New-York tribune., 1900-10-23
THE DRAMA.
MAUDE ADAMS AS REICHsTADT.
ssTHE EAGLET" AT THE KNICKER-
BOOKER.

ughtful pirouette voice was heard to calculate.
from the gallery. VOLTA: lie tombeau de le Due
5a Reichstadt!" 1t was a remark that amounted
N a biography; for, in fact the Duke Of Reich
stadt son Of Napoleon Bonaparte and his second
oonsort Marie Louise Of Austria a frivolous
,,oung man. whose eaily exit from this vale of
tears was thought TO have been promoted by his
tnconfinence; and Fanny Ellser (she Of
the classic head. the dazzling white
r1exion the shining braided chestnut hair. the
tail. 1.-THE perfect fgure.-an grace and strength
: and the enthralling charm that nobody could re-
sst had been one of his conspicuous associates He
died ST Schonbrunn Austria In the summer of 1882,
that year OF such remarkable fatality to celebri-
tes-at the age of twenty-one, leaving the memory
of q pinchbeck royalty. yapid character, and
wasted Hfe This shadow of a king is the central
feure in Mr. Edmond Rostand's drama of
'L'Aiglon,' originally presented in Paris, March
l. 1909 and, after a trial week at Baltimore, pro-
duced last night, in English, at the Knckerbocker
Theatre in New-Yorl-. As Napoleon Bonaparte
was called the Eagle" his son is designated as
the Eaglet." Hence the name Of the play. Miss
Maude Adams. reappearing after eight months Of
absence. and eIiciting warm welcome from her
numerous admirers in a crowded house embodied,
after her pretty fashion, the character of Reich
stadt.
The story such as it is. of Mr.. Rostand's play.
can be briefly told Reichstadt, dwelling at Schon-
brunn under the supervision of Metternich, was
iucited by agents of the Bonaparusts TO attempt
his escape from Austrian custody and 10 assume
the leadership of a conspiracy TO seize the throne
of France-then occupied by Louis Philippe THIS
project was frustrated, partly because OF his IN
herent imbecility and partly because or the SUI
r,erfor dexterity Of mis- diplomatic custodians,
5ornirated by the astute and expeditions Meter
MICH In the course Of his pursuit OF freedom and
a crown he reached the lonely battleheld OF
Wagram, and there, as climax TO his tallure' ne
was overwhelmed with visions Of horror.-the
scenes Of anguish and OF blood that were pre-
c,nItated and the ghosts OF men that were
slaughtered through the ruthless ambition or MS
imperial father. Admonished by that experience
he besought celestial pardon for having unoeF-
taken to raise again the standard Of war, and on
being conveyed back 10 his Austrian residence, ne
5,ed beartbroken, Of pneumonia. This story has
been set forth by Mr. Rostand in series OF pict-
ures that are deftly intertwined with a melodious
text mostly composed in the original, of descrip-
tons and apostrophes. which have been cut and
condensed in Mr. Louis n. Parker's neat adaptation
There are various minor incidents. cleverly ar
ranged and dispersed Reichstadts amatory pro
ceedings are somewhat comically ascribed to sub
lie and ingenious supervisory influence, and the
saItatory Ellser is revealed in the astonishing
character of a Bonapartist Sybil. melting the
spneless Duke to seize the fachion and emulate
the example OF his illustrious parent. dramatist,
however Is quite justifable in bending history TO
his purpose.
The bland imitation OF Shakespeare may not,
perhaps be viewed with equal tolerance. The scene
with the mirror is a variant from Richard the
Second; the spectral scene is a variant from
Richard the Third; the rebuke scene. between
the Duke and his mother. is variant from Ham
let' and throughout the portraiture Of Reichstadt
an effort IS obvious to invest that nerveIess
biguous. indecisve and fuctuative youth with the
despondent temperament the agonzing tremor. and
the pre-ordinate desolation of the haunted Dane.
Mr.. Rostands Reichstadt indeed. has been desig-
mated "a French Hamlet" So Klopstock
called "a German Milton; and Coerfdge assent
ing. remarked that he was, indeed, "a very German
Milton" Looking the fibre Of character,-what-
ever may have been Mr. Rostand's Intention
there IS not the least resemblance between the
Duke Of Reichstadt whether in fact fiction. and
the Hamlet Of Shakespeares play. Hamlet
iTesolute because of his large discourse OF
son." and because his reason was overwhelmed
with the tremendous and awful mystery OF mans
spiritual environment and mans relation TO God.
Reichstadt is rresolute because he is paltry and
efeminate boy, waif of destiny and-to borrow
Hamlets own pitying description Of what he most
despsed,-"a pipe for fortunes finger to sound
what stop she please"
The broadest. deepest, and finest study that has
ever been made IN literature Of what may ap
propriately be designated as the poetical ship
wreck Of royal Ife-the utter failure and ruin,
that IS to say Of weak but attractive character,
set in high place and enmeshed and overborne by
The putssant adversely Of hostile circumstances
was made by Shakespeare. in Richard the Sec
ond" The shadow Of your sorrow hath destroyed
the shadow Of your face" For them, indeed, who
have not the power of the will and the faculty
OF endurance. this world is q world made up OF
shadows. So much may be learned from Richard
the Second" by those who have not learned II from
their own experience. There no need of a
Gallo bard to reiterate the moral. When a thing
has once been thoroughly well done. here would
seem TO be no good reason why it she Id be again
attempted. 1t natural however, that a Gallo
bard should aim reanimate a French historic
figure, which certainly had picturesque surround
ings. and Mr.. Rostand's choice Of a subject was
not infelicitous for his own land and people
The period Of the play IS 1912 It was in 1881
that the Duke Of Reichstadt.-who had. in 1918
received his title from the Emperor of Austria
was made Northumberland, commanding one
Of the Hungarian regiments Of infantry, in Vienna
The foreground Of the play shows the surveillance
and tUtelage under which he was restrained and
made TO live and, artfully well. is devised to
Inspire and sustain feeling of suspense as to the
possibility Of his success in his project Of escape.
Bonapartst emissaries, disguised as milIiner ana
tailor, obtain access to him. Fanny ELsler en-
braces him. and recounts the martial exploits Of
Napoleon. Wooden soldiers,-the playthings OF chill
oren-are utilized, for the conveyance to him Of a
message Of sympathy and promise of support
He beseeches the Austrian Emperor for permission
TO return 10 France His weakness and the futility
OF his Napoleonlc ambitions signihed TO him.
with fine, subtle and exasperating irony, by the
polished metternich who, literally, sets him up
glass. where he may read the inmost
part Of" feeble and a puny hand;
and, thereupon, he dashes the mirror into frag-
rnents. and straightway in a sort Of paroxysm OF
hysterfcal resentment, punges into conspiracy and
Skaters himself pieces against the iron ram
parts Of destiny of disaster. In the dreary night
on the haunted field of Wagram he succumbs and,
after that. death speedily puts period 10 all his
trouble. weakness and grief. 1t is the tale of a
miserable youth, shadowed forth in series of cpl
sodical pictures. The incidents of the deathbed-
the production Of the first Napoleon's iron camp
oeostead and the gold cradle of the King of Rome,
elcs-are of course, sorrowful; for such things
POINT the moral u human vanity. Man goeth to
ais long home. and the mourners go about the
sueets.' The the haunted battlefield,