Litchfield enquirer., 1872-01-04

8ACsS dO h0bAiAB eo HdStEA ttS iaIl to par IAsa It is said that the National, Labor Re- form Convention will nominate Geo. W Julian of Indiana for the Presidenby. F f s.4 -----~a----z --z-- 84-sA T.. ssKsrstie WASHINGTON. Jan. 1st 1872.
 The Farmers Hall was filed on Christ l mas night by a good audience to witnsss the acting of the Rivals, as announced by your Washington reporter 2 week or two ] ago. As the said reporter was one of the principal actors his modesty may prevent his doing justice to the occasion; there
 fore, I trouble you with this communiea7 tion. + @. .gsea. ,lI5sI .s.s a. ,zgsss..yss E. It being conceded that the Legitimate drama, dissociated from dissipation, is a source of improvement as well as enter-
 tainment, good acting should be encour- aged, and our Dramatic. Association be, awarded the merit they deserve All did, tolerabIy we'll, some, and especially Sir Anthony and Mrs. Malaprop, gery we'll.
 Of the Play itself, the manager, MT. Gum, spoke deprecatingIy too much 50 r for no bad sentiment was inculcated, aud duelling and sentimental nonsense were made ridiculous. ssss5lf2 5@af &ss 51s
 The Rivals was written by Sheridan in 1775, when profanity disgraeed gentle mems conversation as much as 1t does narlroaaurs our day, but the acton substituted harmless interjections and our ears were not offended by ge,stlenaaasly 0est]ss.ssss essszss8 atl ss.s6 &5g asf
 The plot of the play is as follows Sir Anthony Absolute has son, an officer in the army, who under the assumed name of Beverley has won the affections of "a romantic young lady, Miss Lydia Ian guish. Miss Lydia is the ward of her aunt, Mrs. .Malaprop, g prototype of the modern ( Mrs. Partington, nwho prided herself on her ssnice .derangement of epi- taphs." She has the entire control of her neice's person and of her fortune. Mrs. Malaprop is herself a widow, and while watching her niece, is consistently hold ing correspondence clandestinely with Sir. Lucius o Trigger, valiant Irish Bar onet who is hoodwinked by Lydia's maid into believing fhst it is Lydia herself who writes the tender epistles he receives.
 Another rival is Bob Acres, country squire, whose suit has been favored by the aunt till Sir Anthony Absolute sues for her niece's hand for his son, the Capt, who is accepted by the aunt; but neither threats nor entreaties can shake the niece's constancy to Beverly, till she finds he is identical with Capt. Absolute, when she indignantly rejects him in both characters.
 In the meantime Bob Acres has been induced to send challenge to Beverly, calling upon young Absolute to act as his second. Sir Lucius insists upon quarreling with Capt. A. and forces him to accept a challenge from him also. When the hour for the duel comes, poor Bob is evidently of the same opinion of the young lady who had os Hef be killed as scared to deGth, for after Sir Lucius has tortured him al- most to death by asking him in what po- sition he will receive his opponents shot, whether his remains shall be pickled and sent home, or buried in the Abbey, he ex- claims, ''Oh! that were safe at Clod Hall or could be shot before was awareI' Finding that his rival, whom he has challenged under the name of Bever- 1 ley, is his friend Jack Absolute, he utter ly refuses to fight him, and valves all | claim to the lady's hand, but Sir Lucius is not to be intimidated, and engages the Capt. in sword conflict, but Acres man, David, prevents serious conseouences by bringing Sir Anthony and the ladies to interfere. xe.-4 I Another pair of lovers are in the play. Miss Julia Melville is engaged to capri cious fellow named Faulkland who Is ieal- ous' of her without particle of cause, and to test her love pretends that for some inn aginary crime he must flee his country, | and in great distress has come to bid her farewell. She generously offers to share his exile and to place her fortune at his disposal, she being an orphan under Sir Anthopy's care but uncontrolled by any one. Reassured by this he confesses the hoax, and gets dismissed for his pains. Disconsolately he accompanies his friend the Capt. to the dueling ground, and here David brings Sir Anthony, Mrs. Malaprop and the young ladies in time to prevent a Bloody catastrophe, or f'antistrophe" as Mrs. M. terms it, and where the terrified young ladies forgive everybody and eve rything, and matters are all arranged sat l isfactorily. I.
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