THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1882. AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHURCH.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2520, 6 May 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1882. AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHURCH.

Tue discussion which took place the other evening at the half-yearly conference of the Church Work Society ia noticeable from the very peculiar opinions expressed by some of the speakers. The question of what are, and what are not, innocent amusements has long been de* bated, and the ultra-religious have urged with much persistency that the surroundings of the modern theatre, and, indeed, from their point of view all amusements, except those of an athletic character.

should prevent any one from attending them 1 Their idea of relaxation and relief' from cares of business seems to be attending 1 tea meetings, drinking wea* tea, and listening to much weaker speeches. It appears to us a this is scarcely tho sort of amusement which will tend to improve the mental status of our youth, however much it may their morals. Were this to be adopted, wo should have a generation of namby-pi«l' y milk-and-water young men, in whom the sturdy Anglo-Saxon spirit has been drowned out by floods o tea and puerile anecdotes. The Dean o Christchurch seems to think that t e moral training of our youth, as inculcated in their amusement, can be best carried out-in a gymnasium, and that tho Church should rouse itself from the apathy into which it has fallen with regard to this matter, and promote a huge gymnasium. The Doan ‘further proceeds to suggest that, after the youths have undergone a sort of preliminary course in athletics, then religions instruction should be introduced, gradually supplanting what the Doan quaintly calls a free and easy management of the gymnasium. We should have liked the Dean to have been a little more explicit on this subject of the free and easy management. Would the line be drawn at beer ? because, as a rule, gymnastic exercises are by some inscrutable connection not unremotely connected with the consumption of malt liquors. We confess we are quite unable to follow out the Dean’s arguments that gymnastic exercises, as a matter of course, must tend to make men either moral or religious. This is what tho Dean s remarks amount to, or'they mean nothing. Gymnastics are indeed the most healthful recreation that can be indulged in, but to lay down a hard-and-fast rule that all other amusements except those requiring a good deal of bodily exertion are not fit for Christians to indulge in is, to our mind, simply ridiculous. There is no i elevation, no refinement of the mental faculties in swinging on a bar for a < quarter of an hour, or putting on the 1 boxing-gloves for a bout. According to j the theory propounded by the Dean of Christchurch, music would be banished ■ from amongst ns, the grand themes of the great masters, which, when fittingly | interpreted, leads the mind insensibly , upwards, would bo heard no more, and j we should degenerate into a nation of ! athletes unable to appreciate anything j higher than a quick somersault or a clever • trapeze performer. We contend that the ; fault lies not alone with tho clergy or . the Church, but with those who from their position and influence in the com- 1 munity have weight. If they were to ! encourage entertainments of a higher , class—which they do not., as a rule— , the remainder of those desirous of relaxa- 1 tion would follow. But what is the fact- •: as regards Christchurch ? Why that in , nearly every case where an entertainment i of a refining and elevating character has been produced, cold neglect and utter absence of those who ought to patronise it, has been the rule. But let a piece be put on the stage whore a great deal of the female form divine is to be seen, and these very leaders of society, who decline to patronise Shakspere or musical performances such as we are now enjoying, crowd the theatre nightly. If the Chnrch wishes to interfere with the amusements of the people, and so direct them ns to advance the cause of morality and religion, lot it use its influence to encourage and support entertainments of an elevating character, wherever given. It is pure hypocrisy for so called Christian people to decline to go to a theatre to sea dramatic entertainments, or listen to mnsic, who, nevertheless, go and see tho very same things when performed in a hall. Where is the difference? If it is wrong to see a dramatic representation in a theatre, so it is in a hall. We agree with Mr Webb that if there is harm in witnessing Shakspore in the theatre, so equally is there in reading it is in the drawing room. The actors merely embody to the eye the characters which the mind pourtrays while reading. That the harmful associations spoken of as attaching to the theatre do exist it is impossible to deny, but the whole question comes back to the same point. If the managers of theatres are so supported when producing highly intellectual plays such as those of Shakspere and other dramatists, the moral atmosphere of the theatre will soon be purified. Even with the much vaunted gymnasium of the Dean there would probably be a tendency after the exercises to adjourn to the nearest hostelry. The solution of the question it appears to us is simple. It is inherent in human nature to have relaxation of some kind. Therefore those who desire to see that relaxation rendered as harmless to the moral and religious welfare of those engaging in it should come forward to assist to make it so by encouraging any efforts which are made to elevate the tone of pnblio amusements. Now-a-days, in Christchurch, in order to draw an audience to anything high-class, notably music, it is first necessary to catch your Governor, and then the rest follow as the flock does the boll wether. Hence high-class entertainments will gradually become rare, aud the caterers for the public amusement, finding that the display of legs and pretty women is far more appreciated by all classes of the community than the eledrama lessons taught by the Shakesporian vating, will act accordingly. If the Dean really wishes to do good work in the direction he has indicated, it will be by attending the theatre when high class dramatic performances are given, and not by the establishment of a gymnasium under such free and easy management as is compatible with order.