Year: 1868

From the Chicago Times, OF hesth.l


The Rev. Robert Laird Collier last


evening delivered a discourse, in his


church on Wabash avenue, on the sub


iect of THE Theatre, the Opera, and


the Church" His text was l Corin-


thians, vii, 81" Use this world as not


abusing it." The following is our epi-


tome OF the very able and logical dis


course;


There is no danger that infdels and


scoffers will ever bring religion into dis


grace but there is serious fear that the


false friends and erratie teachers of re-


ligion may bring it unwittingly into
shame. Among the worst things done


in the world have been those done in the


home of religion. That he might do no
injustice to any sect, he would speak OF
the dissenting evangelical sects of Amer
lea as representing the popular religion.
No subject had been more specifically
treated than that of amusement. If the
drama, and if gaming, we're sinful and
destructive to morals, let the clergy show
how, and the conscience of the people
will be on their side; but as it was, all
the damage was on the side of religion,
because all forms of amusement had
been indiscriminately denounced. Not
one in hundred of our American youths
could see that the legitimate drama and
opera were sinful; so that the clergy
were on one side, and the moral con-
seiousness of young men was on the other.
Our American people are literally over
worked-fguratively worked to death.
But few had any leisure for literature,
and lately he had felt it to ne almost an
afectation, a sort of pedantry, to begin
talking with our men and women about
literature, poetry, science, or anything of
the sort Shame upon US, that it should
be so The fact was due entirely to our
love of gain, involving incessant work.
Unless our young men were to be mere
idlers and loafers, we should encourage
them to spend their leisure in proper
direction. The text states the true theory
of life-this world for use, never for
abuse.


Everything, in. its normal condition,
has its use. We speak of the depraYity
of the race He asked an orthodox
friend what he meant by it, and his friend
answered: You know that your nature
is depraved" He knew no such thing
He had no appetite, inclination or faculty
that was not right. The crown Of man
hood was not innoeency, butt keep every
appetite and instinct in its right use, and
never allow it TO run off into licentious-
ness. Everything has its right use and
so with popular amusements. Mr.. John
Stuart Mill has spoken of the shade of
sadness there was over every country that
was under Puritan influence This was
accounted for by the fact that there was
among them tradition that in amuse-
ment there was a taint IF sin. If we do
enjoy ourselves, We feel that we must
apologize for it as something not in keep
ing with the more serious forms of life.
We do not treat the matter in a noble
spirit, but in stupid and sneaking one


He proposed to speak first of the
drama. He recognized as universal in
the human race dramatic interest. The
drama is as ancient as the race, and some
of our noblest literature is dramatic in
form. The first chapters of Genesis
probably were dramatic; Job certainly
was, and so was Ruth. Shakespeare and
Milton, the noblest poets of the world,
were dramatists. He had never seen so
much power in any pulpit, or in any
preaching he had sat under, as in Joe
j Jefferson's Rip Van Winkle." 1t was
nature, not art so simple, so true, so
beautiful, so moral. No sermon, and
scarcely any paragraph ever written in the
world, except that about Christ and the
adulterous woman, ever so powerfully
illustrated the power of love to conquer
evil and win back the wanderer, as that
beautiful little piece, so perfectly rem
dered by this genius whom God has given
US to illustrate in the drama the power of
love over the sins of the race. He won
dered if any of the members of the Min
isterial union ever saw Jefferson in rip |
Van Winkle." /" He would give them the |
advantage of their ignorance. Ristori,
Rachel, Booth, Jefferson, all were gifts
of God to man. So the seeing of the |
legitimate drama was to be indorsed it |
was an educator It was in no wise TO be
apologized for. And with regard to the
opera, he need only say, that so far as
the legitimate opera was concerned, any
one who objected to it on moral grounds
must be either ignorant Of it-and he
thought for the most part those who OBJ
jected to the opera were ignorant of it
or else there certainly must be moral |
weakness in the nature of such objectors.
To say that the opera is corrupting is to
say the most irrational and foolish thing !