The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-05-08

| popular hVlIbbh, vi OHo moIu ulhnuiutu
never appeared In America England
also sent TO us delectable specimens Of
lneifable sweetness, commended by q
prince not az good az his mother, From
some OF the notorious foreign imp0rta-
tions OF our American stage conclude
that II many of our theatera are adyanc-
Ing In high moral tone the advance is
imperceptible.
Another reason for thinking that the
American stage 10 not Improving is that
the majority Of the plays In our time are
degrading In their tendency. !
will not mention the names OF
many OF the modern plays that are
very popular lest should advertise that
which condemn, and besides that their
very names are too suggestive OF peril
dy.
II mention any of these objectlona-
bio plays II must be those that are a lit
Tie past, but will come back again no
doubt TO debauch the public taste when
lts appetite demands change OF carri'
on. Take the manuscripts OF the plays
for the last fifteen years, and, admitting
that One-tenth OF them are free from OBJ
jectiOns, the other nine.tentha are unfit
20 be witnessed by tho families OF Amer
lea. Subtract from these nlne-tentha OF
improper plays the libeTtinism, and the
domestic Intrigue, and the inuendoes,
and the vulgaritles and martial scopI :
drellsm, and you would leave them pow
erless In the dramatic market.
Put the printed plays OF the last ten
years beside the printed plays OF Ma
croadys time or those Of the elder
Booth and you will nnd o positive de-
cadence. have not seen these latter
day plays enacted, but from authentic
witnesses and from analysis by eminent
critics, among whom Ia DR., Buckley, OF
New York, who has carefully examined
the manuscripts OF many OF the popular
plays, | have come TO clear and decisive
Judgment.
You who went TO 500 east Lynn" and
took your families with you, now In your
cooler moments read that play with It's
fetld and mal0d0r0us chapters which
chase the dishonest wife frem iniquity
TO Inlquty, and ask II that In an i'm
pr0yement on the former drama. You
might as we'll 90 and slt down In bar,
room with n beyy OF village l0afers and
expect TO get moral elevation from them
NJ from the popular play, Ticket OF
Leave Man." with us pictures OF VII
ainy and low slang. "A New Way to
Pay Old Debts Is n practical eulogy on
deception II II DO practlced upon The
bad, and the men aud the women who
20 into a theater and see "Slr Giles"
come away not 30 pure ~ when they
went. "She Stoops to Conquer" is AZ
full OF moral malaria 90 Roman cam
pagna OF typhus fever on an August
night. Write oliver G0ldsmith's name
at the top OF II and at the bottom OF II
and nj the close Of each act, and you
cannot cover the pr0fane and salacious.
The "Sch00l for Scandal Ia rotten clear
through with lasciyl0uenese, and II u
man should 20 into your honse and take
that play from under his arm and read
certain passages TO your family, the
bones In his body which were not
broken would not DO worth speaking Of,
But who would have the heart even TO
mention the "DOn Cmsara," the BAR
maids" aud the peg Woillngtons," and
Lady Gay Spankers," and the Court
lys," and the poltroons, aud the scape'
graces, and the people, minus oil ex.
cellences, plus all abOminations that
gather men, women, boys and glrla by
tens Of thousands night by night Into
the laZzOrett0 OF the average American
theaterY An average OF u thousand boys
in this city every night breathe thia
pestilence. Hear H. parents who lot
your b0ys atay 0nt till eleven o'clock,
without nndillg where they have been,
Herr II, philnntlrOpiats, who want the
coming generations 10 he better
lhnn this. once In u while II
great tragetllan renders "Klng
Lear" or Hamlet" or Merchant
Of Venice" In the presence Of entranced
audiences, but that style Of play IL In
az small proportion to the lmbecile and
depraved plays OF America, M the few
drops Of rood blood are TO bad blood In
u man who passed ont Of yellow fever
into Asiatlc cholera, and IL now wind
Ing up with first class small pox. From
the style of theatrical plays for the past
ten years, | conclude the American the
ater ls not improving IN moral tone.
Now, demand there be Il conspiracy
TO rescue the drama from its vile sur
ronndlngs. Let oil refOrmere and PHI
lnnthr0plata and Christians assist In
this reform The drama is not the the
ater. The drama ie the literary express
sion which God put In the soul. The
theator is Of human creation. Some pe0'
pie speak Of the drama as though II were
something built up outside OF ourselves
by tho GOldsmlthe and Shnksperes OF lt.
erature. Not at all, The drama H. an
echo OF something divine implanted IN
our immortal soul. II Ia seen FIRST In
the domestic circle among children play
ing with their dolls and crndlee-seen
again In the play houses OF w0od-seeD
again In the parlor char0des, and again
In the elaborate lmpersonatioDs In tho
Academies OF music, Thespie and Aes.
chylus, and SophOcles and Eurlpodee
merely dramatiZed what wae In the
Greek heart. Terence and Plnutus and
Seneca merely dramatlzed what Was In
the Roman heart. Congrove and Far
quhar merely dramatlSed what was In
the English heart. Racine, Corneille
and Alllerl only dramati2ed what was In
the French and Italian heart. Shake
pere only dramati2ed what was In the
great worlds heart, The dithyrambic
and claesic drama, the sentimental
drama, the romantic drama, were mere
echoes Of the human soul.
do not speak Of the drama on the po.
etic shelf, nor Of the drama In the play
house, but Of tho dramatic element In
your soul aud mine. We make men re-"
aponaible for II. They are not reep0nei
Bile. They nre responsible for Its per.
version, not its implantation. God did
that work, and | suppose he knew what
no was about When on Thanksgiving
day we assemble and the church 10 dec
Grated with cotton. and rice, and apples
and wheat. md oats, our gratitude to
God Ia stirred, Every parent likes TO 40
10 the school exhibition with Its recita-
tions and dialogues and droll costumes.
No intelligent man can look In any 70.
ligious or secular direction without
finding this dramatic element revealilig