The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-23
JokERs MAY NOT BE srRs.
Henry IrVing's Funny stories Are
Always sad.

their names are not FOR your merry crl-
lows. only one man who could appre-
ciate a joke on the same afternoon thar
Il was uttered-unless you include Dis
raeli who was merely sarcastic-has ever
been knighted by Victoria. Sir John Ten
mel. the tory cartoonist. was promoted
into the noble band because Mr.. Glad
stone thought his cartoons sad enough 10
warrant Sc. But Englishmeu declare sol
EMMY that Sir John Is funny. As for
Sir Edwin Arnold. he couldn't tell joke
from an epitaph, and Sir Walter Besant
would not know one II % roasted I'm The
depths OF his great beard. Arthur Sulli-
van, who is solemn as a spectre. was
knighted, while his collahoratcur. ". S.
Gilbert, Is foolish enough 20 continue TO
long for what his Bah Ballads" made
impossible. Fancy jerome *. Jerome,
Barry Pain. Rudyard <ipling or Isaac
Zangwill being knghtcd! Fancy Charles
Dickens or William NJ. Thackeray having
been knighted! Yet some Of their writings
are almost as clever as anything Sir Wal
ter Besant has done.
II is probable that Mr.. Irving woull
have been knighted long ago II there
hadn't been a suspicion at Windsor that
ne had a. personal as well as a profess
sional sense OF humor. Mr.. Irving de-
Hknih III itllluE INNiiN NluIltss his funny
stories are famous-because they are so
solemn. There is reason to believe that
Mr.. Irving told Lord Roscbery one OF his
funny stories. Whereupon the premie-
Immediately saw the truth; saw how alb
surd We're the rumors that had been cir
culated about the actor. Poor Mr.. lrv-
irg must have seen his hopes disappear
as quickly as Hamlet's ghost when not
the suggestion Of a smile graced his lord
ships lips. If he reads this he will learn
that his lordship's solemnty was his sal
walton.
a number of years ago when the players
had gathered in a little knot after rehears-
al, TESTING and laughing, Mr. Irving Joined
them and proceeded to narratc one of his
stories. When he had finished there was an
awful silence. Sir Henry TO be- tossed his
head and left the theatcr In a huff
Great shades Of all that Is diplomatic"
cried Mr. Terriss: why didn't you laugh?
That was one OF Mr.. 1rving's funny sto-
ries"
All agreed that they would never be
caught mapping again.
The next time Mr. Irving proceeded 10
tell how Lord Randolph Churchill, then
young man, had come behind the scenes In
d great hurry after the second act of
Hamlet"
I'm deucedly interested in this Hamlet
or whatever you call IT," said Lord Ran
1OlDns Bul 1 We hOA al 'iiH - 'ittNAiAf INV
] must hurry away. / am deucedly anX-
ious to know what becomes Of the prince
and what becomes Of the flower girl"
Everybody roared.
Whereupon Mr.. Irving left the thcater
in a hun again.
Great shades-of-all-t hat-is diplomatic"
cried Terriss.
What have we done. now?" gasped one
of the members of the company
"Why, that was'one OF Mr. Irving's sad,
serious, moral-example stories"
but the incongruity Of tan oxford
man and a lord. 1t is actually funny"
at would never do to tell MIR. Irving So"
Mr.. Terriss being familiar with all of Mr..
Irving stories, after that the rule was one
wink for sad story and two winks for a
funny story.
Mr.. Tree, who has something of a sense
OF humor, win do well to curb It. If he
succeeds-as he Is nearly score Of years
younger than Sir Henry, and his legiti-
mate successor as the leader of British
stage-he should some day become Sir
Beerbohm.
Mr.. Augustin Daily is also ambitious to
have a handle affixed to his name. He
stands good chance, where Mr.. Toole or
Mr.. Joseph Jefferson would have none at
all Any one who has ever seen one OF his
letters written to the proprietor of news
paper because its dramatic critic spoke
N1bDdTdBiNBly OA Mlha ANNAtbA 0NNitf6
knows that the grim Augustin has abso-
lutely no sense OF humor, even If he did
amuse the dramatic critic.
Never before have actors stood so high
socially as now. Queen Victoria, welded
to precedent, has held out as long as she
could automatically. Her consent Is
social triumph for the actor. In the same
week that an actor was first knighted
Lord Rosslyn, the fifth in line Of earls,
who possesses an ample fortune and Is
a graduate of oxford, hired himself as
an actor to Charles Wyndham. To say
that he Is Of exceptionally good moral
character and that his family made no
objection would have sounded much more
strangely twenty years 30 than now.
The growth of the respect Of society
and Of intelligent people for those who
make acting an art has been largely due
to Mr.. Irving. Only last Sunday the vet
eran tragedian Couldock stated in the
Press that the modern actor was a mar
velous improvement over the old-timer
I'm so far as gentility was concerned. In
his day q few of the Shakespearean actors
were respected, but the run Of actors were
regarded in a far different light. Indeed,
he mentions that Mr. Macready never
spoke to any members Of his company ex
cept his leading man. A man Of culture
and Of ability who had a true love for
the stage art and wished to satisfy it in
MhGTEdQy 3 liHlt Ihl u give hb Lllt to
specf Of his friends and live almost the
life Of hermit, because OF the few COM
panionable persons in his chosen calling.
This knighthood had been dangling be-
fore the eyes OF Sir Henry for many
years. HIS career almost warrants one in
thinking that he had it in view when as
a clerk in an East India warehouse he used
to hide pages from Shakespeare in his
ledger and learn the lines Of Hamlet in
stead of dutifully adding up accounts.
From the start he exhibited that diplom-
acy which has made some Of his critics
call him a great man, but not a great
actor He would not accept an engage
ment in London, but went into the prov
inces where he could get broken in"
so that when he did make his debut in
London It should not be a failure; and
he remained in the provinces for several
years The copy OF one Of the playbills
of the first professional performance in
the part of CASTOR Duke Of Orleans)
shows him as humble, young Mr.. Irving"
And he has always been humble. Hum
bleness made him a knight. his critics say,
Where Macready's lordiy sense of artistic
superiority and independence would have
lead him to receive a man Of prominence
who came behind the scenes, warm with