Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-03-22


When You heard Murdoch rccitc "Thc T
prodignl SON in one Of his readings. you
did not know whether to sob or shout
Rcvivals Of religion have started Just un.
der the reading of that soul rcvolutionz |,
ing drama OF "Thc Prodgal Son"
Hero it is in the book Of Revelation:
Crystalline sea, pcarly gate, opnline river,
amethystne capstonc, showcring coro-
nets, one vial poured out incarnadining
tho waters. cavalrymen of heaven gulop-
ing on white horses, nations in doxology,
halleuinhs to- the right OF them hallcu-
inhs to the left Of them. As the Bible
opens with the drama Of the first para
disc, so it closes with the drama of the
second paradise.
Antiquity of the Drama.
Mind you. when I say drama I do not
mean myth or fable, for my theology is of
the oldest type-50O years old thousands
OF years old, rs old as the Bible. When
] speak OF the drama at the beginning
and the close OF the Bible. ] do not mean
an allegory, but mean the truth so stat.
ed that in grouping and in startling effect
it is God given, world resounding, hcav'
en- cchong drama. Now, If God implaht'
cd this dramatic element in our natures,
and if he has cultivated and developed il
in the Scriptures, ! demand that you rec
ogni2c il.
Because the drama has again and again
been degraded and employed for dcstruc.
tive purposes is nothing against the dra.
ma, any more than music ought to be ac.
cursed because it has been taken again
and again into the saturnaIlan wassais
of 1000 years. VIII You refuse to en-.
81. -, ,1,, y,l, h.,-
cause the art has been tramplcd again
and again under the feet of the lasciviuus
dance!
1t is nothing against painting and
sculpture that in Corinth and Ilerculanc-
um they were demonstrativc OF vulgarity
and turpitude. The dreadful museum at
pompeii shall throw no discrcdit on Pow
crs' Greek Slave" or Church's Heart
Of the Andes" or Rubens' Descent From
the Cross" or Angeles Last Judgment"
The very fact that again and again the
drama has been dragged through the sew
ers Of iniquity is the reason why we
should snatch it up and start ii out on II
grand and Il holy and n magnificent mis-
sion. Let me say at this point in my SER
mon that the drama will never be lifted
to its rightful sphere by those people who
have not sense enough to distinguish be-
tween the drama and the playhouse. The
drama il no more the thcatcr than II
hymn book is n church. | am not speak
ing in regard to the theater at all. The
drama is literary expression of that
feeling which God implanted in the hui
man soul. Neither will the drama ever
be lifted to its proper sphere by wholesale
Pronunciation of all dramatists. II y1u
have not known men and women con
nected with the drama who are pure in
heart and pure in speech and pure in life,
it is because you have not had very wide
acquaintance.
Some one will say to me, "Did you not
some years ago preach sermon in
wholesale dcnunciation of all drama
tists?" ! reply that that sermon, which
was printed in secular paper, then cop
led in many religious papers, was written
by n literary wit who had never seen me,
who found out what the text was from
some one who had been present and then
composed the whole thing on his own
| desk-the whole thing a caricature repre-
senting me as hostile to geological gar
dons and as considering 1t a great sin to
/ look at an elephant or crocodile. Mr..
Davenport, no wonder, at the close of a
| play a few nights after that in the Chest
nut Street theater, Philadelphia, stepped
before the curtain and denounced that
sermon. He could not have hated it more
| than did.
Wholesale denuncintion of all drama.
fists will never elevate the drama. Yon-
der stand church and theatcr on oppo.
site sides Of the street. The church
shouts over to the theater. you are all
scoundrels.' The theater shouts back
You are all hypocrites," and they both
falsify. Dropping all indiscriminate jerc.
maids against dramatists and realizing
that the drama is not necessarily cc3-
nccted with this institution or with that
| want to show you how the dramatic Gle
ment in our natures may be harnessed tC
the chariot of civilization and Christian
ity.
Employment of Dramatic Art.
Fifty essays about the sorrows of the
poor could not affect me as little drama
OF accident and suffering I saw one slip
perry morning in the streets of Philadcl
phia. Just ahend of me was lad
wretchcd in apparel, his limb amputateC
at the knee; from the pallor Of the boy:
cheek, the amputation not long before
He had a package OF broken food undcI
his arm-food he had begged, | suppose
AT the doors. AS he passc! on over tn,
slippery pavement. cautiously and care
fully, ! steadied him until his crutch slip
ped and he fell. l helped him up as wei
as l could. gathered up the fragments o
the package as well as | could, put then
under one arm and the crutch under tn
other arm. But when ] saw the bloc,
run down his pale check ! burst int
tears. Fifty essays about the suffering
of the poor could not touch one like tina
little drama of accident and suffering.
Oh, we want in all our different depart
ments of usefulness more of the dramati
element and less Of the ddactic. Tn
tendency in this day is to drone religion
to whine religion, to cant religion. (
moan religion, to croak religion, to sepu
charlie religion. when we ought to pre-
sent it in animated aud spectacular man
ncr.
Let me say to all young ministers q
the gospel: If you have this dramati
element in your nature, use IL for God an
, heaven. Ii you will go home and loo
over the history of the church, YOU wi
find that those men have brought NOR
souls TO Christ who have been DIR;
r matte. Rowland Hill, dramatic; Thon
! as Chalmers. dramatic; Thomas Gutl
,,;, "A Inh Ian, , 1,