The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1868-02-27
KENoSHA WISCONSIN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY p, 1868
GrealeY on the Theater.

! In hls Ledger "Recollections of a Bpsy
Lite Horace Greeley gives the following
opinions of certain old acts, and views ane
the theatre generally:
during that, my first, winter in New
York, new theatre was opened az R,cb
mond hill Corner Of Charlton and Varick
streets) IN what Was said to have been
Aaron Burr's country seat thirty years be-
lore, and was still deemed far up town,
thongh now far below the bulk of our Don
uiation There were no street cars. and
scarcely an omnibus, in those DAYS. Rich
mohd Hill was away frou the great thor
oughtares F; SO, though the house was small.
1t was seldom well dlled ana we Journey,
| inan printers who woi kea on moraIuc news
papers that helped the theaters to auditors
were admitted GU orders from the editors .e.
sPectvely OH Saturday evenings. when au-
diences were habItually thin | think thus
attended ten or twelve times -oftener than
m any i've consecutive years thereafter.
Ihe manager was q MIR Russell-possip
said Mrs Russell, who was certainly tn.
better player aud paesunptlVey cleverer
person than her husband, whose talents
we're, nevertheless, respectable Here
saw Mis- Duff personate Lady Macbeth bet
ter than 1t has since been done in this CITY.
though she played for $50 per week, aud
others have received ten times that amount
FOR singie night, donbt that any woman
has since played III our uity-and | am
thinking OF Fanny Kemble--who was the
superior OF Mrs Duff in wide range of
tragic characters. &m not sufficiently IA
millsr with the present stage To render NV
Judgment of much value yet it seems to
me that Henry Plocide, at the Park was
better general comedian than we now have.
though Joseph Jefferson probably each sur
pass nm IN certain round OF characters.
and Sothern stands alone as Lord Dur
dreary Barney Williams is clever irish
man ct his kind; so is William ! Florence.
but is not this decidedly a poorer k,nd thsn
the genial gentemanly Irlshnau If the la
mented Power? | have seen fellows (u0Ls of
these) persouating Irshnen On ou,.s stage
and with rude, Chinese fidelity to a low
vulgar type Of Irish cbaracter-who seem
to ME deserving Ct indictment as fbeers of
an unlucky race, who, with all their faults
never made themselves despicable.
VI late years. / have seldom visited the |
theatre, nnless 10 accompany some country
friend, to whom play was novelty and |
a luxury; having been compelled by its ha
bltual leaning 10 the side Of slavery. !
and other iuIquities. whereby some
men derive profit from others Weaknesses |
The stage was Of cid powerful ally Of lib /
erty 7; yet throughout our long and arduous
Struggle against the viIest aud grossest sys
tenn Of oppression ever known, il had ever
so many sneers and sims to each cheering.
synhathizing word for the champions Of t
mans rights to bis own limbs aud sinews |
Why this was |, S OPP not here to inquire I
rest on lbs shameful fact. And tile tenn
perance reform has likewise been confronted
at every step by scurrilous iess. insidious
thugs, and mean destinations from before
the tooligbts Hence thousands, i'm patient
OF CONSTANT misrepresentation aud insult |
have abandoned the theater.
believe that it is even yet possible to
restore the failing prestige of the stage-to
revive Its hy gone glories in the ages when I
eminent moraIists, like Addison and DR. |
johnson, We're its steadfast patrons, and |
when actors like Garrick and John Philip
kemble were the houored aud intimate
friends OF the proudest mobiles ia the land I
But, to achieve this we mnst have a mana I
ger who can nowise be bribed or tempted to
minister to prurient appetites, nor p9ttifog
the cause OF the oppressor. We must have
a stage which commands the respect of the
wise and good, of,the phiianthropic and hu |
name, by never vanishing YIllany, never
sneering at virtue, never pandering to |
lewd impulses, nor gliding with sophstry |
the car Of triumphant wrong know thst
confidence is a plant of slow growth
that Opca ItlEtiu foFfaitad - 20
regained F.; yet feel sure that there will be
a stage hich, by years Of patient self sac
rticing devotion to right and justice, to
freedom and humanity, will win the favor
and support OF the modest and most worthy, /
and will exert benign influence over the /
earthly progress OF our race.