The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-09-28

| in his character of a somewhat gross and sen
sual parsonage have added her to his colIec
tion of wives. Lean! why no reputable Pa
risian newspaper (by courtesy so-called), car
afford to let day go by without insisting OF
| the fact with more or less amplifcation. Hal
| of your vast country, my dear fellow citizens
might be swallowed up in some dreadful cata
clysm, and the event might pass without the
least notice in the world, but the Figaro itsel
dare not omit to remind its readers that Miss
| Bernhardt (Madame Bernhardt they will have
| it here in spite OF any legitimate claim
to that matronly tite) is very frai
physically. Let me give you one or two
specimens of the paragraphs to which the great
est events of politics, commerce or war must
give way:
Two Parisian swels meet on the Boule-
wards. The first says to his friend:
To-day an empty carriage drew up in front
of the Grand Opera, and who do you suppose
sprang out of it?'
The friend gives it up.
Sarah Bernhardt!'"
Zone of our most distinguished physicians
has recently devoted himself to the investiga-
tion of the singular appearance OF tape-worm
which in spite of all preventive measures had
become frightfully attenuated. Thanks to the
doctors intelligent researches it has been dis
covered that the patient had swallowed Sarah
Bernhardt.'
"A young officer was recently stroling along
the rue de Rivoli, accompanied by very dstin-
guished actriee of the French Theatre, when
by some accident his sword fell to the pave
ment and he at the same moment became
aware of the disappearance of his companion
She had leaped into the empty scabbard!''
And there is cut in the Charvsri repre-
senting the dame in question calmly walking
across the English Channel on her way to
London. Being too light to sink, she could
easily save her passage money.
The American is acknowledged to be past
master in the art of humorous exaggeration,
but French wit has so long and 80 fercely ex-
ercised itself on this particular theme that the
American funny paragraph man will for once
be embarrassed to excel the extravaganza of
his Gallo brother.
Let us admit then, for the sake of the argu-
ment, that there is no marked physical redun-
oancy in your coming visitor. Fresh from her
representation of Frou-Frou and Adrienne
Lecouvreur, can affirm as L could when
saw her on "her native heath"-the stage of
the French Theatre in Paris, that she is ad-
mirable as dramatic artist. And the strange
feature Of the case is that, as it seems to me,
her pre- sentiment merits are essentially physi-
cal.
Her grace of motion and pose is simply
miraculous
Her voice is music itself.
Distinguished sculptor, and painter of no in
considerable merit, she makes these arts con
tribute most usefully to success on the stage.
How could she, but for her knowledge of the
sculptural grace so excites the enthusiasm Of
the spectator? She turns her very disadvan-
tages to account and makes them, too, height
en- the classic dignity OF her pose AS a paint
er she is acquainted with the management of
colors. and thus she discovers how to draw the
utmost effect from her costumes. The milliner
is here an important auxiliary, no doubt, but
not, if may say so, the upholsterer. No, the
frail, almost diaphanous form, "a "demd form"
in word-remains wholly undissembled; on
ly is it illuminated by the flame that burns so
large intellectual powers, too, and throws into
the performance of her roles passion that is
at once intense and yet kept within the bounds
of artistic propriety. In this respect however,
as well as in the correct Interpretation and just
repre- sentation of her parts she is not perhaps
superior to several artists on the American or
English stage. But, considering all her extra
ordinary merits, she is not as she herself re-
marked in resigning her position in the The
atre Francais, the first conner
FRENCH PLAYS AND FRENCH ACTORS
have for several year S, under the special en-
couragement of the Prince of Wales, who loves
them well, been making their way rapidly in
England. No longer content with translating
and adapting the most successful French pieces
for the London stage, the austere Britons have
SO far conquered .their old-time prudery that
they now import bodily every year companies
from the Partisan theatres, great and small,
and ,complacently debauch themselves with
the erotic incidents and recitals which form
the staple of so large number of modern
French dramas. "Shocking!" has disappeared
from the British vocabulary but has been care
fully revived and preserved in the French.
where it serves as a summary indication of an
English waman, presumed to be over-modest
The only alienation is that for the honest
Cockneys the crudity of the thought and ex-
preston is somewhat hidden Sin the decent
obscurity of foreign tongue" which they un-
derstand butimperfectly. But they conscien-
tiously follow the representation with the aid
of the printed brochure and so succeed in COM
pretending all the naughtiness of. the original.
Now comes the turn of America, which has
already tasted the sweets of French opera
bouffe, of Ofenbach's music and of Tostee's
and ee's-hum--dramatic genius. Itwould
matter little if it were question only of the
representation by native artists of the pieces
which hitherto have generally served for the
entertainment of the public in reputable 2 a
risian theatres. 1t is hardly to be feared that
Sarah Bernhardt with the repertory of the
Theatre Francais will seriously damage Amer
ican morals. Though it has often been said
that the French language lends itself more
easily than any other to the suggestion of inn
moral ideas without offending the ear or
alarming natural modesty, yet in the present
case the serious artistic purpose and the ex-
cellent acting of the company will no doubt
occupy public attention to the exclusion
of all base imaginings. But new school of
literary and dramatic artists has arisen in
France which is no longer satisfied with being
able to suggest everything that is obiectiona-
able without the use of one bad word. The
school of Zola demands, in the interest of the
faithful expression of life and nature, not only
the gross and obscene thought but the gross
and obscene word. This new departure ex-
cites as intense party feeling as did the revolt
of the romantic against the classic school un-
der Victor Hugo long years ago. The natural
lists jeer at the great author of Hermann with
his colored phraseology, his exalted thought and
his immense enthusiasm. Instead of these
qualities of style they propose simply filth, be-
cause filth exists in nature while the ideal
does not 'Let us not" says Zola, "try to be
either moral or witty; let us try to be true and
and we shall be great" If you have read the
Assommoir and Mana you know that by truth
full, Zola means foul, as if there were not in
nattre flowers and sunshine as well as mud
and slime good men and women as well as
murderers and prostitutes. The same author
ity, speaking of the French Republic says that
IL will ha 'snaturaIictf, (tbat If understand