The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-06-26
STORIES OF SARCEY.

Francisque Sarcey was, perhaps, th'
 best known man in Paris, and in splt'
 of his age-he was seventy-one-anc
 his embonpoint preserved up to th'
 last vigor and activity really surpris' ing. He wrote several articles every day, and went to the theater every night In one of his recent articles entitled "Vivre vieuX,' he said that 1T
 his opinion a long life was not to be de sired unless it was employed in some
 good work. The young authors calico l him familiarity Mon oncle," and il was with a gay heart that he accepted
 the appellation. But he was sometimes
 very severe on them. If his pen was incisive, it must be added that the wounds he made were not .incuraple | He himself would declare that if he
 was occasionally brutal 1t was because
 he was forced to be so. With his iron | ical smile he was wont to say of him.
 self, in the language of the fabullst:
 That animal is vicious; when 1t IS at
 tackled it defends itself. :"
 | During a discussion one day he had
 the opportunity of explaining his meth-
 cd of judgment. Emile Zola had &C.,
 cused him of knocking off his criti-
 cisms on the end of table without ! taking the trouble to see the pieces of | which he wrote" Sarcey replied | "What! you, who know the value of la 1 Dor; you, who have accomplished a | hard task, how Is it that you affect to treat in such a manner man who. like you, owes his influence to thirty years of study and labor? There is not
 a piece of any importance that l have not seen three or four times. l exam inc at each performance the manifesto tions of the audience, which sometimes confirm my first impression and some
 times change it. There is not an actor
 or an actress whose parts I have not
 studied. I have devoted my entire life
 to the theater, where I am to be found
 every evening. The public knows this,
 and that is why it grants me certain
 amount of authority in theatrical mat
 ters; that is why 1t has confidence in
 the honesty and justice of my opinions.
 The public also knows that l am al-
 ways sincere, and love the theater with
 a love so absolute that l would sacri-
 flee everything. even my private
 friends, for the pleasure of directing
 the people to a piece which appears to
 me good, or of drawing them awya from piece which I consider bad. And when I have made a mistake I do my utmost to repair the wrongs which I may have committed
 Sarcey's father kept a school at Dourdan, and it was in that little town hn n E,-ny h nic 1yIi fact years he liked the theater. His father was passionately fond of music and wanted to make an artist of him. His mother preferred that he should be painter or q sculptor. Music, howev- CT, gained the day. He had a good voice; that was something. The ques tion then was to get a master. This was not difficult. He was placed in the hands of chorister of the local church, 1T must confess" says Sar- cey, that this preliminary education has left little trace in my "reminiscences ] had several professors, of whom one was Father Durocq and who said to em one day, after having studied my musical abilities, If ever you become it will be miracle And L.. Music was thereon given up."
 After having been professor in two or three provincial colleges he made up his mind to leave the university and take to journalism. It was at Grenoble where this change took place. He had met About in one of his journeys. and envied the glory which surrounded him. He therefore decided to initiate him. He wrote his first article and took it to About. T was so embar- rassed, he said, and opened my man. uscript with such pitiful mien that About could not help laughing. Give | me your packet, said About; I will | read 1t, and in that way we shall soon get over it. After having finished it | About said to me, Tt is first-class But | you have not signed it. I cannot my self sign my name. Supposng we sign It with an X? No replied About, we must have a name of some sort, but what name? Let us see. Shall we take Binet? It smells of the, provinces. Yes, 6inet will do; but Binet alone would be oo short, and we must have handle to l. About, on taking up the last page 'f my copy, wrote with his own pen at he end of the article the following name: Santane Binet. Would you be lind enough to recommend it?' About answered, It is not necessary; Villemes- ani reads everything. However I will ndorse it for you And thereon he wrote on the manuscript the following Please read this. Signed, Edmond About And returned it to me. Throw it into the editorial box of the Figaro, he said, and you will no oubt see 1t in print The article to my ,reat joy, appeared in the paper men, toned the next day"
 As every body knows, Sarcey turned acturer, and had great success. His ectures were of course chiefly confined 0 theatrical matters He amused him. elf as well as his audience. When he 1ughed everybody else laughed Never id an orator pay less attention to out yard appearance. He made few or no estures. His eloquence was, perhaps, ot very elevated, but it always dealt lith some new idea, which suff1ced to raw a numerous audience and give opularity to his conferences. He has cen reproached with showing too much nat he had been professor His pen ras more like the rod of a pedagogue," aid Auguste Villemot, the chronicler. le Also fought for the French lan- ! uage "I confess" he said "that I