Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1816-09-02


can never please ?--or IS he SO averse
from all which concerns the Drama, as|
not to know. even from the theatrical
advertisements, that these plays are a.
mong the most popular exhibited on the
boards
With regard TO what he declares to be
the almost universal maxims of the thea
tire, it would not, we assert, be difficult
to select iunumerable passages, and very
many plays, and these two OF the best
whose spirit is directly opposite to that
which he imputes as characteristic OF the
stage. That s. ambition is superior to
|contentment," cannot be demonstrated,
we are assured, from either I" Hamlet"
s. Macbeth" " Richard Sd" or 6 The
Robbers % that " revenge is maniness,"
and {" that patience and forgiveness are
meanness,'' are morals which cannot Ger.
tainly be extracted from the character OF
a Zanga in the "Revenge :" if Cato com
imits suicide, it is under the sanction OF
Roman manners and Roman philosophy
and no man of common sense is in dan
ger. in these days, of taking his example
as model and as to love, which your
essayist censures the stage for represent
ing as the great business Of life, we are
inclined to extend every indulgence to
the dramatists for their frequent recur-
renee to topic which, if not the " grand
business" is certainly the great pleasure
of life, and forbidden, we trust, ncithe,
iby Law nor Gospel.
)! If the Drama is not, therefore, intrin'
|sically Injurious, Tut only liable to that
tfortuitous corruption Which we have un-
luckily to deplore in every thing else.
why this violent and particular animosi,
ity oft ? At this rate we must part with
the Press, because it also is often tire We
:hicle Of nonsense or vice; with the
Courts, because instead of being always
1.-The sanctuaries Of justice. they occasion
: ally sanction violence and fraud With
the pulpits, because they not seldom deal
in violent controversy and absurd theolo-
gy.
Suppose orc to come forward with a
seri us scheme for the Adjustment OF the
Press, and to recommend his proposition
by the four following arguments /: first.
that the press was dem9nstrably a school
ofyice, because far the largest portion Of
its productions were immoral, Indecent,
frivolous. or absurd, position not easy
to be -efuted secondly, that it was i'm
moral TO read these, because we thereby
gave encouragement 10 authors. race OF
men so pitiabie or contemplate, and, il
we may credit their history, so abandon
ed by fortune, and therefore 50 environ
ed bY temptation, as to have reniered it
,problematical whether the possession Of
genius is not the greatest OF misf0rtunes:
thirdly, that the pursuit Of letters, how
'eqer useful sometimes, was frequently a
waste OF time and money, because many
were tagged to a profession, who should
have been apprentlced to a trade, and
some were found foolish enough to graft
i, taeir brains at the expense Of their ap-
petites: fonrthly, that it was hostile to
the Gospel, because ne man who is en-
gagged in tie solution of theorem, or the
Investigation OF a metaphysical truth.
can, al the same, be occupied with his de-
votions, or perhaps as perfectly prepared
for them, as if the preceding few hours
had been appropriated to religious medi-
itatinn. These were at least very novel.
no, to say very absurd reasons for Prohi-
biting printing yet these are anor Pa.
trine's arguments against the Drama.
There is, indeed, a system of virtue
entertained aod inculcated by many good
nee, which, by way OF shutting up all
the avenues of temptation, would discard
every pursuit not essentially necessary
to life and salvation, and would thus re
ducc us to the bare and beggraIy Gle
ments of existence. Besides that we at
tach 30 high value to virtue thus placed
beyond the touch Of temptation, and
therefore devoid Of all the merit OF for
bearance, we cannot Weld our assent to
a system 50 rigorous and 50 gloomy :;
which would snatch every flower from the
waste of life, lest harly ii MIGHT conceal
the serpent. There are certainly thou
sand eJoyments, which have little or no
concern with devotion, which a well re-
gulated piety will not disdain TO part.ci-
pate; and the rejection of which ad-
vances them naihing in the road to ano-
Their life, while it sheds darkness ans. de-
jecticn on the paths Of this. Of the adj
vocates of this system we almost fear to-
inquire in the words OF Shakespeare,
F." Why should man, whose blood is
warm within.
1 LIZ rknn by