THE BISHOP OF MELBOURNE ON THEATRES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5197, 17 November 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BISHOP OF MELBOURNE ON THEATRES.

(Melbourne Daily Telegraph Bth inst.) The ninth of a series of lectures upon the Gospel of St. John was delivered to a crowded congregation at St. Paul’s Church yesterday afternoon by the Bishop of Melbourne. Darin" his remarks Dr. Moorhouse alluded to the subject of amusements, which had of late been so much ventilated. He had found, he said, that the people who had the greatest objections to amusements were the very persons who were the most pressing upon him to allow concerts and tea meetings to be held in their churches. The argument propounded by those who said that Christians should not engage in any amusement that was not sanctioned by Scripture was an erroneous one. The Christian Church was never divided into two parts, consisting of those who were considered Christians and those who were not. There was only one Christian, and when anyone told him that he should not associate with the world, or engage in the company of such a person because he was not a Christian, he (the lecturer) would question the right of anyone to judge as to who was a Christian. He recognised every man as a Christian who had been baptised, unless by his conduct he had proved that he was not. He had heard people say that it was not right for Christian women to dauco, but he did not believe it. When that amusement was partaken of iu their private houses, and under right guardianships, they would be indulging in a proper recreation, but when visits were paid to those “ hells upon earth ” —dancing saloons—destruction would be the certain result. Theatrical amusements might he the means of ruining young persona, and he was sorry to say that in many instances they had that effect. When people were brought into contact with such scenes of immorality as were spoken of as being connected with certain theatres, no father would take his child there, ns he might just as well take him into the chamber of the devil. If theatrical managers produced those French sensuous immoral pieces, parents might as well give their children poison as to take them to see the performance. It did not, however, follow, that because those plays were sometimes produced that people should never visit the theatre at all, or else, carrying that principal out, people should prohibit their children from reading the plays of iEscbylus and Sophocles, and other classic works, or reciting passoges from Shakspere, Theatrinal amusements were the most intellectual of any he could think of, and often tended to excite the higher and nobler impulses of our nature, and lessen tbe mean trading motives of the world. Concluding his remarks upon this subject, Dr. Moorhouse held fast to the principle' that there was no harm in the theatre itself, and it should be judged by the attending circumstances whether it was right or wrong to encourage it. If that principle were not acknowledged, then it would be necessary to at once cease reading plays of any kind. The lecturer was attentively listened to throughout, and his remarks appeared to meet with the entire approbation of those present.