The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-04-16

published in London
generation has passed away since the great
est actor of modern times was carried to his
grave in Richmond Churchyard For Edmund
Keans contemporaries Mr.. Proctor BARRY Corn
val) wrote sketchy, and some think a not
TOO generous, life of the inimitable tragedan.
Various biographical notices of him followed at
Intervals And now-to refresh the memories of
such of Kean's contemporaries az survive, and
20 give more full and elaborate portrait of the
ong-departed glory of the theatre to n new gene
ration which knows no master-mind upon our
many stages-Mr. Hawkins has written work
which manifests zeal, industry, exercise of criti-
sal power, and a somewhat over-abOunding gene.
rosity of spirit
There is one especial point of view in which
these volumes will be found useful Whenever
an old admrer of Edmund Kean speaks with
enthusiasm of him who was identified with
shylock, Richard, Hamlet Lear, and Othello,
he is taunted with being a lduddtor tenlpOris
acts He is treated with no more candid cour-
tesy than Dryden had for the old gentlemen of
his time, who, he said, because they had supped
in their salad days with Ben johnson, in the
Apollo, foolishly thought themselves capable of
defining the dramatic quality of Mr. Dryden and
his fellows. So, too, the Parisians who praised
the ArLeqttit of Dominique were censured by
those who thought his successor, Gherardi, was
AZ great in that once famous character-no trace
OF which stage parsonage lives in the mute
dancer of modern pantomime. They who de-
plore that the great throne of tragedy is unoccu-
pied are met with the remark that they can only
and that doubtless, when Edmund Kean was
young, the old stagers showered their wreaths of
honor on Kemble and his school. Mr. Hawkins
has rendered excellent service in showing that
such an idea is entirely without foundation.
When Edmund Kean first burst upon the
town, there was scarcely the faintest pro.
test against the all but universal acclamation
with which he was saluted as the master of his
art. The whole Kemble school perished out of
sight and hearing before the energy, earnestness,
fire, and the truthful nature of Kean. Far be ii
from us to say that the older school was without
great qualities. What was best of that quality
resided almost exclusively in Mrs. Siddons. The
paw and pause" which Mrs. Crawford noticed
as its popularity seems to have been most promi-
nent in John. Charles Kemble was no tragedian
At all, but a comedian. whose weak voice
marred his very best intentions. They all, how
ever, had distinct enuncation; and an
excellent thing il is. John Kem-
be's pronunciation indeed, made dreadful
assault and battery on many English words; but
however he and his uttered the words, they were
clearly audible, though in Charles the voice was
thin as thread. A modern actor shall deliver
Hamlets instructions to the players, violate all
the rules in the laying of them down, and be only
half heard even when lOudcst.
Edmund Kean found universal acceptance
at time when critics were extremely severe,
wonderfully well qualified for their task, and
had no personal acquaintance with the actors |
whose qualities they measured. 1t could hardly |
be otherwise. The new actor desired to be |
measured by the highest standard, and he
found equal To the height. He did not ask |
footing at Drury Lane. and time to dcvelope. |
Young he was when he brought fortune to
that theatre, in 1914 he asserted his equality |
with the greatest actors he had seen; and he |
was found to be more than equal-superor. |
In the older days however great an actor might |
be in the plays of ordinary authors, he was |
never considered having consulnnated his |
greatness till he had proved himself an intclli-
gent Interpreter OF Shakespeares sentiments and
a noble representative of Shakespeares heroes.
tinguished actors on our stage and you will
fpd that, however famous they might he in
various parts, they were most famous for their
excellence i'll representing ShakCspearian char
acters. From BettertOn to Edmund kean-the
Alpha and Omega of our drama-this has been
emlnently the case; and most especially was it
the case in those two actors In dealing with
the former, Cibber dwells especially on his
grandest and most perfect representations,
namely, the Shakespearlan. He praises the
tender pathos of Bettertons Hamlet, the
jealous rage of his Gthcllo, the flashing fire
of his Hotspur, the sublimity of his Macbeth,
the vigor of his Falstaff, and the majestic calm |
of his Brutus. So does Mr. Hawkins deal with |
Edmund Kean and the qualities of his acting |
ters in Shakespeares plays. When we read in |
Cibber the words, ''Should l tell you that all |
the Othellos, Hamlets, Hotspurs, Macbeths, and |
Brutuses whom you may have seen since his !
time, have fallen far short of him, this still |
would give you no idea of his particular excel
lence," we think how well Mr.. Hawkins might
have thus argued touching Edmund Kean. In
deed, this sentiment is not wanting in his book;
and, moreover, he adds to it, more thoroughly
than Cbber could do with regard to Betterton,
details and criticisms which draw the later actor
nearer to those who would fain look upon him
As closely as such means will allow.
Like Thomas Betterton, Edmund kean loved |
the art he practised Indeed without such love |
there is no true artist. Kean, moreover, had |
generous, brOthery feeling for his fellows in the
craft. Without such feeling the designs of the
poet can never be efficiently carried out on the |
stage. The actor who plays as if it were a con-
descension, rather repulsiye to himself than
otherwise, to endure companionship with less
skilled colleagues, and to share with them the
office of interpreting Shakespeare, is not a true
master of his art. 1t is well remembered how
the somewhat exclusive selfshness of Mr.. Ma
cready checked the impulses of his fellow actors;
and when Mrs. Fanny Kemble told the world in
her journal" that she despised the stage, loathed
her craft, and spat at the applause for which
abe so humbly curtseyed, the world saw at
once what was lacking in that other
wise clever lady to raise her to level
with her more illustrious and more highly-en-
dowed aunt, Mrs. Siddons. Now, Edmund Kean
want heart and soul into his work, was earnest
with his fellows, treated them as comrades and
passionately loved the applause which was to
him ample guerdon for all his study and labor
Ii is of such stuff that the genuine artist is made
Mr.. Hawkins has not lost sight Of this point: he
perhaps insists upon ita little too pertinacously;
and his enthusiasm would occasionally bear a
little toning down. But it is in some sense an
additional proof of Edmund Kean's power that
enthusiasm for him as the last
of the line of great dramatic artists
is caught up and cherished by yonng
writer who never saw the idol at whose shrine
he so prOdgally filings incense.
Apart from enthusiasm and an occasional
addiction to what is known as fine writing :