We regret to record the death of Mr. Henry Arthur
Jones, the well-known playWright, at the age of 77. No one would have expected that the son of a farmer would devote the best part of his life to writing for the stage and, as he believed, rescuing it from the'Philistines. But he early developed his independent theatrical passion and nursed it during the years when he was earning his living in business. He first made his mark with that extremely popular melodrama The Silver. King, which, though it seems obsolete now, was technically in advance of its day. He was not content with melodrama, how.; ever, and was gradually feeling his way forward to the graces and subtleties of comedy. Not that he ever succeeded in being particularly subtle ; his humour, truth to say, relied on twists and turns which were clumsy or at least too obvious. Nevertheless he became a really good writer of comedy, with excellent technique and with adequate dialogue. His comedy The Liars need not be ashamed in any company. And it must be remem- bered that all the time he was honestly and very seriously trying to place the work of the theatre on a higher level. He was a moralist and a commentator, and it is odd to remember now that when he moralized against Puritan- ism in Saints and Sinners forty-five years ago Matthew Arnold expressed his approval.
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