, 1892-11-09
To tie Idfor II the ST. Croi1 "Aeie"
Dear Sir

anu as l nave q lew spare moments ! Deg your
permission to reply to the same.
And first, relative to the behaviour at the
Entertainment held on Wednesday evening
End iast.-hal the audience been as quiet
while the songs were being rendered az
during the time Of the boys rehearsal, very
little could jus fly have been said by anyone.
10 say the least Of it, the behaviour at the
time referred to was far from being praise
WORTHY. Accustomed as we have been t.
well-behaved meetings, We regret to state
that the contrast was very great. Marking
time with anything whatever while one IS
singing ia mark Of bad breeding and reflects
very diScreGitably on the community.
While We heartily thank Mr.. Brisooe for
the kind sentiments evinced towards US. and
the apparent interest he took in noting oil
the evenings transaotions, we cannot help
thinking that his penchant for criticisms tends
to make him obnoxious.
With reference to his objection to the first
act Our Relatives Ia director and teacher
Of the boys,saw no harm in giving an innocent
piece like that to children especially as all
were boys. And further from experience,
SIN confident that no corrupt notions have
crept into their minds. / rather think that
aoW if the lads are aware Of the fuss he is IN
clined to make over the matter, their IDEAS
might be opened 10 OWL. Oft times much
harm is done by our suspicious Of the innocent,
and by our Judging them from our own
standard
Think Mr.. Briscoe's idea Of lost time a ra-
Their crude one. When we invite the public
to hear us, we ought TO try to afford them
pleasure, not to advertise ourselves. This ar
gument holds good in respect to writing as
well. We are glad therefore that we gave sa-
tisfaction.. The boys learnt their pieces dur
ing their spare hours and p~raoticed with me
at nights, and a little reflection will convince
any one, unbiased by prejudice, that the time
spent wus not wasted. We should have deem
ed it a great misfortune had our friends
opinion been Uo1 popuL.
Again your correspondent further said that
there We're some strong expressions, ] am
at . loss to know what they were. We arc
truly sorry to have shocked his modesty 81
He further intimated that most of those men
who wrote dramatic plays lived in a rude age
suppose he is aware that "The Merchant Of
Venice is q selection from Shakespeare, who
lived between 1864 and 1916. If by the word
rude he means, uncultivated, why. a little
reading will convince him of his error, mean
while let me refer him to the great drematist
himself, Bacon, Spencer, Raleigh, Ben Johnson
and Marlowe.
Queen Elizabeth herself was an educated
lady, a great Greek scholar. 1t was an age
# culture; an age when mems minds were
pregnant with new thoughts and new ideas.
If on the other hand, the word rude inn
plies that the age was vulgar, then the less
said on this point, the better. True enough
we hare advanced in civilization, but | think
there is on equilibrium. Our progress in the
other direction has been great. The present
century with all its learning, arts and sciences
and Christian teaching is the most vulgar,
and q glance near home will at once con
vince us.
But reading between the lines shows US
plainly the meaning Of your correspondent.
He means to infer that valuable tune had
been spent in corrupting the morals of the
youths; instead of teaching them something
more profitable. Let me therefore pause to
ask this qnestion-which does more harm?
Example or Precept? IT reading or learning
a bit Of ShAkespeare's tends to demoralise
boys, then those men who pose themselves
on the public as critics should be exsm-
plars,
In conclusion, | beg to apologize for
your valuable time and space I have re.
l~uotsntly monopolissd and with much
gratitude.
/ remain,
Yours fajthFnllv