ey had no idea of remaining here, in the then
condition of things, but for a few days. They expected that Christ
would come again, that the world would be purified by fire, that
all the unbelievers would be burned up and that the earth would
become a fit habitation for the followers of the Saviour.
Protestantism became as ascetic as the early Christians. It is
hard to conceive of anybody believing in the "Five Points" of John
Calvin going to any place of amusement. The creed of Protestantism
made life infinitely sad and made man infinitely responsible.
According to this creed every man was liable at any moment to be
summoned to eternal pain; the most devout Christian was not absolutely
sure of salvation. This life was a probationary one. Everybody
was considered as waiting on the dock of time, sitting on his trunk,
expecting the ship that was to bear him to an eternity of good or
evil--probably evil. They were in no state of mind to enjoy
burlesque or comedy, and, so far as tragedy was concerned, their
own lives and their own creeds were tragic beyond anything that
could by any possibility happen in this world. A broken heart was
nothing to be compared with a damned soul; the afflictions of a
few years, with the flames of eternity. This, to say the least of
it, accounts, in part, for the hatred that Protestantism always
bore toward the stage. Of course, the churches have always regarded
the theatre as a rival and have begrudged the money used to support
the stage. You know that Macaulay said the Puritans objected to
bear-baiting, not because they pitied the bears, but because they
hated to see the people enjoy themselves. There is in this at
least a little truth. Orthodox religion has always been and always
will be the enemy of happiness. This world is not the place for
enjoyment. This is the place to suffer. This is the place to
practice self-denial, to wear crowns of thorns; the other world is
the place for joy, provided you are fortunate enough to travel the
narrow, grass-grown path. Of course, wicked people can be happy
here. People who care nothing for the good of others, who live
selfish and horrible lives, are supposed by Christians to enjoy
themselves; consequently, they will be punished in another world.
But whoever carried the cross of decency, and whoever denied himself
to that degree that he neither stole nor forged nor murdered, will
be paid for this self-denial in another world. And whoev