New-York tribune., 1901-10-22
THE DRAMA.
HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY.
king CHARLES THE FIRST"


the Knickerbocker Theatre, with performance of
Wills's fine poetic drama of Charles the First,
and Henry Irving and Ellen Terry as King Charles
and Queen Henrietta. making their re-entrance on
the American stage after an absence or fifteen
months. delighted a great and brilliant audience.
and were themselves delighted by cordial and
ringing welcome The greeting accorded to these
renowned actors was. indeed. Of exceptional
enthusiasm. the public appreciation of them ex-
pressing itself not only by ongeontinued plaudits
but by rapt observance of their every look and
word and deed and by many silent denotements
of profound sympathy. The play of Charles the
First is one that strongly affects the Imagination
and deeply touches the heart.-for its central char
acter is one of ideal beauty. its chief situation is
one of agonizing suspense. its language rises TO
noble height Of poetic feeling. and its climax is one
of overwhelming pathos,-and to the play also
the public response was that of eager interest and
uneduivocal admiration. Calls were numerous
after each act. and after the last curtain Henry
Irving responded in brief address. gracefully
pressing his sense of the public favor and his pleas
ure in meeting American audience.
In delineatng the character Of King Charles
Mr. Wills has presented the royalist ideal. invest
ing the monarch with many virtues making his
life an emblem Of moral grandeur. his death an
image of martyrdom and his personality
quisite type Of refinement, dignity. chivalry, and
simple heroism. Readers who derive their views
Of English history exclusively from the pages OF
Macaulay will. of course, dissent from this por-
trayal, insisting that King Charles the in
carnation of tyranny and falsehood. the oppressor
OF his people, and the inveterate foe OF popular
rights and constitutional rule. Zealots OF abstract
freedom are commonly quick to take offence at
any good word that Is said for Charles I: yet
every student knows that the Macaulay view of
history is sometimes speciously rhetorical
than scrupulously just and that Charles Stuart.
with all his political indirection. his defects OF
will. and his errors of weakness. was. in many
ways, royal. admirable and lovable person. and 1t
is to be considered that he fatally expiated his sins
the greatest of which was the lamentably short
sighted, ignominious, and apparently panicsricken
sacrifice OF his best friend. the great Earl OF Straf
ford-and that he died. most noby. for his cause
A more astute and polite ruler. such as William
III. perceiving the drift Of popular sentiment tow
ard a larger civil freedom and a different relig-
Ious faith. would have fashioned and utilized it,
Charles perished because OF his blind and bigoted
adherence 10 that principle of Divine Right TO
which he was born. which he had inherited and
according to which he had been reared. The dram
atist has taken some liberty with ascertained and
established facts: his portrait OF Cromwell is un-
true 10 life and also IL is needIessly base.-for
the ruin OF the King would be Just as pathetic
wrought by fair antagonist as by a foul but,
in general. this kind Of artistic liberty is per-
missible in work OF the imagination-and here
the object was, not historical presentnent of
warfare between King and Parliament but con-
crete Image of regal magnanimity, supreme above
betrayal and disaster, and of majestic fortitude
triumphant over anguish and serene in the pres
ence OF death. The practical value OF such an ex-
ample. TO those who can really feel and understand
H. could scarcely be overstated- Such words as
these. with which the doomed sovereign. on his
way TO the scaffod, takes his last farewell of his
wife and queen, sink into the heart and remain
there forever:
To thee do consign my memory
o. Danish not my name from OF thy lips
Because 1t pains awhile In naming IL.
harsh grief doth pass. in time into far music.
Red-eyed regret that waits upon thv stems
WIN daily grow gentle. dear companion
And nd hold sweet converse with thee. OF thy dead
Lest when thy heart expelleth gray-stoled grief,
o. keep my place in ii forever green.
All hung with the immortelles OF thy love-
] long for more than scuptured monument
or proudest pomp among the tombs OF kings
Henry Irvng's embodiment Of Charles has
been known on the English stage since Octo-
Der. 1872 and the American stage since his first
visit 10 this country. in 1883 It is at once fasci-
mating emblem OF virtuous royalty and a perfect
impersonation OF character and therefore II is
rightly considered one OF this great actors most
distinctive and representative achievements 1t
does not. indeed. impIicate his wilder and more
robust powers, his caustic humor. his wonderful
sensibility TO influences that are weird and awful
his artistic command of the darker passions of
human nature and his subtle swift decisive facuI-
ties for the expression OF them It's constituents
widely different from those OF Shylock and
King Louis. Ii is an embodiment marked by splen-
did traits OF intellect by innate superiority of char
acter by great goodness OF heart. by exquisite re-
fnement Of manners. by sweetness of sentiment
and loftiness Of soul 1t is a revelation as we'll as
an assumption. and IL would not be feasible except
by an actor of rare intellectual and spiritual en-
dowments, 1t does not captivate by means OF any
startling transitions theatrical devices, but il
enthralls by inherent allurement-by the charm OF
august. noble. gentle, and sweet personality.
In outward aspect 1t is King Charles in ever
detail as he lives upon the canvas OF Nandyke- In
form and moving iii the incarnation of regal state
the born sovereign. divinely consecrated to rule.
Aristocracy. in its true sense-the superiority OF
birth and breeding that comes by nature-could not
be better embodied thar II is by Henry Irving. in
this consummate personation- The delicate cour-
tesy, the splendid digsty the pervasive grace the
just pride. the righteous passion-an these are the
spontaneous tmpartments of great nature. The
disclosure of this personality Is accomplished In
the first scene, which is not OF mOtivity but
OF picture. and from the moment of his entrance
with the children. till that of his solemn. affecting
exit. with the pathetic Remember" he holds his
audience spellbound beneath sense of embodied
grandeur and predestinate calamity-the living
reality Of King Charless personal presence. Ilu-
sion could not be complete, and from the sus-
tentation OF this august ideal there is never a
lapse. The mastery of minute details as we'll as
concrete ideal In acting is here absolute and
fnal-a mastery that descends upon its sub
ject and deftly concealing all mechanism OF
art, produces the perfect effect of nature
Royal authority is incarnate in the superb
rebuke to Cromwell and his followers Res
ignation. fortitude. mOurnful tenderness and
noble sel-control lift the kings farewell scene to
the high level OF subirity. and audience has
ever yet looked upon il without the tribute of
But it is at the supreme moment of the play when
the monarch,-in the extremity OF desperate for
tune,-at length knows that his trusted friend has
betrayed him. that the greatness of the actor leaps
to it's full stature. The agony that shows in his
far riaFt hat hi