The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-10-23
The Charac terIOf Mary STUART.

ESVho - So AS-%
memorable acts, such aS q woman ol
Madame JANAUscHEK's genius might well
aspire to illustrate on the stage, and
such as she certainly did personate with
great power At the Opera House las,
evening. There Is no female character In
all history around which has been thrown
somauy dark audlight shades by conflict
Ing biographies as that Of this unfortunate
Queen. OF her the poet might well have
sad,
"MIsery stole me At my birth
And mIked me- for Us own,"
for from her very earliest years down to
her death she was the subject Of intrigue,
conspiracy and war. She was born Queen
Of Scotland, was bethrothed in marriage
to tho heir Of the English throne, to which
she herself was nearly allied; was car.
rl.d away 10 France at tender age, and
educated q Catholic, when her people
werc Protestants; was reared in the state.
craft Of the celebrated Guise family, OF
which her mother was q member; was as.
sociatCd with the Court in which the in.
famous Csthsrine dc MedIci was q ruling
spirit; was married and left q widow
at an early age, and came back
10 Scotland as ruler hated by
England and great numbers Of her
own people. Then began her career
Of misfortune, crime and misery. Did we
not know her to have been Stuart we
might easily suspect her to be Bourbon.
There was an obliquity in her moral
nature that was unmistakablo at every
stage Of her career. She was q winning
woman, but most unreliable; able In some
aspects, but very weak In others; highly
educated and accomplished, but still
blgot, and as such dangerous to the
peace Of Europe, and especially to the
quiet of England, to whose throne she
laid claim TO the very last.
This remarkable woman's career is not
brought out historically in the great play
performed by Madame JANAUsCHRK with
such artistic skill last night. l! is a play
founded simply upon the closing scenes
OF her lie, and is calculated to do ipjus-
tiCe TO the truth of history, to the charsc.
ter especially Of Queen ELIZABETH, and
to educate the public into an estimate Of
MARY that will not stand the test OF crit.
iCjsm, Queen ELIZABETH appears 10
disadvantage in this most memorable
episode Of her. reign, She herself had a
prophetic conception OF the'general YER
dict that would follow the execution OF
MARY. II was case Of power
on one side and helplessness on the other,
and this Is tho way the story has been
written up ever since by great multitude
OF authors But the real facts are that this
romantic and tragic prisoner was con.
spirator, and had been for many years,
against ELIZABETH; that she was most un-
sctupulous in her Vaccinations; that her
private lie was darkIy shaded by com.
plicity in the assassination Of her second
husband, and still further by an unnatu.
raj marriage with his murderer; and that
there was good reason TO believe that had
che been set at liberty by Elizabeth she
would have simply illustrated her former
character anew at the first favorable op.
portunity. Tho most intelligent verdict
Of modern scrutiny into her career is that
she was the architect of her own ruin.
Had Ii not been for the plot
discovered at the last moment 1t is not
certain that ELIzABETH would ever have
signed her death warrant. Finding her
own mobiles engaged in an intrigue for
her rescue, especially the powerful and
trusted Earl Of Leicester, she confirmed
the sentence Of the court that had al.
ready found her guilty.
The character OF MARY as delincatcd
by SCHILLER Is one that gives a great &C.
trcss like Madame JANAU:CuEK decided
opportunity to display her capacity Tor
the tragic role, In this respect the closing
scene in the Third act was unequslled.
What could so we'll lift.thc character out
Of all common place.ism as that inter
view with ELIZABETH. As has been well
ssid, that interview even in the hands Of
an actress Of any moderate abilities is
sure to excite the enthusiasm Of the su.
dience, but with such q representative
oil the Scottish Queen as JANAUscHBK it
could not fail to move all who witnessed
It most powerfully.
No 'one who heard her repeat these
words at the close Of that interview will
be likely coon to forget them:
"woe 10 you when In tlmo 10 como, the world
slsl draw the IobG OF honor from your doecs,
With which thy arch hypocttsy has yelled
The raging Il Imts OF lawlGss, Iecret lust.
Vlrlu' was not your portion from your mother I;
We'll knew we what 1t was which brought tho
head
or Anne BOloyn to tho fatal block"
"a bastard soils
PsohISs the RnSi:h throne The genEous
Aro Cheated by q jugglCrl
Il right Prevailed, You wonld now In the dust
Before mo lie, for AN Qu en- OF RnglAndw
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