There is a suggestive and saddening passage in Miss Ellen
Terry’s recent “Reminiscences.” The great actress was talking
to Sir Henry Irving, her old comrade on the stage, as he lay
ill. “Do you ever think, as I do sometimes, what have you got
out of life?” asked Miss Terry. “What have I got out of it?”
said Irving, stroking his chin and smiling slightly, “Let me
see--well, a good cigar, a good glass of wine, good friends.”
And that summary satisfies many another. The pathetic futility of it
all! Material things vanish, and then what remains? Life should be more
rewarding than this. (Text.)
(1820)