St. Paul daily globe., 1896-02-03

called 1.-The Mysteries and the Moral
ties" came the dramas of William
Shakespeare, and to that high sense
Of the dignity of the dramatic art we
must come again. So, then, conceive
the first purpose. Of the theater is to
bring the people to see human life in
proportion. Nearly all the evil in hu-
manity may be said to arise from the
partial truth for which men live. The
anarchist, who would destroy all ex-
listing institutions because of the great
and actual wrongs which he sees, sees
these wrongs out of proportion to hui
man society. The vicious drama Of
modern times represents in fascinat-
ing picture some morbid part and
phase of human life. The so-called
realistic play, which is made for us in
France, or upon French models, deals
with life SO comparatively insignii-
cant that upon map, representing the
whole, 1T would appear mere speck.
And yet people see and listen as if
human life itself, in it's large meaning,
were thus represented, and go away
themselves belittled and degraded for
that impression. The true drama will
make the evil in the world as insignifi-
cant as it really is when the actual is
seen moving toward the ideal.
Another purpose of the drama is to
cultivate the Imagination. The imag-
tnation is a large instrument in the at
tainment Of the spiritual life. Fancy
is characteristic of men of the lower
life, as it is Of the animal, while mag
ination characterizes the developed
man.
The great mass of men live prac-
tical life. They are not, therefore, fit
ted to appreciate the art In it's less
explicit form. The subtle suggestion
Of picture, painting or music cannot be
seen by them, but in the drama the
implicit has become explicit The whole
is portrayed, and the imag agination is
thereby stretched, SO to speak, en-
larged, and more capable of discover
ing Of itself things hitherto unknown.
We little realize the power of magma
ton in determining character. Tell me
in what regions mans imagination
lives and l can tell you the heart Of
that man. 1t is beyond estimation i'm
portant that the powerful appeal of the
drama to his Imagination should be
wholesome and true and not partial
and false.
But what can we do to make the
modern drama something Of what has
been suggested? In the first place we
can reject and select; we can put be-
yond excuse for being, so far as we
are concerned, the wretched trifies
which so generally have possession Of
our play houses; while on the other
hand, we can approve every play
which has any legitimate use for the
end for which the drama exists. Good
plays are rarely performed. If there
be many now written. More of the
better sort will come when we demand
them, when we appreciate the power
of the drama upon humanity when we
realize that hundreds are affected by
it for good or i'll, where one comes at
all under the influence of the church.
AS a practical fact, in hard times, as
well as in prosperous times, our play
houses are thronged with patrons, and
he misses it who does not see in this
fact, an opportunity for the elevation
of men. If some man Of wealth in ST.
Paul should come to me and ask what
use to make of million of dollars,
should encourage him not now, to build
public library, as much as it is
needed, not more churches, not to
enlarge our hospitals, but to endow
theater so that there could be one
place in this city where this powerful
agency for good might find always a
home, in which nothing but the true
and lovely would be represented to the
imagination of the people; a place
where the masses, as well as the
classes, might hear and be elevated by
Richard Wagners operas, and Shake
Speare'S plays.