I must not close this note on authors without a word of tribute to the old-fashioned charm and courtesy of Samuel Smiles, who presented me with a copy of his famous book, "Self-Help." I find that my earliest recollections of the stage are also the keenest, and the acting I saw in my youth seems to have made the most lasting impression. The stage world was, of course, much more limited in its dimensions in those days, and the few representatives of genius were nearer and, perhaps in consequence, seemingly greater than in later years, when of all the ministers of delight it must be acknowledged that the actor gives most pleasure to the greatest number of people. As a youth I was fond of attending first nights, and continued to be present at them whenever I had the chance, until by degrees I came to the conclusion that although a first night was amusing in many ways I preferred not to risk a failure, but to wait for the play that I knew was worth seeing. [Illustration: 1909. SIR HENRY LUCY.] [Illustration: W. E. HENLEY. 1892.] [Illustration: 1881. W. S. GILBERT.] [Illustration: RUDYARD KIPLING. 1894.] The Sir Peter Teazle of old William Farren will always last in my memory, and I recollect it from my youth. Of course I used to enjoy, of all things, the old Prince of Wales's Theatre under the management of Bancroft and Mrs. Bancroft, whose truly great acting, especially in the Robertson plays, was indeed a delight. Earlier than that, too, I remember how deeply I was impressed with the acting of the elder Boucicault and his wife in those vivid dramatic representations of Irish life, _The Colleen Bawn_ and _The Shaughran_. In private life the feelings of this old and distinguished actor on the subject of Home Rule were identical with that of Redmond at the present time, and he did not hesitate to express them. Sir Charles Wyndham, our veteran actor, of whom we are most justly proud, seems to have one leg in the past and the other in the present, so unconscious of the passing years and full of life and power does he still seem on those occasions on which the public have the opportunity of watching this favourite of several generations of playgoers. The peculiarly low-pitch of the voice with its pleasing upward gradation, the finished manner, the sympathetic attraction, all these qualities have ever belonged to Wyndham. Of course, I saw him many times in David Garrick, the play through which he is best known, but there are many parts in modern comedy wherein he stands alone, for instance, in _Mrs. Dane's Defence_, the play in which Miss Lena Ashwell won her first laurels.