Year: 1877




One of the dangers that constantly beset
the path Of duty SO fearlessy and generally
so blamelessly trodden 10y our esteemed CO.
la6orers. the reverend clergy, is that oi
lnistaking foibleS and folles for vices
Their diagnosis being at fault it is not sur.
prlsing that they err in the treatment OF
the disease. Notable illustrations of this
are given i'll the manner in which theatre.
going and dancing are treated by some OF
the best ministers of the gospel. 1t is
charitable to believe that in most cases the
error is the result of ignorance Of the sub
ject under discuss on. Their ideas Of the
things that the custom Of their cloth re-
quIres them to denOuce are derived entirely
from hearSay, and Il hearsay based upon
hearSay. The theatre is denounced by men
who never saw modern theatrical repre-
Sentatlon, because il was denounced by
dIvines who lived in the days of its entire
RIGHTEOUSNESS, and the dance is condemned
IN terms insulting TO the pure-minded
among It's votaries by men who never saw
the inside of a ballroom and have no con-
ception OF the safeguards against sin which
the usages of society have erected. The
consequence is that the picture painted in
the pulpit is so untrue to life that it be-
comes laughingstock to those who know
the truth, and well-meant warnings fail in
their object,


Not long ago an eminent minister an
nounced sermon Gu the theatre, and a
large congregation, embracing many re.
spectacle patrons of the opera and the
drama, came to hear what he had to saw.
lie might have done good by telling the
whole truth, Tor the road of sin often lies
only too near to the door of the play house.
1t would have been only allowable but
proper to point out the abuses of the stage
and the dangerous tendencies of particular
forms OF the drama, to show that the taste
Tor such fascinating amusement must be
e1rbsd, or that, like over-indulgence in
move el-reading, they may lead to waste of
precious time and give the young unreal
and demoralizing ideas of life, its duties, its
charms, its rewards and its punishments.
Or he might have opposed theatre-going
entirely upon the only scriptural grounds
OF objection thereto-that the appearance
OF evil must be avoided by the consistent
CHRISTIAN. Instead of this, however, he
denounced the theatre, without conditions.
as the ante-chamber of hell, the actors and
actresses as disreputable beyond redemp-
uon ana the audiences as composed in the
main OF the abandoned of the earth. A





IN this sermon would have been suppressed
by the police Of almost any city in the
Union except Philadelphia and Chicago.
Those who knew the truth were disgusted.
and those who did not came away with
minds filled with distrust of persons near
ana dear to them whom they knew to be
lond OF the species of amusement portrayed
IN such revolving colors. Who dare saw
that such TRADE was productive of good
results?


And now a noted Canadian divine has
brought undeserved reproach upon his pro-
1esslon and the cause of his Master by a
similar distorted picture of the dance, and
the newspapers all over the country are re.
producing 1t. He pronnunces the history
OF the dance full Of all that is beastlv, lust
full and debasing, and declares that the
moral debasenent of dancing has been the
cause of nine-tenths of all the divorce suits
in the United States. The prevalence of
tae social evil in France is ascribed to the
same cause. Dances, he said, were sent
from hell to France, and thence to Canada,
via New York and Chicago. Then followed
such description of fashionable dancing
as Is absolutely unfit for publication, and
the congregation were told in so many
words that these imaginary scenes were to
ce witnessed in the residences of the best
families night after night throughout the
gay season. No wonder that the people
VINO heard these false accusations against
nohest and virtuous men and women in
1.earfFupted the preacher with the cry CT
ohameF Yet this sort of thing is a
natural result of the carefully-cultivated
.heory that all dancing is sinful. When
.he clergy warn the lambs of their flocks
against the dissipation attendant upon par
Ies ana balls they do no more than their
uu'y' but when they 60 farther than this
eney run the risk of breach of propriety
as serious as the abuses which they seek TO
aoa.e. 1t is not our province to instruct
an estmable and most useful class of men
~ 70 the manner in which their duties
snouid be discharged, much less to prescribe
or eritlclze rules of faith an conduct. But
IN tne interests of public morality it cannot
ue amiss to call attention to such evidently
mistaken methods as have been pointed
oat. lhe remarks of the Canadian revival.
stare ns not often paralleled, but the tendency
~ much modern sensational preaching Is
~ tne same direction. Would not the
iaase Saas OF religion and public morals be
qsl1er pl., served by change of tactics p
a;a rne versatile French cook an egg 356