The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-06-08

to profound misconception of their
Office, and deeply grounded in a tradi.
tionsl ignorance OF the essence and
nature of the drama, writing every
night aboutlthe theaters, and more and
more believing in themselves and their
ideal OF what a play ought to be,
without reference to what life was. The
criticisms which they have thus pro-
duced between chuich-yard yaw ming
and cock-crowing, with the advantages
of a foreman behind and a night editor
before, hurryiDg them up for theircopy,
have been such as must surprise the
sympathetic witness by their uniform
confidence and severity; but they have
not in great measure carried, even to
the most generous compassion, the evil
dences of fitness for the censorship as
sumed. These gentlemen have some
times been able to tell us what good
aching is, for they have seen a great
deal of acting: but here their useful
ness has too often ended: not certainly
by their fault, for no man can be justly
blamed for not telling more than he
knows. Many of them know what a
French play is. for they have seen
enough adaptations of French plays TO
have learned to admire their extremely
neat carpentry. ard their carefully ad-
justed and brilliantly vanished sec
tons, which can be carried TO any
climate, and put together and taken
apart as often as you like. without max
ing them less representative OF anything
that ever was in the world. They have
been struck with the ingenious regu-
larity of the design in these contri-
vances; they have seen how smoothly
they worked. and they have formed
such dramatic theories as they have
from dramas in which situation links
into situation, and effect into effect,
upon lines of such admirable rightly
that it is all as unerring as making up
a train of cars with the Miller coupler
and buffer. But it would be wrong to
say that many of these gentlemen appa-
rently know anything of the contempt
rary Italian drama, Spanish drama,
Russian drama, German drama, Nor
wegian drama. and it would be still
more unjust to accuse them, upon the
proofs their work has given. of know
ing ANYTHING of the true functions OF
any drama. or caring at all for the life
which all drama should represent. On
the other hand, opposed to this power
full body of critical gentlemen, whose
discipline is so perfect that they
often seem to think as one mau, and
sometimes even as no man at all, we
have had a Struggling force of play
wrights and managers, dlsheartened
by sense of their own want OF confor-
nifty to the critical ideal. and by gull
ty consciousness of preferring the real
tiles they have seen and known in
America to the artificiaities which ex-
list in the Miller coupler and buffer
pattern Of French drama. These poor
fellows have not only been weakened
by knowledge of their inferiority IN
numbers and discipline to the critics
fwho count about a hundred to every
manager, and a thousand to every play
wright. but they have had fear that
there was something low aud vulgar in
their wish to see American life IN the
theatre as they have seen it in the
street, and the counting house, and the
drawing.rOom as they have even seen
it in the novel. They have been so
much unnerved by this misgiving that
they have not yet ventured to be quite
true to life. but have only ventured, SO
far, TO offer us a compromise with un-
reality. which we can praise at most
for the truth which could not well be
kept out of it-Wm. ID. Howells, in
Harper's Magazine for June.