The times., 1898-02-13

| Cency. can you play WITH IRE ana not
| be burned? 1t is asked, why not re-
| form the theater" Because it will not
stay refqFmed. There never was time
when the theater was so patronized by
church members as the present. and it
| is getting worse and worse. How can
| Christian patroniZe such an enter
| tainment as the opera with it's inde-
| cent ballet dance and its immOdest dis
| play of the figure? If you are going to
| take the name of Christ do not be a
| card-playing, theater going, opera go
| ing Christian. All that sort of Chris
tian could be drowned in the Potomac
and the church would not feel one iota
of spiritual loss"
And the very y, X. night President Nc
! kinney and several other distinguished
persons who had heard the sermon, ruin
| ed their lives, placed in danger their
| spiritual welfare forever and went to
the National to hear Sol Smith Russell
| play "A Bachelor Romance" After 50
unique and original a sermon; after so
| broadminded an outburst of passionate
eloquence, the Chief Magistrate of the
nation went 10 the theater, The idea is
| revolving. Such an inconsIderate act
practically places the Rev. Mr.. Johnston
IN the light of q press agent
In fact Wnen Cne comes to the point
there seem to De certain grounds for 50
apparently irrelevant an idea Else il
appears that there could have been no
possible reason for Mr.. Johnston's edu-
Gated and enlightened outburst The
fact that several people of the same
mental caliber as himself had led the
way to such a remark could have had
no effect upon the reverend gentleman
and, of course. it would be absurd .G
suppose for single instant that SO quiet
ana unobtrusive a parsol could nave
made such statements for sheir attertl-
ant notoriety. There is room for thought
that Mr. Johnston. having failed 10 in
f1uence national appointments and other
purely church matters to any great eX-
tent, has thought out a new field and
intends TO pursue il to the end of time
There is space for wonder if anvl nc
would be insuited if the band played
HE Wanted Something to Play With"
at this juncture.,
Long and well as we hava known Mr..
Johnston we had never before deemed
him capable Of the remarkable brilliancY
he showed in this sermon against the
pernicious influence of the stage. The
realism of the talk is so greai that we
cannot help hoping that Mr. Johnston
has never been defiled by close contact
with the theater-though thz infinite wis
dom shown leads us to bsli@V5 tnat he
never has
lilSIt IL lttluiiIS 81 Gs' ttl-liC III
the whole seTmC n. however as the state-
nent which leads US to the knowledge
that over 20Go0000 poor. unfortunate,
misguided people, who have never heard
the warning note of Mr.. JohnstOn-S voice.
are drifting straight to the devli through
the medium of the thea.9r. Would 1t
not be a good idea to serd missionaries
to let them know into what horrible dan
ger their sintulness is piunSing them.
ere ii be too late? l. really seems fearful
to think that 50 many human beings
in this country alone are to be eternally
damned for the want Of a word from The
Rev. Hugh Johnston.
And the more intimate worshiners Mt
the shrine of TIL espis in tine devil s
chapel" HeaTa1i What OF them? Are
the thousands of men and woman who
are innocently earning their daily bread
in the fearful wickedness of amusing
others to go down into cor plete degra
dation, too? Is the pun!shmer. 50 gres
for provoking enj)ymen---e enjoyment
that takes up the hours that might 9TH
erwise be used in sucn a harmless way
as gossiping about ones friends vim
not the complete ignorance and darkness
that surrounds the stage. the lack of
education and enlightenment to be get
ten therefrom be punishment enough or
viii all of these pe1ple be condemned
by the powerful e&hortationS of Mr..
Johnston? Who can tell?
is il really true that the theater
is altogether bad? There are abuses
in everything-as Mr.. Johnston's con-
gregation may know-and ii seems
that in so great an institution as the
theater there might be some little ray
of worth. Some people might be in
clined to question whether even Anna
Held has more power to bring q blush
10 the cheek of a pure girl than some
of the remarks this divine made in
his memora BILE sermon. Often people
are so blind as not to see the harmful
ness in what they are doing until told
of it. In such a case IL does not seem
that purity of mind would be greatly
aided by obtaining the information. \
woman who had danced without
thought of evil might never be able
to do so after hearing that portion of
this sermon in which the speaker said:
Sex is the secret of the dance 1t per-
mits embraces and contact of the per-
son which would be thought shameful
at any other time" However, Mr.
Johnston probably knows best
But this is irrelevant, and we should
beg pardon for having doubted for one
instant that the theater is really and
wholly bad OF course an institution
the advertisements of which ARE of |
fensiye to common decency" can be |
nothing else than shameless Art that !
is not we'll draped is harmful. and the /
idea that some of it is used as ad- /
yertising matter for the theater is dis /
gusting. It is odd that an all-seeing
Being could have made so perfectly /
thing as the human figure |
That anything so loathsome should be |
reproduced is sufficient to make one |
grow weary of all humanity. That a |
Christian, who has taken the name /
of Christ could think of visiting an |
opera where the music of the mas
ters is played, so long as there was a
chance of other portions of the body
than the face and hands being dis
played seems incredible. Truly Mr.. |
Johnston showed Christian charity in
stating with all his enlightened toler-
ance that that sort of a Christian
could be drowped in the Potomac and |
The church would not feel one iota of |
spiritual loss"
But the most crushing blow of all
comes with the understanding that
there never was a time when the
heater was so patronized by church
members as the present, and it is
growing worse and worse" We should
De loath to believe that church mem
1ers are having such an effect upon
he theater. but if Mr.. Johnston says
70 it must be true.
Seriously, what a pleasant world this
would be to live in could he only have
is guidance. All the pleasures we
ave grown accustomed to branded as
inful, and everyone forced to be con-
inually on guard for fear that some
Lccident might bring him in contact
With some one of the other sex. Such !
earful amusements as card playing, |
ancing. music and theatergoing abol-