The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-01-21
Theaters and TheaIer-GoIng.


by multitudes as fragrant wrong. So
wrong is it considered in itself, or so bad
is it in example, that ministers are shut
out OF the thGater as q class with sweep
ing completeness, For clergyman TO
be seen at theater, is to compromise his
position and influence. We know that
many clergymen regard this as 4 hard
ship, for they have told US so; but their
unwise predecessors have made the bed
Tor them, and they are Obliged to lie in
it. The public opinion that has been
generated In the church, by pulpit criti-
cism aud denunciation, has built q wall
around the theater SO high that men
holding responsible positions in the
church cannot cross 1t,
For this position Of the church, the
stage itself Is largely responsible. The
stage has always been under strong temp
tations to seli.degradation, II it had
always been pure; II the amusements il
has offered to the public had always been
innocent; II 1t had not at one period OF
It's history been breeding place Of vice;
ii it had not presented strong attractions
to those who seek the society OF lewd
women; II profanity and poorly dis.
guisGd Obscenity had never had place in
the plays presented; II impure imagina.
tions had not been cherished among the
young by hall nude dancing girls; in
brief II animal nature-tho lower no.
turG-had not been addressed 80 persist
emily by those who have assumed the en-.
tcrtaininent OF tho public, the church
would never have taken the position that
il has. 1t is not TO DO wondered at that
the protest was strong, when tho provo
cation was SO shameless. The older mon
Of the present day remember tho horrible
"Third Tier" Of their youth, They re-
member, too, the double eatsadrs, the po-
lite profanity, the broad jest, that woke
the disgusting cheers Of "the pit" 1t is
no justification Of an institution that has
arrogatcd to itself the tito Of "a school OF
morals" that 1t offered what was demand
ed, and what the public most willingly
paid for. II was part Of the legitimate
Office Of tho stage to protect public NOR.
ais and to educate the public into pure
tasto. The enmity Of tho church toward
the stage has not been without cause,
But the stage Is better than It was, on
the whole. We have vilcthGatres in New
York, tO.day-Rltogcther too many Of
them-plays presented that degrade or
vitiatU tho taste aud tho morals Of those
who witness them-men and women on
the boards who aro base IN character and
life. On tho other hand, we have theatres
whose aims are high, and actors and &c.
tresSos who have pride Of personal char
acter, and desire and determination to
hold their most interesting art to purity
and rGspectability. These people-fait6.
full husbands and wives, intellectual men
and women, good fathers, mothers, maid.
ems, friends aud extraordinarily Chafe
under tho Wholesale condemnation which
tho church visits upon them. We cannot
blame thom for this. We can only ask
them to he patient with q state OF things
which multitude Of their predecessors
and many Of their contemporaries have
helped to bring about. The church Is
gradually working toward their recOgni.
tion, and they must give il time 10 move.
There was u time, and II was not long
ago, when cards we're banished from every
Christian household. The older mon and
women Of the church very we'll remember
when a pack OF cards found In a boys
trunk would be taken US proof that the
devil had very strong hold upon Its
owner. Millions Of men and women have
been bred to believe that Card-playing
was-with or without reasOn-a sin IN
itself, That time has pissed away al.
ready, and the innocent little pastebOards
have become n source Of amusement IN
great multitudes Of Christian families.
Children never could sec any reason in
their exclusion, and tho church isstrongcr
In the child's mind for tho change that
has occurred. Billiards wero once 40
associated with vicious resorts and vicious
practices, that a man disgracGd himself by
appearing where they were. Now bill
lard table Is IN nearly every house that
can afford one, and Is purchased in many
Instances as home guardian OF the morals
Of the boy. Novel reading was once
Us thoroughly under ban as theatcr
going We remember tho time when
tho novel reader hid his books--read
them when he ought to have been asleep
-stOlo their charms on rainy days, In
carrots or on hay m0ws, and then passed
them into the hands OF some other sly
thief of pleasure, who still passed them
on, until they we're worn out. Well, tho
Grst novels were poor. They gave false
ideas Of life, and werO condemned en-
masse by the church; but the church found
At IN carly day that II wanted novels for
itS own purposes, Now tho great ma
jority Of Sunday.school books arc novels
Of religious sort, while every Christian
library holds Scott and Dickens aud
and the public libraries and
tho reading clubs, all over tho land, find
moro readers for their novels than for
any other class Of books. They have be.
come the sources Of moral, political and
social instruction, as we'll as Of general
entertainment, within as well us without
The church.
We alludo TO these sources Of amusc-
mont and the great change that has oc.
,urrrd with regard 10 them for tho pur.
pose Of illustrating that which Is GER
.ainly progressing In relation to tho
heater. We have parlor theatricals,
and they aro recognized more and more
l' harmless and instructive amusements.
We have dramatic exhibitions In our
institutions. We go to the
opera really for Its music, but we arc
obliged tng get this through the represent.
lion Of the most vnpid dramatic compo.
iitions that can DO Imagined. In short,
sc have acknowledged III many ways that
he representation Of play il not wrong
ID itself, while our Christian travellers
make their pilgrimaguS to Obcramnergau
. witness play that degrades the great
Christian tragedy to the commonplace Oi
'pcclacular drama. The time Ia rapidly
'Oming--proyided Of course that those
Who have tho theater In charge stand, a.
FOOD men and women, by their obliga.
ions to the public, and uphold the dig.
iity OF their art-when Christians will
eek amusement in their presence from
heir performances; when they will dis.
riminato between theatcrs rs they do
,ctwcen novels, and when the premium
Il their presence and patronage will be
,tlcred to those who serve them conscien.
iously.
As n people, we have no such super.
Iuity Of amusements and fecrcations that
re can afford to hold one under ban, that
; in itself harmless and legitimate, We
FORK under great pressure, and need
much more recreation than We get. II
nan thus pressed feels that pure dra.