Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-01-01
PIE RELHGfoUs SENSATION.
A Financial View OT the Ritual
tStic attraction.

From The New Ecrk %orld.l
we trust We shall nst be accused Of
i.ppgncy in lsening this popularity OF
what may be called scenic services TO
the resent popularity OF what was called
the spectacular drama. It has Degn 10
each ease the novelty which has proved
TO &c the alinrement. To the really de-
vOus mind, religious forms ara valuable
precisely to the degree in which they
enbOdy aud make manifest the religious
spirit, Waen they bear no apprehensi-
Die relation to that spirit, which should
inspire and dignity them, they ars not
only useless, but they become blssPhe-
NOUS mGekefy. III, on the other hand.
rites are not empty, bat are, Is the An
glican liturgy pHtsit, the outward and
Visible forms OF An inward and spiritual
grace or, rs the Laureate sings Of Sec
ular observances, If
Manners are not idle. bat the growth
CLioyal 4 isure and OF mob mind,
then the form may be carried to the
/. usmOst length of elaboration, provided
il be always held to be form and not sub
stance. II will be precious and valuable
TO eacn Worabipper in proportion te the
weakness OF his own faculty FOR imsgin-
ing things unseen without its aid. III it
does not help aim and Is aOt intended to
help him % . clearer conception OF what
is behind y, then We suppose the Ritual
ists will admit as readily as anybody
else that it is an e0tire!y superfiuOns
thing. But by itself, and without refer
snce to its meaning, IL has CHAINS 10
sOOthe the mercantile or professional
breast, whose owner, being eompelled
by stress OF Mrs. Grundy to choose some
cnureh, chooses that ola of which the
worship is plesssntest for the carnal eye
to look at ana foT the cArnsl ear to hear.
If Il be not prssumptuOus to compare
lesser things with sacred, this has pre-
eiseIy the cJurss OF the spectacular
drama, In the two most pronounced
cases which We have had OF it, the ae
ceesories were not accessory at aIl, but
principal II is doubtful Il tue most con-
slant attendall upon the RIack Crook
could now recount the "pioth OF the
trash which served sa pfetext for the
gorgeous stage pictures which were pre-
sented with i6. The scenery and the
groupings wsrs not only meaniB g ess by
themselves, bat they failed to recsive
any eiuCd&tlOn ftom~ q tex which
was equally meaningless. Even when
Shakespeare. in his Midsammer Nights
Dream, was presented, the best OF the
stage effects were utterly Irrelevant to
the drama, and might, with almost
equal propriety, have been tackled to the
dfamat.zatiOn OF Norwood. Toe scenery
drew people who were tieEled by the
thought that N;zing &c look through q
kaieid0soOTe was Rppreeisting Shaks-
Daare But mere " shaws" pail after a
little, and for the present the purely /
spectacular drama mas subsidized. When /
il fesppeaTs Il. IL TO be hoped that the
raviVars Of II Will bssE 10 ni0d that sc-
eassories are accessories; and will amplOy
them to illustrate ana Vivify something [
OF real IleTit.
It may De predicted that with those to
whom religious services are but shewi
the result viii be similar. They will run
after the novelty OF il for time, but use
and won't will soon Winnow the ehRn Of
sighlssers from the wheat or devotion.
What good Is to bs found In It will hold
the latter long after the former have
been alieuated. The difference 10 that
the Offe1se, which 10 case OF the drama
Is an oifense sgaiGst good taste alone, is
here OF the nstlre Of saeriiSGe. That o. |
fsnEe in the case of religion, we take to !
be the adoption of any form for any other I
reason than that it corresponds TO spiTit- 1
ual reality and supplies q spiritual need. /
The earnest hitualist, OF whom no doubt [
there are many, have found able sdvO- /
Gates; and It Is to be feared that the in. |
sincere Ritualists, If any such there be, /
will not want for clerical caterers, now /
that 1t has become an sstahliahed Tact I
that Rtualism, looked ap0a IS an expe- (
dent for filing churches and aims I
boxes, Is success