were not forthcoming at the expiration of the time, he would be arrested and cast into prison. If in order to avoid arrest he shut himself up in his family residence or fled the country, his house would be placed under military guard and all egress and ingress prohibited until some pledge of payment was given. If he paid the assessment cheerfully and promptly in the first instance, hoping thereby to purchase immunity from further disturbance, he would be accused of disloyalty to the opposing faction, and when their time came they seldom failed to assess him heavily on that score. And thus, between Scylla and Charybdis, he could seldom hope to pass through one of these periodical "revolutions" without heavy losses. He often deemed himself fortunate if not left a bankrupt. In the midst of such political demoralization as this, extending back through a period of half a century, one hardly expects to see many evidences of material prosperity. Successful business enterprises have been the exception, not the rule, and even native capital has generally sought investment elsewhere. But it is an error to assume, as many of our people do, that there is a corresponding lack of culture and refinement among the better classes. In all the large cities of Spanish America, and often in some of the smaller centres of civilization, there is a small society which for real culture and refinement is equal to our best. Indeed, in genuine courtesy, and in all those little amenities of social life in which we North Americans are so generally deficient, the Spanish Americans of the better class are very far ahead of us. Nor should we despair of the ultimate success of free government in those countries. The process of evolution from a condition of commercial and political vassalage, such as prevailed there up to 1810, to a condition of perfect autonomy under republican forms, is necessarily slow. The masses are still generally illiterate-often densely ignorant and superstitious. But each succeeding generation is more intelligent and self-reliant than the preceding one; and no one, who has carefully studied the political history of the country, can fail to discern a slow but gradual improvement in their methods. In the course of time these people will emerge from what Herbert Spencer calls "the fighting age "into the industrial era of civilization; and the great national resources of Colombia particularly will, with stable government, give that country a most prominent place in the industrial and commercial world before many decades more. William &. Scruggs. THE FIRST THEATRE IN AMERICA The following interesting communication in regard to the first theatre in America appeared in the New York Times of November 4, 1888. It is from the pen of Dr. George H. Moore, superintendent of Lenox Library, which is in itself a guarantee that the data therein contained are not only genuine but worthy of permanent preservation. "There has been much discussion from time to time among those who are interested in first things' of American history as to where and when play-acting began in the region now known as the United States. Various claims have been set up for various places, with various success. As long ago as 1865, the late Dr. O'Callaghan, an Irishman, who did more for the history of New York than any other man has ever done to this day, pointed out the fact that one Richard Hurter, having been at great charge and expense in providing persons and necessaries in order to the acting of Plays in this city,' procured a license for soe doing' from the governor of New York somewhere between 1699 and 1703. The enterprise of this early manager' has no other record yet discovered, and it is not known what or how many plays were acted in New York City under the authority of the government of that day, nor yet how the ancient inhabitants regarded such doings among them. There were no newspapers anywhere in America then, and it was not until many years after the beginning of the eighteenth century that advertisements in the papers preserved the scanty history of the American theatre, such as it was, and furnished the source of the opinions which have generally prevailed on that subject. I have no idea of undertaking to correct any errors, but have repeated the story of what seems to have been the earliest attempt of the kind by way of introduction to a notice of the second, undertaken in the Puritan capital in the year 1714, which has also escaped the research of the theatrical historians, so far as I know. The following letter, which has recently appeared under the auspices of the Massachusetts Historical Society, tells the whole story undoubtedly, for Boston was repeatedly convulsed by subsequent efforts to introduce the theatre into the Commonwealth before the end of that century, which failed to see its real establishment in the three-hilled city. Not until the years of the nineteenth century began to roll over the ancient home of the fathers of the New England Israel did any theatre really come to stay' therein; and it is measurably certain that the ancient Prytaneum Bostoniense, whose walls are still extant in the Old State House in Boston, was not desecrated by 'play-acting' within its sacred precincts, just after its completion in 1713-14. ChiefJustice Sewell was one of the last of the genuine Puritans of the old leaven, and his letter is a gem-indeed, a masterpiece in its way. I do not know how many theatres there have been or are now in Boston; but they have certainly made the bones of the fathers of New England rattle to very strange tunes in these latter days." SAMUEL SEWELL TO ISAAC ADDINGTON, "Boston of the Massachusetts: March 2. 1713-14. There is a Rumor, as if some design'd to have a Play acted in the Council Chamber, next Monday; which much surprises me: And as much as in me lyes, I do forbid it. The Romans were very fond of their Plays: but I never heard they were so far set upon them, as to turn their SenatHouse into a Play-House. Our Town-House was built at great Cost and Charge, for the sake of very serious and important Business; the Three Chambers above, and the Exchange below; Business of the Province, County, and Town. Let it not be abused with Dances, or other Scenical divertisements. It cañot be an Honor to the Queen, to have the Laws of Honesty and Sobriety broken in upon. Ovid himself offers invincible Arguments against publick Plays. Ut tamen hoc fateor: Ludi quoque semina praebent Nequitia. Let not Christian Boston goe beyond Heathen Rome in the practice of shameful Vanities. This is the voice of your most obedient servant, SAMUEL SEWELL, To the Hon'ble Isaac Addington, Esq., Secretary. To be communicated to his Excellency the Governour, and to the honorable Council." NEW YORK, Thursday, Nov. 1, 1888. THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE All Hail to the Chief, whatsoever his name, If the Will of the People has raised him to fame, Whatsoever his record, by word or by deed; All Hail to the Chief: greet his advent with song; The voice of Minorities sometimes is just, And when a vexed question is brought to the poll, Then Hail to the Chief: greet his advent with song; Be he President, Emperor, Sultan or King- To hurl him from power in the strength of their might; And its fiat can keep him or help to his fall; He only is safe whom the public voice sways; And he only great who his people obeys. Then Hail to the Chief: greet his advent with song; And Hail to the Land, from the west to the east; From the north to the south; from the greatest to least; Where each citizen, whate'er his colour or cause, If sworn to the charter and true to the laws Holds the right-first of rights which to freemen belong- By the laws which self-government proves to be sound. We sing not of partisan triumph or plot, Fear not there's a principle vital as light, That instinct of Justice, in minds the most dense, Then Hail to the Chief: greet his advent with song; Charles H. Tuckerman. FLORENCE, ITALY. |