New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-05-17
4 SUPPRESSED LETTER
,s pr,pE ON SOME OF TIE FUNCTIONS OF
CRITICISM.

,-u,s PrADE on SOME OF TIE tuNOllONo VA
N'' CRITICISM.
"a. Fdffor Of The Tribune.
S,p. The London AtheRGum has lately
,,lisbea some critiQues dramatic authors. signed
90 - and written with more confidence than knowledge
The article on MIR. Tom Taylor shocked MI. Challes
Rcades sense O. justice and propriey and he wrote
Letter 10 the editor of The AhenGum. That gentleman
suppressed the letter. Mr. Reade objects TO this as do
blv unfair and requests the Editor Of THE TRIBUNE u
give the letter, and its suppression, due publicity
a. Albert Terrace RngEsbridce london, April ~ ISL
To the Editor Of The AthenGWm; -,
S1R An article appeared in last weeks Atm9e Z. I Sn
article is unjust and neelcssy dsc1urteous to writer
Of merit, and must appeal TO your sens vi So w. S
ii, interested critic correct your 20, ana uhueceNe
viii take the two writer's in their intellectual order
first distinguished himself scholar; obtained EEL
ais nc wrote FOR the tlcatcr and his early peces were
nearly an original, though nj that time originality was
myself he honor working with him on four original
dramas. found him rich in h0wedge, fertile IN ln ,
very busy mani he is the head Of public office, ana ana
trhuor 10 The Times and to P0ch has published two
biographies Of great research and Ee' rr nss
and verse. The mind is finite ,, SO Far
tie GAY; and l observe that wI bc now in.
vents less and initiates more, than he did SOM S ra.
ago. Bat, taking his whole eTecT tae linn lin He NAV
matte inventor cannot be honestly aen ieeuswhaf living
not he dramatist of the highest yory highest I'm
EugliSlmdu iSl-hUt he ICScmht.
ths that he sometimes adapts or T!s ACCOMPLISHED
Witty, and sometimes luvcntH' 80 Who az late
writer in so many STYLES the only man VIM Ui i,
ver. has ficd theitor by poetiea dramas his l"S'
Joan III i r,por,arle man. as times and entitled
20 dcccrt rspoc from TIC mere snllnls ana nhuOWs,
who write about literature. because they eahho' "lo
literature
Is variety Of the literary insect CreaIterp lie mas
bren good enough 70 reveal his methods ne Wehl 10 io
ouec,7s Tbeater to see Joan OF Arc and weigh the
sgre: he qualified himself as follows; he turned ms
back the stage and icl TO talking WIN % Mt Ta
caste-the iustTious T. l-about other pays OF MI lay
Lr They did not talk mpioYngy, Tor they IheiUS
paved % the sham sampleIrck TGcn GHE1eu n
Years agl. For all that this part OF q Is En-,
trestuC to me; have long been asking sen 10 nv
G l u t6ose chattering snobs who always spoil a
play Tor poor me, whenever 20 to the public part OF
'nea'oi Revealed the secret stands Of Natures work.
They are critcastcrs; sent in there by confdine
editors, To hold their tongues ana give nus u '
the last scene ii suddenly occurred to 90" that he
sHt nST 70 know ali about, and this led TO dialogue
reprodnce verbatim, simply rcmarIng that to me, who
MAY venture to ask said l. IF You have reason q
suppose that the drama we are now ~lnesihg Is
las crnsh-nat. Certainly not he replied with EN-
Mr. Rolshv; i know other dramatic author who
left 10 himself would conceive me NOTION OF d5
before an audience such brutal realism as that' Anu
&ow " r." never uttered these words Every nation
has lsnguage-the spoken and ne written so un,
couh aud Involved "a sentence never h0wed from Dd
VII er's pen However, there it is-a monument Of i'm.
pudeuce, iusOence, aud ignorance. what lhese poor
ronrr I'm the back OF the drama stgmatze as I'M
1recedcnted realism, has been enacted before admlrng
ELroe, by the most poeei aGgS On o oFf 6e
world loan of Arc A." one Of Rachels characters,
TIC h"rj1c was esented Nv what a critic would call
"ierribe fidelity brutal realism she STOOD
ON "A small working platform arranged 70 fl about TWO
feet 10 a stop; the effect was truthful hut appalling;
Tor when e fire had burned bv f fu T r iee a5d
seemed 20 fall like burnt log from hcr supports. IL
extreinities had been burned away, and the figure
dropped into the flames OF course the curtain fell IKE
lglti, then, and, up 10 the moment preceding that
e -" and was III vine with The triumph of the great
Iody
his uOber opportunity than TINS oI rising 10 inc
Level Of Poetry and History. o,
A. TO the notion death by fire is unfit TO be pre-
scented cOrdn, pOpUlO, this Is the chmera of Few Anglo
Saxon ounces afflicted with the known intellectual io9ie
of their race-he trick OF drawing dlsuncuos WIsno1
difference: ia other words, the inability 10 generalle
death by fire neither more nor e co 70 ony The
death Of Joan OF Are" by fire, with her rd eyes nNt
zeal nature than the death of Hamlet or OF Macbeth
That the performance OF this great scene AT he Queen
Theater suggested nothing nOber and more poetic 10
A. Tayior Tor of History which dictated the situation.
No Frenchman ever the hog To comment on the
same situation a similar spirit and am therefore
driven rcuctapty TO the conclusion that the brutal na
ton which burned the Maid OF Orleans, Is STILL IN some
yesDecis at the bottom of mankind
0 I STdSs for os ana But on the contrary
hear il is well acted The fault then lies with the ctl
casters II is the old, old story: Paris ODnd pdrrg
When little men, with little heads, little hearts, niue
knowledge little enslbility and great vanity go INTO
theatcr to take in knowledge and humanity put 10
give ont ignorance and malice, not TO profit by thelr
mental superior but 10 disparage him. they are seeed
against enrolling influences, and blinded 10 hcdules
however obvious But the retributOu is sure. DepTe-
Gallon" is the writer's road TO ruin Men rise IN our
difficult art, 10y the divine gift and the anlabe hat OF
appreciatOn to appreciate gifted cOempOrdlles Is
10 gather uncOnsciOusy thousand flowers for our own
basket The depreciaOr despisos his gifted cOempOra
RES and so gathers nothing hut weeds ana seifdecep
ton. The apprecatOr makes name, fortune, ana a
signature The deprc ciatOr ticles his vanity, but
gats admire nothing reel nothing create nothing ana
be nOthing-but a Cypher signed by an INITIAL am, SH
Obedicut servant CHARLES hEADE'