ve no
Falstaff on the stage than to have it encumbered with a bad one; and
certainly for the peculiar and exacting play of _Henry IV._ there are
now no actors left: at least they are not visible in America.

XVII.

ADA REHAN.

In browsing over the fragrant evergreen pages of Cibber's delightful
book about the stage, and especially in reflecting upon the beautiful
and brilliant women who, drawn by his magic pencil, dwell there,
perpetual, in life, colour, and charm, the reflective reader may perhaps
be prompted to remember that the royal line of stage beauties is not
extinct, and that stage heroines exist in the present day who are quite
as well worthy of commemoration as any that graced the period of Charles
the Second or of good Queen Anne. Our age, indeed, has no Cibber to
describe their loveliness and celebrate their achievements; but surely
if he were living at this hour that courtly, characteristic, and
sensuous writer--who saw so clearly and could portray so well the
peculiarities of the feminine nature--would not deem the period of Ellen
Terry and Marie Wilton, of Ada Rehan and Sarah Bernhardt and Genevieve
Ward, of Clara Morris and Jane Hading, unworthy of his pen. As often as
fancy ranges over those bright names and others that are kindred with
them--a glittering sisterhood of charms and talents--the regret must
arise that no literary artist with just the gallant spirit, the
chivalry, the sensuous appreciation, the fine insight, and the pictorial
touch of old Cibber is extant to perpetuate their glory. The hand that
sketched Elizabeth Barry so as to make her live forever in a few brief
lines, the hand that drew the fascinating and memorable portrait of
Susanna Mountfort ("Down goes her dainty diving body to the ground, as
if she were sinking under the conscious load of her own
attractions")--what might it not have done to preserve for the knowledge
of future generations the queens of the theatre who are crowned and
regnant to-day! Cibber could have caught and reflected the elusive charm
of such an actress as Ada Rehan. No touch less adroit and felicitous
than his can accomplish more than the suggestion of her peculiar
allurement, her originality, and her fascinating because sympathetic and
piquant mental and physical characteristics.

Ada Rehan, born at Limerick, Ireland, on April 22, 1860, was brought to
America when five years old, and at that time she lived and went to
school in Brooklyn. No one