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Show THE MASTER PASSION. Uleped to Ke the Mania For Getting Tr Passes For the Play. "I was once- present said Charles Dickens, "at a social" discussion which originated by chance. The subject was, 'What was the most absorbing and longest long-est lived passion in the human breast? What was the passion so powerful that it would almost induce the generous to be mean, the careless to be cautious, tha guileless to be deeply designing and the dove to emulate the Jf prpeA21. A daily editor of vast experifnco and great acuteness, who was one of the company, considerably surprised us by saying, with the greatest confidence, that the passion in question was the passion of getting orders for the play. There had recently been a terrible shipwreck, and very few of the surviving sailors had escaped in an open. boat. "One of these oumakmg land came straight to London and straight to the newspaper office with his story of how he had seen the ship go down before his eyes. That young man had witnessed witness-ed the most terrible contention between the powers of fire and water for the destruction de-struction of that ship and of every one on board. He had rowed away among the floating dying and the sinking dead. He had floated by day, and he had frozen fro-zen by night, with no shelter and no food, and as he told his dismal tale he rolled his haggard eyes about the room. "When he had finished and the tale had been noted down from his lips, he was cheered and refreshed and soothed and asked if anything could be doD for him. Even within him that master passion Tvas 60 etrong that he immediately immedi-ately ivplied that he fshonld like an or der for the play. My friend, the editor, certainly thought that was rather a strong case, but he said that during his many years of experience he had witnessed wit-nessed an incurable amount of self pros tration ana abasement having no other object and that almost invariably on the part of people who could well afford to pay." Exchange |
