New-York tribune., 1907-10-01
THE DRAMA
MR.. JONESs NEW PLAY.
"The Evangelist. "

--aaIth OF charity upon sin and sinners. and eX-
deg such fragrance of forgiveness and love. that
I'D already begun to sprout and universal peace
I'D descended the world. Certain adamantine
.,tbs there are, OF which that excellent and dis
..g,,ished dramatist is so passlonately enamoured
o,d NJ which his conviction Is so profound. that
he cannot refrain from declaring them and
aver again They made their appearance long ago,
,n his Saints and Sinners and they have
,,,-red at intervals. SINCE with the inevitable
certainty Of taxes and death. Human nature is
weak. Human beings are sinful. Falsehood can
,ot thrive Hypocrisy is odious. Bigotry is de-
testable Truth must prevail. Creeds are shams.
charity is the greatest of virtues. The repentant
sInner-female in particular-should promptly be
forgiven No human being can fall beyond rescue
ard redemption Persons who profess obedience to
,be precepts Of Jesus Christ ought to act in ac-
cordance with their professions. The welfare OF
society is dependent practical recognition Of
the brotherhood OF mankind. So runs the stream
Of Mr. Jones's benevolent thought All true All
irreproachabe. But there does not seem to be
much striking novelty in those views No phIloso-
pher. however enthusiastic, would be likely to
rouse the neighborhood at a m for the purpose
of imparting them.
Those undisputed. sweet. and comforting doc
trines make their re-entrance newly robed and
garnished. in The Evangelist" The crucial pur-
pose Of that play,-whch its author designates "a
tragi-comedy Of religious life in England '-vhiIe
delivering uenchsnt blow at ecclesiastical hum
bug and petty provincial iliberaIity is to declare
that repentant sinner should be forgiven. The
posture OF circumstances set forth by the dramatis
Is simpl6~and possible, and il Is set forth with
deantve skill. The young wife of an elderly man
whom she does not love. has been criminally false
20 her sacred marriage VOW. and she is suffering
with love for her absent lover with rernorse for
her sin and with dread of the disclosure Of
her shame. For a time she is able TO keep her
secret; but II is the nature of all secrets TO en-
deavor to disclose themselves and upon the ar
rival. in her home. of a street preacher a Saliva
don Army enthusiast. In other words "the Evan
gelist, who. by chance. has seen her in the
course Of her clandestine excursion to meet her
lover. and who, intuitively. conprehends her situ
ation.-that secret begins to struggle toward tbe
light Little by little the husbands SUSPICION is
aroused At length q moment comes when the
preacher, a sturdily honest man. is compelled 10
speak; and then,-because the erring wife has be-
sought him 10 spare her for the sake OF her daugh-
ter, whom she dearly loves. and because he also
has a daughter, very dear TO him. and because he
is deeply sympathetic and pitifuI and thoroughly
good man.-he tells lie, TO shield the wretched
woman in her misery: but, at the same time he
solernly warns her that fasehood can neither hide
guilt protect the sinner from the consequences
OF sin. Immediately thereafter a scene is ingeni-
ously disclosed to her, in whch,-under the inspir-
Ing tutelage Of the Evangelst.-another woman, of
much lower social rank. who has committed the
same sin as her own. makes public confession of
her evil behavior and dedicates herself TO the SAL
walton OF other sinners. the poor outcast women
of the streets The emotion caused by that spec
tacle completely overwhelns the renlorsefuI
hslf-distracted wife that she longer persist
In her deception, but is stimulated to tell the
truth TO her husband and to accept the inevitable
result The episode of her confession is happily
not obtruded. The husband, who has already made
arrangements for absence OF several years on
business, intimates that she will see him
again, but allows to her the eagerly suppI!cated
companionship OF their child and so commends
her TO contriton and life of purity and honor
The lover, a medical man. of romantic character
ana oist-aught appearance, is repeled by both the
wife and the husband and relegated professional
duties in the insaiubrious climate OF West Africa.
Didacticism has long been the rock ahead in Mr.
Jones's dramatic navigation. and sometimes his
bark has split on 1t. Next to ". S. Gilbert he is
the most original inventive and expert Of con-
temporary English dranlatists; but his dramatic
iacuty would In general show itself brilliant
II il were not somewhat hampered by an inveterate
propensity TO teach and preach Nobody wishes TO
disparage the Moral Lesson Abstractly it is A
good thing. But access to the Book of Proverbs is
easy. and work of art. dramatic or otherwise
should convey its moral by sag5estion. not by IN
sistence. In The Evangelist It is announced with
trumpets and enforced with a pile-driver: and vet
after all. IL lacks hnaty-for the settlement IS
ambiguous; the errtng wife obtaining everything
that she wants and the injured husband obtaining
notnlns- This ancient theme has been many times
handled in drama. The old play of THE Stranger
oepicts IT. but in closing the performance OF that
melancholy exhibit, there was choice of methods:
either the betrayed, agonized husband and the re-
pentant, fearful wife would rush into each others
arms (quick curtain). denOting that all was for
given, or they would part, shifting their bosoms
ana rush away.-one Right First Entrance the
other o. P..-bemoaning that their separation,
though heart-rending. final. In THE Evange-
list the ethical corollary is left little vague-the
eulhor not caring, perhaps, 10 declare what,
oouotedly, he knows that the punishment of sin
peslns with the commission OF it. and steadily and
1hexorahly proceeds, in the mind and heart Of the
sner' completely irrespective of all other persons
The substantial worth of the comedy, accordingly
VIII be found to consist. not what It means but
IN what II shows. its persons are depicted with
haeuty TO actual English life. IT'S dialogue is COM
pact, pointed, neat, sometimes tersely and humor-
ousiS episrammatc, always clean and fine. The
oeVeopment Of its slender plot is adroit and cumu-
!atFe ana Is illustrated and enforced by brisk ac-
uon and by expedients Of climax each stronger
''@h I's predecessor, that equally dramatic and
eii'0ei' us exposition of the various religious
types aho views that are extant in England-and
eise"nere-ls candid, Just. sometimes amusing with
veiled humor. sometimes pungent with satire The
preacher. Rebbings,-the EVangelist-and the nbyg-
sologist, Fyson,-the agnostic-afford a sIepj6cant
contrast Tyson being the interesting char
ecter. and. indeed. the most interesting nerso IN
the play The wife. Christabel is the centre of
interest and the burden or the piece is the display OF
her experience. in England, where the friction he
tween the Anglican Church and the Nonconformist
is lively, and Is generally understood this comedy
would find ready acceptance and a more cordial
Favor than IL is likely to obtain in America Fe-
Ecity OF construction, interest OF story or the ele
ment Of suspense is well sustained piquancy Of
s'yie, certain courage Of implied opinion as 10
religion and religious institutions. combined with
some novelty of incident and of stage-setting
should. and probably WILL secure for It prosper
Gus career in this counry-for here also the Saliva
uon Army hourishes and sinners abound The cer-