The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-26
PLAYGOERS' SACRED FEELIN'S
OfTRtGED M THE TDrCtTOR
or VIZ. PIPP.
Augustus Thomas an the English NChIiIt>
UultOnlolc, az ~Errch " thigall'
nrd New Playwright NInlul Lave
and The ChlvrrOncd Wan a Mirage.

UmtonltoIcS ~ @Grrch " thigail"
nrd New Playwright sInrm Lave
aud The GhlYcrOncd Wan a Mirage.
MY sacredcst fcelu's." Artcmus Ward
once exclaimed has been tromrled orto'
The words came rorcihiy TO mind N wit
re--ng the conduct ct nobility IN The
Education of Mr. Piru
II Augustus IhouGs led tcct with
hi. problem oc the international MARI age
IN the manner cf other American play
wrghts. no false hopes would loye been
raised there would not DO a word TO say.
When Bronson Howard wrote "Ar'.toc-
racv- he fonilv imagined that what We
wanted was to have our democratic selves
contrastcd with thc cifete nobility Of Europe
10 their ehemn and orr own glory. He
studied h4 Continental al Of tile with
clear eve. giving him the virtues as well
"a the vice. Of his kind--an astutr prcpara-
ton for making it arregr that I've bourgeois
American was incidentally The better man.
Il wac staggering blow that. 10 our ma
toual reverence for TUFTS, but criticism
va, gagged, for the intention to be fair
was Obvious Clyde Fitch in THE Coro-
ret Of a Duchess give us in his Duke oi
Spldvn fortune hunting nohcman in
whom the grand manner was intermittent
md the true spirit Of the fortune hunter
dominant Thu, WAS little short Of an
r7uIt 10 our instinct for self-ahnsemeut.
How could either playwright expect TO
please Us?
Not 50 Mr. Thomas With n superior
iuovledge Of the history Of the drama,
no realized that whHt people really go TO
the theatre FOR is TO enjoy the privilege
of assoc.atinG with their bctters. The
Crooks always headed their drame'is per-
sorp with gods and goddessee Then
came the demigods and heroes, and, finally
in tho place occupied nowadays by buffers
end serving maids, they put in mere
CrE or such. BY the time Of Shakespeare
the drama had fallen on EVIL Gays but still
the top liners were kings and poteniates,
the mightiest in the land. In these de-
generate days our pusllanimous play
vrgh;s have usually nothing hotter tc offer
Ma for an evenings cofnpanionfhip than
Ton Dick and Harry, tho ragtag and bob
rail Of prolotaTiG; Ike ourselves
r. j. true that they make virtue ~ their
miserable necessity Bernerd Shaw even
calls Shakespeare a snoh for preierring the
blood royal. and makes it title OF his own
superiority 10 ask ~ 70 listau TO the say
ings Of John Tcpucr. dentist. and Emery
Srdkcr, chauffeur. But the clear vision
OF Augustus Thomas is not 70 be deceived by
paradox and bubble He may pretend at
the outset that his young lover IA merely
Herbert Fitzgerald riding master at Dur
lan's The plot required this. but other
wise Mrs Pipp would never have soorned
his pretensions 10 tho hand Of the Gibson
daughter. But half an act, halr an act on
ward it hcroically transpires thHt ne is mono
other than Lord Herbert Fn1mdurice. heir
70 Carony Castle. and that in the eyes of the
playwright he il a rippin fine follor. Bravo.
Mr. Augustus Thomas.
Having gratifed our sacredest feelln's,
however. what does he proceed 70 do? To
trofuple onto them IN a w7y Mr. Howard
and Mr. Fitch would never have dared.
making His LordsUp az Il thus that the
other people IN the play address hind do
things that even our poor, miserable prole
tartan selves would never never dream of.
AZ his entrance as a guest az a dinner party
Lord Herbert wears white glGyes, and holds
one OF them forth Ike dove OF peace 10
greet his enraged hostes3 in tho drawing
room, How many in the audience shiv-
cred az the remembrance Of their bare
handed indiscretions o. the past How
many resolved for the future always TO
wear gloves 70 all dinner pa1iesl But that
was on the edge Of the evening Before
the night was over il justified the French
proverb by bringing counsel HIS Lord
ship Zone still has faith that that il the
way We seryile Americans should speak
81 him did things Of the kind that. as Kip
ling puts it, no Teller does.
HIS Lordships rivals, hasa. obvious
villains we're at the same dinner party
and having tasted the salt Of hospitality
N tho olive Of a cocktail, His Lordsbip
openly denounced them for impostors
even explaining to the benighted Ameri-
cans what a croupier is at Monte Carlo
No wonder Mrs. PiPp persisted in think
ing him a new man from the stables.
To give the devil his due the charge was
first brought by John filing mere Atneri-
can. occupying tho humble station Of score |
tary Of the steel Trust We were prepared
TO stand for that In fact. we pleasantly
anticipated that Mr. Thomas was only
preparing a greater delight to our worship
for His hardship one OF our sncrcdest
feelin's ia that any lord worthy of us
has the tact to defer inopportune business
to opportunc moments. Oh, Mr Thomas
alas Mr. Thomas Lord Hcfb,u strobe
out 70 the footlghts and oorroborated |
the charge with flourish Of the white
glove that had erstvhile Guttered az a
false emblem OF peace It was a terrible
blow
We should have cheered up, however, (
Il we had known how much worse was yet !
TO come. As the plot thickened it |
did tLicken to the gruellike consist ancy /
Of tho m aiest farce His Lordship plighted
his troth to the Gibson daughter. All /
this happened on the lawn of Cgtony Castle.
Herts England and with the entire cast I
assem- bled on the stage. Let il not be
supposed, however, that the botrot thai I
was a public function The humorous :
point was that those standing almost within /
show reach knew nothing about it. and /
especially the ambitiously designing but |
nislnf ormed Mrs Pipp SO far so good, /
But at the crisis Of his happin, - the noble |