4 CHAPTER VIII. 66 "ION," by Thomas Noon Talfourd, was pro duced on the night of Macready's benefit, May 26, 1836. It had been printed for private circulation, but the discovery of its capabilities, its preparation for stage use, and its brilliant success are to be attributed to Macready. A plague prevails in Argos. King Adrastus spends his hours in revelry. The oracle responds that "Argos ne'er shall find release 'Till her monarch's race shall cease." Ion, of birth unknown, has been reared with the priests. He is chosen to slay King Adrastus. In the attempt it is revealed that he is the son of the King by a forbidden marriage in his youth; it was believed that the infant had been set out to perish. Ion attempts to save his father, but fails. In succeeding to the throne he recognizes that the decree of the oracle must be fulfilled. It is his secret re solve. An interview with Clemanthe, whom he loves, is very touching. "And shall we never see each other?" she asks, “Yes,” replies Ion, "I have asked that dreadful question of the hills That look eternal; of the flowing streams That lucid flow forever; of the stars, Amid whose fields of azure my raised spirit I feel the love that kindles through its beauty, Ion slays himself at the altar; the plague is stayed. 66 'Gisippus was written by Gerald Griffin, and was found among his papers at his death. This young Irishman did not pass his 37th year, but by his tales of Irish life, he had gained rank with Banim and Carleton. It was from his "Collegians" that Boucicault derived his "Colleen Bawn." The play was produced at Drury Lane by Macready in 1842. Griffin wrote it in his twentieth year, and brought it, with three other plays, to London, but he failed of immediate success in placing them. Charles Kean read it" on top of an omnibus," and returned it with the remark that he would be Ful "sorry" to produce it. Gisippus finds, after a long absence from Athens, that his friend Fulvius has won the love of his betrothed. This has been brought about by a series of innocent fatalities, and he resigns himself to his disappointment. The marriage takes place. vius is in a position to rescue Gisippus from debt, but a certain message is not understood and Fulvius departs for the wars where honors and distinction await him. Gisippus is sold into slavery. The scene changes to Rome. Fulvius is in high estate. The wretched Gisippus sees him pass by unknowing and unheeding him. "I would I were beneath the deepest wave Of dark Tyrrhene, to doubt or hope no more," is the despairing moan of the unhappy man. Gisippus witnesses a murder in a graveyard in which he has taken refuge. He assumes to be the murderer, and as such is about to be executed. Fulvius learns of the identity and innocence of Gisippus, rushes on to save him. Gisippus is at first deaf to explanation, but yielding to the words of the woman that he had loved, and saying, "All for thee!" forgives them. Macready had great faith in this play before its production, but it was perhaps less successful with him than on the American stage. The defect is obvious: Gisippus is inadequately rewarded for his ruined life. Marston records his recollection of Macready in "Nina Sforza," a play of Italian revenge that is now entirely out of date and use. As Spinola, Macready, in the fifth act, turned over with his foot the "limbs of his prostrate rival, the foe of his house, whose despair and ruin he had accomplished. The intense malignity of the action excited the opposition of the pit, but it was true to the hereditary hatred of the character, which, with it's duplicity, had been superbly rendered." CHAPTER IX. BULWER'S PLAYS: "THE LADY OF LYONS," "RICHELIEU,”" MONEY," ETC. THERE are no indications that Macready made any substantial alterations in the manuscript of "The Lady of Lyons." It is true that changes were discussed with Bulwer, Forster's judgment having weight. The process of revision had been applied to the author's "Duchess de la Vallière," and the actor and Bulwer had now got on a footing of free interchange of opinion. On February 3, 1838, Macready received a letter from Bulwer accompanying a play entitled "The Adventurer," "but when I saw it written down," the Diary has it, "I would not consent to it." When the play was produced Bulwer was pleased with the "gigantic" performance. The name of the author was not given out for some days. The noble author's contentment with the result of the venture took the form of generosity. In the second month |