The New Orleans crescent., 1869-01-17
sHAxsFEARE REVEALS.
For the New orissn. Sunday ors.osu..l

Il
the shakspearean and higher drama; while Wal.
lacks, standing like greyhounds in the slips
straiping upon the start" have sounded a trum.
pet Of honorable rivalry in their announcement Of
Much Ado about Nothing" IN preparation.
From the best tragedy company that is to be,
and from the best comedy company that ia. what
are the chances. And what, moreover. are the
state and condition of public tsste2 win their
support be generous and cordial, or will tbey be
deaf to the voice of the chsrmer, charm he
never so wisely!
Fashion and wealth are the gods of societv,s
idolatry. This, too, in all ages. Nor. though the
sway of Fashion be supposed to include more
particularly the realms of dress and personal
adornment, does her influence end there. The
whole domain of taste seems, by common con.
sent, subject to her capricious and arbitrary
sway. Apart from the fluctuations in external
styles and habits, manufactured and protected by
parties interested in these changes the mutabilty
of taste rests on deeper and broader basis than
mere inexplcsble caprice. The passion for
novelty and the love of change are necessity
an instinct of our nature. To the mass of man.
kind change of occupation, whether from mental
to physical, or even from one condition of action
TO smother of the same kind, is as needful as
change Of diet. 7olyours perdrir is proverbially
nauseatiDg. chemical or historical lecture
may be more Intellectually profitable than the
genial nonsense of Dan Bryant or Hunapty
Du'npty; but 1t is not given to all of rs, at all
times, to listen proftsbly to words Of wisdom.
any more than we can live continuously on con.
centrated extracts and other highly nutritive art
cles OF food. Some writer says of Friendship
that recent acqnaII tsnces interest us more than
old friends by the novelty of their opinions and
the zest Of fresh character stady. Hence, that
us better for fast friends not to meet too often
lest they grow stale. This is in effect to reduce
the romance and heroic proportions of friendship
to the luxury of q new sensation.
There is no need, however. to justify the desire
for novelty. Being an instinct of humanity, like
all other instincts natural incIInauous IL is i
itself a thing of good. Wisely employed, it leads,
like the spirit Of curiosity to untold general ben.
eft and individual happiness. Its immediate re-
suit in the special matter on hand is the tenn
porary preference of one class of amusement to
another, thus giving scope and opportunity to
vast variety OF endowments and capabilities for
which there would otherwise be no place. Legiti.
mate drama is succeeded by grand opera, which.
in turn, is superseded by opera bouffe or sensa,
ton drama; thence we get to show pieces in
which plot and dramatic skill are subordinate to
mechanical or spectacular effect, until at last we
strength or agility. And the round, thus COM
pleted, we begin again.
Superficial critics, ignoring the fact that this
love OF change is no new tbiog In the history of
the mind, cry out on the degeneracy of public
taste, or on the degeneracy OF art and artists
Such criticism has been heard before. The
mighty power, the transcendent genius of John
Phlnp hemble could not exempt him from the
modification of successful though confessedly in.
feriOr rivalry. The temple where he was minis
terlng high priest was at intervals deserted by
tickle worshipers for the jocund antics of pauto.
mime or the attractions of horse drama" Com
manding intellect and fascinating externals will
compel respect and admiration for long series
OF years, but attention will flag at intervals
humanity will assert its liberty of choice and
yield reluctant homage. and, weary of very excel
lenee, tie public mind will revert complacentIy to
less worthy shrines; bat to surge back tumultu-
ously and exultantly to the true faith.
II may broadly and without fear of contradic-
ton be maintained of the general public in this
country that The average popular mind is better
educated, better informed and therefore of better
taste and critical capacity than that of any other
community in modern ancient history, not ex- |
ceptiDg the numerically feeble population of an
cient Greece. of whom it Is more than question. |
able whether the middle and lowcr classes were
competent to estimate and pronounce upon the
magnificent and unequsled productions of ma
uoIal poets and artists. The regulations of
Homer, OF Sophocles, or of Phidias were not made
by the applause of the masses, but by the unan. ;
imous accord of critical and cultivated intelects
art, too, was then matter of religion and of state
policy, and therefore in the hands of the few Of |
the oi1stoa This opinion of the comparative pub |
lie intelligence is not, however, an affirmation of
equal art and taste cultivation in our upper.
tendon with that of the same order in other coun-
tries. Notoriously, the formation of highly re.
fined and educated society in which taste and crit.
icsl Judgment may be, SO to say, intuivs or here
dltary, must be with our political institutions aud
material prosperity Of slow growth. We have
no privileged orders-the long shore man of to.
day may be, aye as, the millionaire tomorrow |
while tailor or a farmers boy becomes the first
gentleman in the land. But while painting or |
music in their scientific side viz: the known rels-
tons OF, cause and effect, are necessarily con-
nneo to students and experts demanding in their
higher Interpretation special observation and
widely extended comparison, in their purely emo
onal effect they are the property and delight of
he SIMPLE ss OF the wise, of the child or the sage
here, TOO, the drama comes home to the masses;
= the touch of nature that makes Us all akin,n |
reaches far and deep into the fresh arts of the
people more generously and sympatheticslly re- |
'ponsiye to the players magic touch than are the
srguid souls OF the children Of fortune enervated
Dy safety end pining in vain for a stimulus |
capable Of stirring their palled sensibility.
That the alternauons OF public taste are due to
} oesre for change and not to degeneratipg |
aeules or to inherent preference for iaferiOrity,
S further demonstrable by the public demand for !
elative excellence. Novelty alone will not ex.
enuate poverty OF invention or weakness of &C.
.omplisbment. Burlesque, TO win approval and |
patronage, must be good of kind and well done |
'ouy wit, stale jokes, or poor music will not !
harm the public. Pocshontas 4" is a brilliant
xample OF this style of composition and of the
pproval which awaits real merit. Ii is brimful
! wit and bun'or its mirth provoking incOngrui.
les, in which, according TO Sidney Smith, lies the
sserce OF wit, though evident exaggerations are
OF absurdites. Dizziness or stupidity has no
lace ID the scheme, while the construction of
be piece admits so easily of variation that ii can
orICw color from local or transient occurrences.
no biting folly as it flies can thus be ever new
1enbach's opera bOnfe, which has for so long ;
nehsnied the town, although far inferior to apo.
ahontas in point and genuine merit, or 20 Auber
no Adam IN bTilbsncy and solidity of music il
III sufficiently good in itself and more than suffi-
emily good in the mise e1l scene, and ia the sing
g and acunR,to redeem the public from a charge
poor Taste. La Grand Duchesse is a character U
no striking originality. Lady Gan Spa1keI n
10 host OF Others are It's superior; bat Bttlotte
" Barbe Bleue,' is one OF much novelty. com.
ming the instincts and habits of low birth and u
'untry breeding with the accident Of sudden pro.
ouop; il is the pendant 10 Fritz in the "'Du. {,
less, but more elaborated, for BltloRe is active,
bile Fritz is passive. q
u IN H..