New-York tribune., 1901-05-11

awaken interest and inpart pleasure There is
nothing ru0menrous II Mrs. Gibert's Reuinis-
osnces. but they are necessarily expressive OF
her temperament, they denote a brisk, CHEEKY.
indomitable mind they contain hints OF charac-
ter. fragments Of Information. traits OF kind
ness, and touches OF playful humor. and, since
Mrs. Gilbert has been wen and widely known
10 the playgoing public during the period Of
one generation. Ihis little sheaf q her memo
ries VIII come TO many readers Ike a personal
message from an afec-onate'y cherished friend
Il is a pity that Mrs. Gilbert herself did not
write the narrative: she Is not. indeed, writer,
but she has a style of her own. and the inter
position q an editorial hand. in all matters Of
this kind. necessarily dissiIeJes something Of
the original personality. Still Mrs Gi.berts
editor. Mrs Charlotte n Martin. has obviously
preserved portions Of Mrs Gilbert's actual talk.
ard. for the admirers - the veteran actress il
Is a better fortune T. possess a memorial OF her
in this form han not u possess il AZ all NO
pen" SAYS the editor. could express the quick
turn Of the head. the bright eyes and flushed
cheeks. The merry little laugh; but precisely
why these things could not be expressed Mrs
Martin oaits 10 explain. such things have been
expressed. over and over again. by true literary
artists.-by persons, that Is 70 say, who know
how 70 v-rite.-as anybody can see. who win look
into AlubeF ApolbE2r 'A ANAAi A'o.'-N11 -'--~
cellanies." or Dr Doran's Annals; and,
furthermore. II is the function Of a biographical
autbor OF editor OF Interpreter 70 achieve ex-
sctlv this result. But, while the editor, in this
case has done little or nothing toward VITAL
brilliant. and lasting Interpretation OF Mrs. Gil
berr's personality. she has az least opened the
way FOR its partial utterance ana pictorial dls-
closure A severe editorial taste would have
excluded all reference 10 John Wilkes Booih'-a
murderer whose awful cri rninalty Is eAtehCaDie
only on the ground that he had become
naniac.-and would have expunged such triNi-
alities As the anecdote of a sore tee There are
sor1e subiects. John Wilkes Booth being one q
,her, that ought 10 be left severely alone ana
3. has l,r,r hsar the curse Of theatrical hogra-
rbv thar IL viii insist on its prerogatiNe 10
chr1rirle small beer" Byron IN 4e1uet 10
Moore spoke OF Duulap's Life OF CooAH d
an drains ana the drama-the pints ne s"al-
lowed and the parts he performed. MIS- IN
bert however remembers notape peis'i g.
pleasant things and her editor has coi'SlS'e
,rese-,ea the tone Of truth, genteness' Sd
gacity AND sober sense that rs the o"s'S O. W.
OF her character and her chronie4e
Mrs c,ubert who was Anne Jane Hartley
was horn 81 Rochdale. Lancashire England. on
October u 1S22-a long way back, ana IN
peculiarly storied and interesting tlrnss' "ehs
one year after the death q Napoleon TWO .yesiS
before the death q Byron, and ten years peioIe
the death q Sir Walter Scott, while George ~
reigned in England. Louis XVIII in France anu
John Quincy Adams was President Of the Aii'er-
ican Republic In childhood Miss Hartley was
trained as a dancer and she figured p tne DaiN'
at the London Hayuarket and al Drufy i-ai~
IN Is45 she appeared on the stage soille'NnA'
prominently az Bury ST. Edmund's' IN Noil'iA
and in the same year she became the VIE w
George II Gilbert. a dancer. actor ana nlahasei'
with whom after various proVinciai toufH'-
extending 70 Edinburgh. Glasgow ana Duohh'-
she came. IN 1919 20 America. where she mas
had her career. Mrs. Gflbert's first fifteen years
IN America were passed in Western cities where'
professionally she was. al various times anu IA
various cities under the management OF John o.
Rice, Lewis Baker John Ellsler and George
Wood.-names long distinguished in the annals
% the American thestre.-and where personally
she had experience OF labor and sorrow hAro-
ship and vicissstude, together with ample prae-
teal training and abundant opportunity TO oo-
serve lie and 10 study human nature her ao-
vent on the New York stage was made IN loos
az the second Olympic. which had been Laura
heene's theatre, and which was then under the
Management Of that sparkling and deliEhtfui
Acress. An. John Wood t~ith the late John