whispers and farewells;
While patient Kindness, shadow-like and dim,
Droops in its loneliness, bereft of him,
Feels its sad doom and sure decadence nigh,--
For how should Kindness live, when he could die!

The eager heart, that felt for every grief,
The bounteous hand, that loved to give relief,
The honest smile, that blessed where'er it lit,
The dew of pathos and the sheen of wit,
The sweet, blue eyes, the voice of melting tone,
That made all hearts as gentle as his own,
The Actor's charm, supreme in royal thrall,
That ranged through every field and shone in all--
For these must Sorrow make perpetual moan,
Bereaved, benighted, hopeless, and alone?
Ah, no; for Nature does no act amiss,
And Heaven were lonely but for souls like this.

XI.

HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY IN THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

In his beautiful production of _The Merchant of Venice_ Henry Irving
restored the fifth act, the jailer scene, and the casket scenes in full,
and the piece was acted with strict fidelity to Shakespeare. With Ellen
Terry for Portia that achievement became feasible. With an ordinary
actress in that character the comedy might be tedious--notwithstanding
its bold and fine contrasts of character, its fertility of piquant
incident, and its lovely poetry. Radiant with her fine spirit and
beautiful presence, and animated and controlled in every fibre by his
subtle and authoritative intellect, judiciously cast and correctly
dressed and mounted, Henry Irving's revival of _The Merchant of Venice_
captured the public fancy; and in every quarter it was sincerely felt
and freely proclaimed that here, at last, was the perfection of stage
display. That success has never faded. The performance was round,
symmetrical, and thorough--every detail being kept subordinate to
intelligent general effect, and no effort being made toward overweening
individual display.

Shakespeare's conception of Shylock has long been in controversy.
Burbage, who acted the part in Shakespeare's presence, wore a red wig
and was frightful in form and aspect. The red wig gives a hint of low
comedy, and it may be that the great actor made use of low comedy
expedients to cloak Shylock's inveterate malignity and sinister purpose.
Dogget, who played the part in Lord Lansdowne's alteration of
Shakespeare's piece, turned Shylock into farce. Macklin, when he
restored the original play to the stage--a