New-York tribune., 1909-02-20
COQUELIN.
A Ti1id Portrait by One Of HIS
Friends.

Max Beerbohm in The London Saturday Fe-
view.
There is no doubt that during the last seven wen
wears or so the prospect of "Chantecier @ NaS
the very pivot Of his being. He had aIM1y9 o,r7 >
had very rightly and very ensaglngly, an jt eIL
nous self esteem But its centre or sIayIIg
seemed in the last few years, to have snIteu @
away from the past and present lito tiH .stte
always the immediate future IN whlch ceL.5 S
admirable genie Rostand, would colnpIeISe S aii -
let go the Ms. Of 'Chantecler.' Years aSo5
Frenchman whom know, and VINO mas d &C. So
talent for mfmicry, gave me d se4eIGdii a. ,Int
of Coquelin, saying stridently with ms Pt sculPt
ured eOcution, Moi Je ne par!e JaIudis Ue tIa
mar ce- -oue"-yhereon followed series OF tIe
most cogent and lucid reasons for Coque!li.,.
avoidance of the topic. Like all the best sa1lIe'
this satire was based on a sympathetlc uIlueL
standing of its butt The mimicry could not
have been so perfect if the mimic had not pegn zen
truly fond of Coquelin. In later years ne
emended his sketch: Moi ie ne parle Jamals
de- .ChanthcIers. nar-ce-0ue''- It was always
mainly of "Chantecler' that Coquein would lalK
to me whenever in recent years ana Wne1Ss I ~
I had the honor of meeting him Ana alWa4 ~ 80 ; -
was in Dieppe (whither he went annually that
he talked with greatest JUNCTION and elan.
Always an expansive man, he seemed 10 eN-
pand bevond measure in Dieppe. The manager
of the Casino. Nj. Bloch was an old ana oevoIe1
admirer of him and his art, and always placed
at his disposal q suite of rooms on the casino ,
terrace. Year by year Coquelins hrst appedii
this terrace was great occasion; g,
royal but wholly human; sight th3t du oLe t. .
heart good. Splendid IN pran9-1Iem p5 , n,1ite
yachting cap and a pair Of brand-neW % "Llls
shoes and swinging In his mana d u anu
white umbrella. he came forth into the ne
sunshine than which he was more dazzLng 10
the abonnes. That's he!' or IhaJ iIc La;
WHISPERED the English ones. "NolIa Ia sdISon
oui commence" rnurmured the French ones
with smile that failed to conceal awe ana ne
ia saison" was a picture of happiness, as He
stood iDaug11raIly there, with plump thumb IN
the arnhole of his waiStcoat, and with ms Ledu
thrown hack at the well known angle, snuIIIng
+he ozone through those great comedic nostrlls
After he had stood q while he would make ms
progress along the terrace, hanked on le1 eItle1
Side hv some frinnd or henchman for whose
benefit he talked and talked, slowly, lnpreS-
sively. delightedly Moi. je ne parle jamais dc
aafn he would pause to salute or accost pass
ing friend. but always thereafter resumed ule
thread of his discourse. 1t was a pleasuIe ~
watch the splendid mobile mask that Wa, was ms ms
face; and the pleasure was greater Wheh 20"
yourself we're elected compaalon-as q re-
ceiver Of laws laid down by MN IN d NolSe a.
was like the tWanging OF a Voloncelo' anu 81
theories elaborated in penetrating Whisper anu
with the cunningest OF smiles. His manner
80 rI-o16 have sTfficed for ediicatfon. But 1t
was a strong and subtle brain. Coquehh ;, anu L
what he said was always as good as the @ p" "ai ne lLa
said it To converse with him might have beeh
rather uphill work. I fancy he was not a man
to encourage interruptions. But may De
wrong. l was never tempted 10 interrupt ."
well worth while was Il to listen
The last time / saw him. Whlch WtS hN7
months ago, he was fuller than ever OF IsaR stta
teclerr-the beauties Of IT, the inspiring % diIII-
cuItfes of H. He spoke especially or the scene
in which he, the cock, would can upon tne
s1,n 10 rise and would address II, as u rose III
a sneecb of more than q hundred alexandrines-
VIII tre7nendous relish ne recited two or three
score of these, but keeping his face aosoIuteiy
expressioniess and keeping his hands behlho
his back For there was the prime glorious
difficulty: TO hold the audience solely throueh
the voice since the face and hands would he
hidden by the complete outht or cock, ChC9
or twice he scraped the ground with his loot.
That was the only gesture a cock would nave.
His little eyes shone and danced with
delight as he dilated on lie besoin dachever
impossible" He declared that Fate h1d beeh
very good TO him in giving hlm IN MS oid age
olNgp rfalT mo- ak
again Rostand had all but finished now, at
Iast-oulv a few more touches to be added by
"cette admirable genie!' The piece would De
produced I'm the autumn-oh, yes, Tor certain
7 admit I was inwardly skeptiCal about that
date Coquelin himself through his bitter e%-
perience OF the coyness OF 'cette adinlfapls
genie" may have had doubts, TOO; but these ne
would not have admitted even to hImself, dear
sanguine SOUL When autumn passed into win
ter. and still there was no inntnence OF Chah-
tecler." I was not surprised But sooner or
later thought J. in this long drawn contest
between nervous poet and sangulne actor
burgess the victory would be 10 the sangulne
actor-burgess. Sooner or lateT-and II turned
ont to be sooner Last week heard that the
nervous poet had come out from the Pyrenees,
with his wife and his sons. and his sons tutor.
and his doctor. and his valet and his chauffeur'
and with "Chantecler" itself, and had made his
entry into Paris. My heart was glad for Coque-
lin I could imagine his look OF triumph. l
could imagine him throwing off his grippe IN
a tvinkIing . Even now 1 hardly
imagine him dead-dead by such master stroke
of irony 1t seems impossible that Fate should
not have spared him to drink the cup she had
at last raised to his lips
A terrible rlaster-stroke certainly. But ter
rible for US not for the stricken. He died
without warning i'm the midst of his gladness;
a death that is to be envied. And who knows
that the cup raised to his lips was not cup Of
even Coauelin have achieved It? He might have
failed-even he. And that would have, fgura-
lively, broken his heart. Perhaps 1t is well for
him and us that he died as he did die. literally
OF heart failure