Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-02-11

uttered by the pagan, but the response OF
the Christian poet to the plea, that insti-
gated the unhsppy English gentleman
to throw away his life exclaiming:
What Cato cia and ddison approved
Aust su.e b5 night"
THE MORAL TONE OF THE THEATER OF
TO DAY AND THE MENKEN.
must ROW 20 on in tbs third place 10
discuss the moral tone Of the plays now
most popular ia the thester OF the pres.
ent day. Now you must bear in mind
tie iRct that a play, to succeed, must
meet the pOpulsr taste, and everything
must he done and everything must be
sacrificed to produce sensation to get
run for the play. There are In every city
muihJude5 Of people whose tastes are
cOsrse, whose fsvOrite smusements are
vulgar. Il is certain that the theater
will ester 70 ths demands Of those Tuder
multitudes. Ia a great city like New
York or London, there are thesteFs for
the more refined, aud theatsTa ioF the
most dissolats. In smaller cities, the
stage will, iof one week, be occupied by
ths higher fOrlGs OF the drama, and for
another by the prolane dialogue snd the
indecent spectacle. Or, perhaps, al in
the evening you have tragedy TOR the
boxes, and at 10 o'clock you have broad
snd vulgar fsrce for the pit and galleries.
AT ons time you have had q short en-
gsgemeBt of. Ristori, and at another the
picture of the hslf-nAked Ada Menken
has stared us cut Of oountenance from
the theRter bills ss we have walked the
| streets, and the living hslf-nRked figure
Itself Of that poor creature has regsled
the senses of the people that bsvs crowd
ed to the representation. The notion
that the thester will set itself to reform
the public taste is simply preposterous;
itGees not lead, it follows; il does not cor
rect an unhealthy tone CT morals 1t min
isters to the lowest passions and appetites.
THE BLACK CROOK.
But we have not stated the worst of
this case. Il was bad enough that the
Black Crook " should have been ex-
hl0ited snyw here outside OF dancehouses
Of New York; bad enough it was that it
was not suppressed even then by the DO
lice. But the worst Of it was that re-
spectacle people attended the shameful
spectacle, that men of character took
their wives and suffered their daughters
to be present. Let me read to you an
extract from the Northern Monthly for
March, 1868. Speaking of the Black
Crook at New York, the writer says:
The initial evening saw the theaser
packed, but with men, very few having
the tsmerity to take women to an exhi-
biti0n so very Questionable. The second
evening the small feminine element was
Increased, ard before the second month
had begun, city danes Of position and
esrefully-reAred damsels ventured to
gaZs st the yanton dances and leWd tab
lesux, in spite of the bushes that GOV.
ered them even to their finger-tips
Even the demon dance, which no man
could sse for the first time, without some
sense Of shame, was accepted as thing
OF course. The first night of it's repre-
sentation even New York was sstonished
and mortified, and, after o few seconds,
would have hissed the ludierous exhibi-
ton but for the c2dqWeTs carefully posted
through the house.n
THE POISON OPERA.
II we turn from such infamous theatri-
cal spectscles as the "Black Crook,Ii
and the White Fawn,u and the
"Golden Branch" !" TO the opera, I'VE find
it not less Objectionable. can see no
material difference between evil thoughts
uttered in plain speech and evil thoughts
uttered In song, except that music gives
intensity to the poison. Like the feather,
Il wlngs the arrow with deadly aim.
l have no knowledge of the popular
operas Of the day. But I see some of
them described in the newspapers In
such terms as leads me to regard IL as
fortunate that they are In measure dis
guised by the French and Italian Ian
gusges in which they are written. OIL
one OF them it has been said that ait Is
violation of the seventh command
ment set to music, with infinite Vsria.
tlons.r
THE GENTLER EMOTIONS OF THE OPERA.
From the theAter you proceed to the
opera. There the gentier emotions are
awakened. Low, soft voices from the
stage, utter in song the insldious evil
thought; the sentimsnt and the scenery
and the symphonies I'LL the hcuse with
the fumes of q sensuous inebriation. The
atmosphere is radiant with magic glow
and laden with golden mist. In that
bewildering dream, and then in the
memory Of the delight and the longing
for its renewal from week TO week, what
young man or young woman viii care
for the soul? grH
THE JUDGMENT OF THE CHURCH OF GOD.
Tie experiences Of mankind, and the
settled convictions of the Church Of
Goda through all the ages, are not to be
deepised. And ii these declare ANYTHING,
thev testify with one consent tfst the
theater robs saving truth OF its power.
makes the call Of divine mercy more and
more distasteful, and draws men away
from the Bible and from the house Of
prayer and from the cross Of Christ. I
do but repeat the recorded judgment Of
the Church Of God-the Church catholic
and universsi-when | declare that the
theRtar is an enemy OF the gospel. And
may God help you to weigh well the
Judgment Of that holy and august tribu-