New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-05-15
THE THEATER.
HENRY WARD BEECHERS REPLY

-: 81 ,o,r, 10 H. has been pleasedto write and
''.'V -, -, g very poor letter addressed to
o., GREAT and increasing delinquency in
-, . Letters. We might plead this custom a. an
- G., peplecting this epi-tle. But being in an
,.L, nod we shall give our readers the benefit of
49, of the Theaer such as Il IL; but We de-
tn % "ay At the beginning that We propose only TO
sn s' nd not seriously to reply to this letter:
~ ~ "a, Re- Henry Ward BeecaeT'
bey ond passionate exclamation Of your Intolerance
SSS 81 an. NO, EVIL ypT YOU'D Gsn s 2 9 ySa
.np-pi virtue underand remedy but
a. Ssasr Seaf Of , ha 1
& With one %ssRn S yT % % ths S9s
institution by t nature confirmed ~ the Afchn'er Of
Vice and the stronghold Of Eylw go -,
By great good luck this cOurteOusleter fell sweety
into Just Of those unguarded moments Oh gentle
ness" for which the writer sghs. we Shai,, thsre
tore, give some Of the choicest ihorseI'' MI
May AJAX on what grounds you founded TIL. belief; /
~ill not cell opinion Did you inv,stsats d - v.b.
upon which you minister Of our savior aes ,nsl con-
Ineuty Have you visited the scene. you 80 r,nye and
DENIM Have you studied me 'es nr Of tho stase Aud
Il you have experience have you e.en "'' u
No INV dear Sir 1 have never VISITED the scenes
which 40 strongly condemn Nor, though nave
read attcnyely the eloquent address el my tActen'
friend DIR. Bellows 90 eh,GPI ne 'I ne "s lin b go
after give his presence. He is too honest man to
recommend a course to Christian men which he WILL
Tor instance, the Board of DeacOns-we presume
that our good friend will be found sitting cOnspicu
ously in front Of the stage, terror to ev-dOers and
praise 10 them that do well. Actors aud actresses will
peep out from behind the scenes TO know whether to
the full or the expurgated play whether they to
play to the top to the bottom of the ethical scale
These refOmatory visits TO the theaer We shall not
make. But our information upon the effects OF the
theaters has been gathered from less pleasant methods
- from boys made wild and ungOvernabe; from
clerks made Enthusiastically; from apprentices made
discontinued and idle; from young men initiated into
vice. and men not young fatally tainted or broken down
by causes which, in part, were planted or developed
and nourished by the theater.
A mans judgment of the effects Of the theater will
be much modified by the end of society at which he
takes his statistics If a judgment be formed by the
effect produced upon educated people of confirmed
babits of good morals and refinement, surrounded by
good society, and held up by family influences, 1t
would not perhaps, be unfayorable
But if one follow out the narratives OF those VINO
have become castaways Of young men OF unsettled
characters of uDrestraued passions, without hxed
habits away from home restraints, easily intoxicated
by the excitement of not over nice moral plays he
will, as plain, practical man-more solicous to save
the weak than to add not needed pleasure to the
strong-form very different judgment.
But our readers are impatient for the next scrap OF
the letter:
"Or do you assume the vice Of the stage to be social asom
fact. question which from lack OF information you
the wrongs borne with patience and the slavery to prejudice
endured Icy those whose state you assign even lower ha qs
may W. nus St S the ysye show the fstter, on his
ns sC sne exhibit the p on his back and theeore
his less succutnt in the mouth Of all orator 1t Is not so
pictorial profitable. But wrong is wrong and the Physic
being Of class plea that their wrongs should be set
aside esurey regarded their injuries aggravated with i'm
punity.' -. &C.
Our compassion is touched. We are the friends not
Of sections Of classes of races, but OF mea We are
AbOlitiOnists. We would break every yoke, open
every prison door, suDder every fetier. Show us
slave and there willing TO apply our doctrines,
whtt to Circassian slave, slave Of the needle,
Of the plantation, or TO those newly discovered slaves
Of the theater. We take Mr. BOurcicaut at his word
We will treat these much abused persons whose cause
he amably pleads would other slaves. we
would open the door Of the theaer strip off the badge
of seryitude under which men, all their lives, are
obliged to repeat ideas not their own, and sentiments
foreign to their life, and say, Go forth be free
HencecIth leave pale imitation and take hold OF real
life Be the heroes which you have hitherto but sim
ulated. When the actor Ia abolished, ten thousand
Others win be emancipated with him. We give the
next section Of the letter:
"You have said that calculated 70 demorxe
and do mschef That radoting center Of vice and dss
patton and reform could ever make it otherwise
TO these sweeping assertions based facts whatever
Ths sSdisncc in tbsaft go thhe[ and for their .d
mission with ns . , SS s G' % bread be- up
In no asemblags 81 humon being. efAness ie'' fogdn.
all Mosght is Jdnished hatred Of vice 'y~pathy h r'rta
o.. Tor he tempsd and zoe for ne fallen ,., .,h.
istoy Ass been de'aced with fssehood poetry wsn an
has been dced by every TO which bad men could apply
it. The S1%i b. " .s0iS ny ,,,ss he and
rice he hidecus outline Of Der feature II IN lts ioi s ~
that TO our ears tneso rIs
20 those times and being common to the IhutcA tne
Lesisatur the Court were simply reflected from 'ne " o
There ia less owl thought the minds of OH audience Assem-
bed TO good play than IN me same nuaDe m Tb
occuried IN other kind OF known entertainment in
drunkenness aud debauchery attendant on Islis
meetings elections, balls and parties Excursions se
OF all kinds VIGOROUSLY exceed any uch e's
Tbe drinking saloons attached to theaters are to my kso~
eare nearly invariably failures as speeulatlons e.
I've leave this as we find IT, not because We deen IL
true. but because we prefer TO give our opinions IN
some other form and at another time But we caIho'
refrain from expressing our astonshmeht a. SuT a
sertiona Mr. Bourcicault ought to have been better
Informed of the history of his own profession ana OF
the theater. We simply oppose to these extsvagant
assertions of the nature and influence OF the tncner
n,stnp nf the real facts. We have italicized seVe-
raj lines that we might suggest their comparison WIN
the paragraph next following; ,u,..., I'm
By the rules of all tbeater' prostitutes ar @ S
crV means ingenuity devise No female iE al
,ni,t.d without gentleman aud the auditorium - so con
,cted that the privacy which vice seeks lie prscea ana
!. more uttered in single railway cor in
hour than have heard on ,ne b need sucb salu
,sry moral influences as the theater IS said To possess
should be 80 unfeelngly excluded! Ii all Thought Is
banished save hatred of vice. sympathy with virtue,
pity for the tempted &c, then why IS there any
need for constructing the auditorium 50 Skiiinly To
defeat vice Why not these poor outcasts allowed
10 enter the theater and 10 revive under those De-
nignapt Influences which said TO abound In thea'r-
cal life
We will give but another extract:
The drama aud its followers demand invegstios and
will not withheld urge Won most earnestly .nq mos I'm
v Of those concerned In the matter be convoked
nAnagers actors damatsts and the hshts % y. -
subject II /. no small thing you may Judge rom he iac
thai eighteen pei Of the population OF cities III n 'oA
To This demand of inv estigatiOn ANA comparison o1
opinions, 40 man can object. The manner suggested