The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1877-11-17

The Puritans preached and legisated
against play house shows" and every
species of the mimic art, they infinitely
preferred genuine witch burning or
Quaker hanging, to any mere make be lief
murders and bloody tragedies In colonial
days and during the reign of the CONT
mental Congress, theatrical performances
were strictly forbidden, but the law was
evaded in way worthy of Yankee inge-
nulty, and advertisements like the follow
ing delighted the eyes of our forefathers:
A lecture in five parts, on Filial Aztec
ton, as exempitied in the life of one Ham,
let, Prince of Denmark" &c. No doubt
many were surprised to find, on attending
the lecture, that it required SO many men
to deliver it. Women had not then ap-
peared upon the stage in America.
The lecturer deplored the declnation of
the legitimate drama during the last twen-
ty-flve years, and the usurpation of it's
place by such vile trash as the Black Crook
and Opera Bouffe. He recalled the days of
its glory, when the queenly Siddons and
the princely Kean held in thraldom the
heart of royalty itself; when the little thea
ter in Drury Lane was packed from pit to
dome with the wit, fashion and wealth of
the English metropolis to see these great
actors perform. On this continent, he well
remembered when men got up at midnight
and joined the crowd on Chestnut street.
waiting there until morning, in order to
secure a ticket which would admit them
that evening to the theater to see the elder
Booth as Richard the III. The speaker
pronounced a glowing panegyric upon
Shakespeare, and recited from memory the
Dagger Scene from Macbeth and Woolsey's
Charge to Cromwell. The lecture was
agreeably interspersed with humorous anec
dotes of the great actors. and wound up
with an exhortation to Christians to visit
the theater, applaud the legitimate, and
hiss off the spurious drama.
Among the anecdotes related, l particu-
laIly recall one. Dougherty once under
took to enact the last scene from Richard
the I'LL, all alone in his ROOM with the
door locked He was overheard by gen.
tleman from the Eastern Shore Of Maryland,
ooho lad necer heard Of Shakespeare. The
intelligent gentleman naturally supposed
that murder was being committed and
called the police, who broke open the lock.
ed door and arrested the aspiring actor.
| could not help thinking that this inteHi-
gent gentleman might accidentally have
hailed from some obscure corner of Ches-
ter county.
Next morning, on repairing to the Hor-
ticultural Hall, l found two specialized pro-
lessons haranguing the teachers time about
One was discoursng upon Mental Philoso-
ply, and the other upon Physiology. The
teachers were taking notes. No pen can
do justice to the stupid tediousness of these
educational experts. who had come hun
dreds of miles to tell these teachers what
they could learn so much better from text
books, and SO much cheaper beside. l de-
cided that | would take my knowledge of
philosophy and physiology from some less
tiresome source, and stole off to the court
room.
There | found out that there are lots of
naughty people in Chester county, notwith-
standing the Intelligence of the majority
and their wonderful knowledge of Shake
speare. A servant girl had stolen ring
from her mistress, d young drover had en-
deavored to obtain some cattle on false
representation, three colored citizens had
appropriated some wheat and oats lying
around loose about the premises of farmer
named Lightfoot, etc, etc. l became so
intensely interested that | remained some
time after the gas was lighted in the chan
deliers, and came reluctantly away at last,
convinced that l had learned one thing
from my two afternoons in the court room,
and that is that stealing has come to be re-
garded as a fine art. Scientifically pursued
it is enthusiastically called ENLIGHTENMENT,
against which there is no law, strictly
speaking: pursued in bungling manner,
aud confined to small amounts, it is harshly
called larceny and punished by imprison-
ment.
Tuesday night we were treated to two
hours lecture on 'The Moral in Educa-
tion," by Prof. Johonnott, the same who
had babbled for two days SO glibly on Men
tai Philosophy. Some happy teachers
dropped to sleep, the remainder endured
frst-class torture. l entreat our own
School Board never to invite to Cecil this
Johonnott to conduct any future Institu to-
Give, oh, give us instead, the pointless
Jokes of the =" fat man," the sonorous and
endless eloquence of "John c., my Joe
John;" the senseless .jargon of the models
essays, the Western slang of 4" Doc Rocky
when the "tidal wave' struck him. Any
or all of these in preference to Johonnott.
Wednesday morning my grave hostess
invited me to accompany her to the Friends
meeting. Oh, the hour of silent worship
was pleasant indeed. On my perturbed
spirit, overweight by the much talking of
the professors, the deep silence fell like
balm. Although the rain was falling
smaltly, goodly concourse of some two
hundred men and women were assembled
within the homely walls of the meeting
house, all clad in the distinctive dress
adopted by the "Society," over two GEN.
turtles ago.
Wednesday afternoon l found the Insti-
tute discussing "branches taught in our
public schools" thought slight appl-
cation of those obsolete branches called
birch and hickory might be brought to bear
with profit on some juveniles from the pub
lie school of the town, who occupied seats
in the galleries, and improved the time in
making philosophical experiments with
such apparatus as crooked pins fastened to
wrapping yarn, and fishing for the feathers
in the bounets of the school marms below.
Occasionally they vary the miniature hail
storm of ''spit balls" with torpedo slyly
slipped in, and seem to enjoy exceedingly
the confusion of the audience in the main
hall. But nothing was said of these insig
uiticant branches I have mentioned Tho