The morning times., 1896-07-05

sh'eeSA OPSh'
= ONE people who go 10 the theater are
as innocent of their ignorance as the
Hottentots or the EsGuimaux. One
- night last week two men Were dis
GUESSING the Rev Robert Spaulding
between acts with Il uaiyete almost as re-
fre shnE as the fans over rhead. One thought
the idea of caricaturiDg the cloth capital,
the otEer wondered IT hadn't been done
before. Then the y bot othfclltorcminiscenci h cling
and dclving into their store OF dramatic
history to discover that the only otEer
clergyman ever written. naturally or bur
lcsquei. INTO a pla Y was no clergyman at all,
but the disguise which Monte Cristo wore
as the abbe. / almost hesitate 10 take up
thelist of Gle rical characters, tits so,cDgthy,
but for the diversion Of tie many and the
information of those two. suppose we
look into it.
The ancieuts weren't content with the
divine deputies, they dramatized their
gods. Passing 10 good Will Shakespeare it
may he noted that yearly every one ,d his
historical plays introduces an archbishop
or two as mere detail.
Other early English dramatsts wrote
them i'll, aud Bulwer made a cardinal the
central figure OF one of the finest TRACE
dies cytant Lately the dramatists have
dropped from the episcopal to the priestly
anu boiH EtNtItut anu
portraits. One OF the most beautiful
priestly characters on the stage was Henry
Irvings DR.. Primrose, taken from the
Vicar of Wakefield though of another
type equally fine was his tragic por-
trait OF Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Henry Arthur Jones first attempt at
| clerical characterization was the manly
Rev. Jacob Fletcher in Saints and Sin
ners." He followed it with Judah's lover,
Rev Liewc!iyD, one Of the nchlcst types tie
stage has ever known. In his last play,
Michael and His Lost Angel a sincere
but immature young prizes, was set forth.
Mr.. Pinero has been somewhat cynical
i'll the treatment of his clergymer. The
| Very Rev Augustus Jedd ID. D.. in "Da ndy
Dick Is almost as great car:Cature as I he
| Rev. Robert Spaulding in The Private
| Secretary. The Rev. Amos wintcrficld in
The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmth'- is less
| superficial. and the high church bishop in
| THE Benefit OF the Doubt is dgnified.
| but trivial. Mr.. Pinero's best clergyman
| is the manly yourG divine in THE Hobby
| Horse" a play that has never b,:'n done in
| this country. The Rev. Noel Brice is made
| to fall in love with a married woman and
| proposes to her before discovering that she
| is wife. Mr.. Pinero calls The Hobby
! Horse Il comedy. though the theme is as
| tragic as anything in "Euripides'' or
Rae Oscar Wilde. in his Woman
! of No Importance. outlined an arciideacon
| with social faing5. whose knowledge OF
| Theology was amusingiy deficient. Dumas
| presented cardinal in The Three Guards
| men, In THE Wages of Sin"there was n
| pugnacious parson who spared with the
| villain. An aged canon in love with an ad-
| ventures appeared in Lady Barter" and
| the manly hero of The Charity Ball. =
not forgotten. THE Capitol and The
| English Rose" put forth careful studies uf
| manly priesthood.
| The monastic clergy and the youthful
| Anglican curates have made most OF the
fun on the stage. Robert spaulding and
| Augustus Jedd have been noted. but there
| are even more ridiculous caricatures in
.'The Sleep Walker and in "Lost-24
| Hours" In THE AmaZons" there is a
| lovely old rector who should be ment:oled
above among the worthy types. In 'Falka''
| there was the rolly polly snOrcr. Lay
Brother Pelican. and Robin Hood pre-.
sents delightful little Friar Tuck. "Ex-
| celsior. Jr.," presented an entire chorus
| of monks. who must have been capital COM
| pany If they all sang as well as the YER
| satie quartet.
From this incomplete reference it may he
seen that either in fun or earnest the
| clergy have not escaped the dramatist as
| types for Characterization. AS Il rule the
fun has reflected on the personality OF the
man and never on his cloth. Such char
acters as have been taken up seriously
have either dgnifed the plays as fine ex-
amples OF manhood. in mental vigor. per-
| sonal heroism. sympa thetic sweetness OF
| genial temperament.