The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 8

8' LITERARY SECTION THE AGE. SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 24. 1951 In the World of Art A TURNER CENTENARY POETRY NOTEBOOK by T. S.

Eliot MICHAEL THWAITES as Poetic Dramatist 51 IO There is a peculiar interest in Mr. T. S. Eliot's drama. In some ways it is a conflict On the morning of December 18, 1851, Britain's greatest artist-painter, Joseph Mallord William Turner, was discovered dying in a small house in Chelsea, where, under the pseudonym of Admiral Booth, he was living with a housekeeper, one Sophie Caroline Booth.

With his death the following morning, the finest period in British painting had come to an end. D. lil A II A at It ary Crossing the Brook, painted facts were renounced, structure Ignored, and color was brought to a pitch of saturation where it. would rival the brilliance of light. This tendency to deny form brought In its train a flood of criticism.

One fcT-'N he pomp and ceremony accompanying his burial at St. Paul's Cathedral was In strange contrast to the artist's parsimonious existence. Son of a London barber, he was born In' a slum, and of his own choice had died In a slum. Yet this misanthrope of easy moral rectitude, and whose artistic Integ-1 rity was not always beyond reproach, had left paintings worth a fortune to the nation, and had willed a sum of 140.000 for the foundation of a home for Indigent artists. Both actions are in character.

The first was calculated to ensure his position in the halls of posterity. The second was, no doubt, due to one of those sudden spasms of generosity which offset his extraordinarily mean habits. Legal Flaw i Although the nation accepted the paintings, the conditionthat a Tur-, ner Gallery should be built for their public display has yet to be fulfilled. Due to a legal flaw in the will, the home for artists did not eventuate. This double failure to honor the artist's wishes gave rise to Ruskln's epigram: "They buried with triple honor Turner's body in St.

Paul's, bis pictures at Charing Cross, and his purposes In Chancery." As' man and artist. Turner was a being of extreme contrasts. A soli- tary, he avoided the society of his contemporaries, but on occasions en joyed the company of his social and Intellectual Inferiors. Although devoted to art, he found questionable pleasure among the dregs of humanity. Admitting no artistic equals, he was extremely Jealous of the achievement of others.

Nevertheless, his remark that "Had Glrtin lived I would have starved" was made with evident sincerity. But, with all his unattractive ways, his occasional pandering to popular taste, he was an artist of truly splendid vision. One hundred years afte, his death Turner remains without superior, anu, with the possible exception of Rembrandt, without peer In the realm of landscape painting. Revenge Many anecdotes could be quoted illustrating the light and shade of the artist's contrary nature. When Constable's Waterloo was exhibited at the Royal Academy, O.

R. Leslie re lates in his memoirs that the vivid touches of vermilion and lake In the painting completely killed a nearby Turner seascape. Not to be outdone, Turner placed a splash of red lead on his canvas and shaped it Into a buoy, and with a few more strokes set the sea on Are. The effect was to make the Constable appear pale and weak by comparison. On another occasion, however, when one of Turner's sunsets was overpowering Its neighbors, the artist, moved by a generous impulse, quickly re- ROM TIME TO TIME I have suggested In these articles that drama may be the medium which poetry and the layman may establish an overdue rendezvous.

It has happened before. Eliot might be considered the acid test for any such theory. GeneraUy acknowledged by critics as the most influential living poet in English, he remains for many readers the archetype ot perverse, riddling and sphinxlike poetry. Even if the accusation of obscurity has been overdone, there Is much in Eliot, as there was in the 'later Shakespeare, to suggest that he likes being enigmatic. At any rate he ha certainly been a pioneer among seekers after poetry stripped to the bare bone of all comfortable connections and easy transitions, a poetry that abhors the obvious, a sort of Poetry Concentrate.

Readings and Study This compressed poetry, terse, oblique, witty, succinct, yields up its pleasures only after repeated reading and energetic study. But that Is exactly what the poetic dramatist cannot ask of his audience. It is exactly what Homer, anathe bal-ladists, and all masters of Jfral poetry, have had to reckon without. For the audience in theatre, or hall or market place, as for the modern radio listener, there is no turning back of the page, no slow distillation of re luctant liquor. They must take their nourishment on the run.

And this de mands a very different sort of poetry, I would like to spend this and the following article In some comments on Eliot's attempts to achieve it. Eliot's earlier poetry revealed him as a master of fragmentary conversation and of subtle situation. Portrait of a Lady seems to me his peak In the art of revealing fundamental human conflicts through a surface-tension of social fatuities. He is adept at an effect like "my smile falls heavily among the bric-a-brac." In The Waste Land the snatches of conversation are often authentic and memorable. Conversion It seems that Eliot's conversion to Christianity played a part In his turning towards poetic drama.

Two Interpretations are possible. It could be said that this new experience caused him to cast about for a less esoteric vehicle than pure poetry. Or It could be argued that he now felt the need to view human be crltlc, with more wit than discern- ner's Inspiration had moved from real-ment, described the works of this lstlc depiction to realisation of Na-perlod as "paintings of nothing and ture's spiritual essence. njtr in oils by Turner, in 1815, very like." Ruskin, Turner's friend and advocate, on the other hand appreciated their poetic qualities, and saw that 'they were an expression of the artist's intense inner vision. The cycle was now complete.

Tur- work as the young Queen drove up to the house. The third Marquess, who was three times Victoria's Prime Minister, installed electric light when It was a dangerous toy. It functioned badly; cushions were kopt in the main rooms to be thrown to the celling to put out fires when the system exploded and blew sparks in all directions. His son, the fourth Marquess, carefully restored the great hall of the old palace which the first earls had used as a stables. Its finest feature is a magnificent beamed roof, a notable example of 15th century architecture.

It Is now used as a tearooms for visitors. FAMOUS ENGLISH FAMILY The Cecils and Hatfield House For almost four centuries the name Cecil has been rarely absent from the lists of names prominent in the public life of England. Few generations of the family failed to produce at least one member active in politics, present experiments in of opposites. But he falls to bring it off. Of the four Tempters who appear to the Archbishop, three offer worldly temptations which we know he has decided against long before.

The real query Is the fourth Tempter: The last temptation is the greatest treason To do the right deed tor the wrong reason: In other words, Is Becket meeting his death for the love of God, or because he is ambitious of martyrdom 7 We are given to understand that it Is the former, but the crisis and choice are not really made dramatic on the stage. It is questionable whether such a subtle point can ever be made into good "theatre." As to Becket himself, I agree with Miss Helen Gardner that he is less a man than an embodied attitude, ind that "there is a taint of professionalism about his sanctity." Intensely Moving Nevertheless, she Insists that Murder in the Cathedral is Intensely moving and at times exciting when performed. I have heard the same from other capable critics who have seen it performed, and were surprised to find how much actually "comes across" on a stage. But the real drnma lies not in the principals, but in the chorus. Thi clash of Becket and the knights the clash of conflicting ideas.

But the chorus (the women of Canterbury) are living human spectators, who pasi through a truly dramatic development. As they watch the events, they make the discovery that they are a part ot the evil they see, of the sort of world that makes martyrdom necessary. Ana the chorus likewise has the best poetry in the play. They realise that death and corruption are not merely external: Have 1 not known, not known What was coming to be It was hen in the kitchen, in the passage. In the mews, in the barn, in the byrt in the market place, In our veins, our bowels, our skulls as well, As well as in the plottings oj potentates, As well as in the consultations of powers.

Mutder in the Cathedral, if. not wholly successful play, has some successful and effective dramatic poetry. Even more interesting because mora adventurous are the two later plays in which Eliot sets out to convey tm Christian analysis within the framework of modern, realistic verse drama. I want to discuss these next week. absence of conflict, shows a remarkable understanding of "man," but with Anne, the result is not quite so satisfactory.

Probably no one has ever been so successful as Guy de Maupassant in portraying this type of woman. It is a subject which should be left to the masters and as yet Mr. West is no master. The drawing of the children is even less successful. It is hard to imagine boys and girls of about seven quoting from Keats and Browning when left to themselves and In their play.

The Triangle Yet it cannot be denied that the respective relationships of which the triangle consist have been developed with unusual sympathy, and If the construction is at times technically at fault, the suspense is always sustained and the plot rises with surprise and mounting excitement. It is an unusual novel and an interesting one. Mr. West has given us a work the whole pattern of which is enormous. It is a book which demands serious thought and consideration from the reader.

py i ne ge ait wrmc painted the work in a much lower key. If Turner the man' was an enigma, the artist was as splendid as his career meteoric. Born in 1775. his studies commenced at the age of 14. A year later he exhibited at the Royal Academy, and at the age of 24 became an A.R.A.

Three years later he had attained the full status of a Royal Academician. His oeuvre may be divided into three distinct periods. The early topographical phase was spent wandering and recording the English countryside in water color, stocking a profound visual memory, and perfecting his craft. As his powers expanded Turner started to paint in oils. He sought first to emulate the romantic clas sicism of Richard Wilson, and then ot Claude Lorraine.

But emulation was not sufficient. Turner's one desire was to excel. Vast Range A series of paintings followed de signed to surpass the masterpieces of Poussin, Wilson and Claude. At the same time he commenced his Liber Studorium for the expressed Dumose of demonstrating his ideas of land scape composition and his vast range of technical and artistic accomplishments. Between the years 1830-31 Turner entered his finest phase.

This was the period of romanticism which gave rise to his glorious visions. Visual skilled in statecraft. House, Hertfordshire. In the great parkland is an ancient oak in whose shade, it Is said, Elizabeth was resting when news was brought to her that she had succeeded lo the throne of England. A royal suggestion gave the palace to the Cecils.

The first Lord Burghley built Theobalds, one of the most magnificent of the great houses in Hertfordshire. His son Robert inherited this house, but lost it when James the First on a visit there fell In love with it, and suggested to his Prime Minister a swap for Hatfield Palace. In those days such a suggestion was a command, and the powerful Ro Which shook the nations through his lips, and blazed, Till vanquished senates trembled at they praised. Even his enemy, Pitt, declared that Sheridan's speech surpassed all the eloquence of ancient and modern times that it possessed everything that genius or art could furnish to agitate and control the human mind. In June, 1788, Sheridan delivered his second speech at the trial of Hastings at Westminster Hall.

As much as 50 WILLIAM CECIL their progenitor, was Elizabeth's Prime Minister. She created him Lord Burghley as a reward for un-' remitting, loyal services. He was a great courtier, a man skilled In the crafts of politics and diplomacy, and a sagacious administrator. His son, Robert, served a long, use- ful apprenticeship with the father, became James the First's Prime Minister; was, Indeed, credited with securing the succession to him after the death of Elizabeth. Robert Cecil was an even greater politician, diplomat and administrator than his father; as loyal and Indefatigable to his -Royal master.

James created him Earl of Salisbury. Brilliance. It Is from this title that the brilliance ot the Cecils has stemmed, al-; though not all the great men of the name held the title. Clarendon wrote of these two that they were "great Ministers and their wisdom and virtues died with them." That could be said of most "of the family since. They were loyal servants of the sovereigns they served, arid to the traditions of the class they represented a class fast disappearing.

The title was raised to that of Marquess In 1789. The present holder of the title fifth of the line is a staunch Conservative, an uncompro-vmlsing critic of Socialist policies, an Implacable opponent of nationalisation and of House of Lords reform. 'f He may not be the most progressive NOVEL of TfI IVTlClW ANTHONY WEST'S Ktj (JL 1 lUlN SECOND VENTURE month in Britain and America, books are recommended by this and by that society for the enjoyment, amusement, information or instruction of their members. In a world which appreciates labor-saving devices, even the mind must be swaddled. By G.B.A.

By C.E.S. bert Cecil decided that It was politic to adopt the suggestion. He tore down the old palace, used the bricks for Hatfield House, turned the remnant of the rambling old place into a stables He was his own architect and produced an aestheti cally satisfying structure. Two wings were Joined together by a central block, the whole forming the letter the initial of the great Queen, for Cecil was above all else an Elizabethan. Outwardly the mansion stands today as he planned it In 1607.

It is In a spacious nark, ten miles in circumference, overlooking the neat, rural town of Hatfield with its narrow, cobbled streets of white-washed houses and cottages. The town residents play cricket In this old park, on a sweet green ringed with ancient trees; the annual district agricultural show Is held In it. The citizens ot Hatfield have free access to the park and the house. The lord ot the manor Is their lord, owns their town; they give him the respect due to the squire, an admlr- able anachronism in a world of such changing values. Enriched Successive Cecils have enriched Hatfield House with treasures.

Most notable of those who lavished their wealth on the house was the first Marquess, through the energies of his wife, whose taste was impeccable and extravagance limitless. She was a fabulous woman, gambled all night in the long galleiy until it was ankle deep in cards, then hunted all day. She owned her own pack of hounds, minted to the day of her death at 85. She was then almost blind, and rode strapped to the saddle. The second Marquess laid out formal gardens with turrets and gates In 10 days, the only notice given that the young Queen Victoria would visit the place in the year of her succession.

It is recorded that the finishing touches were being put to the ings from a less sceptical and detached point of view. His pageant play, The Rock, performed in London In 1934, strikes me now as being at once too topical and (strangely for Eliot) too obvious. Perhaps it betrays the didacticism of the new convert, and an over-concern to be simple and clear. Poetically, It is most Interesting in the chorlo passages Where it the Lije we have lost in iit-irto Where it the wisdom we have lost In knowledge Where is the knowledge we have mat in information The eyelet oj Heaven in twenty centuries Bring us farther rom God and nearer to the Dwt. The choruses of The Rock are not Eliot's best, as poetry.

But they do T. S. ELIOT. show him feeling towards a verse which shall combine poetic cadence and feeling with the quality of being intelligible to a theatre audience. Exciting Drama Murder in the Cathedral, written for performance at the Canterbury Festival In 1935, Is Eliot's first impressive venture in serious poetic drama.

Its theme Is the story of the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket, by four knights, acting on an impassioned hint from King Henry II, leading to Becket's canonisation as a saint and martyr. The treatment of the theme is characteristic of Eliot's philosophical emphasis. Becket had been a personal friend of Henry's, and the conflict focused large issues of the struggle between Church and State. But Eliot avoids both these aspects. His aim Is to dramatise the conflict in Becket's own soul.

ings Miny of the descriptive passages are unusually vivid, particularly those of the crowd waiting outside Downing Street, the crowd flowing from Lord's, the strike breakers' lorries running loads ot foodstuffs and hungry girls loitering in darkened market squares. Mr. West makes great play of allegory, but his long allegorical passages are too often spoilt by irrelevant wanderings which lead into a wilderness of indiscipline. Again, In his efforts to discipline his style he has allowed it to become disjointed. Perhaps he has been too conscious of it.

Charges of temperament are too audden and do not conform to human behavior. One finds it hard to believe that Anne, filled with hatred and bitterness, would so quickly agree to go away with Walter, even taking into consideration her background, and leave others more profitable. The psychological studies of Walter and Muriel are sound; largely that also applies to Anne, whom Walter lifted from London's pavements. The understanding of the respective mental reactions of these three, their mental conflicts and, In Walter, the striking PLAYS his impending wedding, but is persuaded by his prospective brother-in-law to drink In "Dutchman's courage" from a brandy bottle. In a clever "curtain" Conscience is left intoxicated while the Inebriated bridegroom is rollicking to the ceremony.

Lavender at Dusk lays on the theatrical paint rather thick. It combines a "time" theme In the Priestley manner with a "psychic" plot. From TOM JUDD. the outapt it strives for the right atmosphere, and Judd relies more on the obvious than the suggestive. We have the whole box of tricks of modern "spookery," with poltergeists, spirit possession, entnnlasm, material button, opening doors, swaying pictures, crashing ornaments, whirling manuscripts, and ghostly sobbing laughter.

As the story develops It becomes somewhat over-complicated, but the attentive follower will And that It nnrinimwin The historic Hatfield The treasures of the house the huge panelled halls and rooms, the long gallery, the pictures, the tapestries, the priceless furniture and furnishings are now open to the public for most ot the year. The revenue raised Is used for their preservation. Henry Vm took over the original Hatfield palace from the Bishop of Ely, who built It in 1497. It was an ugly red brick structure. Henry used it mostly as a place of confinement for unruly or politically dangerous subjects.

His daughter, Mary Tudor, was confined there by her Royal father; she imprisoned her sister, Elizabeth, there. "Another Kino is the Arst Imaginative novel of revolution in England as it might affect ordinary human be- ANTHONY WEST. A TRIO of LITERATURE, POLITICS THREE CAREERS VARIED TALENT OF GEELONG PLAYWRIGHT member of the Churchill Cabinet, but few of his colleagues hold such uncompromising views. Events may prove him out of sympathy with national needs, but they will not find him. lacking in the courage of his convictions or in loyalty to the traditions of his class and the glamor of his family name.

House Treasures Lord Salisbury lives at Hatfield, In Hertfordshire, in the massive Jacobean mansion planned and built by the first Earl Robert. But he occupies only a small part of the great house that has been the home of the Cecils for almost three centuries and a half. MAN of Bi IN DUBLIN 200 'years ago, on October 30, 11751, Richard Brlnsley Sheri dan was the younger son of Thomas Sheridan, an actor and teacher of elocution, and of Frances Sheridan, a writer of novels and comedies. His parents left Ireland In 1759. and at the age of 11 he was sent to Harrow, for six years, later being In structed by a private tutor in London.

Before he was 21 he had run away to France, with a beautiful and talented young singer, Elizabeth Lin- ley, gone through a ceremony or mar riage with her, and fought two duels over her. After parental opposition had waned, they were remarried in England in 1773. Notable Comedy Sheridan was only 24 when he pro duced his first notable play, The Rivals, still one of the best of Eng- llsh comedies. It was performed at Covent Garden in January, 1775. and has held the stage ever since.

It was followed In the same year It has been aptly said of Sheridan that he was "born with literature and the theatre running in his veins;" and it is chiefly upon his achievements as a dramatist that his fame depends. Yet he gave only five years of his life to the writing of his plays. For more than 30 years he carried on two other careers politics, and theatre management. By M.C, Australian playwrights rarely achieve London publication of their works, so that the simultaneous issue of no fewer than three plays by Tom Judd, the Geelong writer, is surely a record. A Wedding Mourn, Women Are Like That, and Lavender st Dusk (Samuel French, London) are not plays that aim at high literary content, but they display a talent which is far more rare on instinct for "theatre." By P.L.J.W.

HE MIND MUST HAVE A "gadget" to work for it. Whether or not the mem ber appreciates the deci sion- of the society Is of little import, for readers continue to support them arid the author at least is unlikely to complain. In addition to these book societies, or clubs, as they are sometimes called, the sanctuary of the publisher's office itself has, within the past decade, been invaded by annual fellowships and prizes, all of which are widely acclaimed and advertised by the interested publishing house, and few ol which have any significance to the reader. This criticism, if such it is, does not apply to the many literary prizes which are competed for each year, such as the Tait Black Memorial and the Hawthornden. Remarkable Success In 1949, Anthony West was awarded the Eyre and Spottiswoode-Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship for nis first novel, "On a Dark Night." Doubtless, the book warranted its success.

Its reception both in Britain and the United States was remarkable, and it was at once recognised as a work ot great originality. Many discriminating critics, Including Elizabeth Bowen, Richard Church, Peter Quennell, C. P. Snow, Antonia White and others, forecast for Mr. West an important future in fiction.

Anthony White's second book, "Another Kind" (Eyre and Spottis-woode) has now been recommended by the Book Society. This acknowledgment in Itself must help to establish the author's position. Certainly, "Another Kind" confirms his recognition as a craftsman wltn a keen sense of the original. Whether It warrants the praise already Be stowed demands consideration of an other kind. One must first determine what makes a novel Important.

It may be a truism to say that It is not the book that matters, but the material that goes to Its making, not sucn an obvious observation as may at first appear, for Action requires Ingredients apart from a satisfactory theme to make It entirely satisfying. The first thing one Is struck by in "Another Kind" is the curious admixture of maturity of thought which en couraged its conception with a sur prisingly adolescent style. This latter immaturity is all tne more surprising, because Mr. West nas been a literary critic on the 'New Statesman," a news writer for the B.B.C., and Is now on an extended visit to the United States, where he Is reviewing for the "New Yorker." Violence Shortly, the theme which dominates this story is the fate of Walter Jack son, his wife, mistress and two children, as played against a background of violence Industrial unrest, which leads to str'ke breaking and civil war which Is depicted with Ingenuity and force. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED HUTCHINSON.

London. Tln ind Mankind. by R. (, Brandon. 18 rnt.

pijarlm to Ptradlir, an autobiography, by Shaw Deamond. SECKER St WARBURG. London. Th, Burden ol our Tim by Hannah Arendt, 307 Bng. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PREPS, London ana Melbourne.

Oddltlct of by Herbert McKay, 7H: Studle ot TVDe Imnnr-a In Pnetrv Rollnlnn and Phlloiuihy. by Maud Bodkin, The Crlila over CMCholovnkla, Jr.nuary-Scptember, itijH, Laucn. nu; uocumenta on International ArTalra ltKltMIMIi, Vol. 1, The Old Tenement and Modern study, edited by II, H. Holey ai.

Chemlalry Today, by Arnold Allcott and a. Bolton, 96; The Chanalni Commonwealth, edited by P. H. Soward, -JO'll: Burnt and the Secret Big, by John Newton Chance. 76: The Lorn Arctic Nlyhl.

by Kurt Sehmeltaer, 90. Natural Science and the spiritual Life, by Jnhn Balllle, 9.6: Strawberry Ctrl, by Lola l-enikl. Auitrla, Hungary and Ureal Britain lfKIH 1914. by A. P.

Vrltiram. 47; Phlneaa Redux, by Anthony Trollnpe. 2 30; French Mualc from Berllot to Faure. uy Martin cooper, INVINCIBLE PRESS, -Sydney, aide Eait. Ride Welt, by Anne Powera, 14H.

IIE1NKMANN. London. Llllen with Mnlher. Raitln Inrlea fnr children, Ruth AlniWnrlh 7fl; Daybreak at Deeat. by Robert Clalnei.

rne wanton nympn. a aiuoy or prioe, or nooeri Payne, 266; To Bed at Noon, by Joaeph Shear ing, 136: School for Love, by Olivia Manning, 136: Marianne, by Rhvi pavlea. 167: The Cradla of NepluntbyJohnLodwlcjilsS: An the wjcld? WMa, aiaalau Lawn, 167. i by St. Patrick's Day, a farce, and by The Duenna, a comic opera for which and THEATRE Sheridan was In the House of Com.

mons. Sheridan found on his arrival at the theatre that all exertions were useless. He went to the Piazza Coffee House, where a friend, having observed tnat ne bore his misfortune with all the calm of a philosopher, Sheridan, who was taking some refreshment, re plied: "A man may surely drink a glass or wine by his own fireside." During nis remaining few years sneridan endured considerable hardship from monetary troubles and 111- health, Parliament was dissolved in September, 1812, and at the subsequent elections he was unseated. In 1815 he was arrested for debt and detained in a sponging house for two or three days. On his release he completely broke down.

His last days and nights have been described as "Inexpressibly pitiable. Early in 1816 he was stricken with a severe Illness, and while he lay helpless In bed the oalllfls took possession of his house. He died on July 7 and was burled In the last remaining space In Poets- Corner, Westminster Abbey. "Those," writes one biographer, "who would nou in private ease his debts, Joined In publicly paying their his father-in-law, Thomas Linley, wrote the music This was extremely popular, being performed 75 times, during the first season In which it was produced, and greatly augment ing Sheridan's fame and Income. malignant literary criticism of the day, was produced at Drury Lane in October, 1779.

It was his last original contribution to dramatic literature, and with it his career as a dramatist virtually ended. He had become a society man, was apparently satiated with dramatic fame, and aspired to become a statesman. An introduction to Fox determined his future activities. Vhen Parliament was dissolved In the autumn of 1780, he was elected member for Stafford. He told a friend that this was the happiest day of his life, al though at the time The School for scandal was Barely three years old, end the applause which had greeted It was still ringing In his ears.

But political success struck the deathblow to his literary lire. For the greater part of his political career, which lasted 32 years, Sheridan was associated with the Whig Interest under the leadership ol Fox. Despite his talents, he was never at the head of an Administra tion, and never sat in Cabinet. His motives, however, were characterised by extreme disinterestedness, and he never made a trade of politics at a time when bribery and corruption were not unknown forces In Parlia ment. Oralory It was his masterful eloquence that made him famous, not the introduction of legislative measures, for his name Is unconnected with any.

But at a time when Burke, Fox and Pitt were at the height of their powers, his oratory won unbounded applause. His speeches on the Impeachment of Warren Hastings are still well known by report. The first, delivered to the House of Commons on February 7, 1787, when he presented the charge against Hastings relating to the Begum Princesses of Oude. lasted Ave hours and a half, and produced an amazing effect, celebrated by Byron In the lines: When the loud cry ol trampled Hindostan Arose to Heaven in her appeal to man, His was the thunder, hit the avenging roa, The wrath the delegated voice ot uoa i In 1776 Sheridan acquired Derrick's share In Drury Lane Theatre. After wards he bought out Garrlck's part ner lor 45,000.

Sheridan had con sorts out all rleht. It Is a minor triumph of theatrical sleight-of-hand, and shows more promise than any other of Judd's plays. It might have been improved If th author had made up his mind quits firmly as to what kind of play he was writing, for the intrusion of melodrama into what is obviously not intended to be melodramatlo is lisbU to be deadly, even in small doses. Women Are Like That Is described as a "comedy," but its main theme is deadly serious to anyone but the hardest-boiled cynic. Judith Hartley Is not to Jeffrey Hartley, but they are shocked when they discover that their daughter, Jill, Intend! to elope with a married man.

By a series of chances the whole unfortunate story of both generations is revealed, and even the Anal solution would be likely to leave a most unpleasant taste In a reasonably sensitive mouth. Ready Wit The comic element is provided by a number of churchgolng gossips, under the spiteful dictatorship of Mrs. Oro-per. The scene in which these ladles are "pricing" clothec for a Jumble sale and discover an incriminating letter Is handled with great skill, but the oharaeter and actions of Mri. Qrope' soon become the reverre of humorous.

Her humiliation in the end by the equally hard-botled Laura, the real Mrs, Hartley, is a very slick picture of "dog eat dog." Throughout these plays Tom Judd shows a ready wit, although of somewhat mordant type. He refuses to admit a dull minute Into his work, but, although one Is corucloui throughout of dramatic striving, on has to recognise thst In eve.y CM' the author does reach his goal. I may be that the one-act play i 1,15 real fleld, for In It the doses ot "theatre" must perforce be restricted. And the number of really effective one-act plays In our language is its' than a score. LTHOUGH SOME EXCEL LENT work has been done In radio drama, Australia has bred few authors with a strong sense of the stage Judd, whose work is well known in the amateur theatre, has al ways tackled the complications of plot and dialogue with the fullest confidence.

All of his plays have hit the target, though he has yet to write one that hits the centre of the bull's-eye. But the reader of the plays under re lew will appreciate that It la by no means impossible that a play of the cali bre of The Ohost Train or Ten-Minute Alibi will some day come off his typewriter. The three plays just published show almost equal skill In one-act drama, three-act comedy, and full-length fantasy. They were written to act rather than to study, and they have been published by a firm whose copy readers have always shown an un derstanding of what Is called for by the practical stage, Judd has won a number of drama awards, and thes published plays should receive a wel come from many amateur companies. Action The playwright's characterisation Is not strong, but in the more ephemeral piays we do not expeot that memor able definition of personality which Is the hallmark of oreatlve genius in all timeless drama.

He concentrates on action and entertainment, and Interest rarely flags in any of these three plays. He leaves little, If anything, to the imagination, and In this way Is rather inclined to over-stress their -stage atmosphere." A Wedding Mourn is a fantasy In one act. It concerns Ronny Peters, who, on the morning of his marriage, has an argument with his conscience, seen by the audience, but invisible to himself, Be la net altogether happy about "trol of the property and directed Its Scene from The School for Scandal. policy for 33 years; the stage man agenient he left to others. Here, In May, 1777, Sheridan's masterpiece.

The School for Scandal, was first performed. A comedy of the 1 nigntut order, and a great, penetrat ing study of human oharaeter, It was au Instantaneous success. Its i power ot attracting enthusiastic audiences has diminished but little with the passage of time, and most critics agree that It remains the most brilliantly effective comedy in our tongue. guineas were offered for a ticket to hear the "English Hyperldes," as -Mac-aulay has termed him, and he refused the offer ot 1000 tor the copyright of his speech. Dissipation The next few years brought Sheri dan many reverses, notably the deaths o' his rather, his wife and his daugh ter.

He remarried In 1795. Habits of extravagance and dissipation grew upon him and, although large sums ol money passed through his hands, he seemed perpetually in debt. The loss of his chief source of Income was perhaps the greatest blow. On February 24, 1809, a fire broke out In Drury Lane Theatre while tbs extraordinary finish ot Its style and Its conscientious adherence to an artistic Ideal, coupled with its well-conceived situations and excellent humor and dialogue, have won for It an unassailable position on our stage and In our literature. Sheridan's famous farce, The Critic In- which he satirised not only the sentimental drama, but also the.