72 Sir Squire Bancroft [March 17, 



I now approach the difficult part of mj task in venturing to be 

 less Eetrospective and more Anticipative. For a long time now the 

 stage has been strongly recruited from the ranks of culture and 

 refinement. It was once my privilege to render practical encoiu-age- 

 ment to many promising novices, while among the aspirants of later 

 years I liave seen distinct hope of success in a difficult vocation ; in 

 the cheery words which accompany the loving cup at a Lord Mayor's 

 feast, " I bid them all a hearty welcome." I do so in the belief that 

 there will be as brilliant a future for the drama as there has been a 

 glorious past, and I would like to take this chance to say how im- 

 portant a step towards such an end has been the founding by 

 Mr. Tree, on his own initiative, of a Dramatic Academy : the cordial 

 acknowledgments of all lovers of the stage are warmly due to him 

 for his help and generosity. Never mind if there should be difficul- 

 ties for a time to be surmounted ; never mind if it is hard to at once 

 find a large band of teachers ; never mind the inevital^le drawbacks 

 to all new efforts ; the start is good — more than encouraging— fraught 

 with infinite value in the future : as the students have amply proved 

 by the rich promise of their first performance. The French dramatic 

 school, it should be remembered, is the outcome of the devoted labour 

 of a century. Mr. Tree has told us how the idea was rebuked as 

 absurd because acting cannot be taught : I echo his words. " This 

 is a truism often uttered ; but if you go through the various pro- 

 fessions, which of them can be taught ? Can painting be taught ? 

 Can music be taught ? Can success at the Bar be achieved by teach- 

 ing ? What is the truth in these matters ? You cannot teach a man 

 to be an artist — that is a question of talent and natural aptitude. 

 But you can prepare the ground plan — you can bring order out of 

 chaos — you can regulate the conditions out of which your great artist 

 may emerge, and thus remove the stumbling-blocks which cumlier 

 the path to Parnassus." As an eloquent postscript I add the words 

 of a French writer, which were quoted on this subject at the Paris 

 Conservatoire by that distinguished actor, Monsieur Le Bargy, " I 

 teach not, I awaken." 



Perhaps some advice to dramatic aspirants may be accepted from 

 one who for many years shared the burden and the strain of theatrical 

 management— beginning at a strangely early age. Its rewards, when 

 they happily Ijefall those who go upon the stage, are hardly earned 

 and fully merited, for I know of no other career so arduous, so exact- 

 ing : passing, as much of it always must be passed, both in failure 

 and success, in the full glare of electricity and publicity : a remark 

 which applies to the rank and file as well as to its leaders. Hard as 

 I know it is to avoid that glare, to shrink from its seductive glitter, 

 something in that direction may at least be wisely done : remembering 

 always, instead of forgetting constantly, the charm which ever haunts 

 the theatre — mystery. It is a sad mistake to break that charm, to 



