New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-19
THE DRAMA.
. Brace Of Ewing Sisters-At the
Hudson and an Harlem.

AZ
Harmed at the Harlem Opera House. appeared
Marguerite Gautier commonly known here Ca
mile This suffering females cough had not been
heard for long time, and there was prevalent
resigned conviction that she had been quietly in
med The belief proves to have been flusory.
A cruel Fate has prolonged her misery. and still
she lives. Not horehound. paregorc, lucent sQuiis,
,alap nor lubricating oil OF COD. nor all the
oxygen that ever fixed. can. as II now appears
Love her chest, nor keep her pipes from wheeling.
And yet as II likewise appears. she cannot expire.
This is a melancholy state OF things, well for
the anxious friends as for the distressed patient:
but it cannot be helped-the disease being slow and
tie victim tough.
Candles affection. II VIII be remembered, was
caused in part. by incipient tuberculosis; in part
bv remembrance OF her vicious profligate past;
In part by acute sense Of personal degrade
ton. and in part by a passionate attachment TO a
''spocney" young mRn,-chiehy remarkable for his
Indifference 20 early veEetables.-whose parents.
strange 10 say. were averse TO his amorous all-
sace and disgracefal Intimacy with notorious.
though repentans. courtesan. Such n deplorable
state lof lacerated visccra would. necessarily
veal Itself in various ways. Dan Bryant
custorned to express f. first by a gentle whisper
that his left lung entirely gone, and then by
a steatorlan below that the right one
sound ever. Unhspplly neither Miss Anglin nor
Miss Harmed has chosen 10 adopt this terse
method.-which. obviously ccnmends Itself by its
conspicuous merits OF breyity. simplicity. and pre-
csi0n--b0th ladies' being teuderly vishful die
o. 8 rose. Ia aromatic pain" and 10 merit Dr..
Young line, for an epitsPh.-'She spanked. was
exhsled and went TO Heaven" Hours. accord
iuely, consumed in the exposition OF cardiac
and intestinal disturbance that might have been
Indicated IN n minute. There IS not. however.
much cough. in either case. The worm in the bud
is suggested-the hidden. nameloss grief-the slow.
melancholy. iridescent. internal decay and affect
collapse, as OF an overripe squash. And. IN due
sequence there the regulation sgonies: chicken
hone apparently. n the gullet. TO interrupt fes
uvities; forl0rn submission lecture by Father
Duval; splendid misery and awful IN the
ballroom: heartneudnE business with mirror IN
accountable desire for spring weather (Which in
this climate. most people would cheerfuIly die 10
evod) and protracteG delusive pretence Of beatiac
dissolution. AL ultra-sentimental: All feverish and
diseased. All fatuous and affected. all sham.
Speaking seriously. 81 IS not easily possible TO
discuss this subject with patience nor IS it possible
~ all 20 discuss t. fn this place without some
repetition Of views that have several times been
expressed here already. As play. Camille IS
Tally constructed TO awaken sentimental interest,
create a sort OF Hitiful suspense and afford some
scope for high-pressure acting. But its subject
IS unclean and lis moral drift is hurtsul; and
from fts moral drift there is no escape. No
device or treatment has ever prevailed 10
place this piece before the tribunal Of thought
upon exclusively dramatic grounds. Il In
sists its Gidac,ic purpose. The sympathetic
spectator may CIV over IL much as he likes. but.
whenever he wipes his veeQing eyes and scruti-
rizes its meaning he VIII observe that. by the spe-
cious ure~eutmcnt O. an exceptional fictitious case
Of feminine experience. IL directly tends 10 subject
the reason 10 the feelings. 20 pervert moral per-
cepton and instil loose views 70 the integrity
of woman. when the third curtain falls. every
spectator who can be dUDed by such an article
censUres old DUval-who IS entirely IN the right
and every such person IS persuaded that Camille is
good enough 70 be the wife az any man, however
worthy and that "a all similar circumstances. all
such women as Camille ought 10 be vindcated.
That IS the drift Of the play. There T. no remem-
brence IN Z OF the respect IS due 10 virtuous
women: no consideration OF what Is due to children
YET unborn. scrupie as 10 the principles OF do
nestle purity and personal honor. upon which and
only upon which. fabric OF civilized society can
securely rest. Sense expires in mushy sympathy,
end everything IS conceded 20 a Wild, unreasoning
emotion. 80 result.-for listeners who can De
harmed hv 7lays.-could he more no1ious
No doubt the case Of Camille is hard one; but
the laws which govern the moral state OF the hu-
mar race declaring themselves n their continual
operation and consequences totally irrespective OF
human theories and emotions, are inexorable II
is not society. so resonanty abused in this drama
that regulates the retrbution sequent upon sin; II
s. a mysterious force. far back 81 all conventions
livery wound leaves scar. The scar may not al
ways be visible but IL always exists. The spirit
Ike the feeh. can be wounded and when WOUNDED.
although IL may heal Il must. like the flesh bear
the mark o. the injury il has received. The awful
TACT about wr0nRdolug IS the fact that. when Vlo-
lence has been done TO the spirit all the repent
nnce and atoneeut possible in this world can never
make things precisely as they were before Camille
70 doubt is an object Of pity, but the stage pre-
sentiment such figure IS a proper object OF 81
pathy aad respect is both foolish and vicious. Inc
questions implicated I'm the play are questions lot
private Judgment. The subject should not DO N
trudes into the theatre. It concerns the medical
profession and the clergy: st does not concern the
arts Least o. All should it be thrust upon the con-
Eideration % voung people who. for the most part
compose the theatrical audience.
The theme Of Illicit love has no place on the
stage. unless sou have something important TO say
about g. something that people ought TO hear and
lnow.-unless in your use Of IT, you can rear, as
Shakespeare did in Measure for Measure ana as
Goethe diE I'D Faust a fabric OF dramatic deeos
and events ich shall not only be noble and splen-
did IN itself rut noble and splendid in its slgnh-
csnce II you can DO that. you are able 10 render
r service 10 mankind. and sou have your justlhca-
ton. u not the introduction OF the subject Is an
impertineace. u you have nothing 10 say except
that evil communications corrupt good manners
:ou can wei afford 10 refrain from opening drain
rine OIL the public rnind-for that has been said a
ehousand times already, and thousand uInes pet
Scr said than you can say H. IL Is not uIseu 1na1
plays which treat Of Illicit love and Its consequences
always and necessarily cOrruptiye OF the puohc
morals Under certain circumstances and as TO Ger
tain classes OF persons OF them might be per-
nicious IN that way; but that effect Is not new
table The thing that they do vltate, OF olrecuy
tend 60 Hitiate. Is rchnemcnt-2nd that mlschleI
they accomplish BY the obruson OF foul topics INTO
daily observance and conversation Grace ana gen
fencss Of mind. sweetness OF thought delcacy or
feeling the beauty OF RECOMMENDATION Is the soul
81 perfect naanners-those are the virtues when ne
o. the basis OF civilization. and those, accordingly
the virtues that every form OF art should roster
Many actors and theatrical managers appear 10
labor under the singular delusion that everything
they 90 is entitled TO consideration IN the press.
This IS an error. Much that is done on the stage