The poet, however, made little allowance for the exigencies of the stage. During the preparation of ‘The Cup,’ he contended eagerly for the retention of long speeches and scenes, which would have shipwrecked the piece. Yet, undramatic as most of his dramas are, a taste for them was springing up, and not long before his death he had the gratification of knowing that his ‘Foresters’ had met with surprising success in America. No less than six pieces of his have been produced, and though the idea prevails that he has been “a failure” as a dramatist, it will be found that on the whole he has been successful. It may be that by-and-by he will be in higher favour. But he will have owed much to Irving, not merely for presenting his plays with every advantage, but for putting them into fitting shape, with firm, unerring touch removing all that is superfluous. So far back as the year 1879 the poet had placed in Irving’s hands a drama on the subject of Becket and the Fair Rosamund. It was really a _poem_ of moderate length, though in form a drama, and the actor naturally shrank from the difficulties of dealing with such a piece. The “pruning knife” would here have been of little avail; the axe or “chopper” would have to be used unsparingly. The piece was accordingly laid aside for that long period; the lamented death of the poet probably removed the chief obstacle to its production. It is said, indeed, that almost one-half was cut away before it could be put in shape for performance. On Monday, February 6, 1893, the actor’s birthday, this posthumous piece was brought out with every advantage, and before an assemblage even more brilliant than usual. It revived the memories of the too recent ‘Henry VIII.,’ in which there is much the same struggle between Prince and Bishop. The actor has thus no less than three eminent Catholic ecclesiastics in his _répertoire_—Richelieu, Wolsey, and Becket; but, as he pleasantly said, he could contrast with these an English clergyman, the worthy Dr. Primrose, Vicar of Wakefield. Yet he admirably and dramatically distinguished their several characters. There is always a curiosity to have the curtain lifted, so that we may have a glimpse of a play in the throes and troubles of rehearsal. Mr. Burgin, in one of the magazines, gave a very dramatic sketch of how things were conducted during the preparation of ‘Becket’: