The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-06-30
Materiel for the American Drama.
Read before tho William,burgh Lyceuuf.
Mt JOHN MILTON srKARss.

| Read before tho William,burgh Lyeeum
| srEARss.
'Tis not theatre l would advocate.
for bow not in devotion to those who
can only fancy themselves the master.
spirits of the world 'Tis not the mock
ing of nature in its own true develop
ment, that commands my admiration
Nature in the history of man, of his for
tunes, adventures, his passions, his hopes
and his despair The gteat drama of
history is what l admire. 1t is few
examples from this I purpose to review
or present for your contemplation. The
lights and shadows of the past, marked
with the incidents of suffering or rejoic-
ing, with the tinge of sorrow and the
hues of blood, are the drapcry or scene
ry which curtains round the stage of
time 'Tis these which the great Shak-
speare has gathered in fragments from the
verge of oblivion, and consecrated with
his own great name to Immortality
Shakspearcs plays, aside from ability of
the poet, have inherent properties which
give them character with all postcrity
They present us antiquity, in its dim
lighted halls, ovcr-canopiedw with the moss
grown towers of ages. and melancholy
with the shodows Of Hades, made young
again in its wars and it's loves, in its So
cial circles, and passing songs. So deep
on the popular nind is the impression
made by these ghosts of the past, that
it scarcely looks elsewhere for the world.
Shakespeare has become, as it were, its
ideal community and statue gallery of
olden times. He is authority in respect
to all which marked the character of So
cial life with the English nobility in the
middle ages. He is not only authority
as to fact, but for influence "As Shak
speare says" is reason enough with three
quarters of mankind to justify an opin-
ion. He was doubtless among the great
est of poets, but he had great materials
out of which to work up his sublime
creations Yet the materials are in eve
ry land where the numbers of Shakespeare
have power to awaken in human hearts
sympathy with their enchantmcnts.-
Still, but one country has produced a
Shakespeare. War and love have had
their struggles. The field of blood and
the intrigues of courts have marked the
history of every country, and the aban-
doned maiden has told in every land her
sad tale of ruin and desertion, in tones
of sorrow and lamentations of despair
fitted to awaken sympathy and pity in
the hardest heart Her destroyer has
joined in with the world, laughed at her
story, and affected scorn at her character
and when the night-winds blew and the
thundergust gathered dark in the heaven:
she laid herself down and found her mid
night couch amidst the heather of the
wilderness. Her melancholy complain
has been made and reiterated again ant
again, to the spirit of the storm,
{ All these scenes pass by, their shad
= ows linger for a moment on the scroll o
. history, and they are gone. But haC
! their impressions fallen on a Shak
speares soul,what stirring numbers woul'
4 have flowed What deep familiar init
y macy of soul with all lfe's darkest sor
t rows, would sketch the waning life an,
% light of PASSIONS fondest memories
= 1t is the familiar domestic intimacy q
u the great dramatist with all that he dc
S scribes, whether it pertains to huma
s, life or to spirits from the three world
I that is the peculiar charm of his genius
> Ossian sings of the wars of FingG
u and his loves to the dark-cyed maid an
Is to Comala the huntrcss of Arven. II
e song is not of household friends, but
, fitful and transient spirits that figure
> dark mystery on the trail of Morvcn
Il wars. Its lights of passion are shadowe
y in the grey skies of winter, the snow-cla
&c mountains and ice-bound mountai
IS stream, gurgling its dark murmurs b
10 meath the evergreen bowers of wood
!, glcns and through moorlands desola
~ and forsakcn. The scenes of Ossian
ID poems are winter dreams, cold as IL
n moonbeams of a winters night, and di
a- tant and transient as their feigned spiri
of the clouds. As incidents of the dram
they might serve to entertain giants an
savages, but they are so distant from IL
e, refnements of social life that in repr
Is, sentation they would afford moro pa
10 than pleasure to an exquisite and ref
OF ed sensibility. Still, familiar har
is would have wrought up from these inc
lie dents the the fabrics of social life
ce which the counterparts of prevailing
e, pinions, superstitions and prejudice
49, would have marked in relief the chara
lg ter of the times.
he But it was to our own country, that
Sc proposed to direct your attention and
n consider the question, whether it be f
Id the want of history or the want of
" Shakespeare that no peculiar distinction
I'd of nationality are found on the Americ;
is stage, or rather in American dramat
ul compositions.
en- Two centuries have elapsed since Il
IN settlement of our country, and in our hi
to tory there have been times that tri,
he mems souls There have occurred int
as dents too dark even for the spirit of ira
>" edy; there have been contests whit
90 caused two continents to quake as a v,
1t cano in eruption, and there have be,
ar controversies of opinion that have rag,
ar as the war of the elements And he
ar love in virgin purity has decked her {
en- tars with garlands and sung the songs
m, her sweet entertainments, and then SUI
'g- down and sighed in desolation. The I
es tar that was erected to hope has consul
I" ed its beautiful patroness with the fir
ow of infamy and despair Even in Il
dy land giant genii come down from old
generations and tell the deeds Of I
wondrous past, 1t is felt that our cou
ar try's history is rich in story and sublir
oa. in its elements of song.
A.. d.. :. :. bo,.ol .Lot A. H., :. "A l. =.