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Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 41, 12 November 1917, Page 6

Walter Montgomery was 42 years of age when he came to Australia in 1669, under engagement to George Coppin, wnh a splendid provincial reputation. Outside of London he was deemed a ve*y „°V aot "' especially- so in romantic parts. Hero he was voted superior to fr"' who ia<l i ust Preceded luiu in bhakespeareau plays. His handsome presence, Wifuf voice, and magnetic temperament gained him a great following, and ho was deemed pio-omin-Hamlet Romeo, Antony, Orlando, n,'in uV ott J; 11 iS Still told Of him in Melbourne that it was his cus- !°, m , t 9. r . ld ß down Collins Street on a long-tailed horse of an afternoon, and to Phair's Hotel whence a goblet of ohampagne would fce brought him, of which he would drink half and thiow T™i™ m. the 8? ltter - Returning to London with an enhanced reputation and much useful experience, ho seemed to have the ball at his foot. Eventually ho became manager of the New Tbe'atre Slh m and all «eemed to bo 2," 11 / 1 ' ha. Indeed, aUer his retain to London he wroto to a friend at Nottingham announcing liis apDroajhjng marriage, and saying, "I the happiest man alive." Some days laterTnw! ?l R 1871—he married Hies Laleah Burpre Bigelow at St. George's, Hanover Square, London. Two dais later he bW out his brains in his bedroom at Bond Street. At the timo no one could understand why Montgomery ook his own life, and to tliis dav we are told the old actors still discuss the tragedy at the Green Room Club, London, and invariably dismiss it as an insoluble mystery. An explanation ivas, however, made a few years ago by one jf Montgomerys closest friends, who lias suite this effect: While tho handsome actor was starring in-, Australia he fell very deeply m lovo with a very charming girl who just as warmly returned !iis affection. He proposed to her, and was accepted, but the father of tho 'you.ng lady —a considerable heiress—refused iiitt ccnsent, and Montgomery sailed a*.vay, alone, soon after. On the voyago ho met' nn equally fascinating young lady, io whom he proposed in a fit of piqui', cad in the hope that tho love ho left bcl.ind would soon be forgotten. But Vji tocruel and inexorable—dogged his foolsteps. A few houns afler Iho marriage which made him "tho happiest man in the world," lie received a letter from the stern father of his Australian oucellieart imploring him to return at or.oo in order to savo the life of tho <vnt«r'n daughter. ,who was dying of a broken heart Haunted by romorso and despair, Montgomery was in an impasse froui which there was only one exit, rto van not born nor built "to toko arms against a sea of troublo, and, by opposing, end them": ho preferred in death lo seek that sleep which ends "Iho heart-nolio and the thousand natuml shocks that llesh is heir to." And so ho promptly made his. escape through tho ■1-irk passage and the liHlo door. Tho tragedian's exit was a tragic one!