The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1851-04-19

A ToUCmING INcIDENT.-I went one night
to see comedy. The chief actor was f;l-
vorite, and the theatre, a small provincial one
was very crowded. Tho curtain drew up,
and amidst burst Of applause, the hero Of
the picture made his appearance. lie had
hardly uttered twenty words when it struck
me that something strange was the matter
with him. The play was a boisterous come
dy Of the old school, and required consider
able spirit and vivacity in the actors to sus-
tain it properly, but in this man there was
none ; he walked and talked like person
in dream his best points lie passed over
without appearing to perceive them; and
altogether he appeared quite unfit for the
part. Ills smile was glastly, his laugh hol-
low and unnatural and frequently he would
stop suddenly in lis speech and let his eye
wander vacantly over the audience. Even
when, in his character OF silly husband he
had to suffer himself to licked about the
stage by the young rake OF the comedy, and
afterwards to behold that careless individual
making love to his wife, and eating his sup.
per, while he was shut up in closet from
whence he could not emerge, his contortions
Of ludicrous wrath, which had never before
tailed to call down plenty of applause, were
now such dismal attempts to portray the
passion, that hisscs were audible in various
parts of the theatre.
The audience were fairly out of temper;
and several inquisitivc individuals were par
ticular in their enquiries as to the extent of
potations he had indulgcd in that evening.
A storm of siblation and abuse now fell
round the ears of the devoted actor; and
not content with verbal insult, orange peel
and apples flew upon the stage. He stop
ped and turned to the shouting crowd. /
never saw such misery in n human countcn-
ance. His face was worn and haggard, and
q large tear rolled down his painted checks
l saw his lips quivering with ;"'''
= saw his n,,~.,n heave -1,stlszGcq1...' Sssu,u
OF suppressed egaqsion, and o.
betokened such depth Of isil and dis
tress, that the most ruthless 69A. .1nust have
throbbed with pity. The audience was NOV
ed; and by degrees the clamor of invective
subdued into II solemn silence, while he stood
near the toetlights, = picture of deieciiop,-
When III W. calm, iS spOee a1d IS yosoe az g
bsoken W SSSstxS sse2ansd III nd fiji Eou.li
soi, procssdd t5 S6f III isttis exI,s.asaa eaa ID
tsibin .sr hst taEsSsis III qnst Ell i:Ss 'Es.S.f
sIadsss ma htisnssss,n sasd be atEooasa,ii,, d,
in my acting to night, I nm consstcaioaiss sstai ~ I
meriting your displeasure, in one thing YOU
90 me wrong. am not intoxicated. Emo
ton alone. and that of the most painful kind,
has caused me to fulfil my allotted part so
6adly-my wife died a few hours ago, and
l left her side to fulfil my unavoidable en-
gagement here. If have not pleased you,
implore you to forgive. loved her, gricv-
ell tor ber, and if MISERY anl anguish can
excuse fault bear my apology-herew
He placed his hand upon his heart and
stopped, and burst of tears relieved his
momentary paroxysm of grief. The audi
ence were thoroughly affected, and an hon
est burst of sympathy made tho walls trem-
ble. Women wept loudly, snd strong ,uen
silently; and during the remainder of the
evening his performance was scarcely audi
ble, through the storm Of applause by which
the crowd sought to soothe the poor fellows
wounded feelings. There was something
very melancholy in the thought of that
wrctched mans coming from the bed Of
deatl, to don gay attire, and utter studied
witicisms for tile amusement of crowd
Not ono of them dreamed of the anguish
that lay fostering under the painted cheek
and tho stage smile. And in the great the
atre of life how many arc there around us
like that poor actor, smiling gaily at the
multitude while At home lies some mystery
of sorrow whose shadow ia ever present with
them in busy places, and in solitude reveIs
upon their hearts like a ghost among the
tombsa
n Good Anecdote.-The following is said