THE DAILi jSvBNINu TELEGRAPH TRIPLE SHEET PHILADELPHIA, FRIDAf, MA? 12, 1871.
2
SPIRIT OF TUB rJtBS8.-
EDITOBIAL- OPINIONS OF THE IJ5ADINO JOUBNAtS
UPON CURRENT TOPICS COMPILED
EVEBT
DAT FOB THE EVENING TELEOBAPE.
OUR ANNUAL SCOLDING.
From th A. F. Tribune..
. The time of the anniversaries ia upon us,
and once more Mr. Wendell Phillips comes
down with his bundle of e pigrams to play at
reform. In his last speech he announced as
the fruit of hi recent ponderings that among
the evils of the day were newspapers, and ao
counted for their number by the f aot that
there are more men who can write than who
can think. This is smart, for Mr. Phillips
never says anything which is not smart. It is
Be much easier to talk than it is to think that
perhaps it would be unfair to expect an ease
loving rhetorician to give himself the trouble
to think before he speaks. If Mr. Phillips
ever pays to his audiences the compliment of
a preliminary thought of his oration, it is de
voted not to what he is going to nay, but to how
he is going to say it which is as much easier as
it is easier to dress a child than to rear one.
But he is not to blame if his audienoes like
vrhat be gives them. They are gently
startled, but never shocked, by the sheet-iron
thunder and rosin lightning of his eloquence,
and they go away charmed with their eve
ning's entertainment, and thinking no more
about the marrow of the subject discussed
than Mr. Phillips does. Then the news
papers report the best things he said, and
the publio reads and smiles, and an audience
is ready for the next time. If the journals
ceased to notice him he would soon be left
as lonely as St. Simeon of the Pillar. And
yet he speaks ill of the bridge that carries
Lim over he insinuates that it is a pons
asinontm. We pardon and advertise him as
of old. He really does very little harm; he
gives his hearers a good evening's amuse
ment and a better lesson in oratory than they
conld ever get from that myth of recent in
vention, Delsarte.
" There is no speaker before the publio who
has so comfortable a sense of irresponsibility.
He cares no more for what he said yesterday
than The Daily Blatherskite, lie is a man of
purity and integrity; he could not be fright
ened or bribed by any possible threats or
promises; but he cannot resist an epigram,
and he yields more readily than weaker men
to the temptation of a metaphor. He values
facts only in proportion to their pioturesque
ness, and when they fail he makes better ones
for himself. The Lincoln whose loss he yes
terday deplored, when living he in turn de
nounced as a slave-hound or pitied as an
imbeoile, as suited the graoeful balance of
his phrase. Some time ago, in abusing the
American mob, he contrasted it with Paris
held in the iron grasp of an invincible des
potism. But afterwards, when the street
gamins had kicked the dynasty out of France,
he substituted the Duke of Wellington for
.Napoleon and Birmingham for Paris, and the
epeeoh was just as good as ever.
He appears in these later years to be pep
pering his entrees rather more than of old.
He is a pretty good peace man and humani
tarian in a general way, but jut now he
wants .the New York mob to hang a mil
lionaire or two, and General Grant to make a
crimson comment on the Ku-klux bill in the
South His suggestions as to the proper way
to carry out this salutary law are, as mignt be
expected, very original and dramatic. He
wishes the President to hang, not the obsoure
scoundrels who have committed outrages,
but a few wealthy and respectable citizens
who have not. arcuing. very justly, that this
would make a great sensation 1 Dr. Holmes
informs us of certain creatures "who feed on
Stilton till they turn to cheese." Is it possi
ble that Mr. Phillips has stood so long in
contemplation before the moral beauty of
General Butler's life and conversation that he
has been inspired with the rash ambition to
appropriate his style ? '
AN EVENT EXTRAORDINARY.
Prom the If. T. Sun.
Something is about to happen which never
happened before. That great and good man
Horace Greeley is to start for Texas. He
has lived a ereat many years, and has been to
a great many places hither and thither, to
and fro. np .and down but he has never
before started for Texas.
Undoubtedly there have been good reasons
for Mr. Greeley s not going to Texas, i'or
' merlv the climate, however salubrious in
itself, would not have been healthful for him,
He would have found it altogether too hot even
in the coldest weather. Anxious as he has
always been to increase horticultural produo-
tions, tbere would nave ueen Bometning nang
ing on a tree down there which would not
have comported with his ideas of what ought
to be on trees. -
The fact that Mr, Greeley can now go to
Texas safely shows that he has not lived alto
gether in vain. The men who were at one
time ready to kill him because they feared
that he would do something to abolish slavery,
welcome him with open arms now that he and
his friends have suooeeded in abolishing
slavery. This is a new illustration of the
deference which mankind pay to suooess.
Mr. Greeley goes to Texas to deliver the
annual address before the State Agricultural
Society. People who suppose that he has
already told in his book all that he knows
about farming are mistaken. That book was
made np of artioles in the Tribune, and Mr
Greeley never tells all that he knows in any
thins which he writes for the Tribune. He
is one of the funniest men in conversation
in the world. He has often been exhorted to
put his jokes into the Tribune, but he re
frains. He thinks one funny paper in New
York is enough, and he delights in reading
the bun. He has gained seventeen pounds
and eight ounces in tlesh since he became
one of our conbtant readers
It has been suggested that Mr. Greeley will
ue nominated for rreudent wuue in Texas:
but any open demonstration of that kind now
would be premature, aild would inorease the
Hostility already existing between him anl
General Grant.
Another distinguished editor r&oontly made
a trip down toward Texan as far as the blue
grass region, ana bought a faiuoai colt
whether B'r. Ureeley has in contemplation
. to purchase any stock in Texas we are not
informed. Ve believe tbat state is not re
markable for any superiority m its horses.
n is Baid, nowever, to pr 'iaoa tbe greatest
jackasses in the world, iue rumored dia-
eatiafaation with Mr. Whitelaw Raid in the
I'ribunt entablisLnif nt basfcivea rUe to the
report that Mr. ureoley ha a seaondry
object in attending tee atate c air oi Texas
and that k is to seleot one of these eooentrlo
animal productions to take Mr. lteld's plaoa
as managing editor. Whoever his purpose
may be, we bespeak for Una wherever be
goes that grata and cordial reception whioli
buouiu always await a great and good nim.
inat protection for douiestio iuduatry which
it
maybe supposed he will advocate in his
address, we desire to see everywhere extended
over him.
THE BATTLE IN THE WEST.
From tU S. r. World. . ' ' '
, Once more the plaoid waters of Erie (we
mean the limited lake and not the unlimited
stock) are vexed with rumors of approaching
strife. There are those, perchance, among
us from whose memories hath not yet wholly
faded that famous tale of an elder day which
embalms the valor of Amerioan sailors in a
contest which humbled the red-cross flag
within sight of the Canadian shores. But the
battle whereof Erie now tremblingly awaits
the awful shock is a battle by land and not by
water. Neither the sunburst of Erin nor the
stars and stripes waved for war over the ves
sels which Wednesday night steamed forth
upon the bosom of the great inland sea. To
use, with a slight modification, the prophetio
words spoken by King Arthur to Sir Bedi
vere, "Far other Is this battle la the West
Whereto we move than when we strove la youth,
And thrust John Hull from the Canadian wall
And shook him thro' the North." .
Many en "eerie sight" has Erie seen, from
the days in which the heroic Perry bore forth
the flag of the youngrepublio to'oontend with
the veterans of Nelson to these in which
James Fisk, Jr., has contrived to make his
' "Name and glory cling
To her high places like a golden cloud
Forever."
But the spectacle which her waters up
bore to the pensive moon precluded, in all
human probability, a conflict in which the
elements of battle and of bet, of valor as
fierce as that of the vikings of Perry, and of
financiering as audacious as that of the
liotbecnild of opera bonne, will be com
bined to give the sporting world assurance
of a man.
If any ghosts of the Six Nations haunt
those shores, once the happy hunting-gmnnds
of their dusky race, they were m ease to see
full many
"A dusky barge,
Park as a funeral scarf from stem to stern,
Beneath them : and descending they werewarc
That all the decks were dense with Btately forms."
It is a curious and possibly a not
wholly uninstrnctive fact that we inherit
our ancient British love for what
onr fathers styled the "manly art of
self-defense" from the highly classical age of
Queen Anne. Neither the naked Picts, from
whom, as Mr. Ireland tells us, Prince Vorti
gern's grandfather contrived to win a painted
waistcoat, nor the bearded, beer-drinking,
skull-smiting sons of Scandinavia, nor the
solid, sturdy Saxons, knew any more or prac
tised any more of pugilism than the abori
gines of America. Broughton and Figg, its
earliest authentic masters, seem to have been
developed under the influence of classical
studies for the delight of an aristocracy
trained to believe in Virgil and in Homer
more devoutly than in St. John and St. Mat
thew. The boxers of that Augustan period
did not indeed absolutely despise the eco
nomical aspects of their profession. They
had their backers, they laid their money, and
they pocketed their proceeds. But the light
of chivalry had not yet wholly faded from the
world. As Keats puts it,
"Fair plumes were dancing in the eye"
even of cock-fighting peers and of wrestling;
bumpkins; and there fell upon the sawdust
and the ring, as it were, a
"Harmless glamour of the field"
which half redeemed the dull plebeian pound
ings oi tbe atniete into a vague remimsoenoe
of the old romantio close of mgbt with knight
"for liod ana for tbe ladiesl
All this has vanished now. Doubtless the
original prize-fighting of old England was a
compact of mingled good and ill. So, too, for
the matter of that:, war the tourney of the
feudal times.
"In the mist
Was many a noble deed, mauy a base
Aua cnance. anu or ait, ana sirengm, in single
IlgOlS."
But in our degenerate days battle3 such as
that of Lrie have become the merest mat
ters of business. Far without the charmed
inner circle of the combatants and their
friends there extends indeed a huge penumbra
of the average population among whom the
merits of the champion i are considered and
the result of their conflict is weighed in a
spirit not wholly alien from the ancient battle
ardor, we suspect tbat li tne tram were
told there are to be found even among the
gentler sex and in the1 serene air of fashion's
own heaven not a few tender-hearted crea
tures who would taint at tne Bigbt or a
friendly set-to with the gloves, yet who will
snatch a kind of fearful joy from the story of
a desperate trial in the ring, under the hallux
cmation that it really sets, forth a manly en
counter of man with man for the proving of
bis manhood, i - , m :
But it is not of these that the boxers are
thinking when they go forth to box, nor for
the love and praise of these that they oon-
tend. Tbe of ten quoted remark of Buff on
that "the horse is a noble ' animal," takes a
new life from every well-oontested raoe; for
while it is perfectly clear that the racers can
take no possible interest in the conflict, save
in the exercise to whioh it calls them of their
utmost powers, it is not less clear that they
do take such an interest in it. But tne human
combatants in such a battle in the West as was
to have been waged yesterday, are nerved to
energy and made tough to endure by the
same ignoble motives as , those which kindle
the "heathen Chinee" to master the unfa
miliar mysteries of poker, or make the average
Republican politician swift and skilful to flat
ter out the foibles or President Grant.
OUR MAY MEETINGS.
From the N. Y. Timet.
It would be dimcult to imagine a more in
opportune commentary upon the neatly oon-
feirucTea tbeones of tbe May meetings tnaa
the results of Tuesday's riots at Soranton.
Here in New York we have the Reform
League inviting capital and labor "to meet
at once on equal terms, and,Icknowlede:in2
each other's rights, to arrange their relations
on the basis of justice and a fair division of
the common prohts. Just about the same
time as this panacea for the great sooial dif
ficulty of the time was being made public,
we had the epectiole in Pennsylvania of
workmen not only reiusing to recognize any
reasonable compromise with capital, but re'
sisting by violence the assertion of the
natural rights of brother laborers. Then,
again, comes the Universal Peace Union,
witn its barren truisms tnat "lire is an
inalienable right," and that "deadly foroa is
antagonistic to peace," while at home and
abroad men are striving alter some lndetimte
portabilities, to which life is held entirely
(subordinate, and in whose attainment "deadly
force is counted a perfectly legitimate aux
iliary. Still agaio, the Woman Suffrage
Association presents us with the very confi
dent declaration that "in every relation of
life in which men aud women oo operate, the
result ia beneficial to both," at the very mo
lueiit when the news comes to hand that the
wives of the Soranton miners have been fore
most iu the work of brutal assault and murder.
it in, doubtless, a mi&fortnne, as Mr. Wen-
Oil Phillips puta it, that "there are so muy
mtu who can write and so few who can
tliixil:, but considering the existing neoe Mi
nts oi society, it i, perhaps, a Btill greater
misfortune that there are so many men who
can ppeak and so few who can act.
(Dan any man reasonably expeot capital
and labor to meet on equal terms, and calmly
discuss their mutual rights, before either of
them has oome to realize the most elemen
tary obligations to each other ? Admit that
capital deserves all the opprobrious epithets
with which Mr. Phillips so liberally bespatters
it, has the orator no condemnation for labor
that shows itself within its own ranks equally
arrogant, cruel, ana intolerant? The relation
between the two great factors of social pro
gress is not founded upon a denial of eternal
principles of justice, like that which existed
between slaveholder and slave. It is one
which calls for ad justment, not for abolition,
and the man or tbe party that seeks to inten
sity existing causes of division is contributing
to social ohaos instead of social reconstruc
tion. There can be no particular harm in
the ladies and gentlemen of the Reform
League, tbe Suffrage Convention, or the
Peace Association meeting once a year, and
edifying each other with resolutions of high
import end speeches of incisive smartness,
Bat there is a great deal of harm involved in
riding their favorite hubby with a complaoent
disregard of existing facts, and in leading a
good many well- meaning people to believe
that the world can be reformed by resola
tions.
Here, at our very doors, is a body or men
whom the promptings of demagogues can
inflame to acts of violence and murder. That
is surely a fact as lamentable as the tyranny
of corporations and the idleness of Congress
men. It will be along time before our social
refoimers can convince the railroad compa
nies and the mining operators that the blood
of the three laborers murdered at Soranton
rests upon their heads. Suppose they should
adopt the more practical method or bringing
the men to see that the reconciliation of capi
tal and labor is impossible, while acts like
these can be done in the name of working
men. It is or no use to stand on tne nm-tops
and shout about the sooial millennium
that will one day come, unless men show
the sincerity of their belief by descend
ing into tne ton ana straggle ot
daily life, and helping to bring it
about. We hear many noble-minded women
complain of want of fitting work in a
worthy sphere, lias the bull rage Conven
tion no womanly nearts and persuasive
tongues to aid in the elevation of their sisters
of Pennsylvania, who unsexed themselves on
Tuesday last, and became more pitiless and
cruel than the men who cheered (.hem on ?
Those in want of a plausible argument against
the timelmees of womanhood sua rage may
plead that the mass of ignorant women are
capable of worse deeds, and more susceptible
to evil influences, than the -mass of ignorant
men. They may point to the doings of the
viragoes of Soranton as proof of such a
statement, just as the disbeliever in the
possibility of a reasonable compromise
between capital and labor may appeal to
the moral afforded by the same events
The Leaguers and the apostles of the
suffrage need not abandon their general
theories before any such exceptions, but they
should set to work and prove tbat the exoep
tions are not vital by showing that they can
be removed.: The ladies and gentlemen of
the May anniversaries must guard against
the delusion that all the world has attained
the same level of intelligence and moral cul
ture as themselves. Theories that may be
strictly appuoable to the members of an ap.
preciative audience may be found totally uu-
suited to tbe mass ot people out-of-doors.
Now that the reformers understand perfectly
well what they severally want, suppose they
8bouid, one ana an, set about snowing a capa
bility for raising the substratum of society to
a level where ngbts and duties would be bar
monized. A little honest missionary work
would do society much good, and the mem
bers of all the conventions no harm. .
THE RIGHT OF THE CLERGY TO GO
TO THE THEATRE.
From Theedort Tilton't Golden Age. ;
Kate Field, a child of the theatre, though
she never treads tne stage save as a lecturer.
felicitates her readers in the Tribune on the
Rev. Robert Collyer's brave Bermon . in de
fense of the drama, and on his taking his
family to a theatrioal performance. The cler
gyman a practice is good; his reasons for it
are sound; the prejudice against the drama
and its representation is narrow and unjust;
and the brilliant lady s joyful mood of mind
1b pardonably jubilant and femininely war
rantable. : Few ministers go to the theatre,
and few actors go to church; but if each olass
were to make themselves more familiar with
the best labors of the other there would be
less misunderstanding between two of the
most influential of professions.
! The clerical rage against the theatre was
originated by Jeremy Collier's keen and
bitirjg book on "The Immorality of the
Stage, written in .bugland during the uni
versal laxity of morals whioh immediately
followed the restoration of the Stuarts. . This
snappish little work bad a great popularity.
which in some respects it deserved, for it was
written in sturdy, enjoyable, and Bun van
like English. Its first sentence opened the
vein which it followed to the end. "Being
convinoed," says the author, "that nothing
has gone further in debauching the age thau
tbe stage-poets and the play-house, I thought
I could not employ my time better than in
writing against them." Accordingly he smote
them hip and thigh. His argument exhibits
a hot Gospel bitterness of feeling, a Puritani
cai narrowness or judgment, and a curious
insensibility to the function of dramatic
poetry; but, at the same time, he coined and
put into currency many wholesome criticisms
of popular plays, pointing out objectionable
passages, and furnishing a catalogue of hun
dreds of stains and blemishes such as, for the
most part, have Bince passed inte the Index
Expurgatorius. One of the arguments, not
of Jeremy Collier's essay, but of his
time, against the theatre, was stated in
a Bermon preached at Paul's Cross, as
follows: "The cause of plagues is Bin, if you
ioo& to it well; aud tne cause of Bin are plavs:
therefore the cause of plagues are plays:" a
a passage in which the logic is as unique as
the grammar. It takes only the span of one
human life to measure back from our day to
ltv'2, when (according to Wilkinson's Wan-
deimg Patentee), an English clergymai, in a
sermon at Kingston-upon-Hull, said: "No
player, or any of his cLildren, ought to be
entitled to a Christian burial, or even to lie
in a churchyard. Not one of them can be
saved. And those who enter the play-house
are equally certain with the players of eternal
damnation." On reading this passage, we
see a clerical temper which survives and
flomihhes in the equal bigotry of tbe Rev.
Mr. Sabine, who refused to bury the veteran
actor, George Hollend, but tent Lim to "the
little church around tbe corner." Now the
onslaught of the preachers upon the players
baa continued too long. It ia hiu time to
call off the combatants. We hereby bout
flag of truce.
The fact that the Rev. Robert Collyer and
his family go to the the&tr-and to a theatre
in Chicago, too! starts the question why
should not -other clergymen and their fami
lies do the like in other cities? For instance,
why should not the Bet. Dr. Blagden of the
old South, in Boston, occasionally ease the
overstrain of orthodoxy on bis learned mind
by occasionally visiting "Selwyns or "The
Globe?" Why should not the Rev. Dr.
Thompson, of New York, who so happily vin
dicated President Lincoln's attendance at the
theatre, follow the example which he approved
in others by going himself occasionally eitber
to smile ntder Vallack or to weep under
Booth? Why should not the Rev. Dr. New
man, the Methodist chaplain to President
Grant, take bis anxious-minded and much
perplexed master once or twice in the season
to "The National," during some engage
ment Bay of Davenport in "namlet," or of
Jefferson in "Rip Van Winkle?" We ask
these questions because these clergymen are
human creatures like their much-toiling
brother of the same craft In Cuioigo, and
they have as much need of relaxation as he.
Indeed, not to mention any names, we have
ourselves bad tbe bonor of acoompanying to
tbe theatre two or three of the most notable
clergymen and theological professors in the
United States, and we can bear witness to
their uncommonly intelligent, and yet at the
same time "childlike and bland," eujoyment
of the performance. But why should so re
freshing a fountain be quaffed by so few so
very few clerical lips? Why should not all
players go to church, or at least why should
not all preaohers go to the theatre ?
Let us quote a couple of paragraphs from
Miss Field: "Wise old Dr. Johnson said: I
am a great friend of these publio amusements.
I believe they keep people from vioe rather
than lead them on to it. Dr. Paley, whose
Natural Theology and books of Christian evi
dence are still printed and circulated by reli
gious tract and book societies, was so fond of
going to the play that he would walk ten or
twelve miles into London, and go without his
dinner for the sake of attending the theatre.
In 1784, when the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church were sitting in Edin
burgh, Mrs. Siddons went there to act, and
that grave and reverend body adjourned au
hour earlier than usual in order to witness
the performance of this transcendent
genins. . Ths body did wisely,
for the Quarterly Rcvieio will observe that in
these towns where no puolio amusements
have been permitted, publio morals have
always sunk to a lower ebb than in any other."
The above instances tea wen tor JUtss l' leid s
argument and for Mr. Collyer's example. If
any one is inclined to doubt tne autbentioity
of the atory concerning the Scotch clergy and
Mrs. Siddons, let us corroborate it by trans
scribing a sentence on which our eye lately
fell in casually turning over tbe pages or vc.
Doran, namely: "Fancy the General Asaeni.
bly of the Kirk being obliged to arrange
their meetings witn reterenoe to Mrs. out
dons acting as the younger members fol
lowed the artist as Bossuet used to follow
contemporary actors, to study elocution."
Now we want a reformation or religious
sentiment on the subject of dramatic amuse
ments.. Martin Luther, who was a reformer
by his very nature, would, if he were now
alive, attempt to reform bia clerioal brethren
as the Rev. Robert Collyer is doing, and
would similarly send tbem, with their fami
lies, to the theatre. Luther wrote in favor of
play 8 particularly of comedies, for be had a
need of much laughter. He said also that the
theatre was useful to warn young men
against profligate women, and to inoulcate
marriage a luxury which the Catholio
Church denied to its nuns and priests. We
want a little Luther-like rough handling of
the Church for its superciliousness and bieotrv
concerning tbe theatre. The Kev. Dr. Bel
lows attempted to do some such work years
ago. But after he struck one blow, we never
heard of bia btrikina another. Now, how
ever, we have a minister in Chicago who was
born to the anvil, and we expect to hear
again and often the echo of his conquering
Biedge.
Let ns say tbat the fair criticisms which just
men may make against the immoral tendency
of the theatre, as the theatre is sometimes ad
ministered, reoeive our heartiest sympathy,
Indeed, farther than this, 2 he (J olden Age
proposes to be unsparing in its denuncia
tions of the vile tendencies and the indecent
exhibitions tojwhicb, in some theatres, the
drama has been degraded. We contemplate
with abhorrence and disgust the degeneraoy
of the drama. ': But the drama itself, nude
generated,! nnoorrupt, and, un degraded, is
one of the noblest monuments of modern
civilization one of the noblest embodiments
of human genius and one of the most power
f ul instrumentalities for the culture of sooiety.
The abuse of the theatre we deplore and con.
demn; the theatre itself we count as the raby
beautiful, precious, ana royal.
; We vindicate tbe Btage. Dramatic repre
sent at ion is as old as the world. It existed
at the beginning, and will continue to the
end, of civilization. It is one of the funda
mental, natural, and (to this extent) divinely
ordained methods of expressing the thoughts
and feelings of the mind and heart. It ia
one of the great, noble, and subtle arts by
which human beings convey and receive
psj cbological meanings and sympathetio im
pressions. Speech, as fashioned into poetry
or oratory, is anotber or tnese vehicles
Music, whether of instrument or Bong, and
whether with or without words, is another.
Art, whether painting or soulpture or archi
tecture, or all combined, is another. Now
art may either be fleshly and Pompeian, or it
may be ecclesiastical ana devout ; it may
sirip the human figure nude in order to please
a lascivious eye, or it may portray the human
face divine (together with the human form
not less divine), for the pure purpose
of embodying the ideal beauty of
perfected humanity, or to image forth
tbe angelic creatures with whom the poets,
sacred and profane, have peopled men s f an-
oies in all ages of the world. Accordingly
the pictures in any famous gallery of Jirurope
run through tbe wnoie gamut oi numan pas
Bion. from vice to virtue. Now if at any par
ticular time the tendency of a majority of
artists happens to be grovelling and earthy,
and their pictures rans below tbe average
moralitv of society 6hall we on this account
abolifch art, interdict chisel and brush, and
blind tbe eyes to color and form ? Songs
may be pious and pure, or they may be amo
rous and foul. The same lips, the same in-
straments, tbe same rnytnm and measure
may, with slight modifications, be made to
interchange froin grave to gay from rebgious
to baochanal. Xiax, oeoauae t tie re may be a
fashion of frivolity or Indecorum or obscenity
in the aongs oi tne peepie, or oi suon per
sons as frequent haunts of gross minstrelsy
shall we on this account hush the voice of
ruuBio in the world, forbidding the lark to
warble, the human voice to carol, and the
chnrchlv organ to sound? Bpeeoli can be
put to gocd uses or bad; its utteranoe may
be for tbe ncnt or iue wrongous argument
may be for liberty or slavery. Hut because
three quarters of all the speeches at Albany
or AVabhingtou may possibly be of bad poll-
tical or moral tone (.wuicu w oimn tne case),
blall we on that account make a law against
the tongue, take away the forum front the
market-place, abolish the halls of legislative
debate, cany off the desk of ,the lyoeuoi,
and remove the pulpit from the church ?
In the same way, the theatre " has almost
illimitable capability for good or evil. It
may tench the moat pathetic lensona of aelf
sacrifice, honor, fidelity, truthfulness, hero
ism every tbining trait of noble mind; or
it may abuse its opportunity by basely pan
dering to a low and depraved taste, exciting
tbe basilar pasnions, inflaming the blood, and
engendering crime. Of tbe theatre nothing
too strong can be said, eitber in praise or
blame, according as it does well or ill. But
because the theatres of any one time or
nation, or of any one city or preoinct, surren
der the high function of art, and minister in
stead to tbe salacious desires of tbe populaoe,
exhibiting as the drama such spoctaoles ai
would make tbe great dramatists curse tne
vicious usurpers of their honorable art is
tbis a reason why tbe theatre should be anni
hilated from human society, and tragedy
never more be written, or comedy never more
be played
Immoral plays fnrnish no better argnraent
against the drama than immoral speeches do
against oratory, or immoral songs do against
musio, or immoral pictures do against art.
And that is the whole question.
SPECIAL. NOTICES.
jjgy- OFFICE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD
COMPANY,
Philadelphia, May 1, 1371,
NOTICE TO STOCKHOLDERS.
Notice is hereby given to the Stockholder of this
Company that they will have the privilege of sub
scribing for New Stock at par in the proportion of
one share for every six as registered In their name,
April BO, 1371.
IlolderB of less than six Shares will be entitled to
subscribe for a full share, and those holding more
than a multiple of tlx Shares will be entitled to an
additional Share.
Subscription will be received and the ft rat Instal
ment of Fifty per centum will be payable between
the 82d day of Mey and 221 day of Jane, 1871.
Second Instalment of Fifty per centum will be pay
able between the 22d day of November and 221 day
of December, 1371. If Stockholders prefer, the
whole amount can be paid at the time of subscrip
tion. No subscription will be received after June 22,
1S71. THOMAS T. FIRTH,
6 1 8w Treasurer.
jjgy- PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY,
TREASURERS DEPARTMENT.
Philadelphia, May 2, 137L
The Board of Directors have this day declared a
semi-annual dividend of FIVtf PER, CENT, on the
capital stock of the Company, clear of National
and State taxes, payable in cash, on and after May
80,1871.
Blank powers of attorney for collecting dividends
can be had at the office of the company.
The office will be open at 8 A. M., and close at 3
P. M., from May 80 to Jane 2, for the payment oi
dividends, and after that date from 9 A. M. to 3
P. M. THOMAS T. FIRTH,
5 9 2m Treasurer.
tfeV- CAMDEN AND AMliUl KAlbltOAD ANU
Trbnton, April 10, 1911.
NOTICE. The Annual Meeting of the Stock
holders of the OAM DEN AND AM BOY RAILROAD
AND TRANSPORTATION COMPANY will be held
at TRENTON, May 10, at 19 o'clock, M., at the Cora-
pany's office, for the election of seven Directors to
serve for tne ensuing Tear.
KAAlLUli u. UAI&I1U, -
419 Secretary C. and A. R. R. and T. (Jo.
HB BATCH ELOR S HAIR DYE. THIS SPLKN
did Hair Dve la the beat in the world, the only
true and perfect Dye. Harmless Reliable Instan
taneous no disappointment no rldicalous tints
"Doe tt t contain Lead nor any Vitalic Poison to in-
fureikt Hair or SgUm." Invigorates the Hair and
leaves it soft and beautiful : Black or Brown.
Sold bv all Dru (relate and dealers. ADDlled at the
Faotory, No. 16 BOND Street, New York. (4 27 mwfS
gy THE UNION FIRE EXTINGUISHER
COMPANY OF .PHILADELPHIA
Manufacture and sell the Improved Portable Fire
Extinguisher. Always Reliable.
D. T. GAOB,
6 EOtf No. 113 MARKET St., General Aga
PILES. DR. OUNNELL DEVOTES HIS
m A ts-k Vi A tfABmnnf lln Klin si Hlfi.trf-
ing, or Itching. Hundreds of cases deemed incura
wuiv v iuu wcaiuiciiv ut i uco, uuuu uicu,a-
ble without an operation have been permanently
cured. Best city reference given. Offlce, No. 21 N.
ELEVENTH Street.- 4 IB 8m
gj- THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE
SPRING- CREEK OIL COMPANY will b held at
Horticultural Ha'l, on WEDNESDAY EVENING.
tne itm instant, at s o ciock r. m. d io m
DR. F. R. THOMAS, No. 911 WALNUT STn
formerly operator at the Col ton Dental Rooms.
devotes his entire practice to extracting teeth with
out pain, wiw jresu nurous oxiae gas. li lit
? JOUVIN'S
-KID GLOVE CLEANER
gloves equal to new. For sale
bv all druggists anl fanci goods dealers. Price 83
icrwi m pviivu
cents j r ottle. 11 28mwf J
DISPENSARY FOR SKIN DISEASES, NO.
18 a. tLfiv bireec
Patients treated .gratuitously at tola Institution
dally at 11 o'clock. 114
WATCHES. JEWELRY, ETC.
ICstablislied in 1834.
WATCHES.
EVERGOING
STEM-WINDERS,
KEY-WINDERS,
QUARTER SECONDS,
MINUTE REPEATERS,
ETC. ETC. ETC
C. & A. PEQUIGNOT,
No. 608 CHESNUT STREET,
4 25 2m PHILADELPHIA.
GOLD HEDAL REGULATORS.
. XV. RU88BLL,
No. 22 NORTH SIXTH STREET,
Begs to call the attention of the trade and customers
to me annexed letter :
TBiNSIAtlON.
1 take pleasnre to announce that I have given tc
Mr. G. W. RUSSELL, of Philadelphia, the exclusive
sale of all goods of my manufacture. Ue will be
able to sell them at the very lowest prices.
"OU8TAV BECKER,
'First Manufacturer of Regulator,
x toluurg, Germany.
LEGAL. NOTICES.
TN THE ORPHANS' COURT FOR THE
CITY
J. AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA.
KatatA nf HAKAH ANN THOM A8, deceased.
The Auditor appointed by tha Court to audit, set
tle, and adjust the aucount of WILUAM C. FLANI
GEN, Adin4nltrator d. b. n. of SARAH ANN
ThOMAC, deceased, being of all the atmeta of aald
etitate Inch wnue into bU bauds, constating of pro
cevda of dale of certain real estate Bold under pro
ceeding! lo partition by order of Bald Court, and to
report uibinbution of tbe balance in tbe hand of
the aecouutant, will meet the parties Interested M
the purpose of nla appointment on TUESDAY, the
ltik day of May, lull, at I o'clock P.M., at the Otnce
of JOHN P. O'NEILL. No. UU S. blXTU Street, la
he city of Philadelphia. e 8 10 12 18
rOR SALE, i
Q I F O ; R
8, A L E,
XI a Ulegant Refeidonc,
WITH STABLE,
AT CHE 8 NUT HILL.
Desirable location, a few minutes' wal.i from depot
D. T. PRATT,
8B4 2m No. 10S Sooth FOUKTH Street
F
O X,
41
SPRING LAKE."
An elegant country seat at (JJieanui Hill, Philadel
phia, ten minutes walk from depot, and live hundred
yards from Falrmount Park; lawn of nearly nine
acres, adorned with choice shrubbery, evergreen,
fruit and shado trees. A most healthy location,
views for 40 miles over a rich country, modern
pointed stone house, gas, water, etc., coach, Ice, and
spring houses, never falling spring of purest water,
(lake for boatiko), all stocked with mountain
trout, carp, etc., beautiful cascade, wlta succession
of rapids through the meadow.
Apply to J. R. TRICE, on the premises. 4 25
F O It HALE,
HANDSOME RESIDENCE,
WEST PHILADELPHIA.
No. 8243 CHESNUT Street (Marble Terrace),
THREE-STORY, WITH MANSARD ROOF, AND
THRER-STORY DOUBLE BACK
BUILDINGS.
Sixteen rooms, a'l modern conveniences, gas, bath.
hot and cold water.'
Lot 13 feet front and 120 feet 8 inches deep to a
back street.
Immediate possession. Terms to suit purchaser.
M. D. LIVEN SETTER,
4 13 No. 189 South FOURTH Street.
TO. RENT, FURNISHED DESIRABLE
Summer Residence, Township Line, near
School Lane, Qermantown.
(JUSllUISBATBJMn cv UU.,
8 ltf No. 128 South FRONT Street.
m
COUNT RY AND CITY- PROPERTIES T
FOR SALE, RUNT, and EXCHANGE in 2X1
ereat number and varieties or
J. J" A A WKKEM,
6 61m No. 809 CHESNUT Street.
TO RENT.
FOR RENT,
STORE, No. 339 MARKET Street.
APPLY ON PREMISES.
J. B ELLISON k SONS.
4 S3 tf
A DESIRABLE RESIDENCE TO LET ON
Wayne street. Germantown. within five
minutes' walk of Wayne Station: 9 rooms, hot and
cold water and bath. Inquire at Bakery, No. 4541
MAIN Street. - .. 6 8 Of '
MTO LET GERMANTOWN MANSION,
with acre of ground, Green street, above
heim. House in thorough repair. Gaa, btth,
hot, and cold water. Carri8re-house and stabling
for three horses. GEO. O. SHELMERDINE,
B10wfs2t No. 416 WALNUT Street.
BAFE DEPOSIT OOMPANIEli
THE PEHN8YLVANIA COEffPAHY
FOR INSURANCES ON LIVES AND
GRANTING
ANNUITIES.
, .Office No. 304 WALNUT Street.
j INCORPORATED MARCH 10, 1313.
CHARTER PERPETUAL. '
CAPITAL 81,000,000. .
SUB PLUS ' UPWARDS OF 8750,000.
Receive money on deposit,retarnola on demand,
for which Interest is allowed,
And under appointment by Individuals, corpora
tions, and courts, act as
EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, TRUSTERS.
GUARDIANS, ASSIGNEES, COMMITTEES,
1 RECEIVERS, AGBNTS, COLLECTORS, ETC.
And for the faithful performance of lu duties aa
such all Its assets are liable. -
' ; CHAKLEa DUTILH, President.
William B, Hill, Actuary.
Charles Dnttlh, , Joshua B. Llppincott,
neiiryd. vviinaius,
William S.Vauz, -John
R. Wucherer,
Adolph B. Bone, .
Charles H. Hutchlnaoa,
Llndley Suivth.
George A. Wood,
Anthony J. Antelo,
Alexander Blddle,
inariea a. Lewis,
Henry Lewis,
GROCERIES. ETC.
JONDON
BllOWN STOUT , AND
SCOTCH ALE,
In glass and stone, by the cask or doaen.
ALBERT O. ROBERTS,
Dealer in Fine Groceries,
Corner ELEVENTH and VINE St.
EDWARD PONTI & CO.,
IMPORTERS OF FOREIGN PRODUCE,
Wines, Oils. Fruits, Cigars,
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL,
No. 004 HAMI T Street,
PHILADELPHIA.
Edward ponti. 3 3731 javks w. havbks.
BOOTS AND SHOES.
CABLE SCREW WIRE
BOOTS AND SHOES.
And yon will use no otuera. They are the most
Pliable, Darabie, and Comfortable goods la the
market. Their success is unprecedented, and they
are rapidly superseding sewed and pegged wort
wheiever introduced. r 4 11 fuiwlm
Bold by JPealera Kyerywhere.
OPAL.
RP. OWEN A CO.,
COAL DEALERS,
FILBERT STREET WHARF,
SCHUYLKILL. 101y
ONOWDON KAU'S COAL DEPOT, CORNER
O DIIJLWYN aud WILLOW Streets. Leulgh aad
Scburlklll COAL, prepared axpreaaly for family oae
at the lowest cash price it
Imported and for aie ty
DALtETT & SON.
6 4 ot
No. m 8. FRONT Bueet,