The New York herald., 1869-02-17
THE DRAMA.
lLccturc by Mayor A. Oakley Hall ID
BROOKLYN.

last evening Mayor Hall delivered lecture In the
city Assembly Rooms, Brooklyn, under the auspices
OF me Brooklyn Catholic Library Association, Sc
Iectng as hs subject one on which his Honor 1t is
well known, most eloquently discourse. Nor
did he speak on the occasion to miserable array OF
empty benches; nor was he damned with faint
praise;' for the beautiful and commodious room
was filed to its utmost capacity, and the paudits
oil welcome which he received personally ON his ap-
poarance were the first faint overture to the more
general and hearty applause which followed HIM
throughout his very witty and entertaining lecture
and crowned his efforts at the close.
The lecturer was introduced TO the audience by
Mir. Edmund F. Burke, who said that in the absence
from the city OF the worthy President OF the Catho-
lie Library Association it became his pleasing duty
to introduce TO them the distinguished lecturer OF
the evening-Mr. A. Oakley Hall, Mayor OF the city
OF New York.
THE LECTURE.
Mr. Hall, on coming forward, was again received
with burst OF applause. On opening his subject he
SAID he did not expect to meet more than the mem
bers OF the association and their families; certainly
not SO large and critical audience as was before
him. or he would have better prepared himself for,
the occasion. He came (he said) from the City OF
Theatres, as they say in New York to Brooklyn the
City OF Churches and the embarrassment he felt
was increased by not knowing whether his audience
were rOm tne niRn, Iniuule OF low CHURCH.
He had TO speak OF the modern drama at the very
moment that the clocks of:Brooklyn and New York
struck eight O'Clock. There now gathered within
the sound OF any gun that may be fired from Brook
yn Heights those that worship under any form
or semblance the modern drama at least five hun
dred thousand people or worshippers. Quite gene
ration; quite the population OF q village, or the
population Of one OF the counties of this state;
the population of Western city few years ago.
before the West assumed its present gigantic pro-
portions And there they are assembled and will be
for three or four hours partang OF the feast Of the
modern drama, which, while thsy enjoy q whole
course, we can only partake Of o few dishes
IfAnk you may come to the same conclusion, that
they are in danger OF mental dyspepsia and nothing
but miracle viii save them-such a miracle as
read OF the other day in one OF the Brooklyn papers,
had the honor OF addressing jury over here the
other day and was badly beaten-a Jury made up for
The most part OF DR.. Beecher's church. The miracle
OF which spoke was alluded to by Methodist
preacher, who delivered q very pleasant little
mon upon the parable OF the loaves and fishes. He
stated 1t somewhat in this way.-There were
seven men and i've women who devonred five
thousand loayes and seven thousand fishes.
Ills arithmetic was slightly at fault. Whenfhe got
through with his sermon one OF his hearers asked
"Where does the miracle come inf You say that
seven men ana nye women deyoured five thou
sand loaves and seven thousand fshes.r The
preacher said II have so stated 1t and viii stick to
1t, The miracle was that none OF them died of the
dyspepsia.n II any OF the tity thousand who are
OF which have spoken that might be fired nom
brooklyn Heights shall escape mental dyspepsia it
sense for having selected lor my consIdera-
ton and yours the subject of the modern
drama, or, indeed, the drama at all. The word
itself expresses almost all the most pleasant rea-
tons OF life from childhood TO Old age. The great
master says, ..Ah the worlds stage and al The
tnat appeals to the strongest and the Sndest and the
most ervent Of all the feelings OF lie There Is
scarcely profession. there Is scarcely an occupation
M life that has not connected with II TO extent
something that Is dramatic. There something OF
plot something Of peculiarly In the lite OF almost
everybody that would make any play writer rejoice
When the child Is old enough 10 toddie across the
TO ts fathers cane In tie corner it takes it and
goes ABOUT as grandpa goes. So with the little
girl She takes her doll and does as her
mother does Ihe schooboy writes some satire OF
his fellows as he observes whatever il ridiculous ia
them. What are they but actors and dramatists
And this brings US back again to the apothegm OF
the great master that .All the world is q staQen &C
In the profession which have the honor TO belong
there Is no consideration thai makes 1t inter-
estlng than the dramatic interests which are asso-
cated with H. The physician has little of this
matte element In MS LIE, indeed. HIS life is a
cary Sometime iaree fie anu doctor a1 aP0'e y, a
vInity, he has tragedy and melodrama. IL ls,
however, IN The legal profession alone tnat the
great dramatic interests settle. iou VINO have
SAT In the jury box and have been witnesses feel
this. The lawyer feels it as he Is pleading the
0i MS clent There Is not lawsuit N any KIND ia
which there is not dramatic cement Involved ii
wiii be perceived as We so farther that there is
need Of an apology for speaking upon the subject.
But 10 attempt 10 discuss drama IN an exhaus-
tive manner would 10 ike speech in the House OF
Parliament by an English statesman which lasted
nine hours. After he had been speaking hours
one OF MS colleagues woke up and asked him how
far he had got and vas told he had got down to
SAID, ''Wake me up when he gets to Eliza
beta" The drama could not be properly
discussed IN one evening. nor In ten evenings.
lie would speak OF tue drama as affecting all KINDS
Of frepresentations-tne ballet the opera, Things pas
toral, comedy farce-every representation on tie
stage which modern ingenuity uss made part aud
parcel OF stage representation. Tie drama had its
cradle IN Greece and was from there brought and
bnapteu IN Rome, and there improved ON TO some
thing OF what 10 Is at the present day. The drama
owes lis origin 10 the days OF solomon, may be
seen from ms works, which no can read without
being convinced OF the fact. But 1t was Ia It's crude
state until tue Athenlans took hold OF IT, when they
brought the drama the stage TO something OF ia
present shape. IL is my intention to compare the
ancient with the modern drama. Now, In the time
u the AihenIans there were no newspapers-notaing
10 initiate with the drala-no antigonistlc sensa-
tons-notning presented 10 the people TO amuse
or counteract the efect OF the plays TO which they
R2tnerei in such nuinbers There was nothing in
The lie OF the circumstances OF the ancents antago-
nistlc 10 the drama anu the people who gathered 10
the representations came great sensational
scenes Every enactment OF the Atneaan drama
Was u mdtLee-ior all the representations In those
DAYS We're gwen 70 the people ~ the afternoon. me
theatres Of the ancients always open IA the day
tinei Ras was not discovered IN those dass nor te
oxygen hight that Dr. DoreInus makes POINT o.
The open air was the great amphitheatrc In which
The performances were held with nothing bul the
bue sky above them. ana as the sun declined some
ancient representative on the stage addressing TIE
orb OF day, used the famous passage
Declining ORB Of day whom hail.
The theatres Of those days were the mighty ampni.
theatres Of nature. Afterwards there were theatres
erected, but not small places, where two or three
Thousand people could assepble as an audience, but
whose audiences numbered ten, fifteen or twenty
thousand people. These were not the days OF re.
served seats or OF perumcd programmes Of more
ari-tocratic times. 1ney were democratic assem-
blages, where all gathered together TO pay homage
70 tne dramatic writer and the artists OF the stage
The Romans copied from the creek drama, for there
never was anything original In the Roman drama.
Tue Romans borrowed from the Greek and IL must
De said England and America borrow from the French
louay, ana al that is original In tile drama to-day
mas been brought entirely from the French atmos-
phefe ana French soil il was IN the later DAYS OF
Romcin the time OF its ecadence and greatest lux
ury--that the Roman drama came 10 be understood
as dramatic spectacles. Milton gave TO the English
people the hrst representation tine SIMON ARoustes
his own life being the representation inteuded
Like samson, Milton had then lost hrs eyesght. He
was hke the samson ne represented. samson
had Delah. Nttons Delllan was the round.