The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-08 00:00:00

FRENCH THEATRICALS.

VAUDEVILLE.—Cicero was much diverted when
the Gracchi accused their fellow-citizens of being
seditious. He would then have burst his sides
with laughter at hearing the French critic com-
plaining of the immoral tendency of Aleic"
andre Dumas's plays. It is in truth a sore
tax upon our patience to listen to these scrib-
blers setting up as public moralists. The Pale
wan form of the " Dame aux Cam6lias" has flitted
once more across the French stage, and the critics
affect to be shocked at the reappearance. She had
gone down to the tomb and had been forgot'
ten ;—of what avail this resurrection of an
proper character ? Marie Daplessis, or let her
retain her stage name, of Marguerite Gauthier,
was one of the least objectionable representations
of an objectionable class, which has obtruded
itself into the social system of Paris the
morality of those who have allowed these ea"
riously caparisoned carnivorous creatures, to ecla.
housser us quiet-going good people as they 101 l list-
lessly on their 7wil ressorts, this is assuredly open to
.
criticism—but for Parisian journalism to wax .13:
dignant on the subject is un peu fort. In ancient
days Cato's affectation in attending the floral
games, well knowing what he would see there, and
then ostentatiously stalking out again was deserv-
edly held up to ridicule—

Cur in theatrum Cato severe venisti
An ideo tantum veneras ut mares ?
What claim have MM. les feuilletonistes to set uP as
imitators of the rigid old censor, and above all why
imitate his affection ? No doubt it would be better
that such subjects should be excluded from the stage'
But when a manager finds a long queue outside hi 3
theatre after 400 representations, and that every We
and stall are let for weeks in advance, he may assuredly
say to Mme. Doche,“ Bien joue, Marguerite."
DEJAZET.—Those famous carp to whom we haves°
of ten cast our bread upon the waters at Fon tainebleatt
they have been floundering about in those pout':
like mudlarks, since Frangois Premier fought a'
Pavia, and flirted in the grounds at ChenoncesA 0'
or sported with Amaryllis in the shade at ny
boise. There are swans which are said to he,
200 years old ; the silver swan at the Exhibition la
known to be more than a century old. Alexander
the Great had an elephant in his camp when
went forth to fight Darius which was 340 yea
old. Buffon says that a whale will live a thousand
years, and one of St. Everemond's letters to l‘ti
rion Delorme is dated 1642, and his last b"
doux to her is dated 1698, a constancy whie,s.
must have been the result of long resistanet;
But Mlle. Dejazet—smooth as Heber was °,O
unrazored lip when we first saw her from a stall a's
the French plays in London, and time whiehun.,
dealt so harshly with us and others has spared ":"th
She is now playing the Vicomte de Letorieres with is
all the entrain and vivacity of byegone years. Sheet,
the most perfect gentleman that ever trod the Freaesr
stage. With what graceful abandon does she
an,
about in the drunken scene, but still the gentleol
like the Baron of Bradwardine where nictrialcurie
and even our Regent George in his best days' be;ead
Brummel asked Lord Alvanley who his fat ffiebot
was—even if he could never have chiffoned his Ja
with such wondrous nonchalance. Her Perf°liief
ance is marvellous, and the marvel is beyond be.na
when we know that Mdlle. Dejazet lurks behl
the Vicomte de Letoriere's jabot.