I82 



The Review of Heviews. 



August 1, 190t. 



IRISH UNIVERSITY EDUCATION. 



In the Dublin Review the Bishop of Limerick says 

 that we are entitled to ask the Liberal Government 

 what it means to do for higher education in Ireland, 

 which is " in a state that is a scandal to the Govern- 

 ment and an insuperable barrier to all progress." 

 Irishmen can no longer be told that educational 

 reform must wait upon Home Rule, and that Home 

 Rule will come with the advent of the Greek Ka- 

 lends. The Liberals want a "buffer" between them 

 and the endowment of an institution which may 

 help the Catholics. It seems to the Bishop that 

 this may be found in the Senate of the "Royal Uni- 

 versity : — 



If they will not give vis political, surely thev may allow 

 us educational Home Rule. If they will not permit Irish- 

 men to manage their own national affairs, it is not easy 

 to see on what grounds men of their principles, at least 

 in theory, can refuse us the power to manage our own 

 education. 



The Senate of the Royal University labours for Irishmen 

 under the disadvantage, which will probably be its greatest 

 recommendation to the English Parliament, that nearly 

 all its members have been nominated by the Crown. 



Every religious body in Ireland -Cat-holies, Episcopalian 

 Protestanu, Presbyterians. Methodists— have some of their 

 members upon it. 



Englishmen are prone to think of us here in Ireland 

 as torn by religious dissension and ready to flv at one 

 another's throats; it would be a surprise to them to wit- 

 ness the deliberations of the senators of the Royal Uni- 

 versity, and see how Irishmen, if left alone, can "come to 

 know and to respect each other's convictions, and work 

 together for a common purpose. 



\yith plenty of money the work of the Royal 

 University would be easy. And again the Bishop 

 pleads that — 



If Parliament for once would deal in a broad and trustfiri 

 manner with this question of higher education, it would 

 see an illustration of Irishmen's capabilities of managing 

 their own affairs. 



ALL THE WORLD A STAGE. 



Mr. Richard Mansfield on Acting. 

 One of the greatest actors of our time — but alas ! 

 he is settled in America and is about to retire — is 

 Mr. Richard Mansfield. He has been induced to 

 write for the Atlantic Monthly for May an article on 

 the calling of the actor, which he entitles "' Man and 

 the Actor." 



GOOD ACTING ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS. 



The question has been asked, " Is the stage worth 

 while?" and Mr. Mansfield proceeds to show that 

 without his knowledge of the stage Shakespeare 

 could not have been the reader of men that he was. 

 Shakespeare speaks of the world as a stage where 

 every man must play a part, and Mr. Mansfield notes 

 the use of the word must in this connection. All 

 mankind is acting or playing a part, and the better a 

 man plays his part the better he succeeds ; also the 

 more a man knows of the art of acting, the greater 

 is the man, asserts Mr. Mansfield. 



A great king is a great tragedian or comedian. 

 Napoleon and Alexander were both great actors, and 

 Napoleon was, perhaps, the greatest actor the world 

 has ever seen. Each hero chooses some other ad- 



niired hero to copy, and Napoleon probably copied 

 Julius Csesar. But the greatest actors have been 

 diplomatists and statesmen. " Look at M. "Witte and 

 the Japanese envoys. The best acting won the day." 

 Everywhere there is stagecraft. Why is a king 

 escorted bv lifeguards in shining helmets and breast- 

 plates, which we know to be perfectly useless? The 

 first thing a man thinks of when he has to face an 

 ordeal is. How am I going to look? 



ACTING BRAVERY. 



We say, Be natural. But is a man ever natural? 

 Is the brave soldier natural? "-The bravest man is 

 the man who, knowing danger, is afraid, and yet 

 faces the danger. He acts the part, in short, of a 

 brave man. If he were entirely natural, he would 

 run awav. ' The jolly good fellow and the misan- 

 thrope both play parts for which they pay their 

 price, but the jolly good fellow is the real misan- 

 thrope, while the misanthrope " is the child who has 

 been forbidden to show his heart." 



MAXIMS FOR ACTORS. 



In private life we are all acting, and if we must 

 .-'.ct, we might at least learn to play our parts well. 

 But it does not follow that because we are all actors 

 in private life we can act well on the stage. Acting, 

 writes Mr. Mansfield, is a gift. You can teach 

 people to act acting, but you cannot teach them to 

 act. He says : — 



Acting is as much an inspiration as the making of great 



poetry and great pictures. "What is commonly called acting 



is acting acting- 

 Allow vourself to be convinced by the character you are 



portraying that you are the character. 

 The real work of the stage lies in the creation of a 



character. 

 In tlie art of acting, like the art of painting, we mtut 



study life— copy life! 

 I have never left the stage satisfied with myself. And I 



am convinced that every artist feels as I do about hie 



work. 

 Imagination is necessary to make a poet or an actor; 



the art of actine is the crsytallisation of all arts. It is 



the most, difficult of all arts. 



Mr. Mansfield has something to sav of actors who 

 dazzle the eye with splendid pictures instead of 

 providing a feast for the soul. He does not think 

 the stage will die of neglect, but he says a recog- 

 nised stage and a recognised school are needed in 

 America, and his remarks are equally applicable to 

 the British stage. With a great and recognised 

 theatre how much might be done for our speech ! 

 Perhaps also there would be encouragement to write 

 poetn,- for the stage. The national theatre should 

 be established on a paying basis ; it must be given 

 by the people to the people and be governed bv the 

 people. 



The Rev. J. G. James, of Yeovil, contributes to 

 the International Journal of Ethics a paper on the 

 Ethical Significance of Religious Revivals ; and 

 Mrs. M. Sturge Henderson, of Kingham, writes on 

 the Poems of George Meredith. 



