The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-29

Calaphas, the High Priest of Jerusa-
lem, is represented as a willy schemer,
bigoted and implacable, solicitous for
the authority Of the Sonhedrim, and
capable of any indirection, however un-
scrupulous and abhorrent, to maintain
his power and to crafty his vindictive
hate. Aulus Flavius, the consular sec
rotary, designated as a nephew to Pom
titus PLATE, is a fictitious person. made
by the dramatist, and portrayed as a
sutton to Mary-at first from mere ca
price, but ultimately, from genuine and
not discreditable regard. The auxilia-
ry characters, eight in number, al
though two or three of them bear Bib
lical names, are merely theatrical in
ventions. And, finally, while the be-
trayal of the Nazarene Is indicated as a
principal impulse in the movement of
the drama, the motive of Judas, in re-
pudiating his leader and delivering him
into hostile hands, is declared to be
neither mercenary greed nor predesti-
nate wickedness, but a furious resent
ment proceeding out of the passionate
conviction that Hebrew freedom has
been lost through that leaders incom-
petence to lead; this resentment being
intensified, and made insane, by the
fanatics perception that the object of
his earthly love has through a spiritual
change been removed out of his world,
lifted above all mortal passions, and
separated from him forever.
, AS rule, the ethical element in dra-
| matte literature is tiresome superflu-
ity, because either insipidly common
| place or speciously vicious. Mr..
Heyse's play, however, presents the ex-
ception, for its ethical value is unique
and remarkable. In the plays that are
| commonly presented, relative to the
| particular form of human frailty typi-
| fed by the Magdalen, the heroine is
sinful woman, who is distressed be-
cause either she cannot possess an
| adored lover, or being in disgrace, can
not reinstate herself in social position
| and esteem, and, Furthermore, she is
| being whose misfortunes are, theoreti-
| cally, ascribed to ungovernable excess
| of emotion, and In whose behalf it is
claimed that her loneliness of character
AN attribute which is thought to be
| always compatible with the immorali-
1
mend her to human sympathy and be
deemed an effectual palliative, if not a
| complete justification, of her sin. The
| indirect influence of those plays, ac-
cordingly, has been that of evil COM
| munication; an influence tending to
blur the grace and blush of modesty,'
| to perplex moral perception and to sat
! urate the public mind with mushy
| sentimentality, facilitating to character
| and detrimental to intellect.
| The afflicted sinner who is only
| grieved because environed with unpro-
| pitious worldly circumstances is not
| sufferer whose agOnies should elicit
much expenditure of public compassion.
Mrs. Iris, Mrs. Tanqueray and compa-
| ny would readily recover with a little
amatory consolation or a little fashion
able favor. In brief, the erring sister,
as usually depicted on the stage, is
humbug, and therefore she is the pro-
| per object of satire and contempt; and
| If the Magda1en had been introduced
! into drama merely for the purpose of
| exploiting her vicious life, bewailing her
socially outlaWed condition, or seeking
| to inspire a mawkish sympathy with
| her ptltative woes, she might well be
dismissed as only one more of the wan
! ton, sophistical frauds that have so
long incumbered the theater and so
| grievously besmirched the public taste.
Mr.. Heyses play reveals an entirely
| different purpose, since, for the first
time, it shows the fallen woman-incar-
| nate in the most famous representative
| Of her class-neither as the courtesan
| Turing her lover nor the social pariah
contending for her forfeited rank, but as
the repentant sinner, rescued. regene-
| rated and redeemed, who no longer
| Graves the forgiveness of man, but,
| meekly enduring the appointed and in
evitable punishment for sin, reposes all
her hope on the promise of divine par
don, and looks to a. life that Is forward
and far from here. 1t might be urged,
and doubtless it will be, that the con-
| sderation of themes SO momentous and
| awful as these-the operation Of divine
law for the punishment of sin, and the
movement of divine love for the purifi-
| cation of the soul-ought not to be at
| tempted under such conditions as pre-
vail in the theater, for in general the
theater is a frivolous place, and the
| theatrical audience desultory and shall
| low. Moreover, certain subjects, of vi
| tai interest to mankind are subjects
for silent thought and not for public
discussion. The final judgment, prob
ably, will be that MARY of Magdala"
is work for the library rather than
the stage for reading rather than for
representation, but in the meantime ev-
cry thoughtful observer of it will per-
ceive that it treats great and solemn
matter on spirit of perfect reverence,
and that every impairment Of 1t is vital
with the sovereign Christian motives Of
charity, purity and hope.-Willam
Winter in the New York Tribune.