The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-08-04
AMUSElf FNTS.


utSNtS iHlr Slut VI lllt SltlNuIl JHnhuhtnfh thn
give mclodrama livelicr tussle or spread Ruth
BedgW over moro superficial surface. Like
her gifted father, she is versatile and mobile.
He played HdDei. and Wiian in Black
eyed Susan" equally well. She has placed
Juliet and Nancy Sykes on the same pedestal.
Now she purposes to play Goldsnith's nd
mirahe story. Tho Vicar Of Wakefield"
which used to be quite rs extensively read and
praised here as some OF Washington Irving's
earlier sketches. As l remember the tale IL il
OF bouncing English girl with more vitality
than discretion. whose wrongdoing is OBJ
scurcd by her fathers goodness In word. 1t
is n tale Of seduction In the pastoral English
school. with religious trimmings. and Just now
we are supposed to be craving old English and
pastorals.
II is not an easy matter to formulate or follow
the spasms which the public calls TASTE but
suppose II may be acknowledged that the ON
nivorous nav which has learned to take ab.
snthc and arsenic has never been quite able to
outgrow is early love for milk. and therefore
the playwright and actress who have gone back
to these old teats which held to cheer but not
incbriate. may be only following tho fashion.
| know nothing OF the mixture which Mr..
Wills has stirred and which Miss Davenport il
to decant next week. 1t may indeed be milk
punch with French brandy in II and spice over
It. Or it may be that other viscid compound
known as condensed milk. with the flavor OF
English clover and buttercups utterly boiled
out of IL.
In any case assume that the base OF It is
uoldsmiths cream and into that plunge my
lactomcter
IL any one reaus inc vicar OF Wakeneld
no"auaIs ne must thihk' feel ms uoldsmith
himself felt when he heard somebody singing
BARBARA Alien or johnny Armstrong; Last
uood Night -that 49, as II he had got back into
MS nurse arms. It's cadence does not belong
to the present Its vibration has that faint. far
away sweetness that Ihackeray detected in a
spinnet. But lis air IL elemental and simple.
anu seems 10 AWAKEN or stimulate some primi-
i've sense.
wei, why not Docs II not belong to the
nursery days OF romance. when mot only our
fancies We're shaped to fit our scnsibilities but
our facts never transcribed poetic justiceY
In those days, thngs-at least in the telling
appeared as they ought 10 be; for we had not
invented the camera and art did not employ the
reporter. Now. the best we can do is to make
things appear as they are.
Progress has thus taken us from the golden
city OF the possible and landed Us at the wood
yard Of the actual
Do you remember how all things came about
that we desired. when We had faith in the story
Always the mysterious guest turned out 10 be- the
prince In disguise at the proper moment. Al
ways when the distress was greatest and inno-
cence was hopeless. the benignant fairy came
in and shook her skirts and waved her billiard
cue. and all was we'll Villainy in those good
old days could not 10y any subteriugc escape
manaclcs and hanging in the last act. What
proud thing 1t was 10 know that the people we
hated In the story hal no rights that We were
bound to respect. What deep satisfaction It
was to feel that We and the author were in per-
feet accord. no matter how bad things looked
for tho hero and heroine. How incensed we
should have been II the prodea sons had been
left to die among the swine. With what utter
loathng should we have regarded the story
teller who having wrought the struggle OF good
and evil TO a crisis coolly put on his coat. and
telling us that heaven did not discriminate.
walked on. leaving his offspring to their fate.
That was romance. And we have another
thing. II Is called life. So Deborah sinks I'M
der tho misery Of her race and Camille coughs
herself away Tor our delectation and the prod
ieal daughter when she comes home. has the
| door slammed in her face. and dies on the front
| steps to slow music
Isu,rosa ,ro all bovo Gotdsr,i,l,s "srars -
Nv ' -. ~ u' spe''s
ana would Ike 70 60 back 10 the nurse arms nj
| times l. not that what the sage meant when
he said. II conceive n man rs always spoken
| 10 from behind, ana unable toturn his head and
see tho speaker" It's n warm spiced wind
tbs. biovr. ont - tho hvardlr ,rbar. oro dus,
N'" '''~ - ""N ~ AVN "'O NNS'
ana doubt ahead
II is in these madrigal moods TINT the play
rri,,b,. bavo conc rnp,r,o,,ine, ar,or, ,bo ia
"''s"'9 -, '"''N"S'',H "'nO"N '4V O'u
myths otthe Nibelungen and the later phan,oms
Of Sleepy Hollow for something that shall be I'M
lilo lito inasuuch as I, sball ha cool ond Ar,,
'''0' - 20 - 9'-'-' ~ WV IA" "a"
| dlan.
And now they will tic Goldsmith on our hot
| ,oroheods Iikn a 0uo, ., su,oo, r,.riorum
'' '-" mn y, w. '1'''O' vi"
Alas! fear me that this Psyche of romance is
| not 10 be caught with crab nets The morning
III, rhich sLoro ,l,b s,,,h n ,,,,s,oI1,,. a,,,
"Nn' ""i0.i e""ho WIN 9uSH inSs'ci 'ouo anu
radiant soitness upon our path when life was
new. looks very green aud ghastly in the cross
,loro ~ tho t,o,lt,,b.s
So ~ Wv
i FANCY that our great national snowman
might rs well try to bring the spectre Of tho
pro,l,on - ME oountry srd lood !, ronrd Win
nio Aon " '"s V"un"' "'' i'uu II iv"nu WIN
chain as for the player TO attempt To bottle the
essential and distinctive charm Of The Vicar
NJ Wakefield - In a ,haatra
VI ""AeHe'u !" "I'"to.
Do you know why think so?
Simply because the charm OF the story is not
s,ic-,roreo than ou 1, H. q moral charm
Tha,a ,ood Nav has ne 'Lean ,mndc on, dfi