Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-05-20

Campbell. Passion, provided only It finds compe.
tent representatives viii make itself felt; wit and
cite mirthful responses. So long as Mr. Charles L
Kemble performed ''Benedick" and sMercutio,"
it nattered little whether the scene behind him
were an exact representation Of q street or garden
in Verona or Mantua, or whether MS dress were |
s e tas9ion Of France or Italy The elder
could Claim for its own, yet no discreet adviser |
wonia nave eounseled him to exchange it for the
cunoIous robes OF Venetian magnihco. We have |
seen me Rtudts performed in sort OF chance |
medIey costume, century intervening between |
tne respective attires Of SIR Anthony and Gap
tain Absolute" We have seen the same comedy |
dressed with scrupulous attention TO the date OF |
the wigs and hoops; but we doubf whether, in any
essential pect, that excellent play gamer
ager.
Excess of decoration has indeed been, in all |
ages ana NATIONS possessing national drama,
synptom and accompaniment OF decadence IN the |
II IRE sumptusus attire and more complicated |
mechanism than the AItigoHe or the PronIethets;
but the plays enacted at the Dionysiac festivals
wnen DemCsihene, vas boy surpassed In pomp |
the most GORGEOUS OF the Euripidean repeTtory. |
me e1traEaSance OF tne Ale1ahorlah anu roman
theaters is notorious; intermipAble PROFESSIONS,
maniples Of foot and TURNS Of horse" swept |
across the stsge, and the managerial wardrobe
would have cad the Senate frequent ana full
The Pompeiau games offended Cicero by their
glare anq Gtto ~ theIr profuson; but nifty year.
TO act in the presence Of scenery common and
sordid; and IN The age OF Clsudius and his sue
cessoT, the stars of pantomins-the +" regular
drama" was extinct-played AgamemRon and
Achilles il psnoplies of solid gold In the reign
Of Philip ", The Gccouterments of the Tneater
Royal. at Madrid, were as sumptuous as those of
the NicerOy of ArraCon; and tnEt, too in an age
when silver ard gold plate were displayed upon
the sfdeboards OF MOBILES of the third order.
Louis XIV was more economical in his theatrical
pleasures; yet a thousand crowns were OCCASION
ally expended by him upon a single maSque or
pa tOra at the Court Ihe2ter, at VersailleS-with
what advantage TO the drama those inexpresxibly
tame and tedious productions will satisfactorily
prove to any one enIerprstng and patient enough
10 read them.
III this was true quarter of a century ago,
how much more appropriate is it at the pres
ent time, when auch undue attention is given
to the mounting Of plays. Our lorefsthers,
believe were as keenly apprecialive of good
acting as the theater-goers Of to-day, and yet
have myself seen Roman play put upon
The stage with the scene set for an act in Ton,
and Jerry, representing a street in the slums
OF London. The people who attended The
thrater at that time were, tbihs, ss a cia-s, |
more intellectual than the audiences OF the
present timeB yet such incongruilies | men.
ton only one as an illustration) were not
noticed nor commented upon; the people
came TO see the acting, and their whole at.
tention was absorbed in that.
We seem not TO have 80 much dram attic
talent nowadays, and what we have IL scat-
tered over greater area. In the old dsys
the companies were composed OF actors who,
a. genel al rule, we're men of considers able
ability. Accustomed they were to act
with one another, year in and year out, their
performances were mere perfect than we See
in these times. Our actors now fly from one
line OF personation 10 another, and are will
ing 10 play any character in which they can
make "a hit" instead of concentrating their
energies 10 perfect themselves in some par
ticulsr branch Of the profession.
But there have been some very noticeable
Al Al
forty years. AT one time a portion OF the
third tier in our respectable theaters was set
apart for the occupation Of women of loose
character, who ent, red by a separate door,
unattended by 8 male escort. The private
boxes were connected with this gallery by
staircase. At the back of the gallery was
bar, at which men and women drank openly
between the acts. The wonder lie, not that
such a shameful state 81 affairs should have
existed 60 long, but that ii should have ex-
isted at all. OF course, such things have
been entirely done away with.
AT that time actors, with a few notable ex-
ceptions, were Stunned by society. 1t was
looked upon Tuinous to enter the profes
sion. When the old fremont The alter in
Bo.ton wss sold and re-opehed as a church,
the first sermon was preached from the stage,
the scenery and private boxes having been
left as they were originally. The first Hue
Oi the opening hymn WAY
"Lordi let these fansomed walls rejoice"
1t is needless to say that the attitude of the
Christian public generally is much more lib
eral toward the thester and theatrical people
than it was in those days, and that actors, as
such, are not now excluded from society on
account Of their calling.
The object of the theater is 10 amuss and
instruct. The moral and Christian virtues
are illustrated on the stage, but goodness ia
taug hit land OF necessity it must be sol by
comparison. The preacher urges his hearers
to be virluous, and speaks from positive
point OF view; the dramatist presents picto-
rally, by the aid of actors and scenery,
strong contrasts between virtue and vice, the
former always being triumphant In the end.
The reader may recall the Roman actors
reply before the Senate to the charge of hay
ing corrupted the youth of the city:
IF to infisme
The noble youth with ambitious heat
r endure the frosts of danger, nay, of death;
To be thought worthy the triumphal wreath
By glorious undertakings, may deserve
Reward or favor from the Commonwealth,
Actors may put in for as large share
AS all the sects of the philosophers.
They, with cold precepts lperhaps seldom ready
Deliver, what an honorable thing
The active virtue is; but does that fire
The blood, or swell the veins with emulation,
To be both good and great, equal to that
Which is presented in our lheatersf
shew great Aicides honoi'd in the sweat
Forbidding Rome to be redeem d with gold
From the insulting Gauls; or Scipio,
After his victories, imposing tribute
On conquered Carthage: if done to the life,
AS If they saw their dangers and their glories
All that have any spark of Roman in them,
The slothful arts laid by, contend to be
Like those they see presented.
When do we bring a vice upon the stage
That does go of unpunish'd? Do we teach,
RnKCS NJ W. n kEd
Others to tread in their forbidden steps9
We show no arts of Lydian panderism,
COrinthian p0isOns Persian batteries,
But muIcted SO in the conclusion, that
Even those spectators that were so inclined
Go home changed men"
OF course, crimes are committed on the
stsge; 30 they are in the Bible; 30 they are
in novels. Goodness and badness are put in
opposition in both books and plays; if they
were not, there would be very little to inter
est us, and nothing to excite. Objection is
made TO the RIGHTEOUSNESS of some IF the old
comedies, but they are very seldom placed
upon the stsgs. In the School for Scandal,
"Joseph Surface" is libertine, who attempts
to seduce the wife of his friend; but there is
nothing offensive in the language, nothing to
make person shudder, and that is much
more than can be said Of some of some of
the modern adaptations from the French.
The charge that religion is scoffed at on
the stage, and pious persons held up to ridi-
cul', L deem TO be very unjust. The hypo-
critics and cha latans who have crept into the
Chri-tian fold have occasionally furnished
subjects for characterization. Any company
Of honest geu'le.Den, having rogues among
Them, would rejoice TO zee them discounted;
and go, it seems 10 me, honest and sincere
Christians must deem it an advantage 10 the
cause of true religion when It's spurious rep
re-ertaiives are held up 10 contempt. The
closing passage of an old play The Hypocrite),
containing such Il character, would seem TO
be sufficient answer to the charge l have
just alluded to-:
Nay, now, my dear sir, must take the liberty to
tell you you carry things too far and go from one
extreme TO another. What Because a worthless
wretch has imposed upon you under the fallacious
show of austere gfimace, will you needs have it
the tad, and conclude there no truly religious
in the world2 Leave, my dear sir, such rash con-
clusions to fools and liDertines. Let us be care
full to distinguish between virtue and the appear
TO hypocrisy; but, at the same time, let US al
low there Is no character in life greater or more
valuable than that OF the truly devout; nor any
thing more noble or more beautiful, than the
feIvor of sincere piety.
will add that can call 10 mind no play,
old or new, where either the worthy preacher
OF the Christian religion or the devout be-
lever in its precious promises is held up TO
ridicue or treated with contempt.
JACKSON, MISS.
The Coming l.evee ConvenffOn-An Eek.
ira Session OF the leEfsla-