The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1865-12-02
An,Actress Defending the PROBES

We republish The following, because
here aud Just at this tins, it is peculiarly
pertinent, ia yiewo Of the foolish and bigot-
ted clerical crusade ON foot against the
| Opera House. We only regret that the lady
| who delivered II lid nol-in8tead of her
Iobtrlsively' loyar' atl,'sions--give us a few
sentenoesupon blood-thiisty and revenge
full utternnces aud conduct Of the clergy
| during the late war, and the spirit of hate
and persecution which they stin manifest
rs contrasted with, not the sermon on the
Mount, but even the beautiful and almost
divine eYhortation TO mercy in the . Mer-
| chant of Vcnice:'
SCENE N 4 CHICAGO THEATRR.
Rev. Dr. Hatfield, of Chicago, having re-
Gently delivered q discourse ON the morals
Of the stage. III Which he denounced thea
ters very strongly. a reply to his animad
versions was made ON Monday evening last
\ by Mrs. Anna Oavell. the '.lcatling lady" at
! McNicker's The9tcr. in Chicago. On the
Occasion Of her benefit Mrs. Caycll llappeared
before the cnrtam nc the close OF the per-
formance, and read a paper, from which the
| following are extracts:
J appear heiore this court in behalf of my
professional brothers and sisters, TO plead
| the cause of intellect and art against bigotry
and Intolerance. | have played to you on
these boartls is Foftia, In the Merchant of
Venice againet,Shylo lock, the Shakespearean
| Incarnation Of cruel, unrelenting bigotry.
That was mimic trial. Now stand here
to argue q serious plea--s plea against the
lShylock that would thank God that our
argosies We're wrecked. all our ventures
lost; that would make us bankrupts in
| public estimation, and then would cut the
forfeit nearest our hearts, for what is
nearer the heart than good name In man or
The mere fact of being an actor, never.
from the days of Shakespeare 10 the pres-
ent hour, placed any man in degraded
position, nor kept him there. His want OF
talent, energy and character may do 50, as
In any other pursuit; but his profession.
never. Garrick, FOote. Oibben all the
kembles, Mundcp, Dowton, Quick, Bannis-
ter and many minor lights of their day.
linked In the hest society both iu London
and in tnc then fashionable City of Bath.
Ia our time, Charles Kean has been received
for years at Nictoria's palaces, rs iamillarly
as the Queens lord chamberlain. The benz
of Macready lay toward literary rather
than o0urtly society; and who are or were
his intimate friends and associates such
lmen as Bulwcr, Dickens. Foster Thackeray.
Talfaurd, Douglas JerrOld--pOets painters.
statesmen, historians, scientific phloso-
pliers, men who constitute the intellectual
motive power of their cOuntry-men who
In their d" lands language" have raised up
to themselves "a monument more durable
than brassl" Are the doors of good So
ciety closed against Mr., Ilackctt, the
J American comedian? Did not the lamented
Abraham Lincoln receive him at the ext
ecutive mansion as a friend, and correspond
! with him on the subjects OF Shakespeare
and the stagey Does our reverent assailani
mean to assert that the late President ol
the United States was not what he call;
! good society ?" Is James IT, Murdoch
the American actor, who might have real
lied thousands of dollars by pursuing his
, profession during the war, but who devoted
his talents to the service of his country
and to the aid of our sick and wounded
heroes-is he, ] ask, parian, an outcast
banned and accommodated from good
1 society 2N Are the hosts of actors who
I rushed 10 the standard of the Union, wher
I the first gun WIS fired AT Fort Sumptcr, and
4 who, now that our arms are crowned will
4 a victorious peace. have returned To th,
: stage--are they, too, all outcasts. ike poor
! Tom % Bedlam, Ito be whipped from ty-
thing to tything,"--to be banned. barred
| and branded. "cabin'd cribb'd. contin'd
, by thereverend doctor irom"good society 2
Men of the highest position in England
and IN this country, have married actresses
I Three of the most celebrated actresses o
I the great tragedienne, Miss 0'Neil, became
respectively Countess of Derby, Counties,
I of Essex and Lady RickerSon Beecher
I They adorned the station 10 which they gt-
I tained, and lived honored. respected ant
beloved by all Who knew them. Queen Vie
tOria, every one admits, to be- a pious, viT-
tuolis woman. When Mrs. Warner the ac-
tress, was IN her last sickness, Victoria Wis
I tied here, supplied her with funds aud del
I icacies, and semi her own private eaTriag,
daily io give the suffering artistic an airing
II The sovereign of an empire upOu which Id,
sun never sets did not disdam Ia smOotl
} the pillow OF the dy ing actress. Mould th,
Rev, Dr. Hatfield do as much The mother
7 Of Canning, the renowned statesman, wa
an aetiGss, Sheridan, who ran ''thTO' eacl
! mode of the Tyre and Was master of all, . o
, whom ByronwrOte that l.u.i
IN ssate mada hut one such man, .it
poke ths die 10 noldng sheridan
His mother was also AN actress. one o
that class whom DF. Hatfield represents n
outiof the pale OF the church.
80 shane, where is NY blush Rebslhous boll
canst thou thus mutne IN a pAFsons bones ~
| SO far have met all the reverend xitnp
orators false statements, with truths, an,
his sophisms with arguments; but now
am about 10 read yOn two sentences. whicl
IL would be ms weak In me tO,stoop Ia an
!, swer as Il was wicked in him 10 stoop /,
luttef them. Dr. Hatdeld asks .'''
'''is there a man who Is an actor and ha
, a respectable characters Who Is there n