Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1883-06-05

Tuesday, june 5. 1883.
Dwight place Church.
Two DIseourses~ Preached By Re-
THnOuAaR r.. RacOn.

Dwight Place Church.
Two DIseourses~ Preached By Rev.
Thomas r.. Bacon.
At Dwight Place church Sunday two elo-
ouent and impressive discourses were
preached by Rev. I. r.. Bacon. In the
morning the choir rendered ''Jesus, Lover of
My Soul,'' in a touching manner, and its
marked effect on the large congregation pres.
emit beautifully illustrated that part of the
pastors sermon which referred to the value
of music as an art in the church service,
which, while possessing in itself no moral
principle, prepared the mind in a special way
for the reception Of moral and spiritual In
struction.
The text was from Corinthians 10, 10 :
81 speak as to wise men. Judge ye what
saw Mr.. Bacon said 'It is time for us to
draw from direct conclusions concerning the
subject of theater going and shall speak this
morning concerning The uses of the theater.
First, the theater is professedly and decided
ly q place of amusement. Whatever else IL
may be, it is place of amusement. 1t Is for
amusement so far asst is for anything. Second,
a good play is a form of art, and as such has
a certain educational influence. Third, NOR
al influence is not quality of a good play
as an art. If the theater undertook
to be a teacher of morals the pro-
ducing of good plays would cease
to be an art. The mixing of the theater with
moral instruction would be to divert its OBJ
iect as an art. AS soon as anything which
is amusement undertakes to give moral in
struction it ceases to be amusement. When
art undertakes to be moral teacher 1t loses
all claim to be considered as art.
Anything which can educate any function
of the man, anything which can develop God
given faculties, this helps to lay the basis OF
the most firm morality in existence. BODILY
exercise does this. A man who
has healthy form and can
exercise all his bodily functions with
freedom has an advantage of being able TO
build up a more healthy morality. 1t Is
often understood that a person who has
poor physical organization can develop
HIGHER morality than can healthy man.
This is a mistake. The morality of a sickly
man is apt to be q sickly kind of morality
The body must exercise certain influence
over the spirit. Much more is this true of
the education of the mind. A highly trained
intelligence, if it be not too narrow
to be generous by excessive devotion
to one object of study, requires the
exercise of all its varied functions. 1t is
true that intellect culture, may be pushed to
excess ia particular directions. There are
things to cultivate and develop all the facul-
ties and thus lay the foundation for the best
morality.
So with the aesthetic sense. The exclusive
study of the works of painters or sculptors
does warp the mind. The fully rounded
man will be rounded on the intellectual,
aesthetic and physical sides. The arts are
educational in this sense. So is it with the
study of some pictures. So is it with the
study of music So with architec-
ture. 1t is not that man
is going to learn sound morals by any aes
thetic exercise, but man in this position is
more susceptible to moral truth This is the
proper function of art in our houses of wor-
ship. The influence of architecture and mu-
sic are such as to render the mind more sus
ceptible to religious truth and SO elevetes
mans soul that it reaches upward for moral
instruction. In this sense is dramatic perfor-
nance an art which may be abused, but this
nevertheless is its true function The theater
can never be moral teacher directly. When
it attempts this it will cease to be art and no
one will go except from sense of duty.
We may draw some general conclusions
from this review of the subject. We may
take the position that the theater is, on the
whole, bad and detrimental to the cause of
right. If we take this position as SO many
have taken in years gone by you will find
life, so far as the theater is concerned, COM
parativeIy easy, but you must beware of two
things first, do not say it is all bad and no
good comes of it. In SO doing you are bear
ing false witness against your neighbor. Sec
ond, do not condemn q man who in the ex-
ercise of his Christian liberty goes to the
theater with discrimination and moderation.
To his own master he standeth or falleth.
Third, beware of trying to pass yourself
off in the Christian church the
weak brother. You stand firm with your
feet planted on your own conviction, and if
in your strength you undertake to make peo-
pie believe you are a weak brother you will
only succeed in making them think you are a
contemplate brother. We may take the op-
posite view and say that the theater possesses
both good and bad, that you have a right to
enjoy the good, but must let alone the bad.
This is the more difficult position to hold.
You must be cautious and always be sure of
the character of the play you propose to see.
You must know whether your family will re-
ceive the entertainment you desire them to,
whether their evenings amusement will tend
to make them love truth more, and to give
them keener relish for what is highest and
best in life This position is the
more difficult to maintain of the
two.
In the afternoon MIR. Bacon re-
peated by request sermon preached last
winter on separation from the world, as ap-
closing the series on theatre
going. The text was from Matthew IA, %,
And when the Lord sent the multitudes
away he went up into a mountain apart to
pray, and when the evening was come he
was there alone" The substance of the dis
course was a contrast between the isolated
life of the old monks and the life of Christ,
which the pastor said was so separated from
the world that some men regarded such
life an impossibility and the character only
myth. No one could have listened to those
two discourses without deeply realizing that
life is great and terrible responsibility, not
only for ourselves, but for the world around
us.