Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-11-14

have became strangely stirred up, and have
vaxsd exceeding wro.h at oil manner oi
dramatic iu2srsonations either in the thea
trs Or ops,, eoodsuning beth in::unquali6sd
terms. Rev. Robert L,ird Cslliss. pastoi
of the church Of The Messiah, On last Sun
dav preached sermon On popular smuss
meots. taking his tex from ! Cor. 7-Sl
.use ID, world - ret abusing It." Th,
fol,.vin, sx:rsc, " commend to III,
thoughtful reader, for the liberal and intel
lig.nt spirit which they breathe We have
many these days ho cry dswn the stage
A an .bomiua,ion, seeing in it nothing Of
good but oil Of evil
Fns drsma is as ancient a. the race.
Furthermore, much OF the finished iitera-
,ure. in ita spirit and its form, 10 dramatic,
| Am not quite sure but that the very 6rst
chapters IN Genesis are dramauc. l Am
quite sure that Job Is dramatic; tnat Ruth
is that Esther is dramatic. Shaksspsars,
the peerless poet Of centuries, had mad 20
function in the world, and no name left to
history. had it not been for the dramatic
iustincs and aptitude. So with Milton.
The erandest poets that God has given to
The world ehave been its dramatic poets.
And. furthermore, human character has
its highest representation in the drama.
confess that | never saw such power; l
never remarked such nature IN any Chris
,ian pulpits that it was ever my privilege
to cit under % in Joseph Jsffsrson's Rip
Van Winklo." Ii 10 nature, not ert Ss
simple; 80 true; 80 beautiful 90 moral.
No sermon scarcely written In ths wsrld,
except that Of Christ when he stood with
the adultsrsus woman, ever illustrated the
power Of love to conquer evil, aHd to win
the wandersr. % that beautiful little piece,
% perfectly rendered by this genius whom
Ged has given ~ to illustrate in the drama
the pswsr Of love over the sins OF the facs-
| wsnder who among the Ministerial Union
ever saw Jefferson in "Trip Van Winkls.'
Let 10 give to these friends the advantage
of our judgment Of their Ignorance. Klstoii.
Rachel, Booth, Murdoch. especially, Davsn.
pert, jefferson, are oil Gsd's gifts to man.
So say that the legitimate drama 10 to b
indsrssd. IL 10 an educator. IL 10 in no
wise to bs apoloeized for. And in regard t.
shs Opera, need snly, I think. say that %
fer - the legitimate opera 10 csncsfnsd. any
one Who objects TO it, on neral grounds,
must either BE- ignorant Of it, think fsr
the most part that these who object to the
opera ars--es there certainly must b Z
neral weakness in the nature Of such
sbjecters. To cay that the opera is
oorrupting 10 70 say the most irrational and
fsolish thing that human lips are capable Of.
cay that man must b ignorant Of what
the opera is; must have wholly been
without knowledge Of il, or else brought to
its bearing . lascivious hearing to begin
with. ] admit that very many excellent
people, morally, but cultivated people,
Intellectually, do not snjsy the opera. Many
Of eur wisest minds g to the opera and
come away. feeling that it was . waste Of
time, and We whs can snjsy it in any wise,
bs it never 20 little, ought 70 feel profoud
sorrow for such people, because they do
not knew the infinite lights and joys Of
which, by their lack Of musical culture,
they ere deprived. But 1t is their duty,
simply, to say that they do not like il.
It 10 . sorry religion that rejects it on the
sour grape principle; because they cannot
they went let any body else. The music
people that attend. The score is nothing,
with many it 10 absolutely nothing, if they
can catch the passion OF the music. And
- to the dress in the drama and In the
opera, let me say once for oil, that oil dress
ing is conventional. If 1t had the sanction
of long usage, the dress Of the EXTREMIST
dancer would in nswise be considered inds.
cent; or If the gown had been the fashion
for men, the present attire would be cen
sidsrsd vulgar. And then we are not 10
confonnd the incidental with the fundamen.
tai. This 10 incidental, and | do always
feel myself that the management Of our
theatres and operas mean TO catch the low
and vulgar BY this dancing Of women, fer
whose moral character have not word Of
Endorsement, as have no sort Of personal
fellowship, and no sort Of respect for those
who, il you take the conventional opinions
Of men and women who consent to it, are
not fit companion for eur sons and daneh-
ters
tell you, Furthermore, that you may o.,
ways remark that, Whatever is proper and
high, and eeva.ing, wherever there 10 q
moral sentiment that is lofty and noble, it
uniformly receives the approval Of the au-
disnce and it has not been my misfortune
to be IN theatre for several years past
where anything low and mean and deprav-
ing was not hssed. OF courts l attended
only the better ssrt. /. then, wish 10 say
that the music Of tbs opera would BE- lost
to the world, a. it could take no other pos
sibls form. It, too, 10 an educator. It ele
Yates and retines the taste and spirit. |
really dent know but that it would be .
very sensible thing If eur congregations
wsuld make it stipulation, when they en-
gags their ministers, that they would &C :
csPt season ticket encs year to the ope-
Ito cultivate their taste in musical matters.