The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-10

the Gafety, at the NaudeViHe- Iheatre, and finally in September, 1871. he be- came a member of the company formed by "Coloners Bateman to exploit at the Lyceum his daughter, Miss Isabelle Bateman. Up: to this time Irving had been recognized merely as an imper- sonater of williams and as . so-called "character1 actor" His Bob Gassitt, Bill Sykes and Robert Redburn made deep impression on metropolitan au- diences, while his impersonation of the eccentric Digby Grant in Two Roses" was a great success in London and the provinces. Already Charles Dickens prophesied that he would be- come "a great actor" and his capacity for tragedy was acknowledged by those who heard him recite "The Dream of Eugene Aram." His true opportunity. however. did not come until November. 1871, when with great dificulty he per- suaded MT. Bateman, who had lost good deal of money and nintended to give up the Lyceum, to produce The Bells" an adaptation of 'Le Juif Polo nais,'' by Erckmann and Chatrian. Curiously enough another version of the same piece had Sailed utterly in London only Q fortnight before at the Alfred Theatre. On the other hand. Irvfng's performance of Matthias on Saturday, November 2s, electrified the audience. s8sv.
 Tno theatre f0-ecnOeu Wltn SuCn hp- plause as had not been heard within its walls since Fechter played sin the Ly- ceus. and by the following Monday morning all playgoing London was aware that a great personality and q great actor had come into hts hard won kingdom. He had fought for over fifteen years, with London as the goal of his ambition, and the struggle, long, anxious, absolutely unparalleled in the history of the English stage if not ef every other. had ended in triumph, The triumph, too, had been attained fairly and sQuarely, without any social or other influence, without money. and as we have seen, in the face of pret- udice and managerial opposition. To appriciate the surrounding circum- stances it should be noted that "The Bells was only one item in what would be called nowadays 'a triple bill." Irving was not even the star of the company. That distinction was reserved for a comedian. George Bel more, now utterly forgotten, who be- gan the proceedings with farce and appeared fin the last piece, "Pickwick." the actors In which were announced in this order: George Belmore, Henry Irving. In other words Irving, despite his success at Jingle, was still playIng second fiddle to the older actor. Tne Bells changed all that, however. lt would require columns to puptish any thing like a favorable synopsis or the press on Irving performance, so Bate- man printed a two inch advertisement headed with is"rhe Bells" and :'Mr. Hen- ry Irving in capitals, followed by an enumeration in double column or the forty-one London newspapers which had given an enthusiastic welcome to the creator of Matthias.
 There is no doubt that the night or November 25. 1871. was the turning point in Irving's career. He literally awoke on the subsequent Monday morning to find himself famous. we shall not follow Mir. Brereton through his extracts from the newspaper notices. It was a chorus of praise; indeed there was pnenomenal un- animity among the critics not only Tn regard to Irving's conception and im- |fpersofation of the part but with re- ference to che extraordinary, length or the trial scene in the last act. when for full twenty minutes Irving had held the audience spellbound. While passing over other comments we will note however. that the Athenaeunt, aftG CT testifying that in the strongest sit, nation the actor had ghastiy power no easy to supass," went on to sap: "there is no question that the man who could give such pOrtraiture as AIT. Irving afforded of the conflict Of emo
  the rarest kind" Such expressions as 'smarvelously fine," nothing finer has been seen for years" "a masterly, per- formance" great acting, "histrtonic power such as is rarely seen upon the modern English stage" &c., appeared over and over again durinug the nrst weeks of the run of ''The Bells" at the Lyceum. Irvings first real debut in. tragic impersonation captivated the critics as we'll as the audience by It's intelligence and its intensity. To lrv- ing and to no one else belongs the init ial credit for the representation Of this particular drama. If it had not been for his indomitable will, his persuasive powers and his profound faith in him self. The Bells' would never have been seen at the Lyceum or anywhere else, and the opportunity once missed doubtless many more weary years would have passed ere the actor could have got similar opening. AS It was he had risen at single step and ere he was 34 years of age to a popularity which never abated during his future career, a popularity which lasted from 1871 to 1905. That is record which has no equal in the history Of the great actors of the English stage.
 So attractive was "The Bells dur ing its first season at the Lyceum that it was played 151 consecutive times. Not only did it fill the popular parts of the house. but it drew all literary and artistic London. Among the many judges of the highest work in dramatic art who felt the power of great achievement possessed by the new &C., tor was the first Earl of Lytton. then in his ty-ninth year. The author of ''The Lady of Lyons" and "Richelteu" wrote that Irving's personation twas too admirable not to be appreciated by every competent judge of art. It will" he continued, "be a sure good fortune to any dramatic author to obtain his representation in some leading part worthy of his study and suited to his powers" The actor was always proud also of the compliment paid to him at this early stage of his London career by Mrs. Sartoris (Miss Adelaide Kim balD. who said that he reminded her of the most famous members of her family.