The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-08-15
NusIcaI. lramalIc, bad NIseellaneous

I am possessed with the fond idea OF "a
stage-ssruek youth, that all actors are eedl
and all actresses goddesses Of s~upernaturs
beauty (which I awe long admitted 70 B
IN etror1 but because il kas beeE my lot 1
be thrown a good deal into their society
and because, knowing them well and inti
maiely, / have learned 70 respect them
There are certain actors and actresses who's
hands / am proud % shake, not beca1sl
they are endineut trsgedians Or comedians
but because they are honorable men ans
women. One Of the most simple, u~nEfiect
ed, generous natures ! ever met with, is en-.
shrined in the breast Of q clown. If snJ
Diogenes should be going about looking i0I
for a specimen Of a good husband a
good iaiher, / will give him the address Of
pautaloons only regrettsng that shat hav,
70 request him 70 ring the top bell II
cherish e platonic affection for any member
Of the fair sex, il is for an actress wnom oF.
erybOdy loves, because IN every relation o
life, as wife, mother daughter and friend
abe is Is bright an ornament 10 her sex az
ahe istO her profession.
Believe me, I ain not saying these thing
IN a spirit Of exaggerated charity towards
class requiring 70 be a~POlogized for. 4 am
not adopting the nI nisi bonum maxim, a.
il ! were speaking Of the dead. These good
j NtUNlE AIE AaANEH NAaNAA-A ~ AAANt u
! rser, and doing good deeds in the sight Of
many.
little thought in my young days that
should have this opinion Of plsy- actors. IN
the sphere, a very narrow enc, n which
imbi5ed my early ideas, Il vas broadly in
culcated that the theatre was q very wicked
place, snd that sctors end actresses were
very wicked people. When FIRST went 10
the theatre, on she sly, I bad some CON-
Function abSdt il; but not being able 10
discern any wickedness in connection with
the performances Of 3 beautiful play, in
which virtue was rewarded and vice pun
ished, I dismissed the feeling, and was rath-
er panied to think that some particular
friends Of mine had told me what was not
precisely true. Il was not until q much
later period OF my life that ! made the se-
quaintance Of actors, and found how much
they, too, were beiied. I expected to find
them Et least vary knowing persons bat,
after spending an evening with a party of
players, ! came % the conclusion, that l
myself who had been religiously brought
up and warned 20 avoid plays and play
actors, was in the ways Of this wicked world
the most knowing person in aha company.
am NOS gong 70 argue that players are by
nature better than other people, but I think
their generally single minded natures may
be accounted for nationally enough. In the
6rst piaec, the ambition 10 become an sctor
il an Intellectual one, and il villa be readily
admitted that only G trusting and unso-
phislicated disposition could hope for a high
degree Of success in the profession. Next
comes in the exalting and refining indu-
enee Of S~hakspesre's poetry, which all ac-
tors, whether they be destined 10 shine Is
the kings oftrsgedy or the valets Of farce, be-
gan by Studying. Talk TO a low comedian on
the subject, and ten 70 one hs viii not confess
20 you that his first aspirations were in the
direction Of the tragic. He knew the loity
poeticsl speech Of Hamlet by ~heart-never
to he forgOtton-loug before he was driven
10 lower his attention to tie Waist-ooats Of
the first Graye-digger. A knowledge of
Shakespeare rsdeems a vast amount Of ig-
n0raaee. An aetor's educEtiOn may be very
defective; he may not be able 10 spell he
may bstrHy IN his handwriting and cOmpo-
siii0n afaa want Of familiarity with the use
Of the peu-but he knows Shakespeare By
heart. He has all the philosophy Of life at
the tip Of his tongue in S~hskspesre's glow
ing words. We may be very clever and
very accomplished, but when the actor leans
upon the arm OF Shakespeare he is fit COM
pany FOR the best Of US. There is another
Influence for good in the players profession.
IL IS q precarious one. Nearly aG act0rs be-
LNM AH LlM ~ y III ALAM LUL
poverty. Il is rarely that any one succeeds
without a long struggle. A ~fellOw-feeling
makes them WOndrUus kind. There is
scarcely a fuccessful actor living who has
not known what il is 20 be pennilese, hun
cry, and what is sometimes harder 20 bear,
10 be in debt for some miserable tribe among
strangers. Thus il is that the most success
ful among them can always understand and
feel for the misfortunes aud sorroWs oftheir
struggling brethren. II had not found by
experience Of them that players are in a
remarkable degree kind hearted, well dis
posed people, these considerations alone
might have guided me 10 the conclusion.
That sectors have faults and foibles / will
not DENY. They are men and women, and
they have the faults that all men and wo-
men hsvs in a greater or less degree. Bus
this I will confidently assert, that actors are
notsinneFs in q greater degree than other
classes Of s~.cietT, while in many and anna
bic respects they can lay claim 10 q larger
number OF virtues. One ofthe reasons they
are constantly traduced is obvious. They
live more thHn any other class under the
public eve there Is q strong curiosity about
them, snd consequently any dubious story
abouttheir mode Of life that prejudice may /
imsgine, and the breath Of scandal whisper,
Isl rapid vspread abroad aud eagerly smp'i-
fed. How many times have / been told
that so-and So Ia a very immoral person,
when there is nothing on earth Of which ]
am 30 we'll assured as that that person is a
model Of purity and goodness? If scandal
hits upon q truth now and then, does IL
never dit upon a similar truth with regard
q thersoeielyf Really upon my conscience
i do not know what class is in a position to
throw stones at the players.
Helen Western. is winning golden opin-
ions a Montreal, C. W.
Edwin Adams il rustiesting at Long
Branch.
james A. Oates is the leading man at
Wood's Theatre, Cincinnati.
julia Nelson is leading lady at Louisville
Theatre.
beagle has goae to England tosecare the
Dufaeld has returned 70 Cincinnati, and
is looking well.
"Arrak .Na-Poueh,n Bonrcicaults latest
play, is attracting immense houses.
Dan. Bryant is At Wallaek's IN Colleen
Dawn"
Ths New BoWsry, New York, opened re-
Gently. Business $3.50.
Tony Psator is doing immense business At
old BOwery.
Geo. Radcliffe is coming to Poland's Va
rieties.
The San Frsneiscoes are pronounced the
best in the country. Their band is superb
and their business immense.
Stella Mason and Sidney Smith are at
Mozart Hall, Cincinnati.
At Barnum's Winter Garden, business is
fair.
Woods Ministries doing poorly in New
York.
Zoe, Of "French Spy" no.oriety, is at
home st Long Branch.
Robert Jonos and Hsrry Wall are neso-
/ tiatinE with Msd. ZEvisi0wsd for her ap-
pearance next season at the Toward Atbe-
neum, Boston.
John MeDonough, Of the "seven Sisters"
noloriety, has "Arrah-Na-Pough" for the
| West.
Joseph Proctor is IN New York looking