The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-03-03
lMUsEJfHN7S.


oil our boarding House Is very popular.
can readily believe it.
Think 1t is more American than any comedy
of lis kind ever produced here.
Not that being American il the decisive point
as to its merit; but that it may be rs to lis popu-
lnrty
1t has long been an OMEN question with the
cssayisis whether there Is ANYTHING American
that is worth making a comedy Of.
Some of ihrmA,u ia that the untcrinl which
a new country affords is wholly melodramutlr;
that the playwright must of Necessity 20 to the
frontiers and the grcat uluins for his heroes
that democracy and freedom level all the NE
turcsque fellows to one common rank.
Il believe George f. Rowe and Texas jack
hold To this view rigidlv although they are not
cssayists. The dime novc,ists do the samcJ
others tell us that there can be- no romance
without age. tThis * Buckles no,ionJ That
there rnn he no contrast of character without
some kind of AN established social CASTE That
we must have an aristocra,y for a background.
and traditions that ar, rcverrnced and myths
and fables and heroes gone up through the
mists of the uast from events and men to poetry
and demi-ro,ls
| Ono of tho best known literary workers in
| this country once told me that our society did
| NO, Offer tho pictorial elements " good comedy.
because. whenever you grouped together the
|
| .rote tho,n from their proganiturs or YOU would
| come to butchers and fnrm hands.
| This literary worker actually believed that
| hcrosm and romance were matters Of taste.
| why my dear SIR" said an Engishman to
me. you don't dare 10 kick green lrishman
| i'm Nav York. for he may be- a dcputy sheriff to-
morrow"
II is somewhat singular that peorlc who are
| looking for pearls OF character should thus
| skim nbout upon the surface of the sca and only
discover tha, all water flows and breaks into
ripplcs and reflects the objects that are above it,
The rcal difficulty is not that American life
pr,snnts no now uhases and DEVELOPS no now
types, but that we have not sot the right point
of view 10 see them.
We crawl about like 1ies unon this stntely
| pnr,h.non that i buudiur. and its mniestic
nronn<,ions and uninue details nre for those
WIN stand afar IN and tax. in ia. grand design.
The Declaration of Indeueudenc, was rs much
n charter Tor n new literature ms il WINS for n
NOW ,,o,crnmsn, only ono comes much slower
,t,,,, d., ',,,a.
II ,ou ,hirL n ,,o,ent ,ou ,vin sa, IA ,vhn,
,,. s.a,.,s,~ ,am ,, ,L'so,,.,, ~, Irar,s,in
,.ssr,i,,,,,s ,'i,. ,h,' .i,,s.,,. ,,horo ,,.,,
-. ,.' It.,
nj 1,I,i,...' - 81, ,,,-oo,. l.; ,,,i
.,'ir. ,,,,, ~ ,,,
so,,o,,.horo inIiss,inbiv .lIiod Ia ,bo diyri,v
md haroi.,, '',,I ,,,r,,, -, Ia,or
49,. 49,, ,,..'..,,,.. .,...,.,,,.t, ,.,,,
,r,,,,, ,,,,,i,,s orl h,.,.s,,,,, I'm 60 tho ,li.
~ ,,ia A,,,.'rioa,, Co.,,
ri, !, H. 49,, .,,,,a,,., -, ,,, NJ, Will,
wiiia,, nil, .,,,, ,,hnrIos rnaIc ,rho Inv.
,,'i,i, ~, .',, ,i'.,, ,',, a,n -,
'ei 49,. ,,,,,,,,.',,, =, a., ,,si,,ii,io
rha,, h.vs so,,, Il, ,l,, ,,,ras, ma ,horra,i,,s
- o,,r tr,orsa ,.i,'i cord,,,,r ,hs ,hroas ,h,,
s,ra,d o.,,,oisr, has tho ,n.r. ~ n,nopin,
dao,h 10 tho nn,arin,, fe,d,L sv.tou, which has
90, 40, -, a. ,as,i.s ool t,.,s T., tho ,ol,cas
nm, li,ora,ure -, ruron.
M coursa ~ vou insist rror wearing Tho ola
,rnor,nd snec,nclas Won win NOT 500 ,he mon
-, ,ha \ou, vorla Va, will ,l,yov. M. loorir,
Tor tho heroes ~ IN. Ola
All ,ho,, v,i,l al,roys coma 20 vou from, ,be
o,hor .ido T,av viii ~, in som. so,, aired
Ere,yrs who ask Won 10 svmnatbize with them
because they are too GOOD for their environ
mont: who always inherit success and meyer
achieve it who are the pets of destiny. not the
makers of it,
There is one thing the Declaration OF indie
pendence did for which Lord Lytton would not
be apt to give il credit but there is no good rea-
son why we should not
1t spread heroism equally over a continent. SO
that If YOU look for il now with honest eyes you
will find II in tenements and log cabins and
garrets. no less than in merchant palaces and
gid ed salons.
And 1t is reasonably happy because 1t does
its duty than which there is no higher hcrosm
anywhere.
You must get rid OF the old notion that hero
ism had got to be decorated in order to be real
Decoration was never an endowment. II is only
a special recognition. Must love. courage self
sacrifice then wear colors 10 get your syinpa-
/ thy?
No no. what we want in the American play is
,, the man who doesn't wait for his uncle 10 die
in the last act who doesn't marry riches. who
is not waited on by fortuitous events and is moi
lackeyed by "a sGhseryient stage providence. We
! want the man who makes events a. he makes a
fortune, who bringy with him into the story the
I measureless chances Of his country and tn,
( dignity. the puissancc and the beauty of a ere