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would be, should it happen to make its appearance in a mob, amid a shower of missiles, and the yells of the assailants on the one hand, or the groans of the battered and prostrate victims on the other: And when vice comes on, to expose her ugliness and "deformity" in the performance, the effect is equally nugatory, if it be really intended to show off vice in a manner that shall make vice odious; for vice meets vice; box, pit and gallery are full of it; and so far from being disgusted with the vice ostensibly exhibited for their reformation, they are apt to be attracted by it, and to become more intimate with it than ever. The wanton leers, and smirks, and smiles of a Millwood, for example, are admirably calculated, as constituting the very philosophy of wantonness, to teach new. lessons to such nymphs in the upper tier as had never before witnessed them; while those below, if yet strictly virtuous and untainted, catch perhaps the first glimpse which awakens their curiosity for a more intimate acquaintance with scenes which had never before entered into their dreams; but a spark has now lit upon the tinder, and the match only is wanting to set the flame in motion. Thus, while old and hardened sinners are looking on with a sort of infernal delight, young ones are learning new lessons, while others who have hitherto preserved

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their virtue, find it assailed at a moment when they are least prepared for resistance, and take the first step, which, alas! too often and too surely leads down the steep of infamy and ruin, to "the gates of hell!" We should indeed be glad to know how often stage managers are guided, in their selection of plays, by the wish to lash vice and to laud virtue, to put down the one, and promote the other. The principal, and we fear the only, object, is to bring a full house; to pocket the money, and not to purify the morals of their auditors: And if any stage amateur can tell us, we should also be glad to know what lesson in morality or religion, any young man can learn from seeing Cato, like a brute and a fool, murdered by his own hand; Cæsar stabbed by the dagger, as well as ingratitude of Brutus; Douglass slain by the sly, back-handed, and dastardly stroke of Glenalvon; Desdemona murdered by Othello; or the ghost of Hamlet's father strutting, or rather stalking across the stage like a somnambulist. These and many other such scenes, which we cannot stop to notice, have no other effect upon a large majority of those who witness them, than would the sight of a puppet show, a boxing match or a bull-bait.

They are indeed wholly incapable of entering into the plot of a piece, pursuing the thread to

its developement, or drawing from it any sound or judicious moral; while they do indeed know just enough, generally speaking, to imbibe all the vice and folly by which the theatrical atmosphere is always filled, from the proudest seats in the boxes, to the meanest in the upper regions.

With these views, of the justice of which we are perfectly satisfied, well may we join with Pollok, when he says of the Theatre :—

"From first to last it was an evil place,

And now such things are acted there, as make
The devils blush; and from the neighborhood
Angels, and holy men, trembling, retire !"

But these views, and I rejoice in the fact, are not mine alone. They are, my young readers, the views of all the soundest and most exemplary men of this country, and of Europe; and above all, as American patriots, we ought to be proud of the circumstance, that they were solemnly promulgated by our immortal fathers of the Revolution, in those days when liberty, and patriotism, and religion, were something more than empty sounds. In 1776 our revolutionary fathers declared these states free, sovereign and independent states; but when striking this grand and decisive blow for human rights, they, at the same time foresaw, that independence, without. virtue, morality and religion, would prove a curse instead of a blessing; and hence the vir

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tuous Congress of 1778 passed the following truly wise and patriotic resolution:

JOURNAL OF CONGRESS-October 12th, 1778.-Whereas true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty :-Resolved, That it be, and it hereby is, earnestly recommended to the several States, to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement thereof, and for the suppression of theatrical entertainments, horse-racing, gaming, and such other diversions as are productive of idleness, dissipation, and a general depravity of manners."

In this resolution Congress have asserted, with truth, that "true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty;" they have pointed out clearly the evils which are destructive of those "solid foundations ;" and have recommended the suppression of those evils.

But in the resolution which follows, they went further, and so far as their own authority extended, proposed a remedy:

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JOURNAL OF CONGRESS-October 16th, 1778.-"Whereas frequenting play-houses and theatrical entertainments, has a fatal tendency to divert the minds of the people from a due attention to the means necessary for the defence of their country, and the preservation of their liberties:-Resolved, That any person holding an office under the United States, who shall act, promote, encourage, or attend such plays, shall be deemed unworthy to hold such office, and shall be accordingly dismissed."

This resolution was "taking the bull by the horns," so far as Congress were concerned; it was indeed worthy of its noble spirited and godly authors; and since there was so pure a spirit of patriotism, of public and private virtue, among our fathers, we do not wonder that God enabled

them to triumph so gloriously in their struggle for freedom and independence. It is here worthy of remark, that Congress, in this resolution, evinced their knowledge of European management, as well as proved their own purity. They knew full well that European Monarchs had long encouraged their subjects to run to Theatres, and all similar places, because so doing would divert their minds from "a due attention to the means necessary for the preservation of their liberties." Congress knew as well as the despots of Europe, that if the people spent their leisure from their indispensable business in idle sports, they could not find time to examine the conduct of their governors; and if the Congress of 1778 had been disposed to usurp the liberties of their country, they would have followed the example of the European despots, and would have advised the people to divert themselves at the Theatre, or at any other seat of folly and dissipation, instead of looking into the conduct of their rulers, ascertaining the value and extent of their rights, and adopting the means necessary to preserve them. We want, therefore, no other proof of the purity of the Congress of "78, than this very resolution: And why has not the same spirit pervaded Congress since that glorious era? The answer is, Congress have dege"nerated. They have now a Theatre under their F*

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