The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-11-13
ARMY AND NAVY COURSE.
Lecture on &c The Stnge' by the Hem
Daniel DouShcriy.

| Union Course was delivered at the City Hall
| last evening, by the Hon. Daniel Dougherty
| OF Philadelphia. His subject was 1.-The Stage,
and he prefaced his lecture proper by fey
| judicious remarks upon the mission of the pub
lie lecturer. He then passed TO consider SOM
| of the methods by which mortals seek L
| crafty their cravings for enjoyment, and said
The amusement most popular and permanen
among all lettered peoples is the public theatre
When say theatre do not mean the Italian
opera which to lovers of scientific music, es
pecially to those who understand the language
may be choice enjoyment; far less do alludt
to opera bouffe, nor to the vile mixture o.
mirth and murder yclept the melo-drama, mol
the sensational piece prepared only to ride the
wave of popular excitement, nor the vulgar
melange that gratifies the eye for time with
gaudy colors, and then with the lascivious
movement of the ballet-all these might well be
banshed from the boards.
Ispeak of the stage that rose from the dawn
OF civilization, that has flourished In ages famed
for the highest culture, that has inspired the
pens OF immortal poets, given scope for the ge-
mus OF the most gifted actors, educated the
masses to correct pronunciation, purified their
tastes and elevated their sentiment, instructed
them in the history of forgotten empires, filled
them with the glory of great deeds by recalling
from the grave and enacting before their eyes
the lives OF heroes who died thousands of years
ago, that has reused the dropping spirit OF de-
Jected nations and reklndled tie expiring fire
OF patriotism, that has united the heart of I'M
told millions with touches of nature that makes
the whole world kin, that with gracious mirth
that will not wound hits at the folles of the
time; that if properly conducted would reform
abuses, suppress vice, promote virtue; that was.
in the early ages of Christian Europe. and
could be made again, handmade of religion
itself.
1t will be my simple province briefly to vim
dictate the STAGE yet denounce its degradation
uphold the dignity of the profession, yet own
the failings of some of its most brilliant orna-
ments, and to allude to the rival schools of
acting in the higher range of the drama
That the stage, as now conducted, is i'm
perfect, that its tendency in the main is to cor
rupt, that on and around it are gathered evils
which the moralist must mourn and the Chris
tan condemn, is emphatically true. But be-
cause of the evil that gathers around the stage,
should we seek to destroy it entirely? We
ought rather strive to rescue it from its degen-
eracy and dedicate it to nobler purposes. 1t is
as unjust to condemn all players as 1t would be
to condemn all doctors on account of quacks,
the bar by reason of pettifoggers, or the clergy
because the sacred habit of the minister some
times hides the heart of the hypocrite. Actors
are always before the public, and like all pub
lie men, their actions and moves even in pri-
yate life, are made topics of general conversa-
tiol. Yet confidently declare that they are
as Industrious, honorable and law-abdng as
any of what are styled the learned profession.
hasten to say that do not class the clergy as
profession-tis brighter, holier, it is a vo-
cation, call from God. rals.a. .lec
Acting is the highest of the initiative arts
The actor ranks above either the painter or the
sculptor. The painter, after many months,
transfers his vision of beauty to canvas, The
sculptor, by slow degrees, shapes icy marble
into forms that look like life, but the actor
fired with genius and filled with his part, makes
f1a haor 1Jix md fInar 1lcac hat ho Il
picts not a resemblance but reality itself. The
opposition which the clergy in the past, and
now, have to the theatre, is limited to its
abuses, its Dissertation, to performances that
are sordid, corrupt wicked and obscene. Were
the stage as it should be it would be counte-
nanced and encouraged by the highest and the
best. Milton, Dryden, Pope, Addison, Steele,
johnson, Goldsmith, Thompson, Walter Scott
Washington Irving, and Charles Dickens were
its advocates Some of the best of the moderri
plays were written by distinguished protestant
diynes. lU lT 112 u7.1s
A panegryic on Shakespeare served to intro
duce the orator in the role of reader and he
rected with much power Cardinal Wolsey's
counsel to Cromwell and passages from Mac
beth. He then related a humorous story of
murder, and gave his audience a French
mans idea of Shakespeare He then passed
to consider the rival styles of acting.
There are, he sad, two styles of acting in
the higher walks of the drama. These are
called the statuesque and the romantic, but
may be better known as-one talent, the other
genius-the school of art and the school of ma
ture. The one is the result of long training,
and strict and thorough preparation; the other
the outgushing of a gifted nature, improved
and regulated by education and good taste.
John Philip Kemble, Barry and Macready are
Kean are among the illustrious departed of the
other have heard it said that in the part of
Macbeth as performed by the eminent English
actor, Mr.. Macready, now living in honorable
retirement, that the emphasis, gestures, pauses,
the play of the features, the attitudes, aye even
the number of steps taken on the stage, were
exactly the same in each performance. Kean,
for an example of the other school, studied I'M
til mind heart and soul were absorbed with the
thoughts. feelings and language of the char
acter, then launching his concentrated power
in the part he played, las John Philip Kcmble
said of him. "terribly in earnest
Undoubtedly Kean was the greatest of all
great actors of America or Britain, greater
even than Garrick. Coleridge said to see Kean
was to read Shakespeare by lightning:
Only second to Kean was Geo. Frederick
Cooke. He like Kean and Garrick and Better
ton could play comic as well as serious parts.
His Richard Ill, Shylock and Sir Pertinax Nc
Sycophaut rank among the wonders of the
English and American stage. He too had the
same in6rmity as Kean. tie died in debauch
in New York. -'N
All the great actors said the speaker, have
peculiarities. and then he gave to the audience
limitations of Kean as Cardinal Wolsey, Mac
ready as William Tell, the elder Booth as
Richard Ill, Edwin Forrest as Jack Cade
and Charles Fechter as Claude Melnotte
Speaking of Mr.. Feehter, he said that
though he might be very good French actor
and has intensity and thorough knowledge
of stage business, yet on the English stage he
cannot be regarded as an eminent tragedian.
For when he speaks rapidly he cannot be UNI
derstood at ALL and when he speaks slowly he
lacks pronunciation.
Mr.. Dougherty related several amusing on
ecdotes of actors and then proceeded to cOnsid-
err the condition of the stage at the present.
There is tendency to cheap novels. and cheap
don't bother me- And in no way is the de-
generate taste of the day more strikingly ex
hbited than by the stage. The English dramatic
artists. Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher. Ford,
John Webster, rest in u broken slumber on
the shelves. Messenger is rarely heard of and
Shakespeare, though he may be worshiped in
the closet is dishonored on the stage. Our
glorious English tongue spoken in its purity is
less attractive than the slang of the negro SER
enader. The purest sentiments and the exhi-
btion of the noblest virtues have given place
to the double entendre and the coarse Jest of
the burlesque of the Blends. 1t is universally
admitted that the English and American stage
is now far below the French, Italian and Ger
man. Contrast these with the times when in
London the nobility and gentry cranmed the
boxes, when royalty went in state, when
Burke, Fox, Reynolds, Windham, Sheridan
and Gibbons took their seats nightly together
in the orchestra, when a chair was always
ready at the wing for DR.. Samuel johnson, all
to see the matchess Siddons walk in glory the
boards of DrurytLane.
In closing the lecturer offered some sugges-
tons for the improvement of the theatre. The
theatre should not be large; acoustics should be
carefully attended to-; the decorations should be
rich but not gaudy. A school for actors would
also tend to improve the stage. Crowd the
theatre the first night and if the piece have
merit bind the authors brow with the laurel
If it lack merit, if its language be low, its ten
will the stage be worthy of a religious people
and intelligent community.
STREET LAMPS IN CAPE ELIzABETH-Those
VLO have occasion to cross Vauohn'S hridoe in