Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-05-08
ANNA DICKINSON.
Her Singular Opinions Of Marriage
Her Views Of Churches and
Preaching. And Defense
Of Theatrical Per.
FORMERS.
ANNA DICKINSON.

| OF EheRerical Fer.
formers.
New York Syecal to Chicago Tribune.
Chickering Hall was filed - overflow
ing by the audience which greeted Ann
+. Dickinson tonight on the occasion o
her re-en,rance upon the lecture platform
She was received with enthusiasm. an,
loudly applanded at short intervals. Sh
began by saying il was not true she li,
left the platform. She had simply .'sbu
her mouth" because she had nothing I,
say. She thought this Il capital rule. Ii
regard to speaking or marrying. If yol
can help it. don't" [I.anghter.] If ii maid
en- We're so much in love that she mus
marry. very well; that might possibly Civ
} happiness. Anything less would s,irel,
bring misery. So Will, speaking. Ii siloul,
only he resOrted to wien one bad some
thing to say that ought to be spoken. Miss
Dickinson Went Oh tn dCnotince the spir
(which would brand a scarlet letter
upon the breast Of every woman. and visi
condemnation upon every m III vino tread,
t'N S'.tet. W i!llf iD otiitl tIitl
tainmrnt had sucI, :: grip upon the popu
lar heart rs the thpatrr. none was spoken
and written of with SO little fairness. The
fact that it had Ol,ti,el :fii the yinperation
showered upon it. was proof OF its great
ness. Ii WAS. in the speakers opinion. the
most potential influence in the civilized
world. Few cared to listen to the most
eloquent speech tiirI time. bit thous-
an1s laughed and cried over play fifteen
times. then did not tire of it. Compara-
lively few read books, anl fewer still nm
| derstood what they read. Even the news
papers were not read by a Hyriad. and
were slightly read by anot er myriad.
What was said in the theater to the eve
and ear every night. must. therefore. he
more potential than either. The pulpit
had no: the same influence over the lives
OF men rs the tl;cater. and she vent,,red to
say the in:lapnc Of the latter was by tarthc
most beneticrnt OF the two. She did not
refer TO religion in this connection. but be-
lcved that religion breaches its sermon rs
distinctly and penetra,ingiy from the stage
st~ II o'ii ilit tCHt ttSStTiit"! IIle en-
clnsiveness of the churches in terms which
evoked both applause and. once. Kisses.
They are looked upon. she sid. as so Sa-
cred that their very atmosphere is hermet-
ically sealed for six days in the week. in
order that it may be breathed over again
on the seventh. 1t always gave ser pain
to pass a church etlit:e AMI see such enOr-
nous capital going to waste. The theaters
were What churches ought to be. Light
was Il wonaerfu! power. Ten million
speeches would not have the same et,ect
against capital punishment rs would some
supernatural vision. that would have en-
ableti all men and all women of the COM
muni:y. to witness that tremendous carir:l-
!ure of justice that took place recently in
Cam,ien jill. ApDlause. Miss Dickin-
son then spoke OF the st'oe as an educator.
The stage was the most orthodox of the
orthodox. No sermon was ever preached.
no book written. that had had the etie,.t
tor good. of some plays. The Long
Strike" Caste" "Frou-FrOu." and ia
mile" We're particularly meRtiOncd. The !
speaker held ont. against all the Pnritans
that ever talked. that good is in the pre-
in human nature. and not evil.
Great applause. Nobody ever looked at I
! villain on the stage ana WAS tempted to .
become like him. When people spoke OF
the depths TO which the stage had fallen.
hey mean, that. in Il majority Of the plays
D. to-day. much is said about the greatest
)f the passions felt Ivy women in the civil
<ed wOrld-tlc relations between men and
~Omen falsely called love. Society did not
lare TO face these relations. but there was
me place where they could not be ignored.
md that was the stage. The speaker
ioped that the stage would stick TO show
NJ people rs they ale and not us prrulery
:tlsely represents them. until the solution
# many painful problems should be reach
4. [AppLllse.] The most Of the oppo-
ition to the stage was as blind as it was
ypocritical. She had often heard clerry-
len say: IF We're away from home. |
iollI 90 to the tlitater." H.augl,trr.
What they lacked was courage to follow {
,eir convictions. But there was a grow
~ courage in this. as in many other lines.
he defended actors. saying there were few
lhitcts of which otcr people knew so
tile as the private lives of actors and ac- {
'esses. The majority of them were sim !
le. harl-workiny. domestic people. The
wards of the profession were not for idle !
PISS or mediocrity. The assertion that tie i
YES Of great actors have. in majority Of e
'>es. been blasted by tie stage was not II
lie. Where the same genius was found IA
sewhere, the same result would be found, y
Tie bar. editorial chair. and every other Il
ace. Miss Dickinson was recalled at the
I'd OF her remarks. J..
A