Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-01-11
CHURCH
Their Connection ia ,neient and
Modern fines.
St. Louis Republican.


The third lecture OF tue Public
School Library course was delivered
By the Rev. j. q. Learned, and hi,
subject tina Drama and Church
The lecturer began by showing tina
the drama aud devotion, that thu
-acraments and the stage, had a CON
mon origin; or perhaps it would be
better to say that the drama was one
of the forms of worship, the stage an
agency devised aud developed FOR th,
'urtherance of religious interests
Hhe rulnit was that place in the Ro
man theater where the actors reoited
their parts. Hypoclicy' was the an.
,wtr m4ue undvI a ialse face. Ii W,
examine closely We shall iud that the
irst dramatic achievements Of ali
nations had a religious or ecclesiastical
character"
Aitsl c.ting many other countries in
support of this statement, the lecturer
gave a concise history of the Greclan
drama, from its germs in the worship
OF Bacchus to the nresentation ofthose
masterpieces Of Bschylus, SOphoeles
anu nurIpldes which have won for
Athenian tragedy its imperishable
renown. From first to last the thea
ter was one manifestation Of popular
faith and the disbursement Of money to
the poor for entrancsfees was regarded
as pertaining to the religious rather
than the civil interest OF the nation.
And when we consider the extraor-
binary beauty OF IhOsU immortal com
positions which first stamped tragedy
asa separate department OF poetry, we
ball be satisfied that the tastes, the
| sentiments aud the intellectual stand
ard Of the Athenisn multitude must
have been sensibly improved and OK
alted by such lessons,
The early Christians should not
look kindly upon the drama, nor upon
any other form of Pagan art. Actors
could not enter tho church nor receive
Christian burial. But the clergy,
finding that this Unborn love OF dra
matte representation would seek graft
~ication in spite OF the auathemas Of
the church, at length changed their
plan and took these reereations inio
their own hands. They turned actors,
aud instead OF protane mummeries,
presented stories taken from legends
Of the Bible, This was the
ORIGIN OF SACRED CEREMONY.
After the tenth century religious
plays, performed by priests and monks
and nuns, became general THROUGHOUT
all Christian countries For 400 years
the church held the drama 10 its own
hands, as it held pretty much every
thing else"
Abiding to various mysteries and
miracles plays performed in England
and showing the natural evolution Of
, the moral plays from there, the lecture
traced the origin OF the secular drama
in the universities, it's gradual sepa
} ration from the religious, until neai
the end of the sixteenth century il
Z eliminated in regular thtaters aud the
immortal works of Shakespeare.
The lecturer pointed out the largC
J contributions the church had 10 yari
GUS ways made to the success OF ever
the secular theater, and deprecated
1 the fashion Of looking back for thu
golden age of the drama. my i'm
preston is that the moral standard 0
the theater was never higher than to
o day, and that 1t is constantly rising
= The statement may produce a smile
!. but on the lips of him who was turnel
= over the soiled leaves of the drama o
the past, whether called secular or sa
cred. | believe, on the whole, tina
our age is not an exceptionally ba.
= age; but, on the contrary, in spite G
. seeming exceptions, has less grOs
e s~ensuality, more moral delicaoy, tina
II can be accorded to any past c%ivilizl
ton. And the stage in any age ma
f, be taken as the most perfect miro
aud measure, the unerring bGromete
Of popular morality. The theater
> NO SCHOOL OF ETHICS.
y 1t would be hypocritical to avo,
II any such purpose. johnson said q
cannot reform itself but must folio.
4 the taste Of the public. But it is nc
to be FORGOTTEN that in every nation
} has modi6el aud superseded ba.eihn
II even brutal amusement. The be
Il pit, which was Just behind the Glob
: Theater in London, We may hope an
believe Jared i'll for lR'rons, viii
Will Shakespeare was acting the gho
y in Hamlet, or Adam in AS You Lii
10 It."
5. Nov society is just as certain
i hsvo public smusemeHts as it is eerta-
10 have a system of religion or a sy
40 tenn of education. They are equal
at essential to their we'll being. The lol
OF imitation, the power Of persOnatin
70 the immense range which the dram
affords to talent aud genius have ma,
O. the theater, found ia every city. Il
ed Que permanent factor IN publis anus
A meni. | wish the managers of the
So resorts could afford to exclude fro
:, their boards all scenes that could SUI
al the mind or offend the taste oil I
purest, Just as | wish the publisher
the newspaper could afford to exclu
ng from its pages the indecent transl