Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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A SAFE COURSE FOR THE PROFESSED CHRISTIAN TO PURSUE. -fei C. Paters mt the Church ?* Nev er owes ita origin to reli a religions cere? mony, and it was untended to promote religion. In the course of time the dram a ceased to be a religions ceremony and became a work of azt. Every student of church history knows that the modern drama sprang originally from the church. In the dark ages the priests put the whole of theol? ogy on the stage, and in this way the rode and unlettered mob that gathered on sains' days were taught in an ef? fective way the truths of religion, so that in the Christian era the first thea? ters were the churches and the first ac? tors the priests. Bot secular competition grew apace, and in IS7S the dean and chapter of St Paul's cathedral petitioned Bichar? in td stop certain dramatic performances which were being got np in London outside the church. Why? Because the cathedral clergy of St. Paul's had spent so much money on church scenery and costumes inside the cathedral they were eager to crush all secular compe? tition. Ferrer sion of the Dramatic Instinct. * In Elizabeth's reign the secular drama had grown so popular that a preacher exclaims:44 Woe is*fie. At the play? house it is sot pcssfole to get a seat, while at the* church vacant seats aro plenty. " The clergy did not object: to the principle of acting, or because the play was immoral, except/when it satir? ized the drunken and smoking rector. Nor did the clergy object to the play because it hurt the people, but because it pleased them. They groaned when the people shouted. . God has implanted a dramatic ele? ment in most of our natures ; recognized and cultivated it in the Bible. It is not something built np outside of ourselves by "Thespis and JEschylus and Sophocles and Euripides and Terence and Plautus and Seneca and Congreve and Farquhar and Corneille and?lfieri and Goldsmith REV. MADISON C. PETERS. and Sheridan and Shakespeare. Man is not responsible for the dramatic ele? ment in his soul, but for the perversion of it lt vacant seats are so plenty in the church, whose fault is it? The human mind is the same in the pew as in the theater. The w-rld suffers more from too little dramatic power in the church than from too much outside of it 'A preacher asked Garrick, the tragedian, " Why is it yon are able to produce so much more effect with the recital of your fictions than we do by the delivery of the most important troths?" "My lord, " said Garrick, "you speak truths as if tiiey were fictions; we speak fic? tions as if they were truths." And wherever today, all Christendom through, there is a man with graceful gestures, modulated voice, elegant ex? pression? appropriate emotion and graceful action; wherever you find a man as natural and impressive, as au? dible and as interesting- as the actor, you will find a full church. Let the preachers work at the people with the same power, intelligence and will as the actor is obliged to work at the pub He, depend upon it their achievements will be in "proportion. The actor does not grumble because the people won't come to the theater. He says, "I am to blame. " People don't come to church because they are not interested. Let us leam from the actor how to read and how to infuse life into our service. Other things besides religion are good. Dickens' works are eternal argu? ments against injustice, and in writing novels he was as well employed as in preaching the gospel. Mendelssohn, by bis sublime compositions, did better serve , the world than going out as a missionary to China, and Shakespeare served the world and his Maker better asa dramatist titan as a bishoppreaching sermons that nobody wanted to hear. The arts and sciences must go hand in hand with religion and morality. The Church and the World. The church of the past stood aloof from the world. The church of the fu- ? ture will assimilate with it. The church j has spent mach time - peering into j amusements to seo what evil they con- j tained, and has kept digging away at j this instead of putting divine grace Into them and letting that elevate and reg a- j late them. We have been absorbed in j ferreting ont and declaiming against i the evil and forgotten that we have a corresponding duty to develop the good. The church has failed to regulate popu? lar amusements, it has withdrawn it? self from them, and if the devil has come in and taken full possession the church is to blame. I know that I overstep the mark of received church opinion, but I would rather be right than consistent. If the church has with mistaken zeal fostered a false position, it would be cowardly, having discovered the error, to withhold the truth from society through fear of being turned on and called incoas aleut. E This age needs men who have the c j age to meet prejudice. Let ns bring leaven of the gospel into the anrasen tamp, and teach th? people how to I amusements without abusing them, save the church from ber present miliating attitude as the declared erny of the drama, from attend which she has no power to restrain members, The world is growing bet the church is growing wiser. We in a transition age. Religious opir is bridging over the scandalous chi which has so long existed betw church and stage. As an ethical qi rion, most persons are agreed t amusements in the abstract are wrong. Some people mistake tl prejudices for conscientious scrup! "Man has an animal nature as wei) rational faculties; he has instincts t are purely animal as well as ch arad istics purely intellectual and spiritn and the playing out of these impul within the limits of moderation just as sinless as in the animal ?pi and simple. ' * The mind kept on the c< tinnal stretch of serious duty will p maturely lose its healthy action. ( and young alike must have their tin .of sport, and it is not necessary that bring the hours of recreation under 1 rigid scrutiny of reason.. The scroti of conscience must be there. Howe-* pleasant it may be to do wrong, it never right to do it, and sin commiti in pursuit of pleasure is as sinful as done for the sake of profit. But havi made this reservation the wisest of can sometimes afford to lay aside o dignity and become children. Sunshine and Gloom. As Martin Luther romped with t children, and the immortal Chalme trundled a hoop, so our amusement trifling in themselves, may be consj ered wise for the same reason "that t bownee?sto be completely unbent." do not take the untenable and un-Chri t?an position of condemning everythii in life unless invested with seriousnee That would make Ufe too gloomy. Bi if, on the other hand, we make life a sunshine, and sport continually in i beams; like insects of the day. pleasu: seekers only, it is a* very differei thing. That which may be commend* as an occasional recreation become very unmanly or unwomanly if mac the object of daily pursuit. Our axnus* ments may be prostituted to evil; s may horses. Because they are so ofte the gambler's richest resources shall w refuse to use them? The theater is pr marily for amusement, and not fe moral instruction. The home, the sods circle, the church, the Sunday scboa the companionship of good books, anc above all, the Bible, are to teach c what is right and true. The charge that religion is scoffed a on the stage is false. Hypocrites an charlatans ocasionally furnish subject for its characterization. The cause c religion does not suffer when its spuri ons representatives are held np to ridi cnle and contempt. Christ did th same thing. The closing passage of ai old play-*4The Hypocrite"-contain ing such a character would seem to b a sufficient answer to the charge fx which I have just alluded: "Nay, now, my dear sir, I must tab the liberty to tell you, you carry thing) too far and go from one extreme to an other. What! Because a worthiest wretch has imposed upon you nuder th< fallacious show of an austere grimace will yon needs have it that everybody ii like him? Confound the good with thc bad and conclude there are no trulj religions in the world? Leave, my deal sir, such rash conclusions to fools and libertines. Let ns be careful to distin? guish as between virtue and the appear? ance of it. Guard if possible against doing honor to hypocrisy, but at the same time allow there is no charactez in life greater or more valuable than that of the truly devout, nor anything more noble or more beautiful than the fervor of a sincere piety. " Actors and Preachers. All actors are not moral. All preachers are not moral. There are bad men in all professions. There are men and women on tile stage whose characters are as spot? less and their lives as beneficent as any in our churches. Crimes are committed on the stage; so they are in the Bible. Goodness and badness are put in opposi? tion in both books and plays. The chief themes of the theater are the passions of men. So are. the subjects for the chisel of Angelo, the brush of Guido, the pencil of Dore, the burden of the sermon on the mount by Christ, in whose lips there was no guile, and whose ev? ery thought was without spot or blem? ish. If the exposure of sin is an inde? cency, to be consistent all the literature of the world, both sacred and profane, must be committed to the flames. Call the roll of all the plays that achieve the widest and the most permanent success. They are as innocent as milk, and the leaders of the stage would be astonished at being accused of producing ari im? moral piece. The preacher contrasts virtue and vice from a positive point of view; the dramatist presents pictorial? ly the contrasts between virtue and vice, and I know of no standard play in which the former is not always trium? phant in the end. The Roman actor charged with having corrupted the youth of the city said .before the senate: When do we bring a vice upon the stage That goes off unpunished? Do we teach By the success of wicked undertakings Others to tread la then* forbidden steps? We show no arts of Lydian panderism. Corinthian poisons, Persian flatteries. Bat mulcted so in the conclusion that Even those spectators that were so inclined Go home chanced men. Water cannot rise higher than its source, and the character of the theater cannot be sustained above the character of those who attend it. Playwrights and actors are not to blame for what we often get on the stage. The Americans like slang and vulgarity. Playwrights and actors do not live to write and act; they have the bread and butter human weakness, and write and act to live. They kaow what the people want, and they give it to them. The noble senti- j ment raises feeble applause, but the word that looks two ways, or the exhi? bition of doubtful propriety, brings all the feet down and makes all hands clap. The theater^ and _opera will never m t?ne a?a ten de n' cy Wab?v? the life 1 attends them. The demand will c trol the supply. In nothing else Americans show such had taste as their indorsement of plays and playe "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "King Le? and4'Richard III"-are these the ty; which most frequently appear? Lc at the placards on the walls for the J ewer. And the Shakspeares, Goldern! and Sheridans are not likely to be p ular so long as people throng the thea to hear poor pons and silly songs whi the compounders of gayety b?rlese provide. Still I am. hopeful for the future, larger and more refined class of peo] attend the theater than ever. A higher tone of morals prevails the best plays and is manifested in t character of the players. ? The church has made a tremendo mistake in its wholesale denunciation the theater. A larger part of the coi munity attend the theater, and the m jority of our population are moral ai virtuous. Amusements are proper i Christians because the divine law wr ten in our hearts makes them so. The is nothing in the precepts of our re. gi on that makes us march down the pa of life to the tune of the 4'Dead Man In Saul." The pulpit's vituperation the theatrical profession is so un-Chri tian as only a clergyman who never sa a good play would ever dream of ma ing. The stage seldom or never strik back. The rum er on s scandals of Ame ican clergymen now serving terms : the various penitentiaries of the lai afford legitimate material for the stag These materials remain unused beean the dramatist, the manager and the a tor have too great respect' for the rel gion of Christ to weaken it by emphasi ing the sins of any of his servant Some men who writ J against the sensi ali ty of the stage remind me of tl preacher in Canada who. declaimc against dancing in such a manner th; the dancing went on. but the parse was himself discharged on account < the vulgarity of his discourse. Tl time has parsed for offensive dietario and inquisitorial condemnation on th part of bigots. A Word of Caution. The theater is here to stay. Reforx ?3 the note of the future. Eliminate th bad. Encourage the good. The shame ful posters, the female attire, or rathe tiie lack ol it, the compromising atti tades, the silly things accepted, th commonplace persons admired andoom mended-thunder as much at these a yon will. Let ridicule, sarcasm an? denunciation exhaust their armorie upon these abuses, these positive evils. "Can I go to the theater?" asks th? Christian. 1 answer. If you cam 4 4 Le every man be persuaded in his owi mind." Refuse to do or go where your con science forbids, but retrain also fron condemning your neighbor, whose con science may not require him to walk ii the same path you have marked out foi yourself. From amusements that demand o: you an outlay beyond your means yoi had better stand aloof. If you have dol? lars and days for the theater, and mi tel and minutes for the church, you neec reconstruction. Confirmed theater goerf are unfitted for life's duties. I have scores of women in my church who pay good prices for their matinee seats Sat? urday afternoons who reluctantly drop a dime in the contribution box on Sun? day. These women never have time noi money for the Lord's work. How many of you are so given to levity, so giddy, so frivolous, that you are incapable of a serious thought? Your hearts are set on having "a good time." Once a man-stood stunned.at the first sight of the Niagara. When he got his breath back, he simply said, "I wonder how much machinery all this would turn?" We are told there is enough power there when converted into elec? tricity to light the world. And there is enough vigorous manhood and wom? anhood in this city, if rightly applied, to illumine our whole country. But be? hold the thousands wasting that power, throwing it to the four winds. If at last we are compelled to look back upon a wasted life, we ourselves will be the severest critics. And re? member this : When you go out of this world and your life has been wasted, no encore can ever bring you back to re? enact it. 44 As the tree falleth, so it lieth." Your chai acter at the last mo? ment will be your character through all eternity. Mr. Palmer, the London actor, dropped dead on the stage while quoting the words of the play, "O God, is there another and a better world?" I do not know what will be your exit, but in that hour there will come before you all you have been and all you might have been. Oh, men and women of the theatrical profession, to, whom these words may come, prepare for the clos? ing scenes of this life, when the foot? lights will be the burning world, the orchestra the resurrection trumpets, the tragedy the upheaval of a world of graves, and the closing scene the dis? persing of the audience to their ever? lasting homes of gladness or sorrow. Amid all his levity and excess Burns had moments of deep seriousness, recog? nized man's spiritual and immortal part, and the necessity of living for something higher than this present world. I was struck the other day with these lines, a grand sermon, which he tent to an intimate friend: Tile voice of nature loudly cries. And many a message from the eldee. That something in ns never dies; That on this frail, uncertain state Hang matters of eternal weight; That roture Ufe in worlds unknown Must take its hue from this alone, Whether aa heavenly glory aright Or dark as misery's woeful night. Since then, my honored .first of friends* On this poor being all depends, Let ns the important now employ And live as those who never die. Now It Is Brown. Brown, in an extensive variety of new shades, is likely to be a leading color for the coming season. As gold will also be much used and is largely interwoven with the new materials, brown should be even more attractive than it usually is, and less dingy in appearance, although none of the new shades can be said to be dull. A NERVOUS FRENCHMAN. He Embodied a Cari?os Combination of Pomposity, Ignorance and Cowardice. Among Mr. Lester Wall?ck's "Memo? ries** are some relating to "the most nervous .creature" he ever saw, Signor de Begnis, a singer, who came over to the United States in the same ship with Mr. Wallack and his father in 1838. He was about 6 feet in height, portly and pompous, and wore a huge velvet cloak and a black velvet cap. His grand ap? pearance made his childish ignorance and cowardice all the more amusing. Everything he saw filled him with won? der, which he expressed without reserve. Two nights after the ship sailed, the captain, thinking it was coming on to blow, sent aloft to shorten sail. De Beg? nis was excited. "Oh, ah, mon capitaine, de man! What he go np dere for? Why he go up the polef* "He is going up to reef the topsail." replied the captain. "To do what?" "To reef the topsail." "To reefa de top of de sail? In de dark? Mon Dieu! Now he go higher, and without a candle." He was never seasick, but was so tim? id that he was happy only in a dead calm. When the rest of the passengers were scalding about the delay, he would say: "Ah. it is beautiful; it is a callum, to? day. I am not affright. When it blow I am affright. Today it is a callum, and I go to play veest." Mr. Wallack, who was then hardly more than a boy, used to climb to the mizzentop with a book in bis pocket and sit there with his arm around a rope anV read by the hour. The first time that De Begnis saw him going up the shrouds he shouted: "Ha! look at de young Wallack! Don*t go up dere, yon fools, Suppose de strings was to broker One night it was blowing hard, and the ship was "taken aback.** Mr. Wal? laces father, being an old sailor, knew what it meant and sung out to the stew? ard: "Shut in the deadlights!" The next morning the sea had gone down, and De Begnis, who had been dreadfully scared, said: "I was not the only one affright. There was the old Wallack, he was affright. I hear him call to de steward to give him a light to die by." On the first day out, when the ship was "on the wind," lying pretty well over, De Begnis, only half dressed, stuck his head into the main cabin and. said: "Steward! Where is de steward? Ask a de cam'taine why the ship she goes so crook! Tell him de Signor de Begnis cannot shave." Standing one day beside the wheel, he said: "What that man he do, he turn the wheel around?" "He steers the vessel," the captain an? swered. "What is dat he keep a-looking at like af col?" "That is the compass. He watches the compass and steers the vessel by it." "Ha! Dat is a umpick" (humbug). ''How do you suppose we find our way across the ocean then?' asked the cap? tain. "You get de ship by de shore; you put up de sail; de wind she blow, and you go dis way and dat way-sometimes de straight way-and after awhile you get dere by chance, God knows how! And yet you tell me dat de man he make her go straight when he turn de wheel around! Umpick! All umpick!"-Youth's Comnanion.._ _ FOR DYSPEPSIA, Indigestion, and Stomach disorders, use BROWS'S IRON BITTERS. AU dealers keep it, SI per bottle. Genuine has trade-mark and crossed red lines on wrapper. Notice. No Hack-Drivers, Hotel Porters or News? boys are allowed on tbe Passenger Depot Platform while Passenger Trains are at tbe Station. B. K. DELOBMB, Agent, C. S. & N. R. R. DR J JLt'i WHS, DENTIST. Office OVER BROWN & BROWN'S STORE, Entrance on Main Street Between Brown & Brown and Durant & Son. OFFICE HOURS: 9 to 1.30; 2 to 5 o'clock. 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