The sun., 1903-03-01

cerity Is his cardinal trait as an actor, sin
cerity and a beautiful humility. When
the man played Kroostdd in "A Dolls
House. he studied the character as II It
had newly dropped from another world.
This conscientiousnees allied with the
magnificent gift-sureiy heaven-sent in
these days Of roaring egoismsl-of self
suppression. Of keeping within the picture,
of modulating his voice in the choral en-
semble Of the stage, sets Mr.. Thompson In
a class apart. He Is q strong character
actor, Of the kind rare nowadays; one who
studies the values Of a character and not
merely its external accidents. a leg that
limps, OF a voice that cracks and quavers.
We wish Mr.. Thompson the success OF
his life tomorrow night at the Manhattan
and hope that not alone will he be worthy
OF the play. but that the play will be worthy
Of his admirable powers.
Is 1t time for the sermon TO end2 Are
there no more stones to be cast at resplen-
dent glass houses1 (What a relief 1t was
to praise Thompson for not being an ego
tistical actorD All. II all actors could alb
sorb some Of the content displayed by OIL
YER Goldsmith's Strolling Player: Il am
as we'll Known quoth he, -in every town
in England as the dromedary or live croco-
dile.' Yet he was a beggar, a contented
one. He therefore now fell to. and his
appetite seemed TO correspond with his in
clination. After dinner was over, he OBJ
served that the steak was tough: And yet.
SIR returns he, bad as IL was, II seemed
a rlmp steak to me- Oh, the delights Of
poverty and q good appetite! We beggars
arc the We = fondlings Of Nature; the rich
she treats like an arrant stepmother. They
are pleased with nothing cut a steak from
what part you will, and it is insupportably
tough; dress II up with pickles. and even
pickles cannot procure them an appetite.
But the whole creation Is filed with good
things for the beggar, Calvert's bu out
tastes champagne, and Sedgeley's home
brewed exoels Tokay. JOY. JOY, my blood!
Though our estates lie nowhere, we have
fortunes wherever we go let us
have another tankard while we are awake
let us have another tankard for. ah. how
charming a tankard looks when full!'
Alas! What wiles Satan weaves for
gossips. First the wits are entrapped,
then the tongue falls easy captive TO its
own tripping rhythms. We began in church
and. as Matthew Arnold said Of Theo-
phile Gautie' we have ended in a tavern.
Indeed, sins, the devil RACES to-day through
these columns and roars frightfully at
those given over TO false pride. Mayhap
as we pointed out the mote in our brother
actors eve we overlooked the beam in our
own!
To return to the disagreeable theme Of
last week, let us hasten to assure such OF
our readers who were disgruntled over
our remarks about Tolstoy's religious
mania that we have never doubted for a
moment his sincerity. 1t is a mysterious
yet potent factor in the psychology OF such
an artist as Tolstoy that whatever he does
he does IL with tremendous sincerity. That
is the reason his fiction is nearer reality
than all other fctions, and the reason that
his realities, /. e., his declarations OF faith,
are nearer other mems 6ctions. When
he writes Of his conversion like John Bun
yan he spills out his very soul. And he
does it artistically. He is not conscious
that art enters into the mechanism Of this
spiritual evisceration; but it does. st.
Augustine. John Bunyan. John Henry,
lures Of the spirit in letters Of fire. and in
all three there Is the sublime noSpete of
childhood's outpourings
We agree absolutely with the estimate
Of Tolstoy in Merejkowsky's -Tolstoy as
Man and Artist The main points Of this
study have been known to students who
followed Tolstoy's extraordinary career
for the past quarter OF century An
ingenious correspondent found fault with
us because we did not treat Tolstoy as
dramatist and penitcnt with the same
sympathy as Henrik Ibsen. We did not
because we could not. lbsens individual
ism appeals. Better-so We make free TO
confess-his torpedo exploding thousand
times under the social ark than the Oriental
passivity Of the Russian. There is hope
in the message Of Brand; none in Tolstoy's
nih,li.m. One glorifes the will. the other
denies, rejects 1t. No comparison can be
made between the two wonderful men az
play Srights. Tolstoy's Powers Of Dark
nees- Ia blood-and-thunder melodrama
compared 20 Ibsens complex dramatic
organisms. But what a nerve-shattering
revelation IL THE Death OF Ivan Ilyitch .
This is the real Tolstoy.
How childish, how amateurish is the
attitude Of the Tolstoy disciple who sniffs
at his masterpiecee-pouN what is mere art
compared to the me-sage: And say, what
are all his vaporings and fatidical croonings
in the tripod Of pseudo-propheoy as COM
pared to Anna Karenina"3 There IL i'm
plicit drama. implicit morality In it's noble
pages and all the lifetime Of nation in
war and Peace Ofpreachers and saviours
with quack nostrums the world Is already
we'll stocked. Great artists are rare.
Every day . new religion Is born some
where-and II always finds followers, But
art endurrs. 1t outlives dynastie, and re-
liRions and divinities. IL is with Tolstoy
the artist We are preoccupied. He may
deliver his messages OF warning TO n care
less world-whioh only pricks up its ears
when that message takes Oh quest stionable
colorr. a. In the unpalstable 'kreutzer
Sonata Yes. that was eagerly devoured
for its morbid eroticism. Tolsioy was
NOT aware Of this, was no, aware that every
tins ZolA printed an unusually sAlanious
novel the sales increased a thol.andfold
We prefer the austsrer Ibsen. who presents
hls msn and women within the frame of
tie drama, absolutely without poTsonal
A a