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line upon any intelligible principle, and unless that be done, there will be no acquiescence in the decision.

But the great difficulty remains. The moral and religious community is not very numerous; that part of it which could be brought to unite in such a scheme, would be a very small minority of the whole population. Now the theatre is an expensive institution, and to be sustained must be popular. The crowds which constitute an objection to any mode of amusement, are necessary to its support; so is the night and the frequency, which have been mentioned as circumstances tending to demoralize amusements. For the night is the only period at which the theatre can be filled; and unless it be frequently used, the accumulated expenses of rent, interest on capital, and subsistence of performers, would render it an unprofitable investment. The theatre must appeal for its support, not to a select class, but to the great public. Now the majority of the great public is certainly not comprised in the moral and religious community, and any attempt on the part of the minority, to control the amusements of the majority, would certainly be a failure. The players will, as they always have done, perform those pieces which will draw, in their own phrase, most money. Those will not be the pieces on the list of the moral and religious censors. Another difficulty would soon arise, if the theatrical taste were once introduced among the moral and religious community. There would be a continual rising of temptation to see a favourite actor in a popular part,-in a piece which, although not strictly the proper thing, is not so very objectionable. This would by degrees break down the line. between the plays which may be encouraged, and those which may not be encouraged. This line once broken through will soon fall, and with it the whole scheme of reforming the stage by means of the patronage of the moral and religious community. There has never existed a wilder chimera than this scheme. Happily, it is not very like to be acceptable to those to whom it is addressed.

The remarks which have been made with respect to the drama proper, may be applied, with very little qualification, to the musical drama, or opera. When, as is sometimes the case, the musical drama is exhibited at a low price, and relies for

support on the numbers of the auditors which it attracts, none need be made. But when, as it sometimes does, it addresses itself to the wealthy classes, and seeks to indemnify itself for the absence of crowds, by the high price demanded for the admission of each individual, it stands on different grounds. In this form, many persons contend for the greater refinement and morality of the opera, and have no scruples about attending the performances, especially when abroad, who do abstain from the ordinary exhibitions of the theatre.

As for the superior refinement of the opera, that determines itself into the question of the superiority of music over poetry. This may be very soon settled, if the judgment of the higher intellects of our race is to go for anything. As to the superior morality of the opera, it is a melancholy fact that, in this age, the musical drama, the especial recreation of the higher classes, is decidedly less moral than the ordinary drama, which appeals for support to the general public. From this one is compelled to infer, that in the higher classes, as in the general public, the great majority of persons are not moral and religious. It is some excuse for the American admirers of this amusement, that they do not understand the words which are sung or recited in their hearing. But if it be true, as they themselves assert, that the music is capable of conveying all the ideas of the words, the apology fades away very much. Moreover, it is to be considered that the ideas are interpreted, not only by the music, but by the acting, and, in Europe at least, by the adventitious aid of indecent dances.

But the truth remains untouched, that the human mind requires recreation. This truth is a most important one. It is to the neglect of it that many of our social difficulties, and especially this one about amusements, are to be traced. We are so engaged in the struggle for wealth, that we allow neither ourselves nor our dependants the necessary leisure for the restoration of our or their exhausted systems. The result is, that excitement and stimulus which can be crowded into a short period of time, are substituted for recreation and amusement.

It is right, however, that something should be said on the subject of innocent amusements. Such in large cities are very

hard to be found. The difficulty consists in the want of space, and in the crowds which everything like amusement never fails to bring together. The pressure of business, and the consequent pressure for time, is a third element of evil. This fact was exemplified in Sir Benjamin Hall's attempt to introduce music on Sundays into the London Parks. The scheme was obliged to be abandoned, in consequence of the immense crowds which were congregated.

There still remains the great question: What kinds of recreation can be provided for the dwellers in great cities? They must be such as will not attract nor require crowds, need not occupy the night, at least to any late hour, and will not break in on the rest of the LORD's Day. With respect to the excess of frequency, that may safely be left to individual discretion, when the other conditions which have been suggested have been complied with.

There need not be much difficulty in finding such amusements for a certain portion of those who require them. The fine arts will furnish an ample supply, when once the taste for them is formed. The social intercourse of persons moving in the same circle, will be an important item, when men cease to despise it, because it is really a recreation, and not an excitement. But for the great mass of the community, these things do not at present supply the need.

There have been few more transparent and ridiculous hypocrisies, than the proposal to open the British Museum to the lower classes on Sundays. Those classes have at present no taste for anything of the kind. That which they demand is, not recreation, but excitement. That which they need is, not excitement, but recreation. The great impediment in the way of the recreations of working men, is the want of time. This want is felt by the all-grasping millionaire, the aspiring merchant, and the leader of the bar of a great city, just as much as by the day laborer. The universal press for wealth to accumulate and wealth to squander, is at the root of the evil. Every moment of time which can be occupied in the service of Mammon, must be devoted to him. As much of the service of Belial as is possible, must be crowded into the few fragments which Mammon rejects. Hence it comes, that the only times

which are left for amusement and recreation, are the Sundays and the nights. It follows that the religious character of the rest of the LORD's Day is entirely forgotten, and that the nights are devoted to excitement, under the name of recreation. Under this discipline, not only the spiritual, but the physical life of thousands is failing.

If men are to live out their days, if the Church is to be sustained in anything like the way in which she ought to be sustained, if excitement is not to take the place of recreation, and the very idea of temperance to be banished from the land, there must be a general relaxation in the pursuit of wealth. The popular idea of temperance is abstinence from intoxicating liquors. One instance of self control carried to excess, and so throwing a reflection upon all other instances. But what our young people require to be taught, is not total abstinence from certain beverages, and sneering at those who use them, but selfcontrol. Self-control to be applied in every part of life. The applications which men chiefly require to be taught, are to control their desire for wealth, their love of display, and their love of excitement. Women should be taught to control their love of personal finery, as well as of those excitements which they miscall amusements, and of the self-indulgence of idleness, and learn to find useful occupations for themselves. The great lesson for all is to avoid self-indulgence, to believe that human beings are sent into this world for other purposes than the gratification of their own desires and fancies. When men have learned to aim at a subsistence, or at most a competency, instead of a fortune, and women have learned to find their happiness in steady employment, and not in alternate idleness and excitement, most of our social evils will have disappeared. Just in proportion as individuals assume these new positions, they will be diminished.

H. D. E.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

The Martyr of the Pongas: Being a Memoir of the Rev. HAMBLE JAMES LEACOCK, Leader of the West Indian Mission to Western Africa. By the Rev. HENRY CASWALL, D.D., Vicar of Figheldean, Wilts. New York: T. N. Stanford. 1857.

It has fallen to the lot of Dr. Caswall, more, we believe, than to any other man now living, to serve as the organ and channel of fraternal intercourse

between the several parts and branches of the Reformed Catholic Church. His large heart and liberal spirit, his varied experience and observation, his accomplishments of mind and manners qualify him peculiarly for this noble and blessed office. His name has become a familiar and cherished name with us all, on account of what he has done, or rather what Providence has done through him, towards bringing the widely-separated members of our great and glorious Family into mutual recognition and fellowship; than which perhaps no Christian work has been achieved in our time, that calls for a more devout and grateful acknowledgment.

In the life and labours of Mr. Leacock, Dr. Caswall has certainly found a most fitting and fruitful theme for carrying forward what seems to be, in some sort, his peculiar mission. Mr. Leacock, besides being, in many respects, a worthy pattern of a Christian minister, was in an eminent degree a practical realization of the ligaments of brotherhood. Though acceptable wherever known, he was nevertheless always on the move; while he had the faculty of endearing himself to the people wherever he worked, yet fortune and impulse seem to have united in putting him upon an almost continual change of field: but his heart was the same in all places, and in all places he found the hearts of others the same; the West Indian, the American, the English, the African branches of the Church all tasted more or less of his presence, and called and answered to each other in his person and ministry: so that we may be justly said to have in him a manifestation and confirmation of substantial unity on a large scale. And this Memoir of his life enables us, beyond any thing else that has lately come in our way, to feel and realize the length and strength of the cords that bind us all up together in the sympathies and reciprocities of a common life. How naturally and easily he makes himself at home everywhere; at the same time helping us to find each other and to feel at home with each other, though oceans roll between! In his society we seem to shake hands with our brethren across the Atlantic as warmly and cordially as if they were at our side. If the book did nothing more than bring home to us, in practical demonstration, the vital cohesion of the Flock throughout the world, this of itself were cause enough why its contents should be domesticated in the thoughts of every Churchman.

But the book has other merits and attractions. It is in the main a tasteful and well-written performance: the narrative parts are simple and straightfor. ward, yet earnest, warm-hearted, and glowing with a chastened religious fervour. Besides, it sets before us, with vivid and kindling effect, a memorable instance of intelligent and well-ordered piety, of brave and manly self-denial, of zeal tempered with discretion, and of human affection raised and purified by high and holy principle. Intellectually, Mr. Leacock does not appear to have been either a very brilliant or a very powerful man; yet his sermons, judging from the accounts here given, were often very effective. But, if he had not the gift of eloquence in word, his life, as here delineated, was truly eloquent; for it was in no ordinary degree an expression of genuine Christian heroism; and this is a kind of eloquence which neither men nor angels nor devils can resist.

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