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    January 29, 1853.] THE LEADER, 117

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    Cjje Ms.

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    DOUGLAS JERROLD'S NEW COMEDY. " Base is ...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Xiii. March 22,1862. ©Pglju R Plans Have...

    hypocrisy and its cruelty ; that I cannot find life amongst you , Ml or free m its growth ; aud that I abominate such life as numbers accept—loathe it , and fly from it . " Conway held up his hand , in sign that he desired to speak for me . He has a right to his own opinion , the right to declare it , the right to act upon it . If we could all do as much , if we could come to each other ' s real opinions , our usages and statutes would mow readily conform to our real knowledge and convictions ; instead of being made to conform in many things to the knowledge and opinions of a fierce , high-nosed race of Stony Arabia more than two thousand years ago . Tristan ' s mistake is , that he does not appreciate our difficulties . You know me too wellTristanto

    , , think that I would willingly be the—what shall I call it?—the hypocrite I am—it is better to say it out—if it were not for the sake of others . I am in the church ; when I was a youth , I was inclined to study , and there was < a living in the family ' and so I < went into the church . ' After I was there , I began to ask myself what it meant , that church . Many never ask themselves the question , or put it down as soon as it rises to their minds ; others ask it , and answer it as I did once before—that we are a College of Soothsayers , and that the church is a provision for cadets and

    scholars . But answer it how we may , we mostly ask the question after we have entered the fatal circle , and can get out no more . Or if I were to leap over it , what would become of my two sisters , to whom the rectory is as much a provision as to myself ? No ; my only solicitude is that they may not see the renegade I am ; * and they do not know , they have not a suspicion of that which is no secret to all of you , or to many more beside . " " Then you do not help them to know you or your duties , " interposed Margaret , from the throne where she sat , a living picture . " Tell them . "

    " No , Margaret ; they are not strong enough—neither born so nor bred so . But that is a difficulty , Tristan , which you do not appreciate . It is only one sample of numbers . " " I appreciate it fully . I only say , that if your timidity—pardon me , Conway , for using the word—were not _ endemic , your case would be seen to be the case of hundreds , if not of thousands ; and thousands cannot be punished for sincerity in our day . Your difficulty would cease , if none of you regarded it as a difficulty . But it is that bugbear ' difficulty' which holds down the Englishman morally , as it does the Italian industrially . I do not blame you ; I suppose you all like it—you to live without your real religion in the midst of a false one—every man to live in fetters . I would rather starve unfettered . "

    " And your sisters V " I never had any—except Julie . Well , I would rather that she should starve , too ; and so would she . But still , you all surprise me . Englishmen used to boast of speaking their mind , when they had but little mind to speak t they now dread to say what they think , and profess to think only what the average mind licenses . But come , we are ourselves getting to be an ' institution' for the maintenance of talk , and we are forgetting our business in hand . " " Except Walter , " said Edwardes ; " his pencil has not stayed , and the face there on the canvas grows more and more a reflex of that dread countenance which we all worship so devoutly . "

    " If you make Margaret smile , " said Stanhope , " you will foil me as much as by making her frown . That is right . " " How serene and grand she looks ! " said Edwardes . " Edwardes , I will turn you out , " exclaimed Stanhope ; " leave me to my business , and attend to your own . " Accordingly , we all fell to discussing the day of departure , the transit , the resting-places ; resolved to mix salt water with our fresh winds : for Edwardes would not be content without .

    While we were on that point , another friend came in—Markham , with a new proposition . He had heard of our project from Johnson , and came to ask us to his own place , in Sussex , close by the sea j large grounds , with a " large house ; all at our service . In spite of his manifest sincerity , I saw that the others hung back , from the Englishman ' s dread of an " obligation , " or of " being troublesome , " especially as they were so many . I do not suppose that either Stanhope or Margaret shared that dread , Margaret had risen from her chair when Markham came in;—she permitted

    him to hand her off the throne as they shook hands ; and she placed herself by Stanhope ' s aide , with her hand on his shoulder . Seeing the hesitation , Markham specifically directed his request to Margaret ; who turned to Stanhope . He looked upon her with a smile of assent , aud she accepted . " Who will come ? " asked Markham . " You , of course , Tristan ; and you , Oouway . Lord Werneth V Werneth said he waa going to join the party . " At your own time , " replied Markham ; " you , Edwardes , vvitli your wife . A house , a park , a cutter , all your own . " " And you yourself , Mr . Markham ? " asked Margaret . " If I have your permission , on the Sunday : I , you know , am a slave . "

    It was agreed . Edwardes has promised to give us as much oi his tune as he can ; Markham the same ; Werneth will join us in . a week . We shall not disappoint Sophy Johnson , whom Yseult and I have promised to visit j but from her place we shall g o straight to Seven Hills . Of course Julie is of the pnrty Margaret volunteered that promise to Markham , with a sly smile that sat strangely on the grave countenance of young Ceres j and the great grocer received the promise with a blush that would have adorned the fatie of any girl . No man feels quite himself when the woman he has wooed in vain points his choice in another direction .

    Talking of Julie , the mystery is out . She has cultivated her lovely and brilliant voice to disengage her little property for me / " No , Julie , " I said , " no property for me . It is a burden . I should give it away . I disapprove , seriously' *—for she began to laugh— " of so many things connected with property , that I will not meddle with it . I will not buy and sell . I will not take other men ' s earnings , nor exact a fee for letting other men get at God ' s earth . I do not say that those are wrong who do so —•

    you , at all events , cannot be wrong ; but I say that I have scruples ; I have ao practice in the matter ; I do not ? care to be troubled with the thought , or with settling my scruples , or with the responsibilities of property . I will pitch my tent where I am welcome , and when I cease to be welcome anywhere , I will strike my tent altogether in this world . And that will not be while dear Julie is alive—nor while Valperduta belongs to Giorgio and Elena . "

    Dear Julie looked disappointed ; but I soon made her know that I valued her sacrifice , though I would not use it . I think we shall start for Dutton on Monday , to be at Seven Hills on Tuesday or Wednesday . We all go to Dutton , taking up our abode at the inn , and the rest doing what they list while Yseult and I pay our visit , and Edwardes too ; for he will not miss the visit to Sophy Johnson .

    January 29, 1853.] The Leader, 117

    January 29 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER , 117

    Cjje Ms.

    Cjje Ms .

    Douglas Jerrold's New Comedy. " Base Is ...

    DOUGLAS JERROLD'S NEW COMEDY . " Base is the slave who pays ! " When Pistol uttered that energetic and admirable sentiment , he had never known what it is to enjoy a " press privilege , " and , suddenly deprived thereof , to open the theatre by means of a silver key . Jknew it on Saturday last . It was a new sensation " quite refreshing , " as the elegant writers phrase it . I felt independent for once . I , who had never dared to whisper a word of objection against any manager , actor , or author , —I , whose amiable admiration had been uniformly purchased , ( cheap , too , at the price , )—I , who called Caulfield a tenor and Charles Xean a tragedian , who rhapsodised about Harrison and doated on Castellan , —I was at last to " speak my mind ! " And wkat a

    mind . ' There was a terrific ruab . for places , and criticism was represented by a " most powerful cast . " How could it be otherwise P The new comedy was by Douglas the witty , Jerrold the keen . It had been produced at Windsor , as in old times the chefs-d ' t euvre of Moliere were first produced at Versailles ; as in old times , also , our modern Moliere was invited to Windsor , gracefully received by the Court , and treated with all the respect due to intellectual kingship . Yes ; you may not , perhaps , have seen it in the papers , but Douglas was invited , Douglas was present , and intellect

    the Court felt flattered and pleased b y his presence . Men oi always are welcome there . These lords and ladies convened to laugh at the sparkling fancy of the dramatist , emulated each other in attentions to the man . We are so proud of our clever men , in England ! We leave to other , and more sordid nations , the worship of inanities , —we worship genius . ( I have paid my money , and I am speaking my mind . ) And what was this comedy which so delighted the Court P St . Cupid ; or , Dorothy ' s Fortune . Let me try and give some report thereof . In the first place I note that the piece is written without a part for Charles Kean ; yet they say Jerrold is deficient in construction ! In the next place , I note that , both as to writing and construction , one cannot name a better

    first act : it is a model of an " exposition ; " all the points in the story are artistically presented , and the curtain falls leaving us in a pleasant titulation of curiosity and interest . The dialogue has been brilliant , the satire humane yet keen withal , the" fancy playful . But the second act , though very amusing , has one great dramatic sin—want of progression . The curtain falls , and leaves all the characters , and all points of the story , m the same position , only a little intensified , as at the end of Act I . Valentines love is more confirmed , the cousin's jealousy is deepened , the spy a suspicions have grown into certainties ; but the story has not moved to a climax , and , dramatically speaking , there is no second net at all . Act third winds the various threads into a dramatic ravel , and thon unravels

    them again in a swift ; summary manner . The curtain descends , the bravos and clappings finally cease , Llio laughing applauders stream out of the theatre , and as the critical mind settles down in quietness , and asks itself briefly , What is St . Cupid ! the answer is slow in coming . Underneath the fireworks of wit there is in truth but a slender thread of dramatic anecdote ; a . simple story of wooing and winning makes up the piece . One \ n pleased , but never excited—except to sudden laughter at the flashing dialogue ; the serious interest is so quiet , and the intrigue so transparent , that it ; passes on without raising any quick emotion . , . , „ , __ , , comedwould have had

    Iii the hands of a good French company this y another kind of success . A word of praise , however , in due to James Vining for his gentlemanly portrait of the gouty old diplomatist ; to Walter Lacy , for his quiet gaiety in the lover ; and unqualified praise to Wright for his gipsov queen : with unexaggerrtted humour lie entered into the character , and filled up tlVo Heeond act so that one never noticed its dramatic stationarinoss . Barley as the pompous old schoolmaster waa —Harley . i -l- i * . r ii On Monday the season of French Plays begins , to the delight oi ftll lovers of amusing pieces and good acting . Ravel , the incomparable opens the campaign with Un Monsieur qni suit lea Dames , a piece which some of my readers may have had tho misfortune of seeing played at the Strand Theatre under the title of Kensington Gardens , whoro a httmdroufl idea was entrusted td the most intolerable j & ime premier ever inflicted on the credulity of a British pit . ' ViviAtt .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 29, 1853, page 117, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29011853/page/21/