase. 
 If he were not to be punished, Col. Ward was to tele- 
 graph for him, and he would come. 
 
 Col. Ward hurried off to Warsaw ; and, on being as- 
 sured by Prince Gortschakoff that no orders had been 
 received for Constantine's arrest, he telegraphed to 
 the latter as agreed. 
 
 Therefore, on a Saturday when Mrs. Ward and her 
 daughter had been some months in Warsaw, the 
 
64 GENEVIEVE WA.RD. 
 
 recreant de Guerbel arrived, and at once sent a note 
 to Madame de Guerbel, in which, for the first time, he 
 called her his wife, and signed himself " your affection- 
 ate husband, Constantine de Guerbel." 
 
 He had habitually spoken of her everywhere mock- 
 ingly as "Miss Genevieve." 
 
 This letter was despatched immediately to the Czar 
 as affording positive proof of the verity of their claims. 
 The next day de Guerbel had a stormy interview with 
 her parents, protesting with astounding effrontery 
 against the proceedings as summary and unfair; at 
 the same time affecting pleasure at the prospect of 
 meeting his wife again. 
 
 In the afternoon he was received by Madame de 
 Guerbel in her mother's presence. 
 
 It was a singular interview. 
 
 He approached her with expressions of ardent admi- 
 ration and delight, to which she remained quietly and 
 coldly silent. At last, subdued in spite of himself, he 
 exclaimed with some chagrin, "But is it not very 
 strange, since you are so cold to me, that you yet 
 desire to marry me? " 
 
 "So far as it has been in your power, you have 
 dragged our names through the mud," she replied. 
 "You shall rehabilitate them ! " 
 
 "Well, all right ! " he retorted quickly. "We shall 
 be very happy. You are a very beautiful woman. 
 We'll go to my plantations in Little Russia ; and your 
 father can come to see us — not your mother, she's 
 done this ! I have the horses and dogs you like, and 
 you'll be a great card at court." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 6$ 
 
 The wedding had been arranged to take place on 
 the morrow, Monday. Prince Gortschakoff had given 
 directions for the ceremony, and had furnished the 
 usual four groomsmen from his own staff, and had 
 given to Madame de Guerbel the Czar's special pass- 
 port permitting her, as Madame Constantine de Guer- 
 bel, to leave Russia with her parents, even in the event 
 of Constantine's not having been found. 
 
 In the yard of the hotel where they were staying, 
 their travelling- carriage, strapped with their luggage, 
 stood in readiness for starting the moment they should 
 get back from the ceremony ; for, if they had given 
 him any time after that took place, he could, by Rus- 
 sian law, have arrested and locked her up, fed her on 
 bread and water, or beaten her, had he so chosen to 
 do. 
 
 On Monday morning as ten o'clock, the hour set 
 for the marriage, drew near, Count de Guerbel called 
 at their hotel to ask if it might be deferred for an hour 
 to make way for a funeral. They assented ; and at 
 eleven o'clock, Genevieve, dressed in black silk, with 
 a black lace shawl thrown over her head, accompanied 
 by her parents, entered the Greek cathedral in Warsaw. 
 
 The Archbishop Novitzki of Warsaw had received 
 orders to celebrate this marriage. In the vestry, the 
 usual form, pledging that children born of this union 
 should be brought up in the Russo-Greek Church, was 
 signed. The altar was dressed in the middle of the 
 church, which was filled with people. It was a very 
 dark and shadowy interior; from a high window a 
 single veiled ray of sunlight fell, and rested, singularly 
 
66 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 enough, only upon the bride, leaving the others in 
 more pronounced gloom. 
 
 According to the custom, the contracting parties 
 held each a lighted candle. The one held by de 
 Guerbel burned poorly, and was shaking about ; while 
 the one held by Genevieve burned clear and as if in 
 the hand of a statue. 
 
 One of the groomsmen whispered to Mrs. Ward, 
 " Why, your daughter is in black, and it looks like a 
 funeral." 
 
 "I consider it a funeral," was the mother's reply. 
 The Wards' story had been well noised in Warsaw, 
 during the months of their waiting ; and no one, not 
 even those unprejudiced by Constantine's insinuating 
 slanders, and in sympathy with the trying position of 
 the mother and daughter, had believed that these two 
 American women could get themselves righted thus, 
 alone and in a foreign land. It had been feared that 
 Constantine might, at the last moment, frustrate the 
 Czar's purpose by hiring some one to interrupt the 
 ceremony, in which case it could not have been com- 
 pleted. When this apprehension was hinted to Col. 
 Ward and his son, Col. Ward replied, — 
 
 " Well, we are of course nobody in Russia ; but, if 
 Mr. G — tries that, I'll shoot him dead at the altar ! " 
 
 "And if father's aim fails, mine shall not ! " added 
 young Robert Ward. " It would be the only way left 
 to avenge my sister." 
 
 But in the midst of a stillness so deep it seemed as 
 if the beating of the heart could be heard, the cere- 
 mony proceeded to the end. At its close the arch- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 67 
 
 bishop came forward, and kindly congratulated the 
 bride. She thanked him in a low voice, and, coldly- 
 inclining her head to her husband, took her father's 
 arm; Mrs. Ward stepped to her other side, saluted 
 the groom in the same cold manner, and they moved 
 down the aisle. The crowd of witnesses seemed para- 
 lyzed. One of the ladies of the court stepped for- 
 ward, and whispered to Mrs. Ward, — 
 
 " I never thought you could accomplish this : God 
 be praised ! " 
 
 They descended the church steps, — Constantine 
 following them as one in a dream, — entered the car- 
 riage, and were driven away, while he yet stood on the 
 church steps. And, in less than five minutes after 
 reaching their hotel, they were whirling away to the 
 train, and were out of Russia before the bewildered 
 bridegroom could set about getting a police-warrant 
 to arrest his bride. 
 
 Towards the end of their journey en route for Milan, 
 they went by night in a diligence down the hill to 
 Trieste. The way was narrow, on one side a deep 
 precipice, and they felt timid. 
 
 "But do you go to sleep, dear mother," said they 
 to Mrs. Ward, "and we will watch." 
 
 After some time Mrs. Ward waked up to find that 
 the rest were all sleeping, and, on looking out, dis- 
 covered that they were flying at a mad pace down the 
 mountain, and both driver and leaders were gone. 
 
 She roused her husband and Robert, who sprang 
 out, and seized the horses' heads barely in time to 
 stop their plunging headlong over the precipice. 
 
68 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Col. Ward took the missing driver's place, and there 
 was no more sleeping. At the first village they 
 reached, they stopped and waked the people, asked 
 them to search for the poor fellow and horses, who 
 had undoubtedly either been thrown over the abyss, or 
 rolled off in sleep ; got new horses and postilion, and 
 drove into Trieste. 
 
 When the news of the marriage, and of their im- 
 mediate flight from Russia, was known in St. Peters- 
 burg and Warsaw, and it was seen, that, instead of 
 reigning as a belle in the distinguished circles in 
 which her marriage entitled her to appear, Madame 
 de Guerbel had only sought the single justice of the 
 rehabilitation of her own good name, it was felt that 
 no more than justice had been done, and that her step 
 in coming to St. Petersburg, instead of being unwar- 
 ranted assurance, had been an act of modesty and 
 heroism. 
 
 She never sought for a divorce, because she felt no 
 desire to marry again. She accepted nothing but their 
 friendship from her husband's family, and scorned to 
 make any claims to his estates. 
 
 During the year passed in Russia, Madame de Guer- 
 bel received eleven offers of marriage, many of them 
 very brilliant ; but she was not to be turned from her 
 purpose. She kept a list of her lovers, and when they 
 proved too persistent would turn to it, and ask de- 
 murely, — 
 
 " Let us see, what number is yours? " 
 
 When Constantine de Guerbel was fourteen years 
 of age, his commanding officer said of him, that he 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 69 
 
 had all the vices of a full-grown man, and seemed to 
 know as much. He was so eminently handsome, that 
 the empress made him her page, and a portrait of him 
 hung in the palace. 
 
 He bore a remarkable resemblance to the Czar 
 Nicholas, only his complexion and eyes were dark. 
 
 When only seventeen years of age, he ran away in a 
 
 yacht with the wife of Gen. W , taking goods to 
 
 the amount of many thousand roubles. 
 
 The government, being informed, sent out a steamer 
 and caught him. He was confined in the fortress for 
 three months, but was allowed the society of his 
 friends, and all kinds of luxuries. He seemed always 
 to escape any severe punishment. His personal power 
 with both men and women was something inexplicably 
 great. He was able to embarrass and lethargize the 
 reasoning faculties, while intensifying the emotional. 
 The Saxon minister in Paris, Count de Seebach, who 
 had charge of the Russian Legation, was thoroughly 
 deceived in his favor at the time of his conduct in 
 Paris, and as thoroughly undeceived when heavily 
 cheated by him in some money transactions. 
 
 He was a completely dissipated man, and before his 
 thirty-fourth year had lost the use of his legs. 
 
 About a year after the flight of the Wards from 
 Russia, a man forced his way into their apartments in 
 the Rue de Rivoli, Paris, during their temporary ab- 
 sence one morning, scared the servants, and opened 
 and ransacked things generally, and went away leaving 
 word that he was Constantine de Guerbel, and should 
 call again that evening. 
 
yo GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Mrs. Ward went to her old friend M. de Bois le 
 Comte, and he went with them to the chief of police 
 and then to the Russian minister, to see what could be 
 done. As a result, two gendarmes were placed at the 
 foot of the stairs leading to their apartments ; and, 
 when de Guerbel called, he was informed that if he 
 annoyed Madame de Guerbel any more, he would be 
 sent out of France. The next day he sent an huissier, 
 commanding her to return to him and live with him as 
 his wife. 
 
 But the French court decided the verdict against 
 him on the precedent of a case tried there only the 
 year previous, in which, the contesting parties being 
 both aliens on French soil, neither could be forced by 
 French law to live with the other. 
 
 He was told that he must go to Russia if he wished 
 to institute a legal process to oblige her to live with 
 him. This unwelcome advice, together with the pros- 
 pect of having to pay for the pleasure of annoying his 
 wife, effectually silenced him. 
 
 Years later, when Madame de Guerbel was giving 
 singing-lessons in New York, a friend wrote to her 
 from Nice, — 
 
 " Who, think you, sits next me at table, but Count Shouva- 
 loff and Daniel de Guerbel? The latter tells me that his 
 brother Constantine died at Pisa." 
 
 Of Constantine's four brothers, only one lives. 
 Serge de Guerbel, who was cashiered and entered 
 the ranks as a common soldier, was so brave in the 
 Crimean war that at his death he was re-instated, ad- 
 vanced in rank, and decorated in his coffin. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. J I 
 
 His sister, a beautiful woman, wife of Gen. Stahl 
 d'Hoistein, governor of the eastern frontier of Poland, 
 is living now in St. Petersburg. 
 

LINES TO GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 WRITTEN IN FLORENCE. 
 
 Within this far Etruscan clime, 
 By vine-clad slopes and olive plains, 
 
 And round these walls still left by Time, 
 The boundaries of his old domains ; 
 
 Here at the dreamer's golden goal, m 
 Whose dome o'er winding Arno drops, 
 
 Where old Romance still breathes its soul 
 Through Poesy's enchanted stops ; 
 
 Where Art stills holds enchanted state, 
 (What though her banner now is furled ?) 
 
 And keeps within her guarded gate 
 
 The household treasures of the world, — 
 
 What joy amid all this to find 
 One single bird, or flower, or leaf, 
 
 Earth's any simplest show designed 
 For pleasure, what though frail or brief, — 
 
 If but that leaf or bird or flower 
 Were wafted from the western strand, 
 
 To breathe into one happy hour 
 The freshness of my native land ! 
 
 That joy is mine : the bird I hear, 
 
 The flower is blooming near me now, — 
 
 The leaf that some great bard might wear 
 In triumph on his sacred brow. 
 
 For, lady, while thy voice and face 
 
 Make thee the Tuscan's loveliest guest, 
 
 Within this old romantic space 
 Breathes all the freshness of the West. 
 
 Buchanan Read. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 7$ 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE romantic story of her Russian journey and 
 marriage had reached Italy, where, on her 
 return to Milan, Madame de Guerbel was warmly re- 
 ceived by many new as well as old friends. It was 
 known that she had not only defeated the schemes of 
 a very bad man, at the same time winning the esteem 
 and friendship of his proud family, but that in reject- 
 ing every right to which her marriage entitled her, and 
 retaining only her vindicated name, she had given 
 indubitable proofs of her noble singleness of purpose. 
 
 Col. Ward, having seen them comfortably settled, 
 returned to his business affairs in America; and 
 Madame de Guerbel resumed her singing lessons under 
 the direction of San Giovanni (the same who sang in 
 America with Madame Alboni) : she also took up draw- 
 ing and painting, and in all these arts made such rapid 
 and certain progress, that Mrs. Ward, in the somewhat 
 unusual despair of having to choose between a diver- 
 sity of splendid aptitudes, brought the matter to a point 
 by telling her daughter that she might take a week to 
 choose which study she would devote herself to. 
 
 " For you can only do one of these arts justice," 
 said she. " Therefore make a choice, and avoid my 
 
?6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 mistake. I have absolutely excelled in nothing, be- 
 cause I was allowed to dabble in all." 
 
 At the end of the week Madame de Guerbel said, 
 "Music!" 
 
 The Italian poet Uberti, of Milan, an original bris- 
 tling all over with characteristics, a mad republican, 
 whose brain, seething with revolutionary instincts, 
 germinated class and national imbroglios ; a man also, 
 or perhaps one should say consequently, of kind 
 heart and mild personal impulses, and a vivid inter- 
 preter of artistic ideals, — was engaged by Mrs. Ward 
 to teach Madame de Guerbel the physical part of 
 declamation. 
 
 "I remember Signor Uberti so well," said Miss 
 Ward to me. " He used to prepare little pieces, idyls, 
 expressly for me. He would first read them to me, 
 teaching me the proper look and gesture by his own 
 manner. Then I studied these scenes by myself; and 
 at lesson-time he would read them, leaving the look 
 and gesture for me to do. One of these scenes was 
 about a corsair, who sails away from his lady-love : a 
 terrible storm comes up, and his little boat is wrecked ; 
 he is washed ashore, and she is in utter despair. I 
 used to get along all right, until the moment when her 
 woe and horror are to be expressed in one frenzied 
 exclamation : here I disappointed him, until one day 
 he stamped his foot, and glared at me ; and perfectly 
 desperate, the blood rushing into my cheeks and the 
 tears into my eyes, I wrung my hands, and made the 
 very cry he wanted. ' Ah ! ' he cried excitedly, ' that's 
 the corsair's bride indeed.' " 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. J J 
 
 By this method he taught her three operas, " Nor- 
 ma," " Lucia," and " Semiramide." At last, one day, 
 he came to Mrs. Ward, and said, — 
 
 " My dear madame, I am not a thief, and I can't 
 go on taking money for giving lessons to your daugh- 
 ter. I can't teach her; no use!" and was going 
 away as abruptly as he had come. 
 
 But Mrs. Ward detained him, exclaiming indignant- 
 ly, "Why, — why can't you teach her? I know she's 
 bright ! " 
 
 " Bright ! " cried the old poet, turning back, a tinge 
 of chagrin blending with his genial smile. " Ah, yes, 
 madame ! she is bright, — so bright that Uberti can. 
 teach her nothing more. She already interprets for 
 herself better than any one can teach her." 
 
 She was now just entering her eighteenth year, and 
 her determination to go upon the operatic stage met 
 with some opposition from her family, who still thought 
 a divorce should be procured, that the way to a happy 
 and fitting marriage might be open ; but Madame de 
 Guerbel was permanently impressed against the mar- 
 riage idea ; and Gen. John A. Dix, Baron Brunnow, 
 and other friends, wisely supported her in her choice 
 of a career for which her superb physical vitality and 
 her rich mental and vocal endowments so well quali- 
 fied her. 
 
 It was at this date, that the Archduke Maximilian 
 saw her one day at the opera. He gazed at her for a 
 long time as if no one else were visible ; and, when he 
 passed her in going out, he bowed with an air of gen- 
 uine homage, murmuring, — 
 
?8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 " Belle comrne un ange / " 
 
 Wishing to secure a first-class, unprepossessed, criti- 
 cal judgment, to determine whether or not she could 
 become a really great singer, she talked the matter 
 over with her mother, and it was agreed to put it tc 
 the test in a novel manner. 
 
 Madame de Guerbel dressed herself in the gar- 
 ments of a poor girl of the people, and completed the 
 disguise with a pair of ugly green goggles. Mrs. Ward 
 made herself up as an old family-servant, and they 
 went to the rooms of the great Lamperti. 
 
 As they entered the master's salon, a class was still in 
 attendance ; and Lamperti in a rage was banging about, 
 striking his piano with such force that the wires rattled 
 and twanged, and shaking his pupils by the shoulders. 
 
 These proceedings filled the young girl with appre- 
 hension : but there was no turning back ; Lamperti had 
 seen her, and was already advancing. 
 
 "Well ! " said he, pausing directly in front of her, 
 "who are you? and what do you want? " 
 
 Preserving an easy exterior, she looked straight 
 through her green goggles, and replied, — speaking 
 artfully in Italian patois, — 
 
 " I can't pay you well, signor ; but I must learn to 
 sing, to sing perfectly, so as to support myself. I 
 know I can act /" 
 
 "So, so?" said Lamperti. "Who's with you? You 
 did not come alone? " 
 
 " No, signor : my nurse is waiting for me." 
 
 " Why do you wear these things? Take them off" 
 (pointing to the goggles) . 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 79 
 
 " No, I cannot do that yet, — not till my eyes are 
 stronger." 
 
 Lamperti turned over some music, and gave her a 
 little air to sing. When she had finished, he stood 
 a few moments looking at her in silence, and then 
 said, very brusquely, — 
 
 "Yes, you can sing: I'll teach you;" then, after 
 another pause, he asked, " What part of Italy do you 
 come from? " 
 
 "Ah!" she replied quickly, "you know by my 
 accent, but of course study will correct that." 
 
 He perceived that his question was parried, but did 
 not for a moment imagine her patois was not genuine, 
 or that it was with American wit he was fencing. 
 
 She came regularly to her lessons, dressed in her 
 plain, poor clothes, with scrupulous care, and attended 
 by her nurse. Her progress pleased him; but she 
 mystified him, especially when she insisted on paying 
 the full tuition. 
 
 " I thought you could not pay so much," said he. 
 
 " I must pay you," she replied, " because, when my 
 tuition is completed, I must belong to myself : I must 
 be free to make my own terms for my voice." 
 
 She was exceedingly diligent, and this had made 
 him habitually milder to her than to his other pupils ; 
 but one day, when he was particularly irritable, he 
 struck her suddenly across one hand with the pencil 
 he held. He had been accustomed to see his pupils, 
 some of them girls from old and noble families, cringe 
 and weep under his severity, with no notion of resent- 
 ing it. Madame de Guerbel rose from the piano, 
 
80 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 drew herself up, and looked at him quietly, with an 
 air almost of contempt. He bowed, — for him an 
 apology, — and said, in a low voice, with a satirical 
 yet respectful accent, "You are a lady ! " 
 
 The lesson went on without further comment. The 
 next time she appeared without the goggles, but other- 
 wise maintained to the last the role she had assumed. 
 Whether her eyes enforced the mute rebuke of the 
 previous lesson, or not, Lamperti never again treated 
 her uncivilly. 
 
 The next year, in the midst of her brilliant successes 
 as the cantatrice Madame Guerrabella, — for into this 
 flowing word the Italians had changed the name de 
 Guerbel, — she met her old master, and told him the 
 whole story of the way in which she had made sure of 
 his unbiased opinion of her powers, and obtained the 
 benefit of his instruction. 
 
 " I always knew there was something," said Lem- 
 perti ; " but you kept it perfectly, — only once when I 
 lost my temper." 
 
 " Ah ! you were very wrong, because I did not de- 
 serve it," she said quickly. " I was careful : I obeyed 
 you exactly." 
 
 "Then, suppose you had deserved it " — 
 
 " Not even then : you forget that I am an Ameri- 
 can." 
 
 She sang first in Milan, at La Scala, in "Lucrezia 
 Borgia." When the curtain rose, and Madame Guer- 
 rabella came forward, to the surprise of every one not 
 in a certain high box, she was greeted with hisses. 
 She walked to the footlights, and, folding her arms, 
 looked up to the box calmly in silence. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 8 1 
 
 She had finished her vocal studies with Lamperti, 
 unquestionably the greatest teacher in Milan. Her 
 former teacher, San Giovanni, meanly irritated by this, 
 had taken this box, and, with the party hired to assist 
 in the expression of his spleen, now stood up, and 
 redoubled the hissing. The audience seemed spell- 
 bound, until an old gentleman in the pit sprang up 
 and exclaimed, " For shame ! " The audience emphat- 
 ically applauded this protest. With a fine color in 
 her cheeks, Madame Guerrabella slowly unfolded her 
 arms, and began to sing in a silence stirred by no 
 other sound until, with the closing cadences, the audi- 
 ence broke into enthusiastic cheers, and the high box 
 was discovered to be vacant. 
 
 But her real debut was at Bergamo, where, during 
 the carnival season, her appearance in Pacini's opera, 
 " Stella di Napoli," inspired one of the most splendid 
 popular ovations ever tendered to a young artiste ; and 
 on her return to Milan she was engaged on proud 
 terms to sing in the chief theatre at Trieste. On 
 reaching Venice, en route for Trieste, she was met at 
 the railway- station by a secretary of the director with 
 whom her contract was made, who said, in a matter- 
 of-course way, — 
 
 " We have, after all, been unable to secure the thea- 
 tre at Trieste ; but we hope you will kindly open the 
 opera here in Venice instead." 
 
 The Italians of the kingdom of Venice were at that 
 time very generally united in their determination not 
 to support, either opera or other gayeties, because of 
 the unhappy situation of the Venetians under Austrian 
 
82 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 dominion. Madame Guerrabella, perceiving at once 
 what lay behind so considerable and abrupt an altera- 
 tion, and that she was to be used to trick the Vene- 
 tians out of their patriotic resolutions, referred to her 
 contract, and replied, — 
 
 " My engagement is for Trieste, and I must decline ^ 
 to alter it." 
 
 " Do not refuse, madame," said the secretary, losing 
 his studied indifference, " but accept upon your own 
 terms : make them what you will, and I am author- 
 ized to assure you that the governor of Venice, Count 
 Toggenburg, will come himself, and ratify any proposi- 
 tion you may choose to make." 
 
 " My engagement is for Trieste," she repeated ; and, 
 as no train was returning immediately to Milan, she 
 went to a hotel. 
 
 The persistent secretary soon followed, and, on 
 being admitted, again urged her with every variety of 
 argument, and splendor of inducement, to reconsider 
 her decision. 
 
 Madame Guerrabella, who loved Italy and the Ital- 
 ians, remained firm ; and the secretary, losing temper, 
 manners, and honesty also, seized the contract lying 
 on the table at her side, and tore it in pieces, exclaim- 
 ing,— 
 
 "You will be obliged to sing, madame, — you shall 
 see ! " 
 
 "Very well," said Madame Guerrabella : " I will do 
 what I am obliged to." 
 
 At four o'clock the next morning, hours before the 
 secretary had any idea of calling on her, she felt 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 83 
 
 "obliged" to take the train for Milan, where she was 
 received with acclamation. Count Correr, of the Com- 
 mittee of Venetian Emigration, together with Count 
 Meroner, called to thank her, in the name of the com- 
 mittee, for her brave fidelity to Italy's cause, and made 
 her citizen of Venice. Messages of affection and 
 gratitude flowed in from known and unknown sources 
 during the day : she received an immediate engage- 
 ment to sing at the Carcano (Milan); and, on the night 
 of her appearance, her reception was not unlike such 
 as a liberated people might render to a queen-liberator. 
 
 Her success was complete. She continued at La 
 Scala, and at concerts in Milan and Paris. At one of 
 these, given by the Baroness Von Meyendorff, the 
 Parisian critic Jules le Comte wrote : " A lady whose 
 real name has been Italianized into Guerrabella was 
 heard with great surprise and delight. She is remarka- 
 bly beautiful ; and, when we could no longer listen to 
 her exquisite voice, our eyes were still bounden sub- 
 jects to her beauty." 
 
 During this visit to Paris she went to see her kind 
 friend and protector Rossini, who was at his counts- 
 seat in Passy. She rehearsed " Semiramide," he 
 accompanying her ; and at the close, when she timidly 
 asked the great composer, — 
 
 "Could I venture at the Italiens?" he kissed her 
 forehead, and, taking both her hands in his, replied, — • 
 
 " Tell them Rossini says no one can sing it better, 
 and no one look it so well, regina mia / " 
 
 This was the last farewell : she never saw him again. 
 
 Her debut at the Italiens was successful. She 
 
o4 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 sang in " Semiramide," "II Trovatore," "I Puritani," 
 " Lucrezia Borgia/' Elvira in " Don Giovanni," in " La 
 Traviata," etc. ; and the French and Italian jour- 
 nals wrote glowing encomiums. Once, when she was 
 singing as Elvira with Mario in Paris, he retreated 
 before her instead of attacking her. " Why did you 
 do that? " asked Frezzolini ; to which Mario replied, — 
 
 "I could not stand the fire of Elvira's beautiful, 
 angry eyes." 
 
 She studied with Moderati (now in New York, and 
 the delight of the Coney-Islanders), and Mrs. Ward 
 took her to Madame Persiani. The latter, having 
 listened to the young girl's singing, — who had given 
 months of practice to acquiring the famous Persiani 
 trill, — exclaimed, — 
 
 " She is already perfect. I can teach her nothing. 
 I can only give her my fioraturas! " 
 
 Rubini-Gallinari passed the same verdict. Madame 
 Persiani, who was not only a great artiste, but a woman 
 of lovely character, became Madame Guerrabella's 
 firm friend, and one of the most true and discriminat- 
 ing admirers of her talents. 
 
 In July of the same year, of Col. Ward's appoint- 
 ment to the United States consulate at Bristol, Eng- 
 land, "The London Illustrated Times" announced 
 that, — 
 
 " Madame Guerrabella, a young singer, with an admirable 
 soprano and a perfect method, has just arrived, and is to sing 
 at Madame Sala's x private concert with the ' English skylark,' 
 Miss Louisa Pyne, and other eminent vocalists." 
 
 1 George Augustus Sala's mother. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 85 
 
 She sang also at the Queen's Concert Rooms for 
 the benefit of the Warwick- street schools, but she 
 made no public debut in England at this time : her 
 singing, however, made a permanent impression of the 
 highest character on the comparatively few who heard 
 her. 
 
 The next season she was again singing in the capi- 
 tals of Italy and France, and with such triumph that 
 the entire Continental press found space to signally 
 comment thereon. Her pronunciation of the Italian 
 and French languages was such that she was claimed 
 in both countries as a native, and her American origin 
 scouted as a fiction. 
 
 The French and Italian art-critics, Fabien, Fitali, 
 Chadeuil, and Fiorentino, the great critic of the world 
 at that time, and regarded as the scourge of artists, all 
 wrote sparkling leaders concerning her grand and ver- 
 satile powers. "The London Spectator" then took 
 up the cry : — 
 
 " The French and Italian papers are very demonstrative in 
 favor of Signora Guerrabella. It is only two years since she 
 began her career ; and already she is an established favorite, 
 and is greeted with the utmost enthusiasm wherever she makes 
 her appearance. At Turin and Milan she has recently been 
 the reigning star; and the reports of her success have been 
 followed by substantial offers of engagements from several 
 quarters, — among others, from Constantinople. The Italian 
 critics say that since the days of the great Pasta, no one has 
 equalled La Guerrabella; and the praise they lavish on her 
 voice, acting, and personal beauty, is confirmed by private 
 letters." 
 
 Poets wrote verses to her. Artists followed her 
 
86 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 from place to place, petitioning to be allowed to paint 
 her ; sculptors prayed for the honor of modelling her 
 arm and hand, which were especially and classically 
 beautiful. 
 
 One fine model of her hand, 1 in marble, rests on a 
 little velvet cushion in a cabinet at Corda Lodge. 
 
 One of the most unique personal tributes received 
 by her at this period was paid by the venerable Maxi- 
 milian, Count de Waldeck, painter to Napoleon the 
 Great. He told her that seeing, and listening to her 
 recalled to his memory the ancient ode to Sappho, 
 which he had not seen for over fifty years. Seating 
 himself at her writing-desk, he wrote as follows : — 
 
 SAPHO. 
 
 {Reprodtnt de souvenir.) 
 
 Written at the age of one hundred and eight by Count Waldeck, who was 
 painter to the first Napoleon; after not having seen the verse for over fifty 
 years. 
 
 Heureux qui pres de toi pour toi seul soupire 
 
 Qui jouit du plaisir de t'entendre parler 
 
 Qui te vois quelquefois doucement lui sourire 
 
 Les dieux dans ce bonheur peuvent ils m'egaler ? 
 
 Je suis heureux enfin sitot que je te vois 
 
 Et dans les doux transports ou s'egare mon ame 
 
 Je ne saurais trouver de langue ni de voix 
 
 Un nuage confus se repand sur ma vue 
 
 Je tremble et je me sens interdite eperdue 
 
 Et puis partout mon corps une brulant flamme ! 
 
 Je circule, et je tombe en de douces langueurs 
 
 Un frisson me saisit ! je tremble ! je me meurs ! 
 
 And, handing it to her, said, — 
 
 1 By Joel T. Hart, the American sculptor, who did her bust. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 87 
 
 " Here it is as you make me recollect it." When 
 he went away he took the paper with him, and copied 
 the verse correctly from the printed text, on its other 
 side, as follows : — 
 
 (D'apres le texte retrouve.) 
 
 Heureux ! qui pres de toi, pour toi seule soupire 
 
 Qui jouit du plaisir de t'entendre parler; 
 
 Qui te vois quelquefois doucement lui sourire 
 
 Les Dieux dans son bonheur peuvent ils l'egaler ? 
 
 Je sens de veine en veine une subtile flanime 
 
 Courir partout mon corps, sitot que je te vois; 
 
 Et dans les doux transports, ou s'egare mon ame, 
 
 Je ne saurais trouver de langue ni de voix. 
 
 Un nuage confus se repand sur ma vue ; 
 
 Je ne sens plus ; je tombe en de douces langueurs 
 
 Un frisson me saisit . . . je tremble . . . je me meurs ! x 
 
 Max., Cte. de Waldek. 
 A Mademoiselle Ward. 
 
 and returned it to her. A graceful attention from an 
 artist one hundred and eight years old ! 
 
 In autumn of the same year, an English journal 
 published in Bristol relates that — 
 
 " Madame Guerrabella of Milan, being at Clifton on a visit, 
 and feeling her heart glow within her as she heard of the sym- 
 pathy displayed by the English in behalf of beautiful but too- 
 long-oppressed Italy, generously offered an evening's services 
 in aid of the fund being raised for the illustrious liberator; and 
 the proffered favor being gladly accepted by the friends of 
 Italian independence resident here, other aid was asked and 
 secured, and the concert was arranged." 
 
 1 Traduit et defigure par Oussius. Louis XV. poss^dait l'original, tres 
 ancien, ecrit sans distinction de vers, sans ponctuation, et sans ortographie. 
 
88 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 "The London Chronicle" commented thereon, — 
 
 " The Bristol papers are emphatic in reporting the appear- 
 ance of Mile, de Guerrabella at a concert in aid of the Gari- 
 baldi Fund in Bristol. The occasion was indeed remarkable. 
 Mile. Guerrabella is by birth an American : she is barely 
 twenty years of age, but she has already achieved for herself 
 a distinguished name as a prima donna at La Scala. Speak- 
 ing of her performance, a local paper says : ' She sang in a 
 manner we have never heard surpassed ; and her vocalization 
 quite equalled Sontag or Alboni. Her voice is much more 
 extensive than either, including three octaves ; and her constant 
 flights, 'do, re, mi,' above the lines, took her audience mani- 
 festly by surprise, and proved her to be of that rare class now 
 to be found — a pure soprano. 
 
 " She has been distinguished in Italy, not only for her noble 
 singing, but for her determined refusal to sing under the patron- 
 age of the Austrian government at Venice, which resorted to cu- 
 rious manoeuvres for the purpose of securing the young singer." 
 
 Soon after the Garibaldi concert, which, as will be 
 shortly seen, was not the only favor Madame Guerra- 
 bella showed to the Italian patriot, she left England to 
 fulfil a three-months' winter engagement at Bucharest. 
 
 While sailing down the Danube on the way thither, 
 she noticed that the captain of the steamer, an Eng- 
 lishman and an exceedingly kind and courteous gen- 
 tleman, seemed abstracted and depressed. At the 
 outset of the trip she had also observed five Hunga- 
 rians on deck, who had after a little time disappeared. 
 When the voyage was about half accomplished, she 
 made an opportunity to approach the captain. 
 
 "You are very anxious about something," said she. 
 "Is it about the journey? If it is any thing about 
 which a woman could help you, I should like to try." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 89 
 
 The captain smiled with a momentary look of 
 relief; but his kind face quickly clouded over as he 
 replied, — 
 
 " I have five Hungarian noblemen on board : you 
 observed them, of course, by their costume. They 
 wished to join Garibaldi. But we shall have to change 
 steamers to go over the rapids at the next frontier 
 town, my steamer is so large, and the water is unfor- 
 tunately very low." 
 
 "I noticed the gentlemen," said she; "but I 
 haven't seen them for some little time." 
 
 "Yes, that's it. They have got to go back, poor 
 /ellows ; and I had agreed to do my best to pass them 
 off as stokers. They are down in the stokers' hole 
 now." 
 
 "Oh! I don't think they'll have to do that," said 
 Madame Guerrabella. "Just wait, and let me talk 
 with my brother." 
 
 It was her young brother, Robert Ward ; x and he 
 had his despatch-bearer's passport. When they had 
 consulted together she returned to the captain, and 
 said quickly, — 
 
 " We've arranged it : we'll take them over with us." 
 
 " Impossible ! It can't be done with so many," 
 exclaimed the captain. 
 
 " Yes, it can," cried she. " Listen. They are my 
 brothers : they are all going with me on our Amer- 
 ican passport. Go tell them. Send them to me." 
 
 1 This young man, who possessed rare talents for music, painting, and 
 drawing, died of consumption at Algiers, whither Mrs. Ward went with him 
 in tenacious but vain hopes of his recovery. 
 
QO GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 The captain shook his head, but carried her mes- 
 sage to the refugees in the stokers' hole, who received 
 it with delight, and, resuming their Austrian costumes, 
 rushed up on deck to thank their young benefactress. 
 
 She at- once unfolded her plan. 
 
 " I am your sick sister," said she ; " and you are my 
 brothers. I will teach you a few phrases and excla- 
 mations in English. Don't utter a word beyond — 
 especially not a word of German, which would betray 
 us all." 
 
 She then gave them a little well-adapted lesson in 
 English, training them sharply; and after having 
 assisted them with cloaks, hats, and other items of 
 disguise, put a copy of "Bradshaw " in the hand of one, 
 and taking the arm of two of the five Hungarians 
 began walking the deck slowly, as if feeble and weary. 
 
 " Now," said she, as they approached the frontier 
 town, "your role is solely this, — devotion to and 
 anxiety for me ; and attend to the cue I have given 
 you. If you don't, you'll get your sister into prison ! " 
 
 The officials came on board at the town. The ruse 
 worked smoothly for the disembarkation : but when 
 they were told it would be some hours before the 
 other boat started, Madame Guerrabella feared the 
 delay might prove a strain too great, and asked per- 
 mission to go at once on board with her brothers, who 
 did not speak German ; as she felt so ill, she desired 
 rest in her cabin. She asked this favor with so win- 
 ning a mixture of timidity, respect, and physical 
 weakness, that it was granted with little hesitation. 
 The officer, who examined her passport just before 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 9 1 
 
 the boat started, could make nothing of it, and seemed 
 inclined to quiz her : she answered him, however, in 
 bad German, with a sweet and sad expression, so that 
 he went away quite satisfied. 
 
 When they started, it appeared that the new captain 
 was more suspicious ; and Madame Guerrabella, in- 
 stantly perceiving this, feigned an access of illness, 
 and went down into the ladies' cabin, peevishly de- 
 manding the attendance of all her brothers. 
 
 "This captain suspects," said she in a low voice. 
 " I must keep you here as long as I can ; but I shall 
 have to flirt with him desperately before we are through 
 with this affair ! " 
 
 Presently they went again on deck, Madame Guer- 
 rabella supported by two of her brothers, another held 
 her wraps, the rest were occupied with pillows, cush- 
 ions, and books. She affected to be too ill and nervous 
 to be left for a moment. 
 
 As they passed the captain, who was observing them 
 very gravely, Madame Guerrabella almost impercep- 
 tibly paused, and threw him a glance, half petulant 
 and languid, yet altogether of such dazzling sort, that 
 the good captain was lost from that moment. 
 
 " How very beautiful your sister is ! " he said the 
 next day to one of the Hungarians, who in his whole- 
 souled admiration and gratitude was near to spoiling 
 all by a fluent panegyric in German. A darting rebuke 
 in the eye of Madame Guerrabella warned him just in 
 time to enable him, with an awkward "Um-um" 
 and a deep bow, to turn away. She took care, with 
 never-failing vigilance, to keep them employed with 
 
92 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 her countless invalid wants, and to be always scolding 
 and fretting at them semi-arTectionately when any one, 
 especially the captain, was near ; contriving at the same 
 time to thoroughly captivate and bewilder that gentle- 
 man with her beauty, her smiles, and her prettily- 
 murmured bad German, to such an extent that it was 
 a wonder they ever, by his guidance, came straight to 
 Giurgevo. 
 
 As they approached this point, she saw they could 
 ill repress their joy : so she had them all into the cabin 
 once more, and lectured them soundly on the too little 
 care they were taking of their faces. 
 
 " It is not yet Bucharest," said she. " Here you've 
 been looking solemn as Moses all the way, worried to 
 death for your sister ; and now all at once you look as 
 if you had come in sight of the promised land ! All 
 will be lost if you are so careless now. Besides, the 
 captain is a clever fellow ; and I'm not at all sure what 
 he thinks, or means to do." 
 
 But, whatever the captain may have thought, he 
 parted with them kindly at Giurgevo, having evidently 
 felt that any oversight on his part had been fully com- 
 pensated by the fascinating presence of the beautiful 
 invalid. 
 
 From Giurgevo they went by diligence to Bucharest. 
 There they were safe ; and there the five Hungarians 
 fell on their knees in the street, and thanked her, cov- 
 ering her hands with tears and kisses of gratitude. 
 Had this daring ruse failed, all would have been sent 
 to prison. 
 
 As soon as Mrs. Ward learned of this incident, she 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 93 
 
 wrote to her daughter, charging her to be sure, if 
 trouble came of it, to let the Hungarian government 
 know that the blood of the " good king Matthias Cor- 
 vinus " flowed in her veins. 
 
 In explanation of this : One day, years ago, Hon. 
 Tom Corwin called on Mrs. Ward, then in Washing- 
 ton, and claimed relationship with her through the 
 Wards, with whose ancestors the Curwens, or Corwins, 
 of Salem, Mass., had intermarried. During his call 
 Mr. Corwin related that he had just been visited by 
 two Hungarian officers, who had been sent by the 
 Hungarian people to offer him the crown of Hungary. 
 It seems, that, in the archives of Hungary, there had 
 been found some letters addressed to their beloved 
 sovereign, Matthias Corvinus, known in history as the 
 "good king Matthias," by a cousin of his majesty's, 
 who settled, under the name Curwen, 1 in America, and 
 founded a family there. 
 
 The Hungarians felt, that, in their heavy struggle 
 with Austria, a leader of the house of the " good king 
 Matthias " would indeed be of happiest augury for 
 their cause ; and the discovery of these letters resulted 
 in the invitation to Mr. Corwin, as the most distin- 
 guished living descendant of the Corwin — and Ward 
 — intermarriage, to assume the crown of Hungary. 
 
 The offer was twice made, and twice declined ; Tom 
 Corwin deeming it to be the greater honor and nearer 
 duty to be the head of his party in America. 
 
 Hence Mrs. Ward's advice to her daughter, in case 
 
 1 The Curwen house is still standing in Salem, Mass., or was within a few 
 years. 
 
94 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the latter should find herself in any danger from her 
 unselfish services to the Hungarian refugees fleeing to 
 the service of the flag of Garibaldi. 
 
 Of her visit to Bucharest, a letter, dated there and 
 published in a New York journal, said, — 
 
 " We have been more than fortunate this winter in securing 
 for our opera the beautiful and gifted prima donna, La Guerra- 
 bella. She made her debut in the ' Traviata,' and is thought by 
 all here to be the best Traviata ever seen. Her success was 
 great. The reigning prince evinced his .admiration by applaud- 
 ing loudly; and the audience, by their repeated calls, proved 
 her to be already their favorite. She next sang ' Elvira,' and 
 such a furore is rare : she was called out innumerable times, 
 and covered with flowers. The cavatina was a perfect triumph ; 
 and after the last trio the public did not seem to know how to 
 express sufficient admiration. She is a splendid dramatic singer 
 and actress. She next sang ' Rosina,' in the ' Barber,' and had 
 another ovation ; such a lovely, piquant, Spanish girl is difficult 
 to find. She introduced Rode's air, which was given most ex- 
 quisitely; and when you heard her singing like a bird, and 
 recalled the powerful, thrilling notes of ' Elvira,' you could 
 hardly believe it was the same person. In a few days we shall 
 have her in the ' Torquato Tasso.' The great point of this 
 young lady's acting (for she is very young) is, you never see 
 her, but the character she personifies. Her voice is essentially 
 dramatic, and is of such a rich, telling character that in the 
 ensembles it towers over all. I have not said much of La Guer- 
 rabella's beauty, for I believe she enjoys a European reputation. 
 I will only add that her smile is something wonderful. It fas- 
 cinates, it sinks into your heart, and makes you feel joyful ; and 
 long after she has passed from your sight you feel it still. She 
 sings in five languages, is highly accomplished in painting, and, 
 withal, is simple and unaffected in manner, always doing some 
 kind and generous act. May Heaven bless her wherever she 
 goes ! " 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 95 
 
 From Bucharest she returned to England, and 
 studied oratorio with the great oratorio- contralto, Mrs. 
 Martha Groom, who had been a protegee of Mrs. Sid- 
 dons. Mrs. Groom, like all Miss Ward's teachers, 
 was delighted with the earnestness of her pupil, who 
 studied with an industry only the best health could 
 have sustained. At the close of her lessons Mrs. 
 Groom presented Madame Guerrabella with a lock of 
 hair she had received from Mrs. Siddons, who had 
 clipped it herself from among her soft white locks. 
 
 The next year Madame Guerrabella's debut in Eng- 
 lish opera was made at the seventh Philharmonic con- 
 cert of the summer season. The programme comprised 
 Beethoven's symphony " Eroica," and Mendelssohn's 
 in A, known as the Italian ; together with concertos, 
 overtures, and vocal music, admirably selected. Pro- 
 fessor Sterndale Bennett conducted ; and in the audi- 
 ence sat the venerable Ignace Moscheles, friend and 
 contemporary of Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Hummel, 
 Weber, and Spohr, most of whom had composed mu- 
 sical works expressly for the Philharmonic Society, 
 then in its forty-ninth year of well-merited success and 
 fame. 
 
 " The vocal music was specially interesting,' ' said a 
 leading journal the next morning, "inasmuch as it 
 introduced to the London public a prima donna of 
 great Continental celebrity, — Signora Guerrabella, who 
 sang the beautiful aria ' Qui la voce ' from the ' Puri- 
 tani ' with undeniable grandeur of style and rare com- 
 mand of vocal resources. Her voice is remarkable for 
 its power, and her feeling and expression are eminently 
 
g6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 dramatic. In quality, this lady's voice reminded us 
 very much of Grisi's in her palmy days, whilst her 
 execution is equally true and facile. A more success- 
 ful debut has rarely been made in this country." 
 
 Three days later she sang in St. James Hall, at the 
 annual grand concert of Mrs. Anderson, pianiste to 
 the Queen and teacher of the royal children, and a 
 classic performer of great ability. Her concerts were 
 always considered the most brilliant and fashionable 
 events of the London musical season ; and on this 
 occasion, besides her own superb pianistic display, 
 there was singing by Giuglini, Mile. Titjens, the well- 
 remembered and beloved Parepa, and Madame Guer- 
 rabella, the debittante who was heartily applauded and 
 encored. 
 
 Then came the eighth and last Philharmonic concert 
 of the season, at which the aged Moscheles appeared 
 as a performer. His playing " of his own concerto in 
 G-minor" (said George Augustus Sala in "The Lon- 
 don Illustrated News "), "one of his finest works, was 
 followed by acclamation and thunders of applause from 
 every part of the crowded room, prolonged several 
 minutes after he left the orchestra, and quite exciting 
 enough to have overpowered one less accustomed to 
 public enthusiasms. . . . Rossini's great air from ' Se- 
 miramide,' ' Bel-raggio,' was superbly sung by Signora 
 Guerrabella, the young singer newly arrived in Eng- 
 land, who made a furore at the last Philharmonic, a 
 still greater furore at Madame Anderson's annual, and 
 last night materially increased her growing fame. She 
 is an embodiment of the most charming characteristics 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 97 
 
 of literature and art, speaks nearly as many languages 
 as Pic de la Mirandole or Cardinal Mezzofanti ; and, 
 besides singing, draws, paints, sculpts, and dances with 
 genuine merit, and is the young and beautiful heroine 
 of one of the strangest and most romantic dramas of 
 real life which could be matched anywhere in ' Les 
 Mysteres de la Russie.'" 
 
 The "Daily News," "Morning Chronicle," and other 
 journals were equally cordial in her praise. All opin- 
 ions concurred as to her great dramatic talent ; and her 
 familiarity with the stage was assumed and asserted as 
 a fact accounting for her astonishing ease and grace, 
 though she had in reality never played, except in 
 opera. The press were not alone in their courteous 
 welcome to the young debutante. Letters of con- 
 gratulation and invitation poured in, and she was in- 
 vited to sing at the Duchess of Northumberland's and 
 at other distinguished private gatherings. At one of 
 these, Hogarth, the secretary of the Philharmonic So- 
 ciety, and the operatic critic of the day, was asked for 
 his opinion. 
 
 "What do I think of her?" he repeated. "Why, 
 what every one must think. It's not enough to call 
 her the new Grisi ; for she is a better singer, and far 
 more beautiful, than Grisi ! " 
 
 She debuted in Royal English Opera at Covent- 
 Garden Theatre, as Maid Marian in Mac Farren's 
 opera of "Robin Hood." Her success was estab- 
 lished as an opera-singer of the very first quality and 
 rank. Her audiences, both select and large, applauded 
 her to the echo ; and the daily press continued to 
 
9» GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 indorse the public verdict. Even "The Athenaeum/' 
 notably incapable of enthusiasm, remarked that " a lady 
 more elegant in appearance than Madame Guerrabella 
 is not on the London stage. Her voice is a soprano 
 of sufficient compass and power. She sings with re- 
 finement and feeling, and appears to have been trained 
 according to good methods. Her action, too, is grace- 
 ful and sufficient." 
 
 It was noticed, that she played the famous heroine 
 Maid Marian, not as it had been conceived in previous 
 representations, as a country girl, ill qualified to rouse 
 men to admiration and consistent action; but as a 
 lady of rank and station, filled to inspire the ambitious 
 love of Robin Hood. 
 
 This quality of interpreting character on the highest 
 plane compatible with the artistic limitations of the 
 case has, from first to last, admirably distinguished 
 Miss Ward's dramatic conceptions : as in her latest 
 achievement as the Marquise de Mohrivart, in " For- 
 get Me Not," we have not the vulgarly artful, quasi- 
 pretty, and wholly blase woman of the demi-monde ; 
 but the far more subtle interpretation of a thoroughly 
 and skilfully bad woman, who is at the same time a 
 perfect lady, graceful, finished, and dangerous not by 
 ill-concealed vice, but by penetrating charm and re- 
 finement. 
 
 Her impersonation of Maid Marian brought her 
 many private congratulations. 
 
 Mrs. Hogarth, wife of the critic, wrote : — 
 
 " I must congratulate you on your splendid success last even- 
 ing. Mrs. Dickens and Helen were with me ; and we really did 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 99 
 
 not know which most to admire, your lovely singing, energetic 
 graceful acting, ox yourself. We were talking it over at break- 
 fast this morning, and saying what a splendid career is before 
 you, and how many parts you will do beautifully." 
 
 A word came from Mrs. Cropsey, wife of the Ameri- 
 can painter : — 
 
 " I have heard of your great success in ' Robin Hood,' from 
 several friends who were present. They say you were splendid. 
 I am so delighted when any of our countrywomen or men make 
 a success in London ! " 
 
 The celebrated actress Fanny Stirling, who taught 
 Madame Guerrabella in " Maritana," wrote cordial 
 congratulations, closing with : — 
 
 " You are on the high road to fame and fortune, all that 
 makes life pleasant. There is but little left to do for you by 
 any one, or by yours truly." 
 
 The following : — 
 
 " Dear Friend, — I cannot allow many hours to transpire 
 before I congratulate you on your great and decided success 
 last night. Our party — six in number — expressed the same 
 opinion. Indeed, I do not see how it could be otherwise. I 
 had all my eyes open, both mentally and bodily, as well as my 
 opera-glass, so as to find fault — but all in vain. All you have 
 now to do, is to go on and prosper, which is a sure result^ 
 
 was written by W. J. Newton, miniature-painter to the 
 Queen. He presented his painting in ivory, of the 
 " Coronation," to the National Gallery. 
 
 At this period her father's consulate at Bristol ex- 
 pired, and " The Daily News " said, — 
 
 " The retiring consul leaves Bristol with the regret and the 
 respect, not only of his own countrymen, but of the numerous 
 
IOO GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 friends to whom he has endeared himself by his courtesy and 
 gentlemanly bearing, — his tact and ability in the discharge of 
 duties often delicate and difficult. During Col. Ward's resi- 
 dence among us, the American trade has increased to an un- 
 usual extent. In the nine months ending September last, the 
 value of cargoes imported at Bristol has exceeded four and 
 one-half millions ; the number of vessels has been 105, and the 
 tonnage 67,026. The total imports of the Bristol Channel for 
 the same period reached to $5,266,680; the vessels were 406, 
 and the tonnage 261,999. As many as 6,500 seamen have come 
 under the care of the consulate, and we do not recall an 
 instance where the interference of the magistrates has been 
 necessary. To Col. Ward, indeed, belongs the credit of having 
 raised the consulate to a position of dignity, efficiency, and im- 
 portance, which has surprised every one acquainted with the 
 circumstances. He will especially be missed by the poor sea- 
 men in sickness or distress; to whose needs and wishes he was 
 ever kind and attentive ; paying for them always at the general 
 hospital instead of giving, as he might, a subscription only for 
 their admission as patients." 
 
 Madame Guerrabella's success as Maid Marian 
 was followed by an equal triumph in "Maritana." 
 During the holidays she sang in "The Messiah," at 
 Exeter Hall, appearing for the first time in oratorio. 
 The hall was hung in black for the death of the Prince 
 Consort, and the audience was composed of the most 
 distinguished people then in London. 
 
 Moved deeply by the solemnity of the occasion, 
 Madame Guerrabella sang " I rejoice greatly " with 
 such passionate animation and power, her thrilled 
 audience gave way before it, and she was tumultu- 
 ously encored, being the first artiste who ever received 
 that honor in singing this part at Exeter Hall, where 
 encores are never allowed. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. IOI 
 
 "The News," "Musical World," "Chronicle," "Tele- 
 graph," "Post" — all the journals — were unanimous 
 and emphatic in their praise. She appeared in Dublin, 
 Manchester, and the provinces during the winter and, 
 ensuing spring, singing with increasing favor in " Lu- 
 crezia Borgia," " Semiramide," and "Maritana;" her 
 " Qui la voce " and " Bel raggio " especially drawing 
 unbounded approval from all critics and all publics. 
 
 There is abundant testimony that there was a pecu- 
 liar quality in her singing, apart from all that art could 
 lend it, that endued it with certain singular and special 
 memorable effects. Madame Colmache, with whose 
 both strong and brilliant pen the readers of French 
 and English journals have been familiar for the last 
 quarter of a century, tells me that these effects were 
 produced in people of the most differing temperaments 
 and occupations. Only recently a gentleman of stu- 
 dious and aesthetic tastes, a listener to Grisi, Parepa, 
 Alboni, and Lind, asked Madame Colmache if she 
 knew what had become of a Madame Guerrabella who 
 used to sing in London. 
 
 " Of all the fine singing I have ever heard," said 
 he, " the tones of that lady's voice remain with me." 
 
 To their surprise, a blunt Scotch body turned from 
 the trellis he was repairing, to say, — 
 
 " Ay, ay, thet wer' a braw lass, wi' a voice to mak' a 
 mon greet, — the bonniest i' the warld ! " 
 
 In March, on the splendid occasion of the celebra- 
 tion of the fiftieth season of the Philharmonic Society, 
 she sang Mozart's " Parto ma tu ben mio," and during 
 April appeared in Dublin as Mary Wolf in Balfe's 
 
102 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 opera, "The Puritan's Daughter/' and in May de- 
 buted in Italian opera at her Majesty's Theatre as 
 Elvira in Bellini's famous " Puritani." 
 
 The great tenor Giuglini was announced as the 
 Arturo of this occasion. At the moment when Ma- 
 dame Guerrabella was to appear on the stage as 
 Elvira, she was seen, just within the wing, to press 
 her hands upon her temples with a gesture almost of 
 despair. 
 
 She had only at that moment been told that Giu- 
 glini was ill, and that Signor Bettini, with whom she 
 had never sung or rehearsed, would take his place. 
 
 " That she appeared at all under such circum- 
 stances," said a London journal, a was most credit- 
 able. As the opera proceeded, she had again and 
 again to prompt Bettini, who honorably did his best 
 in the trying situation into which he had been thrust 
 at a moment's notice. The manner in which she 
 passed through this ordeal elicited hearty approbation 
 from all quarters, and proved that her qualifications 
 for the lyric drama are too great for opposition, if 
 intended, or misfortune, if unavoidable, to exclude 
 her from her place." 
 
 It was generally rumored, and credited, that the 
 sudden indisposition of Giuglini was due to an ungen- 
 erous attempt on the part of persons envious of 
 Madame Guerrabella's unexampled successes. The 
 attempt, if such it was, served chiefly to render con- 
 spicuous the invincible energy and courage of the 
 young singer. Giuglini soon afterward sang with her 
 in " Don Pasquale," in which, as also in " Les Hugue- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 103 
 
 nots " and " Robert le Diable," she was received with 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 At last, wearing her double crown of English and 
 Continental laurels, she went to be heard in her native 
 land. She opened the autumn season in the Academy 
 of Music in New York, — her native city, — singing 
 with Brignoli in " La Traviata," " Figlia del Reggi- 
 mento," "II Trovatore," "Ballo in Maschera," and 
 " Favorita." Then to Philadelphia, and again in the 
 spring at the Academy in New York, singing with 
 marvellous success in "lone " and "Semiramide." 
 
 From New York Madame Guerrabella went to Cuba, 
 to inaugurate the grand opera house at Matanzas, and 
 afterwards appear for the season at the Tacon in Ha- 
 vana. Her repertoire during this season included Nor- 
 ma, Martha, Traviata, Leonora, Amelia, Elvira, etc. 
 She repeated her European triumphs, and was honored 
 with the diploma of the Philharmonic Society of Cuba. 
 
 But the unsparing service to which she subjected 
 her vocal powers, singing always four, often five, even- 
 ings in a week for three months, through the exacting 
 warmth of Cuban weather, proved too much. 
 
 Suddenly, in the midst of her prosperous engage- 
 ments, her voice gave way, failing abruptly and totally. 
 
 No trouble, admitting of an active course, could 
 have been half so terrible as this passive submission 
 to silence, for this buoyant young singer. 
 
 In alluding to this heavy period, she speaks with 
 strong feeling of the kindness of her personal friends ; 
 of Mrs. Cordelia Sanford, — to whose nephew George 
 Riddle is chiefly due the nobly adequate representa- 
 
io4 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 tion of Greek tragedy, lately witnessed at Cambridge, 
 Mass. ; and whose niece, Kate Field, has lent lustre to 
 journalism and the platform, — of this lady, for whom 
 Corda Lodge was named, Miss Ward says, — 
 
 " She is my dear friend of long years standing, abiding by me 
 in all my fortunes, changelessly true. And Mr. Sanford is just 
 the same : when he was here in England, all who were interested 
 in the turf, from the Prince of Wales down, were delighted with 
 him. Aunt Corda was both a pupil and friend of Miss Char- 
 lotte Cushman, who taught her singing ; and she, in her turn, for 
 friendship's sake, taught Adelaide Phillips when she was a little 
 girl. Her continual and incessant kindness to me, her sweet 
 patience under illness, her generous, unvarying, faithful belief 
 in me, have been an immense inspiration and moral support. 
 Whenever I have needed help of any kind, they have helped 
 me. They are always doing good in the quietest but most real 
 and untiring way; helpers of artists, of any one who needed 
 help." 
 
 She speaks also with great warmth of Mrs. Reed 
 of New York City ; of Miss Field ; Miss Adelaide Phil- 
 lips, whose friendship commenced in Cuba when they 
 sung ftiere, and has always been of the most de- 
 voted kind; of Mrs. Mygatt; and of many others, 
 whose faithful sympathy has been her chief encour- 
 agement. 
 
 Her fine bust of Milton H. Sanford (now in bronze), 
 intended for Mrs. Sanford as a souvenir of grateful 
 affection, was finished by Miss Ward in July of the 
 present year, 1881 ; and Miss Ward, wrapped in a 
 huge blue apron, seated before it giving the finishing 
 touches, was a charming illustration of artistic ani- 
 mation. 
 
A MISS GENEVIEVE WARD, 
 
 Tragedienne, 
 
 qui m'avait offert de lire quelques vers de 
 ma composition. 
 
 Mes vers paraitront beaux sortant de votre bouche ; 
 
 Comme accompagnement vous leur pretez vos yeux, 
 Le son de votre voix dont le charme nous touche, 
 
 Et cet accent du cceur qui rend tout merveilleux ! 
 
 Grace a votre talent tout est delicieux ; 
 
 Que le regard soit vif, tendre, dur ou farouche ; 
 
 S'il se voile un instant, c'est l'astre qui se couche, 
 Et resplendit encor dans l'ocean des cieux ! 
 
 Tout parait noble et beau quand vous versez la flamme 
 Que Dieu comme un foyer mit au fond de votre ame, 
 
 Afin de la transmettre a tout le genre humain ! 
 Heureux cent fois l'auteur de votre choix, madame, 
 Vous etes grande artiste et seduisante f emme, 
 
 Et c'est vous qui de Part nous tracez le chemin ! 
 
 Charles Boissiere. 
 20 novembre, 1876. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 107 
 
 WITH the loss of her voice, came other cares. 
 Her father had sustained severe reverses 
 owing to the war, by which they were reduced almost 
 to poverty. He was out of health, and mentally de- 
 pressed. 
 
 Knowing that she could never again take a first 
 place in song, it was not in her nature to accept a 
 second. Adelaide Phillips, divining what the high- 
 spirited girl was suffering, advised her to go on the 
 stage, reminding her of the verdict universally passed 
 on her dramatic powers in opera. Acting on this truly 
 friendly and wise advice, Madame Guerrabella went to 
 see Lester Wallack, who gave her a difficult scene in 
 "Wonder," saying that when she had learned it he 
 would hear her recite it. 
 
 She tried to learn it, but she was doubting and 
 despondent. 
 
 " I had never believed," said Miss Ward to me, 
 " that I could commit long parts to memory. I had 
 never known any thing by heart, except the Lord's 
 Prayer and Pope's Universal Prayer, — to me the most 
 beautiful ever written, though many people seemed to 
 think it wicked. These I did know, because we used 
 
108 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 to repeat them en fa?nille, when we were children, at 
 the breakfast-table. Well, I gave it up, and did not 
 return to Mr. Wallack ; and in this way, by not hearing 
 me at once in any thing to which I felt equal, and so 
 giving me a little encouragement, he unconsciously 
 kept me for the time from the stage." 
 
 At this time Miss Ward was in the country, endeav- 
 oring to recruit her health, and recover her voice ; 
 but finding it did not return sufficiently, and discover- 
 ing a capacity for imparting readily what she knew, 
 she accepted a position to give singing-lessons at Miss 
 Haines's well-known Twentieth-street School in New 
 York City. The senior teacher, Mrs. Seguin, was ex- 
 ceedingly kind to Madame Guerrabella, as was also 
 Miss Haines and her partner Mile, de Janon, who now 
 carries on the school since the death of Miss Haines. 
 
 She succeeded well in these labors ; but it was, after 
 all, a forced and not a natural occupation, and wore 
 terribly on her nerves. 
 
 Miss Phillips again came to the rescue, and insisted 
 on her quitting this drudgery, and trying the stage. 
 Mrs. Sanford, the Doremuses, Kate Field, and others 
 coincided warmly in this counsel ; and at last, plucking 
 up heart, Madame Guerrabella went to see Miss Fanny 
 Morant, and engaged her services as dramatic teacher ; 
 at the same time continuing her own singing-lessons 
 during the day, and keeping house for her father 
 (Mrs. Ward was then in Paris), and sitting up nights 
 to learn what was assigned to her. 
 
 " I began with Fazio," says Miss Ward ; " and I did 
 actually commit fifty lines at a sitting. When I an- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 IO9 
 
 nounced this feat to Adelaide, she thought it marvel- 
 lous, and predicted that I would soon learn thoroughly 
 two hundred lines a day. A good actor must be letter 
 perfect, but cramming is injurious to the artist. My 
 method of study has always been to acquire the whole, 
 so that from the whole the part may appear. Then I 
 play a part by myself till I conquer it. If a part con- 
 quers me, — and I've often been overcome by the feel- 
 ing I was portraying, — I continue to play it until I 
 have conquered it. I have never deviated from this. 
 
 " For Shakespeare, I have always read every thing 
 that great German and other critics have said, and 
 thereafter formed my own views, and acted solely 
 thereon ; for, chiefly in consequence of my interest in 
 and attendance on opera, I have never seen any of 
 the great dramatic roles played until after I had cre- 
 ated and played them for myself; although I have 
 been repeatedly spoken of as Ristori's pupil, and she 
 herself caHls me 'La mia Doppia' (my double)." 
 
 After six months of study, together with teaching at 
 Miss Haines's, and housekeeping for her father, — ris- 
 ing at six a.m., and not retiring till midnight, — she was 
 prepared with the following fourteen parts : — 
 
 Lady Macbeth. Peg Woffington. 
 
 Beatrice. (" Much Ado.") Juliana (in " Honeymoon "). 
 Hermione. (" Winter's Tale.") Madame Fontange. (" Plot and 
 Portia. Passion.") 
 
 Lucrezia Borgia. Queen Catherine. 
 
 Adrienne Lecouvreur. Sheep in Wolf's Clothing. 
 
 Medea. Bianca (in " Fazio "). 
 Actress of Padua. 
 
110 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Miss Morant arranged a private rehearsal at Bry- 
 ant's Opera House, kindly lent by Mr. Bryant for the 
 purpose, and invited about forty persons, friends and 
 critical judges, to listen to Miss Ward in scenes from 
 "Macbeth," and Julia in "The Hunchback." Her 
 little audience expressed warm admiration and flatter- 
 ing prophecies, but nothing came of it : she received 
 absolutely no encouragement to attempt the stage in 
 America. 
 
 With spirits hardly recovered from the terrible blow 
 of the loss of her glorious voice, further saddened by 
 the failing health of her beloved father, by the wear- 
 ing labor of an uncongenial occupation, and the fatigue 
 of severe dramatic studies pursued in hours due to 
 sleep, — to be confronted with " nil" as the result, was 
 a test for the bravest fibre. 
 
 She met the crisis as conquering spirits do. Deter- 
 mined, that, if there was no room for her on the stage 
 of her native land, she would seek recognition else- 
 where, she resumed her maiden name, — having just 
 learned of the death of Count de Guerbel, — and went 
 to England, where her first step was to give private 
 rehearsals to one auditor, a critic of the first quality, 
 — her mother. 
 
 Satisfied that her daughter was right, Mrs. Ward set 
 about finding or making the proper opening for her 
 dramatic career. She went to the managers of the 
 best London theatres, and to dramatic agents, and 
 stated her daughter's qualifications. 
 
 Each had all the stars he wanted ; tragedy was out 
 of fashion : one replied, " What we want nowadays 
 are young girls with fine physical development." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. Ill 
 
 Mrs. Ward next went, accompanied by her daugh- 
 ter, to Mr. Bateman of the Lyceum ; and he, after 
 hearing the case, wished Miss Ward to begin at the 
 lowest rung of the ladder, and play comedy. Miss 
 Ward laughed. 
 
 . " That laugh is worth a thousand pounds," said Mr. 
 Bateman, "but as a comedienne ! " 
 
 "I'm a tragedienne," said Miss Ward, " and not a 
 novice. I have sung in opera, and have always been 
 attrice cantante, and I mean within three years to be 
 an acknowledged great tragedienne." 
 
 Mr. Bateman laughed this time. 
 
 But Miss Ward laughed best and last, when, in less 
 than three years after that time, "The Manchester 
 Guardian" pronounced her "the best Lady Macbeth 
 since Mrs. Siddons " ! 
 
 One day when Mrs. Ward, who had, all to no pur- 
 pose, tried every manager of any standing in London, 
 was considering, nothing daunted, wjiat to do next, a 
 visitor was announced, — the Hon. Lewis Wingfield, 
 brother of the Earl of Powerscourt, a cultivated Eng- 
 lish gentleman, a very clever playwright, and the gen- 
 tleman mentioned by Mrs. Ward as having been of 
 first-rate helpfulness upon the American ambulance 
 during the siege of Paris. 
 
 " Do you remember, when we were in Paris, how I 
 used to talk to you about the beautiful daughter I had 
 in America? " said Mrs. Ward. 
 
 " Perfectly well," replied Mr. Wingfield ; "and I hear 
 from Palgrave Simpson that she's not only a beauty, 
 but a fine actress." 
 
112 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 " So she is ; but what's the use, when she can't get 
 a hearing?" and Mrs. Ward related the story of her 
 rebuffs ; and Miss Ward, entering from the garden, was 
 presented to Mr. Wingfield, who assured them, that, 
 notwithstanding the ill success thus far attending their 
 efforts, he felt sure she could obtain a fair and proper 
 hearing, and he would see what he could do. 
 
 He went with them to the Haymarket, where he 
 had himself formerly played, Miss Kate Field accom- 
 panying them. Mr. Chippendale, the stage manager, 
 was exceedingly genial until Mr. Wingfield led up to 
 the real object of the visit, and proposed that Mr. 
 Chippendale should hear Miss Ward rehearse. 
 
 Mr. Chippendale instantly lost his genial graceful- 
 ness, moved uneasily about on his chair ; had no doubt 
 of the lady's qualification, but he had so very little 
 time, and could not see of what use it could be — 
 
 "But," persisted Mr. Wingfield, very much aston- 
 ished, " she wants a hearing : she can't possibly make 
 an engagement without being accorded the opportunity 
 to manifest her claims." 
 
 " Certainly, certainly," the manager agreed ; " but 
 there is no vacancy at the Haymarket now ; and while 
 I do not, I assure you, entertain the least doubt of 
 Miss Ward's qualifications, as there could be no irame- 
 ate purpose served," etc. 
 
 " Do not be discouraged," said Mr. Wingfield, turn- 
 ing to Miss Ward. " It shall not be said, if I can pre- 
 vent it, that you could not get a hearing in England, 
 — a courtesy due to any aspirant anywhere." 
 
 He was as good as his word. "Determined that 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 11^ 
 
 the prominent London critics should hear the talented 
 American," said Miss Kate Field, who was there, and 
 knew all about it, "Mr. Wingfield invited them to 
 meet her at the charming studio adjoining his house 
 in Maida Vale. The critics assembled, and partook 
 of a delicious breakfast : and then Miss Ward went 
 through a trying ordeal ; she recited from Lady Mac- 
 beth. Her sleep-walking scene was the best I had 
 ever witnessed, Ristori's excepted ; and Ristori has 
 since seen and applauded it." 
 
 The critics were taken by surprise ; and within a 
 few days Mr. Wingfield was able to give Miss Ward a 
 batch of letters which, when viewed as the deliberate 
 expression of the effect produced by her acting, — 
 without stage support, and previous to a dramatic 
 debut, — upon stage-worn critics not her personal 
 friends, are certainly remarkable, and must have given 
 more than pleasure to Miss Ward. 
 
 The critic of " The Hour " wrote : — 
 
 "Dear Wingfield, — Miss Ward has unquestionably a 
 large share of dramatic power. I do not altogether like her 
 rendering of Lady Macbeth, but that may be prejudice. She 
 possesses both force and pathos, has a good stage face and 
 figure, and makes her points carefully and effectively. In a 
 part where she could take her own line, without running against 
 foregone conclusions of her audience, she might be expected 
 to make a decided success." 
 
 The dramatic critic of "The Echo," after thanking 
 Mr. Wingfield for the opportunity of witnessing Miss 
 Ward's acting, wrote : — 
 
 "It struck me as a decidedly interesting performance, — 
 
114 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 interesting for the cultivation of its style, and for a most unu- 
 sual command of gesture. She seems specially to have studied 
 balance and harmony of movement. To pass an opinion upon 
 her dramatic prospects, upon one performance under circum- 
 stances necessarily so trying, would be difficult ; but I think she 
 would quickly take her place above most of the actresses now 
 on the stage." 
 
 " Of the genuineness of Miss Ward's qualifications for mel- 
 odrama [wrote the critic of " The Morning Post "], there can 
 not, in my opinion, be any doubt. With ample store of passion 
 for that particular province of art, she unites grace of fancy 
 and poetic fervor of sentiment. Her voice is bright and sym- 
 pathetic ; and her action — wholly free from the vulgar vice of 
 redundancy — is, to my thinking, exceedingly picturesque and 
 impressive. She is perfect mistress of her text; and her gen- 
 eral manner strikes me as being very ladylike and unaffected, 
 invariably bespeaking that valuable quality known as stage- 
 repose, which, intimating in the actress complete acquaintance 
 with the range of her powers, ' begets a smoothness ' in her per- 
 formance, and enables her to achieve the highest amount of 
 effect at the smallest possible cost of effort. These and other 
 merits, combined with her manifest personal advantages, fairly 
 entitle her to success. Such, at least, is my judgment, after 
 carefully observing her acting. Perhaps I should add, that, not 
 having the pleasure of knowing Miss Ward, my opinion, be its 
 value what it may, is at all events unswayed by considerations 
 of friendship." 
 
 To these, Mr. Wingfield added a word of his own 
 as dramatic critic of "The Globe : " — 
 
 " I think, dear Miss Ward, that your reading of Lady Mac- 
 beth showed marked intelligence of a very high order, combined 
 with unusual command of gesture and picturesque movement ; 
 I think that you possess a fine presence and sonorous voice, 
 very well adapted to the higher walks of serious drama, and 
 that when opportunity offers you will take your stand among 
 the small group of our best English actresses." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 115 
 
 As a result of this timely and most perfectly per- 
 formed kindness on Mr. Wingfield's part, Miss Ward 
 was able, after a delay of some months, to arrange 
 with Mr. E. English, of English's Dramatic Agency, 
 to make her debut as Lady Macbeth in the grand 
 Shakspearian revival at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, 
 Oct. 1, 1873. 
 
 George Augustus Sala, one of the first and firmest 
 of her London friends; Mr. Wingfield, one of her 
 wisest friends ; Tom Taylor, the famous playwright ; 
 and Wilkie Collins, — had told Mrs. Ward that two 
 favorable lines on Miss Ward's performance, in "The 
 Manchester Guardian," would make her. 
 
 Mrs. Ward was supposed to be in Paris, on the 
 night of Miss Ward's debut; but she crossed the Chan- 
 nel without notifying anybody, and, reaching Man- 
 chester just in time, slipped quietly into the theatre, 
 took a seat in the back part of the pit, and watched 
 the play through with probably the most critical pair 
 of eyes there. 1 
 
 When it was over, she went with others to the tra- 
 gedienne's dressing-room. The latter's maid thought 
 it was Mrs. Ward's ghost, and was exceedingly scared ; 
 but Miss Ward said, without any expression of sur- 
 prise, " Well, mother, was it good? " 
 
 " Some of it, very," was the reply. Mrs. Ward then 
 
 1 An envious attempt was made to disconcert her, by leaving out the table 
 on which the candle is to be set in the sleep-walking scene. She saw this just 
 at the moment of going on, and exclaimed, in despair, "Oh! what shall I 
 do? " — " You can drop it," was the taunting reply; but, seeing a three-legged 
 stool in the wing, she quickly placed it where the table should have been, and 
 was just out of sight in time as the curtain rose. 
 
Il6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 pointed out to her certain blemishes, Miss Ward's 
 after-avoidance of which was observed and praised by 
 the critics. 
 
 Of course everybody was interested to see "The 
 Manchester Guardian " next day ; where, instead of 
 the "two favorable lines" on which her case could 
 stand, was found a column of noble, critical recogni- 
 tion : — 
 
 " Miss Ward is to be congratulated on a self-control and a 
 thoroughness in the work of rehearsal which form a phenom- 
 enon in themselves. Perfect ease, and a most scrupulously 
 exact knowledge of her part, must be conceded to the debutante. 
 . . . She has a voice of great power ; and it may be presumed 
 that she is indebted, for some of her skill in managing it, to her 
 training as a singer. She has, besides, a good accent and a 
 fluent utterance ; her features are expressive ; and she gesticu- 
 lates with ease and grace. ... In her murderous exhortations 
 to Macbeth, she was savage and soothing by turns ; and thus, 
 as it were, made the one manner serve to show the other in 
 stronger relief. The burst almost of invective, — 
 
 ' What beast was it then 
 That made you break this enterprise to me ! ' 
 
 was all the more terrible because of the womanly softness of 
 the utterances immediately preceding it. Her hissing whis- 
 pers, again, in the scene following the murder, made a similarly 
 effective contrast with the full-toned horror of Macbeth's, — 
 
 ' I have done the deed ! ' 
 
 "This scene was, indeed, admirably rendered throughout. 
 Artistic perception of light and shade marked the whole of the 
 performance, which, from first to last, was as well received by 
 a large and discriminating audience as even the actress herself 
 could have wished." 
 
 The "Examiner," "Courier," and other journals, 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. \\J 
 
 spoke to the same effect ; and private congratulations 
 flowed in. One hearty little note said, — 
 
 " Just a few lines, dear friend, in a great hurry. I saw ' The 
 Guardian,' and am delighted. Wrote of your success to 
 America. Hurrah I Yours sincerely, 
 
 Carl Rosa." 
 
 After playing Lady Macbeth for several weeks, Miss 
 Ward next essayed Queen Constance, in "King John," 
 with like results. Charles Sever, whose articles over 
 the signature of " An Old Play-goer " were esteemed 
 among the ablest dramatic criticisms of the day, wrote 
 in "The Manchester Examiner and Times : " — 
 
 " It is obvious that Miss Ward is endowed with great men- 
 tal powers, to which high culture has imparted a refinement 
 now somewhat rare on the stage. 
 
 " Her perceptive powers enable her to seize and appreciate 
 the most subtle phases of passion and sentiment ; and her pol- 
 ished — I may venture to say, almost faultless — elocution, and 
 forcible dramatic expression, to deliver tne text so as fully to 
 realize her conception. Her by-play, too, is equally intelligent, 
 expressive, and illustrative of the stage business in which she 
 is taking no actual part, and which always shows the true artist 
 as much as the more distinct efforts. Her dying scene as 
 Queen Constance, in ' King John,' is one of the finest pieces of 
 tragic pathos now on the stage, or within my recollection." 
 
 But the harvest she reaped was solely of laurels ; 
 Mr. English having stipulated in advance that the 
 entire proceeds of her labors must be paid to him in 
 return for securing her the opportunity of a first 
 appearance. For the sake of this opportunity, Miss 
 Ward accepted these preposterous terms, before begin- 
 ning her engagement, which, as a dramatic debut in 
 
n 3 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Shakspearian roles, was an almost unprecedented tri- 
 umph. Mr. English had the hardihood to exact his 
 Shylock's bargain to the full, and, after its termina- 
 tion, was quite ready with further offers of service. 
 
 She debuted m Dublin, Nov. 17, 1873, in the Eng- 
 lish version of Victor Hugo's " Lucrezia Borgia ; " and 
 the critics praised her warmly. "The Irish Times" 
 said, — 
 
 " An imposing presence, a distinguished bearing, a musical 
 and sympathetic voice, excellent elocutionary powers; fine 
 features, mobile and expressive, capable of at once depicting 
 intense passion or deep pathos, — with such advantages as 
 these, it can easily be understood that Miss Ward's representa- 
 tion of the character of Lucrezia Borgia was very impressive, 
 and highly successful : she worked out the dramatist's concep- 
 tion with consummate ability." 
 
 And " The Dublin Daily Express " thought that she 
 " manifested, all through, a depth and intensity of feel- 
 ing, an earnestness of expression and action, fully 
 equal to Mile. Beatrice or Miss Bateman, and little 
 inferior to Ristori." 
 
 Among the kind things said of her labors at this 
 time, a most peculiar compliment was paid her acting 
 as Lucrezia, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. A man in the 
 audience, who was very much intoxicated, began by 
 applauding her with offensive frequency and abrupt- 
 ness, but gradually became silent till, suddenly clinch- 
 ing his hands in his hair, he cried out in in a very 
 different and startling tone, — 
 
 " By God ! that woman makes me sober ! " 
 
 Of her playing as Adrienne Lecouvreur, " The Irish 
 Times" said, — 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD II9 
 
 " Of the acting of Miss Genevieve Ward, the gifted Ameri- 
 can tragedienne who has been with us the past week, we could 
 hardly speak too highly. In the many scenes which call for the 
 exercise of the power of representing the extremes of passion, 
 she has proved herself fully able to impersonate the agony of 
 grief, the expression of offended and rejected love, and the 
 rapid transitions of that mysterious and unanalyzable feeling, 
 which mixes itself in nearly every transaction of human life." 
 
 The "Journal" and "Mail " spoke at length to the 
 same effect; and "The Irish Echo" compared her 
 Medea favorably with that of Ristori's recent per- 
 formance at the same theatre in the same role. " The 
 Times " said, " Miss Ward's Medea rose to the high- 
 est level of histrionic art;" and "The Mail "thought 
 " her acting in the last scene faultless and singularly 
 striking." 
 
 She appeared as Thisbe in Victor Hugo's " Actress 
 of Padua," successfully ; and as Medea, in Hull, she 
 won great triumphs. 
 
 All this victory in the provinces, however, meant 
 nothing previous to a London verdict ; and her friend 
 George Augustus Sala wrote the following letter to 
 Mr. Chatterton, manager of the Adelphi : — 
 
 68 Thistle Grove, Brompton, 
 March 10, 1874. 
 
 My dear Chatterton, — I venture to write to you as 
 strongly as ever I am able, in the hope that I may interest you 
 (managerially, now you have taken the Adelphi really in hand) 
 on behalf of my friend Miss Genevieve Ward. This lady has 
 been, I believe, already made known to you ; but she is anxious 
 that I should personally place her views before you, since I 
 have known her from her girlhood, and should be thoroughly 
 acquainted with her dramatic capacity. She was at the outset 
 
120 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 of her career a prima donna, and as sirch has appeared with 
 applause in all the great opera-houses of England, the Con- 
 tinent, and America, and in our own Exeter Hall oratorios. 
 
 Subsequently she studied sedulously for the stage, and re- 
 cently has made very successful appearances in Dublin, Man- 
 chester, Hull, etc., in tragic parts such as Lucrezia Borgia, 
 Adrienne Lecouvreur, Lady Macbeth, etc. She is an intimate 
 friend of Ristori, and, for the matter of that, could play as well 
 in Italian, French, or Spanish, as in English; but this is 
 beside the point. 
 
 Tragedy is now her forte ; and for this she has an admirable 
 countenance, figure, and bearing. 
 
 Still I think there is likewise a genuine vein of comedy in 
 her, and that under Adelphi influences there is all the making 
 of a first-rate melodramatic actress in her, of the calibre of 
 Miss Kelley and Mrs. Yates, whom I can just remember, but 
 whom you perhaps cannot recollect at all. Besides this, she 
 is a thoroughly intelligent, accomplished woman, who has seen 
 the world, and mingled in it, in every phase, — an artist, a 
 linguist, a musician. She wants a working debut, that she may 
 let you and the public know of what stuff she is made. If you 
 can do any thing practical to meet her views, you will place me 
 under a real obligation to you. 
 
 The immediate result of this letter was the engage- 
 ment of Miss Ward to play at the Adelphi, as 
 Unarita in "The Prayer in the Storm," a melodrama 
 originally called the "The Sea of Ice." This play 
 was booked for a fortnight as a stop-gap ; but Miss 
 Ward's inimitable Unarita kept it on the stage before 
 crowded houses for six months, and the critics had 
 not written with such warmth and unanimity for many 
 a day. She was pronounced fully equal to Madame 
 Celeste, who had in the first instance made the part 
 famous. " The May fair " said it had — 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 12 1 
 
 " But one word of praise, and that is for Miss Ward, whose 
 skilful acting saves from utter condemnation a drama not 
 worth redemption." 
 
 Besides the congratulations of her English friends, 
 she received in pleasant letters from America — among 
 others a very kind one from her old friends of the 
 Haines School, Anne Seguin, and Mile. Janon — 
 proofs that many in her native land rejoiced in her 
 hardly-earned triumphs. Her valued and valuable 
 friend Hon. Lewis Wingfield wrote, — 
 
 " I congratulate you on your notices. Out of seven that I 
 have seen, all are favorable, — a very unusual thing in London I 
 The result is, that Chatter ton will of course want to make a 
 fixture of you." 
 
 Miss Ward's pay for having made such a success of 
 a piece intended only for a stop-gap was not in- 
 creased. 
 
 In October, 1874, she played successfully at the 
 Crystal Palace, as Julia in Sheridan Knowles's " Hunch- 
 back." Meantime the press began to comment ear- 
 nestly on the fact that such an artist as Miss Ward was 
 compelled, in order to secure a foothold on the Lon- 
 don stage, to accept parts so in every way inferior to 
 her capacity. Of her expected advent at Drury Lane, 
 "The Era" said,— 
 
 " We see that Miss Genevieve Ward, who has been playing 
 with great success in London in the regular drama, is to appear 
 at Drury Lane on the 15th of February, 1875, as Rebecca, in 
 the grand spectacular drama of 'Ivanhoe.' The character is 
 admirably suited to the lady ; her strongly defined Asiatic fea- 
 
I2 2 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 tures, graceful action, and splendid diction, all promising to 
 render her impersonation the perfect realization of Scott's 
 ideal. There is no actress on the English or American stage, 
 at present, whose talents and accomplishments warrant so wide 
 a range of parts as this actress can undertake. Her tragic 
 powers are of the highest order, as was shown by her Lady 
 Macbeth and Lucrezia Borgia, in Manchester and Dublin ; and 
 in high comedy she has few rivals. No better evidence of 
 versatility can be adduced than her resuscitation of the old 
 worn-out melodrama, 'The Sea of Ice,' at the Adelphi, and 
 which, owing to her remarkable impersonation, had a six- 
 months prosperous run during a period of unexampled theat- 
 rical dulness. She accepted the part to obtain an appearance 
 in London, and rendered it so profitable, that the management 
 with difficulty consented to her playing high-comedy parts at 
 the afternoon performances at the Crystal Palace." 
 
 Great praise, seasoned with some carping, accompa- 
 nied her acting as " Rebecca," concerning which Mr. 
 Wingfield wrote : — 
 
 " I called in at the Arundel, late, to hear how the perform- 
 ance had gone, and was glad to find a satisfactory verdict from 
 all the critics present. They are, by education, a phlegmatic set ; 
 but said your performance was very striking indeed, picturesque, 
 better than Miss Neilson's ; that where you erred was always 
 on the right side, — I mean, in avoiding clap-trap and rant, — 
 which, from so cold-blooded a set, is no inconsiderable compli- 
 ment-" 
 
 She was warmly received in Newcastle, where she 
 played at the Tyne Theatre. At Dundee she made 
 her first appearance in May, as the Countess Thecla, 
 in Mr. Wingfield's play, "Despite the World." The 
 story concerns the court and period of Frederick the 
 Great, "and was written," says Miss Kate Field, "at 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD 123 
 
 Ristori's suggestion. When Miss Ward expressed a 
 wish for something new, the great Italian recommended 
 one of her pieces, ' Cuore ed Arte,' — ' Heart and 
 Art.' Finding the Italian play utterly unmanage- 
 able in English, Mr. Wingfield, to whom the task of 
 adaptation had been assigned, turned to the Italian 
 novel on which 'Heart and Art' was founded, and 
 evolved an infinitely better comedy-drama." 
 
 Miss Ward's impersonation of Sappho, in Mr. W. 
 G. Wills' s play of that name, received the highest 
 encomium. She played this in Dublin, and also ap- 
 peared as Portia, and as Pauline in "The Lady of 
 Lyons," and in "Lucrezia Borgia; " and on the night 
 of June 18, 1875, she played Medea, and the two 
 last acts of " The Merchant of Venice," in honor of 
 the American Rifle Team, at the Gaiety, Dublin. 
 
 " As the Americans entered the theatre, the orches- 
 tra played ' Hail Columbia ; ' and Miss Ward, dressed 
 in a complete ancient Irish costume of white, robe 
 and mantle, trimmed with green and gold, with tiara, 
 brooch and armlets complete, and having in her hand 
 the wand and ring which Moore has rendered famous," 
 recited the poetical address composed by Dr. S. D. 
 Elrington for the occasion : — 
 
 " Robed as Hibernia's daughter, lo ! I stand, 
 Like you, a guest in dear old Ireland. 
 Ye riflemen, by favor of our guns, 
 Columbia's daughter hails Columbia's sons. 
 Had I ten thousand hands, with all I'd meet ye, 
 Had I ten thousand tongues, with welcome greet ye ; 
 Though time and space may seem to interpose, 
 And 'twixt our shores a cruel ocean flows, 
 
124 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 With magic wand I touch the electric springs ; 
 
 An instant a responsive answer brings, 
 
 Which proves, however distant be each land, 
 
 Both nations are united heart and hand. 
 
 Our sires, by famine and by wrongs opprest, 
 
 Found ever shelter in the glorious West ; 
 
 And in their children's hearts left still enshrined 
 
 The love of home, that distance could not blind. 
 
 Then, by their honored ashes, by their graves, 
 
 We greet you brothers from across the waves, — 
 
 Brothers in blood, as well as hearts and speech, 
 
 Brought here together by our favorite leech. 
 
 Welcome, then welcome ; and a happy time, 
 
 Marred by no weeping from our tearful clime, 
 
 We wish propitious skies ; yet still we deem 
 
 The reigning favorite, the rifle team. 
 
 Come to our feast; with love our hearts are full; 
 
 The fatted calf we'll kill, — it is a bull. 
 
 Soon, when arrayed in contest, you may try 
 
 The metal of that bull, — but mind his eye. 
 
 Ye strive in friendship ; if you win, you'll meet 
 
 No heartier cheering than from those you beat. 
 
 And, if your brothers win, you won't despair 1 
 
 You still have left a younger brother's share. 
 
 Ireland, in either case, is doubly blest : 
 
 She wins the most, in losing to her guest. 
 
 Oh, may the spirits of the blessed dead — 
 
 O'Connell, on whose tomb warm tears are shed, 
 
 And Washington, with all that noble throng, 
 
 Whose names are ever an unceasing song, 
 
 Who strove for liberty, — now by you stand, 
 
 And silent bless each patriotic band I 
 
 And so we welcome you, with hands, hearts, eyes, — 
 
 Cead millefailtke, echoes to the skies." 
 
 " None but genius of the highest class can touch or attempt 
 1 Medea ' without failing [said " The Dublin Mail"]. The play 
 is a touchstone j and the hush of silence, the shudder of sym- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 125 
 
 pathetic fear, and the enthusiastic bursts of applause, that 
 marked the progress of the piece, leave no doubt of the fact 
 that not here alone, but in America, Miss Ward's reputation 
 as the first tragedienne, the successor of Miss Cushman, is 
 made. . . . ' Yankee Doodle ' was played by the orchestra as a 
 closing air, and the team left the theatre amidst a vast crowd 
 and tremendous cheering. To-night the team will again visit 
 the theatre on the occasion of Miss Ward's benefit, when 
 'Medea' will be again performed, and 'The Honeymoon,' in 
 which Mr. John H. Bird will take a part. We expect Mr. Bird, 
 an American barrister, will show the Irish bar what amateur 
 acting may be." 
 
 Mr. Bird fulfilled the expectation brilliantly. 
 
 "The distinguished American advocate, Mr. Bird, who is 
 regarded as the best amateur actor in his own country [said 
 " Ths Dublin Mail "] gave us the best Duke Aranza we have 
 seen. He has the merit of being a gentleman in all his minor 
 actions, and this gives to his playing a finish and perfection 
 rarely seen on the professional stage." 
 
 During June she was also playing in Manchester, 
 with splendid success, in " Despite the World." Of 
 the play itself, a critic wrote : — 
 
 " From a careful perusal we do not hesitate to pronounce it 
 a production of rare merit, well conceived, admirably written, 
 and with a noble purpose. Such plays as this lift the stage 
 above the category of mere amusement, and rank it with insti- 
 tutions of popular education." 
 
 Ristori wrote to her from America : — l~ translation] 
 
 " We've received the papers, and all been in your happiness 
 with you. We see your great future, dear. You so deserve a 
 happy fate, that in truth you will not have stolen it when it 
 comes. Just think of your delight in having your mother with 
 you ! Oh ! if I could only be with you two months, I'm sure I 
 
126 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 should learn the whole part of Macbeth. Others have offered 
 to teach it me, but I have not the confidence that they would 
 be like your mother. She is so patient, intelligent, correct, 
 artistic, and I will say mechanical, because no other word will 
 express my idea. To teach a tongue as difficult as that of the 
 ancient English poetry, you must know the system of the move- 
 ments of the throat and palate ; for which I do not use ill the 
 word 'mechanical.' " 
 
 While playing in the provinces in the summer and 
 autumn of 1875, Miss Ward was in negotiation with 
 Max Strakosch for a tour of the United States. She 
 accepted his terms ; but he failed to send the contract 
 in season, and she continued to play in the provinces. 
 Of her Bianca in " Fazio/' which was strongly praised, 
 Mr. Wingfield wrote : — 
 
 " Just a word, dear Miss Ward, to say that Clayton and I 
 were delighted with your Bianca. . . . Nothing could be more 
 charming than the series of attitudes ; and in the pathetic por- 
 tions I am quite certain there is no one on the stage who could 
 at all touch them." 
 
 In December she filled the exacting role of Antig- 
 one, at the Crystal Palace ; and the " Figaro " said, — 
 
 " It was upon Miss Ward that the weight of the burden 
 mostly lay. How deeply and conscientiously she must have 
 studied the part, was most manifest. Not once did the lady 
 falter. Her delivery was correct and refined ; and the depth of 
 pathos, and the poignancy of grief, were contrasted at the 
 proper moments with the power of religious determination, 
 and the most heart-rending representation of utter despair." 
 
 The correspondent of " The New York Tribune " 
 said, — 
 
 " The production of Antigone has given that handsome and 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. \2J 
 
 clever American, Miss Genevieve Ward, an opportunity to 
 show power in the ungracious character of a sketch from the 
 antique. She plays Antigone with the serious grace, reserve, 
 and occasional force called for by the text; and her stately 
 figure, large- fine features, and deep contralto voice, suit well 
 the sad and queenly heroine. By dint of quiet yet passionate 
 simplicity she has succeeded in making Antigone's lament, 
 before her living entombment, a really affecting piece of acting, 
 and that is not an easy thing to do." 
 
 Early in 1876 Col. J. W. Forney, United States 
 Centennial Commissioner in Europe, received the fol- 
 lowing letter : — 
 
 21 Princes St., Hanover Square. 
 Jan. 18, 1876. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Before your departure for America, I have 
 great pleasure in offering my professional services in aid of the 
 Centennial Fund. Should this proposition be agreeable to you, 
 I will organize a performance of " Macbeth " at Drury Lane on 
 Friday, Feb. 4, Mr. Chatterton having generously offered hfs 
 theatre for the occasion. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Genevieve Ward. 
 
 To which Col. Forney replied, — 
 
 Fenton's Hotel, Jan. 20, 1876. 
 My dear Miss Ward, — Your letter of the 18th was an 
 agreeable surprise, and is particularly welcome, not only as 
 showing your praiseworthy patriotism, but your readiness to 
 follow the example of your distinguished countryman, Mr. John 
 S. Clarke, who, more than a year ago, contributed a large sum 
 to the Centennial Fund. Your liberal proposal is particularly 
 appropriate, as being the first Centennial dramatic representa- 
 tion in the great city of London. Of course I gratefully accept 
 your proposition ; and I am much gratified to add, that, since 
 the receipt of your letter, I have consulted Robert S. Schenck, 
 
128 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 American minister, and Gen. Adam Badeau, American consul ; 
 both of whom have cordially undertaken to recommend your 
 praiseworthy enterprise to the public." 
 
 By the kind co-operation of Messrs. J. S. Clarke, 
 J. B. Buckstone, J. Hare, H. Neville, F. C. Burnand, 
 C. Rice, W. R. Field, Parravicini, W. Corbyn, and 
 F. B. Chatterton, all leading managers of London, an 
 admirable cast was secured, and the play was presented 
 under the invaluable personal superintendence of Mr. 
 Edward Stirling. 
 
 Though it was unintelligently remarked that with 
 such support Mks Ward could hardly fail to appear to 
 advantage, it is obvious that she could have given no 
 prouder challenge to a public slow in receiving the 
 new, but magnificent in its recognition when once 
 convinced. To shine in such a setting, was to prove 
 herself a star of the first magnitude. Her triumph 
 was grand, artistically and financially. Some of the 
 critics praised grudgingly ; but the more effectively for 
 that very reason, since unwilling admiration proves the 
 power that compels it. Motives underlying covert 
 opposition to success are never far to seek. 
 
 "The Daily Telegraph " said, "Miss Ward's Lady 
 Macbeth is unrivalled." "The Dublin Telegraph" 
 thought — 
 
 " The whole conception of the character by this gifted actress 
 was strictly in accordance with the idea by which it must have 
 been originated in Shakspeare's mind. Nothing could be more 
 refined or dignified than her whole tenue at the banquet-scene, 
 — no hurry, no fussiness, no weak fear of consequences either. 
 But the assumed calm, which the audience was allowed to see, 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 29 
 
 was only assumed, as she tried to divert the attention of the 
 guests, called down thunders of applause, and really established 
 Miss Ward as the first emotional tragedienne of the day. After 
 the performance, Miss Ward was recalled ; and the American 
 fashion of handing baskets of flowers from the boxes, and 
 throwing bouquets adorned with long streamers of gay-colored 
 ribbons, served to convey the admiration inspired by a perform- 
 ance which certainly ranks Miss Ward amongst the first Shake- 
 spearian actresses of the day." 
 
 "The Era," "Weekly Messenger," "Figaro," and 
 others were warmly appreciative; and "The Fost " 
 said that nothing had equalled her playing since the 
 days of the great Siddons. 
 
 "The Court Journal" mentioned that Baring & 
 Brothers paid a hundred pounds for a box ; Morgan & 
 Co., fifty pounds ; Morton, Rose, & Co., fifty pounds ; 
 Seligman, twenty pounds; and J. P. Bigelow, ten 
 pounds. 
 
 Soon after the Centennial Fund benefit, Miss Ward 
 received the following letter : — 
 
 Fenton's Hotel, Feb. 12, 1876. 
 
 My dear Miss Ward, — The proceeds of your benefit for 
 the Centennial Fund, enclosed in your favor of this date, were 
 immediately forwarded to the chairman of the Centennial Fi- 
 nance Committee at Philadelphia. 
 
 I will not stop to dwell on your splendid performance of 
 Lady Macbeth, nor of the able assistance of your profes- 
 sional associates ; but only add, that it is to your own energy 
 and perseverance in organizing your noble benefit, with all the 
 heavy details and obstacles, and to your appeals to your own 
 countrymen to join you in a good cause, that this noble and 
 patriotic triumph is due. With my best wishes for your success 
 in all future undertakings, I remain very truly yours, 
 
 J. W. Forney. 
 
130 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 In May, after playing in her great roles in Liverpool, 
 she received from the famous Dr. Hitchman a letter 
 of congratulation, in which he said, — 
 
 "I think I shall give a public lecture on the tragedies of 
 Euripides, with special reference to the Medea of your un- 
 rivalled histrionic powers. In my opinion, that is the' char- 
 acter for your high dramatic walk. ... I shall never forget 
 your surpassing intellectual accomplishments last evening, and 
 most emphatically your dignity of deportment as daughter of 
 Estes, King of Colchis. You deserve to be drawn through the 
 air upon a chariot of heavenly fire, not by Medea's winged 
 dragons, but God's angels 1 " 
 
 Of Miss Ward's excellent impersonation as Mrs. 
 Haller, and also as Meg Merrilies, the critics spoke 
 in one accord of praise : — 
 
 " In the hands of Miss Cushman, the famous American 
 tragedienne, recently deceased, the part of the old gypsy woman 
 was brought into special prominence, the rdle being one of that 
 great artiste's best efforts ; indeed, many who have a distinct 
 remembrance of her acting, place it first. Resembling her dis- 
 tinguished countrywoman in many respects, — both having over- 
 strained their grand lyric powers, and suffered loss of voice in 
 consequence, and both having left the operatic for the dramatic 
 career, — Miss Genevieve Ward filled the part with great power 
 and effect. It may be considered the least part of the excel- 
 lence of the performance, but no one could fail in being struck 
 with her wonderful ' make-up.' When she first strode upon the 
 stage, to the astonishment of Bertram and Dandie, her appear- 
 ance was strangely weird and impressive. Her face was tanned 
 and haggard ; her cheeks, neck, and arms seemed withered and 
 shrivelled ; and in the wild-eyed, wrinkled hag none could rec- 
 ognize the graceful and elegant Portia, or the handsome and 
 imposing Medea. Of Miss Ward's performance, it may briefly 
 be said that it was in every respect artistic, thoughtful, and in the 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 131 
 
 highest degree picturesque ; even the difficulties of the Scotch 
 accent were sufficiently well met, although we would not have 
 been justified in expecting this. The effect of her singing of 
 Franco's song was indescribable; nothing could have been 
 more true or natural. Her chanting of the prophecy had all 
 the wild plaintiveness of an Irish caoine. The last act of the 
 play was most judiciously altered. Instead of concluding with 
 a solo for Julia Mannering, and chorus, the curtain dropped on 
 the picture of Meg's death. Here Miss Ward made the great 
 point of her admirable impersonation. Her acting was simply 
 superb, intense and forceful in every particular, while her per- 
 fect taste and judgment saved the episode from exaggeration or 
 any appearance of being overwrought. It was a magnificent 
 piece of acting, witnessed in perfect silence by the large audi- 
 ence, who applauded at the fall of the curtain with significant 
 warmth." 
 
 About this time Miss Ward received a present from 
 the ever kind and thoughtful Ristori. It was a lap 
 writing-desk, very handsome, with white and blue 
 violets painted in a lovely cluster on the enamelled lid. 
 In the note accompanying the gift Ristori said, — 
 
 . " What a pleasure if you could only come here to see us, to 
 pass days and days with us in this lovely villa ! You should 
 lead with us a country life, rising at six, and retiring at half- 
 past nine. We have fields, a little orchard, a beautiful little 
 house covered over with roses ; and we would enjoy ourselves, 
 and we would laugh ! " 
 
 In the fall of 1876 Miss Ward, not satisfied with the 
 great success she had achieved, and feeling she was 
 not thoroughly mistress of her art, went to Paris, to 
 study under Regnier, the great dramatic teacher and 
 critic, who was the friend of Talma, the famous stage- 
 reformer of France, and of whose reception years ago, 
 
132 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 at St. Petersburg, the following bright bit of gossip was 
 related : — 
 
 "M. Regnier — he is the same Regnier who was the friend of 
 de Musset — had a wonderful reception at the theatre, and 
 soon became a lion in the capital. Every one sought him and 
 fited him. Then he came to deliver his letters of introduction. 
 He himself tells the story with a delightful simplicity and wit. 
 The St. Petersburg exquisite was so exclusive that he would 
 allow no one to touch any thing of his with an ungloved hand. 
 Regnier unfortunately paid his visit in complete ignorance. 
 There was the usual stiffness, and the usual insincere interest. 
 Then tea was brought in, — at that time more of a rarity for an 
 afternoon meal than it is now. The equipage was faultless, — 
 curious old silver, dainty Dresden china, the furniture of a 
 museum rather than the ornaments of a tea-table. M. Regnier 
 was helped, and continued his conversation; but he had not 
 sufficient sugar, so, selecting one lump out of the basin, he took 
 it in his fingers, and dropped it into his cup. The Prince looked 
 aghast, and exchanged a significant glance with a servant, who 
 opened a window, and emptied the sugar-basin into the street. 
 The imperturbable comedian continued his conversation, and 
 finished his tea. He showed no resentment, but, when his cup 
 was quite empty, quietly rose, opened the window, flung cup, 
 saucer, and teaspoon into the street, observing that soon he 
 would get accustomed to the manners of the people. 
 
 " On another occasion the emperor recognized the comedian 
 in the street, stopped him, and had some minutes' conversation 
 with him. They then parted ; and immediately afterward the 
 poor actor was arrested, and flung into a dungeon. He was, 
 however, soon afterward released; and then learned that it 
 was treason to address the emperor in the streets. The next 
 day he again met the monarch, who sought to stop him ; but 
 Regnier was forewarned. ' Don't speak to me,' he shouted to 
 the king : ' your majesty's conversation is compromising.' " 
 
 While Miss Ward was studying with Regnier, Mile. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 33 
 
 Josseliii (Miss Julian), a young dramatic student of 
 much promise, came to her in great distress : her 
 family were opposed to her going on the stage ; a.n.d 
 Bressants, her teacher at the Conservatoire, was ill, her 
 lessons were stopped, and she in despair. Miss Ward, 
 who had been rehearsing with her in the sleep-walking 
 scene from " Macbeth " twenty-one times, Miss Jos- 
 selin taking the role of the nurse, consented to teach 
 her in tragedy, paying special attention to pose and 
 gesture. And, at Miss Josselin's debut at the Conserva- 
 toire, everybody was talking of her poses ; nothing had 
 been seen like it since Rachel : and at the close the 
 young debutante received the first prize in tragedy, 
 which had not been conferred on any woman for seven 
 years. 1 
 
 After studying all winter, Miss Ward made her first 
 appearance on the French stage at the Porte St. 
 Martin Theatre, in February, 1877, as Lady Macbeth. 
 The chief critics and famous artists of Paris were 
 present. " The noble, deep eyes of the author of ' La 
 Fille de Roland ' were visible in the orchestra-stalls ; 
 and her teacher, M. Regnier, occupied one of the 
 
 1 The Conservatoire in Paris is a national school supported by gov- 
 ernment. Its teachers for the drama are selected from the old actors of 
 the Comedie Francaise, the only theatre which has lasted two hundred years. 
 Its teachers in music are selected from the great singers of the French school. 
 An artist receiving the first prize in the Conservatoire has a right to claim 
 engagement at the first operas at the Comedie Francaise. The jury is se- 
 lected by the government, from among such men as Dumas, — none of the 
 teachers can serve, — Perrin, the director of the Comedie Francaise, and other 
 great critics and dramatic authors, who pass the verdict and confer the prizes, 
 retiring as from any other court to consult and agree. When it was an- 
 nounced to Mile. Jo'iseJin, that this prize had been awarded to her, she 
 sobbed aloud. 
 
134 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 boxes." The play was given in French, after the 
 translation of M. Jules Lacroix ; but the sleep-walking 
 scene was played in English at the request of Regnier, 
 "else," said he to Miss Ward, "the critics will vow 
 you are a Frenchwoman, and think that the announce- 
 ment of your foreign nationality was only a trick to 
 whet curiosity." 
 
 The most eminent living French dramatic critic, 
 Francisque Sarcey, opened with a discourse on Sheri- 
 dan's "School for Scandal ; " then followed the first and 
 second acts of " Macbeth," and the sleep-walking scene. 
 A correspondent of "The London Era" said,— 
 
 "Miss Ward's French was so perfect that her American 
 nativity was discredited until in the sleep-walking scene, given 
 in English, she fairly electrified the house. It was splendidly 
 rendered, with an intensity of power and statuesque grace that 
 called forth the warmest applause, and a double recall, a very 
 exceptional compliment here. She was afterward personally 
 complimented in the most cordial manner, by several distin- 
 guished artists and critics. M. Victorien Sardou, who had left 
 his sick-room to be present, and Francisque Sarcey, who volun- 
 teered to sign Miss Ward a diploma as a French actress, were 
 among those who vied to do her honor. Needless to say that 
 Regnier, her tutor, was in ecstasies at the triumph of his pupil, 
 so great that she was invited to repeat the sleep-walking scene 
 at the next Porte St. Martin matinee." 
 
 The French plaudit of critics and the public was 
 one harmonious and full chord of praise, as intelligent 
 and just as it was warm. 
 
 The London papers quoted the French journals : — 
 
 " Miss Ward's appearance at the Porte St. Martin the other 
 day as Lady Macbeth [said a critic in "The London World" 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 35 
 
 of Feb. 21, 1877] was a genuine success. It was a difficult 
 undertaking to play the part of Lady Macbeth in French ; and, 
 with that, to give more than satisfaction to an audience ill 
 acquainted with the piece. She was obliged afterward to repeat 
 the sleep-walking scene in English, and for a curious reason, — 
 because her French was so pure, it was necessary to give her 
 hearers proof that it was not her native tongue. Both repre- 
 sentations were admirable, especially the long scene of im- 
 perious temptation with Macbeth, which occurs in the second 
 act. 
 
 " I was so fortunate as to witness her first appearance in 
 this part in England ; and, much as that pleased me, I am bound 
 to say that her improvement under French training has been 
 very great indeed. She has simply had the resolution to with- 
 draw herself for a while from the English stage, in order to take 
 lessons of those masters of her art who are to be found at the 
 Conservatoire. I wish that others of our actresses would follow 
 her example ; but I am sorry — and Miss Ward must be more 
 than human if she is not glad — to think that they will not." 
 
 Said "The Dublin Morning Mail," — 
 
 " A series of morning performances is at present being 
 given in the Theatre Porte St. Martin, in Paris, called ' Mati- 
 nees Characteristiques.' Their character consists in the fact, 
 that each one is devoted to a nationality or period: thus the 
 Russian, Spanish, Italian, and English authors respectively 
 are represented at a matinee, and also different centuries, — the 
 fourteenth, fifteenth, etc. A notable feature in each matinee 
 is, that at each performance is delivered a discourse by one of 
 the principal Parisian critics. The second matinee was devoted 
 to England, and the play was ' Macbeth.' In the latter, Miss 
 W ard played Lady Macbeth. The performance was in French ; 
 and the gifted American actress, with whom Dublin is familiar, 
 was received by the French audience as a countrywoman ; and 
 it was only when she spoke the sleep-walking scene in English, 
 that her nationality was allowed. The house was full of the 
 literati of Paris, including most of the members of the Comedie 
 
I36 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Fran9aise, — MM. Sardou, Bornier, Dumas, etc., — all of whom 
 applauded heartily, and recalled the artiste twice, a very rare 
 honor on the French stage ; and a repetition of her Lady Mac- 
 beth is asked. It is pleasant to record such a distinguished 
 success of a lady whose first efforts we witnessed with genuine 
 delight." 
 
 A London letter to "The Dublin Telegraph" com- 
 mented as follows : — 
 
 " Sarcey, the great critic, declares that Miss Ward possesses 
 every quality necessary to insure her the most ' eclatant succes ' 
 which has greeted any actress since the days when Alexandre 
 Dumas created them in return for their making him. The 
 French stage is sadly deficient in the tragic element just now; 
 and Sardou, on seeing Miss Ward's performance of Lady Mac- 
 beth, immediately seized upon her as the most fitting represent- 
 ative of his new play, — his beau ideal of the warmth and ten- 
 derness required. This striking success of a foreigner on the 
 Paris boards is regarded as the great artistic event of the day ; 
 and the London managers stand amazed at their own want of 
 perspicacity, especially remembering the reception Miss Ward 
 met with in Dublin, where she was greeted with the same appre- 
 ciation of her genius as manifested by the public of Paris, — 
 affording another proof of the superiority of Dublin in the 
 refinement of criticism, and the higher feeling for art which 
 exist in your city, and should force the acknowledgment of its 
 being the artistic capital of the kingdom." 
 
 During her sojourn in Paris, Miss Ward received 
 many distinguished proposals for theatrical engage- 
 ments ; among them, one from M. Jenneval, manager 
 of the Troisieme Theatre Franeais, — so called as the 
 Odeon is considered the second, — not now in opera- 
 tion ; another from Jules Claretie, the same accom- 
 plished gentleman and clever dramatist now writing 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 *37 
 
 the brilliant fetdlleton for Le Nord, entitled " La Mai- 
 son Vide ; " and another from Albert Alberg, manager 
 of the Djurgaards Theatre of Stockholm. 
 
 The celebrated and popular French actor, Pierre 
 Berton, wrote to the critic of the " Figaro " and 
 "Gaulois:" — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I have been to see Miss Ward, and I thank 
 you for having sent me. Without your advice, I might have 
 lost the occasion to hear an eminent artist, whose play, always 
 natural and true even in the most dramatic situation, has car- 
 ried me away ; for it is true art as I understand it, and as I try 
 to practise it. The attitude, facial expression, and gesture of 
 Miss Ward, are equal to her fine diction, so pliant, so varied. 
 I am sorry I shall be unable at this time to hear her again ; for 
 it would have been a real pleasure, and a precious study." 
 
 Some months previous to her French debut, Lord 
 Newry, a very clever and accomplished young man, 
 translator of the " Danischeffs," and owner of the St. 
 James Theatre, had written to Miss Ward : — 
 
 Ashridge, Great Berkhampstead, Nov. 30, 1876. 
 My dear Madame, — I am glad for your sake that your 
 prospects in Paris are so good that you cannot feel yourself 
 justified in relinquishing them under a less sum than forty 
 pounds a week. . . . There is not a single lady in London 
 drawing that salary ; and not more than four at the outside in 
 receipt of even half of it. ... I think you will show the Paris- 
 ians that they are not the only artists in the world. 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 Newry. 
 
 Miss Ward received many precious private congrat- 
 ulations upon her triumphs at the Porte St. Martin, — 
 from Ristori's friend and critic, G. de Filippi; from 
 
r 38 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the famous Madame Celeste ; from Lionel Tennyson, 
 son of the laureate ; from Palgrave Simpson ; and 
 Madame Ristori wrote : — 
 
 " Who knows what you may have been thinking of my 
 silence? But you — naughty one — have not even thought of 
 asking me the reason ! Your triumphs have paled my memory 
 in your thoughts — is it not so ? Ah ! I am delighted with your 
 magnificent success in Paris, but I am not in the least aston- 
 ished ; but allow me to tell you, all the same, that your English 
 language is diabolically diabolical 1 I miss you so much ! I 
 kiss you with my heart ; and I love you, and am your 
 
 "Adelaide Ristori." 
 
 Miss Ward has received letters from this dear and 
 generous friend from almost all parts of the world. 
 "Madame Ristori always speaks with the sincerest 
 kindness of artists," said Miss Ward to me, "and is 
 remarkably faithful in her remembrance of her friends." 
 
 This was observable in her letters. I hardly found 
 one in which she did not make tender inquiry for Miss 
 Kate Field. 
 
 Miss Ward's French triumphs brought her offers 
 from London managers : — 
 
 " I am not astonished at the propositions made to you from 
 London [wrote Regnier] : the contrary would have astonished 
 me ; and it is equally without surprise that I hear of the French 
 movement taking possession of the English actors. Last Tues- 
 day at the Conservatoire, an English actress imparted to me 
 her desire to act the rdle of Juliet in French. Her accent ren- 
 ders the attempt impossible for her ; but I see in this the emu- 
 lation which your achievement has excited, and which, in my 
 opinion, you alone can make succeed. If you regret our les- 
 sons, believe also that the same regret is mine. Such pupils as 
 yourself are rare, or, more properly speaking, they do not 
 exist." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 39 
 
 In September, 1877, Miss Ward accepted an en- 
 gagement to play as Queen Catherine in the grand 
 Shakespearian revival at the Theatre Royal, in Man- 
 chester. 
 
 " Mr. Charles Calvert, by whom the play has been arranged 
 for presentation [said "The Manchester Courier"], and under 
 whose care it has been produced, is already known all over 
 Europe and America for the grandeur and faithfulness of his 
 Shakespearian revivals; and the splendor and solidity of the 
 scenic display will live in the memory of those who see it as 
 one of the most elaborate and impressive performances of mod- 
 ern times." 
 
 The Hon. Lewis Wingfield supplied the authorities 
 and designs for the costumes, paraphernalia, and rega- 
 lia employed in the production. " His skill, judgment, 
 and popularity, therefore," said "The Era," "were 
 qualifications of the first order in connection with 
 such an enterprise." 
 
 Charles Sever wrote in "The Manchester Guard- 
 ian:"— 
 
 " Miss Genevieve Ward is, in my opinion, one of the most 
 accomplished artists, both intellectually and dramatically, on 
 the English stage. Her performance here of Lady Macbeth 
 some time ago — to say nothing of her recent successes in 
 Paris, in French rendering of the same — struck me as the 
 truest, most forcible, and most finished embodiment of the part 
 which I had seen during a period of forty years. 
 
 "Equally striking is her impersonation of the dethroned 
 Queen Catherine, whether in the famous council-chamber scene 
 in Act I. where she pleads before the king, or the scene with 
 Cardinal Wolsey in Act III , or in the vision and dying scene, 
 which is the most painfully real embodiment of gradual disso- 
 lution conceivable." 
 
I40 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 The correspondent of " The Chronicle " waxed 
 wroth with Mr. Sever, splenetically snubbed him for 
 the length of a whole column, and was very unsympa- 
 thetic with the slow and literal death of the queen; 
 but the press and the public were with Mr. Sever. 
 
 Her old master, Regnier, to whom she sent the 
 Manchester papers, wrote : — 
 
 " To you the praise is complete ; and I do not detect, in all 
 the critics say of you, the shadow of a reticence. You are 
 recompensed for your long, brave labors. I hope you will give 
 me the most ample details of your success: the examination 
 which you ought to make of the impressions made upon the 
 public will be, I assure you, as interesting for me as for you. 
 Continuation of success, and the warmest affection in the name 
 of my wife, and of yours affectionately, 
 
 " Regnier." 
 
 She attended the Church of England Temperance 
 Bazaar, and acted with Mr. Calvert in the trial scene 
 from " The Merchant of Venice," giving the proceeds 
 to the society. Then followed fast upon one another 
 noble successes in Manchester and Liverpool, as Lady 
 Macbeth, Beatrice in "Much Ado about Nothing," 
 and as Portia, etc. Long and able critical leaders in 
 the papers concerning her fine impersonations were 
 now the rule ; and Regnier, delighted with her grow- 
 ing fame, wrote to her in reference to O'Neill's admira- 
 ble review of her Lady Macbeth in " The Manchester 
 Examiner: " — 
 
 " The author's appreciation of you is most remarkable : it is 
 more difficult to know how to praise than to criticise ; and, for 
 the writer to justify the so well-merited praises he gives you, 
 must make you happy and proud to be so understood, That 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 141 
 
 there should have been astonishment to see you so playful and 
 gay in a comic rdle, I can well understand. I did not, myself, 
 expect it when, for the first time, we tried a comedy ; but you 
 will" remember you surprised me, and fairly had my approval 
 without reserve, nor did we long tarry over a task in which you 
 gave me so little to do. Your success in the two styles has 
 been complete, and it should be well established in London that 
 you hold there a sceptre which no one can rightfully dispute 
 with you." 
 
 In March, 1878, Miss Ward played in London at 
 the Queen's Theatre, Emilia to the Hungarian trage- 
 dian Neville Moritz's Othello. The Othello met with 
 some fine praise shaded by a great deal of carping and 
 blame. The " old playgoer," Mr. Charles Sever, and 
 his enemy of " The Chronicle," had a skirmish on the 
 subject, Mr. Sever coming out the gentleman, logician, 
 and critic of the two ; and his verdict in favor of the 
 new Emilia was worthy to outweigh many adverse 
 voices. Miss Ward was pronounced " the best Emilia 
 of our generation." 
 
 After another successful tour of the provinces, she 
 lent herself as Portia and Queen Catherine to the 
 furtherance of the Shakespeare Memorial Benefit, 1 
 chiefly the undertaking of Miss Kate Field, but warmly 
 seconded by the " hearty co-operation of the mana- 
 gers and artists who interested themselves in the car- 
 rying-out of the scheme ; and there was not a single 
 hitch anywhere to mar the harmony of the proceed- 
 ings." The receipts were ^450. 
 
 American journals were now beginning to find space 
 
 1 For the establishment of a theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, "on Shake- 
 speare's ground, for Shakespeare's sake." 
 
142 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 for accounts of the foreign triumphs of their gifted 
 countrywoman ; and she entered into an engagement 
 with Messrs. Jarrett and Palmer for a tour of the States 
 for the winter and spring of 1878 and 1879. 
 
 Among the many congratulations Miss Ward re- 
 ceived upon her prospective American tour, was the 
 following from the manager of " The New York Her- 
 ald " in Paris. 
 
 Feb. 6, 1878. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I need scarcely say to you that I am 
 greatly rejoiced at the conclusion of your engagement. It is 
 what I have long been looking forward to for you. I believe it 
 was all that was required to crown your hopes and aspirations. 
 If any one ever deserved success in this world, you do. You 
 have struggled bravely and honestly against difficulties that 
 would have dismayed most women of your refinement and ac- 
 complishments. I have watched your course with interest ; and 
 I can say to you truthfully, and without the slightest desire to 
 flatter you, that I have never seen any career more nobly or 
 more consistently played out. You are not only an honor to 
 your profession, but to your sex; and it is but just that you 
 should now meet with the rewards of your efforts, from which 
 you might have shrunk, had not the welfare and happiness of 
 others been involved in them. Your good news has made me 
 glad, and my hearty good wishes follow you everywhere. 
 Ever truly your friend, 
 
 J. J. Ryan. 
 
 From Paris, date of March 10, 1878, came the fol- 
 lowing flattering query : — 
 
 " Could you find artists, and engage to mount three or four 
 English plays to be performed in July at a large theatre in Paris, 
 probably the Italian Opera House, which will be offered for 
 that purpose by the French Government during the Exposition ? 
 Excuse me for troubling you thus, and deign to find in it, among 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 43 
 
 other motives, a sincere and earnest desire to see your great 
 talent affirm itself again in Paris. I am also writing to the 
 director of the Burg Theatre in Vienna, and to Madame Ris- 
 tori to participate in this dramatic event. 
 
 " With best compliments, 
 
 "J. Gust. Bertrand." 
 
 A change of ministry prevented this project from 
 fulfilment. 
 
 On the eve of her departure for America she re- 
 ceived the following : — 
 
 " Good-by Ristori, adieu Rachel 1 — since it is thus that 
 England speaks of you; but for me, adieu Genevieve Ward, 
 a name which will have as great a meaning for the artists who 
 will come after you I My kind compliments to all your family, 
 and to you the felicitations, best wishes, of your affectionate 
 
 " Regnier." 
 
KATHERINE. 
 
 We heard the eloquence that rings repeal 
 
 Of wrongs, flagitious in a subject's sight; 
 We saw the gracious form consent to kneel 
 
 To gain for Buckingham his envied right. 
 Like chill and rattling hail on Wolsey fell 
 
 Her stern anathemas 'gainst spleen and pride ; 
 Though dark Campeius wrought a subtle spell, 
 
 His art her nobleness and truth defied. 
 Most regally she stood, her brow alight 
 
 With the mild halo that o'ertops the great, 
 Till Justice in habiliments of night 
 
 For earthly honor gave immortal state. 
 Thus have we seen, enraptured with the view, 
 The queen whom Ward enacts, whom Shakspeare drew. 
 
 G. W. Pettes. 
 
 Boston Theatre, Boston, Mass., 
 April 10, 1879. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 47 
 
 vr. 
 
 EARLY in July, 1878, Miss Ward with her father 
 arrived in New- York City by the steamer " City 
 of Berlin ; " and within a very few hours after, that 
 ubiquitous, energetic, much-abused, sometimes much- 
 abusing, often invaluable, and always unquenchable 
 being, the newspaper-reporter, had called on her, and 
 propounded the question, — 
 
 " What are your plans for acting in America? " 
 
 To which Miss Ward had replied, — 
 
 " I can't say very definitely : the management is in 
 the hands of Jarrett and Palmer, and I have scarcely 
 seen them since my arrival. I shall go immediately 
 on a visit to my friend Adelaide Phillips, at Marshfield, 
 Mass., the place adjoining Daniel Webster's. It was 
 that which brought me over so early. On Sept. 2 I 
 shall appear at Booth's Theatre in 'Jane Shore,' which 
 was written by W. G. Wills for Miss Heath, and has 
 been played in England for two or three years with 
 great success. The play has been re-written for me. 
 Mr. Wills thought the third act was not strong enough, 
 and has changed it in some important particulars. 
 The penance takes place on the stage instead of off: 
 the snow-storm scene, in which the heroine dies of 
 
I48 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 hunger on the stage, I think is one of the strongest in 
 the English drama. After 'Jane Shore,' I shall prob- 
 ably play in 'Macbeth,' 'Henry the Eighth,' 'Meg 
 Merrilies,' Mrs. Haller in 'The Stranger,' Portia in 
 'The Merchant of Venice,' Beatrice in 'Much Ado 
 about Nothing,' and other parts. If 'Jane Shore' 
 should have a long run, some of the others will perhaps 
 be postponed until my return from our contemplated 
 tour. We propose visiting Philadelphia, Boston, and 
 probably all the large cities. It was proposed at first 
 that I should make my first appearance in ' Henry the 
 Eighth.' I am glad the change of plan was made, for 
 I should dislike to meet a New York audience first in 
 a character which they have learned to look upon as 
 Charlotte Cushman's. I find that I am getting a little 
 nervous as the time approaches when I am to make 
 my debut here : I find that this is what I have really 
 been working for all these years. The measure of 
 my success abroad was valuable for its own sake and 
 as an earnest of what I might do at home." 
 
 Jennie June, one of the guests invited to share 
 with Miss Phillips the pleasure of Miss Ward's visit, 
 vvrote : — 
 
 "Miss Ward sailed from England a month ahead of time 
 on purpose to enjoy a few weeks at Marshfield ; Miss Matilda 
 Phillips — whose magnificent voice has won the most unusual 
 and extraordinary encomiums from Sir Jules Benedict and 
 Manuel Garcia, the famous teacher — having carried over a 
 pressing invitation to London from Miss Adelaide, whose inti- 
 mate acquaintance with Miss Ward dates back to the season 
 when they sang together in Havana. 
 
 "Can you imagine the group which poured out upon the 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 49 
 
 piazza of this pleasant house when the carnage-wheels were 
 heard? First and foremost, Miss Genevieve Ward, who has 
 come back to us the celebrated tragedienne, looking taller, and 
 perhaps more stately, but beautiful, bright, and spontaneous 
 as ever; her father, Col. Ward, so long and so well known as 
 a representative of the United States abroad, a still handsome 
 and dignified old man, though his hair and beard are silvery- 
 white, and he is an invalid past active service." 
 
 Referring to Miss Ward's experiences as Countess 
 de Guerbel, Jennie June adds, — 
 
 " This romance of Genevieve Ward's life is never now al- 
 luded to by her, and does not seem to have left a cloud upon 
 her life ; for she has used it simply as the incentive to hard 
 work in her profession. She is very young-looking for one who 
 has won so high a place, has a magnificent figure, a manner 
 singularly sweet and winning, yet capable of expressing great 
 pride; a rich voice, beautiful blue eyes, which become gray 
 when moved by thought or feeling, and a face like Ristori's, 
 with regular features ; and masses of dark hair, which she simply 
 twists in a huge coil, through which she slips a pin or a dagger. 
 
 " I quite appreciated a remark made by Miss Emily Faithfull 
 in regard to her, in a private letter to a friend in this country, — 
 that she was so sorry she was not born in England : she would 
 have been so proud to claim her as an Englishwoman. She 
 inspires that sort of feeling. There is no nonsense about her : 
 she is conscientious, ardent, perhaps ambitious ; but she could 
 never be suspected of any thing mean or unworthy. I had 
 formed no opinion of her as an artist before seeing her ; but I 
 am inclined to think now that she will be a surprise, — that she 
 stands alone in her own particular field of grand tragic art. 
 
 " She is rather careless about clothes, and values her ward- 
 robe, not because it is made by Worth, but because each dress 
 was designed by Lewis Wingfield, the great historical artist, 
 and is strictly accurate, down to the smallest detail. There is 
 no tinsel about them, and she wears but little jewelry; but the 
 fabrics are fine, and harmonious in sentiment, form, and color, 
 and are an admirable study of effects," 
 
IS© 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 All sorts of biographical sketches, inextricably con- 
 fusing truth with error, appeared in the journals of the 
 day preceding and following her visits to the chief 
 cities of her tour, which she began by playing as Jane 
 Shore at Booth's Theatre in New York on the night 
 of Sept. 2. Her audiences were large, and received 
 her with enthusiasm; and the journals, especially 
 the "Tribune," " Herald," and "World," praised her 
 performances with very high eulogium. At work 
 among the minor critics, however, was a detracting 
 spirit, moved beyond question by petty personal pique, 
 who wrote up a stock of spiteful comments, and suc- 
 ceeded in introducing them from time to time in the 
 columns of second-rate journals. The handiwork in 
 every instance was glaringly the same, and was ulti- 
 mately ascertained to be that of the same person who 
 years before in Paris withheld from Mrs. Ward and her 
 daughter papers and letters in re the de Guerbel 
 marriage intrusted by them to his temporary charge 
 until Gen. John A. Dix's peremptory dixit recovered 
 them ! This little trail of slime among her laurels 
 naturally puzzled some of the fair-minded. 
 
 " The ways of critics in New York are past finding out 
 [said a writer in "The Baltimore American"]. For some rea- 
 son or other, known only to themselves, a sort of cabal tried to 
 form itself against Miss Ward, and write her down. It was said 
 that her death-scene was too realistic (alluding to her Queen 
 Catherine), that there was no occasion to go through the death 
 agonies in order to die upon the stage. Now, one peculiarity of 
 Miss Ward's death-scene is the absence of any forced or un- 
 natural agonizing. As a woman said who saw her, ' she actu- 
 ally dies.' This same woman, a lady of great intelligence and 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 151 
 
 experience, remarked to her in my presence, ' I have seen many 
 persons die off the stage, but I never saw one die on the stage 
 until I saw you ; and the illusion was so complete that I nearly 
 fainted. You must have watched the phenomena very closely.' 
 — ' No,' replied Miss Ward, ' I never saw any one die in my 
 life. A celebrated physician, whom I consulted, advised me 
 not to work off symptoms, but to just die ; and so natural does 
 it seem to be, after going through the part, to yield up life and 
 all its interests, and so absolutely am I psychologized by that 
 idea, that I hardly know for a few moments, myself, whether I 
 have not really given up the ghost." 
 
 One Philadelphia paper, not ill-named "The Item," 
 busied itself in picking out and assorting single points 
 of cavil, from among criticisms which, as a whole, 
 broadly recognized her powers, and grouping them as 
 the "opinions of the press." This melange quoted 
 Mr. Winter of " The Tribune " as saying, concerning 
 her Jane Shore, — 
 
 " Those who are waiting to be entranced by a celestial visita- 
 tion of overwhelming genius will probably continue to sit upon 
 the anxious seats ; " 
 
 but omitted to include these words of Mr. Winter's 
 discriminating pen in the same article : — 
 
 " In the intellectuality of her art, as in her personal appear- 
 ance, Miss Ward awakens vivid reminiscence of Ristori ; she 
 shows the same practical force of character, the same cold will, 
 and thorough equipment in mechanical resources ; her presence 
 is imposing, her countenance is splendidly expressive, her ges- 
 tures are large, free, and picturesque, and her physique obeys 
 with unswerving accuracy and instantaneous promptitude the 
 monitions of her thought and impulse ; and she is the accom- 
 plished mistress of all her powers. A more entirely competent 
 actress is seldom seen: she has abundant force, abundant 
 
I5 2 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 repose, and beautiful finish. ... In the fourth act Miss Ward 
 rose to the height of absolutely imaginative grandeur. The 
 theatre now rang with delighted plaudits, and there were five 
 recalls of the tableau and the actress after the curtain fell. The 
 success of the night stood assured at that point. It was cer- 
 tainly a most brilliant climax ; and those who can rejoice in see- 
 ing a fine work accomplished with perfect adequacy of art will 
 view with unqualified admiration the acting of Miss Genevieve 
 Ward." 
 
 Miss Ward herself did not like the role of Jane 
 Shore, preferring always tragedy to melodrama; and 
 this fact was at the bottom of any want felt in her 
 impersonation, which was nevertheless, as an artistic 
 performance, without blemish, and drew large houses 
 for the few weeks of its run. 
 
 On the 20th September she played the sleep-walk- 
 ing scene of Lady Macbeth, on the occasion of the 
 " Ladies' Matinee for the Benefit of the Municipal 
 Fund to relieve the Sufferers by the Yellow-Fever in 
 the South ; " and on the 23d received the following 
 from the secretary of the committee appointed to take 
 charge of such funds : — 
 
 New York, Sept. 23, 1878. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward, — The committee desire to return 
 to you their sincere thanks for your kindness in assisting at the 
 matinee benefit given at Booth's Theatre on last Friday after- 
 noon, in aid of the sufferers by yellow-fever in the South. The 
 remembrance of your kindly act will always remain fresh in the 
 memories of these poor fever-stricken people. 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Ernest T. Fellowes, 
 Secretary. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 153 
 
 Her Queen Catherine and Lady Macbeth continued 
 to bring the best audiences of New York to Booth's 
 Theatre ; and her engagement there proved a genuine 
 success. 
 
 Miss Anna E. Dickinson, who had then never met 
 Miss Ward personally, was discussing with Mrs. Croly 
 the relative merits of Miss Ward's Queen Catherine 
 and Lady Macbeth, and Miss Cushman's impersona- 
 tion of the same rules. 
 
 Their conversation chanced to occur in the hearing 
 of a certain reporter who had a personal grudge to 
 satisfy against Miss Ward, and who was now en- 
 grossed in casting little pellets all along Miss Ward's 
 victorious way. Conceiving that now indeed his hour 
 had come, he at once stated in " The Capital," 
 a sheet published in Washington, that Miss Dickin- 
 son had pronounced Miss Ward far inferior to Miss 
 Cushman. 
 
 Very soon after this, Miss Ward received the follow- 
 ing letter : — 
 
 Fifth-avenue Hotel, Nov. 5, 1878. 
 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I trust you have been infinitely less 
 annoyed than I, by what I find set forth of a talk of mine in 
 the last number of " The Capital." 
 
 In a conversation I supposed strictly private, I commented 
 on your Queen Catherine and Lady Macbeth as compared with 
 those of Charlotte Cushman. 
 
 At the close of a great many pros and cons, what I actually 
 said was : " The long and the short of the matter is, that I like 
 Genevieve Ward's Lady Macbeth as much better than I liked 
 that of Charlotte Cushman, as Charlotte Cushman's Queen 
 Catherine seems to me greater than that of Miss Ward j " 
 and, if I am not mistaken in you, you are quite broad enough 
 
154 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 to allow another to disagree with your conception (not with the 
 working-out of that conception) of any given role, without 
 thinking such an one either malevolent or a fool. It is not that 
 I think you will specially value my opinion one way or other, 
 but for my own content, that I want you to know the whole 
 truth, and not the half, — which is generally the meanest of 
 lies. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Anna E. Dickinson. 
 
 In accordance with one of the most blessed of the 
 laws of life, the little seed sown in spite blossomed, 
 despite the sower, in a warm friendship between Miss 
 Dickinson and Miss Ward, in which each does full 
 justice to the other's grand powers. Of Miss Dickin- 
 son's undeniable dramatic genius, Miss Ward has 
 spoken to me in very high terms, regretting, as does 
 many another eminent judge, that she should have 
 received, as an actress, so little of the broad appre- 
 ciation which, both as encouragement and desert, was 
 manifestly her due. 
 
 From New York to Brooklyn, Providence (which 
 she took by storm), Philadelphia, Washington (where 
 she was the honored guest of Mrs. President Hayes), 
 Baltimore, Rochester, Buffalo, Hamilton, Toronto, 
 Montreal, Portland, Albany, Springfield, Worcester, 
 Providence, and Boston, Miss Ward's tour was one 
 triumphal march, the fruit, not only of genius, but of 
 most conscientious and patiently faithful labors apart 
 from her own noble impersonations ; for Miss Ward 
 manages all her plays, teaches, directs, superintends 
 the rehearsals, selects even the goods for the costumes, 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 155 
 
 arranges the tableaux, — in a word, carefully supervises 
 the entire representation of which she fonns the nucleus. 
 The following letters and quotations from letters 
 received by Miss Ward during this tour are an unmis- 
 takable verdict upon her art. 
 
 101 East 59TH Street, New York, 
 Oct. 2, 1878. 
 
 My dear Miss Ward, — I must thank you for the very 
 great pleasure you gave us last night, by taking us back for 
 three centuries, and into the presence of the veritable Queen 
 Catherine as understood by Shakespeare. Your impersonation 
 is admirable, and will live in my memory among the great crea- 
 tions I have witnessed, beginning with Rachel's. You were 
 every inch a queen : the death-scene especially was really elec- 
 trifying. My friends and myself left the theatre under a spell, 
 charmed by the wonderful art with which you recreated the 
 proud and unhappy Aragonese princess. ... Can you give us 
 the pleasure of your company to dinner, enfamille, etc. ? 
 Yours very cordially, 
 
 Mary L. Booth. 
 
 456 Pearl Street, New York, 
 Oct. 10, 1878. 
 
 Messrs. Jarrett and Palmer. 
 
 Gentlemen, — As an old artist permit me to give my con- 
 scientious opinion, that for originality of conception, tenderness 
 of feeling, and startling power, Miss Ward's Queen Catherine 
 is the finest I ever saw ; and I have played with all the great 
 representatives of that character since 1845. 
 
 Her " make-up " in the last scene was a marvel of artistic 
 limning, and the " mise en schie " I have never seen equalled in 
 this country or Europe. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 George C. Bryden. 
 
 The following, addressed to Miss Ward's dear friend 
 Mrs. Sanford, is of special interest, from the fact that 
 
156 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the writer, a young painter of rare promise, was en- 
 tirely deaf, and makes this beautiful and feeling tribute 
 through the interpretation of sight alone. 
 
 New York, Oct. 13, 1878. 
 Dear Mrs. Sanford, — I cannot tell you how many times 
 I have thought of you, and how sweet it was in you to send the 
 beautiful Miss Ward to see me, and to give me the pleasure I 
 had on Friday evening. My judgment of acting is founded on 
 no knowledge of it ; but what sensibility I have in my own art, 
 I cannot help exercising upon what I see at the theatre. Miss 
 Ward seems unquestionably great to me. I was deeply affected 
 by every movement she made : every look and gesture seemed 
 fully charged with the mournfulness of Queen Catherine's fate, 
 and the beauty of the character shone out in every expression 
 of her noble face. In the last act, where the queen is broken 
 in spirit, and tremulous with suffering and age, it is the most 
 touching thing I ever beheld. Her costume and " make-up " 
 were as wonderful as her acting, and such subtle and harmoni- 
 ous acting I never saw. There was reason and love and beauty 
 and temperateness in it ; it was deep, strong, and sonorous ; noth- 
 ing in it that I could wish otherwise. It had the solemn color- 
 ing of a Venetian picture; and her hands were a marvellous 
 study, a perfect revelation. I am so filled with admiration, that 
 I must needs write confusedly of it. . . . The costume of the 
 last act was a great piece of work, — a rich material of a sombre 
 golden tone, something like winter grass, and trimmed with 
 fur ; and the other dresses had an artistic magnificence I have 
 never seen equalled. The more I think of it, the more I am 
 touched by your kindness ; and I long to be face to face with 
 you to tell you by my silence how deeply I appreciate this 
 thoughtful act of yours. 
 
 Ever in great respect and affection yours, 
 
 Oliver I. Lay. 
 
 A gentleman, formerly consul at Manchester, wrote 
 to Miss Ward from — 
 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 57 
 
 St. Louis, Oct. 15, 1878. 
 We wexe very glad to hear of your success over the water, 
 and I read with much pleasure of the furore your last appear- 
 ances in Dublin -created. I only envy those who were present, 
 and able to join in the applause. And, now that you are in this 
 country, we seem as far from you as before, for our local papers 
 — except in describing how Solomon in all his glory was not 
 arrayed as you are in Jane Shore — have left us in ignorance 
 of what you are doing. Mrs. Cabot tells us you have been 
 received with success. Well, if Success had not tripped down 
 Broadway, and helped you over the steamer's side, and made 
 his best bow to you, and introduced you to everybody he knew, 
 he would have written himself down an ass, and ought never 
 again to have shown his welcome face among decent people ! 
 . . . The house is so large that we have two guest-chambers, 
 one of which we call " Miss Ward's room ; " and in future ages 
 we hope to have our boy point to its bed with pride, and tell 
 his children that thereon Queen Catherine rested when she 
 halted in her royal progress through the West. . . . For I take 
 it for granted you will come to St. Louis some time during the 
 winter or the spring. Kindest regards to your father. Tell 
 him that I cannot get at the true inwardness of Western poli- 
 tics, and I think it about time we had a conference to settle the 
 true state of the country. And now, with the Cranes' love, 
 believe them to be your majesty's most loyal and affectionate 
 servants, 
 
 Newton Crane, et al. 
 
 Liverpool, Oct. 22, 1878. 
 Dear Friend, — We have heard of your success with the 
 greatest possible delight, although we expected nothing less 
 than a complete triumph for you. It has indeed been achieved 
 under adverse circumstances : the heat must have been simply 
 awful. I knew you would like Mrs. Croly (Jennie June), and 
 I am proud to have brought you together. You are one of the 
 few women I dearly love and esteem, and we think and talk of 
 you continually. Your photographs, which delight us, have a 
 
158 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 place of honor on the mantlepiece : this brings your name to 
 many lips, among others to those of Mr O'Neill of Manchester, 
 who called the very day they arrived. He was all you repre- 
 sented, and he was charmed with " Zicka." I enclose his notice, 
 and also Mr. E. R. Russell's ; for, knowing the men, you will 
 measure their criticisms. The Kendalls are lovely to her ; and, 
 indeed, the more I see of Mrs. Kendall, the more I admire her 
 as an actress, and as a woman. . . . Don't forget how welcome 
 news of you will always be to us. How I should like to have 
 an ideal theatre here, with you as star, and my child working 
 with you, — a thoroughly good company, excellent plays, and 
 bishops in front as well as sporting lords and newspaper pro- 
 prietors ! . . . I am sorry for , as I am for all unfortunate 
 
 women. As "Zicka" says every night, in tones which have 
 always riveted the noisiest audience, " Life is so hard to some 
 women, and men are so merciless I " She is now at the theatre, 
 or would send some message of her own ; for you are one of 
 her " loadstars." God bless you ! 
 
 Ever your affectionate 
 
 Emily Faithfull. 
 
 Oporto, Spain, Nov. 21, 1878. 
 Dear Friend, — Forgive my delay. You know what it is 
 to make up a company, and put a whole repertoire on the stage. 
 Well, doing things as usual by steam, I was obliged to mount 
 " Marie Antoinette " in four rehearsals, and the others in the 
 same haste, remaining in the theatre off-nights eleven hours to 
 rehearse. I was afraid of falling ill, but the electricity which 
 always animates the artist, and me in particular, enlarged my 
 forces; and the tremendous applause of the different publics 
 had their influence on my strength, and re-tempered me. . . . 
 On the 23d of December I shall again be in Rome, changing 
 the life of inspiration for the exactions of society, but which has 
 the advantage of making you enjoy repose. To me it seems 
 beautiful to be the artist now and then, renovating the spirit in 
 the emotions of glory, and then turn to enjoy the compensations 
 of the dear quiet of home. ... I felicitate you on your grand 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 59 
 
 success, which will, I know, augment; and in the end your 
 triumph will be complete over all the annoyances which, after 
 all, you must have naturally prevised. I am sorry to hear of 
 your father's ill health, and I understand how much it worries 
 you. Hard, inexorable law of nature 1 . . . Give me, when you 
 can, detailed accounts of yourself. How you must enjoy being 
 in New York! I envy you: it is one of the dearest remem- 
 brances of my career. Have me in your heart with the friend- 
 ship I bear you. Your 
 
 Adelaide Ristori (Del Grillo). 
 
 Mrs. Ward received the following from an American 
 lady : — 
 
 Hamilton. 
 Dear Madam, — We have just parted from your wonder- 
 ful Genevieve, who is making her Canadian tour, and with whom 
 my family, including myself, my husband, children, and sisters, 
 are madly in love. I thought you might like these few lines 
 from across the sea, to tell you how well and how bright she 
 looks, how every one respects and loves her, and how we would 
 all do every thing in our power for her. She is indeed a won- 
 derful creature, infusing life and strength wherever she goes. 
 I was often afraid we bored her ; but we love her and admire 
 her so, I'm afraid we couldn't help it. 
 
 Utica, Feb. 19, 1879. 
 My dear Miss Ward, — You speak of your gratification 
 at the approval of competent critics. It is no less a pleasure 
 to one who is paid to sit in judgment upon the drama, to receive 
 some sign of recognition that his work is more than the per- 
 functory phrases of a daily drudge. Most of all is it a delight 
 when such tokens come in the form of such charming notes as 
 I have the honor to thank you for. As a matter of course, 
 dramatic criticism in the country must rest under many dis- 
 advantages — as must dramatic representation. What the latter 
 lacks in force of surroundings, in scenery, in the spirit which a 
 crowded and cultured metropolitan house inspires, the former 
 
j5o GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 also loses from lack of time, from infrequent requisition, and 
 from the hurry of a slender-staffed daily. More than this, there 
 is the difficulty of talking to an audience not accustomed to 
 make distinctions between plays and players, or to distinguish 
 with any degree of nicety artifice from art. Embarrassed thus, 
 I am more than pleased to have pleased you. I think I can 
 speak for Utica, in tendering to the artist whose Jane Shore 
 is still a rich and beauteous memory with us, a cordial and 
 hearty welcome at whatever time she may arrange to come. I 
 remain with kindest wishes, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Harold Frederic. 
 
 Such a letter as the foregoing must have convinced 
 Miss Ward that a " slender- staffed daily" is sometimes 
 equipped with a pen more effective for both courtesy 
 and capacity, and tipped with finer artistic perception, 
 than always fills the critical departments of the pleth- 
 orically-staffed metropolitan dailies. 
 
 Cambridge, April 9, 1879. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — My nephew's name in full is Alexan- 
 der Wadsworth Longfellow; but the first name is generally 
 dropped by us. How very kind it is of you to offer him these 
 letters to Paris! He is very grateful for this mark of your 
 interest in him. So also am I, well remembering the forlorn 
 condition of a young stranger in the great city, with no one to 
 turn to for sympathy but his banker. I am looking forward 
 with great impatience to Thursday and Saturday, and am, dear 
 Miss Ward, till then and after, 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 Henry W. Longfellow. 
 
 Mr. Longfellow, Mr. O. W. Holmes, Mr. Edwin P. 
 Whipple, and other literary celebrities, attended Miss 
 Ward's representations during her short stay of only 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. r 6 T 
 
 a week in Boston ; and Mr. Longfellow told me that 
 he considered her acting among the very greatest he 
 had ever seen, and quite the most artistically faultless. 
 Owing perhaps to the fact of Mr. Longfellow's appear- 
 ing twice at the theatre during the week, or quite 
 possibly to the grace and vigor of the sonnet by Mr. 
 G. W. Pettes, published in " The Boston Advertiser," 
 it was supposed to be the tribute to Miss Ward of the 
 bard of the Charles ; and a raid was accordingly made 
 on "The Advertiser," which could hardly supply the 
 demand. 
 
 As a capable bit of appreciation, and at the same 
 time a snub of the Hub administered by a fledged 
 and famous Bostonian, the following is given : — . 
 
 Cambridge, April 10, 1879. 
 
 Dear Madame, — I trust that a sincere love" of the true in 
 any branch of art will sufficiently excuse me, a stranger, for my 
 hardihood in addressing you a few lines to express my appre- 
 ciation of your acting in " Jane Shore." I have watched with 
 interest the remarks the newspaper critics have made upon 
 this performance, and have been more than ever convinced 
 that those whom Bostonians call critics were more properly 
 termed reporters. Their opinions about the loftiest grades of 
 art have dwindled down to be the bare repetition of set phrases, 
 "magnetism," "pose," etc., etc. 
 
 Although a native of this charmingly pedantic city myself, 
 I hope that I have seen enough outside of its narrow streets to 
 enable me to judge more fairly of Boston than many of my 
 fellow-citizens; and I am obliged to confess that in our art- 
 education we are still mere beginners. This is particularly the 
 case with the stage ; where, since the death of Miss Cushman, 
 we have seen no first-rate artiste. Never having had the pleas- 
 ure of seeing your acting before last Saturday night, imagine 
 my surprise and delight at witnessing a performance, in many 
 
l62 GENEVIEVE WARD, 
 
 points bringing to my mind the characteristic features of the 
 highest school of acting of to-day, — the Italian. In many pas- 
 sages of that harrowing play, " Jane Shore," I fancied m) self 
 back in Rome, thrilled by Ristori herself! I do not know 
 whether you will agree with me in regarding Italy as the pres- 
 ent home of the drama, or not : at any rate, you cannot think it 
 a lack of appreciation which associates you with a school whose 
 present masters are Salvini, Ristori, and Ernesto Rossi. I am 
 looking forward with expectation to seeing Shakespeare's hero- 
 ines once more in the hands of one who I am sure will not fail 
 to bring out their mighty lights and shadows." 
 
 Miss Ward's success in Boston was very genuine, 
 and of that best kind that augments in the memory. 
 If the criticism of the press was not altogether just or 
 capable, it was seldom carping, and, on the whole, 
 appreciative, with some instances of specially able 
 recognition, and discriminating encomium; and her 
 audiences, composed of the best-qualified people of 
 Boston and Cambridge literary, artistic, and social 
 circles, were won to her, not only for that week of 
 laborious and brilliant achievement, but for as often 
 and long as Miss Ward will come to them. She left in 
 April for Paris, to fulfil an engagement to play Queen 
 Catherine at the National Theatre in that capital ; and 
 on the 2d of June she wrote to me from St. John's 
 Wood, London : — 
 
 "I fear I shall not return to America this season. I am 
 obliged to produce my new play here before I take it there, or 
 I lose the copyright in England ; and, besides, my perform- 
 ances in Paris are postponed until the winter. They wished 
 me to rehearse and mount the play of ' Henry VIII.' in two 
 weeks, which was impossible, and therefore I refused. A kind 
 letter sustaining me in this refusal came from M. Regnier, who 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. ^3 
 
 'felicitated me on my good sense I ' ... It pleases me so much 
 that Mr. Longfellow remembers me, and thinks to ask for my 
 welfare. I shall always treasure the recollection of my little 
 visit to his home in Cambridge among my happiest souvenirs. 
 ... A delightful testimony from Mr. Emerson, who saw me 
 play Jane Shore, but whom I did not have the good fortune to 
 meet while in Boston, will, I know, give you pleasure. He sent 
 me an invitation to visit him at Concord when I return, and the 
 lines he wrote for me were, — 
 
 ' Oh, what is heaven but the fellowship 
 Of minds, that each can stand against the world 
 By its own meek but incorruptible will ! 
 
 Ralph Waldo Emerson.'" 
 
 The new play to which Miss Ward alluded in the 
 foregoing letter was written by Palgrave Simpson and 
 Claude Templar, and was entitled "Zillah," and re- 
 quired Miss Ward to fill a double role as Zillah the 
 gypsy, and again as her twin-sister the Lady Con- 
 stance. This play was placed by Miss Ward on the 
 stage of the Lyceum during Mr. Irving's vacation in 
 August, 1879, with great care and expense as to scenic 
 effects, and elegance and variety of costume. Her 
 acting was pronounced worthy of all praise ; but the 
 play was so worried and badgered and torn to pieces 
 by the critics and the public, that after four nights rep- 
 resentation, Miss Ward, having lost ^2,800 by it, re- 
 moved it without protest or complaint. 
 
 One eminent critic had written to her : — 
 
 "You did all that was possible with the impossible ; but no 
 actress that ever breathed could have made a triumph of 
 •Zillah.'" 
 
1 64 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 And Mr. Wingfield, wise and unfailing friend, wrote 
 her these words of friendliest stern fibre : — 
 
 " What you have to do is to play at once something which 
 you are sure of, to efface with all speed the recollection of a 
 fiasco of which, happily, you are clearly the victim, not the 
 cause. Should you close now, even for a night, it would be a 
 sign of faiblesse, theatrically speaking, and a very grave error 
 in judgment. If ' Lucrezia ' is not possible Thursday, why then 
 Saturday; but to the earnest and broad-shouldered all things 
 are possible." 
 
 And Thursday it was. Without losing a night, 
 silent as a Spartan as to the burden and strain she 
 was enduring, she produced and appeared in " Lucre- 
 zia Borgia" with noble success. 
 
 She had received this little note : — 
 
 Dear Madame, — I do not leave home as often as I used; 
 but, if you will put my name down for a quiet corner, I should 
 like to come and see you in " Lucrezia Borgia." The situations 
 are grand, and I shall like to see them divorced from the flimsy 
 ... of the Italian composer. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Charles Reade. 
 
 In view of the fact that Mr. Herman Merivale, 
 author of the play of "Forget Me Not," now testifies, 
 in the litigation anent that play, that Miss Ward had 
 never won dramatic recognition until he taught her 
 how to play " Forget Me Not," the following letters 
 have special interest and value. 
 
 London, Aug. 9, 1879. 
 I must write a line to thank you for a couple of hours of 
 immense gratification. I have seen you act now, and was per- 
 fectly delighted with the mingled grace, power, and tenderness 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. ^5 
 
 of the performance. It was superb from end to end ; but the 
 transition in the third act from the imperious, domineering 
 Lucrezia, to the soft, impassioned woman, was the gem of the 
 part. Unstung by jealousy, what man could have said "no" 
 to such pleading ? Compliments on your profound knowledge 
 of your art, you must be tired of ; but I can honestly say that no 
 two of your last night's audience were more pleased than Her- 
 man Merivale and myself. 
 
 Your admiring friend, 
 
 Hawley Smart. 
 
 Miss Patty Chapman, the niece of the famous Mrs. 
 Charles Kean, with whom she often played, wrote, 
 date of Aug. 9 : — 
 
 " Thank you again and again, dear Miss Ward, for the ' real 
 treat ' you afforded us last night, — my cousin, Mrs. Charles 
 Kean's only daughter, her husband, and myself. You acted 
 Lucrezia splendidly, with so much power, and such finish in 
 all your great scenes ; and your voice is most harmonious and 
 telling. You often reminded us of my aunt Mrs. Kean; and 
 Herman Merivale, who joined us during the performance, said 
 the same thing ; and many would think we could not pay you 
 a greater compliment." 
 
 "Grace Greenwood" (Mrs. Lippincott) — whose 
 daughter's debut had taken place under Miss Ward's 
 direction — wrote to her on the same date : — 
 
 " I had great delight in your superb acting last night : you 
 remind me of Ristori in her grandest moments. I look forward 
 to ' Guy Mannering,' your Meg is so great." 
 
 After a brilliant morning performance of Meg Mer- 
 rilies, she continued to act nightly in the role of Lucre- 
 zia ; the critics hardly knowing which to applaud most, 
 her admirable playing, or her equally admirable energy 
 
1 66 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 in thus quickly and competently producing play after 
 play with a truly royal determination to satisfy the 
 public. 
 
 Miss Ward impersonated Stephanie, Marquise de 
 Mohrivart, for the first time, on the night of Aug. 22, 
 in the play "Forget Me Not," which she has since 
 rendered famous. The public was interested and 
 puzzled, uncertain at what rate to estimate this new 
 and complex role : the critics pronounced it superla- 
 tive. Meantime a terrible blow fell on this brave 
 woman, in the sudden news by cable of the death of 
 her father, Aug. 28, at the home of his brother in the 
 West, among relatives who loved him, and sought to 
 cheer his last moments, but not, as he and she would 
 have had it, in the arms of the daughter whose chival- 
 rously tender friend and companion he had been for 
 so many years, and who had loved him with a beauti- 
 ful comprehension and unvarying devotion. 
 
 The very night of these tidings, Miss Ward appeared 
 as usual in " Forget Me Not." Letters from friends 
 came during the ensuing days, to share her sorrow, 
 and to show her they knew what depths of tenderness 
 bleeding in silence lay under the heroic fulfilment of 
 her public duty. From among these tender expres- 
 sions of sympathy from her venerably beautiful and 
 gifted friend Madame Colmache, from Mrs. Louise 
 Chandler Moulton (whose poems have shown the world 
 glimpses of one of the most sympathetic hearts that 
 beats), from Miss Matilda Phillips, from authors, actors, 
 artists, critics, I have chosen this one, because of the 
 peculiar fitness of its few strong, eloquent words. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 167 
 
 Manchester, Sept. 3, 1879. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I am deeply grieved to hear of the 
 death of your father : you will know that I am not using the 
 language of conventional condolence. Though our acquaint- 
 ance was not long, I had learned to admire his estimable quali- 
 ties, and was proud to believe that he had admitted me to his 
 friendship. I was still in the hope that I might see him again, 
 and not once only. I beg permission to offer you my heartfelt 
 sympathy. It must be inexpressibly hard to pursue your task 
 under the shadow of this great affliction. It was wiser and 
 nobler to accept the blow as one of the inevitable sorrows of 
 our common lot, than to obey the natural impulse to surrender 
 yourself to your grief ; and it may help you to sustain yourself 
 in your course, to be assured that your friends, while sharing 
 your mourning, will admire you the more for the brave front 
 you have maintained under one of the heaviest strokes of fate. 
 I remain yours faithfully, 
 
 Arthur O'Neill. 
 
 And this one from the world-beloved Italian : — 
 
 Paris, Sept. 14, 1879. 
 My poor Friend, — Though you have long been prepared 
 for the death ©f your father, I can well understand that it comes 
 as a great sorrow. I will not repeat to you the things that are 
 usually said in these sad hours ; but I will say to you, my Gene- 
 vieve, " Courage 1 " and think with me that life is only a field 
 of crosses for those unfortunates who have inherited from nature 
 sensitive hearts. ... I have been happy in your triumph. 
 You have finally passed the Rubicon. I have always said, and 
 I will always say, you deserve to win the fullest fortune for 
 your perseverance, tenacity, and indefatigable study ; and now 
 at last, see ! you are walking the road of the few, wearing the 
 mantle of greatness. Courage ! These sorrows will pass : the 
 love, the labor, and the glory will remain. Your 
 
 Adelaide Ristori. 
 
 In September, just as the public began to perceive 
 
j 68 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 that Stephanie was a creation, Miss Ward, resigning 
 the Lyceum to Mr. Irving, left London, and, in a fall 
 and winter tour of the provinces with " Forget Me 
 Not," made one of the most complete artistic and 
 popular successes ever recorded on the stage ; toward 
 the close of which she received from the gentlemen 
 of her company an elegant writing-case inscribed to 
 " Miss Genevieve Ward, in pleasant remembrance of 
 the ' Forget Me Not' tour of 1879; " also a daintily 
 beautiful white fan, hand-painted with forget-me-nots, 
 and her monogram worked in those flowers, presented 
 by the ladies of her company, with whom, as Stepha- 
 nie, she had been so long at variance. 
 
 The following letters accompanied the gifts : — 
 
 Theatre Royal, Manchester, Dec. 9, 1879. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — On the eve of terminating your first 
 " Forget Me Not " tour, we, the gentlemen of your company, 
 respectfully beg your acceptance of the accompanying writing- 
 desk as a souvenir of our sincere appreciation of the courtesy 
 and kindness you have invariably extended to us. We also 
 take this opportunity of conveying to you our warmest con- 
 gratulations on the artistic success which has happily attended 
 you. That you may long be spared to adorn our profession, of 
 which you are so brilliant an example, is the earnest wish of 
 yours, 
 
 Frank Clements. 
 
 F. Charles. 
 
 D. Culver. 
 
 Ian Robertson. 
 
 J. H. Cobbe. 
 
 " Misses Foley, Alice and Rose, beg the Marquise de Mohri- 
 vart's acceptance of the accompanying fan as a peace-offering, 
 trusting that with the close of the present week their long dis- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 69 
 
 agreement may come to an end. They feel that as a gift it is 
 not all they could wish, but hope that as a slight souvenir it 
 may find favor in her eyes, and that hereafter she will be able 
 to say with a certain American poetess, — 
 
 1 And yet, whenever I wave my fan, 
 The soft south wind of memory blows.' " 
 
" Why may a man live two lives, while a woman must stand or fall 
 by one ? 
 
 "What was the difference between us two, Sir Horace Welby, in 
 those bygone years, that should make me now a leper and you a saint ? 
 
 " There would be no place in creation for such women as I, if it were 
 not for such men as you ! " Stephanie. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 173 
 
 VII. 
 
 EXACTLY six months from the date of its first 
 production at the Lyceum, " Forget Me Not " 
 was reproduced at the Prince of Wales Theatre under 
 the management of Mr. Edgar Bruce, Feb. 22, 1880, 
 with the only Stephanie possible in Miss Ward's inimi- 
 table creation. The echoes of her provincial tour had 
 stirred London to unwonted heights of expectation. 
 
 " The real success of the present production [said a writer 
 in a London magazine] — for the cachet given by the Prince of 
 Wales, though affecting a certain small circle, would have little 
 influence with the general body of playgoers — lies in the fact 
 that those persons by whose verdict dramatic fortunes are made 
 or marred, and who are by no means the regular newspaper 
 critics, were away from London in the autumn, and hence the 
 'fiery cross* which is passed from hand to hand through an 
 enormous succession of coteries had no chance of circulation. 
 When Miss Ward had once been seen by the cognoscenti, her 
 success was achieved ; and, indeed, it is very long since such a 
 triumph of pure artistic skill and training has been witnessed 
 on the English stage." 
 
 The little theatre 1 was crowded nightly, by the 
 
 1 The pretty little box known as the Prince of Wales Theatre, in London, 
 with its narrow and perplexing winding passages and inadequate exits, is by- 
 far the worst fire-trap for a complete human holocaust I have ever entered. 
 Wherever the responsibility for the tragical risk incurred by those who enter 
 there, rests, it is an exceedingly heavy one. 
 
174 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 cleverest and most aristocratic, from the Prince of 
 Wales down through the widening network of royalty, 
 nobility, and wealth. 
 
 When the Prince of Wales first saw Miss Ward in 
 " Forget Me Not," he sent for Mr. Bruce, the mana- 
 ger, and asked who it was who played the part of 
 Stephanie. "Because," said the Prince, "she is un- 
 mistakably a lady : only her manner in putting the 
 sugar in Sir Horace's cup, shows the lady bred. She 
 has hardly an equal on the London stage. Where has 
 she been? Why have I never heard of her? " 
 
 " Her mother is in the opposite box : I will go to 
 her, and bring your Highness word," said Mr. Bruce. 
 
 "She is of a very old American family, and the 
 widow of a Russian officer," was Mrs. Ward's simple 
 reply to Mr. Bruce 's inquiry. 
 
 After the play, the Prince went to the green-room, 
 and sent to Miss Ward, asking permission to see her. 
 
 Complimenting her warmly upon her performance, 
 and especially noting her pronunciation of French in 
 certain phrases and songs belonging to her rdle, he 
 asked, "You are a French woman, are you not? " 
 
 " No, your Highness : my family have been for two 
 hundred and sixty years in America, but were origi- 
 nally from London." — " Ah ! " said the Prince, " you 
 speak French marvellously well ; but I have always 
 thought the women of America the cleverest in the 
 world." 
 
 He then asked her if she would not like to play a 
 French drama in London, and, when she assented, 
 suggested " L'Aventuriere." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 175 
 
 "Is not that your mother?" said the Prince, seeing 
 a lady passing the green-room door. " Will you pre- 
 sent her?" 
 
 He complimented Mrs. Ward upon the grand talent 
 her daughter displayed, and tendered the most grace- 
 ful compliments from the Princess of Wales upon the 
 same theme. 
 
 On another occasion, when calling upon Miss Ward 
 in the green-room after the play, he was accompanied 
 by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Teck, and a Rus- 
 sian nobleman. The Prince of Wales showed to Miss 
 Ward some fine portraits of herself which he and the 
 Princess of Wales had selected, and begged she would 
 do him the honor to write her name upon them as a 
 souvenir of the pleasant hours passed in witnessing her 
 performance. 
 
 While they were conversing, Miss Ward, hearing the 
 jingle of the bells worn by her tiny pet dog who ac- 
 companies her everywhere, and fearing he might stray 
 off, called out, " Come here, Teck ! " 
 
 The gentlemen started ; and Miss Ward hastily 
 apologized, recollecting the name of one of her dis- 
 tinguished visitors, — 
 
 " My little dog's name is Teck, — short for Thecla, 
 a German character in one of my plays." 
 
 They all laughed heartily ; and in came the little fel- 
 low with the princely name, and straightway rushed at 
 the Duke of Edinburgh, who had shaken his hat in 
 token of friendly intentions. 
 
 " She will bite me!" exclaimed the Duke. 
 
 " Basket, Teck ! " cried Miss Ward reprovingly ; and 
 
I yS GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the little creature, who is as obedient to her mistress 
 as she is haughty and unapproachable to others, ran 
 out of the room, and curled up in her basket. 
 
 As the gentlemen were descending the stairs after 
 having taken their leave, Miss Ward heard them laugh- 
 ing again, and plainly distinguished the voice of the 
 Prince of Wales saying merrily to his cousin, " Basket, 
 Teck ! " 
 
 Scarcely had they gone, when the Russian nobleman 
 who had been with them returned, and, bowing to 
 Miss Ward with an expression of great respect, said, 
 " I dare not tell you my name or nationality, for fear 
 you will hate me ; but I wish once again to express 
 my great admiration of your genius." 
 
 "You need not hesitate to admit yourself a Rus- 
 sian," replied Miss Ward. " I am the widow of a Rus- 
 sian, but I love your emperor for all his kindness to 
 me." 
 
 One of the London journals had the following : — 
 
 "Genevieve Ward continues to delight the lovers of good 
 acting by her marvellously artistic personation of Stephanie, in 
 ' Forget Me Not,' at the Prince of Wales's. The clever actress 
 has twice within a fortnight been honored by the patronage of 
 H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, who has been liberal in his 
 compliments respecting a performance which, we have before 
 said, he characterizes as the most perfect he has witnessed 
 apart from the French stage. On Thursday evening a splendid 
 audience included Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, Mr. and Mrs. Kendal, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hare, Mr. Tom Taylor, and Mr. Forbes Robert- 
 son. At the close of the play Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kendal, and Mr. Forbes Robertson congratulated Miss 
 Ward in the green-room upon her success, and warmly compli- 
 mented her on her grand performance. This little scene was 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 77 
 
 happily described by Mr. Kendal as ' the fourth act of " Forget 
 Me Not," with a full cast.' " 
 
 At the request of the Prince of Wales, Hamilton 
 Aide, his personal fnend, and well known as novelist, 
 poet, and musician, arranged a private entertainment 
 at his own residence, at which Miss Ward played in a 
 French drama with M. Marius, with her usual brilliant 
 success. 
 
 Miss Ward had greatly improved upon the original 
 version of "Forget Me Not," in many little points of 
 adaptation called for by her own conception of her 
 role, and notably strengthened the effect of the last 
 scene. This gave rise to murmurs from the authors, 
 but the critics upheld the artist. Further trouble was 
 occasioned by her elimination of the acting character 
 of Rose, the piece being manifestly improved thereby. 
 
 Meanwhile a proposal, likely to have proved very 
 interesting had it been carried into effect, was made to 
 Miss Ward by Mrs. Sabine Greville, a lady of much 
 aesthetic cultivation, and fine critical taste, and a 
 cousin of Hamilton Aide's. 
 
 This lady having seen, and like every one else been 
 greatly impressed by, Miss Ward's Stephanie, wrote to 
 her : — 
 
 Milford Cottage, Godalming. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — Mrs. Lewes is a great friend and near 
 neighbor of mine ; and, in telling her this afternoon of your mar- 
 vellous talent and innate genius, I was reminded of a piece she 
 wrote some years ago, " Armgart," which I imagine you could 
 appreciate. Mr. Lewes, who was certainly the greatest dra- 
 matic authority in Europe, has often said " Armgart " would 
 have succeeded in Paris. ... I remember Rachel and Desolee, 
 
lyS . GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 and, until I saw you, never imagined I should have the happi- 
 ness of looking on their like again. ... If you should ever 
 play " Armgart," I am sure Mrs. Lewes's highest aspirations 
 for her piece would be satisfied. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 Sabine Greville. 
 Later Mrs. Greville wrote : — 
 
 " I have been talking again with my dear neighbor Mrs. 
 Cross (George Eliot) ; and yesterday she spoke so anxiously 
 about ' Armgart,' that I thought I would venture to ask you 
 if you had any thought of it. It seems to me, it would have 
 a tremendous succfc de curiosite, apart from its literary merit, 
 and you could make it almost a monologue." 
 
 "The London Observer" of April 25, 1880, 
 stated : — 
 
 " A mistake underlies the statement that Miss Genevieve 
 Ward's intended performance of Angier's ' L'Aventuriere ' at 
 the Prince of Wales Theatre was in any way suggested by 
 Madame Bernhardt's recent assumption of the rdle of Clorinde, 
 at the Theatre Frangais. The experiment which is to be tried 
 here next month owes its origin to a suggestion made by the 
 Prince of Wales that Miss Ward should act here in a French 
 play, with the support of English artists." 
 
 At that time Miss Bernhardt had not played 
 " L'Aventuriere," nor was it known that she was 
 intending to do so : in accepting the Prince's sugges- 
 tion, Miss Ward could not, therefore, have been in- 
 fluenced by a wish to institute a comparison between 
 her own powers and those of the French artiste. Be- 
 fore Miss Ward appeared as Clorinde, however, Miss 
 Bernhardt had attempted and failed in that rdle in 
 Paris. 
 
G EXE VI EVE WARD. 179 
 
 "The Prince of Wales advises you to play in French in 
 London ? [wrote M. Regnier.] I find his advice very good, and 
 I also think that 'Forget Me Not' in English might have a 
 great success in Paris. ' L'Aventuriere ' is a piece which suits 
 you exactly." . 
 
 Most of the critics in debating this novel undertak- 
 ing predicted failure ; and a writer in " The Standard " 
 singularly enough predicted it on the one point where 
 there could be no two opinions, — her French pronun- 
 ciation. Miss Ward sent the paper to M. Regnier, 
 who replied : — 
 
 Rue de Rome, Paris, 
 May 6, 1880. 
 
 My dear Friend, — When the talent of an artist is attacked, 
 the best thing for him to do is to answer with the talent itself, 
 and in no other manner. Do you remember the philosopher 
 in whose hearing movement was denied, and who, instead of 
 answering, began to walk ? A journalist considers it impossible 
 that you should play in French. Is not French your own lan- 
 guage ? And when, in Paris itself, you played one whole act 
 of a tragedy in French alexandrines, at the Porte St. Martin, 
 was there one person in the house who could have suspected 
 that it was not a French actress whom he beheld on the stage ? 
 Play in French in London, and no English ear will have the 
 right to reproach you with your pronunciation or your accent, 
 since the subtlety of our own organs never permitted us to do so. 
 Indeed, I do not understand the criticism of the writer in " The 
 Standard ; " for he is not serious when he imputes to you and to 
 your English companions the absurd idea of wishing to teach 
 Frenchmen at once their own language, and how to play their 
 own comedies in it. In my opinion, on the contrary, the ex- 
 periment you are about to make is a most remarkable one, 
 which cannot fail to be flattering to English amour-propre. 
 Nor can it fail, in my opinion, to pique the honor of the come- 
 dians of my own country. I can assure you, that if it were to 
 
XSO GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 be announced in Paris that " The School for Scandal " was to 
 be played in English by Got, Coquelin, Delauney, and Mile. 
 Croizette, no one would laugh at the attempt, no one would 
 believe that Moliere was insufficient for them, no one would tax 
 them with a ridiculous vanity : it would be considered a proof 
 of the spirit, of the knowledge, and the intelligence of those 
 eminent actors. It is thus, my dear friend, that you should ask 
 some one of your friends to reply to the critic of " The Stand- 
 ard." Let the question be discussed, but do not, on any ac- 
 count, take part in the discussion. An artist — and, above all, 
 a lady — can never, with a good grace, make a matter of this 
 kind personal. If, as I do not doubt, the critic of " The Stand- 
 ard" wrote in good faith, when he is once enlightened on the 
 real nature of your enterprise he will come and hear you, will 
 recognize that you speak French as I do, or rather like a Parisi- 
 enne ; and, if he once feared ridicule for you, he will be all the 
 more disposed, having heard you, to give you the praise you 
 merit." 
 
 The young poet whose verses are at this time of 
 writing provoking both trenchant criticism and recog- 
 nition on both sides of the Atlantic, — the son of Lady 
 Wilde, herself a poet of high repute, and a firm friend 
 of Miss Ward's, — wrote the following note to the 
 tragedienne : — 
 
 St. Stephen's Club, Westminster. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I suppose you are very busy with 
 your rehearsals. If you are not too busy to stop and drink tea 
 with a great admirer of yours, please come on Friday at half- 
 past five to 13 Salisbury Street. The two beauties — Lady 
 Lonsdale and Mrs. Langtry — and mamma, and a few friends 
 are coming. We are all looking forward to " L'Aventuriere " 
 so much : it will be a great era in our dramatic art. 
 Yours most sincerely, 
 
 Oscar Wilde. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. l8l 
 
 On the Sunday previous to her appearance as Clo- 
 rinde, Miss Ward went to Paris, rehearsed her part to 
 Regnier, and, returning to London the next day, went 
 direct from the depot to the theatre, and played that 
 night, Monday, May 10, with a success confessed on 
 all sides to be complete. The following quotation 
 from a leading London journal is a fair illustration of 
 the full chorus of applause : — 
 
 " Miss Genevieve Ward, whose performance of the hunted 
 and strong-willed Stephanie in the new play ' Forget Me Not ' 
 has so astonished and excited the students of dramatic art, 
 stands sponsor for an experiment that we believe to be as origi- 
 nal as it is interesting. Not only England, with its traditional 
 honesty and occasional self-depreciation, but the great dramatic 
 France herself, and indeed every nation that has a drama of its 
 own, will be astonished to hear that ' L'Aventuriere ' of Emile 
 Augier has been played in this country, by English artists, in 
 its original language. French actors and actresses have come 
 to England, English actors and actresses have struggled to 
 obtain a footing in France ; but now for the first time a French 
 classical play has been given in French by English artists, and 
 with such success, that, if we mistake not, the art world, hungry 
 for novelty, will demand an instant repetition of this valuable 
 curiosity. Much is constantly said in depreciation of the Eng- 
 lish school as compared to that of Paris; but, however sin- 
 cerely we may admire the facility of our neighbors, it is impos- 
 sible to believe that a picked troupe of the comedians of Paris 
 would do as much justice to, say, ' The School for Scandal ' of 
 Sheridan, as has been done to the work of Augier by Miss 
 Genevieve Ward and her clever companions. They could 
 scarcely dare attempt what has not only been tried here, but 
 has succeeded ; and, looking at the matter purely as a commer- 
 cial speculation, the rendering of Augier's ' L'Aventuriere ' by 
 English-speaking artists, if it could be transferred bodily to 
 Paris to-morrow evening, would probably do more to honor the 
 
1 82 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 credit of English art across the Channel than any thing that has 
 been done in the matter of persuasion for many years. Miss 
 Genevieve Ward, fortified by the advice and encouragement of 
 her master Regnier, has left nothing undone that would make 
 the experiment fail for lack of endeavor. She wanted to show 
 what England could do, and she has fairly proved her case. 
 She wanted, in no spirit of affectation or vain-gloriousness, to 
 show how much the best teachings of the French dramatic mas- 
 ters are valued in this country, how we can sift the good from 
 the bad, how we are able to discriminate and select between 
 soundness and artificiality ; and now the only regret is, that the 
 dramatic doctors of Paris will only hear second-hand of the 
 unquestionable success of this interesting experiment. Miss 
 Ward, in the character of Clorinde, may be criticised in com- 
 parison to the first French actresses of her time. In this play 
 she is, to all intents and purposes, a French woman, faultless in 
 accent, and with all the traditions of the old classical school. 
 Her master is Regnier ; her diploma of excellence has been 
 presented to her by Sarcey ; and it was Got who offered her a 
 position in the Comedie Frangaise, saying she had less to 
 unlearn than her companions, seeing, that her accent was free 
 from the provincialisms that hampered the first artists in Paris. 
 If there is one actress recalled more than another by Miss 
 Ward, it is Favart in her earlier and more impulsive days, 
 before she was hindered by the artificiality acquired by a train- 
 ing in old comedy. Those who go to see ' L'Aventuriere,' as 
 acted at the suggestion of his Royal Highness the Prince of 
 Wales, and expect simply a curiosity, will be agreeably mis- 
 taken. They will find a French play acted as is seldom found 
 even in Paris. One question remains. What is there in the 
 French language, its flow, its point, and its adaptability for 
 dramatic action, that so fascinates and grips the auditor ? 
 These artists have all caught the echo of the Parisian dramatic 
 manner, and consequently they all seem to be better actors than 
 they were before. When they speak English, why are we so 
 deceived ? 
 
 " The enthusiastic applause of the fashionable audience fill- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 183 
 
 ing the theatre yesterday afternoon attested at every opportunity 
 the high gratification derived from this remarkable perform- 
 ance; and the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
 with the Grand Duke of Hesse, added to the interest of the 
 occasion. 
 
 The London correspondent of the "Gaulois " wrote 
 to that journal in Paris a just and eloquent tribute to 
 Miss Ward's successful undertaking. But a French 
 actress, who had just failed in " L'Aventuriere," not 
 finding this eulogium of Miss Ward to her taste, pre- 
 vailed on the editor of the " Gaulois " to cut it short ; 
 and the article appeared with Miss Ward's name 
 erroniously printed " Harel." The writer of the notice 
 wrote at once to Miss Ward, explaining the case : — 
 
 " I have remonstrated [said he] ; and they answered, ' Ne- 
 cessity of printing, Greve is in France, death of Flaubert,' etc., 
 etc I have re-remonstrated, and have at last enforced the 
 little rectification which I send you." 
 
 And which consisted in a small paragraph giving the 
 name correctly. 
 
 From masses of congratulatory letters I have se- 
 lected : — 
 
 8 Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, W. 
 May 11, 1880. 
 
 Dear Miss Genevieve Ward, — We thought your experi- 
 ment most interesting ; a bold one unquestionably, but a har- 
 diesse justifiee by the result. I should not have thought it pos- 
 sible to get even a nominally English company together, capable 
 of doing so well. We all knew beforehand that your own 
 French was perfect, but the risk lay in the support, of course ; 
 and, much as some of your comrades may be criticised, it went 
 well to the end. Some of us found your Clorinde perhaps a 
 
1 84 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 little more hard and tragical than she would be on a second 
 performance, but full of power, and with many fine points ; and, 
 as one much indebted to you for the pleasure of witnessing it, 
 believe me, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 G. W. Sm alley. 
 
 An artist who made his " hit " as Green Jones in 
 " Ticket-of-Leave Man," and who has played the Fool 
 in " King Lear " with Booth, and went to the provinces 
 as Prince Malleotti in Miss Ward's " Forget Me Not " 
 tour, wrote this : — 
 
 45 Rathbone Place, W. 
 May ii. 
 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I cannot resist the temptation of add- 
 ing my congratulations to those which are upon everybody's 
 lips to-day. Your performance in French is, in my opinion, the 
 greatest triumph an English actress has ever achieved, or a 
 French one either. You are at present the sensation of Lon- 
 don, and I hope we may be fortunate enough to retain you as 
 such for a long time to come. Mrs. Charles joins me most cor- 
 dially in congratulations upon your last victory, and I am 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 F. Charles. 
 
 The friend and patron of Irving, and mother of 
 Kate Bateman, asked to be allowed — 
 
 " To offer my best congratulations on your achievement in 
 not only placing yourself on a level with the best French artists, 
 but presenting an entire performance, which, I am told, com- 
 pares favorably with any thing the French company here give 
 to the London public. All this speaks volumes, not only for 
 the ability, but the energy, that has secured such a triumph, as 
 legitimate as it is unprecedented." 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 185 
 
 Milford Cottage, Godalming. 
 Dear Madam, — You are doubtless overwhelmed with con- 
 gratulations, but I cannot help adding mine. Clorinde was so 
 absolutely perfect, one forgot the tremendous tour de force you 
 accomplished working up the whole play. I could not help 
 wishing, all the time, you could remember Racine. 
 Most truly and admiringly yours, 
 
 Sabine Greville. 
 
 Dear Friend, — Every one has been telling of you, and 
 praising you. One critic said you had the finest voice on the 
 English stage, the most capable of the subtlest, swiftest changes 
 and modulations of passion and power. I was at Mr. May's 
 studio; and there your Cleopatra head, your splendid eyes, your 
 perfect artistic movements which yet seemed so natural, were 
 all discussed, and keenly appreciated. In your Lucrezia you 
 realize all that Victor Hugo could have dreamed : I wish he 
 could have seen you. In the new play you are also the vrai 
 Parisienne femme du monde : every movement and gesture was 
 
 so French. ... I hope you will take young into favor : 
 
 he is anxious to act with you, and with his delicate Italian face 
 he would make such a gennaro. Mr. Forbes Robertson was 
 here yesterday. He is very charming, and admires your genius 
 enthusiastically. Mr. G. W. Wills was also here, and spoke 
 much of you. . . . You have waked me to new life with all 
 your splendid manifestations of genius and beauty. . . . 
 Affectionately, 
 
 "Speranza" (Lady Wilde). 
 
 9 Rochester Square, London. 
 May 27, 1880. 
 
 Dear Miss Ward, — Words would not convey my feelings, 
 therefore I will not say any thing ; and yet I must say I shall 
 always feel so proud to have been connected with the first 
 attempt of French plays by English artists. I have not only to 
 thank you for your beautiful and artistic present, but for your 
 kindness toward me during our rehearsals ; for whatever suc- 
 cess I mav have met with at the performances, I owe you a 
 
!86 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 great part of it, if not all, as I learned more from you in fhree 
 weeks than I would have done in three years from a less com- 
 petent stage-manager than yourself. Once more, thank you, and 
 believe me most sincerely yours, 
 
 D. Marius. 
 
 The success of " Forget Me Not " continued una- 
 bated, the last performance being given on the night 
 of the 24th of July, to one of the finest audiences ever 
 crowded into the Prince of Wales Theatre ; and never 
 did English press and public unite to pass more capa- 
 ble and copious praise upon a dramatic representa- 
 tion. 
 
 The dramatic critic Davey wrote : — 
 
 " You make ' Forget Me Not ' great, for it is not a great 
 play. I have never seen any thing finer than your acting of the 
 part ; all the more remarkable and interesting to me, because I 
 have known a woman of this class, who might have sat for the 
 model of the Marquise." 
 
 The following came from the distinguished pianiste 
 Mile. Laure Colmache : — 
 
 " What immense pleasure last night! I have joy and pride 
 in your talent and your triumphs ; and with what satisfaction 
 did we see that room well ornamented, and the beautiful public 
 
 worthy of you ! R was breathless all the time, but almost 
 
 cried to see her ' cousin Jenny ' in so cruel a rdle. I do not 
 know if there be a little grain of ferocity in your composition : 
 but it is certain that the rdle suits you admirably, and that you 
 throw out your little wickednesses with a spirit and naturalness 
 that renders the illusion complete ; but I think that in deposit- 
 ing your famous blonde wig on your own toilet-table, you also 
 deposit therewith your tiger's claws ! " 
 
 The pretty and deservedly popular English come- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. T ^7 
 
 dienne Mrs. Kendall sent this little tender ejacula- 
 tion : — 
 
 Dearie, — I'm so glad of your big success I Will come and 
 see you the first minute I have to myself. 
 Kind love from 
 
 Madge. 
 
 Miss Ward thinks Madge Kendall is the greatest 
 English actress. " She is an honor to the stage in 
 every way," said Miss Ward to me. " She is the sister 
 to Robertson, who wrote all the comedies for the Prince 
 of Wales Theatre, and was the original Galatea of Gil- 
 bert's comedy. Her Rosalind and Pauline, and Susan 
 in ' William and Susan,' are marvellous performances. 
 As woman, wife, mother, and friend, she has every 
 quality, and is lovely and true in all." 
 
 8 Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, W. 
 I was surprised and delighted by your performance on Sat- 
 urday. Pardon me if I say surprised : it is only because I had 
 not seen you earlier in this piece ; for though I go nightly to the 
 theatre when in Paris, there is little in London, as a rule, that 
 I care for, and it is long since I have seen any thing here so 
 finished and admirable as your Marquise de Mohrivart, which 
 I mean to see again at an early day. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 G. W. Smalley. 
 
 A little book of plays sent by the author to Miss 
 Ward was accompanied by the following : — 
 
 3 Snowdon Villas, Kilburn, N.W. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — Will you kindly accept the accompa- 
 nying little book as a small token of my admiration for your 
 great talent ? I am not of the number of those clergymen who 
 
!88 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 ignore the stage, and place the pulpit immeasurably above it. 
 Each may in its way contribute to the general enlightenment 
 of the human race. I venture to hope that you are as little an- 
 tagonistic to my profession as I am to yours ; and that I may 
 subscribe myself very truly your friend, 
 
 ^ F. W. B. Bouverie. 
 
 An actor in Madame Modjeska's dramatic company 
 wrote to Miss Ward : — 
 
 " I have just left the ' Prince of Wales,' and I don't know 
 when I have been so honestly moved. Praise from a mere tyro 
 like myself, after all you have received, would be almost an 
 impertinence ; still you will let me tell you that I saw the per- 
 formance to-day with two other actors, and not one of us had 
 dry eyes at the end. It is such performances as yours which 
 give hope and encouragement to young actors. I sincerely 
 trust you will not think this an impertinence, but find in it a 
 respectable and humble tribute to a consummate mistress of a 
 noble art. 
 
 " Obediently yours, 
 
 " Arthur Dacre." 
 
 " You have given a depth and pathos to the character " 
 [wrote Lady Wilde] "of which, from the text, I did not think 
 it capable ; and we see revealed in a most subtle and admirably 
 artistic manner that most touching of all dramas, the striving 
 upward of a woman's soul, through all the sin of the past and 
 the degradation it brings. I do not wonder at tears : they were 
 in my own eyes last night, as I witnessed the bitter and terrible 
 sorrow over her own fallen self that lay under all the simulated 
 levity and light coquetry of the unhappy Stephanie. You have 
 re-created the character, and given it a diviner soul." 
 
 Mile. Zara Thalberg, daughter of the great pianist 
 and a successful singer at Covent Garden, sent a little 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 189 
 
 message of delighted appreciation from herself and her 
 grandmother, the great singer Dangri. 
 
 " What shall I say ? " [wrote Mrs. Louise Chandler Moul- 
 ton.] " You electrified me ! It was throughout a wonderful im- 
 personation, but the last act thrilled me as I have seldom been 
 thrilled in my life. It is not in my power to express the extent 
 to which you moved me : praise seems so weak beside the pas- 
 sionate strength of that grand last act." 
 
 The popular English novelist Farjeon said in his 
 meed of praise : — 
 
 " Mrs. Farjeon was delighted, — and frightened too, — and I 
 enjoyed it more than I did at the Lyceum. There's not an 
 actress here, and certainly none in America, who could create 
 and play Stephanie with such appropriate power." 
 
 The eminent and clever critic Mr. Richard White- 
 ing, who wrote in " The Manchester Guardian " — and 
 before ever having met Miss Ward — the first apprecia- 
 tive and adequate review of her Lady Macbeth, wrote 
 to her from Paris concerning her Stephanie : — 
 
 " It is of course in one sense entirely superfluous to praise 
 your art in ' Forget Me Not ; ' but as with a great picture, so 
 with a great piece of acting, — every critic naturally likes to say 
 something about it, and to study it over and over again in new 
 lights. You have one of the most appreciative critics in Mr. 
 E. R. Russell, 1 of whose praise I will go so far as to say even 
 you may be proud, and that is indeed saying a good deal. I 
 could almost wish for my own selfish sake that you were not 
 winning such triumphs in England ; for I suppose we shall see 
 you even more rarely than ever on this side of the Channel, 
 unless you allow yourself to be tempted to come over and take 
 that place at the Theatre Francais which I am sure will always 
 be open to you." 
 
 1 Author of a celebrated pamphlet on The Place and Power of Criticism. 
 
190 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Perhaps that laurel which binds permanently and 
 indisputably the bays of fame upon her brows may be 
 said to have come to Miss Ward with this letter : — 
 
 Paris, July 18, 1880. 
 
 Dear Madame, — Have you arranged for next season? If 
 not, would you feel disposed to accept an engagement of four 
 months, with the right of extension on my part, for the United 
 States, commencing about the end of November next, to play 
 your piece, "Forget Me Not," and other pieces, four times a 
 week ? The limited number of performances may surprise you ; 
 but, having engaged Signor Salvini to play three times a week, 
 I would like to make a combination, you to play alternate 
 nights ; and as Madame Ristori gives me to understand you 
 speak Italian fluently, I think it it would be possible to arrange 
 — you being willing to do so — that you should play Macbeth 
 and some of his other pieces with Salvini. 
 
 You know, America is the country for such combinations ; 
 and your name with that of Salvini would, I feel sure, prove a 
 great attraction. 
 
 The company to support you, travelling, theatres, etc., etc., 
 would be paid by me. Please let me know if you are disposed 
 to accept, and on what terms, sharing or certainty. I am not 
 personally known to you ; but my name must be, as Madame 
 Ristori and Signor Salvini have both been to America under 
 my management. What is still more to the purpose, I am 
 ready to offer you any reasonable guaranty you may require 
 for the fulfilment of the agreement. 
 
 Have the kindness to answer me at once, as I am dependent 
 on your acceptance or refusal to arrange other matters. 
 Yours most respectfully, 
 
 C. A. Chizzola. 
 
 Miss Ward's engagements prevented her acceptance 
 of this offer, but the tour with Salvini will probably be 
 made in the course of a few months. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. j^j 
 
 During the summer the Rotterdam company had 
 produced in London the drama, "Annie Mie," for 
 which its author, Rosier Faarsen, had received the 
 competitive prize for dramatic literature in Belgium. 
 " Annie Mie " had been a triumph on the Holland 
 stage : in England, though admired by the best judges, 
 it had not been remunerative ; and, just as the Dutch 
 company were about leaving London, the following 
 letter came to Miss Ward : — 
 
 47 Mecklenburg Square. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I should take it as a great favor if you 
 would oblige me by throwing over any engagement you may 
 have for next Thursday, and dining here at three. The fact is, 
 the Dutch company are going away, having been very unsuccess- 
 ful ; and I don't like it to be said, that such good artists came to 
 England, and received no civility. Hence I have thrown myself 
 into the breach, and asked them here on Thursday. But I 
 must have a lady to do the honors ; and I expect Stephanie de 
 Mohrivart to help me out of the difficulty. 
 
 Ever truly yours, 
 
 L. WlNGFIELD. 
 
 Towards the close of Miss Ward's provincial tour, 
 the journals began to publish announcements to the 
 effect that Miss Ward had bought the Dutch play, 
 " Annie Mie," and was having it translated, adapted, 
 and revised for representation in English at the Prince 
 of Wales's Theatre in November. 
 
 " Miss Ward herself stage-manages the piece with a view to 
 proving — what will not be easy — that the Dutch performers 
 can be excelled in this important matter. The part played by 
 Miss Beersmans is so different from those Miss Ward has played 
 in this country, and the interest is so entirely domestic and 
 
1 92 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 pathetic, that her performance will be watched with much 
 interest. If it is marked by the same fidelity to nature as that 
 of Stephanie, it will simply prove Miss- Ward one of the most 
 versatile, as she is known to be one of the most talented, 
 actresses living." 
 
 On the 25 th of September Miss Ward re-appeared 
 at the Prince of Wales's in " Forget Me Not," with the 
 part of Rose excised : the critics approved the change. 
 Mr. Merivale complained in an open letter to the 
 press : he had rented a house, and the tenant had 
 coolly knocked out one room in it which didn't happen 
 to strike his fancy ! Hence — damages, my lord, 
 damages ! 
 
 Somebody, struck with this argument, intimated the 
 presence of a flaw therein ; declaring that the tenant 
 did not knock out the room, but simply turned the 
 key in the door, and declined to use it. Dion Bouci- 
 cault, scenting the fray, whipt nimbly to the front, and 
 shouted encouragingly to Mr. Merivale, " Steboy ! 
 St ! St ! At him ! that's a good fellow ! " and ten- 
 dered to Mr. Merivale, in an open letter to the press, 
 the Disraelian advice, — 
 
 " Let's have a congress, — of dramatic authors, — to 
 settle the yeasting question of English playwrights' 
 interests," etc., etc. 
 
 The newspapers wheeled into line on both sides of 
 the Atlantic, and contributed an able running com- 
 ment of query and suggestion. Punch waxed funny 
 with imaginary dialogues on the matter : nothing was 
 settled ; Miss Ward continued to play to crowded and 
 admiring house's; and "The Daily leiegraph" of 
 Sept. 30 had the following : — 
 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 93 
 
 {Before Lord Coleridge.) 
 
 MERIVALE V. WARD. 
 
 This was a motion for an injunction to restrain the defendant 
 from performing, or allowing to be performed, the play of " For- 
 get Me Not," with the omission of one of the characters. It 
 appeared that the plaintiffs, Messrs. Merivale and Grove, are 
 the proprietors of the play, and the defendant, Miss Genevieve 
 Ward, had purchased from them the sole right of representa- 
 tion for five years from 1879. 
 
 Mr. Woodruffe appeared for the defendant, and objected 
 that the matter was not vacation business. 
 
 His lordship said the motion was for an injunction to restrain 
 a performance now going on, and in his opinion was properly 
 vacation business. 
 
 Mr. Woodroffe contended that the character omitted was 
 not an important one, and that the plaintiffs had sustained no 
 damage whatever. The learned counsel handed up a copy of 
 the play, in which the part in question was struck out in pencil 
 by the plaintiff Merivale himself. A letter was also produced, 
 in which Mr. Merivale said the play was much too lengthy, and 
 was improved by the omission of the character Rose. 
 
 Mr. Ford said that Mr. Grove, the joint author of the play, 
 did not agree with this view. 
 
 Lord Coleridge observed that Mr. Grove had made no affi- 
 davit in the case. 
 
 Mr. Ford said this was owing to his absence on the Conti- 
 nent, and asked that the motion might be adjourned. 
 
 His lordship refused to adjourn the motion, and, in deliver- 
 ing judgment, said that before the plaintiffs could be entitled 
 to the injunction asked for, they must show, first, that there 
 had been a breach of the agreement ; secondly, that they were 
 suffering serious damage by such breach; thirdly, that the 
 damage would be irreparable if the court did not grant the 
 injunction. Upon none of these points had the plaintiffs suc- 
 ceeded ; and it was therefore his duty to refuse the motion, with 
 costs. 
 
194 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 On the i st of November Miss Ward appeared as 
 Annie Mie at the Prince of Wales's Theatre ; the Prince 
 and Princess of Wales were present (which they are 
 not usually on a first night) , and the Princess warmly 
 applauded the tragedienne, as did also the large and 
 eclectic audience ; and Miss Ward played with ad- 
 mirable artistic fidelity : yet something was felt to be 
 wanting ; and an adverse verdict was pronounced by 
 the press with almost the unanimity which had char- 
 acterized the praises of " Forget Me Not." As George 
 Augustus Sala observed in an early note of comment 
 to Miss Ward : — 
 
 " Though you are admirable in Annie Mie, the part is not 
 suited to you : it is a great way below your artistic capacity ; and 
 in the play there are gallons too many of tears, and at least 
 eight mourning coaches too many. I have been obliged to say 
 this in my published criticism, — doing justice to your own 
 genius and dramatic insight, — but into the part itself I have 
 been bound to pitch, and I hope you know I am too true a 
 friend of yours to say what I do not mean." 
 
 Many deemed the piece too intrinsically Dutch to 
 be susceptible of successful adaptation in English. Yet 
 the condemnation of the critics met with some dis- 
 tinguished protest, as the following letters will show. 
 
 4 Howley Place, Maida Hill. 
 Dear Friend, — I was delighted with your performance of 
 Annie Mie : everybody around exclaimed with pleasure. An 
 elderly critic seated next to me had come a long distance to see 
 you in your new role: half afraid, he confessed, that, after a 
 piece demanding such violent emotion as " Forget Me Not," 
 you would never be able to subdue your tone to that of such 
 deep tenderness as required in " Annie Mie." You should 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 95 
 
 have seen his delight when he found his fears groundless. In 
 every situation you came out beautifully, and the sense of art 
 which made you keep back your powers till the situations came 
 made them of the more value. . . . The only fault to me is, that 
 there is too little of you. 
 
 Ever affectionately, 
 
 (Mme.) G. Colmache. 
 
 The Garden Mansion, Queen Anne's Gate, 
 St. James Park. 
 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I write to tell you what cordial pleas- 
 ure and admiration your performance elicited from Mrs. Fanny 
 Kemble and myself. I thought it quite admirable, so measured, 
 so free from exaggeration, so profoundly touching. In short, 
 I desired nothing altered as regards yourself. . . . But the last 
 act is terribly too long, and the repetitions of the fiend's story. 
 For a permanent success you must cut, cut, cut I 
 Ever with true regard, yours 
 
 Hamilton Aide. 
 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I thought your acting last night the 
 perfection of sweetness, but I do fear the piece is disappointing : 
 the action is not dose enough, and it's too long. This is only 
 my humble opinion, but that which was pretty generally ex- 
 pressed last night around me (in the pit) was very similar. I 
 never met an artist who deserved success so much as you do. 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 F. Charles. 
 
 " Annie Mie [wrote Mrs. Clarke, wife of the equerry of the 
 Prince of Wales] is certainly the most beautifully expressed 
 idyl I have ever seen on the English stage, delicate in its treat- 
 ment, and dainty in all its details. It is an enchanting series 
 of pictures, and its tenderness and simplicity ought to come 
 like a new and refreshing draught to the jaded appetite of Lon- 
 don plaj'goers. You achieve every thing by your inimitable 
 acting as the loving mother, obedient daughter, and outraged 
 and forsaken woman. 
 
ig6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 And these letters also : — 
 
 Dear Ginevra, — I have had my mind full of the play and 
 your acting ever since. I am enraged with the critics who have 
 done it so little justice ! It is full of the most varied interest 
 and charm, and all so softly harmonized in the end, leaving a 
 final impression of pleasure and content. It has a far finer 
 moral and mental power than " Forget Me Not," and there are 
 many fine subtle effects in your acting not lost on me. All 
 your movements and expressions are true to the character. 
 There is nothing of the regal Lucrezia or the audacious Ste- 
 phanie ; but the simple peasant grace, a grace that seems all 
 of feeling, not of art. ... It is a powerful study, a poem and 
 picture in one ; and I am amazed that the public have not taken 
 to it warmly. Good wishes, best wishes, dear, beautiful, bril- 
 liant Ginevra, from your affectionate friend, 
 
 "Speranza" (Lady Wilde). 
 
 Keats House, Chelsea. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I must see the last night of " Annie 
 Mie ! " Might I ask for the same box mamma and I had ? or, 
 if that is taken, any box will do„ I should like to be there to 
 show how much I appreciate your noble acting, and how much 
 I admire a play the critics have so misunderstood. 
 Your sincere friend and admirer, 
 
 Oscar Wilde. 
 
 " Annie Mie " was played for the last time on the 
 night of Dec. 10; and the day after Miss Ward sailed 
 for America, and on her arrival immediately issued this 
 notice in the leading journals of the United States : — 
 
 TO MANAGERS, ACTORS, AND THE PUBLIC. 
 
 I have crossed the ocean at this inclement season to protect 
 my purchased right of exclusive production of " Forget Me 
 Not," against the deliberate piracy of Lester Wallack and 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 197 
 
 Theodore Moss. I am preparing papers for an injunction 
 
 against them, and shall push my legal redress with vigor. 
 
 Meanwhile I beg to say that neither Mr. Wallack nor Mr. 
 
 Moss has any right to " Forget Me Not ; " and, further, I will 
 
 enjoin every manager and actor in the country who attempts to 
 
 play my piece. I have this day concluded to play the piece in 
 
 all the large cities, beginning in the city of New York, at an 
 
 early date, under the management of Col. William E. Sinn. 
 
 Genevieve Ward. 
 Dec. 27, 1880. 
 
 Messrs. Wallack and Moss received tidings of Miss 
 Ward's departure from England, and made haste to 
 present " Forget Me Not " at Wallack's Theatre, re- 
 moving a successful play in order to accomplish this 
 feat. Her suit for an injunction was pressed with skill 
 and vigor, and won ; I and she immediately made a 
 tour with " Forget Me Not," of the chief cities of the 
 Union and the Provinces, beginning with the city of 
 Boston. 
 
 In "The New York Tribune" for Feb. 18, 1881, 
 there appeared a critical review of her acting, which, 
 aside from the moral deduction drawn, is a master- 
 piece of dramatic criticism, as finished as the perform- 
 ance it describes ; and as it expresses so admirably the 
 sum of intelligent opinion on both sides of the water, 
 on this consummate performance, it is given entire : — 
 
 Boston, Feb. 16. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward lately ended her engagement, of one 
 
 week, at the Globe Theatre. It was a brilliantly successful 
 
 engagement, and might advantageously have lasted much 
 
 longer. Miss Ward acted Stephanie in "Forget Me Not," — 
 
 1 The whole story is exceedingly well told in Miss Ward's concise and 
 masterly affidavit, for which I refer the reader to the appendix. 
 
Iq8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the play that was the subject of her recent law-suit against Mr. 
 Wallack. She first appeared here on the 7th inst., giving her 
 first performance of Stephanie in this country; and she was 
 welcomed by a numerous and brilliant audience. The attend- 
 ance on the second night was still larger, and each night through- 
 out the week the theatre was crowded. Even the tempest of 
 the 1 2th inst. [the rain fell here in torrents that day] could not 
 keep an eager multitude away from the theatre. Neither at 
 the matinee nor again in the evening was it possible to obtain 
 a seat in the house after the curtain had risen. The success 
 of Miss Ward is beyond question ; and it is of a most excep- 
 tional character. After seeing her performance of Stephanie, 
 no one can feel surprised at the intrepid and determined energy 
 with which she contested Mr. Wallack 's infringement upon her 
 right of property in the play of "Forget Me Not." To her the 
 opportunities provided by the character are special, peculiar, 
 unique, and of absolutely vital import. No dramatic artist was 
 ever better fitted by a part than Miss Ward is fitted by Stepha- 
 nie ; and no other actress on the stage of to-day could act it as 
 well as she does. Those who saw " Forget Me Not " at Wal- 
 lack's Theatre would scarcely know it for the same piece, on 
 seeing Miss Ward as its heroine. The skill and the charm of 
 Miss Rose Coghlan are not, indeed, forgotten, and of course 
 they are not undervalued ; but, as Cardinal Wolsey remarks, 
 " there's more in't than fair visage." Miss Coghlan's perform- 
 ance of Stephanie was charming for its piquancy and for its 
 volatile, sensuous, mischievous vitality. Miss Ward's perform- 
 ance is brilliant with intellectual character, beautiful with 
 refinement, nervous and steel-like with indomitable purpose, 
 fearfully intense with passion, painfully true to an afflicting 
 ideal of reality, and at last -splendidly tragic. And it is a shin- 
 ing example of ductile and various art. Such a work easily 
 takes its rank among the great achievements of the contempo- 
 rary stage. 
 
 It is not meant, in thus defining the nature of Miss Ward's 
 success, to intimate that Miss Ward is destitute in actual life of 
 those qualities — fair, lovable, and sweet — of which Stephanie 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 199 
 
 is destitute in the play. It is simply meant that Miss Ward 
 possesses in copious abundance certain peculiar qualities of 
 power and beauty, upon which mainly the part of Stephanie is 
 reared. The points of assimilation between the actress and 
 the part consist in an imperial force of character, intellectual 
 brilliancy, audacity of mind, iron will, perfect elegance of man- 
 ners, a profound self-knowledge, and unerring intuitions as to 
 the relations of motive and conduct in that vast net-work of 
 circumstance which is the social fabric. Stephanie possesses 
 all these attributes; and all these Miss Ward supplies, with 
 the luxuriant adequacy and grace of nature. But Stephanie 
 superadds to these a bitter, mocking cynicism, thinly veiled by 
 artificial suavity, and logically irradiant from natural hardness 
 of heart, coupled with an insensibility to gentleness that has 
 been engendered by a cruel experience of human selfishness. 
 This, with a certain mystical touch of the animal freedom, 
 whether in joy or wrath, which goes with a being having neither 
 soul nor conscience, the actress has to supply — and does sup- 
 ply — by her art. As interpreted by Miss Ward, the character 
 is reared, not upon a basis of unchastity, but upon a basis of 
 intellectual perversion. This Stephanie has followed — at first 
 with self-contempt, afterward with sullen indifference, finally 
 with the bold and brilliant hardihood of reckless defiance — a 
 life of crime. She is audacious, unscrupulous, cruel ; a con- 
 summate tactician ; almost sexless in fact, yet a siren in knowl- 
 edge and capacity to use the arts of her sex ; capable of any 
 wickedness to accomplish an end, yet trivial enough to have no 
 greater end in view than the re-investiture of herself with social 
 recognition; cold as snow; implacable as the grave ; remorse- 
 less ; wicked ; but, beneath all this depravity, capable at least 
 of self-pity, capable of momentary regret, capable of a little bit 
 of human tenderness, aware of the glory of the innocence she 
 has lost, and thus not altogether beyond the pale of compas- 
 sion. And she is, in externals, — in every thing visible and 
 audible, — the very ideal of grace and melody. 
 
 In the presence of an admirable work of art, the observer, 
 of course, wishes that it were entirely worthy of being per- 
 
200 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 formed, and that it were entirely clear and sound as to its 
 applicability — in a moral sense, or even in an intellectual sense 
 
 — to human life. Art does not go very far, when it stops short 
 merely at the revelation of the felicitous powers of the artist ; 
 and it is not altogether right, when it tends to beguile sympathy 
 for an unworthy object, and perplex a spectator's perceptions 
 as to good and evil. Miss Ward's performance of Stephanie, 
 brilliant though it be, does not redeem the character from its 
 bleak exile from human sympathy. The actress, to be sure, 
 has managed, by a scheme of treatment which is exclusively 
 her own, to make Stephanie, for two or three moments, piteous 
 and forlorn ; and her expression of this evanescent anguish — 
 occurring in the appeal to Sir Horace Welby, her friendly foe, 
 in the great scene of the second act — is wonderfully subtle. 
 That appeal, as Miss Ward makes it, is begun in artifice, is 
 allowed to become profoundly sincere, is stunned and startled 
 into a recoil of resentment by a harsh rebuff, and subsides 
 through hysterical levity into frigid and brittle sarcasm and gay 
 defiance. For a while, accordingly, the feelings of the observer 
 are deeply moved. Yet this does not make the character of 
 Stephanie any the less detestable. The blight remains upon it, 
 
 — and always must remain, — that it repels the interest of the 
 heart. The added blight likewise rests upon it (though this 
 is of far less consequence to the spectator), that it is burdened 
 with moral sophistry. Vicious conduct in a woman, according 
 to Stephanie's logic, is no way more culpable or disastrous than 
 vicious conduct in a man; the woman, equally with the man, 
 should have a social license to sow the juvenile wild oats, and 
 effect the middle-aged reformation ; and it is only because there 
 are gay young men who indulge in profligacy, that women some- 
 times become adventurers and moral monsters. All this is 
 launched forth in speeches of singular terseness, eloquence, and 
 vigor; but it is hardly necessary to point out that all this is 
 specious and mischievous perversion of the truth — however 
 admirably in character from Stephanie's lips. Every observer 
 who has looked carefully upon the world is aware that the con- 
 sequences of wrong-doing by a woman are vastly more pemi- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 201 
 
 cious than those of wrong-doing by a man ; that society could 
 not exist in decency, if to its already inconvenient coterie of 
 reformed rakes it were to add a legion of reformed wantons ; 
 and that it is innate wickedness and evil propensity that make 
 such women as Stephanie, and not the mere existence of the 
 wild young men who are willing to become their comrades, and 
 generally end by being their dupes and victims. It is natural, 
 however, that this adventurer — who has kept a gambling-hell, 
 and ruined many a man, soul and body, and now wishes to re- 
 instate herself in a virtuous social position — should thus strive 
 to palliate her past proceedings. Self-justification is one of the 
 first laws of life. Even Iago, who never deceives himself, yet 
 announces one adequate motive for his fearful crimes. Even 
 Bulwer's Margrave — that prodigy of evil and great type of 
 infernal, joyous, animal depravity — can yet paint himself in 
 the light of harmless loveliness and innocent gayety. 
 
 It is but a little while since " Forget Me Not " was seen in 
 New York, and readers and playgoers are familiar with its 
 story. It is a thin story ; but, in the handling, it has been made 
 to yield some excellent dramatic pictures, some splendid mo- 
 ments of intellectual combat, and some affecting contrasts of 
 character. The dialogue, particularly in the second act, is as 
 strong and as brilliant as polished steel. Here, in this combat 
 of words, Miss Ward's acting is marvellous for trenchant skill 
 and fascinating variety. The easy, good-natured, bantering air 
 with which the strife begins, the liquid purity of the tones, the 
 delicate glow of the arch satire, the icy glitter of the thought* 
 and purpose beneath the words, the transition into pathos and 
 back again into gay indifference and deadly hostility, the sud- 
 den and terrible mood of menace, when at length the crisis has 
 passed and the evil ge.iiss has won its temporary victory, — all 
 these were in perfect taste and consummate harmony. Seeing 
 this brilliant, supple, relentless, formidable figure, and hearing 
 this incisive, bell-like voice, the spectator is repelled and at- 
 tracted at the same instant, and thoroughly bewildered with 
 the sense of a power and beauty as hateful as they are glorious. 
 Not since Ristori acted Lucrezia Borgia in this country has our 
 
202 GENEVIEVE WARD, 
 
 stage exhibited such an image of imperial will, made radiant 
 with beauty and electric with flashes of passion. The leopard 
 and the serpent are fatal, terrible, and loathsome ; yet they 
 scarcely have a peer among nature's supreme symbols of power 
 and of grace. 
 
 Into the last scene of " Forget Me Not," — where, at length, 
 Stephanie is crushed by physical fear, through beholding, 
 unseen by him, the man who would kill her as one kills a 
 malignant and dangerous reptile, — Miss Ward has introduced 
 certain illustrative " business " not provided by the piece, but 
 such as greatly enhances its final effect. The backward rush 
 from the door, on seeing the Corsican avenger on the stair- 
 case, with the incident yell of terror, is the invention of the 
 actress ; and from this moment to the final exit she is the very 
 incarnation — thrilling and even agonizing — of abject fear. 
 The situation is one of the strongest that dramatic ingenuity 
 has invented ; and Miss Ward invests it with a coloring of truth 
 that is pathetic and awful. Wherever this piece of acting is 
 seen, accordingly, the lovers of true art will have an enjoyment 
 such as is seldom vouchsafed upon the stage. 
 
 An eminent London physician, whose writings are 
 much admired for their deep thought, powerful logic 
 and humanity, wrote to Mrs. Ward the following pleas- 
 ant letter : — 
 
 London, March 10, 1881. 
 Dear Mrs. Ward, — I have to thank you much for letting 
 me see the criticism on Genevieve Ward and " Forget Me 
 Not," in " The New York Tribune." It is indeed a remarkable 
 article ; and if " Forget Me Not " were published it might 
 preface it as Schlegel and Coleridge combined preface Shake- 
 speare. There is spiritual clairvoyance in its perception of Miss 
 Ward's intellectual personation, and a now rare knowledge of 
 the rights of good and evil, in both the personation and the 
 drama itself. It is seldom that one meets in criticism with 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 203 
 
 such a satisfactory wholesome wholeness. To you it must give 
 the gratification of something like a final certificate of your 
 gifted Genevieve's powers. And I am grateful to the writer for 
 also, in his ardent admiration, being so far master of his reason 
 as to be able to declare that human good is the last attainment 
 of the drama in both its parts. 
 
 Your old doctor, 
 
 Garth Wilkinson. 
 
 Miss Ward appeared in New York in March ; and a 
 friend wrote to her : — 
 
 " The sure prospect of the triumphant settlement of the 
 Moss-Wallack suit in your favor gives me unfeigned pleasure, 
 since you are unquestionably in the right, morally and legally. 
 . . . Stephanie, as you create her, is a pathetic, thrilling lesson 
 and example in social ethics ; and so, strikes deep into the 
 sympathies, and teaches moral and social wisdom in a new and 
 original manner." 
 
 " It is very easy to see," wrote Mrs. Anne L. Botta, 
 " how much the play owes to you, and what it would 
 be in inferior hands." 
 
 Mrs. George Vandenhoff wrote : — 
 
 " I thank you with my whole soul ! Your wonderful Ste- 
 phanie will remain engraven on my memory while I have a 
 memory. You turned for me a chapter in the history of a 
 woman's heart which I had never read before. Was it an in- 
 spiration that named the play ' Forget Me Not ' ? Surely to all 
 and every woman who shall see you in that character, you will 
 remain a never-to-be-forgotten revelation ! It was not acting : 
 it was living, being, doing, suffering, and agonizing ! She was 
 bad — wicked — lost! But your genius so elevated and re- 
 deemed her, that my feeling about her is one of regret, of sor- 
 row that the chance she so longed for and prayed for was 
 denied to her. . . . The mingled pathos and scorn with which 
 
204 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 you appealed to this man! the wonderful recovery of your 
 bravado and insolent nonchalance, the grandeur of your defiant 
 and just accusations, and then at last your abject fear — it 
 makes me shudder even now ! I have always admired you as 
 woman and artist, but in this new creation you rise above my 
 feeble praise." 
 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I am compelled by sheer admiration 
 of your wondrous creative power to say that " Forget Me Not " 
 took us all by storm. The play is not well constructed, but 
 you have made it full of points, creating a character at once 
 true and striking ; and I am more than ever your friend and 
 admirer, 
 
 R. Shelton Mackenzie. 
 
 And this from the clever editor of "Harper's 
 Bazar:" — 
 
 March 26, 1881. 
 Dear Miss Ward, — I think you will like to hear what was 
 said of you last night by Mr. Salvador de Mendoza, consul-gen- 
 eral of Brazil, whom we met with his wife on our way home, 
 after leaving you. He declared that he could not understand 
 why the Americans made such a fuss about Sara Bernhardt, 
 when they had so much greater an artist among them in their 
 own countrywoman, Miss Ward. The Mendozas had stopped 
 to talk with Madame Gerster, who expressed herself delighted 
 with your powerful impersonation ; and they say she is not easily 
 pleased. These' things were so pleasant for me to hear, coin- 
 ciding so fully with my own opinion, that I feel like telling you 
 of them, though I doubt not they are only echoes of what you 
 hear continually. I was charmed, indeed, with such a subtle 
 and lofty conception of such a complex character as Stephanie ; 
 and your countrywomen may well be proud of your success. 
 Affectionately your friend, 
 
 Mary L. Booth. 
 
 In June of this present year, 1881, Miss Ward re- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 205 
 
 turned to London, and devoted herself to her friends, 
 and to her beloved occupation of modelling, at which, 
 as well as in painting, she is very skilful. 
 
 In his article on the Dramatic Fine-Art Gallery, Mr. 
 Forbes Robertson said, — 
 
 " Here also is a vigorously treated miniature bust of the late 
 Col. Ward, executed from memory by Miss Genevieve Ward, 
 the greatest of our living tragic actresses. She has been blessed 
 with a wonderful diversity of gifts, — a linguist, a musician, an 
 actress in the very highest sense of the term, and, if we may 
 judge by the bust before us and by the pictures she has sent 
 to the exhibition, it is manifest she would have been supreme 
 in these walks also had she turned her attention to them. Her 
 1 Sheep, after Verboeckhoven ' (34) would make even an expert 
 hesitate to say that they were not from the pencil of the Flemish 
 master himself. Whence this lady inherited her gift of the 
 pencil, is made abundantly manifest by the exquisite miniature 
 (112) which her mother painted of her when a child. Sir Wil- 
 liam Ross himself might have stippled this portrait." 
 
 "Who taught you to model? " I asked her one day 
 this summer, as she sat working with light and sure 
 touch on the bust of her friend Col. Sanford. 
 
 "No one taught me," she replied: "it 'growed' 
 like Topsy ; but I ask the best critics to sit in judg- 
 ment on my work." 
 
 But acting, painting, modelling, and talking all 
 tongues, do not complete the list of Miss Ward's 
 accomplishments. She can write. M. Regnier says 
 that her letters would make a second edition of 
 " Madame de S£vigne ; " and her " Cotelettes a la 
 Pojarsky," published in "The Theatre" for March, 
 1 88 1, is a perfect literary ragoiit of Russian gastro- 
 nomic- novelties. 
 
206 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Her personal friends are the noblest and cleverest 
 men and women of the time • and I have read and 
 heard abundant and glowing testimony to her personal 
 qualities from those of her own profession, not a jeal- 
 ous note of discord anywhere. Madame Colmache, 
 critic of "The Court Journal," and author of "Tha 
 Life of Talleyrand," is one of the most venerable of 
 her friends, a lady who looks like an empress in her 
 own right, needing no crown but her own soft white 
 tresses, and no jewels but the lustre of her serene and 
 loving eyes. 
 
 Another of her friends, Miss Elizabeth Philp, the 
 eminent balladist, who wrote the music of "Gene- 
 vieve," which appears early in this volume, and is also 
 the original of the " English Amazon" figuring in Mr. 
 Sala's brilliant book on the late American Rebellion, 
 is an English lady of most charming character, whose 
 acquaintance is a never- failing source of delight to all 
 who meet her. Annie Thomas describes her : — 
 
 " A distinguished ornament of the musical world, and one of 
 the most perfect hostesses in society, who has risen to a high 
 place among our female composers, and has made her mark by 
 her own unassisted efforts. Thoroughly impregnated with the 
 real artist spirit, she has set herself resolutely to conquer every 
 difficulty that arises in the artist's path, in the most honorable 
 and legitimate manner. Clever, painstaking, persevering, and 
 sensitive to an extraordinary degree, she is her own most severe 
 critic ; while her prompt recognition of talent and thoroughness 
 in others, and her hearty appreciation of whatever is worthy in 
 her compeers, render her opinion of their achievements as valu- 
 able as it is sought after." 
 
 The critic of an authoritative London journal says, — 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 207 
 
 " Her music is always melodious, intelligent, and unforced. 
 She selects a poem with taste, and interprets it with respect. 
 A poem in her hands remains a poem, and does not become a 
 mere peg on which to hang a melody. This is true art, and 
 real feeling, and is a quality as invaluable to the balladist as it 
 is unfortunately rare. From the long list of a hundred songs 
 which she has composed, it is difficult to select a few for special 
 mention, when all or nearly all of them are of exceptional merit. 
 For pathos, ' Airlie Beacon,' ' Marguerite's Letter,' the grand 
 ' Story of a Year,' and ' Younger Years,' may be fairly quoted ; 
 in passionate feeling * The Poacher's Widow ' stands unrivalled 
 among modern English ballads ; and ' Lillie's Good-Night ' finds 
 an echo in the heart of every mother who hears it. In addition 
 to her great musical gifts, Miss Philp is a profound thinker, a 
 careful reader, and a brilliant conversationalist. She has the 
 art, so rare among women, of telling a story well, and of coming 
 up to her point in a way that compels her most obtuse auditor to 
 see it. Her house in London is the popular head-centre where 
 musical, dramatic, literary, and artistic people (most of them 
 celebrities) delight in meeting on those well-known Thursday 
 afternoons which she commenced some twenty years ago, and 
 has kept going with signal success ever since." 
 
 Which is all perfectly true; for I have heard her 
 sing some of her own delightful songs, — one particu- 
 larly fine in interpretation of Mr. Lowell's " Moon- 
 light deep and tender," — and I have eaten "chick- 
 ing " at her house, and found it " ospitally " ! 
 
 As I draw this sketch to a close, the great tragedi- 
 enne is sailing toward her native land, wearing near 
 her heart the one amulet that never leaves her when 
 she enters into her ideal life of art, — the silver lock 
 of the great Siddons linked with the dark tress severed 
 by Ristori from her own classic temples for a token of 
 love, companionship, and God-speed to the gifted 
 
2 o8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 American woman she so nobly and generously loves. 
 With her go the clever artists, and firm personal friends, 
 who will share with her in the labor and honors of the 
 dramatic representations which many of my readers 
 will be enjoying when these leaves are fresh from the 
 press ; and with her goes also the warm good-will of 
 hosts of friends, and the blessing of the invalid brother 
 and venerable mother who remain behind waiting, 
 with how much love and faith and justified pride, to 
 catch the echoes of the new plaudit from across the sea. 
 
 A beautiful light is thrown on the private character 
 of Miss Ward, in a little incident made known to me 
 since her departure for America. A dear friend asked 
 Mrs. Ward how soon they could hope to hear from 
 her daughter. 
 
 " I have had a letter from her every day since she 
 sailed ! " was the reply. 
 
 Miss Ward had written beforehand letters for each 
 day of her journey, marked them all " per Sea-Gull 
 express," and left them with a friend in Liverpool, to 
 be posted to her mother daily, according to their 
 dates. In these letters Miss Ward's imaginary de- 
 scriptions of the daily occurrences at sea, not omitting 
 to mention the latitude and longitude they were in, 
 and the progress made, were delightful for originality 
 and humor ; and the whole act was one of the most 
 graceful filial tenderness. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Superior Court of tjje (£ttg of RTetrr ffork. 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD, 
 
 Plaintiff, 
 against , 
 
 THEODORE MOSS AND LESTER WALLACK, 
 
 Defendants. 
 City and County of New York, ss. : 
 
 Genevieve Ward, being duly sworn, says : I am the 
 plaintiff. I was born in the city of New York, and am 
 a citizen of the United States of America. I am an 
 actress, and am dependent upon the practice of my pro- 
 fession for a livelihood. My attention was first drawn to 
 the play of " Forget-Me-Not " by one of the authors 
 thereof, Mr. Herman Merivale. Messrs. Merivale and 
 Grove were the authors of the said play. Mr. Merivale 
 requested me to read it, and I did so. I was greatly 
 impressed with the dramatic power of the play upon my 
 reading thereof; and I thought I saw that the principal 
 character, Stephanie, Marquise de Mohrivart, was ex- 
 actly suited to my professional capacities. Not willing 
 to trust to my own judgment, I submitted the play to my 
 good friend Bram Stoker, then and now the acting man- 
 
 209 
 
2IO GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 ager of Henry Irving, Esq., at the Lyceum Theatre, Lon- 
 don. Mr. Stoker confirmed my impression of the play, 
 and of my adaptability for the principal part thereof. I 
 was in August, 1879, and am still, known in London as 
 an American actress. Mr. Stoker advised me to secure 
 the play. I accordingly sent for Mr. Merivale; and he 
 came to the Lyceum Theatre, Aug. 12, 1879, an< ^ we 
 talked over the terms of the purchase of the play. I 
 was informed by him that he had never sold the play to 
 anybody, and that he and Mr. Grove were the authors 
 thereof, and that they only had one hundred copies of 
 the play printed ; that they had never published the 
 play, nor sold, nor authorized to be sold, any copies 
 thereof, and that said play had been printed exclusively 
 for private circulation. I told said Merivale that I was 
 about arranging for an American tour, and that I desired 
 to get a good play for the United States. It was dis- 
 tinctly understood by all parties that I was buying the 
 piece for representation at any place on the inhabitable 
 globe. We especially spoke of the United States ; and 
 Mr. Merivale never, prior to the signing of the contract 
 hereinafter mentioned, by word or action, led me to infer 
 that aught else was contemplated. Mr. Merivale wanted 
 some limitation as to the number of times that I should 
 play the piece within a given time. I told him I did not 
 think it necessary, as I intended to produce the play in 
 London, in the Provinces, and in the United States, and 
 that I had no doubt that I should pay him the whole of 
 the consideration money within one year from the date 
 of the production of the piece in London. There were 
 present at the time of this conversation, besides Mr. 
 Merivale and myself, my brother Albert Lee Ward, and 
 Mr. Stoker. Nothing, it seems to me, could have been 
 better understood than that I was negotiating for the 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 211 
 
 purchase of the right of the exclusive production of the 
 play everywhere, and that said authors were to sell me 
 such exclusive right of production everywhere, and cer- 
 tainly most especially for the United States, as I had 
 positively stated I was especially desirous of getting a 
 successful play for America. At that interview the terms 
 were fully settled ; and it was verbally agreed that I was 
 to have the exclusive right to produce the play for a 
 period of five years, for the sum of three pounds for 
 every time it was produced by me in London, and two 
 pounds for every occasion during said period in which 
 the play was produced by me elsewhere. As soon, how- 
 ever, as I had paid the sum of three hundred pounds, I 
 was then to have the exclusive right of production of 
 said play anywhere during said five years without further 
 payment. I was also to have a right to a further period 
 of five years upon the same terms, providing I gave three 
 months written notice of such being my wish. 
 
 The terms being agreed upon, I arranged with Mr. 
 Merivale that he should come to the theatre, and read 
 the play to my company. He came on the thirteenth 
 day of August, 1879, and read the play to the members 
 of the company. All were delighted with it. I at once 
 assigned the different characters, and put the piece in 
 rehearsal. Mr. Merivale gave me three printed copies 
 of the play. He said he could not give me any more, as 
 he had none. Upon the title-page of the play were the 
 words, " Printed for private circulation." I was advised 
 then, and am now, that an author had, and has, a right to 
 print a limited number of copies of his play for his own 
 and friends' use, without thereby dedicating it to the pub- 
 lic. I agreed to make the large payment of three hundred 
 pounds for the piece in that belief, and the authors took 
 my money in the like belief. I found my original im- 
 
212 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 pression of the play intensified by the rehearsal thereof. 
 It had been agreed between Mr. Merivale and myself, 
 that I should have my solicitor prepare a written agree- 
 ment embodying the above understanding between the 
 authors and myself. I desired my said brother to so 
 instruct Mr. Coe, whose affidavit is hereunto annexed. 
 Mr. Coe prepared the agreement; but what with rehears- 
 ing, and one thing and another, I could not get the 
 authors together to sign it until about five o'clock p.m. 
 of the twenty-first day of August, 1879. They then went 
 very carefully over the contract so prepared by Mr. Coe, 
 in the presence of my brother and Mr. Stoker. The 
 authors made many suggestions, and desired a very 
 material amendment thereof. I had agreed to purchase, 
 and they had agreed to sell to me, the exclusive right, 
 without restriction, to produce the play anywhere. This, 
 I am advised, would have given me the right to sell to 
 others the said right of production. The authors de- 
 sired to change this so as to limit my right of sale, and 
 compel the performance by myself. As the piece was to 
 be played that night, I consented to that important altera- 
 tion from our understanding. The contract was then 
 signed by the authors in the presence of my brother and 
 the said Stoker. Hereunto annexed, marked "Exhibit 
 A," is a copy of the contract as finally concluded and 
 signed between us. I have never heard of the authors 
 disputing this contract. I have understood that they 
 now affect to interpret it differently from its plain mean- 
 ing, and from the usual import attached to the language 
 employed in the contract. Indeed, the authors have, 
 since the execution of the contract, fully satisfied and 
 confirmed the same in all its features by bringing an 
 action thereon in a court of England, before Lord Cole- 
 ridge. His lordship, Sept. 29, 1880, denied the authors' 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 21 3 
 
 motion, with costs. Hereunto annexed, marked " Ex- 
 hibit B," is a report of the case as it appeared in " The 
 Daily Telegraph," a newspaper printed in the city of 
 London, Eng., on the thirtieth day of September, 1880. 
 
 The play, from the night of its first production, on the 
 said twenty-first day of August, 1879, was a great suc- 
 cess. The papers, with one accord, spoke very highly of 
 it; and the London managers all believed in its being 
 destined to a long and prosperous career. Prior to its 
 first production, Mr. Merivale had induced me to permit 
 a sister-in-law of his to appear in the part of Rose de 
 Brissac. Notwithstanding I had a lady of my company 
 well suited to play the part, I yielded to his request, the 
 more so as I desired to remain upon good terms with 
 Mr. Merivale. Unhappily the young lady proved herself 
 inadequate to play the part. I called Mr. Merivale's 
 particular attention to the shortcoming; and he begged 
 me to retain her, and that he would coach her so as to 
 play the part acceptably. She showing no improvement, 
 for managerial reasons I was compelled to substitute a 
 daughter of Grace Greenwood in her place. By this 
 necessary act, I incurred the malignant hatred of Mr. 
 Merivale. So bitter was his resentment that he pub- 
 lished cruel lies of me, and sent defamatory circulars 
 wherever he thought he could do me harm. He has 
 publicly threatened I should never play the piece in 
 America. Regarding him as an unaccountable being, 
 after advising with my friends, I have taken no notice of 
 him, but have done all in my power to make his play a 
 success. I trust I do not offend good taste when I add 
 that the unhappy man, Mr. Merivale, was. for several 
 years in an asylum of restraint, where he had been placed 
 by his own mother for an assault upon her. This is a fact 
 of open, common notoriety in England ; and I refer to it 
 
214 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 principally because the defendant Moss claims to have 
 had a verbal arrangement with Mr. Merivale about the 
 play. At that time I verily believe he was in an insane- 
 asylum. The instantaneous success of the play, and the 
 difference above mentioned with Mr. Merivale, led the 
 authors to refuse to receive the first payment of compen- 
 sation due under the contract. They continued to refuse 
 for several weeks. They sought to have me break the 
 said contract ; but I was careful to fully keep its terms, 
 and I made all necessary tender of the amounts legally 
 due thereunder. I finally, and, on the eighth day of 
 April, 1880, paid to and the said authors received from 
 me the full balance of the said three hundred pounds 
 mentioned in the said contract ; and I *now allege I am 
 the sole owner of the right to produce said play for my 
 exclusive performance for the period of five years from 
 the twenty-first day of August, 1879, without further 
 payment. 
 
 I solemnly aver, that, at no time during the negotiations 
 between the authors and myself, did I ever hear the said 
 authors say, suggest, or intimate that they had, at any 
 time prior thereto, made any sale of said play to any 
 person whomsoever, either in Europe or America. I 
 never heard the names of Lester Wallack or Theodore 
 Moss mentioned by said authors, or either of them. I 
 remember saying to Mr. Merivale, prior to signing of the 
 contract, that I should produce the play in France. He 
 said it was a good idea, and that he would translate it for 
 me. Before the signing of the contract, I only had 
 casual conversations with Mr. Grove. Mr. Merivale rep- 
 resented him with full powers. Afterwards, and when 
 the play had run about eight days, Mr. Grove called upon 
 me at my residence in St. John's Wood, London, and, 
 after referring to the unhappy difference that had arisen 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 21 5 
 
 between Mr. Merivale and myself touching the want of 
 capacity of the sister-in-law of said Merivale to fill the 
 aforesaid part of Rose de Brissac, stated to me that the 
 executed agreement was all on my side ; but that he had 
 submitted it to his solicitor, Mr. Martineau, and that the 
 said Martineau had stated that the contract was perfect 
 and valid. But that he, Grove, hoped I would change it 
 to the one that he had prepared. He then handed me 
 the paper hereunto annexed, marked " Exhibit C." We 
 discussed its terms. He said it was not fair; that I 
 might go to America, and stay there a year, and that 
 it would injure the piece greatly not to have it per- 
 formed meanwhile in England. He therefore proposed 
 the alteration contained in subdivision three of said 
 Exhibit C. I talked freely to him of playing the piece 
 in the United States. He never even hinted that I 
 had no right to do so. Indeed, the judge, hearing this 
 motion, will find that in exact words, in subdivision four 
 of said Exhibit C, he includes the United States. This, 
 I think, quite disposes of the asserted claim of Mr. 
 Moss, that the authors had already verbally sold to him 
 the right to produce the play in the United States. Mr. 
 Grove urged upon me that I ought to make these pro- 
 posed changes, as the play was very successful. I in- 
 formed him that I had made the play a success; that 
 they had tried for years to sell the play to managers, 
 both in England and America, and that no one of them 
 could be induced to undertake its production. He did 
 not deny this statement, but insisted that I ought to 
 change the terms. I told him we had already agreed upon 
 our terms ; but that, if I found the play was a great suc- 
 cess in the United States, I would send him a further 
 check as a matter of good feeling. He still urged me to 
 sign Exhibit C. Finally he threatened me, that, unless I 
 
2l6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 signed, they would write a novel upon the play, that 
 somebody would dramatize it, and thus I would be injured 
 without my being able to prove that they did it. I told 
 him, in conclusion, "that I should consult my solicitor, 
 and, if I found that they had a knife at my throat, I would 
 sign it; otherwise, not." He then handed Exhibit C to 
 my brother, and left. Mr. Grove, after said interview on 
 the fifteenth day of September, 1879, sent to me a letter 
 in his own handwriting, which is hereunto annexed, 
 marked " Exhibit D." He simply claims therein that 
 I have no right to produce a translation of the play. I 
 have never modified the agreement, and it remains as 
 it was executed. After the contract had been signed 
 between the authors and myself, two engrossed copies 
 thereof were made, and sent to the authors for execution, 
 which they never executed, but proposed in lieu thereof 
 the said Exhibit C. I first heard in January, 1880, from 
 Mr. Bird, my attorney herein, of the claim of Mr. Moss 
 to produce the play in the United States. I tried to learn 
 from the authors whether or not they had sold the right 
 to the United States prior to selling it to me. I could 
 not learn that they had. Mr. Grove indignantly denied, 
 on the 31st of January, 1880, to my brother, as mentioned 
 in his affidavit hereunto annexed, that he had made any 
 such sale, not wishing to run any risk ; and on the fifth 
 day of February, 1880, my brother, at my request, wrote 
 to Mr. Grove, requesting an answer in writing as to 
 whether the authors had sold the play for the United 
 States to Mr. Moss, and received in reply from the solicit- 
 ors of said Grove an answer hereunto annexed, marked 
 "Exhibit D, No. 2," wherein Mr. Grove indignantly 
 spurned the imputation of an earlier sale than the one to 
 me. I then requested my attorney, Mr. Bird, to call upon 
 Mr. Moss, and have him show him his alleged contract 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 21/ 
 
 with the authors. Mr. Bird did so, and informed me that 
 it was without date, but that Mr. Moss had stated to him 
 that he would swear that he had had it in his posses- 
 sion for two years. I then directed Mr. Bird, as I was 
 under contract with Col. Sinn, of the Brooklyn Park 
 Theatre, to come to America and produce " Forget-Me- 
 Not," to call upon Mr. Moss, and see what compromise 
 could be made with him. None was made with him. I 
 was, however, involved in such doubt, distrusting the 
 authors, and believing the statement made to my attorney 
 by said Moss to be true, and being threatened by Mr. 
 Moss with injunction proceedings if I came to America 
 to play " Forget-Me-Not," that I had to abandon my en- 
 gagement at heavy loss to myself and Col. Sinn. I 
 advised in London with Mr. Judah P. Benjamin ; and he 
 counselled me to have an action brought in America 
 against Moss, and compel him to show his contract, so 
 that, if it should appear that the allegation of the defend- 
 ant Moss was true, and that he really had a contract prior 
 in date to mine, and taking precedence of mine, I could 
 bring on action against the authors in England, where I 
 then was, for damages, and I would be spared the further 
 damage of coming to the United States, and asserting a 
 right which I did not have. I directed my attorney, Mr. 
 Bird, to bring this action, and examine Mr. Moss herein. 
 Mr. Moss was examined, and then produced his alleged 
 contract, a copy of which is hereunto annexed, marked 
 " Exhibit E." This contract was not acknowledged until 
 the tenth day of March, 1880. It is only an assignment 
 of the authors' right, title, and interest in and for the 
 said play in said United States. Mr. Moss has sworn 
 in this case that he received the contract, Exhibit E, after 
 the tenth day of March, 1880, although I understand he 
 had told Mr. Bird that he had had possession of it for two 
 
2l8 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 years. When Mr. Merivale was accused of double-deal 
 ing with regard to this alleged contract with Mr. Moss, 
 he published in a London paper, called " The Era," a 
 letter over his signature, which is hereunto annexed, 
 marked " Exhibit F." I was advised by my attorney that 
 the defendant Moss would claim that " Forget-Me-Not " 
 had been published and sold by the authors, both before 
 and since my purchase as aforesaid. This greatly as- 
 tonished me, and prepared me for the present contract. 
 I have caused diligent search to be made at all places in 
 London where the said play would be exposed for sale if 
 the same had been published, and could not find that such 
 had been or was the case. I know, when I purchased the 
 right of production aforesaid, I applied to the authors for 
 additional copies of the play, and Mr. Merivale informed 
 me that he had none. I asked him if he did not know 
 where I could find some, and he answered no. I further 
 asked him if he thought the printer might not have some 
 copies. He said he did not know, so I called upon him ; 
 but he informed me that only one hundred private copies 
 had been printed, and that he had none on hand. I am 
 quite sure that I should have heard of the fact if the play 
 had been published and sold in London and the British 
 Isles. I am also convinced that the copies referred to by 
 Mr. Moss, if they are in existence, have either been 
 printed since my purchase, or else refer to the limited 
 edition printed as aforesaid but not published. 
 
 Had the play been published and sold at the time of 
 my purchase of it — thus making it public property — in 
 this country, I certainly would not have paid the large 
 sum of three hundred pounds for it. It would, under 
 such circumstances, have been dishonest in the authors 
 to have taken my money, as they knew I was buying a 
 play for America. I was advised, that, by the law of 
 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 2\g 
 
 England, the play must first be produced there, and that 
 it had to be entered under the act generally known there 
 as the Copyright Act of the 5th and 6th of Victoria, chap. 
 45, enacted Jul)'- 1, 1842, which, amongst other things, 
 provides, " In case of any dramatic piece or mvfsical 
 composition in manuscript, it shall be sufficient for the 
 person having the sole liberty of representing or per- 
 forming, or causing to be represented or performed, the 
 same, to register only the title thereof, the name and 
 place of abode of the author or composer thereof, the 
 name and place of abode of the proprietor thereof, and 
 the time and place of its first representation or perform- 
 ance." I therefore caused the said requirements to be 
 duly observed, so as to protect my right of property in 
 said play in England, and also to prevent any dedication 
 thereof to the public under British laws. This was done 
 on or about the twenty-first day of August, 1879. The 
 play has never been published under the Copyright Act, 
 or in any way, either by the authors or myself. It was not 
 necessary to publish it in order to obtain the protection 
 thereof. The reference to the authors as owners of the 
 copyright of a play called " Forget-Me-Not," in the con- 
 tract, had sole regard to my contemplated act aforesaid, 
 and was inserted by my lawyer in said contract, as a matter 
 of description only, at my request. The word " copyright" 
 in the agreement was not intended, nor does it refer to a 
 published play of " Forget-Me-Not." I should never 
 have purchased the right of production of said play if it 
 had been a published play. Nothing is better understood 
 in the theatrical profession than that an author may pre- 
 serve the manuscript character of his play by having a 
 number of copies thereof printed for private use. It saves 
 vast trouble, and is of great utility in the distribution and 
 learning of parts. I know that authors and managers, 
 
220 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 both in Europe and America, have printed what are 
 known as manuscript copies of an original play. Upon 
 information and belief, I state that such is sometimes the 
 custom and habit of both the defendants herein at their 
 theatre, known as " Wallack's," in this city. If this play 
 has been published, and publicly sold, as I am informed 
 the defendant Moss, in his extremity, now claims, I then 
 charge and aver that it has been done since I purchased 
 my right thereto, and in pursuance of a fraudulent con- 
 spiracy between the said authors and the said defendant 
 Moss. I deny that it has been done. I have no doubt 
 that said Moss may have had a eopy of said play in his 
 possession at or about the time stated in his examina- 
 tion hereunto annexed, marked " Exhibit G." In fact, I 
 have been informed by Mr. George Loveday of London, 
 that, several years ago, Mr. John Clayton, a friend of 
 Mr. Meri vale's, requested him to open negotiations with 
 Wallack's Theatre concerning the play of " Forget-Me- 
 Not." Merivale was then not mentally capable of busi- 
 ness. That, in pursuance of said request, the said Love- 
 day sent to said Moss a copy of said printed manuscript 
 play; that said Moss afterwards returned same to said 
 Loveday, and subsequently thereto Loveday returned the 
 same to said Moss, at his (Moss's) request. The said 
 Loveday informed me that the said Moss thereafter de- 
 clined to make any contract concerning the said play, 
 and that the negotiation came to nought. I was advised 
 that the defendant Moss claimed to have acquired some 
 rights through the said Mr. John Clayton. I therefore 
 requested my brother to ask him concerning same. The 
 result of the investigation was, that said Mr. Clayton 
 sent to him the letter hereunto annexed, marked " Ex- 
 hibit H," which is in his, said Clayton's, handwriting. I 
 have thus shown to the court that not only the authors. 
 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 221 
 
 but that all the parties represented by said Moss to have 
 been in any way connected with the alleged verbal sale 
 to him, repudiate the same; the authors claiming that 
 to have sold it to me when they had previously sold it to 
 Mr. Moss, would not only have been dishonorable, but 
 that, as a matter of fact, no contract with Moss was made 
 until they sold whatever right, title, and interest to the 
 play they then had, "if any there was," to him in March, 
 1880. This is fully shown by Exhibit E, being without 
 date, and having been acknowledged as late as March 10, 
 1880. The acts and doings of said Moss are in keeping 
 with this last stated fact. He never advertised that he 
 owned the right to " Forget-Me-Not " in the United 
 States until March 28, 1880, and then in "The World" 
 newspaper of this city, just after the receipt of Exhibit E ; 
 and subsequently issued a circular to a like effect under 
 the date of April 9, 1880. I desire to call the careful 
 attention of the court to Exhibit E, wherein Mr. Moss 
 claims to have purchased his right from Merivale only. 
 This was in January, 1880. No doubt the fraud was 
 perfected after that date and contract, Exhibit E given, 
 without date, to bolster it up. It is incredible, if he had 
 the right to the play at the time he claims, that he should 
 have slumbered so long on his rights, and should have 
 permitted the play to have been produced in California 
 without any attempt on his part to stop it. As soon as I 
 was notified in London that my rights were being invaded 
 in America, I caused due and public notice of my owner- 
 ship of said play to be given through the public news- 
 papers. I also, as early as January, 1880, caused to 
 be sent a notice thereof to every theatre in America 
 that would be able to produce the play. One of said 
 notices was sent to Wallack's Theatre, with the result 
 stated in the affidavit of my attorney, John H. Bird. 
 
222 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 This was the first time I ever heard of the asserted 
 claim of said Moss. My rights, since said notification, 
 have been respected by all managers in America, except- 
 ing the defendant. No one in the British dominions has 
 dared to attempt to invade them. When I was convinced 
 that the claim of said Moss — as to his having a contract 
 with the owners prior in date to mine — was. spurious, I 
 then directed, as before stated, that the action brought 
 against him should be prosecuted, and to seek, with other 
 relief, an injunction restraining him from performing the 
 play in the United States. The action was begun by the 
 service of summons on Aug. 5, 1.880. The said defend- 
 ant Moss has been examined under an order of the chief 
 judge of this court, and a copy of his examination is here- 
 unto annexed, marked " Exhibit G." I never believed 
 that the defendants, Moss and Wallack, would, in the 
 face of the facts, actually produce the said play of 
 " Forget- Me -Not," until I received a letter from my 
 attorney, of the date of Nov. 26, 1880, stating that the 
 defendants' attorney had told him that as soon as the 
 run of " The Gov'nor " was over, the said play would 
 be produced at Wallack's Theatre. My attorney had 
 previously urged upon me the importance of my being 
 here at the trial of the case ; and, as I believed I was 
 about to be foully wronged, I hastened to America with 
 such hasty affidavits as I could collect, to vindicate, in 
 person, my rights in a court of justice. Unfortunately, 
 notice of my departure was cabled to the American 
 newspapers ; and, to the astonishment of the theatrical 
 world, " The Gov'nor " was withdrawn in the midst, " as 
 the defendants claimed," of its prosperous career, and 
 " Forget- Me -Not " substituted. I avei that this was 
 done so as to produce the play before I could arrive 
 and apply for an injunction. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 22$ 
 
 My attorney informs me that the play was produced in 
 violation of a verbal understanding between counsel to 
 the effect that after it was determined to produce the play 
 sufficient time would be allowed him to send to Europe, 
 and get necessary affidavits. He also tells me that he 
 granted the adjournments of the defendants' examination 
 from time to time, upon that understanding. That ex- 
 amination was only concluded on the 6th inst. I now 
 learn that the defendants' counsel repudiates any such 
 arrangement, and claims that my attorney is wholly mis- 
 taken. Be that as it may, when I arrived here on 
 Wednesday, the 22d inst, I found that the defendants 
 had produced said play of " Forget-Me-Not " at their 
 theatre, on Saturday evening, Dec. 18, 1880. It is my 
 firm belief, and I aver the same to be the truth, that said 
 play was produced on that date, so as to prevent my get- 
 ting an injunction in time to stop it, as the said defend- 
 ants well knew I was en 7'oute to this country with that 
 purpose in view. Since my arrival here I have devoted 
 all the time that my ill health would permit, in giving my 
 said attorney the facts to prepare the necessary papers 
 herein. I have not delayed a moment that could have 
 been saved. I aver that Lester Wallack is the manager, 
 and Theodore Moss is the treasurer, of the theatre known 
 as " Wallack's " in this city, and upon information and 
 belief that both share as partners in the net profits there- 
 of. That both are now producing, in violation of my 
 exclusive right of production everywhere of said play, 
 said play at said Wallack's Theatre in the city of New 
 York. That I have never directly or indirectly consented 
 thereto. That the said Wallack claims to produce the 
 said play under a verbal license from his co-defendant 
 and partner Moss, as appears by said examination of said 
 Moss, hereunto annexed. That the said Wallack well 
 
224 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 knows my rights and claims in the premises, and that the 
 same are prior to any pretended claim of his co-defend- 
 ant. That the whole has been done by the said defend- 
 ants, each and both of them, in pursuance of a conspiracy 
 between said defendants and the authors of said play to 
 rob me of my exclusive right to produce the play in these 
 United States. That the said Moss further threatens, 
 and says he is now in negotiation with other managers., 
 to sell to them licenses to produce said play throughout 
 the United States. That the said Wallack is a party to 
 the said scheme, and is, and will be, interested in the 
 profits thereof. That the right to the exclusive produc- 
 tion upon the stage of said play is of great value to me. 
 I verily believe that during the time I am entitled to it 
 under my contract it will be, if I am protected in my 
 rights, worth upward of the sum of one hundred thousand 
 dollars. That I created the part of Stephanie, and have 
 played it nearly three hundred times in the kingdom of 
 Great Britain and Ireland. That I have acquired by 
 hard work, and the expenditure of a vast deal of money, 
 exceeding the sum of five thousand dollars, great artistic 
 notoriety in the part of Stephanie, and have made the play 
 of " Forget-Me-Not " one of the pecuniary successes of 
 the age. That hereunto annexed, marked " Exhibit J," 
 are transcripts from the leading London papers concern- 
 ing my production of said play, and my representation of 
 the leading character thereof. That, without vanity, I 
 verily believe the success of said play depends upon my 
 creation of the part of Stephanie. That, if said play is 
 permitted to be played, my right of property therein will 
 be greatly injured, and the said play will become valueless 
 to me. That no amount of damages that the defendants 
 are able to pay would repay me for the time and money 
 I have spent in introducing this often-rejected play to 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 22 5 
 
 the public. That the said play is announced for nightly 
 performance at said Wallack's Theatre, and that, as 
 deponent is informed and believes, the said defendants 
 are now arranging a company to play said piece in all the 
 principal cities of the United States ; that the production 
 of said play at said Wallack's Theatre, its continued per- 
 formance thereat, and the threats to license others to 
 produce .the same, in violation of my rights respecting 
 the subject of the action, and tending to render the judg- 
 ment to be recovered herein ineffectual, have all occurred 
 during the pendency of this action ; that final judgment 
 has not been rendered herein ; that I never intended that 
 the said play of " Forget-Me-Not " should be published 
 in America, and I do not now so intend. In fact, I do 
 not claim the right to copyright said play, as I am not 
 the author thereof, and I have never had any authority or 
 permission from said authors to copyright said play ; that 
 my object in depositing the title-page of said play was to 
 secure the title to said play, and the manuscript thereof. 
 I never deposited with the librarian of Congress any of 
 the printed books of said play. I was subsequently ad- 
 vised that the play, being the composition of foreign 
 authors, could not be the subject of a valid copyright, and 
 that publication was a condition precedent to obtaining 
 the same ; and, further, that I must rely upon my common 
 law rights, which would afford me adequate protection. 
 
 That the production of said play at said Wallack's 
 Theatre has already done me great pecuniary injury, and 
 if continued during the pendency of this action the in- 
 jury will be irreparable. 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Sworn to before me, this thirty-first day of December, 1880. 
 
 Miles F. Powers, 
 Notary Public, Kings County 
 Certificate filed in New-York County. 
 
226 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Superior Court of tfje <£itg of Nefo gorfe. 
 
 Genevieve Ward against Theodore Moss. 
 
 I, Frederick Charles of the city of London, Eng- 
 land, being duly sworn, say and declare, that I have in- 
 quired at Stationers' Hall, in the city of London, where 
 all plays or publications are recorded (if published or 
 printed), if the play " Forget-Me-Not," by Herman C. 
 Merivale and F. C. Grove, had been recorded or regis- 
 tered as printed and published- for public circulation or 
 sale, and found that it has not been done. I have also 
 inquired at the several printing-offices where plays are 
 printed and published, if said play had been printed or 
 published for public sale, and found it had not been. I 
 certify that to my certain knowledge, Miss Genevieve 
 Ward has expended much time, money, and assiduous 
 labor, in making the play " Forget-Me-Not " a success, 
 and that it is due to her personal energy and acting such 
 success is chiefly due. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 
 tenth day of December, A.D. 1880. 
 
 FREDERICK CHARLES. 
 
 Sworn by Frederick Charles, at the Consulate-General of the 
 United States of America, No. 53 Old Broad Street, in 
 the city of London, this the tenth day of December, 1880, 
 before me, 
 
 T. Nunn, 
 Vice and Deputy Consul-General and ex-offcio a Notary 
 Public of the United States at Lo?idon, and a Com- 
 [L.S.] missioner to administer oaths in the Supreme Court 
 of Judicature, in England. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 22*J 
 
 Superior Court of tfje Cttg of 'Nzta gorfe. 
 
 Genevieve Ward against Theodore Moss. 
 
 I, Bram Stoker of the city of London, England, do 
 solemnly swear and declare, that, at the time of making 
 the arrangement for the purchase by Miss G. Ward from 
 Herman Charles Merivale and Florence Crawford Grove 
 of the play of " Forget-Me-Not," no mention was made 
 to me or to my knowledge that the piece or any of the 
 rights thereto had been in any way previously disposed 
 of; and I was all along convinced that Miss Genevieve 
 Ward was purchasing from Messrs. H. C. Merivale and 
 F. C. Grove the sole and entire rights of the play for the 
 time and under the conditions specified in the agreement. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 
 tenth day of December, 1880. 
 
 BRAM STOKER. 
 
 Sworn by Bram Stoker, at the Consulate-General of the United 
 States of America, No. 53 Old Broad Street, in the city of 
 London, this the tenth day of December, 1880, before me, 
 
 T. Nunn, 
 Vice and Deputy Consul- General and ex-officio a Notary 
 Public of the United States at London, and a Com- 
 [l. S.] missioner to administer oaths in the Supreme Court 
 of Judicature hi England. 
 
 [Exhibit A.] 
 Memorandum of agreement ?nade the twenty-first day of 
 August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, between 
 Herman Charles Merivale of Barton Lodge, Kingston-on- 
 Thames, and Florence Crawford Grove of 4 Bolton Row t 
 Piccadilly (hereinafter called " the authors'''') of the one part, 
 and Genevieve Ward, of No. 10 Cavendish Road, Saint 
 John's Wood (hereinafter called " the purchaser ") of the other 
 part, whereby it is agreed as follows : — 
 
228 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 1. The authors who are the owners of the copyright 
 of a play called " Forget-Me-Not," hereby agree that the 
 purchaser shall have the sole right to produce for her 
 own performance the said play for performance for a 
 period of five years from the date hereof. The pur- 
 chaser agrees to pay for such right the sum of three 
 pounds for every occasion during the aforesaid period on 
 which the said play shall be produced by her in London, 
 and two pounds for every occasion during the aforesaid 
 period in which the play shall be produced by her else- 
 where. 
 
 2. So soon, however, as a sum of three hundred 
 pounds shall have been paid by the purchaser to the 
 authors, under the first clause of this agreement, she shall 
 from that time have the sole right, until the expiration of 
 the said term of five years, to produce for her own per- 
 formance the play at any place, without making any pay- 
 ment to the authors. 
 
 3. Upon the expiration of the said term of five years, 
 the purchaser shall (provided within three months from 
 that time she intimates in writing to the authors ad- 
 dressed, and sent by post to their last known places of 
 abode, of her wish to do so) have the sole right to pro- 
 duce for her own performance the said play for a further 
 period of five years upon precisely similar terms as re- 
 gards payment to the authors as those mentioned in this 
 agreement; the meaning and intention of the parties 
 hereto being that the purchaser shall in fact have a right 
 to renew this agreement for a second or further period of 
 five years. 
 
 4. Nothing in this agreement contained shall affect the 
 right of the authors to use the story for other than dra- 
 matic purposes. 
 
 HERMAN C. MERIVALE. 
 
 F. C. GROVE, 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD (Per A. L. W.). 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 229 
 
 [Exhibit B.] 
 
 "THE DAILY TELEGRAPH," LONDON, SEPT. 30, 1880. 
 Before Lord Coleridge — Merivale v. Ward. 
 
 This was a motion for an injunction to restrain the 
 defendant from performing or allowing to be performed 
 the play of " Forget-Me-Not," with the omission of one 
 of the characters. It appeared that the plaintiffs, Messrs. 
 Merivale and Grove, are the proprietors of the play, and 
 the defendant, Miss Genevieve Ward, had purchased 
 from them the sole right of representation for five years 
 from 1879. 
 
 Mr. Woodroffe appeared for the defendant, and ob- 
 jected that the matter was not vacation business. His 
 lordship said the motion was for an injunction to restrain 
 a performance now going on, and, in his opinion, was 
 properly vacation business. Mr. Woodroffe contended 
 that the character omitted was not an important one, and 
 that the plaintiffs had sustained no damage whatever. 
 The learned counsel handed up a copy of the play in 
 which the part in question was struck out in pencil by 
 the plaintiff Merivale himself. A letter was also pro- 
 duced, in which Mr. Merivale said the play was much too 
 lengthy, and was improved by the omission of the char- 
 acter " Rose." Mr. Ford said that Mr. Grove, the joint 
 author of the play, did not agree with this view. Lord 
 Coleridge observed that Mr. Grove had made no affidavit 
 in the case. Mr. Ford said this was owing to his ab- 
 sence on the Continent, and asked that the motion might 
 be adjourned. 
 
 His lordship refused to adjourn the motion, and, in 
 delivering judgment, said that before the plaintiffs could 
 be entitled to the injunction asked for they must show, 
 
230 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 first, that there had been a breach of the agreement; 
 secondly, that they were suffering serious damage by 
 such breach ; thirdly, that the damage would be irrepara- 
 ble if the court did not grant the injunction. Upon none 
 of these points had the plaintiffs succeeded, and it was 
 therefore his duty to refuse the motion with costs. 
 
 [Exhibit C] 
 
 Memorandum of agreement made the twenty-first day of August, 
 one thousa?id eight hundred and seventy-nine, between Herman 
 Charles Merivale, of Barton Lodge, Kingston-on-Tha?nes, and 
 Florence Crawford Grove, of 4 Bolton Road, Piccadilly, 
 Loiidon {hereinafter called "the attthors ") of the one part, and 
 Genevieve Ward, of No. 10 Cavendish Road, Saint John's 
 Wood (hereinafter called " the purchaser") of the other part, 
 whereby it is agreed as follows : — 
 
 1. The authors, who are the owners of the copyright 
 of a play called " Forget-Me-Not," hereby agree that the 
 purchaser shall have the sole right to produce, for her 
 own performance, the said play, in English, as written by 
 them, for a period of three years from the 21st August, 
 1879. The purchaser agrees to pay for such right the 
 sum of three (3) pounds sterling for every occasion dur- 
 ing the aforesaid period in which the play shall be pro- 
 duced by her in London, and two (2) pounds sterling for 
 every occasion during the aforesaid period in which the 
 play shall be produced by her elsewhere. 
 
 2. So soon, however, as a sum of three (3) hundred 
 pounds sterling shall have been paid by the purchaser to 
 the authors, under the first clause of this agreement, she 
 shall, from that time, have the sole right, until the expi- 
 ration of the said term of three years, to produce for her 
 own performance the play, at any place, without making 
 any payment to the authors. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 23 1 
 
 3. In the event of the purchaser ceasing to perform on 
 the stage in England for a period of three consecutive 
 months during the said term of three years, the authors 
 are to have the right to license any one else to produce 
 and perform the play, at any royalty they think fit to take ; 
 but accounting and paying to the purchaser one-half of 
 whatever royalty they do so take. 
 
 4. During the said period of three years the authors 
 shall have the right to license translations of the play 
 into a foreign language, for performance in any country 
 except Great Britain and Ireland and the United States. 
 
 5. During the said period of three years the authors 
 shall not use the story for any purpose whatsoever. 
 
 In witness, the hands of the parties, the day and year 
 first above written. 
 
 [Exhibit D, No. i.] 
 
 4 Bolton Row, May Fair, W., Sept. 13, 1879. 
 
 Dear Madame, — In order to prevent any possible 
 misunderstanding, I write to say that I do not at all admit 
 that you have the right to produce a translation of " For- 
 get-Me-Not." I regret having to trouble you, but I think 
 it best to have no doubt on this point. 
 I am faithfully yours, 
 
 F. C. GROVE. 
 
 [Exhibit D, No. 2.] 
 
 36 Theobald's Road, Gray's Inn, W.C., 
 7th February, 1880. 
 
 Sir, — "We are requested by Mr. Crawford Grove to 
 acknowledge the receipt of your letter to him of the 5th. 
 
 He is much surprised that a question which imputed 
 dishonorable conduct to himself and Mr. Merivale should 
 be repeated ; and, having regard to the way in which they 
 
232 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 have been treated, he is not inclined to assist you in 
 asserting ; 
 not admit. 
 
 asserting an alleged right, the evidence of which he does 
 
 We remain your obedient servants, 
 
 WALKER, MARTINEAU, & CO. 
 A. Lee Ward, Esq. 
 
 [Exhibit E.] 
 
 We, Florence Crawford Grove, of 4 Bolton Row, May- 
 fair, London, and Herman Charles Merivale, of Barton 
 Lodge, Kingston-on-Thames, England, do, in considera- 
 tion of the sum of one dollar, hereby transfer, assign, 
 set over, and convey to Theodore Moss, of Wallack's 
 Theatre, New York, all our right, title, and interest 
 in and for our play of " Forget-Me-Not," in and through- 
 out the United States of America, and we do hereby 
 authorize him to take any and all steps necessary for the 
 defence of the said right, title, and interest. 
 
 FLORENCE CRAWFORD GROVE, [l. s.] 
 HERMAN CHARLES MERIVALE. [l. s.] 
 Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of 
 T. W. Vrigon, 
 Consulate General U.S.A., London. 
 H. H. Nerdman, 
 Consulate General of the United States 
 of America for Great Britain and 
 Ireland, at London. 
 
 On the tenth day of March, 1880, before me, Joshua Nunn, 
 Vice and Deputy Consul General and Notary Public ex- 
 officio of the United States of America, residing at Lon- 
 don, England, personally appeared Florence Crawford 
 Grove and Herman Charles Merivale, to me known to 
 be the persons of that name severally described in, and 
 who have executed, the foregoing assignment or instrument, 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 2^3 
 
 and then and there acknowledged the same to be their free 
 and voluntary act and deed, for the uses and purposes 
 therein contained ; in testimony whereof I have hereunto 
 set my hand and affixed my official notarial seal, at Lon- 
 don aforesaid, the day and year above written. 
 [L. S.] J. NUNN, 
 
 Vice and Deputy Consul General, U. S. A., London* 
 
 [Exhibit F.] 
 "THE ERA," LONDON, OCT. 3, 1880. 
 "FORGET-ME-NOT." 
 To the Editor of the Era. 
 
 Sir, — There is a paragraph in your American news 
 with reference to this play which I am obliged to notice. 
 It throws doubt upon the " good faith " of Mr. Grove 
 and myself, states that our contract contains a clause sell- 
 ing the play for "Great Britain and elsewhere," and that 
 " unquestionably Mr. Moss's contract with us was made 
 prior to the other " — as your correspondent " hears " — 
 a year or more. 
 
 Imputations upon our good faith do not much trouble 
 men of Mr. Grove's character and mine ; but we are 
 not good at what is known and admired in the modern 
 dramatic world as " smartness," and it will probably be 
 some time before we have thoroughly sifted and exposed 
 a very discreditable affair, which, having begun with it, 
 w r e now intend to do. 
 
 There is no clause about " Great Britain and else- 
 where ; " and, if there had been, it would have exposed 
 its own futility, as, being British authors, we had no 
 rights outside our own country to give. The contract 
 described us as " owners of the copyright," and let 
 the play for so much a night in London, and so much 
 
234 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 elsewhere, — a word which does not mean the moon. 
 " Owners of the copyright " limits the operation of the 
 contract to places where we possessed it, — the Islands 
 and possibly the Colonies, about which last I don't know. 
 As for an " American right," people do not usually give, 
 or intend to give, what they haven't got. We might 
 just as well have let Buckingham Palace. The difficulty 
 of all English authors is to secure a right in America. 
 If it could be done by the very simple process of omit- 
 ting allusions to America in the agreement, that diffi- 
 culty would be strikingly simplified. I do not under- 
 stand how such a claim can be seriously put forward; 
 but no doubt the American courts will know how to 
 deal with it. 
 
 As to our agreement with Mr. Moss, we might, I pre- 
 sume, have made it when we liked, on principle of doing 
 what we please with our own. As a matter of fact, and 
 in spite of your correspondent's " unquestionable " infor- 
 mation, we made the assignment to Mr. Moss in the only 
 legal way we found practicable, six months or more after 
 the first contract, for no consideration in money whatever, 
 and in simple self-defence against the extraordinary 
 tricks then being practised on us and our play, both in 
 England and America. 
 
 While I am upon the subject, I may as well allude to 
 this morning's decision in the matter of the injunction 
 for which we applied to prevent the mutilation of the 
 play. I was myself in Leicester, and came up too late, 
 under the impression the case was to come on in the 
 afternoon. I therefore had no opportunity of explaining 
 what I must now reserve for a later period. That the 
 "letter" produced, without any statement of the cir- 
 cumstances which followed, makes the matter, in my 
 opinion, infinitely worse with reference especially to Mr. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 2$$ 
 
 Grove. But for all further action I shall wait till Mr. 
 Grove's return from the Continent, where he is at pres- 
 ent travelling. You will now have published " both sides 
 of the question " in a preliminary form, and will, I hope, 
 refrain from further discussion till the whole matter has 
 been the subject of inquiry. 
 
 Meanwhile, it is as well that authors and actors, from 
 their different points of view, should be thoroughly 
 aware that an original English play is now being acted 
 in London with the omission of a character in the mature 
 and deliberate judgment of both the authors essential, 
 after an express prohibition addressed to the responsible 
 manager of the Prince of Wales, three weeks before its 
 production, and by him deliberately disregarded. 
 Faithfully yours, 
 (Signed) HERMAN MERIVALE. 
 
 Sept. 29, 1880. 
 
 [Exhibit G.] 
 Nefo fgorfc &upert0r Court 
 
 Genevieve Ward against Theodore Moss. 
 
 Examination of Theodore Moss, in pursuance of an order made 
 kerein by Mr. Justice Sedgwick, on the fifth day of August, 
 1880. 
 
 I reside in the city of New York, and have resided 
 here for forty years past; have been engaged in the 
 theatrical business for a number of years ; have been, 
 and am now, engaged as a manager ; I know the play of 
 " Forget-Me-Not ; " I know that Merivale and Grove are 
 the authors of the play ; Mr. Merivale's first name is 
 Herman Charles, and Mr. Grove's full name is Florence 
 Crawford ; I do not know them personally. 
 
236 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Q. Do you claim an interest in the play of " Forget- 
 Me-Not " ? 
 
 Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 
 
 A. I do claim the entire and exclusive right and own- 
 ership of the play in the United States of America, to do 
 just as I please with it. 
 
 Q. When did you acquire that right ? 
 
 Objected to, and reserved. 
 
 A. Verbally in 1878. When I was notified by Col. 
 Sinn that Miss Ward claimed some rights in the play, I 
 notified Mr. Sinn that I owned the play ; and I then sent 
 to the authors for a written contract, which I received, 
 and a copy of which has been furnished to plaintiff's 
 attorney. 
 
 Q. Does your title to the play in question arise by a 
 purchase thereof? 
 
 Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 
 
 A. It does. 
 
 Q. From whom did you purchase- it? 
 
 Objected to, and answered as above. 
 
 A. From the authors above named. 
 
 Q. Was such purchase evidenced by any memorandum 
 in writing ? 
 
 Objected to, and answered as above. 
 
 A. The purchase was both verbal and written. 
 
 Q. Have you now got possession of the written part of 
 that agreement ? 
 
 Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 
 
 A, It is in the hands of my counsel, Mr. Dittenhoefer. 
 
 Q. Will you produce it on this examination, and show 
 it to me, as counsel to Miss Ward, and submit it for my 
 examination ? 
 
 Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 
 
 A. I will not, unless ordered to by the Court. 
 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 2^7 
 
 Q. When did you receive this written paper? 
 
 Objected to, and question reserved. 
 
 A. I must have received it after the tenth day of 
 March, 1880. I have no present recollection. 
 
 Q. Have you made any arrangement or contract for 
 the production of the play of " Forget-Me-Not " ? 
 
 A. I have made no arrangement, but have had some 
 negotiations for its production ; but have made no licenses 
 nor granted any permissions for its production. 
 
 Q. Do you intend to produce the play ? 
 
 Question objected to, and answered subject to ob- 
 jection. 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. Have you got a copy of the play in your pos- 
 session? 
 
 Objected to, and answered as above. 
 
 A. I have a copy, received from the authors them- 
 selves. 
 
 Q. Is the copy in your possession in print, or manu- 
 script ? 
 
 Objected to, and question reserved. 
 
 A. It is in print. 
 
 Q. When did you receive the copy of the play that 
 you have in your possession ? 
 
 Objected to, and question reserved. 
 
 A. The first copy that I had was in 1876, and that was 
 in print. 
 
 Q. Did the copy in your possession and the memo- 
 randum in your possession come to you at the same time, 
 or at different times? and, if at different times, which 
 came first ? 
 
 Objected to, and question reserved. 
 
 A. At different times, and a copy of the play came 
 first. 
 
238 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Q. Were your negotiations for the purchase conducted 
 by correspondence with the authors, or conducted through 
 the medium of a third person ? 
 
 Objected to, and question reserved. 
 
 A. I received the play first through my agent, Mr. 
 Floyd: the negotiations were partly conducted by him 
 and partly by myself. 
 
 Q. Have you in your possession any letters from the 
 authors, or either of them, upon the subject of the pur- 
 chase, or of acquiring your title to this play ? 
 
 Objected to, and answered as above. 
 
 A. I have a number of them. 
 
 Q. Who are those letters from ? 
 
 Objected to, and question reserved. 
 
 A. From Mr. Merivale. 
 
 Q. About when are those letters dated, and about 
 when were they received ? 
 
 Objected to, and declines to answer. 
 
 Q. At the time you purchased the play of " Forget-Me- 
 Not," or the right to produce it in America, or whatever 
 proprietary interest you may have therein, were you 
 informed by any person that the plaintiff, Genevieve 
 Ward, had an interest in the play ? 
 
 Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 
 
 A. When I first received the play, Miss Ward had 
 never heard of it, as I am informed ; since that I have 
 been informed by the authors that she never had any 
 rights in the United States. 
 
 Q. When the authors so informed you, did he or they 
 inform you what rights Miss Ward had ? 
 
 Objected to, and reserved. 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. When you were informed by the authors that the 
 plaintiff had no rights in the United States, was it before, 
 or after, your purchase ? 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 239 
 
 Objected to, and reserved. 
 
 A. It was after. 
 
 Q. Was the information you speak of respecting Miss 
 Ward's want of right in the United States conveyed to 
 you in writing? 
 
 Objected to, and answered as above. 
 
 A. It was. 
 
 Q. Will you produce that letter, and allow me, as 
 counsel for Miss Ward, to examine it? 
 
 Objected to, and answered as above. 
 
 A. I will not, unless ordered by the Court. 
 
 Q. Why will you not produce it ? 
 
 A. Because I am advised by the counsel that is not 
 proper. 
 
 Adjourned by consent to Aug. 31, 1880, at 12 M. 
 
 Adjourned by consent to Sept. 7, 1880, at 12 M. 
 
 JOHN H. BIRD, 
 
 Plaintiff 's Attorney. 
 
 I sold the right to produce the play to Mr. Wallack for 
 the city of New York. I did that before my examination 
 in this cause ; but I did not think, when I was inquired of 
 respecting transfers, that you meant to refer to. Wallack's 
 Theatre. The license to Wallack is verbal, and made 
 ever since I have had the play. 
 
 Q. What consideration, if any, did you pay for the 
 assignment of the play to you ? 
 
 A. An agreement to pay royalties. The agreement as 
 to royalties was by correspondence. I don't remember 
 the date. I don't know when the play will be produced 
 at Wallack's. 
 
 Cross-exaimned. — I first got a printed copy in Decem- 
 ber, 1876, or January, 1877. I returned the play to the 
 authors. In T878 we telegraphed or wrote to send the 
 

 240 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 play back, as we had a chance to produce the play. In 
 December, 1878, got a printed copy of the play back. 
 About the time I received the written contract, I got 
 three or four copies from the authors. 
 
 THEODORE MOSS. 
 
 Sworn to before me this sixth day of December, 1880. 
 
 A. A. Cauldwell, 
 Notary Public ; New-York Co. 
 
 [Exhibit H.] 
 
 Vaudeville Theatre, Feb. 7, 1880. 
 
 My Dear Mr. Ward, — I am in the middle of re- 
 hearsal, so please excuse my writing in great haste with 
 such material as I can find. 
 
 I have seen your letter to Mr. Grove, in which you used 
 the word " sold " in regard to " Forget-Me-Not." I never 
 asserted in any way the play had been sold to me. 
 
 What I informed you was, that, by Mr. Merivale's 
 desire, I some years ago caused the right to be registered 
 in America in my name and that of an American citizen, 
 to produce a propriety right for the authors. It appears 
 Mr. Grove was never told of this : he now knows this 
 fact. In haste, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 JNO, CLAYTON 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 241 
 
 [Exhibit I.] 
 WALLACK'S. 
 
 Mr. Lester Wallack Proprietor and Manager. 
 
 Memorandum. 
 With the compliments of Mr. Theodore Moss, Treasurer. 
 
 New York, Jan. 14, 1880. 
 
 John H. Bird, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am in receipt of a circular from you rela- 
 tive to the play of " Forget-Me-Not ; " and I would notify 
 you in return, that, whatever rights your client may pos- 
 sess in the piece for Great Britain, she has none for 
 America. For your further information, I would state 
 that I acquired the only legitimate right to " Forget-Me- 
 Not " for this country direct from Mr. Herman Merivale, 
 as I shall be prepared to show when occasion demands. 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 THEO. MOSS. 
 
 [Exhibit J.] 
 
 MISS GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 " FORGET-ME-NOT." 
 
 Prince of Wales's Theatre, London. 
 
 A success upon which Miss Genevieve Ward and play- 
 goers are equally to be congratulated. The acting of 
 Miss Ward is beyond question fine : her manner is excel- 
 lent. Through all her banter and her fencing with her 
 opponent, which is expressed with admirable point and 
 vivacity, she never permits one to lose sight of the terri- 
 ble earnestness of her purpose, and her resolve to push 
 
242 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the weapon chance has put into her hands home to the 
 very hilt. The first dawn, too, of that sheer physical 
 fear to which she is eventually to succumb, and her 
 efforts to suppress it, are very finely marked. — The 
 Times. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward's Stephanie, Marquise de Moh- 
 rivart, gambler, adventuress, false friend, and pitiless 
 enemy, may fairly take rank among the most powerful 
 impersonations the modern stage has seen. Although 
 Stephanie is shown chiefly as a woman of invincible 
 determination, working out her own plans with an utter 
 disregard of the feelings of those in her power, and 
 doing all this under cover of an imperturbably sarcastic 
 and polished manner, the character is an extremely diffi- 
 cult one to play. The woman, wicked as she is, and 
 relentless as she glories in appearing, is not wholly lost 
 to softer emotions. She has her brief flashes of tender- 
 ness, and her equally transient sensations of shame, to 
 express. While at war with all the world of respecta- 
 bility, she has to make her abject appeal to be allowed a 
 place in that world ; and these alternations of feeling are 
 presented by Miss Genevieve Ward with a power and 
 truthfulness we have very rarely seen approached. Her 
 appeal to Sir Horace Welby when, wishing to lead a new 
 life, she implores him to be silent as to her disreputable 
 antecedents, is as quietly touching and pathetic as her 
 sudden outburst of indignation after he has, by way of 
 answer, threatened her with exposure is impressive in its 
 concentrated passion. Miss Ward plays this scene of 
 the appeal and the defiance very finely. The reception 
 given to " Forget-Me-Not " was nothing short of enthusi- 
 astic. — Morning Advertiser. 
 
 No spectator can fail to admire the power and inten- 
 sity of Miss Genevieve Ward's impersonation of the 
 heroine. — Daily News. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 243 
 
 Of Miss Genevieve Ward's fine performance of Ste- 
 phanie we have had occasion before now to express our 
 hearty admiration. It is a brilliant impersonation, care- 
 fully thought out, artistically finished, and intimating in 
 the actress not alone poetic imagination and histrionic 
 passion, but also that mental culture which gives to 
 acting a certain intellectual charm not very easy of defi- 
 nition, but irresistible in its influence. It is high praise, 
 but no higher than she deserves, to say of Miss Ward, 
 that in the subtlety of her by-play and the general refine- 
 ment of her execution she at times reminds us of Madame 
 Ristori. — Morning Post. 
 
 A signal success in the present instance is obtained, 
 and the enthusiasm aroused was of a kind that can 
 scarcely fail to spread to succeeding audiences. Miss 
 Genevieve Ward has thoroughly mastered the character 
 of Stephanie, the heroine, and gives in it an example of 
 art equally remarkable for breadth and delicacy. Not a 
 movement, not a gesture, is there which is not carefully 
 thought out. The whole affords an instance of that 
 patient elaboration to which the highest results in art 
 are due. In appearance, and in every other respect, the 
 performance is a masterpiece of exposition, establishing 
 the position of the actress, and rendering as interesting 
 as possible a character which from the first is intended 
 to be anti-pathetic. — Globe. 
 
 I would earnestly advise all those who are interested 
 in the higher phases of dramatic art to pay a visit to the 
 Prince of Wales's Theatre. It is a long time since I 
 have seen such an actress as Miss Genevieve Ward; and 
 in her knowledge of her art, and her power of giving ex- 
 pression to it, she has certainly no rival at present on the 
 English stage. Of drawing-room charade acting, of carv- 
 ing on cherry-stones, and the representation of society 
 
244 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 prettiness, we have had in all conscience enough. Such a 
 performance as that now given by Miss Ward reminds 
 us pleasantly that acting is an art, and comforts us with 
 the feeling that in our day it has still an exponent. The 
 interest centres in Miss Ward ; and the subtlety and 
 power of her acting haunt the memory when all else is 
 forgotten. — World. 
 
 Without a doubt, the best performance of last year 
 was the Stephanie of Miss Genevieve Ward, a study of 
 female character so nervous, forcible, and expressive, so 
 different from the fastidious littleness and faded pretti- 
 ness that occasionally elbow their way into the com- 
 panionship of art, that all who saw it last autumn re- 
 corded their favorable impression of it without hesitation, 
 and wished that London had been at home to see that 
 rare combination, a good play thoroughly well acted. 
 Good as was Miss Genevieve Ward at the outset, she is 
 far better now. The study of the fated Stephanie is 
 rounded, finished, polished, and made more thoroughly 
 convincing. Fanciful people will complain that Stepha- 
 nie is a bad woman, and, as such, has no right to pose as 
 the heroine of a drama : they will gather up their moral 
 skirts, and wonder what interest can be attached to the 
 ambition, the hesitation, the defeat, and the despair of 
 this proud, cold, passionless beauty. But those who love 
 bold acting and good art will here find a study most 
 worthy of contemplation, from the time when Stephanie 
 bursts upon the scene to the saddened hour when crushed, 
 humiliated, broken, and paralyzed with fear, she crouches 
 at the presence of the instrument of her doom, and totters 
 from the scene a wreck and a ruin. In cold and defiant 
 sarcasm, Miss Ward is excellent to a fault; in the ex- 
 pression of a just and righteous indignation, as when she 
 lashes with her tongue the selfishness and cowardice of 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 245 
 
 her arch-enemy, man, she is exalted and absolutely con- 
 vincing. In her physical fear she is horribly true ; but 
 it is in the passages when a better nature is struggling 
 with a studied indifference, when acting is fighting with 
 reality, when the woman is wrestling with the fiend, and 
 the heart is striving for mastery with the manner, that 
 Miss Genevieve Ward gives her best contribution to art. 
 The expression of the face shows what a mental conflict 
 is raging, and there are countless instances where the 
 woman's nature changes at the dictation of art. Acting 
 so striking as this seldom fails ; and we seem to perceive 
 in the surprise and content of the audience a recognition 
 that is seldom delayed. — The Daily Telegraph. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward's performance of the Marquise 
 is a singularly forcible conception, carried out with rare 
 art. At times the actress rises to a height of passion and 
 emotional power seldom seen upon our stage. — Standard. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward plays the adventuress, Stepha- 
 nie, with an elaboration of detail, and a finish, both of 
 which are remarkable. A performance with more that 
 is genuine, original, and powerful has not recently been 
 seen on the stage. — Athenceum. 
 
 In the present instance a portrait, as shown us by Miss 
 Genevieve Ward, stands out in such rich and glowing 
 colors as are rarely to be seen on the canvas of the 
 English stage. A more magnificent performance than 
 that of Miss Ward has not been witnessed for years. A 
 public which greeted Sarah Bernhardt with adulation, 
 and applauded her with effusion, cannot fail to recognize 
 that in Genevieve Ward stands, not the rival of the 
 French woman, but her superior. Miss Ward gains her 
 triumph by no brnyant effects, no coarse exaggeration, 
 but by subtle touches, the grand passion, and the dra- 
 matic force which are the characteristics of a true artist. 
 
246 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 In her great scene with Mr. Clayton (who plays Sir Hor- 
 ace Welby) the way she turns upon him, the former 
 companion of Madame de Mohrivart's vices, but now the 
 defender of injured innocence, is not less fine in its treat- 
 ment than her abject terror when the image of the aven- 
 ging Corsican in the garden is disclosed to her. The 
 insolence and the bravado of the notorious adventuress 
 in Act II. have changed in this last scene to the utter 
 helplessness of the horror-struck woman, and bring down 
 the curtain upon a faultless display of the histrionic art. — 
 Life. 
 
 The actress who plays the Marquise de Mohrivart finds 
 provided for her by the authors of " Forget-Me-Not " a 
 character drawn with a firm hand, with unflinching con- 
 sistency, and with a general feeling for dramatic effect. 
 The role is in many ways a repulsive one, and calls for 
 no little courage, as well as ability, on the part of the 
 actress who would do it full justice. This courage is not 
 lacking in Miss Genevieve Ward, who never wavers in 
 her determination to present to us the painted adven- 
 turess, hard, selfish, cruel, and subject only on the rarest 
 of occasions to spasms of womanly feeling. The art by 
 which the actress gives to her embodiment a power akin 
 to the fascination of the rattlesnake, by which she makes 
 Stephanie's baleful influence felt in every tone of the 
 smooth, calm voice, in every smile of the glittering eyes, 
 and, most of all, in the woman's resolute repose, is unmis- 
 takable. The traces of humanity in the fiendish nature 
 are indicated with consummate tact ; bursts of eloquence 
 come without apparent effort when they are called for, 
 and not a single point of the difficult study is missed. 
 The performance was a fine one when Miss Ward first 
 attempted it; now that she has many times repeated it, 
 it has gained in fulness and ripeness, without any ap- 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 2/fl 
 
 proach to over-emphasis or to staginess. It should on 
 no account be missed by those who can enjoy watching 
 a powerful dramatic conception, powerfully worked out. 
 The success of " Forget-Me-Not " was last night even 
 more pronounced than on the occasion of its original 
 production. — Observer. 
 
 Miss G. Ward acts, with much power and great finish, 
 a part that would be worthless in the hands of a less- 
 practised artiste. It is not a character which creates the 
 slightest sympathy, and consequently her success is more 
 difficult to attain, and more creditable when reached. 
 There was great applause at the end of each act, and 
 Miss Ward, in the second act, was applauded from all 
 parts of the house with a heartiness and persistence that 
 seldom occurs. — Weekly Times. 
 
 The great theatrical hit for which we have been wait- 
 ing so long has come at last ! The re-opening of the 
 Prince of Wales's Theatre with Miss Genevieve Ward's 
 " Forget-Me-Not " has fulfilled all the anticipations which 
 had been formed of its success. Of Miss Ward's mag- 
 nificent impersonation of the heroine, it need only be' 
 said, that it is one of the finest pieces of acting on the 
 London stage. The immense talent displayed by Miss 
 Ward in the character of Stephanie will be long remem- 
 bered. — Cottrt Journal. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward assumed her original part of the 
 vindictive, scheming woman, who has attained the cog- 
 nomen of " Forget-Me-Not." Her acting is certainly 
 artistic and finished, and she met with well-deserved 
 success in a character which is all "against the audi- 
 ence." — Lloyd 's Weekly. 
 
 " Forget-Me-Not " is decidedly the best original drama 
 written last year, and Miss Genevieve Ward is decidedly 
 the only actress I know of on the English stage fitted to 
 
248 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 grapple with the terrible central character of the play. 
 She is an actress of intense power and passion, and she 
 has made a marvellously close and artistic study of this 
 wonderful character. Stray depths of possible tender- 
 ness and gentleness are curiously suggested in Stepha- 
 nie's character. Under all the icy sarcasm and jarring 
 levity of her words we see the workings of a woman's 
 heart, a yearning for something better and purer in her 
 life, that shines up through all the sins of the past. The 
 sin is all but redeemed by the strong shame that breaks 
 upon her as she thinks of the absolute wreck of her life. 
 You see it in the working of the face, in quivering lips 
 and close-clasped hands ; you hear it in the sudden break 
 that comes in the clear, pitiless voice. It is acting of the 
 very highest order, and nothing so strong or so passion- 
 ate is to be seen on any stage in London. — Vanity Fair. 
 
 " Forget-Me-Not " gives Miss Ward an opportunity for 
 acting which recalls the triumphs of Madame Ristori, 
 and should not be missed by any genuine play-goer, for 
 it is as powerful as it is rare. — Victoria Magazi7ie. 
 
 In the comedy scenes, that is to say, throughout the 
 first two acts, Miss Genevieve Ward is perfect. " For- 
 get-Me-Not " is worth seeing for the sake of the principal 
 part, and the principal part is worth seeing for the artistic 
 style in which Miss Genevieve Ward fills it. The result 
 of so perfect a representation of a really interesting play 
 was seen in the abundant applause at the fall of the 
 curtain. — Pall Mall. 
 
 In the Marquise, Miss Genevieve Ward has a splendid 
 opportunity, and she rises to it ; the result being a most 
 finished and elaborate portrait of the scheming adven- 
 turess. Every look, every word, every tone, has all the 
 significance imparted to it, which long artistic training, 
 combined with talent of a high order, can bestow; and it 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 249 
 
 would be well-nigh an impossibility to find a better ex- 
 ponent of the character than Miss Ward has proved her- 
 self to be. — Sporting Opi7iion. 
 
 In Stephanie de Mohrivart, Miss Genevieve Ward has 
 a part which fits her like a glove, and in the stronger 
 scenes she played with a singular power. Her perform- 
 ance was throughout a consistent one, and to a high 
 degree artistic, and she well deserved the lavish applause 
 with which her efforts were greeted. — The Scotsman. 
 
 The consummate art displayed by Miss Genevieve 
 Ward has led us on from one scene to another, until the 
 catastrophe happens in its own good time, to release us 
 from the weird thraldom in which she had held us. It is 
 long since we have seen such a frank success upon the 
 London boards. — Dziblin Eve?iing Telegraph. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward's impersonation is one to be 
 seen, and will not readily be forgotten. — Sporting and 
 Dramatic News. 
 
 To Miss Genevieve Ward the play belongs. Of her 
 impersonation of Stephanie we have already spoken in 
 terms of the warmest eulogy. We have recognized in this 
 embodiment, artistic skill, grace, animation, vigor, pathos, 
 and in certain scenes genuine comedy power. We have 
 told how the caustic, sarcastic utterances of the beautiful 
 merciless woman of the world were given with such keen 
 point, variety, and expression, that they fell from her lips 
 like sparks of fire ; we have said how grandly was pre- 
 sented the transition from sparkling badinage to vehe- 
 ment scorn which marks the great scene of the second 
 act, where Miss Genevieve Ward's tones were scorching 
 in their fierce invective, where her attitudes were majestic, 
 and where the facial expression magnificently indicated 
 the supposed turbulent working of Stephanie's soul ; and 
 further, we have commented upon the tragic force of the 
 
250 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 final situation, where the terrors of a violent death are 
 upon the guilty woman, where the horrors of remorse 
 rack her conscience, and where, almost swooning with 
 fear and palsied with fright, she crawls from the pres- 
 ence of her foe, who is waiting to take her life. Miss 
 Ward's acting in this scene, we have been bold enough 
 to say, might without exaggeration be compared with the 
 grandest efforts of a Ristori or Rachel. This is high 
 praise, but it is thoroughly well deserved. The actress 
 last Saturday seemed to cast a spell over her audience. 
 Pulses beat fast in that encounter with Sir Horace, 
 where, having been stung by his bitter words, Stephanie 
 turns upon him with vindictive scorn and flashing eyes ; 
 recalls the dissipation of the past, and cries aloud, " There 
 would be no place in creation for such women as I, if it 
 were not for such men as you ; " while the effect upon 
 her spectators in the last act was manifest by the breath- 
 less silence which reigned, a silence which denoted awe 
 as well as interest, and which gave unmistakable proof of 
 the actress's power. Cheers and floral compliments were 
 not wanting, but this marvellous silence was the best 
 compliment that could be paid to the artiste. — Era. 
 
 Meanwhile, as the principal combatant, for such she is 
 in a play made up of combat, Miss Genevieve Ward is 
 superb. We can recall few performances on the modern 
 stage that are finer, more artistic, more careful, more con- 
 scientious, more thoughtful, more sustained ; whether in 
 the insolence of triumph or the despair of defeat, the 
 performance is alike powerful. Her appearance, as she 
 enters the house she has determined to make her own, 
 is perfect, and during her stay on the stage she fills it. 
 Even in her concluding cowardice and abjectness she still 
 triumphs, and she departs bearing our enforced homage. 
 The acting is quite enough to make a reputation. — Sun- 
 day Times. 
 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 25 I 
 
 What shall I say of Miss Ward ? Such acting as hers, 
 as the Marquise, must either be analyzed for pages by 
 Balzac, such is its astonishing fidelity to nature, its mar- 
 vellous subtlety and attention to the minutest details, — 
 or dismissed with one word — perfect. I prefer the last 
 alternative. I repeat the word, perfect, most perfect. It 
 is superfluous to compliment so very great an artist. 
 Strange ! Miss Ward looks, as Stephanie, the exact 
 image of the Empress Eugenie as she was before her 
 misfortunes. — Town and Country. 
 
 Miss Ward has no equal in her profession as an expo- 
 nent of the strongly denned, passionate heroines of the 
 stage. — Sketch. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward is an actress of very remark- 
 able power. She has a fine figure and voice, a quiet 
 power in every line of her face and in every gesture ; and 
 that itself is one of the highest requisites of an actress, 
 for it • makes every thing she does interesting. Again, 
 she is perfectly simple and refined in her manner, and her 
 playfulness has an air of distinction : it is that of a 
 woman in whom playfulness is the unbending of strength, 
 not the dissipation of all the little energy of character 
 there is. And what is more, perhaps, than any of these 
 characteristics, Miss Ward is not absorbed in her own 
 part. She is anxious to give full effect to the parts of 
 the other actors as she is to her own. Her power was so 
 singular and so remarkable, and it was the power of 
 so much mental culture, that we may fairly congratulate 
 the English stage on the presence of a new actress of the 
 first class amongst us. — Spectator. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward, as Stephanie, shows herself to 
 be a true artiste. The strong dramatic power which she 
 exhibits is no less admirable than the ironical tone of 
 comedy, which is the main characteristic of the part. In 
 
252 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 the last scene, Miss Ward's performance is of the highest 
 order. If the gradual escape from the room were done 
 with the least want of force or artistic feeling, it might 
 go hard with the play. In Miss Ward's hands the situa- 
 tion becomes thrilling. — Saturday Review. 
 
 [Exhibit K.] 
 
 "NEW-YORK HERALD," DEC. 28, 1879. 
 
 To Managers and the Theatrical Profession generally. 
 
 Miss Genevieve Ward hereby gives notice that she is 
 the owner, and has the sole right to produce the play of 
 " Forget-Me-Not " in the United States and elsewhere ; 
 that she has duly copyrighted same, and will prosecute 
 all infringers by injunction and otherwise. 
 
 JOHN H. BIRD, 
 
 Attorney in fact, 
 137 Broadway, New York. 
 
 [Exhibit L.] 
 
 To : 
 
 Notice is hereby given, that the undersigned did, on 
 the twenty-first day of August, 1879, at the city of Lon- 
 don, England, purchase from Herman Charles Merivale 
 and Florence Crawford Grove, the authors of the play 
 called " Forget-Me-Not," the exclusive right to produce 
 the same in the kingdom of Great Britain, in this country, 
 and elsewhere, for a period of years ; and that the same 
 was duly copyrighted at Washington on the thirtieth day 
 of September, 1879. 
 
 This notice is given because of information, just re- 
 ceived by me, that Miss Jeffreys Lewis, and others, are 
 endeavoring to secure engagements to produce this play 
 in the principal theatres of the United States. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 253 
 
 I trust that my rights of ownership will be readily 
 respected by all managers and members of the theatrical 
 profession generally. 
 
 If, however, notwithstanding this notice, you should 
 proceed, and attempt to produce the play, in defiance of 
 my exclusive rights in the premises, then I will resort to 
 the cpurts, and protect those rights by injunction, and all 
 other protective and compensatory measures known to 
 the law. 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD, 
 By John H. Bird, Attorney, 
 137 Broadway, Room 5, New York. 
 
 New York, Jan. 2, 1880. 
 
 N.B. — I am about concluding a contract with Col. 
 William E. Sinn, sole lessee and manager of the Brook- 
 lyn Park Theatre, for the production in the United States 
 and Canada of the above play of " Forget-Me-Not," for 
 the season of 1880-81. For terms and dates, please 
 address him at Brooklyn Park Theatre, Brooklyn, Kings 
 County, New York. 
 
 [Exhibit M.] 
 
 " FORGET-ME-NOT." 
 
 The New Play, by Herman Charles Merivale and Florence 
 Crawford Grove. 
 
 To Managers, Owners, and Proprietors of Theatres throughout 
 the United States. 
 
 The undersigned gives notice that he is the sole and 
 exclusive owner for the United States of this play, with 
 the sole and exclusive right of representing the same, by 
 purchase and assignment from the authors and proprie- 
 
254 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 tors, and that he will prosecute all parties infringing on 
 his right of property in the said play. 
 
 THEODORE MOSS. 
 Dated New York, April g, 1880. 
 
 [Exhibit N.] 
 
 CABLE MESSAGE. 
 
 New York, May 3, 1880. 
 Bird, 137 Broadway, New York. 
 
 Can do nothing here now.. Find out what royalty- 
 Moss would take. 
 
 WARD. 
 17, Paris. 
 
 [Exhibit O.] 
 
 June 16, 1880. 
 Mr. Theodore Moss. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Miss Ward writes me from London, re- 
 questing that I procure from you a copy of the agree- 
 ment between the authors of " Forget-Me-Not " and 
 yourself. Will you kindly comply with her request, or 
 advise me at what time and place I can send, and have "a 
 copy made ? I sincerely trust you may feel at liberty to 
 grant this courtesy. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 JOHN H. BIRD. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 255 
 
 INDEX OF NAMES 
 
 OF FAMILIES THAT HAVE INTERMARRIED WITH THE 
 WARD FAMILY AND ITS DESCENDANTS OF VARIOUS 
 NAMES, AS GIVEN IN " THE WARD FAMILY," PUBLISHED 
 BY SAMUEL G. DRAKE, BOSTON, 1851. 
 
 Abbe. 
 
 Babcock. 
 
 Abbey. 
 
 Bacheller. 
 
 Abbott. 
 
 Bacon. 
 
 Ackley. 
 
 Bagley. 
 
 Adams. 
 
 Bailey. 
 
 A ins worth. 
 
 Baird. 
 
 Albee. 
 
 Baker. 
 
 Alden. 
 
 Baldwin. 
 
 Aldrich. 
 
 Ball. 
 
 Alexander. 
 
 Ballard. 
 
 Alfrey. 
 
 Bancroft. 
 
 Allen. 
 
 Bannister. 
 
 Ames. 
 
 Barber. 
 
 Amsden. 
 
 Barnard. 
 
 Andrews. 
 
 Barnes. 
 
 Angier. 
 
 Barnum. 
 
 Appleton. 
 
 Barrell. 
 
 Aravello. 
 
 Barrett. 
 
 Arnold. 
 
 Bartlett. 
 
 Ashley. 
 
 Barton. 
 
 Atherton. 
 
 Bascom. 
 
 Atwater. 
 
 Basset. 
 
 Atwood. V 
 
 Bates. 
 
 Austin. 
 
 Bathrick. 
 
 Avery. 
 
 Battle. 
 
 Ayling. 
 
 Bayley. 
 
 Ayres. 
 
 Beade. 
 
 Beaman. 
 
 Bean. 
 
 Bedford. 
 
 Bellows. 
 
 Bemis. 
 
 Bennet. 
 
 Bently. 
 
 Bickford. 
 
 Bidwell. 
 
 Bigelow. 
 
 Bird. 
 
 Bisbee. 
 
 Bishop. 
 
 Bixby. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Blackman. 
 
 Blake. 
 
 Blanchard. 
 
 Blodget. 
 
 Blood. 
 
 Bond. 
 
 Booth. 
 
 Bouker. 
 
 Bowman. 
 
 Boyenton. 
 
 Bracket. 
 
 Bradish. 
 
 Bray. 
 
 Breck. 
 
256 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Brewer. 
 
 Brewster. 
 
 Bridges. 
 
 Briggs. 
 
 Brigham. 
 
 Brookins. 
 
 Bromly. 
 
 Brown. 
 
 Broughton. 
 
 Brownell. 
 
 Bryant. 
 
 Bucknam. 
 
 Buffington. 
 
 Bullard. 
 
 Burchard. 
 
 Burgess. 
 
 Burnham. 
 
 Burnap. 
 
 Burnet. 
 
 Burns. 
 
 Bur rase. 
 
 Burrc 
 
 Burt. 
 
 Bushnell. 
 
 Busnam. 
 
 Butler. 
 
 Cabot. 
 
 Caldwell. 
 
 Cady. 
 
 Call. 
 
 Callender. 
 
 Cameron. 
 
 Canfield. 
 
 Carpenter. 
 
 C apron. 
 
 Carey. 
 
 Carlton. 
 
 Carrington. 
 
 Carruth. 
 
 Carter. 
 
 Castle. 
 
 Caswell. 
 
 Chadwick. 
 
 Chambers. 
 
 Chamberlain. 
 
 Cr oxford. 
 
 Chandler. 
 
 Cudderbuck. 
 
 Chapin. 
 
 Cummins. 
 
 Chapman. 
 
 Curtis. 
 
 Chase. 
 
 Cutler. 
 
 Cheesbrough. 
 
 Cutting. 
 
 Cheney. 
 
 Cutts. 
 
 Chesmore. 
 
 Cuzzens. 
 
 Child. 
 
 
 Childs. 
 
 
 Church. 
 
 D. 
 
 Churchill. 
 
 Dakin. 
 
 Cilley. 
 
 Dalrymple. 
 
 Claflin. 
 
 Dame. 
 
 Clapp. 
 
 Danforth. 
 
 Clark. 
 
 Daniels. 
 
 Clary. 
 
 Darling. 
 
 Cleaveland. 
 
 Davenport. 
 
 C lough. 
 
 Davids. 
 
 Coates. 
 
 Davis. 
 
 Cobb. 
 
 Davison- 
 
 Coe. 
 
 Dawes. 
 
 Coggin. 
 
 Day. 
 
 Cole. 
 
 Dean. 
 
 Colman. 
 
 Dehanne. 
 
 Columbia. 
 
 Delano. 
 
 Comins. 
 
 Demond. 
 
 Con ant. 
 
 Dennehe. 
 
 Converse. 
 
 Dennis. 
 
 Cook. 
 
 Dennison. 
 
 Cooley. 
 
 Denny. 
 
 Coolidge. 
 
 Denzelo. 
 
 Cooper. 
 
 Derby. 
 
 Corbett. 
 
 Dewey. 
 
 Cornell. 
 
 Dexter. 
 
 Cornish. 
 
 Dibbell. 
 
 Corthell. 
 
 Dickinson. 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 Dike. 
 
 Covil. 
 
 Dix. 
 
 Cowdin. 
 
 Doan. 
 
 Cowles. 
 
 Dodge. 
 
 Cox. 
 
 Dole. 
 
 Craft. 
 
 Doolittle. 
 
 Cranston. 
 
 Dow. 
 
 Crosby. 
 
 Drake. 
 
 Crossman. 
 
 Draper. 
 
 Crouch. 
 
 Drew. 
 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 257 
 
 Drury. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Dudley. 
 
 Duger. 
 
 Dunklee. 
 
 Dunton. 
 
 Durgen. 
 
 Dyer. 
 
 Eager. 
 
 Eames. 
 
 Earle. 
 
 Eastman. 
 
 Easton. 
 
 Eaton. 
 
 Eddy. 
 
 Edmands. 
 
 Edson. 
 
 Elder. 
 
 Elkins. 
 
 Elliot. 
 
 Ellis. 
 
 Elmes. 
 
 Emerson. 
 
 Emery. 
 
 Enos. 
 
 Este. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fairbank. 
 
 Farley. 
 
 Farnsworth. 
 
 Farwell. 
 
 Fay. 
 
 Fennell. 
 
 Ferrin. 
 
 Ferry. 
 
 Fessenden. 
 
 Field. 
 
 Fife. 
 
 Finney. 
 
 Fitch. 
 
 Fisher. 
 
 Fisk. 
 
 Fiske. 
 
 Fitts. 
 
 Flagg. 
 
 Flint. 
 
 Fload. 
 
 Flowers. 
 
 Fosket. 
 
 Fowler. 
 
 Freeman. 
 
 French. 
 
 Fuller. 
 
 G. 
 
 Galbraith. 
 
 Gardner. 
 
 Garfield. 
 
 Gates. 
 
 Gay. 
 
 Gaylord. 
 
 Gerald. 
 
 Gilbert. 
 
 Gill. 
 
 Gilmore. 
 
 Gillet. 
 
 Gillis. 
 
 Glazier. 
 
 Gleason. 
 
 Goddard. 
 
 Godfrey. 
 
 Goodale. 
 
 Gorham. 
 
 Goss. 
 
 Gould. 
 
 Goulding. 
 
 Gove. 
 
 Graham. 
 
 Granger. 
 
 Grant. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Greenwood. 
 
 Grosvenor. 
 
 Grover. 
 
 Guliker. 
 
 Gunn. 
 
 Gurney. 
 
 Hall. 
 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Hammond. 
 
 Hanks. 
 
 Hannum. 
 
 Hapgood. 
 
 Harback. 
 
 Hardy. 
 
 Harman. 
 
 Harris. 
 
 Harrington. 
 
 Harroon. 
 
 Harper. 
 
 Hart. 
 
 Hartwell. 
 
 Harvey. 
 
 Harwood. 
 
 Haskell. 
 
 Hastings. 
 
 Hawes. 
 
 Hay den. 
 
 Haynes. 
 
 Hays. 
 
 Hayward. 
 
 Hazeltine. 
 
 Head. 
 
 Heald. 
 
 Heath. 
 
 Hedge. 
 
 Hemphill. 
 
 Henry. 
 
 Henshaw. 
 
 Herbert. 
 
 Herrick. 
 
 Heywood. 
 
 Higbee. 
 
 Higgins. 
 
 Hill. 
 
 Hilton. 
 
 Hinman. 
 
 Hitchcock. 
 
 Hobbs. 
 
 Hobart. 
 
 Hodge. 
 
 Hoit. 
 
258 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 Holbrook. 
 
 Holcomb. 
 
 Holden. 
 
 Holland. 
 
 Hollis. 
 
 Holmes. 
 
 Holt. 
 
 Hook. 
 
 Houghton. 
 
 Hovey. 
 
 Howe. 
 
 Howard. 
 
 Howell. 
 
 Hoyt. 
 
 Hudson. 
 
 Hull. 
 
 Humphrey. 
 
 Hunt. 
 
 Hunter. 
 
 Hunting. 
 
 Huntington. 
 
 Hyde. 
 
 Hubbard. 
 
 Ingalls. 
 
 Ingersoll. 
 
 Ingraham. 
 
 Ingram. 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 Jackson. 
 
 James. 
 
 Jameson. 
 
 Janes. 
 
 Jenkins. 
 
 Jennison. 
 
 Jewett. 
 
 Johnson. 
 
 Jones. 
 
 Janord. 
 
 Joy. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kassan. 
 
 Kasson. 
 
 Keet. 
 
 Keith. 
 
 Kelton. 
 
 Kendall. 
 
 Kendrick. 
 
 Kennedy. 
 
 Kenney. 
 
 Kenrick. 
 
 Kerley. 
 
 Ketehum. 
 
 Keyes. 
 
 Kibbe. 
 
 Kidder. 
 
 Kimberly. 
 
 King. 
 
 Kingman. 
 
 Kingsbury. 
 
 Kiane. 
 
 Knapp. 
 
 Knight. 
 
 Knowlton. 
 
 Ladd. 
 
 Laffin. 
 
 Lake. 
 
 Lamb. 
 
 Lamson. 
 
 Langdon. 
 
 Lathe. 
 
 Lawrence. 
 
 Lazell. 
 
 Leach. 
 
 Lee. 
 
 Leet. 
 
 Leffingwell. 
 
 Leonard. • 
 
 Lewis. 
 
 Libbey. 
 
 Livermore. 
 
 Livingston. 
 
 Locke. 
 
 Loomis. 
 
 Lord. 
 
 Lothrop. 
 
 Lounsbury. 
 
 Love. 
 
 Lovering. 
 
 Lowe. 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 Lyon. 
 
 Lyscom. 
 
 Lull. 
 
 M. 
 
 Mace. 
 
 Mack. 
 
 McLennan. 
 
 McElroy. 
 
 McFall. 
 
 McFarland. 
 
 Mclntyre. 
 
 Macumber. 
 
 Mallory. 
 
 Manning. 
 
 Marble. 
 
 Marsh. 
 
 Martin. 
 
 Martyn. 
 
 Mason. 
 
 Mather. 
 
 Mattocks. 
 
 Maynard. 
 
 Mayo. 
 
 Mellen. 
 
 Melvin. 
 
 Merrick. 
 
 Merritt. 
 
 Messer. 
 
 Millard. 
 
 Miller. 
 
 Mills. 
 
 Minchent. 
 
 Mirick. 
 
 Mitchell. 
 
 Mix. 
 
 Mixer. 
 
 Mixter. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 259 
 
 Monefeldt. 
 
 Montague. 
 
 Montandon. 
 
 Montgomery. 
 
 Moore. 
 
 Moores. 
 
 Morey. 
 
 Morgan. 
 
 Morrill. 
 
 Morris. 
 
 Morse. 
 
 Morton. 
 
 Mossman. 
 
 Mower. 
 
 Munsell. 
 
 Munson. 
 
 Murdock. 
 
 Muzzy. 
 
 Myers. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nelson. 
 
 Newell. 
 
 Newhall. 
 
 Newton. 
 
 Nichols. 
 
 Nicholson. 
 
 Norcross. 
 
 Northup. 
 
 Norton. 
 
 Notewaire. 
 
 Nourse. 
 
 Noyes. 
 
 Nurse. 
 
 Nutting. 
 
 Nye. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oaks. 
 
 Oliver. 
 
 Orcutt. 
 
 Osborne. 
 
 Osgood. 
 
 Overbaugh. 
 
 Oviatt. 
 
 Owen. 
 
 Packard. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Paine. 
 
 Palmer. 
 
 Park. 
 
 Parker. 
 
 Parks. 
 
 Parmenter. 
 
 Parsons. 
 
 Patten. 
 
 Peabody. 
 
 Peache. 
 
 Peake. 
 
 Pease. 
 
 Peckham. 
 
 Peirce. 
 
 Pelton. 
 
 Pendleton. 
 
 Pepper. 
 
 Perkins. 
 
 Perry. 
 
 Phelps. 
 
 Phillips. 
 
 Pigeon. 
 
 Pike. 
 
 Pinney. 
 
 Piper. 
 
 Pitkin. 
 
 Pond. 
 
 Pool. 
 
 Porter. 
 
 Post. 
 
 Potter. 
 
 Powell. 
 
 Powers. 
 
 Pratt. 
 
 Presby. 
 
 Prescott. 
 
 Priest. 
 
 Proctor. 
 
 Proutyf 
 
 Purdy. 
 
 Putnam. 
 
 R. 
 
 Ralston. 
 
 Ramsdell. 
 
 Randall. 
 
 Ransom. 
 
 Rawson. 
 
 Raymond. 
 
 Raynsford. 
 
 Read. 
 
 Reed. 
 
 Reese. 
 
 Remick. 
 
 Retts. 
 
 Rhodes. 
 
 Rice. 
 
 Rich. 
 
 Richards. 
 
 Richardson. 
 
 Richmond. 
 
 Rider. 
 
 Rising. 
 
 Robinson. 
 
 Rockwood. 
 
 Rogers. 
 
 Rood. 
 
 Root 
 
 Ross. 
 
 Rowley. 
 
 Roy. 
 
 Ruggles. 
 
 Russell. 
 
 Rust, 
 
 Rutt. 
 
 Ryan. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sacket. 
 
 Saddler. 
 
 S afford. 
 
 Salisbury. 
 
 Samuels. 
 
 Sanders. 
 
 Sanderson. 
 
 Sandin. 
 
 Sargeant. 
 
 Sarvey. 
 
26o 
 
 GENEVIEVE WARD.. 
 
 Sawtell. 
 
 Sawyer. 
 
 Scott. 
 
 Scribner. 
 
 Seagraves. 
 
 Seely. 
 
 Selfridge. 
 
 Sewall. 
 
 Sexton. 
 
 Seymour. 
 
 Shattuck. 
 
 Shaw. 
 
 Shed. 
 
 Sheffield. 
 
 Sheldon. 
 
 Shepard. 
 
 Sherman. 
 
 Sherwin. 
 
 Sherwood. 
 
 Shumway. 
 
 Shurtliff. 
 
 Shute. 
 
 Sibley. 
 
 Simonds. 
 
 Sinclair. 
 
 Skinner. 
 
 Slater. 
 
 Smith. 
 
 Snelling. 
 
 Snow. 
 
 Soule. 
 
 South worth. 
 
 Spaulding. 
 
 Spencer. 
 
 Spinney. 
 
 Spokesfield. 
 
 Spring. 
 
 Spurr. 
 
 Squiers. 
 
 Stacy. 
 
 Stafford. 
 
 Staples. 
 
 Stearns. 
 
 Stebbins. 
 
 Stedman. 
 
 Steele. 
 
 Stevens. 
 
 Stickney. 
 
 Stimpson. 
 
 Stocking. 
 
 Stockwell. 
 
 Stoddard. 
 
 Stone. 
 
 Storrs. 
 
 Storer. 
 
 Stow. 
 
 Stratton. 
 
 Streeter. 
 
 Strong. 
 
 Symonds. 
 
 Taft. 
 
 Taintor. 
 
 Talbot. 
 
 Tappan. 
 
 Tatman. 
 
 Taylor. 
 
 Temple. 
 
 Tenant. 
 
 Tenny. 
 
 Thayer. 
 
 Thomas. 
 
 Thompson. 
 
 Thornton. 
 
 Thurlo. 
 
 Thurston. 
 
 Tileston. 
 
 Tinkham. 
 
 Tobey. 
 
 Tomlin. 
 
 Toombs. 
 
 Torrey. 
 
 Town. 
 
 Townsend. 
 
 Tracy. 
 
 Trask. 
 
 Trowbridge. 
 
 Trusdale. 
 
 Tucker. 
 
 Tufts. 
 
 Turner. 
 
 Tuttle. 
 
 Twitchell. 
 Tyler. 
 
 U. 
 
 Underwood. 
 Upham. 
 
 V. 
 
 Van Horn. 
 
 Vickery. 
 
 Viles. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wadleigh. 
 
 Wadsworth. 
 
 Wait. 
 
 Walbridge. 
 
 Wales. 
 
 Walker. 
 
 Walter. 
 
 Warden. 
 
 Warner. 
 
 Warren. 
 
 Warrick, 
 
 Washburn. 
 
 Waters. 
 
 Watkins. 
 
 Watson. 
 
 Webb. 
 
 Webster. 
 
 Weeks. 
 
 Wellington. 
 
 Wells. 
 
 Whalan. 
 
 Wheeler. 
 
 Wheelock. 
 
 Whipple. 
 
 Whitaker. 
 
 White. 
 
 Whittelsey. 
 
 Whittemore. 
 
 Whiton. 
 
 Whitney. 
 
 Wiggins. 
 
GENEVIEVE WARD. 
 
 26l 
 
 Wilder. 
 
 Winchester. 
 
 Woodcock. 
 
 Wiley. 
 
 Winslow. 
 
 Woodward. 
 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 Wiswall. 
 
 Wyman. 
 
 Willard. 
 
 Witherby. 
 
 Wythe. 
 
 Williams. 
 
 Witherell. 
 
 
 Williamson. 
 
 Witt. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Wilmot. 
 
 Wood. 
 
 Wilson. 
 
 Woodbury. 
 
 Yearo. 
 

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