Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-10-23
A Preacher Among the People.
THE STAGE.


1t is "a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation" that" all work and
no play makes Jack a dull boy" To
the discerning mind it is clear that
this is just as true of older folk as it
is of Jack. Pleading the principle of
the maxim as my justification, l laid
aside my work and went to the thea
tire for recreation.
l knew that, while no one denies the
need of a little diversion now and
then, there are many who protest
against theatricals as a means to that
end. Admitting frankly that the stage,
like every other institution in the
hands of fallible men, may be made a
bad as we'll as a good thing, was in
thoughtful frame of mind when l
took my seat in the parquet. Some
might consider that thoughtfulness
the mild reproach of violated con-
science; but it was nothing of the sort.
AS to theatregoing l long ago decided
that virtue lies in a proper discrimina-
tion rather than in total abstinence.
Nor is it as easy a matter as many
seem to think to find a sphere where
this same principle does not constitute
the only safe rule upon which to act.
Eating and drinking are not to be
condemned, although there are many
who eat and drink unwisely. We urge
no one to abstain from speech be-
cause an enraged or thoughtless man
uses profane language. Notwithstand-
ing me over-much profanity of certain
men, we go on teaching our children
to talk, exhorting them all the while
to discriminate between good and bad
words. In is the perversion of some
divinely ordained faculty and there is
not single exception to the rule
Discrimination should be the slogan of
reform everywhere. The discriminat-
ing faculty is often unconsciously ex-
ercised. This is as it should be. 1t
shows that righteousness in part has
become hab..ual and strengthens
confidence as to the future life of the
world. But there are yet spheres in
which conscious discrimination is
necessary, and 1t is in those spheres
that serious differences of opinion oc-
cur. knowledge of this fact made me
still more thoughtful as sat in the
theatre waiting for the play to begin.
Wherever a man has advansed far
enough to have society and litera-
ture, no matter how crude, there the
stage in some form has appeared. 1t
has been much opposed, but it still ex-
lists. Many OF the church fathers were
very emphatic in their denunciation
of it. Chrysostom was vehement in
his opposition, declaring that he
would never give over preaching"
until he had rent this theatre-going
asunder." But Chryostom, earnest
and more or less given to the ascetic,
did give over preaching many hun
dred years ago and theatre-going con-
tinues.
Augustine, whose eXcesses and their
consequences, while aschool boy at Car
thage, should enter into ones estimate
OF the value Of his statements concern
ing the stage was in substantial
agreement with Chryostom. The
church has never been without those
who followed in the footsteps of the
church fathers in their opposition to
theatrical entertainments. Early set
tiers in New England. actuated by sim
cere but puritanic motives, enacted a
law aginst the stage. The law itself,
however, was destroyed and the stage