The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1918-04-20
DULL READING

OT1HE plays in which the craftsman
II or the porch-climber is the hero a
romantic figure and perfect
gentleman, are set down by a dramatic
critic as being among the most pernicious
influences of the modern stage in that
they surely have begotten in genera
tior of juvenile criminals if indeed they
have not been the inspiration in many
instances, of that modern type, the gem
tleman burglar"
Without seeking deliberately and with
malice aforethought to beIittfe the in
fluence of writers of the familiar crook
plays which had quite vogue for sew
eral years; without Mountaineering upon
Arsepe Lupin, the hero of play by
that title which delighted the matinee
girls, or denying that "Raffles'' makes
the sentimental burglar at least as at
tractive as the Bret Harte gambler, if
somewhat more artificial, it may be
asked whether the gentleman burglar is a
modern type Of crook.
There was Deacon Brodie of old Edn-
burgh, who flourished long ago, a man
as fair spoken as the late Deacon Gala
han, of Breathitt county, and quite as
full Of darkness Of spirit and unchurch-
manlike guile. Robert Louis Stevenson
in his picturesque Notes of Edinburgh"
says that the fame Of Deacon Brodie is
kept piously fresh," as food for visi-
tors, and as a cud for Ednburghians,
who are fond of the traditions of the
town. The deacon is described as fol-
lows:
"A great man in his day was Deacon
Brodie; well seen in good society, crafty
with his hands as a cabinet maker and
one who could sing a. song with TASTE
Many Q citizen was proud to welcome
regret at a timeous hour, who would
have been vastly disconnected had he
known how soon and in what guise his
visitor returned Many stories are told
of this redoubtable burglar. but the one
/ have in mind most wildly gives the
key to all the rest A friend of Brodie's
had told him of projected visit to the
country, and afterward, detained by
some affairs, put it off and stayed the
night in town. The good man had lain
sometime awake; it was far on in the
small hours by the Iron bell; when sud
denly there came creak and a jar, a
faint light Softly he clambered out of
bed. and up to a false window which
looked upon another room, and there, by
the glimmef of a thieves lantern was
his good friend the deacon, in a mask"
Here is an incident in the life of a
gentleman burglar of old times, and a
scene sketched with few bold strokes,
which sets the stage and provides the
central figure hardly a hero, for the
modern crook play. 1t is necessary to
kers from his jowl. shave him clean and
dress him as a young man in society
and we have the hero par excellence of
the play in which the gentleman bur-
glar is presented. AS for the sympathy
of the theatregoers with such charac-
to Stevenson the friend who detected
Deacon Brodie with the dark lantern
and mask could not find it in his heart
to do more than shoe the gentleman out
and quite a good time elapsed before a
great robbery and an apprehension in
Amsterdam ended the career Of Deacon
William Brodie on the gallows
!, 1t is remembered of the Spartan boy
not that he was thief and bad lot,
but that he maintained an air Of inno-
cence and OF complacency while the
stolen fox ate his vitals. In the fact lies
the kernel Of nut which dramatists
crack with profit The public loves a
hero, not necessarily a virtuous one. and
reads avidly OF the man who arrived at
the gallows tardily. in view of the num-
Der Of crimes, but ate q pound of beet
and drank quart Of coffee for break
fast on the morning Of the hanging. and
donned the nocse and cap with his owr
hands and with = smile. THe -