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Show , . THE CHURCH AND THE STAGE. Champions of the drama take it as a gooel omen that the ashes of Sir Henry Irving arc .suffered to rest in Westminster Abbey. It is now more than a century anel a quarter since the remains of an actor have been placeel in this historic burial place. y-The y-The fact that Irving's are admitted is thought by , j some to mark the beginning of a truce between tho church and the stage. It is hard to see, however, how this bestowal of the actor's ashes can have such a far-reaching effect. ef-fect. There never was a time when sane churchmen and decent actors were at war. The Catholic Church has favoreel and blesscel the stage, whenever when-ever and wherever the stage has kept within the bounds of sound morality. She hael no sympathy for the Puritanical rigor which proscribed every actor as the son of the devil. She had no part, on. the other hanel, iu the depravity of the Restoration, Restora-tion, when playrights seemed to vie with one another an-other in flinging filth into the faces of the groundling?. ground-ling?. For the morally clean and wholesome stage, tho Catholic Church, let it be repeated, has nothing but aelmiration anel encouragement. She recognizes that her children need relaxation and surcease from labor. And where can they find this more effectu- ally and more delightfully than in the theatre '. where artists hold the. mirror to nature but U nature idealized rather than travestied; where they I behold vice condignly punished and virtue fittingly j rewarded, even in this life? j Far from condemning the stage, the Church rightly claims to bo the mother of the English drama. The miracle plays were of her begetting. So were -tho moralities. She would employ the stage to inculcate historical and moral truths, and sdie scorned not to make it her handmaid in the edification edi-fication and education of her children. So long a-; tho English stage remained true to its birthright, it was the much favored offspring of the church. But it is a truism to say that the drama hai sadly degenerated from its primal purity. The pages of Congreve and Wycherly, of Farquhar and anbrough, as well si of Dryden's earlier works, are a libel on Christian decency. When the people peo-ple demanded such offal and the stage catered ten their degeneracy, it wao but natural that the Church should withdra,,- her sanction. Nor is it ehfficuU to place t.he responsibility for the breach. Just as soon as the stage returns to its legitimate sphere, ceases to pander to the grosser side of hu- j man nature, and seeks to elevate rather than de- j grade, it cau count on the cordial approval, noc j to sav positive support, of the Catholic Church. The fact that Sir Henry Irving' stage life wa consistent1- -nseerated to the moral redemption of tne stage, is something for which even- Christian Chris-tian must rejoice. The placing of his remains iu Westminster Abbey may well be taken as high recognition, rec-ognition, on the part of its present possessors, of the great actor's efforts and, achievements. Th Catholic Church is the mother of legitimate Eng- 5 hsh drama, the Aboey Was built by her inspiration 1 and under her auspices. For centuries, both the ! church and the stage have been lost to her. She j however, rejoices to see the doors of her former edince opened to receive the remains of one that lias done his share towards purifying and elevating an institution which owes its establishment to her initiative. in-itiative. Catholic Transcript. ' 4 Z |
