The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1899-12-09

Daily States
The thoughsfui reader Of these
columns will not condemn .. super
fetal writer's have, dramatic mai
agement for presenting TO the pub
lie plays. ordinarily vicious aud at
all times depraved. On the con-
trary, the student sees in these ex
hibitions the. symptoms of the moral
decay Of q people, and q ey meas
ure its extet by the license of the
dramatic authority, and the limit of
endurance set by audiences repre-.
senting. in name at least. the cul-
ture of communities, to- a stage
portrayal Of gross immortality.
Perhaps the greatest essayist of
modern times contributed an imper-
ishable outline of the sssink of ini-
putty" into which the English
drama fell in the days Of Charles
the Second. Macaulay traced,
with master hand, the cause for
that degradation. 1t was the re-
action from Puritan austerity which
drove men and women Of education,
culture and birth to the extreme
which produced the filth Of Wytcher-
ley and Congreve's dramatic pro-
auctions.
The cause for the moral degen
Grafton OF the present age is plainly
apparent to the intelligent observer.
A civilization which builds upon
materialisrn, claim what i: may for
tue, either in men or government,
takes no account Of the moral ele-
ments in either, and looks upon
both as physical powers, to be ex
dured only as they contribute to
pleasure, in its grossest interpreta
ton. Material computation has
made the mass of our ''higher
orders" boastful of 'scivilization"
untouched by the kinships of God,
virtue and humanity. That boosted
civilization consists of the ''rotten,
material things which make up the
externals and conveniences of life,
and the outer garments of society,""
For all this our northern brother is
mainly responsible. The 'spawn
of the worship of power and the
lust of GAIN" boosted of daily and
hourly as the ssevolution of Destiny"
is of his creation, and its genesis
dates from the hour of Appomattox.
| "No people," says an American
writer. 'shas ever established more
| decisively the fact Of the worthless
ness of what remains of civilization
when the principle of liberty is alb
| stracted, or more forclbly Illus
trated, how much of phosphorescence
| there is in such condition."
Dramatic authors reflect, in their
filthy productions, public morals, and
our theatrical managers but purvey,
in the production of these filthy
plays, to a taste born of a civiliza-
| ton which is the product of mater
ialism in politics and materialism in
religion.
Coined in this environment is an
expression we know to be on the
lips of half those who read this ar
ticle. That expression is: "What
are you going to do about it?'
Nothing. Time alone can cure the
sovereign Ills now. racking govern
ment and society in America. Puny
the effort of man to stay the mill of
the gods. A garish civilization,
which blazes in false art, and con-
quers trade with cannon; which
boasts schools the nurseries OF in
solent ignorance; which gilds tenn
pies for fashion while Gods child
rem starve in the streets, must needs
have d literature which boasts the
Delamonon too pure and drama
with Sappho as its masterpiece.
..Much-lnved wealth imparts
Convenience, plenty, elegance and arts;
But view them closer, craft and fraud |
appear,
Even liberty itself is bartered here;
AT Gods superior charms all freedom
flies,
The needy sells 1t and the rich man buys;
A land of tyrants and den of slaves
u