New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-02-15

7 transient. nc CURTAIN nus ''
three hours YOU are under the spe" o.
beautiful art. then the curtain rings
dovn. and what is left; or what hut
memory? The art has not expressed
itself i'm permanent visible FORM
/ there is no book nor picture nor statue.
a possession for All time or d single
evening that may be true. even though
Tho immersion Of "a single evening last
"a lifetime.
Even for single evening II rs not
always true. sixty years have He'd
since 81 saw Rachel in Boston. once
only hut the vision has never faded
The influence never ceased 20 he an
F influence. ! woman OF Rachefs SUI
IRENE genius passed into your life
once for an You understood for the
drst time what dramatic genius meant.
II became once for all a test: stand
ard 10y which forever after YOU meas
ured. all other dramatic art. II was not
SO much a lesson AS an inspiration. ON
America. as a whole, she left no marx.
Perhaps. in those days. You had 10 be
a hoy 10 be susceptible 20 her Ter
suasion. II you were grown up YOU
were immersed in affairs: YOU had no
time for art. YOU thought the theatre
mere amusement. Rachel was the
! first actress OF her time. probably Of all
time. but in America she was a failure
and she went home to die.
Whereas Sarah came 70 us in the ful-
ness Of her fame and of our time: at a
time when our ambitions reached be-
vond business and money and politics
! The.sron was hot and hers the hand 10
, mould il. OF the theatre We still knew
almost nothing She taught MS. OF
French literature in its dramatic form
we knew little. She opened to us that
great treasure house, over which the
greatest French names, ancient ana
modern. are inscribed We knew Cor
nellie and Racine. Hugo and Dumas
and perhaps Sardou as names. she
made them living realities. Between
France and America she created an
Intellectual sympathy; she created a
public capable OF appreciation. $40
was the apostle of a new revelation
For the first time we saw perfect
technique: and knew it to be French
For the first time we heard the French
language spoken in its perfection. The
secrets Of elocution, Of expression, OF
meditation. of rhythm. were hers, dll
Of them, and she impaired all of them
10 us She was a great personality
but she was also the incarnation Of
French stage-art in all its forms. She
sent us back TO the closet TO study
French masterpieces. and then again
drew us to the theatre TO see how
much we had missed and how much
she could reveal. Hers was an exam
pie Of imaginative beauty
, is that. or is it not, a great patriotic
service? Has any other Frenchwoma9.
or Frenchman. done as much in tnis
way for France as Sarah has done? Is
there any other 10 whom we ourselves
owe as much? Europe acknowledges
a like debt. In England and in Rus
STA il is hardly less than ours: AMI
even Germany, where for long she
would never act. it is not much less
since Germans everywhere but in Ger
many were her pupils. All this has
been true for the better part Of gem
Grafton; and only in France did they
seem unaware Of her immense services
TO France. And 50 for years and years
they haggled over the giving Of their
far-srread Legion Of Honor to the
woman who had done all this to honor
country which was only half hers by
parentage: II half
OF course we all learn slowly. Eng
land was slow like the rest Of us. The
one picture / see most wildly among
many is that Of Mr. Gladstone in a
stage box at the Lyceum while Sarah
was playing Phedre; his hand TO his
ear and his eyes fastened not on the
stage. not on her. but on the book in
which he was studying. as if for the
first time, the text Of Racine. He
seemed content-tO miss the acting and
the action i'm order 10 make sure that
no printed word or verse escaped him.
A singular tribute TO pay TO the a.
tress: but still tribute The average
English audience and / suppose the
average American audience as well,
/ has been content. as in opera, 10 look
on AZ a representation Of which they
did not altogether understand me
words.
/ The Minister Of Public instruction.
I to whom finally belongs the credit Of
comforting this decoration, is NJ. Nivi-
I ami. But there is reason TO suppose
that the deciding influence was that OF
| NJ. Poincare President of the French
Republic. He is the first Of French
Presidents with such range Of Inter
ests and character as make II proDa-
bic that he concerned himself person.
ally in this Offering.
/ IL comes none too soon. Nine. Sarah
confesses 10 seventy years of age; and
is rightly proud Of them. The more
there are the more reason for PRIDE.
Into each one of them she has crowd
ed the energies Of many. An iron con-
! stitution, an iron will. courage PROOF
lnf fan