The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-11 00:00:00

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD•

1

t'ECtIBER 11, 1855.]

!?..---or a middle-aged one either—never looks
'er---so well—as when in prudence and meek-
tshe seeks to cheer with charity the hovels
the
poor. I know several such—and though
t Play too often be cheated and imposed on-
-17.1% not their fault—and the discharge of a
ristian duty cannot fail of being accompanied
great overbalance of •
g ood —Wilson's Noctes
61'osiance, vol. ii.

THE GREEK STAGE.

iT,EitY who assign to the drama no higher part
recian life than it plays in ours are grievously
f''
atilt. Its effects were more deeply improved
1 Were more extensively diffused amongst the
'ses, the theatre being almost the ony place
Which the people could obtain an audience of
• intellectually great. The theatres. of the
theita were not kept open like ours, for several
vgqeutive months ; nor were the representations
en at nightti by gas-light and in heated houses.
Performance was invariably by day, and their
ketattres having no roofs, the spectators sat be-
h the open sky. It was thought improper
Women to appear on the stage, and female
`racters were on that account personated by
k
as they were in England in the time of our
dramatists. A great concourse of people
• 12 the natural consequence of the particular
'lod, and of the h of time din
• Pliich
the theatres s
wereortness th
open ; soe th urat it was
`‘'essary to build them on a vast scale. Some
:te large enough to accommodate fifteen or six-
thousand people. Among the Greeks cer-
~a peculiarities of costume prevailed which
°ltld not be tolerated in an English theatre. The
fors were raised above the ordinary height by
labs of buskins, and their faces were concealed
Lcarved and painted masks. From the great
0;qof the building the spectators could not read
the actor's countenance that language of feeling
~
passion which speaks so powerfully even
f 1 the tongue is silent. The masks were so
qioned as to indicate with more or less distinct-
-4
idealise
the person represented, and so helped to
the actor and carry out the Greek notion
0,
' tragedy. But the workings of emotion, the
')atrasting differences and transitions of expres-
ioll which all who are familiar with a theatre
t
understand an actor to convey by his
oNintenance, were denied to the Greek audiences
4 account of the use of masks. They were at
theh same time so contrived that they increased the
power of the voice, and they were embellished to
• high degree by the united efforts of the first
sculptors and painters. A Greek theatre was of
n
• semicircular shape. Tiers of seats for the
audience were placed round that part of the
interior which was curved, whilst the stage was
formed by a platform in front. Persons of dis-
tinction were placed on the lower tiers, the mid-
"de seats were appropriated to the common people ;
1,4141 if females attended the theatre, which had
doubted, they occupied the highest range.
The seats were reached by staircases which
f mounted from tier to tier at equal distances from
each other. The part of the theatre called the
pit was not assigned to the spectators, but was
Occupied by the chorus, whose duty it was to
recite the lyrical pieces which formed a large
portion of every play. Dances formed a part of
the entertainments, and the dancers displayed
the greatest skill in adapting their gestures to
the subject of the drama. The name of a per-
former has been given whose movements were
'apposed to express very distinctly the events of
Seven Chiefs of Thebes, by 2Eschylus. The
'llBic introduced during the performance was
probably not more than sufficient to guide the
dices and to assist the voices of the singers,

ILLUSTRATION OYE S OF ENGLISH
.R _RBS.

" Life is a mingled yarn."
YES, say .you ; this is indeed a true statement. I
appeal to the history of all ages, yea to the days of
one's own years from earliest youth downwards, and
find the proverb to hold good in every respect. Re-
flect awhile there such a thing on earth as
unalloyed and uninterrupted happiness ? From the
mightiest down to the most humble of the children of
men, who is not more or less affected by the manifold
changes and chances of this mortal life ? And wisely,
most wisely has it been thus ordained, that our con-
dition, even at the very best state, should be but
vanity ; should be attended with presight,
anxiety and solicitude. Hence arises the development
of man's moral character ; since, where would be the
test of integrity, were there no temptations to dis-
honesty ? where would be found illustrations of the
noblest virtues, patience, fortitude, and resignation,
did not crosses and disappointments obstruct the
way ? Hence arises also a holy aspiration after the
one only place of entire security and repose, where
neither moth nor rust corrupteth, and where thieves
do not break through and steal; where the wicked
cease from troubling, and where the weary are at
rest."
The materials of which our daily life, therefore, are
woven, are of a diverse and opposite texture and cha-
racter. Now, you see the gourd, which seems spe-
cially provided for the shelter and comfort of the pro-
phet during the intense heat of the day, withering
away just as it's protection is most needed. Now,
tidings come, a child is born ; and tidings come again,
that she who bore it is sick unto death. "So swift
treads sorrow on the heels of joy."—" Now, mark the
trnsition from what is so joyous on earth to all at is
most lonely and desolate. Sad reverse of things !
Weeping, I saw it once,"
"'Wrinkled with time,
AndTAonttd
eh,rvioonargrtyhaynwithdm
salnot
slow,
dustea,m e
to ofh syehaur, humble old
roof,
and on the threshhold stood.
No foot, no voice was heard within ' • none came.
To meet him ! for that day had seen
The old man lay within the narrow house
. The last of all his family ; and now
He stood in solitude—in solitude
Wide as the world! Since all that made to him
Society had fled beyond its bounds,
His lonely cot was silent, and he looked
As if he could not enter. On his staff
Bending he leaned, and from his weary eye.
A single tear-drop wept :
None followed, for the fount of tears was dry ;
Alone and Igo-. 't fell from wrinkle down

td e

205

without putting forward any claim to attention To wrinkle, till it lost itself, drunk by
The withered cheek, on which again no smile
on its own account. The lyre, the flute, and the
Should come, or drop of tenderness be seen."
pipe swelled with their blended sweetness, with- Even thus our interests and affections are so in-
volved by ties of
out overwhelming the vocal harmonies of the
blood, alliance, or friendship,,that all
chorus, and formed an exquisite combination of whom we love must, as it were, be present with us,
voice and instrument. Situations of great beauty and completely happy, before we ourselves can ex-
were usually selected as the sites of the Grecian perience unmixed pleasure. In this respect, truly,
theatres. The theatre at Taurominium in Sicily ;the heart is like a parasitic plant, which can never
was so constructed as to afford the audience a view grow and thrive unless it has something constantly to
of Mount Etna. That of Athens commanded cling to, and round which it may freely unfold itself.
Another source of interruption to the full tide of
Mount Hymettus, the Saronic Gulf, and the three
parts of the Piraeus. Immediately above it stood the human bliss is occasioned by the fact that man is ever
grasping ; his mind resembles a whirlpool, which sucks
Parthenon on its Acropolis. The machinery of down everything within its influence, and is never
the stage was very simple, and concealed as much satisfied. Yes, good reader, are not your every day's
as possible from the view of the audience, the desires in advance of present attainments ? Let the
Greeks being desirous that their representations summit of y
pleasures, new possessions, or new fields
our present ambition be reached, and you
si h for new
should rely as little as need be upon stage arti- g
fi for action, renewed powers for enjoyment. Every
ces. There were various entrances for the per-
light must have its shadow. No rose without its
formers. The scene, through which there were Great
thorn. Alexander the conquered the then
three points of ingress in the back wall, the main known world, but wept that there was not another
one for the great characters, the side ones for world to conquer. Xerxes, so full of good fortune,
subordinate persons, was generally adorned with proposed a reward to any one who would invent a new
columns and statues in rich variety ; and it is pleasure. Dionysius, of Sicily, having been pronounced
said that vases and hollow vessels were distributed the happiest man living, by the flatterer Damocles
in several parts of the theatre for the purpose of " Exchange places," replies the king ; " undertake for
awhile the charge of royalty, then form an estimate of
aiding the diffusion of sounds. , The disposition
the happiness which appertains to a sovereign."
of the actors on the stage in exquisite groups was Damocles accepts the challenge, ascends the throne,
so arranged as to delight the eye with the beauty and, as he gazes upon the wealth and splendour that
of symmetry and proportion, whilst the ear was surrounded him, perceives a sword suspended over his
feasted with the sound of the most musical of head, and by a single hair. He is forthwith seized
languages. with a horrible dread ; all his imagined felicity has
vanished at once, and he begs to be removed from a
which expose d life to so much fear and

situation whit -pot
danger. Well may we exclaim—
" What would this man ? Now upward will he soar,
And, little less than angel, would be more
Now looking downwards, just as grieved appears,
To want the strength of bulls, the fur of beasts."
Under these circumstances, then, who can be com-
pletely happy ?
" Man never is, but always to be, blest."
To alter, to change such an order of things, is im-
possible.
" Yon may as well go stand upon the beach,
And bid the main flood bate his usual height ;
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb ;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make a noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven."
From all that has been adduced, then, we can safely
affirm, that " Life is a mingled yarn."
Liverpool, Dec., 1855.

G. D.