Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

THREE DOLLARS PER ANNUM. 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.