212 A FEW MEMORIES
they owe much of the excellence that makes them so pre-eminent in the art of acting. Add to this the advantage of a systematic, early training, and the recognition of the theatre by the state, both of which are largely ignored in our English-speaking countries, and the difference between French art and ours is not to be wondered at.
We arrived at New York on a dark, rainy morning, disappointed at not seeing our friends, who, weary with awaiting the delayed arrival of the Gallia, had given us up for another day. Our hotel windows faced the cathedral. It was at the time of the lying in state of the lamented Cardinal McCloskey. There was something very dismal in the melancholy procession of umbrellas (from above one could not see their owners) which filed in and out of the church from morning until night
" As You Like It " was the first play we produced in New York. It was not a complete success. This was a keen disappointment The company, many of whom had acted with me since my first appearance in England, condoled with me on the coldness of the audience, contrasting its frigidity with the warmth of those abroad. This, coming from strangers, though well meant, was, in its truth, humiliating. Not that I minded failure, for