The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-03-29

are not cure that that would be q serious loss.
Very little tea is consumed in France. It is con-
sidered luxury, and it is considered the thing
to put rum in it, not milk. Doctors will agree
that the French are nearer the truth than the
Anglo-Saxon tea consuming nations.
NEWSPAPER DRAMATIC CRITICIsM-There has
been good deal of discussion in the press re-
Gently upon the subject of theatrical criticism.
The newspapers devote q considerable amount of
space 10 articles about the theatres and we hear
of all kinds of criticisms-"venal," "oyster
house," LOB Office" and other arbitrary terms
intended to define the influences brought to bear
on the writer's We think it can be proved to a
demonstration that there is hardly any such thing
as true criticism at all; and one reason for the
deficiency is found in the fact that there are not
more than two or three persons connected with the
press here who are capable of doing such work in
q proper manner. Profoundly ignorant of their
duty the majority of the writer's are blown about
by every wind of doctrine, and their articles are
either fulsome puffs, gross attacks or a sort of
halt way acknowledgment Of something which is
far beyond their comprehension.
We wlltake for an example the play of ''Cami-
le," which has attracted 20 much attention of late
Miss Laura Keene, undoubtedly the most finished
arlst that we have now in any of our theatres
produced the play last season, and again revived
it in December. Miss Heron made her debut in
it about the first of February, and has played it
many times since Miss Keene with the correct
taste that always distinguishes true artist,
sOfteDed the incidents and made the action of the
play transpire in dream, the heroine awakng to
happy marriage and general jubilee. Miss
Keene's performance was quite perfect. In the
opening scene she gave all the nafpes and sim
ole happiness of the poor girl with charming
effect In the more passionate portions of the
play, che excited the deepest sympathy without
overstepping the modesty of nature. In the
dfth act, where the heroine is supposed to be ia
the last stages of consumption, she gave the
incest resemblance Of the peculiarities which dis
tinguish the victims OF the fell destroyer; and
Der burst of joy at the discovery that she still
bad life of purity and happiness before her
was superb. As our readers are doubtless
aware, the Dame aur Camslias was first given to
the world in the form of a romance, wherein
the heroine is described as woman of the incest
artistic perceptions-one who dressed in the best
taste-covered the smallest hands and tiniest of
feet with the best handiwork of the ganter aud the
cordonnier; one who 20 far a. outward appear
apces went was perfectly well bred aud alto.
gether charming person. To represent such a
heroine was evidently Mics Keene's idea, aud
her performance was really an artistic triumph.
Now, let us see how Mics Heron approached
'he same work. She was industriously pulled in
advance, and her Camille was stated 10 be
the only correct version" But although she
retained all the coarse points of the play. she
gave us none Of the fiuer touches. The Camille
Of Miss Heron is q courtesan Of the lowest order
Her dress is fashy in the extreme, her manners
those of the streets, her appearance strikngy
similar TO the poor creatures who haunt In the
promenades OF every great city. She makes love
to Armand in a manner which would disgust suy
man of refinement and IL is morally impossible
that such person as she represents could have
made such sacrifice as she il supposed to
make. In fact. II Is morally i'm ncesiblc that any
such sacrifice could have been demanded for M
young man like Armand could have loved sucl
a creature. The Camille of the author was
bad from the pressure of unfortun ate eircum.
stances. The Camille Of Miss Heron il pros
titute con dmore. Her death il after the same
style as her life-revoltng in the extreme. Miss
Heron has the one artistic merit of consistenc,.
She has an idea aud sdberes to il throughout
But she is not an artist in the true sense of the
term. She paints strong picture, full Of coarse
faults with here and there q dash Of power
while Miss Keene gives you an exquisitely finish
ed work Of art, perfect in every nicely of detail
That there Ii q momentary demand for such
acting a. that Of Miss Heron is apparent.
Many of our theatre goers look upon
the playhouse simply as . place where they
may spend an idle hour or two, aud the owrs
performance Of Mis- Heron is precisely the thing
TO make momentary JnTore. But IL is remarka-
be 10 see Journals like the Times, TJI5un, and
Courier, which profess TO 70 much learning. taste.
piety, purity and refinement, exhausting the vo-
cabulsry to heap praise upon an actress like Miss
Heron, who represents bad woman in a coarse
way, and az Hamlet says, tears passion to tat
tiers, while thoroughly artistic performance
like that Of Miss Laura Keeneis permitted TO pas
or lie damned with faint praise. The
canoDs Of criticism do not perhaps require that
the writer should weigh the moral tendency o.
every work that comes under his notice; but il Is
bic bouDden duty TO ASCERTAIN, first the su-
tbots meaning second, how far the artist
II, and lastly, how far the artist il