Norwich bulletin., 1920-08-21
THE MAN WHO TALKS

has passed through more evolutions than
 the theatre. Ifsthere were not some real
 call in the nature of man for the dra-
 matic the theatre would not have sur
 YiEed all these changes Fronf the days
 of Aristotle down the long distance to
 the eighteenth century the drama was
 characterized as form of poetry, be-
 cause originally all plays were written in verse. No other form of expression
 was deemed admissible for dramatic feel ing. The conception of dramatic art was considerably enlarged after prose plays forced themselves upon the recognition of. the critics, but it4continued to be regard.
 ed as branch of literature. In the early part of the last century it was thought that any man without value as a writer could be good dramatist. By the use of prose the dramatist became a play wright, not a play-writer. Blu tsomehowi
 he succeeded, and literary critics, in or der to seek revenge, ceased to regard the modern play as a work of art. But the theatre still lives and under the possi-
 bilities. of the motion picture has great future.
 Unusual notice of late has been called to serious outbreaks in our penal insti- tutions. To some extent the same has | been true of charitable and humane in stitutions. In these institutions the per- l sons dealt with are either afflicted with | disease or criminality. That means of course that they are in an abnormal condition and are easily and oftentimes | nreasonably dissatisfied. That outbreaks against authority should now and then occur is hardly surprising. As there are | few things more coveted than personal | liberty, we can understand why lunatics 1 and particularly criminals should take 1 great chances in dashing for freedom. fn;y ;e 11- ] to admit that strict discipline must be ! maintained in all public institutions, at l the same time we must realize that even criminals have rights. and every serious riot ought to be rigidly investigated and ! the managers of all such institutions must l see clearly that the public will not stand any unjust and cruel treatment.
 For good many years there has been controversy in regard to meat as a diet, and especially red meat. Quite naturally that discussion is revived dur 1 ing the brief period in which fresh gar l den vegetables hold sway. That red I meats have an unfortunate connection l with rheumatic troubles has passed the 1 speculative stage. The epicure tells us it | is hard to provide and cook so simple and clean diet as will not offend the imag- 1 inaiion. Few people relish the compound odors of the ordinary kitchen, especially l after the dew of youth has passed. Mark l Twain might have been odd, but not
 crazy when he built his kitchen aloft and l far from the living rooms. Is it not l somewhat strange that of all the nu- i nerous living forms of flesh there are l so few that we consent to eat? It is l certainly a fact that savage tribes have 1 left off eating one another just in pro- portion as they have come into contact with civilization. Possibly We. too, shall 1 leave off eating animals, savage or other wise, as we become more civilized.
 1 It is not the quantity of food one eats l that makes the sensualist, but the quail 1 ty of his appetite. The man of refined | taste and delicate moral fibre who dis 1 tinguishes the trt1> savor of his food can 1 never be a glutton. Epicurus has been ] ridiculed these many centuries, as I think | very unjustly. as a dainty and finical 1 eater, because of the emphasis he puts on | the cultivation of taste in eating. Eating was doubtless designed by nature to be one of our great functional pleasures and 1 that end can be reached only by realizing t the vast difference in the taste of the | things we eat. The cultivated eater is | entirely justified in cutting out of his bill I of fare the thousand edibleS that fail tc come up to his standard of taste. Some | men boast-as though it were an honor | that they eat everything that is set be. Il fore them and say nothing; hogs do the II same. but they don't boast about it. Il is not the quantity nor the quality of the food that goes into mans mouth thai def1les him, but his lack of discrimina. tion; his savage devotion to lnare ani- nal instinct
 ThOreau, in one of his essays, tells us I that "opr whole life is startlingly moral IzI- l.. Ii
 fact that there is no compromise between
 good and evil Things that are radically l opposed by Nature and grace can never be united; like oil and water. they refuse to mingle. There is never an instant's truce between virtue and vice. Goodness
 and the whole large world of which it is l representative is the only real investment | that never fails and which repays all ef- fort put forth for it's possession. Good. i ness, morality, virtue and all other kin. T dred principles are the strings of the harp whose music sounds around the 1 world and thrills us with it's harmony l All opposed to this must be discord, be | cause it is a7 injustice and wrong
 These are j, >% :, strident notes that dis turb the me- order. The music of the
 spheres is interpreted to us only through
 the moral sense.
 II into the image of what delights us most
 In other words, every man is the archi
 tect of his own life; he is the sculptor
 who carves the human. temple according to his own liking. We can see some n1er
 in the houses they build; they display their taste. their. ability and their work manship in what they do. If a man i.
 vain and showy by nature, vanity ant
 pretense will be seen in the house ht
 builds. The model he works upon is the expression of the dominating ideals o his life. Not only can we see the trend
 of a mans life in what he builds, we car also see his character in his face. | f used to be said of A. T. Stewart-once 2 New York merchant-that he had looked 50 long at dollars that his face resemblet I a die in the U. s. mint. We can see dis. sipation as we'll as sobriety in mems
 faces We can certainly see patience l calmness and strength in the face ot Washington. What young man is car
 be seen in his face, Plato was right, :'wC
 are changed into the likeness of wha- delights us most"
 | It is no easy thing to eradicate eyi ' after it has once settled, whether in the | heart of man or in the heart of society I We could do much better with it than we do if we went at it right We are so apt to hack away at the branches of evil an( leave it's roots undisturbed If the poisor l of cancer is in one's blood somethins more heroic is needed than rubbing olive J. oil on the skin. The surgeons knife may not be acceptable but it is demand
 ed If some great social i'll, like can 1 eer, is eating at the life of a nation, i II must be exterminated root and branch
 To get evil out of a mans heart you mus I