meridian of success and reputation.—new rôles of febro,
melnotte, and jack cade.
the interest of his friends and of the public at large in the returning actor was increased by the laurels he had won in the mother-country, and the prize hanging on his arm, whose beauty lent a choicer domestic lustre to his professional glory. wherever he played, the theatre was crowded to overflowing, and the receipts and the applause were unprecedented. the only alloy in his cup—and this was not then so copious or so bitter as it afterwards became—was the acrimonious and envenomed criticism springing alike from the envious and malignant, who cannot see any one successful without assailing him, and from those whose tastes were displeased or whose prejudices were offended by his peculiarities.
while fulfilling an engagement in boston, he received a very characteristic letter from leggett, which may serve as a specimen of their correspondence. it will be seen that the tragedian had urged on the editor the writing of a play for him on the theme of jack cade and his rebellion. he afterwards induced conrad to reconstruct his play of aylmere, which in its original form was not suited to his ideas.
"new york, wednesday evening, oct. 25th.
"my dear forrest,—i was in hopes of having a line from you before this time, telling the boston news, or so much of it at least as concerns you and yours, which is what i care to hear. but you are determined, i suppose, to maintain the character you have so well earned, of being a most dilatory correspondent. i have had the pleasure of hearing this evening, however, through another channel, that you are drawing full houses; and i trust that all is going on well in other respects. placide and i took a walk
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out to bloomingdale last sunday afternoon, and as we were returning we conjectured that you and catherine were just sitting down at the board of mr. and mrs. manager barry.
"i have been down town this evening for the first time these several days. i extended my walk to the park theatre, where miss tree was performing rosalind. the house was about $500; that at the national, vandenhoff, could not have exceeded $300. miss tree's engagement will conclude with her benefit on friday evening, when she will probably have between $900 and $1000, making her average for the eleven nights about $650. this is considered a very handsome business. mad. caridora allen opens on monday evening, and her box sheet already shows a fine display of fashionable names. she will have a full and fine house. she has been giving a touch of her quality at some of the soirées of the exclusives, and is pronounced just the thing. the woodworth benefit limps tediously along. the returning of your money makes a good deal of talk, and the conduct of the committee is much censured. the motive, to injure you, and foist up vandenhoff at your expense, will meet with a sad discomfiture. my good public is too clear-sighted to be humbugged in so plain a matter.
"i hope you continue to make yourself acquainted with that insolent patrician coriolanus. he was not quite so much of a democrat as you and i are; but that is no reason why we should not use him if he can do us a service. i wish shakspeare, with all his divine attributes, had only had a little of that ennobling love of equal human liberty which is now animating the hearts of true patriots all over the world, and is destined, ere long, to effect a great and glorious change in the condition of mankind. what a vast and godlike influence he might have exerted in moulding the public mind and guiding the upward progress of nations, if his great genius had not been dazzled by the false glitter of aristocratic institutions, and blinded to the equal rights of the great family of man! had i a little of his transcendent intellect, i would assert the principles of democratic freedom in a voice that should 'fill the world with echoes.'
"my own affairs remain in statu quo. i am still undetermined what to do. i have been solicited to write for the democratic 'monthly review,' just established in washington, and there is
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some talk among the politicians here of getting up a morning paper, and offering me the place of principal editor. i have been turning over the jack cade subject; but i confess i am almost afraid to undertake it. the theme is a grand one, and i warm when i think of it; but i must not mistake the ardor of my feelings in the sacred cause of human liberty for ability to manage the mighty subject. besides, the prejudices and prepossessions of the world are against me, with shakspeare on their side. who must not feel his feebleness and insignificance when called to enter the list against such an antagonist? i must do something, however, and shortly; for i can now say, with jaffier, though unlike him i am not devout enough to thank heaven for it, that i am not worth a ducat.
"i took a walk out to new rochelle on monday afternoon, and returned yesterday morning. i need not say that you were the theme of much of the conversation while i was there. many questions were asked me concerning your 'handsome english wife.'
"i shall long very earnestly for the 18th of december to arrive, when i count upon enjoying another month of happiness. 'how happily the days of thalaba went by' during the five weeks of your late sojourn in this city! i shall not speedily forget those pleasant evenings.
"it is past midnight now, and elmira has been long in bed; otherwise i should be enjoined to add her love to mine.
"good-night, and god bless you both.
"yours ever,
"wm. leggett."
not long after his return from england, some of the most distinguished of his fellow-citizens joined in giving him the compliment of a public dinner. the festival was of a sumptuous and magnificent character, and drawing together, as it did, nearly all the marked talent and celebrity of philadelphia, the honor was felt to be one of no ordinary value. nicholas biddle was president, supported by six vice-presidents and eleven managers. the banquet was held on the 15th of december, 1837. over two hundred gentlemen sat down at the table. mr. biddle being kept away by a severe illness, the chair was occupied by hon. j. r.
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ingersoll; mr. forrest was on his right, and in the immediate vicinity were chief-justice gibson, judge rogers, recorder conrad, colonel swift, mayor of the city, dr. jackson, of the university of pennsylvania, prof. mitchell, dr. calhoun, dean of jefferson college, morton mcmichael, robert morris, r. penn smith, and messrs. dunlap, banks, bell, and doran, members of the convention then sitting to revise the constitution of the state. leggett was present from new york, by special invitation.
the room was elegantly ornamented. the name of the chief guest was woven in wreaths around the pyramids of confectionery, branded on the bottles of wine, and embossed about various articles of the dessert. no pains were spared to add to the entertainment every charm of grace and taste adapted to gratify its recipient. one of the city papers said, the next morning,—
"on no former occasion in philadelphia has there been so numerous and brilliant an assemblage for any similar purpose. the selectness of the company, the zeal and enthusiasm they exhibited, and the cordial greetings they bestowed, must have been especially gratifying to the feelings of mr. forrest, springing as these testimonials did from a proud recognition of his worth as a townsman."
the following letter explained the absence of the chosen president of the day:
"philadelphia, dec. 15th, 1837.
"hon. r. t. conrad,
"my dear sir,—i regret much that indisposition will prevent me from joining your festival to-day. feeling, as i do, an intense nationality, which makes the fame of every citizen the common property of the country, i rejoice at all the developments of intellectual power among our countrymen in every walk of life, and i am always anxious to do honor to high faculties combined with personal worth. such a union the common voice ascribes to mr. forrest, and i would have gladly added my own applause to the general homage. but this is impracticable now, and i can therefore only convey through you a sentiment which, if it wants the vigorous expression of health, has at least a sick man's sincerity. it is,—
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"the genius of our country, whenever and wherever displayed,—honor to its triumphs in every field of fame.
"with great regard, yours,
"n. biddle."
the cloth having been removed, mr. ingersoll rose, and said,—
"the friends of the drama are desirous of paying a merited tribute of respect and esteem to one of the most distinguished and successful of its sons. well-approved usage upon occasions not dissimilar has pointed to this our cheerful greeting as a fitting method for carrying their desires into effect. it combines the compliment of public and unequivocal demonstration with the kindness and cordiality of social intercourse. it serves to express at once opinions the result of deliberate judgment, and sentiments warm and faithful from the heart.
"to our guest we owe much for having devoted to the profession which he has selected an uncommon energy of character and peculiar personal aptitudes. they are both adapted to the happiest illustrations of an art which, in the absence of either, would want a finished representative, but, by a rare combination of faculties in him, is enabled effectually 'to hold the mirror up to nature.' it is an art, in the rational pleasures and substantial advantages derived from which all are free to participate, and a large proportion of the educated and liberal-minded avail themselves of the privilege. it is an art which, for thousands of years, has been practised with success, admired, and esteemed; and the men who have adorned it by their talents have received the well-earned plaudits of their age, and the honors of a cherished name.
"to our guest we owe the acknowledgment (long delayed, indeed) of the sternest critics of an experienced and enlightened public, not our own, that of one department at least of elegant literature our country has produced the brightest living representative.
"to our guest we owe especial thanks that he has been the prompt, uniform, and liberal patron of his art; that dramatic genius and merit have never appealed to him for aid in vain; that he has devoted the best-directed generosity, and some of his most brilliant professional efforts, to their cause.
"to our guest we owe unmeasured thanks that he has done
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much by his personal exertion, study, and example, to identify our stage with the classic drama, and that he has made the more than modern æschylus—the myriad-minded shakspeare—ours.
"we owe him thanks, as members of a well-regulated community, that, by the course and current of his domestic life, the reproaches that are sometimes cast upon his profession have been signally disarmed.
"and, in this moment of joyous festivity, we feel that we owe him unnumbered thanks that he has offered us an opportunity to express for him an unfeigned and cordial regard.
"these sentiments are embraced in a brief but comprehensive toast, which i will ask leave to offer,—
"the stage and its master."
amid loud and long applause, forrest rose, bowed his acknowledgments, and replied,—
"mr. president and gentlemen,—i feel too deeply the honor this day rendered me to be able to express myself in terms of adequate meaning. there are times when the tongue is at best but a poor interpreter of the heart. the strongest emotions do not always clothe themselves in the strongest language. the words which rise to my lips seem too cold and vapid to denote truly the sentiments which prompt them. they lack that terseness and energy which the occasion deserves.
"the actor usually comes before the public in a 'fiction, in a dream of passion,' and his aim is to suit his utterance and the ''havior of the visage' to the unreal situation. but the resources of my art do not avail me here. this is no pageant of the stage, to be forgotten with the hour, nor this an audience drawn to view its mimic scenes.
"i stand amidst a numerous throng of the chiefest denizens of my native city, convened to do me honor; and this costly banquet they present to me, a munificent token of public regard. i feel, indeed, that i am no actor here. my bosom throbs with undissembled agitation, and in the grateful tumult of my thoughts i cannot 'beget a temperance to give smoothness' to my acknowledgments for so proud a tribute. in the simplest form of speech, then, let me assure you from my inmost heart, i thank you.
"i have but recently returned from england, after performing many nights on those boards where the master-spirits of the stage
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achieved their noblest triumphs. you have heard from other sources with what kindness i was received, and with what bounteous applause my efforts were rewarded. throughout my sojourn abroad i experienced only the most candid and liberal treatment from the public, and the most elegant and cordial hospitality in private. but i rejoice that the time has come round which brings me again to the point from which i started; which places me among those friends whose partial kindness discovered the first unfoldings of my mind, and watched it with assiduous care through all the stages of its subsequent development. the applause of foreign audiences was soothing to my pride, but that which i received at home had aroused a deeper sentiment. the people of england bestowed their approbation on the results of long practice and severe study, but my countrymen gave me theirs in generous anticipation of those results.
"they looked with indulgence on the completed statue; you marked with interest from day to day the progress of the work till the rough block, by gradual change, assumed its present form. let me hope that it may yet be sculptured to greater symmetry and smoothness, and better deserve your lavish regard.
"the sounds and sights which greet me here are linked with thrilling associations. among the voices which welcome me to-night i distinguish some which were raised in kind approval of my earliest efforts. among the faces which surround this board i trace lineaments deeply stamped on my memory in that expression of benevolent encouragement with which they regarded my juvenile attempts, and cheered me onward in the outset of my career. i look on your features, sir" (said mr. f., addressing himself to the mayor of the city, who occupied a seat by his right), "and my mind glides over a long interval of time, to a scene i can never forget. four lustres are now nearly completed since the event occurred to which i allude.
"a crowd was gathered one evening in the tivoli garden, to behold the curious varieties of delirium men exhibit on inhaling nitrous oxide. several years had then elapsed since the great chemist of england had made known the singular properties of exhilarating gas; and strange antics performed under its influence by distinguished philosophers, poets, and statesmen of europe were then on record. it was yet, however, a novelty
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with us, and the public experiments drew throngs to witness them. among those to whom the intoxicating agent was administered (on the occasion referred to) there chanced to be a little unfriended boy, who, in the instant ecstasy which the subtle fluid inspired, threw himself into a tragic attitude and commenced declaiming a passage from one of shakspeare's plays. 'what, ho!' he cried, 'young richmond, ho! 'tis richard calls; i hate thee, harry, for thy blood of lancaster.' but the effect of the aerial draught was brief as it was sudden and irresistible. the boy, awaking as from a dream, was surprised to find himself the centre of attraction,—'the observed of all observers.' abashed at his novel and awkward position, he shrunk timidly from the glances of the spectators, and would have stolen in haste away. but a stranger stepped from the crowd, and, taking him kindly by the hand, pronounced words which thrilled through him with a spell-like influence. 'this lad,' said he, 'has the germ of tragic greatness in him. the exhilarating gas has given him no new power. it has only revealed one which lay dormant in him before. it needs only to be cherished and cultivated to bring forth goodly fruit.'
"gentlemen, the present chief magistrate of our city was that benevolent stranger, and your guest to-night was that unfriended boy. if the prophecy has been in any degree fulfilled,—if since that time i have attained some eminence in my profession,—let my full heart acknowledge that the inspiriting prediction, followed as it was with repeated acts of delicate and considerate kindness, exercised the happiest influence on the result. it was a word in season; it was a kindly greeting calculated to arouse all the energies of my nature and direct them to a particular aim. prophecy oftentimes shapes the event which it seems only to foretell. one shout of friendly confidence at the beginning of a race may nerve the runner with strength to win the goal.
"happy he who, on accomplishing his round, is received with generous welcome by the same friends that cheered him at the start. among such friends i stand. you listened with inspiring praise and augury to the immature efforts of the boy, and you now honor with this proud token of your approbation the achievements of the man.
"you nurtured me in the bud and early blossom of my life,
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and 'labored to make me full of growing.' if you have succeeded, 'the harvest is your own.'
"mr. president and gentlemen, allow me to offer you, in conclusion, as my sentiment,—
"the citizens of philadelphia—alike ready at the starting-post to cheer genius to exertion, and at the goal to reward it with a chaplet."
the newspaper reporter who described the occasion said,—
"it is not possible to convey by words any idea of the effect produced by this speech. his delivery was natural, forcible, and unaffected; and in many passages all who heard him were moved to tears. at the allusion to colonel swift, the mayor of the city, the whole company rose, and, by a common impulse, gave six hearty cheers. mr. forrest sat down amidst the most vehement applause."
several sentiments were read, and excellent speeches made in response. morton mcmichael ended his eloquent remarks thus:
"before i sit down, however, allow me to call upon one whose genuine eloquence will atone for my tedious prattle. for this purpose i shall presently ask the company to join me in a health to one now near me, who, though young in years, has already secured to himself a ripe renown,—one who, in various departments of literature, has shown a vigorous and searching mind,—one who, in all the circumstances in which he has been placed, whether by prosperous or adverse fortune, has so acquitted himself, that in him
'nature might stand up
and say to all the world, this is a man.'
i allude, sir, to the author of 'conrad of naples,' a tragedy which, though written in the early years of nonage, bears upon it the unmistakable impress of rich and fruitful soil. nor is this the only thing which my friend—for i am proud to call him so—has achieved in the difficult walks of the tragic drama. his 'jack cade' is a fine, spirited, stirring production, full of noble sentiments, clothed in striking language; and if it could only be so fortunate as to secure for the representative of its hero our own spartacus, its success upon the stage would be as pre-eminent as its deserts are ample. as an essayist, too, this gentleman has made himself extensively known by the energy and brilliance of
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his style, the justness and solidity of his ideas, and the comprehensive range of his information. in years gone by, his contributions to the press of this city were everywhere recognized by their bold and manly eloquence; and in the gentle pursuits of the muses he has exhibited a fervor of thought and a delicacy of expression seldom surpassed by any of our native poets. but i see, sir, that my praises are distasteful to him, and i therefore at once propose
"robert t. conrad—distinguished alike by his success as a dramatist, his skill as a poet, and his rich, ready, and glowing eloquence."
the hon. r. t. conrad then addressed the company, as follows:
"to those who are acquainted with the gentleman who has just taken his seat, no act of generosity or kindness coming from him can be wholly unexpected. i will not, therefore, plead, in extenuation of my inability to return a suitable acknowledgment, the surprise which his flattering reference to me, and the still more flattering manner in which that reference was received, have excited. i may, however, regret that the excess of his kindness deprives me of the power of speaking the gratitude which it inspires,—gratitude which is only rendered more profound by a consciousness that his praises are partial and undeserved. the excitement which, when tranquil, fans and kindles expression, when turbulent, overwhelms and extinguishes it. i feel this on the present occasion. the compliment is not only beyond my ambition, but beyond my strength. it comes to me as jupiter did to the ambitious beauty of old, consuming while it embraces. i am not, however, so completely consumed in my blushes but that enough of me is left to say to the gentleman who has done me this honor, and to the company who joined in it, that i thank him and them most sincerely.
"mr. mcmichael has alluded to my former connection with the drama. the memory of friendship alone could have retained or revived a thought of my humble association, at an earlier period of my life, with the literature of the stage. to me the recollection of those studies will ever be grateful. even the severest and most ascetic student can have no reason to regret the time spent in the contemplation of the rich stores of the british drama.
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he who has dwelt amid its glorious structures—who has had the wizard spell of its mighty masters thrown over his spirit—can never recur to it without enjoyment. years may pass over him, and the current of life drift him far away from those pursuits, but, when recalled by an occasion like the present, he will come back to them with all his former feelings,—
'feelings long subdued,
subdued, but cherished long.'
he will find all its haunted paths familiar to him, and the flowers that bloom around those paths as fresh and as bright as when they first sprang forth at the call of genius. its ancient and lofty halls will ring with the old and well-known voices, and its gorgeous and grotesque creations pass before him like things of life and substance, rather than the airy nothings of the imagination. if such be its ordinary magic, how potent is the spell when the vision becomes half real; when the leaves of the drama, like the written responses of the ancient oracles, flutter with supernatural life; when the figures start from the lifeless canvas and live and move and have their being in the mighty art of a forrest! who that has stepped within the charmed circle traced by his wand would sell the memory of its delight?
'his is the spell o'er hearts
which only acting lends,
the youngest of the sister arts,
where all their beauty blends:
for poetry can ill express
full many a tone of thought sublime,
and painting, mute and motionless,
steals but a glance of time.
but by the mighty actor brought,
illusion's perfect triumphs come,
verse ceases to be airy thought,
and sculpture to be dumb.'"
mr. conrad, with an allusion to the hon. joseph r. chandler, gave this sentiment:
"the press—the source and safeguard of social order, freedom, and refinement."
mr. chandler said,—
"in the concluding portion of the remarks of the gentleman
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who immediately preceded me, there was an allusion to my early acquaintance with the distinguished guest of the evening. the gentleman was right, sir. i can boast a long acquaintance with our guest, and an early appreciation of those talents which have so often delighted us, and which have led their possessor to his present eminence. i was among those who witnessed the scene which has been so graphically described by the gentleman himself, and among those who, having such ample means, prophesied that success which has been attained; and i now see around me many who are gratified this evening at the full evidence of their prophecy's fulfilment.
"for more than twenty years, sir, i have had occasion to mark the progress of our guest. i hope that the new relations into which that gentleman has entered will not make offensive the unfortunate extent of my reminiscence; it includes only a part of the years of my manhood, while it extends far down into his boyhood. it extends to a time when the first bud of his professional greatness began to blow; but even then what struck his admirers as a new development could not have been new to him,—an earlier love of the profession must have begotten some consciousness of latent talent,—and when has a love of a pursuit, and a consciousness of powers to prosecute it, failed to give hopes of success? well, sir, step by step has that gentleman ascended the ladder, until he has reached the topmost round; and now, from the proud eminence which he has attained, he invites us to look back with him, and to glory in the means whereby he did ascend. sir, he may glory in them; and we, as his friends, may join in the felicitation. steady and rapid as has been that ascent, there is none to complain. the hundreds of his profession whom he has passed in his upward flight have cheered him on, and rejoiced in his success, as the deservings of talent and toil. no envious actor repines at his lower station, but all feel that their profession is honored in the achievements of its most successful member.
"but, sir, i feel that the object of this delightful festival is not to reward the brilliant achievements of a performer: proud as we may be, as philadelphians, of his success, we have a higher motive; we feel, and would by these ceremonies express, that our townsman has successfully trod a path dangerous to all, and that
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green as is the chaplet which he has acquired as an actor, its beauty and redolence are derived from his virtues as a man. the credit of high professional excellence is awarded, and the man admired,—that in the case of our honored guest it has served to give exercise to the virtues of the citizen, the friend, and the relative.
"on another, a former occasion, i united with many citizens now here in a festival to a gentleman of eminence as an actor and of high credit as a dramatic author. i allude to mr. knowles. the hospitalities of the evening were acknowledged by the recipient, and were made most gratifying to those who extended them. but how different were they from those of this occasion! they lacked the interest of early associations, the sympathy of common citizenship: the fame we celebrated was great, but it was not our own. the occasion then was not like this; we come here not to be hospitable, nor to extend courtesy to a stranger. we come to express an appreciation of talent, our respects for faculties nobly but meekly borne, our gratitude for true americanism exhibited abroad, and our appreciation of the gentleman at home,—to say to the world that even as a stranger they may applaud the actor in proportion to his deservings, because here at home, where he is fully known, the man is loved.
"sir, alone and unaided has forrest gained his present eminence, by the ascending power of talents and perseverance alone; the press has found time only to record his conquests of fame, and this festival is the spontaneous offering of admiring citizens to one of their number, who, in doing so much for himself, has reflected honor on them.
"the philadelphia press, however, sir, will ever feel it a duty to find it a pleasure to encourage talents of a high order, and to promote their appreciation and reward. i speak the more confidently, as i stand among those of its directors who are concerned themselves in such a course, and who feel their responsibility in this respect to society."
richard penn smith responded to a toast with much felicity. he said "he recalled with pleasure his intercourse with mr. forrest, for whom he wrote his tragedy entitled caius marius, but regretted that even the transcendent talents of his friend could not save his hero from perishing among the ruins of carthage."
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mr. smith said that "on such an occasion it would be unpardonable to overlook one who stood foremost in the ranks of our dramatic writers,—a gentleman who had distinguished himself by his various talents as an artist and an author, and whose dramatic works would ultimately secure him an enviable fame." he referred to wm. dunlap, of new york, and read the following letter:
"new york, december 11th, 1837.
"gentlemen,—i received, on the evening of the 9th instant, your polite letter, doing me the honor of requesting my presence at a public dinner to be given to edwin forrest on the 15th instant. nothing but the progress of winter, which i see around me, and feel within, could prevent my testifying in person how highly i appreciate the invitation of the committee and the gentleman to whom the public mark of esteem is to be given. permit me to offer a toast:
"the american actor, who, both in public and private life, upholds the honor of his country,—edwin forrest.
"william dunlap."
"mr. president," said mr. smith, "i will offer you a toast, which i have no doubt will be cordially responded to,—
"william dunlap—the nestor of the american drama. may he live to see the edifice become what his foundation promised!"
the president called upon mr. charles ingersoll, chairman of the committee of invitation, for a sentiment, to which mr. ingersoll responded:
"mr. chairman,—i have been desired by the committee to propose the health of a gentleman who is among us,—a friend of our immediate guest,—who has left his business in a sister city to comply with their invitation to give us his presence to-day,—a gentleman well known in the department of letters, as our guest upon your right is in that of the drama, as peculiarly and characteristically american. we are met to congratulate upon his successes a man radically american. the occasion is, therefore, appropriate to the cultivation of nationality,—a virtue which, though it is said to have grown into a weed in our political and individual relations, we have never been accused of fostering overmuch in literature and the arts; and he who cultivates it
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there deserves our signal approbation. short of that illiberality which impedes the march of improvement, let us cherish a partiality, an honest, homely prejudice, for what is our own. to know ourselves is not the whole circle of wisdom; we must love ourselves too. who sees an american audience crowd to an american play and turn from shakspeare to call for metamora and the gladiator, and does not acknowledge in this fond prejudice the germ of excellence? patriotism itself is a blind preference of our own earth; and shall there be no patriotism in letters? take from walter scott his local prepossessions,—his scotch kings, scotch hills, scotchmen, and the round of characters that he carries with him to all times and all places wherever his scene be laid,—deprive him, in a word, of his nationality, and what is he? cut from his harp his own strings, and where is his music? there is no virtue without excess; such is human imperfection. give us, then, nationality, which is but a phase of patriotic feeling; give us excess of it. let us love the yet barren hills of our own literature, and we shall learn to make them wave and smile with harvests. let our authors, like the gentleman we are about to drink to, strike their roots into their native soil and spread themselves to their native sun, and, like him, they will flourish. i propose
"a health and a hearty welcome to mr. leggett, whose pen, pointed by a genius that is his own, is directed by a heart that is all his country's."
mr. leggett said, that "to be complimented on such an occasion, and by such an assemblage, with a particular notice, was an honor to which he knew not how to reply. the courteous hospitality which made him a partaker with them in their festal ovation to his distinguished friend was an honor so far beyond his deserts as to call for his warmest acknowledgments. but 'the exchequer of the poor,' thanks alone, contained no coin which he dared offer in requital of the obligation they had conferred.
"it is often lamented" (mr. l. remarked) "that the actor's art, though more impressive in its instant effects than painting or sculpture, stamps no enduring memorial of its excellence, and that its highest achievements soon fade from recollection, or survive only in its vague and traditionary report. this complaint did not seem to him altogether just. we best know how to esti
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mate causes from the effects they produce. the consequences of actions are their most lasting and authentic chroniclers. what portrait, or what statue, could have conveyed to us so exalted a notion of the loveliness of helen of troy as the ten years' war provoked by her fatal charms? what 'storied urn or animated bust' could have perpetuated the memory of roscius like the honors bestowed on him by the roman senate, the eulogium of cicero, and the tears—more eloquent than words—shed by that immortal orator upon his grave?
"when i look around me, and behold this capacious hall thronged with men eminent for station, admired for talent, and valued for various private worth, and when i reflect on the object which convenes them here, i cannot admit the peculiar perishableness of the actor's fame, i cannot admit that he merely 'struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.' you have reared a monument to one actor, at least, gentlemen, which will long commemorate his greatness, and convey to your children, and your children's children, a lively impression of the genius and virtues which elicited so proud and enviable a tribute!"
mr. leggett returned his sincere thanks for the honor of inscribing his name on so enduring a record, and said he was proud to have it associated with the proceedings of that day.
in conclusion, he asked the company to fill their glasses to the following sentiment:
"philadelphia—the rome of the new world in this, that she has given a second roscius to mankind, while another of her sons bids fair to win for her athenian distinction by rivalling the fame of æschylus."
passing over the other speeches as of little interest now, it may be well to state that among the letters of excuse read was one from washington irving, regretting that it was not in his "power to join in this well-merited tribute to theatrical genius and private worth;" one from william cullen bryant, saying that it would give him "the greatest pleasure to unite in any testimony to the professional merit and personal worth of mr. forrest;" one from john p. kennedy, who "would rejoice in such an opportunity to acknowledge his share of the indebtedness which the country at large owes to a gentleman whose fame in his profession has become common property;" and one from the celebrated
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player w. e. burton, enclosing this happy toast: "the stage of life,—although cast into inferior parts at the commencement, industry and perseverance may eventually place us in the principal characters. may we be found perfect at the conclusion of the play!"
songs and music were interspersed among the addresses, the famous vocalist henry russell singing several of his most exquisite ballads with unrivalled effect; and the occasion, altogether, was one of unclouded enjoyment in the passage and of lasting satisfaction in the retrospect.
forrest now purchased a house in new york, and established his home there. he took a pew in the church of the rev. orville dewey, the brilliant unitarian divine, on whose pulpit ministrations he was for a series of years a regular attendant whenever he was in the city. the attraction of this extremely original and eloquent preacher had drawn together the most intellectual and cultivated congregation in new york; and his influence, silently and in many an unrecognized channel, has been diffusing itself ever since. the bold, rational, poetic, yet profoundly tender and devout style of thought and speech which characterized the sermons of dewey had a great charm for forrest, and they were never forgotten by him. he always believed in a god whose will is revealed in the laws of the material universe, and in the rightful order of human life, and he bowed in reverence at the thought of this mysterious being, though often perplexed with doubts as to particular doctrines, and always a sworn enemy to religious dogmatism.
the next event which interrupted the regular movement of his professional and private life was the delivery of the oration at the celebration, in the city of new york, of the sixty-second anniversary of the declaration of the independence of the united states. the celebration was held under the auspices of the democratic party. party feeling was intense at the time, and to be the orator of the day on the fourth of july, in the chief metropolis of the land, was an honor greatly coveted. the choice of forrest showed the estimation in which he was held, while, on the other hand, his personal celebrity and magnetism lent unusual interest to the occasion. the popular desire to hear him had been fed and fanned to the highest pitch by the opposing newspaper com
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ments, called out by the singular incident of a political party selecting a tragedian as their orator. the services were held in the old broadway tabernacle. five thousand tickets of admission had been given out, but the multitude rushed resistlessly in, regardless of tickets, till the enormous building was stuffed to suffocation. the oration, in its sentiments, its style, its delivery, was extraordinarily successful. it was hailed with the most extravagant admiration and praise. in thought and feeling it was really creditable to its author, but its fervid rhetorical sentences and popular temper were so exactly suited to the tastes of those who heard it, that their estimate of its literary rank and philosophic value was stimulated to a level that must seem amusing to any sober judge of such things. the author's own opinion of it was modest enough, as appeared in the apologetic preface he prefixed to it when published. yet it expressed his honest convictions and those of his auditors with so much picturesque vigor, and those convictions were so generous and so genuinely american, that the popularity of the oration was no matter of wonder. it was printed in full in numerous journals, and many thousands of copies in pamphlet form were distributed. two or three extracts from it are appended, to serve as specimens of its quality and indications of the mind and heart of the author.
"fellow-citizens,—we are met this day to celebrate the most august event which ever constituted an epoch in the political annals of mankind. the ordinary occasions of public festivals and rejoicings lie at an infinite depth below that which convenes us here. we meet not in honor of a victory achieved on the crimson field of war; not to triumph in the acquisitions of rapine; nor to commemorate the accomplishment of a vain revolution which but substituted one dynasty of tyrants for another. no glittering display of military pomp and pride, no empty pageant of regal grandeur, allures us hither. we come not to daze our eyes with the lustre of a diadem, placed, with all its attributes of tremendous power, on the head of a being as weak, as blind, as mortal as ourselves. we come not to celebrate the birthday of a despot, but the birthday of a nation; not to bow down in senseless homage before a throne founded on the prostrate rights of man, but to stand erect in the conscious dignity of equal freedom and join our voices in the loud acclaim now swelling from
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the grateful hearts of fifteen millions of men in acknowledgment of the glorious charter of liberty our fathers this day proclaimed to the world.
"how simple, how sublime, is the occasion of our meeting! this vast assemblage is drawn together to solemnize the anniversary of an event which appeals not to their senses nor to their passions, but to their reason; to triumph at a victory, not of might, but of right; to rejoice in the establishment, not of physical dominion, but of an abstract proposition. we are met to celebrate the declaration of that inestimable principle which asserts the political equality of mankind. we are met in honor of the promulgation of that charter by which we are recognized as joint sovereigns of an empire of freemen; holding our sovereignty by a right indeed divine,—the immutable, eternal, irresistible right of self-evident truth. we are met, fellow-citizens, to commemorate the laying of the corner-stone of democratic liberty.
"threescore years and two have now elapsed since our fathers ventured on the grand experiment of freedom. the nations of the earth heard with wonder the startling principle they asserted, and watched the progress of their enterprise with doubt and apprehension. the heart of the political philanthropist throbbed with anxiety for the result; the down-trodden victims of oppression scarce dared to lift their eyes in hope of a successful termination, while they knew that failure would more strongly rivet their chains; and the despots of the old world, from their 'bad eminences,' gloomily looked on, aghast with rage and terror, and felt that a blow had been struck which loosened the foundation of their thrones.
"the event illustrates what ample cause there was for the prophetic tremors which thrilled to the soul of arbitrary power. time has stamped the attestation of its signet on the success of the experiment, and the fabric then erected now stands on the strong basis of established truth, the mark and model of the world. the vicissitudes of threescore years, while they have shaken to the centre the artificial foundations of other governments, have but demonstrated the solidity of the simple and natural structure of democratic freedom. the lapse of time, while it dims the light of false systems, has continually aug
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mented the brightness of that which glows with the inherent and eternal lustre of reason and justice. new stars, from year to year, emerging with perfect radiance in the western horizon, have increased the benignant splendor of that constellation which now shines the political guiding light of the world.
"how grand in their simplicity are the elementary propositions on which our edifice of freedom is erected! a few brief, self-evident axioms furnish the enduring basis of political institutions which harmoniously accomplish all the legitimate purposes of government to fifteen millions of people. the natural equality of man; the right of a majority to govern; their duty so to govern as to preserve inviolate the sacred obligations of equal justice, with no end in view but the protection of life, property, and social order, leaving opinion free as the wind which bloweth where it listeth: these are the plain, eternal principles on which our fathers reared that temple of true liberty beneath whose dome their children congregate this day to pour out their hearts in gratitude for the precious legacy. yes! on the everlasting rock of truth the shrine is founded where we worship freedom; and
'when the sweeping storm of time
has sung its death-dirge o'er the ruined fanes
and broken altars of the mighty fiend
whose name usurps her honors, and the blood,
through centuries clotted there, has floated down
the tainted flood of ages,'—
that shrine shall stand, unshaken by the beating surge of change, and only washed to purer whiteness by the deluge that overwhelms all other political fabrics.
"to the genius of bacon the world is indebted for emancipating philosophy from the subtleties of the schoolmen, and placing her securely on the firm basis of ascertained elementary truth, thence to soar the loftiest flights on the unfailing pinions of induction and analogy. to the genius of jefferson—to the comprehensive reach and fervid patriotism of his mind—we owe a more momentous obligation. what bacon did for natural science, jefferson did for political morals, that important branch of ethics which most directly affects the happiness of all mankind. he snatched the art of government from the hands that had enveloped it in sophisms and mysteries that it might be made an instrument to
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oppress the many for the advantage of the few. he stripped it of the jargon by which the human mind had been deluded into blind veneration for kings as the immediate vicegerents of god on earth; and proclaimed in words of eloquent truth, which thrilled conviction to every heart, those eternal self-evident first principles of justice and reason on which alone the fabric of government should be reared. he taught those 'truths of power in words immortal' you have this day heard; words which bear the spirit of great deeds; words which have sounded the death-dirge of tyranny to the remotest corners of the earth; which have roused a sense of right, a hatred of oppression, an intense yearning for democratic liberty, in myriads of myriads of human hearts; and which, reverberating through time like thunder through the sky, will,
'in the distance far away,
wake the slumbering ages.'
"to jefferson belongs exclusively and forever the high renown of having framed the glorious charter of american liberty. this was the grandest experiment ever undertaken in the history of man. but they that entered upon it were not afraid of new experiments, if founded on the immutable principles of right and approved by the sober convictions of reason. there were not wanting then, indeed, as there are not wanting now, pale counsellors to fear, who would have withheld them from the course they were pursuing, because it tended in a direction hitherto untrod. but they were not to be deterred by the shadowy doubts and timid suggestions of craven spirits, content to be lashed forever round the same circle of miserable expedients, perpetually trying anew the exploded shifts which had always proved lamentably inadequate before. to such men the very name of experiment is a sound of horror. it is a spell which conjures up gorgons, hydras, and chimeras dire. they seem not to know that all that is valuable in life—that the acquisitions of learning, the discoveries of science, and the refinements of art—are the result of experiment. it was experiment that bestowed on cadmus those keys of knowledge with which we unlock the treasure-houses of immortal mind. it was experiment that taught bacon the futility of the grecian philosophy, and led him to that heaven-scaling method of investigation and analysis on which science
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has safely climbed to the proud eminence where now she sits, dispensing her blessings on mankind. it was experiment that lifted newton above the clouds and darkness of this visible diurnal sphere, enabling him to explore the sublime mechanism of the stars and weigh the planets in their eternal rounds. it was experiment that nerved the hand of franklin to snatch the thunder from the armory of heaven. it was experiment that gave this hemisphere to the world. it was experiment that gave this continent to freedom.
