Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-01-11
NO. 2.

cumstances. To cramp and narrow
ones nature by petty, uncongeniaI oc-
cupatlons, because of hereditary preiu.
dice against honorable callings, is 10 de.
feat the end of existence which is the
complete development of all our pow
ers.
The girl of the nineteenth century is
privileged to sew if she wishes. But
she can use the saw or the hammer if
she prefers. She can refuse to accept
traditional judgments even of actresses
and the stage, since Charlotte Cushman
and other heroic souls have SO hon
ored the profession of the drama.
The following extract from letter,
written by friend of Miss CushInan's.
contains descri ption of her personal
appearance as a girl which may be in
terestingito the reader:
[ shall never forget our first meeting
after many years of absence. 1t fol-
lowed the English period of her career
when she had attained to Worldwide
reputation, and that social prestige
which wealth and character cannot fail
to command. We sought her, and at
last met face to face with the old school
mate. There was the same uncalcu-
latlng, fresh, frank face; the same mer-
ry, clear blue eye. but without the long,
flowing yellow locks to cast back in
haste from their obtrusive sweep; the
same bold tread, now become regal.
She seated herself in front of me, hold
ing both my hands in the sincere grasp
of hers while she went back over the
VIII oh Io.,
gether, albeit had no such penchant for
masculine masquerade as she, with the
glory of her Romeo behind her, might
reasonably entertain. She recalled
with the greatest gusto and laughter
long and loud, an earlier stage debut
than the world had seen, when in eur
school days, her mother, my eldest sis
ter and perhaps one or two of our
neighbors made up the audience-to our
first representation of Bluebeard, in
the large attic chamber of her mothers
house. This was before the days Cf
popular private theatricals, and marks
the mind to dare and do at that early
age.
Although the tendency to do and
dare was SO strong in Cushman, we
know that she had sweet, generous
disposition, and that wherever she
went in the world she shed courtesy
and kindness upon all about her. Ad-
ded to her many virtues was that of
helpfulness. nowhere shown more for
chilly than in her efforts to aid young
friend who finally became an actress,
and to whom she wrote:
How many there are who have
horror of my professionl yet I dearly
love the very hard work, the very
drudgery of it, which has made me
what L am. Despise labor of any kind!
[ honor it, and only despise those who
do not find sufficient value in it to ad-
mire. | should advise
you to get to work; all ideal study of
acting without the trial or opportunity
of trying our efforts and cOnceiyings
upon others, Is, in my mind, lost time.
Study while you act. Your conception
of character can be formed while you
read your part, and only practice can
tell you whether you are right. You
would, after a year of study in your
own room, come out unidentified, save
in as far as sef-communion ever must
make US better and stronger; but this
is not what you want just now. Action
Is needed. Your vitality must in some
way work itself off. You must suffer,
labor and wait before you will be able
to grasp the true and the beautiful.
You dream of it now. the intensity of
the life that IS in you, the spirit of
poetry which makes itself heard by
you in indistinct language, needs
cOrk to relieve itself and be made
clear. X God bless YOU.
and prosper your undertakings. know
the country theaters well enough to
know how utterly alone you will be in
such companies; but keep up a good
heart; we have only to do well what is
given us to do, to find heaven.
To do well what is given us to do is
the secret of success in any profession,
whether it is one of our voluntary
choice or one in which we have been
placed by uncomfortable circumstances.
In the life of this great actress and
tireless worker, there were seasons of
and distress. With
ali her courage and decision she knew
what it was to be home-sick and sad.
Doubt sometimes perplexed her. Her
before ehe achieved recogni-
tiCn in England led her once to write:
How little do we estimate our good
gifts of fortune until we are deprived
of them And this, though worn out
and stale as proverb, comes upon me
with full force at this time. When
repent that / have left
my home. | reproach myself that I
was not content with q moderate COM
potency, while in its enjoyment, but
must thrust myself out from the de-
light which | was permitted to enjoy,
for this miserable, frightfui uncertainty,
this lingering doubt which at last may
lead to disappointment.
That it did not lead to disappoint-
ment we know by her great reputation
and the glowing tributes paid her in
all lands even before the curtain of
death dropped upon her vanished
majesty" True it is that she "trod
the boards in all the queendom of the
1rama," and yet she sadly asked the
question: "What is or can be the re-
cord of an actress, however famous?"
She thought that other artists
poets, painters, scuiptors, musi-
cians-produced something worthy
10 live after them, something which
lallowed their memories and gave ev-
dence of divine mission. "But we,"
'he said, eve strut and fret our hour
upon the stage, and then the curtain
alls and all is darkness and silence"
How much has been and will yet be
aid IN answer to her question. She
las indeed shown what the record of an
actress can be