National Republican., 1881-12-17
JOHN M,CuLLouCg,
hnterestinR Episodes is he Life OF En-
fsrent Trnredhn.

hhAeHfhNnE Episodes iu ne LAfe of the
Great TrRgedhn.
Just outside of the white and iusy city of Lon.
donderry, lreland-now kngwl ON the charts OF
the majestic steamship cohpnies as Moville--
Jonn J mccullough, the acton WIS born just forty
lOllr years ago His fatherwasa thrifty farmer,
tenant OF Sir Harvey Brire, he greatest land
lord IN all that region. HIS i,4n. house was the
nr largest nnd whitest aud bet. whin half league
oi Londonderry. One Of joint earliest recollec-
uons was the great white housl the pride OF the
neighborhood His next wGshe death Of his
mother, an event which took lace when he was
quite child. The elder Mccullough, good
hearted, rOlllcklng man, belovt py all his neigh
b0rs, fell into loose ways after Is hearthstone vas
broken, and prosperity soon hserted him. The
INEVITABLE came, as II nearly ways does In Ire
iand-the day OF dstraint an nkletion. The land
!Ord had warm side for the tforlunnte farmer
put ne performed a landlOnB tern duty. With
his eyes moist at the recollcIiu of his childish
anguish, John tells Of the W when the bailiH
came aud took away his favdll horses, his pony
and even his dogs That wa te season of DESC
lation--the err of boyish dehtr Soon after the
latler died, and the youth vJpassed over to the
care OF an uncle.
AT THE AGE OF 4 TEEN
the ,untutored lad had hearbf the grand free
ianu across the sea. lie NJ heard oppressed
lrishmen tell, perhaps, OF n lnt country where
all men enjoyed an equal chaf and where every
day brought forth a new promA lie had long
ing TO go there aud try his fo1nes and one day
ms uncle bought him passagIied up his scanty
effects IN bundle, aud set NJ aboard vessel
bound for New York. He lhed in New York,
utterly unknown and friendlek He had no rela-
tive In the New World; he did )t even know the
name OF single inhnbitant of Il continent Then
aud there he began the strute for existence.
Through menial ways he drnLto Philadelphia,
and while wheeling coal at theEs works or work.
ing in chair factory fancy Sithe theatre crept
into his soul. The boy who nd eft Ireland with
out knowing that Shakespeare N lived or written
was seized with o desire TO bdn actor. 10 Is not
worth while to speak here of n patient industry
ana the studious, sustained ekrts which lined
MN from "supernumorary" the tutelnge OF
the monarch of the American sgc " and event
ually LETT him at the head Of the iglish.speaking
interpreters of the classic drama.
LAST SUMNER MR.. Mct1oudH
went to London to gratlfy the nibiton, perhaps,
that had JOng filed his bosom.to play IN the
worlds metropolis, In the city wlch Graded our
poets aud which framed our dram. Quietly and
unostentntiously he began his engagement at his
tnric Drlry Lane, even rs the uknOWn genius,
Edmund kean, "lcaped upo the Kemble-
haunted stage" As one Of the Lcdon writers put
II, he took down from dusty shf, where Mac
ready had LEFT IL, majestic, clsslc fgurt-thc
Roman nther-and breathed ne,life into It, His
success was emphatic and pronounced The morn
ing after his first appearancc VILE London was
reading of his success, letter W. brought to his
chambers bearing an illuminatd crest IL was
from Sir Henry Harvey Bruce, Of bwnhill County
Ireland, lieutenant Of County londonderry the
old landlord of the McCuli0ugs. The writer
said that he remembered q son his old tenant
Mccullough, who had gone toAmerica Mt an
early nge., lie had been struckby the name of
the American actor OH the board at Dury Lane
Theatre, aud he was anxious to kow whether the
cmigrant boy and the tragcdian y'rc one and the
same sam person person He asked permlsqn to call; 1T IL
presented himsclf-a hale, rosy ian Of seventy,
looking like bustling burgher forty-five. 1t
only required few minutes
TO IDENTIFY THE ACTOR VIII THE BOY
who, as the son Of the Londondrry tenant had
often stood beside the roadway ad dotted his cap
rs Sir Harvey and Lady Bruce roed by in their
carriage, Young. happy rich, powrnl. The old
gentlemen was delighted lie etended an invi-
tatiOn to the actor to come and (ne with him nj
his home In Portland Square. le went Doors
were opened TO the man of genis which would
have been closed TO n millonain from the New
World. At that dinner there wee lords and WIS.,
counts, aud ladies whose plums had waved nj
tho queens levees, aud the actoiwas the honored
guest. Afler his London engagement Mr.. McCul.
Tough went over to ireland 10 Wilt the scenes OF
his childhood. The Druces received him Mt the
doors of their castle, and the bell Of Londonderry
must have welcomed him with sgcct mnsic when
he drove through the ancient stgets The white
farm house, which had borneitslf so malestically
In his youthful eyes, had shrnni TO humble di-
mensions; hedges seemed smallr and roadway;
narrower, but there were hearts there to welcome
him that had only grown broadG and rendered
with the lapse of time.
THB FAME OF THE ACTOR
had preceded him. and as he drov, about from vii
lage TO village with Lady Bruce there were crowds
to receive him and white haired men to claim
relationship and remind him o. episodes in his
MeCuiioush SAYS %Boih r Sir iIirvey Ii Bruce s ant r
his kind wifo begged mo to buy the old farm OF
which was born, and settle down among them
but told them would not Civ, up my life all,
my friends in America for all OF Ireland" Then
with pride and emotion, he added: "God bles
this land OF grand possibilities, where honest eff
tort and merit bring all that are worth living for
What has IL not done for me? think of the des
tiny that might have been mine IL had settles
among the downs of Londonderry, aud neve
thanked the ship that first carried me across tn
sea so ardently as In those days last summer, whe
! looked into hard, pinchcd faces of the kind
hearted pensantry, whose lives were wearing ava
In the region where l first saw tho light"--H Lou
SDeCfafOr,