Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-03-26

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 VIII CRANE.
 nohlcst and best in the human racc, The morale of a play should ever bo on tho sidc of virtue Vice should never ho glori fled and r2ctitudo in man or woman hc- nttlcd. such action cannot be productive of good Tilc old ur the young will not profit ny it. Indeed upun the young, rspc- ciAlly at the formative period of life, it's effects cannot but be porNirious.
 am moved tothrSc reflections from the fact that during tho past few years it has become tho fashion Ia import and produce in our leading thratrrs class of plays which, while th, y pu>sCsS tho highest lit cr1ry and artistic merit, arc decidedly ris,Iuc Indeed thvsr plays arc mora than what our French friends call douhlC Cn- trndrr. In downright plain English, they nrr >onsuou~, No American playwright wuIld. if he could, write such plays. Hc w"lllQ Inc nnathrmatizvd hy press and pull pit from Muino tu California, from the St. Lawrence tu tho gulf, Like Othcllo, his ucCupatiun would soon he gone, for thrat- rjral managers, who watch as closely tho pul~" If public opinion aS ever docs Carr- full physician that of fIVrr,d patient, would cease tu extend the RlHd,omo hand and beam UInn him with the welcome Cyo when he appeared with other productions If lis !lvu ~,i: defense would compel strha cuur>,, fer, having pulpit, press and people HrrAyrd against him, where would the l,tanA2.r como in?
 Nu, it k only tho daring genius of Dumas ur a Surduu that can evolve plays uf sll.h caliIa IT and not only make them p,,r ul:- ter, lat actually capture and in thrall tho public l mean tu speak in all fAiri,>~. \ut r. iu% q playwright, can Iut h1 rl.ur-,,i Wilh professional jealousy. N,j;h, Am lH i.t J",sl't, "t any of my trl- low a~:t.,. mn rr Mumrn, who have arhlrN rd 9uccc-, in the dramas of tho great French playW.iGhtS. As the lrishman say, moro power to them. I hope they will win gold and glory galore, l would like to scr all of my Compatriots prosper, fir l know how tCmprstuOuS Is tho great | ocean If trial before tho haven of success is reached. No, l repeat, l am not par tirlr JcIluus of any fellow artist. for, like the eminent Mir. O'Rcilly, whom Poet Dana has ilnmOrtalizcd, 1 am doing
 
 Wifc'a Father, " now running at tho Fifth Avenue thratrr. N. Y. will not weary my readers with a description of it, as it has | been free ly and extensively analysed by | people far moro competent to criticisC than | your humble servant. Suffice it to say | that it i5 clean, wholesome comedy, tho | very bust that talented lady, Martha Nor ton, has ever written. II ahuunds in comic situations and fairly bubbles over with mirth throughout, yet thCro is not q single | prurirYt detail in the play.
 Having thus, like q n"u,l lawyer, diSpos- 1 cd in advance of any charge of professional | jealousy which may hr brought against mc, I now return tu the main argument | I believe play should be healthy in tone ils we'll aS strong in dramatic action, If a | play of Inc moro serious sort, like ''ShCn- | anduAh," for instance, patriotism, cOur- ! age and honesty in man and virtue in | woman should hc tho stellar featurvS. of | course Nic", too, if present., as it almost unavoidIhly >, should ho skillfully depict ed, but il should never prcdnminatr and l h,' madr tho feature uf tho play. \ play, | like a sermon ur a good novel, should bear l q neral IL should bring out in bright | rulurs hat is hest and nuhlrSt in man, not what i< i-uuhln and drpravrd. Let | inr VNrmplify In tho play dramatiICd from DumL, "Thr,o Guardsmcn," pur- l lhu+. UH" of the nuvrli>t'S heroes, iS hu muruu>iy depicted as living off the bounty of lis mistress. tho wifo of a petty mcr- chant, and commended by his comrades | for his Clcvrrnrss in forcing tribute. In | one of Sarduu's latest and most brilliant efforts the hCruinr who is deeply religious as well aS arrogant and opulcnt, declines wcdlock with the hero of the play, fol whom she acknowledges her love, because Inc is beneath her in station, but suggest: an amour as being most satisfactory tC both parties in interest
 What sort of lessons are these to incul cater What impressions will they mako upon tho hearts of the youthful of bott sexes, lnds and lassoS, whose minds art not yet developed, but like tender sapling: easily bent to the right or left? What feel ings will they cngcnder in the minds O giddy men and women who look on lift as a perpetual holiday, and who are con stantly studying new methods of enjoy mentF
 will sum up in ono brief sentence m! opinion of heroizing vice: It is a danger Ous precedent to establish and may leaC the weak to evil
 Let us now look at the other side of tn picture. What effect has good play upor tho human mind? Upon tho adult tn, , samo as spirited address by an inspired orator, like Wendell Phillips, in a grea crisis In youth it arouses the happy buOynnt, ChivalrOus emotions, such as pcrusal of Walter Srutt's "IvanhOo" O "CUunt Robert of Paris Is surc to do Such plays make men and women tho bet ter for their presentation. They develop tho best impulses of their natures. That such plays can be made to pay i ] evidenced by the ovrrtlowing houses whicl greeted in days gone by Forrest, Mac Crcady and tho elder Booth in their i'm presentations of NirGinius, Spartacus, Ju lius C;Vsar and other heroic characters. Il recent times, too, can mention five cleal ; plays of lighter mold than those I hay } just enumerated which have attained [ greater, more pronounced and more en during success than any of the tainte' dramas from abroad. These arc ''Shon anduah, :" Hazel kirko, ' The Banker
 Daughter, ." Henrietta" and The Sen
 atOr. '
 All kinds of clean plays can be mado tn
 medium through which a moral can be ad duced, but as q mental tonic, puro an simple, believe comedy is by far the best Good comedy is like good wine It shOul ofTervescc. When it abounds in comic sit nations, sparkles with bright dialogue an , is redolont with wit and humor, it has tn l same effect upon tho jaded intellect a
 champagne has upon tho exhausted ath letC It arnuses mental and physical aC