The New York Herald Newspaper, November 16, 1874, Page 3

DA femmennetet te eneee SUNDAY AMUSEMENTS. How New York Was Entertained in the Theatres Last Night MUSIC AND THE DRAMA. A ee ee The Grand Sacred Concerts with Liberal Variations. STAGE ANSWERS PULPIT. Br, Talmage Renews His Attack on the Thea- tre and Its Moral Contagion. LES BRIGANDS IN THE BOWERY. Actors and Actresses Reply to the Brook- lyn Pulpit Player. FAROE AND TRAGEDY. Brian Boroihme and Bloody Nathan the Avenger. Grand Opera House—Italian Opera. The increase in the attendance at.the third Sun- @ay operatic performance at the Grand Opera House last night was of the most marked kind. ‘The opera was Rossini’s ‘i Barblere di Seviglia,” ® work which has gone through the wear and tear Of sixty years’ popularity without losing the fresh- ‘Mess of one of its melodies. The age of Almavivas and Rosinas seems to have departed, ana declama- tion has taken the place of vocalization. The florid music of Rossini finds very few apt imterpreters at the present day, when the ic taste demands lyric food of a stronger Mile. Donadio has a light, agreeable Voice, sufficiently flexibie for all the require- ments of the of Rosina, and her acting 4s natural and gracefal. Signor Debasaini gave effect to the masic of the Count and played the part witn animation and ease. Signor Der Puente Made an excellent Figaro and isirly danced the role through with mischievous humor and merri- ment. Carl Formes made his first appearance as the sly old music master, Basilio, and was greeted with enthusiasm by the audience. The great aria “La calunnia,” which be once sang with electric effect, was delivered last evening with a littie of is former eight and he was recalied several ‘times. But the want of steadiness in the tone and evidences of weakness at times showed that the great voice had not fully recovered from its wtate of decadence. Fiorini appeared as Bartolo, and Mr. 8. Behrens conducted the orchestra. Mile. Albani attended the performance last evening. Stadt Theatre—*Die Banditen.” ‘The Teutonic element rallied last night in great @rray in search of joyous song, and before eight o'clock what might be termed the great prairie theatre of the east side of the metropolis, now handsomely decorated and upholstered, was Packed to its utniost limits—which means, on a rush, capacity for 3,000 human beings of various Weights and sizes. The interior of the building presented a Sine effect, and the anxious look which was wont to mark the features of the ex- pectant throng when the means of egress in case of Gre caused woeful thoughts from pit todome was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the Stadt has been Gressed in a brand new sult of clothes, with plenty kets to boot. The attraction last night was Offenbach’s ever popular opéra “Les Brigands,” and justice compels the statement thet it was very fairly presented. Apart from a few defects in the rendering of some of the choice morceaux in the production, a little boisterous- ness in the chorus and an occasional tumult in the orchestra, the performance seemed to give general @atisfaction. Miss Lina Mayr, in the rdle ol Fto- rella, carried, of course, the honors of the evening and acquitted herself witn credit, displaying throughout a clever conception of the part. she ‘was assisted by Miss Heynold as Fragoletto—a sprightly young artiste, of elastic tendencies, who, ceougt lacking vocal qualifications, exhibited con- siderable drollery and @ good deal of abandon, Herr Schitz, as Falsacappa, one of the bandit pars Herr Witt, as Garmagnola, and Herr hOnwolf, as Bramarbasso, proved themselves valuable acquisitions to the company. merous features with which this production bounds were well brought forward, and the audi- ence testifed their appreciation by repeated and enthusiastic plaudits, The stage setting and cos- tumes were in accord witu the general sucround- ings, and altogether the entertainment was thor. oughly relished, Grand Sacred Concert at the Bowery Theatre. Last evening the honest, horny-handed and Dard working masses gathered by actual count to the number of 8,060 persons at the Bowery Thea- tre, to listen to the nineteenth Grand Sacred von- cert which was given to accommodate the citizens, burghers and their wives of the Eest Side. There ‘was in the minds of all spectators some little @oubt as to the nature of the concert, from the fact ‘shat the programme distributed to the audience contained the names of three plays, viz. :—“Your Effe’s in Danger,” “Brian Boroihme; or, The Maid of Erin,” and “Nick of the Wooas; or, Bloody Nathan the Avenger.” These plays were given with all their thrilling incidents, marches, tableaux, heroic escapes, terrific combats and bloody murders to an admiring, awestruck and entousiastic audience. As every one knows, the Bowery Theatre is the home oi virtue, and tt is only here that vice and treachery 1s punished with Severity and instantaneous effect. A new actor Of wonderful tragic power has loomed up at the Ola Drury and his name is Cogswell. Mr. Cogs- weil is a man who believes in killing his man with- Out taking too long about it, and the way he ‘smashed the Danish invaders at the battle of @lontar! was cheering to every man and woman P Ohae ll in whoge vosom flowed the hot and honest ood of the patriotic Celt. Mr. Charles Manly en- acted the part of the gray-haired and venerabie “Monarch oi Ireland’? and Mra. W. @. Jones, an old favorite of Bowery audiences, was the Erina of the play. But it was not unwl alate hour that the thrilling agony of the sacred con- The nu- cert began, and then only when the curtain lilted on the dri f “Nick of the Woods; or, Bloody Nathan the Avenger.” Every few moments the ‘wild yell or piercing war whoop of the murderous Indian came trom the wings and slips, carrying terror and satisfaction at one and the same time to the breasts of the 3,000 spectators, In this lay Mr. Cogswell bore the fatigue, burden and eat of no less than six different characters— Nick of the Woods, Blooay’ Nathan, The Jibvenainosay,” “The Avenger,” ‘Tne Spirit of ‘the Waters” and ‘Reginald of Ashburn.” 1t was feast of horrors and a flow of gore, and the pectators sat entranced and spell-bound in their seats, unabie to rise and utterly dominated by the witching spell of the bloody drama depicted beiore them. There was biood every- ‘where; On the performer’s hands, on their hunt- ing shirts, on the stocks of their rifles; biood flowed irom the roolirees of the scat- fered and jonely log cabins, and blood poured $B torrents by tne rivers and camp fires of the tk and Bloody uround, in which the incidents nd terrors of the drama are supposed to occur. “Bloody Nathan,” every few minutes would repeat ne sentence in a doleful and cavernous voice, which was as tollowa;—‘l have come for corn! Say shail Ihave it? Shouts of the wildest de- Might greeted this request, and ever and anon ‘game the shrill sound of the maddening war whoop Ea the leaves of the painted forest. ere was in addition to the chief attraction of she play one other impersonation that attracted Much attention from the audience who came to ten to the sacred concert, and this was the char- ter Of “Captain Roaring Ralph Stackpole, the ing-Tatled Squealer.” This character was per- cag ah Mr. W. T, Melvilie, and he seemed to ‘9 bitter and relentiess hatred to all persons of the Indian persuasion, that was truly gratifying and inspiriting {n these days of agonizing and interminable peace commissions. Re midnight, and about the time that the Fattle of the early milk can was heard in the lonely Bowery, Se at play was still in pro- gress, and when the audience were finally dis- missed they ail felt in their heart of hearts that they had fully enjoyed the twentieth Grand Sacred Concert at the Bowery Theatre, DB. TALMAGE UPON THEATRES, Avery crowded congregation was present yes- serday morning at the Tabernacle, when the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, D. D. resumed the subject of his discourse of last Sunday morning, in reference to the propriety of Christian people attending tnea- tres, and patronizing the American stage as it now is, The services were conducted as usual, wit the exception that, in the absence of the NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1874.-TRIPLE SHEET. Precentor or tne church, who, the Pastor said, Was invalided, the music was led by the assistance Of &@ cornet-2piston, which occasionally appeared Somewhat to mar the effect of the volume of the Congregational voice which is so deeply effective in this church. Dr. Talmage took his text from the sixth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, and part of the forty-iourth verse—“ For every tree is known by his own fruit.” He said Christ laid down principles and this ja | one of his greatest. It is to juage of every institu- ton, whether it be good or bad, by its fruits. In all social, moral or political questions {t is our first duty to inquire what are ite fruits; are they good or bad? On the previous Sunday, in reference toa question which had repeatedly been asked him by members of his congregution as to whetuer tt is right to patronize the American stage as it now is, | he had {elt it hia duty to bring this subject before Dig congregation. A tree may have long roots and stout branches, but the real question is, wi | are its fruits? He remembered in his father’ orchard @ tree which bad @ hollow trunk, but | which bore luxurious frutr, You could get iside the trunk, but the question was whether you could get a better idea of the tree from the inside or the outside. He contended, therefore, that those who are inside the theatrical prolession are the less competent to judge of the irait of the tree. Every ¢ Hmgranee Rig made between the drama and theatres. Every dialogue is a drama, Solomon’s Song 1@ @ drama. The parables are dramas. Scott, Addison and Shakespeare sre not answer- able as dramatists for the stage as it is. He said I love the drama, ada were ‘you to biot out the drama you would destroy WHOLE CONSTELLATIONS OF PURITY. But the modern drama was l|ike the man alluded to in Scripture, who fell among thteves who left nim balf dead. He bad spoken in the previous | sermon of the average American stage, ofits evil | effects upon employés which he had heard from men who knew; of tts evil adjuncts, showing that pure plays and surroundings cannot get on; and that liquor bars and sensuality are necessary to theatrical success. He nad also spoken of the character of the people who went to theat and shown that bad people love 1t—the crows and buz- zards who indicate the existence of a carcass; and had also shown that It was the AVENUE TO DESTRUCTION, as attested by credible witnesses who reported that three-fourths of those who committed crime themselves attriputed tbetr downfall from the Tight path to the influence of tne stage. He now, asa fith reason against it, said that good and wise men of all ages have objected toit. The sages of Greece and Rome did so ts well as the purest and best Christians. Some might say it was use- less to talk of Plato and Socrates, of Washington and Franklin, but even these might respect Chris- tian fathers and mothers. Those who are real Christians and can have no bad motives will tn- variably warn theif children against it, It is claimed that the stage has no chance of vindicat- ing itself, How can that be said of a profession Which has in its possession every tascination to | which art, music, painting, poetry and eloquence | can coutribute. ‘The Christian world was asked | its verdict—guilty or not guilty? and it said guilty, 80 SAY ALL, Among millions of men and women ot eminent piety, no one likes the theatre, and those who are ving consecrated lives tu God, cry shame on ttand its belongtags. Cnarlotie Cushman was no doubt @ pure and noble woman. Her Meg Merrilies was overwhelming but her grandest performance of all upon toe stage was that which she nad just en- acted when she walked of it. (Great applause.) Again, theatres constitute @ pollution of the pub- lic tastes. Some aver that they elevate it, but even the titles of plays tell a diferent story, and it ia the tendency of theatres to debauch tne public | mind. Set before two audiences the plays of Richard the Third and the Black Crook, and which would draw the largest house? There is not ink black enon: to write down the effect of such pieces. But ho might be told he was talking of the stage Ag it used to be, while it was now reformed, puri- fying. elevating, almost sanctifving. He did not get bis ideas from books, put from living men and Women. It was not necessary to know smallpox personally—and he had neither had it nor seen a case of it m his lie—to guard against infection, and he knew, without going to theatres, that they constitute 4 WORAL CONTAGION, not upon the gome-by evidence of the sixteenth, seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, bul irom their actual resulta, their fruit, up to lasc night, Woy, in this very last week a play hhd been acted ina Brooklyn theatre than which nothing could be more obscene and _ aduiterous. The Part o: Sir Gtles Overreacn positively reeks with just. If the things done and said on the stage coula be transferred to our parlors, such as were enacted in this piece on Monday and Tnarsday last, is there a decent man or woman who would set foot within such a threshold? And this we are told is your exquisite, moral, elevating and refining influence! From what depths has it climbed up? In the name ot society and an eternal God I DENOUNCE rr, Would any of us have men and women in our drawing rooms arrayed with the scantiness of clothing with which they appear on the boaras of @ theatre, and with such an entire scantiness of fig leaves? It has been stated that a gentleman had employed himself to count the immoralities in modern plays and that he found them toamount to 70,000; but I would as soon think of counting these obscenities as I would take a census of the dead dogs and cats lying inthe gutter. It would be as profitable an employment as following the nude and filthy foot of stage licentiousness. If theatrical representations be pure they meet with but little applause; if impure, abandoned people mark their liking of them. The sentiments ana od images which this elevating influence en- courages are inuendos which look two ways, and the emphasis which savors of unchastity; ior these there are thunderous outbursts of appiause. As an educator of taste we can well get on without it, for where one haman being is raised | 10,000 are irretrievably sunk by this great mis- sionary institution, the influences of which, we are told 80 There was, some time since, brought out called “The Drunkard," ‘Have you seen ‘The Drunkari is ry temperance lec- tures; but to the chief actor in it found his moral and elevi labors proved too much, and he died in delirium Next, the theatres present a distorted view of human life. We are told that we must see the bad as well as the good side of human nature; but we sbali for ourselves find out that quite soon enough. In plays such characters as the honest Portia ana the gentle Miranda do not form tne chief ele- ments. We are presented, on the other hand, with libertines out of namber, and, if innocents are dispicted it is merely that the murderer's knife may be plunged into them. If we want kpavery let us go and see it in the Tombs; if we want to know the hideous consequences of lust and evil passions let us go to the institutions on the Island; and if we want to see revenge W May be sure we shall not get through life with- out making some enemies, and discovering tt for ourselves, while we can find from the city police in what abominable dwellings vice and crime linger and where bumanity in filth blasphemes God and dies. We can see more than We want of the worst side of humen nature with- Out going to theatres. A man might jsay, I hear a hon 18 @ dangerous animal. I waat to find out for myself, He opens the door of the pb " and the monster falls on him and dev for the lion does not regara him ag only of natural history. THE DEVIL IS MEAN. He says come and see, and then as @ roaring lion he gravs the theatre-goer and he is gone. We may pay too dearly when to learn human we Tisk oar immortal nature. jain, the theatres are responsible for the non- health of many. The great army of indolence Wastes its three hours ata time at theatres, alt. ting in an atmosphere composed of ten per cent of Cologne, fiity of tobacco, one of oxygen and 375 of poor whiskey. No wonder that the theatres turn out so Many poor, sickly, Weak, inane victims, fit neither to live nor die. 1 knew s young man who attended the play of “Macbeth” tor tart night and who gave up church attendance, his Biote an a Such are the effects of the theatre, and as the MURDERER OF SOULS I denounce it, Also, the theatre is the ene! of domestic life. You will ind houses with iathers and mothers which are no homes on its account, What are the measles at home tn comparison with the attractions of @ favorite actor triumphs and the meas! a hot plougi 10,000 4merican homes that pe) are askea to tronize, Ask such &@ theatre-going mother in alter years what has become o1 her two children, and you will find that one has defrauded ana the other run away from home without farther ac- count of hil jut she will tell you that she paid Bridget $3 a week to 100k after them. 1 do not Mean to leave this subject only half discussed, but 1 intend to plough it up, a8 it 1s my duty to do as a faitnful shepherd, viewing it ag a subject which pertains to the life to come. I am no advocate of STRART-JAOKETED RELIGION, No one laughs more than myself or is fall of more hilarity; bus I must draw a line, and itis the ition of the Church of God which has to be de- ined. I am an advocate for every amusement which 1s not opposed to and its surroundings not antagonistic to the law of Ohrist and the spiritual growth of my flock, Some people object to parior amusements; but I am sure that those men do more, and in a better religious spirit, who possess hilarity. This world is not a dull word, ae 1 can say for myself it is the pleasantest 8 ih which I ever lived. I have no saith in sighs and groans and sour and long-drawn faces, Give me the Christian man whose expression beams with the text, “rejoloe evermore.” A dolorous Chris- tian always turns out badly. I knew a man of the Kind, fll of groaning ghd apparent seli-abnara- ve Le tion, and before two years were over he went away with the funds of aan, RELIGION 13 NO BLACK AN! Ways are ways of er pat! are peace.” Only remember that we shall all ha’ to give account for our recreation. At that great day the Haymarket, Drury Lane and all the the- atres of tne world will be under one inspection, and each one of us will be there. will be the scene. The earth, and kings, lords will ry on it, There will be no tinsel and no gau ‘he footlights will be @ xed. will be filed with an innumerable company of the beavenly host. The applause will be from the t the mighty sea. The curtain will be the heavens and earth rolled together; the tragedy the doom of the lost, and the farce the futile attempts of mankind to serve at the same time God and the world. Bat the Jast scone of the last act will be the nations rushing rignt and left, some tO gO away IDLO everlasting fre and others into lite eternal. Let, wnen, the wicked man now “‘forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thonghts; and let him return unto the Lord and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for | He will abundantly pardon.”” Let us prostrate ourselves at the feet of the dying Jesus, ! Dr, Talmage announced that in consequence of | having to preach a sermon next Sunday morning, commemorative of a deceased lady, & member of his congregation, he will continue the subject of this sermon on tne following Sunday morning, when he will consider the objections which have wanes to bis treatment Of his subject by tue i : “7 ON TALMAGE. ———— To THe Eprror OF THE HERALD:— In the Beratp’s report of Sunday sermone the I Rev. Talmage figures as the ungracious pastor who “recks not bis own rede.” He ts the last of a long line who have periodically stooped from their nigh | calling and leaned sanctimoniously over the pulpit | to pour abuse on theatres, His barangue has but one ierit—it is quite in the fashion; but the commonest intelligence cannot escape the con- viction that his words are untruthful and the oc- casion for uttering them most inopportune. This 1 @ bad season for churches. They have lately saffered more lapses than the theatres can por- tray. Tney have built high and tumbled low. They j) have nad a fall and are wandering toward a winter ofdiscontent. Just now, therefore, all the ministers are needed at home. They have them- selves broken through church discipline and bat- tered at church walls until the hour has come when they must rebuild, not forgetting also that the corner stone 1s charity, which they cannot re- Move, or the whole edifice will fall in ruin, At such a moment it does not become Mr. Tal- Mage to neglect his duty, nor to escape it by climbing heavenward on his church steeple, nor to survey from thence all the world as beneath him, for others of his class engaged in his same endeavor have fallen from as high a position. Be- sides, itis no time to grasp at thunderboits, nor is the place secure trom whepce to hurithem. He who for others thus invites the lightning ia moat likely tobe struck himself. Men are not angels, Ror ‘are ministers so immortal that they can so disdain their duty to fallen bumanity. Therefore we pray you, Brother Talmage, think before you speak again (next Sunday). You have a better mission. Come down and do it. The Master is Waiting His servant and the work is not done. Mortals are calling thetr guide and the leader ts gone im their hearing. ‘he Church is asking jor workmen and the laborer has forsaken his duty. The theatre is asking for reformers, but the reformed has turned bigot. The world needs good men everywhere, and men too good have turned haters o! their kind, and condemn, vut do not de- iver, Everything is dam (n)d, especially women. Good women do uot belong to theatres, says l'abernacie ‘Talmage; nor to the Church, says Plymouth pas- tor. Delilah betrays Samson, “poor Mary” ruins Glendenning and another poor organist elopes with the beguiled Gerdemann. Come down, Brother Talmage. There is work in the vineyard. Comedown. Let our task be done, Let us pluck ont our own ‘mote’ and see our way clearly. Shen, when we are once more on a guod footing, it will be time for us to clinch the moun- tain of our own self-righteousness aud look down on the world where our rival, the theatre, 18 preaching the sermun of good will tor humanity. Then, if we, cannot alter the world’s belief that true men and honest women may and do de- vote pure iives to necessary art, then, if no churches are in the road of the wreck, Will we loose the avalanche. Tt. AN ACIRESS SUPPORTING ART. To THE Rev DR. TALMAGE:— CHARITABLE Sik—The Holy Scriptures command us “to have compassion on ignorance,” snd also say, “Bat if any be ignorant, let him be ignorant,’? Yet, as fully as I sympathize with you, I must ask you if you know that the world has progressed since the days of Nell Gwynne, the actress, an/l Car- dinal Richelieu, the priest ? In answer to your de- nunciation of the stage, 1 ask you what crime she has committed that finds not its paraliel in the Church ? When did the stage vomit forth such a mass of fiith as has lately been thrown from the Church? You speak of the foulest murder of modern times being committed by a play actor. There was recently a murder committed very near us. A loving, trusting girl was killed. Her murderer did not break her skull, but he did break her heart—and he was a minister. You say “the blasting influences of the green- Toom are destructive of all womanly virtues.” I ask you were you ever in a green-room? I do not think you ever were. Ask Mr. Wallack, Mr. Daly, or Mr. Harry Palmer to conduct you there during the play. You will see a small room, into which no one except members of the com- pany are allowed. Perchanee it will be desertea, or occupied for few moments only as some mimic dame comes to adjust her train or some mimic lover whom she scarcely knows comes to await his “call.” Allis quiet and an air of thorough gentility prevails. in all positions in lite some women “go astray.’ Did the shelter of the Church Keep Mrs. Tilton’s name free from scandal? Did Mary Pomeroy meet “the libertine, the offscour- | tng of society’ in @ theatre? Was the lady who eloped with the Botte from Philadeipbia trying to earn her bread in a profession that Chariotte Cushman has done much to ennoble? No! put ar the very altar of the Ohurch—tar from “the contamination of the green-room.”” Because these crimes are committed shall the world cry, “Down with the Church? away with her ministers?” No!no! I say a hundred times DO! but better you strive to purily the atmosphere in which you labor, as we strive to purily ours, You ask, “What parent of your congregation ‘Would like to see {ts daughter # ballet girl?” 1 ask, What parent likes labor of any kind forced upon its daughter? Does he like her to make shirts at six cents a piece? Does he like her to stand ten hours a day behind the counter of & store? Yet it is being done every day by daugh- re, tenderly reared as gor had address, In Bpedmiation, where fo! quae ee made and lost, and no position secure, every woman is lable to have her own bread toearn, Self-made bread is always hard for & woman i) eat, and fe pecially if she has beon raised with 00 thougnt for ‘the morrow.” If she has implanted in her some talent for the stage way should she not use it? Jc is the only profession where a woman gets paid equally with a man forthe same labor. I think there are few positions where & woman is 80 well protected, If shi 8 brains to gain a positton she soon leaves the pangs oi poverty behind her, and thus she is enabled to provide better tor nerself than if she had a trade. So you think “ ere, are invariably discontented and miserabie, a member of the profession, I deny it. Do ministers never “wish they were dead?’ are doctors, lawyers or merchants never drunkards or vaga- bondi I tell you the stage isa power, and can no more be obliterated than could the Christian reil- ae in the days of persecution. Let its standard elevated, Let it call to its regeneration the intellect and purity of all occupations. When the Uhurch has wholly purged itself from Wrong doing then will the stage listen patiently to its denunciations. But not until then bas ft earned the rignt to arrogate to itself the privilege Of being the only teacher. Respectiully, AN ACTRESS, FROM THE FOOTLIGHTS. To THE Eptror oP THE HERALD:— No one interested in the dramatic art can fall to be strack with the HeRaxp's report of Dr. Tal- mage’s sermon in the Brooklyn Taberaacie on Sun- Gay last. To denounce a man because he does not see as We see is to be Darrow minded and unchris- tian, 60 let us avoid a bad example and suppose that Dr. Talmage is an earnest man seeking to give the best instruction and guidance to his flock. His arguments, or rather his statements (for they are put a8 recelved facts) against the theatre will, at least, bear criticism, and most of them contradiction, A clergyman: is in a@ privileged position in regard to the audience ne addresses. a politician, a lec- turer, @ man addressing a crowd in any other ca- Dacity except that ol spiritual director, is subject to the expressed disapprobation of his hearers; Dut the sanctity of a church has opened an oppor- tunity for men to give out their most bitter prej- Udices, their worst errors of judgment, under an appearance of divine sanction, and a congrega- tion, even though tempted, by the workings of their own reason, to condemn the enunciations of their pastor, will maintain silence for the respect whey owe his ofice and jor the duty ef encourag- ing an appearance of peace and concord in their chureh society. Any class of people, attacked so bitterly as the attachés and patrons of theatres have been attacked by Dr. Talmage, is entitied, at least, to 4 hearing in its own defence, and it is only to be wondered at that {rom the thousands attacked, 60 few words have yet gone torth in response to the obloguy thrown upon them, Dr. Talmage says, “the influence of the stage upon the actors and employés themselves ts un- dentabiy bad.” This is an assertion, not & met, Dr. Talmage does not give a proof of what he asserts, uniess it be a@ proof of bad influence that the profession showed in times of national calamity, ‘large hearted charity,” and the preacher quotes, “By their fraits shall ye know them.” Now comes ina passing panegyric upon Charlotte Cushman, which, to that honest woman, is more of a wound than @ compliment, implying, as it does, a slight to her sister artistes—'Charlotte Cushmaus are not found in profusion,’ True, genius 18 scarce everywhere; but Charlotte Cushman knows, and will say, that in her profession there are many other women obesices herself noble, kind, pure and generous—women who are supporting parents, children, ana too often husbands, by their toll. That there are many who are otherwise is true also; but those are not dragged down by the professton, They are women who, in any other calling, would be the same, and they seize, for their own base uses, the publicity wich 1s an extgency of the profession. The art does not degrade them; they Gegrade the art. As to actors they are not more Gissipated men, a8 a class, than are the sons of our rich merchants, They are, probably, even less so, having generaily slender meaus and work that must be accomplished. Dr. Talmage pronounces upon a profession with which, to judge Irom the violence of his feelings, ag well as the inaccuracy of his statements, he cannot have made himself acquainted; while the writer, a8 aD actor himself, and one who knows hundreds of ‘stage people,” speaks of what he does understand. y of note who has ever lived, is, like his father, the most genial, cheerful and sweet-vempered of gentlehhen—kina, charitaple and pleasant under the weight o his seventy years. ‘The blasting influences of the GE cenoan are destructive of all womanty virtue.” hat does the réverend preacher Know of a green- room ¢ Itis, in our modern theatres, generally a dampish, dreary place, occupied by the two or three actors, that are the largest number likely to be off the stage or iree from the work of costuming at any one time. The greenroom is empty during the run of some plays, and its influences are sim- py. those of a depressing ano dreary nature. ‘he pathetic question, “Would any parent like @ daughter to be a ballet girlf? reminds one of tne story of the boy who sald he had been tn the cut. Jery bustness—he nad turned the grindstone. Tue ballet gir) Is to the profession what the boy was to the cutlery business; and yet maby a parent has seen & poor, young, uneducated girl glad to dance her hard hours on the public stage tor the $15 or $20 @ week that she could not earp in any other Capacity, and that is not an extravagant sum upon which to feed @ family. If some of those well-meaning gentlemen who admire the dramatic art, and yet would wish to see the stage washed of its impurities before heartily indorsing it @ desirable institution, would personally interest themselves in a theatre and give encouragement to only such plays aud such people as they approve, they could soon found @ stage that would meet the requirements of the most fastidious. Why, instead of vitupera- tion, not give the theatre, or some theatre which shail be under supervision ana control, their sup- port and encouragement? if the **moral ofscouring of society” tormed the majority of the persons who frequent theatres, then ‘those passages in which religion and virtue are derided” might “receive the loudest ap- plause ;’’ but allexpertence at theatres happens to point directly the other way. The villain of the play, the Tactuffe, the designing womaa, have to reach a very high degree of histrionic merit to elicit the least applause in any theatre. Tne term “playing agaimst the audience” is well known among actors, as indicating the disagreeable labor of personifying wicked characters. The writer has, even in one of the first theatres tn New York, heard irom the gallery the word “good” hurled on to the stage, from the mouth of a rough, as the Wicked and dissolute woman of a play met her deserts, There are certain “points” in every standard drama which are well Known as never missing applause, no matter how badly they may be managed by the actor, and these ‘points’ are invariably the enunciation of some moral senti- ment, such as, in the ‘Lady of Lyons,” when the heroine says “a husband’s roof is the temple of a wife's honor.” Tnere is always @ certain amuse- ment to be found im noting how pron ty @ pretty domestic or moral sentiment will meet with applause. in @ lately translated French play, given last season, the words, ‘What is only folly {0 @ man is crime in a woman,” met every night @ storm of bisses and applause, about equally divided, which showed that the audience do not lose sight of moral questions even in the interest 01 a piay. To remember that Lincoln “was shot by a play actor” is to rememoer @ misfortune that the pro- jession suffered; but a whole ciass cannot be branded because of the crime of an individual, otherwise the clerical profeasion would, just now, be found guilty of furnishing a large amount of gojectiona ie and indecent reading matter to the daily papers. The English statistics show there are fewer capital crimes committed by actors than by persons of any other protession. Criminals may sometimes ascribe their misdeeds to theatre-going, and it is a great pity that there should exist, out of many theatres, even one uf the low sort, where brutal men may find, under a gia- mour of heroism, examples of vice; but every may be perverted. Printing should hardly be dis- couraged because of a few bad books, nor pain ing because of improper pictures. ‘Lunatic asylums probably are fillea with peo- who have been play-goers” and church-goers, too, as Dr. ee says, and people, too, who have ridden on railways and sat at dinner tables and done much like all civilized people; but in looking over the article on mental diseases in the “Kneyclopedia Britannica” there is no para- graph headed atrical Madness,” although there is one headed “Religious Madness.” If tt is not too severe under the circumstances to refer to it, actors who have been long at Wal- lack’s Theatre will remember (nat some iines were introduced once by one of their number in a littie play in which he had the part of an itinerant, by- pocritical, missionary preacher. The time was about a year and a half go shortly after the burn- ing of & large Brookiyo church, when its pastor held services in @ building devoted to theatrical representations, The words that the actor intro- duced into the play were sometbing like these:— “We do everything tor popularity; we rtise, We preach the gospel in dramatic style, and we marry cones costumed after the manner of Playactors, and marry ’em in & play house to the pplause of the audience.’ ‘ne house always me down” at that speech, because it referred to an incident of the time which, ridiculous as 16 Was then, has become, by the light of last Sun- day’s sermon, @ thousand times more ridiculous, Did somevody say, “Consistency thon art & Jewel.” AN ACTOR, ‘COULISSE CHAT. Blind Tom will visit Boston next week. Gilmore is already contemplating a jubilee. No opera to-night at the Academy of Music. 1s Mazio ever vexed in spirit? Ask the chorus, Aimée plays next week at the Park Theatre, Brooklyn. Albant ts hard a¢ work studying the rdve of Elsa, in “Lohengrin,” Mile, Albani prefers to sing to an orchestra tuned to the high pitch, Ramor has it that opéra douse will succeed Colonel Sellers. But he ts not gone yet. “Martha will be given on Wednesday with Albani, Cary, Benfratelli and Del Puente. Mr. Maurice Grau has concluded a conditional agreement with the great Italian actor Rosai. Neilson, the actress, wears a diamond necklace and pendant, for which she paid £2,500 while in England. Barnum never publishes a full length portrait because he wishes it to be understood that he is always a-head, Mile. Mares Will take Potentini’s place, and will vacate the upper right hand proscenium box in the Academy, St. Louis has ® wonder on exhibition known as the Colossal Young Lady, who weighs 400 pounds and is only nineteen years of age. ‘The Now York Conservatory of Music steps into the fleld, Max Maretzek has organized an entire opera troupe, without high priced stars, Minnie Conway and the noble Roman, McCul- lough, have been doing the persecuted heroine and constant lover at Baitnnore together. (Mr. Charles Calvert will supervise the produe- thon of the grand historical drama “Henry V.” in person, He sails from England Deeember 5. “The Deluge” will submerge Newark this even- ing. The economical and agile Hungarian family of Kiralfy will float on its highest wave Jersey: ward, “Elijah” was lately given at the Royat Albert Hall, London, with a band and chorus ot nearly one thousand performers, Mr. W, Carter acted as leader. Lydia Thompson and her blondes propose to atay in Londow, There js no international law that we know of by which we can procure tnetr extradition. That well known Indian rubber family, the Ma- Jtltons, make boa constrictors of themselves every evening for the benefit of tue truly loyal people of Atlanta, Ga, It ts saia that Mre. Howard Paul has bought from Ofenbach an opéra boufe, entitied, “Whit- tington and fis Cat,” for the modest price of $5,000 per act. Harrigan and Hart, at the Comique, are the chief attractions, and their humor in the “Pat- rick’s Day Parade’ is of. the excruciating and grotesque kind. Anew singer is snnounced whose voice has (a compass of three and five-eighths octaves, Now if she can only make notes of the other denomi- nations out of It, The veteran Chippendale nag parted with the London daymarket and his oid friend Buckstoue, having been seduced from his allegiance by the Lyceum Bateman. There seems to have been an epidemic of ‘Romeo and Juliet" jately, Joseph Wheelock snd ‘Agnes Booth are the last cases at the Calilornia Theatre, in San Francisco. A lady with the terrtvle name of Mad. Nanette Faik-Auerback is singing in symphony concerts at Baltimore. With such @ name it would be need- Jees to sing, *You’ll Remember Me,” Mr. W. J. Florence appears in McCullough’s Theatre, San Francisco, to-night. His Captain Cuttle made a hit in every Western city, and {t will be given in New York during the Easter holi- days, Miss Nelson is on the rosd. She appears during the week as folliows:—Monday, Brooklyn; Tues- day, Poughkeepsie; Weduesday, Albany; Thare- day, Pittsfield, Mass.; Friday, Troy; Saturday, Utica. Mile. Tallendiera has made her début in the “Princess-Georges” at the Gymnase, the ptece With which Desciee was associated. The critica advise her to try melodrama ant leave comedy alone. Miss. Cushman will give readings next week in Baltimore and starts for Caltfornia on the 8d of December. She will appear in company with Mr, John McCullough fora season of three weeks in San Francisco. Mrs. General Lander, the widow of as gallant an officer as ever wore the army blue, is playie in the “School for Scandal” at Ford’s, in Baltimore, and will be succeeded by that vivacious and flery little blonde, Lotta. Irish and patch dialects are well represented at the Olympic Theatre by Rickey and Gus Williams, Gus Wiliams has @ Platt Deutsch pronunciation tbat 1s almost worthy of @ foreigner who had been reared solely on Westphalia ham, The Soldene Opera Troupe will play “Madame Angot’s Daughter” this week and ‘‘La Grande Du- chesse’ next week. The directors are going to import Farnie’s successful operetta, “Nemesis, and are in treaty for his latest work, “The Black Prince.” Can there be anything more ridiculous in this weary life of ours, which has so little fun in it after all, than to hear a Duc de Brabant, who fourished in the legendary tenth century, talking fippanty of his determination to sapport “Jimmy Hayes for Register?" Awell known uptown manager, who rivals Lu- cullas as an epicure, not content with being the controlling spirit in a theatre, is preparing to di- recta hotel for bachelors which will have a mar- Vellons cutsine, ‘We will have a nice littie dinnan pathy, my deah boy.’? Mile. Geoffroi and M. de Quercy have been well reoetved in Havana. On the return of this com- pany to New York “Giroflé-Girona”’ will be pro- duced. The costumes for this new opéra bouse have already arrived. They are of the period of Charles V. of Spain and are very handsome, A series of organ concerts will be given every Wednesday afternoon during the winter at Dr. ‘Tyng’s church, The first will take place on No- vember 18, when the new organ just completed by Messrs. Roosevelt will be inaugurated by Messrs. G. W. Morgan, @. W. Warren and Ss. P. Warren, Mr, John S, Clark wilt reappear for two weeks at Booth’s Theatre on the concluston of Mr. Jetfer- son’s engagement. He will appear in a new drama by H. J. Byrou, entitied “Red Tape,” and as the immortal Major de Boots, in “The Widow Hunt.’’ He will be supported by Mr. and Mrs. Charies Walcott, Jr. It 1s noticeable that in his character of Colonel Solby, the well dressed villain gf the ‘Gilded Age,” D’Orsay Ogden makes up a very close por- trait of the Jate General Philip Kearney, the veaw sadbreur of the civil war. Old army officers have Batand looked at it and aeclared that it only wanted the armless sleeve to make the portrait perfect. A St, Louis critic say! ‘Piccolomint bewitched all that came within her magic influence; Lucca raised a storm Of admiration by the witchery of her acting and her magnificent voice; the unim- passioned Niisson arrested and held spellbound with admiration all who came within the sound ofan organ, one of the purest in quality ever be- stowed wpon a mortal.” They didn’t. On the last Lucia night, when Albani sung, Alice Louise Cary entered the Academy, attired in a rich Russlan mantle, trimmed with the most costly furs, and wearing & magnifcent pearl ailk dress, heavily barred with black velvet. She was ushered into box No, 2, and, with two other ladies, sat out the performance applauding her sister artiste Albani with mucb femimine en- thosiasm. At Bryant's one of the most touching things in the performance is when William Henry Rice, who represents the fashionable young colored damsel of the period, tella of her ‘‘Beau Theodore,’’ who receives $10 & week a8 a dry goods clerk, nine of which he pays for his board in & fashionable board. ing house on Murray Hill, “And {hey have such beautiful carpets and satin window eurtains, so they have. The air is thick with romors that Alban! is en- gaged to young Mr. Gye, son of the well known London operatic manager, and now in thig city: Bat the charming diva declares that she has no intention of placing her valuable and beautiful neck in the matrimonial noose. And why should she? A young lady receiving $750 a night in gold, three nights in the week, should not be in any hurry to Change her name or state. Verdi's Requiem Mass will be produced on Tues- day evening with a trained chorus of 150 voices and an orchestra of over seventy pieces. There will be twelve first violins, tem second violins, eignt violas, seven violoncellos, seven basses, three flutes, two clarinets, two oboes, four pas- soons, four horns, eight trumpets, three trom- bones, one ophicieide, tympani and bass drums, Signor Muzto will conduct and the solo parts will be interpreted by Maresi, Cary, Carpi and Fiorini. Can kina Heaven bestow on a human being any gift more profitable than @ fine voice? Christine Nilsson received for one performance in opera while in this city the enormous sum of $3,500, Max Strakosch, Nilsson’s manager, paid to that distin- guished lady for her singing in the Untted Staves the sum of $380,000, And at @ matinée concert given in the Boston Music Hall the receipts taken by Strakosch were $8,000, of which sum Mile. Nilsson received $2,000 as her share of the profits and $1,000 as her salary. This division left & balance of $5,000 to the manager to pay the rest of tne company, with transportation and expenses of all kinds, after which he had to skirmish for bis profits. MBS, CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, Mr. E. L. Davenport compieted his engagement for the week at this theatre on Saturday night in the presentation of “Richard III.” The treachery, cunning, cruelty and malignant daring of the “crooked-backed tyrant” obtained an impersona- tion that Was in accordance with the genius and histrionic reputation of the great tragedian, In the famous battle scene Mr. Davenport seemed to have lost none of the fire, energy and force of former days, The audience, which was very large, applauded heartily,and throughout tne piece showed an intelligent appreciation of the more effective points of the drama. The cast included Mr, Kennedy as Richmond, Mr. Hastings as Buckingham, Mrs. Farren as Queen Eliza- beth and Miss Waite as Lady Anne, At the fall of the curtain Mr. Davenport, in response to fre- quent calls, appeared on the Stage, and, in the coutse Of & lew farewell remarks, stated that he had been invited by Mra. Conway to appear again atanearly day, To this request he snould com- » with t pleasure, as soon as Dis present Ticsomaee ooed permit. FIRST PHILHARMONIO CONCERT. The first concert of the representative musica} society of New York took place on Saturday night at the Academy of Music before a rather slim aud- lence. ‘rhe programme was the following:—Part 1—Symphony, No. 6, “Pastorale,” op. 68, in Fle Allegro ma non troppo; % Andante molto moto; 8, Allegro, atorm: 4. Allegretto, Beethoven. Aria, from “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Voi che Sapete,” Mozart, With orchestral accompaniment, Mile. Bianca Don. 910, Concerto—For piano, op. 185 (new), Joachim Raff. 1, Allegro; 2. Andante (quasi Larghetto) ; 3. Allegro, with orchestra! accompaniment, Miss Lina Luckhardt. Part 2—Overture—“Normanenzug,’”? Dietrich. Arta—“Pré aux Clercs,” Hérola; Mule, Bianca Donadio, with violin obligato, Mr. Leopold Meyer. a Nocturne—F sharp, major, Chopin; b. Arabesque, Schumann; Miss Ling Luckhardt, Overture—“Euryantne,” Weber. We cannot commend Mr. Bergmann’s reading of Beethoven. Some of the familtar measures of the pastoral symphony received rather cold treatment on this occasion, There was an evident lack of spirit and Orio and beartiness in the rendering. “fhe Voyage of the Normans,” by Dietrich, althongn it 18 strongly orchestratea, did not impress us a8 favorably as al the frat hearing with Thomas’ orchestra a@¢ Central Park lovely overture waa delivered a to ‘art. Jn these orches- tral works, however, considerable exception Toust be taken, as far as their rendering on satur- day night was concerned, to the absence of unan- imity and homogeneity of expression or congeption on tue part of the orchestra, The svlowts, Miss Luckhards$ and Miss Douadio, deserve a special notice. The former, @ youn American lady, who has p! frequently to sm: Concerts in this city, made her first bold essay as @ virtuoso, ‘The Raff concerto, of which go much b en said in auvauce, did not iuifl the great pectations formed of it. Tae frat movement is duil and dreary and does not po: many original ideas, The second part, a lovely andante elaborated a la Cho; ig the real feature of the work. Commencing with an oboe solo, which is afterwards supplomeuted by @ new theme given by the ’cello, the movement merges into some very declamatory plauo passages, Which were rendered by Miss Luckhardt with poetical fervor aud effect. ive expression. ‘Tne finale is eccentric im style and introduces many passages _—6Vi- dently based upon the “* Rhapsodie Hongrotse” school of Liszt. Miss Luckhardt acquitted herself as an accomplished artist from the beginning to the end, although there were in- dications at times of physical weakness in so! of the strongly tnstramentated passages. Tt orchestration of this concerto in many places t@ really absurd. In the firs, movement the entire brass department is brought in with deafening effect, and the consequence ts that there is no chance {or the piano to be heard, although it hag some very pretty Henseit passages. Chopin, Liszt Mendelssohn have veen Henselt, and heavily drawn upon th the construction of this work, ‘he last two selections of Misg Li ardt yere rendered by her with ex- ceeding beauty of Sentiine €. ‘4 as & matter of Tegret that she should bave chosen the ieast in- teresting of Chopin’s nocturnes. The works in G minor or A flat major would have produced a bet- ter eflect, Schumaunu players are at all times rar@ aves, and Miss Luckhardt was no exception to the general rule; but throughout the concert she proved herself to be @ highly accom- plished artiste, giftea with an_ Itnteili- gence and poetic feeling of a rare kind. The other soloist, Mile, Donadio, was not so successful. Her rendering of the Mozart arta was character- ized by a constant tremolo and was destitute of ex- pression. Herold’s work might be designated as a violin solo, with soprano obligato and orchestral ac companiment, for ali the effect made by the singer. When such a society a8 the Philharmonic select a Vocalist their subscribers expect something more in accordance with high art than Mile. Donadto, ‘Tne desired relorm bag mot yet made itself felt ip this society. An Important Decision in a Case of Alleged Cruelty in Pigeon Shooting. Boston, Nov. 14, 1874. An important case, affecting the rights of sport® men and defining the laws for the prevention o? cruelty to animals, has just been decided in the Brighton district of the Municipal Court. The case Was that of the agents of the society which has in keeping the comiorts and protection of the brute creation, and the complaint was madé agaist Luther Adams, of the Tremont Shooting Clab of this city. lt seems that Mr. Adams, in shooting a bird, only wounded it by breaking a leg, and the agent of tue Humane Society prosecnted him, Claiming that in wounding the pigeon and not instanuy killing it he had violated tue law for the prevention of cruelty to animals, It was shown, and, in fact, generally admitted, that Mr. Adam ‘was & good shot and had no intention of inflicting unnecessary pain on the bird, and the counsel tor the defence, in his plea, dwelt in strong terms on what he considered the absurdity of the charge of cruelty. He uked the opject of the society, but when it prosecuted such cases ag the present he though it was “running the thing ino the ground,’* Why, he said, in case of conviction now it would be cruelty to animals to shoot a wild bird in the Jorest or put to death one of our domestic fowls, The law 1s meant to probibit man irom cruelly using or treating animals under his charge and protection; in short, to restrain his passion when directed against the creatures made tor his use and maintenance, and not to pronibit the sport of gunning. ‘The agents, by prosecuting such cases a8 this, render themselves the laughing- stock of the community. The counsel for tne complainant (the society) quoted ihe ruling of Judge McAdam, of the Marine Court, in. New York, in 8 similar case, to sustain his charge against Mr. Adams, and the secretary of the society said thas the prosecution was made as a test case rather than for any other purpose. The Court argued that there was no Fiecin clause in the law prohipiting this kind of bird shooting, and he thought a conviction would discourage the growth of good marksmansip—a matter to be deplored, as toere was no doubt that State gooa service. there was no law he felt that he could ‘ge the deiendant. ORIME IN NEW JERSEY, Jacob K. Derringer, George Reynolas and Henry Schuster were yesterday committed to the County Jail at Trenton, N. J., in default of $1,000 bail each, to answer a charge of highway robbery on a respect able citizen of Pennsylvania, named Andrew A, Brewer. The alleged occurrence took place Sat- urday night, on Delaware street, near the State House, about ten o’clock, and all the money ($50) the victim had, together with a bundle of clothing, was teken fromhim. After the robbery the des- peradoes attempted to throw Brewer inio the elaware River, which caused an alarm and their Subsequent arrest. Two other notorious characters, named John Twintley and Andrew Linderman, made a desper- ate assault with slungsnots on & saloon keeper named Gottiied Guyser in his saloon, because ne would not give them arinks gratuitously. Guyser received dangerous wounds in the face. The ac- cused have been commitiea in delauit of $5,000 bail each, A mysterious case of sudden death happened in Trenton yesterday morning which has given rise to much comment. It is alleged that the wife of Thomas McCormick, living in the suburbs of that city, was found dead, and, on his repre- sentations to the police, the supposition was that She had been drowned. The Coroner proceeded to hold an inquest, but found thdt the body baa been Temoved to some anknown place, and up to the present time no light has been thrown upon its whereabouts, The authorities are proving the mystery, and farther developments may be ex- pected to-morrow, DREADFUL OASE OF LOCKJAW IN NEWARK, A few days since a young German roofer named Habicht, in Newark, reaiding with bis parents at No. 48 Bedford street, while working on the root of the house of fire engine No, 2, cornerof Mul. berry and Clinton streets, fell to the ground, a dis tance of about forty feet, and broke both mis «wrists, He was taken to the ofice Coles & Dodd, physicians, and his Siases attended to. His = te then caused his removal to their home, Here he was attended by several physicians, but the result wes that he died yesterday forenoon of lockjaw. One of the medical men firse in attendance on the case stated yesterday that, in his opinion, lockjaw ensued Irom the diverse treatment given the injured man by so many physicians, Mr. Habicht was a young man Of about twenty years, employed by Assman, and had & very promising tutare before bim. He died in great agony. Fears are entertained that bis grief-overwhelmed patents may not long sur- vive him, DR LIVINGSTONE WILL {Prom the Lllustratea London News, Oct. 81.) ‘The confirmation, dated the 25th ult. under seal ofthe Commissariat of Lanarkshire, of the late Drs, Livingstone, granted to Miss Agnes Livingstoné,, against shooting wild not do otherwise than disct ‘Thomas Steel Livingatone, William Oswell Livings stone and Miss Anna Mary Livingstone, hairy was inst, the total valut Fee era a pisews of the deceased In ‘nglanw and Seotiand being sworn ander £1,500. ‘The deceased is stated to bave died at Hi en+ tral Airica, on May 4, 1873, His description in the ts 1s given as the Rev. David Liv~ pe documents ts give! ae