The sun., 1916-09-03
SOME NEW BOOKS.
pIon Boucicaalt's Life.

.,r,np b~usiness?' The British Prime
v,,ster was not altogether to blame
n, the mistake. although the Irish.
IAN was then Mt the height Of his
.,ccess both as author and actor in
,ondcn. He had been trying to work
Am, Of his magic on Disraeii. Feeling
:, Tite OF his position on the London
age tina, a little more advertising
.,uld do him no harm. Boucicault had
.Aressed n letter TO Disraeli demand
M tina, renian prisoners then under
.,sst for treason In English prisons
.,,u,d he released Immediately. He
,,.ae the demand In the name OF the
,,,.b nation. The letter was distributed
-, the press throughout England. The
.%..,l,Ing publicity doubtless COM
..r,a,ed it's author for the fact that
~. prime Minister ignored the COM
nunication.
The'hi.tory Of Dion Boucicault. the
comparable some one In the con
,n,,ns business" has been told In a
wost interesting way by TOWNSEND
WASH In The Career Of Dion Boucd-
,avlt. recently published by the Dun
ian Society. Little has been written Of
~. fascinating figure in the history
:, tho theatre in the nineteenth cen
,rry. Ephemeral as many Of his
.,n,evements we're, they e incred-
M. to-day. He once b0asted that he
nould write all the plays needed for
~. theatre Of London II the managers
.onld only let him. He supplied the
.,.res OF London and New York for
resr.. His enterprise as an active
a,ama.lst extended from London As
S~,rance" in 1s4l (the author was then
,@ down to THE Luck Of Roaring
camp" In 1892.
I, must not be forgotten that this
Nh century produced some Of the
mo,, popular plays Of the day. "Old
u.ads and Young Hearts" Don Cesar
a. Razan." THE Willow Copse." Louis
=, {" .Jessie Brown" Tho Cricket on
n. Hearth" "The Octoroon." 1.-THE
Colleen Bawn." "Arrah-na Pogue."
IN. Ions Strike" AFTER Dark" THE
ssaughraun" and Forbidden Fruit
,s.se are only a few plays In the long
NJ, that were to be counted among the
ros, successful Of their day. Out Of
The Shaughraun" the author Is said
"a have earned half q million dollars.
although he was soon a. impover-
,b.d an usual. Probably 1.-THE Colleen
yavn" and "Arrah-na- Pogue" were
nearly as profitable. In these dramas
9. Irish life Boucicault sounded his
strongest personal note.
Mr.. walsh's account makes Bouci-
,ul, the Legitimate son of Dionysius
,ardner and the wife of q certain Sam
rsl Smith BourriQuot--the founder OF
he name used In Dublin-a wine mer-
chant. who In 1919 married Anne Maria
Darby. the daughter OF a poet. So
Don Bouc!cault. who was born In Dub
In in 1899. inherited literary inclina-
ions from both parents.
7. was through the influence OF the
SCIENTIST Lardner that he was put to
.,hcol At Hampstead. In 1888. when
\. was IS. he wrote an a~fterpiece for a
s-hool entertainment which was
thought good enough for public per-
,ormance as "Napoleon's Old Guard"
a, the Princess Theatre in London. In
spite OF the effort. Of DR.. Lardner, who
vas still his guardian. to make him n
dNl engineer. the young Boucicau't
,ad acquired from his school appear
noes an ineradicable desire for a stage
career. As Lee Moreton ne played In
companies Of provincial theatres. land
.nr IN 1910 in London with no money
N his pockets. although he had the
manuscript Of "a Lover by Proxy" in
N, luggage. Charles Mathews refused
ne piece on the ground that farces
we're overabundant. while a hve act
comedy was really needed. 1t was then
.ha. the youthful playwright returned
q month later with London Assur-
ance." The part OF Ddxsle he expanded
rom Loplcss In the farce he orig
,nally submitted. All the time the
Young author had been gaining high
praise as an actor.
The frst night OF London Assur-
snce." March 4. 1s41. settled Bouci-
Cault's career. The conjurer was born
with the triumph OF this drama. 1t
might be mentioned here that the tes-
tmony Of Stephen Fiske and Lester
Wallack. who knew both men we'll. was
altogether in favor Of the theory that
John Brougham had little or nothing
- do with the brilliant play OF this
rine,een-year-old dramatht. although
IL has been repeatedly claimed that the
donors should go to Brougham.
The literary style Of the piece long
ago removed It from the stage. Al
though Poe called It n "despicable
mass OF inanity." the comedy lived for
nearly half a century. Now the whole
" the Boucicault theatre. II We except
occasional REVEALS Of his version OF
Casimir Delavigne's Louis xI.," lies
dusty on the shelves Of the play pub
Usher, nor is there any hope Of Its
resurrection in spite Of the vitality
4 possessed In its time. With the
success Of "Old Heads and Young
Hearts Dion Boucicault then took his
pace along with such contemporary
dramatists as Douglas Jerrold and
Bl'wer Lytton.
Re must inevitably have relied on the
Inspiration Of others for his supply. He
took his good where he found 1t. Ever
pursued by the charge OF plagiarism.
he declared that a play must have a
h'her and mother. Just as any other
ceatlon. II am an emperor" Mr..
walsh quotes him as saying. land l
AXE what I think best for art. whether
Il be a story from a book. a play from
ne French or an actor from a rival
company"
Cqmplaccntly he looted Walter Scott
" ~hi-sandre Dumas. read and took
NE best in the contemporary French
Neatre and moulded all this material
INTO the most popular plays Of his day.
liz MI In IaluhiIll~ aaaoA4laa ~ 4ha