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Vol. XXIX.—No. 5.
Stlectiras.
THE THEATRE. #
We have received a powerful sermon on
“The Theatre,” preached in the Ist Presby
terian Church, Dayton, Ohio, by T. E. Tho
mas D. D. We make the following interest
ing extract:
“The Theatre novelty, but an insti*
tion of centuries. From its birth it has
possessed a well-defined character. Twenty
two hundred years great Athenian,
Aristotle, observed that the dramatic poets
of his city had improved upon each other,
and had refined their own taste, and that of
their audience, until tragedy had attained
perfection. The modern drama has made
no advancement. In the grandeur of its
exhibitions it has vastly deteriorated. A
Grecian Theatre held fifteen to twenty
thousand spectators; a Roman, even eighty
thousand. The Theatre of Scaurus, at Rome
cost five millions of dollars. What are our
paltry Opera Houses in comparison ?
“The Theatre, then, has been tested by
time. Its matured fruits are familiar to the
world. It has been tried by the impartial
judgment of the good and wise, for many
ages. The judgment which they have pro
nounced upon it, will constitute my argu
ment against theatrical amusements, which
may be stated thus: The wisest and best
men of every age—heathen and Christian—
Legislators, Philosophers, Divines the
Christian Church, ancient and modern—
have, with one voice, from the very birth of
the drama, condemned, opposed, and de
nounced theatrical exhibitions, as essential
ly corrupt and demoralizing, both to individ
uals and society/’
Such is the authors proposition ; he then
proceeds to introduce the testimony of em
inent and observing Pagans, and says :
“Solon, the chief magistrate and lawgiv
er of Athens, who witnessed the very dawn
of the drama, remarked that, ‘lf we ap
plaud falsehood in our public exhibitions,
we shall soon find it in our contracts and
covenants/
“Socrates never attended the theatre,
in consequence of its immoral character, ex
cept when some play of his friend Euripides
(the purest of ancient tragedians) was to
be acted. Yet the glory of the stage in his
day was never surpassed; perhaps never
equalled.
“Plato, the disciple of Socrates, whose
genius is an honor to humanity, tells us
that ‘plays raise the passions, and pervert
the use of them ; and, of consequence, are
dangerous to morality/ He therefore ban
ished them from his imaginary common
wealth.
“Aristotle, the world-renowned philoso
pher, the tutor of Alexander the Great, laid
it down as a rule, that ‘the seeing of come
dies ought to be forbidden to young people;
such indulgences not being safe until age
and discipline have confirmed them in so
briety, fortified their virtue, and made them
proof against debauchery/ At what age,
then, Aristotle, should a sensible adult ex
pose himself to such contamination ?
“An Athenian spoke to a Spartan of the
fine moral lessons found in their tragedies.
‘I think/ said the Spartan, ‘ I coulcMearn
much better from our own rules of truth and
justice, than by hearing your lies/
“The character of the Greek drama was
exceedingly licentious. ‘We can form but
one opinion/ says a learned author, ‘of the
auditory which could be pleased with such
indecencies; or of the poet who could pan
der to au appetite so abominable/ Plautus,
who introduced comedy to Rome [ab., B.
C. 200], remarks that ‘Poets have composed
few comedies by which good men are made
better/ This he said, inviting the Romans
to contrast the superior chastity of his own
productions. Yet of his pieces a critic ob
serves : ‘Much is vulgar, the jests often
low and sometimes obscene. The subject
of his play is frequently an obscene story
humorously treated/
“Ovid, the famous Roman poet, though
neither a wise nor a good man, is a compe
tent witness. In his celebrated poems,
written expressly in the interest of lewdness,
he recommends the theatre as favorable to
dissoluteness of principles and manners. In
his later days, in a graver work addressed
to the Emperor Augustus, he advises the
suppression of this amusement, as a chief
cause of corruption.
“Seneca, the renowned philosopher of
Rome, a contemporary of St. Paul, speaks
thus of theatrical representations : ‘Noth
ing is so damaging to good morals as to be
present at one of these spectacles. Vice
easily finds its way into the heart through
the pleasurable emotions which they ex
cite/
“Tacitus, the philosophic Roman histo
rian, in his account of the ancient Germans,
ascribes the singular purity of their women,
in part, to the absence of seductive theatri
cal spectacles.
“Julian, the aposttea emperor of Rome,
attempted, in the middle of the fourth cen
tury, the utter subversion of Christianity,
and the re-establishment of paganism. To
this, end he decreed ‘ that none of his pagan
priests, or those employed at the altar, should
be allowed to attend theatres, or he seen in
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & CO., FOR THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH
the company of a charioteer, a dancer or an
actor / assigning this remarkable reason for
his decree : That the Galileans, as he sneer
ingly styled Christians, had gained their as
cendency by their priests and people avoid
ing such causes of corruption, and the profli
gacy to which they lead. A striking testi
mony, from one of the most sagacious and
malignant foes the gospel ever encountered,
—at once to the purity of the primitive
Christian life, and to the debasing influence
of the stage!
“Brumoy, a French critic of the Greek
Theatre, and an admirer of plays, thus con
cludes his dissertation: ‘I have given an
account of everything as far as was consis
tent with moral decency. No pen, howev
ever cynical or heathenish, would venture
to produce in open day the horrid passages
which I have put out of sight; and instead
of regretting any part that I have suppress
ed, the very suppression will easily show
to what degree the Athenians were infected
with licentiousness of imagination and cor
ruption of principles. If the taste of antiq
uity allows to preserve what time has spared,
religion and virtue at least oblige us not to
spread it before the eyes of mankind.”—
[Greek Theatre, p.
“In view of such facts, is it wonderful
that the purest of the heathen, as we have
seen, united in condemning the stage ? We
shall find, presently, that the modern drama
is only less infamous than the ancient/'
From the Nashville Christian Advocate.
OUR BISHOPS.
The venerable senior Bishop Soule, now
nearly eighty-five years of age, resides in the
vicinity of Nashville. His health is feeble,
yet his spirits are cheerful, and he has great
interest in the prosperity of the Church
which he so ardently loves. He visited the
late Tennessee Conference, and was present
two or three days during the session. It is
worth a pilgrimage to spend a few hours
with this good and great man, who is ripe
for the kingdom and only waiting the call
of the Master to “come up higher.” The
Bishop’s P. 0. is Nashville.
Bishop Andrew. —Post office, Summer
field, Ala. Bishop Andrew has passed his
“three score years and ten,” and yet he re
tains considerable physical vigor and has a
mind unimpaired. The last we heard of
him he was in Texas, conducting the delib
erations of an Annual Conference. At our
last interview, which was nearly a year since,
we were much impressed by his sweetness
of temper and child-like simplicity of man
ners. He is the senior acting Bishop of our
Church, and has been in office since the
year 1832. The first Conference in which
he presided was the Tennessee, which held
its session that year in this city.
Bishop Paine resides at Aberdeen, Miss.
He was elected Bishop in 1846, and has the
love and respect of the whole Church—a
man of learning and piety. He is over sixty
years of age, but has a fine constitution, and
we hope will be able for many years to do
effective service. He is a superior chair
man. The Bishop during the past fall had
a severe attack of sickness on his way to the
Mississippi Conference. He has, however,
recovered, and at our last information was
presiding at the Mobile Conference. May
his useful life be spared to the Church!
Bishop Pierce is a native Georgian, and
resides near Sparta, Hancock county, Ga.
He is about fifty-five or fifty-six years of age.
He belongs to a preaching family. His fa
ther, Dr. Lovick Pierce, is known through
out the whole country as a minister of rare
powers and great strength. Now far ad
vanced in years, he is able to deliver two or
three sermons on the Sabbath and oftentimes
during the week. The Bishop’s uncle, the
late Rev. Reddick Pierce, wil in his day
regarded by many as superior to his brother.
He was a giant, having few equals, and per
haps no superiors, in the pulpit. The Bish
op, too, has two brothers belonging to the
Georgia Conference, and a brother-in-law,
Rev. Dr. Mann. Bishop Pierce was or
dained in 1854. His pulpit abilities, amia
ble disposition, and great modesty, commend
him to his brethren everywhere.
Bishop Kavanaugh. —His home is in
Versailles, Ky. He was ordained also in
1854. He is the senior of Bishop Pierce in
years, but is a man of great physical pow
ers, and capable of much endurance. He,
too, is of the family of the Levites. His
grand-father, Dr. Hines, was a minister, and
he has several brothers and nephews in the
ministry. Bishop Kavanaugh is a prince in
the pulpit and in the chair, pnd in private
life an amiable Christian gentleman. In la
bors he is abundant, and loved and admired
by all who know him.
Bishop Early, Lynchburg, Va.—Or
dained in 1854. He is a Virginia gentle
man of the old school. He is known and
respected throughout his native State, where
he has has labored as a minister from his
youth. He is a remarkable man. Now far
advanced in years, he displays great energy,
and bids fair to “cease at once to work and
live. He has in the last few years passed
through several severe attacks of sickness,
but still he rallies and is off at once in the
field laboring and toiling to cultivate “Eman
uel’s land.”
Macon, Ga., Friday, February 2, 1866.
©ngiital |jdrg.
Hope of Heaven and Life Above.
BY E. SMITH WALKLEY.
0, glorious Hope of endless life
In an exalted heavenly state—
Where, free from toil, and care, and strife
To ceaseless joys our souls a Wake.
With this sweet Hope, I fill my cup ;
With Heaven in view, I’ll journey on
Till I have filled the measure up
Os all my days beneath the sun.
Then, when my Saviour bids me come,
Without a tear, without a sigh,
I’ll mount up to my peaceful home!
In the bright world above the sky.
There, parted friends shall meet again,
And kindred there shall kindred know,
And trace the long ancestral chain
That down through Japhot’s line doth
flow.
And there, the Head of all the race
Redeemed, behold! the Saviour stands ;
Benignant smiles beam from His face
Oa all tLe congregated bands.
Then, O my soul, why wish to stay
In such a gloomy vale as this?
Why rather choose to launch away
To live in realms of endless bliss.
Bright angels there our coming wait
And list to hear the summons given—
Then on their joyful mission straight
They fly, and bring us safe to heaven.
Triumphant Hope ! thy saving power
Will shield us in our mortal strife—
Will cheer us in the trying hour—
And only end in Endless Life.
Central Institute, Ala., Jan. 16 th, 1866.
MISSISSIPPI MISSION CONFER
ENCE.
This is the name given to a body of
Methodist “ filibusters ” which met 25th
Dec. iu New Orleans, Bishop Thomson pre
siding. J. P. Newman, Joseph Welch, H.
G. Jackson, William M. Henry, and N. L.
Brakeman composed the Conference.
Twelve colored local preachers were elected
to deacon’s orders, and received on trial.
The Committee on Education reported in fa
vor of establishing an institution in New
Orleans, for the education of colored
men for the ministry, to be known as the
Thomson Biblical Institute, and a resolution
was passed calling upon the “ Centenary
Committee” for $50,000 endowment. A
paper is to beatatfted by Dr. Newman called
the “ New Orleans Advocate.’’ The num
ber of members reported is 2,216, the value
of church property $47,000 and nearly
2,000 officers, scholars and teachers in the
Sunday-schools.
The following edifying facts are extracted
from the correspondence of the Cincinnati
Advocate. It is difficult to tell whether
the negro jor the yaukee makes most parade
of his religion. They seem equally fond of
the excitement of grand shows, and of mon
ey making pictures.
“At night N. L. Brakeman preached on
the Conversion and Salvation of Souls, and
the sacrament of the Lord’s supper was ad
ministered, and such a scene of shouting
and other physical and spiritual manifesta
tions as we had never before witnessed, even
in a congregation of colored people, trans
pired. The preaching of the hour had pro
duced but little effect; but the sacramental
services, especially the singing, brought
Heaven near and in great power. There is
a choir, or “ sing-band,” as they are called,
in Wesley Chapel, and after all in the con
gregation had communed, the pastor arose
and said, “ Now let the band come forward !
when, under their leader, they immediately
“ formed ” in “ two rows ” —one of male
the other of female—and at the word of
command “ right faced,” and, striking up
one of their stirring spiritual songs, and
stepping to the time of the music, they be
gan their “forward march;” down the
stairs, through the vestibule, up the aisle,
and upon reaching the altar the two ranks
separated, filing right and left, and in “ sin
gle rank ” formed ready to kneel. When
the song ended all bowed down and received
the elements —emblems of the broken body
and shed blood of Christ. When “ dismiss
ed,” they formed in two ranks with the or
der reversed; those who were the “ rear ”
in approaching the altar, led the advance in
returning from it—the first last and the
last first—and thus they resumed their seats
in the gallery. The scene was as impress
ive as novel. After the choir reached their
seats, immediately the whole congregation
arose, and in concert began repeating the
Lord’s Prayer, after the pastor, who gave it
out, deliberately and distinctly, sentence by
sentence. Thus closed our night ser
vice, a scene we shall never forget. *
“After Conference adjourned, and in accor
dance with a resolution unanimously adopt
ed, an artist was procured to take a photo
graph of the entire Conference group, black
and White, and it was done —though imper
fectly, somewhat, still as well as could be ex
pected, and better than many groups we
have seen. The plate is sixteen by eighteen
inches, and contains eighteen likenesses,
and can be had for $36 per dozen by ad
dressing Dr. Newman, as above.
The Centenary of Methodism.
The Episcopal Methodist is not satisfied
to have the Southern Methodist Church pass
the centenary year—lß66—without adopt
ing some measures to celebrate the rise of
Methodism on this continent. The editor
writes:
j, “From no quarter do we hear anything
more than a faint and feeble call for the ob
servance of 1866, or, any part of it, in the
way of a Centenary celebration. With the
most active and vigorous effort, in our mon
eyless condition, we could not make it mon
umental, except to a very limited extent, by
raising funds for church enterprises. Our
people are too poor for that. But, after all,
might we not, even now, get up such a cel
ebration as might be turned to good reli
gious account ?
“It is not too late to inaugurate a plan for
suGh religious observances of the passing
epoch in our history, as might lead us to re
view the way by which God has led us; to
revise our experience with the view of bring
ing it up to the old standards; to blend suit
able sermons, addresses, and discourses with
the prayers, communions, and other religious
exercises of the occasion, kindling anew the
fires of former Methodistic zeal, and there
by create a sort of new era in the history,
and fortunes, and prospects of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South ? This might be
done without attempting anything great in
the way of raising money for special objects.
“Let the Centenary services look more
particularly to the recovery of the experience,
devotion and religious zeal of early Method
ism. If any one object should be selected
as the beneficiary of Centenary thank-offer
ings, let that be a publishing house, from
which a sound, religious literature may go
out to bless the world, ‘without money and
without price/ so far as the poor are con
cerned, through all the periods of the histo
ry of such an institution. Is not the subject
worthy of the attentive consideration of our
church, and might not the approaching Gen
eral Conference take the matter in hand, in
time for concert in this celebra
tion, during the month of October, j 866 ?
Poor as we are, with anything like conoert
in this movement, we might raise a few hun
dred thousand dollars for the permanent en
dowment of a Publishing House , whioh
might remain as a monument of our grati
tude to God, for the blessings of the first
hundred years of Methodism in America.”
“Our Prospects.” —Under this head,
the Rev. R. A. Young writes to the Nash
ville Advocate: “The General Conference
will meet in New Orleans the first Wednes
day in April next. On looking at a com
plete list of the delegates, I come to the
conclusion that a more intelligent body of
men never assembled in the Southern States.
This is the Congress—the law-making body
of our Church. I infer from the proceed
ings of the various Annual Conferences, and
from the tone of our religious papers, that
the following things will certainly be done in
New Orleans: Several new Bishops will be
ordained, (but not one for every Conference
or State;) Lay representation will be admit
ted into our ecclesiastical bodies; the pasto
ral term will be extended; everything on
the subject of quarterage will be left out of
the Discipline; we will be directed to re
ceive converts into full connection at once t
theological professor ships will be established
in all our colleges and universities, and the
title of our Church slightly modified. Whe
ther you or I favor all these changes in our
economy, present manifestations indicate
that they will be made.”
DELEGATES TO THE GENERAL
CONFERENCE
M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH,
To be held in New Orleans on Wednes
day, 4th of April, 1866.
Kentucky Conference. —R. Hiner, Jos
Rand, S L Robertson, E Johnson and L D
Huston. Reserves —Geo W Maley and Geo
W Merritt.
Louisville Conference. —J H Linn, E W
Sehon, Wm H Anderson, N H Lee, A H
Redford. Reserves —G W Brush and Wm
H Morrison.
Missouri Conference. —A Monroe, P M
Pinckard, Wm M Rush, C L Yandiventer
and B H Spencer. Reserves —Horace Brown,
Wm A Mayhew and Wm M Newland.
St. Louis Conference.— D R McAnally,
W M Prottsman, F A Morris, Geo M Win
ton and John P Peery. Reserves— T M Fin
ney and Josiah Godby.
Kansas Mission Conference.—
Tennessee Conference. —J B McFerrin,
Jno W Hanner, S D Baldwin, ALP Green,
Robt A Young, Adam S Riggs, Jos B West,
Jno F Hughes, Thomas Madden, Wellborn
Mooney, and William Burr. Reserves —FS
Petway, R P Ransom and S P Whitten.
Holston Conference. —E E Wiley, Wm
E G Cunningham, James Kennedy, James
Atkins and John McTeer. Reserves—Rich
ard N Price and Carrol Long.
Memphis Conference. —T L Boswell, G W
T> Harris, M J Blackwell, Guilford Jones,
Samuel Watson, John Moss, W C Johnson,
Findlay Bynum and’ L D Mullens. Re
serves—S W Moore, J H Brooks and Thos
Joyner.
Mississippi Conference.—
Louisiana Conference.— -J C Keener,
Linus Parker, Joseph B Walker, Robert J
Harp and WEM Litifield. Reserves— N A
Cravens and J A Ivey.
E l H. MYERS, D.D., EDITOR.
Whole Xumbei', 1469.
Western Virginia Conference.—
Virginia Conference.— L M Lee, D S
Doggett, Wm A Smith, Jas A Duncan, Nel-
Bon Head, W W Bennett, J E Edwards, J
C Granbery, G W Langhorne, P A Peter
son and L Rosser. Reserves —Paul White*
head, Sam’l Reid and Jos H Davis.
North Carolina Conference.— N F Reid,
C F Deems, N H D WilsOn, W H Bobbitt,
B Craven, L S Burkhead and R S Moran.
Reserves— D B Nicholson, W Barringer and
Wm Cloes.
South Carolina Conference. —Whitefoord
Smith, A M Shipp, W A Gamewell, H A C
Walker, S H Browne. R J Boyd, Jas Stacy,
W H Fleming and Chas Betts. Reserves —
J W Kelly, J R Pickett and W P Mouzon.
Georgia Conference. —L Pierce, W J
Parks, S Anthony, John W Glenn, J E
Evans, E H Myers, A T Mann, Jos S Key,
G J Pearce, Wm M Crumley, W H Potter
and W R Branham. Reserves— ll H Parks,
A Means, J Blakeley Smith and J W Hin
ton. v
Mobile Conference. —Thos O Summers,
W M Wightman, J Hamilton, P P Neely,
A H Mitchell, R K Hargrove and T W
Dorman. Reserves —W Murrah and C C
Calloway.
‘Montgomery Conference. —HN McTyeire,
O R Blue, W H Ellison, W A McCarty, 8.8
Ross, J B Cottrell and M S Andrews. Ren
serves —W M Motley and C D Oliver.
Florida Conference —Josephus Ander
son, S P Richardson, John W Mills and
Samuel Woodbery. Reserves— T H Capers
and N B Ousley.
Rio Grande Conference. —
Texas Conference
East Texas Conference. —W H Hughes,
John B Tullis, J M Buckley, JWPMc-
Kinzy and W A Shook.
Arkansas Conference.—
Wachita Conference. —Andrew Hunter,
Wm P Ratcliffe, Jas E Cobb and A R Win
field. Reserves —H Jewell and Jno Pryor.
Pacific Conference.— W R Gober, O P
Fitzgerald and J C Simmons. Reserves —O
Fisher and E K Miller.
Indian Mission Conference
A Dying Pastor’s Injunction.— A
clergyman said, “I am a clergyman from
the State of Connecticut. I hear men here
speak of the power of the gospel. I have
lately learned a lesson on this subject which
I shall never forget, and which, I trust,
will give direction and character to all my
future labors. I was taught the lesson by a
striking providence. I called in one day
to visit a young, promising brother clergy
man, who had been settled in the ministry
near me. I found him a dying man. It
became my duty at a request of friends to
inform him of his condition, and that he
could not live, but must soon die. After
the first shock of disappointment was over,
all was peaceful and calm as an evening sun.
He wished to know if it would be wrong to
pray that he might be spared; ‘for’ said he,
‘my great desire to live is that I may preach
. the gospel more plainly/ When told that
it would not be wrong, he requested all to
go into another room and pray, and that I
would remain. He then said to me—‘Do
you know that the gospel is the power to
save men ? Oh !we must preach the gos
pel more simplv—preach the gospel more
simply/ I wish these dying words ofErs«
kine Haws could reach every minister’s
heart. ‘Preach the gospel more simply/
His great desire to live was that he might
do this.’’
The Great Delusion or Infidelity.—
I understand that as the most dangerous,
because the moat attractive form of modern
infidelity, which, pretending to exalt the
beneficence of the Deity, degrades it into
a reckless infinitude of mercy, and blind ob
literation of the work of sin ; and which
doe3 this chiefly by dwelling on the mani
fold appearances of God’s kindness on the
face of creation. Such kindness is, indeed,
everywhere and always visible, but not alone.
Wrath and threatening are invariably
mixed with the love; and in the utmost sol
itudes of nature the existence of hell seems
to me as legibly declared by a thousand
spiritual utterances, as of heaven. It is
well for us to dwell with thankfulness on
the unfolding of the flower and the falling
of the dew, and the sleep of the green fields
in the sunshine; but the blasted trunk, the
barren rock, the moaning of the bleak
winds, the roar of the black, perilous whirl
pools of the mountain streams, the solemn
solitudes of moors and seas, the continual
fading of all beauty into darkness, and of
all strength into dust, have these no lan
guage for us ? We may seek to escape their
teachings by reasonings touching the good
which is wrought out of all evil; but it is
vain sophistry. The good succeeds to the
evil a* day succeeds the night, but so also
the evil to the good. Gerizim and Ebal,
birth and death, light and darkness, heaven
and hell, divide the existence of man and
his futurity.— Ruskin.
Christ in our Afflictions. —ln all
our afflictions, Christ is afflicted. He is, we
may say, the common heart of His people;
for they are one body, and an infirmity in
the very remotest and meanest member
is felt there and borne there. Let us con
sole, solace, yea, satiate ourselves in Him
amid afflictions. It is blessed to belike Him
in everything,'even in suffering. There is a
great want about all Christians who have
not suffered. Some flowers must be broken
or bruised, before they emit any fragrance
All the wounds of Christ send out sweet
ness—all the sorrows of Christians do the
same.