New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-20
IRVING'S GREAT TRIUMPH
A MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE OF 'RICH.
ARD III" AT THE LYCEUM.
THE SEVERN VALLEY EARTHQuAKE-BARoN d
CoURCELs RETIREMENT - THE HAMBURG
STRIKERS WEAKENING - CHRISTMAS :
GIFTS FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE
PooR-Ar COUNTRY HOUSES
WILLIAM MORRIss WILL.


London Dec. 19-The production Of Richard
III" at the Lyceum Theatre tonight is one Of the
greatest trumphs of Sir Henry Irvings career
there. 1t was wonderful series ofstage pictures.
rich In color and varied in movement. and there
was powerful cast for interpreting Alright all
the subordinate parts. but the great audience
of exceptional brilliancy and refinement, repre-
senting all that Is best In English letters and
social life was held spellbound by the concen-
trated intellectual power Of one man. The stage
was crowded with costumed figures. but he
filed II with his presence and genius. Sir Henry
received a royal welcome when he entered upon
the stage. ard was recalled after each act by
the enthusiasm of his host Of admirers and by
the common consent Of those most competent to
Judge.
Gloster is his greatest shakespearian per.
sonaton. He is not Colley Cibbers heavy
villain and unnatural monster. but a man OF
genius and intellectual pride, acting In defiance
of the law divine. marching through crime ana
treachery to the summit OF his earthly ambition,
audac ious and imperious to the end, even when
delirious with remorse and doomed to defeat.
The strongest characteristic of this Gloster 10
the disclosure Of self-wl courage and pride.
like Beckets, combined with intellectual SUBJ
tety and duplicty, like lagos or Iachimos.
The best qualities Of his stage work are rapidity.
vigor action and grim. cynical humor. He does
not brood his crimes and the phantom
horrors with which he is encompassed in his
narrowing conflict with retributye justice. He
acts his part with impetuous fire. inhexble
pride, splendid daring; yet. melodramatic, mon
ster as he is, he is not without heart and moral
instinct. The best passages in this perform
ance of Gloster the fiery courtship Of Lady
Anne. the mocking duplicity Of the scene with
the Mayor, the subtle temptation Of Bucking-
ham, the unconscious betrayal Of remorse when
his mother curses him, the rSsentful denuncia-
ton Of Hastings, and the awful awakening from
the phantom-haunted dream. Seldom has an
audience been more deeply moved than to-
nights breathless multitude stirred by Sir
Henry Irvng's powerful denotement Of SUPER
natural horror after the terrible dream scene:
his face like Edwin Booths. one never to
be forgotten
The entire performance was illumined with in
tellectual purpose, adorned with mastery
touches and invigorated with unique person.
ality. Sir Henry received like conqueror
when the curtain fell on the last act No stage
triumph since Garrick and Kean has been more
complete.
With six inches OF snow Dartmoor.
dense fogs in the Channel. London blanketed
with darkness day after day and an earth
quake In the Severn Valley and the Md
lands. there has been a good deal Of weather
this week This has been fortunate. for foreign
affairs and domestic politics being absolutely
stagnant there has not been much else to talk
about The Queen Is reported 10 have been
awakened by the tremor of the earth at Wind
sor but the fact is not mentioned in THE Court
Circular and may be an invention OF the new
journalism The northern suburbs OF London
.l,- Aio-
turbance but woman in the MidIands is re-
ported to have died either from fright or heart
disease. and three church turrets at Hereford
are said TO have been shaken down
The most serious consequence of this physica!
phenomenon is the appearance in THE Tele-
graph" OF recondite treatise on the subject
by Professor John Milne, who has been watch
ing for an earthquake for long time and has
kept two delicate seismometers in operation on
the Isle of Wight to record the whisperings
OF the neglected underworld These instru-
ments feebly showed the effects Of the readiust-
ment of strata of the Severn Valley. As the
amplitude OF the movement did not exceed one
hfteth of an inch In two hours. his conclusion
is that low stratum Of rock filed up slight
cavity and that the changes produced by this
earthquake were geologcally small. Professor
Milne, who has been a seismic expert in the Far
East, describes the Severn Valley as the most
unstable portion of England. and as the natural
haunt Of the genuine British earthquake. 1t
is a curious fact that at the great Greenwich
Observatory there are no seismosccres for re-
cordng phenomena of this kind.
Otherwise a great calm has come upon Eng
land which year ago was a storm-tossed isl-
and agitated by President Clevcland's Nenez-
uea message the German Emperors menace
and the war in South Africa No cloud as large
as n mans hand can be seen in any quarter OF
the sky and issues of domestic politics are
quiet and harmless like the recthcation of irish
finances and the appointment Of Sugar COM
mission. Even in the Near East the prospect
for the settlement of the Turkish question has
been clearing. What form OF coercion will ne
adopted may not yet be definitely known, but
there signs of cooperation between Eng
land and the Dual Alliance and optmsts are
encouraged to believe that something will be
done at last to put the Sultan under bonds TO
insure his good behavior
The retirement of the French Ambassador.
Baron de Courcel. from London is explained
as caused by personal reasons rather than by
encouragement the relations between
France and England. NJ. Rbot. the Count de
MontellO, the Marquis de Reverseaux and ~
Cambon now Governor General OF Algeria are
named as candidates for the succession. The
Egyptian question. which alone clouds the rela-
tions OF the two countries. is In reality Euro
pean question: and the prospect of its settlement
will not be affected by any transfer In the
French diplomatic service.
The working world is quieting down with the
approach OF the Christmas season OF good feel
ing. The Hamburg lockout has not ended. but
the strikers are weakening and are not ex-
pected to hold out much longer. The English
leaders OF the Dockers' Union believed to
favor an aggressive labor movement the
Thames but their action will be controlled by