Ellen Terry and Her Sisters

by T. Edgar Pemberton

Through me our absent friend would like to say

You've done a noble charity to-day;

For after years of uncomplaining strife,

You've saved anxiety and promised life;

But, best of all, as antidote to pain,

Back to his face you've brought the smiles again.

So promise me, before you all depart,

To wear 'Sweet William' ever next your heart!"

Triumphantly the "Merchant of Venice" pursued its course until, in May 1880, its last act was omitted, and it was succeeded by "Iolanthe," a version by W. G. Wills of Henrik Hertz's Danish play, "King René's Daughter." The chief character in this had been a favourite one with that consummate artiste, Helen Faucit (Lady Theodore Martin). The piece was exquisitely staged, and finely played by Ellen Terry and Henry Irving; it was very tender, and very touching, but it has not taken a permanent place in the Lyceum repertory. On January 3, 1881, Lord Tennyson's two-act drama, "The Cup," the "great little play," as Ellen Terry called it, was produced, and another great victory was gained. Clement Scott considers her acting in this to have been one of the finest of her many inspirations, and says:—

"Ellen Terry as Camma, aptly realised the poet's lines—