Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-02-11
THE THEATER.
EeclesfasficaI Diatribe Against
Popular AmusemenTs..
A sllrteking, Tearing BOmbsheII
into Box, Tier and Circle.
RIsiOri, the BIenkeD. and the
Black Crook.

RIsiOri, the BIenkeD. and the
Black Crook.
The Recorded Judgment Of the
Church Of God.
From the Courier Journal Of Tuesday
We make the following extracts from q
sermon by the Rev. DR.. HUMPHREYS, 8
distinguished Presbyterian divine Of
Louisville, who, to use the language OF
that journal, seems certainly to speak of
the stage and players more from hearsay
than from such practical experience as
has recommended the stsge-akIn to
books-as q means Of education and re-
finement. We will condemn the MEN
KEN and the Black Crook as much
and ss heartily as the Reverend gentle
man, but We must contend against his
CHASING RIsToRI or JEFFERSON with
these. The opera bouffe may be ques-
toned. That is q matter of taste, but
the great lyric drama which has inspired
the works Of MEYEBBEER, MOZART,
RoSsINI, VERDI sDd a hundred kindred
souls, must ever be held as among the
most refining and civiliziDg influences
that humsn genius has begotten. So,
too, with the stsge. SHAKsPEAREis s.
genius far transcsnds that produced by
any other than the actOr's profession.
After bim come the wits, the poets and
the best OF play wfights down to Bull
WBR-IYTTON, CHARLES READE, DION
BoUcICAULT and JOHN BROUGHAhI,
Who have, if not sustained his exalted
standard, yet contributed OF an uneom-
mon ability to preserve the tone and
cultiysting Influences OF the stage.
When DR.. JOHNSON was asked IL he be-
lieved in ghosts, mis- answer was that
what the universal verdict Of mankind
consented TO, he could not doubt. So
with the opera and the thestsr; what
the universal verdict Of mankind in this
the most bTillisnt, refined and educated
epoch OF the world, consents to as neces-
sary to that education and refinement,
eannat bs what the Rev. Dr. HUM.
PHREYs, with great skill, endeavors to
make 1t appear. EDS. APPEAL
The reverend gentleman tock for his
text the 20th and 2lst verses OF the third
chapter OF the gospel of John, as fol-
lows:
John III, 20, 21.-For every one that
doeth evil hsteth the light, neither com.
eth TO tbs light, lest his deeds should be
exposed but he that doelh the truth
cometh to the light"
The thester appeals to the public for
patronage and support f; it processes to
offer to the people q wholesome and in
structiye recreation 7; it styles itself the
mirror OF human nature, the censor of
public morals, the e&stigatOr Of vice and
folly, the school of virtue. These are
high claims, very high, aud it Is fair
question whether they be well founded.
THE THEATER A PROPER SUBJECT FOR
DISCUSSION.
We discuss other public Institutions !:
the common school system, Freema-
sonry, Odd Fellowship, and the temper
ancs societies. Men handle, with the
utmost freedom, the Christian religion
and the church Of God, anu nobody COM
plains. The tRester must take its chances
among the subjects of free INJURY. In
deed, if it be q useful institution it will
invite examination,
THE THEATER 8" AS IT MIGHT BE,n
We shall clear the subject OF confusion
II we discard some of the side issues that
sttend it. For example, those who de-
fend the stage have much to say OF the
theater as 1t might be, and ss it will be,
when once it is reformed. But they who
adopt this line OF defence seizs the sword
by the blade, for they admit, in effect,
that the theater as il is, the theater un-
reformed, is incapable of defense. stn
further, il is not admissible to draw eff
the mind from the only real and pTaou-
cal Issue, Tie thester as il is, as it ac-
taally exists to-day, is the matter OF in-
quiry.
ANOTHER FALLACY
Which besets the subject, lies Ia the
use made of the fact, that We need
recreation and amusement, that the
mind and body bearing the lead and
druid gerry OF human life cry out, now
and then, for relief
WHY PEOPLE GO TO THE THEATER.
Still further, it is q mere delusion to
suppose that people go to the theater to
be instructed, to be taught Ia any branch
of useful knowledge, or to receive pro-
found moral impressions. They 90 to be
amused, to be entertained, and to satisfy
the craving for excitement. / appeal to
those who frequent the thester Whetner
you go thithsr with the intent to be
made wiser or better to obtain 8 strong
er body or q sSunder mind; whether
moral lessons RIe ths entertainments
that are directly sought there, and
whether the audience show any great
eagerness to profit by them.
THE " UNOBJECTIONABLE " PLAYS.
In the second place, let Us consider the
morsl tone Of those playa, which are
the ught by many to b9 unoojectionRbe.
These plays may be divided into two
glasses {: the pathetic drama, and the
drama which deals with human nature
In its steFner moods.
THE PATHETIC DRAMA.
It is the leading object Of the pathetic
drams to awaken the finer ssnsibilities,
especially compassion, for human Roffer-
ing. Accordingly 1t is held that the
theRter cultiYRtes with an efficiency
rarely surpassed this pure and engaging
virtue. We are pointed to the mastery
skill with which the author OF the play
arrAnges the story of misfortune aud
wretchedness, OF suffering innocence.
and Of overwhelming calamity. And
then we are referred to the cOnsummAte
skill of the player In rendering the story;
To the weeping audience; to the irrepres-
sible so5bings of the boxes responding
" TO the patnos of the stage" We are
expected to admit that the play has the
extraordinary merit OF reinforcing, in
the public mind, the heavenly quality OF
mercy. But this statement overIooks
one OF the constant laws of our nature.
A clear distinction Is to be taken here,
as elsewhere, between things that differ
THE ILLUSTRATION.
/ do not compare the theater even as
it is to Spanish bull fight or TO RO-
man gladiatorisl show but insist upon
IL that those spectaeIes furnish an ilius-
tratiOn-a strong one, / grant you-of
the difference between human suffering
sought out for the purpose of mer-
cy, and human suffering sought
out for the purpose of recreation.
The first softens, the last hsrdens the
heart. The first ministers to the ele-
ment of piety that ia in us; the last to
the faint Of cruelty that turks like sn as
sassin in the darker recesses of the hui
man breast and insist upon 1t that this
love Of excitement which urges you to
be in at the death OF q creature-a
death which, though on the stage and
unreal, is q greater luxury to you in pro-
portion as 1t approaches in its phenome-
ma a real death-the more like death the
higher your enjoyment, and the more
ghastly and bloody the sight, the more
agreeable your recreation. ] insist upon
it that, from this point Of view, case
is clearly made out against the theater,
upon both the evidence and the iaw-the
evidence Of human experience and the
law of human nsture-the highest form
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