The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-01-05
THE SOUTHERN PLAY.


South nowadays. so much so indeed that
.t has come to be almost foregone con-
ciusion that the scene OF every new drama
will be laid in Dixie. The Dispatch then
goes on TO say that the latest play which
has appeared is entitled THE New South"
nothing whatever to do with the South. and
that ut was evidently written without
knowledge OF the laws, and In still greater
ignorance Of the conditions in the South
ern States"
From this we may conclude that this
play, 1.-The New South" is like all Of its
predecessors which attempt In any way
whatever TO deal with either Incidents OF
Southern llfe or with historical events OF
the war with which the South is identi-
fed. None OF them come anywhere near
the truth, or do the South the slightest
justice, and IN fact all the Southern
dramas written since the war are very
much like the Southern school histories
they invariably attempt. by belittling and
beiying the South, to aggrandize the North
at our expense
Take the best-known plays in which the
scenes have been laid in this section.
either during and since the war; and this
will be found to be true without exception.
There is Bronson Towards 'Shenan-
doah," for instance. That Claims TO be
fair, and yet in it all the heroes are
Northern men, while its Southern char
acters are all either men of little note Or
play n comparatively insignificant part
This play is founded upon Sheridan's al
legged gallant ride down the Valley.
The Yankees are first made to retreat in
good order and slowly. but with their
eyes steadily fixed on the foe, and then
suddenly Sheridan comes riding up on a
horse he has stolen from a Southern lady.
and Immediately the Confederate forces
are seized with a cowardly panic, and.
throwing down their arms, rush pell-mell
away before their Yankee enemies. This
is the drift Of the play and what historian
does not know that its teaching is false?
The truth is that had theSouthern armies
been able to keep up their strength such
man as Sheridan would never have been
heard Of. For the first two and for nearly
three years of the war no Yankee
general at all was able to make
any reputation. The most accom-
plished soldiers the North could put
in the field were put to rout and sent
home in disgrace whenever they met the
Confederate armies, and 1t was only
when, after the lapse Of nearly three
years, when those armies were decimi-
mated by war, famine and pestilence, with
no hope Of being recruited, that any
Northern general, even with his ranks
constantly refilled as fast as they SUI
fered losses, with men imported from the
countries of the Old World, was ever
able even to be heard from. Had such
small man as Sheridan tried his hand
then there would not, TO use vulgarism,
have been left a grease spot Of him, and
only in the last year of the war when his
famous ride was almost unobstructed. did
he begin TO make a reputation. and. after
all. his fame was made less in fighting
the enemy in the field than in warning on
women, children and other non-comhat-
ants in the Valley, devastating their
homes, burning their barns and leaving
starvation and misery in his wake. And
yet a so-called Southern play attempts
to defy such man and make him hero.
Then again, there is Held by the
Enemy" in which the Yankees are made
10 appear as the noblest Of Gods crea-
lures, while the Southerners are, at best
merely commonplace, and throughout it
runs an undercurrent of prejudice against
our people So in alabama" There, too,
the noble hero is a Yankee, who performs
the unhe ard-of and very dangerous feat
Of striking a pistol from the hand Of
! Southern villain, who, by the way, is r
gentleman by birth, while most of the
Southern characters are lazy, idle, shift
less, good-for- nothing specimens of hu-
manity.
These are fair Illustrations of the So
called Southern play. and in all Of them
the South is degraded to the old-timcd
! Northern plane. while the North is ele-
waited to the Southern level. In each Of
them, strange to relate, a Southern woman
/ invariably falls desperately in love with
Northern man, generally Yankee
officer. when the truth is II the Southern
! girl did hate anything during the war IT
was any officer of that Ink. and she would
| have felt herself degraded II she had ever
| even thought Of one of them in connec-
ton with love.
| These so-called Southern plays Of The
| present day are, in reality, more iDsidious
than even the Northern school histories,
| because their falsehoods are concealed by
| the glamour of stage scenery, and lights
and pleasing music. They will doubtless
! continue to be as they are while Northern
writer's are their authors and we trust
that before long either some COM
petent Southern playwright, or some
| English dramatist like Greg will be found
| who will get up a real genuine Southern
| play that will reflect truly and justly the
! Southern character
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THE UMBRIA'S MISHAP.
The public has waited with great i'm