New-York tribune., 1905-04-24
JOSEPH JEFFERSON DEAD.
Continued from first page.

gained his laurel US "S4'N'SV ~ - ~
never lost.
Some leaders of mankind prevail by what they
do jefferson prevailed by what he was.-incar-
nate goodness. without insipidity tender hu-
manItv without eHusve weakness; exuberant
bumor that was never gross; nimbe wit, that
was never unkind; and piquant eccentricty, that
was equally sweet and droll The spiritual
cogency of his life accordingly, the authority of
his character and the illuminative and final ex-
planation of his amazing artistic career, can be
designated by the single word charm. He was
not distinctively intellectual power,-as, for
exanple Henry Irving is.-but in the realm of
emotion his power was supreme. He spoke to
the heart He did not dominate by force He
made no effort to command. He allured by spon-
taneous sweetness and he subdued by unstudied
grace. He had an abundance of worldly wis
DOM but his best conscience, in the manage
ment of worldly affairs. was to dwell away from
the world to avoid wrongs that he could not
redress. and to ignore complications Of circum-
stance that he was unable to adjust. He could
not have managed society. He could not have
led the way in any conflict Endued with per-
feet morality, he yet had no moral enthusiasm.
The moment after he had seen the serious side
of anything he saw the comic side of it. Rcsolute
In WILL he yet had no aggressive impulse. He
shrunk from all strife. His province. as he
understood it, was to dispense humor and kind
ness. His vocation was the ministry of beauty.
Mirth was his herald; happiness attended him;
and love followed after. He had, all men
have who amount to anything. trials. response
bilities and cares and these he bore with dutiful
constancy and in silence but mentally and
spiritually in his abstract and artistic life. he
lived as the rose lives-tranquil and sufficient to
ITSELF heedlessly yielding it's fragrance, and
pleasing all eyes with its perfection of color and
bloom.
Upon such character and such a career the
voice of detractiOn.-never silent as to any meri-
tOrious person.-could say but little. 1t some
times became audible, however. in the declara-
tion that Jefferson's artistic faculty was slight
because he acted only one or two parts. and that
his professional ambition was narrow, because
he never undertook any special business enter
prise to promote the welfare of the stage This
charge had a portentous sound. but it had no
basis. In the maturity of his powers and his
renown the comedian restricted his repertory to
a few characters. but. in his earlier time he had
played scores of parts: one authentic list men
tions more than a hundred of them: and he
might have continued 10 play scores of parts,
had he not learned by experience that it is
better to do one thing thoroughly well than to do
many things passably to present one model Of
perfect art rather than many examples of good
artistic intention. The principal characters that
he chose were Rip Van Wrinkle. Acres, and Caleb
Plummer, characters that We're absolutely con-
genial him. stirring his nature to it's pro-
foundest depths and evoking all the resources of
his heart and mind. Those characters he could
represent to perfection. and the observer who
subjects them TO analytical examination will
speedily discern that they comprehend many, if
not all, the representative extremes and con-
trasts of human experience: youth and age love
md hat Tft nd read V
humor and pathos, power and weakness, mirth
and grief, craft and simplicity, selfishness and
sef-sacTifice the material and the spiritual. and
the natural and the preternatuTal 1t will also
be perceived that the raimenJ and scenic in
vestiture of them comprise the tatters of indi-
gence and the Iaces of luxury; the cottage and
the drawing room; manners, both humble and
exalted; and physical nature. alike in calm and
storm. The range of jefferson actor was,
| in fact, remarkably broad; and for the rest, it
should be remembered that he rendered the
| greatest possible service that any person can
render to the stage, because he made it pure and
| honorable in the public esteem and dear to the
| public heart-and kept it So All over the land
! the institution of the theatre was strengthened
| by him. so that even those persons who misuse
| and degrade it, by sordid and corrupt specula-
| tiOn, possess a broader field and an ampler Op-
| portunity than would otherwise exist for what
Il
| to manage theatres or to produce new plays. He
! did not waste himself ventures and expert
| ments He did the thing that he could do best:
| and the stage is better and the world is happier
because Of what he and what he accom-
| plished.
Are we so soon forgot when we are gomez"
! Remembrance of those words, they were
spoken by jefferson. in the great days of his
/ Rip Van Wrinkle can never perish. The world
! does easily forget, and the rapid river of time
we may be very sure will sweep into oblivion
many names and many things that are cOnspicu-
now; but long as the fame of gentle
humor is priced, and as long as kindness and
pity remain on earth. the name of Joseph Jeffer-
son will be remembered because,-like the kim
dred names of Lamb, and Hood, and Charles
Dickens and Thackeray. and Washington Irv-
! ing.-it is written with smiles and tears upor
| the everlasting pages of the human heart.
WILLIAM WINTER.