New-York tribune., 1910-12-19
LONDON NOTES
Sailors at the Embassy-lrvlng
in Bronze-A Roman Tragedy.

III 0IUItxC"N 0UtJtotI 'oS~~J'
London, December 3.
The march Of the eight hundred Amer1-
can sailors and marines up the srano
staircase Of Dorchester House VIII long
be remembered by those who Wltnessed
it. They We're a picked body OF men
from the battleships selected by order OF
merit from the crews after critical ex-
animation OF the records for good con-
duct. The privilege of double treat
the luhcheon at the Guildhall and the re-
ception at the American Ambassadors
was heartily appreciated. and the men
were on their best behavior. AS they
had kept an even. full dress line In
marching from the railway stations TO
the Guildhall, 80 they advanced In solid
column, arrayed in uniform and gloves,
to the head of the staircase at Dor
chester House, where Mrs. Reid and the
They represented the fighting services
which protected the honor and safety OF
their country, and the hostess's smile
and CHEEKY greeting warmed their hearts
and helped them to feel at home.
Each man had in his pocket q souvenir
briarwood pipe, received at the hos
pitable tables Of the Guildhall. As the
sailors sauntered through the long cor
ridors and reception rooms, and listened
to the music, they thought OF their un-
expected gifts, and whipped them out of
their pockets in order to assure them
selves that they still had them. They
had not smoked during the long drive In
the drags from the city, and when they
had finished their tea In the lower library
many OF them began to tumble with
their tobacco bags. The temptation to
try the new pipes was 50 irresistible that
a break was made for the doors, and it
was not long before they we're smoking
comfortably on the embassy steps and ia
the open court on the edge OF Park Lane.
Passersby smiled when they saw this
unusual spectacle Of American sailors
standing or sitting in groups in front Of
Dorchester House and smoking their
GuiIdhan pipes with unaffected relish
II was democratic scene in the heart OF
Mayfair and added homely touch to
Mrs Reid's carefully planned entertain
ment
Throughout his career Henry Irving
impaired dignity and distinction to tho
actors profession, and the work has
gone on after death. The bronze statue
unveiled this week IN the open space IN
front OF the National Portrait Gallery
is the most conspicuous Of the few out
door memorials to actors IN England.
Shakespeare and Garrick are honored
with sculptured memorials in Westmin-
ster Abbey, the poet with right arm
leaning on a pile Of his own plays and
scroll with passage from THE Tenn
pest tn his left hand. and the actor
curtains; and there are tablets on houses
and in churches bearing the names Of a
few other actors. There is small mar
bic statue Of Shakespeare in the centre
Of Leicester Square; and on the wall OF
brewery near the disputed site of the
ancient Globe Theatre there is me-
dallion bust patterned after the Droe-
shout portrait. There IS no outdoor
statue of Garrick, but there is one of
Mrs. Siddons on Paddington Green in
addition to Chantrey's in the Abbey mod
elled after the famous Reynolds portrait.
Otherwise, in searching for memorials
Of actors one must be content with
tablets on house walls or with the tomb
stones in the Abbey cloisters and in
churchyards-
Irving himself unveiled the Marlowe
memorial at Canterbury and the Sid
dons statue, marked with a mural tablet
Guinn's house in Bath and rendered
other services in commemoration OF
worthless Of the stage. Now, his own
turn has come, and the familiar figure
and face are to be seen between Ira
falsar Square and the Garrick Theatre.
There were two other sculptured por-
traits Of him already in London. One
was Onslow Ford's reproduction of him
as Hamlet in the Guildhall and the
other a statuette Of him by the same
sculptor as Matthias in THE Bells Mr..
unveiled by Sir John Hare in the pres
ence Of a large company Of actors, is in
doctors robes. such as he wore In
Dublin, Cambridge and Glasgow in re-
his honorary degrees. The actors
IN England and America, who raised the
money for thi. fine work, refrained from
presenting q stage portrait of him, but
preferred to represent him as a man OF
letters, who had received academic
honors. manuscript is held in his left
hand, and in natural pose and character
istic gesture the figure suggests decla-
nation, as though the sculptor had been
favored with instantaneous photographs
of the unveiling ceremonies of the Mar
lowe and Siddons memorials, where he
was the foremost figure.
To old-time playgoers at the Lyceum
the sculptured face and figure viii not
Seem as familiar as either the Hamlet
or the Matthias by Onslow Ford. To
those who knew Irving intimately i. Is
a most satisfactory work 1t is not the
actor with a marvellous play of facial
expression for denoting irresolution,
dreaminess of imagination ard self
torture from remorse. 1t is the man
with dignity of character ineShaustibIe