The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-03-06

upon himself the penalty of trans
lgression. His proposal acc opted.
Act. 3-The Son comes down to
earth-A babe in manger. Angels
lsinging in heaven. A moving star
guides three kings to Bethlehem. En-
nifty of Herod. Flight into Egypt.
Slaughter of innocents. Return to-
Nazareth.
Act 4-The treachery of Judas Ar
Irest of the master. His trial and con-
demnation. Desertion by his friends.
Death on the cross. The sepulcher.
Resurrection and ascension.
| Act 5.-The final judgment. Christ
descending in glory. An assembled
world awaiting it's doom. Heaven OPP
ems its gates to the saints The unre-
generate multitude sinking to perdi-
| ton.
These are the points of the old the
ology, dramatic in every feature.
In the very preaching of it, as
every one knows who has felt its pow
er. there is this vivid succession of
lacts and scenes, Imagination produc-
ling all the characters. Some of us have
followed this moment from its begin
ming in Eden on to it's climax upon
calvary, on to the final catastrophy
of the judgment, many times as the
minister unfolded the awful tragedy.
Never was there plot SO suited to
1.-THE stage, so full of interest and
mighty import. And such a drama the
lchurch at last produced, and with
priests for performers. It was to be
seen in Europe any time from the
Twelfth to the sixteenth century. 1t
lsimply put in another form what we
have heard many times in sermons,
beginning with the creation came on
down through the flood. past the tower
of Babel and the conflagration of Sod
ON. by way of Exodus to the advent OF
IChrist. etc.
No one who has heard it preached
: Ineeds to be told how easy is the trans
ition from preaching to it's acting. II
was kind of setting forth in one col
: lective whole of the great scheme oil
. salvation. And so the church drama Of
the middle ages presented it. Theil
mystery plays dealt with the doctrines
4 of the church, the falls. the atonement
: etc. The miracle plays produced the
wonders of the bible stories and the
lives of the saints. The morality plays
had didactic purpose and were de
|signed to enforce the ethical teaching
of the gospel. These plays were repre-
;. Isented in the churches as part of thu
j worship of the time. sometimes givel
! lin the street, but always under the SUI
8 lpervision of the ecclesiastics.
n Church Mother Of Theater.
e But have dwelt long enough Of
j. this quaint and curious matter If
h have succeeded in bringing home tn
l. lfact that the church is the mother g
is the theater Let no one suppose tina
IS am going to draw from this any COZ
" lclusion as to the good character c
a 1.-THE child. Too many vicious sons tav
rt lbeen of pious parentage. have tai
lie len pains to point out the lineage to Sc
ylthe fact alongside the marked ave
c. sion to the theater shown at presen
1t by most Christian sects. The churc
lg seems to have turned away In horre
Of from her own child. When the di
re appreciation comes from any degrad
I'd ton of the stage, we do wonder at
but that bitter prejudice against tt
e. stage which sees something Satan
Id even in the golden rule when it
put behind the footlights, is hard
he understand and harder yet to excus
ne 1t is, with the prejudice against q
d. amusement, all joy in fact, somethir
Ike which Puritanism has bequeathed