Note 90 — ELLEN TERRY

In January, 1914, she appeared at King’s Hall, London, as the Abbess in two performances of Paphnutius, a play written in the tenth century by Hroswitha, a Benedictine nun. It was on this old play that Anatole France founded his romance Thaïs. Thus did Ellen Terry, at nearly three score and ten, continue to furnish proof of her still youthful spirit and readiness for work. Later in the year she went to Australia to give there her Shakspearean lecture-readings. The great European war broke out, and conditions in Australia became so unfavorable that Miss Terry sailed for the United States, where she again lectured in a few of the larger cities.

For some years she had had increasing trouble with her eyes. Frequently she would spend the periods between the scenes in a darkened room. On February 23, 1914, in New York, Miss Terry underwent an operation, which proved successful, for the removal of a cataract from her right eye. In June, 1915, she reappeared in London on the occasion of a matinee given at the Haymarket in aid of one of the war charities. The play—a ballet pantomime called The Princess and the Pea—was the first musical piece in which Miss Terry ever took part. On this occasion also her two grandchildren made their stage début.