Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-09-19
THE DAILY PRESS.
................ ...sRPTRMBRR 10
fFrom Dreams and Reveries Of Quiet MAN,
DRAMATIC IMPROBABILITIEs.

The other night in spirit-stirring OPERA
one young man was stabbed TO the heart in
the early part of the evening, under agera-
waited circumstances, while performing his
duty. AS | was plying his sad calamity
and entering las my custom is) into several
opposite and sentimental reflections on the
subject, was rather puzzled by the sight
of the dead man, in a new uniform, march
ing in high spirits at the head of the enc
my's army
'Why, the cunning rascal p' thought 1 to
myself, che only feigned to die, and has de-
serted for o commission That is the way
of the world"
l can not say pitied him in the least.
when he received the contents of at least a
dozen muskets in his bosom, beside more
wounds than Caesar, from the daggers of
the enemy; for l thought it no more than
his treachery merited but, must say that
was greatly astonished in the last scene,
to behold my friend officiating at a banquet
and very effectually, too, considering he
had been twice murdered in the last hour
He was killed again toward the end of the
piece; but | saw his face afterward through
n hole in one of the columns, giving a
brother actor the cue.
1 do not know any thing more amusing
than TO see a regular stage hero or heroine
read or write a letter. When they open
one purporting to contain a long story,
they peruse the whole three pages at half a
glance, gaining by intuition a knowledge
of all the details, before any other human
being could get farther than "dear sir
Nothing can exceed their rapidity in read
ing except their dispatch in answering it,
Such people would be invaluable in q
Counting-bouse.
Beside these useful faculties, stage-play-
ers possess numerous others, which seem
the peculiar gifts OF fortune. They can
hear footsteps, for instance, long before
they approaoh and that, too, by cataracts
and in tempests; and have known a sharp
eyed fellow make no ceremony of seeing
through wall, with distinctness that
can not be too highly commended. There
is one gentleman who, in this particular,
really deserves well of the audience. He
was the other evening enjoying himself
with the idea that his uncle was in foreign
country, when he suddenly started up,
looked at q closed door, clasping his hands
together and exclaiming: "Gracious heaven,
my uncle~ after which the door opened, and
his uncle made his appearance. The per-
son who sustained the same part, on sub
seouent occasion, however, rather outdid
him. When he clasped his hands together,
and cried, "Gracious heavens, my uncleh
he looked steadily to the right side of the
room, while his uncle was coming on from
the left. BY this means he had an oppor-
tunity of giving q second start, much more
natural than the first, and thereby got O
round of applause.
The characters on the stage are different,
in great many other respects, from those
everyday people whom we meet with in
real life. A gentleman in the outer world
when he is really intent on glory, and re-
solved to contribute all in his power toward
gaining o battle, generally falls to work
forthwith, and stands his chance with the
rest of being knocked on the head, run
through the body or shot down. Theatri-
cal warriors are not always in such hurry.
1t has often struck me- that Richard the
Third was rather getting out of the scrape,
in the last scene of that play, when he
leaves the noise of the battle at distance,
and comes in alone, Notwithstanding his
Dragging that there must be six Richmonds
in the field, five of whom he has Just slain
But in this he merely follows the fashion Of
his companions, as l have several times re.
marked prodigiously valorous hero, on the
eve of an engagement, shouting out ''victory
or DEATH" so tiercely, that l thought the
enemy had better keep an eye on their own
affairs; but, instead of following his soldiers
into the midst of the conflict, according to
their expectation as well as mine, he would
stay behind and sing song, sometimes
with an encore, leaving his army to get
along by themselves.
II is astonishing, too, what respect gen.
eral often receives i'll the very fury and
clash of fight. You shall hear at one mo-
ment all the horrid din of war; but, in the
next, when he begins to speak, the drum
mers and trumpeters on both sides instantly
drop their instruments; the parties remain
silent; the dying cease TO groan, till the
speech is spoken, after which the awful con-
fusion is renewed more dreadfully than
ever. This example in good breeding is
very properly adopted by the elements; as
you may observe the sky always thunders
in the right place, and stops until the hero
before the audience has finished delivering
his opinions upon any subject. 1 must
confess here, however, that have heard the
thunder come before the lightning, and,
Notwithstanding the usual praise the wind
gets for swiftness, 1 have known it to be q
little after its time; as, for example, a short
period since, as lady in an old castle was
sitting up very late for her lover she broke
in upon a dead silence with the exclama-
tion; "Bless my soul, how the wind blows l'
or something more elegantly expressed, but
10 the same effect, whereupon the wind, as
If it had forgotten its part before, and in
tended then to make up in energy for its
want of punctuality, commenced blowing
such sudden and boisterous blast accom-
panied by the washing of rain, as drew
from the house several manifestations Of
delight.
There is young gentleman in one of the
theaters often set to personate robbers, who,
1 think, deserves the thanks of the human
race, for having greatly improved upon and
modified the manners of that wicked pro-
fession. They used to be extremely rough
and brutal in their address; but, in his
hand, they have q mildness of demeanor,
and general grace, very interesting. 1t
never fails to soften me with an agreeable
surprise, when he comes on as that one of
the murderers in macbeth" who tells the
tyrant:
81 am one, my liege,
Whom the vile blows and buhets Of tine world
Have go IL ceD sed, that am reckless what
do, 10 spite the world.
While delivering this amiable confession
he is so careful to turn his toes out, anC
step like a gentleman, that you can no
help thinking the poor cut-throat wal
brought up in good society, and could dane,
very prettily, if he only had a mind. Tn,
same original taste which metamorphose
his ossassins into dacent fellnws makas hiu