From Mr. Wilson Barrett.
Dear Madame,
I send you a drawing of a silver wreath, which it will be my great pleasure to ask you to accept. The date of the fête to be given in your honour was so uncertain that the jewellers have not had time to finish the wreath, but I hope to be able to send it to you in a few days. Believe me, it is a pleasure to pay this small tribute to so great an artiste as yourself, and to one who has raised our profession to the high standard it now occupies. Kindly send me the names of the different parts created by you which you would like to have engraved on the leaves of the wreath. I have the honour to be
Your great admirer,
Wilson Barrett.
* * * * *
A cable from Chicago.
Compliments of all the critics of the Tribune, Times, Herald, Inter-Ocean, Post, Journal, and Dispatch.
* * * * *
Another from New York.
The American Dramatic Authors’ Club instructs me to offer its homage to the queen and sovereign, by divine right, of the French stage, and to congratulate the Masters of the French drama who, thanks to Sarah Bernhardt, have secured a worldwide triumph for fine works, and have thus set back the boundaries of art.
Bronson Howard,
President of the American Dramatic Authors’ Club.
Other congratulations came from the St. James’s and Criterion theatres, Mme. Melba, MM. Jean and Edouard de Reszké, Chartran, etc. Mme. Sarah Bernhardt spent the evening of this unique day at her son’s house, among her relations and intimate friends.
On the 20th April, 1898, she scored a fresh triumph in Lysiane. M. Bauer wrote in the Echo de Paris—
Every new part in which Sarah Bernhardt appears is a new revelation of her talent. After accustoming us to expect sublime tragedy from her, she charms and delights us with light and delicate comedy touches and subtle shades of coquetry. How affectionately and joyfully the public greeted her ever-flowering genius! How well the clapping of hands and excitement aroused by her return to the stage showed the sympathy of Paris for her trials and sufferings!
M. Catulle Mendès, in the Journal, speaks of the extraordinary versatility of her talent and its unexpectedly new manifestations. She has always been subtle, tender, and ardent, he says, and yet in her rôle she exhibited these qualities in a different form.
