New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-04-29

r. sn..sC,. sG,etiops, cad po6cies a the world ..
Are n tie veihe church and the clergy would not
see themselves hf ME the pyramids IN he desert,
sAat ooce surrounded them, bot now out Of the hns
Of The commerce, the uses and the interests OF the
vo,ld the eigsntic tombs OF forgotten Kings and
prie.t- il becomes them TO take 'heit lnNi'a PA1e
h. head Of the real OF society advising part
nor. m the business and the pleasures oil We "orid'
,uides friends sympaihzers and helpers OF the ace
IN all il, efforts 10 instruct amuse ana saw 'sh'
am a servant 10. merely ofrelgion bu, OF me ehurcn
And hone 10 live and d.. IN this service OUT "o,.
,o h. p Cr,.t gull fied between the church anu Tue
~oTd a. between heaven and he'll, minister OF Chri5t
A. an would sooner take my place anu Pei' VIZ
the world than with the church; win common nul'"n
y than ary cleo; portion OF H. with confessed sinners
,Lan elias. .m.d sain,s-for ! believe that Chrst
who is the light OF the world and not OF the chucn
alone is more permanently resident win 'ne con-.
mon hear. and fortunes and feelings oil manAihd u
large, than Of any fracaon OF humanity, hoH. .f,,
eot or selEappropriatiye of his name and patronage
H. then the theater a. bad a. the place from
which the haple.s, erIing women came who play sucn
an effective part in Saviors mnlsry-and II oilen
has that special claim our mingled pity and htIp-i
should not account il Christian to abandon the stage 10
itself TO permit any sef--aying scrupies To make II
an interest OF society which Christians are not bound
30 scTutnize and oversee desire 10 speak win Tor
bearance of the mistakes and pre- udices OF the pious-
for know how honest and real many Of them are.
But must be faithful 70 my light and TO the race
Those who, under that strange but utter blindness as
70 their frame Of mind, TO which truly good men
are liable willing 10 separate themselves from the
fortunes Of their race TO their souls without
much diminuton Of their JOY that millions of their
feow-creaures losing theirs TO regard the ordi-
nary and common fe of the world as proane, and not
under the blessing of God, or the grace OF our Lord
and Savior may consistently join in denunciation Of
amu.ements in general and the heater in particular.
But as, by God grace belong not to thus BODY, and
share of its partial views OF exclusive hopes ana
prospects, | depart in degree from my principles
as minister Of Christ teacher of morals and re.
,;gion in including the theory and the practice OF
amusenlepts in the sheme OF my pulpit instructions
and my social responsibilities or in countenansing the
principle, and far examination may justify H. inc
institution Of the theater.
Assuming then. that the theater Il great and I'M
porant fact institution 70 vital and popular that
even the serious evils connected with It, cannot crush
il; assuming il already proved that Its foundations
lie deep in the wants of human nature and municipal
society assuming that the course hitherto pursued oy
the church and the organized friends OF morality IN re-
gard TO IT, he's had little good effect, would now IN
quire what course duty, policy and piety prescribe 10
regard TO the theater. TO answer this question, we
must recall and classify the evils already referred to-
which good citizens and Christians deplore and then
ak ourselves in view of the considerations already
produced how they arise, and how they may be
abaed. These evils fall under four heads:
l. The identification Of the theater with frvoilty,
wordliness moral indifference, and spiritual apathy,
ard lis general tendency to reproduce them.
, lts direct or covert association with, ana encour-
sgenent Of ntemperance and RIGHTEOUSNESS.
g. The immortality Of plays, either IN their general
spirit and drift, in their details with the use OF
manners, costumes, language nsnuaton, Intentional
" shocking 10 modesty and destructive OF reverence
The bad effect of theatrical life upon acton aud
acresses-in word, the unworthy personal character
Of the dramatic profession.
These evils as we have seen, have been immense
and are still confessedly great. They have some OF
them"be much greater than they ere, and little
thanks ore due to the Church, or the custodians OF
public morals, that they have been reduced. The
has decidedly e-sened; the third has recently in
creased; the fourth is hopefully diminished From
what do these evils mainly arise Who is responsible
for them, and who abate them
belive from my very soul-and 10 what other con-
clu-ion has the whole evidence tended that the
Church and the socslled gravity and moral worth OF
society really, though indirectly and unintenton
ally, the authors and propagators OF the malignant
ing both the dramatic profession and the public 1t
large comparatively blsmeless, and snswersble only
for its more veniaI sns .
The Catholic Church in mediaval times in the
prosecution of it, selfish designs to control the human
mind had resusct8ted the heather drama-which IN
former ages had refined and elevated the morals OF
Greece and Rome-in the shape Of its own odious
mysteries and n,oralties The inherent instincts OF
human nature, speedily reverted to the ancient stand
ard, Snd gave birth TO secular performances, more
geniay and truly depicting the hopes and passions OF
our race. Jealous of such rival its compftor DON
in and popular influence, II forthwith eIoom-
municatrd actors and denied them Christian burial.
Thus commenced that wicked, selfish, and narrow
policy which adopted and reinforced by Puritan pre-
JUDGES was continued and strengthened by the Prot
eetaut Church and largely possesses the serious
class that the theater the most popular snd ineVi-
table Of public amusements, has been mainly aban-
doned 10 ,he unblesed and rockies. Of those VIII
ling 70 defy both Church and morality! What Is to
BE- expected Of a community from which good men are
taught 10 6ee--of institution avowedly made over
TO the Devil and his children What could the thea
ter be expected to becomein Itself, its ntiuence, s
actors-under such Il cure, but barren OF ngs, ana
prolific only in thofns and bliarsf
In sober truth it rebounds TO the credit OF human
nature End to the essential purity OF AFT TO the whole
of public amuseuents and the sei-e!evatnS
character of the thester that under this terrible repu-
tation and moral eclipsedesertion by tho GOOD and
cberihing by the evil-the drama has maintained
decency, e1erted al influence and produced class
no. ndicetable by the ordinary standards OF society
but only BY the special class who seek TO maintain
dogmatic standard The vices of the theaer have an
formly been those of the tme-no more, RIO worse
The theaer has had serious vices of its own, like
trade, with it, fraud and perjury; like the church,
with its hypocrisy and arrogance. The mirror OF bad
times, it has reflected the vices that passed before it,
NOT those il originated. Drunkenness has canned its
victims and RIGHTEOUSNESS its votaies, into its pre-
cincts. Profanity and coarseness from the pit and
boxes have required profanity and from the
stage, while vulgarity and ignorance have demanded
rant and fustian. What is the theaer that We should
expect il 10 be wise, and moral, and pure and rev
erenta to an audience that by the theory OF the class
address cares little for these qualities, and when it
has character 10 Lore by pandeng may prac-
ce TO the degraded ases OF the rabble or the reck-
less. Were the church tsef frequented only by the
ignorant and the wicked, how long do you imagine
the pastors would be pure and the doctrine sound
No Interest class, can bear the withdrawal o. the
vrtuous portion Of society. The thestef has borne it
quite as well the church would the state Of rel
gon in MEXICO In France or even in portions OF
Protestant Germany might testify.
The Ievty, excess, association with vice, and gen.
ernl lack OF moderation in the heaer It's opposition
to, or defiance OF religion; its lax morals and bad
tas> he fhey or ias dua snlv