Let a couple stand, in the presence of a company, with their arms
about each other, and their persons in contact as for the "German,"
let them stand, thus intertwined, and what should we think? The
dance is made the excuse for what, without it, would be a gross
indelicacy. It is as with much of the opera, in which the fine music
is made the apology for words that could not be spoken without it.
THE THEATRE.
Girls, I advise you not to go to the theatre. I know how much can be
said in its favor. I know that, at one time in the history of the
world, it really served the cause of morality and religion.
But how can we study Shakspeare so advantageously as in the
impersonations of the stage?"
I confess I do not know where the great master can be studied so
advantageously as in the best impersonations of the stage, but,
nevertheless, I strongly advise that you should stay away from the
theatre.
My first objection to the theatre is, that it is never well
ventilated. You must breathe, three or four hours, a vitiated
atmosphere, which unfits you for the best physical and mental labor
during the whole of the next day, perhaps even longer.
My second objection, likewise physiological, is, that it keeps you
up till midnight.
My third objection is that which we all make to the yellow-covered
literature. While there may be a good thing here and there, the
general tone is morbid, not to say impure.
The managers are opening their theatres once or twice a week for a
matinee, and, knowing that women and children are likely to
constitute a large part of the audience, they present the most
decent representations. I advise that, if you attend the theatre at
all, you should attend the matinees.
SYMPATHY BETWEEN THE STOMACH AND THE SOUL.
Conceding the extremest views cherished by the Christian believer,
in regard to the influence of the Holy Spirit, in the redemption of
man's soul, we cannot shut our eyes to the intimate sympathy between
the stomach and the moral nature.
The moral sentiments and sympathies are bewildered and lost when the
intellect is deranged. No matter though the coronal portion of the
brain is grandly developed, if the intellect be insane, or if the
digestive function be insane, pure and noble moral impulses are no
longer possible. Man is one,--body, mind and heart. These are not
three distinct individual partners in a firm, but they are
interlinked and interwoven so completely that they are one and not
three. My highest conceptions of the Trinitarian idea find
illustration in this trinity in man.
The great function of digestion--assimilation--underlies, as a
foundation, the intellectual superstructure, while high above all,
rising into the very heavens, the moral nature lifts up its sublime
heights.
BOWELS OF COMPASSION.
When a phrenologist is examining a man's head, and wishes to know
about his heart, he feels of the stomach. There's where the heart
lies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account