Mr. Copeland's Lecture.

The presence of the large audience which went out to hear Mr. Copeland talk last night on "The Old Comedies," was not only a tribute to the speaker, but a pleasing subject for reflection. It is encouraging to find that in the busy mid-year period so many men care to take their relaxation in such a profitable way.

Mr. Copeland brought out clearly and forcibly the virtues and the faults of the old-comedy writers. No one felt the influence of the Puritan spirit less than Wycherly, Congreve and Farquaar. These men saw the follies and fashions of the time, thought they represented real life and as such chose to depict them. Now we realize that the world they lived in was only the artificial world. An example of a contemporary production which suffers from the same fault is Mr. Oscar Wilde's "A Woman of No Importance."

It is but natural for one to think that the chief obstacle to the representation of these old authors on our stage is the indecency with which they are so often charged. There is, however, another difficulty. The plays were essentially plays of manners and it is almost impossible to find actors today capable of feeling and appreciating the parts. The attempts of some of our better actors and actresses to play these parts have been dreary failures.

Of the old writers, Congreve was perhaps the wittiest. Farquaar excelled in the splendid action which he introduced into his plays. Nowhere does this come nearer perfection than in "The Beaux Stratagem." The other of Farquaar's plays which every one should read is "Sir Harry Wildair." Charles Lamb always claimed that these plays were not immoral in their influence for the simple reason that no one believed in them. The heroes are essentially gentlemen,-or rather "truly good fellows," in spite of their seeming indecency. From Farquaar Sheridan really got his Charles Surface and Captain Absolute.

After Farquaar came Goldsmith. One may well feel proud that such a play as "She Stoops to Conquer" was written in his language. The sympathy with life and the knowledge of character which it shows together with the grace of its English are irresistible.

Sheridan was weaker than Goldsmith in that his characters were less original. The "Rivals" and the "School for Scandal" are of course the plays for which we remember him.

Of the works of the earlier writers Mr. Copeland recommended especially the reading of Wycherly's "Plain Dealer;" Congreve's "Love and Love" and "The Way of the World" and Vanburg's "The Relapse;" and in connection with the subject Goldsmith's "Retaliation" and Genest's "History of the Stage." The talk closed with some interesting anecdotes of Warren, Gilbert, Florence, Mrs. Vincent and other actors of old comedy.