New-York tribune., 1881-09-25


small audiences alone, and the crash although long
deferred, came at last to this as to nearly all other
y Jones. depending upon weak characters in the
absence of great ones after hard struggle finally
%fss res P s and his
e panons out of employment,
He had gained by this his first regular engagement,
y some local fame, not little valuable experience.
s and the friendship of number of good men who
Il saw promises of future excellence in the lad and
! were not slow to encourage il. Among these the
most valuable, perhaps, was the veteran General,
aiterward President Harrison; This gentle heart
stories of his trials; and his active friendship on
many occasions lightened the burdens which the
youth was carrying.
u In the upper part of barn In the city of Haml-
ton all that was left of the wreck of the company
Collins and jones met again to face another
a with the same sad experiences, and then to Day
{ ton, disaster following disaster where the union
hungry. poorly clad but hopeful still, Forrest
started on foot for CINCINNATI, distance Of fcrty
and IN most pathetic language he often alluded to
a in after years. Adventures of gypsy nature
4 were net wanting by the way. He entered a
stream with his poor shoes in his hand to help his
way along 6y means OF the M-boat he saw, APP
: parently without an owner, lying temptlngy un-
ing to be oft, emphasized by the vision of shot tgun
pointing his way. led him to prefer the hard road to
& the pers of snch navigation At last he found
himself once more in the Queen City of the West
poorer than ever and with no prospect of brighter
future Chance engagements. with triae of salary
now and then to keep starvation from his door a
trip to Louisville with the wreck of the Cinclnnati
u company, moderate success there. a retnrn once
mo c to Cincinnati under a new management and
with new enterprise, where at least permanent
employment seemed assured are among the incl.
! ton. % ~ '' ''''' "'"'N ''s'" ii'"' LAY
EARLY TRIALS.
Forrest had now reached the lowest point of his
fortunes; Within the first year of his apprentice
ship he had tasted bhe bitterness of hope deferred
the gall Of unpaid toll and suffered the hardest OF
all wants-the want of food. 1t is said that at this
Y period. giving mp all hope. the tortured, naked
q hungry lad, in despair of "A brighter day to come
his misery. But with that elasticity which happily
belongs to great souls destined for great achieve
3 ments, he passed into more hopeful and more
cheerful mood, when the horizon of his vision be-
came less dark and threatening. With book in
A hand,-a poorly bound volume of his beloved Sbak e.
speare, he passed whole hours of many days
hrnenth the trees of n nelg hboring farm, where
all the influences which Nature exerts over sensitive
minds new plans, new purposes, took possession of
MN ne seemed to catch inspiring elimpses of
the destiny that awaited him, and the elaton that
was born of those musings halowed the spct 10 him
forever Looking out through the window of his
present poverty INTO the future day of his splendid
prosperity, he vowed that this ground should one
dav be his own,--an oath he reIgiously kept for
bv him. and during his life never passed out of his
hands The ground upon which the poor young
getting hours OF study became one of the most
valued possessions OF the successful tragedlan
valued Tor It's associations sake if for nothing more
FoRREsI's FIRST LOVE-.
Jane Placide, who inspired the first love or Edwin
Forrest, combined talent, beauty and goodness
Her name was an honorable one and the afirrtion
with which she filled the Young actors heart might
have proved the blessed experience of his life
could she have returned it. Her character would
nave soitened the asperies of his, and led him by
calmer path to those grand elevations toward
which Providence had directed hls footsteps
hs rival and enemy he challenged him, but was
rebnked by the silent contempt of his manag r
posted" He then betook himself to the wigwam
oi his indian TREND where III commune with a.
llssappoIntment. In the study of his model for
Metanora" he learned to forget the pangs of his
consoed his pae.faccd friend with the history of
hs own wild loves.
BAIIgrt's CHARACTER OF MACREADY.
Macready was scho ar and he was worker
him OF The prize which seemed close to his hand
"a good social position and lettercd ease. Dii.s
gently he strove to rise from the lower ranks /,
new profession. but the superior qualities of hi
rivals stood ever in his way. lie seemed to possess
he was gaunt and angular had an unmuslca
voice aud an awk ward manner. possessing none of
that naHnetc quality which wins the auditor often
me" before the interest OF the character has nm
folded itself in tue plot; but he was enormous
nsS' Nuh an ambtlon which jealousy tinctured
and made contemptihle. he spared no pains he
shunned no task which could help Kim on toward
he height on winch his eyes were hxei The
heavy parts in the plays fell to hm, and his manner
suited them admirably, He contended with such
theatrical giants as the last of the Kemhles Charles
ionng. Junlus Brutus Booth and Edmund Kean
Ills style was unlike theIrs his work was cold
iuli of scholarship ana of study but not mpulsve
Tor spontaneous. He compelled TO give place
for many years to men whose excellence and supc-
ror'y he never would confess; but they were the
idols OF the public and by their side Macrea,ly
never held any other than subordinate rank. ii
j. sad that when the play Of the " Apostate was
brought to the theatre by the author the elder
Booth. who was enamored of Miss O'Nell then the
iarllng of the London public and the greatest
actress of her day. declined the part of Pescarn the
villain. which he afterward made famous and
that he might play the love with the ONeilL
ihiS incident placed the part in Macreadys hands
ana II was The first great hit he had made in
London. The character soon resumed bv
booth, Tor whom IL was intended. and never after
Wad acted by Macready. At length, by one
the great men who had been in the way of his ad.
Vancement were removed aud he soo,i in the front
rank OF his profession. All the harshness of his \
nature now appeared: he became naughty and
offensive to all about him, suhscrvent only to the
arlStocracy, hut st.l working at his art with the
spirit OF slave at tn" galeys. He was of an
economical hature. and soon accumulated means
He quarrelled with and left his old manager and
aided by the wealthy friends whom he had nevcr
Jailed TO proptiate, became himself a manager
lnaugnratng series of revivals of old PLAYS
,,n,nsnlhcent ~, beyond the experience of that dav
Ills research anu scholarship attracted To the
theatre learned mon, aud he gave "A healthy impetus
10 dramatic taste which will ever he his crown
lie put himself prominently forward in these
revvals but they none the less creditahe and
admirable His career ms "a manager was marked
by tyranny and cruelty. He had no friends in B
between HIM and the public When Ryder once
demonstrated with him upon some occasion of IA
punished insnbordinatlon. and told him he was u
tyrant, Macrrady replied No sir. 4 am moi 20 n
tyrant. | am a dcspot." He dearly loved n lord
NE dearly hated his profession-but il gave him ali
he had without 1t he would be nothing
MacreauT, however attracted to tho rhcatrc some IN
of the ablest contemporary writer's; and the hest
stage editions OF the plays of his time are thosc
which bear the marks of his directing talent He n
the original of more than one hundred chorac E
rpcpgui/eI tha