New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-22

Mrs. Langtry was exceedingly well received oyt
fashionable world and In some cases. Itravsgantly
| praised In the press and there always persons
who view with bitter resentment and ill-will every
| piece Of good fortune that befalls anybody but
themselves 1t is easy to understand however, that
the feeling entertained by just. liberal and reputa-
BILE members of tho dramatic profession toward Mrs
| Langtry-or toward any other amateur who sud-
denly undertakes tho stage, and Is immediately
hailed as their equal-might properly be descrbedb by
another phrase than that of professional jealousy
fit termed right and proper resentment OF
gross injustice IL would be better named. The ART OF
acting great and difficult art. 1t Is not learned
| in q day, nor In year. It exaots from those VINO
honestly study and serve 1t much labor and many
sacrifices, endless patience, and conscientious and
passionate devotion 1t can only be acquired IN ono
way-by toll and experience and it cannot be ac-
quired in this way unless the student is possessed
| of dramatic faculties and temperament, together
with certain indispensable physical qualifications.
Those members of the dramatic profession accord
ngly who have devoted their time to this art and,
through years of study and experience, become pro-
icient in its exercise well entitled to object TO
the public injustlcc--should it oCcnr-which places
any amateur, when at the very threshold of her
career, on professional equality with themselves.
There is 10 instance recorded in the history of the
English acted drama wherein beginner was the
equal of an experienced actor 1t is perfectly lnpos-
sbe, we think. that this should be, and we have no
idea that Mrs. Langtry offers an exception 10 the
inexorable laws OF nature. We have read many
descriptions of this lady persOnaon of Mss Hard
castle She evidently, looked and spoke well, and
got through the bar-maid scene credtably, without
breaking down, and that was all. There are scores
of young ladies who could do as much, and whom
nod Of
engaging at a high salary in the leading comedy
theatre of great capital. IT, then, Mrs Langtry
had not been lady OF high social position, favor
ite with leading families, and person Of famous
beauty, her entry into the dramatic profession
must have been far moro difficult one than 1t has
been and cOud not have attracted anything ike the
attention it has received She is to be congratu-
lated on her signal good fortune, and since Obyi'
ouIy she is pleasing and promising novice, II IS
earnestly be hoped that she Will persist and sue
coed. But in the meantime while professional Jcal-
ousy" is to be condemned as ineXpresslbly contempt
Iblc something certainly Is due, III all such cases. 10
established professional rank.
We have referred to this subject because
instances of this kind are not altogether
uncommon here. and because they almost in
yariablv make large amount of trouble.
If a man who had distinguished himself by play ing
billiards or by walking thousand miles in thou
sand hours or by eating hundred feet of pickles,
or in any other exceptional way, and had thus be-
come a notoriey were suddenly to write slip-shod
string of verses and be instantly hailed as the
equal OF Tennyson Longfellow in the art OF
poetry, these established bards would assuredly be
entitled to exclaim, " Pooh-poOh to yonF-and we
have no manner Of doubt that that's what they would
say-and it wouldn't mean professional Jealousy
either What is true of the art of poetry is true Of
the art Of acting The crown belongs to achieve
ment and not to aspiratiOn-tO the maturity OF
pobo career and not to its juvenescence.