The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-11-30


travagsnt account of the new actor, not
to have it accepted as gospel, but tC
convey clear idea of what Min is
what he has been, and what he is strug
Cling to be. It is written by leading
Chicagoan, and is entitled:
A STRANGE AND INTERESTING LIFE
The Unique Career of Geo. c. AilAi
the TTagedian.
limo other country in the world are
there to be found so many strange and
interesting reverses in individual expert
ence as in the United States. Not only
do men ascend from the lowest level 10
the very highest social altitude-as
Grant, Garfield and Lincoln-but
others, having encountered disaster, are
able 70 build again new life and new
career upon the very ashes of the old.
We are a people essentially living in the
present. We ask of man, what is he do
ing to-day 2" not W hat did he do yester-
day7" We judge men by their to-days
and not by their yesterdaysl This
automatic truth has never been more
forcibly illustrated than in the case Of
Mr.. Geo. G. Min, who is now ranked as
one of the leading interpreters of the
legitimate drama in this country. But
a few years ago he was the honored
minister of the greatest and most in
duential Unitarian church in all the
West-Unity Church, Chicago; to-day
he stakes rank among the lead
ing tragedians of the day. YesteT-
day his name was mentioned
in company with the names of
Beecher, Bellows and Swing: to-day it
is classified with those OF Booth, Nc
Cullough and Barrett. The singularity
OF such an experience is most striking;
from pulpit to stage. from the priests
robe TO the actors tOga. from the
eloquence of the homiIetician to the
defamation of the actorl To win sue
cess IN both professions means not only
pluck, energy and observation-disclosures
genius. The man who could lay aside
the methods of the pulpit, and with
phenomenal suddennesS take up-and
successfully take up the methods Of the
tragic actor, is possessed of one of those
toreelhle and dominating personalities
which by common consent is labeled
genius.
At first It was generally supposed that
MIN had adopted the stage from sensa-
tional motives, and he was obliged to
encounter the contumely of the
superficial. But the sincerity of
his work, his perseverance in
the face of every obstacle, his quiet en-
durance of thoughtlesS tauntS, have
long since proven him to be possessed
of as much good sense as he is of
ability. At the hour when this brief
sketch is written, he is about to begin
his third regular season as a Shaksper-
ian star, and brief review of his dra-
matte career so far will, it is believed,
furnish entertaining reading for the
theatre-goiDg public at least:
First of all, the reason for his action
In leaving the pulpit may be of interest.
At 30 years of age he was the brilliant
preacher OF the pulpit SO long occupied
by Robert Col1yer. In Chicago he was
regarded as the coming man. As an
orator be was on the crest of the wave,
and those who have ever heard him W II
not readily forget the charm of his
voice nor the magnifcence of his die
ton. The time came, however, when
he was compelled to yield up all he had
achieved. The voice Of conscience
commanded, and he obeyed. He
has simply outgrown the the
elogy Of the pulpit. Like an
honest man he proclaimed his
heresy, and asserted his own unfitnessS
TO preach 3 dOgmatic system in which
he had ceased to believe. After short,
decisive controversy, Min was released
from his pulpit, and stood alone, his
occupation gone, the work of ten
years literally lost to him.
Many man in the same circumstan-
ceS would have given way to deSpon-
dency, or TO cynicism. or to the work
of the iconoclsSt. Eotsso Min. When
urged TO enter the field as liberal lee
turer, he replied instantly, mo, I will
not tnrn and kick the cradle in which
I have been rocked
After debating for several months,
and cOunseling with many friends, he
yielded to his own inclinationS and
publicly adopted the life of a tragedian. |
He tried the back door OF the Theatre
and found it closed against his entrance. |
The lower ranks of the profession pro-
vided no place for him. He was a |
marked man. No 'star" would risk I
the presence in his company of man |
who would SO thoroughly claim the at
tentOn OF the press and public as Min !
was obliged 20 do. He was obliged to
enter by the front door of the profeS-
zion. and fortunate indeed was this ne
cessity Instead of walking he leaptl
into famel His fame as an orator at
tended him in his new career, and when
it became known that added TO his
eloQuence was a most distinct gift of
dramatic instinct, he at once excited I
even greater interest as an actor than
he had as preacher.
His career is unique. tits unlike that
Of any other man in America. He has
given himself to the study of his new
art with the devotion of an enthusiast.
Thankful for words of praise, he has /
chiefly pondered over adverse criti-
dsm. His enemies have been
his tutors. a vSiner man would
have paused TO glory over his
he, realizing how ephemeral
. human commentator, has constantly
PRESSED forward 20 higher and nobler |
Ittainments. He IS an enthusiast, |
n idolater at the shrine of (
Ihakspeare. The words of the j
reat master linger lovingly on {
rs lips. He feels, as he speaks them,
heir beauty What wonder then that I
lie has succeeded? And when it Is re-
orded that al this has been ac- c
by q young man who has I
est passed his thirty2third birthday, |
nd who has still all the rl@tdre- ysa-s /
manhood before him, the possibilities I