The following retrospect of a life well spent in the pursuit of the most
exacting of professions was written down for the immediate delectation
and edification of the children and grandchildren of the gifted woman
who penned it.
I think, however, that when such an example may teach so much; where the
life of an actress has been so full of incident and accident, and all
resulting—through force of character and absolute intrinsic worth—in
ultimate personal and professional regard and reverence, I think that
the record of such a life, reaching over seventy years of the dramatic
history of our country, cannot be without interest to all who have at
heart the development of art at its best.
It would ill become me, here, to more than touch upon the domestic
side of her character, but I may be permitted to say, that when to
artistic perfection she added discipline tempered with gentleness
and loving-kindness as a mother, and when to her other attributes and
excellences was joined the organizing ability and perfect control of
a theatrical stock company for many years, surely it is no assumption
to say of her to-day, as was said of Maria Theresa, of Austria, "sexua
femina ingenio vir." Such a character and personality must be salient
in any time or age, and cannot but serve as an exemplar. And perhaps
the fact of four generations of this same family having engaged in
the profession of acting—with credit to their calling, and honor to
themselves—may still further emphasize the real worth of that calling,
both to the individuals engaged therein and the world at large.
And now, without further proem, I beg the public's acceptance of these
present recollections of a woman pre-eminent in the profession she so
long adorned.