New-York tribune., 1900-04-22
PART II.
TEN PAGES.
LONDON NOTES.
AZ ENCYCLOP FDIA STAFF MIITON'S
SAMSON STAGED FOR THE
FIRST TIAiE-THE GUILD
HALL SHOW

britannica" has involved a literary undertaking
- considerable magnitude This is the task Of
ev.ena.ne the range Of the work about fifteen
Years not by the revision Of the text. but bv
IRE preparation Of supplementary volumes
which VIII bring the ninth edition UP to the close
If the nineteenth century. The arrangements
f,- this undertaking have been made in canse-
-uerca ct a pledge given 10 purchasers Of the
r.r-en; edition that the finishing touches would
f4 added To one OF the monumental literary
,rorl-s 90 the century. Sir Donald Mackenzie
Wallace has been placed in general charge Of
the supplementary volumes having been re-
-5ered from his duties as director Of the foreign
ssra~-rleur of The Times" He is hard
headed. h-7a5-mtnded Scotchnan who was edu-
Gated AZ -le universities of Edinburgh. Berlin
and Heidelberg. and at the Ecole de Droit
Paris ard who has spent his life mainly abroad
in Germany. France. Russia. Turkey Egypt and
India. His books on Russia and Egypt are
MASTERPIECES Of profound study and close obser-
ysrior 0< coutemporaneous history Thorough
rsss is his distinguishing characteristic He is
sn admirable organizer. and VIII be a scholarly
and efficient leader Of the literary staff which
he is recruiting fer special service
The Bishop T London DR.. Creighton. viii be
he special adviser on all topics connected with
-sig5ou and philosophy and viii recommend
zoe busy prelate to exercise critical super
vision over. any portion Of the work Dr.
Creighton is The most scholarly Of the Bishops
Of the English Church. and in the course of
lifetime NJ overw0rk has found leisure for writ
ing 5fteel or twenty volumes. mainly Of his
ioricaI research. The department Of law and
furisrr7.5ence VIII be under the direction Of Sir
John scor-. IN his university career at Oxford
he was famous as q fast left handed bowler
and since he left The Inner Temple he has shown
himself 10 be q good all around legal adviser
IN The Indian and Egyptian Judicial services
Sir Frederick Pollock, one Of the best known
writer's On law. will cooperate with him. Lit
eratu-e. English and foreign, viii be under the
charge Cf M Edmund GOsse, one Of the best
informed and most competent experts Of good
letters Dr.. Richard Garnett, keeper Of printed
books a. the British Museum, will have super
vision II all topics under the head Of politics
and society. Nj N H SpieImann will be the
art editor. and Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace
sill take special charge Of the department Of
history There VIII be no general editor for sci
ence buT number Of eminent specialists VIII
be employed II this branch of the work.
The first production Of AIlton's Samson
Agonistes" was a literary rather than a ORA
matte event and II called together at the lecture
hail Of The South Kens1ngton Museum an audi
ence Of bluestociings, bookworms and en-
thusasts in quest OF a unique entertainment
II vas the last work which came from the blind
poets chamber when he had donned his singing
robes after twenty years Of hard prose in po-
hficsI and theological polemics: and, apart from
being a stately example Of English drama writ
ten in the austere severity of the Greek style,
Il was in substance an autobiography in ornate
verse. with many passages which might have
been used the poets epitaph. II
first published in 1911 with Paradise Re
gained and the stage managers OF the Restora-
ton had no more idea OF producing it than they
had Of hiring some literary hack TO dramatize
the Treatise Of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical
Causes" Fifty years passed before there was
50 much as a definite plan for putting il the
stage and even then the project was not car
r1ed out. Twenty years afterward there was
another attempt 70 secure its production in Dub
liz, and this. too. failure Amateurs may
have recited the lines in drawing rooms. but the
drama in which Milton bade farewell TO the
MUSES. has never been presented on any stage
unVil lasr Saturday
The Elzabethan Stage Society was the only
organization capable Of taking up quaint
and impressive a work. and Of presenting II
with dignity and painstakng care. Mr. Arnold
Dolmersch supplied oid-fashioned instruments
agC0rlUauElug
from Purcell and Lawes. The costumes were
designed from a Jacobean tapestry in the sci
ence and art department Of the South Kensing-
ION Museum. Samson was covered with the
traditional skins; DaliIa was habited in blue.
pink and silver with ruff and farthingale Of
Eliza bechan pattern: The Philistine officers and
guards were dressed as Roman soldiers, and
he mal6ens Of the Hebrew chorus wore pictur-
esque c1sttIules. which We're considered classical
& Mlron's time With the musicians in Eliza
aerhan dress at the side Of the stage there vas
10 lack of quaint effects Of color and costume;
e1d while the Hebratc motives Of the drama
we've 1ot illustrated by this fantastic masquer-
ac-. N-- William I'oel was not guilty Of any
5raaeh of consistency in dressing his characters
n accordance with the stage traditions Of the
Restoration
The performance was most Impressive and in
teresrire. 8Ir Rzwson Buckley as Samson was
pathetic and sorrowfui figure, with a sonorous
voice weil suited 10 the majestic lines, and with
sense af reserves Of strength kept with diff
Guilty under restraint. There was pathos in the
lament over sarnson's blindness reverent feel
hg tn -he scene with Manoa. cynical bitterness
II the -epr0acles 10 Dalila. and splendid fire
a1c force in the contest with Harapha. Dalila
y as beautiful and graceful. II weak voiced
@1Eoa's lines were recited with dignity and
@Fer- the Harapha was gigantic in stature
sAa spirited in action, and the Messenger with
Dfeathless eagerness, related the final catas-
troIhe Milton was not d practised playwright
~lll skill In mparring a sense Of character,
Dat ne actors under Mr. Poels judicious coach
l1s. succeeded IN producing clear and definite
impressions The management Of the chorus
Presented exceptional difficulties, owing 10 the
-@ok % lyrical movement il a work that was
essentially epical in spirit. although Greek in
loTrE. 1Tr poeT --4ca.- ref-a fred from iutrust-