New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-03-10

n"'o 80. MANY wears have passed since the COIN
,.s,ou of his c.ime and ali these years NO n"'
800 life devoted study. instruction. anu Wo'Ao y.
s.voence. He has been teacher OF 'ne yo"ss'
, 90 ,hs moor and he has gained respect afectioh,
a no,o, able repute He is safe In the security oi
,.uce and In the calm self-poise OF MS own aoaai
.n. will His awful secret sleeps III his own bosom anu
., =, rest forever He has suffered much, ana ne sun
..sers: yet ulled into false security py the
,,I lanse of years. and by that drifting. deSoia'e'
racriessness which Is scauent the subsiding
,n, ~ nassionate sorrow, he has allowed hihSen "
ooa,t a womans love and love her In return, an"
half TO believe that his long misery has explaeu LIE
and that even for him there may DO httie nappuo
vet possible on earth. Eugene Ara'", tue vliiso no
master and Ruth Meado,cs. the wears daughter arc o
$500 ,ayars. and now on the OF their weuuhs-
or;nc they stand together among the roses "nii0 w
sun IA going down and tho sweet summer " -
.oftlv IN the leaves, and from tho h'''o 500
c,o.e nv solemn strain of musc-the VeSpcI ny in ~,
floats out upon the Stiffness OF tho darKen'hs o.s
uoman is Ali happiness, confidence, and hope' inc man.
soard and bghted by conscious sin, and suooueo ny
long wears of patient submission TO the sense OF MS
upworthiness is all genteness OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES "
ouiet sorrow. At this supreme moment "hon no "
that Is surely Ts secret sns has become "
seeming chances guest in the vicarage anu heart and
s Ss p' Whispers ss "i guilt there it ''
should be my ,,gI Pi0w that the sarsens around
tSsm Is dsepened by the shadow Of impending
dosm The FIRST act Of this play Is merely p eraio mar
sors who are implicated in the experience to DO us
denotes their asa eo Ss Which is
alike romantic pathetic and pero@s a fa secret The
s ~ nersranSn for catastrophe, and this prepara
tion made with simplicity and conpeehes characters
clash as n The the r SsiSs
trophe is preciptated: There nishtfan and pro-
cesds the same evenng ends at the dawn Of the
ensuing day. The of act secomi Is a roo -. @
fu.a IL
Meado.cs are chess and Eta Is hoyerng ABOUT
them a.S rogSsay s %psd Of
and content and this is further emphasizes os n M
70 nun ~ nm the eve OF his marriage. Wounded by tins
praise the conscencestricken wretch breaks om ap
act Of desperate grief which down to his modes,y
The parson and Ras Is et alone S ns hos
pable offer Of shelter Tor the night, has now talk
%ran and thus TO know found the man whose
fatal secret he possesses and upon whose assuh9u
ocular way this british creature provokes the
Indignant resentment of Ruth by destinations as 10 het
and Ardn again meet she wooingy begs him 10 te her
OF any secret trouble that may be weighns upon
upon them. and utters Arams name From th i
e s exposton strong in spirit aud thrilling in suspense
of intellect and resoiute will standing AZ naS anu
ing o,lds of heavens appointed doom. Arqm dehes
Houseman and is denounced by him put the reac
still give him supremacy over his foe-t suddenly, ,ne
discovery is announced OF te ZONES o, nae, and
in Roberts Cave, aid the war commands AT .nu
HouscmQn to join him IN their Inspection. ne'o
eator STRAIN than even he bear; ndeft alone upon
he stands petrlfed with horror' -, a
ecstacy of fear to look upon the specter Oh hIs
slaughtered victim. Mr.. Irvings management of the
apparition effect here is stroke of genius -, n,
The third act passes in the ohurciyai Ardo mas . ~.
from the sight skeleton and has fallen among inc
graves. IL is almost morning The ghsstiy place. a9e Is
and his enfeebled body. long since undermined by the
grief and now chilled 10y the night dewS
.s .laath he
simple. but they are NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
lie de,osments Of human misery. The fugitive H'ase
finds Aran here. and spurns MN rs wnnheiins
nlaee alone in the presence OF God. the murderer fts
his hands toward heaven. e0hfesses ms crime aug
to her dying tells the story OF the nrer ahd
OF ali he endured Ane Just as his voice TAI
ters into silence and his heart ceases To beathe diamond
light of morning CLEANS in the eastern SKY ana Tue gu
music OF an anthem OF praise hosis soIy i ,e
the fnal curtain falls
display and experience but his structure
Is scarcely be considered perfect play begins ny
the mi stery upon which it is based. such knowledge
the aStST on be- es sr1e o xS" he and
from remembrance OF what he has read he piece Is
Irrational in making Aram resident. under his own
name of the actual neighborbejd OF his crime lowers
the assumed nobility Of his character furthermore,
mak,ss this reInorefui and constantly apprch.nsve
murderer willing TO yoke sweet innocent ana doLsu
woman TO misery and shame by making her MS "He;
And 1t its rost pathetic scenehc a"iuI scene OF
the midnight confession In the afuDy ahs
human being who comforts and snstains MIN on the
whsse sake did the murder II is Earring cherd that
the strikes here Either the love between Ardn ana
We unspoken. or different should have been
found for his commission Of the crime snee me wh1e
story was 10 treated in fancul manner sui wder
freedom in the play OF fancy would perhas haNe naa
more entirely gracious and satsis: eoct nnen S Se
fcent In the attribute OF cogency The languaso IS
partly blank ye nsa a s n, a BY udoas
allowances for the effect OF each character upon the gar
there. rises to eoquence OF feeling and beauty Of
imagery there il certain lack OF frnness III lts yerDa
fibre which seems to imply the neea OF stndous and
stern revision The confession speech that has to he
spokes by Aram comprises Tor example, upward a.; o.,
ninety lines-and that is severe and perllous dralh
upon an actors power of sustaining the pubic interest
The merits and beauties OF the play hoTever are many
its contents Its browning excelence Is tat IL gives
dramatic to strangely interesting o1dsr
performances of Eugene IRAN ,,,o ,.,or,,,na n,
human nature that Mr. irving in this work and
the which he reveals IL are nothing less than
xu1eme Xram you see the b,ighted figure OF a
The whole personality suised with ournful strange:
The man Is isolated and stands Acne. III Is: OF
course purely ideal view of the character that Mr.
Irving has taken; for no makes Eugene Aram a
noble, tender and gentle person. whom ungovernabe
ion has once iInpelled TO OF hsfusabe hoini-
eide and who has for years been slowly dying WIN re
chord OF pity Like his portrayal Of Aasds ne picture
shows the reactODary elect OF hidden SIN III the hih
soul personality OF the sufferer 10 entirely ar
fsrent Each of these has had experience of crime
and resultant misery, but no Two emboiments cOu1
possibly dssimilar. alike nspritna quality ad
In circumstances. Matthias Is dominated by Pr,
ternal love ana characterized by nan,
defiant iant and Of en- seliappfobatlve prde OF
intellect In being able guard and keep terrible aud
dangerous secret Eugene Aram Is dominated Dy
saint-lke tenderness toward sweet woman who loves
hih and terzed by profound htful melancholy
now quiet amt submissive now actively apprehensiye
And almost Only does he stand at bay aud
trent his destiny with the dcaIce Of desperate will
and even then 1t the womans sake rather than for
his own MI. Irying's acting made clear and beautiful
this condition II temperament noble and ahectiohate
nature shipwrccked. going 10 pieces, doomed.
but making last tremendous though futile effort "a
on the and inevitable is the idea