The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1822-09-17

,trnefife vortex. The iaIrest Hover III ttis
.,hospitsble region soon droops ADD DIES.
-,,lel, = the esitabe ELECT of that insaiua.
t,on, which leads both men aud women, old
and .eung.lo Theatrical epreseniaiions.--
We nay also assert, thai even The COMMIT
ting of plays tn memory, for the use wliieh
we have msnfisned, has a very dangerous
tendency a. IL may turn Then attention 10
the isspieable means of obtaining hYeh-
hood by play acting, of which we may
have had several instances The c0Heami-
tants of this mode of lie are well known.
We may form very accurate CONCLUSION
OF the company which they viii keep, oil
liz manner in which they viii spend Their
time. of the strength of their constitution
after a fcw sears, and finally of their end
for il IL one OF the rarcst things IN nature,
that We see players of temperate habits, or
who have amasscd any considerable sum J
il u seldom that hey discover mines oil
gold and silver in the midst OF rot and d.
biuchery. They live man unpleasant al
mos phcre aud IN a barren soil.
"Thc reading OF judicious and insiree-
tive volume, by those whose chief attention
is fixed on the Theatre, is attended with
1lte If any edidcatian; their mind has be
come rowing and distracted, they cannot
compose themselves 10 any serious idhouf,
aud the repository for useful knowledge
soon becomes the repository of tribes
This Intellectual dissipation has, no doubt,
been one great cause OF that supcrabhii-
dance of ephemcrel novels and fomanees,
the great peryerters of taste ard morals,
which have Of late been issued IN greater
Numbers from the press than any other spe-
ces Of composition, and TO our disgrace be
it said, that notwithstanding the many ire
lfagablc arguments, which have been addu-
ced against them, they have for many years,
occupied the most conspicuous place n The
annals of literature. Should we III The
,ilrse of our pcrambulations, accidentally
faIl with one of those admirers of the The
are, and at the same time put into his hands
one Of the volumes which contains the pro
found, ch iste and philosophical reasonlngs
of an Addison, a johnson, a Locke, Ba-
con, REID, or Stewart, We should be
treated as ilsionaries, and the contents Of
the volume would be laughed at as the d-
fu4lons OF Ignorance and ilnaiieism while
the writings OF Shakespeare ard Rowe, and
even of dramatic authors of a TAR inferior
class, would be cKt0ed TO TIE skies and =
very encomium hcaped upon them which
an Infatuated and perverted imagination
could possibly hcstow. Such meu can say
nothing, as prospects literature IN general,
CT the beauties OF any one authorln Pafif-
Guar, uor eau they speak upon any other
literary subject except il be respecting their
ia ortc bard or the legendary tales OF somc
romantic lover. They deem philosophy
aud christianity IA useless APPENDICES to
Inc human character, but were they only
To reject, they might soon be satisfied that if
they should live So long as TO he assaled with
oil age and disease, they would then find
that these Two incstimable treasures would
BE- the ouly sources, from whcllhcy could
derive either pleasure or consolation, aud
that the satisfaction, which they would then
receive, would afford them ample compcn-
s1tlon for all the time and attention, which
they might have devoted to these tFuly in
teresting subjects. To this, it may be adj
ded. that il these We're studied with that
due attention, which their vastimportance
requires, We should not so often be under
the painful necessity of shedding the SYM
pathetic tear over the depravitg of our fell
low mortals: nor should we behold vice
aud immortality openly parading our streets
and visiting our nocturnal assemblies but
ON the contrary men would in the evening
be engaged in the solemn worship of God,
in their closet, or under the wide extended
canopy of Heaven, in some retired spot,
employed in meditatlng on the grandeur
and sublimity oil the works of creation and
Providence. Compared with this, how
patry, how Insignificant are ahthe pleasures
of sense
Choose the best life, and custom will
render it agreeable. PLuIARCH.
We intended TO hive accompanied the
foregoing structures with a few comments !;
but we accidentally met with the following
remarks, which we prefer giving to any thing
that we could say on the subject To con-
fate the genera, charge of tue immoral ten
dency of the greater part of English dramatic
compositions, we might bring forward Cato,
the Gamcster, George Barnwoll, &c. &c. &c
cd tibituR, q odiq6u,t,m
"fhc Theatre maintains a host of NJ