Show DEFENCE OF THE DRAMA A NUMBER of chicago clergymen who have organized themselves into a I 1 ministerial erial union lately adopted a series of resolutions denunciatory of the opera and tild drama condemning both of these institutions in unqualified terms another chicago minister robert laird collier pastor of a church in that city has litis taken up the cudgels in the defence of the stage and in a ser ber sermon monon on popular amusements which he delivered on the boldly express edt edl edlois his views vien s on the f subject in thib the morse porse coarse of this sermon lima haid hald d E athe the dra drama in A is as ancient as thear therace ace aee I 1 furthermore much of the finished dl literature t era ture in spirit and ili iii inlets ifs is form is dramatic I 1 am not quite sure but that the very first chapters in 14 genesis are dramatic I 1 am quite sure that joo i is s dramatic that ruth ruthis is that esther is dramatic Shak shakespeare speare the peerless poet bet of centuries ha had had li no jio function t in in the world woric anu ana I 1 ame amb left to history had it noi not been for the dramatic instinct and aptitude bo so with milton i the grandest poets that god has given give to the world have been its dramatic dra dramatics matil poets and furthermore dram dramatic atiq character harthe has the highest representation in the drama 1 confess that thab I 1 never neven saw sueh such power anever I 1 never remarked such nature in any christian pulpits that if it was ever my privilege to sit under as in jqseph joseph jeffersons bip rip rip yan winkle it is nature nobart not art bo so simple so true so go beautiful go 30 moral no 0 sermon sermon bermon ai arcely scarcely written in the world except that of christ when he stood with the adulterous women ever illustrated the tho power of love to conquer evil etli and to win the wanderer as that beautiful little piece eo so perfectly rendered by thi genius e n lua iua god has given us to illus lusi fr a te in the drama of the power ower of love over the sins of the race I 1 t wonder who among the ministerial union ever saw jefferson in rip ridvan van winkle let ua us give to these friends the advantage of our judgment of their ignorance i Ri stori rachel bachel booth and murdoch especially davenport Jeffer jemmerson jefferson sop are all alt gods gitts gifts to man bo so I 1 say that the legitimate drama is to be endorsed it is an educator it is in nowise to be apologized for and in regard to the opera I 1 need only I 1 think say that so far as the legitimate opera is concerned 4 any one who objects to it on moral grounds must either be ignorant of it 1 I think for the most part that those who object to the opera are or there must blust me a moral weakness weal wesl hiess in ia the nature of such ob objectors actors cosay to say that the opera is corrupt corrupting corrupting ng is to say eay t the e most irrational and most foolish thing that human lips are capable of I 1 say that a man must be ignorant of what the opera is 14 must have been wholly without knowledge of it or else brought to its hearing a lascivious nature to begin with I 1 admit that very many excellent persons do not enjoy the opera not only excellent people morally but cultivated people intellectually do not enjoy the opera many of our onest finest minds go to the opera and come away feeling that it was a waste of time and we who can enjoy it in any it never so little ought to feel a profound sorrow for such people because they do not know the infinite lights 0 annd and joys of which by their lack lael 0 of f musical culture they are deprived but itis it is their duty simply to say spy they do not like it if it is a sorry sorby rp ligion religion that rejects it on the sour grape principle because they cannot they wont let an anybody eise else 1 he thinks the operas opera is alboan also aiso an educator and that it elevate elevates and lanil rebin refines 1 es the taste and spirit he ho adds I 1 I 1 1 I really dont know but that it would be je a very sensible thing if our congregations would make ita it iba a stipulation when they engage their thein ministers that they woud would accept a season aserson ticket on once a year to the opera opera to cultivate teele theio their thein r taste te in musical matters matteri 11 while we do not endorse all that mr collier says gays in relation to the drama andeits and its representation on ob the stage still there Is much to be comme commenced need in the liberal spirit with which he treats the subject much that is evil and objectionable tio connected with theatres theartres the atres has its origin in the unwise course pursued by such men as compose the chicago ministerial erial union in tabooing tabo and denouncing noun cing theatrical representations by standing aloof they abandon a very excellent institution and one too that can be used with powerful effect in educating the peaple to whatever evil influences fluen ces may cluster around it if instead of standing aloof and lifting up their hands and eyes in affected horror at theatrical representations th they ey would take them under their patronage and use their influence to elevate and purify the drama they would bring about results that would in a very little while surprise themselves but it is rank folly for any man or body of inen men to stifle the desire in buman luman human beings for relaxation and amusement it is a legitimate want vant of if our natures and he who ignores it betrays I 1 ignorance gnor ance whenever we think about our theatre in this city we feel thankful for the inspiration which prompted its erection performances there may have their aults faults but we are convinced that that the f d AP A P a c I 1 ment nt has had mid a s bene facial upon uron the people gopi with alth h sucha bucha a magnificent magn place igl c e in our cit olt city olty 1 as its ita for he the performance othe drama theresaa there has haa been but bafit little inducement for as adventurers ji to open mean and disreputable places of amusement with the hope of getting patronage we hope yet to see a great improvement in many things connected with our theatre these will come along naturally as the taste of tho the khe iho people improves at the present time its managers frequently are compelled to waive their own wishes in deference ference to those of the public still there are ara no theatrical performances in anyplace any place of amusement on the continent so free from everything ble as those which appear upon the boards of the theatre in this city when tra tragedy edy shall be entirely ban ishad from frog its stage many of its well wishers will rejoice but there is a class of persons whom this would not suit sult they have been educated to derive pleasure from a bloodcurdling blood curdling soul stirring tragedy and any performance that does not have some of these elements in it is pronounced tame and anc spiritless now we frankly say aay that thai we consider this bad taste and we hope that the time is not far distant when a better taste will prevail our managers scarcely bring a piece upon the stage without using the pencil freely in scoring out ob objectionable tio nabie words and passages there have a been some borne i probably who would have had these left in kuch huch such huch people like broad effects there should never be any relaxation permitted in this critical care in expunging every thing from plays thal thai that the most sensitively delicate could ob jec to and the same care should be exercised in the selection of suitable pieces for representation then the stage becomes indeed an educator and those who perform become the exponents of good to to their fellow creatures and deservedly edly rank as ministers of a true civilization |