The times., 1898-01-09

| insth into him Blackwoods Maga-
zine said in 1875: Perhaps MIR. Dick
ems claim as humorist-a member
/ OF that brotherhood OF authors who
! have contributed to the world such del
/ icate and graceful creations as Uncle
| Toby and ST. Roger de CoVerley-rest
more upon tAis adving and tender pict-
I ure than upon any other individual ere
/ alton whieh,he has yet produced. Toms
weaknesses and foibles-are we left ig
! norant OF one OF them? Yet do we re-
| gard him a whit the less because we
smile at these gentle faults OF his? MIR.
Dickens sa,a s. srTadeg sketches of more
pretensidzl, easshe has never done any
thing so complete, SO good, or OF so
graceful a perfection in his art as the
portrait OF Tom Pinch. " This praise
ful estimate WAS written before Little
Dorf1t,' Great Expectations, Tale
of Two Cities" or Our Mutual
Friend" appeared, but it might have
been written afteTWard with equal
truth.
The play is built around the incident
of Toms love for Mary Graham, who
he did not know was the betrothed Of
his friend, young Martin ChuZzlewit.
Dominant also is naturally Toms
blind faith in the greatness and sim
cerity of the moral Mr. Pecksniff.
Among the characters introduced are
Mr. Pecksniff. his daughters, Charity
and Mercy; Mary Graham, Martin
Chuzzlewit, junior and senior; Mark
Tapley, and Mrs. Lupin of the Dragon.
Dickens has given every one of these
graphic individuality so that per-
formed by good actors they might
walk through the play nameless, but
we would know them and be glad to
see them.
There Is not in fiction an author who
has written mere graphically, or with
more character contrast and color, and
there is a dramatic vein of absorbing
intensity in many of his novels. yet
the plays made from them have not
been as successful as they have been
numerous. II viii be remembered that
old John BrOugham played in Copper
field" and '-Doubey & Som" Lotta, in
| "Old Curiosity Shop" Fanny Daven-
port in oliver Twist" and Jefferson,
in Cricket on the HEARTH" but the
measure of success which has attend
ed these plays has not been so much
for the sake of the attractiveness of
the plays as Tor the irresistible qualities
in the Characterization of AIicawber,
Captain Cutie, the Marchioness, Nam
cy Sykes. and Caleb Piummer.
The earliest mention We can gather
Of Tom Pinch upon the stage dates
back about twenty years. Mr.. Willard
played the character of Tom in the
Crystal Palace, London, in February,
1883. and not since iii this season. The
play is not credited to any dramatist.
1t is probable that Mr. Willard has
taken the version used at the Crystal
Palace and re-edited it with ideas of
his own founded on a ripper Judgment
of the character of a more extensive
knowledge of stage and play craft
than possessed by a play maker de-
cade ago
There is great significance in the fol-
lowing announcement which came to
us last week. provided all that the
tenor of the paragraph implies is true,
and ii doubtless is. 1t is given liter
ally as received, the only regret being
that the penmanship cannot be repro
duced, for ii furnishes in its character
an evidence of Nrillie's genius, IL there
is truth in the old saying that penman-
ship and genius stand at opposite
poles:
Mr. William England, the little King
of American sta Ge. will very shortly appear
behind the footiights again, he is without a
doubt the cutes little actor ever on the
stage, he has grace of a refine actress and
talent TO help IL alang, IT was learned that
he played Rip Van Wrinkle and made
one rehearsel, think he is the only, the
Jeifersah JEFF @ Mas ep'''' ef'0rinahoeo OF
The Mirror of last week has this Wig
orous aaetsnsrttaent editorial Forum
ately Washington has had little occa-
sion to complain of in the respect al
luded to:
Among all the devices of the illegitimate
and Speculative forces that have in resent
years inva ded the thea ter, none mas been
more pronounced than that which sought
10 Tool the public by advertising something
that was not forthcoming on performan nee.
This hab bit OF deceit, practiced bY persons
who Ia q no call TO theatrical management,
perhaps had origin ia the commercial prac-
tees of the f0rbears OF such persons, the !
same forbearS possibly having been mack !
peddlerS, or in their own former business |
ventures, which may have involved the |
seliingor shoddY goods aS all wool goods or 4
OF polished brass for more precious metal. |
Y Whatever the INSTINCT or the impulse of |
matters not the moment, beca at the |
moment they stand unmasked To n public |
tnat hereafter viii regard with suspicion /
even their presentation of all wool goods
at the price OF shoddy goods or of gold |
al the price of brass.
In other worus, tile sending out from New |
York OF cheap companies, numbered one, |
TWO or three, as the itch for gain at public |
expense may in the past have determined |
in the minds OF those W no, building upon |
the success OF a play in the metropolis, |
have sought TO multiply receipts through |
o. LOCUS multiplication OF companies falsely |
represented as the original in that play, /
is at an end The press of the country is !
at last alive to such practices. and those |
who hereafter indulge in them in the eN- |
pectation of gain would better embark i'm
some other business that promises possible
profit. and is not fated TO certain loss.
This result has been accomplished by
an airing OF the methods that seem at
this writing to dominate the greater part
OF the American theater-methods that
relatively have brought many players
long respected into a subsection as con-
{ tenptible to those who observe ft as it
must he dista steful TO those who submit
to it-but that very publicity has set
in motion the mac hinery w which will
eventually make such methods impossible,
because it unIla SKIS those y llo have been
for cheats that the public
never will forget or forgive. The Ameri-
can theater is large enough In oppor-
tunity TO accommodate te and reward all
honest effort. Hereafter, it may be pre-.
dicted. dishonesty in it will meet the
il deserves.
speaking OF Primrose and Vests
,ninstrels," said William II. Crane, the
comedian, as he stood in the lobby of
the National Theatre the other night,
ssrepindS me of a letter that AIR Rob-