The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-05-15
DEFENDING THE rHEArER.
Managsr Magu,re's Reply tn y kutte
Pastor.

Manager Magu,re's Reply To = Kutte
Pastor.
IT, ~, Editor ~ the STANDARD:
Ciown-what is the opinion Of Pythagoras con
corning wild owls?
Malyclio-That the soul 81 our Grandam might
happy inhabit n bird.
llowp-what thinkest thou of his opinion?
Malyolio-I think nohly of the soul, and no way
and noway approve Of his opinion.
~sHAkEsPEARR.
While I think nobly OF the church, and
noway approve Of the opinion OF the "City
PASTOR" who last Sunday evening per-
pc,rated ISLANDERS against the theater al
large, actors In general, and the intelli.
gent citizens OF this community. flor Il Is
the intelligent men and women OF all
grades of society who are regular theater
gocrsl. These ISLANDERS can not he al
lowed to pass without at least a few re-
marks from u whose life has been
chiefly spent in the atmosphere of the
play house. Tho reverend gentleman II
reported correctly. states that "thc stage
~yitiatcs life and character, and that rcgu-
lar thcater goers are low and immoral in
tone" As IL Is now nearing the sunset OF
tho nineteenth century, its seems hardly
credible hat any man, lay or clerical,
could have the cifrontry TO stand up be-
fore any audience and stultify himself
and his calling by hurting such an insult
nj nine-tenths of the people of this city,
as well rs at the followers of a profession
.whose morality as n rule" | venture To
say will stand comparison with his that
rcviles them.
The theater has had its attack from
reverend. rabid s~cnsationalists before to-
day, and inasmuch as there are tricks in
ali trades but ours, the reverend gentle
man, because OF his insignificance prob
ably, beats his little tom-tom of Islander
., asf.nstan nrnnaSa tn uiyn
him briefly n little Of that attention he
clamors for.
For the rentlcman's better information
/ can assure him that every legitimate
theatcr is n fountain of good, a gateway
Ia knowledge. "a perennial spring OF intel
iectual delights" II is the shrine sacred
TO all the sages and poets, who enriched
with ..nectared sweets" not only the lam
guage Of this land. hut the languages of
all other lands. IL has fostered every art
which adorns civilization,. music, paint
ing, poetry, sculpture. architecture, ora
tory.all that tends TO make this life beau
tifil have been subservient To the drama
tic art. IL has in its province kept pace,
step by step, with the highest forms OF
civilization and existed before Christian
lily was born. II is the highest type Of in.
tellcctual enjoyment, IL extends over all
the provinces of history, imagination and
fancy, expanded so as Ia embrace COM
cdy, tragedy and fanciful literature.
II represents all degrees of hui
man condition ana all the
10 express all the perceptible details Of
actual truth, and all the philosophic
grandeur of general reflection. Even
the church awaited itself of the stage To
make more impressive upon n scmi-bar-
harous people before the printing press
had accomplished its mission. by intro
ducing dramatic performances of the
sacred mysteries, so that their impress IN
a primitive people would he so much the
greater 10y seeing la action those sublime
teachings that words So poorly conveyed
Ia obtusc minds.
To this day the stage has so progressed
that in teaching humanity IL is scarcely
second Co the pulpit, and UNNECESSARILY
in It's mission Of doing good, beyond any
pulpit or platform filled by intolerance,
prejudice, bigotry and all uncharitable-
ness. Charles Lamb says of the theater:
81 have seen "A gifted actor diilusc a glow
OF sentiment which has made the pulse of
a crowded theater beat like that Of one
man. when he has come In aid of the pull
pit, doing good Ia the moral heart Of the
people" With reference to the statement
that managers of theaters hire people To
sit in various parts Of the audi
cnce and applaud vigorously the
Objectionable parts. have no
~hcsitancy In p~ronouncing this "A dire fabri-
cation u ! challenge the gentleman To
give his authority, or rather where did he
see il; not surely in any respectable thea
ter. After all. the gentleman himself,
like other striking examples trotted out
ON occasions for exhibition. and like
Topsy. delighted M saying, "Golly, how
wicked Use been" Perhaps lac was giving
his experience in the days of his wordli-
ness when he frcquented so-callcd thea
tiers like Owncy Geoehan's of the Bowery
the Crcmorne Of San Francisco, or such
kindred establishments elsewhere. But
even i'm those institutions ! doubt il he
saw what he claims Ia his statement. The
reverend gentleman. presumably Ia im-
press his hearers with his crudition, gives
the authority of Plato, Tacitus, Rousseau
Payne and Patrick Buckley where docs
Buckley come IN with This company? y.
Wha has contemporary drama in 'latos'
time &c do with the present day" What
constituted the code of morals in Greece
500 years Is. C.? intellectually. however,
Greece was in the zenith of its fame. il
was the epoch of letters as distinctive as
is the age of Elizabeth in English litcra-
ture, both Of which derived their in
spira,ion from the fostering protection
" IN. stage of those days. Ia Greece.
Euripides, ~Sophoclcs. Ar~istophanes.
Eschylus, all WED In the sublimity and
grandeur of their compositions. Their
most devoted admirers were Socrates aud
Plato. The latter early in life was him
self "A poet and dramatist, whose poetic
and sentimental training laid the fouuda-
ton Tor the rich suI'crstructure of his phi
losophy. Where does the historian Taci-
tus condemn the thcatcr. except you al
ludc 20 the ceremonial orgies connected
IN pagan Rome with the fcasts ii Bacchus,
Pan aud other disreputablc divinitics Of
paganisin, whose characters won't bear
too close scrutiny-Tacitus himself being
considered by some of hIs contemporaries
a literary prig. During the time Of Taci-
ius. however. there tlourislicl a ~tlleater
ia. Rome, where was AN actor named
Roscius, Ia whose tuition postcrity yves
the sublime orationg Of Cicero. and which
to-day are read IN our schools as models
Of e~loqucnce. And now the satirizing.
sentimental. irrcvcrrut literary black
guard. Jean jacques Rousseau, is