audience ensued, that he was obliged to open the doors again to the prostitutes. Sir Walter Scott, in his Essay on the Drama, speaks in strong terms of the audacious effrontery of these women at the theatres in London. He says, “No man of delicacy would wish the female part of his family to be exposed to such scenes; no man of sense would wish to put youth of the male sex in the way of such temptation." He states, that, "unless in the case of strong attraction upon the stage, prostitutes and their admirers usually form the principal part of the audience."* This is, doubtless, true in general of American theatres. How dreadful a place, then, is a theatre! How many a youth has here begun a course of vice, which has led him to ruin! How many fathers have bewailed the hour, when they sent their innocent sons to the city, there to be enticed to the playhouse, and ensnared by wicked women! How many mothers have gone down to the grave with a broken heart, in consequence of the ruin of a child at the theatre! "Some time ago," says a British clergyman, "I called to see a mother. She was in distress. She not merely wept, but wept aloud. What is the matter?' 'O, my child!' and she wept again. 'O, my child is just committed to prison!' and she wept again. O, my child is just committed to prison, and I fear he will never return to his father's house!' and she wept again; and, with all my firmness, I could not forbear weeping, too. I was afraid to ask the cause. I did not need; for she said, 'O, that THEATRE ! He was a virtuous, kind youth, till that theatre proved his ruin!'" Multitudes of young men have been led to rob their parents or employers, for the purpose of procuring the means of buying tickets, and paying for other criminal indulgences at the theatre. This is a well-known fact, in all large cities, and it is a cause of lamentation and alarm. "I believe," says a writer before quoted, "that more of the youths among the lower orders in London begin their career as thieves, in order that they may have the means of gratifying their penchant for theatricals, than from any other cause that could be named." At a place of confinement for juvenile offenders, in one of our American cities, it was found, on examination, that a large proportion * Prose Works, vol. vi., p. 291. + Great Metropolis, p. 25. VOL. II.-NO. VII. 51 of the boys began their course of crime by stealing money, that they might buy tickets for the theatre. How dreadful a nuisance is a place, which is a constant temptation to dishonesty! How strange, that society will tolerate establishments, which are annually ruining multitudes, for time and for eternity! Those who frequent the theatre are in danger of contracting habits of intemperate drinking. A bar-room, furnished with every kind of tempting liquors, is almost invariably an appendage of a theatre. The excitement, the late hours, the fatigue, the example of others, the direct enticements, perhaps, of persons who wish to ruin him, tempt the inexperienced youth to drink; and thus, in many cases, have fatal habits of intemperance been formed.* The waste of time is great; for those who attend must spend time in preparation, and they are unfitted for early rising and for labor the next day. In London, it is said, “when any of the great houses are expected to be unusually full, the lower classes will besiege the doors, in great numbers, two or three hours before the time of opening them, in their anxiety to get a good seat." Thus are babits of idleness and dissipation formed. The waste of money is great, to those who attend; and the public are losers, by the vast sums which are paid to actors. Fifty or a hundred thousand dollars, and even more, are said to have been paid to some performers in this country; and as these persons are generally foreigners, they carry their money away. Some persons pretend to be alarmed, because considerable sums are spent in supporting foreign missions; but they manifest no objection to paying more money to a French female dancer, than would support fifty missionaries. The effect on the health is injurious. The late hours to which theatrical entertainments are usually continued are prejudicial, especially to the young, by abridging the time of needful rest. An exposure to the night air, at late hours, after having been confined in a hot, crowded house, has often laid the foundation of fatal diseases. Other objections to the stage might be mentioned; but these are sufficient to show, that the strong disapprobation which * Might not Mr. Sargent do a good service, by making the seductions of the theatre the topic of a Temperance Tale? The manager of the Bowery Theatre, in New-York, has stated in the papers, that he received nearly $800,000 in seven years! many persons feel towards theatres does not spring from prejudice or bigotry, but from a well-founded conviction, that they are injurious to the best interests of society. For all these effects, there is no compensation. No benefit results from theatrical entertainments, which might not be obtained without exposure to the dangers which beset them. Any good sentiments which plays contain might be acquired by reading them. But it is not the sentiments which those who frequent theatres wish to learn. This is proved by the fact, that the best plays are not so attractive as the singing, and dancing, and feats of horsemanship, and various melodramatic exhibitions. If painting, music, and eloquent oratory were the attractions, there are other and safer opportunities of gratifying a taste for these arts. In fact, mere amusement is the object which draws the best part of an audience to the theatre; the other part are allured by its facilities for vicious indulgence. But how much nobler, cheaper and safer a source of recreation, we speak not now of the elevated pleasures of religion,-is found in virtuous social intercourse; in the multitude of interesting books and periodical publications with which our country abounds; in scientific pursuits and experiments, for which cheap apparatus may be easily obtained; and in the lyceums and lectures which are found in almost every village? These have already diminished the attendance on the theatre. It is exceedingly desirable, that a taste for these innocent and useful pleasures may be still more widely spread, and that the means of satisfying it may be multiplied. How can parents, who reflect at all on the dangers which surround the theatre, expose their children to its contaminations? How can they be willing, that their sons should frequent a place, where they are beset by temptations to drunkenness, where they behold scenes adapted to corrupt their miuds, and where the vilest women are found in crowds? How can a parent sleep in peace, while his child is in such a place, at midnight, surrounded by such temptations, and exposed to such terrific dangers? How, still more, can a parent encourage his child, by going himself to the theatre, and sanctioning, by his presence, the outrages on decency which are there witnessed? How, above all, can a religious man, who loves the soul of his child, consent to his visiting the theatre, where Satan holds his court,—where, in the strong language of Pollok, such things are often done, as make "The devils blush, and from the neighborhood, Surely, every pious man must shrink with horror from the thought. As he regards the temporal welfare of his child,-as he loves his immortal soul,-he ought to exert all his influence to keep him from this temple of Moloch, where both soul and body are often sacrificed. A pious parent ought not, on any consideration, to consent that his child should visit the theatre. He should make home as attractive as possible; he should provide books and other sources of innocent amusement; he should employ argument and affectionate persuasion; but he must, if necessary, interpose the authority which God has given him, to keep back his child from the gulf of ruin. We may now ask, in view of these considerations, should not every parent use his influence against theatres? Ought not every patriot to oppose them? Why should society uphold a school of vice? Why refuse licenses to retail spirituous liquors, and yet allow theatres, where habits of intemperance are contracted? Why build houses of reformation, and yet encourage theatres, which tempt the young to become thieves? Why denounce brothels, and still countenance the theatre, which is often itself a brothel, and from which there is a broad, and beaten, and crowded road to the house of infamy and death? To those who love the theatre,-if any such persons read our pages,we would address a few words of affectionate persuasion. Your own consciences must acknowledge the truth of the preceding remarks. You know, that you expose your health at the theatre; that your virtuous principles are weakened; that your minds are filled with lascivious thoughts; that your bad passions are stimulated; and that you are often exposed to perilous temptations. You know, that after you have been at the theatre, the thought of God and of eternity is unwelcome, and that you feel unprepared to die. Yet death must come; and when your souls shall be on the brink of eternity, with what feelings will you look back on the hours spent at the theatre? The celebrated Mr. Hervey once heard a lady describing the pleasures of the theatre, and dwelling on the happiness enjoyed in anticipating the performance, the happiness of witnessing the play, and the happiness of reflecting on it afterwards. "You have forgotten, madam," said he, "one other source of gratification." She earnestly inquired his meaning. "The pleasure," he replied, "of remembering on the deathbed the scenes of the theatre." This timely rebuke sunk into her mind, and she became a pious Christian. Happy would it be, if all the votaries of sinful pleasure would follow her example, if they would think of their souls, of the displeasure of God against all who disobey his commands, of the approaching judgment, and of that awful eternity, when all who loved not God on earth will be banished from his presence for ever! EDITOR. ARTICLE IX. RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. It is our design, in the following paper, to discuss the nature, the conditions, and the means of religious revival,—a subject of deep interest and vast importance. The expression, revival of religion, has been in common use in this country for a number of years, as designating a season of special interest and prosperity in the church, or in particular churches. When a religious body is not enjoying any special and unusual prosperity, and receiving accessions of converted persons from the world, it is said to be not a time of revival. Occasionally, you will hear such bodies describing their condition, as one in which, though no revival is enjoyed, the institutions and ordinances of God are attended to, and peace and harmony exist amongst the members. It consequently happens, that revivals are regarded only as occasional events, which happen at irregular and distant intervals, and which, in their very nature, are intended to be transitory. They are considered as exceedingly desirable, are anticipated with intense interest by the churches, and when they come, are hailed with demonstrations of peculiar joy. But, somehow, they do not last long, and, after visiting the churches for a few weeks or months, take their departure, to the deep and unfeigned regret of all interested. Hence, also, the intermediate seasons, the seasons, we mean, which intervene between revivals, have come to be regarded as necessarily seasons of |