THE PULPIT AND THE STAGE.

NZ Truth, Issue 56, 14 July 1906, Page 8

THE PULPIT AND THE STAGE.

"Dr. Wilmington Ingram, Bishop of London, recently observed : 'There is a close kinship between the stage and the church.' "—Cable item. "Twas the great Lord Bishop Ingram, of the See of London, who In his apron and his gaiters looked," as bishops always do, Dignified and full of learning, and important and profound, ' And decidedly superior* to those he saw around ! 'Twas the great Lord Bishop Ingram (who enjoys a larger screw Than the poor old Twelve Aposties put together used to do !) Told the ancient, weary chestnut which has vexed us for an age, Of the closeness of the kinship of the pulpit and the stage. And he wonders, we'll engage, Why the outer heathens rage At this old worm-eaten chestnut of the pulpit and the stage ! Yet there is a strong resemblance, as we now proceed to show ; Not m platitudes episcopal with sacerdotal glowj But m common sense, comparison, and plain analogy Of theatrical performances and Chur- . chianity 1 . \ . There's the same wide range from "Hamlet .to "The Man from Mexico" As there is from the Apostles to the modern Holy Joe ! From Elijah fed by Ravens- to Elijah ravin' mad ! : " And from Roscius to.Rickards, there's the same wide range begad ! Some are good and some are bad; Some are cheerful ; some are sad ; i Yet the church and stage analogy, m simplest truth is clad ! First : For sacerdotal ' Tragedy the Scotchbyterian, , With his doctrihe of Election, is the head of all' the clan ! • True, he speaks -of the Elect who, though they lead a life of crime, Are predestinate for ' Heaven, where they'll have a happy^ time ! ; But m harsh and grating accents he will confidently tell Of the little helpless infant who ;is born to go to hell ! Though it dies while still a baby m the cradle, it Appears It must gnash, its toothless gums m hell for forty million years ! There the , Tragedy appears ! : In the. sorrow and the te,ars For the infant pre-ordained to hell for forty million years! There's the Melodrama Methodist, who, m? a manner* says People ought ;to be religious, as religion always pays •!' Though the vijlaiii seems to prosper ! (But at .this we needn't scoff, Since the villain often prospers whether on the stage or. off !) Though the villain seems to prosper for a little while, no doubt, -It is never very . long before his sins y/ill find him out !, He will see his plots discovered; and bis schemes exposed, m fact, . Like the nielodrama villain, m the twenty-seventh act ! Keep your honesty intact, Says the Methodist, m fact, . • Or you'll; suffer like, the villain m the twenty-seventh act J Then the Comic Congregationalism— there's humor m the name— ?■ He may" never think he's comic, but he gets there just the same ! It is his peculiar weakness, when the out-back country's dry, To implore the Lord of Heaven and , the earth and sea and sky \, To upset established order and let chaos come again, ., As the town of Crbajirigolong is much m need of rain ! ; > He may have an inward i chuckle (like old Weller) you may think. But no odds how close you watch liim you wilLnever see 'him wink. When the, sky is black as ink, An' it's plain we're on the brink Of a rainstorm—he, will pray for rain and never wink a wink ! \ And our friend the Burlesque Baptist, 1 ' who has water on the brain ? His especial form of humor has. a strong Gilberts an strain ! It is said that. many Baptists at Immersion grow .so wrath As to subsequently' pledge themselves; to never take a 'bath ! ... ■ And" for grand and other opera you surely must agree , That it bears a sort of resemblance to the sort of thing you see ';'-' In the Graeco-Rpman churches, 'which' have rituals sublime, '.{'■ That High Anglicans have copied-. in akind of pantomime •! -' -'.V There's the chorus and the cMme . And the rhythm and the rhyme - In a pantomimic, parody particularly Prime;!; ' ' ' What d'ye say ? forget the. circus ? Did we, sonny ? Not .a, bit'! • As first cousin of the circus there's thfe "Harmy" ! Perfect .fit ! When the "Harmy" strikes a country town the people never lenow. If it's General Booth's performers or Fitzgerald Brothers' show !. Does the circus have wild asses .% So „ —but let us not be rude ! Let us say there is a general all-round similitude ! As for Plymouth Rocks and other flocks of similar degreeGood old Thespis finds their counterparts whatever they may be ! With the Bishop we agree, There's a kinship plain to see In theatrical performances and Churctiianity I W. T. GOODGE.