The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-04-28

them on the canvas of Murilo.
The chief priest, with Caifas at their head, |
meet now, in gorgeous Eastern dresses, ia
their hail. when Judas comes to them to
bargain for the betrayal of his Master.
The Last Supper is worked up with much
elaboration, as may be supposed could not
but admire the excellence of the silent acting
by gesture-the pantonime--of the part in
which it becomes the sturn of Judas to have
his feet washed by Christ; the calm, gentle
but conscious look of the one-the surly,
boorish defiance of the traitor. The subject
might be improper for theatrical art; but at
least the execution was artistic.
! None Of the scenery was, perhaps, more
beautiful than that devoted to the Hort de
Getsemani," valley of azure-colored rocks.
In the centre was Our Lord with some of His
disciples sleeping by; a supernatural light
suddenly filed the place, and an angel de-
! scended bearing chalioe and cross. Then
| followed His arrest; and from that point, the
! demand on the nerves of foreigners grew
/ stronger and stronger. There was such a
| horrible literality about every detail Christ
was beaten and thrust about-while led by
cord-by men carefully taught to look and
act like the worst rufians of the Roman
world. A charming Austrian lady of my
acquaintance could not sit it out, and left the
house. She would not face the CrucifZion.
| The Catalans, ''to the manner born"
took everything more coolly-being, in
deed, an unimaginative race, and little
sensitive, except when touched in their vanity
or (worse still) in their pockets. They ap-
plauded clever bits of defamation precisely
as if at the opera, and laughed heartily whom
the cock crew, and Peter rushed out re-
pentant. The servant girl, by-the-by, who
talks to Peter was a smart soubrette; and
that whole chapter in the history of the sup
posed ancestor of all Popes was evidently
considered capital piece of comedy.
Watching the large audience carefully every
now and then, l thought the predominant
feeling one of ordinary theatrical curiosity.
But in the most shocking scenes, as when
Christ was scourged and crucifed, noticed
that some of the women near me, chiefly of
the humber class, were weeping. To be
sure, that was not necessarily due to the reli-
gious character of what they saw; for would
they not have wept if they had seen Mrs.
Boucicault sold by auction in the Oct0roon?
The repentance of st. Peter was followed
by the suicide of Judas, who hanged himself
in most life-like-and death-like-fashion
upon tree in the front of the stage At his
last kick devil appeared, and cutting him
down, descended below with him, while
flames darted up through trap-doors like
lightning flashes. A minute afterwards, hell
was open before u.s. and ''ball de dimonis,
or devils dance, was going on round the un-
happy sinner. Female demons, in short
petticoats, gambolled and jumped over and
over the PROSTATE traitor, and the audience
broke into excited applause. The punish
ment of Judas seems favorite sube in
this country. The other day Spanish girl,
Just back from mass, showed me her prayer
book, and found it ornamented by rude
woodcut in which Judas was being gnawed
by some creature of the dragon breed.
The costumes and accessories of PLATE and
his Roman officers and troops were on a very
respectable scale of accuracy. Pilates un-
willingness TO condemn Christ was very
prominently brought out, and it seemed to
me also that the Completely of the Jewish
rabble with their high priest was softened,
with an eye to throw the guilt as markedly as
possible upon the Sanhedrim. The terrible
details, as / have said already, were carried
out With unfinching accuracy. Christ was
stripped and scourged at pillar, and the
crown of thorns was placed upon His head,
with the same dramatic fidelity to which we
are accustomed in Hamlet and Macbeth.
The procession to Calvary was
conducted with much care and pomp-the
bands which formed part of it playing some
music specially composed for this scene
music of a plaintive simplicity, strongly
affecting. Our Lord repeatedly stumbled in
carrying the cross, till relieved from it. In
short, not detail was omitted. The ham
mering Of the nails on the cross was audible
throughout the immense building and there
hung the Saviour with His mother at His
feet, and spoke words of comfort to the ''Bom
Lladre," the penitent thief; and the
sponge was held to His lips
and he gave up their ghost-in
the regular order of events as recorded by the
Evangelists At the supreme moment all the
resources of the art were brought into play to
reproduce the tremendous incidents of that
hour. The stage was darkened; thunder
rolled and lightning flashed; white efful-
gence poured itself over the dropping body
and the dead, with their skeleton forms show.
ing through their shrouds, shot up to the
boards of the stage and ran wildly about
These was still another act, the taking down
from the cross; but by this time 1 had had
, enough of it, and only hope that the reader
, has not had too much.
That commercial, essentially modernize6
city Gor Barcelona, though ancient enough ac
regards history, is not an old-world city in
: type or manners) should seek excitement and
amusement of the kind have been describ
ing may serve to impress upon us the vita
dissimilarity Of northern and southern ways
, Of thinking. 1t must not be supposed tha
{ there was the least intentional irreYerence ol
| want of decorum in the whole exhibition
J lasting, as it did, for more than four hours
There was nothing of the kind, and the sa
| cred story Was put before us with perfec
} good faith. Probably, too, in country
5 where education is at such low ebb, an(
) where it has been the policy of priests to loci
8 up the Bible, a drama like this, howeve
? startling to us, gives to the working peopl,
l and the poor the only vivid knowledge the
1 ever get of the facts upon which the Chris
tianity of history as distinct from the Chris
Q tianity of the Roman Church is based. Blu
/ good is done to the few; while, as regards tn
Of nj fha - of oil