New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-24

very sweet disposition. the actors childish days
We're spent 1a1 Pon H nborn love Of
s sss in sr mn and to m aols
pose in wandering among the rugged coves ana
quaint fishing hamlets OF the extreme western
When only eleven he was sent to DR. pinch hess
School in Gsogs and there oans made
many of his manhoods best and truest friends
school i1 Il Festivities. and was not extngui;hed by
his schoomaser who was ne most broad ha ab
monetary exigencies of his family forced him into
csrkShp Win hs on own sng Ills
TO standard works and all the best new DOCKS los
We're free for Worship at theatrical shrines When
he was seventeen his employers wished 10 send MN
Sv v 10 MIN time the youth had cast the die Of
life in favor Of the stage. and he declined the oifer
and ,rod the boards from which rumor has it that
he was Missed. If so. it was the Dsraeli incident
For nine years Henry Irving worked in The the
!. measure Of popularity in Edinburgh. Glasgow,
Manchester and Liverpool but always struggling
to attain London. the actors Mecca. The chance
came at last in 1866 when he was engaged TO sup
port Kate Terry in Bouccaut a,, Play Play. Hunted e
appearance followed At the Gaiety Drury Lane.
the Jamess and the HaymaTke ts, he acted "a
the villain who in o those days WAS ne ns rant
u Twp PLAY sn Si hs e i'm
terest and curiosity respecting the new actor
He moved TO the l-yctum ticn ufutT 'OlOHel
Bateman and here his Matthias in The Bells
played TO a langud house. cnched the matter
for ever The morning after that memorable first
night after fifteen years OF heart breaking labor
Henry Irving woke 10 find himself famous. From
that hour he has never looked back, and fame and
fortune have kept pace with him. Colonel Bate
man was sufficiently astute to turn the temporary
engagement into a permanency. In 1888 he first
seized the American Continent starting on his
tour with the most extraordinary banquet in all
the history of English sociology and carrying with
him the whole nations wishes for success. Since
that time Irving has deservedy made huge fort
unes in America. where he Is as genuinely adj
mired as in England. In more recent years he has
played before the Queen at Sandrfnghain and
Windsor and her Majesty said last year that II
| gave her real pleasure to dub him Knight
| Bachelor
But II the great public loves Sir Henry Irving
for the delight and the instruction he has given II
| with SO lavish hand how much more affection
| do those entertain for him who know him pri-
| vately. The fact that his Hospitality Is unbounded
might account for this. save that his friends APP
| preciate him more for his gentle. sweet dis
position, his transformations generosity, and. above
| all his princely charity. No one appealed
| TO Henry Irving In a good cause In vain and the
| sums he gives away each among the sick
| and sorry. the helpless and the unlucky, amount
a fortune. These the traits In Irving 3
| character. even more than his brilliant artistic
| attainments that make him the beloved person
| atty he is. He is man whom success has not
| spoiled, whose character and judgment are wholly
| unwarped by envy or Jealousy and who. despite
| the proud eminence of his position. still retains
] the sweetness and simplicity Of CHILD.