At the New Strand, the Whitsuntide novelty is by ce
Mr. Tom Taylor and is entitled The Philosopher's S i tone. It is a happy instance of the ;dent already exhibited in Diogenes, of seizing on a traditional idea, and so turn- ing it to present use that the production has more of purpose than the usual run of versified fairy tales. To show that boundless wealth in an individual is boundless misery, is the object of the piece. The old en- thusiast Paracelsus tries to find out the philosopher's stone; and when the secret is revealed to hint, he becomes at first blasé through selfish en- joyment, and then mischievous through indiscriminate charity. Here too there is commendable smartness of dialogue ; and the author is fortunate in having, in addition to his own merits, so good an actor as Mr. Leigh Murray to express the various phases of moral misery through which the too lucky alchemist is condemned to pass.
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