The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1859-10-05

perfect success. Nightly do we see crowds
of ladies and gentlemen congregate there to
witness their inimitable performances. The
DacAess of Malt, in which this lady and
gentleman appeared last evening, is pecu- |
liar piece; in many respects it is unlike any
thing else upon the modern stage. 1t be-
longs to the Elizabethian age, which is
well known to be one of the most remarka-
bic in the worlds history, even the style of
thought in that age was peculiar to Itself
1t was at once bold and original; having no
grand reservoir of established literature to
20 back to; no standard form to guide the
minds or pens of the authors of the age
They founded their own literature, and
having no books save those of nature; no
geometrical lines of thought; ne angles of
speech; no established usages or tyrannical
forms TO guide them, they founded it upon
human nature. Hence the great charm the
works of those old-time authors possess; they
are strictly original and perfectly natural
But, enough of the age, suffice it to say thai
this piece was written ia that age and under
those influences. We come to the play Itself,
and here we find our inability; the impress
sion, however, with us was that while Web
ster's pen was but the trumpet through which
nature made manifest her voice, the Wal
| lers were nature itself revived. When ar
lists can counterfeit life so naturally tn at
| you gaze upon it and fail to detect single
incongruity in the semblance, then is acting
above criticism, and the desire to criticise
gives place to sympathy. There is something
terribly enchanting in this play. Like
| Dante's greatest Poem like Pollock's Course
| Of Tine it sweeps the audience along upsn
its avalanche of sablimity and terror until
they are past resistance.
In tAis play there are five murders; this
may appear rather too sanguinary, but the
interest is 20 great that the audience have
no time to be shocked by the slaughter until
after the round Of applause which follows
the going down of the curtain, and the kill
ed and wounded are reckoned up.
The most horrible of the incidents is the
bow-stringing of Marina errible because
it is unusual. Norfolk audience can
| stand very sanguinary dispo sal Of the
dranratis persono by sword combats, the
dagger, or the pistol, bu: when new mode
OF murder is introduced they can but shud-
der. The choking of Marina is horrible
repulsire in the extreme, and the painful ef-
feet is so much heigtbe ned by the eztraor
binary manner in which Mrs. Waller rep
resents the terrible effects of this mode Of
punishment, that the blood runs cold in ones
veins. Her clu.ched hands already stifen-
ed; her starting eyes, and the fixed appear
ance of the jaw, as seen BY the audience as
she was lifted up were frightful to behold.
In representing the effects Of death by VIC
lence, Mrs. Waller exceeds any actress we
| have ever seen. Sheis indeed most re-
| markable and gifted lady, and we do not
think we exaggerate when we assert that in
heavy tragedy she has 40 superior on th
American stage.
The programme for this evening is the
greatest of the season; BY reference to it, it
will be seen that Norfolk's favorite, Miss
| Jennie Parker plays Portia in the trial scene
of Shakspeares celebrated Tragedy, the
Mercham Of Venice, Mr.. Waller personating
| Shylock. The performance concluding with
| the operate Drama of Guy Aannering, in
which will be introduced all the original
music. Mr.. and Mrs. Waller, Miss Jennie
Parker, Mr.. Gossin, and the whole strength
of the company is in the cast, and we have
no doub. but it will be faithfully rendered.
A CHAPTER ON MosouIToEs.-We nave new
er known these little pests so plentiful as they
are at this time; they have invaded the in
ner temple Of the Day Book, and even now,
while we write, they coszen around our ears;
occasionally they give us a mp on the cneek
and in swarms do they gather around our
ankles, our lose Being no protection against
their bloody intents. These continued infic-
tons have caused us to give this, by no
means insignificant creature soma att ention
and partly by our own observation and the
observation Of others have we CLEANED the
following facts. The Mosquito is cosmop-
polite, and the sharp sting of his proboscis,
and the cozzing sound of his wing can be
heard frola the frozen regions OF the Arctic |
circle to the Equator. In Lapland tn cir (
numbers have been compared to fight o
snow, when the fakes fallthickest. and Hum