We regret to record the death of Mr. William Archer,
the well-known dramatic critic. For many years his critical guidance was invaluable to the British stage. His opinions and his exhortations, like the appearance of the man himself, were austere ; but the voice which he raised persistently for a generation in support of the drama as a serious and indispensable art was bound to have its effect, and it certainly had. The recommenda- tion to the British public of Ibsen, many of whose plays he translated, was the chief enthusiasm of Mr. Archer's life. For a great many years he wrote in the World. and it was there, we think, that his best criticism appeared. Although he was a hard-working, and eves a hard-driven journalist who could not afford to refuse fresh opportunities of work, he was curiously uninspired in work done in a hurry for the daily Press. His talents unfolded themselves only when he had time to think and write slowly.
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