The Hawaiian gazette., 1899-02-07

IW ~ sssna o. shup naa sfaf
Bfsn pftesntsa slib i honll vision b
ihs dspfasiif ~ aaeudlnf fhs ihesii
VIA me fsrsof ~ ihs uruphfi D.
mlah he indslfsa in some atu.s -
menisii0ns over ihs foitsn roas d.
hos, sbo love ths drama The no
orig ~ me theatre svsf arr be- ssys
persons ~ debesed llfe aud lhouThi
When President Lincoln vas assss.
slnaisd while attending ne theatre.
u ls Wca fnown that many ~. sons
with the spiritual and mental vision
exhibited by Dr Bishop believed and
nov believe that the assassination vas
a direct punishment of Mr. Lincoln Tor
attending the theatre Several 81 tbs
inferior religious publications timid'y
advanced this upinion. Respectable
Christians" whispered n. but hardly
dared 20 say 80 aloud, because the
great Christian nation would have
broken beyond bonds, and advocated
the use Of tar aud feathers upon those
who would by such suggestion and iIn-
aiitsble bigoiry. insult the sorrow Of
the people
Mr.. Leicester Ford has recently pub
lished an article. giving at length the
persistent love OF the drama shown by
General Washington throughout his
life. He attended the theatre when
ever he had the opportunity to do 30.
Even, after the Continental Congress
had forbidden amusements during the
Revolutionary war. General Washing
ton violated the law, at Valley Forge.
and attended theatre In which some
Of his own men presented plays
with such ilustrious examples Of
theatre going before them; with the
growing attendance at the play OF the
refined, the influential, and the pro-
fessedly Christian people. DR. Bishop
and the class he represents, will simply
find II impossible TO make Roadway
against this evil" as they call IT,
Many who have the presumption to
elect themselves to the serious and
high calling Of instructors. take their
knowledge Of life through surface alb
sorptiOn. They see the world only
through loop-holes, and base their in
siructions on the poorest Of all knowl-
edge. that OF belief and not OF fact.
They travel through life along the
floors Of the deepest canyons Of inner
lied theories and ancient beliefs, and
seem never TO rise to the plains that
are flooded with the sweetness and
hight "that Is slowly wrapping the
world with wiser thoughts and prac-
Gees"
DR.. Bishops horror OF the theatre,
because IL "saturates the mind with
vile and salacious images" as he de-
clares, Is fully shared by millions OF
Mohammedans who forbid their wo-
men to appear In public. for the very
same reason that Or. Bishop warns
men to keep away from the theatre.
This deep tincture Of Mohammedan
ethics in DR.. Bishops Puritan mind,
indicates a singular coincidence OF be-
lief Is Dr. Bishop, after all, Mo
hammedan in disguise, and II he had
the opportunity. would he secrete all
women, in order TO save the souls OF a
few weak brethren?
Dr. Bishops way OF looking at life,
and especially the theatre. in which he
sees mainly the vile images" recalls
the transaction OF another aggrayating
moralist, who, some twenty years ago,
collected and published in book form
the Objectionable" and impure i'm
ages" contained in the Old Testament,
| and urged that no respectable person
should read that portion OF Holy writ.
Even the booksellers would not keep
| this compilation on their tables.
II DR.. Bishop would become, for n
year, the manager of company OF
barn stormers," and at the end OF the
season. would report for the benefit Of
| mankind, the moral effect OF the drama
upon his audiences, he would at least
substitute some facts for mere conjec-
! ture, unless his own mind became I'M
fortunately saturated" with the i'm
pure images OF his own dramatic eN-
periencp.