The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-10-20
THE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN.

theaten Thursday evening observing Mr..
Clay Clement impersonatIng "a Southern
Gentleman" The gentleman" In the part
was manifest throughout tine characteriza-
ton, but the Southern type Of him was OBJ
viously absent. Noble sentiments, courtesy,
gentleness. lofty courage aud chivalrlc
| self-denial breathed through the lines OF
General Carroll, the role essayed BY the
| actor. but the manner. the accent. the
hearty hospitality. SO distinctly character
istic OF Southern gentleman Of the old
school had neither place nor prominence
In Mr.. Clements rendering The part as
spoken and presented by him would have
| fitted a cultured representative OF any
| civilized nationality almost as appositely
as 1t does the type he essayed to repre-
sent. His Southern Gentleman" Is strong
ly reminiscent OF his Baron Holeeustauffen
with the German dialect eliminated ind
some OF the German phlegm replaced by
occasional bursts Of emotion.
Mr. Clements conception OF the part Of
General Carroll is apparently taken from
what he thinks Southern gentleman
should be or might be. rather than from
what Southern gentleman Is. His work
indicates that he has drawn on his own
than from nature and experience. The
! result Is that he has placed before his pub
lie unique personality that talks about
wor like a philanthropist about love like
romantic college boy in his bellies lettres
year, and about philosophy like one who
seems not to know the difference between
dream and q syllogIsm.
Mr. Clements voice Is OF the kind that
always has tears In it, popularity which
sometimes mars his comedy passages with
falnt suggestion OF pathos His elocution
lacks clearness and MS articulation Is re-
mindful Of that OF scholarly foreigner
who has mastered the pronunciation Of tho
English language In an almost, but not
entirely, perfect degree.
am told he wrote the play called IA
Southern Gentleman" There is stagecraft
in 1t of dlstinctively meritorious order.
Still he has not succeeded in writing
part for himself which fits n Southern
gentleman OF the old regime 1t would,
perhaps, rebound to the expansion and
prominence Of his dramatic quality II he
! could contriye to spend few months Us
guest OF one Of the old South Carolina fam
lilies which he has endeavored 30 consclen-
tiously, and with such an imperfect degree
might enable him to derive the hints which
he needs from the personages as they APP
pear In life to study them IN all their So
clal and domestic relations; to examine
them In their local environment, their
manners, their customs. their traditions,
their predictions their averslons, and all
those aspects which go to make up South
ern character and to differentiate It from
that Of every other TO he found in different
sections OF our own and foreign countries.
| Then. by careful writing along these lines
OF observation Mr.. Clement may lie ena-
bled to present "a Southern Gentleman"
In accurate dramatic framing; although
doubt II he will ever succeed In holding the
mirror up to nature II he attempts to per-
senate on the stage his revised and cor
rected creation Of the character.
| 1t Is justice to Mr.. Clement to admit,
however that he Is nearer the mark in
| this field OF effort than Ia Augustus Thorn.
as or the vulgar and coarse grained Hoyt.
| The travestles of the latter on Southern
character are not worth considering, I'M
less 1t be for the purpose OF branding
them as distorted dramatic daubs, as I'M
real and fantastic as drunken b,llposter's
dream, and as unlike the genuine article
| as are soda pop and old port.
| Thomas who has acknowledged ingenui-
ty and ability as constructor OF plays,
presumably derived his ideas concerning
scme OF his alleged Southern characters
from interviews obtained around hotel
lohhies when he was a reporter, or from
talking to the loungers about railroad sta
tons on the occasions OF his making
| trips between Pat Shorts temple OF Thes-
| pts, in St. Louis, and the late Dave Bid
wells dramatic and monopolized shrnes in
the Crescent City. 1t makes ones gorge
rise to see his mustachioed characters in
long coats ard SLOUGH hats strut In and
out through the acts and say "suh" and
sab" and "kyuhnel."
| The Southern gentleman, as he existed
before and since the war, and as he ex-
lists to far less numerous extent at the
present time, In all the Southern States.
has never yet been put upon the stage.
In his best and most picturesque form he
| Is found on the plantation owned and
handed down 10 him through generations
| OF forefathcrs born on American soil. Yet
thcre are types Of him as genre and dis
tinct as this other found In he banks, In
The railroad offices, In the stores and In
the professions in many Southern commun-
Z
this type OF Southerner are courtly and
poiished. His politeness is easy and natur-
al He Is warm in his friendships and
| frank in his epmties. To his social equals
he is courteous. without ostentaton, ia
miiiar without being vulgar. To his infe-
riors and dependents he is amiable and
KIND without the appearance OF being pa-
| troniTing. Personal honor and family hon
| or are precious heritages priced more
highly than life Itself. Woman, In his
! eyes, is heing to be reverenced next to
God To defend the honor and good name
OF wife. mother, daughter or sweetheart,
the southerner will Stay as remors ,les sly
as the tiger of the jungle. For this rea-
son i is rarely that one ever hears az the
invasion by the libertine OF Southern
horne. l, means death. swift, sure and in
evitahle al the hands of the defender o.
the household. There are fcw divorces In
the older Southern States. In some of
them the aged MAXIM What God hath
Joined together. let no man put asunde,,"
Is hlled with pervasive and practical mean
1 Inc