The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-06-14

to receive Tia royal approval Of their saos4a
Nor did ~ Qussn ana Prince merely bss&ou
applause. Her Majesty took seventeen places
for hersslf. visitors, and suite and further, ~
q Joint contribution OF herself and the Prince
headed the list Of subscriptions with ElbO, max
ing the sum total Of f226. It IL said that the
receipts Of the night exceeded fl 900. Another
representation at Devonahire House takes place
on Tuesday, the admission being "a The
Duke throws open his house, and q ball will fol-
low the comedy, and new farce written for the
occasion, called q Mr.. Nightingale Diary" a
farce in which Charles Dickens and Mark L.
mon have principal characters. Both the gentle
men are admirable actors. It IL by no means
amateur playing with them. Dickens seizes the
strong points Of character, bringing them out
las effectively upon the stage al his pen indy
ingy marks them upon paper. Lemon has al
the ease of finished performer, with capital
relish for comedy and broad farce
1t has been rumored that the company of
Guild and Literature will act one night in the
city, under the patronage Of the lord mayor and
corporation. This would be worthy of the mayor
and prince merchants Of that city that distanced
all competitors in its offer for the autograph Of
Shakespeare--an immortal bit of writing, We
hope more endurable than London stone.
The dedication to the Duke of Devonshire,
which is prefxed to this comedy, says the Lon
don Examiner, will probably preceae what we
have to say respecting it as work Of art. The
truth Of the feeling expressed in these few sen.
tences communicates its charm to the language
employed
My Lord Duke-This play is respectfully de-
dicnted to your grace in token of the earnest
gratitude, both of authors and performers, for
the genial and noble sympathy which has be-
fnended their exertions in the cause Of their
brotherhood
The debt that we can but feebly acknowledge,
those who come after us seek TO repay |; and
may each loftier cultivator Of art and letters,
whom the institution established under your
auspices may shelter from care and penury, see
on its cornerstone your princely name-and
perpetuate to distant times the affectionate
homage it commands from ourselves.
1t is this hope that can alone render worthy
the tribute which in my own name as author,
and in the names of my companions the per-
formers of the play first represented at Devon
shire house, | now offer to your grace, with
every sentiment that can deepen and endear the
respect and admiration
With which have the honor to be,
My Lord Duke,
Your grace's most obedient and faithful
servant, E. BULWER LYTTON.
May, 1851.
The title Of the play describes It's moral The
great poet and teacher Of humanity had already
expressed it through the lips of a walking gen.
tleman in one of his comedies very rarely seen
upon the stage. ",The web of our life is of
mingled yarn, good and i'll together Our vir-
tues would be proud if our faults whipped them
not and our crimes would despair fthey were
not cherished by our virtues" From which
arises the most important truth that society can
at any time be impressed by, namely, that the
secret Of human intercourse must always be, to
interchange freely with each other the largest
allowances of charity.
It is of course incident to such design that
the author should have devoted his chief care to
the exhibition Of character. 1t being necessary
to work out the conception that to every char
acter there are many sides, and that, as a gen.
eral rule, each character has bitter side than is
specifically apparent, it would seem to have
been also necessary to introduce larger num-
Der of prominent dranaatis persona than are usu-
ally essential to the agencies of play. But the
mode in which these are managed while their
idiosyncrasiss are gradually developed, and espe-
ciay the way in which, towards the close, the
various threads of Interest, complicated by many
different motives and influences, are cleared and
disentangled for the unity of feeling and action
essential to the catastrophe, we think triumph
of dramatic skill The more closely the comedy
is examined, apart from the limitations and
necessities of stage reprg sentation, the more
this is ike to be perceived and acknowle iged
The date of the play is that of ST. Robert
Walpole's first administration, and is we'll
selected to bring together classes of Eng
fish society apparently the most distinct; to
exhibit democratic aspirations side by side with
aristocratic condescensions and, at time when
the author, the politician, and the robleman
formed classes still strongly marked and widely
separate, to show by what resistless advances
they were yet silently approaching each other
and helping forward time for freer intercourse
and wider sympathies for all.
The two principal persons of the play, Wlmot
and Hartman, are peers son at the head of
the fashion, and yeomans son, who has strng-
gled into the House Of Commons as nm adher-
ent Of Walpole. Hardman has not few char
acteristics of Walpoe himself-the genial heart
mess of nature which made him welcome to
others even when intriguing most resolutely for
himself; the determined aims, concealedsfrom
even the nearest associates; and the ready per-
ception of character by which the weaknesses
of other men were turned to his own strength
and support The type of Wilmots character
we may find perhaps similarly expressed in that
of WaIpole's troublesome assailant the Duke
of Wharton, whose public capacity was so sing
ularly overshadowed by his not less public ex-
cesses, and whom nothing would satisfy short
of the chair Of Scion or zero, after quitting
the chair of the He'll Fire Club. The interests
of these young men are brought into collision
by love, which at the same time tends to refine
and exalt the natures of both.
The father of the girl for whom they are RI
walls, Sir Godfrey Thornsde, is man naturally
shrewd and brave, who, becoming coward as
we'll MS simpeton by yielding to the habit of sus-
picion, falls an easy prey to the wicked boast