THE STAGE, FROM A SCRIPTURAL AND MORAL POINT OF VIEW.

Four Saviour and St. Paul considered dramas as so absolutely unlawful, so bad in their origin, and so corrupt in their very nature, surely they would not have given their sanction to the instructive sayings of the dramatic writers of old. (See Acts xvii. 28; also ix., v., and 1 Corinthians xv. 33.) "Nor is it," says an old writer, "fair to object against the stage. That it hath been abused to the worst purposes there is not a question of doubt. What gift of God, and which of His institutions, have not been so? Hath not even the holy worship, appointed by Himself, been perverted to the exaltation of Baal, Moloch, and the myriad of heathen deities? Hath not the abomination of desolation been set up in the holy place." *

The drama is, in fact, embodied history, brought visibly before our eyes, to afford us examples of bad men to be avoided, and of good men to be followed.

* Rev. James Plumptre, B. D., 1809, Cambridge, England.

It can introduce us to the manners and customs of distant nations, and make us acquainted with places and persons to which we should otherwise be ever strangers; nay, it can go farther, and almost give us the advantage of having lived in remote ages, and profiting by the examples of others, who have long since ceased to be inhabitants of this world.

*

To the question of the lawfulness of the stage, must, in a great measure, be involved that of the profession of the stage player. If the stage be in itself unlawful, then not only those who carry it on, but those likewise who attend it, and those who sanction it, become partakers in the sin. But, if the stage be a source of amusement, then the profession is not only innocent, but highly useful and commendable. The only case for doubt appears to be where the stage is considered merely as an amusement, and then, how far it may be lawful for any human being to employ his whole time in subserviency merely to the amusement of mankind, is the question to be determined. One of the strongest objections to the stage made by the clergy in its more remote history, was, "That the performers exercised it for profit," or, as it was expressed, "exhibited their persons for hire." If the labor be lawful, as we think it is, the laborer, surely

* The drama owes its origin, says Aristotle, to that principle of imitation which is inherent in human nature. Hence its invention, like that of painting, sculpture, and other imitative arts, cannot properly be restricted to any one specific age or people.

as well in this as in any other profession, "is worthy of his hire.' Luke x. 7.

"Those who devote their time and talents to the service of the public have a right to look for their maintainance from their patrons. Should there, however, be any improper exposure of the person in any of these fictitious representations, for the purpose of raising admiration, or exciting worse emotions, the practice is not only disgraceful, but immoral. If such amusements be vicious, the company are all accessory to the mischief of the place, for if there is no audience we should have no acting." - Collier, p. 271.

"We do not contend that a fictitious character on the stage should presume to bring the decrees of heaven into his dialogue for the purpose of making them available for his own or the mere amusement of the audience. If, indeed, in so doing this, other circumstances are added, such as profaneness toward God, or if false morals are taught, or if the persons assembling to hear this lesson had been guilty of immoralities, then these circumstances in themselves are wrong. Abuses, and those grievous ones, no doubt, exist; but, though they have been long attached to the stage, they are by no means necessarily so, and might be separated from it."-Plumptre.

The opinion of Addison-the moral and pious Addison - the reformer of the manners of his times, by his elegant and pious writings in the Spectator, and the author of the "Evidences of Christianity,"

should go a great way to convince the opponents of dramatic performances that a theatre, properly conducted, might become a school of morals, and rendered serviceable to the cause of virtue. In No. 446 of the Spectator, he says: "Were our English stage but half so virtuous as that of the Greeks or Romans, we should quickly see the influence of it in the behavior of the politer part of mankind. It would not be fashionable to ridicule religion or its professors; the man of pleasure would not be the complete gentleman; vanity would be out of countenance, and every quality, which is ornamental to human nature, would meet with that esteem which is due to it. If the English stage were under the same regulations as the Athenian was formerly, it would have the same effect that it had in recommending the religion, the government, and public worship of its country. Were our plays subject to proper inspections and limitations, we might not only pass away several of our vacant hours in the highest entertainment, but should always rise from them wiser and better than we sat down to them."

The drama appears to be a much more obvious and natural mode of imitation than either sculpture or painting, and these, if not taught originally by Divine revelation, were certainly acknowledged as lawful, and introduced into the tabernacle and the temple. St. Luke, it is said, exercised the profession of a painter, and some of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation are set forth in pictures. If the great

artist of the tableaux drawn and portrayed on the blue arch of heaven had not been inspired by his Creator to picture truth in tablatures to last through all coming ages, he could not fail to throw upon the canvas of creation those glowing pictures, with burning words, foretelling the coming of our Saviour in all his majesty, power, and greatness!

In the "Exposition of the New Testament," Svo, Vol. II., page 426, we read: "The generality of these visions, as hath been observed, all are represented under the idea of pictures, portrayed on the leaves of a book. The prophet, therefore, employs picturesque as well as poetic imagery, and hath marked the various figures he hath introduced with such a glow of coloring, and strength of expression, as plainly shows how much his imagination was fired with the original."

The Bible is so perfect, so pure and holy in all its inspirations, which are, in fact, emanations from Deity, that it would be almost sacrilege to compare it with any work that ever came from the brain of man. Yet so perfect is Shakespeare, and so boundless his knowledge and resources, that we may be pardoned in placing his name next to those who made up the "Book of Books."

We have many instances in Scripture of the prophets teaching by actions. See particularly Jeremiah i. 13, 19. Also Ezekiel iv., v., vii. 23; xii., xxiv., xxix. 15. Our Saviour's parables were probably, some of them, feigned stories, and some real facts, brought forward as instructive lessons.