Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-04-25
STORY OF REBECCA.
Soott's Sweet Heroine Sweetheart 81
lrving's.

When Adolph ], Late died recently
In ST Louis The curtain went finally
down on real life drama of true love
ana devotion.
The plot of the play is that of two
brilliant young men who love beau
uflh woman One man loves the gin
more than the other, but the girl can
not decide between the two. First she
faVors one and then the other. Finally
she gives the man who loves her
most her positive and last answer.
She says she cannot marry him. and
he leaves her forever In time she
finds the other mans love not as great
or real as she supposed, and so these
two part All three live on to beau
tiful old age. Each wins renown and
fame, but they never meet again. The
last act of the play is that in which
IN old man is seen playing softly on a
violin while his eyes are fixed on n
faded miniature of the girl he had
loved In youth The strings of the
violin snap The old man falls for
ward Ia front of the picture, and when
his friends pick him up he is dead.
Curtain.
The girl that Adolph Late loved was
Rebecca Graft, the heroine Of Sir Wal.
ter SCOTS Ivanhoe. The rival, but
for whom Mr. Late might have mar.
ried Miss Gratz, was the gifted Amer
lean writer, Washington Irving,
tat g..
is known except that she resided in
Philadelphia and that she wrote many
poems OF great beauty. but few of
which have been preserved today.
Miss Gratz is chiefly remembered as
being the original of the character OF
Rebecca in Sir Walter SCOTS novel
The lannon's painting of her by Thomas
Sully has done much to perpetuate the
| stories of her wonderful beauty She
died many years ago
Adolph Latz went to St Louis over
seventy years ago. II was while on
one of his trips east that he met Miss
Gratz in Philadelphia He loved her
from the first moment he saw her He
returned to the west and worked des-
! perately To make fortune that he
might pour it all at her feet. But
| Miss Gratz had another sutton. Wash.
| ington Irving, then just rising to the
! height of his fame, was much In love
with Miss Gratz, and, while she did
not have the same kind of affection.
| for him that she did for her sturdy
young lover ont in the west she was
| infatuated with Irving, who was as
/ handsome as he was brilliant,
Irving went abroad in 1917 and Wis.
! tied Sir Walter Scott He carried n
miniature of Rebecca Graft with him
and showed it to Sir Walter and
| dwolt IN all his youthful fire and en-
| thusiasm on the beauty and witchery
! Of the su.Hr5 young American girl.
Sir Walter vas greatly impressed with
! lrving'a description OF his lady love
and adopted the girl as a character
/ In the story of Ivanhoe, which was
published in 1920
| After Mr.. Late had won the fortune
| for which he had been striving he
fastened back to Philadelphia To
| claim his bride. but Miss Gratz at
| this time did not know her own heart.
The magnetism of Washington Irving.
while not winning her love to'hinself
at least prevented 1t from centering on
Mr.. Latz Miss Graz finally refused
Mr.. Late, and the two parted forever.
Washington Irving after his west.
ern rival was disposed OF, laid desper
ate siege to his iady,s heart but she
found that she could not. love him
either, and 50 those two parted
Irving died in 1859, Miss Gratz some
years later, aud Mr.. Late, the last fig
ure IN this real life love story. only y
few weeks ago at the age Of 81 Hc
never married but remained all his
life true TO his first and only love. He
/ spent his life IN philanthronc work
In reading, and study. He was fond OF
reading lyanhoe, whore the story Of
Miss Gratz' beauty IS so well told
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