San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-02-27
SINGLE SATURDAYS.
By REBA GREGORY PRELAT.

BIZ REBA GREGORY PRELAT.
az like the doleful operas bestu said
my little girl cit looks quite nice to
see people die by music-who fist in
vented the comic opera anyway"
| This young maiden mas been deaf
to the charms of the "Mikado" and
the sad adventures of "Poor Johna.
than" filled her with lofty scorn.
All the by gone burlesques appear.
before my mental vision as she speaks
hear the strains of Often bach, "Ls
Grande Duchess makes her frat
capricious bow to. an admiring
audience. Later on the Eng
lish joys of "Pinafore and Patience"
recur to me. 1 hear Sir Joseph Sur
face sing of the preparation for q sea-
faring life which can be accomplished
by learning to "polish up the handleof
the big front door" In short. all the
merry heroes and heroines of those
endlessly happy realms hum over
their airy roles in my memory like the
revolving tunes in q ghostly music
box.
"rell me about the first comic
OPERA" PERSISTS my little girl, for
she is afflicted with youths ''neces-
sary evils" curiosity-the past is
perforce largely blank to all child
rem, the future is nebulous, but the
present is very present indeed.
In the early part of the 18th centu.
ry. say about 170s, there was certain
dapper. little gentleman selling satin
and velvet by the yard, to all fine
ladies who visited his employers
shop. He was person of notably
soft manners, and there was musi-
cal cadence to all his sentences. He
rose by degrees to high favor in the
establishment, not by his industry
nor his business ability, but simply
because of his wonderful talent for
turning compliments.
When his master lectured him, he
parried the sharp edge Of his wrath
by admiring remarks on the irate mer-
chants own superiority, when his
fellow workers were jealous or dis
dainful, he placidly praised them ION
their weakest point" until In ap-
p oval Of themselves, they forgot their
disapproval of him. He was never
sens, tive, never put out.
The name of this amiable Individual
exactly suited him. 1t was John
Gay. If we believe in the etymology
of words we cannot but feel that 1t
was bestowed upon some ancestor OF
his as q tribute to his qualities.
He had q talent for rhy ming, and
often, in the evening, put the sbul.
itions of his muse on paper. Some of
his poems and essays found
THAR wav into nF4nE The
metre of his verses ..wss
exqulslts,-to use Swift's expression
they sang themselves.
1t happened therefore one blessed
day that the shop was illumed by Q
visit from the great literary lights Of
the.t,me "Swift and Dryden.
They came to see the little clerk
who had written complimentary SON.
nets to them in such an humble yet
acceptable strain. They found Gay
as modest as his verses and In short
formed friendship for him.
A long farewell was soon said to
"Dry GOods' and the future father
of English Burlesque furnished with
literary work.
Gay WAS q natural tody." He
loved wealth and position better than
his own soul. He never failed to
pamper the appetite of fiattery which
the rich and great contract.
The insinuating manners which had
advanced him at his original counter
now shone in my lords drawing room,
or around his dinner table. He was
no longer obliged to measure out his
admiration to fair DANES with yard
stick"
The italian opera was just then the
rage in London society and Little
Gay" was often guest in the most
exclusive boxes. One evening the
great Dean Swift suggested q "farce
opera"
rhe idea met with general applause
but where to find theme.
To make the contrast broader they
hit upon the darkest page of London
life and proposed to let the first bur-
lesGue picture New Gate"
This section of the metropolis was
devoted to theirs and asssssius. The
" ne -,ut citizens that Visited 1t
were the police. 1t was the rendez
yuus of m. .IicsuI- ESPECIALLY the
truly professional class who com bined
the receiving of aims with any crime
that "came handy"
cav uiltheiy Undertook this festive
work, and called it 1.-THE Beggars
Opera 4" 1t sbounded in ballads
set to the popular airs of the hour
and closed with 3 hanging
scene-"Sally in our Alley" was one
:" he gems usually rendered In the
second act.
= H.