Year: 1875

y
stating. SO far as the theatre is concerned
their knowledge is of the slightest, many
OF them only knowing that it is a wicked
place-this is their way of putting the
matter, not ours-because they have been
told so, probably by people who are as
ignorant on the matter as they themselves
are. They rarely enter a building devoted
to the interests Of the drama, and il is to
be presumed that when they do this they
are actuated by spirit Of inquiry and not
by any desire 10 obtain carnal enjoyment
AT the same time it is fact that they
seem to greatly relish the majority of the
few entertainments which they witness
and they have been known to find excuses
for paying second, third, and even fourth
visits to naughty haunts. Perhaps, it
would be well il they offended in this par.
ticular still more frequently than they arc
in the habit of doing, and it is question
whether managers would not be wise to
induce them to do this by always presen-
ting such entertainments as could not be
objected to in the interests Of morality aud
good taste. Much as We appreciate the
efforts Of many of them we dare not assert
that at present they do so; indeed we are
compelled to admit that there is much
seen upon the stage which prevents its
being such healthy educator of the
masses as it might be, and this, to some
extent, justi6es the structures which ultra
purists are in the habit of passing upon it.
It must not be understood that the Puri-
tanic beings who boast that they shun
public amusements are Indifferent to all
forms of pleasure, for such is, most em
phatically, not the case. They largely
indulge in mild dissipation which compares
unfavorably in all respects with many
dramatic entertainments. They arc ad-
dicted to the promotion Of social gatherings
which they are pleased, in most instances,
to designate by the high-sounding term of
soires. These reunions conduce to the
creation and propagation of scandal, foster
self-conceit, and help to increase that mass
Of moral humbug, the presence of which
is, in this country at the present moment,
most obtrusiye and obnoxious. From
the fact that the majority of the fairs are
hald in connection with churches, chapels
mutual improvement societies, and phil
anthropic associations of one sort and
another, we are, perhaps, bound to assume
that the individuals who participate in
them do so with the best intentions.
Certainly in the majority of instances they
aatter themselves that they are engaging
in very laudable work, aud that they
invariably try to Imagine tnat Gney vvtsrn
much enjoyment, edifcation, and profit
from the meeting. 1t may seem unkind
to awaken them out of their pleasant
dreams, but it is best that this should be
done, and done SO thoroughly that they
may see that that pernicious pharisaical
spirit, which induces them to represent in
an unpleasantly plain manner that they
are much better than are those people who
decline to act as they do, has no raison
cietre whatever.


Entertainments Of the kind under notice
are nearly all of the same general pattern,
only differing from each other in minor
particulars. They invariably commence
with tea and gossip, people making futile
attempts to eat and drink as if they fee |
they are engaged in very laudable per-
formance, and as if they thoroughly enjoy
what they are doing, and striving equally
unsuccessfully to assume what they imagine
is the correct "social" air. From the
commencement of the proceedings the
company is split up into a number of
cliques which evidently mistrust and dis
like each other and resolutely refuse to
amalgamate, but which carefully watch
each other so that they will be in posi-
tion to say uncharitable things when their
members find favorable opportunity for
SO doing There is the aristocratic clique,
which is disposed to regard everything
more or less contemptuously there is the
middle-class clique which hates the aristo-
cratic clique for its apparent nobbishness;
and there is the lower-class clique, gencr-
ally the largest, which makes its behavior
more or less outre for the purpose Of show
ing that it is utterly indifferent as to what
the aristocratic and middle-class cliques
may think of it. Yet all the visitors are
supposed to be meeting upon terms of
equality and to be banded together for
the advancement of common object.
Under these circumstances il is not sur
prising that many Of the people present
look more or less sheepish They console
themselves for the misery which they are
undergoing by keeping keen watch for
airtations and other awful things with a
view to their prompt exposure. The chair
is taken by minister or GUSHING PHIL
ANTHRoPIsT who makes it appear that
he and his colleagues have been doing a
great ,eork. If the church, chapel, socie
ty, or association represented at the meet
ing has gained member, the fact is proudly
trumpeted forth, and it is indicated by the
speaker that the cause which he represents
must shortly be triumphant over every
other. He perpetratcs number of pom
derous jokes ard bespatters cxtravagant
praise upon this person, that person, aud
the other person, who happen to have his
approval, being especially complimentary
to his hearers. At last, to the great